Fallout: Equestria - Empty Quiver

Chapters

Hard Landing
Bugs and Guns
Vacant Hangars
Possible Pasts
Complications
Splashdown
Storm Warning
Vera
Tanks & Tommy Guns
Welcome to the Machine
Comfortably Numb
The Nuclear Option
New Friends, New Enemies
Bad Company
Those Magnificent Mares in their Flying Machines
Back to Business
Volare!
Shelling Hope
Project Cerberus
Precipice of War
Falling Into Place
One Minute to Midnight
The Old Wasteland
Dammed
Goodbyes and Hellos
Calling the Cavalry
In the Shadow of the Valleys

Hard Landing

Oh, sweet Celestia above this was pure paydirt. Greasy -did- say that there was another project she and her sister were working on along with the cruise missiles - which, I unfortunately only found out after pushing the external launch button could carry passengers... thanks, dad - and as I took to hovering up in the semi-submerged hangar, there wasn't much doubt in guessing this was it. That is one sexy jet...

Static slowly approached it as I wore a stupid grin, hovering around the large craft, looking at that sexy pair of forward-facing cannons and intakes for the hydrogen turbines. Peering inside through the cockpit glass, a pair of seats and a small door at the back caught my attention, along with the access hatch in the floor. Giddly landing beside the sharp forward nose of the craft, Static pulled one of the rolled-up papers from his saddlebags, unfurling it with a crumple as I ran a hoof along the right cheek of the craft.

"R&G Manufacturing, external structural diagrams for the experimental bomber/attacker mark one, codenamed 'Valkyrie'... well, goddesses above, this thing's supposed to be more heavily-armed than the Vertibucks could ever be! Proposed maximum speed of 1500 kilometers per hour, four tesla cannons in two defensive turrets that can be set for offensive purposes, two MWT 40mm machine cannons located either side of the cockpit, five-thousand kilo payload capacity..." Reading off from the blueprints, Static continued intermittently staring up at the craft, myself finally finding the little access panel that held the release for the hatch door. Smirking, a hoof reached in and gave the lever a tug, the small door swinging open with a hiss of pressure and producing a short ladder. From the sudden ruffle of paper, sounded like that earth pony finally noticed, his silver mane bouncing as he readjusted his saddlebags, my forehooves already grabbing the rungs.

"Well, we gotta get this thing back to EQUAD one way or another. I call pilot seat!" Wearing a grin, the sensation of my tails being hastily grabbed in a pony's mouth and tugging me off of the ladder caught me offguard, sending myself tumbling to the concrete floor. Letting off a grunt of pain and giving my wings a flap - good, not broken - I sat myself up, Static passing on a stern look. You learned that from Fringe, didn't you? "Hey, I'm serious, I'll take us back there! I'm mostly confident I can land this thing without plowing it into the ground."

"Aheh, yeah, not happening. You got us into this mess, again, and I'm getting us out, capiche? Besides, who's the one who actually paid for flight training?" Responding with a pout and sticking my tongue out at him in response, I got myself back to my hooves, Static disappearing up the small hatch. Adjusting my duffle bag of stuff, I followed suit, finally getting a good look inside. Well, might not be as spacious as the TOG, but at least it's better than a broom closet. Static had sat himself down in the forward seat, hooves pressed against the floor pedals and wrapped around the control stick, lookng over the array of buttons and dials. Setting my duffel bag down against the back access hatch, and closing the entrance door, a smirk formed on my muzzle.

"Okay, okay, so take us off, then. I'm -so sure- that an earth pony can fly anything better than a pegasus can." Giving an eyeroll to him, Static responded with one of his own, shaking his head. After a few more moments of sitting there looking over stuff, he finally found... the instruction manual. Oh, for pony's sake... I slumped back against the side of the cockpit, looking up through the thick canopy and up at the concave ceiling, and the seemingly solid wall ahead of us. How the hell were we supposed to get this thing out of here, anyways?

"Ah... okay... I think I've got it. Just gotta switch these on, twiddle this thing, push this button and... pray." Oh, and he's the one worrying about -me- killing us... giving my head a shake, he started to go through the process, flicking four switches on a side control panel and pushing the throttle lever forwards a notch, a worried glance being passed my way as he paused. He let off a sigh, eyes moving back to the control panel and a hoof moving to a button hidden behind a safety panel. "Well... here goes..."

The button clicked, and a low hum filled the air behind the cockpit, a low note slowly building up to a high-pitched whine as, assumedly, the engines spooled to full power. Blinking at the sudden noise, Static wore a grin as he stared back up at myself, leaning back in the pilot's seat. "See? Told you I got it. Now, where's the vertical mode at..." Searching around the cockpit for another moment, his hooves grasped the control shaft, looking down at it. As he squeezed the lever situated upon it - and the forward autocannons discharged a pair of WPHE shells into the wall due to the motion - he jumped in the chair, myself lifting a hoof and holding it against my forehead. As the frightened earth pony recovered himself, he shakily and carefully stood up out of the chair, readjusting his saddlebags with a trembling hoof. "Y-yanno, I think you might be more quaified than I am for this, being a pegasus and all."

"Gimmie that..." Letting off a small sigh and shake of the head, I sat myself down at the controls, looking over the array of switches, dials, levers and buttons. Throttle, landing gear, landing gear brake, landing gear lights, flap settings... must do something, I guess. Airbrakes, now those could be useful. Red handle on the control stick fires the forward cannons, pedals move counter to one another, must be for the big tall surface in back. They're called rudders on ships, aren't they? Okay, back to controls; LVL/VTOL toggle switch, huh, so this thing might be able to hover after all. And... autopilot, okay, there's something. Main electronics stuff looks like it's working fine, flicking the switch for the HUD a few times makes the cockpit glass light up with info, okay. 'Automatic Takeoff'... oh, Static's going to be pissed he didn't see this earlier~ "Buckle up, we're lifting off. God, I love pre-war technology~"

Flicking the switch and pulling the straps around, hooking them in, the bright light of day shone through as the ceiling began to part, both Static and myself staring up at it. Right, we get this thing up out of this hole, and I can take us straight back to EQUAD, easy-peasy. The indicator on the screen showed that we were now in VTOL mode, the engines of the Valkyrie whining up to speed and the hangar floor slowly moving away from us. I rested back in the seat, heart thumping from the excitement - oooh, this thing is gonna go -so- fast~ Static stuttered in the back seat, hitting a hoof against the equipment separating us from each other, getting my attention. "U-uh, Ni-Night Strike? You don't happen to be using the, uh, the automatic takeoff routine, are you?"

"Hey, we wanted to take off, and if the thing can do it for us than all the better, right?" Looking behind, I was met with the shrunken-eyed face of the earth pony, his normally blue coat seeming quite whiter in comparison. It's like he was hoping I'd try to take this thing off manually... The Valkyrie crested the edge of the hangar, and we suddenly began tilting backwards, the nose pointing up to the sky. Data scrolled across the windshield at an insane pace before stopping, replaced by the word 'SCRAMBLE' in big, flashing lettering. Okay, starting to realize why he was so worried. "Static?... W-what exactly is the automatic takeoff routine set for this thing?"

"W-well, uh... we'll keep elevating until we reach forty degrees, and then, uh..." The engines whirred up to full blast, myself really wishing I had that diaper on now, hooves hooked white-knuckle on the edge of the seat. Oh, this is not going to be fun at all, is it? There was a sudden burst of acceleration that pinned me against the seat cushion, myself gasping mainly from the shock, before everything slowly started to get fuzzier, the cloud cover drawing near faster than I could've ever thought possible. Eventually, it all faded to black, and it wasn't long before sweet, gentle unconsciousness graced myself, strapped inside a hydrogen-fueled aircraft going Celestia knows how fast to who the fuck knows where.

Nice going, Strikey.

Security robots patrolled the halls back at the half-destroyed airbase, a chill winter wind blowing snow in through the wide-open hangar doors. A lone robot halted before the opened doorway of the Valkyrie project development room, scanning the door for a moment before roceeding further inwards, now on alert for an intruder. It reached the end of the hallway, the door entrance to the hangar opening to accomidate it's presence, taking a few thumping heavy hoofsteps inside the vacant, cavernous space, before performing another scan. Subroutines that had been installed in it's maneframe that had laid dormant for two centuries were suddenly coming to life, a signal being broadcast out to the rest of the airbase, as the security robot stood in the vacant hangar.

Shielded radio systems picked up the signal, activating the long-dormant base alarm systems, a salvo of sirens breaking the calm wasteland air as the base's in-built security systems turned on, some fizzling and exploding from centuries of sitting unused as the electricity surged through them once more. From the base command center, another, encrypted signal was broadcasted, this one being recieved by decryption machines at the Equestrian Aerospace Defense center some kilometers south. There, the machines all flickered with warnings, the big board illuminating the Elder's office and drawing the attention of several rangers, displaying a map of the Trotisk-Mooscow area, a large, red trefoil blinking over the icon that was at one point the Sunrise Castle Air Base. Along the top of the big board, in ominous, red letters, a single warning was layed out;

PINNACLE - EMPTY QUIVER

Back home again - it was my birthday. With a wide smile I threw the heavy covers off, immediately regretting doing so as the icy chill of the wasteland hit me like a 40mm slug going through a hellhound. Sliding the old jacket on, and making way to the door, odd sounds came from the other side - mechanical humming, intermittent hisses of steam, hooves trotting along a long metal corridor. Timidly, I approached, and much to my shock as the door swung open wide, a soft blue, older mare stood in a Stable's hallway. Her lime-green mane hung thinning and held in a band by the side of her head, eyes passing along a look of surprise, soon replaced by a soft smile.

"My, my Twinnie had such a beautiful filly... well, young mare would be a more proper term. You look so much like your father, you know." The older unicorn approached, a stable jacket and pip-buck worn on herself, the number 34 embroidered on the collar. I took a tenative step backwards, the strange mare stopping, letting off a faint chuckle. "Oh, where are my manners, been years since I've seen a new face... I'm Gamma Ray. I used to look after your father, take care of him, ever since he was a little foal." Well, that revelation certainly brought me to a stop. I stood, staring at the unicorn in faint disbelief for a moment longer, it eventually occuring to me to lift my hoof and take ahold of hers, her foreleg giving a shake. The soft smile on her muzzle changed to a frown as a beeping began filling my ears, along with distant screaming. "Oh dear, that doesn't sound good at all... I'll be on my way. You're a strong mare, hopefully we won't be meeting again soon. Don't go climbing into fridges like your father, please." Finishing with a faint chuckle, the door slammed shut in front of me, and my eyes finally broke open to the blurry sight of the Valkyrie's cockpit, ears picking up Static screaming frantically behind me.

"MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP, OH CELESTIA ABOVE PLEASE MAKE IT STO-O-OP!!" Oh, if only I were able to unhook myself from this chair mid-flight... he did have a point, though. Oh, fuck me with a balefire missile, how long was I out for? How long were -we- out for? And where the fuck is the ground!? Hang on Night Strike, calm down, having a heart attack right now would not help our situation in the slightest. Neither is Static's screaming helping me try to not freak out, but that's beside the point. "I DON'T WANNA DIE! CELESTIA AND LUNA ABOVE, I DO NOT WANT TO DIE HERE!!"

"SHUT UP!! Kind of trying to keep us from becoming pancaked!" The earth pony sitting behind me let off a short startled scream, myself taking a deep breath and looking to the controls. Okay, come on, you can do this... maybe... left hoof on the throttle, right on the stick, back control the pedals. Gauges, right, we're going extremely fast south right now, so let's try and fix that, first and foremost. The throttle pulled back, lights on the canopy displaying the autopilot shutting off, myself taking a firmer grasp on the control shaft as the plane began to pitch upwards. C'mon baby, drop that speed... airbrakes, of course! Searching the control panel for just a moment, I finally found the button for them, giving it a whack and promptly being pushed against the straps as we began decelerating - and fast! Oooh, red, blood rushing to my head isn't fun...

The aircraft finally decided to begin pitching down, nose punching through the cloud layer as I tried my damndest to see what was ahead. As we finally broke through, well... the phrase 'zero visibility' comes to mind. Okay, what gauges on this thing tell us how close we are to being a firey wreck on the permmafrost? If we are over permafrost... okay, so that gauge-thingy seems to be showing a dropping number while the speed-thingy is holding steady, guess that's how fast we're falling. Very fast, by the looks of it. Great. I yanked the stick back hard as I could manage, my head starting to feel woozy and vision going black again - passing out now would not be good!

"The fuck is that!?" A ball on the control panel seemed to line up level with another line, the altitude slowing down in it's spin, the ground... still completely unable to be seen. Though, there was something flashing off in the distance, so maybe we were close. As I let the stick move forwards slightly, the nose of the Valkyrie pitching down, a sudden shudder ran through the craft before we jolted hard, my head banging against the metal panel in front of myself, everything going dark again. Fan-fucking-me-with-a-fuel-rod-tastic.

"Fuck me, my head..." Slowly making it back to the land of the awake, again, my head felt quite like somepony decided to bludgeon me with a baseball bat... fired from a grenade rifle. At least I was laying down against a soft pillow, in a fairly comfy bed, underneath a warm blanket... wait. Sitting myself up, the lights stung hard in my eyes, a forehoof moving to hold itself against my temple as I tried to adjust. Oh, great, I'm naked... well, at least I've got my legputer still with me. Wish I had Thumper too, that'd be nice, but one step at a time, Strikey. Speaking of that...

"Uh... hello? Any-anyone there? Fuck... Hello?" Sliding off of the bed, my hooves trotted against the hard wood flooring, moving through the room. A bolt of lightning struck outside, myself almost having another heart attack as flashbacks of balefire eggs raced into my head from the sudden bright light. Thunder crackled as I moved over to the doorway, opening it with a creak, a hallway leading to a small dining area on the other side. Slowly I made way down it, glancing out a window as I passed - oh fuck, that's the ocean, isn't it? Where the fuck was I?... where the fuck is Static? "Static Charge? Hello? It's Night Strike, I'm sorry about crashing us... again..."

Finally reaching the end of the hallway, the kitchen area seemed well-lit, myself looking about it before freezing my gaze on a figure sitting at the table against the far wall. Their pink mane hung loosely over a thick, black armored body, the metallic sheen reflecting the lightning strikes and faintly illuminating their grey coat and face for a fraction of a second. A barbed tail hung loosely over the edge of the seat, and metal wing-shaped covers appeared to have ben welded on the back piece. Tenatively, I trotted forth, the floorboards creaking and prompting the figure to take notice, turning to face myself. Oh, what the fuck did I get us into this time...

"Goddesses, you're awake, even after that nasty crash in that flying thing. Could've used somepony like you ten years ago... Private Crash Dive of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. Come, have a seat, I won't bite." The power armored mare gestured to the bench across from her, myself pausing for just a moment before sliding myself in, a flash of lightning and crack of thunder catching my attention out the window. The mare across from me - er, crash Dive, I mean, she let off a small chuckle, watching me readjust myself and sit back. "Heh, jumpy. It's just a little thunderstorm."

"Ah... s-sorry, I'm, uh, we don't get a lot of storms like this where I'm from. Where am I now, exactly?" Waking up in a strange place where the sky sometimes has an uncanny resemblance to balefire explsions, I'm half convinced I died in that crash. The pink-maned mare tapped a panel on her armor a few times, a grimace on her face soon becoming more relaxed, before looking back towards me. "Oh, uh, I'm Night Strike, by the way."

"North of Vanhoover, specifically my humble lighthouse. Good thing your flying... thing landed close to the outer wall, the field always gets muddy this time of year before it freezes over. You hungry?" Leaning back in the chair, I let this information sink in for a little bit, turning and staring out of the window at the angry ocean. Vanhoover... where the fuck was Vanhoover? Well, I mean, it's here, obviously, but where was here? And how the hell am I going to get back home? A sizzling sound came up from the small stove where Crash Dive had moved to, the salty smell of fish being cooked up meeting my nose. "So, where are you from, anyways? Someplace by Stalliongrad, the Crystal Empire area, maybe?"

"Uh... no, no, further north than that. I'm from this town up by Trotisk, called Turnpike, and Static's from Mooscow... oh, fuck me with a fuel rod, where's Static?!" Crash Dive stared at me for a moment, blinking, a metal spatula held in her mouth. She flipped one of the fish over in the pan, before setting the spatula down and rubbing her mouth.

"If Static is that... earth pony, you were in that flying thing with, he's in the closet down the hall, along with all your stuff. Lucky I was able to find some steel cable to tie him up with, those restraints on that flying thing weren't the best for keeping a prisoner held, yanno." Deciding to ask her about that remark later, I hastily slid myself out of the booth, making way back over to the hallway as Crash Dive returned to cooking the fish. Closet in the hallway, alright... well, least the door's not locked. Opening it, I was granted with a muffled remark of pain as it stopped short against something dense in the way, eyes focusing on the four cable-bound hooves of Static before realizing just what that dense thing I hit was.

"Mmfhm... Nifh Frife?" Giving a sympathy grimace, my hooves took to undoing the knot, Static letting his hooves fall to either side of him as he released a muffled sigh of relief. After a moment, he tugged the rag gag out of his mouth, spitting and rubbing his tongue off while I picked up my jacket and duffle bag, sliding the former on and tossing the latter across my back. Static looked first to myself, then to the rest of the room, taking a few steps back. "Okay, waking up bound and gagged in a storage closet after surviving another crash of your doing, great. How far do we have to walk to get back to EQUAD?" Answering him with a blink and open jaw, an empty chuckle escaped myself, the earth pony geting on his saddlebags and picking up his umbrella.

"W-well, um... yeah, I fucked up big time, this time. Hope you paid attention in geography more than I did... we're in Vanhoover." Yeah, a dumbfounded, silent stare is pretty much the appropriate reaction. Stepping out into the hallway, the smell of cooking fish met our nostrils quite readily, Static's stomach letting off a loud rumble in response. I let off a weak chuckle, heading towards the kitchen. "Hey, Crash Dive? Think you could put another one of those on to cook?"

"Hmmh..." The power armored mare shot Static a glare, looking back to the stove and putting another strip in the pan. Static made his way over to the table, sliding in on the nearest side, myself following suit. Setting the duffle bag down, I turned attention to the legputer, scrolling through the menus. Okay, let's see the world map... and I can't recognize a goddess-damned thing from it. Brilliant. Stuck who knows how far from home with a wrecked aircraft, and taken in by a member of the GPE... yeah, this day couldn't get much worse if it tried.

I moaned, my mind still swimming as I came to, my muscles aching and head pounding with each beat of my heart. Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick… I tried to put a hoof up to my head, only to find that I couldn’t move my legs. As my mind became a little more clear, I realized that my mouth too had something stuffed into it, some kind of cloth. Shit, what did Strike get us into now? I couldn’t see anything except for the very faint line of light that ran across the floor and up the wall in front of me. I struggled against the binds, but only succeeded in managing to scrape myself on the slightly rusty cable. I stopped as I heard some voices coming from the other side of the door in front of me.

Suddenly my view grew much brighter, my eyes watering slightly at the rapid change in light level, and letting off a muffled grunt as the door opened against my head. I looked up to see Strike standing in the doorway, grimacing a little. “Mmfhm... Nifh Frife?” I mumbled around the cloth gag. She quickly went to work untying my hooves and helping to get the gag out of my mouth, turning attention to our bags of stuff afterwards. I spit a bit as the cloth fell to the floor. Ew... I don't want to know where that thing's been. “Okay, waking up bound and gagged in a storage closet after surviving another crash of your doing, great. How far do we have to walk to get back to EQUAD?" I said snidely. This had not been a good day.

"W-well, um... yeah, I fucked up big time, this time. Hope you paid attention in geography more than I did... we're in Vanhoover." Strike said as I hitched up my saddlebags and picked up my umbrella. Upon registering what I heard, I stood still, staring at her. You… we're in... what?! She gave an embarrassed chuckle before leading me down the hall, towards a small room.

The kitchen was, admittedly, rather cosily sized - while it didn't have much in the way of counter space, all the necessities were there. A pony in power armor stood at the stove, adjusting the heat as she poured a bit of oil into the pan. I half stumbled over to the table, still reeling a bit from what Strike had said as she slid in beside me. Vanhoover? Fuck, isn’t that further south than Canterlot? Or, was it more southern than the Crystal Empire... some important place that started with the letter C.

I couldn’t even try to fathom how far we’d traveled when a light flashed from outside, followed by a loud, rumbling boom. I jumped in surprise, wondering if a bomb had just hit somewhere. “Oh, calm down, will you? It’s a lightning storm, alright?” The pony at the stove snarled, causing my attention to be drawn to her. I watched as she rather unceremoniously dropped the fish onto a plate, before trotting over to us, skillfully balancing three plates on her back and sliding them onto the table. The one which was placed in front of me was clearly prepared with much less care than the other two.

I sighed internally, but I wasn’t given much of a choice, especially with how hungry I realized I was. “So, would either of you mind explaining what exactly you were doing with some flying machine that landed you here?” The armored pony asked before taking a bite of fish. Strike swallowed as I bit into the slightly raw food.

“Um…” Strike glanced about a little nervously. “We were supposed to be making a… delivery. And I guess we weren’t as good of flyers as we’d first suspected.” She took another bite of food as the pony raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Uh… it survived the crash pretty much intact, right?” The pony chewed for a while longer before answering.

“It’s pretty badly beaten up, the nose was crumpled from the impact and the turbines look like they ingested a lot of mud and... other stuff.” My stomach sank as I heard those words, the idea of being able to return to Mooscow speeding away. Oh, this was really, really, -really- not good. The mare across from us took another bite from her fish, swallowing it down. “But, uh, I did see that aparently the craft has in-built repair talismans. Dunno how long they'd work for, or how extensive their abilities are, but it's better than nothing. Later Vertibucks had similar stuff, I can see about getting those things up and running, if you wouldn't mind helping me out around here.”

I looked over to Night Strike, feeling a little skeptical. “What do you need help with?” I asked, my suspicion obvious. “I’m not exactly feeling all that confident with helping somepony that locked me in her closet for no apparent reason.” The pony’s eyes narrowed as she snorted a bit, her expression growing sour. She and I stared at each other for a moment as Strike gave a nervous laugh.

“Either you agree to help, or I don’t think you’re getting home.” The mare said in an unnervingly calm manner. “Vanhoover’s not exactly crawling with ponies with the technical capabilities to restore that thing, let alone willing to fix it. A lot of ponies would just love to get their hooves on something that valuable.” I grumbled to myself, looking down at the table. "Not to mention, who crashed that into whose front yard?"

Strike spoke up. “Yes, fine. We just need to get out of here and get back home.” The mare grew a little more cheerful as she pushed herself away from the table and grabbed our empty plates. She tossed them into a sink, turning on the water and beginning to let them soak. “What do you need?”

“Well, uh... oh, right, when you landed you managed to really tear up the minefield I have set up outside. It's just to discourage scavengers, nopony comes around here but you can't be too safe. There's a weapons company down south, outside Vanhoover.” She trotted over to Strike, grabbing her Pip-Buck and marking a location on her map. “No real rush, I’ll shuffle some of the older ones I have around in the meantime. Still, all things considered it’s probably the best place you two could've landed, anywhere else and you’d have brained yourselves on the rocks or drowned in the north sea.” Ooh, this place sounds so inviting. The mare glanced out of the window, Night Strike looking along with her as another rumble shook the small house. “Storm’s pretty far away already, you should be fine heading out now. I’d get back here quick if there’s another one coming, though. The outcrop’s five feet underwater whenever one hits.”

I followed Strike over to a room where her stuff had been stashed by a comfy-looking bed. “Hmh, well, you certainly got the deluxe treatment.” Night Strike glared at me, clearly getting sick of my attitude. “Sorry.” I mumbled, my ears flopping down. She slipped on her jacket and scooped up her duffel bag, only to pause. Opening up the bag, her face immediately turned pale as my mane. “What’s wrong?” I asked, stepping up to her.

“Oh shit, Thumper’s not in here!” Strike said as she started to frantically look around the room, pulling open drawers and glancing under the bed. “Oh, dad’s going to be -so- pissed if I lost it!” She ran back to kitchen. “Crash Dive, you didn’t find a grenade rifle on us when you dragged us out of the crash, did you?” The power-armored mare - so, her name's Crash Dive - shook her head.

“Nope, but it looked like a pretty hard landing, I just got what I thought you two needed. It might still be inside, that bag was open when I pulled it out.” Strike nodded, taking a deep breath to try to calm down. She muttered a quick ‘thanks’ before trotting towards a large metal door on the opposite side of the kitchen. It swung open, banging against the wall to reveal a short set of stairs heading down, and a much larger one spiraling upwards.

We trotted down the steps and opened another thicker stone door, both of us blinking as we were met by the rising sun. I carefully walked down the last few steps, my hooves meeting something damp and soft. I glanced down to see my hooves sinking slightly into short vegitation - grass? - left quite wet from the passing storm. I paused for a moment, looking around at the landscape.

It was certainly far more verdant than the bitter snow of the Northern Equestrian Wasteland, small fields of grass blowing in the wind on the edge of the rocky cliffs. I stared upwards at the building we’d just exited, discovering it to be a tall lighthouse, the brick walls cracked and the top glass shattered. Celestia, this is almost as if the Megaspells didn’t hit at all…

I began to trot slowly across the outcropping the lighthouse was on, Strike following me in equal stunned silence. The ocean lapped against the stony walls of the land bridge as I slowly came back to my senses, turning to Strike. “So, uh… where are we headed, exactly?” She snapped out of her stupor, glancing down at her Pip-Buck.

“Vanhoover’s a ways south of here, just have to make our way along the coast and we should hit it. Hopefully the bridges to it are still intact…” She said, trotting in front of me and beginning to lead the way. “Well, after we check the crash site for Thumper, at least.” As we climbed up the slowly sloping hill to the cliffs, I noticed a barrier of various metal parts stretching a ways on both sides of the path, much like the makeshift barrier around Mooscow. Once we reached the top of the path, Strike let out a squeak of surprise and ran ahead.

I followed her as she made her way to the crashed plane, myself looking back at the long gouge in the dirt that it'd made. Jeez, we actually survived that? Sheesh... the nose was buried in the mud, Night Strike working some of the dirt out of the barrels of the forward cannons. The cockpit’s glass was, actually, surprisingly inact, and the wings looked thoroughly scraped and banged up, but not really worse for wear. Strike trotted up to the cockpit door, opening it with a little grunt as it pushed against the grass and dirt.

Filing in through the small doorway, the actual interior of the cockpit seemed quite intact, nothing on the panels being visibly broken, and the only visible damage being a dent in the top of one panel that suspiciously resembled somepony's forehead. The door at the back was jarred open from the impact, and Night Strike rushed forward upon spotting Thumper lying on the ground further inside, having apparently slid through. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!” As she kissed the grenade rifle, I followed in with her and glanced around the small area, not remembering going through it back at Sunrise Castle.

Hanging from the walls, there were four large metal oblong spheres, each emblazoned with a large faded warning symbol and sporting boxy parts made of flat metal at their back ends. My heart stopped for a moment when I recognized the symbol as being the one for powerful magic. Almost against my will, my eyes fell below the symbol to read the text written in small letters; Tactical Self-Contained Megapsell, 500 tons TNT equivalent yield. Highly dangerous, handle with extreme caution! “N-Ni-Night Strike…?” I stuttered, stepping back from the bombs hanging from the walls.

Night Strike looked over to me, still holding Thumper close to her chest. She followed my gaze, her eyes going wide as she spotted the two large pieces of explosive ordinance hanging from the wall, myself catching another two hung from the opposite side. She stepped up beside myself, gaze focused in on the one I had been staring at. “Holy shit, we struck such a fucking gold mine here! Thank Luna these didn’t go off when we crashed... Whoo, dad is gonna be so pissed he missed these the last time he was there.” She said, running a hoof along the smooth metallic surface. She slung Thumper over her back as I gulped. Yeah, standing next to these things without knowing how beaten up they are, isn’t exactly comforting. “You don’t think we could actually get one of these things out through the cockpit and test it, do you?”

“I’d rather not.” I squeaked simply. Four undetonated megaspells? My mind was already racing through various ideas from dropping the bombs into the ocean to selling them to the highest bidder - Dangit, brain, the caps aren’t worth that! Strike headed towards the door, slipping out of the plane as I followed suit. “Um, do you think we should just be leaving this here, though?”

“Uh…” Strike turned around, staring at the machine. “I… don’t really think we can do much. I mean, didn’t sound like Crash Dive gets many visitors, at least. Too bad Twintails isn’t here, I’m pretty sure he’d fix this thing overnight if it meant getting to drop four megapsells.” I shrugged weakly, as she pushed the door back into place, wiping a bit of mud from the body of the craft. “We better just make sure we have this thing fixed up as quickly as possible, I suppose.” She began to hover up along the coastline, winding her way through the various barricades set up by Crash.

I glanced over my shoulder at the crashed plane, still a little worried. As we followed the coastline, we approached a large body of water, several tall twisted trees sitting at the edge. I walked a little closer, curious. The water was extremely dark, the occasional bubble that floated to the surface giving off the impression that the liquid was more slime than actual water. One particularly large bubble rose to the surface, its surface shimmered a little before bursting, releasing a cloud of noxious gas.

Strike gave a groan of disgust, looking around at the collection of trash that had been tossed into the large body of water. As we watched, I heard a low rumble from the center of the body of water. The water began to churn as the rumble grew louder, now clearly the sound of rushing water. “Oh crap,” I said. Strike and I took several steps backwards as the rumble grew even louder. Suddenly part of the land to the left of us gave way, dirt, trees, and garbage all flowing towards the center of the lake. We watched in awe as everything sank below the surface, the swampy muck soon swallowing up even the tops of the trees before the water began to slow its churning. The water flowed back towards the edges slowly before growing silent.

“Well, good to know that the ground could just eat us whole anytime.” Strike rolled her eyes, but still looked a little shaken before she began to head back around the sinkhole along the coast, giving it a bit of a wider berth than she had before. We continued on our way, myself checking my Pip-Buck to see how much further we had to go. “Are you sure we’re going to make it? It looks more than a day’s hike.” I said, trying my best to gauge the distance on my small map.

Strike shrugged. “Well, it’s faster than taking the road. That loops pretty far inland before heading down.” As we made our way through the swampy land, though, I could hear a faint buzzing from off in the distance. I pulled my umbrella out, feeling a little uneasy as the buzzing grew louder. Strike was glancing around as well, drawing Thumper and having it at the ready - oh, don't let this be another deal like Trotisk. Suddenly, several large figures flew in from a thick grove, revealing themselves to be what looked like enormous bloat sprites. However, instead of lazily buzzing back and forth, the large creatures were zig zagging their way towards us, showing off large stingers that hung from a bloated abdomen, festering with pustules.

I screamed and ducked behind Strike, who fired off a grenade, which the things easily dodged. Oh, fuck, can’t I have a few hours where I’m not fearing for my life?! I swung wildly as one approached, managing to beat it back a bit. However, each hit only further proved how durable their carapace was. The thing buzzed angrily, striking out with its stinger. I felt the large needle connect and jab into my foreleg, a burning pain quickly coursing through my veins. I stumbled backwards, still jabbing at the animal. I managed to land the needles into its large eyes, the beast twitching violently before falling to the ground, dead.

I turned to face Strike, my vision starting to blur a bit as the venom made its way through me. Fuck, fuck, ow, fuck. Strike fired Thumper off again, one of the... things tumbling out of the air, thoroughly shredded by that flaming ammo-stuff, and into a pool of muck, it's wings made useless as it began to sink. As I almost drunkenly made my way over to Strike, two more of the things zipped towards us, and I heard a small explosion off to the side. A large metal spear whizzed through the air, impaling one of the beasts and pinning it to a tree.

Both Strike and I looked over for the source of the spear, only to see Crash Dive brandishing a large cannon on her back, another spear loading into it from a metal box on the side. The final sprite turned to face her, buzzing angrily as it flicked its stinger threateningly. The moment it began to zip along the ground, though, Crash let the spear fly, striking the beast squarely in the head. The force of the bar driving through the thing's body sent it skidding backwards, giving off a squeak of pain before rolling over, its legs curling up over it.

Crash Dive ran up to us, my vision making it almost impossible to see what exactly was happening. “Why the hell would you just go walking through the swamps?! Do you not have common sense up in Turnpike!?” I staggered forward a little, Crash looking over to me. “Oh, shit, one of them got you? Uh, here.” She dug around in her armored sadlebags, before shoving a small bottle into my hooves. They shook as I pulled the bottle up to my lips, weakly pulling the cork out before drinking down the liquid.

The bitter drink burned a bit as it flowed through me, and it didn’t take long for me to drop the bottle and vomit onto the muck that made up the ground. As I vomited a second time, though, my vision began to clear, my head feeling less woozy. My legs shook more manageably as I stood straight, trying not to throw up again. “Stop trying to hold it in, you bloody surface-dweller. That’s the whole point of the antivenom.” The power-armored mare said apathetically. I promptly tilted my head forwards and puked again.

I shook my head as I wiped the dregs of stomach acid from my mouth, still feeling ill, but no longer in intense pain. I coughed a bit as Crash turned to Night Strike. “Come on, we’re heading back. You need to get your wounds treated, and no way in tartarus you’re going to make it through the rest of the swamp.” She turned and began to trot back the way we came, Strike and I following, our hearts still in our throats from the attack.

“Welcome to Vanhoover."

"You found WHAT on that thing!?" After heading back to Crash Dive's home for Static's sake, the day had already pulled along on to evening, the sunset illuminating the botoms of the clouds out at sea a brilliant orange hue. As for the power-armored pegasus with welded-down wing covers, she seemed to have taken on a hue of white - well, we had to tell her about the payload on the Valkyrie sooner or later. With Static resting in the guest bedroom, that just left me to handle Crash Dive... really, the way she was acting, you'd think we could die at any moment just because they're sitting out there.

"Four self-contained tactical megaspell warheads, 500 tons TNT equivalent each. They survived the crash pretty intact from the looks of it." Taking an idle sip from one of the few bottles of Sparkle-Cola in my duffel bag, I sat back in the small dining booth, looking out the window. Crash Dive, likewise, was staring out up at the cliff face and crash field, a certain look of terror on her face. Sheesh, it's only tactical megaspell warheads, and they're not even that big! Might level a city block, but not much else... "Trust me, I know a bit about bombs thanks to my dad, those things only activate their fail-deadly circuits if they're armed, and they'll only armed if they're dropped out of the aircraft. Considering the bomb bay doors are buried under mud right now, that's not happening."

Moving to take another sip from my bottle, the few furnishings on the table clattered loudly as a heavy, power-armored hoof slammed down upon it, the pink-maned mare glaring at myself with a certain look in her eye that seemed to convey the message that she really wanted to tear me limb from limb. Swallowing down the glowing soda - oofh, that was rougher than usual - I scooted myself further down the bench, Crash Dive following me with her eyes for a moment before letting off a sigh, turning and trotting back to the kitchen's counters.

"Next time you go out - and you both ARE going out - I'm coming with you. If I see a mushroom cloud pop up anywhere near this place while we're out..." She paused for a moment, drawing in a breath and releasing it through gritted teeth. Okay, yeah, that's a Twintails-certified code brown furious glare. "Let's just say, the fact that your fancy flying machine's vaporized in the blast will be the least of your issues. Understood?" Dryly swallowing, I answered her with a nod, the angry mare moving herself over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of Wild Pegasus whiskey. Undoing the cork, she looked down at the bottle for a moment, letting off a sigh before turning and shutting the door. Her armored hooves creaked the floorboards as she lifted herself up and into the booth across from myself, still just looking down into the bottle.

Timidly taking a sip of my own Sparkle-Cola, Crash Dive set the bottle down on the table between us both, leaning forwards and looking at it intently. "You know, I've lived here for a decade all my own, haven't realized just how close this whiskey resembles the clouds at sunset. Funny how drinks can look like other stuff, isn't it?" The power-armored mare across from myself looked up at me, myself answering her with a faint nod. Huh, it does look like the sky, kinda... A whole decade, all alone...

"Yeah. Heh, my dad Twintails' said that Sparkle-Cola RAD reminds him of the reactor pool back in his Stable. Who'dve thought that radioactive rocks could be used to boil water? Or glow blue, for that matter?" Letting off a light chuckle, Crash Dive's expression softened into a faint smile, still looking at the botle of whiskey. A faint wispy cloud came out of it, water droplets forming on the outside - well, that's different. I took another sip of the cool blue soda, swallowing twice to get the flavor down, the pegasus across from me leaning herself back and looking at myself.

"Your dad, it sounds like he got around a lot, for a surface-dweller. Megaspell expert, fancy weird reactor watcher... what is he? And your mom, what's she?" Blinking a few times, I finished the sip of Sparkle-Cola I had in my mouth, setting the bottle down and giving Crash Dive a confused stare. Oh, right, most foals have a mommy and daddy, not two daddies... ah, screw convention. "I-I mean, if it's not a touchy subject. I didn't think there were any surface-dwellers with pegasus genes."

"U-uhm, well, it's a bit complicated... Twintails, he's, um, he was born and grew up in a Stable, but his mom wasn't. I think they said she abandoned the Tsetse cloudship at some point after she was knocked up by General Titchbreeze... She found Stable 34, managed to get them to open the door and help her give birth to dad, then she crawled herself back out and got her head blown apart by Captain Fringe. Something like that." I'll be first to admit, I never really paid attention to that part of the bedtime story. Balefire bombs and tank guns are just more fun! "As for my other dad Featherweight, and aunt Buzzy, I think they were both surface-born pegasi. Never really asked." Giving Crash Dive a shrug, I went back to sipping down the Sparkle-Cola, the mare across from me wearing a blank stare. "What, something on my face? Are my eyes glowing? Dad said that that can happen sometimes."

"O-ho-kay, let's take it back for a moment, just so I have this clear. Your dad Twintails was born inside a Stable, but his mother lived on a Grand Pegasus Enclave cloudship, so, technically, you're at least part of the Enclave genealogy. But your aunt and... other dad, Featherweight, they're pegasi that were born on the surface." Nodding in response, Crash Dive rubbed at her forehead, the last lights of evening slipping down below the horizon. Staring at the open bottle of whiskey, she raised a hoof, sitting herself back up. "Okay, just answer me this, how in the name of tartarus and the goddesses do you exist, when you didn't and don't have a mom?"

Finishing up the bottle of Sparkle-Cola, I paused for thought for a moment, resting my cheek against my hoof and looking up at the sky through the window. Okay, I know that Paladin Nova said something about how it worked at some point, um... oh, right! "Well, Featherweight and Twintails both gave Paladin Nova samples of their DNA, and I was carried to term by Flash-Bang, Twintails' female doppleganger. They could probably explain the specifics better than I can, medical stuff isn't my thing..." Peering into the bottle of Sparkle-Cola, I lifted it with my jaw to get the last few drops, the bottle of whiskey on the table jumping as Crash Dive let her power armored foreleg fall and slam into it, a slack jaw and vacant stare on her face. "What?"

"Oh, Celestia above I need that drink."

"Well, I've got some good news, and I've got some... less-than-good news." Crash Dive struggled her way out of the bomber's cockpit, her armor's broad shoulders scraping against the metal walls of the door slightly. Both myself and Static wore a grimace, the pink-maned pegasus looking back at the craft. "Good news, no major structural damage, from what I can see, and the repair talismans are all in working order. Give it a while, and she'll be ready to get out of here." Static bore a wide grin, resting on top of the engine above the intake. I returned it - home's only a matter of time, now. Crash Dive rubbed at the back of her head, still looking at the cockpit of the plane.

"The, uh, the less-than-good news is, the talismans weren't built for performing a complete overhaul in the case of a crash. The Mark VI was made for repairing battle damage, designed so that it'd function at full while the engines are running. Only had enough battery power left to fix some of the electronic systems... you're gonna need some other power source." ...okay, home's seeming a bit farther away now. Static hopped down from the top of the wing, his umbrella on his back underneath his saddlebags. Ooh, his cutie mark's a lightning bolt, could we plug his butt into it to see if that'd work?

"Er, how big a power source are we talking? I... think I have a few spark batteries in my bags. If they're good enough to power Ivan and Jolts..." He shrugged, looking back to Crash Dive. Well, concentrated lightning does tend to have a lot of power behind it, from my understanding. Suppose it might work, maybe. The power-armored pegasus opted to disagree.

"Bigger. We'd need at least a functional portable generator, one of those pre-war ones they used with the military or construction companies. Spark batteries... unless you've got a million or so of them, no dice." Well, least it wasn't entirely hopeless. Crash Dive thought for a moment, trotting herself past the nose of the craft and looking at the lush wasteland beyond, looking off in the distance. She lingered for a while, Static giving me a slightly confused look - no, it's not just a pegasus thing. "I know that there are some pre-war bases in this area, a couple kilometers away from each other. Jericho Beach, Seahoof Armory, Vanhoover Air Base, et cetera. It's a long walk, but there's probably at least somewhere around there that you can find a military-grade portable generator." She paused for a moment, a certain look coming to her face. "I can show you to the nearest town, but only for you to find a map. I won't go in with you."

"Alright, so, we going to head off, or what? Sooner we get this thing taking off again, the better, right?" Myself trotting over to Crash Dive, she let off a sigh, looking skywards. Thinking for a moment, she gave her head a shake, turning her gaze south and beginning to walk. Well, that's a touch rude... "H-hey, are we going now or not?"

"Too late in the day now, by the time we get back here the land bridge would be flooded over. I need to get some things together, anyways, and check the traps for anything. You two can help carry stuff, if you want, would make it a bit easier." Following behind her by a few trots, I slowed down, looking behind at Static. His eyes met mine, and he gave his shoulders a shrug, catching up with myself as we continued along. Crash Dive glanced over her shoulder at myself, giving a faint nod and letting us both catch up. "Alright then. We'll set off first thing tomorrow, O-500. Either of you aren't moving, I'll wake you up, so be sharp."

"Five AM... last time I woke up then was when Minty and Cross Stitch found that horn ring. Eewuh." The earth pony shuddered, falling back a few steps in the process. "Not the most pleasant of sounds to wake up to." Answering him with an eyeroll - yeah, stay a night at my house, I swear I could make a record of 'unpleasant sounds to wake up to' - we continued on, the barbed tail of Crash Dive's armor flicking about every now and again. Static trotted close on the opposite side of the mare, the barb making a quick jab at him almost reflexively, prompting him to jump back. O... kay then. Yeah, probably is better if you stick on my left side while I stick to hers, ya earth pony. "S-so, er, what happens after we get a map of this place? We going off on our own, or..."

"No, I'm coming along with you two. After Night Strike... informed me, of what exactly was inside the bomb bay of that thing crashed outside my home, I'd really rather not have to get my armor irradiated to pound you both into a pulp. I'm a bit allergic to megaspell detonations." Wow, I didn't know snark was a learnable course in the Enclave. As we passed a small group of faintly withering flowers, the pegasus came to a stop, sniffling a bit before letting off a heavy sneeze. "...and poppies. Damn glad we're going out when we are, storm season means the things are all dying out." Stepping up to the reddish flowers, Crash Dive lifted her forehooves and rather maliciously pounded the things into the mud and dirt. Okay, now that makes dad using the TOG's gun to kill bloatsprites seem reasonable by comparison.

"Uh, when you say 'storm season', d'you mean more of the stuff we saw the night we came in? With the lightning and heavy rain, and stuff?" Static's voice sounded a bit uneasy, and for good reason. I try taking the Valkyrie off in that kind of weather... yeah, no promises we wouldn't just wind back up in the dirt later while heading home. Zero visibility sucks like the vaccuum wave from a megaspell detonation... goddesses, I gotta come up with better comparisons. My dad says that, for pony's sake! Crash Dive looked over at him - or, maybe at me - before peering about the area, coming to a stop and turning herself left.

"No, not quite. Vanhoover gets some nasty weather coming in from the sea sometimes, occasionally ground born pegasi handle it when it gets especially bad and drifts inland, but this time of year it starts getting to be more than they can deal with. Not that anypony wants to be flying when it's below zero - I know I certainly didn't enjoy that all that much." The pegasus came to a stop by a couple odd-shaped rocks, and a rusted, seemingly miniaturized bear trap. It was triggered, but empty, by some miracle. She grimaced, her hooves moving to re-arm it, the metal groaning as it was pushed back into an unsprung state. "In-built heaters can only do so much. Already starting to get a bit chilly."

Now that got her a look of confusion from the both of us. I dunno where she's coming from, but I'd call the temperature right now pleasant, just like being under a blanket back home - this is cold for them? Whew, thank Celestia we didn't come a few months earlier... I'd rather not be a puddle-pony. Both myself and Static minding the re-armed trap, we moved further along to another small set of rocks, this one surrounded by taller grass, concealing a metal cage. The power armored mare knelt down, peering inside the metal box for a moment before returning to her hooves. She let off a sigh, trotting back along. "Starting to get sick of fish..."

"Don't you do any trading? There's gotta be someone somewhere who does hunting around here." Scratching at my head, I watched as Crash Dive came to a stop, facing away from the both of us, before continuing forwards. O... kay then. Yeah, maybe I should've remembered who I was talking to. We continued along to another grassy patch, the power armored pegasus again kneeling down to look inside, giving a glance back at us.

"Yanno, I think I can handle it from here. You two head on back to the house, listen to the radio or something. I've got an old games system in the basement of the lighthouse, if you're into that." The pegasus picked herself up - er, was it something I said? - looking over the both of us with a certain gaze that seemed to make her drill her point across clearer. Okay, okay, we'll go back, don't steal my soul or something. With a nod of compliance, we both turned about, heading for the small cliffside path and land bridge. As we trotted off, I turned and looked back, catching a glimpse of Crash Dive procuring a small tin container from the trap, pulling something from it and feeding it into her armor. Huh...

"Welcome back, you're listening to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. Our top story today is the continuing slew of reports of a strange flying craft that crash-landed just inside the perimeter of the haunted lighthouse. Witnesses to the crash describe the craft as being roughly triangle-shaped with a massive fin on its back, and jets of blue flame shooting from it's back side. They also describe it as making a low rumbling sound, as well as a deafening blast on par with a balefire bomb explosion; a family of ghoul witnesses have been admitted to the MASH Triage outside of Hopeville for psychiatric counseling following the appearance of the craft. Due to the nature of the no-go zone between safe roads and the lighthouse perimeter, nobody has yet confirmed if the craft is in one piece, but speculation from some have argued that, and I quote; 'if it's a piece of Equestrian technology, it was built to last.' I'm inclined to believe them, considering I'm talking to you from a pre-war battleship that's sat moored outside for two centuries and is still afloat, eheh.

"Anyways, again, you're listening to Radio KAOS, and we have all those classic songs of the war lined up for you, so sit back, relax, and try to not be our next news segment going after that flying thing."

"You and I in a little toy shop,
buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn,
til one by one, they're all gone.

Back at base, bugs in the software
flash the message, 'Something's out there!'
Floating in the summer sky,
Ninety-nine red balloons go by..."

"Uh, Night Strike? I think I found that game thing Crash Dive was talking about." Static grunted slightly, setting a metal box of various parts down and peering into the hole it left behind. Shoving another box out of the way, it revealed a small metal terminal, two buttons located where a keyboard would be on a regular one, and one large switch on the side. Sheesh, looks like something even oldder than the TOG... hooking his hooves around the back, Static hauled the thing out, it scraping rather loudly against the stone floor. Ouch. "Goddesses above, what'd they make this thing out of? Lead?"

"Considering the state of Equestria before the war, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case." He steadied it on his back, myself moving alongside him to keep it level as we moved to the spiral staircase on the wall. It's just one flight, c'mon ya big baby. One hoof kept on the thing to keep it steady, the door to the small house connected to the tower soon approached, myself getting the door as Static strained under the weight. The floorboards creaked loudly as we trotted through, the earth pony being quite relieved when we reached teh kitchen and shuffled the 'game system' onto the table by the window. He slumped into the bench on one side, myself walking the thing back along it until we both could comfortably see the screen. Static sat recovering for a moment, myself looking over the thing. "So... uh, I think the on switch is on your side."

"Oh... alright..." The thing resounded with a loud clack, followed by the whine of a small fan spinning to speed and the hum of the screen. We both watched as a pair of thick white boxes popped up, along with a smaller white box in the center. The image stuck on the screen for a while, both of us a bit afraid to touch anything. "Um... is it, like a targeting reticle or something? Haven't a clue." He scratched at his head, myself reaching forwards and looking at the two buttons on the console. Pushing one upwards, I think we both jumped a little as the square in the center began moving around, hitting one side and making the console beep before disappearing off the left side. O... kay then.

"I don't get it."

"Alright... Sparkle-Cola, check, bottlecaps, check, Thumper... heh, check. What ammunition have I got left..." Settling in for the night after a while of trying to figure out how that game-thing worked - took until Crash Dive came back and showed us that the buttons were also knobs that moved the rectangle things - I took the time to go through my duffel bag, get ready for tomorrow. The large case of ammunition clattered against itself as I set it on the floor, Thumper resting up on the bed with a dragon's breath shell in the chamber. Opening up the box, the sight of the brass casings prompted a smile on my face. Oh, the lovely sight of lots and lots of grenades, slugs, and shells just waiting to be used...

Belt by belt I began to pull them out, the radio on my legputer playing, looking over each strip of seven for any dents or other things. Good thing the primer needs to be fired to activate the fuse, I don't think a cockpit filled with explosions and shrapnel would've been as survivable. Standard HE rounds, twenty, check. Incendiary HE rounds, fourteen, check. Dragon's breath shells, twelve, check. Slug shells, six... wait a second, grenades usually aren't plastic. Pulling the last strip comprised of the solid slug shells out of the grenade box, I worked the odd one free of it's latch, a note coming free from it. Weird...

"'Dear Strikey'... fuck..." Great, Dad added it on. Oh, if we weren't Celestia knows how far south right now he'd probably have a smug look on his face when he saw I'd found this. Hm... we've been gone three days now, he's probably getting worried. Probably was worried by the time we didn't come back to EQUAD... oh... "'Dear Strikey, if you're reading this, you took Thumper and the grenades again, and probably worked through enough of them to have reason to use the Slug rounds. Yes, I expect you to pay for replacing all of the ones that you used.'" Classic Dad, snarky even in writing... "'Inside the fake capsule that this note's around is a gift for you I got from Cross Stitch. I hope that you'll remember it next time you go out on another one of your crazy adventures. I love you, my little megaspell. -Twintails.'"

Setting the note down, I quieted the radio slightly, my attention turned back to the plastic casing, my forehooves gripping around it. Okay, so how does this thing open... tugging on it? Eh, nope. Bending? Hm... well, it kinda did something. Twisti- a-ha! Smiling for a moment, the top of the case came off, and I let the contents empty out into my forehoof. I blunk a few times, not entirely sure what it was for a moment, before... before those two lime-green buttons on the golden felt face stared up at me, hidden behind a bit of black mane. The plastic case fell to the floor with a small clatter, my vision starting to become a little blurry as I carefully brushed the dark green overcoat back, revealing the black, bulletproof vest, faded blue pants, and pair of brown and gold tails. I leaned back against the bed, staring into the eyes of the plushie for a moment, before hugging it tightly against my chest and letting the waterworks run. Celestia, I missed home...

"You're tuned in to Radio KAOS, bringing you the songs of yesteryear and other pleasantries for your listening ears. Here's one from a beautiful mare I once met, a long, long time ago; Vera Lynn, and she's reminding us all that no matter what, we'll always meet again, some sunny day."

"Daddy..."

“Come on, you two, revellrie, get your flanks in gear!” Crash Dive pounded on the door to the guest room, jolting me out of my sleep. Aw, that was such a nice dream about overstuffed diapers, and balloon ponies, and... what the heck is up with my brain? I flopped over the side of the futon she had provided for me, groaning as I tried to wake myself up. “If you aren’t out here in two minutes I’m gonna give you a taste of my days back in boot camp. Gunny's favorite way of waking stragglers up was chucking a plasma grenade in the barracks!” Well that was certainly enough motivation. I quickly slipped on my coat and hitched up my saddlebags, double checking my umbrella was secure under the strap before throwing myself out the door. Crash Dive was standing on the other side, idly tossing a grenade with a hoof, looking impatient. Holy crap, I didn’t think she was really serious about that!

Night Strike quickly followed, stuffing a few things into her duffle bag as she darted through the door. Crash Dive stowed the grenade in a box on her armor, before turning and making her way towards the door, swinging a fishing pole over her back. “Maple Creek is a little less than half a day’s hike from here, and then we’ll need to head back here before the tide comes in again.” The door to the lighthouse's cabin swung open, the sun not even having risen yet. We began to make our way up the peninsula, the ground still slightly wet from the high tides, the waves down below providing a sort of background noise for the trek inland. As we made our way past the crash of the Valkyrie, the smell of rotting flesh reached my nose, making me gag. Okay, that takes the cake for unpleasant smells you don't want to deal with in the morning...

Crash Dive trotted over to where one of her buried mine spots was, the area around the small crater now dotted with body parts. “Looks like some idiot surface-dweller tried to get a closer look at the wreck,” she said, pushing the meat off of the nearby cliff edge. Ew. “We need to move quickly before somepony with some actual experience gets here.” Night Strike and I nodded as Crash Dive pulled a sensor module and roll of duct tape out of tin boxes on her armor, taping the module around a grenade as a makeshift mine. I checked my Pip-Buck, following the small road inland as it curved through the landscape. Huh, we were a long way from much of note... that somepony must've walked for the better part of a day, too. Oh, I hope we don't run into their relatives...

We were soon trekking through the overgrown hills again, soon finding a cracked stone road and taking it eastwardly. My stomach rumbled as we walked down the road, the sun peeking over the distant mountains and meeting our eyes. “Uh, you didn’t happen to grab a bag of oats or something on the way out, did you?” Crash Dive passed along a rather annoyed glare - a simple 'no' would've sufficed, yikes...

“If you wanted food, you should’ve packed it yourself. You can get something to eat when we get to the town, anyways.” My ears flopped down, stomach letting off another loud grumble, as I regretted not setting an alarm on my Pip-Buck. The road dipped into a small valley, a river flowing alongside it. As we walked beside the rushing water, Night Strike spoke up.

“Hey, so, uh, why is it you said you weren’t coming into town with us, anyways?” The power armored pegasus didn’t answer for a long moment, simply walking forward as we followed along. The old road turned southwards slightly, coming to a small crumbling rock bridge. Oh yeah, I definitely trust my life with that. She headed over the bridge first, as Night Strike and I followed behind. I peered over a hole in the short wall on the side, hopping back as I saw the water flowing underneath - I don’t care how slow it is, I’d sooner be able to fly than swim.

“If you needed a reminder, I'm not exactly a sociable person.” She left it at that, as we finally crossed over the bridge. Neither Strike nor I pressed her to continue; it was rather obvious it would go nowhere and probably end with one of us wanting a diaper... probably me more than Night Strike, memory serving. It wasn’t much longer until we turned a corner, a small town coming into view, nestled into the valley alongside the flowing river. Huh, knd of looks like one of those old postcards, very scenic. “Alright, you two head on. Get back here by thirteen-hundred or you’re going to be swimming back to the lighthouse, earth pony. I won't wait for you.” She sat down by the banks of the river, hooking a piece of meat to her pole before casting out. “And pray I get something other than salmon here.”

We continued down the road, leaving Crash Dive to her fishing. “So, what exactly’s with her and ‘surface dwellers’?” I asked once we were out of earshot. Strike grimaced a little as we trotted towards the village, a few ponies attempting to tear out a few weeds that were spitting some sort of acid at them near some crops.

“You did notice she’s Enclave, right?” I gave her a deadpan look. No, Night Strike, I didn’t notice the advanced power armor she was wearing, or her military attitude. She rolled her eyes. “The Grand Pegasus Enclave don’t... didn't, didn't like non-pegasi, to put it lightly.” I raised an eyebrow. Fringe, Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush from back home didn’t seem to hold any grudges. Well, besides other pegasi, if Dad's stories were true. “Well, most didn’t,” she added, reading my expression.

We soon reached the edge of the small town, ponies milling this way and that, all surprisingly naked. Buh, warmer climate, of course... “I’m surprised Fringe didn’t tell you at some point. That was kind of their whole thing before that stable dweller/lightbringer-whatever took them down.” Well, we were usually selling favors to each other and talking tech. I’m not that into philosophical discussions, Strikey... Night Strike blew out her nose, looking around. “Crap, just thought, where the hell are we going to find someone selling a map?”

“Uh... maybe there’s some kind of tourist attraction. They’d probably have something,” I suggested. “Of course… the trouble would be finding something worth showing off.” Strike gave a nod as we made our way through town. As we headed down the street, Night Strike suddenly gave a little squeal, walking over to a slightly cracked window with several large guns and explosives on display. I glanced up, the sign above the door reading ‘Sulfur’s Stockpile’. Night Strike made her way towards the door. “Um, we still need that map, yanno...”

“Oh, we won’t be spending all day in here. Besides, you can't prove they don't have one!” She smiled rather smugly, giddily stepping herself into the shop. I rolled my eyes but followed her in, getting a whiff of the powder charges and other things - Gun Runner's, Sulfur's Stockpile, these powder weapons stores all are the same to me... A pony stood at a display counter, marking off items and checking their condition. She turned her head as we trotted in, smiling and levitating the clipboard aside.

“Welcome to Sulfur’s Stockpile, the best place for things that go boom!” The mare said cheerily, Night Strike seeming to make her grin grow wider. I chuckled a little - I beg to differ on where to find the best explosions. “Anything I can get for you two?” Strike looked around at the various grenades and sticks of dynamite on display, checking her saddlebags for her caps. I checked my own bag of caps, then moved to looking over the various items. As Night Strike and the owner discussed the price of a few grenades for Thumper, I spotted a few hoof grenades that were much thinner than the others, almost seeming to glow a little in the dim light.

I caught the attention of the owner as Strike passed her some caps, a smile on her muzzle and another big tin of grenades under her foreleg. “Oh, these are some flash-bangs. Highly concentrated specialized light spell, they won’t do much besides blind, deafen, and disorient somepony for a while.” Night Strike moved herself back over, myself glancing down at the glowing canisters again, the owner picking up one and tossing it in her hooves idly. “I'll admit they’re not too popular... been trying to get rid of them for a while, actually. 20 caps apiece sound good?” I answered her with a grin and nod, scooping up five and tossing them into my saddle bags as I poured out half of my caps into the mare’s satchel. She wore a bright grin as we moved for the exit, waving us goodbye. “Thanks for the business, guys! Come back anytime!”

As we made to head back out into the street, I paused and turned back to the owner, halfway through the door. “Oh, hey, do you know where we might be able to find a map of the area? Any sort of tourist-y places nearby?” The mare thought for a moment, leaning against one of the tables with a large minigun on display.

“There really isn’t much in the way of tourist attractions, at least, not up around this area. You could always try heading to Vanhoover tomorrow, of course.” She looked over the minigun as her horn began to glow, the clipboard hovering back over to her as she made a few marks. “There’s an old earth pony who used to do a few river tours before his boat broke down, he might have something for you. Check down by the town pub by the docks, he should be around there somewhere. Name’s Ripple, if I remember right.” I thanked her and we headed out the door, following a few rusted signs pointing towards the river peers.

“What on Earth did you get those things for?” Strike asked, motioning towards a flash bang poking out of my saddlebags. “A grenade isn’t a grenade if it isn’t going to kill a pony if you stuff it in their shirt, or, at least separate them from their legs.” She smirked as we rounded a corner, coming up to the banks of the river, a few wooden docks standing in the water, the posts covered in some grayish algae. A few fillies were playing near the river’s edge, building sand castles and splashing water at each other.

“Pardon me if I’d rather just end up blind for a moment if I get myself caught in the blast.” Shooting her a look, she immediately responded with an eyeroll. Well, sorry for having a sense of self preservation. I looked around the docks, but couldn’t really see any particularly old ponies anywhere. “You think you see him?” Night Strike shook her head, but pointed out at a small building sitting a few feet from the edge of the riverbank. We headed through the doors, myself admiring the two rifles that hung below the words ‘Winchester Pub’.

The doors squeaked as they swung shut behind us, the smell of alcohol hitting us both. The pub was full of ponies chatting, drinking, a few tossing darts or playing pool in the corner. I looked around, spotting a particularly old blue stallion sitting at the bar. He took a swig of cider as we approached, covering his mouth as he belched, his greying mane underneath a worn old hat. “Uh, Ripple?”

He spun on his stool to face us, looking slightly confused. “Ah, aye? Do I know you two?” Strike and I sat up on the stools beside him, the old stallion taking a moment to think, looking over us. Before we could answer, though, he hit himself in the head with his hoof. “Oh, you probably 'eard about the tours, didn’t you? I’m sorry, but poor ol' Trout’s not going anywhere anymore.” He took another sip of his cider, gulping it down with a faint sniffle.

“Ehm, what exactly happened to it?” The bartender trotted up to us, both Strike and I ordering a Sparkle Cola each. She shot a surprised look at myself, another mug of cider setting itself down in front of Ripple. Hey, just because my dad’s obsessed with Sunrise Sarsaparilla doesn’t mean I have to be, yanno! We tossed a few caps on the counter as he trotted off to retrieve the sodas.

“Poor girl, time wasn't kind to 'er. Couldn't keep up with keeping her parts in shape like I used to be... not to mention her bottom kept getting holes from the Celestia-damned monster sea ponies.” Both Night Strike and I looked a little shocked, before Ripple gave a raspy laugh, rubbing at his eyes. “Ah, I’m just messing with you, old mare's tale, that. I just, uh, tended to hit a few too many rocks, is all... But if Lugnut asks what I told you, say it’s the monsters.” He pointed out a large pony attempting to throw darts at a board hanging on the wall, though he had clearly had a few too many mugs of cider. “He’s been going on about seeing sea monsters all week. Ask me, he's been drinking more for the loss of Trout than I 'ave, and I was the one who owned that crate.”

The bartender returned with our sodas, Night Strike and I popping the cap off and taking a sip. “Actually, we heard you might have a map of the area, seeing how you gave tours, and such,” I said, pocketing the bottle cap. Ripple finished off his first cider, the barkeep quickly swooping in to remove it and wipe down his part of the counter.

“Aye, should have something back at my house. Haven't had a reason to use it in years, might get some cider spilled on it but I've got the only map I need up here." Letting off a chuckle, the old stallion tapped a hoof against the side of his head, turning himself about. He slid off of the stool and began to head towards the door, Strike and I following as we quickly finished our sodas, the bartender looking at the untouched mug of cider before shrugging and taking a gulp of it himself. We followed Ripple along the river, coming to a small shack with a boat moored at a short dock behind it. The stallion pushed open the door with a creak, lighting a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. The shack had clearly been used as an office not long ago, a desk shoved in the corner with a collection of maritime items hanging from the walls.

Ripple dug around in the desk below a sign marked with boat touring prices, retrieving a weathered piece of paper and unrolling it on a table. “So, d'you need the map, or just some directions?” Strike and I leaned over the table, looking over the yellowing paper. It showed a slightly smaller area than the maps on our Pip-Bucks, but Ripple has scrawled down several landmarks and cities onto the parchment.

“Ah, we really just need to punch in some stuff on these. Not from around these parts really, eheh...” Night Strike said, drawing his attention to our Pip-Bucks. Ripple let off a quiet sigh, nodding and moving himself over to a cot in the corner, as we began to mark various locations on our map. Let’s see, so we’ve got Maple Creek and Crash’s Lighthouse, there’s a river heading south to Vanhoover, a waterfall upstream, a few small towns here and there... Hopeville, boy, that sounds like a place from one of those old films... a couple military bases around, one due north of the town, and a small train junction just below the far northern mountainous region.

“Ah, right, the map don’t show it, but there’s also a hiking trail near that waterfall just upstream, it’ll take you to near the ridge. It’s a pretty view, but I don’t think a lot of ponies bother going anymore.” We finished marking the locations on our map, and Ripple rolled it back up, stashing it into his desk. “Heck, if you two could fix up Trout’s engine, I’d be happy to take you there sometime. The valley’s pretty rocky along the river there, it’s a hard road to walk. I think the engine just needs some scrap parts, but there’s just no good merchant in town for the ones I need. Probably'd be able to show you how to fix it if you got some.”

“Heh, we’re actually looking for some parts for our own-oof... Er, we’ll see if we can find something for your boat. Thanks for showing us the map, though.” Ripple nodded and held the door open for us as we trotted out, myself rubbing at my side where Night Strike had hit me. I didn't know you could use your wings like that! The sun was starting to move from its position directly overhead as we headed down the streets, moving back west. We were soon back at the edge of town, trotting down the road heading back towards Crash’s Lighthouse.

Crash Dive looked up from the water as we trotted up to her. “Well, I didn’t expect you two to be back so quickly. Still, gives me more time to cook these once we get back.” She patted two full cloth saddlebags, which were jumping around a bit as some fish flopped around inside. She stood herself up and swung her fishing pole over her back. “You did actually find a map, right?”

Night Strike nodded. “It didn’t go any further south than Vanhoover, but it pointed out enough towns and old bases close by that we should be able to find some kind of gennie for fixing the Valkyrie.” We all began to walk back down the road, Night Strike flipping on her radio as we did.

“Welcome back, this is Radio KAOS with all your Pre-War favorites. No confirmed reports on the mysterious crashed object, though we have got a rumor of it saying it’s, um…” There was a rustle of paper, the announcer letting off a quiet groan. “Zebra ghosts that don’t know they’re dead. Apparently tried to build a rocket to the moon to paint it pink and draw Discord’s face on it. You've gotta be kidding me...” The announcer snorted as he tried to hold back a laugh. “Heh, well, we’ll hopefully find out sooner or later whether we should be aiming any megaspells we’ve got left skywards for you, dear listener. I'd suggest heading for Hopeville in the meantime, they've got a great shrink there. For the more sensible, here’s some classics...” There was a pause, and the scratch of a needle falling onto a record as a jazzy drum beat began, soon joined by a chorus of trumpets and saxxes.

“Ooh, I love this song!” I said, swinging my rump to the tune as Night Strike tried to bite back a laugh, and Crash placed her hoof to her forehead.

We soon arrived back at Crash Dive’s lighthouse, having carefully wound our way past the various traps she’d laid out. The water was lapping at the rocks just a few feet below us now, the tide starting to come in. We headed into the small living quarters, Crash flicking on a light as Night Strike and I sat ourselves down at the table. Her stomach growled loudly. “Jeez, eheh, I guess I forgot how hungry I am.”

Crash Dive pulled the fish out of her saddlebags, dropping them onto the counter before digging around in her cupboards for a pan. She flipped on the stove and placed a pan onto the warming metal. “Alright, we’ll be heading out at oh-five hundred again, or we’re not making it to Seahoof Armory before nightfall.” Both Night Strike and myself groaned, Crash Dive shooting us a glare. “Well, unless you’d rather try to fight those poisonous bloatsprites in the dark, of course.” I grumbled to myself, but didn’t protest any further.

We ate in silence once the fish was complete, all of us heading to bed early to get enough sleep for tomorrow. Bluh, I better set an alarm so I’m not stuck eating nothing but a half cooked fish again... I settled onto the cot as Strike slipped into the bed beside it, turning the light off. Light flashed from outside as a storm began to roll in, the rain pattering against the window. I rolled myself over in bed, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep as a low rumble filled the air. Thunder, right, it's just a rainstorm. Lightning flashed again, and the boom was much louder this time, making myself jump up from the cushions, catching my breath.

Goddess-damnit, why did nature have to sound like imminent death!?

Bugs and Guns

Oh, today was a long day. Stupid merchant not having enough caps to pay for a whole armory's worth of guns and ammo... okay, fair point, but still. Least the timed grenades were neat and arguably useful things. Ditching both duffel bags by the left side of the bed, I tugged off my jacket, Crash Dive stepping back through the doorway and likewise removing her helmet. I gave my wings a shake, some old feathers falling out of them - guh, that was pretty damn annoying how they build up all the time. Taking to slapping the post of the bed with them a few times to beat the feathers out, Crash Dive turned and stared at me, myself realizing... eventually. I let off a weak chuckle, folding my wings back up, looking to her with a sheepish grin. "Eheheh... old feathers, yanno, gotta get them out somehow, right?"

"Can't believe I have to ask this, but, um, do you know what preening is?" Preening, preening, preening... doesn't ring any bells. Returning a blank stare, Crash Dive slowed in removing her armor, just seeming to stare at me for the few moments before I responded with a shake of the head. Oh, what is it, you're making me feel really stupid right now, Crash Dive... "You've got to be kidding. Didn't your parents ever show you how to preen yourself?"

"Uh... I'm pretty sure that they're not the best teachers for how to, um, preen, because they're both stallions and I'm a mare... though in retrospect, preening probably doesn't mean anything like that, does it?" Huh, yanno, I don't think I've seen Crash Dive blush before. She shook her head, pulling off a few more pieces of her armor to leave just her wing covers, shoulders, and bodysuit on again. Trotting over to me, she sat me on the bed, looking to my wings for a moment before turning me around and laying me flat on my stomach. Okay, my turn to blush...

"No, not quite. You might not be able to tell the difference, though..." The soft material of the bodysuit's hooves gently reached between my body and wings, sending a rather unfamiliar tingle up my spine. O-ho-kay, um, Crashy, I appreciate what you're doing but I don't think we're each other's types! She stopped for a moment - finally - letting off a soft hum and thinking. "Just, out of curiosity, how did your... fathers clean their wings out, anyways? You, um, you should relax your wings for this, too..."

"Oh... uh, I think they both would take turns standing either side of the TOG's 17-pounder and firing it off, let the blast from the muzzlebrake blow all the dead feathers out. I guess a tank gun works for that." Shrugging, I felt as the pink-maned pegasus stretched my right wing out to it's full span, another tingle coming up my spine. Woah, feeling somepony else handle your wings is weird... She stopped, just as I was beginning to feel her breath on my wings. Oh, this was weirder...

"Your fathers own a tank. A tank-tank. A, moves on two tracks, has a big functioning turreted gun with ammo for it tank. Celestia above, next thing you're going to tell me is that they've got a missile silo or something, too..." Yeah, believe me, they wish they did... Crash Dive leaned forwards again, her muzzle close to the feathers of my wing, each breath making a tingling sensation shoot up my spine. Ooooh, this was getting a bit freak- an intense shiver overcame myself as she stuck her muzzle inbetween my feathers, a faint tugging sensation being felt as she pulled back out. What was... whoo... huh, that was... something. Her hooves gently rubbed through the layers again, myself giving my wing a quick ruffle from the feeling. "Goddesses girl, if you do the same thing as your fathers... how the hell can you fly like this?"

"Just ignore it, I-I guess... wuuuh, h-how much longer should this take? N-not that I'm complaining..." She leaned in again, nuzzling between my feathers and pulling a few more old ones out, gently massaging them afterwards. Celestia above, this felt... oh, this felt good. My other wing popped out, ruffling as well, the power-armored mare making steady work of both. Don't really remember when I finally passed out, but... goddesses Celestia and Luna above, that was heavenly.

"Alright, we're stopping at the general store first to pick up a few food things, gunsmith next to see if he's got any more shells in or made for you yet, and then the Triage to see about picking up some healing potions for the next part of the trek to Seahoof. Looks like there's a road that leads down there out of Hopeville, passes through an old town called Bridleshade that we can stop over in for the night if need be. I don't think we'll be getting as far as we usually do, so... well, it's something." Static let off a small grunt as the Clearwater Police Department duffel bag settled on his back, at Crash Dive's insistence. I hovered alongside, letting the feeling of the cool breeze pass through my feathers. Okay, dream-flying was pretty awesome, up until I took a balefire bomb to the everything... but post-preening flying? Oh man, nothing like it...

"Yeah... yeah, sounds good to me. Whoo..." I let off a slight chuckle, lazily doing a roll above the road surface and coming to a stop on my back, resting my head back against my forelegs. Relaxation, thy name is Night Strike... the little bell above the door jingled as Static stepped through, myself almost kinda saddened to touch my hooves against the ground again. I just felt so light and unencumbered now, it's awesome! Letting off a small sigh, the old floorboards creaked beneath my weight, trotting inside and nosing through the duffel bag. Lesee, 1250 bottlecaps, 70 bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD, 19 bottles of regular Sparkle-Cola, a few snack cakes and sugar apple bombs, ammo for Thumper...

"Alright, here's a crate of the stuff, haven't been able to sell any of these. Honestly, I'm glad I won't have to be the one to eat another whole crate of these goddess-damned things..." The unicorn behind the counter had levitated up a wooden box labeled 'Fancy Buck Snack Cakes', Static giving me a short glance and smug smirk. So you're getting a crateful of snack cakes, great, I hope you don't expect me to carry it tubby. He pulled out his cap satchel, the cashier undoubtedly noticing just how much he was struggling with it. "Er... alright, you want the crate, it's 800 caps for the lot."

"800 caps!? Are you kidding me, there can't be more than 30 packages in there, and last I checked those snack cakes only cost 20 caps apiece. Can't be worth more than 600, max, assuming they're all still intact." Oh, great, Static's doing that bartering thing again. This'll take a while... I trotted up alongside Crash Dive, the power armored mare catching me with her eyes as I slotted in by the counter.

"I, uh, I think I'll head over to the gun store, see if that guy's made any more ammo for Thumper. Static tends to take a while with things like this..." The power armored mare nodded in response, myself trotting out as Static and the cashier fell into another bout of arguing. Sheesh, do we even really need that many snack cakes? I'm sure there's some goodies left in Bridleshade still. The bell above the door jingled again, a chill breeze coming up off from the reservior, myself letting my wings catch it as I shuffled through the duffel bag and pulled out a bottle of regular old Sparkle-Cola. Mmm, classic taste... a little warm, but eh.

A radio played out Radio KAOS somewhere in the distance, myself keeping the fresh bottle held as I took back to the sky once more, letting off a light sigh. Ah, flying once again... shame the distance is so short. Well, plenty of time to do more flying on the way down to Seahoof, at least - hell, if I didn't have to keep it trotting speed I'd be able to get there in a day, easy. Oh, c'mon now Strikey, you sound like you're turning into an Enclave recruit... pah, yeah, right.

Landing outside the shop, the door creaked slightly as I swung it open again, greeted to the beautiful sight of all those lovely big hoof cannons and other assorted guns. Ooh, Thumper, look, it's your pump-action cousins in 25 mil flavor! Heh... ooh, now those were big bullets. A big belt of big bullets, brilliant for beating bad guys and blowing apart brains~ Shame they're not rimfire, and that Thumper can't load them. With a powder load like what I think they've got though, I'd be worried about breaking my neck if I tried that... Trotting up to the counter, I gave the small bell a few taps, the sound of somepony letting loose a few curses coming from the back room before the gunsmith from before trotted out, a slightly worried expression on his face.

"O-oh, eheh, you're back. Ah, change your mind about the offer on the fifty cal bullets? Isn't anything else that packs quite the same amount of punch as those things, eheh..." He let his chuckle taper off, looking down at his foreleg with a small grimace. Upon a bit of closer inspection... oh, that's a nasty burn mark. Ow... yeah, that explains that. "Fucking thing... got burned last night trying to pour a mold for those slug shells you wanted. Haven't had to do it in a while, I hope it's worth it. Anyways, what can I get you?"

"That's actually why I dropped by, wanted to see if you had any more of the Dragon's breath made yet. Making a trip down through Bridleshade, want to make sure I won't run out, heh." Passing the gunsmith a weak smile, he let off a small sigh, shrugging in response. Okay, that's not a 'yes, I do have some made' look on his face... "So... if no on the shotgun shells, ya got any other forty mil grenades left? Any at all?"

"Sorry, when I said that what I sold you yesterday was all I had, I meant it. Pardon me if I have my doubts you'd need many more just to go through Bridleshade, but if you really need more then Seahoof would be worth checking out. If you can get inside, at least." He let off a small chuckle, looking down to his foreleg and drawig in a breath through gritted teeth. Turning himself about, his eyes met my own for a moment, glancing back to the burned spot on his foreleg. "I think I might be able to have a few of the slug shots done by the end of today, Celestia willing. Sorry I can't be of more help right now."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Try not to kill yourself, I need somepony that can make these shells!" We shared a light chuckle as I turned and trotted through the doorway, Crash Dive and Static heading down the roads towards me. Sheesh, took you long enough... With a strong flap of the wings, I bolted over to them, Static actually ducking as I shot over his head. Scaredy-pony~ "So, you got your snack cakes finally? We're not gonna have to stop at the Triage longer because you're going to eat yourself into a coma, are we?"

"Har har. It's all muscle, I swear it!" Static tapped a hoof against his jacketed chest, his loaded saddlebags shaking a little as he walked along. Yeah, muscle doesn't usually jiggle on it's own, tubby. "We're just going to the Triage to pick up a few healing potions to make us set, can't know what we'll find in places that aren't wetlands. We're at least more than armed to handle anything short of a hellhound, though."

"No thanks to you, mister 'flash-bangs and umbrellas are all I need'." Sticking my tongue out at him, he took his umbrella in his mouth and swatted at me with the tip, myself moving just in time to have it miss me, mostly. Well, at least he didn't have it turned on at the time. He slipped it back under his saddlebags' strap, the clinic building coming into view down the road.

"Hey, we haven't really had a chance to see what those things can do, have we? Don't bash 'em if I haven't even used 'em yet!" Answering him with a slight eyeroll - never understood how somepony can live in the wasteland and still be a pacifist - we stepped through the set of doors that led into the lobby, myself and Crash Dive hanging back while Static trotted over to the desk. The place was definitely a lot more well-lit than the last time we were here, with more ponies milling about and other assorted sounds of beeping and hospital things, I guess.

"Welcome to the Hopeville Medical Clinic. I've detected a few severe injuries on your person, is there any manner in which I can be of assistance?" A service robot hovered over to where myself and Crash Dive stood, it's electronic eyes looking at the power armored mare. Severe injuries? I mean, I knew she took Med-x for pain, but... "Scans indicate severely injured tissue on the wings, please remove your armor for treatment." I blunk a few times, looking to Crash Dive and seeing her still staring up at the robot, the expression on her helmet seeming to get more furious by the moment. For solid pieces of metal and plastic, that's impressive. "Please remove your armor to recieve treatment to the affec-"

The rebar cannon mounted on her back choomed out, sending one of the solid shafts bolting into the front side of the robot and out the back, throwing the heap of a robot back to land near the receptionist's desk, and Static's hooves. Save for the sounds of beeping and other medical equipment, the waiting area was completely silent, everypony staring at either the wreck of the robot or Crash Dive herself. The service bot ade a few sickening grinding noises, it's speech coming out warbled. "Are you satisfied with your care?"

Static gulped, turning back to meet his eyes with the receptionist's, letting off a weak chuckle. "Eheh... ah, yanno, I think we can live with only the one box of medical supplies, on second thought... sorry."

"Welcome back, you're listening to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. Our top story today comes out of the town of Hopeville, where the Triage is operating under the glow of the original electric lights installed over two centuries ago. The reports come from Emerald, the Triage's head handymare, that a trio of wanderers were able to restore functionality to the old Vanhoover Reservior Hydroelectric Dam. She wasn't able to catch their names, but if you're coming from Hopeville and happen across a blue earth pony with a lightning bolt on his flanks, a dark-blue pegasus mare with a grenade rifle, and a third pony wearing black-painted power armor, give them some thanks. They've made getting things back in shape over in Hopeville a lot easier.

"I'll get some music going for you fine folks out there in the wasteland, here's another Roger Trotters album, the one this station is named for, Radio KAOS. Enjoy."

Flicking the pip-buck radio off, the long expanse of the dam's floodplain stretched out far to our east, the river that flowed from it's bottom winding over towards another lake. Sheesh, this place has got so much flowing water around, you'd think it would've been green even before the lightbringer smacked it in the everything with a megaspell of happiness. Well... maybe not, with the dam being clogged up, and the water probably irradiated to high hell. Still pretty weird to see so much of it flowing at once.

"Looks like Bridleshade's just ahead. We can do some scavenging around there, then see about finding an undestroyed building to stay for the night. When we came through during Operation Cauterize, it was used for pre-ranging our artillery on the cloudship. Wasn't inhabited when my group passed through." Crash Dive kept her eyes ahead at the small collection of buildings, the river we'd been following winding away towards the east. Okay, yeah, that wasn't a completely disturbing thought at all, Crash Dive. Letting off a small shudder, we pressed on along the road, passing by another wagon service station, Static looking over at it.

"Guys, hey, this place might have some more stuff. Worth checking out at least, right?" Myself stopping and looking with him, Crash Dive turning herself around to glare at us. Or, maybe just look at us. It's really hard to tell with that helmet on... Static let out a weak chuckle, looking to myself meanwhile. I answered them both with a shrug, having Thumper out at the ready.

"C'mon Crash Dive, we'd be scavving in ruins the rest of today once we get there anyways. Besides, haven't had lunch yet." As if on cue, Static's stomach let off a loud rumble, the earth pony wearing a blush. Myself wearing a smirk, it sounded like Crash Dive let off a sigh, shaking her helmeted head and trotting back to us, heading for the door of the store portion of the station. Same setup as the one we slept in, a bit more in disarray but still recognizable. Glad we don't have to sleep in this one, at least...

The power-armored mare glanced around the inside, looking to a fallen shelf and flicking her armor's barbed tail up. The inside of it glinted in the light from the windows, starting to slice at the supports of the shelves, Static's head poking up from behind the register with a bobby pin in his mouth to look at the commotion. Of course he's picking the lock the 'sensible' way... ballistic lockpicking is just better! Crash Dive kicked at the shelf a few times, the metal braces that held it up cut almost clean through and falling apart against the force easy enough. She picked up the lower portion of the shelf that she'd cut away, setting it back upright and pulling out a small hotplate from the saddleboxes on her armor.

"Still have a few fish that I can cook up, shouldn't take more than a few minutes." The red eyes of crash Dive's helmet settled on myself for a moment, the mare inside it pausing before removing her headgear from her armor, setting it aside. Nodding in response, I looked to the fridge section, scanning the murky glass of the doors with the taste of Sparkle-Cola watering my mouth. Mmmm, let's see if this one has the same goodies... minus the giant bugs.

A few minutes of rummaging through the fridges turned up exactly nothing, myself sitting down on the side of the improvised table across from Crash Dive, the smell of cooked fish filling the air. Static, meanwhile, wore a wide grin, gulping down a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla from a six-pack he stopped me from vaporizing. "Oh, c'mon Strikey, it's not like you don't have enough Sparkle-Cola in your bags to supply a supermarket already. Besides, I thought you were against wasting perfetly good soda~"

"My definition of 'perfectly good soda' is very different compared to your definition of 'perfectly good soda', Sparky. Crash Dive, you got any preference on it?" Looking to the pink-maned mare as Static stuck his tongue out at me, Crash Dive blunk a few times, looking between us. Pulling a few plates out of her saddleboxes, she moved to pull the fish out of the hot pan, setting the three pieces of meat on the plates in front of us.

"Can't say that I do. Any brand of soda, isn't exactly one of the things we had in the Enclave, and I didn't exactly spend too long wandering before getting my lighthouse and making sure nopony else would." An outsider in the soda wars... interesting. Oooh, I'll win her over with Sparkle-Cola RAD, show her the obviously superior bra- "And no, I don't think I'd be interested in either. Not exactly a fan of stuff that's sat around for two centuries, last experience I'd had with things like that nearly cost me my life." ...nuts. Eh, can't win 'em all, just means more soda for me!

"What was it like, in the Enclave?" Crash Dive gave Static a hard glare for a moment, the earth pony rubing at the back of his head and clearing his throat as she did so, ending it with a weak chuckle. "I-I mean, um, we know a few ex-enclave back home, a few deserted before the Tsetse was destroyed and the rest are survivors from it. The deserters generally prefer not to talk about it, and the rest... um..." Letting off a weak chuckle, Static went back to eating his strip of fish, chewing it quietly. Crash Dive let off a small sigh, looking out through the window that faced the road for a moment.

"Your fathers managed to single-hoofedly take down an entire raptor... I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. Mostly around the fact that the officers flying it parked it right over a missile silo in the first place..." ...she had a pretty good point. Man, my grandpa was stupid. "Those deserters you mentioned, did they still have their cutie marks?" We blunk at her a few times, myself with half of that strip of fish she'd set in front of me in my mouth. Giving each other a glance, we nodded in response, the power armored pegasus giving a chuckle and shake of her head, taking a bite of her own strip of fish.

"That probably explains the raptor then, those officers were so incompetent they probably couldn't find their flanks if they had a flashlight and a map. Any good officer would've hunted those deserters down and had 'em branded like the dashites they are. Hot iron right on the cutie mark, burns it right off in a few seconds... a normal dashite branding takes a few minutes." Goddesses Crash Dive, we're trying to eat! As if I needed more of an excuse to not want to be related to that crazy group in the sky, deserters get their cutie marks branded off? Celestia above... "Their methods of making sure soldiers didn't think about deserting were effective, to say the least."

"You don't say..." Static looked about as white as his mane was, dryly swallowing down the last of his strip of fish. I don't think his original question was about what the Enclave did with their deserters... she's pretty good at changing the subject. Picking up the plates and putting them back inside her saddleboxes, Crash Dive got to her hooves, fitting her helmet back on and looking around the shop. Myself and Static followed suit, heading towards the doorway and looking up at the sky. Huh, we spent longer in there than I thought we did...

"C'mon, getting to evening as it is. Still need to get to Bridleshade yet." Trotting back onto the road, Static and myself both looked about at the scenery - well, besides the destroyed houses, it was a pretty nice stretch of road with the mild tree cover, and being in a sort of natural bowl is pretty neat too. Can almost see all the way to the east, and the lake and mountains over there. The wind rustled the trees slightly as we passed through a small group of structures, almost sounding like voices for a moment.

Then the wind sounded like manic screaming. And red bars popped up on my EFS. And I just realized that we just walked into an ambush. Lovely.

"YAAAAAAH!" A barely-dressed pony with a mane in a mowhawk jumped from one of the buildings, Static grabbing his umbrella from under the bags he had on his back and backing up against Crash Dive, myself jumping to the air with Thumper. A second pony with manic eyes appeared from the forest, the sound of a bullet pinging off of Crash Dive's armor making Satic duck and cover, stabbing at the first pony with his umbrella. Well, at least it's just drugged-out-of-their-minds poorly-equipped raiders... drugged-out-of-their-minds poorly-equipped raiders that apparently have things shooting balls of fire! Yeep!

Getting some air, a few more ponies appeared from the wrecked structures and forest, myself diving down out of the sun and blasting one of the ponies in their surprised face. Oh, forgot that I had a slug loaded... that ain't pretty. Heading back up, the barrel swung down as the break action opened, myself fitting in a regular HE shell meanwhile, Crash Dive senting a bolt through the chest of one of the raiders' chests and Static fiddling about in his saddlebags for something. Now isn't the time for a snack cake, ya dolt! Another group came up behind Crash Dive, myself diving straight while Static threw something at them. The hell was that?

Dodging a bit of fire, a blinding flash filled my vision moments before I was about to throw a forty millimeter fist of high explosive pain at the trio. Sure sounds like something exploded, though... pointing myself back skywards, I blunk and rubbed at my eyes, looking back down to see the small group get skewered by three bolts of rebar. Aw, Crash Dive, I wanted to blow them up! Ooh, those other guys are getting close to them, and Static hasn't thrown another one of those thingys at them yet... aiming forwards, a few bullets whizzed by, and I was afforded a lovely view of the sheer look of 'oh crap' on all their faces. Thumper sounded out, and soon there was a crater with a few dismembered limbs around it. Zooming back up through the dust cloud, a fireball nearly landed right on me, myself looking back in time to see the pony with the big flame-throwing thingy disappear momentarily in a blinding flash, and Crash Dive charging up towards him.

Thumper reloaded with another HE shell, I swung back down by Static, his chest heaving as he breathed around the mouthpiece. We shared a glance before making way over to where Crash Dive stood, the pony that had the flame-thingy currently having his face pummeled in by power armored hooves. Okay, Crash Dive, I think he's down... The raider let off a spurtling gasp as the power armored mare stepped off of him for a moment, picking up the big flame-thingy. Well, taking the weapons from the ponies who attacked you is one of the wasteland rules, kind of.

Crash Dive reared up onto her back legs with the new weapon, bringing it to bear on the pony whose face was doing a great impression of a bowl of radroach guts, and opening it up. The fireballs took to his coat and mane, turning him into a screaming, gurgling mess, the power amored mare emptying the rest of the ammunition in the gun onto the already-burning pony. He let off another blood-curdling scream as he desperately tried to crawl, slowly burning up, eventually - thankfully - succumbing to the flames. W-well, um... nope, yep, nope, no words. Oh, wait, here's some... "WHAT THE HELL, CRASH DIVE!?"

She dropped the big gun, setting herself back down onto her hooves, turning her head to stare back at us both. Wordlessly, she turned and started back down the road, us both watching her for a few moments, just standing there, stunned. Every now and again she'd stop at a corpse, pulling the rebar bolts out of it, I guess, before moving on. I shared a long look with Static, us both eventually thinking to keep moving with her, minds still trying to process the sounds of that pony's screams. Okay, yeah, definitely going to have to ask her about that. Just... goddesses above...

"Molly Manticore's Pizzeria... well, at least it looks intact." When Crash Dive said that Bridleshade was used for artillery target practice, she wasn't kidding. The place looked like it was more rubble than buildings, and save for the odd empty safe or broken wardrobe there was pretty much nothing left of it. Sure as hell weren't going to go back to the service station and risk getting ourselves turned extra crispy while we were asleep, though. "So, why didn't you hit this place back when you were shooting the big guns at it?"

"We thought it might be a good place if we needed somewhere to set up a ground station, short flight from Seahoof and was the only building big enough to double as a vertibuck landing pad. The battle was over before we could check it out, obviously." Crash Dive smashed in the wood slats that barricaded the doors, Static biting at his lip nervously as we stepped inside. Man, this place was a mess... well, from what we could see just from the light coming through the door, anyways. Still, I don't think the war would've specifically thrown tables around like this without blowing the hell out of the rest of the building.

"Guys? I got a bad feeling about this..." Static stuck behind me as Crash Dive moved further inside the building, heading over to a pile of trashed chairs and tables while we tried to figure out where stuff was inside here before we bumped into it... easier said than done. Kinda. Static had his umbrella pulled out, obviously a little more jumpy than usual - well, can't blame him too much, old places like this usually had at least one old robot still kicking somewhere, ready to jump out and fill your face with pain. Or fire. Or plasma. Or lasers. or general pant-wetting uncomfortableness. I let off a sigh and shot him a near-invisible glare as he bumped into my rump, feeling about on the wall and coming across a panel.

"Oh, hey, I think I've got the light switch... you can stop being such a baby now, Static. Thought you saved that for the bedroom." Letting off a small snicker, the switch clicked and hummed with electricity flowing through it, the lights... not coming on. Ah, ponyfeathers. Well, it turned on something somewhere, at least... Static stuck close to me as Crash Dive's eyes looked over at us from across the room. It was... deathly quiet, before a lone music box started up, the strange, mangled tune being quite effective at making us all collectively shit ourselves. The three sets of circular, blood-red eyes over at the other end of the room helped, too - it also helped us know where to send all the pain in the universe we could.

Crash Dive's rebar cannon sounded first, the bolt shooting through something metal with a plastic coating. Robots, great. I brought Thumper to bear as Static rummaged in his saddlebags for another flash-bang, quick in sending a plume of very angry fire bits in the general direction of the eyes, a smell of burning wood greeting my nostrils. Turning around, Static hurled the nonlethal but very disorienting grenade over at whatever the eyes were, it promptly detonating and illuminating the interior for a moment as I reloaded Thumper with High Explosive. The rebar cannon choomed again, myself aiming directly at one of the pairs of eyes and pulling the trigger, the compact projectile flying straight for and impacting against the outer shell of the robot, blowing it to smithereens and leaving it a mangled mess, the other two pairs of eyes shaken about by the blast. As I turned to load another shell in, a figure appeared in the doorway, his horn illuminating the interior of the pizza place with a bright light - or maybe that was just Static's second flash-bang going off.

"What in Celestia's name are ye'll doin' in here?!" Well, that's an accent. Isn't exactly Fringe, but... close. The barrage of terrified as hell shooting came to a stop, all of us looking towards the new figure that'd just appeared in the doorway. Steel Ranger unicorn, whitish coat, black mane in a short mowhawk... mother of mercy that's a hell of a rocket launcher he's got there. We all looked at each other for a moment, then looked back to the Ranger with the odd accent, calming down for the moment. Well, at least I killed the thing making music...

"U-um, we were... trying to kill the robots so we could sleep here. Why?" Static lifted himself to his hooves, the ranger loking primarily at us both. He seemed to jump slightly as he noticed Crash Dive's eyes, the power armoed mare trotting over to us, smashing a table in the process. Well, better he knows she's with us and not a robot. The stallion thought for a moment before letting off a laugh, trotting over to us.

"Aren't any robots here lad, unless that's one you're walking with. Good thing you 'ere all crazy enough to start shooting though, this place inn't the best place to think about sleeping in, not tonight." We glanced between ourselves for a moment, then back towards where the eyes were, the Ranger tapping a hoof against the ground and waving towards the open door. "C'mon, I've got a camp up on a hill a short ways away from here, was goin' tah watch the fireworks from there. Loaded this place with enough explosives to banish those fockin' creepy animatronics you were shootin' up to the moon." Animatronics... well, he at least was right about the 'fucking creepy' part. Well, still felt good... did he say explosives?

Wearing a wide grin, I let off a light chuckle, trotting over to the stallion and stowing Thumper on my back. Ow, ow, owie, man his barel gets hot fast. "You had me at watching the fireworks. Please tell me there's at least a balefire egg in there, too?" He blunk at me a few times, a smile crossing his own muzzle as he let off a laugh, Static and Crash Dive trotting with us as he started moving back for the doorway.

"You kiddin'? I've got at least ten o' the things set up dunstairs, along with a massive bloody mortar shell I was just able to get over here. Dropped it down a basement hatch in back, has at least five bricks of C4 'round it." Oh, sweet mother of Celestia, if he wasn't a Steel Ranger and I wasn't as smart as I am I'd let him have me right then and there. It's nothing personal, the big armor's just kind of a turn-off. Giddily bouncing on my hooves for a moment, Static came up on his other side, Crash Dive doing the same on mine.

"Just when I thought we had enough ponies crazy about explosives in the wasteland... ah, sorry, I don't think we caught your name. I'm Static Charge, the pegasus currently acting like an idiot next to you is Night Strike, and the pony next to her is Crash Dive." Stepping back out into the night, we turned back west, heading for a small hill a short ways outside of the town. Note to self, smack Static in the back of the head later... after we get to watch this place go up in a gigantic firey explosion just shy of a small tactical megaspell, of course. Fuck you Molly Manticore and fuck your pizzeria and creepy animatronics in their everything.

"Heh, funny that, if names meant anythin' we might be brothers. Sergeant Scouring Charge, Steel Rangers B Company." Both myself and Static stopped for a moment, staring at the ranger, before continuing on and catching back up. Same second half of a name, same initials... It's a good thing that we call you Static, Static. A short walk later, and we arrived at a small building, which appeared to have been some kind of store/house before the war. Well, least it's intact. Scouring Charge stopped us all outside, heading in and pulling out something that looked like the detonator Crash Dive gave me back on the dam... oooh, boy!

"Make yerselves comfortable, show's due t' start in a moment. Anypony got a music request fer it?" The unicorn grinned, Static and Crash Dive sitting back against the wall of the building as I fiddled with my pip-buck, bringing up that old song dad put on it. Hey, it's a big explosion, and you watch the ending of Doctor Strangemare enough times you start to associate it with those. Cranking the volume up, the mare's voice filled the air, Scouring Charge letting off a light chuckle.

"Really... 'eard that lass is a big hit up by Maple Station, the northern gateway. Haven't been thare m'self yet. Does sound lovely, doesn't she?" The unicorn grinned widely, myself and him swaying to the music as Static and Crash Dive probably watched us judgingly. The second chorus started up, us both singing in a unison as he swung teh detonator around in his magic. "We'll meet again, danno where, danno when, bu' I know we'll meet again, soom sunny day..."

"Keep, smiling through, just like you, always do, 'till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away! So will you please say hello, so the folks that I know, tell them 'I won't be long!' They'll be happy to know, that as you saw me go, I was sing-ing this song! We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when!"

"But ah know whe'll meet again, soom sunny, day!" With a wide grin and laugh, Scouring charge pulled the detonator, a second's delay letting the music wind down as the town - and pizza place - were engulfed in a massive, orange fireball. The blast wave rumbled up the hill, smacking into us and sending myself stumbling backwards, Scouring Charge letting out a large holler that I joined him in, watching as the explosion cooled and rose, forming a bit of a mushroom shape. Oh, mother of Celestia, I love giant explosions.

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, chaos in Vanhoover. We just pulled in a special report from out of Hopeville, some residents that were over by the Vanhoover Hydroelectric Dam have reported witnessing a massive explosion come from the town of Bridleshade. Thankfully, so far, it appears that nopony has been hurt in the explosion. Asking me, I think that somepony out there found a big bomb they wanted to set off somewhere, and probably got what they deserved when they managed to do it. Never play with explosives unless you know how to not get yourself killed, kids. Anyways, that's the late night news reports, and this disc jockey's looking forwards to getting some sleep. From Radio KAOS to you, goodnight, Vanhoover."

I gave a little sigh as the dust from the explosion settled, Scouring Charge collapsing the wire on top of his detonator. Is it too much to ask to find at least SOMEBODY in this wasteland that isn’t obsessed with explosives nor hates me? I swear I’m going to end up a vaporized shadow on the wall if we pick up another bomb-crazy pony... “So, whot exactly brought you three through Bridleshade, anyway?”

“We were just heading south, planning on heading to Seahoof Armory. Yanno, scavenging for old world tech and the like.” I sat myself up, the last bits of the fireball fading out and leaving behind the cloud. Scouring Charge whistled, a small smile of disbelief crossing his face. He folded up the small detonator and slid it onto a special clip on his power armor.

“You three better be packing some sort of super tank or somethin', otherwise you’re likely t' end up as unrecognizable clumps in the mud. Tha' place’s security has been runnin' on high alert ever since the bombs fell.” He stretched a little, various bits of his armor releasing hisses of air as his back cracked. “If you want to stay for the night, feel free. The least I can do is offer you somewhere to sleep before ye go and kill yourselves.” What an uplifting stallion. Seriously, are all power ranger stallions with accents this blunt?

Regardless, we followed him into the structure we'd been sitting against at the side of the road, the last hints of light long gone and replaced by the stars above. I unrolled my mattress and curled up onto it, Night Strike laying hers out beside mine, still wearing a stupid grin on her face. Crash Dive trotted into the back room as Scouring Charge laid out a bundle of dusty old clothes onto the floor. He set the large rocket launcher he’d been carrying beside him, folding in small collapsible scope and mouthpiece. “Hey, you think he could tag along? I mean, it never hurts to have some extra firepower, yanno~” The dark blue mare grinned widely, and I rolled my eyes in response.

“You just want to see that rocket launcher thingy in action, don’t you?” Night Strike giggled softly and I glanced back over to Scouring Charge, who was laying his head down on a brick of C4 as he pulled a thin blanket over himself. I sighed, knowing I was going to regret this later. “Fine, but isn’t he part of some Brotherhood company? Wouldn’t they be looking for him?” Night Strike waved her hoof dismissively, causing me to sigh again. I rolled over on my mat and began to drift off to sleep, cursing myself for always giving in to Night Strike. What is it about that mare...

Our hooves clacked along the broken stone road leading out of town, Crash Dive grumbling a little under her helmet as Scouring Charge trotted alongside us. He flipped open a small hatch similar to the one on Crash’s armor that she stored Med-X in, picking out a small cube of salt and popping it into his mouth. “Didn’t you say you were with Company B? Why are you coming with us?” Crash asked, her frustration coming through very clearly on the helmet’s speaker.

Scouring Charge gave a small, slightly forced laugh. “Ah, well, y'see, with the rest of the Brotherhood, and wasteland, trying to track us down, we figured we ought to head out separately. You’d be surprised, but it’s a lot harder for other ponies to recognize members of a company if they’re not all together raising hell.” Ah, right. Still probably need to cross Hopeville off of our places to visit until he’s not with us anymore. I certainly don’t need ponies throwing eggs at us or something. "We certainly don't mean to cause anypony harm, but, ah... well, we're called Bad Company for a reason. More the other two twats in the company than me."

We continued down the road, myself pulling out a box of snack cakes, the dark blue mare beside me letting off a small laugh. “Ah, 200 year old dessert cakes, breakfast of champions.” Night Strike chuckled as I bit down into the slightly stale sweetbread. Her smirk faded as her own stomach growled and she glanced into her saddlebags, only to realize she’d forgotten to grab some food related substance in town. I returned the smirk as she pulled out a Sparkle Cola and popped the cap off. “Oh, shut up. I can live off of nothing but soda for a year anyway.”

She took a swig of soda, turning her head to face Scouring behind us. “Oy, Scouring, you don’t happen to have a side when it comes to the great cola war, do you?” I rolled my eyes. Jeez, no one else is as obsessed with that soda as you are, with the likely exception of your own family. Scouring Charge shrugged, sucking a little on the salt cube in his mouth.

“Don’t really care. Why?” Night Strike put on a confident smile, pulling out a bottle of Sparkle Cola RAD, the blue drink’s glow barely visible in the dawn’s light. My eyes widened a little as Scouring lifted the bottle up with his magic - she must really want to win him over if she was willing to hand over one of her RAD.

“Best Sparkle Cola that pre-war food has to offer, only a few left out in the wasteland. They’ve got twice the kick, and sweet, sweet, flavor as the original.” I couldn’t help but giggle, listening to her go on - Strikey, I thought you didn’t listen whenever I was selling something off. I brushed a few strands of my mane out of my face before stepping a little closer to Scouring.

“Of course, the real value isn’t in taste. At least, not for a fine connoisseur of explosives such as yourself.” Night Strike faltered and Scouring Charge raised an eyebrow, which only made my grin grow a little wider. “You see, the thing that gives Sparkle RAD its special kick is the special ingredient: Strontium-90. Mix up this concoction with some turpentine and Abraxo, and you’ve got yourself a bomb your best incendiaries couldn’t dream of matching up to. Not to mention the rest of the ingredients makes a beautiful rainbow of colors when it goes off.” Scouring Charge’s eyebrow only raised a little higher as he looked down at the small bottle in his aura.

He pushed the bottle back towards Night Strike, who looked thoroughly disappointed. “Uh, no thanks, not particularly interested in drinkin' kerosene.” Night Strike pouted a little as she slid the bottle back into her saddlebags, glaring at me. I smirked smugly, holding my head a little higher as we continued down the road.

“Oh, stop being so grumpy. Now he won’t try stealing them from you later for a fix.” Crash Dive paused for a moment, steadying her oversized harpoon. “Hey, where exactly did you get that launcher thing, anyway?” I asked, turning and walking backwards to face Scouring Charge.

Scouring Charge grinned as Night Strike’s ears perked up. “I got ol’ Sunburst here a few years back. Found some blueprints in a pre-war facility when I was with a Steel Rangers chapter that’s a bit further east of the Vanhoover one. Got one the scribes to fix it up for me without telling the elder. If he ever 'eard about it, it’d take years before he’d release it into the field with how strict his rules are with new tech.” He patted Sunburst lightly. “She’s a real beauty, inn't she?”

Night Strike gave a little sigh. “Jeez, first my dad finds a Balefire Egg Launcher and now you get some sort of rocket slinger? How come the only things we ever seem to find in pre-war places are tax returns and hoof grenades?” I gave her a slightly confused look, her eyes meeting my own. Need I remind you of the four megaspells we have in a giant prototype flying machine?

As we trotted along the road that ran alongside one of the lakes, a few splashes could be heard from behind us. I looked over my shoulder, spotting a large four legged monstrosity crawling out of the water. Its spiny body was coated with a collection of foul smelling plants, its jaws snapping angrily. “Ah, shit... Radigator.” Crash Dive said, steadying her stance. She shot off one of her harpoons, which struck one of the Radigator’s legs. It growled and snapped its jaws again, stepping forward, the leg the harpoon had landed in dragging along the ground.

The Radigator whipped its tail menacingly, attempting to lunge forward. I swung my umbrella, biting down on the handle. The twin prongs struck the creature’s head, causing it to stumble backwards as the sound of electricity arcing through it could be heard along with the smell of ozone. As it opened its mouth to let out a low angry rumble, both Night Strike and Scouring Charge fired their weapons into it. I ducked as the explosives connected, causing the front half of the Radigator to burst into several meaty chunks and fly off in a cloud of red mist.

I gave a small whimper, wiping off some of the guts from my coat. Oooh, that smell’s never going to leave this... At least Scouring and Crash have easy to clean armor. Night Strike wore a mixed expression of disgust and triumph as we turned and began to head back down the road again. “Well, heh… that was fun. Better than those mutant fish-thingies..."

Following along it further, the road came to a small wooden bridge, the planks creaking as we stepped across them, a stream flowing beneath us. The water shimmered in the sunlight, bending and rushing around some rocks resting in the riverbed. My ears flicked a little at the sound of the water flowing beneath us - I never really noticed just how quiet the northern wasteland usually was until now. We followed the road away from the lake a little, heading into a light patch of woods. I pulled out my umbrella, hoping we wouldn’t run into any more animals; at least back home most things wouldn’t last out in the cold for very long.

The sun streamed down through the gaps in the trees, creating thin shafts of light that illuminated the slightly rockier path. Night Strike pulled Thumper off of her back again, sliding a new grenade into its breech. Crash Dive kicked a rock into the foliage, the sound of leaves rustling slightly echoing through the forest. We followed a bend in the road, Night Strike peering off in the distance. You sure that it isn't just a pegasus thing, Strikey? “Hey, there’s a shack over there. Maybe there’s some ammo or something, worth checking out, right?” We headed off of the road towards the small building, the faintest sound of a sigh coming from Crash Dive. I beat aside some plants with my umbrella, a large rabbit-looking thing skittering away in fright.

Knocking on the rotting wooden door, I waited for a moment, listening for a response. None came, so I opened the door and stepped in, the rest following myself inside. The floor creaked underneath us as we inspected the small shack, all fanning out to different areas. I lifted a rifle off of a display stand on a stone fireplace, examining the dusty weapon; aside from the general stiffness of the reloading lever from lack of use, it was in extremely good condition. I slipped it underneath my saddlebag strap as Night Strike trotted up to a large stone barrel connected to the wall, a small collection of burnt wood resting beneath it. “What the heck’s this thing?” She asked, tapping the side.

“Looks like a homemade still.” Scouring Charge said, trotting up next to her. He levitated a glass from a nearby cabinet and let it over beneath a spigot in the still. Twisting it open, a frothy brown liquid poured out into the mug. He sniffed it tentatively before taking a small sip, immediately grimacing and giving his head a shake, Uhm, yeah, drinking some Celestia-knows-how-old home-brew, I really don’t think that was the best of ideas. “Well, it’s lasted better than I thought it would. Strong enough to knock out a mule, though.” He wasn’t speaking lightly; even as the drink floated by me to a counter in his magic, the fumes were enough to make me slightly dizzy.

The other three trotted over to raid the rest of the cabin as I looked down at the still. I grabbed a few bottles and corks from underneath the counter of the kitchen, bringing them over to the barrel. I began to fill them up with the liquid, trying not to breath in the heavy aroma. I pushed the corks tightly into the mouths of the bottles and slipped them into my saddlebags. “You'd better not be using that stuff for incendiaries.” Crash Dive said, noticing me stashing the bottles of moonshine.

“Hey now, bars would pay a lot of caps for new drink recipes.” I let off a small chuckle, trying to justify the behavior to myself a little as well as her. Crash grunted as Scouring and Night Strike returned, pocketing a few bits of ammo that had been stored in the bedroom. “Ready to head out?” They nodded and we trotted back out of the hunting shack, making our way back to the road.

The road wound its way further through the woods, the light streaming through the trees dimming slightly as the sun began to sink in the sky. My stomach clenched a little as we continued onwards, sincerely hoping we would make it out of the woods before it became too dark to navigate. “Uh, how much further is it to Seahoof?” Night Strike checked her Pip-Buck, twiddling the knobs a little.

“It’s just southeast of here, but the road looks like it heads south a ways before splitting off. It’s probably faster just to break off and head straight there now.” I frowned a little, not too keen on wandering blindly through the forest. I looked over to Crash Dive who was fiddling with a switch on the side of her helmet. The large light affixed to it began to glow and she turned eastwards, beginning a slow march through the undergrowth.

We followed her, keeping our weapons at the ready in case we ran into another Radigator, or bloatsprite hunter, whatever those things from before were. Branches snapped beneath Crash Dive and Scouring Charge’s heavy armored hooves, the large unicorn flicking on his own small light connected to his armor's shoulder. I stumbled on a large protruding root, but managed to catch myself before I faceplanted into the dirt. The ground sloped downwards slightly, forcing us to mind our steps more to avoid tumbling painfully down into the ditch.

We followed the ditch path south, myself hopping onto a few rocks to avoid the sticky mud that Crash and Scouring trotted through at the bottom. Night Strike hovered beside me, her wings occasionally slapping some overhanging branches and knocking dead leaves loose. She was absentmindedly humming a soft tune, the several bottles of Sparkle Cola in her pouch clinking against each other. I could go for one of those… not really in the mood for Sunrise. I glanced into my pouch, only to remember that any bottles we’d come across were swiftly snatched up by missile-butt flying next to me.

I grumbled a little, my ears flopping down as we continued along. I glanced at her saddlebags, but knew better than to try swiping one of the bottles from her - not to mention whatever Crash Dive might do if she saw me stealing from a pegasus. Guh, it was easier to sneak stuff from ponies back home... The trees began to thin as we trotted further on, and it wasn’t long before we were standing at the edge of the forest, the ditch opening up to reveal a larger, lower lake, the large Vanhoover Dam barely visible off in the distance.

On our side of the lake was a large compound surrounded by high fences - something tells me that that's Seahoof. A few robots could be seen patrolling the area, several mounted turrets slowly spinning in place. Outside of the heavily guarded buildings were a few long bunkhouses like those back at Jericho Beach. A few robots walked between these buildings, though not nearly as many as those surrounding the main compound. “Alright, so how exactly were you three planning on gettin' in, anyhow?” None of us responded to the unicorn, not having expected the facility to be quite so well guarded.

“Break down the front gate and go in guns blazing?” Night Strike suggested, wearing a grin. I put a hoof to my forehead in response, shaking my head. Yes, Night Strike, I’m sure all those military-grade turrets are really just fancy water pistols and won’t shred us to pieces the moment they see four unauthorized intruders. She gave me a little glare. “Alright, smarty pants, what do you think we should do?” I scanned the compound, trying to see if there were any holes in the robots patrol routes.

“Um... there’s a medical bay over there, doesn't seem like any of the patrols pass by it.” I pointed to a small building amongst the collection of sleeping quarters, the red plus on it's front plain to see. “If we can get in there, it’ll make for a good base, and there shouldn’t be any robots in there other than auto-docs. Or, at least, not many.” The others nodded and we began to slowly make our way towards the fence. I was thankful the sky was beginning to darken as we approached the base, though the long hours of walking we’d done the past few days still made my legs ache. Oh, screw the generator, I'd be happy if this place had a tank to ride in instead. Long as we don't have to do any more walking...

I paused as we reached the fence surrounding the longhouses, realizing now only one of us could really get themselves through the fence... maybe. All unicorns know how to teleport themselves, right? I glanced over to Night Strike, who looked to be thinking the same thing as me. “Well, I can probably fly you over. Unless you decided to scarf down more of those snack cakes when I wasn’t looking.” She smirked and I rolled my eyes, but allowed her to fly above me and lift me under my forelegs. She grunted as her wings flapped in desperation, pulling me off of the ground. Come on, I don’t weigh that much!... Probably.

I tucked my back hooves up as we passed over the barbed wire atop the fence, Night Strike quickly falling back to the earth, both of us landing in a heap. Well, so much for a graceful entrance. We stood up and brushed the dirt off of us, looking back to Crash Dive and Scouring Charge. Scouring looked over to Crash Dive, letting off a weak chuckle. “So, uh, you think you’ll be able to fly me over too? Can toss my power armor over t' give you a lighter load.” I bit my lower lip, imagining Night Strike’s angry face behind her helmet’s visor.

“U-uh, how about we just grab some bolt cutters to get you guys through?” Scouring Charge looked confused, but nodded nonetheless. As I began to walk away to explore the living quarters, I noticed Night Strike wasn’t following me. I turned in time to see her standing a few meters away from the fence, Thumper in her mouth, and... oh, you gotta be kidding me. There was a loud explosion, the part of the fence she hit blasting apart. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“There, they’re through. No stupid bolt cutter fetch quest.” She stowed Thumper, grinning smugly. I was about to retort when a laser singed my ear, forcing me to duck and pull out my umbrella. So much for stealth. Night Strike quickly reloaded Thumper and fired it off at the robot that had just fired at me, as Crash and Scouring scrambled through the broken fence. The robot fired its laser again, which bounced off of Scouring’s armor, singing the ground. He fired off Sunburst, the rocket blowing off the robot’s head.

A few more ran around the corner, these ones a little larger, miniguns mounted on their shoulders. Aw, crap. I jumped into the shadows, darting around the building as Crash Dive fired off a harpoon. It managed to strike one of the robot’s pneumatic tubes connected to its leg; hot air hissed loudly as it shot out of the tube, forcing the robot to halt as its front legs crumpled beneath it.

I jumped out behind the crippled robot, lightning jumping from my umbrella into the combat control inhibitor on its back. It sparked before falling to the ground, it's components thoroughly fried. Scouring managed to hit one of the miniguns affixed to the still standing robot, sending the rotating metal flying off as Night Strike hit it squarely in the chest. The robot keeled over, oil pooling beneath it like blood.

I trotted back to the other three, glancing around in case any more robots were coming after us. “Come on, let’s get to the med-bay.” Crash said, her cannon thunking slightly as it reloaded. We trotted towards the bunkhouse with the large red and white cross hanging on the door, stepping quickly inside as Night Strike fired off another grenade at another robot shuffling its way towards us.

The lights flickered on, revealing several beds with autodocs placed at the ends, their tools dusty and rusted. I breathed a sigh of relief, and slid my umbrella next to the hunting rifle on my back. Night Strike flopped onto one of the beds as Crash set her rebar cannon down. “I think we should be fine for the night here, none of the robots down near the armory seemed to notice our break in.” She said as she sat down. “We’ll figure out a plan of attack in the morning."

I nodded, gladly laying onto one of the mattresses, trying not to think about what caused the stains as I drifted off to sleep, instead choosing to think over my choices in companions. Just one pony out in the wasteland not crazy about explosives or hates me, is that too much!?

"Mmmh... G'morning, Thumpy~" My vision was only mildly blurry as consciousness graced me once more in the Seahoof medical bay, the four centimeter diameter pipe that was Thumper's barrel being right in my vision. Daddy never showed you the love you deserved after he picked up Kindness, did he, Thumper? I'm just making up for it~ As I sat myself up in bed, Static rubbed at his eyes, looking over to myself picking Thumper up out of bed. Oh, don't give me that look, it's not creepy!

"I... think I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that." Shooting him an eyeroll, I slid myself off of the med bay bed, opening up Thumper's break action and turning to the duffel bag I dropped between two of the cots. Static can say all he likes about it, at least I ain't stupid enough to sleep with a shell loaded - that'd just be plain irresponsible. Oh, let's see... hm, on my last few slug shells. Suppose I can make do with the incendiaries until the guy back in Hopeville makes more. I mean, unless Seahoof does have more... Oooh baby, let Seahoof have more 40 mil shells. A laminated card was tossed over to me in a grey magic aura, the power armored unicorn smiling as Static fit another one of the cards around his own neck.

"Found these in one o'the drawers 'ere, base pass cards. Ought to keep us from gettin' shot at, least for a while." Looking at it for a moment - ah, I'm always a sucker for pre-war history - it did seem to be an ID card of some sort, one for a pegasus stallion. Ooh, I hope the robots don't recognize faces, or genders... sliding the strap over my head, it dangled in front of my jacket, Crash Dive looking over at myself and Static as she trotted out of a storage area in the back of the hut, her armor's shoulder closing. Didn't take much thought to guess what she'd eventually managed to find here... our eyes met and lingered for a while, Static giving me a slight nudge as the door opened up. "Heh, beautiful day out, inn't it?"

"Lot better than waking up back home. Least I'm not freezing my flanks off..." Static trotted up alongside Scouring Charge, myself walking to them with Crash Dive, the warm-coolish... chill-softish... temperate air of the Vanhoover morning outside greeting us. Gee brain, why'd it take you so long to come up with that for me? Guh. We stepped out onto the hard-packed ground, the hydraulic fluid pools of last night's fight glimmering in what faint light reached us from over the mountains. The robots patrolled in the distance, our small group of four making way towards the inner fence of the compound.

A hovering sound filled our ears as we passed by the rows of bunkhouses, myself brandishing Thumper while everyone else turned to stare at the alley where the sound was coming from. The robot stopped and approached us - okay, it isn't killing us, so it's already significantly better than last night. We all shared an uneasy glance - well, I think we did, at least... hard to tell what expression Crash Dive had under her helmet - as the robot looked us over in turn, before hovering over to myself.

"Good Morning Leiutenant, good to see you up and moving again. General Red Leaf will be glad to hear that he'll finally have a pony guarding the ordinance storage wing again, it's been under watch by robots for..." It took a moment to think - processing the number, I'd guess. "Two centuries, ten years, two months, and three days. That's two centuries, ten years, two months, two days, 23 hours and 59 minutes longer than it should have been, Leiutenant. You're lucky he's not here to really tear you a new one. Come on." Answering the robot with a few blinks, I looked back at the group, the robot hovering off towards another road. Well, I guess if it's just going to let us in, then... alright? Shrugging, we followed behind it, soon getting to the interior perimeter fence and moving along it.

The interior compound of Seahoof kind of reminded me faintly of Sunrise Castle, with the massive hangar buildings. Inbetween each hangar was a big water tank, connected to some rusted red pipes and lengths of degraded rubber hoses - well, suppose they had to put fires out somehow. Fire at an armory, with all the ammunition around... okay, once we clean this place out of all the stuff that could be useful to us, can we please blow it up? Even just a little bit? One hangar, I swear, just detonate one hangar's worth of ammo... Static seemed to catch on to the stupid grin I had on my face, hitting me in the side of my head with his umbrella. Bloody earth pony...

"No, bad Night Strike, no blowing up anything while we're here." Rubbing the spot where he hit, I shot him a glare and a good view of my tongue, continuing on. Crash Dive's rebar cannon resounded behind us making us both jump as a length of solid steel embedded itself in the building next to Static. We both turned to look back at the power armored mare, Scouring Charge likewise staring at her in surprise. Okay, throwing him into the trees because he asked about your wings is one thing Crash Dive, nearly splattering his brains all across the dirt is an entirely different level! Static stood there, frozen, myself trotting between him and Crash Dive meanwhile, passing the mare in the power armor a disgusted glare.

"I... I can explain, I swear that it misfired! Night Strike, I didn't-" Dropping a foreleg around Static's neck, I let my glare linger on Crash Dive, almost being able to stare at her behind her helmet. Huh, maybe I did pick something up from Dad. Hugging the earth pony close, we kept moving up to the entrance of the armory, the power armored pegasus hanging back behind us. If she wanted to test my nerves, she'd gone too far this time... but, damnit, she's the only pony we really know from down here that won't blow the fact that the Valkyrie is our plane. I blunk a few times, looking back at Scouring Charge for a moment, himself still looking behind and watching Crash Dive - yeah, we're probably gonna have to tell him about it if we find a generator here, aren't we? Fuck me with a fuel rod... goddess-damnit, I need to come up with my own catchphrase.

We soon arrived at the gate, the robot leading us across the wide stretch of land between the barracks and the storage hangars, us all just seeming to take a moment to appreciate the size of the buildings. Sweet mother of Celestia, just thinking about all the explosives, ammuntion, weapons... I felt a little faint. The robot brought us to a small doorway, giving a salute and hovering off somewhere. Watching it head off for a few moments, we all glanced at each other, Crash Dive keeping herself, and her cannon, turned away from the rest of us. Probably for the better. "So... split into groups, see what we can find here, that sound good?"

"Aye, s'pose so. Anythin' in particular you're looking for here, or did we just come all this way from Bridleshade t' see about restocking on ammo?" Scouring let off a small chuckle, tapping Sunburst's underside with his forehoof. He paused and thought for a moment, looking up at the structure before us, and the crest on the large loading door. "Now I think of it, a good bit o' the stuff I used the other night came from crates with that logo. Would be worthwhile after all... 'specially would like t' know just what kind of gun fires a shell that big. Was at least six hundred millimeters across." Well, that certainly got my attention. Six hundred millimeters... that's almost ten times as big as the gun on the TOG! Oooh, the things we could do with that... Bridleshade's still kind of intact, for the moment...

"A-ah, yeah, anyways, groups. I think I'll stick with Night Strike, for my own health... lesser of two insanities..." The earth pony looked to myself, as Crash Dive's armor whirred, moving her over to stand beside Scouring. She responded with a silent nod, Static moving himself to be out of the power armored pegasus' cannon's fire arc. Couldn't blame him. "We'll, um, we'll handle this building, you two can see what's in the rest of the place. Any explosions or screaming, well, we'll probably be able to find each other. Right?"

The pair of power-aromred ponies answered him with a nod, turning themselves about, Crash Dive looking back at myself through her mask. Well, if she'd wanted to kill Static, she could've done it long ago... nnf, don't think about this now, we'll have a talk later. Focus on the fun explosivey goodness that's inside the building instead. Static fiddled with the door for a moment, before turning himself around and kicking it open. Hey, ballistic lockpicking, I am teaching you stuff! He looked back to myself with a small smile and weak chuckle, readjusting his saddlebags and umbrella. "Don't think I have any bobby pins left."

"Don't apologize for that, nothing wrong with a little forced entry every now and again~" Passing along a smirk, he responded with a light laugh and shake of the head, peering into the entrance to the large hangar. Airlock-type seal, of course, wouldn't do to have moisture or stuff get in to ruin the explosives. Oooh, I could smell the cordite from here... "Alright, so, first order of business is to find where they keep all of their explosives. Second order, find a big wagon to transport as much of their explosives as we can. Third, blow the rest. That's a plan, right?"

"You had me up until the third step, and I'm not gonna be the one hauling the wagon from the second." The earth pony let off a grunt, stretching his back, his spine resounding with a few pops. Ouchie... "I dunno about you Strikey, but if we can find some kind of vehicle that ain't hoof-powered, I'm happy. I can only carry so much of your stuff along with mine!" Our hoofsteps echoed as we moved through the airlock-chamber-thing, Static stepping up to the inner door and wrestling with the wheel on it, it screeching loudly as it eventually started to turn. Woof, hope that it only got that way post-war... and that it doesn't close automatically.

"Hey, you're only carrying my bedroll and the Clearwater duffel bag, that ain't too much! I did sell off at least a few of those guns, didn't I?" The earth pony answered with an eyeroll, the heavy inner door screeching as it swing out into the expansive black hangar, the dark expanse making us both a little wary. Really don't need another set of creepy animatronics greeting us... Static searched on the wall beside the door for a light switch, managing to at least find it and flip the lever up. A loud clacking sound filled the air as the old breakers flipped over, electricity flowing through the overhead lights and turning them on in sequence, the yellow-hued illumination revealing...

Mother of Celestia, that... that was a HUGE gun!

We both stared up at the short-barreled mobile artillery piece, jaws hanging low as we stepped inside the packed hangar. I... uh, yeah, I think we found what that shell Scouring was talking about was fired from. Sweet Celestia, if this thing can run, and if we can move the rounds onto it... It's just a shame that we can't fit it on the Valkyrie. Dad would love this. My stare of amazement slowly turned into a stupid grin, wings spreading wide and hovering myself up into the air, darting over to the self-propelled artillery. Getting closer, the wind from my wings kicked some dust about, a caked-on layer falling from the side of the gun's recoil mounting and revealing a faded name; 'Shining'. Well, isn't the name I'd pick for it, but 'Big Bubba' probably doesn't sound quite as nice if it were needed on a report.

Landing on the flat front of Shining, the massive 60-centimeter bore was plainly visible, a stupid giggle escaping myself. Ooooh, those shells had such a big boom they made mushroom clouds, I really hope that this puppy can work... Static finally made his way over, looking around for a moment before jumping himself up onto the sheets of metal over the tracks, looking over Shining with me. Grinning widely, I looked to him, his eyes still stuck in the amazement phase. C'mon Sparky, it's such a big gun! His gaze met mine for a moment, before moving to look down at the portion I was standing on. I followed him with it, taking a step back off of the dust-covered grates and looking at them for a moment. Ooh, engine... hopefully it's still in good shape.

"And the moment of truth is... fucked." Well, that was disappointing. It'd take a whole workshop of ponies to fix this rusted to hell mess. I can't even tell where the turbines end and the generators begin, or where the motors were. Celestia knows what state the reactor's in... "Yeah, trying to run this thing under it's own power is a fast way to get us all killed in a reactor explosion. Probably. Goddess-damn it." Letting off a small huff, I slumped back against the recoil mechanism, staring down into the rusted engine compartment. Oh, Shining, why ya gotta do this to me? Static trotted over to where I was slumped, resting a hoof on my shoulder.

"C'mon, I'm sure there's something else here that isn't as completely broken. I doubt this thing's that fast anyways, looks longer than the TOG, and not nearly as enclosed. Still plenty more here for you to fawn over, yanno, maybe there's another one of those rocket-thingies that Scouring has." Ah, Static, you knew me so well. He smiled and shrugged, trotting over and hopping off the back of the giant arty and landing hard against the concrete floor, looking over at the racks of huge shells on the other side of it. Sweet mother of Celestia, those were big shells...

"Hm... I think the regular-size ammunition's over this way. You gonna be fine browsing here by yourself, come find me afterwards?" Hovering in place for a moment over him, Static thought for a moment before responding with a nod, myself passing him a grin before flying over to the back of the hangar. I know I saw a rack of grenade rifles around here somewhere... ah, there we are. And the ammo is... there! Smiling widely, I let myself drop to the ground, looking back at the long extended barrel of Thumper resting on my back. Don't worry boy, you'll be getting some new food soon~

"Alright Royal Equestrian Ordinance distribution systems, what've you got for Thumpy 'n' me here?~" Opening up the sealed boxes - oh, that was a good hiss - the large collection of grenades brought that same wide grin back across my face, looking over all of them as they rested in their sorted boxes. High Explosive, High Explosive Incendiary, Plasma, Pulse, High Explosive High Velocity, Solid Slug, Dragon's Breath, Birdshot, Fragmentation... like a filly in a candy store. Oh, Thumper's gonna be full for a good long while now. As I looked over the pallets of grenades, the labeling on one nearest a doorway caught my attention, myself moving to inspect it further.

"'40mm LVGR Ammunition reserved for testing of MWT Automatic Grenade Launcher Mk VI, located in R&D. DO NOT USE IN REGULAR STOCK.'" It took a moment too long for me to process what that meant - did you hear that Thumper, they actually made you a pony-portable automatic-fire cousin! Oooh, now this was something I had to have for myself. Shining might've been a bust, but surely this Auto Mark six couldn't be as damaged! And if this pallet is closest to these doors, then it's only logical to assume that... "Hello, Seahoof Research and Development department~"

The doors opened with a small hiss, the smell of stale air, unspent cordite, and gun grease meeting myself in a pleasant aroma. Oh, mercy above, places like this were always fun to wander around in. Just like Greasy's old place, with the missiles and a few left-over half-cooked creations, or Sunrise Castle... somehow, I doubt my chances of finding another Valkyrie here, great as that'd be. No, here, there were just guns. Guns and ammunition...

Not catching sight of the Mark six on first entry, what did draw my attention was a big rifle with a big barrel and big clip, and a scribbled-down note on it. Must be unicorn, earth ponies or pegasi could never write this neat... "'August 6th, improved bolt and carbon-fiber body installed on the select-fire automatic anti-personell .50 caliber rifle. Reminder to tell General Red Leaf that this thing is a one-pony war crime waiting to happen.' War crime..." I looked back to the big gun, taking a closer inspection of it. That clip size... hm, if I remember from the pony back in Hopeville, that thing probably has about 20 rounds a clip. Those were pretty bloody huge rounds, though... nnfh, I need to think about it. Find the Mark six first, see if you can carry it, then come back for the big fifty cal auto.

Trotting further into the R&D section, the sight of several empty shell casings of various calibers caught my attention, recognizing at least a few of them right off the bat. Thirty-ought-six, forty five auto, twenty mil cannon, forty mil cannon... on the list, more ammo for the Valkyrie's forward guns... forty mil rifle, seventeen-pounder, six inch, eight inch, twelve inch, fourteen inch... sheesh, how big did they go with these damn things? Well, I mean, at least 60 centimeter, obviously. What were they doing with all these, anyways? Looking around for a clue, the whiteboard at one end of the section of the room did seem to give a few answers, at least. "Ministry of Arcane Sciences Mark 13 'Solar burst'... very high explosive, tests show a useful payload to caliber places it on par with zebra balefire eggs. Forty mil rifle shells and general-use hoof grenades made, on Blastback's table..."

Not wasting any time after reading that, the next few minutes were spent trying to work out which table in this room was Blastback's, via a time-proven process of opening everything I could. The ammunition box on the polished metal table eventually got my attention... which took far longer than I want to admit... myself opening it up gleefully and peering inside. Oh, Tia's smiling on me today! Giggling stupidly, I pulled the soft foam out of the box first, carefully removing the brass shells with black-painted payloads and looking them over. The very tips of each shell seemed to glow with a golden hue, myself giggling madly as I set my duffel bag on the table and undid the zipper, looking inside. Okay, so maybe if I budge the Sparkle-Cola around and eat up a few snack cakes, I should be able to fit the box in. Or, I could do the smart thing, and get Static to carry it for me.

Or I could stop getting distracted and get that automatic Thumper already!

Leaving the duffel bag on the table - it isn't going anywhere, I'll be fine as long as I focus - I stepped into the third section of the department, and lo and behold, there she was. Oh my Celestia she was a beast. She's practically as big as I am! I took a moment to trot about the automatic grenade rifle - or, grenade machine gun - in the center of the room on a short pedestal, just admiring her unpainted beauty. A bit of white-bordered black paint caught my attention, on closer inspection producing a name for the beautiful thing; Boomer. Ooh, sweet mother of mercy, I love the pony who thought this was a good idea. Now... let's see if I can carry her.

Hooking one forehoof around a support halfway along the gun, my other one moved to rest in the back support for it, giggling as the screen on the loadout showed a boot-up sequence. Computer assisted fire control, sweet~ The latches that secured it to the pedestal released, and with a grin I steadied my back hooves on the ground and lifted. It seemed to budge a little - I think - myself straining against it's weight. Okay, Boomer's a fatty, no denying that... still trying to pick her up, one of my hooves managed to slip beneath me, and the next thing I saw was the ceiling above me and the forty millimeter automatic pinning me to the floor. Damnit Tia, why'd you have to blink on me like that! Oh well... "Static! Could use some help here, I'm stuck!"

Well, for how cluttered this place seemed to be to navigate on the ground, he certainly seemed to get here fast. Thanks Sparky, always got my back when I screw up... I grunted, trying to shove Boomer off of me again, the earth pony letting off a small chuckle as he gave his head a shake, looking at myself. "Strikey, if you wanted to be pinned down so bad, you just had to ask me~ C'mon, let's get this thing off'a you." He moved himself around to the back end of Boomer, slotting his own hooves into the grips and managing to pick the whole thing up in one go. He stumbled slightly, fixing his balance, myself shimmying out from under where the gun was. "Sheesh, no wonder you were having issues, this thing's making me winded just holding it. Don't tell me you actually want to use this thing!"

"Eheh, yeah, on second thought I think I'll stick with the first gun I saw here. For the better, Thumper might get hungry if I were using Boomer all the time..." I let off a light chuckle, Static setting the forty millimeter automatic on the ground. Trotting back through the Solar Burst shell dev department, I moved back over to the duffel bag, looking to the box of ammunition beside it. Oh yeah, I was going to have Static carry it... hope he says yes. Sliding the duffel bag onto my back, I was, admittedly, rather surprised when the blue earth pony picked up the metal ammo box, a smile on his muzzle. "U-um... okay, uh, thanks. You sure you're not going to be overloading yourself?"

"Heh, you know there's a reason that I was able to get over here so quickly, right?" ...okay, well then, going to answer my question with a question, that's cool. He trotted back through War Crime's R&D department, myself turning to look back over the gun. C'mon buddy, you're gonna be coming with me~ Lifting up the rifle from it's stand, and searching for the battle saddle mount... I'm gonna need one of those, aren't I?... the sound of a small engine turning over caught my attention outside, prompting me to fit War Crime onto my back and see just exactly what it was that Static managed to dig up. The earth pony grinned, hopping into the forward seat of some weird little... thing. It looked like a shrunken tank fused with a bicycle, or something. The Clearwater duffel bag hung off of one side, along with the ammo box being set in a rack beside it, Static letting off a chuckle as I trotted over to it. "Better than pulling a wagon, right? Almost a tank."

"You don't say... huh... we could make it a tank, yanno~" The earth pony shot me a confused look, myself smiling and peering back through the open doorway to the R&D department, and the unpainted forty mil automatic that rested on the floor. Static let off a slight groan, his hoof hitting his forehead. Hey, it couldn't hurt...

Boomer bounced slightly in the improvised mounting I'd managed to cobble together for her, myself wearing a stupid grin as I sat on the side of the mini half-track-thingy, Static driving it along the cracked pavement outside the hangars. Oooh, Thumper and Boomer are gonna be able to eat well for ages now~ As we drew near the hangar we were fairly confident that Scouring and Crash Dive had went into, a low thud resounded from inside the building, followed by sirens starting to fill the air around the base. Oh, that can't be good. The tiny half-track came to a stop just before a section of wall that reverberated with small explosions for a moment, before exploding outwards and showering us with concrete specks. Scouring Charge leapt through the hole, followed by Crash Dive, the power armored pegasus pumping some rebar shots into the hangar as they both ran towards us.

"What the hell's going on!? What happened in there?" The unicorn took a few panting breaths as he hefted himself up onto the top of the mini-tank, his magic rummaging around in the Clearwater duffel bag for a moment before pulling out one of the ten mil pistols and loading a clip. Oi, he breaks it, he owes me the caps for it! Crash Dive eventually got herself around to the back, the suspension bouncing as it took the weight of the two power armored ponies, both of them still firing at the cloud of dust. Just about ready to ask them what they were doing, again, a complete swarm of huge ants flooding out from the hole. "Okay, that's a whole lotta nope right there. Static, floor it!"

The engine roared as the mini-tank spun around, myself steadying on it's back and shimmying about, picking up the trigger for Boomer. Whole lotta nope, meet a hundred eighty forty mil rounds of pain per minute. Turning the gun around to fire backwards, a wide grin crossed my face, Scouring Charge jumping slightly at the sight of the muzzlebrake coming into his view. Taking aim, I only held down the trigger for a moment, a short volley of three rounds flying out of the gun and landing smack in the middle of the ant crowd. The explosions tore apart the nasty things, myself giggling for a second.

And then the whole ant colony detonated.

The steel gate that marked the exit to the facility was swiftly rammed through by Static, clattering as it was then rattled by the explosion going off behind it. Okay, exploding giant ants, that's definitely a new one to me. As the blast settled, and the one hangar wall finished collapsing in the distance, Crash Dive looked back at myself, pulling her helmet off. "Yeah, I think that's why Seahoof wasn't raided yet. Ants got in and ate the gunpowder and cordite for some of the shells. That bloke made us learn it the hard way."

"Ay, I didn't know they'd go up like that! Lucky we cleaned the place out before we ran inn'a them, eh?" Scouring let off a laugh, shuffling around one big bag that he'd hung over his armor, undoing the zipper in plain sight of the three of us. What was that, fifteen, twenty bricks of C4? And 5 balefire eggs? Oh, Tia above, you're so kind to us today~

The drive back to the lighthouse was... honestly, not that bad at all. Turns out that little bug has some great off-roading capabilities as long as it isn't forest it's going through, and we were actually able to get back around sundown, just before the tides came in. Of course, afterwards that just left filling Scouring Charge in about why we were -really- at Seahoof... shit, I actually forgot why we were there, too. He seemed to have taken it well, if the confused stare he had on as he entered the lighthouse after seeing the bomber crashed in the mud was anything to go by. But hey, between Boomer, War Crime, the half-track-thingy and the Solar Burst ammo, did that really matter? It was still a major success in my book~

Us all moving to settle in and catch up on some sleep, I rested in the kitchen, going through the large collection of stuff we'd managed to pick up from Seahoof while drinking down a Sparkle-Cola. Alrighty, sorting time! Forty mil shells first... twenty boxes of straight HE, with about thirty rounds per box, 600 rounds. Ten boxes Incendiary, 300 rounds. Ten plasma, ten pulse, five timed, five slug, five dragon's breath, five buckshot... yeah, Thumper and Boomer ain't going hungry anytime soon. Hm, I am gonna have to get some ammo for War Crime at some point, should've stopped over in Hopeville. Ah well, we can do that tomorrow. Now, for the other stuff...

As I was moving to pick up the bags that Scouring Charge had picked up, the whirring of power armor caught my ears, Crash Dive standing in the doorway that connected the kitchen to the rest of the house. She had a solemn look on her face, standing there for a moment, thinking. Well, now would be a good time to talk about it... "I'm... I'm sorry for what happened, back at Seahoof. I swear that I didn't fire the cannon on purpose, I..." She let off a sigh, looking up at myself, and the other bench across from me. Moving herself over to it, she sat down on the edge, myself pulling the duffel bag off of the table.

"Look, I know that he's your friend, and that I have to live with him if... you gotta understand, you're the first pegasus I've seen in a decade. Better or worse, well, you're the closest thing that I can call a friend right now, with half the wasteland hating me for being me, and the other half thinking I'm some kind of ghost, or something. I just don't... something with the radio set it off, maybe, I rewired my helmet for it about five years ago. Thought I pulled the radio antenna com part out, it could've been something on the base causing interference, or something. I swear, I didn't mean to hurt him, Night Strike."

Silently, I stood myself up, looking Crash Dive in her face. She knew she had more to lose by killing Static than just a pack mule... she stared back up at me, that distressed look in her eyes passing on the truth, or at least a damn good lie. I'm inclined to believe the former. Standing beofre her for a moment, I lifted a foreleg and wrapped it around her neck, pulling the old mare into a hug. Holding it for a while, Crash Dive timidly returned it, light whimpers escaping her. Alright Strikey, let's see if you remember it from dad... "Ssh, ssh, it's okay. Static's not hurt, I believe you, just, please don't scare us like that again." Giving her one last squeeze, I took a step back, my eyes meeting her reddned and teary ones. She sniffled lightly, rubbing at them with her armored forehoof.

"T-thank you. I won't." Crash Dive regained herself, if slowly, myself sitting back down across from her. She kept her eyes low, resting a hoof on the table, seeming to think for a moment. "Y-you know, I owe you both more than you think. The reason..." She paused for just a moment, swallowing dryly. "The reason I was so fast to pull you out of your flying machine after you crashed, I was standing up on the cliffs that night, watching the waves crashing against them. I didn't know if I was going to be coming back to my lighthouse that night." Well, that confused me for a moment. If she were standing just on the cliffs, couldn't she just-... oh. Wow, I really am kinda slow on the uptake, aren't I? Sheesh... Crash Dive let off a small sigh, looking up past myself at the wall.

"Getting late. I think I'm going to head for bed, you should do the same. Deserve the sleep." The power armored mare picked herself up off of the chair, trotting around the few duffel bags that littered the floor. I watched her for a while, her coming to a stop in the doorway and looking back at myself. "Thank you, Night Strike. Goodnight." She trotted off, myself resting back in the little booth, just looking down at the table for the moment. Hmh... she definitely had some issues, but... she's got friends now. Even if she doesn't like one of them, she's got friends. Might be just what she needed.

Packing up the collection of ammunition, and setting it over in one corner of the kitchen, I finally decided to check the time myself. Woah, yeah, it was pretty late. Eh, I've had later nights, though. As I was heading for the doorway, an admittedly unnerving sound came from down on the thin land bridge, myself stopping and looking to the window. Call me crazy, but that sounded like a mare's scream for help... nope, that was definitely what it was. Oh, crap, hope she isn't caught in the tides, or something. Well, better safe than sorry.

The door shut behind me as I leapt off of the small porch, wings spreading wide and carrying myself down over the short bridge. Shit, I should've grabbed a flashlight... Oh, wait, duh, my legputer can do that. I think. Fiddling with it for a moment, the sudden change in brightness blinded me, myself turning it over and going back to scanning the ocean afterwards. The mare screamed again - okay, I was getting closer, at least - her wet mane eventually becoming illuminated in the bluish light from my pip-buck. She thrashed about in the water, looking up at myself for a moment and madly splashing for help.

Swooping down, I managed to just about get my hooves around her own, flapping and pulling hard as I could manage to help drag her over to the lighthouse's island. Sheesh, she needed to lay of the snack cakes, too... or, maybe it's the chain links around her back legs. And the weird collar around her neck. She panted heavily, myself setting down in front of her and lookng her over, the mare passing on a smile for a short moment. Then her head exploded.

Recoiling from the shock of watching somepony suddenly having their skull blown off by whatever that collar-thing was, I think, I took back to the skies and spat out a bit of grey matter, letting off a scream in disgust. Okay, on a scale of one to ten, this was fucking freaky! Trying to rub what was left of that mare off of my face, I didn't quite notice as a magic aura encompassed itself around my back legs, or the sound of something heavy being levitated up behind myself. I certainly did notice when said heavy thing came down smack on my head, and all the lights went out.

Fucking aces, Strikey.

Vacant Hangars

A small explosion from outside drew me from my sleep, myself snapping upright in my bed. Glancing around the room revealed Night Strike’s bed to be empty - I grumbled a little. Okay, so it wasn't thunder, probably just that crazy mare fishing with grenades or something... how does she live off of just two hours of sleep? As if to answer my own question, the thought of that glowing firebomb fuel she guzzled daily filled my head - thanks, brain. Thinking nothing of it, I flopped back into bed, looking forwards to getting some extra sleep tonight. However, as I was about to drift off once more, my ears were met with a piercing, familiar scream. Night Strike's scream. My muddled mind immediately snapped to attention as I threw the thin covers aside, the bluish light from the moon only just offering enough light to make moving about not a hassle. I snatched up my umbrella and rushed for the door, which banged loudly against the wall as I broke through it.

I tore through the hallway, forcing my way through the door heading outside as Crash Dive was hurrying down the steps, Scouring Charge hot on her heels - well, door-banging was a good way to wake you guys up, at least. Rushing out into the cool night air, the light from Crash Dive’s cottage and lighthouse spilled out over the water splashing over the land bridge connecting us to the mainland. My heart almost stopped as I spotted a body laying just beyond the light’s reach, covered in blood and mangled on the rocks. As I ran towards it, however, it became clear whoever the pony used to be, it wasn’t Night Strike. Thank the goddesses above...

I panted as Crash Dive and Scouring ran up behind me, both looking worried. “The hell’s going on? What'd you rush outside like that for?!” The power armored mare's pink mane glinted in the moonlight, a crash of the waves sending up a bit of spray and spritzing all of us. I continued to glance around the outcrop, expecting to see Night Strike fluttering back to the ground somewhere. Crash Dive stepped up to me, her expression going stern. “Static, what’s going on?”

My umbrella fell to the ground as I tried to collect myself, my mind finally noticing the stitch in my side from my panicked sprinting. “I, I, I heard Night St-Strike scream, a-and some explosion, so I came out and…” Crash Dive’s eyes went wide as I gasped for air, still looking around in worry.

The power armored mare began to curse, walking around in a slow circle and placing a hoof on the back of her neck. Scouring Charge’s horn flared up as he dragged the body out of the water, Crash Dive pausing mid-stride and tapping the small hatch on her power armor's shoulder a few times. After a moment, she took a deep breath, still cursing to herself. “Okay, okay, we need to figure out where she is now and what the hell that explosion was.” Crash Dive thought aloud, looking at myself and Scouring. She turned to face me, taking a step forwards. “Are you sure you two didn’t have any old enemies from up north? Nopony that might’ve bothered following you all the way down here?”

I shook my head, picking my umbrella back up. “No, there’s no one who would’ve bothered to track us down. Even if there were, nopony knows we were the ones with the Valkyrie, and even if they did put it together, the northern wasteland was still hours of travel away in that thing, there’s no way they’d find us this quickly.” Crash Dive nodded, for once not trying to hide her distress.

“Hey, there’s somethin’ on this lass!” Scouring Charge called us over. He lifted up what looked like a busted metal ring, several wires dangling from a large box embedded on its side. Crash Dive took the object, turning it over in her hooves, her expression growing even more worried as she did. She dropped the half-ring to the ground, staring down at the pony, who I only now noticed was missing its head. Gwuh...

“It’s a bomb collar. The Enclave used to use them for some prisoners, but…” She tore her gaze away from what was left of the pony. “I don’t know who might be using them now, any place that would have manufactured them should have been shut down once the bombs fell.” I gulped, trying not to imagine what might happen if whoever had these got one on Night Strike. Sh-she was good with explosives though, yeah, she could get one off... right?

“Wait, wait…” Scouring Charge said, his face screwing up as he tried to recall something. “Think I remember hearing about some ponies… slavers, aye! They usually use them to keep the slaves from running away, the Rangers’ve been trying to crack down on a few of the smaller camps near the main base. Think I 'eard about a division of slavers around here from the head paladin…” Thinking for a moment, he turned to face Crash Dive. “Any idea on where they might be?”

A small smile curled up on Crash’s lips, looking determined. “There’s an old coastal defense battery just a little bit north of Vanhoover, we were looking into repurposing it during Operation Cauterize because of reports of it being up-gunned shortly before the war... obviously, never got that far. Since then, though, a lot of ponies have gone missing near there, but nopony’s bothered sending in investigations - they just assume it’s the wildlife.” She began to rush back to the Lighthouse, Scouring and myself running after her. “It’s got a huge Tesla cannon mounted on an outcrop inside a pillbox, if we follow the coast we can’t miss it.” She stopped outside her front door, Scouring and I almost crashing into her. She turned back towards us, pointing a hoof towards myself. “Static, start up that half-track thing, we’ll be back out with our stuff in a minute.” She and Scouring raced into the building as I nodded once, heading around to the small connected shed and jumping into the seat of the mini tank.

The engine sputtered for a moment before roaring to life, my umbrella bouncing by my hind hooves as I turned it around. Time moved torturously slowly as I waited for Crash and Scouring, the engine rumbling beneath me. It wasn’t too long before the others came out of the house, Crash shutting the door behind her and hopping onto the back of the mini tank. I didn’t wait for them to get settled before revving the engine and beginning to speed across the land bridge, water splashing up on either side of us.

I veered to the right, beginning to head back down along the coast - hopefully this time all we'll have to deal with are the ponies running the slaver operation, I don't fancy getting poisoned again. I flicked on the headlight of the half-track, the wide beam cutting through the inky blackness like a knife. Scouring tossed my saddlebags beside me before a low buzzing forced him to face back and ready Sunburst... ah, nuts. Welp, I ain't getting stung again! The trees whipped by us, but I refused to slow down, instead charging through the brush as a few of those poisonous bloatsprite hunters began to give chase.

Scouring fired off sunburst a few times, one hunter zipping out of the line of fire of the first rocket, only to be hit by the second. Crash Dive pulled the pin on a plasma grenade, but still held the explosive tightly in her hoof. A hunter flew a little closer, and she chucked the grenade, it exploding just above the large insect, melting its wings into useless goo.

I dared a momentary glance away from the path of the tank, following the coastline along as we reached a small clearing. In the distance I could see an enormous structure far off in the night, a few encampments scattered around it. The tank bucked beneath me as I ran over a large rock, Scouring Charge almost loosing his hoofing on the back. “Oi! Watch where you're going, I’d rather not fall off'a this thing, alright?” He shouted over the roar of the engine. I ignored him, turning slightly inland along with the cliffs.

As we continued to plow through the forest and small marshes, more and more hunters began to follow us, Crash Dive and Scouring having trouble keeping up with the growing numbers. As yet another explosion of plasma erupted behind us, the power armored mare looked back, yelling over the sound of the roaring engine. “Damn it, we must’ve hit a hive, can’t you go any faster?!” I sped up slightly, but even with the adrenaline rush to get to the encampment, I didn’t dare try going full speed in the thick of the trees.

Crash slid herself onto the top of the mini-tank, grabbing ahold of Boomer’s hoof grips and swinging it around to fire off the back. “Let’s hope she didn’t take all the grenades out for herself.” Crash Dive began to fire off Boomer, each explosion ringing in my ears as they went off behind me - well, at least these bugs won't explode again... I hope. Scouring Charge laid himself as flat as he could to the back of the tank, the grenades flying over him. The horde of bloatsprite-things behind us began to scatter as the explosions tossed them aside and tore them apart. As I charged out into a field, Boomer began to click as its muzzle gyrated harmlessly. “Ah shit, we’re out!” Crash called to me over the engine.

“I think we scared ‘em off!” Scouring Charge said, letting off a small chuckle. None of the bloatsprites were still following us, allowing me to slow ever so slightly to avoid tipping the small tank as it's treads ran over the rocky field. I glanced back over to the encampment, a thin gravel path leading up towards the shadowy figure of the mounted tesla cannon's bunker. I stared up at it in awe, the size of the mounted weapon making the portable cannon Nikolai carried around look like an oversized electric toothpick, even from here. She definitely wasn't kidding about it being up-gunned... I began to slow the half-track down as we approached the bunkers, hoping none of the slavers had heard the purr of the engine.

The rumbling died down and the engine coughed out a bit of steam as I parked the small tank behind a large pile of boulders a fair distance away from the slaver camp. “Okay… so, what’s the plan?” Scouring Charge asked us. “Not a lot of slavers up there, but they’re pretty well stocked, the Rangers would’ve run them out by now otherwise. I don’t like our chances if we just charge on in.”

“Not to mention what they might do to Night Strike if they see us.” I said, looking between the pair. Crash Dive gave a slow nod, looking up at the encampment. “Any idea where they might be?” She shook her head, clearly unfamiliar with the layout of the old coastal base. I sighed but climbed out of the small tank, taking a hold of my umbrella and hitching up my saddlebags.

I turned to face both of them. “Alright, I’m going to try to sneak in and find her, if I’m lucky wherever they took her guns won’t be too far away.” Crash Dive looked concerned as I hopped out of the half-track. She pulled a small gun out of her saddlebags and handed it to me. I looked it over, the pistol’s muzzle ridiculously wide for such a short barrel.

“Here, we found a couple flare guns back at Seahoof. Fire that thing off and we’ll come right in after you.” Answering her with a nod, I slid the small pistol into a pocket in my coat. I began to make my way across the dark field, darting quietly between large rocks. Okay, no magic rope-traps this time, let's get to work... I stared up at the bunker, trying to find the best way inside. The front gate had a couple ponies standing on either side, large rifles at the ready. I scanned the area, spotting a small bunker built into the side of the cliffs with no lights shining through the window. Bingo.

I crept towards the empty bunker, staring in through the long gap around the edge that served as a window, the thick concrete walls being the tiniest bit disheartening. The room was empty, save a few discarded tables and small oil lamps. I squeezed through the gap, cursing to myself as my hind legs kicked helplessly - bwuh, I really do need to lay off those snack cakes. I managed to pull myself through and stumble to the floor, staying crouched to the ground and listening for hoofsteps coming to the door.

With silence meeting my ears, I dared to pull open the door in the back of the room. The lights from the hanging lamps in the hallway flickered in the night, illuminating the long stone passageway. I trotted down the hallway, my hoofsteps barely making a sound on the floor. As I came up to the corner of the hallway, I was forced to step into another side room as a dull orange pony trotted past, a golf club swung over his shoulder. As he walked in front of the doorway, I lunged from the shadows, the prongs of my umbrella connecting with his skin. He crumpled to the ground, myself catching the golf club before it clattered to the ground. 9-iron? I prefer a nice heavy driver, myself, but eh, suppose it works.

I peered around the corner, and upon seeing nothing but a ladder, slowly climbed up, lifting the hatch above it just enough for me to peek above me. The hatch led into the center of a round clearing surrounded by other bunkers, both buried and exposed. At the edge of the coastline, sitting atop what looked like the main command center, stood the giant tesla cannon. It's prongs and coils glinted in the night sky, reflecting the light from the bonfire in the center of the clearing. An occasionally strong gust of wind would rise up from the cliffs, managing to shake the thick wires running along its frame slightly.

Around the bonfire sat a multitude of ponies, empty bottles of beer scattered all around. A few ponies with thick metal collars around their necks trotted meekly about, carrying large packs of supplies or attempting to clean up the garbage as the drunken slavers made snide remarks and threw more garbage at them. I ever so slowly pushed the hatch up and crawled out of the bunker, sticking to the shadows from the buildings cast by the large fire. “You says you got some pegasus filly tonight?” One slaver slurred. I paused, listening in.

Another slaver nodded and laughed a little. “Yeah, we were runnin’ a couple girls out over by the lighthouse, one'a dem got loose and fell into the water, dumb broad. Then this pegasus filly comes flyin’ in, tryin’ to save ‘er. Got a face full o’ brain when the collar went off, you should’ve seen her scream.” I resisted the urge to lunge out and force my umbrella down his throat. “Rock Slide came in and conked her on the head. Whip Crack was pretty pleased when he saw her, got her locked in with that mute freak. Present for da boss, yanno? He's inna mares with wings.” The pony nodded his head towards the building with the cannon on top, the other giving a low whistle.

I began to sneak around the edge of the bunkers as the two started talking to some slave who trotted over, trying to out-compete the other for the clearly disinterested and frightened mare’s affection. I gripped my umbrella tightly between my teeth as I hoisted myself up onto a few rocks near the edge of the cliff, attempting to climb onto the command building in search of a way in from the ceiling to avoid the front door guards. I froze as a slaver trotted up, but he simply continued past, oblivious to me.

I managed to pull myself up onto the roof, somewhat surprised at the lack of guards around the cannon. Stepping up towards the base, I stayed as low as I could, not needing to be spotted by the ponies around the fire. The tesla cannon stood atop a large circular base, a trapdoor slanted inwards slightly embedded in the concrete. I swung it open, my umbrella at the ready, but nopony sat inside the mess of cables are mechanical parts that were inside.

I slid into the hole, pulling the door shut behind me, the area completely dark aside from the faint glimmer from a few gemstones in the machinery. As I sat in the darkness, I noticed several exposed wires illuminated by glowing gems. A devious grin suddenly crossed my face as I began to carefully pluck at the wiring. If there’s anything Greasy taught me, it’s how to overload circuitry. It didn’t take long for the mess of cables to be twisted and forced into incorrect positions. Just the flick of a switch and this whole camp should be a firework show even Night Strike would find impressive.

‘Of course she would! Yanno, besides the fact that I really should be getting out of here by now so she can actually do that in the first place.’ the back of my mind chastised me. A small handle met my hoof as I ran it along the bottom of the cramped room. It fell open, a small ladder sliding down to the ground. I took a sharp intake of breath as it hit the ground, a guard giving a confused grunt. I could hear a few others mutter to each other, some beginning to trot over... Oh, crap.

I swiftly pulled out a flash bang and pulled the pin, tossing it down into the room and leaning away from the trap door. I really hope Night Strike’s not down there, I don’t fancy trying to drag her out of here. There was a bang as a bright light filled the dark room, the sound of several ponies stumbling about and falling to the ground, dazed. I hopped into the room, dashing out into the hallway before anypony came to investigate the noise.

Zipping down the hallway as quietly as I could, I desperately searched for Night Strike’s room. As I trotted quickly through the interior of the bunker, I heard the sound of the rattling of fence chains. I slowed, following the sound towards a center room. I opened the door to the room that was the source of the rattling, finding Night Strike violently kicking and tugging uselessly on the makeshift jail she stood in, her wings tightly bound to her sides. A guard sat idly by, having given up attempting to stop her and was now idly reading. He looked up just in time to see me jab the end of my umbrella into his chest, causing him to fall to the ground and drop his book. Arcane Hourglass: The Relation between Magic and Time by Starswirl. Huh, I can’t say I expected a slaver to be reading that.

“Oh, thank Luna! Hurry up and get us out of this damn place!” Night Strike said, looking thoroughly relieved and somewhat surprised. I lifted a keyring off of a nearby coat rack, rifling through them. As I attempted to open the door, I suddenly noticed the other pony in the cage across from Night Strike's.

She stood at least a few feet taller than me, her coat a deep blue. Her wings were bound just like Night Strike’s, but she also had a horn poking through her marine mane, which was adorned by several metallic rings shining with a faint light. I paused in my attempts to unlock the door, staring up at the alicorn. “Um… who’s that?”

Night Strike looked over to her as well, herself going quiet. “Ah, that's Aerith. She's... look, we'll have time for proper introductions later, alright? She's coming with us.” I glanced back to the alicorn, who continued to stare at me with a solemn, curious expression on her face. I tried one of the keys, finally unlocking the gate and letting Night Strike step out. “Now, mind helping me get this thing off?” She tilted her chin up, revealing a bomb collar wrapped around her neck.

“Aren’t you the one who’s good with explosives?” I asked, not wanting to touch the metal ring. She rolled her eyes as I searched through the keys again, looking for one to match the circular hole. It didn’t take too long before I found the right key, Night Strike carefully removing the collar and tossing it aside.

“I’m good, but I’m not good enough to try poking around with something like that blindly. At least, without a mirror and bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD nearby.” She rubbed her sore neck. “Now, think you can you help me with these?” She asked, indicating the bindings around her wings. I tugged and pulled on the ropes, but no matter which way I yanked it, the knot only seemed to get tighter.

“Ugh, stupid slavers with their square knots and round knots and zig zaggy Zebra knots…” I muttered as I tried to undo the knots. As I did, I heard the alicorn - Aerith, right? - scrape at the ground. I looked over to her, watching as she pointed to the rings on her horn, then to the bindings. I turned to Night Strike, who simply tilted her head a little, before bringing her hoof to meet her forehead and passing along a small smile.

I stopped attempting to undo the ropes around Night Strike and instead opened the door to the alicorn’s cage, who needed to bend a little to fit through the door. She sat down, allowing me to reach the rings on her horn. I carefully slid them along her horn, and as each fell to the ground, a look of relief crossed her face, as if the rings had been causing a small amount of pain.

As the last ring clattered into the others, the alicorn stood back up, her horn now glowing softly. The ropes around her and Night Strike’s wings began to loosen, quickly coiling up as they all dropped to the floor. Night Strike flapped hers a few times, clearly grateful to have control over them again. The alicorn spread her wings wide, shaking a few old feathers loose as she did. She smiled gratefully at us, folding her wings back up.

“You guys certainly got in here quietly, I didn’t think Scouring could take a fortress without trying to blow something up.” She said, myself dropping her duffel bag off of my back, beginning to go through it and pull out her grenade rifle, loading it with one of those fancy-looking shells. The alicorn stood behind us, poking the knocked out guard a few times, looking back towards us.

I chuckled a little. “Yeah, Crash Dive and Scouring are waiting outside with that tank thing, we thought the slavers might set off the explosive collars if we just charged in.” Night Strike raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed. I smiled smugly to myself - sneaky-sneaky for the win. “Well, if you really don’t want to sneak out too, I’ve got a little idea to get rid of this base. We just need to get to the control room and charge up the Tesla cannon outside.”

We were about to head out, but before we could, the alicorn tapped me on the shoulder, pointing towards the hunting rifle I found in the cabin sticking out of my saddlebags. “Oh, sure, go ahead.” I slid it out and handed it over, Night Strike digging around in her duffel bag and tossing her a bit of ammo for it. The alicorn grinned and loaded the rifle, giving the lever a few testing tweaks before we headed out into the hallway. “Alright, you two see if you can find the control room, I’ll go signal for Crash and Scouring. Get out of the base as soon as you switch it on.” They nodded and began to head off as I crept my way back towards the roof again.

I was soon clambering back up through the inner workings of the cannon and out onto the roof of the building, many slavers still hanging around the fire. I stuck the flare into my mouth and pulled the trigger, a bright ball of red light arcing into the sky before bursting into embers. The slavers all followed the trail of smoke, their eyes all landing on me just in time to see me chuck two flash grenades into the fire and dive to the ground. The resulting flash sent ponies scattering, nearly all of them falling down from the effects of the grenade piled onto their already drunken state.

A slaver burst out of the main compound I was standing in, wielding a thick lead pipe. I blocked his swing with my umbrella, jabbing him with the prongs. Another slaver ran up behind me as the first one fell to the ground. He fired off a pistol, but stumbled about, still dazed by the blast from the grenades. I managed to close the gap and whack him over the head, sending him sprawling onto the ground. The sound of twisting metal and splinting wood broke out, Crash Dive charging through the gate as Scouring Charge fired off Sunburst at the slavers standing guard.

She pulled up to the fire, leaping off and kicking a slaver down into a bunker he was attempting to climb out of. She dropped a grenade in and slammed the lid shut, the sound of the grenade going off muffled slightly. Silence fell over the camp broken only by the sound of a few slaves dashing out into the field. Crash looked around warily. “Did you find Night Strike?” She asked, kicking one of knocked out slavers.

“Yeah, she’s already free. She and another slave are heading to the control room to power up the cannon.” I pointed towards the imposing machine atop the building. Almost on cue, Night Strike and the alicorn came charging out of the building, Night Strike firing off a grenade behind her. “Come on, we need to get out of here!” I shouted, hopping into the small tank. Night Strike, Scouring and the alicorn all piled on, Crash pausing for a moment to stare at the new companion, stumbling back in surprise. “Crash Dive, now!” She gave a shake of her head, leaping onto the back.

The engine roared as I turned us about and sped out through the broken gate, a few slaves following us out as we drove. “So, what'd you have set up anyways, Static? All we did was turn on the switches... Oh, and stuff a Solar Burst grenade up the ass of that cunt in his den.” A small smile crossed my face as I turned down the path, stopping far enough away for us to be clear of any damage. Ooooh, you’re going to like this, Strikey.

A few arcs of electricity began to climb around the giant cannon’s coils, my mane standing on end as the arcs became larger and more frequent. Scouring’s eyes widened as the large needles at the end of the cannon began to glow, the enormous batteries embedded in the side giving off a faint light as well. Lightning began to leap from the end, coiling and twisting around in the air, looking for any sort of outlet. The sound of the electricity jumping slowly crescendoed, myself giving off a little chuckle before a deafening bang rang through the air, the entire complex surrounded by a dome of blue energy, electricity arcing into the sky as sparks flew from switching boxes and the cannon shook violently. Time seemed to slow as the parts overheated, the cannon exploding into a shower of sparks and flames, bits of metal flying through the air.

As the dome of electricity dissipated, the only sound that could be heard was a rumble akin to thunder, and my own perverted giggling. Damnit Strikey, maybe you are rubbing off on me...

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the second time in about a month I've woken up someplace where I knew nopony and had no clue how I'd gotten there. Well, at least didn't know for sure... the intermittent smell of ocean water over the loads of 20-inch powder charges and HE shells gave me some clue. Assuming I was still in Vanhoover, and remembering going out to see what that mare's screaming was, wherever I was I was probably taken here by boat. Coastal gun bunker is a good guess, by the size of those shells. Oooh, I'm going to enjoy turning this place and whoever lived in it into a crater later on...

Banging my hooves against the wire fence that served as an impromptu cage in the basement of a gun emplacement, I could feel the mesh bending only slightly, rattling and drawing the attention of one of the guards. Sheesh, well, definitely weren't captured by anypony with a sense of fashion... or dental hygene. "Will you cut that shit off, some of us're trying to get some sleep ya fresh cunt!" Yeah, sure, I'M the cunt here... gonna stop myself before I start thinking about the implications. The stallion picked up something from the side of the room, trotting over to my cage and whacking it's end against the fencing I was banging against. From the way my body jerked around before falling back, I came to the conclusion that that's probably what it feels like to be jabbed with Static's umbrella.

Myself gasping for breath - not helped by the heavy metal collar around my neck - the guard-stallion I'd so rudely awoken let off a grunt of amusement, setting the prod back where it was and heading back to the other end of the ammo bunker, shutting the heavy door behind him. Oooh, somepony's going to be getting a 20-inch shell in their back end when I'm free... "Assholes... You're not gona be feeling so smug when my friends get here and we turn this place into a mile-wide crater! I'll shove megaspells up all of your asses!"

Spending a few more moments fighting against the fence and trying to come up with colorful descriptions of how much C4 and cordite they'll all be stuffed with when the rest of the group come to break me out, I eventually let myself fall limp against the cage, head hitting against the wires. Should've gotten Static before I went out there... or Crash Dive, she had heavy armor and could breathe underwater with it, I think... or Scouring Charge, he was a unicorn, duh. I'm not a clever pony...

The sound of the cage across from me rattling slightly made me jump, looking up from where I was and having my eyes meet with those of somepony just about as big as Featherweight, maybe a little taller. The light-bluish mane and dark-blue coat, however, coupled with the slender horn that had a few too many rings wth gems on it, bid me to wonder if I'd been killed or something and now was stuck in some kind of weird dreamscape where Princess-fucking-Luna was being held prisoner right across from me. Us both staring at each other for a moment longer, however, and those notions were dashed as the more reasonable side of my brain thought back to the Lightbringer's story and recalled the existence of alicorns. Again, I'm not a clever pony... especially since I seem to excel at recycling other, cleverer ponies' catchphrases.

Hoof meeting forehead while I tried to focus, I looked back to the alicorn across from myself, her eyes wide with curiosity - or surprise, maybe. Dropping my flanks to the floor, I rested my hooves in the spaces between the wires, letting off a small sigh. "So, what'cha in for? Impersonating a princess, being different than everypony else, just existing, or something?" She seemed to think for a moment, letting off a quiet sigh of her own and nodding her head twice. After a short pause, she added another nod on, looking to the floor. Huh, quiet one... "Don't talk much, do you?"

Well, that seemed like it hit a nerve with her. She shot me an almost Twintails-brand death glare for a moment, before softening and giving her head a shake, letting her long mane cover her eyes as she turned to face away from myself. After a short moment, she looked back, another silent sigh escaping her before she raised a hoof and waved for me to get closer. Pondering for a moment, I lifted myself up and pressed up against the fencing, trying to catch what else I could of her in the dim light. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyes closing as she faced myself and... opened her mouth? Well, if you wanted to say something, you could say it without me having to be directly fac-...

Well, no Strikey, she couldn't, because it's a generally accepted fact that it's hard to say anything comprehensible without a tongue.

"Oh... oh fuck, fuck, sorry, I-I didn't know. Did... did they do it to you?" The nod she gave made me seriously regret the slew of weapons-grade insults and slurs I'd come up with a few moments ago regarding what they could do with stuff like that cattle prod. Quiet resistance now, Strikey, you want to be able to keep enjoying the taste of Sparkle-Cola RAD. Celestia above, I could go for a Sparkle-Cola RAD right now... the pleasant thoughts of engorging myself on several gallons of radioactive glowing soda went away as I noticed the alicorn's muzzle being dampened by streams of tears.

"It... it'll be alright, trust me. I'm sure my friends will be here, eventually, and they'll make sure that everypony here pays for what they did. Enough explosives in this place to destroy Molly Manticore's ten times over..." She sniffled lightly, rubbing at her eyes with a forehoof, passing along a small smile. I returned it, the sound of a door somewhere opening and closing catching our attention and making us both go quiet. At the opposite end of the room, the door opened, and a unicorn stallion who really seemed like he didn't quite belong in this place trotted through, grumbling and levitating a book alongside himself.

"Can't believe I ditched my old place to get caught up with these brutes. If they aren't drinking or getting high, they're fucking the merchandise and snoring loud enough to wake Celestia from the dead..." Not meeting our eyes, the stallion looked to a rack on the wall, lifting a pair of artilleryman's earmuffs and fitting them over his ears. He let off a contented sigh, pulling a chair over from the wall and setting it up just past my cage, returning to reading his book. I can appreciate quiet as much as the next pony, but seriously, that merchandise comment? Oh, you're going to get a forty mil solid lead suppository, my friend.

After a few minutes, and realizing that damn those were good earmuffs he had on, I went back to the monotony of trying to accept the situation and waiting for the sound of panic and explosions as they'd plow through the gate on the half-track for mine and the alicorn's rescue. Huh, should check that, come to think... "Ahm, s-sorry, just want to know, for when we get out of here. What's your name?"

The alicorn blunk a few times, looking at myself, seemingly confused for a moment. Oh, please tell me this place doesn't do cranial surgery along with oral surgery... after a pause, she shut her eyes, gritting her teeth. O...kay then, um, did I upset-? My pending question was interrupted as the faintest tip of her horn glowed, a small strip of bluish magic coming up between myself and her. Her tip - of her horn! - sputtered again, the blue box filling with white letters. Well, least she understands contrast, which is good. Leaning up against the fencing to read, she managed to hold it just long enough before having to gasp. "A-e-r-i-t-h... Aerith, right?"

She held a hoof to her forehead, wincing hard in pain - eesh, couldn't blame her, with that many rings on I'm surprised she got any magic out - leaning back into the darkness for a moment. She responded with a light nod, I think, looking at myself and motioning a hoof at me. Oh, right, intros are two-way. "A-ah, right. I'm Night Strike, I'm... not from around here. REALLY not from around here." She blunk back at me with confusion in her eyes, a faint thump of something exploding somewhere catching my ears, followed by the clatter of hoofsteps along the concrete. Naturally, being as curious as I am - and praying that that thump wasn't the precursor to one of the other ammunition dumps detonating, because I'd rather not be cordite-broiled - I started rattling the cage again, trying to get somepony's attention. Mister gonna-get-a-lead-enema, still completely clueless. Damn, those were good earmuffs...

"Oh, thank Luna! Hurry up and get us out of this damn place!" I don't think I've ever been more happy to see that stallion with that umbrella held in his mouth. Out of breath, Static moved himself over to a rack with the keyring hung on it, picking it off and turning back to get the lock open on my own cage. Fiddling with the keys, he glanced up, finally noticing the fact that there was an alicorn in the cage across from mine.

"Um... who's that?"

"Ah, that's Aerith. She's... look, we'll have time for proper introductions later, alright? She's coming with us." The earth pony eventually managing to get the lock undone and door open - starting to see why Crash Dive doesn't really care for earth ponies that much... brain, remember to smack yourself later - I poked at the thing on my neck, lifting it with a hoof so Static could catch sight of it better. "Now, mind helping me get this thing off?"

"Aren’t you the one who’s good with explosives?" Yeah, when they aren't attached to me! Kind of makes things a bit more difficult when it's my life in danger... not to mention the fact that we were standing in the middle of A FUCKING AMMO BUNKER! He eventually managed to find the right key, the collar coming off in segments which I were only all too happy to discard, moving a hoof to rub at my neck. Alright, one thing down.

"I’m good, but I’m not good enough to try poking around with something like that blindly. At least, without a mirror and bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD nearby. Now, think you can you help me with these?" Turning slightly, the ropes about my wings caught the light, and his attention. Can't deliver my presents the fun way without flying... ack, gah, Static, that's not making it better! Wings don't work well when they're broken!

"Ugh, stupid slavers with their square knots and round knots and zig zaggy Zebra knots..." Please stop helping at some point, I don't wanna be a one-winged pegasi... Aerith scraped a hoof against the ground just in time, catching Static's attention. Oh, thank Celestia and Luna above, she can get them undone. He moved to open up her cage, the large alicorn stepping out and bowing her head down, the earth pony moving to slide the series of rings off of her horn and undo her collar. I swear my wings sighed as the bindings came free, myself snapping them pout to full span and giving them a few flaps to get the blood flowing. Oh, that's much better...

"You guys certainly got in here quietly, I didn’t think Scouring could take a fortress without trying to blow something up." I know I definitely couldn't - explosions are just fun! Static dropped my duffel bag off of his back, myself all too happy to have Thumper back. What to choose, what to choose... besides a slug round for mister merchandise over there. Oooh, I know, perfect time to see how those solar burst rounds handle...

"Yeah, Crash Dive and Scouring are waiting outside with that tank thing, we thought the slavers might set off the explosive collars if we just charged in." Static wore a smug smile, as Aerith poked at the unconscious stallion - I'll let you do the honors, if you want. Passing him a grin and closing Thumper's break-action, his smirk fell to a soft smile, turning about. "Well, if you really don’t want to sneak out too, I’ve got a little idea to get rid of this base. We just need to get to the control room and charge up the Tesla cannon outside." Hey, long as I get to reduce somepony to a smouldering crater or bomb shadow.

He stepped out into the hallway, peering down either side, Aerith stepping up behind him and giving him a tap on the shoulder as I got my duffel bag set up for a usual fun time. Ammo at the ready, check, Thumper primed and loaded, check, Sparkle-Cola Rad, checkity-check-check. Looking up, Aerith was facing myself, the old hunting rifle that Static nicked from the lodge levitated in her magic. Heh, guess that thing'll see some action after all, thirty-aught-six, right? She smiled and caught the box of large rifle rounds in her magic, loading them into the clip and locking one in the breech, peering down the sights and tuning them a little bit. "Alright, you two see if you can find the control room, I’ll go signal for Crash and Scouring. Get out of the base as soon as you switch it on."

Answering him with a nod, he smiled and headed back down the hallway, my eyes meeting Aerith's. Hers turned to look into the room we'd come out of, the large mare trotting back inside with the rifle levitated beside her. She looked down to the unconscious stallion, and the discarded bomb collars, making a point of attaching not just one but both of them about his neck. Well, doubt he'll last long anyways, but hey, if it makes you feel better. Aerith trotting back out and shutting the door - and levitating over a few pairs of the really good earmuffs and slipping them into my duffel bag - I peered down the hallway opposite the one Static had gone down, looking along the doorways. Seems like it curved around the central base for the gun up top, probably has all the loading mechanisms and a few rounds inside... or maybe capacitors and other not-fun junk, if this was a tesla cannon coastal defense base. Feel bad for all of these twenty inch shells though, they'll never see the light of a big charge of cordite detonating behind them.

Trotting around the central hub of one of the gun setups - I think - we eventually reached a door labeled as 'Operations' from before the war. Nowadays though, scrawled over in what I hope was red paint, it read 'Boss's Den'. Kingpin of this operation keeps the fresh meat within reach, lovely. Aerith went around the other way, every now and again the sound of a door being ripped off it's hinges and the retort of a 7.62mm bullet meeting a pony's head being heard, followed by frantic trotting - well, least we're freeing them, too. Stupid move Strikey, almost caused civilian casualties... Looking back through my duffel bag, and then to Thumper, I paused to think. Okay, maybe the rounds that are supposedly as big as a balefire egg explosion would be a bit overkill in a confined area... dragon's breath and slugs it is! Still, maybe a hoof grenade could work...

Aerith eventually meeting back up with me, we looked in towards the door to the interior of the operations sector, myself holding one of the black and white-painted hoof grenades, along with Thumper. The mare lifted the grenade up in her magic, passing along a grin, myself bringing Thumper to bear on the door's handle. Slug loaded, thump goes Thumper, in goes door and makes the bastard scream! Aerith leapt in first, bringing the rifle to bear quick against the shocked and... high out of his mind stallion, the two thirty cal rifle rounds that shattered through both of his back hooves likely bringing him back to Equus fast as a rocket. I hung back in the doorway, loading Thumper with a Dragon's Breath round and really just enjoying the show. Hey, lookit that, console room is here after all...

The stallion let off a scream as the grenade was carefully stuffed head-first into his black star, Aerith looking over to me as her rifle ensured he wouldn't be crawling away with his front hooves, either. Let it all out, girl, you deserve every second of it. Finding a big box of breakers nearby, I took to flipping all the levers up without much care, the whole structure humming with electricity. Right, sunburst grenade stuffed into the baddie's rear, hopefully shattering his pelvis in the process, electricity flowing to the tesla cannon topside, wherever that was... I think we're done here. "Aerith, I do believe we're ready to leave him to his fate. Goodday sir, I hope Tartarus is pleasant for you~"

With that, we left, Aerith shutting the door behind us. Okay, now time for her to lead, because we gotta get our flanks outta here ten minutes ago. Mad dashing through the hallways yielded plenty of chances for both myself and her to give presents of lead and shrapnel to everypony not wearing a bomb collar at the time, and soon enough we were charging out into the cool night air, the carnage of recent battle scattered about. Aerith/s magic faltered and she slowed, looking back into the bunker wearing a grin. After a few seconds, a deep, booming thud erupted from the section we were in - clever girl was holding the lever on till we got out. Oh, I know I'm gonna love you... and I'm not just saying that because of those cute flanks.

Static screamed in our direction as a charging sound filled the air, my mane starting to tingle faintly as we leapt onto the back of the half-track, the suspension groaning faintly underneath us. Steady on, we ain't that heavy... Crash Dive leapt on after another scream from Static encouraged her, and soon we were speeding through the blasted gate, a few groups of freed ponies lagging behind and following us out. "So, what'd you have set up anyways, Static? All we did was turn on the switches... Oh, and stuff a Solar Burst grenade up the ass of that cunt in his den." Aerith bore a grin as Static smiled back at myself, us powering down the road for a short while before finally coming to a stop.

Static looked towards the bunker with a wide grin, lightning starting to arc from the prongs and coils of the tesla cannon, filling the air with a hellish buzzing. Did he actually... oh, Static baby, you didn't have to! I watched in excited anticipation as the cannon itself became an arcing mess of intense electricity for a moment, before the whole base seemed to erupt in a blinding explosion of bluish-white, Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring Charge all covering their eyes from the blast. Who cares about flash blindness, explosions were... okay, maybe I do care about flash blindness, at least a little. Oooh, I can almost see through my pip-buck!

Static fell to a fit of maniacal giggling I'm quite certain he'd picked up from me, us all pausing to appreciate the mess of craters and arcing electricity that were the remains of that particular coastal gun, myself leaning back against Boomer and letting off a light sigh. Okay, tonight wasn't so bad after all... please tell me that isn't the sun over those mountains. Well, looking forwards to sleeping this morning...

"Good early morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio KAOS and today's looking to be pleasantly clear with a few spotty light showers here and there. Our latest news story comes out just due north of Vanhoover, where an encampment of slavers was blown completely off of the map by a group that's been mentioned on this station before. Hopeville Triage, apparently the same cast that fixed the dam for you is just as good at blowing shit off the face of the planet - still no names for them, besides good ones. However, the ponies who reported this also recall seeing one of the former slaves - an alicorn, no less - leaving the main bunkers with the dark-blue pegasus with a grenade rifle, known as Aerith. If you're out tehre and listening to this humble little station this morning, Aerith, mind convincing the rest of your friends to spend enough time in one place for us to learn their names?

"Heh, anyways, it's another beautiful morning here in Vanhoover, but that doesn't mean the magic of night is over yet. Just be quiet for a moment, give a listen - you might even hear a Nightingale singing. Celestia knows the wasteland's sweetheart did... or, at least, while there was still a Ponyville Square to hear them singing in. Good morning Vahoover, and I hope you enjoy."

Nyam nyam nyam nyam, mmh, ah, good afternoon Vanhoover, and good afternoon Thumpy... and plushie-dad. Mmh, oh, haven't slept in like that in ages, still tingling a little from last night. I guess we know what'd happen now if Jules ever wound up misfiring... something tells me I'd really just hope that Nikolai isn't using him at the time. Man... it's been over a week since we were home, at least. We gotta head back to Seahoof, see if there's a generator there... or, well, much anything left of it, for that matter. Hard to tell through the ant explosion while we were leaving. Ah well, whatever, it's almost lunchtime.

Fitting the forty millimeter grenade rifle on my back and rubbing at my eyes, I trotted myself out into the hallway, the idle smells of cooking fish and freshly-opened snack cakes meeting me. Mmm, lunch, yum... Pausing for a moment, I stepped back inside teh bedroom, coming back out with a pair of bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD. I was being held against my will after being knocked out after trying to save somepony, I deserve the chance to splurge every now and again. Trotting into the kitchen, Crash Dive was busying herself with the stove, trying her best to avoid looking at the alicorn that had sat herself down in the small booth, peering out the window. I slid myself in across from Aerith, the power armored pegasus letting off a small grunt through the spatula in her mouth.

"Mmh, about time you woke up. Static and the ranger are outside, looking over the mini-tank, or something. Lunch'll be ready soon." Giving her a small nod, I rested back in the booth, popping open one of the bottles of soda and just savoring the smell of it for a moment. Oooh, that lovely sweet radishy taste, and that lovely little ticking of my pip-buck. The cool radioactive soda slid down my throat easily, myself not taking long to drain the bottle completely, letting off a small contented sigh... and burp. Hey, better it comes from up top. Aerith glanced back at Crash Dive for a moment, then looked to myself, her long, slender horn lighting up with magic, and a deep bluish screen coming up in front of me on the table.

'Thank you for saving me from there, and letting me come with you.' Huh, so, she's not entirely a mute after all! Magic screens, what a clever thing. The alicorn mare wore a soft smile, which I returned, the screen clearing before text scrolled across it again. 'You said you weren't from here - is that thing outside what you came here in?' She nodded to the window that looked inland, the black tail of the Valkyrie prominent in the midday sunlight. Eesh, good thing there really aren't that many pegasi around here, thing sticks out like a Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottle at a Sparkle-Cola warehouse. Blinking a few times after realizing I'd been staring out the window, I went back to facing Aerith, stuttering slightly.

"A-ahm, yeah, yeah, we kind of crashed that here awhile back. Trying to find an industrial generator to get it fixed... from looking it over, we might have a small issue with the engine exhausts. Had it switched to VTOL mode when we landed..." She gave her head a slight tilt, blinking and looking at myself. You'd think ponies in giant pre-war flying war machines was a foreign concept to her... point taken. "Anyways, yeah, we're stuck here and SOL until we can get it to fix itself. Dunno if it'll clean the mud out of the intakes and exhausts for us, though... kinda doubt it."

Aerith gave a small nod as I leaned forwards against the table, the magical screen dissipating as she watched me open the second Sparkle-Cola, myself starting to think over the Valkyrie's current situation more. Intakes and exhausts have to be clear of mud before we can even think of taking that thing off again, probably... that's gonna be a pain in the ass, unless Crash Dive has a lot of shovels somewhere. Or a crane, that'd be nice. Or maybe Scouring could lift it up with magic, and we could set it on it's actual landing gear... nah, doubt he could. Not every unicorn can be supercharged like Minty or lift box cars like the Lightbringer, Strikey... I found my eyes falling to the mare sitting across from me, and her large horn, remembering just how many magic-cancelling rings Static pulled off of it. Swear my brain had the same ding as Kindness when it finally meshed right.

"Aerith... how much can you lift with your magic? By weight, I mean." She looked to me like I was crazy for a second, then paused to think. I wore a wide grin and slid out of the booth, Sparkle-Cola still held in hoof, looking towards her. The sizzle of fish caught my attention, myslef looking over to Crash Dive, who likewise was meeting me with confusion. Letting off a small chuckle, I trotted over to the door leading outside, taking another sip of the cool radioactive soda... which, unfortunately, was starting to get a little less cool from being here. Guh, after we find a generator, we're taking a fridge from someplace. "We'll just be over by the Valkyrie, not too far. Promise I won't blow anything up. Aerith, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Eh... alright, I'll keep lunch warm for you, then. Make it quick though, if you can." Giving her a nod, Aerith shuffled her own self out, her large wings ruffling as they unfolded. Whoof, they're practically as big as Featherweight's... oh goddesses, no, no, bad Night Strike, he's your dad! Gwuh, I hate my brian sometimes. Stepping out onto the small island that held the lighthouse, the sounds of moving power armor and the small clattering of fabric filled the air around the other side of the building. Aerith looked over for a moment with me, then turned her attention back to her wings, myself already turning for the path down to the land bridge out of habit.

The feeling of a hoof tapping my back startled me for a moment, myself turning to look back at the alicorn, herself gesturing to her wide wings before flapping and lifting off the ground. After a moment of thought, I prmptly answered her with a hoof to my forehead. Man, I've been traveling with Static so long I forgot I could fly places... alright, fair point, is a lot faster. Flapping my own wings a few times, Aerith passed on a smile, us both soon arriving on the other shore and carefully setting down beside the crash-landed aircraft.

"Yeah... it ain't pretty, but you know what they say about any landing you can trot away from, right?" Letting off a weak chuckle, I trotted up to the body of the Valkyrie, opening the side access door into the dirt. Lovely little divot we've got going there... Aerith trotted alongside the outside of the craft, walkng about the nose and seeming to pay some close attention to the automatic cannons in the cheeks. I peered inside the cockpit for a moment, climbing myself in and moving to the pilot's seat - okay, gear control, that's what we need. Scanning the console for a few moments, the switch eventually caught my attention, myself heading back for the doorway and beckoning the alicorn over. Her hooves eventually came into vision, blue mane brushing against the ground as she leaned in. "Alright, what I need you to try and do is lift the whole aircraft up a meter or two. When you see the wheels come out and lock in place, set it back down carefully. Got it?"

Returning a small grin, the alicorn nodded once, moving herself over to the front of the craft while I returned to the pilot's seat. Alright, easy, if the Lightbringer can lift a box car than an alicorn can lift a plane... I hope. Well, she just has to pick it up for a few seconds, not like she'll be throwing it or anything. Sitting up and looking over the dashboard - not really good for ground visibility, is this setup? - I was just able to see Aerith standing a few meters away from the nose, staring back into the cockpit. Lifting a hoof and waving it at her from inside, she responded with a nod, her horn lighting up with a large plume. Structural integrity, don't fail me now...

The whole craft shuddered for a moment, a bluish aura illuminating the underside as I watched the view rise up, if slowly. Soon enough I couldn't even see Aerith past the nose of the plane - alright, this should be high enough. Hopefully the crash didn't wreck anything with these... flicking the switch, the hum of hydraulics filled the air in the cockpit, followed by a relieving 'ka-thunk' as the forward gear hopefully locked into place. A few moments passed, and the Valkyrie slowly was set back down, myself letting off a long sigh. Alright, got her set on her gear again, no more crawling under to get inside if we have to. Clean out the mud from the intakes and central exhaust, get the generator, we'll be good to go.

Hopping down out of the Valkyrie's cockpit, I looked over to where Aerith was with a small smile, one that quickly changed to a frown as I saw her laying in the grass. Oh dear, that can't be good... Sparkle-Cola still in hoof, my wings carried me over to her, her breathing heavy as she laid limp. Okay, she's breathing, that's good... don't ask her to lift anything heavy again, got it. C'mon girl, let's get you back on your hooves... my eyes settled on the bottle of glowing soda. Twice the calories, twice the caffiene, twice the taste - well, as a pick-me-up it might work well, and I'll have an ally in the cola wars for it, too! Holding the glass bottle out in front of her, she looked at it for a moment, then myself, a weak smile forming on her lips as her weakened magic took it.

I'd be lying if I didn't say there was a silly grin on my face as the deep blue alicorn took a small sip of the soda, which quickly turned into a very large few gulps, myself having to practically wrestle the bottle away from her. Knew it'd be good - suck it, Static. I let off a chuckle, Aerith panting slightly, wearing a sheepish grin while wide-eyed. "Heh, that got you going. Sparkle-Cola RAD, greatest drink creation since apple cider." She grinned and nodded towards myself, looking back and spreading her wings out wide, taking off into the sky. Huh, a sugar rush, how about that. Alright, time to give Static the good news~

Taking off myself, I hovered over and landed behind the earth pony and unicorn as they were standing by the mini-tank. Aerith, for her part, was happily flying circles overhead. Finishing off what was left of the soda, I trotted up behind Static, wearing a smug grin on my face. "Oh, Static!~ Guess who just joined my side in the Cola wa-" Without much warning at all, really, my vision was made into a blur of greens, blues, grays, and a very surprised white unicorn, before finally settling with both my eyes aimed up at the sky and Static standing with his forehooves pinning me to the ground. We stayed like that for a moment, the earth pony letting off a sputter, myself stammering likewise.

"Static... y-you know all you gotta do is ask me, right?"

I landed painfully onto my back, Scouring Charge standing over me. "Aye, an' that's how it's dun." He grinned down at me as I stood myself back up, rubbing my neck a little. Sheesh, you think you could give a demonstration without doing it on me? "Should be a good enough counter if somepony catches ya' off guard. Just make sure you jam that cattleprod you got into 'em before they get back up." I twisted my back, feeling it crack a little as I did. I glanced over my shoulder as I heard Night Strike trot up behind us, Aerith gliding through the air lazily. "Well, and here's an eager tester!" He chuckled, nudging me towards her a bit.

"Oh, Static! Guess who just joined my side in the Cola wa-" Before she could finish I spun around quickly, bending over and sweeping her front legs off of the ground as I stood back up, twisting my body to roll her through the air. Unfortunately, as I attempted to release her hooves, she managed to tense her grip, pulling me down to the ground with her. I landed with a grunt, straddling over her, my legs pinning her to the grass. "Static... y-you know all you gotta do is ask me, right?"

I sputtered and stepped off of her as Scouring broke out into a fit of chuckles. "Well, you certainly did a lot better than I expected for a first try, 'specially with no horn and all. Best work on that balance, though." He laughed as Night Strike stood up, Aerith landing beside her, looking both of them looking thoroughly confused. "Was just trying to show Static the counter my second-in-command in Company B taught me. Still not really sure how either of them manage to do it, I always need to cheat with a bit of magic."

"Well, give a little bit of warning next time you try to pull something like that off, alright?" Night Strike said, picking up the soda bottle she'd dropped. She slipped it into her bag before leaning onto the mini-tank. "Well, anyway, Aerith got the Valkyrie up out of the mud, cleaning out the turbines should be a lot easier now." I nodded, thankful we wouldn't need to try digging it out ourselves. "Not to mention she clearly knows which soda is the superior brand." Night Strike said, smiling smugly.

I rolled my eyes. "Congratulations, you got somepony addicted to something more habit forming than Dash." Night Strike rolled her eyes as well as I trotted around the small tank, looking over the treads. Plowing through the forest and over the rocky field last night seemed to have done a lot more damage than I'd originally thought, some of the gears and chains had needed to be cleared of foliage, and the right side's suspensions now squeaked much more from the strain of running over a particularly large boulder. For a first time driving this thing at night, though, can't say it's that worse for wear...

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked upon hearing Night Strike's stomach growl. A small blush crossed her face, and I let off a sigh. "How in Equestria do you manage this? Seriously, you practically live off of that soda." I began to make my way back inside, the others following me. The smell of cooked fish met my nose as the door swung open, Crash Dive wiping down one of the pans.

"There's your lunch." The power armored pegasus nodded towards the table where Night Strike's fish sat, a thin heat vapor rising off of it. We all crowded around the table, Crash Dive putting away the cleaned utensils. I pulled over the box of snack cakes, still a little hungry after my own lunch. Aerith and Scouring grabbed one of their own out of the box, though Night Strike was too busy finishing her fish to notice. I glanced into the box, counting only a couple cakes left. Well, better make sure I pick up a few more on our next outing. “The tank still working fine, then?”

“Yeah, just a little dented from last night, but no severe damage. Worst case scenario, onr of the outer road wheels pop loose on one of the tracks and we’ll need to screw it back on.” I bit into the cake, pausing for a moment. “Do you have any tools for working on stuff like that around here?” I asked, mouth full of snack cake. Crash Dive tried to hide her look of annoyance, but nodded.

“I’ve got a few, should be enough for at least a patch job if it breaks down on the road. It wouldn’t hurt to find somewhere we could get some proper tank repair tools, though. If there's anything left of Seahoof, might be there.” She got up, trotting over to the actual lighthouse part of the house to retrieve the toolbox. I swallowed my snack cake, slipping the box into my saddlebags in a weak attempt to stop myself from grabbing another. Night Strike finished up her fish and went to clean off the plate as Crash Dive came back down, hauling a large rusted toolbox on her back. It wobbled precariously as she made to open the door, but Aerith’s horn simply sparked to life, opening it for her and helping to get it properly balanced again. “Mmh, thanks.” Crash Dive said simply before trotting out to the tank.

I turned to face the alicorn, looking a little confused. “So… um, I don’t know how to say this, but… why are you an, um, alicorn? I thought all the princesses had died… and…” My voice trailed off, Aerith giving off an air of disbelief. “Sorry.” I muttered, my ears flopping downwards. Aerith’s expression softened as she conjured up a screen beside her, words scrolling across them.

'It's fine. Surprised you haven't seen my kind before, we were common before the day of sunshine and rainbows.' She gave a small nod, an equally small smile forming on her muzzle. Both Night Strike and I looked extremely confused, glancing towards each other for a moment. Crash Dive trotted back into the house, pulling up a chair to the table. Night Strike tilted her head a little, trying to recall something.

“I think my dad said they found a frozen alicorn up by Emerald Ridge one time… But he also said it was wearing a parka and looked like it was trying to fish through the ice, so I didn’t exactly take it seriously.” I wracked my brains, though I don’t remember Minty ever mentioning an alicorn, let alone an Eskimo one. Night Strike shrugged. “So, what exactly happened, then?”

Aerith’s magical screen popped up again, this time her words accompanied by small simplistic images. 'Before the war, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences had tried to create a way for ponies to become alicorns. They eventually succeeded, though not before the bombs fell.' The screen showed a minimalistic unicorn being dipped into a vat, only to come out as an alicorn. 'Even worse, while it did turn ponies into alicorns, it removed any sort of personality in the process. They became linked to a ministry mare who fell into the vat during the war, becoming the Goddess and forming Unity.' Another image of a pony was dropped into the vats, but rather than an alicorn coming out, some sort of twisted monstrosity was shown, possessing several wings, hooves bent at odd angles, the only truly recognizable feature being the somehow still intact head. I inwardly thanked Aerith wasn’t more detailed in her imagery.

'When the Destroyer--' Aerith paused, the images fading to be replaced by only words. 'Sorry, Lightbringer. When she killed The Goddess, all alicorns lost their connection. Some of them couldn’t survive without it, and many couldn’t remember who they had been. After Unity dissolved, we were all lost amongst the wasteland, nowhere to go.'

We all sat in silence, myself feeling slightly queasy. “Um, well…” Night Strike said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. “At least you’re doing alright, I guess? I mean, you've got us now, right?” She fell silent again. Crash Dive and Scouring Charge stood up, moving towards the steps. The rest of us followed, hoping for something to break the uncomfortable mood.

“We really need to find a generator for the Valkyrie sooner than later, we’re catching more attention each day.” Crash Dive finally said. “At least we’ll have a good way of getting it back here with that tank thing. Get ready to head out, we should make it to Maple Creek by dinner easily, get a head start on our way back to Seahoof. Memory serving, our last trip there was cut short by somepony setting off an ant colony.” I trotted out to prep the tank as Night Strike went to her room to retrieve her saddlebags. Aerith followed me out, her horn glowing as she levitated the old hunting rifle off of the table.

I hopped into the driver's seat of the mini-tank as Aerith climbed onto the back, leaning up against the large grenade machine gun fixed onto it. The engine rumbled beneath me as I pressed the ignition, giving it a few testing revs before turning around to face inland. I glanced down at the various dials and gauges, giving the fuel one a few taps. What does this thing run on, anyway? I turned in the seat to face Aerith as we waited for the others to come back out. “So, I didn’t really get a chance to ask last night, but what kind of stuff are you good with? Somepony up in Maple Creek is looking for a new engine, are you any good with repairs?”

Aerith tilted her head a little, waving her hoof in a ‘so-so’ kind of manner. Her magic flared, and her little screen popped up again 'Kind of. I can take apart just about any standard infantry-issued pistol, rifle, or SMG.' I nodded, figuring with Crash Dive’s Enclave knowledge we should be able to fix up Trout and the Valkyrie with enough time. I glanced over at the sound of the door shutting as the others trotted out of the lighthouse, hopping onto the back of the tank. The tank began to roll forwards, Night Strike stuffing her saddlebags into a small hatch on the side.

“Well, we’ll see if we can find something more suited for you up at Maple Creek.” I said over the engine, water splashing up against the rocky outcropping as I drove over the narrow land bridge. I stared up at the large Valkyrie, it's form much more imposing now that it wasn’t half buried in mud. I turned and began to follow the road inland, the treads rolling smoothly over the small rocks in the path. “There might be a few pistols left in that duffel bag, if you’d rather toss the rifle for now, though.”

Aerith unzipped the Clearwater police bag, rifling through its contents. She levitated out a few shotguns, letting them slowly rise and fall in her magic as she dug through the weapons. Night Strike held the bag open for her as we followed a bend in the road, a smile appearing on Aerith’s face as she slid out two of the small 10mm pistol. She returned the rest of the guns to the bag, zipping it back up. “We’ll still need to get some ammo, traded some of that stuff for forty-mil grenades back in Hopeville.” Night Strike said.

It wasn’t too long before we came to the old stone bridge crossing the river, myself slowing the tank as we approached. “Yeah, I don’t trust that bridge at all.” I wasn’t even sure if it was wide enough for the tank. Crash Dive leaned over the side, looking down at the river flowing beneath the bridge.

“It’s not too deep, we could try to ford it. We don’t have much of a choice anyway, we need to cross and it’s only going to get stronger and wider upstream.” Reluctantly, I spun the mini-tank around, trying to find the narrowest point in the river. The engine roared as we sped forward, water spraying up into our faces as the front splashed into the river. I revved the engine again, forcing the tank through, trying my best to adjust to the flow of the water hitting the side. Thankfully, the tracks were able to catch the ground and plow forwards, water streaming off the tank as I plowed two trails of flattened grass to get back onto the road.

I looked over my shoulder, everypony slightly wet, but doing fine. Night Strike grinned, looking eager to try it again. I faced forwards, starting to make our way towards Maple Creek once more. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky as the edge of town appeared, myself starting to slow the tank down, glancing back to Crash Dive. “Do you want us to leave you off here again? We might want to leave the tank too anyway, I don’t really trust myself driving through town.”

Crash Dive shook her head, instead slipping on her helmet. “I’ll just stay with the mini-tank, you four can go about your business.” I began to slowly trundle the half-track forward, Scouring Charge looking a little worried, slipping on his own power armor’s helmet. Nearly all the ponies we passed stared with wide eyes as we rolled through town, myself taking extra care heading down the narrow roads. We pulled up in front of Sulfur’s Stockpile, the mini tank’s engine dying down as I hopped out.

Night Strike slung the Clearwater PD duffel bag over her back and hopped off the tank, Aerith following suit, but Scouring Charge stayed with the tank. “Uh, yeah, I’d rather stay here. I don’ think the owner would be too happy if she recognized me from the Company.” I shrugged and we headed inside, finding Sulfur placing some shotguns on old wooden shelves. She turned as the door slid shut, her face lighting up.

“Ah, hello again, it’s been awhile since you last stopped in!” She trotted up to us, a wide grin on her face. “Anything I can get for you? Ah, and your friend?” The unicorn mare's grin faltered slightly as her eyes fell to the alicorn, her attention being drawn as Night Strike simply slid the bag off of her back, unzipping it and beginning to place the various weapons onto a table. Sulfur’s eyes widened as she picked up one of the revolvers, turning it over in her magic. “Well, I certainly hope you’re planning on buying something too, I don’t think I’ve got enough caps for all of these!” She chuckled a little.

I stepped up “Actually, we were wondering if you had any sort of submachine guns, thirty cal rifles, really anything that's general infantry issue.” Sulfur nodded, levitating the guns over to the counter and trotting up to a few guns hanging on the wall. Each boasted large magazines hanging from the bottom, ranging from simple mouth guns to ones so bulky they seemed impossible to handle without magic or a battle saddle.

“Well, it’s not the widest selection, but I’ve got nearly everything you could want. Simple 10 millimeter pistols or SMGs, maybe a .22 silenced long rifle if you’re more on the stealthy side.” Aerith’s grin widened as her magic enveloped one the larger guns, this one with a drum magazine, slowly lowering it down to eye level. I sighed a little internally - of course you’d want the most expensive one. “That’s a .45 Auto, 'Chicacolt Typewriter' they call it, a little finicky when it comes to repairs but there ain’t many other guns that’ll get as much of a kick at that speed. Drum mag and recoil compensator standard.”

We trotted back over to the counter, Sulfur running a quick lookover each weapon on the table. “Alrighty, with the pistols and the .45 Auto, that’ll come to…” She punched a few keys on her cash register, her eyes going wide and a weak chuckle escaping her. “Me still owing you 38 caps. Eh...” She sounded slightly surprised, but shrugged and handed the caps off to Night Strike, Aerith grinning widely as she slid her neck through the strap on the Auto. Night Strike and Aerith made their way out, as I made a quick transaction for a few more flash grenades before following them out.

We climbed back into the small tank, myself slipping the extra grenades into my saddlebags resting on the floor before heading back through town again. As we made our way through, a sweet smell met my nose, similar to that of the sweet shop back in Mooscow. “Mmm... anypony mind if we take a detour?” Night Strike shook her head, smelling the sweet scent while Crash Dive merely shrugged. I started to make my way towards it, Scouring Charge grabbing a hold of the grenade launcher to steady himself as we turned a corner. We arrived at a rather large building standing in front of a line of trees, ponies moving between them, filling up buckets with the spigots embedded into the bark.

Night Strike and I hopped out and trotted up to a small stand in front of the structure, a caramel colored earth pony filly standing at it, wearing a light jacket. She smiled as we approached, various bags of candy wrapped up and set out on the counter. I looked over the display, bags of soft brown-tinted sugar laying next to a few slabs of brittle wrapped up in plastic. Night Strike pointed to the ponies milling about behind us. “Hey, ah, kid, what’re they doing here?”

“They’re getting the sugar for the sweets. You ever had maple candy before?” Both of us shook our heads, the vendor’s smile fading slightly to be replaced by a look of mild surprise. “Really? We normally don’t get people visiting from where there aren’t any maple trees.” I’m not sure there are any trees back home, period. The young pony’s smile immediately returned though. “Well, we’ve got the best maple sugar candy there is! Wanna try one?” She opened up one of the bags and pulled out a couple pieces of the light-brownish leaf shaped candy.

I sucked on the sweet confection, my smile of delight mirrored on Night Strike’s face. “Well, it’s certainly the best I’ve tasted, even if it’s the only I've had.” I fished around in my saddlebags for my bag of caps, pulling them out and handing over the necessary number. The filly smiled as she poured the caps into a small lockbox behind the stand as Night Strike and I each grabbed our own bags of candy and moving to head back to the tank.

However, before we could, we heard a familiar voice call out. “Oy, thunderbolt and missile-mare!” We turned to see Ripple trotting up to us, wearing a grin on his weary face. “Sorry, never was good with names. It’s good to see you two are doing fine, though. Any luck finding a replacement for Trout’s old engine?”

Both Night Strike and I looked a little sheepish, glancing at ech other for a moment with weak smiles. “Ah, sorry, we haven’t been able to find anything yet.” Ripple looked slightly disappointed, but shrugged. “We haven’t been to Vanhoover yet, and we’re still looking for a generator. Maybe there’ll be somepony selling off their old fishing boat there we could break down.” Night Strike looked at me.

“Since when did you have enough caps for a freaking boat?” The look of confusion was apparent on Night Strike's face, to which I raised my eyebrow. Come on, haven’t you learned I can weasel any price I want at this point? Night Strike rolled her eyes. “Well, we didn’t really fully check out Seahoof, at least, not after those ants started pouring out of every crevice. There might still be something there. Would help if we knew precisely what kind you needed.” Ripple’s grin returned.

“Ah, eheh, just a basic triple-expansion steamer. Don’t worry too much about it today, I’ve lived long enough without the engine, I can wait another couple of weeks. I hope you’re able to find it soon, at least.” We bade him farewell and walked back to the small tank, Aerith and Crash Dive playing a game of cards on the back as Scouring Charge watched on in confusion. Crash Dive scooped up the deck as we hopped back in, the motor purring. Night Strike popped another candy into her mouth as I turned us around, looking for a hotel.

I pulled up to a small building as the sun was finally beginning to set, parking the mini tank beside a few carts out front. We all piled out and headed into the lobby, Night Strike trotting up to the desk. After handing over a few caps to the clerk, she tossed one set of keys to Scouring, holding onto the others. “Alright, boys one room, girls the other,” She paused, looking over to Aerith. “You… are a girl, right?”

Aerith shrugged, 'I’m one since the dipping. Don't really remember much after that.' Ok, not going to think too hard about what that might mean. We all headed upstairs to our rooms, Scouring Charge unlocking the door and stepping inside the boys' room. I slid my saddlebags off as he lay Sunburst on the small desk, pulling off his helmet ant taking a whiff of the air. He began to slide off his armor as I flopped onto one of the beds.

I pulled out the bag of candy, tossing one to Scouring as I bit into another. “Mmh, say, what exactly did your company do last time they were here?” I asked curiously. Scouring Charge blew out a slightly exasperated sigh. He climbed into the bed opposite mine, rubbing a few stiff joints from his power armor.

“Well, let’s just say it involved a lot of Wild Pegasus, high explosives, lasers, and one pony’s poorly chosen pie cart parking spot.” He slid under the thin blankets, giving his back a few more stretches. “Mmh, my company's got some nice buggers in it, but they really don’t hold their drinks well. Though, neither do I, to be honest.” He rolled over in bed, switching off the small oil lamp as I tied the bag of candy back up and slid into bed myself, thankful for a full night’s sleep after last night’s events. Oh, sweet, sweet sleep...

"Aye, so, 'ere she is, ol' Trout." The sun shone brightly against the river that ran by Maple Creek, the docks smelling of that pleasant aroma of fish and smoke. Ech, at least the former overpowers the latter, somewhat... Ripple had lead both myself and Static down to the far edge of town, and over to an admittedly rather sizable boat. It rested up on the shore a meter or two, the faded paint and patched-up cabin definitely proving it's seen better days. Ripple let off a small sigh, reaching into his jacket and producing a small metal flask, taking a quick sip of the contents and trotting over to a small ladder set up against the side of the boat. "C'mon, engine's right below deck, in the bunkrooms. Eheh, am sorry I didn't show you it when I asked, imagine it's a bit hard to know what parts I need if ye don't know what the thing looks like."

"Ah, don't fret over it, we're glad to help regardless." Static followed Ripple up the ladder while I hovered myself up onto Trout's deck, landing against the creaky boards and meeting the larger stallion with a smile. He returned a nod, trotting over to one side of the cabin and lifting up a hatch in the floor, disappearing beneath it for a moment before the sound of something clattering and Ripple's swearing filled the air, both myself and Static quick to head over, pip-buck lights on and shining down into the open hatch. Ooh, that's a big bloody speargun that fell on him... "You alright there?"

"Aye... aye, just lost my bearings a bit. Been a while since I was last down here. Ahm... ah, here." Shoving the speargun off of himself, Ripple finally managed to find his hoof over to the switch on the wall, a few electric lights humming to life below deck and illuminating the interior. We both followed inside, the large stallion setting the speargun back on the wall and looking to the doorway labeled as 'Engine Room.' It creaked loudly on it's hinges as he swung it open, myself peering inside. "Well, here's the engine. 'side from age, not too sure why she's gone and quit. Tried everything I could." Ripple gave a shrug as I stepped in, getting a closer look.

Okay Trout, let's see your powerplant... Mark 10N Naval-grade light duty arcane reactor, alright, least if there's an issue with that I know I can probably get her working again. Damn sight better state than that reactor back at Jericho Beach... main steam lines look good, no cracks in anything major, feeds into... Well, it's not a turbine. 'Baltimare Locomotive Works triple-compound steam engine, 203mm stroke length, operating pressure 200psi'... alright. Scratching a hoof against my head, I looked back out through the doorway, Ripple watching inside and holding the flask in his hoof. Passing on a weak chuckle, I idly tapped at the engine, trotting back over to the reactor. "Well... you probably know the engine itself better than I could hope to. If it were an issue with the reactor, I'd be able to help you right now, but it looks alright."

The stallion responded with a shrug and another gulp out of the flask, coughing a little before clearing his throat. "Don't worry yourself, lass, not askin' ye to fix it right here and now. I had to take a guess, the poor thing's run for about as long as it'll last at this point, just need to see about getting her replaced. Ye find a matching one, do tell me and I'll come out with you to get it, eh?" Passing on a smile, Ripple nodded for the exit, myself and Static heading for the outside as he shut off the lights below deck. Static peered off towards the basin to the east, myself already starting to hover off of the boat.

"Ahm, Ripple, are you sure that those sea monster ponies you mentioned the first time we came through here are just an old mare's tale?..." Okay, uh, Static, have you gone... Celestia above, how'd I forget about -those- things. And the eggs and stuff at the Dam, too... he had a point. Ripple scratched at his head for a momenyt, before letting off a short laugh, jumping down from the deck of Trout and landing on the shore.

"Don't tell me you let Lugnut get that idea worked into your brain. I ain't ever seen a monster sea pony, and I swear I never will. You're just kidding, right?" His laughter tapered off as he caught sight of the look on my face, glancing between us both for a moment. I gave him a little shake of the head, drawing in a breath and biting at my lip. "You're both... just... Celestia above, please tell me you're just kidding... you aren't, are you? Goddesses." Static soon joined us on the shore, Ripple looking up at the boat, thinking for a long moment. He let of a small sigh, looking back to us. "Right, if you're serious, then I've got something else to ask. Trout's a strong ship, but that harpoon cannon's only good for a shot or two. You find me something that'll give 'er a bit more bite, consider anywhere you need to go that I can take you with 'er on the house."

"Consider it done." Passing him a grin, and catching him returning it, I hopped onto the back of the mini-tank as Static revved the engine, us powering down the streets back to the hotel. The town was waking up once more, some ponies passing curious glances as we passed them by, the mini-tank coming to an easy stop beside some carts and wagons loaded with merchant's wares. Static hopped himself out, the engine still purring, glancing back at myself before heading into the lobby to get the rest of our group. I took to fiddling with the pip-buck's radio meanwhile, leaning up against Boomer. Ah, there you are Radio KAOS...

"-nypony here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember, how she said that,
'We would meet again,
some sunny day'?

Vera! Vera!
What has become of you?
Does anypony else in here,
feel the way I do?"

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, you're listening to 'Vera' from the album 'The Wall', and we have some breaking news out of the town of Saddlebrook. Several of the townsfolk there report witnessing a collection of four identical flying craft overhead, all similar triangle shapes to the strange craft that crash-landed outside of the haunted lighthouse a week or so ago. We don't have any confirmation on if these are the same craft, or if they're carrying megaspells, but it's advised that should these craft crash, anypony living near the crash site should relocate themselves as soon as possible, due to the unknown nature of the craft. Do not risk your lives trying to gain information for my show - it isn't worth that much. To those living in Saddlebrook, please keep us updated on the situation, and by all means call for help if you need it. We will relay the message as soon as we can. Ahm, anyhow, this concludes the mid-morning news, we'll return you to your regularly scheduled music. Up next is 'Bring the Boys Back Home'."

I looked down at my pip-buck, scratching my head idly, the faint feeling of worry coming up through me. More flying craft like the Valkyrie? But I thought it was the only one of it's kind, like the TOG, or War Crime, or something... This could be an issue. The hotel door clattered open as Static, Aerith, Crash Dive and Scouring Charge all trotted out, the mini-tank's suspension groaning slightly as they climbed aboard. Turning down the radio, I steadied myself against Boomer again, Aerith passing on a grin as she rested her new gun on her lap. After a moment, we were setting off again, Maple Creek disappearing behind us and the rest of North Vanhoover before us, speeding along the cracked roads. No matter how much I tried, though, I couldn't shake that feeling... nnfh, I just hope that they're friendly, whoever's flying them.

"Aye, is a nice town, inn't it? Surprised nopony's settled 'ere, though, seems to be intact." Scouring Charge looked about the brick buildings of Clearwater, following with myself as we made way for the police station. Crash Dive had agreed to stay with the mini-tank, and Static and Aerith had gone off looking for stuff to make an early lunch, or snacks for the road - hopefully they know to keep any Sparkle-Cola they happen across. Sure I've taught Aerith well in the ways of the superior soda brand... "So, eh, wanna know, you an' Static... brother and sister, close freinds, lovers, or somethin'?"

"Dah..." Way to send a missile right out of left field, Scouring. Taking a moment to recover myself, I shook my head, the power armored unicorn standing outside the police station's doorway. Least the smell's gone... kind of. "J-just friends. His dads know my dads... a little more closely that most, but, yeah, we're just close friends. Moving along..." Trotting inside the building, the cool breeze from outside flowed through the open doorway, stirring the air and carrying along that smell of old decay. Phew, not exactly pleasant... I really hope that we don't find out what it is that's causing that. "The, uh, the dynamite should be in cell... four? No, five? Some number starting with the letter F... it has a loose brick in it that the guy hid it behind."

"Must'a been a real nice place before the war, then. Not often you come across places where ponies were actually nice enough you could afford to leave stuff like that, heh..." The unicorn stallion passing along a grin, he trotted over to a doorway at the back of the station, looking at it for a moment before raising a hoof and promptly obliterating the latch and frame. Ah, cheeky bugger... whoof, gack, okay, guess we found where the smell comes from. Brilliant. Burying my muzzle in the sleeve of my jacket, Scouring likewise stuck his head inside his helmet, taking a breath and looking back to myself. "Smells like somepony sure didn't last long 'ere. Would've thought they'd be a skeleton at this point... y'said you got those guns in the blue duffel bag from this place, right?"

"The armory, yeah... I doubt the whole place had the same freshness seal, though..." I've been in pre-war buildings before, like in Quebuck, and even there the pre-war ponies were only really recognizable as having stuff more than just bones thanks to the fact that Quebuck happens to be smack in the middle of a place frozen thirteen months of the year. Smell of dead pony here, where what ponies called 'chilly' really seemed to be bare-body weather... couldn't be pre-war. Just begs the question of what the hell it was, then...

"Three... four... fi-ook me, the hell is that!?" The power armored stallion scuttled back on his hooves a few steps, the fancy rocket launcher on his back aiming into the cell. Trotting up to look in with him... I was immediately thankful that we were eating lunch after this. That definitely wasn't anything I'd call a pony... unless ponies did have scales, and gills, and fins, and laid eggs. Big eggs. Big, shattered, degraded, mushy, familiar eggs... Shove a tank shell in my ass and call me a seventeen pounder, don't tell me this was the same thing that was in the dam.

...and don't tell me it set off the dynamite!

"Well... that'd explain the smell, sea monster pony fish-thing guts painting the wall. Hurk." Okay, screw the dynamite, if there were any sticks left I ain't gonna be going through that mess to try and find them. Plenty of explosives left at Seahoof anyways... probably. Hopefully not in the bodies of huge ants. Scouring Charge gave a shake of his head as we stepped back out, the small canal that ran through the town idly bubbling with the water flowing through it, making the place seem a little less completely vacant. Euh, not gonna get that sight out of my mind for a few days...

Trotting back along the stone-paved upper level, the Kettenkrad was parked near some shaded tables set up outside a corner diner, Crash Dive resting herself in a chair nearby, her rebar canon set on the table. Static and Aerith soon came into view as well, a rather large collection of items levitated beside the alicorn and a wide-brimmed fedora on her head. Ehm, well, I'm not one to speak about fashion... I dunno, didn't seem like she's the type for hats. From the look on Static's face, seems he's just as confused.

"Who's hungry? We managed to find an electric grill and a few unopened hayburgers... and a clothing store, eheh." The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as Aerith set up the grill on another table, plugging a spark battery into it and passing on a grin. Scouring licked at his lips, trotting over to look over what other things they'd managed to find, myself moving up alongside Static. He kept his gaze on Aerith for a few more moments before meeting my eyes, letting off a small sigh. "Do you think Unity had a dress code, or something? Seriously, I don't think that hat really goes with her coat color... or her, period, for that matter."

"Whatever you say, Cross Stitch~" Myself letting off a snicker, Static opened his mouth to protest for a moment, then let off a small huff. Oh, you're so cute when you scrunch your face up like that~ Giving his head a shake, he set a small cooler bag on the table, the contents letting off a series of small clinks. Hello, soda... Oh, wait, those are brown bottles. Bluh, never trust a bag... "Please tell me you found some Sparkle-Cola too?"

"Mmh, oh, yeah, did find three bottles of the stuff, regular." The grin immediately came back to my face as he reached in and shuffled the bottles around, the blue glass containing dark caramel soda coming to view. One, two... why'd he stop? Moving the bottles aside, I peered into the bag, met with the several bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla. Static let out a small chuckle as I huffed, the sizzle of hayburgers being cooked meeting our ears. "I said we found three, not that I had three. Still glad you got her hooked on it?"

"Ah, shut up."

"Good afternoon North Vanhoover, you're listening to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. For those of you who missed it earlier today, out of Saddlebrook comes the news of four more flying craft in the wasteland - thankfully the little readout here aboard this ship hasn't reported an Empty Quiver again, but I'd still highly recommend watching the skies and taking cover if you see one, because we can't be certain if they're friend or foe. Nobody knows exactly what they are, but in contrast to the first craft eyewitnesses report them as not being entire triangles, more dart-shaped, and with the bigger forward wings slanted downwards like a pegasus in mid-flap. They also appeared to be able to hover - again, we don't have any definite facts, so take all this with a grain of salt. Better to err on the side of caution in this case.

"Anyhow, it's a pleasant, cool, autumn afternoon, and everypony's here for a bit of music. Here's an album that you'd be forgiven for thinking it a jab at the princess who let Equestria get bathed in Balefire - The Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy."

The bell above the shop doorway rung as I stepped inside with Aerith, the stallion behind the counter wearing a pained but relieved grin and a few bandages on his forehooves... oof, sorry. Passing a small grimace as I stepped up to him, Aerith took to looking over the large assortment of guns and ammo of various flavors, myself swinging about the duffel bag and undoing the zippers on it. "Welcome back, been a while since I last saw you. Got some good news for you though, it took ages but I think I finally got a few of the slug rounds you asked for made, and I've started work on the dragon's breath and buckshot..." A weak chuckle escaped myself as he beamed, the smile across his muzzle faltering as he watched me rummaging through my duffel bag and producing War Crime. "Ahm... so you -did- go to Seahoof..."

"Yeah... turns out, um, yeah, there were a few forty mil rounds there... a couple pallets worth. At least, that's all we found in one hangar, eheh..." Oh, that's a look of disappointment. Hopefully this draws his attention instead... myself gently setting War Crime up on the counter, Aerith's magic was lighting up and sifting through the rifle section, looking over the different ones available. The shopkeeper's expression turned from an empty frown to one of curiosity, and then one of surprise as I released the clip from it and set it upright on the counter. "You said you had a few fifty cal rounds for sale? I think that War Crime here is chambered for it. How many do you have?"

"War Crime... ya don't say... ahm, ah, right, I've got a few different kinds for offer, actually. Standard ball round, Armor-piercing, Armor-piercing Incendiary, a few different flavors. Picked them up from a merchant who said he got them from an airbase up in the northeast... didn't take long for me to realize I probably just paid a couple hundred caps for a few belts of bullets that nopony'd ever have anything to fire them. Least they were a good source of powder and lead, heh..." He let off a small chuckle, ducking below the counter and producing a big ammo box, setting it down and undoing the latches. Yup, those were definitely big bloody Fringe's rifle-size bullets... "I'd be happy to just move these things at this point. 50-round segments at 10 caps per round sound good?"

"What it sounds like is expensive as hell. Can I just get thirty, or, forty rounds instead? Eesh..." One thing I ain't, and that's made of caps. The stallion behind the counter wore a grimace, shutting the lid of the box and letting off a sigh, seeming to think for a moment. Aerith, for her part, was still looking over rifles - hey, isn't that one of the ones that dad uses? The gunsmith tapped his bandaged hooves on the counter, catching my attention.

"Alright, tell you what. If you go back to Seahoof and find anything really beefy, talking cannon caliber or at least a big machine gun or two, I'll pay you with the bullet belts and make up the difference with caps. Have to start thinking about air defense with those new flying things in the air... That sound reasonable?" Okay, so a gun for Trout and a few anti-air craft batteries for Hopeville, I'm sure we can swing that. Answering him with a smile and nod, he let off a small sigh, rubbing at his forehead. "Scavenging is the life and death of places like my shop. Please do consider buying something from me again sometime."

"Promise that we will eventually, bound to run out of bullets sometime sooner or later, heh..." A weak smile crossed his face, Aerith trotting up behind myself and tapping my shoulder, her Chicacolt Typewriter's drum magazine undone from the gun and being levitated over to the counter. A light chuckle escaped myself as the gunsmith looked over it curiously for a few moments, a smile soon crossing his face. "Well, I guess we'll be buying a few bullets after all. What ya got in .45 ACP?"

"Heh, not a lot, but enough to keep that buzzsaw topped off. Real nice piece of work you've got there, you pick that one up from Seahoof, too?" The stallion trotted to the back of the shop, the sound of a few tins of ammo being picked up and brought out filling the air. He set the black metal drums and ammo boxes on the counter, twisting open the front of them and revealling the arrangement of the fifty rounds in the drums. Oooh, swanky~ Aerith grinned widely, looking over the assortment. "Five caps per bullet, fifteen for the clips too." ...ow, I forgot how expensive ammo can get when you've got something that fires a lot of it very fast. The alicorn let a frown fall on her muzzle for a moment, looking towards me. Oh, no, no, don't... guh, you're lucky you're cute.

"Alright, we'll take... all the clips. With ammo, of course." Well, there's 800 caps I'll never see again. Setting the few bags on the counter, I let off a small sigh, rubbing at my head. Why didn't I just pick up some ammo for War Crime when I was first there? Why'd I just let an alicorn sucker me into paying for her ammo? Why, why, why... The register rung, Aerith gently poking my side and fitting War Crime into my duffel bag for me, nodding for the door.

"Thanks for the business guys, come back soon!" Oh, we'll come back alright. Come back with lots and lots of junk to trade so I can get my 800 caps back... Static can probably track down a few more spark batteries and sweet talk his way into getting that stallion to pony up a hundred apiece. Hell, I'd take eighty apiece... Or we could raid a library, maybe, come in with a thousand incenerated books and see if that'd make the difference. Nnfh... Come on, Strikey, still time left in the day. Gotta get to Seahoof, gotta get guns for Trout, and Hopeville, and maybe take a few to Maple Creek, just to be sure... guh. I hope we can find wagons to carry it all. Or a truck... or a tank. Full size, with a cannon... or three, bristling with machine guns everywhere and spacious as the TOG... Oh yeah, now that'd be a thing of beauty. Heh... what was I mad about again?

The mini-tank's engine hummed as Static munched down another snack cake, brushing the crumbs off of his lips as we approached. Crash Dive and Scouring both had their armor's helmets on again, looking over to us, watching as we set ourselves down on the sides of the mini-tank, myself setting my duffel bag down and resting a hoof against Boomer. Static swallowed the last of the cake, looking back at us both, the engine giving a small rev. "Mmh, so, you get ammo for that new gun of yours alright? We good to head down?"

"Not quite, and yes. Keep eyes peeled for any machine guns or autocannons that might be left when we get there, got a deal with the gunsmith that if we get Hopeville some good anti-air craft guns he'll make sure we get paid one way or another. I'm expecting at least eight hundred caps outta it..." Letting off a small grumble, Static looke over the rest of the group before giving a shrug, putting the mini-tank in gear and starting to trundle us out of the town. A few fillies and colts were playing with each other at the edge of the village, the tank giving a small lurch as we picked up speed, the greenery blurring together as we sped along. The sun shone bright overhead - looks like it's just a little past noon, one or two, maybe. We're making good time... let's keep it that way. Fiddling with my pip-buck's radio, a song was just finishing up on KAOS, a few moments of silence following it before a small jingle, and that mysterious unnamed DJ came back on.

"That was The Dark Side of the Moon, and you're tuned into Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. Our top story today, the report of four more flying craft in the wasteland, this time as far eastern as Saddlebrook. Still haven't recieved any notifications regarding these things, if they're friendly, if they're carrying megaspells or not, but all the same the appearance should not be cause for panic, not until they prove their standing otherwise. A few ponies out of Maple Station have highly recommended scavenging for any heavy machine guns or cannons you can find and aim up to the skies on the offchance they turn out to be hostile - don't open fire until they do, tempting as it might be. Just because I haven't recieved anything saying there are megaspells onboard these like the last one doesn't mean there aren't, and as anypony who's worked with explosives could tell you, bullets and bombs generally don't mix well.

"Ahm, right, fitting along with that, this news just came from Hopeville a few moments ago; the gunsmith there, Lock 'n' Stock, has managed to gain the assistance of the Vanhoover Five in retrieving some heavy armament from the old Seahoof armory. Celestia knows they'll be sure to help them out, and maybe hang on to a few guns for other towns that might need them - just pray they're in a fixing mood rather than a destruction one, heh. Hey, if you five are listening, I think this boat can afford to spare a few guns if you need 'em. Drop by the studio too while you're here - I'd love to get an interview.

"Anyways, that's the daily news, and up next we have the album The Final Cut by Roger Trotters. I hope you all have sweet Post War Dreams tonight, everyone."

Oh... boy. Letting off a small huff and biting at my lip, I fiddled with my Pip-buck a little more aggressively, finally managing to get the radio off. Please let them not have heard too much... The looks that Scouring Charge and Crash Dive were both giving me - which is to say, the glares from their helmets - did not bode well. I let off a weak chuckle, stammering nonsense while gesturing to my Pip-buck for a while, before slowly letting it devolve into a groan and me holding a wingtip to my forehead. "Oh, fuck me silly with a cruise missile..."

"Couldn't have been easy, could it? Something always has to go wrong..." Crash Dive let off a sigh, her rebar cannon letting off a small whirring sound as it accepted another bolt in the loading mechanism. Aerith, for her part, checked her own gun for a round in the chamber, Scouring doing the same. Come on guys, it was just one radio message! I'm sure not a lot of ponies actually listen to them... "You know, I'm starting to regret agreeing to keep you all at my house. Been a whole lot of trouble so far..."

"Hey, least this is more interesting than sitting in your lighthouse all day, right?" The power armored pegasus shot Static a glare, the earth pony looking back in time to catch it, and then looking forwards in time to keep us from all being thrown off because of a large crater in the road. "Sorry, driving!" Letting off a small groan of my own, I shuffled my things about and pulled out Thumper, popping the breech and loading a buckshot shell. Dropping my head down and banging my foreleg against it, by some odd twist of fate it was enough to jar the radio back on right at the end of the song.

"Should we shout,
Should we scream?
Whatever happened to the postwar dream?
Oh Luna, Luna what did we do?"

Luna above, what did I do...

"Alright... so the ants did completely write off one wall of a hangar, but at least it's still standing, right?" Static trundled the mini-tank along the roads around the interior Seahoof hangar complex, Crash Dive and Scouring Charge having headed off in search of a wagon or two. Gotta say, for having a line of explosives go off clean through it, Equestrian engineering sure was built to last... maybe to not withstand a balefire bomb, but conventional explosives, sure. Miracle it looks like only the ants went up... "So, we going to bother with this one, or see what else there is?"

"Ah, think we're better off trying one of the other hangars. We need something at least as big as Featherweight's autocannons, and fires at least automatic. Machine guns, too." Resting against Boomer, I looked about the area, catching sight of what I suppose at one point was a directory. Well, at least, before an ant decided to climb over it while chasing us... that was the whole colony that we managed to detonate, right? Aerith peered in through the hole in the wall, a look of concern on her face as she brought her .45 Auto to bear, aiming it inside. The engine of the mini-tank revved, and we moved on towards the other hangars, Aerith still aiming back at the ant one - oh, please stop doing that, I really don't wanna know if there are more ants...

Pulling around the second hangar, the one storing Shining and formerly storing Boomer and War Crime, we brought the mini-tank to a stop outside, Static cutting the engine. He looked back to Aerith, myself hopping off of the back of the half-track, sliding Thumper on. "Okay, somepony has to stay behind with the mini-tank, in case somepony else decides to come along and take it." After a short pause where Static's eyes split between myself and Aerith, he let off a sigh. "Somepony who can incapacitate those ponies who are coming to take it before they get within umbrella range. Besides, knowing our track record with this place I might have to help get you out from under another ridiculous gun again, Strikey~"

"Yeah, yeah, shuddap. Let's just try and track down all the big guns in here and get the hell out before anypony shows up. Think we ought to remember how this place was laid out, though, shouldn't take too long. Aerith, you can handle yourself while we find the stuff, right?" The alicorn passed on a smile, levitating up her .45 auto and resting a hoof on Boomer. Chuckling lightly, I turned about as the door in the larger hangar door clattered open, Static already disappearing inside the structure. Myself about to follow him, I felt the stock of a gun tap me on the shoulder, drawing my attention. Huh, that old hunting rifle that Static had... My eyes meeting those of the alicorn, she pointed to the rifle lifted in her magic, seeming to make a face of disgust as she set it back beside the mini-tank, her screen popping back up.

'This old thing is only good for parts. Could I get something in a little better condition from here later?' She passed on a light smile, myself moving to take a closer look at the old rifle. Ooh, yeah, that bulge around the bolt does not look good at all... miracle she was able to use it when we got out of those bunkers. Since I imagine a .308 cartridge detonating right beside your face isn't exactly pleasant in any sense of the phrase, I gave a grimace, looking up to Aerith and nodding.

"Of course. Heh, hell, we'll probably be taking everything we can out of this place anyways, bound to find something up your alley, right?" A grin on my muzzle, Aerith smiled, Static calling out from inside the hangar. Trotting myself inside and taking off, a quick flight over - while also revealing the sight of several more of Shining's 600mm high explosive ammo - had me touching down beside Static, and several racks of machine guns. Oh yes, this would definitely work... "Well, that's convenient. Honestly, kind fo thought this'd take a lot longer..."

"Well, probably would have, if you just took up to the air to try and find this place. Signs are a useful thing, yanno~" The earth pony snickered as he trotted over to one rack of the machine guns, looking over them. Huh, pie pan-shaped clips and barrels the size of steam pipes, those are odd ones... Ah, now these ones look familiar. Yeah... yeah, these are the same ones Buzzy's turret on the Speedwagon mounts! But those are just rifle-caliber, .30 cal... There was a small clatter as Static let off a small yelp, myself turning in time to watch as the earth pony became buried under a few of the pie-tin-clip steampipe guns. Smooth...

"These'll cover light arms, the guns here are all the same caliber as dad's automatic rifles. Good if two or four of them are in the same mount, though the guy back in Hopeville seemed like he really wanted something more to the tune of Featherweight's cannons. You alright?" Helping Static out from under the few stranger-looking machine guns, he gave his back a stretch, letting off a small sigh as he looked back at the pile.

"Yeah, I think so. Hope those things are sturdy... eesh." Turning himself about, he moved to pick up one of the guns, looking it over for a short while before setting it back against the rack where it was. "Well, if they really want machine cannons, I guess we can look in the other hangars. This one seems more just for overflow more than anything... hope they aren't in the ant one." Eesh, now that was a pretty good point...

Trotting and hovering through this one for a few more moments turned up only a little more than nothing, aside from a long rack of rather well-kept battle rifles chambered for .308. Guess I know where to bring Aerith later, heh. Myself letting off a sigh, I flew about and eventually landed near Static, his attention being drawn towards a set of double doors at the far end of the hangar. "No sign of autocannons over there, just some rifles. Any luck here?"

"We'll see in a second. This is where I found the half-track from the last time we were here, I do kind of remember the doors there reading something to the tune of 'Anti-Dragon Weapons Systems', sounds like what they're ordering, right?" Anti-dragon? Ooh, now those would have to be big rounds... loaded with explosives, maybe with proximity or timed fuses too, to make sure they'd punch in and then go off. Hell of a show, a dragon armed with bombs getting hit and losing it's guts all over a battlefield. Myself lost in thoughts of how pretty an explosion-filled sky would be, the loud creak of the doors as Static swung them open snapped me out of it, The earth pony trotting forth a few steps before coming to an abrupt halt. "Night Strike... jackpot."

Trotting up beside him with the faintest level of curiosity, the way he grinned at me as I looked over the room full of big guns hung from racks probably explained his laughter, my jaw just slightly above the floor. Those... oh sweet Celestia above, those were like the big forty mil ones on the Speedwagon, and there were at least nine or ten of them here! And just look at those huge drum clips too, you could probably fit twenty shots per reload! Oh wow, yeah, um, we're definitely going to be moving these things out of here soon as we can. Static trotted himself further inside as I fell to my haunches, drooling over the sight of the large autocannons still, the earth pony reaching the other side of the room and peering through the doorway.

Finally getting out of my gun-induced stupor - again - I picked myself up, giggling stupidly and rubbing my hooves over the barrels of the autocannons, moving back to the breeches and glancing down at the ammo. Okay, thirty seven mil instead of forty mil, but damnit, they were still huge rounds, though! Open fire with one of these things and whatever's at the other end of it won't be around for much longer, for sure. The doors creaked as Static pushed them open, a cool breeze meeting us both as he stepped into the adjacent hangar. Looking over one of the huge rounds in my hoof, I trotted over to meet him, standing beside him in a matched silence as I finally got a look into this hangar.

It was completely empty.

"Uh... Static, am I seeing what you're seeing?" Trotting out further into the hangar - and waving a hoof out in front of myself, in case it was invisible stuff - the earth pony beside me letting off small, uncertain groans. Upon reaching the center of the hangar, the black smears on the ground finally caught my attention, myself hovering up a short ways to get a better look. Four pairs of two blackish marks, looks like somepony put flamethrowers to them. Or... I swear I've seen something like these somewhere before...

"Night Strike? Found something... doesn't look good." Cut from thought, I hovered over to where Static was, his hooves tapping on a terminal on a desk in the corner. Noticing myself, he shuffled over a piece of paper, still working at the terminal. Looking it over, it didn't take long for me to see what he wanted to show me - that was the R&G Manufacturing logo. The smudge marks... they were the exact same ones caused by the hydrogen turbine in that cruise missile, back at Greasy's factory. Oh no...

The terminal let off a small beep as Static sighed, text scrolling across the screen. He began scrolling through the data on it, reading it off aloud - it wasn't making me feel any less worried. "Testing information for R&G Manufacturing/Hawker Aerocraft XF/A-1 'Harrier', VTOL capable dragon combatant and weapons platform. All four prototypes are fully functional and flightworthy, with forward automatic tesla cannon armament and capability of delivering 2,000 kilograms of explosive ordinance via underwing hardpoints. Extremely maneuverable midair, small radar signature... and there's no sign of them in here anywhere. Oh, this is not good at all..."

Grimacing and trotting back out to the hangar, I stared out through the large doors, another gust of wind blowing inside and whipping our manes about. A weak sigh escaped myself, looking back to Static. "Well... guess we know what the Saddlebrook flying things are..." Oh, Celestia, fuck me with the barrel of a 17-pounder gun...

Possible Pasts

I shook my head, trying to recover from the shock of this bombshell dropped on us. Okay, so we've got four aircraft flying around with enough firepower behind them to put Twintails' old TOG to shame... great. I flipped the switch on the back of the terminal off, the screen flickering to black. "So... you think this is just some sort of automated response from blowing up all the security here? Maybe they're just set on some sort of autopilot for base security, or something, right?" Night Strike offered, not sounding particularly confident.

"I don't know... even if it was, there must be something bugging the system up or they wouldn't keep circling the wasteland," I said, standing myself up from the chair and gathering up the vlueprints, stuffing them into my saddlebags. "And if that's true, they're going to run out of fuel eventually or something, right? Who knows where they might land and who'd get them then." Night Strike grimaced, giving a small shake of her head as a reply. Giving one last worried glance at the empty hangar, we trotted over towards a small door, opening it to reveal a dusty workshop. "Well, hey, at least we might find an engine here."

Beginning to dig through the discarded metal and tools, I pushed a skeleton in a tattered jumpsuit off of a work bench it had been leaning on - ech, sorry buddy. I opened a closet, jumping back as various tools fell to the floor with a clatter. You'd think ponies pre-war would've at least organized their stuff better... "Hey, you think this might work?" I glanced over to Night Strike, catching her leaning against an engine half as big as she was, smirking a little.

"I think that'd probably get Trout up to Mach 4 if it didn't sink it to begin with." Myself letting off a small chuckle, we stepped through another door labeled 'storage', Night Strike fiddling with a switch before the overhead lights flickered on, the room filling with a low buzzing. We trotted down the aisles, staring at all the various pieces of machinery placed on the shelves. I picked up a two way radio, looking it over as Night Strike continued to search for an engine. Blowing the dust off of it, a good bit of shaking got the cobwebs loose, myself letting off a small cough. Well, looks to be in good condition, and it wouldn't hurt to have a transciever handy.

I slipped the somewhat bulky device into my saddlebags before continuing to scan the aisle. I slid a bottle of sarsaparilla out of my pack and popped the cap off, taking swig as I caught up to Night Strike. "I think I found something that'll work." She turned to face me, nodding her head towards the engine behind her. "It looks about the same weight as the one inside Trout, and it's a similar enough model we could probably do an overhaul on the old one if we absolutely had to." I nodded, taking another gulp of soda as I grabbed a small trolley to carry the engine on.

Night Strike and myself both carefully lifted the heavy engine onto the trolley before starting to head back towards the others. As we trotted back to Aerith and the mini-tank, we could hear a large clatter, a metal-walled wagon being pulled by the power-armored unicorn, a grin on his face. "Lookit what we found between two o' the hangars, ought to work for haulin' any of the guns here, right?"

"Should be a perfect size, c'mon, we'll show you where the guns we found are." The pegasus mare beside me let the handle of the trolley clatter against the side of the mini-tank, myself grimacing at the small scratch left in it. Come on, Night Strike, I know we live in a wasteland but that doesn't mean you can treat stuff like that... She paused for a moment, thinking. "Oh! Right, ahm... I think it'll be safe until we come back out. Aerith, did find some rifles for you, if you want to do a bit of shopping."

Myself giving a roll of my eyes, we led all of them through into the hangar, making way for the long racks of machine guns. Night Strike and Aerith kept moving on deeper in towards another weapon rack, leaving myself and Scouring to start loading up the wagon - okay, let's try to not get yourself buried again, Static... "Bloody hell, these guns look like they were outdated before the bombs even fell. Same caliber, though, that's useful..." The unicorn began moving a few of the steampipe-guns onto the cart, myself moving over to pick up a few of the smaller, more gun-looking machine guns. Plenty of ammo boxes to go around here, least one per gun, which is nice...

After getting the cart loaded with the assortment of machine guns and .30 caliber ammunition, we moved on to pick up the autocannons, the sun starting to really hide itself behind the far mountains. Stopping inside the bay that once held the mini-tank, myself and Scouring moved inside the little area connecting the two hangars, the unicorn understandably impressed by the sheer size of the guns. Moving them all out one by one, Crash Dive busied herself by securing in the first assortment of guns, and picking up a black toolbox and a few of the same wheels that were on the tracks for the mini-tank - good catch, almost forgot about the extra parts for that thing.

Grunting under the weight of the first few guns, Aerith and Night Strike eventually showed back up, the alicorn wearing a wide smile and a new rifle as her magic helped move the rest out and onto the cart, along with a few more crates of ammo, and eventually the new engine. I let off a heavy sigh as we moved back out through the door, trotting to the seat of the half-track and pretty much collapsing in it, resting my back. Goddess-damn, those cannons are heavy... hopefully they're worth their weight. Or, at least, I'm sure I could convince somepony that they're worth their weight... The back of the wagon clattered as Scouring climbed himself in and secured it, Crash Dive with him, Night Strike and Aerith taking place on the back of the mini-tank. The power armored pegasus cleared her throat, getting settled on the back of the wagon. "Right, so, just for reference, what've we got here?"

"We got an engine for Ripple back at Maple Creek, along with the anti-air guns for Hopeville and whoever else needs them, and a few guns for Trout too. Hopefully it's enough for that blabermouth gunsmith to give me those caps back..." Night Strike grumbled to herself a little as she settled herself on the tank. "And... uh... we think we might've found what those things are that've been flying around the wasteland." The others paused as she said this, passing some uneasy looks. "They're some sort of aircraft like the Valkyrie. It's got mounted tesla cannons and VTOL capability, might have missiles too. No megaspells at least..." Night Strike gave an uneasy chuckle.

"Let's just get these things over to Hopeville for now. It wouldn't hurt to save one or two, though, my lighthouse isn't exactly bomb proof..." Crash Dive let off a small grunt as I nodded and switched on the tank, starting to make way to the road heading out. The mini-tank's small engine complained a little from the extra weight, but managed to keep us moving forward at a steady pace. Alright, let's hope we don't need to kick this into high speed. I turned off the path as it approached the forest, preferring to take the slightly longer route around than worry about trying to manuever the trailer around any tight bends.

Night Strike leaned against Boomer as we trundled across the open field, the guns rattling against each other in the back and daylight fading fast. As we made our way around the forest, I could hear a few shouts from ahead of us. Crash Dive sat up, her harpoon cannon letting off a small thunk as it loaded, myself squinting to try and see what was the cause of the noise. As I did, through, something large suddenly swooped down, causing me to lean back out of fright. Night Strike, Scouring, and Aerith were suddenly sitting at attention, trying to look around the hill where the thing had landed.

As I made to turn away, a jet of flame shot into the sky, its bright blue base tapering off into a deep orange at least thirty feet in air. A silly grin crossed Night Strike's face, her eagerness to blow more things up quickly overcoming any sense of self preservation she might have had. Oh, this can't end well...

The engine rumbled even louder as I twisted the handle, the trailer bumping along behind us. Scouring opened up Sunburst, a small scope sliding out for him to use. The mini-tank struggled up the small hill between us and the fight that was breaking out amongst the raiders and whatever had just landed, the sound of crackling fire and gunshots ringing through the air. The land began to level out as we reached the peak of the small hill, giving us a view of the valley before us. My jaw dropped as my heart jumped to my throat - oh, just our luck.

Down in the valley was a small camp of raiders, several makeshift shelters built out of old scrap metal and wood, some of them aflame and falling apart already. The raiders were all running about in panic, some frantically shooting at what had just landed in the middle of their camp. A silvery dragon stood in the middle, a burst of fire jetting from its jaws, catching several of the huts and the occupants inside. One raider was firing off a minigun, trying to circle around behind the dragon. It whipped it's tail in the raider's direction, slicing into the pony's side, seeming to throw him slightly. The raider stumbled, the bullets from the minigun kicking up dirt as he fell off target.

The dragon reared about, snapping its jaws as a raider swung a sledgehammer into one of its legs. It stood tall, its wings flashing as it did so, and I tried to get a sense of scale from atop the hill. What is that thing, three... two... two and a half ponies tall?... dammit, stop running around! As it flashed its wings, though, I noticed they gleamed much more than a solid sheet of leathery hide should have. I squinted down, noticing a several notches in the wings that seemed to fold over themselvs as the dragon kept them close to its body. As I continued to watch, I noticed the bullets hitting it were leaving small dents rather than wounds. No... this can't be real...

The robotic beast swiveled its head, spotting us on the hill. "Ah, shit." I immediately revved the engine, charging down into the valley to avoid the burst of flames which charred the grass behind us. I felt a bullet whiz by my head, causing me to duck down instinctively. Oh, of course the raiders are going to try and kill us with this thing still around. Night Strike wheeled Boomer around to face the creature, firing off several grenades as she brought it on target. A few managed to strike the dragon's talons, blowing apart one of its feet in a shower of sparks. Myself still hiding inside the tank's armored driver's seat, Aerith fired a barrage of bullets at a few raiders charging us with magnums in their teeth, myself hitting the headlight switch in an attenpt to blind a few of them.

The dragon spread its wings wide, a low hum filling the air before it took to the skies, a few bits of metal falling from its damaged leg. Crash fired off her harpoon cannon, the volley of spears flying over a particulalry large raider weilding a gatling laser. Sweet Celestia, haven't these ponies heard of priorities?! The raider fired off a stream of lasers, the concentrated light scorching the side of the tank. I twisted the handlebars, swinging around to let Aerith have a clear shot. Before she could fire, though, a wall of flame shot up between us and the raider, the dragon belching up flames onto the ground. I spun around, the trailer lagging behind me a bit, jostling Crash Dive and Scouring around.

The steel ranger pointed Sunburst up into the air, firing off a few rockets, tracking the massive beast. The dragon twisted in the air, deftly avoiding the explosive projectiles, Sunburst running on empty soon enough. Crash Dive fired off another harpoon volley, managing to strike another raider squarely through the chest. Night Strike shot a few grenades up at the dragon, but they fell short, arcing instead into one of the blazing huts. I turned to avoid another jet of flame and burst of lasers, keeping my head low as Scouring reloaded and fired off more rockets. The dragon attempted to avoid them again, but one managed to strike it's knife like tail. Hot metal and oil spilled down from the sky, a few raiders crying out as they were hit.

I tried to avoid the deluge, but a few shards of flaming metal managed to embed themselves into my right foreleg. Gaah, fuck fuck fuck! I yelled in pain and clutched at my leg, losing control of the tank for a moment. I suddenly felt another prick of pain in my shoulder, causing me to look over to it. Night Strike had stabbed me with a small needle of Med-X, the pain in my arm quickly dulling. "Keep driving, we can't kill these guys if we crash!" I took a hold of the controls again, muttering a quick thanks before swirving back around.

The dragon spun in the air, it's flight hindered without the weight of its tail for balance. It attempted to correct itself, but instead began to plummet back to the ground. Night Strike and Scouring fired a few more explosives, managing to land a few hits as it landed with a deafening crash, screeching metal covering the sound of the screams of the gatling weilding raider it crushed. The dragon writhed on the ground, releasing a furious mechanical roar, attempting to right itself. It lifted it's head, but before it could fire off another burst of flames, Night Strike lifted Thumper up and let loose a faintly golden glowing grenade. The projectile connected with the back of the robotic dragon's throat, and my vision was filled with a blinding light as the robot's head exploded, sending shards of metal off in all directions as a small mushroom cloud slowly formed above the blast.

We all sat in silence for a moment, catching our breath, staring at the destroyed dragon. Finally, Crash Dive spoke up. "Okay, what the actual FUCK was that!?" She lifted her helmet off to reveal her looking completely dumbfounded. "What the fuck just happened?!" She glanced between the rest of us, but none of us could offer anything more than a shrug. Yeah, we really don't have any more of an idea than you do.

We looked back to the heap of metal, the air still crackling around us as the huts continued to burn. "Ay, was that one o' the things that got out of Seahoof?" Looking back to Scouring as he lifted himself to teh front of the cart, I shook my head, starting to turn the tank around and drive out of the ditch. The treads smothered a few smoldering blades of grass as we headed out, the others still staring at the wreck. "So... we're goin' to try to not speak of this again, right?"

"Speak of what?"

The somewhat scorched mini-tank trundled to a halt outside the Hopeville gunsmith's shop as the sun finally fully disappeared on the coastline. We hopped out of the tank, Aerith's magic pulling the trailer behind us as we trotted around the side of the building. I knocked on the large garage door, a bit of scuffling being heard from the opposite side before it began to roll upwards. The gunsmith stood at the door winch, the utter mess that was his forge smelling of sulfur and molten metal. "Oh, hey, didn't expect you guys back so soon. Got the guns for me, then?"

I nodded, Scouring lifting a few of the large cannons into view with his magic, placing them inside the garage. "Alright, we figure four of the autocannons and twelve of the machine guns should be more than sufficient to defend the town, so long as you've got reasonable ponies using them, of course." I said, the gunsmith looking them over, eyes wide. "Figuring in the cost of the guns themselves, transportation, and..." I paused, not wanting to reveal the dragon fight, lest he think we were crazy. "...unforseen occupational hazards, the total should come to fourty-five hundred for each of the steampipe guns, five thousand for the other machine guns, one hundred and fifty thousand for each of the automatic cannons, one hundred thousand for ammo, and five thousand for delivery..." I paused, adding it all in my head. "Grand total of seven hundred and sixty three thousand caps."

The gunsmith practically fell to the ground, his jaw following suit. "Seven hun- I don't have that many caps! Nopony has that many caps!" He immediately walked back over to the guns, trying to pick them up and hand them back to us. "Nope, deal's off, I'm just fine getting blown to pieces by whatever those things are!" Crash Dive stepped forward, her glare almost visible through the helmet's red visor, causing the gunsmith to stumble back in fright. I sighed as Night Strike glanced over to me, confused as to what to do.

"We're not expecting it all in caps, at least," I said, trying to calm him down. "We'll take whatever you can give; ammo, guns, scrap metal, so long as the value's the same, we don't care." He paused, looking a little skeptical. "And I doubt you're going to find somepony else who's willing to give up near perfect condition anti-air guns like this too, especially with those machines flying about." He glanced up at the sky, as if expecting the machines that had been all over the news to soar overhead at that moment. Sighing, he stepped back and let us finish unloading the guns.

"Fine, fine. What kind of ammo do you need?" He asked, pulling out a pad of paper and a pencil. Night Strike, Scouring, and Aerith began to list off ammo types ranging from rockets to rifle rounds to shotgun shells and clips, the gunsmith scribbling madly to try and keep up. I leaned up against the tank as Crash Dive fitted the remaining guns to the trailer, reworking the chains a little to better secure Trout's new engine. The gunsmith placed the pencil behind his ear, glancing down at his list, gulping slightly. "A-alright, come back tomorrow around ten o'clock, I should have enough made by then." I nodded and the others hopped back onto the tank. "Oh, and here's a sort of... deposit. For the delivery." He opened a small safe underneath one of this work benches, tossing us a large bag of caps. I thanked him, only for him to turn around, muttering something about protection and extortion rackets under his breath, looking a little weak.

The mini-tank rumbled to life once again as we began to head down the streets, the new five thousand caps jangling satisfyingly in the boxes beside me. "Suppose we should spend the night here, it'll be easier coming back early in the morning for the ammo." Night Strike said, wearing a small grin. I turned and headed towards the hotel, the trailer bouncing on the road. It wasn't long before I was pulling up beside a few other carts in front of the small building, flipping the tank's engine off. We all climbed out, though Night Strike paused, looking back at the guns. "Ahm... I don't think we should just leave these here, out in the open."

Letting of a small huff that seemed like a small laugh, Aerith waved her hoof as her horn began to glow, an aura surrounding the cart. Suddenly, the trailer vanished into the air, making my own eyes go wide. Night Strike looked horrified, but before she could speak up, Aerith leaned against where the trailer had just been, supporting herself by seemingly nothing at all and wearing a smug smirk. Night Strike sighed upon realizing the guns were not destroyed - just, yanno, completely invisible - and we all began to move into the lobby. I need a spell like that!

As we entered the lobby, my stomach clenched a bit upon spotting the pony behind the desk. Oh, yeah, couldn't have been his day off, could it? Chauffeur beamed as we stepped up to the desk, seeming to focus more on me than anypony else. "Uh... two rooms." I said, trying my best not to make eye contact. He slipped a couple keys off of the rack behind him before moving them over to me, making sure to hold a moment upon our hooves touching. I inwardly shuddered as he watched us trot away, a goofy smile across his face. "Euwh. What is with him?"

"Oh, don't be like that, we all saw how you blushed." Night Strike said, poking me in the side. I glared at her, my face growing red as I handed over her room keys and unlocking mine and Scouring's room. I bolted the door behind us, sliding my saddle bags off and letting off an exhausted sigh. Scouring began to slip out of his armor as I flopped onto a chair.

"Dare I ask?" Scouring glanced over to me as he placed his armor on the ground, the bodysuit underneath covering most of his body. I rested my head on my hoof, shaking it as he chuckled a little. I flipped on the radio, hoping to change the subject.

"-anding here waiting mr. Postman
Sooo, so patiently
For just a card, or just a letter
Saying he's returning home to me.
Please mr. Postman"

...Seriously, Radio KAOS?

I rubbed my eyes as I sat up in bed, Scouring snoring lightly in the bed opposite. I pushed the covers aside and rolled off the mattress, still rather groggy - ewuh, well, it's morning, at least. The door to the bathroom creaked a little as I pushed it open, stepping into the small room. I glanced into the tub, the surface of it a little oddly stained. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind before shutting the door behind me and slipping my coat off, setting it aside - you don't get to be picky when you've waited so long to shower, Static. I climbed into the tub and turned the water on, gasping as the cold water splashed onto my back.

The shower quickly warmed up as I began to scrub myself, my mind wandering to wonder who had enough excess vegetables to start making soap down here. Though I suppose they aren't really hurting for food with this climate... I could hear Scouring's bed squeak as he got up, the large stallion stepping into the bathroom and turning on the sink. "Hnnh, marnin'." He muttered, splashing his face with water.

"Morning." I replied, a little more awake with the water cascading down on me. I ran my hooves through my mane, stray silvery hairs and bits of debris washing out and down the drain. Ech, I really need to find a comb sometime, too... I proceeded to wash out my tail as well, Scouring levitating up a small razor blade in his magic, carefully shaving off errant hairs on his face. I soon flipped the water off and stepped out, grabbing a towel and beginning to dry myself off. Scouring rinsed his razor before stepping back out into the room and starting to slip his armor back on. I pulled my coat back over me, securing my Pip-Buck to my leg before trotting back to the main room.

Hitching up my saddlebags and sliding my umbrella under the strap, Scouring likewise grabbed Sunburst and his items, and we stepped out into the hallway, Aerith, Night Strike, and Crash Dive already locking the door behind them. "Hey, good timing. Ready to go get our payment?" Night Strike asked, bright-eyed and grinning - Sparkle-Cola in the morning, sheesh. I nodded, and we headed back to the lobby, Aerith levitating our keys to Chauffeur behind the desk, the stallion following my movements, a dreamy look on his face.

I sped up a little as we headed outside, Night Strike chuckling behind me. I stepped up to the tank, shooing away a crow that was perched on the handlebars. Well, at least it didn't decide the seat would be a good place to relieve itself. Aerith's horn flashed, and the trailer became visible again, allowing Scouring and Crash Dive to climb into it as herself and Night Strike hopped on the back of the mini-tank. The engine rumbled to life and I carefully backed up, turning back towards the other side of town.

I made our way slowly down the roads, a few ponies already milling about in the city. It wasn't long before we were pulling back up to the gunsmith's store, the sound of metal clattering about eminating from the garage. I knocked, the garage door sliding up to reveal a very disheveled and visibly exhausted storeowner, and boxes upon boxes of ammunition and clips. "Ah, well, g-glad you're here." He said, his head bobbing a little. "Jus' got finished with them all, you can... take 'em, I guess." He stood still for a moment, as if trying to remember where he was. "Oh! And, uh, these!" He shoved an enormous bag into my chest, the sound of jangling caps reaching my ears. "That'll cover what the ammo doesn't. I'm... I'm gonna go... bed, now..." He stumbled over to a pile of oily rags in the corner, flopping down on top of it. I guess we should've said we didn't need the payment right away, eheh...

We began to load up the trailer, picking up large crates of ammo. Night Strike giggled as she opened one up, revealing a large cache of .50 caliber bullets. Oookay, not going to lie, this much ammo scares the hell outta me. Regardless, I helped carry the boxes over to the trailer and slide them in, Crash Dive and Scouring Charge securing them in. I jangled the large bag of caps a little, trying to guage how many were in there. Had to be around twenty thousand, judging by the weight. I hopped into the driver's seat, Scouring using his magic to lower the garage door as the gunsmith snoozed in the corner. My stomach growled, causing me to blush a little. "Well, we just got plenty of caps. Anywhere in particular you guys want to eat?"

"How about that Gumbo place again?" Night Strike offered, a smile on her muzzle and bottle of Sparkle-Cola in hoof. Scouring made a few noises of worry, but conceided, Crash Dive letting off a small grumble and undoing the rebreather portion of her helmet. I began to slowly trundle down the road towards Gumbo's stand, the town starting to wake up as well, a few ponies staring and some waving as we traveled down the road. I turned a corner and came up to a small food cart, Gumbo preparing some sort of thick stew behind the counter, his eyes lighting up as he caught sight of us. We all hopped out and stepped up to the stand, the chubby earth pony smiling as we sat down.

"Hey, it's the Vanhoover Five!" He said, as he tossed a few spices into the stew, chuckling lightly. "I swear, there's barely a day that goes by where I don't hear from somepony back at the Triage about how much better things have been running after you guys fixed up that dam, even had a few former slaves come through here saying how you took out that coastal gun bunker." I blushed a little at the praise, letting off my own chuckle - well, I don't mean to brag, but it was pretty awesome. "And now you come and donate some aircraft guns to the town? I believe I owe you all a free meal." Eheheh, well, I wouldn't exactly use the word 'donate' when it comes to those guns...

Gumbo turned back around, beginning to slice up some potatoes with surprising finesse. "You three certainly are becoming fast celebrities." Scouring chuckled a little behind his helmet, looking about the town for a moment before dropping his voice. "I, uh, just hope he doesn't remember what the comp'ny did last time we were here..." I shrugged a little, Aerith seeming to melt into her chair from the smells wafting through the stand. Gumbo soon slid a large bowl in front of each of us, every one filled to the brim with chunks of meat and vegetables floating in a creamy liquid. My stomach growled loudly as I realized just how hungry I was and immediately began to wolf down the stew.

As we ate, I heard somepony trot up behind us. "Hey, you three are the guys that helped fix up the dam, right?" Night Strike, Crash Dive and I turned around to be met by a lanky looking mare, curly mane stuck under a trilby. She stuck out her hoof for us to shake, wearing a grin. "Extra Edition with the Hopeville Newsletter. We've been dying to find you guys again, my boss flipped her lid when she heard you guys stopped by the gunsmith's yesterday and we didn't manage to catch you for an interview." Extra pulled up another stool to hop onto as she flipped open a notepad and pulled a quill out from behind her ear. "So, now that we've managed to find you, care to give us the names of these ponies who are working so tirelessly to rebuild Hopeville, and now saving the rest of the wasteland too?" Sheesh, there's flattery and then there's this...

Night Strike swallowed her mouthful of stew before answering. "Ahm, well, for starters, I'm Night Strike, and he's Static Charge." She said, nodding to me. "We're... not really from around here." Boy, how many times have we needed to say that in the last few days? "We, um, just kind of wandered in, and heard that the dam wasn't working, so we figured we could scavange it a little as we fixed it up." Night Strike shrugged a little. "Not really much more than that."

Extra scribbled in her notebook. "So, where exactly are you two from, if you aren't from here? The Hoof? Ponyville? New Appleoosa, maybe?" I froze, suddenly feeling a little worried. I glanced over to Night Strike, who wasn't doing very well at hiding her own nervousness. I blurted out a hasty 'North', only for Extra to look a little more confused. "North? Don't tell me you hiked all the way from the Crystal Empire, the train heading there has been out for more than a year! Or, uh, oh, did you catch a ride with one of the tank ghouls, want to catch some sights in a warmer place?" I bit my lip, inwardly cursing to myself.

Crash Dive suddenly stood herself up, slipping her helmet's rebreather back over her muzzle. "The interview's over." She said through the voicebox. Night Strike and I followed her slowly, Aerith looking disappointed as she was forced to leave the rest of her stew behind. Before we could climb back onto the tank, though, Extra Edition zipped in front of Crash Dive.

"Oh, I almost forgot to catch your name!" She was shoved aside by the power armored pegasus. We all uneasily climbed into the tank, but Extra simply stepped in front of it, suddenly looking very stern. "I suggest you give me a name, ma'am, or I'll be forced to simply go with all I have. And all I have right now, seems to point to the fact that the three responsible for fixing the dam include somepony wearing power armor that happens to resemble the same kind worn by a certain faction that performed a certain military operation a decade ago." A devious grin crossed her face as my stomach dropped. "A name would help in dispelling any rumors that might persist, including a few from Maple Creek about a ghost living in a lighthouse. Sightings of this 'lighthouse ghost' do happen to line up rather well with where that recent crash took place, not to mention your friends' 'not from around here' quote..."

Frozen with a grimace of worry on my face, the power armored pegasus was silent for a moment, before pulling off her helmet and staring down Extra with her own eyes. If anything, I'm surprised she actually started looking more worried than when Crash Dive was wearing her helmet. The mare stepped aside, myself giving the tank's engine a small rev before a power armored hoof came to rest on my shoulder, a chill going down my spine as the black-armored mare moved herself off of the tank and trotted face-to-face with Extra, glaring her down all the while. Crash Dive glanced over at the mare's saddlebags, wearing a stiff look on her face. "Crash Dive. If you value your life, you'll leave what you print about us at that. Got it?"

The press mare let off an audible gulp and weak nod, Crash Dive returning to the back of the mini-tank and reaffixing her helmet as she got settled. Extra Edition seemed all too happy to get herself as far away from us as she could, myself obliging her further by getting the half-track underway back towards Maple Creek, the wagon jostling behind us as we sped onwards. Well... it could've gone worse.

"Welcome back to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. Our top story today comes out of Hopeville, which is starting to become one of the most well-defended and well-armed little towns in our part of Equestria. Just last night, the Vanhoover Five rolled into town with a cart positively loaded to the brim with an impressive assortment of weaponry, graciously donating a total of four tank-caliber autocannons and twelve machine guns with ammunition for the town to set up as they please. We here at Radio KAOS reached out for comment from the gunsmith, but unfortunately he was unable to be reached - probably busy setting up the new anti-air weapons, heh.

"We did, however, manage to get in contact with a reporter for the Hopeville Newsletter, and in doing so learn the names of three more of the Vanhoover Five - the same three, I might add, that were the ones who restored power to the triage and town just about a week ago. If anypony catches them or their half-track roaming around, send out a thank you to Static Charge, Night Strike, and Crash Dive - those ponies have been working their tails off to make our wasteland just a little better and safer. Ahm, for those still wondering as to who makes up the fifth spot in the five, it seems to be a yet-unnamed Steel Ranger. Do have to say, if I didn't know better it'd sound like one of those old jokes, two ponies in power armor, a pegasus, an earth pony, and an alicorn walk into town, heh...

"Anyways, the reporter said that they were headed back towards the east, which to me sounds like they'll be visiting Maple Creek next. If anyone there's listening, think it'd be a good idea to start figuring out what you're going to do with a couple big autocannons and machine guns, heh. You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful Vanhoover day today, and I think it's time to dip into one of the easier soundtracks we've got here. Watch your fire, Hopeville - don't want to shoot down any Spirits in the Sky, heh. Enjoy."

"So, uh, besides the obvious way I can use this thing in just hosing down stuff at point-blank, how exactly do I snipe with it?" Aerith blunk at me in mild surprise, us sitting beneath a shaded table along the canal's edge in Clearwater. Stopped over for an early dinner - well, dropping the guns off in Maple Creek shouldn't take too long, and we were making good enough time as is. Static and Scouring had gone off scavenging, leaving us with the mini-tank, and not much to do. The alicorn levitated up her new rifle, setting it on the table between us, myself having done the same with War Crime - well, with Fringe Celestia knows how many miles away, figured the pony who went for a scoped rifle was the next best one to ask about it.

'I'm really amazed that such a rifle exists in that caliber. Ones I've seen all were 5.56mm, not .50 cal. May I?' Moving War Crime over to her, she picked up the gun in her magic, levitating it about and looking it over. Fitting the butt against her shoulder, she leaned her head forwards, one foreleg propping up the grip before the clip and the other grasping it near the trigger, shutting one eye and peering through the scope. Huh, so that's how you're supposed to hold that thing, then... the magical aura that was encompassing the gun vanished, leaving it's full weight on her hooves, the alicorn seeming a little concerned for a moment. 'Gonna tell you now, you're going to want to be prone when you fire this thing.'

"Why's that?" Giving my head a tilt as she steadied herself with War Crime, she looked back towards me, thinking for a moment. Her horn lit up, and I desperately grabbed the bottom of the chair as she moved me behind her, aiming the weapon out at the lake. Okay then, um... oh, muzzle blast, duh. The alicorn giving a small nod towards me, she went back to peering through the scope, concentrating for a few moments. Huh, really didn't think she could get even more silent than she usually is...

With a tug of the trigger, War Crime resounded with a fast two-round burst, Aerith jerking with both shots before having to catch herself with her magic, moving herself back upright and levitating War Crime back to me, and moving myself back to where I was sitting. She shook her head, catching her breath and meeting my eyes. 'That's why. The .50 MG kicks like an apple farmer, laying prone you won't get thrown back as much.' She levitated up her own rifle, holding it in somewhat the same way as she held War Crime, her horn alighting and an aura forming around the mouth trigger. Again, she concentrated, a small click causing her new rifle to retort once, the alicorn releasing a quiet breath afterwards. 'The .308 is more forgiving, why this one has a mouth trigger while yours doesn't. It being semi-auto helps with accuracy, too.'

"Dunno if you've realized, but accuracy isn't really my cup of soda. More of a 'keep hitting it with explosives until it's either dead or not there anymore' kind of pony." Letting off a small chuckle, the alicorn across from me gave a small shake of her head, wearing a small smile and letting off a sigh. Hey, it's worked for me so far, don't see why I should change my ways now! She looked back down at War Crime, nodding towards it with a curious look on her face. "Ah, well, ya see, only real reason I picked War Crime up is because, um... well, lemme put it this way, there's a reason Boomer's in a mounting on the mini-tank rather than being carried in my hooves. War Crime was easier for me to carry, eheh..."

'Doesn't hurt to have something with some range. Just gotta practice with it.' Looking towards me with a soft smile, Aerith turned her gaze out to the lake, pausing for a moment before bringing her rifle back to her shoulder again, following something out on the water. Blinking for a moment, I lifted War Crime up and peered out with her, readjusting it some to fit better with my heavy jacket. Okay, what're you seeing that I'm... that black splotch does not look friendly. Familiar though, yes... hm...

Tracking it alongside Aerith, my trigger hoof pulled on the metal lever before the stock, the action hammering out one round towards the surface of the lake near the black form, a second one towards the other shore, and a third one skywards to Celestia-knows-where as I found myself flailing backwards in the chair and landing with a heavy thud against the stone pavement, the automatic sniper rifle I was holding now being levitated in an aura of magic above me. Thanks for the save on that, Aerith... ow, okay, yeah, only prone fire it is. Though, maybe I could find a stand for it, or something... hang on, headache's catching up with me, ow. Yeesh... 'I hope you don't have to learn everything the hard way.'

"Not everything... just most things. Did I hit it, at least?" Lifting myself up and rubbing at the back of my head, Aerith set War Crime back down against the table, peering through her rifle's scope once more. Letting off a small grunt of pain, I rested against the hard wood, the alicorn across from me moving her rifle back onto the table. A surprised look hung on her face as she scratched at her head, moving her hat slightly.

'I'm not sure. There's a red spot in the water, but a round that size should've killed that thing... whatever it was.' Rubbing at her forehead and looking at War Crime, Aerith's horn lit up, pulling two bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD from my duffel bag and setting them out between us. Lost in thought, she uncapped hers and took to guzzling it, myself taking a moment of brushing some dirt from my mane before joining her. Ah, now that's making me feel better already... 'Why'd you shoot at it immediately? What was it?' Well, guess that's one upside to being half unicorn, don't have to stop drinking to hold a conversation.

"Mmh, figured it was one of the freaky monster sea ponies we encountered the first time we came through here. Thought we took out their nest when we restarted the dam, we at least sure as hell wiped out a few eggs." Taking another sip of soda, this did get me thinking - okay, those things shrugged off forty mil dragon's breath, but rebar seemed to stick, and a big round like the point-five-oh MG would at least be enough to get through whatever they're made of and make 'em bleed. Explosives sure did the trick for outright killing them, though... "Never seen one during the day... well, alive, at least. If you can stomach the smell, there's a lovely little scene of one that managed to find some destabilized dynamite in the police station here."

Aerith coughed a few times, setting her bottle back down and looking towards myself, giving off a shiver. Yeah, don't blame her for that, it wasn't a pretty sight to see the first time for me, either. Wiping her lips and gasping down a few breaths, she regained herself, picking her bottle back up and passing along a weak smile. 'Ah, no thanks, kinda want to keep lunch down.'

"Suit yourself." Passing along a shrug, and wincing at the bruise forming right where my right foreleg met my body, I took back to downing the bottle of glowing soda. Mmm, oh sweet Strontium-90-laced Sparkle-Cola, you're the best thing for making me forget the results of basic laws of physics... A pair of figures, one with the sun glinting off of his armor and the other with it glinting off of his silvery mane, soon appeared along the waterside, a small red wagon loaded with boxes between them. Ah boy, what'd they find this time?...

"Well, didn't find much left in the way of grocery stores, but this should keep us set for a while yet. Eheh, not that we had to really worry, anyways..." Static passed along a grin as Scouring started moving a few of the crates into the back of the wagon, the blue earth pony opening up one and showing off an impressive number of boxed cereals and other goodies. He chuckled lightly, shutting the lid as Scouring moved it onto the back of the cart last, passing on a grin. Aerith picked herself and her guns up from the table, myself slipping War Crime back into the duffel bag and hefting it onto my back, trotting over to the mini-tank. Dropping himself into the driver's seat, Static paused for a moment, looking around. "Uh... aren't we missing somepony?"

Blinking at him in response, we all looked between each other, myself taking just a moment longer than the rest to realize that we were missing a second pony in power armor. Static started up the mini-tank's engine, the little purr from it matched with the sound of the water in the canal. Giving it a few revs, letting us all hear the pitifully quiet sound it made, he let off a sigh, shutting it off. Alright, old-fashioned way it is... "Crash Dive! We're heading back now!"

Setting the duffel bag on the back, I took to looking around the canalside buildings, trying to catch a glimpse of her black power armor. Okay, she was definitely with us when we got here, me and Aerith went to stretch our legs for a bit while Static and Scouring went scavenging, we sat down at the tables, and... somewhere between when we got here and now she disappeared. Great. Well, she wouldn't just leave us though, right? I mean, it is her lighthouse that we're pretty much living at... Hopping off the back of the mini-tank and spreading my wings wide, I headed along the canal, looking for her. "Crash Dive! C'mon, I know you don't want to have to walk back home by yourself!"

The water's surface bubbled as it flowed along, a faint feeling of worry crossing my mind - that suit of hers lets her breathe underwater, and stuff a meter or two below does kind of turn into murky blackness... those fish things looked to be about as big as she is in her power armor... Oh please please please tell me that that thing I shot at with War Crime earlier wasn't a pony wearing heavy watertight power armor.

Circling back, the form of something breaking the water's surface near one of the docks startled myself momentarily, the red eyes and black, water-covered armor being a little terrifying at first look. Thank Celestia... The power armored pegasus looked about for a moment, heading for the steps leading up to the second level of the town as I set myself down beside her. Her visor's red eyes met mine, and she slowed in her trotting, reaching up to undo her helmet. "There you are! We've been looking all over for you, c'mon, we're heading out now."

"Sorry for giving you a scare like that, I just... I was just thinking, about some things. Nice and calm underwater, you know, lets me be alone with my thoughts." She gave a pause, us both trotting up the stone steps, the pink-maned pegasus letting off a dry chuckle. "Well, more alone than I usually am, anyways..." Passing her a nod, I trotted ahead a few steps, returning a wave Aerith gave me as we approached the bridge closest to the waterfront, where teh mini-tank was. A metal-covered hoof grabbed my shoulder for a moment, myself stopping to turn and look back to Crash Dive.

"Night Strike, um... when we get back to the lighthouse, would you mind making sure Static and yourself both stay up until after Scouring and Aerith go to bed? I... there's something I want to show you two, in private." Uh... okay then. Blinking at her a few times, she let off a small sigh, looking down at the cobblestone road beneath us. "Just... it's something I think you both should know. Only you two. Okay?"

"Ahm, alright, I'll try and make sure he's up. We have to get there first though, heh, right?" Passing on a small smile, Crash Dive returned it, us both making way for the mini-tank once again. Soon reaching it and climbing on, Static gave a nod, the half-track's engine purring to life and us getting underway once more. The black power-armored hoof gently got my attention once more as I set myself up behind Boomer, Crash Dive resting herself near the front of the large wagon behind us. She sniffled lightly - her eyes were red. Well, not helmet visor red, but... huh...

"Thank you."

"Hot DAMN, those are some big guns!" The mini-tank and wagon trundled into Maple Creek, the sun already starting to slip behind the forest and over the distant horizon. Sulfur trotted alongside us, a wide grin on her face as she examined the collection of arms that we had in the back of the wagon, Scouring seeming a little uneasy about her - oh, loosen up ya tin can, she's just looking at the guns. I wore a smile, hopping off of Boomer and hovering up alongside the unicorn mare. "These are all for Maple Creek? Goddesses, I... I don't know how we're going to repay you for this!"

"Oh, I'm sure Static'll think of some way for us to break even." Letting off a small chuckle, I watched as the unicorn mare undid the clasps for one of the steampipe guns, looking it over more closely. How to divvy this up, then... hm... "Ah, well, actually, only a few of them are for the town itself. Promised Ripple we'd turn Trout into a gunboat on account of... new developments towards the east. Hope you've got a lot of thirty cal ammo in stock at your store, heh." Setting the gun back on the back of the wagon, Sulfur passed on a slightly confused look, letting off a small cough.

"A-ahm, hmmh, sorry, you said that a few of these would be going to be stuck on that old ship beached on the river? You sure that's a good idea, you know how those saliors can drink..." Okay, well, she had a point. Ah, pff, I'm sure it'll be fine, Ripple doesn't have to work the guns. They're more for ground combat, anyways... Static weaved the mini-tank and trailer around towards the docks, myself and Sulfur following behind close as the wood boards creked beneath the weight, the tracks leaving parallel ruts in the muddy beach as it moved off towards the boat. Sulfur paused for a moment, thinking. "What did you mean by 'developments in the east'? Those flying things, right?"

"Uh... and... something else. A lot of something elses. We don't know what they are either, we just know that you need something with a lot of punch to really kill them... like some destabilized dynamite. Or, yanno, an automatic light tank-caliber anti-air craft gun. Eheh." Rubbing at the back of my head, Sulfur's expression was pretty much the right one to have regarding those freaky fish-things, whatever they were. Monster seaponies seemed to be the right phrase for describing them. There was a small thud from below the deck of the ship, before Ripple appeared through a doorway, rubbing at his head.

"Sonuva yeller-footed frisky sand dog... Ah, ahoy there! Have any luck with finding me an engine?" The large stallion passed on a wide smile from the deck of the ship, Aerith's reveal of the new engine changing it to one of pleasant surprise. The rest of the group started moving the lighter guns onboard, Sulfur watching for a moment before turning herself about, glancing back at the wagon of guns every now and again. A hoof tapped my shoulder as I started trotting over to help, the unicorn mare thinking.

"Be right back, gonna go get some ponies to help with the other guns. You don't mind if I call this in to Radio KAOS, do you? Seems like you guys are making all the headlines nowadays." She gave a little chuckle before trotting off, myself wearing a weak grin. Yeah, did sure seem like things were going that way... screw it, I think we ditched going low profile when we went and blew up a coastal gun bunker. Or, when we blew up that colony of ants at Seahoof. Or, when we fixed what the zebras didn't do and wiped Molly Manticore's off the face of the planet. Or when we crashed here in the first place... one of those times, yeah.

Hovering over to Trout, Ripple had a section of the back of the boat opened up, allowing us to peer down inside and watch as he took to unscrewing the bolts and pipes that held the old engine in place. Aerith had set the new engine down on the deck before the open hatch, sitting off to one side and peering down in, as Static and Scouring maneuvered one of the autocannons into place. Myself looking over the hatch's side with the alicorn, Ripple let off a grunt as he tried to work free a coupling on a pipe, met with a small burst of steam and water that lessened to a dribble soon afterwards. Ewh, really hope that this thing's system isn't actually charged, that wouldn't be good... letting off a sigh and wiping his forehead, the sailor pony moved back to the engine, resting his hooves on the cylinder bank and giving it a shove. It creaked slightly before tilting, Aerith's aura encompassing it and removing it from the ship, soon replacing it with the new one. "Aye, keep the old one on board, might be worthwhile to have it for spare parts. Gonna be brilliant to have the ol' girl riding the water again..."

The new engine sliding into place with a small thunk and slight screech as the new gears meshed with the old, I picked myself up from watching the rest of the installment to check on Static and Scouring. One autocannon was laid up at the bow, the steel ranger setting up one of the support stands we'd picked up from the small shed while Static looked over the ammo in the cart. Hovering myself over to him, he rubbed at his chin, seeming thoughtful. "Something up?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no, just trying to think... he's got to have at least a few caps left over from his tour boat days, right? We could get at least a thousand for each big gun, and a few hundred for each smaller one, right? Ammo at a thousand caps per clip?" Oh, Static, always have to monetize everything, don't you? Myself looking back to the ship, the earth pony picked up one of the drums of 37mm autocannon ammunition, tossing it about in his hooves.

"Eh... I dunno, Static, we kind of promised him that we'd do this for him. He did say that he'd give us lifts wherever Trout could take us that we wanted to go, and I'm sure we could fit the mini-tank on there if we wanted to." He let off a small sigh, holding the clip steady for a moment, still looking it over. Resting a hoof on his shoulder, his eyes met my own - you forgot that bit of the agreement, didn't you, ya caps-for-brains? "C'mon, buck up, you'll still get a chance to drain the town for all they're willing to give. Hey, might even be able to use that silver tongue of yours to convince the ponies at the maple candy place to give us a pallet of free samples, eh?"

"Ah... why must my weakness be my stomach? Alright, but remember, you're the one who suggested it." Picking up a few more of the clips, Static moved back over to the ship, myself gathering a few drums and following him. Let's see, he's got five clips, I can probably carry three, forty rounds per gun is reasonable, yeah... hm... we're going to have to go back to Seahoof to find more ammo for these things. I hope that it wasn't in the same hangar as the ants. Setting the three clips I had on Trout's deck, Scouring hefted the large gun up onto the mounting, giving it a few test movements to make sure it wasn't locked up. Huh, seems a little front-heavy... ah, sure it evens out with the clip on. Things weigh at least a few kilos each.

"Right, eight clips, that's forty per gun, should be enough. Things fine on your side, Crash Dive?" The power armored pegasus let off a small grunt of acknowledgement as one of the steampipe guns clattered on the top deck railing, the support for it clinking a little as she tightened it down. Two autocannons, four machine guns... hell, Trout's just a crew away from a proper gunboat. Oh, cruising around the reservior in her's going to be fun, tossing those solar burst grenades over into the water to take care of any other freaky fish things and shooting up whatever's a threat on the land...

Aerith smiled as she hopped down from Trout's back, levitating over the second autocannon and two more of the machine guns with several clips, a building sound of a crowd forming on the roads leading to the dock. Setting the weapons down on Trout's deck, matching the rest of us Aerith turned to watch as seemingly the whole population of Maple Creek came forth, headed by Sulfur, the town doctor, and another mare who I'm going to guess is the mayor. Oh... boy. "The frak, Sulfur? I thought you said you were just going to get a few ponies to help!"

"Eheh... yeah... about that..." She rubbed at the back of her head, the mare in the center trotting forwards as Scouring hastily fit on his armor's helmet, Crash Dive peering down from the upper deck for a moment before disappearing to the opposite side of the ship. Ripple trotted over to the side with us, scratching his head and looking out over the crowd, more than a little dumbfounded - yeah, we're as confused as you, mate. Clearing her throat, the mayor looked up at us, a smile upon her face.

"The people of Maple Creek welcome this generous act to our town, in light of the recent reports from the east. Let our gratitude be known towards the Vanhoover Five, as well as the knowledge that they will be repaid for their services in full!" Well, at least Static can breathe easy. A couple ponies trotted forth towards the wagon, the glowing of a few horns raising alarm in myself as I heard the chains holding it on rattling slightly. "We will see to setting up the rest of the armament ourselves, and will discuss paymen-" Landing with a heavy thud in the back of the cart, I cut the mayor off, startling the few unicorns who were preparing to make off with all the rest of our guns and ammo.

"Woah, woah, woah, just hold on a second there. We'll be giving you plenty of guns, just not all of them, alright? There's a lot of ammo in here that we need still, won't fit in any of these guns we're giving you, and there are still at least a few other towns in the wasteland that need guns like these." Okay, I wasn't completely sure about that last part, but hey, better safe than sorry... aaaand everypony was looking at me now. Great. I only do crowd control well when it's in the context of controlling a crowd of feral ghouls with 40mm high explosive grenade shells. The mayor blunk a few times, looking between the doctor and Sulfur, the unicorn mare saying something I couldn't hear to the mayor before she cleared her throat and passed on a slight nod.

"Very well, we'll allow the division of weaponry to be handled by your discretion, under supervision of Sulfur, of course. Leave the bill with her, and I will see to it that you will be reimbursed for the full amount on the morrow. As the mayor of our fine town, again, we thank you for your generous donation of such heavy weaponry for our protection from these new threats in the wasteland. Goodnight, and have a pleasant evening." Passing along a nod, the mare trotted off through the crowd, it beginning to disperse somewhat into the buildings and streets along the river, a few ponies hanging around for a few moments longer. I let off a sigh, rubbing at my forehead - oh, boy, why does being a weapons distributor have to be such a headache sometimes?

Lifting myself back up from the wagon, Sulfur trotted around the back, peering into the armored wagon in the fading light of twilight. "So... long as I'm here, if we aren't getting all of it, what are we getting, then?" That... was a very good question. Well, Trout and Ripple live here, so it's a safe bet that at least two big guns will be here most of the time. Might have to supplement the lack with more machine guns, though... oh, they're distant enough from the east that they shouldn't have to worry too much about flying things.

"Uh... two of the autocannons, and... sixteen of the machine guns, eight of the thin-barrel belt-fed and eight of the steampipe pie-tin-clip ones, that sound fair? I mean, Trout there'll be docked here pretty often, so that's basically four autocannons and twenty machine guns for the town at any given time." Sulfur thought for a moment, wearing a small smile and passing on a nod. Okay, payment time... that's Static's job. "Ah, as for the price for everything, you'll want to talk to Static. Hey, Static? Price negotiator time."

The earth pony gave a nod, hopping down from the back of Trout and trotting over while I hovered myself up to where Crash Dive was. catching her setting up the second machine gun at the back of the upper deck. She glanced towards myself, tighteining a bolt on the mounting for it and affixing one of the clips, swiveling it around a bit before charging it with a round. "One more to go. Once he finishes with the negotiations we can head back home, come back in the morning to get paid." Passing her a smile, she returned it, myself lifting up the last gun to help her with fitting it on the railing. Okay, so this bit folds out for the mounting, and these little twiddly-bits bolt on to the railing, alright...

The power armored pegasus troted over beside myself, helping me fit the gun into place on the railing, myself giving the bolts on the latch-bits a spin and tightening them up. A few more turns, and Crash Dive gave the support a tug, patting the mechanism with a smile underneath her visor. The sound of disbelieving sputtering came from below, myself peering over the railing and catching Sulfur stumbling slightly on her hooves, Static holding a foreleg to his cheek. Well... I never said that the price would be pretty.

"Celestia above, why can't you let me just go to sleep, Night Strike?" The earth pony sat across from me in the small booth in the kitchen, myself peering outside at the night. Cloudy - kind of smells like rain. Or that could just be ocean. Hard for me to tell. Static had his head propped up on his hooves, looking especially exhausted; oh, come on ya big baby, it's not even midnight yet. The sound of heavy hoofsteps down the hall met our ears, us both looking to the darkness, and catching Crash Dive standing in the doorway. She shut the door leading to the hallway behind her, letting off a sigh.

"Thank you, Night Strike. I have something I want to... need, need to admit to you both. I've been thinking, and, well, I think you both deserve to know the truth, about... about me. Just promise uou won't make a lot of noise, I don't want the others to know." I passed along a nod, Static rubbing at his sleep-weary eyes before blinking a few times, giving a weak nod as well. The power armored pegasus let off a small sigh, sitting herself down on the kitchen floor, thinking for a moment.

"When I said I lost my platoon to a balefire egg, I was being honest. What happened next, was..." She paused, drawing in a breath and scrunching her face up, seeming on the verge of tears. Well, at least Static was giving his full attention now... "After that, when I came to, the battle was pretty much over. I was... flying... around, when... when... sorry..." She let off a few sputtering cries, rubbing at her eyes with her armored hooves. Okay, this is one emotion we've never seen Crash Dive showing, this is pretty surprising to say the least. I started shuffling myself out towards her to comfort her, but she raised a hoof, stopping me, and continued on. "A raider... a goddess-damned bastard of a raider with a flamethrower hit me from below. The armor saved me from most of it, but... the... the wings are only covered on the back."

She didn't have to continue for us to understand, the look on Static's face matching my own as we glanced towards each other. I tightened my wings against myself, just trying to not imagine how it must've felt - suddenly her actions towards that one raider with the fireball gun who attacked us on the way to Seahoof the first time make a whole lot more sense. Tia fuck me with a tank gun... After spending a few moments regaining herself, she looked over towards me, still rubbing at her red eyes. She looked down towards her armor, undoing the parts of her chestplate and wing covers, visibly grimacing as she slipped them off. Oh... oh my Celestia.

Setting one of the covers aside, tears streamed down her face as she gritted her teeth and extended what was left of her wings. They... they almost looked like they'd be more appropriate on a really, really old ghoul, than somepony like her... okay, the Med-X I can really forgive her for, too. Something heavy hit the table beside me - Static fainting at the sight - as the pegasus mare sitting before us re-folded her horrendously-burned wings, fitting the armor back on with heavy gasps of pain inbetween. The chestplate put back together and wings protected once more, she let her head fall forwards, moving to sobs. "I'm-I'm a p-pegasus who can't f-fly... I'm a f-fucking freak..."

Letting her cry for a moment more, I slid myself out of the bench, trotting over to her. Consoling ponies was never my strong suit... but I think I'm getting better at it. Let's hope the hug works again... Sitting down beside her, I rested a hoof on her shoulder, the distressed pegasus gasping and sputtering as she cried herself out, her tear-blurred eyes meeting my own. Leaning myself forwards, my forelegs wrapped about her body, holding her there and gently rubbing the back of her head. Her armored forelegs wrapped around my own body a moment later, us both holding the hug, myself trying to focus and remember how dad used to calm me down. Always sang that song for me... "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again, some sunny, day..."

Crash Dive had begun swaying gently along with me as I sang, her cries quieting to a stop soon enough. Damn, that song is good... she sniffled lightly as I finished up the soothing melody, rubbing at her eyes with her forehooves as we broke the hug. A smile stuck on her muzzle underneath her tear-stained cheeks, nodding lightly towards myself. "Th-thank you, Night Strike... thank you, so much." Giving her a light nod, I helped her back up onto her hooves, glancing over at Static. Yeah, nope, he was definitely pretty well passed out right now... suppose he's got the right idea.

"Come on. It's pretty late right now, want to get up soon as we can to figure out what we're going to do next, right?" The power armored pegasus gave a light nod, following myself down the hallway, going to our separate bedrooms. She paused in her doorway, looking back at myself, letting off a light sigh.

"Goodnight, Night Strike... I really hope that you won't have to leave, too soon. You're... you're the closest thing to family I've got." She passed on a small smile, myself returning it, watching as she ducked into her bedroom and shut the door, the light going off a moment later. Turning towards my own, I let off a small sigh, moving over to and getting settled on the mattress. We can't bring all our friends with us when we go back home... but... maybe Crash Dive can at least come with us? Yeah, and Greasy could make her her own pair of mechanical wings, so she could fly again. That'd... that'd make her so happy... alright. Somehow, some way, we're going to get a generator and get the Valkyrie fixed as soon as we can... heh, that's funny, we've been to Seahoof twice and still haven't found any generators. Haven't even really looked for them, though, honestly...

"...ah, fuck me with a seventeen-pounder Royal Equestrian Ordinance tank gun."

I snorted awake at the sound of a pan smacking down onto the table, my mane frazzled and my back stiff. Giving my head a shake, I rubbed my eyes as Crash Dive’s kitchen came into focus once again, a large stack of pancakes steaming on a pan in the center of the table. “Glad you could join us.” Night Strike chuckled as I twisted in the chair, my spine cracking. Aerith levitated a few of the pancakes onto her place, Scouring doing the same. I slid over an empty plate as Crash Dive flipped the oven off and began to rinse off another pan. Night Strike drizzled some syrup over her pancakes as I stabbed some off of the stack in the middle.

“So, uh, what’ve we got planned for today?” I asked, still trying to wake up. Crash Dive slid into the seat across from me, back inside her large suit of power armor. I shuddered inwardly at the thought of her disfigured wings, trying not to display my lack of comfort. I began to slowly eat my pancakes as Scouring chased down his mouthful with a swig of some strong smelling whiskey.

“Js plsshnn n gnin t’ gsh mshynon.” Night Strike tried to say around her pancakes. All of us raised our eyebrows, the dark-blue pegasus lifting a hoof and chewing a few more times, swallowing down the dough. “Just planning on getting our money for the guns back in Maple Creek, before we try looking somewhere else for a generator again.” She went back to wolfing down her breakfast.

Chewing on the fluffy pastry, I gave a moment of thought. “I think we really ought to just head down to Vanhoover at this point. Haven’t we pretty much searched all the other military bases around here? I’d rather just drop most of the caps we just got onto a new generator at this point.” I leaned my head onto one of my hooves. “It’s not exactly like we can fool ourselves into thinking this whole thing is still somewhat covert, anyway.”

Crash Dive tilted her head left and right a little, grimacing slightly. “I suppose that’s true. I’d rather not get even more involved with the towns more than we already have though, if we can help it. First the slavers, then everypony in Hopeville… I just hope whoever has those planes isn’t an avid radio listener.” We continued to eat in silence, aside from the occasional clink of cutlery. “Not to mention wherever that robot... dragon… thing… came from.” She looked, her face pulled into a look of half confusion, half denial. “Are you sure you didn’t just stumble across some hallucinogenic weapons or something somepony left lying around back at the base?”

“I thought we agreed that didn’t happen.” I said, giving my head a small shake. Aerith chuckled a little as Scouring took another drink of whiskey at the mention of the dragon. We soon placed our dishes back into the sink and began to gather up our things to head out. I followed Night Strike into her room to gather up my saddlebags as she slipped her large duffel bag onto her back, loading Thumper with a fresh shell.

We trotted out to the small tank, myself climbing into the driver’s seat yet again as Night Strike hopped onto the back, letting off a small whine of frustration. “Am I ever going to get a chance to actually drive this thing?” She asked as the others exited the small cabin connected to the Lighthouse, myself looking back at her. Scouring and Aerith climbed into the trailer as Crash Dive sat beside Night Strike on the back, steadying her harpoon cannon.

“I thought you’d prefer to be the one firing Boomer, you can’t exactly do both.” I said, smirking. Night Strike rolled her eyes as the engine rumbled to life beneath us. The mini tank began to slowly roll forwards, the low tide lapping lazily at the bottom of the cliffs. I leaned back into the seat, the leathery material sticking to my coat slightly. Night Strike fiddled with her Pip-Buck for a moment, a crackle of static preceding the voice of the radio announcer filling the air.

“Good morning, all you beautiful ponies and still probably beautiful to some, not that I'm one to judge. This is Radio KAOS, and we’re here to give you the morning news today. There haven’t been any new sightings of the mysterious flying machines from Saddlebrook, leaving a few ponies relieved, though still anxious to build up their defenses.” I turned down the path towards Maple Creek, Aerith taking a potshot at a small radroach crawling out of the brush. “Up at Maple Station, there’s been a bit of an uproar due to the beloved Ivory Keys retiring. The owners of the Stiff Drink are searching for any new talent to help keep the customers entertained. And speaking of entertainment, here’s a little song to help wake you all up.” There was the sound of a record scratch before a faint crackling filled the airwaves.

"One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock
Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock rock
Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight!"

I pulled up beside the small town hall, switching off the engine as we all climbed out. A couple newsponies stood at the door with large cameras hanging around their necks and quills poised over notebooks. Sheesh, we could really do without all the publicity... Scouring Charge knocked on the oak doors, which creaked as they opened to reveal the mayor sitting at a small desk with Sulfur standing beside her. “It’s good to see you here again. Sulfur and I were just validating the price for the guns. 500,000 caps, correct? We just want to be sure you get the correct amount returned.”

I nodded, the news ponies stepping into the room with us. I gave a feigned look of pain. “You hurt me, ma’am. I may be a tough salespony, but I’m no crook.” The mayor grimaced a little, clearly not in the mood for jokes - the way Sulfur rubbed a hof against her head at hearing that number again, I couldn't blame her. I coughed a little, regaining my composure. “Uh, right, anyway, yeah, that’s what we said. We’re willing to take any supplies if you don’t have enough caps, though.”

Sulfur trotted over to a couple large crates in the corner, wearing a weak smile. “We’ve actually already got that taken care of. This should cover just about everything.” She opened up the top crate, revealing boxes of low caliber ammunition and several bottles of a faintly glowing red potion. “If there’s anything else you need, we can stop back by my shop.” Sulfur said as Scouring and Aerith lifted up the large metal trunks with their magic. The unicorn mare followed us back out to the mini-tank as one of the newsponies tried to step up and start rattling off questions, only for Crash Dive to push him back and shoot him a glare, his motor of a mouth choking up.

We secured the few trunks to the trailer as Sulfur looked over the miniaturized half-tank. “Where in Equestria did you get this, anyway? Strangest damn thing I've ever seen...” She asked in awe, bending down to get a closer look at the inner workings of the gears on the treads. She fiddled a little with one of the running wheels before standing herself back up, pausing to think for a moment. “I used to know a pretty good mechanic, used to work with the boats, but he moved away a couple years ago. If I can find him again, I’ll let you know, he’ll probably be able to help with any repairs you'd need, maybe bring up the horsepower of that engine a few notches, too.” I grinned widely, giving off a slightly stupid giggle at the thought of tearing across the wasteland in this thing - already is a hell of a lot faster than that old TOG, probably could give Rolling Tracks and War Mare a run for their money too. Oh, now there's an idea, charging people to races...

I came back to my senses when Night Strike gave me a light whap on my head, smirking a little. Oh, like you’ve never been giddy at the prospect of going overboard. “Hopefully you’ll be able to get in contact with him soon, then. Thanks gain for the supplies!” I called as we began to speed out of town, the small engine roaring behind me. Sulfur waved as we departed, the two trunks bouncing in the trailer a little as I turned and began to head south.

“Sheesh, aren’t there any good roads to Vanhoover from here?” Night Strike asked, steadying herself as we rolled across the rough terrain. Crash Dive shook her head, leaning against Boomer as I turned, starting to drive over towards a small grassy hill coming into view on the horizon. Water splashed up on our sides as I drove through a small creek flowing down towards the coastline.

“Just keep inland, I don’t want to go charging through those forests again.” Crash Dive said, looking westward. I nodded, doing my best to stay away from the coastal tree line while maneuvering the rocky ground. Scouring Charge leaned against the crates in the trailer, pulling out a small cube of salt and popping it into his mouth to suck on.

We were soon cresting over the top of the hill, the ground beginning to slowly slope downwards as we traveled parallel to the coast. The sun rose higher in the sky as I drove across the fields, the chill of the air blowing in my mane faintly reminding myself of home. Well, this place is at least a more bearable temperature... One of Aerith's magic screens popped into view out of the corner of my eye. 'Anything we should know about Vanhoover, before we head in?' Crash Dive thought for a moment as I turned to avoid a large ditch, everyone holding on as the cart and tank rattled slightly. The ground began to slope upwards again, the cliffs turning inwards.

“Probably won’t be going into Vanhoover proper, that place is almost as bad as an opened reactor with how much it glows still. High-priority target during the war, or something. The rivers around Vanhoover would let some boats in and out, but I don’t know how many ponies have been willing to try going any further out than local fishing spots.” We approached the top of the hill, the land curving steadily more flat. “Just try not to draw any more attention to yourselves than you already have. There are a lot more ponies here than anywhere else we've been, and I'm willing to bet they aren't going to be as nice.” I began to slow as we reached the top of another hill, the land then falling away again to reveal a large city below us.

The city rested atop a large patch of land, disconnected from the mainland by the river flowing from the Vanhoover Reservior splitting into two wide branches, flowing out towards the ocean. The edges of the island were dotted by small buildings, a few boats resting at docks in the river. As my gaze moved towards the center of the island, the buildings grew slightly taller and fancier, until they abruptly met with the edge of a large crater on the opposite side. The hole fell away into such deep blackness, it almost looked as if it had been dug out to the center of the earth, had it not been for the sickly green glow emanating from the large pool of water in the center. How in Equestria did these ponies manage to live to close to such a radioactive sink hole like this?

The tank slowly rolled along the hill as I drove us around towards the inland section of the island where a few bridges still spanned the rivers. As I approached, I could make out a few ponies standing on either side of the first bridge we came to, both wielding large shotguns on saddles. Both of them had their guns aimed at us as I drove up, causing me to slam on the brakes and knock the others around a bit. “State your business.”

“Uh… we were looking to buy some manufacturing parts. We’re running delivery for the gunsmith up in Hopeville.” I said, wishing the two guards would put their weapons back down, and buy the story. One trotted up to the trailer, flipping over the tarp to reveal the large trunks and the remaining guns. The guard waved the other one over, whose horn began to glow as one of the trunks was levitated out of the trailer. “Hey, what’re-” I was cut off as one of the guards swiftly pointed his shotgun at me. Okay, lesson learned, let these guys do what they want if I want to keep my head.

The guards opened the trunk, rifling through the ammunition and potions. They muttered a little to each other, but eventually placed the trunk back inside the trailer. “Alright, you’re free to go in.” They trotted back to their posts and I twisted the handle, driving over the stone bridge into the town. Small houses lined the street as we headed in, a few ponies turning their heads to watch us drive by. I turned a corner, trying to locate any sort of sign pointing towards anywhere that might be considered 'industrial'.

I stopped with a jerk as a few ponies trotted out in front of the mini-tank, carrying a large crate of a foul smelling collection of fish, a few still flopping about in the box. I cringed a little as they passed, but managed to keep myself from gagging before we sped back off down the roads. As I drove further through the town, we came to a break in the buildings, the river curving in with several docks and boats sitting at the edge of the water.

I slowed and stopped the tank, looking over at all the ponies milling about, examining their boats, loading and unloading cargo, along with a few shooing away a few oversized crabs that were attempting to steal their day’s catch. “Oi, grey coat!” Night Strike called out. One of the ponies looked back towards us, pausing in his attempts to scrub off things from the side of a large boat. “You know where we might find the machine shops around here? Any large manufacturers or something?”

The pony leaned against one of the dock’s posts. “Yeah, head away from the docks and turn right around Stone street, there’s a general store there. If you’re looking for work, though, there’s the Flint and Steel Shipping Company. They make a lot of the boats around here, a few carts and stuff too, if you’re good with your hooves.” He returned to cleaning the boat and I spun the tank around, heading back towards the center of town.

We soon came up to a road lined with old buildings, a few shops having put up large planks of wood over their shattered storefront windows. I followed a few ponies trotting down the cobblestone path, looking around for the shops mentioned by the sailor. I slowed to a stop outside a large warehouse, a beaten sign hanging above the door reading “Flint and Steel Shipping Co. No Finer Ships in the Wastes”. We all climbed out of the tank and trotted up the short flight of steps into the building.

A bell rang above our heads as the door swung open into a small office with a few ponies sitting at cluttered desks. One looked up as we entered, her eyes going a little wide at the sight of all of us. I trotted over to her, Scouring scanning the room behind the visor of his helmet, Night Strike and Aerith both seeming a little uneasy, and Crash Dive... being Crash Dive. “Hello, we were wondering if you happen to have a generator for sale. We heard you do a lot of manufacturing, maybe you could build one for us, if you don't?”

The secretary raised an eyebrow. “Erm, well, I could call down one of our engineers, but I don’t think they’re going to be too willing to give up one of the few working generators we have.” She spun in her chair and picked up her phone, punching in a few numbers as she leaned back into it. We stood in silence as she tapped a hoof on the desk impatiently. “Smokey? Yeah, I’ve got some ponies here that want to buy a generator. Yes, I’m serious.” She turned to face us, looking us over. “An earth pony, a pegasus, a couple ponies in power armor and an alicorn.” She put a hoof to her forehead. “No, this is not a prank ca- Yes, I’m perfectly- Look, just get down here, alright?” She hung up the phone, sighing and rubbing her temples a little.

The door behind the two desks swung open, a large dark-grey stallion stepping out, brushing his tar-black mane out of his eyes. He paused upon seeing our group, his pupils shrinking a little before glancing over to the secretary, who gave him an exasperated look. The stallion quickly shifted to a more professional stance, though he still looked rather surprised - honestly, I don't blame him. “So, uh, you five looking for a generator?” He asked. I nodded and he turned back around, leading us through the doors.

We stepped out into a large factory floor, a few ponies trotting back and forth with large pieces of metal and wood on small railcarts between them. The framework of a boat sat upon a large mess of metal beams and walkways, ponies working to fix the pieces of metal together to form the outer hull of the boat. Smokey led us over to several large machines chugging away, one unicorn standing by with a clipboard and making minor adjustments to a few of them. “Well, here’s what we’ve got. Should power just about any large machines you might have, damn thing's a bigger workhorse than me.”

I looked at the machines that stood at least three times my height, and better resembled the reactor back in EQUAD. “Um… you don’t happen to have anything… smaller, do you? More portable, maybe not bolted to the ground?” Smokey looked down at me, clearly not very happy. I recoiled a little, only now really noticing how much larger he was than me - just about Featherweight-sized, now I think of it. “Well, uh, the gunsmith we’re getting it for doesn’t exactly have a warehouse, and we don’t really have any way of moving it other than our cart.”

Smokey sighed and shook his head. “No, this is all we’ve got. If you need a generator, why aren’t you looking around places like the old military bases? I’m sure they probably had a couple for emergencies.” Believe me, we're pretty sure they don’t. I thanked him and we all turned to head back out into the lobby, the doors swinging shut behind us. As we trotted out into the street again, though, we spotted a few ponies digging around in our trailer, one fiddling with the controls of the tank.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Night Strike yelled, the ponies all looking up at us. One let off a quick curse, twisting the ignition and speeding down the street. Oh, fuck, why didn’t that thing have keys?! We raced after the ponies, several pedestrians leaping out of the way of the speeding mini-tank. One of the ponies in the trailer picked up one of the steampipe guns, firing it unsteadily from the back of the trailer. Aerith leapt out of the fire, her horn flaring up as she shot a few balls of arcane energy at them. One managed to strike the pony firing off the gun, knocking him out of the trailer, the gun falling out of the back. Scouring Charge levitated up the gun as he ran past it, firing off a few errant shots with it, the pedestrians all taking to find whatever cover they could. The pegasus in the driver’s seat ducked to avoid the fire, the other pony in the trailer picking up Aerith’s hunting rifle. He fired off a shot, just barely missing Night Strike’s hooves as the driver wheeled around a corner, the trailer smashing into an old signpost before speeding along down the street.

We followed the tank, my breath becoming ragged as my heart raced. A few more blasts of magic flew through the air, the driver swerving to avoid them. The pony in the back took aim again, the rifle cracking as he fired another shot. The bullet connected with my hind leg, sending me tumbling onto the ground painfully. Gaaah, sweet mother of Celestia! I glanced down, seeing the hole oozing with blood, trying to pick myself up from the street. Oh, fuck, the bullet’s still in there! I tried to stand, shifting my weight off of my injured leg and hobble after the tank, though it was speeding away far too quickly for me to keep up. Night Strike stopped, looking back towards me and setting herself on the ground. Crash Dive paused, looking back with her, but Night Strike waved her on. “Keep going, we’ll need the potions in the trailer!” Crash Dive turned and ran back after the tank as Night Strike rushed up to me.

She rolled me onto my back, grimacing as she saw the open wound. Night Strike glanced around, unsure of what to do, when a grey mare came charging around the corner, two heavy saddlebags strapped to her back. She trotted up to me, dropping her bags to the ground. “What happened?” She asked. Night Strike stood, a little taken aback at the sudden arrival of somepony else. The mare flipped open her saddlebags, taking out a bottle of alcohol and a pair of curved forceps. “Come on, I can’t treat him if I don’t know what he was hit with!”

Night Strike snapped out of her stunned silence, glancing back down at me. “Uh, it was a military-grade infantry rifle, .308 ammunition. I think it was just one shot in the leg." The mare bent down over me, holding the alcohol in her teeth. She tilted her head a little, spilling some of the liquid onto a white cloth. She dabbed the cloth in the wound, causing me to sharply inhale through my teeth at the burning sensation. “Ahm, why exactly are you here?”

The mare shoved the bloody cloth into Night Strike’s hooves, causing her to jump a little from the sight. “Here, keep cleaning the blood away.” She picked up the forceps in her mouth, crouching down to the wound. I cried out a little as I felt her digging around inside my leg for the bullet, Night Strike doing her best to keep the area clear of more blood, her own self seeming a little shocked white. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before she tossed the bloody bullet onto the ground along with the forceps. “You weren’t exactly flying under the radar, chasing after that motorcycle-thing. Don’t you have any sort of city medics where you’re from?” She asked, digging around in her saddle bags again.

“I-I guess not...” The mare produced a roll of gauze, gently lifting my leg up and beginning to wrap the fabric firmly around it. My breathing slowed as she worked, tugging and twisting at the gauze to keep a constant pressure on the bullet hole. She reached back into her saddlebags where a pair of scissors were sticking out, quickly cutting and tying off the cast. I sat up, gently rubbing the aching part of my leg, trying to not think about the fact that there's a seven-millimeter hole in it now.

“T-thanks.” I muttered. Night Strike helped me back to my hooves, the mare beginning to wipe down her tools and place them back into her bag. She scooped up the bullet, tossing into a small orange bag before placing it into her saddlebags and hitching them back up. I took a few tentative steps forward, a small pain shooting through my injured leg as I placed weight on it, causing me to shift back to my other legs. “Nnfh, I hope Crash Dive doesn’t mind me borrowing a few shots of Med-X...” Letting off a small pained gasp, I looked back to the mare. “Thanks again…?”

“Pressure Cooker.” She said, sticking her hoof out to shake it, smiling.

Well, this day could've gone better. I mean, it's not 'robo-dragon coming out of the sky' bad, but it is on par with 'accidental joyriding in a megaspell-armed bomber attack aircraft leaving us stranded' bad. Static shook Pressure Cooker's hoof with a small grimace, myself glancing back nervously and listening for the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and hoping for the unfamiliar screams of those two assholes getting precisely what they deserved. The earth pony mare standing beside us seemed to take notice, myself suddenly feeling my left foreleg being picked up and the sleeve rolled back on my jacket, showing off my legputer. "Hey, what're you-"

"You're the one with a chance to catch back up with your friends, probably should take that. I just need to... there." A small triangle popped up on the compass of my EFS, pointing around to somewhere off towards the northwest. The mare rolled my sleeve back down for me, looking towards Static. "I'll take you back to my place for the time being, you two sure don't look like you're from here. When you get your thingy back, head for the marker, that's where we'll be." Pressure Cooker passed along a small smile, myself looking towards Static, who seemed rightfully dumbfounded. Well, she seems nice, at least... The low rumble of a few familiar thumps met my ears, myslef swinging around wildly to look towards hwere they were coming from. Oooh, those bastards touched Boomer!

"I'll be fine Night Strike, just go. We'll catch up with you later." Giving Static a small nod, my wings snapped back and took me up into the air, beelining down the streets and following along with the path of destruction. Okay, so they turned here very bloody tightly, and-BUILDING! My hooves stumbled me along the side of one of the brick buildings in the city, rounding a corner and soaring along. The blasts became louder before they suddenly stopped, the lack of explosions not doing anything for making me feel better - ooh, what if they bounced one back into the wagon? There's a lot of stuff on there that would not be fun to have cook off...

The streets became wider for this section, a thin crowd of ponies looking in the direction that the mini-tank had gone, myself following along with their gaze. Okay, okay, so it's not the entire town in a panic... but I am willing to bet that those holes in those buildings weren't there before. Least I'm on the right track. Swinging down another road, the welcoming sight of Aerith hovering over Scouring and Crash Dive near an intersection caught my eyes, myself soon catching up. "Oh, thank Celestia you're all alright..."

"Static going to be okay? Dunno if he's the kind for it, but if he wants to give the prick who shot him a pounding, he can." Crash Dive let off a small, exhausted chuckle, myself trotting over to her and catching Aerith land a short ways away, her horn alight. Her .45 auto levitated up out of the wagon - thank Celestia they didn't find it - and she brought it to bear towards the ground, myself trotting about to catch the sight of the two theifs. Magical collars, nice... the two stallions seemed to actually be crying, the pegasus gasping for breath a little harder than the other earth pony, the alicorn wearing a smile and looking over towards myself.

'Forgot I could do this. Sorry I didn't do it sooner, was a little peeved this one picked up my rifle.' She kicked a foreleg against the earth pony, myself looking towards him with a glare. I'm normally not one to be protecting, stating, or administering the law, but between the three counts of weapon theft and misuse, one count of grand theft... half-track, and million or so counts of being complete fucking arseholes, well, I'm sure between myself and Sergeant Thumper we can decide on a proper form of punishment. A rarely heard but more rational portion of my brain did smack me enough to bring to my attention the several witnesses currently around us, though... sorry Sergeant Thumper, no solid slug supporitories today.

The metal mouth grip of a bluish umbrella fit on the back of the half-track behind the driver's chair caught my attention, myself taking my time in retrieving it from it's holding spot. Well, maybe there is some sense to the whole pacifist thing Static does... I mean, in a civilized area, anyways. Wonder if there's any nonlethal rounds I could use with Thumper, for the hell of it. Holding the umbrella under my foreleg for the moment, I trotted over to the incapacitated earth pony's face, kneeling down and looking at him in his eyes. "Oh, sweetie, you and your friend really shouldn't have done that. Don'tcha know who we are?" Taking the umbrella in my mouth, the earth pony flailed as he saw the small arcing of electricity across the metal prongs, moments before I brought it up and promptly jammed it against his shoulder. His body shook wildly before falling limp, Aerith's collar releasing his neck as I turned to look at the other one.

"You-you're fucking insane, that's who you are! Aaagh, you broke my fucking neck!" Well, that does explain why mister joyride wasn't flailing as much as his friend. I looked back to Aerith, who returned a look of surprise, glancing back to the pony she had pinned. Releasing the umbrella and holding it back under my foreleg, a few helmeted ponies came pushing through the crowds, adorned in combat armor and brandishing a variety of weaponry. "Fuck me, this wasn't supposed to go like this..."

The combat-armored ponies started pushing back the crowds, one wearing a duster along with his armor trotting over to us, and the two thieves. "Captain Spec Ops, LVPD. We'll take it from here, safe in supposing you're the same group here that came in from Hopeville?" Answering him with a small nod, he returned a smile, releasing a chuckle and looking back towards Aerith, and the two joyriders. His eyes seemed to light up as he caught sight of the alicorn, turning himself to look about and catching Crash Dive and Scouring Charge in view as well, another small chuckle escaping him. "Usually we don't have ponies as capable as you, catching their own criminals alive. Can't say I'm surprised considering you're the Vanhoover Five... Ahm, there are five of you, right?"

"Uh, yeah, Static was shot in the leg by that prick laying unconscious over there, a medic pony caught sight of it and came to help, Pressure Cooker. It wasn't too bad... disgusting as hell to see her fix it, but not a bad injury." One of the other combat-armored ponies moved back from the crowd, placing a hoof on the back of the uncinscious stallion for a moment before looking down in mild surprise, stepping over him and then placing his hoof on the back of the other stallion, some ropes being pulled from his saddlebags and tied around the pegasus' body and wings. Aerith kept her magic collar on him, seeming a little anxious - well, if he did break his neck, no sense in us being charged with murder... "Oh, uh, right, the pegasus said he might've broken his neck... we won't be charged with anything if he kicks it due to that, will we?"

"Don't worry yourself, we'll make sure he'll stay alive to serve his sentence. Vehicular theft, endangerment of citizens, probably looking at five to ten years, at least." The Captain let out another small chuckle, pulling a radio from his saddlebags and trotting over to the two incapacitated thieves, myself loving to lean up against the mini-tank and replace the umbrella behind the seat. Aerith climbed up onto the back of the mini-tank while Scouring and Crash Dive entered the back, myself looking to the seat. Oooh, might be able to drive it after all... The Captain returned over, looking along the length of the half-track and cart. "Alright, we'll handle these two morons, you four can go back to whatever you were doing. Welcome to Vanhoover." Thunder crackled loud overhead, drawing all of our eyes skywards, myself met with a big fat water droplet to my muzzle. Shaking my head dry, the Captain chuckled, fitting on his helmet's plexiglass face cover. "Hope you can find somewhere to get out of the rain, storms are nasty here."

"We'll keep that in mind. Thanks again!" Hopping myself into the driver's seat of the mini-tank, another few drops of rain started to fall, the crowds moving to clear from the streets before things really started to get wet. Resting my hooves on the handles, I sat there, looking over the controls - okay, um, well, left and right is pretty obvious, then the gear control's on the one handle, and... um... No, no, I can get this. Flicking a switch mounted on the handlebars turned on the headlight, illuminating the street and hopefully serving as a good enough warning for people to get outta our way, myself pressing down a pedal inside and feeling as the mini-tank lurched slightly, slowly starting to trundle forwards.

A sickening grinding sound met my ears, Aerith likewise covering her own as Crash Dive and Scouring both peered over towards the front. Oh, that can't be good... bringing the mini-tank to a halt, the engine let off a small clattering sound, something inside screeching every now and again. Wearing a grimace, I looked back towards the rest, and the engine compartment underneath Boomer. "Okay, we'll pick up Static, then see to getting that looked at by somepony... I hope."

Yanno, since we've been down here there really hasn't been too much to complain about. Well, I mean, barring freaky fish-things and bloatsprites with stingers that I'm starting to think aren't bloatsprites after all, it's been pretty alright - but that's not counting the weather. Back home, a bad storm translates to climbing into the TOG and locking down all hatches while settling in for a re-showing of Dr. Strangemare, sit near the reactor to keep warm and you're pretty much good until it blows over. Here though, with just the open-topped half-track to huddle in, and the weather deciding it's a good plan to dump a whole reservior on top of us... well, it's less than ideal. "I really hope that Pressure Cooker has a shed or something we can stick this thing in."

"Least an overhang 'round back should do, keep it away from twitchy hooves." Scouring gave a small shrug in his armor, the rain flowing effortlessly off of his helmet. Nnfh, stupid waterproof power armor... well, at least my jacket covers most of me. What is this thing made out of again? Glancing down for a moment, there was a loud splash as we shot through a puddle, Aerith throwing her wing up to block herself from the spray. Eheh... oops. Shakng her wing free of water droplets, the smaller suburb-like houses of Vanhoover passed by, the marker on my compass leading us over to a relatively modest little house. The motor of the mini-tank whined and groaned as we slowed, big fat rain droplets hitting against us all as we pulled up along a small covered dirt sidepath beside the house that already had a wagon on it. The engine rattled for another moment before I shut it off, Aerith already moving herself over to the covered porch and trying to shake herself down, letting off a small huff.

'I know that a good shower in the wasteland is something few and far between, but even before the Lightbringer weather like this would've been called ludicrous.' Shaking her wide-brim hat out, the alicorn looked about the neighborhood, myself moving to join up with her as Scouring and Crash Dive climbed out of the wagon. The little marker in my vision blinked as it focused in on the house behind us, the heavy downpour clattering against the metal roof of the porch while we stood outside. 'So, this is where Static is?'

"Yeah, least this is where Pressure Cooker set my legputer to point to, anyways. Let's hope she was right." Letting out a weak chuckle, I moved myself over to the door and gave it a few knocks, somepony inside stumbling over what sounded like a pile of scrap metal. Wearing a small grimace, I let out a sigh as the brown-haired mare answered the doorway, wearing a smile.

"Oh, good, you're back! Was worried you'd get stuck when the downpour started, c'mon in." Pressure Cooker bore a smile as she let us inside her home, myself looking about the place and staring down at the metallic mess in the middle of the living room. Shutting the door behind Crash Dive, the earth pon mare finally looked over, letting off a small chuckle and rubbing at the back of her head as she followed my gaze. "Eheh, don't mind the mess, was just doing some tinkering. Medic's my second job, also do repairs on some of the smaller boat engines."

"Boat engine repairs? Oh, thank Celestia... a-ahm, I mean, uh, our half-track was making a noise after we picked it back up from the two joyriders, think you could take a look at it?" Letting off a weak chuckle - probably could've gotten to that better, but hey, not like we have anything else that might be able to get us from A to B quickly while hauling a whole lotta stuff. At least, not until we can fix the Valkyrie, anyways... Pressure Cooker met my eyes with mild surprise and confusion, the sound of a familiar earth pony slowly stepping his way down the stairs drawing our attention.

"What was that about the mini-tank? Nnfh..." Static stumbled lighty as he tried to not put weight on his back hoof, Aerith stepping in and helping him the rest of the way down the stairs courtesy of a bit of magic. Getting back to a standing posture, the silver-maned earth pony gave his head a gentle shake, holding it with a hoof. "Bwuh, I'm starting to regret you talking me into taking those painkillers... anyways, um, yeah, mini-tank, what's the deal?"

"Well, would you rather not be able to walk while the better bandages work or not? You took a rifle bullet to the hoof without losing consciousness, you can suck it up." She stuck her tongue out at Static in a teasing manner for a moment, before looking back to myself. "Speaking of, there is something you could do for me while I look at your tank-thingy's engine. Settled as Vanhoover is, there are still a few buildings that the residents haven't yet, um... looked into, due to whatever reasons. Southeast of here is an old cartoon studio nopony's gone into, might still have some medical supplies inside somewhere, anything'd help. Healing bandages especially."

Looking back behind myself, Aerith bore a weak smile while Scouring loked over to Crash Dive, the power armored mare knocking a forehoof against that panel on her shoulder again. Oh, right... that. Bearing a small grimace towards Crash Dive, I turned back to Pressure Cooker, giving a nod. "We can look into it. Ahm, if you have any Med-X that you could spare for our friend back there in the black power armor, that'd be helpful, too." The earth pony mare peered back behind myself at Crash Dive, her eyes going wide and jaw falling a bit slack. Sheesh, it's like she'd seen a ghost, or something... She stammered lightly, giving a slow nod.

"A-ah, sure, I could probably find some doses around... you, um, you wouldn't mind sticking aorund here while I look for them, would you? Have a few things I want to ask." Pressure Cooker trotted herself over to Crash Dive, looking at the Med-X panel on the shoulder of her armor for a moment before the power armored pegasus cleared her throat, making the earth pony blink in return. Crash Dive looked past Pressure Cooker and towards me, myself glancing around for a moment before shrugging.

"Don't think we'll be too long, and it is just inside the city. The three of us'll be fine, Crash Dive, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Welcome back, you're listening to Radio KAOS, and from the looks of things outside I'm very glad that my studio is inside a waterproof ship, heh. Hang in there Vanhoover, it's going to get worse before it gets better. For those planning on getting some fishing done after the storm clouds clear, well, I'm sorry to say that it looks like it's going to be another one of those days. Unless you want your catch to be irradiated, best to give it a week or two for the currents to carry the water north - last I checked, people don't have much of a taste for fish that cause their geiger counter to tick.

"Anyways, in the rest of the wasteland it'd seem a lot more ponies are scanning the skies overhead for signs of unfamiliar flying machines, a select few through the gunsights of machine gun mounts and large-bore autocannons. Maple Creek and Hopeville have officially become North Vanhoover's two most heavily defended little towns courtesy of the Vanhoover Five - people living in Saddlebrook, Maple Station, and Craterton are all hoping to see them come trundling through with their own donations of guns, Saddlebrook especially so. Again guys, if you're listening, feel free to come and take whatever you need as far as anti-air weaponry's concerned off of my hooves here, Celestia knows this hulk of steel doesn't need them anymore. Think we've got, what, forty millimeter autocannons here? Been awhile since I was out there to look, heh...

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's another Vanhoover downpour out there, and I'm feeling in the mood for something a little nicer than this weather. Here's hoping a couple of you out there get Hooked on a Feeling like mine, heh - enjoy."

"Bloody hell, cannae believe this kind of downpour. It just keeps coming..." Trying my damndest to keep myself hovering out of the street, the rain was likewise doing it's damndest to turn my wings into a soggy mess. My hooves met the blacktop again with a loud splash, Scouring looking across the buildings either side as we pressed on towards the interior of the city. "So, we got any idea what we're looking for, what this place looks like?"

"Ahm... well, we've got a compass marker for it, so there's that. You learn to trust these things." Letting of a small chuckle and knocking my hoof against the side of my legputer, the buildings around us slowly started to get taller, the road opening up into a wide avenue as we turned down it. At the far end it seemed to dip down, the structures all bent over onto each other in a familiar fashion as they drew near the huge flood of water, a sick greenish glow coming up from the basin. No points for guessing what that is... and look where that compass marker is pointing. "...stupid compass marker."

'We're not actually going down there, are we?' Aerith pased on a nervous look, myself meeting her eyes with one of my own. Quebuck is one thing, there's only a little bit of water there and it's frozen over most of the time, but the Vanhoover crater... that thing's a freakin' harbor! Least it was a ground impact, sort of saved us the trouble of navigating a lot of rubble, but, still. There better be Sparkle-Cola in the break room at this place...

"That's where Presure Cooker designated it on my Pip-buck. We go in, grab whatever we can find that's of value, and get back to her, be done with it. Head back to the Lighthouse for the night again. That sound like a plan?" Looking between them, Scouring returned a shrug in his heavy armor, the rocket launcher on his back opening up and readying itself at his side. Aerith let out a small sigh, her magic covering her Chicacolt Typewriter and long rifle from the downpour as we pressed onwards. Well... okay, if the shit hits the fan, I can probably be quick enough on the draw to get Thumper out. Really don't want to know what this rain would do to his wooden stock... stupid weather.

The avenue descended down towards the crater on a small slope, us all constantly trotting in water before long. Ewuh, I prefer cold when it's just cold, not cold and wet... the buildings along the road all showed this wasn't the first time that the water got like this, Aerith bearing a small grimace as we passed by a skeleton laying face-down in the drink. Gonna hope that's not recent. The marker was pointing more towards the left as the water level reached just past the top of my legputer, myself taking long steps to try and keep moving at a half-decent pace. Gimmie snow, gimmie a blizzard, gimmie a Celestia-forsaken nuclear winter, just don't give me a rain storm.

"Well, this ought to be it, 'Studio B'." We came to a stop outside of a stout stone building, the crater about a block or so away from where we were. One of the taller structures that was caught in the initial explosion had collapsed and now rested in the street beyond, acting as a pretty good dam and making us pretty much unable to head any farther - least it wasn't built a few feet further to the west. Aerith stepped over to the doorway, pulling at it with her hooves for a moment, the old rusted hinges protesting loudly as it swung open and caused a small ripple of water. Scouring flicked on his helmet's headlamp, splashing his way inside as we followed suit. Eugh, stagnant water smell.

"I'm not goin' to give this place any praise fer looks, but for bein' so close to that crater it sure don't look that worse off. Far as a two-century-old buildin' goes, anyways." Scanning around in the darkness, both myself and Aerith took this small reprive of the showers to shake our feathers out, myself moving over to a nearby desk to pull out and ready Thumper. Not going to take any chances that there aren't still some ponies living around here... even if 'living' isn't the best term for it. Aerith's horn filled the area with a soft bluish glow as Thumper's break-action snapped shut with a fresh birdshot shell inside, myself refitting my duffel bag and fitting the 40mm shotgun to my back. "So, here for medical supplies, aye?"

"Just grabbing what we can find, no sense in spending more time than we have to here. Rather not be stuck if the storm gets any worse... if that's even physically possible." As if to hammer my point in further, a bolt of lightning struck somewhere close, frazzling all our manes - I think. Hard to tell with Scouring. It coulda been a balefire bomb going off, too, I suppose, they do knda sound similar... nah, what're the chances. The power armored stallion gave his head a shake, trotting over to a doorway and forcing it open, the water splashing as it was moved. "We find a break room or bathroom or something, even if it's just a medical box we'll have to rip off the wall, good enough."

Answering myself with a nod, Scouring moved further inside the building, his helmet lamp illuminating a small office space beyond. Myself and Aerith followed, a faint twang of disappointment greeting me as I saw the state all those consoles were in - aw, stupid water damage... what, if this place is an animation studio it might be worthwhile to at least -try- and find a finished cartoon or something! Myself releasing a quiet sigh, Scouring moved himself through the cubicles to check their contents, Aerith turning to follow along the wall. Every now and again there'd be a faint clatter as the power armored unicorn looked through a desk or two, but otherwise the constant roaring of the downpour filled our ears, almost overpowering the intermittent clicks my legputer was starting to give me.

Letting off a soft curse under my breath, I kept close behind the alicorn, her submachine gun levitated at the ready by her side as we neared a doorway, her hoof beckoning me to stop. Obliging, Aerith's magic encompassed the handle and slowly opened it, leading first with her Chicacolt Typewriter's barrel and then the rest of herself, my own mouth full of Thumper's trigger. The mildly irradiated water splashed loudly as the door rippled the surface, Aerith's horn illuminating the room beyond for a second before she nodded towards myself, us both sliding into what turned out to be a small break room... with a fridge. Score!

Releasing a small chuckle, I gleefully re-stowed Thumper, trotting over and opening up the door of the old fridge. Hm, okay, bag lunch, bag lunch, iced... lukewarm coffee, ah, regular old Sparkle-Cola. I can live with that... Mister M.A.L., you and me would've probably gotten along. Hope you don't mind if I steal these, you probably won't want them anymore, anyways~ Slipping the five unopened bottles of soda into my duffel bag and starting on drinking down the sixth, the door shut with a small slam, myself finally noticing the small noteboard on it. Well, terminals are all busted, but thankfully dry-erase is pretty permanent - oh, lovely little notes. "Wild Fire - remind M.A.L. that publicly announcing he has a copy of EP #100 on his personal Pip-Buck is a REALLY REALLY -REALLY- bad idea. -F" Oooh, that sounds like a recipe for a stolen legputer... or missing leg, now I think about it. Gotta say it, MAL you must've been one crazy bastard... wonder if consumption of Sparkle-Cola has any correlation with general awesomeness. Makes sense to me.

A loud cracking sound from the other side of the room immediately drew my attention, catching Aerith standing next to a fresh gaping hole and levitating a pink and yellow medical supply box beside herself, a grin coming across her face. Well, least we found one. Passing on a weak chuckle, I took another sip of Sparkle-Cola, trotting back out into the offices. "Found the medical supplies, we can head back now, Scouring!" Looking about, the power-armored stallion was nowhere to be found, at least until a familiar cracking sound filled the air on the second level and the heavy hoofsteps resounded back over to the stairwell. Held in an aura of white magic and illuminated by the headlamp, Scouring moved the pink and yellow metal box over to myself, a chuckle coming through his helmet's speakers.

"Sorry about the wait, didn't know there was one in there too. Ah well, two're better'n one, aye?" Giving him a small smile and nod, myself and Aerith turned back towards the exit, the power armored unicorn following behind us and sloshing through the pooled water. Stepping back out into the rain, it at least seemed a little ess angry than it was before, though still making it pretty clear that the area around the crater is a very big flood zone. Not too much of a surprise that this place isn't nearly as scavenged or settled as the rest... I mean, aside from the fact that it's smack on the edge of a huge bloody bomb crater. Tsk tsk, scavengers shouldn't be picky...

"You're listening to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover, and speaking of that lovely town the local police force got a bit of surprise help from a group of ponies just a few hours ago. Seems like two troublemakers haven't been paying much close attention to my broadcasts, considering they figured it a good idea to hop inside a half-track with a cart loaded with guns attached to it with intent on stealing the whole thing. What they got out of it is a rather nice ten to fifteen rotting away inside one of Little Vanhoover's finest jail cells instead, the unfortunate stallion who hopped in the driver's chair also recieving a broken neck for his troubles. I know you listeners are all only whatever species you are, equine, gryphon, sand dog, whatever, but c'mon, trying to steal from the Vanhoover Five? That's just low.

"What's unfortunate is the Vanhoover Five didn't escapoe it completely unscathed - and I swear I'm telling the truth for this part, because I had to do a double-take when I picked it up on my shortwave, too. Static Charge, the group's driver, got hit in the hoof with a thirty-aught-six rifle round, and was back to walking on it barely a minute after the bullet was pulled out. I don't know exactly what, but that stallion's either the luckiest pony or toughest little pony I've ever heard of. Really want to meet these ponies for myself - oi, you five listening or what? Come and drop by whenever, I'm on the big-ass battleship moored beside Deadstallion's Island, can't miss it if you look from the coast. Dying to have some ponies to put these stories to, heh...

"Anyways, you're tuned in to Radio KAOS, and as we settle down for the night I think I'll put on a nice album for you all out there. From Radio KAOS, goodnight Vanhoover - hope you all have pleasant Post-war Dreams tonight. Enjoy."

A stiff breeze blew out towards the sea as I set myself down beside Crash Dive, my legputer's radio tuned back into Radio KAOS. The power-armored mare's eyes moved to catch mine for a moment before they turned back to overlooking the plains leading away from the shore, a quiet sigh coming from her lips. Sitting down beside her, we both watched the grass flowing with the wind in silence, save for the notes over the radio. After a little while, the pink-maned pegasus turned to look over at me, then up at the skies behind us. "Nice night tonight, after that rainstorm."

"Yeah." Glancing about with her, another cold breeze blew in towards the ocean, my wings spreading to wrap about myself a little tighter, the jacket shuffling against itself lightly. Leaning back and looking at my deep blue wings for a moment, I stalled, refocusing to the mare sitting beside myself. "A-ah, sorry..." Biting at my lip, Crash Dive let out a small sigh, her armor's shoulders going slack as she hung her head forwards.

"No... no, I'm the one who ought to be sorry. Sorry for what I've done, sorry for... for what I actually believed as the truth for so long." She gritted her teeth for a moment, myself shuffling a little closer. Somepony need another hug? She let off a sigh, dryly swallowing, before continuing. "Pressure Cooker... she was the one who's been leaving the Med-X in the traps for me, all these years... I don't know if she knew what she was doing, doing that. It's just... in the Enclave, you're taught to fear anypony who lives on the surface, kill on sight. You get fed all these horror stories of ponies who take gifts from surface-dwellers and wind up dead, or mutilated, or worse... I've been using her Med-X for the past decade. I just don't know what to think right now."

"Be glad somepony's actually cared about you for longer than we've been with you?" Passing her a small shrug as she turned her head back to face me, she blunk a few times, another chill breeze coming off the land. Philisoplical crisies weren't really my thing... more of a hugger. It worked for my dad, damnit! Crash Dive sniffled lightly, adjusting herself a little bit, her rebar cannon still strapped to her side. "I mean, she wouldn't have done that if she didn't know you were in pain, or if she didn't care about you. Surface dwellers ain't so bad, are we?"

A soft smile came to her muzzle as she let out a small grunt, passing on a nod. "No, I don't think so. Not anymore, anyways..." Returning her smile, the power armored pegasus looked back up to the stars, letting out a light sigh. "You know, the nights here have always been beautiful. Just something about all those stars and the moon overhead, just... always nice." Gazing upwards with her, it didn't take too long for me to see what she'd meant. All those constellations, those little pinpricks of light, the big, shining moon... could really make a mare forget. Looking about the sky a little more, an odd, black form made itself apparent against the eastern sky, seeming to hover - closer. Watching it for a few moments longer, I picked myself up to my hooves, Crash Dive looking to me for a moment before joining myself. "What's wrong?"

A consistent warm breeze washed over us as the blackish form came to a stop, the grass below it being blown flat as it just hovered there in front of us, myself still trying to figure out what in the name of Celestia and Luna above it was. Crash Dive macthed my look of confusion for a few sparse moments before a light went on inside the thing's cock... pit... oh no. It's one of those Harrier-things. And it's being piloted by somepony I've never seen before.

And they're pointing it's twin tesla cannons right at us.

The sound of both of them charging up prompted me to leap over away from the firing arc, Crash Dive frozen in place with an expression as if she'd just seen a ghost. Glancing between the jet and Crash Dive for a split second before the weapons discharged, I swung myself around and plowed shoulder-first into Crash Dive's side, sending both of us tumbling to the grass as the bit of cliffside we were standing on a moment ago was blasted to smithereens. Oooh, Luna above, feels like I just tried to shoulder-fire a 17-pounder gun... and I'm pretty sure my chest didn't feel that bruised before. Aces, Strikey, fucking aces.

Flopping myself back over, I was able to get a view just as the pony in the Harrier swung it's nose around to aim back at us both, Crash Dive scrambling to her hooves and taking a firm stance. The two tesla cannons mounted on it began charging again, myself trying to get back out of the line of fire and quickly finding that tumbling with somepony wearing power armor is a great way to sprain a lot of sensitive joints, like those found in pegasus wings. Landing with a painful thud a half-meter away, Crash Dive's rebar cannon choomed out a few times, the solid hunks of metal impacting and ricocheting off of other bits of metal before the craft atacking us made a horrible grinding noise, flames jutting from exhaust ports along it's sides. The pony inside the cockpit seemed to fight for control as it began spinning around, a sudden burst of flames from two jets near the wingtips managing to completely flip the whole thing over, it landing with a heavy, metallic impact against the ground before erupting in a large fireball.

Crash Dive took a moment to catch her breath before moving herself over to me, that look of disbelief coming back to her face. Drawing a sharp breath of pain as I tried to pick myself back up - aw, mister adrenaline, why ya gotta wear off on me like that? - I looked back to the burning wreckage, then to Crash Dive, trying to get my eyes to refocus with hers. "Why'd... why'd you freeze up like that, who the hell was that?" She glanced back to the burning wreck, gnawing at her lip and looking back to myself, that wide-eye expression plastered on her face again.

"I think... I think that was one of my old squadron."

Complications

I leaned up as I heard a knock on the door, my mind cloudy from the sedatives Pressure Cooker had pumped into me. The door opened with a creak downstairs, Pressure Cooker inviting whoever was knocking in. I rolled off of the bed, wincing a little as my injured leg hit the floor - oh, that's gonna hurt for a while, isn't it? I wandered groggily to the door where I heard Night Strike’s voice, mentioning something about our little half-track. I trotted through the doorway and down teh short hall, rubbing my head a bit. “What was that about the mini-tank? Nnfh...” I carefully moved down the stairs, Aerith assisting my descent with some magical support. “Bwuh, I'm starting to regret you talking me into taking those painkillers...” I said, giving my head a little shake. “Anyways, um, yeah, mini-tank, what's the deal?”

“You took a rifle bullet to the hoof without losing consciousness, you can suck it up.” Pressure Cooker playfully chastised me. I rolled my eyes and trotted over to the couch, flopping down onto it and staring at the mess of machinery on the floor before me. Sheesh, it’s like Greasy’s workshop all over again... Crash Dive tossed my saddlebags onto the floor in front of me, my umbrella sticking out of one of the bag covers. I slid the concealed electrical prod out, looking it over for any damage as the others continued talking. Well, at least those thieves didn’t manage to break this. I wonder if Greasy ever did notice this thing is missing...

I looked back over as the door shut, leaving me alone with Crash Dive and Pressure Cooker. After a quick moment of rummaging in her kitchen, Pressure Cooker came back to the living room and handed off a small tin to Crash Dive, the power armored pegasus letting out a sigh as she gave her shoulder another tap. Pressure Cooker trotted herself over to a coatrack, pulling a large poncho off of it and sipping it over herself. “Ahm, uh, anyways, wanna help me look over your tank thing? A small engine repair's usually no big deal, but having somepony else to help wouldn’t hurt.” I nodded, though she grimaced as I stood up. “Eeh, here, you better take the boots. We don’t want those bandages to get wet.” She tossed me some oversized rubber boots, flipping up the hood of her coat. I slipped on the boots and grabbed the umbrella, walking over to Pressure Cooker at the door.

Glancing back to Crash Dive, I shifted my weight a little to avoid putting too much pressure on my hoof. “You coming out too?” I asked. She grimaced a little underneath her armor's visor, looking uneasily towards Pressure Cooker, but stood up anyway, flipping on her helmet’s light. The earth pony mare swung the door open, the wind howling by as we all stepped onto the porch. I took a moment to fiddle with a small latch underneath the rubber of my umbrella - come on, this thing has to still work as a normal umbrella, too... I jumped a little in surprise as the umbrella popped open suddenly. The rain pattered onto the material as I stepped out into the pouring rain, leading Crash Dive and Pressure Cooker over to the small tank.

I removed a latch on the side of the tank, allowing a panel to be slid over to reveal the engine. I held my umbrella at a slight angle to try and keep the rain out of the compartment as Pressure Cooker stepped up to investigate it. I peered in to look at the engine as well, trying to spot what the issue might have been. I shivered a little as my tail hung heavily, a stream of water flowing off of it - oh, what I would give for a set of Crash Dive’s fancy waterproof armor. Hell, I'd take Minty's big heavy cloak and jacket, at least that'd keep my rump dry... Pressure Cooker leaned against the side of the small half-tank, reaching in to work with some of the metal. “I think some of the gears might've been misaligned, see?” She pointed out some of the inner workings, the teeth of several parts twisted out of the clean fit at which they were meant to sit.

She went to work trying to force the gears back into place, grunting with the effort. “Those thieves certainly weren’t careful when it came to gear shifts.” I winced at the sound of the screeching metal, a sudden snap and clatter making my stomach drop. “Shit.” Pressure Cooker muttered, a loose gear having fallen down further into the guts of the machine. She turned to me. “Think you could run back in for my toolbox? It should be sitting right next to the machinery in the foyer.”

“Ahm... oh, we’ve got a toolbox and a couple spare parts here with it, actually.” Crash Dive climbed onto the tank, reaching down into the small trunk and lift out the large toolbox inside. Pressure Cooker flipped open the toolbox and dug around for a moment before pulling out a long hooked wire with a magnet at the end. She slid the wire down into the mini tank, grasping about in an attempt to hook the fallen gear on.

“Buh, one of those days where I wish I were a unicorn...” She mumbled before drawing the wire up and removing the gear from it. She reached into the toolbox again, grabbing a large wrench before leaning back into the tank. After some loud clanging and some choice curse words, Pressure Cooker leaned back out, her face and coat a little oily, though the pouring rain quickly took care of that problem. “Alright, I think I’ve got the gears back into place now. It still wouldn’t hurt to have a look at it later, but I don’t want to stay out in this storm much longer. Hope your friends aren't running into much trouble.” As if on cue, a bright light flashed overheard, quickly followed by a low rumble.

Crash Dive placed the toolbox back inside a box on the side of the mini-tank as I slid the engine’s panel shut and secured the latches. We trotted back to the door, our hooves splashing in the small river formed from the rain washing out of the gutter. I shook my umbrella as I closed it, trying to get as much water off as I could before stepping inside. My boots squished on the carpet a little as I took them off, Pressure Cooker hanging her oversized coat back up.

I rubbed my hoof as I sat back onto the couch, Crash Dive doing the same. “Hey, you don’t happen to still have a little Med-X, do you? I think that first vial is starting to wear off..." Pressure Cooker leaned down to inspect the bandages, which were now damp from blood and the rain. She stepped over to her doctor’s bag resting by the door, pulling a fresh roll of bandages out.

“I think the dressings just need to be changed. Is it more of an itch than actual pain?” I nodded, still rubbing my cast. She began to unwind the bandages, a sickly odor emanating from them. Ech, yeah, this is why I’m not a doctor. She threw the bandages in an orange bag before wiping down the wound and starting to wrap up my leg again. “And, no, I don’t have much left and I need to save what little I have.” She glanced over to Crash Dive for a second before going back to my bandages. “I make a monthly delivery up north, and I try to get as much as I can for that.”

Crash Dive shifted a little as Pressure Cooker tied the end of the bandages, tucking them between some of the folds. “Well, where do you normally deliver them? We could probably drive you there, if you’d like.” Pressure Cooker gnawed at her lip slightly before shaking her head, placing the rest of the roll of bandages into her medical bag and carrying it back to the door.

“Oh, no, that’s fine, it’s really not that far. It’s just a... house call, to drop off some supplies, it’s nothing to rush for.” She paused for a moment, standing around slightly awkwardly. “How about I make us something to eat while we wait for the others?” She trotted down the hall and into the kitchen, leaving Crash Dive and me in the room.

Crash Dive stared at the doorway for a while, her face hidden behind her helmet. I looked over to her and she turned her head towards me. “Static, don’t offer her to come with us again. Hard enough dealing with four other ponies right now.” I looked confused, but she simply stood up and walked over to the door, fitting on her armor's water-tight mask. “I’ll be outside. Need... need to think about something.” Her voice crackled through the speaker of her helmet, her head only slightly looking at myself. She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, the patter of the rain muted as she slowly closed the door behind her. Letting off a small sigh of my own, I sat back against the cushions of the couch, looking down at my Pip-Buck. Wonder what's on Radio KAOS...

I tossed Night Strike’s duffle bag along with my own saddlebags into our room back at the lighthouse, now able to walk more steadily with the newer bandages she’d managed to find. I checked my Pip-Buck for the time as I scratched my bandaged hoof - eleven already? Not even tired... sheesh, those sedatives must’ve really screwed with my sleep schedule. Trotting back out into the kitchen, I slid into one of the benches, giving my back a long stretch. Aerith trotted out from the hallway and sat herself down across from me, a regular sparkle-cola held in her magic. 'How’s your leg doing?'

“Alright, still a little sore, but it should be fine in a couple days, I hope.” I glanced out the window, seeing Night Strike and Crash Dive sitting on the grass near the seaside cliff, the moonlight shimmering off of the high tide. Sheesh, if it weren't for the armor and the glowing bottle of soda, almost can't see eitehr of them at night... Releasing a small sigh and leaning abck in the booth, I began flipping a bottle cap in the air aimlessly, understandably bored. A short while later, though, I suddenly heard a loud crackle like thunder, a bright flash of light coming from outside.

I dropped the cap in surprise, its clatter to the floor sounding much quieter after the sudden blast from outside. Aerith and I leaned forward to look through the window, both of us scanning the coastline. That couldn’t have been lightning, could it? The blast was too close… there’s no rain… I couldn’t see far beyond the window, and Aerith looked equally confused and concerned. I pushed the chair away from the table and began to head for the door outside when the sound of metal grinding and the crackling of something else exploding met my ears. A loud crash and the crumble of metal followed, quickly dissipating to leave nothing but the sound of a crackling, vicious fire.

I burst through the door, seeing Crash Dive and Night Strike standing in front of a large pile of metal on fire, Night Strike seeming to hold her shoulder. I ran over towards them, Aerith following me closely behind. “What the hell happened!?” I asked, suddenly aware of the aching pain in my leg after leaping from the chair. Crash Dive and Night Strike turned to me, both looking unsure of what to say.

“Uh… well, let’s just say we really should be getting the Valkyrie up and running faster than we’re doing it right now.” Night Strike said, releasing a dry chuckle. I sighed, more than a little annoyed. Starting to lose my appreciation for jokes after these past few days, Strikey. She gave an uncomfortable cough before continuing. “Look, somepony just decided to try and shoot up this place with one of those things that was missing from Seahoof, and we don’t know for sure much more than that, alright?” Night Strike said, a power armored unicorn eventually meeting up with us and looking over the carnage.

“Hell... how many o' those things did you say were missin' from Seahoof?” Scouring asked, looking at the flaming wreck. I shared an uneasy glance with Night Strike, the pegasus wearing a grimace as she gnawed on her lip. Well... on the bright side, there's only three of these things left flying around now. And they seem to be easily killed by rebar, too, since Night Strike's grenade rifle was still back at the house... shit...

Crash Dive cleared her throat, looking between us all and still trying to collect herself. She looked back towards the wreck, letting off a small huff. “More than one. If they made it this far without getting shot down, wouldn't hurt to have somepony watching the skies during the night... I’ll take the first shift. I’m probably not going to get much sleep after this, anyways.” Giving one last look back to the flaming wreck, the power armored pegasus stiffened herself, her rebar cannon letting off a small ca-chunk and loading another bolt in the chamber. I glanced between the others, all of us a little unsure of what to do. I stepped towards Crash Dive, about to offer to stay up as well, but she spoke up before I could. “No, you need your sleep most of all, or you’ll be dragging that hoof for another week.”

I stopped, sighing a little - that's a good point. Aerith trotted herself over to Crash Dive, wearing a small grin and sitting beside her, her machine gun and rifle appearing out of thin air... oh, right, invisibility spell. Man, that's good. 'I never seemed to sleep well anyway, I’ll be fine.' Night Strike, Scouring Charge, and myself all shared an uneasy glance before heading back over the small landbridge and into the Lighthouse, myself glancing over up at the starry night sky nervously. After a short moment, I made my way over to mine and Night Strike's bedroom, Scouring charge having disappeared up the iron stairwell leading up the lighthouse tower and to his bedroom.

I turned to Night Strike, closing the door behind me. “Night Strike… is there something else Crash Dive knows about this? She seemed… off.” Night Strike sat down onto her bed, metting my eyes and chewing on her lip again. After a moment, she released a little sigh, looking somewhat unnerved.

“Ah, well…” She paused, trying to find the best way to say what was on her mind. “Crash Dive thinks she knew the pony that was flying that thing. She thinks it was one of her old squad when she was with the Enclave.” I widened my eyes, screwing my face up into an expression of confusion.

“Wait… I thought all of her squadron was killed off, before she lost-” I cut myself off, still a little uncomfortable bringing the situation back up. Myself letting off a small cough, Night Strike answered me with a small sigh. She shifted a little on the bed before swinging her hind legs up onto the sheets, leaning against the headboard.

“I don't know… maybe she just got them confused. I mean, I really couldn’t get a good look into the cockpit... not that I could even tell one of her old squad from 'cunt who wants to kill us' number twenty-seven, for that matter.” She pulled the thin sheets up over herself, rolling over onto her side. "We'll... we'll handle it in the morning. We should probably get some sleep." I climbed onto the small cot besides Night Strike, laying my head down on the worn pillow. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to clear my mind. I could still faintly hear the sound of the burning wreck dying down outside, faint thumps and creaks coming from it as it kept burning. I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh - One day, just one day I’d like to have without anyone trying to kill us...

We sped along the countryside, Aerith’s head bobbing as she tried to keep herself awake. Crash Dive sat stoically in the trailer alongside Scouring, her helmet hiding any signs of possible exhaustion. Night Strike sat at Boomer’s controls, watching the trails of flattened grass the mini tank made as I steered it down the road. I bounced my bandaged leg a bit, trying to keep the circulation flowing as the magic wrappings slowly stitched together my skin and muscle fibers. Sleeping with it on at least helped a lot... good thing we made it through Maple Creek early enough to not get stopped. Don't want to lose that hoof just because Sulfur wanted to ask questions.

“Ah, our breaking news today is the report of a loud explosion somewhere nearby the old lighthouse on the coast. Makes me wish my sleep schedule wasn't as FUBAR as it is, could've had my own eyewitness account... ah, uh, anyways, out of Maple Creek, it's been speculated that it may have been another air craft that either crashed in from up north or somehow made it past the spotters and gunners. From what we here at Radio KAOS understand, it crashed farther south than the Empty Quiver craft, but if anypony's going to try and get more information about it, please be careful. Wouldn't be the first time somepony's been lost there, the last one should've been the last.” The DJ of Radio KAOS came over Night Strike’s Pip-Buck, the pegasus wearing a grimace and flipping her radio off. We pulled up to the edge of Hopeville, a few ponies looking nervously at us as I drove down the road, faintly recognizing the shapes of some of the machine guns we'd sold to them.

As I drove into the town proper, a pony in a lab coat rushed up to the tank, flailing his hooves in the air and forcing me to stop in the road. He panted, trying to catch his breath and leaning against the small half-track. “Whew... Ah, it’s good to see you guys back here. Emerald’s hoping you might be able to stop by the Triage. She thinks she found something that you guys might find useful.” Night Strike perked up a little at this. Oh, please tell me Emerald didn’t find us another giant gun thing, we’ve got enough that Night Strike might blow up in our faces already.

Still, I thanked him and began to drive us towards the Triage. I spotted a few of the guns we’d brought in mounted atop some of the buildings, a couple ponies sitting at their mounts, one group playing cards and occasionally glancing up at the sky. I wheeled around a corner, pulling up to the front of the large building the Triage was stationed in. It appeared to have been partly renovated since our last visit, with many more functional lights surrounding its exterior and a few fewer shattered windows.

We trotted into the lobby, one of the ponies sitting at the large circular desk waving to us. A small filly gasped excitedly upon seeing us trot through, causing me to blush a little as she tried to get her dad’s attention. The sound of heart monitors and various other medical equipment met our ears as we stepped into the hallway, making our way down to Emerald’s workshop. She looked up as we entered the room, setting aside her tools and a pushing away the stretcher she had been working on.

“Ah, I’m glad you were able to get here so soon.” She said, turning around and pulling something out of her desk. She pushed aside some paperwork and placed the metal object down, letting us gather around to look at it. “One of our technicians found this when we were inspecting the dam, we're not sure where it came from but it's pre-war Equestrian military, maybe you’ll be able to find some use for it. We know for sure it isn't medical supplies, and they said it was probably some kind of ammunition or something.”

I looked a little confused, handing the tubular tin object over to Night Strike. “We haven’t tried opening it, mind you. The engineers just seemed a little… nervous, with it.” Scouring Charge gave the pegasus a small tap on her shoulder, her giving it to him, the unicorn taking to turning it about in his magic. As he did, he began schuckling through his helmet's voicebox, the smile crossing his muzzle apparent in his words.

“Ooh, I’m going t' have fun with this. Thermobaric rockets, lot more dangerous bang fer your buck but a little more finicky." The steel ranger let off a chuckle as he slipped the canister of rockets into a box on the side of his armor, Emerald more than a little surprised, but mostly looking relieved. Night Strike grinned widely as she let out a small giggle - great, more stuff for us to eventually wind up blown up by. Well, at least it's not in the hooves of that crazy pegasus...

"Well, um, thank you for taking it out of our hooves. We'll be sure to let you handle whatever else we might find there, with any luck this was the only oddity." Giving her a small nod, we all turned and started to head out of the work area, the handymare getting back to her work. As we reached the door, though, she cleared her throat. "Ah, oh, right, one more thing. A few of the ponies we have at the dam say they've been seeing these strange creatures at night. You wouldn't happen to have any idea as to what they are, would you?" Oh no, don't tell me they were seeing -those- creatures...

"Uhm...yes, uh, actually. When we got the dam restarted, we had to clear the turbine intakes with some explosives. They were gunked up with these big eggs... we're not sure what they are either, just that they're big, tough, nasty, and take explosives or big armor-piercing bullets to kill." Night Strike trotted forth, giving a small glance back towards myself. Emerald was, understandably, both terrified, surprised, and in disbelief. "If you can, I'd get one of the big autocannons set up at the dam, just in case. We're going back to Seahoof today, if we find another one for you we'll give you it to protect the Dam." Oh, that stung me a little. Strikey, these ponies are very well off, they can probably afford to pay for their big guns...

"I-if you wouldn't mind, of course. Thank you... goddesses..." Emerald slumped back in her chair as we made our way back out, myself giving Night Strike a small glare as we all shuffled back onto the cart. Oofh, probably should get some new bandages on that hoof... suck it up, we can probably raid something from Seahoof's med bay still. Speaking of...

"Could I just ask why we're going back to Seahoof for a third time?" The little motor of the half-track revved as we trundled along, myself navigating us past the gunsmith and onto the roads heading south, out of the town. Night Strike answered me with a small huff and facehoof, giving a shake of her head.

"Because we still need to get a generator to fix the Valkyrie, remember? Still have to at least search the hangar that the ants blew up." Oh, right... that...

"If we come back here again, I'm gonna slap somepony. Twice we've looked, and we still haven't found a generator." Static grumbled as we passed through the gates of the perimeter of Seahoof,the roads curiously devoid of robots this time around. The small engine purred underneath me as I adjusted myself on the back of the half-track, one hoof resting near Boomer's trigger grip. Letting out a small huff, I scanned about for a moment, before leaning forwards and giving Static a small whap on his shoulder.

"First time we were interrupted by exploding ants, and second time we kind of had more to worry about at the time. You sure you didn't see a generator in that storage room we found those engines in?" The earth pony glanced back at myself, first in a bit of annoyance but then a quiet huff of defeat. We reached the hangars once more, a faded, cracked line leading towards the missing wall of the one the ants came out of. Pulling up alongside the pile of rubble, Static shut off the mini-tank, letting out a small huff and looking down at his bandaged hoof. Crash Dive and Scouring both hopped off of the back wagon, Aerith setting herself down beside us, myself scooching up to the front near him. "You think you'll be good to walk through that stuff with that hole in your leg?"

"Ah... maybe I should sit this one out in the mini-tank. With how much those ants exploded, I kinda don't want to risk exploding too, heh..." He let off a small chuckle, myself passing on an eyeroll and checking Thumper's breech. Buckshot, yeah, that'll probably be safer than high explosive or dragon's breath, if we run into any other big bugs... closing it with a snap, Static drew in a sharp breath, leaning over to rub at his bandaged leg. Fitting Thumper on my back, I leaned over his shoulder, a small frown taking to my muzzle. Maybe we should take a break from running around, at least until that hole heals up... His eyes caught mine, the earth pony leaning back and looking at myself, letting out a weak chuckle. "I'm fine, Night Strike. Go play with your explosives, or whatever."

"If you say so. You know to squeal like a mare if anything happens to you, right?" Putting on a smile and sticking my tongue out at him, he let out a small sigh, myself hopping off of the back of the mini-tank and trotting over to the hangar. This one seemed to have two big thick-walled bunkers inside of it, both of them seeming to have survived the fact that they were pretty much bracketing a column of exploding ants quite well. Scouring, Aerith, and Crash Dive all were scaling the pile of rubble, the alicorn landing herself atop one of the bunkers and surveying the hangar. I set myself down on the rubble pile, looking between Crash Dive and Scouring. "Think it's too much to hope that the generator we're looking for was stored in one of these two things?"

"Doubtful at best, I'd think. These seem like they're meant for safely storing big ammo, like whatever that huge gun in the other hangar shoots." The rubble pile collapsed slightly as Crash Dive made her way down it, trotting inbetween the pair of bunkers. The scorch marks were very apparent where the ants were lined up and exploded, some being on the slanted walls of the bunkers, even - miracle they didn't set anything inside off. Aerith hovered herself by the far wall, Scouring trying to dig out one of the bunker doors from the rubble. The power-armored pegasus paused for a moment, looking at one of the bunkers and scaling up it's slanted wall to the top. "First time we were in here, the ants cornered us down one of these hallways between these things. Lot more seemed to come from the back than the front..."

"Well, maybe we'll find something here that's good for getting rid of a whole colony of ants... without detonating them." Okay, might be a little tougher than I thought. Stupid ants, cordite isn't food. And neither is gunpowder... or C4, or Amatol, or Torpex. You just shouldn't eat explosives, basically, probably isn't good for you. Pff, sure would give some meaning to 'explosive diarrhea' though... The cracked and somewhat cratered back floor of the hangar gave plenty reason to show us where the bug-killer needs to go, complete with a big-ass mound of dirt that seemed to have a hole big enough for a pony going through it. "Guess we know where to put the ant-killer stuff, if we can find something that'd work."

"If that water tank outside weren't completely rusted through, could've tried and flooded them out. Burning up the oxygen in the tunnels might do something too, but I'm not sure how we might do that without risking setting off the whole colony." The power-armored pegasus trotted over to the mound and peered down inside, thinking for a moment. Hovering over beside her, I let out a small sigh - the one time where being able and within all reason to drop a big bomb somewhere, and we can't do it because it'd make other stuff explode. Great. Setting myself down on the back of an explosion and rebar-destroyed piece of equipment parked at the back of one of the bunkers, I leaned back against the thick concrete wall behind me, glancing about. Well, on the upside, at least we killed off most of the soldier ants the first time we were here, I guess... wait, does that sign say?...

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Hopping off the back of the destroyed piece of hardware, a grimace was on my face as I kept looking forwards at the metal plate sign across from me. Setting myself down on the ground, I fell to my haunches and firmly smacked a forehoof to my forehead, the sound of Crash Dive trotting over meeting my ears. I let out a defeated sigh, slumping backwards against the decayed and destroyed rubber wheel that once allowed the equally destroyed piece of equipment to be easily transportable, limply pointing the hoof that wasn't rubbing against my face up at the panel. Stuff a tank shell in my ass and mount me in a turret. "Well... found the generators."

"Oh... sorry." Crash Dive wore a strong grimace as she looked over the carnage of what once were miniature reactors and steam turbines, the twisted sections of rebar prominent where they stuck out of the bits that weren't wrecked by explosions. Myself releasing a long groan and rubbing at the sides of my head, I stared up at the tall ceiling of the hangar, the sound of Scouring digging out rubble filling the air. Looking over the wrecks of generators, Crash Dive chewed on her lip, then let out a soft sigh. "We, um, we didn't see them when we first came in here. Kind of were more occupied by the swarms of pony-sized ants that were coming out from everywhere they could..."

Releasing a small huff, I picked myself back up, passing the power armored pegasus a nod. Jericho Beach, written off, Seahoof, this was the last hangar... we're gonna have to find the Vanhoover Air Base now. Oh, Tia above, please let that place not be a big irradiated hole in the ground... a clattering of shattered concrete and creaking of a steel door's hinge filled the air, the steel ranger letting off a laugh of success. "Ay, finally! Heh... Night Strike? You'll wan' tah see this..."

Hovering over and landing beside Scouring, he passed a quick glance before looking back into the storage bunker, myself following his gaze. Oh, sweet mother of Celestia and Luna above, you're too good to us. The oblong shapes became clearer as I flicked a switch on the wall, light filling the ammunition bunker and revealing the unmistakible forms of really big bloody bombs. Well, that's a good enough excuse as any to have those ridiculously thick walls on this place. Trotting inside, I happily moved over to the first loaded rack, letting out a stupid giggle and reading over the words on the surface of the bomb. "'900kg Mark 15C Thermobaric Bomb, Royal Equestrian Airborne Support. Handle with care.' Oooh, this is a bigger version of your new rockets... Okay, yeah, we're going to be taking these."

"Ah... not what I was meanin', lass. The first rack's empty." Scouring's frown did get me to divert my attention away from the full rack of four fun bombs and to the emptied rack next to it. Okay... maybe they hadn't finished loading everything here when the bombs fell, maybe? Or, well, this place is an ammo store, maybe they were using them. That wide-eyed look of worry that shot across Scouring's face just then didn't help. "There wasn't a lock on the door. Ahm, first time we were here, before we got met with a swarm of ants, saw the other bunkers still had locks on. This was the only one without any..." ...okay, so probably were taken post-war. Oh, joy. "How much did ye say those bombs weighed?"

"Nine hundred kilos each, wh-... oh, fuck me with a tank shell." Math time with Strikey! One rack of the Mark 15C Thermobaric Bombs contains 8 bombs, 4 either side. Now, if the XF/A-1 Harrier has a payload capacity of 2,000 kilograms, and it's 900 kilograms per each bomb, and there were four of the Harriers and eight of the bombs missing, what's the likelyhood of whoever stole the Harriers also stole these bombs? Solve for 'How fucked we are'. Well, on the upside, we have a very legitimate reason for taking these now. "We need to get the rest of the bombs and get out of here."

Answering me with a nod, the unicorn passed by myself as I stepped back outside, Aerith and Crash Dive waiting on the rubble pile. Aerith followed Scouring inside the ammo bunker, to help him get the bombs out, I'd guess, while the power armored pegasus watched on. Standing beside her, I looked back to the bunker, watching as the first empty rack was lifted out in Scouring's magic and dropped outside, the second one being carefully removed by Aerith. Those were some pretty bloody huge bombs, and unlike a megaspell the conventional stuff would've easily detonated when she shot down that first plane... "There weren't any bombs on the Harrier that attacked us."

"That's what worries me." The first rack of bombs came out, Aerith carefully seeing to setting them down outside the hangar before ducking back inside. The power armored pegasus beside me watched on for a moment, before letting out a small huff. "Go see if you can't make some room for these things in the cart. I ned to check something." Passing her a light nod and looking over towards the first rack of bombs, I hovered myself past them and to the mini-tank, Static scratching at his head in confusion, and distinct worry.

"Please tell me we aren't taking those. Aren't four megaspells enough explosives for you?" Wearing a weak smile, I gave him a small shake of the head, hopping up into the back of the wagon behind the half-track. Well, gonna be cramped, but without all of the guns from before we should be able to fit them on here... I just hope the suspension can handle the weight. Hell, I hope that the thing's engine can handle the weight... "...we are taking them, aren't we. I'll never understand why you love explosives so much."

"I think it's hereditary." Letting out a small chuckle, I shuffled a few of the steampipe guns about, leaning them upright against the back. Probably should've unloaded these things when we were at the lighthouse... eh, better to have 'em, Hopeville might want more guns after that Harrier crash comes to the news again. Looking back to the bombs, the second rack was out, myself gnawing on my lip. Nine hundred times eighteen, equals a helluva lotta boom, but also about fifteen tons. "Shit... ah, we might want to take the trip back home in the lowest gear that thing has. This is gonna weigh a lot..."

"So, why don't we just leave them here, then? If it's heavy and not easily sellable, why bother with it?" Ah, Static, still with bottlecaps for eyes. Answering him with a shake of the head, a small commotion came from inside the bunker, drawing our attention. A moment later, and we were both treated to the sight of all three of them carefully removing a smaller, different-shaped bomb from the bunker. Oh, this can't be good. Static facehoofed, letting off a small groan. "Please tell me we're not taking that one, too."

"I... no, I don't think we'll be. We're taking the thermobaric ones just so other people can't, I don't recognize that one." With how carefully Scouring was looking over the new bomb, and how Crash Dive was refitting her rebreather and helmet, I'm willing to take a bet that this one isn't of the conventional variety. Aerith gingerly set it down on the tarmac for Scouring to better examine, quickly rushing over to the both of us wide-eyed.

'Apparently there are chemical bombs in there too. Scouring and Crash Dive are trying to come up with a way to get rid of them safely.' Chemical weapons. Great. So that's... um... what's the usual stuff in chemical weapons? Must be some kind of airborne stuff, or they wouldn't have put their masks on. Hopping out of the cart, I hovered myself over to them both, Aerith following behind close. Sure looked a lot more like a compressed gas tank somepony welded fins and a box tail onto than a bomb. Crash Dive ran to meet us, keeping us a few feet away from the bomb.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to defuse a bomb, would you?" Answering her in the negative, she seemed to fidget on her hooves, looking back at Scouring and the canister. "We only pulled out the one, there are at least seven more of those things in there. Chlorine Gas, the stuff sinks and causes all kinds of stuff to go wrong when inhaled or exposed to skin. It's a miracle that whoever took the first rack didn't take any of these things, we just don't know how to get rid of them." Yeah, I think dying in a big explosion is less agonizing than whatever that stuff would do to somepony. Suppose it's also a good thing that nopony sane lives here in the floodplain, if any of these did go off... hm...

"You said this stuff sinks, right?"

The mini-tank's engine roared in protest as it hauled the loaded wagon up the roads leading away from Seahoof, myself looking back towards it and just about able to see the tops of the hangars from here. It was starting to push into the evening as we were just able to crest a hill, Static bringing the mini-tank to a stop and looking back at the engine deck with worry on his face. Scouring glanced back at us from his position just behind the bombs at the back of the cart, a detonator appearing beside him in his magic before all eyes turned to look at Seahoof. Hope this works... "Well... here goes."

The detonator made a small click, and down in Seahoof eight bricks of C4 recieved the radio signal, the blasting plugs igniting and setting off the plastic explosives. The sound of the wind filled our ears for the moment, before a greenish-yellow haze erupted from the partly-destroyed hangar, lingering in the valley. Scouring let off a sigh, re-stowing the detonator and passing along a nod. "Nopony's goin' to be usin' Seahoof fer a good long while. No more ants to worry over, though..."

"Well, it's something." Shrugging, I leaned up against Boomer with Thumper in my lap, watching the gas cloud settling. Static shook his head and gave the mini-tank's engine a rev, us starting to move again... for a few feet, anyways, before a small flock of black-armored gryphons came crashing out of the sky. Oh joy, what fresh tartarus is this... "Uh... can we help you?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think you can. We're looking for a bunch of ponies, five of them, and their fancy-ass half-track. Gotta make a... deposit, to all of them." ...I might not be the biggest bomb in the bunch, but even I know this is not going to end particularly well. They haven't pointed guns at us yet, though, so there's that. "See, we're the people that get called when somepony's got a thorn in their side that needs to be taken care of, and you five are apparently being quite a huge thorn to our current employers. We'll promise we won't make it any harder than it has to-hrrmfh!"

We all blunk in surprise as one of the other gryphons slammed the first one's face into the ground, letting out an annoyed grunt. "Don't mind him, he's an idiot. We're mercs, you've got quite a sizable price on your heads, and we're here to kill you. Got it?" Short, blunt, and sweet, she's nice. We all glanced between each other, Static looking just about ready to hide himself in the armored driver's seat as Crash Dive's helmet got that look again. After a moment, the gryphon pulled back the hammers of a short 12-gauge twin-barrel in her talons, wearing a grin. "Good! We can get sta-"

War Crime let out a loud five-round retort beside me as one of the larger gryphons behind the one with the shotgun seemed to just explode into red mist, myself bringing Thumper about to deposit a load of shotshell into one of the other gryphon's wings, shredding it quite completely. Aerith's submachine gun retorted alongside Crash Dive's rebar canon, finishing off the rest of the one-winged gryphon as Sunburst came out and settled on the shotgun gryphon, the expression on her face being one synonymous with the one you'd have if a hellhound suddenly came around the corner. The gryphon whose beak was buried in the mud had enough time after getting himself out to catch the sight of five gun barrels pointing straight at his head, the shotgun gryphon dropping her weapon in a stunned silence.

"Y-yanno, eheh, a-ah, we're not really bad, we're... fuck me... yanno what, fuck it, they're not paying us enough for this shit!" Grabbing hold of the mud-faced gryphon's shoulders, the one formerly holding a shotgun leapt into the air with him in tow, both of them scrambling to get away from us. Crash Dive swung herself around in the cart, tracking as they flew off towards the east, her rebar cannon still primed and ready. Resting a hoof on her armor's shoulder, she looked back towards myself, my head shaking.

"Isn't worth it. They come back, we'll hit them harder. If they're running, we ought to let them. Fight's over." Crash Dive looked at myself for a moment longer, before sitting back down in the cart, still watching where the pair of gryphons were flying to, seeing them becoming specks on the horizon. The small engine of the mini-tank growled as we finally started moving again, for real this time, Hopeville a group of lights off in the distance. Sun was already well along it's descent when we came out of Seahoof... Hm. "Should we stop over in Hopeville, or head straight to the lighthouse?"

"I vote Lighthouse, because... uhm... because rolling into a populated area with so many big explosives is a bad idea! Yeah, that." Static coughed, the beam from the mini-tank's headlight illuminating the road ahead faintly as the shadows kept creeping longer. He did have a point, but I'm willing to bet that's not the only reason.

"And you don't want to risk blowing up a pony that has googly-eyes for you?" Myself releasing a chuckle, the earth pony shot a look back at me, the blush prominent on his cheeks even in the fading light. Lingering for a moment longer - good thing we were on a straight bit - he let off a huff, looking back towards the road. A smirk came to his face, glancing back at me.

"I'm more worried about her blowing herself up." 'Her'? Pretty sure Chauffeur was a... hey!

"Good evening North Vanhoover, you're listening to Radio KAOS and it's just about sunset from where I can see things. Today's developing evening news comes out of both Hopeville and Maple Creek, a certain air of bad blood between the two fortified towns as they're starting to point hooves at each other regarding who let the air craft get so far to the west. We here at Radio KAOS don't have any say in political manners between towns in the wasteland, but c'mon guys, blaming each other doesn't help anyone. Just makes it more likely for somepony to get hurt.

"Also from Hopeville, specifically the hydroelectric dam near there, are yet-unconfirmed reports of a flock of Talons mercenaries stopping and attacking the Vanhoover Five. We don't have any confirmation of if any of the five were injured in the fight, but considering the dam workers who caught the action happening claim seeing only two gryphons hastily retreating from the scene, it's a safe bet that the battle was both massively one-sided and sent a firm message. Some ponies just don't have decency to not call mercenaries on other ponies trying to help make the wasteland a better place... come on, I thought we were all past this, were civilized now. I mean, other than raiders, but what's the likelyhood of a band of raiders managing to keep sober long enough to afford hiring mercenaries?

"And lastly, some unfortunate news from Maple Station. One of the two large engines that provide electricity and water pressure to the town has apparently broken down, and with the winter months approaching and trade routes dying off the chances of getting it repaired soon are becoming slimmer and slimmer. I've never even heard of this kind of engine before, ahm, a 'tandem double-acting natural gas engine'. Safe bet there aren't many places that can make new parts for it. If anypony comes across one of these things, let us here at Radio KAOS know, and we'll get word out. Heh, hey, Vanhoover Five, if you're listening I think Maple Station has a job for you.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful Vanhoover evening, and I'm feeling in the mood for something mellow. Here's a classic Roger Trotters album for all of you relaxing out there and settling in - The Dark Side of the Moon."

"How's the hoof?" Static rested in the small booth in Crash Dive's kitchen, looking down at his bandaged leg as I trotted inside. He glanced up at myself, letting out a small sigh and sitting back upright, letting off a small grunt. I slid myself in the booth across from him, sliding one of the regular Sparkle-Colas to him while I popped open a bottle of the blue glowing kind.

"It's getting there. Might be able to stop needing the bandages soon... just a few aches every now and again." He popped the cap off of his bottle, quick to put it into his pocket before picking the bottle up. I let off a small chuckle, opening my own bottle of soda and taking a drink, looking outside at the dying sunlight. Another sigh escaped Static's lips as he leaned himself forwards, looking out the window. "How much longer do you think we're going to be stuck here for?"

"I don't know... as long as it takes us to find a working generator, and however long the Valkyrie needs to fix itself after we get it hooked up, I guess. I hope." Taking another sip of the soda, I slumped back in the booth, staring out towards the land. They had to know that we were gone by now... they were probably looking for us, too. Rolling Tracks could lead them to Stalliongrad, or the Crystal Empire, and they'd be able to find their way here from there... hopefully... I set the bottle down and unzipped my jacket, pulling out the small plushie of Twintails. We'll meet again, some sunny day...

Static took another gulp from his bottle of soda, setting it against the table and resting his head against his hoof. He let out a sigh, looking into the faintly bubbling brown liquid for a moment before lookng up towards myself, sitting up. "When'd Twintails get you that?"

"A-ahm, oh, uh... it was in one of Thumper's shells, he probably knew I'd take it again. I... didn't find it until we landed here." Smooth Strikey, caught cuddling a plushie. Well, better than having to wear a diaper again... fuck, why was I starting to miss that, of all things. Static let off a small chuckle, sitting back in his seat.

"Surprised he didn't try stuffing it in a bottle of Sparkle-Cola. Your family seems to communicate either in that stuff or ridiculously overpowered stuff." Okay, he did have a point there. We shared a small laugh, the last orange hues of day fading from the sky to a bluish night, us both looking out the window again. Wonder what time it is back home... "I want to go home, Night Strike. Hellhounds, ghouls, raiders, even those freaky fish-monster-things, those I can live with. But... people actually paying others to have us killed? I don't... I don't know how to feel about that."

I let off a sigh, looking at the half-drunk bottle of glowing blue soda. "I know. We'll just keep fighting them off, if they keep coming we'll keep killing them. That's... that's life, I guess." There was a moment's pause, us both staring into our bottles of soda. I took another gulp of mine, feeling it flow down my throat - even the taste of Sparkle-Cola RAD couldn't wash this feeling out. "I want to go home, too, Static. I want to get home, get into the back of the TOG, and just... just... I dunno, just lay there and feel like everything's back to normal again. Whatever 'normal' is..."

Static gave a quiet nod of acknowedgement, taking another sip from his bottle of soda and leaning back, one hoof rested on the table. Staring into the two button eyes of plushie dad for a quiet moment longer, I leaned myself forwards and held him against my cheek, his little plush hooves encompassing it in a small hug. Goddess-damn it, I miss them both... Static cleared his throat, myself looking up to see him chewing on his lip lightly.

"Ahm... Cross made plushies of himself and Minty for me, too. I cuddle with them every night I'm not having a sleep over with you... keep them hidden, otherwise." O... kay, I mean, it's a little surprising, but not by too much... which begs the question as to why he's telling me. He tapped his hoof against the wooden table a few times, before letting out a sigh. "It's been harder to sleep lately."

"What... oh..." He wasn't really asking what I think he's asking... is he? I mean, um... not that it's anything to actually freak out about or say no to, but... huh. "Static... do... do you want to cuddle, tonight?"

Nope, yeah, his face was definitely blushing now. "Y-yanno, if you wouldn't mind... a-ah, we can do it front to back, spooning, yanno? Just, um... yeah..." He let off a small huff, bringing a hoof to his forehead and leaning forwards again. "I should've thought this through..." Wordlessly, I finished off my bottle of soda, picking myself up from the booth and sliding out of it, trotting over to where Static sat. He watched me, a firm blush and grimace on his face, myself leaning over and getting close to him, a smile crossing my muzzle.

"Front to front is fine."

"Mmmnfh... nuh, nuh, the shell doesn't go in... backwards... nruh?" Snorting awake, the little plushie of Dad stared back at me in the dim light of early morning. Blinking a few times, I brought the heavy form of the legputer around to look at the time. 4:30. Okay, VERY early morning. Eh, fuck it, I still have Sparkle-Cola. Picking myself up from the bed, I slipped plushie-dad back into my jacket, fitting the heavy thing on and rubbing at my eyes. Huh, Static's up too? Probably in the kitchen, making those cute flanks of his bigger. Hell, I'd be game for that...

Trotting out of the bedroom with a Sparkle-Cola in hoof, Static definitely was in the kitchen, but interestingly enough there was a distinct lack of food being eaten. He passed a worried glance towards myself as I stepped in, taking a healthy gulp from the bottle of glowing soda. Ah, Sparkle-Cola, best pick-me-up in the wasteland... "Nh, what're you doing up so early?"

"Ah, Aerith ran through the house earlier in a panic, I'm not sure what it was about but Crash Dive and her are out on the mainland again." ...one definitive downside of being mute, not being able to scream particularly well. I hopped into the booth, scooching over to the bay window and trying to catch sight of them over on the shore. Scanning the coastline, though, made a different, more prominent worry come to my head nearly instantly as I saw it... or, more specifically, didn't see it.

"Static... where's the Valkyrie!?"

I rushed out of the lighthouse, Night Strike following close behind. My mind raced with ideas as to what had happened to the Valkyrie, each more ludicrous than the last - Did somepony steal it? How the hell did they move it? Why didn’t we hear anything? I panted as we rushed across the land bridge, my leg starting to ache again from the excess effort of running. I noticed flickering orange light emanating from up on the coastal cliffs as we approached, my mind becoming even more confused. As we raced to the top of the seaside cliffs and made way towards where the light was, though, we began to slow, now able to see what the light was coming from.

A small fire had been set up a short ways inland, a few ponies gathered around it, a couple others setting up tents. I stood still, very confused, Night Strike darting past me. She raced up to one of the ponies, leaping on top of him and pinning him to the ground. “Where the hell is the Valkyrie?!” She shouted angrily. The colt screeched in a very un-masculine manner, trying to push her off of him.

“Get offa me!” He shouted, shoving at her. I rushed over and pulled Night Strike off of him before she could start tearing his throat out. He sat up, a few of the other ponies stepping in between us and him as he stood back up and attempted to calm down. “What’s wrong with you?” He said, stepping back from Night Strike a little. Night Strike turned to face the ditch that the Valkyrie had been sitting in before Aerith had got it back onto its wheels.

As she walked over to it, I noticed Aerith standing in front of it, Crash Dive arguing with a familiar lanky mare. Extra Edition glanced over to see us, her slightly smug smile growing wider as she saw us. “Ah, there’s the two ponies I was looking for!” She pulled out her notebook and quill, the tip poised on the paper to begin scrawling down notes. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about a rumored crash here yesterday?”

“At four in the goddess-damned morning? Yes, I kind of do mind.” Night Strike snapped. Aerith and Crash Dive trotted back up to us, Aerith looking somewhat nervous. “Now what did your little gang do with the Valkyrie?” Night Strike asked. Extra raised an eyebrow, scribbling something down in her notebook.

“Valkyrie? Is that some sort of code name for a weapon you five found while you were rummaging around in Seahoof?” She sounded very interested, her smile growing wider. Shit, shut up, Strikey! I elbowed her in the ribs as I stepped up to Extra. Night Strike grimaced, but clearly received the intended message. She trotted back around to the ditch, Aerith trotting over to her.

“What are you doing here, Extra? Because I kind of doubt you’re just on a camping trip.” I glanced back to the other ponies, who were watching our argument intently. Extra chuckled a little, trotting back over to the group of ponies gathered around the fire.

“Please, Static, give me a little more credit than that. If I was trying to perform some sort of covert dirt-gathering, I’d hardly set up a tent in such an easily visible spot.” She sat down on a log pulled up by the fire, facing us again. “And I already said what I’m here for. Rumor has it that an aircraft that passed Hopeville undetected crashed somewhere around here, and I want to know the story.” She pulled her quill back out and licked the tip before placing it back to the paper. “This place sure does seem to get a lot of one way air traffic.” She smiled smugly.

Crash Dive stepped forward again, her visor shimmering in the light from the fire. “You’re trespassing on private property. Now get out of here.” Crash Dive threatened. Extra’s smile faltered a little as she shifted on the log. I stepped back, hoping Crash would be able to successfully intimidate them into leaving.

“Private property? You don’t have a zoning board to back that up, let alone a deed!” Extra chuckled. The rest of the camping party didn’t look so confident, a few of them stepping over to the tents to begin dismantling them. Crash Dive took another step forward, Extra’s smile dropping as she stood up. “Alright, alright, we’re leaving. You’re not doing yourselves any favors, though. Flying craft crashing and being spotted after you guys show up digging around in military bases, a large robotic wreck northeast of Seahoof, two towns now armed to the teeth, squabbling, and paranoid of air attacks any day?” Extra slipped her quill behind her ear, starting to help pack up the camp. “Let’s just say, it’s not helping your image.”

The camp of news reporters was soon trotting away down the road, leaving Night Strike, Crash Dive, Aerith, and myself left standing next to the Valkyrie’s ditch. I turned to look at the bare spot of ground, a few tufts of grass beginning to crop up near the edges of the torn up earth. “Well, I guess that’s one problem. What the heck happened to the plane, though?” A small flash of a smile came upon Aerith's lips as her horn began to glow. In the dim light, the outline of the Valkyrie began to flicker into existence where it had always been, before fizzling away into nothingness again.

I gave sigh of relief, quite thankful that it hadn’t been stolen. Forgot she could do that. “That’s good to see, at least... Are you sure you can’t cast that spell on me next time we have to break in somewhere?” Aerith let out a small silent chuckle, and we turned to head back into the lighthouse. Scouring Charge stood at the doorway, rubbing his eyes and looking confused.

“Wha jus’ happened?” he asked, yawning. Crash Dive simply moved him away from the door, walking upstairs, Aerith following her. I stepped into the lower room as Night Strike gave a quick explanation to Scouring, who promptly nodded and headed back upstairs. I rolled over on my bed, Night Strike shutting the door behind her before she flopped down onto her own. I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, though Extra’s words were stuck in my head. I sighed to myself, adjusting my posture to be a bit more comfortable. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try and tell some more people about us… just, not via Extra’s news reports.

I twisted the handle of the small tank, it's engine beginning to rev and trundle along the ground as the others sat on the back. “Do you really think this is a good idea?” Crash Dive asked as we rolled up the hill to the mainland. I gave the ditch a wide berth, not entirely remembering where the Valkyrie was when it was visiblle and not wanting to crash into it by accident.

“No, but as much as I’d rather not admit it, Extra did have a point,” I said, turning and starting to head up towards Maple Creek. "If things start to get out of control, we’re probably pretty high on the list for who to blame.” I reached down and rubbed my hind leg a little, the bullet hole now just a slightly reddened patch. Ooh, it felt good to not have to wear those bandages anymore. Night Strike gave an unsure ‘eh’. I shrugged. “Well, it still wouldn’t hurt to dispel any suspicions we can.”

I drove alongside the river flowing from Maple Creek, searching for a shallow place to cross. “You aren’t really planning on giving Extra an interview though, are you? She’ll just make things worse! She’ll probably say we were the ones who launched those Harrier things, or something!” I revved the engine, forcing the small tank forward and into the flowing water, Night Strike having to catch herself. Scouring Charge grabbed onto the sides of the trailer to steady himself as the water pushed at us. The engine whined, but we made it across with little trouble. Probably good we unloaded the bombs back in the Lighthouse earlier...

“Oh, no, no, c'mon Night Strike, that’d be horribly stupid!” Night Strike raised an eyebrow. “The KAOS guy keeps begging us for an interview on his show, but it's not exactly groveling. He’s probably at least a little less desperate than Extra... not to mention the radio show will reach a lot more ponies than Extra’s newsletter.” The edge of town began to appear over the horizon, a few ponies tending to the farms and wooded areas on the outskirts already. “And Ripple did say he’d give us a ride on Trout whenever we’d like.”

I turned to drive around the edge of town, pulling up to the docks where Trout was bobbing in the river. The engine died down as we all hopped out of the tank and trailer, myself looking down at my hoof - well, mud on a former bullet wound, that's one of the weirder things I've felt in my lifetime. Night Strike knocked gently on the small shack where Ripple’s touring office was, glancing towards myself as I caught up. There was a small scuffle before the door creaked open, revealing the aging stallion. “Ah, ahoy, what can I do fer you guys today?” He asked, smiling.

“We were wondering if you’re still offering that trip on Trout.” Ripple smiled and nodded, stepping back to let us into the office. He opened the drawer of his desk, pulling out a large map along with a compass and a small pencil. I looked around the office, noticing it was slightly cleaner than the last time we’d been in.

“Oh, aye, absolutely, I’ve been dying to have another reason to take her out again.” Ripple laughed. He slipped a captain’s hat off of a coat rack, stashing the compass and pencil in it before placing it on his head, holding the rolled up map under one leg. We trotted back out to the boat, Ripple reaching over to pull the small boarding plank out from between the dock and Trout. He paused upon seeing Aerith’s magical aura surround the mini tank and its trailer, beginning to slowly lift it into the air. “Er… you planning on bringing that, too?”

Aerith nodded, and Ripple looked back up to the boat, bighting at his lip for a moment. “Alright, but keep it to the center as best as you can, and don’t congregate around it. Don’t want to end up running into the ground.” He hopped over the side and onto the deck, myself following as Night Strike helped to guide the tank into place before fluttering down onto the boat. Trout rocked in the water as the small tank was placed near the rear of the main area. Scouring Charge pulled the boarding plank back across after climbing on deck.

I followed Ripple to the back of the boat as Crash Dive leaned onto the railing, looking forward into town. Ripple turned his head, yelling over to Scouring Charge. “Aye, could you untie us from the dock?” Scouring nodded and his horn lit up as the ropes secured to the dock undid themselves. Ripple stepped up to a large winch, a thick, heavy chain dangling from it to the water. Anchor, right? “Mind helping me out?” I nodded and we both took a side of the crank, which squeaked as it turned, the chains rattling as a large anchor was slowly drawn up out of the river below.

Ripple rushed up to the bridge, taking a hold of the wheel and spinning it as the boat began to drift downstream away from the shore. “Casting off!” He cried before taking hold of a lever and pushing it forward, cranking a small valve at the same time. I could hear the engine below us sputter before roaring to life, the boat’s progress downstream slowing before it began to chug forward, heading up the river. Ripple relaxed for a moment, unfurling the map laid out on the table of dials and lights in front of him. “Now, anywhere in particular you guys wanted to go? The waterfall past the lake is a pretty sight, and we could always try fishing in some of the calmer spots, if I didn’t forget to toss my poles back below deck last time.” He called down to us from a window.

“Think you could take us out to the Island Radio KAOS is on?” I called back up to him. Night Strike leaned against the side of the boat as well, looking down at the water flowing past us as Scouring Charge watched Maple Creek slowly fall away as we headed upriver. “And shouldn’t we be going the other way for that?” Ripple shook his head.

“Nah, the river gets too shallow downstream. We’ll have to go up to take a deeper one down to the coast. It shouldn’t take more than a couple hours, though.” I nodded and Ripple slid his head back through the window, taking a hold of the large wheel again. I walked up to the front of the boat, watching as the countryside slid past us. The sun shone down on us as we travelled along the river, the water flowing a little slower further up, allowing Trout to push ahead faster.

Night Strike idly swung her legs over the side of the boat, dropping off and spreading her wings. She flapped them, flying alongside Trout as Crash Dive watched her. Night Strike dipped and weaved, a look of relaxation crossing her face as she glided through the air. I scooted over to Crash Dive, noticing her head drooping a little. “You miss flying?” I asked, trying to comfort her. She stood silently before pulling the mask of her helmet off - not enough to be easily noticed, but just open enough to stop her voice from coming through the modulator.

“Yeah. It’s… hard. To put it lightly.” She muttered, her head still tilted down towards the water below. “The drill sergeant always had us up in the air by sunrise every morning. A lot of the other trainees didn’t like getting up so early, but… well, I suppose I didn’t like the lack of sleep either, but…” She paused, taking a deep breath, trying to keep her voice stable. “The cool air, the sun just coming up as we flew around the compound…” Her voice trailed off as she let her head fall onto the edge of the boat, one hoof coming up around over her head. She sniffled, my ears falling back as she began to sob. “Celestia, why? I… I just…” She tried to speak, but was soon crying, her tears falling down off her muzzle and into the river.

I lifted my hoof up, placing it around Crash Dive. She sniffed again, not moving as I gave her a soft squeeze. “I’m sorry.” I said softly. Crash Dive leaned into me a little, as Ripple spun the wheel and turned into a larger branch of the river heading back towards the coast. As the boat straightened out, she drew in a ragged breath before standing up straight and fixing her mask back on.

“Thanks, Static. I… thanks.” I gave her a small smile, both of us leaning back onto the front of the boat, watching for the cliffs of the coast to come into view in the distance.

“Alright, hold on!” Ripple called out. Trout banged against some large rocks in the river, Scouring Charge stumbling a little on the pitching deck. The cliffs towered above us as Ripple attempted to keep a hold of the wheel. The normally calm river had turned into a short series of rapids as we’d approached the coastline, several chunks of the cliffs having fallen down into the water below.

I grabbed onto the mini tank as the boat tilted again to keep myself from falling over. “I thought you said this way was the safer route!” I shouted back up to Ripple. Trout hit another rock, this time a little harder, and I was knocked onto my side, Aerith flapping her wings to stay above the deck. Jeez, this thing is going to sink before we even make it into open water! I grabbed onto the small tank for balance as I pulled myself back onto my hooves, Ripple managing to maneuver around some more rocks. The river began to slow, opening up into the ocean as Ripple steered us away from the rapids and out into the open waters.

He trotted down from the bridge, Trout slowly heading along the coast, Crash’s lighthouse standing tall in the distance. “Aye, sorry about that, I suppose my map’s a bit outdated. Hopefully somepony at KAOS knows a safer way back.” I looked up at the lighthouse as we passed by it, trying to see if Extra had come back for another try for an interview. Nothing appeared to be moving in the area, though, save for a large mutated scorpion flailing its pincers around up by the minefield - we really need to lay down more of those things before we get some kind of infestation.

As we rounded the peninsula Crash Dive’s lighthouse sat on, the large island Radio KAOS was stationed on came into view. Several large buildings and some trees dotted the island mainly, though the true marvel was the enormous battleship docked on the island. It's deck was littered with large turreted guns, making Trout and the guns we'd put on her look like toys in comparison. As we drew closer, the large form of the ship dwarfed Trout, but also allowed us to see just how empty it was - nothing seemed to be moving aboard the deck. Ripple stepped back up to the controls, slowly turning Trout in towards the harbor. A pony waved to us from the pier, Ripple slowing the boat down before docking us. Night Strike and myself both tossed a few ropes overboard, the pony on the dock quickly going to work securing us in.

The pony that had waved greeted us as we lowered the ladder and began to climb off of the boat. “Hey, White Noise of Radio KAOS at your service!” He said cheerfully. “We don’t get many visitors here. You here for a tour of the ship, the island, or to stop by to see the studio?” Ripple remained on the boat, climbing back down into the lower deck to retrieve some fishing gear.

“Uh, can we get a tour of the studio?” I asked, Night Strike passing along a look of slight disappointment. I rolled my eyes - Oh, hush, we can look at all the fancy guns after we get the interview. White Noise nodded and began to lead us down the pier, Ripple sitting atop the mini tank and casting out into the sea. We all trotted over towards the imposing battleship, White Noise trotting up some stairs leading to a plank connected to the lower deck. Night Strike giggled excitedly as we followed, her eyes darting about between the large gun turrets.

“Uh, ok, studio is…” White Noise paused, his hoof drifting between three hallways. “This way.” He said, heading down it towards another set of stairs. “Sorry, I’ve only been here a few days, I’m still memorizing the lay-out.” We began to climb a long set of steep stairs, looping back and forth and back and forth. Night Strike began to pant a little as we climbed, trotted down another corridor, climbed a few more steps, doubled back, and found another set of stairs to climb. To my relief, we were soon climbing up into a cramped room, a small sign next to the door revealing we were now in the communications tower. A large red light beside the door was slowly flashing, the words ‘on air’ glowing on a terminal below it. White Noise peeked in through the door, scratching at his mane. “It says we’re on but, I don’t think the DJ’s talking right now. He’s usually pretty open to visitors.” He slowly opened the door and stepped through.

We all piled into the room lined with large windows revealing the ship below us. A stallion was laying back on his chair in front of a repurposed array, several lights cracked and damaged, several sliders installed on the face of the desk. Music played softly in the background, a mic hanging beside the snoozing pony. White Noise coughed awkwardly, the stallion opening one eye blearily. It looked over to White Noise before shifting to the rest of us, only for him to pause, his eyes shooting open as he stared at us. He glanced back to White Noise. “Mmmnhuh? What th- ow...” He stuttered before sitting up, banging his head on the mic above him. He rubbed his head, still looking dumbfounded.

“The Vanhoover Five, Mr DJ.” I said, sticking out a hoof and attempting to look professional. “We heard you wanted an interview.”

Splashdown

"A-ahm... gee, I, eheh, u-um- shit." The stallion sitting behind the sound board fumbled with the microphone for a moment, looking over the readouts and dials and glancing over at a holotape deck beside a rack of records. Looking back to us, he let off a sigh, rubbing at his eyes. "S-sorry, tend to let the equipment just handle the broadcast for a while when it gets late. Name's Jim, heh, nice to finally meet the critically-acclaimed Vanhoover Five in the flesh." We all stepped inside the small studio, White Noise shuffling his way out past Aerith, the DJ shuffling his chair back for us to fit. He scratched at his head, pushing the microphone aside. "Huh... Yanno, I think I need more space than I thought I did. Ahm, you wouldn't object to only two or three at a time, would you?"

"I think we can do that. Only four of us actually, um, speak, anyways." Letting off a weak chuckle, I rubbed at the back of my head, the DJ thinking for a moment before a look of realization came over his face, himself answering with a nod. He flicked a few settings on the console in front of him, looking over one of the screens for a second before turning back to us.

"Alright, we'll be going live in about two minutes, who's on first?" Looking between us all, myself and Static glanced at each other first, the door already opening up and Aerith stepping back out into the hallway. Crash Dive and Scouring both watched her before glancing back at us, following the Alicorn's lead out from the studio, Static giving a shrug as Jim watched their exit. "Well, okay then. Uh, got a couple chairs over there you can pull up, just, um... ah, try to not make a lotta noise." Giving him a small nod, I turned about and followed static over to the row of office chairs, the song fading out and the DJ's voice coming in.

"Good afternoon North Vanhoover, you're listening to Radio KAOS and it's a wonderful day out there today. Our latest news story comes from this very island this old warship is moored at, just today a fishing trawler showed up out of Maple Creek with some rather well-known characters aboard it. Can't wait to see what it looks like moored behind this huge old thing, heh. Anyways, due to some spacing limitations I'll only be able to have two or three of them inside here at a time, but I'm sure the rest don't mind watching from outside. I've a pretty good hunch a lot of you fine people out there already know who these ponies are, but for the sake of those who don't, why don't you two introduce yourselves for us?"

Jim wore a soft smile on his muzzle as he moved the microphone's boom over in front of us both, myself adjusting my wings in the chair as Static cleared his throat. "A-ahm, ah, hi Vanhoover, I'm Static Charge, I drive a half-track with a big grenade machine gun on it's back."

"And I'm Night Strike, I'm the one who handles that big grenade machine gun, eheh. We're two of the Vanhoover Five, and, ah, we're here because..." I trailed off for a short moment, Static tugging at the zipper of his jacket for a little bit before it made a faint zipping sound. "B-because we're here to reply to that live interview you asked for! Eheh, right."

"Heh, well, I'm glad that you could make it. You five have been doing a lot for this little patch of Equestria since you showed up, I think I can safely speak for everypony around when I say you're probably the best thing that's happened for us since the Lightbringer came up a decade ago. So, tell us, why'd you decide to go and start helping out the people around here? I mean, isn't every day that a group of ponies come along like yourselves."

"A-ahm, well, you see, our pla- uh, our vehicle kind of broke down a week or two ago, while we were coming through, and, um, we were trying to... get it fixed! Um, yeah..." Static let out a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of his head. "Crash Dive's letting us stay at her place for the time being, and Aerith and Scouring Charge we kind of just bumped into on the way while we were going around. It's been a hell of an adventure so far, let me tell ya..."

Jim gave a few soft nods, moving the mic to a more comfortable position for all of us. "Ah, out of towners. Heh, well, between arming Hopeville and Maple Creek, and blowing up that slaver camp, I'd certainly agree with you on that sentiment. Want to ask though, this vehicle you showed up in, can't be that little half-track thing. What is it, some kind of skywagon, or something?" Myself and Static gave a quick glance between each other - oh boy, he had to ask about this, didn't he? "And, heh, just want to know, how out of town are we talking about? Might be nice to see if the folks back home know what you've been doing for us here."

"A-ahm, heh, I kinda doubt Radio KAOS reaches out to where we live... pretty much a certainty it doesn't." The DJ leaned forwards, eyebrows lifting in curiosity as Static gnawed at his lip. Oh, this is a hell of a minefield to have to navigate... "And, um, yeah, it's... sort of a skywagon. A real big, real fast... heavily armed..." I let myself trail off, Static's expression only getting more worried. Jim glanced at the console, myself letting off a sigh - gonna have to spill the beans at some point, might as well be now. "Yes, we're from out of town. I'm from a little town to the far north known as Turnpike, and Static's from a city known as Mooscow. They're well past the extent of the Crystal Empire, talking thousands of miles to the north."

The DJ of Radio KAOS stammered, looking at myself in surprise, swallowing for a moment before clearing his throat. "Heh, that must have been one hell of a long flight. Admittedly I'm surprised you still have your wings if you were the one hauling your skywagon for that kind of distance, that must be some sort of new world record. How long did it take you to get here from so far to the north like that?"

"Ahm... only a few hours, we think. Our skywagon... isn't really a skywagon." Static gave a look over towards myself, Jim turning to look towards my earth pony friend. Well, at least we're being honest. "It's, um... it's an experimental military air craft, called the Valkyrie. That, um, that Empty Quiver alert you picked up a few weeks ago... yeah, that was us, landing here. Or, more specifically crashing here." The DJ was slumped over in his chair, forelegs gone limp and a dumbfounded expression on his face. You're the one who wanted the interview, buddy... "W-we've got it all under control now, though! There's no chance of any of them going off accidentally... probably... we, um, we've been trying to get it fixed and back into flying shape. Like you mentioned when we first came down, we, ahm, we did land in a minefield though, so... yeah."

The studio was silent for a long moment, Jim staring at us both and Static giving a short uneasy glance towards myself. The DJ cleared his throat, taking the microphone back. "A-ahm, well, you've heard it here first, folks, at least two of the Vanhoover Five are ponies quite far away from home. Least we know they're also the ones that have the whole empty quiver thing in check, and Static is right in bringing that little minefield fact up. Unless you don't like your legs being connected to your body all that much, best if everypony just keeps away from where they're touched down. You need to contact them, just send a call in to me, and I'll relay the message fast as they can pick it up. Anyways, I think we've been talking for long enough, how about I get some music going again? You're listening to Radio KAOS, and let's Get Back to Radio."

The DJ flipped a switch on the console, the holotape deck making a small whirring sound as the new album faded in with, strangely enough, the Radio KAOS jingle. He spun about in his chair, letting off a long sigh and rubbing at his head. "Gee... I'm gonna tell you, when I asked for an interview, I was -not- expecting a story like that. I don't know what it's like where you're from, but for two fish way out of water you're sure seeing to this place getting a whole lot nicer since you've been down here."

"Least we can do, honestly. I mean, hey, if there's something that needs to be blown into orbit, can count on us to get it done." Letting off a chuckle, I slid myself out of the chair as Static gave a roll of his eyes, doing the same. Pausing for a moment, I turned back about towards Jim, a small grin on my face. "Speaking of stuff blowing up, didn't you say something about having some anti-aircraft guns here for us?"

The DJ of Radio KAOS slumped in his chair slightly, looking up at the ceiling and seeming to be lost in thought. "Did I?... Hm... oh! Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember now. Of course, if you can carry them you can take as many as you want, I ain't using them. Ahm, White Noise can show you to it, might bump into that other guy who lives here too. Hope you like history lessons if you do." He let off a short chuckle, wheeling his chair over to another console and pressing the button on a smaller microphone. "White Noise, could you come to the studio and show our guests to those smaller guns we've got onboard? The, um, the ones with the sort of cones at the end, the Pom-Poms, yanno."

A short while later, the stallion returned to us, and we were back to weaving our way through the innards of the ship. Good thing we have a guide, at least - these things were not built to make getting around them by civilians easy, were they? Guh, come on pre-war ship designers, why couldn't you have made these things like tanks instead? After winding through the main tower we eventually appeared out on one of the decks, Static taking a small peek over the side before quickly moving himself to the far side of the walkway, his coat matching his hair. Oh, come on, it's only a couple hundred foot drop! Guh, earth ponies...

"Alright, here's one of the turrets. Twin-mount MWT Bofors forty mil guns, ahm, ammo's in the boxes around it. If you need me, there's probably a intercom station somewhere nearby, I think... ah, just head to the bridge and tap on the glass, I'll find you." Giving us a small smile, the stallion turned himself about and went back towards the main tower of the ship, Aerith and Scouring stepping forwards. The Steel Ranger looked over the base of the turret as Aerith checked over the guns themselves, myself hovering to the other side as Static stuck to the wall near Crash Dive.

Small squeaks filled the air as Scouring's magic encompassed large bolt heads, starting to slowly twist the rusted things out of the deck of the ship, myself looking over the boxes of ammunition with Aerith. Cracking one open, the tarnished brass casing of a beautiful 40mm APHE shell met my view, myself pulling it out and tossing it in my hooves. Hm, very nice, no damage on the primer, powder... cordite load seems like it's still in good condition, shell's not in bad shape either. We do need some to replace the ones Static shot off in the Valkyrie... hope it's a general shell type. Setting the long bullet back into the box, Aerith's black screen came into view, along with a worried look on her face.

'Might have a small problem. This plaque says the whole turret weighs at least three tons.' I blunk a few times, pausing and trotting over to her, her screen following with me. She followed me with her worried expression, pointing a hoof towards the small engraved metal on the side of the turret. 'The mini-tank weighs just about the same with the trailer, we won't be able to take it back with us if we bring this along.'

"Well... shit." Scratching at the back of my head, another long bolt clattered against the deck as Scouring undid it, poking his head back up with a small smile. It faded as he caught mine and Aerith's faces, Static picking himself up and joining in. I let out a small huff, looking up at the massive warship. "Kay guys, got a slight problem. This AA turret weighs three tons, and the mini-tank weighs three tons, and Trout has enough trouble carrying the mini-tank. And it's getting late. What're we gonna do?"

There was a short pause as we all looked between each other, the silence broken as Crash Dive cleared her throat. "Let's get the gun on Trout and back to the mainland, we can stay the night and give the DJ those interviews. If the ponies who have the other Harriers are who I think they are, the towns like Hopeville and Maple Creek are going to need all the help they can get." She trotted herself over to the turret, getting up close to it and giving it a look-over. "This thing is as good as they'll get, auto-ranging gunsights and motorized traverse. Getting it to them and put in use against the Harriers should be our top priority."

"A-and getting paid for it, right?" Static chimed in, the power armored pegasus - and myself - shooting him a small glare. Always thinking about bottlecaps in some part of your brain, aren't you? He coughed, letting out a weak chuckle and giving a shrug. "What? We'll have to pay Ripple for the transport fees somehow, and it's a hell of a lot better than the other guns, isn't it? 500k easily, at least 450 thousand caps for it." I let out a sigh, giving my head a shake - you really want to bankrupt these towns, don't you, Sparky?

"We'll handle that later. For now, let's just get this thing off in one piece." Scouring and Aerith both gave a small nod, their horns alighting and magic wrapping around the gun turret, it letting off a fair few creaks as they started to lift it from it's place. With a loud creak, the rusty base lifted from the deck and up a few inches, Aerith letting out a quiet sigh and spreading her wings, trotting over to the deck railing. As they were carefully moving it over the side of the ship, a door swung open with a clatter further down, us all looking over at a ghoul adorned in an old sailor uniform, who was returning our stare with much less confusion and much more anger.

"The right hell are you doing to my ship!? Have you no shame?!" The ghoul earth pony brought himself to a stop behind Scouring, starting to reach up and try to grab at his horn... I think. What he did manage to accomplish is nearly cause Aerith to drop the AA gun we'd just taken off onto the lower deck. "Get that bloody Bofors mount right back where it was this instant! I won't have ye stealing museum property!"

"Fockin' hell, git yerself off'a me!" Scouring's horn lit up again, the sailor stallion that was climbing over him getting dragged off a moment later, thrashing about for a short while before letting off a huff in defeat. Aerith looked back to us, Crash Dive waving a hoof to her to get her going back to Trout and Ripple, the alicorn giving a nod and throwing up that invisible-thing again. Yeah, that was still pretty cool. "We 're told we could take these things, put 'em to use where they're needed. Aren't protecting shit sitting on this thing, are they?"

"Oh-ho, so jus' because some zebras 'r' gryphons got their filthy hooves on those fancy Harriers and are raising hell on the mainland means ye can just waltz on here and take Cadence's guns? You're all more fucked in the head than I am if ye think that's how it is!" The sailor stallion looked madly around the air aside the ship, Aerith long gone with the twin mount already. Wait a second... he knows what the Harriers are? He let out a low growl as he shot a glare back at us, turning himself around and starting to trot back along the deck. "No respect fer anyone anymore, I fought so you're not speakin' zebra or serving gryphons right now, yanno! But what do I get in return for my service? Ponies who can't even show some bloody respect to war heroes..."

"Ahm, sorry, what was that about the Harriers?" He stopped in his tracks as I trotted forth towards him, glancing towards Crash Dive as I approached the ghoul. Okay, he might be a few bits short of a loony, but if he knows what those things are capable of... "We found where they were in storage, in Seahoof. The way the file about them was worded, it sounded more like they stayed as experimental, never saw combat... did they?" The old sailor balked at the question, his eyes glancing between us all for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. A firm look came on his face as he cleared his throat, shutting the door he'd come out of and turning back to face us.

"Aye, they did. Same time I did, aboard this very ship, down in the Foalland Islands. Not surprised if you've never heard of that scuffle before. C'mon." The sailor waved a hoof over his shoulder, turning about and trotting down along the deck once more. Glancing back at the rest of the group, I gave them a small shrug and started following after him, the sound of three more sets of hooves following behind me soon after. Hey, if he says this is a museum, and he fought on it might as well have him show us around. His old eyes met mine for a moment as we started moving past another twin forty-mil mount, giving a small nod. "Petty Officer Fowler, Flight Coordinator for the Heavy Cruiser HMS Cadence. Call her a Destroyer and I'll throw ye overboard. Call her a Battleship, you're not exactly wrong, but you're not right either."

Static bit at his lip as he caught up with myself, still sticking to the inner side of the walkway as we continued forth past the end of the upper part of the ship, a massive smokestack casting a long shadow overhead and lights strung along a wire hung from it. Huh, didn't really think pegasi would've been ones for staying aboard warships, with all the water getting everywhere... "So when you say Flight Coordinator, you mean your job was to tell pegasi what was going on, or something?" Fowler let out a dry chuckle after a short moment, shaking his head, the shape of a long rail sticking off the side of the deck above us catching my attention.

"Not quite. That rail we're just walkin' under, that was used fer launching one of Cadence's four scout fighters, another metal bird that saw action down in the Foallands. Hawker Aero F/A-2 'Changeling', boat jet aircraft. I oversaw those things getting sent out against the Gryphons, communicated with the pilots while they picked up info." F/A-2? Huh... Hawker... same pre-war company that made the Harriers, how about that. Pausing for a moment, I spread my wings wide and gave them a flap, curiosity getting the better of me as my eyes were drawn to that launch rail. Just a quick flight up to see this thing... "That one, number 3, was lost to cannon fire. Damn near took the pilot's life when the shells came in... wound up lucky, just lost his legs."

Hovering in place for a moment, I quietly set myself back down upon the deck, curiosity at least subdued for the moment. That's right Strikey, this is a warship, and it probably did fight in a war, and likely saw several of its crew die onboard it so there might be lots of ghosts and other stuff aboard... I hope there's some kind of bunkhouse or something on the island. Nothing personal, I just don't particularly like sleeping in places where I could get posessed or something... it could happen, there's freakier stuff in the wasteland! Fowler let off a small grunt, giving a small nod and trotting on.

Continuing further along the ship, we soon reached one of the large turrets, and with it the end of the upper deck. The ghoulified sailor let off a small nod towards the large guns, turning about and stopping us just before the railing, netting us a great view of the huge thing, as well as the width of the ship itself. "This is one of Cadence's main batteries, and aside from her collection of anti-air guns what makes her a Heavy Cruiser rather'n a Battleship. Twin 203 millimeter guns, can lob a shell up to 35 kilometers away and maintain a barrage of six rounds per minute per gun with a full crew. Stagger-fire a broadside, that's 48 8-inch 'fuck you's landing right on the target's face every minute. Scouts'd say they could see the gryphons running for their lives when the first shells came in, heh."

"Ahm, sorry, just a little confused here, wasn't the great war against the Zebras? Why do you keep saying gryphons instead?" Static scratched at his head as Fowler started to move towards the stairway to the lower deck, the sailor letting out a small huff and resting a hoof on the railing. Leaning back, the ghoul rubbed at his forehead for a moment, muttering to himself, before addressing us again.

"If you'd clean the gun cotton outta your ears, you'd have heard me say that Cadence and myself both saw action in the Foallands War, not the bloody Great War. My understanding the powers that be were worried that it'd kick off the latter, but thankfully the stripes didn't support the gryphons." The ghoul moved back to the stairway, glancing back at us and giving a nod to follow, turning around and climbing to the lower deck. We all followed after, myself hovering and landing down beside the sailor, a small huff escaping him. "Foallands War was over the Foalland Islands in the south, a bunch of cold rocks that had a few ponies living on it. Problem is, the islands butted right up by Gryphon lands, and when the ponies livin' there found those black dusty rocks were great for burnin', well..." The old sailor let off a dry chuckle, shaking his head. "Headlines said the Princess started it to protect those ponies livin' there, but I've a pretty good hunch she just didn't want to have to pay more fer coal."

Returning him a silent nod, Static seemed to be thinking about... something, us all continuing on towards the other end of the ship. Passing by the muzzles of the lower deck turret, the sound of four hooves landing against the deck caught my attention, glancing back in time to see Aerith reappearing behind us. She wore a somewhat exhausted expression, trotting forth to keep with us, letting out a silent sigh. Well, it is getting late... "Say, um, Fowler, is there any place we could all sleep for tonight? We're, uh, kinda stuck here until tomorrow."

The old ghoul gave a firm glare back at myself, letting out a small huff as a cool breeze blew along the ship. "That's Petty Officer Fowler, ma'am. There's a small museum town onshore, you might all be able to sleep in a lobby or something. No power armor below decks, you'd scratch the paint or get stuck in the bulkheads." Well, friendly, but I guess he must have some reasoning behind it. Besides, probably are some goodies in the museums nobody'd care about, anyways...

"Understood, thanks." Giving him a small nod, he returned it, starting to walk back towards the rear of the gun turret, myself turning about to look at the rest of the group. Aerith was holding herself up against the ship's railing, a long yawn escaping her as she slumped forwards, seeming like she was ready to pass out on the spot. Okay, yeah, been a long day, let's get onshore and go to bed. Spreading my wings wide, I took to hovering, looking inland for a moment before catching the stares from the rest - oh, right, only me and Aerith can really fly. "U-um, Fow- Petty Officer? Eheh, um... how do we get off the ship?"

"Welcome back, you're tuned into Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover, and tonight I'm pleased to say that a few ponies we all know and love decided to drop by my island to take me up on that offer for an interview earlier today. Due to a, um, small technical oversight, we could only fit two ponies in the studio at a time, but so far the interviews have been quite surprising, to say the least. Kind of wish I wasn't asleep when they arrived, could've gotten some recording system set up here, heh...

"Anyways, about the first two of the Vanhoover Five, Night Strike and Static Charge, these two are a lovely young couple who're here on an unwanted extended vacation from a frozen-solid icebox up way to the north, well past the Crystal Empire and I think bordering what's left of Yakyakistan to the south. All I have to say about it, I kinda want to know how in the hell they manage to live up there, considering all they were wearing when they popped in were some jackets and nothing more, heh. I guess ponies living where they do just have antifreeze for blood.

"How they got here, well... everyone remembers that Empty Quiver warning, yeah? The whole thing about a theft of megaspells, and that black air craft that crashed here a few weeks ago? Well, as it turns out, that was them making their entrance. As I said when I first learned what the warning was, though, these are megaspells we are dealing with, and Static did make it clear to us that on top of that they crashed their plane the Valkyrie down in the middle of a minefield, it wouldn't be a smart idea to go looking for it if you care about your well-being. They might have crashed it, but since they're the ones that came here in it, it's best to just leave handling the things to them - I'm sure they know what they're doing. Hey, these are the same ones that blew up a slaver camp, best if we trust they know what they're doing when it comes to handling explosives, yeah?

"Anyhow, here's a big thank you to the Vanhoover Five for coming to my little island to give those live interviews, I'm looking forwards to getting the rest of your stories tomorrow. This is Radio KAOS signing off for the night, and letting the soothing melodies of the wasteland's sweetheart lull you all to sleep. Goodnight, and sweet dreams, Vanhoover."

After a short while of wandering back about the innards of the ship, we all finally managed to get back to the outside, a gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean as we made our way across the long walkway down onto the dock. Ripple was still sitting at the edge of his boat with his line cast out into the water, a few small fish flopping about on the deck beside him. As we approached, Ripple let off a small grunt from aboard Trout, giving a small glance back to us, seting his pole in a holder and trotting to meet us near the large old gun turret. “I know what ye want to do, and my answer's no. You put that thing on here now and Trout’s not going to need an anchor anymore." His gaze moved from the group and narrowed upon both Night Strike and myself. "Please tell me you two aren’t being serious with this.”

Night Strike gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, uh, yeah, actually.” The pegasus rubbed at the back of her head while Ripplelet his jaw slacken, letting out a small huff. “W-we know it's too heavy, have it figured out already. We'll take the mini-tank off and spend the night while you bring this back to Maple Creek, the DJ wants us to stick around anyway since he couldn’t fit us all in at once for an interview.” The sailor pony looked between the gun turret and the mini tank a few times before giving an unsure sigh, pulling in his reel and scooping up the fish from the deck.

“Alright, I’ll be back sometime tomorrow around noon, then. One of the ponies here that runs their own fishing boat up from Vanhoover showed me a smoother way back.” He tossed his fishing gear below the deck and dropped the fish into a small covered cage beside the steps to the controls. “Now, make sure you take that mini-tank off first, don’t want to have to bail Trout out from the bottom of the ocean just a few days after getting her working again.”

The alicorn gave a weak nod, supporting herself on the turret and turning attention to the ship. Both Aerith and Scouring’s horns began to glow as they lifted the small half-track and wagon off of Trout, the small boat bobbing up slightly in the water as the weight was removed. They gingerly levitated the tank over and set it gently on the hard shore, Aerith looking especially weakened by the effort. The mix of their auras dissipated from the tank and moved over to the large turret, slowly lifting it back up onto Trout. The boat sank back down into the water slightly as the gun was lowered onto it, almost matching where it was resting when the half-track was aboard it instead. Ripple leaned over the side of the boat to look down at us, pushing aside one of the mounted steampipe guns. “Aye, you sure you’re fine staying here? Do you even have somewhere to sleep?”

“Don’t worry, somepony up on the ship said the museum probably has some place to sleep. Something about not wanting power armor below decks.” Night Strike chimed in, giving a glance over to Aerith and going to rummaging around in her duffel bag. Ripple nodded and walked into the main cabin, myself and Crash Dive untying Trout from the dock. Her engine chuffed up to life, pulling her backwards out of the harbor and turning her about, the small ship starting to head back towards the mainland. Heading back to the shore, I hopped into the driver's seat, the others climbing on behind. “Ahm... I think I see the museum back that way.” Night Strike pointed off in the distance, a road leading up into the small hills of the island, with what looked like a clock tower poking out between them.

I revved the engine and began to follow the road up, the treads kicking up a few pebbles as I rolled onto the cracked road. The path turned back and forth as we travelled up through the hills of the island, the clock tower slowly coming into better view. As we turned one corner, we arrived at a small square, a large wooden building standing at the opposite end. The clock on the tower was stuck at 7:43, grass and bushes growing through and around the cracked pavement. I pulled up in front of the building, a rusted sign hanging on the side reading ‘Bull Isle Museum’. “Bugger me... think anypony still lives here?” Scouring asked.

“It was only Jim, White Noise and Fowler aboard the HMS Cadence, I think it's safe to say this place is pretty well abandoned.” Night Strike slid herself off from the back, looking about. I climbed out of the tank myself, glancing around the small square worryingly. It better be abandoned, I really don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night by ghouls tearing my flesh off. Night Strike pushed open the double doors of the museum, stepping into the dimly lit lobby as we all followed suit. The lobby had a few dirty chintz benches set up along the sides, a round desk situated in the middle with a sign hanging above it, listing off admission prices.

I flopped down onto one of the benches after laying down my umbrella close by, Crash Dive removing her helmet and lying down on another one. I closed my eyes, listening as the rest found their own beds, trying to ignore the heat of the room wafting in from outside. Ugh, this might not be a good night...

I awoke to the sound of some soft chittering, opening my eyes to see some mouthparts, a large radroach sitting on me. “Nyaaaaah, getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!!” I screamed, whimpering and yelling as I stood up sharply, shoving the bug off of me. It landed on its back, legs twitching uselessly in the air before I picked up my umbrella and smashed it down into the creature, its legs curling up as it died. I panted, looking over to see Night Strike trotting back in from a side room.

“Nnnfh, well, good morning to you too, Sparky... Hey, I guess we just have to have you sleepy to kill stuff!” Night Strike let off a loud snicker, myself shooting her a glare and fiting my umbrella back onto my back. Looking about, it was the least bit surprising that it was just us here. Looking back to Night Strike, she gave her back a stretch, letting off a grunt and answering my confusion. “The rest are already heading off to their interview, probably won’t be back until a little before Ripple shows back up again. They, uh, they took the mini-tank too, so we’re kind of stuck at the museum.” I shuddered and stood up, still recovering from my wake up call, giving my head a shake. I really didn't need that... “Ooh, but look what I found! Guess what one of the exhibits is~” She trotted over and showed me a small faded pamphlet folded over to a simple guidemap, her hoof happily pointing to a dot with some crude representations of weapons around it. “Weapons of the Equestrian, Gryphon and Zebra Empires!” She said, giddily. “Maybe they’ve got a Balefire Egg Launcher there!”

Letting off a small sigh, I rolled my eyes in response, following her through the building. We walked up some old stone steps towards the back of the museum, passing by a life sized whale model, the cords that had been suspending it from the ceiling having snapped from age, and now lay in a tangled mess over it. Turning down another corridor, we stepped into a large room with several display cases and stands littering it, a few propaganda posters plastered on the wall.

Walking over to one of the small displays, inside it held a laser rifle stood on a small stand. Brushing off some dust from it, I read the plaque in front of it as Night Strike looked at a lever action rifle on the opposite side of the display. Hm... 'The AR-13 Magical Energy Rifle. This model tends to be used more for private purposes than front line combat due to its high visibility.' Not to mention anything better than some bits of leather can deflect it without so much as a burn mark, assuming dad’s not just defending his preference for plasma the way he does Sunrise Sarsaparilla.

Wandering over to another display, Night Strike did the same, ogling some faded pictures of ridiculously large battleship guns. Some sort of large rifle lay on the display, though it looked much more worn and damaged than the lever action rifle had been, and was sporting a scope. 'Standard Zebra Rifle. This weapon fires in three round bursts and is enchanted to ignite its targets. Despite being commonly used by Zebras, this specific gun was captured during the campaign to liberate the Foalland Islands from Gryphon forces.' I lifted up the rifle, only for the scope to fall off and shatter. Okay, so this thing is probably too broken to be worth anything now. I tossed it back onto the display as Night Strike spoke up. “Hey, come check this thing out!”

I turned to see her standing at a display where a long, slender sword stood on a stand, it's blade still shimmering a little in the light. I grinned as I walked up to it, looking it over and brushing a small caked layer of dust off of the glass. It's faded golden handle was wrapped in a scarlet piece of cloth, the hilt of the sword emblazoned with a large sapphire, silver metal stretching out from it around the hilt in a spider like fashion. “This sword was presented as part of a peace offering from Golden Quill, one of the Gryphon Empire's top military leaders, following their defeat in the Foallands conflict. The gem in the center generates a powerful electrical discharge when the blade makes contact with any conductive surface.” Night Strike read from the plaque, wearing a smile. Ohohoho, this thing is sounding better and better by the second!

After a moment of carefully removing a pane from the old glass case, and cringing as it shatered upon slipping to the floor, I lifted the sword off of the stand, turning it over in my hooves. I furrowed my brow, opening my mouth and tilting my head a little. “Ehm… Crap.” Tilting my head again, I bit down and gave the sword some test swings. I spit the sword out back onto the display, rubbing the back of my neck a little. “Well, this thing is clearly wasn’t made for ponies, the blade’s gotta be at least twice a heavy as the hilt.”

Night Strike picked it up in her hooves, feeling the weight of it and seeming to try and balance it a little. She spread her wings, flapping them and hovering in the air, looking down at the sword in quiet contemplation for a moment. She gripped the blade, swinging it in the air a few times, a grin spreading across her face. “Well, I might be able to use it.”

I snorted a little, my own mouth curling up into a slightly condescending smirk. “Oh, please, you’d be likely to end up chopping off your own legs with it. It’d be like if you told me to disarm a bomb.” Night Strike gently lowered herself back to the ground, giving a laugh and a look of disbelief. She trotted back around the side of the display, walking with the sword like a cane.

“Pfft, c'mon Sparky, it’s a sharp piece of metal with fancy detailing and a nice electric kick, how hard could it be to use?” I shook my head, the smirk on my face growing a little wider. We began to make our way back towards the lobby, Night Strike rolling her eyes again. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure learning how to swing a sword around is soooo hard.” We stepped down the stone staircase into the lobby, the sun shining in through the dusty skylights and illuminating the places where the dust was disturbed by our presence. I squinted my eyes a little, still wearing my smug smirk, glancing at the pegasus as she tried handling the blade again. I trotted over to my umbrella, flipping it up and grabbing it in my mouth.

“Alright then, let’s try it out, if you think it's so easy.” I said, around the metal handle. Night Strike raised her eyebrow, that short chortle from her proving she's clearly not taking me seriously. “Hey, you said it’s not hard, let’s see if you can actually back that claim up. Umbrella versus sword.” Night Strike’s face became a little smug. She braced herself, spreading her wings out. I bit down a little harder on the umbrella, the prongs on the end crackling slightly.

“Don’t be upset if I end up cutting off your ear, then.” Night Strike leapt up into the air, zipping around behind me. I stepped to the side to keep myself facing Night Strike. She dived down, pulling the sword up, about to swing it. I jumped to the side, ducking a little as the blade came down beside me. I twisted my head, deflecting the sword. Night Strike wavered, flapping her wings and spinning in the air to reorient herself.

She shook her head, shifting the sword in her hooves a little, loking at myself. She flew in for another dive, this time attempting to slice horizontally. I slipped down beneath her, flipping my umbrella upwards. Night Strike’s eyes widened, aware of what she’d done a second too late. I jabbed upwards, my umbrella connecting with one of her hind legs. Night Strike fell to the floor into a clump, the sword spinning away on the hardwood floor. She coughed, shakily getting back up onto her hooves. “Now, you sure you really want to try using that thing on somepony with a rifle?” I asked smugly, leaning on my umbrella a little.

“Nnfh, yeah, yeah, I get your point.” Night Strike coughed, smoothing out her frazzled mane. She trotted over to pick up the sword before turning back over to me. “I wasn’t trying that hard, though, I didn’t want to end up stabbing you. Gotta have somepony to keep me from blowing myself up, right?” I rolled my eyes again, trotting back over to her.

“Suuuure, and I’m planning on giving away all the caps we’ve made to charity so I can go and live alone in the mountains.” Night Strike stuck out her tongue at me playfully and I returned it. Letting off a small sigh, she sat down on one of the benches, leaning the sword beside herself. She looked down at her Pip-Buck, flipping over to the clock, a small chuff of air coming from her nose, unsure of what to do next. “We still got a lot of time, I take it?” Night Strike nodded, leaning back on the cushioned bench. I looked around the lobby, half wondering if there were something else in the museum worth checking out. As for the other half... “Well, I could always teach you some stuff.”

Night Strike shrugged, standing back up. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. So long as you promise to keep the quips to a minimum.” I grinned and trotted to the center of the room, Night Strike standing beside me. I stood up on my hind legs, holding my umbrella out. After a moment of thought, Night Strike did the same, using her wings to help stabilize herself. I fell back onto all fours, trotting around Night Strike as she help her pose.

“Don’t hold the sword out too flat, you’re using too much of your lower leg muscles, they’re not nearly as strong as your flanks.” I suggested, helping to correct her stance. “You want to use your gut to swing if you’re holding it in your hooves.” I tilted my head a little, grimacing slightly. “This would be a little easier if that sword wasn’t weighted the way it is. Damned pre-war Gryphons...” I muttered. Night Strike wobbled a bit, trying her best to keep her balance, myself thinking quietly for a moment. “Suppose we’ll just have to get you used to this first.” Night Strike looked a little flabbergasted as I walked back and sat down on a bench, her mouth making some noises in disbelief for a few moments before looking back at me.

“You’re not actually going to make me just stand here for an hour, are you?” I simply flicked the switch on my Pip-Buck, searching for KAOS. Night Strike grimaced and glared at me, shifting her legs as the weight of the sword was already putting strain on her. “You can be a real jerk, you know.”

I smirked in response, finding the station. “Good morning North Vanhoover, you're listening to Radio KAOS, and we've got quite a few guests here today for the program. In case you missed it yesterday, the Vanhoover Five happened to stop in to give us here those interviews I've asked for previously - glad to know they actually do listen to my station, heh. Due to… structural limitations, we could only get two of the five interviewed last night, but we’ve got the other three right here today. So, without further ado, how’re you folks doing today?”

“Aye, was there really no bigger place t' set up the studio'n this ship?” Scouring Charge grunted. The DJ gave a slightly embarrassed laugh, and the sound of scraping metal could be heard. There was a short pause, before he moved to ask for their names. “Ah, I’m Scourin' Charge, the other power armored mare 'ere is Crash Dive, an’ the one you can’t hear is Aerith.” The faint sound of magic flowing could be heard, Crash Dive giving a sigh through her speaker.

“Uh, thanks for the greeting, but unfortunately I don’t think our visitors are going to be able to read magic signs over the airwaves. Ahm, sorry.” Boy, this interview sure was off to a great start, wasn't it? “Ahm, anyways, where’re you from? How’d you end up joining up with those two from up north?” There was a silence before Scouring spoke up again.

“Well, I was just wandrin' 'round near Hopeville after I got separated from my Steel Ranger comp'ny. Just decided to tag along, really, didn't have much else doin' at the time. Aerith here, the one that can’t talk, as you know already she was one of the slaves from that camp in the old military bunkers on the coast, the one we saw to sending off with a bang, heh. Can't be sure who she was before the dipping, but she’s rather pleasant now. Will say it's a good thing she was one of the lucky ones not nearby when the Goddess was killed by th' Lightbringer. Can't say I know too much about Crash Dive 'ere, though. Isn’t much one for talking.”

Night Strike wobbled in place, shifting on her hooves and trying to keep the sword parallel with the floor. “Night Strike and Static crashed down near my house in their aircraft.” Crash Dive said over the air, flatly. “I'm not exactly a fan of all the attention it wound up drawing, to put it lightly. I’m helping them look for what they need to fix up the Valkyrie, anything else we’ve been doing has mostly been their ideas.”

“Ah, well, hopefully you’re able to find what you need soon, then.” Releasing a small chuckle, the DJ paused. “Actually, now I think of it, it probably wouldn’t hurt for you guys to try heading up north to Maple Station. There used to be some old coal mines up that way, maybe they’ve got some old generators left over from before the war. Other than that, there's always...” I glanced up from poking at the dead radscorpion to see Night Strike leaning on the sword, rubbing one of her legs. She looked over to see me, giving a nervous grin. I raised an eyebrow and she grumbled, lifting the sword back up again. I focused back on the broadcast. “…so any of you up at Maple Creek should keep an eye open for the Vanhoover Five, they might be stopping by in the near future! Oh, and don’t forget to visit the Stiff Drink while you’re up there, they’ve got some of the best entertainment outside of Vanhoover.”

I flicked the radio off, trotting over to Night Strike, seeing her face scrunched up slightly. “Alright, alright, you can stop.” She dropped the sword, letting it clatter to the ground as she flopped onto all four legs with a loud huff, her front ones shaking a little. “Jeez, don’t break it! We just got it, for Celestia's sake...” I lifted up the sword, inspecting the blade for any damages, thankfully finding none. Huh, really nice build quality on this thing. “You’re going to have to get used to this thing’s weight at some point, though. Otherwise you’ll end up getting exhausted mid battle.”

Night Strike took the sword and slung it over her back, giving her head a shake. “I think I’ll stick to Thumper for now, at least I just need to point that thing. No stupid flailing and hacking and whacking and crap. You sure you don’t want it?” I shook my head a little and began to walk towards the door that opened into the square.

“No, I’m going to break my neck if I try swinging that around for more than two minutes. Besides, I do still want to try and keep casualties to a minimum… even if that’s a little hard wandering around with you.” She smirked as we stepped outside, the sun high above us. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves overhead, the Island mostly silent otherwise. “Come on, I think they’ll be done with their interview soon, we can meet them partway down the road.” We began to walk down the broken stone towards the pier, the road twisting its way through the rocky hills of the island.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful Vanhoover day, and my little island has five rather well-known visitors on it, heh. Last three of the vanhoover Five just wrapped up their interviews, but don't worry if you missed it, because I remembered to have the recording equipment set up today. I'll be playing it again later tonight, and possibly seeing if I can't convince the first two to come back in so I can have some recorded material to play back for you. Don't want to have them retell their story entirely, but it's something you have to hear to believe.

"As Crash Dive again reiterated from last night, the first two's aircraft, the Valkyrie, crash-landed in a live minefield, and that they did find the remains of somepony who didn't know what to look for when going near it. Please, for the sake fo your lives, don't seek out information about the Valkyrie - if they want us to know, they'd tell us, and they've been pretty forthcoming so far.

"You're tuned into K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover, and I've got a lovely little selection of music for you all here today. Hopeville, Maple Creek, you're the ones with all the guns, let's hope you can tell an actual threat from Ninety Nine Red Balloons, heh. Enjoy."

The sun shone high above as we made way back towards the docks, the crisp breeze off of the ocean rustling the overgrown vegetation and carrying with it the salty smell. A smell which, thankfully, can't detract from the taste of Sparkle-Cola RAD. Adjusting myself a little, the awkward sword seemed to try to balance itself on my back, Static glancing at it every now and again as I took healthy gulps of the faintly glowing blue soda. "Mmh, you keep looking at it, are you sure you don't want it?"

"I'm sure. Like I said, it's not weighted for a pony, if I tried using it for too long I'd probably sprain my neck." He let out a small huff in contemplation, looking over the sword for a moment, then back to me. "I just don't know if you'd actually be able to use it effectively, either. I mean, it was made for gryphons, and making it pony-usable seems like it'd seriously lower the resale value of it." Giving the earth pony a quick glare, I let out a long sigh and gave my eyes a roll, shaking my head. You've got a price tag above everything, don't you? "What? If you won't wind up using it, it'd at least be worthwhile to sell it to someone who can!"

"I'll figure out some way to use it, have some faith in me, Sparky. I dunno... maybe I don't swing it, just have it in my mouth and fly at them with it, that could work, right?" Passing on a shrug and taking another gulp of soda, he seemed to start chuckling, before tapping a hoof against his chin. It's probably a sharp enough blade, and I weigh a good ten stone, I think, I get in a dive with it and bad guy number 553 doesn't have a head anymore! Could probably have Thumper out too, just to derp ponies in the face while I'm gaining altitude... Static let out a small huff, looking at the road ahead and listening to the breeze again.

"I guess. Kind of undermines the fact that it's a close-range melee weapon, though, and if you don't come at them fast enough you could get the blade lodged in something and probably sprain your neck that way." Okay, gotta have speed and a good grip, that I can do. Whole lot easier to comprehend than just standing on my hind legs with this thing stuck out in the air like some kind of modern art piece - why'd he have me do that anyways, to 'get used to the weight' or something? It's a sharp piece of metal, keep the thin end pointed at the target and bring it in fast, it's not exactly nuclear reactor surgery.

"Isn't this thing electrified, or something? If I get it lodged, it'll at least incapacitate the thing I got it lodged into. The kind of jolt your umbrella gives when it hits someone sure seems nasty enough to do the job, and that thing isn't designed to kill 'em." Okay, so it doesn't take away the fact that I'd have a sprained neck in that case, but it'd still work. Gulping down the last bit of soda that was in the bottle, I peered down into the empty glass container, a litle disheartened. Stupid small bottles, why didn't they make these things bigger? A loud growl erupted from somewhere as I tried to see if there was any sneaky soda trying to gimp me out of it's tantilizing irradiated taste, myself looking over to Static.

"Before you say anything, that was -not- my stomach... even though I am hungry." Letting out a sigh, I set down the bottle, both of us looking around and trying to suss out where the growl came from. Didn't sound like a hellhound, and I kinda doubt there'd just be one if it were a hellhound. And... oh, crap. I left Thumper on the half-track. This'll get interesting... the growl - kind of starting to sound more like a roar now - filled the air again, and I hurried myself over beside Static, reaching over my shoulder with my mouth and grabbing the red cloth of the handle. Oh, okay, do kinda see what he means about it being weighted funky. He blunk in surprise, looking at myself with the sword in my mouth. "What, don't you have Thumper with... o-ho-ho crap."

Proceeding down the road just a few more steps, a sudden rustling from the forest prompted us both to freeze, staring in the general direction it came from. This is General Night Strike to missile command, we're at threat level brown, ready the washing machines. After a few more moments of something thrashing in the forest, a big, fat, white-furred bear stumbled it's way out into the road ahead, both of us just staring at it. It sniffed at the air, looking around in what seemed like confusion for a moment, before catching us in it's big black eyes. All hands, all hands, code brown is in effect, code brown is in full effect!

It let out a long roar, Static slowly lifting a hoof and resting it against my shoulder, staring it down with me. "When I say, fly up and do that thing you said might work. Got it?" Answering him with a small, quick nod, the white bear kept its eyes on us, letting off another roar and takng a step in our direction. We're on full brown alert captain, DEFBROWN 1! The earth pony beside me adjusted himself slightly, turning his head back slowly to grab for his own umbrella, eyes still on the bear. "Now!"

With a quick smack on my shoulder, Static grabbed his umbrella and swung it out, popping it open to it's full size. The bear seemed to flinch as he did, myself already high airborne, trying to not slice my own left wing up on the fancy sword. Okay Strikey, just like you thought you could do it, let's see if it's plausible. Flipping myself around from my ascent, the white form of the bear was moving towards Static and gaining speed, the silver-maned earth pony starting to turn tail and run. Yeah, no pressure, just cut it anywhere and the electricity will do the rest. Snapping my wings to my sides, I darted down towards the bear, pulling myself up ever so slightly to keep on target with it's neck. Turning my head to the right to put the blade forward, I closed my eyes, the ground so much closer than I'd really like it to be right now. Oh, not the face.

There was a sudden jerk as I felt myself thrown to the side, the bear letting loose a sick gurgling noise as it's body spazzed about, claws involuntarily scraping at the cobblestone road with the gold handle of the sword sticking out of it's neck like some weird piercing. Its head half-flopped forwards, a spray of blood spurting from the neck and staining it's white fur, myself pushing backwards away from the electrified carcass. After a few moments of watching it jerk around like an overdosed raider, it finally decided to fall limp, myself breathing heavily and laying on the road. Okay... effective, to say the least.

Picking myself up to my hooves, Static trotted up beside me, looking over the bear carcass. Oh, gotta hate that post-adrenaline exhaustion... and pain reception. Goddess-damnit, that's the same shoulder I shoved Crash Dive with. The earth pony looked over the neat cut, letting off a sigh inbetween gasps for air. "I... I told you, I told you it'd get jammed."

"Oh, fuck off. It fried that thing with the electricity afterwards, just like I told you. Ow..." Rubbing at my shoulder - stupid laws of physics - I sat back down in the road, the earth pony trotting forth and pulling the sword from the bear's neck. Eeeehehehew, that's not a pleasant squelchy noise... not that there are really many pleasant squelchy noises to begin with. Fresh liquid crimson dripped from the blade, Static shuddering and hurriedly rushing over to pass the sword off to me, then proceeding to the other side of the road and promptly depositing whatever he had in his stomach there. Grimacing as he spat the last of the bile out, I turned my attention back to the sword, a small trail of blood left behind as it dripped into the dirt. "So, um... how do we clean this off?"

The earth pony gave another quick shudder, rubbing at his mouth with a sleeve and looking down at the stained blade with me. "Well... take a rag and wipe it off, I guess." He gave a small shrug, myself letting off huff. Looking down at it for a moment more, I turned my attention to the dead bear laying in the road, thinking for a moment. Well, don't have any rags, and I don't want to have to explain bloodstains like this'd leave to Dad, so... Picking up the handle in my hoof, the tip dragged across the ground slightly as I made way over to the carcass. Taking a step back, I steadied myself as the blade came up past my head, myself laying it flat against the white fur and wiping it off. Sorry buddy, better your clothes get stained like this than mine.

The sword mostly wiped clean and resting on my back, the both of us started off again towards the docks, met with a distant rumbling noise. Ah, joy, what now? Static drew his umbrella out as the rumble drew closer, soon enough revealing itself to be a miniaturized half-track hauling a small cart with two power armored ponies inside, the mute driver giving us a wave as they approached. Oh, thank Celestia we won't have to keep walking, that shoulder is starting to kill me. Aerith pulled the mini-tank up alongside us, Crash Dive hopping out of the wagon on the back and looking past us at the bear carcass. That... was another look I don't think I've seen on her face before. "What in Tartarus is a polar bear doing all the way down here!?"

"Figuring us for lunch, that's what... polar bear?" Static scratched at his head, Crash Dive looking back at us both, myself gingerly rubbing at my shoulder. Guh... some Sparkle-Cola should take my mind off of it. Climbing up onto the back of the mini-tank, I rustled through my duffel bag, pulling out another of the beautifully blue glowing bottles and popping the cap with a refreshing hiss of carbonation. Oh, sweet sweet nectar of the goddesses, get inside me. Gasping for breath after gulping down half a bottle - seriously, if there's one thing I'd change in the pre-war past, bigger standard soda bottles - Static and Aerith switched places, the alicorn following with Crash Dive onto the wagon as the earth pony revved the engine, starting to turn us back around.

"The guy who brought us here said he'd be coming back to the island soon to pick us up, we going to head off or hang around so you and Static can give that DJ his recorded interview?" Crash Dive leaned over the back of the wagon as we sped along, her helmet's visor keeping the wind from her eyes. Hadn't thought of that... hm... well, Ripple and Trout seem like they can get here fast enough, and I'm sure there's still more to learn and look at here. Maybe a few other new toys like the sword somewhere, too, and it's not really fair to give Maple Creek a new AA mount without giving Hopeville one - even if they kinda suck at using them. And if Jim wants a recorded interview anyways, might as well.

"Ah, something like the second one, when we get back to the ship we'll take off another one of the anti-air mounts and send it back on Trout." I could almost see Crash Dive blinking in surprise behind her visor, her jaw hung slack. She moved to protest, only to end up letting out a huff instead. Finishing off the bottle of Sparkle-Cola, I looked back to her with a shrug. "What? Jim said we could take as many as we wanted, and Static's going to be getting us a pretty mint for each one. We'll just get this one over then head back ourselves, bring one to Hopeville and keep the second in Maple Creek. Said it yourself, they need all the help they can get."

The power armored pegasus was silent for a long moment, before letting a sigh escape her lips. Hey, see, I can use logic sometimes! Letting out a small triumphant chuckle, the large form of the HMS Cadence came into view down by the shore, a much smaller fishing boat pulled up aside the dock at it's bow, Trout looking almost comically puny compared to the Heavy Cruiser. An armored hoof tapped my shoulder, drawing my attention back from the sight, eyes meeting Crash Dive's again. "Just... just promise me we'll go back soon. If I'm right about who's piloting the Harriers... letting them know where I'll be, it's not going to be good if they try and attack us again." She glanced up at the sky, seeming to scan it for a moment as the breeze picked up and rustled the trees around. "They're not stupid. If they're going to come after us, they'll do it with everything they have."

"So... we'll just have to give all we've got, too. Five of us against three of them, if they do what that first guy did we'll be able to take them out easy, right?" Answering Crash Dive with a small shrug, I rested against Boomer's handle, the cool breeze from the motion of the half-track whipping my mane and tail around. Hell, now I think of it if a length of rebar causes one of those things to explode into a fireball, I'd sure like to know what a solar burst grenade would do to 'em. Crash Dive let out a small sigh, turning herself to lean against the side of the cart, looking at the floor of it.

"I don't know."

"You gotta be kidding me. I had enough trouble getting the first one off when I docked Trout up in Maple Creek yesterday, and now you want me to bring another one back!?" To say Ripple wasn't too keen on the idea of using Trout in the freight ferry service would be an understatement. I scratched at the back of my head, letting out a weak chuckle as the sailor glared down at us, Static stepping forward. Ripple's view swapped over to him, the old sailor letting out a small huff. "You go an' deck Trout out in all these fancy guns, then you use 'er as a bloody freight ferry. Hope you're aware that I only made that offer for free rides assuming you'd be riding on 'er in the first place, want me to make another shipment, I expect some bloody payment for it."

"I'll ensure you get reimbursed for your services handsomely. These guns are well worth their weight in gold from my understanding of it - wouldn't you say it'd be bad for you if Trout wound up getting hit by one of the thousand-pound thermobaric bombs those hostile air craft have at their disposal? You can't operate the guns and operate her at the same time, after all." Wow, going straight for the jugular there Static, you sure you're a pacifist? The anger that was in Ripple's eyes was quickly replaced with a sober look - huh, so that's what it looks like on his face - a dry swallow going down his throat as Static looked over the rest of us. "How soon can you be back after dropping it off in Maple Creek?"

"U-uh... right around sunset, maybe a little later dependin' on the tide." The silver-maned earth pony gave Ripple a small nod in response, turning about and troting back to the half-track, hefting himself into the driver's seat and starting up the engine. Ripple weakly trotted himself over to lean against the rear 37mm gun turret, myself hovering over and setting down behind Boomer. As the engine revved and we started to turn around on the dock, Ripple rushed back over to the side of Trout, waving a hoof at us. "A-are you sure these guns are good enough to protect Trout from those... things?"

Static looked towards myself, the mini-tank's engine purring underneath me. What, just because I go gaga over big guns doesn't mean I know EVERYTHING about them... just a lot of stuff. Looking back to Ripple, I gave a shrug, nodding back at the HMS Cadence. "If these guns weren't good for aerial defense, we wouldn't be pulling them off of a pre-war Heavy Cruiser in the first place. You don't have anything to worry about, long as somepony's there to operate them." Ripple looked up at the massive warship beside him, his shoulders slumping slightly and a sigh escaping his lips. Giving us a nod, he turned and went back down below deck, Static revving the engine and bringing us back onto the concrete pier, speeding along to Cadence's stairway.

Pulling up alongside the long steel walkway, the increasingly familiar face of White Noise greeted us, the stallion waving with a smile on his muzzle as we pulled up. "Welcome back, nice to see the whole Five back here again. You here to give Jim his recorded interview?" Climbing off of the mini-tank, we all followed behind as White Noise headed back inside the ship. Oh joy, back into the maze...

"We're, um, we're also here to get another anti-air gun mount off, going to be staying for a little while longer, eheh." Static rubbed at the back of his head as White Noise looked back at us, giving a nod. Why in the name of the Royal Equestrian Ordinance works did we have to go down to reach the upper decks!? It's like these ships were designed by unicorns... which kind of makes some sense. Stupid unicorns with their stupid magic and stupid teleportation ability... "Figured Aerith, Scouring, and Crash Dive could see to getting the mount off while we gave the recorded interview."

"I think we can do that. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes, we just want something to play back, give the people of North Vanhoover who haven't had a chance to meet or hear you yet know your voices. Unfortunately not everyone can be near a radio all hours of the day... lucky bastards..." White Noise let off a small grumble as we finally started nearing more familiar territory, the rest breaking off to retrieve the second AA mount while myself and Static were led up to the recording studio once again, Jim hanging back and taking a sip from a Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottle. That better be holding whiskey... "Sir? Night Strike and Static Charge, here for the recorded interview."

"Ah, wonderful, glad you could make it. Either of you thirsty? I, uh, think I've got another bottle or two in here..." Static wore a weak smile, looking particularly eager to have something to drink after what's happened today, myself wheeling over the chairs. Wearing a small scowl, I let myself fall back into one of them near the microphone, Static doing the same as Jim looked to myself, another brown bottle in his hoof.

"Ahm, sorry, I only drink Sparkle-Cola, not that sludge. Can't stand the stuff." The DJ blunk a few times before returning a shrug, fiddling with some of the equipment and popping a fresh holotape inside a deck. Settling back in the chair, I caught Static rolling his eyes and gulping down the bottle of brownish soda. Gasping for breath after finishing his gulp, he let off a chuckle, Jim moving a microphone between us both.

"I personally subscribe to the theory that your blood is at least half Sparkle-Cola RAD by this point, Strikey. Her fathers are addicted to it, found a distribution depot loaded with the stuff in Quebuck. Heh, there's actually a really funny story about the time she found where they were keeping the majority of it, how thick did Cross Stitch have to make that padding you wore so it'd stop glowing when you woke up in the morning?" Well, that certainly got Jim's attention back to us, at the very least. For the better, because I didn't want to smash that earth pony's face into these fancy consoles with somepony watching. Gritting my teeth - and thanking Celestia and Luna above the 'On Air' sign wasn't illuminated - I glared death at Static, reaching over and grabbing him by his jacket.

"You broadcast that story to -any- wasteland, and you'll wish I didn't kill that polar bear for you." The earth pony coughed slightly, rubbing some of the spilled soda from his mouth as I released him from my grip, sitting back in my chair. Really don't need the entire friggin' wasteland knowing one of their saviors had to... wear that, for a week. Jim looked between us both, a certain confused look on his face, fitting on a pair of headphones.

"Right... I'm not gonna ask." Turning back to the console, the DJ flicked a few switches and moved a few sliders, the light behind the translucent 'On Air' sign coming on a moment later, the sound of a song fading out filling the air. Static rubbed at the bits of soda he'd spilled on his jacket - huh, okay, so that stuff isn't as acidic as I'd thought - and the sound of a holotape recorder quietly whirring to life filled the air, the DJ clearing his throat before flipping another switch.

"You're tuned into K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover, and we've got some familiar faces back in the studio for a second interview. For those who missed it all of last night and this morning, somehow, the Vanhoover Five have decided to pay a visit to my little slice of heaven over here on the HMS Cadence. We had the company of Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring Charge here earlier today, and now with me we've got Static Charge and Night Strike - no relation to Scouring in Static's case, heh. Gotta love Equestria's naming conventions. So, moving on, my assistant let me know that the boat you came over here on stopped by just a few minutes before you came up here, you all going to be heading off right after this second one's over?"

"Ahm, no, actually, we're working on getting another of the anti-air gun mounts off and shipped back to Maple Creek, the rest are on the deck unbolting it right now. Going to be sticking around until sunset, we think." Static scratched at the back of his head as Jim nodded, glancing over to the recording deck. Don't worry, looks like you got it turned on this time, I think... I was never good with electrics. The red light's blinking, I'm assuming it's recording. "One's to be set up in Maple Creek, the other's going up in Hopeville. We'll, um, we'll see to everything getting set up and handled right tomorrow when we pass through... kind of hope that some of the bridges we have to go over can hold six tons..."

"Heh, for your sake and the sake of Hopeville, I sure hope they can, too. Worst case scneario, you can just have Aerith carry it over for you, can't ya?" Static blunk a few times, looking towards me. I responded with a shrug - I guess she can do it crossing a river, she flew the things to Trout from Cadence's deck just fine the first time. Oh, she'll probably need another strontium-90-laced pick-me-up after we finish... "Anyways, there you go Maple Creek, here's hoping you can put that brand-spankin'-new forty mil AA gun to use, courtesy of the Vanhoover Five and us here in Radio KAOS. You five have really made a name for yourself since you've shown up, especially considering how far away from home you are down here. Where'd you say you two were from again?"

"Way up north, um, past Yakyakistan I think you mentioned, a frozen and irradiated place we just call the North Equestrian Wasteland. Static's from Mooscow, and I live in Turnpike, both of us with our fathers." Letting out a small chuckle, I leaned forwards a little in the chair, catching Jim's expression. Eh... might as well, don't have much to lose from it. "Before you ask, no, we don't really have, um, moms. I don't know the specifics, I don't want to know the specifics, I just know that if I had a DNA test you'd get matches with my dad Twintails and my other dad Featherweight, and if Static had one you'd get matches with his dad Minty Candy and his other dad Cross Stitch. And a half-sister named Sugar Flare... don't ask."

Sitting back, the DJ wore a dumbfounded expression, one that drew a chuckle from myself before the sensation of a thousand nerve engings screaming out in pain met my brain, a blue-coated hoof impacting firmly against the shoulder that I'd managed to forget was killing me. Releasing a small yelp before stuffing the leeve of my jacket into my mouth, I leaned over away from the microphone, holding my shoulder with my other hoof. Goddess-damnit Static! "Sorry about that, we, um, we generally don't talk about her. She's a bit on the 'completely batshit creepy' side of things."

"Eheh, everyone's got that one family member, don't they? Well, I certainly hope that you'll be able to meet up with them all again sooner or later. Color me curious, just because I'd like some more background about you two, what do your fathers do? Don't suppose being wasteland saints run in the family, does it?" Jim let off a chuckle as I tried to regain myself, sitting back up in the chair and letting out a breath through grimaced teeth. Stupid earth ponies with their stupid strength... Static looked over at me smugly for a moment, before tapping a hoof against his chin and thinking.

"You're actually not that far off from being right with that, I guess. Minty and Twintails prety much saved all of Equestria from some crazy guy with a cannon that shoots megaspell warheads, if I remember that old story correctly. I've seen the crater it left behind after they blew it to the moon, can't really deny it being true with evidence like that." Sheesh, we were making that poor DJ have that expression a lot whenever we come up here for the interviews. "Nowadays though, um, Minty pretty much just stays in Mooscow with myself and Cross Stitch at Cross' seamster shop, delivering clothes and fixing computers every now and again. Twenty years on, his old robotic leg's been showing it's age, can't really afford to go traipsing around the wasteland anymore... ahm, he lost it a while after he came out of his Stable. Think that was your dad's fault, wasn't it, Night Strike?"

"Eheh, no, Minty was the one who stepped on the landmine, Sparky. Twintails helped make sure he didn't die in that blizzard after it happened. Think they were traveling together for a few days by that point... Twintails was raised in a Stable nearby Minty's, they met up a little while after they came out. What he does nowadays, he drives around the wasteland in the TOG, pretty much the family tank. Along with Featherweight, they just help ponies in need, blow the shit outta raider camps that pop up every now and again, usual stuff. I sometimes help by working the gun... heh, you've never heard beauty until you've heard a 17-pounder Royal Equestrian Ordinance tank gun go off beside you."

Jim was struck silent for a long moment, looking over us both in quiet disbelief, the recorder still recording the deafening silence. Stammering quickly, the DJ soon caught up with himself, moving back to the microphone. "A-ah, sorry about that, was just trying to process all that. There you have it, folks, two of the Vanhoover Five are the offspring of their own wasteland's heroes, it'd seem. I guess being wasteland saints can run in the family... ahm, anyways, that's all the time we have for now, looks like it's going to be another pleasant Vanhoover day out, and the weather ought to stay this way for a few more days, so enjoy it while you can. You're listening to Radio KAOS, and why don't we get some music going for you during this pleasant lunchtime. Here's Vera Lynn singing about those beautiful bluebirds over the white cliffs, enjoy."

The holotape recorder stopped as the DJ fiddled with the console, slumping back into his chair afterwards and running a hoof over his head. "Boy... you two're just full of surprises, aren't you? I mean, damn..." Sliding off of the chair, both Static and myself made way for the exit, moving the chairs back. Static's stomach growled - okay, future reference, that's what that sounds like - as we stepped through, the DJ clearing his throat. "Ah, what time is it?" Both of us blunk at each other and Jim, myself pushing the baggy sleeve of my jacket back to look at my pip-buck.

"Um, around half past one, why?" The DJ let off a sigh and quiet thanks to the goddesses, wheeling back over and opening up the mini-fridge by his desk, pulling out a bottle of a rich amber liquid. Wild Pegasus, if I remember right... Yeesh, I don't think I can even drink Sparkle-Cola that fast. He gasped for breath, setting the bottle on the table in front of the soundboard, rubbing at his head. Looking over to us, he cleared his throat, sitting up and letting off a weak chuckle.

"W-what, it's quarter to midnight somewhere."

"Aye, I'll be back around seven or eight, bit past sunset. You promise this is the last one o' these guns I gotta carry on Trout?" The small boat sank down in the water slightly as the large gun turret was set on her deck, Ripple resting against the railing between two of the steampipe guns and watching the unicorns handle it. I gave a quick glance to Static, the immense magical field that was around the turret dispersing and leaving it's full weight onboard Trout.

"Unless we find a reason to get another gun or two off, yep, this is it for now. Thanks for doing this for us, Ripple, couldn't have done it without you and Trout." Passing on a smile, the old stallion returned it, trotting inside the cabin and firing up Trout's engine. We moved onto the mini-tank and wagon ourselves, Aerith and Scouring seeing to Trout getting unmoored from the dock, Ripple opening up one of the cabin windows and leaning out of it.

"Aye, you better keep true to what you said 'bout repayin' me fer this, expect to get somethin' once you come'n sell these off shoreside!" The small boat pulled back into open waters, turning it's back to the right before starting to head towards the mainland. Static wore a small grimace as he nodded and waved to the ship, Ripple and Trout disappearing behind the massive form of the HMS Cadence as the mini-tank's engine purred to life. Turning us back around, we were soon back on the concrete docks of the island, moving along at a slow pace. A loud growl came from ahead, putting me into a small bit of panic - at least, until I saw Static releasing a small chuckle.

"Eheheh... anyone else hungry for lunch?"

“Where are we even going to get food, anyways?” Night Strike asked as we trundled along the dock towards the island. “I don’t remember seeing any stands back up by the museum, unless you’re suggesting we slice open that bear and cook it up.” I turned off of the dock, starting to travel along the sandy shores of the island. The treads rolled and dug into the sand, the engine dying down as I pulled up to a small cluster of large rocks and switched the small engine off.

“I figured we could go fishing, spotted this place when we were back up aboard the ship, looks like a good spot.” I hopped out of the mini tank, my hooves sinking into the sand slightly, some grains getting into my jacket's sleeves. Oh, that's gonna itch after a while. Pausing to think for a moment, I scratched at the back of my head, letting off a weak chuckle. “Eheh, though I suppose we’ll need to find some fishing equipment...” Crash Dive opened up one of the compartments of the mini tank, fishing around inside before producing two poles and a small box. Oh, well, problem solved.

“Stashed these on here last time we were at the lighthouse, figured it wouldn’t hurt to have them for emergencies again. Or if I just needed something to do while you do whatever you have to.” She handed me one of the poles, both of us trotting over to the rocks as the others climbed out of the mini-tank. I clambered up onto one of the large rocks sitting just at the edge of the lapping waves, taking a hold of the pole. Alright, let’s see if I can cast this without getting the hook stuck in somepony’s neck. I pulled the pole back before flicking it forwards, the hook sailing out into the sea. Crash Dive cast out beside me as Aerith sat down on the sand, letting the waves roll over and cool off her legs.

“Say, Scouring, I don’t think I’ve ever asked, what exactly do the Steel Rangers up here do? The ones back home do a bit of work helping to clean up the wasteland now, but I heard that a lot of the other branches aren’t as hospitable.” Scouring sat down in the sand as well, Night Strike hopping between the stones in the sand, making her way further along the shore.

Scouring looked over to me, pausing to think for amoment before letting out a small huff and leaning back. “Not all that much, really. At least, we aren’t really sent out to help with the locals. Elder’s been pretty strict on recovering technology, it’s just there really isn’t that much valuable stuff still located here. At least, none that we knew about at the time.” He shifted a little, pulling a salt cube out of a pocket in his suit and popping it into his mouth. “Have half an idea, but I’m not completely sure why we’re still stationed here. Probably something in the Codex about not abandoning posts if there’s still a slight chance of tech being found.” He shook his head a little as Crash Dive felt a tug on her pole, starting to reel it in. “B Company, we're the place knights get sent when the high command just doesn't want to deal with us. Had to hazard a better guess why I'm still 'round this part of wasteland, the paladins in their fancy robes back home figured there's nothin' for our group to find.”

Crash Dive tugged on her fishing pole, the line straining as she reeled it in. A small fish was soon flopping on the sand beside her, gasping for breath. Crash Dive removed the hook from its mouth and tossed it onto the sand behind her, letting it flop around, trying to find its way back to the water. Watching it writhe for a moment - come on, Crash Dive, show some mercy to the things - I turned to look at the alicorn lazily splashing about, catching her attention as I cleared my throat. “Ahm, Aerith, think you and Night Strike could go grab some wood for a fire?” She nodded, shaking her wings dry before hovering along the beach, both her and the Jacket-clad pegasus returning a moment later. Night Strike hovered over to the tank to grab Thumper as Aerith pulled out her machine gun, both of them trotting into the woods in search of firewood. I turned back to Scouring as Crash cast her line out again. “Where are the Rangers based around here, anyway?”

“Fairly far to th' north, east of Maple Station, along the coast. Used to be an old Stable there in the mountains, but that one ended about as well as the other ones did.” Hey, they weren’t all bad! At least it wasn’t the experiments that ended up getting my dads’ stable destroyed. “Think it was something to do with a leopard or a lion or somethin’. Made a hell of a mess with the bodies, but most of the other stuff kept working fine, so the first scouts out here just called in help to scrub the place down. Stable 95, though it’s officially known as the Mountain Springs branch.”

I felt a tug on my fishing pole. I jerked the wire, starting to crank the reel. The line moved back and forth in the water, whatever was on the line putting up a big fight. I yanked again on the pole, reeling the line in a little more. Crash watched as a shadow could be seen underneath the water, her eyes widening a bit. The top of the pole was bending dangerously as I gave a final pull, an oversized crab being pulled up into the shallower water, its pincers flailing about as it tried to find the wire lodged in its eyestalk. Crash Dive stood up suddenly, jumping over to the mini tank and pulling out her harpoon gun. She took aim and fired, the bit of sharpened metal whizzing through the air before piercing the giant crab, causing it to flop into the shallow water, motionless. I chuckled a little, moving forward to untangle the line from the crab, carefully stepping over its large claw. “Think this’ll be enough?”

I took a hold of the rebar shaft, a bit of blood oozing out of the wound as I removed it. Bluh, yeah, hopefully this looks more appetizing when it’s actually cooked. I slid the pointed end of the steel rod back into the crab a little, trying to wiggle it between the hard shell and the soft flesh. The shell cracked sickeningly, revealing the pink meat beneath it. “Ech... either of you got a knife?” Scouring gave a quick nod, rummaging in the metal containers either side of his power armor for a moment before tossing a small jagged knife onto the sand beside me. I picked it up and began to carve up the giant crab.

“Ay, better you 'n me, lad.” Scouring chuckled as he saw my face twisted into a grimace as I cut out hunks of meat and tossed them onto the rocks. The sun sank into the sky as I sliced up the crab, several pounds of meat now sitting on the rocks beside us. I went to wash the knife off in the sea as Aerith and Night Strike returned, a large bundle of stick balanced on their backs.

“Sorry about taking so long, we found some giant rainwater outlet and Aerith wasn’t going to leave until we saw where it went. Remind me to never go exploring in a dark tunnel with her again.” Night Strike slid her sticks onto the ground, looking over to see the husk of the giant crab. “Sheesh, I guess we’ll be eating plenty tonight, nice catch!” She began to go to work building a small fire as I grabbed a couple of the sticks and skewered the hunks of meat. We soon had a small fire burning on the sand, the bits of crab slowly turning brown. My stomach growled again as the smell met my nose, causing me to blush as Night Strike snickered.

The fire crackled softly as we began to eat the crab, my growling stomach quieting down. “Mmh, so, just how bankrupt are you planning on making Hopeville and Maple Creek anyway with these guns?” Night Strike asked. I chewed on the slightly rubbery meat, skewering another mouthful and holding it over the fire.

“Well, each of those things should be worth about 500,000 caps apiece, they’re still in good condition and like you pointed out, they're electircally driven with those fancy targeting systems. Though I suppose we’ll need to get them some ammo for it or they’ll pretty much be paying for a very pricey amusement ride.” I swallowed the crab. “You think they still have some shells left on the ship?” Night Strike thought for a moment before giving a nod, and I looked back to my cooking meat, turning to keep it from burning on one side. “They can probably make some of the shells themselves too, we’ll only need a few so the guns are actually of use before they can start manufacturing their own. Maybe someplace in Vanhoover’s willing to make them.” I thought aloud.

“There were a few with them already when we pulled them off, but couldn't be more than a few reloads in those boxes, and these things are autocannons. I just hope Fowler back on the ship doesn’t try and keep them to himself as museum property or something, what good is an 8-inch shell if you can’t fire it due to 'historical posterity'?” Night Strike said, chomping down on some more crab. The sun was starting to set, the sky around it turning a vibrant mix of purples and oranges. “Mmh, suppose we better head back, though. Ripple should be docking soon.” We all stood up and climbed into the tank, the engine rumbling to life. The treads spun uselessly in the sand for a moment before catching, allowing me to turn us around and head back towards the docks.

My umbrella bounced against my hind legs a little as the small tank rolled over the sand before I turned back onto the road towards the dock. Ripple had yet to return, so I slowed the tank down in front of the HMS Cadence, Night Strike, Aerith and myself all hopping out. “We’ll see if we can get some ammo for the guns, just tell Ripple to wait out here if he gets here before we do.” Crash Dive gave a nod before climbing into the driver's seat, trundling the half-track and wagon closer to the edge of the dock, the other two following me inside the ship. Glancing around the entrance hallway, I scratched at my head - warship, right... “Uh, do you know where we actually might find the ammo?”

“There should be some sort of armory or hold in the lower bits of the ship, I think. If I were a ship designer, I'd put the big ammo under the water where it's less likely to get hit, and the smaller stuff somewhere the people on the anti-air guns could get to it fast.” We began to climb down the steep steps to the deeper parts of the ship, the hallways twisting and turning as we tried to locate the extra ammo. As we wandered down another unmarked corridor, Aerith tapped me on the shoulder, tilting her head towards an open door we’d passed. We trotted back to it, stepping through to reveal a large room filled to the brim with ammo and guns of all kinds. Jeez, how did we miss this? I trotted through, looking at the massive array of ordinance. Night Strike giggled and picked up a few grenades, turning them over in her hooves.

“So, erm, which of these shells are actually for those guns?” I asked, trotting down through the shelves of explosives. I don’t have the faintest clue how Night Strike can tell the difference between these things, they just look like different painted ones of the same thing, who knows what the payload is supposed to be. I looked back to see her ogling a large missile launcher, flicking one of the switches repeatedly. Ah, c'mon... “Night Strike, we’re just here for the shells, remember? I’d love to sell off half this stuff, but I think Fowler’s going to be mad enough if he finds the missing shells.”

Night Strike tore her gaze away from the missile launcher, looking back to me. “Huh, what?” She said, bemused. I put a hoof up to my head. “Sorry. Anyway, yeah, shells, forty millimeter MWT Bofors.” She trotted over to me, looking over the various different boxes of ammunition. “These one should be the right size.” She pointed to a few boxes of shells that looked a little bit shorter than Aerith's horn. I slid one of them off the shelf, needing to steady myself against another shelf due to its surprising weight.

Aerith’s magic encompassed the clip of ammunition, along with several others, levitating them in the air. As she levitated them by, some of the shells of a similar size that appeared much more technologically advanced than the others caught my attention. The tips of the shells shone with a faint blue light inside of Aerith’s aura. “What kind of shells are those?” Aerith lowered one of the clips, allowing Night Strike to inspect it better, carefully flipping the heavy thinga round and reaching in with a hoof to remove one of the massive bullets. She scrutinized it for a moment, before blinking in surprise and sticking it back inside the clip.

“It’s some sort of pulse shell, I didn’t think they made them for guns like this. Grenade rifles liek Thumper, sure, but a high-velocity autocannon, that's a new one.” Aerith lifted the clip back up with the rest and we began to make our way back towards the exit. “They’re good against bots and machines and other electronic stuff, but they’re not nearly as fun to use. No explosive shockwave, won't do anything against a fleshy target without a direct hit.” She stepped through the door, Aerith carefully moving the massive clips through before moving through herself. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to sell a few of them, though. It’d be an easy way to take out the Harriers without too much damage if they're low to the ground and miss. Just a bit of a blackout and a hole in the roof for the building it hits.” We were soon trotting down the ramp leading from the lower deck of the ship, spotting Trout already at the dock with Ripple chatting to Scouring.

He looked up as we trotted over to him, looking exasperated at the sight of the few shelves' worth of autocannon clips. “No! No, that is it, I’m NOT making another delivery! You either take this boat back or you’re swimming back to shore.” He spouted off. I gave a slightly nervous chuckle as Aerith lowered the clips onto the deck, Night Strike glancing behind us with a slightly nervous look on her face.

“Don’t worry, we’re coming this time, we just needed to grab these for those guns. They’re not really of any use without something to fire. It’s maybe an additional couple hundred pounds, the pulse ones are probably lighter than the others. We’re not going to sink Trout if we take them with us.” Ripple looked relieved, lowering the ramp down to the dock to allow us to climb on board.

“Good. Like I said, I’m happy to give you guys free rides, but I’d much rather have you actually riding when I'm doin' 'em.” I trotted up the ramp, Night Strike following closely behind. Scouring took the clips from Aerith with his own magic, levitating them up and moving them below deck as she went to work lifting the mini-tank back up onto Trout. The boat shifted a little with the extra weight as Crash Dive undid the moorings and trotted up the ramp behind Aerith. I began to slide the short ramp back up into place as Ripple stepped up to the controls of the boat. “Already dropped one of the guns off in Hopeville, we can swing by there for your payment before heading back to Maple Creek. Longer route to get by, but less rapids.”

Trout’s engines sputtered to life as we began to move away from shore, turning to head south along the mainland coastline. As Trout cut a wake through the water, a figure ran out of the HMS Cadence, running all the way to the end of the dock. Fowler’s screams were incomprehensible, though from the abuse he was giving his hat, I doubt he was very happy. Yeeaaah, we may not be coming back for another interview any time soon...

Ripple spun the wheel as we moved up the river towards the large reservior that Hopeville sat on, the water flowing against us and causing the engine to strain slightly more than normal. I leaned against the side of Trout, watching the passing countryside as Scouring inspected some of the autocannon rounds we’d gathered. The bottom of Trout scraped against some rocks in the water as we followed the river, the small town of Hopeville coming into view on the edge of the lake.

The river we were on soon entered the reservior properly, Trout being able to move a little faster in the non-flowing water. The lights of Hopeville grew larger as we travelled along the south edge of the lake, giving the dark docks and canal of Clearwater a wide berth. Soon coming to the shore not far out of town, a few other boats anchored in the water. You know, it probably wouldn’t hurt these guys to build a proper pier like the one in Maple Creek... Ripple climbed down below deck before dragging a heavy anchor back up, a thick chain wrapped around one end. I helped him take it and throw it overboard, the chain sliding along the deck quickly before coming to a sudden halt.

“Alright, don’t take too long, I’d like to be back in Maple Creek before midnight.” Ripple said, climbing back up from below decks with a short metal walkway. I nodded and helped him lock it into a few rungs in the deck, allowing us to climb down before hopping into the knee high water. Crash and I waded through the dark water as Night Strike Aerith fluttered down onto the beach, Scouring looking over to Ripple.

“Uh, you sure there’s not a better way? My suit ain’t exactly what ye might call watertight. Not sure how wet it can really get before something gets damaged...” Ripple shook his head and Scouring sighed. Night Strike looked over to him before flapping her wings, hovering herself back up onto Trout.

“You guys go ahead, we’ll stay here. Somepony needs to make sure nopony steals the rest of this ammo after all.” I shrugged and Aerith’s magic encompassed a few of the clips of ammunition, levitating them down to us. We turned and headed towards town hall, which was now easily visible with the large guns sitting on its roof. The oak doors creaked open, allowing us into the small lobby. The receptionist waved us by, her eyes widening upon seeing the shells Aerith carried. We pushed open the next set of oak doors, stepping into the mayor’s office where she sat on the opposite side of her fancy desk looking over several papers and flicking abacus beads left and right, a pencil hanging from her mouth.

She looked up as the doors shut behind us, not looking anymore relieved, and spitting the pencil out. “Oh, it’s you. Look, I…” She paused, letting a stack of papers she’d been flipping through flop back onto her desk. “I… appreciate the extra defense for this city, I really do. But, I just…” She went back to flipping a few abacus beads. “I can’t see how we can afford them! The gunsmith is still trying to come back from the first delivery, who knows when he’ll have enough to pay you for these ones! I can’t pay for them, I’d have to raise taxes 37% just to reach my advisor’s estimation; I don’t know how much that thing really costs!” She flopped her head down onto the desk, giving a soft weep. “I caaaaaaaaaaaan’t!”

I grimaced a little, Aerith lowering the ammunition. Sheesh, not really sure how she came to be in a position of power if she buckles so quickly at the first real dilemma. Then again, maybe she never had to deal with a puchase like this before... I looked over to Crash Dive and Aerith, the first doing nothing as the second simply shrugged. I looked back to the mayor, watching her break down atop all her papers. "A-ahm, we're... only going to ask for five hundred thousand, ma'am, including the price of ammunition. If you were thinking you'd have to pay somewhere in the same range as the gunsmith, that was for several guns and ammunition, this is only one. Well, two, technically, but you get my meaning."

The mayor lifted her head, a flustered look on her face as she picked herself back up. "O-oh, um, is... is that all?" Answering her with a small nod after glancing at Aerith and Crash Dive, she slumped back in her chair, staring off between us for a moment. Her eyes looked down at the piles of papers in front of her, rustling a few about as a blush came upon her face. "I-I-I... um... s-sorry for breaking down like that, my financial advisor it would come in as at least a million caps, at the lowest estimate. Oh, this is relieving news..." Moving through a few more papers, she paused and looked at one, thinking for a moment. A million caps for just one? Well... I suppose, if they wanted to count both barrels as separate guns, which they technically are, that could cause the price to jump up... No! Bad brain, we're getting enough caps as it is, don't need to extort these towns into bankruptcy. But a million caps, though... "Hm, well, I'm sorry to say that currently we onlu just barely have that amount in our treasury. I-I mean, I could see about getting you the caps, but... I'm not sure how long we could run so close to a deficit. We have to pay people to operate these things, after all."

The room fell quiet as the mayor looked towards me, Aerith and Crash Dive presumably doing the same. Okay Static, decision time, do the... mostly right, thing, or the thing that'll see you being able to buy your own dads out of the house. Or, well, at least mostly out... guh, I've been traveling with Night Strike too long. "Well, we could accept payment in other forms than caps." The mayor blunk a few times, readjusting herself in her chair and leaning forwards over her desk. Better not screw this up... "A-at least, not totally in caps, anyways. How would, um... four hundred thousand caps, and two free weeks at the hotel work for you?"

The mayor flicked around her abacus a few times and shuffled about more papers, pausing to think for a moment longer before looking back to us with a small smile. "I'm certain I can make that happen. Thank you immensely, just, please give some forewarning of how much the next gun you decide to sell to us will cost next time." She gave a little chuckle which I returned, the mare behind the desk moving to a notepad and writing down something. "If you wouldn't mind coming back tomorrow, I'll have the bottlecaps readied for you. Um, unfortunately I can't have the two free weeks at the hotel for you tonight, though, I hope that isn't an issue." Wearing a small smile and responding to her with a small nod, I turned and started to make my way back out of the office and into the illuminated streets, Crash Dive and Aerith following along. Yeah, next time... after the headache these things have been, I sure hope there won't be a next time...

‘Well, that was rather nice of you. Fourteen nights at the hotel would only cost 2800 caps.’ Aerith’s magical sign read as we headed out of the door and back towards Trout. Yeah, yeah, please don't remind me. Stupid conscious not wanting me to extort entire towns into bankruptcy... As we made our way back towards Trout, I noticed a small congregation of ponies heading towards the lakeshore as well. I began to pick up my pace, wondering what was going on. Suddenly the sound of gunfire met my ears, as well as a familiar scream of pain. Oh, no.

I broke out into a sprint, almost crashing into some ponies that were running in the opposite direction. I whipped out my umbrella, Aerith taking to the skies behind me and drawing her submachine gun. As we reached the beach at the edge of the town, I could see a pair of familiar gryphons with a small entourage firing at the ship. Scouring was launching rockets off at the gryphons, managing to hit one of the mercenaries and turn him into a fine red mist. I spotted Night Strike sitting on the deck, clutching her shoulder with her eyes clenched shut in pain. Ripple had taken up one of the steampipe machine guns and was firing haphazardly in all directions.

I leapt forwards onto one of the gryhpons with an injured wing that was trying to climb up the ladder, my umbrella connecting with his spine, causing him to spasm and fall into the water. Aerith let out a stream of bullets, knocking a few more of the mercs out of the air. The two leader mercs glanced to each other upon realizing their team now consisted of nothing but a pile of bodies floating in the reservior, the looks on their faces understandably dumbfounded. “Uh… can we talk this out?... Shit!” I grabbed a shotgun from one of the mercs and aimed it towards him. He grabbed the other’s claw and both began to zip away through the air, a late night fog rolling in over the lake quickly hiding them.

Night Strike panted as she clutched at her shoulder, myself hopping up the ladder and over the side to inspect her. She let out a weak chuckle to herself, rubbing her leg and gnawing at her lip. “Well... suppose I learned why I shouldn’t fire War Crime with a partially dislocated shoulder. Gah, fuuuuck!” She clenched her shoulder some more, rocking on the deck a little. Well, that’s Night Strike for you, attacked by five mercenaries and it’s her lack of foresight that gets her hurt.

She grunted a little as I helped her to her hind legs, Aerith fluttering down beside her. “We need to get her to the Triage right now.” She nodded and bent down, allowing me to help Night Strike to sit on her back. She took to the skies, flying towards the center of town. I jumped back down in the water, following closely behind on hoof. Sweet Celestia, Night Strike, why do you need to keep getting into all this trouble?

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck with a side dish of fuck and fuck seasoning, shoulders are not supposed to break like that. Or, at all, for that matter. Stupid power armor, stupid bear... stupid Night Strike. Fuuuuuck... the cool night air in my face at least kept me awake, despite the fact that my shoulder currently felt like I -had- tried to shoulder-fire the TOG's 17-pounder, and pretty much resembled the likely outcome too. Well, sans whatever was on the recieving end getting a balefire egg to the face... still, that .50 cal round sure made short work of those gryphons, though.

Aerith landed with a small clatter of her hooves on the asphalt outside the Triage, her horn having encompassed my duffel bag before we left. Good girl, might be something helpful in there... and I could really go for a Sparkle-Cola too, now I think of it. The door opened with a small ring of a bell, myself lifting up off of Aerith's back and looking forwards at the receptionist. Her eyes went wide as she finally seemed to recognize us - or, maybe just at the sight of Aerith - the alicorn throwing up one of her black screens for the receptionist to read.

"Oh dear. Ahm, down the hall and to the right, ask for Blunt Trauma, he's our orthopedic specialist." Uh... what? Aerith seemed to share my confusion for a moment as she turned towards the hall that the receptionist pointed to. She gave a sigh, rubbing a hoof against her head. "He handles broken bones." Oooh, yeah, that'd probably be helpful. Giving the receptionist a nod, Aerith quickly made way down the hall with my duffel bag in tow, the quiet cacaphony of medical beeps and other things filling the air. As she pushed through the doorway, a unicorn on the other side jumped back with a small yelp, his glasses becoming askew on his muzzle. Readjusting them, he picked himself back up, dusting his medical garbs off.

"Well, can admit that's one of the more exciting things to've happened at night so far here. You just barging in to knock me off my hooves, or are you looking for Doctor Trauma?" Okay, so this guy isn't the doctor. Great. Well, at least he kind of looks the part, so he isn't some bozo just wandering around, either... Aerith gave a small nod of her head, the unicorn stallion letting off a sigh and trotting around her, looking over me. "Sorry to say he checked out for the night, but I can go get him. I'm Nurse Laundry, where do you think you broke your bones?"

I gave a small grunt as they both lifted me off of Aerith's back and laid me down on a medical bed, Aerith moving out of the way and setting my duffel bag beside the bed while the unicorn trotted around. Spreading my wings out, a grunt of pain escaped me - oh, right, that connects up there too. Great. "Right shoulder, automatic rifle chambered for .50 caliber MG. And one impact into a stone paved road from height... and one impact into somepony wearing heavy power armor... ow..."

"Huh, I knew they made machine guns for that caliber, just didn't realize you could fly around with them, too. Do you have any numbness or tingling sensations in your foreleg?" The unicorn gently rubbed over my outstretched leg as I responded in the negative, letting off a soft groan. After a moment, I felt him starting to move my wing as well, sending a chill up my spine - nope, yeah, felt weird when Crash Dive preened me, still feels weird now. After a moment he finally let go, my wing quickly taking it's place back against my body. "Well, good news and bad news. Good news, from what I can gather as a first diagnosis, you just managed to break your scapula, shoulder blade. Bad news, if that's the case you're probably looking at a couple weeks of drinking healing potions before you're back to full safe function. I'll go get Dr. Trauma, he'll be able to help make sure nothing gets worse. Ahm, don't move too much for now."

Pausing for a moment, the sensation of weightlessness that comes with being leviated in a magic aura overcame me, flipping myself over onto my back and letting me rest my head against a pillow at the end of the bed. It tilted up slightly, myself letting out a small sigh as Aerith came back into view, the unicorn nurse trotting out of the room. We watched the door for a moment, before the alicorn looked towards me, myself swallowing through my dry mouth. "Mmh... he didn't say anything about not drinking in the hospital, did he?" Flashing her a smirk, she returned with a grin, the small clinking of glass bottles from below filling the air as her horn lit up. Oh, sweet, sweet nectar of the goddesses, let me forget this pain.

Reaching up to take one of the freshly-opened bottles, I was suddenly just then reminded why I was in the hospital in the first place. Fuuuuuuck me with a six hundred millimeter mortar shell, I'm not a smart pony. Biting back my lower lip to get my mind off of the shattered bone in the right side of my body, I reached up to take the bottle again, this time with my left hoof. Putting the glass rim to my lips, the glowing blue soda caused my pip-buck's geiger counter to click once or twice, the bottle swiftly being filled by air as the heavenly nectar flowed down my throat and came to rest in my stomach. Oh, yeah, that's the stuff...

After a few minutes, and another bottle, the sounds of hoofsteps echoed down the hall as the nurse returned, along with an older unicorn stallion in a trench coat. "Hunh, so you're my latest patient? One of the Vanhoover Five, who could've expected that..." Pausing as he stood himself at the foot of the bed, he let off a long sigh, catching the mostly empty bottle of soda in my left hoof and half-empty bottle in Aerith's magic. Nurse Laundry responded in kind by promptly having his forehoof meet his forehead. "I suppose my assistant forgot to mention that food and drinks aren't allowed in patient care rooms. Much less ones that were irradiated before the bombs fell... Well, no use fussing over it now. Let's see what I can do for you."

Trotting over to my side, the doctor lowered his head and took to focusing, his horn alighting with an auburn magic aura. Oooh, that's a weird tingly feeling... Trying to resist moving, he scanned the tip of his horn over where my shoulder was broken, lingering for a long moment before dropping his magic and moving to look at my shoulder in disbelief. O...kay, that's not an expression you want on a medical pony's face. After a moment, he turned to look back at his assistant, scratching at his mane. "Ahm, Nurse, did you do anything for the patient's wound before you left? A healing potion, or something?"

The other unicorn answered in the negative, and Dr. Trauma's expression only became more perplexed. So much for a comforting bedside manner... eh, I guess it is pretty late. He's probably just tired... hopefully. Looking back to me, his horn lit up again, a small aura tinkling out of my vision before the zipper of my jacket was pulled down halfway, the heavy fabric moved out of the way to provide a better look at the shoulder. Doctor Trauma did the magic tingly-thing with his horn again, scanning slowly over my shoulder as I adjusted myself to let him move around it, his expression still being the same as he pulled off.

"You said you just broke it tonight, right? Came straight here from there, didn't drink any healing potions or anything inbetween?" Answering him with a shake of the head, he scratched at his, rubbing a hoof down his neck. Oh great, don't tell me I've got something else wrong with me... "I dunno how to explain this. It's starting to heal up already, the fracture looks like it's a day or two old from the progress it's showing me. Lucky it didn't fragment like that... are you absolutely certain you haven't taken any healing potions, medicine, drugs, anything?"

"Nothin' but the two Sparkle-Colas I drank before you got back, and unless proximity to a balefire bomb impact crater can cause it to do stuff other than make your pee glow and be a delicious soda, I kinda doubt it's that." Shrugging in response - well, with my left shoulder, anyways - I lifted up the second empty bottle, letting the doctor take it in his magic and look over the label. Can recite the ingredient list by heart; Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, natural flavors, citric acid, caffiene, and good old Strontium-90. And a bit of other various possible radiation sources, of course. Still the best drink in the wasteland. Seems to be the best drink for confusing 1 out of 10 doctors, too...

"Alright... this is gonna be a bit of a shot in the dark, and normally I don't encourage drinking addictive substances like this, but any explanation is better than none. Do you have any more of these?" Does a 17-pounder shell weigh 17 pounds? Letting off a little chuckle, I nodded to the duffel bag sitting at the side of the bed, Aerith lifting a fresh bottle of that beautiful blue soda out of it and over to me. The cap came off with a pleasant hiss of carbonation, the doctor leaning over my shoulder again. Okay, I think I can get what he wants me to do. His magic flared up, and I took the glass neck of the bottle to my lips, starting to down the glowing soda happily. Halfway through the bottle, he broke off again, making a few astonished blinks at me as I looked to him and happily finished it off. What's up, doc?

"Holy shit... Ahm, uh, would you object to an overnight stay? We need to run some tests, um... just DNA samples and minor observations, look for any abnormalities." That drew a chuckle from me. If they want to look for anything funky with my DNA, have I got a surprise in store for them when they do their tests, assuming they haven't been listening to the radio, anyways. Looking over to Aerith, she took another sip from her first bottle - pff, lightweight - passing on a small one-shouldered shrug.

"Probably gonna have to wait until tomorrow for payment on that fancy AA gun anyways, and I'm already here. Let the rest know where I'll be, I think I'll be fine." Aerith gave a nod, trotting past the two medical ponies and out the doorway, Nurse Laundry following her out of sight as the older unicorn looked back to me, pulling over and affixing a medical mask over his muzzle. Yanno, I think I prefer a unicorn doctor over an earth pony one if I had to have somepony operating on me... hell, I'd prefer a competent doctor over any other kind, for that matter. Giving my right foreleg a little stretch - okay, yeah, actually feeling better now - I looked back to the doctor, the nurse wheeling in a small metal cart. "So, why the surprise check-up, if I'm free to ask?"

"Well, I don't know how to explain it, but as far as I can tell something's up with you that really isn't normal." You mean, like being the offspring of two stallions? That's pretty not-normal as things go. As somepony probably once said, normal is relative...

"Tie me up like a Hoofington mare and fuck me silly, I just don't get it at all." Oh, even I think that was a lot of Sparkle-Cola to drink in one night. Ten bottles with no food otherwise... urp. "As far as I can tell, for some goddess-damned reason I don't know your DNA's structured to respond to that stuff like it's some kind of super healing potion, or something. And that's before getting to the fact you somehow have two fathers and no mother!" Letting off a rather large belch and swaying a little - that's not a good sloshing sound - I stood, kind of, in Doctor Trauma's office, Nurse Laundry having fallen asleep an hour or so ago on one of the cots. Oh, I'm gonna be leaving glowing puddles for the next few days. The unicorn stallion rubbed at his temples, leaning over his desk. After a moment, he let off a sigh, looking back at me. "At least your shoulder ought to be good now. Your skeleton's more brittle than most, but as long as you keep drinking that stuff, and nothing shatters or gets displaced, you should be fine. I'm going to go get back to sleep, this night's been... something."

Giving him a nod and a weak smile, he gathered his coat and started to make way for the door, myself following him. As we entered the lobby, the power-armored pegasus rushed over to greet me, a worried look on her face. Oh, no, no, please don't hug and shake me, I feel stuffed to burst already... "Goddesses I was worried. At least you're alright now... um, glowing eyes aside." Thaaat explains why everything's so bright. Night vision isn't worth it if I have to drink enough Sparkle-Cola to feel like I got into Dad's reserves again... Weakly I followed Crash Dive out of the hospital, fitting my duffel bag onto the half-track parked outside the entrance and flopping onto the back portion with a long groan. So much testing last night, so many aches and pains, so much Sparkle-Cola... Oh, I might be sick. "Um, are you going to be alright?"

Looking up at Crash Dive with a weak frown, I let out another long groan, moving myself to lay against my duffel bag. A bit stiff and rough, but I can deal with it. Thank you jacket for having a big collar like you do... "Yeah... yeah, I just... had a long night. Lot of Sparkle-Cola, lot of testing done, lot of my body fixing itself with each sip... on the bright side, I should pretty much be self-regenerating for the next few days until I get all of this outta my system. Just a little... stuffed, until then. Hurk." Oh, Sparkle-Cola RAD never tastes as good the second time around. At least I can keep it in me still... probably isn't radiation sickness, they did start giving me some radaway by the fifth bottle. Never want to have to do this again...

"Alright, if you say so. Ripple left with Trout last night, we're heading for Maple Creek once the rest get back. Sooner we can get back to the lighthouse, the better, I really don't want to go around with so many caps on us." Now that's a pretty good point there. Desperate people want bottlecaps, even if there aren't that many desperate people around here, having a whole lotta them with us probably isn't a good thing. Even if we have enough firepower with us to pretty much take on any kind of raider camp without breaking much of a sweat...

After a few minutes of me just enjoying the chill air blowing around and trying to pass out - stupid double caffeine and sugar - the sounds of hoofsteps and lots and lots of bottlecaps jingling about filled the air, a few boxes or bags or something landing in the back wagon before two sets of hooves followed, Static humming happily to himself as he got into the driver's seat. Please let this thing's suspension be good, I really don't wanna know what happens when a balloon filled with Sparkle-Cola, like my stomach right now, gets shaken up. A tinkling of magic filled the air as one of Aerith's screens met my vision, the black screen providing some lovely shade.

'You really don't look so good. Are you doing okay?' Oh, I'm gonna be asked that a lot today, aren't I? I gave her a weak nod as the engine roared to life beneath me, Static starting to turn the mini-tank around and head back to the lighthouse. As we headed for the road out of town, the mini-tank hit a small pothole, myself being bounced a little in the backseat as we passed over it. My stomach responded with a rather loud sloshing and gurgling noise, myself thankful that all that came from the building taste of Sparkle-Cola in my throat was an exceptionately large burp. Oh, this is gonna be fun...

I groaned myself awake in the lighthouse bedroom, rubbing at my head. Fuck me sideways, what time was it?... 5:26. Great. So, I either just slept the day away or managed to sleep a full 24 hours with a belly full of Spakle-Cola RAD going through my system. Both possible, with that much soda I probably crashed and burned like that Harrier... what was I doing before I fell asleep? There was the broken shoulder... the medical tests at the hospital... coming out of the hospital and getting on the half-track... watching the sky speed away as we got out of Hopeville, and... guess it was somewhere between there. Huh, that's weird though, pretty sure my back legs didn't feel so warm and cushy and OH FUCK ME NO. Oh, I'm going to kill that earth pony.

Frantically shoving the damp, glowing, fabric-stuffed bag around my rump off, with a few less-than-mature screams to boot, the sound of four hooves rushing down the hall filled the air, the bluish mane of the alicorn coming around the corner greeting me in the doorway. Aerith looked towards me for a moment, then to the... thing that I was just wearing, before letting off a silent sigh and picking it up in her magic, tossing it out of sight through an opened window. Thank you, thank you, thank you... 'Ahm, sorry, you started to... well... and, um, Crash Dive didn't want her mattress glowing. Static said that this is what they did last time.' Aerith chewed at her lip for a moment, before returning a somewhat worried expression. 'I'm kind of concerned that there even is a 'last time'. You don't do this often, do you?'

"N-no! Of course not, that was just one... stupid mistake. I don't want to talk about it." Picking myself up to my hooves, I trotted past the alicorn, shivering slightly as the cool air met my flanks. Oh, no, no, this just doesn't feel right at all. Punching something would probably help... like that earth pony's face. He's tough, he can handle it. Looking along the hallway for a moment, the distinct lack of other hoofsteps and voices caught my attention, the cool breeze coming around the lighthouse filling the air instead. "Aerith, where's Static at? I need to give him a hug... around the neck... until he's bluer than usual."

'He went back up to Maple Creek with Crash Dive and Scouring to work out payment for the other turret, and deliver some more of the ammo.' Of course he did. Well, at least I can pummel him once he gets back... a long foreleg draped itself around my neck, Aerith looking down at me with a small frown. 'Is everything alright with you? I mean, you and him seem like you're pretty close, why the honest rage at him all of a sudden?' Did she just- was she-... oh, forget it. I let out a small sigh, the alicorn's magic retrieving a towel from the bathroom as we move to sit in the booths in the kitchen. I sat myself down on it as she spread it out on one side, herself taking the other.

"It's... it's a long story. Being so far away from home isn't helping at all, and with this now..." Rubbing at my head, I let off a long sigh, leaning on the table. Looking out the window, the waves crahsed down below, the sun starting to illuminate the cliffs with an orangeish hue. "We both really want to go back home, stuff just keeps happening and getting in the way. Now we've got mercenaries after us, ponies with air craft that know pretty well how to fly them that want to kill us, and Celestia knows what else we're going to run into or have come out of the sky at us, and the cherry on top is we're also part of this wasteland's version of Twintails and Minty. We're both only 18, you have any idea how stressful shit like that is!? No wonder my dad gets that weird look whenever we go up by NEAMO crater, or has so many grey hairs..." Letting out a sigh, I let myself slump forwards, my chin resting on the table. As if to remind me, my stomach found it necessary to let off another gurgle, a burp escaping me - uuugh, Sparkle-Cola really doesn't taste as good a few hours after it's been drank. "Ugh, and then there's also the whole being force-fed Sparkle-Cola RAD thing all through last night..."

Leaning myself back up and resting back in the booth, my hooves moved to hold against my stomach under my jacket, it gurgling softly again. Well, on the upside it is getting through my system... Aerith's screen came up again, the alicorn looking at myself with a perplexed expression. 'I kind of do want to know why they did that to you. I'm not a doctor, but even I doubt that's a standard procedure.' Huh, but didn't I tell her about it last night... this morning... whatever it is? Oh, wait, no, I told Crash Dive... vaguely, I think. Bleh, ponies shouldn't sleep during the day...

"Well, turns out my body can heal itself as long as I keep drinking the stuff. Broken bones, minor cuts, bullet holes, you name it. I think complete regeneration is out of the question, though..." Yup... yeah, that's an expression I've goten a lot. First time it isn't about my dads, though. "I guess I'm also a bit more resistant to radiation than normal too, because I only needed one or two things of radaway during all that. Turns out my bones are pretty brittle, though, so it's not all good stuff. Dunno if it's just genetics or when I was made they tweaked with the formula a bit so I'm the way I am, I just know that I never ever ever want to be forced to drink THAT much in one night again." There was a short pause, the breaking of the waves masking the entrance of a small motor as the mini-tank made it's way across the landbridge and up to the lighthouse. "Under my own volition, sure, but no more force-drinking."

The door opened with a small creak as Static trotted in through it, followed by Crash Dive and Scouring. Our eyes met for a moment, before his looked down to my flanks on the booth, a smirk coming to his lips. Wipe that grin off your face before I do it for you, Sparky... "Have a good nap, Strikey? Didn't make too much of a mess, did you?" My stomach gurgled again as I started to grit my teeth, a small burp getting caught in my mouth and released as an angry huff. Oh, if I weren't still working this soda through me you would be a dead stallion... he let off a small chuckle, grabbing a Sunrise Sarsaparswilla from the fridge and trotting back over, undoing the bottlecap with a small hiss.

"We'll get payment for the anti-air gun in a week or two while they work on gathering up the bottlecaps, in the meantime we've got a new lead on those fish-monster-things." Crash Dive chiming in broke me away from thoughts of taking Static out back and pumping ten more bottles of that soda into his own stomach, the power armored mare pulling a package of pre-war snackfood off of a shelf and opening it up for herself. "Heard from Ripple that a few of the fishermen up by Hopeville spotted things that fit the description by an old dock in the northwest of the reservoir. Figured we ought to check it out, and maybe blow it up." The room went quiet as suddenly all eyes were on Crash Dive, the powdered sugar from a snack cake on her lips. "Mmh, what? Kind of seems like it's just what we do, save people and blow stuff up."

"I think the lass is rubbin' off on you, either that or I am." Scouring let off a small chuckle, looking back out the doorway for a moment. He paused in thought, and I think I managed to figure out just what he was thinking about when he started moving for teh door again. "Assumin' the dock isn't built like a bunker, I think we've got just the thing for taking care of it. What d'you think Night Strike, one o' those one-ton thermobaric bombs ought to do it, aye?"

"Two'd be better, yanno, just so we're sure it'll be gone." Returning a smirk, the unicorn stallion gave a nod and chuckle, disappearing out through the doorway and around the side of the house. Blowing stuff up, now that'll make me feel better, and it'll be nice to see what those big bloody bombs can do... and a bit sobering, when the thought that there's at least eight of them not in our posession out there to be used against others comes to mind. Hopefully we'll never have to see that. Static tossed myself and Aerith a pair of unopened packages of snack cakes, the alicorn catching them in her magic and opening them for the both of us. Food... yeah, I guess I ought to eat something. Probably will help keep the Sparkle-Cola down...

"Mmh, so, when we moving on this? Gonna wait until tomorrow, or..." Munching down one of the powdery pre-war cakes, the sounds of two big heavy things getting placed in the wagon came in from outside, Crash Dive stuffing the rest of her first snack cake in her mouth before folding the plastic over and setting it on the counter. Static let off a small chuckle, finishing off his second snack cake and trotting to our bedroom, grabbing my duffel bag and his saddlebags, returning and tossing the former to me.

"Soon as possible, in other words, now. Was going to let you sleep in, figured between Scouring and Crash Dive we could handle it easy, but I guess you can come if you have to." Oh har har. Leave me out of the rest of the adventures down here, why don't you, it's not like I'm looking for any chances to happily derp stuff in the face with 40mm grenades and other big bullets. Going through my duffel bag and pulling Thumper out, and checking the breech - thank you for pulling that shell out for me, whoever did that - I zipped it back up, catching the earth pony snickering. "Yanno, you did look really cute asleep like that, your rump surrounded by such a thick diaper. Just a shame I couldn't have had it made as big as last time~"

I swear sometimes that earth pony WANTS me to hurt him...

"Well, sure looks like somepony's wised up to these things being around." The first hints of night had fallen as we pulled up to the old wooden dock the monster fish-things were spotted at, and apparently shot at on, too. An old barge creaked softly as it bobbed in the water beside the wooden pier, myself hopping off of the back of the mini-tank and hovering over, landing near a rotting carcass. Yup, definitely were the monster-things... "Anyone see any reason why they'd be hanging around here?"

"Well, we're on the lake they keep commin' out of, for one." Static trotted over beside me as Scouring and Aerith saw to getting one of the bombs off of the cart, Crash Dive watching them from the wagon. I passed along a roll of the eyes, letting out a small huff - thank you captain obvious. The earth pony looked around for a moment, myself following behind as he headed for a small shed near the shoreline. "This doesn't seem like a commercial shipping dock, too small for that and there's nowhere to store stuff. Means it's either a privately-owned one..."

"Or owned by a biological research company?" He turned and blunk a few times at me in confusion, staring from the opened doorway. In return, I gave a nod towards the faded logo printed on the outside of the shed; 'Shady Shores Biological Research'. Really, it's not like it's not obvious... though my eyes cound still be glowing a little, that's a possibility too. Still, this does raise a question or two... "The logs back in Clearwater kind of said that people were getting attacked by these things before the bombs even hit. If they're crowding around here for whatever reason..."

"I really am not liking what that's implying." Okay, I know that pre-war Equestria wasn't exactly all friendship and happiness, but even then, making monsters that eat other ponies? That sounds a bit far on the wrong side of crazy. Static stopped for a moment to jab his umbrella into the back of a roach, myself starting to look over the piles of clipboards and ruined books that littered the inside of the small shed. Okay, well, we've at least got a name to blame for these things now, probably...

There was a small whirring sound of a fan starting as Static clicked the power button for a console at the far end of the shed, the screen flashing and illumminating for a second before something inside the case fizzled and popped, smoke flowing out of it. Joy, well, so much for that terminal. Damn water damage... pushing a pile of clipboards aside, a military-grade radio revealed itself, myself looking at it as Static waved away the smoke from the terminal's vents. Okay, maybe research-grade portable terminals aren't exactly waterproof, but military-grade ham radios, on the other hoof... giving a glance to the earth pony as he went through another stack of clipboards, I leaned forwards and flipped the power switch for the radio set, it humming to life with a bit of static.

"This is Captain Marigold Skies aboard the Seaddler, calling to anyone listening on this frequency. I've lost all power in one engine and losing power in the other three fast, going to attempt a landing on the Vanhoover Reservoir, and I'm not feeling up for paddling myself back to shore. If anyone listening has a motor boat to help get me and my plane over after we're down, would be nice." ...okay, wasn't expecting that. Usually when I turn these things on it's ponies' last messages before they died, still broadcasting even two centuries after the fact... ewuh, yeah, still sends shivers up my spine thinking about it. The radio crackled for a moment longer, before that mare's voice came back over the speaker. "This is Seaddler calling for the North Vanhoover Air Base, I know for a fact that place wasn't hit during the war, is anyone there listening on this frequency? I'm eight klicks south of the reservoir and closing fast, somepony responding would be nice."

Myself and Static were staring at each other for a long while, both wearing the same expression of disbelief. Okay, so, even more air craft in the wasteland than we first guessed... and this one has four engines, that's a new one for me. Our eyes locked for a moment longer, the earth pony nodded to the radio beside me, and the microphone in front of it. Giving him another glance, I turned to face it, placing a hoof gently on the button in front of the mike for a moment before firmly pressing it.

"U-uhm, we're reading you here, uh, Seaddler, are you sure you're going to make it to the reservoir?" So I'm not exactly a flight coordinator, sue me. Knowing if we're going to have to make a mad dash south to try and save somepony from a fireballing wreck would be useful. And so would maybe letting them know that a certain ammunition depot was currently covered in chlorine gas still, come to think of it... "I-if you can't, try to avoid crashing near the Seahoof Armory, there's been a... um... small detonation of all the chlorine gas bombs stored there... ahem."

The radio was silent for a moment longer, static and the thrum of engines coming over after a moment, a dull drone heard far off in the distance outside. "Understood, will be avoiding the Seahoof airspace anyways. Going to be bringing her in low over Hopeville for the landing, if you're near there d'you think you could apologize to the town in advance for me?" Myself letting off a small chuckle, the dull roar kept filling the night air far towards the south, both of us looking out the broken window over towards the dim lights of the town on the far bank. Well, hopefully not many ponies are sleeping right now, because they'll be in for a surprise. I admit it did take a moment for me to stick two and two together why the people of Hoepville won't be the only ones surprised tonight - well, a moment, and the flash of tracers in the sky as the mare on the other end of the radio let out a curt scream.

"What the hell!? Cease fire, cease fire! Oh sh-" The radio cut to static as explosions illuminated the sky over the heavily armed small shoreside town, a large form with one of it's wings engulfed in flames and making a loud droning noise coming down out of the sky. Both myself and Static scrambled for the door, my wings carrying me aloft as the aircraft came down against the surface of the lake with a large splash of water in the nightime air, the spray seeming to dull the flames for a moment as the craft seemed to skip along the surface. The mini-tank's engine let out a roar as Static started it up, my eyes watching with the air craft as it seemed to finally slow down and come to an abrupt stop down the shore, beached up upon it with one wing still spurting fire.

Well, on the upside, she won't be needing that tow to shore... oh, crap...

Storm Warning

We sped along the shoreline, the heat of the flames becoming more apparent as we drew closer to the downed aircraft. The roar of the fire barely drowned out the hopeless sputters of one of the engines as I parked a ways away from the wreck, hopping out of the mini tank. Night Strike and I stepped closer to the burning plane, unsure of what to do. “Is she even still alive?” Night Strike didn’t answer, just looking worryingly on as the plane burned. A figure began to crawl out from the wreck, coughing and sputtering as she tried to draw herself away from the flames, dropping a small charred fire extinguisher in the process. Scouring Charge ran in, his helmet’s light cutting through the smoke as he bent down to scoop up the pilot and slung her over his back.

Marigold’s eyes were clenched shut, her muzzle stuck into her flight jacket to avoid the smoke as Scouring carried her over to safety. He laid her down on the ground, allowing her to free her muzzle and take a breath of air. Her rough skin could be seen in the flicker of the fire, bits of flesh hanging off of exposed muscle and sinew. She coughed a few more times before sitting up, still taking in a few deep gulps of air. She looked up at us, grinning a little. “Gwuh, thanks, that landing could’ve been a lot better... had worse, though.” She looked over to the burning plane, her expression immediately growing much more concerned. She stood up and took a few steps closer to the plane. “Oh, fuck, no! This... no, no!” Our shadows continued to dance on the ground as the fire burned away, Marigold pacing back and forth. Scouring watched her for a moment before picking up the extinguisher she'd dropped with his magic, starting to spray down the flames with foam, to little effect. Eheheh, ahm, well, I suppose it could be worse, right?

Suddenly one of the engines on the burning wing exploded, large chunks of metal flying off in various directions, a few landing in the lake with a sizzle and a cloud of steam. Yeah, yeah, something worse like that. Aerith’s magic encompassed a large amount of water from the reservior, carrying it over and splashing it over the aircraft's back, a faint sound of metal bending being heard as the water hit it. Steam and smoke rose into the air as the water doused the flames, leaving the sky redarkened and the charred hulk of a plane resting silently. Marigold trotted up to her aircraft, looking it over and rubbing a hoof along the metal skin below the faded name. “Oh, no... Flew over Equestria for two and a quarter centuries, and this... no..."

I trotted over underneath the wing, moving past the lowered landing gear, float... thing, looking at the engine that was hit. The bits of metal that it used to attach to were jagged and corroded, hot oil still dripping from the end of it, and several small holes and alarmingly large ones puncturing through what engine block was left. Eesh, yeah, I’m no mechanic, but I really don’t think this thing is going to be flying again anytime soon. “So, uh, you were headed towards Hopeville, right?” Marigold had hoisted herself up into the Seaddler's cockpit, digging around inside. She tossed a slightly singed bag onto the ground before hopping out, letting off a small sigh.

“Actually no, I came up here because of some weird chatter on Seaddler's shortwave, sounded like somepony and their friends came across some old jets and a copy of 'Aeronautical terms for Idiots'. Wanted to see if meeting these guys would help make sense of their chatter that's blocking up the airwaves.” She picked up her satchel before turning back to look at the damaged wing, chewing on her lip for a moment. “I guess I should've thought about the fact that the Seahoof Armory probably had some anti-air weapons in it. Usually when we were shot at, it wasn't with anything bigger than rifle rounds... wasteland's changed a lot.” The old ghoul let off a sigh, hooves digging into the sandy shore as she moved herself towards us. As she caught the rest of the group, and the mini-tank, she paused for a moment, thinking. “Hm... you wouldn't happen to be that group up here that that guy running the Radio KAOS station out of the HMS Cadence keeps going on about, are you?” Sheesh, I think we’re going to open a lot of conversations with that now.

“Yep, the Vanhoover Five, that’s us!” Night Strike said proudly, hovering in the air and placing her hooves against her sides with a smile. She soon set herself back onto the sand, letting her smile fade with a weak chuckle. “Ahm, sorry about Hopeville, that radio chatter you've been hearing, those guys with the other, uh, jets, they're kinda not friendly. Everyone's been a bit on edge about the whole thing, we're trying to help keep the peace, but, well... they haven't been to Hopeville yet, nopony there knows what they look like, just that they're big, they fly, and they're a threat.” Night Strike bit at her lip, letting out a breath through her nose. We all stood quietly for a moment as Marigold dusted some ash off of her flightsuit, myself looking to the dark blue pegasus. “Uh, so, um... hm... Static, what'd you get us as part of the payment?”

"Uh..." Oh, please please please tell me she wasn't suggesting we'd give her some of the caps we earned fair and square to get her plane fixed... unless... oh, right, that! Whew, dodged a bullet there... "Two weeks free stay at a hotel in town, I'm sure when they learn that it was you who they shot down they can probably be bargained to raise it. Yanno, psychological and physical damages and all that."

Marigold wore a small look of surprise for a moment, before looking back to her plane. “Well, considering I was probably going to wind up towed there anyways, might as well. Seaddler's been a good aircraft, but she wasn't exactly built as a luxury yacht." she let off a small chuckle, which myself and Night Strike joined in weakly. It faded back to silence for a moment as her eyes moved back to the charred place where an engine and wing panels once were. "I can’t just leave her here, though. We've come back from worse, but last time she was damaged this badly... well, there wasn't an Equestria like there is today. Sure would be hard-pressed to find anywhere that'd make another plane like her, far as I can remember she only had three sister aircraft and Celestia knows where they wound up...” I looked back towards Scouring, who had returned with Aerith to working with the bomb he’d taken off of the cart. Well, the dock was close enough to the plane for us to get here fast and them to walk back...

“We do still need to set up our plan to help with the weird mutant fish problem that’s been going on here. Scouring and Aerith can stick around here and watch your plane while we take you back around the lake, we know somepony who might be able to help pull the Seaddler across the lake tomorrow, too.” Marigold frowned a little, thinking it over, as Night Strike flew herself over to Scouring and Aerith. The ghoul pilot looked over the minitank before shrugging, letting out a small sigh.

“I suppose I can handle one night away from the Seaddler. Just be careful around her, she's... she's been through enough tonight as it is.” She trotted over to the tank and climbed onto the back, settling herself down by Boomer and doing a double take at the size of it's magazine. I hopped into the driver’s seat as Night Strike and Crash Dive placed themselves in the usual spots, the engine starting up with a soft purr. Bringing the half-track around, we passed by Aerith and Scouring as they finished up on prepping the bomb, the alicorn quickly nabbing her rifle and machine gun, and Scouring's rocket launcher as we passed by.

“Don’t worry, Aerith's the best sharpshooter I know down here and Scouring's a Steel Ranger, they can handle anything they might run into. Besides, there’s no way I’m letting them blow up that bomb without me here to watch it.” Night Strike let off a small chuckle, the crisp night air catching it as it trailed off. Turning off the small dirt road that conected to the dock, we were soon back on cracked pavement, and the way towards Hopeville. “Where’d you even get the Seaddler, anyways? It doesn’t seem like something you’d just up and build one day and, no offense, but you don’t look like somepony that would try storming a military base anytime soon. Assuming you could find one that would keep a plane like that... propellers for a fixed-wing, huh, who knew?”

Marigold grinned a little, her jaw muscles visible in their stretching. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly as smooth-coated as I used to be.” She adjusted herself as I followed the path, the crashed plane quickly growing smaller as we sped away, following along the shore. “The Seaddler was one of three aircraft built by the Bow-wing corporation for Marigold Industries, my old company. Sister planes were the Seafalke and the Seamowe, all of them built for long-distance mail service. I was flying on a standard supply run to the international research outpost way up in the arctic circle with Jackscrew and Dusty, when...” She fell silent for a moment, before continuing. "When I saw the missiles coming over the horizon. Called it into Cloudsdale civil air command... heard the exact second when the early ones wiped it out of the sky. That squeal over the radio still haunts me..."

The road curved back around towards the edge of the lake after crossing a wide river on a taller bridge, avoiding a small ditch that was filled with stagnant, swampy water. The tank’s treads kicked up a few stray pebbles as I followed it along, the headlight cutting a beam through the darkness and illuminating the road ahead as we passed by Jericho Beach, getting onto the familiar roads again. Sheesh, I swear we’ve been going back and forth so often I could drive there with my eyes closed. After a long moment of silence from everyone, I decided to break it, giving a glance back at Marigold. “Ahm, hey, you wouldn’t happen to have some kind of generator back home that you could fit onto your plane, do you? We’ve been looking for one but we’ve had no luck so far.”

“Can't say that I do. Where I'm from, Seaddle, we get our electricity needs from an old icebreaker's reactor. Been running the whole town for decades at this point, just as much a miracle that Seaddler's still airworthy as it is that that old thing's ticking. Sorry.” Marigold replied with a small shrug, prompting a sigh from me. Well, it was worth a shot. The headlight illuminated a radroach scurrying onto the road, only to be crushed under the treads of the mini tank a moment later. Gross. “Have you guys tried asking the Steel Rangers? Wasn’t the unicorn that dragged me out of the wreck one of them?”

“We haven’t actually run into any Rangers other than him, being honest. He said the Rangers around here aren’t too friendly to locals, so we probably wouldn’t get anywhere with them, anyways.” Night Strike responded as I turned towards the edge of Hopeville, approaching the hotel with its flickering lighted sign. “Not to mention, they’d probably take the Valkyrie for themselves in a heartbeat if we told them what the generator was for, and I doubt even Static’s silver tongue would be able to buy it back from them. Let’s just hope they aren’t avid radio listeners.” Night Strike gave a feeble chuckle as I pulled into the cart parking lot of the hotel, the engine’s rumble fading away as I switched it off.

I hopped out of the tank as the others climbed off of the back and made our way towards the front door. “At least we know Statc’ll be happy tonight, he’ll have a room all to himself to invite Chauffeur over~” Night Strike let off a small giggle, gathering up her duffel bag. I shot her a glare as she stuck her tongue out at me, Marigold trying to hide her small smirk. Our hoofsteps were muffled as we stepped onto the carpeted floor of the lobby, Chauffeur sitting behind the desk. Night Strike walked up to him, a wide grin on her face. “Two rooms for the night, and do you guys happen to do room service?”

Shoving her aside, I placed the caps down on the counter and took two keys from Chauffer without a second word, immediately turning to head down the hallway. “Oh, come on, Static, we all saw how you blushed.” She poked my side, only to receive the key shoved in her mouth. She’s sleeping outside the next time we come here, and I hope it rains. I slipped the key into the lock and turned it, the mechanism clunking satisfyingly before I pushed it open and stepped in. I made sure to lock it behind me before letting my saddlebags and umbrella fall to the floor and myself flop onto the bed, nyring my face in the old pillows.

The sound of a note being slid under the door caused me to roll back off and stare down at the floor, reading off of the slightly smudged ink. ‘Look on the bright side, with him you’ll have somepony to pamper when I’m not soda binging.’ I crumpled up the note and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. Celestia dammit, Night Strike…

I awoke to a knock at my door, my mane sticking up in multiple directions from the night’s sleep. Yawning, I opened up the door to be met by Night Strike and Crash Dive, who stepped into my room and let the door shut with a click behind them. “Sheesh, we knocked on your door at least six times, I didn’t think it took you that long to drag yourself out of bed.” I rolled my eyes and stepped over to the bathroom sink, wetting my hooves so I could flatten my hair down into a less haphazard look. “Chauffeur said he got the message about the free nights, so Marigold’s free to stay here for now, at least until we get her plane over here and she can find someplace to work.”

I trotted back out once my mane was more presentable and hitched up my saddlebags, slipping my umbrella underneath the strap as usual. “Sounds good. We should head off to Maple Creek right away to get Ripple to pull the plane across the lake, then. Don’t want to keep Scouring and Aerith sitting in that shack for too long.” Night Strike nodded and we headed back out to the lobby, myself averting my gaze from Chauffeur, who was still sitting at the desk. I hopped into the mini tank once again as Crash Dive sat on the back wagon, and Night Strike settled down at Boomer's controls.

Rumbling to life, the engine purred as I turned and headed down the familiar pathway to Maple Creek, the sun still hanging somewhat low in the early morning sky. The small engine seemed to give a small sputter and cough as we pressed onwards, the gears changing over before taking hold again. “What I wouldn’t give to get this thing moving a little faster...” I gave a small grumble to myself as we rolled along the road, tracks clattering underneath. We passed by a few ponies that were fishing along the river, and I turned the handles to follow the flowing water towards Maple Creek.

“Didn’t the gunsmith in Maple Creek say something about somepony she knew up north that worked with machines like this? We can stop by him when we go looking around there for a generator, probably.” Night Strike suggested. I shrugged, tilting my head around a bit to try and relieve some of the stiffness in it. “Besides, this is still a heck of a lot faster than walking, so quit your complaining.”

We arrived at Maple Creek as the sun was getting into it's climb, early enough for it still to be morning but feeling like day. I wiped a bit of sweat off of my brow as we pulled up in front of Ripple’s fishing shack. Night Strike hopped off and knocked on his door as I parked the mini tank and climbed out after her with Crash Dive following close behind. “Ripple? You in there?” After a few moments of silence, she opened up the door to reveal an empty shack. “Huh. Well, his boat’s still here, he must be down at the pub.”

We turned and began to walk towards the riverside bar, Crash Dive’s metal-covered hooves clanking against the stone sidewalks. A pony stumbled out of the pub as we approached it before noticing us and leaning against the wall. “Heeeeey, how’re you doing?” He slurred to Night Strike, who seemed to be contemplating grabbing the grenade rifle off her back to give him his answer. Crash Dive responded to him instead, with a swift kick to the knee, sending the drunken stallion sprawling onto the ground. “Jeesh, y’don’t need to be so rude about it!” He stood himself back up shakily, and began to limp away. The double doors to the pub swung behind us as we stepped in, looking around for Ripple.

“Hey, it’s the Vanhoover Five! Where’s the rest of ya’?” One of the patrons called out to us. Before we could say anything he shook his head and waved his hoof. “Ah, whatever, drinks on me anyway!” He waved us over and we obliged, each taking a seat at the bar. The bartender slid a small glass in front of Crash Dive as well as two bottles of Sparkle Cola over for Night Strike and myself. He poured an amber colored liquid into Crash Dive’s glass as I popped the cap off of my bottle of soda and caught it in my overstuffed wallet. “Seriously, thanks for all the things you guys do around here, this is the least I could do.”

“Thanks, we’re glad to help.” Night Strike passed on a smile, taking a swig of her Sparkle Cola before pausing. “Though, uh, maybe you could help spread the word about not shooting first and asking questions later? We had a civilian get shot down up in Hopeville, we got those guns to save lives, alright?” She gave a soft chuckle, the stallion with us looking slightly taken aback. Night Strike set down her soda, shaking her head. “No, no, no she’s fine, everypony’s fine, just… y’know, what could’ve happened…” She sat awkwardly for a moment before going back to her soda. Great, now he thinks we’re sociopaths.

“Anyways, we’re looking for Ripple, doesn’t he normally hang around here?” The stallion let off a small chuckle, before pointing us over to the corner where the old captain stood attempting to throw a few darts into a board hanging on the wall. I thanked him and we moved over, Crash Dive quickly finishing her shot of alcohol under her mask. There was a resounding cheer as Ripple managed to land a bullseye, another grumbling pony handing over a hoofful of bottle caps to him. “Ripple!” I called out.

Turning and pocketing his caps, he grinned upon seeing us step up. Ah, ahoy! What can I do fer ya? Looking for another ride?” I nodded and he placed some of the caps he’d just earned on the table to pay for his drink before trotting out of the pub with us back towards his fishing shack. “Where to this time? Vanhoover, somewhere along the reservior, just a lesiure trip or somethin'? Latter's only fer Deadstallion's Island, unless you're gonna actually start payin' me for shipping guns.”

“Well, we were actually hoping you could take us up to the north edge of the lake. Somepony crashed their plane and we wanted to see if you’d be able to drag it over to Hopeville. It’s got these water landing gear things and the hull didn't seem too shot up, so it should still float fine, but the wing’s been badly burned up.” I responded. “We’ve also got a small favor to do in that area, Aerith and Scouring are there working on it now.” Ripple nodded and led us up the small ramp onto Trout, but before we stepped on, I paused. “Ahm, you think the mini tank will be fine here for the night? Dragging the boatplane back will probably take a while, you can stay in the motel with us for the night if you want.”

“Aye, it should be fine, we haven’t had any sort of vandals since that company from the Rangers passed through a month'r two ago. And thanks, but I think I’ll just sleep below deck, just in case somepony back in Hopeville tries to scuttle Trout again.” I tilted my head as Night Strike lifted the ramp up onto deck before flapping down onto it herself. Fair enough, I suppose. Ripple started up Trout’s engine before twisting the crank to raise up the anchor. We turned and began to head up the river, Trout chugging along steadily. I flipped over to the radio on my Pip-Buck, a smooth, soft tune filling the air.

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more.

I held a hoof out to Night Strike, a smug grin on my face. She blushed and responded by shoving her own hoof into my face and shoving me away. I chuckled and stuck my tongue out. Suit yourself…

The waves lapped against the sandy shore underneath the tail of the Seaddler, Ripple pulling Trout around and tossing the anchor overboard. “Alright, Crash and I’ll get her hooked up for the trip brought back over to Hopeville, you finish up whatever you needed with the others.” I flipped down the ladder for us to climb down as Night Strike simply hovered over to the shore where Aerith and Scouring charge were standing.

“We’ve got the bomb all set and ready, just waiting to get Marigold's bird out of the blast zone before we fire 'em off. Aerith found an old bag aboard the barge, filled it up with anythin' that looked important in the shed, includin' that radio ye found last night.” We all headed over to where Crash Dive and Ripple were tying large chains around the wing roots of the Seaddler, making sure they were securely bound. Aerith helped to fasten the chains with her magic, the links melting and binding to one another to form large loops around the metal wing segments. Ripple climbed back up onto Trout, giving the engine a few testing revs.

“Alright, Trout should be able to drag her across the water pretty easily, but I’ll need you guys to give a push to get her out of the sand, got it?” He called back as he hoisted the anchor back up. We all took positions, myself standing at the back of one of the landing floats. “Alright, shove!” Trout’s motor spun wildly, my hind hooves digging into the sand as I pushed forward. The plane didn’t move more a moment, but soon it was sliding smoothly along the sand before splashing into the water, sending a small wave behind Trout. The feeling of victory quickly died though as I realized how far away Trout got before Ripple could stop it.

“Ah, crap, we’re gonna have to swim to him.” I muttered. Night Strike shrugged and took to the air, quickly landing softly back down onto deck. Stupid pegasus… I looked over to Aerith. “Think you could give me a ride?” She nodded and bent down, allowing me to climb onto her back. Crash Dive and Scouring Charge waded out into the water, their suits keeping them dry as they swam over to Trout, Scouring only just able to do so. We were soon all on deck again and steadily steaming for the other shore, the steel ranger flipping open a small hatch on his armor and pulling out a detonator.

He passed it over to Night Strike, grinning. “Care to do the honors?” She gave a slightly maniacal giggle, taking the small device and looking back towards the old docks. She pressed down on the trigger, a second going by in silence before the shack and the docks vanished in a large white cloud that quickly became a rapid fireball, the blast condensing air into clouds around and the shockwave sending a wave of water crashing into the side of Trout. I stumbled about on deck, trying to grab onto the side for stability as the tiny harbor of the research facility was replaced by a small foamy cloud, which confusingly started to take on a mushroom shape. Well, hopefully that’ll stop some of those fish pony things... assuming they don’t breed very fast.

Ripple stuck his head out of the window of the bridge. “Dear Luna, at least warn me before you do something like that again, will ye?! Thought her reactor had just gone off like a bloody megaspell…” He shook his head and drew it back through the window, Trout continuing on towards Hopeville. Let’s just hope the guys running the guns tonight are a little less twitchy than the ones last night... The lights of Hopeville shone on the edge of the lake as we approached it, a couple other boats floating off of shore near the town. “I’ll stay here for the night, you go get whoever owns this plane and we’ll figure out where to dock it tomorrow before heading back to Maple Creek." I nodded and we all hopped down into the shallow water below, wading in towards shore and the edge of town.

“We’re staying in the hotel tonight, if you want to head over there now.” I told Aerith and Scouring. “I want to head to the mayor and see if she’s got her payment for us.” They nodded in acknowledgement, but stuck along as I made my way back towards the town hall. The large oak doors creaked as we stepped into the Mayor’s office, finding her looking over several stacks of paper, a pen hanging from her mouth.

“Ah, good to see you, we’ve got your payment right here.” She lifted up a bag of caps along with a crate of small caliber ammo. “400,000 caps, and some ammo that the gunsmith made up, said to give to you. Good thing you got us those guns when you did, somepony was flying in for an attack just last night!” The mayor leaned back, looking satisfied.

“Um, yeah, about that attacking aircraft,” I said, scooping up the ammo and caps. “That was a civilian aircraft. We heard her requesting permission to land on the reservior over a military transceiver radio.” The mayor’s face went pale as she sat up straighter in her chair, looking worried. “She’s alive, don’t worry, we were able to recover her aircraft for the most part too, but you really should be more careful with who you’re shooting next time.” My voice grew sterner as I spoke. “Don’t you some way of contacting planes flying over?”

The mayor gulped. “Uh, w-well, the, uh, ponies running those guns don’t… even if somepony did I don’t know if they’d have waited long enough for confirmation…” She leaned forward, putting her head in her hooves. “Oh, Celestia, if this gets out this will be the death of my re-election…” She looked back up at us. “Please, is there anything I can do to help them?” She asked with pleading eyes.

“Her plane’s moored off the shore with a gunboat captain from Maple Creek, most of it is intact but the one wing was badly damaged by the anti-air fire, and it's completely lost an engine. You get somepony to at least repair the wing for her, and we’ll be fine. She said she used to run some courier business before the war, helping set her up with some of the caravans wouldn’t hurt either.” The mayor nodded quickly and pulled over a notepad, scribbling down instructions into it.

The mayor spat out the pen and was about to speak before Aerith dropped a musty old leather satchel onto her desk, it landing with a resounding thud. Both myself and the mayor stared at it in confusion for a moment before the alicorn produced a familiar radio from it, the mayor blinking a few times in disbelief. Aerith glanced towards me, a smile on her lips, as she put up another magic screen. 'Military-standard grade radio transciever, just needs an antenna connection and somepony to listen on it. Same one they used to pick up her signal last night.'

"Ah... okay then! Um, so, ah, well..." Goddess-damnit, why do I need to have a conscience. I really want to sell them this radio, because hey, I was nice enough for the gun mount as it was, but... guh. I -have- been traveling too much with Night Strike. "I... guess we have the answer to the friend or foe contact issue. You can probably ask the pilot of the plane in the harbor how to set it up, she's staying at the hotel. Ask for Marigold."

“I’ll make sure that’s done. I am so, so sorry for this happening.” She went back to her paperwork, shuffling it around and scribbling some more into her notebook, Aerith gathering the leather bag back up. We turned and headed back out of the town hall, making our way towards the hotel. The sun was almost completely set by the time we stepped into the lobby, myself walking quickly past the desk to avoid Chauffeur’s gaze. Scouring followed me into our room, shutting the door behind us as I dropped my saddlebags and umbrella to the floor. I flopped onto the bed, rather unsurprisingly tired for the day - for once, could something not come up that keeps us stuck in these two towns tomorrow?

"So, um, if you wouldn't mind me asking, why's the Seaddler built like it is? Never seen an aircraft besides a Vertibuck use propellers for, well, propulsion, before." Marigold seemed to have gotten herself settled in the hotel room, the old ghoul letting off a quiet sigh as she looked out the window. Aerith and Crash Dive had gotten settled in the room next to us with Static and Scouring across the hallway - two pony max limit to a room, can get a bit awkward when there're five of us. Least it evened out this time with there being six. Resting back on one of the beds, I idly sipped from a botle of Sparkle-Cola, Marigold turning about and trotting over to the other bed.

"Hm, never seen a prop aircraft before, really? They were popular before the war, least for civilian transport." She wore a small smile as she rested herself on the old cushions, the lake flickering moonlight in through the window from outside as the electric lights filled the room with a soft yellow glow. "Gonna hazard a guess and say that the aircraft you've seen are all old military ones. Jets were mainly used by the armed forces, you'd see a propeller aircraft here and there but nine times of ten it was a civilian one repurposed for military use. Fought tooth and hock to keep Seaddler and her sisters from serving as more than delivery aircraft..." A small chuckle escaped Marigold as she rested against the pillows. "Kind of ridiculous now, I wound up having to put guns on her anyways. Two cannons in her nose and two turrets... suppose I should be thankful the fire stayed at the engine..."

I gave a small nod, taking a few healthy gulps of the glowing blue soda, shuffling along to the head of the bed myself. Sparkle-Cola RAD, best night light I ever had as a filly... even if my stomach doesn't want to agree with me too much. "That's the wasteland for you. If a vehicle doesn't have guns on it already, it'll wind up having them sooner or later... heh, just look at the litle half-track we've got. Only reason that Boomer's mounted on it is because he's too heavy for me to carry him." Letting off a small chuckle, I took another sip, resting back on the old pillows and letting out a sigh. Man, how long ago was it when we found those things the first time we went to Seahoof, anyways?... Marigold lifted herself up on a foreleg, looking towards me.

"I still want to know where you managed to find a little MWT Motorbug like that. Used to see them all the time when I'd go with my father to the Vanhoover Air Base, they used them for helping with taxiing the larger aircraft onto the landing strip." Huh, Motorbug, is that what they were called? Catchy... eh, mini-tank sounds meaner. Besides, that's kinda what it is now, anyways. "Honestly, after that I also want to know where you got fuel for it. Thought they all ran off of fuel oil or alcohol engines."

"Dah... that's a good question. I assumed it was a similar drive to my dad's TOG, little arcane reactor makes steam for the engine or something." Setting the glass bottle on the nightstand, I scratched at my head with a hoof, thinking. Okay, so it didn't sound like a turbine, might be an engine like Trout's instead, then. Really should check when we get back to Maple Creek... I gave the old ghoul a shrug, laying back into the pillows. "Thought all tanks had the same kind of drive systems."

"I guess it could've been changed to a reactor-fueled steam powertrain, but, uh, sorry... TOG?" Marigold returned me a confused look, laying out on the bed. Oh yeah, probably would make sense to explain that... among other things, if she missed the interviews. "You said it was your dad's... your father owns a tank?"

"TOG II, eighty-one tons, ten meters long by three wide and high, mounting a three-inch MWT seventeen-pounder anti-tank gun and a twenty-mil coaxial in the turret, and another twenty mil in the hull. Developed by The Old Gang, landships committee, I think..." Okay, so I don't know the whole history for it, but it's still a tank, it's still huge, and it's still a beautiful piece of machinery. And that gun still makes me tingle when it fires. "And, uh, only Twintails really drives it that often. My other dad, Featherweight, he's a bit too big to really fit inside it comfortably anymore, even with it having a good bit more space than a usual tank..."

"A 'yes' would've done just fine. I'm... gonna go to sleep while my brain tries to work on what you just said." Marigold leaned herself back onto the pillows, flipping herself over to look towards the window, her old wings adjusting as she settled herself. Huh... guess that explains why Crash Dive didn't look at her much. Well, she had a point anyways, already was pretty late as-is, and I'm pretty sure if we don't get on the move away from this part of the wasteland soon Static's going to have an aneurysm. Reaching over to the nightstand, I flicked the switch on the little lamp, the soft yellow glow being replaced by the soft bluish one reflecting off the lake, and the one from what few drops were left in the glass bottle. My eyes fell to it, a quiet sigh escaping me as I clutched the small plushie inside my jacket.

Almost felt like home...

"Just bring her up onto the shore, she'll be safest there, and I can actually manage a better look at what the damage is. Barring Engine 1, anyways..." Aerith and Scouring both gave small nods as their combined magic pulled the steel cables around the wing roots towards the land, the boat-plane following suit. The steel of the rear of the hull carved a large path in the wet sand, the aircraft sliding along a few more meters before they let it rest. The Alicorn's magic swiftly took to severing the linkages around the wing roots, the cables and chains clattering as they were removed and cast aside, Marigold letting off a sigh. "Thank you, really. Already feeling a lot better with the Seaddler at least reachable now."

'Don't thank us, without Ripple and Trout she'd still be over there. I doubt we could've moved her this far without them.' Aerith gave a smile as another one of her screens came up, nodding over to the small gunboat out on the lake. Marigold returned a nod, wearing a small smile as she trotted over to the Seaddler, starting to look over the damages. Following beside her, I took to looking over the aircraft myself - hey, only times I saw her were at night and when she was on fire, I deserve a closer look!

Okay, let's start from the wingtip and work our way in; well, first off, one of the stabilizer floats. Comes out of the wing just after the engine nacelle, huh, suppose it makes sense enough to put it there. Hydraulic pistons for extending, but those cables tell me it can be put down or pulled up by hoof or electric power in a pinch. Am going to hazard a guess that those irregular holes in the metal aren't supposed to be there, though... Moving on to the engines - well, engine - the rear one looks pretty much intact, driving a three-bladed propeller. Must spin clockwise to produce forward thrust, and the one on the other side... counter-clockwise? Huh... oh yeah, torque, that's probably why. Same readons the vertibuck engines spin opposite each other, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, okay, moving on, we get to the wing root... and that's right about when Static, Crash Dive and some other mare show up. Aw, don't tell me we're going to be leaving so soon...

"Oh my, I didn't realize just how large these things were..." Letting off a small sigh, I trotted over to Static, the mare moving her gaze off of the Seaddler and to me, extending a hoof. "Ahm, sorry, I'm the mayor of Hopeville, came down as soon as I could to see the craft we, um... shot down a few nights ago. Is the owner of it around anywhere?..." She glanced around a few times as I nodded back towards the craft, Marigold appearing out of an upper hatch and startng to look at the wing from atop it. Sheesh, what's that face for, you didn't think a ghoul could own a pre-war aircraft and still be able to fly it, or somethin'? The mayor regained herself after a moment, clearing her throat. "Alright, uh, before I get to handling things, I just want to ask, for future refrence... the air craft that -would- attack us, do you know if they're as big as this one is?"

Looking towards Crash Dive for a moment, she glanced between the mayor and myself under her visor, giving a small nod. Best if they know what they'll be going up against... heh, kind of like Dr. Strangemare, except without the doomsday device and with a lot more, yanno, actual death and destruction... moving on. "They aren't as large as the Seaddler, no. Thinking about it, I think they're actually only about half as big as she is, but they are significantly more maneuverable and much faster. On the upside though, they don't handle having rebar shot into their engines that well, heh." Letting off a weak chuckle, the mayor wore a distinct look of surprise, myself going quiet again. Okay, probably should tell them about the payload they'd be hit with, too... "There should only be three of them left now, but they've got automatic tesla cannons, and possibly eight thermobaric bombs to use against you. We detonated one of the other thermobarics last night, and trust me, you do not want to get hit with one."

You'd think there's a limit to how much surprise there can be on a single pony's face - guess the mayor of Hopeville is going for a new record, or something. "That -wasn't- a megaspell that went off!? But, but there was a fireball! And, and a mushroom cloud!" Oh, for pony's sake... I let off a sigh, rubbing a hoof against my forehead as the Mayor nervously looked up towards the sky. Just because an explosion makes a mushroom cloud doesn't mean it was definitely a balefire bomb. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to myself and Static, glancing between us. "O-okay, I'll be sure to have everypony who can be on watch on watch, I'm certainly not going to be the mayor that let her town be destroyed by one of those things."

Hopeville's Mayor trotted over to the Seaddler and Marigold, Crash Dive pulling up alongside me as Static scratched at his head, giving his foreleg a stretch before setting it back down. "Alright, so, we're heading back to Maple Creek, then. I dunno about you guys, but I think I'd rather get a ride instead of walking from here. Sooner we get out of this part of the wasteland, the better..." Passing along an eyeroll to him, a dark blue alicorn took to flight from the deck of a familiar small gunboat, landing on the shore again soon afterwards. Caps and complaints, seems like that's all that you talk about nowadays...

"And why's that, worried that the longer we stay the more likely you'll be to hook up with Chauffeur?~" Letting off a snicker that he seemed to take some slight offense to, I hopped myself up into the air, just about dodging his umbrella. Hovering above him, he let off a small sigh and shake of the head, trotting over to Aerith and Scouring, Crash Dive following suit. Eh, suppose going back on Trout makes enough sense, long as it's already here... Hovering above them with Aerith as they made way up onto the small fishing trawler, Ripple emerged with a long yawn and scratch of his back from the lower portion of the boat's housing, rubbing at his eyes as we approached.

"Mmh, mornin', commin' aboard fer back t' Maple Creek?" Releasing another yawn, the stallion slumped himself over the side of the boat, hooves reaching to help Static up as Aerith lifted Scouring and Crash Dive onto the deck. I landed with a small thud as Ripple went to splashing his face with some of the water, blinking his eyes open before moving for the steep staircase. "Aye, right then, haul in the anchor and all that, we'll be off soon as she gets going."

Scouring and Crash Dive both helped get the anchor lifted from the water and on deck as I moved over towards the back, taking a small moment to giggle at the sight of the 37mm autocannon mounted there. Oooh, hopefully we run into one of those monster pony-fish things, I really want to see what this thing can do. Static moved up alongside me as the engine below us rumbled to life, a small wave kicked up as we started to move forwards, myself waving to the mare behind the cockpit glass of the floatplane as Hopeville started to move away. Static gave a small cough, rolling his jacket's sleeves back up over his damp forelegs. "To answer your question, it's more due to the fact that we've pretty much proved beyond a shadow of a doubt there's not a single one of the generators we're looking for around here. Don't you want to get home sooner than later?"

I blunk a few times, looking at him dumbfounded for a moment before remembering the giant bomber jet crashed back by the lighthouse. Oh, right... that...

"You're listening to K A O S, Radio KAOS, and it's shaping up to be another beautiful Vanhoover morning out there, folks. Won't stay that way for too long, so enjoy it while you can, because we're expecting some especially heavy storms to roll in as we move along into the winter months. On the bright side, at least you won't have to rely on some pre-war batteries to keep your food cold, heh...

"Anyways, onto the morning news. Coming in just a few nights ago from Hopeville, a new flying craft was spotted late at night coming in low over the small town and heading towards the reservoir. The Hopeville Air Defense reacted rather swiftly to the intruder of their airspace, opening up at it with pretty much everything they had to use, including one of this ship's own anti-air batteries. Unfortunately - and yes, I do mean -un-fortunately - they proved to be extremely effective, bringing the intruding aircraft down in a ball of flame. Why this is unfortunate, is that the aircraft turned out to be a pre-war civilian cargo transport being flown by it's original ghoul owner. Thankfully she was able to land the aircraft safely on the reservoir and escape, and the fire caused by the anti-air guns was extinguished soon afterwards, but not before resulting in one of the aircraft's engines exploding and causing severe damage. As far as we here at Radio KAOS know, nobody was injured in the incident - save for the pride of some of Hopeville's anti-air gunners, maybe, heh.

"The surviving pilot and her aircraft are taking refuge in Hopeville for the time being, but unfortunately as far as we've been told the damage caused means that the aircraft is grounded until they can either have an entirely new engine manufactured - good luck with that - or they can find one of the two sister aircraft. Normally I'd doubt the latter as much as I doubt the former right now, but considering the group of five we all know and love who rescued that unfortunate pilot, I'd say odds are in her favor. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to find both of the things and fly them back to her. On the offchance that does happen - Hopeville, I'm lookin' at you - let's hope those two don't get shot down, either.

"In other news, slightly related, residents of Hopeville last night have been calling in with claims of witnessing a massive explosion and fireball from the other side of the lake, some even going as far as saying it formed a mushroom cloud, like a balefire egg or megaspell. Considering they were still there to call in the explosion in the first place, I think we can safely rule out megaspell as being the cause. C'mon, guys, use your heads, if the Vanhoover Five were confirmed being in that area where the plane crashed after it was shot down, and the explosion was in that area the next night, I think we can guess who the culprit for it is. Must've had a pretty good reason for doing it, all I can say about it.

"Anyways, I've talked for long enough, let's get some music flowing out of those speakers instead of my voice. Here's a small mix I've been putting together for anyone out there lookng to make their wandering a little more exciting, or just want some music to do their daily routine to that isn't a full album. Enjoy."

"So, Scouring, why're you in B Company, anyways?" The sun was well along it's climb as we trundled along the rivers leading away from the reservior, Ripple grumbling from up in the cabin. Just our luck somepony decided to use a tree downriver as target practice for what appeared to be a balefire egg launcher, meaning we had to find a different route... I swore it wasn't me that time! Scouring was leaned up against the side of the boat, checking over Sunburst for a short while before looking up at myself. I gave a small shrug, sitting beside him. "You seem like a pretty level guy, just want to know how you managed to get into a group that the rejects get thrown into."

"Eheh, so, want to open up that can o' worms then, eh? Aye, what I did to wind up in Bad Company..." He reaffixed Sunburst to his armor, the rocket launcher shrinking to a storage position as the unicorn gave his back a stretch. The riverbanks overflowed with plants, Aerith and Crash Dive up on the upper deck between the steampipe guns, watching either side for freaky fish-things. "Y'ever hear of these things called Vertibucks? Well, it was a slow day back at base, nothin' seemed to be goin' on, and I was scheduled for a proper solo flight sooner or later. Grease the wings, see if I can still run 'em if needed, yanno... Turns out, I needed a bit more trainin' than I figured. Completely wrote off one o' the lead paladin's fancy armored motorized wagons, and nearly totaled the bird as well..."

So, Scouring got in B Company for totaling a vertibuck and an armored vehicle - kinda want to know how he managed that, if it was anything like the TOG or War Mare - and we wound up stuck down here because Static totaled a vertibuck. Man, you'd think destroying pre-war tech like that was a one-way ticket to karmaville or something, with how things have gone lately... "Ain't that bad though, really. Sure, kinda lost my rank a little, but it's been a hell of a lot more excitin' with Sweets, Strike, and Sergeant Crimson than it ever was sittin' on my arse back at base. Sunburst's seen a lot more action too, 'specially since I've been traveling with you lot - nice to be shootin' her at stuff that isn't tin cans or bugs."

"Amen to that. I like overkill much as my fathers do, but sometimes you want at least something that can take more than one forty mil shotshell to the face. Or fifty cal rifle round, for that matter..." We both shared a small chuckle as the river bubbled and splashed underneath, myself letting off a small sigh. Yeah, because I've proven I'm really effective with War Crime, wasting at least two shots for every one that goes at least somewhat near the thing I'm shooting at... or breaking my shoulder in the process. Setting my duffel bag down, I undid the zipper and pulled out the large rifle, leaning back against the side of the boat and looking it over in my hooves. "How much d'you want to bet that this thing was meant for ponies with power armor to absorb the kick for them, and not ponies with just thick jackets?"

Scouring blunk for a moment, looking down at War Crime with me before encompassing it in his magic, pulling it over for a closer look. He spent a moment turning it over, looking at each side and the muzzlebrake, before letting off a small chuckle. "Lass, I think I see yer issue." Shuffling myself a little to see, he held it up to me with the barrel pointing left, flicking a switch located on one side. With a grin, he took the long rifle and pressed the barrel against the deck of the boat, looking to myself for a moment. With a flare of magic, he encompassed the stock and shoulderpad, my eyes going wide as he suddenly gave it a heavy shove downwards, the barrel... moving into the body of the rifle? As he released his magic and caught it again, the stock sprung back up, barrel returning to it's full length. "Selective recoil lock. Prob'ly won't fire as fast as she used to but you prob'ly won't be breakin' your shoulder again, either. Give 'er a try."

"Really wish that these damn things came with instruction manuals... don't suppose there's anything else you saw that might help me keep my bones intact when shooting her?" Scouring gave a small chuckle and shake of the head as I fished War Crime's clip from my duffel bag, tapping it in with my hoof and pulling the bolt back. Getting up onto my rear legs, I swayed a little with the large rifle, lifting it up in both of my hooves and holding it to my shoulder again, peering through the scope at the vegitation on the side of the river. A magic aura encompassed the barrel for a moment, Scouring releasing a weak chuckle as I passed him a small confused glare. "What now?"

"Ya fire it like that, you're gonna wind up landin' on your arse, even with the long recoil on. Ah... try restin' it on the side of the boat like this, sit down and fire 'er off." Well, good point there, I don't particularly enjoy landing on my butt that much. Giving him a small nod, I sat myself down near the side of the boat, War Crime's frame resting on the wall and my hoof keeping it steady while the other one found the trigger lever again, squeezing the stock against my shoulder. Peering through the scope once more, I gave my wings a small ruffle, getting comfortable. "There ye go, now let's put it to use. Ahm... there, see that tree with the funky knot on it's trunk? Let's see if ye can take that off'a it."

Scanning through the scope for a moment, a real nasty-looking tree did eventually catch my eye, and the nasty growth sticking out of the wood. Alright then mister tree, let me just take that off for you, swear it won't hurt a bit. Adjusting myself as Trout continued moving downriver, the two red crosshairs lined up on the growth, myself letting out a small breath as my hoof gripped the trigger and War Crime answered. Okay, yeah, that's definitely an improvement over the last few times - a bit more of a kick than Thumper gives, but a hell of a lot nicer than before. Hell, I can probably fly with this thing now, if I just want to hose down targets at mid-range... the first shot flew true, smacking the tree just behind the growth and sending up a spray of splinters, with the following two whizzing through the forest a bit higher than the first one as War Crime jumped from the siding with each shot. Considering I don't have a concussion, broken shoulder, and actually hit the target too, I'd say it was a successful shot.

Scouring gave a small laugh and pat on my shoulder as I looked up from War Crime's scope, the sound of Crash dive's heavy armored hooves rushing over on the upper deck catching my ears as Aerith followed her. Her head looked back and forth over the back of the boat, and the sky, before focusing on myself and the steel ranger, the power armored pegasus letting off a small sigh as I waved to her with a smile. Leaning back, I lifted War Crime back up and pulled out her clip, tossing it back into the bag along with the bullet in the chamber, setting her on the butt of her stock and pushing on the end of the barrel a few times. Whoo, heavy spring, could be a pneumatic or hydraulic piston too, maybe, now I think of it. Hey, if it works for the TOG's 17-pounder and War Mare's 76, don't see why it wouldn't work for the barrel of a half-inch...

Setting War Crime back into my duffel bag, I glanced up from the zipper in time to catch a black form shooting out of the trees, my brain telling me to duck to try and avoid Saberclaw plowing me off the back of the TOG again, only for the rest of my senses to remind me that Saberclaw's a couple thousand kilometers to the north and that hitting the deck was right for the wrong reasons this time. Ow, why's a short-barreled shotgun gotta be so freakin' loud?... "YOU LITTLE BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU!" Oh, it's miss pleasant mercenary again. How nice.

Aerith and Crash Dive quickly got to work with the steampipe guns as I picked myself up from the deck, Miss Merc flying about the boat and dodging the streams of bright tracers from the machine guns, my pip-buck's radio apparently having been jarred on as an electric guitar riff started up on Radio KAOS. Okay, so what's got her all pissed off, huh? Don't remember doing anything particularly bad to set her off this much... Sunburst retorted on Scouring's back as Trout gave a lurch of speed, Static rushing in from the bow as three more black forms appeared overhead, guns blazing. A fucking MINIGUN, really!?

I scrambled for my duffel bag again, tugging at the zipper as I heard a whirring sound behind me. Hokay, no, I don't really want bullets in my ass, it's just figures of speech damnit! Leaping out of the way, mister minigun let rip, the wood deck of Trout splintering somewhat as he traced fire across it, some of the small rounds pinging off of metal plating around the engine. He wasn't able to keep fire up for too long, as Scouring happily sent a few rockets his way, another gryphon opening up with a shotgun while Static scrambled himself into the lower portion of the boat's house. Well, at least one of us will be out of the line of fire, so there's that. The minigun whirred to speed again as I leapt out of the way behind Scouring, my duffel bag now completely lost in the chaos as I scrambled to try and find it, instead coming across a metal fixture on the back of the boat. It took me a moment longer than it should have to recognize what it was - Oh fuck the hell yes.

"Hey, pissed off and ugly!" The leader gryphon's words were pretty much unintelligible angry grunts, as I pulled myself to my hooves behind the thick steel plates either side of the mounting, hooves grasping the handles of the large autocannon. The mount became unlocked with a swift kick, myself swinging it around on the back of trout as bullets and buckshot pinged off of it's front. "Here's one thing you might not know; BITCHES-" The bolt slid back easily, the full length of it reminding me how long these 37mm rounds were - oohoho, yes. "-LOVE-" The wire crosshairs of the gun came to rest on the leader mercenary, her beak frothing with angry foam as she reloaded her shotgun again, staring at me from over Trout's cabin. "-CANNONS!" Oh, I love the look on some cunt's face when they know they're about to be in a world of pain.

The autocannon sounded out loud, sending shell after shell downrange from the clip and towards the gryphons, the wiry leader of the pack dodging some shots while others weren't as lucky. Mister Minigun was one of those, as an APHE round to his gut quickly put him out of commission as a pile of red mist, my hooves hammering the trigger down as I traced the lead gryphon through the sky, letting out a manic giggle as each detonation of cordite caused the barrel to spit out 37mm of death from one end and brass casings from the other, each shock of recoil traveling through me like wave after wave of pleasure, a small pile of casings gathering by my hooves and clattering around me.

Another gryphon had the pleasure of getting shot straight through with a tracer round, the shockwave tearing him in half as their leader ducked into the trees, something geting tossed overhead and spraying smoke from both sides. I hosed down the riverbank with the autocannon, the last gryphon's gun letting out a muffled retort as something landed with a loud splash in the river, the gun eventually clicking on empty as the last casing fell from it, smoke filling my field of vision. After a few moments, I let go of the handles, still shaking from the feeling of the gun and stumbling about lightly, Static pasing me a confused look as I returned a stupid grin. "So... the Autocannon works just fine. Oh, does it work just fine..."

Static rubbed at one of his ears for a moment before letting of a small sigh, watching the smoke cloud form up behind us as we traveled away. From the upper deck, the door to Trout's cabin opened, Ripple stumbling out of it and stopping himself at the back railing, Crash Dive looking at him as Aerith hovered herself out of his way. "Is that gonna happen every bloody time I give you guys a ride on Trout!? This is what I get fer being nice jus' one time, never have to deal with gettin' shot at by bloody mercenaries when yer just fishin' or givin' other people lifts, yanno!" Myself and Static shared a quick glance, Ripple seeming more exasperated than furious - I think I kinda understand why he likes to drink. I gave him a small shrug, Scouring levitating up my duffel bag for me as I kicked one of the big brass casings out of the way.

"Just one of our occupational hazards."

"Alright, think that this map ought to have what you need." Myself and Static had gone off to Sulfur's store while the rest of our group saw to getting the mini-tank onboard Trout, after Ripple gave her a look-over for damages and fixed any holes she might've gotten, anyways. The mare let an old roll of paper fall to the table, taking a small .38 revolver and weighing down one side while she used a more respectable .45 auto for the other. "Picked it up from a caravan a few days ago, figured it'd be worthwhile to have in case any other stable ponies came 'round wanting directions. Never realized just how big the North Vanhoover wasteland really is..."

"Ya don't say... Ahm, really, thanks though. We're planning on heading up to Maple Station next, you think you can give us a good route to take to get there?" Looking over the map, I had my legputer out and was popping in rough locations, the electrics and sciency stuff inside the legputer filling in the rest. Static was doing the same for a quick moment, before looking back to the rest of the shop, trotting off. Probably gonna waste more caps on flash-bangs or something... Sulfur looked over the map a little more intently, moving a hoof along and letting off a soft hum.

"Well, best bet is to just follow the caravan routes, they generally are good with avoiding most of the dangerous stuff around. This map's a little outdated though, the whole northeast corner of the reservoir, Basin Overlook Coal Mines, they've been overrun by hellhounds for a year or two now. And these spots..." The salesmare tapped at some blank sections of the map, in the northwest, southeast, and right below what was left of Bridleshade. "Anypony's guess to what's in the corners, but I'm pretty sure this one's the Seahoof Armory. Other military installations, maybe?"

Answering her with a shrug, Static came back over with a basket of flash-bangs in one hoof and the flap of his saddlebags in the other setting the basket down on the map and starting to go through to find stuff to sell off. I let out a small sigh, shaking my head - all these beautiful guns and he goes for the thing that'll only kill somepony if you bludgeoned them to death with it. I'll never understand him... "Thanks for the help, with any luck we'll be back eventually."

"Oh, don't mention it, glad to help you guys out. Hopefully you'll be able to get to Maple Station before the storms really hit. Don't know what it is but for some reason we always get a hell of a snowfall around here this time of year, already looking for old rifle rounds I can break up for cordite, hell of a way to get a fire started, I tell ya." She let off a small chuckle as she rung Static up, the earth pony dropping the basket of flash-bangs into his saddlebags as I started to make way for the door. Static soon followed behind, myself returning a wave from Sulfur. "Hope to see you again soon!"

"Some sunny day, maybe!" Letting off a small laugh that the mare behind the counter returned, myself and Static both stepped out into the streets of the small town. A crisp breeze bit at my wings, myself letting them spread out wide to catch it, feel it - heh, almost felt like a warm day back home. Static let his umbrella pop open wide as we started to make way back towards the docks, myself looking up at the darkening skies overhead - the skies looked familiar, the air tasted right, and with a forehoof I touched the breast of my jacket, feeling the small plushie underneath the fabric.

It almost felt like home...

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, KAOS in Vanhoover, and from the looks of things outside the weather's started to take that turn for the nasty I mentioned earlier today. I'm no weather pony, but I'd say it's a pretty good idea to wear your thickest clothes out there for the next few weeks if you have to head outside at all, or better yet just stay inside where you know it's warm. We're expecting some more delays on railwork up by Maple Station as the storms start to pass through, so my condolences to anypony stuck there waiting for passage further north - on the upside, at least you'll get a taste of what to expect, heh. Hang in there guys, you've seen enough winters to know what to expect.

"Speaking of things heading to the north, turns out our favorite five, the Vanhoover Five, are planning on making way up towards Maple Station as of today. Since what last we heard from there was that one of their two engines for powering the town was S.O.L. and down for the count, here's hoping that the Five'll be able to work their magic on it and help get it repaired. Jusy pray they won't accidentally work their other kind of magic instead - Guys, I know you like blowing stuff up, but please keep it as far away from populated areas as you can. I don't think I need to tell you this, but, well, better I said something about it than not... ah, you know I'm kidding, they'll get that engine up and running again for you soon as they can make it there, Maple Station.

"Heading towards the eastern side of the wasteland, we've got some news out of the town of Saddlebrook. More air craft have been spotted towards the far northern edge of the town, which has sent a few ponies into a panic. No word on if they're the same kind of air craft that have been seen in the past, but until we can confirm it's them, I think it'd be best of we could all just be on guard without being trigger happy. As a reminder for anypony who doesn't know, the air craft that are definitely hostile have triangle-shaped wings and apparently are either able to both hover and fly extremely fast. If you don't see something matching that description, don't shoot at it - just ask Hoepville, shooting down a civilian isn't something to be proud of.

"Anyways, that's the stories for today, will keep you updated live for when and where we start seeing snowflakes coming down. For now, here's our own wasteland sweetheart, singing about weather that's a hell of a lot nicer than what we've got right now, and long lost loves. Vera Lynn, we'll meet again, some sunny day..."

My saddlebags bounced around by my hind hooves, my umbrella occasionally tapping against my leg as Crash Dive shifted on the back of the mini-tank. The city of Maple Creek grew smaller behind us as we travelled along the long roads, soon arriving at Jericho Beach and the shore of the reservior. “So, why is it exactly you didn’t decide to just use both of the bombs? It’s not really like you to go for the smaller explosion.” I asked as we made our way back towards the flattened crater that was the Shady Shores outpost. Scouring gave a soft chuckle as he leaned against the trailer’s side.

“Didn’t think it’d be the best idea, seeing how it’d probably end with us being easily mistaken for the stuff Gumbo uses in his stew. Not to mention we’d probably flood part of Hopeville with the shockwave. 'sides, stacking bombs together doesn't cause a bigger boom, anyways.” I shrugged as we continued along the shore, a twisted root bumping the trailer up roughly as a wheel rolled over it. “Don’t worry about radiation, unless that facility was keepin' barrels of glowing goo out of sight, there shouldn’t be any. One upside to Fuel-air Bombs, lots of boom without the rads.” Scouring said, as if reading my mind.

A large blackened spot of the earth with the remains of a concrete foundation nearby could be seen as we rounded the side of the lake, drawing closer to the blast site. Pulling up to the edge of the crater, I could see that the side lip of the crater that faced the lake was being slowly eroded away by water flowing down from the reservoir. “Ach, nuts!” Scouring hopped out of mini tank, rushing over to the edge of the water filled crater. He dug around near the edge of the crater before glancing back over the edge. “Suppose the sand was softer'n I thought. I think the other bomb wound up sucked into the middle of this…” He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to do.

“Well, Crash Dive could probably at least find it in the water. Aerith can probably get it the rest of the way.” Night Strike said, passong on a small shrug. I hopped out of the mini tank and trotted up to the side of the crater, peering into the murky water inside. Crash Dive stepped over and peered down into the crater herself, giving off a grunt of displeasure. “It’s either you go down in there or give one of us that armor to use, y’know.” Night Strike said, catching on to Crash Dive’s disapproval. Crash gave another grumble, staring at the pegasus for a long moment, but stepped over the edge of the crater, slowly slipping down the soft sand and mud and into the muck below.

She waded into the center of the crater, the water rising ever so slowly up as the small stream from the reservoir filled it up. She flicked on the light of her armor before slipping beneath the surface of the dirty pool, her silhouette faintly visible along with the beam of light as she swam around in the water somewhat. As she did, a faint figure could be seen floating in the water near her. The figure suddenly lashed out, Crash’s light flailed about as she wrestled with the creature. “Oh, shit!” Night Strike cried, running back over to the tank and grabbing one of the rebar shafts for Crash Dive's cannon. She flew down into the crater, stabbing downwards at the unknown creature.

The pegasus lost her grip on the harpoon as it was yanked down into the water, her wings just barely keeping her aloft as muddy spray splashed over us. Crash Dive managed to break away from the creature and jabbed the rebar deep into it somewhere, the water splashing as they jerked away from each other. A deep crimson began to pool in the water as the creature thrashed about wildly before swimming deeper into the crater away from Crash Dive. The power armored pegasus swam back to the surface, quickly making her way over to the edge of the water. She climbed up one of the sides, flicking her helmet light off and breathing heavily behind her mask. “Well, I think I felt the bomb down there, but you’re going to just have to search for it yourself. I’m not going back in there with... with -that- thing.” She climbed back up to the lip of the crater, slipping a few times on the muddy side.

Aerith shrugged, one of her screens popping up again. ‘Just try and tell me where it is as best as you can. I don’t want to end up pulling whatever that thing was up onto land.’ Her horn began to glow as Crash Dive tried to describe where she’d found the bomb. Aerith concentrated for a moment before a large object began to surface which was quickly revealed to be the metallic casing of the device, a few weeds dangling off of it. She levitated the bomb over to us, brushing off the weeds with her hooves before placing it into the trailer of the mini tank. Scouring inspected the explosive, rolling the large casing around in his magic before setting it back down to rest lengthwise.

“Looks like it kept fine to me. Suppose we’ll see if any water leaked in whenever we try to set it off.” Night Strike said, walking up behind Scouring to take a look at the bomb. We all piled back onto the mini tank and trailer, the engine rumbling to life as I began to head northwards, the tank bumping along the uneven terrain. We soon came across a dirt road, the ride becoming a little smoother as they rolled onto it and followed it northwards. Night Strike flicked on her radio, a soft, upbeat jazz tune played from her Pip-Buck as I turned to follow the path. “So, according to the map, it looks like it’s gonna be a couple days of driving to get up to Maple Station… well, unless you feel like driving a full 24 hours.” Night Strike said, fiddling with the knobs on her Pip-Buck.

“No thanks, I can’t stay up for a full week like you can, and I’m not going to start drinking that RAD stuff to try.” I responded. Night Strike rolled her eyes and went back to her map, humming along with the tune a little. The tank went over a small bump in the road, the suspension bending and creaking as we landed with a thud, the front wheel kicking up some dust in the road. “Where’s the closest place we could camp out, then?” I asked. Night Strike flipped a few dials and scrolled along her Pip-Buck.

“Ahm... there’s a small pre-war town a little east of the road, we should be there in a couple hours. It’d give us a little time to explore the place too, not sure if anypony’s still living there.” I nodded and twisted the handle, speeding up slightly as we reached a long straightaway. The sky grew a little darker as a few clouds rolled overhead, the road becoming slightly harder to distinguish from the surrounding countryside… not that it was really that much smoother of a ride.

Looking up at the sky, Scouring’s expression grew a little concerned. “Let’s just hope that storm doesn’t hit before we can find somewhere to stay.” Light streamed down through the clouds as we continued down the road, Aerith stretching her wings out and giving them a few flaps. The ground beside the road began to gradually fall away as we came up to a swamp, the long cattails swaying in the stagnant water. A loud crack rang through the air as Night Strike shot a bloatsprite out of the air with one of the unsold pistols from the police duffel bag - how have we not sold all of those yet? - the insect falling into the water, only to be dragged down immediately by some unseen creature.

After a while, the edge of a town could be seen rising up in the distance, the road splitting in two. I took the road heading towards the collection of buildings, the smaller homes on the outside of the town slightly obscuring a much larger factory sitting in the center of it. I slowed as we entered the town, looking around at the houses along the side of the road, their paint peeling, their metal mailboxes having rusted over long ago. “Doesn’t look like anypony’s living here anymore.” I said, slowing the mini-tank to a stop. We all hopped out, trotting around the neighborhood. I glanced inside one of the cracked windows, only to see a skeleton sitting on a dusty couch, a busted up radio next to it on a table. Yeah, definitely no one home anymore... well, maybe they’ve got something useful in the garage. I trotted over to the large door, which squeaked loudly as I hoisted it up.

The garage sported a large workbench at the back of it, several tools hanging up on a board behind it. I trotted up to the bench and flipped open the toolbox to peer inside, the various bits of metal rattling as I dug through them. Nuts, bolts, spark batteries, screwdriver, socket wrench… I picked up one of the old batteries. Well, it’s worth something if it’s still charged. I dug around in the cupboards of the work bench for a moment, looking for a battery tester. Come on, at least a garage remote or a laser pistol, I don’t want to carry around dead metal. I grumbled a little when I was unable to find anything, bringing the battery up to my mouth. Well, there’s always Greasy’s old testing method. I gently stuck the two prongs of the battery to my tongue, a quick jolt rushing through me before I quickly took the battery away from me. Gah, yeah, yeah, that’s still live. Bluh, that’s probably a lot easier to take when you’re a ghoul. Not gonna taste much for a while...

I slipped the batteries into my saddlebags and trotted back outside where Scouring was sitting on the back of the mini-tank with Crash Dive. Suddenly the door to the house across the street flew off its hinges, landing with a thud onto the porch as Night Strike stepped out backwards, firing off another grenade as flames spewed out of the house. The sound of tearing metal and another explosion rang through the neighborhood, Night Strike panting a little as Aerith came rushing around from the backyard. “Alright, lesson learned, some of those Mr. Handy bots might still be set to patrol in these pre-war houses.” She beat a small flame out of her singed ponytail before trotting back to the mini tank. “Ahm, anyways, how about we go see what that big factory is? At least that thing might have something worth looting over these houses, eheh...” I climbed into the driver’s seat of the mini-tank as Night Strike and Aerith hopped onto the back.

We were soon speeding towards the center of town, the buildings growing larger yet more decrepit the closer we got. As I turned down one of the downtown streets towards the large factory, a large bottle could be seen sitting beside the shattered glass doors along with a large sign ‘Sunrise Sarsaparilla Bottling Company’ emblazoned on the weathered bricks. I heard Night Strike groan. “Ugh, forget I said anything, there’s not going to be anything good in there.” I rolled my eyes and pulled the minitank up to the doors, parking it and hopping you. “Oh come on, there’s all these other places we could look around! I mean, shouldn’t there be something better in…” She looked around, spotting another smaller brick building. “Shirt folding store?” She stood for a moment with a confused expression, before hearing me push open the door and reluctantly following the rest of us.

“Hey, if my dads ever found out we stopped by a Sunrise factory and didn’t at least swipe the formula, they’d probably disown me, adopt me, and then disown me again for good measure.” The lobby of the building was expansive, the desk built into the far wall with dirty class cabinets beside it housing several bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparilla. I jiggled the knob on one of the cabinets, the lock breaking easily and allowing me to grab a couple bottles. Scouring grabbed one as well, Aerith and Night Strike giving a disgusted look. Sheesh, it’s soda, you can’t screw up soda. I took a swig from the pop and trotted over to a door leading up to the offices. “Suppose we ought to check the boss’s office first. I doubt they’d keep the formula out on the factory level.”

We began to make our way through the hallways past several cubicles and small offices. As we turned the corner, we came face to face with a large robot, its mounted Gatling laser moving between us. “Unauthorized personnel. Please identify or vacate the premises.” We stood for a moment, the robot’s laser scanning again. “You have fifteen seconds to comply.” The robot said. Oh crap. Hearing the rest already starting to ready their weapons, I quickly ducked down and slipped behind the robot, umbrella at the ready. Quickly jamming it into the robot’s power supply box, the electricity shorted it out without much fuss, causing it to fall to the floor, its droning threats dying out.

“Well, let’s just hope that didn’t send some sort of automatic security signal.” I said, stowing my umbrella. We began to trot back through the offices, making out way towards the staircase leading up to the second floor. The staircase opened up into a large server room, the metal behemoths still beeping and whirring away softly. I walked through the server room, inspecting one of the terminals built into the server. Alright, let’s see if this thing has the formula stored on it... I flicked a switch and punched in a few keystrokes, a screen coming up. I selected an option, a small list of ingredients being shown. Recipe page one out of two? Sheesh, I know the companies could be secretive with their formula, but that’s going a little far. I plugged my Pip-Buck into the terminal, downloading the half of the formula onto my Pip-Buck.

“Alright, you got your formula, can we go know? I don’t want to breathe in whatever chemicals it is they use to make this stuff.” Night Strike said, poking an empty bottle laying on a nearby desk. I rolled my eyes and stepped through the door to the hallway, looking for the boss’s office. We turned down the hall, Crash Dive kicking a busted robot out of the way as we came to an office with a large ornate desk sitting in the center, a terminal sitting on top. I trotted around to the other side of the desk, spotting a safe built into the decoratively carved wood. I bent down, twisting the dial a few times in each direction. Bluh, now is a time I really wish I bothered to learn how to pick locks... No point in asking Night Strike, she’ll just end up blowing up all the contents.

I grumbled, giving the dial a spin before looking up as Aerith tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a note. ‘This might help’ her sign read with a small smirk on her face. I glanced down at the scrawled note, reading ‘Note to self, changed code to 15-42-33 to keep Gemstone out of safe. Eat note later when memorized.’ Well, that is rather helpful, thank you Chairman Lack-of-foresight. I quickly twisted the dial, the safe opening with a satisfying clunk, only to open and reveal the contents of the safe seemed to be haphazardly thrown about. I raised an eyebrow, reaching in and pulling out the contents, only to see there were all business ledgers and sales reports.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why the heck would some boss own a safe and have nothing in it?” I wondered aloud, standing back up. Night Strike shrugged, wandering over to a small bookshelf and pulling a copy of some faded book detailing the history of trading caravans. I glanced over to Night Strike as she rummaged around, then back to the safe. The books and knickknacks on the shelf seemed meticulously placed… at least, about as well organized as they could be after a bomb fell nearby. “I think someone got into this safe... it’s way too sloppy for whoever was in here.” I trotted back towards the door, the others following me.

“Uh… you sure you’re not just being paranoid? I mean, what would somepony want with the recipe for this crap?” Night Strike said, pushing over an empty bottle and kicking it away from her. I ignored her and started to make my way towards the factory floor. She begrudgingly followed, the others sharing similar looks of confusion. I pushed open the door, revealing the large warehouse filled with six large silver vats, each branded with the Sunrise logo. I trotted down the catwalks towards the vats, the metal beams shaking a little under our weight.

“Well, if we can’t find the recipe, I’m going to at least find a jug of the syrup to take home. I’m sure dad can find some way to turn it into hard candy or something... mmm, Sunrise Sarsaparilla flavored rock candy...” As I continued along the catwalk next to the vats, I noticed the lid of one was hanging open widely, something glimmering slightly inside it. I slowed down, walking along the branch of the catwalk to the vat, glancing over and catching Night Strike disinterestedly looking at the walls. Reaching the vat, I peered inside, my eyes widening as I saw a pony in intricate armor floating in the vat, face down.

I bent down and leaned over into the vat, attempting to pull the pony up and onto the catwalk, Scouring’s horn lighting up to help me. “I knew it! Sunrise Sarsaparilla is ponies!” Night Strike proclaimed as she watched the body come out, shuddering as she did. The body fell onto the catwalk, the armor sticky from floating in the soda for so long. The armor seemed to be made of some strange thick silky material, a few metal plates covering the chest and legs. A small box was connected to the chestplate and the haunches, a few wires running from it along the length of the body connecting the two. My reflection stared back at me in the shiny orange glass that covered the face of the helmet. “What the hell is that?” Night Strike said, finally looking down at the body.

“Hell if I know, I haven’t seen any sort of armor like this before.” I said, wiping my hoof onto my coat. I tugged on the helmet, trying to pull it off. Sheesh, it’s like it’s built into the whole suit, how did this pony even get into it in the first place? Reaching around the back of the helmet, I felt a small button and pressed down on it. The ring around the armor’s neck clicked and fell apart into two halves, no longer clamping down on the neck of the suit and allowing me to pull the helmet off. A rotting face met me, causing me to lean back and gag. Oh, jeez, how old is this body?

I stood up and stepped back away from the body, Night Strike choking a little at the stench. Crash Dive stepped around me to get a better look at the body and the armor. “Looks like some kind of stealth armor. It doesn’t have the proper plating to be any good in direct fire.” She bent down, inspecting the skeletal remains. “I think this used to be a zebra spy. This looks like some of the same technology we have in the Stealth Bucks.” I raised my eyebrows, staring down at the armor.

“You mean this thing has a built in stealth field?” I asked, a grin spreading across my face. Who cares if it’s been worn by a rotting corpse for 200 years, I’m not leaving this suit behind! I bent back down, turning the body over and attempting to find some way to remove the body of the suit. Scouring gave a look of disgust as I pulled open a magnetic seam on the back, revealing the decaying body of the unlucky zebra spy. Ugh, ok, I’m going to need to wash this thing out with Abraxo about twenty seven times before I wear it, but whatever.

“Well, it would, but I doubt after years of sitting in even as weak of an acid as soda the components are still going to work.” Crash Dive replied, doubt apparent in her voice. I paused in removing the armor, noticing a small hatch built into one of the legs. I flipped it open, revealing some surprisingly dry papers. I pulled them out, scanning over them. No… I started to giggle, flipping the pages over before slipping a few into my saddlebags. “What is it?”

I shook my head, slipping the rest of the papers into my saddlebags, save one. “It turns out this spy just sacrificed their life in an attempt to steal the formula for a soda and an unreleased flavor.” I handed the sheet over to Night Strike, who stared down at it in disbelief. I turned back around and went back to work removing the suit, my grin turning back into a grimace as some of the zebras skin peeled away sickeningly. “Well, I’m certainly not complaining. I’m sure we’ll find a way to fix this up, and I can’t wait to see my dad’s faces when they see I’ve got a formula for a new kind of Sunrise nopony’s ever tasted before! And I think they’ll be willing to help sell it if I offer a portion of the sales, too~” I managed to get the top half of the zebra’s body loose, pulling the suit down, along with a few strands of its tail.

“Uh, Static? Your ‘New’ Sunrise Sarsaparilla formula… this is the exact same recipe for standard Sparkle Cola.” Night Strike said, scanning over the paper before handing it back to me, a smirk on her muzzle. I looked over the sheet of paper, taking it back from her, the pegasus chuckling as she leaned back against the railing. “Hey, at least they were finally trying to sell something that tastes better than kissing that zebra would be like. I’m sure the look on Minty’s face will be pretty funny too when he tastes it.” She snickered. I started to fold up the foul smelling armor, wrinkling my muzzle a bit. Ech, yeah, this is why I shouldn’t loot armor off of dead ponies.

I slipped the armor and helmet into my saddlebags, having a bit of trouble with the button. “Yeah, whatever you say, Night Strike. I expected something more along the lines of it being made with organs harvested from fillies from you, that one’s hardly creative.” Night Strike simply rolled her eyes as we began to make our way back through the factory floor towards the entrance to the plant.

“Fine, don’t believe me. I doubt you’re going to make much off of it branded as New Sunrise, though. You sure drinking that stuff hasn’t made your brain all fuzzy?” Crash Dive an annoyed sigh as we trotted into the main lobby again. I swiped a few more bottles of soda and slipped them into my saddlebags before following the others out of the building. Climbing into the driver’s seat, my back eased itself out as I slid my saddlebags off, holding my breath as the flap opened up slightly. Blugh, what I wouldn’t give for some flowers or something to cover this smell. Should’ve seen if that Shady Shores place had some formaldehyde.

As I started up the mini tank and spun us around, Night Strike sat up a little straighter, staring off into the distance. “Hey, hold up, what’s over there?” She pointed westwards towards the sinking sun. In the distance was another small collection of buildings, the town curving around a small quarry. On the opposite side, near the edge of town was a large plant with a large cooling tower standing on one side. Half of the cooling tower was scorched black, a few faint shadows burned into the side, barely visible from our location. She grinned before looking back. “Oooh, can we explore it? Pleeaaase?” She pulled a puppy-dog face. I raised an eyebrow at her in response - exploring some old radioactive arcane power plant? Yeah, maybe we can get a fifth leg from the bubbler. “Come on, we got to explore your stupid soda factory, how come we can’t go look at this? Besides, we’ve still got a while before sundown, and we can just sleep in one of the abandoned houses.

I rolled my eyes, turning the mini-tank around and starting to trundle off towards the factory. I’m really going to regret this, aren’t I?

Man, I'm getting good at that puppy-dog face if I managed to convince Static about something. Shuffling around to avoid the putrid stench coming from his saddlebags, I steadied myself against Boomer and stared up at the one cooling tower off in the distance, grinning widely. Okay, so if those are bomb shadows over there, then depending on the distance the blast could've been anywhere from a ground detonation to about, say, 500 meters, yield-dependent. Unless they were aiming for the factory for whatever reason, probably was just a general population-targeted missile, meaning it would've been anywhere from, say, 500 kilotons yield to 2.5 megatons yield, if those films Dad got from his old Stable are right... sometimes, I can't help but wonder if I know too much about this stuff to be able to make guesses like this.

The half-track jumped as it hit another bump, the small engine inside groaning and protesting loudly as we continued along. Static throttled her back a little, a sharp, chill breeze coming in from behind us - yeesh, haven't felt a chill like that since we landed in that snowbank. Sitting myself back down, the earth pony in the driver's seat looked back at the mini-tank, chewing on his lip. "That really doesn't sound good... I hope that the mechanic Sulfur knew up here does repairs on things like this."

"We'll take her as far as we can manage to, I don't know about you but I really don't feel like walking or flying the rest of the way there." Static gave a small nod, turning his eyes back to the road. The buildings gave way to small houses for a short while before turning into long overgrown fields, tall grass hiding the road in a small trough as we motored along to the other town. After a while, buildings started to reappear, these appearing a little less age-damaged and a little more bomb-damaged, windows shattered in in uniform manners and roof tiles peeled away from the blast center. Another crisp breeze met us as the grasslands gave way to more closely-built houses, a faint white smoke starting to come out of the back of the mini-tank. Okay, yeah, that definitely can't be good...

Static pulled us over nearby an old service station, myself hopping off of the back with my duffel bag and hovering in the air, looking down at the white, wispy clouds coming out of the back vents. Setting myself down on the pavement, Aerith joined me, Crash Dive and Scouring moving off of the wagon and over to look at the mini-tank with Static. The blue earth pony passed a worried look as he trotted up alongside the side I landed on, myself trotting forwards to look with them. Oh, don't tell me she's broken down already...

Static moved aside as Scouring helped shuffle Boomer forwards a little, clearing the doors on the back and letting us pull them open. A white, fluffy cloud floated up as the steel doors clattered to either side, myself squeezing in close to peer inside this thing. Okay, let's see now... huh, three cylinders, just like Trout's engine but smaller. From there, there's the reactor... no, that looks good too. Huh. How about the link from reactor to the engine then, anything... that's more condensation than there should be right there. Yup, right on that fitting betwen the reactor and engine... great. "I think a gasket's blown through. Leaking from that fitting there, see?"

"Great... so, what're we going to do?" Static scratched at his head, worry apparent on his face. "I mean, it's not like there are a lot of places that manufacture parts, and I kind of doubt we'd have a replacement in the toolbox, too." Letting off a huff, the earth pony leaned over and peered into the inner workings of the mini-tank, a cloud of breath escaping him. Huh, cold enough for that already... as if to reinforce the point, another chill breeze shot by us, Aerith letting out a visible shiver as she held her hat on. Oh yeah, that's right, alicorns probably don't do too well in the cold... Finding clothes for her is gonna be fun. Well, if we're stuck here for a while anyways, might be worth a shot...

"Me and Aerith are gonna go looking around, see if we can't find anything. Worse comes to, we can probably rig a seal or something until we get to Maple Station, right?" Looking between Crash Dive and Static, the earth pony scratched at his head and answered with a shrug while the power armored pegasus was moving for the toolbox. Aerith gave another chill shiver, wrapping her broad wings tight around herself. "We'll try to not go too far. Just going to browse around the houses here, yanno?"

'Just call for us, we should be able to fome find you.' The alicorn put on a smile to hide her chattering teeth, Static pausing for a moment before returning a nod. Spreading my wings out, I took to hovering a few feet off the road beside Aerith, us both nodding to each other and heading for the nearest house. Okay, hm, so if we can't find anything that fits her outright, I'm sure Static or whoever sewed that thing he made me wear could tailor it to fit her. Worst case, we make her a cloak out of some pre-war bedding or something, that seems like it'd work. The door of the first house shut behind us with a small clatter, Aerith breathing a sigh of relief as she didn't have the cold breeze blowing on her any longer.

"Alright, we can worry about a gasket later, you need something other than that hat in this weather. If my dad's story is right, Alicorns don't do too well in the cold... I haven't seen it for myself, but apparently there's an Alicornsicle somewhere along the road between Mooscow and the Emerald Ridge impact site." Aerith's eyes went wide as I said that, holding her large wings a little more tightly against her body as I started to trot around the old pre-war house. Huh, this is actually a pretty nice place, don't see places like this a lot back home... ewuh, from that crossbreeze through the windows, I can only imagine why. Still, get some new glass in, maybe a bit of fixing the tiles on the roof that were torn off by the fury of a balefire bomb blast, it'd be a pretty nice home.

Passing down the central hallway, on the left was a doorway that seemed to lead into the main bedroom, Aerith wasting no time in jumping for the bed and wrapping herself tightly in the old, degrading covers. Well, can't really blame her. Myself releasing a small chuckle as she seemed to wrap herself up like a butterfly in a cocoon, I moved towards the closet, opening the door with a small clatter and lots of squeaks. Ech, sounds like somepony hasn't oiled this thing in years... good point eyes, this is a closet door in an abandoned pre-war house, after all. Brain, you're fired. Peering inside the closet, I was met with what I assumed were cllthes at one point, now covered in a massive mess of cobwebs and things that I hope were dead carcasses. I think the door even answered with a 'nope' when I shut it.

"Okay, no regular clothes here that anypony in their right mind would want. Let's try another house... and maybe firebomb this one." Aerith blunk a few times, looking up from her comforter cocoon as I quickly tried to distance myself from the closet. Firebomb, balefire egg, megaspell, anything'd do. I think I might have an incendiary grenade or two for Thumper, too, so that could work... Well, once Aerith gets out, I can see to it. Just, yeah, that's a whole lotta nope in there. The alicorn lifted herself with a small look of disappointment on her face, wrapping the blanket around her body best that she could, if at the loss of the use of her wings. Well, least it's something.

'This should actually work well for me, it's certainly big enough and I can probably fashion some kind of jacket or something if we can find some scissors and thread. Warm 'n cuddly, too.' Why did an alicorn saying that last part sound really weird to me? Ehm, forget it, if she says she can make a jacket for herself out of it, I'm not gonna stop her. As we made way towards the front of the house again, the off-color glint of the door of a fridge caught my attention, myself moving over to it - well, it would just be rude to go scavenging through houses and not at least check for Sparkle-Cola. Can't leave it here, especially - I don't want to know what'd happen if whatever made those cobwebs got into strontium 90.

Giving the handle of the door a good tug, the contents inside clattered on the metal shelves, my eyes falling to a small group of bottles filled with a deep caramel liquid. Mmmm, Sparkle-Cola... wait, is it? Huh, that's a... different, bottle design. Reaching in, I pulled one of them out, looking it over - brushing a bit of dust off, the label still read Sparkle-Cola, so that's comforting. The bottle was more bulbous-shaped than usual, and sported four little extensions near the bottom that kind of... oh, that is freakin' adorable. Sparkle-Cola bottles shaped like bombs, I am totally bringing as many of these as I can carry back home to dad. He'll get a chuckle out of these, hell, I might even hear him squee... once I get back to him. If I get back to him...

Taking the other two bottles and letting them fall into my saddlebags, we both stepped back out into the town, Aerith moving for the next house before stopping abruptly, looking at something on her muzzle. Just about to hover up to see what she was looking at for myself, I got my own answer in the form of a white flake falling out of the sky in front of me, followed by another, and another. Snow... goddesses Celestia and Luna above, when was the last time I saw snow? It's been too long... I set myself down, Aerith moving forwards after a moment with myself trailing her, heading for the next house.

Same deal as the first, huh. Must've been one of those cookie-cutter neighborhoods, or something... eh, makes scavenging easier. Okay, stop one, fridge... aw, only one bottle this time. But hey, Sparkle-Cola is still Sparkle-Cola~ Shutting the door with a loud slam, Aerith triumphantly returned with another comforter rested on her back, and a small pair of scissors. She smiled weakly, snipping them in the air a few times. 'Not the best thing for this, but it's at least something. Now we just need a needle and thread.'

"Hey, not like we can just take them to Cross Stitch's place to have them tailored for you. Then again, he'd probably spend way too long making you a more proper outfit to wear instead." Letting off a small chuckle, Aerith returned a confused look as we headed for the front door again, myself trailing off. Oh, right, she's never met him... nobody down here knows anyone up there besides us. I bit at my lip lightly as another chill breeze picked up, carrying with it a few flurries of snow.

The third house on the street seemed to've handled the bomb a little better, one of the windows just seemed cracked with age rather than by an explosion, Aerith opening up the door with a small creak on it's hinges. Glancing around, a small toy Sparkle-Cola wagon caught my eye, prompting a small chuckle - heh, all it needs to be is buried in a snowbank along the Trotisk-Mooscow route, next to an equally emptied out Sunrise Sarsaparswilla wagon. Aerith had vanished to somewhere else in the house, the sounds of drawers being opened and shut filling the air as I moved over to the fridge again, this time a little more slowly. Four bottles... good, that, that's great...

Releasing a soft sigh, I began trotting through the rest of the house, the eight bomb-bottles of Sparkle-Cola clinking in my duffel bag as I made way down the hallway. Some small plastic things clattered in the main bedroom, myself pausing in front of a half-decayed sliding door, hastily thrown open wide at some point years ago. Looking about the room, the wide hole in the roof caught my attention most prominently, the decaying wallpaper and fallen posters telling that it's probably been there for a long while. Carefully trotting forth over the rubble, I peered up through it - huh, yanno, you probably could've seen the mushroom cloud from here.

Taking a few more steps forwards, my hoof kicked against something metal laying on the floor, my attention drawn to it. Hey, it's one of those old metal trench hats, isn't it? Always thought those things looked kinda neat... Eh, nopony else is gonna use it. Besides, I could probably do with something to cover up my head when the bullets start flying and explosions start going off again, if we wind up running into those Mercenaries. Leaning down to pull it from the fallen debris, it seemed to stick, myself eventually able to work a hoof under it after kicking off a few roofing boards and prying it out. Sure doesn't look that dented, at lea-...

A small, off-white object met my eyes as I looked down past the helmet. Vacant holes remained where there were once eyes, small cracks formed either from age or from impacts in the upper dome, myself frozen but drawn in frightened curiosity. Tracing down the figure, the shoulderblades had extra joints coming from them, the left group kept intact while the right was shattered underneath a large piece of roof, prompting my own wings to tighten against my sides.

After a moment frozen, I set the helmet back down to cover the foal's skull, leaving it silently and stepping for the doorway. Aerith met me there, flashing up a screen as she tilted her head towards myself. 'Found a sewing kit. You feeling alright? You look kind of pale.' Blinking a few times, I looked up at her, seeing the small metal tin in her magic and another comforter on her back, giving her a small nod in response. She headed towards the doorway, and I followed behind, the chilling breeze feeling even colder as we headed back for the group. Not really doing so much as watching myself do it, I turned on my Pip-buck's radio, hoping for something to pull my mind off of it.

"Tell me true, tell me why, was Tia crucified?
Was it for this that daddy died?
Was it you, was it me?
Did I watch too much TV?
Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?

If it wasn't for the stripes,
having coal to fuel our lights,
the mines would still be open all the time.
And it can't be much fun for them,
beneath the firey sun,
with all their foals committing suicide.

What have we done?
Luna, what have we done?
What have we done,
to Equestria?

Should we shout?
Should we scream?
Whatever happened to the post-war dream?

Oh Luna, Luna what did we do?"

I stayed silent as they finally fixed the engine, and we got moving once more.

"Alright, it's not perfect but it'll do for tonight. Mostly intact, anyways..." A small layer of snow blanketed the ground as we pulled up to a sizable brick building, Aerith having bundled herself up in the comforters as she sat in the back wagon. A chill breeze blew around us, carrying thick flakes with it, the earth pony resting back in the driver's seat of the half-track and pulling up his umbrella, popping it open. Huh, clever... "I'll pull the mini-tank inside one of the garages if you can find a vacant one, just open up the door for me."

Answering him with a nod, I flicked on the light of my legputer, hopping off the back of the half-track and heading for the side entrance to the building. Holding my foreleg up to the door, a faded emblem came into view on it's front, myself brushing a small layer of snow off of it to read it better; 'Gemdale Fire Company.' Certainly hope they were for putting out fires... The door creaked open after a few hard shoves, myself moving into the large garage, looking over the lightless area. Well, at least the first door should have room. Heading over to it, heavy hoofsteps met my ears from the other doorway, my own hooves reaching for the handle at the bottom of the large door and giving it a tug. Guh, stupid rusted joints...

"'ere, let me get this for ye." A magic aura encompassed the handle, and bottom of the door, Scouring smiling back at myself from the entrance as he pulled the garage door open, myself flying to the side and watching as Static pulled the mini-tank inside. Two lines of snow were left from the tracks as they came to rest on the concrete, the thin slit of light from the headlight illuminating the far wall as the red eyes of Crash Dive's helmet looked towards me, the power armored pegasus hopping off the wagon. Scouring kept his horn lit as he dropped the garage door back into place, looking around the station. "Hell, think we could get the lights on in here? Or at least somethin' better than this?"

"These places usually have their own generators like back at Jericho Beach, right? For, uh, just so everything's got power if the grid goes down." Static scratched at his head as he leaned back in the half-track, shaking some snow off of the umbrella as Aerith unbundled herself from one of the comforters. Her large horn illuminated the whole area in a deep bluish glow, affording us a better look at the contents for the moment. Well, looks like they left one of the fire wagons behind, at least... "Hey, maybe if it's small enough we could take it back. Right?"

"One step at a time, Static. Let's focus on getting through tonight first, hope the storm doesn't get worse by tomorrow." Passing him a weak smile, Crash Dive trotted over to myself as Scouring headed back to the wagon, Aerith picking up an old broom from the corner and starting to sweep the floor. Well... hey, it's something, at least. Giving a nod to the power armored pegasus, we both headed for a doorway near the back, starting to trot through the rest of the station. Alright, so if I were a generator...

"I don't... I don't think you should leave, if we can find a generator that we can bring back." Crash Dive's voice stopped me as we stood inside a small hallway along the back of the station. She looked back to the door we'd just come through, before nodding to keep moving. "At least, not yet, anyways. Not before we're sure the rest of my squadron are dead. They're trained to kill anything on the surface, and if those Harriers handle anything like Vertibucks then they've got the training for flying them already."

"But, what about all the anti-aircraft guns we've been giving out all over the place? The towns can handle themselves against them, right?" Okay, that did come out a little more selfish than I meant it to, but still. The Seaddler kind of proved those guns are still pretty damn effective... "Look, I know they're a threat, but we've given the wasteland around here better tools to deal with them. I know it's selfish, but... I want to go home, Crash Dive. I want to go back to my dads, my home, I want to... I just want things to go back to being normal."

Sniffling in a breath, I rubbed at my eyes with a hoof - stupid dusty pre-war buildings, making my eyes water up. Crash Dive was silent for a moment as we continued onwards, stopping in front of a door at the end of the hallway. The power-armored pegasus let off a sigh, dropping her head. "I know how you feel. Do you think I wanted to abandon everypony I knew to wage war against the surface ten years ago? Do you think I -wanted- to be drafted into the armed forces, broken and trained like they needed me to be? The Enclave made me leave my home, take it as my new one..." With a swift kick of her metal-clad hoof, the lock of the door, and the doorframe, disintegrated, revealing a large metal box on a concrete pedestal in the room. She set her hoof back on the floor, letting out a soft sigh. "At least you have a home to go back to."

Trotting inside the room, the form of the generator took up the majority of the space, myself holding my pip-buck up to it to better see it's details. Crash Dive trotted along the opposite side, quiet, us both meeting near the back of it. "The reason... the reason I don't think you should leave, the Valkyrie is the only thing that can really combat them effectively. It's got the armament for it, and not to mention those megaspells if we can catch them wherever they're landed. Anti-aircraft guns are only effective if they can open fire on a target before they get blown up."

"That's... great. Would you believe me if I told you the reason we would up crashing down here was because Static had gotten us both vertibuck piloting lessons, and we managed to crash the one we were inside into a snowbank?" Giving her a weak chuckle, her red visor stared back at myself in the darkness, her jaw hung agape before closing into the very hints of a smile. She reached a hoof up and pulled a lever on the back of the generator, it humming to life loudly and filling the room with light. "In my defense, it was going just fine up until Static tried taking control of the bird from me. Hate to know where we'd have wound up if he managed to take the Valkyrie off back at Sunrise Castle."

"Earth ponies haven't any business flying, if they were meant to they'd be pegasi." Crash Dive answered with a small chuckle, pulling her helmet off as I likewise flicked the light of my pip-buck screen down. Trotting out to the garage once more, Aerith had spread one of the comforters out on the ground, geting to work with the other two in fashioning a jacket for herself with Static's help, Scouring rummaging around in the back of the wagon. A few bedrolls dropped off of the back, the unicorn unrolling them as Static lifted himself to his hooves, trotting over.

"Well, it looks like we're set. This place even has working heating, felt the vents start up when you turned on the generator. You want to get things settled here, me and Scouring're gonna try to find if this place has a kitchen with anything in it." Returning him a nod, he trotted by as the power armored unicorn followed him, myself moving to rest on the spread-out heavy blanket. Alright, 9:30 at night, gonna be sleeping here, and we're about a day's worth of travel from Maple Station after exploring that bomb impact zone... wonder how the Radio KAOS signal is out this way. Or... huh, Maple Station Local Broadcast. Let's see what that holds...

"-and we are here today because of the grand ponies who've sacrificed so much for our way of life. Though it's different than what we were accustomed to in years past, the fact remains that we have so much to be thankful for as citizens of Equestria, pony, zebra, sand dog or gryphon alike. It is their sacrifices that have ensured that, as this old number goes, There'll always be an Equestria." Huh, mare's voice, sounds pretty damn familiar if I had to say anything about it. The voice swapped out with a rather obvious ghoul, the gravelly voice legible through the speaker, if only just.

"That was the great Dame Vera Lynn making her pre-concert address as she did so many decades before, remembered in history as the forces' sweetheart she's now become the wasteland's sweetheart just as well. Something uplifting for everyone out there in the cold, a reassurance that even with bombs, destruction, and death, There'll Always be an Equestria."

"I give you a toast, Stallions and Gentlemares,
I give you a toast, Stallions and Gentlemares!
May this fair land we love so well,
in dignity and freedom dwell!
Though worlds may change and go awry,
While there is one voice to cry!

There'll always be an Equestria,
While there's a country lane,
Wherever there's a cottage small
Beside a field of grain.
There'll always be an Equestria,
While there's a busy grove,
Wherever there's a turning wheel,
A million marching hooves!"

Huh, wouldn't have pegged Vera as one for singing patriotic songs... then again, only ever heard We'll Meet Again... Thanks, dad.

"Why's it still glowing? I haven't even had any RAD since we'd come up here... I think..." Rubbing at my eyes, I gave a long yawn as my pip-buck illuminated the upper hallway of the fire station, trotting along back to the bunkroom from the bathroom. At least the toilets still work here... and it's also a good thing that we found the bunkroom in the first place, even with the heating I don't want to spend the night on a cold concrete floor. Gave Static the space to turn the half-track and wagon around, at least. Passing by the windows, the cold expanse outside reflected in bluish light from the moon, myself letting out a soft sigh - forgot how beautiful the moonlight on snow is.

Pausing for a moment to stare out at the snowy wasteland beyond, a hint of movement caught my eyes as something came out in front of the fire hall. Blinking a few times and wiping away a bit of fog from the window, I peered towards the thing down below, a black form in the fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Scratching at my head for a moment, I looked down at my legputer - 5:43 AM. Weird time for there to be animals out, especially in this weather. Looking back, a second form met the first, along with a third, the third one carrying something that seemed to glow a sickly greenish-yellow color. As the third one passed it over to the first, and the first then took it and stuck it inside a half-pipe sort of thing, and then hefted the pipe-thing onto it's shoulder... "OH, FUCK ME!"

The whole building shook as the balefire egg impacted against the garage door below, myself ducking as some of the windows shattered inwards from the blast before darting down the hallway. Crash Dive was the first one up and at attention, Static having fallen out of his bunk as I rushed over to my duffel bag, grabbing Thumper. Okay, they're shooting balefire eggs, then let me give them a solar burst fuck you right back... "What the hell exploded?! Night Strike, what's going on?" The earth pony scrambled to get himself out of his bedding, standing up straight as I snapped Thumper's breech shut, Scouring and Aerith rousing awake as well.

"I don't know who they are, I just know that they just sent a balefire egg wake-up call at the garage door outside and that's enough for me to figure they aren't exactly friendly neighbors." Aerith had slipped herself into her makeshift jacket as Scouring unfolded Sunburst, Crash Dive already pushing into the hallway and looking down out of the window with her rebar cannon at the ready. Scouring and Aerith moved to meet her, and I was just about to follow suit when a blue-coated hoof reached out to catch my shoulder. Looking back, I was greeted with the sight of Static with his mouth bit down on the handle of a fire axe. Uh... probably not the best time for a swordfighting lesson, Sparky!

Pulling the large axe from his mouth, Static glanced over at the three by the windows as they took up positions, Aerith's machine gun and rifle's outlines glimmering in the night. Well, they shot first... "If you have one of those bigger grenades loaded, probably would be best if we get the drop on them. The rest create a distraction and we can sneak to the back, I'll bust down the door in the commotion and you can fly up to do what you need to." Ooh, sneaky strike tactics, Strikey likey~ Answering him with a nod, we started moving down the hallway, Static keeping himself low so he wouldn't be seen in the windows and myself following suit. He gave a rough instruction of 'cause a distraction for us' to them as we reached the end, and the stairwell, giving one last glance outside before shaking a hoof towards them - well, as a signal I guess it works. Did what it needed to, anyways.

The sounds of gunfire erupted from the shattered windows as Static landed at the bottom of the stairwell with the axe, steadying himself on his hooves with it before starting to chop at it madly. The door readily splintered with the force, some explosions erupting from out front as they kept up the fire, myself waiting for Static to clear the door before shooting out into the nighttime air. Looping up and over the building with Thumper in hoof, I hovered in the air, watching as the snow out front became pock-marked with craters and bullets, a few more figures having come out to play. One of them rushed to the side of the one with the Balefire Egg launcher, carrying another of the greenish-yellow crystals, myself bringing Thumper to my shoulder and peering down the sight. About fifteen, seventeen meters off the ground, say a little less than a hundred meters to the target at this range... hardly have to compensate at all. Flash, bam, alakazam and good-bye...

Thumper let out his usual thump as the black and gold round cleared his muzzle, the figures having a second to realize they were about to have a very bad day before it seemed like one took the 40mm ball of fun death to the face - specifically, the one holding one of Kindness' uglier sisters. Oh, I always say I love derping baddies in the face with high explosives, but it's oodles more fun when I'm actually able to pull it off... He and his ammo lackey quickly vanished in a brilliant white flash, a few screams heard before they were deafened by the reverberating explosion from the little bomb. I let loose a stupid giggle as the heat pulse warmed my body inside my jacket, riding the shockwave on my wings for a meter or two before hovering back, the blinding flash fading away into a snowy mushroom cloud. Oh, I love my job.

Landing on the roof as the fireball cooled and illuminated the area in a softer light, I swear I saw a pair of the baddies already flying off into the distance as Aerith, Crash Dive and Scouring mopped up the rest. Black armor, flight, one hell of a grudge against us... Yeah, I don't think it takes a rocket surgeon to guess who they were. Sheesh, they must have the worst luck, this is the third time we've blown them away? Fourth? Ah, who's counting... Hope they got the hint this time.

Taking off again and landing at the back door, I was greeted with Static laying inside the landing against the wall, hugging the old fire axe to himself as he panted and let of stupid chuckles inbetween. I wore a small smirk, watching as he pulled himself back to his hooves. "You really just wanted to smash a door down with a fire axe, didn't you?"

"H-hey, you get to make your own doors with that thing all the time, can't I have a moment every now and again?" Answering him with a small chuckle, the rest of the group met us downstairs, Static heading for the door that led into the garage. Flicking on the lights - well, what was left of them, anyways - revealed the door next to the one that we'd come in by was completely blown in by the blast, it having crushed and warped around the fire wagon that was inside the other bay. Good thing they aimed for that one... the earth pony rushed to the mini-tank, looking it over for any signs of damage. After trotting around it, and tossing his axe onto the back, he hopped himself into the driver's seat, myself moving up to Boomer. Oh, thank Celestia you're alright, baby... The engine of the mini-tank seemed to try to start for a moment, before something underneath the back exploded with a loud pop, hot steam jetting from vents and making Static quickly switch the mini-tank off again. Pushing steam clouds away from myself, I wore a grimace, which the earth pony returned.

"Well... that's not good."

Vera

I coughed as Scouring helped move the large automatic grenade launcher forwards, letting me flip up the back of the mini tank, steam billowing out from inside. Shit, I really don’t want to have to try and push this thing all the way up to Maple Station... if we can even get this thing moving without the engine, it’s just so damn heavy. I waved the steam away from my face, letting it clear up and drift out of the garage, the chill wind from outside taking it. I peered in at the inner workings of the mini tank, trying to locate the source of the problem. Guh, I know it’s chilly outside but the heat coming off of these parts really isn’t a good replacement. “It looks like the seal we put on the new gasket blew out.” I informed the others, letting off a small sigh. “I thought you said you knew how to get a nice even seal on this.” I chastised Crash Dive, only to immediately regret it and step around to the other side of the tank as she glared at me.

“Aaaanyway,” Night Strike spoke up, much to my relief. “Well, try again, or we’re going to be stuck walking the rest of the way, and I’d rather not have to brave this storm if I can help it. I only like snow when it involves forts, snowball fights, or craters to hide in.” I grabbed the toolbox and flipped it open, digging around inside for the ratchet and some pliers. I bent down into the guts of the machine, doing my best to twist some of the bolts holding the engine feed pipe in place without burning myself on the metal. As I looked again, more steam was coming from the engine itself - oh, great. Something really must’ve gone wrong to get enough pressure to blow this thing apart...

I leaned back out of the tank, Scouring’s horn lighting up as he carefully lifted up the unbolted head of the engine, some coolant and water leaking out from it. A few of the separators of the gasket had completely shattered, leaving the three cylinders open to each other. Oh, this isn’t going to be an easy fix, is it… I carefully slipped the gasket out and placed it onto a workbench in the garage, Aerith moving so the heat from the engine wafted onto her. “Alright, I think I’m going to need some metal bits… glue… and probably three rolls of duct tape to get this thing secure enough to last us up to Maple Station.” I began to dig around in the cupboards of the garage, thankful to find a roll of duct tape and a bottle of glue.

Night Strike tossed a few bolts onto the workbench beside me, chewing at her lip and heading back over to the mini-tank. Alright, let’s see if I can figure this one out... I started to seal the bolts together with the glue, unwrapping some of the duct tape and starting to wrap it around, creating a rough seal between the holes of the gasket. I repeated this with the other two breaks, and wrapped some extra duct tape around the other divider as well. “You can’t really think that’s going to hold, can you?” Night Strike asked. I shrugged and slipped the gasket back into place on the engine.

“Well, it’s the best we’re really going to get, just gotta find a four leaf clover or something, that should help.” Scouring lowered the head of the engine back on top of it before I began to fit it back into place. I leaned back and shut the hatch of the tank before hopping back into the driver’s seat, Boomer moved back into place and Night strike taking her spot as well. “Alright, hooves crossed.” I turned the ignition, the small dashboard lighting up and the reactor starting up the tank. There was a sputter and another cough of steam before the little half-track rumbled to life once more. I breathed a sigh of relief, the rest climbing aboard the wagon, before rolling the tank out of the garage and starting to head northwards again.

The cold air bit at our exposed coats as we slowly trundled along the ground. The treads rolled smoothly over some of the loose bricks laying in the road as I turned towards the large quarry. I eased up on the pedal a little, not wanting to bring the poor little engine up to full revs with the jury-rigged gasket in place. We rolled past a police station, my Geiger counter starting to tick a little faster as we turned down a road that led to the large highway passing the quarry. A rusted over sign pointed the way towards the crater. ‘Gemdale Mining Company. Private property, trespassers will be arrested.’ Well, seeing how that law’s hardly enforceable nowadays, I don’t think we’ll be in too much trouble taking a peek.

I turned off towards the quarry, approaching a large factory sitting on the edge of the crater. I glanced over the edge into the mine pit, following the twisting paths of mine cart tracks, several of them falling away into a pit in the center of the crater filled with rubble. Okay, maybe I actually wouldn’t want to go digging around in a direct hit from a balefire missile, the factory’s good enough for now. Glad to know Night Strike hasn't rubbed off on me quite THAT much yet... The large cooling tower of the building loomed over us as we approached, casting a shadow down over the entrance.

I rolled up to the doors, the engine rattling a little as I switched it off. “Are you sure there’s even going to be something valuable here? I thought Equestria had an overabundance of gems.” Night Strike asked as I lifted up a large metal door beside a conveyer belt running down into the mines. “Wasn’t that the whole reason the war started anyway?” We entered the floor of the factory, the belt from outside leading to a large metal bin filled with rocks embedded with the shiny precious stones.

“Well, yeah, I doubt most ponies now are demanding gems as much as pre-war Zebras were. Still, there’s plenty of machines running on these things, you never know when you’ll need a replacement board... Not to mention this being an ammo goldmine for energy weapons, too.” We trotted further into the production lines, myself lifting up one of the ores and looking it over. I tossed the amethyst chunk back into the bin and followed the cableway it hung on with my eyes, smiling widely. “Heck, if we could find a number of ponies with nothing better to do, we could fix up this place start a monopoly of gemboards!... ah, after we clear out the radiation, at least.” I reached into my saddlebags, digging around for a bottle of Rad-X as my pip-buck's geiger counter clicked away merrily.

Popping one of the pills into my mouth, I tossed the bottle over to Night Strike. We approached a large furnace, a barred door on the front allowing me to peer inside to see several ores sitting on top of a large pile of coal. Ok, so lack of anywhere to get a good amount of coal may be a roadblock to gem monopoly, but I’m sure I can figure something out; I’ll just have to hire a dragon, or something. Maybe convert the place to flamer fuel... I walked around to the back of the furnace, finding a large valve connected to a few pipes running from the wall to the smelter.

Thinking for a moment, I took a hold of it and gave it a spin, the valve creaking loudly as the surface rust broke away with some effort. There was a series of clicks before a small flame appeared in the pile of coal. The black rocks quickly caught fire and began to spread, heat emanating from the furnace. “You aren’t actually thinking of waiting around until those ores have smelted, are you?” Crash Dive asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

“You never know, maybe it’s enchanted to smelt them down faster.” I stared into the furnace, watching as the ores did indeed already begin to glow with heat, the gems shining brightly inside the rocks surrounding them. It wasn’t long before the rock began to slowly ooze off of the gems, dripping down into a trough that ran off into a bucket also filled with useless gravel. Scouring placed his hooves on a lever connected to the grate the ores had been sitting on, tilting it up to cause the gems to roll off and down a chute into a vat of water... er, well, ice. The gems hissed and a cloud of steam rose into the air as they fell in, the heat melting away the frozen top of the pool and their glow subsiding. I stared into the bucket of water, carefully fishing out one of the gemstones after it had cooled off.

The hunk of mineral shone a little in the light, its surface slightly cloudy. Night Strike dug out a few of the other stones, rolling them over in her hooves. “Uh, are you sure these are actually going to be worth anything like this? Don't they have to be cut and treated, and printed, or something like that?” I shrugged a little, taking them from her and tossing them back into the bucket of water before continuing through the factory floor.

“Alright, I got ahead of myself. There might be some cut gems around here, though.” Crash gave a sigh of irritation as we continued through the factory, a door on the opposite end opening up into a small room lined with desks, each one affixed a large lamp sporting several movable lenses. One of the desks still had a few gems resting on it, catching my attention. I picked one of them up, holding it underneath one of the magnifying lenses as the others searched the room for supplies. My eyes widened as I could see the gem glowing even more brightly through the lens, an aura of energy slowly pulsating around it.

I fiddled with the mechanism holding the lens to the table, managing to unscrew it and lift it up to my eye. Scouring glowed through the lens as he dug around inside a filing cabinet, his horn shining brightly despite him not casting a spell. Lowering the lens I waved Aerith over. She took the lens in her magic and glanced through, an amused smile crossing her face. “Any idea what kind of enchantment this is?” I asked, turning the piece of glass over in my hooves. Aerith shrugged, holding a gem under the lens again.

‘I think it’s something that detects inherent magical energies. The cutters probably used them to make more powerful stones, or pick out the right ones or something.’ Her sign read. I raised my eyebrows a bit, holding the lens up to my eye again. I could see Night Strike’s silhouette glowing faintly, her wings especially so, in a darkened office through the cracked wood as she rummaged through the desk, slipping something she found into her duffel bag.

“Hey, don’t hog all of those for yourself, Night Strike!” I chuckled, Night Strike’s head popping up in surprise. She opened up the door to see me grinning through the lens. “You know, these make for a pretty good impression of night vision goggles. Short of a megaspell going off, I won't be blinded by them, either.” I placed the lens carefully into my saddlebags before trotting over to another gem cutter’s table and unscrewing the one affixed to it. Night Strike rolled her eyes as I pocketed the second piece of glass, a faint sigh escaping her lips.

“Pfft, yeah, I’m sure you’ll look really intimidating with those Grandma-thick lenses tied to your face.” She chuckled, giving her head a shake. I rolled my eyes in return and ignored her, digging around for something to help keep the lenses around my head. Come on, you can’t tell me this place doesn’t even have some strips of leather lying around, or a belt or something... Night Strike glanced out a dirtied up window, seeing grey clouds rolling across the sky, a few flecks of snow starting to drift down from them. “I think we better get going, it looks like the storm’s coming in again.”

I abandoned my search for goggle equipment and followed the others back through the factory and out to the mini tank. Hopping in and twisting the ignition, the tank thankfully rumbled to life once more, and I was able to turn and start to drive uphill towards the road leading north. As I reached the top of the hill, though, the engine began to sputter again, the tracks jerking along roughly underneath us. No, no, no, c’mon, don’t die on me already! I pressed down on the pedal a little harder, but all this did was cause another pop from the back of the mini tank. We stalled at the top of the hill, myself looking back as we began to roll back down the hill towards the mines. Oh, shit!

I twisted the bars wildly, trying to turn us away from the gaping pit, my hooves pressing the brake pedal as hard as they could. Aerith’s horn lit up, the trailer’s wheels turning and leading us away from the mines, bumping along and slowly rolling to a stop back in front of the factory, steam pouring out from under the hood once more. “Fuuuck!” I cried, flopping my head down onto the handlebars.

Night Strike slid off the back of the tank, flipping open the hatch and letting the steam pour out. “Alright, we get it, you don’t like running without replacement parts. Stupid thing.” She whacked the side of the tank, another burst of steam flowing out and prompting her to grimace. I climbed out of the tank to look at the various interlocked pieces as Scouring shifted a little on the back.

“There’s no way we’re going to get this fixed enough to get us to Maple Station.” I said, stepping back from the engine. I sighed in frustration, leaning against the side of the tank, taking a moment to rub at my temples. Snow fell around us, a little thicker than yesterday, the skies dark as night even with it being early on in the morning. “Well, now what?” Crash Dive climbed off of the back of the tank, moving to unhitch the trailer from it. She grabbed the chains holding in the cargo and began to undo them before walking back around to the front of the tank.

“You’re dragging this thing the rest of the way. It’s either that or leave it here, and we’re not setting up camp in the middle of a radioactive crater and hoping somepony stumbles across us.” She lashed the chains around the front as I trotted around to her. Scouring took another set of chains, hooking them up to the trailer to form his own makeshift hitch to drag the trailer behind himself.

“You can’t actually think I’m going to be able to drag this whole thing alo-” My protests were cut off by Crash Dive grabbing me around the neck, pulling me over and slinging the chains around my shoulders, keeping them secure. I glared back at her as she stepped in front of me, Scouring trotting up beside me carrying the trailer behind him with Aerith curled up in the blankets in it.

“Hey, least she’s only making you carry the tank, lad.” He chuckled as he began to slowly trot forwards. I grumbled, but began to move forward, the chains tightening as I did. I dug my hooves into the ground, the heavy vehicle rolling along the ground behind me. I was able to move up to a slow pace behind the rest of them, the chains digging slightly painfully into my shoulders. Guh, this is not going to be fun, couldn’t you have at least given me that power armor to make things easier? Scouring walked along beside me, the wheels of the trailer squeaking slightly as they made fresh trials in the snow.

I shivered a little in the cold air as we reached the top of the hill and began to trot along the northern road, the snow crunching under my hooves as we turned to follow the curve of the road, moving slowly further away from the edge of town. The large grey clouds rolled across the sky as we trotted onwards, the snowfall becoming heavier, the wind starting to whip around more violently. Night Strike brushed some of the excess snow that was building up on the tank and trailer off, her ponytails flittering in the wind slightly. Scouring's breath came out in large steamy chuffs even from behind his helmet, struggling to keep the trailer’s wheels plowing through the snow on the road. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think 'e’re goin' to be able t' pull these things much further in this storm!”

Night Strike looked worryingly over to Aerith, who was curled up under the blankets, trying to keep warm. “Yeah, we better find somewhere to stop soon, I don’t think we’ll do really well in the middle of a blizzard. At least it’s not really radioactive like back home, right Static?” She turned to look at me with a weak smile as I trudged through the heightening snow, the tank slowly rolling behind me. I grunted as I pulled the tank a little further - radioactive or no, I’m not getting this thing anywhere in three feet of snow. She pulled up the map on her Pip-Buck, scrolling through it. “It looks like there’s some small rest stop a little further ways up according to the caravan route we got. It’s closer than trying to turn around at this point.”

Crash Dive nodded and we trekked onwards. The road sloped downwards, allowing my muscles a little bit of time to relax. As we trotted down the street, a split appeared in the road, turning off into a small cluster of trees. Night Strike led us down the exit, the trees shielding us from the harsh winds somewhat. The road curved around through the woods, the path becoming much rougher than the smooth stretch of road we had just left.

A sign appeared next to a curve in the road along with a small booth. 'Starlite Drive-In Theater' it read, the movable tiles that spelled out the names of the movies having almost all fallen off or faded away. Beside the booth lay an overturned cart that had crashed into one of the trees. Night Strike trotted up to and pushed the curtain hanging over the back away before shouting, “Woah, screw digging around in dead ponies’ fridges, we just hit jackpot!” She leaned back out holding several bottles of Sparkle Cola designed like miniature bombs. Huh, that’s kind of neat. She began to trot over to the trailer, placing them down into it.

“I’m surprised a stockpile like this hasn’t been taken already!” She giggled, moving back and grabbing some more of the bottles, stuffing a few into her saddlebags. I gave an eyeroll, watching her - probably because nopony out here is as obsessed with soda as much as you are, Strikey... A strong gust of wind blew through the woods as Night Strike carried over another batch of soda and dumped them into the trailer, Aerith taking one and popping the cap off.

Beginning to trot forward, I pulled the tank through the drive-in's gate towards a clearing on the opposite side. “How about we grab the rest of the sodas when we’re not on the verge of freezing to death?” I suggested. Night Strike rolled her eyes, but only took a couple more sodas from the wagon before following me into the clearing. On the opposite side was a large metal structure with a flat white face, some abandoned wagons poking out through the snow-covered ground. Snow was piling up on a small building in the center of the clearing, all of us flocking to it to get out of the cold. I began to unhook the chains tying me to the tank as Scouring did the same with the trailer, Aerith and Crash Dive trotting into the building.

I followed the others in once I was unhitched, thankful for the safety from the harsh winds as we entered the building. A small concessions counter stood opposite a wide window facing the screen. I opened a door into a small adjacent room that held a stairway, following it up to be met by a large projector, a spool of film already sitting on the machine. I stepped inside, looking at a few other canisters of film labeled with faded marker. Night Strike trotted upstairs behind me, pausing at the stairwell to see me inspecting the reels of film. “You think this thing still works? It’d be a good way to pass the time while we wait for the storm to blow over, at least.”

“Worth a shot.” I took one of the reels, blowing some of the dust off the case. ‘The Iron Giant’ - Eh, sounds interesting, at least. I removed the reel sitting on the projector before hooking up the one I’d picked off the shelves, carefully slipping the film through the rollers in front of the bulb. I flicked a small switch at the back, the spools beginning to spin as the projector hummed and heated up. Heading downstairs and back out into the main room, I found the others sitting on a musty couch in front of the counter.

“Found the couch and this in a break room behind the concessions.” Night Strike said, handing me one of the new bottles of Sparkle Cola. “There were some bags of popcorn back there too, Scouring’s working on getting the popper running. Good thing, too, seeing how we forgot to grab something to eat back at Gemdale.” As if on cue, my stomach growled as I realized what time it was. Sheesh, I’m turning into you, Strikey. I headed around back to see if Scouring needed any help, only to find him bent down in front of the popper, fiddling with some of the metal bits. He hit something with a clang before standing up and flicking a switch on the front. The sound of bubbling oil met our ears, swiftly followed by a few pops as the kernels began to explode.

Night Strike fiddled with her Pip-Buck for a moment, and music suddenly filled the air before fading away to be replaced by the soft beeping of the space-probe visible on screen. I helped Scouring pour the popcorn into small bags before we trotted back into the main room and sat down beside her on the couch. Aerith lay on the floor in front of us, curled up in her blanket as Crash Dive pulled up a spare wooden chair to sit on. I passed a bag to Night Strike as the space probe’s quiet flight was interrupted by a rumbling as a large object passed by it, hurtling towards the Equestria. I began to munch down on the popcorn as well, the flurry outside reminding me of home as we sat down to watch the movie.

Well... better than being cramped in the TOG...

"I just wanna point out that there's no way a missile like that would be fused for impact detonation, but... damn..." Slumping back against the musty old sofa, the film audio faded out as the credits rolled by, the blizzard outside the window serving more like a screen than the actual screen itself. Sheesh, you'd think stepping inside this place really was a fast way to get back home with how that storm looked, could just step outside and walk a day, wind up back in Mooscow... Letting off a quiet sigh, I took another sip from the new bottle of Sparkle-Cola, looking at the half-emptied glass bomb. Heh, I really do like these new bottles, this were one of the old ones I'd have finished it by now. The audio gave way to a small musical flourish, Static giving his back a long stretch as Aerith slept on the floor in front, Scouring and Crash Dive adjusting their armor.

"From the way things sounded like 'efore the war, surprised a film like that was allowed to get made. Was entertainin', at least." Scouring's armor clanked against itself slightly as he shuffled around, hopping off of the couch and heading back towards the counters again. Fiddling with my legputer, I flicked through the various screens, glancing at each one in turn - radio options; Radio KAOS, Maple Station Local Broadcast, Starlite Drive-in... map? Shit, why'd this storm have to pick up now, we couldn't be more than a few hours' drive from Maple Station. Assuming the mini-tank didn't currently have a pretty necessary gasket completely written off, anyways... I let off a small sigh, glancing at the time. Only 4 in the afternoon, huh... storm must be -really- bad. "Tell you what, though, I know the Rangers wouldn't have minded havin' something like the Giant. All that hardware aboard with it's own power source, would've made Cauterize a sure curb-stomp... ah, no offense."

Crash Dive glared deep at Scouring, the unicorn electing to shuffle to the far side of the couch from her as he sat himself back down, the frame groaning under the weight of his armor. "I think that kind of misses the point of the film... as in, entirely. Just because something has guns doesn't mean it should use them." The power armored pegasus let out a small sigh, peering out into the grayish blizzard for a long while. Static picked himself up onto his hooves, giving a glance towards myself before nodding and heading for the stairwell to the projection booth. Eh, yeah, could go for another film... wonder if they have anything for playing holotape files...

Hopping off of the couch myself and following behind the earth pony, the projection booth was rather pleasantly warm from the projector - suppose that makes enough sense, even that smaller one in the TOG makes it a little hot after watching Dr. Strangemare a few times in a row. Static moved to get the reel off of the projector as I took to perusing the other films they had on offer, looking over the small rack of reels. Okay, not a bad selection, I mean, not films that I've heard of before, but nothing obscene... I think. I don't see Dr. Strangemare here, is what I mean to say.

Static drew in a sharp breath through his teeth as the reel clattered into it's tin, rubbing at his hooves afterwards and glaring at the projector. After a moment's pause, he smacked the hot metal case of it again, with his hoof - for somepony that's so smart when it comes to computers and caps, you're not exactly the fastest learner, are you, Sparky? Giving a small chuckle as he glared my way, he trudged his way over to myself by the rack of reels, glancing at them with me. "So, see anything good?"

"You tell me, I haven't heard of half of these movies... Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Big... Lebowski? 'TMMITFM'? Is that even a word?" Static answered me with a shrug, trotting closer to look over the films. Okay, we gotta find something to pass the time, at least. Letting off a small huff, my eyes scanned over the rest of the reels, not really focusing on any of them. At the far end, one of the reels laid askew on the table, some scorch marks apparent around it - ooh, that can't be good. Trotting over to look at it more closely, the metal tin was discolored by flame, the strip of tape that named the film visibly charred but miraculously left in one piece - then again, upon reading the name, 'miraculous' probably isn't the best word for it. "Hey, Static? How well is nitrate cellulose supposed to burn?"

"Uh, pretty well, I think, long as it has enough surface area open to air. Isn't it like that stuff in the TOG's shells, or something?" Picking up the tin with my hooves in the sleeves of my jacket, I set it in a more well-lit part of the booth, the earth pony coming over to look at it with me. He wore a somewhat annoyed look before catching sight of the film's name - what, did you think I wanted to burn this place down? I might like explosions but I'm not crazy enough to do that!... before converting all these movies onto holotape files, anyways. I mean, besides... "Why the hell did a pizza place get a movie made about it?"

"That's not the weirdest part of it. Because..." The tin separated with some effort, heat having warped the metal and charred the inside black. As we both looked inside, what we saw was... unsettling, to say the least. Even with the film canister looking like it was put through a balefire explosion and firestorm, the film inside seemed to show no damage whatsoever, made all the more prominent when Static pulled the reel out and looked at the 35mm-wide plastic strip. I knew there was something really freaky about that Molly Manticore place... goddesses, I'm glad Scouring vaporized it with an obscene amount of explosives. "Well, on the upside, guess we've got something to burn for heat or food or something. Or replacement cordite, in a pinch."

"Uh... are we even sure this -can- burn? I mean, the evidence is pretty clear... maybe it has some kind of spell to prevent it from igniting, that makes sense, right?" Slipping the reel back inside it's charred case, it took a bit of force to re-close the tin, which seemed to start heating up as it was sealed. Pushing it off to the side, I glanced back to Static, wearing a small frown and giving a shake of the head. If the spell was supposed to keep it from burning, then it was only applied to the film... curse over a blessing. Even then, it's the only reel like it here...

"Let's just try and find another movie to put on for now. Uh... huh, they made Daring Do films?" Grabbing the first reel of the set, I pulled it out and read the taped-on title. 'Daring Do and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' - Eh, Daring Do, let's see what this has in store for us. Tossing it over to Static, he caught it and took to setting it up on the projector, myself looking back to the burned canister. Mmh... really don't think we should leave that thing here, not where it could cause damage... b-because of the obviously faulty fireproofing spell, of course! Eheh, uhm, yeah, that... maybe... "Static, that pair of magic goggles you're putting together, where are they? Just want to see if it is a faulty spell or something... weird that this is the only one that's fire-damaged."

"Oh, uh, yeah, the lenses are in my saddlebags downstairs. Considering the film isn't damaged, I'd say the spell works just fine... then again, magic is confusing enough as it is." He let off a small sigh and shut the projector up, flicking the switch on it's side. Unlike the first film, this one didn't start up quite immediately, something inside the projector whirring before the screen - or, well, snowstorm - had a short animated feature scroll across it, two clown ponies with large-bore flare guns pacing away from each other before shooting at the same spot, the shell meeting in the center and turning into an explosion with the number 5 in the center. The radio in my legputer happily announced it being 5 minutes to showtime, another short animation starting as I headed back down, Static letting out a sigh. I answered with a chuckle - well, it -is- a drive-in theater, Sparky...

Heading downstairs once more with the burned tin in hoof, the smell of more old popcorn being popped met my nose, Scouring, um... scouring the cabinets in the kitchen behind the refreshments stand for more food. Aerith was still curled up in her blankets on the floor - sheesh, she's a heavy sleeper, ain't she? Crash Dive, for her part, kept staring up at the screen in the distance, and the short cartoons between each minute of the countdown. Hot popcorn and a refreshing Sparkle-Cola, mmm, pre-war ponies knew how to have the good things in life... letting off a soft chuckle, I set myself down by our bags, grabbing one large bottle of Sparkle-Cola from my own and popping it open. Taking a sip of the sweet carbonated soda, I looked over to Static's own saddlebags, my legputer happily announcing it being 3 minutes to showtime.

Undoing the flaps, the somewhat unorganized mess of stuff in Static's bags met me, myself grimacing a little as I started to look for the lenses. Smooth Strikey, you ask him where the lenses are but not which one of his bags they're in... how's he even carrying so much in these small things? Rummaging for a moment, the lenses finally came to the top, myself picking one up and looking it over. So, this thing can see magic? Huh, hate to know what'd happen to someone's eyes if they lopoked at a balefire bomb or megaspell through it... Holding the lens to my eye, I scanned around the area, having to pause and blink a few times. Okay, wasn't expecting quite that much blue. Huh, so that's where the solar burst grenades are in my duffel bag... Sheesh, Aerith is just a solid glowing form. Crash Dive... the power armor occluded much of her body, but under the wing covers you could just faintly make out her wings, or what was left of them, anyways. Gives me the shivers just thinking about how they feel for her... okay, stop goofing around, Strikey. Let's see what that spell looks like...

Turning my focus to the canister, I had to stop and rub at the eye I was hoding the lens to at first glance, looking between it and the charred tin. Uh... hm... holding the lens back up, the canister glowed again, but not with a bluish glow like pretty much everything else. Nope, no, that was definitely some kind of blood-red deal going on right there - Oh, why didn't we grab a magic cheat sheet or something before leaving that gem processing place, it'd at least tell me why this thing's all funky. That pit in my stomach that seemed to deepen the more I looked at the sickly red glow coming from the canister, though, eventually convinced me to stop looking at it. Okay, no, there's a rational explanation, maybe it's just something due to the lighting, or something with the spell in the lens or something. Black magic is a thing, right?

Putting the lens back, Scouring reappeared with his hooves full of containers of popcorn, sitting down on the couch and setting them around us. Picking up my freshly opened Sparkle-Cola, I trotted over to join him, Static eventually coming back downstairs and flopping on the couch as well. There was a small musical flourish as the screen announced it being time for the feature presentation. Okay, Daring Do, let's see if your films are as good as your books... please tell me there is a scene where she rides a megaspell out in a fridge in at least one of these.

The icy wind howled outside through the small window in the projection booth, the blizzard outside still going strong. A long sigh escaped me, staring out into the grey night - the cool bite of evening, that familiar chill around my flanks, that, that... I pulled up the sleeve of my jacket, rubbing one of my eyes as it started to sting. Oh, probably got a fleck of snow in it or something, that'd explain the chill on my cheek, yeah, and why my nose kept running like it was. Stupid snow, you were never good for anything... besides bringing all those ghouls up north. And snow forts, and snowball fights, and keeping Sparkle-Cola perfectly cold, and making craters with explosives that'd be filled in a few days later... stupid snow blowing in my eyes...

"Night Strike? Do you have a second?" Blinking my eyes a few times - stupid snow blowing on my cheeks again - I rubbed the blurriness out of them, looking to the stairwell. Static stood at it's top, his silver hair glinting in what little light there was in the room, his pip-buck providing the majority of it. I sat back, answering him with a nod, the earth pon glancing down the stairwell again before trotting closer to me. "I'm just... I don't know. I can't get to sleep, this storm, it's... it's making me..."

"Homesick?" He paused for a second, thinking, before letting out a sigh and nodding in response. I drew in a bit of a sniffle, rubbing at my eyes again. "Y-yeah, I know how you feel. Can't say I miss home that much though, really, b-because of the stupid snow stinging my eyes and making them water up." Letting out a weak chuckle, Static wore a faint smile over his frown, myself rubbing at my reddened eyes again. Stupid... weather... "I never brought us out scavenging when I knew there was a blizzard coming."

"Yeah, only when you knew we were going to be scavenging in hellhound-infested places and feral ghoul territory." He let out a small chuckle, myself joining him, the wind howling outside the small window. After a moment, we both wound up looking down at the floor, letting the chill air fill the void of silence for a moment. So I might've had a few fuck-ups here and there, we always got out of them intact, safe, and without too much harm. Then again, we always had a tank and a deadshot with a magnetic sniper rifle to help us... "I really miss our dads."

"I... I miss them, too..." Oh, come on, I'm not even looking through the window, how'd a snowflake melt on my cheek again? And my nose is running again, too... oh... Static shuffled himself closer to me, resting a hoof against one of my own, myself looking up at him through blurred, stinging vision. His own eyes were reddened faintly, my breathing starting to shallow a little the more I thought about things. Dad's eyes looked a little red when he picked me up the other day in Quebuck... he was worried about me. Can only imagine how he must feel now... A small whimper escaped my lips as I leaned forwards, Static moving his hooves to wrap around my body as I did the same to him, resting my cheek against his shoulder and letting out sputters and sort gasps. I felt his own chin rest heavy beside my head, the both of us squeezing each other a little closer.

And we cried.

We held each other for a long while, our tears staining each others' coats, the frigid air inside the projection booth chilling our tears and stinging our eyes. Eventually we'd managed to cry ourselves out, falling back to shuddering breaths and sighs, just holding each other close and feeling the warmth from the other's body. I blunk my stinging, blurred eyes open, moving a foreleg to rub at the front of my muzzle, wiping it off. We both leaned back against the wall nerest the screen, Static pulling back to break our embrace and rub at his sore eyes. Shuffling around, I let my head rest against the wall, drawing in another short sniffle and releasing a sigh, watching my breath condense slightly in the cool air. It's good to cry sometimes.

Static picked himself up onto his hooves after a moment, still rubbing at his eyes. "I think... I think I can try to fall asleep now. You gonna come down anytime tonight?" I let out a small sigh, giving a moment of thought. Probably would be better than staying up here, even with my jacket on... I lifted myself to my hooves, trotting over to the stairwell with the earth pony. He wore a small smile, waiting for me at the top. A sigh escaped him as we stood there, looking down to the concessions area. "Night Strike? Thank you." I returned a smile, giving a faint nod to him before he started to head down. Thinking for just a moment, I leaned in quickly, planting a small kiss on the blue earth pony's cheek - which quickly took on a shade of red. Oh, you look so cute when you blush, Sparky...

Yeah... we'll make sure things are gonna work out.

"Well I'm thoroughly depressed. Anyone else?" The snow drifted up high in front of the large windows outside, some hoofmarks left where Scouring and Crash Dive had taken turns shoveling as much of the snow away as they could while the storm let up. Tell you one thing about living up north, at least the snow's a consistent six feet deep and everything's built around that... flicking my pip-buck radio off, Static came back from upstairs, scratching at his head.

"Hey guys, we've got... company, I think. Saw something out towards the north, I think it's a group of rangers or something." Scouring lifted himself up from the couch and immediately rushed towards the windows on the right side of the structure, the rest of us following him and peering out into the restarting blizzard. Sheesh, even back home storms weren't quite this nuts... maybe. Fuck, I can't remember... Staring out into the snowfall, a grayish form did make itself apparent in the distance, headed by a pair of yellow lights either side of it's head. Okay, so what is that thing gonna be? Friend, foe, apathetic robot, depression-stricken robot? Hopefully not something headed here to blow us all up...

Static broke away from the window for a moment, grabbing for something in his saddlebags. Uh, yeah, I don't think we can barter our way out of fighting Sparky, and now is not the time for another snack cake, either! Glancing back again, he returned with a leather strap around his head, two glass lenses hung over his eyes. I thought for a moment, before slaping myself in the back of my head in my head - duh, magic-vision goggles. He seemed to try and peer at it as close as he could, his face giving a small grimace. "Damnit... I'm gonna need some magnification for these things. I think there's only one pony out there, but there's a lot of interference."

'What kind of pony would have a head that wide?' Aerith had brought up her sniper rifle, looking out the window in the direction of the lights. She idly licked at her lips, her comforter-sewn jacket hanging on her body easily. After a moment, she flashed up her screen again. 'Uh... how many ponies have tracks for hooves? And really really big circular muzzles with flat heads?' Tracks for hooves? Flat heads? Glowing lights? What kind of creature... fuck, what is wrong with my head today? I really hope that that's a friendly tank, though... -seriously- hope that that's a friendly tank...

"Heh. Ain't the comp'ny, but at the same time I don' think we've much to worry about. Tank Ghoul from Maple Station, probably... just begs the question as to why he'd be down here." Aerith pulled her rifle down as Scouring turned away from the window, moving for his helmet. Crash Dive, for her part, fit on her visor - well, if that tank's anything like the TOG, it's a damn sight better to be in that thing rather than stuck in this place. I definitely do not want to watch When the Wind Blows again, I prefer enjoying the idea of dying in a megaspell fireball, thanks... that was a weird sentence to think.

Static shuffled for his own saddlebags as I moved towards mine, slipping the strap over my shoulders and back and adjusting my wings to fit it. Nnfh, man, this thing is getting heavy, ain't it?... oh, wait, right, that crashed Sparkle-Cola truck. Crap, we haven't cleaned that thing out yet. Looking to Static, he slipped his umbrella underneath his saddlebags, looking back towards the window before looking towards me. I bit at my lip, Scouring and Crash Dive already heading for the doorway. "Well, we might as well find out what they want, right? I mean, if worse comes to, you know how to disable a tank up close too, right?" Well, duh, just throw some explosives in the fighting compartment or douse the radiators in a flammable liquid... both things I really hope we won't have to do in this case! Answering him with a small nod, we followed the rest out into the thinning blizzard, Aerith shuting the door behind us.

Trotting around to the other side of the building, the twin beams of the tank's lights caught us through the storm, Crash Dive and Scouring standing in front while we moved up behind them, myself electing to hover as I watched them both sinking into the drifts. The front of the tank finally came close enough to make out features, looks around three and a quarter meters wide and two and a half tall, with a... damn, that's a big gun... okay, REALLY hope that that's a friendly! The tracks clattered from covers that seemed to encapsulate the forward guide wheels, with the top of the skirts flush with the top of the hull, the front recessed behind the forward guide sprockets by a good distance. It came to a stop a few meters in front of us, the lights either side of the turret casting our shadows long across the drifts, the turret remaining stationary with it, same with the hull-mounted gun. Okay... they're not shooting us with their guns, that's a very good thing.

There was a small moment of silence where the wind of the storm outside took over, before one of the hatches of the tank clattered open and a ghoul popped his head out of it, looking around for a moment fore his eyes settled on us and a smile crossed his face. "Ah, brilliant, thought it might be you lot that wound up stuck here! Dreadful storm, isn't it?" We all glanced at each other for a moment, another chill breeze affirming the ghoul's words, prompting him to duck inside as the gust met him. Okay, we get it, you're a snowstorm, you can piss off already. The ghoul reappeared, rubbing at one of his eyes and looking back at us. "Aren't you supposed to have one of those motorbugs and a wagon with you? She's gotten on in years but she can handle pulling a little thing like that if you need her to!"

"That'd be wonderful, thanks! Ah, can you bring her over here, closer to us?" Crash Dive glanced up at me for a moment, before she shuffled herself along with the rest of the group, clearing way for the tank. I hovered in front, helping guide him along - okay, we parked the mini-tank... there, so if there are welded loops on the back of this thing then we should be able to pull it free of the snow. Tanks are usually pretty powerful, right? Guiding him to swing left, and a stop, he gave a small nod from inside, myself returning it and then motioning him to reverse up. Scouring hopped to the side near where the mini-tank and wagon were, myself watching him while the ghoul watched me, us eventually getting the tank close enough. Motioning for another stop, there was a chuckle from inside the tank, the hatch opening again.

"Where'd a mare like yourself learn to guide like that? You happen to be a ghoul that found a good dermatologist or something?" The stallion inside the tank let off a small laugh as I trotted up, hearing the clatter of chains and dull thuds of large amounts of snow being picked up and dropped to the side as the rest took care of getting things hitched up. Trotting alongside the tank a few steps, it's length finally became apparent - okay, not as long as the TOG by about two and a half meters, but still a pretty big tank regardless. With an equally big gun, too... Ooh, I wanna know how it feels to fire that thing off... "Mad Jack's the name, pleasure to be of assistance to the Vanhoover Five! Just let me know when you're ready to go, we'll be in Maple Station soon as this crate can get us there."

"I'd hardly call this thing a crate, myself... ah, thank you, though!" I answered with a small chuckle, pausing in front of a door mounted through the track and into the hull. Glancing up at the ghoul - ah, Mad Jack, right? - he gave a small nod as he leaned back in the driver's hatch, myself pulling the door open. Okay, not quite as big as the TOG - well, not that there's a lot of stuff that's as big as the TOG in the first place - but still rather spacious. Least, compared to War Mare. "How'd you find us, we didn't send out any distress signals or anything, I think." I scratched at my head, Mad Jack pulling the driver's hatch shut and leting out another chuckle.

"Didn't have to, knew somepony had to be at the Starlite if it were broadcasting again. Since you lot were the only ones likely to be coming up here knowing what weather was coming, didn't take much for me to fit two and two together." ...huh. I guess that does make sense, I mean, the film audio is broadcasted via radio, after all... Score one for convenient coincidences. There was another small clatter at the back of the tank as I shuffled my duffel bag off and pulled up into the turret, Static and Aerith soon appearing at the side door and clambering in as well, with Scouring just sticking his head through. Mad Jack bit at his lip a moment, seeing the unicorn at the side door. "Ahm, sorry chap, don't believe we quite have the door space for you to squeeze inside. You and your other power armored friend can ride outside, though, I'm sure."

"Heh, suppose it makes enough sense, somepony in power armor wouldn't really need a big thing like this. Alright, we'll be ready to head off when you are." Ducking back outside, the unicorn shut the door up, the sound of a pair of ponies in heavy metal armor climbing aboard filling the air before Mad Jack engaged the forward drive, the tank giving a small lurch as it's tracks bit the snow and we pulled forwards, moving out away from the drive-in building and off towards Maple Station. I let off a small sigh, resting back in the turret of the tank, feeling the gentle rocks as the tracks moved beneath us, enjoying the familiar motions. Almost felt like the TOG, well, sans the clinking of lots and lots of empty Sparkle-Cola bottles...

...goddess-damnit.

"...and for our next performers here at the Roundhouse, Mockery and Styles!" The audience inside the large building erupted in light applause, us all shuffling inside and out of the storm. Mad Jack was looking after our mini-tank and wagon with the rest of the tank ghouls in a long rail service shed, affording us a chance to have a proper warm meal for once since we started heading up here. Brushing some snow from my mane, I let out a long sigh, taking a breath of the warm air inside the roundhouse - oh, that's really nice...

Trotting further in, we passed by a bar at the back of the structure, a pair of similar-looking gryphons sitting at it, the female one simultaneously drowning herself in Wild Pegasus and staining the bar with her tears. Eesh, someone's been having a bad day... See Static, aren't ya glad my stomach's only set to recieve Sparkle-Cola and food? Don't need alcohol to make me happy. The male gryphon gently patted the female one's back, his right wing bundled in healing potions, myself giving a small grimace as we passed by. Yikes, sorry that happened, buddy... Our eyes met for a moment, his lighting up in bewilderment before the female turned to look at him, following his gaze to... oh, so THAT's why they seemed so familiar.

"Oh, you are FUCKING KIDDING ME! WHAT THE FUCK IS OUR LUCK, HUH!?" The female merc's voice echoed throughout the roundhouse, drawing everyone's attention towards us, the rest of the group having stopped to come back behind me. Please don't let this turn into a... okay, now she's crying. Or, falling onto the floor on her stomach. Or, um, groveling. What. "For fuckin' Celestia's sake, why the fuck did you let us live every goddess-damned time? You have any idea what that does to someone's mind? Huh?" Uh... why did we let them live each time they've attacked us? Er, well, it wasn't that we meant to the second time, but still... I'd call it more luck than anything. Really shitty luck. The female gryphon grabbed the front of my jacket, pulling my face close to hers - sheesh, she really -has- been trying to drown herself in wild pegasus, hasn't she? "Just finish the freakin' job, you cunts. Celestia's sake, just finish the job, -please-."

"Uh..." Awkward, yeah, this is really awkward. The female gryphon stared into my eyes for a long while, before her emotions came back and she let herself fall back into a crying wreck. The male gryphon with the bandaged wing wore a grimace, hopping down from the bar and picking up the female one from the floor, her falling to cry against his shoulder. He released a sigh, myself rubbing at the back of my head. Okay then... lot of people in this place, isn't there?...

"We're sorry, it's... we've been under a lot of stress lately. My sister's been crazy since you nearly shot my wing off..." Uh... huh, so this is what it feels like to be struck dumb. The sister let out another bawling cry, the brother's face going into a big grimace as she wrapped her claws around him in a squeezing hug - ooh, yeah, that has got to hurt. But when could I have shot his wing off? I mean, usually when I do that it's with Thumper and a buckshot shell, but I haven't fired any buckshot lately, just War Crime... at that tree... when two of the shots missed, and missy merc came flying out of the sun in a pure rage afterwards. Okay, no, that makes a lot more sense now. Sheesh, talk about bad luck to be hit by a stray shot like that...

Prying his sister off of himself, the male merc let off a sigh, catching his breath on the bar. "Look, I know you must really want to put bullets in our brains for coming after you so many times, but we're just trying to make a living. We're finished trying to hunt you guys down, the guys paying us aren't going to pay us again until we have your heads to bring to them, and it's pretty clear you're all pretty adamant about not letting that happen." Letting out a long sigh, he rubbed at his forehead, his sister supporting herself on the bar as she found a fresh bottle to drown herself with. Okay, no more mercenaries, that's a good thing... I think. Probably. I mean, it was starting to become a real way to waste ammo... "We should probably leave. I'm sorry about what we've put you through, it's just... it's a living, you know?"

The brother grabbed his sister's arm as she drained a bottle of Wild Pegasus, myself glancing back to the rest of the group, a little confused but at the same time a litle... I dunno, what's the word... sick? Sad? Disappointed? Disgusted? Fuck... Static thought for a moment, before jumping forwards. "W-wait! Who was paying you to come after us in the first place?" That... was a very good question to ask. The brother stopped in the doorway, his sister using one of her wings to wipe down her eyes... or cover her face. Can't really tell from this angle.

"Uhm... look, we'll be in the hotel in town, and we're not going anywhere while she has her hangover. Can we talk about it tomorrow?" Okay, that was dodging a question if I ever saw it, but I guess I can understand the reasoning. He readjusted his sister by his shoulder, carrying the plastered gryphon towards the doorway, before stopping and releasing a sigh. Man, this place was quiet to let me hear that. "I know you hate us, but we're finished. Just... we'll talk tomorrow."

Static glanced to me, before answering with one solid nod, both of us trotting back to the group as the gryphons stumbled through the doorway. The idle chatter of the bar area started up again, the stage's audience erupting in a light applause once more as we found an open booth to sit in. I let out a long sigh, leaning back to think, the announcer bringing on the next act, the audience's applause being a little louder this time. Okay, run down of what's happened today; Mad Jack picked us up in his... Churchill AVRE, or, Avery, Maple Station is home to about a whole battalion of Tank Ghouls from all over Equestria, and we're no longer being hunted down by mercenaries and to top that I'm pretty sure we gave both of them a healthy case of survivor's guilt or something. Fan-fuck-me-with-a-17-pounder-tastic. Leaning forwards against the table, I rested my head on my hooves, stopping my thinking and focusing in on the song that was starting up - music's always helpful... wait, I didn't just start this song on my pip-buck, did I?

Leaning back and looking towards the stage from the booth about six notes into that stunningly familiar orchestral eight-note opening, my ears were met with an honestly shockingly familiar voice. Nope, no, Static's umbrella was still back behind in Avery. Yep, my heart's still beating I'm still alive. Sweet mother of Celestia and Luna above, this can't be real... "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again, some sunny day..."

I sat straight up in the booth, peering over the audience as much as I could, that familiar mare's voice still coming across clear and resonating inside the roundhouse. If my eyes could open any further, I'm pretty sure they'd pop out of my skull. There, on the stage, in a blue and white evening dress and a red poppy on her lapel, stood a mare, a ghoul mare, her brunette hair resting in bobs on her shoulders and voice pouring out loud and clear as day. Such a familiar voice, just, so bizzare to have a face to go along with it, I, I, I... The song moved onto the second part, the audience joining in readily, singing those same words I've heard so many times. A part of me wanted to join in, would love to have joined in, but the rest of me was pretty much too plain numb to answer it. "So will you please say hello, to the folks that I know, tell them I won't be long! They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go, I was sing-ing this song! We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when!... But I know we'll meet again, some sun-ny, daaay!"

The roundhouse erupted in cheers and laughter, myself sitting numb in the booth, Static staring at me from the other side, equally as bewildered. "U-uh, Night Strike? Are you..." Halfway through his sentence, my body decided that the blood that was being used to keep my brain from exploding was of in dire need in several other parts of my body, myself quickly becoming quite dizzy. As I felt a dull thud of something heavy hitting a hardwood table somewhere, one last thought permeated my brain, consisting of four simple words.

Vera Lynn is alive.

Dammit, Night Strike, do you have to keep drawing attention to us? Aerith and I bent down to help her back upright as a few ponies looked towards our booth. Night Strike was out cold, though I suppose she should be thankful her head didn’t seem to be cut up at all. Well, that’ll at least be one trip to the hospital we won’t need. I slapped her lightly across the face a few times, Night Strike mumbling a little before her eyes fluttered and she lifted her head back up. “Guuh, what just happened?” she asked, rubbing her head lightly as she looked around. I shook my own head and leaned back against the cushions of the booth, letting off a long sigh.

“Sheesh, there’s being star struck and then there’s being obsessed, yanno.” I said as Night Strike collected herself. She suddenly perked up as another song began, Vera’s smooth voice reverberating through the hall. Night Strike squealed as she tried to look above the audience again, balancing precariously against the table, myself moving up to grab her by the jacket and pull her back onto the cushions. “Okay, we’re not going to test your head’s ability to withstand blunt trauma again.”

Night Strike continued to shift in the booth to look through the ponies sitting in front of us, trying to get a good view of Vera. I let off another sigh and leaned against the table as a waiter walked by, supplying a nearby group of stallions with a few glasses of scotch, Scouring waving him over to request one himself. Sitting up a little straighter, I was able to see Vera partially over the heads of those in front of us, watching her sway a little as she sang. I’m just surprised her voice sounds as good as it does, every ghoul we’ve met so far sounds like they’ve been gargling gravel. Then again, I can’t really expect near lethal doses of radiation to be any kinder to vocal cords than it is to other bits of flesh.

“When the world is free, come on and wait and see, when the world is free, you gotta wait and see!” Vera’s final note rung crisply through the hall, to be followed by several more cheers and applauds, the loudest of which coming from Night Strike. Vera took a small bow before stepping off stage, the pianist beginning to play some filler music as the curtains drew to a close. Night Strike immediately leapt up, pulling me along.

“Omigoshomigoshomigosh, I gotta get her autograph! Or, no, wait, we gotta convinve her to come back with us on the Valkyrie! But first the autograph! What do I have for her to autograph...” Night Strike exclaimed, her giddy expression worrying me somewhat. I glanced back to see Crash Dive shaking her head, Scouring looking back over his shoulder to watch Night Strike drag me over to the door leading backstage. Uh, I don’t think we’re allowed there… The door nearly fell off its hinges from the force of Night Strike blundering through it, interrupting a few ponies practicing a comedy skit and causing one to give off a less than flattering scream.

Before I could apologize, Night Strike yanked me forward again, dashing down the hallways towards the dressing rooms. The pegasus screeched to a halt in front of one of the doors, myself almost smacking into the wall from the sudden stop. She hopped up and down, beaming before taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Knocking with a shaky hoof, Night Strike said, “H-hello? Ms. Lynn?” There was a pause before a few hoofsteps could be heard and the doorknob turned, revealing Vera in her gown.

“Oh, hello. Is there something I could do for you?” Night Strike simply stood stalk still, her mouth slightly agape. I could almost see her brain trying to un-fry itself. She stammered for a moment before her hooves began to wobble, and she crumpled to the floor again. I sighed, Vera looking rather taken aback. Nice first impression, Strikey.

“Erm, yeah, sorry about her, she's a... bit of a fan.” I said to Vera after having dragged Night Strike into the dressing room and dumping her unceremoniously in a vacant chair. “Was just surprised to see you still around, I suppose. We're part of the Vanhoover Five, Night Strike's dad's gotten her a little obsessed with you... i-in a purely appreciative way, though! Eheh, um, well, anyways, that's basically the whole story, at least the bits that were left out of the radio broadcasts.” She took a seat in a small chair beside a table where a cup and pot of tea sat, steam rising slowly out of the porcelain mug. I leaned against the wall, letting off weak chuckles and looking down at Night Strike as she mumbled a little in her dazed state.

Vera released a small chuckle, before taking a sip of her tea. “I suppose I’m flattered by your friend’s excitement, I just wish it didn’t have to lead to her getting a few concussions.” Vera’s gaze switched back to me as she set down her cup, a warm smile upon her muzzle. “You’re from the Mooscow and Quebuck area, you mentioned on the radio? I had been intending on touring there at some point, this was before the bombs fell, of course,” she shifted in her seat a little, taking a cube of sugar from a nearby pot and dropping it into the tea, stirring it in with a spoon. “I believe somepony else had managed to buy out the concert hall there first, for the life of me I can’t remember who…”

My eyes widened a bit, somewhat surprised Vera knew of someplace further north than the Crystal Empire - seems like everypony else’s knowledge stops at Canterlot. “It wouldn’t have happened to have been Tom Neighrer that you had heard about?” Vera's eyes blunk for a moment before she nodded, taking a sip of her tea again. She then raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering how I knew about him. “Well, you probably won’t believe this, but he actually survived the war too. Though, uh, things didn’t really turn out the best for him… flesh-wise either. No offense.” There was an uncomfortable pause as I tried to search for something else to say. “Oh, but he’s actually back in show-biz, sort of. My dad and his friend brought him to some old Stable with some radio equipment, he helps the disk-jockey there and teaches math now, doesn't sound too much like a ghoul, either.”

Vera’s grin grew a little wider as she drew the cup away from her lips. “Well, apparently us musicians are Balefire proof. Of all the ponies to survive the war, I wouldn’t have guessed singers to have the best chances.” Night Strike stirred a little in her chair, but simply rolled her head over to the other side before falling silent again. I should probably actually wake her up soon. “Where in Equestria did he find somepony to help fix his throat, though? Can’t remember how many places I'd searched before I found one that could help. Even then, I still need this thing to keep me clear.” She gestured to a shiny gem-studded pendant hanging from her neck.

I shrugged. “As far as I know he never did, I never heard of him needing a spell like that. I mean, he is a unicorn himself, and it’s not like his songs are very taxing on his range, maybe he was able to enchant his bowtie or something and we just never noticed.” Night Strike groaned yet again, her eyelids fluttering as she sat up in the chair. She placed a hoof to her temple, shaking her head as she pulled herself together for the second time tonight. Chuckling and poking Night Strike playfully I quipped, “Nice of you to join us. Now try not to pass out in front of your idol again, alright?”

Night Strike froze yet again, staring at Vera. She glanced over to me, then back to Vera, her voice failing her. “Hello, Night Strike. Static’s told me you’re a rather big fan.” She gave an amused smile as Night Strike sat back in the chair. I rolled my eyes before taking a hold of a burned book sitting on a nearby bookshelf and searching through it for a not completely ruined page. I tore one out and handed it to Night Strike, nodding towards Vera. As if in a trance, Night Strike trotted over to her, clutching the sheet of paper in her hoof. Vera chuckled and took it from her, reaching over to a desk to grab a quill and ink well. “Why, I’d be happy to give you an autograph.” Magic flowed over the quill as Vera wrote a short note on the page before singing it elegantly.

She handed it back to Night Strike, who looked down at it for a moment, still dazed. “Now, I do hate to be rude to the both of you, but I do have another set coming up soon and I really ought to change my dress before it starts. Perhaps we could talk at a later time.” Vera smiled sincerely, helping me direct Night Strike to the door. It wasn’t until we had exited the changing room and the door shut behind us that Night Strike snapped out of her stupor, looking up from the paper.

“Wha... what just happened?” I shook my head and led her back to the table as she slipped the autographed page into her saddlebags. We found our way through the tables in the roundhouse and back towards the others. Scouring was taking a swig of whiskey while an empty bottle of Sparkle Cola sat in front of Aerith. Crash Dive stood up upon seeing us, and the others followed suit, Scouring placing a few caps onto the table as payment.

“We should find somewhere to sleep for the night. I doubt the mechanics are finished looking at the mini-tank already,” Crash Dive said. Night Strike gave a small groan of disappointment, looking back up to the stage where the pair of ponies backstage were now performing. “You can see your idol again tomorrow, assuming you don’t crack your skull open upon seeing her.” Night Strike’s ears flopped down and she grumbled a little, but followed us anyway. A harsh wind bit at our faces as we stepped out of the roundhouse into the train yard turned town.

Our hoofsteps were muffled by the freshly fallen snow, the storm having thankfully mostly blown over to be replaced with the occasional flakes and frosty gusts of wind. Trotting past the old station that served as town hall, we made our way towards one of the taller buildings standing at the edge of the train yard. A few of the windows glowed as lights inside flickered, our hooves making a path towards the front door. The knob stuck for a moment having been frozen by the storm, but after a few shoves, it popped open, allowing us to step into the warmth of the hotel lobby. I shook my mane free of stray snowflakes before stepping up to the desk.

I scanned the top of the counter for a bell to ring, the others standing around in the center of the room as they brushed the snow off of themselves. “Uh, hello?” I called out, leaning a little to try and glance through the cracked open door on the opposite side of the desk. There was a small snort and the sound of a chair scooting across the floor before a bleary-eyed pony trotted up to us, her mane slightly frazzled. She stood opposite me, swaying a little as she rubbed her eyes. Ok, this pony clearly isn’t a night-owl. “Uh, how much for two rooms?” I asked.

“Hun-eighdy ca…” She slurred, opening her mouth and yawning. I fished through my saddlebags for the caps before placing them on the counter. She turned around and took two keys off of a rack behind her and set them on the desk before scooping up my payment and trotting back into the office. Taking the keys and turning back to face the others, I tossed one to Night Strike. We climbed the steps to the second floor, the floor creaking slightly under our weight as we headed towards our rooms.

“Alright, see you guys in the morning.” Night Strike lifted a hoof up in acknowledgement and we split off into our rooms, the wind howling outside the windows. Scouring leaned Sunburst up against the bedside table and began to slip out of his power armor as I let my saddlebags fall to the floor, only to have the sound of somepony snoring in response. Ech, forgot there were probably ponies under us. I climbed into bed, the moon shimmering through the window, illuminating a few ponies stumbling out of the roundhouse. I sighed gently, rolling over in my bed to face away from the glass, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Ponies dug away at the snow blocking the front door of the hotel as we trotted out, myself thankful for the slightly warmer weather as we walked towards the empty railcar house Mad Jack had parked in. A few other ponies were milling about in the train yard, trotting to and from shops and houses built out of abandoned railcars, a few ponies attempting to clear the snow off of some of the tracks. One pony carrying a flamer trotted up to the wheels of one of the larger engines frozen on to the tracks, his acket clung tight to his back under the weight of the fuel tank. He twisted the end of the nozzle, a jet of flame shooting out as he began to slowly wave it along the rails, melting the ice that had accumulated during the storm.

We soon arrived at the railcar house, stepping through a smaller door beside the two large ones the tanks were driven through to find Mad Jack’s tank sitting beside our own half-track, a few ghouls snoring on some cots set up along the walls. “Uh, Jack? You in here?” Night Strike called out. She stepped up to the side of his tank and gave a few raps on the metal plating. No response came from the tank, though the sound of hoofsteps prompted us to turn and see a pony trotted towards us, his face and jumpsuit covered in oil stains.

“You looking for Jack? He’s already headed out with some of the others to help clear the tracks, probably won’t be back for a while.” He glanced over to the mini-tank. “This one yours, then? Jack said to expect you guys today when we were working on it. Nasty bit of work it took finding a good gasket that size.” I nodded and he grinned widely, sticking a hoof out to shake. “I’m Oil Slick, I help fix up some of the engines around here. At least, when they’re running, that is. Didn’t think I’d be fixing up the ride of the heroes of Vanhoover when I moved up here.” He chuckled a little to himself as I walked around the mini tank, flipping open the back hatch to admire the new parts.

“I got a few ideas working on that engine of yours, though. Used to work on boats down in Maple Creek, I’ve gotten pretty good at bringing up the horsepower of the little things.” I looked back up to Oil Slick, a grin starting to spread across my face. Oh, please tell me you did… “It wouldn’t be too hard to charge up the engine of yours, should help boost its speed quite a bit. At the very least you won’t blow a gasket carrying all that weight behind you again." The stallion let off a chuckle, myself and Night Strike joining him, albeit weakly - yeah, gonna guess these things were not built for hauling twice their weight all around the watseland. "I’d be happy to tune up the engine, if you help me out with one of my projects. Might even give you a discount on fixing up the gasket.” D’oh, stupid Static, you should always know there’s a catch.

Night Strike glanced over to me, the others wandering over to the wagon to pick up their weapons they’d left in it. I looked back down at the mini-tank, then back to Night Strike. Come on, Strikey, think of how much cooler it’d be to go blazing across the wastes on this thing! “What do you need?” Night Strike asked, caving in. Score one for me, finally! Oil Slick’s grin widened a little and he lead us back outside, Crash Dive slipping a few grenades onto her belt before following us out.

“Well, we’ve got a couple large engines that help keep this place powered and pump water for the town. Unfortunately, one of them broke down a week or two ago and the other's starting to show some strain too, and we don’t have any spare parts for them.” We came to a smaller shack, a low rumbling emanating from inside. Oil Slick pushed one of the large doors open, revealing the pair of massive engines. One was whirring along smoothly while a few mechanics milled about it, checking gauges and occasionally turning valves. Oil Slick shouted over the whir of the engine. “We’ve had to strip the worse one down to keep the other running smoothly, but if we don’t find replacement parts for it sooner or later, we’re going to have to start relying on traders for water, and not many make trips during the winter. A lot of ghouls here rely on electric heaters for warmth too, and we're barely breaking even on power running just the one.” He trotted up to a bookshelf, rifling through them before taking a binder off to hand to Night Strike.

“Here’s a diagram and list of some of the parts we'll need to get the other one back up. Most of it we can run without, but just to make her run we’re going to need a few of these pistons,” Oil Slick pointed to the schematics. “A few of the smaller arms, and one of the larger gears, here.” He began to lead us back out of the generator room, now heading towards another railcar house. Stepping through the small door, he fumbled for a moment before finding a light switch, the lights flickering on.

Sitting in the center of the building was a large rusted yellow railcar, just slightly longer than the mini-tank had been. Connected to the back was an old coal hopper, its paint peeling away after many years of neglect. “So, here’s the sticking point,” Oil Slick said, hopping over the tracks the car lay on and pulling a lever on the opposite side of the large doors. “The only place we know that’s got another engine like this is up at the old Basin Overlook Coal Mines, and those mines are crawling with Hellhounds now. These tracks should take you up to the entrance, but the engines are a bit further in past there.” Oil Slick turned back to us as the great metal doors began to open with a drawn out creak, straining against the icy hinges. “So… think you’re up to it?”

I looked back to the others, now a little hesitant. Hellhounds? No thanks, I choose life. Scouring looked equally nervous, and Crash’s expression was hidden behind her helmet, though I doubted she was any more eager to go along. Night Strike gave a confident smile and climbed up into the front of the engine, Aerith looking almost gleeful at the prospect. “Pffft, Static and I have taken down plenty of Hellhounds before, we’ll have those parts back before tonight.” Oil Slick looked thankful, if a little surprised at Night Strike’s coolness. I shook my head, but climbed onto the engine beside her as the others hopped into the empty coal hopper.

Night Strike fiddled with the controls for a moment, the engine rumbling to life as the headlights began to shine brightly. Easing forward on the lever, the railcar began to roll forward along the tracks and through the town. A few ponies stared as we rolled by, slowly picking up speed as we travelled past the roundhouse and towards a large mountain outside of town. The wheels clattered smoothly along the tracks while the ground began to incline, Night Strike pushing the lever forward a bit more to keep our speed up as we scaled the base of the mountain. We turned into a switchback, passing by a large sign. The old warnings beneath ‘Basin Overlook Coal Mine’ had been painted over to simply read, ‘Hellhounds, Enter at Own Risk’. Well, that’s reassuring.

The air grew dryer as the train slowly climbed the mountains, snow starting to block the tracks somewhat. Hopefully it doesn’t get too deep, we should’ve brought along a flamethrower. Rocks rose up on either side of us, creating a narrow passageway through the mountain, the track curving to begin spiraling upwards. The boulders piled higher, soon forming a solid arch over us and leading us into a cave. The headlights illuminated the tracks as the sunlight faded away behind us. There was no sound, save for the clacking of the car wheels on the track and the occasional drip as water seeped down from above and fell into small pools below us.

I peered off beyond the edge of the headlight’s gaze, but nothing could be seen in the inky blackness. I flinched a little as the sound of something roaring echoed faintly through the caverns. Night Strike looked over to me, her expression a little worried. “Let’s just hope the Hellhounds haven’t managed to dig tunnels through here.” I muttered as we continued along. The tracks straightened out and the incline began to increase a little, prompting me to push the lever forward a bit more. The railcar strained beneath us slightly, but continued to move upwards, daylight soon reaching us through the opposite mouth of the tunnel.

Blinking as my eyes readjusted to the light, I stared ahead to the see the end of the track culminating in a small turntable. Night Strike slowed the traincar as the tracks leveled out, allowing us to roll smoothly onto the rotary table. The car jerked to a halt on the table, a few lights around the edge beginning to flash. Gears ground loudly against one another as the old track turned, reorienting us to face back down the mountain. Convenient. I hopped out of the car as the others did the same, looking around. The ground fell away quickly on one side of the tracks, showing off the sweeping landscape below us. The lake below glimmered in the sunlight, the silhouette of Hopeville just barely visible at the edge.

I gazed over the edge, my stomach clenching a little before I quickly stumbled backwards, bumping into the coal cart. Y-yeah, let’s not do that again, Static. Looking over my shoulder, I turned and followed Crash Dive as she walked slowly towards the mouth of another cave, more rusted over tracks leading in. She flicked on her headlamp, the beam cutting into the darkness of the mines. Scouring and Aerith’s horns lit up as well, a small aura of light surrounding us.

Rocks clacked and crunched beneath our hooves as we followed the tracks deeper into the mine, a few tunnels branching off from the main passageway. “You know, it probably would’ve helped if he said how far exactly down this engine was supposed to be.” Night Strike said. I nodded, still thankful we hadn’t stumbled across any Hellhounds yet. The tunnel we were in soon opened up into a larger room, Crash Dive’s light illuminating a large machine in front of us. We slowly stepped up to it, Night Strike consulting the binder Oil Slick had given us. “Well, this looks like it. Think we should try and strip what we can, take as many parts back as possible.”

Aerith’s horn glowed a little bit brighter, Night Strike handing over the schematics for her to look at. Parts on the machine began to glow, screws undoing themselves as the small arms flew off, the pistons starting to become undone. A low rumble echoed through the caves, Aerith’s magic freezing as Crash pointed her light in the direction of it. We all stood still, and soon Aerith began to quickly undo the cylinders to retrieve the pistons, dropping the arms onto my back to carry. Huff, okay, they looked a lot lighter back at Maple Station... Okay, deep breath, just the gear left. There was a sudden snap, the rusted metal bolts giving way. Before Aerith’s magic could encompass the gear, it fell against the metal body of the engine, the clang reverberating through the caves, only to be followed by several more as the gear toppled onto its side.

A loud roar could be heard coming from one of the tunnels, swiftly joined up by several others. Oh, fuck, we’re so screwed. Aerith heaved up the gear, straining to levitate it as Scouring took the large pistons in his own magic. “Come on, let’s move it!” Crash Dive shouted, starting to sprint back along the tracks towards the exit. We all sprinted after her, the arms clattering around on my back as we raced through the dark tunnel. The sound of pounding feet and whirring metal was slowly growing louder behind us, the light of the exit nothing more than a pinprick. Night Strike began to flap her wings, whipping out Thumper as she rolled in the air to face behind us. She fired off a grenade, the projectile arcing in the air before landing short, but the Hellhounds were gaining fast.

She loaded another grenade, glancing over her shoulder to avoid a rock jutting down from the ceiling before firing again. This time the roars were coupled by a few whimpers of pain, and I dared a glance back. A Hellhound was barreling after us, its claws raking the rocky floor as the various mechanical augmentations grafted into its body whirred and spun. A few others could be heard behind it and I turned my head back towards the entrance, my eyes burning a bit as we ran out into the bright sunlight. Night Strike landed at the controls of the railcar, firing off another grenade at the Hellhound as I leapt into the coal car, the engine arms rolling off my back. Night Strike slammed the lever forward as Aerith and Scouring piled in on top of me, the engine parts clanking against each other as they dropped them into the cart. The railcar shuddered as it began to roll forwards, Crash Dive pushing the car to get it rolling faster. Come on, move you damn machine!

I climbed out of the coal hopper and jumped to the engine, Aerith levitating up her Chicacolt Typewriter and letting off a stream of bullets at the Hellhound leading the pack. It cried out in pain, stumbling to the side, only to be replaced by another. I bent down, flipping open a panel to reveal the inner workings of the railcar. Gears spun and I reached in, taking a hold of a small lever. Oh, please don’t let this be a stupid decision. I tugged on the lever, metal shifting around inside as the governor on the small motor was released.

The railcar began to roll forward much faster, the engine no longer holding back as we powered down the rail line. Gravity began to take over, and Crash Dive clambered into the hopper as Scouring fired off a rocket at the pack of Hellhounds, the railcar picking up speed fast as we rolled down the mountain. Night Strike shot off a grenade at the chasing Hellhounds as Crash Dive tossed a few of her own. The resulting explosion knocked one of the Hellhounds off of the mountain, sending it careening over the cliffs and onto the rocks below.

Night Strike slammed into me as we rounded a corner, the wheels clattering loudly as we sped down the mountain. My vision was suddenly filled with blackness as we entered the tunnel, nothing to illuminate the chasing Hellhounds except Crash Dive’s headlamp and the flashes of light from the grenades exploding. I looked forwards, the light attached to the front of the railcar shaking violently with each railway tie we passed over. Aerith let out a few more bursts from her gun, the muzzle flashes lighting up the cave somewhat and allowing Scouring to get a better shot with Sunburst.

Sparks flew from the wheels as we sped around another corner, the light from the other end of the tunnel quickly overtaking us as we raced down into the narrow ravine. The few remaining Hellhounds were forced into a single file line, the rocks on either side of us scraping at their large bodies. One smashed into the rocky wall, starting to dig through in an attempt to get ahead of us. Crash Dive chucked another grenade at the few still in pursuit, managing to blow the arm off one of them. It fell onto the tracks, the Hellhound behind it tripping over it and landing with a thud onto the tracks, only to receive a rocket to the face from Scouring. The wall beside us suddenly burst open, a Hellhound jumping out onto the tracks in front of us. The railcar smashed into it, the beast giving a deafening roar as it slowed the railcar.

Scouring raised up Sunburst and fired into the maw of the Hellhound. Its head exploded into a shower of guts and metal, body slumping to the ground, leaving myself and Night Strike spattered with blood. We both sat silently for a moment, myself catching my breath from the fight as Crash Dive cut the throttle and hammered on the brakes, the small train slowing to a much slower speed, us all breathing heavily. I slumped against the side of the engine on the railcar, looking to the panel from earlier and flipping the lever back in place, before letting myself collapse fully.

“Never… again…”

"Well, don't blame you for disabling the governor on this thing with hellhounds coming after you, but I kinda had hoped you wouldn't have done that, much less put it back after taking it off. Fast way to strip the gears putting it back in with the engine running, yanno." We'd gotten back to Maple Station well after the sun had set, the town railyard illuminated by the soft glow of electric lanterns overhead and light streaming from the windows of several of the buildings. Oil Slick was up on the small rail-runner looking over the engine as I helped myself to a clean rag, wiping both my face and jacket down to try and get the blood off, Static doing much the same. Bloody hellhounds... literally... The side panel clattered back down as the earth pony hopped down from the car, letting off a sigh. "Well, at least we should be able to get number two back and running with the parts you got, so thank you all for that. Won't be able to work on your Motorbug while overseeing the repairs, but, ah, that won't be too much of a problem, will it?"

Giving Static a small glance as I set the wet rag aside, and shivering at the sudden coldness of the room - Sheesh, I -really- hope I didn't just condemn my face to freezing up when I step back outside - I gave a small shake of my head, Oil Slick having brought over a small trolley to carry the engine parts. "Nope, we can afford to hang around for a few days. Better if we do, don't want the thing failing us again when we head back down through Gemdale." And I certainly don't want to have to try and repair the lifting modules for a Sparkle-Cola trailer in the middle of a blizzard, either. Ooh, hey, maybe if we ask really nicely we could have Mad Jack and Avery help pull that thing out, or at least move the crates out of it... Oil Slick gave a small sniffle, rubbing at his muzzle and moving one of the cam arms over onto the trolley.

"Eh, heard about what happened a few days ago down there, you guys really messed up that flock of mercenaries, didn't ya? Shot a balefire egg right back at 'em, did you catch one they shot at you, or somethin'?" Well, it was technically a forty millimeter rifle grenade that was specially designed to have the same explosive yield as a balefire egg, but whatever. Explosions are explosions - still can't believe I actually hit one of them directly in the face with it. "Ah, well, hey, at least you don't have to worry about them screwing up your Motorbug anymore. Hell, I were a betting stallion I'd say you pretty much turned the only mercenary pair in this part of the wasteland off of the gig for good. Only place I've seen those two since they showed up here is when I head to the Stiff Drink after work. Speaking of..."

Getting the last of the parts onto the trolley, Oil Slick pushed it over to the side doorway, slipping on a thick jacket and hat. Scouring and Aerith both trotted over with him as he shoved it through the door and out into the yard, myself, Static, and Crash Dive bringing up the rear as we all traveled through the freshly-falling snow and over to the brick engine house. Air condensed into white clouds with every breath, myself feeling that faint sting that comes with having a wet face and walking out into frigid temperatures - ow. The trolley slid in through the engine house doors, Oil Slick leaving it at the entrance as we caught up with them, the stallion latching the door shut. "Right, thanks again for your help, don't know how long we could've run on just the one engine before it gave out too. Shouldn't take more than a few days to sort out your Motorbug's engine, will keep it with the tank ghouls in the meantime. G'night!"

Passing along a wave as we parted, Static released a long sigh, looking around the electric-lit railyards and town. "So, we're stuck up here until they get around to fixing our mini-tank... not ideal, but it's better than that drive-in. You don't suppose we could ask for a discount on those hotel rooms, could we?" Answering him with a small roll of my eyes, my stomach let out a small gurgle, Static's own answering in return. Good point stomachs, we haven't had a thing to eat all day, have we? Looking across the railyard, my eyes scanned for anything that looked like it could be a diner or something, before hearing Static trotting off. Looking back, he did the same, heading for the railshed that housed all the tanks. "We got food with the wagon, don't we? We aren't made of caps!" Oh, I hate that he has a point. Then again, if Mad Jack isn't the only tank ghoul, I do wanna know what the other ones have...

The rest of us followed in behind the earth pony as he trotted forth, the high windows of the railshed casting the soft yellow light far across the snowy yard as we approached. Some music muffledly played out inside, the idle clanking of tools against metal following with it along with intermittent coughing and grunts, and occasional laughter. Static gave an uncertain glance back to us as we stepped up to the side door, pushing it open to be met with the sound of several ghouls singing. "Hush, there goes a whiz-bang, and it's makin' straight for you! And you'll see all the wonders of no-stallion's land if a whiz-bang - hits you!" The railshed broke out into some pleasant laughter, if in several raspy ghoul voices, anyways, Static moving over towards the mini-tank beside Avery while I took it upon myself to get a better look at the other tanks. Ooh, now that one looks neat... is that a 17-pounder?

"Aye, hey boys, 'ere's the group I was tellin' about!" Mad Jack's head poked up out of Avery's driver hatch, a grin across his muzzle. I returned it as he climbed up out of the tank, myself landing over by him, getting a better look at the other vehicles around, and the ghouls tending to them. Mad Jack let off a small laugh as he rested a hoof around my neck, waving over to the rest of the hangar. "C'mon, they won't bite and your crates can handle a break in being tuned, introduce yourselves, eh?" I let off a weak chuckle, Mad Jack wearing a grin before blinking and pulling his foreleg off of me, releasing a weak chuckle of his own. Kay, let's hope intros go smoothly otherwise.

From the tank beside Mad Jack's Churchill, an odd-looking one with sloping only on the front and the distinctive muzzlebrake of the 17-pounder gun at the end of it's barrel, and a... bulldozer blade on the front, a pegasus mare lifted herself out through the top hatch, grease stains covering what was left of her coat and blond mane in a mess. She gave her head a shake, ruffling her old wings and hopping down, seeming to only glide on them rather than really fly, a warm smile on her muzzle. "Glad to know Jack's crazy where it counts, would've gone to get you with Fyre myself but we were getting a railcar out of a snowdrift. Name's Rangefinder, glad to meet ya." Taking her outstretched hoof and giving it a shake, Aerith trotted up beside us with a bomb-bottle of Sparkle-Cola in her magic, levitating it off to me. Opening the cap, Rangefinder cocked her head as she looked up at Aerith, keeping her eyes on the alicorn as she moved back over to her tank. Huh, guess she's just surprised to see an alicorn up here, or something...

From the third tank down the line, a kinda boxy-looking one with extra plates bolted on the front and a forward-placed turret with a gun that looked like it was about the same caliber as the 17-pounder but with a real funny-looking muzzlebrake, a ghoul unicorn approached, wiping his hooves down with a cleanish-looking rag and adjusting his glasses. He let off a soft chuckle, levitating the rag aside and straightening himself. "Sergeant Rheinmetall of Her Majesty's 188th armored vehicle division, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do offer my most sincere apologies for not being able to come to your aid as well, my tank is rather high maintenance and tends to not handle long journeys well with only one crewmember to look after her." There was a small scoffing noise from over by Rangefinder's tank, the pegasus mare pushing herself off of it and trotting back over.

"Here's the pretentious-to-normal translation, Rhymey's tank apparently likes to burst into flames and he hates getting her dirty, too. You can drop your rank and position shpiel whenever you introduce yourself nowadays, yanno, most ponies don't give a flying shit." Rangefinder wore a smirk on her degraded muzzle, the bespectacled unicorn ghoul seeming taken aback by her. Myself and Aerith gave a small glance between ourselves before taking a trot off to the side, moving to actually look at the tanks while those two bickered. "C'mon, Rhymey, you know I'm ri-ight~"

"What I know is that you're an arrogant Private of Her Majesty's Army Aerial Scout wing who had the misfortune of finding that tinderbox you call a tank in working order." Huh, so, not every tank ghoul actually worked in the tank they have? I mean, it kinda makes some sense, but... oh, hey, look at the pretty tanks! Come on Night Strike, let's just see what else there is and leave petty arguments alone. Yeah. Taking a long gulp from the bomb-bottle of Sparkle-Cola, both myself and Aerith trotted by Rheinmetall's tank, an imposing-looking one if I ever saw it. Angled cheek armor on the sides of the hull when looking at it from the front, some pretty hefty armor plates bolted on too, and that flat-faced turret with the big gun and a co-axial thirty mounted in it... yeah, I'd be pretty scared if I saw this thing charging towards me. Assuming it didn't spontaneously combust halfway to getting there, anyways...

There was a rather sizable gap between Rheinmetall's tank and the next one down the line, which now that I have a good look at it kind of looks like somepony tried to cross the bottom half of the Seaddler with a really tiny but not quite mini-tank-sized tank. Aerith seemed just as confused by the thing as I was, as we trotted the gap to get a better look at it. Seriously, a tank-boat, I know that dad's heard all the jokes about the TOG being a battleship but I never thought that they actually made tanks that could swim... Not immediately seeing anypony standing outside of it, I trotted over to where the actual tank part of the tank seemed to start, taking one glance back towards Aerith before tapping on the outside with a hoof. Yeesh, that sounds hollow... with armor that thin, I'm not sure if this thing can actually be called a tank.

There was a muffled yelp from the tank as I knocked, followed by the sound of somepony banging their head against something inside - ouch, sorry - the occupant releasing a sigh before the top hatch on the really small turret squeaked open. It was pushed out and aside by a black hoof, followed by the face of a mare... who I really couldn't tell if she were a pony or some kind of technicolor zebra. Congrats, Aerith, you're now the second strangest person we've seen so far! She rested herself in the small hatch that seemed to make up the majority of the turret's roof, looking over us both and rubbing at her eyes. "Mmh, yeah? O-oh, visitors, huh, imagine that."

"Oh, um, sorry to wake you, we just didn't see anyone around this tank and... um... yeah..." Smooth, Strikey. Rubbing at the back of my head as Aerith took another long drink from her bottle of Sparkle-Cola, the zebra... pony... hyrid-ghoul blunk a few times, letting off a yawn. She winced, moving a hoof to rub at her forehead, leaning forwards against the hatch ring. "A-ah, yeah, sorry about making you hit your head on something, too..."

"Don't worry, not the first time it's happened. Won't be the last... Name's Sensha, since you're over here I take it you've met the others..." The ghoul mare looked up past us, the sound of muffled arguing still coming from the other end of the shed. "And Rangefinder and Rheinmetall are arguing again. Sheesh, can't they go one day without yelling at each other?..." Leaning up against her tank hatch ring, Sensha rubbed at her temples annoyedly, letting off a long sigh. Glancing at Aerith, she returned it, her mouth full of another gulp of Sparkle-Cola - take it easy, we still need to get that truck by the drive-in unloaded! The ghoul in the tank tapped her hoof against the side of her tank's thin armor, letting off a small grunt as she cleared her throat. "Mmh, well, nice meeting you both, shame that Caution Tape isn't back yet, he loves new faces... uh, your face always like that, or..."

I blunk a few times as she addressed me, stammering lightly. Was I staring? Gah. Well, you can't blame me, I've never seen a technicolor zebra before! Resorting to weak chuckles, Aerith's screen flashed up for me, reading at least partially why I kept on staring - thanks for covering for me... 'She's just a little confused about your tank, why it looks like a boat. Also, well, the whole colored zebra thing, too. And, um... Caution Tape?'

Sensha blunk a few times in response before letting off a small chuff, a smile crossing her muzzle as she leaned back against her hatch ring. "Never met a Zony before? Can't blame you too much, weren't many of us before the war and there are even less of us after it. Kind of taboo to have a foal with the enemy, and all that... my father was an Equestrian zebra, and mother a pony. We were hiding out inside a walled-off sewage drain when the bombs were falling, came out a few weeks afterwards like those old films said to for food and fresh water. Apparently the films we saw were a little out of date, heh..."

The zony mare trailed off, leting out a soft sigh before stammering herself. "A-ahm, anyways, yeah, Caution Tape, he and Deathtrap usually take up that spot beside me, keeps us away from Rheinmetall and Rangefinder. Equestrian-born Zebra, he actually did own his tank before the war." Sounds of arguing came from over by the other tanks, myself glancing back to catch Static trotting along in front of them with a snack cake in hoof. Sensha let loose another sigh, lowering herself into her tank. "He's been gone for a while, was bringing a wagon train of ghouls up towards Stalliongrad last I saw him. Hope he's doing alright."

Static soon made his way over to us, crumbs littering his lips and cheeks full of those two-century-old pastries. He swallowed down what was in his mouth, panting a few times, the small hatch clattering back into place behind us as the zony took shelter back inside her tank. "Ah, kay, you gonna get something to eat or just stare at tanks all night? Because we're pretty much ready to head back to the hotel now..." Opening my mouth to answer him, my stomach took the liberty of doing that for me, the earth pony wiping his muzzle down and wearing a smirk on it. Gwuh, stupid sexy tanks...

"Probably should've figured you'd be busy today. Do you guys ever take a break from being heroes?" The male gryphon mercenary let off a small chuckle as myself and Static followed him to his hotel room, the railyard outside the hallway window still illuminated in that soft blue glow. Scouring, Crash Dive, and Aerith had all elected to head for their beds early - frankly, after geting chased down a mountain by hellhounds and traveling pretty much down to the reservior and back, I don't blame them. The gryphon stopped in front of a door, pulling out his key and opening it up, bringing us inside.

"Only when we overdose on Sparkle-Cola RAD." Static let out a small chuckle as I shot him a glare, the gryphon looking back at us, confused for a moment, before moving over to a small fridge beside his bed. He reappeared with a bottle of Sparkle-Cola, popping it open with his beak and taking a few gulps, the female mercenary laying on the other bed with an ice pack covering her eyes. Yeesh, how much did she have to drink last night? "Anyways, uh, I don't think we actually caught your names yesterday. You, uh, probably know ours, anyways, eheh..."

Mister merc finished off his gulp of soda, rubbing his beak dry and setting the bottle on the nightstand. "Mmh, Night Strike and Static Charge, yeah. Well, alright, but I will warn you that you'll probably want to laugh, and that might end up with my sis getting mad. Again." He let off a small cough and rubbed at his bandaged wing, missy merc letting loose a faint groan. Clearing his throat, the male gryphon leaned back on the bed, letting off a small sigh. "Well, I'm Merlin, and the hungover bundle of joy on the other bed-"

"Fuck you."

"-is my oh-so-pleasant sister Royce. Been in the mercenary business for about five years now, just been going after low-key targets with the help of some local muscle from Vanhoover. You guys were the first ones that we got with a full hundred K on your heads, each. Guess that's a couple million we'll never see... least we got some of it paid up front." Good to know they're at least business-smart. Seriously though, I dunno about whoever put that bounty on my head, but I'd say I'm worth a little bit more than a measly hundred thousand caps... hundred million, maybe. Why am I thinking about how much my bounty should be? Brain, you're really not being helpful. Static scratched at his head, looking over to me for a moment, before turning back to face mister merc - er, Merlin.

"How you got to millions of caps from five hundred thousand aside, who was paying you to go after us, anyways? And why?" Merlin paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. I... guess he was thinking. Guh, it's way too late and I have way too little Sparkle-Cola RAD in me to think right now. Static seemed to be doing some thinking of his own, chewing on his lip. "I mean, unless we pissed somepony off by blowing up stuff that seemed uninhabited... if that's the reason why, Night Strike I swear I'm going to buck you into next week."

"Yeah, because someone would totally send mercenaries after a group who've proven time and again they know how to blow shit to kingdom come for that exact reason and that reason only." Come on Static, it might be almost midnight but you can still think. Giving my eyes a roll, he glared back at me in response, Merlin having shuffled over to chat with his sister for whatever reason. "If it's wrong to cause explosions with yields greater than that of an average brick of C4 or balefire egg, then I don't want to be right. I stand by mine and my fathers' principles."

"Sorry about that, Royce handles all of the cap stuff usually. Don't know who it was who had all the caps, never let us see their face, but their cronies who paid us wore some kind of power armor. Real cunts about it too, flashing their fancy energy weapons around like we were supposed to be intimidated by 'em. Said they worked for someone who called himself Cerberus... if it's the same Cerberus from those old stories, I gotta say, if you managed to piss off that beast and get away, I am so glad we're not hunting you down any longer." Merlin let off a weak chuckle, myself and Static both looking towards each other for a moment. Uhm, Cerberus, Cerberus, Cerberus... I wanna say... three-headed dog? I think? Yeah, I don't remember seeing one of those since we crashed down here.

"Pretty sure it's some guy using that as his name, and not -the- actual Cerberus. We'd probably remember pissing off a three-headed dog." Letting off a short chuckle, I let myself trail off to thought. Okay, if these guys are who they could be, then we've got some distinctly large issues... "Did you ever get a look at their power armor, enough to recognize it as either Enclave or Steel Ranger?"

Merlin paused to think for a moment, Static fidgeting a little beside me. Yeah, slightly-not-worst case scneario, we pissed off the Steel Rangers somehow, which means we could possibly wind up trapped down here with some looney-bin candidate for a head paladin then having posession of a huge bomber and four megaspells big enough to wipe out a sizable chunk of any of these towns with a near miss. Worst case... well, I mean, the Valkyrie has turrets, turreted tesla cannons for that matter, so it's not like we'll have to rely on my skills of flying the thing to shoot those Harriers down... "Dunno, Royce always made the exchanges at night and it seemed like they kept their armor covered much as they could. Think she said their eyes glowed, but I dunno, maybe she was just imagining stuff. Kinda started hitting the bottle hard after you did, well, this." The gryphon showed off his bandaged wing, drawing in a sharp breath as he moved it, releasing it and shuffling over to the night stand to get a healing potion.

"Ehm, yeah, sorry about that... Really didn't mean to do it, I was practicing shooting off War Crime, and with the three-round burst and heavy recoil... there was a lot of dense vegitation, I didn't even see you there!" The purple potion quickly vanished down the gryphon's throat, myself swaying a little on my hooves. Woof, it's too late for me to be doing this. Wiping his beak clean with his foreleg... talon... thing, Merlin held in a breath for a few moments, releasing it and panting a few times.

"I've got every right to be pissed off at you even if that's so - and I am, for the record, because it's gonna be at least a week or two before I'm flying like I used to again - but accident or not, I can't blame you for shooting at us. You were all just dollar signs to us, at the time." He broke out into a fit of chuckling, shaking his head as he leaned back on the bed. "Really fucking annoyingly hard to get dollar signs. But that's not the case any more. Hell, just with the ten percent we got upfront, we've got enough caps to live comfortably for a while, and with our now very-well-known mortality rates - thanks for that - I doubt we'll be doing much high-stakes mercenary work in the immediate future."

Letting off a dry chuckle and rubbing at the back of my head, I felt myself lean back a little, hind hooves quickly moving to steady me. Guh, I really did not drink enough Sparkle-Cola today... Static rested a hoof on my shoulder, looking to Merlin. "We probably should go back to our rooms, it's pretty late. Thanks for the info, and sorry about your wing." Merlin gave a small nod and wave, myself following the earth pony out of the bedroom and back into the hallway. The door shut behind us with a click, us both heading towards the stairwell. "Cerberus... well, at least we sort of have a name to ask about now. And kind of a lead, if we can call that vague description of power armor and energy weapons one."

"Anything's better than nothing." Passing on a shrug, Static let off a small sigh, our hooves echoing in the dim hallway. A light snow was falling outside, the flakes caught in the blue light glow of the railyard. "We've got bigger things to worry about tomorrow, anyways. I was thinking on the ride back, the Basin Overlook mine is pretty much that central chamber with all of the other shafts branching off of it, yeah? Well, there's only so much air in those caves, and if we can burn it up we can take care of the hellhound issue."

Static shot me a confused look as we reached the stairs, heading down them to our hallway. "And how exactly do you propose we do something like that? Open up that weird film and set it on fire, hope that it'll do the job?" ...huh, didn't think of that. I mean, if it burns fiercely enough, it might work, but... nah, would take too long to do it. Letting off a small chuckle, I shook my head in response, looking towards Static.

"No, silly. We've got that other fuel-air bomb to do the job for us." Oh, it's so cute when he's struck speechless. C'mon, Sparky, you know I'm right~ he let off a sigh as we reached our rooms, rubing a hoof on his face.

"I'm starting to really hate when you have ideas. Can you stop doing that, or at least make them sane?" Leting off a chuckle, my room's door opened with a click, myself trotting inside while looking back at the earth pony across the hall. "Who'm I kidding, 'sane' and 'you' don't work in the same sentence."

"I love you too, Sparky~"

"Okay, I got the list of other parts which would be useful to have spares of made up for you, but you guys really don't have to go back to the Basin Overloo- WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA!?" Oil Slick dropped a small binder of papers from his hoof as he caught sight of the longer flatbed that was hooked up to the little rail-runner, and - which, in retrospect, was probably the more likely cause of his alarm - the one-ton thermobaric bomb that Scouring and Aerith were strapping onto it. I hopped down ans trotted over to him, moving to get the binder as he looked down at me, wide-eyed. I returned a grin. "U-uh, what... what's that, that you're doing there?"

"Just a one-ton fuel-air bomb, we're gonna set it off in the mine after stripping the engines down for parts. Fuel mixes with the air in the shaft, burns it all up, hellhound problem either suffocates or dies when the blast wave hits 'em." Flipping through the pages in the binder, I trotted back over to the rail runner, glancing back at the oil-stained stallion. Sheesh, it's like he's never seen a nine hundred kilogram bomb before... fair point. The binder shut with a small clap, myself letting off a sigh and leaning against the side of the miniaturized locomotive. "Relax, we know what we're doing. We'll get you what you need to have both engines running perfectly again."

"Ahm... alright, if you say so... how many more of those things do you have with you?" Glancing over to Scouring as he tightened down the straps to keep it in place, I answered Oil Slick with a shake of the head, nodding at the bomb, the stallion rubbing at his forehead and letting off a sigh. Don't worry, we're not stupid... just a little explosion-happy. "No wonder your poor motorbug's engine blew that gasket if you had it hauling that thing along with all of your stuff. I'll have to see what I can do about re-tuning it for heavier pulling, if you're carting those things around regularly."

"Believe me, we really try not to when we can help it." Static wore a smirk as he poked his head up from the rail-runner's deck, his saddlebags laying on the floor with some papers pulled out of it. I gave a roll of my eyes and went back to looking through the binder as he looked towards me. "Thanks, though. Something tells me that our trailer won't be getting lighter anytime soon, so every little bit helps. Suppose we can discuss reimbursement for this once we get back with the parts..." Glancing up from the page, Oil Slick looked a little confused at Static's last sentence, the earth pony clearing his throat and stammering. Smooth, Sparky. "I-I mean, um, we shouldn't be too long, could we get an estimate on when you'll have our mini-tank tuned up and ready?"

"Ah... well, I'll try and have it repaired by the time you get back, but it might take a while, at least a day or two. Assuming the engines don't explode in the meantime, or something, anyways." Oil Slick scratched at the back of his head as Scouring hopped up into the mine hopper between the runner and the bomb's flatbed, Aerith and Crash Dive following with him. I hopped myself up into the runner, Static turning the little thing's engine on, the headlights illuminating the doors of the shed. The maintenance stallion moved over to help get the doors open, standing beside them as we started to set off. "Ah, well, good luck, guys! Eheh..." Giving us a wave, I returned it, the inside of the shed giving way to the crisp snowy air of the railyard.

The small trough we passed through just barely allowed us to see the rails we ran on as we moved forwards, heading for the town limits at a steady pace. I leaned back in the chair, watching Static as he held down a few of the papers from his saddlebags, looking them over. Reaching down to pull a Sparkle-Cola from my duffel bag, I glanced over one of them - words, words, words, words, picture of a wire diagram, words, words, words... guh. Plans for something electronicy, at least. The cap popped free easily, myself tossing it into my duffel bag and taking a sip, the earth pony beside me intent on reading that novel as we picked up speed, reaching the forest. "What'cha reading? Some diagrams from Greasy, or something?"

Static glanced up at me, the papers ruffling in the chill breeze. "Ah, technically. Manual for the Valkyrie, figure it might have something useful inside, or something. I dunno, guide for how to use it safely without blowing up, or how to get those bombs out of it without them detonating." Swallowing the gulp of soda that I had in my mouth, I looked over one of the papers as well, glancing at the title - 'Electronic Bombsight Guide; Situational use, Toss-Bombing configurations, and Gunnery options.' Well, that doesn't have anything to do with actually flying it, so... eh. Suppose it'd be good for at least one of us to know how to work all that stuff in the second seat. "Really some interesting stuff in here, actually. Apparently that bombsight will automatically track a target once it's located, give readouts in true color, night vision, or black-white heat signatures, same for the cameras in the turrets, too..."

"Mmh, yeah, well, guess it's a good thing I'm the pilot, then, so I don't have to do as much reading." Letting off a small chuckle, I leaned back in the seat, watching as the grey sky above started to toss down a light dusting of snow, getting caught on the canopies of trees around. Static let off a long sigh beside me, taking the page I was glancing at as I gave it back to him, myself looking over my pip-buck instead. Long trip ahead, let's see what's playing on Radio KAOS...

"-out of Maple Station, the lead engineer working on the pair of double-acting tandem natural gas engines that run the town is happy to report that the Vanhoover Five have done it again, and brought the parts that they desperately needed to bring both engines back into a functioning state out of the hellhound-infested Basin Overlook Coal Mines. It really has to be said, these stallions and mares have some balls of steel to be able to face down hellhounds like that - I know they've gotten a lot of praise lately, but, damned if they don't deserve every bit of it. I'm just running out of ways to do it- ahm, hold on for a second..." The radio swapped to a small tune for a little while - huh, sounds like something you'd hear inside an elevator.

"Sorry about that folks, radio was blinking and by some chance it was about the Five again. Just a short while ago they were seen heading back off towards the Basin Overlook Mines, this time with a one-ton fuel-air bomb in tow. Apparently they're heading back up that way to grab some spare parts for Maple Station's engines - adamant, crazy, or just plain heroes, whatever you want to say about them they always seem willing to lend a helping hoof. I'm not a betting stallion, but I can probably hazard a guess that that fuel-air bomb they've got this time isn't just to give the hellhounds something pretty to look at, heh. Try to not blow yourselves up guys, we've really grown pretty fond of you.

"Anyways, I've jabbered on for long enough, here's some music to get all of you fine stallions and mares out there through the day. Roger Trotters - Wish You Were Here. Enjoy."

"She's all set an' ready for blowing. Think we got everything we need from those engines?" Looking over the railcar now loaded with engine parts in place of a very large bomb, I let off a small chuckle, nodding towards Scouring. The sun was high in the sky, reflecting brightly off of the snow around, Static sitting in the rail-runner at the controls. Aerith levitated the binder back over to me, Crash Dive resting in the mine hopper and watching expectantly. The alicorn passed on a smile as she hovered herself into the hopper as well, hooves landing against the metal bottom with a few clacks.

"Should be everything, at least most of this stuff was easily taken off. Glad we didn't have to deal with hellhounds again..." Hopping up into the cabin of the rail-runner, Scouring clambered onto the flatbed behind us with the engine parts, pulling out a detonator. Looking towards the entrance to the mines, and hearing Static start up the engine of the little railcar, I lifted a hoof to stop them for a moment. Best to cause as many casualties as we can hope to... Static shot me a look as I ducked down and started going through his saddlebags, eventually returning with a 25-mil bore flare gun. Grinning with the bit of it in my mouth, Crash Dive let off a sigh, putting a hoof to her forehead, the rest of them looking on in varying levels of confusion. Turning to face towards the mine entrance, my tongue squeezed the bit, a bright red flare shooting with a screech from the gun and traveling down the shaft, illuminating it for a far ways. Putting the flare gun back in his saddlebags, Static let off a sigh, starting the rail-runner down the track.

"You really just like making things more difficult than they have to be, don't you?" A low roar echoed out of the mine shaft as we trundled off of the turntable, starting to head off down the mountain. We quickly picked up speed down the tracks, Scouring's activation of the detonator answered with a sudden loud thundering roar of the air inside the mines being rapidly burned up in a firey blast, some trees behind us being blown over by the focused explosion erupting from the mine entrance. A pillar of smoke and dust rose high from the entrance as we sped back towards Maple Station, myself letting off a small chuckle.

"Really, Static, you know I prefer to call it making things interesting~"

Tanks & Tommy Guns

Lamps flickered above us as the railcar rolled slowly into the train yard, the wheels clacking smoothly along the tracks as the brakes screeched a bit to bring us to a stop in the maintenance shack. I switched the railcar off, the headlights dimming as the engine’s rumble died down. Night Strike slipped off of the railcar and pulled the lever beside the large wooden doors, gears cranking loudly as they swung shut, keeping out the errant freezing gusts. Opening the door to the shack, we saw Oil Slick trotting up to us, his hooves leaving a trail in the thin layer of snow on the ground. “Ah, good to see you guys back already. I hope you didn’t have to deal with any Hellhounds this trip.”

“Nah, they must’ve gotten the message the first time around.” Night Strike said as the others climbed out of the coal hopper. Oil Slick stepped inside to take a look at the spare parts, lifting one of the shaped pieces of metal off of the flatbed car to check it over. The jacketed pegasus wore a smirk, patting the side of the flatbed. “And I doubt they’ll be forgetting the last message we just gave them either. We did get those parts out before blowing the place up, you’re going to need a team of excavators to get anywhere in that mine anymore.”

Oil Slick chuckled a little as he placed the part back onto the pile of metal, following us out. “Yeah, I think we heard that thing go off from up here. I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused a rockslide somewhere.” My stomach clenched slightly. Ooh, yeah, in retrospect that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do... damnit, Night Strike. Hopefully we don’t end up crushing somepony’s house or blocking that Steel Ranger Vault door, especially if Cerberus is friendly with them...

“You know, Oil Slick, I’d say we’ve done more than our end of that bargain for the new parts for our mini-tank, taking all this into consideration.” I said, the stallion’s smile faltering slightly. “I think a bit of a discount on that upgrade isn’t unrealistic. Say, 30%?” Oil Slick’s face pulled into a small grimace as we made our way towards the hotel, the blue lighting overhead casting long shadows on the snow. Why's the railyard lit up in blue, anyways? “At the very least it should be considered some compensation for using up one of those bombs on the mines. Those things aren’t exactly common much anymore, not to mention how hard it was to haul just one all the way here, and who knows how big of a problem those Hellhounds could’ve been.”

Oil Slick gave small defeated sigh, hooves crunching in the snow. “Yeah, I suppose that is fair. Not to mention this would let us try digging in those mines for some coal again, electrics can only keep so many houses warm, you know?” He turned away, moving back towards the building housing the generators as we trotted up to the doors of the hotel. “Well, thanks again for the help. I should have the tank fixed up around the day after tomorrow.”

I waved and stepped into the warmth of the hotel lobby, spotting the receptionist dozing in a chair through the door to the back room. “You think we could actually get some real food with the money we’re saving on that repair, now, Static?” Night Strike said as we trotted up the steps, which creaked a little under our weight. “I’d rather not eat nothing but snack cakes and Sparkle Cola… even if that is one of the main food groups. Besides, new town, new restaurants, we should see what they have available” I rolled my eyes as we trotted down the hallway, Scouring and I breaking off from the others as they unlocked their own room.

“Fine, fine. Just try not to order the whole kitchen, alright? I’ve seen what you can do when you actually do decide to eat.” The lock to our room clicked open and Scouring and I stepped inside. I let my saddlebags fall onto the floor before climbing into bed, Scouring slipping off his armor before hopping into the bed beside mine. I sighed, burying my face into the pillow as I closed my eyes. I really could use tomorrow to relax after everything we’ve done today.

I awoke to the sound of Scouring fitting his armor on, the servos and fans whirring to life as he slid his hooves into the metal plating. Yawning and rubbing my eyes, I sat up in bed as the metal shifted on small gears to cover up his back, leaving him enclosed in the armor. “Mornin’. I was just planning on heading down to the roundhouse for a few drinks.” Scouring said, a bit of a smile on his muzzle. Sheesh, drinking this early? Hope you don’t have a problem you neglected to tell us about.

“Ah, erm, well, alright.” I yawned again, pushing the covers off of me. “We’ll probably end up finding someplace to eat later, we’ll swing by to find you.” Scouring nodded and headed out the door, myself rolling out of bed and trotting into the bathroom. C’mon, please let this place have some warm water. I cranked open the faucet, water cascading down from the slightly rusty showerhead, the meager heat from it being enough to fog up the mirror. I slipped off my jacket and stepped into the lukewarm water, bending my head to try and wash out some of the blood that had dried onto it from yesterday. Ech, at least the smell was gone by now.

Rinsing down my mane and tugging some knotted hairs out, I closed my eyes as some water flowed down over my face and fell to the floor of the tub. I gave a sigh of relief as I let the water coat me, feeling a bit of a weight fall off me. We really need to get some warmer showers back up north, I swear they always feel like they’re on the verge of freezing. Not long after I’d managed to clean my coat, I flipped the faucet back shut, reaching out for a towel, that... turned out to not exist. Gah, what hotel doesn’t have towels available? Dripping, I stepped out of the shower and picked up my jacket, slipping it back over me. The fabric clung to my skin as it absorbed the moisture, my hooves leaving faint marks in the old carpet as I walked back over to the bed.

My saddlebags clinked around as I slid them on, slipping the key to the room into one. I reached down into my saddlebags and slipped out the folded up stealth armor I’d found, looking over its fabric for a moment. My muzzle scrunched at the smell before I stuffed it back in. Yeah, should probably find somepony to clean that thing while we’re here. I stepped into the hallway, walking over to Night Strike’s room and knocking on the door a few times. The door swung open to reveal Aerith in her puffy winter coat. ‘Morning, Static. Night Strike’s off looking at the tanks again, Crash Dive tagged along.’

“Oh, ok. Well, I was just planning on wandering around, looking for somepony that might be able to wash or fix up that armor I found. Wanna tag along?” Aerith shrugged and smiled, stepping out of the room and walking with me down the hall. I shivered a little as we stepped outside, my still-damp flanks extra sensitive to the cool air. Ponies were starting to mill about the town, sliding the large doors of the boxcars that were now their homes open. I spotted a few ponies dragging the flatbed car full of engine parts over from the railcar house along the tracks towards the generators.

The sound of raucous laughter could be heard as we passed by the roundhouse, a snippet of somepony’s standup act being heard before being drowned in another round of cheers and laughter. I looked around, spotting a boxcar with a sign hanging beside the large door that read ‘Laundromat’. Aerith followed as I turned towards it, walking up the few wooden steps inside. The smell of detergent wafted through the boxcar as I trotted up to a makeshift counter, a couple ponies scrubbing away at clothes in tubs of water. “Heya! You here to drop off or pick up?” One of them called, dropping the clothes into the bin and drying her hooves off with a rag as she stepped up to the counter.

I flipped open my saddlebags, sliding the stealth armor out. The clerk’s muzzle wrinkled as the smell of rotting flesh hit her nose, trying in vain to keep a smile on her face. “Uh, so I found this armor on somepony... I was told it’s some kind of stealth suit, but I don’t think it’s going to work all… you know…” I tried to think of a better description than ‘reeking of the zebra corpse’. “…pungent.” The clerk unfolded the armor, inspecting the fabric and electronics lining it.

“Yeah, sure, ‘found this armor’. Look, we really don’t care what you do out in the wastes for clothes, but I’m legally obligated to tell you killing somepony for their suit is frowned upon at this station.” Before I could reply, the clerk continued. “Anyway, this looks like some pretty sophisticated stuff. I’m going to say… five hundred caps if you don’t want this thing clean without shorting out all the electronics on it.” My jaw fell open. Five hundred?! Come on, they’ve got to know how to clean blood off of stuff easier than that, it’s not that uncommon! “This thing’s got to be about as advanced as power armor, and we clean that for eight hundred. Take it or leave it.”

Grumbling and reaching into my saddlebags, I pulled out my bag of caps and began to count out the payment. Five hundred… highway robbery hundred more like… The clerk scooped up the caps and folded up the armor, trotting back to her basin. “Come back ‘round eight, we’ll have it done by then.” I turned and trotted back out, Aerith following me. We began to trot through the train yard, passing by a few cars converted into food stands, steam rising up out of their windows.

“Well, anywhere in particular you want to go?” I asked Aerith. She shrugged and we continued through the yard, passing by a few ponies. A large crane stood overhead, the gears that moved the beam having long ago been ruined by rust and repeated winter freezing. As we continued along, Aerith tapped me on the shoulder and pointed over to a small building. As we changed our course towards it, I could read the paint on a rusted sign hanging from the upper deck of the shack. “Triage: Maple Station Outpost” We trotted up the steps, kicking a bit of snow through the gaps to let it fall to the ground below us.

Stepping inside, we were greeted by a small track switching station that had been converted into an office, desks shoved up against the wall, a coffee maker bubbling away on a small table. A mare sitting at one of the desks looked up from her computer, her eyes magnified by the thick glasses balanced precariously on the tip of her nose. “Hello? Can I help you?” She pushed her glasses up her nose, blinking a bit as she tried to focus on us.

Aerith’s horn glowed as a sign popped up beside us. ‘Hello, we’re Aerith and Static of the Vanhoover Five. We were wondering if you might have any work available. We'd be happy to help if you do.’ The mare’s eyes widened as she pushed her chair away from the desk and trotted around to shake our hooves.

“Ah, I’ve heard of you! You helped fix up the dam for the Triage branch in Hopeville, out of the old hospital there, right?” I nodded and the mare trotted over to a filing cabinet squeezed into the corner, pulling open one of the drawers and rifling through the papers. “Maybe you can help me out with something here. I was doing some research on the lake fauna before I was moved up here. I think you might have noticed, there’s this strange species of creatures that don’t seem to have mutated from any of the native animals, at least as far as we can tell.”

She trotted over to her desk with several files stuffed under her foreleg, dropping them onto the desk and opening them up. “They appear to have mutated from ponies, but I can’t seem to find any way such a mutation could occur, their genes are just a mess of different species cobbled together.” She pulled out a sheet of paper, showing several blurry photographs, revealing nothing more than a few vague sihlouettes. Some arguably familiar vague sihlouettes, at that... “It doesn’t help that they can’t stay out of the water very long.”

‘Didn’t those files at Shady Shores have some information on those weird pony fish things?’ Aerith's face lit up as she looked over one of the files with us, flashing up her screen for me to view. I quickly began to rummage through my saddlebags, pulling out the stack of files we’d recovered from the small base. I handed them over to the scientist, who adjusted her glasses and stared down at the paper. She flipped through the files, her expression changing between fascination, horror, and confusion.

“Where did you say you got these?” Aerith’s horn glowed as she popped up a map, circling the shore of the lake opposite Hopeville where the research dock used to be, labeled as Shady Shores. The mare looked back down to the paper, frowning. “The coordinates on this thing don’t seem to match up with that… how big was this place? Is this where that bomb was set off a few days ago?” I nodded, and the mare only looked more confused. “They would have needed much more space than that, there’s no way that’s where these creatures are coming from.”

I glanced over the shoulder to get a better look at the files she was rifling through, though it was such a mess of equations and genetic sequences, I could barely understand more than a few words. “You think there could be another base? I mean, the place we blew up did seem kind of small for some sort of biological research facility. More of just a testing dock, or something.” The scientist glanced down to see my Pip-Buck. Following her gaze, I lifted up my leg and let her flip to the map, shifting between staring at the screen and fiddling with the knobs and referencing the coordinates printed on one of the pages.

“Hang on… I think I’ve got this…” She muttered, tugging on my leg a little as she worked with it. She punched a button, marking a location on my map and dropping my leg. “Well, that’s where those papers are pointing. Doesn’t seem anywhere near where you set that bomb off, from pre-war maps the closest landmark I can give you is the Battered-Sea Power Station.” I lifted up my Pip-Buck, Aerith looking over my shoulder as I scrolled through the map. The area she’d marked was on the western coast, almost at the top of the map, practically due west of Maple Station.

“So, you think this is where those experiments first took place?” I asked, looking back up to her and raising an eyebrow as she began to cross reference the files we’d given her with her own. The scientist nodded, grabbing a pen and scribbling some notes on the back of one of the sheets of paper. Well, that’s just great news, there’s Celestia knows how many of those things still swimming around in the ocean... do megaspells work underwater? Wait, what did I just think? Gwuuh, I've been spending way too much time with Night Strike...

Still scribbling away at the paper, the scientist looked back to us, Aerith nuzzling the neck of her coat for a moment. “This is fascinating… Do you mind if I keep these files? The Triage could always use more information on pre-war tech and biological studies. At the very least this should help explain more about these creatures.” I shrugged, answering her with a nod; It’s not like any of us could really understand it anyway. “Look… this might be a little much to ask of you, but would your team be willing to go searching around that site? Any facility that could create things like this has to have some information on medical technology that’d be invaluable to the ponies of the wastes.”

I hesitated, understandably not too thrilled of the prospect of heading into those fish monster ponies' breeding grounds. Aerith looked over to me, giving me a bit of an annoyed look. Oh c’mon, it’s not my fault I’m the only one in our group with any sense of self preservation! “Yeah, we can go search that place for you. The others would probably want to go just for the chance to get rid of those monsters.” The scientist looked both relieved and thankful, starting to rearrange her files.

“Thanks a ton. If you’re not heading out of town anytime soon, you could stop back in some time later today, I’ll be looking over these files in case there’s more to them.” I nodded and we turned to head back out, the wind causing me to shiver as we walked down the wooden steps. Well, at the very least there’ll probably be some valuable tech in Shady Shores too. Assuming we don’t get our faces ripped off.

As we trotted back through the town, my stomach let off a low grumble, causing my face to turn red and Aerith to giggle. “I suppose we could go and find the others for lunch now.” I said, starting to trot towards the building that held the tanks. Heading past the roundhouse, the sound of the doors opening prompted me to glance over to see Scouring trotting out, a little unsteady on his hooves. “What happened to you?” I asked.

“Oh, aye, somepony thought 'ey could drink me under the table… bugger barely ha' three shots b'fore he passed out. Er… was it five?” Scouring paused, scratching his head. I rolled my eyes and helped lead him away from the roundhouse, the whiskey clear on his breath. He was able to keep pace with us, though it was pretty clear he had had more to drink than he’d originally intended.

“Maybe you should head back to the hotel for now. We’ll pick something up for you to eat from somewhere around here, alright?” I patted Scouring on the shoulder and he nodded, starting to walk back to the hotel, albeit with a slight wobble in his gait. Aerith and I trotted up to the door of the long railshed meanwhile, opening it to find Night Strike sitting amongst a circle of ghouls, Crash Dive leaning up against the wall nearby with an armored hoof on her forehead. Night Strike turned around to see us trotting up, waving us over.

We trotted up to the circle, Crash Dive stepping over to join us. “So, Static and I are flying in this Vertibuck we stole from these Steel Rangers, but then one of their scribes jumps out from an onboard locker. Luckily I was able to fight her off and throw her out of the side before she drew her plasma gun and turned us into piles of goo! Of course, Static didn’t know how to fly the thing, so next thing I know we’re now stranded in the middle of the wasteland with a wrecked Vertibuck and a whole chapter of Steel Rangers on our tails!” Oh yeah, that’s definitely what happened.

Before she could continue, I stepped into the circle. “Are you talking about when you decided to throw my third cousin from a helicopter while we were in the middle of a flying lesson I bought us into? And then proceeded to try and take the controls from me when I turned us around so Fringe didn’t kill us?” Night Strike blushed, stammering a little. The other ghouls laughed, causing Night Strike to scrunch her muzzle and stand up.

“Oh, come on, Static, don’t ruin the story! Sensha was totally gonna let me drive her tank around!” I shook my head and we turned around to leave, the others going back to fixing up their tanks. “Besides, you should be thankful I at least tossed Sugar Flare out of the Vertibuck before she tried to make out with you. Pretty sure I saved us from crashing then.” I shuddered, not needing to be reminded of her. Guh, maybe this unexpected trip did have an upside... “Anyway, we going to actually have something to eat other than 200 year old snack cakes now?”

I nodded, and we trotted out into the main section of the railyard once more, walking past several railcars converted into food stands. Smells wafted through the air as we trotted through between the wide lanes of rolling stock, my stomach growling again. Night Strike stepped up to one where a unicorn was expertly tossing about ingredients on a stove, slicing them and flipping them into the air with the large knife. She scanned over the menu as I stepped up and did the same, the unicorn continuing to put on a show. “Alright… can I get the molerat slider?” The chef nodded and glanced over to me.

“Uh, same, you guys?” I asked, turning around. Crash and Aerith each placed another order, the chef dropping some meat on the stovetop as I counted out the necessary caps. Okay, four of us, and 20 caps apiece... d'oh, wait. “Oh, I almost forgot, one more for Scouring. He went back to the hotel, wound up in a drinking contest.” Night Strike let off a small chuckle as Crash Dive gave her helmeted head a shake, hopping up onto one of the stools mounted on the side of the railcar. The chef kept up his show as we joined her, enjoying the heat from the stove and reveling in the smells of freshly-prepared food. Mmm, I did miss this...

It wasn’t long before we were trotting away with our food, my stomach quieting down now that it had something in it. Night Strike was washing hers down with another Sparkle-Cola as we trotted back towards the hotel, more ponies milling about now that the sun had warmed up the air a bit. The door to the lobby creaked open, revealing a pony standing confused at the main desk as the receptionist was out cold, a thin line of drool leading from her mouth to the ledger her head was resting on. Erm, okay then… I guess she isn’t a daytime pony either. We headed upstairs and trotted towards our room to find Scouring asleep outside our door, snoring loudly.

Ooh… I forgot to give him the keys, didn’t I?

Aerith let off a sigh as Static fumbled the key into his hotel room's door, a blue aura encompassing the inebriated ranger as he slept off his drink. If that's how he acted before we ran into him, small wonder why B Company got a name like that... setting Scouring down on the bed, Aerith looked towards the earth pony standing in the doorway and rubbing at his forehead. "Really hope not too many saw him like this. A-and that he's alright, too... He seemed a little, um, tipsy, when we picked him up. Kinda doubt he would've walked straight if he didn't have the armor on."

"I'd have some water out for him when he wakes up, he'll need it to help with that hangover." Crash Dive spoke up, drawing our attention as Aerith unlocked the door to our bedroom, stepping inside for a moment. The power armored pegasus glanced back at the alicorn for a moment, before continuing. "Trust me. A cup of water makes the difference between a head-splitting hangover and a survivable hangover... had plenty of personal experience." She let off a small cough, following with a weak chuckle, ending with a sigh. I fidgted slightly on my hooves, finishing off that bomb-bottle and tossing the empty container into my duffel bag, Static giving her a nod and heading inside his room, shutting the door.

"Mmh, alright, so, I think I'm gonna head back out over to the tank ghouls' shed, see if there's anything I could help them with, or, uh, something. Really wanna know what the inside of Rheinmetall's one looks like, and figure out just what kind of gun that is." Okay, so it wasn't the best excuse for spending time with tanks, but hey, it's something. Crash Dive gave me a small glare for a moment, heading inside our bedroom. "What? Not like we have much else to do meanwhile, and it's better than me stalking Vera, isn't it?"

"Just try to not annoy them too much, I don't exactly fancy learning what those guns would do to somepony for myself. I'll be hanging around here for the time being, after the last few days I just want to stay in one spot for longer than an hour. Think you can handle yourself alone for that long, at least..." The power armored pegasus let off a soft sigh as she hefted herself onto the bed, Aerith levitating two jangling bags of bottlecaps in her magic, and a bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD, as she returned from the far side of the beds. She looked towards myself, slipping the smaller of the two bags into my duffel bag and keeping the other out, Crash Dive passing on a confused look that I matched. "Where in Equestria... pardon me if I doubt that Static would just give you one of his cap bags."

Aerith returned a smirk, looking towards myself and fitting her heavy jacket on, flashing up a screen for us both to see. 'You'd be surprised how easy it is to nick stuff when you can turn it invisible. Only needed a couple hundred, saw something earlier that just... well...' She let off a small giggle, holding a hoof to her muzzle and wearing a faint blush, adjusting the wide-brim fedora on her head. Erm... kay then, well, at least she's being sensible about it. I let off a small sigh, giving my head a shake before stepping back out into the hallway and tapping on the door opposite ours, Aerith turning the large satchel invisible again and coming up behind me. Come on, let's get that back into Static's saddlebags before he has a heart attack...

The earth pony answered the door, rubbing some powdered sugar from his lips - gone back to snack cakes again, huh? I let off a small chuckle, hearing a particularly large bag hover over my head in a magic aura as Static kept his attention on me. "Crash Dive's going to be hanging around here while me and Aerith go back down to the tank ghouls' shed. You and Scouring gonna be alright?" Static answered with a nod, a dull thud and jangle heard from inside the room, the earth pony turning to look towards it while I glanced back at Aerith. Smooth, just drop a bag of a couple hundred thousand bottlecaps, yeah...

"Erm, yeah, yeah, we should be. I'll just be reading up more on the Valkyrie meanwhile, have to head out to get the stealth armor we got off of that zebra anyways. No more dead corpse smell, yaaay." He let off a weak chuckle that I joined him in, us both sharing a nod as the alicorn troted up alongside me. Static glanced back into his room for a moment, before turning his atention towards myself. "Alright, just try to not make a fool of yourself. I might drop by there later, correct any 'facts' you were telling them about us before it winds up on Radio KAOS."

"Hey, I was being mostly accurate! Just, with a little flair here and there, is all..." Sticking my tongue out at him, he gave a weak chuckle as he shut the door, Aerith already starting down the hallway. I moved to catch up beside the alicorn, heading for the stairwell, glancing back towards our rooms for a moment. Static's not poking his head out again... good. "Okay, so, gonna tell me why you took a couple hundred caps out of the First National Bank of Static Charge, or..." Aerith answered with a small chuckle, looking down towards myself for a moment as we reached the lobby, heading for the doors. She flashed up a magic screen as we started to exit, giving a wink as well.

'You'll see.'

"Well, um... well." We stood outside what was once a train of passenger cars, a wood and metal sign erected atop the first one proclaiming it as 'Station Seamsters', with a pony or two milling about inside. Aerith grinned as she climbed up onto the running board at the end of the car, myself following behind her as she headed inside, a bell ringing above the doorway. Fancy-looking pre-war clothes lined the length of the railcar where there were once seats, a unicorn stallion at the far end leaning over a desk and waving a hoof towards us, wearing a wide smile.

"Oh, do come in! Welcome, it's always pleasant to see some new faces in town, especially in my humble little shop here. What can I do for you two fine mares today?" Aerith trotted over towards the desk as I looked over some of the items on display. Whoof, didn't think you could get fabric like this in the wasteland, definitely not that thick cotton or wool that Cross Stitch always had around. Is... is that actual silk? "Ah, planning a night out on the town? That's in the style of one of Vera Lynn's old gowns she brought in one time for repairs, very light silk. Only have a few of those in stock - and I would be glad to tailor one to fit around your wings, as well." Dressed like Vera... No, no, hang on Night Strike, not here for you.

"Ahm, actually, we're here for something which my friend Aerith wanted done, didn't tell me exactly what." The alicorn let off a small giggle as I trotted over, looking around the shop for a moment before levitating over an old photograph. Closer inspection showed it to be a rather dapper-looking stallion in a fine longcoat, vest, and undershirt, and adorned in a familiar-looking wide-brimmed black fedora. Uh... huh. I'm all for crossdressing, but, um... hm... oh, wait, I think I know what she's going for. That would explain the Tommy Gun. Aerith let off another giggle as the seamster stallion took the picture in his own aura, putting on a pair of glasses to better see it, blinking a few times.

"Hm... will say, isn't often I get a mare such as yourself coming in looking for a suit, but I'd be a bold-faced liar to say I didn't like your style. I'm certain I have something similar to this in back, if you wouldn't mind coming with me to take a few measurements, I can see about getting it put together for you. Oh, eheh, I'm Singer, by the way, pleasure to meet you both." The alicorn gave a nod towards him as he led her off to somewhere else in the long railcar, myself trotting over to a cushioned bench that I'm pretty confident in guessing was one of the original ones from the car. Sitting down on it, the soft leather gave a small bit of bounciness to it, my eyes peering out of the frost-tinted windows at the railyard beyond.

My breath fogged the window slightly as I sat there looking out, watching the soft clouds of steam rising from the main district where food was being prepared, the stacks over by the engine house chuffing out at a quick, steady pace, both of the larg eengines rumbling away pleasantly on the new parts. Resting a sleeved foreleg on the back of the chair, I let my muzzle fall against it, letting out a sigh - kind of hard to call a place like this the wasteland, isn't it? I mean, up north, we have the excuse of it snowing 13 months of the year, down here though... There's greenery. Actual plants not being grown in stables or underground, for Celestia's sake. Sure, you go through an abandoned or destroyed town here and there, but... Vanhoover took a balefire bomb to the friggin' face, and ponies are still living in it. Persistence? Stubbornness? Who knows... Pretty heartwarming to think about, though.

The little radio in my legputer clicked on and hummed to life happily, myself glancing over the stations. Maple Station Local Broadcast, Radio KAOS, old familiars. Hell, just think, two centuries and a decade after the bombs, we've still got radio and live entertainment. Ponies who have jobs like, like this. Where would an eveningwear tailor fit in with a place called the wasteland? Or a performer, singer like Vera? It just wouldn't make sense... the little diodes and other electrics inside tuned in to find Radio KAOS, myself slowly bringing the volume up, catching that jingle as it came through.

"You and I are listening to K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. It's a pleasant wintry afternoon out there all across the wasteland, with clear skies predicted for a few days going forwards, and I think it's the perfect time for something out of our collection here at Radio KAOS that's a bit mellow. I don't think I need to introduce this one - the song'll do it for me. Just hope anyone out there's willing to show some Sympathy for Discord, heh..."

The song started up, catching in my ears as a chill breeze blew past the window, carrying with it a small billow of snow. I sniffled slightly - oh, please tell me I'm not getting a cold - letting myself feel the cool surface of the glass inches from my face, leaning a cheek against the sleeve of my jacket. A distant part of my brain was on alert, half-expecting the thunderous retort of a 17-pounder gun mounted in the turret of an 81-ton tank to interrupt the music, almost hoping for it. The blast never came, but that didn't make my eyes keep from getting reddened... guh, st-stupid glass-penetrating snow...

The radio fizzled out as I turned it off, sniffling in through my nose again and resting back on the cushioned seat. Get ahold of yourself, Night Strike, you're... you're a strong mare. You'll get through this. You'll get the Valkyrie fixed, we'll take out all of the Harriers, and then you'll ram one of those megaspells so far up the ass of that Cerberus cunt that he'll be coughing up the impact fuse on the nose. Better yet, make it two, just to be sure he gets the memo. Then you and Static, and Crash Dive too, you can all just go back up to the north, go home, and go back to your fathers' hooves again... I rubbed at my muzzle with the sleeve of my jacket, choking back the tears. Sp-Sparkle-Cola RAD, maybe I just need one of those... yeah...

Three of the emptied bottles clanked beside me on the bench as the fourth's contents quickly disappeared down my throat, myself not really savoring the taste as much today. Come on, if these things work for repairing bone fractures and other injuries on me, why can't they do the same for emotional distress? I mean, I guess I'm definitely feeling a lot more awake than before, but... nnh... gasping for breath, the door at the far end of the railcar opened, the ghoul unicorn stepping out first with a smile on his face and an old measuring tape draped about his neck, stepping to one side and giving a small bow. "Ahem, may I present now, the latest of the winter collection for alicorns, the perfect getup for a fast firefight or class in a late-night brawl, the Chicacolt Newsmaker."

Aerith wore a grin behind her fedora's brim as she strode out adorned in her new clothes, spreading her Featherweight-sized wings out wide until their tips were brushing the walls of the railcar, turning her head to one side so that her hat and mane covered one of her eyes from me. Her hooves clacked against the hardwood floors as she turned, folding one wing and allowing me to see the black material that covered the outside of it while she had it held against herself. The seamster stallion smiled widely, trotting over to show off the flap of fabric. "Of course, practicality was kept in mind, as was survivability. The vest is designed to be bulletproof up to a direct hit from a .308 caliber round, and repair itself given a long enough time and some magic stimulation in the right places, and this coverage extends for the wings. If desired, the overcoat can certainly live up to it's name and cover the plates from view, and the wing covers can be removed if they prove too cumbersome, naturally. The perfect blend of class, style, and survivability, if I do say so myself."

Shoving the four emptied soda bottles into my duffel bag, I hopped up onto my hooves, trotting over to get a better look. Yanno, I never really thought about how good Aerith looked in some actual clothes... brain, I swear to Celestia if you start making me think the thoughts I think you're thinking of making me thinking, I'll drown you in Sparkle-Cola RAD again. The alicorn grined widely as she trotted around for a few paces, letting the long fabric of her coat sway around her strong, bare flanks, mane swishing slightly underneath her hat in the mild air of the railcar, and one of my own forehooves flinching to almost smack myself across the face. Brain, you're fired. Again. "Wow, Aerith, you really look fantastic. Just like one of those old movie posters."

The unicorn let off a chuckle as he moved back over to the desk, Aerith and myself following along with him as he hefted up an old cash register onto it. It landed with a heavy thunk, causing him to grimace slightly and look it over, a small cloth moving to wipe it down. "Ah, sorry, been a while since I've used this. Not a lot of ponies come through asking for full outfits, mostly it's just repairs nowadays. Anyhow, overcoat, armored vest, undershirt, wing covers..." The register rung a few times, the numbers on the display progressively rising. Ooh, I hope she took enough from Static to cover this... "785 caps ought to cover everything. That won't be an issue, will it?"

Aerith gave a smile and shake of her head as her horn came alight, levitating out the small satchel of caps and setting it onto the counter. She opened it up slightly, a stream of bottlecaps flowing out of it, myself flicking on my pip-buck's EFS out of curiosity. Just like the register's display counted up, the number of caps in the satchel quickly ticked down, Aerith keeping the ones she pulled out in neat stacks as it soon passed below 800. Stopping at 785 for a moment, the alicorn paused, seeming to think - o... kay, what's the issue? The smallest stack of caps she had levitated out went back in, followed by another half of a stack. Blinking a few times, my EFS re-registered the new amount being a solid 820 caps, the alicorn grinning and levitating the satchel to the unicorn behind the counter. 'Just a small tip as thanks, I'm sure Static would understand.' Hey, it's your skin and new clothes on the line, not mine.

The seamster smiled widely, taking the satchel and emptying it's contents out fully into the drawer of the register before returning it, Aerith moving the remainder of the caps into it. The register closed with a small ding, the unicorn seeming to strain slightly as he levitated it back below the counter, readjusting his glasses on his muzzle and resting his hooves back against the counter as we both gave light nods and started to head for the doorway. "Thank you both very much, have a nice afternoon!"

"You too!" Returning a small wave, both Aerith and myself stepped out onto the running board and platform, the nip of the cold air returning after so much time spent in the warmed railcar. I tugged my jacket around myself a little closer, the alicorn levitating some heavy cloth onto my back, making me glance back to look at it. Oh, just her old jacket... huh, her new clothes are that good against the cold? Eh, well, might still be worth it to keep this around, anyways... 'sides, it is nice and warm. She troted forwards a few steps, looking back at myself as I stuffed her old jacket into my duffel bag, soon moving to catch up with her.

"Alright, little later than I thought, but I'm sure if we hurry we can get back there in time. Mad Jack said something about today being the day they take their tanks out onto the range to test the guns... wanna know if I remember what a 17-pounder sounds like. C'mon." Trotting over off the platform, I made it to the other side of the tracks before noticing a distinct lack of an alicorn mobster beside me. Trotting back, I was greeted by a slightly confused look on her face, before she glanced at her back and spread her large wings out wide. As per usual, it took me a moment - and an eyeroll from the alicorn - to understand what she meant by that.

We can both fly there. Duh.

Setting down outside the opened doors of the railshed, we were greeted by the sound of four engines purring along loudly, trotting inside and finding the ghouls shuffling inside the driver seats of their war machines. Mad Jack caught sight of us just as he was about to pull the roof hatch on Avery shut, passing on a smile underneath his old trench hat and giving us both a wave as we trotted over, Aerith looking towards the mini-tank for a moment. I hopped up onto Avery's track cover, the ghoul keeping that wide grin as he ducked back down inside the tank for a moment before returning. "Night Strike, glad you could make it, we 'ere gettin' worried you'd forgotten. Looking at your friend, though, suppose you've got a good enough excuse for being late, heh."

Returning a small chuckle, Aerith soon returned with her rifle and Chicacolt Typewriter, and an ammo box. Er, two ammo boxes... and War Crime. She passed on a smile as Mad Jack and myself looked at her in some confusion, before she threw up another magic screen. 'Night Strike said you were going to a firing range or something. Figure it'd be a good place to get some sniping practice of our own in, if we could.' The smirk returned to Mad Jack's face as he gave a quick nod, the other tank ghouls revving their engines impatiently. Or, well, could've just been Rangefinder.

"'course you can, more guns the merrier! Shame ol' stripey and his land-cruiser are still off Stalliongrad-ways, he did love setting up his guns for broadsides whenever he got the chance to. C'mon, load it in, Avery can take it!" Letting out a chuckle, the old ghoul shut the hatch over his driver's spot as I climbed up onto the turret's roof, slipping inside through that hatch and helping get the guns and ammo settled as Aerith passed them through. Well, will be nice to shoot War Crime and not have to worry about hitting someone accidentally, at least, and besides - 17-pounder guns, baby! Kay, brain, you're re-hired, now's a time where you can let me think those thoughts you thought about making me think. Aerith slipped herself inside as well, adjusting her longcoat as she settled on the small seat for the gunner, the engine roaring before we started to move.

A soft sigh escaped me as I let myself get lost in the gentle rocking and sounds of the tank's movements, feeling the smooth movement of the clattering tracks as they rode over the deep snow, taking in the faintly familiar smells of motor oil and gun grease, and the clatter of loose memorabilia inside the fighting compartment. All it was missing was the clinking of empty bottles and Dad's soft voice... hang in there Strikey, just focus on the fun you're gonna have. And try to not make a mess when they fire those guns off... huh, yanno, might be worth asking. Once we get there, anyways.

After a few minutes, we soon pulled up somewhere outside of town, myself moving for the commander's hatch to get a look outside. The snow-blanketed wasteland expanded outwards in all directions for a good kilometer or two, scattered forests marking the rough boundaries of the firing range while depressions in the snow filled in the rest of the info needed. Well, that and the fact that Mad Jack parked Avery facing that way, anyways. Hopping up onto Avery's warm engine deck, Rangefinder and Fyre came through soon after with a covered cart, setting up a short ways down the firing position, with Rheinmetall and his tank taking place past hers. Sensha's was the last to show, the, um, bow of hers forming a small depression through the drifts that was punctuated by the tracks. Didn't know better, could misake it for actually being a land-boat...

Aerith started to move some of the guns up from inside Avery, Mad Jack opening up the hatch in front with a creak and climbing himself out of it, looking over the turret with his wide grin. "Well, here we are! Good old Vanhoover Proving Grounds, largest tank gunnery range in the north. Only tank gunnery range in the north, far as we can be certain of." Letting off a chuckle, the ghoul hopped down from his tank's track covers, moving over towards Rangefinder's tank. Aerith moved one of the ammo boxes out from the turret as she gave War crime over to me, myself taking the time to fit the rifle on my back before moving to join him.

"You'll probably like this, this is something that Sensha brought with 'er when she first showed up. MWT Heavy Ammunition Carriage, stick in a shell and it'll create copies of it over time, takes about a month to make enough to fill all our tanks' munitions stores. Far as we can tell, only works with 37mm caliber and up, though - suppose it's a right good thing that our coaxials are all bored for more common rifle rounds, eh?" He gave off a chuckle as we approached the wagon, Aerith close behind with her own rifle levitated beside her. Coaxial machine guns are nice, but I think if I had a choice I'd rather have a tank with more bite than a 7.62 beside the main gun. Mad Jack stepped up to the carriage and threw the tarp back as Rangefinder was working with something on it, the ghoulified earth pony glancing back at pur weapons before going back to looking through. "So, what're yours bored out for, 5.56, 7.62?"

"Ahm, Aerith's is a thirty-aught-six, mine's a fifty MG. We did bring along our own ammo, though, so..." Mad Jack fumbled slightly before looking back at me, his usual cheerful smile replaced with faint bewilderment. What, were we not supposed to do that, or something? Kind of thought that would've been a common courtesy to bring your own, ammo is pretty expensive, usually... "Erm, something the matter?"

"Uh... n-no, not at all, I just... um... just to check again, you said fifty MG, right? As in, machine gun, fifty caliber?" Answering a nod, the earth pony blunk a few times, leaning back to look at the rifle on my back. Returning a shrug, he went back to shuffling around ammunition, pulling out two boxes and brushing them off. "Sorry, just didn't imagine you carrying a gun with quite that heavy a caliber. Caution Tape's Deathtrap's got coaxials that use the same round, just am a bit surprised they made a light weapon to fire it. Let alone one that's... semi-auto?"

"Full auto, actually." Yanno, there's gotta be a point where I stop making people make that face whenever I answer a question. Mad Jack just answered with a nod, shuffling more onto the cart and grabbing a big cup-looking thing with a finned base, that did seem like it fit inside Avery's barrel well. So this is what that thing fires... oh, momma, did I just read that that thing has 30 pounds of high explosive inside it? Oh, that's gonna be niiice...

Aerith took to getting us set up on an old bench and table nearby, ammunition at the ready and range clear, with Rangefinder's 17-pounder moving into a firing position. From the shell that she first brought over from the cart, assuming she doesn't keep some in her tank's ammo racks, anyways, standard AP shot to start, not as fun as the APBEBC the TOG's got but still pretty fun. Shouldn't change how the gun sounds much, anyways. I sat back as Aerith got herself sighted in with her rifle, the range falling silent as the ghoulified pegasus stuck her head out from the turret and peered around. "Range hot, range hot, muzzleblast clear?" She leaned forwards for a moment to check, before sliding back inside. A moment later, firing pin struck primer, igniting the cordite inside the brass case and propelling the solid shot projectile out of the barrel and far downrange. The explosion from the muzzle sent a shiver up my spine, making me tingle - oh, yeah, that's the stuff right there - the solid steel shell causing a plume of snow to sprout up nearby a dead husk of a tree. Ooh, just a little more to the left.

Rangefinder stuck her head back out of the opened hatch, resting against it and letting off a sigh, rubbing at her forehead. Someone looks like they need a bit more practice... letting off a chuckle of my own, I picked up War Crime, settling it against my shoulder and pulling the bolt back to get a round into the chamber. Right, how far away is that, anyways... well, if the AP shell has the same MV as the APBEBC, or close to it, a good guess based on that travel time is about a half-kilometer or so. 500 meters, if those books I found about it in EQUAD are right then the .50 MG should have a similar MV to the 17-pounder's 900m/s, so... alright. The cool air blew around as my cheek settled against the stock, eye peering down the length of the scope at the magnified trunk, and the little elevation markings. 200m, 400m, 600m... 500m is there, and the best part is I'm not on a moving vehicle this time.

Taking a breath of the cool air, everything fell quiet for a moment before the faint click of the metal trigger reaching the stock was heard, releasing the hammer on the action and allowing it to fly forwards to strike the primer of the heavy round. Propellant burned rapidly in the brass case, the pressure forcing the jacketed shell down the barrel and out at full velocity, the resulting force pushing the barrel back into the body of the rifle to be caught by the recoil pistons. The brass case ejected to the side, another bullet taking it's place, the process repeating. I let War Crime spit out a loud seven-shot burst at the tree, at least four of the rounds actually landing on and splintering the dead wood of the trunk, releasing the trigger only mere moments after I'd pulled it back. My ears rung with that pleasant sound of heavy-caliber gunfire in them, that breath of fresh air being released as my hoof moved to flick War Crime's safety, setting her back down on the table. Getting better, Strikey...

Aerith scanned across the range herself as Rhinemetall proclaimed the same thing that Rangefinder had, his tank's gun going off with a far heavier-sounding thump when compared to the 17-pounder. This one's shell landed with a loud crack as it bored clean through the trunk of the tree downrange, splintering the wood and causing the old trunk to fall onto one side, held in place by half as much wood as it used to be. Okay, unless muzzlebrakes very significantly change how a gun sounds, I kind of doubt that whatever gun that that one has is a 17-pounder... Aerith semed to pause in her scanning, peering intently at something on the wide expanse, myself just resting back now as Mad Jack readied Avery.

"Range hot, range hot, keep your heads down!" Disappearing inside the turret of the tank after shutting the driver's hatch, Avery's turret turned slowly about to aim at the tree, the large barrel of it's gun raising up high. Okay, even with 45 degrees elevation, if there isn't enough propellant in that thing I doubt it'd get past a hundred yards, accurately anyways. Would make sense if Avery was made for more infantry support than anything, hate to be someone inside a bunker in that gun's sight with a round loaded. Probably would not end pretty...

The round left the barrel with a surprisingly quiet, um... bloop, I guess, beginning it's flight downrange. It kind of sounded like Thumper, actually... man, did it travel slow, too. I was able to follow the huge shell with my eyes as it slowly arced up, hit it's apex and then began it's descent back down, falling well short of the tree but still close enough for the blast to have an effect. A moment later, the force from the explosion reached us, the weakened tree toppled and the others around having the snow blown off of them as the snowy mounds vibrated and muffled the sound, the explosion giving way to a low rumble as the snow and smoke cleared. A neat crater was left in the snow, myself giggling lightly as I watched the debris settle - well, it wasn't a balefire egg, but damn that was a hell of a shell.

From the far end of the firing line, the ghoulified zony mare made the same proclaimation as the first two, prior to the retort of her tank's gun which I'd liken to a sharp rifle crack than the booming of the others, the alicorn beside me poking at my shoulder. Turning to meet her, her rifle was held in place, a magic screen popping up beside her as she nodded down at War Crime. 'Uh, dunno what you might know about robots, but there's this real weird-looking one at about 250, 300 meters distance just over there. Look familiar to you?'

Blinking a few times in response, I shouldered War Crime and followed where Aerith was looking, scanning the ground over. No robot, snow, no robot, no robot, crater, something shiny and metallic and... uhm... hm. Swear I've seen something shaped like that before. Was it in an old textbook, or something? Um... definitely modeled after some Equestrian animal, probably... oh, wait a second, that's it! Yeah, that thing looks kinda like a mantico-...

I set War Crime down, shuffling off of the bench without a word, spreading my wings wide and heading over to the ammunition cart. Landing on it, Rangefinder and Rheinmetall were both getting another shell off of it, with Mad Jack coming over and Sensha appearing behind her tank. The ghoulified unicorn blunk a few times behind his glasses as the pegasus wore a smirk, leaning the 17-pounder APDS shot against her shoulder. "'sup Night Strike, something up?"

I leaned back on my hooves slightly, Mad Jack getting another one of the big shells off, with Rheinmetall carefully inspecting the shell that he'd grabbed. "Yeah, actually. I was kind of wondering if I could take a shot at something with your guns, just one thing."

Rheinmetall's face seemed to flicker a smile, setting the shell down on the cart as he looked up at myself, readjusting his glasses. "Why, certainly dear, you seem to have at least some experience with it if your stories of your home and father are anything to go by. Which one of our guns would you like to fire?"

"Oh... all of them. At once. At the same thing."

The unicorn wore that incredulous look I seem to always manage to get on every single person I meet. Seriously, what's up with that? He stuttered for a moment, Mad Jack looking at him with another shell in hoof, Rangefinder hopping up beside me with a grin. "You -really- like overkill, don'tcha? I'm sure we could arrange that, just say what kind of ammo you want and which one you wanna sit inside to pull the trigger. Don't want to play favorites, but, well, you do know that Fyre's got a 17-pounder like you said your dad's TOG has, right?"

Answering her with a smile and nod, I looked to the cart, checking over the ammunition types available. C'mon now, I just need one, and one of 'em already fires it exclusively... there it is. 17-pounder high explosive, 880 meters per second; 88mm high explosive, 800 meters per second; 37mm HE, 790m/s; and of course Avery's bunker-busting HE shell that fires at the speed of slow. Pulling the shells out, sans Avery's, the group watched on in slight confusion, taking the ammunition as I gave it out. Sensha soon approached, just in time to fumble in catching her tank's 37mm shell before looking up in some confusion. "Erm, did I miss something?"

"Not much..." I looked back out across the range, catching that glint from the metal skeleton of the animatronic. This is gonna be satisfying. "...we're just gonna vaporize a manticore."

"Loaded?" I sat in the commander's hatch of Rheinmetall's tank, looking across the group. All guns were trained on the metal hulk half-buried in the snow 300 meters away, even Aerith with Thumper and one of the solar burst grenades. Wasn't able to fire her myself, but I think she's alright if Aerith does it instead. The three ghouls in the other tanks gave short waves of confirmation before disappearing inside, Aerith returning a nod and steadying herself. "Range hot, Range hot, muzzle blast clear. Fire!"

In that instant, five guns answered with their distinct retorts, five shells all flying for the same place. Hardly a third of a second later, the animatronic manticore was consumed in a furious series of explosions, starting with three high velocity shells and ending with one on par with a balefire egg, and another one packing 30 pounds of explosives. The combined shockwave nearly threw me out of my position atop hatch, a wide grin falling on my face as I steadied myself, the debris raining down and dust settling as the hills rung once more. Looking through the cloud, a massive crater marked where the rusted hulk once was, myself breaking down into a fit of giggles - might not have destroyed that film yet, but obliterating one of those celestia-damned robots was just as good. Rheinmetall looked up at myself from inside, scratching at his head. "Could I just ask the point of that?"

"Oh, well... just don't like animatronics that much. Damn things are creepy." As if I needed an excuse to blow something up.

Flipping through the pages of the Valkyrie’s many manuals, I readjusted myself as Scouring let out another snore in the bed opposite. He rolled over in bed, his snoring muffled slightly by the pillow as I scanned through the wrinkled pages. The schematics of the large Tesla cannon turrets caught my eye, and I focused in on them, trying to make sense of the controls. Okay, so they’ve got standard automatic-fire, rapid discharge, and an overcharge mode… probably should save that for engaging targets on the ground. Even then, can’t go too high, unless we want to end up like popcorn on a stove… not to mention what any excess electricity might do to the bombs in the bay. I know bullets won't set them off, but electricity...

Rifling through a few more pages, I took to glancing over the auto targeting system. Hopefully that thing compensates for target speed, or we’re just going to be punching holes in nothing but their jetstreams. I shut the book and slipped it back into my saddlebags, pushing it down beside the now clean set of stealth armor neatly tucked into the satchel. Leaning back against the pillows, I closed my eyes, needing a small break from trying to figure out the workings of that machine. Guh, where’s Greasy when you need her? She’d probably have had us back north a couple hours after our crash… assuming she wasn’t freaking out about seeing Crash Dive’s Enclave suit and thinking she was going to execute her for fraternizing with the enemy or something.

Scouring snorted a little, groaning as he slowly sat up in bed and placed a hoof to his temple. “Oogghh… I never shoulda agreed to that contest.” He turned his head, spotting the small glass bottle of water sitting on the bedside table before glancing up to me. “Ah, thanks, do need this.” He gulped down the cool glass, still holding his head a little. He layed back into the pillows, closing his eyes and pushing the covers off of him.

“I think Night Strike wanted to see another show tonight. You think you wanna hang back here?” I glanced over to the unicorn as he rubbed a hoof against his forehead. Scouring groaned and nodded, pulling a pillow over his head as a few hoofsteps could be heard from the room above. I glanced at the clock on my Pip-Buck and climbed out of bed, hitching up my saddlebags. “Speaking of, it’s getting kind of late, I better go find her. Keys are with you this time.” I opened the door, making sure not to let it slam behind me before I started down the hallway.

Ponies were starting to make their ways back home as I trotted through the blue-lit train yard. I passed by a few shops that were closing up as I headed towards the tank’s garage, one pony being smacked in the back of the head by the tin awning as he loosened the beams holding it up. As I stepped up to the door of the garage, I noticed a group of depressions in the snow, all heading away from the large gate of the shed... tank tracks, duh. Following the four sets of tracks, my gaze was turned over towards the base of the mountain, the tracks curving around the corner of the slope. Oh Celestia, please don’t tell me Night Strike convinced those guys to go Hellhound hunting.

Picking up the pace, I began to trot between the large prints in the snow, my breath forming small clouds with each exhale. The sun was beginning to set in the sky as I hopped over a few train tracks as I followed those left by the tanks, running through them as the snow became higher. The sound of a shell firing suddenly met my ears, the explosion ringing through the air a moment later. As I rounded a small cliff in the mountainside, I spotted three large tanks and one small one sitting at the base of the slope. Rushing over to the side of Mad Jack's, I was about to bang on the side door to get the driver’s attention, only to be sent ducking for cover on the ground as another shell was fired from the large barrel. Shit, shit, why are those always so damn loud?!

I clutched my ringing ears, letting out a mixed cry of pain and surprise as I fell. A second later an even louder roar could be heard as several explosions went off in the distance, the shockwave sending me rolling back in the snow as I yelled. “Gaaaaah, what the fuck is wrong with all of you?!” I couldn’t even hear the metal hatch of one of the tanks flip open as Mad Jack popped his head up, glancing down to see me rocking back and forth, hooves over my ears.

“Oh, hell! Night Strike, your friend's here!” The red-coated stallion muffledly cried out to one of the other tanks before ducking back down into his own, Night Strike climbing out of the one with the forward-placed turret a moment later. My legs shook as I got back to my hooves, Night Strike helping me up as the hatch to the tank flipped open again, Rheinmetall climbing out. Mad Jack hopped out of the side door of his own and stepped up beside me as I shook my head, trying to regain my senses. “Jeez, who taught you to just go waltzing up to a line of tanks during a firing test, eh?” Oh, yeah, because it was totally my intention to go deaf today.

Standing a bit more steadily, I clutched my head, the ringing in my ears slowly fading away. “For Celestia’s sake, why were you firing off all those guns at once?! There isn’t even anything out there!” I gestured to the field where the mushroom cloud was dissipating, the others gathering around. Night Strike answered with a small smirk.

“Well, of course there’s nothing out there -now-.” I shot her a quick glare. Not really the right time for jokes, Strikey. “Though it was justified, though! It was an animatronic Manticore, and in my opinion we reacted quite appropriately.” She stood firmly, wearing a grin as the cloud was blown away by the wind. The others muttered quick apologies as Aerith returned Thumper to Night Strike. “Anyway, why’d you come out here?”

“I figured you wouldn’t be checking the time too often if you were gushing over the tanks again. I thought you said you wanted to see another show? It’d at least give you a chance to talk to Vera without fainting again.” Night Strike blushed as I heard the muffled crunch of hoofsteps behind us, blinking in surprise as Crash Dive walked over in her armor, Merlin and Royce following her. “What’re you doing here?” I asked, puzzled.

“There, see? They’re friends with a fucking battalion of tank drivers! We give up! You want to try killing them, go ahead and do it!” Royce said to - or, well, more yelled at - Crash Dive. I raised an eyebrow, even more confused. Merlin covered his face with a claw, shaking his head. Uh… does she think Crash Dive is with Cerberus, or something? Well, I guess that at least clarifies, whoever he is, he’s friendly with the Enclave.

“Ehm... sorry, Royce just thought you were... and... yeah... I'll just take her back to the hotel.” Merlin wore a small grimace, rubbing at the back of his head as Crash Dive trotted up to us. He turned and started to lead Royce back away, muttering something about dragging his drunk sister with them as said sibling was now shouting about why Cerberus would send them to kill his buddies.

Aerith’s horn lit up as the group of ponies began to disperse, heading back to their tanks after that little, um, show, a magical screen popping up. ‘I’ll admit it was funny, but was it really necessary to take those two along to try and find us?’ The rumble of the tanks' engines grew louder as Mad Jack began to drive his back towards Maple Station. I followed Night Strike into the top hatch of Rheinmetall’s tank, Crash Dive and Aerith following suit.

Rheinmetall flipped a few switches and levers, the tank shuddering before it began to pivot around in place before moving forwards to follow behind the one with the gun barrel that looked like the one from the TOG. “It hadn’t been my original plan, they ran into me at the hotel. The brother at least knew I was with you guys, but the girl wouldn't stop screaming and begging me not to kill her for, uh, failing. Kind of is one of the weirder things to have happened to me, but, if they're who I know they are, and she mistook me for who I think she mistook me for... it's not a good sign.” I braced myself on a handle nearby to avoid slipping out of my chair as we rolled over a large rock, the gun in the tank's turret settling beside me. Okay, that was... part of the gun aiming mechanism. Probably shouldn't touch that.

We rode along in relative silence, the rumble of teh tank's engine and clatter of it's tracks filling the air, the smell of oil meeting my nose after a short while. “Uh… you sure this thing is that safe?” I asked, glancing back towards where the engine of the war machine was located. Night Strike looked a little more concerned as she noticed the burning smell as well. Rheinmetall let off a weak chuckle, letting it fade off as he twisted around in the seat to look back at us, slowing the tank down slightly.

“That TOG of yours up north’s never really seen proper combat, or been running for that long, has it? Things just start to fail as they get old, unfortunately. Porschia does tend to set herself alight, but I've done my best to ensure she'll still run, been doing so for nigh on 210 years now by myself.” That really isn’t instilling any confidence in me, more I think about it - at least the TOG is still running on all it's original parts, I think. Still, we trundled onwards, arriving back at the tank ghouls' shed with no more incidence. The engines sputtered out smoothly as Rheinmetall flipped a few switches, Aerith pushing the hatch open and beginning to climb out through the turret.

“Thanks for letting me fire this thing's gun off, Rhymey! Might have to see about destroying that old film with it at some point.” Night Strike waved, fluttering down to the ground as I leapt from the treads to the floor. “Hey, where’s Scouring? I would’ve thought he’d want to see some of these things in action.” Night Strike asked as we headed towards the small door, the others climbing out of their parked tanks.

I pushed open the door to the garage, stepping out into the dusk light. Lamps flickered to life as we trotted past, helping to illuminate the dimming yard. “He’s still hungover. You don’t think actual hangovers are anything like whatever happens after you binge on RAD, right?” I chuckled, Night Strike rolling her eyes as we made our way towards the roundhouse. The warmth of the entertainment hall was inviting as we stepped inside, heading towards an empty table.

Piano music echoed through the hall, a dark grey Pegasus performing a few tunes before the acts. A waiter trotted up to us and placed a few glasses of water down on the table, along with a few menus before walking off to help another carry a large tray of drinks over to a rowdy group of ponies. “So, where are we planning to go once we get the mini-tank back?” Crash Dive asked, not paying her menu any attention. She let off a small sigh, looking over at the stage. "I'm not sure about you guys, but I kind of wouldn't mind going back to the lighthouse. Least there I think I can face the rest of them, if they come knocking..."

“We'll probably be heading west for the coast anyways, actually. Aerith and I found out the possible location for that Shady Shores place, somewhere near the, uh, Battered-Sea Power Station, I think? Whatever we blew up was really just a small research dock that the freaky fish-things were around, not the actual Shady Shores. They’d probably have some sort of generator there we might be able to salvage, not to mention the Triage would probably be willing to bankrupt themselves for any kind of medical tech we could find in there.” I suggested. Night Strike looked up from her menu, her expression one of concern.

“We’re going to go into the place that made those seapony things? Since when did you get a death wish?” I raised an eyebrow. Since when have you not been completely gung-ho about breaking into some pre-war facility? As if she could read my mind, Night Strike shook her head, going back to her menu. “Yeah, yeah, I’d just rather not go digging around someplace that’s crawling with those walking nightmares, alright? Don't even know if War Crime can hurt those things or not...” I glanced down at the list of foods before me, my eyes widening a little. Sheesh, how much do they really need to charge people for food here? Then again, I suppose a dinner theater would be pricier than the food stands we’ve been eating at before.

The waiter soon returned to take our orders, the pianist’s performance covered up by the applause and stomping of the ponies all around. The waiter scribbled down our orders before trotting off towards the kitchen, our drinks being levitated over by the unicorn managing the bar. Night Strike popped the cap off of her bottle of Sparkle Cola as Crash Dive took a sip of her Sparkling Rum. I turned in my seat, popping a cube of ice from my water into my mouth to suck on as the lights dimmed.

A spotlight appeared, Vera stepping out onto the stage to a chorus of cheers and applauds. She grinned as the pianist started up again, this time playing a much slower tune. Vera began to sing, her voice resonating through the round house. Night Strike leaned forward, resting her head on her hooves as she watched Vera sing. I poked her side, chuckling. “Come on, Night Strike. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you had a crush on her.” I whispered. Night Strike blushed, sticking out her tongue before going back to watching Vera. I leaned back in my chair, Aerith drinking some of her own soda.

Upon finishing her number, Vera was once again met with applause. She waited for it to die down before speaking up, “Thank you very much, it really is a pleasure being able to perform for all of you tonight. Before the rest of the show, though, I’d like to take this moment to thank the Vanhoover Five for braving those Hellhound-infested mines to retrieve the parts for our fine town’s engines. With their help, we can rest assured we’ll be sleeping warm in the coming nights.” Another round of applause broke out, a light blush crossing my face. Well, she sure knows how to talk somepony up. “And an extra special thanks to Night Strike and Static Charge, who like many of us are still trying to get back to their homes up in the north. We know you and your family will meet again, some sunny day.” She grinned, the music starting up again.

A thud could be heard to my left, and I glanced over to see Night Strike sprawled out on the floor, a giddy expression on her face as she fainted. I sighed and shook my head, grinning a little. Never change, Strikey.

We trotted out of the roundhouse, my belly now comfortably full and cap bags uncomfortably emptier. Snow was drifting slowly down from the sky as we headed back to the hotel, a few ponies exiting the roundhouse behind us and trotting off in their own direction. “Bluh, I should not have had that tiramisu…” Night Strike grumbled, putting a hoof to her stomach. “Who the heck puts coffee in a cake and thinks that’ll sit well in a full stomach?” I pushed open the door the hotel and trotted in, kicking some of the snow off of my hooves as we stepped inside.

“The same kind of pony who orders a coffee cake and thinks it will sit well in her stomach full of Sparkle-Cola and roasted molerat.” Crash Dive chastised her, her armored hooves thudding loudly on the steps as we walked up. “If you’re going to throw up, you’re sleeping in the bathroom tonight. Or I could have Static make you a diaper for your head, if you'd prefer it.” Aerith slid the key into the door to her room, the lock opening with a satisfying click. Wearing a grin as I watched Night Strike's face go from blushing to indigestion, I stepped into Scouring and my room, finding the unicorn still dozing in bed, the glass of water resting on the bedside table now empty.

I carefully twisted the bolt shut on our door, trying to make as little noise as possible as I walked over to the window to pull the shades down. The room grew darker as the moonlight was blocked from streaming in, and I climbed into the unoccupied bed, tossing my jacket onto my saddlebags. Thinking back to what Vera had said earlier, my ears flopped down a bit as I buried my face into the pillow. It’s been so long since we’ve left… I hope they’re not getting too worried.

I tried to imagine dad pounding on Twintails’ door with his prosthetic leg, Jolts slung over his back. Him and Twintails trundling along on in the tank as Nikolai blasts groups of raiders away with his Tesla cannon, Fringe, Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush providing fire from a vertibuck overhead. I grinned, closing my eyes, chuckling a little - well, I suppose there could be a worse team coming to find us.

Sunlight shown through the blinds as I sat up in bed, yawning and twisting my neck a little to crack it. Scouring rolled out of bed beside me, looking much better after the night’s sleep. “Mmh, so, how was the show last night?” He asked, trotting off into the bathroom to get another glass of water. I climbed out of bed, picking up my jacket to slip it back over my head.

“Pretty good, Night Strike fainted at the sight of Vera again, but that’s not new.” I joked, Scouring chuckling to himself. He stepped back out of the bathroom, taking a sip before setting the glass down and getting to work putting his armor on. I paused as he did so, glancing into my saddlebags before hitching them up, catching the black plates of the fresh-smelling armor. “Do you think I’d need any sort of power armor training for this stealth suit? I mean, it doesn’t look as cumbersome as most power armor, but I still don’t know how exactly it works.”

Scouring shrugged, the armor plating over his hooves releasing a bit of steam as they closed over his legs. “Not sure. If there is anything to it, it’s probably just how to activate the stealth field, I bet Crash Dive or I could teach you some of the basics of power armor if we needed to.” I trotted out of the door behind Scouring once he had his armor on, going to knock on the girls’ room.

Night Strike opened the door to reveal Crash Dive slipping on her helmet as Aerith slipped on her clothes... Aerith has clothes? Wait, when did she get that new suit? They all stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. “So, when did you get a new suit, Aerith? Looks pretty clean for something you might’ve found off a dead body. Not to mention fitting perfectly...” I narrowed my eyes, Aerith’s expression growing a little worried. Her horn lit up, flashing up a sign.

‘Somepony was looking to get rid of their… old clothes, and… thought it’d be reward enough after… Taking out the Hellhounds… and stuff. Yeah, that.” The repeatedly flickering magical sign and long gaps between her words didn’t help to relieve me. Night Strike stepped in front of Aerith, opening her mouth to speak, though she quickly found she was at a loss for words.

“You stole some of the caps, didn’t you?” I stepped forward a bit, both Night Strike and Aerith gulping. Oh, they did. “For Celestia’s sake, you can’t just take caps like that! We can’t go around willy-nilly buying everything! At the very least could you've left an I.O.U., so I don’t go around thinking we lost the money or somepony else stole it? We still need to pay for the new engine on the mini-tank, who knows how much that’ll cost!” I went off on a tirade, Aerith shrinking back a little. Before I could continue, though, Crash Dive smacked me on the backside of my head.

“Oh, shut up, you cap-pincher. We’re not a company and we’ve still got enough caps to buy out half of Vanhoover.” She began to trot back towards the entrance of the hotel, the rest of us following behind. I grumbled to myself, tossing my key onto the desk as beside Night Strike’s as we passed it. A cool breeze whipped around us as we stepped out into the hotel’s courtyard. One pony in a janitorial jumpsuit was tossing salt onto the stone pathway to stop any ice from forming. We walked through a long line of train cars, the fresh snow crunching under our hooves as we made our way towards the garage our mini-tank was resting in.

The small door to the garage creaked as it opened, alerting Oil Slick to our presence. He stood up from the stool he had been sitting at and set aside a magazine that boasted of an interview decrying the usefulness of a plasma caster on the cover. “Hey, got her all tuned up and ready to go! Now, the new regulators installed on the engine should help keep the engine’s power in check and give it that extra boost. At the very least you won’t blow a gasket again, save if you try to tow a tank behind it.” I looked over the mini-tank, tossing my saddlebags into the driver’s seat as Oil Slick listed off the details of the improvements. “Speedometer won’t show exactly how fast you can get, though if you’re ever going at that speed I’ll assume you’ve got bigger problems on your mind. Anyway, with the fixed gasket and upgrade, along with the discount for getting the extra parts back from the mine, I’d say… 2,000 caps should cover it.”

I paused, not entirely happy with that price. I’m supposed to be the one demanding caps like that, not the one paying! Glancing back to the others, they simply trotted over to the tank, Aerith and Scouring hopping into the trailer as Crash Dive and Night Strike climbed onto the back. I glanced down at the mini tank, giving a little sigh. Oh, the thing I do for the machines I love… I flipped open my saddlebags and began to count out the caps, pouring them into a small satchel he tucked into a pocket in his mechanic suit. “Thanks again for what you’ve done, really. If you ever need a tune up, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

Oil Slick trotted over to the controls to the garage door, the large metal gate creaking open. I flicked a switch, the mini-tank’s engine rumbling to life. Twisting the handle bar, the engine roared as I rolled out of the garage, turning to speed through the town. “Hoohoo, Oil Slick really gave this baby the special treatment!” I said, feeling the tank roll smoothly over the hills as we approached the edge of town. I pulled my makeshift goggles out of my saddlebags and slipped them over my face, the ground lighting up with small trails of latent magical energy as they blocked my eyes from the harsh winds.

Night Strike flicked on her radio, and the air began to fill with a jazzy piano riff accompanied by a small group of saxophones. Heh, now this is some music to speed to...

"You women have heard of jalopies,
You've heard the noise they make,
Let me introduce my new Rocket 88!

Yeah, she's straight, just won't wait
Everybody likes my Rocket 88
Babe we'll ride in style movin' all along!

A V8 motor baby, it's modern design
Black convertible top and the girls don't mind
Sportin' with me riding all around town with joy!"

"...aw, fuck! We didn't go back to the drive-in!" The mini-tank's rebuilt engine purred underneath as I rested on the back with Boomer, eyes faced away from the chill wind as we traveled along. Crash Dive and Aerith both looked at me from their position in the wagon behind, the dressed-up alicorn's eyes going wide and the power armored pegasus' hoof meeting her forehead as they both realized what I meant. Can you blame me though, a whole trailer full of big Sparkle-Cola bomb bottles, just sitting there! It's a tragedy!

Turning to face the wind, I took ahold of Boomer to help pull me along the length of the mini-tank, reaching out a hoof and tapping Static on the shoulder. Gaaah, I know I've said that it was the stupid snow stinging my eyes before, but by Celestia does it actually hurt a hell of a lot more when it really -is- the snow stinging my eyes. Why do we have such huge eyes, anyways!? They take up about half of our skulls, for cryin' out loud... The engine fell to a quiet purr as we started to slow down, Static turning around to look at myself in confusion. He pushed his goggles up on his head, blinking a few times as we slowed in the snow. "What, what is it? Did you binge on Sparkle-Cola while I wasn't looking and have to use the bathroom?"

"Well, technically yes, but it was only four bottles yesterday and that's beside the point. We're not going the right way, the drive-in was south of Maple Station." Letting off a sigh and small glare at the first sentence, the earth pony returned a confused look to me afterwards, a gentle snow falling around. Okay, more I'm sitting here, more I think I'd rather be sitting here - this engine is really warm. A sigh escaped myself as I looked at him, adjusting myself. "You know, the drive-in we stopped at during the storm? The one with the crashed truck outside of it that you didn't let me clean out?"

"Erm, well, yeah, I know the drive-in, but the crashed..." There's the eyes lighting up as he remembers it... and there's the sigh and hoof to the forehead. Damn. "Okay, let me get this straight, you want us to go all the way back there, delaying us getting to that Shady Shores place further, just so you can have a trailer's worth of Sparkle-Cola. How about no." Oh, I'd hoped he wouldn't have said that right off the bat. Okay, puppy-dog face, hope that you work on Static better than Dad... making him feel awkward, very good. "Oh, come on, Night Strike, we'll probably wind up going back there anyways. Seems like we always wind up returning to places we've been no matter what..."

"Well... look at it this way, if we have a trailer's worth of Sparkle-Cola, I won't have to try and steal caps from your collection to buy more, because we'd be pretty much set. Even moreso if there's some bottles of RAD in the truck, too." The earth pony let off a small huff as he sat back in the driver's seat, the white cloud of breath beight caught on a chill breeze. After a moment, he took to shaking his head, grabbing the handlebars and turning us back around on the road, engine purring.

"For the record, this is only because I know we can at least get back to heading west as soon as we're finished, and that there's probably at least something worthwhile back there." I answered him with a small chuckle that was lost on the wind, sliding off of the warm engine deck and back to the rear seat, tugging my jacket around myself. Score one for Strikey and her medically-neccessitated Sparkle-Cola. As I settled back in, my stomach gave a small growl, prompting a hoof to move to it. Hm... the tank slowed for a moment, allowing me to just catch Static's grumbling as it was brought by the wind. "And the fact that I forgot to get breakfast before leaving..." Never change, Sparky.

The warm air of the Roundhouse greeted us as we stepped inside, the stage empty but the tables full of ponies eating various meals. Mmm, smells like... pancakes, and eggs, and... maple candy? Huh. Finding ourselves a booth once more, Scouring pulled his helmet off and rubbed at his temples, letting off a yawn. "Mmnh, cannae remember last time I had some'in proper fer breakfast. Sure hope this place's mornin' food's as good as it's dinners." Well, if the smells are anything to go by, I'd say it's a solid bet on yes. Looking over to Static, I couldn't really tell what was grumbling more, the earth pony as he fished around in his saddlebags or his own stomach.

"Yeah, well, let's try to not go too fancy when getting this, we only have so many bottlecaps after all. Nnnfh... think they have any big breakfast platters here?" Ah, the eternal struggle between the cap hoarder's brain and the earth pony stomach's appetite. Letting off a small chuckle in response, I leaned back into the booth, a unicorn waiter trotting over and laying out five menus for us with a smile. Well, if we're gonna be buying food, might as well get drinks, too... Scouring opted for a glass of water while Crash Dive got herself a bottle of wild pegasus - pretty early for whiskey, isn't it? - Static getting a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla. Aerith gave a look towards me and flashed a hint of a smile, myself returning it.

"And, ah, Sparkle-Cola RAD for myself and Aerith, thank you." The waiter gave a nod before trotting away, Static watching him before turning his attention back to us, ending with a faint glare. "What?"

"I thought you said that you wouldn't be using the caps to buy more Sparkle-Cola if we came back here. What happened to that, huh?" Answering him with a roll of my eyes, I let off a sigh, leaning forwards against the table and picking up the menu. Yeah, yeah, we're buying warm food anyways, can't we get cold drinks too? My eyes scanned over the food on offer, flipping it around to check out the breakfast menu. Okay, sausages and maple syrup, pancakes, eggs, standard stuff... and bacon? Mmmh, so many choices... I could get that coffee cake again. Probably sits better on an empty stomach. Eh, maybe not, might just stick with the regular breakfast stuff... even if coffee -is- a breakfast thing.

"C'mon, Static, it's just two bottles, and I meant that I wouldn't after we unload that trailer. Promise I won't get any more with your money after we do that." The earth pony let off a grumble, going back to looking over his menu. Eh, think I'll probably just go for a regular breakfast or something, whatever's standard around here. Setting my menu down on the table, I leaned back in the booth, looking out across the roundhouse - the bright sun of morning shone in through the high windows, making the interior seem much more alight than the last few times we've been here. Huh, this really is the first time we came here before noon, ain't it? Weird to think about...

The light sounds of ponies conversing and eating their food was permeated momentarily by the heavy door shutting at the entrance, myself glancing that way in a bit of boredom. Suppose it must be really busy... or they only have the one waiter, for mornings, anyways. A red sun hat caught my attention, a ghoulified unicorn assisting the earth pony mare in removing it from her grey-streaked auburn mane, making me adjust myself a little on the end of the booth to better see. Wow, even without all the makeup for performing, Vera really looked nice... no wonder dad loves her so much. Watching as the unicorn helped her out of her winter coat, I felt a hoof annoyedly jab me in the ribs, turning around to look at the blue earth pony beside me. "Do you know what you're getting, or are you just going to try to pull sustenance from Sparkle-Cola and the aether again?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, just the regular breakfast, whatever it is, um... eggs, bacon, and sausages, yeah, that." Static looked at me for a moment before giving a small shrug, looking at his own menu again while I went back to watching Vera. It's not creepy, I'm not a stalker, shut your face. An annoyed Static-brand sigh was released next to me, myself glancing down to catch him shaking his head and glancing at me while looking at the menu. Oh, shut up. Sitting back down, I snuck one last quick glance over the side of the booth, seeing Vera walking over to find a table of her own. Okay, Strikey, let's not faint if she gets close, she's a normal pony just like you and probably doesn't want to be bothered during breakfast, so stay in your seat and don't make a scene going over to talk to-

"The esteemed Vanhoover Five, I'd thought you'd left for the west already. What brings you back here, if you don't mind my asking?" Yeah, nope, I think that was my heart just stopping for a second right there. Brain, could you roll back the tape and play it again for me so I'm not sitting there like a moron? Thanks. Vera wore a smile as I looked at her, Static adjusting himself beside me and leaning forwards on the table.

"Just passing through to get something to eat, and then cutting south to get something by that old drive-in. Strikey here found a trailer full of Sparkle-Cola while we were coming up, and she wouldn't let us get on with what we have to do until we emptied the thing out." Thanks for giving my brain time to catch up, Static. Also... okay, yeah, it is delaying us, but Sparkle-Cola, though! Vera gave a small chuckle, giving a nod, as I made sure my jaw was still on my head and put on a smile in return.

"Well, suppose I really can't blame you for returning for that, the brunches here are always rather lovely, and I'm not just saying that because I've been coming here for nigh on thirty years now. Did just want to wish you all the best of luck with your travels, had hoped that we could meet again, some sunny day. Suppose that doesn't entirely specify the weather..." The earth pony mare let off another light giggle, my brain going bust again. Don't let her see you going gaga again, Strikey, you're better than that. Static answered with a chuckle of his own as my brain recollected itself, again, catching that last part of her first sentence.

"Ehm, sorry, thirty years? You've been here in Maple Station for that long?" A coherent question, that's a good sign that my brain isn't completely broken. Vera turned her eyes towards myself, the smile on her muzzle staying a moment longer before she released a sigh. Oh, damn it, stupid brain forming that stupid coherent question! The singer gave a faint nod, lookng over towards where the unicorn who came in with her was before turning back.

"Yes, unfortunately. Wasn't my intention to stay for this long, but traveling's taken it's toll, and the next stop is much too far for me to head there like I'd done before - Stalliongrad's a sight further away than Vanhoover..." She released a small sigh, reaching to rub at one of her old hooves, before looking back up at us. "Suppose it was a good thing, though. Maple Station was mostly out of the way when that nasty scuffle went down ten years ago, and so far it's been nice to be the Wasteland's Sweetheart once more. I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay for much longer with the way things are changing, going back to how it was before the bombs and radiation, but..."

'Can't you just take a train to more irradiated climates? Isn't that a big part of what makes Maple Station a, well, station?' Aerith's screen flashed up for a moment, myself reading it with Vera. She did have a point, surely if this place was a town made as a gathering point for ponies heading north, they'd have some trains running, at least one. Vera's face was in a frown as she let off another sigh, shaking her head.

"I'm afraid that being a celebrity doesn't carry quite as much weight nowadays as it did back before the bombs. It's all bottlecaps this and barter that... for all of my glamour, most of it is just fans who've wound up here and cared to offer a helping hoof. I simply can't earn enough with my singing to purchase a ticket, even if the trains weren't held up for whatever reason." The earth pony dug at the floor with her hoof, sniffling slightly in the warm air of the roundhouse. I glanced back at Static, seeing him returning a gaze of faint surprise - guess this is what happens when the wasteland starts getting back to normal, hard to do anything if you can't get caps. He seemed to figure out what I was thinking about asking him - well, hey, I wouldn't be spending them on Sparkle-Cola in this case, would I? Unless...

"We can take you to the north, free of charge and in only a few hours worth of travel. Once we get the Valkyrie fixed, anyways." The old ghoul's eyes opened wide in surprise, herself resting a hoof on the table. Taking another glance back at Static... oh, come on, it's not like I'd leave you down here. We can probably find room for her to be inside when we take off. Eventually. "Really, it wouldn't be any trouble, and I'm sure my dad would love to learn you're still around. He's a bigger fan of you than I am, and trust me, that's saying a lot."

Vera's eyes seemed to dampen, the mare pulling a small cloth from her pocket and dabbing her eyes with it, a smile on her muzzle. "S-sorry, I think I just... got something in my eyes. I... thank you, for the offer, really. I do hope that you have the best of luck in... I... good... goodbye." Vera gave one last nod before trotting off, one hoof still wiping her eyes clear and the smile still on her muzzle, myself watching her for a few moments longer. I sat back in the booth seat, all of us quiet for a few moments, my brain still working on what'd just happened. Okay, so, just to recap, list of ponies coming back in the Valkyrie now includes Vera Lynn herself... maybe...

We might need a bigger plane.

"You're tuned to Radio KAOS, and it's making for a beautiful wintry wasteland day out there. Don't think it'll stay this way for long, so take advantage of it while you can, heh. Seems to me that we might have another snowstorm brewing for later tonight if not early tomorrow, so keep your eyes open and heaters at the ready, and for those of us going traveling out in the wintry wasteland be sure to bundle up tight or find some pre-war place to hole up in until the cold clears. I don't think I need to explain that being turned into a popsicle isn't exactly pleasant, eheh...

"From the town of Maple Station we've got an update on those fantastic five, as well as a bit of an explanation for why they set off that bomb awhile back... ah, the one on the Vanoover Reservior shoreline. Heh, not sure if it's really that good of a thing I have to specify their explosions... anyways. The reason they set off that bomb a week or so ago was to destroy a dock owned by a pre-war Biological Research company called Shady Shores, that they think is the source of those nasty creatures we occasionally get news about terrorizing nightly caravan routes. You can question their methods of removing dangers from our wasteland, but damned if they don't manage to get good results doing it. Kinda have to feel sorry for anything that ends up on their bad side, if their response is going to be a massive explosion, heh... The Vanhoover Five are last reported to be heading off towards the west, going to try and find the actual home of Shady Shores Bio Research, and as far as I can guess, blow it to high hell, too. All I can say is, good luck guys - hope our winter weather isn't too warm for you, eheh.

"In other news around the wasteland, spotters in Hopeville have been caught on record claiming to've seen more flying craft coming in from the east, though they were unable to identify or contact the craft with their radio equipment. The newly spotted craft are described as spitting either flames or sparks from portions of their bodies, as well as producing intense droning noises when close by, and... unfortunately, there hasn't been any further information concerning their appearance. There hasn't been any confirmed maliciousness from them, however, but chances are it might be a smart idea to keep eyes watching and guns ready just in case. Already proven those things can work if you let them, just be sure whatever these are are an actual threat first, heh...

"That's it for the morning news report, you're tuned into Radio K A O S, and let's see about geting some music going for everyone out there traveling. I think this speaks for anyone waiting for someone to come back to them; Wish You Were Here. Enjoy."

"Are you guys almost finished? We could've watched a whole movie and stuck around for the intermission by now!" Static let off a notable grumble as Aerith levitated another pallet of the bottles onto the back of our wagon. Well, sorr-ee that moving lots of glass bottles takes time, Sparky. Shooting him an annoyed look, I came out with a few more stray but undamaged bottles, setting them carefully among the other pallets on the back, landing next to the loaded wagon. Woof, we might need to get a bigger cart sooner or later... or a bigger half-track.

"Quit whining, we've got it all loaded. Or, well, half of it anyways... it's a whole trailer and all we have is a half-size wagon, what do you expect?" Static wore that annoyed look, the mini-tank's engine growling idly as Aerith pulled a tarp up over it to keep it in place. I settled myself back behind Boomer as the alicorn found space in the wagon for herself, the sound of one of the bottles popping open meeting my ears as she took to partaking in our spoils. Oh yeah, we're gonna be set for a good, long while... "We are gonna head up this way when we come back to check out that Air Base towards the east, we'll just get the rest when we come through again."

"And you'll be the one paying the bill when we have to get this thing's engine fixed, again, after it hauls all this soda around the wasteland. Had enough trouble hauling a one-ton bomb, how many tons of soda do you have in there, hm?" Yeah, yeah, I get it, you love the half-track, I love the thing mounted on it, just drive. The engine revved and purred smoothly as the tracks bit into the snow, pulling us and the wagon forwards towards the drive-in's concessions stand. C'mon Static, it barely sounded like it was straining, you don't have anything to worry about! On arriving, the earth pony shut the engine off and hopped out of the seat, myself and Aerith accompanying him as we headed for the door. Mmm, lunchtime...

The smell of fresh meat being cooked on an electric grill met my nose as we stepped inside the familiar place, the couch still left undisturbed in front of the drifted window that faced the screen in the distance, faint diffuse light streaming in from above where scattered clouds blotted the blue sky. Crash Dive was idly working with her rebar cannon, Aerith trotting over to her side as Static headed towards the back where Scouring was preparing the food, myself flopping on the musty couch and stretching out myself. Ah, good to relax sometimes... certainly is better than being attacked by stuff.

A few lengths of steel rebar clattered to the floor from the clip of the cannon, myself looking up at the noise and catching Crash Dive giving a thoroughly annoyed sigh. Aerith gathered the ones that fell in her magic, setting them on the couch beside the power armored pegasus, myself adjusting to a position to better look at the cannon. "Yanno, I don't think I ever asked, why have something like that rather than the regular Enclave weapons, those fancy beam-rifles or energy guns." Crash Dive readjusted the cannon in her lap, looking up at myself, a faint look of surprise on her face. "Definitely not gonna argue the effectiveness of throwing a foot-long solid steel rod at someone or something, but, yeah, why?"

She sat back for a moment, seeming to look over her own cannon. "Practicality, I suppose. Already was a harpoon gun at the lighthouse when I turned up at it, and I did have the air tanks and compression system from what was a balefire egg launcher with me. Wipe off the blood and brains, stick the two together, a few years down the line add a revolving feed system and feed magazine, there you go. Ammo's reusable, too... most of the time." The remaining time being when it winds up shredding the engine of an aircraft, I can probably safely assume. I gave a small nod, looking over the cannon itself - well, guess that does explain why it fires so far and with so much force, power of a BEL being focused down on a small point like that, gonna go through a lot of stuff when it's fired. Crash Dive shut the opened parts of the cannon, sliding the rods that fell out back in and latching the lid down, letting off a small chuckle. "Other good thing, will fire underwater. Up to a certain depth, anyways... water pressure, yanno."

"Huh... never thought about that. So, it'd only be effective to whatever depth equals around... thirty, forty-five pounds per square inch?" The power armoed pegasus blunk for a moment, looking down at her cannon and pulling on the charging lever, her eyes opening a little wider in surprise. Huh, so she did at least keep the pressure gauge from the BEL's air system... not gonna think too hard about what she meant by 'wipe the blood and brains off'. She glanced back up towards me, a faint look of bewilderment on her face, myself giving a small shrug. "Dad owns a balefire egg launcher. Figure they all operate at a standard pressure, and if you didn't change the air system at all that's right around 40 PSI. He named it Kindness."

"...right. Kindness." Flopping onto one side, I let the wing on the opposite spread out wide, shaking it in the air a little. Wuh, really should use these things more often, shouldn't I? Traveling with Static's gonna cripple me... good thing Crash Dive can't read thoughts and my brain to mouth connection managed to keep that one from getting through. The power armored pegasus set her cannon aside, leaning forwards. "Thumper, I get, it does make that sound. Boomer, yeah, War Crime, I guess it makes sense, but... Kindness. A Balefire Egg Launcher, named Kindness."

"Hey, my other dad's name is Featherweight, and I'm pretty sure he's what happens when you cross a Clydesdale with a Pegasus and a bombing wagon. Seriously, he's as big as Aerith, maybe even a little taller." I sat myself up, giving a shrug and retreiving a bottle of Sparkle-Cola, starting to partake in it. Unfitting names just run in the family, I guess... that, or Twintails just has a weird sense of humor. He's my dad, so the latter is probably true. Crash Dive sat back, looking at myself for a moment, before letting off a small snort and giggle. Huh, definitely don't think I've heard her do that before... "Hm?"

"Nothing, nothing... Just, I hope that, if you ever have foals, for your sake, they don't take genes from Featherweight's side of the family." Mouth full of the delicious nectar of the goddesses, it did take my brain a moment to process what she meant... after which I promptly turned that mouthful of Sparkle-Cola into a fine sticky mist in the air, coughing a little. Just, woah, yeah, that's... something to think about. Guess I could forget about flying in that case... REALLY hope that the hospital back in Mooscow has a very good maternity ward. Or that EQUAD would take a walk-in. Maybe if Static were the father, they'd have to...

BRAIN, STOP THINKING, NOW. Okay? Good. Now, what I want you to do, is never, ever, EVER, think about this again. Got it? Alright. We can tune reality back in now. Blinking a few times, the musty couch I was sitting on returned to feeling, the snowdrift held back by the glass meeting my vision as out of the corner of my eye Crash Dive and Aerith both seemed to be laughing. The pink-maned pegasus rubbed at her eyes with an armored hoof, snickering back laughter and catching her breath. "Oh... oh dear, I think I broke her."

"Y-yeah... that... that's one way to put it."

"Guh, finally, back to where we were twelve hours ago. And a lot slower, too, I might add..." Static let out a long grumble, the headlight of the mini-tank cutting through the darkness and illuminating errant flakes of snow that lazily drifted to the ground in front of us. I shot him a glare as we crested a small hill - hey, we drank some of the bottles! Even I can't drink a whole truck's worth of Sparkle-Cola in a day. Get Twintails and Featherweight on it, though, then we might be able to work out half of it over a few hours... the forests either side of the road thinned out, allowing us to see down into the valley ahead, where a few old pre-war camper wagons layed out, one with lights on. Well, hope they're friendly. The road turned to the left, and we began driving down a winding path heading for the valley floor.

The moon shone high overhead, hidden and blurred to a faint light patch behind the stormclouds, the mini-tank's engine purring gingerly as Static brought us through the first turn. Watching down in the valley, a mare's scream echoed out from the floor, followed by a sharp crack. Okay, yeah, we need to be down there on the double. Static reached the second turn for the valley road, before Aerith flashed up a screen in front of him, the earth pony bringing the mini-tank to a stop as she hopped out of the wagon, her rifle glinting in the night. I watched her for a moment as she pulled her old jacket out and laid it out in the snow, laying down on it with her rifle, Scouring and Crash Dive getting off the wagon as well. Her screen flashed up again, this time so I could see it; 'Night Strike, Scouring, get your long-range weapons and help me see what's going on down there.'

Blinking a few times, I watched as the steel ranger nodded and unfolded Sunburst, myself looking towards my duffel bag for a moment before getting War Crime. Well, if it means we can still help them, whoever they are, it'll probably be a good thing. Scouring fitted his helmet on and steadied himself, as I dropped down beside Aerith, pulling the large rifle up to my shoulder, peering down the scope. Okay, adjusting, adjusting... right. 300 meters to the valley floor from here, can see through the windows of that lit camper wagon. Mare at the door with a... short .38, think that's where the crack came from, and she's firing at... mercy, that's a lot of raiders.

"Bugger me... targets southeast of the lit camper, mess of raiders. Wait, more due east... south... west... okay, target-rich environment. Shoot 'em if you can get 'em." Wearing a small smirk, I steadied War Crime in the snow, Aerith's rifle already letting out a loud retort, followed by a raider's head popping a moment later. The lever on War Crime's stock squeezed easily, myself keeping her steady on the massed group as the rounds flew in, limbs flying off and snow getting kicked up, the mare in the camper doorway letting her .38 sound off again. Or, maybe that's just us. Letting go after a healthy seven-round burst, Sunburst sounded off as well, the red missiles flying in and blanketing the area in a few fireballs. Looking back through War Crime's scope, the raiders seemed to be scattering a little - or, maybe there were just fewer of them - Aerith still putting shots downrange before her rifle's magazine pinged out and landed in the snow.

They both took to reloading their guns while I settled in, scanning around for a moment before settling on a runner. Or, well, he was a runner... kind of imagine it's hard to do that when a .50 MG takes your legs off. War Crime seemed to love the sustained fire as much as I did, a small trail of impacts leading to another raider's head caving in, and another suddenly being half the pony he used to be, before she clicked on an empty chamber. Aw, and just when I was getting into the swing of things, too... Oh well, we did what we aimed to do. and with minimal possible casualties, too, I think... looking back down the scope, the mare at the door rubbed at her forehead, pulling the .38 from her mouth and looking around for a moment, before trotting back inside the camper.

We picked ourselves up from the snow, myself hopping back onto my spot behind Boomer while Scouring and Aerith returned to the wagon, Static starting to bring us down into the valley again. Two more sharp turns and we were on the road towards the campers, the headlight cutting a beam into the snow, reflecting off of the crimson stains being left by the many bare body parts around. Whoof, hell of a mess, ain't it?

As we drew closer, the doorway of the camper opened up again, the mare standing in it with her .38 in her mouth for a moment, before a bright flash erupted from the end and a sharp crack filled the air, followed by a sharp whizz of a bullet flying past. Yeep, nope, I like having a full head, thanks! Static swerved the mini-tank, myself stepping up from hiding behind Boomer and flailing my hooves in the air, trying to get her attention. She shot one more time, before she dropped the short pistol form her mouth and put a hoof to cover her muzzle, rushing out into the snow. We both soon caught up with each other, myself catching my breath as the mare trotted alongside.

"Oh, gosh, sorry about that. Didn't think there would be friendlies coming through this way after all those raiders..." Static let off a small sigh as he caught his breath as well, pulling the half-track up by the camper and turning the engine off, slumping forwards on the handlebars. The earth pony mare looked us over for a moment, before turning to the camper. "Golly, you all look beat. Norm, make some room, we've got company here! And it's not the nasty kind!"

Letting off a small grunt as I lifted myself off of Boomer's controls - gonna guess they weren't meant to lay on - I took a few breaths, steadying myself as the mare stretched a hoof out to help me. "Ah... thanks... Sorry about the mess, we, ah, heard the shot from your... thirty-eight... wanted to help, eheh." Her eyes went wide for a moment, a smile crossing her muzzle as we trotted over to Static, helping him to his hooves.

"Oh, don't worry about it, sure did save our flanks from that pickle, don'tcha know. Why don't you all come inside, was just putting together some bear meat stew for dinner before those raiders all showed up, plenty for everyone." She wore that warm smile, Static rubbing at his head as the rest of the group trotted over, a stallion taking the mare's place at the doorway - guessing that's Norm. The mare looked over all of us, giving a small nod and extending a hoof out, the light snow still falling around. "Really nice to meet'cha all, you can call me Marchie. Heh, I tell ya, we've come through this way every year once the weather starts getting cold, and this is the first time we've run in to so many gosh-darned raiders up here, don'tcha know. Sure, there's always one or two of 'em walking around here, but never this many! Oh, do come in, mighty chilly out here."

"Erm, thanks, uh... Marchie." O... kay, she takes the cake for most cheerful person to survive a massed raider attack. I looked towards Static for a moment, the earth pony answering with a small shrug. Glancing back at the group, their general expression returned the same feeling, myself trotting up into the large camper. Marchie trotted around inside happily as Norm stood by a stove, tending to the food on it, us all piling in and shutting the door behind. The earth pony mare sat herself down at a table, smiling and waving us over, her husband filling a few bowls and laying them out.

"Feel free to stay for the night, we can make space and it's supposed to be a nasty blizzard out there anyways. We're in no rush, just gonna be heading for Maple Station by tomorrow. Sure is nice to see some friendly faces out here!" We all glanced between each other, Static's stomach rumbling as the smell of the stew met us, the earth pony wearing a small wince as he trotted over with a chuckle, sitting down at the table. We all followed suit, or at least did as well as we could, myself getting squished between Static and Aerith. As we all started to take in the stew, my brain formed a thought from what my eyes were giving it, looking aorund the nice interior of the happy couple's camper.

Man, the wasteland is a weird place...

Welcome to the Machine

Leaning back after having finished my bowl of stew, I covered my mouth to muffle a small burp, Marchie taking the bowl from the table and trotting back over to the pot on the stove. The stew fell cleanly from the ladle into the bowl, steam rising up from it as she placed it back in front of me. “Go on, eat up. We’ve got way too much for just us too, and we don’t get guests very often.” I began to eat the second bowl of soup, Night Strike pushing her bowl away only for Marchie to refill it as well. Well, I suppose I can’t complain; it is free food.

“So, what brings you all over this way?” Norm asked after swallowing a mouthful of stew. Marchie was attempting to refill Crash Dive’s bowl, but the power armored pony was obstinately refusing any more of the food. She sighed, looking defeated and slightly insulted before moving to pour the rest of the stew out into a large plastic container that had clearly seen better days, fitting a lid on it. “Not much west of Maple Station other than some abandoned towns and campsites, after all.”

“We’re heading to the coast, there’s supposed to be some big pre-war biological research facility there, gonna check it out.” Night Strike answered in between gulps of stew. Norm’s eyes widened a bit as Marchie sat down beside him. “We think there’ll be a generator there, at least one we can take back to fix up our plane. Do know it's gona be a death trap one way or another if that's where the freaky fish-things are really from...” Norm looked even more surprised, not to mention somewhat confused. Night Strike's expression shifted to one of slight confusion as well, finishing off another gulp. “Uh… have you guys not heard about us yet? Vanhoover Five? We’ve been on the radio a lot recently.”

Marchie shook her head as she leaned forward, her interest clear on her face. “Goodness, no! Our radio’s been busted for a few weeks now! What’s all this about a plane, then?” A grin spread across her face as she sat eagerly awaiting our answer. Norm stood up and began to clear the table as we finished off our second helping of the warm stew.

“Uh… well, long story short, Night Strike and I kind of crashed a big plane south of here and have been looking for a generator to power up its onboard repair systems for a while now. We figured we could help out around the wastes while we looked, seeing how we’re sort of stuck here till we find one.” I explained. Marchie gave a little squeal of excitement, glancing back over to Norm as he began rinsing out the bowls.

“Can you believe this, Norm? Real live celebrities here in our home!” Her grin widened as she leaned a little further in. “Oh, you can’t just leave it at that! What else have you been doing? Were you the ones that caused that big lightshow in the sky a few days ago?” I raised an eyebrow, Crash and Scouring looking a little more concerned as well. Marchie sat up straight, looking between all of us. “You know? That big glimmering in the clouds! There was this biiiig streak of somethin’ like lightning shooting up into the sky, then sparks and fire were shooting between the clouds, it was a real sight!”

All of us sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what it was that Marchie had just described. “Ah… well, we did overload some sort o' old Tesla cannon emplacement on the coast down south, but that was a few weeks ago, and I don’t remember any fire with it. Jus' a big ball of light.” Scouring finally said, scratching at his chin a little as he thought. “Suppose there could be some other tesla cannon mounted somewhere up here, but can’t know where it’d be or what the heck it’d be guardin'.”

Marchie looked disappointed, slumping down in her chair somewhat. “Oh well, if you ever see it, you oughtta go investigate! I betcha anything whatever’s powering that thingie’s got to be a generator big enough to fix up that plane of yours.” The clock on the wall suddenly struck 11, a small bird popping out and chirping once for every hour. “Oh, goodness, is that the time? We should all go to bed now before it gets any later; you don’t want to be drivin’ all bleary eyed.” Marchie pushed herself away from the table, stepping over to a large satchel and flipping it open. “It’s a good thing I’ve always got some extra blankets. Take your pick of the campers around, and don’t forget to drop them back off in the morning!” She handed us each a thick woolen blanket.

“Uh, thanks.” Night Strike said. We all took our folded cloth and stepped out into the cold night air, Norm shutting the door behind us as we spread out to search for a place to sleep. I opened the door to one of the campers, leaning in to see a skeleton laying on the mattress inside. Nope, don’t feel like snuggling up to some bones tonight. I followed Night Strike over to another, the light inside flickering to life as she flipped a switch. The interior of the camper was slightly less inviting than the one Marchie and Norm had set up in, but it was at least corpse and critter free. “Suppose this’ll do.” Night Strike said, tossing her blanket down onto one of the mattresses in the camper. I let my blanket fall onto the mattress beside hers, laying down my umbrella between the mattress and the wall before climbing under the thick fabric.

Night Strike flicked the light back off and rolled over on her mattress, wrapping herself up in the blanket. I layed my head down, staring into the dented metal wall as I tried to get comfortable. I thought about what Marchie had described, my brain straining to think of what in Equestria could’ve caused it. I shook my head and closed my eyes. Whatever it was, I’m not going to think of a way to stop it while I’m half asleep.

I awoke to the sound of Night Strike clattering around in the kitchen of the camper, the oven door squeaking unpleasantly as she opened it. “The heck’re you doing?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. Night Strike glanced over to me, pushing the oven door closed again, only for it to fall off of its hinges and onto the floor with a loud crash. Night Strike gave a weak chuckle, moving over to roll up the blanket Marchie had lent her.

“Just looking around, thought there might be some food or something still in the cupboards. Anyway, good thing you’re awake, Crash Dive came in a few minutes ago, wanted to hit the road as soon as we could.” She tucked the rolled up blanket beneath her wing as I sat up and cracked my back, leaning down to begin folding up my own blanket. “You’re lucky she didn’t bother to check inside, she probably would’ve dropped a grenade down the back of your coat if she saw you were still asleep. I think she thought you were getting the mini-tank ready.”

Standing up and flipping my umbrella onto my back, I trotted outside behind Night Strike, heading back towards Marchie and Norm’s camper. The sun had only just barely cleared the mountains to the east, casting long shadows from each of the campers in the park. Aerith and Scouring were already standing outside their campers, using sticks to draw out little games of tic-tac-toe as they waited. Scouring glanced up as Aerith drew a line through her three O’s, tossing his stick aside as he realized it was us. “Good to see you guys’re up. Was getting sick of losin' to this mobster wanna-be.” He chuckled, Aerith scrunching her muzzle as he did, smacking him lightly upside the head with her wing.

“I take it you guys already gave back your blankets?” I asked. Scouring nodded, glancing around the side of the camper we were in front of to check Marchie and Norm’s. Upon seeing the door was closed, he lined in a little, dropping his voice somewhat.

“Yeah, and just as a warning, they’re gonna offer you some pancakes before you head off. Try not to let them give you thirds, I feel like a beached whale.” He leaned against the side of the camper and I glanced over to Night Strike, who simply shrugged. We trotted over to Marchie and Norm’s camper, leaving the two to set up another game of tic-tac-toe in the snow.

I stepped up and knocked on the door, Marchie opening it and beaming upon seeing us. “Come on in, we’ve just got a fresh batch of flapjacks off the stove, you’ll want ‘em before they get cold!” She stepped back, allowing us to walk through the door and lay our blankets down beside the others. In the middle of the table sat a large stack of fluffy pancakes, a small glass jar of syrup resting beside them. My stomach growled and I blushed as Marchie went to cooking up a few more, Norm quietly eating his own small stack of pastries.

Stabbing a fork through the top few pancakes, I slid them onto my plate, reaching over to drizzle some of the syrup on top of them. If these things taste as good as they look, I don’t care if I’m going to end up carsick- er, half-track-bike-sick... you get what I mean. My expectations were confirmed as I bit into the pancakes, practically melting in my chair as the syrup oozed out of the batter. Night Strike was looking equally impressed with Marchie’s cooking as she ate her share of the cakes, the chef sitting down opposite us and taking a few for herself. “You five all heading out right away, then?” She asked.

Swallowing my mouth full of pancakes, I nodded. “Yeah, I figure we’ll want to get as far in a day as we can. With our track record it usually takes at least three times as long to get anywhere as we plan.” Night Strike poked me with the back end of her fork, smirking a little as syrup dripped from her mouth.

“We’d cut half of that time out if you didn’t keep wanting to explore every place for more junk to sell off.” Night Strike jibbed. I rolled my eyes, taking another bite of pancakes. Yeah, and the other half would be cut out if you didn’t insist on helping every single pony that crossed our path, or hoarding every single bottle of Sparkle-Cola in Equestria. Norm finished up his plate of pancakes, trotting over to the sink to begin washing it out before slipping it into a large backpack along with the cuckoo clock that had been hanging on the wall. Night Strike and I soon had empty plates as well, though they didn’t stay empty for long as Marchie set down another stack of steaming flapjacks.

“I suppose we’ll be heading out just after you do, then. We don’t want to hang around this place for too long if more raiders show up without your help.” My stomach protested as I shoveled more pancakes into my mouth, but the taste was too good to resist. It wasn’t too long before Night Strike and I had finished off our second helping of cakes, Marchie taking up our plates and washing them clean before stuffing them in with the rest of her dishes. “Sorry you two didn’t get as much as the others, but that’s what you get for getting up later than them!” She playfully chastised. I gave a muffled chuckle, feeling plenty full from the two servings we’d already got.

Standing up and heading for the door, Marchie saw us out, waving to us as we trotted over to our mini-tank where the others were waiting. “Thanks for stopping by! If you’re ever back in Maple Station, we’ll be happy to have you over for dinner again!” I waved farewell before hopping into the driver’s seat, Night Strike climbing on top beside Boomer, Scouring still looking a little sick. The engine rumbled to life as I began to weave my way through the campers towards the edge of the park, Marchie and Norm trotting out of their camper with their overloaded backpacks.

We bounced along the somewhat rocky terrain as I searched for a road nearby heading east towards the coast. Upon spotting a beaten dirt path, I turned the mini-tank towards it, leaning a bit from the sharp turn. As the treads rolled up onto the path, Scouring leaned back towards me, clutching at his gut a little. “Hurk... would ye mind slowin’ down a bit?”

“Seconded.” Night Strike added. I slowed the tank a bit, shaking my head as we slowed to barely moving faster than a brisk jog. Pff, lightweights...

The sun was almost directly overhead as the shadow of some buildings came over the horizon, Night Strike and Scouring’s stomachs having settled enough to allow me to pick up the pace. A small power plant sat at the very edge of town, several shacks each with a short cooling tower connected via large, rusty pipelines to the ground. We drove past the plant, turning down a road towards the tight cluster that was the downtown area. I slowed a little as we passed by a theater, the faded sign still displaying that there was a showing of ‘Stallions and Dolls’.

As we continued down the road, we passed by a large marble building, a sudden scream emanating from inside. I brought the mini-tank to a hard stop and slid my goggles up onto my forehead, all of us staring towards the doors leading in. I glanced over to Aerith, Night Strike hopping off of the tank and pulling Thumper out, the rest of us following suit. I gave a nervous gulp as we stepped into the building, pulling my umbrella around. Opening the doors revealed the building to be some sort of library, a large circular desk in the center surrounded by bookshelves filled with old, decaying literature. The middle of the building rose up several stories before it folded into itself to shape a large dome, broken windows lining the bottom of the hemisphere.

Light streamed down through the windows as we walked into the center of the building, fanning out slightly. I glanced around the side of the desk, seeing a pony laying prone on the floor. I rushed over to her, Crash Dive’s head turning to watch as I bent down to look at her. Dried blood was pooled around her head, her mane partly covering what appeared to be a bullet hole. Looking more closely at her, a crumpled note caught my attention, lying beside her body. I picked it up, reading it over; ‘Say Cheese’. Oh, fuck!

“Sniper!” I cried, leaping away from the body. What felt like a millisecond later, the pony’s ear blew apart as a bullet tore through it before ricocheting off of the hard floor. The others scrambled away from the center desk, each of us taking cover behind a bookshelf. I panted, the library now eerily quiet as we all sat behind the shelves, waiting for the sniper to let off another shot. I could see Aerith carefully levitating one of the books off of the shelf, hovering it over to the edge of the shelf as she crept towards the other side. She suddenly threw the book out and dashed to another shelf, the tome she’d just thrown exploding into a shower of pages that slowly fluttered down to the ground like leaves.

I heard a slightly muffled curse and the click of a gun being reloaded coming from the floor above us. I began to slide myself along the bookshelf, keeping my head low. The sound of another book falling from the shelves met my ears, which was swiftly followed by the sound of splintering wood as the sniper took a shot through the bookshelf. Night Strike squeaked a little, lying flat against the ground, holding her breath for fear of making another noise.

Crash Dive unclipped one of her grenades, pulling the pin and chucking it up towards the center of the library. The grenade arced in the air, falling just short of the second floor bannister before it exploded mid-air, knocking one of the crumbling pillars loose. The small marble column fell down and shattered as it hit the floor, sending several chunks flying off in every direction.

I dared to peer around the corner of the bookshelf, spotting Aerith crouching behind another pair of bookshelves by some broken steps. Her horn began to glow as a sign popped up. ‘I think he’s using a stealth-buck, I can’t see anypony up on the second level.’ Her magic suddenly fizzled out as yet another shot rang out, punching a hole through the shelf above Aerith. Shit, this sniper’s actually listening for magic too? What the hell kind of raider is that professional? Aerith made motions of pulling goggles down over her eyes before she vanished, turning herself invisible. Oh my godesses, I’m stupid. I pulled my goggles back down over my eyes, the room lighting up as I could see Aerith’s invisible form sneaking over towards the steps.

Scouring, Night Strike, and Crash Dive were each still laying down behind a bookshelf, Scouring sitting with his rocket launcher at the ready, but unwilling to fire off a blind shot for fear of being on the receiving end of the sniper’s rifle muzzle. Glancing upwards, I could see the magical signature of the sniper laying several feet off of the ground, the glow slightly dulled by the thick marble between me and him. Must be on one of the bookshelves to get a bit of a better view of the central room. Shit, now how am I supposed to tell Aerith that without giving away my position? The sniper was scanning the room with his rifle, one of his ears twitching as he listened for any noise.

I carefully picked up one of the books from the shelf, following Aerith as she climbed up the steps, closing the distance between her and the sniper. She soon reached the top of the steps and was looking around, trying to spot the gunner. Alright, Aerith, please tell me you can spot muzzle flashes. I tossed the book out, the sniper’s head turning to see it skid across the floor, but he didn’t fire off a bullet… of course not, now he’s actually waiting for a clear shot. Cursing to myself, I glanced back over to the others, but they were all unable to see me, limiting any means of visual communication. Not that any of them would be any more willing to step out and be the target for this guy than I would.

Gulping, I got to my hooves, still remaining partially crouched. My legs shook a little as I approached the edge of the bookshelf, glancing over to see the sniper’s barrel still trained on the gap between my bookshelf and the next. Oh, Celestia, this is a terrible decision. I threw myself out of cover, the sniper firing off a shot. Instead of my brains peppering the floor, however, his gun seemed to burst apart, sending him falling off of his shelf with a thud. Aerith rushed over, and before the sniper could react to her suddenly standing over him, she fired off a quick stream of bullets into his head, blood starting to ooze from the holes as he lay still, dead.

I panted as beads of sweat fell down my face, laying stock still on the floor, still in shock I wasn’t dead. Night Strike, Scouring, and Crash Dive all tentatively stepped out from behind cover, looking about at each other. Night Strike gave off a shriek of fright before rushing over to me as I sat up, my legs still a bit wobbly. “What the fuck kind of a plan was that?!” Night Strike said, distraught. “I’m just going to throw myself out of cover and hope for some intervention from Celestia? Sweet Luna above, you could’ve died!” She fell against one of the bookshelves, slumping to the floor. I hurried over to her, helping her back up. She shook her head, still shaken from what had happened. “Just... don’t do that again, Static.” She was uncharacteristically serious, staring me right in the eyes. Hers seemed to be dampened.

Catching my breath as Aerith fluttered down from the second level, I gave a little grin. “Hey, somepony had to be the hero, and you were still cowering underneath books.” Against her will, Night Strike gave a little chuckle, punching my side lightly as she shook her head again. Aerith trotted over to us, her horn lighting up as she cast a sign into the air.

‘Thank the Goddess you’re alright, you’re lucky his rifle blew apart with that shot. I've seen catastrophic breech failures before, but that was... a hell of a lot more catastrophic than usual.’ She levitated a note over to Crash Dive as Night Strike and I collected ourselves. The note gave a description of some sapphire Pegasus raider named Cobalt, wanted for several caravan attacks. ‘This bounty notice was on him, I think he might’ve mistaken us for some raiding party.’ Jeez, you’d think somepony would be able to tell I don’t have any wings looking through a sniper scope like that.

Crash Dive began to trot back towards the mini-tank, the rest of us following. “Let’s hope that’s the only pony going after that bounty. I don’t know why that bounty hunter’d be looking for a caravan raider out here, none of the caravans come around this far west anyway.” We stepped out of the library, the rushing blowing in through the doors blowing some loose pages about. Crash Dive climbed onto the back of the mini-tank as Scouring and Aerith hopped into the trailer. I looked over to Night Strike as she jumped up onto the back as well, settling down beside Boomer. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten so lucky? Would he have still missed my head, just shot my side? A pit opened in my stomach as I imagined myself laying on the ground just as the pony we’d found was, blood pooling out of me.

I pushed the thoughts out of my head, climbing into the front seat and starting up the mini-tank. The engine rumbled to life as I began to speed through the streets, rushing towards the edge of town. Night Strike flipped on her radio, a smooth swaying tune filling the air as we headed further west. I sighed, trying not to think about what might’ve happened. New rule, Static: Don’t ever do something so stupid again.

The chill air bit at my face as we traveled along, myself leaning forwards towards the wagon and retreiving one of the bomb-bottles of Sparkle-Cola, settling back against Boomer as we trundled through the old town. Static... was, fine, but... why'd he take a risk like that in the first place!? He, he could've... could've... I sniffled in the cold air, popping the cap off of the large bottle and starting to drink it down, trying to drown those thoughts out. C'mon, Night Strike, you really have to stop getting yourself worked up like this... but, damnit, I have every right to be! What'd happen if... if one of us didn't make it back home? Our dads would be devastated... more than that, so would whoever made it back. The contents of the large bottle swiftly disappeared into my stomach, a hoof moving to rub at my eyes.

"I'll be first to admit, aside from the ranger I thought you were the only crazy one in our group. Does northern Equestria just breed insanity or something?" Crash Dive looked over at myself through the visor of her mask, wearing a small grin that I opted to not return. Not really in a joking mood... just wanna drown myself at the bottom of a glass bomb. The power armored pegasus let off a sigh after a few moments, readjusting herself. "You know, it's said there's a fine line between braveness and stupidity. For someone who seems to do everything in his power to avoid geting in harm's way, what he did back there I'd say was pretty firmly on the brave side."

"Didn't make it an less of a stupid move, though. We could've figured something else out, I dunno, he could've given Aerith the goggles, or something! Anything else would've ben better than... than what he did." Letting out a small huff, I slumped back against Boomer, watching the old buildings of the town pass by. Looking a little further towards the front, the blue ear and silver mane of the earth pony in the driver's position caught my eye, myself lingering on him for a moment longer before turning back, peering down into the empty glass bottle clutched to my chest. "I just... I don't know what I'd do without him."

Crash Dive sat silent for a moment, before a smirk hopped onto her muzzle. "You know, I'm probably one of the worst people to be talking about relationships, but from what I can gather I think you might care about Static a fair bit more than you let on." I blunk a few times, my brain processing that. Sheesh, I thought cold air was supposed to help computers work, or something... anyways. The power armored pegasus glanced past me at the earth pony in the driver's seat, settling her eyes back on me as we passed through the town square. "You should probably let him know. Before... well, before you can't."

"I..." We slowed as we reached another street, turning down it with the engine rumbling quietly beneath us. Meanwhile, I... well, what's that thing that computers and consoles do when something goes wrong with the non-physical electrics? Yeah, that, that's pretty much what was going on while I tried to process that. We're both gonna make it out of this just fine, Strikey. We're gonna get the Valkyrie fixed, go back home, Static can go back to Mooscow and I can go back to falling asleep in the TOG while Dad sings Vera's song to me, and everything'll be alright. No more snipers, or hellhounds, or bugs, or mercenaries, or flying attack jets. Just... normal. Whatever normal was.

The engine slowed as we drew to a stop in the snowy road, Static turning it off as we all looked towards him. He turned about to face us, starting to climb out of his seat. "Mh, it's just around noon, isn't it? Lunchtime, anyone?" Pretty sure all of our reactions were to blink at his question. He looked across us all in return, hopping out of the mini-tank and landing in the snowy street, pulling his umbrella out as well. He looked back up at us as we sat there, watching him. "What?"

'Sorry if we aren't exactly feeling that hungry, between the generous pancake breakfast and the Library.' Thank you, Aerith, for answering him with an elegant statement. I would've just asked if he's really gone nuts or not. The earth pony shrugged, trotting around to the back of the wagon and rummaging around inside of it with Scouring watching. Hopping off of the mini-tank to join him, I looked up just in time to catch him drawing a very large fire axe out between his teeth, sliding it underneath his saddlebag strap beside his umbrella. When did... oh, right, the fire hall back in Gemdale. Aerith and Crash Dive also hopped off, Scouring landing with a heavy whump in the snow as his heavy hooves met ground beside the earth pony.

"Erm, lad, you expectin' to have to chop down a whole tree for a meal?" Trotting around the wagon towards the storefront we stopped in front of, Scouring kept the confused look on his face, myself looking over at the facade. Snow drifted up a foot or so against the doorway, which seemed to've been boarded up at some point. Gonna have to get the door open then... Oh, sergeant Thumper, call to action! High-explosive if you may, should only take one shot... or, not. At least, not while Static's standing right in front of the bloody door.

The earth pony reached behind him and drew the long axe out off his back, adjusting it a few times in his mouth. Standing in front of the door, the earth pony turned his head and the axe up, before bringing it down against the wood with a heavy thwack, some splinters flying off as it cut through the first board. We all watched on as he repeated the process a few more times, eventually getting the door clear and pausing to take a breath, the chill air causing each chuff to condense into clouds. Ehm... okay then.

His last swing brought the pike on the end of the axe inbetween the door and the frame above the lock, the earth pony then trotting backwards a few steps with it, the broken frame yielding and allowing the door to come open. A bit of the drifted snow fell in with it, Static sliding the axe back onto his back and looking back at us, myself just then realizing I'd had Thumper in my hooves halfway through loading him while I watched. Pulling the unspent shell out of the barrel and dropping it back into my duffel bag, I trotted over ho him as he stepped inside the building, looking around. "You really like busting doors down with that thing, don't you?"

"Hey, it's something to use it for. Besides, better than blowing them in with explosives, isn't it?" He let off a chuckle, myself answering him with an eyeroll. Certainly isn't faster than explosives, I can say that much... The interior of the shop revealed it to be a small diner, with chairs stacked upside-down on tables and a fallen board over the counter listing food items in broken lettering. Static trotted in past the tables and over to the counter, moving behind it and popping open the register, to really noone's surprise. Letting off a sigh, I took one of the chairs off of the tables, flipping it over and setting it up, resting back on it in the cool dry air of the pre-war diner.

"I thought you were the sneaky type, how's making a racket of smashing through a wooden door supposed to be sneaky?" Aerith and Scouring pulled the rest of the chairs down off of the table and set them up, before heading towards the back of the diner. Crash Dive set herself down on one of the old seats, the wood creaking as it took the weight of her power armor. Meanwhile, Static pushed the register back closed, his saddlebags letting off a few jingles here and there as he trotted back over.

"I hope you realize you're comparing a train wreck to a megaspell explosion. Least with the axe there's less chance of someone coming to investigate about why there's suddenly a hole in the floor, and you won't end up burying yourself in rubble, either." The earth pony took the seat next to me, sticking his tongue out. Yeah, yeah, keep yucking it up... siting back, he looked down at his legputer, flipping through the screens a few times. "Speaking of, hope the roads are pretty clear heading towards the coast. Think we've still got a day or so of travel to get through, even with the new engine."

"You think there's any place in this town that sells goggles, if we are gonna be booking it to there? Kind of get the feeling pony eyes didn't evolve with high speds in mind, even Pegasus ones." Static blunk at me a few times, seeming to think for a moment before responding with a shrug. Hey, it was at least worth checking out if we've got the time. Aerith trotted back out from the kitchen, a few bottles of soda levitated beside her - Oh, I do love the sight of full bottles of Sparkle-Cola.

Setting the glass bottles down on the table, the alicorn brought up a screen, sitting herself down at the table as well. 'Scouring's cooking up a few hayburgers we had on the grill, should only be a few minutes. And, um, seconded on the subject of us finding some goggles. I think I saw us pass a metal fabrication shop, welding goggles would probably do the job.' Wouldn't be able to see out of them that much, but yeah, that'd fit the bill. Not to mention it'd be something useful to have if the situation ever comes up that we need to use one of those megaspells... no, I'm not looking for an excuse for us to do that, shut your face. Popping open one of the bottles, I started to take long sips of it, Crash Dive leaning forwards and pulling her helmet off.

"Did that couple we saved, erm, Marchie and Norm, did they say where the lights in the sky they saw were?" We all blunk, looking between ourselves. Ehm... hm... nope, just said they were in the sky, I think. The power armored pegasus let off a small sigh, pushing her helmet aside. "Sorry, just, I really think we should try and figure that one out. Best case, it's just something off with one of the SPP towers down south, odd weather patterns or something... not really that great a thing, but better than the alternative of what could've caused it."

"Eh... robo-dragons, or something? That one we saw while we were going to Seahoof breathed fire, right?" And now it was my turn to be stared and blunk at. It could've happened, we don't know for sure yet! Scouring came trotting back out with an old metal tray held in his magic, the smell of the hayburgers meeting us. "I mean, I know what you're thinking, but c'mon, at least we know how to really combat those robotic dragons without them standing still so you can shoot a lengh of rebar into their engines."

"Oi, thought we agreed that thing never happened. The, uh, robot dragon thing, no' the Harrier gettin' shot down by a steel rod thing." Setting the tray down, Scouring pulled up a chair, and we all started to partake in the two-century-old food. Mmm, well, least most pre-war food's 85 percent preservatives. Making me miss those pancakes, though... Scouring took a bite of one of the burgers, gulping it down before looking over the table. "Mmh, so, settin' off after we're finished, aye?"

Looking towards Static, he had his mouth full of burger, chewing madly to swallow. Meanwhile, Aerith happily munched away and flashed up a magic screen. 'We'll be hanging around in town first, just going to swing by a welding place so Night Strike and myself can get some goggles for the wind. Will let Static drive the half-track a little faster if we aren't griping about snow in our eyes.' She wore a smirk, myself stifling a giggle as she turned the screen for the second sentence so Static could better read it, the earth pony blinking a few times before letting of a sigh of defeat, swallowing the last of his hayburger down. Scoring looked between the alicorn and the earth pony, Static giving a weak nod and rubbing at his forehead.

"Yeah, hanging around until they get the goggles. Least we'll really be able to book it afterwards..." Score one for mute magic.

"You and I are listening to Radio KAOS, Kaos in Vanhoover, and so far it's been a pleasant winter day out there, far as we can tell, anyways. Can hear the ice out in the water banging against the hull of this ship even from the comms room, heh. The weather seems to be overcast over most of the wasteland, with a small chance of bullet fire depending on location - but really, that's not news.

"What is news is the recent reports we've got out of Hopeville. Ahm... right, we have some more solid confirmation on what at least one the craft are that were spotted a few nights ago. According to a relatively new resident to the town, Marigold Skies, at least one of the craft seemed to be a pre-war design, a reconaissance jet aircraft operated out of what we can only assume to be the Vanhoover Air Base. To her knowledge the aircraft did not have vertical take-off or landing capabilities like the Harriers do, so there's really only that place for it to land and take off from. I might not have much swing in it, but unless that recon plane flies right over your head, I wouldn't go shooting it down. Far as we know it's still just a recon plane, meaning nothing more harmful than a big camera aboard it, heh.

"Anyways, as we move on to the afternon here, I think it's time to put on one of the other classics we've got here. First, a question; what do ponies, cows, sheep, wolves, and pigs all have in common? If you answered that they're all Animals, well... heh, enjoy."

"The hell kind of name is 'Hornsworth?'" The sun was dropping low in the sky as we drew nearer to the coast, myself wiping down the plastic screen of the welding goggles and blinking slightly behind them. Well, not the most comfortable things in the world, but better than eyes getting snow-blasted. The snowed-over sign welcomed us to the small town, a stiff breeze blowing from our backs and out to sea. We slowed on the crest of a hill, Static bringing us to a full stop, looking across the town. Alright, looks like a pretty typical wasteland town, a few ponies milling around down there with lights on, so... "...follow up, why're we stopped?"

"Just map-checking, shouldn't be looking at your pip-buck while driving, yanno." Answering him with a small eyeroll, I pulled the goggles off, shaking my mane out. Hoo, forgot how it can get all icy and heavy... slumping against Boomer, my eyes traveled back to the town ahead, and the coastline beyond. Okay... huh, that's a pretty big building out that way, even has a couple cranes in front of it. Might be a cargo building, or something... then again, not many cargo buildings have four smokestacks on the corners like that. Or big fenced-in transformers feeding out into heavy-duty wires. Static flicked his Pip-buck back off, leaning back and pulling down his goggles once more, biting at his lip. "Eh... I dunno, guys, got a bad feeling about this place. Seeing plenty of magic signatures down there, but they're all around just one of the buildings."

"So? Could be a town hall or something, not like everypony has to have their own home. Maybe the other buildings are just too worn down or damaged to use." Passing him a shrug, the earth pony still looked a little uneasy, looking down at the town through his goggles again. Come on ya scaredy-stallion, it's just another town. Letting off a sigh, I gave my head a shake. "Look, I thought you didn't want to be stopping until we got there. What d'you want us to do, scope out the building and see what the ponies down there are first, or something?"

"Well?" We both blunk at each other for a moment, the earth pony giving a small shrug of his own. Why did I have to suggest that? Brain, how many times have I fired you so far? Add one more onto that number, and then pack your things. No, I don't care you finally got your cubicle set back up again. Grumbling lightly, I hopped off of the back of the mini-tank, pulling War Crime out and trotting over in the street, flopping down prone in the snow. Shouldering the large rifle, it took me a moment to focus in the scope, peering through it and down into the town. A pair of large wings flapped in the air overhead, Aerith landing beside me with her own rifle, peering in as well. Hope that Static's happy, two eyes on the town now.

Scanning through the dark streets, my sight settled on the lit-up building with all the ponies around it, looking around. Flamethrower, hunting rifle, SMG, SMG, rifle, flamethrower again... kay, might not be just another wasteland town. Or if it is, sure isn't one we'll need to sell guns to. Then again, I've seen townsponies in winter, and barding like the stuff those ponies are wearing is definitely not townspony barding. Looking around the area, a large hulking... thing also caught my eye, following it through the scope as it turned down a street, passing by a light. The skin seemed to shimmer like plastic, bits of metal exposed externally here and there with plenty of bullet holes as well, and a pair of blood-red eyes. Swear I've seen something like that before... pausing for a moment, I turned my focus back on the structure they were all crowded around, looking at it. Flat intact roof perfect for landing vertibucks on, small parking lot, faded sign in front with a few letters missing, but just barely enough to spell out 'Mo--y --nt-c-re's'...

Wordlessly, I picked myself up from the snow, brushing the white stuff off of War Crime and slipping her back into my duffel bag, rummaging around instead for Thumper, and a solar burst grenade. Static watched in confusion for a moment as I did so, which was quick in turning into alarm when he saw the type of boom-ball I just slipped into Thumper's breech. "Night Strike..."

"You were right, they are definitely not a friendly wasteland town. No friendly wasteland town in their right mind would be living out of that place, and frankly, neither would they be using the friggin' animatronics from it as impromptu guard bots, either." Aerith was looking up at myself in surprise for a moment, before looking through her rifle's scope again, myself trotting out to the middle of the road. Okay, Solar Burst has roughly the same ballistic trajectory as a regular explosives one, the pizza place is roughly only, what, a hundred, two hundred meters away? I can reach that range, Thumper's got enough oomph to lob a shot that far. "Aerith, what's the range on that place they're all gathered around?"

Just as I was starting to adjust my aim with the sights, an aura of bluish magic took Thumper from me, undoing the breech latch and popping open the break-action, letting the unspent grenade fall out the back of the barrel. I fumbled a little, regaining my balance and looking over to the alicorn as she snapped Thumper back shut, putting it into my duffel bag. 'Well out of the range of your grenade rifle, even with the barrel extension. Besides, we can't attack them all from one direction, that robot-bear-thing looks like it can tank a lot of punishment, and it's got some teeth...' She paused for a moment, looking back through her scope. 'Strike that, running circular sawblades. Lots and lots of running circular sawblades.'

"...yanno, we can probably make it back to the lighthouse tonight if we really book it, there's no need to go down there and go looking for a fight. That and I'm pretty sure I'm severly allergic to being mauled." Static gave the engine of the mini-tank a few revs, his coat turning a shade of white I'd compare to the snow around us. Shooting him a look, he chewed at his lip, quite anxious to get out of there. Pff, scaredy stallion...

"Yeah, the Lighthouse is at least a day or two's worth of driving down the coast, and it's been established you won't take up Sparkle-Cola RAD for staying awake for prolonged periods. Besides, pretty sure these guys are from the same crowd as the ones that attacked Marchie and Norm, might as well kill two baddies with one bomb..." Hopping onto the back of the mini-tank, Aerith picked herself up from the snow, setting her rifle in the back wagon and nodding. Static, meanwhile, let off a small frustrated groan - see? I can do the persuasion stuff with the words!... brain, didn't I fire you? Well, you're fired again.

Scouring lifted himself on the back of the wagon, grunting a little as he pulled up his rocket launcher as well. "Lass has a point, don' think I fancy sleepin' near anywhere with somethin' with a mouthful of sawblades. 'sides, Battered-Sea is right over there, anyways, we're here already." Wearing a small smirk, I looked back to Static, the earth pony releasing anotehr long groan and letting his head fall onto the handlebars. Oh, stuff it, at least we've got the element of surprise on our side when we go in guns blaz-

"Fine. But we're gonna do things quietly, so there's not as much chance to, yanno, get turned into robo-food." The engine of the mini-tank purred as we started moving again, Static steering us for the edge of the town. Leaning against Boomer, I let off a small sigh of my own - sorry boy, seems like you won't be mowing up bad guys tonight after all. We drove for a little while before Static turned down an alley, bringing the mini-tank to a stop and shuting off the engine. He climbed out with his umbrella, myself hopping off as well. "Okay, Aerith, you probably should cast that cloaking spell on the mini-tank and wagon, just to be safe. Scouring and Crash Dive, watch out for patrols, if any come your way try to not draw much attention but take them out. Night Strike-"

"I'll just stay with the wagon, out of sight somewhere, being as quiet as I can and pretending I don't exist. That sound about right?" Grabbing my duffel bag, I trotted a short ways away from the mini-tank, watching as Aerith's horn flared and the whole thing vanished from sight. Looking back towards Static, he seemed to... be chuckling and shaking his head? What, what's so funny, eh?

"Actually, no, I'm... gonna need your help. You're gonna have to, uh, pacify anypony that I can't, if things go south. Besides... ehm, Scouring, how much C4 do you have?" I blunk a few times, watching as Scouring pulled a few bricks out of his armor, Scouring taking six from him and bringing them over to me. C4... stealth attack... yeah, I think I might be missing something here. Let's roll it back to the part where Static is asking me, subtle-as-a-megaspell me, to help him on a stealth mission, and work from there. "You I trust much more than me to handle explosives, and if we're gonna have a chance of getting rid of that thing we're gonna need them."

"Uh... alright. I think we can make do, yeah, six bricks should just about vaporize it, but... why don't I just fly up with Thumper and blow it apart with a Solar Burst grenade?" Brain, did you come up with that sound logic? Good for you, you're re-hired again. Static gave his head a shake, trotting over to the other end of the short alley and looking around the corners, before coming back over.

"On a night like this, they'd hear you firing that round and be able to turn all their guns on you before the round has a chance to hit. It'd be safer to lay these things down in it's path and blow it apart that way, not to mention give us a distraction to get inside." ...okay, fine, I can see the logic in that. But pretty explosions, though... "You can still bring Thumper along as a backup plan, the shotgun shells would probably help. Just, try and use your sword first." Giving him a nod, I set my duffel bag on the ground, starting to go through it. Thumper, check, slug, buckshot, and dragon's breath, check, electro-sword, check... Sliding the few spare shells and bricks of C4 into my jacket, I looked up in time to see the earth pony moving over towards the alicorn, wearing a weak smile.

"Aerith, ahm... one more thing."

The cool night air nipped at my wings as it flowed beneath them, circling around silently above the tartarus-sponsored pizza place. Three of the bricks of C4 lined the road that the bear animatronic was moving down along with two of the ponies, myself taking slow beaths of the night air. A shimmer caught my eye beside me, Aerith and Static both appearing, hovering in the air. Honestly surprised he isn't a lot more ticklish, being levitated in magic and all... I hovered a little closer, us all watching the patrol as it neared the trap. "Should be all good to go, when you blow it we'll wait a little while, then dive in. Give them a chance to go investigate."

Answering the earth pony with a nod, I slipped the detonator into my mouth, watching the patrol intently. Just a few more meters... right over the innocuous-looking pail, that's it. The pastic trigger dampened in my mouth, myself watching the lumbering hulk of the bear pass over the trapped bucket, halfway across. The trigger let off a small click as I pushed it with my tongue, a split-second later the road responding with a sudden firey explosion, the blast shaking us all in the air slightly. Screams arose from the pizzeria below, several of the guards outside rushing over to see what had happened, myself re-stowing the detonator. Ah, I love it when I get to blow stuff up stealthily.

A few moments let past, and we dove in, Aerith setting Static down on the ground beside myself at the back entrance. He passed along to her a short nod, the alicorn disappearing into the nighttime sky before he turned towards myself, looking along the back wall of the building. "Alright, we're almost in. If this place has heat, then it has to have a furnace, so that's going to be our target. Blow that through the roof, plenty of confusion all around, we get out and then you can pick off the stragglers."

"Are you sure you aren't turning into me?" Static wore a slight smirk, pulling his fire axe off of his back and trotting over to the back door. I pulled the sword off of my own back, wobbling a little as the weight settled - okay, what was it that Static was trying to teach me again? Something something not weighted for ponies, something something polar bear's neck cut in half. Eh, I'm sure I can wing it. The door swung out with a strong tug from the earth pony, myself sticking a hoof up to catch it before it banged against the wall, us both letting off a quiet sigh. Okay, we're inside, step one done...

The dark confines of the back rooms of the pizza place did not do anything to help me being freaked out by it, sticking close behind the earth pony as he traded his axe for his umbrella. My wings flapped rather silently as I hovered in the hallway, checking over the doors. Security, maintenance, broom... 'doom' closet - guh, I'm gonna give a lead suppository to whoever thought up that one - and, finally, basement access. Well, if stealth is this easy, why did Static get all up in arms about whenever we went scavenging? He just had to ask... didn't mean I'd listen, but still.

The earth pony cracked open the door to the basement, a small gust of heated air meeting us, along with a stallion's voice. Okay, this just got a little harder. "What!? What do you mean 'it just exploded'!? Figure out what the fuck happened to it and bring it back in, we need it working... if you think you can fix it there, fucking do it!" Oh, good, he knows his little monster is half the creepy-as-sin animatronic it used to be... hopefully. Static carefully trotted down the concrete steps with myself close behind, us both finding ourselves in what seemed to be one hell of a science lab... or, on second thought, drug lab. The stallion slammed whatever he was talking into down hard, grumbling inaudibly, as I set myself down prone beside the earth pony. "You just can't find the fucking help nowadays..."

There was a small bit of clattering as the stallion started to fit... something on, the sloshing of liquid in a tank catching my ears. Risking a small peek over a table, the glint of a familiar backpack-tank caught my eye, along with a much, much, -much- larger one laying along the back wall near him. Following the piping, it seemed to lead over to a few of the tables, connecting to burners via hoses... sweet Celestia above, we know where to put the C4 now. Static looked over at myself for a moment, before peeking around the corner at the stallion. "Flamer... Night Strike, you've got those fire shotgun shells for Thumper, right?" Answering him with a nod, he paused to think for a moment, the stallion grunting slightly as his weapon clattered with him. "Alright, got a plan. Get over there quietly, and when I pop out distract him. I'm gonna get close and puncture his tank, then when I'm clear set it off. Should go down easy."

Answering him with a nod, I gave one last peek over the table at the metal-armored stallion, before giving my wings a flap and coasting silently over to the far end of the basement. Okay Strikey, you just wait for Static and then things'll be cushty. Watching from behind another table covered in syringes and flasks and stuff, the earth pony crawled himself up close to the stallion, who thankfully was more preoccupied with adjusting his armor around the flamethrower. Pulling Thumper off my back, the dragon's breath round slid into the breech, myself waiting and watching for the earth pony before closing it. Almost there...

The earth pony rose onto his hind hooves and let off a small yell as he swung the pike end of the axe down into the tank, a loud 'pfffffssssh' noise coming from the hole. Snapping Thumper's breech shut, I jumped up from behind the table, watching as the armored stallion wrestled to get Static off as Static wrestled to get his axe free, both of them succeeding at the same time. The stallion stumbled in his heavy armor, Static rushing over towards me and diving for the floor as I squeezed the trigger handle, Thumper resounding with a loud bang as the searing hot flechettes flew across the room and sparked on the stallion, the spray of gas turning into a steady jet of flames as he screamed and struggled to right himself. Ooh, think I landed one of those in his eyes... that ain't pretty.

Static pulled himself to his hooves wearing a weak grin that seemed to translate to 'I can't believe that worked'. The spray of flames writhed with the stallion, myself chucking and fitting a buckshot round into Thumper, closing the breech shut. Static turned and started making way for the stairs, breathing easy, myself taking one last look at the flamethrower stallion in flames... and the very large tank of gas that was being bathed in flames as well. Too early for celebrations, Static!

"Fuck me, we gotta get out of here, this place is gonna blow!" Static blunk a few times at me in confusion, myself grabbing him and rushing for the stairs. Okay, so, if you're confused about this, here's a refresher; when you heat a liquid, it tends to turn into gas. Most flamethrowers and chemical burners use liquid fuel that turns into a vapor and is then ignited. Now, if you superheat a large sample of this liquid for long enough in a sealed container, or even a mostly sealed one, all that liquid starts turning into vapor, and the vapor starts to compress. And if it can't find a fast enough way out... it'll make one. And you don't want to be around it when it does make a way out.

Rushing up the stairs and out into the back alley, we were greeted mostly by chaotic screams, and the sound of something very big, nasty, and metal letting off an inequine roar. Boy, I'm so glad I don't wear pants. Static rushed alongside me as we came out of the alley and were met with a large group of raiders all screaming for their lives, weaponless and fleeing in all directions but the right one. The earth pony beside me looked back for a moment, myself watching our breaths turn into large clouds from the cold air. A small thump was heard from the basement of the place - yeah, gonna bet that was mister flamer-stallion's tank going. Which means now the big tank is covered in flames...

Rushing along the road leading away from the pizza place, I kept on leading the way away, trying to suss out just how big this thing was going to be. Looked like an old railroad tanker tank, or boiler, or something, and... oh, this'd be a lot easier if I could know how much fuel was in it. Jumping over another pile of rubble, a loud wooshing sound filled the air behind us, myself taking the second to throw myself against Static, driving us both into the snowbank. We landed stomach to stomach, my forelegs covering over his ears as we brushed cheeks together, myself bracing us both.

The pizza place instantly went up in a massive fireball, wind blowing over us towards the blast before the shockwave blasted us both with snow, leaving my ears ringing with a high-pitched noise. Aw, fuck, not my tinnitus again... lifting myself from the snow to look over at it, the debris began falling soon afterwards, myself huddling close against the earth pony as wood and brick fragments landed all around. Giving a few more moments, I finally lifted myself up again, greeted by the sight of a massive mushroom cloud over where the pizza place once was, and Static's heavy breathing in my ear. Looking back at him, our eyes met, a weak smile growing on his muzzle.

"Why does every time I try to do things sneakily it ends in explosions?" He let loose a weak chuckle, myself joining him in it, laying on top of him. He let his head rest back in the snowbank for a moment, our breaths condensing into small wispy clouds that intertwined, myself leaning closer to him. Wearing a smile, I placed a long kiss against his lips, the earth pony's eyes going wide in response. Breaking it after a moment, I released a giggle of my own, nuzzling him lightly.

"Because you always have me nearby, duh. Always will, too~"

"You're tuned in to Radio KAOS, and we've got some breaking news... seen firsthand here, actually. Up towards the north on the mainland tonight, my assistant and myself both caught eyes of a massive fireball coming up from the coast, cooling off into a mushroom shape. It took a little while for the sound to hit us, but I kind of doubt that kaboom was megaspell in nature. Looks like it came out of the town of, um... Hornsworth, no word on casualties but if anyone was living there before I doubt it has that many inhabitants now. Considering the Five were supposed to be headed that way anyways... three guesses to who caused that blast, and the first two don't count. Sure they had a good reason for it.

"We'll bring you back to your scheduled music, you're listening to Radio KAOS on Radio KAOS. Goodnight, and enjoy."

Reaching the small alley once more, Night Strike and I flopped onto the snow outsid it, panting a bit from the trek back over to the mini tank. Aerith fluttered down beside us, her horn lighting up as the air shimmered a moment before the tank became visible again. Crash Dive and Scouring Charge soon joined us at the top of the hill, all of us looking down into the town. The shadows of the buildings flickered as the pizza joint burned, a few ponies still scrambling around the streets in a panic. “Well, suppose that worked.” Scouring said, watching as a portion of the burning building collapsed in on itself. “Anyway, any plans fer where we 'ere gonna be sleepin' tonight?”

Aerith conjured up a sign, words scrolling across it. “There’re a few houses on the other edge of town that look intact and abandoned. We can probably hole up in them while these raiders keep running around like chickens with their heads cut off.” I gave a little sniff before turning to climb into the mini-tank. I thought the whole point of blowing that place up was so that there wouldn’t be any raiders left to worry about. The engine rumbled to life and I began to speed off towards the other side of town, making sure to give the downtown a wide berth in case any of the raiders heard the motor over the crackling of the large fire.

The roar of the fire quieted to a faint rumble as the distance grew larger between us and downtown, myself pulling the mini tank over in front of a small pre-war house. We hopped out of the tank, Aerith casting the invisibility spell over it again before we trotted up onto the front porch. The door creaked as Night Strike pushed it open, all of us filing in after her. Scouring and Aerith’s horns lit up to illuminate the dark room as I shut the door behind us. I turned around, pulling a chair up to the door and tilting it back to wedge the backrest below the handle. Eh, suppose it’ll do for tonight.

I followed Scouring up the stairs, stepping into the master bedroom as Aerith, Night Strike, and Crash Dive searched the bottom floor for a bedroom to share. Scouring slipped his helmet off and set it on the bedside table as I let my saddlebags fall to the floor with a thud. I crawled under the musty covers, Scouring doing the same once he’d slipped out of his heavy metal armor. I flicked my tail a bit as Scouring's armor undersuit brushed up into it. Ugh, I never did like sharing a bed. A small scream could be heard from downstairs, followed by the sounds of several things clattering to the floor. Well, I suppose sharing a bed with Scouring is better than the skeletons of whoever used to live here... oh, that’s not going to give me pleasant dreams.

The sound of a hoof pounding on the bedroom door awoke me, my eyesight a bit bleary as I tried to blink the sleepiness away. Crash Dive was standing in the doorway, looking mildly irritated. “For Celetia’s sake, you said you wanted to get there as fast as possible, now you’re going to sleep in until eight?” I grumbled a bit, throwing back the covers as Scouring rubbed his eyes and climbed out of bed as well. It’s not my fault we decided to stay up late… well, not entirely anyway. It’s not even that late now anyways, Ms. Drill Sergeant. Hitching up my saddlebags and following Crash Dive downstairs, I yawned, putting a hoof to cover my mouth as I did. Night Strike and Aerith were waiting by the door, both looking equally tired. Scouring trotted down the steps beside me, slipping on the last one and stumbling forward. Crash Dive sighed and slipped her helmet on before removing the chair from under the doorknob and stepping outside.

I reached into my saddlebags to pull out a snack cake, my stomach growling as I unwrapped the packaging. Crumbs fell onto the porch as I stuffed the cake into my mouth, handing the other cake off to Night Strike who shook her head and slipped a bottle of Sparkle Cola out of her saddlebags. I passed on a light eyeroll, swallowing down the first cake - suit yourself, ya soda addict. The tank sparkled into view under Aerith’s magic, allowing Night Strike to climb onto the back and settle herself in by Boomer. I bit into the second cake before hopping up into the mini tank, letting my saddle bags slide off my back so I could push them onto the engine deck behind me. The others stepped onto the small wagon behind, the headlight flickering to life as I flipped a switch, the air filling with the familiar rumble of the engine. I grinned, pulling my goggles out of my saddlebags and sliding them over my face. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this thing.

Revving the engine a couple times, the others slipped their own goggles over their faces as I began to speed off towards the coast again. We bounced over a few stones in the road, Aerith leaning onto the side of the trailer to be able to see ahead of us better. Night Strike’s mane fluttered behind her as we sped along, passing by an overturned cart, the skeleton of a pony partially crushed beneath it. The sun slowly rose up in the sky as we continued along, the air growing a little warmer and making the wind whipping against our faces a bit more bearable.

As the sun was reaching its peak in the sky, I turned my head to follow the faint glowing trails of the earth’s latent magical energy. They were starting to converge together into a spiderweb-like pattern, all seeming to flow out from a single point near the coast. I sped up, driving off the road to start following the glowing trails towards the destination. Crash Dive looked towards me, a little confused as I swerved around a few muck holes, the glow of the trails growing brighter. I suddenly pulled to a stop as we approached the edge of the cliff past the imposing Battered-Sea Power Station, my vision filled with a large structure pulsating with magical energy.

Pulling my goggles off, I stared down the cliff, the others trying to get a look over the edge as well. Partially built into the stone was an enormous concrete structure, pockmarked by age and sprouting several massive pipes that wound out to the sea beyond. The building rested on a wide stone base surrounded by chunks of granite that appeared to have been dug out of the cliffs, buffering the facility from the onslaught of waves continually crashing in from the sea. I scanned the edge of the cliffs, but could see nothing but sheer stone. “Uh… you guys see any way to get down there?”

The others looked equally perplexed at how to reach the bottom of the cliff that didn’t involve hundreds of feet of freefalling. “I can’t even see any docks or helipads… how the hell did anypony get in this before the war? Eh... did they ride those cranes, or something?” Night Strike said, looking bemused and gesturing to the pair of large rusted forms a short ways down the coast. I pulled the tank away from the edge of the cliffs a short ways before switching it off and climbing out. A gust of wind blew up from the ocean below, causing me to stumble back a little, my heart beating faster as I lost my footing despite several feet remaining between me and the cliff edge. Guh… maybe looking over the side is a bad idea.

‘Night Strike and I could carry you guys down. I can probably carry both of you down, we can just make two trips coming back up.’ Aerith’s sign read. I looked over to Night Strike, not feeling very confident, considering the last time she flew with me we barely made it over a six foot fence... and the time before that, well, that ended with us both getting lost. Night Strike looked a little worried as well, but shrugged, hopping off of the tank.

“Well, we don’t really have much of a choice. Just don’t bring all of your junk and we’ll be fine.” I raised an eyebrow as she lifted her saddlebags up onto her back. She looked back at me, then down to her saddlebags. “Uh, no, I’m not leaving my soda behind! You don’t know when it’ll come in handy.” Crash Dive climbed out of the trailer after Scouring, glancing over the edge of the cliffs as well.

“Aerith and Scouring can use their magic, calm down you two.” She said in her usual annoyed tone. “For Celestia’s sake, we’re not going to go barging into some prewar facility without weapons.” Aerith’s horn began to glow as she levitated up both mine and Night Strike's saddlebags, Scouring’s own horn glowing as he lifted up Crash Dive's rebar cannon to lighten her slightly. Night Strike and Aerith stood at the edge of the oceanside cliff, their manes being blown back slightly by another gust of wind. Scouring and Crash Dive climbed onto Aerith’s back, her legs straining a bit from the weight of their armor.

I carefully climbed onto Night Strike’s back, wrapping my hooves around her neck a little for stability, before feeling the pegasus poking at my forelegs and looking back at myself. “If you don’t want to drop out of the sky, you better stop choking me.” I loosened my grip, giving a nervous chuckle. We stood at the edge of the cliff for a moment longer, both Night Strike and Aerith preparing themselves. Night Strike gave a deep breath before leaning back, spreading her wings out. “Well, here goes nothing…” She jumped from the edge of the cliff, the wind blowing up from the sea catching her and lifting her into the air. She tilted a little to turn, my heart, already racing, beating even faster as she did.

Aerith glided beside us, Scouring nervously glancing down to the fierce ocean below, Crash Dive’s expression hidden behind her helmet as usual. Night Strike began to take a slow spiral downwards, the wind occasionally pushing her back up a little. I tightened my grip a little as we continued to spiral, my vision growing slightly blurry as my stomach protested the constant spinning. Oog, I think I’m gonna be sick. I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the motion as we reached the top of the building, Night Strike straightening herself out. She fluttered down onto the stone base of the facility and I immediately tumbled off of her, my eyes spinning a bit as Aerith landed beside us. The salty air from the sea wasn’t helping my situation, but I was soon back on my hooves, Night Strike twisting her back a bit to stretch it. “Jeez, you seriously need to lay off those snack cakes, Static.”

I ignored her, instead taking my saddlebags from Aerith’s magic and hitching them up as Crash Dive took her rebar cannon from Scouring. We stood facing the structure before us, sea spray occasionally flying up from the waves beating against the stones behind us. Night Strike trotted a short ways down the small concrete walkway before turning around and scratching at her head. “Uh… are there seriously no doors on this thing?” Looking over it, the structure was completely solid, not even so much as a window was placed into the facade to offer any sort of way in. Crash Dive tapped the side of the building, thinking.

“If this place is supposed to be as big of a technological powerhouse as it's supposed to be, I wouldn’t be surprised if any doors are magically hidden. You wouldn’t want some local wandering in on any experiments going on... might be able to find an entrance with your goggles. Or at least a weak point in the concrete for these two to blow open.” The power armored pegasus nodded towards Scouring and Night Strike as the jacketed pegasus produced her grenade rifle, loading a shell in. I pulled the two lenses of my goggles over my face, my eyes watering a bit from the bright energy emanating from the building. I scanned the front of the structure, just barely spotting a section of it glowing a slightly different color.

Trotting up to it, I tapped the section with my hoof a few times. A somewhat hollow sound returned from within, and I slid my goggles off, turning to Aerith. “I think there’s a door here, you think you can make it visible?” I asked Aerith. She stepped up beside me, facing the section of the wall. Her horn began to glow, the others gathering around as she attempted to dispel the concealment charms surrounding the barrier. With a bright flash of light, a thick steel door suddenly appeared. Etched into the door was a six pointed star, wings and a horn carved in on either side and above the top point respectively.

The door began to rise upwards into the building, the sound of gears spinning and grinding together echoing out as it did. The door opened up to reveal a poorly lit metal stairway leading down into the facility. Well, this isn’t ominous at all. I looked over to Night Strike, who shrugged, pulling Thumper to the ready and looking down into the blackness. “I’m not flying back up the cliffs with you right after we got here, you’re going in.” She shoved me forward and I stumbled down onto the steps, grabbing onto the railing for support. I shot her a glare before I turned forward, starting to slowly make my way down the steps as the others followed. Crash Dive and Scouring flipped on the headlamps of their helmets, giving us a bit better view as we climbed down into the facility.

I pulled out my umbrella, giving the handle a squeeze and watching as a spark jumped between the two prongs at the end. The staircase came to a small landing before switching back to descend further down into the facility. Another flight of stairs later and the steps opened up into a wide room, a section of the floor replaced instead with water. The ceiling was curved and sloped downwards as it moved closer to the pool of water, a small pier splitting the pool partly in two. Sitting, partially submerged, in one side of the pools lay a submarine, its rusted metal body covered in algae and barnacles. I guess that explains how ponies got in here without the main door. Crash Dive’s light tracked the edge of the water, revealing several large egg clusters attached to the side of the submarine and the docks via a foul smelling paste.

A few ripples appeared in the water, something having ducked down below the surface just as Crash Dive’s spotlight reached them. Feeling uneasy, I tried to look around in the darkness for a door into the main facility, not wanting to spend any more time in these seapony’s hatchery than I could help. A few small lights could be seen sparkling in the depths of the water as Crash Dive turned to follow me, her light now illuminating another set of metal doors bearing the same insignia as the doors we’d entered through.

As we were about to push open the doors, though, several hisses could be heard from behind us. I whirled around, barely able to make out the fish pony’s shape in the darkness. They stood almost as tall as Aerith, their bodies stocky and heavy. Jet black shells protected their body, the skin underneath a sickly green color. A few of them had small bulbs hanging from an angler of sinewy flesh where a unicorn’s horn would be. The bulbs emitted a faint blue light that illuminated their teeth, which were far too large for their jaws, causing them to hang open somewhat. One of the creatures stepped forward, letting off another hiss, opening its mouth wider.

Night Strike flipped up Thumper, but before she could fire, Scouring’s headlamp focused in on one of them. It shrieked, stumbling backwards as its completely black eyes were subject to light far more intense than they had been designed for. The creatures at the fringes of the light jumped out of the way, hissing as well before starting to charge towards us as the blinded creature leapt back into the water, its heavy tail splashing up a wave of water in a vain attempt to scare us off as it disappeared beneath the surface.

Crash Dive turned her head to blind one of the creatures charging us, but it dodged the beam of light, managing to slam into Crash Dive and send her sprawling to the floor. I twisted around, jamming my umbrella into the side of the creature. Its still wet body coursed with the electricity, limbs tensing as it cried out in pain. To my horror, instead of falling to the ground once the electricity had been discharged, it only stumbled back, pausing for a moment before turning on me, opening its jaws and leaping forwards. I yelled, falling backwards as the creature pinned me to the ground, about to use its teeth to slice through my throat when a stream of bullets flew through its eye, knocking it off of me and onto the floor where it lay for a few moments, twitching pitifully.

Aerith brought her guns back to bear on another of the creatures, her bullets cracking its shell and embedding themselves into its thick skin. The creature stumbled backwards, allowing Night Strike to fire a slug into the damaged armor, knocking it back into the water. Crash Dive was back on her hooves, pulling the pin from a grenade and chucking it into the water. The plasma explosive could be faintly seen sinking down into the depths before it detonated, a column of water shooting up into the air, the shockwave tilting the sub and shaking some of the eggs attached to it loose.

Even as we managed to take out some of the creatures, more and more continued to climb out of the water, quickly learning to avoid Crash Dive and Scouring’s headlamps. “Fuck it, no way we can kill all of 'em, run!” Night Strike cried before sprinting through the metal doors into the facility. I raced after her, Aerith, Scouring and Crash Dive firing off a few shots behind us in an attempt to dissuade any of the creatures from following us. The hallway we were rushing down soon opened up into a lobby of sorts, several turrets lining the circular room.

As we crossed the threshold of the lobby, a soft beeping could be heard, and lamps suddenly flickered to life on the ceiling, flooding the room with light. Crash Dive fired off her rebar cannon, the bolt piercing the throat of one of the creatures as Scouring knocked one of the others back with a few shots from Sunburst. Once the room had become well lit, however, those that hadn’t been prey to Crash and Scouring’s weapons scurried back down the hallway, bumping into the walls a bit as they recovered from their blindness.

I panted as we came to a stop in the middle of the room, the creatures disappearing into the darkness of the sub pen. "Yeah, no way in Tartarus am I going back in there!” I said, Night Strike sharing my distraught look. Scouring let Sunburst slide together into its storage length before slinging it over his back, looking around the room at the busted up turrets.

“Well, either back that way or we stay down here lad, unless we find another exit.” I gave an uneasy look around the room, not seeing any sort of indication of a way out besides the one we just came from. Aerith trotted up to the desk in the center of the room which was cluttered with various communication devices, clipboards and stacks of papers shoved haphazardly into files underneath the desk. The alicorn pushed a chair out of the way as she stepped up to a terminal, flipping a switch so the old computer whirred to life. Lines of code filled the screen before it went black, leaving only a flashing arrow, waiting for a prompt.

Stepping up beside Aerith, I watched over her shoulder as she tried punching in a command, only for the screen to freeze and stutter before a message appeared: 'Critical failure, Traceback: IOError: Central A.I. could not be reached. Please contact an administrator for repairs.' Well, crap. Aerith stepped back from the terminal, Crash Dive trotting up to us after retrieving her rebar from one of the dead creatures. Aerith’s horn lit up, a sign appearing in the air before her. ‘I don’t think we’re going to get any information off of the terminals in this place, unless we can find the main A.I. It seems like a good place to go first anyway, if there’s going to be any emergency generators, they’re probably going to be near the data stores in case of a failure of the main ones.’

Crash Dive nodded, Scouring and Night Strike trotting back to the group as well. “Got any ideas on where to go, then?” I shrugged, Scouring having been too busy looking over the turrets to search for any hint on a way out. Night Strike, on the other hand, started to trot towards a pair of swinging doors, a sign hanging beside it listing off department of Biological Research, Medical Engineering and Computer Sciences. Well, yeah, reading signs probably would’ve helped. We followed her through the doors, entering another hallway, doors running down either side every one hundred feet.

We trotted down the dimly lit hallway, my head turning as we passed by one of the doors to glance into the lab, seeing several bits of glassware and machines laying broken on the floor. As we continued down the hallway, we came to a section that had been caved in, creating a wall of rubble blocking our path. “Now where?” Scouring asked. Night Strike paused, looking around at some of the other labs. She peeked her head through the door of one of the labs we’d passed, glancing down into it.

“Uh… well, this one looks pretty big. I think I see a door on the other side too.” She stepped into the dark lab and the rest of us followed, Crash Dive and Scouring’s headlamps helping to reveal the lab a bit better. The room was full of long counters, each one covered in scribbled notes and various bits of glassware and metal. A few metal cylinders stood at the end of the room, each one engraved with a cross and a trio of butterflies on the door.

I walked up to one of the cylinders to investigate, punching a button on a small screen attached to it. The screen whirred to life, revealing several text files. Picking one at random, some more text filled the screen as Night Strike pulled open one of the drawers on the counters, digging through the various flasks and beakers inside. ‘Auto-Doc prototype test #154 Procedure: broken shoulder blade Results: Failure. One of the guards got too rough with a new Stripe, snapped his shoulder blade in two, administration figures he’ll make a good test on the Auto-Doc. Started fine, procedure continued as expected, but the Auto-Doc didn’t stop after the procedure. We think it got caught in a programming loop, the healing potion supplies ran out in thirty minutes (remember to check up on supplies before testing), Auto-Doc repeated the procedure for four hours before tech guys arrived to fix the program. Subject was alive, but clearly traumatized from experience. No longer fit for testing, will transfer to work camp in a few weeks.’ I glanced up at the arms hanging from the top of the Auto-Doc, the tools still glistening in the dim light. Stepping back, I turned to head out of the lab, trying to push the failed experiment out of my mind. Maybe taking back some of this tech wouldn’t be such a good idea.

Night Strike looked up to see me heading out and quickly followed, the others making their way through the lab as well. I turned down another hallway, a sign pointing us in the direction of the A.I. chamber. I heard a faint hissing and stopped in my tracks, Aerith readying her guns. A lone monster sea pony stepped out around the corner, its eyes - unlike the others - a bright white, and its body was thin and ragged, ribs visible through the skin beneath its poorly developed armor. It hissed again, turning its head around, unfazed by Scouring’s helmet light, yet not seeming to notice us either. We all stood still, not wanting to wake another horde of the creatures, and the lone mutant turned back, continuing down a separate hallway.

I sighed, realizing I’d been holding my breath as Crash Dive took charge. “Come on, the sooner we get a generator, the sooner we can leave.” I nodded, following suit. We continued towards the central chamber, soon arriving at another set of large metal doors. My ear twitched as I tried to hear something on the other side of the door, but nothing emanated from beyond them. Crash Dive placed a hoof on the door and pushed it open, all of us ready to face another nest of sea creatures.

The door opened to reveal another domed room, much bigger than the lobby had been. The floor was cold metal, servers and supercomputers towering over us and rising up to the ceiling of the building. At the far end of the room sat an impressive screen, a few smaller ones surrounding it and a wide keyboard sitting in front of the terminal. Wires ran from the supercomputer connected to the back to those scattered around the room, giving the terminal an almost spider like appearance as the thick cables coiled around on the floor.

Trotting to the console, I looked it over, wondering how to turn it on. I bent down, looking underneath the keyboard to find an almost comically tiny console, the power button flipped off. Uh… well, I guess it’s worth a shot. I pressed the button, a light beside it flickering to life. Fans began to whir all around as the console booted up, the screen glowing underneath a layer of dust. It flickered, the room growing warm as the computers began working, a few lines of code appearing on the screen. ‘Running diagnostics… central CPU: online, connections: Rerouted, Power: Minimal level. Launching AI.' There was a moment before the screen flickered again, and the image of a mare’s head appeared on the screen, grinning widely as a voice clip played from an unseen speaker.

“Good morning, Shady Shores, let’s get some science done!” Um... okay then.

We all stood in the AI's chamber, the soft hum of cooling fans and flickering of tape heads reading off old reels filling the silence as words lost us, staring up at the screen ahead, and the cheerful mare's face on it. Glancing at each other, the scren flickered for a moment, the mare's face upon it changing to one of concentration, or thinking, maybe... "Huh, that's weird, the logs say I haven't been woken up for around 210 years. Alright, fess up, which one of you smart-alecs changed the date on me?"

Static cleared his throat, taking a small step forwards. Yeah... this is something different, for sure. "Ahm... don't know how to break it... the date's correct. There was kind of a big war, bombs fell, everyone died... mostly. Are you... alright?" The screen held on the thinking face, the fans seeming to whirr a little louder in the room, a small breeze of warm air flowing over us. After a few moments of relative silence, the screen changed to show the mare's face in surprise, a gasp coming over her speaker.

"Oh my gosh, that must mean... you're all from the future! Or, well, I'm in the future now! Oh, this is so exciting, I always love learning stuff! What's new in the world of science, did they ever figure out what happens when you conjoin a pony and a zebra at the waist? Did they publish it yet, because if not, hello first new future experiment!" The screen flickered back to staying on the happy face for most of that, myself taking a step backwards. I knew the world was pretty messed up before the bombs hit, but... jeez, that's a whole new level of freaky. Flickering back to the thinking face, the computer paused for a moment, letting off a small chuckle. "Ehm, any of you know where to get a zebra? Apparently they don't keep that well in storage cells... and neither do ponies."

"You regretting turning her on yet?" Static gave me a glare at that, myself shrugging in response to him and trotting up. "Eh, no, we don't know where to get you zebras... and pretty sure we wouldn't want to do that, anyways. We're here because of some sea monster fish pony-things that have been attacking Hopeville and Clearwater, d'you know anything about them?" Well, worth a shot at asking, anyways. Hopefully we don't have to crack any file encryptions or passwords or stuff... and if we do, hopefully threatening her with a grenade rifle works. Or an umbrella-taser. The computer thought for a few moments, reels running and fans whirring, heating the underground room.

"Oh, right, that experiment! That was my best one, crossing a sea pony with a pony with an anglerfish, and a little genetically modified armadillo in there, too. I call 'em Anglerponies, aren't they just adorable? They don't breed that fast, but since their skin and plates can handle pretty much anything a stripe can carry and shoot at them, they're definitely hardy little things! How are momma's adorable creations getting along?" We all just seemed to stand and stare up at the monitor, and the mare's smiling face on it. Yeah, that... well, not sure what we were expecting, but that's edging close to not quite being it.

"Your 'adorable' creations have caused an entire town to become deserted, and have taken thousands of pony lives in the meantime. They're a menace, and we're here to try and get rid of them." Crash Dive stood firm as the screen flicked back to the thinking face for a few moments, myself glancing over at her and Static. Well, hopefully she takes this well... A short laugh escaped from the speaker, the screen going back to smiling.

"Oh, silly future-ponies, the Anglerponies were designed to only go after zebras! Would be kind of counter-productive to winning the war if they went and attacked ponies, wouldn't it? I'm sure that was just a small fluke, can't expect everything to be perfect, right?" Yeah, sure, and the completely dead-silent Clearwater and eggs at the dam were complete coincidences, too. Somehow I doubt they reproduce as slowly as she thinks they do...

The large screen flickered slightly, holding on the mare's smiling face, Static rubbing at his forehead and myself taking a moment to think. Hm... did I get those logs off of the terminal back in Clearwater? That might be the proof I need to convince her... starting to scan through my pip-buck, the screen flickered once more, going back to the thinking face. "That's strange... the ten we had in containment are in the upper halls... and four more in research lab beta... six in alpha... three in gamma... and..." Flickering from thinking back to the surprised face, the AI fell silent for a few long moments, the whirring from the maneframe filling the room. "They... that's the labcoat of Dr. Cave... on a skeleton. And those scratch marks on the bones... Dr. Cave loved the Anglerponies, they would've never hurt him..."

"They did, though. And the ponies at your research dock, and everypony in Clearwater, and the Hydroelectric dam. We had to clear them out so they wouldn't hurt anypony anymore, and even then, they're still in the reservior." Static took a small step forwards towards the large screen, looking up at the mare's face on it. The AI, for her part, flickered to a saddened face, which she held for a while. C'mon, Static, I know you're good at the talky-word stuff... thanks, brain. The earth pony glanced back towards us, before looking back at the computer screen. "They might've been made as a weapon to win the war, but they're a danger to Equestria now. We need to make sure they're gotten rid of, or at least killed off enough to not be one. Can you help us?"

The AI was silent for a few moments, before her voice came over the speaker, more saddened than shocked now. "Yes, I can. They were designed to not listen to reason and with as few drawbacks in mind as possible, but... I at least have access to the Shady Shores internal defense turret network. I'll... I'll put as many of them to the long sleep as I can. Momma's sorry, sweeties." There was a small thunk from the soorway at the end of the room, the lights flicking to a red color, and overall, not giving us that much comfort as to what was about to happen. The AI's coice was replaced with one of a generic security computer, drawing our attention, and from the sounds of the clattering of weapons being unfolded and loaded our collective guns' barrels.

"Attention: Shady Shores Biological Research automated security online. Scanning for sentient life in designated safe zones... sentient lifeforms found; 5. Engaging 'No Mercy' weapon charge protocols." Outside the doorway, and seemingly throughout the entire facility, turrets all over beeped to life and began blasting away with what sounded like lasers... really big, powerful lasers. The barrage seemed to keep up for several minutes, a few dull explosions heard over the course of it, before the lights switched back to the soft blue glow of the servers and the green terminal with the mare's face upon it.

"It... it's finished. As much as I could, anyways. Turrets and cameras are offline in submarine access pens A, B, C, and D, and are completely obstructed in the bio-food processing rooms. Saltwater's to blame for the former, but the latter has me stumped... unless..." She said bio-food processing... I really hope that isn't meaning what I think it means. Because if it does, well... I don't think Thumper has enough incendiary ammo to clean it out. The mare's face flicked over to the thinking one, holding on it for a few moments before changing to the surprised one. "Oh my... either my babies have been reproducing a lot faster than I remember, or somepony dreamt up, developed, and detonated an Anglerpony egg bomb in that room while I was out."

"Okay, so we've at least thinned them out here, we can just destroy the eggs, right?" Static loooked at all of us, myself answering with a light shrug as the console thought. After a few more moments, it swapped to a surprised face, then a saddened one. I... kind of doubt that's good news. Static let off a weak chuckle as the computer remained silent, rubbing at the back of his head. "I-I mean, they're eggs, that's when these kinds of creatures are at their most vulnerable... right?"

"Maybe for the boring kinds of pony-sized bio-engineered zebra-killers, but I made sure my little babies would be tough. Their eggs... they're really more like external embryos, the shells are the armor plating bits that make them pretty much impervious to anything a normal pony or zebra can carry. Unless one of you happens to be carrying an anti-tank rifle chambering Royal Ordinance 20mm or better, no chance of you getting through them!" Well... fuck me with a 17-pounder ROQF anti-tank gun. And I'm serious this time, because then we'd have something to use against them. I mean... my pelvis can handle a 4, 5-inch diameter muzzlebrake... maybe. Brain, do I even have to say it? Static looked over at me, and then nodded to my duffel bag, myself taking a moment to realize what he meant.

"Nope, Thumper's low-velocity, wouldn't get through a shell like that even from point blank firing slugs. Not enough thump." Passing on a small shrug, Static seemed to pause for a moment, before answering with an eyeroll. What, you think just because a rifle's chambered for forty millimeter caliber means it can take a shell like the ones for the Valkyrie's cannons? Calibers and ammunition don't work that way, Sparky, those guns are designed to bust through armor and deliver little booms on the other side, I'd snap my neck if Thumper shot those shells. Thumper's all about the boomsplat, not the armor penetration... but shockwaves travel through armor pretty well. Explosions 101, Strikey, ya moron. "What about balefire egg explosions? We can't get through the shells with kinetic projectiles, what about explosive shockwaves?"

The AI mare paused and thought for a moment, the fans humming a little louder in the room, before slowing down again as the screen flickered to her saddened face. "That might work, but it wouldn't really do that much. They're at such an early state in development like this that they don't have any organs to rupture yet, unless you can crack the shells open it wouldnt do anything, maybe cause them to have to develop for a little longer, but they'd still grow up." Well, nuts. Can't shoot them, can't blow them up, willing to bet that armor plating makes them pretty fireproof too, so so much for cooking them... we can probably get a thermobaric bomb through the doorway, right? I mean, we only need one, and there's probably enough air in this facility to ensure the reaction, probably. Unless humid air reduces effectiveness... which it probably does. Nuts.

Maneframe fans hummed a little louder as the mare on the screen flickered to thinking once more, us all watching her expectantly. I mean, if she's got an idea, it'd be far better than what I have right now... "The seismic sensors are returning a lot more responses of fault lines in the ground above than they used to. It's a long shot, but if you future-ponies have powerful enough explosives for the job, you might be able to crack one and bring the roof down on this place, bury it. Eh, once I figure out some way to leave myself, anyways... I'm sure I have the files on my mobile science body floating around here somewhere..." The mare kept on her thinking screen, some other monitors running through long lines of code and computery stuff I couldn't be bothered to read, even if I could. The fans whirred louder as she spoke again. "A couple tons of trinitrotoluene would do the job, if you have that handy. Ten or so, has to be right on top of this place."

"Would a 500-ton blast yield equivalent tactical megaspell fit the bill?" Okay, now you're speaking in a language I understand; big bloody brilliantly beautiful bombs. The screen seemed to hold on the thinking face for a lot longer than it did previously, the AI mare possibly considering me a genius... while the reactions from the rest all pointed towards me being nuts. With varying degrees of severity. Especially Static's alarmed, dumbfounded slack-jawed gaze. "We've got four of them, just down the coast and waiting for use."

"...in a disabled jet bomber. You know, the thing that usually delivers bombs, especially megaspells, because it's safest when you can drop it and run away immediately afterwards? Think I found a hole in your plan, Night Strike." Static shot me a smug look, which I answered with a glare. Oh, right, because as we've proven by driving two 1-ton bombs halfway across the wasteland via half-track and cart, a dedicated bomber is the ONLY way to deliver explosives without killing yourself. For all the flak I give it, my brain ain't that bad sometimes...

"I never said we had to use the Valkyrie to get it here. We'll unload the cart anyways when we head back to the Lighthouse, and it's only one one-ton bomb, not two~" Aaaand he's back to that face again. You keep doing that, your face is going to stick that way, Static. Looking up at the console again, the mare's face was back to the smile - suppose she was just listening for the time being. Static stammered a little, myself readjusting the duffel bag on my back. "So, it's settled then, one megaspell to bring this place down. So, miss Shady Shores computer AI, is there a passageway that we could take to get out of here easier than flying? Static's put on a few pounds, and my wings can only carry so much..."

"Noooooope. Hang on just a minute Strikey, we still have something left to do here. Remember what I said about helping the Triage?" Uh... was that before or after Vera stopped by us while we were having breakfast? Because honestly a lot of the past few days has ben a bit of a blur at this point. The mare's screen flickered as Static approached it, looking aorund the console for a few moments before turning his attention to the central screen. "Before we leave, we came here to also see if we could get any medical data from here, along with taking care of the... Anglerponies. Can you help us out in any way there? We do have pip-bucks for carrying the data, so..."

The AI thought for a few moments, before her screen flicked back to the smiling mare. "Oh, I'm sure I can pull together a mostly complete registry for you. Physical experimentation on zebras, millions of kilobytes of data on it! Apparently they made for pretty good pony analogues for experiments, you won't believe the kind of stuff we learned about what happens when you subject a living body to low-kelvin temperatures! We almost got around to figuring out how to get them back without sustaining much damage, too! Oh, and don't get me started on the applications for zebra-targeting plagues, pesticides, and poison joke - minus the bubble bath weakness!" Static blunk a few times, letting off a weak chuckle. Yeah... maybe we can do without the recipes for bio-weapons, Equestria's gone through enough...

"Ehm... can you omit any developments having to do with the zebra-targeting bio-weaponry, or stuff like that? We're kind of trying to save the wasteland, not... commit genocide. Future thinking has moved past the whole zebras being the enemy thing, for the most part." The computer mare thought for a few moments, the screens either side scrolling through more tech jargon, some flashing to red as they hastily scrolled past. After a few minutes and a few passing blocks of red, a panel flipped open beside the keyboard, a small cord and plug extending from it as the mare's face flashed back to smiling.

"Alrighty, all the soft medical research data in my databanks is nice and compiled for you to have. I got... most of the bioweapons and plague stuff out. I think. There were a few things about poison joke I may have missed, but, well, they're probably inconsequential. Maybe. I think that test was trying to turn a stallion into a mare, or mare into a stallion, or at least swap organs, or something... why did we stop work on that one? Zebra stallions actually were kinda cute when they went all effeminate!" ...Brain, you're re-hired again, please do a complete wipe of those last few sentences before they get committed to long-term memory. They're already there? Oh, great, what do I even pay you for?... handling my other bodily functions on time? Okay, fine, you win. Bwuh. Static seemed as equally disturbed by the revelation, but still stepped forth and took hold of the cable, plugging it into his legputer.

"Alright, RobronCo tech, let's hope you have as big a storage capacity as you advertise..." A long empty bar flashed up onto Static's pip-buck screen, which rapidly began to fill up as the data was transferred over. He watched it for a few moments, before looking up at the terminal, and the mare's face upon it. "Eheh, ahm, sorry, I don't think we ever caught your name. If you have a name... you have a name, right?"

The AI mare flashed up her thinking screen for a moment, the bar on Static's pip-buck stalling as more data flowed on the screens beside hers. Her smiling face showed up again, along with a short giggle through the speaker. "Oh, of course I do! Pearl, Shady Shores' own, well, overmare, I guess! Or overwatching AI, anyways. Sorry, I kinda got distracted by you all being from the future and all, or, well, me being from the past, or something like that. It's really nice of you guys to've turned me back on before you decided to blow this place up!" She held on her smiling face for a moment, then swapped for the thinking face, the fans whirring a little louder. "Hang on a minute... if you guys blow the place up, I won't be able to do any more science that could help everypony. And even after that, my maneframe isn't built to withstand being crushed, either, and I really like it! That kinda sucks..."

Pearl's face swapped to the saddened one, Static blinking a few times as his eyes moved between the progress bar and the big screen in front of him. Okay, so this AI is smart enough to have a sense of self-preservation... don't suppose we could find an empty Sweetie Bot chassis to put her in, or something. If only I could've disabled that robo-dragon without blowing it's head off, that seems like it'd fit her. Scouring scratched at his head, taking a few steps forwards and looking around at the server banks around us. "Right... bit of a shot in the dark, but ya wouldn't happen t' have any sort of service drone you could transfer onto, would you? Like a, er, Mister Handy, or somethin'?"

The large screen flickered as Pearl went back to thinking, more data scrolling across the screens and Static's pip-buck's loading bar stalling again. Fans whirred louder as she thought, a soft hum coming through the speaker beside her. "I think they were developing a portable unit for me at some point, but the funding was transferred over to the Anglerpony project. Same deal with the implants they were almost finished with... Huh. Storage room B, four stories up and down the hall, I might be able to get it into a working order if you guys can get it out of storage for me. I can't transfer over to them, but I do have control of some of the auto-docs and the diagrams for putting it together." There was a short pause, and then Pearl went back to her smiling face. "Tell you guys what. If you get the chassis out for me, I'll repair it and be ready to come with you when you come back to blow this place up. I kinda do want to see what the effects of a massive enough ground detonation would have on the coast! I was asleep for all the fun for two centuries straight, I'm itching to get back to doing more fun science like that!"

I let loose a small chuckle as Static's pip-buck dinged, signifying the data transfer finishing. Oh yeah, now that's definitely some science I can get behind... Hm, yanno, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Trotting up beside Static as he disconnected the transfer cable, Pearl's smiling face seemed to look at me, myself clearing my throat. Ewuh, it got hot in here fast... "Ehm, Pearl, does Shady Shores have any portable video recording equipment anywhere? Yanno, just to document the blast for study later on, and stuff like that. Or, uh, how about any way to convert film onto holotape?"

The screen flickered to thinking for a moment, then went back to smiling. "Well of course we do, in both cases! Storage room A, just across the hall from the one with my new body, we've got loads of video cameras and holotape converters. The cameras record directly to Holotape, though, so I don't know why you'd need the film converter - that thing is heavy, last I checked!" A wide grin came across my face as I passed on a nod, Static looking through his pip-buck for a moment before turning his attention to me, myself turning about. Pearl kept her smiling face up as I readjusted my duffel bag, Crash Dive and Aerith already trotting for the doorway. "I'll help guide you through to the storage rooms, this place can be a bit of a maze at the best of times. You guys came in through the roof entrance, alongside the old power station, right?"

I'd like to imagine I wasn't the only one who stopped and blunk at the screen as we stood in the doorway, halfway out into the rest of the Shady Shores facility already. Static let off a weak chuckle and rubbed at the back of his head as one of Crash Dive's armored hooves clanked against her helmet, myself shooting the heavy earth pony a look before turning around and heading through the doorway. Oh yeah, those fancy goggles were such a great help, showing us the most difficult way to get inside this place while the back door's just inside the friggin' power station on dry land. Why, I oughta... "Oh, you came in through the lower docks entrance? Eesh, with the cameras and turrets all offline down there I kinda don't want to know how many of the Anglerponies you guys ran into. You wanna go out the same way, or..."

"N-no, the roof entrance is fine, thanks! Eheh... yeah..." Smooth, Sparky.

"Alright, and just down the hall this way, and... here we are!" Pearl's voice came over through the old loudspeakers running through the facility, crackly and slightly distorted, as we found our way through the partially-lit hallways. I'll be honest, this place is starting to make the Clearwater police station smell bearable... hurk. A short walk down one of the hallways placed us all outside two sets of doors on either side, one listing itself as Storage Room A while the other was labeled as Storage Room B - jackpot. "Just get the storage pod for the prototype open and I can handle it from there. There's also a few medical experiments you might want to take too, would be nice to save as much as you can now. I'll gather up whatever you don't take before you blow the place up."

"Thanks, Pearl." Static replied with a smile and small nod as he stepped into room B with Scouring and Crash Dive, myself and Aerith pushing through the door of room A. Alright Shady Shores, let's see what your camera tech is like... switching the lights on, the bulbs flickered and fizzed before finally popping, myself letting off a sigh. Stupid pre-war underground facilities... Aerith's horn lit up with a glow of blue magic, illuminating the room fully. Eesh, the sign says storage, but this looks more like a junk pile...

"Okay, has to be something functional in here, uh..." ...yeah, this is one of those few rare moments where I wish I knew more about electronics. Stepping about the pile of junk on the floor carefully, I finally managed to reach the far end of the room, and a small collection of black cases and familiar film tins. Reaching under a table for one of the cases, the heavy thing eventually slid out, allowing me to undo the latches and look inside. Uh-huh... yup, that looks like a camera, I guess. Maybe. Okay, probably gonna want two of these... three if we want Radio KAOS' perspective... and then the converter, too. Hopefully it isn't really that heavy. One of Aerith's screens met my view as she stepped up alongside me, looking over the shelves.

'Okay, this place is officially creeping me out. Don't read the names of some of these tapes, it's... they aren't pretty.' Oh, please don't tell me not to do something I wasn't planning on doing anyway, now I wanna read them... considering I've never seen an alicorn shudder in disgust before now, though, probably would be better if I didn't. Turning attention back to the camera case, I shut and latched it tight, pushing it aside and reaching in for another one of them. Good thing we're heading back to the lighthouse after this, I don't think I want to listen to Static complaining about how heavy this stuff is for more than I have to.

Sliding the third one out, a screwdriver levitated past my head in Aerith's aura, myself following it for a moment as the alicorn brought it over to a large device mounted to a table. She quickly put it to work unmounting the device, myself trotting over beside her to get a better look - okay, kinda looks like that projector back at the Starlite, just without the big lens pointing out a window. Gonna take a guess and say that's the film-to-holotape converter... oh, joy. This thing had better be able to convert with minimal quality loss, all I can say.

Getting the last few screws out of the feet, the alicorn embraced the massive thing in her magic, lifting it up off of the table with a small dust cloud and loud creak as the wood of the table resettled, free from supporting all that weight. Aerith released a small grunt as she began to move the large thing towards the doorway, still wearing a smile. I gave her a nod as I grabbed one of the cameras, stumbling slightly as it settled on my back, the weight of it pressing down. Guh, I'm gonna need a lot of Sparkle-Cola RAD to fix this...

Stepping out into the hallway, the rest were there to greet us, Crash Dive taking the camera case off of my back and putting it on hers as Scouring went into the other room, gathering up the other two cameras. Aerith set the large converter down on the floor for a moment, releasing a sigh, as Static... seemed to be caught up looking at a small wire-thingy in a seale glass jar... thing. He trotted over after a moment, wearing a small smile. "Well, guess it's a good thing we're being all nice to the AI. This is apparently one of the implants they were working on, supposed to be able to grant whoever's got it installed a few shots of a time-dilating drug or something, with minimal addiction risk. Considering I can actually function without downing a bottle of Sunrise or Sparkle-Cola every day, I'd say I don't have too much to worry about~"

"Yeah, great, so who's going to install it for you, then? One of those Auto-doc tube things?" I know it's wrong, but there's just something funny about seeing Static shudder in fear, or disgust, or whatever he was feeling right then. Scouring reappeared with the other two cameras levitated beside him, Aerith picking up the converter as we started heading back towards the stairwell.

"I'd rather take my chances with a regular hospital. The Triage in Hopeville should be able to do it for me... maybe. I mean, we'll give them all the notes beforehand, so..." He gave a small shrug, fitting the container into his saddlebags as we reached the stairs, starting to ascend back towards the surface. Signs pointed us to the way out, a loudspeaker at the top of the stairwell carrying Pearl's voice over it.

"Thanks for the help, future-ponies! I should be able to have the Porta-Pearl chassis all ready when you swing back here again, make sure you come inside before you set the thing off - I want to get to see this test!" Looking around for a camera for a moment, I passed along a wide smile as we passed by it, Static pushing through the last doorway and heading up another flight to a pair of cellar doors. The faint light of day shone through the crack, a healthy shove causing the door to clatter aside and allowing us to step back outside, myself taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Ah, this was a lot better than carrying Static...

Aerith and Scouring both moved around to the back of the mini-tank as Static hopped into the driver's seat, myself wearing a small grimace as the suspension of the wagon behind us creaked under the extra weight of the cameras and converter. Oh, yeah, that's definitely not a good sound. Static blunk a few times and looked back as well, rubbing at his head. "I thought we were just getting cameras, not a whole science lab!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that the cameras are heavy! It can't be any worse than it was hauling all of the bombs back from Seahoof in the first place." The earth pony shot me a look and let off a small grumble as I settled myself behind Boomer, slipping on the pair of welding goggles, Aerith climbing into the back wagon and doing the same. The wagon didn't creak quite as much as it used to when Crash Dive and Scouring both climbed aboard it, fitting their helmets on as well, Static starting up the mini-tank.

After feeling the engine beneath me give a few revs, the tracks began to dig into the snow finally, pulling the mini-tank and laded wagon forwards, albeit slowly. Static turned us around towards the south, heading a little further inland and picking up speed, myself resting back against the large grenade machine gun and letting off a sigh. Huh, yanno, that power station doesn't really look half bad, for being a really old pre-war building. Kind of a shame we'll have to blow it up... eh, ah well.

"You and I are listening to K A O S, that's Radio KAOS, and it's looking to be a pleasantly overcast winter afternoon tonight and tomorrow for most all of the Vanhoover wasteland. Always going to have a chance of snow, just don't expect many sunny days over the next week or so, heh. Good thing this place isn't solar powered.

"From out of the town of Maple Creek, and I hope you five are listening, they'd like me to pass on the message that they've got everything together to pay for the AA guns you guys delivered a week or so ago. Now, I've always run under the assumption that a donation of guns means you aren't expecting to get paid for it, but considering how much the Five have been doing in the meantime I'm not surprised if Maple Creek just wanted to show some gratitude in return. Keep up the great work, guys - and as always, try to not blow yourselves up too much, heh.

"It's just getting past three in the afternoon here at Radio KAOS, and I think it's high time for me to cut the chatter and get on with the music. From Hornsworth to Vanhoover and Maple Creek to Saddlebrook, You're listening to Radio KAOS on Radio KAOS, heh. Enjoy."

Comfortably Numb

The treads rolled smoothly over the snow-covered ground as we drove away from Shady Shores, the wind biting a bit at my face. I rolled my shoulders a bit, finding them oddly stiff as we continued south back towards Crash Dive’s lighthouse. Twisting the handle of the half-track, the engine growled and we sped up a little, myself turning to follow along with the coast, the sheer cliffs becoming slightly less steep as we continued. The ground dipped and a small beach nested neatly in the cliffs could be seen, the sand awash with seaweed. Following the curve of the coast, I spotted a few old carts sitting in a small lot above a flight of steps leading down to the beach. The mini-tank rolled onto the lot, the trailer bouncing a little behind us as we were soon driving along the coastal road. “Ay, didn't ye say something about askin' about a generator? Still some chance they might've had one, but from what I could tell it looked like Shady Shores was runnin' mostly off of some sorta geothermal or magical earth power supply.” Scouring asked. I sighed, shrugging.

“No clue. Maybe there’s something in the files she gave us that can help, like a do-it-yourself earth magic energy generator or something. I’ll look them over once we find somewhere to stop. Last time somepony I knew tried Pipping and driving, it ended with an 81-ton tank halfway embedded into a weapons shop. Good thing the turret was facing the other way,” I said, wearing a bit of a smirk. Night Strike gave me a little glare, a light blush crossing her face. Hey, I didn’t name names, Miss ‘I’ll only be looking for a second’. The sun was starting to reach the horizon, the shadow of the mini-tank long and distorted as it flowed over rocks beside the road. I blinked a few times, my eyes watering a little from the bright sunlight shining from the side. The road thankfully turned a little further inland, saving me from going blind as we trundled onwards.

Soon a small building appeared on the side of the road, surrounded by fencing, beside it another building, slightly larger than the first. I slowed the tank down as we approached a gate in the fence, a booth resting beside the gate, where a guards pony’s skeleton lay inside, decaying. “Looks like some old basic training site, boot camp, maybe.” Crash Dive said, peering around me to get a better view of the main building. “Security’s probably just for show, there shouldn’t be any sort of robot support at a place like this. Nothing that should be worth protecting, anyways.” I nodded and leaned over to reach inside the shattered window of the booth. I pressed a button and the gate began to roll open, rattling loudly as it did.

The engine of the mini-tank rumbled as I drove towards the main building of the facility, only to die down as I flipped the switch off. We all climbed off of the tank, Night Strike leaving the cameras in the trailer as we stepped into the main entrance. We were greeted by a small waiting room with a secretary’s room built into the wall, the roof bowed in ratehr alarmingly, but still holding. Trotting through the hallway, we came to a room full of beds, each one sporting the same plain white sheets and thin pillow. “Suppose this’ll do for tonight.” Night Strike said, walking over to one of the beds and dropping her saddlebags onto it. I walked over to a separate bed, flipping back the covers to climb in underneath. “So, yeah, anything about those generators in the data?”

I flipped over from the map on my Pip-Buck to the files I’d downloaded off of Pearl’s logs. Yeesh, that’s a lot of notes. Twisting the nob to scroll through the various files, I scanned the names, looking for anything useful. Subdermal armor, radiation resistance, extra limbs… I thought Pearl said she deleted the body horror ones. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything in here… oh, wait, maybe this’ll help.” I began to read one of the notes giving information on a small generator. Okay, screws, rubber, gears, steel, we could get these… oh. “Uh… any idea where we could get some nuclear material?” I asked. Aerith and Scouring shrugged, Crash Dive looking over to Night Strike, who was twisting open a bottle of RAD.

Night Strike paused for a moment before looking down at her glowing soda, promptly hugging it to her chest. “No! No way are we wasting perfectly good soda on some hair-brained scheme to build some generator we only just found out about!” I rolled my eyes as Scouring shook his head. Crash Dive looked equally annoyed, but turned to look back towards me again.

“Well, she does have a bit of a point. I doubt the strontium in that stuff is really that strong, let alone assuming there’s enough in there to power a generator on or how we’d isolate it. Besides, I don’t really trust you building a mini arcane reactor in my backyard.” I grumbled a little, flicking away from the entry to continue scrolling through the data files. Nothing else popped up that seemed useful, though, so I flipped back to the map and lowered my leg, Scouring stepping out of his power armor and slipping his helmet off to get into bed. Flopping down onto my own bed, the mattress’ springs were creaky and stiff, myself taking a moment to adjust to it. Shutting my eyes and rolling over to wrap the thin blankets around me a bit better, I tried to doze off, wondering how soldiers put up with such awful bedding. Better than the floor, though, I guess...

I leaned up in bed, my back complaining from the rough night’s sleep. Guh, never thought I’d prefer to sleep chained to a chair again. My hooves swung over the side of the bed and I stood up, cracking my back around. The others were still asleep, the sun only barely coming in through the window. Well, I suppose now’d be a good a time as any to grab some food. I trotted out of the sleeping quarters, searching for the mess hall. Passing by a few offices, I soon came to a large cafeteria filled with long tables. Heading towards the kitchen, I pushed open the swinging doors, the old cookware dusty and rusting from years of neglect. Ok, let’s see if this military food is as long lasting as snack cakes.

My vision was filled with tins of Cram and stacks of MREs as I opened one of the cupboards, my stomach growling at the sight. I reached up and slid a few of the cans out of the cupboard, peeling open the top of the tin. Oh, it might be about as healthy as a bucket of salty rocks, but dang if I don’t enjoy it. I wonder if the stoves still work here... I twisted the knobs on the front of one of the stoves, the lighter clicking several times, but no flame appeared beneath the metal grating. Shoot... yeah, a massive megaspell exchange probably wasn't good for natural gas pipelines. Well, come on, they’ve got to have some hot plates around here for emergencies, right? To my luck, tucked away in the bottom drawer were a few hot plates, one with a cobweb strung between it and the side of the drawer. Soon I had a block of the gelatin-like hay sliced up and sizzling away on a pan over the hot plate. The sound of hoofsteps met my ears and I looked over my shoulder to see Night Strike stepping into the kitchen, rubbing one of her eyes. “Morning!” I said, cheerfully. “Want some breakfast? I’ve got Cram, Cram, Cram, Cram, and Cram.”

Night Strike simply yawned, pulling a stool over to one of the counters and leaning forward onto her hooves. I pulled a plate over from the cupboard, flipping a few slices of Cram onto it and sliding it over to Night Strike before placing the rest onto my plate, quickly starting to wolf down the food. Night Strike ate her slices, looking at me with a bit of surprise. “Jeez, I would’ve thought after exploring an abandoned science facility you’d be anything but hungry.” I stuck my tongue out at her before finishing off the Cram, my stomach quieting down. Twisting the knob to turn off the hotplate, I got up and grabbed a few more tins of Cram and MREs for the road, Night Strike taking a couple as we began to head back to the sleeping quarters. “So, what exactly was that implant thingie you found there, again?” She asked, balancing the MREs on her back.

“Oh, the files said it was some kind of super-adrenaline or something. The implant synthesizes a lot of the chemical, your senses get overloaded and everything’s easier to think through and the like. I don’t really get the specifics of it, somepony at the Triage could probably get their head around it better. The files said the zebras they tested on felt like time was slowing, though.” Night Strike’s widened a bit, looking interested.

“Heh, you don’t think they have another one of those, do you?” She asked as we stepped into the room full of beds. The others were starting to wake up as well, Crash Dive already set to go, while Scouring was trying to shake off his early morning drowsiness before stepping back into his armor. I trotted over to my saddlebags, slipping the food into them before hitching them up to my back as Night Strike did the same with her saddlebags.

“I doubt it, it looked like they’d lost a lot of funding for the anglerpony project… just like about everything else. All that money allocation sure seems like a good idea now, eh?” I chuckled, picking up my umbrella as Aerith patted her suit down, looking over her guns. “Anyway, you guys ready to head out?” They all nodded and we began to head back towards the entrance of the training facility. We opened the door to the brisk morning air, all of us climbing onto the mini-tank once again. “And, uh, not to be rude, but the implant chems seem pretty heavy on the body, and you’re not exactly the most durable pony around.”

Night Strike looked indignant, crossing her hooves as I started up the engine and slid my goggles over my eyes. “Hey, I’m plenty durable! I’ve got my RAD if I need any serious healing anyway.” I shook my head as I turned the tank around and began to roll out of the main gates. Yeah, you keep relying on that soda to stich up your wounds. I’ll stick with the approved healing potions, if you don’t mind. Or not getting hurt in the first place, that’d probably be better. We were soon on the costal road again, the sun rising up over the mountains to our left, large patches of fog still sitting in the low fields beside the road.

The smell of salt reached my nose as winds blew up from the sea along the cliffs, swirling the fog around a little. As we drove across the fields, Crash Dive sat up a little straighter in the trailer, looking out over the fields before us. “I think there’s something lying beside the road up ahead.” Her voice crackled through her helmet’s speaker. I started to slow, a dim shape starting to appear in the fog as we approached it. The figure became clear as I pulled up beside it, revealing itself to be another robotic dragon. Its metallic skin shimmered in the rising sunlight, its wings dripping with a few beads of morning dew. “The hell is this doing here?!” Crash asked.

I simply stared, my eyes scanning over the wrecked body. The dragon seemed to have been blasted out of the sky by some sort of heavy artillery, a gaping hole left in its chest. “Hm. Hasn’t been here that long, look. Power’s still running.” Scouring said, pointing towards the wound. I squinted, noticing inside the dragon’s body gears were continuing to click and whirr feebly as oil dripped out of the wound like blood. “Don’t know who around here would have that kind o' Anti-air capabilities, Maple Creek's too far off and the Cadence just has those three ponies aboard it, and I doubt that DJ'd be getin' his hooves on an AA battery anytime soon. Better question is how we missed all the fireworks, it must’ve been in the middle of the night.”

“Hey, there’s something out over there, I think it might be another building. Maybe they shot it down?” Night Strike pointed towards the coastline, the ground dipping down towards the sea. Far in the distance was another dark shape looming up in the fog. I looked back at her, not particularly eager to go waltzing towards a group of ponies with enough ordinance to shoot down one of those metal dragons. She shrugged, looking back to me. “I dunno, they shot down one of those things, they probably aren’t friendly with whoever’s been sending them out.” Yeah, but those raiders weren’t friendly with the dragons or us. Still, I twisted the handle of the mini-tank and began to head towards the building. Guh, stupid curiosity, you’re going to get me killed one of these days...

The building became clearer as the distance closed between us and it. Wide openings could be seen in the complex, seawater churning slowly around them. Surrounding the complex was another high fence, similar to the one around the training facility, but instead topped with rolls of barbed wire as the fence around Seahoof Armory had been. I tried to squint through the fog, but beads of water were collecting on my goggles, obscuring my vision and forcing me to take them off. The building became clearer as we moved closer, a few artillery pieces sitting behind the fences. A sign could be seen posted outside the gates around the facility. The fading words ‘Vanhoover Submarine Bunker’ had been scrawled over with a few symbols I didn’t recognize.

Aerith’s horn lit up as she began to sign-speak. ‘That looks like Zebra writing… I don’t have a clue what it’s saying, though. I think that might be the symbol for… boat? This doesn’t seem quite right.’ She pointed towards one of the twisted characters, scratching her head. I raised an eyebrow, looking around the sign towards the main complex. How in Equestria did a group of Zebras get control of a pre-war facility? The doors to the facility opened up past the fence, creaking loudly as a pair of Zebra ghouls stepped out into the air. Zebra ghouls? How long have they been stationed here? They halted in place, looking towards us, all of us just staring at each other for a moment. One reached over his back for a rifle, flipping it into place and biting down on the firing mechanism. Oh, crap. I revved the engine, the tracks spinning on the ground for a second before catching as I ducked, the bullets whizzing over my head. The other ghoul readied his own rifle, shouting out orders in some foreign tongue.

Suddenly a loud shot rang out, and a second later a fireball appeared behind us, my heart immediately jumping to my throat. Oh, shit, this was terrible idea! I sped away from the facility as Aerith and Night Strike returned fire, another shot being fired off. The artillery shell landed behind us and I could feel the heat against the back of my neck. I gave a few yelps of panic as we bounced over some rocks, a shell landing dangerously close to us. Swerving away, Scouring launched a barrage of rockets towards the gates in the fence. The metal blew apart, one of the doors smashing into the ghoul zebra, the other jumping out of the way and shouting at the artillery gunner again.

Yet another shell was fired off, but this one landed several feet behind us as we sped out of their gunner’s range. I continued to speed away from the complex, back towards the lighthouse, but I began to slow after we got further away. “What the hell’s a group of pre-war Zebras doing at an Equestrian military base?!” I half-shouted, my heart still trying to slow back down to its normal pace. Night Strike lowered Thumper, wiping her goggles free of some condensation from the fog.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think they’ve heard the war is over. Either that or they heard about your dad’s opinion on them.” I shook my head, continuing along the road. They're both reformed, mostly! Even if Minty still likes to make some less than appropriate jokes here and there. The tank continued to roll along, Scouring folding Sunburst back up and hooking it to his back. I sighed, leaning back into the chair, getting ready for a long drive back to Crash’s lighthouse.

Pulling up beside the tall brick structure, I let off a long yawn, the sun having dropped below the horizon a while ago. I hopped out of the mini-tank, slinging my saddlebags over my back as Night Strike reached into the trailer to lift out one of the cameras. She grunted a little from the effort, eventually deciding to just leave them in the trailer. “Ah, they’ll be fine, so long as it doesn’t rain. I guess we could grab a tarp or something.” I said, trotting up to Night Strike and glancing up at the cloudy sky. She shrugged, following Crash towards the door of her lighthouse.

“Yeah, it probably wouldn’t hurt.” We stepped inside the lighthouse, Aerith levitating her hat over to the table sitting in the kitchen. “You got anything like that, Crash Dive?” She asked, stopping her from trotting upstairs with Scouring. She nodded, moving over to the closet and opening it back up. She pushed aside some dusty boxes, finding a folded up quilt stuffed into the corner. A spider scurried out from underneath it when Crash Dive picked it up and handed it over to me. Oh, great. If something starts crawling out of this while I’m carrying it, I’m throwing it off the cliff. Night Strike headed back outside after me as Crash trotted up to her room, the stairs creaking under the weight of her armor.

As we trotted out to the trailer, I unfolded the blanket and handed one corner to Night Strike, who fluttered into the air to help drop the cloth over the trailer. As she slowly came back down to the earth, she looked over at me, her ears slightly droopier than normal. “Hey, um, Static? Can we talk for a minute?” I looked up at her, her serious tone taking me off guard for a moment. I nodded, walking around the trailer towards her. Night Strike paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. “Static, I… What you did when we were back in that library… please, just don’t ever do something like that again. It just... I... ” She looked back up to me, her eyes starting to well up with tears as she stared at me. “I don’t know what I’d do, if you… you...” She sniffed, wiping her tears away. I didn’t say anything, instead wrapping my front hooves around her, pulling her into a hug.

“It’s okay, Night Strike, it’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you so much, I just... I wasn't thinking straight at the time.” I gently rubbed the back of her neck, feeling her squeeze me into a hug as well. “I don’t want to lose you either. You… I just… I don’t want to think about it. I promise I won't do something that crazy again, if I can help it.” I could feel my own eyes start to water up as I held her closely. We stood there for a moment, not moving or speaking, just holding each other as we quietly wept. I could feel a drop of rain fall onto my head, quickly followed by a few more. Night Strike and I broke our hug, myself looking up at the sky. “Come on, let’s go inside. Don't want to get a cold.” She nodded, wiping her eyes dry again. We turned and headed into the lighthouse, trotting to our room.

I slipped my saddlebags off of my back as Night Strike did the same with her duffel bag, setting it beside the bed. Neither of us said anything more, instead just rolling back the covers of one of the beds and crawling under them together, squeezing each other closely as the rain pattered against the window, both of us quickly drifting off to sleep.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, and it's a fine North Vanhoover winter day out there today. Seems like we had a bit of a thaw last night, giving us a bit of freezing rain and fog out on the coast, but things have cleared up into a soft haze all aross the wasteland as far as I can tell from the radio deck on this old warship. Hopefully everyone up at this hour's having an easy enough time moving around in that stuff, heh. It'll be cleared up as the day goes on, don't worry folks.

"Moving on to the news, the freezing rain last night has presented a few issues to the towns of Maple Creek and Hopeville, both of which report the ice from the rains had caused their brand new forty-mil twin AA mounts to end up frozen up. As of this newscast, they're still working on getting the things thawed out and back in use again - here's hoping there's no lasting damage, kind of funny to think about something made to kill stuff in the sky wound up out of commission because of something falling from the sky. Might be worth getting some tarps to cover them over when they aren't in use, my suggestion anyways. Not to mention it'd make those seats a little less snow-covered, heh.

"Anyways, it's a beautiful Vanhoover morning out there, you're tuned into Radio KAOS, and let's get some music going. Here's a little oldie but a goodie, going out to all you Wanderers out there, heh. Enjoy."

"Oh, well I'm the type of guy
who will never settle down.
Where pretty mares are,
well, you know that I'm around.

I kiss 'em and I love 'em,
'cause to me they're all the same.
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em,
they don't even know my name.
They call me the wanderer, yeah the wanderer,
I roam around around around..."

"Mmmnh... hnh?" Cold air fought against warm breath as I blunk my eyes open, moving a hoof to rub at them as things started to come back into focus. Comfy bed... back in the lighthouse again. Aaaand my other foreleg's asleep. Stuck under some blue... Static. Blinking a few more times, the earth pony's head came into view, mane in a bit of a mess and mouth dropped open, his hooves moved to rest against my own body. Letting off a quiet chuckle, I shuffled myself about to free my foreleg, sliding out from under the covers. Aw, he does look so cute when he's passed out... mostly. Wish he wasn't so good at making my own limbs pass out by proxy, though.

Ruffling my mane back into it's usual loose form, the cold early morning light from the frosted windows lit the small house, the old floorboards creaking as I made way for the kitchen. Gwuuuh, pins and needles, I -hate- that feeling... better in the leg than a wing, though. Shaking it back and forth a few times, feeling and motion eventually returned, allowing myself to slide into the booth without much fuss. Okay, alright, what's gotta be done today...

Moving my hoof around a few times as I brought up the legputer - buh, come on, get the blood flowing again - I started to flick through the various menus. Stats, stuff, settings, soda, system, more stuff... eh, check the map. Sheesh, we've only been around half of this wasteland so far, going by the places we've spotted. Vanhoover Sub Pen, Battered-Sea, Hornsworth... 'Happy Valley Camp Site'? Oh, must've been where we ran into Norm and Marchie. Vanhoover Proving Grounds, Maple Station, Starlite Drive-in, Gemdale... sheesh. Definitely a good thing we found that half-track, these places are way farther apart than Maple Creek and Hopeville.

The soft clatter of hooves against the wood floor caught my attention, flicking back over to the radio screen and pulling the thick sleeve over it, leaning back against the soft chair. The frazzled bluish mane of Aerith caught my vision as she passed through the doorway, pausing to let loose a long yawn before opening up one of the cabinets and retreiving a box of cereal. Sugar Bombs, perfect cereal for the explosive enthusiast with a high caffeine tolerance. Levitating clumpfuls of the cereal into her mouth and crunching them down, she slid into the booth across from me, rubbing at her eyes with a hoof. 'Didn't realize how uncomfortable that suit was to sleep in. Did realize how comfortable the beds here are.'

"Comfy enough for Static to still be sleeping like a rock, that's for sure. Hell, even my foreleg thought so, it was still asleep while the rest of me wasn't." Letting off a little chuckle, Aerith returned a smile through her mouthful of sugar-coated bombs, passing the box over to me. Taking it in a hoof, I bent one of the flaps down, tilting my head back and pouring a mouthful out, setting it back down on the table afterwards and starting to chew. Mm, can almost not taste the staleness around the sugar. Aerith levitated out another clump, swallowing her mouthful and taking the new one.

'Long as it wakes up sooner or later, right?' Letting off a small chuckle through the mouthful of cerealy sugar, I passed on a nod, leaning back in the booth and looking around. Yeah, I'd rather not end up like Minty, a metal foreleg can't be good for flying with, would throw off my balance too much. Not to mention I kinda like that hoof, for... reasons. If you read into that, you're the one with the dirty mind here. Who are you talking to, brain? Why am I asking myself this? Sparkle-Cola, I should get some of that into me before I go completely nuts. Blinking back to reality, Aerith was looking around outside for a moment, before flashing up a screen. 'Hey, have you seen Crash Dive anywhere? Her door was open when I passed by, but she wsn't in her room.'

"Mmmh..." Blinking a few times, I swallowed down the mouthful of sugar that was supposedly once cereal, thinking for a moment. Hm... nope. "I just woke up a few minutes before you came down, so I can't say that I have. She might just be out in the sea on another walk, she does that sometimes when she wants to think. Waterproof power armor, yanno." Passing on a shrug, I rested my hooves on the table, Aerith swallowing her current mouthful of cereal and looking out the window, closing up the box.

'I don't know... she was acting kinda off, last night. Like, 'happy' off. Last I checked Crash Dive doesn't do 'happy' that much.' I... am not glad that that actually makes some sense. Take a step back time now, Strikey, maybe she was just happy to be back home. Or, maybe there's just something here that she was looking forwards to seeing again, a holotape or picture or something... but Crash Dive isn't one for holotapes or pictures. She is one for extreme sadism towards raiders with flame weapons, though... oh, buggery. Did she... I don't think she went out shopping with us at any point, or went shopping by herself, so... oh no. 'I'll get my clothes on, you start looking.'

Answering her with a nod, the alicorn had already slid herself out of the booth and was heading down the hallway while I did the same, zipping up my thick jacket and heading for the doorway. Fresh snow, that's good, we'll be able to follow her then, probably. I really hope we won't be too late... you're overthinking this, Night Strike, she wouldn't be one to overdose on Med-X. Hell, that'd be a more pleasant way to go than throwing herself off of that cliff... Brain, I really DO NOT need your input right now! Not the time for it!

Giving my wings a few flaps, I was soon airborne, following the trail of deep hoofmarks in the snow as they wound down to the landbridge. Oh, please have stayed close to the shore if you went for a dive... flying to the other side of the bridge, the trail picked back up again, thankfully, myself following it up onto shore. Okay, so she went around this way, heading inland and south for a little while, before turning back, and then back again. Oh, please don't have misled us, please don't be unconscious and frozen in a ditch somewhere...

Scanning the snow around, a few mounds caught my attention, myself hovering a little closer. Okay, these do have her hoofprints by them... they're those traps she set up, yeah. She was just checking the traps, nothing to worry about Strikey, she's fine... hopefully... if she were checking them, though, the snow'd be disturbed, wouldn't it? Oh... keep looking. Taking a breath of the crisp morning air, I kept on the trail, following it around. Okay, so she went inland to check her traps... or something, then turned back north towards the Valkyrie, which is... covered in snow. Probably should've thought that'd happen.

The trail seemed to end nearby the snow-buried bomber, myself following it on hoof for the last portion. She's gonna be okay, power armor's probably heated and insulated, and she'd probably have her helmet on, too, so that's a good thing. No freezerburned pegasus, she's been burned enough for one lifetime... eheh... that's not funny. Mouth, stop laughing. Brain, please help. Start digging, that's a good idea.

The trail slowed off to a small mound where the snow on the Valkyrie had slid off to the space provided by the landing gear, myself starting to hastily dig around in the area. She'll be okay, she'll be okay, she'll be okay... after a while of digging, hoof impacted metal, myself gasping in a breath. No, relief wasn't the right word... panic? That sounds better. Digging faster, the black power armor slowly became unearthed, or, unsnowed... un-buried, along with the pegasus inside. shoving more and more snow out of the way, some started to sting my eyes and ice over my cheeks, myself blinking to clear it. C-come on, Night Strike, she'll be okay...

After what felt like an eternity of digging, I'd uncovered most of Crash Dive's armor, sniffling my nose hard and trying to wipe my muzzle clean on the sleeve of my jacket. G-goddess damn it, she's going to be fine! Focus! The sounds of large wings flapping through the air met my ears from the hole I'd dug, myself looking back and seeing Aerith land outside. Her eyes were wide, muzzle in a frown as concern took her face, and her magic encompassed both myself and Crash Dive, laying us out in the snow. I took to my hooves, moving over to where the power armored pegasus was laying, frantically looking over her helmet. Facemask's on, good, she was enclosed... but... there's gotta be a release latch somewhere!

Things started to blur as I tried to figure out how her power armor went together, my back legs failing me as the cold air was drawn in through gasping breaths. Come on... damn it... sitting and sputtering, I didn't quite hear as the servos moved again, pained grunts coming through the voicebox on the mask. Blinking through my blurred eyes, the legs of the power armor moved, barely, myself getting up onto my hooves and staring in through the red-tinted visor. "C-C-Crash Dive? Are you okay, is anything broken? W-we can get you to the Triage, fast, uh, Aerith, unook the cart and wake Static up!"

"Fuuuuck... please, stop talking, for now. Helmet volume control's probably out of whack... headache... ow..." Crash Dive moved her armored legs stiffly to the sides of her head, laying in the snow for a moment. O-okay, she's not... she's fine, that's what matters. She's talking, she's moving, she's... looking around... "W-... what happened? What'd you bring me outside for?... My lighthouse is okay, isn't it?"

I blunk a few times in response, as the power armored pegasus moved herself back to her hooves, the servos in her suit grinding slightly with the effort. "Y-yeah, yeah, the lighthouse is fine. You weren't in there when we woke up, and we got worried, and I remembered you hadn't gone to any stores with us while we went around up north, and I know you probably have some Med-X here for yourself, and I remembered that one sewer back in Quebuck, and... and..." Cold air is probably not good to hyperventilate in, but I'm doing it anyways. Crash Dive stood silent, looking at myself as I tried to pull myself back together. "I just... I didn't know what'd happened to you, and... and I didn't know if I'd be able to find you, or if you'd still be alive..."

The power armored pegasus stood there silently as I caught up with myself, rubbing at my stinging eyes a few times. There was a small hiss of pressure as she undid her mask and helmet, my eyes blinkng a few times and looking at her, a distressed expression upon her muzzle. She looked back towards the Valkyrie for a moment, her breaths condensing into small wispy clouds. A solemn frown on her face, she trotted over towards myself, her armored hooves sinking into the snow as she approached. Resting one of her forelegs about my neck, her eyes turned out towards the old lighthouse, myself looking with her as the rest of the group rushed over to us. "I... I think I should visit the Triage. I've never done something like that before, what happened last night. I don't want to do it again."

The small mini-tank came to a sliding stop beside us, Aerith setting herself down as Static brought his goggles up onto his forehead, Scouring hopping off of the back and looking towards us. The earth pony glanced between myself and Crash Dive, the engine still purring behind him. "You called for us? Erm, we still going off to the Triage?" Looking over at Crash Dive, she let off a small sigh, nodding in response.

"Yeah. We don't have to go there immediately, but sometime today, at the very least. I'm... okay." The power armored pegasus' eyes met mine for a moment, as she climbed herself onto the back of the mini-tank beside Scouring. Glancing at Static, I placed myself at Boomer's controls, shuffling to one side so Aerith could likewise find a place to sit on the back. Static gave a nod, the engine of the mini-tank revving for a moment before we were underway once more.

"...you want me to haul focking WHAT!?" It was late morning by the time we pulled into Maple Creek, just in time for Ripple to've been awake and moving. Static, Aerith, and Crash Dive had all went off to the town hall for payment, while myself and Scouring went to figure out a safer way to move a megaspell up the coast, Valkyrie still out of commission. To say the sailor wasn't exactly keen on the idea, well... yeah... "I've let ye turn Trout into a gunboat, hauled two o' those ack-ack batteries onshore off'a that old battleship, -and- towed a boat-plane 'cross the Vanhoover reservior fer ya, but this is pushin' the line too far! I draw it at stuff that'd make me 'n' Trout not exist anymore if jostled the wrong way!"

"Technically you and Trout would still exist in case of an accidental detonation, just as a bunch of atomic and highly radioactive ash, mixed in with a bit of seawater. Pretty sure these are just general big explosion-y megaspells, nothing special." Passing on a shrug - hey, there are a lot of kinds of megaspells out there, yanno - Ripple responded by letting his jaw go slack, looking between myself and Scouring. What, didn't think that just because we crashed here, we didn't have a clue what the payload could do? Well, I mean, we don't know -exactly-, but I can make a pretty good guess if I have to... on second thought, maybe that's not what he was surprised about. "Er... not helping?"

"What the lass is actually meanin' to say, you an' Trout are the best bet we've got right now fer gettin' one of our megaspells up narth without riskin' it detonating 'cos of the trigger-happy ghouls at that sub pen. It'll be pretty safe, we know enough t' keep the failsafe on and the bomb disarmed till it comes time to blow it." Thank you, Scouring, for getting Ripple calmed down. The power-armored unicorn wore a smile, glancing back towards the town for a moment. "We'll be sure t' pay you well for it, knight's promise. Know this is a lot more dangerous than much o' the other stuff you'd helped haul."

Ripple let off a long sigh, looking at the ground for a moment, then down the shore at the small fishing trawler that rested in the frigid water. Turning back to face us, he gave his head a shake. "Look, you guys've done a lot fer this town, hell, the wasteland as a whole, but I've gotta draw the line somewhere. Isn't that I don't trust you, just... no. Not goin' to be haulin' megaspells, or even just bombs fer ya, that's just too much to worry over. Hell, I'd haul another one o' those AA mounts if'n ye paid me without any fuss, just, nothin' more explosive than that."

"We understand. We'd just drop the thing from our plane if we could, but, well, still grounded..." Letting off a small chuckling sigh, Ripple wore a weak smile, answering with a nod. Well, least we still have the mini-tank and wagon... we just need to clear an entire sub pen's worth of zebra military ghouls out to be able to transport it without getting exploded. Great. Things like this just can't ever be easy, can they? "Ehm, oh, long as we're here, think you can at least do us the favor of taking a video camera over to the Radio KAOS ship? We picked three of them out of Shady Shores, figured when we do get the bomb set up it might be worthwhile to record the blast. Yanno, posterity's sake and all, that kinda stuff, eheh."

The sailor stallion paused for thought, rubbing a hoof against his chin. "Aye, suppose I can take a camera over t' there. Long as you aren't suggestin' I film the explosion, feel that after havin' you five around I've been in nearly enough big explosions for one lifetime, heh. You, uh, have the camera with you?" I blunk a few times, trying to think back. We did put at least one of the cameras on the mini-tank, right?... no, no we didn't. Nor did we pick one up from the wagon before coming here, which, to be fair, does make sense given the situation before we left. Guh, Static's not gonna be happy... but at least Crash Dive's gonna be alright.

"Ehm, no, we kinda left in a rush and forgot to pick it up. We'll probably swing by later for you to take it over, after we get a clear passage to take it there and, stuff. Yeah." Letting off a weak chuckle, Ripple gave a nod, turning about to head back towards Trout.

"Right, will be sure to keep an eye open fer ya. Do let me know when you'll be settin' that bugger off, want to be inside if things go sour and you manage to re-cook the wasteland." Parting on a small chuckle, myself and Scouring both turned as well, starting to make way towards the town. Trotting through the roads towards the town hall, the delicious scent of maple sugar hanging in the crisp air, I let off a light sigh, enjoying the feeling of the cold snow underhoof. Really start to miss that after being down here for so long and just walking on grass... even if grass feels nice.

A power armored hoof tapped my shoulder, drawing my attention, Scouring looking around the town for a moment before leaning in close. "Er, you do know how to get the bomb out without armin' it, right? Or, at least can go about disarmin' it once it's out... right?" ...those are both very good questions. C'mon, Strikey, say something before he gnaws his lip off... "I mean, I'm good with explosives, but only C4 and stuff like that. Never had to disarm a bomb that size. You, er, were tellin' the truth about the kinda megaspells they were, aye?"

"We'll... figure something out. Best case situation, this is the only time we'll have to do this, and any more will just have to wait until after we get the Valkyrie airborne, and getting one of them out is as easy as turning the Valkyrie on and pushing a few buttons. Worst case, we cut the latches that hold the bomb so if there's a failsafe ast part of the drop system, it'll think the bomb hasn't been dropped yet." Yeah, I'll be honest, I wasn't instilling that much confidence in myself, either. We have the sub pen to worry about first, anyways, we'll deal with the bomb when we have to. No sense getting one of the things out before then...

Trotting over and up to the mini-tank, Crash Dive was standing beside it outside the town hall, trotting over to meet us both halfway as we approached. Scouring exchanged a small glance with her before continuing past, the power armored pegasus stopping in front of myself. "Night Strike, erm, do you think you can come with me, to the local clinic? I think I remember hearing about something that might be able to help me with my... problem. Fixer, I think it's called. Static's going to be a little while longer, and this is just to try and, well, I don't know. I just think it might help."

Giving a short nod, a smile formed on Crash Dive's muzzle, myself turning back towards the road. Guh, can't remember the last time I was on my hooves for so long... that Motorbug's really spoiled us. Not complaining about all the extra weight it can lug around, though. The servos in Crash Dive's power armor whirred and filled the air beside me as we drew nearer the small building with the red plus sign out front, the pink-maned pegasus slowing as we rounded the corner to head to it. I matched her pace, eventually stopping just outside the doorway. "What's wrong?"

Crash Dive was silent for a long moment, the cold air nipping at our faces and a soft breeze whistling overhead. After a while, she released a sigh, giving her head a small shake. "I just... it's been ten years I've been sticking that stuff into me, because I had to... I thought I had to, after a while. Traveling with you was the closest I came to kicking it, but I still managed to find a shot whenever we went someplace, hidden in a bathroom or an out of the way medical box or something. I was running off less, and... I just don't know. If this can get me off of it, I know it'd be for the best in the long run, but..."

Draping a foreleg around her neck, I wore a small smile on my muzzle, the cold air causing our breaths to condense into those familiar wispy clouds. "Whatever happens, you won't be alone in it. You'll have us, even when we're set to go back home I'll do whatever I can to make sure you can come with us. Plenty of friendly ex-enclave up there, long as you aren't my grandfather." Letting off a light chuckle, the power armored mare joined me in it, my other hoof reaching to push open the door to the clinic.

A small bell rung above us as we stepped inside, some of the piled up snow spilling in. The doctor trotted out from a back room, letting off a small chuckle upon seeing myself, pushing his glasses up on his muzzle. "Heh, haven't seen you in a good long while. Has your friend figured out to duck the next time a Steel Ranger's swinging a tree trunk around yet?" He trotted over behind the desk, pushing a few papers aside and rummaging through a few drawers. I glanced back at Crash Dive - maybe he just hadn't seen her yet. "Ah, alright, where's he at?"

"Ehm, no, he's fine. We're actually here for, um... Fixer?" The stallion stopped for a moment, the light grin on his face falling for a more serious expression as he looked at myself. O...kay then, um, is it like an illegal drug or something? Or... swear I've heard it somewhere before... oh, yeah! It was right here, when he mentioned it after learning about my sparkle-cola RAD consumption habits, and went on to say that he didn't want either of us coming in here for... Fixer... crap. He let off a small chuff, trotting over to myself.

"Did I or didn't I say that I didn't want either of you coming back here asking for that? Because I'm pretty certain that I did." Yeah... didn't quite think this all the way through. The doctor finally seemed to notice Crash Dive behind me, the angry glare apparent on his face. He let off a small grunt, turning about to head for the back. "You drank yourself into it, you'll get yourself out, because I don't have to help you at all. Hell, you're obviously functional enough to go around the wasteland as one of the big damned heroes like the Lightbringer, why're you even asking about it? Finally run out of it, cravings been getting to you too much?"

"First off, fucking hell you have horrible bedside manner, and second, no, it's not for me. It's for her." Noding back towards Crash Dive, her power armor's heavy hooves creaked the floorboards, the doctor stopping and looking. Glancing back to the power armored pegasus, I stepped a hoof forwards, planting it firm. "Her name's Crash Dive. She's former Enclave, and she's been living with a Med-X addiction for too long. A raider took her wings from her with a flamethrower... we're trying to help everypony we can, and if those ponies happen to even be part of us, well, that's just all the more reason to help. That's what the Vanhoover Five do."

The doctor paused for a moment after my speech, letting off a sigh. Stepping into the back room for a moment, he soon reappeared, carrying a small tin in a hoof. "Alright. A Med-X addiction is crippling enough to warrant it, I just hope this'll be the last time I'll have to give this out. Dosage depends on how long you've been taking the thing you're addicted to, how long is 'too long', in your case?" Setting the tin out on a table, the medical stallion opened it up, stepping behind the counter for a moment before producing a small plastic utensil. He started to portion out the contents of the tin, while Crash Dive bit at her lip, myself moving up along beside her.

"Ten... years. A full decade." The small tin of tablets shook as the stallion had to steady himself against the table, looking back towards us both, eyes wide. He blunk a few times, before lookng back to the table and tin, picking up a few of the tablets that had gone astray in the sudden jostling. Gonna take it that that's not a good sign.

He snapped the tin's lid shut, setting the plastic knife aside and trotting over to us, readjusting his glasses. "I'm... I'm sorry to hear that. Fixer isn't going to help at all, aside from maybe alleviating some of the symptoms at this stage. You're going to have to head to Hopeville's Triage to get any proper treatment." He let off a small sigh, Crash Dive's head lowering beside me as a frown took her muzzle. Trotting back over to the metal tin, the doctor picked it up, setting it on the counter by the register. "I can't even be sure they have the know-how to cure long-term addiction. Sorry I couldn't have been of more help, I... I hope you can find some decent treatment."

The power armored pegasus held a clenched face, sniffling in once before passing on a solemn nod towards the doctor. She turned and started to head for the doorway, myself following behind, head looking low. Well, Hopeville, time to live up to your name, since right now you're Crash Dive's last... The small bell rung again as Crash Dive opened the door and stepped out into the wintry street, myself just about to follow out behind her before the doctor spoke up again. "Ehm, Night Strike, right?" Looking back to him and answering with a nod, he released a sigh, the power armored pegasus already moving down the road. "Look... I didn't mean anything by what I said. I used to get so many addiction patients come in, hydra, psycho, dash, whatever, I'd give them a dose of Fixer and send them on their way with a warning. After a while, it just became hard to care when you kept on seeing the same faces turning up over and over again for the same problem... I'm sorry. I'm just a jaded old coot who read one too many medical textbooks as a colt, it's been hard over the years."

Passing him a small nod, a chill breeze blew overhead, some flutterings of snow off of the roof bowing in through the open door. Eh, well, not amy more snow than what was tracked in here already... "I understand. Thanks for the help, anyways." Waving a hoof goodbye, the door closed shut behind myself as the snow-covered town met me once more. Heading back towards the mini-tank, Crash Dive was already sitting herself on the back, her helmet on to hide her eyes. Static and Aerith soon both trotted out of the town hall, the mini-tank's suspension taking the weight as they fitted two large bags and a couple boxes onto the sides, before the earth pony hopped into the driver's seat. Well, looks like we got paid, finally...

Hovering over and landing on the back by Boomer, Static glanced back towards myself wearing a grin, starting up the engine of the mini-tank. "Well, we didn't get a full 500k in bottlecaps, but on the upside we're set for breakfast condiments and maple sugar for a while! Give or take a few candies, eheh..." Oh, Static, ya little cap-pinching butterball. Responding with a small chuckle, I got myself settled beside Aerith, the engine revving and us getting underway once more. Bringing up my pip-buck, I flicked over to Radio KAOS, just catching the middle of a news segment.

"-reports of flying craft out over Saddlebrook, with uncertain maliciousness. The town's been silent for a while now, so until we can get confirmation I'd suggest avoiding the area if you can. My lines are alywas open for anything that happens, as always I'll relay it out to the Vanhoover Five whenever I can. Hopefully they can help with investigations.

"Anyways, we'll get you back to your music. This is Radio KAOS, and you're listening to Comfortably Numb from The Wall. Enjoy." ...I swear, it's like radio DJs know exactly what not to play sometimes...

The engine of the mini-tank rumbled behind me as we drove down the familiar road between Maple Creek and Hopeville, one of Neighrer’s songs sounding out from Night Strike’s Pip-Buck. Huh, I don’t think I would’ve guessed KAOS had songs like that... Next thing you know we’ll be listening to ‘Fish Heads’ or ‘Pencil Neck Geek’. Coming up over the horizon was the edge of Clearwater, the buildings still as dilapidated as ever. The mini-tank zipped off of the road that turned north towards the edge of the lake and onto the side road running through the abandoned lakeside town. Oh, this thing is so much more fun to drive without that heavy trailer weiging it down.

I slowed a little as the road narrowed by the edge of the town that faced the lake, and we passed by the old police station, turning down another street towards the outgoing roads. As we passed by the shattered storefront of an old malt shop, I suddenly realized how thirsty I was, the cold air seeming to freeze any moisture in my mouth whenever I opened it. Jeez, now I think of it, have we ever found anything to drink that wasn’t carbonated and more than 200 years old? Reaching down into my saddlebags, I dug around for a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla, trying to feel a bottle out. Come on, I have to have a spare one in here somewhere, right?

I gave up my search, placing my hoof back on the handles of the tank to get a better grip as the road curved and began to widen a little, the small town passing through behind us as we motored along. “Say, what were you and Crash Dive doing back in Maple Creek, anyway?” I asked, turning to avoid bouncing over a large pothole in the road. Neither Night Strike nor Crash Dive answered for a while, prompting me to look around, confused. Crash Dive was acting as if she hadn’t heard me... though perhaps she didn’t, she didn’t pay attention to the surroundings much during these drives anyway, and Night Strike was looking down a little awkwardly.

Scouring and Aerith both looked equally confused, Scouring’s expression showing a mix of confusion and apprehension at Night Strike’s behavior. She looked up eventually, seemingly still a little unsure of what to say. She dropped her voice, trying to not let Scouring and Aerith hear. “Uh… we were just stopping by the clinic for some supplies. Look, I’ll tell you more once we’re in Hopeville, alright?” I raised an eyebrow but nodded, looking forward again as we began to trundle along the lakeside road that connected Clearwater to Hopeville. I revved the engine, and we picked up our speed again.

It wasn’t long before the edge of the town could be seen, the Seaddler resting on the beach silently while the tall hospital the Triage was based out of loomed on the far edge of town. The sun was starting its slow descent towards the horizon behind us, the sky beginning to shift to a slight orange tint as we pulled into town. We passed by the old hotel, a couple staggering towards it, both giggling and clearly drunk. I pulled the mini-tank up out in front of the Hopeville Triage and hopped out, flicking the engine off as I did. Hitching up my saddlebags as the others hopped off, we trotted over to the door and stepped into the lobby to find it occupied by only a few other ponies, besides the two sitting at the front desk mulling over paperwork. One looked up, grinning a little as she saw us. “Hello, how can we help you today? Or are you here to drop off more supplies?”

I reached into my saddlebag, pulling out the large glass vial that held the implant. “We found some medical tech up at Shady Shores you guys might be interested in. Is there somepony we can see to drop it off?” The secretary flipped through a clipboard, running a hoof down a page of staff members. She pressed a code into a small buzzer on the desk before pressing the large button, glancing back up to us.

“Dr. Pincushion should be coming down shortly, he performs most of the more advanced procedures around here, he’ll know how to distribute the data better.” She went back to pouring over her notes, filling out timetables and setting appointments as we stood around. A grey stallion soon appeared in the doorway, the hem of his lab coat darkened from dried blood. He glanced over to us, grinning and turning around to lead us back down the hallway.

“Ah, it’s good to see you, I can’t thank you enough for powering up that dam. I don’t think we’ve had a single power shortage since then!” We trotted past Emerald’s workshop, the green mare examining a wheelchair’s brakes. We soon turned into a small office, the desk piled high with reports and paperwork. He removed a bag of surgical tools from the chair of his desk so he could sit down. “So, what is it I can do for you today, then?”

I lifted up my Pip-Buck, fiddling around with the latch holding it together for a moment before managing to pop it off and hand it over to Pincushion. “We met with a research member of the Triage up in Maple Station, and she told us about some pre-war facility, Shady Shores Biological Research. We managed to recover some data from the mainframes, we thought it could be useful.” As Pincushion scrolled through the files, his eyes widened, looking thoroughly impressed.

He plugged the uplink from the Pip-Buck into his terminal, starting to transfer over the files. “Well, I won’t know for sure how useful some of these will be until I’m able to get our doctors to have a closer look at them, but knowing you five’s history with recovering useful things from around here, I can bet we’ll be saving more than just a few lives with these files.” His terminal beeped and Pincushion unplugged my Pip-Buckm giving it back to me. “Now, I know that Radio KAOS has said in the past you tend to 'donate' things, but after treating Lock 'n' Stock for extreme exhaustion and having to increase the mayor's anxiety pill prescription, I think I understand what's probably expected. So, what sort of payment do you guys want? Healing potions, Rad-away, I think we have a few extra supplies of Med-X, if you need it.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d be willing to accept all this as compensation for a procedure.” I placed the implant in the vial in front of Pincushion, who picked it up to peer through the pristine glass at the gem-infused chip. “I want to install this implant, there’s a file you downloaded about it, the GRX implant. I’d say taking into account what all of the data is worth, this is hardly a fair trade on my end.” Pincushion thought for a moment, setting the vial down onto the desk again.

“Yes, well, I’d be more than happy to oblige, but I simply can’t just cut you open and slip this thing in. Tests need to be run, we’re not certain what this does, let alone if you’re physically fit enough to use it.” He looked me dead in the eyes, his expression growing serious. “Look, I’ll be willing to go through with this, but you’ll have to give us some time to actually know what we’re dealing with here. I don’t want you to end up prone on the operating table because we just gave you an already active kill switch or something. You’ll get it in when we can, but you’re not going to force us to just pop this thing in today, alright?” Jeez, wonder what’s got him so upset?

I nodded, a little disappointed, but before I could say anything else, Crash Dive spoke up. “Ahm, we could still use a procedure now, if you’re willing to help.” Pincushion’s gaze switched from me over to her, his expression softening a little. “Look, I…” Crash Dive sighed, lowering her head. “I need help. I’ve been using Med-X for about 10 years now, and the doctor back in Maple Creek said that Fixer wouldn't help. I… I can’t do this much longer.” Her voice began to crack, some tears being blunk out of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. I only stared, not knowing what else to do. Both Scouring and Aerith shared my confusion.

Pincushion pushed his chair away from his desk and trotted around to Crash Dive, placing a hoof on her power-armored shoulder. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t worry, don’t worry.” He said, trying to calm her down. Crash Dive instinctively batted his hoof away, only to pause an instant later, simply standing still, a few strangled sobs coming from her mouth. “Here, come with me, I’ll see you to our addiction specialist.”

Leading Crash Dive out of the room, Pincushion left the rest of us in his office, all of us at a loss for words. Eventually my brain flicked back into motion and I turned to Night Strike. “Ehm, is that why you and Crash Dive went to the clinic in Maple Creek?” Night Strike sighed, rubbing the back of her head a little. After searching for the right words, she finally responded.

“Yeah, I don't really know what it was, but... last night, she ended up buried in the snow for half the night, thank Luna her suit is insulated. The doc back at Maple Creek said that Fixer wouldn't help at all, recommended we go here and see if the Triage could do anything.” She glanced towards the door as a nurse walked by, as if expecting Crash Dive to have returned already. “I… I was scared, and I think she was too, when she saw where we found her.”

“Well, it’s a good thing she’s gettin' help now. Just wish she would’ve told us sooner.” Scouring said. Aerith nodded and we all simply stood around in the room for a few moments longer, unsure of what else to say, or do for that matter. Pincushion soon returned, looking a little surprised we hadn’t left his office while he was taking Crash Dive to her destination. “So, ah, is Crash Dive gonna be fine?” Scouring asked as Pincushion trotted back to his side of the desk.

Pincushion nodded, picking up the implant and slipping it into the pocket of his lab coat. “Yes, yes, she should be fine now. The procedure’s relatively painless, it’s a generally simple matter of a prolonged flushing of her systems with detoxification chems, we've done it a few times before. We’re planning on keeping her overnight, though, we’ve never had to deal with such a prolonged case of addiction. Come back in the morning and we’ll send her with you, free of charge.” I nodded, relieved.

Glancing over to the others, I started to make my way towards the door. “Uh… I guess we’ll just come back tomorrow, then. Thanks.” Night Strike, Scouring, and Aerith followed me out the door, as Pincushion began to organize his files and search through the mountain of data we’d offloaded onto his terminal. We trotted down the hallway back towards the lobby, another nurse trotting by with several pieces of medical equipment balanced on her back. We were soon stepping outside into the evening air, a few lamps scattered on the side of the roads flickering to life in the dimming light as ponies began to make their way back towards their homes.

We climbed onto the half track, the engine rumbling to life beneath us as I turned around, starting to head down the road. “So, back to the same hotel again?” The others nodded and I made my way through town back towards the hotel, the lights overhead casting short shadows as the last hints of day faded. Pulling up outside it, the large front windows illuminated the snowy street as Aerith cast her invisibility charm over the tank once more. I wonder how she’s able to keep up a spell like that in her sleep... And I really should remember to ask her to use that on me the next time we need to infiltrate someplace.

Walking into the lobby, we were greeted by the familiar face of Chauffeur, whose expression lit up as he saw us trot inside. Oh, Celestia, not this again... Night Strike trotted up to the desk, a smug smirk on her face as she pulled out her small bag of bottlecaps. “Two rooms, please. And, Scouring, since Crash Dive’s out, you can stay in our room if you’d like to give Chauf’ and Static some private time.” I glared at her, cheeks turning a deep red before snatching up the room key and trotting off, Night Strike following close behind. “Oh, come on, Static, I can’t help it; you just look so cute when you blush!”

“Shush it, or I’ll make sure the next time you binge on RAD your padding will be so thick you won’t even be able to waddle around.” Night Strike blushed a little, trying to hold back a snicker as I opened up the door to the hotel room. Scouring trotted in, Aerith already unlocking her and Night Strike’s room. She followed the alicorn into the room as I stepped in behind Scouring, shutting and bolting the door behind us. I really don’t want to take any chances with Chauffeur... Tossing my saddlebags onto a chair, I climbed up onto the bed, my stomach grumbling a little. Eh, guess it’s been a little while since we ate. I reached into my saddlebags, pushing aside tins of Cram in search of some snack cakes. Oh, don’t tell me I’m out of those already!

Giving a small huff, I flipped the latch on my saddle bags shut again, instead folding back the bed covers to climb underneath them as Scouring bent his legs, his stiff knees cracking. “Ach... You think Crash Dive’s gonna be alright?” He asked, climbing into the bed opposite mine. I gave a sigh, leaning back into one of the pillows.

“I hope so. I mean, I would imagine the guys at the Triage know what they’re doing, right? They wouldn't really be a good group of doctors if they couldn't treat people, right?” Scouring gave a little nod, rolling over in his bed. I leaned over and flicked the bedside lamp off, slipping a little further under the covers. I gave another sigh, closing my eyes as I tried to clear my mind for sleep. Crash Dive’ll be fine, we’ve been through worse, she’ll be fine... Repeating it didn’t help much.

I awoke, not feeling particularly rested as I sat up in bed. Scouring was still snoring away in his bed as I sat up, trying to rub the exhaustion from my eyes as I rolled out to step into the bathroom. My eyelids drooped a bit as I stood still, my groggy brain trying to remember what I’d come in here for. After an almost audible ‘clunk’, I shook my head, turning on the faucet to begin rinsing my mane down. Guh, maybe I should get some more sleep before we head out... As I washed my mane, though, I could hear Scouring snort a little, his snores subsiding as he too began to wake up. Well, never mind then. I guess I'll have to try Night Strike's proven method... hopefully I do have that bottle of Sunrise.

Yawning and walking out of the bathroom, I watched as Scouring fitted on his power armor, the large metal suit helping to keep him up as he looked almost as tired as I felt. “Mmh, marnin’” He muttered, picking up Sunburst and hooking it up to his suit as I hitched up my saddlebags. We left the room, stepping across the hall to Night Strike and Aerith’s. I knocked a few times, and there was the sound of an annoyed grunt before something flopped to the floor. A moment later the door opened to reveal Night Strike, her mane bedraggled as Aerith stood behind her. Huh, guess none of us really got a good night’s rest. “Ready to go pick up Crash Dive?” Scouring asked.

Night Strike nodded weakly, Aerith levitating over her coat and duffel bag, which she began to slip on as we headed towards the lobby. The wind bit at our coats as we stepped outside, the lake covered by a shroud of fog. Jumping into the half-track as Aerith revisualized it... there's probably a better word for that, I flipped on the engine and began to head back towards the Triage, Scouring scrambling on as I drove off. A few ponies were milling about in the streets as we wound our way through them. We passed by the gunsmith, who was pushing up the large garage door to his workshop as we passed - eesh, he's still looking exhausted. Sorry...

The lights from the Triage’s lobby lit up the sidewalk in the early morning light, all of us climbing out to head inside. The receptionist glanced up as we entered, recognizing us from the day before. “You’re here to see Crash Dive, correct?” Night Strike nodded and the mare pointed towards the hallway we'd gone down last night. “Up one set of stairs, third door on the right,” she said cheerily. Night Strike thanked her and began to lead the way down the hall, the faint beeping of heart monitors echoing from several rooms. We soon came to the door described by the secretary, a small plaque hanging beside it reading 'Chemical Rehabilitation'.

Aerith carefully opened the door and stepped inside, the rest of us moving in after her. A mare in a slightly stained lab coat sat beside one of the beds, Crash Dive laying back on a pile of pillows, a cup of water in her hooves. She gave a small smile upon seeing us, bags under her eyes. A pony in the bed beside Crash Dive’s snorted and rolled over in his sleep, one foreleg bearing several needle marks flopping out from under the covers. “Good morning. I take it you’re here for her?” She asked politely, nodding her head towards Crash Dive. “She’s been doing fine, though I would have preferred if one of you could have convinced her to get out of her power armor before coming in for treatment. I’m not terribly familiar with running IVs through servos.”

The mare trotted over to a large cabinet on the wall as Crash Dive took a sip of her water. “I’ve already told her this, but it always helps to have more ponies in the know. With how long she’s had this addiction, this treatment’s going to leave her in a bit of a rough shape for a day or so, I’d try to hold off on any adventuring until tomorrow night at the earliest.” She pulled out a few tins of Fixer, handing them over to me. “Make sure she takes one of these every four hours or so, it’ll help with easing her back into shape. She may experience some queasiness during the recovery too, so make sure she stays hydrated, with pure water. That dirty stuff would just make thing worse, and soda is right out.”

I made a mental checklist as the mare trotted back to Crash Dive. “Really, though, she’s doing fine, you needn’t worry too much. I’m sure the Vanhoover Five will be back in order in no time at all.” I returned her smile, her calming comfort rather infectious. Letting Crash Dive finish her glass of water, the mare helped steady Crash Dive as she stepped out of bed. Her legs shook a bit even with the support of the armor, but she was able to trot over to us, Night Strike picking up her helmet.

The doctor went to looking over the asleep patient, pulling out a few bandages to cover the bleeding pinpricks on their leg. We all began to trot slowly back towards the entrance of the hospital, making sure to take our time with Crash Dive. She gave a little chuckle as we trotted along. “Come on, I know I just had quite a few drugs pumping through me all night, but I don’t want you guys to start patronizing me too. You wouldn’t believe how many times I needed to tell that doctor to piss off and just let me sleep. Feeling better now, though.” I grinned, thankful to see Crash Dive hadn’t lost any of her snide attitude. Though, on second thought, maybe it wouldn’t have hurt if she had... I really don’t want to be punted into a tree again.

We stepped out into the brisk air, Crash Dive sitting herself onto the back of the mini-tank, wrapping a hoof around the side fender to keep herself stable as she shifted on the seat. I hopped into the driver’s seat yet again as the others climbed up, Night Strike settling herself beside Boomer. The engine rumbled to life as I began to head back towards the Lighthouse, the morning sun behind us. Night Strike flipped on her Pip-Buck, and the familiar voice of KAOS’s host filled the air.

“Hello out there all you fine looking ponies, you're tuned into Radio KAOS, and it’s time once again for some news. Hopefully you’ve all still got your blankets out from the closets, because we’ve got another small cold front coming in. Shouldn’t last too long, but it’s looking to be a bit stronger than the last one. And if the Vanhoover Five are listening right now, I’ve received some angry letters from several ponies living in Vanhoover wondering where their big anti-air guns are. Come on, guys, it is a little rude to not arm the city you’re named after. With any luck the citizens of crater-city will have some nice fancy guns soon enough. Now, some music.” That... is a very good point. I think we only have one of the 37mm autocannons left, and I doubt Ripple would want to bring another one of those 40mm batteries over... There was a pause before the sound of a needle falling onto a record was heard, and a voice crackled in over the radio waves.

"If everypony had an ocean
Across Equestria
Then everypony’d be surfin’
Like Mareibu and the Zuma
You’d seem ‘em wearing their swim suits
And fancy sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin’ ‘questria..."

The sun was getting high in the sky as we sped along the road back through Clearwater, my eyes held on the power armored pegasus that was leaned over on the back seat of the mini-tank. Letting off a small sigh, I re-settled myself next to Boomer, the paved, cracked road speeding by and giving way to the cobblestone streets of the shoreside town. Crash Dive leaned up for a moment, only to hunch back over in the seat, holding onto the side fender with her armored hoof, managing to form a small dent. Oh, dear... Pulling the goggles down over my eyes and flipping the tinted shield up, I pulled myself along to the front of the mini-tank, tapping on Static's shoulder a few times as we rolled over a bridge. "Hey speedy, can ya slow it down? You're gonna shake Crash Dive off at this rate, she's already dented the fender trying to hang on."

The earth pony blunk a few times at myself, leaning forwards and glancing around the side for a moment before easing up on the throttle. The next small bridge we rolled over a little more smoothly, the engine purring silently beneath us as we moved along. "We can probably make it back to the lighthouse by nightfall at this rate, but not before. You sure we can't go a little faster?" Taking a moment to glance back at Crash Dive, and catching Scouring helping her hang on, I answered with a small grimace and shake of the head. Yeah, pulling in at night would be preferable to making Crash Dive pass out or vomit on the way there... Static shrugged letting off a sigh and pushing his goggles up. "Okay, if you think so. She really doing that bad?"

"Wouldn't you be if you had enough detox chems pumping through you last night to fix ten years' worth of addiction? We just gotta take it easy for now, maybe think about what we're doing next. Ripple said no to carrying the bomb up to Shady Shores on Trout, so we're gonna have to haul it ourselves." We trundled past the storefronts that looked out towards the lake, soon passing by the small cafe on the eastern side of the main canal. The tracks slid slightly as they reached the long bridge, biting into ice for a few moments before finding the stone beneath it, and pulling us up over it.

Static wore a grimace as we reached the other side, looking back towards myself as we continued along the shoreside storefronts. "Oh, great. So we're going to have to haul a megaspell all the way there with the wagon... suppose we'll have to just try and follow any roads we can find. It won't go off if it's just shaken a little, right?" Well, considering we crashed with four of them hard enough to crumple the nose of the Valkyrie, I'd think as far as volatility is concerned, these bombs are pretty safe. Passing over another small bridge, we were soon heading out of Clearwater, motoring along the shore towards Jericho Beach and Maple Creek. "Suppose we'll have to take out the sub pen before we can do that, anyways... Well, at least it could be an excuse for Aerith to use her invisi-spell on me."

"You -really- want her to do that, don't you? What's the matter, don't like having people see your cute face?~" Letting off a light chuckle, Static responded with a roll of his eyes, guiding the mini-tank down the snowed-over roads easily, following our tracks from the day before. It wasn't too long before we were passing by the old military dock, the lights still on in the long barracks we'd gone into so long ago - heh, guess I'm really not as bad at small reactor repair as I thought. Thank you, dad...

'Wugh. Forgot how heavy that film converter is...' The heavy device landed with a thump as Aerith set it on the floor inside the lighthouse kitchen, myself sliding the cameras off of my back and onto the window table. Good thing we only have to move this stuff out once... Letting off a small sigh, I got back up onto my hooves, giving my back a stretch and heading back out through the door, the alicorn following behind. Trotting to one side of the wagon and undoing the elastics that were holding the tarp down, a grin crossed my muzzle, the alicorn pulling the thick plastic off the rest of the way to reveal all of those glistening bottlecaps atop sealed frigid soda bottles. 'This makes up for that, though. How many bottles did we pull out anyways, a hundred? Two?'

"I was more occupied with cramming as much onboard as I could rather than counting, but I'd say that's about the right number. All I know is that it's a helluva lot, and there's still more to get." Letting off a small giggle, I hopped up onto the back of the cart, starting to pull the bottles out carefully. Okay, hopefully Crash Dive has a big cooler or crate somewhere inside the lighthouse, because I think this might overload her fridge. Passing them to Aerith, she took to gathering them into groups, levitating each collection of six into the lighthouse. Oh, I can taste it all already...

After a while of unpacking, Aerith flashed up a screen beside me, looking over the bottles. 'Hm... yanno, I have to wonder, there any way to turn regular Sparkle-Cola into Sparkle-Cola RAD? I dunno, concentrate it or something, thrown in a bit of that Strontium-90 stuff, maybe?' ...huh. Well, RAD is supposed to be kinda like Sparkle-Cola squared, so, maybe that works. Possibly. I mean, worst case scenario, we lose a few bottles to testing, but it's not like we're running a shortage of the stuff...

"You think you can do it, go for it. Who knows, if it comes close enough then maybe we can just start converting this stuff over to it and I'll never have to deal with a broken limb again." Letting off a small chuckle, Aerith gave a nod, setting aside two groups of six in the snow before continuing with moving the rest inside. A few minutes more had us shuffling the last of the bottles into the house, myself resting back against the trunk in the wagon and sipping from one of the bottles, just enjoying the crisp, cool evening air. Ah, almost felt like home.

The rumble of a small engine drawing near caught my ears, turning about and looking over the back of the wagon to catch Static and Scouring powering back towards the shore on the mini-tank, headlight on full, starting to head down the path to the landbridge. The waves that splashed over the natural stone bridge sprayed Static, a familiar look of annoyance on his face underneath his magic-vision goggles as he finally reached us. Shaking his mane wildly, he grimaced, looking down at his jacket. "Just what I needed, hypothermia and a cold..."

"So, I take it delivering the camera went well? Ripple going to be getting another one of those 40mm AA guns while he's there for shipping to Vanhoover?" Hopping off of the wagon, I followed the damp earth pony inside, bomb-bottle still in hoof. Wow, never really appreciate what half a truckful of Sparkle-Cola bomb bottles look like until you see all of it piled on a kitchen table... and booths. Static grumbled as he fought with his jacket's zipper, undoing it and tossing the wet thing aside as he moved for our bedroom.

"We got the camera there fine, he'll be delivering that, but if we want to sell another one of those AA batteries from Radio KAOS we'd have to go and get it with him. Apparently he can't move three tons by himself... which, in retrospect, probably is reasonable. Bluh." Dropping onto the bed, Static promptly wrapped himself up in the heavy blanket, letting off a long sigh and burying his face into the pillow. Huh, well somepony's a bit aggravated about something... "Just getting a little sick of having to keep on going back to places we've already been for more caps or whatever. You'd think we could've bought our way back home and had the Valkyrie fixed by now."

"You can't bribe your way out of every problem, Sparky. At least with the guns we have sold, we've got a whole million or so caps, don't we? Million more than what we had before we came down here." Taking a long sip from the bottle of soda, I trotted over towards him, the earth pony picking himself up with the thick blanket still wrapped over his shoulders. He let off a quiet sigh, myself dropping down beside him. "C'mon, Static, we have to find some silver linings. Bet you could buy Fringe a whole fleet of Vertibucks when we get back with all that."

Myself wearing a small grin, Static let off a little chuckle, giving his head a shake. Okay, maybe not a whole fleet, but at least cover repairs for the one we crashed, maybe. "Yeah, sure. At least we can pay them back somehow, but I kinda doubt caps would replace a Vertibuck. They'd probably be more interested in the Valkyrie, all things considered." Yeah, ya don't say... like they have the hangar space for it, anyways. I let off a small sigh of my own, flopping down beside Static and taking another sip from the bottle. One day at a time, Strikey... the small silence was broken by a low growling, myself blinking a few times before looking around. Oh, don't tell me there are bears around here now... though, that surprised blush on Static's face should've been a tip-off.

"Pff, don't tell me that's why you came in so grumpy. What'sa matter, you miss one meal and suddenly your stomach turns into a bear?" A light snicker escaping me, Static answered with a roll of his eyes, lifting himself up off of the floor with the blanket wrapped around him. Oh, c'mon, you have to admit it's funny. "I'm sure we have something to cook up. Might be best if we just let Crash Dive rest for tonight, tackle the sub pen tomorrow, yeah?"

"Eh, maybe. Considering the way she was nearly tripping over herself while we came inside, might be for the better if we wait a day or something, maybe just scout the place out first. Figure where they patrol, where the artillery is, stuff like that." Stepping into the kitchen, the pile of bottles of Sparkle-Cola caught Static's attention, freezing him for a moment, before he let loose a sigh and gave his head a shake. He shoved some of the bottles over, sitting himself down on the edge of the booth seat. "Once she's in better shape, we'll take it head-on. With her armor, it might be worthwhile to see if there's anything under the water there, worst case some egg clutches to destroy somehow."

"Yeah, hopefully they aren't that far south. Think the ones in the reservior and dam came from the research dock we blew up, can at least hope that the ones in Shady Shores didn't spread too much from there." Trotting over to the large pallet of other stuff that was taking up room in the kitchen, I undid the latches and flipped open a hooflocker that was resting near the top. And... Cram. Well, it's something. Pulling one of the cans down, I pulled the lid off and turned on the stove, setting the canned vaguely hay-flavored preservatives on the counter and setting a pan on the burner. "Besides, if they are, it's a military sub pen, isn't it? Probably has some sort of underwater explosives for dealing with them. Think using a megaspell there might be a bit dangerous."

Letting the contents of the can fall out onto the pan, Static let off a muffled chuckle, myself looking back towards him. "Really, you're suggesting we -don't- use a massive bomb to take care of a problem. Who are you and what have you done with the real Night Strike?" Oh, har har har. Answering him with an eyeroll, I took to searching the cupboards, eventually finding a metal spatula, flipping the mass of cram around. Well, least it kinda smells good... watching it sizzle on the other side, I set the spatula down, rubbing at my mouth.

"Very funny. I've just been thinking, if they are 500 tons TNT blast equivalent, then they might be just big enough to cause some localized fallout. Don't think most people around here would really like it if they suddenly had radioactive particles raining down on them from a ground burst, and besides, it's too close to the Lighthouse for it to be safe." Glancing around for a moment, and going through the cupboards again, I pulled down a pair of plates, Static moving some more of the bottles around on the table. Swear to Celestia, if he drops any of them... "Battered-Sea is a different case, worst that might happen is the fallout's spread east inland, and all that's out that way is Maple Station. They might like a nice radiation shower over that way."

Picking up the spatula in my mouth and flipping the can-shaped mass of hay-like substitute around on the pan, I sliced it in half, flipping both squares around to rest on the cut edge for a little bit. After a few more moments of cooking, I turned the stove off, shuffling the pair of gelatinous bricks onto the plates and carrying them over to the soda-covered table. Grabbing a couple forks, I stuck one into my mass of cram, giving Static the other. "Suppose that makes sense. Least it means I don't have to haul another bomb on top of the one we're already taking that way... have I mentioned I'm really not looking forwards to carrying a megaspell by cart? Because I really am not looking forwards to carrying a megaspell by cart."

Shuffling some of the bottles over on the other side, I slid in on the booth, Static already partaking in his clump of salty processed hay. "Yes, you've made yourself pretty clear on that. Barring the Valkyrie magically becoming repaired, we don't really have any other options, because Ripple made himself pretty clear that a megaspell is the one thing he won't carry on Trout. It's the wagon or carrying it by hoof." Bringing the clump of cram to my mouth, I took a bite, the warm food substitute settling in my stomach. Well, least I have enough Sparkle-Cola to wash the taste out afterwards... or drown in, now I think about it. Think that ranks third on my 'preferred ways to possibly die' list. Second being drowning in Sparkle-Cola RAD. First... c'mon, do I even have to say it?

"Fine, fine. Still, I really don't want to end up vaporized if I can help it." Working through the salty meat, I answered him with a roll of my eyes, swallowing down my current mouthful and setting the rest onto the plate. Big aircraft crash, crumpled bomber nose, any of that ringing a bell as to how safe these things are, Sparky? Or does he just think they magically appeared once we arrived? Grabbing my opened bottle, I finished it off, setting the empty glass container aside and pulling a new one up, uncapping it with a hiss of carbonation. Oh, much better to have something to wash that stuff down...

"We'll handle it when we have to. Shouldn't bother getting it out until the sub pen's cleared so we can watch it from there, anyways." Static paused mid-bite to look at me as I halved what was left of my brick, chewing the salty foodstuff and starting to swallow it down. He let off a sigh and eyeroll, shaking his head as he did the same, myself following it with another gulp of Sparkle-Cola. I rubbed at my lips, the faint bit of light that was coming through the window from the moon being lost through several layers of bottles of Sparkle-Cola.

"Yeah, that'd be for the best. I hope you know what you'll be doing with it when we do, though..." Finishing off his last bit of cram, the earth pony left his blanket on the booth seat as he carried the plate over to the sink, dropping it in. Troting back, he got himself wrapped up in it once more, myself still working on my last bite and rest of the bottle. "Think we ought to try and get to sleep soon. If those old novels I read back in Mooscow are worth anything, then getting an early start for scouting the area out would be the best bet, set up a position and figure out when their patrols change or get weak. They can't be out all the time, and if we can catch them while they're swapping on the artillery, all the better, right?"

Bringing my empty plate and fork over to the sink, I let off a small chuckle, trotting alongside the earth pony. "Yanno, until they spot us and we have to hightail it back or fight them head-on. Promise I'll try to tot do us in if I can help it." Wearing a grin, I stepped into the bedroom once again, Static flopping down on the mattress with the blanket while I undid my jacket. I pulled the small plush out of it, looking into its lime-green eyes for a moment before rubbing it against my cheek, turning back around to see Static wrapping himself up tight. Letting off a light laugh, I trotted over and looked down at him, catching his eyes. "So, you gonna do an impression of a caterpillar by yoruself, or let me in that blanket cocoon with you?~"

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to Radio KAOS, KAOS in Vanhoover, and it's a beautiful winter morning out there today. Wish I could accurately say how long it'll stay that way, but I'm a radio DJ, not a weather stallion, heh. We're looking at clear skies for at least a few hours as the day starts, possibly giving way to overcast, but whatever way you spin it, it'll be a wonderful wintry wasteland day for seeing far as your eyes can reach.

"Speaking of seeing things, out of Maple Station last night came reports of more flying craft overhead, far off towards the east. The residents weren't especially concerned about them, citing the five ghouls and their tanks that take up residence in one of the railsheds. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it's a damn sight harder to hit a plane with a tank gun than it is to shoot, well, another tank, heh. Along with this report is one that came in just a few minutes ago from Vanhoover, once again asking the Vanhoover Five for some anti-air guns of any size for protection - hang in there, guys, I'm sure the Five haven't forgotten about you. Probably just working on finding someone to stop by here again, heh... erm... huh?

"A-ahm, sorry, we just received an update on the Five, they had dropped by the Hopeville Triage a day ago, apparently for one of their own, Crash Dive. We don't know precisely what for, but seeing as they left with her after only one night, we can just hope it wasn't anything particularly serious. We'll be sure to try and check back in with them to get the fuller story at a later date, if possible, but for now I think it'd be best if we gave them some time to rest, take care of things by ourselves for a while. Vanhoover, you've got some machine guns lying around, don't you? Just start pointing them up at the sky, heh.

"Anyways, it's a beautiful North Vanhoover day, and I think it's high time to get some music going. You're listening to Radio KAOS, and here's a classic album that I swear isn't a euphemism. Dark Side of the Moon, enjoy."

"You sure that this is as close as you can take us? We could've walked this!" I grumbled slightly as we disembarked from the mini-tank, Aerith hiding it with her magic after retreiving a couple large white blankets off the back, Static trotting up ahead. Scouring had elected to stay back with Crash Dive, myself hovering up in the air enough to just barely be able to make out the sihlouette of the lighthouse in the distance. Can't believe we took the half-track for this... "I mean, it'd have taken a while, sure, but I can still see the lighthouse from here!"

"You going to be yelling for the rest of the day? This is supposed to be a stealth mission, yanno. Observation, recon, we don't get spotted, stuff like that." Returning him with a roll of my eyes, I set myself down next to Aerith, troting alongside as we moved up with the earth pony. He set himself down atop a snowy hill, the alicorn spreading one of the blankets out in the snow for us to lay on, while she drape the other over our backs, presumably making us blend in with the white ground. Huh, nifty. Static pulled his goggles down over his eyes, starting to scan the compound below, while Aerith and myself both pulled our rifles out to start scanning with him. "Alright, so, now we just have to see where they're weakest in their patrols. Don't want to start anything without Scouring and Crash Dive to support us if we can help it."

"Aw, why not? We can pick them off just fine from here, and besides, I don't think their arty would be that accurate at this distance..." Shouldering War Crime - without her clip loaded - I took to looking over the sub pen through the scope, laid prone on the snowbank. Alright, couple zebras there, more over there, one guy walking along from sandbag to sandbag, and... sweet mother of Luna, those are some big shells. They're almost as big as... no, couldn't be. 'Course not, those guns don't have the right muzzlebrake. Then again... "Hey, uh, Aerith, those shells in the crate that the guy on top is moving, they look as familiar as I think they do?"

The alicorn blunk a few times, adjusting herself under the thick blanket and refocusing her sight to where mine was, peering for a few moments. Static scratched at his head beside me, confused - if those are what I think they are, then we've got some bigger issues to worry over. '8.8cm Royal Ordinance, same ones used in Rheinmetall's tank. You don't think those are actually anti-tank artillery they've got there, do you?' Passing her a worried look, I peered back through War Crime's scope, following the ammo carrier over to one of the guns. single-barrel hydraulic recoil system, emplacement but with hooks for moving... I don't think those barrels underneath are for more recoil control. A gun like that wouldn't need to aim very high to hit max effective range against a target on the ground... 'I didn't think an AT gun could serve as an AA gun, too.'

"Learn something new every day. Okay, so that pretty much nullifies any thoughts of getting armor to protect us, best thing we can probably do is try and prevent any of them from getting on the guns once things kick off. Take the ones on them out first, they can't find us and fill us full of shrapnel, yeah?" Aerith responded with a nod, Static still looking across the pen with his goggles, frustration visible on his muzzle. Oh, what is it, ya sneaky earth pony?

"I really need to find some binoculars or something at some point. I can probably stick a scope on my umbrella, right?" Well, at least your sense of humor isn't any worse for wear. Static turned back to look at the sub pen, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead. "Only downside, either of you fire, even with all this snow - heck, especially because of it, with you laying down - they'll hear and see us immediately. Really sucks, bet I could sell those guns off to Vanhoover for a million apiece, before ammo..." Never change, caps-for-brains... but that was a good point. Stupid muzzleblasts. Muzzlebrakes help somewhat, but we're dealing with the .50 MG and .30-06, still going to kick powder everywhere... and that's before the fact that neither of us have suppressors. Great.

Aerith seemed to pause for thought for a moment, before pulling the heavy blanket a little further over us, far enough to cover our rifles' scopes. Uh... kay then. Static blunk for a little bit as well, looking towards her as she pulled up a screen. 'If we're hanging here to watch them, we don't want the sun glinting off of us to give us away. Only stick the scopes out when we're looking, yeah?' The earth pony thought for a moment before responding with a nod, shuffling on the blanket below us to look at his legputer. laying War Crime down for a moment, I did the same, pushing back my jacket's sleeve - 9 AM.

"Alright, so how long before we can start popping these guys? War Crime's getting a little impatient." Static let off a small sigh, shaking his head and giving his eyes another good roll, going back to looking through his pip-buck. O...kay, so, this really is gonna be a while. Great. Well, might as well settle in... adjusting the volume, my legputer soon picked up Radio KAOS, an album just finishing up.

"-when everything under the sun is in tune,
and the sun is eclipsed by the moon!"

"That was Eclipse from the album Dark Side of the Moon, you're tuned into Radio KAOS and it is a wonderful wintry Vanhoover day out there today. Now, for the next segment, we play a lot of music here at Radio KAOS, and of course report in on the happenings of the day, but every once in a while I like to just sit back here and listen to a good story. Considering how the main star of this one looks, and their favored gun, I can't help but personally wonder if the Vanhoover Five managed to recruit the very mare herself. You're tuned into Radio KAOS, and here is The Silver Shroud."

I blunk a few times, the station silent for a few moments, Aerith and Static both looking towards my pip-buck. Wonder what Jim meant by that... well, he said 'she', so it could only be me, Aerith, or Crash Dive. Huh... "When evil trots the streets of Baaston, one mare lurks in the shadows, shielding the innocent, judging the guilty. That guardian is... The Silver Shroud! Today's episode, a Murder on Ministry Lane..."

Well, to be entirely fair, at least we don't have to deal with her actually speaking like that... I don't know if that's mean or releiving to think. Aerith was wearing the widest of grins as I turned the radio down, letting loose a sigh and looking at the clock. How the hell is it this dark and only four? And also, how the hell did that radio show run for damn near seven hours straight!? Gwuuh. Looking to Static, he had his goggles back on, looking down into the camp, and probably managing to see where everyone was a lot easier now. Well, easier than we were doing, anyways... "Can we start popping heads yet? I think the 'Shroud' over here's almost ready to charge in with her Tommy gun if we don't start doing something soon."

Aerith slapped me in the back of her head with one of her large wings, drawing my attention - and a quick glare. She let off a silent giggle in return, shouldering her rifle and loading its rounds in, myself pulling open the bolt of War Crime and doing the same with her large clip. Static let off a small sigh, answering with a nod. "Might as well, we've got enough to know the usual patrol routes. Like we planned, go for the ones by the big cannons first, and try to not blow them up. Easiest couple million caps we'll ever manage to make, if we get lucky."

"Always about the bottlecaps. Can't you learn to appreciate the simpler things, like friggin' gigantic portable artillery?" Myself wearing a smirk, Static rubbed at the side of his head, letting off a sigh. War Crime's bolt slid forwards with a satisfying clink, myself adjusting slightly and zeroing in on the head of the zebra running the corner artillery gun. Aerith did the same with the one closer to the shore, before her magic encompassed the ends of our barrels. I blunk a few times, looking over towards her - erm, something up?

'Just a little thought I had. Can catch and muffle the sounds of our guns with my magic a little, might help us stay that little extra bit hidden, and hey, miht even help with that thing's recoil. Ready to go when you are.' Answering her win a nod, I turned my attention back through the scope, crosshairs aligned right to put a fifty square between that zebra's eyes. Easing on the trigger, the hammer was soon released, a half-inch bullet flying downrange in the course of just a second, followed by two others and a .30, the first one impacting dead on target and turning everything above that zebra's shoulders into a fine red mist. Huh, whaddayaknow, that magic suppressor does work...

Settling on another target, picking the zebras off started easy, us both taking our time in clearing this side of the sub pen. Hell, you'd think the guys on the other side weren't even paying attention until one of War Crime's three-round bursts sent a plume up on one of the snowbanks over there, along with making one of them half the zebra he used to be. It ain't wrong, they shot at us first. Yesterday. With really big guns. Even with them rushing around to try and find where the fire was coming from, they really weren't thinking, practically forming a nice queue for us to start taking apart. Ooh, two for one, nice... well, two for three. You get what I mean. Aerith's rifle popped beside me as I swapped War Crime's magazine for a fresh one, the zebras down below quickly thinning out in numbers.

After a few more shots, and a few more close calls with Aerith making some backflip off of the sub pen's roof that were going for the artillery, the pen became quiet, save for the crashing of waves and howing of the wind. Scanning the area once more through our scopes, we both pulled back, Static letting off a sigh of relief as Aerith pulled the thick blanket off. He picked himself up onto his hooves, stretching out his back, as I unloaded War Crime and slipped her back into my duffel bag, stretching my own legs out. "Mmmf, sheesh, next time we do this, can it not take a whole winter day? I much prefer it when we just go in guns blazing."

"Maybe next time we won't have huge anti-everything guns to deal with. If that's the case, sure, only half a winter day." Static stuck his tongue out at me, myself fitting my duffel bag back on as Aerith revisualized the mini-tank. She set her rifle on it, flopping onto the back seat and letting off a long sigh, resting. Don't blame her, this day was pretty long, all things considered... Landing and settling myself back behind Boomer, Static jumped into the driver's seat, starting the engine back up and turning the headlight on. Scanning the snowy wasteland, a pair of figures caught my eyes in the dusk light, trotting slowly towards us from the south. Tapping Static's shoulder, he looked back towards me for a moment, before catching the pair, bringing us around and motoring towards them both, and the lighthouse they'd come from.

"Hey, guys! Ya missed all the... 'fun'. Still, we got the exterior of the sub pen cleared, so there's that." I let off a small chuckle as we pulled up to the pair of power-armored ponies, Scouring giving a nod with his helmet as Crash Dive did the same with hers, Static turning the mini-tank back around. Aerith climed up forwards, letting Scouring and Crash Dive slide in on the back seat, before we were back heading towards the pen.

Crash Dive loosed a weak chuckle through her mouthpiece's speaker, turning around to look at the carnage as we drew closer. "Heh, damn, you sure did clean this place up. Surprised it's still standing, honestly..." Pulling around to the north side of the pen, Static shut off the mini-tank, the last hints of sun slipping over the horizon and leaving the electric exterior lights of the sub pen to illuminate us. The power armored pegasus hopped off of the back, stumbling slightly, before catching and righting herself. Scouring was quick to pull up beside her, myself doing the same, Crash Dive looking between us both. "I-I'm good, just didn't want you to have all the fun. Fit as a fiddle, or something... whatever." The power armored unicorn let off a sigh, watching as Crash Dive rested herself against the concrete structure, Static going over to the large steel door.

"She's doin' better alright, but I don' think she's quite fit for full combat jus' yet. Be safer if someone stayed topside with 'er while the rest cleared it out the rest o' the way." Giving Scouring a small nod, we both looked back at Crash Dive, the pegasus leaned up against the concrete structure weakly. Trotting over with her, an annoyed grunt came from Static at the doorway, followed by the sound of a forehead impacing against a console keyboard - having issues there, Sparky? He let off a long sigh, trotting over to us.

"Well, we're gonna have to find some other way in, probably. Managed to lock that console... stupid 'manglement' and 'management, is that even a word?" Oh, boy. Well... huh, yanno, have to wonder if that might actually work. Crazy enough to, at least. Heading back over to the mini-tank, I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out Thumper and a slug shell, sliding it into the breech and snapping the barrel shut, while Static watched on in confusion. Hey, if it works for shorting robots... "Please tell me you aren't going to do what I think is exactly what you're going to do."

"Hey, maybe shorting it will actually work, you never know." Trotting up to the console, I looked around it for a moment, before placing Thumper's barrel flush with a metal access panel. Pulling the trigger handle, the round punched a clean hole inside and caused me to stumble back, the screen of the console flashing green and displaying junk for a few seconds before shutting off entirely. I blunk a few times, letting Thumper point towards the ground - Huh, I could've sworn that would work. Well, at least I thought it would... the earth pony let off a smug chuckle, trotting over beside me.

"Well, whaddayaknow, shorting it just entirely locked it up. Nice going, Strikey. Now, you gonna help us find another way inside or what?" Glaring at him, I let off a small huff, bringing Thumper back over to the mini-tank and sliding him back inside my duffel bag. Stupid thick blast door, stupid hardened concrete... I looked back towards the sub pen's entrance, my attention being caught by the sandbags and large device set atop the building. Huh... what're the chances of that door being thick enough to stop a tank shell, anyways... Static's smug grin faded as he looked back towards me. "Oh, no. I know that face, that's the face you make when you have an idea."

"Yup... hey, Aerith, think you could get one of those things down?"

The breech shut with a small clink behind me as I worked the wheels of the gun, practically bouncing in the small cushioned seat. Following the sight on the end of the barrel, it eventually settled square on the steel blast door, myself shivering with the anticipation... or, maybe just the cold. Looking over to the right, Scouring had Crash Dive by the mini-tank, with Static hiding behind it and Aerith trotting around to give a nod. Oh, yes, this is probably my favorite kind of doorbell... "Firing!"

Pulling the lever on the side of the big gun, the propellant rapidly burned up in the brass casing, forcing the armor-piercing high explosive shell down and out of the end of the barrel with a loud crack. A moment later, it hit the flat face of the door with a shower of glowing sparks, before the steel warped outwards from the force of a close explosion on the other side. The concrete crumbled as the door was forced out of it's path, the lamp above flickering for a short while after the blast settled, my ears ringing and heart pounding from the shot. Oh, momma, please tell me there's some way I can bring one of these things back home...

I coughed a little, blinking and looking down at the seat, bringing my legs together and wearing a blush. Oh... dear. Static trotted over to look at the door, before turning eyes towards myself, a curious expression falling upon him as he probably saw that bright rush of blood to my cheeks. "Eheh, um, yeah... you might want to make sure this one's cleaned before selling it off."

It seemed to take him a moment to get that, but, yeah, that look is pretty much appropriate for it. Gwuh, stupid genetics... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sweet Celestia, did it feel nice, though... "That's... disgusting, Night Strike."

"Hey, not my fault I'm Twintails' daughter..."

Author's Note

We'll be taking a break over the next two weeks on account of finals and the holidays, with plans to pick right back up in 2016. For those who've been reading along with us for so long, thank you, and I hope you'll still be enjoying the ride!

The Nuclear Option

“Well, so much for a covert entrance,” I stated, stepping up to the large metal door that had ben blasted out into the snow. I carefully peered around the fractured doorframe, but the entryway was clear of anypony investigating the racket. “Why is it that whenever I try to do things the smart way you insist on notifying everyone in a five mile radius of where we are?” Night Strike stepped up beside me, pushing a jagged bit of metal carefully out of the way with her hoof and loosing a small giggle.

“Hey, we did things your way back at that campsite town-thingy, Hornsworth. Sort of. And if I remember correctly it was your idea to overload the tesla cannon back at the slaver camp, you can’t blame that one on me~” I shook my head as Scouring met up with us, his power armor bending the bits of metal under his hooves. Night Strike looked back over her shoulder. “You going to stay up here with Crash Dive, Aerith?” The alicorn nodded, slinging her gun over her back as Crash Dive took a closer look at the artillery gun.

I stepped over the door and into the facility, pulling my goggles down over my eyes to try and spot any zebra ghouls making their way towards us. “See if you can set up those guns for moving while you’re out here, just make sure you keep an eye out for any more zebra ghouls.” Aerith nodded and Crash Dive began to make her way over to the mini-tank to bring it closer to the sub pen. Scouring, Night Strike, and I all walked into the sub pen, my goggles picking up a few ghouls rushing up a nearby stairwell towards us. “Two on the right.” I muttered as Scouring pulled out Sunburst, aiming it towards the office door.

The doors burst open, the ghouls barely having a moment to register the barrel of Scouring and Night Strike’s weapons before they were blasted backwards, one’s leg flying off and smacking into a nearby filling cabinet. Gross. We stepped into the offices, walking around the growing pool of blood from the now dead zebras towards the staircase they had come running up from. A faint beeping could be heard echoing up the stairway from the hallway below, along with the muttering of a few more ghouls. “Sounds like they’ve go' a few turrets.” Scouring mumbled.

He led the way slowly down the steps, keeping Sunburst at the ready. There was a soft clatter as a grenade bounced off the bottom of the steps, Scouring stumbling back in surprise. He bumped into me, sending me off balance as I tried to grab onto a railing to steady myself, only to fall back into Night Strike. Oh shit! The grenade exploded, Scouring’s armor taking the brunt of the force, though a few fragments of shrapnel managed to miss him and embed themselves into my legs. I cried out in pain as my legs buckled beneath me, sending me sprawling out over the floor as Night Strike fell down the stairs after me. Bullets whizzed over our heads as the small group of zebras began to fire, barely missing us as Scouring attempted to retaliate with a barrage of rockets. Unfortunately, his aim was knocked off kilter and the rocket instead flew into the ceiling, knocking a turret off of its supports and sending its metal body crashing down onto the zebra below it.

Night Strike fired off a grenade randomly, which bounced off the wall before detonating, doing nothing but sending the remaining ghouls to duck behind their makeshift cover of office tables. I struggled underneath Night Strike as Scouring shoved me off of him, pulling Sunburst back up and letting loose several rockets towards the hiding zebras. One of the tables shattered in the explosion, sending splinters into a ghouls back and knocking him to the ground as another ghoul popped up, firing off his assault rifle at us. Night Strike squeaked with fright and pain as a few bullets tore through the tip of her wing, tearing off a flurry of feathers.

The ghoul hit by the turret managed to climb back to his hooves, clearly in pain as he took aim at us as we all tried to right ourselves. In a fit of desperation, I reached into my saddlebags, my hoof wrapping around one of my flash bangs. “Shut your eyes!” I cried, hoping none of the zebras knew our language that well. The grenade burst into a flash of bright light, the ghouls crying out as they were suddenly blinded. Even as I shut my eyes, I could still see the bright flash as my goggles magnified the magic, causing my eyes to water as I tried to focus back on the scene. We all stood, slightly beat up as the zebra ghouls twitched on the ground, trying to recover from the blast.

Night Strike coughed, blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision from the bright flash. “Ugh, well, that could’ve gone better.” She flapped her wings tentatively, a few damaged feathers fluttering to the ground, along with a few flecks of blood. “You guys alright?” She asked. I nodded, looking to my legs and brushing them off a bit - thankfully none of the grenade fragments seeming to have embedded themselves too deep in. Scouring nodded as well, his armor looking somewhat damaged and his face bearing a few cuts from the shrapnel as well, though mostly unscathed.

“Yeah. Wish we’d brought along some healing potions, though.” I shifted my weight on my front hooves a little, wincing as a jab of pain shot through my legs, but managing to shrug it off and trot forward. I poked one of the zebras with my umbrella, the ghoul groaning a little, but not moving as he lay dazed on the ground. “Hopefully there aren’t many more of them left.” Scouring and Night Strike followed be down the hallway, my goggles revealing nopony else along our path towards the main docking station.

“How come you didn’t see those guys with your special goggles? You saw the guys running up the steps, didn’t you?” Night Strike asked, a little irritated as she rubbed her wing. “And you do know we’re gonna have to figure out something to do with those zebras too, right? I thought the whole point of coming here was to clear the place out so they wouldn’t be an issue when we’re carrying the bomb up to Shady Shores.” I stopped in my tracks, putting a hoof to my face. Guh, of course. Those flash bangs aren’t going to work forever...

Turning around to look at the heavily dazed zebras, I grimaced a little. “Scouring’s glow was kind of taking up most of my vision, even if I did spot them I wasn’t going to know they had a grenade ready anyway. And… uh… you can do the honors. I only deal in death when there’s no mess left behind.” Night Strike rolled her eyes, slipping the large shock-sword out from under her saddlebag straps, grunting bit from the weight. She carried the sword over to one of the zebras, placing the cool metal over its chest for a moment. She dropped the blade, and the moment it made contact there was a slight crackle, the smell of ozone filling the air as the sword shocked the ghoul, killing him in some rather violent convulsions. I cringed as she repeated the procedure with the other knocked out zebras before wiping the bloodied end off on one, sliding the sword back under her saddlebags. How can she do that so nonchalantly?...

We were soon stepping through the door at the end of the hallway into the main docks. Like the room overrun with angler ponies, opposite of the doorway was a large pool of water, doors shut down over passages that led out into the ocean. Moored at one of the docks was a small submarine, years of disuse having left a layer of rust over much of the surface and several hinges. I walked along the docks towards the submarine, Night Strike and Scouring following suit. “See any more?” Scouring asked, adjusting Sunburst on his back.

I glanced about, but couldn’t see any more zebras around. My gaze moved upwards as I noticed a window into a small control room. “There aren’t any more gouls, but there might be something up there worth looking at.” I pointed up to the window, and Night Strike took the lead towards the metal steps leading up to the office. The stairs creaked under our weight, the metal groaning ominously as Scouring trotted up behind us. Night Strike fiddled with the door for a moment before it opened up, revealing the control room that now had a few mattresses spread out on the floor.

Stepping over the dirty mattresses, I slid into a chair in front of a large control panel and terminal. Fans began to whir to life as I reached around and flipped the switch on the back. Scouring dug through some files absentmindedly as green lines of code filled the screen before disappearing to be replaced by a few simple options. Let’s see… docking procedure, naval rules of engagement, maintenance reports… I selected ‘docking schedule’, a table of times and sub names appearing. “Anything interesting?” Night Strike asked, leaning over my shoulder. I clicked down the list, each sub followed by a short description of their reason for departure. Scouring, scouting, transfer to south base, transporting soldiers, scouting… I paused, reaching a sub listed as SSBN-37-1A. That's different...

Selecting the submarine, The screen scrolled through gibberish for a moment as a short file was brought up. And... well, that's not Equestrian. Scratching a hoof against my head for a moment, Scouring trotted over, looking at the screen with us. "Huh, that's some zebra transcript. You don't think they 'ere actually using this place fer somethin' before the war?" Answering him with a shrug, the power-armored stallion looked at it for a moment, before pulling something from his power armor and sliding it in the side of the console. The screen flickered for a moment, the writing changing to a language I could read, the unicorn wearing a smirk. "Standard translation holotape, all rangers from my unit had 'em. Helps with findin' what's worth taking from zebra tech."

Answering him with a nod as the file was translated through and he ejected the holotape, he went back to lookng through the filing cabinets, myself looking over the file again. Looks like the standard format for all the others, almost... 'SSBN-37-1A to arrive 10-23 at 09:00, cargo aboard for Project Cerberus, to be shipped in inconspicuous 'Sunrise Sarsaparilla' delivery wagons to exchange point. Among crew complement, 100 bars gold, 510 oz, purity rating of 999.9-' My brain froze, trying to register what it had read. A hun... hun... hundred bars of pure gold? 510 ounces of… I…

I fell off of the chair, my brain trying to grind back into gear. Scouring looked up from rummaging through the filing cabinets as he heard me thud to the ground. My mind suddenly clunked back into place and I jumped back to my hooves, leaning over the terminal. Ok, ok, coordinates, where was this thing coming from? Please tell me it didn’t wreck in the middle of the ocean, or that the gold was dropped from it by mistake or something. Come on, Static, gold isn’t that valuable. Well, maybe, but… I shook my head, focusing back on the terminal. Let’s see, any sort of last transmission, or transponder location? Please, just one gold bar, that’s all I'll ask for! Night Strike seemed to have read it as well... which begs the question as to why she doesn't look nearly as excited over it. “...I -really- hope you aren’t serious about searching the entire northern ocean for some possibly wrecked submarine.”

Grumbling and smacking the side of the terminal upon finding nothing, I lifted up my Pip-Buck leg and hooked it up to the computer. “Ech, well, maybe we can make a detour to that shipyard our dads found west of the SCAB to find something that can pick up the gold. Or maybe the KAOS ship has some kind of radar we can use, I don’t know. Didn't Marigold say something about coming from a city powered by a giant ship's reactor?” After downloading the submarines information I stood back up, stepping out of the control room after Night Strike and Scouring.

“Jeez, you’d think after all the caps we’re going to get from selling off the guns outside you’d have enough.” Night Strike said as we started to head back towards the hallway to the entrance. Climbing up the steps, I could faintly hear the sound of metal clanging against metal and chains being lashed together as Crash Dive and Aerith secured the large gun's carriage to the mini-tank. We stepped out into the chilly air, our hooves crunching through the snow.

“I thought you would’ve figured out by now I won’t have enough caps until I can fill a room with them and go swimming in it.” Aerith looked over as Crash Dive finished tying up the large anti-tank cannon to the half-track's hitch, yanking on the chains to test their strength. I clambered up into the driver’s seat as Night Strike hopped on to the seat of the gun behind us, fiddling with the controls a bit. “If you try firing that thing while we’re driving I’m leaving it!” I shouted back to her over the engine as it rumbled to life.

Crash Dive climbed up onto the tank as Scouring settled himself behind the controls of Boomer, the power armored pegasus resting back with the alicorn beside her. “Place cleared out of zebras, then?” Scouring nodded in response, and I carefully twisted the handle of the mini-tank. The tank rolled forward for a moment before the chain snapped tight and the treads dug into the ground as I cranked up the power. For a moment nothing happened, but soon the enormous gun began to roll forward on its base, the tank dragging it up the gradual slope along the coast.

I shivered a little as we travelled along the coast back towards the Lighthouse, the wind whipping around me as I started to pick up speed, the engine complaining as we went up another slope. Ugh, at least it’s mostly downhill between the Lighthouse and Vanhoover. I fiddled with my Pip-Buck, switching over to the radio as I settled into the seat for the long drive, music crackling through the tiny speakers.

“-fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down, and the flames went higher.
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire, the ring of fire.”

The sky was completely black as we arrived at the lighthouse, only the stars and moon above giving light with a bright haze towards the south - Vanhoover itself, probably. Waves lapped at the treads of the half-track as it rolled towards the lighthouse, the creaking of the massive AA gun's rubber wheels dying down as I came to a stop outside the cottage attached to the lighthouse. We all climbed off of the tank and trotted inside, Night Strike letting off a yawn as we entered. I checked my Pip-Buck, grumbling a little when I saw it was barely seven o’clock. Stupid short winter days. Pushing aside a few bottles of Sparkle-Cola that still sat on the table, I slid into the chair as Crash Dive sat across from me.

My stomach growled, prompting me to flip open my saddlebags and dig around for the MREs Night Strike and I had gathered back at the training camp. I tossed a few packages out onto the table, Aerith taking one and immediately tearing it open with her magic. I tried tugging on the tough plastic with my hooves, eventually resorting to using my teeth to try and get the package open. Guh, stupid unicorns and their stupid magic... After a few minutes of tugging and biting, I managed to rip open the plastic, Scouring and Night Strike already starting to eat from their own meals. “Hey, Crash Dive, did this lighthouse ever actually work, as, yanno, a lighthouse?” Night Strike asked as she twisted off the cap to a bottle of soda.

Crash Dive was stirring up a bag of thick stew and waited until she had a few bites to answer. “It’s never worked since I’ve been here. It’s probably just a busted bulb or a dead battery, I’ve never bothered to check. Was nice, meant people weren't wondering about it and I was left alone.” She took another bite of stew, Scouring slurping on the packaged chocolate shake noisily. I chomped down on the lukewarm shredded hay, reaching for a bottle of Sparkle-Cola for myself. “You could always go up and look at it if you want. I don’t really care if it’s running or not now... kind of have a sizable reputation thanks to you lot as it is.”

I shrugged, taking a sip of soda. “It couldn’t hurt, maybe we can get it running again. Would be nice, at least.” We sat in silence, save for the clink of glasses on the table and the occasional gulp as we ate our food. I leaned back in my chair, letting out a satisfied sigh as I rested a hoof on my stuffed belly. Tilting my head back to finish off the last dregs of soda, I pushed the chair away from the table and stood up. “Well, I guess I’ll go check out the light, if anypony wants to as well.” Aerith pushed back her chair and followed me, the others still making their way through their food. I paused, not sure where to go. “Uh… which way to actually get up to the bulb?”

“Metal door at the end of the hallway, same place I pointed for that old games system. Just keep going up the stairs until you get there.” Crash Dive said. I nodded and trotted over to the long hallway that ran through the house. Following along, we passed an old wooden door that sat slightly ajar, revealing Crash Dive’s room, soon reaching an imposing slab of metal at the far end. I trotted over to the door and turned the handle, the hinges sticking for a moment before the door swung open, a rush of cold air blowing through the hallway.

Aerith followed me through the door, a shiver running up my spine as the door shut behind us, blocking off the heat from the small house attached to the brick tower. Welp, up we go, I guess. Our hoofsteps echoed through the lighthouse as we trotted up the spiral staircase, wind whistling by it. We passed by a few windows on our way, revealing the coast and the sun dipping below the sea, leaving us with nothing to illuminate our path except for a few dusty, dim bulbs placed periodically along the steps. Aerith’s horn began to glow to help light up the staircase as we approached the top of the lighthouse, a door opening to a platform surrounding a glass room that housed the impressive glasswork and lighthouse bulb.

Wind whipped through our manes as we stepped inside to the mechanism where the surprisingly intact bulb sat. 'Well, it looks like an electrical problem, then.' a sign conjured up by Aerith said. 'You’re good with that kind of stuff, right? I mean, if you wired that tesla cannon to explode, have to be... right?' I bent down to look more closely at the wiring, noticing several frayed cords running from the large bulb to an electrical box mounted to the metal framework of the windows around the magnifying panels of glass.

“Uh, a little. I think inaccurate cutie-marks run in the family. I’m still not really sure why Minty’s wasn’t a laser beam or something... Then again, I guess he’d have to change his name to plasma coil or something else energy related if it was. Do you see any sort of insulator around?” I asked as I carefully took some of the wires in my hooves and pulled them together. A few sparks leapt from the connecting metal, bouncing on the floor before fizzling away. Aerith flipped open a rusty toolbox resting by the switch, digging around in it before tossing me a roll of electrical tape. After fiddling for the end for a moment, I was able to wrap a few coils around the exposed wiring, doubling the layer afterwards just to be safe. “Well, let’s hope there wasn’t any significant damage from rain... The glass should’ve stopped most of it, at least. Oh, and don’t look at the light, obviously.”

Aerith placed a hoof on the electrical box switch, both of us turning away before she pulled down, the lever moving reluctantly. The sound of grinding gears and heavy hum of large motors met our ears as the bulb flickered to life behind us, the powerful beam shooting out into the dark sky as the mirror rotated on its pedestal. I could feel the heat of the bulb as the light crossed over my back - oh, on a night like this, that felt nice. Aerith and I stood for a moment, just watching as the beam of the lighthouse circled around, shining off into the distance. I finally yawned, glancing down at my Pip-Buck. Well, it’s at least dark enough to justify going to bed, even if it’s a bit early.

I moved towards to the door leading out to the platform to head back downstairs as Aerith followed me, making sure to latch the glass room door shut before heading into the spiral tower again. We were soon trotting back into the warmth of Crash Dive’s house, the sound of conversation echoing up the kitchen below. “…my dad shot her, it was weird.” Night Strike stopped her story, glancing over to us. “So, you get the lighthouse running again?”

Aerith nodded, slipping into the chair next to Scouring, myself letting off another long yawn. “I’m heading off to bed, though. We’ll want to leave kind of early to get to Vanhoover before dark.” The others bid me goodnight as I trotted into my room, yawning widely as I pulled the curtains shut. I climbed into bed and flopped my head down onto my pillow, sleep quickly washing over me.

The sun was hanging low in the sky as we crested one of the hills that made up the bowl of land that Vanhoover was sunken in the middle of. The tank began to roll down the hill towards the main bridge where a few ponies were standing guard on either side, a caravan trotting out of the city and turning in east. One of the guards lifted their rifle up nervously as we approached, the barrel of his gun following me as I slowed down to a halt outside the small blockade at the bridge. “S-state your business.” The guard with the lowered gun demanded, the other one clicking the safety of his rifle off.

“Uh… we’re looking to sell this. We heard you guys needed some extra firepower.” I said, nodding back towards the large gun as Night Strike leaned in her seat to glance at the guards. The guard trotted up the gun, looking it over as the other guard kept his gun pointing towards me. The guard inspecting the gun trotted back up to the front of the tank.

“We can’t allow you to come in showing off a weapon like that. If anypony got a hold of it, could level a block in a few seconds. You’ll have to turn it over to the city watch if you plan on brining it in.” The other guard began to move towards the chains of the tank, his horn flaring up as he began to unhitch the chains. I narrowed my eyes, not liking where this was going.

“I’m not going to conduct business in a city that’s not welcome to humble traders, much less ones named after the very city in question.” I leaned over the side of the mini-tank, looking the guard dead in the eye. He glanced back to the massive gun, then to the other guard who was suddenly a little nervous. “If you’re worried about ponies getting a hold of our equipment, then perhaps we shouldn’t be selling to someplace that can’t keep guns like this in check.” The guard’s ear twitched slightly, his expression going a bit sour. He waved the other guard away from the chains of our tank as he walked over to lift up the barricade.

I slowly drove over the bridge, hearing one of the guards grumbling to the other over the loud creaking. “I told you you’d never get that for free from him. That barrel's as big as your head, ya moron!” The mini-tank trundled in to the town, passing by the docks where ponies were preparing to go out for night fishing. I glanced around, searching for the city hall. Assuming the city hall wasn’t burned up in the megaspells.

Aerith’s horn lit up as she created a sign to speak with. ‘Do you remember where Pressure Cooker lives? She might know somepony we should go to.’ I nodded and turned down the street, heading off towards her house. A few ponies watched as we passed, muttering amongst themselves, looking at the large gun warily. Sheesh, for ponies that were begging for extra armaments, they sure are skeptical whenever somepony actually comes to bring it around. We turned down another street, entering Pressure Cooker’s somewhat crowded neighborhood, each house pressed closely into the one beside it. Not exactly city living... claustrophobic suburb, maybe?

The engine died as I pulled up in front of Pressure Cooker’s house and all of us climbed out. Aerith’s horn flashed as she turned the tank and the large gun invisible - Yeah, we really don’t need a repeat of what happened last time. Night Strike trotted up to the front door, knocking a few times. There was some scuffling before the door opened up, Pressure Cooker greeting us. “Oh, hello! I didn’t think you would be showing up here again.” She stepped backwards, allowing us inside. “What’re you in town for? Everything go well with the new engine?”

“We were just dropping off an anti-aircraft gun. We figured you’d know who we should see about that.” Night Strike asked. Pressure Cooker wandered over to her kitchen where a pot of rice was boiling on the stove. She carefully removed the lid, leaning back to avoid the hot steam before throwing in a few spices and stirring the rice up. "...that, and you're kind of the only person we know around here."

“Ah, well... we don’t exactly have a city hall anymore, so can't send you there. One bad thing about Vanhoover being so big is it’s a bit hard to keep laws in check like they can up in Maple Creek. I can take you to the old police station where the guards are located, that’s probably your best bet.” She turned the dial on the stove off and carefully slid the pot of rice over to the counter to cool. “Come on.” Huh, convenient timing then, I guess.

We stepped outside, Aerith rematerializing the tank, Pressure Cooker stumbling for a moment as she stared up at the gun. “Ah… well, I guess I should’ve expected it to be that big but…” Her voice trailed off as she stared up at the long barrel of the gun, eyes wide. I nudged her and she shook her head, trotting down to hop onto the half-track. “Right, sorry. Just... never seen a tank gun before.” We were soon all set back up in the tank, the engine rumbling to life as I turned around and headed back down to road, following Pressure Cooker’s directions. Night Strike flipped on her radio, music crackling in as we wound our way through the town.

“Ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low
Ain’t no river wide enough, baby
If you need me, call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far
Just call out my name, I’ll be there in a hurry, you don’t have to worry
Cause baby there ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you!"

The seat of the eighty-eight millimeter bore gun offered a decently tall - if obstructed to the left - view of the Vanhoover streets, passers-by staring up at us in surprise as we made way through the narrow city roads, heading towards the center. We opened up to a main avenue, several ponies with shops selling stuff on it, and several more walking around, it ending by an official-looking structure labeled as the 'Vanhoover Police Department'. My hooves idly played with the traverse wheels for a moment, watching the gun rise and fall slowly as the police station drew close. A weak chuckle escaped me - why do I get the feeling that sometimes the stuff we do could only happen in a place after the bombs fell and pre-war society went with it?...

Pulling up in front of the large structure, a stallion appeared from the doorway, wearing a long duster and some combat armor beneath it. He quickly trotted over to us, down the long stairway in front of the building, Static turning the engine off as I rested back and gave him a small wave. Sheesh, we've probably made half of Vanhoover make that face at this point... "Captain Spec Ops, LVPD. Glad to see you five finally responded to our calls on Radio KAOS, had tried to send out message couriers but they all couldn't track you down for the life of 'em. Ahm, this... this the gun?" Static responded with a nod as I started to crank the elevation wheel, watching as the barrel quickly rose to point skywards, turning it around on the trailer for looks. Yep, and there are those wide eyes again... "Al... alright, then."

"Sorry we could only get one over here, thing weighs seven and a half tons. We can get some more ammo, but as long as you're reasonably accurate with this, well, trust me, you won't need it." Lowering the gun back down and pointing it ahead, I hopped down from the gunner's seat, landing beside Spec Ops as he looked over the gun, Static following behind. "Couldn't tell you the fire rate, but it can lob a shell fast enough to punch through a tank and shoot proxy-fused AA rounds, will detonate as long as they get near a target. Pretty good for defending Vanhoover against any aerial threat, right?" I let off a small chuckle, leaning against one of the wheels. "I'd say stick it somewhere that you have a clear view of the sky, city limits or something. Easier to see what's coming in from above when you don't have skyscrapers blocking your view. So, who we gotta sell this bad boy to?"

"A-ahm... you're lookin' at him. Also kind of the mayor, sometimes. You said this thing could punch through a tank?..." A wide grin was across my face as Static looked over to me, wearing a smile of his own. Oh, I do so love it when someone's looking over a nice, huge gun I was using... don't read into that. The earth pony looked towards the Captain/Mayor as he trotted back over, still looking at the gun. "Ahm... okay, you said this thing weighs seven tons? Erm, could you maybe haul it to the north gate for us, then? We don't have much that can actually fit down the streets and pull that..."

"Hang on a moment there, we hauled this fine fully functional piece of hardware here to make a sale. We'll discuss setting it up afterwards, and payment for that. For now, I think we should head inside to discuss those matters - prior experience has proven that you generally want to be somewhere you can sit down..." Spec Ops blunk a few times before returning a nod, trotting around to the other side of the large gun's trailer with Static following behind. Looking back towards the mini-tank, Aerith glanced to Scouring and Crash Dive, all three of them giving a nod, while Pressure Cooker hopped off and disappeared into the crowd - yup, stay with the expensive gun, good plan. Turning back, I caught up with Static and Spec Ops, stepping through into the large hall.

"Alright, my office is just this way. I'm really glad you guys did manage to show up finally, but I really wasn't expecting a, well, THAT. Where'd you find that thing, anyways? Tear it out of a tank, like the ones up at Maple Station?" Trotting through the large important-looking hall, we passed by a receptionist's desk, heading up the stairway behind. Doubling back, we were soon passing along the upper walkway, heading for the front end of the building again, Spec Ops opening a doorway at the end. Well, he's not exactly wrong... I think. Which came first, Porschia or the AA guns...

"Picked it off of a submarine pen up the coast, actually. Uses the same 88 by 571-millimeter ammo as one of the Tank Ghouls' tanks, exception being the proximity fused rounds. Dunno if it's exactly the same gun though, Porschia has a funky muzzlebrake." The Mayor gave me an odd look as we stepped inside his office, Static already getting himself comfy in one of the chairs in front of the desk as we trotted over, the door shutting behind me. Don't know how much good the muzzlebrake actually does to help, but damned if not having it makes firing that thing off feel all that much nicer... really get an appreciation for the power in that shell. "Point is, you won't find a more powerful shell anywhere, unless the HMS Cadence has some 8-inch AA shells to fire."

"...right. So, anyways, based on matters including the general lethality of the gun, the excessive weight and difficulty in transport, and actual transport fees, I would think a fair price of one million caps would suffice. Before ammo." Static adjusted himself in his chair as Spec Ops blunk a few times, returning a blank expression. Really just going straight for it this time, eh, Sparky? After a long moment, the earth pony looked to myself, then back to the mayor. "Erm, is something wrong?"

He blunk a few times, giving his head a shake and leaning against his desk. "Oh, no, no, not at all. I just thought I misheard you... you said the gun would cost a million caps? As in, one hundred ten thousand cap bags? Million with an 'M', that... that million?"

"Before ammo, yes. What do you think, Night Strike, a thousand per round? It'd be difficult to get more, but we certainly could. We have around thirty shells with it already, twenty proximity fused." How he can utterly gut ponies like that for a pile of caps so nonchalantly, I'll never know. Spec Ops' expression looked strained as he fell back into his chair, looking between us. After another moment, he wordlessly pulled open one of his desk's drawers, putting out onto it a bottle of Wild Pegasus and three glasses. He opened the bottle, but paused before he poured, instead bringing the neck of it to his lips and quickly draining half as we watched on. And I thought people only did that when they learned that we only have dads...

He gasped for breath, setting the bottle back down onto his desk, panting for a few moments. "S-sorry about that. I... probably should have expected something like that, actually. You guys really are pretty cut-throat when it comes to weapons trading, aren't you?" Static answered with a slight shrug, myself leaning back into the chair. Okay, before we kill this guy with a sudden onset heart attack, maybe we should pursue other payment options... "I-I mean, yeah, we can afford it, right now. Maybe get some money back from offering aerial protection to Seaddle... nnfh, nah, they're too far away. Damn... Ahm, there any way that you could accept payment otherwise? I mean, we do have plenty of caps in the treasury, but... yeah... erm, I know this great pizza place! Lovely owners, just don't mind their pet turtles. And rat. Anything on the house, for the next few... years?"

"Ehm... no, no, that's fine, caps are fine for payment. We'll take twenty-five grand for all the rounds, and the... previously discussed value for the gun." I let off a weak chuckle, Spec Ops letting off a sigh and holding a hoof against the side of his head. We're gonna cause half of this wasteland's authority figures to die of alcohol poisoning and stress at this rate... Static tapped a hoof against his chin for a moment, looking out the window at the last hints of evening.

"Actually, can think of one thing. The shipyards here, they have anything for prolonged underwater survival? Watertight suits, or something like that?" Both myself and Spec Ops looked at him in confusion for a few moments, myself understanding after a second... and placing a hoof against my forehead. Come on, Sparky, I met that gold's all devalued at this point, irradiated or disintegrated or something. Metal can dissolve, right? "We, ahm, we discovered information about a wreck that's full of... anglerponies, ahm, the sea creatures that were in the reservior. Want to see if we can get underwater to destroy it... yeah, that."

"And, building off of that, ah, any C4 or other waterproof explosives you might have in stock would be useful, too. That with the suits might be enough to waive the ammunition fee, just have you pay for the gun." Static shot me a small look as I added on to his - admittedly believable - lie, Spec Ops resting back in his chair. Oh, stuff it, we can always use more explosives and we don't need to completely clear out their bank on our first pass through. The stallion on the other side of the desk sat in silence for a long moment, myself thinking. "Ahm, any other ammo you might have and aren't immediately using would help, too. Mainly just need forty-five ACP, three-o-eight, fifty MG, and forty millimeter grenades on that front."

"Alright, I'll get some calls out, should only take an hour or so to get all of the ammunition and bottlecaps together. Head to the shipyards in the meantime, they'll know you're coming and should have what you're looking for when you get there." I passed on a nod, and both Static and myself slipped out of the chairs, Spec Ops taking another long drink from his bottle of Wild Pegasus. Stepping over to the door, I was stopped as Static put a hoof to my shoulder, the mayor gasping for breath after his second swig. "Ahm, oh, right, as for getting the gun set up..."

"Twenty-five hundred caps for delivery, take it or leave it." Static responded rather bluntly, Spec Ops thinking for a moment before letting off a sigh and giving a shrug in response. The earth pony beside me wore a smug smile, trotting out through the doorway as the mayor started to place those calls - well, progress is progress...

The electric lights of the dockyard made our shadows dance on the stone and concrete as we powered through towards it, the headlight illuminating the road ahead of us somewhat as we pressed on through the darkness. Guh, it's only six, how is it this dark already... stupid winter. Least we were able to get the gun through around this way easily enough. Shuffling slightly on the side of the mini-tank, Static pulled us over beside one of the larger docks, some ponies standing nearby a machine purring away near the water's edge, with some lines running out under the water. I thought they said they didn't have portable generators...

Static shut off the mini-tank and climbed out as I hopped off to swoop over to where the dock workers were, landing behind them, the noise of my hooves hitting the ground momentarily drowned out by the sound of the machine. Trotting around it drew a glance from one of them, myself more focused on the device - what kind of generator needs that big of a fuel tank? Why's the fuel tank got pressure guages on the pipes that feed out of it? And why would a generator need an electric motor to power the piston... okay, so maybe it's not a generator. Eh, still is interesting, at least.

Focused in on the machine for the moment, the feeling of a large metal hoof resting on my shoulder caused me to jump slightly, Crash Dive's eyes meeting my own. She let off a small chuckle, nodding over to the building beofre walking towards it, myself following behind. Passing through a doorway on the outside, the drone of the non-generator-thingy was muted enough for us to hear each other again, myself looking around the empty enclosed dock. "Static's gone off to find who to talk to. Honestly kind of want to see what these suits look like for myself, nice knowing I'm not the only one who's made suits for going underwater."

Responding with a small shrug, we soon reached the back of the dock, where we found the blue earth pony similarly trotting behind a large unicorn stallion towards a section near the back. Catching up with him, Static passed us both a small glance, the sounds of heavy clanking and material being shuffled around coming from the room the Unicorn had gone into. After a moment, he reappeared, two bulky-looking suits held in his magic, along with two wide-faced helmets. "Alright, here's two of the atmospheric suits we use for wetdock repairs. Got the okay from the mayor for you to take 'em, each one has its own air recycler systems aboard to give a while to get out if the line gets severed, and filters otherwise so they'll protect against radiation. Onboard air tank's good for a few minutes and gets recharged in about thirty, you'll need a compressor for any really deep work, though. Gonna assume you don't have one."

The unicorn looked aorund for a moment and levitated over the suits, setting them down in front of us as he trotted off again, letting us sit and examine them a little more closely. Well, if it works, it works... Crash Dive took to doing the same, being careful with her power armor's tail. After a moment, she let off a small scoffing noise, drawing our attention. "These things are what you two're gonna be wearing? They look completely ridiculous, wouldn't catch me wearing something like these in a million years. Not just saying that on account of the stuff I am wearing actually protecting against more than water, either."

"Well, it's better than nothing. Hopefully wherever the sub actually is isn't too deep down, I dunno how far these'll actually let us get to without issue. Probably gonna need your help in figuring out how to walk underwater, too..." Letting off a weak chuckle, I looked over the helmet of one of them, peering through the large glass face. Well, least vision won't be too constricted... hopefully we can find some flashlights or something to stick on these things, don't much fancy working in the dark.

The unicorn came back after a while, pulling another one of those machines that was running outside when we first came in behind him, and levitating some smaller rubber things alongside as well. "Forgot to mention, if you're gonna be on a long dive, gonna need these things, too. Helps keep the air fresh and system clear, you especially don't want a build-up of helium inside one of those suits after working for a while. Filters'll clear out most stuff, but that's one of the things that just keeps getting recirculated. Gonna have to put these on before you climb in them, easier to do that, make sure the release valve connects up to the one on the outside of the suit and you'll be good to go. Everything's been paid for by the mayor already, just holler if you need anything else."

Unhitching himself from the compressor and dropping the two rubber things with us, the unicorn turned and left us be, Static already gathering up one of the suits. Crash Dive took to getting the compressor hooked onto her suit, while I turned attention back to the pile of rubber laying atop the suit I was going to wear. Okay, so, how's this thing supposed to keep me from farting inside the suit, anyways? Picking it up, and watching how it unfolded, it did take a moment for me to register just why Static had that wide-eyed look that soon gave way to laughter, Crash Dive even holding back a snicker of her own as she trotted over. Blinking and turning the thing around in my hooves, and noticing how baggy it was around the waist and leg holes... Oh, for the love of Celestia and Luna above, why?

"Like I said, you'd never catch me wearing that in a million years..."

The sun was well beyond the horizon as we finally made it back to the lighthouse, the massive anti-aircraft gun replaced by a smaller wagon, stacked with several crates of ammunition and an obscene amount of bottlecaps that Static was stuck grinning stupidly over. Splashing our way over the submerged land bridge, we pulled up onto the island the lighthouse stood upon, the earth pony turning off the engine and happily jumping out of the driver's position, darting over to the back of the cart and grabbing the bags, starting to carry them inside. I gave a roll of my eyes as I hovered over to start bringing the ammo in, Aerith and Scouring doing the same with some of the larger boxes. Crash Dive held the door as we all came inside, moving herself over to the table and sliding over to the window, resting there.

Static had most of the bags of bottlecaps brought inside by his second trip, and from the sounds of things was starting to try and make a bed out of them. Yeah, I'll take a real bed tonight, thanks... Setting the other grenades with the rest in the kitchen, I let off a long yawn, Scouring and Aerith already heading to their own bedrooms for the night. Giving my head a shake, I turned to head down the hallway and beat some sense into Static with one of those bags of bottlecaps, though stopped as I saw Crash Dive, with a smile on her muzzle. Maybe it's the tiredness talking, but that sight's gonna take a bit of getting used to... Shuffling over on the other side of the table, she glanced towards me, looking back out the window. "Pretty night tonight, looks like a full moon."

"Yeah..." Taking one of the bottles of soda that was yet to be moved off of the table and to the base of the lighthouse tower, I cracked it open, taking a few sips from it. Yeah, doesn't taste quite as good when it's warm. The power armored pegasus let off a light sigh across from me, still looking out the window. Hrm... she's not addicted anymore, but, if she didn't take off the power armor while she was staying there... "So... how're you feeling, after so many days sober. Everything alright? And your, um... wings?"

Crash Dive's smile faltered for a moment as she turned to look towards myself, hooves resting on the table. After a moment, she let off a much less contented sigh, though still wore a bit of a smile upon her muzzle. "I think I know what you're wondering. Y-yeah, I still do have them attached, they're still there, underneath the plates. They're just..." She released another sigh, her head lowering. "I just can't feel them anymore. A few hours into the treatment, the pain started back up. The doctors there, had me take off the armor to see what the issue was... they wanted to amputate them when they saw all the damage for themselves. I managed to get them to just cut all the nerve endings there, as a compromise." I blunk a few times, keeping quiet, the quarter-drunk bottle of soda rested on the table with my hoof around it. Well... I suppose that answers that. Mostly a happy ending, at least, all things considered... Crash Dive broke into a small chuckle after a moment, looking out the window. "Guess between that and my armor, my cutie mark really fits me now..."

I chuckled with her for a moment, taking another sip from the bomb-bottle of lukewarm soda. "Heh, no kdding... huh. Yanno, I don't think you've told or shown us what that was yet, actually." She blunk a few times in response, a hoof moving to rest under her chin. She thought for a moment, myself taking another small sip. "I mean, we did ask, way back when, but I think you just asked us about ours and we wound up sidetracked. What is it, anyways?"

The power armored pegasus fell silent for a moment, before a small chuff came from her nose, a smile crossing her muzzle. She leaned against the table, looking out the window again, but this time with her eyes looking downwards, to the sea. "It's an anchor. You know, one like what that battleship over on the island has, a big metal thing for dropping and keeping ships in place. Was nearly laughed out of basic training for it... suppose we can blame that for some of my delightfully pleasant demeanor. You can only take so much shit, after all..."

Okay, not sure what I expected, really, but that wasn't quite it. Thought it would've been something like, I dunno, an air craft? Maybe? But an anchor... huh. Well, all things considered, it's appropriate, at least... "Well... there are worse cutie marks to have. Least it isn't something like a broken bone or bloodied wing, or a Sunrise Sarsaparilla logo, right?" Releasing a light chuckle, Crash Dive joined me, giving a nod and resting her chin back on her armored hoof. I leaned back in the booth, taking another sip of soda. "At least it's only an anchor, kind of doubt many ponies would actually know what that is. How d'you think I'd do in basic training having a cutie mark like mine, an ICBM mid-flight?"

Crash Dive let off a laugh after a moment, shaking her head in response. "You, in basic? Doubt you'd make it through without getting court-martialed for blowing something up, cutie mark or not. Probably'd get a few friends though, lot of the ponies there aren't all that bright and someone with a missile for a cutie mark's bound to be a fun time no matter what. Just hope your barn door swings both ways..." Blinking a few times at that last comment - barn door?... oh, -that- barn door - I was left silent for a moment as Crash Dive kept watching out the window. She seemed to look out of it a little more intensely for a second, before shuffling off of the booth, myself coming to again and watching her start to head for the doorway.

"Uh... what's up? See something out there?" Following behind, the chill night air bit at my wings and face, a breeze blowing off of the northern ocean and whipping around the island. Crash Dive's helmet lamp illuminated the darkness as she headed for the water-covered land bridge, glinting off of the choppy ocean and... something else. I blunk a few times, watching as the water was splashed into a foamy spray by the creature... figure... thing in it, it struggling with a large steel tub. "Uh..."

"Gack... Nobody told me a bucket of water was so damn heavy out of water..." Crash Dive rushed over to help get the large tub up onto the rocky bridge, the figure jumping out of the water and into it, causing some to spill over the side. His flipper tail settled lazily over teh side, the power armored pegasus looking at him for a moment before starting to drag the whole metal tub up onto the snowy shore. Fin tail... sea pony? They actually exist, and aren't hideous malformed things like the Anglerponies? Huh... "Thanks. Ahm, right, sorry about being a bother, but... you're the ones who were snooping around that place up the coast, right? That submarine pen, whatever? Ah... Vanhoover Five? I'm Depth Charge, by the way."

"Erm, yeah, that's us. What're... what d'you need?" Okay, it's late, I'm tired, I'm half-willing to just chalk this whole encounter up to exhaustion. The sea pony splashed a little in his tub, Crash Dive setting it up against the side of the house in the light, before taking a few steps back and looking towards him with me.

"Well, see, I dunno if you handle stuff deep underwater, but I've been listening to your exploits through that old radio station, and I think you guys could help. There's this old sub wreck just outside that place you were, ran aground on a reef or hit a mine or something, and nowadays it's gotten to be home to a whole lot of these nasty things, look like an anglerfish and a pony tried to have a baby." Wrecked sub full of anglerponies... no, couldn't be. Oh, but if it is... "I, um, I dunno if you actually accept payment or do these things for free like the guy on that ship says, but I did get this out of that sub before I was chased off. It's heavy and shiny, hope it's actually worth something to you and I didn't just grab a paperweight to try and pay you with..."

He ducked down in the tub for a moment, splashing some of the frigid water over the sides, before hefting a largeish rhomboid bar out and balancing it on the edge. The sea pony wore a small smile, as I could only stare at it in disbelief. No freakin' way. Crash Dive came to her senses sooner than I did, myself teetering on my hooves slightly as I went for the door. Yeah, I really must be dreaming, because a talking fish pony just asked us to clear out a sunken submarine loaded with anglerponies off the coast and then went and paid us up front with a solid bar of gold. Crash Dive took to handling the rest of the deal as I stepped inside the house, headed down the hallway, and promptly collapsed on the non-made-of-caps bed that was in our room.

I really hope that this was a dream, because if not... damnit Static, why did your lie have to be true?

"Right... Suppose we've dealt with weirder stuff. You really think this is a good idea?" The next day came to prove that last night's encounter definitely wasn't a dream, and that Static can squee loud enough to nearly burst ear drums. Or, at least aggravate my tinnitus. Aerith and Static had gone off to Maple Creek to get Ripple and Trout, leaving myself and Scouring to head to the sub pen, led by Crash Dive. Why she was so insistent on leading us there without telling us why, that's a good question I don't think I'll get an answer to... much in the same way I'll never get an answer to why a rubber diaper gas bag was the best that whoever designed these damned diving suits could come up with. "I mean, it is a bar o' gold, but how do we know that sea pony isn't jus' tellin' us to blow up something that's the home of somepony else he don't like?"

"He wouldn't have been able to give a perfect description of the Anglerponies if he hadn't have seen them himself. I trust him." The obliterated steel door of the sub pen enterance met us, all of us squeezing our way through the opening, along with a bit of snow carried on the breeze. We made way back through the facility, eventually reaching the actual docks for the subs, the power armored pegasus heading to the far end of the room and looking over some of the heavy doorways that presumably led to storage areas. I gave Scouring a small glance, which he returned, as Crash Dive finally stopped at one and smashed the lock off with her armored hoof. She looked back towards us both for a moment, still stood in front of the door.

"He also did tell me about something that was in storage here that you two would be the best for helping with, perfect for destroying that thing. I didn't want to spoil the surprise... or have to deal with you being hyperactive in that thing for the whole walk over." I blunk a few times in response, scratching at the back of my head with the rubber boot of the suit. Well, um, okay? Why the annoyed tone there, I thought we already established that short of a megaspell, not a whole lot could top my excitement from the fact that this place now has five more large-caliber high velocity tank guns free for the taking. Unless... the steel door clattered open, allowing both myself and Scouring the sight of five circular tailfin assemblies stacked neatly in a small pyramid base, Crash Dive letting off a small sigh as I blunk a few times. "These are a couple depth bombs, codename Lulu. They're... Megaspell Depth Bombs."

And there goes my brain stopping again for a second. I swear to Celestia, if that info was on the terminal that Static was looking at, and he didn't tell me about it... Scouring trotted over to the locker, Crash Dive taking a step back so he could get a better look inside. The unicorn took to looking them over as I trotted over with a series of squeaks, the baggy suit resting awkwardly over my wings. I'm not looking forwards to the wing cramps... "Right... so, guessin' the plan is to try an' get this thing set up for remote detonation, and just bring it there by hoof, then? Because I'll go on record now sayin' that I don't quite really know how to re-fuse a megaspell..."

"Depth Charge said there's a wiring diagram inside the bomb that should be able to help, and from what he could tell it sounded like it wouldn't be too difficult to rewire it with a receiver from a brick of C4. We take off any weights, remove as much of the casing as we can, and we can move it without fuss afterwards." Crash Dive looked over the weapon for a few moments, myself still fixed upon it in wide-eyed awe, idly poking it with the rubber sole of one of the diving suit's boots. A panel on the side flipped up in front of the power armored pegasus, Scouring coming over to look at it, giving a small nod. "I'll be up top, waiting for Static and Aerith. If something goes wrong, um... well, I guess I'll be third to know. Good luck."

Crash Dive shimmied herself out past Scouring, quickly heading out of the sub pen and up the stairs, almost at full gallop as she reached the doorway. We watched her for a few moments, before turning our eyes back to the bomb, Scouring letting off a breath. "Right... let's see if bein' with B Comp'ny did me any good with handlin' megaspells..."

"Going on record sayin' this is the absolute craziest thing I've ever done, and the craziest thing I've ever witnessed, too." Re-arming the Lulu went without much difficulty, aside from Scouring electing to empty a whole bottle of Wild Pegasus after it was set up, Crash Dive coming to let us know about Trout's arrival shortly afterwards. She stayed back at the sub pen to handle getting the megaspell over as I hopped aboard the small fishing boat, Static getting his own diving suit fitted on with Aerith's help, as Ripple pulled us away from shore and to where Static's pip-buck pointed. "But, if you're all serious about there actually bein' gold down there, I'm gonna keep my yap shut. Nice to finally get paid."

"Oh, you have no idea..." The earth pony chuckled as he adjusted himself in the thick rubber of the suit, the brass helmet fitting over his head easily as it was fixed in place. All the hoses had been set up beforehand, myself squirming a little as I sat on the deck, waiting to arrive. Stupid diving suit diaper-thing... Static tugged and adjusted the helmet over his head as Aerith trotted over with my own, wearing a meek smile. The heavy brass and glass device slipped over my head and was fit into place, the sounds of the sea being muffled beyond the slow hiss from the air line at the back of my head. The tinkling of the alicorn's magic met my ears for a moment as she flicked a switch inside, the choppy voice of Static coming through over it. "-how comfortable this stuff kinda is..."

"Aw, is somepony enjoying having a squeaky diaper around his flanks like a little foal?~" The diving suit-clad earth pony jumped in surprise as my voice carried over into his helmet, myself following up with a laugh as he shot me a look. It wasn't too long before Ripple brought Trout to a stop, climbing down from the cabin and hefting an anchor overboard, the cable it was attached to falling over after it before finally coming to a stop. Okay... hopefully our air lines are that long, too. He ducked inside the house portion for a moment, coming out and starting to set up a crane on the deck, with Aerith's help. I trotted over beside Static, peering over into the water with him for the time being. Buh, can't hardly see down there...

"Alright, my understanding this is the place. You bring the basket down and get it loaded with the bars, I'll haul 'em up this way, aye?" Static turned to look at Ripple as he sat by the crane's controls and a small radio, answering him with a nod, as Aerith levitated up the pair of air hoses off the deck, followed by ourselves. We hovered over the water, watching as Ripple gave us both a small salute for a moment, before the alicorn lowered us in. I fumbled around slightly, feeling the water resisting against my movements as we fell, eventually managing to get a hoof around the neck of Static's helmet. Okay, he's there, good, we're doing fine...

The long form of the submarine soon came faintly into view far below, the earth pony beside me fumbling around with something on his suit before letting a cylindrical object fall away down to the sea bed alongside it, and sticking his foreleg up to cover the lower part of my visor. There was a dull thud and bright flash from below - huh, flash-bangs work underwater, who knew? - us both floating for a moment before continuing our descent. Eesh, you'd think we would have fallen faster with this heavy helmet... which is full of extremely bouyant air. Okay, point taken.

The sandy floor was kicked up into a dust cloud as we landed, a couple familiar forms coming in from the east, one's scales glinting against the other's helmet flashlight. I moved to take a step, having to fight against the water to do it, slowly making way over to where they were. Crash Dive's voice came over our radios as she trotted over, looking around. Stupid power armor servos making it so easy to walk in a place like this... "She's all set, we just need to find the right place to stick it. You almost got it cleared out?"

"Ah, no, we just got here, actually. Static's probably looking for where to get the gold out from." I let off a weak chuckle as the earth pony bounced over beside me, slowly, an annoyed look on his face. What, not like it isn't true. Depth Charge wore a smile as he came over to us, reaching a hoof out to Static and grabbing the earth pony, bringing him up and away from where we stood onto the wide back of the sub. I watched them for a moment as they disappeared, Crash Dive turning her head back and looking over the guts of the megaspell.

"Funny how such a big bomb can be squeezed into such a small space. Depth Charge said that most of the buggers were located in the bow, so our best bet would be getting it wedged up there somehow. Supposed to be about a kiloton in size, whatever that is..." Answering her with a nod in the helmet, we both made our way along the sub, looking it over. A kiloton, twice as big as the megaspells on the Valkyrie... ooh, this was going to be so awesome to watch...

Getting the warhead set up and all the gold out went fairly uneventfully, as far as I'd like to admit, and the bright noon sun had vanished over the horizon by the time we had unloaded Trout at the lighthouse and Ripple had brought her back to Maple Creek. Leaving the diving suits behind at Crash Dive's place in their entirety, we'd all taken place atop the sub pen, including a metal tub with a sea pony inside of it. I let off a light giggle, sitting down on the heavy blanket laid out in the snow and watching out towards the open water, flicking on my radio. Huh, no music... and that is definitely not Jim. Guess this is why White Noise is the assistant...

"U-um, you're turned to Radio KAOS, and right now, uh, the usual DJ is occupied with setting up a camera... thing. I-if you didn't hear it from him earlier, apparently the Vanhoover Five are going to be taking care of a, uh, crashed submarine, that's kind of become the home to a whole colony of those monsters, er, fish, ah... monster-fish? Ahm, those things that they killed at the Vanhoover dam, and in Clearwater, yanno, those fish-things. Anyways, uh, yeah, Vanhoover Five are taking care of them, and we assumed it probably means a big explosion, so... yeah. I'll, um, I'll keep you updated until the DJ comes back, and if you Five are listening, we are ready here, so if you can blow this thing anytime, that'd... that'd be just great. Please do it soon."

Scouring chuckled beside me as he levitated up the detonator, myself wearing a grin. "Well, you heard White Noise, let's blow this sucker! Oooh, can't wait to see how big this thing is..." Bouncing with excitement, the unicorn turned eyes out towards the ocean along with the rest of us, the detonator beside him letting off a small click noise. There was a short delay, just long enough for me to get worried, before something deep under the surface suddenly flashed a bright white, making my eyes go wide. Oh, yes.

The thump of the shockwave hit the ground we were on quickly, causing the loose snow powder to be kicked up momentarily as the shockwave broke through the surface. The ocean erupted into a massive plume of white spray, Static rather cheekily popping his umbrella open in front of himself only for it to be blown shut as the blast struck us properly. Oh, sweet merciful Celestia and Luna above, that was better than firing off that AA gun... sorry about the sheets, Crash Dive. I flopped backwards as the cloud of steam formed and rose to full height, giggling stupidly, the others around - or, at least Scouring and Depth Charge, far as I could tell - hollering and laughing at the sight. Releasing a long sigh, I rested my head back, staring up at the cloudless sky above - well, I mean, cloudless besides a certain mushroom-shaped one.

"Oh yeah... that was worth it."

I moved through the water after Depth Charge, my breath clouding up the glass of the helmet slightly as I followed the seapony over onto the top of the wrecked submarine. “So, where exactly is this gold being held? We don’t need to break open a safe, do we? I’m not exactly very good at picking locks.” I spoke, but Depth Charge didn’t react, simply leading me further as I walked slowly along the metal surface of the submarine. Oh, yeah, I guess he doesn’t have a radio on him... guh, darn sea ponies. Depth Charge came to a stop at a circular hatch, bending down to flip open the latch on it. I stepped up to the edge, peering down into the dark submarine, as the sea pony gave an ‘after you’ motion with his hoof. Grumbling a little, I took a hold of the ladder and started to lower myself down into the dark submarine, wishing I had a flashlight with me. Why isn’t Crash Dive coming with us, again?

A light flickered on behind me as Depth Charge pulled a lever near the ladder. A bare bulb shone through a small glass box above the lever, illuminating the hallway of the sub somewhat. A series of bulbs switched on, showing a path through the sub towards another large door. “So, the vault where it's all stored is close, right? I mean, I know the anglerpony-things are mostly in the front where Crash Dive and Night Strike are, but…” My voice trailed off as I remembered again that Depth Charge couldn’t hear me. Well, if those things are close, he better be able to hear my hooves banging on metal in a panic, then. I followed the seapony through the corridors, tripping a little as I tried to move through the bulkheads before my hoof had cleared the bottom frame. Guh, all this water really isn’t making moving around easier...

We eventually reached the end of the hallway, a large steel door sitting closed before us. I reached up, wrapping my hooves around the wheel of the door and yanked down. With a loud groan, the wheel spun, locking mechanisms sliding out from latches on the wall. I stumbled as the door swung inwards, the light from the hallway leaking around us into the room, revealing stacks upon stacks of glistening, solid gold bars. My heart practically stopped in my chest, my legs giving out from under me as I collapsed down, staring up at the collection of gold. “S-s-sweet… C-Celestia…”

Depth Charge swam over to one of the stacks on the shelves, as I shakily got back up to my hooves, wandering over to another collection of bars. They were slightly covered in grime from years of neglect, with what looked like a few tangles of sea weed growing around them through breaches in the hull. Wiping away the slime revealed ‘500’ punched into the gold, followed by four nines. I couldn’t contain myself, letting loose several high pitched giggles, thankful Depth Charge didn’t have a radio. “Having fun, Sparky?” I turned around, seeing Night Strike and Crash Dive stepping into the room, Night Strike’s smirk just barely visible in the gloom. Of course now is when they get back into range of the radios.

“Oh, shut up.” I muttered, turning back to the gold. “This is going to take quite a few trips, from the look of things. I guess I didn’t exactly realize just how much a hundred bars of gold is.” I lifted one of the bars off of the shelf, turning it over in my rubber-clad hooves. Night Strike lifted one up, grunting with the effort. Well, good thing these suits have some built in saddlebags. I dropped the bar into mine, taking a couple more and loading myself up with them. “Well, if don’t mind walking slowly we might be able to all get it one trip. 25 apiece?”

“Uh, yeah, I’d rather not break my back.” Night Strike said, already looking tired after having taken only four bars. Oh, come on, you barely have any of it! I slipped a couple more bars into the satchels, my legs protesting from the added weight. Guh, ok, maybe no more than eight at a time. I began to slowly walk back to the hallway as Crash Dive and Depth Charge grabbed a few bars themselves, my movement through the water slowed even further. “Oh, and if we’re coming back for this gold and we find any anglerponies suddenly coming out of this wreck, We're getting the hell out and I’m blowing the bomb. Screw getting the rest.”

I gave a short laugh, reaching the ladder and starting to climb back up. “Over my dead body. I’ll kill those things with my bare hooves if I have to, we’re not leaving a single ounce of gold behind.” I could almost hear Night Strike’s eyes rolling behind me as I lifted myself onto the surface of the submarine, followed by Crash Dive. “Besides, we haven’t seen any yet, right?” We walked slowly along the submarine back to where Trout was anchored. I gave a few tugs on the anchor's chain, and after a moment, a black form appeared from over the side of the ship far above us. A metal crate slowly fell down to us, Night Strike grabbing ahold of the rope it was attached to before it slid away, and we began to load the thing up with the gold. Night Strike tugged on the rope again, and the slack began to be taken up, the crate full of gold rising back up into the water as Ripple worked the winch above.

Well, back again, I suppose. We turned and trotted back, our hoofsteps echoing through the water, myself giving a nervous glance around. The seafloor was only barely visible from atop the sub, and the murky depths prevented me from seeing beyond a couple feet from the submarine. Crash Dive’s light illuminated the deck of the vessel, though it didn’t help from causing shadows to dance across the surface. Come on, just a few more trips and we’ll be out of here… I really wish I could’ve brought my umbrella, or at least a lead pipe or something.

The second and third trips were thankfully uneventful, though that didn’t stop my heart from keeping its elevated rate. I watched as the crate once again was hauled back up to the surface, disappearing into the gloom. We turned and once again began to make our way back, my ear flicking a little and tapping against the inside of the helmet. “H-hold up, you see that?” Night Strike said, pausing and looking off to the right. We all stopped, following her gaze, but nothing could be seen swimming through the water. Night Strike began to slowly continue walking along the sub, still glancing over to the open sea towards the north occasionally. “Let’s just hurry up and get the rest of it out. I -really- don’t like the size of the thing I saw out there.”

We climbed back down into the submarine and headed towards the vault, only a few bars remaining on the shelves. Slipping some into my saddlebags, I heard a low creaking coming from down the submarine. We all stopped, looking down the hallway in silence. Suddenly a loud crash could be heard, along with the tearing of metal as something large climbed onto the top of the submarine. Several clangs and taps along the surface of the metal could be heard as whatever had hoisted itself onto the submarine scuttled along the top. I bent down, backing up into the corner instinctually as the thing passed over us.

Another thud could be heard, along with rushing sand as whatever had passed by landed on the sand on the opposite side of the sub, crawling away into the ocean depths. I realized I had been holding my breath and let it out, a nervous gulp coming in from Night Strike over the radio. “L-let’s get out of here and blow this thing up before whatever that was comes back. Least it didn't notice our air lines, eheh...” She said, gathering up her gold and rushing as much as she could to the door. The rest of us quickly collected the remaining bars and followed her, though none of us were eager to climb out of the relative safety of the submarine.

Crash Dive eventually climbed up the ladder, poking her head out as the beam of light from her helmet cut through the darkness. “Looks clear. We should get back before that thing returns.” She climbed up onto the submarine, the rest of us following and trotting hurriedly back towards Trout. As we did, I noticed several new holes on the hull of the sub, each one at least a foot in diameter. My mind raced with images of disturbing deep sea creatures as I gave a bit of a whimper, reaching the chain of Trout’s anchor. Yanking on the chain, we waited in the darkness for the metal basket to return. After what felt like an eternity, the crate came into view, Depth Charge pulling it down for us to begin loading up. After filling the box, I looked over to Night Strike. “So… uh, is there a faster way of reaching the surface than repeatedly breaststroking?”

“Well, we could always open up that auxiliary tank on your suit, I’m sure that’ll get you up in no time.” Night Strike snickered, prompting me to give a nervous laugh. Yeah, I’d rather not be any bigger a target for whatever that thing was, thanks. “Ahm... just drop some of the weights on your belt into the gold box, you should float right up, I think.” Night Strike was already beginning to slip off some of the heavy black bars affixed to her belt, dropping them in with the gold before starting to rise up through the water. I followed her example after pulling on the rope for the others to haul up the gold. Swimming upwards, my movements weren’t quite as hindered without the extra weight, and Crash Dive and Depth Charge disappeared into the gloom.

The chain beside us began to clink and shake as Crash Dive grabbed onto it, readying herself to be pulled upwards once we reached the surface. Moonlight filtered down through the water, Trout casting a shadow on the surface of the water. Soon our helmeted heads broke above the waves, Night Strike and I bobbing about for a moment in the suits, before swimming over to Trout where Ripple had a ladder ready. “Good to see you’re alright, you’re certainly giving us enough of a workout with all that gold.” The sailor stallion gave a small laugh as Aerith helped me out of my helmet, taking in a deep breath of salty air. Trotting up the steps into the control room, Aerith had set my helmet onto the deck below and was working with Night Strike's, myself slipping out of the rubbery suit and boots, thankful to be out of the water once I tugged my jacket down over me. “Come on, help us get Crash Dive up. I doubt she wants to try walking back to shore this far out.” Ripple called to me, standing next to the anchor winch.

I placed my hooves on the opposite lever, starting to spin the winch as Ripple did the same. It was slow going as the winch clicked along, the chain slowly being dragged up from the bottom. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before Crash Dive surfaced, her suit dripping as she climbed up onto the deck, Depth Charge bobbing in the water below us. “So, you guys are planning on watching the detonation at that old sub pen, right?” Night Strike nodded, zipping her jacket back up now her own diving gear was off. “See you guys there! And try not to hit the trigger too early, I don’t want to be in the water when this thing blows, alright?” He dove back down, disappearing beneath the waves.

Resting on Trout’s railing, Ripple stepped over to me, eyeing the bars of gold that were being carried out of the crate and placed in the control room with the others. “Now… about that payment you promised me.” Gwuh, I’d hoped he’d forgotten about that…

Sitting outside the sub pen now sans diving suits and a whole gold bar lighter, I grumbled to myself, shifting around and getting out of the mini-tank’s seat. Stupid promises and no good way of splitting gold bars into portions... “Oh, quit your whining, you still have enough gold to plate the Valkyrie now. Hell, Dunno if we can even bring it all back home...” Night Strike said, laying out a sheet on the roof of the pen as I climbed up onto it. I sat down on it and crossed my hooves, still muttering to myself a little. Crash Dive sat down on the far side of the tub Depth Charge rested inside, while Aerith settled beside me, Scouring and Night Strike taking their seats as White Noise stumbled on his words over the radio.

“Well, you heard White Noise, let’s blow this sucker!” She giggled as Scouring squeezed the trigger on the small detonator, a moment of silence passing before a bright flash could be seen below the surface of the water. A thunder like rumble began to build, the shockwave suddenly hitting the surface of the water, spraying up a column several hundred feet high as a wall of ocean started to rush to the shore. I opened my umbrella, hoping to keep dry, at least somewhat. As the shockwave hit however, the umbrella was blown from my hoof, turning inside out before flying backwards along the snowy concrete roof behind us. The massive waves crashed hard against the rocky shore, sending foam spraying out in all directions as the water rained back down to us, pattering down to the ground. As the shockwave subsided, I heard Night Strike’s excited giggling. “Oh yeah, that was worth it...”

I shook a little, trying to recover from the blast as I trotted over to grab my umbrella. “Remind me never to let you blow something like that up while I’m around again. I think my heart’s still stopped.” I said, trying to fold the umbrella right side out again. The others climbed back into the trailer, Scouring rolling up the blanket they had laid out on the snow and tossing it in with us. After much struggling, the umbrella popped down to its normal position, allowing me to slip it down by my hooves. “So, uh… what next?”

"Well, um, could I get a lift back to your lighthouse? Kind of think the water out there might be a little too hot for my liking, heh..." Depth Charge rubbed at the back of his head as water splashed over teh side of his tub lazily, Crash Dive following up with a look towards us and a nod of the head. Aerith passed on a smile, picking up the tub in her magic and resting it in the trailer behind, myself letting off a small sigh as we settled back in. "Heh, thanks. I'll probably stick around for a while, least until after that place stops being so irradiated."

Night Strike spoke up shortly after Depth Charge finished, myself almost ready to start off. “We still need to go pick up Pearl from Shady Shores, and cave that place in to keep any more of those anglerponies from getting out. Ooh, I can’t wait to see what one of those megaspells does to that place! I mean, it'll be half the yield of the one we just saw, but it'll be open air, though, no water to lessen the blast!” I shook my head, switching on the engine and turning around to head back towards the lighthouse for the night.

“Didn’t you just hear what I said? Besides, I thought you’d want to save those for a special occasion. Like a, ‘we’re heading back but here’s on last thing to remember us by’ kind of deal.” Night Strike responded with a roll of her eyes, her head still turned and watching the slowly dissipating mushroom cloud. Sheesh, she really is like her dad, isn't she? “Well, fine, but don’t blame me when you run out of them in a week and get half the wasteland angry with us.” The mini-tank trundled along swiftly, bouncing over a few rocks before we reached the road heading south. Night Strike turned up the radio on her Pip-Buck, White Noise’s timid voice coming in over the air.

“Ah-ha-ha, w-w-weeeeell, f-for those of you just joining us and, uh, wondering what that b-big explosion on the coast was, th-that was the Vanhoover Five taking out a submarine and… dear Luna, I think I need a new chair cushion… well, now you know what something like a megaspell looks like, assuming you aren’t a ghoul or something…” He paused, trying to catch his breath. “Ah, uh, anyways, y-yeah, music! We’ve got some…” There was the sound of several tapes falling to the floor and some muffled whining. “Connie… must be a gryphon… uh, coming right up!” There was a pause before a saxophone began to play, filling the air with music.

"Stupid Cupid, you’re a real mean guy
I’d like to clip your wings so you can’t fly
I’m in love and it’s a crying shame
And I know that you’re the one to blame
Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid, stop picking on me!

“So, did you actually have a plan for getting one of the bombs out of this thing without setting it off, or was that filed under ‘deal with later’?” Night Strike, Scouring and I were standing outside the Valkyrie the next day, looking at the bomb bay doors. The pegasus shifted her weight about a little, clearly having not really given the idea any thought. I sighed, trotting around to the hatch that lead up into the cockpit.

Puling myself up into the Valkyrie, Night Strike followed behind me, looking over all of the controls at the pilot's seat while I turned attention to the back seat. “Well, there’s bound to be an ‘open bay doors’ button on here. They had to have some way to unload the bombs that they didn’t actually use during a run safely.” She scanned the controls as I pulled out the control manual from my saddlebags, skimming through it again. Swear I saw something pertaining to this somewhere... I flipped through it, trying to find any information on the bomb bay. Before I could spot a relevant page though, there was a beep and the sound of grinding metal as the bay doors opened wide, myself lookng up to see Night Strike hitting a random button at the pilot's controls. Guh, manuals are useless.

We slipped through the doorway at the back of the cockpit and into the now opened bomb bay, where the large megaspells were waiting on their quick-release hardpoints. Scouring stood below us, staring up at the bombs. “Alright, you got the doors open. Now how are you gonna make sure they aren’t active when we take ‘em out?” Night Strike inspected one of the bombs, scratching her head as she did. I looked to the side of the bay for some sort of diagram or instructions, though could find nothing.

Night Strike leaned up to where one of the bombs was hooked to, trying to undo it. “Well, I mean, we’re not flying it, so I think they’re not active right now. Just get ready to catch this thing if I can get it off...” She fiddled with the latch on the hardpoint, only succeeding in making my heart stop as one of her hooves slipped and banged against the nose of the bomb. I bit at my lip, quickly pulling the manual out again and flipping through it, trying to at least find the index. Bombing controls, Page 53-65, okay... now to keep her from blowing us all up.

"A-actually, Night Strike, maybe I should do this? Because, yanno, I actually read the manual? Just give me a sec." The pegasus blunk a few times at myself and moved herself back onto the metal platform at the nose end of the bomb bay, before hopping down and out of the aircraft with a small sigh. I gave a nod, looking back down and flipping through the pages, working my way back to the cockpit. "Okay... safe release of unused ordinance, make sure arming circuits are all set to off and fail-deadly switch is in safe position, press and hold release button for three seconds. Alright..."

Flicking the indicated switches into the indicated positions, and selecting the right bomb... I hope... my hoof hovered over the red button. I drew in a breath, clenching my eyes tight and pushing my hoof down, counting off the seconds. One... two... three. A clunking noise was heard through the open back door, along with a small scream, though thankfully no massive skin-tearing fireball. Good. Letting off a long sigh, I trotted back out through the short hallway, seeing Scouring holding the megaspell Night Strike was climbing on in his magic.

Scouring let out a slow breath as he saw myself come around, Night Strike looking up towards myself. “Next time, give us a bit more warning, aye? Nearly didn't catch it.” He trotted backwards, carefully moving the bomb out from under the Valkyrie. I jumped out of the plane after him, Night Strike following suit.

We walked over to the mini-tank where Aerith and Crash Dive were waiting, watching as we cane over with the long box-tailed bomb. Scouring carefully lowered the bomb into the trailer, and Crash Dive got to work securing it in. “Hey, at least we’re not dead, right? It should be unarmed, hopefully.” I let off a small sigh, climbing into the mini-tank and turning on the radio, a smooth waltz crackling in as we began to roll off towards Shady Shores once more.

The air was crisp as we drove along the coast towards Shady Shores, the megaspell sitting in the back of the trailer. It was tortuously slow going, as Scouring and Night Strike refused to have us move faster than a brisk jog, lest the bomb suffer any unwanted disturbance. I groaned, smacking my head down onto the steering bar of the mini-tank. “Are you suuuuuuuure we can’t go any faster? I swear the bomb wasn't armed, I did everything the manual said to ensure that! Why would you carry something around that’s going to blow up if you sneeze too close to it?”

“You know what this thing can do. I thought you said you didn’t want me to blow you up?” Night Strike responded, shifting a little in the trailer. I just continued to drive along, muttering threats under my breath. I swear it’s going to be five days before we reach Shady Shores at this rate... “And you were the one who didn’t want to pay Ripple the five gold bars to go bring this to Shady Shores himself, so quit your whining.”

“I am not paying him 75,000 caps because he’s too scared to just drive by some abandoned research station with a live bomb as a favor. And don’t tell me that’s an unreasonable demand!” I called back over Night Strike’s chuckling. A radroach scuttled out of the brush, its antennae twitching a little before it scurried under the tank and to the other side of the road to pick at a dead bird. Oh, nature sure is beautiful. We passed by some wooden steps leading down to a beach, several pre-war carts and barbeque stands laying around on the sand below.

After a while of driving, the sun was hanging low in the sky, much like my head was hanging low over the handlebars. Guh, hopefully I can convince them that the bomb's completely safe so we can actualy motor it tomorrow, because this took way too long today. The wire fencing of a military compound came into view up ahead, myself guiding the mini-tank through it and over to the familiar bunk houses, grunting slightly. Well, it's at least somewhere to stop for the night... "Alright, we're stopping here until tomorrow. I'm sleeping in a bed, you guys do... whatever. Goodnight."

Turning off the mini-tank's engine, I pulled myself out of the seat and onto my hooves, stumbling over and through the doorway. Aerith followed behind me as Night Strike, Scouring, and Crash Dive all looked over the bomb, myself heading to the nearest old bed and flopping down onto it. Guh... well, it's a little better than sleeping on those bags of bottlecaps, at least.

The engine roared loudly behind myself as we sped onwards to Shady Shores, my back still complaining about last night but a smile wide on my face as I watched the world pass by through my goggles. I told them I made sure all of that bomb's safeties were on when we got it out, but no, gotta travel at a speed a snail could overtake 'just to be safe'. Thank you, my silver tongue, for helping me convince them we can go faster.

The Battered-Sea power station finally could be seen coming up over the horizon, the sun cresting in the sky as we approached. Slowing down as we closed in to the side of the building, I spotted the small door leading down into the Shady Shores facility, and pulled up next to it. “Alright, let’s go get Pearl and this thing set up. Least we can really book it afterwards, miht even be able to make it back to that training camp before the day's over.” I climbed out of the tank, trotting over to the trailer where Aerith and Scouring were levitating the bomb out. They set it down alongside the power station, Night Strike and Scouring getting to working with it, while I trotted over to the set of doors, standing at the head of the stairs leading down. Watching them as they worked, eventually they both stepped back from the bomb, coming over beside me. Takng a breath, we all soon began our slow decent, our hooves echoing down the cold, stone stairway.

The air became mustier as we climbed downwards, the wind from outside dying down to be replaced with the deafening silence of the underground hallways of the facility, the faint hum of electronics eventually meeting our ears as we approached the main server room. We were soon back in the central hub, fans whirring as tickertapes clicked along. We trotted over to Pearl’s terminal, the outline of her face flickering silently. “Uh… Pearl? You here? Ya got your chassis all ready to go, right?” Night Strike asked. The whirring of fans grew louder for a moment before Pearl’s screen flickered again, shifting from a blank expression to a smile.

“Heya guys! Yep, I’ve got her all ready to go, she’s just fixing up some wires at the moment. I told her it wasn’t going to matter anyway, but I should really know by now I never listen to myself." I paused for a moment, looking towards the rest of the group, all of them as confused as I was. Before I could ask, the soft wooshing of a small jet could be heard coming in from down the hallway, us all watching as a spherical robot with multiple eyestalks and utility arms came into view. A screen on the center eyestalk showed an image of Pearl identical to the one on the screen, myself just barely noticing a nurse's hat placed atop the robotic body. Well, um... okay then.

“Hello! It’s good to see you guys again, I was just trying to fix up some of the stuff before you blow it up. You don’t want to make anything else more dangerous on top of setting that bomb off!” Um… I looked back and forth between Pearl and Porta-Pearl, trying to wrap my head around things. The Porta-Pearl’s face switched to one of confusion to match mine, before switching back to her normal friendly smile. “Oh, I bet I know what you’re thinking, you thought I was going to move completely into this chassis, didn’t you?” The robot waved a hand dismissively. “Well, that was the plan, but then I realized, why waste all that time moving everything when I can just copy and paste myself? AI isn’t as nice and easy to move as the photo of the staff party, you know.”

“Uh… alright.” Night Strike said, trotting over to get a better look at Porta-Pearl. “But, isn’t it a little weird talking to yourself? And wasn’t the whole point of making this thing so you wouldn’t get blown up in the megaspell detonation?” Porta-Pearl hovered quietlya round, getting a good look at all of us. O...kay, maybe she just wanted to know what we looked like in all dimensions? That... kind of makes sense. I think.

The original Pearl responded in place of her portable self. “Don’t worry about it, I still won’t be blown up! Well, I will, but I also won’t. Isn’t science fun? I’ll be like Starswirl’s cat! Only not quite. Close enough for a test!” I rubbed my temple, not entirely able to wrap my head around what she was talking about. Did Starswirl own a cat? What does that have to do with a copied, or cloned AI getting blown up? “Well, hopefully this fixes the problem with the anglerponies. And if not, well, I’m sure I’ll think of something else!”

“Oh, speaking of problem solving,” Night Strike said, rummaging through her duffel bag, pulling out the movie reel we’d found back at the Starlite Drive-In. She looked around for a moment, keeping it held with her. “Almost forgot to leave this with the megaspell. If that doesn’t wipe that thing off the face of the planet once and for all, I think it’s safe to assume there is no diety above whatsoever, only creepy animatronic manticore face.” She gave a small nod as Pearl watched on from her big screen and the small screen, before heading back towards the stairs, us all leaving the original Pearl behind.

“Bye guys! Have fun blowing me up!” Yeah, nope, that doesn’t make me feel guilty for a collection of code at all.

The crisp ocean air that met the Battered-Sea and blew about it ruffled our manes as we made the last flight of stairs to the surface, Pearl hovering up alongside us. I hooked left out of the doorway to where we had placed the megaspell, the still untarnished reel of film clutched against my chest as the fresh snow crunched underhoof. Standing in front of the three-meter-long device, I let off a small cloudy breath, taking the film tin and forcefully burying it in the snow directly beneath the main body of the bomb's warhead, where it'd most certainly be vaporized, or at the very least crushed underneath the rubble. Goodbye, and good riddance... "Alright, let's head out. Hopefully we don't get any weather come in that screws with the bomb's systems, don't want to risk coming out this way after pulling the trigger. Just hope the weather holds up and doesn't blow the fallout down onto us when this does go off."

Hopping myself up onto the back of the Mini-tank behind Boomer, Static gave a nod in response, starting up the engine and pulling his goggles down over his eyes. Pearl sat herself down in the wagon alongside Scouring and Crash Dive, her robotic arms folding up into a resting position as her screen-eyestalk wore that smiling face. "Oh, wow, didn't know you guys had an ARSP-variant Motorbug, that would definitely explain how you were able to get around with a bomb that size so quickly! Guess whatever place you got this from didn't fare too great after the war either... oh, Seahoof Armory, what a shame. They always were happy to send a few rounds up here for testing on the Anglerpony project, spent exactly 472 rounds of twenty millimeter standard armor piercing to make sure their shells were nice and tough! They barely even were penetrating by the time we were finished!" ...I don't think I'll ever get used to her gleeful explanations of why those things are as tough as they are. Just have to deal with her for a little while, Strikey, until we can find somewhere she can go...

The engine revved loudly beneath me as we pulled away and started to distance ourselves from the Battered-Sea Power Station, powering down the roads heading southwards. Static seemed to be happily laying on the throttle as the white smokestacks vanished behind a small rise, myself finally finding and slipping on those goggles. Huh, well, these are probably decent enough to filter a megaspell if I stare directly at it, maybe. Oh, but I wanna see as much of the blast as possible, though... decisions, decisions. Eh, can work it out when we get back to the sub pen. Maybe. Probably could dig a trench to hide in, too, if we wanted...

A few minutes of the engine droning on later, I was resting back against Boomer and fiddling with my pip-buck, when Pearl's screen-stalk flashed from her thinking face to her shocked face, looking about. It settled on looking off towards the eastern side of the wagon, before her voicebox sounded out loud, and jarring - sheesh, volume control, please? "STOP! Unidentified civilian in the blast danger zone!" Wait, what? Ehm, hope she wasn't referring to Hornsworth, because if so, well... heh, if there are any 'civilians' left there, I certainly wouldn't mind if they wound up getting a little irradiated. Who knows, maybe the blast'll fry the electronics of those freakin' robots, too... nah, ground burst wouldn't do that, would have to be high-altitude. Hang on, back to reality, Strikey.

The mini-tank came to a slight skidding stop as Static looked back from his driver's position, looking first up at me and then to the wagon behind us. "What? What's going on, is Pearl alright?" Answering Static with a shrug, I hopped off of the back of the mini-tank, Pearl lifting herself up to look around from her position in the cart. Aerith scratched at her head in confusion, the earth pony at the front grabbing his umbrella and climbing out with me, looking back to the screen-stalk that was scanning the patchy forest off to the side.

"I'm getting an unidentified heartbeat off about forty meters that way, if the bomb's as big as you say this is well within the secondary blast effect zone, and may even be at risk from the shockwave. We should warn them." Okay, she does have a point there, don't want to kill someone if they're not a raider or rebuilding freaky animatronics. Honestly, it's their fault for not building their house closer to the road... "You know, unless they're a zebra, in which case we should tie them in place and see what happens. It's a necessary experiment, even if this might be the last time a bomb like this gets set off... in which case, it'd be all the more necessary!"

Aerith blunk at her in confusion with the rest of us, pulling her rifle and Tommy Gun out at the ready as I looked out through the forest. Static trotted up besid myself, his umbrella balanced on his back. "Riiight, zebra or not, we should at least check and see if we should evacuate them. Imagine what people'd say if we were responsible for ghoulifying somepony, I'm good but I don't think I can keep them wanting to buy weapons from us if that happened."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm so sure they'd be angry that we did it. We'll have it announced on Radio KAOS well before we set the bomb off, anyone well within the blast zone like whoever that is when we detonate only have themselves to blame." Turning back to the mini-tank, I pulled Thumper out of my duffel bag, stuffing a few grenades into my jacket's pockets. Incendiary, HE, buckshot, slug, and a dragon's breath in the breech. Not saying we'll have to get in a firefight, but, yanno, better safe than sorry... with our luck, it'll be another bear. "Crash Dive, Scouring, you stay with Pearl and make sure she doesn't get injured, or, break or something. We'll get warning to them."

The power armored ponies gave a nod in response, myself fitting Thumper on my back and starting to trot out into the forest behind Aerith, Static beside me. The cold shore breeze blew overhead, rustling the bare branches and moving our manes slightly, the chilly snow crunching underhoof as we made our way away from the road. A short walk later revealed a shallow wooded valley, and a small scrap wood cabin in the middle of it, a stream of smoke rising from a pipe poking out the side, carrying on it the smell of... Sparkle-Cola? Myself blinking a few times, Static let off an annoyed sigh beside me. "Can't you go five minutes without opening another bottle?"

"That's not me this time, I swear! I think it's actually coming from that cabin... somehow." Scratching at my head with a hoof, Aerith shrugged in response as well, starting to head over to the small shack. Static glanced about for a moment, before letting loose another sigh, us both soon catching up to the alicorn. The sweet smell of carroty nectar of the goddesses hung un the valley, every now and again permeated by a hint of radishes... Sparkle-Cola and Sparkle-Cola RAD. Oooh, I think I'm gonna like whoever this is...

Aerith knocked on the door a few times, her rifle and tommy gun stowed at her sides, a small clatter of pots being heard from inside, along with a stallion's voice. "Agh, yeah, hang on! Heh, just gonna be a sec..." Well... least he's friendly. Hm, this place is in a valley, so it should be protected from the blast, at least a little... the door opened with a small creak, a unicorn standing at it, his mane heavily frazzled and coat slightly patchy in some places, mainly around his hooves. O...kay then. "Oh, heh, uhm, hello! Dont really get visitors too often... can I help you? Would you be interested in some home-brewed Sparkle-Cola, perhaps? I've got it tasting just like the real thing!"

'Ah... sure, I suppose.' Aerith brought up a screen for him to read, the unicorn responding with a wide grin and stepping away from the doorway to let us through. Well, no points for neatness, but... sweet Celestia, I didn't think there was this much Sparkle-Cola memorabilia in the whole wasteland. Makes the TOG look like a rest stop store! A pair of heavy thuds sounded out as Aerith's weapons fell to the floor either side of her, her jaw hung slack. 'You... -really- like Sparkle-Cola, don't you?'

It took a moment for the unicorn to notice her magical sign as he trotted over to a barrel with a couple empty bomb-bottles, opening the spigot and filling them up with a rich dark caramel-colored liquid, some frothy foam coming out of the necks as he brought them over. I was still ogling all the merchandise as he let off a small laugh, levitating one of the bottles into my hooves. "Yeah, you could say that. Goes back generations, this shack was my father's, and his father's, and his father who built it. All of 'em loved the soda, worked years on figuring out how to make more. My dad got it down about... five or six years ago. Go ahead, try it, guarantee it's almost perfect."

Looking into the bottle, I idly thought for a moment, watching the soda fizzle quietly. Looks like Sparkle-Cola, smells lie Sparkle-Cola, put in the same bottle, but how can we be sure... well, worst case, at least I can probably spit it out fast enough, and Aerith's probably pretty resistant to stuff as well. Closing my eyes, I brought the glass neck of the bottle to my lips, and started to gulp it down.

The unforgettable taste of actual, real Sparkle-Cola met my lips instantly, albeit with a small twang of metal, though close enough to fit the bill. The bottle was drained away quickly, myself gasping for breath afterwards and staring at the stallion who'd passed it to me, wide-eyed. Oh, you magnificent bastard, I'd kiss you right now if Static weren't here and I didn't think it might be weird. He let off a weak chuckle, taking the glass bottle back from me, wearing a grin. "So, take it you're a bit of an enthusiast as well. That case, might have something else that'd interest you..."

The unicorn trotted over to a corner of the small shack, as Static gave his bottle of home-brewed Sparkle-Cola off to me, looking about as annoyed as he usually is when it comes to this stuff. "Don't forget why we're here. We'll have to tell him about the megaspell at some point... though, you know, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to move his operation somewhere more populated, anyways. Probably is some market for nearly-new Sparkle-Cola... hey, maybe he could even make a batch of that new Sunrise Sarsaparilla." Yeah, and I'm an alicorn with horns for wings and an extra foreleg coming out of my head. He wore a smirk as I finished off the second bottle, Aerith just finishing her first one.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Eh, at least it'd be something that wouldn't be liable to completely bankrupt these towns that we could do for them, and it is a pretty convincing reproduction. Get enough bottles together and he could put together a whole brewing plant." The unicorn hopped back down from a loft area, levitating a patchy scroll and a black case close by himself and wearing a small grin. He undid the small string that held the scroll together, letting it unfurl so we could read it, both myself and Aerith looking at it intently. Six to seven bottles regular pre-war Sparkle-Cola, extra radishes if available (if not, see step 9), 10g isolated Strontium-90 (if not available, see step 17), sugar substitute... wait a second.

"This was something that my dad was working on that I managed to finally complete, though I don't know if I got it entirely right. Kind of ran out of true samples to compare it to, and I'm admittedly not entirely keen on drinking it after having to down a whole radaway last time I did. You'd probably have a better handle on what this thing ought to taste like, first group that I've met that have the same love for Sparkle-Cola as I do. So... mind taste-testing it?" He wasn't... this isn't... he levitated up the black case in front of himself, which upon closer inspection was an old case for a violin, some faint blue light coming out from between the seams. Undoing the latches, he opened it up, revealing the pair of bright blue glowing bomb bottles inside. Sweet mother of Celestia, now I -really- want to kiss this stallion.

He levitated one of them out in his magic, myself taking a trot forwards to look at it more closely, before he placed it in my hooves with a smile. Still not entirely believing what I was seeing, or holding for that matter, I undid the cap, listening to the faint hiss of carbonation come out of it. The unicorn watched on expectantly as I brought the neck to my mouth and tilted it upwards, the glowing liquid pouring out of it and onto my tongue. Oh, sweet mother of Celestia and Luna above, if this is really his homemade recipe... I finished the small sip, staring at the unicorn with wide eyes. "So, what do you think, one Sparkle-Cola lover to another, did I get it right?"

"You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now." Okay, well, probably not the response he was expecting, but damn if it wasn't true! He let off a weak chuckle, setting the violin case aside and taking the bottle of homemade Sparkle-Cola RAD back, re-sealing it with a bottlecap. He was smiling at least, so I suppose he did take that as a 'yes' to his question... setting the glowing bottle back in the case, he picked up the scroll, starting to roll it back up. "W-wait! How much do you want for that recipe? W-we've got plenty of caps, millions of 'em, and-and we just cleaned out a whole submarine too, yeah! We can pay you with that, it was loaded full of gol-"

"N-now hold on just a second there Night Strike, we aren't paying a million caps just so you can have enough Sparkle-Cola RAD to swim in it. Besides, we stopped here for a reason, remember?" I blunk a few times at Static, the unicorn across from us just watching on in confusion, keeping the scroll held in his magic. The blue earth pony faced him, glancing back at his setup at the far end of the shack for a moment. "Look, while I know my friends here would love to stick around to spend the rest of the day getting drunk on Sparkle-Cola, you actually need to leave and head as far south as you can over the rest of today and tomorrow. We've got a megaspell set up north of here at the Battered-Sea Power Station that we're going to detonate, and we're trying to limit civilian casualties as much as we can."

The way the unicorn's expression changed, you'd think Static had just insulted his entire bloodline by saying that. He put the scroll into the violin case, snapping the lid closed over it with a small huff. "Yeah, sure, that's a new excuse. You're not going to fool me with that pegasus shit, you just want me to leave so you can come back and steal the recipe from my house later. There's no such thing as megaspells." ...um, brain? Er... yeah, nope, I think by brain just crashed. I mean, that last sentence... he can't be serious, can he?

I blunk a few times as my mind rebooted itself. Night Strike OS, Ver. 1.0.18, copyright 2269 Twintails & Featherweight's genes, there we go. The unicorn levitated the violin case back up to the upper loft, letting off a small huff and grumbling under his breath slightly. Okay, all the drivers are coming back online, there's the speech and voice ones... "Eheheh, um... what was that last thing you said?"

"There's no such thing as megaspells, they're a pre-war hoax, probably dreamt up by the Ministry of Image or something so morons actually thought that we and the zebras had doomsday weapons that could end the planet. I honestly thought you guys would be smart enough to know something like that, you're really nice otherwise." Aaaand it's crashed again. Okay, gotta install some software updates to prevent crashes caused by utter and absolute nonsense overloads on this reboot. The unicorn looked at us all for a moment longer, before letting off a small huff. "There's one thing I can't stand, it's being lied to my face just to be robbed. You could've at least had the decency of coming up with a believable reason for me to leave, like bugbears or hellhounds or something." Urge to kiss falling... urge to strangle rising...

Static seemed to come to his senses first, as mine were beginning to be overridden by pure unbridled fury. "Look, we really don't want to rob you, we just want to make sure you won't end up dead, because we -do- have a megaspell, and we -are- going to be setting it off tomorrow. And you -are- in the blast danger zone." The unicorn scoffed at Static, my jaw clenched hard and forehoof itching to grab Thumper as he started to turn and go back to the other end of his shack. Static paused for a moment, looking over at myself. "Well, what about ghouls? They were made by the megaspells and balefire bombs, you think they're just, I dunno, fake or something?"

"Oh, I believe that ghouls were made by bombs. Big incendiary ones, not megaspells. I've made a lot of jerky in my time, and you can't tell me that they don't look like some finely-roasted and pulled bear meat." Yeah, yep, I don't think my eye has ever twitched before but it's definitely doing it now. The tinkling of a magic aura met my ears as I found my forehooves being held against the ground, myself glancing down at them to see Aerith keeping me in place. Oh, come on, I just want to make him as pretty as a ghoul, give or take an eyeball... "I'm staying here. But, hey, I'll humor you a little, if there really is a 'megaspell' that you've got up north by that old power station, and it's as dangerous as they allegedly are supposed to be - hell, if that thing turns me into a ghoul! - come back and I'll give you the recipe for RAD. If you're just screwing with me though, it's a million caps, no, TWO million, up front, right now. Take it or leave it."

I don't think I've gone from wanting to kiss somepony to wanting to strangle them to within forty millimeters of their life and make up the rest with Thumper as fast as I have with this guy. Static let off a sigh, shaking his head in disbelief and turning for the doorway, Aerith releiving myself of Thumper and making me follow along behind her. My hooves dug scrapes in the wood floor as I was dragged out, teeth still gritted, being picked up and set back down in the snow. Static looked back towards myself, his annoyed expression going to one of alarm. "U-um... look, Night Strike, it's not worth it. You've got plenty of RAD already, and he'll get his when we set off the megaspell anyways. Just... just breathe right now. We'll come back sooner or later to get it."

Drawing in a long breath of the frigid winter air, I held it for a moment, before releasing it in a cloudy huff. Right... his shack is in a valley, the recipe should be protected from the thermal pulse since that works on a line-of-sight deal for the most part. We'll come back after we set off the bomb, we'll get the recipe, and I'll get to rub it in his advanced radiation-poisoned face. Who knows, maybe all the fallout will actually allow him to get some brain cells back. Silently, I started to trot back to the road, the others following my lead, with Aerith hanging on to Thumper.

Hopping back on behind Boomer, Scouring, Pearl, and Crash Dive all watched us in mild confusion, Static starting up the engine underneath me. Pearl's screen-stalk bore her confusion face, looking towards us. "Were you able to evacuate that heart signature, or restrain it in place for blast study effects? I'd assume the latter based on your elevated levels of adrenaline and obvious signs of anger." Passing a glare off into the forest, I let off a sigh, looking back to Pearl as the mini-tank began moving again.

"It was nothing to worry about, just some stupid animal. They'll get what's coming to them."

"That was Two Suns in the Sunset from the Roger Trotters album The Final Cut, and you're tuned into Radio KAOS on this fine evening. And, heh, as it just so happens, we here have just gotten in a rather interesting report direct from the Vanhoover Five themselves, since it turns out tomorrow evening we'll be seeing two suns in the sunset as well. Or, well, at least a second sun after the first goes down, heh. Yes, as it turns out, they got their hooves on a five-hundred-ton yield tactical megaspell, which as they tell me is half the yield of the one they had set off just a few days ago to destroy a sunken submarine that was harboring some of those nasty monster sea ponies... er, Anglerponies.

"Now, they did give me a list of warnings concerning it, since unlike that one that rocked the station here this bomb will be set off on the ground, open to the air. This means that the explosion will be visible for a good few kilometers away, especially so since it'll be at night, so they'd strongly advise anyone who wants to see the blast to not look towards the northwest for at least ten seconds after zero is reported. We will have a live countdown from them routed through the station tomorrow night, so no saying we didn't warn you well in advance if any of you decide to stare at something that's a couple thousand times brighter than the sun. Welding goggles would work if you do want to watch it safely all the way through.

"They did make it a point to mention that the fallout from the blast is expected to mainly fall over the north, heading towards the east and towns such as Maple Station, which I'm sure the ghoul population there will be quite thankful for in these days of limited radiation storms, heh. They did evacuate everyone they could from the danger zone of the explosion, and I'd consider this announcement a fair warning to anyone who hasn't gone as far south or east as they could at this point and hid behind a hill, so if anyone's caught in the explosion, again - don't say we didn't warn you.

"Now, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing to witness from a safe distance, they did encourage any newsponies to come and experience the explosion with them. My understanding is that they'll be capturing it on video holotape from two cameras located from their viewing perspective, one with a normal lens and the other mounting a special magic-vision lens, for apparent scientific reasons. Guess they aren't only the most explosion-happy heroes in the wasteland, they do appreciate the finer parts of setting off massive bombs, heh. Us here at Radio KAOS will also have a camera set up to record the blast from our perspective, and of course will be recording the broadcast for playback."

"Anyways, as I've been wearing my newspony cap for a while now, let's change tune and get some music back on. This is the album Radio KAOS, and you're tuned to Radio KAOS. Goodnight Vanhoover, and enjoy~"

"Happy mushroom, friendly mushroom, firey mushroom cloud of death~" Letting loose a stupid giggle, I sat myself down behind the sandbags we had moved off of the sub pen's roof and set down to form a small trench in the snow on the hill just to the north, wearing a wide grin. It'd taken the better part of today to get back and have everything set up, including allocating Extra Edition and the other newsponies that could make it to their own trench a short way away from ours, but it was all going to be worth it in the end.

Static sat down beside me, glancing up to the cameras that rested side by side and letting off a small grumble. "Well, they're set up now. Hopefully we'll get this in true enough color when it happens, this lighting isn't showing much through the viewfinder, and I don't want to be staring through eitehr of them at it. Wish I would've known we were going to be doing this back when we stopped at that hardware store, could've grabbed more goggles..."

Wearing a smirk, I pulled the pair I had out of my saddlebags, tossing them over to him. He fumbled with them for a moment, before finally holding them still and looking at them. Glancing over to myself, I let off a shrug, leaning back in the small trench. "Take 'em, I'm not using 'em. Was a trick I remembered seeing on those old test films my dad has, can see the blast and fireball much clearer if you do the wait ten seconds trick, and I'm gonna be able to see it in full glory while you're watching through a tinted lens. 'sides, there's the cameras, too."

"I'm never going to understand why you like watching these things that can potentially injure you for life, or worse." Static let off a small chuckle as the rest of us settled in in the small trench, myself scooching over to the portable military radio we'd pulled from that training camp. Tuning in the dial, I poked my head over the sandbags, staring out towards the north at where the Battered-Sea Power Station stood, and where Shady Shores Biological Research sat beneath it. "So, almost ready for setting this thing off?"

"Almost, we just need the detonator. Scouring?" Looking to the power armored unicorn, he returned a nod, turning his helmeted head around to look towards his armor's stowage compartments. After a few moments of searching, however... well, needless to say this was starting to get a little worrying. "Eheh... um, you do have it, r-right?..."

Scouring looked towards me to speak, though was interrupted almost immediately by a cheerful Pearl levitating herself over. "Hiya guys! Sorry about taking so long, was just doing some touching up to the detonator. I have a label-maker on this chassis, useful! Oh, here you go." Wearing the smiling face on her screen-stalk, her pincher arm presented the detonator, which thankfully looked relatively unchanged and prompted a sigh of relief from Scouring, and myself. Taking it from her, I took to looking it over, eventually spotting her addition - a white sticker label, marked with the words 'SCIENCE BUTTON'. Well, she's got a sense of humor, I'll give her that.

"Alright, let's get this show started. Pearl, might want to keep down after it blows, don't want to know what the blast will do to that flat screen of yours." The robot gave a nod... I think, settling herself in the trench with the rest of us and giving one last glance over the sandbags. Wearing a smile, I turned back to the radio, pushing the button for the microphone. "Radio KAOS, come in Radio KAOS, we're all set here, what's your status?"

There was a moment of silence before White Noise came over the radio, the music coming from the other trench making it apparent we weren't patched in just yet. "Ahm, we're good and ready to go here, if you guys are. I'll just get the recording systems and feed-patch going... mmmnh... alright, good luck guys. Patching you into the broadcast in three, two, one."

The music went silent from the reporter's trench, myself pushing on the microphone talk button. Oh, this is so exciting! "Hello North Vanhoover, this is Night Strike of the Vanhoover Five, and we're coming to you live from a little makeshift trench just up the coast. We're going to be conducting a ground burst of a five hundred tons of TNT equivalent tactical megaspell, aimed to entirely destroy the hidden Shady Shores Biological Research facility and take all of the Anglerpony eggs there with it. And to indulge in something I've really wanted to do since we crashed down here... ahm, anyways, eheh. At this point I'd seriously suggest anypony without welding goggles on or a wish to be permanently blinded face in any direction other than the north or west, we don't know exactly how this thing will look but it'd be brighter than the sun during the daytime, so night can only be worse."

I picked up the detonator and rested it on the radio, with my hoof poised to push the tongue trigger on top of it. Ooooh, here it comes... "Countdown's starting now, so everypony brace yourselves. Twenty seconds to detonation... nineteen, eighteen, seventeen..." The chill night air blew over the trench, Static and Aerith adjusting their welding goggles one last time. "...sixteen, fifteen, fourteen..." There was some small scrambling over in the press trench, myself positively giddy with excitement. "...thirteen, twelve, eleven..."

"Ten." Another breeze blew over the trench, carrying some fluffy snow with it. "Nine." Cloudy breaths hung in the air as everyone who could watched out towards the north. "Eight." The breeze died down, everything becoming eerily quiet. "Seven." The earth pony beside me adjusted the artillery earmuffs he had on - C'mon, a little tinnitus never hurt anyone. "Six." Five seconds left to go...

"Five." A stupid grin was plastered on my face, staring down at the detonator on the radio.

"Four." Scouring's armor whirred slightly as he adjusted himself - or it could've been Crash Dive.

"Three." Okay, that might've come out as 'squee', but I'm hyped, damnit!

"Two." Sweet Luna above, here it comes...

"One."

The detonator clicked as my hoof pushed it in, and a fraction of a second later the sky behind me lit up in a brilliant, blinding flash, brighter than the sun, brighter than the Solar Burst grenades, brighter than anything I'd ever seen before. The breath was sucked out of me as I slowly, agonizingly watched the intense light fade around me, scooting forwards to turn around. Still keeping my eyes below the trench line, I slowly lifted myself up, eyes wide and watering - if it was from the wind or the beautiful sight set before myself, I didn't know. I would like to claim the latter.

A gigantic, white-hot fireball was rising far off to the north right on the coastline, followed by a thick dark-brown stem as the head cooled off to a yellowish-orange color, rising high and mighty above the wasteland. What felt like an eternity later, the white wall of disturbed fluff in the shockwave's wake could be seen racing across the snowy wastes, heading straight for us. I kept my head above the trench as the shockwave finally struck us, thunderous and loud, making the ground vibrate violently and throwing myself against the back of the trench, a very wide and very stupid grin plastered clean across my muzzle. I let off a shuddering moan I hadn't realized I was holding in, letting my limbs fall limp as the mushroom cloud continued to rise and the snow started to settle back down.

Pearl stuck her screen-stalk up above the trench after the shockwave passed, and - in a way slightly different than me - couldn't contain herself. "YEAH! WE DID IT! SCREW MY HOUSE!!" I broke out into a bit of laughter as the robot beside me made her joyful exclamation, catching my breath. Alright... I've had my hoof on the microphone button this whole time. Whoops.

"Ah... heh... w-well, there you have it Vanhoover, the Battered-Sea Power Station and Shady Shores Biological Research are now no more than a glowing crater in the ground. Radiation showers are expected to fall upon Hornsworth, Happy Valley Camp Site, and Maple Station in the coming days, and for now... well, I hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did. I'll give the broadcast back over to Radio KAOS n-" A short scream came from the press trench, Aerith being the first to look over to it, myself shuffling around to see what she was looking at. Pulling the goggles off, she turned to stare out towards the north, myself glancing over the trench's edge and catching... something, in the air, heading closer to us and leaving a firey trail in it's wake. That... is not good. "U-uh... there's been a small development here... please stand by."

Releasing the microphone button with a click, the air was filled with a droning noise as the firey craft drew ever closer, some of the press ponies running away in the direction that the thing was crashing. Well... okay. Watching it as it drew ever closer, it kind of looked like an aircraft, with the same big propellers that the Seaddler has and two upright fins on the back, but the design was just... strange. I didn't think a circle could fly like that... well, I mean, it probably does do a better job when it isn't on fire!

The craft sent up a heavy spray of snow as it skidded along the coastal plain, eventually coming to a stop just shy of the trenches, the part that connected to the right propeller still on fire. Spreading my wings wide and giving them a flap, I darted up out of the trench, Aerith right behind me and the rest rushing on the ground. Oh, come on, please be okay... why do these propeller planes keep on falling out of the sky near us!?

Landing against the snow with a dulled thud, the strange pancake-shaped craft showed it's full size, Aerith already beginning to heft as much snow as she could manage with her magic onto the right propeller cover to stem the flames. I moved up and over to the cockpit, looking through the foggy glass at a stallion passed out at the controls, a trickle of blood coming down from under his leather cap and staining his greyish coat. Okay, really hope he is just passed out... A lever alongside the canopy caught my eye, myself pulling it and dragging the glass cover back, Aerith and the rest of the group coming over to meet me. The pilot let off a long groan - good, good, just passed out.

As we worked with getting the seat restraints undone and the stallion out, another pony came galloping up to us, her exhausted breaths causing heavy clouds in the frigid night air. Oh, right, of course... had to say the press is welcome to watch the bomb go off. Extra Edition spent a while catching her breath as Aerith and Scouring carefully pulled the pilot out, eventually forming a few words.

"Seriously... what is it with this coastline attracting crashing air craft!?"

New Friends, New Enemies

I watched as Night Strike and Aerith pulled a body free of the crashed aircraft, the chill breeze and hissing of steam filling the air as the snow Aerith had dropped onto the burning propeller melted off from teh heat. I climbed out of the trenches, Extra Edition trotting up beside me as we approached the unconscious pony. A large gash was visible on his forehead, blood slowly oozing from it underneath his flight cap. Extra Edition rummaged through her saddlebags for a moment before whipping her camera up to her face, snapping a few photos of the crashed aircraft. “What the heck kind of plane is this? Do you guys have any idea?” She began scribbling down notes on a pad, looking back over to the injured pony.

“Hell if I know, but I think we’ve got something that requires a little more concern right now, don’t you think?” Night Strike said, gesturing to the stallion. “Come on, let’s get this guy up into the wagon, we gotta get him to Hopeville on the double.” Aerith lifted the pony up carefully in her magic as Scouring and Crash Dive hoisted themselves out of the trenches, heading over to us. I followed Night Strike and Aerith, Extra Edition still scrawling on her notepad close behind.

“Hopeville? Isn’t Maple Creek closer, they’ve got a clinic there, don't they? It seems like he's doing alright... aside from the, uh, obvious.” I stated. Aerith layed the pilot-pony out in the empty trailer behind the mini-tank, before sitting beside him. Scouring hopped in with Aerith as Crash Dive and Night Strike hopped onto the back of the mini-tank, the suspension groaning softly from the combined weight. Extra Edition was attempting to climb into the driver’s seat, kicking wildly before flopping forward in front of the controls. I trotted up to the side of the half-track as she straightened herself out. “And what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Extra Edition stowed her notebook under her hat, along with her quill behind her ear. “I’m not just leaving a story like this, my boss would skin me alive! And from how that crash looked, I think you might be overestimating the durability of ponies, mister 'had a bullet pulled from my hoof with no anasthetics'. Unless you’d rather I append this story with ‘Vanhoover Hero Kills Crash Victim’, I suggest we stick with the first plan.” I grimaced, not wanting to admit Extra was right about something.

“Fine, but I think you’ve overestimated how much I care about your job.” I said, hopping up onto the side of the tank. Extra Edition barely had time to shout a protest before I hosted her out of the front seat and tossed her into the trench beside the mini-tank. Revving the engine, I turned the tank around and began to speed off towards Hopeville, Extra’s angry shouts fading into the distance. Pearl waved a robotic claw at her before spinning her monitor forward. “Pearl, do you think you can help him at all before we reach Hopeville?” I asked her, the tank bouncing over a few small rocks under the snow.

“Of course! It’d be rather foolish of me to leave all my vivisection tools back at the facility, no sense in a mobile science body that can't do some science of it's own!” She said happily, one of her robotic arms flipping over to reveal a small scalpel. Night Strike gave a worried ‘uuuuh’ looking back and forth between the pony and the surgical tool. Pearl’s monitor turning to face the pegasus, the AI’s image still grinning widely.

Night Strike gave an awkward cough. “Uh, we were kind of hoping more in a way that will keep him alive, you know? Like some Med-X or a healing potion, or something.” Pearl’s face flickered to an image of disappointment, her scalpel replacing itself with a small syringe. She stuck the needle into the pony’s arm, injecting him with a small dose of chemicals before removing the needle and flipping back to her normal claw.

“Aww, killjoy. I better get to do more fun science when we get to Hopeville, I know that place had a pretty nice hospital there before all those bombs fell!” I shook my head, trying to concentrate on driving along the road. Yes, Pearl, I’m sure the Triage will let you run as many experiments as you like. We continued through the countryside, Aerith looking down at the stallion, worried. The moon was rising high in the sky as we drove along, myself flipping on the headlight of the mini-tank to illuminate the wooded path before us. The lighthouse could be seen faintly off in the distance, the beacon atop it spinning slowly around, its beam cutting into the darkness. Come on, ya half-tank, don't fail us now...

The lights of Hopeville could be seen coming up slowly in the distance, the Hotel sign flickering feebly in the night as we approached. I wound my way through the familiar streets towards the Triage, a few ponies stepping out of the closing bars and pubs, making their way slowly home in the chilly air. The stallion was still lying unconscious in the trailer, though his wounds had long ago stopped leaking blood as they clotted up. Pulling up in front of the Triage, I turned the engine of the mini-tank off and hopped out, Aerith and Scouring carefully lifting the stallion out and carrying him through the front doors.

Night Strike stepped up to the desk, the receptionist looking worried as she saw the stallion’s body. The secretary punched a few numbers into a paging system on her desk before pushing her chair away from the desk. “Come with me, I’ve just called a doctor to one of the emergency rooms.” She lead us down the hallway, pushing open a door to reveal a bed, a doctor already standing inside and opening up a bag of medical tools.

Aerith lay the stallion down on the bed, the doctor quickly slipping on a stethoscope and beginning to take vitals. “What exactly happened to him?” He asked, scribbling down a few notes before checking the pony’s pulse. Pearl hovered outside the door, extending an eyestalk in an attempt to see past us as the doctor went about his business.

“We think his plane was taken out by the shockwave of the megaspell we detonated up by Shady Shores, it crashed down near us. We were able to get him out of the cockpit, and Pearl injected him with some Med-X stuff to keep him stable, I don’t really know any more than that.” Night Strike stated. The doctor looked over the stallion’s wounds, pulling a roll of bandages and cream out of his bag and began to dress the gashes in the pony’s skin.

“From the looks of things, it seems like he’s going to be alright, though I don’t know if he’ll wake up anytime soon. Come back tomorrow morning, his condition should be stable enough we can try reviving him then. And, erm, if you don’t mind, this room isn’t really built for 7 ponies... and a robot.” I nodded, preparing to turn around, only to be met by Pearl's shiny chassis. Oh, right, this is where we were planning on dropping you off, wasn’t it? Turning back to face the doctor, I tried to fight back my urge to come up with a number for her. Now’s probably not the best time for price negotiations, Static... Though that is a lot of zeroes…

“Is Emerald still here this late? We have someone that might be able to help her out around here.” The doctor shook his head, writing something down on a clipboard before shooing us out of the room. Well, I guess we’ll just try tomorrow then. We began to head back towards the lobby of the hospital, myself yawning as I realized how tired I was. Guh, I guess it’s another night in the hotel again, I’m definitely not up to driving back to the lighthouse. Hopefully Chauffeur doesn’t work the graveyard shift, too... We stepped outside into the night air and climbed once again onto the mini-tank. Passing by a few more ponies heading home, we were quickly pulling up outside the hotel and hopping out, as Aerith enchanted the vehicle invisible.

The lobby was empty, save for the rather tired looking peagsus at the front desk, her cheek pushed up as she leaned into her hoof. “Two rooms, please.” I said, trotting up to her. She turned around, taking a couple keys and sliding them across the desk for us. Crash Dive and Scouring grabbed one apiece and we walked down the hallway towards our respective rooms, a dull thud heard from the lobby as the mare finally fell asleep. As Crash Dive slid her key into the lock, though, Night Strike tapped me on the shoulder.

“Uh, would you guys mind if I slept with you? Our room’s gonna be kind of crowded with three ponies and a robot. And, uh,” She lowered her voice. “I’m not exactly comfortable sleeping next to something that just tried to cut open that pony in the back of our trailer.” I let off a quiet sigh, looking at her - and you think Aerith and Crash Dive are? Nevertheless, I agreed, and Night Strike followed Scouring and myself into our room as the others headed into the other. Locking the door behind us, I dropped my saddlebags to the floor, as Night Strike did the same with her duffel bag.

She unzipped her thick bomber jacket and tossed it onto the chair, before flopping into the bed and wriggling her way beneath the covers. “Tired?” I asked, giving a little chuckle. Night Strike simply grunted under the blankets as Scouring stepped out of his armor, throwing back the covers of the other bed and climbing in. I slipped off my own jacket and dropped it onto my saddlebags before crawling beneath the covers beside Night Strike. Curling up beside her, I gently wrapped my hooves around her, nuzzling into her mane lightly. She fidgeted for a moment, rolling herself around, myself watching her as she did so. Her drowsy eyes met mine before she let her head fall back onto the pillow, her wing lazily wrapping over my back as she nuzzled herself against my neck. Blinking a few times, a small smile came across my muzzle as I helped pull the blanket snug around us, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep in the warm bed.

I awoke to the rumble of my Pip-Buck’s alarm, which was pinned beneath Night Strike as she snorted in her sleep. The Pip-Buck continued to shake my numb leg as I rolled Night Strike off of it, the screen displaying the little Stable-Tec colt sitting up in bed as it always did. Huh, I don’t remember turning on the alarm... Flicking the little nob, the Pip-Buck stopped vibrating and the awakening colt was replaced with a small text. ‘Reminder: Buzzy’s birthday today! Don’t forget to send her a new scarf!’ Well, that would explain why the alarm was turned on. My mind conjured up the image of Cross Stitch frantically trying to knit up a scarf for Buzzy upon realizing he didn’t have his Pip-Buck to remind him. Hopefully he’d actually written some of these notices down... hopefully they're doing alright...

I rolled out of bed, standing up a little shakily as my foreleg tried to regain feeling after being stuck underneath Night Strike all night. Stomping my leg a little to get the tingling to subside and the blood flowing again, I picked up my coat and slipped it over my head, Night Strike grumbling a little as she started to wake up. You know, for all the stuff we’ve been through, our clothes certainly seem to stay a lot cleaner and intact than they probably should. Night Strike lazily pushed down the covers and sat up in bed, her eyes still half closed. I picked up her jacket and threw it at her, the thick cloth wrapping around her face and knocking her back down onto the pillow. “Oh, come on, it’s not that early,” I said, stepping up to her.

“It’s not the afternoon yet, so it’s too early.” She mumbled beneath the jacket. I rolled my eyes and went to hitch up my saddlebags, the contents shaking. Scouring continued to sleep soundly in the bed opposite Night Strike’s, so I simply stepped out into the hallway to knock on Crash Dive’s room. Before I got the opportunity, though, the door slammed open and out dashed Crash Dive in her armor, a length of rebar from her cannon's clip clenched between her teeth. Pearl hovered in the doorway, her screen displaying a surprised face.

“Oh, come on! I promise this’ll fix up your wings good as new! You don’t need both of your kidneys!” She retracted her screen-stalk as Crash Dive jabbed at her, still glaring at the robot. Pearl’s eyestalks turned to notice me, her screen flickering to a more dejected look. “Static, you said I’d get to do more science out here! Everypony I met just refuses to let me do any experiments!”

I resisted every urge to smack myself in the face with my hoof as Crash Dive glanced over to me. “Pearl, don’t worry, you’ll get to do your science-y stuff once we drop you off at the Triage, just… stop trying to cut up ponies left and right, alright? Dissections aren’t going to give you every possible bit of information, right?” Pearl’s expression switched to her thinking, Crash Dive lowering her spear.

“I guess so, but you better be sure I’ll get to do more research once I’m with those medical ponies. This science itch is driving me mad!” The door to my room opened up and Scouring and Night Strike stepped out, looking a little confused as to what the noise had been. Pearl hovered out of the room, Aerith following her and handing Crash Dive her helmet, which she promptly slipped over her head.

“Well, now that I’m sure we’ve annoyed everypony sleeping within five rooms o' us, how about we head back t' the Triage an' see who that stallion was? And drop off the lass.” Scouring said, leading us down the hall and back towards the lobby. I avoided eye contact with Chauffeur who was sitting at the front desk as we passed, picking up my pace slightly before we all stepped out into the chilly early morning air, Aerith re-visualizing the half-track. My breath created a small cloud in the air as I climbed up into the mini-tank, the others hopping in as I flipped the switch. The engine spun for a moment before catching, rumbling to life as I spun us around to head once again towards the Triage.

The lobby of the hospital was empty, save for the familiar receptionist and a stallion asleep on one of the chairs, his head drooping down onto his chest. We trotted down the hallway towards the pilot stallion’s room, opening the door to find him sitting up in bed, a nurse standing over him and checking his temperature. “Oh, are you all here to see Contrail?” She asked, looking over to us. “I’m sorry, but we can only allow three visitors at a time, the room’s simply not big enough.”

We paused for a moment, all of us looking back to one another. “I can take Pearl over to Emerald now, if one of you wants to tag along,” I suggested. Scouring stepped forward to head down the hallway with me while the others stepped into the hospital room. Pearl floated behind us as we walked down the hallway towards Emerald’s workshop. The mare inside was busy refilling a few oxygen tanks, watching the gauges carefully before setting the full tanks aside. She turned around as we entered, her pupils shrinking as she noticed Pearl.

“Woah, back, back, backbackback!” She pushed us backwards out of the room before giving a small sigh of relief, looking around. “Jeez, who told you it was a good idea to let a Mr. Handy hover in here when I’m refilling the air tanks? That hover module could’ve set this whole place on fire!” She shook her head, pausing to let off a sigh after a moment, calming down. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. It’s good to see you again. I hope you’re not here to drop off more batteries, we’ve been doing fine after you got the dam fixed up.”

“Actually, she’s why we’re here.” I nodded to Pearl, who floated forward and lifted a claw up to shake Emerald’s hoof. Upon getting a better look at Pearl, and finally noticing her central screen in place of an eyestalk, Emerald raised an eyebrow, looking back to me. “She’s an AI that was developed to run the experiments back up at the Shady Shores research center. We think she’d be able to help out the Triage into looking for new medical treatments, better agrarian practices; stuff like that. Here name’s Pearl, by the way.”

Pearl spoke up, lowering her claw. “And anti-zebra bioweapons, and other fun stuff too! Did you know I was the one that designed those anglerponies everybody’s been talking about? I still think they’re some of my best work, but these guys said I should probably stick to less murder-y science from now on. ” Emerald looked taken aback and simply stared at Pearl for a moment before she found her voice again.

“Uh… are you sure she’d fit in here? Maybe there’s some other place that could use her?” She watched as Pearl simply hovered in place, her screen flickering occasionally. “Then again, I suppose if she were here would could actually keep check on her. Alright, Pearl, we’d love to have you on board. But, uh, your friends are right, we would like it if you could keep the science on the beneficial kind.” Pearl gave a robotic cheer, her monitor rising up slightly as she did so.

“Hooray! Oh, we’re going to get to do so much science! I’ll show you how to build robotic hooves, and regrow limbs with radiation! Well, the good kind of limbs, not those three horns growing out of a pony’s knee like what happened last time. Ooh, maybe we can even try giving a zebra a horn! I always wondered what kind of magic they’d be able to do with one...” As Pearl was rattling off a list of experiments, I suddenly remembered the implant we had delivered here earlier.

“Hey, this may be a bit of short notice, but is Pin Cushion in today?” I asked the dumbstruck Emerald as Pearl continued, oblivious to us. After a moment, she nodded, and I waved my head towards the stairs. Scouring followed me, Emerald looking as if she regretted letting Pearl join up as the AI rambled on. We were soon stepping into the head doctor’s office, who was busy filling out paperwork.

He looked up as we entered, putting down his pen. “Ah, hello, I heard about you coming in last night. We’ve been able to figure out most of the workings of the implant, though replicating the chemical at a near constant rate seems like it’ll be an impossibility. We can get it to build up a few doses every 24 hours or so, though. If you’re ready, I’ve had the other doctors prep the surgical room, we can install it right now.” I grinned, my heart racing as I nodded. Pin Cushion pushed back his chair and stood up. “Alright, come with me, then.” I followed him out of the room, Scouring Charge standing in the middle of the office, staring blankly after us.

“Suppose I’ll just… uh... come with?" The unicorn gave a shrug under his power armor, before following after us, the doctor leading us to the operation room. Myself trotting through the doors and over to the table, the doctor had showed Scouring the way up to the observation deck, before coming over.

"Alright, if you'd like to lay up on the table I'll have Nurse Laundry come in to put you under. We'll begin the procedure shortly." Returning a nod, I undid my jacket's zipper and slipped myself out of it, setting it on a chair in the corner of the room and laying myself back on the cushioned table. Taking a small breath, it was only a few moments later that the door opened back up, a unicorn stallion coming over to myself with a couple of compressed gas tanks, a few beeping machines on wheels, and a plastic mask being pulled along in his magic.

He set the tanks aside for the moment as he pulled the paper facemask around his muzzle, adjusting his glasses and heading over to a sink at the side of the room. "Just hang tight, the doctors should be back shortly. I'm Nurse Laundry, I'll be helping you get through the procedure without much fuss. We wired ahead to Maple Creek and Vanhoover to get a better idea of your medical history, so we should be able to start as soon as they get in." Passing on a nod as the unicorn scrubbed his hooves clean, I rested my own hooves on my chest, looking up at the bright lights above. Oooh, hopefully all this excitement isn't a problem... then again, the anasthetics would probably help with calming down.

A few minutes later, the doors opened again, Dr. Pin Cushion trotting inside with a small group dressed similarly to him, one pushing over a small cart with surgical implements. The nurse passed on a smile and nodded once, bringing the plastic mask over and fitting it over my muzzle. "Alright, deep breaths now, you won't feel a thing. That's it..." Breathing the stale, cold anesthetics, everything slowly began to fade off, the bright lights of the room giving way to black. In some far-off room as things went fuzzy, the muffled sound of a door being smashed open met my ears, I think, a partially familiar voice making an enthusiastic claim I could just barely make out.

"Alright Static, let's get that implant implanted!" Pearl's voice... can I panic now?

"I'll admit now ah've had worse crashes, but never one caused by somethin' like what happened last night. That was really a megaspell?" The earth pony laying in the hospital bed before us idly scratched at the bandages wrapped around his head, pink mane poking out between them over his grey coat. To say he looked like a stallion version of Crash Dive would be pretty on the money... gwuh, and here I was thinking that Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush made our dads confused enough. There's not some stallion version of me out there, or a mare version of Static, is there?... brain, before you think those thoughts I know you want to think, how about we focus on the conversation. "Right nice of y'all to come by after savin' me, though. Heh, suppose I ought to apoligize fer not havin' my radio on, would've saved us both the trouble if I knew about it."

"To be honest, we weren't really expecting to have to factor in air craft when we were evacuating people from the blast zone." I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head, the nurse in the room making her way past Aerith and out the door. "Kind of are wondering why you were flying in that thing anyways, and, ah, what it is in the first place. Was a little on fire when it landed, but Aerith got that taken care of and it seemed like it was still in one piece, barring the propellers being bent up. Never seen anything quite like it before."

Contrail seemed to let off a sigh, relaxing back into the bed and wearing a smile. "Well, good t' hear that plane's as strong as those ol' documents said it were. Pre-war docs said it's a Trought F/A-5U Flyin' Pancake, they were testin' or trainin' with these, or somethin' up at the Vanhoover Air Base before the bombs fell. I kinda... wasn't supposed to be flyin' it, but I had t' get outta there fast and find help somehow. Things're gettin' weird up back home."

"Home... so, you lived up at the Vanhoover Air Base?" Contrail responded with a nod, adjusting the blanket over his waist. I glanced over towards Crash Dive for a moment - isn't the Vanhoover Air Base one of the places she said we'd have some luck finding a portable generator to get the Valkyrie finally fixed? If it's in trouble... well, fuck me with a flak gun. "Ahm, when you say they're getting weird, what do you mean by that? Like, robo-dragons attacking, jet air craft carrying thermobaric bombs and tesla cannons weird?"

The stallion wore a look of confusion, glancing to the others for a moment. "Er... nah, nothin' like that. It's the new leader causin' problems, like he's got somethin' off in his head, 'r some vendetta against mares, or somethin'." Okay, that was at least a little more comforting, knowing that it wasn't at immediate risk of getting entirely razed to the ground. Still, does kind of sound like the place could use a change in management sooner than later, if it's causing issues... "He's lookin' to rule for life, too. Least, that's what I gathered when he put on the new way leaders 're gonna be chosen from now on - air races."

"Going to take it this moron must be a pegasus, if that's the case. Might just have to make sure his rule is a short one, then." Crash Dive spoke up, looking over to myself. Well, he might not be in the camp that believe megaspells are fake, but being a mare-hating asshole certainly doesn't help his case at all. Wouldn't mind giving Thumper or War Crime something to bite into, been a while since we've seen sonething worthwhile to turn into a fine red mist... then again, maybe the fact that Contrail's shaking his head no is reason to believe this guy won't be getting a 40mm lead suppository anytime soon.

"Nope, he's a unicorn, an' killin' him will just get y'all killed in return. We settle differences at the VAB with racin' home-built flyin' machines... only problem is, the guy with the fastest one is that unicorn, and nopony can build one that can beat his 'Dragon Mare'." The earth pony let off a small sigh, letting his head fall to look down at the covers. "Lotta ponies just got fed up an' tried to leave, ah think some made it to Saddlebrook, but most... y'all probably can guess how good anti-air cannons are against unarmored targets."

Funny how thoughts like that just never really occur to you until you have a chance to think about them. I stood silent in the hospital room for a long moment, mouth agape, as my brain ran over what a proxy-fused flak shell might do to a pony... okay, yeah, that's definitely one thing I don't want to see happen for myself. Or to myself. Or to anyone who isn't trying to kill us. Wuh. Aerith took a small step forwards, bringing up a screen. 'So if they have that kind of hardware to use, how are we supposed to get close enough to the VAB to help change the management, then?' Contrail blunk a few times in response, Aerith glancing to myself and Crash Dive. 'What? You came looking for help, and that's kind of our job description. We're the Vanhoover Five... minus two currently.'

The earth pony paused and thought for a moment, resting a hoof against his chin. "Well, there are two ponies who I know that could help. Names are Sharpwing and Serene Steel, if you can get close enough to the Air Base to see it, shoot a flare off from the flare gun in the Pancake, they'll know to come and help, just let 'em know I'm alright." Answering him with a nod, I wore a small smile, glancing towards the doorway for just a moment as a small group of doctors passed by it. Contrail paused for another moment, before speaking up again. "A-ah, and, uh, if it ain't too much to ask, um, mind seein' if you could get the F/A-5U unburied, at the very least? Kinda want t' see if it's saveable at all, when ah'm better."

"We can definitely see to that. Aerith here already has some experience pulling crashed aircraft out of the mud, heh." Letting off a light chuckle, Aerith responded with a silent one of her own and a light eyeroll. Hopefully that Pancake plane is a little lighter than the Valkyrie was, and if not, well, we do have that Sparkle-Cola RAD recipe to collect, after all~... sheesh, aircraft really do have a tendency to crash when we're around, don't they? First the Valkyrie... well, actual first was that vertibuck, but that was obviously Static's fault... then the Harrier, then the Seaddler, now that thing. Huh, might be worthwhile to mention, come to think of it...

"Ahm, Contrail, did just remember something. When you get to feeling better, head over to the hotel in town and ask for Marigold Skies, she might actually be able to help you out when it comes to fixing up the, uh, Pancake. She's a pre-war ghoul with an aircraft kind of like yours, called the Seaddler." The earth pony's eyes widened slightly in curiosity, I think, a hint of a smile forming on his muzzle. "She mentioned that the sister aircraft, the Seafalke and Seamowe were probably up at the VAB, is that true? We need to get one of the engines off of them to replace the one that kind of, um, exploded, on the Seaddler's wing."

"Ah, yeah, think I remember seein' an aircraft or two with those names in one o' the main hangars, near where I got the Pancake from. Weird flyin' boat, ah've never seen a flying machine using propellers on both sides front and back before 'r since. Will be sure t' go an' see her when the doctors say I can leave, nice to know there're more ponies out there with the flyin' bug." The earth pony wore a wide grin, shuffling on his hospital bed, myself returning it. Good, gonna be at least something else we can get done while we're there... hopefully or litle mini-tank can take it. Well, I mean, Marigold did say that there were other mini-tanks like ours at the Air Base, too, so maybe we could grab another one to help bring it back. Passing on a curt nod, a door down the hallway banged loudly as it was stopped by the wall, a Mr. Handy chassis... a very familiar Mr. Handy chassis... suddenly darting down the hallway. "The heck was that!?"

A moment later, Emerald caught herself on the doorway to the room, panting heavily and looking towards us, eyes wide open. "That... that robot's somethin' else. She just started giggling and rushing around out of nowhere, something about Static and an implant, I think... you know what she was on about?" Static and an implant... oh, he's not getting that done now, is he? And if Pearl's going there... I doubt she's just going to watch. Oh, boy.

A worried glance towards Aerith and Crash Dive later, and a quick apology to Contrail, we were rushing out down the hallway, following Emerald as she led us to the surgery ward. Arriving at a set of double doors, the green earth pony skidded herself to a halt, looking in through the fogged-glass windows. Not instilling me with a whole lot of confidence there, yanno... "Shit, it looks like they've already started. Erm, ah, there's an observation room, right up this way. I really hope that robot isn't doing anything we'll regret..." You can say that again...

Heading up the metal stairwell led us into a small seating area, Scouring Charge looking over to us with his teeth gnawing at his lip. "Dunno what's goin' on down there, kind of looks like the doctors are too stunned to do anythin' about Pearl. She prob'ly knows what she's doin', though, aye? The implant came from the same place as 'er, didn't it?" That... was a fair enough point, but I have to admit my brain immediately starting to rush to the worst-case scnearios is not helping one bit. Brain, quit it!

Taking a second to try and calm myself down, I peered out through the wide glass windows down into the operation area, just barely able to see the silver mane and blue muzzle of Static poking up off of the table, eyes closed and some sort of plastic mask on him. Okay... I think I at least recognize one of those ponies in there, so I suppose it's somepony to blame if... I'm not going to finish that thought. Everything is going to be just fine, and Pearl will not turn Static into some freaky monstrosity through doing this. What was it that that implant did, anyways? Slowed time, made him faster or something? Yeah, okay, just breathe, Strikey.

Finding one of the old theatre chairs and setting myself down in it, I leaned back, trying to ignore the sight of a dissection-happy robot cutting into the earth pony on the table. Crash Dive set herself in the chair beside mine, the old cushion creaking under the weight of her armored flanks. Aerith found her own spot over by Scouring, while Emerald elected to stand and watch. Please come out of this alright... A power armored hoof rested itself on my shoulder, myself glancing over to the power armored pegasus it was connected to. "I'm sure that he'll be fine, Night Strike, implant or not. You know how tough he is."

Drawing in a breath, I held it for a moment before releasing it in a sigh, giving Crash Dive a nod. "Yeah... yeah, I know. It's just a little nerve-wracking... not exactly the same as heaking from a bullet wound, or after getting sent on an unplanned flying lesson, heh." Letting loose a weak laugh, a smile flashed across the power armored pegasus' muzzle, a few chuckles coming from herself. You're just over-reacting Strikey, they have plenty of medical knowledge here and plenty of stuff to make sure everything goes alright.

Emerald turned away from the window to face back towards us, an unsure expression on her muzzle. "I think this procedure might take a while, from the looks of things they have to install the implant on his neck. Dunno how long it'll take, even with the robot, but... it's going to be delicate work. You might be better off heading back into town for a while, check back in in a few hours." A few hours? But it's just installing a little chip or something, isn't it? Crash Dive gave a small nod beside me, Emerald glancing towards the window again. "I'll stick around and see how it goes, come get you when things are looking like they'll be wrapped up. Can probably guess you guys aren't that squeamish, but it might be a bit hard to watch..."

"Y-yeah, might be better if we just head back to the hotel for a while. I... I think I could use some rest." Trying to avoid looking down and seeing Static cut open, I pulled myself back onto my hooves, Crash Dive coming along with me. Looking back towards Aerith and Scouring, the unicorn gave a quick glance down through the window, his power armor whirring as it moved along. The alicorn watched down through it for a while longer, before flashing up a screen.

'You guys can head back to the hotel, I'll stick around and wait with Emerald. Should be able to get to you a lot faster when he's done.' Wearing a small smile, Aerith sat herself down on one of the observation room's seats, Scouring and myself returning a nod as Crash Dive moved for the door. Okay, yeah, that's a good plan, and the Hotel isn't that far away from the Hospital, anyways. Let's just... try and relax. The power armored pegasus held the door open for both of us as we headed out of the observation room and back into the hallway, heading out of the hospital and back into Hopeville.

"You're tuned into Radio KAOS, and it's looking to be another one of those frigid winter days out there across the wasteland. Well, frigid for most, anyways - people living anywhere near what was formerly the Battered-Sea Power Station might find the weather significantly hotter than they might've expected, and I'm not only talking about the temperature. For those of you who happened to be sleeping or had your radios in the shop last night, the Vanhoover Five were at it again, doing what they do best; blowing stuff up. Only, this one was a particularly larger explosion than they've done in the past, on the order of five hundred tons of TNT. Needless to say, there isn't much of a Battered-Sea Power Station left over there on the shore.

"As expected, the fallout from the blast seems to be blowing inland, as ponies in Maple Station are reporting geiger counters are clicking a little faster than usual. Considering the snowfall is probably going to bring a fair bit of that stuff down to the ground, I'm kind of tempted to suggest opening a few windows to get soem of that pleasant irradiated air on what's left of your skin - then again, heh, no reason to give yourself frostbite. Hopefully you find some way to make the most of this weather while it lasts, Maple Station.

"As it turns out though, that blast last night caused a bit of a commotion, as it seems that somepony in an air craft hadn't gotten the memo that a megaspell of that size was about to go off, and was promptly blown out of the sky. The pilot was injured in the crash, but the Vanhoover Five were quick in removing him from the wreck and bringing him to Hopeville. No word on his condition as of this moment, but he's certainly in good hooves. Hopefully next time the Vanhoover Five have to blow something up with a big bomb, everypony takes mind to steer well clear of the explosion, and find somewhere safe. Or, well, at least don't think it's a good idea to fly over it, anyways.

"Moving on to the weather, we're expecting heavy snowfall all across the wasteland over the next few hours, so for anypony not of a ghoulish disposition or hopped up on enough chems to put them out of their mind, finding someplace indoors with a working heater is encouraged. It should clear up by later tonight, though clouds will remain through to the morning, thankfully none of them being mushroom-shaped, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, KAOS in Vanhoover, and this goes out to anypony who's going to be separated from their loved ones by this storm - Wish You Were Here. Enjoy."

Thick white flakes fell outside the hotel room window, myself letting off a sigh and watching the glass fog up from my breath. Stupid weather, I've got enough on my mind right now that I don't need to deal with being homesick, too. Being worried about Static is bad enough... the whirring of power armor behind me caught my attention, Crash Dive trotting over to rest on the small window seat with me. "Still thinking about him?"

"D'you have to ask? Of course I am. It's just... I know these feelings aren't new, but I still don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him, if I was the only one who went back home for whatever reason. I just... I just don't know." Dropping my chin against the sleeve of my jacket, my eyes fell to the bits of frost at the window's frame, watching quetly as my breaths caused the cold glass to fog up every so often. Brain, I know we have a bit of a love/hate relationship here, but you really don't need to make me think these thoughts, you know... oh, you mean it's my heart doing this? Well... hmh... "We're in this together, been that way from the start. I want to finish this together, too."

"Did you let him know that's how you feel yet, like I said you should?" Crash Dive adjusted herself slightly on the cushions, her power armor whirring as she did, head tilting lightly to one side. I returned a weak expression, a small, guilty smile flickering on my muzzle, eyes looking up to meet those of the mare sitting beside me. She let off a light sigh, giving her head a shake and wearing a smile. "Can't even follow suggestions, don't know how I ever thought you were part of the Enclave. You should do it soon as he wakes up and we see him, before we leave tomorrow. Don't want to regret things you didn't get the chance to say."

I let off a quiet sigh, the window fogging up from it, clouding the sight of the large red cross over on the Hospital's front. Can't have regrets, not in case something happens... "I... I know. I will. Being so far from home, for so long, it's... it's just getting to me, I think. Back home, if we got into trouble or whatever, my dad could just show up in the TOG and blast it away, or Minty could turn up with Jolts and take whatever it was out, and if anything really bad happened we'd just go to EQUAD to get fixed up. Down here... Vanhoover's a lot bigger than our old patch of wasteland."

Crash Dive's armor whirred as she rested her hoof over my back again, looking out through the window at the snowstorm. "Should look towards the bright side of things, hasn't been all bad since you've been down here, has it? Be thankful not a whole lot of people have wanted to kill you." The power armored pegasus let off a light chuckle, a smile coming to my muzzle. Well, I'll give her that, that is one thing to be glad about. "Not that they could. 'sides, you did help a washed-up poor excuse for a pegasus learn there's still some friends out there in the world. Well, ones above the waves, anyways."

Sitting myself back up, I passed on a light nod, rubbing at my eyes for a moment. "Heh, I suppose so... you know, I do want to know, why'd you seem to trust Depth Charge so fast? You knew him, or something?" Suppose it was Crash Dive's turn to watch the snow falling outside the window, a small smile upon her muzzle. After a moment, she looked over to myself, giving a faint nod and light chuckle.

"Yeah, could say that. Didn't know I knew him, though." Moving both of her hooves onto the windowsil, the pink-maned pegasus let her breaths fog up the glass, watching the snowy street below. "Back before you showed up, I did spend a lot of time walking around underwater, just trying to hang on to a part of myself. Sometimes I'd just go down there and smash up seaweed or break rocks open with the rebar cannon, let my feelings out. It kinda worked, for a while." She released a quiet sigh, letting her head lower, mane brushing against the glass. "One day a year or two ago, I was out breaking up more rocks, can't remember what it was I was mad or frustrated about, really. Couldn't find any more rocks to break apart, so I wound up breaking into tears, and... well, somepony asked me what was wrong."

Um... yeah, I think I might've missed something there. I don't think Depth Charge could hear us when we were in the diving suits, so how would've he heard Crash Dive? She seemed to notice my confusion, a small smirk coming to her muzzle. "You know my helmet has a speaker, right? Well, it must've turned on or something that day. Kinda want to know what I looked like when I heard his voice, gone from crying to panic fast as the water allowed me to. I really did think I'd just gone crazy at that point..."

"You couldn't see him, or something? Wouldn't he have to've been pretty close to hear you?" Scratching at my head in confusion, I adjusted myself on the seat, Crash Dive giving a small roll of her eyes. Hey, it's a legitimate question! Maybe.

"Not quite. Water conducts sound a lot faster and farther than air does, and I guess seaponies are pretty great at hearing. That or I had the volume too high on my speaker that night. Didn't think about it at the time, but the point is, I had something to talk with then. Never asked a name, could be that I just assumed it was all in my mind and wouldn't be worth it, but... it helped, for a while. Least until I couldn't hear him anymore." The power armored pegasus fell silent for a moment, before giving a tap on the windowsil and looking back over towards myself. "But, that's in the past. We kind of knew each other before all this crazy stuff happened, and I've got you to thank for being able to actually meet that voice in my head for once."

Passing on a silent smile, I leaned up against the wall, looking down from the window. Heh, is funny to think, we've been down here for, what, a month or two, and think of all the ponies we've helped out in that time... and the ones we kinda cleaned out the treasuries of. We stick around this place for much longer, with Static, we're gonna bring down the economy sooner or later...

A black and dark blue form appeared at the Hospital's doorway after a moment, both myself and Crash Dive peering out through the storm to watch as Aerith took flight. The power armored pegasus moved herself back to her hooves, trotting over to fit on her helmet, myself adjusting my jacket and watching as the alicorn landed at the hotel's entrance. Heading out into the hallway, Crash Dive knocked on Scouring's room's door, myself already heading down the stairs. Okay, it has been a few hours, so if Aerith is turning up now then it must've been a success... unless it wasn't. But of course it was!... unless it wasn't. Brain, gonna say this once, shut up.

The snow-dusted fedora and suit caught my attention as I bumped into Aerith coming up the stairway, the alicorn blinking a few times before putting up a screen. 'The operation went well, Static should be waking up now. Was just coming to get you so you could-' Wearing a wide smile, I darted past Aerith and out into the snowy town, wings carrying me along on the chill air. Oh, I forgot how it felt to fly in a storm like this...

Slowing myself as I neared the hospital, the thick snowflakes landed across my back and froze in my mane, prompting me to give my head a shake as I stepped through into the waiting room. The receptionist looked up for a moment, eyes wide in surprise, before shuffling back and looking about for a moment. "Ah, you're here to see... Static, right? Down the hallway, fourth door on your left, third room." Answering her with a grinning nod, my hooves clacked against the linoleum as I found my way through the building, eventually arriving at the room.

Glancing through the window afforded me the sight of the blue earth pony resting in one of the beds, a nurse looking over one of the machines nearby him. The door opened with a small creak, Static glancing over my way with a smile, then a small look of confusion. What, I can't show up alone to see you? The nurse paused for a moment, before glancing between the two of us, a smile crossing muzzle as he made for the door, drawing Static's attention for a second. "Oh, Night Strike, ah... where are the rest?"

"Ahm, they'll be here in a little bit, I just wanted to come see how you were soon as I could. Everything's went alright, Pearl didn't try giving you an extra limb or anything, did she?" Letting off a light chuckle, Static joined me for a moment, reaching a foreleg up to push back his mane. He leaned forwards, affording me a closer look at the side of his neck behind his head, where a fairly faint red line and small rectangular-ish bump could be seen.

"Yup, it went in just fine, but the doctors said that I need to stick around overnight just to make sure everything's actually going to be fine. I think I heard Pearl say something about going over the tapes later... I really hope she doesn't mean she recorded it." Brushing his mane back into place, and wincing a little as his hoof touched his neck, Static let off a light sigh. After a moment, a small chuckle escaped him, his eyes meeting my own. "Eheh, something wrong? What's with that look, Strikey?"

I blunk a few times, confused, before leaning myself back from the bed's railing. Dah, was I staring? What's wrong with me today... I let off a weak chuckle, still wearing that smile. "Ahm, ah, n-no, nothing's wrong, it's just... I'm just glad to see you're doing alright, Static. You, the surgery, just had me worried again..." He shuffled slightly in the bed, resting his hooves on his stomach, looking towards me. Okay, just let him know how you feel, Strikey... "I know I might do stupid things sometimes, and get us into trouble, but... look, I really do care about you, a lot. We've been going around with each other since we were foals, and we've done a whole lot together, and... goddesses, I'm bad at this, aren't I?" Loosing a small chuckle, Static seemed to join me halfway through, that faint look of confusion still on his face. I ended it with a sigh, trotting up close to the side of his bed. "What I want to say is... well, this."

Reaching my hooves forward, I rested them on the earth pony's shoulders, catching him in a moment of surprise before leaning him forwards and pressing my lips to his. I held my eyes closed, feeling as one of his hooves moved up, resting on my own back, bringing us the slightest bit closer as we held the kiss. The seconds seemed to tick by slower, my wings falling limp before spreading out wide, eyes slowly opening to look into those beautiful golden ones of his, both of us holding it for a while longer. Yeah... that was exactly what I wanted to say.

Slowly parting the kiss, we were both wearing wide smiles, myself releasing a sigh as I gently leaned forwards and gave him a slight nuzzle, letting off a light giggle afterwards. He returned the small laugh, both of us still holding onto the other for a moment longer, before I leaned back and rested myself back onto my hooves. The earth pony gave a gentle nod, the silence between us being broken by the sound of the door opening, both of us looking towards it. Static released a weak chuckle, myself grinning through a blush, the power armored pegasus standing beside the alicorn and steel ranger slipping her helmet off.

"Hope we didn't interrupt anything."

“Ah, heh, no, no don’t worry. We were just, uh…” I stammered, trying to hide the bright blush on my face. Aerith chuckled, Crash Dive shaking her head a little, a faint smile on her muzzle. She stepped into the room, the others following her in and squeezing themselves around the bed. I pushed myself up in my bed a bit more, the heart rate monitor hooked up to my leg beeping away softly. “So, uh, yeah, surgery went fine. They recommended not trying out the actual implant while I’m still recovering, of course. Not that I think lying in bed in slow motion would be any more interesting than normal.”

“It’s good to see you’re doing well, at least. Hopefully that computer program didn’t forget what the implant was actually for, and accidentally give you some kind of automatic kill switch.” Crash Dive said as Aerith sat down in the chair beside the bed, brushing some snow from her hat. Gee, thanks for the positive outlook, Crash Dive... Night Strike wandered over to the seat beside Aerith, resting her hooves om the bed railing. “Anyway, that stallion we rescued, Contrail, he says he’s from the old Vanhoover Air Base east of here. Flew out because of something to do with a corrupt or sexist leader, or somethin'. We figure it’ll be as good a place as any to try looking for the generator you need, after all, they’d need something to power any sort of repair talismans in the machines they’ve got there.”

I looked quizzically over to Crash Dive, not entirely sure about the plan. “This ‘corrupt’ leader’s policies don’t involve shooting on sight, do they? Forgive me for wanting to stay alive, but I think trying to break into an airbase with functioning planes like that is probably not the best of ideas.” Night Strike rolled her eyes.

“If you so desperately want to stay alive, why did you just agree to some experimental surgery performed by a vivisection-happy robot?” She asked smugly. I grimaced, shooting her a look - please don't remind me of that, that wasn't pleasant for me either. “Nah, just something about turning elections into stallion-only plane races. I think Contrail might be expecting us to challenge him to a race or something, if we beat him we can basically boot him out without a big fight breaking out between the guys there. Shouldn’t be too hard.” Yes, because your previous track record of flying things about turned out so well, didn’t it? As if reading my thoughts, Night Strike added, “Hey, we wouldn’t have crashed the first time if you hadn’t taken the controls back when I was throwing your incestuous half-sister out of the Vertibuck! And I would’ve been able to fly the Valkyrie just fine if pre-war ponies knew how to design readable control panels!”

Before I could argue, the door to my room opened up again, and in floated Pearl, her display grinning widely as her tools glinted a little in the light after their recent washing. “Alrighty, Static, we’ve got the confidentiality forms all filled out so Emerald said I can show you the tapes now! Ooh, and your friends are here too! I bet they’ll like getting a better view, those observation seats really don’t let you see the good stuff!” Night Strike's eyes widened at the comment, prompting her to quickly stand up, making her way towards the door.

“U-uh, we should probably give you some time to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning, Static!” She zipped out of the door, Crash Dive and Scouring following her at about the same speed. Scouring looked back toward Aerith, but the alicorn was simply waiting excitedly for the footage, a grin on her muzzle. Eech, hopefully Aerith doesn’t decide to help out Pearl with some of her weirder experiments some day...

Pearl shrugged about as well as a Mr. Handy could, before turning back to Aerith and myself, her screen flickering for a moment before footage of myself lying face down on the table began to roll. The lower half of my body covered in a gown met the screen as Pearl’s tools came into view, moving up to my neck and starting to make the first incision. Oh, Celestia, I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle this. I looked away, clutching my stomach a little. “Aw, come on, Static! You gotta see how the wires look twisted around your cervical vertebrae, it’s real snazzy!” Nope, yep, definitely going to need a bucket to puke into.

One lost lunch and a night of rest later, I was stepping out of the hospital, burying my muzzle in the collar of my jacket in the cool morning air before starting to make my way towards the motel. Sheesh, you’d think the Triage would’ve at least been nice enough to wait until the others had come get me before kicking me out of the hospital... I absentmindedly scratched the back of my neck, feeling where the stitches had healed over as I trotted through the town. I turned down a street, my mane fluttering in the wind as I leaned forward, fighting against it. The rumble of the mini-tank's engine met my ears, prompting me to look around for it. Eventually I spotted Night Strike driving the tank around the curved road, a pony on the opposite side of the street jumping out of the way as she ran over the curb.

She muttered to herself as Scouring facehoofed, the trailer tilting as it bumped over the curb and Night Strike pulled up beside me, parking the tank. “Hey, good to see you’re already out! And that Pearl didn’t try to upgrade that implant last minute.” She paused, expecting me to hop into the trailer, but I simply raised an eyebrow, looking down at a dent in the metal that had most certainly not been there the day before. Night Strike blushed and let off a weak chuckle, climbing onto the back of the tank. “Um, eheh, yeah, maybe you should handle the ground vehicles... It was a stupid place to put a railing!” Climbing up into the driver’s seat with a shake of my head, I quickly turned us around, heading back towards the edge of town.

“So, we're going to try and get that plane fixed up now, right?” I asked over the sound of the engine - well, at least she didn't wreck that somehow. Night Strike nodded, and I sped up, following the road out of town and towards the coast. I instinctively reached up for my goggles as the cool wind blew into my eyes, though my hooves met nothing but air - oh, right, I left my saddlebags at the motel. I turned around, motioning to Crash Dive for my saddlebags. She obliged, tossing them forwards, and I was able to slip the makeshift eyewear over my head, the ground lighting up as trails of latent magical energy flowed along it.

The road eventually met up alongside a river flowing out of the Vanhoover reservoir, branching off into a few errant pools of stagnant water and thin ice as we travelled closer to the coast. A couple bloatsprites hovered lazily above the frosty muck, Aerith looking down the sights of her submachine gun for a moment. Her gun let off a few short retorts and sent out a spray of bullets towards them, the sprites falling dead into the water, only to be pulled under the surface by something else a moment later. I turned to follow the curve of the road, the tip of the lighthouse appearing over the far hills, its spinning light visible even in the day - You know, we probably should at least see if whatever’s powering that thing could be brought up and over to the Valkyrie. Then again, I doubt Crash Dive would like us cutting the power to her house to fix up our plane.

The road eventually straightened out as we passed over a bridge outside of Maple Creek, heading north towards the sub pen. “So, do any of you actually have any idea how we’re going to get the plane back to the lighthouse? I don’t really think dragging it across the ground is going to be good for it, assuming this thing even has enough horsepower to pull the plane at all.” Night Strike and Scouring simply looked at each other before Night Strike glanced back towards me, shrugging.

“I think pulling it is about the best we can do, unless you trust me to flying it back to Hopeville. I mean, Aerith and Scouring can probably at least lift it out so we can drop the landing gear, didn't look like Contrail was able to get it down before landing.” I tilted my head in either direction, shrugging as well. We were soon arriving at the sub pen, one of the plane's mountings for the heavily bent propellers scorched black from the flames. I pulled the half-track up in front of the wreck, all of us hopping out and walking up to the plane. I carefully dug away at some of the dirt it had kicked up, keeping an eye out for broken bits of glass and metal in the soil. “Well, can you guys get it?” Night Strike asked, turning to Aerith and Scouring.

Aerith nodded, a grin crossing her muzzle as her horn flared up along with Scouring’s, both of them focusing their magic on the plane. Slowly, the aircraft began to rise up out of the ground, dirt and torn up grass sliding off of its underbelly. Night Strike hovered herself up to the cockpit, looking around inside it for a moment before reaching in and hitting something, two panels dropping from the edges of the disc and two sets of wheels folding out from them. The gear hydraulics beneath the craft bent a little as Scouring and Aerith carefully lowered the plane onto them, but remained intact as the weight settled on them. To mine and, well, probably everyone's surprise, aside from the scorch marks where the fire was and a few dents here and there, the plane was in pretty good condition. It’s certainly in a better state than the Valkyrie... “Alright, let’s get this hooked up.” Crash Dive said, pulling a length of chain out of the trailer and dragging it over to one of the front wheel struts of the plane.

The power armored pegasus lashed the chain around both of the struts, Scouring connecting the other end to the trailer before we all piled back into the mini-tank. “Alright, let’s see if we can get this thing moving.” Putting the gear lever to low, I carefully twisted on the accelerator, the engine roaring for a moment before the tracks caught and the mini-tank began to move slowly forward, dragging the plane behind it. The strange aircraft bounced up onto the road heading back towards the lighthouse as I began to slowly speed up, thankful the land was mostly flat between the two buildings. “So, is Contrail planning on flying this thing back to Hopeville? Or is Crash Dive’s front yard turning into a plane repair shop?”

“I think we're leaving it with the Valkyrie for now, would probably be safest if we did. When Contrail's feeling better, we'll bring him over to see what needs fixing... besides the obvious. And, hey, don’t complain, unless you’d rather spend another day towing this thing over to Hopeville yourself.” Night Strike let off a small chuckle as I gave a nod, motoring along the coast. The sound of waves crashing against the cliffs echoed up as we drew closer, the engine quieting down slightly as we reached a small decline towards the lighthouse. I fiddled with my Pip-Buck, trying to turn on the radio to drown out the revving of the mini-tank's engine. A song crackled through the speakers, the piano riff flowing through the air as I tapped my hoof to it.

“Why do you build me up,
Buttercup, baby, just to let me down?
And mess me around
And then worst of all
You never call, baby, when you say you will.
But I love you still
I need you, more than anyone, darlin’
You know that I have from the start
So build me up, Buttercup,
Don’t break my heart!”

We eventually pulled up beside the Valkyrie, the thin land bridge to the lighthouse flooded with water from the tide. I flipped the engine off, the headlight of the mini-tank dimming down as I hopped out to help undo the chains on the plane's landing gear. Crash Dive tossed the chains back up into the trailer, Night Strike hopping herself off the back of the half-track, walking up to the edge of the cliff. “I’m going to grab a few more bottles of Sparkle Cola, hang on.”

She spread her wings, fluttering across the submerged rock to the small island and door of the lighthouse, stepping inside. I rested myself aganst the side of the trailer, looking over to where the stone building stood. “You know, it just occurred to me that a lighthouse that's pretty inaccessible to anypony but a Pegasus seems like a bad design flaw, at least for pre-war, non-Enclave ponies. Did you actually try landscaping that out like this?” I asked, looking back to Crash Dive. The power armored pegasus leaned onto the side of the trailer, giving a small smile.

“Funnily enough, apparently this lighthouse had a bit of pre-war significance concerning that. There actually used to be a plaque on the side of it, took it down ages ago, but according to that thing, the ponies hired to build this lighthouse were doing it as a sort of memorial for the current mayor of Vanhoover. That mayor was notoriously bad at paying back the ponies the city had under contract, and he was an earth pony. You can probably guess how the unveiling ceremony went when the mayor had to swim a couple hundred yards to cut a ribbon.” Huh, well, I guess that would explain it.

Night Strike stepped back outside with a few bottles of Sparkle Cola in her hooves, flying back across the water and landing back on top of the mini-tank. She popped open a bottle of the soda, gulping it down as I climbed back into the driver’s seat. I pulled the half-track around, putting it back into a normal gear and revving the engine, speeding off towards Maple Creek. The sun was beginning its long descent through the sky, the wind whipping against my face as I followed the old dirt path. Water splashed up against the side of the tank and the trailer as I plowed through a shallow portion of the stream between us and Maple Creek, the treads kicking a few rocks downstream before we emerged on the opposite bank.

“Ah, crap, we forgot to go back and gloat about megaspells to that pony!” Night Strike suddenly exclaimed, smacking herself in the head. I shook my head in response - nope, definitely not going back now, we’ll do it some other time. Night Strike flopped forward on the back of the half-track, holding onto Boomer for stability. “But I need that recipe! Free Sparkle Cola RAD! Come on, Static, you can turn as many as you want into grenades!” I looked over my shoulder, staring at Night Strike in some confusion. “Well, I mean, dad always said Minty was wanting to turn his soda into bombs, maybe it’s a heritable trait, or something. A very useless heritable trait.”

I looked forward, shaking my head again. “We’ll swing back around after we’ve dealt with the ponies up at the airbase. I doubt he’ll be going anywhere anyway, his shack was pretty close to the blast zone, at least close enough for Pearl to be concerned about it. He’ll be a ghoul, if he was lucky.” Night Strike grunted, sitting back up and popping open another bottle of soda. The edge of Maple Creek appeared soon over the horizon, a few ponies still milling about in the maple trees just outside of town as we approached, the sweet smell of fresh maple sugar on the air. I slowed as we began to enter the town itself, looking down at my Pip-Buck. “Well, we’ve got a little time to kill before it’d be worth calling it a night. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check up on Sulfur for some more ammo.” As if on cue, my stomach growled, causing me to blush a little. “…and perhaps find something to eat, maybe?”

The other nodded in agreement as we motored into town, and I made my way through the streets towards Sulfur’s weapon shop. As we passed by the docks, though, a familiar voice shouted us down. I stopped at the edge of the road, turning to see Ripple running towards us, his saddlebags swinging hard against his flanks. “Ah, hey, been hoping you five’d show back up here sometime soon.” He reached into his saddlebags, producing the large gold bar we’d given him with a heavy grunt, resting on the side of the mini-tank. “This thing’s no bloody use to me, I can’t buy a damn thing with it! Eh, can we do a trade back 'r somethin', give me some caps I can actually use?” I could barely keep a straight face, as the calculations ran through my head.

“Of course, of course! That was a rather small lack of foresight on our part, wasn’t it?” Letting off a small chuckle and putting the mini-tank into park, I climbed over into the trailer, reaching down into one of the crates to dig around for a bag of caps. “Now, let’s see, if I remember correct the current asking price of gold is… 20 caps an ounce, 500 ounces gives you 10,000 caps. Sound good?” Ripple’s eyes went wide, and he handed over the bar, nodding and loosing a sigh of relief.

I tossed him the bag of caps before hopping back to the driver’s seat, putting the half-track back into gear and speeding off down the road to the weapon shop. “Huh, I’m honestly surprised you didn’t try and scam him, Static. Don’t tell me you suddenly don’t want a gold plated Valkyrie or swimming pool full of caps.” She chuckled lightly, leaning abck against Boomer. I smirked, turning a corner and stopping out in front of Sulfur’s Stockpile.

“Pfft, please, Night Strike, I’d be a far worse price negotiator if it was obvious when I’m ripping people off. Gold like that is worth at least 25, 30 caps an ounce, he simply should have been more informed of the asking price when bartering.” Night Strike’s smile faded and she shook her head, the bell above the store door ringing as we stepped inside.

“You can be a really stingy asshole sometimes, you know?” I simply grinned, trotting over to one of the display tables to examine the wares. That’s what I do best, Strikey. I picked up a rather cumbersome looking revolver, various wires and lights secured in the metal side of the weapon, a few familiar-looking parts for handling plasma catching my eyes. Huh, I thought Sulfur didn’t deal in energy guns. The unicorn mare herself stepped out of a back room, the smell of burnt powder wafting through the air as she did, a grin falling on her face.

“Hey guys, it’s been a while since you’ve stopped in! I’ve got some new stuff in stock, you might like this,” Waving myself and Night Strike over, she lifted up an old hunting rifle, the stock wrapped up with a very old flag. “Supposedly this one's some relic of the great pre-equestrian war between unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, but I kinda have my doubts. Definitely is older than anything else I've seen before, though, and it’s got the old unicorn nation’s symbol engraved in it, look!” She levitated over the gun, dropping it in my hooves. The gun suddenly began to glow and shake, before it lifted itself up into the air, and promptly smacked me over the head with the butt. Gah, what the hell!? I stumbled backwards, Sulfur’s horn flaring up as she pulled the gun back to herself witha look of surprise, the glow subsiding. “Oh, dear, I guess it still has some anti-earth pony enchantments on it. Eh, maybe I’ll just give it to the museum...” She lowered the gun onto the counter as I rubbed the top of my head, feeling a lump already starting to form.

Scouring trotted over to a table where a few small missiles layed, looking them over. “Think we’ll just stick with ammo for now, lass.” He said, picking up the missiles and carrying them over to the cash register. Night Strike grabbed a few of her grenades and big bullets as Aerith took her pick of rounds for her machine gun and bullets for her rifle, Sulfur quickly adding up the value of all the ammo.

“Alright, that’ll be 900 caps for all that. Er, make it 800, for that smack on the head. You sure you don’t need more flash bangs, Static? You’re really the only one who ever buys them.” I shook my head, exchanging the caps as the others pocketed their ammo. We turned to leave, Crash Dive pushing open the door as Sulfur picked up the antique hunting rifle and brought it into her back room.

We piled into the mini-tank yet again, the engine rumbling to life as I flipped the ignition. My stomach growled again, my ears flopping down in embarrassment - oh, come on, how was that louder than the engine!? “Well, did any of you guys see anywhere to eat?” Scouring and Aerith shrugged, though Night Strike moved herself forwards, a grin on her face.

"I saw a sign for a dinner theatre in the center of town, apparently somepony made a musical adaptation of 'Dr. Strangemare'. Should be good for a chuckle, at least." She grinned, myself giving a small sigh and roll of the eyes. I'm not sure what surprises me more, the fact that that exists, or that you'll watch anything associated with that name, Strikey. I turned the tank around, heading back through the town as Night Strike gave a small giggle, my stomach letting off another loud rumble. Come on, almost there...

We soon arrived at a large building, a few ponies standing outside in line for tickets. I pulled up beside the line, Aerith hiding the mini-tank and trailer for us, all of us stepping up to the back of it. We were soon stepping inside the building, finding our way through the lobby towards the auditorium and making our way to the table indicated on our tickets. A pony came by to take our orders, and it wasn’t long before we were munching down on plates of fish, my stomach quieting down as I filled it up. The lights began to dim, a soft melody playing as some footage of bomber skywagons in flight played on the curtains with credits accompanying them, before they parted to the performance.

Well, let's see if this is any more entertaining than that film... wonder if they still shoot a Sparkle-Cola machine.

"Well... that was something." The sun was low off the coast as we exited the theater, Aerith de-cloaking the mini-tank - I really oughta settle on a proper description for that - as the crowds slowly filtered out into the crisp evening air. "I mean, they did stay pretty close to the source material... I dunno. It's weird seeing a widely-beloved movie turned into a musical."

"So when you say 'widely-beloved', are you just discounting the few million other ponies, zebras, and other life left on the planet to include yourself, Twintails, Featherweight, and Buzzy?" Static shot a smug look towards myself as he climbed into the driver's seat, the engine in the mini-tank purring to life. I passed on an eyeroll, settling myself behind Boomer as the rest made themselves comfortable in the wagon, the earth pony flicking on the headlight.

"Oh, come on Static, you know I'm not that vain. It was widely-beloved enough before the bombs fell for somepony to make a musical out of it, wasn't it?" A soft sigh escaped him as I pulled the welding goggles out of my duffel bag, fitting them on. Wha, can't see a damn thing... with the lens flipped down. Brain, get on point, damnit. Flipping the tinted lens up, the mini-tank shifted into gear below myself, a hoof reaching to grab Boomer by the barrel. Aw, it's cold, poor thing must be sad... We really need an excuse to use you sooner or later. or, well, at least I do.

The drive back to the lighthouse was largely silent, save for the soft rumble of the engine and the buffeting of the wind, myself spreading my wings out just to catch the stream of it as we motored along. It wasn't too long before the sun had disappeared beneath the ocean far off in the distance, the lighthouse's beacon illuminating the night well off and making some errant snowflakes still falling on the breeze glisten. The waves buffeted the landbridge as we made our way across, Static pulling the mini-tank up onto the small island and quieting the engine, the lights flickering on as Crash Dive was the first one inside.

I pulled my duffel bag off of the Mini-tank's track cover, slinging it over my back and starting to head for the door, Static landing against the snow with a small thud as he climbed out of the driver position with his saddlebags. "Ugh, I really have to try and be on my hooves more often, sitting like that's starting to make my legs fall asleep. That, and I think my stomach's getting bigger than I remember it being." Wearing a small smirk as he trotted over, one hoof idly poking at his belly, I gave his flanks a small brush with mine. We headed up the stairway and through the door, the rest of the group having already gone to their bedrooms for the night.

"Hey, you look cute with a little pudge, though. Definitely have enough caps to afford eating that much, anyways~" Sticking my tongue out at him playfully, he returned a faint blush and a roll of his eyes, pushing the door to our bedroom open. I let it shut behind myself, dropping my duffel bag to the floor and pulling off my jacket. The two lime-green buttons looked up at me through a jet-black mane from the interior pocket, myself pausing for a moment to pull the small plushie out. Been so long since we were home... we'll be back there, some sunny day.

Static pulled the covers back for us both to settle in, myself keeping the small plushie held to my chest as I laid myself down on the mattress beside him. The blue earth pony rested his forelegs over my shoulders as he pulle the heavy comforter back over the both of us, giving myself a small kiss and nuzzle, the moonlight filtering in through the window bathig the room in a soft bluish white. Snuggling myself up to him, it wasn't long before the gentle embrace of sleep took hold, his gentle eyes lasting on my mind as it drifted into dreams.

Yeah... everything's gonna be okay.

"It's 7 AM across Vanhoover, and you're tuned into K A O S, Radio KAOS. We've got some new news out of the town of Hopeville, relating to that second unintentional aircraft crash on the coast; the pilot, Contrail, has made a full recovery, thanks to both the Triage and the quick response of the Vanhoover Five. No word on if the air craft is salvageable, but since the owner of it is still alive and in good hooves - and, as far as my source knows, the air craft itself is currently under the watchful eyes of the Vanhoover Five to boot - that means no scavenging. Tough luck for anyone looking to get their hooves on some sort of fancy flying machine parts, but I like to think that as a whole, and after twenty-one decades, we've moved on to being a little more civilized than scouring everything for parts. Contrail went on to mention that he's hoping to be able to have his craft, the, ahm, F/A-5U Flying Pancake airworthy as soon as possible. All I can say is, best of luck to you with that, and be sure to wait until after the Five set off another big bomb to take her up again, heh.

"In other developments from around the wasteland, the town of Maple Station has a couple new guards to complement the Tank Ghouls, in the form of brother and sister gryphons Royce and Merlin. This comes after an unexpected raider attack on the small town, while the Tank Ghouls were dealing with matters elsewhere and were unable to respond immediately. The initial attack was thankfully quickly dealt with by the former mercenaries, with the remaining raiders being rapidly mulched by the first tank ghoul to arrive, Sensha... huh... ahm, hang on, need to find something...

"Ah, here we are, and I do want to apologize personally to Sensha, this is a note she had sent in quite a while ago, right around the time the first aircraft crashed on the coast up here, eheh. Alright... If anyone in the area around Maple Station happens to find a five-turreted tank, please offer any and all assistance that you can to it, and the ghoul inside. The tank and the ghoul are residents of Maple Station that were reported missing a few days after they should have returned from a caravan train headed up to Cantercross, and from how this letter reads it seems that Sensha's been worried sick about him for quite a long while at this point. Caution Tape, if you're listening, I can only hope that you're still in good health. And Vanhoover Five, if -you're- listening, well, heh, hope your half-track's powerful enough to rescue a tank with that many turrets on it. Shouldn't be hard to miss if it isn't buried in snow... have me wondering if this old Heavy Cruiser I'm on can be fitted with tracks, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful frosty Vanhoover morning out there, skies clear as far as the eye can see. This one's going out to Sensha and Caution Tape, from the Wasteland's Sweetheart herself - Vera Lynn, reminding us all that we're bound to meet again, some sunny day. Enjoy."

"Do you really need THAT many bottles?" Static passed on an unamused glare from the driver's seat in the Mini-tank as both myself and Aerith were loading the wagon with Sparkle-Cola. I set my current bundle down, the alicorn stacking it carefully behind her in a crate, Crash Dive and Scouring both giving their weapons a final check-over before we set off. I passed on a small roll of my eyes, grabbing one of the glass bombs and uncapping it, partaking in my first bottle of the nectar of the goddesses for today. "I mean, I know we're going north before turning in east, and Celestia knows how far it is to the Air Base after that, but I also know you're going to stop us all for another half of a day while you unload the rest of that trailer by the Drive-In. Can't you settle for half?"

"Hey, pre-war medical textbooks recommend drinking three liters every day, I'm just ensuring I stay healthy." Taking a long, solid gulp, the soda fizzed in my mouth beofre it reahced my stomach, the bomb-bottle rapidly going from a deep caramel color to the standard clear glass. Aerith shut the heavy lid of the trunk and latched it tight after getting another bottle for herself, Static still looking at myself as I settled behind Boomer.

"I'm pretty sure they meant three liters of purified water, not three liters of irradiated soda, Strikey. As long as we can get to Maple Station without breaking down again, though, I'll be happy enough." The back of the trailer latched up with a metallic clink, Static getting the engine of the half-track running as the hills and cliff cast long shadows across the water, the cool air of morning causing a faint mist on the waves. The water lazily lapped at the road wheels and tracks of the Mini-tank as we passed over the landbridge to the shore, Static letting off a grumble as we crested the cliffs and the sun crested the horizon, myself pulling on the weldng goggles and flipping down the tinted lens, going back to drinking from the bomb bottle.

A magic screen flashed up in front of Static as we started to pick up some speed, resulting in the earth pony jamming on the brakes just as I was starting to feel the wind in my mane. Pushing the goggles up, I was just about able to see the screen dissolve, Aerith taking flight behind me to land by the base of the Valkyrie's tail... Ah. Yeah, turning that invisible would probably be for the better, especially with Contrail and Marigold probably coming down here to look at the Pancake... guh, Static won't be happy about that, now I think of it.

"Uh, we might have to make a stop in Maple Creek, just to get Ripple a map to the lighthouse so he can take Contrail and Marigold there. We're not gonna be back for a while, and they'll probably want to check on the pancake before we do come back." Wearing a weak grin and leaning over the grenade machine gun, Static responded with a nod, reaching into his saddlebags to get his own goggles. Okay, not the most ideal of situations, but best that we can hope for, really. Don't know what kind of weapons Contrail might have brought with him besides the flare gun, and even with the research dock a crater now, don't want to make anypony have to walk through Clearwater.

"Alright, that sounds doable. We can probably just motor straight on through to Gemdale anyways, arrive at the fire department we stayed at the first time and set off from there. We'll get to Maple Station by uh, dinnertime tomorrow, and just work things out from there." The earth pony had his goggles pushed up onto his head, looking down at the map on his legputer and scrolling around it. Aerith landed back alongside the wagon, hefting herself over into it and starting to empty her own botle of Sparkle-Cola, the space where the Valkyrie was now just a clear, shimmering mass on the coast. After a moment, Static puled his goggles back on, giving the engine beneath me a rev. "We're definitely gonna need to get a map when we get to Maple Station though, I've got nothing on what's out there going east."

"We'll figure out something Sparky, let's just get a move on." Answering me with a nod, the earth pony gunned the motor, the tracks biting through the snow and dragging us forwards. The snowy hills gave way to thick, empty forests, Static trying his best to keep the sun out of his eyes as we headed towards the sleepy riverside town. Adjusting the welding goggles on my head for a moment, I pulled back the sleeve of my jacket to look at my own legputer, scrolling over to the radio tab. Let's see what's on Radio KAOS this early...

"-ty nine Decision Street,
99 Ministers meet,
to worry, worry, super-scurry,
Call the troops out in a hurry!

This is what we've waited for,
this is it boys, this is war!
Princess Luna's on the line,
as 99 red balloons go by!"

"Aye, s'pose I can do that fer ye. They going to be waitin' on me or somethin'?" Ripple gave his legs a long stretch as he moved about in his shack, gathering up a few things. Static had gone into town with Scouring and Aerith to track down someplace to stop for breakfast, leaving myself and Crash Dive to handle getting things settled for Marigold and Contrail. Considering we got Ripple early enough that he was tired and sober, I'd say we arrived on time... oh, wait, that's a bottle of Wild Pegasus, isn't it? Ah well, guess that's just a sailor's breakfast...

"Not really, but just mention that we sent you and they should understand. We just think it'd be safer on their end if they had a ride for most of the way there, they aren't that familiar with the area and we don't want anypony getting lost on our account." The old captain gave a grunt in acknowledgement, pausing to look around for a moment before pulling a map down from a shelf, spreading it out on a table. Rolling it out, he nodded for us to get closer, looking over it and puling a pencil out from a drawer.

"Alright, can see where you're commin' from with that. Whereabouts d'you want me to let 'em off, just bring 'em here so they can find the rest o' the way or go the full route? You're all stayin' in some od lighthouse off the coast, ain't ye?" That... was a good question. Man, that mini-tank has spoiled us, it takes a good part of the day to make the walk between the lighthouse and Maple Creek. Probably would be best if they went there on Trout... I passed on a look towards Crash Dive, the power armored pegasus giving a small nod and stepping forwards, taking the pencil from Ripple.

"Bring them to the lighthouse, it's safest if they don't have to walk too far on the shore to get there because there are still a few traps and mines that might've been buried under the snowfall. Truth be told, I'm not too sure where most of them are now at this point, just know that there's a giant path where it was torn up." The power armored pegasus took the pencil in her mouth, looking over the map for a moment before drawing out a few lines and other markings. I watched on as she started marking out spaces with lines, trying to tell what it was - huh, I didn't think her minefield was quite THAT extensive. Or that large... wouldn't the Valkyrie have pushed more of it south when we crashed? Unless... oh, that is damn clever.

"I've marked out most of the minefield, we made sure the air craft is away from it, so as long as they don't go snooping around they'll be fine. Give the map to 'em and they should get along fine enough." Ripple gave a nod as he rolled up the map, the space where the Valkyrie rested on it marked over with the landmine warnings, Crash Dive taking a step back. The sailor stallion headed for the doorway to the small shack as he rested his hoof on the handle, looking back to us.

"And... Aye, forget it. S'pose I should just be happy I'm not liable to have Trout sunk doin' this, and I've a feelin' the gold might've been a little overpayment fer all my complainin', anyways. Jus', yanno, if ye feel like givin' a few caps fer me doin' this..." I blunk a few times in response, looking to Crash Dive. Erm... uh... damnit, what would Static do?... try to get Ripple to pay us for asking him to do this, probably. Ah, fuck it, we're loaded at this point, anyways. I wore a small smile, the sailor letting loose a sigh and giving his head a shake. "Eh, forget I asked. Burnin' daylight."

"Actually, Ripple, I think that a few caps'd be fair to cover it." He paused and looked back towards me with a look of disbeleif the quickly gave way to a smile, myself starting to go through my duffel bag. Well, nice to make somepony happy every now and again...

"Did you really have to give Ripple 200 caps for that!? He should've done it without payment being needed, I'm pretty sure we overpaid him with the gold, even with me fudging the actual value of the bar." The sun was starting to become a little less annoying to Static as we made way out of Maple Creek, fast on approach to Jericho Beach and the turnoff around the lake to head north. Shouldn't have mentioned it, I should've known Static would break out into doing this... "I mean, we can still probably make another few million by selling another gun from the sub pen to Vanhoover, but it's the principle of the thing. We can't go around paying people hundreds for every little thing, Night Strike!"

"Hey Static, remember how I said you can be a real stingy asshole sometimes? Yeah, that's what you're doing now. You don't hear me complaining about how you spent a couple hundred on breakfast." Not that I really had anything to complain about in the first place, anyways - those pancakes and fresh maple syrup were gooood~ The earth pony let off a huff that turned into a wispy white cloud as it met the cold air, blown off on the breeze made by the speed of the mini-tank.

"I was hungry! Not my fault the pancakes were so expensive, you should've just ate less. Hard to fly with a fat belly, isn't it?" Yeah, just like it's hard to watch the road while arguing, Sparky. I gave a shake of my head, resting against Boomer, the metal huts of Jericho Beach coming up.

"Says the pony who ate three whole stacks' worth and nearly delayed us with a self-induced food coma. Wanna keep arguing the whole ride there, or do you wanna drive so we don't end up going into the lake?" Static looked back at myself with an open mouth for a few moments, before letting off a huff and focusing his eyes back forwards, making a bit of a pout. Oh, what's that? Score one for Night Strike? Oh yeah~ Settling back, we were soon close enough to make out some details of the small military shipping depot, myself peering ahead. That paint wasn't there before...

Sitting up on the mini-tank, I tried to make out the words on the side of the hut, my geiger counter giving a few clicks as we drew even closer. Wait, huh? This place wasn't irradiated the last time we were here, either... Static slowed the mini-tank as his legputer started to click as well, turning to try and drive around the radioactive site. Passing him a look, I spread my wings wide and took off from the back of the half-track, hovering closer to the hut the paint was applied on. That was the hut that we stayed in when we headed to Hopeville way back, wasn't it? The one with the generator... I'm very certain it wasn't -that- open when we were here last.

Hovering a little closer, my geiger counter was merrily ticking away at a rad or two a second, the sound of the mini-tank's engine quieting as Static stopped it along the edge of the lake. Could just about make out what the paint said from here... 'We're Coming For You, Five'. Yeah... nope. Nooooope. Nope nope nopenopenopesomuchnope. My slow hovering backwards turned into a fast dash into the black suit and vest of Aerith, the surprised alicorn quick in grabbing my stumbling self before I plummeted out of the air. She held me up in her aura as my wings caught wind again, a screen coming up in front of me.

'What is it? You look a bit spooked, what does the paint say?' Looking into her eyes with mine wide enough to be watering from the cold air, I gave a shake of my head, giving a quick glance back towards the metal hut before dashing back to the mini-tank and nearly ramming into Crash Dive in the process. One of my hooves immediately went to grab Boomer's trigger grip, the other rummaging through my duffel bag for Thumper and War Crime. Scouring scratched at his head, both him and Crash Dive looking at myself in confusion whuch turned to alarm as I swung the grenade machine gun around and brought out the rest of my weapons.

"Ay, take it easy lass, what's gotten you scared like this?" The unicorn's aura encompassed Boomer, holding it in place and detaching the large drum clip from the bolt, myself holding Thumper to my chest with both hooves and looking back towards Jericho Beach. Nope nope nope noooope. I jumped slightly as I felt a hoof brush against one of my wings, turning around to look at Static, his own eyes wide and with a hint of worry in them. The snow crunched heavily as Aerith landed back down beside the cart, Scouring turning towards her. "Oi, ye didn't steal her voice or somethin', won't tell us what's happened."

Aerith brought up a screen as Static reached a hoof out to hold one of my own, my hug around Thumper loosening a bit. Right... okay, yeah, probably should calm down, I did just eat quite a few pancakes and I'd like to digest them. That's it brain, light comedy, that helps... 'It looks like another mercenary group is after us. Talon marks in the snow, gryphon feathers, and some serious hardware going on the number they did to the far side of that hut. Likely nothing we can't handle ourselves.' Aerith hopped herself back into the wagon, looking towards myself after getting settled. Static was doing the same, his eyes locked with mine, my heart starting to slow down from the autocannon setting it was on. I took in a breath, releasing it in a cloudy sigh. 'You holding together, Night Strike?'

"Y-yeah, it just... just caught me offguard. Let's just try and get up to Maple Station as fast as we can, it's safer if we keep moving. They probably don't know where we are." Resettling myself with Boomer facing forwards, I slipped War Crime back into my duffel bag, but kept Thumper out. Digging around in the olive drab sack for a few moments, I pulled out a few buckshot rounds and regular high explosive grenades, loading one of the former into the snap breech of Thumper. Static held his eyes on me for a moment longer, before turning around and dropping back into the seat, pulling his goggles back on.

"We're gonna be fine, Night Strike, we've handled mercenaries before. Besides, what're they gonna be able to do to us? We let Radio KAOS know about it, every single town's gonna have our backs, they'll probably get blown up or killed before we even see them." Taking another long breath of the cold air, I let it out in another long, cloudy sigh, giving a nod to the earth pony in front of me while the forty millimeter bore barrel of Thumper brushed against my cheek. He's right, just was overreacting, we'll be just fine. Definitely not professionals, what kind of professionals would tell the ponies they're trying to kill that they're coming for them? Bunch of morons... the mini-tank's engine purred, us all starting to move along once more, motoring on the road that led around the reservior's edge. I flicked on my radio, trying to relax - okay, not exactly a calming song, but I'll take it.

"Oh, well I'm the type of guy
Who'll never settle down.
Where pretty mares are,
well you know that I'm around.

I kiss 'em and I love 'em,
'cause to me they're all the same.
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em,
they don't even know my name,

They call me the Wanderer,
Yeah, the Wanderer,
I roam around around
around around-a..."

"Well, least it's stil standing, so there's that." The sun was well on the horizon as we finally arrived back at the large brick structure that was the Gemdale Fire Hall, a large dent in one of the doors and some crumbled brick marking where a balefire egg had detonated against it so long ago. Scouring lifted the undamaged metal door up, allowing Static to pull the Mini-tank into the garage and turn it around, the lights and heat still thankfully on from last time. I hopped off of the back of the mini-tank, glad to give my legs a stretch again.

"Kind of a shame we had to smash the windows on the hallway, but at least the bunkroom should be fine. It'll do us for tonight, at least." Crash Dive landed against the concrete floor with a heavy thud, the engine of the mini-tank purring to a stop. The heavy clasps of the trunk in the trailer came undone, Aerith levitating out a couple of the bomb bottles, passing one over to me. Sparkle-Cola before bed, ah, just what I needed...

"Welp, let's get settled in, make up something for dinner and try to get up early to head out tomorrow. Not feeling up for sticking around too long." Static hopped out of the driver's seat as I made way for the stairs to the second floor, drinking down the bottle of Sparkle-Cola. Yeah, sooner we get behind the thick rolled steel armor of the tank ghouls, the better... The door opened with a small creak, myself throwing up a wing to break the breeze blowing in from the upstairs hallway. Hope it isn't snowed in, or anything. "Heading to bed already, Night Strike?"

I blunk a few times as I saw Static trot over, letting off a small chuckle. "E-eh, yeah, just... kind of feeling out of it. I'll stil be up for dinner... assuming you don't eat it all first~" Sticking my tongue out at the earth pony playfuly, he let off a weak chuckle, myself starting to move up the stairs. I made it up a few steps before stopping, letting loose a sigh and looking down to the doorway - Static was still standing there. "I just... we haven't been threatened like that before, what happened back at Jericho Beach. I didn't know what to think when I saw it, I was just... scared."

The blue earth pony trotted up the steps beside myself, wrapping a hoof around my neck in a gentle hug. He wore a soft smile, meeting my eyes for a moment, before planting a light kiss on my cheek. "Well, that made two of us. It's like what Aerith said, they're nothing we can't handle, and I'm sure you'll be just fine with putting a forty millimeter snail through their face if we do run into them. Come on Strikey, you're acting too sane about this." He let off a light chuckle that I joined him in, starting to head up the stairs. A few small piles of snow rested in the hallway by the broken windows, Static checking the doors for the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess... and they're forty millimeter slugs, ya cap-pinching butterball." I bumped my flanks into his, wearing a small smirk. He gave a roll of his eyes in response, eventually finding the door that led to the kitchen, moving to head inside. "Really, we've been together for how long, and you don't know that by now?"

"You're the crazy one with the giant shotgun here, I just try to keep you sane with it~" Static paused in the doorway to the kitchen as I headed for the bunkroom, sticking his tongue out at me. I promptly responded by splattering a small snowball against his face - ah, just like old times. Letting loose a giggle as he brushed the icy powder off and gave his head a shake, I cracked open the door in front of me, Static releasing a light sigh. "Really are a pinnacle of maturity, aren't you Strikey?"

"I love you too, Sparky~"

Bad Company

“Alright, come on, get up lighting flanks!” I sat up in bed suddenly, bumping my head firmly against the old ceiling. Gwuh, I’d rather not make that gun bash any worse, thank you... I rubbed the lump on my head before climbing down the short ladder of the firehouse’s bunk bed, heading out of the sleeping quarters towards the kitchen. Night Strike was standing by the pole leading down into the garage, waving me over. Wearing a grin, she took hold of the pole, jumping and sliding down the hole into the floor below. I peered through, but she had already zipped through, leaving me behind. I yawned, wrapping my hooves around the pole before slipping down myself, stumbling a bit upon the landing. Night Strike was sitting on the mini-tank that was parked next to an old fire cart loaded with tanks of water and hoses, her hooves at Boomer’s controls. “You’d make a really bad firepony, you know. You’re supposed to hurry when there’s an emergency.”

I rolled my eyes, trotting over to the crank connected to the garage door by a long chain. “I’ve got the ax, that’s good enough. Is there a reason you’re in such a rush? I don’t hear any gunfire,” I said, a little confused. Night Strike leaned against Boomer, shaking her head as I began to slowly crank up the heavy door. The metal screeched loudly as it ascended, myself giving it a few more turns for some extra clearance before I locked the winch in place.

“Not really, I was bored and you were taking too long to get up. Crash Dive doesn’t want any of us to be somewhere alone because of that threat yesterday, so I stuck around while they went out scavenging for some food. You’d think a firehouse would have been pretty well stocked, but I think we really cleared the place out last time we were here. Figured we could go exploring the town a bit too, now you’re up. Oh, and uh, you really didn’t need to raise the garage door. Much as I like this thing, it’s kind of a dead giveaway we’re here, probably best to leave it kind of hidden.” Shooting the pegasus a look as she hopped off of the half-track and trotted for the side doorway, I undid the lock on the crank, lowering the garage door again. Well, you could’ve at least said something before I lifted that heavy thing...

Our hooves left tracks in the soft snow as we ventured through the town, the prints left by Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring turning away to head towards the manufacturing district. The buildings grew smaller as Night Strike and I wandered through the streets, and we soon found ourselves in a residential area of Gemdale. The houses were beaten and weathered, a few having had their windows shattered from the blast of the bombs years ago. We both trotted up the steps of one of the houses, myself peering in through the dirty cracked glass to see inside. “Uch, who picks out yellow carpet and green wallpaper? Looks like a bloatsprite vomited in there.” I stepped back from the window, heading around to the front door where Night Strike was trying to pull open.

“Guh, stupid thing’s locked, hold on.” She pulled Thumper off of her back, slipping a 40mm slug into its breech before snapping it shut, myself taking a step back and releasing a sigh - of course. Pointing the barrel at the lock, she gave a swift pull of the trigger, the door slamming open on its hinges with the knob flying back and skidding against the floor. She stepped inside with myself following, both of us flicking on our Pip-Buck's screen lights as we entered.

“Aw, you never let me get to break down the doors and do my psycho impersonation.” I said with mock glumness. Night Strike shook her head, trying to hide a grin as we made our way through the house. As we stepped into the kitchen, I heard a soft squeaking noise as my hoof touched metal. Looking down, I noticed a large round pressure plate I had just set off. There was the sound of small doors swinging open to my left, and I stepped back out of fright. However, as the cage opened, it was revealed only contain the skeletal remains of a few dogs, and scratch marks on the inside of the metal door. I wandered over to the cage, poking one of the skeletons. “Huh, well, I guess it would be kind of hard to keep a guard dog fed after the bombs fall. Be careful, it looks like this house might've been rigged a bit.”

Night Strike leaned through the doorway to see what I had meant as I opened up the fridge, finding a few bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparilla inside. Popping the cap off of one, I chugged it down and dropped the other in my saddlebags, shutting the fridge behind myself. I stepped back into the main room, where Night Strike was dangling a small painting she’d taken off of the wall over a bear trap in front of the stairs leading to the basement. She dropped the frame onto the pressure pad in the center, the trap immediately snapping shut with a loud squeal of rusted metal, and crushing the wood in its jagged teeth. Turning to look back towards me, she wore a smirk, popping Thumper's breech open and swapping the spent shell for a fresh shotgun-type one. “May as well see what this guy was trying to hide, eh?” She opened the door and began to head down the stairs.

I followed closely behind, tossing the empty bottle of soda back up the steps and hearing it clink on the wooden foor. “If he’s hiding anything. Might just have been a paranoid lunatic.” Night Strike shrugged at my comment, reaching the bottom of the steps. There was a sudden loud retort of gunfire, and the pegasus in front of me buckled, flopping to the floor. Oh, shit! I hurried down the steps, Night Strike pushing herself onto her hindquarters and gingerly holding her foreleg with a grunt of pain. Her jacket was riddled with buckshot, and I could see a now cut tripwire connected up to a rigged shotgun. “Are you alright?” I asked, bending down to get a better look at her leg.

“Nggnh, fuck, yeah, I think so. Could’ve been worse.” She tried to stand up, but her leg buckled again. “Guh, fuck... I think those shells were some kind of magnum shot, not quite slug but bigger than pellets. Feels like they cut right through..." With a wince of pain, Night Strike pulled back her sleeve, a few deformed chunks of metal falling out of it on the opposite side of her foreleg. She shivered, myself joining her, as blood poured from teh fresh wounds, drawing in a sharp breath as she puled her sleeve back fully, another chunk of metal that had barely gotten through coming with it. Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick...

Night Strike turned to look towards myself, or at least look away from her hoof - I really don't blame her. She looked around for a moment, dragging her duffel bag over beside her, myself helping her pull the zipper open on it before she started to go through it, her shot hoof dripping blood on the dirt floor. "Ah, crap, I think the healing potions are back with the mini-tank... hm...” She paused before reaching into her saddlebags, pulling out a bottle of RAD. She brought it to her mouth, popping the cap off, the glowing soda illuminating the area around us. Giving a small glance towards myself, she looked back to the bottle, letting off a sigh “Well, let’s see how much my genes can do to help. Sparkle-Cola, don't fail me now...” She began to drink the iridescent soda, her skin starting to stitch itself back over the wounds, the bloodflow narrowing to a trickle. Her coat began to slowly grow over the fresh skin, muscle and tendons knitting themselves together on the inside. She carefully stood up, shifting weight onto her leg gingerly, looking down at it with her eyes glowing a faint deep green.

“Sheesh, if that wasn’t so helpful I’d say you should be a lot more concerned about posessing such a huge mutation.” I said, looking at her healed up leg, the pegasus going through her duffel bag and pulling out a bottle of water, starting to wash the blood off of her hoof. She pulled her sleeve back down afterwards, giving her hoof a few stomps and letting off a small sigh, picking her duffel bag back up. “Well, if you're alright, I suppose now we just need something to patch up those holes in your sleeve, then. Really, would've thought that there'd be more holes in it by this point...” She finished off the glowing soda and tossed the bottle behind her with a shrug, which bounced up against another bear trap that shattered the glass with a loud and sudden squeak.

Both now looking over to the now-disarmed bear trap, we spotted a large cabinet with one of its doors sitting ajar, exchanging a glance. We walked up to it, stepping over the broken bottle and pulling the door open, the hinges creaking with rust and age. The back of the cupboard had been removed, and now lead into a crudely dug tunnel, lightbulbs dangling from wires secured to the roof of the tunnel illuminating it every twenty feet or so. I looked to Night Strike, who shrugged and stepped into the cupboard, bending her head to be able to trot through the crawlspace.

Our hooves kicked up some frozen dirt as we made our way through the tunnel, keeping an eye out for any more traps. The pathway twisted this way and that, feeling as if it looped in on itself several times over. “Jeez, just how paranoid was this guy?” Night Strike asked, ducking under yet another lightbulb as we continued onward. After what felt like an hour, the tunnel suddenly opened up into a large room, our Pip-Bucks flooding the area with light as the Geiger counters on our Pip-Bucks began to tick slowly, us both stepping inside. The room, unlike the tunnel we had just crawled through, was a stony cavern, our hoofsteps echoing down a path to our right. As we trotted a little further forward, I spotted a huge pile of rubble and stepped up to it. A skeletal hoof dangled out from between the rocks, a rusty pickaxe still clutched in its pearly grip. “Hey Static, check this out!” Night Strike called from behind me.

I turned to see her standing in front of an odd collection of furniture, myself blinking a few times. A large, cushy armchair sat next to an end table bearing several magazines, and radio sat up on rows of shelves along with several cans of food and bottles of wine. Night Strike walked sideways, the light of her Pip-Buck revealing an ornate painting of Princess Celestia as well. All of this was sitting on several rolls of carpeting that had been rolled out across the rocky floor. “I don’t know if I should be laughing because of how he thought he could survive the apocalypse down here, or impressed he managed to drag all this crap through that tiny tunnel.”

“Not to mention his attempts at expanding this place.” I said, looking back down at the skeleton crushed beneath the cave-in. “This is a pretty structurally sound cave for some random pony, though. You think he might've actually dug his way all the way into the quarry?” I asked. Night Strike flipped through a copy of Guns and Bullets as I pulled a bottle of wine off of the rack, looking over the label. Wow, 2030? I bet I could get free meals for life for such aged wine like this... well, assuming it isn’t too heavily irradiated. Eh, I'll sell it to Maple Station, the ghouls there probably wouldn't mind it. I dropped a few of the bottles into my saddlebags as Night Strike pocketed some of the magazines and tins of beans, before walking towards the other end of the passage.

“I dunno, it’s possible, I guess. I’d rather not go exploring ground zero of a megaspell detonation today, though, even if we are probably a few miles underground at this point.” I nodded in agreement, glancing down at the dial on my Pip-Buck’s Geiger counter as we headed back towards the dirt tunnel. Night Strike ducked down and began to slowly walk back through, myself following suit. The clicking died down as we left the radiation behind, following the strink of uncovered lights. It wasn’t too long before we were hopping back out of the cupboard, myself tripping a little on the bear trap. We headed upstairs and back outside, the slight chill of the air still feeling welcoming after the cold of the mines below.

Starting to wander through the town, we passed by a few more houses, before we came to a small electronics shop. Night Strike followed me inside, looking a little confused. “Uh, what’re we doing inside an old repair shop? We don’t need anything to fix up as far as I know.”

I shrugged in response, picking up a conductor off of the shelves to inspect it. “Figured there might be something useful in here. Maybe they’ve got some small repair talismans we can fit into the mini-tank or something, those might be helpful, at least.” I set the bit of metal back down, moving down and through the aisles as Night Strike headed towards the cash register to rummage around inside for a few spare bottlecaps. As I made my way through the store, I spotted a small pile of worn leaflets scattered across a display table near the back. Picking one up, I could just make out a picture of the small Stable Tec Colt grinning in front of a line of ponies all heading towards a large gear shaped door embedded in the side of a mountain. ‘Register your spot today and keep your family safe!’ the pamphlet read. I unfolded the page, the interior pages only slightly better preserved than the rest of the paper.

‘Stable-Tec has three Stables in your area, be sure to contact your nearest Stable-Tec representative to find the spot closest to you!’ A faded map of the Vanhoover area was drawn out, along with little cogs to mark the Stables’ locations. Stable 95 was high up in the mountains past Maple Station… that’s the one Scouring said the Steel Rangers had moved into, maybe, right? I scanned the rest of the map, spotting another Stable nestled in the mountain range to the east. The number 117 was stamped on it, along with a short description on standard amenities next to the map marker. Night Strike was inspecting a few radio tubes as I noticed the third Stable symbol planted right over top of Vanhoover. “Hey, did you ever hear about some Stable in Vanhoover the last times we were there?”

Night Strike looked up from the electronics, trotting over to look at where I was pointing on the map. “Huh. Nope, that’s kind of weird... wait, hold on.” She took the map from me, flipping a page in the pamphlet to reveal a close up of Vanhoover, allowing us to see where in the city the Stable was located. The little icon was in the dead center of the uptown area, inside some kind of jewelry shop. “Looks like it’s smack in the middle of where the bombs hit, that whole place is flooded with radiation. And probably seawater too, I doubt it was just the downpour that made us wade through chest high sludge when Aerith and I went digging around there last time." The pegasus paused for thought, a smirk forming on her muzzle. "I guess we could still try and go digging around in there if you wanted to, we could convince Ripple to drive Trout around in the flooded basin and let us dive there. The suits would probably work pretty well against radiation with some Rad-X, too~”

I grimaced, tucking the pamphlet away for future reference. “It was hard enough to see when we went diving out in the ocean, and that wasn’t full of building debris. Not to mention what the rads in that place could have done to anything that swam upstream into the basin.” I shuddered, remembering the large beast that had crawled across the submarine when we were retrieving the gold. We looked around inside the electronic shop for a few more minutes, but could find nothing of significant value, so we headed back outside.

“Oh, fine, but think of how much money you could make from all the tech inside!” Night Strike said with a chuckle as we began to make our way back towards the firehouse. I raised an eyebrow, Night Strike pausing witha smirk. “Okay, so maybe a lot would be water damaged, but the Stables are probably water tight! It’d still be neat to explore.” I rolled my eyes, shivering a bit as the air grew colder as the sun made its descent in the sky. As we approached the fire station, we could see a few sihlouettes moving about in the upstairs window. One’s head turned to spot us before disappearing.

Soon Aerith was trotting out of the door, flashing up a sign. ‘There you are, took you long enough to get back here. Crash Dive was starting to get worried... not that I think she’ll admit that.’ We followed her back inside, where Crash Dive and Scouring were already loading up the trailer of the mini-tank. Aerith’s horn lit up as she began to crank the garage door open, myself hopping into the driver’s seat as Night Strike climbed up to Boomer’s controls.

“We found some more food in an ol' warehouse, think it might have been some kind o' soup kitchen before the war. What 'ere you two up to?” Scouring asked, dropping a crate of canned beets into the trailer before climbing in himself. Hopping into the driver's seat, I switched on the tank, the engine rumbling to life as Crash Dive organized some of the procured foodstuffs. Aerith fluttered onto the trailer as I pulled out of the garage, turning to head along the north road to Maple Station.

Night Strike leaned against Boomer, turning back to face the others. “Oh, yeah, you’re not going to believe what we found in somepony’s basement…”

“Uuuuuuh, no, no there was not a nest of Hellhounds, nor were we ever swimming through radioactive waste.” I contested Night Strike’s story as the edge of Maple Station appeared over the horizon, the collection of railcars and buildings illuminated in that soft blue of the railyard lights. “Really, Night Strike? A paranoid pony digging a couple miles underground to make a bunker in the quarry wasn’t a weird enough story?” The pegasus slumped over in a huff, crossing her hooves as I slowed down, the half-track bouncing over a few rails as we entered the station.

“Oh, you’re no fun. They wouldn’t ever have to know, and I would have given you some cool bits in my story too, if you didn’t stop me. You were the brave, valiant hero who rescued me from the hordes of ghouls with shotguns chasing after us!” She paused for a beat, before continuing. “Nah, yeah, they probably wouldn’t have bought that.” She stuck her tongue out playfully as I sighed, weaving my way through the various train cars. I eventually found an opening and was able to make my way to the large repair shed that housed all of the ghouls’ tanks.

As I pulled up into it, I could see two of the tank ghouls and a few of the mechanics gathered around a table playing cards. They looked up as we entered, Rheinmetall pushing back from the small table to come greet us, a smile upon his muzzle. “Ah, good to see you again! What’re you doing back here, if I may ask?” I powered off the mini-tank and hopped out as the old ghoul trotted over. The others climbed off of the back, Rangefinder looking back towards us for a moment before leaning over to where Rheinmetall was sitting on the table.

“Just passing through for the night. We heard about some airbase towards the east that’s having some sort of leadership trouble, and we thought it’d be a good place to look for a generator for our plane, seeing how we still haven’t found one yet.” Night Strike responded. Rhienmetall nodded in response, one of the ponies calling him back over to the game. He gave a slightly exasperated sigh, turning to head back over to them.

“Ja, ja, I’m coming. I would’ve thought you wouldn’t want me back after I’ve been taking your caps all night.” He gave a small chuckle, looking back over his shoulder at us. “Well, you guys should stop by tomorrow, Sensha und Jack are out on patrol and I'm sure they’d like to say hello again.” He sat back down at his seat, the rest of us heading back outside. There was just enough time between the last of us stepping outside and the door shutting behind to hear Rheinmetall shout out, “Alright, which one of you dummkopfs decided to switch my cards around?”

We trotted through the town towards The Roundhouse, passing by a few drunk ponies before we stepped inside. The Roundhouse gave off its general cheery atmosphere as we wandered through the crowds towards the stage booths. As we walked past a surprisingly empty table, we suddenly heard a shout from the bar. Turning to look, we saw Royce stagger forward, a bottle of whiskey clutched in her talon. “Heeeeeeeeey, Vanhoover Five! Aw, it’s so nice to shee you guys again.” She flopped forward, sticking her empty claw out to grab onto Scouring’s shoulder for balance.

“Aw, you shoulda seen it, when those raiders came in, they didn’ *hic*, didn' know wha' hit ‘em! I was shootin’ off my gun all over the place, and Merls was lobbin’ grenades an shootin' his rifle, aw, it was so sweet, and the town… they…” She sniffed, taking a swig of whiskey as we watched on. “Aw, they called us heroes an', an' I thought, hey, this is what those guys are like… then I thought, aw, shit, the boss’s gonna send some guys after me then, and I figured, ah, what’re they gonna do? I mean, we couldn’t take care of you, and we’re the best guys those guys had! I bet the guys they send can’t even reload a gun.” She waved a talon dismissively before stumbling back to the bar.

“So… that happened.” Night Strike said flatly, us all continuing on. We trotted up to an empty booth near the back of the roundhouse, a waiter coming over quickly to take our drink orders. As we settled ourselves in, the lights began to dim, a pony trotting out onto the stage in a fancy tuxedo as a muted trumpet played alone.

“Good evening and welcome to the Roundhouse dinner theater. I hope you enjoy our production of Chicacolt tonight, and, please, try not to make too many obscene remarks or interrupt the performance. The only fake things about the guns are the ammunition.” He turned around, pulling a baton out of his jacket. A small jazz band readied their instruments, the conductor counting off before the band started to play a loud swinging tune. Well, this'll be interesting...

"...and aaaaaalll, thaaaat, Jaaaaaazz!" The stage lights cut out, returning the dinner theater at the Roundhouse to the soft lighting by the tables as the audience erupted in applause. All of us had joined them, Scouring and Crash Dive having to hold back on account of the heavy weight of their armor, the lights fading back on on the stage as the cast took their bows, myself sitting back down in the booth with a wide smile. Well, it wasn't a gripping pitch-black comedy about a total megaspell exchange with end music provided by the great Vera Lynn, but I'm pretty sure I'm still gonna wind up humming a few of those songs over the next few days regardless...

The Roundhouse calmed back down after a few moments, Static letting off a snicker as he slid himself out of the booth with myself following, us all starting to head with the crowd moving towards the doors. He passed on a grin as I kept close beside him, giving my legs a few small stretches. "You know, I dunno why Roxie's husband was so glum about not being seen, sounds like a pretty good issue to have if it means you can get around without getting shot at easier."

"Aw, but then I wouldn't be able to see those cute flanks of yours, Sparky. Or should I start calling you mister cellophane now?" Letting off a chuckle, we finally passed through the doors and out into the snowy blue-lit railyard, the residents dispersing out to the shops and other structures that made up Maple Station. Static answered with a light roll of his eyes, the hoofsteps behind us sounding heavier as the rest of the Vanhoover Five caught up, Aerith wearing a wide grin of her own - well, can't say I'm surprised you enjoyed the play too, Miss Suit and Tommy Gun.

"Yeah, yeah, if we ever do any sneaky spy stuff, that can be my code name. Come on, let's go and get settled in for the night, got stuff to do tomorrow. Least I kind of doubt the mercenaries would try attacking us while we're here." The earth pony loked about the sky for a moment before continuing forth, us all following in behind him. Oh, yeah, I forgot about them... probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ask the tank ghouls if they could keep an eye out for any gryphons, and subsequently blast them on sight with the main guns. Well, I mean, besides Royce and Merlin... huh, wouldn't be a bad idea to ask them if they knew anything, either.

It didn't take particularly long before we arrived back to the hotel, Static getting the room keys from the pony at the desk as I muffled a yawn with my hoof. Mmh, sheesh, maybe getting up that early wasn't the smartest of ideas after all... Celestia forbid I'm actually building up a tolerance to Sparkle-Cola RAD. We all made way to our separate rooms, myself trotting inside past Crash Dive and Aerith to flop onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow. Tomorrow's a new day, just gotta make it through tonight first.

"Okay... next time you want a little firendly chat, I'll try and not drink my body weight in Wild Pegasus the night before... ow." Royce rested with her talon-leg-thing covering over her eyes in hers and Merlin's hotel room, the blinds drawn shut to block out the bright sun reflecting off of the snow outside. Crash Dive and Scouring had gone off to see what was needing doing in town, leaving myself, Static, and Aerith to track down Royce and Merlin. Well, one of two isn't bad... even if she can't really look at anything without wincing in pain. "What're you here for, anyways? Please don't tell me I made that much of an ass of myself last night."

"Ah, no, not exactly. We're here because, well, it kind of seems like we're really popular when it comes to having bounties placed on our heads. When we came up here, Jericho Beach was trashed with the mini-reactor blown open and the barracks painted with a warning addressed to us, and as far as we could gather it was another group of gryphon mercs. We were hoping you might be able to tell us who else operates around here, so we know if we should be worried or not." I adjusted myself on my hooves as Royce shuffled herself back on the bed, rubbing her forehead for a moment with her eyes clenched shut. Yeah, I think I'll stick with Sparkle-Cola hangovers... She let off a grunt, looking over us.

"Hrm... well, you guys kind of wiped out a lot of the cheap and mid-range mercs from Vanhoover, so it could be muscle from down south, proper Talon Company or something. Though considering they actually were stupid enough to let you know, couldn't say..." She rubbed at her eyes, looking around the room for a moment before grabbing a bottle of water off of the nightstand, starting to gulp it down. Okay, worst case situation, a bunch of highly-trained and well organized mercenaries with the best weapons they could get, save for a couple morons in the group that leave behind calling cards. Best case, a bunch of incompetents... that still have access to hardware that can blow a miniature arcane reactor apart and tear a military barrack in half. Great.

Rubbing her beak dry, Royce let off a sigh, thinking. "Dunno what you guys did besides setting off all those bombs and stuff, those guys working for Cerberus sure seemed like they wanted you dead to be paying out as much as they were. Thinking back, I probably should've recognized the black armor and glowing eyes shtick as the GPE power armor..." The gryphon blunk for a few moments, looking up to us. "Hey, doesn't one of you wear Enclave power armor? What's the deal with that, I thought the Enclave was supposed to be pretty unified up until what's-her-face ended them, or something like that."

Static passed me a worrying glance, which I returned, Aerith wearing a grimace of her own. The earth pony cleared his throat, Royce rubbing at her temples. "Ahm, yeah, we kind of have a pretty good suspicion that the guys that were paying you were the same ones that were part of Crash Dive's old squadron... and have access to at least three fighter air craft armed with tesla cannons and possibly fuel-air bombs." ...huh, haven't seen that face in a while. Royce blunk a few times, beak agape, Static having gone quiet to think. "Hm... Night Strike, the sub we found, it's payload was meant for helping with something called Project Cerberus. You don't think that's connected to it, do you?"

"If it is, then I can definitely see why they want to kill us now, Sparky. Just had to go for all of that gol-mmfh!" I blunk in surprise as a pillow found it's way to being shoved against my face, Static releasing a weak chuckle as I pushed back at it. Euch, tastes like sweaty feathers... Shooting the earth pony a glare, I gave my eyes a roll, looking back to Royce. "Anyways, point is Project Cerberus was pre-war as far as we can guess, and on top of that it was being funded by the zebras. If it's the same thing, then that means somepony really well off came across it, took up the name, and is now working in cahoots with the remnants of a trio of Enclave soldiers with flying death machines to get it working again. Well, that, or..."

'Or whoever/whatever Cerberus is was part of the project before the war.' Aerith flashed up a screen, the usual light bluish text replaced with a darker shade, still visible in the low light, and probably more comfortable for Royce. We all looked at her, the gryphon in the bed scratching at her herad, the alicorn glancing around at us. 'What? Come on, if we found a pre-war AI supercomputer obsessed with science that's still alive and around, why's it such a stretch? They're probably a ghoul, or something.'

"Dad's story about NEAMO Crater did say that the place it was before it went up was run by a ghoul, it could be that. Heh, think he'll be proud of me for creating Cerberus Crater down here? I only need, what, a couple megaspells in the multi-megaton range to do it." Wearing a smirk, Static released a sigh, raising a hoof to cover his face. Hey, if this thing turns out to have the same kaboom potential as what caused NEAMO Crater to come into existence, I wanna be the one to set it off and see it! Royce was staring silently at myself, her bloodshot eyes wide as she could manage. "What?"

"Have I said I'm so glad we aren't going after you guys anymore? Because I am -so- glad we aren't going after you guys anymore." The gryphon lifted herself from the bed, rubbing at her sore eyes and with a talon holding her forehead, shuffling around us to head for the small kitchenette area of the room. The door on the mini-fridge swung open, and she pulled another bottle of water from it, starting to drink that down as well. "Mmh, well, sorry I couldn't be of more help, all the mercs down here are different and have different ways in how they do stuff. You guys seem capable, I'm sure you won't have much issues with them if you're throwing balefire eggs and twenty mil AT rounds around, or something."

I shared a glance with Aerith and Static, slightly confused. Huh, I mean, I know the fifty is a big round, but I didn't think it could be confused with a twenty millimeter. And past that, where'd she learn what a twenty mil round's damage effects looked like, anyways? Royce re-capped the water bottle, shutting the mini-fridge door and looking back towards us. "Ah, last I checked the only high velocity thing we had was War Crime, and she's chambered for fifty MG. Recoil's bad enough with that..."

Royce scratched at her head for a moment before returning a shrug, heading back over to the bed and sitting herself down on it's edge. "Huh, thought it was a bigger round than that, going from the hole ya left in Merlin's wing. Used to know someone who used a twenty mil autocannon, Hispano I think her name was, another merc that came through here. She really looked ridiculous going around with that thing by her side, was damn near as big as she was." Well, that certainly wasn't exactly pleasant news to learn about when you're being hunted down by gryphon mercenaries. Just what we needed, someone with half of Featherweight's -light- battle saddle as their primary gun... I've seen what those things do to raiders, and ghouls, there's not a lot left afterwards besides a fine red mist and a few giblets stuck on the walls.

Royce flopped back against the pillows, taking another sip from the water bottle before continuing. "Dunno what happened to her, though, this was around ten years back. Was a nice kid, kinda doubt she's one of the ones after you, though. She wasn't dumb enough to throw away the element of surprise like what those guys did, for one, and last I saw her I think she was going south with a group of settlers or something." Static let off a small sigh beside me, myself joining him - well, no twenty millimeter autocannon-weilding mercs to have to face down, that's good to hear, at least. Probably. Royce let off a long sigh of her own, looking over towards us. "Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful, been too long since I was last in Vanhoover and we didn't really mingle with the high-grade mercs. I'm sure you guys'll be fine, just, I dunno, throw a megaspell at 'em or something. That's what you do, right?"

"We really try to not go throwing them around all the time, mainly because at least four of us are more mentally stable than the fifth." Static shot me a small glance as he spoke, myself answering him with a roll of my eyes. Just because straddling a megaspell is an awesome way to die doesn't mean I'm going to go do it in any hurry, Sparky. "Anyways, well, could you at least keep an eye out for any mercs that pass through for us? Ask them who they're after, maybe, I dunno, shoot them up for us?"

Royce let off a small chuff through her beak, looking both of us over. "I can't say you haven't been tracked by mercs before, but you guys do have some things to learn about how mercenaries work. A merc'll do whatever it takes to kill their target, and try to not draw too much attention to themselves in doing it, either. Keeps themselves from getting killed. Me and my brother might not be in the mercenary business anymore, but we won't go killing other mercs in cold blood just because somepony asked us to. They attack Maple Station, raise hell here, then yeah, we'll kill 'em. They come through without that? My gun's staying holstered." Her talon-leg-things covered her chest feathers as she crossed them over, the gryphon wincing and rubbing against her head after a moment. "Nnf, fucking head... Look, if you're so worried, ask the tank ghouls or something. Yanno, or pay us to kill 'em for ya. Sure wouldn't mind that..."

Static's face pretty much went just as you'd expect at that last suggestion, the wide-eyed stare of 'not gonna happen'. "Ask the tank ghouls, got it. C'mon Night Strike, Aerith, let's leave Royce alone, gotta get over to their shed, after all, eheh..." The earth pony started making his way for the door of the hotel room, Royce watching him for a moment with a hard glare, before sticking two of her fingers in the air in a V-shaped gesture. with the back of her talons towards Static. O...kay then. Aerith scratched at her head in response, following after Static, myself taking up the rear. We stepped out into the hallway, Static releasing a sigh and shaking his head, as Aerith brought up a sign.

'Well... that probably could have gone better.'

The enthusiastic singing came through the railshed door as we filtered into the building that held the Tank Ghouls' tanks, Mad Jack's helmeted head sticking out of the commander's hatch on Avery as the side door closed noisily behind us. Static made his way over to the Mini-tank and trailer, leaving myself and Aerith to greet the rest of the group, the old wartime ghoul wearing a wide grin as he trotted over. "Night Strike, Aerith, fantastic seein' you two again! Been chipper as a woodpecker since those radiation storms started rolling through again, same with a lot of the town. Would say it's a shame that the Battered-Sea had to go, but it was a bit of an eyesore all alone on the coast with those two gantry cranes, even before the war." He let off a chuckle and gave our hooves a shake, trotting beside us as Rangefinder and Rheinmetall both joined up. "So, just a social visit, or are you lookin' to go robot-vaporizing again with our help?"

They all broke out in a light laughter which I joined them in for a few moments, lightly shaking my head in response. "Not quite, unfortunately. We wanted to ask if you all could do something for us, with your tanks. It's..." I let off a sigh, the group notably much less cheerful than they were a moment ago. "We've got more mercenaries sent after us, and they've got some pretty heavy weaponry with them. We came across a warning, or threat or something, painted on the non-obliterated half of a barracks building at Jericho Beach while we were coming up here. We just wanted to know if you could maybe, I dunno, keep an eye out for them, whoever they are, and get 'em off our backs if possible."

Mad Jack looked to Rheinmetall and Rangefinder for a moment, before stomping a hoof against the concrete floor and giving a curt nod. "If those mercenaries are looking for a fight, then we'll be sure to give them all one they won't be soon to forget. You've our word that we'll keep all eyes peeled for anyone coming through this town that seems to be on the war path, and by Celestia above the moment they set hoof inside our firing ranges we'll send them straight to hell in tin cans!" A wide smile held on his face as he shook his hoof in determination, Rangefinder trotting over to myself to rest one of her own aged hooves on my shoulder, a smirk apparent on her face.

"You guys have enough on your plate as it is, what with the flying machines crashing and megaspells to set off, we can totally cover for ya. 'sides, it'd be nice to get featured on Radio KAOS again, 'Tank Ghouls Save Vanhoover Five, blast mercenaries apart!' Has a nice ring, don't it?" Myself letting loose a chuckle as the pegasus ghoul gave my shoulder a few taps, I responded with a nod, noticing Aerith having trotted over to the far end of the railshed. Rheinmetall adjusted his glasses beside Rangefinder and cleared his throat, wearing a light smile himself.

"Yes, vell, I'm certain between the four of us we should be more than capable of handling a few mercenaries. We'll have the ammunition supply cart working overtime, and we ought to have a large enough store of thirty und fifty-caliber rounds to feed our tanks' maschinengewehrs." The unicorn ghoul paused and seemed to think for a moment, tapping a hoof against his chin. "Matter of fact, we have a rather astonishing amount of the fifty caliber rounds in storage as it stands now... and I do unfortunately think I know why. If we might be able to ask something in return-"

"Please tell me you heard my message over the radio!" Sensha skidded herself to a stop in front of the group, myself staring blankly at the Zony. Message over the radio? Uh... I hope she didn't mean Radio KAOS, because I can't even remember the last time I even tuned in, and I definitely don't remember a message. Sensha stared at me for a moment longer before choking back a few tears, rubbing them from her eyes with a hoof. "It-it was about Caution Tape, he didn't return home by the time that he should have and-and he's been missing for longer than you've even been here. None of us can go far from Maple Station to look for him, and I can only assume you didn't come across him when you left for the shore... please, please try and find him when you leave this time, I... I..."

The zony broke out into tears, pressing her face against Aerith's chest and loosely wrapping her hooves around one of the alicorn's legs, Aerith blinking in surprise. She gently moved to stroke Sensha's back with her free hoof, the other tank ghouls lowering their heads. Rheinmetall looked up at myself, letting loose a sigh. "Just what I was going to ask. Caution Tape may not have had the best tank of us all, but his Deathtrap had the most raw firepower of any of us, no less than seven machine guns chambered for fifty caliber. We're all worried about him, we would have searched when he didn't return but issues piled up here in Maple Station and we simply couldn't spare the tanks for it."

"Only reason we could think of as to why he's so late getting back, his tank broke down somewhere, got bogged up in mud or something. Usually between Mad Jack and Rhymey's tanks we could get him fixed and moving, but if Deathtrap threw a track again or something there's no way he could fix it by himself." Rangefinder let off a sigh, heading back over to her tank, but not before suddenly and loudly kicking a wrench across the floor. "I should've been the one on that caravan, not him, Celestia-damnit. Of course I got sick that day and couldn't do it, I, just, erugh!" The ghoul pegasus seemed to throw herself up to the turret of her tank, dropping into the commander's hatch and loudly slamming it shut behind her. Aerith had sat herself down to properly hug Sensha, who was now just whimpering, as Rheinmetall released a sigh and headed back to his own tank, Mad Jack pulling his helmet off.

"Never seemed to have a bad day, Caution Tape. Really helped us stick together with his mood, all of us'd greatly appreciate it if you could try and find him, help him out with whatever he needed. Don't want to imagine the worst..." The ghoul stallion trotted over to Sensha, resting a hoof on her shoulder, the zony looking up at him and rubbing her muzzle. She rose to her hooves, starting to trot back towards her tank, Mad Jack passing on a slight frown and damp eyes for a moment before accompanying Sensha. Aerith picked her own self up onto her hooves, moving up alongside myself as we headed back to the mini-tank, finding Static munching on snack cakes. Of course...

He looked up at us from the trailer, swallowing down the mouthful he had and brushing some of the powdered sugar off of his muzzle, climbing out. "Mmh, so, what's the deal? They're gonna help us with the mercenaries, right?" Glancing between us, Static rubbed at the back of his head for a moment, myself biting at my lip. Aerith looke down at her suit and vest, rubbing some of the tears out of the fabric. "...right?"

"Yeah, they are gonna keep watch and open fire if they see them for us. We're going to have to keep an eye out for a TOG-sized broken-down tank when we head off towards the east, though, because we have to find Caution Tape for them." Static scratched at his head again, looking more confused than anything. Come on, you were eating so loudly you didn't hear the crying? "We gotta find him, Static. He's apparently been missing for even longer than we've been down here for."

"O...kay, yeah, that makes sense. Eyes peeled for tank-shaped things while we head east, got it." He gave a short nod, Aerith's magic levitating out a pair of the bomb-bottles full of Sparkle-Cola that we packed for the trip, giving one off to me while keeping the other. I popped open the cap, the fizzy soda settling after a moment, my brain starting to switch over to lighter stuff, remembering something about Sparkle-Cola while we're up here... Heh, oh, yeah, how'd I forget about that... "As long as we're not expected to have to tow him back, anyways... Not sure a mini-tank can tow a tank-tank that easily."

"Well, we pretty much proved that it can tow half a trailer's worth of soda all along the coast, so don't doubt it too much." Letting off a chuckle, I took a long sip from the bottle, letting the cold nectar of the goddesses flow over my tongue and down into my stomach. Ah, now that's making me feel better... Static gave his eyes a roll, turning to head for the door, myself still looking at the half-track. "Speaking of, there's still half a trailer more we need to get, and I think you'd probably want to do it during the day, right? Burning sunlight, Sparky~"

The earth pony froze in his tracks for a moment, before dropping his head with a sigh and turning around, hopping into the driver's seat of the mini-tank. I let off a small giggle, taking my usual spot behind Boomer - oh, how I love when I do good with the talky-word stuff... goddess-damnit, brain.

The sun was hanging in the western sky as the half-track trundled back into the tank shed, the wagon behind me clinking lightly with the sound of half a trailer's worth of Sparkle-Cola inside of it, along with a few stacks of old movie film reels. The motor purred to a stop as Static turned it off, myself hopping away from Boomer and under the tarp to grab one of the new bottles. It opened with a satisfying hiss, a wide grin on my muzzle as I started drinking down the aged, frigid soda - ah, just like back home. Static hopped to the concrete floor, looking up towards myself. "Satisfied now?" Mouth still full of the nectar of the goddesses, I gave a quick nod, feeling the soda starting to fizz up from the shaking before swallowing it down. Ewuh, that's an odd feeling... "Alright, I'm gonna see if I can't ask the tank ghouls to watch over this stuff too while we're gone to the east, don't exactly want to have a literal ton of glass to worry about if we have to make a fast getaway."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll go find Aerith, hopefully she's found Scouring and Crash Dive by now so we can get ourselves ready for setting off tomorrow." The earth pony gave me a nod, trotting off towards the tanks as I hovered to the floor, holding on to the bomb-bottle. Stepping through the smaller utility door beside the main shed ones, the snow-covered railyard expanded out before me, another quarter of the soda in the bottle disappearing into my stomach as I gave my wings a ruffle. Whoof, I get these bottles are cold but I've never felt it cold through my jacket before... oh, wait, right, bullet holes. Guh. Looking down at my right sleeve for a moment, I let off a sigh, taking to the air and starting to fly into the town. Hopefully that seamster place can fix... whatever this thing's made of. Leather, or something?

Flying over Maple Station for a while, neither the black suit of the alicorn nor the glint of the afternoon sun reflecting off of power armor caught my attention, myself releasing a sigh and turning to head for the passenger train parked at the station. The old floorboards creaked as I touched down upon them, trotting up onto the platform at the end of the carriage and heading through the doorway into the rest of the railcar. The small bell gave a light ring, the ghoul behind the counter looking up with a smile. "Oh, nice to see you again! I take it your friend's been enjoying her new clothes?"

Answering him with a nod, I trotted myself over to the counter, the unicorn closing the book he was reading and setting it aside. "Considering she hasn't worn anything else since we were last here, I'd certainly think so. She might be letting it get to her head a little, though, I think she's thinking about reviving the Silver Shroud." Letting off a chuckle, Singer joined in with a light snicker of his own, myself lifting a hoof to undo the zipper on my jacket. The heavy material hung loose, myself blinking a little as something fuzzy vrushed against my chest - oh, right, the plushie of dad... "Ahm, I'm actually here for myself today, do you do repairs? Kind of took a magnum shotgun blast to the leg yesterday, cut a few holes in and the draft is driving me nuts."

Singer's eyes went wide for a moment, before he looked down to my jacket's sleeve, and the leg inside. Slipping my right leg out, I quickly grabbed the plushie from the interior pocket, fishing around for a moment and retreiving a few spare 40mm grenades as well - how'd I forget I had those? "Ahm, yes, of course, I do repairs as well. Do you know what material it's made out of?" Slipping my wings out and fully pulling the jacket off, I held it up for him, the unicorn taking it in his magic and adjusting his glasses to better examine it.

"Honestly haven't a clue. I think it's leather, but... eh. Usually Cross Stitch would fix it back up back home, he never mentioned what it was made from. Always seemed good as new, though." I idly scratched at the back of my head as the old ghoul spread out the damaged sleeve, looking over the segments where it was cut straight through by the large bullet fragments. How Cross managed that without any visible stitches or patches, now that was a very good question... I think I might've gotten shot at a little too often back home. Then again, down here hasn't exactly been peaceful, either...

Singer levitated over a maginfying glass, starting to look at the sleeve in greater detail, his eyes narrowing slightly as an unsure look came upon his muzzle. "Hm... this is actually rather intriguing. Dear, I believe your jacket may be made out of a material known as Dragonskin." I blunk a few times, leaning in to look through the magnifying glass with him. The brown material seemed to glisten slightly in the light, no odd threads sticking out from where they were cut through as I had expected. I looked up at Singer in confusion, the seamster returning a surprised expression of his own. "I've seen it used in some partial body armor before, and I even used a similar material to it to make the vest for your friend's suit, but I've never seen it used to make a whole winter coat. Where did you get this from?"

"Um..." Scratching at the back of my head with a hoof, I tried to remember. Hm... man, I've had it since I was a filly, did I really never think about this before now? "Can't really remember, honestly. I think it was a gift from Minty and Cross Stitch or something, or maybe Knight Fringe? I've had it since I was a filly... damn, if Minty and Cross actually killed and skinned a dragon for it, I really didn't peg them for being that badass." Trying to picture the two augmented unicorns shooting up a dragon, Minty with Jolts and Cross plinking away at it with that .45 Welrod, Singer let off a light chuckle, breaking me out of it and giving his head a shake.

"Heh, sorry to say that's just the name of the material, it was developed before the war artificially to serve as discrete body armor for military and law enforcement applications. It's rather effective against low-velocity rounds, pistols and that sort of thing, and downright impervious to lasers and blunt weapons. Larger rifle rounds are able to get through it, and I think plasma might do some damage as well, however." Singer levitated up the jacket, rolling the sleeve back to look at the interior lining, checking out the holes cut into it. Huh, so this old thing is actually that good for body armor? Who'd have guessed... well, whoever gave it to me, probably. "Still, to have an entire insulated jacket made out of it, that's something quite impressive all it's own. I should be able to repair these holes without any fuss, it's effectively the same as how your friend can fix her own vest should she get it damaged."

Answering him with a nod, the unicorn looked to the jacket, rolling the sleeve back into place and lowering his horn to touch the material. He seemed to focus, his horn flaring with magic for a quick moment before a bright flash of greenish-white light took hold of the places where the rounds had cut through, fading away to reveal the freshly-repaired jacket. I blunk a few times to get my eyes back - guh, stupid ghosting - eventuakly being able to see as Singer lifted the sleeve up to the light, looking it over. Rubbing at my eyes still, the ghoul seamster wore a smile, levitating my jacket back over to me.

"There you are, good as new. Don't usually get repairs that are this easy to do, how's fifty caps sound to cover it?" Huh, only that much? Well, between the fix and letting me know that all I need to repair it from now on is Aerith and her wonderful long horn, that's pretty reasonable. Slipping the jacket back on and refilling the pockets with my stuff, I dug through them again, before freezing. Oh... crap, I left my duffel bag back with the mini-tank. Singer's smile faltered, looking at myself as I chewed on my lip. "Ahm, something wrong?"

"Eh... kind of. Just realized I flew over here without any bottlecaps on me... ah, I can go get what I need from the half-track, just need a few minutes, eheh." Rubbing at the back of my head with a hoof, I wore a weak smile, Singer releasing a small chuff as he brought a hoof against his chin and tapped it a few times, thinking. Smooth, Strikey, real smooth... "I-It's just in the Tank Ghouls' shed, I promise I'll come right back after I get it."

The ghoul seamster thought for a few more moments before shrugging, passing on a nod. "Sounds reasonable, and from how much your friend paid for her outfit I know you're good for it. Just come right back, a stallion's got to make a living, after all, heh." Passing on a smile, I turned and quickly made way for the end of the carriage, the door shutting closed behind me. Leaping off the deck at the end of the railcar on the side that wasn't facing the station, I spread my wings... or, tried to. Apparently they work a lot better when you actually bother to slip them through the two slots specifically made for them. Having just about enough time to realize that I couldn't feel the crisp air under my wings, the next moment my muzzle was quite thoroughly buried in the snowbank beside the tracks, a muffled grunt escaping me. Stupid sturdily-built jacket...

"You really couldn't have just gotten the info about your jacket from him without giving him a hundred caps? Especially the part about Aerith being more than able to fix it herself?" I gave my head a shake as Static pushed open the door to the Roundhouse, all of us shuffling inside, the sun disappearing behind the hills off towards the west. It was decidedly less crowded inside than last night, allowing us to actually be able to move around without bumping into anypony else - and, mercifully, one of the people that wasn't there was a certain gryphon with a taste for whiskey. "I mean, come on Strikey, we aren't made of caps!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I forgot that I wasn't supposed to do nice gestures if it meant giving away caps, especially amounts that are less than half of a percent of what we have." Shooting the earth pony a look, he let off a small chuff, trotting for a booth near the wall, as usual. We all shuffled in with him, myself slipping in beside him as Aerith, Scouring, and Crash Dive moved to the other side. I let off a sigh, putting on a smal grin and nudging Static in the side. "C'mon, you spent more on those pancakes back at Maple Creek, and I'm sure we can probably take one of those flak guns Contrail mentioned from the airbase too to sell off somewhere. Besides, not like I'm going to have to go back to him to get more repairs done, and pay him for those, right?"

Static let off a small sigh, leaning forwards on the table beside me, a small smile coming to his muzzle. "Fine, fine, but you owe me for it. I'm sure I can think of some way for you to pay me back if you can't get the caps..." A light chuckle escaped him as he gave my cheek a light peck, a blush forming on my face soon afterwards. I gave off a giggle of my own, shaking my head - knowing you, Sparky, I dunno if I want to know what you've got planned. The power armored pegasus across from us let off a chuckle of her own, both myself and Static looking up as a waiter passed out menus.

"You guys really are a cute couple, yanno. Already have the bickering down right." I think that comment had us both blushing now, everyone ordering their drinks as a soft melody played. The waiter gave a nod, myself looking towards the stage, catching that brunette mane resting in bobs on the shoulders of that wonderful ghoulified dame, wearing a soft blue dress with a red poppy and waiting for her cue. As her voice began ringing out true and filling the hall, well... it was certainly an appropriate melody, to say the least.

"I'm in the mood for love
Simply because you're near me.
Funny, but when you're near me
I'm in the mood for love~"

The wind bit at our exposed coats the next morning as we stepped out of the hotel. The servos in Scouring’s armor whirred as we walked along, our hooves making soft prints in the thick layer of snow that covered the ground, frigid and faintly reminding me of back home. We trotted towards the shed at the far side fo the yard, the trainyard full of ponies heading about their daily errands. Stopping momentarily in front of a set of tracks, a large team of stallions could be seen tugging a boxcar along behind them, a pair of fillies looking out of a window cut into the side as their house clacked along the metal rails. Stepping over the train tracks, we soon made our way towards the tank garage, the door creaking as it swung open. Rangefinder stood looking over the treads of her tank, fiddling with something on the wheels it ran on. She glanced over her shoulder as we entered, grinning and tossing an oily rag up onto the metal front track cover. “Heya, guys! Heading back out already? Mad Jack’d probably want to say goodbye too, but I think he got a little too excited with his winnings last night.” She nodded over towards said ghoul’s tank, where snoring could be heard even through the thick metal plating.

Night Strike nodded as Aerith headed over to the mini-tank, hopping in and giving her guns an inspection. “Yeah, setting off for the east, I think if Static stays in one place for too long he gets cranky.” I rolled my eyes as Rangefinder shrugged, hoisting herself up onto the front of her tank and picking the rag back up. She began to polish the long barrel sticking from the turret, Night Strike trotting around to get a better look at it. As she did, her ears perked up slightly. “Oh, hey, would you happen to know anything about Stable… shoot, what was it, Static?” Night Strike asked, turning to me. I tossed her the pamphlet and the riffled through it quickly. “Oh, yeah, a Stable 117? Apparently it was built in the mountain range to the southeast of here, somewhere near the Basin Overlook mines it looks like, but we haven't heard anypony talk about it.”

Rangefinder scratched at her chin, squinting a little as she thought. “Hm… no, not that I’ve ever heard of. Though I really don’t know much about Stables in this area either, I was down by Baltimare when the bombs hit and came across Fyre a little while after that, eventually wandered up to here. Didn't bother to go anywhere besides places where ponies lived.” The ghoulified pegasus gave a shrug, as I hopped into the driver’s seat of the smal half-track, flicking on the engine. The motor behind me began to rumble as I turned the tank around to face the large garage doors, the wheels of the wagon squeaking as they rolled along behind. Night Strike passed on a shrug to Rangefinder, climbing onto the back as the others boarded as well.

“Huh, ah well. Thanks anyways.” The two pegasi passed on waves to each other as I headed out of the main doors, driving along the rows of boxcars towards the edge of town. We passed underneath a pre-war crane, where a guard could be seen sitting in the small operating box, the barrel of a hunting rifle leaned up against the frame of an open window. The trainyard soon disappeared behind us, a lone set of tracks heading eastward towards the mountains barely visible through the snow. I followed the tracks for a while, having no road to drive along as we powered onwards through the bare fields, looking towards the tree-covered mountains.

The mini-tank chugged as the ground began to slope upwards, the tracks turning south and following a ridge that grew steadily taller as we followed them. I slowed a little to better wend my way through the fallen boulders that blocked the roads along the line, occasionally having to drive on the tracks themselves. Yeesh, whose idea was it to build a railroad so close to these cliffs, anyways? The mini-tank bounced up as the wheel rolled over the tracks again, myself letting off a cloudy sigh and eventually just driving between the rails - not like we have to worry about trains or anything. The ground to our right fell away sharply, leaving us slowly trundling up the tracks along the side of the mountain. Scouring looked over the edge nervously, before leaning back to the side of the trailer away from the drop-off.

The tracks leveled off slightly, leading to a small switchback. I carefully maneuvered the tank around the loop, my heart jumping to my throat as a few rocks tumbled down the side of the cliff. “Eheheh, y'sure you don’t see some other way up 'round here? One hell of a drop, inn't it?..." I only gulped, keeping the mini-tank rolling carefully along the track heading upwards. The outcrop of the cliff steadily inclined, twisting its way around the mountain. Higher and higher we climbed, the top of the mountain never seeming to draw any nearer as we followed the tracks. To my relief, however, the ground finally began to level out slightly again as we crested one of the smaller mountains in the range. Looking down, the tracks ran through a small town, before continuing eastward.

I slowed the tank as we passed down the smaller slope on the other side of the first mountain, stopping in front of a small station on the side of the track. “I… uh… I think I need a bit of a break after that cliff… guh, at least there’s less of a chance of rockslide here.” My hooves shook a little as I climbed out of the mini-tank, still shaking as I landed on the frigid snow that had piled on the platform. Scouring climbed out of the trailer, looking equally shaken, even through his power armor. Aerith looked over to Night Strike, shrugging as Scouring and I stepped into the station, myself catching my breath. The station had a few benches sitting in a small waiting room, the old ticket booth gated off. I wandered over to the door of the ticket booth, finding it locked as the others stepped into the station behind me.

Aerith wandered over to a shelf full of old magazines, flipping through a couple as I pulled the ax out from under the strap of my saddlebags. I carefully placed the blade above the knob of the door, biting down on the handle. A crack filled the air as I swung down rapidly, the rotting wood easily snapping away, the rusty knob breaking apart as the door swung open. Stowing the ax, I stepped into the cashier’s room, punching one of the keys down on the cash register. The drawer popped open with a ding, revealing a few stacks of pre-war bits. I scooped them up into my saddlebags before trotting back into the main room of the station - well, if nothing else, at least we got a few caps back out of this... guh, earth ponies and heights just don't mix.

Crash Dive pushed open a door into a small side room where a skeleton lay in a cramped jail cell, its hoof reaching out of the bars towards a discarded bottle of water. Eesh, at least the guards got the quick death of megaspell blast. Night Strike stepped over the skeleton’s hoof, digging around inside a desk. She tossed aside a few pencils before coming across a deck of cards, which she promptly slipped into the pocket of her jacket. Well, it's something, I suppose...

Having nothing else to do, we headed back outside, looking over the town that lay before us... though calling it a 'town' was probably being quite generous. Other than the station, there was only a general store and a small inn that looked barely big enough for three rooms that made up the stop. “Jeez, I know some places are small, but this is pretty ridiculous.” Night Strike said as we trotted between the two buildings, the ground cold and hard beneath our hooves.

“Think it’s jus' supposed to be a rest stop. Y’know, some place the ponies workin' the railroad could stop between distant stations... actually…” Scouring trailed off, turning and trotting to look around the store, looking towards the mountain range as it continued to the east. “Huh, think that might be Mountain Springs, out that way.” He pointed off in the distance. I squinted, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hoof. “Nae, no, more left, there!” He tried to direct my gaze, but I couldn’t spot anything in the underlying ground except a small ravine carved into the rocky terrain. Scouring waved his hoof, giving an exasperated sigh. “Ah, forget it. Not like we’d be going there anyway, I doubt the Elder’d be happy if I turned up without my company, especially after sendin' us out on a wild goose chase anyways.”

We made our way back towards the mini-tank, and I hopped into the driver’s seat, the others taking their usual positions as I started up the engine once more. I was able to drive away from the railroad tracks a bit as we headed further eastward, deeper into the snowy mountains. As we drove along, Night Strike pulled out the deck of cards she’d found, carefully laying it on the back of the tank. “Anyone up for blackjack?” I hit a rock on the ground, the cards scattering out into an uneven pile that only barely all stayed on the back. “Or, um… go fish?”

“Got any… queens?” Night Strike asked, looking over to Aerith. The alicorn shook her head, and Night Strike drew from the now small pile lying before her. Scouring leaned up against the front of the trailer, looking down at the cards held in his magic. The railway had turned south long ago, leaving us driving across the rocky ground of the mountains with no guide besides the compass on our Pip-Bucks. The ground dipped slightly as we drove closer to the second line of mountains on the ridge, crumbling away into a dried riverbed. A thin stream of water flowed through the bottom of the chasm, tumbling over the large rocks that the large spring stream would have easily shifted.

I scanned the riverbed, my brow furrowing a little as I tried to spot someplace we’d be able to cross. The ground before us was starting to slope up once again, quickly growing steeper as the ravine turned into a large pothole, the stream of water cascading down the side of the mountain into the pool of the ravine. I brought the mini-tank to a stop on the edge of the riverbed, looking out across the low water. “Uhh… anypony have any idea how we’re supposed to get across this? I don’t think I’m going to be able to drive this thing up that mountain ridge.” The others looked up from their game, glancing around to see the canyon.

Crash Dive lowered her hand of cards, flicking her headlamp on to get a better view in the dimming light. “You sure we didn’t pass a bridge? I can’t see a good way to get this thing across.” I shook my head, Aerith’s horn lighting up as she conjured up a sign.

‘Scouring and I might be able to levitate the tank and the trailer over one at a time, it’s not too wide. Unless you want to head all the way back to the tracks and see if there’s a bridge crossing there, I think that’s our best bet.’ I tilted my head, not really liking either scenario. Night Strike bent down and snatched up a rock from the ground as we thought. She tossed it in her hoof before taking careful aim and chucking it towards the edge of the ravine. The stone landed with a crack against a large rock embedded into the wall of the riverbed. The rock shifted before tumbling down, sending up a cloud of dust as it knocked more stones loose on its way to the bottom of the ravine. Night Strike and Scouring looked at each other, a little grin crossing Night Strike’s face. Oh, I really don’t like that kind of grin...

Scouring began to pick out a few bricks of C4 from the trailer, passing them over to Night Strike. She took the explosives, her wings flaring out as she took to the air, flapping over to the other side of the ravine. Carefully digging away at the side of the dusty cliff, she squeezed two of the bricks into the newly formed hole before returning to our side to do the same. Flying back up to the mini-tank, she gave Scouring a nod, who promptly presented his detonator and pressed the trigger. The explosion echoed through the canyon, rocks tumbling away as a dense fog of dust and dirt was kicked up into the air. I covered my mouth, coughing a bit as my goggles thankfully shielded my eyes from the debris.

As the sound of tumbling rocks subsided, I looked over to see a newly created bridge of dust and stone, the river splashing up against the makeshift dam. “There we go, made a bridge. Only took ten seconds, eleven, tops.. I’d hurry up if I were you, who knows how long until the river shakes the rocks loose again.” Night Strike said, wearing a smirk. I shook my head, turning the tank around to face the pile of rubble. Jeez, why can’t there just be a problem we can’t solve with explosives for once? I drove down the blown apart section of the wall, the treads knocking a few stones down into the riverbed as it trundled along the path. Water splashed up against the wall of rocks, a little bit trickling out the other end to continue flowing down the path. The tank strained a little as it reached the other end, the ramp of dirt still a little steep for it. I twisted the throttle, the engine roaring as the treads spun in the mud, eventually catching and dragging us forward up onto level ground again.

“I really don’t think that should have worked.” I said, picking up the speed as we headed south along the side of the cliffs. Night Strike waved a hoof dismissively, leaning back up against Boomer as she glanced back down at her cards. As we continued southwards, I spotted a large collection of buildings in the distance. As we approached, I could spot a large Ferris wheel standing over the buildings, along with a old rollercoaster running around the perimeter of the park. A high fence ran around the buildings, forcing me to drive alongside it towards what looked like the entry gate.

“Six games in a row? I’m starting to think you’re cheating.” Night Strike said as Aerith beamed, gathering up the cards to slip them back into her pocket. She turned to face the front as I drove around the corner of the fence, pulling up beside the front gate. Another set of train tracks ran by a small platform near the gate before turning to head down the side of the mountain, back towards the lakes in the large basin below. Lettering across the gate read ‘Vanhoover Mt. Fairgrounds’, the pegasus behind me scratching at her head. “Huh, what’s a fair doing all the way up here? Seems pretty far from any towns to get much business.”

I shrugged in response, pulling up closer to the entrance. “Cheap land, probably. Not to mention they could pretty much expand however they’d want up here, so long as they had access to the railway.” Night Strike hopped off of the back of the tank, heading towards the narrow gaps of the ticket booth. I turned off the engine and climbed out after her, the others following suit. The sun was dipping low over the far mountains to the west, the long shadows cast by them giving us only barely enough light to properly navigate the pathway. Scouring slipped on his helmet and switched on his own headlamp as Night Strike and I turned on our Pip-Buck lights to better see in the dark, Crash Dive's visor glowing that eerie red.

“Hopefully they have some trailers parked around here somewhere to sleep in. Kind of doubt we'll be reaching the next town on the way tonight.” Crash Dive said, the beam of her headlamp sweeping across the various food stands stationed near the entrance. Ooh, caramel apples, cotton candy, cheese curds, funnel cake… my stomach growled loudly, causing me to blush and reach into my saddlebags for one of the few remaining cans of Cram we’d swiped from the military base. Crash Dive looked over to see my scarf down some of the low grade hay before looking forward and shaking her head. “Hmh, maybe you -would- have fit better in the Enclave, if you can eat that stuff so easily. Or maybe earth ponies are just able to stomach flavored preservatives...” I only scooped out some more, swallowing the first bite. Hay is hay, who cares what’s in it?

Tossing the empty tin into a trashcan as we passed by, I glanced around, looking for someplace we’d be able to stop for the night. We passed by a large animal barn, the sound of buckets suddenly clattering to the floor filling the air. We all stopped in place, turning to look at the barn door, keeping quiet. The power armored unicorn trotted up to it, Night Strike pulling out Thumper as he did. The door creaked as it swing open, Scouring and Crash Dive’s lights cutting through the inky blackness. We couldn’t spot anything in the barn, and Scouring simply backed up, leaving the door ajar. “Prob’ly just a rat or somethin'.” He muttered before we continued through the park.

The air seemed unnaturally quiet after the noise of the buckets falling, all of us a little on edge. We came up to a large barn, a sign beside the doors reading ‘Expo center’. We ducked inside, the door closing behind us with a thud. My hoof ran along the wall, looking for a switch as Night Strike wandered down one of the rows of tables. Finding something, I pressed the switch and lights began to flicker on. Almost immediately after the hal fully illuminated, I heard Night Strike scream, followed by an explosion and several gunshots as she fired off Thumper and War Crime wildly. “AAAaaaah, killitkillitkillitkillitkillitkiiiilliiiiiit!” She cried, stumbling backwards. I rushed over, whipping out my umbrella only to find Night Strike emptying her weapons haphazardly at a display where a large animatronic manticore stood, grinning widely, one of its paws curled into a thumbs up. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me...

“Really, Night Strike?” I passed on a glare as the pegasus sat herself up, having fallen onto her back from the panic. She simply loaded another grenade into Thumper as War Crime sat empty beside her, but I snatched the rifle from her before she could do anything further with it. “For Celestia’s sake, it’s a robot without power, what’s it going to-“ I was cut off as Thumper suddenly fired as the breech snapped shut, the grenade flying off into a display of a taffy stretching machine and the grenade rifle flying out of my hoof and bouncing off the ground. I shook my head, Night Strike getting back to her hooves and glaring at me.

“Hey, they're creepy as hell, alright? Now gimmie Thumper back so I can send this thing back to the depths of Tartarus where it belongs...” I rolled my eyes as she snatched up the grenade rifle and War Crime, myself trotting back to the rest of the group with Night Strike eventually following. Let’s just hope whatever it was that knocked down the buckets decided to walk away from the explosions instead of investigating... Night Strike slung her prized grenade rifle over her back and put her automatic sniper rifle into her duffel bag, before hopping into the wagon and turning to Scouring. “Come on, help me set up some more bricks of C4 around this building. We’re not leaving until that thing’s a pile of fine dust.” I sighed, following her back outside as Scouring let of a weak chuckle, Crash Dive sharing in my annoyance. It's just a flipping animatronic...

As we approached the gate, I spotted a trio of ponies looking over the trailer, all talking quietly amongst themselves. I picked up my pace, drawing my umbrella, the end buzzing with some electricity. “Hey, back off!” I shouted through the handle, charging forwards with Night Strike flying beside. One of the ponies looked up and gave a small shout of surprise, before the others ducked down behind the trailer. Aerith drew her tommy gun as we approached, Crash Dive’s light illuminating the mini-tank. A grenade arced into the air from the mini-tank, Aerith quickly letting loose a spray of bullets towards it, the grenade exploding mid-air.

Scouring pulled out Sunburst, the rocket launcher extending out as he jumped out around the trailer. Before he could react, though, one of the ponies leapt out and pinned him to the ground, myself feeling the heavy thud from a few meters away - sheesh, what kind of pony was that heavy!? Scouring struggled for a moment before he suddenly stopped, staring up at the pony, who I could now see was in Steel Rangers power armor. “Scourin'? The hell’re you doing here?” The pony quickly stepped off of Scouring, helping him back up to his hooves.

“Me? What about you, why're you all wanderin' around in the middle of nowhere? Thought you guys were heading back to Vanhoover t' get drunk.” I lowered my umbrella, thoroughly confused. Aerith’s magic faded as she holstered her gun, walking up beside Scouring. Crash Dive hung back, no doubt skeptical as Night Strike trotted up with me.

“Aw, well... Okay, ya got us, we kinda got bored, and Crimson over here said we ought'a think about headin' back to base. We, uh, just kinda got sidetracked... apparently there's a great golf course right down on the northeast side of the reservior though, heh.” The earth pony stallion, who wore a grey-green hat over his brown mane, turned to face us as two others stood up behind the trailer. “And, uh, who’re these guys?” Scouring gave a bit of a nervous chuckle, looking back and forth between everypony.

“Ah, right... ahm, guys, like you t' meet my old squadron, B Company.”

Blinking a few times in disbelief, I slipped Thumper back onto my back, Scouring's squadmates trotting out from behind the mini-tank's wagon. The one who'd tackled Scouring initially moved to grab a pretty sizable rocket launcher from the ground, attaching it to his armor, as the brown-coated earth pony ranger trotted over and managed a quick salute before extending an armored hoof towards me. "Knight-Sergeant Crimson Wagon, of the Mountain Springs steel rangers. These two idiots with me are Knight Sweet Water and Knight Decisive Strike, guessing you're the group we've been hearing about, Vanhoover Five, right?" Shaking his hoof with a whir of servos, I answered with a nod, Static looking over the three-pronged energy-weapon-thing that was attached to the side of his armor.

"Ah, yup, that's us, heh. I'm Night Strike, this is Static Charge, Aerith, and Crash Dive. Vanhoover Five, in the flesh..." Nodding towards everyone, the ranger with the missile launcher looked up from where he was, looking towards me in minor confusion. What's up with... 'Knight' Strike. Oh boy, that's probably gonna get confusing before too long. Crimson Wagon gave a nod, a blue-coat power armored unicorn with a combat helmet and glasses on - ehm, must be Sweet Water, I guess - trotting over beside him.

"Hey, uh, so, if you guys ah cool with it, could you give us a lift, maybe? We kinda wanna get outta this place fast, yanno, really book it to somewhere that... well, isn't here, eheh." He wore a weak smile, looking out towards the fairgrounds as myself and Aerith looked at him in confusion, Static eventually noticing the annoyed look Crimson Wagon was giving him for examining his weapon and moving back up alongside me. Sweet Water gave a quick glance back at Decisive Strike, before leaning in closer. "And, yanno, if you don't have space of all three of us, just me and Crimson are fine, we can leave Strike and nopony'd bat an eye. Just get me outta here..."

"Aw, Sweets, you're breakin' my heart over here!" I took a small step backwards as Decisive Strike came over, tapping against Sweet Water's combat helmet a few times and knocking the unicorn's glasses out of place. He settled back onto his hooves, the elbow of his armored foreleg clanking against the side of the unicorn's power armor. "Don't mind him, he's just jumpy on account'a what we got set up in this here park. See, we found this great boxcar-thing on the tracks around here, and as it turns out what it's got inside was a little more fun than just some shipment of dried fruit. Can't wait to see how big one o' those warheads is gonna go up..."

"Can ya at least do us the favor of waiting until we're out of the freakin' blast zone, Strike? I didn't sign up to B Company to be Balefire-broiled!" Sweet Water looked over at Strike with an exasperated look in his eyes, adjusting his glasses on his muzzle. Crimson, for his part, just let off a sigh and gave his head a shake, while my own eyes opened wide. A balefire warhead, in that theme park, in relatively close proximity to that Celestia-forsaken animatronic manticore? Hearth's Warming has come early... Crimson stepped forwards, clearing his throat and getting the attention of both Sweet Water and Decisive Strike.

"Sweet Water, if I'm remembering things right I was the only one who actually signed up for B Company. You're here because you let that pre-war virus get onto our databanks." The unicorn wore a small grimace, dropping his head, Decisive Strike letting off a chuckle. Crimson turned to face us, releasing a cloudy chuff into the air. "Much as I hate to admit it, we do need some help getting out of here. Strike found an old rail garrison missile car, some sort of mobile MRBM silo or something, and we're trying to do somethin' good for a change and get rid of the damned thing. Problem is, with Scouring having all our C4 to take care of that pizza place down in the south, best we could come up with to properly destroy it was to rig one of the warheads themselves to go off via detonator."

"...and we don't have any way of getting the hell outta dodge fast, all the Vertibucks we got are grounded and the nearest place we can just rest for the night that isn't here is around an hour or two away on hoof. I don't trust Strike to wait for much longer before pulling the trigger..." Wearing a wide grin in my muzzle, I looked over to Satic, the earth pony sharing an uneasy look of his own - oh, c'mon, you can't blame me for this one! That's 'Knight' Strike's fault... Static let off a sigh, trotting over to the mini-tank.

"Alright, hop in the back trailer, I'll get the engine started. Just tell me where we need to go." The earth pony hefted himself up into the driver's seat as I hovered over to land on the back behind Boomer, Sweet Water trotting over to give Static directions. Aerith scooched over to allow Strike and Crimson to climb on the back wagon as well, Scouring following them and the suspension creaking under their weight. C'mon, you carried fifteen tons of thermobaric bombs to the lighthouse, you can handle a few tons of power armor ya stupid wagon. Sweet Water trotted around to the back, stopping to take aim with his... ehm, crap, know I've seen that thing somewhere before... Gatling laser! That's it. Yeah, stopped to aim his gatling laser at... Crash Dive. Oh, for the love of...

"S-Sarge? GPE unit, twelve-o-clock, permission to engage?" Letting off a sigh and giving my head a shake, I jumped off of the back of the mini-tank, landing in front of the nervous steel ranger. Sheesh, no wonder this guy's in B Company... his eyes refocused to meet mine, as did his aim, Crash Dive trotting up behind me with her helmet on. Oh, come on Crash Dive, I thought you were getting better with talking first and shooting later when it comes to meeting new ponies now.

"Uh, how about we -not- shoot each other? This is Crash Dive, she's ex-Enclave and beyond that, one of the longest-serving members of the Vanhoover Five. Or to put it in other words, you shoot her, I have a fifty cal automatic and forty mil shotgun, and about as low a tolerance for being shot at as she does. Got it?" The power armored unicorn responded with a shaky nod, giving one last glance to Crash Dive before rushing over to the wagon and clambering himself in. I let off a sigh, repositioning myself behind Boomer, as Crash Dive climbed onto the back seat of the mini-tank, the suspension bowing a little with her weight.

Crimson looked over to Sweet Water for a moment before turning to face us, taking a lingering moment to look at Crash Dive, the engine of the mini-tank rumbling to life beneath me. "Gonna have to forgive Sweet Water, before he was transferred he was a scribe, doubt he ever handled a Gatling laser a day in his life before getting thrown into B Company. Should've known one of you was former Enclave, have been listening to the radio broadcasts for a while." The cool mountain air started to blow through our manes as we got moving, Crash Dive looking up towards myself with the faintest bits of a smile, while Crimson's own eyes narrowed. "Though I do hope that you aren't actually planning on turning what weapons you've got on the troops under my command, because I'll make sure it doesn't end well for you either."

Blinking a few times in surprise, I let off a weak laugh, rubbing at my neck and trying to hide a grimace with a slight smile. Oh yeah, maybe threatening a military powerhouse like the Steel Rangers isn't the best of ideas... I waved a hoof dismissedly in the air in front of me, adjusting myself against Boomer slightly. "N-no, 'course not, that's... not my style. We're just protective of our own, yanno? Don't want anypony to get hurt unless they shoot first, eheh..." Crimson held his gaze on me for a few more moments, before releasing a cloudy sigh and giving his head a shake. Smooth, Strikey, real smooth... "Look, the thing is, we're the only ones in this wasteland who've been really caring about Crash Dive here. We don't want her getting hurt any more than she already is, same as you don't want your squad getting themselves hurt. You understand that, right?"

Crimson paused for a moment, seeming to just look at the space between him and Aerith, before letting off another sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I understand that. Not gonna do any of us good if we're at each other's throats, if we're traveling together now." Giving him a nod, we conginued speeding onwards through the crisp night, Static rubbing a hoof against his tired eyes. C'mon Sparky, I know you can manage at least this... and if not, well, I'm sure I can spare a Sparkle-Cola RAD or two to force down your throat. Or, yanno, have you drink wilingly, whatever works.

A short while of following the tracks that ran in front of the theme park later had us slowing down in front of another waystation, Static turning the mini-tank and wagon to bring them off of the rails and stop us in front of the hotel. The engine rumbled to a stop as he switched it off, myself letting off a long yawn as everypony disembarked and started heading inside. Mmf, okay, maybe Sparkle-Cola RAD can only carry someone so far... then again, I do drink a lot of the stuff as it is. Static stumbled in the snow as his hooves landed, eventually managing to catch himself and head up in through the hotel door, myself slipping off of my perch behind Boomer as Crash Dive likewise picked herself up off of the mini-tank's rear seat. We shared a glance at each other before continuing on inside, moving in behind B Company.

'Well, not the nicest-looking place, but it's better than nothing. How we going to split this, three-ish to a room?' Aerith looked towards us as we entered, myself responding with a tired shrug. Hey, as long as it gets me into a bed sooner than later... Static nodded, tossing some old keys over to myself and Crimson, and trotting up next to Scouring with a set in his own hoof.

"Yeah, might... might be best, do it like we have been. You three take one, me and Scouring take two, and B Company has three, that work with everyone?" A long yawn escaped Static as he finished up, before Scouring let off a small chuckle, trotting up alongside the other steel rangers and passing on a weak smile. I blunk in a little confusion, the power armored unicorn's aura retreiving a fourth set of room keys. "Uh... huh?"

"Aye, hope ye don't mind, jus' think it might be worthwhile t' get used to spendin' more time with my old Comp'ny now they've shown up. 'sides, doubt there's three beds to a room in this place, anyways. Sound alright t' you, Static?" The earth pony blunk a few times, before looking towards myself for a moment, answering with a tired shrug. So, only two to a room, then... Well, I suppose I could use something cute and snuggly to cuddle tonight... I tossed the keys I had in my hoof over to Aerith, the alicorn catching them in her aura and wearing a small knowing smile.

"As long as we're getting some sleep sooner rather than later, whatever works. Let's just find our rooms already." Responding with short nods, we all started to shuffle around to the few rooms that made up the hotel, Aerith and Crash Dive taking the first one while myself and Static slipped into the second. The old sheets on the bed held a small layer of dust that I had to try and beat off of them, flapping my wings madly to get the clouds to move off to the side and make it at least somewhat reasonable. Beating on an old pillow, Static eventually threw it back onto the bed, climbing up and flopping down against it with myself beside him, us both helping to tug the heavy covers back over. I let off a small shiver, nuzzling into the earth pony's warm neck, his own forelegs wrapping around me to tug me closer against him. It wasn't too long before we both quietly drifted off to sleep, holding each other close - not the greatest end to a day, but at least we're still together...

"So, betting you already know Scourin's story, and could'a guessed how Sweet Water screwed up to get into this lovely Company, how about we tell ya our stories, eh Sarge?" Decisive Strike let off a small laugh from his spot in the back wagon, the early morning light of dawn hidden behind the far mountains off in the east. We were winding towards the southeast for a while, en route to an old ski lodge, apparently, to watch the explosion from - So this is, what, the second time a megaspell of some description has been used to utterly vaporize something related to that celestia-forsaken pizzeria? Heh, here's hoping we can keep the trend going... Strike wore a grin, scooching over closer to the mini-tank in the wagon.

"Well, guess I'll start. I used to be part o' some ranger group further to the northeast before I got transferred. Apparently it's frowned upon to cause the largest pre-war ammo dump this side of the Crystal Empire to go and explode, but I'll be damned if that wasn't the single most beautiful sight ah've ever had the pleasure of seein' with my own eyes!" He let off a chuckle, myself staring at him as Crimson brought an armored hoof to his forehead. So that lone pony detonated an absoutely massive cache of explosives... yanno, I have to start wondering if the name 'Strike' happens to predestine somepony for a love of explosions. Hell, and to think the fact that he was gonna set off a megaspell warhead was enough to get me to like him before...

"Yeah, after that he wound up on a run for his life in his old power armor, turned up at Mountain Springs while we were investigating the new mushroom cloud that'd popped up in the direction he came from. Already had all the usual training and we were lacking a heavy demolitions expert at the time, so we took him in without a second thought. Probably was a lapse of judgement on our part..." Crimson let off a small chuckle, resting back in the wagon, while Strike settled back in his place across from Sweet Water. The Knight-Sergeant let off a cloudy breath that was caught on the air, looking across the mountains for a moment. Okay, so we got one pony that wrecked a vertibird into an armored motorwagon, another that let a pre-war virus onto a secure network, and a third that blew up an ammunition facility loaded so much that it caused a mushroom cloud... how bad did somepony of his rank have to screw up?

"As for myself, I transferred to B Company willingly. They needed someone to lead 'em, and I struck a deal with the Elder. For teh transfer to the Company, I'd finally get a bit of leave time after all's said and done, come back as an in-stable tactician so I wouldn't have to be out in the field anymore. I reckon by the time we head back, I'll only have a few days or so left, then it's finally a chance for me to ditch this power armor and plasma caster for a nice fishing rod and lake to call my own." Crimson leaned his head back, wearing a smile on his muzzle and closing his eyes. "Sure as hell been an interesting time going around with these idiots, though. Don't want to say I'll miss 'em, but..."

"Aw, Sarge, you're really too kind. We're gonna miss you too when all's over, though does beg the question of who's gonna be taking over for you when your term with us is up. Last thing we need is some hard-ass former spec ops guy that, I dunno, wears a ghillie suit on over his power armor or somethin', acts like he's supposed to be a sniper on some covert assassin operation." Sweet Water spoke up from his seat, the mountain roads giving way to a small valley, the theme park and waystation far behind us at this point. Hope we'll stil be able to see the flash from here... "Then again, on the otha hoof that might bump B Company's infamous mortality rates to a less disheartening level, so it wouldn't be all bad. Still wouldn't be nearly as nice a time without ya, Sarge."

A small chuckle escaped Crimson as we continued onwards, Static having to constantly downshift to keep us moving over the steep grades in the terrain. "Actually, have been putting some thought into that. Scouring Charge's the next closest I consider to having some actual decent seniority over you two, when I'm kicking my hooves up with a fishing rod in one and a bottle of Wild Pegasus in the other, he's gonna be the one taking over for me."

The power armored unicorn's eyes went wide at that statement, along with those of his squadmates. "Hey now, what makes ye think I'm good enough at leadin' to take over for you? Haven't noticed, I've pretty much jus' been followin' since I stayed behind t' blow up that Molly Manticore's place, and even before then!"

"That may be, but hell, you at least have something resembling common sense going 'round in your head, more than I'd consider these two having. Doubt we'll be going back to Mountain Springs anytime soon anyhow, at least not after blowing this thing." A chill mountain breeze blasted us with white powder, everyone ducking down in the wagon as it passed over, myself rubbing at the lens of the goggles to clear it. So, Scouring's getting a promotion when he goes back home... huh. Yanno, didn't really think about what's gonna happen when we leave, when the Vanhoover Five have to disperse and go back to being, well, us. I guess... all things considered, it could be worse. Aerith has her armored suit and, well, the Silver Shroud, I guess, Crash Dive's coming home with us, Scouring's going back to his unit. Huh...

The mini-tank came to a stop as we came around the side of a mountain pass, Static staring off into the distance. Taking a glance myself, the sight of a large building in the valley caught my eyes, with large cables suspended from trusses and chairs hanging from them leading up the various slopes, away from what was presumably the lodge. Down by the entrance, a few ponies milled about, along with some larger pony-shaped objects that looked like they'd just come out of a horrible accident with a scrap yard. I blunk a few times, pushing the welding goggles up to try and get a better view, as Static shut off the engine and looked back. "Not liking the look of that place, guys, you sure this is where we're gonna watch it from?"

Sweet Water hopped out from the wagon, everyone else following him, Aerith landing herself down by the front of the mini-tank and pulling out her rifle. The power armored unicorn rifled through a pouch above his gatling laser, producing a pair of binoculars and holding them in front of his glasses. "Yup, Twin Peaks Lodge, that's the place alright. Far enough away from the blast that we oughta be alright, and supposed to have some stuff to cause controlled avalanches there too, which I probably don't have to explain why Strike here is interested in getting. Bit far away to tell, but it just looks like raiders, nothin' a bit of sneaking and strategically placed explosives couldn't change fast."

"Aw, c'mon Sweets, you're never doin' things the fun way! We got a tank... motorcycle... thing, we got some pegasuses to provide air support, and these are just some drugged outta their minds raiders. I say we go for a full headon assault, yanno, shock and awe and stuff like that." Myself, Crash Dive, and Static were all staring at Decisive Strike as he started to argue with Sweet Water, a certain expression of disbelief taking my face. Static's forehead thumped loudly against the handlebars as he let off a sigh, Crash Dive wearing a weak smirk and shaking her head, the alicorn trotting herself over to us as she stowed her rifle.

'Well, I didn't see anything in the way of heavy long-range guns, and all the weapons they seem to have are only good at short to mid-range engagement distances. We could probably take out the external patrols from long range and then charge in, kind of want to see just what you mean by 'the fun way', Night Strike. I can do a fly-over of it just in case, if you guys think we need a fuller picture.' Leaving the two members of B Company to argue with themselves, Aerith wore a smile as her text scrolled across her screen, us all reading it out. Sneaky on the outside, loud and fast inside, I can dig that. A white cloud chuffed from beside me, myself looking to see Crimson reading it with us, giving a nod.

Turning himself about, he looked towards Strike and Sweet Water, drawing in a breath. "Alright, enough! These guys have a plan, and we're gonna follow it. Gonna be fast, quick, and easy, but we need all the intel we can get first. We'll hold position meanwhile, got it?" The bickering stopped, and both rangers nodded in agreement, Crimson turning to face towards us again. Off to a good start, I suppose... "We'll follow your lead, you give the word, we'll head in."

Passing on a nod, I turned to face towards Aerith, the alicorn wearing a smile as her horn flared slightly with magic. "Alright then, we'll start picking them off when you get back. We hear any shooting though, we're going in and wreckng the place, so... try to not get shot at." Myself letting off a chuckle, Aerith answered with a smirk and a nod, disappearing from view. The light snow that covered the mountain was buffeted by the wind from her wings as she took to the sky, the small trail left in her wake dissipating as I leaned forwards against Boomer, looking down at my foreleg. Well, gonna be a while, what's on Radio KAOS...

"-e Tank Ghouls of Maple Station are on high alert today after receiving word from the Vanhoover Five themselves that they're being pursued by more mercenaries, with two tanks on guard at any given time at all entrances, and loaded with high explosive ammunition. These new mercenaries are only known for certain to utilize some especially heavy weapons of their own, apparently capable of blowing a pre-war small generator apart, as well as destroying an entire wall of an old military shack, at least as far as I've been told. If anyone has any information on who these mercenaries are, and more importantly who in our wasteland seems to want the Vanhoover Five dead so badly, yet apparently not badly enough that they'll do it themselves, please do call it in so that more people can be made aware, and assist the Five if asked. I'd say if any mercenaries are seen traveling through Maple Station, well, I doubt they'll survive long enough to make it through the gate.

"It's a nice bright Vanhoover day out there today, and you're tuned into Radio KAOS. Up next are a couple songs I've put together over the years, in a little collection I like to call 'Music to Fuck Shit Up to'. But, naturally, this is a professional station, I can't say those words to describe it... whoops. Heh heh, enjoy, Vanhoover Wasteland..."

"Alright, perimeter guard is pretty well mapped out, no visible major alert systems, and we've more than got the element of surprise going for us... I dunno about you guys, but I'm just about ready to rock on this thing." Wearing a smirk, the bolt for War Crime was pulled back by my hoof, accepting a new point-five-o caliber round in the chamber. I settled the forward hoof rest on the back of the Mini-tank, focusing in my sight, Aerith doing the same with her rifle as Radio KAOS played out in the background. "Range to target... 700, 750 meters?"

'750 extending to 800, slight wind flowing north-south in the valley, too. You focus down their robots as a primary, that .50 MG will tear 'em apart.' Passing Aerith a nod as she settled with her eye peering down her scope, I adjusted the dials slightly on mine, the crosshairs lining up neatly on the front gate after a little fiddling. Alright then, Vanhoover Five Sniping Co., at your service... 'Weapons free, start finding targets.'

Scanning for only a moment, my crosshairs focused on the body of what I think was an old sentry bot - hard to tell with all the junk welded on it - hoof moving to squeeze the trigger lever. It clicked against the stock as I pulled it back fully, the hammer releasing and flying forwards to strike the primer in the base of the brass casing, the gunpowder inside the massive machine gun round rapidly deflagrating and expanding in the chamber, propelling the first bullet out and downrange as the pressure forced the bolt and barrel back, ejecting the first casing and accepting a new one in the span of only a few seconds as the heavy hydraulic recouperators inside took the brunt of the recoil. Oh, yeah, I really love this gun...

The next round was already downrange by the time the first impacted, the jacketed bullet pinging against the armor with a large metallic spark as it bored inside, breakng ceramic plating and forcing it's way clean through to interior components. I let War Crime have a four-round burst on target, the sentry bot below spraying hydraulic fluid out into the snow and starting to become engulfed in flames because of it, spinning and moving about wildly as it searched for a target. I wore a smirk as I heard Aerith's rifle retorting beside me, scanning over just in time to see a raider's head disappear in an explosion of red mist as the thirty-caliber round bored straight through skin and skull to impart energy onto the squishy squelchy grey matter inside, rapidly turning it outside. Still haven't spotted us yet...

Switching targets, I scanned for another sentry bot, taking a moment to empty two rounds into a raider that was just turning the corner on his patrol route, painting the fence made out of junk and snow immediately in front of it a nice goopy red. Eventually another one of the scrap-modified robots rolled into view, my croshairs lining up on the torso and putting four more shots through the plating and into the vulnerable electronics underneath. The robot sparked wildly for a few moments, whirring on it's four wheeled legs before the red light in the eyes flickered out, an acrid smoke coming from under the chassis. Thank you, soft outer 'armor' causing the bullets to bite in better... intimidating in theory, hindering in practice.

Aerith's rifle sounded out four more times before the clip ejected from it with a loud clang of metal, three more raiders falling outside, as War Crime spat out five more two-round bursts as well. Scanning the exterior of the lodge for a moment more, no obvious movement caught our eyes, myself sitting up and wearing a grin. Two sentry bots and a whole mess of raiders scratched, not a bad way to start things off...

"Alright, phase one of Operation Fysu is complete, on to phase two... and I'm gonna need a power armor helmet. Sooner I get one, sooner we get started." Looking towards B Company, they all glanced between each other for a moment, before looking at me in confusion. Knight Strike reached for his after a moment, checking the inside before tossing it to me. Giving him a nod and smile, I moved over to the front of the mini-tank where Static sat, the earth pony wearing an equally confused look that was quickly replaced by the imposing stare of a Steel Ranger power armor helmet, him flailing his hooves a little as it fitted on and sat on his shoulders. I let out a small chuckle as he finally settled, looking towards me. "Hey, thought you might like not having to worry about accidentally catching a bullet with your cute face. Can't say I'm not considerate, Sparky~"

"Eugh, fine, better than nothing... even if it's gonna chafe a little." The engine of the mini-tank turned over to a quiet rumble as the earth pony started it up, the four Steel Rangers climbing into the back wagon with Aerith as myself and Crash Dive settled on the back of the mini-tank. The power armored pegasus slipped on her helmet as I took place behind Boomer, hefting War Crime up and slipping her large box clip out to replace it with a fresh one, before slipping a Solar Burst into Thumper's breech and carefully closing it shut. Right, locked and loaded... "So, what's the plan, I'm going to get us close and you all jump off to break through?"

"And have you miss out on all the fun, Sparky? You wish. I'll blow in the gate with Thumper before we get there, you just have to keep us going at full speed and drive us around the courtyard while we handle the rest. Boomer's gonna get some love today." A slightly annoyed sigh came through the helmet's speaker, myself letting off a small chuckle. The engine of the mini-tank revved underneath me as Static shifted us into gear, the snowy hilside getting kicked up by the tracks before it bit and we started to move. It didn't take us too long before we were moving at full pelt, Static keeping us in high gear as I brought Thumper around, the lodge off in the distance drawing closer.

"That one was titled The Wanderer, and this next one, heh, this next song goes out to anypony that might be doing something over-the-top, stupid, and otherwise just plain crazy. Vanhoover Five, hope you Shoot to Thrill..." ...you know, I don't wanna say that DJs are omnipotent, buuut... ah, fuck it, not like it isn't expected of us by this point. Play us in, Radio KAOS!

The engine of the mini-tank roared underneath as I shouldered Thumper, the wind making my eyes water as I sighted down the barrel. Almost... almost... Thumper resounded with his usual thump, sending the black and golden ball of doom flying off towards the scrap door where it quickly exploded in a blinding white flash, leaving a mushroom cloud rising in front of us as the music properly kicked off. Setting Thumper down across my legs, I took control of Boomer with my left hoof while my right hefted up War Crime, holding her stock close against my chest. Aw, hell yeah...

The cloud caused our geiger counters to click from the residual radiation as we plowed clean through the now-opened gate, myself wasting no time in opening up with Boomer as we breached inside. Aerith's Chicacolt Typewriter likewise opened up, along with all of B Company's arsenal, Static turning us hard right to avoid plowing into the lodge's front. Firey explosions rang out in the valley as the snow and dust was kicked up into the air, causing quite a dense cloud, bullets errantly whizzing by my head and pinging off of the metal on the sides of the mini-tank, the radio playing out clear and loud in my ears as I released Boomer's trigger handle to start hosing stuff down with War Crime.

"I'm gonna take you down,
Down, down, down,
So don't you fool around,
I'm gonna pull it, pull it,
Pull the trigger!"

The dust began to start settling slightly as Boomer's explosions were taken out of the mix, a gleeful cackle escaping me as I held down War Crime's trigger, spraying at anything that looked even removely pony-like as we drove around the front yard. After a good long burst from her, I switched hooves back over to Boomer, starting to do less aiming and more flat-out spraying with the big automatic grenade machine gun. The smell of ozone lingered every time Sweet Water opened up with his gatling laser, Strike's quad-barrel bazooka sounding off with Scouring's Sunburst while balls of green goop flew out from Crimson's plasma-thing, the whizz of bullets in the air soon quieting down as everyone paused for a breath, and to reload, myself finding even Boomer clicking on empty.

Static brought the mini-tank to a halt, the dust finally being allowed to settle in the courtyard, allowing us a look at the carnage. Craters littered the area around us, entire sections of fencing completely destroyed from the concussive blasts of a whole lot of explosives, everything just helping that stupid grin on my face stay nice and wide as I leaned against Boomer's top, feeling the warmth from both the mini-tank's engine and the massive machine gun. Strike was hollering loudly in the wagon behind me, myself unable to help myself from giggling at the sight of a raider's head pinned to a concrete column by a length of rebar, the rest of his body decidedly absent in the form of a pile of glowing green goop. Oh, boy, yeah, this was one hell of a ride...

The song had even quited down a little, the clatter of magazines being swapped and replaced filling the air as I did the same as everyone else, breaking open Thumper to swap the spent casing out for a fresh dragon's breath shell. Looking to the front of the mini-tank, Static was slumped back in the chair, his chest heaving heavily as he rested a foreleg across it, catching his breath - aw, what'sa matter, can't handle all this excitement, Sparky? I thought you were better in bed than that~ "Alright... I hope... I hope that's it..."

Giving my head a shake and letting off a chuckle, I took a few slow breaths of my own, resting the now-loaded grenade rifle on my legs and leaning with my back against Boomer... or, trying to. Darn wings sticking out... oh, this was so awesome... we need to do this again sometime.

A section of the junk fencing that was miraculously still standing was suddenly broken apart by something, however, myself jumping slightly at the sound and immediately grabbing for Thumper. Looking towards it, we were afforded the sight of... uh... is that thing supposed to be junk power armor, or something? I mean.. huh... the pony inside of it let off an angry yell, charging towards us, myself emptying Thumper out into their helmet as a reflex. Some of the burning flechettes seemed to get through, though not enough to deter the... the power armored raider, Sweet Water's gatling laser and Crimson's Goop Caster opening up as well, Crash Dive sending a few bars of rebar at them, not being able to entirely stop them, however. Sheesh, how many drugs does this pony have going through them!?

The barrage was kept up, myself pickng up War Crime to empty whatever was left in the clip into the junk power armor, the pony inside finally starting to stumble as bits and pieces were knocked off, goopified, or otherwise removed from the frame underneath. A long shaft of rebar pierced through the helmet, the body twitching for a moment before falling hard against the blasted snow in the heavy frame, the song playing on Radio KAOS finally wrapping itself up. Everyone seemed to start to take a breather, again, Static pulling the helmet off and letting it rest in his lap, looking down at the dead power-armored raider.

"Okay... not gonna say it again and jynx us, but, yeah... whoo..."

Those Magnificent Mares in their Flying Machines

I groaned as I slowly came to. Jolts of pain shot through my side as I tried to sit myself up, a slight ringing in my ears. Guh, what happened? I clenched my eyes shut to shield them from the lights hanging above the bed I was laying in, trying to think... wait, bed? My head pounded as I wracked my brains, the swirl of memories of yesterday slowly coming into focus. Okay… I got shot, slept it off, drove a while the next day, went into a cave or, tunnel or something… My mind finally clicked into gear as I remembered the blast wave hitting us, the way the explosion had sent me flying from the seat of the mini-tank. Night Strike… I tried to push myself up in bed again, only to be met by more pain and my eyes beginning to water.

The sound of a door opening met my ears, along with some hoofsteps. “Ah, you’re awake. How ‘bout zat,” said an unfamiliar voice in a thick accent. I slowly opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. A bright red unicorn slowly faded into view, his horn poking through a mane silvery enough to rival my own. “I’d be careful if I vere you, you vere banged up pretty bad vhen you showed up here with your friends.” The stallion stood proudly, puffing out his chest to display his navy blue and gold trimmed jacket. “Serene Steel, at your service. I suspect you’re vondering vhere you are.”

I blinked, putting a hoof up to my temple. Oh, Celestia, please don’t tell me this pompous pony is the doctor. I just nodded, only to suddenly notice the beds beside me were both alarmingly empty. Where’s Crash Dive? Where’s Night Strike?! I threw back the covers and tried to get out of bed, but my vision became a swirl of colors again and my legs became unsteady. “Woah, take it easy. Your friends, zey’re fine. Ve got zem to the mare’s medical bay, zey’ll be alright.” I sat back down on the bed, rubbing my temple gently as blood pounded through it. “Anyvay, zis is ze Vanhoover Air Base. Sharpving said you all might end up coming, zough I zink she’d expected two more of you.”

“Ugh, yeah… we had to split up a little while back, just three of us for right now.” I took a deep breath, my heartbeat slowing as the pounding in my head subsided. Serene Steel trotted over to one of the medical cabinets, digging around inside before producing a healing potion and tossing it to me. I drank the glowing red mixture, the pain from my wounds easing up. “So, yeah, do you know Contrail, then? I think he told us about you guys too.”

Serene nodded, helping me up to my hooves. “Ja, don’t worry, Sharpving said she had a plan. Ve’re planning on meeting in the vorkshop soon, let’s get over zhere.” I followed Serene out of the medical bay, blinking rapidly as we stepped out into the bright base. Several ponies were milling about, carrying machinery back and forth between a couple large hangers. I noticed the mares and stallions mostly kept to themselves, each headed to hangers on the opposite ends of the large snow-covered tarmac. As we passed by one of the smaller hangers, we heard a whistle, and Serene let out a barely audible moan before pulling his expression up into a cheerful smile and turning around. “Hello, Turbine.”

A rather tall stallion leaned up against a cart full of tools, a smile on his muzzle. Behind him stood a large jet black plane, balanced precariously on two wheels under its main body and support struts under the wings. “Hey there, Steel! Showin’ our newest member around the base?” He asked, flipping open a hatch on the side of the plane and levitating over a wrench to fiddle about in the mechanics with. Serene nodded, still keeping the, admittedly difficult to tell, forced smile on his face.

“Ja, he’s a bit of a tech-y guy, vants to check out ze ol’ valker I told him about.” Serene responded. Turbine grinned, setting down his tools and trotting up to me. He stood almost as tall as Featherweight, though what were bulging muscles in the pegasus were little more than a thin layer of sinew in the unicorn. Despite this, his tall stature and medaled flight jacket made me nervous. He stuck out a hoof to shake mine, and it took me a moment to tear myself away from my thoughts to react.

“Well, it’s good to hear that. We could always use more designs for aircraft around here, thinking of entering the coming race, then?” I paused before giving a noncommittal shrug. He let out a hearty laugh, myself putting my hoof back to the ground as he grinned almost unnaturally widely. “Hey, I don’t blame you, it’d be pretty hard to build something faster than this ol’ gal, the Dragon Mare. Still, I’m sure there’s plenty of others around that’ll be happy to have an extra set of hooves on standby.” He turned back to his airplane levitating up a set of pliers and beginning to work on the electrics. “See ya, ‘round, Steel!”

Serene gave a curt nod before turning around and leading me away. He glanced over his shoulder to ensure Turbine wasn’t looking before letting his smile drop and another groan escape his lips in a sigh. “Vell, I hope you’re at least a little handy viz your hooves, now he might get suspicious. Zat Dummkopf is in charge around here…” Serene shook his head as we approached a tin bunker. The unicorn opened the small service door beside the large hanger ones, and I headed inside after him. His hoof ran across the wall before hitting a switch, the lights flickering on with a hum of power. The room was cramped, almost a third of it taken up by something hidden under a thick tarp at the far end, with various tools and abandoned mechanics laying on the workbenches running on either side of the building.

I wandered up to the tarp, curious as to what lay under it. Serene’s expression grew a little brighter as he strutted over to join me, wearing a grin. With a flourish, he took a hold of the tarp and pulled it down with a loud flutter of fabric. Gleaming, polished metal revealed itself as the cloth fell away, my eyes growing wide as I took a few steps back. A bipedal mechanical beast stood hunched over in the workshop, its massive guns glistening in the light. My gaze travelled along its body, following the bent legs up to the control pod, the visors just open enough for me to gaze in and see the mess of controls that were laid out before the pilot’s seat. “It’s a mastervork of tech, isn’t it? Served me vell for several journeys, it’s a shame zat it’s stuck back here like zis. Zat two-zird-tracked machine of yours is in one of ze other workshops, vas confiscated vhen your friend in ze power armor rode up vith it. I vas surprised she could do zat, it looked like it vas hit hard by zat explosion.”

The sound of the door opening behind us prompted Serene and I to turn around. In walked Night Strike and Crash Dive, along with an earth colored pegasus. “Huh, and here I thought we would’ve gotten here first. Think that’s the first time you’ve ever beaten me to someplace, Serene.” Sharpwing said, wearing a faint smirk. Serene merely sniffed, standing up a little straighter as the others trotted up to us. “So, now that we’ve got you guys back together, I’m sure you guys can come up with some fancy plan fitting of the Vanhoover Five.” I paused, my brow furrowing as I looked towards Sharpwing.

“Uuuuhhh… Serene said you were the one with the plan. How did you expect us to just come up with some sort of plan ten minutes after we wake up here?” Sharpwing looked towards myself, confused and a little annoyed. Serene covered his face with a hoof, shaking his head and muttering some foreign word. Sharpwing glanced back and forth between myself and Night Strike, surprised.

“I can expect that you would’ve thought of summat before you got here! Barking spiders, who goes headlong into an air base without a plan?!” Night Strike glanced down to the floor sheepishly as Sharpwing shook her head. “Alright, alright, we’ll think of something, calm down. Okay… well… you sure we can’t just try and run that out of here?” She pointed towards the large walker, but Serene shook his head.

“Nein, even if ze biodiesel manufacturing shed veren't under guard, one hit from zose guns on ze perimeter and ve’re dead. Scheisse, and Turbine’s probably going to keep a close eye on you zree now you’re here, I…” His voice trailed off as he looked over to the workbenches. He paced back and forth, thinking for a moment. Sharpwing raised an eyebrow, but left him to his musing. Finally, he turned back to us. “Are any of you any good viz your hooves? Zhere’s zis race coming up, it’s supposed to be ze big race to decide ze leader, Contrail must’ve told you about it. If ve combine our efforts und build something for ze race, we might win. And, vell, at ze very least you’ll look busy and Turbine won’t get suspicious.” Sharpwing blinked, a look of disbelief across her face, and Serene scrunched his muzzle a little. “Vell, do you have a better plan?”

I grimaced a little. Sure, I’d done some work with Greasy back home, but only the grunt work, she was the one designing stuff. “Are you sure you don’t have a better plan? That thing Turbine had looked pretty fast, do you have any plans for something we could build? I mean, I guess we have plans for some kind of plane, but I kind of doubt we’d be able to get enough materials to recreate the Valkyrie here. And where are we going to get the parts?” I asked. Sharpwing scratched her head, trying to think.

“Well, the parts shouldn’t be too much of an issue. There's not a whole lot that we've got access to, most of the actual aircraft that flew out of this Air Base are in hangars in the mountains around us under guard watch, but we've got plenty of other stuff to draw from for engines and what-not. And don’t worry about a plan, Serene might be a Dummkopf at times, but he’s probably one of the smartest stallions around here when it comes to building things... though there is the fact mares aren’t allowed to enter the race under the rules, so you're gonna have to be the ones getting put into whatever we can help you build. That or figure out a very convincing way to turn either Night Strike or Crash Dive into a stallion.” I sighed, not liking the way things were looking. Neither Crash Dive nor Night Strike seemed to look very convinced either.

Sharpwing sighed, rubbing the back of her head. “Alright, look, Serene, you go take lightning flanks here to register, let’s hope he’s a better flyer than you were. We’ll try to figure out how to get this plan to work.” Serene shrugged, and headed back towards the door. I followed him, waving goodbye to Night Strike and Crash Dive as I stepped back outside. Serene began to trot towards one of the hangers, where several ponies were trotting in and out. The building was full of ponies dragging sheets of metal and wood, pipes, tarps, and everything in between. One mare sat in the middle, looking over some clipboards. She glanced up as we approached, Serene poking me forward a little.

“I… uh, heard about this race coming up. I want to register.” I said, trying to sound as confident as I could. The mare nodded and passed me a form to fill out. Let’s see, name, date of birth, next of kin, family history of being shot in the head… After filling out the paperwork the mare pointed out a small pile of machinery. I gave a little grunt of worry at seeing what was left. The pile was comprised mostly of old pipes and a collection of tarp. A single engine sat amongst the other bits and pieces, though it stood nearly as tall as me and was clearly far heavier than anything meant to fly had a right to be. “Uh… is that it? You sure there’s not a… I dunno, a few wheels left over?”

The mare shook her head and responded, dryly, “You register late, that’s what you get. If ya want I could send the letter to your next of kin in advance to save some time with the funeral proceedings. Oh, and all registration is final.” Oh, how charming. Serene looked equally disappointed as we trotted over to what remained in the pile of materials. I picked up one of the pipes, turning it over in my hooves.

Serene gave a bit of a sigh before his horn flared up and he began to levitate some of the things into the air. “Ve better get zis to ze workshop now, zhen. Ve’re going to need all ze time ve can get to fix somezing up.” I pulled over a cart, Serene loading it up with the machinery. He grunted as he levitated up the heavy engine, before dropping it onto another cart and proceeding towards the exit. Pressing my hooves up onto the handlebars, I gave a large grunt of effort as I began to slowly push the cart after Serene. I guess at least if this thing never gets off the ground, I won’t have a chance of crashing...

The trek back to the workshop felt like miles, and the looks of surprise and amusement on the other flyers faces didn’t really help matters. The doors to the workshop creaked open loudly as Serene pushed them apart to allow the cart to roll in, sweat dripping from my brow despite the cold air outside. Once the doors had shut again, I flopped to the stone floor, panting. I’m gonna… I’m gonna need a minute… Sharpwing stepped over me to get a better look at the parts. “Barking spiders, is this it? I think we’ll be lucky to build a model of a hang glider out of this stuff!”

“Ve just need somezing to make us look busy, now shut up and help me figure out a blueprint.” Serene growled, moving over to one of the workbenches to pull out a roll of parchment. As he spread it out, I slowly got back to my hooves, the pain in my side returning from the night before. Guh, of course the mini-tank’s been put out of commission when we actually need to carry something around... Night Strike helped me over to the counter where Serene was pulling out a quill and an ink well. He turned back around to look at the pile of parts, the quill tip placed in his lips. His brow furrowed as he tried to mentally piece together some sort of machine, but as he stood in silence it was clear he was only getting more frustrated as time went on.

“So, Night Strike… you doing alright? Yesterday you were… well, Crash Dive just said she didn’t really want to talk about what was going on.” I asked, turning my attention away from Serene as he wandered over to try fitting some of the parts together. She gave a sigh, looking down at the floor and turning away slightly. Her expression was somber, almost regretful, something which I wasn’t sure I’d ever really seen from her. She shook her head, not wanting to speak as Serene made little progress with the parts at hand. My ears flopped down a little as I looked at Night Strike before putting a hoof around hers. “Look, I… it’s alright if you don’t want to mention it, just don’t blame yourself for something you couldn’t have helped, alright?” She squeezed my hoof into hers a little giving another sigh, her eyes seeming to scrunch up. What happened with her?...

“Mother of Celestia, little scheisse-eating piece of…” Serene let out a shout of frustration, kicking one of the pipes into the oversized engine block and drawing our attention. He angrily stomped over to the walker, sliding open a hatch on the bottom and retrieving something from inside before marching back to the door. “Stupid zing doesn’t even vork! It's all siezed up, und ve just don’t have ze parts for it!” He kicked open the door and headed out, fuming. We all stood, watching the open door for a moment in silence.

Eventually Sharpwing shook her head and went back to the paper, pulling it over and picking up another quill. “Oh, sweet Celestia, somepony go get him before he ends up stabbing somepony through the heart.” I made my way over to the door and stepped outside, only to find Serene bending over a long case, levitating a sharp sabre up into the air. Oh, please tell me she was only kidding.

Serene looked over his shoulder as the door shut behind me, still looking a little annoyed. He looked forward again, letting out a long breath before standing stock still, the sword held at the ready as he lifted his right forehoof. “Uh… is there a reason you’re doing this?” I asked, trotting around to stand in front of him. He simply stared forward, not looking as he replied.

“It helps to clear my thoughts. A pony of nobility zat attempts to duel wizout a clear head is destined to fail.” I raised an eyebrow, a smirk crossing my face. I looked back over to the case to see another sword lying in the silky lining. I bent down and took it in my teeth, getting a feel for the weight. Definitely a lot nicer to use than that griffon sword was... I walked over in front of Serene, who gave a slight look of disgust as he saw me biting down on the sword. “Gah, vat are you doing? You do not fence wiz your mouz!”

I rolled my eyes, biting down a bit harder on the handle. “Hey, you wanted to duel, right? I’m sure a stallion of nobility can easily take down some common mudpony,” I said, snidely. Serene’s eyes narrowed as I imitated his stance. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and leaping forward, jabbing out with the sword.

I jumped to the side, twisting my neck to deflect the blade. We began to slowly circle each other, waiting for the other to move. I attempted to lunge into Serene, but he expertly stepped back and parried the attack, only to swing downwards a second later. The blade whizzed by my ear as I ducked to avoid it, still gripping the sword tightly in my mouth. Twisting about, I attempted another attack, only to have Serene deflect it, and return one of his own, which I avoided. Over and over this process went, the swords clanging and sliding against each other. The clashes only became louder and more clustered as we fought, each jab, parry, slice, and thrust becoming faster and faster. I panted a little, trying to keep up with Serene as he maintained his composure, his sword flying about as his horn pulsed with magic. Guh, stupid unicorns and their stupid levitation magic!

My eyes narrowed as I focused in on Serene’s movements, my heart began to pound in my chest as I noticed his swing begin to slow. Ooh, Pearl, don’t let your work fail me now. I slipped out from under the blade, and I had just enough time to see Serene’s eyes go wide as I brought the blade down and bopped him on the head with it. He stumbled back, looking disgruntled as he rubbed his forehead. He took his stance again, but before I could react, the colors began to swirl together as I stumbled around on my hooves. Aw, crap. I stumbled to the left, trying to maintain my balance before I fell to the ground roughly, the sword falling out of my mouth and clattering against the tarmac. I groaned as my vision came back to me to see Serene bending over to help me up. “Are you alright? I’ve heard of ponies being drunk on victory, but…”

I nodded as my head cleared, wiping some grit off of my shirt and retrieving the sword. “Yeah, I’m... I'm fine. It’s going to take some time to get used to that turbo crash, though...” Serene was about to inquire further when the door to the workshop opened back up, and Night Strike popped her head out. She waved us in and Serene and I quickly followed, Serene packing up the swords into their case with his magic. Sharpwing was leaning over a set of blueprints, madly scribbling away as we entered.

“Jeez, what happened to you? I thought you were supposed to be good at sword fighting.” Night Strike said, looking at the fresh scrapes on my body. I waved my hoof dismissively as we walked up to look over Sharpwing’s shoulder. The plans were covered in crossed out sections, arrows, and rather poorly drawn machinery all adding up into something that would probably make Nikolai vomit if he had to try and build it. Sharpwing turned to face us, grinning maniacally as she made one final jab of ink on the paper.

“Alright, and here we have it! The guaranteed to win, no possible fail magnificent mare's flying machine!” Serene looked dumbfounded as he stared at the paper. Night Strike looked like she could only just barely make heads or tails of it, and I could only decipher a small portion of the insane doodles and chicken scratch that littered the page. It didn’t help that the parts I could understand only made the entire machine seem even more impractical and absurd.

“You can’t be serious, can you? Zat zing looks like it’ll be lucky to outcompete a bloatsprite! And ve don’t even have half of zhose parts, vhere are ve supposed to get ze rest from?” Shaprwing simply tapped her muzzle knowingly before moving over to one of the covered windows of the workshop. She carefully raised opened the curtains, glancing about to make sure nopony was watching before waving us over. We followed, Night Strike climbing up onto the bench to get a better look.

Peering through the window, I was able to spot a few hangers near the edge of the cliff, specks that were ponies milling about around them. Several large mounted guns stood near the doorways of the hangers, and a patrol was standing guard all around... I’m guessing it’s not just spare wheels they’re keeping in there. I turned back to Sharpwing, a small grin crossing my face. “We’re gonna have the greatest heist this air base has ever seen!”

Ooh, I like how this pegasus thinks!

Oh, boy, I'm not gonna hear the end of this from Static, am I? Sharpwing hopped herself back down from the window, trotting back over to the bench where the flying machine's design was laid out, looking it over. Passing a glance to Static, I followed her, looking on, the pegasus deep in thought. "Right... Well, least we should be able to start off building the aircraft's frame, if nothing else. Going to be a bit of a headache for scaling without a proper engine, but I think the one you two pulled out should fit the bill for sizing it out. Hard part is just going to be fitting a fuel source..."

"Nein, ze hard part is going to be getting vhat we need vithout getting blown apart by zose 12.8-centimeter guns!" The bright red unicorn stomped a hoof hard against the ground, the sound echoing through the hangar and geting our attention. He let off a sigh, rubbing his forehead for a moment, before trotting forwards to get a better look at the design as well. 4 rows of 4 cylinders arranged in an 'H' shape, big two-bladed propeller at the back of the, uh, main body, with the tail section supported a few meters away and the wings suspending the thing from the top, and a big stripped-down arcane reactor placed right on top between the wings. I... guess it might be airworthy. Maybe.

Serene's expression slowly shifted from one of frustration to thought as he looked over the hastily-drawn designs, tapping a hoof against his chin. "Actually... hm, zis is a long shot, but ve might be able to use a different type of engine instead. If I remember correctly, ze MWT Kettenkraftfahrzeugs... er, 'Motorbugs', zey use flat eight-cylinder multifuel combustion engines. Zey're all in a lightly-guarded shed, nopony uses zem in their flying machines because nopony vants to bother vith engines like zem, but if we can get ahold of ze fuel shed und enough biodiesel, zen we might have an upper hoof..."

I took a glance towards Static before looking back to the papers, doing some thinking of my own. Well, that should sort us for the engine then, just leaving the fuel and other parts to worry about... multifuel... hm. My eyes turned back to the earth pony, watching as he trotted over to join us. "Static, do we still have that high-proof moonshine you picked up from that one shack somewhere? We might not have to worry too much about fuel in that case, if these engines are actually multifuel. Alcohol's kind of like fuel oil, right?"

"Zat may be just ze thing we need. Vell, zat at least sorts out getting ze engine..." The unicorn took a few steps back, looking to the massive walking tank at the far end of the hangar. He cleared his throat after a moment, looking back towards us sheepishly. "Eheh, ahm, of course, if you vouldn't mind, we could still see about getting access to ze fuel shed. You know, just in case we have a need for..."

Sharpwing let off an audible sigh beside me, shaking her head. "Your fancy walker can wait, Serene, we don't need that much firepower until things really go to clart. Barking 'Prince'... right. You and Static can hang here, refine my design if you have to, get busy, really. I'm going to go with Night Strike and see about getting your own Motorbug back, would imagine they stored it with the others so it's a chance for us to get the engines, too. That work for everypony?"

I answered her with a nod, the whirring of power armor servos catching my ears as Crash Dive trotted herself over, Sharpwing looking to her for a moment. The earthen pegasus blunk a few times before nodding, turning to trot for the door, both myself and Crash Dive following behind. The door shut with a dull thud behind us, the crisp air and biting wind flowing over the mountains chilling our exposed coats some, us both catching up with the pegasus. Brr, sheesh, who'd have thought a runway in a canyon like this could get so windy?

Sharpwing looked behind herself as we caught up, slowly making our way past another few smaller hangars. "Alright, it's just up ahead. Hope the quartermaster isn't going to be givin' us too much trouble for takin' it without a stallion with us..." An exasperated sigh escaped her, the pegasus shaking her head. I scratched at the back of my own with a hoof, Crash Dive looking around at the few structures on the base.

"Yeah, that's one thing I'm a little lost on, why exactly is this place separated like this? Yanno, mares on one side, stallions on the other. Seems... a little stupid." We started to head across one of the landing strips, towards a collection of larger hangars and nicer-looking buildings. A few of the structures appeared to be somewhat like mini-storage bunkers, little earthen huts with concrete fronts and metal doors, a few of them displaying signs for various traders - all of them shut tight.

"Aye, thank the bumrag with that fancy 'Dragon Mare' for it, showed up here one day not long before myself and Serene did. Was goin' on about how stallions are the superior gender, and mares have no place in workin' with their hooves to make somethin' worthwhile, better off workin' in the kitchen. Absolute load of clart if I've ever heard one." The pegasus kicked away the snow in front of her hooves with a huff, leading us on down what I assume was some sort of smaller runway, or something. A peculiar noise had begun filling the air somewhere ahead, myself glancing around for a moment, trying to find it. Sharpwing just let off another sigh, trotting closer to where the edge of the plane-road was. "And that just lets guys like these get parts priority over... well, pretty much everypony else."

The incessant whining soon showed its source, myself having to shield my eyes for a moment as whatever it was rounded the corner, the sun reflecting off of it's exterior almost unbearably brightly. Judging by how the occupants of the... thing let off screams as well, I'm gonna guess that blinding everypony it encounters wasn't the main idea. We simply watched as the strange, boxy vehicle slowly pushed its way past us in the snow, the three stallions inside seeming to bicker over something, a wagon behind them carrying what appeared to be the body from another Motorbug, along with some various wheels and things. Yeah, I'm no expert in air craft, but I kinda think that what they've got isn't exactly the best things they could be using...

Sharpwing watched them drive off for a few moments before continuing on, giving her head a shake. "Not sure what's their deal, suppose they might've gotten a knock in the head or something when they showed up. All three of 'em think they're presenting for some old pre-war television show... They're entertainin' to watch, at least. Don't count on 'em being much of a threat."

"That is a good question, who should we watch out for? I mean, there's bound to be more than one or two other contestants besides us, isn't there?" Crash Dive trotted up beside myself as we mushed on towards some of the other buildings, a large brick one appearing to be a more traditional garage with a set of tracks leading from it. Well, I suppose those three had to've gotten that motorbug from somewhere... Sharpwing stopped outside the door, thinking for a moment.

"Aside from the Dragon Mare and those three, honestly, don't have too much to fret over. A lot of the more experienced aerocraft builders left when Turbine started getting a proper following... or, well, least they tried to. The first things he got on-side were the stallions in charge of the big flak batteries, and..." The earth-colored pegasus let off a sigh, shaking her head, as she stepped in through the side doorway. Yeah, don't need to finish that sentence, I think I can fill in the rest. A shudder escaped me as we pushed into a small reception area, the mare behind the counter looking up nervously.

"O-oh! Oh, good, it's you, ahm..." The receptionist turned herself around, rummaging through some disheveled piles of papers behind her, reading one over every now and again before tossing it aside. Crash Dive pushed herself forwards to the counter beside Sharpwing, the receptionish finally finding a paper she liked and held on to. "U-uh, right, modified MWT Motorbug, arcane reactor variant with wagon and various weapons, content being held for pickup by rightful owner, blue earth pony with silver mane..." Her eyes looked up from the paper, scanning over the three of us, expression dropping. O...kay, yeah, this is gonna be a headache, isn't it?

"U-uh, s-sorry, I can't let you take the motorbug without the original owner being... um... present." Sharpwing passed on a look of annoyance as Crash Dive calmly rested her power armored hooves on the counter, glaring at the mare behind it. She seemed to shrink back, eyes darting from side to side, the slip of paper being held close to her chest. "Y-you know the rules, Sharpwing! T-Turbine said that stallions are the only ones allowed to... to..."

Crash Dive's leg servos whirred as she adjusted herself, the receptionist letting off a frightened squeak. Glaring daggers for a moment, the power armored pegasus smirked, leaning back slightly. "Static is working on his flying machine at the moment, he sent us to get the mini-tank and wagon while he was focused on that. And much like myself, he doesn't like being kept waiting. So, one way or another, we are going to be taking our half-track back now, along with two more - the question is, do you want an unexpected trip to the mare's infirmary today or not?"

The mare behind the counter was frozen for a few moments, Crash Dive lightly tapping her armored hoof against the hard wood. A squeak came from the mare's mouth in response, one hoof shakily passing us the slip of paper while the other moved to flick a switch, the door at the far end of the room opening with a thunk. Crash Dive set herself back down onto the floor and moved to the garage's proper entrance, Sharpwing taking the slip of paper. I followed behind both of them, the receptionist timidly clearing her throat behind me, catching my attention. "Um... t-the Motorbugs at the back are unlisted, you can take those if you have to. Good luck."

Giving her a gentle nod and light smile, I trotted through the inner door to the garage with Sharpwing and Crash Dive, blinking my eyes a few times as they adjusted to the lights. Several rows of damn-near identical half-tracks stretched out before us, all in various states of repair and disassembly alike. Well, on the upside, won't have to go far to see about fixing any bodywork on ours...

Sharpwing looked over the paper slip, before starting to trot down the aisles, heading towards the back of the garage. Considering that our mini-tank is likely the only one to have a very heavy grenade machine gun strapped to it's back, finding it shouldn't be too much of a hassle... unless the blast knocked Boomer off. Or we lost some of our stuff in the tunnel when the explosion hit. Crash Dive's armored hoof rested on my shoulder as we trotted along, following behind Sharpwing. "If you're worried about our stuff, I tried to gather as much as I could before getting us out of there. Guess they didn't expect me to have my rebreather on when they bombed the entrance."

"Yeah... how'd they know we were in there, anyways? Couldn't have been just a coincidence." The soft smile on Crash Dive's muzzle faded to a distressed look, one that I shared with her. If they can track us... then again, being here, with all the AA guns around, maybe it's not such a bad thing. How big did Serene say those guns were? 12.8 centimeters? Damn, that's bigger than the ones at the sub pen... bigger shell, more effective. Well, we're at least technically safe here, if nothing else...

Sharpwing stopped at the end of one of the rows, the familiar sight of Boomer resting on the back of one of the Motorbugs being particularly welcoming. My wings carried me aloft in the cool air of the garage, a releived grin on my muzzle as I landed down beside the mini-tank. Well, for having been caught in a fuel-air bomb blast in a tunnel, it seems to've weatehred it pretty well. Trotting around to the wagon on the back, I pulled myself up, starting to go through the piles of stuff that were blown off and thrown back in. After a few moments, the olive-drab duffel bag finally surfaced, my forelegs quick to embrace it in a hug. Packed up, zipped up, and with any luck everything inside isn't smashed up...

Pulling it out and setting it on the back of the mini-tank behind Boomer, I took to unzipping it and starting to look through it. Sharpwing and Crash Dive, meanwhile, took to perusing the other mini-tanks nearby, the earthen-colored pegasus hovering over to nab a nearby toolbox. Pushing the fabric back with my hooves, I rummaged in my duffel bag, pulling out some of the contents. Okay, Thumper and ammo, good, good... Mmh, gonna have to try and fix some of those dented cases before I can use her again. Still, least her action and stock weren't damaged. Okay... War Crime. Bolt still pulls back just fine, long recoil... recoiling, scope might be misaligned but at least it isn't shattered. Gotta love how hard it is to break these guns with explosions. And the sword... yup, still a sword.

Letting a sigh of relief, I leaned myself back for a moment, just reveling in the small comfort of having our stuff back. Glancing back into the open duffel bag, however, the glint of a shard of something caught my attention, myself leaning in for a closer look. Spreading the top of the bag wider, it became apparent that the bottom of it was thoroughly soaked with something, a familiar armoma coming from it. I took a deep sniff, trying to pinpoint it - sweet, a little caramel-y, but mainly carrot-... my eyes went wide as it finally hit me, leaning back in shock. But... but... those bottles are supposed to be indestructible...

My voice echoed loudly in the garage, getting the attention of both Crash Dive and Sharpwing. Okay, yeah, I admit I may have gone a little over-the-top with it, but, my Sparkle-Cola, though... "NOOO!"

"You can be really melodramatic sometimes, you know." It was late evening by the time we finally got back to the hangar with the two engines we needed, and the mini-tank and wagon, of course. The same wagon, which as Static was all too gladly smug to point out, contained a trunk with a modest number of still-intact bottles of Sparkle-Cola. I sipped from one of them, more slowly than usual, the earth pony leaned up beside me as we sat outside in the snow, watching the sky change color. "I don't think I'll ever understand why you love that soda so much. Well, I mean, besides the obvious points about RAD, but still."

A smirk came across my muzzle as I buried the uncapped bottle in the snow beside me, leaning myself against Static's side. "Oh, come on, it's at least a little obvious. Besides my family, Sparkle-Cola just has some nice traits. It's sweet, easy on the eyes, can come in some cute bottom-heavy packaging, too~" I pushed myself up slightly, passing a grin on to the earth pony sat beside me. He returned it, myself letting off a slight giggle. "Of course, I might not've been talking about soda, for once~"

Static chuckled lightly, giving myself a light nuzzle as he rested a foreleg around myself, pulling me in close to his side. I spread my wing out to gently encompass his back in return, letting off a small sigh and making myself comfortable beside the earth pony. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sweet things with good taste... The distant light of the sun slowly faded over the western rim of the canyon, Static releasing a long breath out into the chill air, the water vapor in it condensing into a light wispy cloud. He dropped his head for a moment, before meeting my eyes, myself shuffling up to better listen. "Night Strike, I... I do want to help you, with whatever happened while I was recovering. Whatever it is, I'm willing to listen, no matter what. You didn't seem... well, you."

My eyes fell to the snowy ground, a cloudy sigh leaving my lips as the earth pony looked on. I shouldn't... what would he think? I did it for him, but... My hoof lifted to rub at my eyes as I let myself slump forwards, wings falling limp. He doesn't need to know the specifics. I drew in a deep breath, holding it for a moment to collect myself, the crisp evening air blowing the wispy cloud away as I let it out.

"What happened... I... I did something, that I didn't think I'd ever do. After you got shot, I was just so... so..." I sniffled a little in the cold air, feeling Static's forehoof reach to hold my own. "I was scared, and-and angry, and... when you were recovering, that night, I..." I couldn't find the words for it. Blinking a few times, my vision was becoming blurry, the deep orange glow in the sky giving away to a soft blue from the moon. Static had shuffled himself closer beside me, his hoof gripping mine tightly. "I felt helpless, and I took it out on... I just don't want to ever feel that way again. If anything happened to you, and, and you didn't..."

The earth pony wrapped his forelegs about myself in a tight hug, resting his chin on my shoulder. Fresh, freezing tears flowed down my cheeks as I sputtered my breaths, shaking in his hooves. Static lightly shushed, gently rubbing up and down my back, trying to calm me. After a few moments of the gentle crying, I pushed myself back, Static resting his hooves on my shoulders as my sore eyes met his. "Look, just... promise me that we'll both make it through this, together and alive."

Static let off a slow breath, passing on a light nod as he pulled me back into the hug, myself resting my own chin on his shoulder. "I promise we'll both get home, Night Strike. One way or another, we'll both get through this." A shuddering sigh escaped myself as I snugged the earth pony against myself, burying my muzzle against his neck and letting myself relax. I really just needed to hear him say that...

The back door to the hanger opened beside us, drawing our attention, Sharpwing stepping out through it with Crash Dive. The earthen-colored pegasus blunk in surprise as her eyes settled on us, causing her to step back, before regaining herself. "Ahm, sorry if we're interrupting, it's almost past curfew. Well, mare's curfew, anyways... Serene can show you to the stallion's barracks, Static. Five in the morning, you can meet back up here... we do have a pretty nice break room inside, if you need it." The pegasus flashed a small smile as I looked back towards the earth pony in my hooves, biting at the inside of my lip gently. It's just for the night, Night Strike...

Static let off a small sigh, nuzzling myself lightly for a moment, before planting a gentle kiss on my lips. He rose to his hooves, helping myself up onto my own, both of our eyes locked to the others'. His glanced down to the snow behind me for a moment, before he trotted over, pulling a quarter-empty bottle of Sparkle-Cola out of it and passing it over with a gentle smile. "I'll see you in the morning, Strikey. Will be waiting for you."

A smile grew on my muzzle as I passed him a nod in return, watching as the blue earth pony moved through the doorway and back into the hangar. I took a sip from the opened bottle, feeling the cool liquid settle in my stomach - we've got each other. We've made it this far... we can get through this.

"Vell, these new engines vill certainly be much more useful zan ze one zat vas left for us. Least of all because zey actually turn over..." Serene had begun fiddling with the two mini-tank engines by the time we arrived back in the hangar the next morning, a much cleaner diagram of the flying machine Sharpwing sketched out hanging from a board nearby the unicorn. Yeah, definitely does seem like it's a little less ridiculous without the big arcane reactor on top - not to mention, I don't think I'd want to have to be guzzling Radaway just to fly it. A pair of tanks wheeled themselves over in Serene's magic, the unicorn picking up some lengths of piping and a cutting torch, consulting the diagram again. "Most of ze frame can be made using ze piping, though we vill need some of the other parts sooner zan later."

"Long as it can keep pace with that fancy aircraft Turbine's got, we can at least give him a scare. And if that fails... well, I've sabotaged stuff before." Static gave a shrug as a jet of flame burst from the torch's nozzle, the unicorn turning the valve to a smaller blast and picking up a few lengths of piping. He set them aside for the moment, retreiving a pair of tinted goggles and letting off a sigh.

"Zat shouldn't be necessary, ze Dragon Mare is fast but it does have its limits. Unlike zis one, it flies on a large electric motor turning fanblades, so he can't run it at full throttle for too long. Ve just need to make sure zat ze Storch can outpace it at cruise speed, luck villing he underestimates us and doesn't bring a full charge." Pulling the pair of goggles down, Serene started to cut through two of the pipes, making them both even in length. The hot metal clattered to the floor as the unicorn pulled the cutting torch back, checkng the two cuts. "Of course, it vould help if we actually had all ze parts we needed. Vhere is Sharpwing, by ze way?"

"Uh... she said something about needing Crash Dive's help, then went off somewhere with her. I guess she might show up later?" Scratching at my mane, I passed on a shrug, Serene letting off a sigh and getting two more lengths of pipe. That was a good question, all things considered... suppose she must be doing something helpful. Wherever they are.

As if to answer us, the hangar's large doors started to slowly slide open, the bright morning sun streaming inside with the black silhouette of a power armored pegasus pulling a wagon casting a large shadow across the floor, a smile on her face. Sharpwing flew in beside Crash Dive, as she pulled the wagon inside, the earth-colored pegasus shutting the door. "Ah, sorry we're a bit late, had to call in a favor from those three blokes you saw yesterday. Captain Slow... er, Calm May, had a fair bit of fireproof fabric left over from his airship, just took a little convincing to get 'im to let us have enough for our flyer."

I blunk a few times as Crash Dive unhitched herself from the wagon, my wings carrying me aloft to head over to the wagon with Static. Serene turned off the cutting torch, setting it aside and moving himself over as well, his magic encompassing a large swathe of the fabric and holding it up for us to see. Well, I mean, it being fireproof is nice, I guess, but... "Uhm, Sharpving, why is it all colored zis deep red?"

"Eh, uh, well, red goes faster, obviously!" Serene shot the earthen pegasus a glare as I looked at the fabric for myself, rubbing a hoof over the material. Well, I don't know how well it'll actually work for wings, but I guess it's better than trying to make them out of solid metal or something. Sharpwing leaned herself against the cart, letting off a weak chuckle and a cough. "That, and, uh, this was all they had left of it. Heavy Strike said that Fast Track set most of what wasn't used in the airship's balloon on fire... somehow."

"I... guess we can be happy that this stuff is definitely fireproof, then?" Wearing a weak smile, I glanced between Serene and Sharpwing, the former giving his eyes a roll and going back to working with the piping while the latter seemed to thing for a moment, before giving a light shrug. She hopped herself up onto the back of the wagon, starting to slide the masses of fabric off, myself and Static helping her. It flopped to the floor of the hangar with a heavy thud, Sharpwing giving a nod and looking towards us, her eyes focusing on the band on my tail... I think.

"Say, um, Night Strike, just is somethin' I noticed while you were recovering... um... how do I put this... why d'you have two tail bits?" I only blunk a few times in response at first, the whirring of power armor servos and Serene lighting the cutting torch again filling the silence. Crash Dive appeared beside Sharpwing, looking towards myself.

"I was actually wondering the same. Had to take everything they could off of you to properly patch you up after the explosion, didn't realize that I've never seen you without those bands on before." That... was actually a good point. Knew it felt weird getting dressed again yesterday, it was fitting the bands back on...

I looked between them both for a moment, before giving my tail...s a little swish. "Well, uh, one of my dads -is- named Twintails for a reason... don't ask me how it passed down to me. Not like it's obvious, anyways." Myself shrugging, Static trotted up alongside me, wearing a confused look on his face as well. Oh, c'mon, you of all ponies would've known it... unless you didn't. Somehow. Which I have a pretty good guess as to why. "I dunno, doesn't matter any, does it? I wear 'em bound up anyways, just feels... it just seems more normal than wearing them seperate."

Sharpwing only seemed even more confused, glancing over to Crash Dive for a moment before turning back to me. "I... guess. Just never seen anypony with somethin' like that before, least not anypony that didn't also have a few other extra things on 'em..." The earthen pegasus shrugged for a moment, moving over to pick up part of the unloaded fabric, checking it out. That expression still stuck on her face for a while, before she looked back up at myself. "Wait... what did you mean by 'one' of your dads?"

A dry chuckle left Crash Dive's mouth as she trotted over, drawing Sharpwing's attention. The power armored pegasus shook her head, resting an armored hoof on Sharpwing's shoulder. "Trust me, that is not a can of worms you want to open without a fresh bottle of Wild Pegasus in hoof. Let's just focus on the flying machine for now." Giving the earthen-colored pegasus a gentle pat, Crash Dive moved herself over to the rest of the stuff we'd gathered up, Sharpwing nodding weakly.

"Right... So, anyways, we've got an engine, we've got fuel, we've got stuff for the frame, and we've got fabric for the lifting surfaces. Just leaves..." Sharpwing's confused expression gave way to one of deep thought, the pegasus taking off from where the pile of fabric laid to hover over to the board near where Serene was working on building the flyer's frame. Looking to Static, we both joined her, watching as she read over the few notes dotted around it. "Well, gonna have a nice full shopping list, at least. Do we really need shock absorbers for the skids, Serene?"

The unicorn looked up from the pipes he was working with, setting them aside and shutting off the torch. "Vell, yes, since zis won't have any proper landing vheels we need as smooth a takeoff as ve can get. However, zere is one thing zat I vas thinking over zat ze Storch could do vith..." Pulling the welding goggles off, Serene levitated them over to a nearby desk, opening up one of the drawers and pulling out another schematic. This one just looked like some kind of odd turbine, except with the chambers seperated off and one being labeled 'exhaust in' for some reason. He wore a grin, tacking it up alongside the diagram of the... what did he call it, Stork? "A turbocharger. While ze engines should be putting out around six hundred horsepower combined already, zis vill give it a little more oomph. Higher pressure air in ze cylinders allows more fuel to be burnt, might get ze engine up to eight hundred forty horsepower. Vith ze right propeller, would like to see zat desk fan vith wings try and beat it."

Oooh, I do like the way that stallion thinks. More engine power's gotta mean more speed, after all, especially with such a light craft... I don't think even the TOG has a power-to-weight ratio like that. A wide grin was on my muzzle as Sharpwing only wore a smirk, passing on a nod. "Turbocharger, alright. Looks like we're gonna have a pretty sizable list for stuff to nick, then... kind of hoping that hangar'll have all of it." Serene wore a grin as he pulled a notepad and pencil from the desk, looking to the diagram he'd nicened up and starting to put down the parts.

Static stepped forwards, looking between us all. "So, far as all this goes, am I going to have to do this alone or will I get some help? Carrying my umbrella is one thing, I don't think I can haul all of this stuff too." Static bit at his lip as Serene continued jotting things down, eventually tearing off the page... only to start putting more down on the other side. How much stuff went into making a freakin' flying machine!? Really not envying Static at this point... then again, I think I know how well 'stealth' and 'me' mix.

The unicorn eventually finished, looking over the long list he'd just made up, before turning to face us. "Vell, if needed I suppose I can accompany you. If ve can set zings up right, zen ve may even be able to use your own Kettenkraftfahrzeug to some extent. Ve just need to set it up for a fly-over on zat part of ze air base, the loose snow vill do ze rest for us. Subdue ze guards somehow, break in, grab ze parts, out scott-free."

Sharpwing passed on a nod, looking to the partially-built frame that sat in the middle of the hangar. "Sounds like a plan, we'll get on with setting what we can of the flyer's internals up while you get on with the heist. Can at least set up the engines and some of the bodywork, maybe get started on building the wings, too." Serene answered with a nod of his own, folding up the list neatly and trotting over beside Static, heading towards the mini-tank. The earth pony turned to follow him for a moment, before turning to face myself, a hoof lifting to rest against my shoulder as we both looked into each other's eyes.

"Good luck, Sparky. Stay safe." He let off a small chuckle, us both meeting with a small parting kiss, my hoof gently brushing against his as he took a trot back and turned to head for the mini-tank. Sharpwing opened the hangar doors with a clatter, the engine of the small vehicle purring to life and pulling it forwards, the wagon being left behind. My eyes followed the little half-track for as long as they could as it sped off, Sharpwing eventually having to shut the hangar up again, hovering back over to us. I let off a small sigh, turning my attention towards the partially-assembled frame before straightening myself and looking towards Sharpwing and Crash Dive.

"Alright, let's get a flying machine built."

The engine roared loudly as I drove across the tarmac, Serene bouncing a bit behind me as I drove over a hole in the runway. The back of my mind wondered how these ponies expected to take off and land on such a poor strip of road as Serene guided me through the airbase. I began to focus more on the issue at hand as we followed a dirt road away from the upper runway and hangers towards a small group of hangers stationed at the edge of the mountains that rose up around one side of the base. Some of the hangers appeared to have been built into the stone, and across from them, set at the brink of the drop off into the forest below. “Alright, pull over here, zhere’s a crack in zhe canyon. And svitch off zhat headlight.” Serene pointed towards a large split in the rock, partially concealed by dead shrubbery.

I complied, pulling my hoof away from the side of the tank to avoid being scratched by the brambles. The mini-tank was just able to squeeze into the crack before I switched the engine off and turned around to face Serene. “So, what exactly is the plan? And do you know anything specific about these hangers? I mean, I can go in kind of blind if we need to, but it’d be nice if I actually knew what the whole security detail is, where we’re supposed to actually find the parts, y’know?” Serene grimaced, leaning over some of the brush to look down at the hangers.

“Nein, I really don’t know vhy Sharpving didn’t volunteer to help out, she’s usually gung-ho about zhings like zhis.” Well, that’s just great. I watched as Serene thought, scratching his head a bit as he repeatedly glanced back between the hangers and me. Eesh, this would be a lot easier if we could've had that stealth armor fixed long ago... “Alright, I zhink I have a bit of an idea. It won’t distract zhe guards for long, but it might be enough for you to get zhe stuff out. Get in zhere and see if you can get zhe parts over to zhe door, I’ll give you… tventy minutes, zhat’s enough, Jah?” I nodded, hoping that the parts weren’t too hidden. Serene nodded in return, climbing into the driver’s seat beside me as I hopped out over the side. “Alright, tventy minutes, maybe zhirty, and you’ll know it when it happens. Zhen I’ll come in and get zhe parts out wizh you after it goes off.”

I nodded again, trying to hide my confusion to his plan as I grabbed my umbrella from the mini-tank. Serene started the engine and pulled back out of the cliffs to head back towards the larger runway. I waited a few moments to make sure nopony was still watching the area, before I began to creep down towards the hangers. I spotted a few ponies standing guard on either side of the hanger doors, each with a rifle slung over their shoulders. Working my way slowly along the side of the cliffs, I tried to spot some way of sneaking my way past, but both were standing stock still, simply staring off in the distance. “How old did you say your sister was?” One of the guards asked the other.

“Ugh, piss off.” Mm, elite minds I’m dealing with here. I bent down and picked up a rock, tossing it a couple times to get a feel for its weight. Taking careful aim, I chucked the rock into the distance, hearing it bounce and clack across the runway. One of the guards looked over to try and find the source of the sound, swinging his rifle over his head to hold it at the ready as he wandered away from his post. “The hell’re you doing?” The other guard wandered after the other as he trotted away from the door. As they walked off, I quickly dashed forward, slipping in through the small door beside the large hanger one before they returned. That was almost criminally simple.

The hanger was filled with shelves of mechanics, various parts and pieces that I could only vaguely recognize. I reached down into my jacket, trying to fish out the list of parts that Sharpwing had written up. Alright, let’s see, shock absorbers, wire cable, tubing, turbocharger, portable generator… I grimaced, finally coming to realize just how much stuff they’d sent me out to get. Oh, this isn’t going to be fun to try and get before Serene returns. Not to mention our absolutely horrid luck when it came to finding any sort of generator that we could pick up and move around. I snapped back to reality as I heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching. Ducking down behind a few boxes, I peered around the corner to see a pony meandering through the hanger, levitating a clipboard in the air as she ran inventory on the items.

I glanced down the hallway, trying to spot if any other ponies were around. Spotting no one, I pulled out my umbrella and began to sneak up behind the unicorn. With a jab and the crackle of electricity, the prongs connected with her spine, just below the base of her skull. The pony collapsed, and I was just able to grab her under her legs and have the clipboard bounce off of my leg to try and prevent it from clattering to the floor. Quickly dragging her back around the corner, I went to pick up the clipboard to look it over, occasionally glancing around to make sure nopony else was coming to investigate. Alright, now we’re talking. Scanning the page, I began to trot down the aisles of the shelves, following the guide of the inventory checklist.

Okay, shock absorbers, those shouldn’t be missed, I doubt they’d notice any extra pipes disappearing either. I swiped some of the parts, trotting back towards the large doors of the hanger and stashing them beside the exit. The pony stirred a little on the ground, but remained unconscious as I headed back towards the rear of the hanger. I checked the clock on my Pip-Buck, trotting past a collection of large turbine blades. Ten minutes, and I’ve still got turbocharger parts to snatch. Crap. I picked up my pace, rushing between shelves as I tried to find the parts needed. Come on, come on, fuel converter, spark plugs…

Rushing back and forth through the storage area, I gathered up more parts, stashing them in the slowly growing pile near the door. As I hurried, looking for a modified power generator, I suddenly stopped in place, my ear flicking as I thought I heard something outside of the hanger. I stood motionless, my heart pounding in my chest as I listened to voices on the other side of the door. Moving over to the boxes, I ducked behind them, hoping the guards weren’t planning on coming in, my mind racing with what they could have heard that’d have raised suspicion. Then there was the sound of something burning loudly from off the in distance, steadily growing louder and louder over time. I tensed up as an explosion rang out overhead. It was quiet for a moment, but soon I could hear a faint rumbling that steadily grew louder. The ground began to shake as the sound of groaning metal met my ears and I dove underneath a table, looking up at the ceiling of the hanger nervously.

The rumble eventually died down and I was stuck laying in silence for a long while before there was a knock at the door. The guards wouldn’t knock, would they? Creeping up to the keyhole, I peered through to see the sapphire and gold jacket of Serene, who was glancing about with worry. I opened the door and he slipped inside. “Ve have eight minutes maximum before zhe guards return. I vas able to start an avalanche on zhe other side of zhis runvay, zhey’re going to check it out now. Come on!” He hurried over to the parts I’d collected, quickly gathering a few in his hooves. I followed suit, heading out of the hanger behind him. He’d parked the mini-tank just around the corner of the hanger, but it was out of sight of the ponies rushing in the opposite direction towards an enormous pile of snow where other ponies were frantically working with shovels. Holy Celestia, he wasn’t joking. We rushed back and forth, moving the smaller parts over to the mini-tank before Serene stopped, looking down at the pieces of machinery we’d gathered. “Vhere’s zhe generator? I'm sure Sharpving wouldn't have put it on zhe list if ve didn't need it!”

“There’s nothing in there! And there’s no way they’d not notice something as big as a generator missing, what am I supposed to do? I don’t even think we’d be able to get one out of there with the Mini-tank without the trailer.” I retaliated, trying to keep my voice low. Serene grumbled, pacing back and forth quickly as he looked around the corner to watch the guards. He jumped back inside the hanger and I followed, resisting the urge to yank him back and speed out of here before the guards noticed what was going on.

“Zhere has to be somezhing in here, you just weren’t looking hard enough!” Yanno, I’d like to think I did pretty well, given the time limit I had to find all that stuff, ya stuck-up unicorn. This stuff's stressful! I managed to keep down the retort as followed him, watching him push aside some parts as he frantically searched the room. As he turned around a large stack of crates, he suddenly stopped in place, coming up to a curtain I hadn’t noticed. He pushed it aside, climbing up onto the back of something. I raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting the danger as I climbed up behind Serene.

I quickly realized we were standing on the back of some sort of vehicle, a small window revealing a driver’s seat not unlike that of the mini-tank, while on the flatbed behind the seats sat an intricate machine, covered in dials, knobs and switches. Wires dangled from the sides of the strange box, but as I went to inspect it, I was snapped back to attention as I suddenly heard the large engine at the front rumble to life. Looking over to the driver’s seat, I caught Serene sitting, looking over his shoulder as the vehicle shuddered and roared. I rushed up to him, hissing through my teeth, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! They’ll see you driving out of here a mile away!” Serene ignored me, waving a hoof as he pulled out into the main path of the hanger.

Flipping a switch, he began to roll forwards, heading towards the door. I stood, frozen, for a moment, before jumping out of the back of the truck, running to the lever next to the hanger doors. It creaked loudly as I pulled it down, my mind shouting that this was an absolutely terrible idea. Gears spun as the doors began to slide open, Serene plowing forward as the crack became wide enough for the much more massive half-track to head through, myself rushing back around the corner. Leaping into the mini-tank, I flipped the ignition, the headlight flickering to life before I spun around, the parts bouncing against me as I watched Serene turn out of the hanger, heading back up the road to the larger runway. Oh, Celestia, oh Celesita, why, who thought this was a good idea?

I shook my head and sped off, racing up the road away, praying the guards weren’t watching as Serene and I disappeared around the corner.

“Why in Tartarus would you ever think that was a good idea?!” I shouted, all of us gathered back in the workshop the next morning. Sharpwing dropped down the parts she had been carrying from the half-track and the larger truck that were now hidden away in a crevice of the canyon. “Holy shit, I’m just surprised they haven’t come to skin us alive already! There’s no way they didn’t see us leaving!” I flopped down onto the seat of the Stork, dropping my face into my hooves.

“Jeez, and you said -I- was melodramatic. Calm down, Sparky, you’re fine. I don’t think they were too bothered with a few stolen parts when they were digging one of those huge guns out of the snow.” Night Strike was busy sifting through the new parts, picking up a wrench with her wing and beginning to crank a few screws into the framework. “Besides, what’re they going to do? Worst case scenario they put one of us in jail and we just stage another big break out. You did it before, you can do it again.” She stuck her tongue out playfully and I shook my head, sighing.

Crash Dive shut the door behind her as she trotted in after the rest of us. “As much as I’d like to tell him to shut up, Static’s not being completely paranoid, Night Strike. If any of the judges at the races were to see the stolen equipment during an inspection we’d be kicked out immediately, if they do anything like that.” Night Strike finished tightening the bolts on the frame of the plane, Crash Dive going to pick up some of the shock absorbers to begin attaching them to the skis of the Stork. “Regardless, we need to get this plane built before tomorrow or it won’t matter whether or not they find out we stole these parts. Go help Serene get the rest of the stuff out of that truck so we can get this daft thing functional.”

I reluctantly got out of the seat, heading back outside and beginning to make my way towards the edge of the canyon. I glanced over my shoulder to check to see if anypony was following me before I turned and trotted along the cliff side. Soon coming to a wide crack in the mountain, I turned into it, just able to see Serene digging around under the hood of the vehicle. I stepped up behind him, Serene suddenly standing up straight as he heard the sound of my hoofsteps. His head collided with the hood, causing Serene to spout several foreign expletives as he rubbed his skull. “Schiesse, you couldn’t have given me more of a varning?” He went back to the guts of the machine, reaching in and digging around. “Vell, for vhatever Sharpwing wanted it for, ve’re in a bit of luck. Ve won’t need to pull zhat huge generator off of zhe back for zhe Storch, zhe spark battery in zhis should be powerful enough. Not to mention it doesn’t veigh an extra four, five hundred kilograms...”

I raised an eyebrow, looking back up at the vehicle. It was actually much more impressive than I’d noticed the night before, rather than being more akin to the motorized wagons I occasionally saw at the sides of roads back up home, the rear wheels were replaced with twin long tracks that ran the length of the bed, not unlike the mini-tank. Resting on the back stood what I now realized to be an auxiliary arcane reactor, spools of cables resting beside it. My eyes suddenly went wide as I stared at the large, portable reactor. “Serene, you wouldn’t mind if we took this thing back when we leave, would you?”

Serene grunted, tugging out the large battery after a few moments. He let out a sigh of relief before levitating it up into the air and beginning to trot back towards the workshop. “Nein, I don’t zhink ve’d need it for anyzhing. If ve’re able to get you zhree out of zhis place, it’s yours. Vhy do you need it?” We were soon back at the workshop, both of us stepping inside to see Crash Dive covering the wings of the flying machine in tarp as Night Strike jiggled the newly added control shaft. She got up from the seat, and Sharpwing leaned to look around from the back of the engine to see us enter.

“We’ve kind of been looking for a generator for a long time now, and that we might be able to rewire that thing on the back of the truck to power the repair talismans on our crashed Valkyrie. And at this point I’m willing to try driving that thing out of here under fire from those guns just to have an actual generator we can use.” Serene shrugged, walking up to the bare half-track engine Crash Dive was working on and dropping the battery onto the workbench beside it. I wandered over to the Stork, looking it over - Certainly looked like it was getting close to being completed, I suppose.

Night Strike stood from securing the shock absorbers into place, stepping back to admire the work done so far on the machine. “Well, I’d say that’s about the most flight-worthy thing we’ve ever built. Barring the time you accidentally sent that propane tank into space,” She said, looking over and grinning at me. I rolled my eyes, Night Strike looking back down at the Stork in contemplation. “Hm... yanno, probably wouldn't hurt if whoever wound up flying this thing had some weapons they could use. Which probably means it's not gonna end up being you, Sparky, unless you want to try flying close enough to hit them with your umbrella.”

Shooting her a small glare, I thought for a moment, wondering if there was a way to nicely mount something onto the front of the machine. My ears perked up a bit as I got an idea. “Hold on,” I said, as I made my way towards the door. I stepped outside and hopped up onto the wagon parked just outside of the workshop. Digging through the crates of ammo, I quickly found the gauss gun we’d retrieved from the mercenaries. Jumping down and heading back into the workshop, I presented the rifle to the others. “Could just hook up this thing up to the Stork's circuits. Assuming you don’t run out of ammo somehow, you should have more than enough power for it.” I suggested. Serene looked up from his work on the turbocharger system, his eyes going wide as he saw the gun. Sharpwing shook her head, looking back down at the bolts she was tightening.

“Well, now you’ve done it. Serene’s not gonna get any more work done on this thing until you satisfy his curiosity.” She said, with a mix of humor and annoyance. Serene glared at her, sniffing indignantly. “Besides, if we can avoid adding on extra weight and screwing up the balance of this thing, I’d rather do that. This thing'll have enough issues with drag on account of the fuselage shape, and no reason to give us more yawing issues to worry about than we have to. I hate aerodynamics sometimes.” My ears flopped back down again, my muzzle scrunching a bit. Oh, fine, ruin the fun. Night Strike looked mildly disappointed as well, but conceded and went back to inspecting the machine.

Serene still trotted over to get a closer look at the rifle, levitating it out of my hooves. “Vhere did you find one of zhese? I don’t zhink I’ve ever seen an energy weapon like zhis before!” He turned the rifle over in his hooves, a few of the loose wires jiggling a bit as he lifted it up to peer through the scope. I shrugged as Serene turned the crank on the side of the gun, the arm clicking with each setting.

“No clue. I mean, we got it from some mercenaries that were after us, but I don’t know where the heck they got it. I remember my dad has something similar back up north, but this model of Gauss Rifle looks to be pretty heavily modified. Maybe whoever the mercs were working for got a hold of plans from old military tech, or something?” The unicorn wore a smile as he peered through the scope, fiddling with some of the bits and switches. Huh, wonder if unicorns just have a predesposition to energy weapons, or something...

"A Gauss Rifle modified for burst-fire abilities, certainly is quite zhe impressive zing. Doesn't seem to veigh zat much, either... Sharpving, are you sure?..." The pegasus poked her head out from behind the body of the aircraft, passing on a firm glare in response. The unicorn's shoulders sank as he released a sigh, looking back to the rifle. "Ach, fine. No biodiesel for ze Sturmvalker, no Gauss rifle on ze Storch, take all ze fun away, vhy don't you?" Laying the modified gauss rifle on a workbench, Serene turned back to the Stork, his magic levitating over the turbocharger system and fitting it in place inside the boxy fuselage, connecting it up.

The rest of the aircraft came together quickly, the large tank wrapped in the same red fireproof fabric fitting in place above the engine and the wings coming in on top of it, sheet metal being placed on to cover most of the innards. Glancing between everyone as they stepped back, I dug into my saddlebags, pulling out the few bottles of moonshine we’d taken from the shack so long ago. Popping open the cork, I reeled back, coughing at the strong scent of alcohol. Well, let’s hope this stuff isn't so strong it manages to blow up the engine... beginning to pour the alcohol into the fuel tank, everyone watched in anticipation, myself wearing a gromace as I thought.

Climbing onto an alcohol powered home-built box bird plane put together in only a few days... What could possibly go wrong?

The strong-smelling liquid sloshed as Static emptied the last bottle into the Stork's fuel tank, the simple skid suspension taking the weight well. Stepping down from the small stepladder he was using to reach the top-mounted tank, the earth pony let off a sigh, setting the emptied bottle on the ground. "Well, that's all we've got. Hope it'll be enough for... well, however long this thing'll have to fly." Serene passed on a nod, turning to the aircraft and starting to turn the propeller around a few times, for... some reason. Static looked towards myself for a moment, leaning back. "Speaking of, have we decided on who's flying this thing? Because I'm not really going to trust something we just threw together over a few days that's supposed to run on distilled moonshine."

Sharpwing let off a small groan of annoyance, planting a hoof against her forehead. "In case ya didn't get the memo, we haven't really got many choices in pilots. The race is sort of Stallions-only, and I doubt Serene could have a tapeworm's chance in a pet shop when it comes to flying this thing." There was a small clatter from the other side of the Stork, drawing our attention to a notably annoyed red-coated unicorn. Sharpwing responded with a roll of her eyes. "Oh, come on Serene, piloting an aircraft and piloting your Sterm-vulker at night are two very different things. Besides, you wanna risk falling out of this thing without me to back you up?"

"I'm beginning to regret allowing you to handle most of ze construction. Zhe seat is nothing like I designed it, especially..." Oh yeah, because we can totally afford strapping a whole fancy throne onto the front of this thing. I shared in Sharpwing's annoyance, the unicorn adjustibg his glasses and releasing a sigh. "Either vay, zat is a good point. If Static von't und neither of us can, our options are quite limited... und I doubt zat powered armor would vork well vith zis airframe, even being ze Enclave kind."

"So... guess that just leaves me, then. Yay." Putting on a weak smile for a moment, it fell to a sigh, myself trotting up to the flying machine. Come on, Strikey, you're gonna have to figure out how to fly a big metal thing without crashing it into the ground sooner or later... this'd probably be the best place to do it. You can get this, you know how all it works, you helped build the darned thing... "So... do we have to get permission to test fly or something, or can we just take it out and start it up?"

"Well, first things first, we probably need some sort of disguise for you if you're going to be flying in the race. I was able to find something in the back room of those three stallions' hangar, while you were getting the slow one to give up the fireproof fabric..." Crash Dive wore a smile on her muzzle as she trotted off to a side room for a moment, sounds fo rummaging around coming from it. After a moment, she reappeared, carrying a frankly ridiculously heavy-looking jacket, scarf, hat and set of goggles, letting them fall to the shop floor. "From the looks of it, this should cover up all of you without fuss. Not like they'll be able to tell once you get airborne, unless they have binoculars or something."

The red-coated unicorn trotted over, looking over the pile of loose heavy fabric for a moment, before picking it up in his magic. Well, I guess it might work, kind of would lose use of my wings but concealing Thumper and a few rounds of buckshot and high explosive shouldn't be too much of a hassle with it... which begs the question as to why Serene instead passed it over to Static. The earth pony stumbled a little as he took the clothes, Crash Dive quickly going from surprised to confused to annoyed - how can she do that so well? "Zat vill work for ze race, though ve don't need it quite yet. Stallions are allowed to choose mares to test fly their flying machines, in case of... vell, unforseen complications. Nothing more zan zat, though. Still, it vould be helpful if you wore zis around until ze day of ze race, Static, give Turbine no reason to assume an impostor."

"Nnf, well, I guess that makes sense. I'll just have to hang back on race day, so Turbine just thinks I'm flying." Static shuffled the heavy flight gear around, starting to slip it on over his regular jacket, adjusting the heavy fabric on himself. I trotted over to the small seat on the front of the Stork meanwhile, climbing up onto it and looking about at the bare controls. Alright, so we've got the flight stick-thingy here, rudder pedals there, and the throttle lever strapped to the side of the seat... aside from the fact that there's no way to strap myself on, if it works, it works. Static pushed the pair of flight goggles up on his head, voice muffled by the thick scarf. "So, we gonna take this thing out for it's first test flight or what? Kind of hoping the fuel doesn't eat its way through the tank before we have a chance..."

Serene gave a nod in response, his horn flaring with magic as it pulled open the hangar doors wide, myself raising my foreleg to shield my eyes from the bright daylight reflected off the snow. With a sudden jolt, I grabbed onto the control stick for stability, feeling the flyer lifting up into the air a short way and looking around in confusion. Serene's magic had taken ahold of the aircraft's base, the unicorn carefully easing it out onto the snowy runway, myself letting off a sigh. Okay, just like flying a Vertibuck or the Valkyrie, you can do this, Strikey... hopefully without plowing into the ground.

The Stork settled on the two skids after it was fully outside, Sharpwing trotting up on my left side to check things over. She fiddled with one of the knobs on the side of the chair for a few moments, before giving a nod. "Alright, the engine should be primed and ready to start up, just push on the ignition and hold it until it starts purring. The snow should give you low enough ground resistance to take off once we get to the runway, hopefully... just pull back when it feels right, yeah?"

She wore a weak smile, myself answering her with a nod before pausing to think for a moment. If it's annoying to ride on the mini-tank without goggles on... Looking back, Static trotted over on the opposite side, myself waving him closer. He blunk a few times as I pulled the flight goggles off of his head, fitting them on myself. A giggle escaped me as he let off a cloudy huff through the scarf, pulling it down from his muzzle. "You could've just asked, yanno."

"Aw, but then I wouldn't have gotten to see your cute face before I took off~" Wonder if it was the heavy clothes or me that made him blush like that. Giving him a quick parting peck, Serene trotting out ahead caught my attention, the unicorn looking back with an uneasy expression for a moment. Looking past him, the sight of three other figures coming out of a hangar caught our attention - as did their, um... what. "I... is that supposed to be their flying machine?"

"Well... it's a far cry from May's airship, at least it doesn't seem like it has a balloon for lift. It... -might- work?" Sharpwing looked on with the rest of us, just as confused by the sight. After a moment of watching them, the earthen-colored pegasus let off a sigh, a forehoof meeting her forehead. "Oh, barking spiders, they're doing one of their presenting bits. Won't clear the runway until they're finished... ech, come on. Least we can be entertained for a bit before takeoff, and size up their... whatever the heck that thing is."

Looking to the rest as Sharpwing started to trot over to the hangar on the far side of the runway, I was met with a shrug from Crash Dive and Static's bewildered face. Well, I'm sure the Stork can just sit for however long it takes these guys to take off... well, without damaging itself, hopefully. Hopping out of the seat, I passed on one last glance before following behind Sharpwing, Serene already trotting along before Crash Dive and Static finally followed. I landed up beside Sharpwing, scratching at the back of my head a little, pushing the flight goggles up. "So, these guys think they're presenters for some pre-war TV show? That's... something."

"Haven't a clue what's made 'em think like that, but they're pretty harmless on the whole, and relatively entertaining. Not that great at vehicle design, but they mean well." By the time we arrived at the hangar, they seemed to be starting to roll whatever their flying machine was supposed to be further out, one of the trio trotting over to us. Sharpwing let off a small chuckle, putting on a smile. "Ah, Calm May, that's quite the, um... interesting flying machine you've got."

The brown-maned unicorn nodded in response, watching as the rest of the group caught up with us, before glancing back at the machine. "Ah, yes, this here was actually mostly Heavy Strike's and Fast Track's idea. The idea was to make a flying machine that's both small, light, and comfortable for driving on an average repaired road as well. Using a tricycle-wheeled chassis and sporting a foldable wingspan of about six meters, the hope is that the little half-ton thing should easily take to the air, given a long enough run-up. Rather optimistically, Track decided an appropriate name for our tiny vehicle would be the Reliant Robin - asking me, considering it'll be relying on heavy steel wings rather than a comfortable heated balloon, I think they just want to rub my successful attempt at a flying machine in."

A small scream came from where the, uh, Robin was, us all looking to see a pegasus' flanks sticking out from one of the windows. The legs kicked open air as the third of the group, a larger grey-maned earth pony, trotted over with a look of annoyance. May let off a quiet chuckle, looking on with the rest of us. "Oh dear, seems that the Hamster's gotten himself stuck again. I told you we couldn't have the wings extend to block the doors, ya pillocks!" The older unicorn shook his head in disbelief, trotting over to the other two, while I just sat my flanks down in the snow and watched on. Well, got the entertaining part down...

"Alright, they oughta get their flyin' machine out onto the runway without fuss now, we'll just wait for them to wrap up their laps and then see if the Stork compares. Kind of think most of the time they just want someone to talk to, bless 'em..." Sharpwing turned and started to trot back to our hangar with Serene, myself still sitting in the snow for a while. I mean, if we have to wait for them anyways, might as well be entertained in the meanwhile. Static and Crash Dive both settled in as well, May and... ahm, I think the earth pony's Heavy Strike, right, eventually managing to pull Fast Track out of the window.

Definitely feeling better about our chances.

"Engine primed, control surfaces moving, turbocharger... turbochargering. Right." Some considerable time and a lot of Heavy Strike shouting the word 'Power', and an astonishing spectacle of the Robin actually managing to take off and land later, we were finally able to get the Stork out onto the runway to perform our test flight. Sharpwing moved up alongside myself, passing on a nod, the goggles moving down over my eyes. "One full lap of the air base and we can call it, remember that you're going to have a large bit of prop torque so be prepared for that. If anything goes wrong, try and get it low to the ground and bail, least you've got wings to help you with that. Good luck."

Passing her a single nod, the earthen pegasus flew off to the side of the runway, myself looking down to my left at the throttle and ignition controls. Whoo, alright Strikey, you can do this, just like flying a Vertibuck. My forehoof reached down to the starter lever, pushing it down two clicks, the electric motors on the engines whining and making the pistons turn over in the cylinders a few times before the two boxer 8s roared to life. The aircraft rolled slightly as the propeller started to spin, my hoof releasing the starter lever and moving to the throttle behind it. She started, good, step one done...

The throttle slowly eased open as I pushed the lever forwards, the engine's roar becoming louder and more air being sucked past me to the propeller and down the radiator and turbo intakes on the sides. The Stork slowly began to lean forwards on the shock absorbers, tilting left as the propeller pushed more and more. Eventually the aircraft began to move forwards, the torque from the engine sending me skidding towards the left - ergh, uh, right, um, right rudder? Right rudder. Pushing my back hoof against the pedal and pushing the stick to the same side, the aircraft settled itself back out, heading straight down the runway once again. Okay... really hope I don't have to worry about THAT with the Valkyrie.

Pushing the throttle open further, the wind really started to pick up against my face, the snowy runway rushing by much faster than before. Taking quick, short breaths of the frigid air, eventually I had the throttle fully open, the Stork beginning to leave shallower ruts in the snow. I pulled the control shaf to my chest, gritting my teeth and wrenching my eyes shut - please please pleeease take off before I run out of runway... the wooshing of snow under the skids faded, myself feeling as I was rolled backwards, body facing the sky. Cracking one eye open, the large clouds in the bright blue sky met me instead of the tall mountains in the distance, myself blinking. Leaning forwards - and easing the stick back forwards, because I -really- didn't want to throw myself into a loop right after takeoff - I peered over the side of the seat, watching the snowy ground fading away, the roofs of the hangars well behind me. This... this thing actually works!

"Ha-ha! Oh, fuck me with an ROQF seventeen-pounder, this is somethin' else!" Leting loose a gleeful cackle, the Stork settled back into level flight, myself just taking in the scenery for the moment. Alright, okay, she took off, let's see about that fly-around. Looking around to get my bearings, I let out a breath, nodding to myself more than anyone. The improvised engine thundered along behind me as I tilted the stick to the left, the whole aircraft rolling in accordance and slowly starting to bank that way. Pull it back a little... and we're in a nice easy turn. Good.

Leveling off as the Stork carried me back around over the collection of side hangars and buildings on the eastern edge of the airbase, I pushed the stick forwards, bringing us closer to the ground as it whizzed by. The roofs of buildings whoosed past as I passed over them, takng a hoof off the stick to wave at the few ponies on the ground. Oh, yeah, flying's nice, but I'm going this fast without getting tired... I can get used to being a pilot. Hell, I'd love if we could at least take this back with us... we're gonna need a bigger Valkyrie.

The extent of the air base passed by underneath, myself heading for the far edge of the box canyon the runway was situated in. Okay, so you do fine in a slow turn, let's see if you can handle a tighter one... the Stork rolled quickly as the air was deflected on the wing edges, the elevator pushing the whole thing around very quickly. I felt my stomach trying to force its way to my back legs as the scenery flew by in a blur, myslef tending and grunting from the sudden forces almost out of instinct. Releasing the stick saw the turn to settle back out, blood finding its way back into my head as i rolled back to level, passing over the landing strip once again. Okay, yeah, let's... not do that again.

The second pass and turn went by fast, myself finding my hoof moving for the throttle to actually pull it back. I had a feeling this thing was gonna be fast, but, damn, pulling a turn that hard and taking off as quickly as it did? This thing's nuts! I soon had to turn back around, weaving slightly in the air as I lined back up with the runway, looking across the long white expanse. Easing back the throttle turned the Stork from a plane into a glider, minor adjustments needed to keep it level as it touched down working just fine as the snow drew closer. Perfect test flight, if I do say so myself.

The skids took the weight of the airframe, the engine purring lightly behind me at idle as the Stork skidded to a stop a good distance away from the hangar. Wearing a grin and watching the rest starting to rush over, I nudged the throttle forwards, the Stork moving over to meet them. Yeah, definitely got the hang of her... hopefully. The engine fell back to idle as the distance became close enough, myself reaching down and pulling the start lever up, breaking the electrical contacts and shutting her down. The turbo whined to a stop inside the body, my head falling back against the small cushion as a sigh escaped me. Regular flight? Yeah, that's nice. Powered flight? Oh, baby...

Static was first to reach me, surprising considering how heavy that jacket must be, wrapping his forelegs around me. Woah, okay, easy there tiger... "Oh, thank Celestia that worked. You're alright, right? That was a really sharp turn you pulled back there Strikey, I was worried you'd fall off or something." I passed on a nod to the earth pony as he broke the hug and took a step back, myself climbing off of the Stork. Sharpwing and Serene started to move it off of the runway, us all trotting back over to the hangar doors.

"I'm fine, Static, a little positive Gs never hurt anyone, heh..." Rubbing at the back of my head, the red wing of the Stork came to a stop over us both, Serene and Sharpwing turning to face down the runway after pushing the Stork up to the doorway. Crash Dive joined them, both myself and Static peering around the boxy aircraft to see the hangar at the far end opening up... and a mini-tank coming out of it. Scratching my mane again, I watched on, Serene shaking his head and letting off a cloudy sigh. "What, who's that?"

A slender black nose poked its way through the hangar doors after the Motorbug, attached to a very large aircraft precariously balanced upon two centerline-mounted wheel sets. Temporary-looking wheel struts were on the far edges of the ridiculously long wingspan, which bent slightly under its own weight as the craft followed the half-track out onto the runway. It centered itself, the Motorbug driving out of the way, the stallion behind the handlebars pulling out a flag and waving it back and forth a few times.

The engine inside the slender craft whined up to speed, kicking up a masive white cloud behind it and sucking in even more loose snow through the intakes either side of the body. The brakes were released, and it didn't take particularly long for the strange airplane to get up to speed, the wings bending upwards and releasing the trailing wheels as air started to become caught underneath them, myself catching the words 'Dragon Mare' written on the side of it underneath the cockpit canopy as it shot past with blistering speed. The nose lifted up, and with a flurry of snow the craft was quickly up in the air and climbing fast. We all stood watching it as it darted over the far mountain range and out of sight, my jaw hanging slack as a subsidence crater found its way into my stomach. Serene brushed some kicked-up snow off of his jacket, scoffing slightly before releasing a huff.

"Zat... zat vould be ze competition vich ze Storch has to beat." Okay... definitely feeling a lot less better about our chances.

"Fine mares and stallions of the Vanhoover Air Base, welcome to the tenth annual North Vanhoover Aerial Rally! The race is due to begin shortly, with the takeoff in the traditional order of lowest to highest chances, so before they reach the start lines please allow me to introduce to you our fine competitors all aiming for the title of the Vanhoover Air Base's new Air Marshal!" The thick jacket and flight hat muffled most sounds as I trotted out of the hangar alongside the Stork the following morning, completely concealed by the getup. Thumper brushed against my side, along with a few spare buckshot, slug, and dragon's breath shells in my jacket pockets, making walking all the more awkward - Celestia, I hope that we can get started sooner than later...

Serene was busy topping off the fuel tank with as much of the alcohol as we had left, fitting the cap back into place, while Sharpwing did some last-minute fiddling with the control surfaces. Long as this thing can get me and all this stuff up in the air as easily as it did with just me, this is gonna be fine... the loudspeakers throughout the base opened up again, making me wonder just how loud they were for them to be coming across so clearly in this thick getup. "From the TGAF hangar and taking to the skies first, we have Hamster... ahm, correction, Fast Track, and the trio's aircraft named the Reliant Robin. With an astonishing roll rate and ridiculous engine aboard, it's a certainly amazing sight to see taking to the air, folks. Let's just hope they can manage that..."

Looking down the runway, the three stallions were all pushing their craft into place, the odd ridiculously shiny car making it difficult to see some portions of the action from this angle. Seriously, couldn't they have built a thing a little less... polished? At least the Robin was easier to look at in comparison. The smaller pegasus of the group eased himself in through the window of their air craft, adjusting the helmet he wore and strapping himself in, the unicorn and earth pony taking up opposite sides of the craft and chatting with him for a few moments. After a couple nods, they headed back over to the side of the runway, May encompassing the vehicle's small rear-mounted propeller in his magic and starting it up.

The tiny motor aboard buzzed as Fast Track opened the throttle wide, eventually generating enough power to get the thing rolling down the runway. After a good few hundred meters, the front wheel lifted off from the snow, the rear wheels threatening to do the same as it buzzed by our hangar. A stiff breeze lifted it for a moment, the craft gaining altitude just as it had yesterday, myself, Serene, and Sharpwing all watching on. Alright, breathe, they were the ones least likely to be issues... and most likely to have issues in return. The Robin fluttered in the air for a moment before flipping upside down on the far end of the runway, the nose end burying into the snow and causing it to roll end over end a few times before finally settling on its roof. That didn't look good...

A white-painted half-track rushed out from between one of the hangars towards the crashed aircraft, a siren on it blaring wildly, the two other stallions on their team either disregarding or forgetting the vehicle they'd brought and starting to run towards the crash site themselves. Okay, I knew they weren't going to be too much of an issue as competition, but I wasn't expecting or hoping for anything like that! Passing a worried glance to the earthen pegasus mare beside me, the anouncer came across the loudspeakers. "Ah, the ever-present danger of crashes shows its unfortunate presence once again here at the Vanhoover Air Base. Thankfully our other competitors should not have to worry about this impeding their takeoff, as Fast Track had the courtesy to crash off of the runway's end. While the paramedics are tending to whatever injuries that Fast Track may have, could we please see the next competitor line themselves up at the runway's start?"

"How callous can ya get?..." My voice was muffled by the heavy scarf as Serene and Crash Dive started to move the flyer down the runway, myself taking a long look towards the crash site before following. It was a long walk to the runway's end, my forelegs shaking slightly by the time the Stork was centered and set up. The heavy bottom of the flight jacket acted as another layer of cushioning ontop of what little there was on the seat, myself squirming about again as Thumper jabbed into my side. Sharpwing trotted up beside the stork, fiddling with the throttle a little once again and letting my eyes catch hers.

"Alright, you'll have a minute headstart or so, I don't think Turbine quite knows what this thing can do. The race route's just through the mountains, extends to Saddlebrook and then a straight shot back here, that's when you have the most to worry about him overtaking." Nodding in the thick clothes, my hoof reached down and pushed the ignition, the engine whining for a moment before turning over and coming to life with a healthy roar. Moving the stick around confirmed the control surfaces were all working, with some right rudder being applied already. Sharpwing checked over everything one more time, before looking back towards myself. "And remember, try to not open up the jacket unless you have to. Don't want to end up disqualified..."

I answered her with another nod, the pegasus rushing over to the side of the runway with Serene and Crash Dive, the loudspeakers crackling again with the announcer. "Our next racer comes from well out of town, one of the esteemed Vanoover Five, hailing from a little city to the north known as Mooscow. Considering how he and his mare assistant wound up all the way down here, we can only assume that he made the mistake of allowing her to fly their original vehicle. Static Charge and his aircraft the Stork, let's hope you have some better luck than Fast Track did, gotta keep things interesting, after all." Taking a few slow breaths to calm myself, I gazed out to the end of the runway, gloved hoof moving for the throttle and easing it open. Here goes nothing...

The engine's roar started to grow louder as more fuel entered it, the Stork once again leaning forwards on its landing skids before overcoming the friction on the ground, starting to push forwards over the snow. Quickly picking up speed, my forehooves pulled the control shaft in, the Stork pointing its nose upwards for a few moments before gracefully lifting off the runway, starting to climb high. The crashed Robin flew by underneath me as I let off a sigh, giving my head a light shake, all sounds replaced by the loud roar of the Stork's engine and the wind wooshing by my thoroughly wrapped head. Good work, boy, now let's get this race started.

The mountain ridge to the south of the airbase rushed past underneath, myself dipping the nose of the Stork down to slip into the natural snow-filled valleys on the other side, starting to wind my way through them. Saddlebrook's the halfway marker, and until then I should be safe, if this is supposed to be the race route then that wide-winged Dragon Mare's gonna have a hell of a time trying to get through while at speed. Probably would be a good thing if I knew where Saddlebrook was in the first place, though... duh, legputer's got a world map. I probably should have remembered that fact sooner than now, I was just about to try and blindly meander my way to a town I've never seen before in a time-critical race... Goddesses, I'm such a genius sometimes.

The Stork settled on its flight in a decently long valley, allowing me a moment to push the thick sleeves back on my left foreleg, revealing the screen. Statis, Inventory, Data... Local map, World map. Okay, so if I just- A wooshing sound filled my ears as the Stork sudddenly rolled violently, my hooves grabing the control stick in time to narrowly keep myself from plowing into the side of the valley. Hohohokay, pip-bucking and driving a tank is one thing, pip-bucking and flying is another, pip-bucking and flying a flying machine? I'm just full of stupid decisions today. Ensuring that I wasn't about to hit the side of another mountain in the next few moments, I looked back to the map, zooming it in for a more detailed picture of the surrounding area.

Weaving with the valleys and following along some old roads and train tracks drew me further towards the south, a group of streets arranged in a grid pattern situated in the base of a valley several kilometers from the air base looking like the halfway point to me. Pushing on the throttle lever, there was a little more give yet in the movement, my hoof nudging it open slightly more. The engine roared just a touch louder behind me, the shearing wind biting at parts of my exposed foreleg as it flew by even faster, myself all the more thankful for this heavy coat. Halfway to the halfway mark...

The mountains and valleys started to grow larger as I drew closer to Saddlebrook, the black wispy clouds of chimney smoke denoting it's location on the far side of the range just up ahead. Meandering my way towards it, I pulled back hard as I drew near the mountain's base, the Stork climbing fast up the snowy, rocky formation. I drew in breaths as deep as I could manage of the chill, high-altitude air, the Stork's turbocharger still whining away and force-feeding air to the cylinders, myself eventually cresting the top, able to level off and start heading back down into thicker air. Letting of a sigh and peering out to the valley beyond, the sight of the town inside it... wasn't what I was expecting.

Craters and wrecked buildings littered the area below, the smoke columns I'd thought were from fireplaces instead being from the smouldering remains of the houses themselves. I settled the Stork out for a moment, flying out long over the town and getting lower to get more detail. A few figures seemed to scramble about on the destroyed roads, none of them appearing to be pony in nature, the southern edge of the town coming up almost as soon as I'd reached the northernmost side.

Putting the Stork into a banked turn, I brought her around again, cutting back on the throttle slightly - what the hell happened here? Couldn't have been megaspells or balefire bombs, there wouldn't have been anything left. Looking more closely at the debris trails, parallel dotted lines of scorched asphalt caught my attention in the streets, my brain faintly recognizing that distinctive electric burn... tesla cannons. Automatic tesla cannon fire at that... oh, crap. This place was hit by the Harriers. But, why would they go out of their way to take this place out, anyways? Unless...

A massive stream of flames shot up from the ground in front of me, myself catching it just in time to shove the control shaft hard right, rolling and narrowly avoiding the plume. Okay, Harriers killed it and now robo-dragons are occupying it, just great! Shoving the throttle open as wide as it'd go, the burst of acceleration pushed me back into the seat, climbing towards the north fast. I held the stick back as the mountain range and clouds drew closer, leaning over my shoulder to look past the body of the Stork. Right side was clear, but as I looked over my left, the faint glint of very angry metal caught my attention coming up from the valley, and from just to the east... Well, so much for that head start!

I leveled the Stork off in a cloud bank, breathing the frigid, thin air and wiping water off of the goggles, trying to listen for the sounds of billowing flames and the whine of an electric turbine below. Pushing the stick forwards, the Stork's nose fell, and it slowly appeared out of the cloud bank, myself scanning around. Okay, no robo-dragons behind me on the left, none on the right... but a lot of problems directly ahead and below. Oh, no...

A few hundred meters ahead was the Dragon Mare, and between it and myself flew a smaller robo-dragon, the metallic skin glistening in the morning light. The robo-dragon seemed to keep pace with the long-winged flying machine, the foreleg that wasn't keeping the Stork steady reaching to open up the thick flight jacket over my regular one, and grab Thumper. Swapping hooves on the stick, I was able to pull Thumper comfortably against my shoulder, the strap around my body keeping her from falling off anytime soon. Got a... birdshot loaded, alright, not standard anti-dragon ammo but it'll have to do. I hope.

The Stork picked up a little more speed as I dropped in closer to the pair, the robo-dragon getting far enough ahead to look into the cockpit before slowing down slightly, landing carefully on the back of the Dragon Mare with its wings still outstretched. It crawled its way along the aircraft's body, myself drawing the Stork in closer and closer, Thumper held firm in my shoulder. Right, what's gonna be the best place to shoot at this thing from... that isn't going to also hit the other plane. Answer, not many places. Not going to have much of a window to do this in, either, not at this speed... on the upside, I'm overtaking him still.

Pulling the Stork up off the wingtip of the Dragon Mare, I readied myself and held Thumper out, which was a hell of a lot easier said than done when you had to manage keeping an air craft steady at the same time! The robo-dragon dug its claws into the skin of the electric jet, the head snapping over to look at myself for a moment before it let off a roar, keeping its mouth open. The firey pilot light of its flamethrower ignited, myself tugging Thumper's trigger lever at the same time the first few sputters came from its mouth, the dragon recoiling as its head was met with forty millimeters of pellets. Flames sprayed wildly around, my hooves pulling the stick back hard and gaining altitude as the dragon's momentum shook the other aircraft about. Oh, come on you bastard, let go!

Fumbling another shell into Thumper - solid slug this time, that should do it - I looked back to the Dragon Mare, and the robo-dragon on it. The latter was following me with its gaze, another roar caught on the wind as it let go of the black fuselage, soaring up to me instead... I take it back, you didn't have to let go! Throwing the Stork into a dive, I braced Thumper with my shoulder and knee, a hoof reaching down and opening up the throttle as wide as it'd go. The little movement I got in response for my attempt wasn't much, but it was comforting. Leveling back off and readying Thumper again, I scanned around in the sky, looking up just in time to see the slightly-larger-than-pony-sized robo-dragon coming in above me. Oh, fuck me with a 17-pounder...

Swinging Thumper skywards as fast as I could, the shot rang out loud, the 40mm steel-cored slug burrowing through the belly of the robo-dragon and sending it rolling off to the side with another roar. An orangeish mist sprayed from inside, before it gave way to massive flames, the robot exploding as it smashed hard against the mountainside. A breath I didn't realize I was holding escaped me as Thumper fell back to his resting position, myself catching my breath afterwards. Okay... now that's out of the way, winning the race, so I can go and just pass out for the rest of today. Yeah...

Gaining back some altitude with the Stork, I scanned the sky behind me, trying to find where the Dragon Mare was. Couldn't have gotten ahead with a dragon weighing it down, and I'm sure I probably picked up enough speed to have a healthy lead from that dive alone. A loud roaring sound filled my ears as I checked behind myself again, looking over just in time to see the aircraft in question spewing large flames from its fuselage, and closing fast. That can -not- be a good thing... though the way he kept the craft flying steady as if it was meant to be doing that did beg the question. Then again, as the Dragon Mare shot past with a sudden extra burst of flames from a section on the fuselage, and then started to rapidly slow down again... shit.

Diving back down to try and meet with the crippled aircraft, the familiar shape of the mountain range at the southern end of the runway came into close view, my eyes focusing on the black-painted jet burning up beside me. Pulling up along its length, the stallion inside seemed to be in a panic, trying to look behind at the rest of his aircraft. We crested the mountaintop at roughly the same time, the flames from the fuselage licking at the tail section and catching on it just then. His eyes, wide and panicked, met my own through the canopy, the southern end of the runway approaching fast. Come on, Strikey, think!

Looking down to the control stick, I rolled the Stork to the right, flying just above the back of the Dragon Mare. Staring down into the canopy at the stallion inside, I waved my free hoof in an upwards motion, pointing to the landing skids on the bottom of my own flying machine. Well, it wasn't the best of ideas, yeah, but it was better than him going down with it! It took him a precious half-second to realize what I meant before a burst from his horn blew the canopy off the top of the aircraft, and he leapt for the landing skids.

His forelegs wrapped around one of them tightly, myself pulling the Stork up and away from the flaming aircraft and pulling back on the throttle, watching the Dragon Mare touch down on its belly. It skidded down half the runway, heading off the northern end and landing in a snowy mound several meters beyond, a motorbug with a water tank rushing over to the scene and starting to douse the flames, myself putting the Stork into a banked turn as we finally passed over the runway's end. Well... that's one way to end a race.

Swinging low over the air base atfer finishing the turn, I leaned forwards far as I could, looking into the terrified face of Turbine. Okay, now how to deal with him safely... "Uh... I'm gonna bring us in low and slow over a snow bank, you can leap off there. It's either that or I land with you still on the skid!" He blunk a few times in response at first, before answering with a quick nod. Passing back over the southern end of the runway with the throttle barely open, the large snowy berm at this end drew ever closer. Welp, now or never... "Jump!"

The unicorn's hooves released the landing leg, myself watching as he fell and rolled against the snow, opening the throttle back up and bringing the Stork around a third time for the landing. She purred into a stop about fifty meters from the mound, the skids taking her weight and allowing me to finally let go of the control shaft entirely. Pulling the ignition lever up brought the engines to a stop, a long sigh escaping me as the constant noise finally ceased, just resting myself back in the seat. The loudspeakers sounded out across the air base, the announcer understandably flustered - not every day a mare wins this race, right?

"U-uh... um... r-right, Stallions and Gentlemares, since Fast Track crashed on takeoff and it seems that Turbine's Dragon Mare had become critically damaged before landing, thank Celestia he's alright, uh... well, it is my pleasure to announce the new Air Marshal of the Vanhoover Air Base, Static Charge!" Well... I mean, at least we won.

Back to Business

I looked up out of the window of the workshop, the sound of airplanes passing overhead having died down once Turbine and his large jet had taken off. Thankfully everypony else in the airbase was out watching the race, leaving myself safe to hide... though even if one had bothered to come snooping around here, I doubt they’d really bother checking around extensively. Could probably just hide myself up in the walker if I needed to, or something. I leaned up against the side of the workbench, letting out a sigh as I tried not to think of what Night Strike might have to be dealing with during the race. Come on, Static, Sharpwing already told you the racecourse, it’ll be fine. My ears perked up as a light buzzing could be heard overhead, well off in the distance. Standing back up, I peered back out of the window, trying to spot the source of the noise.

As the buzzing grew louder, though, a roar could be heard growing in the distance as well. Pressing my face into the glass to trying and get a better view, I couldn’t spot anything, and the cold of the window eventually forced me to push back from the glass. The roar grew louder still, and suddenly the sky was full of a black-nosed fireball streaking through it. I drew back in surprise, rushing to the other side of the workshopand the window there, my eyes wide as I watched the plane crash down into the snowbank on the other end of the airfield. Sirens blared out as a small half-track with large tanks of water rushed out of a hangar, ponies dousing the flaming wreck as they approached. My heart pounded in my chest as I wondered what had happened to the huge jet. My ears finally picked the sound of buzzing again and I began to search the skies, moving back to the other side of the shop, now able to spot the silhouette of the Stork against the sky. Something fell from it as it passed low over another snow bank, before it turned around for a landing.

The Stork skidded to a stop on the snowy tarmac, the crowd of ponies rushing over to it. I bit my lip, looking between the window and the door as I contemplated rushing outside. If anypony were to get Night Strike out of the jacket, who knows if our plan would work anymore, let alone what they'd do with her... I tried to get a better look through the crowd, but it was impossible to see what was going on amidst the large group of ponies. After a moment, a figure managed to fight their way out of the crowd. The bulky jacket and turned up hood quickly revealed it to be Night Strike as she hurried away, the other ponies taking a moment before they all realized their winner had slipped away.

Night Strike broke into a gallop as ponies broke off to chase her, others staying behind to either talk among themselves or to admire the Stork. Crash Dive stepped out in front of the group as they were about to pass her, causing them all to halt in place. Whatever she was doing, it was working. Night Strike managed to kick through the door into the workshop, panting heavily as she tore off the scarf and began to undo the buttons on the jacket. “Sweet Luna above, if you thought I was a fanatic for Vera, these ponies were practically ready to trample me to death!” She threw the jacket to me and I began to throw it on, working to get my hooves through the sleeves quickly as she went to work helping wrap the scarf around my neck, something on it jabbing me in the side. Nngh, couldn't have pulled Thumper out before you passed it on? “Alright, let’s hope you thought of some good excuse for this, because I sure as heck didn’t.” Before I could respond, she shoved me towards the door, jumping out of sight as it opened and I was yanked out by Serene.

The mass of ponies all gathered around, a barrage of questions being fired off by the crowd. How did you manage to overcome the Dragon Mare? What caused the explosion and fire? What happened to Turbine? How did you manage such a daring rescue? I stammered, looking back and forth between the ponies, trying to come up with answers. “I, uh, the Stork, uh…” Internally kicking myself for not asking Night Strike for details in the short time we’d had together, I eventually was force to blurt out some explanation. “T-there was some sort of, uh, encampment halfway up the race course! The mercs there had more guns than you could count!” A hush came over the crowd, and I got a bit of confidence back before beginning to elaborate. “I had to avoid dozens of volleys and bullets, we’re lucky we made it out alive! The Dragon Mare wasn’t so lucky, Turbine was swerving and tumbling and barrel rolling all over the place, but one of the group had a mortar, and, well, even with Turbine’s maneuvering, he was a bigger target, one of them hit him and set the Dragon Mare ablaze! I was barely able to get above the Dragon Mare and have Turbine jump aboard before the plane crashed down at the end of the runway.”

“…But, why did you come over here after you landed? There was a whole victor podium set up back at the finish line!” I paused as the random pony asked that question, doing my best impersonation of a deer caught in headlights. I shifted about in place a bit, leaning back against the door, biting my lip a little as my mind raced for an excuse. The sound of a forty millimeter round falling out of the pockets of the jacket suddenly met my ears, and I leaped at the chance.

“I had to return my dear friend,” Opening the door, I leaned in and managed to yank Night Strike out, who was hiding listening to the conversation. “Night Strike’s grenade rifle and ammo! Haha, you wouldn’t believe how, uh, tempting it was to not try air bombing those mercenaries as I flew over!” I stuffed the grenades into her hooves, grinning widely as she only returned a confused stare. “Good thing you sent those along, though! I know I wouldn’t have wanted to crash land in their territory unarmed!” The crowd continued to mutter back and forth, though at least they seemed to find the answer satisfactory.

A few ponies parted as Turbine trotted up to me, his mane singed and his flight jacket bearing several scorch marks. He took a deep breath, trying to make himself as presentable as possible, despite his ratty clothing. "Mmh, well, while I can't comment on the grenade rifle, I think I'd remember a mercenary encampment. I believe you might be exaggerating the truth, my successful competitor... assuming you were even the one flying in the first place. Your coat is astonishingly a much darker shade when you're airborne, isn't it?" I dryly swallowed as the unicorn stared me down, shrinking a little in the heavy flight gear. Oh, crap... Night Strike picked herself up beside me, trotting forth, a determined look on her face.

"Well, if it wasn't a mercenary camp that took your plane down, then what was it? I know for a fact that Static wouldn't have stooped so low as to shoot at a competitor if he didn't have good reason, and considering how everypony's mentioned your past successes, I'd doubt your aircraft would be the kind to suddenly burst into flames." Turbine's expression slowly moved from annoyance at being talked back to by a mare to a certain dawning realization, a smirk coming to Night Strike's muzzle. The crowd murmured behind him, some ponies glaring at him warily. "And that's a good point, according to Serene and Sharpwing, your plane was powered by an electric motor. If that's the case, what, exactly, on it would burn like what we saw when you came in? Asking me, I'd say it looked a bit like a flamethrower fuel fire more than an electrical one..."

Turbine looked between us both for a few moments, taking a step or two backwards, the crowd's murmuring becoming angrier by the moment. The unicorn stammered, glancing about for a bit before glaring daggers at us, albeit faltering. "Ye- bu- nngh, so what if it wasn't a mercenary camp! I... Graargh!" Serene and Sharpwing flanked us, both of them stepping closer to Turbine as the crowd surrounded him. Well, I mean, a semi-peaceful takeover works, too... It was Turbine's turn to be bombarded by questions, himself stumbling in the crowd. He stammered a few more times, before throwing his hooves to the air. "ENOUGH! I didn't even qualify for the win, anyways! So what if I -may- have used a rudimentary afterburner system to provide some extra kick the first few times to gain my position as leader, there wasn't any rule forbidding it! The system wasn't without its dangers, obviously!"

The murmuring of the crowd took on more sinister tones, a few ponies around the unicorn reaching out to grab ahold of him. Okay, this is starting to seem like it's gonna be a little less than semi-peaceful... wait, I'm the new leader now, aren't I? Drawing in a breath, I stood up, some of the crowd glancing my way. Here goes nothing... "Hold it, hold it! He might've done some seriously questionable things, but, well, killing him won't solve anything! He's one of the only ponies here still with a, um..." Looking to the end of the runway for a moment, the smouldering wreck of the Dragon Mare filled the snowy embankment, grey clouds slowly drifting skywards from its body. Ech... "...partially intact functional flying machine, wouldn't you want something like that to learn from? And besides that, don't you guys have any sort of jail or holding cells, anyways? Better to let him live with what he's done."

The crowd quieted for a moment, most seeming to nod in agreement as a group broke off, hauling Turbine off with them. I let out a sigh, relaxing back and looking across the crowd again. Alright, that's taken care of... now for the other part. “Ahem, anyways, uh, I think this might be the record for the shortest term of Air Marshal you guys are going to have. Not to be rude, that is, but the Vanhoover Five… well, three at the moment, has a lot of work to be done around the Vanhoover wastes still. And it’s a little hard to help make sure the towns around here have enough firepower if we’re stuck in the middle of a mountain range dozens of miles away.” The crowd’s muttering started up once again as well, ponies looking back and forth as they wondered what was going on.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to… delegate my position to Serene Steel and Sharpwing. They helped us design and build the plane after all, they had at least a hoof in the victory today.” A few ponies started to look a little miffed, their mutterings becoming louder. Those weren’t the rules! You can’t just change the leader, can you? Sensing trouble, Crash Dive stepped forward once again, her deathly glare somehow able to be sensed even through the dark visor of her helmet as she stared down the group. Taking advantage, I quickly straightened up a bit, trying to look as intimidating as possible. “It is completely within my right to do this. I won the competition. You want an official changing of rulers? I declare myself king. No more races to decide victor, I am leader from henceforth.” The crowd looked even more agitated, but Crash Dive was able to easily silence them. What wonders a good set of intimidating power armor can do...

“Now, Serene…” I pulled him over before having him place his hooves on my chest. I threw myself down dramatically, flopping to the snowy concrete as the others looked upon in complete bewilderment. “Oh! You have bested me in a fight! You are truly the rightful heir to the throne! You are now ruler of the Vanhoover Air Base!” And without another word, I stood back up, brushed off my coat, and walked back inside the workshop. The dumbfounded silence was deafening, to say the least.

“I still -really- can't believe that actually worked.” Night Strike let off a small grunt as we loaded up the trailer to the mini-tank, now hitche up to the back of the much larger half-truck, Crash Dive pushing around a few boxes of explosives to make way for a stash of ammo from the supply hangars in the air base. I sat myself in the driver’s seat, looking down over the side of the tall vehicle as Serene Steel and Sharpwing stood by to see us off, the rest of the members of the air base having gone off to their standard duties for the day. “Still wish we could fly the Stork back with us, though. You absolutely sure we can’t?”

“Not unless you trust flying back on however much booze is left in that thing's tank. Besides, I doubt it’d survive another dragon attack.” Crash Dive opened up one of the boxes of ammo in the trailer, searching through it to ensure everything was in place before securing the lid shut and hefting herself up onto the back of the half-truck. Checking that the left wing and engines from the Seafalke - so there was a sister aircraft to the Seaddler up here, who knew? - were all properly secured, she worked her way around the generator, seating herself on the back seats of the half-truck's passenger section. “You’re probably going to have a hard time keeping the ponies here from tearing Turbine apart after all that he's done to this place. You sure you can handle them?” Crash Dive asked, looking over to Serene and Sharpwing.

Sharpwing nodded, leaning onto one hoof and crossing the other in front of it. “It'll be an uphill battle, but after all that he's done we'll be able to get most o' the residents here to see that leavin' him alive and unable to fly'll be a fate worse than just killin' him. Lot of ponies lost family because o' him, we'll just make sure he knows beond a shadow of a doubt how much pain he's caused.” Crash Dive nodded, Night Strike settling down onto the passenger seat of the half-truck, staring wistfully at the parked Stork. “Anyways, ah, sure you saw robotic dragons up there, though? ‘Cause even Static’s story seemed more reasonable, and he wasn’t even flyin’.” Night Strike nodded, and Sharpwing looked a bit more nervous. Serene waved a hoof dismissively, a small grin crossing his face.

“Bah, if zhey do decide to attack, ve have more zhan enough to repel zhem. Especially vonce ve get ze Stormvalker running again.” His grin widened as he glanced back to the workshop the hulking metal beast was still being stored in. Sharpwing rolled her eyes as I flicked the switch, the massive engine in front rumbling to life. Whoo, momma, that sounds like a -lot- more horsepower than what the mini-tank has... The red unicorn looked up to Night strike for a moment, a small smile crossing his muzzle. “Und ve can also look after ze Storch, too. Might be able to find some vay disassemble it for transit, even. Still, are you sure you don’t need anyzhing else? Ve’d be more zhan happy to help you now zhat ve have free roam again.”

Looking over my shoulder to the several dozen crates of new ammo and weapons, I tried to hide my own grin, my mind already attempting to work through how much Maple Station might be willing to pay to arm their own personal army. “Nah, I think we’re good.” Revving the engine, I turned the massive truck about, and began to trundle off towards the entrance to the airbase. Night Strike idly flicked through her Pip-Buck, the radio crackling a bit as it struggled to get a reception this far away from the station.

“-ey all you fine p----- ---- -- ----- -AOS, and we’re co---g in live from ou- ----- --- -- the middle -- --- sea, as always. News today, at---- -- ---oov-- -owntown, was quelled --ickly by the local po---- force, not much going on else--ere. No new of the V------er Five lately, other than --- Alicorn stuck up in Maple St---on. Hope you guys --- d---- ---igh-.”

“Coming up next, the –ver famous, -----------“

“Well you can --ck it, you can ---- it,
You can st—and you can stro—it at the hop
When the ----- starts spi----
You cha---- when --- chick—at the hop
Do the ---- sensation that is -----in’ the nation at --- -op”

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as the headlights of the massive half-track illuminated the road in front of me, the loud engine in front droning away. The road twisted as it ran through the canyons away from Rock Ridge, the massive size of the half-truck making the journey a little more perilous. Night Strike shifted about in the seat beside me, stretching and rubbing at her own eyes as the very last hints of light faded from the sky. The front of the truck bounced as we rolled over a small rockslide on the path, jolting me awake. “Bwuh, why didn’t we decide to stop back in Rock Ridge, again?” I asked, trying to suppress another yawn as we continued. Night Strike looked over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow and attempting to give a firm glare of disapproval, though it didn’t come through very well through the bags under her half-open eyes. “I know, you don’t want to be reminded. I still think there could’ve been some place there that we could’ve camped out for a couple hours.”

Slapping my cheek to stay awake, my back hoof pressed down on the floor pedal, speeding us up a bit as we exited the vaster parts of the mountain range, reaching the flatter sections between them and the hotel resort. As we drove across a shallow valley, I peered off into the distance, trying to spot the hotel in the darkness. Against the starry sky, it was only visible by the lack of pinpricks of light, leaving a rectangle of inky blackness. Driving closer to the hotel, however, began to reveal the sound of clicking and chittering, a shiver of disgust running up my spine as I slowed our approach. Crash Dive sat up in the back seat, leaning over the side of the half-truck's body. Her headlamp combined with the headlights of the half-truck to reveal the barrier surrounding the hotel.

The chittering grew louder as we pulled up beside the barrier, the large engine purring quietly. I noticed something moving beneath the barrier and stopped the half-truck, motioning to draw the others’ attention to it. Night Strike pulled Thumper up, dropping a grenade into the breech as Crash Dive scanned the several hardened black legs moving about the posts of the makeshift fence. Creeping the massive half-track along the side of the fence as best as I could, easier said than done with something that weighs eighteen tons, I slowly turned the corner, and had to quickly muffle a scream of fright. An oversized scorpion turned to face the light, hissing as it snapped its powerful claws at us menacingly. Night Strike fired off her grenade, cracking the tough carapace of the scorpion. It stumbled backwards, jabbing its tail forward and clacking its pincers as it retreated behind another section of the fence.

A pair of scorpions ran out from the side of the hotel, their spindly legs digging into the dirt as they rushed forward. Crash Dive shot a bar of rebar at one, myself reving the engine of the truck to try and scare some away. Clicks and cries of pain could be heard as the solid rod of metal pierced the tail of one of the scorpions, severing it partially. It flailed about, twitching and writhing as the other ones crawled over it. “Where the hell did these come from?!” I shouted, plowing the massive half-track forwards and crushing a few of the scorpions as Night Strike sent another grenade into a grouping of them. I grabbed my umbrella in my hoof, leaning out of the tank to swat at another one of the buggers trying to climb up the side, which lunged with its tail. It froze for a moment, the electricity coursing through it from the strike. Crash Dive was able to clamber over to my side and send another bolt of rebar through its tail as it was paralyzed, sending it flying backwards from the force as it waved its pincer arms about in agony.

The remaining scorpion was attempting to crawl away, but Night Strike slid another grenade into Thumper before raising it up to look down the sights. The grenade fired with a thud, and landed directly on the scorpion’s back. It exploded, bits of the arachnid flying in all directions, with some splattering on the windshield of the half-truck I am finding myself exceedingly more thankful for. Ech, gross... The chittering stopped, though I wasn’t ready to let my guard down yet. Pulling the large vehicle to a stop outside of the hotel, we climbed out and headed inside, our weapons still at the ready. The lobby was dark, the only light coming from Night Strike and my Pip-Bucks and Crash Dive’s helmet. “You think there’s going to be more of them hanging around here?” Night Strike asked, looking around nervously.

“Maybe. Maybe that bomb that blew up the carnival disturbed a nest or something. You can always barricade the doors, you’d hear them trying to break into your room, then.” Crash Dive said in her usual dry tone. She headed up the stairs in the lobby and over into the room she'd been in previously, Night Strike and myself following her, stepping into the room we'd likewise taken originally. Wel, at least the raiders didn't move back in...

Stepping into the familiar dark room, Night Strike set Thumper down on the table before making her way over to the bed. I shut the door behind us, searching around for something to block it. Finding nothing better, I grabbed a chair behind the desk, pulling it over to lodge it underneath the knob of the door. “Suppose we should be fine. I don’t know if any of those scorpions could fit through the doors of the hotel, anyways.” I trotted over to the bed, where Night Strike had already curled up under the covers. Slipping in beside her, I curled up in bed, closing my eyes as I wrapped my hooves around her. I sighed as I slipped into the long awaited embrace of sleep, snuggling up with the dark-coated pegasus as she did the same to me. Yeah... we'll be fine.

"...so, is a Gauss rifle an energy weapon or a ballistic weapon?" It was early the next morning when we'd climbed back aboard the half-truck and set off westwards again, Static with his legputer switched over to the map and glancing down at the screen every so often just to figure out where we were headed. Apparently going to explore ground zero of a 70-kiloton megaspell warhead explosion and dancing on the radioactive ashes of the animatronic manticore caught in it is something that 'normal' ponies don't do... puh, killjoys. I instead busied myself with looking over the burst-fire gauss rifle, fiddling with some of the parts and turning the crank on the side - probably determines the length of the burst, or something. "I mean, yeah, it uses electromagnets and coils to launch the projectiles, but the projectiles themselves are just little metal rods, aren't they? Just like bullets, except, yanno, smaller in diameter... and more rod-shaped."

Static let off an annoyed sigh beside me, the half-truck winding its way through the mountain roads. "Well, I assume it's technically an energy weapon, how else would Minty be so good with using Jolts? You know how good he is with that stuff, and I think we both can remember the last time he tried using a conventional gun." A shudder ran up my spine as he mentioned that, my brain being as courteous as ever and bringing those memories back up. Great soda massacre of '84, who could forget... even I felt bad, seeing all those smashed Sparkle-Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles. "Besides, it uses that energy weapon ammunition, anyways, doesn't it? All the signs are pointing that way."

"Now hang on, Static, I might not like to remember my time in Basic with the Enclave, but I'm fairly confident in remembering that whatever gauss weaponry we had was classified in with the heavy ballistic guns." Crash Dive leaned herself forwards against the back of our seat, resting her hooves between us. She leaned forwards to get a look at the Burst-Gauss I had in my lap, thinking for a moment. "Granted, the ones I remember seeing weren't exactly like that one... ours were the M72, old Germane make, I think? Eh, still, they were called ballistic weapons back in my day."

The earth pony glared back at the power armored pegasus, a frown on his muzzle. "Well, whatever those gauss rifles were might've been classified as ballistic ones, but I'm tellin' you the Equestrian models have got to be some sort of energy weapon, otherwise there's no way Minty could use Jolts as well as he does. Maybe the Germane ones are just weirder versions or something. Probably had to use that crank on the side for charging the shot, or something." Static gave his head a shake, turning his attention back to the road. Sheesh, who'd have thunk a simple question would turn into bickering like this? It was Crash Dive's turn to be annoyed, moving herself forwards to smack the back of Static's head, the surprised earth pony's muzzle managing to make the half-truck's horn beep as it impacted the steering wheel.

"I don't know what kind of gauss rifle your dad's 'Jolts' is, but I can assure you that the M72 didn't need to be charged before firing off a shot. I might not've used one of them myself, but from the stories I heard about them, they were lifesavers to anypony lucky enough to get one. Could blast a hellhound clean apart, or even break through the shield of an alicorn and still have the power to leave a hole through their chest. Not gonna stand for you disrespecting it." Static rubbed at the back of his head, grumblung slightly, passing on a quick glare to Crash Dive. The half-truck got underway again after Static gave his head a shake, seeming to think for a while.

"Fine, fine, won't call that Germane gauss rifle by any names. Still, even though these fire metal projectiles, they do it using electromagnets rather than gunpowder, so, energy weapon. Hell, plasma weapons like Minty's other rifle fire projectiles with mass, and they're energy weapons, aren't they?" Resting the Burst-fire Gauss on its stock with the barrel pointing skywards beside me, I rubbed at the back of my own head, letting off a sigh. Yeesh, note to self, don't open up this can of worms again... Crash Dive let off a huff of her own, thinking quietly, the mountain roads still winding about and buried in snow.

"Plasma isn't affected by ballistic drop-off, though, and no matter what the muzzle velocity of that type of gauss rifle is, it'll still have some arc at far ranges. Might take a couple kilometers, but sooner or later you're going to have to aim above the target due to gravity and air resistance." Aaaand Static's looking annoyed again. See, this is why I prefer conventional guns, from a .22 cal pistol up to a 28cm railway cannon they all work exactly the same way, explosives fire a bullet at high enough velocity to give whatever's on the receiving end a very bad day. Nobody's gonna bicker about what a grenade rifle should be classified as... yanno, besides 'fun sniping weapon' or 'useful close-quarters weapon'. "So, yeah, the Gauss rifle is a ballistic weapon, because it has a ballistic trajectory."

Static's hooves wrapped tighter around the large steering wheel, a certain look on his face letting me know that I probably ought to try and defuse him before we go motoring off a cliff in a 20-ton-loaded half track. "Okay, whatever, it's an energy weapon that fires a ballistic projectile, let's drop it before we end up being the ones dropping, got it? Sorry I even asked..." Looking between them with the Burst-Gauss sitting beside me, they both let off cloudy sighs, the air in the open covered seats of the half-truck's crew compartment seeming to calm. That's good, everyone's stopped arguing.

The chill mountain wind blew up from the valleys below, filling the deafening silence that found its place back again between us all. I rested back, looking through the clear windshield of the half-truck at the southwestern roads, peering off towards the next range that hopefully would lead us on to Maple Station. I fidgeted a little from the silence - guh, really wish we had better radio reception out here... and I also wish my brain-to-mouth filter worked a little better. "So... why do laser weapons have recoil?"

Static and Crash Dive had started up their bickering again as I stuck my hoof over my mouth a few moments too late, the only thing that I could do now being to sink back into the long cushioned seat of the half-truck. Gonna be a looooong ride...

The eastern gate to Maple Station drew closer, Static keeping a hoof held up to shield his eyes from what was left of the fading sunlight. Might've taken two whole days straight just to get from the lodge over here, but at least we can finally get another good night's rest, again... I let off a grunt, stretching my back in the seat and looking around, leaning forwards against the half-truck's dashboard. "Nnf, fuggin... I should've moved more Sparkle-Cola over from the wagon before we left." Picking myself up, I swung around on the outside of the half-truck to the second row of seats, climbing back in and rummaging through my duffel bag. Crash Dive let off a sigh of her own, most likely out of boredom more than anything, myself eventually managing to find a still-intact bottle... keep it together, still have a hell of a lot more left between the load at Maple Station and the Lighthouse. Just... relax.

Flopping back into the front seat with the bomb-bottle, the cap came off with a hiss of carbonation, allowing myself to partake in that sweet sweet nectar of the goddesses. Might not be Sparkle-Cola RAD, but, hey, best I've got. The rumble of a small engine and clattering of tracks caught our ears as we came up to the gate, Static slowing us down as a smaller... boat on tracks trundled in front of us, caught in the headlights. It seemed to stop to look at us for a moment, before quickly turning out of the way, parking up alongside the road with its bow towards our front. The top hatch of the small turret clattered aside, the multicolored striped zebra... ZONY inside poking her head out, and shielding her own eyes from our headlights.

Taking the hint, Static fumbled for a moment before eventually managing to switch the beams off, pulling the massive half-track up alongside the amphibious light tank. "Oh, oh my, um... we're going to need more room in the tank shed, aren't we?" Sensha let off a weak chuckle as Static returned a sheepish grin, the ghoul zony looking over the half-truck and all the stuff loaded on it. I let myself rest against the dashboard, taking another sip of soda - well, least they'll have some extra space once all the Sparkle-Cola is loaded back in for us to take home. The Zony let herself rest back against the hatch ring of the turret, scratching at her thin mane. "Well, certainly have had a busy week or so from the looks of things. You can head on in and over to the shed, won't have to worry about any mercenaries catching you here. Not that you'd have to really worry about them catching you anywhere, anyways..."

I blunk a few times, my tired brain confused about that for just a few moments. But, wait, the mercenaries are all dead, though, I... am not gonna finish that thought. Static answered her with an exhausted nod and small wave as Sensha ducked back inside her tank, the small engine starting back up and the strange light tank driving off. I rested back in the seat, the cool evening air helping to keep me awake to some extent as Static slowly drove us through the town, pushing on towards the familiar railshed. Of course, duh, they wouldn't know about it all the way over here, haven't had anyone able of calling it in to Radio KAOS out there. For the better, I guess... at least now we can get things on the track of looking back to normal.

The doors to the long railshed opened wide as we drew up near them, Mad Jack and Rheinmetall holding them open for us with wide smiles on their muzzles. The engine of the half-truck was amplified by the smaller confines of the brick building, Static shutting it off after passing by Porschia. A long groan escaped the earth pony beside me as he slumped back in the seat for a moment, before dragging himself to the side of the half-truck to exit it, myself doing the same. Rheinmetall trotted over to meet me, looking over the half-truck as he did, eyes wide in amazement. "Meine Gottinnen, a Sonderkettenkraftfahrzeug nine Clydesdale, it's been centuries since I've seen one! Ahem, vell, saw the front of one, that is... These feats of engineering have ze pulling power to rescue tanks of ze same weight class as Porschia, I was close friends vith some of ze recovery crews that used these things. Vhere did you find a functional one?"

Taking a long gulp from the bottle of Sparkle-Cola I had in hoof, and draining half of it in the process, I gasped for breath before answering him. Guh, that road trip really took a lot out of me... who knew sitting still for so long could be so draining? "Eh, ah, Vanhoover Air Base, actually. Think they were using it as a utility vehicle more than an armor recovery one, what with the big generator on the back and all..." Nodding up to it, Rheinmetall moved his gaze, adjusting the glasses that rested on his muzzle momentarily as he examined the large device bolted to the back deck. A long yawn escaped me as I went to drown it in another gulp of Sparkle-Cola, this one nearly finishing the bottle off. Caffiene and sugar, you're failing me... "Mmh, sorry to say, but we drove here straight from Twin Peaks lodge, we're all pretty much beat. It's fine if we leave this here and go to the hotel to crash, right?"

The unicorn stood examining the large half-track for a moment, before blinking, managing to turn his attention away from it and back towards myself. "Eh? Oh, um, ja, of course. Eheh, do apologize, just handling a lot of fond memories..." Rheinmetall trailed off for a moment, one of his hooves gently resting on the half-track's track, a quiet sigh escaping him. A light smile came upon my muzzle as I turned myself around, giving my head a light nod... probably more due to tiredness than anything. Nice seeing an old ghoul happy. My ears caught Rheinmetall clearing his throat for a moment as I stood beside the front wheels of the half-track, myself turning to face him. "Ahm, right, before you und your friends go, zhere is one last thing..."

Looking at him in confusion for a moment, the sound of a speaker crackling on on the other side of the railshed caught our attention, Rheinmetall's grin giving way to light laughter. I trotted around the front of the half-truck... what'd he call this thing, a Sonder-ketten-krafting-farzug nine Clydesdale? Guh, I'mma just call it the Clydesdale - looking for the source of the theme music filling the workshop. One of Fyre's top hatches clattered open in an aura of blue magic, a familiar mare's voice echoing from it... what. "When evil trots the streets of Baaston, one mare lurks in the shadows, shielding the innocent, judging the guilty. That guardian is... The Silver Shroud!"

The black wide-brim fedora covering a deep blue mane burst out from the tank, the alicorn followed by her favorite Chicacolt Typewriter and Battle Rifle, striking a pose with her wings spread wide to cast odd shadows from the overhead light at her back. She landed in front of Fyre in a bow, picking herself back up and wearing a determined look, one that quickly broke to a stupid grin and silent giggling as she looked over our expressions. Glad to know you're still finding ways to enjoy yourself, Aerith. 'Sorry, couldn't resist. Caution Tape fashioned me up a fancy little soundbox, yanno, just for that little extra kick when I'm fighting for the forces of good and righteousness!' Considering how she was cracking up, I can only say it's a good thing she doesn't have to vocally say that...

Static was joining in with her light laughter for a moment, interspersed with heavy yawns from the exhausted earth pony. His baggy eyes fell to the floor for a moment, before they opened wide as they could manage to, a memory coming back to him. "Oh, Caution Tape, right! Ahm, where is he, he was fixing something up for us... well, me, is he finished with it yet?" Aerith blunk at him for a few moments, tapping a hoof against her chin and trying to remember herself, Rangefinder popping out of Fyre's open commander's hatch. Ehm... oh, right, that soda-ruined stealth armor. Guh, c'mon Sparky, some things can wait until we're not both ready to pass out on the floor.

"Heh, sorry guys, Caution Tape and Deathtrap are over patrolling the western gate right now, won't be back in for a couple hours yet. Guessing you sorta missed the lack of gigantic landship taking up space in here, huh?" Rangefinder wore a smirk and leaned herself on the top of her tank's turret, Static blinking a few times sheepishly. I had to glance over to the rest of the empty railshed myself, looking at the oil-stained concrete floor and red brick walls that made up the rest of its length - yeah, that... that would be a pretty good giveaway. The ghoulified pegasus let off a light laugh, Static rubbing at his exhausted eyes as he looked at the rest of the railshed with me. "Sheesh, you all just come straight back here from halfway across the wasteland? You better go get some sleep at the hotel, my treat. We ain't going anywhere, I'll let Caution Tape know you finally arrived."

"Yeah... ehm, thanks. Really were put out of it by the trip..." Static passed on a tired nod as he made way for the railshed's side door, Crash Dive following along beside him. I passed on a wave to Rangefinder, the pegasus returning it, Aerith wearing a grin as she moved herself up beside me as I passed by the front of Fyre, heading for the door as well. A gentle sigh escaped me as a grin found place on my muzzle - well, least we're back to the Vanhoover Four again.

The soft blue lighting of the railyard filled the air as we passed over to the more permanent hotel structure, the crisp night air and frigid snow underhoof helping keep my brain awake long enough at least for the short walk. Aerith's horn flared up beside me, one of her screens popping up as we neared the hotel's entrance. 'So, you know how we turned that old power station on the coast into a crater awhile back? Well, Rangefinder got an idea for something that we could do with it, eventually, anyways. Lot of the ghouls coming through here are heading north for the more irradiated places, and, well, there's a brand new radioactive hot-spot just a few days to the west now.' The alicorn wore a soft smile as we passed through the entrance, moving from the frigid snow to the heated lobby. Mmmh, could just collapse on the floor right now... brain, wait until we can get in a bed, please.

"Nnf, think you could give us the run-down tomorrow, Aerith? We kinda did a multi-day journey in one straight shot, we're all exhausted, just... tommorow, okay?" The alicorn blunk for a moment, looking at myself in a light surprise... I think... before passing on a single nod. She moved herself over beside Crash Dive as Static tossed me the other room key, myself fumbling to catch it... and then fumbling to catch him. Ugh, c'mon Sparky, just a few flights of stairs between us and sleep. Sweet, sweet, necessary sleep...

"Thanks for agreeing to help, guys, this one's probably the most ambitious plan I've had in a while." The sun shone brightly through the high windows of the railshed, casting long shadows across the vehicles around. Guh, between having to half-carry Static up those stairs and being exhausted myself, I don't think we made it to our room before passing out... still woke up in our room's bed, though. Thank you, Aerith, I guess... Rangefinder stood at the front of Fyre, an old scribbled-on map fastened to the tank's large dozer blade. The ghoul pegasus smiled as we made ourselves comfortable, watching her as she pointed towards the location of Hornsworth and the Battered-Sea.

"So, as you probably know, the megaspell you set off at the Battered-Sea kicked up a helluva lotta fallout. I'm not an expert on these things, but thankfully enough we did have a few ponies who are experts come through, and they said that the bomb's left behind a lot more radiation than it was probably supposed to. Their best guess was that there was some sort of arcane reactor in the basement that got blown open when the bomb went off - what this means is that now there's a nice big waterfront crater that's nice and clicky for all of those who kinda need that stuff to survive. What I want to do, using Fyre here, is see if that place can be turned into a nice town with a little legwork and a lotta time. Think you guys could help?"

We all passed glances to each other for a moment, Static scratching at the back of his head. Well, she's got ambition, I'll give her that... I guess the bulldozer helps, too. And the gun -can- fire High Explosive and AP Balefire Egg shells... "The bit about a reactor getting blown open does make sense, something had to be powering Pearl and the Shady Shores facility still, but why d'you need our help to get it done? You're not expecting us to have to build up the whole place, are you?" That... was a good point. Guh, at least let us unload the wing and engine for the Seaddler first before you ask us to start hauling building materials halfway across the wasteland with the Clydesdale. "I mean, yeah, we can sell stuff to help a town defend itself, but building one from the ground up is sort of completely out of our scope."

Rangefinder looked on towards Static for a few moments as he spoke, before breaking out in a laugh. Uh... did I miss the joke, or something? The ghoulified pegasus leaned herself against the top of the dozer blade, rubbing at one of her eyes with her wingtip and regaining herself. "You're kidding, right? Of course you guys don't have to help build the place, the kind of ponies looking to settle down at a place like there aren't incompetent morons that don't know how to use a hammer and their own hooves, or have to be told exactly what jobs to do. Nah, I'm just askin' because you guys've been there before, know the area, and Fyre doesn't work too well out in the field with only me in her. Just need a guide and somepony to help with support, we can handle the rest."

So, a legitimate reason to drive into ground zero of a megaspell explosion, and beyond that do it in a tank with multiple heavy machine guns and the lovely Royal Equestrian Ordinance Quick-Firing seventeen-pounder? As if I needed any more reason than that. A stupid grin was on my muzzle as I felt my wingtips brushing against Aerith and Static, both of them passing on glances towards myself. Static let off a sigh, shaking his head. "Well, I guess we can help out, got to get back to the lighthouse sooner or later anyways. Last I remember we just ran into raiders with flamethrowers in Hornsworth, and a couple at that one campsite, so the tank might be a little overkill..."

"Static, if you don't let me put a 76.2mm ROQF armor-piercing shell through a raider's face, I'm breaking up with you." My hooves crossed over my chest, my best pouty face forming on my muzzle as Static blunk at me a few times in disbelief. After a second, I broke down to a small giggle, the earth pony rolling his eyes in response. C'mon, Sparky, you know I'm not that petty... "But, seriously, unless the raiders managed to fix up that thing we killed to death in the face with C4, I think at best we'll only need Fyre's main gun for shooting HE shells to clear rubble in the crater. Most other stuff we can handle with what we've got already."

Rangefinder seemed to lean back on her hooves for a moment, biting at her lip as she drew in a breath. Okay, so, what, more than just raiders? Did they mutate from the radiation, or something? Oh, Celestia please tell me that that animatronic didn't mutate somehow too... "Well, that's the thing, there was a couple that passed through here a little while back, said they ran into you guys the first time you went to the Battered-Sea. They set off west to head back home, but came straight back here saying that there was... -something- living in the crater. Something really, really big and nasty, with glowing eyes, too. No clue what to expect, but if it's like a giant hellhound or dragon or something I do not want to be taking any chances. Have had the ammo cart working overtime to make a load of APBEBC rounds for Fyre just in case."

Well, on the upside, something legitimate to use the gun on! Or, well, not likely to have Static yell at me for shooting in the face with it, anyways. Looking over to the earth pony beside me, he seemed to think for a moment, before he seemed to turn as white as his mane, eyes wide and mouth loose. Um... not making me feel too good, Sparky. "Th-... the hoofprints, tracks, whatever, those giant dents left in the top of the sub we blew up... y-you don't think that whatever left those could be..." It took me a moment to remember exactly what he was talking about, but when my brain finally did find the right memory... yeah, the tank is pretty justified as having now, I think. Then again... we did set off two megaspells with it nearby...

"N-now hang on, Static, whatever that thing was we probably already killed it with the megaspells. A one-kiloton explosive shockwave is transmitted a lot further and with much more force underwater than through air, I'm sure it's probably just some little mutated creature that they mistook for being bigger than it is because of fog or something that's living out at the crater, nothing to freak out about." I let out a weak chuckle, Static not seeming to calm down too quickly - from the size of the holes that thing left in the steel armor of the sub, I really don't blame him. Still, don't think we should jump to conclusions so quickly, no sense getting the brown pants when we still have time to get weapons together and everything.

Rangefinder let off a small sigh, pulling the map off the dozer blade and folding it up. "Whatever it is, we're gonna have to deal with it either way. Get that taken care of and then I can radio back the all clear for the Battered-Sea, and ghouls can go and settle it. Nice to have you guys onboard for it, couldn't do it without your help. I still have a few things I need to prep for the trip, should be good to go in a day or two if you don't mind sticking around."

"I'm sure we can hang around for a while, we could really use a rest after that last whole trip. Besides, 'Mr. Cellophane' here still needs to pick up his fancy armor." Static shot me a quick glare that I answered through sticking my tongue out at him, us all getting back up on our hooves. Oh, c'mon, I said I'd call you that sooner or later~ The rumble of a large, heavy tank filled the air outside the eastern end of the railshed, the zony in the light tank ahead of it pulling open the doors and quickly parking her vehicle just inside, allowing the zebra in the much larger and longer tank to slowly trundle it in. It's front stopped a meter or so away from Fyre, Caution Tape shutting off her engine and climbing up through the interior. "And speak of the devil..."

The top hatch of the tank clattered open, the ghoulified zebra inside looking down from the tall perch at us, his eyes lighting up momentarily. "Ah, wunderbar, you've finally arrived! Ahm, one moment..." He ducked back inside as Static trotted up alongside the Deathtrap's armored sideskirts, looking up at the central turret. Heh, forgot just how big this damn tank was... almost as big as the TOG, probably a little lacking in the armor and anti-armor departments compared to it, though. Caution Tape popped back out after a moment, holding a mass of black and dark-grey fabric with an orange visor, wearing a grin. "Zhere we are, should be all fixed up und ready for use! I, eheh, did try to keep it as un-irradiated as possible... hopefully it's not too bad."

Static wore a grin as he gleefully looked over his apparently now-functional sneaky suit, pulling the zipper on the back open and climbing inside it. Well, guess I can't really blame him for wanting to wear it soon as possible. The helmet's softer parts filled out as the head of the earth pony fit inside it, the entire outfit covering up his coat and managing to even flatten that silvery mane of his. He poked at the helmet with his hoof for a moment, before the air seemed to shimmer around him, the earth pony completely disappearing from sight. I blunk a few times at where he was standing, only able to catch the faintest odd shimmer of light - well, it works. "Oh, boy, it is weird to be able to see straight through my hoof like that... I love it!"

"Heh, you're not going to be wearing that thing all the time now, right Sparky? I wanna be able to see your cute blue flanks at least some of the time~" I stuck my tongue out at him... I think, only to end up biting it in surprise as I felt a rubber-softened hoof suddenly poke me in the wing. Stumbling over - hey, wings are sensitive! - Static let off a giggle next to me, my view snapping over there only to find myself staring at a surprised Crash Dive. "Ach, oh for the love of- at least use it for important stuff, too."

"Important stuff, important stuff... oh, like sneaking a nice thick cushion over your cute flanks?~" While I couldn't see it, I'm pretty sure that Static decided it was his turn to be sticking his tongue out at me, his hoofsteps quiet against the concrete floor as he kept trotting around. If my face was cold before, that angry blush on it was heating it right up now. "C'mon, Strikey, I'm just having a little fun. You'd want to do the same if you had something as cool as this~ I bet I could even-"

We could only really watch Crash Dive as she suddenly stuck her hooves out to push against something vaguely pony-shaped, grabbing hold of it and hefting it over her head for a moment. The transparent mass let out a Static-sounding scream as it landed with a hard thump against the smooth concrete floor, Crash Dive looking down at it as the suit flashed back into vision, the earth pony inside of it laying on the ground, stunned. The power armored pegasus let off a light breath, glaring down at Static - well, I mean, at least she didn't thrown him through the roof. The orange visor faded to clear, Static letting loose a cough and recovering himself, still laying on the floor.

"Okay... point taken... don't talk while wearing this thing in stealth mode."

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. It's a beautiful winter morning out there today, and we've got some good news straight out of the town of Maple Station for you. The Vanhoover Five is finally back together again after long last, well, at least for the most part. According to the quick interview our informant station there could provide, Static Charge, Crash Dive, and Night Strike were all preoccupied over the last several days overthrowing the leadership of the town of ponies taking up residence at the Vanhoover Air Base, in probably one of the most bizzare coups I've ever heard of; the construction and racing of flying machines. Hopefully what this means is that whoever was flying the air craft they came down in has better luck flying them back home again, heh.

"The Vanhoover Five went on to explain that as well as overthrowing an apparently sexist cheating asshole of a leader, they also were able to eradicate the most recent band of mercenaries that had been sent after them, in what I can only assume to have been a spectacular display of overwhelming firepower and enough explosions to add an extra few kilotons onto the running tally they're racking up. Trust me guys, I'm pretty sure you've already won the postwar medal for most overall explosive destruction, heh. When pressed further for information, they declined giving it - suppose they had good reason to do so. We don't pry for more information than what somepony's willing to give here at Radio KAOS, let alone a group of ponies who've quite thoroughly demonstrated their ability to blow things up, heh.

"Unfortunately, one bit of information they were able to relay was concerning the town of Saddlebrook, nestled in the mountain ranges out to the west. To anyone who had family living there, I'm sorry to say that Saddlebrook has been completely razed to the ground by what the Vanhoover Five could only assume were the Harriers and whoever or whatever was in control of them. They went on to also say that apparently the town is now occupied by robotic dragons... at this time, we can only assume that there were no survivors. For the sake of the loved ones who have been lost in this tragedy, I sincerely hope that the Vanhoover Five will be directing all their efforts towards avenging the destruction of Saddlebrook, and bringing those responsible to justice. Make it as brutal as you can muster, guys, assholes like that deserve it.

"On that somber note, I think it's time I wrap up the morning news. You're listening to KAOS, and here's Roger Trotters with The Post-War Dream. Hope you can enjoy it."

Pulling the helmet of the stealth suit off, I took a breath, shaking out my flattened mane and stepping back outside into the cool air of the railyard. The bright morning sun shone down, warming the area up a bit as the rest of the group exited through the railshed doors. Carefully folding the smooth material of the helmet, I slipped it into my saddlebags as we made our way through town, taking another deep breath - I suppose one thing that’ll take some getting used to will be all that stale air in the helmet. “So, we’ve got a few days ahead but the rest of the day off for now. Anypony got a plan of what we should do?” I asked, looking at the others. Aerith shrugged as Night Strike shook her head, blowing air out from between her lips in a display of boredom and annoyance.

“Well, if it was up to me, I'd head out there right now. But nooooo, exploring ground zero of a megaspell detonation at some pre-war research lab, or, well, apparently anywhere, is ‘crazy’, and ‘suicidal’.” She grumbled a bit, shaking her head in anoyance. I rolled my eyes in response - I figured you’d rather be bored a couple days than heavily irradiated and dead, Night Strike. We trotted through town, passing by the shop district as ponies shouted from their stands to try and persuade customers towards their stores. One pair were arguing heatedly over the price of some rather suspect looking mushrooms, while I spotted another mare needing to repeatedly pull her young colt down from the counter as he reached for a few polished marbles on display at separate shop.

A familiar voice met my ears as we made our way through the railyard, my head turning to search around for the source. Admittedly, in a town full of ghouls and regular ponies, it wasn’t that difficult to spot a gryphon... Royce was facing off against a rather large stallion, both standing stalk still as they glared at each other. “I already told you, I ain’t handin’ over any caps to you, I won those fair and square. Not my fault your buddy never learned how to lose without pitching a fit like the spoiled brat he is. Now, why don't you piss off before I shove my claw so far up your ass you’ll be coughing up scales.” The stallion didn’t budge, still staring down at Royce as she stared up at him. Suddenly the stallion reared up, about to bring his front hooves smashing down onto the gryphon. She jumped to the side, whipping out a revolver from her holster, firing off three shots into his legs. The stallion gave a cry of pain, falling to the ground. He tried to climb back to his hooves, but they gave way almost immediately, leaving him lying on the ground, blood pooling in the snow.

Royce holstered her gun and let off a cloudy sigh as we ran up, looking over to see us approach. “Oh, hey guys. Just takin’ care of some business I had, I hope we’re clear now.” She said, turning back to the injured stallion and passing on a firm glare. The stallion nodded, tears streaming down his face as he carefully got back to his hooves, limping away pathetically. The former merc gave her shoulders a shrug, looking back to us. “Was just going to go kill some time at the shooting range, not much going on at the bar today. And Salty Straw stays I’m not allowed back in there until I’ve paid up my last tab anyway... wanna come with? Would be nice to see how well you shoot at stuff that isn't me-shaped, especially without an automatic cannon.”

“Eheh, yeah... I suppose we could tag along. Don’t really have much else going on anyway, and maybe we can finally actually try out that burst fire gauss rifle Serene was fawning over.” Night Strike suggested, rubbing at the back of her head. Royce tilted her head in a non-committal way before turning around and starting to walk towards the edge of town. We followed after her, passing underneath the railyard marshalling tower that acted as a sniper post at the far end of Maple Station, heading towards the north. Royce slid her saddlebags off of her back once we were standing at a low wooden fence that surrounded a pre-war farm. Reaching into her saddlebags, she pulled out several dusty, cracked dinner plates.

“Probably better you guys came along anyway. It’s not really easy to try skeet shooting on your own.” She handed the plates over to Night Strike and Areith before undoing the strap that ran along her jacket. It was only then I noticed the large gun that had been hanging onto her back. The rifle boasted a long, shiny barrel that tapered to a sharp point. Along the foregrip and barrel ran several large magnetic coils, several large wires and tubes running from the grip to the stock. Taking the gun in hand, Royce pressed a small button on the back of the hexagonal reloading mechanism. With a high-tech sounding whir, the piece rolled open, revealing four rather oddly shaped slots. Digging around in her saddlebags again, the gryphon pulled out a box of ammo, flipping it open to reveal several small glowing emerald cartridges.

Sliding the cartridges into place, Royce spun the chamber before sliding it back into place and lifting the gun up to eye-level. “Alright… pull!” Aerith took one of the plates in her magic and whipped it forward, watching it sail through the sky away from us. Royce tracked the spinning china before pulling the trigger on the gun. An explosion of plasma burst from the end of her gun, streaming through the air as a beam before smashing through the plate.

I stood, mouth agape as pieces of the plate rained down into the field in front of us. “What the hell kind of plasma gun is that?!” I looked back at the machine, the cylinder giving a slight click as the light on the back of switched from red to green. Royce simply nodded for another plate, and I regained my senses as Aerith tossed another one into the air. She fired another shot, the beam of plasma created by the gun dissipating quickly after breaking through the second piece of kitchenware.

“Beacon rifle. ‘s what I like to call it anyway.” Royce responded, as if that answer satisfied any possible questions I could have had. Another shattered plate later and she looked over to Night Strike. “Mind flying up and tossing some that ways? It’s not too hard hitting things moving straight back, you know.” Night Strike nodded, taking a few extra plates before beating her wings to become airborne. Hovering a few meters in the air, she tossed a plate like a Frisbee, Royce tracking its movement sideways before firing off another shot, the gun beeping and sliding open its cylinder to accept more of the cartridges.

“Where did you get it, though? And, really, how the hell is that gun firing plasma at such high speeds? The whole thing with plasma is you can’t get the mass to stay together after a certain speed, why else would any projectile move so slowly?” Royce shrugged as I watched her fit six more rounds in the cylinder, shutting the revolver rifle once again before taking aim. Her shoulder bucked as she fired another shot, leading her to rotate it a little to relieve the pain from the kickback.

“You don’t need to know where I got it. Just because we’re not going after you doesn’t mean we gave up on paying work completely, idiot. And fuck if I know how it works, our appraisal guy said something about highly dense packs of plasma, supercharged magnets, I dunno. I stopped listening when it was obvious he wasn’t talking numbers. All I know is it’s got a hell of a kick and needs these weird plasma crystal .45-70 rounds. Thank Luna Merlin’s good with that kind of stuff, I ain’t wasting my time figuring out how to make bullets for this thing.” Royce held up two talons before motioning to Night Strike. The Pegasus obliged, tossing a plate and waiting a few moments before flinging the second at a different angle. The first plate shattered as the others had, but Royce only managed to clip the second, sending a small chunk off as it spun in the air before landing in the snow below.

Grumbling a little, Royce reached into her bags to pull out a bottle of whiskey. As she popped the cork off, she noticed the large Gauss rifle Night Strike had discarded next to her bags before taking flight. Lowering her Beacon Rifle, she pointed towards the burst gauss with a talon, before lifting the glass bottle to her beak. “What’s that?” I lifted up the gun, allowing Royce to get a good look at it as I peered through the scope. Still looks the same as Jolts' scope, at least...

“Some gun we got off the other group of mercenaries that were after us. Some kind of cross between a gauss gun and an assault rifle, I think. Burst-fire action.” I pointed the gun out towards the field, steadying myself slightly before pulling the trigger. I immediately tumbled backwards as the gun let off five loud shots, snow being kicked up into the air as Night Strike squeaked with fright and dodged out of the bullets as I landed in the snow. And this is why I prefer my umbrella.

Crash Dive stepped over to me, taking the gauss rifle from my hooves as I recovered. “Give me that before you shoot Night Strike down like a pigeon. Argues non-stop about energy weapons on the way down here and can’t hit the broad side of a barn…” I brushed the snow off of myself as the power armored pegasus got a feel for the weapon, shifting it about in her grip a little. She placed a hoof on the crank, rotating it to a smaller double burst shot before waving to Night Strike. Night Strike hesitated for a moment, still a bit shaken from my attempt to fire the weapon, but soon tossed another plate into the air. Crash Dive followed it with the barrel of the gun, taking careful aim through the scope before pulling the trigger. The gun let off two quick zaps as the energy discharged and twin pins flew through the air. The plate shattered, a few pieces hit by the second pin practically turning into dust.

“I thought you said you didn’t like using energy weapons.” Night Strike said as she fluttered back down to the ground with now empty hooves, landing with a small plume in the snow. Crash Dive slung the weapon over her shoulder, securing the strap around her armor. Royce reloaded her gun, Aerith throwing a few more plates into the air for her to shoot at.

“I don’t like using them out of practicality, but I -was- trained to use them. I’m pretty sure any one of you trying to make use of it is going to either blow one of our heads off, or break the thing trying to get it to fire explosive rounds.” Night Strike looked a little taken aback. Well, I suppose she hasn’t really been on the receiving end of Crash Dive’s elitist attitude a lot. Crash Dive turned to leave, Aerith dropping the plates and looking a bit disappointed at being unable to continue shooting with Royce.

The gryphon seemed to take notice, her large wings carrying her over as she held her plasma revolver rifle by the foregrip. "Woah, woah, guys, what's your hurry? You only shot one plate, and I know you've got some guns other than that fancy Gauss Rifle, don'tcha?" Crash Dive looked at the muzzle of the Burst-Gauss as Royce pointed towards it, before returning her gaze to us. Aerith seemed to get a smile back on her face at the same time, Night Strike just seeming confused. I... guess she does kind of have a point. "C'mon, stay a while. I... really could use the company."

"I'm going back to the hotel, just to make sure I don't have to worry about any of you blowing yourselves apart with this Gauss rifle. Won't speak for anyone else." Well, that does make sense. Aerith wore a big grin as she hopped herself back over to the pile of plates, pulling her rifle and tommy gun out as well. Night Strike hung around for a moment, landing beside Crash Dive as she tracked her with her eyes. "You know where to find me if you need me, you can enjoy yourself in the meantime. We've got the rest of today to relax anyways."

"Ehm, alright, if you say so. You gonna stick around too, Static, or..." Night Strike trailed off, rubbing at the back of her head awkwardly. "Ehm... right, forgot that you kinda only use melee weapons. Well, I mean, you can still hang around, right?" Crash Dive trotted back into town as I looked over to the shooting range, seeing Aerith and Royce firing upon the same plate with near-simultaneous retorts of their rifles. Well... I -could- try hitting one of the plates out of the air with my axe... nah.

"Eh, sorry Strikey, I don't really think this is for me. Besides, I think we're running low on food anyways, might as well stock up on stuff while we're hanging around here." The dark-blue pegasus wore a faint look of defeat, her shoulders slumping as she passed on a nod. I let off a small sigh, trotting up to her and planting a small peck on her cheek. "I'll be at the hotel afterwards, then we can... I dunno, get a nice dinner or something, some actual decent food."

Night Strike wore a smirk as she returned the light kiss, taking to the air and hovering in place for a moment. "What d'you mean, Sparky, we've got plenty of food. The other half of a trailer of Sparkle-Cola, at least~" She let off a light chuckle as I answered with a sigh, shaking my head and watching her hover off towards Aerith and Royce. I turned to face back towards town, starting to trot back to the hotel. Oh, what am I gonna do with that pegasus...

The ground rolled along underneath us as we drove along the next day, a guitar melody emanating from Night Strike’s Pip-Buck and a medium-sized tank traveling behind us. I leaned out of the cabin of the half-truck, trying to remember the route we'd taken the last time we came through here - huh, maybe I’d actually be able to recognize it if I put my goggles back on, things look pretty different when they’re not all glowy. “You sure we’re even going the right way? I would've expected we'd hit that one town we got the goggles from by now.” Night Strike said, looking down at her map. She tapped the screen, causing it to fizzle a little as the small cursor indicating her blinked slowly across the virtual countryside.

“I could’ve sworn this was the way there. A couple dozen miles north of the camp site, right?” I turned as we passed by an old collapsed train tunnel that ran into the side of the hill. I glanced down at my own Pip-Buck for a moment, trying to determine our location with it. Why is it Stable-Tec seemed so particular in which locations it’ll automatically update? No old shack with a sparkle-cola guy in it, but it thought that overlook up at the hotel was worth marking for some reason.

'I'm pretty sure it was more of a straight shot west. I don’t remember passing near any more mountain ranges between here and Shady Shores.' Aerith said via-sign as she scanned the area around us, the roar of our own engine almost overshadoed by the echo from Fyre's. Well, horse-apples. I spun the steering wheel of the machine, the treads and wheels digging into the thin snow as I tried to turn us southwards, the sun already starting to dip across the horizon to the right of us. 'Well, I suppose it’s at least a good thing we left early now.' Aerith’s sign read. The sun cast long shadows over the ground as we drove along, the sky turning to a deep orange.

The tank behind us came to a stop as I made the turn, Night Strike looking over with me as the hatch above the driver's side swung open with a clatter of metal. "Hey, what're you guys doing? I thought you knew the way there!" A grimace came across my face as I sunk back in the seat, letting off a sigh. Stupid navigational skills, ya failed me... Night Strike picked herself up, hopping over to the back seat and moving behind me to the edge of the truck.

"Yeah, we do! Static's just not used to driving this road without wearing his magic-vision goggles, we'll be there soon enough! Just keep following, Rangefinder!" The tank ghoul pegasus gave a shrug and ducked back into her tank, myself letting off a small huff and looking to the route ahead. Stupid lack of properly maintained roads and trade routes and stuff... the dark-coated pegasus sat herself back beside me, rubbing at her neck and adjsting herself in the seat, the engine roaring as I pressed down on the pedal. The half-truck lurched forwards, us moving back alongside the railroad tracks as they headed towards the south, following them for a while.

As we continued to head for the coast and crested over a hill, I slowed down to see the land in front of us. Far off in the distance on the shoreline was a darkened ring on the ground, turning from the snowy fields and sparse forests surrounding it into a dark, dusty, debris-ridden field of dirt. What used to be the Battered-Sea power station was nothing more than a deep glowing crater, surrounded by a high rim of rock and scattered building materials. A section of the cliff had even been blasted away in the explosion, crumbling down into the sea below, the water sick and luminescent with radiation. Closer to the hill, however, sat the remains of the town of Hornsworth. The small suburb was spared complete destruction, as only part of it was close enough to the blast radius of the megaspell to receieve any of the debris rain. However, combined with the previous gas explosion, many of the streets were in total ruin. Buildings layed in pieces scattered over the road, the destruction only looking worse as you headed closer to the crater. Oh, sweet Celestia, I can't believe we're doing this...

I shut off the half-truck's engine, falling back into the seat, the tank behind us moving up alongside before shutting its own engine off. Rangefinder climbed out through the driver's hatch, climbing over the barrel of the long gun to drop down beside the tank, trotting over to us. "Well, there she is, Hornsworth and her Battered-Sea Power Station. Heh... might be better off calling the place the Glowing-Sea now, thinking about it. So, you guys you guys ready, or are we gonna hold the assault off until tomorrow?"

“We better set up camp here for the night. It's already late and we've traveled all day, we don’t have any good reason to go down into there now.” Crash Dive said, opening up one of the chests we’d moved into the back of the vehicle from the mini-tank’s trailer. She pulled out a few blankets from the chest, tossing one over to Aerith, as Rangefinder nodded and returned to her tank. Night Strike looked disappointed, looking longingly down to the town. She flustered some random syllables out, whining a bit.

“B-b-b-but… Megaspell ground zero! We're so close!” She complained, leaning forward onto the dashboard, staring down at the destroyed town. I shook my head, leaning back into the seat while Crash Dive trotted back up with the pile of old comforters. Aerith passed me one of the blankets, leaning up against the side of the half-truck's soft cab cover as she wrapped herself up. Oh, you can wait a day to go poking around some irradiated hell hole, Night Strike. I wrapped the blanket around myself as Night Strike pouted beside me, staring down at the town below us. Closing my eyes, I tried to drift off to sleep in the front seat of the truck. Well, I suppose I’ve slept in worse places…

My eyes fluttered open, my vision a near complete black. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, seeing Crash Dive and Aerith fast asleep in the cabin of the truck along with me. I rubbed my eyes a bit, yawning as I didn’t want to guess what time it was. Rolling over, I tried to fall back asleep when I heard a small explosion off in the distance. I sat up, my ear flicking a bit as I wondered if I’d really heard it. There was a pause before another explosion sounded off, coming from the bottom of the hill, at the edge of the town. I looked forward out of the windshield of the vehicle… only to realize Night Strike wasn’t sleeping in the passenger’s seat anymore. Oh, Celestia, you can’t tell me she really thought that was a good idea.

I threw the blanket off, climbing into the driver’s seat again. The engine roared to life, the vehicle shaking as I shifted the gears and began to head down the hill. There was some muffled grunts and complaints from the back seat as Crash Dive sat up. “What’s going on? You get spooked or somethin', earth pony?” She asked, shaking her head as she reached to put her helmet back on.

“No, it’s just one of our teammates decided that charging in alone in a radiation filled town was a really good idea! No points for guessing who!” I responded, trying to keep the half-truck on the sloping, winding road. Crash Dive cursed as Aerith slowly woke up as well, glancing about curiously. The vehicle bounced off of a few rocks as we headed down. We slowed a little as we came to the edge of the town, the roads already built with little room between the buildings even more narrow from the errant rubble now covering some of the streets. I slowed down a bit more, trying to listen over the clicking of my geiger counter for any more telltale explosions to find Night Strike. Oh, Celestia above, please tell me she's not... SLEEP-shooting!

Rather than explosions, however, I heard something give a raspy cry, and my stomach clenched as the headlights illuminated a pony-shaped form in the road - A ghoul dressed up in tattered raider gear, holding a beaten up hunting rifle. It gave another raspy call, lifting up the rifle and firing a shot off towards us. A loud ping of the bullet striking the front fender and ricocheting off filled my ears before I snapped back to reality. Speeding forward, I had just enough time to see the ghoul’s reaction before he fell under the vehicle, several loud thumps and the sick squelching of a body being crushed under twenty tons of metal filling the air as I plowed over him.

Aerith levitated up her guns, ducking down as she looked around for more ghouls from the back seat. A few more ran out from a collapsed shop, one wielding a large super sledge in its magic as another was firing off a sniper rifle. Aerith sprayed the ground with her tommygun, spraying up dirt and blood as the two ghouls fell to the ground. I spun the wheel, careening around the corner, only just managing to slam on the brakes in time to avoid crashing into a figure in a dark-brown rubber diving suit and brass helmet. Night Strike stood still, unaware of the sound of the ghouls behind us. “Oh, hey guys. 'sup?”

…I’m going to kill her.

The sound of my breathing echoed inside the brass helmet as I clumsily stuffed another round of buckshot into Thumper, shutting her breech and looking up at the big form of the Clydesdale in front of me. Okay, credit where it's due, even with the headlights being mostly obscured by those metal covers with the slit cut out, they sure as hell were bright... I trotted myself over to Static's side, the earth pony staring... well, glaring down at me. "Ehm, Static, you know that this place is in the heavily irradiated zone, right? Would've thought you'd be smart enough to get the other suit on before coming down."

The earth pony just sat there and stared for a long while, his mouth seeming to try and find some words to vocalize - take your time, Sparky, not much to worry about this close to the edge of town. A muffled feral scream caught my attention from behind the half-truck, myself bringing Thumper to my shoulder and aiming using her forward sight. Sheesh, it's like whoever designed these diving suits didn't expect somepony to have to shoot while wearing one... fair point. Eventually one of the ghoulified raiders showed themselves, charging at us with a lengh of pipe in it's mouth, quickly being dispatched by forty millimeters' worth of lead pellets. Whoo, these guys pop a lot more satisfyingly than the ones in Quebuck...

Static was still trying to form a sentence as I trotted over to the dead raider's corpse, whistling a small tune. Guh, eighteen years of listening to CONELRAD and you end up getting it all stuck in your head. 'Civil Defense is common sense. Ask your local Civil Defense office for a copy of the Family Fallout Shelter booklet.' Hah, maybe we should see if anypony had a fallout shelter on the outskirts of town here... "...when your white count's getting higher, hurry, don't delay. I'll hold you close and kiss those radiation burns away~ Crawl out through the fallout, baby, to my lovin' hooves, through the rain of Strontium ninety~ Think about your hero - when you're at ground zero! - and crawl out through the fallout back to... what the what."

As I finally reached the corpse of the ghoulified raider, the busted stock of another forty mil grenade rifle caught my attention on his back, along with a small satchel of ammunition. So, this raider ghoul had a... mostly alright grenade rifle on him, with ammo, and still decided charging us with a lead pipe was the best course of action. Okay... well, I mean, courteous of him to leave me the ammo, but, come on... The half-truck's horn beeped, catching my attention, Static angrily waving at me. Grabbing the ammo bag, I trotted back over, pulling the spent casing from Thumper and replacing it with a fresh one.

"Okay, can I just ask what the hell you're doing out here so early in the goddess-damned morning!? Don't you have the faintest sense of self-preservation!? Or even just the common courtesy of letting us know you're charging ahead into a bomb crater!?" Huh, never noticed how much Static liked to flail his hooves around when he was angry. I rubbed at the back of my... helmet, the earth pony letting off a sigh as the first few hints of daylight started to fill the sky. "Just, look, you could've at least woken up and told one of us!"

"Hey, I tried to! Not my fault you're a heavy sleeper... and I was so excited that I didn't really sleep. Eheh." Static just shook his head in response, starting the engine of the Clydesdale back up and letting it purr for the moment. I let off a breath, the glass of the helmet fogging up as I hefted myself up onto the back seat. "I was only going to stick to the outskirts of the town, clear out and scavenge whatever I could. I'm not that suicidal, Sparky... I'm wearing this suit too, aren't I?"

Static only responded with another sigh as he got the half-truck moving again, turning us back east and out of town. I leaned back in the seat, the metal of the helmet clunking against the metal backing, my eyes just staring up at the soft fabric of the roof. A bluish magic lit up the bottom rim of the helmet, undoing the few nuts I'd just about managed to fineagle into place to try and secure it, the alicorn sitting beside me pulling the whole thing off and letting me get a full breath of fresh air as we reached the winding road up the mountain. Whoof, yeah, that is a bit better... 'I'm really just surprised you were able to get yourself into this thing without our help. Would have thought at least one of us would've woken up to all the noise.'

I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my... head, yes, that's right brain, head, looking over to Aerith as she rested the heavy helmet on her lap. "Eheh, yeah, I kinda wanted to get down there soon as I could, so I just grabbed the suit and flew down until my pip-buck started clicking. Conveniently the radiation only starts to get really bad after you pass the welcome sign into town, slipped it on there and started walking. Think I was only down there for, I dunno, half an hour before you guys showed up?"

Static shifted the Clydesdale into a lower gear as the slope increased, having us crawl up the mountainside to the overlook we'd stopped at last night. I gave my wings a small flutter inside the heavy rubber of the suit - guh, well, feels better than having those damn weights on with it, but the constriction isn't really for me. Hope this doesn't take too long to get done with... or at least that Fyre is mostly radiation-proof. The earth pony in the front seat looked off to the side for a moment, before looking back towards us. "Let's just get back to the campsite, have some breakfast, and actually form a plan. And hope Rangefinder is awake, too..."

"Yeah, was gonna try and wake her up before I went in, but she's a bit heavier of a sleeper than Sensha was and her tank's got much thicker armor. Bet that the sound of her engine would've at least woken you guys up and got you moving." I let off a chuckle, resting back in the seat as the road levelled out to the overlook. Static turned the Clydesdale around before shutting off the engine, slumping back in the driver's seat while Crash Dive and Aerith both climbed off. I leaned myself forwards, resting against the back of the forward bench beside Static's head. "Hey, look, I'm sorry I ran in, Sparky. You know how I am sometimes."

He let off a long sigh, rubbing a foreleg against his forehead. "You've got that right. Well, I mean, at least once this is over, this'll be the last completely suicidal place left in this wasteland you want to explore. Guess I can take solace in knowing after this I don't have to worry as much about you causing me to lose you." He let his head roll to the side, meeting my eyes for a moment. Releasing a small sigh of my own, I leaned forwards and planted a light kiss on his cheek, passing on a nod. Alright, Strikey, this is the last place you can really go all-out, let's try and not do anything too monumentally stupid for Static's sake. Key word being try. Static sat himself up, shuffling over to get off of the Clydesdale, before looking back towards myself with a smirk. "I dunno about you, but I kinda found those suits to chafe a lot. Well, least everywhere besides my rump... how's yours holding up?~"

I passed on a look of confusion as he grinned, seeming to want to release a chuckle. "My rump? What d'you mean, Sparky, it's feeling fine. I mean, yeah, the rubber could've used some more cushioning than it-" And Static's snickering. It took me slightly longer than I want to admit to remember why my choice of words for describing the suit was a bad one.

"Thought you might say that, and forget to wear that, too. We are gonna have to, Strikey, navigating Hornsworth to the Battered-Sea took long enough without dealing with the whole place being irradiated and full of Celestia-knows-what. I don't think any of us could focus listening to you squeaking it up everytime you tried to talk to us~" Static hopped down from the half-truck, my face heating up to counteract the cold as I held on to the back of the front seat. The earth pony looked up towards myself as he was trotting off, wearing a smile. "So, gonna guess you'll just have your usual breakfast of RAD, right? Suit yourself, just reminding you that soda's carbonated~"

My forehead hit the back of the front seat, myself letting loose a long groan. This is gonna be a long day...

"Sounds like a good plan to me, Fyre's machine guns'll tear those raider-ghouls apart. Hell, means I can ride with some of the hatches open, too, always wanted a nice hot suntan~" Rangefinder wore a smirk as we sat around the small cooking fire, the food already eaten and preparations being made for the first charge. I was pretty understandably excited - then again, when there's a fifty cal belt-fed machine gun and a thirty cal MG coaxial to be used against soft targets like ghoulified raiders, can ya blame me? Static shuffled in his diving suit, the heavy rubber and brass of it squeaking as he got himself comfortable.

"Long as we can keep most of them in front of you, that'll do me fine. The half-truck isn't exactly endowed with armor, and I can't really use what speed it has if we're following behind you. You sure that this'll work?" I wore a wide grin, passing on a nod from inside the helmet to Static. Come on, putting me in charge of a tank's worth of armament, with my own going alongside? This'll be a cakewalk. Crash Dive fitted her helmet and rebreather on as Aerith helped Static into his own suit's helmet, Rangefinder passing on a grin to me as Static settled in his sealed suit. "I'm gonna try and keep some distance, so feel free to give it as much speed as you'd like and pull emergency stops if you have to. Faster we get through there, the better..."

"Oh, come on Static, we can't leave a town full of ghoulified raiders hanging around. We gotta make sure we're thorough in thinning the numbers out through the application of lots and lots of machine gun, shotgun, and anti-tank gun fire." I wore a grin that Rangefinder shared, Static responding with a shake of his head inside the heavy helmet. Aerith pushed some of the snow onto the fire, snuffing it out, as the suited earth pony made way for the Clydesdale's driver seat. I followed behind Rangefinder as she moved for Fyre, a strong beat of her old wings carrying her up ontop of the tall tank, landing near one of the opened hatches. I spread mine to join her... only to be reminded that they're currently inside a rubber suit not designed for pegasi. Great.

Letting off a sigh, I trotted up to the side of Fyre, using the long bar that supported the dozer blade on the front as a step to try and heft myself up ontop. Eesh, come on pre-war tank designers, why can't you have had all tanks have convenient side doors for easy entry? I mean, the TOG has 'em, Avery has 'em... Okay, that's only two, but still! The engine in the back of the tank roared to life as I wrapped a booted hoof around Fyre's 17-pounder gun barrel, pulling myself up the forward sloped armor to the top of her turret. I let off a huff, fogging the glass of the helmet slightly, the commander's hatch behind the .50 cal machine gun opening with a small clatter. Rangefinder stuck her head out of it, wearing a small smirk. "You're not too used to an M4, are ya? Come on, let's get you in and Fyre buttoned up..."

Rangefinder helped pull me the rest of the way in through the hatch, myself falling to the familiar position beside a seventeen-pounder's breech, the optics for the gun and mechanisms for rotating it inside the turret coming to rest gently in my hooves. Oh yeah, now this feels right... Rangefinder climbed past beside me on the left side of the turret, pausing at what was presumably the loader's position, the breechblock... Wait... was this gun mounted sideways? "I've already got one APBEBC loaded, gonna assume you know how to work this thing. I've got 77 rounds to spare, you're gonna have to load and aim though so just kick something to let me know you wanna hop to the top MG instead. Got it?"

I gave her a quick nod as she shuffled the rest of the way down into the driver's position, myself putting my eye to the gunsight... or, well, as close as I could. Stupid helmet... The engine roared behind us as Fyre gave a small lurch, the large tank starting to move forwards and crunch in the snow. I rested back in the gunner's seat for a moment, looking around the position. Okay... huh, not many outside optics on this thing, is there? Swinging myself around, I felt the tank's front dip down, steadying myself against the shield welded to the gun. Hokay, yeah, second thing of note, not used to this thing's speed, either... I hefted myself up from the gunner's seat to where the commander's was, hooves moving to the small periscope that poked up through the hatch... and getting annoyed at the helmet again. It's like they weren't expecting somepony to be wearing an improvised radiation suit in this thing... point taken.

Conceiting defeat, I pulled myself back to the gunner's seat, settling in. Okay, has been a while since I was last in the TOG... damn, must be a couple months, now... let's just see what I can remember. Gotta be careful to not smash the muzzlebrake against anything while we're in town, if nothing else - heh, now that part I remember. Okay... vertical wheel controls gun elevation, horizontal one turret rotation, that switch controls the hydraulic motors for traverse, and those two buttons on the floor must be for the main gun and coaxial. Bit different than the TOG, but I can work with it. Rangefinder brought us around the corner at the base of the ridge, heading in towards the town.

As we pushed on through the narrow rubble-filled streets, I slowly traced the turret back and forth, scanning the road ahead. Pulling back from the gunsight, my eyes fell back to the hoof triggers below me - mmh, probably should have asked which one operated which gun before Rangefinder got settled. Well, worst case, whatever I'm aiming at will just end up being -really- dead instead of just pretty dead. Assuming they aren't hiding around a corner of a street too narrow for me to bring the gun around to aim at them... stupid 55 caliber-length barrel. Well, at least the commander's hatch opens sideways...

Rangefinder slowed as we neared a pile of rubble blocking the road, stopping the tank a block away from it or so. Wearing a grin, I brought the 17-pounder on target, lifting it a short ways to get it pointed further down the road. Well, not the most exciting thing to shoot with an Armor-Piercing Balefire Egg, Ballistic Capped shell, but at least I'm justified in doing it. Not to mention it's an excuse to figure out which button fired what. Settling the gun, my right back hoof pushed down on the left trigger, it responding with a click... and the .30 cal machine gun mounted on the other side of the 17-pounder responding with a muffled spray of bullets and tracers, kicking up dust on the roadblock. Okay, left is coaxial, then. So the right...

With a satisfying click, the hammer in the breech of the anti-tank gun was released, flying forwards and striking the primer at the back of the shell. The propellant inside the brass casing ignited in the barest fraction of a second, exploding outwards and forcing the milled-down aerodynamically capped crystal down the length of the barrel at nearly a kilometer a second. The recoil dampeners caught the breech as it was flung backwards by the force, the spent casing ejecting and clattering to the tank's floor and the suspension taking the rest of the force imparted by the shell. The shaped balefire egg burrowed into the roadblock, before filling the road ahead with a blinding light, concrete and debris clattering against the front and turret of the tank. I peered through the gunsight, seeing the first hints of a mushroom cloud forming itself in the middle of the road, hooves still trembling as a pleasured sigh escaped myself. Oh yeah, I -really- missed that feeling...

Rangefinder let off a laugh as I leaned back in the gunner's seat, just about able to see her grin as she looked up towards myself. "Ha, figured you'd know what to do. Ammo's under ya, you wanna reload, I'll get us mov-" A loud thump hit the side of the tank, rattling the whole thing and sending my helmeted head against the metal wall of the turret. Oww... as if my tinnitus weren't bad enough, this diving suit rings, too. Rangefinder picked herself up, looking to me for a moment before taking ahold of her periscope and scanning around. "Ah, shit! Okay, change of plans, get on the fifty while I put another shell in, and if your friends are right on our ass tell 'em to back up 'cause I can't get the gun down that street. We got a lotta company!"

The ghoulified pegasus clambered up from the driver's position to the loader's, pulling another one of the 17-pound shells up from the floor and moving to fit it into the breech as I likewise moved up to the commander's hatch. Okay, turn this handle and push up, aaand we're out... and the gunfire's already starting! Bullets pinged off of the hatch doors as I let them both fall into their opened position, catches on the hinges making them act as some shielding as I poked my head up. Okay, sounds like the fire's coming from the left side, so-

Another blast rocked the tank, making the brass helmet clunk against the hatch ring and snap the commander periscope protruding from the right-side hatch door to full forwards position. Nngh, yeah, whatever that is, that bastard's SO dying first. Gritting my teeth and getting my bearings back, I saw Rangefinder pick herself off the floor and shove the shell the rest of the way in, the breech accepting the round with a familiar clunk. I forced myself the rest of the way up out of the hatch, hooves taking hold of the machine gun in front of me and racking the bolt to put a round in from the belt. Okay ya sons of bitches, Strikey's mad, so who wants a half-inch of supersonic lead to the brain first!?

Leaning myself forwards from the hatch to bet the gun around, the cluster of raider ghouls at the end of the road caught my eye, all of them opening up with their own cheap rifles and submachine guns. Funny how drugs and severe radiation poisoning can impair fear reactions. My booted hooves gripped the handles of the machine gun tightly, pulling the trigger and releasing the bolt, the first shot flying downrange as the second loaded itself in, a hail of gunfire filling the road. Dust, dirt, and debris was kicked up as I traced the fire onto target, just letting the fifty do its work and hosing down the group. A smirk came onto my muzzle as I saw one of them explode in a hail of firey shrapnel - woops, there goes mister missile launcher.

Fyre's engine roared beside me as she gave a lurch, starting to move backwards, myself still tracing fire down the street and hearing bullets pinging off her side armor. She came to a stop after a meter or two, Rangefinder bringing us forwards and angling us towards the corner in front, the fifty spraying a bit more of a smokescreen before I dropped back into the turret. Jumping to the gunner's seat, my hooves grabbed hold of the traverse controls, the turret swinging around to point down the road as the dust started to clear. The small dinks and pings of pistol-caliber rounds hitting the thick steel still filled the air, my back hoof moving between the two buttons while the sight lined up on one of the poor bugger's chests. Well, I mean, the coaxial -is- a little offset to the main gun, and I have no reason to believe the gunsight isn't perfectly zeroed in...

The right button clicked again as another milled-down balefire egg flew from the barrel, the ghoul raider and his friends vanishing in a sudden bright flash and mushroom cloud. The blast from the muzzlebrake and the shockwave from the explosion both echoed in the morning air, a certain pleasant sense of quiet replacing them as the sounds faded and mushroom cloud rose. I let off a sigh, leaning back against the inside of the turret, reveling in the sounds of Fyre's engine and the half-truck's motor behind us. A Royal Equestrian Ordinance seventeen-pounder, a fifty cal commander's machine gun, armor for days... makes me really miss the TOG.

I centered the gun back forwards as Rangefinder turned us back down the road through town, leaving the commander's hatch open. The engine rumbled behind us as I pulled another of the shells up from the floor, feeding it into the breech of the anti-tank gun. Huh, can't remember the last time I had to manually feed a shell in on the TOG's gun... dunno if I ever did, for that matter. Listening to the breech accept the new round with a satisfying thunk, I hefted myself back up to the commander's position, bringing a hoof over to get the fifty pointing back forwards. Leaning back on the hatch, the irradiated, destroyed town passed by, myself releasing a sigh and looking back towards the half-truck behind us. Welp, if we're lucky that was all Hornsworth had to throw at us... shame, I really wanted to use the gun on that animatronic.

The rest of the ride through Hornsworth went fairly uneventfully, unfortunately, myself able to spend most of it with my head sticking freely out of the commander's hatch as we pressed on through the irradiated town. The geiger counter on my pip-buck clicked intermittently as I drew in slow breaths of the outside air, just surveying the landscape visible past the rubble. Fyre's engine roared as Rangefinder put her into a lower gear, the dozer blade on the front shoving the debris out of our path and allowing us to finally move through to the outer edges of the town. I braced myself as the tank got over the pile, landing roughly on the other side before pulling forwards, leaning back to my previous position.

As my eyes fell upon the wasteland before me, I couldn't help but take in a quick gasp, eyes settling in on the greyed, disturbed earth and sick greenish glow before us. Trees, charred and bare, all were bent and uprooted to point away from ground zero, torn by the blast wave. The intermittent clicks from the geiger counter back in Hornsworth were slightly more frequent as we pushed onwards, the engine of the half-truck powering up behind me and pulling up alongside Fyre. I looked down from the hatch, pushing the right-side hatch door over to get a better look, Static facing up towards myself and quieting down the engine. "You're really blasting us with dust back there, taking on too many rads! We should be fine to travel alongside now we're out of the town, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's fine! Just stay where you are, and make sure we don't ram each other!" Static gave a nod before moving the Clydesdale off our side a few meters, still pushing on towards the remains of the Battered-Sea. The area affected by the blast only became more desolate as we pushed forth, the ground buckled and littered with debris thrown by the half-kiloton explosion. Celestia above, that's right, this was only five hundred tons equivalent, and a ground burst nonetheless... makes you glad we didn't try using one of the Lulus from the sub pen for this, eheh. Hoo boy...

As we approached the raised lip of the crater, the geiger counter's previously intermittent clicking was more of a steady stream, myself lowering down inside the tank to get the helmet's intake into somewhat less irradiated air, eyes still poking over the top. A thick, nasty fog lingered around the crater's edge, blocking out sight of the sea, the faint hints of reinforced concrete and steel, and shattered smoke stacks showing precisely where the Battered-Sea and Shady Shores once resisded. Rangefinder pushed Fyre over the crater lip, myself bracing against the hatch rim, finding myself staring straight down into the crater. Sweet mother of the ROQF seventeen-pounder...

The waves crashed and battered against the glowing bottom, the whole place forming a small new bay on the coast, the water down below sick and greenish-blue with intense radiation. Looking around as much as I dared to, with my legputer definitely far from happy that we're there, -something- out in the fog caught my eye. I stared out towards it for a few more moments, trying to catch it again. Nothing happened for a short while, until- there! That's it! A glowing beam pierced through the fog, dissipating out into the clouded-over skies as the source of it moved around in the crater. As if to punctuate it, whatever it was let off a completely unearthly roar, seeming to even shake the fog in the crater... I'm gonna try my damndest to not use that diaper I'm being forced to wear right now, but at least I have it on!

The top hatch clattered shut above me as I dragged both sides down, practically throwing myself to the gunner's seat and starting to scan the crater for whatever that thing was. An armor-piercing balefire egg will definitely ruin it's day, an armor-piercing balefire egg will definitely ruin it's day, an armor-piercing balefire egg will definitely ruin it's day... goddesses, I hope an armor-piercing balefire egg will ruin that thing's day! Rangefinder shot a worried look up to me before running Fyre's engine, the drive sprockets pulling the tracks backwards and us out of the crater slowly. Oh, why did Marchie and Norm have to be right about this!?

Fyre stopped on the lip of the crater, myself bringing the gun around as the red beam slowly made its way out of the foggy depths of the crater. Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me silly with a tank gun, come on out so I can put this shot into you damnit! The gunsight finally settled in on the creature emitting the light beam, the red glow obscuring its form for a moment. As it turned its head to look around, though... no...

I blunk a few times, just staring through the gunsight of the tank at the thing out in front of us, hooves limp on the traverse controls. Um... okay, no, maybe the perspective's just screwing with me, radiation can affect non-electronic optics too, right? Yeah, maybe... I leaned back from the gunner's position, trying to gather my thoughts back together. Okay, so... nnfh, yeah, it's just the gunsight, I gotta get an actual visual on this thing for myself. That seems like a sensible plan of action, and there is that fifty I can use, anyways... Yeah.

Shuffling back, I swung open the commander's hatch, poking my head back up out of it. My legputer clicked a little faster as the radiation from the crater started to hit me in fuller force once again, eyes peering through the fog at the creature slowly shambling around in the scorched earth. It finally reached the top tier of the crater, red glowing eyes scanning back and forth in the thinned fog and mist, pulling itself around on small hooves. And I couldn't help but laugh.

"Pfffffft, hey, Rangefinder, you think we can handle this one? Maybe-snrk, maybe we should call in the other tank ghouls! Oh goddesses, this is rich..." I let myself fall forwards as my hooves caught against the forward edge of the hatch rim, my own laughter echoing in the helmet and drowning out the clicking of my pip-buck. And to think we were all worried about some giant sea monster, that- that's just a friggin' baby anglerpony! Doesn't even look like it has armor! Oh, sweet Celestia and Luna above... "Oh geez, okay, heh, yeah, I'll-I'll handle it, don't worry. Night Strike to the rescue! Ehaheh..."

I hefted myself up out of Fyre as Rangefinder opened up the driver's hatch, sticking her head out to see the 'monster' for herself. Snickering and shaking my head in the helmet, I made way to the Clydesdale parked on the other side of the crater's rim, Static, Aerith, and Crash Dive all watching me in confusion. The earth pony rubbed his booted hoof against the back of his helmet as I started to go through my duffel bag, unable to wipe that stupid grin off my face. Lesee, Thumper? Eh, nah, you had your turn earlier today. War Crime? Well, maybe... the helmet probably helps with the tinnitus. Ahm... ah, Slicey McSparkface, that might do the trick. Oughta use you more often... oughta give you a better name, too.

"Ahm, Strikey, are you feeling alright? You're acting even more insane than usual... and that's saying something." Static rested back in the seat as he saw me pull the sword out, carefully balancing the flat edge of the blade on my back before meeting eyes with him. Another bout of giggles escaped me, myself only able to shake my head in response, climbing down from the Clydesdale. I paused for a moment as I was trotting away, before looking back and waving them to follow, biting my lower lip to try and hold a straight face. Easier said than done...

They all shrugged between themselves as they climbed off, following me around through the small trough Fyre made in the crater's edge to the inside of the crater itself. I'd like to think they were as dumbstruck as me when they finally saw what was making those menacing red lightbeams in the sky... I pushed on towards the mutant anglerpony, watching it try to be menacing and hiss at me. Ah, bless, poor thing doesn't even have its teeth grown in yet... Almost feel bad about this. Grabbing the handle of the sword, it crackled slightly in the damp, humid air of the crater, myself trying to remember what Static was trying to teach. Okay, so shift weight on the back hooves... compensate for the helmet... and hold the sword out straight. Night Strike; sea monster hunter, has a nice ring to it...

I brought the sword up high over my head, the unlucky anglerpony hissing at me again as it still failed to recognize it's fate. The heavy blade came swinging down, a muffled gory slice parting the mutant creature down the middle and sizzling its insides, the blade's tip burying in the radioactive mud and dirt of the crater's edge. The light beams from the eyes lingered, almost disturbingly long, myself pulling the blade free from the earth and wiping it down with a booted hoof. Placing it back onto my back, I wore a grin, picking up the corpse of the mutant baby anglerpony. "Well, guys, crater's clear! We can just say it was a giant sea monster that I took on in an epic melee battle, right?"

Aerith was happily clapping her hooves together for me as Static and Crash Dive both elected to bring a forehoof to the front of their helmets, shaking their heads. Oh, come on, lemme have this, we're already famous enough that no matter what somepony's gonna say we're awesome. Hell, I might just have to keep this thing and find somepony to have it stuffed, a reminder of the epic showdown where I went one-on-one with a gigantic anglerpony, down to my sword and went and sliced it's belly clean open, ripping one of the babies out on the end of my blade... okay, that might be a little too graphic. Still, though! I chuckled, starting to carry the split-open baby anglerpony back to the group, the earth pony already looking a little squeamish as I got close. I rolled my eyes in response, shaking my head. "Oh, c'mon Static, we've seen wor-"

The tremendous sound of a roar filled the air behind me, echoing up from the crater and causing me to stop dead in my tracks. Everyone else seemed frozen in place as well, eyes wide as dinner plates, staring off into the fog behind me. A loud thumping sound filled the air, the ground rumbling underneath our hooves as I turned to face back towards the crater's bottom, something REALLY big and nasty starting to take a silhouette in the fog. It stopped for a moment, my brain still trying to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. In the few parts that weren't trying to process the sight of an actual giant sea monster before us, well, at least the terrified sarcasm part of my brain still worked...

"Hey, Rangefinder, can I see Fyre's gun for a sec? I need to... live up to my catchphrase."

The creature roared again, myself rushing back towards the safety of Fyre as the rest clambered for the Clydesdale, the resulting retreat being probably on the far side of undignified. Aerith was first to reach her guns, starting to light up the monster with her Chicacolt Typewriter and bigger rifle, with Crash Dive being second to start sending hunks of rebar at the creature. The Clydesdale's engine roared as Static got it moving behind Fyre, turning and speeding back a far ways as I finally got myself up into the commander's hatch, the gryphon sword clattering into the tank behind me. I don't know what that thing can do, I don't WANT to know what that thing can do, I just know that that thing needs to be dead in SO MANY WAYS RIGHT NOW!

The many heavy hoofsteps from it rattled the tank as I grabbed hold of the fifty, letting off a scream that echoed in my helmet, the trigger levers releasing the bolt and emptying a spray of armor-piercing and tracer bullets out at the sea monster's hide. The rounds that I could see the flightpath of just seemed to harmlessly ping off, however - not to mention make that thing even angrier. Oh-ho-ho, fuck me with a fuel rod so hard right now...

Rangefinder threw Fyre into reverse as I slammed the top hatch shut, jumping on the gunner's seat instead and immediately starting to bring the turret around. Fyre's suspension bounced as we raced across the blasted landscape, my hooves doing their damndest to keep the gun level enough for a firing solution - then again, when the target's THAT big, not as much of an issue. The crosshairs lined up on part of the creature, a sickly greenish-blue glow coming from something in front of it, piercing through the fog and illuminating its face... as if I wasn't already terrified enough!

The 17-pounder beside me cracked out with a shot, the armor-piercing balefire egg seeming to impact the creature and detonate in the familiar blinding flash, another roar letting loose from the injured beast's mouth. I jumped from the gunner's seat, bracing myself as Rangefinder swerved in the rubble, grabbing hold of another shell. Bringing it up to the breech, I slammed it home, clambering back for the gunner's seat and looking back through the gunsight. Instead of the monster, I was afforded with sight of the Clydesdale rushing around, the burst-fire gauss letting loose in Crash Dive's hooves as Aerith brought War Crime into the party. Okay, aiming the wrong way, then!

My hoof flicked the switch for hydraulic traverse, the turret swinging around to point off Fyre's other side and back at the monster. It seemed to be following the Clydesdale with it's gigantic eyes for the moment, me finding myself staring deep into the black voids that they were. My breath caught in my throat, rear hoof resting against the triggers for but a moment, another angry roar and sudden jolt as Fyre ran over something bringing me back to my senses. Get ahold of youself, Strikey, this is your chance to, yanno, actually kill a real sea monster! Yeah, that's nice... fuck me...

My rear hoof slammed the trigger again, the 17-pounder throwing the three-inch-milled balefire egg straight at the giant anglerpony monster's face, detonating right between the eyes. It let off a piercing shriek of pain that could be heard inside the tank, myself jumping back to the turret floor to grab another shell. As I managed to wrestle it out of the rack, Rangefinder threw Fyre into a hard turn, myself falling forwards and knocking the round's nose hard against the steel interior of the tank. The milled crystal started to glow and vibrate slightly, a dry swallow going down my throat - fuck aiming this one!

Throwing the active round into the breech, I jumped on the gun seat, barely looking through the sight before my back hoof hit the trigger. The armed round flew from the barrel, myself only checking what the gun was pointing at after it had left. What I did see was the Clydesdale sihlouetted in front of a balefire egg explosion... I am so going to have to make that one up to them, oh my goddesses, I nearly- FOCUS, DAMNIT! Thanks, brain. Climbing back, hooves still shaking, I pulled another shell up from the floor, this time managing to put this one home without arming it prematurely. The turret swung back around, myself catching sight of the monster again... the giant teeth attached to it's face even more alarmingly big thanks to the scope's magnification. Boy, I'm glad I'm wearing a diaper.

It lunged forwards as fast as it could to try and catch us, which wasn't really all that fast but when it's a couple tons of flesh, muscle and bone flying at you it sure seems pretty fucking fast! Fyre's main gun let loose again, the round seeming to hit the teeth and ricochet a few times before detonating and taking half of the monster's jaw with it. I let off a small sigh of relief, just reveling in the fact that it won't have as many things to rip us apart with... before Rangefinder started having to swerve Fyre about, giant yellowish spires raining from the sky as the creature let loose another roar. On second thought, explosions plus teeth made out of razor blades and spikes probably doesn't mix too well.

The teeth that embedded themselves in front of us snapped in the dirt as Fyre ran them over, myself jumping down again to get another round. Come on, this bastard's gotta have some sort of breaking point! Uh... wait, if I can land a round in an eye socket, that might get close enough to the brain. Maybe. I don't have many options here! The round slammed into the breech as the turret shook, gears and motors grinding in protest as the gun presumably hit against one of the teeth scattering the ground. I caught myself against the turret's side, clambering to get back into place - oh goddesses, sorry, Static can pay for repairs! The gunner's seat fell under me once again as I turned off the powered traverse, bringing the gun to focus on the sea monster's face once again. Gotta aim for the eyes...

The radio behind me crackled as it picked up something, my hoof hitting against the trigger and loosing another shell. To my dismay, and horror, this one fell a little short, just managing to completely blind the creature instead of killing it. Okay, no, I can take another shot, thats fine! Jumping back to grab yet another one of the rounds, the whines and static over the receiver at the back of the turret finally turned into a coherent voice, one I found myself pausing at hearing as the next round settled in. "Aye, you guys're havin' a party without invitin' me? Hope ye don' mind if we cut in!"

I sat at the back of the turret, stunned for a moment, a loud thump heard outside. Jumping to the gunner's seat, I stared through the optic, just managing to catch a non-balefire-egg explosion against the monster, watching it recoil in pain as the shockwave passed through. Hooves moved to the controls again, lining the crosshairs up against the gory hole left where its eye was, myself drawing in a deep breath. Okay, one more shot...

Time seemed to slow down as the trigger clicked, myself watching the bright greenish tracer the milled crystal left in the sky as it flew, another blast rocking against the side of the creature. The shell vanished in the blood and gore of the thing's destroyed eye, a bright flash illuminating the thick skin from inside before half it's face exploded outwards in a shower of gore, painting the crater from green to red. Another few regular explosive shells peppered the skin, tearing new holes, the whole monster slowly falling to the earth. It hit with a heavy thud that was felt through the tank, a dust cloud kicked up in its wake obscuring sight of it. The explosives volley sustained for a few moments after the giant anglerpony went down, myself just sitting in Fyre, silent aside from the sound of my breathing.

Rangefinder watched the dust settle outside for a few long moments with me, before I stood and moved backwards to the commander's hatch. The steel doors clattered aside above me as Rangefinder opened up her own hatch, a certain silence befalling the crater as we just looked on towards it. The Clydesdale pulled up alongside us, Static shutting off the engine and sitting silently as well, Crash Dive and Aerith staring on at the vanquished creature. The clicking of our pip-bucks fell to a steady tick, myself falling back against the hatch ring and tapping the metal a few times. I dryly swallowed, breakng the silence, the thrum of an engine in teh distance barely heard.

"I think... I think that's enough excitement for one day."

Volare!

I leaned out of the side of the Clydesdale's driver's seat, staring over at Night Strike as she hopped down from Fyre. Crash Dive and Aerith stepped out of the back of the vehicle to look over the damage as I caught my breath. Rangefinder popped her head out of the top of her tank, staring down at the rest of us and letting off a huff. “Well, I think I can scratch slaying some twisted creature out of Steel King’s books off of my bucket list. ‘course, I don’t think that was on my list this morning either, but it’s off either way.” Stepping out of the half-truck, the rubber of my diving suit squeaked a bit as I hopped to the ground to look over the dead monster. Even if half of it's head hadn’t been blown apart by the tank shell, it was almost impossible to discern what exactly the thing had been before the rads had gotten to it. Flesh bulged in irregular places, creeping through large plates of shell. Protrusions, whether they were limbs or feelers, it was impossible to tell, were twisted and entwined with each other. I gagged a bit, feeling a bit of stomach acid creeping up my throat as the smell finally hit my nose through the helmet. Yeah, hurk, yeah, I’d rather not vomit inside a bowl please.

Aerith walked up, lifting up one of the teeth that had been knocked loose. Even the splintered section stood almost as tall as she did, the enamel stained red from blood. “Sweet Celestia, I get that radiation and magical experiments did pretty weird things to the wildlife, but, well…” Night Strike said, looking at the beast. She shuddered, turning back to Rangefinder. “Let’s hope that was the only one. I don’t think I’d need to try killing another one of those. So, uh, you sure you guys don’t need our help on anything else?” Rangefinder trotted up to the destroyed head of the monster, poking at it with a stick while covering her muzle with a hoof.

“Well, it probably wouldn’t hurt to try and move it out of the center of town, but we should be good otherwise. I think we scared off the others, and it won’t be too hard setting up some kind of perimeter until more ponies come in and help fix this place up.” Rangefinder responded. She lifted up one of the pelvic… at least, I think that’s the pelvis, fins of the large fish creature, getting a better look at some of the thick exoskeleton covering most of its body.

“Alright, any idea how we’re going to tug this thing? The Clydesdale’s strong, but I don’t think it’s that good, even hitched up with your tank.” I said, still trying to make heads and tails of the beast. It… didn’t have two heads, did it? You’d think without the fog it’d be easier to tell. As if to answer my question, I heard a loud horn blast through the air behind me. Clutching my chest to reassure myself that my heart had not stopped beating, I turned around to see some sort of... wait, that not-a-tank's familiar... oh yeah, that's the thing that B-Company and Scouring left in. One pony in power armor popped his head out from behind it, waving down to us as the machine slowed to a halt.

Climbing out of the hatch and hopping down to the irradiated scorched mud, he landed with a thud and kicked up a ring of dust, geiger counters clicking. Power armor servos whirred as he stood back up, and he strode over to us, the rest of his company climbing out of the tank. “Good t' see you guys again. Gotta admit though, I would’ve expected you guys t’ leave an airfield with some fancy flying machine, not a half-track on steroids.” Scouring commented, admiring the Clydesdale.

“Oh, trust me, if Static would’ve let me bring the Stork along, we would’ve been shooting grenades down from a hundred meters up to take out that thing.” Night Strike answered, grinning widely for a moment before faltering. “…then again, seeing how Fyre’s guns didn’t really do anything but piss it off at first...” She shuddered again, cutting herself short. The others walked up to us, Crimson’s signature plasma caster hanging off of his armor. “Well, anyway, what're you guys doing back here anyways? I mean, dunno if the rangers know or not, but the Battered-Sea and Shady Shores, and all the tech that was there is now kinda..." Night Strike gestured towards the crater, the power-armored stallions looking towards it.

Crimson stepped forwards, still looking towards the crater. "Orders from the lead Paladin, we've been keeping tabs on you guys since we left. Thought that it might be better for our appearance if we followed in your hoofsteps, kept going around the wasteland helping ponies out. Also felt that the Vanhoover Five ought to be five again, having Scouring with you was at least making ponies believe we weren't all drunk explosive-happy morons..." The ranger with the missile launcher... Decisive Strike? That sounds right - trotting over.

"C'mon sarge, that was only that one time! We haven't been back to Maple Creek in months, they've probably already forgotten about us." Crimson passed on a glare towards Strike, the steel ranger Knight taking a step backwards. "Er, well, anyways, yeah, you guys're gettin' Scouring back. You're actually kinda hard to track down, Sweets was on the radio all day just tryin' to get a read on you. Tried tellin' him that a tank's radio can't pick up Radio KAOS, but, eh, I guess it worked out in the end."

Night Strike wore a smile in her helmet, passing on a nod as Scouring draped an armored hoof over her shoulders. Vanhoover Five it is again... she turned her attention back towards the crater, and the giant corpse in the middle of it. Oh, right... "So, think your guys’ little artillery there would be able to help us drag this thing back over to the water? Rotting corpses generally don’t make for good community centerpieces, eheh.”

“Ah, sure, but sooner we get outta here, the better, yanno? I’d still like to have kids some day, eheheh...” Sweets responded, looking about nervously in his helmet, a few bottles of Rad-X poking out of clearly stuffed saddlebags. Night Strike rolled her eyes, waving a hoof dismissively as she trotted back over to our truck to dig around for a length of chain. Pulling out the one normally used to secure the trunks full of ammo to the trailer, Night Strike wrapped one end around the hitch of the vehicle before starting to trail it over to the monster.

“Pshhht, my dad’s been exposed to more rads than I can count and he still had a kid, same with Static's. Hell, he even did it with another stallion!... unrelated to the rads.” Night Strike said, lashing the chain around one of the larger legs of the monster, twisting it about to ensure it stayed secure. As Sweets went back to retrieve some tow cable himself, Aerith walked over to the chains already tied around the monster. Her horn glowed, the links binding to itself to create an even stronger tangle of flesh and metal. “Alright, let’s hope we don’t just accidentally tear the legs out of their sockets, or something.” Night Strike tugged on the chain to test it, the leg barely moving an inch from her pulls.

I hoisted myself into the driver’s seat, Crash Dive helping Rangefinder tie up the cable to Fyre and the Avenger. The engine of the Clydesdale roared to life as I carefully turned it around, pulling forward until the chain snapped tight. Scouring hopped into the back along with Aerith and Night Strike, setting himself down on one of the ammo crates. The rumble of my engine was soon joined by the deafening roar of Fyre's and the Avenger's, all of us starting to slowly trundle forward. The engines strained as the tracks dug into the ground, trying to find purchase and pull the hefty beast. I leaned forward, as if that would assist the movement of the half-track. Slowly, agonizingly so, the monster began to slide slowly along the ground. The beast rolled over slightly as the chains pulled straighter, a trail of blood being left behind as it was dragged along.

I urged the Clydesdale onwards, the engine whining in protest as it strained to keep the carcass moving. The tanks were clearly having issues as well, each barely helping to move it forward as time went on. “Come oooooooon…” I grunted, the tracks seeming to spin uselessly in place. Suddenly, with a loud snap, one of the links popped apart. The wheels suddenly caught, sending us careening forward. Instinctively, I slammed on the brakes, which only caused us to skid forward on the dusty ground, my visor growing foggy as I panted. We slid to a stop, Aerith coughing as she inhaled some of the radioactive dust cloud kicked up by our sudden halt. I leaned out of the window, looking back to see Rangefinder and Crimson popping their heads out of their tanks.

“Fuck, you guys alright?” Rangefinder asked, her frayed mane blowing about a bit. I nodded, Rangefinder glancing back over her shoulder at the corpse. “Ugh, I don’t think we’re going to be able to move this thing. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised it was able to move above water on its own as is. That armor it's got has to be at least a few tons.” She scratched her head, looking to Crimson for ideas, who merely shrugged in response. Sighing, she continued, “Alright, you guys can head out, I don’t think we’re going to be able to move this thing. I might need to radio over for some of the other ghouls to help out, maybe one’ve them will have some sort of idea what to do with it... Mad Jack’d probably suggest eating it, assuming we don’t get a swarm of bloatsprites on this thing too soon...” Rangefinder started talking to herself, clearly no longer paying us any attention.

I turned to Night Strike, who gave me a noncommittal tilt of her. “She’s right, I don’t see what more we can really do. Besides, I thought you were the one who wanted to get that generator back to the lighthouse a-sap.” Revving the engine a couple times, I began to speed off, the chain bouncing on the ground behind us as I made my way southwards. The somewhat lush vegetation that had been growing along the coast before was now little more than a dusty plain. Here and there blackened skeletons of bushes stood, their branches charred and sickly.

It was nearly impossible to see anything more than a dozen feet in front of us, the air filled with a dense brown fog of dust and dirt. Even without my goggles, the desolate landscape seemed to glow softly, as if it was somehow lighting a path for us to follow through it. Night Strike reached into her saddlebags to pop the cap off of a bottle of Sparkle Rad, bringing it up to her lips. The top of the bottle clinked softly against her helmet, her eyes crossing to look down at it. “Oh, yeah…”

“Well, my Pip-Buck says it should only be about half a mile or so.” Night Strike said, looking between her map and the cracked road we were trundling along. Rocks lay among small craters, having been launched several hundred yards from the force of the megaspell blast as I tried to navigate the barren fields. “I could’ve sworn this guy’s shack was closer than this, though... you don't think the blast actually moved his whole house intact, do you?” Peering off into the distance, I spotted the silhouette of a small wooden building, nestled by some corpses of burnt trees. I brought the Clydesdale to a stop in front of it, looking over the shack. No signs of any flash shadows, so I guess that’s one point in the favor of the conspiracy guy surviving... Honestly kind of surprised the building’s still standing at all, really. We climbed out of the vehicle, Night Strike striding up to the door confidently. “I’d like to see this guy deny megaspells now! He practically had front row seats to that thing!” Yeah, Strikey, that’s assuming he’s not a pile of ash right now.

Opening the door, it revealed a scarred and flayed stallion, who looked up from a block of wood he was whittling. He looked up as we entered, looking slightly miffed. “Oi, you guys ever hear of knocking? And what the heck’re you doing dressed up like that, anyways?... Ah, fine, come in. I suppose you’re here because of our bet, right?” He pushed his chair back from the table, standing up. My eyes widened a bit, taken aback to see the stallion walking about. He stepped over to a bulky safe, bending over and beginning to spin the dial back and forth. With a ‘clunk’, the safe door popped open, revealing a scroll, along with a small pile of caps and a rather curious looking glass orb. “Alright, hand ‘em over and I’ll stick ‘em in.”

I stopped for a moment, my mind trying to register what he’d just said. Aerith looked equally confused, tilting her head as her mouth opened for a rebuttal that never came. “Aaaahahaha, sorry, what?” Night Strike finally responded, stepping forward. “You are joking, right? You can’t possibly still think megaspells are a myth! We detonated one two freakin' miles away from your house! What in Tartarus did you think turned you into beef jerky?!” She said, waving her hooves maniacally as she spoke. The stallion’s expression turned sour again, pulling into a sneer as he walked up to us.

“Might I remind you about the terms of our bet? You said if you set off some magical megaspell, then you’d get my recipe. Well, I didn’t see no megaspell detonation in the past week, I don’t see no giant monsters crashing about like them ministry folk said what’d happen when they went off. And it just so happens I got careless near the fire. Some big wind came and knocked the burning logs into me. Thank you so much for reminded me of the burns.” The stallion retorted, still glaring at us. “Now, are you handing over my caps, or are you here to insult my intelligence again?”

Night Strike’s eye began to twitch as she stared wordlessly ahead. Her hoof started to creep towards Thumper, but I stepped out in front of her before she could proceed with giving the stallion’s walls a fresh coat of paint. “Aaaaah, about that, sir. Look, we would be more than happy to fulfill our end of the bargain, really, honestly, we would. But, well… a million caps is hard to come by, even for us.” I began. The stallion still looked skeptical, but was no longer giving us the same look he would give to a radroach he’d just crushed under his hoof. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve been selling guns to towns as war profiteers. We have 20,000 caps on hoof, along with this.” I dug into my own saddlebags to pull out the recipe we’d retrieved at the sunrise sarsaparilla factory, nodding to Crash Dive to head back to the truck for the money. “Now, this is a completely unknown flavor of soft drink, brand new, never before tried by ponykind since before the war. I’d say you slap some new brand name on this, and you’ll have a multi-million cap company in a little over five years. Possibly three, given your clear shrewd business sense.” I gave a small smile, one crossing the stallions face as he relaxed a bit.

“However,” I continued “Considering the value this will have, along with our 20,000 down payment, I think it only fair you trade something as well. This may have been a bet, and you did say that if you were turned into a ghoul, you would pay up too. And, really, how valuable can that RAD recipe be anyway? They may be rare, but it won’t take long before someone figures out the right combination of ingredients from the bottle labels, and then that will be little more than a bit of uncrumpled trash.” The stallion’s frown faded, to be replaced with a look of serious concentration. “Trust me, you take this, and you’ll have enough caps to buy out any competitor.”

The stallion thought, looking down to the scrap of paper in my hoof, then back to his safe. Night Strike was off in the corner, trying not to have a mental breakdown as Aerith attempted to calm her as well. “Done.” The stallion swiped the paper from my hoof before turning around. He rolled it up, slipping it into his safe and pulling out the RAD recipe. He handed it over to me as Crash Dive returned with the bag of caps. Money changed hooves, and the stallion locked his safe before walking back over to his table to sit down with a smug smile across his face. “There, now, aren’t we all happier now that we’ve lived up to our word?”

Night Strike fumed, stepping forward once again as Aerith tried to tug her back. “No! No I’m not! What kind of crazy pony do you have to be to think megaspells aren’t real!? You saw one! What did you think that shockwave was, a strong updraft from the coast?! For Luna’s sake, you’re a GHOUL! A ZOMBIE! YOUR GENES ARE MORE TANGLED THAN A CAT WITH A BALL OF YARN! WHYYYYYYYYYYY AAAAAARE YOOOOU SOOOO INSAAAAANE!?!” She leaned forward onto the table, panting as the glass of her helmet fogged. We all stared at her in shock, her breathing slowing as she stood back up, leting off a sigh. “Okay. I’m done now. Have a nice day Crazy McCrazyton.” She turned, heading back out of the door.

We followed after her, all piling back into the Clydesdale. Night Strike put her hooves to her helmet, shaking her head back and forth. “How somepony like that exists, I will never know…” The engine roared to life as I turned around, heading back to the road that led to the lighthouse. Night Strike picked up the recipe we’d gotten from the stallion, looking it over. She glanced over to me, calming down. “Hey, uh, thanks, though. I’m still not really sure how you managed to convince him to give us this. I know I don’t have what it takes to deal with nutjobs like that.” She chuckled a little, stowing away the recipe.

“That nutjob also doesn’t have what he took, either.” I giggled. Night Strike looked a bit confused before I whipped out the recipe for the new sunrise sarsaparilla. Her jaw fell open as she stared at the scrap of paper, utterly dumbfounded. Stammering, she looked back to the others, hoping they would provide an answer, but they all shared the same look of surprise as she did. “H-how? W-what? I don’t even…” Her voice trailed off.

I simply tapped my muzzle in the helmet, grinning mischievously. “Your little burst of anger what pretty helpful, Strikey. I almost thought you knew what I had planned. And before you harp on me for being a heartless bastard, I did leave him the caps. I’m sure he’ll be able to buy all the conspiracy texts he wants with that, assuming he doesn’t go even more crazy looking for the ‘misplaced’ recipe.” Night Strike only shook her head, grinning a bit as she pulled up her Pip-Buck, switching over to the radio as I sped off.

"Baby if I made you mad
For something I might have said
Please, let’s forget the past
The future looks bright ahead
Don’t be cruel to who a heart that’s true
I don’t want no other love
Baby it’s you I’m thinking of"

The sky was now an inky black, dotted with stars as we pulled up outside of the old military outpost we’d rested at before. Off in the distance, the sick green glow of the Battered-Sea crater illuminated the north behind us, sending a large, irradiated beacon to the sky. Pulling up to the gate, the engine switched off with a click, the rumble dying in the night air. I reached up to pull off my helmet, taking a deep breath of the fresh, cool air before hopping off of the Clydesdale. The Geiger counters attached to our Pip-Bucks had long stopped their frantic ticking, the ground now only slightly charred from fires following the blast of the bomb, some snow even finding place on it. I began to pull the heavy suit off of myself with Aerith's assistance, peeling it away as the sweat from my coat caused it to stick rather uncomfortably. Night Strike began to take off of her own suit, shaking her tail a bit to fluff it out after the several hours it had spent wrapped up in rubber.

Aerith stretched as she stepped off of the back of the truck, cracking her neck at the same time Crash Dive and Scouring removed their helmets, both of them taking their own gulps of fresh air. Night Strike yawned as we all made our way indoors, feeling through the hallways of the main complex. The doors squeaked as we entered, the sound of our hooves against the stone floor echoing through the hallways. I stumbled over to one of the beds, yawning as I did so. Off in the distance, thunder rumbled as we climbed into the cots, the old springs squeaking as they took our weights. I buried my face into the pillow, taking a deep breath as I slowly nodded off to sleep. Just a few more days, and we’ll have that plane fixed up...

I can’t wait to get home…

"...and I know we'll meet again, some sun-ny, day!"

"That was the wasteland's sweetheart, the great Dame Vera Lynn, and you're tuned into Radio KAOS on this fine, clear Vanhoover morning. Weather feels like it'll keep up this way for a few days yet, so hopefully everyone out there can find the time to take advantage of it, heh.

"Moving on to today's news, for those of a ghoulish disposition living in the northwest areas, or son't mind a particularly long walk, there's a new settlement being pieced together just up the coast, matter of fact I think I can just make out the bright glow from it all the way over here, heh. Former site of the old Battered-Sea Power Station, now renamed to Glowing-Sea, appropriately enough. One of the tank ghouls of Maple Station, Rangefinder I believe her name is, she got the assistance of all she could find of the Vanhoover Five to help clear out that old bomb crater, and far as I know currently her and her tank Fyre have been working without end to try and make the crater a little easier to navigate, heh. Anypony looking for a place to call their own, well, if you don't mind living in the middle of a bomb crater, Glowing-Sea is certainly now an option for you.

"Speaking of the Five, from as far as I can guess, it seems as though they're all making their way back home today. Last were reported heading south from Glowing-Sea on their newest little toy, an apparently much biger half-track than they had previously, heh. Along with all their usual cargo is also apparently the wing and engine from a, um... ah, Bo-26, I think, so to the pilot whose aircraft was shot down by Hopeville a while back, well, looks as though you won't be grounded for too much longer. Here's to you four of the five, hope the rest your trip is a litle less irradiated, heh.

"You're tuned into Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful Vanhoover morning out there today, and I think I'm feeling in the mood for some classics. For those on the road, finding a new home or heading back to your old one, here's The Wanderer, heh. Enjoy."

"Ergh, Tia on a bike, I can't even seen the sub pen yet. You sure you have this thing in top gear?" The sun was hanging high in the eastern sky as we pushed further south, leaving the boot camp and irradiated wasteland surrounding Glowing-Sea behind us. I had my forehooves resting on the top of the windscreen, letting the crisp morning air and breeze catch in my mane and wings as we traveled - woof, after spending all of yesterday cooped up in that suit, it is -so- good to be able to feel the wind against my coat and feathers. You'd have to be some kind of nuts to wear one of those things for longer than you have to... Lookng to Static, a quick glare of annoyance was returned by the earth pony, myself swaying a little on the seat cushion.

"Yes, I'm sure I'm in top gear, or at least as high a gear as I'm willing to go while taking this thing off-road. Remember that we've got at least a ton or two of stuff on this thing's back, and it's a lot bigger than the mini-tank, Strikey..." The Clydesdale dipped a little as it passed over a rather sizable snow mound, the tracks and road wheels catching it smoothly as it moved down the other side. Even then, I still had to brace myself against the window frame as we landed, a notably annoyed grunt coming from Static. "And even though it is bigger and you can put the top down, that's not an excuse for you to be standing up like that while we're moving. Keep your cute flanks on the seat, please."

I let off a huff, leaning against the window frame for a moment longer to get another cool blast across my face. "Psh, fine. But only 'cause you called 'em cute." Dropping back onto the cushioned bench beside Static, the movable canopy that covered the Clydesdale's crew compartment moved back into place in an aura of blue magic, Aerith securing it back in place over us. I let one of my wings stick out the side of the half-truck, still at least enjoying some of the breeze. "So, anyways, ahm... the Valkyrie. When it's fixed, I don't think I can just fly it straight back home."

"Erm, why's that? You want to get back home as much as I do, don't you? I mean, we are probably gonna have to ditch the megaspells to fit the weight of the gold in, but after that it's just a straight shot north until we see NEAMO crater." There was a mildly satisfying thunk as Static's muzzle made the horn beep again courtesy of Crash Dive giving his head a light shove, the earth pony recovering and snapping around to glare at the power armored pegasus. She glared back, and Static turned his eyes back through the glass. "Okay, gold and Crash Dive, too. Still."

"Huh. Starting to make me wonder if I haven't hurt your head one time too many, or did you just happen to forget about the fact that there are still three Harriers flying around with what's left of my former squadron piloting them, and they're quite obviously not beyond razing an entire town for what I can only assume to be shits and giggles." Crash Dive kept that annoyed glare on her face, Static's expression becoming a little less annoyed and a little more horrified. Scouring and Aerith both blunk at each other, before looking to Crash Dive and myself in confusion.

"Er, you talkin' about Bridleshade, or... somethin' a bit more recent?" Scouring seemed the faintest bit worried as he adjusted himself in his seat, Crash Dive leaning back and rubbing at her temple. Neither of them knew about... oh, well, duh, they weren't there and we didn't tell them. Nuts.

"Saddlebrook. Big parallel electrical scorch marks, houses blasted apart by prolonged fuel-air-explosives shockwaves, and a robo-dragon population. Had the pleasure of having to fight one of those while also flying a home-built aircraft at the same time... was a fun few days after you left." Scouring and Aerith both wore furrowed brows as we pressed on, Static weaving the Clydesdale along the shoreline. The few old trench lines and fortifications of the sub pen poked up on the horizon, myself letting off a quiet huff. Okay, they might not've been the reason I was thinking of originally, but, they're still a pretty damn good reason for sticking around. "Apparently a lot of the Vanhoover Air Base had moved there before it was hit, too..."

The cabin was sient for a few moments afterwards as it seemed to sink in, the drone of the massive engine in the front of the half-track filling the air. Static turned us to travel between the two trenches looking towards the north, the concrete walls of the sub pen pockmarked with bullet holes and a thoroughly blasted-through blast door. After a while, Scouring cleared his throat to break the silence, some shuffling of power armor heard. "Aye, well, uh, anyways... So, uh, huh, now where'd you guys pick up a Gauss rifle like this from? Didn't think any of you'd be one for energy weapons-"

"NO! We are NOT having that argument again!" Scouring and Aerith both jumped as I had the little outburst, the faintest hint of a smirk forming on Crash Dive's muzzle. Looking between the alicorn and steel ranger for a few moments, I let off another sigh, falling back in the seat and looking ahead. The beacon of the lighthouse flashed steadily in the distance, my eyes falling shut as a cool breeze blew through the half-truck's cabin.

Almost home, Strikey...

"Sweet Tia above, you guys actually stole this thing from Turbine?!" Contrail and Marigold rushed over to the sides of the Clydesdale as we approached the lighthouse, and the one visible and other invisible vehicles resting there. The Pancake sat with the damaged prop removed and laying off to the side, otherwise being largely intact as far as I could tell, with a few odd drifts off to the opposite side partially revealing where the Valkyrie was in all of it's still-tangible self. The pink-maned earth pony stared up as Static passed on a nod, eventually bringing it to a stop between both aircraft.

Marigold hung back a few paces, before eventually trotting up to my side, resting her forehooves on the running boards as I stood up to hop off. A wide smile hung on her muzzle as she looked back at the cargo bed, before turning her eyes towards mine. "You know, I'll admit I wasn't expecting that you'd be able to find what the Seaddler needed at all, let alone in decent condition. It's as if the war never even touched the Seafalke, all those years... Thank you, all of you, so, so much. You don't know how much this truly means to me."

I returned her smile, Aerith and Scouring starting to remove some of the stuff placed on the cago bed, setting it on the ground. "Ah, it was nothing, really, it's just what we do. I mean, we did sorta have to build and race our own flying machine over the course of just a few days, which we also unfortunately had to leave there, but, well, helping ponies, that's what comes naturally." The ghoulified pegasus let off a light laugh, giving her head a shake as she turned and moved to look back over the wing and engine we'd retrieved. I trotted alongside her, one of her old wings moving to wipe at her eyes.

"Hmh, you don't say. It'll take some work to get her fully functional again - had the engines modified to run on steam awhile back, makes sorting out fuel a lot easier - but just having an actual complete engine to work with, home's feeling a lot closer already. If there's anything I could do for you to repay you for this, anything at all..." Aerith trotted around the rear of the Clydesdale, wearing a grin and waving a hoof to get our attention, and beckon us to follow. Marigold returned a look of confusion, a smirk falling on my muzzle as I nodded her along - I've a feeling she might like to see this, if it's what I think it is. I mean, would be a little silly trying to find the main battery leads when you can't see what you're working on...

Contrail trotted up beside us on the opposite side of the half-truck as Aerith continued on to the innocuous-looking drifts a few meters from the shoreline, where the 'minefield' supposedly was. The earth pony pilot scratched at the back of his head, pushing his goggles up to get a better look. "Yanno, didn't really pay too much mind to it a'fore, but those snowdrifts over there... ain't really natural-lookin' are they? You guys have somethin' over there ya didn't tell us about?"

A faint chuckle escaped myself as I caught Scouring and Static looking over the generator mounted on the Clydesdale's cargo bed, the unicorn levitating out a massive spool of cable from a compartment under the deck. Contrail and Marigold both seemed to watch on in confusion, the ghoulified pegasus' expression taking on a look of confused realization as they both watched the end of the wire travel out towards the alicorn. "Heh, well, something like that... Aerith, if you would be so kind."

The alicorn nodded in acknowledgement, before bracing her hooves in the snow and alighting her horn. A bright, brilliant flash of magic filled the air in front of us for a split second, the light fading to reveal the sight of that beautiful triangle-winged jet bomber parked in the snowy field. Here's hoping that leaving her outside for so long didn't cause any worse damage than she already had, eheh... both pilots gawked at the sight of the aircraft, myself lifting a forehoof to gesture towards it. "Contrail, Marigold, allow me to present mine and Static's own aircraft, the only one-of-it's-kind R&G Manufacturing XB/A-1, the Valkyrie. Just kept it hidden for security purposes, this thing is the reason we wound up down here in the first place, and really our fastest ticket back home, heh."

"You... we... R&G Manufacturing, I... sweet Celestia, this thing has been here the whole time!? And it still works?!" Marigold paused for just a moment, before charging forth towards the now-visible bomber that Aerith was dragging the cable over to. Contrail, for his part, only seemed to let his flanks hit the snow and continue staring at the massive jet. Oh, c'mon, it's not that much more impressive than the Dragon Mare... well, than the Dragon Mare was, anyways. Trotting over to meet with Marigold, I found her staring wide-eyed into one of the engine intakes, before climbing herself atop the wing and looking down into the cockpit from above. "This is... that's a Mark 27 Weapons Control maneframe, they only used those on Raptors... twin-linked tesla cannons in a full-traverse turret, too? And those have got to be MWT Bofors in the cheeks by that barrel size..." Her attention turned towards me, eyes wide as she looked down from the right-side wing. "Why didn't you say something about this sooner!? This thing is amazing!"

"You think the outside's amazing, wait till you've seen what this baby has on the inside. We kinda... caused an Empty Quiver alert to trigger when we first arrived, heh." The access door opened with a small hiss as Static and Aerith headed for the underbelly of the Valkyrie with the cable, Marigold hopping down from the wing and Contrail finally pulling his brain back together and trotting over for a closer look. Climbing up the small stairway the door created, I brought myself back into the cockpit, taking a deep sniff of the frigid, stale air and exhaling it in a breath, flopping into the pilot seat. Alright, that little stop-over at the Vanhoover Air Base at least made a few of these things a little easier to understand... how was I supposed to know that 'flaps' on flying machines means things that come out of the wings to provide more lift at takeoff? Like, they could've used some other word for them... 'up-goer thingies', maybe.

Marigold pulled herself into the cockpit next, looking around the cramped interior, eyes wide and mouth agape. A dry chuckle escaped her lips as she turned her attention to the control panel in front of me, looking over it with quite a bit more understanding on her face than I could hope to have. "Damn. This thing's miles ahead of the Seaddler on the tech front, too... I knew that some of those fancy military jets could break the sound barrier, never been inside one before, though. Where'd you take this off from? Fort Mac? Um, somewhere by Stalliongrad, or the Crystal Empire? Or maybe some airbase in Yakyakistan? It's been so long since I've seen something this big that had an airspeed indicator that reached mach numbers."

"Uh... Sunrise Castle Air Base, actually. Few kilometers north of EQUAD and Trotisk, if you know where those are. Somewhere a few degrees away from Topatow, magnetic north." Again with Stalliongrad and the Crystal Empire, Equestria's got some land claims and cities further north than those places, yanno! Hell, if it took Rolling Tracks almost two centuries to get from Stalliongrad to Quebuck in War Mare... and that's a worrying thought, actually. War Mare is a -lot- faster than the TOG... oh, I'm sure she spent some decades helping ponies out in the northern wastes at some point. Just focus and try to remember that a dead unicorn who was apparently Dad's adoptive mother told you while you were lying unconscious and injured from a fuel-air bomb explosion that he's coming to find us.

...you know, now that I've thought that sentence out loud in my head, it really does sound crazy, even for me.

Marigold's eyes seemed to light up as I spoke, another small chuckle escaping her. "Heh, really now... I thought for sure that everything aside from the Inuvik would've been irradiated beyond saving, on the continent. Only had seen those places on maps before, didn't really think they existed, even before the war. Sure are a stubborn species, aren't we?" She rested one of her hooves on the side of the pilot's seat, letting off a quiet sigh and looking at the control panels. Inuvik... yeah, never heard of that place before. Sheesh, the wasteland... the PLANET is a lot bigger than I could imagine. The ghoulified pilot seemed to look intently at the control panel for another moment, before a chuckle of disbelief escaped herself. "That can't be right... that indicator there, beside the four engine temp guages, that says 'VTOL Engine'. There's no way in tartarus this massive thing could be a VTOL craft, I mean... I've seen a lot of military aircraft in my time, hell, I've seen ones ten times the size of this one, only craft that can be VTOL-capable are the Vertibucks and those Harriers."

A smirk came to my muzzle, leaning back into the headrest. Yeah, and a boat as big as the Seaddler could never possibly fly... "Oh, trust me, this thing has VTOL, and it works... well, it worked when we took it off the first time. Granted, I think I remember passing out because we probably hit supersonic in around a second, but I definitely remember us vertically taking off from inside that sub-hangar." Marigold wore a bemused smile and shook her head, chuckling lightly. A small roar could be heard echoing in from outside, myself looking out the canopy and catching Scouring standing beside the generator on the half-truck. White puffs came from the exhaust as he gave a wave and nod over to the Valkyrie, Marigold turning to catch what I was seeing as well. A small chuckle escape me, looking back to the control panel. "Once this thing's repaired, I suppose I could prove it to you. Though, thinking about what trouble it got us into the first time, maybe a traditional takeoff for the first would suit me better... we're gonna need a runway. Crap."

Marigold glanced between Scouring on the half-truck and myself a few times, the clatter of hooves climbing up metal steps signifying Contrail's entrance into the Valkyrie's cockpit. The gasps of astonishment... yeah, pretty much was expecting those. Marigold looked at myself for a few moments, confused. "Repaired? You mean... what do you mean? This thing can repair itself if you hook it to a big enough generator?... Oh, that explains why you asked me about that awhile back..." You know, it is the faintest bit fun to watch somepony piece things together with some thinking. She tapped a forehoof against her chin, glancing around the cockpit. "But, why does it need repairs? It looks like you landed it on it's wheels just fine, at least from the outside."

Sinking into the pilot seat a little, I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my mane. The sound of electric fans whirring to life filled the cockpit a moment later, the canopy glass illuminating as code scrolled across it, instruments on the panels flickering to life. After a short boot-up sequence, the lines of code were replaced with red text, along with a... battery symbol. Contrail trotted forwards, Marigold leaning aside as he started to read off the display in front of us, and I... tried to not look guilty. "Multiple mechanical and electrical faults detected: probable cause, crash landin' due to pilot incompetence. Recommended action; find new pilot. Onboard power supply insufficient to operate necessary repair talismans fer critical systems. Please leave chargin' and allow repair talismans t' operate for one week before attemptin' t' take off again... Whoo, least ah had the excuse of gettin' myself caught in a megaspell blast. This thing's so fancy it could land itself, if ya asked it to..."

Marigold's muzzle bore a smug grin as she looked over towards myself, my wings attempting to keep my face hidden. Stupid fancy pre-war bomber jets... "You know, I always thought that pegasi were supposed to be natural-born flyers, including ones piloting aircraft. Don't tell me you're trying to prove me wrong..."

"Hey, in my defense, it was a thunderstorm when we came in! I learned stuff about this piloting thing at the Vanhoover Air Base, I can take her off and land her properly now, without crashing! Probably!" Contrail jumped slightly at my outburst, Marigold releasing a chuckle as my cheeks were almost certainly as red as Minty's eyes. She shook her head, turning to squeeze past Contrail and head for the doorway.

"Oh, relax, everypony has at least one crash. Granted, their first isn't usually inside a pre-war multi-billion-bit experimental jet attacker, but, hey, long as you learned something from it..." The ghoulified pegasus let off a light sigh, climbing out of the cockpit, the sound of her hooves fading as she trotted away. Contrail responded with a weak chuckle, giving a small apology before leaving as well, myself falling back in the pilot's chair as the red warnings hung on the cockpit canopy. What I learned from my first crash of a massive fixed-wing aircraft...

Well, it's an easy way to get an extra-long vacation, for one... thanks, brain.

"Good early morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio KAOS, and it is an absolutely beautiful night out tonight, if I do say so myself. Not a single cloud in the sky, no breeze to speak of, and above all a wonderful view of the stars overhead... heh, and the location of Glowing-Sea. Think I have the town's tagline here, 'Largest night-light north of Vanhoover'. Think of all the tourism, guys, heh...

"In actual news from across the wasteland, out of Maple Station comes word that the Seaddler is not long for being a fixture on Hopeville's waterfront now, as the Five have done it again and gotten the parts needed to completely repair the old flying boat, following her being shot down by Hopeville's air defense several weeks ago. Here's hoping you fine stallions and mares don't go and accidentally shoot her down a second time after she's repaired and airworthy again, unless you want the Five to come and take your guns back from you. Your fault for having the trigger-happy ones on the guns, heh...

"Speaking of the Five, I'm quite happy to also report that they're apparently finally on the way to getting their own long-disabled air craft airworthy again. I wasn't supplied with a proper estimate on when they'd have it completed, but knowing them, so long as it doesn't go up in a megaspell-scale explosion, I'd say they've got it well under control. For those of you who operate the anti-air guns in Hopeville, Vanhoover, and Maple Station, I sincerely hope you can recognize the Five's massive black triangle from the Harriers, I know I certainly wouldn't want to be one to piss off a bunch of ponies with a megaspell-armed jet bomber, heh. I'm sure they wouldn't even think of doing something like that, but, hey, better safe than sorry...

"Anyways, that'll be all for tonight, and I'm heading to sleep here. Before I go, here's a nice, short Roger Trotters album, for any of you night owls and early risers wanting something to listen to on this beautiful crisp winter morning - The Final Cut. Goodnight, Vanhoover, and enjoy."

I've never really been a morning pony, but there are just some things that'll get me moving no matter the hour. Sparkle-Cola, Sparkle-Cola RAD, the promise of getting to use the TOG's gun for killing bloatsprites... adrenaline. And forgetting to turn off my pip-buck's radio. Somewhere, faintly, off in the distance, somepony was calling something out over the howling wind outside. I couldn't quite make it out, but there was a small pause, before he repeated, yelling angrily - "Oi! Get your filty hooves off my desert!"

Static said something - I think, couldn't really hear him over... that... sound... I know that sound. I've heard that sound before. Loud, whining, roaring, echoing, shaking the tunnel about us, the mini-tank's engine straining to get us to the other end as a metallic shape landed with a heavy thud outside the entrance. I found myself staring at Static's sleeping head on the pillow beside me, the heavy covers over us, but the sound of that jet flying over, and then-

An explosion filled my ears, heart racing and breathing ragged, myself leaping from the bed and letting loose a terrified scream. My wings carried me into the wall of the bedroom with a thud, eyes still trying to put together why everything just looked like our normal room back in the lighthouse while my brain was telling me to try and find somewhere to not die from a massive explosive shockwave, ears really not helping the already entirely confusing matter as a string orchestra played out somewhere. Another few, shorter, panicked screams left my lips, Static sitting straight up in bed, fumbling to get out from under the heavy comforter and over to me.

His hooves wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me into a hug, the screams stopping and breathing slowing as the info my eyes and ears were sending to my brain finally took precedence. I blunk a few times, looking around, finding myself staring into Static's worried, frightened eyes. Heavy, clonking hoofsteps thundered down the hallway before the door opened with a slam, the force making both of us jump and drawing a quick yelp from me as Crash Dive, Aerith, and Scouring all stood there with their weapons drawn, scanning the bedroom. I'm... I'm fine, I'm safe. I'm not bombed and dead.

Crash Dive scanned the room a few more times before finally relaxing, looking towards myself with fright in her eyes as well. Huh, I don't see that too often... "W-what happened, Night Strike? Why were you screaming like that? Are you alright?"

Shuddering breaths escaped me as I gulped for air, Static's eyes still looking to mine. Slowly, things quieted, and we could all hear the legputer on the night stand emitting music. "...And Luna, over lunch one day, took a cruiser with all hooves - apparently, to make him give it back." It faded into the next song, myself staring at the pip-buck - my pip-buck - resting on the small bedside table.

"I left my radio on... I left my radio on. Heh. Eheh. Eheheh..." Nervous laughter left me for a few moments before I let my head fall to Static's shoulder, pulling the earth pony into a tight hug against myself. My eyes wrenched shut as laughter gave way to tears, pressing against the earth pony and letting the waterworks flow. He gently started to rock myself back and forth as we sat on the floor of the room, rubbing my wings with a hoof and just letting me get it all out of my system. I just left my goddess-damned radio on...

After a short while, I was eventually able to pull myself back together, everyone heading for the kitchen. I guess terrified screams because of a completely rational fear of being bombed is a good wake-up call for everyone else, too. Static gave me a light kiss as he helped me onto my hooves, staying to make sure I was alright for a moment before trotting over to the nightstand. I rubbed at my eyes, wiping away tears and getting the last few shudders out, sniffling in and hearing as the music stopped.

Hoofsteps came back over to me, the blue earth pony wrapping a foreleg around my neck and passing on a reassuring smile. He paused for a moment, looking to the side, before moving over to my duffel bag and bringing out a glowing blue bottle, pulling the cap off and passing the fizzy drink over to me. A few small laughs escaped me as he moved back beside me, both of us heading to the kitchen as the first sip of RAD met my lips. Taking a long gulp, I let off a sigh, staring down into the bottle. RAD helps fine with physical injuries... not mental.

The sooner we destroy those fucking Harriers, the better.

The lights of the kitchen shone in through the open doorframe as I helped Night Strike back to her hooves. Her legs wobbled slightly as she did, her breaths deep and deliberate, eyes watching the floor in front of her. We carefully made our way to the table, Scouring, Crash Dive, and Aerith following behind us slowly. Night Strike slid into the padded bench on one side of the table, leaning back as she took another breath and closed her eyes. I stood beside her, unsure of what to do. Why'd she just start screaming like that?... “Static, why don’t you go outside with Scouring and see how the Valkyrie's doing, or something? I can take care of Night Strike for the moment... just, come back if we call for you.” Crash Dive wore a worried look as she slid into the booth opposite Night Strike, Aerith's magic bringing over some bottles of Sparkle-Cola and setting them down on the table. I looked over to Night Strike, opening my mouth to speak, but unable to think of something to say. She gave a bit of a smile, leaning herself forwards and passing on a nod. Our eyes meeting for a moment, I reached up and gave her hoof a gentle squeeze, before turning to head out of the door behind Scouring.

Sea breeze blew around me as I headed down the couple of steps onto the grassy peninsula. The sun was starting to crest in the east, turning the sky a lighter blue as the last hints of night passed over the ocean horizon. Waves lapped at the cliffs and along the landbridge, the salty smell of the ocean reaching my nostrils as I made my way up towards the mainland. As I crested the hill behind the steel ranger, he was already tending to the cables running between the generator mounted to the Clydesdale and the broken down Valkyrie. Even in the early light of morning, it was clear the repair talismans were beginning to work by the faint glow about some of the electronics in the cabin and the cracked glass of the windshield slowly mending itself. Scouring looked back towards myself as I drew nearer, flipping a panel on the side of the generator shut. “Mmh, well, looks like leavin' her running all night did the trick, think we could disconnect if we had to. Ahm... everythin' alright with Night Strike?"

“Y-yeah, I... I think so. She probably was just having a bad dream or something, probably a flashback to the time Minty tried his hoof at using Cross' Welrod, eheh. Lot of lost Sparkle-Cola that day.” I responded with a weak chuckle, trying not to let Scouring catch the hint of worry in my voice. He answered with a nod, climbing up into the back of the half-truck, where Contrail and Marigold were both waking themselves up. Marigold nodded to me in acknowledgement as I leaned against the big forward drive sprocket for the tracks. “So, ahm, how’re the repairs going for you guys?”

Contrail leaned back on the back seat, stretching his legs out and causing the joints to crack. “Pretty well so far, they sure built the Flyin' Pancake sturdy. Just need t' find somepony to uncurl the propellers an' form 'em back into shape, and ah oughta be able t' take her off again. Heh, were lookin' over the Valkyrie after ya went to bed last night, kind of wish we had some of those repair talismans for our planes...” He sat up straighter, Scouring sitting down across from him. “Also were lookin' over the engine and wing ya got for the Seaddler. Surprised you could actually make that thing run on steam, ah always figured a steam powerplant'd be too heavy to fly.”

Marigold wore a smirk as she sat back, leaning out the side to look at the end of the engine strapped to the back of the Clydesdale. "Never underestimate a bit of pre-war Equestrian know-how. Miracle the anti-air fire missed the reactor, honestly, if that'd been hit... well, let's just see to getting this to Hopeville. We should get there relatively quickly on this thing, right?"

I gave her a small nod in response, looking back towards the loaded bed. “Yeah, of course. We'll set off for Hopeville while the Valkyrie’s busy fixing itself, just gotta disconnect the cables and wind them up. It’s probably charged up by now.” The ghoulified pegasus returned a smile as I turned to follow the long pair of wires leading from the generator to the Valkyrie. Soon getting underneath to the opened bomb bay doors, and the exposed electronics panel, I examined the electronics of the vehicle, my hoof running along one of the wires as I followed it through the tangled mess that lay beneath the hatch. Finding its connection, I took hold of it and gave it a quick yank. The whirring of the mechanics died down to a gentle hum, myself letting off a small sigh and tracing the other power cable inside. Pulling that one free, I was able to close up the maintenance hatch, hearing Scouring shut off the large generator on the half-truck as well.

Rolling the wires up around my foreleg, I trotted back to the Clydesdale and tossed the heap of cable up into the back, the power armored unicorn starting to spool it back up underneath the truck's bed. Looking back towards the lighthouse, I spotted Night Strike stepping out with Crash Dive and Aerith, the three heading up to meet us. I trotted off to meet them, moving myself alongside Night Strike while the others moved on ahead. “Strikey, are... are you feeling alright, now? You just... are you alright?” Her eyes met mine for a moment as we trotted along, breaths condensing into small wispy clouds in the cool morning air. She gave a small nod, catching her breath and putting on a light smile, stopping beside the Clydesdale.

“I’ll be alright, Static. I just... needed some time to calm down. I'll be fine... thanks, though.” She sat in the seat beside me as I hoisted myself up behind the controls of the vehicle, leaning back in the seat. I returned her smile, starting up the engine to the Clydesdale as she turned back around to look at the others. “So, what's the plan of action for today?” Shifting the gear of the machine, I began to trundle forward, turning around to head eastward away from the coast.

“Dropping off the engine and wing for Seaddler, should be a quick trip.” I said, scrunching my muzzle a bit afterwards. Bluh, don’t want to jinx this before we even get started. The engine roared as we drove along, smoothly crawling over the snowy ground as we pushed towards the road. I cracked my neck a bit, my mind starting to wander as we drove along the familiar path towards Maple Station and Hopeville... I could really go for some donuts right now.

We slowed as we neared the edge of town, the familiar food stand and Hotel standing before the cluster of buildings making up the small shoreside community. The streets were somewhat busy as ponies trotted about on their daily duties, myself carefully turning to make our way towards the lake’s edge where Seaddler sat. As we turned down the main street while meandering through the town, we passed by the Triage, where a line of ponies stood, all sporting several bandages. One was coughing, spitting blood into the sewer on the side of the street in front of him as he lay on the ground. I came to a stop in front, leaning to look past Night Strike. “What’s going on? You don’t think Pearl accidentally let loose some plague, did she?” Night Strike looked equally confused, the rest of the group on the Clydesdale leaning out of the back to see why we had stopped.

As we watched, the door opened to reveal an even more packed waiting room, the receptionist leaning her head out to call another pony inside. She looked over to see us, a look of relief crossing her face as she rushed out to greet us. “Oh, thank goodness you’ve stopped by, we’ve got an emergency on our hooves!” She stood beside the Clydesdale, one of the injured ponies standing up to limp their way inside. “Somepony’s gone and disturbed a hive of Festering Bloodsprites. Normally they aren't active this time of year, but with how things have been the farmers wanted to try and get an early planting in. They’ve already attacked the farmers working out there, and if we don’t get rid of them soon we’ll have to give up that land for crop growth. We’re already strapped for surplus food as it is, I don’t know if we can handle a hit like that.”

I paused, a little taken aback at the sudden request. Bloodsprites... why do I get the feeling I remember having some bad experiences with those things before? “Ah...” I began, leaning forwards against the steering wheel. Night Strike looked towards myself, giving me a glare that clearly implied if I did anything other than help, a surprise bombing run from the Harriers would be the least of my issues. “Don’t worry, we’ll go clear them out. Any idea where they're coming from, exactly?”

“They’re in the woods to the east, just outside town. The hive’s a bit deep in it, they tend to congregate around swampy areas. Not sure why exactly they moved from the swamps north of Vanhoover, now I think about it.” She muttered the last bit to herself, her brow furrowing in confusion. She shook her head, looking back to us. “Anyways, be careful. These things have already killed a few of our farmers, and I’m not sure how many more the poison might get if we run out of antivenom. Already having trouble keeping up with demand as it is...”

Night Strike gave a confident look, grinning widely. “We’ve handled them before, I think we’ll be ok. We’ll be back before sundown.” I barely contained a groan as I shifted gears and sped off down the street, hoping to avoid any more clichéd dialogue from Night Strike. Seaddler’s new wing creaked against the straps a bit in the back as I ran over a pothole, turning towards the beach where the disabled flying boat still lay. I slowed to a stop, small mounds of sand being pushed up as the Clydesdale sunk into the soft sand of the beach.

I hopped out of the vehicle along with the others, Aerith’s horn already lighting up as she began to help move the wing off of the back. “You know, Night Strike, I get that you really like to play the hero, but there’s a pretty fine line between being confident and being… well, you.” I said, poking her in the side a little. She simply rolled her eyes, Scouring levitating the wing over to the wreck as Marigold flew herself over to the Seaddler, rummaging around inside of it before dragging out a tarp.

“Come on, Static, you can’t tell me you’d like to just sit there and watch them die horribly. Besides, I wasn’t lying, we have dealt with those things before.” She replied, looking back. I continued to look at her, pulling my lips tight. “Okay, so you guys did have Boomer last time, but at least now you won’t be one pony short! Heck, there’ll be two more for support counting Aerith, not to mention that the Clydesdale is pretty good at shielding us in, kinda. It’s no TOG, but, then again, nothing is.” She stuck her tongue out before turning to trot over to the Seaddler, where Aerith was now lowering the engine into place on the tarp under the wing.

“Alright, that looks good.” Marigold said, looking over the new engine and wing resting on the beach. “Gonna need to find a unicorn willing to help get things into place when it's all set, but Contrail and I should be able to get the rest of it fixed up to running condition ourselves. Assuming you guys don’t set off another bomb nearby again, anyways...” She chuckled, opening up her toolbox and pulling out a large wrench. Yeah, we probably should give more of a warning for those things... I mean, we did sort of do that for the Battered-Sea Megaspell, though. Wuh, inadvertently knocking two friendly planes out of the sky is a high enough record for me. The rest of the Vanhoover Five all piled back into the Clydesdale, the tracks spinning for a moment before they caught in the sand, pulling us forwards off the beach and back up onto the road.

We sped alongside the lake, keeping to the shoreline of the town as we made our way towards the forest, the Vanhoover Hydroelectric Dam just barely visible in the distance. Aerith leaned up from the back seat, looking through the scope on her rifle and out the front window, myself letting loose a small huff. She better have that thing unloaded... The trees grew steadily larger as we turned off from the shore and approached the wooded area, the buildings of Hopeville reflecting the sun behind us. Heading down muddy cart paths, we passed by several large partially-cleared fields, tools having been thrown haphazardly to the ground by the farmers and plows abandoned mid-way in snowdrifts. I slowed a little, the engine quieting down as the treads ran over the overturned soil. Night Strike pulled out Thumper, scanning the countryside.

A low buzzing met my ears, and by the edge of the forest I spotted three large creatures skittering about on the ground. One of the festering Bloodsprites hovered in the air for a moment, spinning to spot us heading towards it. It immediately lowered itself to the ground, zig-zagging its way along as the others noticed us as well. Aerith lowered her rifle and pushed towards the side of the seats. She steadied herself on the back of teh forward bench and leaned out of the side of the half-truck, levitating up her tommygun. The spray of bullets kicked up dirt as she attempted to spray the insect down. It deftly avoided the stream of lead, rising into the air, its stinger rising menacingly. With a loud discharge of air, however, it fell to the ground, its innards splashing onto the side of the Clydesdale as Crash Dive fired off a shot from her rebar cannon. The beam had pierced clean through the bug’s abdomen, pinning it to the muddy ground. Its limbs flailed helplessly in the air for a few seconds, before curling up as the beast died.

Scouring pulled out Sunburst and climbed himself onto the cargo deck, the barrel extending as he held the telescopic sight up to his eye. He fired off a barrage of rockets from the deck, the explosions sending dirt flying as I spun the wheel of the Clydesdale, trying to keep the bugs away from the back as best as I could. Aerith let off another burst from her gun, the bullets slicing through the wing of one, sending it careening to the ground where it was finished off by a volley from Scouring. The last bug landed on the windshield, its stinger slamming into the glass. I screamed, turning wildly in an attempt to shake it off. Night Strike leaned off the side with Thumper at the ready, and fired off one of her slugs. The massive bullet smacked into the insect’s side, sending it flying off and leaving a red splatter on the windscreen. The Clydesdale's suspension thumped as it ran over the bug, leaving its corpse bleeding, oozing, and embedded in the soft ground as it twitched pitifully behind us.

I stopped, looking back to the others, though they all appeared unharmed. “Alright, that’s those three. Now we need to take out the hive.” Crash Dive said, matter-of-factly. “You think you can get this through the trees?” I looked towards the forest again, dryly swallowing and getting the Clydesdale moving once more. As I drove to the very edge of the forest, however, it was clear there was not enough room to maneuver through trees. I grumbled, trying to find some path through, though it was obviously a fruitless endeavor.

We all reluctantly climbed out of the truck and trekked into the forest, the others waiting for a moment as I pulled out my umbrella from my saddlebags in the back. The light around us dimmed as we entered, the branches and few remaining leaves blocking out most of the sunlight. Sticks snapped beneath the weight of Crash Dive and Scouring’s power armor as they forged ahead, keeping a look out for any more of the festering sprites. I kept my umbrella clenched tightly between my teeth, not feeling any safer despite the wide array of armaments carried by the rest of the group. I constantly kept looking around, sure I had spotted something darting between the trees from the corner of my eyes, but every time I turned to look, there was nothing in the distance. Eugh, stupid poisonous bugs, why do they have to have that and speed on their side? Nature's really just unfair...

Night Strike slung Thumper over her shoulder, looking off in the distance as we continued our trek. As we moved deeper into the forest, the ground started to dip downwards, eventually leading us into a deep bowl where the trees thinned out. The dirt grew wet and mixed with the slightly melted snow to produce a rather foul smelling muck underhoof, myself rolling up my jacket sleeves some to keep them dry. A low buzzing met my ears the further into the swampy area we moved, me finding myself sticking closer to Night Strike's side. It steadily grew louder, Crash Dive shifting her cannon on her side as she listened for the source of the noise. Not too far from where we stood was a full clearing in the trees, all of us moving cautiously towards it as the buzzing was now almost deafening.

In the middle of the clearing sat a large pile of papery-looking material, large holes dotted about it. Bloodsprites scurried along the surface of the material, in and out of the holes, regurgitating the same material out to expand the hive. Ahem, yeah, that's a whole lotta nope right there. “Uuuuhh, good luck with that guys, I’ll be back at the Clydesdale if you need me.” I said, making to turn back. Night Strike rolled her eyes, grabbing my tail and pulling me back towards the swarm. Well, this is how I die.

“Come on Sparky, this shouldn’t be too bad. We'll just surround ‘em, fire at will. Should be able to take ‘em out easily.” Night Strike said. Oh yeah, this is definitely how I die. She had started to work her way around the clearing, Crash Dive following after her. I grumbled a bit as I looked down at my umbrella, wishing I’d taken along my new stealth armor. At the very least I’d be less likely to be turned into a pincushion if they can't see me... Gripping my umbrella tightly, I waited patiently beside Aerith as Scouring headed around the opposite side of the clearing.

One of the sprites hovered into the air, spinning about as it heard Crash Dive and Night Strike making their way through the brush. There was a moment when it zipped a little closer to the edge of the forest, before a soft thump was heard. I could just barely spot the grenade flying from between the trees and landing among the hive beofre, in an instant, the grenade exploded, sending up an orange fireball and spreading sparks in all directions. The hive went up in flames in an instant, all of the sprites zipping this way and that. The few that attempted to land on the hive flew off moments later, their wings alighting, causing them to fall to the ground and flail about helplessly.

Crash Dive tossed a few grenades into the flaming hive as one of the sprites tried desperately to climb out. The grenades exploded, creating a corona of plasma as bits of flaming paper flew into the air. Rockets soared out from Sunburst to destroy more of the nest, and Aerith let out a spray of bullets into the mass of mutated insects, the festering sprites dropping to the ground in droves. One began to fly towards us, its stinger flashing menacingly as flames burned away at its flesh. Oh, if there was one thing I really didn't need right now, it was these things on fire! I swung at the bug, my umbrella connecting with its thorax. The insect crackled as the electricity ran through it, stunning it for a moment. Aerith levitated her rifle up to its head as it twitched on the ground, firing off a shot and promptly turning the bug's brains into red mist.

I shook some of the guts off of the umbrella, watching as Night Strike fired off Thumper again, this time the muzzle erupting in a shower of flaming flechettes. The white-hot darts connected with one of the few remaining insects, setting it ablaze. The sprite fell to the ground, the muck putting out some of the flames, but doing little to save its roasting flesh. I took a swing at another approaching bug, Aerith finishing it off with her rifle as she pointed her Tommy gun at another.

It wasn’t long before there was nothing left of the hive but a smouldering pile of blackened paper and several bullet riddled insect bodies. I stepped out into the clearing warily, poking one of the bodies with my umbrella. The others gathered around, looking relieved. “Yanno, the next time Minty ever tries to talk up how explosives are a wasteful mess, think I'm going to ask him to take out some hive like this with nothing but Jolts or a plasma rifle, and see how he fares.” Night Strike joked, rolling one of the bug corpses over. I shook my head, turning to leave with the others.

We were soon heading back out of the forest, Scouring shaking some of the accumulated muck off of his armored hooves. I climbed into the driver’s seat of the Clydesdale after wiping my own hooves off best I could manage to, Night Strike pulling herself up onto the seat beside me as the others hopped into the back. The engine rumbled to life and we were soon heading back off towards Hopeville, following the dirt path. The sun was now dipping low across the horizon, any shadows cast by it stretching far across the ground. I spotted the sign for the hotel flickering lightly in the distance, pressing along the shoreline edge of town towards it. The soft glow from the lobby lights greeted us as I parked the Clydesdale in the small alley beside the hotel, Aerith concealing it in a flash of magic. Just like old times...

As we headed inside, however, I immediately regretted doing so. Behind the counter stood Chauffeur once again, the stallion making googly eyes towards myself as he noticed us walk in. I trotted up, trying my best to avoid looking him directly in the eyes. “Ehm, two rooms, mayor said we can have them for free for a month.”

Chauffeur giggled a bit, reaching around for the keys. “It’s been more than a month, silly, and you gave those free rooms to your friend Marigold. But, since you haven't been here in a long while, I suppose I can look the other way just this once, for you~” He slid the keys to me, winking. Trying to not show my blush, I quickly grabbed the keys and made my way down the hall. Night Strike’s grin was obvious, enough that i didn't even really need to see it to know it was there, so I just threw the keys in her face, her muzzle scrunching as the metal bounced off of her nose. Opening the door to the hotel room, I barely had time to walk through before Night Strike let off a small giggle behind me, managing one last quip.

“G‘night you stallion magnet, you.~”

"Good morning Vanhoover, you and I are listening to K A O S, that's Radio KAOS, and I'm bringing you the lovely music from before the bombs, all day, every day, and all the new news from after the bombs with it, heh. To start off this morning, I've got some fresh news out of the town of Hopeville; The Five have done it again, not once, but twice in one day, and I'm not talking about just blowing things up for once... though there was a bit of that, heh. The multi-engined aircraft that was shot down by Hopeville's air defense, the Seaddler, finally is on the road to recovery, with a new engine undergoing a conversion process and new wing being installed as I speak. The owner and pilot of the Seaddler, one Marigold Skies, unfortunately wasn't able to give an on-air interview, but to be honest, I don't blame her too much - can't imagine the sort of work it takes to make old machines like that run like new again. The Seaddler is expected to be in flight-worthy condition later this week, so for all you towns that have the pleasure of owning a lot of anti-aircraft weaponry, please try to not shoot her down again, heh.

"In other news out of Hopeville, a nest of bloodsprites that had been threatening the few farms that support the town has been thoroughly dealt with thanks to the esteemed Vanhoover Five, who I'm quite sure ensured there wasn't anything left of it by the time they finished. The Triage sends their thanks out to the group, as does the entire town of Hopeville itself, I'd assume - keep up the good work guys, wouldn't know what we'd do without you. Certainly have given me quite a bit more material than I used to have to talk about over the last month or two, heh.

"Anyways, it's a cool Vanhoover winter morning out there, and while I still wait for the heaters to kick in on this old warship, let's get some music going. Ahm... heh, lost this one ages ago. Some might disagree, but if I had a choice in it, I think this wouldn't be a bad way to go. Hopefully none of you out there wind up Amused to Death, heh. Enjoy."

"Nnnfh, ah, that was nice... mmh... pthew. Ah..." The wet clump of old feather splatted against the marble bowl of the sink as I spat it out, the larger pile off in the garbage bin...'s general area. I'm a busy mare, I've got shit to do. Least I tried getting it all in... oh, but it is worth it for the post-preen feeling. Hell, might have to stop using the TOG's gun for this... Brain, I know we're both stuck in a literally physically inseperable love/hate relationship, but you're talking crazy. Or thinking crazy. Whatever it is you do, firing off neurons crazy? Screw it, I'm not gonna replace the TOG's muzzleblast... but I am gonna start doing this more often back home. Oh yeah...

Picking up the heavy bomber jacket, my forelegs and wings slid easily in through the holes provided, the zipper sliding up and pressing the green button-eyed plushie against my chest. Resting a hoof against the back of the small plushie's head through the thick fabric, a faint sigh escaped me - just kill the Harriers, bomb Cerberus to hell and ash, and then we can finally see each other again. Everything can go back to normal after that... five more days, Strikey.

The door to the hotel room bathroom creaked open, Crash Dive and Aerith both already heading for the door. The power armored pegasus stopped and looked towards myself, wearing a small smirk. "Well, look at you, actually preening by yourself without the help of a tank. Got everything?" I leaned forwards in to the hotel room, looking towards the beds. Ahm... duffel bag, jacket, plushie-dad, Thumper, War Crime, Sparky McStab-Stab... still a stupid name. Yeah, everything seems accounted for. I passed on a nod, Crash Dive returning it and stepping out into the hotel hallway, Static and Scouring emerging from the door opposite.

"Nugh, one of these days I hope I can sleep in this town without having to worry about suddenly waking up in bed with that receptionist..." The earth pony rubbed at his forehead as he trotted out, his saddlebags and umbrella shaking a little as he moved. Scouring let off a small chuckle behind him, the heavy armor whirring with the motions of the unicorn, a soft tinkling of magic shutting the door behind them both. I moved myself up alongside Static as Aerith did the same for our door, us all proceeding back down the hallway to the lobby. "So, that's... two-ish days down out of seven to get the Valkyrie fixed, what're we gonna do for the last five-ish? Head back and load her up with our stuff, I guess?"

"Aheh, yeah, sure, I'm so sure all the stuff we'll want to take back with us will fit in the Valkyrie. You saw how cramped the bomb bay is, and I can't help but feel that what we have is probably beyond whatever the remaining payload capacity of the Valkyrie is. We still have three one-ton megaspells on it, remember." The earth pony shot a quiet glare towards myself as I looked back towards him, coming up to the stairwell. Hmmh, truth be told, that is a bit of a thinker, the Valkyrie can only carry so much... there's also all our ammo, food, things that might not handle supersonic that well, and of course the Sparkle-Cola... shit. We are gonna need a bigger Valkyrie.

"We can take the megaspells out, you know. Ditch them in the northern ocean or something, less of those things around, the better." My hooves met the carpeting at the bottom of the stairwell as Static continued onwards, finding myself frozen in place and glaring at the earth pony, mouth agape. He just... that was... nnyegh!...

"Static! I am astonished you would even -think- of doing something like that, let alone suggest it! For shame..." Stomping over to him, his tired eyes looked back towards me above a light smirk, passing his room key over to the morning receptionist. He let loose a small chuckle, making me stop in my tracks again. What the...

"I love you too, Strikey~" He... he just... ooh, goddesses, the nerve of that earth pony sometimes, really. Aerith leviated over our room key to the receptionist next, the mare behind the counter hanging both of them up as we moved for the exit. As we neared the doors, however, she cleared her throat, speaking up.

"Oh! Um, right, somepony from the Triage stopped by here earlier asking for you five. Policy is that we can't give out room information for security reasons, they asked us to let you know and tell you to head over there at your soonest convenience. Almost slipped my mind, heh..." She rubbed at the back of her neck as Static passed on a nod in acknowledgement, pushing through the doors. The crisp, pleasant air outside met us, snow crunching lightly underhoof as we headed around to the side of the hotel, where we'd parked the Clydesdale.

It flashed back into existence after a quick flare of Aerith's horn, Static hefting himself up into the driver's seat and starting the massive half-truck as the rest of us made ourselves comfortable. The engine roared and tracks clattered as we backed out onto the street, the earth pony turning us to face eastwards, towards the Triage and far side of town. "So, whaddaya think the Triage wants? They might pay us for saving them so much work, maybe... least, that's what I'm hoping is the case. we've got good reasoning behind it, ammo's expensive!"

Hoof met forehead as I felt the Clydesdale lurch into forward gear beneath me, heading for the large hospital at the edge of town. Ah, Static, if you aren't thinking about food or ways to not be seen, it's always bottlecaps with you, isn't it? "How about we actually see what it is first, before making wild guesses? Could be payment, or they could be sick and tired of Pearl, too. Probably would want to pass her on to us." A smirk came to my muzzle as I saw Static shudder, the few ponies trotting around this morning passing by slowly, occasionally looking up to see the massive half-truck.

A unicorn in an unbuttoned labcoat rushed out of the lobby doors as we parked up in front of the Triage, Static shutting off the engine momentarily to make things at least a little quieter. He fidgeted with the small satchel hanging from a strap over his shoulders for a moment, before removing it entirely and just rummaging through it. He looked somewhat familiar... Nurse Laundry, was it? "Ahm... sorry, one moment... a-ha! There they are..." His magic encompassed several bluish-white rods, pulling them out in a bundle from his satchel and holding them out in the air, wearing a smile. We all just seemed to look at her for a few moments, myself kind of wondering where he was going with this...

After a few seconds of deafening silence and confusion, the unicorn nurse looked to the bundle, before letting off a sheepish chuckle. "Eheh, s-sorry, been working with these things so long I kinda forgot that they're not that often-seen by regular ponies. Permafrost arrows, as thanks for helping us with the bloodsprites yesterday. They were originally used for sporting events, we were trying to use the enchantment on them for preserving organs for transplant easier, but, well, the tests just weren't really working out... anyways, um, well, we knew that one of you does use a weapon that fires rebar sort of shaped like these, figured that you'd find some use for them."

Scouring picked up the bundle of arrows in his magic, bringing them over to Crash Dive, who started to look them over for herself. Well, I mean, I guess having some different ammunition types for something like her rebar cannon can't hurt. Static, for his part, wore a smug grin - yeah, yeah, so they did sorta pay us, shuddap. Nurse Laundry turned to head back into the triage, only to catch himself and turn back around again. "Oh! Right, one more thing, um, Dr. Pearl said that you had a special variant of forty millimeter grenades, that seemed to be akin to miniaturized megaspells. While the permafrost arrows weren't designed to be used for medical purposes, we were wondering if we could have a few of the grenades to see about possibly reconfiguring them for healing."

I scratched at the back of my head for a few moments, my still somewhat waking up brain trying to think of what he meant. Forty millimeter mini megaspell grenades... Solar Burst, duh. Brain, get on point, damnit. "Uh, sure, if you think you can do it, go for... wait, -doctor- Pearl?" Looking up at Nurse Laundry from my duffel bag, she only smiled and nodded in affirmation, Static blinking beside me. Well... I mean, I guess it kinda makes sense, but that's still one hell of a promotion she's gotten since the last time we were here. Granted, last time we were here she was stuffing an implant into Static's neck, but... huh.

"Oh yes, she's been quite a great help the last few weeks, especially what with the influx of poisoning victims. Her pre-war medical knowledge has put the triage miles ahead of where we were, we're even starting to get so underburdened we can begin training more ponies. Have had a lot of them showing up saying they want to help others like the Vanhoover Five have been doing, heh..." Passing him over three of the black and golden-painted grenades, he took them and carefully put them in his satchel, passing on a nod. Well, at least being a doctor or nurse is less inherently lethal of an occupation compared to ours. I'm fine with us having that kind of influence. "Thanks, with any luck and Dr. Pearl's help, we should be able to have these reverse-engineered into Ministry of Peace megaspells soon enough. Might even be able to start sending out medical caravans if they're easy to mass-produce, bet not a lot of ponies will be expecting to have their ailments healed in a magical explosion nowadays, eheh..."

The Clydesdale's engine started back up as the stallion from the Triage passed on a wave, turning and trotting back into the large hospital. I leaned back into the cushioned bench as we started moving again, zipping up my duffel bag and letting off a cloudy breath into the morning air. Every little bit'll help, one way or another...

"Hah, long time no see, guys. What can I do for you?" The door to Sulfur's Stockpile opened with the small ring of a bell, the gunpowder-colored mare trotting herself out from behind the counter, a smile on her face. We have the day to spend, no reason we can't make a stop-over in Maple Creek... that, and Static wanted to see how much of that maple sugar candy he could get from the mill in town. Credit where it's due, that stuff tastes really good. Aerith trotted beside me, looking over and passing on a light smile.

'Well, actually, was wondering if you had anything interesting in stock, something to the tune of .308-chambered, fully-automatic.' A small smirk came to the alicorn's face, as Sulfur lifted a hoof top her chin, starting to look around her shop. Well, knew that she wanted to stop by for something, didn't quite expect it to be getting half of my other dad's light battle saddle... we followed behind Sulfur as she rummaged, Aerith putting up another sign. 'If you don't have anything like that in stock, we can come back later. Just been wanting an automatic weapon chambered for rifle caliber, my Typewriter works fine against most pony-sized stuff but having a backup that can be reloaded a bit quicker than my rifle while being the same caliber would be nice.'

It took Sulfur a few moments before she saw and read the second screen, a few smaller clip-fed submachineguns levitated in her magic. "Hm, I did have a few Long Automatics in stock awhile back, but I must've sold them off. Probably was to the town guard or something, mayor got the idea in her head that if the machine guns you gave us could protect against aircraft, then having ponies walking around with guns chambered for the same caliber and automatic fire would be just as beneficial. Didn't really have the heart to tell her that these things were way too heavy for most ponies to really handle while firing upwards, accurately, at least..." A sigh escaped her as she set the guns back on the shelves, trotting around to behind the counter. "Still, she covered the costs for the guns in full, so I don't really have much reason to complain. Sorry I couldn't have been more help, aren't really a lot of guns that fit what you're looking for."

Aerith nodded in response, passing on a soft smile before looking about and levitating over two boxes of ammo from one of the shelves. Well, suppose it would be rude to just walk in, ask for something, and then leave without buying or trading anything... 'It's alright, suppose it was a little out there to ask, and it isn't really an immediate matter anyways. I'll just take an ammo top-up, then.'

Sulfur passed on a nod, ringing up the couple boxes, her face slowly changing to something of thinking. "Hm... you know, my great-grandfather was a bit of an eccentric gunsmith, back before the war. Supposedly he went and built his own Stable-like shelter out in the lands between Vanhoover and here, never went to see for myself if that's true. Bit of a dangerous area to explore on hoof..." She let off a small chuckle as Aerith shuffled through her pockets, looking at the pile of caps she'd pulled from them. A frown met her muzzle for a moment, before she unzipped my own duffel bag, retreiving two bottles of Sparkle-Cola from it and popping the caps off of them, adding it to the amount she'd set on the table. Eh, well, it is only four in the afternoon or so...

Myself sipping from one of the bottles, Sulfur took to counting the pile for a moment herself, before putting it into the register. "Now, I didn't really know too much about great grandpa Gunner from granddad, but he did always seem to go on about how they should've left that homemade stable with more of their stuff than they did. I'm half-willing to bet that there's probably at least something clip-fed, chambered for .308, and full auto down in that shelter, along with a lot of other stuff. If you can find it, maybe bring whatever diagrams or weapons you find back to me, would really appreciate it."

I returned a smile, answering with a nod, as Aerith stuffed the few boxes of ammo into her suit's pockets. Well, wouldn't be the first homemade bomb shelter we've been inside, and beyond that the promise of new fun guns is always welcome. Might be a little irrelevant to us considering we're pretty much set on all fronts and are four and a half-ish days shy of having a huge flying jet bomber as well, but, hey, it'll give us something to do. "We'll be sure to keep an eye out for it, then, and bring back everything we can find. You happen to know what we ought to look for far as finding it goes? I mean, we do have around half a week of sitting around to spare now, but, well, Static'd kill me if we were just going off on a wild goose chase."

"Uhm... hm... one sec." Sulfur ducked under the counter for a few moments, rummaging through the contents in front of her, before picking herself back up to her hooves and trotting to the back of the store. Myself and Aerith glanced between each other for a moment, both of us drinking from the bottles of Sparkle-Cola, listening as the unicorn rummaged about. She returned after a moment, carefully carrying a folded-up piece of paper. "Alright, this was hoof-drawn, but I don't think the area's changed too much since granddad came out of the bunker. Should give you a rough idea, beyond that I'd say just be on the lookout for a house's foundation. Think he said it was built into a root cellar or something."

The unicorn delicately unfolded the page, spreading it out on the counter. Aerith held my bottle of Sparkle-Cola - I better not catch her drinking it - as I pulled back the sleeve of my jacket, looking down at my pip-buck. Okay, so if the road is there... coast is there... lighthouse is there, City of Vanhoover sign there, then... that ought to be a good rough guess. A small marker stuck to the map on the screen, myself glancing at the map one last time before nodding and rolling my sleeve back down, Sulfur folding it back up carefully. "Alright, we'll definitely try to find it for you, soon as we can. Least this oughta be something a little more freely accepted than a trip up to Maple Station, heh... well, anyways, seeya around, Sulfur."

Sulfur gave a nod as she trotted to the back room with the map beside her, passing on a smile as she returned from stashing it back away. "'Course, good luck guys!" We both returned her light wave as we exited the gun shop, a gentle flurry of snow falling over the town from the white couds above. The fresh snow crunched underhoof as we made way back to the Clydesdale parked by the mill on the other side of town, the familiar wagon hitched to the back towing hook already seeming to be loaded with a fair amount of packaged maple candies. Honestly, it's like that stallion wasn't even listening this morning...

Trotting around to see the doors, we arrived just in time to see Static pushing another cart-full of packages out the door, some of them already opened and crumbs around the earth pony's mouth. He paused for a moment as myself and Aerith stood in front of him, the alicorn moving a few of the boxes over to the wagon as I kept a firm glare going. Static picked up the opened box and trotted over, grabbing another cookie from it and starting to munch it down, before holding the box up to me. "Mmh, you gotta try these, maple sugar snickerdoodles... erm, something up?"

"Oh, I dunno Sparky, maybe the fact that you've got a literal wagon-full of maple sugar treats might have something to do with it. Were you even listening this morning in Hopeville? The Valkyrie's not gonna be able to carry all this stuff!" The earth pony responded with a roll of his eyes, still carrying the opened box as he headed around the opposite side of the Clydesdale to get to the driver's seat. I followed alongside him on the passenger side, catching up to him as he delicately set the box down on the cushioned bench, pulling himself up.

"I know, you've made it quite clear already. Being a bit of a hypocrite, though, Strikey, I still let you load us up twice with a truckload's worth of Sparkle-Cola, didn't I? This stuff is much lighter in comparison..." Reaching into the box, he pulled out another one of the cookies, takng a healthy bite from it. Okay, yeah, a trailer of Sparkle-Cola would probably weigh more than a trailer of cookies... still, though! "...Mm, besides, we're gonna be here another three days at least, might as well get some food for it. Had a discount if we bought in bulk, and playing the 'one of the Vanhoover Five' card helped a little, too."

A sigh escaped me as I let myself fall back in the seat, watching the light snowfall accumulating on the windscreen and bonnet. Well... fine. At least we have something to do over the next few days, even if it's getting sick on maple sugar and tracking down a homemade fallout shelter... and investigating what that exceedingly familiar sound of a tank engine is doing in Maple Station. Glancing to Static, his hooves were occupied with another snickerdoodle, the Clydesdale still turned off as he stared back in bewilderment. Looking to the end of the street, however, eventually revealed the source of the noise, the familiar muzzlebrake of the seventeen-pounder poking around the corner, followed by the rest of Fyre. Huh...

The tank came to a stop in front of us, the engine rumbling quietly as the driver's hatch opened up, Rangefinder's blond mane poking out of it. She let loose a cloudy sigh, resting back for a moment before hefting herself out to sit on the top of the hull. I hopped down from the Clydesdale's forward bench, trotting over to the honestly unexpected tank ghoul, who passed on a light wave. "Eheh, heya Night Strike. Ahm, listen, I kinda don't want to admit or ask this, but, uh... you guys think you could lead me and Fyre back home? Sort of were following you more than paying attention to the route, aheheh..."

Wearing a weak smile, I joined in her chuckling for a moment, letting it fall to a slight groan. Yeah, going all the way back to Maple Station, that's definitely gonna make Static happy... Speaking of, still wiping crumbs off of his muzzle, the blu eearth pony trotted over to my side, as Rangefinder rubbed at the back of her head. "What's, uh, what's going on Rangefinder? Would've thought you'd be heading back to Maple Station by now, or at least still be doing stuff at the crater, or something."

I gnawed at my lip, wearing a grimace, as the ghoulified pegasus shared my expression. We both glanced around, not really wanting to be the one to break teh news to Static... who figured it out anyways, of course. An annoyed sigh escaped him as a hoof met his forehead, turning and trotting himself back to the Clydesdale. "Of course you don't know the way back. Fine, we've still got time and not much better to do... We'll set off tomorrow, just let us gather up Crash Dive and Scouring, and head to the lighthouse. Celestia willing, by the time we get back the Valkyrie will be fixed... needed to head to Maple Station anyways to see about chartering a train back home."

Rangefinder let off another weak chuckle as she dropped herself back inside Fyre, Static hefting himself back up into the Clydesdale's driver position. My wings carried myself over to the passenger seat, Aerith resting on the back bench and munching on a few of the maple sugar candies herself, the earth pony starting up the half-truck's engine as the tank ahead of us pulled forwards to turn down the next road. Alright, chartered train for hauling all this stuff sans the Valkyrie, that could probably work out fine. Maybe.

Tia, please let the next few days go by without anything else going wrong...

"You and I are listening to K A O S, that's Radio KAOS, and this is finally some good news from the weather station located down south in Seaddle, relayed quite graciously to us from our friends at KJR. Their equipment is showing that the surprise blizzard that kicked off two days ago is finally starting to break, and clear skies for a good long while should follow in it's wake. No doubt this comes as a great relief to anybody who was caught traveling in the wasteland when the storm hit, stay safe and warm out there, folks. Have heard from Maple Station that the tank ghouls will be patrolling out to Gemdale and Happy Valley to locate and rescue anypony in need of assistance, so sit tight where you are now and try to hold out.

"This break also comes to the welcome hooves of the Vanhoover Five, who've reported that their mode of transportation, the Valkyrie, will be airworthy at long last. Seeing how they've apparently devoted as much time to helping us as they have looking to get that thing fixed, I can only imagine how annoying this sudden shift of weather was for them, heh. Hopefully they'll be willing to assist in search and rescue efforts soon as they can, Celestia knows having a big eye in the sky couldn't do anything but help out. Good luck, guys.

"You're tuned to Radio KAOS, and as a break from usual programming for the benefit of everyone stuck in place across the wasteland still, we will be largely playing a collection of songs from the Wasteland's Sweetheart, back when she was still the Forces' Sweetheart. Vera Lynn, reminding everyone that someday, We'll Meet Again. Stay safe, and enjoy."

"This is Captain Marigold Skies, Flight NC-23A Seaddler, requesting permission for takeoff from the Vanhoover Reservior. Do you copy, HMS Cadence? Over."

"HMS Cadence, Flight Coordinator Fowler responding, we copy you Seaddler. Sky is open, cleared for takeoff at your leisure. What is your planned route? Over."

"Roger that HMS Cadence, will be taking off shortly to land along the shore, nearby the old lighthouse. You can probably guess why. NC-23A Seaddler, over and out."

The radio aboard the Valkyrie crackled as both myself and Static sat inside the aircraft, looking over the instrument panels in front of us. The packed, plowed snow runway stretched out in front of us as I sat up to see out of the cockpit, the bulldozer tank pulling off to the right as it lifted the blade, passing out of view a moment later. Darn well-armored cockpit, can't see a damn thing out of here... Static slipped on a headset behind me, the hum of fans filling the cockpit as the electronics powered up. Okay, second time taking this thing off... screw you, automatic takeoff. "Alright, everything looks fine... let's, well, start her up."

"Bracing myself already. At least if things screw up again, we're facing north this time." Oh, har har. Letting off a sigh, I looked over the console, reading the switches. Hydrogen talismans, on. Primary igniter, engine one, two, three, four, all primed. Throttle at idle, wheel brakes set, area around intakes and exhaust... hopefully clear. Right. Drawing in a breath, my hoof moved for the igniter switch, eyes wrenching shut as I pressed it in and held it. Please work, please work, please work...

A low whine filled the cockpit for a few moments, the sound of the engines spooling up filling the air behind us. They sped up for a moment before settling in at their idling speed, the long breath escaping myself in a sigh as I leaned forwards over the control stick. The Valkyrie lives once again... let's hope I can do a better job of piloting her this time around. Static spoke up behind me as I righted myself, slipping my forehooves through the safety restraints of the seat. "Lights are all in the green back here, onboard short-range radar looks like it's picking up the Seaddler. Should be flying overhead right about... now."

Looking up through the cockpit glass, the white contrails of the flying boat's engines caught my eyes, watching as it circled around overhead a few times before disappearing over our left shoulders. I reached for the headset by the pilot's station, slipping it on and adjusting the microphone a bit, listening as Static scanned through the... um, static. Eventually Marigold's voice came through, both of us listening intently. "Flight NC-23A Seaddler reporting successful touchdown and landing at the lighthouse, will remain grounded for the duration of their flight. Do you copy, HMS Cadence? Over."

"Aye, HMS Cadence copies you, remain grounded until further instructions NC-23A Seaddler. Less things in the sky for these hatchlings to hit, the better." Fowler's voice answered in response, myself taking a breath and releasing it in a long sigh to calm myself down. Just going to be a nice, easy takeoff, circle around, and landing, no harm in that. Just like the test flight back at the Vanhoover Air Base... stay calm, no tight turns, and don't put the throttle higher than you have to to get airborne. That'll work out fine. Static did something with his console to make our radios send out a bleep, Flower's voice coming through again. "Valkyrie, this is HMS Cadence, Flight Coordinator Fowler speaking. Do you copy? Over."

"We copy you Fowler, prepped and ready for takeoff here. Hopefully everything'll go well... um, over." Static piped up over the headset, myself looking at the dials in front of me as he handled it. Engines one through four all behaving similarly, throttle in the left hoof, right hoof on the stick and away from the trigger... alright.

"Roger that, permission for takeoff from unregistered coastal runway granted. Try not to kill yourselves or your fancy jet, eh? HMS Cadence, over and out." Taking a few deep breaths to focus, I straightened myself in the seat, looking out down the runway. Moment of truth... flaps in takeoff position, wheel brakes off, primary igniter circuits all in run setting. Here goes nothing.

My hoof slowly pushed the throttle forwards, the Valkyrie's engines answering with an ever-increasing roar behind us as the entire aircraft began to move forwards. Needles and guages all climbed on the control panel as I kept eyes forwards out of the cockpit, the throttle clearing halfway now. Our speed increased more and more, my right hoof starting to carefully pull back on the control yoke, breathing careful and slow. She's moving... we're moving... I'm actually pulling this off!

Pushing the throttle to full power, there was a slight kick of acceleration, the Valkyrie's nose pitching up off of the snow finally. As the engines whined to full speed, a sudden, loud howling sound filled the air behind us, the bumps and rattle of the roughly-evened runway giving way to the smooth air of flight, the brilliant blue sky growing closer by the second. A sigh of astonishment escaped me as I stared off into the wild blue, resting back into the pilot's seat, just enjoying it for a moment... probably longer than I should have. Pitching us forwards again, my left hoof pulled the throttle back to half, leveling us out over the western coast... I think. Geez, I really miss the Stork, the views from that thing were amazing and not obstructed by annoying fuselage.

A glance to the airspeed indicator prompted me to hit the switch for airbrakes momentarily, the deceleration pushing us both against our straps. Retracting them, we slowly started regaining speed, but at least we weren't at risk for flying clear out of the wasteland anymore... "Passing over the sub pen now, we might want to turn back around, Night Strike. Please try to not crash while landing us this time."

"Don't worry yourself, Sparky, I've got this. Might not have enjoyed it, but I did read over the manual to see how to safely switch over to VTOL. Gonna bring us back and touch us down just like a vertibuck." I wore a grin as the Valkyrie banked around, pulling far out over the ocean before settling on a course heading back towards shore. Static let off a quiet groan behind me, my eyes looking over the control panel. Okay, VTOL turbine primer engaged, flight mode switch underhoof, throttle back to thirty percent. Coming in nice and slow... relatively.

"Yeah, because you have such a stellar record landing THOSE, too. I hope you're being serious... coming up on the shore and lighthouse again now, a hundred meters above the coast." My left hoof flicked the switch, the Valkyrie slowing down horizontally with some swiftness. Giving the nose a bit of a flair, we eventually came to a full stop, the lands of Vanhoover stretching out in front of myself through the cockpit glass. "Alright... um, swing us left a little bit, fifteen degrees, then bring us down. Slowly."

Back hooves pushed against the pedals, the Valkyire responding in kind to Static's request as I eased the throttle back only slightly. We slowly began to fall, floating down almost, the white fluffy snow kicked up by the central turbine billowing either side of the cockpit glass for a few moments before the aircraft settled back down on her landing gear. I pulled the throttle back to idle, switching mode back to level flight and turning off the igniters for the engines, all four shutting down in kind. As silence graced the cockpit once again, I fell back in the seat, letting loose a long sigh. Oh, thank Celestia...

Undoing the buckles, Static's voice came over the headset I still had on, sending a call back out to Fowler. "Hoo... erm, Flight, uh... Valkyire, reporting successful flight and vertical landing back home. Do you copy, HMS Cadence? Over."

"We copy you Valkyrie, magnificent work, could hear those engines howling from here. Remain grounded until further instruction, and congradulations on getting that thing airborne again. HMS Cadence, over and out." A grin stuck on my face as I pulled the headset off, setting it back on it's rack and slipping out of the pilot's chair. The exterior hatch opened with a small hiss, myself jumping out of the cockpit and onto the fluffy ground, a giggle escaping me as the whirring of power armor and clattering of hooves against snow filled the air. I soon found myself mobbed by Crash Dive, Aerith, and Scouring, all three of them wearing wide smiles of their own, just as excited about the flight as we were. It took damn near two months, but by Celestia and Luna above, we've done it. We're finally gonna be able to get back home...

"Uh... guys?" Static's voice came from inside the Valkyrie's cockpit, faint over the excited chatter from the rest of the Vanhoover Five. "Guys?! We might have a problem! Look east!" The earth pony jumped out of the cockpit door, catching himself on his hooves and rushing over to join us, craning his neck and looking inland. The cheerful chatter gave way to concerned looks, Scouring giving a tilt of the head before looking on with Static.

"East? What's goin' on to the east?" The earth pony fidgeted as he tried to get eyes on... something, eventually looking towards myself and Aerith. The power armored unicorn did the same, giving a quick glance back towards the hilly forest. "Must be somethin' over the treeline. You look while we try an' get-" A loud THUMP broke through the air, rattling the trees for a moment before everything went quiet again. Myself and Aerith shared a glance, our wings spreading wide and propelling us both up vertically, scanning towards the horizon. Maple Creek, that's fine, up the stream towards the Vahoover Reservior is Jericho Beach, Clearwater, and...

A mushroom-shaped cloud rising over Hopeville.

Shelling Hope

I was barely able to register what exactly was happening. A mushroom cloud was rising up in the distance, one that we had absolutely no warning of, let alone were the ones to set off. My mind frantically tried to shift back into working gear, still fixated on the sight of the blackening cloud growing over the treeline. It wasn’t until the shockwave smacked into my chest and the wind was knocked out of me that I regained my senses, stumbling back on my hooves. I coughed, gasping to get my breath back as the Valkyrie shuddered from the sudden force. Standing back up, I watched as the cloud grew higher, the top starting to dissipate as Night Strike and Aerith landed back down beside the rest of us. “What the fuck!? I thought Cerberus didn’t have megaspells! We’re supposed to be the ones with the bombs!” She began to hyperventilate, still spouting only semi-coherent phrases.

Still trying to remain calm myself, I began to pace back and forth, my own mind racing with similar questions. What the hell was Cerberus doing attacking Hopeville? Didn’t they have anti-air defenses? Why the hell didn’t they fire those off at the attackers? It was obvious by my quickened pacing and sharp turns this was doing nothing but sending me into a similar panic to Night Strike’s. Crash Dive immediately marched over to the Clydesdale, pulling her helmet off of the back and slipping it over her head. She grabbed my umbrella, chucking it at my head hard enough to leave a rather sizable lump and leave me clutching the now swelling wound.

“Alright everypony, shut the fuck up and get in the Valkyrie. We’re heading into Hopeville, and seeing the damage, I don’t care what you’re thinking now, if you don’t get in the damn vehicle now I’m tying you to the back and letting you ride behind the jets. I can assure you the burn wounds will greatly help lessen the panic,” Crash Dive barked, the eyes of her helmet almost appearing to glow. “Night Strike, Static, don’t waste time getting your rad suits on, if that was a megaspell you'll probably be safest staying inside the Valkyrie's cockpit anyhow. MOVING, NOW!” She demanded.

The rest of us rushed back towards the Valkyrie, Scouring levitating his own helmet out of the Clydesdale and slipping it on as he rushed over to the small cockpit door, Night Strike close behind. She grimaced for a moment, heading in ahead of him quickly, the bay doors opening a moment later. “Sorry, no room in the cockpit for everypony, get in the bomb bay. Don't think we'll need to be dropping anything before reaching Hopeville... Uh… um, yeah, be careful too, we don’t really have anything good to grab onto back there.” Night Strike said, sliding herself back into the seat as I climbed myself in. Her hooves shook a little as she flicked several switches, the engines of the Valkyrie roaring back to life. “I really would’ve liked a little more time between learning to use this thing and needing it in an actual combat situation... you know how to work the turrets, right, Static?” Night Strike whimpered. I dropped down into the chair behind Night Strike’s, pulling down on the belts to secure myself in as the vehicle shuddered, the bomb bay doors closing back up. Slowly, we began to move forward, the rumble of the engines growing steadily louder.

“Don’t fly too close to Hopeville, last thing we need is this thing shot down by anypony that might still running the aircraft guns, got it?” Crash Dive shouted over the engines, sticking her head through the bomb bay access door. Night Strike gave a nervous nod as the Valkyrie rolled forward, quickly gaining speed. Night Strike pulled up on the controls, the plane shaking as its nose pointed upwards, another loud howl muffledly filling the cockpit. Taking a deep breath, I let out a sigh as we began to race through the sky towards the now slowly drifting off mushroom cloud. The power armored pegasus braced herself in the rear access doorway, staring out through the cockpit with us. “What’s our ETA?”

“We’ve got about six minutes before we’ll be outside the town limits, though I don't know where we could land this thing safely.” I responded, looking down at the controls as I fiddled with the navigation screen. Crash Dive nodded, grabbing ahold of the back of my chair as the plane shook once again. Night Strike flipped a few switches, the cockpit glass alighting with a few displays, most notably an aiming reticle. “Why would anypony attack Hopeville, though? If they were after us, they had a huge chance back at the lighthouse. They’d probably have taken out the Valkyrie too, if they wanted."

“Outdated intel, cowardice, scare tactics, terror bombing, there’s several reasons,” Crash Dive responded, looking at my screens as I switched them to the nose-mounted camera. The trees whizzed by at an alarming rate, before I was able to get it out of the landing setting and into general observation. Crash Dive gave a small grunt of confusion as the empty town of Clearwater passed by, us on approach to the town. “Hm, the landscape isn’t showing any signs of a megaspell detonation. There should be more damage to the trees around here, at least some of them would have been blown over and burnt up by the blast. If it wasn't a megaspell... hm.” She pulled herself back through the door to the bomb bay, Night Strike grabbing ahold of the controls once again. The Valkyrie swerved gently through the air, giving Hopeville a wide berth as we started our descent. I switched the camera back to vertical landing, listening to the small turbine behind me whining to speed.

The vehicle came to a slow stop, the roar of the engines whirring to a soft hum before disappearing completely as we set down in one of the farm fields outside the town. The bomb bay doors opened with a muffled thunk, our friends getting out and trotting over to the front of the aircraft while we hung inside. If it was a megaspell, even a small one or one that was made for more rads than explosions, I don't want to take any chances. Aerith’s eyes scanned the skies for any signs of the attackers as she hovered out over the top of the cockpit, but, oddly, none of the Harriers that had tried to attack us were visible. ‘You think they’re going back for another run?’ Her sign read as it flashed before her. I brought up the radar screen, watching it trace around a few times - no blips. It detected the Seaddler from the lighthouse, surely if they're still around here they'd be showing up... Night Strike grabbed ahold of Thumper, shutting the Valkyrie down fully and unbuckling herself from her seat, looking back towards me. I gave her a small nod as I did the same, taking another deep breath and keeping my umbrella close as she swung open the side hatch to the cockpit.

The air was eerily quiet, the only sound being that of our hoofsteps as we hopped out and onto the soft dirt. Scouring tapped against the side of his helmet for a moment, looking towards the edge of Hopeville. “I’m no' getting any rads yet. If it was a megaspell, couldn’t 'ave been that big... ” We began to trek towards the city, watching the sky for any indication the attackers may be returning. As we grew closer, the actual extent of the destruction became clearer. The crops on the outskirts of the city were blown to the ground, creating a ring that pointed towards the center of the town. One farm shed stood, only barely, with its windows smashed out of their frames and the whole structure leaning dangerously to one side.

The hotel's sign flickered and sparked, loose wires dangling in the breeze, the entire front glass of the lobby blasted inwards and laying shattered. A bit of movement caught my eye, and I turned my head just in time to see somepony duck down behind the smashed-in windows of one of the rooms, cowering in fright. My stomach began to clench as we moved further into town, looking around as buildings were starting to look more like piles of rubble, facades crumbling and broken, thin skeletons of what they once were built from their twisted and burned framework.

We turned a corner, and I had to fight back the urge to vomit. Several bodies lay strewn about the road, crushed under the collapsed buildings, some free, though their coats were charred and speckled by fragments of debris that had been flung by the force of the explosion. A few whimpered, making feeble attempts to free themselves as they struggled against their wounds. A pony in a doctor’s coat came running around the corner, a large bag balanced on her back as she hurried towards one of the injured ponies. She looked over to us as she threw the bag on the ground, digging around inside for a scalpel and a roll of gauze. “You got here fast. Unless you’re dropping your meds off here, get your asses to the Triage. Probably the only building that survived this shit.” She began to pick out the larger chunks of metal from the pony’s chest, his breathing ragged and uneven.

I reached into my saddlebags, pulling out a few healing potions that had still been stashed inside before placing them on the ground beside her. Picking up our pace, we rushed towards the Triage, only barely able to find our way among the ruins of the buildings. The hospital that held the Triage was battered by the blast, several sections of the wall facing the center of town having been pockmarked by the bricks and debris thrown in the explosion. Despite this, it was still one of the more intact structures standing, and a small crowd of ponies had gathered out in front of it. We tried to push through the crowd, a few ponies parting to let us through, others barely able to stand and needing others to help move them aside.

“Oi, soup cans!” A voice called out in the crowd. Crash Dive and Scouring stopped, looking back to see a stallion limping up, a hoof held over his gut. “What the fuck kind of sick prank are you trying to pull? Fucking selling us guns and then just shelling the hell out of us later? What the fuck is wrong with you!? Sitting in the lap of luxury while we get killed!” He spat on the ground, starting to shuffle his way forward. A few members of the crowd murmured among themselves, backing away from the enraged stallion. “YOU FUCKING MURDERERS, YOU KILLED MY WIFE, YO-” He was suddenly cut off by Crash Dive coldly kicking him in the ribs. He fell to the ground, letting out a cry of pain as he clutched his side. Everypony was silent, staring at Crash Dive.

“Let’s get in,” She said bluntly. The few remaining ponies that had been blocking the doorway scurried aside as Crash Dive strode into the Triage lobby. It was almost impossible to see anything through the crowd of ponies crammed into the room. What appeared to be the entire town was either clambering to speak with the receptionist or sitting aside, nursing wounds as doctors rushed people inside. Crash Dive began to force her way through, shoving ponies aside, ignoring their complaints as she headed towards the back hallway.

We managed to escape the crowd, heading down the hall towards the offices. Night Strike stepped up to Crash Dive, her expression a mixture of astonishment and horror. “What the hell was that about, Crash Dive? You wanna make us look like the bad guys! The guns worked, they must have! What’re they gonna start saying after that?” She rambled, trying her best to stay on her hooves and avoid running into strewn-about gurneys.

Before Crash Dive could respond, Pearl suddenly hovered out of one of the side rooms, her display still showing the ever cheerful green-display pony. “Hiya guys! Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many ponies since before the war, I had no clue this place was so populated! Well, it might not be as populated now, but I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeves still! We’ll get that new Med-X stuff distributed and the ponies won’t even know what day it is! And, oh, this'll be teh best chance we'll ever get to fully field-test those Healing-Burst grenades, too!” I’m not sure you’re grasping the reality of this situation, Pearl.

“Pearl, what happened with the guns? Somepony outside said they didn’t work, but I swear we tested them!” Night Strike asked frantically. Pearl hovered down the hallway, waving one of her mechanized hands dismissively. I leaned back, not wanting to be jabbed by the needle she was swinging around. Pearl turned into one of the rooms where a nurse was standing over a stallion whose legs were bound up in casts. She carefully aimed the needle, injecting it slowly into the pony’s foreleg as she scanned his body.

“Oh, the guns worked just fine! They just didn’t have anything to hit. Well, I guess they had those huge shells to hit, but the tracking system isn’t quite good enough to track something that small moving at that steep an angle. I suppose that’s kind of the same as the guns not working... Don’t worry, though! Once we install more of those reaction time implants into the gunners I bet we’ll be a-o-good!” Pearl took hold of one of the pony’s legs, giving it a tug, a sickening crack resonating through the room as she popped his bones back into place.

Satisfied with the pony’s condition, Pearl turned around and made to head back out into the hallway. Crash Dive stopped her, speaking quickly. “Pearl, have you heard anything about who might have done the attack? Anything your scanners pick up about where they went?” She asked. Pearl’s screen flipped to her thoughtful expression as the AI searched her memory banks.

“Nope, sorry guys. I’ve been pretty busy looking over all of the ponies here, if I do have anything, it’s buried pretty deep. One of the gunners is upstairs, room 207. Maybe he saw something.” Pearl turned to the nurse, no longer paying us any attention. “You sure he didn’t sign up for any implants? I bet he’d be a much faster farmer with a mechanical hoof. And we could probably fit some pesticide sprayers into it, too!” Leaving the two to argue over forced augmentation, Scouring led us out of the room and towards the stairway.

The stairs, already old and chipped, now had a few tilted and crumbling steps, concrete and shattered glass strewn about the landings between them. “…Yeeeaaah, have fun, guys.” Night Strike said, hovering up to the second level. Tentatively placing my hoof on the first step, I began to slowly walk up, making sure none of the stairs were going to collapse under my weight. Aerith too decided to take to the air, though her large wingspan caused her to bounce against the walls as she tried to maneuver in the cramped stairway. Giving a sigh of relief upon reaching the second floor, we headed inside to find more doctors rushing back and forth between rooms, carts of medical supplies jangling as they rolled along.

We walked down the hallway, stepping out of the way of the doctors as we made our way towards room 207. Pushing open the door, we found a stallion laying in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He looked over as we entered, carefully pushing himself up in bed to reveal several bandages and burns covering his chest. “Yeah? What d’you guys want?”

I stepped up to the side of his bed. “We were hoping you might have gotten a good look at whoever attacked the town. Any information on who it was, where they went, all that.” The stallion nodded, shifting a little to sit more comfortably as the others filed into the room. The pony scratched his head, closing his eyes as he tried to concentrate.

“I couldn’t spot anything to shoot at, that's the thing. Suddenly things just started going up in flames and splinters, giant rockets or missiles, or shells raining down from somewhere or something, no clue what. Tried to track their location, but they were coming in too fast and high to tell, it was chaos. All you could hear is the whistle from the air around 'em.” He sat still, staring down at his blankets, taking a breath. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help more. It all just happened so fast...” Shells? Not bombs? I turned to Night Strike, a feeling of worry starting to grow stronger in my gut.

“Night Strike… we didn’t strip down that huge mortar back at the Seahoof Armory… did we?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted the answer. Night Strike’s eyes went wide, her jaw dropping upon the sudden realization. Yep, that was exactly the answer I didn’t want. “We have to go, now!” I exclaimed, turning to hurry out the door, Night Strike hot on my heels. The others rushed out after us, almost colliding with a nurse as they scurried down the hallway. “Fuckfuckfuck, why didn’t we think of this sooner?! I thought we gassed that place out, anyways!” Jumping down several steps at a time, I was suddenly thrown against the wall as a deafening explosion rung out outside, the whole building seeming to rumble from the impact. I wobbled on my hooves a little, regaining my balance before hurrying down the rest of the steps with the others as ponies started screaming and running in panic. Another explosion was heard outside, this one closer, and smaller. Screams filled the air as the ponies waiting outside the Triage began to push and shove, stampeding through in desperate hope of finding shelter.

Scouring charged forward, his large armor pushing aside anypony not fast enough to move out of the way, clearing a small path through the frantic crowd for us to weave through. Speeding out of the building, we all began to sprint back towards the Valkyrie, myself panting as I tried to keep up with the others. A column of smoke could be seen rising up in the distance as several buildings were set ablaze by the first shell, another screaming in and bursting several blocks away. Any ponies that had been standing outside were now rushing in to any shelter they could find, some hunkering underneath rubble from the previous attack.

Gasping for air, a stich forming in my side, I galloped towards the outskirts of town after the others, the Valkyrie coming into sight as we rounded the corner by the Hotel. Yet another explosion sounded behind us, and, glancing back, I saw one of the pubs down the street collapse in on itself, spreading rocks and debris across the street. Our hooves clattered against the metal floor of the Valkyrie as myself and Night Strike leapt inside, the pegasus hardly waiting for the cockpit door to close up before flicking switches and turning the aircraft back on.

Crash Dive pulled the door open again, sticking her head inside. "You guys take off without us, we'll try and coordinate an evacuation of the town, at least keep some ponies from looking south while you wipe that place off the map. Got me?" Night Strike nodded in response as I started going through the systems, looking over the displays as they came up on screen. Bombload, three 500t megaspells, automated bomb aim prediction systems active... alright. The door shut on the cockpit, myself just abrely able to look out and see the rest of the Vanhoover Five rushing back to the town as the vertical engine whined to speed behind me again.

The Valkyrie lifted up off the uneven ground, shaking with each hit of the massive mortar shells, some small pieces of shrapnel pinging off of the metal skin. Night Strike fought against the bucking of the machine, pulling back violently once the engines had reached their distinctive roar, a kick of acceleration taking us as we swapped back to horizontal flight. We shot up into the air, swiftly pulling away from Hopeville to avoid any stray fire. “Okay, okay, Seahoof’s about 8 minutes away, be on the lookout for any other defenses. Luna, I hope they don’t have good enough equipment to hit us...” She stared down at the console, carefully turning to line up our path. Racing through the sky, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of the attackers.

The radio suddenly burst into life, Fowler's voice screaming into our ears. "Valkyire, you will copy me goddess-damn it! What is your explanation for that unauthorized scramble?!" Bracing myself in the chair as Night Strike jerked on the yoke, and the Valkyrie suddenly responded in accordance, I grabbed the headset and fitted it on, switching the in-cockpit speakers off and flipping the radio on.

"Hopeville is under attack, mortar shelling, we're responding. Unless you've got someone else who could get there with a payload and medical supplies in only a few minutes, you're gonna have to forgive us!" The radio fizzled with static as I fiddled with the bomb systems, trying to mark Seahoof as a target. A megaspell should be more than enough to take care of that mortar... right?

To my surprise, Marigold's voice broke through over the radio next, the Seaddler's engines droning in the background. "Seaddler copies you Valkyire, I have a few friends that can help after you take out that mortar. ETA six hours there and back, they're the best group of medics I know, though. Scrambling now, Seaddler over and out." Fowler's voice came over in some angry grunts for a few moments, before the radio fizzed out. Okay, well, some more medics can only help, at least. We just need to take care of the shelling first.

It wasn’t long before the collection of buildings that was the Seahoof Armory appeared over the hills and valleys, growing steadily larger as we flew towards it. “Aw, shit, of course they’ve got the dragons here, why wouldn’t they have the dragons here?” I said, spotting a few figures circling the skies around the base. Looking around the console, I took a hold of the controls to the tesla cannon turrets, getting a feel for them. Forced to stare into a small viewfinder taking a video feed from the top turret, I squinted, trying to track their movements. “Alright, try to do this quickly. The longer we’re up here the more chances they’ll have to hit us.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring!” Night Strike yelled, pushing the throttle oepn as far as it'd go. The dragons spotted us as the Valkyrie let off a small howl, leaving their vulture circles over the armory base to chase after us. One shot out a jet of flame that Night Strike was forced to swerve to avoid, the pair of cannons in the cheeks letting off a loud series of bangs as she tried to hit the dragon with them. My hooves jerked about the turret controls as I tried to keep my eyes on the robots, pulling on the trigger. There was the sudden crackle and boom of thunder as a bolt of lightning shot through the air, followed by another, and another, all in quick succession. The dragons avoided them, beating their wings to maintain their speed as another jet of flame spewed from their mouth. Another circled about, attempting to cut us off as Night Strike dipped lower to dodge a swing of its knife-like tail. The bay doors whirred open, locking open with a thunk behind us. “Any time you wanna actually aim the bomb, Static!”

Firing off another burst, I finally managed to hit one of the robotic beasts, taking it out of the sky. Its eyes flickered off, overloaded by the electricity before it began to plummet towards the earth. I glanced back to the display showing the bomb targeting systems, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of the calculations it was running. Carefully twisting the controls, I saw a sudden flash of heat as one of the Valkyrie’s wings was wreathed in fire. Night Strike pulled on the controls, attempting to move out of the fire as the repair talismans began to glow under the burning metal. My heart pounding in my chest, I focused back in on the bomb view, spotting a few small figures rushing between the large artillery and the ammunition stores. The massive, stumpy gun bucked backwards as it fired another shot towards Hopeville, another cart of the gigantic shells being rolled towards it by pony-shaped figures.

Tracking the base through the view, I had just enough time to notice the gun begin to point further up into the air, only too late realizing that we were flying straight over the thing... oh Celestia help us. “NOWNOWNOWNOW!” I shrieked. Night Strike slammed her hoof down on a button on her control yoke, the plane shaking as the weight of the bomb fell away. Yanking upwards on the controls and going white-jointed on the throttle, Night Strike peeled us away from the base, the bay doors snapping shut as we rockteted westwards. Please tell me those bombing circuits took the plane's proximity to the blast into account...

There was a deafening moment of silence, before a bright flash filled the sky behind us, and we began to ride the shockwave out to the coast.

The Valkyrie shook for several moments as the blastwave smacked us from behind, myself keeping her on a steady heading as everything calmed. A few seconds of smooth flight later, I eased back on the throttle, the city of Vanhoover shooting past underneath as I nosed down just to get my bearings back. Right... bring her back to Hopeville, see how worse off they are now. Celestia damn us for leaving that huge thing's barrel intact, we should've blown it up when we found the Harriers missing. They had to've dragged it out somehow, the engine was completely rusted through! Guh... it's dead now, at least. "Static? You alright?"

"Nngh, yeah, I think so. Ahm... looks like the robo-dragons were taken out in the blast, so, less things for us to worry about, at least. Slight burn damage on the left wing, talismans are taking care of that, we're... we're keeping together." The earth pony sitting behind me caught his breath for a few moments as I swung us around out at sea, starting to bring us back inland. He fiddled with a few things on his console, the bright orange mushroom cloud rising from the floodplain just about peeking over the top of the cockpit's edge. Bringing the throttle back to a low cruise speed, and flashing the air brakes for a moment, I watched the cloud drawing closer, billowing to the sky.

"Should... should we see the damage from the blast? Uh, there was something about long-range photography in the manual, you can see it from here, right?" Turning my head to look back towards Static, his hooves worked with the console, as I put us in a slight left bank to steer clear of the rising head of the mushroom. Flying through all those radioactive particles, yeah, not gonna risk that... Static let off a small grunt behind me, as the thick, grey stem started to pass to our left.

The cockpit was silent for a few moments more, myself just watching out the side of the canopy as the cloud passed by in the distance. "Well... standard imaging is useless, too much disturbed dust or whatever. Thermal... infrared... can't really make out Seahoof through all the heat of the crater. Looks like total destruction, though..." I gave a nod, more just to myself, breathing the cold air of the cabin. We just... dropped a megaspell. It happened so fast... why aren't I more excited? I mean, Hopeville's not under attack anymore, and once I land back there I can probably still see the cloud from the edge of town. It's no different from the Battered-Sea, we just used the Valkyrie instead of doing it like an old megaspell test... hmh.

Bringing the nose back north, we made way back towards Hopeville, myself keeping largely quiet for most of it. It was a megaspell, I dropped it, had good reason to do so, and did it just like they would've back in the war, in a huge fast bomber designed for delivering megaspells against enemy targets. Just like they -did- back in the war.

Why does that part just not sit right with me?

The shattered, blasted ruins of Hopeville came into view as I brought us back over the empty field outside town we'd landed in earlier, switching over to the VTOL engine and bringing the gear out. We touched down smoothly, the engines whining down as I switched the Valkyrie off, Static undoing his buckles. He trotted up alongside myself, resting a hoof on my shoulder and drawing my attention off of the control yoke. Our eyes met, his widening in surprise for a moment. "Strikey... uh, um... we should see how things are going in Hopeville, with the rest. Right?"

Closing my eyes and looking away from him for a moment, I drew in a breath, releasing it in a quick sigh. I answered with a quick nod, undoing the buckles of the restraints and sliding myself out of the pilot's seat, getting onto my shaking hooves. Well... deployed a full-blown megaspell in definite, delibrate, direct combat... I'm definitely gonna need a while before that settles in. Static opened the cockpit hatch, hopping himself out as I followed close behind. Just... Hopeville, rest of the Vanhoover Five, focus on that for now.

And try to not let it get to you.

"This is Wing Commander Fowler, of the HMS Cadence. If you are in range and recieving this transmission, immediately direct this message to the nearest medic, doctor, or field surgeon you know of. The town of Hopeville, located on the southern edge of the Vanhoover Reservior, has been the victim of an attack via a massive siege mortar. The number of casualties are immense. Any and all assistance that can be supplied to the town is required immediately.

"The threat of the mortar has been removed, and able-bodied residents are preparing themselves on the air defenses of the town. To the towns of Vanhoover, Maple Creek, and the Vanhoover Air Base, be on full alert with your own anti-aircraft armaments. Repeat; the threat of the mortar has been removed. All available medical personnell are requested to Hopeville. Travel by way of the city of Vanhoover, DO NOT proceed through the Vanhoover Floodplain. The area is intensely radioactive.

"Normal broadcasting on K-AOS will resume upon further contact with the Vanhoover Five, and confirmation that the situation at Hopeville is uncer control. Until then, this transmission will repeat. Wing Commander Fowler, HMS Cadence, out."

The walk back into town was deathly quiet, the radio only carrying a repeated alert from Fowler - other words, not helping us too much. Neither were the clusters of displaced families finding themselves on the outskirts of the town, lined up on the side of the road with only a few sparse blankets or their own clothes for warmth. W-well, bright side, Strikey, they don't have to worry about a giant mortar anymore... just their homes and lives having been destroyed. Of course. Just, look at Static until we get into town...

"I... I just can't really believe this. Hopeville's just... Hmnh..." Static's eyes scanned over the groups that trudged down the roads, looking for places to shelter themselves, or at least some unclaimed patches of ground to rest on. Most faces didn't even turn towards us, and those that did, with their expressions so shattered... I didn't want to look. The earth pony beside me let off a huff, the welcome sign to the town proper coming up towards us. "First Saddlebrook, now here. They've gone too far."

I nodded weakly in response as we pressed onwards, the crowds of evacuating ponies starting to grow thicker, eventually reaching an intersection where a power armored pegasus stood, pointing hooves and barking orders. Fighting our way through, Crash Dive eventually took notice of us, the red eyes of her helmet aglow in the cloud-filled air. "Nice to see you both back in one piece. We had a few flash-blindness victims, and a few more with cases of tinnitus from the blast, but most of the town was already on the way to the roads out by the time you dropped that thing."

"It looked like they managed to get one more shell off before we could hit them, was everyone pretty much clear before it landed?" Another group pressed past us, Crash Dive looking them over for a moment before directing them on the road out of town. She turned back towards us, passing on a somewhat reassuring nod, getting a sigh of relief out of me. Okay, so at least not as many ponies died as there could've been... homes can be rebuilt, Strikey, ponies can't be brought back from the dead. Static glanced around for a moment, before looking back to Crash Dive. "Also, were are the rest?"

"Scouring's handling the evac on the western side of town, and Aerith... I think she was looking for a few grenade rifles for the Triage, so they could get to field-testing their new grenades. You might want to head over there yourself, Night Strike, they could use a helping hoof and you've already got Thumper. Static, you can be with me for the time being. Have to hope that whatever farm houses or standing structures near the town can fit everyone in them, if anypony comes up saying they can help with rebuilding, we'll direct them to the hotel for now." Static gave a concerned look towards me, myself responding to him with a light nod. Using Thumper, to directly save ponies for once, yeah, that sounds... that sounds nice. His eyes followed mine as he trotted over beside Crash Dive, and I took to the sky.

A quick flight saw to me landing on the roof of the entrance to the Triage, the massed crowd of townsponies having been formed into at least some sort of orderly queues now. Hopping down from the awning, I landed in the small passage between the lines, much to the surprise - and apparent anger - of a few of those already in line. A stallion from one line found it necessary to give me a shove into the other line, seeming to growl at me as well... oh, this could get ugly. "Oi, get your fuckin' arse back to the end of the line, feathers, everyone here's tryin' to get fixed up and the fact that you've got two extra limbs don' give you any privledges o'er the rest of us. Frickin' pegasi..." Regaining myself from the few ponies I'd been pushed into, I stumbled into the middle of the walkway, trying to focus. Okay, unruly crowds, this... could be better. "D'you have feathers stuffed in your ears or somethin'? I said-"

The 40mm-bore barrel of Thumper met the stallion's face in response, myself breathing softly as I shared his wide-eyed stare. Get into the Triage, get the mini healing megaspell grenades, get to work, that's all I have to do. Both lines were silent as we had our little standoff, myself keeping the unloaded grenade rifle trained on his face as I started trotting around. "Look, I'm here to help. The Triage has a few experimental things that they need me to help them with testing, so you can either cause a scene and let me shunt you and probably anypony standing behind you into the express lane with this buckshot round I've got in here, or you can let me go in peace, and you can go back to helping the rest of the town out sooner. Everyone got it?"

The stallion in line gave a weak nod, the few ponies that were standing behind him quickly trying to make themselves scarce in the room they had to move. Nodding back to him, I took a few more steps towards the Triage's open doors, before stowing Thumper and galloping the rest of the way in. The receptionist behind the desk was juggling three clipboards and an intercom, going from writing things down on one to another, and making call outs as the patients flowed through. Honestly, I'm really impressed she can speak so well with a pen in her mouth... "Broken limbs, sprains, or other internal wounds to the left, severe bleeding, lost limbs to the right, flash blindness or tinnitus you can find a seat in the waiting area behind me. If it's anything else and isn't immediately life-threatening, we are extremely overtaxed right now, so please leave and follow the evacuation routes."

"I... uh, grenade rifle, you have some healing grenades somewhere, that you were developing?" The recptionist looked up from her papers as I held up Thumper for her to see, pausing for a moment before she scratched another thing down. Setting the pen aside for the moment, she rubbed at her mouth with a hoof, moving for the intercom. "Dr. Pearl said that you had them ready for field testing, I think, and my friend Aerith is looking for other grenade rifles to help with delivering them."

The receptionist nodded, her voice projecting over the speakers for a moment before Pearl and Emerald both pushed through the crowds, the unicorn having to keep a wooden box away from the cheerful-looking AI. She let off a sigh as she reached me, nodding and motioning for the exit, myself following. "Probably know we've got your one friend looking for grenade rifles already, but you being here with yours is a big help as it is. We've made certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that we replaced the spell enchantments in the cores of these things with a standard Ministry of Peace mass healing megaspell, only thing we aren't absolutely sure of is the area that they'll affect."

"Lucky that the Ministry of Peace was keen on sharing that particular megaspell with Shady Shores, all they had to do was pull it from my databanks! Based on the size and theoretical yield of those solar burst grenades, I'm predicting a complete healing of all wounds for all still-living ponies in an area of about, say, twenty meters or so. Wouldn't recommend looking directly at the flash, still, but it'll work through walls and everything! Just hope they aren't, ahem, impaled on rebar or anything, not sure how that'll go over... oh well, learning experience and all!" Emerald and myself both looked at the ever-eager Pearl, the unicorn pulling one of the 40mm grenade rifle rounds out of the box and passing it over to me. Bringing Thumper back out, I opened her breech, taking the round and slipping it in before shutting the rifle back up.

"Head to the south side of town, that's where we got hit with the worst of it all. I'll try and get together a few ponies to help with the rescue parties, just keep an eye out for anypony who's able to be saved." Answering Emerald with a nod and slipping a few more of the spare healing grenades into my jacket pockets, my wings spread and carried me back aloft over the crowds. Looking southwards, the thinning stem and greyish head of the mushroom cloud that was once Seahoof Armory stood in the distance, the ground still hidden by the disturbed snow and dust kicked by the blast... don't start thinking about it again Strikey, you're almost good. Just get where you need to be.

Flying over the streets and buildings, the ruins and craters from the shell impact sites soon were passing underneath me, my breath clouding in the frigid air as I hovered over a destroyed section of the town. Hmmh, only have five shots plus the one in the breech now, how to pick targets... try to listen for the wails of the severely injured and dying, I guess. Let's not think about that too much, either. Dipping low, I started to fly closer to the rooftops, hovering along and trying to pick out any odd sounds. Passing around a partially-collapsed brick storefront, one of the massive shell craters appeared down the road, along with a few pony-shaped forms around it... some of them did seem to still be moving. Probably a few ponies that could've weathered it from inside these houses, maybe... here goes nothing.

Shouldering Thumper, my sights focused down on the middle of the road, watching one of the figures trying to drag itself through the muck and mud. Just hang in there, the medic is here, eheh. Thumper let out his familiar thump, the small payload arcing through the air before landing just behind the battered pony, exploding in a brilliant, familiar flash. A softer bang rang out through the air, myself bringing a foreleg up to cover my eyes as the explosion faded off. Oh, Celestia, please tell me that that thing worked like it was supposed to...

Looking back to the street, the pony-shaped figure that was previously dragging itself down it semed to lay where it was for a short while, before it picked itself up onto it's hooves, albeit shakily. A sigh of relief left my lips, the break action of Thumper opening and allowing me to pull the spent casing out, fanning it off in the air for a little bit before replacing it with one of the unspent rounds, closing Thumper back up. Score one for helpful things to come out of harmful things made from originally helpful things, I guess... however that works. Holding Thumper at the ready, I scanned around the town again, listening for more wails of agony.

What I got instead, however, was heavy automatic cannon fire. My head jerked around for a moment, trying to find the source of it, another spray of the massive bullets whizzing past me instead encouraging me to dive to the ground and try to get out of the line of fire. Okay, autocannon, kind of a familiar sound, too... twenty millimeter, just like Featherweight's. We haven't sold anything in twenty millimeter flavor to Hopeville, so it must be somepony carrying it... but who would be carrying a friggin' twenty mil autocannon?! And, more importantly, why aren't they on our side!?

The beating of heavy wings filled the air as whoever it was drew a little closer, msyelf keeping Thumper held against my chest as I ducked under the undestroyed awning of one of the buildings. Okay, breathe Strikey, if they're bad, well, I guess the AA guns could take care of them, maybe, provided they don't kill you first. If they're good, and this is just a huge misunderstanding, though... oh, fuck it, maybe hitting them in the face with a healing burst grenade would at least give me time to escape, if this doesn't work. "Whoever you are, with the cannon, don't shoot! I'm a medic, I guess! Special grenades!"

The large wings stopped as I heard someone land above me, my heart pounding in my chest and my hooves feeling it through Thumper. They set something heavy down on the roof above, the old, splintered wood creaking as they leaned over the top. I found myself staring into the blue eyes of a gryphon, three of her head feathers poking out from under a flight cap and tipped with brown, a couple large olive-drab green wings accompanying her as she steadied herself with her talons. Her head tilted to one side, seeming to look over myself for a moment. "You're the weirdest medic I've ever seen, and I've seen some weird stuff. How do I -know- you didn't just shoot off a grenade at an old skywagon and detonate it to cause even more damage, huh?"

I blunk a few times in response, still staring up at the gryphon above me. Okay, granted, she did have a point, this whole situation with the healing burst grenades was a little hard to explain in a few seconds... another gryphon, this one with all-white feathers and black combat armor, suddenly landed in the street in front of us both, near the pony who was previously dragging himself away from the crater. He seemed to look them over for a few moments, reaching for his red cross-branded saddlebags, before catching himself. Both myself and the upside-down gryphon seemed to be watching him, the older white-feathered gryphon leading the pony over to where we were. "Hispano, leave the poor mare alone, she's telling the truth. Sorry about her, she's always been a little quick on the draw when it comes to seeing unfamiliar people opening fire on recently destroyed towns... I'm Cora, here about that transmission on the radio. You said you're a medic, right? Can you direct us to where you have your triage set up?"

"U-uh, well, kinda... and, um, yeah, the Triage is the big hospital on the northeast side of town. They're really packed by this, never seen the receptionist having to go and sort casualties before..." The gryphon upstairs disappeared for a moment, before hopping down from the roof with her autocannon in tow. Jeez, that thing really -is- half of Featherweight's light saddle... I think. Looks kinda similar to his cannons... Cora seemed to pass on a look of confusion as I picked myself up to my hooves, fitting Thumper onto my back, the healed pony shrugging and trotting off towards the Triage by himself.

"Ehm... I'm sorry, are you a new medic, or something? That's almost the literal definition of triage... ahm, forget it. How many more of you are out in the town, with... whatever you just fired off?" Blinking at him a few times, I tried to think - well, I mean, Emerald did say she was going to try and get a few groups together to help with rescue, but all the doctors and stuff seemed to just be treating the patients that walked or were carried in. Probably not the best of situations right now, no. I suppose, well, there's probably Aerith trying to find the gunsmith's shop, so there's that.

"I'm the only one with the mini-megaspell healing grenades, only other person in town that I know of for sure is Aerith. She's flying around trying to track down a few more grenade rifles so we can get more people deployed." Cora answered with a nod as I started trotting out into the street, the other gryphon accompanying him - Hispano, he said? - adjusting herself on her back legs as she held her autocannon ready. She stopped herself after taking a few steps to follow behind us, eventually catching up and having her own confused look. Okay, are they just gonna be taking turns, or something?

"Hang on a sec, you said mini-megaspell grenades? As in, like, agh, what were those things called... balefire eggs? Except, y'know... for your grenade rifle?" She hefted her cannon up for a moment, just to scratch at the side of her head, as Cora turned us to start walking more towards the crater, scanning through the shattered storefronts. After a moment, Hispano just shrugged, checking around with Cora. "Eh, if they work, they work. Can't really rightfully call them overkill, eheh..."

"They're probably set up with a Ministry of Peace mass healing megaspell, not the kind that cause destruction..." The gryphon ahead of me looked skywards, myself following his gaze to just about spot the still-present head of the mushroom off in the distance. "...not that ones of that kind aren't still around. Hope that whoever it was in the jet that dropped that thing knew what they were doing, last thing we need is for this town to be downwind of the fallout from that bomb."

"I think we had it fuzed for an air burst, and Seahoof didn't seem to have a central reactor like Shady Shores, so the fallout shouldn't be too bad. Winds seem to flow west-east here, not sure what's due east aside from mountain ranges, but, yeah, Hopeville should be good from the secondary blast effects." Both of them seemed to stop in their tracks as I continued forwards a few steps, before turning around to meet their eyes. Again with the confused faces... "What? Me and Static dropped the thing, and we've already set off a few of them before here and there, we've got a good idea of the effects. Lucky the floodplain is pretty bowl-shaped, helped to contain the explosion a little."

They both stayed silent for a long moment, Hispano setting the back of her autocannon on the groundand steadying it by the barrel, both of their beaks agape. She brought her free claws up to pinch above her beak for a moment, drawing in a breath, before releasing it in a cloudy huff. "Okay, you've got a LOT to explain to us right now, lil' miss missile-flanks. Just for starters, who are you, anyways?"

"Um... Night Strike. Of the Vanhoover Five?" They both glanced between each other, before turning attention back to me. Okay, so they really don't know us, then... how far from out of town are they? "You know, the Vanhoover Five! We've kinda been going all around this wasteland helping ponies for the last two months, getting them air defenses, rescuing tanks, blowing up bio-research stations. Hell, just last week we were helping somepony else fix their flying boat, it took off earlier today! You guys haven't heard of us?"

"We only arrived in Seaddle a couple days ago, that call for help earlier today was the first time we've heard anything about the Vanhoover Five. If you are to blame for that mushroom cloud to the south, forgive us if we're a little skeptical about how much 'good' you guys have actually done." Hasgd- grrt- fghht- it was a justified use of a tactical megaspell warhead! I caught myself after a moment, drawing in a breath before releasing it in a cloudy sigh. Just, calm down Strikey, getting angry won't fix anything. Focus on the important stuff... like the alicorn-shaped figure coming out of the sky. Oh good, Aerith... and she's got her tommy gun out. Oh, not good, Aerith.

"Halt, miscreants! Release your captive now, or face the wrath of... The Silver Shroud!" The alicorn landed with a heavy thud in the snowy muck of the street, both Cora and Hispano seeming plainly too dumbfounded to even react beyond staring at her. She leapt skywards after a moment, landing herself beside me and glancing down at my back, keeping her tommy gun levitated out and aimed between both gryphons. 'I heard the autocannon fire, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?' Huuuugh, the adrenaline from earlier's pretty faded and I don't have enough Sparkle-Cola in me to handle this right now...

"Aerith, I'm fine, we're cool with each other, it was just a momentary misunderstanding. This is Cora and Hispano, they're from out of town and here to help with the casualties here in Hopeville. Cora, Hispano, this is Aerith, she's another of the Vanhoover Five and the one I mentioned earlier." The alicorn lowered her submachine gun for the moment, both of the gryphons glancing between each other before looking back to us. Looking towards Aerith, a small, battered courier bag caught my eyes hanging on her shoulders, the familiar shape of a standard grenade rifle or three getting my attention. Well, they -are- here to help...

Opening my jacket, the four remaining healing burst grenades came out one at a time, Aerith taking notice and pulling out one of the grenade rifles from her bag. Letting her pick up three of the rounds as I took the grenade rifle and loaded the fourth into it, I passed the whole thing over to Cora, plucking a second grenade from her aura and giving it to him as well. "You're here to help out, here's a grenade rifle and two of the grenades I was using earlier. You guys probably have a better grasp on finding where the most casualties would be than I would, so you can get to it while we take the rest to the Triage for them to pass out, or find more." After a moment of thought, I pulled another grenade rifle from her bag, taking the remaining two shells and slipping one in the second rifle's breech before passing it and the other round to Hispano. "That's all they gave me, I don't know how many they have left. They've got an effect area of about twenty meters, so, yeah, we'll leave you two to it and let the Triage know you're here."

Hispano and Cora both looked over the grenade rifles for a second, the older gryphon slipping it under the strap for his saddlebags for the moment while Hispano seemed to examine hers more closely, eyes moving between it and her autocannon. She nodded after a moment of thought, sticking the rifle into an olive-drab duffel bag... huh. "Okay, but you definitely owe us a full explanation later, missile-flanks!" Cora let off a quiet sigh, turning and taking to the air, with Hispano following him behind. I rubbed a hoof against my head, Aerith passing on a concerned look as I let off a groan. After a second, my eyes met hers, before looking to the bag that still held a few grenade rifles yet. Releasing a sigh of my own, my wings spread wide, looking back to Aerith.

"Let's just get those things to the Triage..."

You're tuned to Radio KAOS, and if you're just tuning in - which would be a shocker - here's the rundown today. Hopeville came under attack by an unidentified group, that had managed to get a siege mortar located at the Seahoof Armory operational. The Vanhoover Five was first to respond to the attack thanks to their now fully-functional jet bomber, doing what comes naturally to them in these sorts of situations and removing the threat by way of megaspell. They assured us here at Radio KAOS, and I would also assume the whole town of Hopeville, that the fallout from the bomb won't pose a threat to them, due to the explosion occurring in the Vanhoover Floodplain and prevailing winds carrying the majority of it eastwards. Less things these folks have to worry about, the better.

"We don't have official casualty figures yet, but the damage dealt to the town was extensive, and the Triage is overwhelmed with seemingly the entire town's population. Medics from Vanhoover, Maple Station, and... a pair from Seaddle have responded to assist with the injured, and the Triage's own have deployed specially-designed grenades carrying a standard Ministry of Peace mass healing spell, which I would assume is a very good thing for those able to take advantage of it. For those who aren't... Us here at Radio KAOS would like to extend our deepest condolences to those who have lost friends or family in this tragedy, and we can only hope that an attack like this won't be able to come again anytime soon. Vahoover Five, we need you to help assure us of that... huh? Ahm, one moment...

"I've just recieved word that a flight of field medics from a town known as Destruction Bay... Destruction Bay, that's the name of the town, really? Ahem, ahm, right, a flight of field medics from Destruction Bay are about to touch down in the Vanhoover Reservior, so keep eyes peeled and the shore clear for them. We're all with you in this, Hopeville, just keep soldiering on.

"For now until the situation at Hopeville's under control, Radio KAOS will be transmitting songs from the Wasteland's Sweetheart. Up next, There'll Always Be An Equestria."

"...alright, these ought to be sufficient for handling the remaining mass casualty areas, the more distant areas surrounding craters, mainly. They use a Ministry of Peace mass healing megaspell, pretty much just a point and shoot affair, but make sure the wounded aren't trapped or impaled first, and also be absolutely sure that the area is clear before you allow the tank to bulldoze the rubble." Emerald stood on the shoreline, explaining the reason that most of the new medics were being given grenade rifles, while I dug through my duffel bag for the other Solar Burst grenades I swear I had on me. Come on, I know I had more, at least I just need to hang onto one or two before we can head back to Maple Station and have more made. "And, really, thank you for coming, we're really in need of all the help we can get."

"Yah, came fast as we could when Marigold explained the situation, we'll cover the town for ya and get as many as we can oop and going again." A truly massive... I don't think she's a pony... moose, I think? That sounds right. A massive moose wearing a metal trench hat adorned with the familiar red cross on white background trotted forwards, the rest of the group of flown-in medics starting to scatter across the town. Emerald nodded as I finally found a few more of the Solar Burst rounds, pulling them out and setting them on the ground. Going back to rifling through the contents of my duffel bag, the heavy clomp of hooves caught my attention, looking just in time to see the medic moose reaching for one of them. "So, you guys actually managed to cram a healing megaspell into these things? Mind if we-"

"No, not those!" Practically jumping forwards to grab the grenade from her larger hoof, it bounced in the air a few times as I fumbled catching it, eventually managing to release a sigh. Okay, note to self, don't leave these things more than a few inches away or out of sight. The moose blunk a few times as she looked down at me... Celestia above, I think she's bigger than Featherweight... setting her hoof down. "Sorry, it's, um, these haven't been imprinted with the right spell yet, right now they have an approximate raw blast yield of about fifty pounds of TNT each. Don't really want more explosions today, heh..."

Emerald trotted over to see the commotion, myself passing the few I'd pulled out already to her as the moose watched on. She gave a nod atfer a moment, wearing a smile on her large muzzle. "Yeah, probably wouldn't be somethin' we'd want to do, eh? Well, was just gonna ask if we could maybe bring some o' those healing ones back to Destruction Bay with us, the scientists on the HMS Mercy would love to get their hooves on something like these. Where'd you manage to find the details of the MoP mass healing spell, anyhow?"

As if that were her cue, the ever-cheerful sound of a science-happy AI's voice came in, carrying a small box and a bag of other grenade-sized objects with her. "Emerald! Night Strike! I've got good news and different, unrelated good news!" The moose turned her attention towards Pearl, myself looking on with her and passing another of the Solar Burst grenades to Emerald. The AI stopped in place for a moment, her screen flickering to the thinking mare for a second, before going back to the smile. "Huh, a moose, I haven't seen one of those in centuries! Well, a full, alive, non-amalgamated one, anyways... Anyways! Got another ten of the healing burst grenades made, and a handful of some special ones, too. Bet you're gonna like 'em, Night Strike!"

Picking myself up to my hooves as Emerald took the rest of the Healing Burst grenades from Pearl, I looked at the other small bag held in the AI's grasp, watching as she opened it. What met my eyes was a small pile of standard Solar burst grenades, except... they were glowing blue? Reaching in, I pulled one of them out, looking it over a little more closely. So... blue. At least Pearl seemed excited. "So I was making up the next batch of healing burst grenades when I got to thinking about the formula, and a few of the things we had on hand. To cut a long and somewhat shouty, yelly, don't-touch-the-vials-of-nitro-for-heart-medicationy story short, I decided to see what happens when you mix the spell inside these things with Sparkle-Cola RAD. I dunno for sure what the isotope of Strontium 90 is in those things, but if my calculations are correct, these should be around 150% as powerful as the standard grenades! I probably won't be able to get away with making more, but I can give you the recipe, of course. Just stop by when you've got a chance!"

Pearl passed me the bag of the new grenades, before giving myself and the moose a nod and taking the solar burst grenades from Emerald, assumedly to make more. Watching her round the corner, the moose-medic cleared her throat, wearing a smile still. "So, pre-war research robot with it in her memory banks or somethin', then? Well, so long as she's on our side, and not doing whatever it was regarding amalgamates that she was talking aboot still. I'll go catch up with the rest in town, just be sure to ask for Jean after all's said and done so we can discuss maybe getting a bit of your info for ourselves, eh." Giving a nod, the moose-medic - Jean, I assume - trotted off, breaking into a bit of a gallop to get to the rest of her group. Emerald took to checking over the new batch of healing burst grenades, while I looked down into the bag of grenades I held in my own hooves.

Even more powerful Solar Burst grenades... at the cost of Sparkle-Cola RAD. Yay.

By the time we finally arrived back home at the lighthouse, it was well on into the night, the strain from today evident on all of us. Aerith, Scouring, and Crash Dive all seeked out their rooms in the lighthouse, while both myself and Static dropped into the bed in ours, not even bothering to take our clothes off... but still kicking the heavy comforter up so it covers our back legs, at least. It's a cold winter night, almost like a chilly day back home, and frozen flanks aren't pleasant. Though, to be honest, whether or not my rear would be frozen tomorrow morning wasn't really what was on my mind...

"Hey, um, Static?" Nudging the earth pony beside me, his eyes cracked open, a small grunt escaping him. Oh, come on, don't tell me you were nearly asleep already, Sparky. He lifted himself a little, myself biting at my lip and looking between us. "Look, I... I've just been thinking, since we dropped the megaspell... are we really the good guys? I mean, yeah, we -do- good, but... good guys don't use megaspells in anger like we did, do they?"

The earth pony rubbed at his eyes a little, quiet for a few moments as he rolled onto his back, letting off a small huff. He closed his eyes, thinking... I hope, before adjusting himself again to look towards me. "'Course they do, long's they have good reason. I mean, the, uh, the Lightbringer used one f'r killing the Goddess, and your dad launched that missile and sorta set off the ones that made NEAMO crater, didn't he? Good guys use megaspells. Auh, all the time..."

Static rolled over, pulling the comforter up over himself and falling asleep, myself dragging the blanket up as well. I laid back, staring up at the ceiling, just thinking. Dad launched the missile to destroy the Tsetse and stop the battle at Pripytrot, and then the ones at NEAMO crater... well, probably was NEAMO before it became NEAMO crater, and that was some kind of big megaspell cannon or something, wasn't it? Probably couldn't have destroyed either of them as fast or as easily if they didn't use megaspells... just like with us destroying that siege mortar. I let off a soft sigh, rolling to snuggle up with Static, keeping the blanket snug around both of us.

We're still the good guys.

I awoke to the sound of rain pattering against the window, the room a mass of shadows only occasionally lit by the sudden flash of lightning. Grumbling, I rolled out of bed, blindly reaching for the curtains to shut out the bright flashing as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. My hoof met the cloth and I pulled the curtains shut, though the thin sheets of fabric did little to help. I yawned and wandered over to the dresser, only for my sleep addled mind to click and realize my jacket was still on me. I vaguely wondered about how long it had been since it had actually been washed before stepping out along the hallway and into the main room.

The kitchen was almost as dark as our bedroom was, the only source of light not coming from the storm being the faint glow of Aerith’s horn as she sat munching on tinned hay. ‘Power’s out. Think a surge fried a fuse or something.’ Her sign read simply as my mildly confused expression was illuminated by her magic. She reached over the counter before passing me another tin of hay, which I accepted. Well, cold breakfast’s better than no breakfast. The patter of rain grew louder, the windows shaking a bit in their frames as they were pelted by the large droplets.

“Yeesh, you think a storm this bad would’ve been worth mentioning on the radio. It’s going to be fun trying to get to Maple Creek in this…” I glanced out the window, watching as waves crashed violently against the rocky cliffs along the coast. Aerith grimaced, her screen flashing up the image of a gun pointing to her head before it fired, Aerith pulling an over-the-top ‘dead’ face. I rolled my eyes, Aerith grinning as the screen fizzled away. I chewed at the slightly gristly hay, trying to get a few pieces free from my teeth. The squeaking of a door met my ears, soon followed by the thump of hoofsteps as Crash Dive and Scouring Charge stepped out from the hallway and into the kitchen. A few moments later Night Strike wandered out of our room, rubbing her eyes as she yawned widely.

“I hope you weren’t expecting to spend all day here. No tornados or waterspouts, no excuses.” Crash Dive said bluntly. Night Strike grumbled incoherently, stealing my tin of hay, only for her hoof to hit metal as she reached in for some food. Jeez, you think she’d have learned I don’t leave food out by now. Aerith snatched up a few more tins of hay before standing up, Crash Dive at the door. Wind howled and buffeted her, the door flying open and slamming into the side of the house. Crash Dive and Scouring were able to easily step out into the gale, their armor helping to resist the wind. I tentatively opened my umbrella, trying to shield myself from the onslaught of rain. Rather than remaining dry, I was pulled across the slick grass, the umbrella turning inside out and nearly plunging me into the sea for my trouble.

Shaking the umbrella and trying to close it as my jacket was soaked through in only a few seconds, I could see Night Strike trying desperately to fight the wind. It caught her wings, causing her to tumble in the air for a moment, struggling to stay airborne as she was bounced around by the wind and the rain. She managed to dive towards the top of the cliff, skidding in the mud and icy now as the wind dropped out under her. Trudging up the path, we were forced to slog through a foot of water that had already overtaken the land bridge. Shivering in the cold, I picked up my pace to try and reach the relative safety of the Clydesdale. Aerith clambered into the back, shaking her hat dry and tying up the thick cloth side doors after Crash Dive and Scouring had taken their seats in the back as well.

I hoisted myself up into the driver’s seat, shaking some of the mud off of my hooves onto the ground before pulling the madly flapping door cover shut, as Night Strike did the same on her side. Buckets of frigid rain splashed off of the windscreen as I let off a sigh, just taking in the comfort of the closed cabin. Alright ya big engineering half-truck, don’t fail me now… Flipping a few switches, the engine rumbled to life, the loud crackle of thunder filling the air as if in answer. Easing forward, the treads spun in place for a moment, trying to get a grip in the mix of mud and snow before it managed to push us forward. The headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating ever-growing puddles in the dirt and icing-over snow as we made our way towards the path to take us to Maple Creek. Squinting through the darkness, it was almost impossible to tell we were headed in the right direction along the road. Occasionally a flash of lightning would illuminate the mountains off in the distance, giving a hint of our orientation, but it was gone a moment later and we would be lost in the dark storm once again.

As we continued along, the headlights suddenly lit up the creek flowing out of the town named after it. Now, however, the creek was a roaring river, smashing against the side of the already dilapidated stone bridge. I pulled to a stop, looking up and down the river for any means of crossing it. “Uhhh… anyone else got any ideas, other than trying to ford a possible several meters deep river in a half-sealed half-track?”

“You know, this riverbank makes for a good resting place.” Night Strike said sarcastically. I looked over to her, my eyelids lowered to express my dissatisfaction with her quip. She rolled her eyes, sighing. “Come on, Aerith’s lifted heavier things than the Clydesdale, just have her carry us across. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Yeah, it’s that ‘should’ part that worries me… Night Strike still rapped on the back of the driver’s bench with her hoof, Scouring glancing over as Aerith seemed to be napping. “Can you and Aerith carry this thing over the river? Static doesn’t like the look of trying to drive through it.” Scouring sat up, peering over Night Strike to see the roaring river. He gave a bit of a grimace, but nodded anyway before turning back to Aerith to wake her up.

There was a moment of silence before the Clydesdale shook, Aerith and Scouring’s magical auras surrounding it as it began to slowly rise up into the air. Hovering only a few inches above ground, we slowly drifted forward, the roar of the river growing slightly louder as we passed over it. I tried to avoid looking down out of the window, but my eyes still wandered over to the raging rapids, causing me to lean backwards, my stomach suddenly turning over on itself. Ooookay, don’t do that again. Jeez, somehow flying that Vertibuck was still better than this. The Clydesdale shook again before we were gently settled back down on to the opposite side of the river, and I realized just how hard my heart had been pounding in my chest. Wrapping my still somewhat shaky hooves around the steering wheel, I started the vehicle once again and continued to head towards Maple Creek.

It wasn’t much longer before the headlamps caught the few farms on the outskirts of the town, and the shadows of the buildings that could be made out against the inky blackness beyond. Lightning continued to crackle above, being the only source of light beyond a few lonely candles hanging inside ponies’ windows. We pulled up outside of the humble town hall, the engine dying down as the lights faded away, causing the darkness to surround us once again. Stepping out into the rain, I hurried up the steps to the safety of the building, the others close behind me. Shivering and shaking some of the rain off of me as we stepped into the warm interior, we were met by a mare sitting wreathed in shadows, a candle barely illuminating the tip of her muzzle. “Name?” She said simply.

“Uh… Static Charge? And the Vanhoover five? We need to speak with the mayor urgently. It’s about a recent attack on Hopeville.” I responded. The mare sat still for a moment, the sound of a quill scratching against parchment being the only thing that could be heard. Even the rain had seemed to disappear, leaving the lobby eerily silent. The pony looked up, still only barely visible.

“An attack on Hopeville? That is rather serious. Go right on in.” She spoke, her voice never leaving its strange formal monotone. Uh… Okay then, Miss Creepypants. I slowly began to make my way towards the door to the mayor’s office, not wanting to take my eyes off of the secretary. I could swear I detected the faintest hint of a smile on her muzzle before I walked through the door. While not significantly brighter, the mayor had set up enough candles upon her desk to fully illuminate her body as she leaned over the desk, scribbling away at paperwork. She looked up as we entered, putting aside her quill to give us her full attention.

“Hello, haven’t seen you five in a while. You aren’t here to drop off more guns, are you? As good as they might have been for boosting public morale about safety, we really don’t have enough money in the treasury for another one.” The mayor said, digging around on her desk and retrieving a roll of parchment plastered in numbers and calculations. “I suppose we could afford a few more shells, but even still…” Her voice trailed off as he picked her quill back up to begin scrawling some notes down.

Night Strike stepped forward, stopping her before she could finish her calculations. “Actually, we’re not here to sell stuff. Hopeville was hit hard by an attack from Seahoof Armory yesterday, someone had managed to get one of the massive guns there up and running again. The refugees are looking for someplace to stay, and a lot of them could be coming here for shelter. I know it’s kind of last minute, but whoever runs the hotels around here might need to get ready for a lot of uh… extra business.” The mayor simply stared at her, her mouth agape as she tried to process the information.

“H-Hopeville? All of it? What the- The hotels should be the least of your concern! What the hell are we going to do for food for all these ponies? We only have so much land we can use for crops, and even then the harvest won’t be coming in for at least a month! And medical care? Hopeville has the Triage, we have one town doctor! One! We don’t have the kind of supplies to take care of hundreds of injured ponies! And what if they decide to attack here? Why were they bombing Hopeville in the first place?” The mayor put a hoof up to her temple, rubbing it as she tried to calm herself down. “Okay, okay, we’ll… we’ll try, but that’s all that I can promise. There’s just no way we can take in a whole town’s worth of ponies like that, it’s just not possible. We’ll likely have to send a lot of them back to Vanhoover, maybe I can send a messenger out there to try and redirect them before too many start heading the wrong direction. Think you know anyone that might be able to help with that?” He asked.

“I supposed we could go ask Ripple, he should be able to get to Hopeville pretty quickly in his boat. Assuming the storm lets up soon, though I can’t imagine too many ponies would try hiking here in weather like this anyway. That everything, then?” The mayor nodded and began to rifle though her paperwork again, spreading them out across her desk. We turned around and headed back out of her office, the rain pattering outside and fading in and out. I tried to avoid making eye contact with the secretary as we passed by, but I could practically feel her cold gaze upon the back of my neck. Stepping back out into the rain, Night Strike, Aerith, and I all rushed to climb back into the Clydesdale before we could become too soaked while Scouring and Crash Dive continued at their normal pace.

The engine rumbled to life and we were soon driving through the roads of Maple Creek once again. The bank of the river was flooded, the water having risen above the dock Trout was tied to. Stopping as far away from the river as I could, we all regretfully headed back out into the rain, Night Strike pounding on the door. It opened, but before Ripple could say anything we all rushed inside, water dripping out over his floor. “Aye, just come in. I get it’s rainy, but if you were goin' to at least knock I don’t see how waiting another five seconds would’ve made things worse. Anyway, what’re you guys doing here today? I figured once you had that Velcro-whatever up and running you wouldn’t really be needing boat rides anymore.”

Aerith shook out her hat, trying to avoid sending water all over the house as she did. “It’s actually not about us needing a boat ride. We need you to head over to Hopeville, soon as possible. They’ve been attacked, half the city’s been leveled by mortar shells,” I explained. Ripple’s eyes went wide, a look of shock crossing his face as he reached out to catch himself on the table, stumbling a bit. “They need help moving ponies out of the city, some can go here, but a lot might need to be taken down to Vanhoover itself. We were hoping you might be able to help us out.”

Ripple paused, letting out a long sigh as he thought it over. “Jeez, you tryin’a get me killed? This storm’s been one o' the worst I’ve ever seen. Look, I’ll head out there, I will, but not at least until this clears up. Some of the rivers are bad enough when they’re in their banks, don’t need to be getting caught between some fallen trees and capsized too.” He stood up, walking over to a cupboard and pulling out a bottle of cider. Gripping the cork in this teeth, he yanked it open, spitting the cork into a bin as he drank from the bottle. He gasped for breath after a long gulp, looking back towards us. “You guys have any idea who exactly attacked Hopeville? You sure they aren’t going to be able to attack again?”

“Don't worry, we’ve taken out the base, there’s no way they’re going to be able to use it again. We’re still not really sure who exactly did it. At least, we don’t know where they would've come from or why they did it, that is,” I said, rubbing the back of my head. Ripple took another drink of cider, thinking for a moment.

“Can’t you just fly back over the area in your fancy plane thing? Might be able to spot somethin', some kind of clear trail? They had to be affiliated with somepony, right? Would've thought the stuff there would’ve been too complicated for some plain raiders to operate.” Ripple downed the rest of his cider, sighing again and shaking his head. “Celestia, what the hell’s happened to this wasteland?”

I looked over to Night Strike, unsure of myself. “I mean… I think we could? But considering how fast and high the Valkyrie flies, I don’t exactly think the pictures would come out very clear.” Night Strike thought for a moment, scratching her chin as she did.

“Actually, I think there’s some kind of onboard camera thing. I mean, the Valkyrie was built for espionage, they have to have something to actually record evidence of the enemy’s movements, right? And, you know we do have the ability to hover in place vertically with it too, Sparky.” I shrugged, letting off a small sigh. Ripple tossed his now empty bottle of cider into a bin that was starting to overflow with them. He does know that water is drinkable, right? “We better get going, then. If there is something still there, we need to get to it before it's washed away or buried under mud, or something... or Cerberus gets to it. Oh no.” Eyes going wide, Night Strike spun about and hurried back outside into the pouring rain.

Ripple just gave a bit of a wave, looking a little taken aback with the rest of the group. “Well, bye, then,” he said, flatly. The rest of us turned to follow Night Strike out, who was attempting to switch the Clydesdale back on. As she fiddled with the controls, however, the engine continued to rumble and sputter, but was unable to catch. Dashing between Ripple’s shack and the safety of the Clydesdale, I hoisted myself up into the driver’s seat once again. Taking the controls into my hooves, I tried to start it as well, but the engine refused to budge. Shit, come on baby, don’t tell me we’re stuck now... I motioned to the others to head around the back, and they did so, Aerith looking particularly unhappy as her suit was drenched yet again.

Feeling them pushing into the back of the Clydesdale, I tried once more to start the engine, as the others tried to get the tracks moving. The engine coughed and sputtered, but after a few moments of choking on the rain, it roared once again to life, the whole truck lurching forward. I just managed to hit the brakes, getting the heavy truck to stop for the others to clamber on and seal up the cabin. We were soon heading back through the town, on our way towards the Lighthouse yet again. I leaned forward, resting my chin over the wheel as I stared off into the darkness. Night Strike flipped a few knobs on her Pip-Buck, trying to get a radio signal. “Guh, weather’s too bad, I can’t get KAOS. The heck’re we supposed to listen to now?”

As if on cue, Aerith stuck her head over the back of the seat, a wide grin on her face as she held a holotape in her magic. Plucking it from the air, Night Strike slipped it into her Pip-Buck. There was a soft whirring and crackle before a dramatic tune filled the air, Aerith giggling as it did.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts. When last we met, our intrepid hero, the Silver Shroud, was trapped, tied up in a cart, hurtling towards the edge of a cliff as the dreadful Albatross made off with the money he’d just stolen from the Baaston City Bank! How will our hero get out of this one?”

“Drat. It sure looks like I’m in a bind this time! But wait! If I can just reach my bowie knife, I just might be able to cut the ropes!”

“Curse you, Silver Shroud! You haven’t heard the last of me!”

“That’s enough out of you, Albatross. I’d save your voice for singing. Once the police get here, you’ll be nothing more than a jailbird!”

“Tune in next time to hear the next great adventure of the hero of Baaston, the Silver Shroud! Only on Pic-“

Night Strike ejected the holotape from her Pip-Buck, passing it back over to Aerith as we pulled up beside the Valkyrie. The storm had subsided, but only slightly, rumbles of thunder and the occasional flash of lightning still filling the air. “You sure you’re good flyin' this thing in a storm? Seems kind o' like tempting fate, if ye ask me.” Scouring said, looking concerned as he watched the skies.

“I think we should be good. I mean, we first flew in during a storm, didn’t we?” Night Strike said, rather optimistically confidently. Yeah, we did, Strikey, and we crashed. And that storm was maybe half as bad as this. Still, Night Strike strode towards the Valkyrie with as much dignity as she could while simultaneously shielding herself from the rain with her jacket.

I sighed, preparing to follow suit. “Alright, just wait here for us to get back, I guess. And try not to say ‘I’m sure they’re fine’, or ‘They’ve done this before’. I don’t need to be jinxed on top of things.” Rushing between the vehicles, I was soon shaking some of the mud off of my hooves as we climbed up into the cockpit. Night Strike was already busy flipping switches around, the sound of the engines slowly coming to life filling the air. I slid into my seat behind hers, strapping in and looking down at the myriad of controls that were laid out in front of me. Scanning some of the labels and racking my brain for the info from the manuals, I jumped a bit as we were shaken around by the Valkyrie beginning to trundle forward. We slowly began to pick up speed, the roar of the engines mixing with the crackle of thunder as Night Strike pulled up, lifting us into the air.

Lighting jumped around in the clouds above us, every now and then a bolt flying down from the heavens to strike the earth below as I fumbled getting the headset on. “Why couldn’t we have waited on this again?!” I shouted, grabbing onto the sides of the seat as the Valkyrie shook once more. Night Strike didn’t answer, still wrestling with the controls to avoid flying too close to the storm clouds. We raced across the sky, making a beeline towards the remains of the Seahoof Armory.

“Calm down, the Valkyrie’s gotta be at least partially shielded from lighting, or they wouldn’t have but on those giant lightning guns in the turrets, right? Now, has this thing got a camera or not? We’re going to need it ready soon.” Night Strike's voice came in clear over the intercom, the whine of the engines and rumble of thunder quieted by the cockpit and earpieces of the headset. I looked back down at the controls, a hoof moving over the various switches and knobs available beside the screen. Eventually I managed to find the switch for the recon camera, the screen in front of me switching to that of the outside, the ground rushing by at an alarming rate and making my stomach churn. Eugh, this is gonna take some getting used to... “Alright, throttling back and deploying airbrakes... Get ready, we’re taking our first pass over.” Taking a gulp, I gave my head a small shake, focusing back on the screen with one hoof over the 'capture' button and the other bringing the camera to focus forwards.

The ground continued to race by underneath, the armory coming into view at the edge of the screen... only, it was completely unrecognizable. The only way I could tell it was the base was the fact that it was the site to a massive black scorch on the land, the buildings all blasted and warped away from the point where the bomb had detonated. Trying not to focus too much on the barren landscape, I pressed the button. A soft beep accompanied the photo, myself refocusing the camera to look at a different section of the base, more towards the east, as Night Strike worked the controls to keep us airborne. As I clicked the button once again, this time a little more zoomed in, a flash of lightning illuminated the ground far off and made something glint the light up from the charred rubble. Panning the camera down as we banked left, I snapped a few more photos, the few flashes of lightning illuminating the ground causing some of the debris to glint brightly back up at us.

Feeling as Night Strike brought us around for another pass, I started to focus the shots more on the areas that were glinting, a faint sense of worry arising from the odd spread of debris. Taking a few more, I let off a small sigh, leaning back from the controls. "No movement down there, I don't think they're going to be trying anything in this weather. We should be fine to head back now... uh, think I remember reading that the Valkyire's computers can process the images in a higher resolution so we can get a definitive picture of what's down there."

"Copy that, bringing us back to the lighthouse, then. It... it was completely destroyed, right?" Night Strike fell silent as we turned back to the coast, the engines behind us whining back to full throttle and rocketing us forwards. I turned attention back to the screen, trying to remember the instructions. Alright, recall images, most recent, display main screen... Scanning through them, I brought up one illuminated by the lightning, looking it over. Better to just reassure her.

"The only thing that I can recognize down there is the sight of the crater it left behind, I'm pretty sure we got them all, Strikey. Nothing to worry about for right now." A sigh came over the headset as the pegasus in front of me relaxed herself, my eyes still focused on the picture. The glinty rubble on screen held my attention as we raced through the sky, a certain feeling in my stomach making me doubt what I'd said.

All the glinting 'rubble' pointed due east.

"Good afternoon Vanhoover, you're tuned to Radio KAOS, and if you are picking us up, consider yourself some of the lucky ones. This most recent storm sort of slipped past our radar... rather literally, and by the time we knew what it had in store for us, well, it was already bad enough to interfere with the broadcast signal. Thankfully it should be clearing up, or at least lessening in severity later today, but until then the best course of action is to avoid low-lying areas and get to the second floor of buildings if possible, and of course shelter in place. If you are caught within the area between Gemdale and Maple Station, the tank ghouls are making patrols to rescue any and all people that were initially caught out by the blizzard earlier this week, so be on the lookout for their vehicles and have some way of signaling them prepared if possible.

"Moving on to more uplifting news, to the displaced residents of Hopeville seeking shelter, the town of Maple Creek opens it's hooves to you, and will be sending a local fisherman with his sizable upgunned fishing trawler to pick up and transport you and your belongings downriver, as soon as the storm flooding subsides somewhat. If there's anypony left over once Maple Creek is full, you will be rerouted towards Vanhoover. Chin up, this is only going to be temporary arrangements while reconstruction efforts take place.

"Anyways, it's a rainy, cold day out there in the wasteland today, and keeping up with getting everyone in a more cheerful mood Radio KAOS is broadcasting songs from the wasteland's sweetheart exclusively until everything's settled back in. Up next, The Old Homing Waltz, heh. Enjoy."

The Valkyrie shuddered slightly as it came to rest back on it's landing gear, the large tail being buffeted around by the winds coming up from the coast making setting her down a difficult venture, to say the least. I let off a long sigh and slumped back in the pilot's seat as the turbines whined down, watching the frigid rain outside pattering across the canopy. Static undid the latches on his seat behind me, the clicking of knobs and buttons filling the air. "Mm. Well, gonna take about a day before all the photos are processed and we can see what's up. Hopefully the news they have isn't too worrying, and this weather clears up if it is..."

"The important thing is they definitely don't have that mortar anymore, so they can't do any more damage to Hopeville without exposing themselves to the AA guns. Just hope that the people who stay behind in Hopeville can still work them..." Undoing my own harness, a burst of rain crashed against the glass, Static grimacing as he stood up into the small walkway. Eugh, I really am not looking forwards to walking through that mess... Standing myself up, I turned about to see Static stalling by the doorway, eyeing it with an uneasy look.

"Yanno, probably would stay drier if we left through the bomb bay instead, all things considered. It's pretty centrally located, and the wings do keep most of the rain off..." I let off a sigh, watching as the earth pony turned himself about in the cramped space to look back at his control station. There was a whine of hydraulics, followed by a thunk, as he pressed the button for opening the bomb bay up, myself bringing a hoof to my head. Celestia's sake, Static, it's just warm snow... sort of.

"Yeah, yeah, you can head out that way if you have to. Just be sure to step out under the wing right afterwards, I'll make sure the doors get closed again, have to keep the megaspells from getting wet." He passed on a mildly confused look as he opened the access door at the back of the cockpit, starting to trot through, the sound of the wind whipping around underneath the bomber coming through loud. I leaned myself up against the central console, watching his cute flanks disappear around the corner, before shutting the door behind him. Come on, Sparky, by this point I'd have thought you'd worked out that tempermental weather and electronics-dependent non-waterproofed half-kiloton explosives don't really mix.

Giving him a few moments to get out and stand clear of the bomb bay doors, I pulled myself forwards to the rear seat, looking it over. Fancy electronics, display screens, knobs, switches, dials, guages... wuh. I'll stick with my engine starters, flight yoke and throttle controls, thanks. Leaning over the seat, a click of the same button had the hydraulics start up again, the bomb bay closing shut with another thunk. Grabbing the umbrella resting on the floor as I pulled back - huh, would think you would've at least remembered to grab that before leaving - I turned myself about, looking back through the canopy for a moment. Sheets of water spilled over the glass, making the grey skies above seem to roll and move unnaturally, a small sense of uneasiness meeting me. Those clouds are looking lower than they should...

The cockpit door swung open readily, buffeted slightly by the wind, my wings wrapping tight against my jacket as I climbed down out into the iced-over snow. Static quickly shuffled himself over to retrieve his umbrella from my back, popping it open for a moment. Well, good to know it still does that... among other things umbrellas do, as evidenced when the wind picked up and turned it inside-out. Static rushed back underneath teh Valkyrie's wing to fix the umbrella, myself joining him for the moment, letting off a sigh. Can we please go back to having snowstorms instead? At least those only get you wet after spending a while out in them... and don't cause massive ice buildup in your mane. Ow.

Letting the latest massive downpour pass by, we both made a mad dash for the landbridge, and the lighthouse on the other side. Or, well, at least we tried to find the landbridge... turns out storm swells make that pretty difficult. After a few moments of standing around getting soaked, I eventually managed to find a break to carry Static over, both of us landing in the frozen, muddy snow on the other side. The bright beacon of the lighthouse cut through the constant torrent of freezing rain as we made way up to the door, both of us fast in getting inside to the dryness and warmth of the small home attached. Perhaps a little too fast, if the heavy thumps of two drenched ponies hitting the wood floor underneath them was any indication. Today's been a long day so far. "Oww..."

After a decent lunch and a long while of waiting for the rain to slow down, and being thankful Crash Dive could find which breaker needed to be reset so we had power back for heaters and lights and stuff, we were all convened around the table to get things sorted out. Still had the afternoon to go, even if the sky made it feel like it was already heading for nighttime... "So, this is pretty much where Sulfur figured the house and bunker were at. With Seahoof being, well, completely flattened, and the gunsmith in Hopeville out of commission, Sulfur's the only pony around here with any proper gunsmithing knowledge. We ought to get this out of the way sooner than later."

"If this grandfather of hers had some more powerful weapons that used relatively common ammo, would be for the better if we do track this place down and bring out as much as possible. Like it or not, I can't help but think we might be looking at a war sooner or later, and the more ponies with powerful guns we can get on the field, the better." Crash Dive looked on from the end of the table as I kept my pip-buck out and in full view, map zoomed in to the relevant spot. Just a short ways inland from the Vanhoover Heavy Coastal Defense Battery... well, what's left of that place, anyways. We've really been blowing up a lot of landmarks in our time down here. "I don't know what else they have at their disposal, but better safe than sorry."

Scouring scratched at his chin for a little bit, seeming to be thinking. "Mmh. If things get crazy, B Comp'ny's got our backs for sure, an' if what you snapped of what's left o' Seahoof is seriously bad, could be enough to sway the rest of the rangers on side. We can ensure anypony else heading off t' fight has somethin' better'n a pointy stick or old pistol, all the better." He passed on a nod, leaning back in the booth, as Aerith idly sipped from a botle of Sparkle-Cola beside him.

'Well, not gonna do much just sitting around talking about it, right? Let's get going already.' The alicorn wore a smile as she shuffled out of the booth beside me, the half-empty bottle of Sparkle-Cola levitating along with her as I rolled my jacket sleeve back down. Of course she's eager to get going and get her new rifle... Scouring and Static followed suit, with Crash Dive following behind me. Least we can get something else done before today ends.

The rainclouds overhead had become a slightly lighter shade of grey, Static hefting himself up into the fabric cabin of the Clydesdale and getting it's engine started. Aerith and Scouring both pulled themselves into the rear seat, myself sliding onto the passenger side of the driver's bench, only noticing Crash Dive having stopped to look at something as I went to shut the fabric door. I leaned out of the side of the massive half-track, looking up at the sky where she had her gaze fixed, only seeing the rolling stormclouds above. Okay... gonna admit, not the most welcoming of signs if Crash Dive is worried about something. "Uh, Crash Dive? Something wrong?"

The power armored pegasus looked over towards myself for a moment, trotting slowly towards the rear seat of the Clydesdale, her eyes still scanning the skies. She let off a sigh as she pulled herself onto the rear seat, giving her head a shake. "It... it was nothing. Just didn't like the look of one of those stormclouds, it seemed... out of place. Like it was too big, or too close to the ground." The engine roared in front of us as Static got the half-truck moving, myself pulling the front cloth door shut as Aerith and Scouring handled the rest. Low-hanging storm clouds... hm.

Scouring seemed to have been pondering the same thing I was, clearing his throat and leaning forwards as I adjusted myself in the seat. "Mmh, this stormcloud ye saw, think it was big enough to fit a Harrier 'r dragon? Might be worthwhile t' have someone out on the deck keepin' watch, if that's the case..." Crash Dive let herself lean back in the chair, looking up at the canvas roof and letting off a small huff. She paused to think for a moment, before looking back to us, the half-truck rolling smoothly over the half-frozen ground.

"No, no I don't think we have to worry about that. They wouldn't be that sneaky, especially if they had us on a vulnerable target like this thing, what with it having two reactors and no armor. It was probably just me seeing things, jumping at ghosts..." Scouring and Aerith both looked torwards her for a few moments, the power armored unicorn answering with a small shrug as the alicorn let herself keep looking to the road ahead, leaning on the back of the forward bench. Crash Dive kept a weak smile on her face as she rolled her head to look out through the flexible window in the door, one that faded as she let out a soft sigh, a faint whisper accompanying it. "...I hope..."

It didn't take too long before the swamplands to the north of Vanhoover came into view, as well as the large gash in the side of the coast that was once home to several tons' worth of cordite, powder charges and 20-inch shells. And a bunch of slavers, and a tesla cannon, but those I'm not sad about seeing gone. Static brought the half-truck to a slow roll as he looked at his pip-buck, the snow and mud crunching by. "Hm. This place probably had a driveway or something, right? Bring us right up to it without having to trek through too much swamp."

"Probably did before the war, but the decade or so of accelerated plant growth wouldn't have done it any favors. Even less if it wasn't paved." Crash Dive leaned forwards behind me to look out through the front windshield with Static, Scouring and Aerith pulling the cloth doors back. Shuffling over to the edge of the seat, I had Thumper brought out, breech open and free hoof running over the ammo choices. Kay, if we do need to blast a new driveway through... I only have two solar burst grenades left. Well, okay, and five of the RAD-infused Solar Burst... Sparkle-Burst, why not. I guess path-clearing shouldn't be too hard if needed. Pulling one of the blue-glowing boom balls out, Static brought the half-truck to a full stop, looking out at the snowed-over trees in his side.

"I... think this is it. There's something that kinda looks like a path on the map here." He moved his gaze between his pip-buck and the treeline off the road, the scattered trunks and heavy, drooping bare branches making it hard to see more than a hundred meters in. A few laid uprooted, fallen over from the years, though past them... that did seem like it was a wide enough path to get the Clydesdale through. A quick double-check on my own pip-buck pointed us straight down there... ho, boy. "Well... there is a path on the pip-buck!"

The whirring of power armor filled the air on the other side of the half-truck, along with the sound of an unfolding rocket launcher, Scouring leaning out of the side with Sunburst at the ready. "Little roadblock won't hold us back. Freezin' rain must've brought 'em dun, too much weight." The steel ranger took a moment to sight it in, before loosing a full barrage against the fallen trunks. The small rockets scattered across the road and trunk that laid across it, a shower of splinters raining down out of the fireballs. Scouring let off a chuckle, slipping back onto the seat, his armor loading a new barrage into Sunburst. "'ere we go."

"Aw, I wanted to do that..." Static passed me a small glare, one of the Sparkle-Burst grenades halfway inside Thumper's breech already, myself pulling it out and tossing it back into my bag. Fine, no balefire egg-and-a-half roadblock clearing today, guess Thumper'll just have to be on anti-bug duty instead. Stuffing a dragon's breath round into her breech, the half-truck pushed on through the road, the suspension easing us over the cratered dirt path and through the forest edge. I turned my gaze back to the pip-buck map, watching as we traveled along it... still not entirely used to that. "So, we're looking for a concrete foundation and a root cellar... what's a root cellar look like?"

Looking to the three sitting behind me, Aerith just answered with a shrug, Scouring and Crash Dive occupied with scanning the overgrown marshes either side of the road. We continued to press onwards towards the markers, the bare trees hardly offering any canopy but still making things uneasy with their ice-laden branches. The heavy sway of the trees was disconcerting enough, and with everypony somewhat distracted looking for the old house... well, the sudden loud creaking and splintering of wood as we pressed onwards was enough to make us jump. Static slammed on the brakes, the Clydesdale skidding for a little bit and the sound continuing. "W-what was that!?"

The roar of the engine quieted after Static pulled the Clydesdale backwards and shut it off, the rest of us hopping off with weapons drawn. Dragon landing in the forest, could be. Another tree falling over, maybe. Whatever it was, want to be prepared... even if it turned out to be just us running over a buried wagon. Guh. Aerith and I both trotted to the front of the half-truck, the alicorn unburying the wagon some more and picking up the shattered bits of wood, fitting them back together. Huh, the logo seemed to have kept pretty well... 'Back Gunner Firearms... didn't Sulfur mention a great grandpa Gunner?'

Looking at the logo for a moment longer, I took to unburying the wagon a bit further, finding it half-sunken in the mud of the road as the snow was cleared away. Before long, my hoof brushed against something dense and metallic, taking hold of it and pulling it free of the snow, taking a look at it. Okay, so it definitely was a rifle of... some kind. Or, was it a revolver... that loads shotgun-gauge rounds. Revolving long-barrel shotgun, that's a new one. Even if it is quite thoroughly rusted and caked in mud. "Well, we must be close, at least. Looks like these might've been a shipment going out, or coming in for repairs, maybe."

Aerith nodded in agreement, as we both turned back to the half-truck and climbed ourselves on, Scouring joining Aerith and Crash Dive... firing off a length of rebar at the sky. I kept Thumper in my grasp as I jumped off, hovering over beside the power amrored pegasus and matching her gaze. The solid metal flew up a good few hundred meters, losing itself in a small, low-flying cloud... hm. Well, there wasn't an obvious thump of it hitting anything solid, so... Crash Dive looked over to me, letting off a small huff. "I could swear we're being followed, somehow. Clouds don't float this low unless they were made to by pegasi."

I turned eyes back to the sky for a moment, before looking back to Crash Dive. Pegasi making smaller clouds float lower... I really hope she's just being paranoid right now. We both headed back onto the Clydesdale, Static starting the engine back up and getting us moving again, albeit a little slower. He wrestled with the steering wheel to maneuver around the overturned wagon, a bit more wood splintering meeting our ears as he turned back to the road, pressing forth. Well, we're moving again, and we know with a bit more certainty that this bunker is around here... now to just find the darn thing.

"...what kind of Stable door is this? It opens backwards!" It might've taken most of the daylight, but eventually we did manage to find the entrance to the old root cellar nearby the remains of the house's foundation. Couple doors on the ground, I thought they were just junk... clever way to hide a bunker, at least. And there was still electricity down here somehow, so that was nice, too. The blast door, on the other hoof, that was the confusing part... Static trotted up to it, tapping his hoof against the rounded front of the steel cog. "Sounds solid, but, yeah, definitely can tell this wasn't Stable-Tec designed. Would this really protect against an explosion?"

Stepping up to it myself, I gave my head a slight tilt, looking at the heavy steel door. You know, that was a good point, now I think of it... "Might do it better than you think, all things considered. This door opens outwards into the track, so it must seal up on the inside. Means that when the blast wave hits, the door presses against the frame evenly. Don't the Stable-Tec doors just sort of sit in the frame?" I turned to look back at the rest of the group, Crash Dive and Aerith just shrugging in response. Scouring, instead, stepped forth, examining the door more closely for himself. "Seems kind of silly for the door to just sit in place if it opens inwards. A close blast, that thing's just gonna flop over. Why didn't Stable-Tec use this design?"

"Aye, Stables designed t' save the population, that's a laugh. Well, the door of the Mountain Springs stable has extra lockin' mechanisms built in, never seen it closed before, though. Suppose this design's better fer a simpler build." The power armored unicorn turned attention to the walls after his examination, his horn flaring up and taking hold of a lever built in the concrete. Pulling on it, the whirr of hydraulic pumps filled the air, accompanied by the loud screech of metal on metal as the door was pushed out from the inside. It stopped after it had cleared the concrete frame, Scouring releasing the lever, silence overtaking the entrance again. Uh... oh, goddesses, don't tell me it has to be manually rolled.

Static seemed to share in my lament, trotting up to the massive steel cog and placing a hoof on the teeth, starting to push against them. The heavy steel cog, rather understandably, didn't really feel much like budging. Scouring and Aerith both seemed to sigh as Static continued trying to push, their horns flaring up and starting to assist the blue earth pony. With a loud groaning of metal on concrete, the door eventually began to move, Static stumbling back as the unicorns and momentum took over. It rolled to clear the doorway, coming to rest with the loud creaking of some massive springs in the concrete frame, allowing us a first look inside... and the beauty that laid within.

On the far wall of the bunker hung a massive variety of various weapons, ranging from the relatively recognizable to the downright bizarre. We all moved into the main area, looking around at the interior for a bit, both myself and Aerith moving over to examine the wall of weapons. As I drew nearer, the little names underneath them came better into focus, giving at least a little insight into exactly what they were. Let's see... 'Leslie Carbine'... huh, that's a pretty big barrel for such a small magazine on that one. Integral suppressor like Cross Stitch's Welrod, maybe? Neat.

Going over the rows of various guns, the next to catch my eye... well, it kinda had the barrel from a Gauss rifle. Even though it was a pistol. I think. Lifting it off the rack, I took to looking it over a bit more closely... Mouth grip, yeah, magazine seems to be at a bit of an odd angle coming out of the reciever, mind, but it looks like it can still take the standard ammo Jolts uses. Huh, might be a good gift for Minty. Looking back to the place where it was hanging as I slipped it into my duffel bag, the label for it read 'PP-12, Gauss, Germane make'... I'mma just call it Pew-Pew, that's a mouthful.

As I went back to perusing, Aerith was looking over the magazine from another rifle with an odd muzzlebrake, pulling a round from one of her own battle rifle's clips and fitting it in to compare. As the small click of a round fitting into the magazine, followed by said magazine fitting into the rifle and the bolt of the rifle accepting the round filled the air... well, guess Sulfur might've guessed right. The alicorn gleefully took hold of my jacket with her magic, dragging me over to where she was with the rifle freely presented before her. 'Lookit this! The magazine fits the .30-06, same as the battle rifle, and the label calls it a 'B.G. Automatic Rifle'. This is exactly what I was looking for!'

I let off a small chuckle as I readjusted my jacket, taking the rifle from Aerith's aura to look it over myself. The alicorn cycled the action manually, pulling out the magazine and unused round, leaving me looking clear through the bolt. As she levitated the magazine away... "Same magazine as a regular Automatic Rifle. Kinda odd to have it behind the trigger, but, hey, if it works... Weird to think this thing is a full-auto, feels like it weighs half as much as Dad's." I tossed it in my hooves a little, before shouldering it and looking down the sights. 'B.G. Automatic Rifle'... Back Gunner. Huh, guess we might find some pretty interesting weapon diagrams here after all, if he made this one. Assuming it works as advertised, anyways.

Passing it back to Aerith, she was busy stuffing the magazine with rounds, two and a half of her rifle's clips spent to fill it - twenty rounds, that sounds right. The alicorn happily took the rifle from my hooves, fitting the magazine in behind the trigger and sitting down to give her new gun a small hug, drawing a chuckle from myself. Whatever makes you happy, girl. Right, back to the wall of guns, then... or, not yet. Why does this gun have a mouth grip on the barrel?...

Trotting over to the workbench that the strange rifle laid on, Static moved to join me, apparently examining a pistol of his own. Okay, so this gun here... mouth grip on the barrel, looks like... unless those weights welded on there are to help with recoil, I doubt they serve much other use. Considering this thing has a long magazine, have to assume that it's automatic. Having the wall cut out of the mag without putting even a simple bit of glass to cover it, though... "So, apparently this thing is supposed to be a concussion gun, or something, nonlethal. Think I should bother giving it a shot?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... well, um, you know I don't know a lot about energy weapons, Static. I mean, if you think it could be useful to you, sure." Looking away from the confusing rifle to meet Static's eyes, I gave him a small shrug, the earth pony taking a last look at the laser pistol-thingy before fitting it into his own saddlebags, turning to look at the rifle with me. Mouth grip on the barrel... "Huh... you don't think this rifle was made to be used like a melee weapon, do you? I mean, that magazine would be horrible, imagine all the dirt you'd get in it, jam up the inner workings."

Static passed on an odd look for a moment, examining the rifle-club himself. He moved it over with his hooves, revealing a worn out, unused label beneath it... with another one directly on the gun reading 'Pile of shit'. Well, that bodes well. "...Chau-bat. It's really just a rifle that this guy turned into a melee weapon?" Considering it for a moment, Static took it by the mouth grip, turning his head to pick the thing up fully. Settling back onto his hooves, he stumbled with it for a moment, before evening out. Stepping out of the way, I watched as he gave it a few swings, before dropping it back onto the table. "Eugh, well, he tried to balance it, at least. Do see what he was going for, if it was really such a bad gun that this was all he could do for it."

Giving a small shrug, I let myself rest back against the workbench, looking back along the wall of guns. So many new, different weapons, so little time... Aerith was still fiddling with her new rifle, as some of the guns began to be levitated off of the wall and into a few courier bags, Scouring examining each one as he moved them. Well... okay, yeah, looking at the time, probably ought to be packing things up now. Plenty of time to look at the fancy new guns later, figure out what to keep and what to sell off... and what to just straight-up scrap. When you make a rifle so bad that a good gunsmith thinks it's more lethal as a club, you really should be ashamed...

By the time we finally managed to have the Clydesdale loaded with all the new guns, ammunition, and various paper schematics, thankful that the rain decided it was done for the rest of the day, it had already gotten well on into the night, most of the group more than ready for sleep. Well, barring the two of us who drank Sparkle-Cola... Aerith sat across from me in the booth, tending to her new automatic, as I looked over one of the other guns we'd picked up from the bunker. Bigger than a pistol, but slightly smaller than a rifle, and used some sort of pistol-rifle intermediate cartridge, going by the revolving cylinder's length... Ah, the .45-70. Apparently. That's sort of the same caliber as Dad's Luger and Aerith's tommy gun, wonder if the ammo is interchangeable... 'Thinking of putting that revolver rifle into your arsenal?'

The alicorn passed on a small smile as she brought up the screen in front of me, myself putting the five-round cylinder back into place and letting off a small chuckle. "Eh, it's not really my style. You know I'm all about the big, loud, hard-hitting guns, a semi-automatic like this really can't compare to War Crime or Thumper. Looks pretty slick, though." Shouldering the small rifle and looking down the sights, they seemed to be tuned in line, and I had to admit the overall light weight of the thing was pretty nice. Aerith let out one of her own quiet laughs, myself setting the revolver rifle down on the table and turning eyes towards her.

'Might not be the biggest gun out there, but seeing how it's a revolver chambered for a long cartridge, I can assure you it's probably louder than you might think.' She picked up the rifle for a moment, looking at the cylinder and spinning it slightly, the small grin on her face getting a little wider. 'And before you ask, no, you can't fire the .45 Auto from this carbine. .45-70 has a rim that protrudes around the base of the brass cartridge, keeps it from sliding straight through the cylinder's chamber. I'm pretty sure we picked up a few ammunition boxes' worth of it, though.'

Letting loose a sigh, I answered her with a small shrug, taking the rifle back. Eh, well, suppose I might at least try it out, maybe. I mean, the rounds are longer than the other .45 ones, so they probably have a larger powder load and hit a bit harder. Something to think about... sort of like the knocking at the door just now. Though, being fair, that one's probably more urgent. Looking to Aerith, she seemed just as confused as I was, though she did seem to make reassembling her new rifle a priority now - kind of reassuring. I slid myself off of the bench and trotted over, undoing the deadbolt and opening the door, finding myself staring at light grey feathers and bright blue eyes under a flight cap. Uh... "Oh, don't look surprised, I told you you owed me an explanation. So, you wanna start with the jet, the half-track, or the hundred or so guns I saw you guys walking out of that root cellar with earlier?" A cold breeze came off the sea, carrying a heavy spray up and through the door. "Brrgh... and, uh, can I come in?"

"Uh... oh, sure, sure, yeah, we're not doing much, anyways. Right..." The heavily-armed gryphon stepped into the lighthouse's small kitchen, myself shutting the door behind her. Didn't think she'd really be so adamant about it... eh, maybe I really shouldn't be too surprised, after all. Pulling open the fridge, I grabbed two bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD and one of regular, passing the normal Sparkle-Cola to Hispano as I slid myself back into the booth and laid back. "So... you want me to start at the beginning, or just give you a run-down of the situation right now? Because, honestly, it's kinda a long story..."

"I got all night if it takes, Dad's still helping in Hopeville and I'm not a doctor. Let's start with how you got your hooves on that big plane out front." The gryphon popped the cap off of the bottle with a small hiss as she stepped forwards, taking a sip and settling herself at the end of the table. I let off a small sigh - beginning it is, then. Gonna need the RAD. As I pulled the cap off of mine and Aerith took hers, looking back up I couldn't help but notice the gryphon looking closely at the alicorn, and the alicorn returning the favor. At least, until Hispano's eyes went wide, coinciding with a gasp. "Can't be... Aerith?"

The suited alicorn sitting across from me didn't even put up a speech screen before I saw her jumping out of the booth, moving to tackle the gryphon mercenary. Okay, wasn't expecting that, I will admit. Before I had time to grab the new automatic rifle and fit the magazine in to help with whatever beef Aerith might've had with Hispano, their... laughter, met my ears. What. "Fuck me silly, I haven't seen you in, god, a decade! Guess you've been doing pretty well for yourself since Bridleshade, huh?" They both picked themselves up, the alicorn giving the gryphon another hug, before they both sat back on either side of the table. I shuffled myself over to make room for Hispano, Aerith's horn alighting.

'Oh, yeah, setting off megaspells, killing raiders, taking after pre-war comic book heroes, just the usual stuff. Dunno why I didn't recognize you before, when you were aiming Suiza at poor Night Strike here.' Aerith pointed a hoof towards me as she let off another chuckle, taking a long gulp from her own bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD. Hispano, for her part, only seemed to be confused... much like myself.

"Aheh, uh, what's with the text screens? Don't tell me you Royal Canterlot Voice'd yourself so hard you blew out your voicebox." The gryphon let off a small laugh, Aerith finishing her drink and wiping off her muzzle, letting off a small cough. Oh, please don't go there... wait a second, Hispano knew Aerith before she was captured? The alicorn sitting across from us let her head fall forwards for a moment, before she let off a sniffle, Hispano quick to reach over and rest a claw on her shoulder reasuringly, eyes wide and worried. She turned attention to myself, as I gnawed at my lip. "What happened to her?"

"She was in a slaver camp just down the coast when we found her, they, um, they cut out her tongue at some point. The screens are how she's always talked with us." Hispano's eyes went a bit wider for a moment, before she shuffled herself out of the booth, moving to pick up her autocannon and duffel bag. Steadying on her hind... paws, she pulled a massive drum magazine out, fitting it into the gun. Oh, stop her before she does something pointlessly... "A-ah, we blew the place up after rescuing her and the other slaves, though! She even stuffed a balefire egg hoof grenade into the ass of the head guy running the place, completely blew him apart before destroying the camp, eheh..."

That at least made Hispano pause, pulling the magazine free of her autocannon and setting both aside, before moving back to the table and sliding into the booth beside Aerith. She held her in a hug, letting off a sigh, the alicorn's muzzle dampening with tears. Well, tonight could've gone better... After a while, Aerith had gotten herself calmed down enough to take another sip of her bottle, resting her hooves in her lap. Hispano looked up at the clock on the opposite wall, grimacing for a moment, before turning eyes back to me. "Uh, look, it is pretty late, we can postpone your... well, all explanations until tomorrow. I'm gonna stay up and catch up with Aerith, if that's alright. See if I can still work my magic like I did back in Bridleshade."

Aerith let off a small, choked laugh as Hispano held her in another small hug, both of them looking at each other with a smile. Well, long as they're not going to kill each other, or wake anypony up... suppose it's fine. We've got, what, at -least- thirty tons of ordinance stored here anyways, an autocannon isn't gonna do much more harm. I passed them on a nod, taking my bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD and finishing it off, tossing it over to the bin and heading back down the hallway to mine and Static's bedroom. Some small laughter came from the kitchen as Aerith and Hispano talked, the door shutting quietly behind me muffling it while the covers beckoned me beside the already-sleeping earth pony. Pulling the small, slightly battered plushie from my jacket pocket before tossing it aside and climbing into bed, I held it close to myself, pulling the covers up and releasing a long, relaxed sigh.

Been a long day today... hope tomorrow is at least a little better.

"And... here we go." The cloud-spotted sky was changing over to morning as myself and Static rested in the Valkyrie's cockpit, the earth pony running over and working the screens at his back-seat console. Lucky the pictures seemed to process faster than expected, I guess, couldn't have been more than twenty hours. Static brought up a gallery of them on one of the screens, scanning through them idly. "Right... kinda regretting taking so many photos now, this is gonna take some time to search through. Are a few that I think we should look at first, though."

"Just, uh, promise me you won't zoom in on any blast victim corpses on purpose, eheh..." I let off a weak chuckle as I rested against the back of the cockpit, the access door to the bomb bay at my back. Static answered with a small shudder of his own - right, yeah, he's pretty squeamish as it is. Thing is, considering why there'd be megaspell blast victim corpses around in these pictures... yeah, don't really want to think about it. Static eventually found a photo he liked, one that seemed to have been taken during a flash of lightning. "Heh, I know your cutie mark's a lightning bolt, but did you really need to choose that one to start with?"

He passed a glare as I let off a small chuckle, the earth pony eventually sighing and turning back to the console. "Actually, yes, there's just something about this one part of it... kind of worried me." I pushed myself onto my hooves to get a better look at the screen, the picture zooming in on it. Now that he mentioned it, what were those things that the lightning was reflecting off of?... also, damn, that's one high-quality camera on this thing, isn't it? "I don't want to say what I think this might be, but if it is what I think... well, we might at least be pointed in the right direction to where they're coming from."

As the picture zoomed in on the flash points, eventually coming to a stop, the sobering sight of a heat-warped metal dragon wing sticking from the mud, dust, and debris came into focus, pointing away from ground zero. Static pulled the view back a bit and panned it over to the next blasted, destroyed robot, the claw of the half-buried escaping robo-dragon holding on to something in it's grasp. I leaned in a bit closer, trying to make it out. "Uh... do we have any different view modes or filters with this thing? I think I see something... odd. Possibly worrying."

Static answered with a small nod, turning a knob on the side of the screen. The view switched between various modes, each displayed in the upper corner; thermal, IR White, IR Black, high contrast... tuned magic. As the picture caught up with the selected filter, the various talismans and other bits that made the robo-dragon go lit up in a bright bluish color with the thing in it's claw being almost a solid blue-white, and - more concerningly - egg-shaped. Oh, I don't like the look of this.

Stepping back for a moment, I paused for thought, looking to Static's saddlebags. Moving and rummaging around in them, eventually I managed to find his magic-vision goggles, taking them and opening up the door to the rear bomb bay. Please please pleeeeease let my theory be wrong... Stepping into the slightly more spacious area home to the Valkyire's last two megaspells, I let off a small huff, putting the goggles to my eyes and looking towards them. As the magic auras from the bombs filled my vision, I found my breaths slightly shaky, still staring at the bombs. Eventually, I managed to make my way back to the cockpit, setting the goggles down and staring at Static, eyes wide. The dragons weren't escaping, they were... retrieving. Based on the size, too, those could be twice as massive as a balefire egg, maybe even three, or four times. And I'm willing to bet that they weren't at Seahoof to shell Hopeville initially...

"Cerberus has tactical megaspells now."

Project Cerberus

“H-hey, it... might not be a megaspell. For all we know it could just be some sort of… really big gem. Those have a lot of latent magical energy too, you know,” I said, trying desperately to rationalize away the glowing object as anything other than an instrument of destruction. “They could just be retrieving those to power some sort of generator… and they were shelling Hopeville, because… they already have enough energy, and the dragon guys… want more?” I looked over to Night Strike, who was tossing the makeshift goggles back into my saddlebags, visibly shaken. She sat down in the seat of the Valkyrie ahead of me, letting out a long, shuddering sigh as she stared out of the window.

I stood up, stepping over to her and placing a hoof over her shoulder. “Okay, okay, I know this is bad, but it’s not like we’re completely screwed, right? We’ve still got the Valkyrie and megaspells ourselves, and a couple other bombs, right? They’re not going to start slinging theirs around unless they want to be on the receiving end of several themselves, right?” I continued, trying to comfort myself as well as her. Night Strike sat still for a moment before nodding slowly, taking another deep breath.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, it’s just… I guess I’ve never really thought about it before. Even after Hopeville, I never really thought things would get this out of hand. What’re we going to do, we don’t even know where they heck they are! And what happens when they’re ready to deploy whatever those things are, or whatever project Cerberus is? Robo-dragons, Harriers, one-ton bombs, 28-centimeter railway guns, who knows what else they have!?” She looked back out of the cockpit of the Valkyrie, her brow furrowing. Oh, Celestia, I don’t like that look. She turned and placed her hooves at the controls, lights flickering on as she did.

“N-Night Strike, what are you doing?!” I half-yelled, reaching out to grab the chair to balance myself as the plane shuddered. The plane began to roll forward, forcing me to take my seat back behind Night Strike to keep myself from falling over onto the floor. The engine roar grew louder as we picked up speed, the wheels bouncing off of rocks in the terrain as we began to hurtle forward. “What the hell do you think you're doing?! You’re not seriously thinking of bombing them right now, are you?” I cried, watching as the ground fell away outside. Glancing over my shoulder, I could just see the tip of the lighthouse and the rotating lamp slip beneath the back of the plane as we took off. My mind jumped to the thought of Crash Dive and Scouring watching our escape, a pit growing in my stomach. Oh, this is gota be one of the worst ideas we've had in recent memory.

Turning back to face the front, I watched as Night Strike turned the plane south slightly, making her way back towards the crater that used to be Seahoof Armory. She let off a small breath, relaxing in her seat. “Alright, calm down Sparky, I’m not going to bomb them. But we need to figure out where these guys are actually located, or we’re completely without any options other than waiting to see where they strike next. Look back at those pictures and try to figure out where they were headed, and I’ll get us there as best as I can. They can’t be too hard to miss unless they’re completely underground... even then, we might spot something.” Oh, yeah, that definitely makes me much more reassured. Just going to go flying right into enemy territory, no idea what’s there, definitely can’t end poorly in any way, shape, or form. Still, I looked back to the display on the Valkyrie, switching between filters to try and spot any sort of interesting details in the photos. The back of my mind wondered how exactly this computer was advanced enough to display photos in any color other than green while I clicked over to another picture.

“I’m not getting anything other than that they’re all pointed roughly the same way. Our best bet would just be to follow the corpses and hope we come across their base,” I said, trying to hide my feelings of impending doom from my voice as well as I could. I continued to scan the various pictures as Night Strike turned in the sky, the radioactive crater coming in over the horizon. Oddly, though the memories of exploring ground zero of Shady Shores picked at my subconscious, the explosion looked almost peaceful from such high up. The ground was completely wiped clean, barely any evidence that the military base had ever existed. Night Strike squinted, trying to spot the wrecked remains of the dragons as she slowed the Valkyrie from its blistering speeds.

Switching from the photos to the live feed, I began to scan the ground along with her. “I think I see the robots, turn about…” I quickly consulted the compass on the array of instruments in front of my seat. “28 degrees east.” Night Strike nodded, following my instructions. The robots were soon in view, and the Valkyrie was flying along the trail of mangled electronics. I looked up from the screen to gaze out of the window at the passing countryside. The basin in which sat the armory raised up into the distance into a small collection of peaks. Night Strike pushed a lever forward, the engine roar growing louder as the Valkyrie picked up speed. “Ok, so any kind of special stealth tech we have on board? You sure this thing can’t turn invisible so we aren’t targeted when we come within 20 miles of the place?”

Night Strike shrugged, looking down at the controls. “I dunno, you were the one with the manual, what’d you do with it? I’ll take us a bit higher at least, maybe the cloud cover will help.” She said. Oh, sure, now the manual isn’t considered just a paperweight to you. 'I'm the pilot, I don't need to read it'... ugh. I regretted leaving my saddlebags back in the lighthouse as Night Strike pulled us higher, causing me to pull away from the window to avoid the intensified sense of vertigo. We were soon flying just below the clouds, occasionally the bottom of one bumping against the glass cockpit, pushing it out of the way. “See anything yet?”

I looked back down at the console screen, but could see nothing but a dense forest of trees and a thin river cutting its way through the ground below. The ground was slowly growing closer again as we approached the peaks, which appeared to be much flatter than they had looked from a distance. “Hold up… I think there’s something in the distance,” I said, fiddling with some of the controls to turn the camera away from straight down. Placed atop the hill, hidden partially from view by the peaks surrounding the plateau was a sprawling complex. Buildings sat at each end of the mountain, all surrounded by fence and high towers. Among the dozens of buildings sat what appeared to be an even larger amount of guns, all, now more easily visible as we approached, with several figures stationed around them.

The most impressive feature of the base, however, was a cluster of large circular doors embedded into the ground. Each looked to be at least as wide around as the Valkyrie was long, and several large guns were sitting guarding the silos. I gulped, momentarily forgetting about the situation as we approached. I was snapped out of my stupor when an explosion suddenly rang out above us, a cloud of shrapnel and dark sulfur pouring down from the sky. The Valkyrie shuddered as the shockwave smashed into us, Night Strike pulling up on the controls to try and hide ourselves among the clouds. I grabbed onto the arms of the chair instinctively, watching though the console as the complex below us flashed by. A few large flashes of light could be seen from below, and seconds later more explosions blasted up around us. “Shitshitshitshitshitshit, they've got flak guns!” Night Strike cried, yanking on the controls and sending us spinning to the side. “Hurry up and get a picture or something before they blow us outta the sky!”

I took hold of the camera controls, pointing it towards the complex as we banked and turned to avoid the anti-air fire. I tapped the button several times, hoping that at least one of the pictures would be usable as we were bombarded by the flak shells. “Okay, I got some, just go go go go!” Suddenly lights appeared from below, cutting through the darkness to fixate on us. Oh, this can’t be good. The familiar sound of fire spewing into the sky could just barely be heard above the explosions and engine roar. Through the camera I spotted a horde of dragons taking to the sky, several spewing jets of flames about as they followed the lights towards us. “Holy Celestia fuck me silly, just drop a megaspell and get out of here!” I shrieked, attempting to search the console for the button to ready the weapon. As I slammed my hoof down onto the console, another explosion caused the Valkyrie to shudder, and I could see out of the window that part of the wing was now skewered by a large chunk of metal, sparks leaping between it and the rest of the wing.

“It’s ready, drop it drop it droooop it!” I cried out in panic. Wrestling with the controls to avoid a few of the dragons’ fire, Night Strike pressed one of the buttons, the sound of the bomb bay doors opening below us as something clicked. Peeling away, Night Strike pushed a lever up as far as it would go, the Valkyrie’s engines straining as they were pushed to their limits. We were picking up speed, dashing away from the base as the dragons began to fall behind, unable to match our speed. Faster and faster we flew, myself gripping the chair for dear life when a thunderous explosion suddenly echoed all around, the plane screeching through the sky.

I peered back out of the window, noticing the that had been damaged was beginning to glow, the repair talismans working quickly to fix up the electronics. As I looked behind us, though, I wasn’t able to spot any signs of damage or an explosion, only a mass of metallic figures circling the base. “Night Strike… are you sure you dropped the megaspell?” I asked. Now that we were no longer in immediate danger, she looked down at the console in front of her, panting slightly from the excitement. Her muzzle scrunched as she stared at the buttons, glancing back to me for a second before breaking eye contact. “Night Strike… please tell me you didn’t release the controls for the megaspell we’d taken out for Shady Shores… did you?” She simply gave an awkward, non-committal whine as she tilted her hoof back and forth. I dropped my head into my hooves, shaking it. Of course she did.

“Hey, it’s not my fault! I only have a single button up here, you were the one who routed the power to that bomb rack! I thought you knew which ones were empty!” She took a breath, shaking her head as she glanced out the back of the cockpit. “I... think that explosion was us just shattering the sound barrier... Yeah, we’re going pretty freakin' fast right now.” she said, looking down at the dials and guages in front of her. With some swiftness, she pulled the trottle back, the deceleration taking us both as everything stopped being so much of a blur. I just shook my head again, fighting the urge to unbuckle and smack her upside the head. “Well, we can’t go back now, they’ll have us shot out of the sky in a second. At least we got some pictures, right? That’ll help us form a plan of attack at least.” She gave a small grin, trying her best to look cheerful. Her smile faltered as I looked up from my hooves, my gaze piercing enough to have struck a bloatsprite dead on the spot.

Night Strike sighed, looking forward again as she began to pilot us back towards the lighthouse. “Ok, so I might have just royally screwed any sort of chance we just had to take out that place in one swoop, but we can’t start crying about it now. We’ll head back to the others and see if they can help us think of a plan. I’ll let you put all the blame on me, is that enough?” She said, smirking back to me a little. I rolled my eyes, not wanting to admit that the chance to have her chewed out rather than me would certainly help matters.

Looking down at some of the captured photographs, I gave a worried groan. “Let’s just hope that they don’t try and launch some all-out attack on Vanhoover now that we’ve basically just set every alarm they had on red alert.” Night Strike nodded, mirroring my expression as we flew through the sky.

It wasn’t very long before the tall figure of the lighthouse peeked up over the horizon, Night Strike beginning to slow the Valkyrie down to prepare for landing. As we approached the cliffs, I was just able to make out the three figures of Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring standing outside of the lighthouse’s shack. The wheels whirred as they were lowered from the bottom half of the plane, Night Strike continuing to pull back on the controls to keep the Valkyrie from straying off into the ocean. With several bumps and six new wheel marks dug into the earth and snow behind us, we came to a stop just beyond the land bridge. Standing up, I moved for the cockpit hatch, swinging it open and allowing Night Strike and I to head out.

Hardly a second after we had stepped down from the metal stairway onto the damp soil were we confronted by the other three, Crash Dive fuming while the others looked more relieved. “What the FUCK made you two decide that flying off without any sort of warning or notice, not mentioning where you were going, or what to do if something went wrong, was a good idea!? I want to know your entire thought process from beginning to end before I tie you to the edge of these cliffs and waterboard you!” She yelled, spit flying from her mouth.

Night Strike stepped forward, biting her lip as Crash Dive’s glare shifted towards her. “Uhm… well… sooooo… we were looking at the photos of the bombing site, and we saw that the dragons had, uh… m-megaspells… and so I decided to fly off and try and find the place… maybe bomb it pre-emptively and such… then, eheh, funny sort of thing, we were going to drop a bomb, but Static got the wiring wrong and-“ She was cut short by Crash Dive, who was now leaning in so close that her and Night Strike’s muzzles were millimeters apart.

“So you’re telling me you saw that the enemy had megaspells, and rather than act like a rational pony, you decided to go gallivanting off on an impromptu bombing run in hopes of getting off on another massive megaspell detonation? You put your fucking libido ahead of your sense of self-preservation?!” Night Strike’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening as she stepped backwards. I tried to step between the two, Crash Dive turning to face me. “And what the fuck made you think it was fine to just go along with that? You didn’t try and stop her? You can’t tell me that thing isn’t built with some kind of launch abort system, you had every available moment to stop this, but instead you think that this couldn’t go wrong? That you’d be fine? You want me to remind you how I found you two? Crashed so hard into the ground, it’s honestly amazing your skulls weren’t shattered from the impact. Must be because of how bloody thick they are!” Crash Dive glared daggers between the both of us, who were struck dumb. She let off a huff, seeming to think her point was made. “Anytime you two want to come down off from that high of heroism of yours and remember that you’re not immortal, I’ll be here.” She turned away, walking towards the lighthouse.

Night Strike and I stood frozen in place, neither of us entirely sure how to react. Eventually Scouring spoke up, turning his head to watch Crash Dive leave. “I… uh… sorry about that. Had a feelin' she was upset, but if I’d known she was going to… well… look, should prob'ly just head back inside fer now.” He began to slowly make his way towards the lighthouse, Aerith, Night Strike and I following once we’d broken out of our stupor. The door squeaked on its hinges as we stepped inside, all of us entering just in time to hear the door of Crash Dive’s room slam shut. Aerith and Scouring slid into the booth in the kitchen while I sat opposite them along with Night Strike. All of us sat in silence for a few more minutes, Night Strike giving an awkward cough.

“Well, uh, um, anyways, we did manage to get a bit of a look at that place and snapped a few photos. We know it has to be where that Cerberus guy is hanging out, because some robo-dragons tried to attack us. Any, uh… ideas on some sort of assault plan?” She asked. Aerith gave a blank stare, while Scouring shrugged a little, looking down at the table.

“Well, we don’ really know anything about the place, even with whatever photos you might have gotten. Air-to-surface recon’s only goin' to get you so far. At least, I’m assuming that the place was at least as defended as Seahoof Armory.” Yeah, comparing the two is like comparing a bazooka to a bb-gun. We’re screwed. Scouring looked over his shoulder towards the hallway, as if expecting to see Crash Dive leaning around the corner, staring at us. He lowered his voice and locked eyes with me, only occasionally shooting glanced back towards the stairs. “You think you might be able to… you know… sneak in? Get more intel on the place first? I don’ think Crash Dive would be very keen on the idea, but considering how ye did back at the old slaver pen, and how they’re goin' to be expecting a full on assault any time soon now, it might be our only option, lad.”

I gave a small grimace of fear, clenching my teeth a little as I avoided eye contact. “Uh… well… I’m not really keen on… dying, so…” My voice trailed off as I tapped my hooves together. Night Strike pushed her hoof into my shoulder, giving a small grunt of annoyance.

“Oh, come on, Static. You keep whining about how we never do things your way, now you get the best opportunity to go sneaking around in some high tech military base, the whole day depending on you, you being the sole and glamorous hero? Don’t you lie, you’d be in and out of there in a flash. Besides, with that new suit of yours fixed up, nopony will ever know you’re there. As long as you don’t bump those big cute flanks into them.” She laughed, a faint twinge of worry in her eyes. I only gulped, the color draining from my face.

Sent in alone on a suicide stealth mission? Oh, this is going to be just grand.

The small, weak laugh died on my lips as I patted Static on the back, chewing at my lip. It'd... it's a risk, but we don't have any other option, really. I wish we did. Aerith leaned herself forwards in the booth, bringing up a screen. 'He won't have to go in alone. I can make myself invisible too, and we'd be a hell of a smaller target for them than the Valkyrie. If things go south, I can probably get us both out of there quickly, too.' Aerith's small smile was a bit of comfort, myself having rested a foreleg around Static's neck in a small hug. Aerith and Static tacking this... that's a little better. The alicorn paused for a moment, leaning to the side and looking back to the doorway. 'Though, we could use a distraction when we go in... If you can bomb an area somewhere outside the base with one of those one-ton fuel-air bombs when we go for our insertion, that could be enough. Static, Scouring, mind lending a hoof?'

The earth pony beside me blunk a few times, color returning to his coat as he looked around, a little dumbstruck. His eyes met mine, and I held him a little closer - I'm swearing to Celestia now, we're both going to get through this or die trying, and the second one isn't an option - leaning in to give him a slight nuzzle. Aerith picked herself up to her hooves as Scouring followed her lead, both of them starting to make way back to the storage area in the basement of the lighthouse tower. Myself and Static both followed behind them down the hallway, everything relatively silent aside from the creaking of wood boards under heavy hooves. As we passed by Crash Dive's bedroom, though... she was definitely crying. Nnh, guess Aerith and Scouring just couldn't hear over his power armor... My eyes met Static's for a moment, us both stopped outside her door.

"Ahm... you can go on ahead, help them with getting the bombs loaded. We can only fit two, so, eheh... I'm gonna go and talk with Crash Dive. I don't think that outburst earlier was just because we, um..." I rubbed at the back of my head, Static resting a hoof on my shoulder. He gave a nod, a faint hint of a smile on his muzzle as he leaned in to place a light kiss on my cheek, trotting on to the lighthouse tower. I drew in a breath, releasing it in a small sigh, looking back to Crash Dive's bedroom door. The power armored pegasus on the other side was still letting off small sputters and whimpers, ones that grew ever so slightly louder as I took hold of the handle and pressed inside.

Yanno, as I stepped inside the small, cosy room, it'd just occurred to me that I'd never been inside Crash Dive's own bedroom before. The pegasus had laid herself out on her bed sans her power armor, muzzle buried deep into the old pillow as her pink mane was scrunched in a mess, her disfigured wings resting against the sides of her undersuit. Huh, she wasn't lying, it really is an anchor... She drew in a short gasp and lifted her head as the door shut behind me, looking over to myself with her reddened, sore eyes, cheeks damp with fresh tears. She sniffled as she let her head fall forwards, pushing herself up with her forelegs and trying to collect herself. I moved myself over to her, leaning myself on her matress.

"Hey. You, um... you going to be alright, Crash Dive? I haven't seen you like this..." I let myself trail off as she rubbed at her eyes for a moment, a sigh eventually escaping my lips. Sitting myself down on her matress' edge, I looked down to my forehooves, trying to think for a moment. "I'm... I'm sorry. It was all my idea, I should've told you about the megaspells first before taking off. I just... I didn't know what to do, and my first instinct was just to take off and try to blow them apart before they could do anything about it. Them having megaspells, especially ones that small and portable... the thought just terrified me."

Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out in a light huff, letting my shoulders slump. She was only making light sniffles now, at least. "It's just... what you said... dropping megaspells from the Valkyrie, it isn't anything like the other times. Those, they were done in, um... they were like the old films my dad loves, when it's a controlled environment, for the spectacle. Using them in combat, like on Seahoof... I can't know if we're too close to the blast, or what happens after it goes off. It's just... it's not something I want to do, at all. I don't want to die by a megaspell... I don't want to die, I don't want Static to die, I don't want any one of us to die. Not now, not ever."

Shuddering breaths escaped myself as my own vision became blurry, hooves gripping the edge of the matress as I blunk and felt cool tears starting to roll down my own cheeks. Oh, come on ya stupid pegasus, you're supposed to be here to help calm down Crash Dive, not get worked up yourself... but I'm scared. Small whimpers escaped my lips before I felt the matress shift underneath me, the pink-maned pegasus lifting herself to wrap her forelegs around me in a hug. Her cheek pressed against the back of my head for a moment before she shuffled herself back, eyes meeting my own as I rubbed the blurryness from them. "Th-thank you. I'm... I'm sorry, too. When I heard you both just take off, not any warning or anything, I... I really thought you wouldn't come back." Her voice quieted off as she looked down between us, sniffling slightly. "I-I've been having these dreams lately... you, and Static, both climbing into the Valkyrie and going up, chasing after something in the sky, and then it all just vanishes in a bright white flash. It... it just terrifies me to think about it, if anything like that actually happened..."

Pulling her into another gentle hug, the pink-maned pegasus whimpered beside me for a few moments, managing to calm herself down a little faster this time. Bright white flash... I kinda doubt we'd ever have to try chasing something like a megaspell-carrying ICBM in the Valkyrie. Even if we did, I could probably hit it from range, anyways... or dad could. Heh... maybe I should tell her about it... I pulled back from the hug, looking back to Crash Dive. "I don't think that it will. I've been having... well, had, a few strange dreams myself. There's always this unicorn there, who's said she's my dad's adoptive mother. Last time it happened, we were on a picnic blanket on a hill, under the shade of a tree... She told me that my dads, Static's dads, and pretty much half our home wasteland are coming down to find us. That's at least two tanks, a few Vertibucks, and enough firepower and experience to take on an army." A small chuckle escaped my lips as Crash Dive passed on a bemused grin, rubbing a hoof against her muzzle. I gave her a gentle pat on her back, careful to avoid her wings. "It's all gonna be alright when they get here, and me and Static aren't going anywhere until they do. I promise."

The grey pegasus answered with a small nod, pulling herself back to her hooves and moving back over to her power armor. "If you think so, I'm willing to believe you on that. Just, forgive me if I have a few doubts until we see it happen, heh." Her power armor closed shut with a hydraulic hiss as I moved back up beside her, wearing a smile on my own muzzle. The TOG, War Mare, vertibuck support and Featherweight and Buzzy in the attack wagon... that'll be a welcome sight. We both moved for the door, opening it just in time to see Static walking backwards and guiding the nose of a fuel-air bomb down the hallway. Rather understandably, Crash Dive was quite confused at the sight.

Static looked up at us as we stared out, the earth pony coming to a stop as the carefully-levitated bomb kept moving, the nose detonator prodding him in the chest in the hallway. He let off a sharp gasp before stumbling back, eyes wide as he moved a hoof to rub at his chest. Everyone froze in the hallway, all eyes staring at the bomb in the middle. After a moment, Static let off a shuddering sigh, shaking on his hooves. "W-wuh... uh... right... everything al-alright with you, now?"

Crash Dive blunk a few times, looking between the hallway and myself for a moment, before looking at Static. "Can... Can I just ask what the hell you're planning on doing with that?" The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as I moved a hoof to rub at the back of my mane, joining him. Oh, right... we were doing that... Crash Dive looked towards myself for a moment, letting off a long sigh. "Oh, Luna above... okay, can we not go off bombing anything else today, please? Look, uh, you said you took pictures of the place, doesn't the plane need time to process them, or something? Is there anything else we could do while it does that, that doesn't involve reducing something to rubble or less?"

Scouring let off a cough as he and Aerith started moving the bomb back to the bottom of the lighthouse tower, Static chewing on his lip as he thought. Eventually he let off a sigh, looking to the side. "Well... I guess we could sort out transport for our stuff for when we do head back home now, save a headache later. There's no way we'd be getting it all on the Valkyrie, and that's before you factor in all the extra people who'd be coming with us, too. Trains are still pretty fast and reliable things for getting a lot of stuff from place to place, right?"

Static gave a shrug as he looked at us both, Crash Dive answering with an apparently satisfied nod and trotting out into the hallway. I followed behind her as Static turned about as well, Scouring and Aerith reappearing from the lighthouse, the power armored pegasus looking over her shoulder at us. "Alright, then, heading up to Maple Station while everything gets worked out with the photos, so instead of blindly bumbling in we actually have some clear ideas to go on. If they're already fortified, we need as many advantages as we can get on side."

Crash Dive pressed on out through the doorway, followed by Scouring and Aerith, while Static brought me aside for the moment, taking a glance out towards the doorway. "Alright, thank you for calming her down, but are we sure we don't want to at least get the Valkyire loaded up now? I mean, well, we almost had the bomb out... I thought you'd want to-"

I let off a sigh, lifting a hoof to place it on Static's muzzle and cut him off. Too much excitement today already... "Look, we've both had a long day already as it is, and... honestly, I think Crash Dive would appreciate some downtime, with us being able to relax somewhere safe. Besides, you know you like how the dinners are at the Roundhouse, and you won't have to drive us all there for once~" A smile crossed my muzzle as the earth pony looked a little sheepish, his stomach letting off an audible growl. Sheesh, we had breakfast only a couple hours ago, ya bottomless pit... I let off a chuckle, heading for the doorway. "C'mon, they're probably all onboard already."

"Alright... hopefully dinner and chartering a train won't set us back too much. We only have so many caps, yanno?" Answering him with an eyeroll as the door shut behind us, the morning sun cast long shadows over the cliff's edge as we made way across the landbridge and onto the shore. The cockpit hatch door was already opened, the few loose blue feathers laying in the muddy snow around it leaving little to wonder who managed to squeeze their way in to work the bomb bay doors. Well, least Aerith can make sense of all those buttons...

There was a small thud of something heavy hitting metal as Static moved up onto the short access ladder behind me, myself blinking and looking back towards him as I settled myself in the pilot seat. He blunk in surprise in response, looking down at his hooves for a moment, before pulling the ladder up and the door shut behind him. A small huff escaped him as he settled in his seat, my hooves starting up the engines as he fitted his headset on... eh, probably was just Scouring or Crash Dive getting themselves settled. "Sheesh, I'm not that heavy... Ahm, uh, Valkyrie to HMS Cadence, Valkyrie to HMS Cadence, do you read us Fowler? Over."

"HMS Cadence, Flight Coordinator Fowler, we copy you Valkyrie. Surprised you even bothered calling, making it a habit of unauthorized takeoffs lately. Lucky the skies aren't nearly as busy as they used to be. Requesting permission for takeoff? Over." The hydrogen turbines began to spool up behind us, myself hitting the button for the vertical turbine, that one joining in the cacaphony as well. Manual vertical take-off, should at least keep things smooth for everyone.

"Uh, yes, requesting permission for takeoff, we're heading up to Maple Station for the rest of the day." The turbines hummed thir idle hum as my left hoof moved for the throttles, right taking hold of the familiar control yoke. A faint thumping noise could be heard somewhere behind me - Egh, come on guys, get yourselves settled. "Will, um, will we need to request permission on the return? Kind of think we'll be late home tonight... uh, over."

"If I'm not here to grant clearance later, will just advise you to take a route that doesn't send you near Hopeville. Sounds of things, they've managed to get most of the AA gunners back on their hooves. Clearance granted, free to take off at any time." Giving a nod - mainly to myself - my hoof pushed the throttle levers forwards, the engines whining up behind us to full tilt. Slowly, the massive bomber rose up into the air, the satisfying thunk of the langing gear mechanisms locking in place sounding out inside the cockpit, along with one or two more thumps. Hrm, really hope that noise isn't anything serious... "Oh, and you had better not hit any mach numbers heading there or back. I don't care if that damned thing can do ten times supersonic, I'll personally row ashore to tear you a new one if you break the sound barrier again without a damned good reason for it. HMS Cadence, over and out."

The headset fizzled as Static turned it off of open comms, myself leaning up in the seat to see more out of the windscreen. Alright, might be best of we plan the route now... I turned attention to the compass on the control panel, rear hooves working the rudder pedals to start swinging the nose around to point north. "Static, what bearing has us pointing directly towards Maple Station? Fastest route is a straight line, after all."

The earth pony was quiet for a moment, another few thumps barely audible over the turbines catching my ears. Hmmh, oh, if it's anything serious the repair talismans can sort it out... probably. "Looks like 38 degrees will have us pointed pretty close, ETA from here at cruising... ten minutes. Hmh, can't haul ten ton's worth of bulky stuff in this, though..." A chuckle left my lips as I brought us around, watching the compass as the numbers passed by anti-clockwise. Eventually 38 degrees showed, my forehoof held tight on the throttles as we settled in the air.

"Oh, c'mon Sparky, it's got some workable space. Maybe after we use up the megaspells, we could make the bomb bay like the inside of the TOG... okay, might be a bit more cramped, but still. Here we go..." Pushing all four of the main engines' throttles forwards, the loud whining filled the air for a moment, a slight tilt forwards on the stick letting air start to move over the wings and get us going. As I flicked the switch over for horizontal flight... Oh yeah, starting to love that feeling of acceleration.

The engines let off their distinct howl as we picked up more and more speed, the bare forests and hilly landscape below shooting by in a blur... assumedly. Again, not the best cockpit design for pilot visibility. Least the cloud banks darting past gave some sense. Static gave a small shudder behind me as I made slight adjustments with the controls, keeping us in the right direction. "Wuh. I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to watching the landscape go by that fast..."

Giving a shake of my head, I looked over my shoulder for a moment, catching the blue earth pony leaning forwards and over the side of his seat with his foreleg pressed against his muzzle. Yeah... can't really see Static as being a pegasus. Well, at least one that flies often. "Come on, get your stomach together and focus on getting us there. I've got no view of the ground up here, remember, just, uh... we could probably safely set down on the tank gunnery range, that's pretty flat and open. For the most part, anyways."

After a few moments, the clacking of knobs being turned a few times caught my ears, myself leting off a sigh and looking down at our airspeed... and quickly pulling the throttle back, after noticing the mach number just to the left of it nearly edging over to 1. Static grumbled as the decelration pressed us against our restraints, myself bringing the engines back up as we reached a nice 600km/h or so. The clacking filled the air for another moment, before the earth pony paused. "Huh... when we land, remind me to clean the lens of the upper turret's camera, wherever it is. Big smudge on it... Ah, wait, nevermind, the smudge blew off. Weird... okay, looks like we're almost at the town, the gunnery range... got it. Can bring us in now."

Another bout of deceleration took us as I brought up the airbrakes, letting out a small grunt as we slowed back down. A quick switch over to the vertical flight mode and a bit of flare in the nose brought us to a smooth hover, followed by a smooth touchdown as Static guided us in. The muddy, churned snow crunched underneath the landing gear as it took the weight of the Valkyrie, the engines whining down as a long sigh escaped me, leaning back in the pilot seat. Heh, hell of a lot more comfy than a three-day trip by half-track...

Static had unbuckled himself, hopping out of his chair before turninga orund and leaning over it again, hitting the switch for the bomb bay doors. They both opened with a satisfying thunk, myself undoing my own harness and opening up the cockpit's hatch, dropping out onto the snow. Hello, Maple Station, been a while, hasn't it? Crash Dive, Scouring, and Aerith all trotted out from underneath the Valkyrie as the bomb bay doors shut back up again, Static dropping out of the cockpit hatch and shutting it behind himself. The alicorn rubbed a hoof against her neck, a text screen popping up as her horn flared. 'Nngh, too much to ask for a proper seat or something back there? Your flying could use a bit of work, pretty stop-and-go, or at least it felt like it...'

A dry chuckle escaped me as Static moved over to us, myself rubbing a hoof at the back of my head. Not my fault it's fun to just push the throttle to full... okay, it is. Well, ordinance doesn't complain about my flying! As Aerith nursed her neck, a metallic clatter from atop the Valkyrie drew our attention, followed by having five pairs of wide eyes watching as a duffel bag and an iced-over olive-drab gryphon fell from where the Valkyrie's forward turret was, Hispano stumbling about slightly on her visibly shaking limbs. Eventually she managed to look towards us, standing on her back legs and pointing a talon. "Y-you... o-owe th-this g-g-gryph-... explanat-t-tion... nnfgh..."

She faltered for a moment before going limp and falling forwards, a blue magic aura catching the wind-blasted gryphon before she met the dirt, Aerith rushing over to her side. I, for my part, could only stand and stare. Hispano fell off there... that banging, it was probably her trying to get our attention, wasn't it? And the smudge on the gunsight... Aerith had gathered up Hispano's duffel bag and strung it around herself, gently resting the gryphon on her back, as Static scratched at the back of his own head. He glanced towards me for a moment, watching as Aerith looked to us for a second before taking off towards the town. As we all watched the alicorn and gryphon get farther away in the sky, the earth pony pretty much summed up all our thoughts for us.

"Well... wasn't expecting that."

"...So, massive fortified enemy base just down in the southeast mountains, eh? Well, you're lucky Avery's got that dustbin mortar then, should make short work of any bunkers or what-have-you they've got. I'm certain I can piece together some HESH shells for 'er, too..." After working out some arrangements for Hispano to recover, and letting Static then head off to sort out a train for us, or something, I'd made my way back over to the Tank Ghouls' shed, the largely empty space only being occupied by Mad Jack and Avery for the moment. The red earth pony hopped down from atop the tank's hull, setting the dirtied rag he was going over the inside of the mortar's barrel with aside before trotting back over. "Then just comes a matter of sorting out crew for everyone... regrettable to say, not many of the old tankers are left nowadays, and myself, Rheinmetall, and Rangefinder'll need at least two or three extra heads per tank if we want a full fighting force."

"Why two or three? Me and Rangefinder seemed to do alright heading over to Battered-Sea, and dealing with that massive monster there." I leaned myself against the side of Avery, watching as Mad Jack moved about to one of the storage boxes on the side. Opening up the lid, he rummaged about in it for a bit, before pulling out a... long sword? Well, um... I guess there might be some use for that in a tank's toolbox? Maybe?

Mad Jack inspected the sword for a few moments, carefully setting it atop the track cover and going back to rummaging, giving his head a shake. "Heh, suppose you've only had experience running tanks when it's just you and your one father in yours, then. Can't be sure what your landship might have extra, but most tanks need to have at least three trained crew in them to work at full capacity, a driver, gunner, and commander. Hm..." Rummaging for a few more moments, the old tanker proceeded to pull a bow of all things out of the box next, along with a few arrows. Okay, now I'm just confused... you'd think a pistol or something would be better, at least easier to handle. He set them with the sword for the moment, taking a step back and looking about the workshop.

"I believe I might know a place that could offer some assistance on that front, actually. Bit of a ways off to the north, but they've got the largest group of tanks I've ever laid eyes on since the bombs, and last I checked they were actually still building more to train new crews in. Let's see if I remember their frequency..." Mad Jack had led me over to a workbench area, setting himself down on a chair nearby an old radio setup. He spun himself around once, letting off a light chuckle before taking hold of the dial, switching the system on and running over the frequencies. "Maple Station calling Cordite, Maple Station calling Cordite, anyone picking me up?"

I scratched a hoof at my head as Jack fiddled with the radio a bit more, just slightly confused. Cordite? There's a place named after a shell propellant? And, beyond that, they're actually still building tanks? Hm... he said that it's to the north... huh, maybe we can stop over for a few nights while we're heading home. The radio fizzled and popped for a moment, before another voice came over it, a stallion with Mad Jack's accent answering. "Cordite BT-42, Poppy Gardener speaking, what's your trouble Maple Station?"

There was a small moment of pause before Mad Jack's eyes went wide, a large grin taking shape under his thin grey moustache. "Hah, Ol' Pip, brilliant to hear you again! It's Mad Jack, just wanted to call in a favor from the top brass, if I could. We've got the makings of a small tussle on the horizon down here, if you've any tankless crews on hand wanting some proper combat experience, we could use three or four of 'em for ours. Hell, come and join in the fun too, if you'd like!"

"Jack! I haven't heard from you since your last trip up through Vanderhoof, glad to know you and that daft tin box're still trundling around. I'll be certain to forward your message along, know of a few crews that wouldn't mind a chance to get their hooves dirty. Should see some of the greenhorns we've got now, ever since that white slug o' the north was seen passing through Filly Crossing with the ghost mare, everyone's been wanting a chance to give tanking a shot. Poor cocky sods, the Valiant's taken more hooves than ever as of late..." Mad Jack and myself shared a blink, listening to the stallion on the other end trail off. White slug of the north? Ghost mare? What could... where's Filly Crossing?

Mad Jack let off a light chuckle, pressing on the radio button again. "Eheh, sorry, we're a little out of the loop, been dealing with a fair bit down here as it is and our local station doesn't get much news outside of our bit of wasteland. What's this about a great white slug and a ghost, Pip?"

"Oh, it's the hot news nowadays, there's this whole great convoy heading down from the north pole, of all places! Apparently along with this giant white landship, they've also got the star of that old ghost story, ah, the one about the War Mare. Not sure where they are now along the highway, though my understanding is... oh, bah, that's right! I think they're actually heading your way, something about a lost child. Or, something involving archery, I think... maybe they're after your longbow, Jack, hah!" ...in a time like this, I'm not sure if I should be glad that my first thought is to be happy that I'm not crazy and my near-death dreams were true. Mad Jack's eyes met my own wide ones, myself staring down at the radio on the table, the old tank ghoul reaching to press the microphone button again.

"Heh, believe it's the former, Pip. Least of all because as it happens, one of those kids is standing right here..." There was a moment of silence after Jack released the button, assumedly the voice on the other end just as stunned as me. A soft smile crossed the old earth pony's muzzle, his hoof clicking the button. "Say, Pip, any chance I might be able to ask another favor? When they reach Cordite, could you pass a message on to them?"

"U-uh, yes, of course! Ahm... sorry, one moment... right, what'd you like for it to say?" Mad Jack passed on a nod to myself, moving his chair to the side and leaving the radio free for me. It took me a moment to start moving, resting my hooves on the workbench and pressing the button, the radio crackling slightly as I tried to get my brain back into gear. Message to dad... keep it together Strikey.

"Uh... Let... let them know that Night Strike and Static Charge are both okay, more than okay, we're both alive and doing great. We'll... w-we'll stay down here, waiting for you, and we'll also have a train ready to get us all back home, too. We... we... we m-miss you... and... and... we'll meet again, some sunny day... I'm sorry..." My blurred eyes saw my hoof lift from the button, faint whimpers escaping myself as I stood in front of the radio. A red hoof placed itself on my shoulder, Mad Jack gently resting his foreleg around me in a small hug as he moved over, nodding gently. I sniffled, rubbing at my damp eyes, a smile on my own muzzle - I'll see you again soon, dad.

"And... got it. I'll get this message to them fast as I can manage it, can promise you that. I'll have a chat with the boys after getting things in motion, on leave right now and we aren't too far out as it is. Should be able to be down there in the next few days." The radio fizzled for a moment as I tried to keep myself together, my sleeve already rather thoroughly stained with tears and cheeks hot from the grin on my face. The stallion's voice came back over after a second, myself blinking a few times and looking back to the set. "Come on, buck up and hang in there. Can tell you the last time a group like this headed down, they were going a lot further and didn't have something like the War Mare to make us Cordite crews hesitant about an attack order. Hell, some of the old timers like me might even want to help lead 'em south. They'll be in welcome hooves after they reach Cordite."

"Thanks Gardener, we'll be waiting for you. Maple Station, out." The radio shut off with a loud click as The old tank ghoul turned the knob, myself still wiping my eyes clear as I leaned up against Avery. It... I can't really believe it... how far away are we from home, anyways? Wonder if anyone has an intact world map, or something... thousands of kilometers, in the TOG of all things... Mad Jack trotted up beside me, resting a hoof on my shoulder again. "You going to be alright? You can stay long as you need, me 'n Avery wouldn't mind the company, heh."

"Yeah... y-yeah, I'll be fine. Just... just feeling a little overwhelmed right now, is all. Lot to take in." I took in a long breath and held it, letting it out on a relaxed huff. Okay, they're coming down here, they know we're here, and we're getting a lot of help, too. These are all good things. Just gotta hold out until then. Mad Jack passed on a nod and smile, leaning back on his hooves beside me. A small sigh escaped my lips, as I gave my head a quick shake. "Alright. I think I'm gonna go find Static now, let him know. Uh... your radio here, can you reach the HMS Cadence? Just so we can be updated on how things are going, if you get any messages from your friend, or anything."

"Think I should have the range to reach them, yes. Will let Rheinmetall and Caution Tape know, we'll keep you posted best we can. Just be sure to let us know when the fun'll start, too, eh?" Mad Jack patted a hoof against my shoulder, trotting back over to Avery's side as I passed on a nod and started making way for the door. Taking the handle in a hoof, the old ghoul spoke up again, carrying the large sword with him as he reappeared past Avery's forward track. "Oh, and, ah, heh, do feel free to bring Rangefinder back up here sometime. You'd think a pony of her majesty's aerial scout wing could find her own way here, but put her in her tank and she may as well be reading a map of the Rhoar Valley upside-down to get around Vanhoover."

We shared a small chuckle as I passed on a nod, trotting out into the afternoon lights of the railyard. Rangefinder, almost forgot... we'll sort something out. Everything's alright now, at least, everything'll work out in the end...

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to Radio KAOS on this fine Vanhoover evening, and from the sounds of things it's at least been a lot calmer than this morning, heh. For those of you who missed it or are just now joining us, it'd seem that the Vanhoover Five managed to get themselves into a bit of trouble earlier today, including royally pissing off our own resident ghoul here aboard this warship. From what he told me, apparently before the bombs fell any aircraft capable of flying supersonic was very much not supposed to do that over land, especially not over a densely populated place like Vanhoover itself, heh. Thankfully no injuries were reported, so I think they can get a pass this time. All I'll say is that, with the cloud cover clear, I don't think we have much of a need for anything like a sonic rad-boom nowadays, heh. Sure they had a good reason for it, at least.

"Moving on to other news throughout the wasteland, things seem to have finally settled out in Hopeville, thanks to the determined efforts of the Triage and all the medics that came to assist with casualties, as well as one of the Tank Ghouls from Maple Station. Plans to rebuild are underway as we speak, so for those of you who migrated over to Maple Creek following the attack, don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before you can return home.

"Speaking of settlements under construction, the new town of Glowing-Sea has taken full root in the crater formerly known as the Battered-Sea Power Station, and have their apparently quite heavily-armored doors open to all travelers who're looking for a place to stay or trade. Also, while I would like some visual confirmation about this, apparently some enterprising residents have managed to pull and hatch a few eggs that were at the very bottom of the crater, and are actually domesticating the little monsters that came out of them. Vanhoover Five, I know you've probably got a lot on your plate right now, but if you could just check in and see if these tamed anglerponies are real, us here at Radio KAOS would quite appreciate it, heh.

"It's a clear Vanhoover night out there tonight, and I think I feel in the mood for something a bit chill. I'm still not entirely sure this title isn't a euphemism for something, but here's Roger Trotter's Dark Side of the Moon, anyways, heh. Enjoy."

"Five hundred and forty thousand caps. Five hundred. And forty. Thousand caps. Why in the name of Celestia's holy snow-white flanks did I let you convice me to charter a train from here to back home?" It was late in the day after Static had finished negotiations and we were able to get things settled. Crash Dive and Scouring elected to both busy themselves around town, while Aerith and Hispano had agreed to a small chat with us over dinner, after she'd gotten back on her... talons. After pretty much putting her through a near-supersonic icy wind tunnel, was the least we could do, really. And yet, despite the incoming promise of lots of warm, tasty food, Static seemed wholly determined to be in a sour mood tonight. "Ugh... anyways, that thing you mentioned earlier, are you sure that the guy on the radio actually is gonna get a message to our dads? And that he'll actually recognize them if he sees them?"

I took a long sip from my bomb-bottle of Sparkle-Cola, swallowing it down and setting it on the table, leaning back into the booth seat. "Mmh, he pretty much said that they were traveling via TOG, I think there's a pretty damn good chance that there's only one of those around. Even if not, apparently Rolling Tracks is with 'em too, and she's some sort of ghost story where he's from. If they don't recognize the TOG, they'll be sure to recognize her and War Mare." A small chuckle escaped myself as I moved a hoof around Static, leaning forwards with him. He looked back at me with worried eyes, as I returned a smile. "Come on, Sparky. Mad Jack seemed to know him, and it means we know with absolute certainty that our dads are coming for us. We just need to stay down in Vanhoover until they get here."

The earth pony let off a sigh as he sat up, leaning back into the booth cushions. A small bout of applause filled the Roundhouse as the current set finished up, the lights fading on for a while. "Alright. We kind of need to stay around anyways, help with the whole eventual attack on the base thing..." Static took a sip from his own bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla, looking out across the busy roundhouse. The idle chatter and clinking of silverware against old plates almost drowned out the grumbles of his stomach... almost. He looked down at it for a moment, a small grimace crossing his face. "Nnf, when's Aerith and her friend supposed to get here? Starting to starve here, and the show's about to start soon, too."

"Sheesh, you are just a bottomless pit, aren't you, Sparky? Give 'em some time, we do sort of owe Hispano something for all her trouble. Besides, do you really wanna piss off the gryphon that uses a twenty millimeter autocannon as her primary weapon?" Static answered with a roll of his eyes, myself wearing a smirk. You've handled a .308 to the hoof, let's try to avoid any higher calibers from here on. The door at the far end of the Roundhouse opened and shut, the blue alicorn and the olive drab gryphon eventually showing up and taking place on the other side of the table, Hispano rubbing a talon against her forehead.

"Nngh, fuuuck, I haven't felt like this since I was dared to hop into one of those Dizzitron things for an hour... ugh." Aerith wore a weak smile as she gently pated a hoof on Hispano's shoulder, the waiter eventually coming over and placing a few more menus in front of us. Myself and Static both placed our orders, while Aerith just asked for a couple bottles of Sparkle Cola, her and Hispano both looking over their own menus for the time being. Taking ours, the waiter left, Hispano setting her menu down and letting off a sigh. "So. Anyways. Sorry about the whole hitching a ride thing, I thought I could get your attention before you took off. Just my luck my duffel bag got caught in the prongs of that turret-thing on top... Anyhow, explanation time. Who wants to go first?"

"Well, um, how about the whole big autocannon thing, and how you know Aerith? I mean, one of Night Strike's dads carries two of them around, but he's around twice as big as most ponies. You're hardly taller than us." Static gave a shrug as he took another sip from his bottle of soda, Hispano bracing herself against the table and giving her back a stretch. She let off a small sigh, leaning frowards, Static setting his bottle back down. "And, uh, yeah, you and Aerith, what's the story there?"

The gryphon let off a long huff as she paused to think, a waiter coming by and setting two more bottles of Sparkle-Cola onto the table for Aerith and her, as well as another bottle for myself and one of Sunrise for Static. "Autocannon. Well, she used to be my sister Suiza's, a few years back, she cared for and loved it more than anything. Then, one day, she went off on a standard job, found herself in a firefight... she goes down in a bed of killing joke, and, well..." A long sigh escaped her, looking to the glass bottle and popping the cap off. "In a way, they did eventually manage to find her. Suiza's always been right by my side for a little over a decade now."

Myself and Static both shared a glance. Killing joke? What's that, some sort of, uh, plant, I guess? Huh. And what did she mean by her sister being right by her... wait... she doesn't mean that her sister actually IS the autocannon, now, does she? That... is that even possible? Hispano took a long gulp from her bottle of Sparkle-Cola, letting off a small grunt before leaning herself back. "As for Aerith... just about ten years ago, down in Bridleshade. I was traveling with this group from way up north at the time, from the Inuvik, we were passing through on our way south. I think one of the group used to live there before Cauterize, something like that... well, we got there, and for our trouble we found this troublemaker taking potshots at us with a cheap hunting rifle, yelling at us to go away. Least, until she met Suiza..."

'I hadn't seen an autocannon like that since before the war, always loved the sound of those firing overhead while in basic training. She was just kept so pristine, like you hadn't fired her once, it all just came back to me and I couldn't think of anything else. It... it really helped me at the time.' Aerith wore a wide smile as she brought up her screen, the gryphon sat beside her reaching over to bring her into a small hug. Aww, that is a pretty cute first meeting, in a way...

The waiter from earlier returned to take Aerith's and Hispano's orders and menus, myself finishing off my first bottle and starting on the second as Static watched him trot off. The earth pony grumbled something about lousy service, prompting me to give him a small poke in the side. He shot me a glare, that I answered with a nod towards the alicorn and the gryphon sitting across from us - patience is a virtue, Sparky. Hispano finished off another gump of Sparkle-Cola, looking back towards us. "So, what's your deal with the whole bomber-thing, anyways? Something that can go that damn fast isn't something you'd just find laying around."

I let off a dry chuckle as Static muffled a groan, letting his forehead fall onto this crossed forelegs on the table. At least it's warmer to tell it all in here than on a warship... and we're actually able to eat during it. "Well... it's a long story..."

It was already well late by the time we finished bringing Hispano up to speed over things, and were able to head back home - this time, thankfully for her, with Hispano riding on the inside of the Valkyire. After our goodbyes, everyone just about managed to pull themselves across the landbridge and into their bedrooms, myself and Static both quick to snug up underneath the heavy comforter on our bed. I held the earth pony close, nuzzling against his soft, warm blue coat, his own hooves rubbing against my wings gently. A soft sigh escaped my lips as we both laid there, myself pushing back to meet his eyes on the pillow.

"You know, Static, it's gonna be a dangerous mission you're going on tomorrow... like, way more dangerous than something like us going around old ruins." He blunk a few times, lifting his head up and looking at myself, as I just looked down between us. "I just... I'm not gonna ask you if you're alright with going through with it, I just want you to know that... I'm... I'm really, really scared about what I'd do if anything happened to you. I love you, Static. I don't want to miss you."

The blue earth pony didn't say anything at first, only wearing a small smile on his muzzle and leaning over to pass on a long kiss. Reaching a hoof up to hold him, he parted after a moment, letting off a sigh of his own. "I love you too, Night Strike, and... I'm scared, too. But I have to do this, for everypony, the more we know about them, the better chances we'll have when it comes time to take them down." He... he was right. I wish he wasn't, though... or at least he didn't have to go. He placed a hoof on my chin, lifting my head back up to meet his soft gaze. "I promise that I'll do everything I can tomorrow to make sure I get in and out as quickly as possible. Then we won't have to be apart again."

A soft breath escaped me as I gave him a slow nod, a small smile coming on my muzzle. We won't have to be apart after this, once we figure out what to do, we can get everything together and just blast them apart before they suspect a thing. Then we can stay, wait, and then go back home, and everything'll be alright again... Static gave a small nuzzle, letting off a light chuckle. "You know, Strikey... how about we get our minds off of everything, for tonight? I mean, we've got a comfortable bed, heavy, warm covers... and I've got quite a lovely pegasus right here beside me~"

A blush met my cheeks as I felt Static move his hooves to massage between my wings, myself shuddering from the sensation. Ooooh... that would be nice. I wrapped my own hooves around him, pulling him close and looking deep into his beautiful golden eyes, letting a light giggle escape my lips. "Mmm, you're quite a lovely earth pony yourself, you know... let's forget about tomorrow, together." A wide grin corssed his muzzle and he pulled the blanket up a little more snugly around us, keeping us both held in tight embrace as all thoughts and worries left us for a few fleeting, wondorous moments. One calming soothing thought remained, clear in my head, as our night finally, properly began.

Everything's gonna be alright.

“Alright, bombs are loaded, engines are primed and running at normal, weather’s hopefully not going to screw us over with a freak thunderstorm, I think we’re good.” Night Strike was looking over her forward console on the Valkyrie, flicking a few switches, as I sat myself in the seat behind her the next morning. Beside me stood Aerith, who was peering out of the cockpit down at Crash Dive and Scouring standing by the Clydesdale. She had ditched her trademark suit and hat, instead carrying nothing but the big-barreled gun from the bunker and a few magazines of ammo held in a courier bag slung over her back. It at least sounded like it was suppressed when she fired it earlier... hope it's enough. “You've got everything you need, right, Static?”

“For the fifth time, yes. I’ve only got two things to bring, and I’m wearing one of them, it’s kind of hard to forget them.” I responded, a little exasperated. Night Strike waved her hoof in front of myself and Aerith, her other one pushing a group of levers forwards on the controls. I clutched my umbrella to my chest as the engines’ characteristic whine began once again, building to the familiar roar as they reached full speed. Aerith stumbled a bit as the plane started to roll forward, bracing herself against the back cockpit access doorway to keep herself from flopping to the ground. The Valkyrie picked up speed, myself just able to see Scouring giving a quick salute to us as we rolled by, Night Strike pulling back on the controls and lifting us into the air. We climbed quickly, Night Strike easing back on the controls to place us just below the clouds as we streaked across the sky.

She turned back to me after making a wide turn, and headed towards the base. “Okay, so, you go in, try to find some sort of plans or schematics to the base, maybe whatever they're doing there, too, and get out. If I find out you tried to carry back a whole warhead and got caught because of it, I’ll blow you up with it myself,” Night Strike glared back at me, a twinge of something behind her eyes. I gave her a skeptical look in return - I’m not you, Night Strike, remember? She shook her head, looking down at the floor and letting off a long sigh. “Yeah, I’m... I'm sorry, I’m just a bit paranoid, y'know? Last time you were on a secret mission was back at the airbase, and it’s not really like those guys would’ve shot you dead if they found you. This... these stakes are much higher.”

I gave her a small smile, trying my best to hide my own panic. “It’s alright, Night Strike. I’ll be fine, and Aerith’s coming along too. Worst case scenario, she can teleport us away, and everything'll be good.” Night Strike nodded, looking back to her controls, guiding us all towards the base. I glanced over to Aerith, lowering my voice. “…you do know how to teleport, right?” She seemed to think for a moment, wearing a weak smile as she let off a weak, mute chuckle. Oh, well then. A few more minutes passed as we headed towards the base, Night Strike starting to slow down the Valkyrie.

“Five kilometers out... head back to the bomb bay now, guys. I’m going to do the drop about a kilometer and a half away, from this height that should be close enough. I really don’t want to try and get any closer to those guns than I absolutely have to.” I nodded, unbuckling myself and heading down to the bomb bay after Aerith. Holding on tight to a railing on the small step before the bay doors, we readied ourselves in the space we had, the bombs swaying a bit in their holdings as we flew along. I looked over to Aerith, who gave me a small nod, pulling down her pair of goggles over her eyes. Suddenly the doors opened wide, the howling rush of wind whipping through the bay as I clutched the handle for safety. Gulping, I tried to not stare at the enormous drop below, Aerith’s feathers ruffling in the wind. A crackle of static was heard from the intercom, and Night Strike’s voice came through, only barely audible above the roar. “Alright, now’s the time. I’ll swing away and drop some of the bombs a couple kilometers south, it should keep their attention away from you for a bit.”

I gulped, staring down out of the bomb bay doors. The ground whizzed by far below us, causing me to lean back against the wall, my stomach now a mess of knots. Nope nope nopenopenope, this isn’t going to work. We’ll find some other way. I’ll just- my thoughts were cut short as I felt Aerith place a hoof on my back, before shoving me forward. The wide assortment of expletives that left my mouth just then were lost to the rush of wind as I tumbled down through the air, Aerith leaping out right behind me and catching fast. Night Strike peeled the Valkyrie away, turning south of the base as I flailed my limbs in some futile attempt to stop my ever quickening descent. Aerith pointed herself towards me, falling through the air as her horn shimmered before she vanished from sight. I felt her hooves wrap around my waist, a screen popping up in front of my vision as I heard her wings unfurl and felt as the sensation of falling was instead aimed eastwards. 'Alright, shut up ya big baby, and turn on that suit. We might be less of a target than the Valkyrie, but they'd still see some crazy earth pony flying at them in a black stealth suit on a clear day like this.'

I gulped, trying to get my bearings as I looked down at the armor. My heart still pounding in my chest, I reached up and tapped a few buttons, the plate humming slightly as the armor shimmered. A moment later, and I wasn’t able to see myself dangling in the air. Aside from the occasional shimmer in the ground below, there was no way to tell I was there at all. Oh, Celestia, please let me keep my breakfast down, I really do like pancakes and syrup more going in than coming out. I tried to not stare at the ground as Aerith brought us in lower, barren treetops shooting by at an alarming rate. Focusing instead on the complex that sprawled out ahead of us, I watched as pony-sized figures rushed to one end, all manning guns and mercifully turning them away from us. Explosions rang through the air, and I looked up to see the Valkyrie speeding away, two bombs falling onto the mountainsides far off in the distance. The guns in the complex began to fire off, but their shots detonated short, exploding well behind the plane.

Aerith’s wings fluttered a bit as we crossed above the barbed wire looped along the top of the large wall surrounding the complex, flaring to bring us to a stop on the other side. My legs were shaking as Aerith planted us down inside the base, a sigh of relief barely audible under the fire of the anti-aircraft guns. “Okay, first things first, we need to find some map of this complex. I’d say a comms station, or repair wing would be the place to check first.” I muttered under my breath. A tiny screen appeared within my visor, Aerith projecting a small checkmark as response. Looking around, and... NOT seeing her, I realized there was no way I’d be able to follow her around in the slightest. Probably should've thought about that. “Alright, follow me. Assuming you can... I suppose.” I began to creep around one of the buildings, searching for any clue on which direction to head.

The base was, honestly, quite surprisingly barren, only a few guards were actually posted around some of the buildings, and no building had more than one. Many of the others appeared to have no security at all, save perhaps a small camera hanging near the doorway. As we crept along, loking across the complex, it quickly became apparent why this was the case. I stepped backwards out of instinct as a robotic dragon stepped around one of the buildings, walking along the road between the silo doors. Its tail swished slowly back and forth, the oversized blade on the end gleaming in the light as each step was accompanied by the whir and click of several gears and servos. It spun its head left and right, surveying the ground around as it stomped along. I held my breath, standing stock still as it passed. I felt something poke my side and I whirled around, only to see nothing but the side of the building. Ah, right, Aerith. It’s going to take a bit getting used to this armor.

Making my way forward, I slid around the side of the garage as the dragon made its way along, the sounds of explosions dying down as the guards stopped attempting to shoot down the long gone Valkyrie. It was rather surreal being able to walk along is plain sight, none of the guards seeming to notice the faint shimmer of the stealth suit as I wandered along the complex. Okay, let’s see, comms station, where would you be? Spotting a large radio tower in the corner of the base, I began to head in its direction, still staying away from any guard posts that I could. I don’t exactly trust this armor to be fully foolproof... especially considering this was the only time I used it for longer than five minutes.

Coming up to the building below the mess of metal that was the broadcast towers and wires connecting them, I leaned down to peer through the keyhole. Inside sat a pair of the smaller robo-dragons, hunched over an array of buttons, knobs, and dials not unlike the ones that were in KAOS’s studio. Robots, really? Well... i I guess if the infrastructure's already here, then... huh. Tentatively, I placed my hoof on the door handle and pulled. To my surprise, the door was unlocked, and I was able to easily slip inside. The robots at the console, bizarrely wearing the large headphones there, were scribbling down notes on sheets of paper spread out in front of them. One leaned over, punching down the button on a microphone, an unnerving robotic voice coming out of it's mouth. “Squad Charlie’s just finished a sweep of the valley between here and Saddlebrook, no sign of anyone between the two bases.”

A crackle of static came over the intercom, and a non-robotic voice responded. “Good to know. Have them send a few troops back to patrol areas east, we’ve been getting more traffic than I’d like.” The comms officer robo-dragon gave a curt response, and scribbled down the orders before turning to begin tapping out a series of beeps. Occasionally, it would glance back to a separate sheet of paper to the one it'd written the message down on, still tapping away on the small lever. I stepped up behind it, looking down at some of the notes spread out on the console. Many were unintelligible scribblings, a jumble of words and numbers that meant nothing. Frowning, my eyes continued along the table. At the end, sitting up on it's side, was a folder packed full of papers, and printed on the front in big red lettering was ‘Project Cerberus: Codes and Ciphers’. I crept around the officer’s chair, glancing back to make sure neither of them were watching as I reached out to take the codes.

Suddenly, two quick loud snaps met my ears, and I whirled around just in time to see the gun Aerith brought along floating in mid-air, with the two robots now dead, sparks coming from the holes and oil pooling out onto the console. “What the hell was that about?!” I hissed, stuffing as many of the papers into the compartment of the armor I’d found the Sarsaparilla recipe in as I could. “Somepony...thing might have heard that! Are you crazy!?” The gun lowered itself, and I could tell Aerith was attempting to pull off a pitiful look despite her current state of visibility. Not friggin' helping, really. “Shit, now they’re going to know somepony was in here when they find these two dead, we gotta get the plans and book it before this whole place goes on red alert!” I slapped a hoof over my visor as the stomp of a full-size robotic dragon could be heard, another one passing by the station on patrol. My lungs held a full breath as I prayed it couldn’t somehow see through walls, but, mercifully, it simply continued on its way.

I let out a long sigh, looking back down at the other dead robots. “Okay, okay, fine, cut off their communication, it wasn’t a *completely* horrible idea, but we need to get out of here a-sap once we get those plans.” I muttered. The gun rolled its tip through the air, vanishing as Aerith’s magic shrouded it once again. Peeking through the door back out into the main compound, Aerith and I slipped through upon seeing the coast was clear, and we began to make our way across the base once again. Come on, there’s gotta be some surface level repair bay, right? They have to have something on the building designs or layout, even just a simple map saying 'you are here'. Probably with that pointer overlaid on a festering bloodsprite's nest.

As we trotted across the base, we again passed by the large doors embedded into the ground. Each silo door was surrounded by several large hazard lights, pulsing dimly. My heart began to pick up its pace again as several more dragons surrounded the doors, each one scanning the area around them, shifting into an aggressive stance even as some of the robotic guards passed too close to them. A small sign appeared in my vision again, an arrow appearing to direct my vision towards a hangar where a few more dragons lay inside. Of course, should’ve known the repair bay would’ve been fixing those things up too.

We slowly made our way towards it, spotting a small group of various robots all gathered around one of the dragons. Sparks flew as a pony-shaped one was attempting to sharpen the wings, the sparks bouncing off of his faceplate as another sat atop the dragon’s back, fiddling with the wires and circuitry inside. Avoiding a protectapony that was pushing a cart of tools from a workbench over to the robot being repaired, Aerith and I stepped into the hangar. Looking about to ensure no one was watching, I wandered over to one of the workbenches. Peeking inside, I spotted several blueprints, each one detailing one piece of the dragons’ many mechanisms. As I was attempting to pull some out, however, I heard a mechanic shout to another, right behind me. “Oi, grease trap, get the IFF guide over here. This thing’s a mess, and we are not booting it back up while it’s still possible it might make it so we have to build more replacements.” I only barely scrambled out of the way in time before one of the Mr. Handy-styled mechanics hovered over to the bench, moving one of it's pincer arms down to reach into the mess of paperwork.

Rummaging around for a moment, it gave a grunt of annoyance before pulling out the entire box and carrying it over to the robo-dragon. “Outdated paper instructions, you'd think they'd consider uploading these things to the database so we didn't need to fan through them all the time.” It muttered to itself as it continued to dig through the pile. I grumbled, annoyed at missing the plans, but I felt Aerith tap on my shoulder, causing me to look over. A small office sat in a shack in the side of the hangar, another pony-shaped thing pouring over paperwork. Heading towards it, we could see through the window that it was surpisingly an actual pony, the officer looking over some blueprints in front of a terminal, circling a few areas and jotting down notes beside them. Behind him was a large circular metal ring, surrounded on almost all sides by a railing and a control panel. As we watched, the ring shuddered, and it began to sink into the ground, metal plates closing in over the hole it left as the large elevator dropped into the ground.

Stepping carefully into the office, the stallion looked up over the computer, confused as the door swung open of its own accord. He watched for a moment before looking back down at his work, shaking his head. Troting behind him and looking over his shoulder, I could see him marking up a stack of blueprints for a level of the complex, with the terminal open on a database access screen. He circled another section, scribbling in more notes before flipping the paper over to work on another floor. Looking over to the window, I wondered if anything would spot him if I tried to knock him out. But before I could get the chance, a klaxon suddenly began to ring, the stallion jumping up out of his chair and tensing his wings. In a panic, I pulled up my umbrella, jabbing it into his neck. Just as quickly as he had leapt up, the officer crumpled to the floor, banging his head badly on the table as he fell. “Code red. Code red. Intruder alert, repeat, intruder on base. Communications center is without operators.” Oh, fuck.

Scrambling, I gathered up some of the papers on the table, Aerith taking a few and stuffing them into her own courier bag. Shoving the officer aside, I also fumbled with the console, backing out of the screen it was on and looking over the choices left. Recent updates, board room recordings, other info... holy shit, this really was a whole database. A large holotape came over in front of me in a blue aura, Aerith's magic plugging it in and hitting the data transfer, myself giving her a nod... for all the good that'd do, and looking out the window. The mechanics all rushed over to one end of the hangar where several robotic limbs were waiting, appearing to quickly swap between their maintenance tools and defensive weapons, before rushing out into the main field.

With the transfer finished, Aerith and I scurried out of the hangar, hurrying towards the wall around the base. I could hear Aerith’s wings unfurl again behind me, and suddenly I felt myself being lifted up into the air. We barely cleared the barbed wire, Aerith dropping down roughly on the opposite side and beginning to canter away from the base. I tried following the sound of her hooves, but the alarms and roars of mechanical dragons from the base almost drowned them completely out.

Panting, I shouted out. “Aerith, dammit, turn visible again, I don’t know where you’re going!” I punched a button on my suit, causing it to shimmer and the cloaking system to fade as I slipped down the side of the mountain, dropping out of view of the base. Looking around, I tried to spot Aerith on the mountainside, a small stitch in my side from the pain of running. Off in the distance I managed to spot her, looking exhausted as she lay panting on the ground. I hurried over to her, helping her back to her hooves as she gave a small smile, her horn glowing to cast another sign into the air.

'Thanks. Sorry, staying invisible for so long was a lot more draining than I thought it would be...' She looked up, spotting a few dragons beginning to circle overhead. 'We need to get moving. Night Strike said that she'd head around and be waiting for us at the dam. I should be able to teleport us both there... hopefully. You know where it is from here, right?' I nodded, looking back down the mountain, my vertigo returning as we began our descent down the steep mountainside.

At least, I hope I do.

"Come on, Fowler, I know me and the Valkyrie can find them! It's been hours!" My hoves tapped nervously on the metal interior of the Valkyrie, hanging tight onto the controls with one hoof while the other held the headphones to my ear. Static and Aerith were still out there, and the robo-dragons that did follow me were at least dispatched by the automated turrets, so it wasn't like I was entirely in danger of getting attacked when I went to get them, but, nngh! I can't handle waiting like this! They could be in danger, maybe she can't teleport after all, or maybe the stealth suit broke while he was in the middle of grabbing a holotape or something, or maybe that carbine wasn't silenced after all and that test shot was a fluke!

"Lass, for the love of Cadence calm down! It's only been a little over an hour, and you've been yellin' in my ears for most of it! Take a breath, hold it, and turn down your bloody volume knob." Taking in a deep breath, i let it off in a quick sigh, Fowler grunting on the other end. Okay, yeah, maybe I'm overreacting, but celestiadamnit I have good reason for it! I love him! "Right, look. I've got the radar onboard here scanning far over the horizon as she can, just about make out whatever's going in in the area you were headed, and there hasn't been anything that's cause for concern out of there yet. It's not built for detecting ponies, but if the robots are as big as you said, then I would've seen them scrambling. They're probably out and heading your way now."

Another long huff escaped me as I slumped back in the seat, shuddering slightly. Keep it together, Strikey... "...y-yeah, yeah, alright, thanks. I'm just... this whole situation has me on edge, the last time we did this we were somewhere it wouldn't have been as lethal if he was caught, and with Aerith also being there with what's basically a brand new gun for her... can you blame me for being a little worried?"

"A little worried is one thing, what you're doing now is making me think you'll have a heart attack before the day's out! Your friends are gonna be fine, you're the Vanhoover Five for goddess' sake." That... was a point. Good, bad, whatever, it was still a point. Another sigh escaped me as I sunk back into the Valkyrie's pilot seat, Fowler answering with one of his own. "Look, it'll be fine, don't worry yourself too much. Too young for that. I've got to switch channels, been waiting on a response here and their light just started blinking... promise you'll keep it together 'till your friends return?"

"I... I promise, I can do that. Thanks, Fowler." The radio fizzled to static as the old ghoul switched over, myself dropping the headset and staring out through the Valkyrie's canopy. Keep it together... it's fine, it's fine, no freak-outs. Just breathe. Static is good at sneaking like you're good at blowing things up, this is his area of expertise. Aerith can turn whole bombers invisible if she has to, and she knows how to make use of that carbine. They're gonna be fine.

A probably far less than dignified scream escaped me as something thudded hard against the back of the Valkyrie, my wide eyes staring up through the glass canopy as my heart thundered in my chest. With another loud thump, I was met with the blue eyes of Hispano, the gryphon giving her head a tilt before finally hopping off of the plane and landing on the side with the door. She stuck her head in, as I tried... to not have a heart attack. Damnit, Fowler, why'd you have to say that? "Woah, uh, heh, probably shouldn't have done that landing... what's going on, Night Strike? Look white as a ghost."

Eventually I managed to slow my heart back from full-auto fifty MG, just taking a few breaths to get back to a coherent state. Okay, I'm good... right. I leaned myself forwards, looking back over at the gryphon. "It... Static and Aerith both went off to break into this fortified base in the southeast mountains, and I'm stuck waiting for them to get back. They were just looking for a map of the place, or something, anything to help us with the eventual big assault when it comes. I'm just... really worried."

The gryphon leaned herself against the cockpit steps, looking off to the distance for a moment, in the direction of the base. I rested my forehooves in my lap, just trying to stay calm. "I'm sure they're doing fine, between that umbrella and Aerith's invis-abilities, they've got a good chance on the whole. Trust me, there are way worse places out there that they could end up having to get through, ones that are a lot less accessible than via bomber insertion. Better than a fancy magic camera..." Hispano let off a weak chuckle as I looked over at her, doing my best to not think about Static and Aerith getting into trouble. The small smile she had on her beak faded as she looked southeast again, sitting down on the cracked road. "Hey, mind if I stick around? You... look like you could use the company. I could probably spot them as they come in, too."

I passed on a small nod, pulling myself up out of the pilot's seat and hopping down out of the bomber, Hispano shuffling back to let me by. Company, that's always a good thing when you're stressed out, yeah. And spotting them as they come in... well, I guess if they left invisible, then her being able to see them sooner than me will be welcoming. Hope Aerith's wings haven't gone and fallen off because she's carrying Static, heh... "Y-yeah, that'd be nice. We can get a good view on the floodplain from the dam."

Hispano gave a nod as she picked her duffel bag back up, walking alongside me as we both moved out of the parking lot and across the massive concrete structure. A huge torrent of water roared down near the bottom, the generators inside spinning away and sending power out to Hopeville and beyond, myself letting loose a small sigh in the crisp air. Damn, it feels like a lifetime ago when we first got to this place... a lot's happened the last two months. I looked out across the forested hills below, the wider river cutting through the trees and curving off east. A little farther beyond that was the town of Bridleshade, with it's somewhat thoroughly destroyed self, and past that... well, maybe I should be looking more to the east instead. Yeah, just, follow Hispano's lead... oh, why are you looking worried!?

"I see 'em... we might have a problem. How fast can you get that plane of yours started up?" The gryphon came to a stop on the dam, dropping her duffel bag and pulling the zipper open, starting to go through it's contents. It really did take a lot out of me to not have my hooves just give out right then and there - we might have a problem? What the hell does she mean by that!? "It looks like Aerith's been teleporting them both, I dunno how far away that base-thing is from here but she is not looking right. When they get here, she needs to get on the plane and get to Hopeville as soon as possible, got it?"

"I... I... I'll get the Valkyrie started, bring her in through the bomb bay, there's plenty of space and Static can help." Spreading my wings, I took to the air and landed back over by the Valkyrie, wasting no time in climbing up into the cockpit and dropping into the pilot's seat. Primers, engines one through four, on. Hydrogen talismans, running. VTOL... can't have it running when they get in, okay, so it won't be that fast a takeoff. Bomb bay doors, open. Looking up, I could just about see Hispano on top of the dam, a sudden blue flash of light producing Aerith and Static. They both seemed to stumble on their hooves, Hispano catching Aerith as she fell over limp, the alicorn's horn looking visibly charred and blackened even from this distance. Oh, this was a horrible idea, why did we go with this idea?!

Eventually Static managed to get himself together and let Hispano rest Aerith on his back, the gryphon feeding her a healing potion as they all rushed over to me. The engines whined loudly as they fired on, the group disappearing under the wing and causing a few soft thumps as they clambered in. Static shot through the bomb bay access door, jumping into his seat and closing up the bomb bay, myself firing on the vertical engine to match the rest. Okay, to Hopeville, just a quick jaunt.

We quickly lifted from the ground as the engines howled with the throtle, my rear hooves swinging the nose back west as we switched over to vertical flight. Knobs clacked away behind me as Static settled himself in, bringing up the forward camera and guiding us back. It really wasn't that far a flight - makes sense, considering we walked to and back from the dam in one day not too long ago - but, with Aerith as she was... it felt longer, to say the least. The tall structure of the Triage drew close, Static guiding us down onto the road just outside the town, the landing gear compressing softly as the engines whined down again.

The earth pony behind me leapt from his chair after we stopped moving, the hydraulics opening the bomb bay heard clearly as he headed back to it to assist Aerith and Hispano, myself unbuckling as well and looking back. Okay, Triage is right here, they should be able to get looking at Aerith as soon as they get in the front door... might be nice to try and radio ahead, though, I guess. Picking the headset up from the floor and fitting it on, though... my heart can't handle this, damnit! "Valkyire, come in goddess-damn it! Unidentifieds heading your way from the southeast!"

"What!? Who... how far away, and how many?" Steadying myself on the center console, I stared out through the canopy, watching as Static and Hispano rushed Aerith over to the hospital. Southeast... that must be robo-dragons. Or Harriers... please let it not be Harriers. Okay, don't panic too much now, Hopeville has plenty of AA defenses, and it's really not like they'd throw a whole fleet of robo-dragons at us at once. Right?

"Looks like... three or four, all heading over the Vanhoover floodplains now, at that speed no more than five minutes out. If you've any defensive armament on the Valkyrie, I'd get on it A-SAP. I'll get Hopeville on alert, too, try and lead them over there if you can." Three or four... well, at least we're at Hopeville already. Moving in front of the console, I started to look over it, trying to find what I needed to switch in order to get the upper turret into the fray, too.

"Copy that, Fowler, we're at Hopeville now. I'm gonna try and get the automated turrets running on the Valkyrie... oh, why did I just skim over the manual?" The headset broke over to the static of nobody on the other end, as the screens in front of me flickered between different inputs. Okay, uh, offensive armament?... bombs, cannons, gunship controls... well, the turrets are used for the gunship bit, is that it? Nngh, ah... no, damn it. Okay, uh, defensive armament then... there's an afterburner control for the secondary seat? Huh. No, wait, I need the automated turrets. There's the option, and... "...insufficient power for automatic operation. Main engines must be running at combat throttle. Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!"

Turning attention back up through the canopy of the Valkyrie, I looked towards the southeast, not able to see much past the treeline outside the town. Five minutes out... fuck me with a seventeen-pounder... okay, breathe, just get your stuff and get into Hopeville, and, well, also pray they won't see the Valkyrie. Or at least pray that they can be shot down well before them destroying the Valkyrie is a concern. Grabbing my lightly-packed-for-once duffel bag, I let myself drop out of the cockpit door, galloping a few meters before spreading my wings and flying into town. Okay, I -have- fought these things before, one at a time, solar burst grenades and slugs are pretty effective, and the guns already here will have the punch to get them down, too... can't hurt to have more helping, though.

Making a tight left bank, I landed myself in front of the Triage, momentum carrying me through the doors and making me stumble to a stop as I looked around the waiting area. Static and Hispano were both easing Aerith onto a stretcher while Cora had started tending to the alicorn, all eyes looking over to myself as I caught my breath. Man, today's taken a lot outta me already. "Hispano... need help, cannon, robo-dragons... I think you guys might've been followed!"

The olive-drab gryphon blunk a few times as Static looked over at me, wide-eyed. "What!? But, stealth suit, and the teleporting too, I... I swore we weren't! There's no way!" The earth pony paced back and forth, trying to keep himself together, as Hispano started to move for the door alongside me. I started to follow her out as well, before Static placed a hoof on my shoulder, getting my attention. "Wait, do you know what kind they are? We saw one of the big ones undergoing repairs while we were there, I could-"

The sound of machine guns opening up outside cut him off, followed by an unnatural roar, everyone in the room looking up at the ceiling. Our eyes met as more of the air defenses joined the fray, myself dryly swallowing. "You've done enough today, Static, just keep yourself, Aerith, and whatever you found safe. I'll be back once this is all over." Leaning in, I gave him a quick kiss, the earth pony seeeming to be a little less frantic as he answered me with a nod. It's only four or five robo-dragons, and we'll just have to help make sure they don't survive to escape. Easy... I hope.

Turning about, Hispano had already brought her autocannon out and held it at the ready, a heavy jump off the street and flap of her wings getting her airborne as I followed suit. Unzipping my own duffel bag, Thumper came out as well, my free hoof digging through and grabbing for one of the blue-glowing Sparkle-Burst grenades. If there's ever a time when I get to use these, it's probably now... we both landed on top of the hospital, the few autocannon and machine gun turrets already opening fire on the group coming in from the southeast. The gryphon beside me only stared at the robo-dragons for a moment, before tapping my shoulder and pointing upwards. I followed her into the air, the automatic gunfire getting a little less ear-piercing. "Okay, aside from them being fucking massive flying robots, what're we looking at far as their weapons go?"

"I've only seen them using their claws and other sharp bits, and a sort of fire breath-thing. Take the head out and they're dead, though!" Hispano gave a curt nod as she pulled her flight goggles down and readied Suiza's massive bolt, myself adjusting Thumper in my hooves. Fire breath, claws, large size, well, guess we just need to not let them get close to us... that's sorta reassuring, massive flying thing made for a more short-ranged combat style - is what I wish I could've thought, up until the point one of them opened their metallic jaw and loosed a massive ball of plasma at the hospital roof. "Okay, that's new!"

"Plasma-breathing robot dragons, this bit of Equestria is a lot different from how I remember it!" Hispano brought her gun to bear on one of the four, firing off a scattered burst, a few of the rounds cutting through the metallic wings and exploding on the other side. The dragon she fired at turned attention towards her, lines of machine gun tracer fire pinging harmlessly off of it's body as it let off a piercing metallic roar. Okay, guess they designate targets based on threat level... Thumper, please don't let me down!

Hispano dove to avoid a second ball of plasma as the dragon broke off from the other three, myself just hovering in the air and watching for a moment. Okay, okay, uh... damnit, snap outta it! The large robo-dragon was stalled for a moment as the gryphon loosed a longer burst, one shot managing to blow a section of its side armor off, myself diving in to assist. Sparkle-Burst, fifty percent more boom than Solar-Burst, so 75 pounds of TNT equivalent. Gotta make these shots count... and be sure Hispano isn't too close, too. The robotic dragon drew closer, still focused on the gryphon as she headed out over the lake, Thumper's stock coming to my shoulder as I dove forwards and took aim. Well, I needed to get some practice firing at a flying target, anyways!

The lake shore passed underneath as I caught up, Hispano already well ahead with the dragon between us. It fell within Thumper's sights, myself aiming a little ahead of it as it shot off another ball of plasma at the gryphon. The thump from Thumper's muzzle slowed my flight as the blue ball of explosive power flew forwards, miraculously managing to land square on the dragon's back. Everything ahead vanished in a bright bluish flash, myself stopping in the air as the blastwave shook everything about, sending large waves across the water below. The mangled wreck of the robo-dragon soon followed afterwards.

A breath left me as the light faded, looking around for a moment, before a taloned hand grabbed me by my jacket and yanked me back in towards the shore. Letting off a small scream of surprise, and getting myself reorientated, Hispano eventually released me, grabbing the handle of her autocannon again. "C'mon missile-flanks, there's still three more of the bastards!" Three more... right. Shit.

Heading back in alongside her, two had begun slamming themselves against the side of the hospital, thick chunks of brickwork being torn off by their claws as one of them emptied a prolonged blast of flames against the walls. Shattering glass cracked through the air, as well as the screams of some of the ponies inside, Hispano already starting to open up on the two laying waste to the building. Oh, fuck me with a tank gun... I shoved a normal high explosive shot into Thumper, getting close as one of the two dragons peeled off, starting to fly towards us. Hispano focused fire in on it, myself taking aim as well... before large shells began whizzing by near us both, some managing to punch through the dragon's stomach and cause it to lurch around in the air. More armor plating was blown off as some shots exploded outside it, myself and Hispano both scattering to avoid the fire ourselves - oh, right, AA autocannons. Hope they're careful.

The dragon rushed overhead, tracer fire emptying into it's armored stomach and exposing more mechanics as I took aim with Thumper again. Okay, this is just a normal HE shot, but with that armor missing... please do something. Thumper thumped, the shell flew up, and the dragon recoiled as the round detonated right in it's innards, scrap falling to the ground below. It roared again, the still-intact head focusing in on me, the jaw opening wide as a plume of heat fired from it, followed by a massive fireball. Snapping my wings to my sides let me drop just in time to avoid it, the intense heat of the fire radiating against my back as it flew over and sizzled out in the water. Have I mentioned how it's a good thing I don't wear pants?

Spreading wings once again, I rushed and weaved, the heavy beats of the robotic wings behind me loud and menacing as I was trailed by the mechanical beast. Celestia above, Thumper, I wish you were an autoloader... large canons fired from the town as I gained altitue and brought us back over it, explosions and metal punching holes in metal filling the air behind me as the guns caught sight of the dragon again. Making a sharp left bank, I dove down to the deck, one of the large shell craters whizzing by only inches from my stomach, and thankfully also making it so my flightpath after that completely stupid maneuver didn't result in me eating too much dirt. Altitude, Strikey, remember to check your fucking altitude next time!

The mangled robo-dragon became a massive fireball behind me as more large guns emptied against it, the head engulfed in thick flames as it plummeted from the sky. It impacted on the far side of the shell crater, burying itself inside a destroyed house, myself stopping to try and get my breath back. Okay, two down, two to go... wait, we only saw two attacking the hospital, and that was one of them, so-

My train of thought was interrupted as a massive ball of plasma shot past me, the acrid smell it left behind in the air filling my lungs as I threw myself away from it's path. Frantically looking around, the active robo-dragon's metal body glinted in the road and caught my attention, its wings ripped to shreds by the anti-air gunfire. Well, it's not airborne, that's a good thing... right? I quickly pulled another Sparkle-Burst grenade from my duffel bag - hopefully this end of town is deserted enough that collateral damage isn't too much fo a concern - slamming it into Thumper, before looking back to where the robo-dragon was... and instead finding it leaving large gashes in the road as it charged, carried on it's metallic claws. It lunged itself off the lip of the crater, myself diving to avoid it, only to end up a little less lucky with the flightpath as I slammed into the scorched earth beneath me and tumbled, hard.

A sharp shot of pain went along one side of my body as my outstretched wings hit the dirt, Thumper falling from my grasp as I rolled down the side of the crater. The robo-dragon landed with a heavy thud behind me, letting out a loud mechanical roar, the thumping of it's claws against the ground filling the air as I dragged myself back to my hooves. Okay, okay, uh, wing-AAGH! No, no, flight's no longer a thing now, great. I stumbled my way over to Thumper, pulling him out of the mud and looking up towards the crater's edge, before turning and running in the opposite direction. Can't fly, gotta get as much distance between myself and it as I can before I can fire this thing, unless I want to break more stuff. Fuuuuuuuck...

I just about managed to get to the other side of the shell crater as the dragon reached the lip, a huge ball of plasma slamming into the dirt next to me and kicking up a spray as it left a new burned crater. I turned myself around, bringing Thumper to bear, only to stumble on the soft dirt and land on my broken wing again. With a scream, my aim fell off the dragon, the round firing and slamming right into the dirt in front of it. The flash blinded me for a moment, before my ears rang loudly with the close blast and a bluish-tinted mushroom cloud rose up before me, my breathing heavy and ragged. Well... I mean, they are blue-colored. Kinda pretty, really. Certainly more than I can say for the robo-dragon... that's aiming it's still mostly intact mouth right at me. Oh, fuck me with a Royal Equestrian Ordinance 17-pounder.

The dragon's mouth glowed a greenish white for a split second as I pondered my next existence as a glowing pile of goop, before the sharp crack of none other than a Royal Equestrian Ordinance 17-pounder filled the air, followed by the dragon vanishing in a bright green flash. As my eyes resettled on the far edge of the crater, the dragon was replaced by another mushroom cloud, myself just laying in the mud for a few moments and waiting for the cloud to clear. The lack of robotic dragon after it did prompted a heavy sigh from myself, letting my head fall back. Seventeen-pounder gun... thank Celestia and Luna above you haven't left here yet, Rangefinder.

For the second time, I dragged myself back onto my hooves, and proceeded to get myself free of the crater. A dampened cheer went up from the other side of the town, the welcoming dozer blade and smoking muzzlebrake of Fyre at the end of the road bringing a smile to my muzzle. My broken wing fell to my side as I grimaced, putting Thumper back into my duffel bag and stumbling forwards. Okay, if they're cheering, and... nope, not hearing any gunfire or crashing or anything, so the fourth one must be down... that's enough excitement for today. Rangefinder, please take me over to the Triage if you can, hang me off of Fyre's gun if you have to...

The heavy beating of large wings filled the air behind me, before Hispano landed to my front and came over beside me. My eyes met hers... filled with worry, what's up, cannongriff?... and I felt her heft me onto her back, the cool air of flight catching against my cheeks as we both took to the sky. I think... I think I'm gonna just... close my eyes, now... yeah...

"Yanno, I'll admit, when I came up here with dad, taking on four robotic dragons was really not one of the things I thought I'd end up doing." Hispano rested herself next to Aerith's bedside, as I laid back and sipped from a bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD in my own hospital bed. Shattered nearly every bone in my left wing thanks to my fantastic flying - at least I'm technically better at flying the Valkyrie. I let off a sigh, looking to the doorway, trying to listen for the sound of three sets of hoofsteps in the hallway to signal Fyre having arrived with Static, Crash Dive, and Scouring aboard. The gryphon beside me let off a small chuckle, turning to look at me. "But I also gotta admit, it's a hell of a lot more fun than I thought I'd get, too. You guys are crazy."

Finishing a gulp of that sweet healing nectar of the goddesses, a chuckle escaped me, shuffling about in the bed. "Just an average day for us... well, no, yeah, today ranks a solid fifty outta ten on the crazy-o-meter, but, you know. We're the good guys, batshit insane stuff is just one of our occupational hazards. Among the usual stuff..." Grimacing as I sat myself up, I rested my hooves in my lap, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. The gryphon had held the alicorn's hoof in one of her talons gently, wearing a smile on her own beak. Heh... brain, please don't ruin the moment, they're just good old friends. Same way Hispano is a good, new friend to us...

The alicorn stirred in her bed, myself sitting up as Hispano looked back to her, Aerith's eyes fluttering open as she brought a hoof to her head. She blunk a few times, looking around, before meeting eyes with the gryphon beside her. Hispano was quick to pull her into a tight hug, Aerith returning it and shuffling herself up to a sitting position, Hispano giving one last quick squeeze before breaking it and leaning back. "Ah, ya big dum-dum, you're a blue alicorn, you're not supposed to teleport. You miss out on all the fun if you do."

Aerith let off a silent chuckle as she rested herself back, looking around the room again. Her eyes met mine, and I passed on a weak smile and wave of the hoof, her expression changing to a look of confusion. She glanced between myself and Hispano for a moment, before she tried to bring up a magic screen. The sudden jolt of pain made her put both hooves to her temples, Hispano quick to catch her as she recovered herself. "Woah woah, take it easy, your horn's still burnt out. You were only out for a few hours, give it a day of resting before you go... well, just, try to not use magic until tomorrow, okay? I'm gonna be right here with you."

Aerith blunk a few more times, eventually able to calm herself back down, looking over to myself again. She lifted a hoof, pointing towards me, Hispano following her gaze and confused expression. I let off a small chuckle, turning to show off the splint to her. "Broken wing, bad flight maneuver. Four of the big robo-dragons came after you guys, me and Hispano were able to take care of 'em, though. Only some damage to the town, heh..."

Aerith passed on a weak smile as Hispano leaned back, wearing a smirk of her own. Hoof-to-claw with four large robo-dragons, and I got out of it with just a broken wing and furthered case of tinnitius... and I thought my dads' stories were hard to believe. When he gets down here, I just hope some of the carcasses are still around to give me some credit... nngh, and speaking of my tinnitus, gotta love how it comes and goes... wait. Tinnitus causes a constant ring, that's... that's more of a jingle. And the sound of four sets of hoofsteps... and somepony talking ears off.

"...The explosion was just so huge! I was over by the railyard helping them unload one of the freight cars loaded with supplies for the Mercy when the sub just went up like an old bomb, part of me swore someone hit us with a megaspell of all things! Made me wonder why anyone would bother throwing a megaspell at Destruction Bay, though, I mean, I know the name's not what the place is aboot, but still. Still haven't a clue who blew the thing up, though..." ...correction, not somepony, some moose. Jean cheerfully trotted through the doorway, as Static rubbed at his head, Crash Dive and Scouring following in behind. The moose medic wore a smile as she gave a nod, looking between myself and Aerith. "Oh, goody, you're both awake! I'll go let the doctors know. You three can find your way back outside, if it takes a while, right?"

Static let off a quiet groan as he rubbed at his ears, looking up at the cheerful moose beside him. "Yeah, yes, we're good. Thank you, uh, Jean, rig-hrk!" With a speed I didn't really think someone of her size could manage, Jean grabbed Static up in a tight hug, the surprised earth pony, flailing his hooves about in the air as he struggled to get free. After a moment, she let him go, Static flopping to the floor and gasping for breath as Jean made her exit, wind chime earrings jangling as she trotted off. Eventually he managed to pull himself back to his hooves, looking back out the doorway. "All mooses... meese... whatever, they can't be like that, can they?"

"Ah, she's just her, reminds me of myself. She's probably got me beat when it comes to hugging people to death, though." Hispano let out a small laugh as Static rubbed at his stomach, trotting forwards in the room. Meanwhile, Scouring's power armor whirred as he carried something that looked like an enlarged holotape over to a desk terminal over in the corner, plugging it in. Hispano glanced towards him for a moment, before looking back to Static. "So, you guys know what's so important that you had four flying robot tanks after you yet?"

Scouring tapped away on the terminal as the storage thing whirred away, seeming to concentrate on it. "Nae, no, not yet, but I'm willin' to bet it's somethin' doing with what's on here. Only problem is, lot of the files were corrupted 'cos ye didn't eject the drive before disconnectin' it." Scouring seemed to glance towards Static as he said that, only for Aerith to grimace as the earth pony seemed more surprised than ashamed. Might be misplacing some blame there, Scouring. His armored hooves continued to work the keyboard for a little while longer, before he let off a small chuckle, wearing a grin. "There we go... only manage to save about half of what ye got, but that's still a whole lotta stuff. Lesee... hm... 'Steven Electromagnet'? The hell's a Steven? Ah... board room recordings, that sounds a bit more interestin'."

The power armored unicorn selected one of the options on the list that came up and turned the volume up on the terminal, letting us all hear it. It seemed to catch just the end of a conversation - or, well, maybe it was actually a shouting match. "How in the name of the clouds above did you manage to screw up a simple fucking scout and retireval mission like that?! Do I have to foalsit you, Corporal? Do I have one single competent member of this squad left!?"

"Well, Sergeant, considering Private Dead Weight is still alive and is working with the same group that's handing our flanks to us on a silver platter, if you wanna be technical, yes." The second voice seemed a bit younger than the first, certainly less gruff-sounding. Power armor whirred loudly for a moment, as I looked over to see Crash Dive stumbling on her hooves, staring wide-eyed at the terminal. Private Dead... anchor cutie mark... oh, fuck me with a fuel rod, this was her old squad. "It's the damn robots' fault for relaying that intel, if we knew they only took off for a go-around in the first place we would've never even tried using that mortar to soften that town up."

Just as the first voice was about to sound like yelling again, another, accented voice broke through, yelling on it's own. "Stars above, what is the problem with you idiots!? I send you on a simple mission to get the stockpile of M-29 recoilless guns and their M-388 warheads from Seahoof, and it ends with the whole fucking place razed to the ground!? I would have assumed the remnants of the Equestrian military would've been more capable than this... then again, looking at the current state of the world, it should be no surprise that anything you touch ends up vaporized in a magical fireball!" The third voice let off a sigh, and... Scouring, your expression is really not a happy one right now, buddy. "We have at least managed to retrieve an acceptable portion of the stockpiled warheads, so that is a good thing. They were more important than the recoilless guns. So. Can either of you explain why, exactly, everything in the west for a whole kilometer radius is irradiated wasteland?"

"Bad intel, your robotic dragons said that the bomber took off and headed back north where it came from. They went north, then came back around to drop a megaspell on us. Miracle I got out of there before they arrived, not that anyone seems to care." The second voice responded to the third, while the first only growled in the background.

"What ACTUALLY happened was this sad excuse for a soldier thought it a good idea to use a siege mortar there to blast apart the town, and the ONLY reason I haven't personally fed him to one of the dragons you have left is because your smaller dragons can't fit in the cockpit to operate a Harrier." The first two voices started their yelling match back up, the third trying to cut in in the few breaths they took every so often. Rather surprisingly, and tinnitus-inducing...ly, the third voice suddenly jumped in volume, making the speakers of the terminal crackle for a second.

"ENOUGH! FOR THE LAST TIME, NO FIGHTING IN THE WAR ROOM!!" ...Okay, I admit it, that did catch me offguard, and I did have to hold back a chuckle. The third voice let off a loud grunt, before regaining himself. "By the Gods, I HATE that film, and I HATE they named this room that! Just, get out! Go argue amongst yourselves somewhere else, I need to focus on the project. At least with the warheads we have some better firepower... I SAID GET OUT!"

The recording came to an end, and Scouring... well, looked whiter than usual. He had to blink a few times, settling back on his hooves, before looking around at all of us. "The... the warheads he was talkin' about... the ones they have. I know about 'em. Mountain Springs has a server database we rescued and transported in from an old pre-war base to the north, one o' the things on there was about the places they had megaspells stationed. The M-388s were used over in Germaney, a place called the Foalda Gap, were expectin' that to be a major front o' the war. These warheads... they're twenty-ton artillery shells in a thirty-five kilogram package."

There wasn't a closed eye or shut mouth in the room after he said that, myself just trying to piece together what that means for us. So, a bunch of thirty-five kilogram bombs with blast yields equal to twenty tons of TNT apiece, and when you factor in the three Harriers that can carry two thousand kilograms of ordinance each, the robo-dragons that can carry Celestia knows how much too, and let's not forget the fucking 28-centimeter railway guns that've fired megaspell warheads in the past, that we still don't know what the hell they've done with...

"...we gotta get working on that plan."

Precipice of War

Night Strike, Hispano, and I wandered down the line of boxcars that composed Maple Station’s market district, a distinct array of smells wafting through the air that only made my stomach growl more while Scouring and Crash Dive followed closely behind. We passed by a small noodle stand, my head turning to watch as the pony running the station was pouring out steaming pasta into cups. Night Strike chuckled, tugging on my coat gently. “Come on, can we at least find someplace that sells more than one kind of food, Sparky?”

I grumbled along with my stomach as I was forced to abandon the stand, following after Hispano down the line of cars. The griffon stopped in front of a stand where several chunks of meat sat skewered on a grill. Another griffon was standing behind the grill, occasionally rotating the food as Hispano leaned up on the counter. “Hey, can we get ten Shishkies?” My stomach growled once more and I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Alright, twelve.”

The griffon gave a small nod and began to prepare the food as I reached in to fiddle with all our caps. Okay, ten caps a stick, Hispano can get her own, and with a .05% interest that’ll add a few more caps that Scouring and Crash Dive owe me… I shook my head, chastising myself silently. Come on, Static, you can’t keep charging them for stuff like this. Just slice an even 6% off their shares of the final profits, they won’t notice. I scooped out the appropriate amount of caps and handed them over to the clerk as Hispano collected up our grilled food. The griffon tore into the bits of meat a lot more aggressively than a level I’d consider comfortable. Yeesh, you sure she doesn’t eat what she kills like that too? “Sho, watsh’s the nesht plan?” Hispano asked through a beakful of food.

Night Strike shrugged, tearing off a bit of food herself, only for her eyes to widen a moment later as she tried to push the meat back on the stick “AAaaaaah, okay, too hot, too hot still!” She pressed her tongue into her sleeve, trying to alleviate the burning. After a moment she lowered her foreleg, focusing back on the question. “Ah, well, I suppose at this point it’s just waiting to hear back from everypony about when they’re ready. And hoping the Cerberus guys don’t try and attack us while we’re still prepping.” She took another tentative bite of the food, careful to not fry her mouth again.

“I hope you aren’t planning on spending that time wandering around for more soda, Strikey,” I joked, doing my best to avoid dropping my four sticks of meat as I greedily chomped down on some of the chunks. Night Strike just rolled her eyes, waving one of the sticks around in a dismissive manner. I swallowed my food with a large gulp.

“Static does have a point, as much as I may be loathed to admit it. We’ve spent time preparing everypony else for this battle without taking any time to cover even basic combat training for either of you.” I gave a slightly confused look over my shoulder back at Crash Dive, Night Strike looking equally bemused. Not to brag, but it’s not exactly like we’re completely new to this idea of being shot at. Crash Dive gave a small snort of indignation, tossing aside her bare skewer. “So, you think a few raider skirmishes and dropping a couple bombs makes you combat experts, does it? That’s exactly the kind of attitude I’m talking about. If either of you starts to get cocky out on the battlefield, you’re going to get either yourselves or someone else killed.” I swallowed a large chunk of meat painfully, never a fan of whenever Crash Dive’s more militaristic attitude cropped back up. “I suggest that as soon as we can, we begin some training regiments. We want everypony to be in peak condition for when we start our attack.” Night Strike nodded, seeming satisfied with the excuse to practice blowing more things up. Hispano let out a small ‘whoof’ of air as she finished off her food.

“Well, more power to you guys, I suppose. I probably won’t be sticking around for that, got more than enough training as a Talon. Growing up as one kinda helped, had enough of drill sergeant dad that I don't need another one in my life...” Crash Dive gave her a bit of a glare, Hispano giving a smug smile. “See, right there, that’s what I’m talking about... oh, something I forgot to mention, Aerith came up here with me, too. Left her at the Tank Ghouls' shed, said something about getting her soundbox looked at. The docs back at Hopeville weren’t too happy to have her flying so far after recovering, but you try saying ‘no’ to an alicorn...” As if on cue, I spotted a familiar figure gathered standing at the counter of a station selling hayburgers. Aw, and they’d have been 12 caps cheaper in total, too… Stupid Hispano not knowing how to check prices.

Aerith turned her head to see us approach at the same time she shoved the burger into her mouth, giving a rather unflattering, albeit humorous, image. "Hey, good to see you’re doing just fine. Thought you were sticking around with the Tank Ghouls for a while.” Hispano said after taking a large gulp of meat. Aerith gave a slightly embarrassed look before trotting up to join our group. “Next time, you should probably give a bit of a warning, you know that? It’s harder to find somepony in this town nowadays than you might think.” Aerith waved her hoof, taking another bite of hay as we reached the end of the shops. As we prepared to loop around and head back towards the Valkyrie, I heard somepony call my name.

“Heya, Static Charge! That’s you, right?” I turned around, confused to see a young pony approaching. She bore a rather striking resemblance to the seamster in town... impressive for a mare, to say the least. The mare held a bundle of cloth in her hooves, various wires running around the bundle as well. “Hey, you, uh, dropped off that stealth armor of yours a while back, right? Well, I’ve got it right here for you! Now, what was the agreed upon price? I believe... 1000 caps?” The mare grinned, while I raised an eyebrow looking her over. She can’t really be serious, can she?

“You mean the suit we picked up a couple weeks ago? The heck is that, anyway?” Night Strike said. Before the mare could react, Night Strike had lunged forward and swiped the bundle of cloth from her, letting it unfold as she held it in the air. A plain black jumpsuit unfurled to reveal a mess of wires hastily taped and glued along the legs of the suit, with a few fuses shoved in for good measure. To top off the ridiculous look, a stealth-buck had been haphazardly sewn into place on the chest, several loose wires hanging off of it. The mare’s smile faltered as she glanced nervously between us.

“I… um… I’ll... I'll just go…” She turned around and fled, leaving the rest of us standing dumbfounded. I looked over to Night Strike, who was still holding the crude imitation stealth suit as Scouring tried to stifle a laugh. Night Strike eventually dropped the suit, the stealth-buck clattering loudly to the ground as several more loose wires and metal popped off of it.

“Well… that happened.” Night Strike finally said. I giggled a little, following Crash Dive as she began to trot away from the town. Shaking her head, Night Strike caught up with us as we crossed a few tracks that a few ponies were pushing a cart full of repair parts along. “Sheesh, you’d think if somepony was trying to embezzle you of all ponies, they’d come up with a better excuse than that. Then again, maybe that armor might’ve actually been useful. Why sneak by all the guards when you can laugh them to death, Sparky?” She poked me in the side and chuckled.

I simply rolled my eyes, all of us heading towards the Valkyrie. “Ay uh, Crash Dive, you sure you want to be headin’ back to the lighthouse? Preppin' for battle inn’t a bad idea, but there isn’t exactly that much ground there to cover. And, well, even I’m not sure I trust Night Strike to not accidentally blow something up there if you're lettin' her get some range time in with her grenade rifle.” Scouring said. Night Strike gave a small ‘hmmph’ of annoyance, but didn’t speak up beyond that.

Crash Dive frowned, muddling things over. “I suppose not, but I don’t think we have a better place. Anywhere else will likely either be too close to friendly towns, bathed in radiation, or going to get us made into bug food.” She glanced down at the ground as we walked along, still thinking to herself.

"Well, the tank ghouls have that whole firing range here, and Royce has that shooting range at the northern edge of town, too. If they think it's far enough away for their big guns, it's gotta be good enough for Thumper." Night Strike piped up beside me as we pressed on back through the railyard, heading towards the repurposed railsheds with all the tank tracks leading from the doors in the snow. "And, besides, I think Static might be better off just getting in more sneaking practice, so if he has to do any more of it it won't go as badly and leave me worried sick."

Crash Dive let off a small sigh, the snow crunching underhoof as we continued onwards, a few flurries coming down from the clouds above. Wouldn't have been spotted if Aerith hadn't have shot the robo-dragons in the radio station... but, I guess some practice sneaking about wouldn't hurt. "I guess as long as we're here anyways, that'd be a decent enough choice. But it'd be pointless to have Static sneaking around here, he's too familiar with the town's layout already. We need somewhere we haven't been for too long, don't know the ins and outs of yet."

"What about that place south of here… Gemville, or something? Me and Night Strike hardly went anywhere in it the last time we passed through.” I suggested. Crash Dive thought it over, scratching her chin a little as she did. We continued past the tank garages, where a loud clatter was heard and I glanced over in time to see Mad Jack hopping up and down on one hoof as he clutched at the other, a large wrench laying on the ground a few feet away. He uttered several unpleasant phrases before angrily kicking the wrench away, and returning to tending to his tank.

“I suppose that would work. The place is relatively empty, and it doesn’t hold any sort of strategic use to anypony, so I don’t think Cerberus will try poking around there if they weren’t already.” She nodded a little, starting to like the idea. We were soon stepping up to the Valkyrie, the power armored pegasus stopping in front of the cockpit door and looking out across the snowy field we'd landed in. Eheh, uh, kind hard to get going if you're blocking the way, Crash Dive... then again, watching as more and more snow began to fall around us, maybe waiting for this storm to pass wouldn't be a bad idea. At least if we were going to be flying anywhere in the Valkyrie, anyways... "Alright, new plan. We'll stay overnight here, so at first light tomorrow we can start with training. Weather should be clear by then, we need as much daylight as possible for you to sneak around. Everyone good with that?"

Aerith clapped her hooves excitedly as she fell over to hug Hispano, her horn alighting with another sign that as far as I could tell read 'Sleep-over!'. The gryphon chuckled as she steadied herself, Scouring seeming to answer with a shrug and nod while Night Strike was looking at the sky, chewing at her lip as she did. As she looked back at us... yeah, not gonna be flying anywhere with her wearing that look. Crash Dive gave a curt nod, before starting to trot back into town, everyone besides Night Strike following her. She patted a hoof against my shoulder, wearing a soft smile. "Well, look at it this way, uh... we can get dinner at the Roundhouse?"

My forehoof met my forehead as I let off a long sigh, starting to trot back into town with the rest. I swear, at this rate we'll barely have any caps by the time we get back home...

"Uuuuuugh, Come ooon Sparkle-Cola RAD, don't fail me now..." The sun was barely cresting the mountains in the east as we all made the trek out of the hotel and headed towards the firing range, Night Strike being as awake as usual in the early morning hours. I could only give my head a shake, trotting alongside her behind Crash Dive, Aerith and Hispano making up the rear.

The power armored pegasus gave off a grunt as she looked back towards Night Strike, passing on a glare she usually reserved for me. "You'd better wake yourself up one way or another, before I have to do it for you. The Valkyrie's the fastest way we've got for getting places, and you're going to have to fly them down to Gemdale and get yourself back here before we've lost too much daylight. Sneaking around at night would be too easy for them."

I let off a small huff, passing my own glare on to Crash Dive. Well, glad to know she's looking out for our best interests... then again, I suppose that does make sense. It is harder to see that shimmering when it doesn't have any light to catch in the first place. Night Strike let off a small groan beside me, still walking along... or, looking at her, maybe it was more of a snore. Yeah, maybe I'm with her on this one, I would rather she be fully awake before getting in the Valkyrie.

"U-uh, yanno, Gemdale isn't that far away, maybe we ask one of the tank ghouls if they could bring me and Aerith down there? I-I mean, they could use some practice... town-driving, too, right?" A weak chuckle escaped me as Crash Dive shifted her glare over to myself, causing me to fall back a little. "H-hey, it's nothing against her, I just remember the last time she was asleep and in control of the Valkyrie it ended with us crashing on a shoreline. That's a far cry from a built-up area."

Just as Crash Dive was about to speak up, the rumble of a large engine and clattering of tracks drew our attention over to the nearby tank ghouls' shed, myself looking over to see the newly-arrived boxy-turreted tank pulling up to the doorway, Poppy Gardener resting on the top of the turret. If that thing only has a three-pony crew, and there isn't too much inside that turret... well, it's probably fast for being that small, right? The moustached earth pony looked over at us and gave us a friendly wave, before his expression changed to a grimace and I heard the sound of a pony falling face-first into the snow behind me. Fillies and Gentlecolts, Night Strike has officially gone nighty-night... Crash Dive let off a long sigh, looking back at the passed-out pegasus, before waving a hoof toward me. "Ugh, fine, go and ask. I'll deal with her..."

Passing on a nod, and trying to hide a look of relief, I headed over to the disproportionately-sized tank, the engine queting as Poppy Gardener leaned over to face me... or, us. Flying with wings is an unfair advange when it comes to stealth. "Heh, wasn't expecting to see any of you awake this early in the morning. From the looks of Night Strike, I suppose neither was she... Well, anyways, what might you all be up to that has you moving about so early?"

I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head. Just gotta ask for a ride... "Eheh, well, uh, actually, I was wondering if you might be able to give myself and Aerith... and Hispano a lift down to a place called Gemdale, just to the south of here. We were originally gonna have Night Strike fly us down in the Valkyrie, but... well..." I looked back to where she was laying, Crash Dive still trying and failing to wake her up. Sheesh, did someone swap her Sparkle-Cola out for tranquilizers or something?... because if they did, that wouldn't be a bad idea actually, stabbing things with knock out drugs would probably be easier than relying on the umbrella all the time.

The old tanker ghoul let off a small chuckle, leaning back on the top of the turret. "Heh, you're in luck then, we were about to set off to the south anyways. Were heading down to Hopeville, apparently you'd led Rangefinder down south and not brought her back up yet, is my understanding. Gotta make sure all the tanks are together and all that, eh?" Poppy Gardener let out a small laugh, myself joining him weakly. Oh, yeah, right, Rangefinder... we are kinda bad at leaving ponies scattered around, aren't we? The tank commander nodded to the back of the tank, where the rear of the turret was being opened up. "Well, come on inside, should be enough room for all three of you. We'll try and head back up the same way when we come back through to pick you up, might be a while though considering an M4 like Fyre is a sight slower than the BT-42. Hope that won't be too much of a bother."

Passing on a nod, I hefted myself up onto the back of the small tank, adjusting my saddlebags and leaning down to move into the spacious turret, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. They both seemed to be smirking, letting off small chuckles as they... spread their wings. "Eheh, if it's all the same to you Pip, I think we'll just fly ourselves. Don't wanna get Suiza dinged up, just finished polishing her last night." The tank commander passed on a nod as he dropped back down into the turret, myself following him as the thickly-jacketed unicorn beside me shut the back doors, the engine giving a few revs. I made myself comfortable as Gardener barked a command into a microphone, and we began to start moving, myself looking down to my pip-buck and scrolling over to the radio. Hopefully this can go louder than a tank engine...

"1-2-3 o’clock 4 o’clock rock
5-6-7 o’clock 8 o’clock rock
9-10-11 o’clock 12 o’clock rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight!"

The loud rumble of the tank's engine eventually - finally - died down a little, myself letting off a soft groan as I stopped bracing myself in the turret. Guh, okay, fast as this ride was, I think I can appreciate the more comfortable ride that the TOG grants for being so slow now... Poppy Gardener gave my back a few pats as we stopped, the gunner beside me - uh, Quick Fire, right? - undoing the latches for the turret's rear doors and opening them up. The moustached tank ghoul gave off a small chuckle, as I flopped myself around to try and climb out of the turret. "Right in the center of town, far as we can tell, hope that'll do for ya. We oughta be back through a little after noon, depends on how long a coffee break Short Shift'll need. Ahm... ah, looks like we're here ahead of 'em."

Gardener let off a small chuckle as he pointed a hoof towards the sky, myself following it to see the sight of Hispano coming in for a landing. I dropped off the back of the small tank and to the snowy road below, the gryphon flaring her wings and bringing herself to a stop, dropping down in front of me with a smile. With a quick nod, Gardener ducked back into the turret, the hatches closing and the engine of the small tank revving, before it sped onwards to the south. Alright, well, we're here, let's get started, then...

Hispano watched the small tank speed off into the distance for a short while, before looking back to me, and letting off a small laugh. "Woah, yeah, blue-green -really- doesn't suit you for a color... eh, when you get done losing breakfast, we've already got a few things set up for you to try sneaking around in. Aerith's up first, if you wanna get changed into that sneak-suit you've got we'll be waiting for you. Be glad she convinced me to not make the first one a live-fire course." The gryphon let off a chuckle that I joined her in weakly, not entirely sure if she was joking about that. Really wish that she was... I might be able to handle a rifle round to the hoof, but I'm willing to bet a round like what her gun fires would leave me a little less... whole, afterwards.

"Eheheh, ah, yeah, I'll... go find a place to get changed, then. You gonna be on lookout in the meantime, or something?" I began trotting along the road, looking for a suitably non-destroyed building to get changed in, Hispano following along. She gave a small shrug, the large gun on her back clattering a little as she adjusted it. Eventually, a nearby shop seemed good enough, myself heading for the entrance before stopping and looking back to her, letting off a weak chuckle. "Also, eheh, you were just joking about the whole live-fire course thing... right?"

Hispano let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of the shop. "If you're thinking I'd do something like waste a few perfectly good twenty-millimeter rounds purposely missing you just for training, you're more of a dum-dum than I pegged you for. I'll go tell Aerith you're getting ready." That prompted a sigh of relief from me, and I pressed onwards into the shop. Well, good to know I probably won't be getting shot at today... The gryphon took a step back from the doorway, spreading her wings wide, a small chuckle escaping her. "...besides, that's what Aerith brought her Tommy Gun for, anyways."

Hispano took too the sky with a heavy flap, the snow erupting in flurries around her as I couldn't find the time to respond. Oh... boy, I hope she was kidding about THAT, too... Letting off a sigh, I pressed on to the back of the shop, undoing my saddlebags and pulling out the black fabric. It didn’t take too long before I had slipped off my jacket and into the sleek armor, the visor giving everything a slight orange tint. Slipping my umbrella under one of the wires on the back, I trotted back out to the street, finding a set of hoofprints that definitely weren't mine in the snow, as well as a message: Gem Factory, diamond heist. I grinned beneath the helmet, pressing a button on the front of the suit - this ought to be easy enough. The material shimmered for a moment before I flickered out of view - or, as out of view as old zebra technology could achieve in broad daylight, anyways.

Looking around, I spotted the old mining facility that we had explored the first time we had stopped in the area, and began to head off towards it. I slowed down a bit as I approached the front door, thinking for a moment - there’s no way Aerith would leave the front door without a trap. Scanning the outside of the building, I spotted a few windows at the very top… of course, the one time I don’t have Night Strike or Aerith here to lift me up. Continuing my search, my gaze landed on top of several conveyor belts running from the quarry below, a few unprocessed gem-bearing rocks still laying untouched on them. Why do gems come out of the ground with cut faces, anyways?...

Walking over to the long metal frames leading to the processing building, I hoisted myself up onto the belts, crouching down and beginning to sneak along the track. Lowering my head, I crawled through the large ducts leading into the facility. The visor began to glow ever so slightly, allowing me to see in the darkened pathway - well, it’s no magic-sensitive goggles, but that’s definitely helpful. I noticed a sudden drop in the belt, leaning my head forward to glance down. Below sat a mine cart full of gems and dirt, the stones glittering in the light. Carefully, I scooted forward, trying my best to avoid dropping immediately down into the cart of noisy gemstones. Unfortunately, as I tried to use my hind hooves to keep a grip on the belt, I realized there was nothing to grab and slipped, landing with a clatter into the cart full of admittedly slightly pointy rocks. Ow...

I shook my head, getting my bearings before sitting slowly up, trying to disturb as few stones as possible. Glancing around, I tried to spot any signs of Aerith, peering down across the main factory floor. Just as I had suspected, a slightly glistening tripwire had been drawn across the front door, tied to several buckets of gems hanging above the entrance. Well, I guess this entrance was still a little quieter than the main one, anyways. Slinking out of the cart, I landed softly on the ground, before darting away in case Aerith was coming over to investigate.

I looked around the factory floor, trying to remember the layout of the place. If Aerith wanted to hide a diamond, where would the best place for that be…? I began to slowly creep around the main factory floor, staying in the shadows underneath the various conveyer belts and large processing machinery. Looking around, I spotted an office overlooking the main floor, the glass of the window shattered. Noticing the stairs were broken, I grumbled as I tried to spot some other path up to it, and I was quickly able to spot a few bits of machinery below the destroyed stairs. Wandering over, I hoisted myself up the furnace, careful not to place my hooves on any rusted pieces of metal in case they were to break and fall away. Shimmying my way up some of the pipes, I was soon able to lift myself up by the railing of the stairs, my muscles aching a bit as I wandered up to the office. Eugh, I'm willing to bet the interior of Fort Maple is a little less dilapidated than this...

Stepping through the broken door, rather than some elaborately made trap surrounding a diamond, I was met with a simple office with a terminal sitting on the desk. Ugh, maybe it wasn’t here after all… Still, out of curiosity, I stepped up to the terminal, flicking the power on. The screen blinked to life, green lines flowing up from the bottom as the boot-up sequence began. Yeah, yeah, RobronCo termlink error, copyright 2023, it’s always the same. After a few tense moments of the fans humming away, a few options appeared on the screen; Quarterly reports, not interesting, trade agreement with Vanhoover, not relevant. Yeesh, it’s almost as if ponies writing crap down 200 years ago don’t always have the most interesting things to say. Map of the mines? Now that’s something that might actually be useful... depending on how much hasn't collapsed due to the balefire blast in the pit, anyways. Plugging my Pip-Buck into the computer, I began to download the information off of the terminal, only to look up out over the factory floor, and notice a brilliant white gemstone resting on the edge of one of the rafters. Oooh, Aerith, you little flying cheat.

Once the information was in, and I made sure I safely ejected my pip-buck's uplink before removal, I ran over to the window, leaning out to wrap my hooves around the girders connecting bits of the ceiling. Hoisting up onto the rafters, I began to crawl forwards towards the gemstone, my mind already trying to think of some way out of the facility once I had it. I suppose I could easily disarm the trap on the front door, no way I can make it out through the intake ducts again without a lot of noise. Drawing ever nearer, I reached out, trying to swipe the gem off of the girder. Stretching my hoof, I just barely managed to grab it, before I suddenly felt something wrap around my hind leg. I had barely enough time to yelp before I was yanked upwards, dangling upside-down by my right hind leg as I clutched the gem in my forehooves. I heard a soft chuckle as Aerith materialized in front of me, grinning widely as she watched my shimmering form swing back and forth in the magic rope.

I really hate anti-burglary enchantments.

"Alright, let's see how well you really do with that rifle. Steady yourself." It was a little after 10 by the time my body finally decided to play ball and not fall asleep again, myself at least a little thankful that Crash Dive did let me sleep in - I'm not a morning pony, don't look at me like that. The northern edge of Maple Station was definitely a fair bit less lively than the southern one, at least making it a little more reasonable for there to be a firing range out here. I held War Crime against the bit of fence, fitting a full magazine to her and racking the long bolt, bracing her stock in my shoulder while I took aim down her scope. Right then... um...

"Uh... targets, Crash Dive?" Looking up from the shoulderpad and over to the power armored pegasus beside me, she seemed to be scanning the distance through her helmet's goggles, looking off to the hills and trees well out there. Waiting for her for a few moments more, she came to a stop, focusing in on something. Alright, well, she sees something... I rested my cheek back down, shuffling to aim the rifle roughly in the same direction, waiting for her.

"Treeline, broken stump near some rocky mounds. Fire when ready." Treeline and a broken stump... well, yeah, not like I needed range or target heading. Then again, I suppose I won't get that in a combat situation, anyways... Scanning along the hillside, the offending stump eventually came into view, myself letting off a small huff. Not making it easy for me, are you? That's gotta be... Fourteen hundred, fifteen hundred meters, maybe? Well, I can probably hit that with one round, at least...

Squeezing the trigger, War Crime barked once, the first round flying downrange as the barrel recoiled in, the motion ejecting the spent casing to the snow and loading another large bullet from the 20-round clip, the firing pin flying forwards to strike the primer again, the process repeating. I let go of the trigger after the third round, watching through the scope; a second or two later, the first round buried itself into the snowy hillside just below the stump, second one flying high and splintering a tree in the background, the third one managing to strike home... barely. A hit's a hit, and where'm I gonna be sniping stump-sized things from a kilometer and a half away, anyways?

Crash Dive let off a small grunt beside me, looking at the stump closely. "That's at least two meter's spread at 1390 meters, lucky it's calm winds today. Not too bad, seem to be able to handle the recoil relatively well. Probably never gonna be a proper sniper with that thing, but, well, it's not really what I'd call a proper sniping weapon to begin with." Responding with a sigh of my own, I pressed the magazine release and pulled the now slightly lighter thing from the rifle, racking the bolt once to eject the round already in the chamber. Yeah, sniping isn't for me... at least, long-range sniping, anyways. Grenade rifle sniping, maybe... the power armored pegasus wore a glare as she watched me unload War Crime, fitting it onto my back. "And what do you think you're doing? We've stil got some training that needs to be done."

Looking about for a moment, a cloudy sigh escaped me, before I turned eyes back to meet the glowing red ones of Crash Dive's helmet. "C'mon, Crash Dive, when am I gonna have to be properly sniping? It's not like I'm gonna be able to get a shot on a robo-dragon from a kilometer and a half away, at least one that'll damage it, anyways." She didn't respond, but at the same time I think she got the point. So far the only way we've managed to kill those big bastards is with autocannons or big explosives, or a tank shell in one case, anyways. I'm very much willing to bet that at the distance she has me shooting, War Crime'll just ping harmlessly off their hides.

Crash Dive eventually let loose a sigh of her own, turning and starting to walk off back to the center of town, myself following her. She was quiet for a long few moments, before releasing a quick chuff. "Well, if you aren't going to be on a firing range, we're going to have to find something else for you to do instead. Like it or not, you're still in no shape to take on my old squadron yourself, regardless of what your fancy jet can do..." ...okay, fair point there in return, even with Thumper and War Crime, maybe charging headlong in a fight against a bunch of trained Enclave soldiers backed up by robo-dragons and Harriers probably isn't the best of ideas. Then again, we haven't really seen all the Valkyrie can do yet, too... hell, we haven't even used her cannons since that first accidental shot back in the hangar.

I slwowed in my tracks, looking off to the southwest, and the firing range with the landed bomber that was there. Forty millimeter autocannons... flying is one thing, aiming the guns, though, well... I spread my wings, catching up with Crash Dive and landing beside her, wearing a grin. She seemed to be a little confused for a moment, myself letting off a small chuckle. "If I have to be training with something today, it might as well be something that can hurt the dragons. You did say that we should stick around because the Valkyrie's the only thing that can shoot them down, and it does have two forty millimeter autocannons in the cheeks..."

The power armored pegasus paused for a moment, before moving an armored hoof to her forehead. Hey, you're the one who said we should be training... "Oh, sweet Celestia..."

"Valkyrie, you'd better be damn careful with those guns hot. A pair of forties'll make mincemeat of anything in their way, doubly so for anything that isn't armored... as in, a town." Fowler grunted over the cockpit radio as I got the Valkyrie to a running state, all needing to be done now just throttling up and taking off. Bit odd not having Static behind me to help, though, I will admit... "You've at least got something to fire on out there, right? Much as I'll appreciate having something with some bite in the air, kind of defeats the point of gunnery training if you haven't a thing that's safe to shoot at."

"Relax, Fowler. The Tank Ghouls are working on dragging a rusted-out boiler onto the range right now for me, I'll only make passes that don't put Maple Station at risk. I think I only have... yeah, forty rounds per gun on this thing anyways, can't do too much damage when I'm empty." Well, forty max. Only actually have thirty-five loaded, when you take into account the one shot that Static spent back in the hangar and the four pulled out for replication and subsequent reloading... hope it doesn't take them too long for that. One hoof rested on the throttle as I pressed against the headset again, looking around the cabin. "So, anyways, am I clear for takeoff?"

"Aye, ahm... hold, Valkyrie." Well... okay then, I guess. Ugh, you'd think I'd just be able to go, how many ponies would be flying around?... you know, besides all the Vertibucks that were landed here a couple days ago. Little late on that info, brain, but thanks anyways. I let off a small sigh, leaning back in the seat, looking at the control yoke for a little while. After a few moments, Fowler eventually came back on, myself getting back into takeoff mode. "Right, sorry about that, radar's been a little on the fritz today. They're having a look at it now, keeps picking up a few blips in the airspace but I haven't ben able to confirm them yet. Clear for takeoff, stay wary though. HMS Cadence, out."

Unknown radar blips... great. And whoever designed this thing didn't think to put a button on the pilot's console that automatically turns on the defensive tesla cannon turrets, so that's gonna be fun, too. At least I can take off, now. Taking a breath, and listening to the four and a half massive engines running behind me, I slowly eased the throttle forwards, listening and feeling the rumble as the massive aircraft lifted up off of the earth. Hokay, smooth takeoff, let's just get a fly-around and then I can start on an attack run, I suppose. Huh, wonder how hard it'd be to aim the guns while hovering, would give me more time on target or something... I can probably do something that allows me to maintain altitude while in vertical mode, right?

Swinging the nose around to the south, the central turbine spooled down as the main four took over, air flowing under the Valkyrie's wings and letting us not plummet from the sky. Rolling the massive craft to the left, the expanse of lands heading east rolled out ahead of me, the mountains and the faint sight of the rail lines leading to them well off in the distance catching my eyes over the instrument panel. Well, I mean, it's annoying when it comes to landing, but I think the reflex sight on the canopy should at least make aiming the guns easy enough... hopefully.

Completing the swing around and aiming the nose down, I leaned up in the chair, easing back the throttle as the crisscrossing railyard caught the corner of my eye below. Firing range should be just a short ways out of town, and I'm betting they put the boiler somewhere on the western edge just so it'll be far enough away from town... at least, that's the hope. Just gotta find the thing...

As I neared in on the range, a rusted lump on the snowy expanse caught my attention for just a split second... pretty much nowhere near the reticle, and by extension well beyond the reach of my guns short of a maneuver I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive making. Well, first strafing run is a bust, but at least I found the target... I guess. Pulling back on the yoke brought the nose back up, myself easing back on the throttle to stay relatively slow as I settled back into level flight and flew off a ways to the northwest, prepping another pass around. Figure-eight seems like a good way to do it for a single target, I suppose.

Banking around and aiming downwards again, I went back to scanning the ground ahead of me, trying to find that rusted boiler. C'mon, I had this thing just a second ago... ugh, wait, the range is on a hillside, isn't it? Ah, fuck me with a seventen pounder, that'll complicate things. Letting off a breath, I kept scanning the ground ahead, a little more confident on the approach. The rusted hulk of metal eventually appeared over the snowy hill, the gunsight not too far off of it. Okay, just a little up on the stick, and maybe some rudder and... damnit, missed it again. Ugh, strafing with an air craft is a lot harder than strafing with regular guns.

Setting up for my third pass, I swung well out to the east, coming in right over the town. The firing range was at least barren enough for the boiler to be fairly obvious, and beyond that the lengthy approach did make it much easier to actually get the reticle over the target. Not gonna have long, better make this count... Drawing in a quick breath, my hooves squeezed the trigger for the guns, both of them sounding out loud beside me for a quick six-round burst. Looking out the window, the red tracers and other shells impacted the ground around the boiler, large snow and dirt clouds kicked up in their wake. Right, if I remember correct, it's a blend of HEWP/APHE/HEFI/AP-T shots, so that at least did something nasty to it... if they hit.

Pulling up, I put myself in a wide right bank, swinging far off north and leveling off after a short while. Coming in over the town seemed to work pretty well, let's see if I can get another pass in like that... Swinging around and nosing down, I did seem to be coming in a little further north than hoped, but at least it'll be a different angle. Careful teasing of the controls managed to get the reticle over the boiler once again, and I let loose a longer salvo of ten shots, watching the rounds pepper the ground and spark as they struck metal. Definitely some hits in there, at least... Well, you know what they say about throwing shit at a wall.

Nosing up the Valkyrie, I started another turn to the north, looking out of the canopy to the ground below. A thick white plume caught my attention far in the distance, myself leveling off to head towards it. Huh... well, it's a bit off the legputer map, I think, but I guess it'd be worth checking out. Wonder what it might be. Throttling back, again - these engines are too powerful for this thing's own good - I tried to hold the Valkyrie in a right bank, getting a good look out the canopy at the ground below. Alright, smoke cloud, what exactly are you...

The source of the cloud drew near, a few details eventually making themselves able to be picked out against the snowy lands below - for example, the fact that whatever it was, it was moving fast enough to be shoving snow out of it's way while it did. A few cars trailed behind it, some looking like the ones that the seamster's shop was in... Wow, for being in an aircraft that can break the sound barrier like a forty-mil slug can break a lock, I am really slow. The train passed by beneath, heading in towards Maple Station, myself looking at the cargo aboard. Lesee, three passenger cars, a couple box cars, a tank car, and... were those tanks on the flatbeds? And some sort of truck, too, I guess... and some sort of turret bolted to the last car, too.

A turret that, as I shot past the end of the train, I finally noticed was starting to aim at me. Oh, crap.

Small, bright tracers shot past the canopy as I heard the metal of the Valkyrie get peppered by the flak fire, my hoof shoving the throttle open and swinging around eastwards to hopefully outpace their turret's spin. Okay, just gotta get back to Maple Station and land, I'm sure they'll realize it was a mistake when we explain- the Valkyrie shook as the rounds impacted the tail, red warnings flashing up on the canopy as the small railroad town shot past underneath me. Hitting the airbrakes and throwing her back into hover mode, the large jet bomber came to a heavy stop, the central turbine providing some reverse thrust as I kept the nose up. Okay... think I'm not getting shot at now... good.

Catching my breath, I eased the nose of the Valkyrie back around, the controls feeling a little more sluggish to respond than before but miraculously at least still functioning. Hovering the Valkyrie back over to the gunnery range, I brought her down slowly, a relieved sigh escaping me as the landing gear took her weight. Shutting her engines down, a timer flashed up, counting down how long it'll be until it's repaired, I guess. I patted over myself as I undid the restraints, hooves only shaking a little. Still in one piece, that-that's good... eheh...

"I think... I think that's enough gunnery practice for now."

"...you -might- need a bigger shed." The Tank Ghouls' shed was alive with the rumble of engines as the four new vehicles trundled inside, Rheinmetall and Mad Jack watching on from Porschia and Avery, respectively. All of the new arrivals bore the same logo as the BT-42, the white circle surrounded by the word Cordite - must be Gardener's friends, I suppose - the whole group coming to a stop inside the shed. The rumble of their engines quieted as they turned off, hatches beginning to clatter open and their crew climbing out.

A ghoul from the lead vehicle, some sort of rather flat tank with five large road wheels either side and a very sharply-angled turret, landed on the ground as he hopped down from on top of it, trotting over to us with a smile on his face. Much like Gardener, he wore a beret over what was left of his mane, as well as a set of simple khakis, Rheinmetall seeming to clamber off of Porschia to rush over to the stallion. "Hah, Second Leiutenant Ironside, is that really you? Miene Gottinen, it must've been years since I last saw you! Still running zat small Crusader, I see."

The tank commanders held each other in a quick hug, Ironside letting off a raspy chuckle. "Heh, told ya last time Rheinmetall ya daft Germane bastard, it's Captain Ironside now. How's Porschia been handlin' that new drivetrain we found for 'er? Still lightin' herself on fire as much as she was?" Both ghouls shared a chuckle as Rheinmetall gave a shake of his head, myself hopping down and heading over to get a look at all the tanks. They can have their reunion, I won't interrupt. Now, what's this one, then...

The somewhat boxy tank rested light on it's ten road wheels, the top half of the tracks covered by thin sheets that covered up the idlers and drive sprockets halfway. The strangely-shaped turret mounted a rather decently sized gun, in a similar setup as the TOG's and Avery's, with the armor-bit attached to the gun inside the turret. Always kinda seemed a little odd, you'd think having a plate on the outside too would be useful, at least for some more armor protection. I mean, you don't have to worry about it as much nowadays, but still... anyways. Gun caliber... sixty millimeter, maybe? Probably good enough for anti-tank work, back in the day. And that hatch there beside the driver's position, that seems a bit too small to've been an original design choice. Kind of an odd choice to have the turret hatch so large, though, the doors are basically as wide as the thing...

Moving to the second tank in the row, it was really quite significantly shorter than the first one, at least as far as track length is concerned. I honestly couldn't believe a tank could be that small... the only thing that gave something of an appearance of length to it was a pair of thick metal bars braced and sticking out of the back, that seemed to be hinged at the tank and curved upwards by the end. Otherwise, it was quite a boxy little thing, not helped by the metal crate on the flat back of the turret that... seemed to be solely there to carry a teapot. Well... okay then. Giving the side-hatch on the turret a closer look, just barely able to make the stamping out on the oddly dark-blue painted metal, it seemed to read 'Nucleana T-8'... I guess that's the name of the tank, then? Or, well, the tank's designation, I suppose... eh, whatever. It's small, it's probably light, it should go pretty fast, right?

Moving to the third one down the line... I am really certain that a significant portion of those oddly-colored sections in the armor were not part of the original design. As I tried to figure out exactly what they were, the side-hatch of the tank swung open, a ghoul mare leaning out and looking around. Well, might as well ask, I suppose... The mare's eyes eventually met mine, and I flashed her a quick smile as she rested herself on the cast armor. "That's, ah, a very... interesting tank, you've got there. What's up with all the silvery circles on the armor, though?"

The tanker mare let off a small chuckle, adjusting herself in the hatch, another pony poking their head out of a hatch at the back of the turret. "Ah, mon ami, what you gaze upon here is the Liberty Bell, one of the finest tanks from Prance's long-lost factories. Each section of armor you mention is a memento of the great battles she once faced in her long history, and she wears each one proudly as medals of the days she refused to die!" The ghoul tanker had raised a hoof triumphantly to the air, the pony in the turret letting off a sigh and bringing a hoof to their forehead in response. After a moment of defaning silence, the mare coughed, letting off a weak chuckle. "Eheh, uh, sorry. She was made as a training tank, the armor isn't hardened so the shells fired at her just end up stuck in it. We just ground them flush afterwards."

Training tank? I mean, I guess you'd need some way to train new crews, but... huh. Unhardened steel armor... "That... doesn't seem very safe. Aren't you worried about them popping loose while under fire, or maybe being even worse than what your... 'armor' is?" I scratched at the back of my head as the ghoul mare answered with a shrug, turning attention back inside the vehicle and disappearing for a moment. I trotted up to the doorway a little closer, getting a quick peek inside - sheesh, that turret looks like it only has space for one, maybe two if you really squished 'em. Thinking about it... yeah, that T-8's turret has got to be crazy-cramped too, probably. Jeez, we just get the rejected tanks, or something?

The mare reappeared at the doorway, making me jump slightly as she wore a grin. "Most of these shells never penetrated in the first place, just went in far enough to get stuck. Far as we know of them from the inside, they're just small bumps in the armor. Would give more armor in those places, I'd believe." I took a small step back as she leaned out of the tank a little ways, a cigarette held in her mouth that she was quick to light with a small match. She took a long drag from it, huffing a cloud out into the tank-filled railshed. "Besides, it's a rare day that we face something which can actually have a hope of hurting us, anyways. Last time was, what, that run-in with the Whitehorse Militia? Pfeh, they were firing high explosive at us, absolutely ridiculous..."

"It was APHE, Epine, just was that it was being fired from a Neighpon-made 57mm. Glorified howitzers, those, wouldn't mind knowing where they got their hooves on a Type 89's turret to stick on that runabout, though..." The pony at the back of the turret climbed out of the tank, hopping down and landing with a clatter of hooves against the concrete. He looked between us both for a moment, giving his legs a stretch, before focusing on the mare in the tank. "I'm going to find a drink, come get me once the Captain is done getting reacquainted. Maintenant je me souviens pourquoi je déteste travailler dans la tourelle..."

We watched as he trotted off, the mare in the tank - Epine, I suppose - letting off a quiet huff of smoke. "Oh mon dieu, pas encore... Don't mind him, it was just a long trip for us. Aren't used to traveling via rail, Liberty Bell's fast enough by herself that we can get around most places." Giving the outside of the tank a few pats with her hoof, Epine rested herself in the doorway, myself passing on a shrug. Hey, if I just got off a train ride from some distant place of Equestria, I'd be pretty exhausted too. Epine shuffled about a little, looking over myself. "So, mon cher, what's a mare like yourself doing hanging around with a bunch of old tankers like these? You're quite young yet, I would've thought you'd be out on the town, meeting nice stallions and so on. Hardly seem the type to find company with a bunch of ghouls and their war machines."

I let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of her tank, careful to not press against the shell impacts just in case. As I was about to start explaining, though, the ghoul from earlier returned, shaking his head laughing and trying to get himself back to being coherent. "Oh, goddesses, I've heard a lot of tall tales but that just takes the cake. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see you two again, but... robot dragons, seriously? Next you'll tell me there's a sea monster out in the harbor or something. Come on lads, you don't need a fanciful tale for us to see each other." The stallion trotted over and leaned himself against Liberty Bell, one hoof rubbing at his eyes. Oh, boy, he's in for a shocker... after a short while, he finally calmed himself down, looking up at me while still getting a few last chuckles out. "Heh, so, the lads said you were the reason Pip radioed us down here, you the one gawking these mental tales at 'em enough they're taking it as the truth?"

Epine seemed to glance between us both from the tank, her eyes wide and brow furrowed slightly. Yeah, I know, hard to believe something like that. Letting off a sigh, I moved back to all four hooves, the tank ghoul ahead of me still trying to calm down fully. "I doubt you'd be laughing if you saw the state they left Hopeville in, or Saddlebrook. I know what I've seen and had to shoot down a few times myself, and I think Gardener and Rangefinder will back those 'mental tales' up once they both get back, too. You think he'd have called for help like you if it wasn't something actually serious?" Oddly enough, Ironside was wearing Epine's same shocked expression now as he looked at me, silent. Huh, maybe I really am getting good with the talky-word stuff.

"Erm, well, I suppose not... but, really, robot dragons? I mean, if nothing else if we'd have known this earlier, we might've been able to come better prepared, with some anti-aircraft vehicles, or something. What on earth are us tanks supposed to do against flying enemies? None of our guns exactly elevate that high up, and it's not like we've got air-burst shells, anyhow." ...damnit, he did have a point there. It would be a little silly if the dragons just stayed grounded while taking cannon fire, and based on how well I managed to pull off strafing earlier I doubt it'll be too easy for anypony at the Vanhoover Air Base to be able to learn how to shoot a dragon out of the sky, too. Then again, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that Cerberus might have ground robots, too, and just deployed the dragons because it's easier for them to get from place to place... maybe.

"Well... having some armored vehicles is better than nothing at all, and if nothing else you'll be able to help us with taking and holding some of the overrun places so we can be better positioned for the main attack on their big fortress. Their wings are easy targets anyhow, and when they're on the ground the only things they have to fight with are plasma breath or mouth flamethrowers, and they do not take tank shells to the body that well, either. It's better than having a whole town get wiped out trying to kill just one, and you'll have air and naval artillery support, too." ...and, back to the shocked faces. Oh, there's a lot of explaining to be done, for sure, I just wish I wasn't the one to have to do it.

Epine's cigarette fell from her slack jaw as she could only stare at me, glancing back towards Ironside for only a moment. "Mon Dieu, vous devez plaisanter! Soutien aérien? Artillerie navale? Es-tu mente ou juste folle?!" I jumped a little as the tanker mare broke into a bit of hysterics as far as I could tell, not really picking up on what she was saying. When I said I was getting good with the talky-word stuff, I meant the talky-word stuff as spoken in Equestrian, not... whatever her native language is! Epine seemed to let off a long sigh, lifting a hoof to her forehead. "Sorry, I just... okay, just, what do you mean by air and naval artillery support? What kind of war are we fighting?"

"The... kind where we're hoping to have the edge in sheer unrelenting firepower? Eheheh..." Letting off a weak chuckle, nopony else seemed to be laughing, myself clearing my throat. "Ahm, I mean, we have allies at the Vanhoover Air Base and onboard the HMS Cadence, they're working on preparing for everything too. We don't know what Cerberus is planning, but we need all the help we can get if we want to make absolutely sure he won't finish it. He's already stolen a large amount of tactical megaspell warheads with the help from the robo-dragons, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to see what'll happen if he gets a chance to use them."

That seemed to get them back to being more shocked than annoyed, at least, Rheinmetall and Mad Jack nodding soberly in support as Ironsides looked over to them. The old tanker stood himself upright, adjusting his khakis slightly and clearing his throat. "Well, if that's the case then I suppose we'll at least do what we can to help. We've been through what happened the last time some lunatic with too much power had access to things like that, if we can prevent it from happening again then I think we'd all want to jump at the chance - and so we shall." Ironside lifted a hoof up in front of himself, one of my own forehooves moving to grab it as he gave it a firm shake, a smile crossing his muzzle. "Captain Ironside, formerly of Her Majesty's Third Royal Tank Regiment, at your service."

Us both setting our hooves down, Ironside looked to Epine, the mare quickly raising a forehoof to a salute. "Leiutenant Epine, Seconde Division Légère Mécanique, at your service as well. No madstallion shall lay waste to Equestrian soil again under our watch." Wearing a smile fo my own, I returned the salute quickly, managing to get a chuckle out of Ironside at least. Looking past the front of Liberty Bell, the odd metal tail of the small tank in the middle caught my eye again, myself looking back towards Ironside and nodding towards it. It's a meet and greet, might as well meet and greet everyone.

The old tanker ghoul let off a soft chuckle, seeming to understand what I meant. "Ah, right, them, they're some older trainees from Cordite, haven't grown out of their T-8 yet. They'll go where we do, though, shouldn't have to worry about them. Ought to work their 4-pounder just fine..." The old ghoul trotted over to the blue-painted tank, pausing beside it for a moment before continuing forwards. Well... Eh, I suppose I don't have to meet everypony, long as they know what they'll be doing well enough.

A rumble filled the air at the far end of the shed, myself taking a few steps towards the doorway as everyone else seemed to watch on with me. Heh, that must be Gardener and Rangefinder, and Static, Aerith, and Hispano, then. Suppose we can finally all get a lunch together... though, the white-colored chassis combined with the fixed casemate and high-pointing gun seemed to indicate otherwise. The odd, not-a-tank vehicle trundled in through the doors, finding a bit of empty space to turn into, allowing me to finally spot the painted-on 'Avenger' nametag on the side of the fighting compartment... and grimace as I heard whatever stallion from B Company that was driving it manage to drive it into the wall. Ouch.

The artillery piece eventually managed to right itself, trundling down the empty space where Deathtrap and Sensha's tank usually would've been to park up just before hitting Porschia's side, the familiar BT-42 and 17-pounder armed M4 following in behind them, their engines shutting off one by one. A small bout of laughter came up from the small howitzer tank's back, as well as a soft groan, Poppy Gardener hopping off of his tank's back and followed by the stealth suit-clad earth pony. While the tank commander took to greeting his colleague, Static slowly moved himself over to me, seeming to grunt with each step. Sheesh, what kind of training were they doing...

The blue earth pony wore a weak grin as he finally got close enough for me to follow alongside him, as he moved himself over to a nearby chair and fell into it with a huff. Okay, there's being tired, and then there's being dramatic, Sparky. I sat myself next to him, the earth pony picking himself up and leaning back to catch his breath, his head rollong to look at me. "Have I... have I ever mentioned how much I love the fact that the TOG is such a slow tank before? Hurk... guh, how they manage to handle that thing's suspension without getting sick is beyond me. Just need a while, then I oughta be able to keep a meal down again..."

I let off a small chuckle and gave a slight shake of my head in response. Ah, Static...

"K A O S Radio~"

"Good evening North Vanhoover, and what an evening it is. Would like to apologize for any errant sounds or interference you might hear in the background, as it turns out a whole lot goes into getting a radio station like this one all back to her former glory, eheh. We're still looking for volunteers to come and help out over here, so if you want to lend a hoof, don't hesitate to place a call. We'll be sure to arrange transport for you, one way or another, heh. Fear of heights, probably not advised to have.

"Moving on to news throughout the wasteland, it would seem that the maintenance service up the line from Maple Station has been completed after long last, and the first inbound train in a long time has arrived. Regular rail service is planned to resume in a couple week's time, and with it a boost to the town's economy as well. I think I'm right in saying that my hat's off to the Road Crew in charge of that section of track, finally getting that work done over winter can't have been the easiest thing by a long shot. We all appreciate what you do, guys, this wasteland wouldn't be nearly as much of a prime travel destination without ya, heh.

"Out of Hopeville, I'm happy to report that one of the tank ghouls that'd come down here after helping set up Glowing-Sea is finally finding her way back home to Maple Station, with the assistance of a newly-arrived group and their rather peculiar vehicle. As this particular tank ghoul was described to me as once being an aerial scout for Equestria's military, can only imagine how much of an embarassment it is for her to have to have help getting back there from such a relatviely short distance away. Don't suppose this would be a good time for me to suggest you tankers think about implementing a buddy system, is it?

"Moving on to the last bit of news, and the part I'm sure a lot of you want to know about, what the Vanhoover Five are up to. Well, I can say with absolute certainty one thing they've been doing a lot of over the last few days is making some new friends. We've got word from Maple Station and the Vanhoover Air Base that the Five have been swinging by there, making sure everything's in tip-top shape and maybe finally finding a chance to relax after all that they've been up to. I'd say take it, guys, you've earned it, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, and from the urging of some of the new arrivals, the next album will not be The Final Cut by Roger Trotters, eheh. Still, hopefully not too many of you will wind up Amused to Death by it, anyways, heh. Enjoy."

We all sat down at a pair of tables that had been pushed together at the Roundhouse pub, Hispano shrugging off her large gun and leaning it against the table as she pulled her chair out. I still clutched at my gut a little, the rockiness of the tank ride having quelled my normally ravenous appetite, the pegasus beside me letting off a sigh. “Oh, calm down, Static, you were fine on the boat, but riding in a small tank was a bad trip? And how the heck did you drive the half-track with such a weak stomach?” Night Strike said, giving me a light push on my shoulder. I groaned a little, shaking my head as I reached for the glass of water a waiter was now placing in front of me. Blugh, just don’t ask me to talk before I get something cold in me. Taking a sip as the waiter began to take the others’ orders, I turned to look at the stage, where a ghoul was heckling a few of the audience members.

“You know, for a pony that goes around smacking people with an umbrella, you sure do have a weird obsession with caps. What's up with that? You’re hardly a mercenary ‘kill for any price’ type, especially with how you did back in Bridleshade, and you aren’t exactly in need of weapon maintenance and ammo all the time, either.” Hispano gave a stretch after a few moments, leaning back in her chair. Night Strike gave a soft snort, grinning as she rolled her eyes in response, looking towards the stage. I looked back to the table, blinking a few times as I tried to shake off the remaining dizziness - wuugh, it looked so smooth from the outside, how can it be that rough inside?...

Calming down, I shrugged a bit, taking another sip of water. “I dunno, who doesn’t like having more money? I was always running deliveries for my dad once he stopped trying to keep me out of the wastes all the time. If I didn’t get picky about getting the right price, we’d have probably been cheated out of half of our caps. Drill Bit never wanted to pay full price whenever he ordered new dental coats. ‘Course, he probably got the money back from all the appointments.” I rubbed my cheek a little, remembering a particularly painful check-up.

Hispano raised her eyebrows, looking both impressed and confused. “Sheesh, you guys actually have a dentist up there? How the hell does Vanhoover barely have a full police force, and Hopeville’s Triage seems pretty understaffed, but you guys have enough security you’ve got a professionally trained dentist?” I took another sip, averting my gaze. Well, I never said he was -professionally- trained. Just somepony with a talent for causing things pain would be a more apt description... “So, anyways, what’s the plan for the rest of the night? You guys heading back on out right away, then?” Hispano leaned back in her chair, as Aerith fiddled with her silverware. I shrugged, not having been focused on any plans past ‘stop feeling like you’re going to vomit on somepony’, which I suppose I could at least mercifully check off my list at this point.

“Eh, probably just hanging around, doing stuff and things, all that kind of non-descript jazz,” Night Strike joked as the waiter left to gather our drinks. Hispano rolled her eyes as we turned our attention to the comedian, who was now having a strange battle-of-wits with a drunk heckler sitting near the front of the stage. The pony looked about ready to fall under the table, and yet was somehow winning the argument. Well, I suppose it’s as good an entertainment as any nowadays...

Trotting out of the bar a few hours later and a couple pounds heavier, the sun still hung in the sky, if just barely. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m heading back to see those tanks again. I bet I can persuade Epine into showing what that new tank of hers can do before the night's out, she said it was pretty fast.” Night Strike gave off a small nod as she began to trot back towards the tank shed. Hispano hefted her cannon's carrying strap over her shoulder, letting off a soft grunt as she gave us a small wave.

“You guys have fun, I probably ought to check in with Dad, see how things are going with the guys on the warship. Also might get more target practice in while there's still a free range up here, never can have enough, y'know?” She broke off from the group, spreading her wings wide and darting off towards the edge of town. As I watched her leave, my gaze followed the line of railcars, stopping on the control tower at the far edge of the yard. My jaw dropped as I remembered the Triage researcher Aerith and I had met there - Sheesh, she’s probably been wondering when the heck we were actually going to bother giving her our report of Shady Shores, hasn’t she? Guh, our fault for being so distracted every time we came back through here...

“Oh crap, ah, I’ve got to go talk to somepony. I’ll meet you guys there!” I said, hurrying off towards the control tower. Night Strike looked over to Aerith, confused, but the alicorn held the same look of realization as she placed a hoof over her face. Trotting briskly towards the yard tower, I slipped between a few ponies wandering through town, soon reaching the bottom of the steps. I hurried up the snow-covered wood stairway, only to slip and fall, banging my chin painfully on the step above me. Gaah, ow! That was stupid, that was stupid!

The sound of a door opening above reached my ears, and I spotted the researcher learning over the railing to see me get back to my hooves. “Oh my goodness, are you alright? Ah, come on, let me have a look...” She trotted around to help me up the stairs and into the shack at the top. She quickly sat me down in a nearby chair, pulling the door shut behind us as her hooves started moving myself about. Ugh, can I have one day where I'm not injured in some way before the end of it? “Alright, consider yourself lucky, it just looks like a few bruises. I’m sure I have a spare potion for helping with the pain lying around, if you need it. What in Equestria were you in such a hurry for, anyways?” She began to rummage around in her desk, pushing aside papers in search of the medicine.

I rubbed my tender chin, my legs aching a bit where they had collided with the steps as well. “Sorry, I only just remembered that you sent us off to inspect Shady Shores. We did that… admittedly, a long time ago, if you still need the report. Honestly, nowadays it's... kinda more just a place to go if you're a ghoul...” I said, letting off a weak chuckle. The researcher pulled a small vial of red potion out from a collection in one of her lower drawers, passing it to me. I gave a small thanks before popping the cork out and drinking it down.

“Oh, is that all? You didn’t need to risk a smashed larynx just for that, I got a report from the Hopeville branch ages ago! You sent them the robot, right?” I nodded as the potion went to work fixing up my wounds, and I handed back the bottle. She dropped the vial into her desk before waiving for me to follow, leading me over to another table. “Well, from what I could study of a sample they sent up, I think I’ve actually managed to figure out something useful those creatures can actually be used for. Take a look at this!” The mare grinned widely as she picked up what looked like a broken piece of carapace from one of the anglerponies.

“This carapace is even more protective than I originally thought, none of the specimens we managed to procure before had anything this thick! And best of all, it’s already molded to fit pony physiques! With a bit of sanding, polishing, a few straps, and possibly an undersuit for mounting, we could actually make this stuff into proper armor!” The mare beamed as she set the shell plating back down, rifling through her notes. My eyes went wide as I gave an impressed look - well, that’s certainly a better use for those things nowadays than whatever it was Pearl was programmed to make them do originally. I mean, you'd still have to find more of them to actually make more of the armor, but still... “I sent a message to the Triage a while back, if they can have that robot send up the chemical components of the chitin. Would love to be able to research this more, this stuff is about as tough as an inch-thick steel plate. The only major problem I can see is weight, exoskeletons were never meant to get this large and this armor definitely shows that. Those anglerponies must have some serious muscles to be able to haul this stuff around constantly. Then again, if they do stay in water most of the time, that would counter-act the weight somewhat through buoyancy…” The researcher trailed off, mumbling to herself as she pulled out a few more notes and began to scribble things down. After a few moments, she let off a sigh, looking back towards myself

“Well, anyway, thanks for checking in. If I’m lucky, I’ll get enough support to start armoring some of the ponies up here with what we have of this stuff. Well, assuming they ignore the leftover viscera that might still be stuck to the inside. We should probably make sure we have a proper cleaning job done on these before we send them out, too...” She scraped off a bit of flesh that was attached to the inside of the carapace, before flicking it into a trash bin. I stood for a moment, not sure what to do, as the mare ignored me and began to pull out a few more research papers.

“Of course, I… guess I’ll head out, then.” I began to make my way towards the door, the mare giving a wave in my general direction as she poured over her notes. Stepping back out into the chilly air, I quickly made my way back down the steps, careful not to slip again, before trotting off towards the tank shed once again. I passed by the shed where the engines that powered the town resided, a few incomprehensible shouts just barely audible above the loud but steady exhausts of the motors. It wasn’t too long before I was stepping inside the garage to see several ponies all gathered in a circle, all watching something. The sounds of scuffling could be heard among cheers and jeers, a few of the ponies letting out cries of triumph here and there.

I hurried over to see what the commotion was about, trying to peer past the shoulders of everypony else. In the middle of the impromptu ring stood Mad Jack and an unfamiliar mare, both of them slowly circling each other. Mad Jack was wearing an aloof grin while the mare’s cold yet determined expression gave me a case of the chills. Mad Jack suddenly made a lunge for the mare, but in a movement so quick I could barely register it happening, the mare ducked down under the stallion and swept at his legs, knocking him off balance. Jack tumbled down onto the mare’s back for a moment, before she bucked out with her hind hooves, sending Jack tumbling down to the concrete floor. He let out a grunt of pain as the wind was knocked out of him, stunned. He lay there for a moment, gasping for breath as the mare stood tall, a small smug smile crossing her own face. My eyes went wide as I gave a look of amazement - how the heck did she manage to take him down that quickly?!

A few of the ponies gathered around cursed as others cheered, and the sound of caps changing hooves could be heard briefly as the unfamiliar mare helped Mad Jack onto his hooves. Despite his defeat, he gave a smile and trotted back to his tank, limping slightly on one of his hooves. “The heck was that all about?” I asked Night Strike, as I spotted her amongst the crowd.

“Jack had a bit too much to drink, started barking about how nopony could beat him in a hoof-fight. Ironside said he’d never seen Epine lose in a barfight yet, some of the other tankers started placing bets, you can probably figure out the rest from there. Never sen Mad Jack that hammered before...” She chuckled. “Honestly, you missed some of the good stuff. Jack might’ve actually won if he hadn’t already been drunk enough he was seeing double... and had kept his helmet on.” I spotted Crash Dive standing away from the crowd, Aerith and Scouring exchanging a few of their caps as Aerith grinned smugly. Night Strike gave off a small chuckle, as she turned and started towards them. “I told you not to take that bet, Scouring. You don’t bet on a drunk fighter.”

Scouring rolled his eyes, grumbling a bit. “Ya’ve never seen what Decisive can do once he’s got a bottle o’ scotch in him. It’s like he cannae even feel his teeth being knocked oot anymore.” I looked back to watch Epine take a seat around a table, pulling out a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla from her saddlebags. I tried to contain a smirk as I watched the respect for the mare seem to drain from Night Strike’s face. C’mon, Strikey, it’s just a soda brand. Walking over to Epine, I tried to strike up a conversation.

“Hey, uh, Epine, right?” She looked over to me as she took a drink of soda. “Uh… do you mind if I ask where you learned that take-down? That was a pretty impressive move.” She looked me up and down as she drank her soda, leaving me to stand in awkward silence for a moment.

“If you really want to know that, it was way back when I was first training in the barracks at Maresailles, but I’m willing to bet that you’re only curious because you want to learn it yourself,” she said, taking another sip. Welp, I tried to not be so obvious. “And without any sort of basic training in unarmed combat, the best I think you’d be able to do is give somepony an uncomfortable back rub. Do you actually know anything about fighting with your hooves, or are you just good at using that... umbrella, of yours?”

I was taken aback somewhat, my expression turning sour. “I think I know enough that I can learn how to sweep somepony’s legs. And I’d like to see you block a Hell Hound’s claws with your bare hooves.” Epine gave me a small chuckle, before she stood up to toss her now empty bottle of soda in the trash.

“Ah, calm down mon ami, I’m only tugging your tail. The move is quite easy to learn, so long as you haven't merde pour le cerveau, don’t need to get so sensitive.” I opened my mouth to object, realized she had a very good point, and closed it again as I tried to hide my embarrassment. “Just, ah, be ready for a few painful hours.” She took a stance in front of me and motioned for me to move in. I did so, and before I knew it I was on the ground, gasping for air. Oh boy, this isn’t going to be fun…

I rolled over in bed, groaning as I felt my Pip-Buck leg shaking and beeping loudly. Fumbling about with my eyes still shut, I smacked the wrist-mounted computer a few times, before managing to press the snooze button. Good thing these things are nigh-indestructible... Slowly opening my eyes, I sat up in the small hotel bed, wobbling a little as I tried to remain awake and not flop back down asleep. Guh, what were even doing last night, again?... Oh, right, testing out the strength of my spinal column. Throwing the covers back, I half-fell out of bed to find Scouring still snoring noisily, his armor resting at the foot of his bed. I rubbed my sore limbs from yesterday’s training as I went to rub some warm water over the healing bruises.

As I got the shower running, I heard Scouring stir in his sleep, snorting a few times as he slowly woke back up. There was a knock at the door, and Scouring groaned before throwing back his own covers to answer it. Gingerly tending to my wounds, I leaned out of the bathroom to check who was at the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Crash Dive, Aerith and Night Strike standing behind her. “Five minutes, Valkyrie. We’re heading out as soon as we can.” She began to trot back down the hall, the others following suit. Scouring nodded, closing the door and turning around to slip into his armor as I stepped out of the bathroom. Sheesh, I know she’s an early bird, but it’s not like it takes us four days to get here anymore. Scouring trotted over to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, as I slipped on my jacket and slung my saddlebags over my back, wincing a bit from the weight. Guh, yeah, not sure if a nifty takedown is really worth this much pain. I really should grab a healing potion when we get back to the lighthouse...

It wasn’t too long before Scouring and I were heading down the hallway towards the lobby. The perpetually exhausted receptionist still sat in her office chair, her head bobbing up and down as she tried to remain awake. She reached for a mug sitting on her desk, taking a sip as her eyes remained shut, heavy bags underneath each one. Does she survive solely on coffee alone? How the heck is she not dead? Unless... eh, nah, I doubt she'd be related to Jumper Cables.

Scouring and I stepped out into the cool morning air, the sun only just starting to rise above the horizon. We trotted along the outskirts of town towards the large twin tracks in the snow created from the tank ghouls' many vehicles. The large bomber sat just beyond the outermost row of railcars, Aerith, Night Strike, and Crash Dive standing near the short ladder into the cockpit as they waited for us. Upon noticing our arrival, Crash Dive and Aerith began to climb up into the bomb bay, as Night Strike continued to wait by the door.

“Morning. You still fighting through a broken back?” Night Strike asked as Scouring went to join the others in the bomb bay. Nodding, Night Strike gave a look of pity before we headed up into the cockpit, the small door closing behind us. Agh, oww, I doubt that whoever designed this thought about ponies recovering from injuries... “Well, it should be relatively uneventful until we can get back to the lighthouse. Shouldn’t be shot at by any more trains, at the very least.” I raised an eyebrow, but Night Strike didn’t notice or care to explain as we slipped into our appropriate seats.

The engines roared to life as they always did, Night Strike taking control of the plane. We rolled forward slowly, the central turbine kicking into gear behind me as we began to rise upwards, Night Strike easing the controls around to point us southwestwardly. The ground below us raced by as the turbines mad the switch and we picked up speed, myself taking hold of the armrests as we took a particularly sharp turn. Out of the cockpit window, I was able to spot the edge of the wasteland that marked the bomb that destroyed Shady Shores' detonation radius, the ground still looking as if it was glowing from all the latent magical energy.

Night Strike turned us further south, racing along the coastline towards the lighthouse. I glanced out of the window, watching as the cliffs flew by below us, the ocean splashing up against them in the early morning sun. As I looked down below, though, I noticed something off in the distance. The submarine pen that stood at the edge of the cliffs looked… busier than it should have, for being abandoned. I leaned forward, trying to get a better look as Night Strike noticed the same thing as well. Drawing closer, I finally remembered the valkyrie's forward camera, flicking in on to look through it at the concrete bunker, and seeing... “Uh, Night Strike… I don’t think I like the look of this.”

Several jets of flame shot up into the air, and three large robotic dragons took to the skies, swiveling about to focus in on us. Oh yeah, I definitely don’t like the look of this.

"Everybody, hold on!" The robo-dragons from the sub pen shot past as we continued south, the flames they were spewing upwards at us engulfing the canopy for only a moment. Dials clacking filled the air behind me as Static fiddled with his console, hopefully working to get the turrets online, as I hit the airbrakes and started to swing us around, out to sea. If they're gonna focus on us, let's try and not put the lighthouse in danger... The tesla cannons on the top of the Valkyrie started to open fire as we completed the turn, myself sitting up to scan out over the sub pen, trying to catch sight of the flock to start gunning them down.

First pass... wasn't quite a bust, as I did manage to spot a few more of them, but naturally getting the guns on target is a different story. Damn it, don't they know that piloting a plane is more difficult than actually flying with wings?!... which is why they're taking full advantage of that fact. Thanks, brain. Balls of plasma shot up from below as a few of the dragons managed to catch up with us, a crunch of metal heard from the left before the tesla cannons opened up with a constant burst, and Static opened up with a scream.

"AAAAAHHH, GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!" Looking back out the canopy, the glint of a large metal beast clinging to the wing just caught my eye, my hooves clinging to the control yoke tight. Ooh, sorry about this, guys... Moving a hoof just to punch the throttle forward, both gripped the yoke as I wrenched us over into a fast left roll, grunting as the G-forces tried to throw both of us against the right side of the cockpit, and - from the sounds of the clunks behind us that I seriously hoped weren't from the bomb bay doors opening - succeeded in throwing our three passengers to the right side of the bomb bay. Holding it, the sound of tearing metal resonated through the fuselage, prompting me to level off and look back. Okay, hole in the left wing, not the worst thing in the world...

The talismans were starting to get to repairing the damage as I swung us around for another pass, this time managing to get the reticle on one - well, I mean, it helps when they fly straight at us. A ball of plasma burst from it's mouth as my hooves held the trigger, the least bit thankful that I was reminded to have the guns topped off last night before we left. The first few rounds had already left the barrels as the ball of plasma flew by our right, the whole craft being bucked sideways midair as the wing's edge caught the ball, some loud whining coming from the engines. Mercifully, the few shots that had flown true from the cannons had connected, and by the time the Valkyrie was flying back as it should've - mostly - the dragon was no more than a mess of scrap metal falling out of the air.

Warnings flared up on the console behind me, Static addressing them as I worked the controls to keep us flying level. Fuck me, I prefer the fire-breathers over the plasma ones, they're just as hard to kill but at least they're shorter range! Fighting with the rudder pedals, we'd gone well out to sea before normal flight had been resumed, the right-side engines running a bit less loudly than they had been, assuming they were, anyways. Static let off a sigh as I peered ahead, looking over the nose to see Deadstallion's Island going by underneath. HMS Cadence... that would help, wouldn't it?

Throttling back, and feeling us slowing down a little faster than we usually would've, I put us in a slight right bank, starting an orbit around the island. Finally releasing the control stick with a hoof, I pressed against the headset, looking out to the warship below... or, trying to. Didn't think there'd be that much smoke coming from the funnels. "HMS Cadence, HMS Cadence, this is Valkyrie, we've got trouble, do you copy? Over!"

"Roger Valkyrie, we've got you covered, all starboard AA batteries are being crewed as we speak. We're monitoring what we can on the radar, jammy bastards are flying too low for us to spot electrically but we've only seen three so far. What's the damage on your end? Over." The heavy cruiser shot by underneath as we came around the first full circle, myself starting to slowly have to correct more on the stick as the right wing stopped dipping so much. Well, whatever it was, it's getting better, at least. Static's voice came through over the set, breathing a little labored.

"Small hole in the left wing, getting smaller, right wing's been caved in on top of the engines but is getting repaired too. Both right-side engines are down though, won't come back up until the wing's back into shape. Considering it was a plasma ball the size of a boulder from a Daring Do film, though, kinda lucky all things considered." The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as we started our second circle, myself nearly having to hold the yoke left to keep the right bank going. The hell did Static do back there?... A few more knob clacks were heard, and soon the Valkyrie eased back to normal flight, myself resuming the bank to keep the orbit. That's better... "Uh, and, um, definitely more than just three there, I counted about six or seven, we've downed two for certain. Over."

The radio crackled for a few moments as a muffled voice was heard over the other end, Fowler speaking up again. "Copy that, we'll have all eyes peeled. All four starboard Bofors mounts are good to go, and the ROQF 4-inchers are laying on target as well. You are free to land if needed instead of buzzing around, too, you know. Over." I let off a weak chuckle, sensing the faintest bit of annoyance in Fowler's voice as he stopped sending, looking at the dials and stuff in front of me as we continued to orbit. Okay, left side engines are still normal, right side... still down. And there isn't a runway for a horizontal landing on Deadstallion's Island. Shit.

Static seemed to come to the same realization, speaking up behind me as we went into our third orbit. "Please tell me you're not seriously considering landing vertically? We're still out two engines, and I don't know if the Valkyrie can do that without all four and a half. Safely, anyways."

Passing him a glare over his console - or, trying to, anyways - I gave a shake of my head, still watching the dials in front of me. How crazy does he think I am? "Of course not, we're just going to have to try and stay airborne over here until the engines are back up again. That or try baiting a few out to sea for the Cadence to handle... I don't think landing back at the lighthouse would be a good idea with them so close." The earth pony behind me let off a small huff - or maybe a sigh of relief - as a banging started from behind us, myself looking back towards the rear of the plane. Oh, come on, please don't tell me the central turbine is acting up, too...

Thankfully, as the cockpit door suddenly burst open with a very furious-looking power armored pegasus moving through it, it turned out that damage to the turbine was the least worrying thing so close to the cockpit right now. Celestia help us. "What in the absolute FUCK was that flying back there?! Do you think we appreciate getting thrown around like a bunch of ragdolls in a clothes dryer?! What in the name of all that is good and holy made you think pulling maneuvers like that was a good idea, I swear you managed to rip some of the damn plane apart with them!" I gnawed hard on my lip, letting off a quiet whimper, Static seeming to join me for the moment. Yeah, ordinance doesn't yell so loudly either. Crash Dive looked out of the canopy to the ground below, seming to blink a few times in confusion, before looking back towards us. Well, she seems a little less angry now, at least... "...Why are we over Deadstallion's Island?"

"W-well... to answer all of your questions, uh..." Static shuffled over to the far side of his chair as Crash Dive looked towards him, myself trying to keep us in the steady orbit. Easier said than done with my hooves gripping the controls so tight, honestly. Static let off an audible gulp, the cloudy plume from the HMS Cadence passing by us once again. "Th-there's r-... robo-dragons, all around the sub pen. We took out two of them, that was the whole crazy flying thing, but they managed to get a hit on our right-side engines. We're waiting on the repair talismans before we head back into the fray."

The power armored pegasus paused to process that info for a few moments, looking between us sternly. "Alright. Well, in that case, could you at least do a low, slow pass so we can hop out before one of us gets injured? Since the Cadence is still moored up, we can head to the radio deck and stay on comms, just to stay in contact. If you're going to be pulling maneuvers like you were again, we'd rather not be onboard for it." Well... she had a point. We've done mid-air drops before, at least, and I'm sure Aerith would probably at least be able to help cushion the blow when they touch down, like with Static. Can't exactly land to let them off...

I gave off a nod from up front, starting to drop us down towards the island in a slow descent. "Alright, we'll try to drop you off as close to the Cadence as we can, and hopefully pick you up after they're all down. Just, uh, try to find some space to stand that isn't on the bomb bay doors, heh." Crash Dive responded with a nod, shuffling herself around in the cockpit and heading back into the bomb bay of the Valkyrie, the door shutting behind her. Flicking some switches on the console ahead of me, the flaps lowered behind us, making it at least a little bit less dangerous to be flying this slow. Better than risking the central turbine with only two engines, anyways...

As we made another circle for the approach, Static let off a soft grunt behind me, tapping on his console with a hoof. "Doesn't make sense... what do you think Cerberus wants with the sub pen? We've already taken all the gold, and there isn't anything else there besides some flak guns and ghoul corpses..." I blunk a few times, letting us head out over the water a little bit so we'd have a straighter path. That... was a good question. Maybe they needed more flak guns for themselves? They seemed pretty well-defended already, though... come on, Strikey, think, what else is at the sub pen. Dead ghouls, a terminal telling about a shipment of gold aboard a sub, and a sub wreck formerly home to a bunch of Anglerponies that we destroyed with a megaspell depth-

Oh, fuck me with an ROQF 17-pounder.

"HMS Cadence, do you copy us? This is urgent, DO NOT fire on the submarine pen, repeat, DO NOT fire on the sub pen!" The radio fizzled as I pressed a hoof to my set, swinging us around for the drop-off. "We have reason to believe that there are one kiloton yield megaspell warheads being transported from that location, and I don't know what an eight-inch HE shell would do to them if one of them got hit. Repeat, DO NOT FIRE ON THE SUB PEN!" The bomb bay doors opened behind us and locked in place, the island below disappearing from my view over the nose of the plane. There was a quick screech of metal, Static clacking through a few dials for a moment, before the earth pony let off a sigh... followed by a quick squeak.

"U-um... they... they fired on the sub pen." My hoof fumbled with the throttle, yanking the thing all the way back for just a moment as my brain worked through what Static said. My hoof then managed to push it forwards, giving us back some speed as the nose began to dip slightly over the ocean, getting us back to level flight. I held it there long enough to stare back wide-eyed at Static, the earth pony flustered. "I-I-I mean, m-maybe your message didn't get through? I just saw a muzzle flash, the main turret-things on the back don't look like they were turned at all, so maybe they were just clearing a barrel, or something!"

As if to answer us, like he was able to hear the frantic screaming from the cockpit, the radio buzzled loudly as Fowler chimed in. "SECONDARY BATTERY, DUAL-PURPOSE GUN! One of the spotters for the 4-inchers saw a dragon getting close, loosed a proxy-fuse shell at it and it seems to've splashed the bastard. We've no intent of firing on the sub pen lass, so just fix yerself and get back in the fight! And don't leave your hoof on the bleeding send button!" ...okay, so he -was- able to hear the frantic screaming from the cockpit. Whoops. The sailor ghoul let off a small grunt, clearing his throat. "Main batteries are still undergoing stocking and repairs, and we're still short a hundred heads besides. We can make do, but we won't be shelling the shoreline proper for a while yet. Get back here and help finish this fight so we can focus on repairs ourselves. Over."

"C-Copy, Fowler. Engines three and four will be coming back online shortly, we'll head back when we have more power to route to the tesla cannons. Over." The radio fizzled as Static closed the connection, letting off a long huff. Okay, so that was one to the forward guns... at the price of fourteen shells between them, which isn't ideal... one to the tesla cannons and some clever flying, and one to the HMS Cadence. If there are more, we can handle them, just gotta try and not take the plasma ones head-on. The dials clacked on the console behind me, Static clearing his throat. "Alright, talismans are showing green lights on our right side engines, I'll get them started up. Remember the days when we just sold big guns to towns, rather than fought robo-dragons in the air at... five hundred kilometers an hour? Can we go back to those days?"

"Sure, and while you're making that wish I'd like a side order of banishing whatever Cerberus is to the moon, thanks. Come on, Static, we've come back from worse, and we've still got each other, at least." Looking back towards him, I passed on a small smile, the earth pony leting off a sigh. He returned the smile after a moment, his hoof pressing another button, the two engines starting back up and instantly giving us a small kick of acceleration. Passing on a nod, I held the orbit of the island for a few moments longer, pressing the button on the headset. "HMS Cadence, Valkyrie calling, we've got four burning and are just finishing up to head back in. Oh, and uh, if you can get a request up to Radio KAOS, think we could get some suitably awesome battle music going? With all four reactors going, the transmissions might frazzle their circuits or something. Over."

I let off a small snicker as I heard a grumble on the other end of the line, the connection closing as I fiddled with my pip-buck a bit, Static letting off a grunt behind me. "Mm-hmm, you have a good reason for asking for that? Do you think the radio signals will actually fry their circuits, Strikey? Because I don't think that's how that works..." The radio came on to KAOS, though it was only static for the time being. Guh, darn minimum range, or whatever it was...

"I have absolutely no idea if that actually works. Would be nice if it did, though, wouldn't it?" Passing on a grin, Static just brought a hoof to his forehead, knobs clacking behind me. Leveling us off, we sped onwards back towards the sub pen, the first few bars of an electric guitar ringing out loud over my pip-buck radio. Hm, I know this one... Attacking the one lodge full of raiders, duh! Oh yeah, this is definitely what the doctor ordered. My grin grew a little wider as I pushed the throttle open to full, feeling the kick of acceleration as the shore, the sub pen - and the dragons - grew close, fast. Strikey's out for robo-dragon blood!... or, oil. Hydraulic fluid, maybe? Brain, ruining the moment here.

Dipping the nose only slightly, a pair of the robotic beasts caught my eyes through the canopy gunsight, both hovering in place, seeming the least bit confused at the sight. Or, maybe not, as flames burst from their mouths far in front of us, myself responding in kind by teasing the rudder to the right just enough to line up one of the dragons. Hooves squeezed the trigger, and after a loud seven-round burst the steady flame turned into a full-on fireball as the rounds struck home and ripped through the metallic skin, my back hooves letting the rudder return to center as I pulled back hard on the yoke. Better if we didn't crash into the other dragon, yeah.

The tesla cannons began opening up as I leveled us off again, cutting the throttle so we didn't overshoot too far. The airbrakes did their best as we started slowing down again, the wing dipping as I put us in a bank for a turn around, pulling back on the yoke again. As I pulled it hard for a swift spin, though, something clunked behind us, and I felt a sudden kick press us to our seats as we darted about even tighter than expected. The jolt made me push the yoke back forwards and level us off, myself gasping for breath as we sped back to the sub pen. "Wha... what was that?!"

Static clacked through a few menus, myself stowing the airbrakes and bringing us back up to speed. "Hm... I think you pulled back hard enough to activate the central turbine, gave us that little kick. How about you -not- do that again." Okay, turbine-assisted nose-ups, that's... something. Might be useful, maybe. Think about it later, we've got robo-dragons to kill right now. I let off a small breath, focusing abck on the gunsight, looking out at the sub pen for more targets.

The concrete structure shot by below us as no big mean metal beasts caught my eye, the cockpit growing silent save for the sound of the radio... which I decided to turn down just a little. Yeah, kinda wears off the novelty quick, thinking about it. Eh, it's at least something else to listen to over the whine of the turbines. Static seemed to be concentrating for a few moments, before the Valkyrie suddenly jolted from below, both of us letting off startled screams. I scanned over the console to my front as Static did the same with his, my hooves pulling the yoke back to keep us level - Nngh, feels like we just picked up a half-truck on our nose, or something.

Static let off a quick gasp, some bolts of electricity flying out in front of us before being followed by a massive spray of flames, myself joining him in a scream. "Pull up, pull up hard, now!" The frantic earth pony behind me shouted loud, his hooves hammering something on his console as mine yanked the yoke back as before. The clunk was accentuated by a screech of metal, the turbine roaring loudly as we pulled an insanely tight backflip, finding the ocean and shoreline where the clouds and sky should've been. Rolling us back upright, I gasped for breath, feeling the blood starting to return where it should be and my vision getting a little less blackened. Oh, that was even less fun the second time...

Static let off a long sigh behind me, catching his breath. "Phew... one of them caught us in a blind spot of the turret cameras, guessing it was hiding somewhere behind the sub pen. Unfortunately for it, that blind spot is sort of also where the central turbine's exhaust is..." It took me a moment to get what he was saying, a grin coming to my muzzle as I let off a small cackle. Oh, you clever, clever earth pony... He let off a long sigh, as I slowed us down for another pass on the sub pen, the song statring to wrap itself up. The headsets fizzled as he opened up the line again, dials clacking behind me. "Valkyrie to Cadence, Valkyrie to Cadence, we've managed to down another two. What've you seen on your end? Any more? Over."

The radio crackled for a moment, myself taking us southward to start an orbit around the sub pen. Fool us once, get roasted by a jet turbine, fool us twice, I'll turn you into scrap with the rest of the rounds in the guns... "HMS Cadence, aye, one got a shot off at us, put a big scorch mark on our side but we're none worse for wear. Bastard went up like an oversized plasma grenade when we got 'im, heh. My count, that's six dealt with, that's the number you saw, aye? Over."

"Just about, yeah, we'll be circling the sub pen for a while to see if we can't find and kill any more. We'll be heading back to the island afterwards, gotta pick our friends back up, heh. Over." I let off a long sigh as we settled into a slow circle above the concrete structure, Static clacking through a few more knobs at his console. Well, if that was all the robo-dragons... oh, this has been a long morning already. The earth pony behind me let off a light huff, leaning back in his chair. "I'm not seeing anything else on the cameras, thermal, magic, infra-red are all clear. A robotic dragon would be pretty obvious, after all, heh..."

I let off a soft chuckle to join him, reaching a hoof to rub at the opposite foreleg. Man, who knew flying was such a workout? I think I'll be good to just take the rest of the day off, already... Looking out the window to the concrete structure below, a sigh escaped me, myself focusing in on it. Well... maybe I can relax after taking care of that, anyways... "We gotta see how many of the megaspells they managed to escape with, if any. Even just one... they're twice as powerful as the ones we've got in here, and I dunno how much they weigh. If they're light enough for a plane to carry them, we've gotta find some place to get rid of them."

Static was silent for a moment, before letting off a small hum of thought. "Well, why not just ditch them in the ocean? I doubt the robo-dragons can swim, and it's better than taking them somewhere they could be rewired like we did and then set off." After a third circle, I leveled us off, heading back to Deadstallion's Island. Well... yeah, I guess that might actually work... save for one very obvious, and very detrimential issue. Thanks for reminding me, brain.

"Mmhm... does the phrase 'depth bomb' sound familiar, Static? There's kind of a good reason we can't just do that, namely, the fact that these megaspells are -explicitly designed- to detonate when they hit a certain depth in the water, and we don't really want to cause even more damage to the HMS Cadence, or make a tidal wave that wipes out Glowing-Sea." The earth pony let off a small sigh behind me, the island off the coast coming into view fast. I started slowing us down as it disappeared from my view, the smoke clouds from the HMS Cadence's stacks being my main marker.

"Well... what about whatever you and Scouring did to the one we used on the submarine? Didn't you rewire the detonator so it wouldn't be depth-triggered, or something? Or... what about Pearl, couldn't we just have her and the Triage work with the bombs so they're healing megaspells instead?" I blunk a few times, starting to ease the Valkyrie into vertical flight for the landing. Considering how many bottles of whiskey Scouring had after rewiring that thing, I doubt that he'd be up for doing it however many more times we were looking at. Pearl and the Triage, though... I hadn't thought of that. "I mean, we'd still need some way to get them around after seting them up with the healing spell, but it's better than them being the destructive kind, right?"

The Valkyrie's landing gear compressed under it's weight, myself looking out of the cockpit to check how I did unguided. Huh, not too bad a landing, really... Leaning back in the seat and shutting the engines down, I leaned back in my seat looking back to Static and wearing a wide grin. A small chuckle escaped me as my hoof pressed the buton on the headset, the radio buzzing. "HMS Cadence, can you patch us through to the Hopeville Triage at all? Oh, and the Vanhoover Air Base, too..."

"...two, three, four... they're all still here. Doesn't even look like they tried getting into here at all..." Myself, Scouring, and Aerith all were down in the ordinance storage area of the sub pen, while Static and Crash Dive waited up on top for our other friends to arrive. Pearl and a few other scientists from the Triage for re-tooling the megaspells, a few pilots from the Vanhoover Air Base to hopefully take them off for safe-keeping until needed, everyone we'll need to get this done. Of course, when you do take into consideration that the storage bays look exactly as we left them so long ago, you can't help but wonder... and slightly panic.

'If the dragons weren't after the megaspells after all, then, what were they here for?' Aerith's screen flashed up in our vision as Scouring trotted over to one of the bombs, his horn alighting and opening up the casing to examine the insides. I peered in with him, chewing on my lip - Mmh, no, that all looks like it did last time, no tampering or whatever. I am not feeling good about this. The alicorn looke out to the water of one of the bays for holding the submarines, another horn coming up. 'You think they might've been after the gold, or something? We didn't exactly advertise the fact that we took it, they might not've known.'

"Eheh, lass, you remember what we did after they got all the gold outta that sub? If they've got all the info on Project Cerberus, wouldn't be a stretch to imagine they could fit two an' two together, and realize we blew the thing up with one o' these." The power armored unicorn let off a weak chuckle, tapping his hoof against the bomb's casing. Well, that does make sense... but if it wasn't the megaspells, or the gold, then, what? Scouring shut the access panel, falling silent as he rested himself against the depth charge, seeming to think. "Hm... I gotta check somethin', sure there's a terminal around here somewhere. You can start getting these topside yerself, aye, Aerith?"

The alicorn responded with a quick nod, her horn alighting as she encompassed the topmost of the neatly-stacked bombs and began to lift it up. It floated in the air for a moment, a slightly surprised expression crossing her muzzle. 'Hm, feels like these weigh just about one ton apiece. If they weren't bigger diameter-wise than the other megaspells onboard the Valkyrie, you could probably load a few of them on to replace teh ones you've already used. You left the latches intact, right?'

I blunk in response, Scouring's trotting echoing through the concrete dock behind us, thinking. We did leave the latches intact... and they aren't -that- much bigger than the ones we've still got loaded, either, we could probably fit two onboard without much fuss. Two more kilotons to use... I gave my head a shake, leting off a small grunt. No, no, can't do that, we've gotta get these cleared out and changed over so they can't be used against anyone in anger. They still look the same when they detonate, sorta, at least... "Let's just get them out of here so Pearl can work with them, and the Vanhoover Air Base can take them."

Aerith passed on a small smile as she picked up a second one from the three left laying in the rack, the both of us making the short trek topside with the weapons. As we passed through the still-destroyed doorway and onto the snowy fields, the sound of a set of hooves rushing over on the sub pen's roof caught my ears, myself looking back to see Static leaning over the side. He wore a smile as he caught his breath, resting on the short concrete wall. "Heh, good timing guys, looks like Pearl is gonna be the first to arrive. That, or the one moose doctor is hauling a cart over here for some other reason... I'm just glad I'm up here either way."

Answering him with a roll of my eyes - oh, come on Static, Jean isn't that bad - a skidded wagon headed by the large moose soon pulled up along the inland-side of the sub pen, Pearl and Nurse Laundry hopping out of it along with a few other medics I didn't fully recognize. The ever-eager AI scientist wasted no time at all in hovering over, letting loose a gleeful giggle. "Oh my gosh, you guys're gonna let me mess with an actuall full-scale megaspell? This is so totally awesome, I mean, the Ministry of Peace did give us the mass healing one, but I was mainly more focused with working on the Anglerpony project at the time, so I didn't really see much of it. Oooh, think they'll let me make a few tweaks to the spell? I know I could probably make it cure any genetic disorders the ponies in the effect radius might have, too..."

The sound of windchimes jangling over to us filled the air as Jean unhitched herself from the wagon, the other medics starting to look over the megaspells by Aerith. "Ah, now hold your mutated horses there, Pearl, the HMS Mercy's not lookin' for a cure for the ghoul gene with these. Keep it in mind, though, never telling if they might be later!" The moose gently - relatviely, anyways - elbowed Pearl's chassis, turning attention to myself as the AI hovered over to the megaspells. Wait, the HMS Mercy? What was she talking about? Jean wore her perpetual grin, glancing over at the two bombs we'd brought up, before looking back to myself. "So, how many of these did'ja say you had for us? I mean, after Doctor Pearl works her magic and gets them outfitted with the right spell, o' course. Wouldn't do to try deploying one only for it to end up making more work for us, eh!"

"Uh..." Yeah, no, kinda lost here. Why would the HMS Mercy want megaspells? I mean, granted, they will be healing megaspells, but still... it isn't a battleship, or missile cruiser, is it? Because that'd at least make a bit more sense as far as giving them a bunch of warheads goes. Unless they're even more well-equipped than I thought... but if they were, they wouldn't have had to all ride down here on the Seaddler. Jean blunk as she waited for a response, the chimes on her ears jingling as she tilted her head. "Ahm... well, uh, raw numbers, besides these two I think there's still about seven of the bombs still in the pen, two in the opened storage room and probably another rack of five in the one next to it, but, um... where'd you get the idea about taking them all for yourselves from?"

Jean let off a weak chuckle as she leaned back on her hooves, rubbing at the back of her neck. Sheesh, everything aside I'm surprised that old helmet can fit her... "Eheh, well, see, we've already got a few like these, contained healing megaspell bombs that is, and I kinda just got excited aboot hearing you finding so many of 'em in one place that, well..." The moose let off a heavy sigh, looking back up after a moment. "The Mercy can use whatever we can get our hooves on, especially when it comes to healing megaspells. Just thought that since you were sharing those nifty grenades with us, you wouldn't mind if we took a few of these, too... I mean, we have been doin' our part helping out all o' you guys."

"Well... I mean, I guess we do need to get rid of them... but we already sorta have an arrangement with the Vanhoover Air Base to take them. Ah, just for the time being, I mean... one or two could be useful in the big showdown with Cerberus, after all." A weak chuckle escaped my lips as Jean seemed to think for a moment, dropping to her haunches and tapping a hoof against her scruffy chin. Even when she's sitting down, she's taller than me... I wonder if Featherweight is part moose. Her windchime earrings jangled as she gave a few small nods, setting her hoof back down.

"I suppose we can't really send 'em back immediately, and an air base is probably gonna be more secure than a hospital for storing ordinance... You promise me that we can take the rest of 'em when all's said and done, eh?" A smile came to my muzzle as I answered the moose with a nod, a big grin coming to her own muzzle. Well, that was easy enough to sort ou-hrk! A faint jingle was all the warning I got before I felt myself getting squeezed into Jean's rough reddish-brown coat, the breath escaping my lungs as she let off a gleeful squee, shaking me about slightly. Oh, that popping sound probably wasn't good. "Oh, thank you so much! The Mercy'll be ecstatic to hear we've got so many more healing megaspells to use, we won't forget this anytime soon!"

After a few more moments where I swear the edges of my vision were starting to go black, Jean finally released me, leaving myself gasping for breath as I flopped in the snow. A weak chuckle and small apology left her lips as I picked myself back up, breathing the slightest bit heavy as my hooves steadied me. Whuff, okay, maybe she could dial it back a little... light laughter came from above us, myself looking up to see Static watching us from atop the sub pen. "Eheheh, hang on there, Jean, we've still got some stuff to discuss yet, at the very least a compensatory finder's fee. Strikey, you don't have any broken bones that they could use as a bargaining chip against us, do you?"

A long sigh escaped me as I flopped backwards onto the snowy ground, followed by a forehoof to my forehead. Oh, come on, Static...

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to K A O S, that's Radio KAOS, and to start off I'd like to apologize for the sudden song switch earlier today, got a rather urgent request in from the Vanhoover Five for some more energetic music to go along with their antics, heh. Much as you might think, us DJs aren't omniscient, sometimes we gotta have a request for what to play every now and again. Will say that they seemed to've enjoyed the background music at least, and I'd like to think that it helped out a little in their fight, heh. Also, just to curtail it now, no, I won't be doing requests all the time now, so don't waste the batery power calling in for that.

"Speaking of the Five, though, the biggest news in the wasteland today comes out here near the coast, where this old warship I'm on had it's first little taste of action. After-action reports say that the anti-air gun batteries of the HMS Cadence have two more tally marks to put up today, after managing to shoot down two robotic dragons that were on the attack. Considering the reports also say four more were downed by the Vanhoover Five, I can't help but feel that maybe we oughta try and step up the pace here, guys. Surely, what, eight forty millimeter autocannons have gotta be able to take down more than just two can, eheh.

"In other news, the Anglerpony farms up in Glowing-Sea are apparently in full swing now, with the town finding a healthy economy - with the assistance of a branch of the Hopeville Triage - manufacturing new armor from the exoskeletons of the little beasts. Wasn't able to get exact numbers, but apparently this armor shielding is able to resist gunfire up to about .308 rifle caliber, making it not too bad at all. The overall stench of the stuff, on the other hand, well... let's hope they provide complimentary air fresheners with it, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, and it's a crisp, clear northern Vanhoover day out there, and I'm feeling a bit in need of a mellowing out. So, here's Roger Trotters' Radio KAOS on - you guessed it - Radio KAOS, heh. Enjoy."

Falling Into Place

“So, let’s see, that’ll be ten full medical kits per bomb, plus a couple doctor’s bags for good measure. That’ll come to 4000 caps, then there’s free checkups and upgrades to any and all implants for the next year, add on the clause that if it’s not an emergency, Night Strike gets to be the one pressing the button for the first megaspell detonation, and I think we’ll be even. Well, we'll be even after the standing debt has been fulfilled, of course,” I ran the numbers through my head, making sure to carry the 2’s and add on the percent interest… “Yeah, that seems about right.”

“Eh, yeah, sure…” Jean mumbled, handing over the requisite down payment of caps and medical supplies while the others finished up securing the bombs to their wagon. She scratched her head as she tried to make sense of the calculations, before giving up entirely and turning to trot back to the carts. I jangled the caps about in my hooves for a moment, smiling as I felt the weight to be satisfactory, before slipping them into my saddlebags and returning to the entrance to the sub pen. Night Strike was leaning up against the side, still regaining a bit of her breath after it had been knocked out by Jean’s embrace.

“Jeez, Static, don’t you think we have enough caps by now? I mean, what the heck do we even have to spend them on anymore? We’ve already got free room and board where we need it, medical costs, enough ammo to last us at least a few months, most of which we didn't even buy in the first place… You aren’t seriously planning on spending it all on snack cakes, are you?” She teased, poking me in the side. I passed on a roll of my eyes, heading into the sub pen as she followed behind, Aerith following in past us to retrieve another two of the bombs.

I let off a small sigh, both of us heading through a doorway labeled 'Operations', myself sitting down in one of the office chairs surrounding the large table. “Hey, you never know when there’s some piece of old-world tech you might want to buy, maybe Pearl’s discovered some way to turn ponies into alicorns without destroying their identity. Don’t act like you wouldn’t like being able to throw fireballs around with your head,” I grinned, letting off a small chuckle. Night Strike only raised an eyebrow in response, and I shrugged to answer her. “Well, at the very least we can get more ammo if we need it. Knowing you, the stuff we have is more likely to last a week at most, given your bad aim and tendency to overkill things."

Night Strike simply let out a short laugh, punching my shoulder lightly. “You’re the one calling me a bad shot? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you hit something smaller than the side of a building with Minty’s old pistol. Celestia forbid, if you had a Balefire Egg Launcher you’d probably blow up everything but the Hellhound five feet in front of you!” I grumbled a bit, scrunching my muzzle and avoiding her gaze. Hey, I managed to shoot a bloatsprite... once. Granted, I was aiming at a tin can on a fence at the time, but that's still a pretty hard target to hit!

The heavy thuds of Scouring’s hoofsteps met our ears, and we turned to see the power-armor clad unicorn trotting up from the basement area down the hall, a small stack of holotapes hovering in his magic as he entered the room. “Ay, I think I found something you guys’ll want t' see.” He trotted over to us, slipping one of the holotapes into a terminal on the conference room table. The fans began to whirr to life as the terminal booted up, Night Strike wiping some of the dust off the screen as it did. Scouring punched a few commands into the console, bringing up the data on the holotape - the screen flickered for a moment, before a map of the wasteland appeared. Markings indicated each town and military base, detailed information scrolling out on the side of the screen, such as elevations, distances, and several files labeled ‘Troop movements’.

Scouring selected one of the items, several dots appearing on the map, along with pathway markers and estimated travel times. The current one selected detailed the amount of time estimated to move several standard unmotorized ground troops from Seahoof Armory to the areas surrounding Vanhoover. Scouring tapped down to another, now indicating plans of starving out Hopeville and Maple Creek, as well as shutting down the various railways scattered throughout the region. Wearing a grimace, Scouring shut the program down and ejected out the holotape, before sliding another one into the terminal, the computer whirring as it read the data.

Rather than tactical maneuvers, this holotape simply contained several large picture files. Selecting one, the screen froze for a moment before the terminal began to slowly render a set of blueprints, Scouring letting out a small gasp of surprise. It was difficult to tell at first, but as the picture slowly loaded in, it became clear the designs were of some form of massive rocket propulsion system. The details were a mess of complicated measurements and requirements, something only someone well versed in mechanical engineering could even come close to comprehending - oh, where's Greasy when I need her? “Holy shit… I guess we know what they were after, then,” Night Strike muttered, her eyes scanning the screen as she tried to make sense of the information being displayed.

Scouring ejected the tape, starting to scoop up the others and stash them in his saddle-bags. “This is bad, this is really, really bad. If anypony, especially the ones working with Cerberus, got their hooves on these documents, we’d be lookin' at the great war all over again.” He was looking far more stressed than I had ever seen him, moving to rush out of the base. “I gotta get these to the Rangers immediately, they should be able to keep them safe. Out of dangerous hooves, at least.”

“Woah, woah, hold up right there!” A voice echoed from the hallway. As we looked up, Crash Dive was standing at the entrance, stepping up to intercept Scouring’s escape. “You just said if anypony got their hooves on these it would be disastrous. Forgive me if I decide to take that to mean your Rangers wouldn’t be any better equipped to house that information. Honestly, I’d feel better with it in the hands of some random wastelander, they at least don’t have the technological know-how or the raw troop numbers to actually make use of that information.”

Scouring paused, letting out a grunt of frustration as he tried to move around Crash Dive. “We’re a damn sight a better choice than those ex-Enclave bastards, and do you have any idea what the Elder might do to me if he ever found out this kind of information existed and we just let it go? Cerberus might already have this information, this might be the only way we can actually build an actual means to strike back!”

“And what happens if you lose this information on the way back to your base? Or if your Elder decides that he isn’t comfortable with all the towns around here having the amount of ordinance that they do? If those dragons weren’t coming here to destroy this place, that means they thought there was something here worth retrieving that they don’t have. After all we've done, do you think I - anyone - would want another Grand Pegasus Enclave out in the wasteland? We burn those tapes before anypony, and I mean anypony gets their hooves on them.” Crash Dive stood steadfast between Scouring and the exit, glaring the unicorn down.

Scouring glared right back, occasionally glancing to the holotapes still hovering in his magic. The two stood still, waiting for the other to break first. Finally, Scouring turned his head, letting out another grunt as he walked away from Crash Dive. “Gah, fock! Fuck, we cannae jus' burn these tapes, we don’t know what Cerberus is fully capable of, an' this might be our only means out!” He shoved the holotapes towards Crash Dive, several clattering to the floor as his magic faded from around them. He gave a raspy breath, leaning against one of the desks for support as he looked up towards Crash Dive. “You better know what the hell you’re doing.”

The power armored pegasus didn’t say anything, instead gathering up the tapes and beginning to trot back downstairs. I pushed myself up from the chair, Night Strike following closely behind Crash Dive as she exited the room. I paused, glancing over to Scouring, who just watched the pair head downstairs towards the records room. “Scouring… what’s wrong? I've never seen you be so… loyal to the preservation of tech, I guess is the best way to put it…” I asked. He gave a sigh, looking away from the stairwell back to me.

“Crash Dive’s right, lad. Our Elder… he’s gettin' worried. A year ago, and we were the biggest threat to this area, short of a rogue typhoon, anyways. He never planned on launching any sort of invasion, o' course, but... it’s pretty jarring to lose that sense of security so quickly. The tech in there… that might have given us the leg up we needed again. Between Cerberus, the Vanhoover Air Base, every town being equipped with enough firepower to wipe out each other, not to mention that Valkyrie of yours…” He let out another sigh, trying to maintain his composure. “Sorry, I know ye don’t mean harm, you’re not planning on attackin' our Stable, but… Well, it’s going to be a lot harder avoiding conflict now. What’s gonna happen when Cerberus is taken care of? If anypony finds out the location of our base, and all the tech we’ve got… well, power armor and lasers are only so effective. And that’s just assuming all the towns stay on good terms with each other, too. Sometimes things are kept locked up for a good reason.”

I looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. We simply stood together in silence, the occasional sound of wind whipping in from outside the only thing to break it. There came the hoofsteps of Night Strike and Crash Dive from the basement, the mares stepping back into the conference room again. Night Strike let off a sigh, adjusting her duffel bag slightly as Crash Dive produced a detonator. “Alright, we’ve got the records room rigged to burn, along with the holotapes. We’ll step outside and light it up, shouldn’t take too long for everything to go up.” Scouring nodded solemnly, and we all headed out into the cold air. Aerith was standing beside a neatly-stacked pile of the remaining megaspells, entertaining herself by doodling in the snow with a stick as Pearl and the other Triage doctors worked with them in turn. She looked up as we approached, wearing a grin, as Crash Dive held the detonator for the records room in her hoof. She pressed the button, and a moment later a muffled bang could be heard from inside the sub pen, Scouring letting off a defeated sigh.

Ensuring the Triage and the HMS Mercy crew would be able to handle the hand-off to whoever the Vanhoover Air Base were sending to get the bombs, we began to load up onto the Clydesdale, Crash Dive, Scouring, and Aerith piling into the back seat as Night Strike and I climbed up into the front. The engine rumbled to life as I started it up, tracks digging into the melting snow and pulling us forwards, away from the large concrete structure and the few ponies milling about outside of it. I looked back towards it through the rear-view mirror, letting off a quiet sigh of my own - it's better for everyone like this...

Night Strike and myself hopped out of the Clydesdale as I brought us back to the path to the land bridge and shut off the engine, the others hopping out of the back seat and onto the snow below. We all made our way back towards the lighthouse, the beam at the top cutting into the small bit of fog rolling in from the sea. The door to the small house at the base of the lighthouse creaked as Crash Dive pulled it open, the rest of us funneling in to get out of the crisp air. Night Strike and I slid into the table in the kitchen, Crash Dive and Scouring standing a bit further away from each other than they normally did. Aerith opened one of the cupboards to rummage around for a can of Cram.

‘So, what next, then?’ Aerith’s magic sign read as she turned around, sliding into the booth next to Night Strike. She pulled open the can of Cram, chomping down on the preserved hay as Night Strike placed her leg with her Pip-Buck up on the table. She fiddled with the knobs for a minute, before pulling up her map... I think.

“Hey, Crash Dive, you got any paper handy, or something?” Night Strike asked. Crash Dive nodded, leaving the room only to return a moment later with a large sheet of parchment, quill, and ink vial. She rolled out the paper, Night Strike picking the quill up in her mouth. She began to sketch little symbols out onto the parchment, the occasional splotch of ink falling from the tip of the quill onto the paper as she worked. After a few minutes, a crude mockup of her Pip-Buck’s map had been created, albeit one with significantly more lines and numbers than I remember a Pip-buck normally showing... unless... “Alright, it’s probably about time we actually try and come up with some plan of attack.”

“Eheh, well, first of all, we should probably take care of the fact that Vanhoover looks like it just suffered from a tidal wave. It’s half the size it should be!” I remarked, wearing a smirk and pointing out Night Strike’s crude sketch of the location. She let out an exasperated sigh, Crash Dive smacking me upside the head. Ow, geez! Don’t need to get rough at a bad joke… I shook my head, looking at the crude map and noticing a few new marks over by the location of Fort Maple. I lifted a hoof to point at it, only just now noticing Scouring's wide-eyed expression. “Hold on, what're those? I don’t have any of that on my map.”

Crash Dive looked apologetically over to Scouring before speaking, letting off a quiet sigh. “Alright, we didn’t actually burn everything that the sub pen had. A complete topographical map of the region with marked routes is relatively harmless, and not to mention completely invaluable. As for the locations, it looks like the Tobuck turrets all were linked to central command bunkers in the mountains, and there’s a small forward field base near the bottom of the mountain in the Vanhoover floodplains as well. If we were to assault that place early on, it would give us another good jumping off point for the full attack, besides Saddlebrook. The problem will just be taking it without being blown up by whatever guns they might have, or without them notifying the main base for reinforcements. It’d take about 10 minutes at the most for a few dragons or Harriers to swoop in and bomb the place, assuming we can catch them offguard.”

‘There isn’t any kind of Electromagnetic Pulse Megaspell, is there? We wouldn’t need the electronics, and more than likely anything they have running the place would be fried by them.’ Aerith suggested. Scouring rubbed the back of his neck, thinking things over.

“Well, an actual megaspell would fry the circuits of everythin' in there easy, problem is that it would also make the rest of the area pretty much unusable. Not to mention it’d be just as bad as setting up a giant flag above the base sayin' ‘attack here!’.” Scouring looked down at the map, thinking some more. “But… lightning might be able to generate a small EMP, or at the very least overload any circuits they might have. If we can get a strike on some sensitive equipment with the Valkyrie’s tesla cannons, that might shut things down just long enough to make a swift attack before anypony up at the main fort notices. Then, we'd just need to make sure they don’t notice the Valkyrie flying in.”

I leaned back in the chair, mulling things over. “I’d rather not go flying in a thunderstorm if we can avoid it, maybe we can set up a diversion with some of the tank ghouls?” I sat back up, pointing out a small valley near the base of the mountain not very far from the forward base. “We set a couple of the tank ghouls up there, no more than half of them. We don’t want Cerberus firing off their megaspells thinking we’re launching the full assault just yet, but they can probably hold out against any retaliation while we take care of the forward base. If they start to get overwhelmed, we can fly over and offer support. Just have to cross our hooves they don’t fire off their megaspells as a first strategy…” I said, sounding less confident of the plan with every word.

“Unless the HMS Cadence has the reach with her main guns to help out too, I think that’s the best we have right now. Once we have that base set up and take care of the Tobuck turrets in the mountain passes, then we’ll need to get in and sabotage the main Fort before we launch the full-on attack,” Night Strike looked over at me for a lng moment, before releasing a small sigh. “You and Aerith will have to go in again, and get into the lower levels this time. Taking out the power would probably be the best option, but finding the Cerberus guy and killing him would hopefully cause enough chaos for the rest of us to sweep in.”

“…are you absolutely, positively, without a doubt sure we can’t just plainly try blowing the place up? I’d really rather not risk being sliced open by robot dragons again.” Night Strike gave me a slightly worried look, biting at her lip as she turned eyes down to her map. Crash Dive, on the other hand, was quick to pass on a firm glare, causing me to grimace and look back down at the plans once more. Hey, I’m sorry if my self-preservation instincts are kicking in again! “Yeesh, alright... Too bad we don’t have dad down here. Then he could at least teleport us out of there easily once we shut everything down, so then you could bomb it without worry.”

Night Strike chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Sparky, if we had our dads here now, we wouldn't have to be sticking around to see this crazy plan through. Besides, they probably would’ve blown the place up already with the TOG.” I grinned, shaking my head a bit. Twintails probably would be the kind of pony to go charging into the middle of a fortified military base with something that moved barely faster than a brisk jog... Night Strike let off a sigh, pulling her Pip-buck-clad foreleg off of the table. “Well, that’s probably as good of a plan as we’re going to get. At least until we can actually talk with the Rangers and ghouls at the forward base, and the Cadence is fully operational.” Night Strike looked down at the paper, realizing the amount of wasted space. “…I probably didn’t really need to draw this map out, to be honest.”

“Well, you’re jus' practicing your cartography skills fer when we need to display the plans to everyone, lass. Just get your scalin' down right, don’t want to accidentally send 'em ten miles further north than they need to go,” Scouring joked. Night Strike flicked a dab of ink at him, besmudging his bright white coat. Scouring just chuckled, wiping his coat clean as Crash Dive rolled up the parchment.

“Alright, that’s enough planning for now. Next thing you know you two are going to be planning to attack the base by building a giant trebuchet.” She slipped the paper into a compartment on her power armor, picking up the inkwell and trotting to place them back in the closet. Yeah, I could go for some dinner, it isn't smart to plan on an empty stomach, after all... Night Strike began to fiddle with her Pip-buck again, searching for the radio station, as I leaned forward to swipe some of Aerith’s Cram. A large trumpet fanfare began to play, the singer’s voice fading in.

“I was walking along, minding my business,
When love came and hit me in the eye,
Flash! Bam! Alakazam!
Out of an Orange-colored, purple-striped,
Fruity green polka-dot sky!

Flash! Bam!
Alakazam, and Good-bye!”

"That was Nat King Colt, Orange-Colored Sky, and you're listening to K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. This fine evening our top story today continues to be in regards to the first taste of actual combat we've seen here on the HMS Cadence, with the flak gunners quite happily having marked down their kills on the insides of their armored turrets, two large robo-dragons gone the way of the cloudshi- a-ahm, eheh, I mean, uh... Mmh, moving on.

"In other news, we've just gotten reports that the Triage and the Vanhoover Air Base are collaborating together on something, though exact details are a little fuzzy at this time. Far as we know, they might be attempting to see if you can run a fixed-wing flying machine on pony power alone, heh. Whatever it is, apparently the Vanhoover Five did have a hoof in it, so chances are high it's gotta be something worthwhile if nothing else.

"Anyways, as we wrap up this block of assorted songs from our record collection before moving on to full albums again, here's a little somethin' upbeat for your dinnertime listening. Keep an eye out in the sky for 99 Red Balloons, everyone, heh. Enjoy."

A long yawn escaped me as I trotted down the short hallway to the kitchen, scratching at my back slightly underneath my heavy jacket. Another day, another need for some of that sweet, sweet nectar of the goddesses... bluh, sooner we can get this overwith, the sooner I can go back to sleeping in again. Trotting over to the fridge, the power armored pegasus moved to talk to me, as I popped open another one of the glowing bottles and started drinking from it. A quarter of the way through the bottle, I lifted my free hoof towards Crash Dive, not dropping it until half the glowing liquid had been emptied out of it. "Mmh, alright, I'm awake now. What's going on today?"

Crash Dive held a glare towards me for a few moments, before simply letting off a sigh and giving her head a shake. "We're still getting some things sorted, Static and Aerith went off to Maple Creek to see how Sulfur was getting along with the gun schematics we'd brought to her and Scouring's up on top of the tower trying to get a signal out to his group of rangers, but I just got a bit of interesting news from Lt. Col. Tail End you might want to hear." I blunk a few times, taking another gulp of soda from the bottle. Leiutenant Colonel Tail End... come on, brain, work with me here. Probably isn't Crash Dive's old squad, maybe her old commanding officer gone good, or something? Or... the power armored pegasus let off a sigh, bringing a hoof to her forehead for a moment. "He's the commander of the group we sent over to the HMS Cadence."

"...I knew that. I mean, I would've gotten there eventually, eheheh..." Rubbing at the back of my head and letting off a weak chuckle, I sat myself down in the booth, glancing out the bay window. Rather nice clear day today... "So, uh, anyways, what's the news? You getting a post-collapse promotion, or something? Ooh, we all getting the Enclave equivalent of Celestial Crosses if this all works out?"

The power armored pegasus let loose a chuckle and shook her head, resting her hooves on the table. "Not... quite that. They're still short a few crew, but they figured that the HMS Cadence is in good enough shape now to give her a run-around of the island, see how well she'll handle the stresses of running again." Oh... well, wait a second now, that's still a great thing! I don't think I've ever seen a boat bigger than Trout moving, anyways... Well, I mean, actual boat-boat, not flying-boat. I nodded for a moment, Crash Dive seeming to be trying to hold something back, before relenting with a soft sigh. "...and they also want to perform a test fire of her main batteries. Fowler had requested that you be there for her first voyage after reactivation."

Gulping down the mouthful of soda I had, I turned my wide eyes back to Crash Dive, blinking them a few times before letting a stupid grin spread across my face. Why didn't you lead with that, ya crazy mare? Eight eight-inch guns all firing, loaded with massive high-explosive shells, oh sweet Celestia I'm getting fidgety just thinking about it. Finishing off the bottle and setting it aside, I hopped out of the booth, trotting for the door, only to be stopped by Crash Dive lifting her foreleg against my chest. Taking a step back, I looked over to her, seeing her with her other hoof held to her ear... huh? "Uh... hang on, what did you mean by 'got the news from Tail End', I thought Fowler was the acting comms officer. And didn't you say you reworked your suit's radio systems to fire your cannon?"

As she gave a nod and brought her hoof down from her ear, Crash Dive passed on a smirk towards myself, turning about to head out the door with me. "Doesn't mean I couldn't rework them back into being just a normal built-in radio, while also still being able to fire the cannon. They're ready for us, we just have to wait for the others to get back." As if summoned by that, the distinctive rumble of a large engine on the shore could just be heard over the waves below, Crash Dive letting off a small chuckle as she turned about. "And speak of the cap-pinching devil..."

A temperate blast of air met us from the sea as we stepped out of the lighthouse, myself letting my wings catch the updraft for a little bit as Crash Dive pushed onwards down to the landbridge. Huh, feels like it might be getting a bit warmer... buh, hopefully we can have this all sorted before summer rolls around, I don't know how well I'd handle it when it stops being nice and snowy like this. The Clydesdale's engine rumbled to a stop as we both reached the top of the shore, myself catching Aerith levitating a large steamer trunk off the back deck as Static skipped around the front of the half-truck, a wide grin on his muzzle. Oh, boy...

The trunk landed in the snow with a muffled whump and audible jingling of a bunch of small metal circles with crimped edges, Aerith seeming at least a little interested in the contents as Static undid the latches and moved to open it up, myself landing beside him. He passed on that grin, while I could only let off a disbelieving sigh. "Alright, how many more caps did you mercilessly suck out of the Vanhoover Wasteland's economy, Static? Half a million? A million? Two?"

"Only fifteen-thousand up-front, with a contract in place giving us an even 10% of all sales from weapons constructed from what we found in the bunker. However, that doesn't include the value of the specialty ammunition that Sulfur was putting together with the Hopeville gunsmith, some of which I think you'll at least be able to appreciate..." The earth pony pushed open the lid of the trunk, revealing the bag of caps, along with several neatly-stacked boxes of ammunition. Reaching in, he unsurprisingly took the bag first, before pulling up one of the ammo boxes that sat next to it and pushing it over. I undid the latch and opened up the lid, as Static took to fitting the new pile of caps into his own saddlebags, a few more of the ammoboxes levitating out in Aerith's magic. Alright, let's see what this one holds... huh.

Pulling out one of the shells, it was unquestionably in the casing of a 40mm grenade, but the round's shape was... different, to say the least. They're supposed to be more spherical, not as cone-shaped as this. Setting it aside, I dug through the rest of the ammo in the box, trying to see if there was anything labeling what they were, besides oddly-shaped grenades, anyways. Aerith seemed to've noticed my confusion, as she put up a sign for me to read. 'Sulfur said that these were shaped-charge warheads, they can actually penetrate thick armor thanks to the shape of the explosives, and... I think the copper lining inside? Something like that. She wasn't entirely sure either, but it seemed like it worked pretty well against an old engine block they were using for target practice.'

Looking back to the round, I gave a small shrug, taking a few of them from the ammo box and putting them into my duffel bag, before closing it back up. Suppose I could probably see how effective they are for myself later, maybe we take a trip up to Maple Station and get some more target practice in, or something. If these can penetrate armor, then maybe killing robo-dragons just became a lot easier...

Crash Dive cleared her throat behind me, getting everyone's attention. "Mmhm, right, get it over into the lighthouse, we're a little pressed for time. The HMS Cadence is ready to cast off now, and Tail End doesn't know how long Fowler's willing to wait for us to get over there for the ceremony. Get the Valkyrie started up and ready to go, let's make this quick." Aerith passed on a nod, her horn alighting to close and latch the trunk before picking it up from the ground, her wings spreading wide. Static passed on a hrug and had started making way towards the Valkyrie, as I looked over to the top of the lighthouse.

"Hey, what about Scouring? He ought to at least hear we're leaving before we take off." Turning eyes back to Crash Dive, she was looking at the top of the lighthouse with me for a bit, before looking back to me. And to think I thought we'd seen the end of Crash Dive's piercing glare... eesh, how does she do that? I let loose a weak chuckle, shrinking back a little, the power armored pegasus letting off a small, annoyed sigh.

"Alright, fine, if we must. Aerith, get his attention and let him know, I'm just gonna get onboard the plane." The alicorn nodded and took off with the trunk in tow, Crash Dive letting loose a huff as she turned about and started trotting towards the bomber. I slid myself up beside her as she trotted along, the power armored pegasus eventually taking notice for a moment, just responding with a shake of her head. "I'm not sure if I'm on board with the steel rangers helping out too. Celestia knows what else is in Fort Maple besides Project Cerberus, and whatever Project Cerberus is itself. You saw how he was acting at the sub pen."

The snow crunched underhoof as we trotted around the nose of the Valkyrie, moving to the opposite side where the cockpit access door was. I let loose a sigh, pausing as we stood at the base of the opened doorway. "I know... I'll be first to admit, I dunno how other groups of Steel Rangers work, but the ones back home were at least mostly harmless so long as you weren't trying to attack them. We can't really afford to not have at least a few hooves on the ground to help with holding some of these places, and I doubt we could ask an entire town to just up and go off to war with only standard rifles and pistols against these things. At least the Rangers would have some military training themselves."

Crash Dive looked back towards the bomb bay, staying quiet for a few moments, before letting off a sigh. The two bay doors opened with a hiss of hydraulics, locking in place wide and offering a means of entry for the power armored pegasus, myself stepping onto the ladder. Her power armor whirred as she took a few steps forwards, before reaching up to place a hoof on my shoulder, getting my attention. "I know how important it is to have at least some soldiers on the ground. I'm just not sure what's going to happen when it's all over, if they'll just take what they want from Fort Maple and call it a day, or try expanding out and seizing more stuff. The last thing this wasteland... this place needs is yet another force trying to take it over."

A sigh escaped me as I stood on the ladder, pausing to think. That was a valid point... we can't really be policing stuff if we're going home after this. Guh, I'm not the pony that should be handling politics, dangit, I just like explosions. My eyes moved back to Crash Dive, and I adjusted myself on the rungs. "We'll... we'll work out something. Static can probably broker a deal or something, and if they get too active there are still the Tank Ghouls and Vanhoover Air Base, I guess... We'll try to not let it come to that."

Crash Dive gave a small nod, Aerith landing nearby... alone. We both blunk in a bit of surprise, the alicorn flashing up a screen for us. 'Scouring's gonna stay here, said he's still sorting things out with the Rangers. I think they'll be helping out over by Saddlebrook when things start off, if what I overheard is right.' Crash Dive's eyes sftened after a moment, before responding with a nod, moving back and climbing herself up into the bomb bay. I started again to climb up into the turret, only to be blocked by one of Aerith's signs, the alicorn wearing a weak grin. 'So, uh, kinda missed it, why are we going to the HMS Cadence again?'

I let off a small sigh, looking back to the Alicorn. "Well... put one way, I hope you don't get seasick."

"Engineering to Bridge, four reactors hot and a full head of steam ready for orders." The Cadence was more alive with activity than anything I'd ever seen before, as we made our way onto the main control deck. Fowler was stood at a central console with a few other ponies milling about the room, some of which I managed to recognize as the leaders of the gryphon ghouls and the old sailor ghouls. Nice to know they managed to get along with each other in the end... "Gunnery to Bridge, all stowage areas are primed and ready, waiting on your orders."

"Copy Gunnery, hold until we're underway. Everyone else, brace yourselves for cast-off." The old Petty Officer looked up from his console as we trotted in, wearing the widest grin I'd ever seen on his muzzle as he hopped off his chair. Who knew all we needed to do to get Fowler in a good mood was resurrect a whole warship? "Hah, glad you lot managed to show up. The Cadence hasn't breathed like this in, well, centuries! Magnificent, isn't she?"

"Well, to be honest I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that this whole thing is going to be able to move on it's own, myself. Let alone use those turrets down there while doing it..." Static had trotted over to a window at the front of the room, peering down out of it at the front of the ship, and the four massive guns that sat down there. On second thought, yeah, I gotta agree with him... I mean, I know this is gonna move, but it's just weird to think that it actually will. It's the size of a building... "I mean, isn't it going to be difficult to aim when you're moving along in open waters?"

The other sailor ghoul - ahm... wait, wait, don't tell me... Salty Sea? Er, no, Sea Salt! - let off a laugh, trotting over to greet us as well. "Lad, the sea can be as rough as she wants, the guns are stabilized with the horizon. Don't you know anything about these ships?" Static let off a weak chuckle as he moved back a little, Sea Salt turning towards the rest of us, though focusing more towards Fowler. "Come on, Cadence's woken up now and wants to stretch her legs, back to your post Fowler. You lot, just stay out of our way, go onto the observation deck or something till we're off. Lot yet that could go keel-up with her, come on, out."

"Friendly, isn't he?" I answered Static with a roll of my eyes as we shuffled out through the side door, moving down a flight of stairs to the outside decks, getting a good view off of them to the open ocean beyond, along with the far-off shoreline. Oh, I can't wait to see what kinds of craters these guns'll leave behind. A warning klaxon rung a few times, the ship starting to shudder as... something started up, all of us bracing against the side railing. Slowly but surely, the Cadence began to move, making a wide right turn away from the shore of the island and pointing towards the mainland instead. Sweet Celestia, this... this is something else.

The waves began to crash against the side of the massive ship as we traveled out to sea, heading for the stretch of water between the island and the mainland. The ship had picked up a fair amount of speed as we went along, sending some of the spray up to sting at our eyes, myself turning around and steadying on the railing while I rubbed at mine with my jacketed foreleg. Blinking them open again, I looked up to Crash Dive as she rested on the railing, a smile on her muzzle... she's been doing that a lot lately, but it's still odd to see.

She wore a smirk as she glanced over to myself, looking out across the water and to the far-away shore. "Hum... isn't exactly like a cloudship, but it's close to what I remember. Ocean was a lot further below back then, but... yanno, this is pretty nice, too."

I matched her smile, leaning a bit more on the old railing, feeling the ship adjusting course a little further as we steamed through the strait. Crash Dive on a ship... oh, c'mon brain, don't make my mouth do that. I couldn't help but let loose a small chuckle, looking out across the water with her. She seemed to notice, only slightly confused. "Heh, sorry... just, your cutie mark, you ever think you might've been destined to work on a ship like this?"

The power armored pegasus joined my little laugh, giving her head a slow shake as she ended it with a sigh. "You know, I don't think I've ever actually considered it. Maybe somewhere out there, some point in time, I could've been... Always have been curious about the ocean, what lies down in those depths. The textbooks in school only had a little info on that stuff, but what was there just made it seem so... alien, so interesting." We both were looking down to the blue water below, watching the swells and waves battering the steel hull, the choppiness making it hard to see anything down there. Crash Dive wore a smile, another soft sigh leaving her muzzle. "Maybe I could've been a marine researcher or salvage diver, or something. Probably is a lot of the old world still preserved in those murky depths..."

I adjusted myself on my hooves slightly, reaching up to pat Crash Dive's armored shoulder a few times, wearing a smirk. "You, going off and salvaging the old world from the bottom of the sea... well, I don't really see it myself, but if you think you could do it and enjoy doing it at that, I'd say go for it. Yanno, just, after we don't have to worry about getting bombed or whatever, heh." The power armored pegasus answered with a nod and smile, turning eyes back out across the ocean. Below us, a few of the sailors were rushing about, making checks and running stations, as far as we could tell - at least, until out of the corner of my eye, I saw something swing out from the back of the ship.

Blinking a few times, I moved around Crash Dive to get a bit closer along the observation deck, as far as that helped. Another one of the grey things swung out, and just about as it settled in position I finally rcognized what they were. An utterly stupid grin spread across my face as well, and I immediately rushed over to the other side to look down to the forward turrets, seeing the upper one slowly rotate to the same side as the other barrels. Looking back to the others, and bouncing on my hooves a little, they... oh, come on guys, it's eight eight-inch guns that're about to fire! You could be at least a little excited! Don't you facehoof at me, Static, we were both working for exactly this.

The sound of hooves on a metal stairway filled the air behind us as Fowler trotted down, in contrast to the rest of the group at least managing to wear an actual happy smile. It seemed to falter as his eyes moved over me, the old sailor letting off a small chuckle. "Well, suppose ye saw Cadence swinging her guns to starboard, we're just about ready to let 'er rip once again. C'mon, rest are waiting at the midships fighter launch platform, best place to watch without worryin' about blowing your eardrums out, heh."

"Aw, c'mon Fowler, a little tinnitus never hurt anyone. I'm gonna fly ahead, just, well, y'know, eheheh..." Breaking into giggles, I spread my wings out wide, hopping up onto the railing and leting myself teeter over the edge, wind catching me as I fell and carrying me through the air. The sting of the ocean water soon drew near, and I pulled myself up a ways away from the Cadence, just hovering in place for a moment to appreciate the immense size of the ship, and her four great turrets as well. She's like a floating artillery battery, and she isn't even a Battleship... oh, I wonder if there are even any battleships left nowadays...

Flying forwards again, I made way along the length of the ship, the back of it having passed me by as I was admiring it's size. The old world Equestrian flag was flying proudly from the rearmost portion on a straight pole, a rather barren deckspace jutting out a ways before you reached the rearmost turret, both of it's massive guns staying plainly level even as the ship rolled and rocked with the waves. That stupid grin still on my face, I weaved and flew between them, watching the thick grey steel pass me by before pulling up again, the side of the ship raising up along with the second-last turret. Getting back to flying over the deck after passing the other turret's barrels, I let myself roll over to be back over the ship, the tops of the angled launch rails coming into view, along with the storage hangars for the jets that ran off of them. Well, that's where Fowler said to go... oh, this is gonna be great.

Landing on the deck with a heavy thud of my hooves, stumbling ever so slightly, I looked around, eventually getting bearings and heading over to the right side of the ship to view the guns firing. Looking about, I eventually saw an open platform with what looked to be a few ghouls already on it, hopping back to the air and hovering over to them. Only one of the ponies seemed to take notice, the gryphon ghoul pulling his binoculars down from his eyes before picking up an intercom set. "All batteries ready, target at heading 0 9 4, shoreline... Captain, are we really about to fire upon Equestria? From an Equestrian Cruiser no less?"

The intercom fizzled for a moment, myself leaning on the railing to look out at the shore, the gryphon navy Captain responding. "Certainly appears that way. The war's been long over, remember, we've got bigger things to focus on now. Don't let this get to your head, Leftenant." Huh... well, I mean, I guess I can't really blame them much for finding this a little exciting for other reasons. Forgot that these gryphons were Equestria's enemies at one point...

"Aye sir, just... still internalizing it." The gryphon let off a chuckle as he set the intercom back down, the door to our backs opening as Fowler, Crash Dive, Static and Aerith all funneled out, the ghouls and other sailors on deck passing on salutes as they caught sight of the old Petty Officer. He returned their salutes with that same grin, the gryphon stepping aside as Fowler approached the intercom, picking it up.

"We're all set at midships, sir, fire when ready. Let's see if Cadence still bites as well as she growls." The old sailor ghoul set the intercom back down on it's rack, letting loose a chuckle as he leaned up against the railing, myself already leaning over and watching with excitement. The gun barrels at the rear of the ship all adjusted themselves upwards before locking in position, the four forward guns doing the same, everyone watching with bated breath. Eight eight-inch long-range guns... oh, this is gonna be great.

A warning klaxon rung out three times, the air falling dead silent save for the sounds of the ocean. With a brilliant flash and blast of smoke, the rearmost gun fired, followed rapidly in turn with the other one sharing it's turret, then the six and fifth guns, fourth and third, and finally the second and first, each blast from their muzzles shaking me to the core and, admittedly, making it a little difficult to concentrate, really. Legs weak, we all watched towards the distant shore, a slightly scattered line of massive explosions striking firm against the rocky wall, blasting it apart and making the cliffs collapse into the icy water below. The distant blasts eventually reached us, myself swaying lightly on my hooves, stupid giggles escaping my muzzle. Oh sweet Celestia and Luna above, that was something else...

Stumbling slightly, ears still ringing with that lovely sound, I felt myself fall back and land against the deck, breathing heavy as I laid there, twitching ever so slightly in the afterglow of the display of massive firepower. I let my eyes shut, still letting off intermittent giggles, the sound of hooves trotting around me muffled as I began to drift off, feeling spent. Before unconsciousness could grace me with it's sweet bliss following that, my ears could just about make out one voice at least - Fowler's, I think...

"...Oh. So that's why ye asked if we had any washrooms ready..."

By the time I'd gotten myself cleaned up - don't look at me like that - and the Cadence had eased herself back into her position at Deadstallion's Island, it was well on in the day, nearly mid-afternoon by the time we'd flown back to the lighthouse to pick up Scouring. Lucky us, just as we were about to head off the Cadence, we managed to get word that the Tank Ghouls wanted our company today, too - suppose we should be glad that the Valkyrie turns a multi-day trip into only a few minutes, heh. The gunnery range had passed us by underneath, myself swinging the Valkyrie about to head back in for a landing, Static letting off a slow whistle behind me.

"Well, the tank shed sure is buzzing with activity, it looks like they're all set to ship out... they have our map, right?" I thought for a moment, slowing us down over the empty field, bringing the Valkyrie into a hover. I... don't remember giving them it, we haven't been back here since picking it up and it isn't like we can transmit it via radio. That would be useful for them to have, wouldn't it?

"Maybe that's what they called us for, or at least some general game plan, anyways. They probably know that the Cadence is up and running again, want to know what they'll all be doing for the big showdown." We eased down onto the test range as we had before, the soft ground taking the weight of the Valkyrie on its landing gear and affording us a smooth touchdown. Man, I am getting -good- at that... I shut the engines off, scrolling through my legputer's screens to find the map, Static opening the bomb bay and unbuckling himself behind me. "Least it is on a holotape, so we can just give it to them to copy, or something. Maybe we'll have to make a detour over to the Vanhoover Air Base, too..."

"Well, let's just head over and ask, then. Then maybe find something to eat, too, I'm starving..." Undoing my own buckles, I could only answer the earth pony with a roll of my eyes, hopping out of the seat and getting to my hooves. Come on, Static, it's only about 6 PM... though, I do kinda have to agree with him. Much as I hate to admit it, a pegasus cannot survive off of Sparkle Cola alone, and I've only had one bottle today... The earth pony's stomach was the louder of both of ours, Static wearing a light blush as he exited the cockpit, myself following behind him to join up with the others.

"Dinner at the Roundhouse, you buy?" Wearing a grin, my hooves met the melting ground, the earth pony looking back towards me with a half-eyeroll. I stuck my tongue out at him in response, both of us heading into town behind the rest of the Vanhoover Five, making way for the tank shed. A few of the more recently-arrived tanks sat outside the doors, but as we approached, there didn't seem to be any sounds of planning or prepping inside. Matter of fact, aside from the lights being on, didn't even seem like anybody was inside...

Looking back towards us in a bit of confusion, Aerith eventually gave off a shrug, hers and Scouring's horns alighting and taking hold of the handles. The large doors swung open with loud creaks, us all troting inside, looking about. Avery's still here, and so is Porschia, and Fyre, and Deathtrap, and the BT-42, and Sensha's tank... where the heck is everyone?

Trotting along, the sound of someone speaking from inside one of the tanks could be just made out as it echoed up through an open hatch, myself hovering ahead to try and make it out a bit more clearly. The metal back of Deathtrap creaked slightly under my hooves as I landed upon it, the voice stopping as I did, some shuffling heard from inside. Caution Tape soon appeared out of Deathtrap's main turret, a pair of reading glasses prominent across his muzzle as he rested back against the turret ring. "Ah, Nacht Strike, nice to see you again! Will have to forgive me, was in the middle of storytime with Sensha, just to take advantage of some of the peace and quiet... What brings you all here tonight, anyhow?"

"We got a message while we were heading off of the Cadence, said you guys called for us for some reason. I'm... guessing you don't know, either." I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head, Aerith, Crash Dive, and Static all pulling up alongside as Scouring went on ahead to the other end of the shed. Caution Tape paused for thought for a moment, tapping his hoof against his chin, before his eyes seemed to finally light up... well, more than a ghouls' eyes usually do, anyways.

"Ah, right, zhey all went for a party at the Roundhouse, some sort of pre-var ball or something. Erm, zat is, a ball before going off to the war, I mean, not a 'pre-war' party, eheh." Caution Tape readjusted himself in the hatch, leaning forwards against the turret roof. "I had to guess, they wanted you to attend vith them. Zhey left only a little while ago, should still be there for most of the night, most likely."

Party at the Roundhouse? Well, I mean, we were gonna head there anyways... guess we'll be going sooner than later. Aerith clapped her hooves together a few times, a cheery grin on her muzzle, before hopping off the ground and flying out of the long railshed, myself turning back to face Caution Tape. "Well, uh, thanks for cluing us in, suppose we'll head over. You sure you don't wanna come with?"

The old zebra let off a small chuckle, waving a hoof in front of himself as he leaned back in the turret hatch. "Ah, nein, you go enjoy yourselves. Big day tomorrow, they're all antsy to get going after hearing the Cadence is alive again, heh. We'll be fine here, nice to have a little alone time every now and again." I passed on a nod, hopping down from the back of the long tank, Caution Tape giving a small shake of his head as a chuckle escaped him. "Well, alone time when you've got a heated shed to be inside, anyways... I'll probably head up later on, would be nice to catch up with old friends, away from the tanks."

"Suit yourself, long as you're enjoying the night one way or another. C'mon, parties mean free food, the best kind of free thing!" Static was already happily heading out for the doorway, Crash Dive letting off a disbelieving sigh and bringing her hoof to her forehead for me, following him behind. I gave one last wave to Caution Tape before he ducked back inside his tank, the crisper night air soon meeting myself as I passed through to the outside, shutting the large shed doors behind me. Taking to the air, the soft blue glow of the railyard took over the darkness of late afternoon, myself eventually catching up with Static and Crash Dive. Heh, feels a bit like old times, really...

We approached the large circular shed that held the restaurant and theatre, the music and sounds of enjoyment and laughter already prominent as we drew near the door to enter. Stepping inside, the large number of tank ghouls all were milling about with each other, myself just trying to pick out a face I recognized. How many ponies came up from Cordite?... well, I mean, I guess the tank ghouls here do kinda need crews for their tanks, too, so that probably bumps the number up a bit. How many was it that Jack said? At least two or three extra crew per tank? Yeesh...

Trotting further inside and finding a table for us to all sit at for the moment, my attempts to try and find a familiar face were suddely stalled out as... -something- started to make an awful droning noise. Static was quick to move his hooves to cover his ears, Crash Dive even grimacing at the sound, as I tried to figure out where it was coming from. It... started to sound like some sort of music, I think, playing out an old tune that I can only assume once was either used as a war cry or a torture device. Probably both. The noise, or music, or whatever it was, kept playing, and eventually I managed to locate what in the name of Celestia and Luna above was making it - well, suppose we found Mad Jack at least, heh...

The old ghoul kept playing his instrument, some sort of plaid cloth bag with an array of pipes sticking out of it, for what felt like a fairly long while. Eventually, the song wrapped up, and the Roundhouse broke out into a loud applause that somehow managed to sound quieter than whatever that pipe-bag was, Mad Jack taking a quick bow and hopping off of the stage. Rubbing at my ears - eesh, maybe tinnitus isn't as harmless as I thought - I didn't hear the sound of four hooves and two paws heading over to us, jumping only slightly as Aerith appeared with Hispano beside her. The gryphon was likewise rubbing at her own ears, myself shuffling in a bit so they could sit down.

"Egh, honestly, I still can't believe that thing's a musical instrument... So, this whole banquet or whatever's for you guys, or something? Whole town's been excited since they heard about the Cadence getting restarted and testing her guns." I could only answer her with a shrug, a waiter passing by to drop off a few menus, us all getting our drink orders sorted. Well, yeah, guess they wouldn't go and make up any fancy dishes just for one event... eh, food is food, and possibly free food is better. The waiter trotted off, Hispano leaning back against the cushioning of the booth. "I'm still having a hard time believing it myself, and I'm the one who got most of the ponies running the thing for ya in the first place. Remind me to head over there to check it out sometime..."

"Believe me, if you're anything like Night Strike, you probably don't wanna be onboard when they fire the guns. Or, at least, ask Fowler or someone if they have any washrooms spare..." Static wore a sly smirk as he chuckled, one that quickly faded as I gave his shoulder a quick shove, knocking him over. I could feel my cheeks burning as Hispano held back a snicker, the earth pony picking himself back up as I shrunk back into the seat. Oh, c'mon, they were eight-inch guns! Eight of them! Can you really blame me for being a little excited?

Hispano shook her head, leaning forwards on the table. "Okay, I kinda figured you were all about the big loud weapons, but... yeah, I shouldn't really be that surprised, should I? Hey, whatever gets you goin' gets you goin', I'm not one to judge." The waiter soon returned with our drinks, setting them all out in front of us. Trying to regain myself, everyone else placed their orders, with me going last as I quickly ran over the menu. The waiter took our menus from us, heading off, Hispano leaning back and looking out across the bustle of the packed restaurant-theatre as somepony went up on the stage to announce the next performance. "Heh, man, kinda reminds me of the first time I came here..."

"Miss Hispano?" A mare's voice caught our attention, myself shuffling about to try and look over to who it was... and facehoofing when my brain finally did me the favor of recognizing it. I'm not really used to hearing Vera talking rather than singing... The ghoulified dame trotted up to our table, done up in her lovely performance dress with a bright red Poppy on the lapel, and only a few faint bits of makeup to accentuate her features, a welcoming smile across her muzzle. It is easy to see why Dad loves her so much... "My word, I hadn't realized you were back in town once again, it has to've been at least a decade. Forgive me for my curiosity, are you still with that lovely young stallion? From what I remember, you two were headed down quite a far ways away."

I blunk a few times as Hispano leaned on the table, letting off a soft chuckle. Stallion? Hispano never mentioned a coltfriend... as far as I can remember. Maybe she did, and I just forgot about it, or something... huh. "Yeah, was up in Seaddle with dad when Hopeville got shelled, came up here to help and stuck around when I ran into these guys. Been nice seeing some old friends again..." Aerith gave a gentle nod as Hispano looked to her, the gryphon taking a pause to take a sip from her drink. Vera looked on expectantly, Hispano leaning back. "And yeah, 'course I'm still with Night, just on a little vacation is all. Might pick something up for him long as I'm here, know if that seamster's got any cute new dress designs? Oh, and anything that might fit a Snow Dog, too?"

Vera let off a light chuckle as the stallion from before got back up on stage to announce the next act again, the performer's ears perking up as she looked over towards him. "Oh, dreadfully sorry to cut this short, but I've got to go on now. Can't tell you how long it's been since I last sang for our armed forces, don't want to keep them waiting. We should catch up after the show, though, it's lovely seeing you again!" The earth pony dame passed on a gentle wave to Hispano as she rushed to the backstage area, the gryphon returning it as I just looked at her in faint confusion. She knew Vera already, and she has a coltfriend, or maybe something more than that by now, and... a pet snow dog, whatever that was? Maybe?

Hispano returned my confusion, taking another sip from her drink before letting off a sigh. "Okay, looks like we're doing the explaining game again. What part's making you give me that look?" A thunder of applause went up in the theater as I was about to say 'all of it', the stallion heading off of the stage and Vera trotting onto it, and up to the microphone at the center. She cleared her throat slightly, the Roundhouse falling quiet. Maybe save it until after her performance starts, Strikey...

"It's my pleasure to perform for all of you brave, valiant stallions and mares of both Her Majesty's Armed Forces, and the more recent forces of Cordite. It's thanks to your efforts that we might one day be able to live freely once again on our homeland, without any further fear of attack or danger, that we may once again become the wondorous land we were so many years ago. I do sincerely wish the best for each and every one of you as you go off to fight our enemies, and for your safe return by the end, so that as I look out across this theatre now all these faces shall remain the same when all's said and done. For our first song tonight, please do join in, as I believe most of not all of you should know these lyrics..." After a short pause, that familiar eight-note opening filled the Roundhouse, soon followed by Vera's voice ringing loud and clear through the speakers. Slowly, the crowds joined in, all singing as one that fantastic, golden, old tune, bringing tears and smiles to every face.

Tomorrow is gonna be a big day, but... I think we'll be able to do it.

"Everyone's got their plans, right?" All was sorted by the next morning, and the grounds around the tank shed were alive with the rumble of engines. Porshcia, Fyre, the Avenger, the BT-42, and the Crusader all were poised and ready to set off east towards Saddlebrook, with Rheinmetall, Rangefinder, Gardener, and Ironsides all sticking out of their turret-top hatches, settling in for the journey. Meanwhile, looking towards the south, Avery, Liberty Bell, the T-8, and whatever the one track-truck was called were all set to head for the forward base on the nearer side of the mountain ranges, and hopefully have the luxury of the HMS Cadence's guns at their disposal when they finally arrived. Caution Tape and Sensha both rested outside with their tanks as well, not wanting to miss seeing everyone off. For our part... well, at least we were able to bring a radio outside to hear and speak to everyone.

"'course we do, lass, this is far from our first tussle, and that new map's gonna be one hell of a help when we get nearer to the targets. Just running some last checks, don't want to run out of ammo halfway through the fight, yeah? Heh..." Mad Jack grinned from atop Avery, his metal hat glinting in the early morning sun as he held the radio mic to his muzzle. Porschia's engine revved at the end of the other line, Rheinmetall chiming in.

"Certainly wouldn't be ideal, but I'd assume you'd just start wailing on them with your sword at that point, Jack. Let's try to get through this vith as few life-threatening injuries as we can manage, ja?" The unicorn ghoul let off a chuckle over the set, Mad Jack joining him in it for a moment.

"Oh, come on Rheinmetall, that's half the fun of it! I've got my longbow along, too, so don't think I'll only just jump at the chance to hit the bastards with my sword..." All the tanks' engines roared a little louder in a momentary cascade, Mad Jack's cackling coming over the air. "Though I might just have to see if they'll drive me close enough to do it! All set here, just give the word, lass."

Looking between both lines of tanks, and the four ponies surrounding me at the radio, I gave a nod, letting off a breath. Check the legputer... 10 AM on the dot, and it's even kinda a nice day to start a war. No more stalling, Strikey... "Alright, let's get the show sta-"

A low, long, loud whistle broke the air, even over the rumble of all the tank engines, catching everyone's attention. Okay, that's definitely a new sound, is there another train coming into the station now, or something? Some loud swearing came over the radio set, the whistle blast cutting off, before following the long blast with six shorter ones. The noise of a machine gun being readied broke over the speaker as I saw Rheinmetall fumbling with one on his tank's hatch, myself holding the send button in a panic. "What the hell is that, what's going on?!"

Mad Jack's voice came over first, the earth pony shuffling around the interior of his tank while he spoke. "Had a new warning system installed at the engine house after Hopeville was hit, quick way for us to know when we should scramble. Long blast followed by short ones, that means..." The hatch doors clattered open over the radio, Mad Jack sticking back out of his tank and looking around, before I heard Static filling in the end of his sentence for him.

"Robo-Dragons!" ...ah, shit.

My eyes hung frozen up at the sky as I watched the massive mechanical beasts flying in, the loud, piercing whistle blowing another long blast. The sharp rattling of... some sort of machine gun, I think, came afterwards quickly, as that familiar metal screech echoed through the air. The swift motion of three large metallic dragons sweeping across the sky overhead caught our atention, bright green tracers flying from the top of Rheinmetall's tank as he kept fire upon the beasts, most of the rounds just pinging harmlessly off. Oh shit, this is definitely not good... The massive robots swung out wide, before heading back in towards us, the flickering of charging plasma and lit pilot lights clear inside their mouths.

Hurrying back towards the less-exposed safety of the tank garage, I stopped just short as a wall of flame blasted down in front of me, the heat making my eyes water. The snow nearby quickly melted, leaving a trail of slush as the flame continued along, carving its way across the muddied ground. I jumped over the smoldering grass, bursting into the garage to find a greasy-coated unicorn rushing past me with a pair of really large machine guns. The stallion quickly passed the pair of guns up to where Caution Tape sat, the zebra quick to fasten them to the top of his tank and begin firing at the dragons, more plasma raining n from overhead. Night Strike soon joined me inside, as did Aerith, the both of them hurrying out of the way as Sensha's tank pushed on through to enter the garage as well, only just missing scraping against the still-opened doors.

Crash Dive and Scouring were helping with distracting the dragons for the others to shoot at them, at least, Rangefinder's tank's top machine gun opening up and joining the cacaphony as well. “What’re they attacking here for?! How did they even know we were here!?” Night Strike asked in a panic, looking over to me. I gave her a bit of a look and she rolled her eyes, giving an exasperated sigh. “Okay, fine, we aren’t moving covertly, but still!” She shook her head, glancing over to see Aerith rushing after Deathtrap with Peridot in her grasp. “Well, whatever, we need to get to the Valkyrie now! Those dragons are going to be nearly impossible to shoot down with the tanks, even with the 88mm flak shells.” She hurried back towards the door, myself hanging back for just a moment as I watched her. She paused and turned around, staring back at me, another jet of flames lighting up the side of Deathtrap and forcing Caution Tape to duck, the offending dragon swooping by low overhead. Well, forgive me for not exactly wanting to run right into the middle of a warzone that much! Giving my head a shake, I brought myself back to my hooves, catching up to her and following closely behind.

Occasional loud explosions rang through the air as Rheinmetall's tank fired off shots towards the sky, the turret constantly turning to try and track the robo-dragons while the unicorn tanker kept peppering them with his machine gun. The shells burst in the air, kicking up snow and showering the ground with shrapnel, the dragons deftly avoiding the brunt of the explosions, wings shielding them from the pieces of metal. Crowds of ponies screamed out loud from the town as they sought cover, many making their way towards the roundhouse in the center of town, large lengths of cars moving in a panic to get away from the dragon fight. Night Strike and I hurried down the rows of trains, looking about for more of the massive robots frantically, the new sound of a bunch of rapid-fire cannons lighting up the sky from somewhere in the train yard. Huh... doesn't sound like anything we sold.

Sprinting further through the town to the firing range, I heard several more shots fire off, jets of flame raining down from the sky as the dragons spun through the air. Suddenly there was a flash of silver, and before I could react, a dragon dropped out of the sky, landing on top of one of the nearby train cars. Its metal claws tore holes into the sheet metal of the car, Night Strike skidding to a halt in mid-air. The dragon’s jaws opened wide, the back of its throat glowing a brighter and brighter green as it charged up its plasma cannon. As it reared back to fire, though, a beam of emerald shot through the air, smashing through the lower jaw of the dragon. Its head jerked to the side from the force of the blast, sending the ball of plasma onto an empty set of train tracks, causing a large crater and making the metal melt quickly away, the ties catching aflame in the gravel quickly.

I stumbled past the smouldering dent in the ground, looking up to see another beam slice its way through one of the wings. The dragon scanned about to find the source of the beams, its jaw hanging on barely by a few inches of metal, eventually settling its head in one direction. As I followed its gaze, Royce was hovering in mid-air, aiming her beacon rifle towards the mechanical beast. One final beam of plasma cracked loudly from the barrel, punching a hole clean through the robot's metallic skull. The dragon was frozen for a moment before its servos finally gave out, falling onto the boxcar before rolling to the side and crashing to the ground. Royce hovered over, landing on top of the railcar and looking down at the sparking corpse. She pressed a button on her gun, the cylinder sliding open to let her slip a few more cartridges into the slots. “The fuck are you still standing here for? Get that plane and blow these fucking things up before I have to shoot them all down for you!” She rechambered her rifle, muttering an insult under her breath before taking back to the air.

I shook my head, coming back to my senses to jump over the body of the robot before rushing forward once again. Another dragon dropped down onto a boxcar several rows away, spitting up another burst of flame that engulfed another cart ahead of both of us. Screeching metal echoed around as we managed to find our way past the lines of railcars, a couple dragons rushing in towards us, or heading back to assault the tanks again. Night Strike and I could now see the Valkyrie at the edge of town, my breath becoming ragged, a stich forming in my side. Night Strike let out a grunt of frustration as she began to pump her wings faster. She dropped next to the doorway, dashing up into the cockpit with me running up after her.

Night Strike was already working the controls in a flurry, the cockpit door closing as the engines roared to life, myself landing in my seat behind her. As we began to hover up into the air, however, the sound of shattering glass broke out, shards raining down on us as a robotic claw forced its way through the cockpit. I let out a terrified scream, Night Strike rolling over the side of her seat and whipping out War Crime from her duffel bag. She fired a burst of the massive bullets at the claws, tearing through the thinner metal of the pipe-like forearm and causing wires and hydraulic oil to drop to the floor. The dragon pulled its nonfunctional claw out of the hole, only to place its maw in the opening. The cockpit began to grow warm as it prepared to fire a jet of flame into the enclosed space.

In a panic, I grabbed my umbrella and jumped onto the back of my seat. Jamming the tip up into the mouth of the dragon, I suddenly felt a surge of electricity run through me, the dragon seizing up as its electronics received a jolt of power. A moment later my muscles stopped their forced contractions and I crumpled to the floor of the cockpit, letting out a cough as the dragon peeled off the cockpit, making the plane list slightly before it fell and letting out several high-pitched beeps as it attempted to reboot. I took a deep breath, feeling my heart thudding in my chest as I crawled back into the seat behind Night Strike's, the pegasus getting us steady in the air again. “Holy shit, are you alright?” She asked, watching as I looked down at my own controls.

“Y-yeah I’m -grrgk-, I’m alright. I’ll just have a few heart palpitations for a week, or something. Come on, we need to get up in the air before that thing reboots! Should’ve known they’d install surge protectors in their robots…” I pressed a few buttons, taking control of the tesla cannons under the plane, bringing the turret around to aim towards the tanks, and othe robo-dragons. Night Strike nodded, turning back around to her own console and regaining her composure. The Valkyrie rose, air whipping through the hole in the glass above us. Easing the nose about, Night Strike began to fly us away from the town to give enough room to get clear shots. I looked through the screen of the console, aiming the cannons. It was almost impossible to make sense of the blur of images rushing past, the lans surrounding the town turning into a mess of monochromatic dirty shades through the viewfinder. There was a sudden flash of silver, and I took a shot, thunder cracking as a bolt of lightning hit the tail of one of the dragons. The dragon wobbled in the air before losing its balance, careening towards the roundhouse. Before it could connect, however, Rangefinder fired off a blast from her tank's main gun, hitting the dragon dead center.

Robotic parts flew in all directions, dropping onto railcars and hissing as they fell into the snow, flaming. The Roundhouse was still mercifully intact, however, save for the sign that had been hanging on the front and was now lying shattered on the ground. “Okay, that’s another down, where are the others?” I asked, trying to spot more. The one that had been stunned by the umbrella overloading its system was attempting to roll back to its claws and stand up again, but it suddenly received a barrage of rockets from Scouring Charge and hail of cannonfire from Hispano, destroying it quickly. Night Strike spun us around in the air, my vision turning a little hazy from the forces before she straightened us out.

“Right, I think I see three more, let’s just hope more aren’t on their way...” Night Strike responded. I nodded, looking back down at the controls for another shot. A shell detonated below us, rocking the Valkyrie around as the tanks continued to fire at the dragons. “Gah, damnit, thought we were further away, we’d like to not be blown up, guys!” Another dragon soared by, one of Deathtrap’s machine gun turrets clutched in its talons while its rear legs were little more than scrap. It flung the gun at a stallion that had been attempting to scramble behind of the box cars. A sickening snap was heard as the turret just barely connected with the pony, sending him sprawling to the ground, pinned under the heavy armored turret. I fired several shots at the dragon, a few flying low, but one managing to connect with one of its wings. The dragon careened to the ground, where it was swiftly destroyed by several shots from Deathtrap’s other guns.

The remaining pair of dragons were circling overhead, taking potshots with their plasma breath as they spun and swerved through the air to avoid the shells exploding below and blasts of tracer fire filling the sky otherwise. Night Strike punched the throttle forwards and we accelerated, pulling back on the controls to raise us higher into the air and out of hover mode. One of the dragons spotted us and turned about, firing several shots of plasma in our direction. They landed on the wings, the glancing shots only melting away part of the exterior metal, miraculously enough. Night Strike wrestled with the controls, trying to keep us steady as I switched to the top turret, trying to find a clear shot. I fired several more blasts from the automaic lightning guns haphazardly, all the bolts missing and instead flying off into the sky.

The dragon that clung to us raked its razor-like tail across the hull, the screech of metal causing me to wince as I waited for the cannons to cool off and allow for another barrage, cursing myself for going with the overcharge setting rather than normal fire. Twisting on the controls, Night Strike leaned hard to the right, sending us spinning around to try and avoid more shots from the dragons, a rending of metal hopefuly signifying that one had been shaken off. I took another shot from the bottom turret, squinting to try and make sense of the blurs being displayed by the viewfinder. A bolt of lightning struck one of the dragons behind us, putting a hole through its belly and frying its circuits, sending it plummeting down to the earth. The other, however, had managed to dig its metallic claws into the back of the Valkyrie to stick, and as I switched back to the top turret to find it... well, looking up through the canopy did that job just fine. Snapping its jaws at the glass, it fired several small shots of plasma at the weakened material, quickly melting away a hole in it.

“Fuckfuckfuck, do something!” I screamed, looking up at the dragon’s razor sharp maw. I tried to reach for my umbrella again, but the dragon fired a small shot of plasma, searing the flesh on my leg and sending the umbrella spinning away. I clutched at my foreleg, tears streaming down my face as Night Strike yanked Thumper from her bag and stood up in her seat. I had just enough time to register the snap of the breech closing, Night Strike taking aim at the head of the dragon and the slight motion of her pulling the trigger before I suddenly realized the mistake. The sizzling explosion blew apart the glass, the dragon’s head exploding in a shower of sparks as the wind whipped out all around, the cockpit air becoming acrid and unbreathable for a few scant seconds before the wind replaced it.

“SHIIIIIIIIIT!!” Night Strike screamed, spreading her wings as she was flung out of the cockpit, leaving me stuck strapped to my seat as the Valkyrie raced across the sky. Still clutching my foreleg, I could just barely hear the thud of the dragon hitting the ground, only for a moment later the blood rushing to my head to finally overtake me, and cause me to black out.

I let out a groan, my body aching all over as I slowly came to. The smell of severely burnt metal and several flashing lights immediately assaulted my senses. I let out several coughs, blinking as my vision slowly came back into focus. Fumbling with my restraints, I eventually found the seatbelt’s release, pushing it and promptly rolling out of the seat. My shoulders were tender from the belt having dug deeply into them, stomach veeling quite a bit like somepony had just kicked me like they were trying to shake an apple off of me... or threw me into a tree. My hooves wobbled as I stood back up, trying to regain my senses as I wandered over to the side of the cockpit. The soft hum of magic could still be heard as the Valkyrie attempted to patch up the damage that it had suffered during the battle, the glass canopy reshaping extremely slowly into a new windshield. Guh, what the hell was Night Strike thinking with that grenade?...

Climbing over to the cockpit door, I pressed a button to release it, only for the Valkyrie to beep and refuse to open up. Ugh, should’ve known it’d be damaged, or blocked or something. Trotting forwards to the nose end, I headed over to a relatively shard-free hole in the cockpit, placing my hooves on the outer rim and hoisting myself up out of the Valkyrie. My legs stung as bits of glass dug into me, the burn from the plasma still punctuating each little movement. With a grunt, I rolled down the front, landing in the mound of dirt that had been torn up by the Valkyrie’s crash. Looking around, I found myself lying in a snowy field, the large rectangle that was the Starlite drive-in screen visible not too far in the distance. Well, I suppose I’m at least lucky I didn’t crash too far from Maple Station.

I stood back up, looking over the exterior damages to the Valkyrie. Surprisingly, while the canopy was shattered and the claw marks from the dragons were still visible in the exterior, along with a massive gash that ran from the tail to the top turret over the bomb bay, no major damage seemed to have been done. At least, nothing the auto-repair system shouldn’t be able to handle with enough time. As I examined the Valkyrie, there was a hint of movement in the distance, and I instinctively dropped down low to the ground behind the crashed bomber. Peering around the side of the Valkyrie, I spotted two figures trotting towards me from the drive-in's projection booth. They were both rather burly, their hooves stomping loudly through the snow as they approached the Valkyrie. “What the flying fuck is this thing?” I heard one of them say.

“Fuck if I know, I ain’t an astronomer, or whatever. You don’t think it’s a UFO, do you?” The other one responded. The two were now standing on the opposite side of the Valkyrie from me, one tapping a hoof against the side of the vehicle. “Oi, aliens? You got a lotta nerve interruptin’ our movie, you know! We were just getting to the good part, that Termineightor thing was gonna slice up some kid-“ There was the sound of a punch and the stallion that had been talking let out a gasp of air. “Gah, the fuck was that for?”

“Don’t spoil it, dumbass, what if they hasn’t seen the movie either? You wanna start an intergalactic war just cuz someone prolly hasn’t seen the film yet?” I placed my head in my hooves, resisting with all my might to let out a groan of annoyance. Of course, it’s some drugged up morons coming to investigate. Why couldn’t it have been B Company? Or Pearl? Tartarus, even Extra Edition would probably be better… well, okay, maybe not her. The ponies began to walk around to the front of the Valkyrie, forcing me to move to avoid being spotted by them.

“You sure there’s even aliens on this thing? Looks like whatever was inside got hurt pretty bad, see there?" The stallion pointed out streaks of blood on the front near the cockpit, and I went white. Looking down at my foreleg, I realized the wound had been oozing a steady stream of blood for a while, which was now partially caked by snow and dirt. The sound of the two ponies working their way around to my side snapped me back to attention, and I got to my hooves, trying to hurry to find somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, the Valkyrie was horribly exposed, and my blood would only lead them towards wherever I ran.

Glancing around, I tried to find someplace to run to, only to freeze as I heard one of the stallions behind me. “Hey! You ain't an alien, what the hell’re you doing?” In a panic, I hefted myself onto the wing and over the plane, beginning to sprint towards the projection booth, the ponies racing after me. I tried to ignore the pain shooting through my leg as I ran onto the field, the projector displaying the image of a robotic pony clinging to the back of a cart onto the screen. As I attempted to reach the main building and bar myself in, I suddenly tripped, skidding painfully on the ground. Gwuugh, stupid thin snow layer... The stallions quickly reached me, one landing on top of me to keep me pinned. The other stood over me, his horn lighting up to illuminate my face. His expression changed as he saw me, first turning surprised before a look of malevolent glee crossed it.

“Well, lookie who it is! That pony that blew up our old camp! You killed a lot of my pals, you know, not to mention all that sweet ass you let run free. Oh, I think I know just what to do with you.” He snickered, pulling out a rope and tying my hooves up. I panted, my mind racing with images of depravity and horror.

Fuck.

The icy wind bit at my bruised wings, fanning a few smouldering tips of my mane as I pryed myself up out of a mound of snow and bits of tree debris. The distant chatter of autocannons and loud booming of flak fire echoed south from Maple Station as I regained my bearings, and unburied the still-smoking grenade rifle. Fuck, I gotta stop having landings like that... fuck, the Valkyrie! Oh goddesses, Static too...

Pain shot through me as I tried to spread my wings and take to the air, managing at least a few flaps before coming back down and stumbling on my hooves again, grunting from the impact. Okay, not broken but I'm not gonna be flying until I get something in me to fix that. We weren't flying too high up, and we weren't flying too fast, either, so hopefully I don't need to worry about coming across a smoking wreck with a very badly burned earth pony laying outside of it. Looking to the southward sky and forcing myself into a gallop down the slushy road, no obvious smoke columns caught my attention, so, I guess that's a bit of a good sign, at least. Oh fuck, Static...

Further down the road, a few of the trees that ran along either side were far more mangled and torn up, though by some miracle not because of a massive jet bomber. With a grimace as I steadied the stock in my bruised shoulder, I let myself rest back behind a nearby tree, just long enough to allow me to reach in and pull a 40mm round out of my jacket. Dragon's Breath... hardly ideal, but hopefully the crash broke open that robo-bastard's fuel tanks or something. Least I won't hurt myself as bad firing this... fucking shaped charge warhead... fucking me for not having a slug handy.

Taking in a breath, the barrel clicked back into place with the round loaded, dragging myself back onto my hooves and starting to slowly approach the robo-dragon carcass. The distinct, acrid smell of burnt metal and warm hydraulic fluid filled the air as I drew close, Thumper's stock pressed as tight as I could bear between my foreleg and my chest, hooves moving slow as I examined the robot closely. Yeah, that sure loks like a usual robo-dragon alright... but, something about it seems... off. And I'm not just talking about the hole through it's head.

Stopping before the puddle of thick reddish fluid that oozed from the joints, the metal of the dragon's hide seemed like it was already scratched to hell, mauled by something, even. I'm no plantologist or whatever, but I'm pretty sure a tree wouldn't leave three parallel scratch marks in solid hardened armor, no matter how fast the dragon crashed. Thing is... I can't really think of what else would've. Nor do I think I want to ever find out what would've gouged out steel like that. Fuck, Luna forbid they're something under Cerberus' control...

Taking a short breather after determining the robo-dragon definitely being dead, I pressed on southwards along the road, Thumper swaying on my back with the Dragon's Breath round still in her breech. Gotta find the Valkyrie, gotta find Static... gotta find where the hell I am, anyways. Times like this, I really wish I didn't injure my wings this much... Strikey, you've got a legputer. Yeah, brain? So? That legputer has a map in it that always shows you where you are. ...I knew that. Letting loose a sigh at my own stupidity - well, sorry, I just got thrown out of a plane! - I rolled back the sleeve of my jacket, looking at the pip-buck on my foreleg, and my foreleg itself. Gashes in my skin stung every time I pushed at the buttons to get to the map screen, a distinct red liquid oozing out around either side of the legputer's ends on my leg. Just grit and get what you need, Strikey...

Eventually I managed to bring the screen up, taking a quick glance at the surrounding areas. Well, not too far away from Maple Station, at least... huh, marker down at the Starlite Drive-in for some reason. I don't remember setting that... Flicking through the other screens, a task list eventually showed itself, my eyes blinking as I saw the currently selected one; 'Find the Valkyrie'. O...kay, I'm just gonna go and assume I'm hallucinating that due to blood loss and a concussion, and it is really not a good thing that that's my first and go-to explanation for this sorta stuff. Regardless, I rolled the sleeve back down over the legputer, heading southwards to the Starlite, and the marker there. Maybe I don't give that thing enough credit...

Blood-tinted hoofprints were left in the snow behind me as I pulled myself along towards the drive-in, the tall, overgrown fencing that surrounded the lot by the road proving the last big obstacle for me. Gritting my teeth, I spread my wings once more, the aches and pains not having died off in the slightest. Come on, just gotta use them to get over the fence, that's all I need the help for right now... drawing in a breath, I gave a few heavy, pained flaps, my hooves digging into the vines and roots that wound their way through the old boards, half-flying half-climbing up the tall structure. Fuck me, what's the point of makng a fence this tall? Were they trying to block out the sight of tanks, or something?

With a heavy grunt, I managed to hook a hoof over the top, dragging myself up and letting loose a loud cry as I rested with my forelegs dangling over the top. After a moment of regaining myself, I managed to look up out across the lot, the pain becoming dulled as my eyes settled on a big, black, crashed metal triangle, and the distinct gouge it left in the snow in front of the screen. The Valkyrie. A faint trail of red cut across the snow from the cockpit over to the projection booth, what blood I had left in me pounding in my ears as adrenaline carried me the rest of the way over the fence, my legs only collapsing slightly under me as I landed on the other side. Fuck, Static, fuck, Static...

As I drew nearer to the projection booth and concessions stand, the sound of laughter and screaming came out from inside the building, my ears perking to try and make sense of it. The laughing... didn't sound like Static, but that screaming definitely did. My legs stung as my heart pounded faster, that pained trot I was using to get to the building switching to a gallop, Thumper rocking side to side and battering against my wings as I went along. While I couldn't see inside the building, I could just about make out some sort of film playing on the screen, so whoever has Static at least likes being entertained while they're... buying themselves a one-way ticket to a closed-casket funeral.

Half-running half-limping around the back of the structure to the door on the far side, I let myself fall back against the wall outside the doorway, readying Thumper in my hooves. Should've brought a slug along for some lockpicking... Static first, then the Valkyrie. Taking a quick few breaths, I reached over to the door handle, wrapping a hoof around it as whoever it was that had Static let off another feindish laugh, adjusting myself only slightly. Here goes nothing...

With a loud scream of my own, I pulled the door open wide, leading in with Thumper raised and looking across the lobby to see Static tied up on the couch, two other ponies beside him with some odd electrical scars looking over towards me, wide-eyed. My bruised wings at least afforded me a leaping kick that connected with the stallion nearest to me, sending him to the floor with a satisfying thud, the other one falling to his haunches and throwing both of his forehooves to the air as Thumper settled on his face. Just as I was about to give him plenty of new scars, the pony underneath me shifted, sending me off of my hooves and blasting the wall beside the cowering stallion with the sizzling incendiary ammunition, the both of them moving their hooves to cover their ears and wincing from the pain. What's the matter ya cunts, never had tinnitus before?

Taking Thumper by his barrel in my hooves, I brought him up and swung him around, the heavy wooden stock of the grenade rifle connecting with the stallion I'd plowed into earlier, knocking loose a few teeth and sending him sprawling to the floor again. Looking over to the concessions stand behind us, and the other stallion still rubbing at his ringing ears, I charged over to the glass case where they made the popcorn, smashing it open and reaching in to grab for one of the plastic scoops. Yeah, that's just about the right size for a pony's eye, isn't it? Well, if you guys like torture so much, how about I return the fucking favor!

Fitting it onto my right hoof and letting Thumper rest for the moment, I charged over to the stallion on the far wall, shoving him to the tiled floor with my free hoof as the scoop-clad one was brought over to hover just above his eye, myself waiting for him to get his shit together and look me in mine. Tears stained his cheeks as he writhed weakly underneath me, my rear hoof lifting to... encourage him to open up. Or, well, make sure he can't have kids, one of those two. The aged plastic of the scoop pressed against his cheek bones as I slowly started to put more and more weight into it, the blubbering mess of a stallion trying so desperately to not lose his eye, it was almost cute. Up until I heard some familiar, other screaming coming from the couch.

"WHAT THE FUCK, NIGHT STRIKE!? STOP!!" A thin line of blood was oozing from around the scoop's edge where it had pierced through skin, myself blinking a few times as I eased back to look at Static - -really- look at Static. Yeah, he was tied up, but he wasn't injured or anything, at least on his face. His legs didn't sem to be broken, either, and when I looked under him, there were even a few empty healing potions here and there around him, but none of the blood splatter you might expect. And when my eyes moved back to meet his... he seemed terrified. He glanced down to the stallion below me, who was still just a blubbering mess, myself letting loose a shuddering breath as I stepped back off of him and dropped the bloodied popcorn scoop. Static was fine... they didn't fight back at all... what... what was I even doing?

What have I turned into?

The large bottle of glowing blue soda trembled slightly as I held it in my hoof, sitting on the couch next to Static and looking down at the floor, the earth pony resting a now-untied hoof on my shoulder. The pair of slavers sat on the small bench at the far side of the room, a certain odd silence only broken by the sound of a film's audio playing out permeating the air. I loosed a shuddering sigh, taking another long gulp of the soda, just trying to get my nerves back at this point. Goddesses, I fucked up... "S-s-so, you were..."

"I was fine, Night Strike, they even patched me up after they found me after the crash. They were just forcing me to watch a horrible movie, you didn't have to come in looking for blood." One of the slavers gave a small grunt of annoyance as Static spoke, making us both glance up to look over at him. His eyes met mine in a glare for just a moment, before he turned back to the film - yeah, no, I completely understand that. Static let off a sigh, squeezing me a little closer. "It probably did look worse than it was, but... I... I never thought I'd see you go and nearly do... what you did. We always joke about you being crazy, but..."

A sniffle escaped me as I held back some tears, screwing my face up and wiping my eyes with my sleeve. "I was... I was scared, Static, I was afraid they were hurting you, and I might end up losing you again. I..." I drew in a breath, before letting it off in a shuddering sigh. Maybe I should tell him, now at least. He was looking at me in a bit of confusion, leaning back into the couch slightly. "This... isn't the first time. Back in that town, where you got... where... where the mercenaries nearly..." Come on, Strikey, get the words out. Another shuddering breath escaped me as I adjusted myself slightly. "The merc that we got the gauss rifle from, Crash Dive kept her alive and questioned her. After she was done... I was scared then, and so angry, I just... I couldn't control myself. I s-sliced up her wings, and-and tore her legs up with Th-Thumper, and h-her head... War Crime..."

Unable to hold it in longer, I dropped the mostly-empty bottle of soda and just threw my forelegs around Static, burying my muzzle against his shoulder and squeezing him in a tight hug. I didn't want to let go at all, feeling the tears streaming down my cheeks and dampening his jacket, the earth pony only returning the hug after a short moment. His hooves gently patted against my back as I let it all out, eventually falling to slight shudders in his weak embrace. I leaned back and lessened the hug a little, my stinging eyes meeting those of Static - his looked... hurt. He let off a sigh, giving me a slight nuzzle, leaning back to look at me.

"I... Night Strike. I do... I do still love you, but... I'm just shocked you'd go to that extreme. I know you're better than that." I let my head fall forwards, shutting my eyes. Better than that... am I? Am I really? I don't even know anymore myself... Static leaned forwards and held me in another hug, resting his chin on my shoulder. "I promise I'll do whatever I can to stop scaring you like that, but you have to promise me you'll at least try and restrain yourself, if there is a next time. I dunno how it might feel when you're doing it, but... it really hurts -you- afterwards. I can see that."

Sniffling in for a moment, I gave him a silent nod, relaxing just a little in his embrace. If there is a next time... I'm not gonna let there be a next time, or at least I'm gonna try as hard as I can to make that so. We held the hug for a few moments longer, before we both just laid back against the couch, myself still rubbing at my sore eyes. Looking outside at the screen, a somewhat aged color film was playing, a giant... plant, with teeth, singing on screen, I think. The slavers across from us were tapping their hooves with the beat, and with all the emotions gotten out now I could just about hear the radio too, in the air of the main building.

Just as I was starting to kind of understand what the song lyrics were - mean lean brother come at her face, I think? - the distinctive rumble of a large engine in a small tank could be heard outside, the sudden crash of an old wooden fence being rammed through at the north edge of the drive-in catching everyone's attention. It didn't take too long for the vehicle to show itself, the large boxy turret housing the massive howitzer on the small chassis coming into view with an alicorn's head looking out the back doors, Aerith holding her hat on with a forehoof. As she caught sight of us in the concessions stand, along with the two other stallions, she lifted out her weapons, the BT-42 pulling a hard right turn in the slush of the lot.

With a sideways slide, the small tank had managed to line itself up straight with the front window, skidding to a halt as the hatches opened up, and a wide array of weapon barrels all were pointing through the glass and towards the two slavers. The radio clattered to the floor as we both looked over to the pair of stallions, who both had their forehooves raised to point up at the ceiling, looking quite nervously between each other for a moment. Aerith had hopped out of the tank and was trotting over to the doorway, her entrance making the pair of slavers seem to shrink back a little in their seat. As I looked back at her... and remembered where we found her in the first place... oh, boy. One of the stallions - I think that was the one I knocked the teeth out of - let off an annoyed grunt, throwing his head back before looking back towards us.

"For goddesses' sake, can't we just watch these movies in peace now!? This is why we quit, it's pretty friggin' tiring to keep having gun barrels shoved in your face, yanno! We've both been beat up enough for one day!" Aerith blunk in surprise, the barrels of her guns lowering as she looked over to us, her expression only getting more pronounced as her eyes presumably noticed a lack of bindings and injuries. A weak chuckle escaped me, leaning forwards onto my hind legs and giving my head a shake. Today's gone from great to horrible to just plain strange too damn fast...

"Come on, Aerith, save your ammo. Let's just go..."

"Fully fixed tomorrow, huh? Tough break." It was around mid-afternoon when we finally got the Valkyrie unburied, taken off, and mostly safely landed back at the tank firing range near Maple Station. Still was gonna be around a day until we could fully combat-fly it again - crashes are not great for airframe stability, as it turns out - but at least we didn't have to worry too much about it being trashed or stolen, now. After making our goodbyes and letting Gardener catch up with the rest of his platoon, we all settled down in the Roundhouse, just trying to find some time today to relax and wait for everything to fall into place. At least nobody's getting tortured... "Still was surprised to see you manage to land that thing in that state, I've seen tanks with less damage than that that were fully knocked out. You guys are some kinda lucky."

Hispano adjusted Suiza on the table as she went about wiping off the internals of the autocannon, the ambient music of the Roundhouse having switched over to Radio KAOS rather than any live shows - suppose that makes sense enough, it is kinda slow here at this time, isn't it? Crash Dive gave off a little scoff, her power armor whirring as she adjusted herself in her seat. "Pfeh, lucky? You've got a weird definition of luck if you think getting ambushed by a flight of robo-dragons on the same day we're mobilizing more of our forces against Cerberus counts as 'lucky'. Don't want to know what else they might have in store for us before the day's out."

The gryphon wore a smirk as she leaned back, fitting a part back onto Suiza. "I'd say having your fancy jet pounced by one of those things and still managing to fly it back here despite a major crash would be considered lucky. Not to mention with both of you keeping your limbs intact at that." Aerith passed on a nod as she sipped from a botle of Sparkle-Cola, myself looking over to Crash Dive and giving a shrug. Well, she does have a point, so far we're 2 for 2 as far as major aircraft crashes survived goes... not something I really want to be proud of, but, well, better than the alternative. The large drum magazine clicked back into place as Hispano finished assembling her autocannon, giving a nod and setting her down on the side of the booth gently. "Besides, those guys have gotta be running low on robo-dragons by this point, and with your track record they'd be pretty hard-pressed to find more Talon mercs to send."

"I gotta wonder just how much they must've been paying for us, I mean, Royce and Merlin said they were expecting around a million caps for all five." Static scratched at the side of his head as he munched on a plate of hay fries, resting his other foreleg on the table. "Hm... you don't think there might be even more gold inside Fort Maple, do you? They'd have to have something worth trading, and I kinda doubt that a pre-war base would have a lot of bottlecaps floating around it. The terminal at the sub pen did say that the gold we found was meant for Project Cerberus, that can't have been the only shipment they ever recieved... well, almost recieved, anyways."

A sigh escaped me as I could only give a shake of my head, sipping from my second bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD. I swear, that pony's got a brain made out of bottlecaps... "If you want to see about getting whatever gold might be down there out, Static, please at least try and let it wait until -after- we kill Cerberus. I might be about as subtle as a megaspell blastwave, but even I know that trying to sneak around with a literal ton of metal bars probably isn't gonna fly that well." Static passed on a small glare of his own as he bit down on another hoofful of fries, myself returning it. What, don't like it when I'm the one thinking sensibly, Sparky?

There was a small whirring of servos beside us, Scouring clearing his throat as he rested his armored hooves on the table. He passed on a weak grin, looking between us. "Eheh, speakin' of the gold, ahm, ye both wouldn't have happened t' have given how you'll be dividin' it up at the end of things any thought, have ye? I mean, considerin' I helped with rewiring that bomb to blow up the sub way back when, and have been helpin' you guys out otherwise, only seems reasonable to get a fifth of it, aye?" Static and myself only blunk, looking at the power armored unicorn. Dividing the gold up... okay, that's definitely Static's ballpark. I'm just gonna sit here and drink my glowing soda, and watch Hispano seem to become even more interested in the conversation herself... oh, boy.

"Hey hey hey, what's this all about gold and getting paid? I know I came up here with dad, but that was just for helping out in Hopeville, and let me tell you, twenty mil ammo ain't cheap." Static's surprised expression shifted to look over at Hispano, myself only gulping down more of the soda. Come on, I'm gonna drown out all this talk of money one way or another... "Look, don't get me wrong, you guys are great, and it's nice to spend time with you, but a gryph's gotta eat. I know I probably can't ask the same as mister Steel Ranger there, but if you're talking gold bars, one or two'd be nice. If nothing, then just to get back what I've spent on ammo while up here..."

Static let loose a weak chuckle as he rubbed at the back of his neck, myself finishing off the glowing liquid in the bottom of the bottle and gasping for breath. I found myself looking through the formed glass bottom at the rest of the roundhouse, the tables and walls slightly warped from the lens effect, another table of patrons catching my eye as they seemed to have taken a keen interest in us. I blunk a few times, lowering the bottle to look over at them in return, a group of gryphons all donned in black combat armor... wait a second...

The song playing over the speakers switched over to another one that started with a few blasts of a saxophone backed by a steady beat, the other table shuffling about slightly as the song picked up. One of the gryphons quickly brought the barrel of a gun up to bear, myself having just enough time to yell out a 'duck!' before the Roundhouse erupted with the sound of gunfire, our table being flipped upright to act as some cover as I dropped behind it. Crash Dive was already up and returning fire with loud chooms of her rebar cannon, Static having fallen to his shomach and laying with his hooves covering his head, cowering but unhurt... and, seemingly relieved. Yeah, let's save payment until -after- the fight.

I dragged my duffel bag down from the booth as more shots peppered the table, Aerith returning some fire back at them with her Tommy gun while she readied her newer automatic rifle, Scouring joining us behind the table for the moment. Well, at least he wasn't planning on using Sunburst in here... maybe this -isn't- a job for Thumper. A metal ball clunked against the side of the booth seat in front of us, myself having just enough time to notice the shaped metal surface of it before it was encompassed in a magic field and quickly tossed back, the fragments from the grenade splintering the wood of our table. Thanks, Scouring...

Racking War Crime's bolt after getting her magazine in, Aerith's rifle had already started chattering away, myself leaning back to ready myself for aiming the large gun. A spray of gunfire splintered at the other side of the table - jeez, where these things made with a metal interior lining, or something? I don't think it's been penetrated once yet - and I spotted Hispano grimacing as she held her talons, looking over at the large autocannon just outside of reach. That... might be pretty useful, actually, considering the sturdiness of these tables so far. Or it might overpenetrate way too much and end up killing somepony else... well, if she gets hold of it, just aim low, I guess.

I tried to lean out to get a sight, only to be met with another spray of bullets, one of them burning a nice line out of my ear. Okay, not making this easy, then! Well, I mean, the .50 MG was an anti-tank round at one point, maybe it can get through this... blind firing a fully automatic anti-materiel sniper rifle, what could go wrong? Shuffling over, I braced War Crime's stock in my shoulder, letting off a long five-round burst back at the mercenaries' table through our own. Hot copper splintered around the outside of their table, a few satisfying screams of pain coming from them as this stupid idea worked, myself letting off a light chuckle. There was a slight clatter that came from the other side of the table as I saw Suiza settle in Hispano's grasp from Aerith's magic, the gryphon readying her gun and bracing herself as well, ready to try the same thing. Oh, please tell me she's got AP loaded, at least...

Suiza blasted out loud, the gunfire drowning out the sound of the music that I'm sure would probably be very befitting of a restaurant gunfight, Hispano's side fo the table practically disintegrating as the massive bullets punched holes through it and buried themselves in the other gryphons. Aerith swapped her empty magazines for fresh ones as I kept the barrage from War Crime up, the return gunfire slowly becoming less and less apparent as the brawl went on. Another grenade bounced off the outside of our table, splintering the wood and sending some fragments through the holes we'd made, peppering my jacket with the hot metal. Well, at least we're doing a good job of throwing their aim off!

The sound of wings flapping and a plasma gun discharging filled the air as we all took a moment to reload, the gunfire otherwise falling entirely silent as Royce wrestled with one of the survivors, Merlin landing by our table. A startled Hispano swung Suiza around, just about managing to smack Merlin across the face with the end of the barrel, the gryphon recoiling from the impact. Egh, sorry, your fault for getting to us in the middle of a firefight, though... "Fuggin... ten years, and I'd still know that barrel impact anywhere. Long time no see, Hispano. Nice to see you guys are at least alright..."

Hispano let off a weak chuckle as she held her autocannon at ease, resting back against the central legs of the bullet hole-riddled table. There was a rather satisfying thwack of a head being hit by something dense from the other side of the room, a low grunt being heard before Royce appeared as well, her beacon rifle steaming slightly from firing. "You really did one hell of a number on them, we're looking at four dead and one unconscious. And, uh, two... yeah, severely wrecked tables. I'm sure whatever these guys had on 'em will cover damages, though. You guys probably don't need any Talon combat armor or anything, right?"

"Y-yeah, we're good, nothin' we haven't dealt with before, eheh..." Static weakly picked himself back up, brushing his jacket off and steadying his shaking hooves. I rose with him, finally getting a non-interrupted peek over at the opposite table - well, uh, I mean, I guess since the booth seat material is red already, it probably won't stain, right? Eheheh... Crash Dive shook a few splinters from her mane, while Scouring pulled his helmet off, Aerith packing up her guns with a grin on her muzzle. The earth pony rested himself against the booth seat behind him, letting off a long sigh. "Okay, am I the only one getting sick of having run-ins with mercenaries? I mean, these guys were push-overs compared to the last group, but they're really just getting annoying now..."

"Oh, so you'd rather be brawling with robo-dragons then, Sparky?" I let off a chuckle, looking back at him, the earth pony passing on an annoyed glare. I just wore a smirk, picking up my duffel bag and shaking a few splinters off of it. "C'mon, at least we can kill these idiots without too much fuss. If Cerberus wants to keep wasting whatever cash he's got in paying for more mercenaries, I say let him, at this point he's only hurting himself."

Static paused for a moment, seeming to consider it, before answering with a shrug. I might not be as cap-pinchy as him, but even I know when somepony's probably wasting their money... Scouring cleared his throat as we all moved out from behind the table, getting our attention, Hispano sliding up alongside him. Oh... come on guys, do we have to do this right now? "So, ah, anyways, ye were about to say how we're gonna be compensated fer all this, aye?"

Static just answered with a few blinks, a nervous grin on his muzzle, as I rummaged through my duffel bag. Pulling a bottle of the glowing blue soda out, I reached over and poked the earth pony in the shoulder with it's cap, wearing a weak grin of my own. Trust me, Sparky, you look like you'll need it...

"Vanhoover Air Base, Valkyrie requesting landing on runway one." After a long night of back and forth negotiations, contract building, and what I hope were satisfactory agreements - I'll admit I was drowning myself with Sparkle-Cola for most of the night - the Valkyrie was finally repaired and both Scouring and Hispano were happy... I hope. Considering both she and her dad came over here with us, I really do hope she's alright with whatever Static worked out with her, and she isn't here to catch a plane ride back home...

"Vanhoover Air Base Control hears you Valkyrie, clear for landing on runway one. Welcome back, guys." The mountaintops passed by close as we crested over them, my hoof pulling the throttle back as I nosed us over to look down into the wide canyon the airbase resided in. Airbrakes out for just a little bit to slow us down, little bit of a fast turn to set us up for the end of the runway, gear out, flaps at landing... little bit of flare to slow for touchdown, aaand... The landing gear squeaked as it met the tarmac, us easing down to taxiing speed well before the end of the runway. I am getting so good at that...

A little motorbug rushed out to meet us as usual, myself peering over the instrument panel to follow it around to the taxiway and hangars. A few minutes later and I was able to shut off the Valkyrie's engines, hearing the large things whine down and feeling the bomb bay doors open with a loud thunk behind us. A breath escaped me and I unbuckled myself, Static already moving for the cockpit door while I gathered up my duffel bag, the rush of ponies crowding about to get a look at the Valkyrie curiously absent this time. We dropped out onto the concrete floor of the hangar without any fuss, the few ponies sticking around to help with reorientating the Valkyrie for our departure and a few other workers in the hangar being the only ones here. Where the hell could everyone else be?...

Hispano gave her back a stretch as she moved over to us, her father looking about for a moment before heading off to the hangar entrance. "Nnf, not exactly first class back there, I'm gonna be honest. Least of all on account of the two half-kiloton-yield wall ornaments... Anyways, dad said that he'd heard about this place being storage for some older helicopter designs on top of being an airbase, figured it'd be worthwhile seeing if they could be flown again for medical evac or something." I passed on a nod, us all starting to head over to the hangar entrance to join Cora and the rest of the Vanhoover Five. Suiza clinked slightly as Hispano adjusted her, before the gryphon turned her head to look back at Static. "Oh, yeah, Sparky? When you've got some free time, dad wanted to have a chat with you too, same stuff as last night. He's a bit more of a merc than I am when it comes to that, I'll warn you now..."

Static stalled in his tracks for a moment before dryly swallowing, the sound of several loud fans catching our ears as we watched the roads outside of the hangar. Eventually the Hovervan came into view, easing itself to a stop just in front of us, the right-side door opening up to reveal it being driven by one of the older stallions from the trio... May, right, I think? "Welcome aboard! The Hover-Van Grand Touring service is here to bring you all over to the main control tower, at the request of our wonderful Chief Air Marshal. Should be room for everyone, don't worry."

Cora seemed to study the machine for a moment, before giving his head a gentle shake, instead turning his eyes to meet those of May. "Whoever that is probably only asked for these five, I'm here concerning some of the equipment that was in storage here. Just point me to where you keep the rotary-wing craft..." The older gryphon paused for a moment, his eyes just barely looking back at Hispano for a split second. "...and your ammunition storage areas, too."

As May helped direct Cora and Hispano, the rest of us clambered into the Hover-van, Aerith taking the front seat while Scouring and Crash Dive fit themselves in the middle, myself and Static taking up the back. The two gryphons took to the air with heavy beats of their wings, the doors shutting and the engines powering up, and within moments were were off once again. I let off a sigh, leaning back in the seat for a moment, before opening up and rummaging about in my duffel bag. "Alright... map holotape is, here. Hope the tanks are getting along alright..."

Static gave a small dismissive wave of his hoof, letting off a soft chuckle. "Come on, Night Strike, they're tanks, aren't they? If they come under attack by the robo-dragons again, I doubt they'd get too damaged, and it's probably unlikely for them to get their turrets pulled off. Pretty sure a small machine gun turret would weigh less than a full tank-size one." Keeping the holotape out, I zipped up my duffel bag and passed on a slightly worried look. Well, he was right, they probably wouldn't be able to pull a tank turret like Avery's clean off that easily... but they can still carry explosives, and that's not even counting what could've caused those gashes in that one dragon...

"It isn't the robo-dragons I'm worried about, it's more what else Cerberus might have on offer. We've only seen the robo-dragons so far, that might just be because they can get places fast enough that people won't be able to react to them before they can do damage." The look on Static's face lowered a bit, the earth pony sinking back into the seat cushions. Yeah, really isn't looking as great when you start worrying... What were those robo-dragons after at the sub pen, anyways? I leaned forwards, tapping on Scouring's armor to get his attention. "Hey, do you still have the data we managed to get from Cerberus somewhere? Could you see if there's anything in there related to the sub pen we ought to know about, or anything they might have other than the robo-dragons?"

The power armored unicorn nodded, feeling about on his armor for a moment before producing a holotape of his own. "Aye, went through and pulled as much uncorrupted data as I could off'a the drive awhile back, can give 'er another look when we're in the control tower. Hopefully I had it all sorted alright, heh..." The unicorn gave a soft chuckle as he stowed the holotape back away, the Hover-van coming to an easy stop just outside the control tower. Passing on a quick thank you, we all disembarked and stepped inside the tall building, the Hover-van speeding away towards the fuel depot. Sheesh, those things really do run out of fuel quick, don't they?...

The guard at the base of the stairs stepped aside to let us through, us all making way up to the top of the tower. Bluh, would it kill them to try and get the elevator working in here? This place has got to have one somewhere, at least. Eventually we all arrived, Serene tending to a radio set while Sharpwing came over to greet us, a smile on her face. "Ah, 'bout time you arrived, we were gettin' worried May got himself lost again. Just in time, too, Turbine should be commin' in aboard Dragon Mare II any second, should have plenty o' those recon photos you asked for."

I passed on a nod and headed over to the windows that overlooked the runway with Static and Aerith, Scouring finding a spare terminal to start looking over the data while Crash Dive trotted about the outside, looking down across the airbase. A few moments later, the long-winged black jet came into view past the southern mountaintops, coming in low and slowing down for a landing, the bicycle gear dropping from the fuselage as a motorbug drove out ahead of it. Huh, yanno, I don't actually think I've seen it land normally before... the radio Serene was at crackled, Turbine's pained voice coming over it. "Dragon Mare... reporting mission success. Flak fire's pretty heavy far south, got as many pics as I could before having to bail. Hope they can... work... nuh..."

"Dragon Mare? Dragon Mare, respond!" The radio only answered with silence as Serene tried to get back into contact, us watching the motorbug speeding alongside the plane having to swerve as the wingtip dipped, scraping against the ground. The massive long-wing jet skidded and swerved to a stop at the far end of the runway, a white-painted motorbug already rushing out to get to the wreck.

Well, at least it wasn't on fire this time, right?... Shit...

One Minute to Midnight

“Alright, I suppose we ought to just pick up where we left off. What do you know about Project Cerberus?” I said, standing in front of the bleeding, bruised captain, who spat a tooth onto the floor before speaking.

“Not much, other than it’s something dangerous. I already told you it’s some kind of megaspell delivery system, like they had pre-war. Least, we're pretty sure it's megaspell - could be balefire bombs, too. Saw zebra writing on some of the bots...” He swallowed, only to cough up a bit more blood a moment later. Even his breathing was ragged; Celestia, did Night Strike break one of his ribs? “I don’t know any details on how it works, we weren’t the ones building it, and the crazy fuck running the place wasn’t letting us peek at the schematics anyway.”

“Who is this ‘crazy fuck’? And what about the actual facility this project is in, I need details on that.” I probed, shifting my weight a bit as the captain took another breath. The soldier behind her remained silent, whether due to a fear of answering or a lack of answers, it was unclear.

“Name’s Haukohl, at least I think that’s his real name. The guy’s over 300 years old, could’ve easily changed it in that time.” I raised an eyebrow at this remark. So, another megalomaniac ghoul bent on Equestria’s destruction? And here I thought my dad took care of the last one... The stallion paused, trying to pick his next words carefully. “He’s uh… not exactly a pony though. He’s a brain. In a jar. Apparently some kind of life prolonging experiment they had at the base beforehand. He’s got himself hooked up direct to the mainframe of the bunker, it basically lets him transmit orders to the bots instantly. If he’s killed or the mainframe is shut down, that’d probably stop more of the bots from flying out of there, if it didn’t make them all go into some kind of standby mode.”

I nodded, making a mental note as she continued. “No idea where it is, though. Captain Slipstream was the one who normally talked with him and, well, your friend shot him out of the sky while we were surrendering.” She glared up at me, a bit of blood still trailing out of her nose. I gave a bit of a sigh, looking down at the floor for a moment. This interrogation really wasn’t being nearly as informative as I was hoping... I looked back to the officer, trying to think of what to say.

Before I could speak, however, Crash Dive stepped up, looming over the captives in her power armor. “Alright, cut the bullshit, I know you know more about the base than this. You’ve been working there at least since you left me for dead back in Bridleshade. I know the Enclave, somepony like you isn’t willing to go about your orders blindly. You know something about the base that you aren’t saying, so - Sergeant - spit it out, before I get to work on the bones Night Strike left unbroken.”

The sergeant looked Crash Dive up and down, weighing the odds. “Alright, let’s say there is something there I know about, and it’s something I want. I know you guys aren’t gonna kill us, we’re too valuable to you, and it’d ruin your whole namby-pamby ‘Vanhoover Five’ image, wouldn’t it? Maybe we stop the talk here, and you make do with what you’ve got.”

As the stallion was talking, I wracked my brains trying to think of what he was hiding. Tech? Did the Enclave really care that much about it like the Steel Rangers did? A weapon? It sounded like Cerberus was the only thing there… Caps? My eyes went wide as I suddenly remembered the gold shipment in the submarine. It was headed towards Cerberus, wasn’t it? And if that was just one shipment…

“I think I know what it is you want, but you’re not getting it.” I spoke up, stepping forward as Crash Dive took a small step to the side. “Once we’ve cleared the base, the Steel Rangers are taking control of the facility, and there’s no way in Tartarus that much gold is going to go unnoticed by them. And that’s assuming you can even get back to get it once they’ve got a Paladin guarding every entrance, exit, hallway, and restroom in the base. So it’s either you tell me the layout of the base, including where the gold is, and I can bring you back any bars I can carry, or you’re left penniless upon your release and at risk of being shot the minute you poke your head up around Cerberus. The Rangers are definitely not going to be as forgiving as we’ve been once they have the base under their control.”

The sergeant’s calm look faltered, and he glanced downwards as he began to think. The other soldier seemed to let off a sigh - probably just thankful he wasn't on the recieving end of all the questioning - but remained silent as always. After a minutes of debating, the officer finally grumbled out, “Alright, fine. We’ll tell you what we know…”

I scanned the sky above the air base, trying to spot the Valkyrie as Aerith stood beside me. She twirled her hat lazily around on the muzzle of her rifle, clearly tired of waiting. Ponies were still hurrying back and forth between hangars, moving quickly to repair and refuel planes that had returned from their bombing runs. Several began to taxi out onto the runway, following the signals of a pony waving around a couple flags. On the far side of the runway, even more ponies were loading and launching our own missiles over at Fort Maple, each one leaving a loud buzzing sound in the sky as they sped off to impact. I'll be surprised if there's anything even left of the base after all this...

Not long after the line of planes began to speed down the runway and take off, I spotted a speck speeding in from the south, one that quickly revealed itself to be the Valkyrie coming in for a landing. Aerith and I covered our ears as the Valkyrie slowed, descending down in front of the hangar we were waiting outside. Geez, don’t know how I forgot just how loud those engines are. The door to the cockpit opened, and Aerith and I hurried up the ladder inside, Night Strike not bothering to make a full landing.

“You get all the information out of those Enclave bastards?” Night Strike asked, smirking a bit as we boarded. I strapped myself into the seat behind hers as Aerith was forced to simply find a good place to hold on. The ladder retracting and door sealing shut, the Valkyrie's engines roared once more, the aircraft turning quickly about and beginning to speed back southwards. I nodded, peering through the sights of the tesla cannons to get a good view of what direction we were actually heading.

“Yeah, just about everything we could probably need, save for an actual detailed floor plan. Should be easy enough to piece together their info from the diagrams we downloaded off their computers earlier, though.” I responded, quickly looking back up from the camera, my stomach already queasy from the short glimpse. “So, uh, do we actually have a plan of getting to the base without getting, you know, blown up?” I asked, suddenly remembering the last time we had tried simply flying over.

“Same as before, I’ll pretend to drop some bombs further away, you and Aerith will hop out the bay doors and glide to the base. So long as you’re invisible, I don’t think they’d know you got in,” Night Strike said as she turned the Valkyrie slightly to stay on course. Aerith gave a small grumble, not too keen on trying to fly with me on her back again. Oh, come on, I’m not -that- heavy. At least be glad I’m not wearing power armor…

Night Strike began to lower the Valkyrie, as off in the distance Fort Maple slowly came into view. Aerith and I started to make our way towards the door to the bomb bay, Night Strike flipping a few switches as she slowed a bit. The two megaspells and two conventional bombs rattled in their frames as the Valkyrie shot through the air, Aerith pressing herself up to the wall as I did the same, trying to find a good grip. There was a crackle of static as Night Strike’s voice came in over the intercom. “Alright guys, I’m opening up the door, gonna drop a couple bombs then swing around. Jump out after the first run, and you should be close enough to the main base. And… be careful.” Her voice died off as the bay doors open, the rush of wind whipping and buffeting us as the bombs rattled more.

Two of the clamps suddenly released, dropping one bomb after another down towards what looked like open countryside. Suddenly explosions could be heard around us, the Valkyrie shaking violently and turning sharply to avoid a blast of shrapnel. I stumbled, falling into Aerith who wrapped her hooves around me and dove out of the Valkyrie as it peeled away. Struggling, I managed to climb up onto Aerith’s back, activating my suit as her own horn glowed, and she shimmered before disappearing from view.

We were hovering directly above the large compound, the guns below us spinning around in an attempt to track the Valkyrie as it picked up speed, the autocannons opening up as she sped towards the base. Holy shit, this is a lot closer than Night Strike made it sound! I tightened my grip, only to loosen it a second later upon hearing a soft ‘urk’ from Aerith from my accidental choke-hold. We drifted down towards the base, the explosions eventually dying away as the Valkyrie sped out of the artillery range. With a soft thud, Aerith touched down hard, and I rolled off her back, both of us looking around for some way to enter the base.

We hurried off towards the closest building, several robotic dragons and manticores patrolling the area. Many of the dragons were carrying bombs as they took to the skies, flying southwards towards the bases the tanks had overrun earlier today. Aerith and I circled the building, pausing to wait for a manticore to pass by before we opened the door and slipped inside. We found ourselves standing in an abandoned armory, the guns on the walls covered in dust from years of disuse. At the back of the room was what looked like a freight elevator, likely for carrying power armor up from storage. ‘Suppose this is the best option for now’, Aerith’s magical sign read as she trotted up to the elevator. She gave a cursory glance to the weapons on the racks, but considering their age and condition, deemed it a bad idea to try them out.

I looked at the elevator, grimacing a bit. It barely looked like it was going to run, and who knew how noisy it was going to be. Between riding a rattling, old elevator, and taking my chances with more dragons, though… I stepped onto the elevator beside Aerith, pressing the lowest floor available. There was a buzz, and a computerized voice complained “Fifth floor and below must present pass card for authorization.” Ugh, alright. I pressed the button for the fourth floor, hoping it didn’t need any identification. The doors to the elevator shut surprisingly smoothly, and we were soon descending into the base, a small dial above the buttons indicating the floors as we passed by them.

Soon the doors opened to reveal a long steel corridor, one that was eerily quiet compared to the ruckus on the surface. Aerith and I stepped out into it, our hoofsteps echoing through the facility as we made our way slowly through. We passed by a few open doors that lead into small offices, each one covered in a layer of dust. Alright, there has to be someone around here who has access to the lower floors… We stopped in front of a door labeled ‘Security Office,’ and stepped inside. The room held filing cabinets overflowing with papers, along with a desk that was equally as cluttered. I glanced down the hallway, slowly closing the door behind us and switching the invisibility of my suit off.

Aerith’s own magic faded as she stepped up to the desk, flicking a switch as the terminal resting on it whirred to life. I opened one of the drawers of the cabinet and rummaged through it as Aerith typed away, keys clacking softly. Her horn began to glow as a sign appeared beside her. ‘It looks like I can get us a bit further down to the main security hub. Looks like it’s near the vault too. Suppose that makes sense, you’d want a good eye on the treasure...’ She furrowed her brow, looking closer at the screen. “…huh. Looks like gold wasn’t what all those shipments were for, though. Actually, the submarine we found might've been an exception, usually they'd only get a bi-yearly shipment, never had more than a hundred bars on base at any time. With all the mercs, it's a safe bet that number's pretty low now, too. All the other shipping manifests seem to be about carrying medical equipment from Shady Shores.” Her horn and sign fizzled out as the terminal began to whirr even louder, several loud clacks and clunks filling the room as a bright red pass card slid out of a slot at the bottom.

I looked over her shoulder, a bit disappointed. “Wait, seriously? But I thought the Enclave soldiers said there was more gold in here!” I said, a bit whinier than I had intended. Aerith waved her hoof dismissively, swiping the card up. She stashed it in her coat pocket before she shimmered and turned invisible once again. I activated my suit and followed behind her as the door appeared to open by itself. Still the hallways were quiet, with no sign of any life, normal or robotic, anywhere. “Isn’t this a bit… odd?” I whispered to Aerith as we walked towards the elevator. “I mean… this is the right base, isn’t it? Why isn’t there anypony down here guarding it?”

Aerith’s response was simply a small sign appearing in my visor, showing a small pony shrugging. We stepped back into the elevator, Aerith plugging the card in and pressing the corresponding button. A pleasant-sounding beep came from the speaker and we began to descend once again. It wasn’t too long before the elevator came to a stop again, and we were stepping out onto another floor. This one looked even worse than the ones above. Lights flickered above us, barely getting enough power to sustain their feeble glow, and the floor was coated in a layer of dust even thicker than the one in the security office. “What in Tartarus…?” I mumbled to myself as we began to trot through the halls.

We turned a corner, still hearing nothing beyond our own hoofsteps. Aerith came to a stop, causing me to bump lightly into her. I muttered a quick apology as the keycard appeared out of seemingly nowhere, the alicorn withdrawing it from her pocket. Sliding the card into a reader beside a door, the metal door opened, creaking loudly as we stepped inside. The security office was full of terminals, either sitting on desks or built into huge databanks sitting on each wall of the room. The only area that was devoid of machinery was a section of the wall opposite the door, in front of which sat a chest-high advanced terminal, covered in buttons, levers, and dials.

I wandered up to the terminal as Aerith booted up another, only for all the other terminals to begin their boot up sequences as well. The room was full of the soft whir of cooling fans as terminals lit up, clicks of tickertape being fed through vast machines quickly joining in. “Well, any idea where to head next?” I asked, turning away from the advanced interface and stepping up beside Aerith. She fiddled with the machines, tapping through multiple menus as she searched the various options.

‘Looks like there’s another elevator on the opposite side of the facility, that should take you down to the main command center. Looks a bit like a cross between the databanks at Shady Shores and the control tower up at Vanhoover Air Base,’ Aerith’s sign read. I nodded, my eyes scanning the screens that showed the room she was talking about. As it did, I noticed a small label of the room we were in. ‘Cerberus Construction Center’.

“Hold up, what’s that thing?” I said, pointing out the option. Aerith tapped backwards before selecting the option again. A light began to slowly pulse behind us, drawing our attention to the advanced terminal I had skipped over. The orange bulb below the lever was glowing faintly, beckoning me to step up to it. I glanced back at Aerith, who simply showed the shrugging image yet again. I carefully wrapped my hoof around the lever, and pulled downwards.

Gears ground into motion, and what had appeared to be a wall behind the terminal opened up to reveal a shutter covering a thick glass pane. My eyes went wide as I saw what was beyond it, Aerith letting out a short gasp as well. The window opened up into an enormous silo, where a missile nearly fifty feet across sat. All around the missile clambered robotic dragons, piecing together parts of the body, small jets of flame shooting out of their mouth to act as welding torches. One’s tail sliced through a piece of metal, cutting it to the appropriate size for a new sheet around the main body of the missile. I took several steps backwards, my legs growing weak as I watched the metallic beasts continue their work.

“Holy shit…” Was all I could manage to say, still staring at the enormous weapon. I shook my head, trying to pull myself out of my stupor as I walked back over to Aerith. “…okay, okay, so, uh, that thing's a… lot bigger than I was thinking… and… uh… yeah…” I gulped, looking to her. Even through her shimmering form, I could tell she shared my worry. “Let’s… uh… let’s get down to the control center now,” I said after several more moments of standing in silence. Aerith nodded, but as we turned to leave, we heard a loud clang from the wall behind us.

We turned around to see a robotic dragon staring through the window into the room, its eyes scanning about. They flicked from the door, following a trail along the ground before reaching the spot where Aerith and I stood, staring directly at us. We were both frozen in place with fear, neither daring to move an inch. Suddenly the dragon let out several loud klaxon blares, lights glowing as the terminals around us fizzled out. What?! How’d it know?! The dragon vanished from view, dropping down and scurrying along the sides of the silo towards a large service door.

I rushed out of the room, but the moment I passed through the doors, alarms began to ring around us and the door slammed itself shut. I turned around, punching at the keycard slot. “Aerith?! Aerith, get out of there!” There was a flash, Aerith teleporting herself through the door before cantering off down the hall. I raced after her, looking down as we ran. I noticed Aerith’s hoofsteps appearing in the thick layer of dust on the floor, revealing her movements as she dashed around a corner to the command center elevator. Fuck, fuck, fuck, they’ll see us anywhere we go!

I tried my best to kick up as much dust as I could chasing after Aerith, but it did nothing to hide the trail of steps behind us. Loud clanging and clatters could be heard, along with synthesized roars as the dragon slipped into the corridor, chasing us down. It let out a jet of flame, the flames engulfing the suit as I sprinted away. Gah, fuck, fuck, fuck! The lens of the helmet cracked as it heated up, wires fizzling as the suit’s stealth field began to die.

I tore off the helmet as the flames died away, throwing it behind me, only for the dragon’s talons to smash it into the dust as it clawed its way after us. I panted, racing after Aerith, who threw herself into the elevator and mashed the buttons. Hold that elevator, I swear to fuck if you don’t hold that elevator… I dove into the small room, crashing painfully against the opposite wall as Aerith continued to press the buttons in a frenzy.

I rolled onto my back, watching as the dragon prepared another jet of flame. Before it could fire, Aerith snatched up my umbrella and jammed it into the buttons, sparks flying as the circuits overloaded themselves. The elevator lurched, and we were suddenly sent plummeting down the shaft, the dragon’s fire burning up the cables above us. Aerith grunted and gave several incoherent shouts as she dragged me to my feet, her horn flaring as a bolt of magic blasted a hole in the ceiling. Aerith jumped up, her wings flaring as she hoisted me out of the falling elevator. Deftly dodging the whipping cable, the alicorn began to slowly hover downwards, the elevator finally reaching the bottom of the shaft with a terrible crunch.

I dared to look upwards, spotting the dragon’s head poking through the elevator door. It let out an indignant clack of its sharp beak, unable to squeeze into the small shaft to follow us. Aerith’s wings fluttered as she came to the elevator wreckage, landing gently atop it. I gave a sigh of relief, taking my umbrella back before bending over to attempt to pull open the doors to the lowest level. Aerith’s horn lit up, and with a grunt of effort, we managed to pull the doors open and drop into the hallway.

Unlike the floors above, the hallway leading to the command center appeared to be well maintained, the lights glowing brightly along the practically polished metal surface. Aerith and I cautiously approached the door at the end of the hallway, both glancing towards each other before pushing the door open.

We were greeted by rows upon rows of computers and terminals, all whirring, humming, and beeping as they lined the walls of the room. Thick wires ran from each of the computers, snaking across the floor up onto the desk at the center of the room. And sitting on that desk was a large glass jar connected to several more complex machineries, in which a brain floated calmly. A voice soon crackled in over a speaker connected to the jar that was... unnervingly, just as calm. "My my, so the Vanhoover Five finally have some representatives sent to appear before me. You both certainly did take your sweet time getting here, Static Charge and... Aerith..."

The voice forced Aerith's name out with more than a hint of anger, whether it was well-placed or not being anyone's guess. Honestly, I was just a bit more unnerved that he knew our names - I mean, we weren't exactly keeping a low profile the last few months, but still... Taking a breath, I stepped forwards, eyes focused on the jar. "The game's over, Cerberus, our friends are gonna be blasting open your doors and wrecking that missile any moment now. You've lost."

The brain floated quietly for a moment, before the speakers erupted into a loud bout of laughter, forcing me to cover my ears as Aerith conjured up a pair of magical earmuffs. Egh, are we sure that the real project wasn't something to do with the way this room reverberated sound so loudly? "Eheh, oh, stars above, you've made it all the way to my inner sanctum, discovered my project, and yet you -still- don't know my true name? For as many of my dragons you've taken down, I think I may have given you too much credit. Though, I suppose I may have been a little overzealous about what I did allow you to copy from these databanks all the same..." Both myself and Aerith shared a glance with each other, her eyes as wide as mine. He... he knew about that? How!? "Oh, don't look so surprised, it's unflattering to you. I'm linked to every part of this facility that has some form of electronics in it, do you think I wouldn't have monitored a storage drive getting plugged in on a surface console? And to just rip the poor thing out without properly ejecting it, I'm surprised if you got anything off it at all, even without my own bit of corrupting the data!"

'Hey, we were under a lot of pressure at the time, your damn robots weren't exactly making it a walk in the park for us!' The blue alicorn beside me stepped forth, understandably a little annoyed by that. Her magic flare up, her rifle levitating out beside her. 'How about we see what happens when you aren't properly ejected, ya damned dirty stripe...'

Reaching a hoof up to try and keep her from firing - don't really want to have her somehow accidentally set off the launch circuits while we're still in the base - the brain let off another bout of laughter, catching us both by surprise and forcing Aerith to drop her rifles as she made up an even bigger set of earmuffs. "A-hah, oh, WOW, you -must- be at least as old as I am to remember THAT old insult! And to use it so childishly as well, my gods above... Doctor Haukohl, not my birth name but the closest approximation your offices of citizenship could be bothered to put down. Not that it really matters, anyways, I'm sure my name will live on as Cerberus once the missile takes flight. At least, to those who may survive, anyways..."

"And what makes you so sure your missile will fly?" Taking another step forwards, the brain floated in front of us, silent. "We saw the missile before we got here, it was still being constructed by your dragons. If it does launch, it'd probably tear itself apart before it even breached the atmosphere. Not that we're even going to let it get to launch in the first place." The brain - Haukohl, I guess - only seemed to settle in the jar, my eyes focusing on it as the hum of computer banks filled the air around us. I blinked a few times, looking up around the room for just a moment, a very good point dawning on me, and probably Aerith as well - he didn't have any defenses in here, at all, did he? No roof-turrets, the floor's too cluttered by wires to have any pop-up turrets there, and I kinda doubt the desk would be hiding any, either. It'd just be the dragons, and without the brain controlling them...

"Oh, those utterly incompetent oafs! No wonder they left me to surrender, their utter laziness and inability to do ANYTHING without me babysitting them left me short on construction robots! If only I never let them take those dragons for those stupid recoilless rifle warheads..." I turned my head to grab the handle of my umbrella off my back, before what he'd said sank in. Or, more specifically, the way he had said it - I've done enough sweet-talking in my life to know when someone's putting up a show. Still, I pulled the long taser up, just watching the brain bob silently. "Hmh, unimpressed then? Well, you can't fault me for trying. Though, if you really think killing me will save the day, then perhaps your misguided and mentally unstable marefriend might've gotten into your head too much, Static. The truth of the matter is, whether I'm still in this jar or not when you leave, heh heh... I've already won. And there's nothing that you nor your hopelessly deluded friends can do about it."

I lifted up my umbrella, gripping the handle between my teeth tightly as I approached the tank. Well, if he’s going to make it this easy… I leaned backwards, only to swing my neck around and smash the end of the umbrella into the tank. With a resounding crack, several fissures appearing in the glass before the entire structure gave way. Gel rushed out over the desk, the brain flopping pitifully onto the wood. Lights flickered, shutting off one by one as each of the computers tied to the brain began to shut down, silence falling in the center.

I stepped backwards, glass shards crunching under my hooves as I walked back around to the other side of the desk where Aerith was standing, her horn now the only source of light in the room. “So, what in the name of Celestia and Luna was that all about?” I asked, trying my best to wipe some of the coagulated gel off of my umbrella before stowing it. Aerith just pointed to a skeleton slumped up against the back of the desk, previously hidden from view. Several wires ran from a sickeningly large hole in the back of its skull up to the brain. I bent down, noticing a piece of paper clutched in its grasp.

Pulling the paper free, I held it up closer to Aerith’s horn, trying to read the extremely faded ink. It looked like some kind of print out, important sounding codes and labels running along the top and bottom. ‘Project Cerberus: Supersonic Low Altitude Missile, Balefire Bomb Delivery System. Expected Completion: 2085. Director Haukohl approved for surgery to oversee facility due to death of Senior Officer Zephyr’. I let the note fall back to the floor, unsure of what to think. I… suppose that answers that question, at least…

“Uh… any idea if there’s a way out that doesn’t require climbing up a broken elevator shaft?” I asked, looking around the room. Aerith shook her head, and began to trot back down the hallway we’d entered from. Ugh, getting out of here isn’t going to be fun… She peeked her head out of the gap at the top of the doors above the crashed elevator, looking upwards.

‘It doesn’t sound like anything’s moving around up top anymore… you think killing him actually did shut the whole base down?’ She asked. Looking to her, I let off a quiet sigh, nodding lightly - I sure hope so. Trying to avoid those dragons in the light was bad enough… I squeezed through the gap after her, before climbing up onto her back as she spread her wings and began to fly up the shaft. I lowered my head as we approached the door at the top, wanting to make myself as small of a target as possible. As the hallway came into view, however, we were met by the robotic dragon laying motionless on the ground, its eyes no longer glowing.

Aerith landed, and I slid off her back, stepping slowly up to the dragon. Aerith poked at its claws a bit with her gun, but the robot failed to react. We headed back to the security station, the window revealing the various robots that had been working on the missile to have ceased in their activities too. I let out a sigh of relief, leaning up against one of the computers as I did. Finally… now it’s just a matter of drilling our way out of here…

Aerith blasted through the elevator shaft doors with her magic, both of us climbing through into the armory we had entered from. The alicorn gave her wings a healthy shake, clearly exhausted from the effort. We trotted outside, the air no longer filled with the sounds of artillery fire and robots stomping around. I lifted up the flare gun and fired a shot off, the ammunition exploding brightly above us. It wasn’t long before I spotted the familiar shape of the Valkyrie coming into view, Night Strike swiftly bringing it down beside us.

We clambered aboard, Night Strike beaming brightly as she pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh thank Luna, you should’ve seen the way those dragons dropped out of the sky! They sparked and fizzled and dropped like stones! Ha! Best freaking feeling I’ve had since drinking RAD for the first time.” I rolled my eyes, returning the hug before stepping over to my seat as Night Strike did the same. She brought the Valkyrie up and began to fly west, back towards the lighthouse. “Crash Dive and Scouring should already be back, Scouring’s radioing in that it’ll be safe for the Rangers to start picking apart the ruins now that everything’s off.”

I nodded, leaning back in my chair as we sped through the sky. There was a crackle of static, and Crash Dive’s voice came in over the radio. “Uhh… Night Strike? Static? You guys heading back to the lighthouse, right?” She asked, sounding a bit worried. Night Strike flicked a switch before responding as I sat up a bit straighter.

“Yeah, why? Something up?” She pulled the controls around, lowering us as the cliffs of Vanhoover appeared in the distance. There was a moment of silence before Crash Dive responded, now sounding a bit more confused than worried.

“Uhm… yeah, some pegasus in a tank the size of a football field is telling me if I don’t tell him where Night Strike is, he’ll shove a fuel rod so far up my ass my spit will glow in the dark. And some unicorn’s asking about Static too, though he hasn’t threatened me yet, so I’m a little more inclined to cooperate with hi-“ There was the sound of an explosion, Crash Dive shouting loudly “Gah, jeez, fuck, it was a fucking joke, you mad stallion! Fuck, I can see where Night Strike gets it from... asshole!” The radio went silent, Night Strike looking back over her shoulder to me. I shook my head. No. No way they made it all the way down here.

But even as I was thinking it, the lighthouse came into view on the horizon. The tall structure sat in the water as always, but up on the coast was a large rectangular shape. One that looked distinctly familiar. No. Way. Night Strike brought the Valkyrie down right in front of the TOG, nose to nose. We sat in silence for a long moment, a white unicorn with a teal mane and a golden pegasus with a jet black mane both leaning out of either side of the tank. Night Strike's eyes were wide as she undid her belts, jumping out of her seat and nearly tripping over herself diving out of the cockpit door. I followed soon after her, Aerith jumping out as well to see Night Strike jump up into Twintails' forelegs, sending them both falling to the snow. “W-what took you so long?! You find me wandering through Quebuck after an hour but it takes you a few months to make it here?” Her large grin and tight eyes betrayed her words, the pair of them getting back to their hooves.

“Oh my Goddesses, thank Luna you’re alright! We’ve been looking for you for so long, we... Oh, just, never leave me again!” Twintails worked his way through tears, still squeezing Night Strike tightly. As the two fell to their own brand of reunion, I turned my attention to the unicorn standing outside the other side hatch, rushing to his own hooves.

I couldn’t stop myself from grinning as I hurried over to him, being pulled into a tight hug by the old unicorn. Even the cold metal of his leg under his jacket felt welcoming as we sat there, finally together again. “Heh, should I tell Cross Stitch you ditched his shirt for some fancy new armor? I don’t think he’ll take that too well. And Greasy was pretty angry when she found out you swiped her old umbrella without her testing it first, said you’re lucky the thing didn’t blow up in your face.” Minty joked, poking at the stealth suit. I let out a weak chuckle, shaking my head and sitting down next to tank. I took a deep breath, trying to relax - guh, I never was that good at getting over being shot at...

“How the heck did you find us? And, why’d you take the TOG? I get it’s a moving fortress, but I would’ve thought you’d be on the first Vertibuck down here if you knew where we were.” Dad just shrugged and let off a chuckle, the sun glinting off of his shiny metal horn as he shook his head a little bit.

“Oh, you know Twintails. Even when we need to get somewhere fast, he insists we bring as much firepower as possible. And your… flying, thing sent out a distress signal when it crashed, or something. I would’ve thought you’d have noticed that, sure gave Quazar a heart attack, yanno.” After a shall chuckle, he waved his hoof, shaking his head again. “Bah, it doesn’t matter in the end. I'm just glad to finally have you back again, Static...”

I chuckled again as dad pulled me into another hug, shaking my head, only to flick my ear a moment later. There was some kind of… humming, in them. Don’t tell me I’ve finally got Tinnitus after spending so long with Night Strike. The humming grew louder, though, starting to sound much more like rumbling. I noticed Night Strike and Twintails had stopped talking, both of their gazes directed upwards. I turned around, my eyes growing wide as they finally found the source of all the noise.

A thin trail of smoke was rising up in the southeast, topped by a bright white flame.

Project Cerberus... had launched.

"S-Strikey, what's... what's that?" Dad looked to me as my eyes were frozen onto the steadily-climbing missile, watching it start to arc southwards in it's trajectory, slowly but surely. My hooves fell limp, everything going quiet around me, even as I watched my dad rushing over to the TOG and dropping into the top of the turret. The barrel of the 17-pounder gun swung around to aim towards the southeast, then started climbing as fast as the motors would allow, not taking too long before hitting the top of it's elevation.

"No use pulling a Pripytrot silo attempt, Twintails, that thing's at least forty kilometers away! What the hell is it, anyways?" Minty had pulled out his gauss rifle and was tracking the missile with it as well, my eyes meeting Static's as Project Cerberus continued to rocket skywards. But... but... I thought you killed Cerberus... how could he have launched it if he was dead!? Unless...

A loud scream left me as I smashed both forehooves to the ground, eyes screwing up tight as I spoke through clenched teeth. "AAGH, for FUCK'S SAKE! Does every goddess-damned wasteland supervillain have a dead hoof switch for their superweapon or something?! Fuck!" Shuddering breaths escaping me, I went back to watching the missile's ascent, everything gone limp. We... we failed. Static had trotted over beside me, resting a hoof on my shoulder to comfort, my vision turning to him. He let off a sigh, letting his head fall, before pulling me up into a tight hug - at least we'll have each other, in the end.

Blinking my teary eyes a few times, the black, silent shape of the Valkyrie met me, resting as a quiet guardian behind us both. All the flights, all the fights, all the memories... no. There must be something we could still do. That missile isn't flying supersonic yet, we would've heard it as a sonic boom well before the rumble of the engines caught up with us, and if we hurry... I leaned back in the hug, my eyes meeting Static's for a moment, a grin on my muzzle. His eyes hung in confusion for a moment, before going wide, a smile infecting his own face. We broke the hug, and I started rushing over to the Valkyrie's open cockpit door.

As we both reached it, however, a flash and lingering smell of ozone met us, as well as the sound of four hooves landing hard against the grass, our dads standing in front of us. Understandably, they weren't exactly seeing the sanity in what we were rushing over to the plane for. "What do you two think you're doing?! Strikey, we've gotta get back into the TOG, and get Featherweight back here with Buzzy and Cross Stitch, pronto. Who knows where that missile's going to land?!"

"It's not going to land anywhere, it isn't designed to." Static took point, stepping up to the cockpit door while still looking towards Minty and Twintails. "It's kinda like a cruise missile, except instead of only carrying one warhead or a few warheads to a specific target, it just flies around dropping off balefire bombs wherever it pleases, indefinitely. It uses an open arcane reactor design for the main propulsion, too, so even when it isn't dropping bombs, it's still irradiating the countryside. The Valkyrie is the only thing that has a chance of catching and destroying it before it gets to cruise speed, and we're the only ones who can fly the Valkyrie." There was a short pause, before Static stood back, moving forwards to hold Minty in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, but... we're the only ones who can do this. I love you, dad."

Our dads looked between themselves as Static broke the hug, and made his way fully up into the cockpit, myself following behind him. As I placed my hooves on the ladder, though, I felt a hoof grab for my shoulder, turning around to see dad behind me. His eyes were wide, and carried no small hint of worry behind them as he tried to find the words. He looked to Minty, a quiver in his lip as he finally spoke. "C... Come back to us. Please."

Resting a hoof on Twintails' foreleg, I stood back from the ladder as well, moving to embrace him in a hug myself. "We will, I promise. I love you." Getting a quick squeeze in return, I moved back and climed my way up into the Valkyrie's cockpit, dropping into the pilot's seat and shutting the door. A flash erupted from beside the TOG ahead of us as Minty teleported back beside it, Twintails landing beside him as the turbines quickly spooled up to full roar. Throttling up, the Valkyrie was soon rising up vertically, the nose easing around to point towards the large contrail still rising skywards. Lucky this is a pretty slow missile... "Whaddaya think, Static, nice day to save Equestria?"

"Just promise me you're not gonna have this become a regular thing, my heart's pounding enough." With a quick kick of acceleration, we were speeding across the wasteland once more, soon hitting trans-sonic speeds and rattling whatever windows might've been left unshattered in the Bridleshade ruins. The rattling of the aircraft quickly gave way to the quietness of supersonic flight, and as the mountain ranges passed beneath us towards Fort Maple, I started bringing the Valkyrie's nose up, lifting us ever faster towards the missile. One last big show for us...

As my eyes were tracking the missile's trail to bring the Valkyrie's nose pointed at it, however, it started to lower to a flatter angle of ascent, before the plume of flames coming from it changed to an entirely different color and our pip-bucks began clicking in unison. The Valkyrie's canopy tinted to save our eyes from it, my hoof pushing the throttle as wide as she'd go to keep up with the missile. Two large boosters ejected from its sides, falling away from it for a moment before disintegrating from the drag, making me pull back on the yoke quickly to try and avoid them. Well, less time to work it is, then, just have to... oh, crap.

"Static? Bad news. Forward guns are empty." I couldn't look behind myself to see his expression at the time, but I'm willing to bet that it was somewhere between 'are you kidding me!?' and 'you stupid, stupid freaking moron!'. Which, in all honesty, was quite fair. Rapid clacking came from his console, before he let off a few annoyed grunts, hitting his hooves against the hard metal a few times. "What's wrong now?!"

"We're going too fast, the tesla cannon turrets auto-lock facing backwards at supersonic speeds to save them from ripping off due to drag. I can't fire on it either!" ...well, fuck. So, we're chasing down a supersonic megaspell-armed missile that can indefinitely rain radiation and warheads across Equestria while at speed, and we're unable to fire back at it. Yeah, if I'm gonna be honest, I've had better days. Going white-hooved on the throttle, it was opened just about as far as she'd go, and yet through the Valkyrie's canopy I could just about make out the fact that the missile was starting to get away from us - oh, this is really not good...

"We're losing it, Static, we gotta think of something quick! Uh, maybe we still have a thermobaric bomb onboard, we could try throwing that at it, you've got some afterburner activation controls back there, don't you?" Yeah, arcing a conventional bomb at... mach 3 into the tail end of a giant missile powered by an arcane reactor, arguably not the greatest of idas but it's not like we have many options at this point! Static clacked away at his terminal behind me, as I tried to keep the missile in view ahead of us. That damned thing is definitely getting further away...

"You dropped both of them already! All we have left are the... well... fuck..." Out of thermobarics, so all we have are... our own megaspells. Oooohoho, fuck me with a 17-pounder. There was a moment's pause, before Static started working his console again, the HUD on the canopy changing in front of me. The missile was now selected by a square wireframe, and nearly by instinct I found myself guiding the new crosshair about to get it lined up inside the center of the box. Well, I mean, round bomb... round hole... "Alright, brace yourself, Strikey! And get ready to pull back hard!"

The heaviest kick of speed we'd both felt in a long while hit us both hard as Static hit the afterburner, myself working as much as I could to keep the crosshair centered on the box. A thunk was barely heard over the blood pounding in the back of my head, the windscreen soon lighting up with a 'pull up' warning, which I obliged as best I could. With the sound of groaning metal, and the whine of the central turbine starting as I held the yoke tight against my chest, another sudden kick of acceleration hit us, everything starting to go dark once again. Heh, almost felt like the first time we climbed aboard, that glimpse through the clouds as we gained altitude, before...

The sky outside lit up in a brilliant white flash, the windscreen barely having time to compensate for it, before everything went dark again. Fucking aces, Strikey.

"You're tuned in to Radio KAOS, and the breaking news due east from Vanhoover is apparently the launch of a missile of some description, out from the base which was being placed under siege earlier today. We haven't got any casualty reports yet, if anyone's been injured by the launch, and we're not sure where the missile is targeted either, but hopefully... Goddesses above..."

The rather unceremonious sound of several consecutive gulps was heard over the airwaves, followed by a bit of gasping for air. "Mmm, gwuh, sorry listeners, just forgive me for this bottle of Wild Pegasus I have in hoof. Today's been... today's been a hell of a day here, I can say that much. We'll keep you all updated as we learn what unfolds, though since our secondary radio sets are still down we're pretty much relying on what you fine folks can tell us... hm?

"Ah, heh, as it turns out, the Vanhoover Five already are aware of the missile - little surprise there - and are en route to destroy it! Heh, these guys just never give up, no matter what the odds, eh? Here's to you five fine mares and stallions, we're all counting on you guys, and we know you can pull it off. Heh, matter of fact, let me see... Hah, so I can, just about can make out the sight of their contrails heading over to meet up with the missile's from here. I'm sure our resident flight coordinator would forgive them for breaking open the sound barrier given the circumstances, eheh...

"We'll be giving as much of a play-by-play as we can see from over here, though it is getting a bit hard to see as their contrails merge up. From the looks of things though, have to wonder how they're planning on managing this. Their plane isn't a slouch in the firepower department, that's a sure thing, though I dunno if auto and tesla cannons would do much versus a missile, or if they'd be more than effective, eheh. Still, I'm sure they've got a-

"U-uh... uh... it.. it's hard to describe what's just happened, stallions and gentlemares, but from the looks of things... there's been... the missile's... I..." The DJ paused, taking another long draw from his bottle of amber liquid. "Stallions and Gentlemares, I think... I think the Vanhoover Five's plane might be gone."

I gasped for breath, finding myself staring upwards at a blue sky, the rustling of leaves on the tree behind me meeting my ears as things started to come into focus. This place... it's familiar, but, where is it? The red and white-patterned blanket underneath me shuffled as I moved upon it, the tinkling of magic and clinking of glass bottles meeting my ears beside me. Turning to look, a bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD met my vision, and past that sat a blue unicorn mare, her lime-green mane falling over her orange eyes as a smile crossed her muzzle. Tenatively, I took the bottle of soda from her magic, as she opened up her own bottle and leaned forwards.

"Had a feeling we'd meet again before this was all over. Nice weather for it, too, a bright, sunny day..." Gamma Ray let off a light chuckle as she gave her head a shake, looking out across the grassy valley below. "Heh, sorry, that joke's getting a bit tired now, isn't it? Ah..."

I blunk a few times, setting my unopened bottle down for the moment. Back again... what was going on before I was here? There was climbing into the Valkyrie... chasing down the missile... then using the megaspells. And then... I looked back up at the mare, and the valley below. Gamma Ray was dad's mom, sorta... and she's... The unicorn mare let off a sigh beside me, giving her head another shake. "You know, you look just like your father did when he started getting worked up over something. Trust me, Strikey, your time's still a long ways off. You were thinking it yourself, you silly goofball, you really need to learn how to pilot that plane of yours so you stop knocking yourself out at the controls."

That at least got a sigh of relief out of me, for the moment, anyways. Not dead... yet. "Heh, yeah, I-I probably should, shouldn't I? But, hey, it's not like I'm going and climbing in a fridge, right?" Letting off a weak chuckle, Gamma joined me in it, taking a sip of her drink afterwards. Heh, yeah, suppose our big wasteland-saving event does work out just a little more on the dignified side of things than our dads' did... I rested back, looking down at the bottle of glowing soda. "So... barring another case of my magnificent piloting skills, this... gonna be the last time I'll get to see you? Or, do you just drop in every now and again when you feel like it?"

The old mare wore a smirk as she leaned back, looking up towards the sky above. "Not sure. I might be able to show up in your dreams like I do with Twinnie, but we might just have to wait and see on that. First things first, though, you've got a plane that's seen some better days needing landing. Don't want you showing up again for keeps, and all." A small chuckle escaped her as I finally uncapped my bottle of RAD, taking a good whiff of the soda. Smells like home already... wait, I still have to land the Valkyrie? And if it's like the first time, I must be passed out, so... how upside-down were we?! Gamma Ray's hoof soon rested on my shoulder, her muzzle still wearing that smile. "Calm down now, you don't need to worry, it's only been a little while this time around, barely a few seconds."

"O-oh... okay, I... I guess." Swirling the glowing blue soda around for a moment, I looked out across the grassy valley, the older unicorn beside me, shuffling over a little closer to pull me over into a light hug. There's that reactor coolant and machine oil aroma again... heh, small wonder why Dad spends so much time in the TOG, almost smells just like it. Bringing the bottle of RAD to my lips, I took a sip of the soda, it tasting just as it always had... maybe with a slight bit more of a metallic twinge, though. Gamma Ray looked about beside me as the wind started to pick up, but it sounded... muffled. And there was a definitive high-pitched whine backing it, too...

Blinking a few times as I tried to work out what it was, the mare beside me only wore a smirk, giving me one last squeeze. "Looks like you're going back, now. Stay safe, and in the name of Luna, please never scare your father like that again. The last thing either of us need is for him to be staying here permanently, least, long before he sould be..." Giving my cheek a slight nuzzle, I felt Gamma Ray's hoof brush against my back as she let me go, my eyes falling on her as everything else started to become fuzzy. She still wore that loving smile... can see why Dad loved her so much. "And just like I told Twinnie, we'll be sure to meet again, some sunny day!"

Gamma's voice faded in my ears as it was replaced with a dull ringing, and the sound of the Valkyrie's engines roaring away behind us, my eyes blinking a few times as they focused back in on reality. We were in a slight left bank, the ground - I'm glad to say - being visible below us with the sky above, rather than the inverse, and the ocean far off past the shore was glinting the sun's light back to us. And, just to put the cherry on top of it all, I could just about also make out Static's panicky screamings. Ah, some things never change... "NIGHT STRIKE, PLEASE WAKE UH-HUH-HUP!!"

Reaching my hooves up, I grabbed hold of the yoke finally and settled us out, Static letting off one last yelp of surprise as the Valkyrie shifted to level flight. My other hoof pulled back on the throttle, myself letting off a small grunt and just quickly hitting the airbrakes as well. Alright... panic over, let's just get back and land now. "Okay, Strikey, you're gonna have to promise me that you'll stop pulling maneuvers that knock us both out, because it's hard to convey just how terrifying it is for me to always end up being the first one awake!"

I couldn't help but let loose a chuckle, bringing the Valkyrie's nose around to head back towards the shore. "Heh, don't worry Sparky, I think that'll be the last time we'll have to do something crazy like that for a long, long while. It, uh, it... -did- work, right?"

Static clacked away at his terminal a few times, the whirr of the top turret motors scanning the sky behind us just about being heard as we continued to slow down, myself swapping us over to hover mode. The earth pony let off a relieved sigh after a moment, and I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Well, there's a big cooled-off fireball behind us, and I'm not seeing any definite obvious missile contrails coming out of it, so I think we're in the clear. You're not gonna want to try and explore ground zero of that explosion now, are you?"

A small chuckle escaped me as I shook my head, aiming us both towards the lighthouse as we slowly traveled along, over the Vanhoover Reservior and past Hopeville. "Come on, Static, we were at least a few kilometers in the air. A missile going off at that height wouldn't do a damn thing on the ground, except maybe make whoever was under it at the time have to use the bathroom..."

Soon passing over Maple Creek, the flat, grassy lighthouse runway quickly came into view, with the white form of the TOG forming a rather awkward contrast. Heh, leave it to dad to only get down here after the snow's all gone away. Bringing the Valkyrie back in line once more, we touched down smoothly, myself letting off a long sigh and turning the engines off. Undoing my harness and looking back to Static, he stood up out of his chair, sharing my grin. Leaning forwards, my lips met his in a quick kiss, before I rested back on my hooves.

"Let's go home, Static."

The TOG trundled smoothly across the railyard around the Tank Ghouls' shed a couple days later, my back hooves lazily dangling over the side of the tank's back as I let my wings catch the airflow around the massive landship. The large collection of vehicles sat outside of the long service shed, all turrets turned to face towards us and barrels raised skywards, Dad slowing the TOG down to a crawl to climb up to the turret and stick his head out the hatch. I could only wear a grin as I stood myself up, trotting along the back to get over to him. "Heh, you really have been busy the last few months, haven't you, Strikey?"

Pulling myself up on top of the turret, I looked over and watched as we trundled along past Deathtrap, unable to keep myself from staring as I was only just able to see the top of the upper turret. The TOG might've been the longer tank, but, somehow, that landship still managed to be a little taller. Honestly... looking over to the pegasus sticking out of the turret, I wasn't too surprised to see him staring, too. "Yeah, you could say that... oh, dad, quick, stop the tank!"

Soon nearing the opened doors of the tank ghouls' shed, dad had just about enough time to duck in and bring us to a halt, the turret just about right between them. The side hatches clattered open as I hopped down from the turret landing right in front of, well, everypony! Or, at least all the tank ghouls, anyways. Dad stuck his head out the side, and a quick cheer went up through the crowd, Mad Jack trotting up with a grin stuck on his muzzle. "Ha-haa, so, finally are gonna have the pleasure of meeting the owner of the great white slug of the north, eh? Must say, you sure know how to raise your kid well! Has been no shortage of excitement since she showed up down here with her friends!"

"Heh, zat's certainly one way to put it, Jack. Sergeant Rheinmetall of Her Majesty's 188th armored vehicle division, pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." The bespectacled unicorn ghoul passed on a nod as Dad finally hopped out of the TOG, a grin clear upon his face. The fluttering of partially degraded wings could just about be heard over the crowd as the ghoulified pegasus commander hopped over, landing beside Rheinmetall with a soft clatter. The unicorn, for his part, only let off an annoyed sigh in response.

"Rhymey, what did I say about dropping the rank and position crap?~ Rangefinder, nice to see someone's still raising fun kids in this day and age. Can definitely see where she gets her, eheh, tanking skills from..." Dad moved to start shaking hooves, myself taking a few steps back to move out of everyone's way. Heh, man, I am gonna miss this place... then again, I will still have the Valkyrie. Suppose some vacations in the future wouldn't be out of the question...

As I leaned up against the side of the TOG, the unmistakable sound of vertibuck rotors cutting up the air caught my ears, myself looking up at the sky just outside the tank ghouls' shed. Spreading wings, I gave a few flaps to get up and over the TOG, listening as the sound of the turbines drew ever closer. The rotor craft was coming in from the west - heh, oh yeah, Static did say he had to tend to something at Fort Maple. Swear to Luna, if it involved extorting just a few more caps from this wasteland... as it roared overhead, though, I couldn't help but notice how... non-vertibuck it looked. Oh boy, what's going on here?...

Leaping off the back of the TOG, conveniently the single-rotor craft seemed to be touching down at the old firing range, my wings easily carrying me over to it to see what was going on. As I came up to it, the sight of a grey and olive-drab gryphon hopping down out of the side door with a suited alicorn pulling a large autocannon out for her caught my attention first, soon followed by a blue earth pony inside rummaging through a trunk. Even from over here, I could see the stupidly wide grin on his face - must be a lotta caps or food in there. Never change, Static...

The helicopter's engine shut off as I landed beside it, Crash Dive being the next one to hop out of it on the opposite side, a rather cheerful-looking Scouring getting up out of the pilot's seat last and dropping down, giving his power armored hooves a happy clap together as he landed on the ground. Guess somepony's clear for flying rotor-wing aircraft again. Hispano rubbed at her eyes with a talon, passing on a soft nod to Aerith with a smile on her beak, the alicorn being first to notice me as I trotted over. 'Oh, glad you finally arrived! I know you said your dad's tank was pretty slow, but I never imagined it being THAT slow...'

"We had to make a couple stops, say our goodbyes to Maple Creek and Hopeville and all. Lucky Pearl was right nearby when Dad introduced himself to Jean, never seen him turn that shade of blue before." Myself, Aerith, and Hispano all shared a short laugh, Crash Dive trotting over with a smile still on her muzzle. Yeah, that still is a bit odd, but... getting more normal to see every day. A dull thud was heard from the helicopter behind them, myself looking up to see that earth pony still rummaging through the chest. A sigh escaped me, as a smirk found it's place on my muzzle. "Oh, and Chauffeur's been making a good recovery since the shelling, too, Static. I know how much you cared about your admirer those few times we stayed over there~"

The earth pony paused for a moment, his umbrella held in his mouth as he turned to look over at me, before he let loose a muffled sigh and shook his head in response. Well, least he isn't all distracted... though, as he dragged a hefty yellow metallic rhomboid bar out of the chest, I suppose I couldn't really blame him for being that way. Tossing his umbrella aside, he carried the bar over to where Hispano stood with her autocannon, the gryphon taking it from him with a small grnt, before depositing it in her own duffel bag. "Hoo, yeah, that'll definitely cover all the expenses your dad made mention of, and then some... I promise, I promise! It's got a cap value of fifteen thousand!"

"Hmh, you better not be shortchanging me, spark-butt, I know where you live. Will have a hell of a time getting there, granted, but still." Hispano patted her duffle bag twice, still wearing a grin as Static shut the trunk back up. Aerith's magic encompassed it, easily lifting it up and off of the helicopter, setting it down on the grassy field for the moment, as the earth pony grabbed his umbrella again and hopped down himself. Hispano leaned back, resting her autocannon on her shoulder. "So, suppose this'll be the last time we'll be seeing each other. Been a hell of a fun time missile-flanks, nice to see this place just as calm as the last time I was here again. Least, without as many robotic dragons in the air, heh."

'And a few more bomb craters that weren't here before, too.' Aerith's screen flashed up as she let off a small snicker, myself and Hispano joining her in it as Static was going through the chest again, this time with Scouring looking over his shoulder. Heh, yeah, suppose we did change geography down here at least a few times... what was that, like, five-ish megaspells we set off? And one sea monster kill, too. And a suitably cathartic number of animatronic kills...

The tinkling of magic could be heard over near the chest, myself looking over to see Scouring levitating out... even more bars of gold. I could only stare on in response, as the power armored unicorn carefully brought them all into a nice clean stack of around fifteen or so. How many gold bars did they manage to get out of Fort Maple?! Hispano was staring along with me, while Aerith brought up a sign, wearing a small grin. 'Don't get too annoyed Hispano, Static promised Scouring at least two bars each for him and his squadmates, and the others are going to the tank ghouls from Cordite. Besides, if you *really* want more gold, I'm sure I know one SMG-toting do-gooder who wouldn't mind sharing her cut with a cute gryphon like you.'

Huh, y'know, I actually don't think I've ever seen Hispano blush before today. Aerith, you sly, sly alicorn... The chest closed with a loud thump, Scouring trotting over to us with the gold levitated beside him, a wide grin still on his muzzle. "Ah, shame this is gotta be a goodbye, been a hell of a laugh the last few months, even if I've been a bit more caught up with all my other ranger duties by the end of it, heh. Looking forwards t' not havin' to fiddle with any more megaspells, at least."

"Aw, c'mon Scouring, you only downed -one- bottle of Wild Pegasus the second time! Admit it, you were getting better at it~" Tapping a hoof against his power armor's chest, I let loose another chuckle, the ranger unicorn joining me in it and giving his head a shake. Hey, at least we managed to only blow up stuff we meant to at the end of the day. Scouring moved eight of the bars he had in his magic over to the helicopter, carrying the other seven along with him still. "And, hey, you ever get bored, I'm sure Static could pull a few strings and get a few favors back at EQUAD, maybe we could set up a ranger exchange program or somethin'."

"Hah, hope that includes some winterization mods for my armor at least, don't want to end up freezin' more of myself off than I have to!" The ranger broke into another small laugh, resting the small pile of bars on his armor's back. Heh, well, suppose he does have a point there... A loud wooshing sound passed over us, drawing all our attention, as well as the sound of a fairly large autocannon being brought to bear. The attack wagon circled about once, myself just about able to pick out a small green pegasus waving down from her bottom turret, twin miniguns having replaced the two machine guns that used to be there. Sheesh, guess we weren't the only ones upgrading our firepower...

Featherweight looped the wagon around to bring it in for a landing, the familiar skids admittedly being a bit less than ideal on the soft ground of the target range, aunt Buzzy pulling herself out of her turret as it retracted in and resting in the back. Before the heavy skycart had even come to a stop, the smaller pegasus had leapt over the side, tackling me to the ground in a hug. "'Bout time I got to see you! You have any idea how worried we've been, havin' to look all over the darn wasteland for you! And then to go and hole up in the TOG with Twintails while ya come back, really Strikey, I thought I raised you to know me an' Featherweight are the funner side of the family!"

A long laugh escaped me as we picked ourselves back up, Featherweight undoing the harness for the wagon and trotting over, both of his own autocannons jangling at his sides. Crash Dive seemed to take a small step back as the large stallion approached, a chuckle of his own leaving his lips. "Ah, come on Buzzy, you know it's hard to compete with the tank. Speaking of it, we've got it loaded on the train, along with the, aheh, VIP. Twinnie's still recovering from that bombshell..."

I let loose a small chuckle as dad gave his large wings a ruffle, seeming to make Crash Dive flinch as he did. Sheesh, c'mon Crash Dive, he's a gentle giant... least, when he's not royally pissed off. The power armored pegasus seemed to be trying to regain herself as I watched Hispano come up alongside Featherweight, along with Aerith. Sheesh, I would've thought at least an alicorn would've been as tall as him... just hope she doesn't poke his eye out by accident. The gryphon took to examining his twin-autocannon battle saddle, occasionally looking to her own gun, and looked to be about ready to ash him something when a very surprising amount of sneezing came from where Crash Dive was stood, the pegasus bracing herself on the helicopter. Ho, boy...

Hispano and Featherweight both looked over to her for a moment, before turning back to their small chat with Buzzy and Aerith moving in as well. Meanwhile, myself and Static started heading over to Crash Dive, watching the power armored pegasus pull a few tissues from a compartment on her armor. I rested a hoof on her shoulder, prompting her to look up, blinking the tears from her eyes as she wiped her muzzle clean. "Egh, fucking, Celestia almighty... your... other dad's not a gardener, by any chance, is he? Fucking allergies..."

I looked between myself and Static for a second, both of us sharing a blink. "Uh... not that I remember. Pretty sure he was more in the business of attack wagon and autocannon-based town defense." Passing on a shrug to the power armored pegasus, she broke into another sneezing fit, myself taking a step back from her. Yeah, much as I do want to comfort her, getting my hoof caught in her amror joints as she's jerking around would really suck to have happen so close to us leaving. Looking through the opened doors of the helicopter, and spotting a few things that were particularly interesting on the far end of the gunnery range, I turned back to face Featherweight, finding him and Hispano partaking in what I could only describe as a... cannon-measurng contest. Yeah, seriously. "Hey dad, did you happen to fly close to any really flowery areas recently?"

The large pegasus broke his attention off from chuckling at Hispano hefting Suiza up to compare long enough to pause for thought, tapping a hoof against his chin. "Hm... well, there were the valleys over to the east, but they didn't look all that flowery to me. Just looked like a whole lot of fresh blood on the ground... then again, it was kinda foggy." ...okay, kinda giving me more questions than answers, dad. There's no way there were enough robo-dragons and manticores around Fort Maple to paint a whole damn valley floor with hydraulic fluid, unless part of what the rangers have been doing is just dumping the reserve fluid tanks, or something. Unless...

The sharp whine of a few turbines broke my train of thought as our attention was pulled to the western sky, and the sight of the Valkyrie. Woah, um, yeah, it sure is a hell of a lot more intimidating seeing that thing flying around when you aren't the one piloting it... The jetwash from the vertical thrusters blew over all of us as Fringe managed to ease the thing down to a nice soft landing, the turbines spooling down as he undid his harness and climbed down out of the cockpit door, reaffixing his hat and pulling a cigar out of his flight uniform's pocket. "That's one hell of a nice bird you two've got, after finding your last attempt at landing a different VTOL back home I'm surprised she's still all in one piece!" He let loose a slightly smoky laugh, giving his two olive-drab wings a ruffle. "Do have a message for you, though, someone over the radio askin' for you two to head over and take a look at the valleys to the east. Don't want to ruin the surprise, though..."

Fringe wore a grin as I looked back to Static and Crash Dive, seeing the earth pony resting a hoof on the power armored pegasus' shoulder. Surprise in the valley... hm... a small smirk formed on my muzzle as something clicked in my head, nodding the both of them over to the Valkyrie. "Maybe the fog's cleared up. C'mon, one last fly-by in the valley before we head home, yeah?" Crash Dive was still wiping at her muzzle a little as the both of them looked between each other, Static passing on a shrug and trotting towards me. Letting loose a small chuckle of my own, I moved over to Crash Dive in return, taking hold of her armored hoof and starting to pull her along too, getting a look of surprise from her. "That means you too... Ah, we'll be back in a bit, just gotta see what's all going on. Probably nothing serious, you guys just go to the train. Promise we wont be long!"

Featherweight, Buzzy, Aerith, Hispano, and Scouring all just watched us as we headed for the Valkyrie, passing on an assortment of nods, smiles, shrugs, and eventual waves as we all settled ourselves back in the cockpit. Static and myself both took our usual seats as Crash Dive shut the door, steadying herself as the turbines all spooled up again from idle. Didn't turn the thing off, ah, c'mon Fringe... "Ehm, while I do appreciate the gesture, just a little confused about all this. And I'm pretty sure it's not just my allergies talking here..."

Bringing the Valkyrie to the sky once more, and letting loose a soft sigh as I looked out through the canopy to the sprawling greenery of the Vanhoover wasteland below, I swung the nose around and eased us up to speed, heading off to the east. The glowing crater by Gemdale still shone out clearly in the afternoon sun, the waters of the Vanhoover reservior glistening brilliantly as we sped along towards the mountains. I wore a small smile as I looked back towards Crash Dive, after making sure we wouldn't run into a mountainside, of course. "Just a hunch, something I think you'll appreciate geting to see. Least of all because the Valkyrie's cockpit is a sealed interior, heh..."

The long valleys that were the home to the sounds of gunfire and explosions not too long ago soon came into view, myself throtting us back and slowing us down for some nice slow passes in them. I let off a small chuckle, bringing us to a stop in the valley that held the Saddlebrook ruins, looking back to Crash Dive and Static. "Now, I'll admit it's been a long, long time since I last listened to one of Minute's history lessons, but there was always this one bit that stuck with me when she explained how the first few years of the war went, or, well, what happened after the battlefields were left to calm down for a while. See, they were using a lot of artillery back then, and that mixed up the earth a whole lot in the process, and come spring, after the shells stopped flying and the magic that flowed through the ground to make it lush and green came... well... something a bit more awe-inspiring came with it."

I'd eased the nose forwards as I spoke, guiding us through the valley slowly, the nose-down position giving us a good view ahead. A few red patches in the earth amongst all the green could be seen along the valley walls, growing over the destroyed turrets and blasted trenches, making that small smile on my muzzle just get the smallest bit bigger. So it was true, after all... "The soil... it bled, in it's own special way. And for a while, both sides saw this as a hope for peace. Let's hope this time, it sticks."

We soon drew near the base of the road to Fort Maple, Crash Dive drawing in a small gasp - and I'm pretty sure I heard Static gasping as well - as they both got a view of the valley below us. What was once a place utterly littered with bomb and shell craters, blasted deep into the ground by everything everyone was throwing about, instead was replaced with an absolute sea of red-petaled flowers, covering damn near every inch of the floor below. The red poppy... such a simple little flower, but it can mean so much.

Finishing the slow pass along the valley and bringing the Valkyrie back up to swing her around, I couldn't help but hear a small sniffle come from Crash Dive. Aw, come on, I thought the cockpit would've been sealed... then again, as I looked over to her, instead of finding her wiping at her nose, she seemed to be doing more wiping at her eyes instead, a few shuddering breaths coming from her smiling muzzle. "I... I never knew... you've no idea how many of those things I've stomped down over the years, always thought they were just such a nuisance when they cropped up around the minefield." She let off a small chuckle, giving her head a shake. "I hope they stay around, too."

Passing on a nod to her, I dipped the nose of the Valkyrie again, starting to speed us back up to head home. The vertical engines switched over to horizontal as the wings started lifting us, Static fiddling with his console a little. A light chuckle came from his muzzle as he tapped the top of his console between us, getting my attention after I pulled us up to a safe altitude. "Just putting something on the radio for them to remember us by. I hope you don't mind me taking your holotape for it, Strikey..."

Looking at him in confusion for a moment, I reached over and grabbed the headset nearby, pressing one of the speakers up to my ear. What I was met with, was that all-too-lovingly familiar eight-note opening. Oh, Static, you know me so well... "...We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again, some sunny day..."

"Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do,
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away.

"So will you please say hello,
To the folks that I know, tell them,
I won't be long.

"They'll be happy to know,
that as you saw me go,
I was sing-ing this song.

"We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
don't know when...

"But I know we'll meet again, some sun-ny, day!"

"That was our wasteland's sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynn, singing a song that goes out from the Vanhoover wasteland to the Vanhoover Five as they leave us on this wonderful, melancholy day. You're listening to Radio KAOS, and it's with a heavy heart that we have to bid a long farewell to three of the five ponies who've been nothing but an amazing group of friends and heroes to all of us down here, from the large feats to the small they've touched hearts all across this great land of ours, and I guarantee you that they'll be one group we'll be hard-pressed to forget anytime soon.

"Our little wasteland down here isn't gonna be going anwhere anytime soon thanks to you guys, so if you ever do get the chance or the urge, please don't hesitate to come back down for a visit. We'll always be here with open hooves - whaddaya think, Vanhoover Five annual reunions, maybe? Heh... Either way, from all of Vanhoover, and myself as well, we all just want to send out one last, heartfelt thanks for all you guys have done for us, and I certainly do hope that we'll-" The broadcast broke for only a moment, a massive bang echoing in the air around. The sounds of an angry sailor cursing at the supersonic aircraft one last time could just barely be heard in the background as it finally faded back in.

"Aw, you guys, couldn't have left us without pissing Fowler off one last time, could ya? Heh heh... either way, as I was saying, from Vanhoover to you, thank you Aerith, Crash Dive, Scouring Charge, Night Strike, and Static Charge, for all that you five have done for us. And, as Vera said, I do hope that we'll all meet again, some sunny day..."

Author's Note

Well, this is it, the end of Empty Quiver. It's been one hell of a ride the last three years, putting this beast all together, and to all of you who've read along with us during that time, I'd just like to pass on my thanks for being loyal followers this whole time. We do know that things sorta started getting rough near the end, weren't keeping the pace we used to, but the important part is that we still kept caring about this doorstopper, and hopefully the quality of the writing hadn't dipped all that much even with the slowdowns.

It'll probably end up being a long while before either myself or Minty go and tackle another tale of this magnitude again, what with it clocking in at twice as long as the last one but rest assured that we aren't gonna be stopping work on all Fallout: Equestria projects anytime soon. And, heh, believe me, this won't be the last time you'll be getting to see a few of the faces featured here...

The Old Wasteland

“Static Charge? Where are you?” Cross shouted, trotting up the stairs from his shop to the small apartment above it. He pushed open the door to his son’s room, only to find it vacant. A light scuffle came from across the hall, the augmented unicorn catching it and then opening the door to his and Minty’s room. Upon entering, he was greeted by me hanging helplessly from the ceiling, my hooves tied up in magically created ropes. Again. Cross sighed, but couldn’t help but release a little snicker. “Trying to steal Minty’s rifle again?”

I grumbled, swinging back and forth slightly from the ropes. Stupid unicorns with their stupid magic... “I’ll get around the spells someday, I swear it!” Cross chuckled again as his horn lit up, illuminating his graying mane that was slowly starting to match my own silvery one. The ropes disappeared and I fell to the floor with a thud. Oofh, couldn’t you at least lay a pillow down? Ouch... I rubbed my head with a forehoof, standing back up. “Anyways... ah, what’d you need?”

Cross led me back downstairs, levitating some saddlebags out from under his sewing bench. “You know Minty keeps that thing locked up for a reason, I don’t even want to think of what he’d do if it went missing. Not to mention what might happen to you.” Cross opened the saddlebags, folding some robes and coats into each side as he set it on my back. “Here, I’ve got some of the Steel Ranger’s order ready. You're heading there for a sleep-over with Night Strike anyways, might as well make a delivery, right? I swear, it's like they need new robes every day; I know they’ve got a lot of new recruits, but-” Cross was cut short by the door opening, both of us glancing towards it.

Minty stood in the doorway, levitating a box of bagels in the air with a wide smile behind his somewhat foggy glasses. His metal horn had dulled a bit over the years since his adventures with Twintails, his Pip-Buck leg squeaking slightly as he trotted up to the desk. “Morning!” He said cheerfully, slipping the box onto the desk and flipping it open, wiping his glasses clear on the collar of his coat before looking towards myself. “Oh, you’re heading out already?” His expression lowered a little bit as Cross secured the flaps of the saddlebags, trotting around to be alongside the tealish-maned unicorn. My stomach growled as the scent of baked goods wafted into my nose. “Heh, sure you don’t want to stay for breakfast, Sparky?” Minty chuckled as he heard my stomach, a light blush crossing my face. C'mon dad, it's been years since I was a foal...

“Oh, shush.” I grabbed one of the bagels and bit into it, Cross grabbing one of his own as Minty undid his coat and hung it up. The shop had been getting steady business for a long time; it’s somewhat surprising just how few seamstresses there are in the post apocalyptic world. My dad, Minty, used to go scavenging a lot more when I was younger, though that was almost always because his friend Twintails dragged him along. Not to mention, his augmented horn and leg had needed a lot more care lately, so he's stuck to running short deliveries and errands for Cross more often than not.

“Static’s been trying to get at your gun again,” Cross said in between mouthfuls of bread. Minty sighed, a little exasperated as he put a hoof up to his temple. “I still say you should toss it off a cliff.” Minty’s expression quickly changed to one of plain disbelief, but before he could respond, Cross put up a hoof. “Calm down, c'mon, you know I’m kidding. Celestia knows you’re not giving Jolts up for anything less than becoming an Alicorn.”

“I doubt he’d even do it then.” I let off a small laugh as both Minty and Cross smirked, the former giving his eyes a small roll. We ate in silence for a while, my empty belly quieting down as I filled it with another ring of baked dough. I glanced up at the clock, stepping over to the coat hooks and slipping on a thick robe. “If I’m taking those robes to the Rangers at EQUAD, I better head out now so it doesn’t get too late. Don't want to be in Quebuck at night, right?” Minty nodded in agreement, wearing a faint smile as he also slipped a plasma pistol out of his own jacket and into my hooves. The wires and metal shone in pristine condition from his practically religious maintenance habits, myself stowing the pistol as Cross stepped up to me.

“Oh, I almost forgot, Minty and Razorwing finally figured out how to undo the genetic lock on this.” Cross gave a smile as he lifted his Pip-buck-clad foreleg, turning his attention to it. He fiddled with it for a moment before it popped open, resting it on the counter as he rubbed at his leg, continuing. “I doubt I’ll really need this anymore, and it’s not like Minty can loan his.” Minty rolled his eyes again as I tenatively took the old Pip-Buck, securing it to my left foreleg and looking back to Cross with a smile as the HUD flickered into my view. “Stay safe.” I gave my dads a hug before turning and heading out the door, turning up the collar of my cloak to shield my blue coat from the cold.

Trotting down the street towards the western gate of Mooscow, the grand cathedral passed by as I made way through the morning snow. A few ponies waved to me as I passed, though few were milling around with how cold it was outside. I swear, somepony really needs to find a way to actually get the sun back up around here... The sky was full of ominous clouds as always during this time of year, billowing about in the harsh wind. I was soon at the front gate, an older griffin with a few splotches of red on her coat and feathers sitting in a toll booth. “Hey, Bloodbeak!”

She waved and leaned out of the empty window frame, wearing that beaky smile. “Hey, Charge, how’re you doing?” I shrugged a little, tilting my head in a non committal way as a chill wind whistled over the wall. “Yeah, kind of the same. Not much has been going on since the storm season started, nopony's making the trip north with those kind of weather patterns about. Gotta say, been seeing a lot more ghoul traffic through here nowadays, compared to before your dad and his friend made that NEAMO place into a mile-wide crater. You think that place had some sorta ghoul-nip they spread by setting it off?” She let off a small cackle as I gave a roll of my eys in response, shaking my head.

“Not that they’ve told me about, and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that story at least fifteen times.” Bloodbeak smiled and shrugged, pressing a button that began to slowly open the heavy doors in Mooscow’s metal perimeter, the motors whirring and hinges creaking. A chill wind blasted through the opened slot, the griffin cranking up the heat on a hotplate in her booth, warming her talons above it. “Thanks, say hi to Razorwing for me!” I said as I trotted through the doors with a smile.

“Sure thing!” She pressed the button again, the doors closing up again as I turned back to the west, walking along the old road towards Trotisk. I paused, fiddling with the Pip-Buck for a moment before the radio clicked on, the air filled with the host’s voice. Thank you for letting me fiddle with your fancy personal one, Night Strike...

“Goooood Morning Wasteland! This is your host Bert the Turtle sending a wake-up out to everypony from Steel Creek to Emerald Ridge and all places inbetween, hope you haven’t all turned into pony-cicles yet! The weather isn’t going to be getting any better anytime soon from what Tommy's been telling me. Still, radiation storms have been on the decline for the last few years too, so at least you can freeze knowing that you’ll still be just as fertile when dragons re-conquer the world and thaw you out!” The wind whipped through my mane as I trotted down the road, Bert the Turtle continuing with a bout of laughter.

“Anyways, early morning news time! We’ve heard a few reports about the Steel Rangers trying to scour out what used to be Pripytrot, yanno, that old irradiated warzone. They say the radiation’s gotten better since the reactor was blasted open twenty years ago, but unless you’re already a ghoul or have some sort of death wish, they suggest staying near the edge of town if you need to pass through.” I immediately asked myself what pony would be crazy enough to head into a completely irradiated death trap, only for my mind to quickly respond with thoughts of both my dad and Twintails. Dammit, brain. “Remember, kids, radiation suits are your friend, even if they have been out of style for a few years. Anyway, enough rambling, let’s get you back to the music you’ve been wanting...” There was a moment of silence before the scratch of a needle hitting a record was heard, the song crackling in through the air.

"Somewhere,
Beyond the sea
Somewhere,
Waitin’ for me

My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships
That go sailin’~"

I hummed along to the tune as I walked down the road, the remains of two carts coming into view over the mounds of snow on the side. The snow swirled around broken bottles and wood, one of the wheels squeaking as it spun slowly on its axis. With a small smile, I hopped off of the road and crunched through the snow, digging through the carts in search of some un-pilfered cold soda. I tossed a few broken ones aside, sighing as the last few crates turned up only with empty and shattered bottles. Trotting out, I gave a glance back at the faded logos on the carts; Sparkle-Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla. Gee, wonder why they're both completely empty, between my dad and Night Strike's family... Giving my head a faint shake and smiling lightly, I began to head back down the road again, the radio still warbling away.

It wasn’t long before the ruins of Quebuck came into view over the horizon, some of the larger buildings looking like it wouldn’t take much more than a particularly strong gust of wind to knock them over. I turned off of the road, starting to travel around the city - No way in Tartarus am I heading straight through that ghoul infested blast zone with just a plasma pistol. I kept an eye on the edge of town, watching for any ghouls that might wander past the limits and spot me. Just to be safe, I removed the pistol from my cloak and slipped it between my teeth, searching around for the trigger with my tongue. Ugh, energy weapons were really not designed for non-unicorns...

A large explosion erupted from the city as I was passing through some debris that were once a neighborhood, causing me to jump in surprise, almost stumbling over into the snow-covered road. I stared into the mass of dilapilated buildings, trying to locate the source of the explosion. I couldn’t see anything except a few plumes of smoke and debris rising into the air in a faintly mushroom-shaped cloud, prompting the image of Night Strike coming out of her home with her dad's Balefire Egg Launcher to enter my mind for a second. Stepping a little closer towards the city, I admit I -was- tempted to go in to investigate. I managed to stop myself though, shaking my head as the realization set in. No, no, you don’t need to go and get yourself torn apart by ghouls you idiot. Slightly reluctantly, I turned and began to continue back around towards the road out of the city.

I didn’t have long to continue mulling over whatever had caused the explosion when a bloatsprite appeared from over a small snow bank, hovering for a moment before turning in my direction. It buzzed loudly through the air, as I closed one eye and took a few shots at it. The plasma struck the creature, causing it to squeak in pain before falling to the ground, part of it melting into goo. Ugh… yeah, that’s gross. I slipped Minty’s pistol back into my jacket, averting my eyes from the remains of the bloatsprite. I glanced over my shoulder towards Quebuck again, hoping to spot any hint to the explosion, but, again, nothing but that faint mushroom cloud.

The sky was beginning to grow darker as I approached the train car walls of Turnpike, lights inside the town reflecting up into the sky against the snowfall. I yawned profusely as I trotted up to the door of a passenger car acting as the smaller gate, sliding it open and stepping through into the town. Alright, Static, you've been here before, you should know where Night Strike's house is... at least, you did during the day. Guh. Taking a moment to rub at my head to try and get my bearings, a deep, soft voice rang out through the empty town. I looked over towards where it came from, catching the sight of a large, muscular, grey pegasus trotting over to me. “Hey, Static! Nice to see you again, here to see Strikey or just stopping through?” He smiled warmly as he stepped up to me, looking down slightly.

“Hey, Featherweight. Just running another delivery up to EQUAD, decided I ought to stop here for the night.” My stomach growled as I got up to my hooves, causing me to blush a little. “Eheh, suppose I should get something to eat, too.” Featherweight smiled widely as I trotted after him, a few ponies milling about in the small town.

“Well you're always welcome to stay with us, we’ve got plenty of extra beds still.” I followed him to his house, the door creaking on its hinges as it swung open and we headed inside. Slipping my saddlebags onto the floor and slinging my cloak onto the coat rack, the older stallion smiled, fiddling with a heater built into the caboose. “Just make yourself at home.” Featherweight trotted over to an old stove, pulling a pot out of the cupboard and a few chunks of odd meat from the fridge, turning on the stove. In zipped a young green pegasus, hopping up onto the table that I had sat down at.

“Heya, Static! What’re you doing here?” I restated I where I was going and she nodded, a set of magnification goggles on her forehead bobbing along with her. “Minty and Cross want another night alone, eh?” She smirked as I rolled my eyes, letting off a small sigh and turning to look at the Pip-buck. We sat in silence for a while as Featherweight set some stew on to cook, the water bubbling quietly away as he sat down with us.

“Say, where are Twintails and Night Strike, anyways?” It’d been a while since I’d seen him, and who knows how long since I’d seen his and Featherweight’s daughter - I've lost track. Buzzy shrugged, and Featherweight did the same, looking a little more worried compared to his sister. He shook his head a little before standing back up and going to lift the pot of stew off of the stove, pouring it into three bowls.

“He’s out trying to find Night Strike again; she ran out this morning. It’s the third time this week, going off to go scavenge in Quebuck again, or something. Twinny also said something about getting something for that tank of his, and some stuff for Buzzy.” Featherweight let off a sigh as he placed the full bowls in front of us, Buzzy already digging in. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, she is Twintails’ daughter as much as mine, heh.” Featherweight set the pot back down, and I began to eat the stew, warming up from the inside out as it slid down my throat. “I just wish she’d be more careful, or at least tell us where she's going. I don’t know what I’d do, if she... she…” Featherweight’s voice drifted off, all three of us sitting in silence for a moment, even Buzzy stopping her eating. The large stallion cleared his throat, rubbing at his eyes with a black hoof. “S-sorry, I just get worried sometimes.” No one spoke for a while, all of us finishing up our dinner before we dropped our bowls in the sink.

I let off a long yawn, realizing just how tired I was, the little clock in the corner of my vision giving me a good idea of just how long I'd been walking for today alone. “Nnh, I’m going to head to bed. Thanks for letting me stay here,” Featherweight nodded, wearing a warm smile and leading me to the guest cars. I closed the door behind me, flopping into the old bed and tugging the covers over myself. I thought back to the explosion I’d heard in Quebuck - my stomach tightened at that… that wasn’t her, was it? I turned over, wrapping the blankets around me, trying to keep myself warm in the cold night as I drifted off to sleep. Oh, Night Strike, please don't have killed yourself...

The streets of Quebuck; a long-irradiated hellhole, struck by a huge balefire warhead mounted on a zebra missile, just one casualty of the war that instantly and lastingly changed the entire landscape of Equestria. Hellhounds, feral ghouls, bears, and bloatsprites run rampant through the fallen buildings and structures, but all of these are no match for the amazing Night Strike, or her completely legally obtained grenade rifle Thumper! Some music wouldn't be amiss - play me in, Bertie!

"-and that's another wonderful segment courtesy of our resident pianist, egghead, and wasteland favorite stallion Tom Neighrer! Heh, and speaking of ghouls, here's a shout-out to all of those lovely old mares and stallions that picked up here to finally make home after the Lightbringer made the wasteland a better place for everyone who didn't require radiation to survive. I ain't shaming that mare - Celestia and Luna know she'd likely strike me down in a heartbeat if I were - the day of Sunshine and Rainbows breathed quite a welcoming breath back into Equestria, and all the stories we've gotten from everypony who's settled in at NEAMO Crater or Emerald Ridge are always looking ahead for a brighter future.

"Anyhow, this ain't a radio talk station - that's what my friend up by Topatow running Roughcoat Radio is for - so let's break out the music! Here's one going out to all those out there looking for a brighter future upstairs when this one gets on for too long, or for those who think that the world today could only have been made because a couple someponies just didn't give a damn - I'll leave that up to your interpretation, heh heh..."

"Sheesh, thought he'd never shut up..." A wide smirk on my face and Thumper on my back, the fresh fallout was stirred underhoof as that cool electric gituar riff played. Oh yeah, now this is music... trotting to the beat, my wings snug against my jacket, a grin found itself on my face as the nasty things in the shadows creeped and lurked about, a faint clicking coming from the metal computer on my foreleg as the fallout fell out again. Oh, I love my life~ "When I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best - when they lay me down to die, goin' up to the spirit in the sky~"

Showing off some killer dance moves to the few ferals that seemed to be watching me with just as much confusion as want to tear me limb from limb, the mouthpiece for Thumper fit in my mouth easy enough, a shell already loaded. Ooh, this was the best part~ "Prepare y'self, you know't you mush - gotta have a friend in Tia~ Sho y'know at when y'die, she's gonna shet y'up with the shpirit in the shky!~" Alleyway, shadow just moved, ghoulish snarl, twenty meters. Angle up, HE shell in, thump! Oh Tia, I love that recoil... Ehehew, now that's a pile of red that won't be bothering anypony for much longer. That building needed a new door, anyways~ Ooh, I call dibs on that fridge!

Slipping Thumper back in his place, the pile of rubble wasn't much of a pain - wings, duh - and the- huk, ack, bleck, guh, it's like this place hasn't been dusted in years... fair point. Stupid old buildings... well, at least they're good for something. "Hello, sellable centuries-old edibles~ Now, let's see here..." Fancy Buck snack cakes, deviled eggs, a half-leaked thing of cottage cheese... ack, nope, old milk. Okay, scraping THAT out as a loss with some rebar, and... oooh, sweet Tia above, thank you for this. I was getting parched...

"Gimmie that spark, gimmie that spark, gimmie that Spark-le Co-la! Mmm-mmm-mm~" Taking a break to crack open that wonderfully carroty soda, and reload Thumper with another shell, the song had a bit of fun before finishing itself up, the old kitchen being caught with a moment of quiet as the songs switched over. Right, so that's this building's first floor, let's see what's on the second... after finishing that Sparkle-Cola, of course. Oh, love that sweet taste~

Heading over to the stairwell, and partially thankful the alley was on the other side of the building from it, I wore a wide smile as I spread my wings wide, giving them a few strong flaps... and immediately regretting that decision as my lungs and throat got caked in mildly irradiated dust. Fucking fallout... on hoof it is, then. Creak, creak, creak, up the stairs we go. Nice place, really, shame it's part of a radioactive hellhound hole. Two bed, one bath, it's a bit of a fixer-upper but if you don't mind the caps it'd take to fix that wall, clean the place up, and fill the fridge it'd be a quite nice home... for being in Quebuck. What's behind door number one?~

"I... didn't need to see that. Ew." O-ho-kay, so some ponies were still pretty damn frisky when the sirens were going off and Equestria was being balefire broiled. Yeah... okay, yeah, I think I'm good for today. I've got enough to at least buy another grenade or two for Thumper and still come out ahead, glad the feral population is on the decline in the usual scavenging places. Heh, probably thanks in no small part to that forty millimeter pain maker I've got~ Alright, yeah yeah, old stuff. Come on, Hi-fi, I know you've got more good stuff in that Stable, I've seen it myself! Ah... well, that's acceptable. How'd dad put it... 'groovy', I guess. Kinda.

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a mare of wealth and tastes. Been around a long-long year, stole many a mare's soul and faith~" Trotting back to the main road, the radio kept playing along, myself humming in where I remembered the words. Buh, well, I guess I know why Dad likes this music so much, it is damn catchy... ah hell, nopony's around... Well, nopony who'd care, anyways. Or understand the words, for that matter. Which way, which way... ah, let's sell this stuff off in Mooscow, first, THEN make sure Thumper gets back before Dad notices. Gotta get the shells, after all... "I rode a tank, held a general's rank, when Littlehorn raged, and the bodies stank... pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name! Aw yeah, ah what's puzzling you is the, nature of my game..."

The pleasant walk I was having through the snowy city was rather abruptly cut short, unfortulately, as the balefire egg from a seventeen-pounder shell screamed overhead and lodged itself through the wall of a cratered building, turning it into a literally cratered former building. The ringing in my ears subsiding and the shattered glass from the windows falling out and shattering, again, I switched off the radio and slowly turned about, flinching as the side doors swung open and clattered against the outside of the ridiculously long, familiar tank, an old, familiar gold face topped with a mess of greying mane, and wearing an all-too-familiar look of disapproval. Fuck me with a fuel rod... "Oh. Dad. Hi."

"Night Strike. In the TOG. Now."

"But, but Dad-"

"NOW, Night Strike." Fuck... yeah, that's dad. Twintails, one of the two great saviors of the north, destroyers of NEAMO, one unkillable bastard bathed in balefire and able to spit it from his mouth to roast anypony who dares cause trouble... well, that's what people say. All things considered, they aren't far off from the truth with the 'spitting balefire from his mouth' thing. Sliding my busted self into the radio seat, Dad let off a long sigh, holding a forehoof to his head before powering the old thing back up. We trundled along in silence for a few moments, before we moved to more open roads in the city, paths long traveled by the old beast. As I stared keenly at the floor, I braced myself for the torrent, hearing the chair beside me squeak back.

"Strikey... how many times are you going to keep doing this? I know you like the grenade rifle, and nopony lives in Quebuck, but why the hell do you just go off like that? Don't you know how worried myself and Featherweight get?" O...kay, so not screaming and fuming this time. Honestly, I'd prefer him having a meltdown instead... un-bracing myself for that balefire bomb of anger that usually comes, my eyes met his, one of his hooves rested on the radio between us both. Thumper pressed into my back as I adjusted myself, the sound of the TOG's motors pulling us forwards filling the air as an awkward silence fell. That look in his eyes... what was the date today? I knew it was important... somehow... oh yeah, that's right, today was the day that dad first came out into the wasteland, wasn't it? Well, uh... yeah, nope, that explains his mood pretty well. He let off a small sigh, reaching past the metal box between us and wrapping his forelegs around me, holding myself in that position for a second... moment... uh, dad, starting to get a -little- awkward...

"Please, just stop doing this, running off like that. At least tell one of us, for Celestia's sake." He finally let me sit back down, taking his own place in the driver's seat as we looked at each other. Taking the moment to set Thumper down, dad gave his wings a good ruffle and let off a long sigh. "I was heading up to Jumper Cables' factory to get a new rangefinder installed on the TOG's sight, and pick up a few other electronics Buzzy said she needed. I hope whatever you found this time in Quebuck is enough to replace the ammo you spent, you know I'm not made of bottlecaps... just Sparkle-Cola." Him being in a joking mood is good, I like joking dad. Sharing his small chuckle, the soft hum of the TOG and the clatter of the tracks filled the cold air, a cursory glance through the autocannon's sight showing the slight sprawl outside Mooscow off in the far distance.

"Heh, well no wonder I never see you flying, you'd probably burst like a microwaved bloatsprite if you got shook up too much!" Snickering, the glint of a smile on his face melted the atmosphere in the tank further, myself pulling back the sleeve on my jacket to look at the legputer- er, Pip-buck. Let's see now; items, world map, ah, calendar. Huh... I really need to label these event things better. "Uh, Dad? What's happening tomorrow night at EQUAD, again?" Letting off a sigh and shaking his head, the smile stayed on his face as the old pegasus broke into gentle laughter. So I forgot to label it more than 'EQUAD S O', sue me! At least I remembered to ask before winding up looking like a complete idiot.

"Goddess damnit Night Strike, I must've told you at least five times now. You, Static, and Sugar Flare are having a sleep-over, yanno, so you kids can actually spend time together NOT on another 'adventure' likely to get you killed." We slowed - relatively, anyways - as the Mooscow walls and gate approached, dad looking over to myself to watch as I brought my hoof against my forehead again. Of course I managed to forget about the goddess-damned sleep over... being fair, Sugar is one pony I'd like to forget existed. Static's half-sister... gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Dad had another laugh, looking at myself smugly. "At least this'll let myself and Featherweight have a night together without worrying about if we're going to have and come help save you. Remember that time you thought you could scavenge in inner Trotisk?"

"I had that under control! It was going just fine, Static was safe, our saddlebags were loaded, we were heading back out... really, who can anticipate three hellhounds? And a movie theatre's worth of ghouls?" Sitting back with forelegs crossed in a huff, dad gave his head a shake, chuckling to himself. He looked through the viewport, unlatching the interior doors and swinging them out, leaning out the side of the long tank and giving a wave to the old ghoul in the gate shed, and anyone else we'd pass on the way up there. Hey, I'd recognize those glasses...

"Ahoy, Captain! Looking for passage through the harbor?" The ghoul let off a chuckle, trotting out of the small hut and over to the side, tapping a hoof against the metal armor of the tank as it finally came to a full stop. Dad smiled out the door, chuckling softly as the old sailor pegasus reappeared. "Good to see you and the TOG again, Twintails. Going to be stopping for a while?"

"Nah, not today Jingles, just passing through to get the old girl's rangefinder fixed up by Jumper Cables. Have to take Strikey back to EQUAD later anyways, girl's got a sleep-over tomorrow night." Yep, classic dad. Making me want Uncle Nikolai's fancy cloak every time he opens his mouth when company's around... Jingles hit the switch for the automatic doors with a wide smile, the heavy things swinging open easy and letting us through, finally. Dad gave a nod, the tank giving a small lurch as it moved slowly on the wide tracks, starting to at least manage a crawl. "Tell what, we'll be back later today, hopefully, you can give us a few more war stories, eh? Loved the one about that crazy stallion charging in with a broadsword and set of bagpipes."

"Alright, I'll try and remember a good one when you do show, good luck with the TOG. Finicky old thing, but I'd still call it the best thing I'd ever had a chance to test drive. Got a good joke about it, but it's just too long, heh! Take care, catch you next time!" Both the ghoul and dad broke out in light laughter, the snowy square and the impressive cathedral at the far end marking the extent of inner Mooscow, myself taking the chance to climb out of the radio seat and move over to the turret's ladder. I do love the look of this place at this time of year...

"Strikey, you'd better not be touching any of those shells. You know how finicky that replicator-thing Greasy put in is, and I've been roasted in enough balefire for one lifetime." Responding with a sigh and shake of the head - it was only that one time, okay!? - I unlatched the top hatch, letting both doors swing down either side atop the tank and climbing myself up through to the top. Ah, now this is a pretty sight, Mooscow during midmorning. Minute's cathedral off at the far end of the square, the hustle and bustle of the shops and restaurants, the gryphon-shaped shadow coming out of the sun at an alarming speed... oh, not again.

"On your right!" Having just enough time to let off a scream, the feathered mass of female gryphon collided to knock me clean from the turret, us both tumbling and landing in the fresh snow in the square. Ugh... well, least I'm on top this time. Eheheh... "Hiya, Strikey! Been a while since I've seen ya, don't be such a stranger!" Righting ourselves, I let off a weak chuckle, shaking some snow from my mane and wings and looking to the smiling gryphon.

"Yeah, nice seeing you too, Saberclaw. You know you just have to fly alongside to get my attention, right?" Smirking, Saber shook her own head and body free of snow, following up alongside me as I hovered along to the back of the tank. Dad always took this thing slow whenever we were in more populated areas; for a thing that barely does twenty kilometers in an hour on a good day, this meant a comfortable crawl. Setting myself down as we got closer, the gryphon snickered, her short clawblades clattering against the ground with each step.

"I know, but for some reason plowing straight into you is just more fun. I think it's the ways your face screws up when you finally see me coming." Responding to that with an eyeroll and shake of the head, the dull hum of the TOG's turbines filled my ears as we both hopped up onto the long back, settling in for the ride. Saber layed down flat, watching the snow slowly pass by underneath. "So, why you back here, anyways? Twintails stopping by to see Minty naked again?"

"Pff, you wish. Nah, Dad's heading up to the RobronCo place to get something on this thing replaced and a few more things for aunt Buzzy's stuff, then we're going to EQUAD for a sleep-over. Er, me and Static, I mean." The gryphon flipped herself over, looking at me with a faint hint of disappointment which seemed fast to give way to a snicker. Hiding her beak with a claw, she righted herself, my wings idly playing with the airflow over the back of the TOG. Yeah, should've thought telling all of that through better.

"So, sleep-over with Static, right... C'mon, Strikey, I know the way you look at him when you think nobody's watching. I can smell those hormones of yours, yanno~" Saber rested her chin on one claw, the other idly making circles in the thin layer of snow accumulated on the back of the tank. Stupid gryphons with their stupid genes and stupid nose-beaks... "We-ell, if anything happens, I'll try to not tell anyone about how your sweet nectar got on his business. Won't stop me from congradulating you, though~"

Saber wore a wide grin as she hefted herself up into a talon-stand, tossing herself off of the back of the TOG and hovering there for a moment, myself trying to relocate my jaw while staring up at her. "I've gotta go check in with my own parents, see ya! And, heh, have fun at that 'sleep-over', try to not get too knocked up, eh?" With a laugh, the gryphon flew off with a hard flap of her wings, my forehoof finally moving to close my mouth up. Easing myself up onto the turret again, the hatch was easy enough to slide back into, trotting quietly back over to the radio operator's chair. Dad gave a semi-curious glance towards myself, the tracks clattering outside as we picked up a bit of speed. We sat like that for a moment, my own gaze fixed on the infinite. Or, at least the holographic sight's focal point.

"Hey dad, what's the best way to discreetly, uh, well... splatter someone across five counties?"

I awoke to the sound of dishes clattering about in the railcar, my body stiff from the cold night. Brrf... pushing the covers off, I rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes clear, the sleeping car coming into focus. The door squeaked as I stepped into the main room, Buzzy hovering at the sink and wiping some plates clean. “Morning,” I mumbled as I wandered over to the cupboard, opening it up. “Mind if I grab a bowl of oats?”

The pegasus responded with a smile and shake of her head, and I poured myself a small bowl of oats, sitting down at the table. “Feather’s out running some target practice, he probably won’t be back by the time you leave.” She finished cleaning the dishes and set them back inside one of the cupboards before sitting down across from me. “You’re heading out to the rangers' place, right?” I answered with a nod, and she smirked, chuckling lightly. “Well, try not to run into Flare, if you can. I heard about her... 'advances' on you. Reminds me of the way her mom would come here every now and again asking it Minty's stopped by.” She stuck her tongue out at me as I cringed a bit. Oh, yeah, forgot about her… oh, how did I forget about her? Myself releasing a groan through the mouthful of oats, Buzzy snickered. “Hey, you’re only her, what, third cousin, or something? She’s doing better than her mom did on degrees of separation.”

I took another bite of oats, swallowing them down and trying to shift my mind away from her. “Ah, so, how’s Night Strike been lately? Featherweight sounded pretty worried about her last night.” Buzzy shrugged lightly, resting her head on one hoof and looking out at the clouds to the east.

“Eh, he worries more than he should, asking me. I mean, it'd be nice if she told us where she’s going once in a while, but I don’t exactly see her getting mobbed by ghouls or Hellhounds anytime soon.” Buzzy let off a small chuckle, as I finished up my bowl of oats. I pushed my chair back and went to wash the bowl clean as Buzzy continued. “She’s crazy, but she’s not stupid. Just like her ol' auntie Buzzy...” I set the bowl back in the cupboard before I headed over to the door, slipping on my robe and hitching up my saddlebags.

“I’ll walk you out,” Buzzy wore a smile as she wrapped her own thick coat over herself, winds fitting through the holes in it's back. That's gotta feel weird... We headed out the door, walking through the town towards the train car gate. A few ponies were milling about, their faces buried in their own coats to shield them from the harsh wind and blowing snow. "Catch ya later! Oh, and tell Sweetie I said hi!” I opened the door to the railcar, stepping through, waving goodbye to Buzzy as I did, the short stretch between Turnpike and Trotisk laying ahead and dark stormclouds to the northeast.

My hooves crunched through the packed snow of the road as I began to head towards Trotisk. A large figure being flanked by a few ponies appeared in the distance, revealing themselves to be a caravan Brahmin and two guards as I got closer. Well, worth asking... “Hey, you heading to Trotisk?”

“Yeah, you wanna to tag along?” One asked, rather cheerfully. I nodded and trotted alongside them, the two headed pack beast mooing loudly. “Never hurts to have an extra gun on hoof, what business are you doing there?” We began to trek uphill, the land to the right of the road falling away into a large basin, a small frozen lake lying at the very bottom.

“Just visiting a friend and making some clothing deliveries, usual stuff.” The guard nodded, as we continued onwards through the biting snow. I fiddled with my Pip-Buck, trying to find that CONELRAD radio station again. A song soon crackled in, filling the air with a soft swing.

"I got my shoes shined up
I got my mane slicked down
‘Cause baby I wanna hit the town
Call me – Pennsylmania 6-5000"

We walked up to the edge of the city, and I bid the guards farewell as they turned towards a large caravan office. I trotted down the roads, searching for the Plasma Spaz. Alright, it has to be somewhere around here, I've been there at least a few times... I turned a corner and bumped into a zebra wrapped in a jet black cloak. “Oh, sorry, Nikolai! You ok?”

Nikolai took a moment to recover from the collision, but a smile crossed his face as he recognized it was me. “Oh, Static! Ah, don’t worry, I’m fine.” He readjusted himself before starting to head back down the street I’d just come from. We turned another corner, the large Plasma Spaz sign visible in the distance. “How’re you doing?”

“Eh, can't complain much. Figured I’d stop by since I’m heading off to the Rangers' place tonight, anyways.” We paused for a moment and stepped to the side, as a large group of ponies trotted down the road, a couple of them near the front in heavy suits of power armor. I watched as they headed to the edge of town, turning up towards the nearby mountain. “I guess dad wasn’t kidding when he said they’d been getting more recruits lately.”

Nikolai chuckled, watching the group with me. “It’s been crazy. I wouldn’t be surprised if more ponies living here are actually trainees than civilians.” They passed and we crossed, Nikolai opening up the door to the energy weapon shop. “Still, I suppose it’s better they’re annexing us than somepony like raiders, or crazy miliatry robots, or something. I'll take annexation over a megaspell warhead any day...” Hanging back behind him, I looked around at all the weaponry and tech on display, a faint look of awe across my muzzle. Whoo, Nikolai and Greasy really kicked it into high gear with all this! “Greasy, Sugar! Guess who came to visit?” Nikolai shouted as the door swung shut behind us.

I could hear a few hoofsteps from upstairs, before a tarnished red ghoul appeared in the doorway behind the desk, her exposed muscles pulling her lips upwards into a smile. “Hey, Static! Sugar Rush and Flash-Bang are delivering some goods to the rangers in Pripytrot, but they should be back soon.” She trotted around the desk and pulled me into a hug. Squick. “Goodness, I haven’t seen you since you were a little colt! You've gotten so big... oh, come on, I'll make up some cocoa." She smiled, turning about as Nikolai unzipped the underjacket, his cloak neatly folded on his back already.

We headed upstairs, Nikolai and myself both taking off our robes and saddlebags. Greasy sat down on the couch, moving herself over to a coffee table laden with blueprints and various metal and gem components. I sat down beside her, hardly able to make either heads or tails of all the schematics she drew up. “Oh, Nikki, were you able to find that magnetic field generator?” With a small grin, Nikolai presented some large metal cylinder from his saddlebags, trotting back over. She took it from him, examining all the gems set inside the object.

“It’s a bit worn out, but it should work.” Nikolai sat himself on the opposite side of Greasy, likewise leaning voer to look at the shcematics. She fiddled with the object and prepared to connect it to several wires to some sort of modified plasma rifle. As she did though, there was a puff of dark smoke, the acrid stench of ozone filling the air. I coughed as Greasy did her best to wave it away with her wings, Nikolai covering his muzzle. “Well, that didn’t work.”

Greasy set the parts aside, letting off a small sigh. “Oh well, I'm sure I’ll figure it out later. I’ll go make that cocoa for you two.” She stood herself up with a smile, and walked over to the small kitchen, turning on the stove as she filled a pot with water. I glanced around the room, unsure of what to do, when my eyes landed upon the corner set of blueprints for some sort of electric prod.

“Hey, I remember this...” I chuckled lightly, picking the pages up and looking them over. The prints detailed a prod designed to give a lethal electric charge to a close target, while concealed to look like an umbrella. The paper was visibly worn, having been lying underneath several other plans and parts for who knows how long. “Jeez, I would’ve thought you’d have made this by now. Seems simple to do.” Nikolai leaned over my shoulder, looking at the paper. A look of slight confusion crossed his face as he leaned in, and I held it out further for him to see.

“Greasy, didn’t we finish this electric umbrella a while ago?” Greasy glanced over her shoulder as she mixed the warm water with some chocolate powder, pouring it out into mugs on a tray. She trotted back over to us with the cups of cocoa, leaning over the plans on the opposite side of myself. Kay, little crowded...

“Yeah… yeah, I did! Well, sort of, technically...” Greasy said, setting herself back down on the couch. “I built it, but I haven’t sat down and looked it over to fix any bugs. It’s ah, it's probably somewhere in the workshop.” She took a sip from her cup as Nikolai took and rolled up the paper, stowing it in a basket lying beside the couch. My heart sank a little at hearing that; I remembered helping Greasy out with that the last time I’d visited, it being about the only thing she was working on that didn’t leave me in a state of confusion afterwards. There’s no way she’d give it up now in its untested state...

Before I could say anything, we heard a bell ring from downstairs. There were the faint sound of hoofsteps, before Sugar Rush and Flash Bang appeared in the doorway, both wearing smiles. “Hey, Static, I didn’t know you’d be stopping in,” Flash said, tossing her saddlebags on the floor. “Running more errands for Cross Stitch?” I nodded in reply, as Sugar headed to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla.

I glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall. Oh goddesses, that late already? “Speaking of, I probably should head back out. Sorry I couldn’t stay longer.” Standing myself up and trotting back to my cloak and saddlebags, I slipped them both on, tugging at my jacket where it was under Cross' Pip-buck. Sugar levitated a bottle of soda to me, which I promptly stored in my saddlebags with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sugar added as she took my old spot on the couch. “Feel free to stop by on the way back, though!” She uncapped the soda, taking a swig as Flash grabbed a Sparkle-Cola of her own, squishing herself onto the crowded couch beside the unicorn mare that looked like Dad. I waved goodbye as I trotted back down the steps, about to head out of the store, when I paused at the entrance to the shop level of the stairs. Greasy said she left the umbrella in the workshop... if I could sneak my way into it…

I glanced down the few remaining stairs to the basement, trying to hear if any of the others were going to head down to the workshop. I carefully began to head downwards, hoping that Sugar hadn’t placed any anti-theft spells on the door. It creaked softly as I swung it open, making me freeze in place, in case they had heard. I slipped into the room as silently as I could manage, leaving the door slightly ajar behind me.

The workshop was in absolute chaos, broken and incomplete weapons lying everywhere, with blueprints and mad scribblings covering the walls. I looked around in the dim light, trying to spot the electrical parasol. I ducked underneath a few workbenches, fiddling with the locks on the safes in hopes of cracking them open... Bah, this is what I get for not paying attention to my dad’s lockpicking advice. As I was about to give up and head out, I noticed a coat rack resting next to the door, surrounded by crumpled up paper and broken parts.

Hanging from one of the hooks was a large umbrella, two thin metal prongs protruding from the tip, and a few wires coiling from underneath the fabric to the handle. As I crept forward, though, I heard the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps coming from upstairs. In a bit of a panic, I jumped into the shadows between two benches, holding my breath. The door creaked open as Greasy stepped in, carrying the magnetic generator Nikolai had picked up. She stepped up to a large table, flipping open a toolbox and rifling through it noisily.

My heart was pounding in my ears as I stepped over some discarded metal, creeping towards the door and the umbrella. Greasy paused for just a moment, before pulling out a wrench and beginning to dismantle the part. I carefully bit into the fabric of the umbrella, realizing it was made of a slightly thick rubber material. I slipped the handle off the coat hook and zipped through the open door, up the steps, through the store, and out into the cold air. Sweet Celestia, what a rush...

I panted, my breath visible in white fluffy clouds as I stuffed the umbrella underneath the strap of my saddlebags. Taking a glance back at the shop, I began to trot down the road, heading towards the Ranger’s base as I collected myself. Ok… ok, you’re out, no one saw you. Well, not that Greasy probably would’ve done anything harsh, but she likely wouldn’t let me keep this if she did catch me. I turned the corner, heading towards the edge of town.

A rusted sign hung at the side of the road, pointing up towards the mountain in the north. ‘Equestrian Aerospace Defense Complex’ it read in peeling letters. I heard few loud roars in the distance, just inside the inner city, myself picking up my pace a bit. Of all the things out here, I certainly didn’t want to be caught by a Hellhound halfway to EQUAD.

As I trotted up the hill, I noticed a disheveled pegasus running up from the valley, carrying a baseball bat in between his teeth. Well, I didn’t need a raider either! I reached down to pull out Minty’s pistol from my coat pocket, only to find it empty of a charge. Goddesses, he didn't give me any cells! I had barely enough time to curse to myself before the Pegasus reached me, taking a haphazard swing with the bat. I ducked and jumped out of the way, reaching behind and pulling the umbrella out from under the strap. Alright, Greasy, don’t fail me now! Pushing off with my back legs, I leapt towards him, twisting my neck to jab the raider with the prongs of the umbrella as I bit down instinctively. As the prods connected, there was a loud zap and the smell of ozone, the raider instantly falling to the ground, limp.

I stared down at him, stowing the umbrella before gently nudging him. He didn’t react, but I could still see his chest slowly rising up and down. Alright, not as lethal as originally intended, but debilitating works for me. I turned and headed back up the hill, soon reaching a checkpoint in the road, a unicorn in power armor stationed by the barricade. “Name and purpose for visit?” he asked, looking down at a small clipboard, a quill hovering above it.

“Static Charge, I’m making a delivery of new robes from Cross Stitch.” The guard jotted it down and punched a button, the barricade over the road rising into the air. I trotted through, the guard lowering the bar behind me. A few soldiers in power armor passed me as I headed up the mountain; a few nodded in acknowledgement, though most ignored me. I soon reached the end of the road and came upon the large metal door that led into EQUAD.

My hoofsteps echoed off the walls of the tunnel as I descended into the complex, the air growing slowly warmer. A large banner of a sword before a few large gears hung on the wall of the large entrance hall I entered, scribes and soldiers alike milling about. I glanced around, faintly wondering if Night Strike had arrived yet or not. I shrugged to myself and walked down the large hall, searching for the quartermaster so I could drop off the robes.

“Static!” A distinctly non-organic voice called out my name, and I turned around in time to be met by a small robotic filly, her green eyes glowing in the slightly dim light. “I had received transmission that you were arriving for a delivery. May I now assist you in completing it?” She beamed as I tried to hide a somewhat nervous smile. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to Sweetie Bot...

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and began to lead me down a hallway. I followed her through the twisting metal corridors, stopping in front of a small metal door. Trotting into the room, I found several sets of recon armor and scribe’s robes stacked on shelves. I opened up my saddlebags, beginning to unload them onto a desk in the corner. As I did, I heard somepony’s voice from the hallway, this time a mare's, and definitely not a robot's. Sweetie turned and answered it cheerfully. “I am assisting Static in his delivery, yay!”

I'd just finished stacking the robes before turning, only to be met by… oh, shit. Sugar Flare stood in the doorway, her bright orange mane tied up in a bun. “Static!” She squealed with delight, before promptly tackling me. I struggled, rolling out from underneath her and trying to scramble to my hooves. Unfortunately, I tripped backwards over Sweetie Bot, landing on my back with a painful thud. Sugar stood over me, grinning from ear to ear, a certain look in her eyes reminding me of magic ropes and straight jackets. Before either of us could do anything, thankfully, I heard another voice from the doorway.

“What in the name of Luna is going on here?!”

Good timing, Night Strike...

"Here's to another thousand robots sold, eh? I tell ya Twintails, business has just been booming since those ghouls from down south all migrated. Construction bots, security bots, hell, even companion robots, everypony wants one!" The older earth pony mare let off a small laugh, dad and myself sitting down at a small table in the large RobronCo factory office, three glasses of glowing, fizzy soda set on it. I'll be honest, I would've preferred staying with the tank, but... goddess-damnit, I love Sparkle-Cola as much as my fathers. Well, maybe not -that- much... still love it a lot. Jumper Cables smiled as she trotted back over from the kitchenette, myself and Dad raising our glasses with her and clinking them together.

"Well, it's nice to see at least the first pony we helped out did well for herself. You didn't hear it from me, but I'm pretty sure Minty's still iffy about coming up here - already lost one leg, don't think he can afford to lose another." He let off a chuckle, taking a long drink from the cup, myself greedily downing the rich, radish-flavored radioactive nectar of the goddesses. Oh, sweet, sweet Sparkle-Cola RAD. "Then again, that was almost twenty years ago. You did get all the landmines and what-not cleaned up, right?"

"Oh, trust me, we did. Took twenty robots and four employees getting damaged or hurt, but we made sure the road was clear eventually." Jumper Cables let off a weak chuckle, bringing her glass over to her desk and sitting herself behind it, giving her back a stretch with a yawn. She took to looking through some papers, Dad leaving his empty glass on the table and going over to meet with her - right, rangefinder for the TOG. Well, here's hoping that doesn't take long...

Still idly sipping from my glass of Sparkle-Cola RAD, savoring the sweet sweet strontium-90-infused taste, the hum of an owlbot filled the air behind myself as it hovered over to the table. I watched it curiously for a few moments, seing it's metallic wings fold up and talons walk it over to the empty glass, resting my chin on my foreleg out of bored fascination. Damn weird things these robots, weigh at least fifty kilos apiece but they can still fly on their puny metal wings and levitation talismans. Not to mention the creepy eyes... okay, staring contest with an owlbot, go!

The robot played along with me for a moment, at least, before taking the glass dad was drinking out of up in it's beak and bringing it over to the sink, placing it gently in the basin. Finishing off my glass with a few moments of trying to get the very last of that glowing liquid out, the owlbot set itself back down, staring up at me expectantly. I stared at it for a few moments longer, getting a little chuckle from it as it tracked the empty glass with it's head, before finally giving in and giving it the glass. Well, at least I was a little entertained over this trip. Trotting back over to Dad and Jumper Cables, the look on Dad's face was... uh, how do I put this... bad news that meant good news. Something like that.

"Well, looks like we're going to be staying over in Mooscow, for a night. Eheh, sorry for the short notice, I swore I sent an order in for the rangefinder last week... ah, well, least we'll get to see Minty and Cross Stitch, right?" Dad let off a small chuckle, myself replying with a half-enthusiastic groan. If we run into Saber, and she says -anything-... well, I don't know exactly what I'm going to do without Thumper available, but it's not going to be pretty. I dunno, maybe tell her parents, or something. Bloodbeak and Razorwing probably would love to hear what their darling daughter has been up to. Jumper Cables gave a smile and a small wave of her hoof, finishing off her glass of Sparkle-Cola.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You aren't the first walk-in, and I still owe you for all those scrapped robots, anyhow. I'll have somepony send for you when it's finished tomorrow, you can go down and get your things from it now." The little robotic owl fluttered over to retrieve Jumper Cables' glass as we both gave a wave and trotted over to the elevator at the end of her office. The doors shut with a small clatter, myself still tasting that cool soda faintly on my lips, swallowing what was left down and looking towards Dad.

"So, about the sleep-over tomorrow... can I bring along Thumper? Pleeeease?" Putting on that puppy-dog face and giving the lip a slight quiver, the show kicked off. It was at least worth a try, and I certainly think I can be convincing... sometimes. Dad let off a sigh and gave his head a shake, resting a forehoof against his temple as the elevator descended to the lower floors. "C'mon, you hardly use it now anyways, and you know I can buy ammo for it! What if something happens, what if hellhounds bust through into EQUAD, or the Enclave come back and try to take it over? Or-"

"Or nothing. I'm half convinced that you get yourself into trouble just as an excuse to use that thing, the answer is no, Night Strike. You're not taking the grenade rifle with you." Well, that killed the cute face. Dropping to my back haunches, I took to laying down and moodily hofing at the old carpet of the elevator, feeling it slow to a stop as it reached the basement loading levels. The doors opened with a small clatter, and the older pegasus beside me trotted out, before stopping and letting off another sigh. "Come on, Strikey. I just... I just don't want you throwing yourself into danger so goddess-damned often."

Conceiting defeat - for the moment - I rose back to my hooves, sulking out with head hung low and a pout on my face. The large tank sat before us on the entrance ramp, the doors already opened up and a few ponies milling about it, a workbench nearby containing some electronicy-bits with a disassembled automatic turret drive. Trotting along the side, dad was quick to hover himself in, starting to look through and pull a few things out from the back, duffel bags and ammunition boxes. Sheesh, it's a wonder he was ever able to lug stuff around before he found this thing... sliding the larger bags on, they clinked with the sounds of lots and lots of glass bottles, myself not needing to guess just what might be inside. "Can't go anywhere without at least five gallons of Sparkle-Cola RAD, can you?"

"Oh, you're berating me? I've seen that collection you've got going up in your railcar, don't you give me a lecture on soda consumption, missy~" Listening to dad struggle with sliding on his loaded battle saddle, I couldn't help but let off a little snicker, watching his intermittent flailing from the side doorway. Oof, plucked feathers, that's never fun... oh, and there's Kindness, of course. He was supposed to be able to get through that small top hatch with that thing? Yeah, I ain't buying that one... "Lest I forget that one time I found you in the cooler car. Do you want me to remind you of how much padding I had to have Cross Stitch stuff in that diaper, or for how long you had to wear it until you stopped leaving a glowing trail around?"

"H-hey, I learned my lesson! Goddesses, dad..." For fuck's sake, if this day keeps up my face is going to turn permanently red. Looking around the bay at the other ponies milling about, I took to hiding between the two duffel bags of soda, making myself non-obvious. S-stupid... it was just that one time, I didn't know it actually -did- make your pee glow! So I drank twenty bottles, and felt a bit lightheaded afterwards, at least I was fine! And... okay, the way my voice started sounding after bottle five was also pretty funny, too. Fuck, you spend one night binging on your fathers' not-so-secret soda stash and you have to wear a ridiculous... thing for a week.

"Hey, if you hadn't have drank all that soda in the first place, I wouldn't have asked Cross to make it for you. Besides, you can't tell me that it wasn't at least kind of nice to not have your flanks exposed to the air for once." With a chuckle, the elder pegasus moved over to the door, poking his head out with a grin and making a bit of a clatter as his BEL struck the top of the frame. Regaining himself, dad got himself out of the tank finally, his old saddle loaded with the two automatics and the worn saddlebags. Picking myself up, the garage door opened with a clatter, both of us moving out of the bay and into the frigid wasteland above. He stopped as we neared the edge of the road, a drop-off to a shear cliff face and deep ravine, staring towards the north, and the faint greenish-blue coloration.

"Uh, dad? Getting kinda late, we going to make it back to Mooscow in time?" He lingered for a moment longer, staring off at that town built into the crater, myself slowly moving up alongside him and tapping his shoulder. We both jumped at each other, a certain, odd look in dad's eyes, his mouth wrapped around the bit for his automatic rifles, both of the slender barrels aimed in my direction. There was a moment's pause, before his gaze softened, and he slowly rose back into a standing posture. I myself partially wished that I were wearing that diaper again. Taking a moment to regain himself, dad started down the road to Mooscow, myself glancing back at NEAMO Crater before catching up. Okay then... quiet walks, those are nice, yeah.

"Come in, come in! Nice to see you both again, it's been too long." Minty wore a wide smile as dad and myself stepped into the seamster's shop, a half-emptied bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla levitated in his magic beside him. Dad let off a chuckle, resting his pipbuck-clad foreleg around Minty's neck, his battle saddle jingling with the weight as I adjusted the two bags of soda bottles on my back. To my surprise, they quickly lost all weight, the tinkling of a magic aura lifting them up and setting them aside, behind the counter. The zipper opened on one, and I watched as a single bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD levitated out, the teal-maned unicorn letting off a snicker. "Aw, you brought me more firebomb fuel? Darn, I think I just used up my last can of turpentine~"

"Minty, really, I thought you were done with all that stuff. What, is living with Cross Stitch and sniping bloatsprites all day geting boring? Want to relive the old glory days?" Dad gave a chuckle, myself letting off a sigh and moving behind the counter, pulling a second bottle out and opening it up, looking up in time to see the golden pegasus get broadsided by a snowball from... somewhere. Huh. He shook his head clear, myself resting back against a bag of stuffing and downing the glowing soda. Mmm, Strontium 90...

"Yeah, I'm happy to never wind up riding a fridge out of a megaspell explosion again, thanks. Can't exactly afford to lose another limb either, this old thing's barely keeping together." Minty gave his robotic leg a shake, the whine of the motors and grinding gears scratching at my eardrums for a moment, as he gave it a few whacks with his other hoof. WD-40, dude, it might help. The sound of hoofsteps echoing down the stairway behind me drew my attention for the moment, the purplish mane of Cross Stitch poking out as the rest of the other augmented unicorn followed. I took another sip of the glowing bottle of soda, the deep-blue unicorn letting off a snicker.

"I thought we were through with that already, don't tell me you need me to make you another diaper!" The elder stallion let off a laugh, myself coughing up some Sparkle-Cola RAD and setting the bottle aside, wiping my muzzle clear. Fuck's sake... Cross Stitch moved to give Minty a light peck on the cheek, dad taking to explaining the situation as I tried to disappear myself into the floofy stuffing to avoid any more snide remarks. Ack, cotton didn't taste good with Sparkle-Cola... screw it.

"I'm gonna head to the guest room, need to try and forget the last few hours. Bwuh." Opening the bag up a little further, I pulled three more bottles of the glowing soda free from it, stuffing them into the pockets of my jacket. The chuckling from the trio of friends rung in my ears as I made way up the stairs, letting off a light sigh. Well... at least Saber hasn't dropped by, yet. She'd better not...

Opening the door to the guest bedroom, the racks of yet to be finished clothes hung off to the side, the almost stable-quality bed made up neatly and almost drawing myself to it. Mmh, well, I -was- on my hooves for the better part of the day today, and Sparkle-Cola can only do so much for me... giving my head a shake and letting off a sigh, I pulled the thick jacket off, ruffling my feathers and releasing a yawn to the warmed air. Hope dad and his friends aren't going to be too loud later tonight, I wanna sleep. Hovering over it for a moment, my wings yielded with the rest of me, dropping my exhausted self onto the soft pillows and matress. Mmmm... mmh, bit of music too couldn't hurt. What's that old song dad loves so much, he put it on this thing for me before he gave me it... ah, that's it. A gentle melody played, and with my body giving another yawn, blissful sleep encompassed me as the tune played on. Goddesses, that mare's got a nice voice...

"We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
Don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day..."

Waking to the sound of the thrum of an arcane reactor powering two electric motors moving long, clattering tracks, a part of me almost instinctively jumped up away from the chair, stumbling in my groggy state and falling against the side doors. "W-wasn't me, that house was already like that when I... uh... huh?" Blinking, the interior of the tank came into beter focus, dad letting off a small chuckle as I slid back into the radio operator's chair. "Uh... did I miss something?"

"Just another one of Jingles' stories, and breakfast. Didn't think you that heavy of a sleeper, at least, not since you were a filly in diapers." He let off a snicker, myself rubbing at my eyes and looking about the long body. Dad smiled lightly, looking towards me over the radio. "Your jacket's over on the cots, along with some proper food. But, ah, if you'd rather have Sparkle-Cola RAD over that stuff Cross Stitch said is supposed to be some kind of healthy drink, well... honestly, I wouldn't be one to blame you. Had to use up two bottles before I could get the taste out, myself..." Letting out a light laugh as dad fake-gagged at that thought, I shuffled over to the stuff, slipping on the smooth jacket and opening up the metal box. Ooh, donuts...

"Mmh, so, what's the plan for today, then. We stopping back home or just heading straight there?" Lazily munching on the fried, glazed pastries, Dad leaned back, looking to the control array below the radio. Hitting a few buttons, a faint beeping filled the air between us, the gold pegasus focusing on the equipment for a moment before looking back through the viewslot. The tank turned - slowly - easing down into a large depression off of the road... were we on a road?

"Straight there, with a detour. Bloodbeak said something about the caravans being harassed by raider groups that tagged along with the ghouls coming up from down south, I got word over to Buzzy and she's going to tell Featherweight as soon as he gets back from Pripytrot. Best guess is they're hanging out somewhere in the Snowdrop test range, or at least on the outskirts." He paused for a moment, looking down at the controls for a moment before turning back to the system array, another blip coming up on it as we pushed forwards. He started to run through turning on the autopilot systems, before glancing up to myself, a few crumbs stuck to my lip. His eyes then looked to the turret and back, a faint smile coming to his face. "You know... I'm pretty sure that new rangefinder needs to have a live test run..." Blinking a few times, it took my waking-up brain a minute to realize just what he was thinking.

"Say no more." Wearing a wide grin, I had a bottle of Sparkle-Cola held in one hoof as I moved up to the gunner's seat, letting off a small giggle as the motors hummed to speed. Oh, there's no feeling quite like having a big, warm gun right by your face. The rangefinder hummed to life, the usual scope replaced by an almost 3D representation of the world outside - whoo, pretty snowy out - with the trajectory projected for both the main gun and coaxial cannon shown on it. Goddess-damn, robot tech is nice... wonder if Jumper Cables could do something with my pip-buck to give me something like that on my EFS. The beeping echoed up from the radio console, myself cracking open the bottle of glowing soda and taking a few gulps. "So, uh, what's that beeping thing, anyways? Do we need more blinker fluid or something?"

"Active Radar Scanning Equipment, it's hooked up to the rangefinder so it can find targets that you can't see with yor eyes. Better than just aiming at red bars and praying." The cannon's mechanism let off a satisfying thunk as it accepted a fresh shell, the talismans levitating a shell up into the turret to be loaded as soon as the first one fired. With these, though, on a soft target, you only need one most of the time... well, two, for rangefinding. With the new sight, though, first shot wonder...

"Guess so... huh, so I can fire this thing without actual line of sight now? Neat..." Seting the bottle down, my eyes settled in the gun's new sight, hooves moving the controls that in turn spun the turret, scanning the area left and right out of habit more than anything. After a few minutes of staring out into white wasteland, a few bluish blobs flashed up far off in the distance, readouts coming across the vision pointing out at least five or six of them through the thick storm. We dipped slightly as the tank found purchase on the lip of a crater it trundled across, the gun taking a moment to return to a firing position. Let's see, 1500 meters, stationary soft target, no radio chatter to confirm friendly, heat sigs... goddesses, how could anypony be that cold and still be alive? Well, they'll be pretty warm in a few moments...

"Target cluster at 1.5 klicks and closing, southwest at 343 degrees, not hanging around near any known places of civilization, I think that's them. Strikey, care to send our unexpected guests a little welcome present?" Wearing a grin that likely matched my dad's own, my hooves steadied the gun, the tank slowing to firing speed as I moved to the trigger. A click sounded as the trigger struck the primer, which ignited the cordite and armed the capped egg, propelling it out of the muzzle of the gun at a kilometer a second. The shell impacted against something hard there, the entire area becoming engulfed in a blinding flash of light, the pony-shaped blobs vanishing from the sight of the rangefinder. Oh, happiness is a warm 76.2mm Royal Equestrian Ordinance 17-pounder anti-tank gun...

"Looks like a confirmed hit, hope we didn't interrupt them too much~" Snickering, I leaned back and picked the soda up again, taking a few healthy gulps as the tank sped back up. The spent casing ejected with a clang, the talismans and circuits recognizing the lack of a gunner's eyes peering through the scope and returning the second shell to the rack, the spent brass case being set in a nearby footlocker as I rested in the gunner's chair. Flkicking a switch, the motors returned the turret to the forward position, Dad tuning the radio over onto CONELRAD as I hefted myself up, opening up the top hatch of the tank and resting back against the rim, letting my wings spread out in the wind. The smell of spent cordite still hung in the air, music coming up from the body - aw, well, it's not one of my songs, but it's Tom Neighrer, so...

"A-long the trail you'll find me lopin'
Where the spaces are wide open,
in the land of the old MWT,

Where the scenery's attractive,
and the air is a-radioactive,
Oh, the wild west is where I wanna be!"

"You should have everything you need, packed that for you after we got out of Mooscow. Stay safe, honey." Leaning out the side door of the tank to give me a gentle kiss on my forehead, the gold pegasus smiled, giving me a wave as he and the tank trundled off down the road heading back. Ah, good old EQUAD, home to the ponies sealed in tin cans, and Static's creepy as tartarus half-sister. Speaking of creepy mares, a unicorn adorned in scribes' robes met myself at the entrance to the tunnel, the few rangers standing guard with the heavy anti-air guns standing at attention as she approached with a smile.

"Night Strike, pleasant seeing you again. Static was with Sweetie Bot last I saw him, delivering some robes to the lower levels. Hopefully Sugar's not taken too long to find him, you know how hyper she can get sometimes..." Hyper... well, that's one word you could use to describe it. 'Sexually depraved and intensely creepy' is another. Follwing Nova down the long tunnel to the facility's entrance, it took only a few minutes more to find the storage room courtesy of my legputer's map, and the... odd noises coming from it. Oh, sweet Celestia, no... don't even have the time to sneak Thumper out of the bag dad packed for me. Well, hooves can work too. Picking up the pace, the doorway came into view, and I skidded to a stop just in time to see Static cowering under his half-naked half-sister.

"What in the name of Luna is going on here?!"

I shoved Sugar Flare off of me, hurrying behind Night Strike. Flare pouted a little, before recovering and standing herself back up. “Jeez, you can’t give your sister a hug when you see her?” She said, smiling innocently. Oh, yeah, because that’s all you had in mind. She restacked a few of the robes that she had accidentally knocked over in her excitement, Night Strike glancing over to me, a look of mild disgust on her face.

“Hey, this wasn’t my idea!” I responded, a little exasperated. Night Strike turned and, with a sigh and shake of the head, began to trot back down the hallway, Sweetie, Flare, and myself all following along. We soon made it back to the main hall, only to turn down another corridor. “Hey, I heard some big explosion happen in Quebuck while I was passing by, yesterday. That didn’t happen to've been you again, was it?” I asked Strike, smirking a little. Flare pressed a hoof into the center of a large door, a few parts spinning as it slid apart and allowed us to step through, into a small room filled with a few beds with footlockers at the end of each.

“Uh… yeah, that was me... kinda. Dad came looking for me in the TOG, I was listening to music, and, well... that gun is great for getting somepony's attention, eheh.” She slid the large duffle bag off of her back and flopped onto a bed, the springs squeaking a little as she landed. Likewise, I dropped my mostly empty saddlebags to the floor, the umbrella clattering as it hit the metal, drawing the pegasus' attention. “Hey, where’d you get that?”

“Oh, that...” I tried to think of an excuse. “Ah... Greasy just finished it. Wanted somepony to field test it, make sure it’s working and all.” I picked it up as Sweetie walked towards it with a curious look. Sugar Flare sat on the bed opposite the one I sat on, as Strike passed on a quizzical look, obviously wanting more info on it. “It’s an electric prod, supposed to knock out ponies. Pretty potent.” I placed the umbrella on the footlocker, letting Sweetie lift it up and examine it. “What were you doing in Quebuck, anyway?”

Night Strike shrugged. “Blowing up ghouls, scavenging places, yanno, the usual stuff.” She cracked open a bottle of Sparkle cola from her saddlebags, taking a sip of the glowing soda. “I don’t know why you keep not wanting to come along. The herds are really starting to thin in the usual places.” She snickered a bit before taking another sip, leaning against the footboard. I rolled my eyes in response - pardon me if I prefer living and not being sterilized. “Oh, don’t act like you didn’t have fun the last time we went on an adventure. You got plenty of stuff to sell off to Razorwing, didn’t you?”

“Doesn’t mean I enjoyed getting shot at by multiple turrets at once! And don't get me started on the hellhounds...” I grumbled as Flare absentmindedly bounced her hind legs off the side of the bed, looking up at the roof. I opened up my own saddlebags, pulling out the bottle of soda Sugar Rush had given me. Sweetie, growing bored, placed the umbrella back on the locker and trotted out of the room, following a few scribes as they carried a large amount of advanced weaponry through the halls.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you weren’t able to disable them. 'Oh, don't waste a grenade on the turrets Night Strike, Minty's shown me some things.'” The pegasus chuckled and took another sip, myself grumbling through my own bottle. Finishing off my own bottle and tossing it back into my bag, I let off a yawn, stretching and leaning back. Night Strike dropped her empty bottle on the floor and stretched her wings a bit, yawning as well. “Bwuh, guess it’s later than I thought it was. Dunno how our dads did it, living underground like this for years...” She laid back in bed, pulling the thin covers off of the bed and slipping under. “Mmh, Night, Static.”

I slid into bed as well, fluffing up the pillow a bit as I rolled to face myself towards Strike. Flare trotted over to the wall switch, turning the bulbs down before trotting out and shutting the door behind her. “Goodnight.” I closed my eyes, only to hear the door open again as hoofsteps came up to my bed. “Flare, if you try to sleep with me, I’m going to crack your skull open with that umbrella.” The hoofsteps paused, only to turn around and leave, shutting the door behind her again. This might be a long night…

I awoke to Strike tearing open a small pack of Sugar-Frosted Bombs with her teeth, idly starting to chomp them down. Rubbing my eyes as I sat up, Strike spat the empty wrapping into her bag, still munching down the cereal already in her mouth. “Morning,” I said, my back cracking as I twisted it. I dug around in my saddlebags, only to remember that I hadn’t brought any sort of food with me. Strike tossed me another pack of the sweet cereal, pouring more into her mouth.

“Mfornfing” She mumbled around the sugary food. I ripped the packing apart and chomped down on the sparkle shaped cereal. Oh, geesh, I’m going to get kidney failure from this... I swallowed as Strike balled up the package and tossed it in her bags. “They really should have more trashcans around here; I don’t think I’ve seen a single one around.” I nodded as I finished breakfast, the door to the small room opening up.

I turned about, my vision met with an older green stallion in power armor, his face covered by a bushy brown moustache hiding a soft grin. “There you two are! Was wondering when you’d finally wake up.” Strike and I stood up, Fringe immediately turning to leave. “Now, hurry up and grab your stuff. Elder Quazar authorized it, we're going to have some time to fly around.” Fringe left without a word, Strike looking over to me, a little puzzled.

I didn’t look at her, trying to hide my knowing smirk. I simply hitched up my saddlebags and followed Fringe, Night Strike quickly picking up the rear. “Flying around... what’re you talking about?” The pegasus asked, as we wended our way through the hallways. Fringe let off a chuckle, shaking his head and refusing to say anything more. It wasn’t long before we reached a large door at the end of the hallway.

Fringe turned back to me, suddenly much sterner. “Alright, Static, remember what we agreed on. You get three laps around the complex; you try to head off with this thing and Quazar and I will have your heads.” I nodded, Night Strike left even more confused than before. Fringe pressed a switch next to the door, a few gears grinding before the slab of metal slid upwards to reveal the large hangar, a half-dozen ponies running diagnostics on a vertibuck.

I looked over to Strike grinning as she stood, speechless. She looked over to me before giggling maniacally and rushing towards the machine, a few of the engineers jumping out of the way. Fringe and I slowly stepped up to the vertibuck, Strike glancing over all the controls on gauges on the dashboard. I lifted myself up into the cockpit, sitting down in the passenger’s seat as Fringe talked to one of the engineers. “Well?” I grinned at Strike.

She giggled again, fiddling with one of the dials. “Damnit, Static.” Was all she could say, still beaming. There was a loud grinding sound as the large hangar doors began to open above us, the cold wind sweeping through everypony’s manes. Strike was practically bouncing in her seat as she watched the doors open, Fringe hoisting himself up into the cockpit.

“Alright, everything looks like it’s set and ready to go. Let me just run you over some of the basics, again...” He gave us a quick tutorial of how to fly, which buttons did what and what lights meant things were going wrong. “And, are a few parachutes packed in back if everything decides to bugger up on you. Just take it easy, we’d rather not have to fish this thing out of a snow bank, and I don’t think your five hundred caps are going to cover any damages. If either of you are anything like your fathers... Celestia help us.” Fringe looked over to me, causing my smile to falter a little. Okay, Night Strike, please don’t make me regret this.

Fringe hopped out and I slid the doors shut, the interior of the vehicle already feeling warmer. Strike took a deep breath, trying to relax as she pulled one of the levers, a wide grin still on her face. The motors roared to life, the blades of the propellers on either side of us slowly building up speed. I steadied myself in the seat as Strike took hold of the controls, inching the throttle forwards. The vertibuck began to slowly lift into the air, the several ponies gathered around stepping further back, holding clipboards and other various things down, their manes blown back by the wind generated by the craft. Strike pushed the throttle a little further, and soon we had cleared the hangar, hovering steadily above the base.

I glanced down from the window, my stomach dropping a bit as I did. Oookay, only looking forward from now on. We began to slowly drift forwards, Strike taking uncharacteristic caution as we began our first circle of the mountain. “How in the name of Celestia did you convince them to let us do this?” Strike asked, still as giddy as ever. We began to speed up a little as Strike grew more accustomed to the controls, her left hoof firm on the stick.

“I sold off a bunch of stuff we found, and had to sweet talk Quazar up a bit. You’d be surprised how much money you’d save when you’re not buying soda and grenades every day, too.” I stuck my tongue out at her playfully as she rolled her eyes. We rose a little higher into the sky as we flew around, the fans blowing a bit of the snow off the peak of the mountain as we passed by.

As we finished our first lap, though, I heard the clang of metal and the sound of something tumbling to the floor. Both Strike and I glanced over our shoulders to see Sugar Flare laying sprawled on the floor, apparently having stowed herself away in one of the lockers. “Hello!” She said cheerfully, righting herself with a grin. Oh, Celestia, why must you torment me? “So, where’re we going?” She asked as she stood up, stretching and shutting the locker she’d just fallen out of.

“How long were you in there?” I asked, aghast. The sound of her cracking her stiff joints was more of an answer than I needed. Strike gave a quiet whimper, thankfully focusing on not having us crash into the mountain, as I rubbed at my temples a bit. We began to descend, Night Strike slowing the vertibuck down. As she did, Flare zipped up to me and planted a kiss on my lips. Gah! No, no no nonononono, that is majorly NOT okay!

I pushed her back, cringing. “Oh, don’t act like you’re not happy to see me.” I leaned away from her, only to be stopped by the right side door. What is it with your family and creepy fantasies?! As Flare giggled, I glanced over to Strike, who motioned for me to take the controls. I raised an eyebrow, but she'd already begun let go, forcing me to take a firm graspon the hard rubber shaft with one hoof while the other was kept raised defensively. Okay… um… where’d the mountain go?!

I twisted my head to look through all the windows, but all I could see was snow flying about in the air, the robed mare fighting to get her hooves on my own control shaft curiously absent. I began to lower the vertibuck a little more, the ground coming into view a little sooner than I had hoped. As I struggled with the controls, I heard some scuffling behind me, before suddenly listening as the side door slid open. The wind whipped around the cockpit, and I glanced back just in time to see Night Strike shove Flare out of the vertibuck, watching for a moment. “WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?” I shouted over the wind, as Strike managed to shut the door.

She hopped into the seat beside me, looking rather smug with herself. “Oh, she’ll be fine; I gave her a parachute and we’re not that far from EQUAD.” I glanced out the side window, barely able to spot a parachute lying crumpled in the snow, Flare’s hind legs sticking out of a bank and kicking wildly. I simply stared out of the window, stunned, feeling as the control shaft moved in my hooves before letting go. “Hey, did you really want to have to deal with her all the way to the SCAB?”

My mind immediately jumped away from Flare, and I turned to stare at Strike. She looked towards me for a moment, before giving her head a shake. “Come on, Static, did you really think I wasn’t going to take advantage of this? I thought you knew me better than that!” The pegasus mare giving a fake pained look, following it with a snicker and looking out of the cockpit glass. I snapped out of my stupor, glancing down at the compass, takinga firm grasp of the controls again. Fighting against Night Strike, I began to turn the vertibuck around, the pegasus giving me a frustrated look. “Hey, we’ll bring it back, calm down!”

I grunted, trying to wrestle the controls back from her. “We’re bringing it back now, Fringe is going to kill me for this!” The vertibuck shook as we fought, dipping and bowing in the air as we both tried to pull teh sticks in two directions at once. Suddenly the whole machine shook violently, tossing Strike and I around in the cockpit, the engines rumbling for a while before they died. I shook my head, spouting off a list of expletives as I found the vertibuck's windshield now half buried in a snowbank. Night Strike likewise crawled from out of her seat onto the tilted floor, looking bruised, but thankfully alive. Oh, she's a dead mare...

I climbed out of the co-pilot's seat, putting a hoof to my head as it ached. “Goddesses... are you okay, at least?” Night Strike nodded, digging around in her duffle bag, which had been tossed into the corner. She produced a small bottle of a faintly glowing red liquid, taking a sip before handing it to me.

“Uughh… good thing my dad's overprotective. And easy to fool...” She chuckled a little as her bruises began to lose their sickly purple color. I took some of the potion, my body’s aches quickly vanishing, tossing the empty bottle back to her as we collected ourselves. I leaned over the controls, trying to turn on the transmission radio, jumping back as a few sparks flew into the air from the system. Well, so much for calling for help.

We lifted our bags onto our backs and slid the door open, a bit of snow falling into the fuselage. I followed Strike out of the crashed vertibuck, looking over the damage. The machine looked intact, but there was no way we’d be able to drag it out of the snow, let alone fix any engine components that might've broke. Strike played with her Pip-Buck, trying to locate where we were. “Hey, good news, Sunrise Castle Air Base should be just over that hill.” Strike pointed northwards, wearing a smile and rolling her jacket back over the pip-buck. I was about to protest when she cut me off. “Hey, at the very least we might find something there we can convince the Rangers to take instead of keeping you locked up with Flare for the next five years, right?”

I grumbled to myself, but followed alongside her. It’s not really like I have much of a choice, anyways… as we made our way to the top of the hill, the base came into view, mostly buried into the side of a large mountain range. My interest piqued a little when I remembered Minty telling me about finding Jolts and Twintails’ BEL here. Well, maybe there’s actually something valuable left... We headed down the opposite side of the hill, slipping occasionally on the hard packed snow. Strike trotted up to a large gate, pulling it open. I glanced over my shoulder nervously, unsure if what I was hearing was just the wind howling or a Hellhound making its way towards us.

I zipped into the building behind Strike, making sure to shut the door behind us. I saw Strike reach into her saddlebags and pull out a large grenade rifle, the metal barrel boasting two fancy ‘T’s and an atom that had been carved in, the word 'Thumper' scratched into the wooden stock. “Do you ever follow any sort of rules?” I asked, dubious that Twintails had let Strike take his rifle. Strike passed along a wide grin.

“Hey, dad has Kindness to keep him occupied, I can... 'borrow' Thumper occasionally, can’t I?” Reaching the main structures, we began to move through the office section, kicking aside debris. “Besides, you can’t really judge, mister ‘Greasy totally gave me this untested umbrella electric prod, no really’.” I could feel my face growing a little hot as Static smirked at me over her shoulder. I pulled the umbrella out from under my saddlebag strap, pulling open a desk drawer and rifling through it.

We made our way slowly through the offices, but found nothing besides a hoofful of caps in the garbage bins. We began to head down a flight of stairs, passing a few 'Restriced Area' signs as we did. I opened the bottom door to reveal several maintenance hallways lined with pipes. As we headed further down into the structure, I heard the sound of metal steps echoing down one of the side hallways. I paused, Strike stopping behind me, a little annoyed before likewise hearing the metallic whirring. I peered around the hallway, spotting a robot slowly walking down it, every now and then stopping to scan the area.

I began to slowly creep up behind it, gripping the umbrella tightly in my teeth. The robot paused, and I stopped in my tracks, hoping it didn’t hear my hoofsteps. It soon began its long walk again, Night Strike watching from the end of the hall with her grenade rifle. Thank you for not doing something stupid this one time... I leapt forward, biting down on the umbrella and connecting the prongs to the robot. The smell of ozone filled the air again as the robot froze, its circuits shorting out before it collapsed to the floor.

Strike trotted up behind me, smiling. “Nice job, sparky. Really living up to your name.” I grinned and stowed the umbrella as we began to head down the hallway again, frequently stopping to check our maps to make sure we weren’t heading in circles. It wasn’t long before we made our way to a small door at the end of the hallway, a sign reading “Valkyrie Project Faculty Only”. Well, if that’s not an invitation for looters, I don’t know what is. I tried to open the door, but it was locked... of course. I grunted a bit, trying to force it open, before the pegasus tapped me on the shoulder. “I got this.” She grinned, stepping back and lifting up Thumper, holding the barrel flush with the bolt. I quickly moved behind her before she braced her stance and bit down on the trigger.

Night Strike squeezed upon the trigger, the recoil from the shell throwing her backwards as the dense slug impacted the handle, destroying it, the door flying open and bouncing back. I chuckled a little as Strike headed through the door, rubbing at my faintly ringing ears. Making an entrance must run in the family... We were greeted by another smaller set of rooms, and a large door at the end of the corridor. I trotted into one of the side rooms, finding several desks covered in paperwork and chalkboards filled with complex equations and designs. I opened up the filing cabinets as Strike checked the room across from mine, finding several papers with similarly complicated designs. Oooh, this should get Quazar off my back.

I began to stuff the files into my saddlebags, trying my best not to wrinkle them in the process. As I was glancing over one of the collection of papers, though, I heard Strike call for me. “Static? I don’t think they’ll be worrying over that Vertibuck anymore…” I leaned into the hallway, seeing Strike sitting on the floor just outside the large doors, staring up at something. I trotted up to meet her, only to feel my stomach drop out, my gaze following hers at what was in the large room.

“Goddesses above…”

Dammed

"Good morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio KAOS and it's all set to be a beautifully sunny day out today, clear skies far as the eye can see. Here's a little tune to get you going this fine morning, for whoever's on the same ungoddessly early sleep pattern as I am - that Boogie Woogie Bugle Colt from Company C. Enjoy..."

Waking up to the sound of a trumpet playing - was that Crash Dive, or did I leave the radio on?... oh, radio - I groggily rubbed my eyes with a hoof, the heavy jacket on my shoulders flapping about as I lifted myself from the bed. Taking a moment to refocus, the green button eyes of the small plush of dad stared back at me, myself lingering as the blood started flowing again. Whoo, feeling a little hot... that's new. Alright, Sparkle Cola nearby, taking a sip, bit more focused now. Sliding the plushie into an inside pocket of the jacket, I took a longer gulp of the glowing soda, letting off a gasp as everything brightened faintly - thank the goddesses for caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, and Strontium 90.

Sliding myself off the bed, the familiar heavy hoof of Crash Dive banged against the door, Static jolting himself awake. Ech, he don't look too well-rested... "Revellrie, c'mon you two! It'll take all day to get to Jericho Beach, and I don't much like our chances if we get caught outside in the dark. Better be packed for a long trip!" I wonder if the word 'relativity' means anything to that mare... granted, I was asleep for a lot of that first trip, but I'm pretty sure with the speeds involved we covered a lot more distance then than we probably will today. Granted, that was only because we weren't on hoof, but whatever...

"Nrrf... at least she isn't giving us a plasma-fueled wake-up call today..." Static groggily rose to his hooves, stumbling over the bedspread as he picked up his saddlebags and adjusted them on his back, sliding the umbrella underneath them. A faint chuckle escaped myself - oh, he couldn't have 'borrowed' a better weapon to have down here... unless the electric prong-thingies attract lightning. Hope we don't find out about that. Trotting out of the room, Crash Dive was busying herself with a pile of old shafts of rebar, loading them into a metal box-thing on the side of her harpoon cannon. Huh, neat, a jury-rigged rotating clip system...

"There should be two roll-up sleping mats in the broom closet, I suggest taking them. If those maps are right, we should reach Jericho Beach by sundown, with a stop outside Maple Creek for lunch and picking up stuff." The solid metal rods clattered faintly as she fit each into the mechanism, topping the box off with the bars before reaching and turning a wheel on the back of the gun. The rounds slotted into places on the tube, a clicking sound resounding as she reached a full turn. Sliding a few more shafts into the clip, the lid clattered and latched into place, a press of a button causing the rods to clatter one more time, the pink-maned mare looking at the device. "Can never be too careful. You two set?"

"Should be, got more than enough for Thumper and Static did pick up those useless grenades, so he's not entirely useless." Letting off a snicker, an annoyed, muffled grunt came from behind me, followed by a heavy rolled-up map being tossed onto my back. Oof, well, guess I'll have to drop these if I want to fly. I adjusted the mat slightly, Static shooting me a glare for a moment before seeming to shrink back, the mat being pulled off by the power armored pegasus and fitted on her own back. "Uh..."

"Pegasi are useless if they can't use their wings. The mare's loaded enough as it is, earth pony." Well, I guess that makes sense... kind of. Coming from the pegasus with her wing covers welded down, it's a bit of odd advice. Crash Dive fit the large harpoon cannon onto her armor, opening up a cupboard and pulling an old, black metal helmet from it, resting it on the barrel of her gun. "Right, well let's get going, then. Night Strike... other. Chocks away."

Crash Dive pushed herself through the small wooden door, the helmet clattering on the long barrel, the sky outside stained a murky blue with hints of orange to the far east. The waves were... eerily calm, for how early it was. Eesh, didn't realize morning was so dramatic down here... what's on the radio at this time of the morning?

"That was a lovely flow of songs from the war to wake up to, don'tcha think? You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful morning here up north of Vanhoover, and I could almost swear the swallows had come back today. We'll be getting on to the morning news reports shortly, after a quick announcement; for any ghouls who might be listening to us and served in the royal navy, or, any branch of the armed forces for that matter, would any of you happen to know what a Pinnacle - Empty Quiver is? This box on the console has been flashing it since last night, never seen it do anything like this before. If anyone's got any clues, please don't hesitate to call them in.

"Anyways, on to the news properly this time. This following segment, I feel it's only right to precede it with a reminder about that old lighthouse on the coast. There is a very live minefield surrounding the area immediately around it, and a good few places with traps, barbed wire, and other things hidden in the overgrowth. Never go out there by yourself if you're feeling brave enough - or are just plain stupid - because there's a very good chance that you will die one way or another. This story comes out of Maple Creek, where a family recently lost their oldst colt to the no-go zone. We don't know if he's still alive or not, we just know that he'd been seen by his brother a day ago heading to the west, and he hasn't been spotted since. The family is fearing the worst - Baler, if you're out there and still alive, please, try to go back home. Our wasteland might be safer than others, but it's still a very dangerous place. Your family cares about you, and they're worried. Please, go back home.

"There's still been no confirmations on the crash from a few days ago. I urge everyone to not try and seek out information, blood shouldn't be spilled and lives shouldn't be lost over this. You're listening to Radio KAOS, and here's a long Roger Trotters album titled 'The Final Cut'. If anyone needs me, I'll... I'm going to get myself a drink."

A shiver ran up my spine, turning the volume on the radio down as we trotted along, my brain thinking back to yesterday. I think Crash Dive kicked what was left of Baler off of the cliff... wuh. Oh, I -really- hope we don't run into his family. Swallowing dryly, Crash Dive glanced back at myself, her helmet swaying on her harpoon cannon. "You hanging in there, Night Strike? We're a few klicks out from Maple Creek still, but we'll be at the river soon enough." Giving my head a shake, I let out a small huff, answering her with a nod.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just heard something I wish I hadn't..." The power armored pegasus' eyes looked down to my legputer, the sound of the creek meeting our ears as Static trotted alongside myself. Crash Dive turned her head back forwards, letting off a small grunt as the sun poked out from behind a distant cloud.

"Never really listen to the radio. Always is bad news, from my experience." Trotting along, Crash Dive began slowing, her head slowly leaning forwards as she seemed to brace herself on the ground. Myself and Static both exchange a worried glance before trotting up to her, seeing her teeth gritted hard and eyes wrenched shut. Oh, that can't be good... She shakily lifted a foreleg, leaning herself back as she banged her metallic hoof against her other leg, myself catching the glint of etched metal on the side panel she was hammering. Med-X, huh... Crash Dive gasped deeply before releasing the breath, sitting on the grassy road for a moment as she regained herself. Looking about at either of us, she let off a sigh, getting back onto her hooves. "S-sorry about that. Armor's getting a bit old, acts up every now and again."

She continued on, adjusting the harpoon cannon slightly, myself watching in a bit of silence. Okay, I've seen a lot of not okay things, and that mare? She is not okay. Not buying the suit story, we both caught up after a moment, Static scratching at his head. "So, you've been wearing it, even when it does, uh, 'act up'? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" He had a point, I've seen the armor they've got back at EQUAD, if the motors fail you're stuck and if they misfire, you can kiss that leg goodbye. If an armor's chance to kill me increases with age, having it as my usual attire would not be high on my list... "I mean, don't you ever take it off at least sometimes? Take a bath, do diagnostics, spread your wings or something?"

It's funny to think how some things can happen faster than your eyes can process them. One moment, Crash Dive has this really... well, for lack of a better phrase, 'get my brown pants-level horrifying' look on her face, the next Static's been thrown straight up into the treeline by a power armor-assisted uppercut. The leaves rustled as the electric blue earth pony fell back through, landing against the undergrowth with a heavy thud. O...kay then. Yikes, so, asking her about taking off her armor is a really bad idea, gotcha.

Righting herself with a huff, Crash Dive looked towards myself, a scowl on her muzzle. She didn't really say anything, just looking at me, breathing heavy for a few moments, before she finally began moving again. I turned back to the forest, just barely hearing Static's pained grunts over the rustle of the leaves. "Get him if you have to. I'll be at the bridge. Bloody earth pony..."

Yeah, that mare is -really- not okay.

"Is it really a good idea to be traveling with her? Ow..." We'd begun heading for Maple Creek by ourselves, Crash Dive heading around the village by herself. Static was fairing surprisingly well for having fallen at least twenty feet and landing against a fallen tree trunk... but the way he was limping, yeah, finding him something to help with that would be useful. The earth pony grunted heavily as he trotted beside me, us both drawing closer to the small streets of the town. "I mean, sheesh, if her answer to a question is to throw me like a hoof grenade..."

"Well, I dunno, maybe you said something that offended her, maybe she doesn't like being naked or something." Shrugging, I grimaced faintly as he stumbled, gasping and grunting through the pain. Ooh, I really hope that it won't take too long to reach Jericho Beach... Leaning down, I let Static rest one foreleg about my neck, watching him try to recover himself. "Okay, I don't care how long it takes, you're getting something better than a healing potion for that. No way you'll walk the rest of the way like this."

"Is asking you to carry me out of the question?" He let off a weak chuckle, one that turned into a grimace fast as his other foreleg moved to hold against his stomach, the shift in weight nearly being enough to send me faceplanting against the stone road. Goddesses man, lay off the snack cakes! He jammed his forehoof back out, catching us both in time, myself sliding out from under his other foreleg and shaking my mane about.

"Nnfh, that answer your question, spark-butt?" The blue earth pony smirked for a moment, starting to trot back along, a few of the townsponies tending to their daily business. From one part of the villiage, a strange, enticing aroma picked up - ooh, now that smelled like candy. Looking to Static, he seemed to smell it too, meeting my eyes for but a moment before grimacing and scrunching his face up. Okay, doctor first, then we go see what that smell is. That sweet, sweet mouth-watering smell...

Trotting along further into the town, we passed by Sulfur's Stockpile again, the eponymous mare tending to sweeping off the small porch. A smile crossed her muzzle as we passed by, waving at the both of us with a hoof, us both responding back with a wave of our own - at least, until Static stumbled again. Sheesh... Sulfur blunk a few times before seting the broom she had inside, coming back out a moment later and catching up with us both, a look of concern on her face. "Luna above, what happened to you? It, uh, it wasn't from the flash-bangs, was it?"

"No... nnfh... no, it wasn't from them. Just asked something that I shouldn't have to a pony wearing power armor..." Static's eyes widened faintly as he heard what he just said, a faint stammer coming from his mouth. Great, yeah, why not tell everyone that we're with a member of the GPE? Let them know that we have a flying machine with four easily transportable tactical megaspells while you're at it, why don't ya? Sulfur blinked in surprise at that statement, before a look of realization crossed her face, along with one of her forehooves resting on her muzzle as she let off a sigh.

"Oh no, don't tell me that one steel rangers company is back around these parts again. I'm still recovering my stock from the last time they came through here..." ...okay, steel rangers, that was a more acceptable target in this current situation, let's go with that. The old mare slowed in her trotting, motioning for us to follow her down another road, a crudely-painted red cross sign hung off of a building at the far end. "Those drunk idiots in B Company nearly caused my store to go up, with me inside! Do you have any idea what happens when a bundle of dynamite goes off next to a couple of balefire eggs?" Oh, how I had to resist the temptation to say yes. "Gotta say, I can't remember them being delibrately malicious to the point of actually beating up somepony for a laugh. Then again, wouldn't put it past them, either..."

The wooden door of the small clinic let out a heavy bang as it shut behind us, the stallion leaned back in the chair behind the counter letting off a snort and small yelp as he momentarily lost his balance in the chair. Pulling himself back up, Sulfur let off a weak chuckle, myself sticking with Static as she moved up to the desk. The stallion fit on a pair of glasses, strands of his greying mane fallen over his face in a few places, giving his back a stretch before looking up at the three of us. "Eh, Sulfur, wasn't expecting to see you around here again so soon. I told you I need to have at least some of that nitroglycerin for my patients with bad hearts, can't all be used for your dynamite..."

"Heh, not here about that this time Doc, these out-of-towners just need a check-over. Said they were assaulted by steel rangers... you still have that twelve-guage I sold you a few years back, right?" The stallion got himself to his hooves, trotting out from behind the counter and rubbing at his eyes with one hoof. Man, these guys really didn't like steel rangers, did they? Hope we don't have to give him a family history, or if we do, Static remembers to leave the 'Paladin' and 'Scribe' prefixes off. Sulfur looked up at a clock on the wall, trotting herself over to the doorway in a bit of a hurry. "Sorry to cut this short, just realized I forgot to put up a sign. Ah, just put it on my tab, if those morons really are coming around these parts to harass travellers I've got a feeling I'll be getting some business soon anyways. Catch you around!"

"Steel Ranger assault? That's a new one. Bad Company was a nuisance, I'd call them that, but I didn't peg them for the type to beat other ponies up." The stallion sat Static down, tilting his head back and looking at his jacket. Huh... yanno, now I think about it, a lot of the ponies around here were pretty raider-naked... hm. "They might play it loose with explosives and like shooting up perfectly good bottles of rubbing alcohol... eh, jacket?" Static blunk for a moment, reaching up and pulling the zipper down. Oofh, that is one nasty red mark on his chin there. "Thanks. But yeah, they were a bunch of undisciplined pricks, but getting into fights and... using tree trunks? What the hell... what did they do to you?"

"Uh... well, it kind of happened fast. We were walking along, passed by them on the way here, Static here asks them a question and next thing I know he's been uppercut into the forest." Well, that was at least most of the truth. Question, uppercut, flying earth pony, forest - almost sounds like a weird joke. The doctor had brought over a small medical box, setting it on one of the waiting chairs and opening it up. Looking back to Static... oof. Ow, um, yeah, ow, that's more than a few splinters. Myself wearing a grimace, the old stallion had fit on a hoof-operated pair of tweezers, looking back to the bare blue belly of spark-butt and then meeting Static's eyes.

"Blunt force trauma, splinters... you walked all the way here with this? Goddesses above, I've seen ponies with damage like this that can't even catch their breath without attention, let alone walk a good few kilometers..." Slowly the old earth pony got to work, the tweezers working and pulling wood prick after wood prick out. Ooh, I can't watch this... without Sparkle-Cola, at least. The doctor began patting at Static's stomach with a bit of cotton as I popped off the bottle's cap, his ears perking and eyes looking over to myself for a moment. A smirk came to his face as he went back to work, Static biting at his lower lip. "I hope you don't drink a lot of that stuff, addiction ain't pretty, and that stuff is addictive as anything."

"Oh, nah, I'm fine. I've had to cut back since we've been here, down to four bottles a day." Static sucked a breath in as the old stallion stammered, his tweezers pulling out an especially long splinter before they both stared back at me. I blunk in response a few times, the doc patting Static's chest with the cotton again. "What? That's half of what my dads drink every day. Found a distribution depot in Queb- uh, yeah, they found a distribution depot, stocked to the brim with the stuff." The doctor paused, looking myself over for a moment before turning back to Static and brushing his stomach down.

"That's dangerous, you know. I've had to help more ponies addicted to worse stuff, but... you do know that stuff is radioactive, right? It has a trefoil on the bottle's label, for pony's sake!" Taking a big gulp, the cool blue soda flowed down my throat, the doctor letting off a sigh. Hey, if radiation was as bad as people say, I'm half sure that my dads would both be ghouls or dead by now. The old stallion went back through the box of medical supplies, pulling out a smaller box and sliding a syringe out of it, sticking it into Static's chest. He grunted, the grimace on his face tightening for a moment before relaxing, the syringe sliding back out easily enough.

"That should dull any remaining pain some. Med-x, this stuff isn't as downright lethal as the stuff she's drinking but that's all you should have for an injury like that. Any more pain comes up, work your way through it, you're the toughest sonofabitch I've ever seen come in here on his own hooves. If you ever come back through here, I really don't want to see either of you in here looking for Fixer. Warning you now." The Doctor packed up the medical box, setting it back behind his counter, resting back in his chair and picking up a clipboard. Static, meanwhile, zipped his jacket back up, pressing and rubbing over his belly with his foreleg for a short while, looking down at it. "Try to not wind up getting hurt again, you're a nice couple, we don't see those too often in the wasteland. If you don't mind, I think I'm gonna get back to my nap..."

Sharing a blinking glance, we picked our things back up, trotting out the door in silence. A cute couple? Me and Static? Well, I mean, if he did swing that way I wouldn't say no, but... sheesh, it is kind of weird to think about. An awkward silence overtaking us, I hastily looked to my legputer, flicking through the screens. Radio, please have something...

"You can hide, hide, hide...
Behind brown and mild eyes.
...
Oi!"

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, you're listening to The Final Cut by Roger Trotters. This is an update on the, uh, the crashed aircraft, at least I think it's in relation to it. A ghoul who served with the Equestrian Megaspell Deterrent force back during the war has explained the meaning of the 'Pinnacle - Empty Quiver' warning, in non-military terms it refers to the theft or loss of a functional self-contained weaponized megaspell. Y-yeah, you did hear that right, it could be that that craft landed at the lighthouse contains a fully functional pre-war weapon of mass destruction. I don't think I need to tell most of the listeners on this station exactly what a megaspell can do...

"For the sake of everypony, please, I urge everyone, don't seek out any more information about this... this craft, missile, whatever it is. The wasteland is almost not a wasteland anymore, we don't need to see how well the lightbringer can fix a more recent megaspell explosion. We don't need more people to die out of curiosity... um, sorry, that's the midday news. Up next is 'Get Your Filthy Hooves off my Desert' from the Roger Trotters album The Final Cut."

...well, shit.

"So, I've got to ask, um, just out of curiosity... what's your cutie mark of?" Crash Dive cast me a firm glare as we trotted along, the hills rustling with the wind as the sun began it's descent. She hasn't laid a hoof on me yet, I guess she's still a bit Enclave-programmed, even after so long. What'd she say earlier, ten years alone, or something? She let off a small grunt, looking back at my own flanks for a moment before peering forwards.

"I think I should ask you about yours first, I've a feeling it'll be more interesting than mine." She wore a small smile, her armor whirring slightly as it moved, the black metal over her flanks making small noises as they shifted around. Her helmet clattered as it swung on the barrel of her rebar cannon, glinting sunlight every now and again. "How exactly does a mare like you get an intercontinental ballistic missile for a cutie mark, anyways?"

"Heh... oh, these? Now that's a fun story..." First time I ever put on my own fireworks display, that's a day to remember. The road was paved for this section, cracked by undergrowth but still mostly recognizable. Probably is one of the few ways left between Maple Creek and the rest of the wasteland... aw, crap, we forgot to check out what that sweet smell was. Eh, we'll be back there sooner or later... "I was, uh, seven or eight at the time. Twintails and Featherweight brought me along to Pripytrot to check out things there one day, told me to stay in the TOG... I'm a bad listener. And, well, as it turns out, Pripytrot did have a missile base nearby..." Yep... yeah, that was the look I usually get, dumbfounded, surprised stare. Answering Crash Dive with a smirk, we kept moving along, a few houses and buildings coming into view.

"Dad said he used one of the missiles to take out the Tsetse back when he was going around with Minty, during the second siege of Pripytrot. Thought he meant he filled one of those cruisers with balefire eggs, but there was the control room and silo readouts plan to see, and lo and behold, one of them was empty. Of course, with all the blinking lights and buttons, well... come on, it's a big red one in the center of the console and I was a filly at the time, how could I resist?" Letting off a small laugh, Static let off a sigh, placing a hoof to his forehead. Hey, I haven't killed us yet, have I? "Long story short, I -may- have launched a megaspell-carrying ICBM, and it -may- have detonated prematurely. I got my cutie mark, though!"

"Yeah, memory serving, Minty said your dads had to rush to the TOG and try to shoot it down before it got to it's target. Quazar and Nova weren't exactly happy when the big boards were screaming 'NUCFLASH' at them in EQUAD." Giving the earth pony an eyeroll, Crash Dive's jaw hung slack, looking betwen us both. The houses were starting to become a little closer here - well, relatively. None of them seemed to be inhabited. The power armored mare shook her head, catching back up with us, the smell of water and decay greeting our nostrils. Jericho BEach ought to be close...

"Hey, at least mine's better than your cutie mark story, Sparky. C'mon, let's hear it again, I'm sure Crash Dive would love a laugh." Oh, that scrunched face is so cute with that blush. The earth pony let off a small huff, leaving us walking in silence for a few moments, the sun casting long shadows behind the hills. Gently nudging his flanks, and the bolt of electricity on them, his eyes met mine, and he released a small sigh. "'Atta boy, c'mon, it isn't that bad."

"Fine, fine. I was, uh, I was helping Greasy out with one of her inventions... think it was the umbrella, actually." Huh, really, I heard it as he accidentally jammed a fork in a power outlet once. Eh, had something to do with electricity... "Anyways, I was helping her out with getting it to work, guess I might've bit something that I shouldn't have and, well... um..."

"Yeah, the power output of a spark battery probably didn't taste too good, did it Sparky?" Sticking my tongue out at him, he did that cute scrunch-face thing again, hitting me in the side with the dull end of his umbrella. Easy, I don't want to know what happens when you taser somepony's wings, thanks! Crash Dive let off something like a growl, Static sliding the umbrella back under his saddlebag strap.

"It wasn't a spark battery... Greasy was running it off of a power outlet at that time. I wasn't tasting anything for a week afterwards, high-voltage electricity tends to do that." He made a slight grimace, seeming to shake his tongue off to get the memory of the taste out, swallowing afterwards. Oh, c'mon, it couldn't have tasted that bad... for sake of wanting to enjoy Sparkle-Cola tonight, I don't want personal experience. The sun slipped behind the last hills in the distance, Crash Dive glancing backwards and then looking towards the large lake that Jericho Beach was on.

"We ought to find a bunkhouse or something for the night, strange things tend to live in these waters. It's a military depot, it's gotta have something, right?" The power armored pegasus looked about the area in the dimming light, Static and myself following suit. Right, if those old films taught me anything, the bunkhouses are usually big half-tube-shaped buildings made of corrugated metal with other vent bits on the side. And if those old movies were right, then the things should be a good distance from anything potentially explosive, so...

"Alright, here we go. Earth pony, you set up the bedding. Night Strike, see if you can't get some of the utilities up, I think there's a stationary generator by the back. I'll keep watch, and make up something for dinner." Us both nodding in response, Crash Dive forced the door in, myself trotting about the structure. Right, blowing stuff up might be my thing, but I'm sure a simple standalone reactor would be simple enough to get working again. Dad did try teaching me how to care for the TOG's reactor at one point... I hope that's a standard design.

"Arcane reactor, military grade... huh, mark 18 design? That's two revisions older than the one in the TOG. I guess I can work with it." The side panel clattered as it swung open, revealing the guts of the miniaturized reactor and turbines. Eugh, this has seen better days... oh, that is some nasty corrosion on the connections for the generator. Eh... hm. Might be able to work, maybe, hopefully. I'm gonna guess '18-W' means it's made for working in wet environments. Okay, reactor startup, I can do this...

A short while later, when the last bits of light had gone away from the sky, I let the access panel for the small generator clatter back into place, letting off a sigh. Picking the Sparkle-Cola RAD up from where I'd set it on the metal box for light, I slowly trudged back to the entrance of the bunkhouse, fighting the cap off and drinking down the glowing liquid. Mmm, Strontium 90...

"Alright, I think it should be working now. As Celestia probably once said... let there be light." Letting off a small chuckle as I stepped through the doorway, the soda illuminated a switch on the wall, Crash Dive and Static sitting around a small lantern and looking up towards myself. With a grin, my hoof flicked the switch, the bulbs overhead flickering as power coursed through them once more, filling the hut with a soft yellow glow... for a few seconds, at least. The lights flickered and sputtered out, leaving us all in the dark again, a warning buzzer coming from the generator. Letting off a defeated sigh, the switch fell back into place, myself turning around.

"Stupid pre-war technology..."

It didn’t take long after Night Strike went back to check up on the generator for the bulbs to flicker back on again, creating circles of lights under the lamps every few meters. When she returned, Crash Dive set a few tin plates onto a small table in the corner, carefully pouring out the can of beans that had been heating on a hotplate into them. Night Strike and I slid into the chairs at the table, pulling the plates towards us and beginning to eat. My stomach quieted down as I swallowed the beans - Mm, well, it's no Sparkle-Cola Stew, but it's something. We each quickly finished up our plates, Crash Dive pouring out another can she’d set on the hotplate.

After we’d eaten our dinner, I stacked up the plates and tossed them in a rusty sink. I trotted back to the table where Crash had pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them. “You two up for a few rounds of poker?” She asked. I nodded and sat down as she began to deal the cards. “Twenty cap limit, I don’t want to go broke.” I dug around in my saddlebag and produced my satchel of caps, lying a few down onto the table as Night Strike and Crash did the same. I stared down at the cards I was given, looking down at the three that had been laid in the center next to the small pile of caps.

A few rounds of cards later and my cap bag was slightly heavier, Crash cursing and Night Strike and I pocketing our winnings. She scooped up the cards and slid them back into her saddlebags before glancing through one of the windows of the hut. “Alright, we better head off to bed, we’ll want as much time to search around this place as we can get tomorrow.” She trotted over to the door, grabbing onto the end of a bed nearby. She dragged it in front of the door before tossing some heavy junk onto it to ensure it wouldn’t budge.

I laid down onto the bed, thankful I had one of Crash Dive’s bedrolls as a barrier between me and the dirty mattress. Good thing it’s not frigid down here, sleeping without covers back in Mooscow generally resulted in a pony-cicle - thank the goddesses my dad is a seamster. The lights flickered off, and Crash rolled onto one of the mattresses, the only light now coming from the moon streaming through the windows. I curled up a little, tucking my tail between my legs as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of scratching and pounding at the door - ooh, that doesn't sound fun. Climbing out of bed, I tried to spot what was on the other side of the door through the dirty and cracked windows, but none of them gave a clear view to the front of the building. Crash Dive and Night Strike were both up soon too, Night Strike flying up to the air vent at the top of the half-pipe structure, but couldn’t manage to see what was outside. The power-armored pegasus grumbled, seeming thoroughly irritated as she pulled a plasma grenade out of a box on her armor. She scooted under the bed in front of the door, pulling the pin and shoving the grenade through a small mail flap near the bottom. She stepped away as the scratching stopped, the air silent for a moment before a loud explosion rang through the hut, the door shaking violently on its hinges as it pushed the bed away slightly.

We waited for a moment, but no other sound could be heard. “Alright, well, that was an annoying wake-up call, but we’re up. Roll up the beds, you two, I’ve got a box of oats we can eat before we set off.” She dug around in her saddlebags before tossing a box of oats to us. As we rolled up the mats and took a few mouthfuls of oats, Crash Dive pushed the bed out of the way of the door, revealing a trail of glowing goo seeping through the bottom crack. Well, whatever that was out there definitely isn’t a solid mass anymore.

We all hitched up our saddlebags, Crash Dive grabbing a bit of oats for herself before heading out of the bunker. We stepped around the puddle of warm goo in front of us, heading along the row of bunk houses set behind the main facility. “Jericho Beach is a pretty old supply depot, even by pre-war standards. There shouldn’t be any security systems still online.” Crash Dive said. Nevertheless, I made sure I could easily reach my umbrella in case we stumbled into another one of those mutated bloatflies. Well, more mutated than the ones back home, anyways. No security systems work both ways, if that thing that woke us up this morning means anything...

We first headed towards the docks, several discarded crates of cargo laying on the piers and at the water’s edge. I opened the door to one of the small shacks nearby, rummaging around inside the office. “Find anything?” Night Strike asked, poking her head to see what I was up to. I stood up from digging around in one of the filing cabinets, holding up a couple bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparilla.

“Just some centuries old soda. Want one?” I offered the bottle to her, her response being to pull a look of disgust in return. I shrugged, pocketing one and popping the cap off the other. “Oh, come on, Night Strike. There’s brand loyalty and then there’s just plain insanity.” Answering me with a sigh and shake of her head, Night Strike turned and trotted after Crash Dive, heading towards the ends of the docks.

“I thought we established long ago the fact that I’m crazy.” Night Strike and I stopped at the edge of the dock, peering down into the water. I could barely make out the shape of a sunken boat in the murky water. “Hey, didn’t Ripple need some boat parts? You’re a good swimmer, right Static?” Shooting her a glare, the pegasus wore a smirk.

“You throw me in and I’ll shove this umbrella so far up your ass you’ll be spitting sparks.” Night Strike chuckled as I took another sip of soda, Crash Dive turning around and heading back up the dock. “The engine’s probably in horrid condition anyway. Who knows how long it’s been sitting there.” We followed the power armored mare as she made her towards the largest building, the door squeaking on its hinges as it opened.

Inside the building was a small lobby, a circular receptionist desk placed in the center. Night Strike trotted up to the terminal on the desk, flipping a switch as it began to boot up. The screen flickered, showing a few interdepartmental memos and appointment bookings, but no sort of shipping details that might point out where to find some parts. “Aw, oh well, I guess we’re just gonna have to scour every bit of this place.” Night Strike said, trying to put on an air of disappointment. Yes, Strikey, I totally believe you’re saddened we have to wander aimlessly through a pre-war military base.

We trotted though the lobby, heading towards a large set of stairs on the opposite end of a long hallway. We passed by a large office, glancing in to see a skeleton in a heavily torn military uniform laying on the floor beside the desk. I grimaced as we began to make our way downstairs, occasionally needing to hop down some broken steps. “So, did the Enclave have direct control over a lot of these bases? Or was that more for the Ministries?” I asked as we descended.

“Most all military bases were under the control of the Equestrian Armed Forces, the Grand Pegasus Enclave being a part of them back then. After the bombs wiped out Cloudsdale, we broke off from Equestria fully... the Lightbringer brought us back.” She adjusted the large gun on her back as we heard a soft chittering emanate from behind the bottom floor door. Pausing for a moment, Crash Dive swung the door open, rearing onto her hind legs. Her front hooves came down hard onto a large cockroach, the exoskeleton crunching as she crushed it. “I figured searching an old supply depot would be smarter before we head to places with actual security. Besides, this was the closest one to the lighthouse.”

“At least tell me this place supplied and held megaspell warheads, right?” Night Strike asked, looking a little hopeful. Crash Dive thought for a moment, then shook her head, wiping some bug guts from her metal hooves. Night Strike’s ears flopped down as she stared at the floor, muttering to herself. “Stupid no-megaspell-military base...” I rolled my eyes as we trotted into a large computer room. Panels covered in switches, dials, and gauges lined the walls, a large window at the far end revealing an empty room full of large machines and broken crates. I examined some of the panels on the walls as Night Strike and Crash trotted over to the main console. “So, how exactly are we supposed to get a generator back up to the surface from here?”

“We can dismantle it and carry it out that way, I’ll be able to rebuild it back at my house.” Crash responded. I grimaced a little, doubtful that Crash would take advantage of her suit’s strength boosting servos in favor of dumping the metal on me. “Come on, there should be a generator somewhere inside the actual storage area.” She headed through a door, trotting down a few more steps before beginning to wander the large warehouse floor.

Night Strike and I spread out, glancing around for some sort of power source. The floor of the empty warehouse reminded me quite a bit of the RobronCo facility back North, though many of the machines here looked like they were made for sorting big shipping crates rather than manufacturing robots and electronics. Sheesh, I hope Night Strike doesn’t try and lug home a mortar to strap to the Valkyrie or something. I began to follow the wires connected to the machines in hopes of them leading to the generator, but they simply twisted around each other, heading in seemingly random directions.

“Hey, I found the generator! But, uh, I don’t think it’s in very good condition...” Night Strike called. She was standing at a small door tucked away in the corner, her pip-buck light shining on it. Crash and I trotted up and followed her into the small room, finding a large dusty generator sitting in front of us. ‘Not in good condition’ was an understatement. The gears and bearings were interlocked with years of accumulating rust, several other parts looking like they would fall off if somepony sneezed too hard next to them. Crash blew out of her mouth exasperatedly, walking around the generator to view it from all angles.

“I don’t think this thing could power a laser pistol, let alone power those repair talismans enough to fix up the plane in a sensible timespan.” She bent over the back, the sound of metal being brushed aside filling the air. “Ugh, looks like it’s a hydroelectric turbine too. Could be running off of the river to Maple Creek.” She stood back up, wiping her now greasy hooves onto an old mop leaning against the wall. “Even if we could fix this up, there’s no good place to set it up near my lighthouse for power. We’ll need one of those newer portable arcane reactors.”

“Ah, what about that reactor back at the bunk house? You got that working, would that be powerful enough?” Night Strike answered me with a shake of the head, as we began to trot back out of the facility.

“That little thing? In the condition it was in, we were lucky it didn't blow up last night while we were sleeping. Besides, it was corroded to it's base, probably would just damage it further trying to take it out.” Well, thanks for leting us all know that there was a time bomb just outside the building we were sleeping in, Night Strike! We reached the steps and began to work our way back upstairs, the gaps in the steps much more of an issue now. “We’ll want something with a lot of kick anyway, if we want the Valkyrie up and running within a few days. Even running at full power, in good condition, that puny thing’d probably take a year.”

We were soon stepping back out into the sunlight, pausing outside the door as Strike and I checked our maps. “Next closest base is Seahoof Armory. No way we’re going to get there in a day, though... It looks like there’s a little town partway there. We can probably make that, stop there before heading down. Just need to follow the coastline east.” Crash nodded and we began to make our way along the edge of the lake, the water almost perfectly still from the lack of wind.

“So, this place must not have gotten hit very hard during the war, with all the stuff still living here, right? I mean, even with that thing getting set off by the Lightbringer, this place is pretty intact for being a military depot. How the heck did it avoid at least a little bombardment?” I kicked a rock into the water, watching the ripples travel along the surface as we made our way along the water's edge.

“Vanhoover wasn’t a large priority target to begin with, the zebras were more worried about targeting megaspell installations than the manufacturing plants and supply depots around here, I think.” We trotted along for a moment, myself glancing over my shoulder as I thought I heard a low buzzing. “There was supposed to be a base somewhere nearby that was made to house some kind of bigger, more potent missiles. Could just as well be a story my SOs came up with to scare new recruits into not touching pre-war stuff.”

As we continued along the coast, the sun was beginning to fall low in the sky, and Crash Dive looked over to Night Strike. “How much further along is this town?” The dark blue pegasus stopped and checked her Pip-Buck, scrolling long from our location to the small town. She frowned a bit, as she double checked the distance, her expression growing a little worse by the second.

“Uh… well, I guess it’s a little further than I thought.” She chuckled nervously. Crash didn’t look amused. “W-well, there’s something not too much further from here, along a major road, I think.” She looked up from her Pip-Buck, staring into the distance in the direction the little pointer on her map indicated. Peering for a moment, she double-checked, setting her hoof back against the ground. “Yeah, there’s something there, a road stop or something.” She pointed towards a small shack sitting a little further away from the edge of the water.

Crash Dive let off a grunt, and we began to make our way towards the small building in the distance. We were soon following a road along the coast that passed by the building, which we could now recognize as a cart maintenance stop in the dimming light. We stepped into the building, Night Strike lighting a small electric lamp sitting next to the cash register. Crash Dive turned and began to push one of the large displays in front of the door, causing me to grimace from the sound of it scraping across the floor.

“Alright, that should keep any big stuff out. I’d still sleep close to your gun if I were you, though.” I dropped the sleeping rolls onto the floor, unfurling them between the shelves. Crash Dive set herself up behind the main counter, though not until I was finished digging around beneath the counter for some spare caps. She shot me a glare as I came back out, carefully making my way around her as she settled in the corner.

I trotted back over to my bedroll, Night Strike grinning and popping open a bottle of regular sparkle-cola. Jeez, you’re going to be up all night drinking that. “Bluh, hopefully we actually get to find some better stuff at Seahoof Armory. I really wanted to use Thumper on something...” I answered her with a roll my eyes, as Night Strike flipped on her radio.

“And that concludes the adventures of DASH-E, the Supreme Spritebot! Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion!” Huh, I don’t think I would’ve guessed KAOS to host radio shows. “And now the news, for all you ponies who aren’t being sent off to bed now. We’ve got a few reports in from Mellow Station that their rail mechanics have finally managed to gather the parts together to repair the northern express, but bad weather may cause further delays for all of you ghoulish types looking for passage north. You held out against all the fury of an entire nation, I'm sure you lads and dames taking refuge up there can hold out for a while longer where you are."

There was a shuffling sound behind us, a metal-clad hoof tapping against the counter. “If you don’t turn that off, you two are sleeping outside tonight.” Crash growled. Night Strike let off a weak chuckle, fiddling with her pip-buck for a few moments before she finally turned off the radio, leaving us in silence. We lay down on the bedrolls, Night Strike shuffling something out of her saddlebags and pulling it close to her chest. I sighed, staring at a pile of dust-covered toy trucks as I drifted off to sleep.

Goddesses, flying was such a great feeling. The chill, crisp breeze in your mane, air under your soft, silky wings, the view of the world below racing by at speeds few other ponies get to see... serene, just simply beautiful. A quick snap of the wings gives another burst of speed, just the right amount to get me a bit higher up, the thick jacket and my bundled mane and tail getting a little frosty as I punched through a low cloud with a spin, trailing a spiral of mist and ice at my back legs. Letting off a gentle sigh, the cloud settled and re-formed, my hoves resting gently against the soft, fluffy surface, staring off into the distance.

To the east was Mooscow - Heh, Static's probably getting himself in trouble again, trying to get to Minty's guns. Heading west, you'd run into Turnpike and Trotisk, and more than likely my dads with the TOG. Featherweight never really liked being inside that thing, though considering he's about half a stallion larger than most ponies I can't really blame him. Directly below was Quebuck, my favorite scavenging grounds, target range, and all-around irradiated hellhole. Nice place in the summer, actually. Looking south, ah, there was Pripytrot and her silos, probably still has a missile or two left there - one thing that I unfortunately can't find out for myself. Apparently launching a missile is frowned upon nowadays... so, why were there two smoke trails coming out from Pripytrot, now?

Sitting up and staring out, a faint sound began rising over the wind, carried by it, a low, rising note. It hit a crescendo, then fell back off, only to rise again. Off towards Mooscow, a stream of black dots filtered out of the city and into the CONELRAD Stable, the majority managing to filter in, if only just. A few dots were left in the snow - not moving. Looking back west, a full stampede charged north, towards EQUAD, and the massive bomb-proof structure that it was. This... what in the name of the goddesses was this? Looking down over the edge of the cloud, the big form of the TOG trundled along towards Turnpike from Trotisk, a black speck poking from the top of the turret, climbing out. Dad... He'd know what this was, he was great with missiles and sirens, and balefire bo-

Behind me, the sky lit up in a blinding flash, the reflection off of the snowy wasteland being enough to blind me for only a moment. Letting off a scream, I flipped myself over on the cloud, rubbing at my eyes and letting my vision come back. Jacket, legs, tail, okay, I'm not dead... but... a massive, green fireball rose up from where Mooscow once stood, the mountain it bordered to the north completely gone as well, and the stable it housed with it. Mooscow was... was... it was gone. Static, Minty, Cross, they were... they-

My brain still trying to process the mushroom cloud rising from where a city full of ponies once were, another flash happened behind me, this one a little faster for me to look at. Flipping back around as the stem grew up from Mooscow, Trotisk was now a fireball, the long shape of the tank vanishing under a plume of white snow, and the black, gold and green speck with it. But... no... I stared at where my dads were, as Turnpike was lifted and thrown, the railcars being mangled and smashed into each other by the shockwave. Mooscow... Trotisk... Turnpike... my daddies... gone.

The sky immediately to my left lit up with such a bright light, such a huge, blinding flash. Every nerve ending in my body screamed out, my brain still trying to process what'd happened. The cloud vanished from underneath me, my body being crushed from three ways at once, ears met with a deafening roar and brain still trying to understand what was happening to me. Then... I woke up.

"Wauh!" Clutching the little plush tight against my chest, my breathing was heavy and sporadic, gasping for air. That was... that was not a pleasant dream. The interior of the rest stop came into focus, the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears slowing down enough for some sounds to meet me once again. Heavy metal hooves against solid concrete met my ears first, the door in the room behind the register opening and closing as the whirring of power armor servos filled the air, along with labored breathing. That, um, that did not sound good...

Quietly sitting back on the mat, through a crack in the stuff on the shelves I was just able to see Crash Dive's pink mane glinting in the moonlight from the windows, a deep grimace on her face. She sat back in the chair, lifting her left foreleg and letting it drop onto the counter, illuminated by the light coming in. A panel opened up on the shoulder, and she began to pull syringes out of it, the little glass and metal things clinking against the floor. With her other hoof, she dropped a medical box on the counter beside the register, the grimace growing worse the longer she worked. Eventually, she managed to get the latches undone, pulling a small tin out - one that looked just like the one the Doctor back in Maple Creek kept his Med-X in.

"U-um, you know that stuff is addictive, right?" Crash Dive jumped - okay, so maybe I'm not great at keeping my yap shut when it comes to stealth - myself getting up, still holding the plushie and fitting on my duffle bag. Her brown eyes stared back at me, teeth gritted in pain, before she went back to opening the tin and fitting the needles into their slots on her armor. Six, sheesh... "Just, uh... just saying."

"I'll keep that in mind. You been awake for long?" The panel clicked back into place, her expression instantly becoming relaxed as she stopped breathing through her teeth. I trotted over to where she sat, setting my duffle bag on the counter and opening it up, pulling out a Sparkle-Cola RAD. Looking to her for a moment as I reached in for a second, she shook her head, letting her chin rest against her armor's neck plating and releasing a sigh. "I know that it's not right, but... if you saw what I've seen, felt what I've felt, knew what I knew, you'd be hurting too. It's a painkiller, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Foal killer, too... there's this one sewer grate back in Quebuck, has an old radio inside. Somepony used it to weather the bombs with their kid... one skeleton is missing the top of it's skull, the other's surrounded by empty needles, and holds a small plush toy." That was... that was a sobering find, to say the least. Was to Dad and Minty too, if their story's right. Boy, I'm glad that that doctor didn't gve us any of that stuff, now... Crash Dive looked over to me for a moment, her forelegs resting over her stomach, the bottled, glowing soda letting off a hiss as I opened the cap. We sat in silence, myself staring into the Sparkle-Cola, swirling it in the bottle. "What, um... when did you start? The Med-X, I mean."

She sat and glared at me for a short while before she turned to look out the window, myself taking a quiet sip from the bottle. Yeah... I was never good with not asking questions. Taking a moment, Crash Dive's hoof tapped against the windowsil, a sigh escaping her. "Ten years back, Operation Cauterize. Just after it, anyways... my wing was sent out to assist operations on the ground, remove lesser ponies, that old horse shit. One of those bastards that fit the full description of a disgusting wasteland pony somehow had his hooves on a balefire egg launcher, shot one right into my platoon. I wound up lucky, just was knocked out by the blast... they figured I was dead. By the time I came to, it was all over, and where my wing commander stood was just a radioactive crater."

Okay... that, I wasn't expecting. Truth be told, dunno what I was actually expecting in the first place, but having your friends vaporized in balefire definitely wasn't that. It was just a dream, Strikey, no need to start acting up again! That's it, breathe, drink your soda, everyone's fine and still alive... I hope. Goddess-damnit. I let off a small nod, Crash Dive going back to looking out the window. The first cracks of dawn were beginning to show in the sky, it turning a faint shade of purplish-orange towards the east. Looking down into my bottle of soda, the bubbles clung to the sides as I swirled it around, thinking. "Um... I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure Med-X isn't for mental pain..."

"Goddess-damnit, I know it isn't for fucking mental pain!!" The windowsil broke with a crack, Crash Dive staring deep into my eyes as she chuffed through her nose. Static stirred from his sleeping mat, Crash Dive glancing towards him for a moment before turning back to me, letting off a sigh. "I know... just, I need it, alright?" Her eyes looked into mine, softened... mental or physical, she was definitey in pain. Static let off a grunt, looking over from where he was sitting up, rubbing at his head and getting up off of his mat.

"Hnnh, uh, what's going on? We heading out?" Crash Dive slid herself off of the chair and onto her hooves as Static dug sleepers out of his eyes. fitting his saddlebags on and picking up his umbrella. He glanced around the small shop, blinking a few times before looking out the window, then checking his pip-buck in confusion. "Um, I know we want to do early starts, but, uh... it's barely even 3 in the morning." Crash Dive trotted out from behind the counter, looking out the window, then turning to the barricaded doorway.

"Yeah. Night Strike and I were just discussing heading out early, give us time to do some scavenging along the way. After that game last night, I think having a few extra caps on hoof would be useful." She shot Static a glare, the earth pony returning with a smug smile. Yeah, come to think scavenging for a few caps would be useful... after buying all that ammo, I think I've only got a hundred or so left. Well, least Thumper is great at taking care of most things with one shot. Getting myself up, the barricade came down with a small clatter, Crash Dive shoving the heavy cooler unit away from the door and then moving back to grab her helmet and rebar cannon. Huh... swear I saw something glowing in there...

"Oh, score!" Mmm-mmm-mmm, Sparkle-Cola, what a lovely sight. I wore a wide grin, reaching into the cooler for the bottle and immediately regretting that decision as the skittering of a huge-ass bug met my ears, and brushed against my hoof. Well, that was one big pile of nope. Static let out a sigh, pulling out his umbrella and stabbing it into the open cooler, the smell of fried bug filling the air moments later. "Euck, thanks. You think it'd be worthwhile for me to get a smaller gun, or something?"

"Oh, I dunno Strikey, I kinda like having to save your flanks from mutant bugs, makes me feel neede- CELESTIA'S SWEET PISS!" Looking up from gathering some of the bottles of soda, Static sure looks like he'd be the one wanting a diaper right now... and for damn good reason. Crash Dive's helmet apparently has eyes that glow red, and from a glance... yeah, no, she does look kinda like a security robot. Well, a security robot that could pin you to the wall with a shot from it's cannon, anyways. She looked to Static for a moment, then faced myself, her voice coming through a speaker behind what looked like an added-on rebreather.

"If you're done searching this place, we should get going. I think there's a pre-war town just down the road here, we should be able to do some better scavenging there." Crash Dive nodded once, turning back towards the door to the outside, it creaking open on it's hinges. Static's eyes met mine, the earth pony still catching his breath for a few moments, looking to the door. Okay, yeah, I think that we don't have to worry about being messed with if she's keeping her armor on like that...

...as long as we keep up with her, anyways!

"Yanno, I don't think we ever got mornings like this back in Mooscow." Static let off a small sigh, looking across the sky, and the purplish haze just past the far mountains. Now I think of it, mornings back home were usually always cloudy one way or another, and more bitter cold than it usually is during the day. Huh, there's food for thought, this is the first time since we've been down here that I haven't felt hot while wearing this big jacket... The lake rustled slightly, a small, chill breeze picking up. Whoo, good morning wasteland.

"If my memory from the pre-war maps we had to study serves, the villiage of Clearwater is just up ahead, should be a good scavenging spot. Last time we were through here, nopony was around." Crash Dive glanced about the area, the barrel of her harpoon cannon moving slightly with her head. A completely abandoned pre-war town? Well, if it were smacked in the everything by a near miss, I guess I can understand that. Still, you'd think that after the lightbringer did her reclamation-thingy people would try and settle it sooner or later. Crash Dive shrugged in her armor - I think - as we reached a small bridge over a creek.

The old wood creaked under our combined weight - mostly Crash Dive and her armor, though - the water of the lake to our left reflecting both the moonlight and the first hints of day, stirred only slightly by the breeze. Uck, Clearwater, yeah, this place must be pre-war, because I'm pretty sure that clear water does NOT smell like rotting fish. Maybe. In this warmer place, who knows, maybe it's always stunk like that and I just never smelled it back home because cold water can't hold stink, or something... Oh, I'm glad that I drink Sparkle-Cola. No tainting my essence with stinky water.

Crash Dive suddenly came to a stop halfway across the old bridge, standing still at the top of the small arch. Um, okay, going to explain why you're doing that, or... A definitely not-a-pony hissing sound came up from behind us, and again, wish that we were wearing diapers. That did't sound like anything I've heard before, so, Thumper, please be at the ready to give whatever that is a faceful of flaming flechettes. Another hiss sounded from the other side of the bridge, Crash Dive staring intently forwards as Static pulled himself closer to me, his own umbrella pulled out. Oh right, hah, for a second there I forgot that we lived in a world that had more menacing stuff than huge bugs and radiation, how silly of me...

"Three, two on your side and one on mine. Be ready to fire on my mark." The power armored pegasus backed herself up beside me, turning herself to cover our flanks from... whatever these things were. Should've drank more RAD, being able to see in the dark would be really useful right now. Static's umbrella let off a small high-pitched whine as it powered up, the creatures hissing at us again. Fuck... "NOW!"

Crash Dive's rebar cannon choomed as the pressurized air sent the solid hunk of metal out of the barrel and into whatever that thing was, the bridge illuminating on mine and Static's side as Thumper sprayed a cone of bright orange flame at those things. Their skin glistened faintly in the glow, the old wood of the bridge smouldering from where some of the flechettes bounced off of their skin harmlessly... WHAT. The rebar gun fired off twice more, the things letting off another hiss as they pulled back, the smell of burning fish left behind. The creek below splashed, dark forms wading out into the lake, vanishing beneath the moonlit surface as we all peered over the side of the bridge.

Okay wasteland, giant bugs are one thing, but mutant fish-things, really!?

"Huh, yanno, not a bad place. Looks kind of... uh, has a sort of old Equestria charm to it. Ahem." Yeah, I ain't a poet, sue me. Clearwater seemed to be built up around an old canal, the town situated about a story higher than the water's level. Good thing too, if those water marks along the sides of the upper canal wall mean anything. No buildings over two stories high, though, but save for a few blasted store fronts here and there and the odd collapsed roof it seemed pretty intact. Nice cobblestone roads, pleasant view out over the water, if you can live with the evil hissing fish monster things it'd be a lovely scenic place to visit. Now, about what loot this place has for us...

"Alright, we'll cover more places if we split up, I don't think those... things from this morning will bother us now, looked like they're nocturnal, or something like that. Sound like a plan?" Leave it to Crash Dive to suggest us all being by ourselves. I responded with a nod, Static glancing towards myself uneasily before nodding as well. Oh, don't be such a scaredy pony... "We'll meet back at the stone bridge here, just over the creek. It's 8 AM now, be back by noon and we'll all find something for lunch. At ease."

Crash Dive turned herself about, heading further along the small canal, Static sticking with myself and watching as she trotted off. We passed over the stone bridge Static still watching Crash Dive as she turned a corner and headed down a side street. "Okay, don't get me wrong, I like not being the one that's expected to take all of the hits all of the time now, but do we really have to travel with her? It doesn't take a genius to know she doesn't like me."

"Look, I know it's not ideal, but we don't exactly have many options. She's staying with us until we get back to the Valkyrie with the generator we need, if we're lucky it's at Seahoof and we just have to get it back and wait." The wind rustled the trees along the waterfront, a few of the buildings making whistling sounds through their shattered windows. Alright... ooh, general store, that's a good place to look into. Police Station afterwards, that'd be good to find a few weapons or ammo or something, maybe... Static let off a sigh, staring off at the lake. We trotted along in silence for a short while, the door creaking open as we entered the small store and started looking about the neglected shelves.

Alrighty, let's see what you've got for us, Clearwater. Abraxo, flour, turpentine... hm. Hope that Crash Dive doesn't know how to make Sparkle-Grenades, I'm quite sure that Thumper has us covered for 'firey explosive death to the everything' for now. Eh, it's still worth something, at least. Hum-dee-hum... Mmh, it just isn't the same without CONELRAD on in the background. I made way to the back side of the store, near the food coolers, lookng down at my legputer - Radio KAOS, please have something good for my ears. Ooh, funky, Strikey likey~

"Some folks are born, made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're followin' that deep blue.
And when the band plays 'hail to the queen,'
Ooh, they point the cannon at you!

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no Ministry Mare's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no."

Okay, so Radio KAOS' lineup of songs is a helluva lot more appealing than CONELRAD's was. Those two missiles on my flanks shook and bounced as I trotted along, humming along to the tune as it played out in my ears. The cheese formerly known as Milk, a couple things I think at one point were supposed to be frozen hayburgers, mmm, Sparkle Cola, now we're talking... Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and ignore the smell of food that's just completely gone. Wuck, this is why our wasteland is better, you don't have to smell all this stuff. Five regular Sparkle Cola ain't bad, though~

"Hey, Night Strike! Score!" Static wore a grin as he waved out to the main area from the back room, disappearing back behind the doorframe. Oooh, back room goodies, I hope there's a safe there~ Thumper's been getting antsy to fire off. Kinetic lockpicking with a 40mm slug is always fun~ Trotting myself over, I shuffled through the duffel bag for the ammo, pulling the HE shell out of Thumper's chamber and replacing it with a copper-tipped slug, closing the break-action with a quick flick of the neck. Grinning around the mouthpiece, I was instead greeted with the sight of Static hefting up a big wooden box, undoing the latch and flipping up the lid. Gee, thanks for the info...

"Damnit Static, I thought you found a safe! You made Thumper sad..." Don't you roll your eyes at me mister, you know that named weapons have feelings. He gave his head a shake, shuffling the contents of the box about before sliding a spark battery out of it. Huh, never seen one with the labeling still intact on it... weird. "Okay, so you found a box of really heavy batteries. Hey, if you want to lug it to Hopeville to sell off, be my guest." I shrugged, the earth pony letting off a small huff and turning back to a shelf behind him, reaching down and lifting up four more identical boxes, setting them all down beside the first.

"You have any idea how much these things are worth? A wasteland-worn one goes for 75 caps, these are fresh out of the box! At least 100, maybe 125 apiece if I can find the right buyer, and there are 32 here. This is a goldmine!" He chuckled, setting his saddlebags on the table and sliding the boxes into them, replacing the spark battery he'd pulled out of the first and latching it down again. Saddlebags re-packed, he slid them back on, letting off a small huff as the full weight settled. First rule of scavving, don't take more than you can carry to the next merchant. Oh, now you're just showing off... "Nnfh, al-alright, I've got it. Heh, oh, we'll be rolling in it by tonight, I tell you!"

"Whatever you say, Sparky. So, police station next?" Static gave a nod, his hooves quivering only faintly under the weight. Let's see, thirty two times three... almost a hundred kilos. Sheesh, and I thought that dad walking around with Kindness and twenty balefire eggs all the time was hard to believe... to be fair, he did have the TOG. The bell above the door clinked as we stepped back out onto the street, myself turning the radio back up as an instrumental wrapped up. Ah, the unnamed DJ of Radio KAOS comes yet again.

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful northern Vanhoover day out today. The forecast for tomorrow is predicting spotty clouds, but don't worry about the rain, folks... that doesn't come until next week, eheh. Erm, well, for everypony below Maple Station, anyways. Hang in there lads. Anyways, news time once again, for this pleasant midday broadcast I bring some pleasant news out of Hopeville, the ghoul families who'd suffered severe cases of shock from the arrival of the missile that landed near the lighthouse have made a full recovery and are doing well under the care of the Hopeville Triage. That being said, the Triage are putting out a call for any and all high-proof alcoholic products they can find, as well as, um... dynamite. I'm sure they have a good reason for that particular request. Anyways, yes, high-proof alcohol will be paid for, twenty caps to the bottle for vodka, ten per bottle of whiskey, preferably wild pegasus. Heh, I guess those doctors do know how to party after all..."

"Night Strike? Can I get a hoof here?" Static had rested himself up against a pillar outside of the poice station, looking back at myself with a weak smile. Can't even open the door with all that stuff... I let off a small sigh, grabbing the handle and pulling it open, the distinct smell of rotting flesh hitting our noses like an uppercut from a hellhound's backside. Static made a gagging sound - I don't blame him - as I took a few steps back from the door, the stopper catching on the ground outside. The blue earth pony regaining himself, he coughed out a chuckle, looking over to me and rubbing at his watering eyes. "A-ah, ladies first?"

"I thought chivalry died with the bombs, but no, it just became an asshole..." Really wishing that Thumper could fire air fresheners - well, technically it could, but I think keeping the floor intact is a good plan of action - I stepped inside the small waiting room and office, lookng about. Yup, small town police office alright, everything's right there to see. Including the armory... Oooh, lookit all those sellable guns. And a big lock on the door too, yay, I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to use Thumper here! Static worked his way in as well, finally, sitting down on one of the old benches and catching his breath. "Alright, you get your rest, I'm gonna see to getting some worthwhile things to sell~"

"Mmf, I think I just need to get something to eat... Wuck, not here, though. I'll be at the bridge if you need me, picked up a snack cake from the general store earlier." The earth pony layed on the bench for a short while longer, myself slipping out Thumper and aligning it with the big lock, wearing a big grin. Time to live up to your name again~ A squeeze of the trigger, and well, you could say the door was unlocked... you could just as easy ask 'what door?,' considering the state it was in now. Boy, that's some degraded wood. Who cares, I've got lots'a guns and I'mma sell 'em all! Riot shotgun, riot shotgun, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge... lotta stubby .357 Ironshod revolvers, six ten-mil semi-autos, and plenty of ammunition for all. Ooh, beanbag rounds, that's neat. And a stylish Clearwater Police duffel bag to haul it all in, very nice indeedy. I love it when a scavenge goes well...

Zipping up the bag loaded with guns and ammo, the glow of a few terminals scattered around caught my attention, the loaded duffel bag finding place on my back alongside my usual one. Oofh, okay, maybe I should lay off of Static about the heavy stuff... okay Clearwater, what's the dirt on you, eh? What lovely pre-war files of filth and smut do you have here...

"Log 1 - September 23rd, 2&[$ - Report of a disturbance at the docks, Coral found with serrated bite marks on her forelegs and hooves. Admitted to the clinic in Hopeville for treatment; what are big fish doing in the reservoir?" Okay, so it ain't exactly dirt. Looks pre-war, though... huh, couldn't be, could it? Selecting the next one, it took a moment to come up, the old console starting to whirr and smell of burning dust. Yuck... "Log 2 - September 28th - Another attack, this time with worse injuries; S. Daze's filly Clear Sky was out on a rowboat with her father when one of the creatures jumped out of the water. They returned safely, but Sky had to be admitted to the Hopevile clinic for stitches on her left foreleg. Probably would be worthwhile to try and get a case of that waterproof dynamite I've been reading about." Waterproof dynamite? Oh, mister pre-war police pony, you have my interest.

"Log 3 - October 6th - Waterproof dynamite ordered, should arrive sometime in the next few weeks. Chief isn't too crazy about laying a minefield just out in the harbor, but he agreed to add it on as a work expense. I smell a fishing trip in the near future." Oh, I like this guy. C'mon, I wanna know where the waterproof dynamite is, don't leave me hanging! Just a few more logs to go... "Log 4 - October 17th - Another attack, this time on the canal docks. Three Bit; darkly appropriate name, was bit three times by those things, hind legs and tail. Band-Aid treated his legs on the spot, poor bastard had his tail bit off. Good thing he was a damn tough-skinned earth pony." Okay, weird fish-things have a taste for pony tail, great. What about the dynamite? "Log 5 - October 18th - good news, Clearwater has explosives. Crates came in today, 20 of them, small things. Well, there were 25 crates officially... good thing nopony checks those loose bricks in cell 5. Pappy's gonna have a fun fishing trip ahead of him..." Cell 5, really? Interesting... ah, it ain't going anywhere, and there're still a few logs left, might as well peruse.

"Log 6 - October 23rd - Going to start minelaying today, take the hard-hull out to do it. With the sensors and casings, these things ought to do a pretty good impression of those naval mines the boys over on the HMS Cadence use. Good morning Clearwater - you'll live up to your name today. They still haven't found the ones I stashed in cell five yet, heh..." Clever bastard, if he were alive today I think we'd get along just fine. Huh, two logs for this day... "Log 7 - October 23rd, 2 - The town's in a panic. Finally get out to a good distance for the mines, and the first thing I see is this... this green fireball rising up from Vanhoover. It couldn't, they couldn't have juCELESTIA SAVE OUR SOULS THE STRIPES LAUNCHED..." ...well that went south fast. If that's only the second last log, though... "Log 8 - October 23rd, 3 - bombs attracted creatures.///// radiatioooooooooon iknytrexsr4de /[{/[] mm nbjop;g njbnbhv b,k,xczzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz H E L P."

Okay, that's enough console-reading for today. That dynamite's not going anywhere, but I sure as hell am. Static, I need a hug!

"Well, that took longer than it should have, but we're here, at least." Crash Dive stood upright, looking over to the town of Hopeville, myself and Static both thoroughly exhausted from carrying our salvage. You'd think having a duffel bag to carry twenty guns you won't use would make them seem lighter... The power armored pegasus looked down at us both as we dropped and rested against the grassy road, shaking her head. "I'm going to go find a non-wrecked house to sleep in. You two go and get a hotel room, or something."

"W-wait! Uhm, uh, Crash Dive, why don't you get a room with us?" It was kinda stupid to ask, but it was worth a shot all the same. The power armored pegasus came to a stop, turning herself about to look at me her red, glowing eyes meeting mine. Yeah, that was still get-my-brown-pants terrifying. I lifted myself to my hooves, Crash Dive's helmet coming off with a hiss of pressure. "Just hear me out, kay? I've seen Enclave armor, and I'll tell you, your armor isn't really all that Enclave, at least not anymore. Besides, wouldn't a bed be better than a pile of rubble?"

"You've obviously never been to an Enclave boot camp, they make you love a comfy pile of rubble." Glad to see her snark's not gone. Static gave me a bewildered stare - just trust me on this. "Alright, say I go with you and we manage to get a room, what happens next? Word gets out that there's a pegasus in power armor in town, that's going to raise a few suspicions." Well, she had a point... but, counterpoint is my middle name. Actually it's 'Gamma', but that's beside the point. Counterpoint. Whatever.

"Your wing covers are welded down, aren't they? Far as anypony would know, they're just cosmetics... hell, even I'm not sure someti-" Holy crap on a cracker, she out-Twintails-stared Twintails. Okay, being of sound mind and body I value my continued existence. "U-uh... anyways, moving along, nobody would know for sure you're a pegasus, let alone an Enclave pegasus. You'd just be another wasteland wanderer that found a fancy suit of armor and harpoon cannon somewhere." Crash Dive looked over at the town for a moment, letting off a sigh.

"Fine. But I'm sharing a room with you." Um... well, that was a bit out of the blue, but, uh, alright? I blunk in response, Static letting off a nervous chuckle as he rose up to his hooves once more.

"Fine by me. Let's just get there before the lights all go out." Static began moving himself again, Crash Dive fitting her helmet back on and giving me a quick glance before following behind him, myself picking up the rear. Still pretty confused about her insistence... I might wind up seeing her without her armor on and I'm okay with that, and I am not okay with that. Oh, tonight's going to be fun...

The town was rather peaceful during evening, not a lot of ponies were milling about - or, at least not a lot were looking our way. We traveled either side of Crash Dive, eventually reaching a small structure that had an illuminated Hotel sign in front of it, stepping through the doorway and causing the bell to jingle. The stallion at the desk gave his forelegs a stretch, rubbing at his shoulder as he looked over us, eyes going wide as he rubbed at them. Static trotted up to the desk, resting his forelegs on it and panting for a few moments.

"Sorry... long walk, came all the way from Maple Creek... uh, you have any rooms available?" The stallion behind the desk blunk a few times, putting on a small smile as he sat himself upright, looking over us three. Static leaned back, stumbling slightly as his loaded saddlebags threw him off balance for a moment. "Y-yeh! Dah, um, how much for two rooms?" I swear that that stallion behind the desk's eyes brightened at hearing that... though it's anyone's guess as to if it's in a 'more money' way or something completely different.

"Of course, 203 and 204 are free. It's usually 100 caps per night per room, but, uh... for a face like yours, I think I can get away with 80 per. Call it a nice stallion discount." ...something else it was, then! I swear I can see Static's blush from here. And the desk pony just winked at him as he handed over the caps, great. Making friends there, Sparky? "My name's Chauffeur, by the way. Come down if you need anything, I'll be glad to get it for you... anything you want~" It's fun when I'm not the one being completely embarassed!

Given our room keys, Static made his way up to 203, myself and Crash Dive taking 204. The way he was shaking, you'd think he had too much sugar, or something. Unlocking his door, he turned to face myself, lip in a bit of a shaken frown. "I-If I'm not up by the time you are, p-please, do whatever you can to wake me up. S-starting to regret this..." His eyes drifted over to meet those of Crash Dive's helmet, and I swore I saw the red reflected in his as he stopped, eyes going wide. "Nevermind, night Night Strike!" Hmh, he wasn't moving that fast earlier...

Stepping into the room, the pair of single beds pushed together for use as a double was a welcome sight, myself dropping both duffel bags and letting out an exhausted sigh. Not even bothering to do my usual hover and flop, I really just flopped, burying my muzzle into the soft cotton of the pillow. Crash Dive stood beside her own bed, pulling off a few various pieces of her armor, stripping herself down to the chestplate with the welded wing covers, the shoulder with the Med-x panel, and the undersuit for the armor. Huh, she's not much bigger than I am... oy, too tired to care. Lazily pulling up my pip-buck to my view, I fiddled with the volume, getting it down to that sweet spot where I can hear it but nopony else really can. Alright Miss Lynn, let's have that lullaby...

"We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
Don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day..."

I awoke to a soft beeping, my Pip-Buck’s screen flashing on and off. I blinked as my eyes watered from the continual sudden change in light, trying to find the little button to flip off the alarm. After some pawing at the knobs and dials, my Pip-Buck stopped beeping, quickly displaying a picture of a smiling colt climbing out of bed and a ‘good morning!’ Resting in the bed a short while longer, I let off a soft sigh, enjoying the comfort of the pillow and mattress. Almost like back home... heck of a lot better than that bedroll, at least.

After a few more moments of laziness, I managed to roll out of bed, standing up and trotting into the small bathroom. I cringed as I looked into the rusted tub - uck, yeah, I don’t think I trust that. I dunked my mane into the marginally cleaner sink, starting to let the water run. Well, my Pip-Buck’s Geiger counter isn’t ticking, it can’t be that bad. It’s been way too long since I’ve properly washed this... I scrubbed at my mane for a couple minutes before turning the water off and letting the wet hair fall back into place. Well, least here I don't have to worry about it freezing up while walking around.

I hoisted my saddlebags onto my back, immediately letting out a grunt of effort. Okay, maybe carrying around all these batteries might not have been the best idea. The thought of how many caps I’d soon have was enough to get me to the door, umbrella secure in the saddlebag strap. I trotted next door to Night Strike’s room, knocking. “Morning, you guys up?” I got a muffled irritated grunt as a response. Alright, I’ll leave you alone. Maybe this place has some free bagels or something, then. I made my way towards the lobby, sitting down in one of the chairs.

I glanced over to the main desk, breathing a small sigh of relief upon realizing Chauffeur wasn’t the one sitting at it. Sliding my saddlebags off of my back, I stepped up to the receptionist. “Uh, hello?” The pony looked up, pushing her glasses up her muzzle. “Where’s the nearest place I’d be able to, um, resupply stuff? Trade, and things?”

The mare with the frazzled mane stretched her back for a moment, leaning on the desk and pointing her hoof off to the right. “The general store’s a few blocks down that way. Gunsmith’s south of that, and there’s Gumbo’s place back around that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction of the general store. “You can ask one of the shop owners, they might now somepony if you need any sort of specialty items.” I nodded and gave a quick thanks before I heard a few hoofsteps.

I hitched up my saddlebags as Night Strike and Crash Dive wandered into the lobby, Strike yawning and rubbing her eyes a little while Crash Dive... well, looked like Crash Dive. Did she really need to have her helmet on? Sheesh... Taking a moment to get ourselves together, we headed out the door, and I began to lead them both down the road. Night Strike let off another yawn, trotting to catch up with me. “Get any leads on a generator?” I shook my head in response, looking over the town. Paved roads and water towers, huh...

“No, but the receptionist said the shop owners might know something. Besides, we gotta sell off this stuff anyway.” I shook my saddlebags, wobbling a bit with the shifting weight. Woof, why are these damn batteries so heavy, anyways? Making our way through the town, the sun crested over the distant mountains, several ponies milling about in the early morning. We soon arrived at a small wooden building, the door squeaking on its hinges as we walked in.

The pony on the other side of the counter looked up from his book, bending a page and setting it aside before greeting us three with a smile. “Ah, hello there! Anything I can get for you?” I simply opened up my saddlebags and placed the boxes of batteries onto the counter, grinning widely. The owner’s eyes widened as I opened up the packaging, taking out a few of the batteries to show him.

“I’ve got pristine spark batteries from Clearwater, fully charged and perfect for display!” The owner looked over one of the batteries, clearly impressed by the uncommonly good condition. “100 caps apiece, 8 batteries a box.” The owner faltered for a moment, obviously a little unsure. Silver tongue, don't fail me now... “Hey, considering the normal price for much worse condition ones, a 30% increase isn’t bad.”

The owner thought for a moment, letting off a small huff, before conceding. “Alright, you’ve got a deal. But I’ve really only got enough caps for two boxes, you’ll need to find somewhere else to sell them.” I nodded and caps were exchanged, my smile growing a little wider as I slid the small mountain of caps into my satchel along with the remaining batteries.

“Anypony you know that might be interested in these?” I asked, thankful my saddle bag was now several pounds lighter. The owner thought for a moment, Night Strike placing one of the pistols and some rifle grenades she’d grabbed from the displays on the counter. The pony looked over her gun, and the two exchanged the cap difference before stowing it and the batteries under the counter.

“You can try the gunsmith, though I doubt they’d be that interested. There’s also the Hopeville Triage near the center of town. They’d love to have something to charge any medical equipment they’ve got.” I thanked him before glancing over some of his supplies, though nothing caught my attention.

“Well, you certainly got rich fast. I barely got a chance to show him the guns I found!” Night Strike let off a small huff as we stepped out of the store, myself smirking as we began to head towards the gunsmith. “What’re you going to spend those on anyway? It’s not like you need ammo for that lightning rod.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, hush, I’m sure the gunsmith’ll be happy to bury you in caps once you show him that duffel bag.” We made our way down the road, glancing around for any signs indicating where the gunsmith would be. “Besides, with our luck we’re going to end up needing to buy that generator, and I doubt anypony who has one is going to give it up cheap.” Night Strike tilted her head and shrugged.

We turned a corner, spotting a store with a few rifles on display behind its dirty windows. We trotted in, Night Strike making sure she got to the cashier before I could. As she dropped the duffel bag on the counter and opened it to reveal the contents, I walked around the displays, gazing at all the weaponry. I certainly had more of an affinity for traditional guns than either of my dads, though nothing really could beat the power and awesome lightshow you got from energy weapons. Then again, a heavy stick is still better with my aim being as bad as it is... stupid unicorns not having to use their mouths.

“What do you mean you only have 800 caps? You're a gunsmith, for crying out loud!” Oh, that doesn't sound particularly good. Night Strike seemed to be glaring the stallion behind the register down as she rested a hoof on her bag of guns. She released a sigh, placing a hoof against her forehead and shaking it back and forth. "Alright, alright, look, how many forty mil grenades or shotgun shells do you have in stock? I'll take whatever you've got that'll work."

"S-sure, right away. Sorry, nopony's been buying much of anything with caps lately, I'm lucky I had the 800 to offer. You have any idea how hard it is to make a living when random wanderers keep coming in with scrap metal and other junk in place of actual caps to trade? What do they expect a gunsmith to do with shit like a pressure cooker or hunks of rebar!?" Well, technically speaking a good length of rebar with a bit of concrete on the end makes for a good thing to bash a radroach's head in with. "Uh, what caliber were those shotgun shells you wanted?" Night Strike gave the cashier a slightly odd look, pulling one of the non-revolver pistols out and setting it on the counter.

"Um, forty millimeter, same as the grenades. Yanno, like this one?" The pegasus pulled Thumper off of her back, opening it up and sliding out the flat-nosed shell. The ponty behind the desk was... understandably both surprised and terrified. I don't blame him, I've seen what one of those things does to a pony's face... Well, feral ghoul pony, but still. Oh, I'm glad that I already slept... "There's also slugs, and I guess it could fire birdshot too, but dragon's breath and slugs are the main ones I carry."

"Celestia above, I didn't even think that they made shotguns that big... Uh, um, could I possibly keep one of each? I-I can make you more, I guess, just... sheesh, that's kind of overkill." Night Strike obliged the gunsmith with another one of the shells, breaking into laughter as she took the time to reload Thumper with one of the orange-tipped grenades. The large ammo box slid across the counter, and Night Strike placed a few of the boxes of bullets on it as well, to make up the difference, I suppose. "Anyways, that's all I've got, 20 regular, 12 incendiary, and 5 timed. Oh, uh, could I interest you in some fifty cal anti-tank bullets? Great for making things really dead, yeah?"

"Forty Mil grenades and shotgun shells work just fine for that, thanks. If you do get the slugs and dragon's breath into production, though, I assure you that this isn't the last you'll see of me." Night Strike answered him with a smirk, fitting the ammo box into the Clearwater Police duffel bag alongside the guns, myself standing near the entrance with Crash Dive. C'mon already, burning daylight, or something. Sooner we can stay away from the hotel, and Chauffeur, the better. She gave a light grunt as the bag settled - heh, now who's the one with too much stuff? - and we stepped back out into the street.

My stomach growled loudly, a light blush crossing my face as Night Strike and Crash Dive both looked over to me - what, I'm a growing colt! “It’s not too late for breakfast, I think; it’s been a while since we’ve had anything other than fish, anyways.” Night Strike said, looking up at the sky. “That mare at the hotel mention anywhere we can eat?”

"Uh, yeah, she did say there was one place back that way." I nodded back down the street, and we began to make our way back across town. “I think we should head off to that Triage place after eating. They might know where to find a generator, seeing how they’re running a lot of medical equipment from the sound of things. Not to mention give me some place to unload the rest of these batteries...” Crash Dive and Night Strike both nodded, the missile-flanked pegasus' stomach giving off a low growl as well. We passed by the hotel, Chauffeur wiping clean the cracked lobby windows. Slowing in his wiping, he waved to me, lowering his eyelids in a somewhat seductive manner and brushing some of his bane away from his eyes. I gave a nervous smile back before picking up my pace, passing the hotel a bit faster. Night Strike snickered as another blush crossed my face, and we headed down the road.

“Oh come on, Static, you can’t just leave him hanging like that! I thought you had better manners.” She chuckled, and I felt my face grow a little hotter as we rounded another corner, arriving at a small open shack. A slightly pudgy earth pony was standing at a wood stove, pouring several ingredients into a pot on the stovetop. We all slid into booths set up along the counter top, the pony turning around and smiling warmly.

“Hey, welcome to Gumbo’s! Couldn’t have had better timing, my signature blood sausage stew is nearly done. Or, is there something else I can get you?” We all glanced over the frankly insanely large menu hanging behind Gumbo. I didn’t realize there were so many different ways to cook bloatsprite... or, um, radigators? What the...

“I’ll, um, I'll just have the blood sausage.” I said, pulling out the right amount of caps. Night Strike and Crash Dive did the same, Gumbo smiling and gathering up the caps before turning back to the pot. It didn’t take long before three steaming bowls of the stew were placed in front of us, the aroma making my stomach growl even louder. I began to eat, my stomach quickly filling up with the delicious broth, thankful to have a warm meal inside me again.

“You three from out of town, I take it?” Gumbo asked as he stirred the large pot. Night Strike nodded and Gumbo smiled a bit. “I figured. Mayfly back at the hotel always sends ponies my way...” He let himself trail off as he turned back around, pausing for a moment and looking over Crash Dive. Huh, that rebreather part of her mask comes off? Neat... “You, uh, wouldn’t happen to know Steel Ranger Company B, would you?”

Crash Dive took another gulp of soup before answering. “Uh, yes, actually. Trying to track them down and bring them back for a proper court martial, these two are just sticking with me until the rest of my squad decide to get back here. You wouldn't happen to have any leads on them that could help us, would you?" We finished up our bowls, Gumbo taking them and beginning to wash them, occasionally glancing over to his stew to check it, Crash Dive reaffixing the rebreather.

“They mentioned they were heading towards Vanhoover, but I don’t know by which route.” He placed the clean bowls onto some shelves beside him. “I wouldn’t go mentioning anything about them to anypony, they didn’t exactly leave a good impression.... gave the Triage a hell of a hard time, sounds of it that's why they need more hard alcohol and nitro.” Ok, so now ponies will think we’re with a currently less-than-accepted Brotherhood Paladin instead of a psuedo-ex-Enclave trooper. Right now, I don’t think I know which would be worse.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Crash said simply through the voicebox, sliding off of her stool. Night Strike and I thanked Gumbo for the meal before following her away from the shack, having to run a bit to catch up. “Come on, let’s get to that Triage so he can sell off the batteries and we can get moving again.” Crash headed towards the center of town, not bothering to avoid anypony that was in her way. I made a note to myself to try and not talk to her until her mood improved - I really didn't need another flight into the trees. It wasn’t long before we came to a large building, its doors and windows in much better condition than those around it and a large metal sign across the facade reading 'Hopeville Medical Clinic'.

We headed inside, stepping into a relatively refurbished lobby, several ponies sitting in small chairs as a couple sat at a large desk, calmly typing at bulky terminals and scribbling down notes on clipboards. I stepped up to them, one looking up from a terminal screen. “Hello, and welcome to the Hopeville Triage. Are you in need of medical attention?”

"Uh, no, I heard you needed power for you machinery. I’ve got some spark batteries to sell.” I pulled one of them out of my saddlebags, placing it on the counter. The secretary looked it over before handing it back to me and pointing towards an open door leading to a long hallway.

“Head down the hall and take the second door on the left. Talk to Emerald, she’s our main mechanic.” We headed through the hall and opened the door to reveal a bright green unicorn fiddling with a broken heart monitor. She glanced over when she heard us come inside, setting her tools aside and wiping her forehead with a washcloth.

I pulled out the boxes of batteries and placed them on her workbench, her eyes going wide as she loked over them... or maybe because of how much the cart was beginning to tilt under their weight. “I’ve got some batteries for you equipment, near perfect pre-war condition. 100 caps apiece sound good?” Emerald immediately pulled out her cap bag and began to count out the amount. I scooped them up as she set the batteries aside, looking extremely relieved.

“Oh, thank goodness, you have no idea how strapped for power we’ve been lately. Every day we seem to get more ponies coming in and more equipment malfunctions, and they keep draining energy like a mosquito on Jet.” She went back to working on the heart monitor, undoing the screws on the back.

“How’re you able to keep all this up on just spark batteries?” Night Strike asked. Emerald blew out her nose exasperatedly and pulled the back panel off of the monitor. She fiddled with some of the wires, unscrewing some broken bulb-things before digging around under her workbench for new ones.

“Little bit of pre-war magic, little bit of plain being lucky. For all intents and purposes, we don’t, honestly... We’ve been turning down ponies left and right unless they’re in serious condition. Hopeville… couldn’t have found a better name.” She began to fix the machinery, wiping down a few dusty bits. “We’ve been looking for somepony to go visit the old Vanhoover Hydroelectric dam east of here, but all of us are too busy looking after the patients.”

I looked over to Night Strike, who could easily see what I had in mind. She shrugged and stepped forward. “We could head out there, if you want. What needs to be done?” Crash Dive placed an armored hoof on the temple of her helmet, clearly not wanting to get involved. Emerald flipped the panel back up on the monitor, affixing a couple readers to her arm and hooking the wires up to one of the batteries. The monitor hummed as it began to beep, showing a steady pulse across the screen.

Emerald switched off the machine before walking over to her desk, jetting off a small sigh. “We’re not entirely sure. The dam should already be hooked up to this hospital, but for whatever reason the power’s just not coming through. It doesn’t look like the cables have sustained any damage from the few reports we’ve gotten, so we think the dam is just plainly not functioning. All in all, miracle it survived the war in the first place.” She rifled through various papers before pulling out a set of blueprints and rolling them out on her desk.

“It’s most likely either a problem with the turbines, or the maneframe.” She dug around in her desk a little more before producing a small plug connected to a small brick-shaped device. “If it’s the maneframe, just plug this into the computers and it should automatically reboot and reroute power towards us. If the turbines are broken, just head back and I can see about sending some mechanics there when we’re not in such a mess.” I slipped the device into my saddlebags. “Try not to get killed on the way there, though. Only have one of those things.”

“We’ll have the power back up before you know it.” Emerald smiled and we made our way back out of the hospital. Night Strike checked her Pip-Buck, thinking for a moment. “Alright, it’s not far, we could easily make it there and back before dark if we head out now.” I nodded and we made our way towards the east end of town, following the road along the edge of the lake.

“Do we really need to get involved with this? Need I remind you both the reason I'm along here is because I don't fancy being killed by one of those megaspells on that thing, the thing you two crashed and has already started attracting attention, if that pile of gore I kicked off the cliff a few days back means anything?” Crash said, irritated, as Night Strike placed a hoof against her mouth, looking a little faint. Huh, maybe teh food just doesn't agree with her, or something... I kicked a rock along as we walked, eventually losing sight of it as it rolled down slope towards the lake.

“Well, they might have a portable generator there, you never know.” I said, trying to rationalize the trip. Crash Dive let off a sigh and gave her head a shake, muttering something about surface dwellers as we walked along the lakeside. “Besides, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours, anyways. We can spare the time, right?” We continued down the road, passing by a caravan heading towards Hopeville. It wasn’t long before the dam came into view over the horizon, the curved concrete wall just barely visible above the water it was holding back. A large building stood just beside it on the opposite side of the lake, a set of three large letters affixed to a rusted metal sign above it, reading 'North Vanhoover Hydroelectric' beneath.

We opened the fence blocking off the top of the dam, trotting along it for a short ways. I turned my head to the side, staring out over the lower lake in front of the dam - boy, that was one hell of a drop. I swear my first instinct whenever I see a giant cliff is to throw a rock over it. We made our way into the structure built halfway along the top of the dam, stepping through the doorway and heading down a long set of stairs, several turbines sitting idly in the center of the dam below us. We trotted along the scaffolding above the turbines, staring down towards them. “Well, they don’t look damaged from up here, at least. We may as well see if we can find the control room first.”

Our hoofsteps echoed through the concrete structure as we crossed the lower scaffolding, the quietness eerie, to say the least. Night Strike glanced upwards to one end, spotting a large glass window into another room. “That might be it.” She said, pointing it out. We all began to walk towards the side with the room, looking for some stairs. “Hey, here’s an elevator, maybe it’s still working.” I gave her a worried look but she just waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh, fine, find the stairs yourself then if you’re that worried.” She punched a button, the doors sliding open noisily into the small elevator. “See, it doesn’t look that bad.”

I tentatively stepped onto the elevator, worried it would fall beneath our weight at any moment, especially as Crash Dive stepped on and we dipped a half-inch. Night Strike pressed the topmost button and the doors slid shut, the elevator beginning to rattle and shake as it climbed upwards. I whimpered a bit, the ride feeling much more like several minutes than a few seconds. The doors slid open and I almost stumbled out of the elevator, Crash Dive letting off a slight groan as Night Strike snickered.

We were now in a small room, a few large computers lining the wall opposite the window with a terminal loking out over the generator room. I pulled out the little device Emerald had given me, plugging it into a small port on the side of the terminal and booting it up. The screen flickered a bright green before pulling up the boot menu, myself scrolling through and finally getting to the option ‘Route power to station 1255-B.’ Might not be as tech-savvy as my dads, but at least I know how to use a terminal. I hit a button and the a large grinding sound was heard, Night Strike and I covering our ears as the terminal began scrolling out various commands.

‘Error encountered. Running diagnostics. Cables: Intact, Generators: Intact, Piping: Intact.’ Several lines filled the screen before another option appeared - ooh, computer-ese is Minty's forte, not mine... ‘Errors found: Turbine No. 1 inlet and outer intakes clogged. Please clear debris before resuming to power on turbines.’ The terminal held on the error message, Night Strike and Crash Dive both looking over my shoulders at the screen. “Well, crap.” I stared down through the window.

Crash Dive turned back towards the elevator, glancing over her shoulder at us. “Come on, then. We should’ve checked the lower levels for generators, anyways. Going to be a bit of a pain to get it out of this place, but we'll make do.” We headed back towards the elevator, Night Strike punching the lowest button this time. We were soon stepping out into a dimly lit corridor, the sound of water dripping from a few pipes echoing through the halls. We trotted through the corridors, following a few signs towards the turbines.

I glanced down one of the halls, almost sure I saw something step out of view just before I had turned far enough to check. I shuddered, trying to push thoughts of whatever those things that had attacked us on the bridge yesterday out of my mind. Crash Dive opened a door into the long room lined with the large turbines, massive pipes leading to the four structures from the reservior-side of the dam. I glanced over into one, but couldn’t see much below the surface of the fogged, murky glass.

Once we reached the first of the four turbines and opened up the top hatch, though, it was obvious something was gumming up the blades. Large collections of moss clung to the inner walls, and several large round objects could be seen stuck to the side of them. “Yeeaaaah, I’m not climbing down there to clear those out. Whatever they are.” Night Strike chuckled, pulling out Thumper.

“Pfft, this’ll be the easy part.” She said, sliding one of the new grenades she’d picked up into the grenade rifle. She took aim, and before I could stop her she fired a grenade into the open hatch, it making a slight splash as it entered. It stuck into the mass of gunk that was below the surface before exploding, all of us getting sprayed by mucky water and bits of some fleshy white material. I gave a sound of disgust as I brushed the things off of me - what the heck were those, giant soft eggs, or something? Night Strike slung Thumper back over her shoulder, trying to hide her revulsion under a smug smile. “See? Now we just gotta get the main intake cleared and find some sort of power lever, right? So, uh, where's the access for that at?...”

"I'm no expert in these things, but I'm pretty sure that hydroelectric dams usually have their intakes located at the bottom of the lake they're holding back. Something to do with kinetic energy and water pressure." The power armored mare looked over at the massive pipe that took up one wall, pointing over at the place where it seemed to lead out to the lake. "There. Since we were able to get one of the turbines open without drowning, safe bet that it's entirely clogged up. I don't think that there's a hatch there you can shoot another grenade in, though... we'll have to blow it open externally."

"Ooh, ooh, that's great! There's some waterproof dyamite that we can use, I know where a stash of it is, back in the... Clearwater police station. Ah, ponyfeathers." Well, better it's back there than here, where it'd be liable to be shot at and explode, taking half of you with it, Strikey. She let off a sigh, rubbing her forehead with a hoof as we headed back out.

"You'd really think that pre-war ponies would've come up with some way to clear the intakes remotely, without having to blow it open every time it got stuffed up." I passed along a shrug as we stepped back onto the elevator, Crash Dive seeming to be really quite intent on adjusting her helmet in the meantime. The elevator clattered as we stopped on the catwalk level, making way back up to the top of the dam, Night Strike loading another timed grenade into Thumper. We all peered over the edge on the lake side, the dark blue pegasus keeping her rifle held tight.

"I dunno... I don't think Thumper has the powder load to throw a grenade that far down. Water's a lot denser than air, if it doesn't just disintegrate on impact I doubt it'd make it to the intake. Plus side, we don't have to be accurate, long as it gets close the shockwave will be carried by the-" We both blunk as Crash Dive shoved a remote-thingy into Night Strike's hooves, staring at her with the red eyes of her helmet. Oh, well, um... okay, then?

"Don't fire it until I'm back here, or you'll wind up killing me. I won't be too long." We both watched in slight confusion as the power armored pegasus stepped up onto the concrete barrier on the side of the dam, perching there for a moment before leaning forwards and dropping over the side, impacting the water with a loud splash. Needless to say, confusion didn't quite cut it now. We both stared over the side, watching as the water settled again, just simply waiting now. Minutes passed, and every now and again a small flurry of bubbles would come up - w-well, um, if she were klling herself she'd have drowned a while ago. I really didn't think that power armor would be the best thing to take a swim in...

A short while later, the water splashed loudly further along the dam, a black figure climbing up the concrete wall with her hooves, getting up to the top of the structure and onto the road. We both rushed over to the power armored mare, Crash Dive removing her wet helmet and taking a big gulping breath, looking towards the both of us as she hung her helmet back on her harpoon cannon's barrel. I... really didn't think that the Grand Pegasus Enclave would have much need for a suit that let you work underwater. "There's a few charges in place on the intake filters. The things gumming them up are eggs, or something. Freaky as a flying plucked ghoul..."

"So, I take it you've made more modifications to your armor than just the w- uh, helmet mowhawk... fin-thing, right?" The pink-maned mare gave me a small glare before nodding once, Night Strike grinning slightly as she took the remote in her mouth, activating it. There was a low thud that shook the dam and caused a small swell in the water, a series of white bubbles and much floating up from the bottom. Okay, ew... well, at least teh intakes are clear now.

Back down in the dam, we continued back to the large maneframe room, myself walking back to the terminal while Night Strike moved a junction box on the far wall labeled 'Manual Floodgate Override'. She grabbed the lever and tried to pull it down, grunting as she worked at it. “Ah, crap it’s rusted off... damnit, why couldn't I have gotten Featherweight's huge body?” I rolled my eyes and pushed her aside before grabbing ahold of it, glancing over to see her scrunched face. Sorry Strikey, sometimes an earth pony is just better for the job~ It took a few tries, but I was able to get the lever to slide down, squeaking and grinding across the box as it did. Once it was flipped down, there was the sound of a buzzer going off in the main section of the dam, before the turbines began to hum as the water flowed through the grates and spun the giant blades.

“Well, they should be getting power back in Hopeville, now. We can still run a quick sweep for a generator before heading back, I think.” Heading out of the maneframe and back to the turbine level of the dam, we all began to explore the various storage rooms and hallways connected to the structure. I trotted into a small workshop, digging around below the benches and inside the various tool closets, finding nothing but cobwebs and old tools. I stowed a few energy cells that were lying on the benches before heading back to the turbine room, meeting up with Crash Dive and Night Strike near the elevator. “Find anything?” They both shook their heads, and we began to make our way back towards the entrance to the dam. As we stepped out onto the top of the structure, the sound of water rushing through the grates below was almost thunderous, wave after wave crashing down into the lower lake.

Night Strike fluttered her wings and began to balance her way across the fence, peering down at the cascading water. She wobbled a bit, her wings outstretched as we walked back across the dam. “If you wanted to commit suicide, you know you could’ve just jumped into the running turbines, right?” I yelled over the rushing water. Night Strike didn’t respond, whether she didn’t hear me or just didn’t want to acknowledge me unclear. I flipped on the radio, a smooth jazz number filling the air as began the trek back towards Hopeville.

“And that’s how I learned how to make a makeshift laser cannon out of duct tape, scrap electronics and a few conducters. Join us next time to hear how I broke my way out a raider slave camp with nothing but a pretzel stick.” I switched the radio off as we trotted up to the hotel, the sun hanging low in the sky. I yawned as we entered the lobby - hopefully Crash Dive lets us sleep in again.

Chauffeur looked up from the desk as we entered, a smile immediately crossing his face as he spotted me. “Well, hello again. Looking to stay another night?” I nodded and his smile widened. “I can’t exactly see how I’d charge you three after what you did for the Triage. And hardly getting any dirt on that pretty face doing it!” I blushed and tried not to cringe. “Enjoy your night, and feel free to stay as long as you want. And again, just give me a ring if you want anything~” I picked up my pace as Night Strike chuckled behind me, zipping into the hotel room. Before I could shut and lock it, a power armor wearing hoof blocked it open, Crash Dive staring back through with her helmet still on.

“We’re heading out at first light tomorrow. If you aren’t up, I’m sending Chauffeur in to wake you up.” I nodded, gulping in fear, that warning being more than enough motivation. She removed her hoof and let the door shut, allowing me to lock it, finally. Letting off a sigh of relief, I slid my saddlebags and umbrella off my back, flopping onto the bed. I crawled under the covers, flipping the lamp on the bedside table off and burying my face into the pillow, trying not to think of Chauffeur. Oh, I’m going to have weird dreams tonight…

Goodbyes and Hellos

“Aye, think that’s the last of ‘em?” Scouring asked as I parked the mini-tank, and we all climbed out. The smell of burning flesh and the acrid scent of spent gunpowder filled my nostrils, causing me to gag slightly. Guh, why does she always insist on doing things the worst way? Going in quietly would've been much cleaner... I passed the helmet back over to Knight Strike, who promptly fit it back over his head, returning a nod once it was in place. Stepping around fresh craters, we walked across the battlefield towards the main doors of the ski lodge.

“Looks like it, at least the ones outside. Might still be a few indoors, though, so I wouldn’t let your guard down just yet.” Crimson replied, carefully balancing a large plasma caster hanging off the side of his power armor. He peered through one of the windows into the lobby, before stepping up to the large oak doors. “Yep, got one hanging out inside. Cover me.” Sweets moved in behind Crimson, nervously glancing about as he kept his Gatling laser at the ready. Crimson kicked open the door before whirling back around and firing off a few shots with the caster.

The raider barely had time to let out a squeak of fright before the bolts of superhot energy made contact, dissolving his body with deadly efficiency. Sweets and Crimson stood in the doorway for a moment longer, waiting for somepony to take notice and come through from a different part of the building, but the room was still. Crimson lowered his caster and trotted inside, the rest of us following him closely behind. The lobby was partially illuminated by a large chandelier adorned with luminescent crystals that glittered in the sunlight streaming through the windows, some hints of red coming in on the lighteams - I don't want to try and guess why that is...

Trotting up to the desk in the center of the lobby, I was able to spot a few rows of keys hanging from hooks underneath the desktop. I swiped a few from off the hooks, stashing them before stepping back around the other side with the others. “Right, suppose we split up and search the rest of this place? Can’t imagine there’d be many more raiders, prob'ly all ran out when they heard us arrive, heh.” Scouring suggested, letting off a light chuckle. Aerith nodded, tagging along with Crash Dive and heading to search the eastern half of the lodge as B Company split into two groups to search the upper floors.

“Alright, guess that leaves us to sweep this part. You promise me you won’t get too distracted if we find the kitchen, right?” Night Strike teased, heading towards a smaller side lobby. A small stone fireplace built into the wall sat empty and cold, Night Strike readying Thumper as we wandered through the large room. We walked past a few old couches, heading down a hallway, the hard wood flooring scuffed and dirtied with age. I pushed open one of the many doors down the hall, revealing a standard hotel room, in nearly pristine, albeit dusty, condition. The bed, however, was covered in empty Dash and Rage containers, piled high on top of the sheets. “Sheesh, did the raiders think these were breath mints or something?” Night Strike asked, poking at the pile of syringes and needles with the end of Thumper. A few vials fell loose from the disturbance, tumbling down the small pile before we headed back into the hallway.

The other rooms were in similar conditions, though none with nearly as many drug containers as the first. Finding nothing of note, we headed back to the main room where Aerith and Crash Dive were standing. “What happened to you?” I asked, noticing all of their hooves were a deep shade of red, about halfway up their shins.

“One of the raiders must’ve thought it’d be funny to set up some kind of practical joke. Thought we found a working elevator, but there were just a bunch of paint cans balanced up against the doors. Spilled everywhere, you’d think a pool of blood decided to just go running down the hallway.” Crash Dive responded, scratching a bit of the drying paint from her armor.

Knight Strike leaned over the edge of the railing on the second floor, looking down at us. “All clear up here, you guys find anything?” Night Strike shook her head. “Alright, well, come on up, we think we found a few rooms that aren’t too messy we can set up in for the night. ‘Course, we still got plenty of time left before that, but if you wanna drop off your saddlebags might as well do it now.” He pushed himself off of the railing and headed towards one of the upper hallways. We trotted up the steps after him, finding a couple empty rooms. I unhitched my saddlebags, tossing them onto one of the beds as Night Strike did the same with her duffel bag. Crash Dive and Aerith stepped into one of the other rooms, the power armored pegasus leaning her harpoon gun up against one of the chairs as the alicorn hung her hat on a rack by the door.

The members of B Company headed back down the steps and we followed suit, heading back into the fireplace room. Knight Strike flopped down onto one side of the couch, lifting his hind hooves onto the coffee table as Sweets sat opposite him, wiping his glasses clean. “So, uh, you guys’re from up north, right? At least, according to the radio and Scouring… y’know.” Sweet’s voice trailed off awkwardly as he fidgeted with his spectacles. “You guys ever here about some place called Frosthill? Supposed to be some small town near the Crystal Empire, figured you might be from nearby or something.”

Both Night Strike and I glanced towards each other for a moment, before shaking our heads. “No, why? Have you been there?” I asked. Sweets shook his head, grinning as Knight Strike let off a chuckle. Aerith trotted over to the fireplace, her horn lighting up as she attempted to spark a small fire in the stonework. Soon the logs caught, and the room grew a bit warmer as the fire crackled away softly.

“Nah, even with my armor I’d probably freeze to death before I even made it to the north shore of Luna’s Bay." The power armored unicorn re-seated his glasses, leaning back on the old couch as it creaked under his armor's weight. "We were just passing through Maple Station a while back, heard a rumor about some mailmare or something that went and shot up some big crime lord. Middle of the night, under a full moon in the graveyard, something about settlin’ a score for a stallion named Reigndall. Like one of those old pre-war westerns y’know? Just wondered if either’ve you knew anypony like that.”

“I’m pretty sure the mailmare running around Mooscow is old enough to remember the Great War, I’d be pretty impressed if she managed to track down somepony for killing a friend of hers.” I responded, grinning a little at the thought of old Torn Envelope having a showdown against some black cloaked villain with a handlebar mustache. “Then again, maybe being so close to death herself she was able to get some ghosts on her side.” Night Strike grinned as well, settling back into her own chair.

“Hey, there was that time she chased Saberclaw down the street for setting that squirt-gun trap in a mailbox. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t manage to take an ear off with that pistol of hers.” Night Strike said. “Though speaking of ghosts and other creepy things that should be dead, when are we going to blow up that fair? I want to send that thing back to Tartarus before it becomes possessed and starts hunting down campers.” Nice segue, Strikey.

Crimson inspected his plasma caster, flicking a few knobs on it as Knight Strike responded, “This evenin', of course. That’s when explosions look their best, right?” He reached into a small pocket of his power armor to pull out a deck of cards. “So… any of you know how to play Caravan?”

“So, remind me again why we’re blowing this place up?” I followed the two Strikes up a small wooden staircase behind the hotel. Aerith was gliding around in the air beside us, simply enjoying the night air as we ascended the small hill towards the summit. The fair could barely be seen in the darkness, only the large Ferris wheel and exposition buildings marking it out amongst the mountainous region below. Crash Dive followed behind me, her armor causing the wooden steps to creak as she trotted up.

“Because animatronics are scary and explosions are awesome. Do we need another reason to do it?” Night Strike responded, grinning widely. I shook my head, looking down at the ground as we continued to climb. The path was thankfully easy to see, thanks to the cloudless sky and bright moon as we trotted up the hill. Crimson pushed a branch out of the way of the path as we continued. I ducked under another branch, all of use soon reaching a clearing near the top. A large oblong rock sat near the edge of the hill, Aerith fluttering down on top of it as we looked out over the expanse below us.

“Alright, should have everythin' set up. Goggles on 'r turn away, you get blinded it's your fault!” Knight Strike said, fitting his helmet on over his head. The rest of us - well, the sane ones, anyways - slipped on the darkened goggles from back at the sub-base, Night Strike electing to take the 'turn away' option. There was a moment of silence before Knight Strike pressed the small toggle on his detonator. Then another moment of silence. A rather long one. “Aw, come on!” Knight Strike toggled the detonator’s switch up and down multiple times, glancing between it and the undamaged fairgrounds. “Dammit, Sweets, I thought you said that I had it wired right to blow!”

The unicorn scratched the top of his helmet, staring down at the fair below. “Ahm-ah-duh, it should’ve been. You sure we aren’t out of range for the detonator?” Knight Strike simply threw down the detonator in frustration, whipping out his missile launcher instead. Oh, this can’t be good. Sliding a missile into the breech, he flipped the front up before taking careful aim and firing. The fuel caught, and the missile flew out of the end, a casing becoming disconnected as the missile split off into a small cluster.

“Alright, give that about forty seconds and it’ll be there, should be just enough fuel to reach something in there and start the reaction.” He said, slinging the launcher over his back. I stared at him as the missiles disappeared off into the darkness, a couple unable to crest the tree line and instead detonating as they smashed into the branches. For once, Night Strike shared my look of confusion - as for why, anypony's guess. Is setting off an explosion next to a megaspell not supposed to cause it to explode?

“You can’t honestly be-“ I began, but my voice died in my throat as suddenly the sound of distant explosions could be heard. I looked back down at the fairgrounds, a series of detonations starting from one end. They travelled along the perimeter of the grounds, the Ferris wheel shuddering violently as its base went up in a ball of fire. The explosions soon approached a station where a short freight train stood waiting. There was suddenly a bright flash of light, all of us shielding our eyes. I dared to peek out after a few seconds, to see the familiar looking mushroom cloud rising up into the sky as the shockwave spread across the ground below. A few figures could be seen buzzing out of the trees as the shock approached them in turn, making the forest bow towards us.

A low rumble could be heard as the shockwave travelled up the mountain, needles falling from trees as they were shaken. I covered my ears, bracing myself. The shockwave flung itself over the edge of the hill, causing me to stumble backwards as it felt like I was punched in the gut. Crash Dive managed to remain standing in her power armor, while Night Strike simply laughed as she was flung backwards. I really have to question the sanity of that pony…

The rumble soon died away as the shockwave dissipated. “Eeeeeheeehee, rust in pieces, you horrid, nightmare inducing manticore!” Night Strike cried, getting back to her hooves. Yes, yes, I definitely need to question her sanity. We paused for a moment, Aerith and I catching our breaths, watching the mushroom cloud slowly deform and blow away into the sky. Night Strike let out a sigh, laying down against the rock with a wide grin across her muzzle. After the cloud had lost enough form, she finally picked herself up, starting to head towards the steps leading back down to the hotel. “We seriously need to get the Valkyrie fixed up soon. I need megaspells on demand, dangit.” I resisted the urge to facehoof as I followed her down the hill. Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to do for the past month? Or… however long it’s been?

The moon shined down on us as we made our way back to the hotel, myself letting off a long yawn as I shook my head to stay awake for the small trek. It thankfully wasn’t too long before we were stepping back inside the hotel, the warmth welcoming after the brisk chill of the night air. We all headed upstairs, Crash Dive and Aerith breaking off to head into one of the vacant rooms as B Company followed the hallway on the opposite side of the stairwell towards their rooms. Night Strike and I stepped into the room we’d dropped our stuff off in earlier, Night Strike closing the door as I flopped down onto the bed.

The pegasus crawled under the covers next to me, curling up beside me as I buried my face in the pillow. I gave a small squeak of pain as something jabbed me lightly in the leg. Reaching down, I pulled an empty Dash inhaler out of the blankets before tossing it aside, listeninga s it clagttered against the floor. Guh, stupid raiders... I closed my eyes, cuddling up to Night Strike as sleep washed over us both.

The door to our room creaked as Night Strike and myself both stepped out, well rested after the long night’s sleep. We headed down the hallway, knocking on Aerith and Crash Dive’s door as we passed. After a short moment the door swung open and Crash Dive trotted out along with a yawning Aerith, who was still trying to slip her hoof through her vest as she followed us. We made our way downstairs towards the kitchen of the hotel, our hoofsteps echoing through the large hallways. As we entered the dining area, though, we found it empty, despite the aroma of hay bacon that had been wafting through the air. “Huh, wonder where they headed off to in such a hurry...” Night Strike said, looking down at the plates that had been left out on one of the tables.

“They’re probably just out playing golf with grenades, or something.” Crash Dive answered, opening up one of the drawers to pull out a frying pan. Heading over to the fridge, she pulled out a few tins of daisies, pulling open the top and emptying them onto the pan as she began to heat up the stovetop. Night Strike and Aerith took a seat at one of the empty tables as I opened one of the cabinets. Finding a pack of Dandy Colt apples, I took it down and began to tear into it, the daisies and haybacon Crash Dive was cooking sizzling away. Picking out a couple of the preserved candy apples, I handed the box over to the others, though neither accepted. More for me, then.

Crash Dive placed the pan in the center of the table, Aerith using her magic to help slide the food from the hot metal onto our plates as we began to eat. I looked out of the window, the makeshift barricades surrounding the hotel blocking the view of the rest of the mountainside. We finished our breakfast in relative silence, only speaking up to wonder aloud what B Company was up to or to pass more food over. Stepping outside, I blinked a bit at the bright morning light, a bit of fog hanging in the air. “You’d think Scouring’d have been back by now…” I said, looking around the hotel grounds. “Did he tell us they were going somewhere last night and I just manage to forget?” Aerith shrugged as we trotted past a corpse of one of the raiders, which was already starting to rot.

Stepping around another one that had several radroaches chewing on its leg, I was about to head around the side of the hotel towards the trail we’d hiked up the night before, when the sound of an engine suddenly came up from around the back of the lodge. Looking between ourselves for a moment, we all rushe over to find where itw as coming from, Night Strike taking to the air before suddenly stopping and flying backwards. "Mother of Celestia!"

Reaching the end of the non-destroyed barricade, the source of the noise pulled up in front of the hotel, Night Strike setting herself down on her hoves to get a better look at it. It had tracks like a tank, and the same gun, I guess, but aren't tanks supposed to have turrets, or something? It looks like this thing can only fire at what's in front of it... the pegasus took to the air again, landing on the front of the vehicle and tapping against the gun's armored bits, the noise from the engine quieting down as it was turned off. After a moment, the doors on the back of it swung open, Scouring's head poking out of it as we trotted over to see, the power armored unicorn waving a hoof at us.

"Aye, nice to know we caught ye before we left. Nice new ride, inn't it? Were used for causin' controlled avalanches before the war, hundred fourteen millimeter howitzer in this thing and loads'a ammo." He wore a smile as he rested on the bottom edge of the hatch, us all trotting around to see inside. The rest of B Company was in with him, along with a lot of rounds all labeled as 'high explosive' - well, it's certainly fitting for them. Scouring's smile faded, Night Strike's eyes wide at the sight of all of the cannon shells. "Unfortunately, this is a goodbye. Crimson's figurin' we oughta head back to Mountain Springs now we're all back together, check in with the Elder and report on our, erm, 'scouting' mission. Would be for the better if ye didn't come with, the Elder's not exactly much for outsiders..."

Night Strike and myself both shared a glance, before she trotted forwards, a bit of a worried look on her face. "Ah, ehm, are you sure you have to go so soon? I mean... why not stick around with us more, or something? What if we run into more megaspells that need to be armed?" I let off a small sigh, giving my head a shake. If we need to arm any more megaspells while we're up this way, I'm walking back home... though, it is a little hard to think about the Vanhoover Five being down to just four. Scouring wore a faint smile, his breath caught in a cloudy chuff.

"I'm sure you'll manage without me, and I doubt we won't be seein' each other again. Least I'll be sure to swing by before you're all leavin' here for good, will say my proper goodbyes then." Night Strike just stared up into the fighting compartment for a while, the rest of us following with her, before Crimson leaned over on the other side and said something to Sweet Water, who seemed to be in the driver's seat. The engine in the not-tank started back up, Scouring looking over as Crimson rested an armored hoof on his shoulder. "Right, we're settin' off now, and again, please don't follow us t' Mountain Springs. Try to not blow yourselves up too much while I'm gone, aye?" The power armored unicorn let off a small chuckle as his horn flared, the doors shutting back up. I could just about make out the word 'Avenger' painted on the back before the engine in front roared, the tracks digging into the snow and pulling the vehicle towards the north, the sound of the wind in the valley filling the air after a while.

We all stood watching the not-tank as it soon disappeared over the snowy hills, Night Strike watching for a while longer than the rest of us before hovering herself back over. Her ears flopped down against her mane as she trotted in through the large doors, Aerith shutting them behind us to keep out the cold. Looking back towards the heavy doors, she spoke up after a moment. "Yanno, why can't we just follow them? Because their Elder doesn't like outsiders? That's a load of shit..."

“He’s kind of got a point, though, Night Strike. We're still trying to find a generator for the Valkyrie, how many times have we stopped whatever we’re doing just to go exploring some old abandoned facility or run some errand for a town? You’d think whoever’s been attacking the places would’ve done something by now, just seems like they’re sitting around waiting for us at this point, or something…” Night Strike let off a sigh, as Aerith trotted over to the other lobby to get the fire going again, Crash Dive accompanying her. Watching the pegasus trot up the steps to the upstairs bedrooms, I let off a soft sigh of my own, looking down to my pip-buck for a moment before tuning in the radio.

“It's a beautiful, bright wintry morning out there today, and you're tuned into Radio K A O S, Kaos in Vanhoover. Hope you’ve all been keeping safe and unirradiated the last few days, unless you're of the type who enjoys that, since there’s news of a bit of a rad storm blowing in from up north. It should stick to the coast, however, so if you had any beach picnics planned in the next couple of days, I’d think about rescheduling, heh.

"Anyways, time for a little public service announcement. Lately there’s been reports of an increase in Bloodsprite attacks near the swamps just north of Vanhoover. Remember, just because the Lightbringer may have helped clear the skies doesn’t mean the products of years of pre-war magic aren’t still wandering around the wastes. Don’t go wandering off common roads on your own, and for your own sake remember to stock up on health potions and antidotes if you do decide to go for a nature hike.

"Anyway, that’s all for now, let’s get some music back on the air for all of you…” There was a moment of silence, before the sound of clattering tapes filled the air, along with a muffled apology and an exasperated sigh. “…if my assistant could hand me a tape without breaking half of them, that is. You're listening to Radio KAOS, enjoy, Vanhoover.”

"You shake my nerves and rattle my brain,
Too much love drives a man insane,
You broke my will, but what a thrill!
Goodness, gracious,
Great balls of fire!"

My muzzle dug into the musty pillows and old bedsheets as I let myself flop back onto the bed, wings falling to my sides loosely. So... Scouring's left us, now. Vanhoover Four it is... no, hang on, we can make this work. Besides, after he's checked in with his Elder, he'll probably come back out again and we can be the Vanhoover Five once more, right?... Releasing a long sigh, I let my forehead lay against the pillows, closing my eyes. Come on, Strikey, you'll see him again, it isn't like he's dead or anything. He's just gone back to his home, for a while, just like you have to try and focus on being able to do, too. Just... get a grip...

The door to the room creaked on it's hinges as it opened up, a song playing over the radio of the pip-buck around the blue earth pony's foreleg, which quieted down before I heard his hooves trotting over. His heavy flanks made the springs of the mattress creak slightly as he sat himself down beside me, myself rolling to the side to rub at my eyes with my foreleg. Laying on my side, Static looked towards myself for a moment, as I looked up towards him in return. "Ahm... Strikey, are you feeling alright? You don't... you were acting kind of off earlier."

I sat myself up, drawing in a breath and holding it for a moment, before releasing it in a small sigh. "I... yeah. I'm just... just still trying to process Scouring leaving. It's been the five of us for so long, now, I think I'm just trying to cope with it going down to four so suddenly." Sniffling in the cold air of the bedroom, I rested my hooves on my back legs, hunched over with my wings slack. The earth pony shuffled himself closer to me as I held my eyes shut for a long moment, looking over to him. "I'm just not sure how to feel about it. It's like crashing down here all over again, except... I don't know."

Static let off a light chuff, wearing a light smile on his muzzle as he rested a hoof around my shoulders in a light hug. "Oh, c'mon, Strikey, it's not that bad. You heard him, we'll see him again sooner or later... besides, how d'you think I feel now? I'm the only stallion in the group again." Joining him in a light chuckle, I managed a small nod, rubbing at one of my eyes with a hoof. Yeah, like of all things THAT'S something to complain about... He let off a sigh, looking down to his pip-buck for a moment. "Look, the air base isn't going anywhere, and the mercenaries were probably spooked from the most recent detonation anyways. We can stick around here for a bit, a day at least... Stable 117's just to the west, how about we see what's up with that place? Might get your mind off of Scouring."

I released a small cloudy sigh, looking out into the room for a moment. Okay, either sit in this lodge all day and wallow in mild greif because somepony left our group to go home, or go exploring a Stable and unravel what might be the pre-war mystery of the century as to why nopony's ever left it and nopony's ever heard about it. Seems pretty clear-cut to me. "Yeah, Stable 117, that sounds like a fun time. Come back to the lodge afterwards, get a good sleep, then we can set off for the east tomorrow." Static gave a nod in response, shuffling over to the edge of the bed and hopping back to his hooves, myself following behind him. Trotting up beside him as we reached the doorway, I gave his flank a small bump with my own, letting off a little giggle as he blinked and looked towards me. "So, why exactly are you worried about being the only stallion in the group, now?"

"C'mon, Strikey, you know how you are. It was hard enough staying sane when you and Scouring could both gush over explosives with each other, now I'm going to have to deal with full, concentrated you again." He bumped my flanks back in return, wearing a smile on his muzzle. Aw, you flatter me, Sparky... "I mean, I suppose you've gotten a little less crazy, but not by much. Have guessed by now asking you to try and be sane is like asking you to give up Sparkle-Cola... you think there's a correlation there?" The earth pony stuck out his tongue towards me as he stood at the top of the stairwell, starting to head down it. I passed on an eyeroll and shake of the head, hopping up onto the old bannister and leting myself fall off of it, my wings catching me before I hit the floor. Could hear that pony sigh from a story up...

"I love you too, Sparky~"

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, we interrupt the usual broadcast to bring you a rather surprising news story out of Maple Station. Apparently the sudden radiation storms from up north may have originated from the detonation of a megaspell, as one of the tank ghouls reported seeing a distinctive fireball heading a mushroom cloud rising from the eastern mountain ranges. Best guess as to where that thing detonated that they could give me is the old amusement park out that way - as for how it was set off, well, I don't think we really need to speculate too much. The Vanhoover Five work in mysterious ways, all that I can really say, heh.

"We'll get you right back on to the music here, it's a beautiful Vanhoover morning and you're tuned in to Radio KAOS on Radio KAOS."

"So, whaddaya think went wrong with this Stable?" Resting on the back of the Mini-tank, we wound our way through the snowy mountain ranges, after being sure to drop a marker on our maps just so we could find our way back to the lodge. I shuffled up against Boomer, idly sipping from a bomb-bottle of Sparkle-Cola. "I mean, what kind of experiment could cause a whole Stable to go silent? Oooh, maybe they only had auto-docs and robots for medical staff, and after a while things went wrong and they started chopping up the residents. Or, or maybe the door had thermite charges so when it was pushed into place it was permanently sealed, and the fumes just killed everypony. Or-"

"Night Strike, please stop theorizing until we get there. I'd really rather not lose that breakfast I had earlier so soon..." Static shuddered in the driver's seat as we powered on through the snowy hillsides, eventually drawing near a road littered with derilect wagons. Well, sure seems like that a few ponies knew about Stable 117, at least before the war. Makes sense... "Have you considered that maybe they're just a Stable that haven't wanted to open their door yet? There had to have been a few Stables that were meant to be used as actual long-term bomb shelters, not all of them had to have some big tragedy befall them."

"Killjoy. C'mon, don't you want a little more intrigue than a Stable full of introverts? Oooh, what if they're all crazy clones, and they can only say their name or something? Or maybe they've fused with plants, or something... What if it's a Stable full of foals, and robots take care of everything so all they have to do is grow up, fuck another resident, make more foals, and then get killed afterwards?" I held a firm grip on the grenade machine gun as Static swerved us around one of the old wagons, the sickening crunch of bones shattering under tracks being heard through the snow as our own wagon clattered behind. Crash Dive passed on a glare from the back seat of the mini-tank as we settled again, Aerith sticking her head up from the trailer to see what'd caused the commotion. Static, meanwhile, was hunched over the handlebars - what, bit too much there?

"Gonna ask you just one more time Strikey, shut up until we get there or I will turn this half-track around." We rounded a corner, following the road further along the snowy valley as it started to narrow. Broken carts that were picked clean long ago littered the path, forcing Static to wind to and fro with the mini-tank to try and avoid smashing them, until he brought us to a stop a little further down. Looking ahead, it was fairly easy to see why... "...or I might have to turn us around, anyways. Guess we'll have to find another way around with that blocking the road..."

One of Aerith's screens flashed up in view as Static looked behind us, the alicorn hopping out of the trailer and trotting alongside, looking up at the blocked road ahead. 'Must've been one hell of an avalanche, looks like part of the road from up the mountain came down with it. I think we might have a few possible solutions left, though...' She wore a smile as she looked back towards me, trotting over to my duffel bag. Well, if she's going through my stuff, then I know what she's got planned is right up my alley... and enough to get another sigh out of Static. Oh, live a little, Sparky...

After a few moments she produced two black and gold-painted hoof grenades from my duffel bag... wait, don't tell me, ahm... Solar Burst, right, forgot I had a few of those in the hoof-thrown option, heh. Oh, I like where this is going already. 'A couple of these and that roadblock should be a little less roadblocky, at least enough to get over with this thing. Saves us some time finding a different route, at least.' Wearing a wide grin, I looked down towards Static, who just let out a long sigh and gave his head a shake in response.

"Fine, fine. I swear, there's gonna be some day when the issues we run into can't be solved with explosives..." The earth pony gave the mini-tank's engine a rev, looking around for a moment before pulling forwards and turning us around, myself hopping off as he stopped back by Aerith. He looked back towards the avalanche, before facing towards me. "I'm gonna drive back a ways, try and avoid getting hit by any shrapnel that might be in that thing. Please at least try to not cause another avalanche, and if you do end up causing one anyways, for the love of Celestia just fly above it. Have some sense of self-preservation, Strikey..."

A small chuckle escaped myself as I trotted over beside Static, wearing a light smile. "Come on, Static, ya gotta give me some credit. I can think of at least two good reasons to want to stick around..." Resting my forehooves on the side of the mini-tank beside the driver's position, I leaned forwards to plant a kiss on the earth pony's cheek, watching as it went from blue to a faint shade of red. He blunk a few times in surprise, before letting off a light chuckle, a smile forming on his own muzzle. I set myself back down onto my hooves, trotting back over to Aerith, the mini-tank's engine revving for a moment before the tracks clattered as he drove back up the road.

Watching the mini-tank disappear around the corner, I felt Aerith nudge me with her wing, another one of her screens flashing up as she wore a smile. 'Come on, we've got a roadblock to blow to smithereens. Stare at cute stallions on your own time.' Letting off a weak chuckle, I answered her with a nod, both of us taking flight in the small roadway. The sheer size of the avalanche became apparent as we drew close, the alicorn holding place a few meters away from the start of the blockage. 'So, gonna guess that the best we can hope for is to blast out a ramp so Static can drive over, because there's no way we'll be clearing the whole valley with just two grenades. See any obvious weakspots?'

Looking over the landslide for a moment, I let myself drop down to the base of it, starting to look over the wall of debris. Weak spots, weak spots... hm. Yeah, weak spots are easier to find on armored vehicles than giant landmasses, usually... "Um... well, anywhere that's mostly wagons would probably be weaker than the rest. Bury one of them in deep enough, pull the pin and release the spoon, best we can hope for. Think these have a timer of... five seconds? Or three?" Aerith looked towards the two grenades with me as she held them in her magic, seperating one off and giving it to me. We both trotted along the base a little further, my eyes scanning over the icy wall. "Should only take one if we put it in the right spot. I'm pretty sure balefire egg-yield explosives weren't that often used for standard demolition purposes before the war, so, yanno, might be enough."

Aerith passed on a nod as I stopped by some wreckage in the avalanche, looking at it a little more closely. Hm, halfway down the blockage, seems like the wagon frame's caused a bit of a cavity to be left... should work out. The alicorn stepped up beside me, looking in as well, as I started to dig out the hole a little bigger with my free hoof. Stepping back, Aerith pulled the pin off of the grenade she held, keeping a firm grip on the lever with her magic as she gingerly placed it on the far side of the cavity. Horn still aglow as she kept the armed grenade from igniting, she spread her wings wide and started to fly back to the abandoned wagons further up the road, myself folowing close behind. 'Alright, here goes nothing. You ready for it?'

Wearing a grin and settling down behind a wagon, I answered her with a curt nod, peering over the top towards the roadblock. The light sound of the alicorn's magic disappeared, Aerith doing what Static would call the sensible thing and ducking down behind the wagon she chose. As for myself, the wind over the little valley the road was in the middle of filled my ears as I started to count the seconds off in my head - one... two... three!

...Erm... four? Fi- There was a bright flash from inside the landslide before the snow, ice, mud and dirt exploded out from the face, raining down and clattering loudly against the rusting wagons. Little bits of metal and wood debris from the buried wagons flew out as well, pinging off of the abandoned ones in the road and sizzling in the snow, left white-hot by the blast. I let loose a small giggle as everything started to quiet down, a massive plume of smoke rising from what was formerly the block in the road, forming into a semi-mushroom shape. Eh, well, suppose you can't get that with every explosion...

Letting off a relaxed sigh and leaning against the wagon, the purr of the mini-tank's engine caught my ears again as it came back around the bend, weaving through the assorted wrecks. Aerith took flight to land back in the trailer as I kept where I was, Static pulling up beside me and looking off towards the new ramp. He sat back, pushing up his goggles after a moment. "Well, at least we'll have a fast way getting back, I suppose. That gonna be good enough for us to get up it?"

Putting the unused Solar Burst grenade back into my duffel bag, I hopped up onto the back of the mini-tank behind Boomer, looking over the blast site. Thinking for a moment, I answered him with a shrug. "It's better than it was, just use low gearing. It's half-tank and has a lot of grunt in the engine, should do us fine." Static passed on an uneasy look, before pulling his goggles back down and giving the engine a rev, myself fitting the welding goggles over my own eyes and flipping the opaque lens up. The mini-tank and wagon weaved through the wrecks towards the base of the mound, tracks biting the loose snow as Static shifted into a lower gear, myself hanging on tight to Boomer as we started climbing up the slope. It didn't take too long for us to reach the top, thankfully, and we were soon back on the road towards the Stable. "So... ooh, what if the Stable turned its residents into freaky half-pony burrowing creatures?"

"Oh for the love of- drop it until we get there, Night Strike..."

"Huh. Didn't think there actually was a junky old door outside -every- Stable's entrance..." It was around late morning as we finally pulled up outside the door that lead to Stable 117, a quick check of our maps confirming this being the place. An old bus sat rusting outside it, the front firmly smashed into the rocky mountain face with a few skeletons laying hapazardly inside. Closer inspection just made out the faded lettering on the side showing that it'd come from the Twin Peaks Lodge - huh, that'd really suck if you were on vacation up this way from Gemdale or something, get halfway there just to have a great view as your home took a balefire bomb to the face.

I hopped off the back of the mini-tank as Static shut the engine off, the earth pony leaning back after a moment and looking off in the other direction from the mountainside. As Crash Dive and Aerith disembarked as well, I joined him - damn, sure is a scenic place for a Stable to get put in. The mountain dropped away to overlook a large lake below to the north, and looking east you could just about make out what was left of the Gemdale pit mine and the highway that led up by the Starlite Drive-in and Maple Station. Static let off a soft sigh, climbing out of the driver's seat, Aerith pulling open the old wooden door of the entrance behind us. "Sure is a pretty view for a last one, isn't it? I mean, it was for whoever made it inside 117, anyways... Yanno, besides, well, Gemdale."

"I dunno, Sparky, I'd still call that view pretty beautiful... ignoring the fact that ponies were being irradiated and crushed under rubble in their own homes." A quick shiver shot up my spine as I said that, remembering that one skeleton wearing the metal hat back in Gemdale - ewuh, okay, if I knew that was happening maybe seeing a balefire bomb go off wouldn't entirely outweigh that. Static passed on an eyeroll and shake of his head, wearing a light smile as he trotted over towards the entrance with his umbrella by his side. Thinking for a moment, I grabbed Thumper and the Gryphon sword out of my duffel bag, slinging the large olive-green sack onto my back and joining them at the entrance.

The icy cavern ahead stunk of stagnant water as we slowly made our way inside, mine and Static's legputers providing light for us while Aerith's horn and Crash Dive's helmet eyes glowed, trotting into the side of the mountain. Static blunk a few times as I moved up alongside him, his light glinting off of the cover-thing for the handle of my sword. "Huh, you're actually planing on using that sword? I would've expected you to just do what you've been and use War Crime instead."

A chuckle escaped me as we moved depper into the entrance, echoing off of the hard rock walls. "Are you kidding? War Crime in a Stable, if I shot her off I'd be liable to blow out all of our eardrums. Only reason I might be able to use Thumper is because the shells aren't fired at supersonic velocities, would at least have less of a chance of making us all go deaf." The earth pony just blunk at me a few times, myself trotting ahead a short ways. I looked back towards him after a moment, wearing a smirk. "Oh, c'mon Static, give me some credit. I'm not ENTIRELY self-destructive..."

Still trotting forwards, I stopped as I felt my hoof kick against something hard, white, and empty, a clattering noise accompanying it. Looking down, I took a step back... and then took several more after that, staring at the pile left in front of us, just outside the great steel door. Pony skeletons laid in various positions on the rocky ground, some in front of the door with their hooves scratched to nubs, scrape marks left in the paint above them. Other equine skeletons held on to each other, some of varying sizes, Static's jaw hanging slack beside me. Well... that's not something you see every day.

Aerith trotted forth, her magic encompassing and clearing a path for us to reach the control panel for the Stable's doorway. I let off a cold breath, trotting forth and looking up at the massive steel cog, the number 117 welded to it's front. Moving over to the panel, I looked it over for a moment, pushing on the big red button and looking back to the door, bracing for the sounds of warning klaxons and screeching metal. Unfortunately... nothing happened.

Static trotted up beside me as I was still looking at the door, waiting for it to open, his attention turned towards the control panel. "Huh, didn't Hi-fi's Stable just have a number pad and a lever? Not seen one with a button before... hm..." Looking it over for a moment, the earth pony stallion pused an upraised section of the panel up, revealing an access port underneath it. He looked it over for a moment, before opening his eyes in surprise. "Oh, that's nifty. These Stables down here only open for ponies with pip-bucks, not surprised nopony's been able to see what's inside here. Just let me..." Static pulled a connector off of his legputer, hooking it into the port, before pushing the red button again.

This time, the familiar warning klaxons sounded out, filling the cavern with noise, while the massive hydraulic arm inside the Stable's entryway moved into it's spot on the door. An allmighty screech sounded out loud as the door was pulled in, the rusty metal scraping against itself as it rolled away to the side, an old walkway extending to provide passage over the massive gear tracks. Light flooded out from inside the Stable, us all able to turn our own lights off as we stood outside, looking between each other. Alright, Stable 117, ready or not we're coming into you...

The wire grating of the walkway creaked under our weight as we made way into the underground shelter, the walls looking nicer than I was expecting. I mean, it's no Stable 92, but there's no blood and gore, at least... so much for medical robots gone crazy. Then again, this is just the entryway... "Hm. Lights are on, somepony's gotta be home, right? Reactors don't run themselves." Static moved over to the interior control panel, looking at it for a moent, before proceeding to a storage room just off to the side. I trotted over to another door in the entryway while Aerith and Crash Dive both spread out to investigate the rest of the entrance. Huh, Stable 92 didn't have an elevator...

"Guys, over here. Looks like we'll be getting to the bottom of this... literally." Letting off a light chuckle of my own, the rest of the group converged with me, Static letting off a long groan. Whaaat? I thought it was clever. Pushing the call button with my hoof, the doors opened wide, allowing us all to step inside the lift... which was easier said than done. Eventually we managed to squeeze ourselves in, Aerith reaching over to push the button, some music playing through the small speakers overhead. Hopefully the rest of the Stable isn't this cramped...

The elevator eventually reached the main atrium, us all flopping out onto the old tile flooring. Eugh, maybe we take two trips going back up... I picked myself back up onto my hooves, looking around. Old walls that could really do with a fresh coat of paint covered the sides, some of the heavy hydraulic doors left open to other areas of the Stable. Looking down a stairway that led to the lower level, a garden seemed to be half-growing in the far left corner, in what seemed to once be a dining area. Crash Dive pulled off her helmet, looking around cautiously. "Really not liking this, should be ponies down here. Night Strike, Static, you go see if the office overlooking from that window up there has anything to explain it, I'll go with Aerith and figure out where the residents are."

I passed a nod to the power armored pegasus, both her and the alicorn heading down the stairs while myself and the earth pony trotted along the upper walkway. The sign above the door at the far end illuminated the word 'Overmare', both of us heading up the short stairwell down the hall. Well, least this is a little more straightforwards than trying to find where Hi-fi is in her Stable, between the radio station and the stage... the large hydraulic door lifted up into the roof, the office left sitting empty yet more well-kept than expected. I hung back by the door as Static trotted inside, heading for the terminal at the desk in the center of the room. "Yeah, I'm with Crash Dive on this. I was expecting some horrific experiments or something, not... nothing. If anything, this is even worse..."

"See, Strikey, this is what you get for theorizing. There's probably going to be something to let us know what happened, I really doubt that an entire Stable of ponies just up and vanished without a trace. Now, let's see..." The earth pony sat himself down at the desk, a hoof reaching to turn on the terminal's power switch with a loud clack and whirr of fans. I made myself busy looking at the rest of the room, the earth pony letting off an annoyed grunt. "Nuts, password... ahm, this one looks like a full-length, might take me a while to crack... if you find it anywhere, let me know. Think her quarters are through that door."

Passing him a nod while he clacked away at the keyboard, I headed for the large hydraulic door, opening it up with a hiss of pressure. The living room of the Overmare greeted me, looking just as well-kept as the rest of the Stable was. I took a few tentative steps inside the room, trying to look for something - anything - that might've shown that somepony was still around. Not even a tripwire or pressure plate caught my eye as I trotted through to the kitchen, heading for the fridge. Pausing for a moment to look towards the bedroom door, I continued on towards the fridge, opening it. Well, it's entirely possible that the overmare left her password on a bottle of Sparkle-Cola... I better check, just to be sure.

Opening the door of the still-running fridge, the chill air flowed out and against my hooves, faintly reminding me of the snow outside. Buh, darn heated floors... man, this was a fancy Stable. As I scanned through the fridge, however, rather than several bottles of sweet, sweet Sparkle-Cola, several half-emptied plastic bags of Radaway rested on the metal shelves. I blunk a few times, shutting the door and bringing up my legputer - no, no, I'm not getting any radiation here. Huh...

Turning around, I made way towards the door to the bedroom, reaching for the handle before catching myself. All that Radaway... oh, I hope the Overmare's one of those stupid ghouls that just run straight at you. Readying the gryphon sword, and remembering how oddly weighted it was, I reached for the door's handle again, bracing myself. The door opened with a hydraulic hiss, myself closing my eyes and leaping forwards into the room, hoping to slice the now-ghoulified Overmare clean apart. Though, after a moment of standing in the quiet room with the sword out and eyes held shut like an idiot, I eventually relaxed myself and opened my eyes to look.

The room just looked like a standard Stable bedroom, a small desk and wardrobe on the right side and the bed on the left, myself slipping the sword back to it's place under my duffel bag. Looking to the bed, I blunk a few times, not quite realizing what it was that my eyes were resting on. The blankets were pulled and resting over a skeleton, undisturbed and left there from the day it, well, whoever it was... yanno, maybe I should leave, there's no password here and I'm sure Static has cracked it by now.

Stepping back out of the bedroom and shutting the door behind me, I trotted silently back to the main office, Static looking up from the terminal as I shut the Overmare's bedroom door behind me. "Turns out the password was Swordfish. Who knew? Anyways, uhm... yeah, this, uh, this isn't looking good, Strikey. Don't think we can even blame Stable-Tec for this one failing." Blinking a few times, I trotted over to see the screen, Static moving aside so I could. The green lettering scrolled out on the terminal as he selected an entry, myself starting to read it out silently. Stable-Tec Official Breifing, FOR OVERSTALLION/OVERMARE EYES ONLY...

'Congratulations on your new position in control of one of Stable-Tec's most advanced state-of-the-art Stables, Stable 117! You should be enthralled to know that...' yada yada yada, guff and words. Sheesh, pre-war ponies liked their fluff when it came to paperwork, didn't they? Alright... scanning through, I eventually found the next non-filler-looking paragraph. 'The purpose of Stable 117 is for researching and generating a particular mutation that has been observed in some citizens of Equestria; as it stands, all residents - including yourself - lack this mutation. This strange genetic anomaly is observed to cause ponies exposed to extreme levels of radiation to appear to suffer from coat decay, severely advanced radiation sickness, and deadness, however the ponies themselves are left healthy and fully functional. Your medical bay has been supplied with the equipment to detect this anomaly, and your goal over your time in Stable 117 is to see if this genetic anomaly can be forced to occur in a large enough sample...' "They were trying to breed ponies that genetically couldn't become ghouls to make foals that could?"

"Sure seems like that was the initial plan. The only problem was, um... here." Static backed out of the file and moved back a few screens, scrolling down and selecting something labeled 'Seismological Activity Log'. The screen filled with a list of several different dates, the top one... being from just earlier today. Taking over control of the terminal and selecting that one, latitude and longitude played out, as well as an approximation on the energy released. .02 tons of TNT... no, couldn't have been...

Moving back, I picked out the second most recent event, watching as it played out on the screen. Latitude, longitude... 70 kilotons of TNT. 70 kilotons, really? Dang, that valley sure kept the blast contained... oh, crap. I clicked back again, selecting the third most recent. Latitude, longitude, 500 tons of TNT. Fourth most, 1 kiloton of TNT. Fifth most... huh, that BLEVE actually registered all the way over here at half a ton? Sheesh...

Static pushed me aside after a moment, scrolling down the list to an entry marked as being from only a few decades after the war and selecting it. I looked towards him as he passed a slightly annoyed look - what, I like knowing how big these booms were! This entry played out the usual latitude and longitude, and blast yield, but was followed by a note. Static moved back away, letting me read the screen as it played out. 'Main reactor sustained heavy damage, heavy radiation leak. Contained 12 hours post-incident - Stable contaminated beyond saving.' What...

"So... a stable full of ponies that can't become ghouls, and they suffer a radiation leak because of an earthquake... starting to see what happened. Sweet Celestia..." Static flicked back through the screens, chewing on his lip and nodding solemnly.

"The radiation sterilized the whole Stable. They couldn't reproduce, couldn't turn into ghouls, and didn't want to open the door. They just... let themselves die out." The earth pony let off a sigh, looking down to his pip-buck and pulling the connection wire off of it, plugging it into the terminal. He passed me a weak look as he downloaded the data from the terminal, myself letting off a sigh and starting to trot towards the office exit. Static soon followed behind, shaking his head slowly, both of us trotting down the stairs to the main atrium. "That... that's just not right. That's... it's..."

"C'mon. Let's just find Crash Dive and Aerith and get back to the Lodge, I think we're explored-out for the day. Start off for the Airbase tomorrow." The earth pony nodded in response, letting off a sigh. Maybe some mysteries are just better left undiscovered...

"Hello, and welcome back to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. It's a lovely night out there tonight, and folks in Maple Station are basking in the nice hot breeze coming down from the former site of the Vanhoover Mountain Fairgrounds. Sources report that the Vanhoover Five are once again to thank for the most recent explosion, in a development that surprised absolutely nopony whatsoever. The fallout should fully fall out in another week or two, so to anyone of a ghoulish deposition, enjoy it while you can. I dunno about you, but as far as I'd think, the Vanhoover Five are hell-bent on making new vacation spots for those lovely ponies who've been around for far longer than most of us will ever be, heh.

"In other weather news, it's looking like cloudy skies and light flurries will be the usual for most of the next few days, so stay warm out there. Those stallions and mares running the big guns and the small guns of Maple Creek, Vanhoover, and Hopeville especially, since as far as I can guess aerial defense is a definite full-time job. Just make sure that whoever you're shooting at, they're definitely an enemy, heh...

"That's all for tonight, folks. You're tuned into Radio KAOS, and this next album is The Final Cut by Roger Trotters. Goodnight Vanhoover, and enjoy."

I groaned as I felt my Pip-Buck vibrating as the alarm went off, a small beeping eminating from the speakers. My other hoof slapped onto the screen as I fiddled blindly with the knobs, my eyes still clenched shut tightly. With a click the alarm went off and I slowly opened my eyes, staring at the bedside table my umbrella was leaned up against. Night Strike grunted and snorted a little as I rolled out of bed and wandered over to my saddlebags, hitching them up and taking a hold of my umbrella. Thinking for a moment, I lifted up Night Strike’s duffel bag, and tossed it onto her in the bed. She snorted again as her eyes fluttered open, lazily flailing against the loaded olive-drab sack. “Gnnngh, couldn’t just shake me awake?” She asked once her brain had ground back into action, pushing the bag off of her. Sliding out of bed, the pegasus slipped the large bag onto her back, before following me out of the room and towards Aerith and Crash Dive’s.

“I think if I did that, I’d just shake up all the soda you’ve got in your gut.” I said, cheekily. Night Strike shoved one of my legs lightly before reaching into her duffle bag to pop open another bottle of Sparkle-Cola. I mean, I guess caffeine and sugar -is- a good way to stay awake... Stepping up to the others’ room, I knocked a couple times, Night Strike covering her mouth as she burped. Crash Dive greeted me as the door swung open, looking much more alert than Aerith as they stepped out of the room together. Sheesh, I really need to get whatever it is that gets Crash Dive up and moving so easily.

We all headed downstairs, going straight for the door outside, having emptied the kitchens during dinner the night before. Stepping outside into the brisk morning air, we trotted up to the mini-tank and piled in. I twisted the ignition, which only caused the engine to sputter for several seconds. C’mon, stupid cold weather… I smacked the back of the mini-tank as I turned the ignition again, which thankfully caught as the engine rumbled to life. Easing forward, I began to drive towards the eastern mountain ranges, looking for a gap we could head through.

The half-track bounced over a few rocks as I drove along, the biting wind causing me to bury my muzzle into the collar of my jacket. Twisting the handles of the mini-tank, I steered around a cluster of fallen rocks as we approached the base of the mountain crests. I squinted through my makeshift goggles, spotting a valley in the distance where some trails of the earth’s underlying magical energy converged to flow through. Night Strike leaned back into Boomer, watching the landscape roll by as Aerith took a few potshots at some roaming bloatsprites with her machine gun.

I turned into the valley, the mountains rising up on either side of us as we zipped through. A few large boulders lay on either side of the valley, showing signs of ancient landslides. The path wended this way and that, growing so narrow in some spots the sides of the tank grazed up against the rocky walls. The ground sloped up a little as we continued through, eventually widening back out to allowing for a comfortable amount of wiggle room as we drove along. As we continued, though, the sound of the engine’s rumble grew louder, sounding as if it was straining a little. “The heck? You can skate across a newly made land-bridge over a river, but can’t handle a ten degree incline?” I said aloud, looking back at the engine casing of the tank in confusion.

“Sheesh, maybe I should have Oil Slick look you over agai-” I looked forward again, only for my voice to die in my throat. Looking down into the small valley ahead, the sight of a large mechanical beast caught my attention, glowing bright blue with magic through my goggles. I pushed them up onto my forehead as I brought the mini-tank to a shop, just looking down at the rumbling beast with everyone else. It vaguely resembled a tank, I think, plates of armor that had been rather unprofessionally bolted and welded on giving it a bit of a scruffy appearance as two of the smaller turrets on the front scanned side-to-side lazily. Blinking for a few moments, I slowly began to look around where the tank rested - massive skeletons, some stripped bare while others were still decaying littered the area, making bumps in the fresh snow that filled the valley floor.

I chewed at my lip for a moment, looking back to the others, unsure of what to do. Aerith looked equally puzzled, staring down as the tank's turrets continued to scan the valley. Night Strike, of course, was beaming as she shot into the air off the mini-tank's back, rushing for the valley floor to get a better look at the multi-turreted landship. Oh, Celestia, she’s going to be turned into swish cheese by all those guns! Grimacing, I followed closely behind her with the mini-tank, hoping that whoever or whatever's in the turrets can tell a bunch of ponies from a hellhound. She dropped onto the back of the tank as we drew near, her hooves clanking against the metal as she landed. A second later the turrets stopped in place, slowly starting to rotate themselves around to focus in on us. Oh, shit.

There was the sounds of scuffling from inside, along with a raspy call before the main turret turned about, pointing it's significantly larger gun towards me as Night Strike hopped herself up onto the roof of one of the smaller rear turrets. I fumbled with the controls, twisting the ignition and speeding backwards. The trailer bounced and swerved behind me as I tried to back away from the gunner's view, only to veer off course and jacknife behind me, the fender resounding with a metallic crunch - oh, come on... Desperately trying to move the tank back into gear to drive forwards, I barely had noticed the top hatch of the tank had opened, landing against the metal with a loud clang. “Ach! Calm down, you're no hollenhund...”

I looked up to see a zebra popping its head out of the tank, leaning up against the rim. He blunk a few times, looking us over, before turning to see Night Strike. “I do have to ask vhat you were intending on doing to my tank. Is your first reaction upon seeing something vith seven fifty-caliber maschinengewehrs always to try and jump on it?” Hey, that was entirely Night Strike’s idea! As I caught my breath, I noticed the zebra’s coat was not only striped grey and... darker grey, but had large gashes across it, revealing tendons and blood vessels shifting about as he moved. Jeez, just how many ghoul tank owners live in Vanhoover? “So, ahm, anyvays... who’re you?”

“Vanhoover five… well, four at the moment. You, uh, wouldn’t just so happen to be allowing tours of your tank here, would you?” Night Strike, asked, still grinning widely. Crash Dive shook her head as I carefully drove the tank forward, dislodging the trailer and pausing to look back at the crushed fender. That's gonna take a lot of polish... The zebra ghoul raised an eyebrow quizzically as Night Strike inspected one of the smaller turrets that sat around the main one, the cannon-caliber gun sporting coils in a similar fashion to Jolts' barrel - wait... a gauss cannon?

The zebra gave a nervous chuckle, watching Night Strike inspect the tank. “Aheh, ahm, not unless you’ve got a month’s supply of Rad-X you can chug down all at once. Deathtrap's been through a lot over ze years, time hasn't been entirely kind to her. Or her main reactor... not as much a problem for yours truly, but I wouldn't have my face quite that close to the viewslots if I were you.” Night Strike took a moment to retreat from her close inspection, her pip-buck audibly clicking away, looking a bit crestfallen. She hopped down off of the tank's back, looking over it for a short while, seeming to think. “Ah, vhere are my manners, I'm Caution Tape, und, heh, this big landship is Deathtrap.” He patted the steel casing, the tank releasing a quiet electric hum as the turrets seemed to start to scan back and forth again, ignoring us, apparently. Another raspy squawk could be heard from inside the tank, when suddenly another head, this one belonging to some sort of bird, popped out beside Caution Tape’s. Its feathers were a vibrant green and seemed to flicker and shift slightly, almost looking like a slowly burning candle as it shone with an unearthly glow.

“Ah, und zis little troublemaker is Peridot.” The bird clicked its beak indignantly, staring down at us. Caution Tape chuckled a little, placing a hoof down by Peridot’s chest. She stepped up onto his arm, her talons grasping tightly as she slowly walked up to his shoulder. “I, ah, take it by your faces you’ve not seen a balefire phoenix before?” I suddenly realized my mouth was hanging open, and closed it. Balefire phoenix... why am I not surprised that that's a thing. “I found her not long after the war, was hanging about in the rafters of the Stalliongrad Ordinance Depot when I went in to give Deathtrap a few firepower upgrades. She was pecking at the top of Deathtrap all while I vas trying to refit the piddly thirty caliber machine gun placements with ze fifty caliber guns, und add the dual fifty pintle mount here. No more ordinance officer to deny my requests, heh...”

Before I could respond, Aerith let out a long squeak of joy, her wings spreading out as she flew up to get a better look at the bird. It eyed her warily as she approached, spreading its wings a bit in an attempt to look more intimidating. Caution Tape gave a small grunt of pain as her talons dug a little more deeply into his skin. Aerith leaned in, grinning widely as she looked at the glowing bird. She puckered her lips, making little kissy-sounds. Peridot relaxed a little, lowering her wings to her side. “Careful now, fraulein. I think ze only reason she hasn’t torn more holes in my skin vith those claws of hers is just because the rads help keep it intact.”

Aerith placed a hoof up to Peridot’s chest, who proceeded to hop on, only to hop off her hoof a moment later. Aerith rolled her eyes as Peridot hopped down onto the body of Deathtrap, myself thinking. “Hang on, did you say you were from Stalliongrad? Like… pre-war Stalliongrad? You wouldn’t happen to've known a mare named Rolling Tracks, would you?” Caution Tape froze, his eyes going wide.

“Rolling Tracks? She’s alive?” Caution Tape let out a giggle at a far higher pitch than any stallion should be able to produce. “Oh, wunderbar! I need to contact her! Where is she? How’s she still alive? Vell, I guess she’s probably a ghoul zen too, oh, right you said that, und War Mare’s still working? I just can’t…” Caution Tape prattled on and on, even Peridot looking at him a little uneasily as he bounced in place from the excitement. He eventually took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Ok, ok, sorry, it’s just been a very long time since I’ve last seen her, I knew she was a very strong mare but I'd thought I was the only one at the Stalliongrad Proving Grounds that survived the war.”

“Well, uh, eheh, I hate to burst your bubble, but she’s kind of a couple hundred... thousand kilometers north of here. Last I saw her, she was escorting a group from NEAMO Crater to Topatow… that’s a fair way further north than Mooscow and Quebuck, you probably know of those places better.” I said, looking up at Caution Tape. He frowned a little, looking down at his tank.

“Oh, schiesse, I had enough difficulties getting to Cantercross, I’d never be able to make it that far in Deathtrap... even besides the obvious. I hit an old anti-tank mine laid on ze highway between Merritt und Hope, blew Deathtrap's track und a few of her road wheels clean off. A passing caravan was able to help me jury-rig it back together, but, vell...” Caution Tape let off a sigh, looking down at the busted track. "Hit a snowstorm, wound up straying east, ended up caught in this valley. The muck caused her own engine to strain und snap the fixed track link, and I've been here for months." Aerith looked over to us, and I immediately knew what she was thinking. No, no, I am not backtracking a several days’ trip just to escort a freaking tank! We'll help fix his track for him, after that he can make it just fine!

Aerith, sensing my annoyance, rolled her eyes, her horn flaring up. 'Oh, calm down, Static. I don’t think we’d all need to head back anyway. I mean, I don’t mean to be rude, but at the same time I'm pretty sure neither you, Night Strike, or Crash Dive would be of too much help in repairing the track. This thing seems like it's a hell of a lot heavier than the mini-tank.” She nodded her head. I calmed down a little, though even splitting up to leave Aerith heading back alone seemed like a bad idea. 'Aaaaaaand,' the word was drawn out on her screen as her magic suddenly encompassed my saddlebags. “I -can- think of something you stand to gain from this.” She levitated out the old stealth armor I’d picked up from the Sunrise Sarsaparilla plant, holding it out with a smile.

She floated the armor over to Caution Tape and let it fall into his hooves, the zebra looking it over in confusion. 'You’re pretty resourceful. Know anything about old zebra tech? We found this a while back but can’t find anypony around that’d know how to fix it.' Aerith passed on a smile, looking to the tank ghoul. Caution Tape’s eyes went wide again as he turned the armor over in his hooves. He stammered a little, leaning against the hatch rim and inspecting the wires and casings of the armor.

“I, uh… meine gottin, vhere did you find this? I mean, ah... I think I might be able to get it working again, yes. Though it’d probably take a few days for me to find the right parts, und some stealth bucks to rewire the thing.” Aerith looked smugly over to me, causing me to grumble a little. Geez, I’m losing my bartering touch.

“Alright, you can stay to help him get back to Maple Station. Hopefully we can tag back up with you again when we get back from the Air Base.” I said, a little defeated. Aerith beamed and clapped her hooves together, Night Strike looking a little disappointed as she hovered back over to Boomer, letting off a sigh. “Aw, cheer up, Strikey. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of other death machines to distract yourself with once we’re up at the airbase. Contrail did say that they had plenty of those big anti-air craft guns you like so much.”

Night Strike set herself up on the back of the mini-tank and answered me with a light nod, waving up to Aerith and Caution Tape with a weak smile. “Well, see you guys later, then!” Aerith waved back as Caution Tape ducked down into the workings of Deathtrap, Peridot hopping down after him. Aerith dropped down into the tank as well, and there was just enough time to hear the sound of a Silver Shroud radio play crackle over the air and the alicorn let off another squeal of delight before the hatch fell shut with a clang. The engine of the half-track rumbled as I pulled forwards and went around the long sides of Deathtrap, settling back towards the east and speeding up. “Alright... so, how far until the next town?” Night Strike asked, leaning over the side of the mini-tank a little.

“I dunno, a couple kilometers, maybe? Don't think that Caution Tape would've strayed that far east if he was coming from the north... then again, don't know if the towns he mentioned are even on our wasteland maps.” The valley only grew more jagged as we drove along, one of the mountain ranges falling away, leaving us climbing along the side of one mountain. I slowed, not particularly in the mood to attempt to grow wings in a near-death scenario should we go careening off the edge. Gwuuh, stupid pre-war road designers...

The sun was starting to lower in the sky as we eventually spotted a town in the distance, placed precariously close to the edge of the cliff side. The road widened as we crested the summit of the mountain, the cold air whipping around us as we slowly approached the town. I glanced down, suddenly bringing the mini-tank to a stop as I noticed large glowing disks scattered about in the fresh snow through my goggles. “What’s up?” Night Strike stood up, trying to peer over my head.

“This place has a hell of a lot of frag mines in it, I don’t know if I can see any good place to try and drive through.” I scanned the ground before me, but I couldn’t spot an area that was wide enough for me to bring the mini-tank through without blowing off one of the treads, or worse. And if to add insult to injury, the field layed between the edge of the cliff and another sharp incline in the mountains, negating the option of heading around. I grimaced, pulling back and moving the mini-tank away from the minefield and towards a ditch. I brought the tank to a stop at the bottom, shutting off the engine and climbing out, releasing a sigh. “Unless you want to try and disarm every mine in that field, I think we’re just going to have to walk it. We can figure out some way to get it across tomorrow, just cover it with the tarp until then.”

Crash Dive climbed out after me and started to pull the large tarp off of the wagon, spreading it out to try and hide both, Night Strike looking uneasily back at the rather poor hiding spot. “You sure there’s no way through?” She asked, following closely behind once she’d taken her duffle bag from the trailer. I shook my head, making my way towards a path that had been laid out in the field, just barely wide enough for two ponies to stand side by side. I looked down at the ground, carefully maneuvering myself through, the cold snow crunching underhoof. Night Strike hovered behind Crash Dive, who stayed as close behind me as she could. It seemed like forever, each time I looked up to check how far we’d gone, the edge of the field never seemed to grow any closer. Crash Dive’s light swept across the field, illuminating some of the mines as it passed over them.

Giving a sigh of relief and pulling my goggles off upon reaching the other end of the field, we were now standing at the edge of town. Night Strike landed beside us, and we headed in, looking about at the structures. The buildings appeared to be even more dilapidated than most pre-war settlements, and an eerie silence hung in the air as we walked down the streets. We turned down another street, bombed out buildings lining it on either side of us. My ear flicked as I heard a small clack of something bounce down onto the street in front of me. I had barely enough time to register what had happened before Crash Dive grabbed ahold of me and pulled me backwards. The grenade detonated with a loud bang, sending shrapnel everywhere as I shielded my face. A few pieces cut into my legs, though Crash Dive’s armor managed to deflect most of it - ah, crap, ambush!

Gunshots began to ring out as gryphon mercs appeared on either side of us, firing through the shattered windows of the storefronts. Night Strike whipped out Thumper, firing a grenade at one of the buildings. The blast tore apart the facade as it detonated, sending the mercenaries sprawling to the ground, feathers aflame and blood splattering the walls inside. Picking herself off of me, Crash Dive pulled the pin on a plasma grenade, before chucking it up towards a gryphon camping on top of one of the stores with a sniper rifle. He took his rifle by the barrel and just managed to smack the grenade away with the butt, causing it to explode mid-air harmlessly before he took aim again.

I pulled out my umbrella, the prongs sparking angrily as I ran towards a few of the mercenaries that were attempting to rush us with shotguns. My heart, already racing, began to speed up, when without warning, everything suddenly began to slow around me. The mercs were still clearly running at full tilt, and yet their hooves still took ages to swing up from behind and plant themselves back in front of them. One of the gryphons lifted his shotgun, pointing it at me before firing. I managed to jump out of the way of the buckshot before it went off, leaving him open to a jab at the neck from my umbrella. The mercenary stumbled, flopping to the ground in slow motion.

Before the others could figure out what had happened, I bit down on the handle of the umbrella, attempting to shock the second gryphon of the group, only for a feeble jolt to barely even arc across the prongs. Oh, of course this thing can’t recharge any faster... I resorted to smacking the merc upside the head, knocking him to the ground as Crash Dive slowly picked up one of their discarded shotguns and emptied it at the one I had just knocked down. I ducked as another one fired, causing him to instead fire upon one of his comrades. The gryphon was thrown backwards with the force of the blast, letting out a deep cry of pain.

I was about to jab the umbrella into the final merc’s neck when suddenly my vision became blurry, myself wobbling unsteadily on my hooves. Oh, fuck, not now, not now! I jabbed fruitlessly into the mess of colors as time slowly ground its way back to its normal pace. The gryphon had darted to the side, and I could only watch in wide-eyed terror as he pointed his shotgun towards my side and fired. I screamed, flung to the ground as blood began to pour out of my gut. My teeth clenched together tightly as I tried to get back to my hooves, tears starting to stream down my face. Damnit, not like this...

“Get the fuck away from him you motherfucking shitfuck!” I heard Night Strike yell, diving towards the merc that'd hit me. She slammed into him, both of them rolling on the road for a few feet as Night Strike punched at the gryphon, a crack being heard as she got a strike against his beak. He tried to get his wings spread and flee, but Night Strike hit him upside the head with the butt of Thumper, emptying a shot into one of the merc's wings. Yelling incoherent vulgarities, she pulled out the Gryphon's sword, stamping the merc against the snowy street. Sparks flew angrily across its blade as Night Strike raised it high into the air, before plunging it down into the mercenary's throat, silencing his screams.

Crash Dive rushed over to me as I coughed, blood splattering onto the concrete. “Sit back down, you idiot. You don’t want to lose any more blood, do you?” She bent down, tearing off one of the raider’s clothes into thin strips of cloth. Night Strike was panting, still standing over the gryphon’s body as she tried to slow her breathing, a momentary lull breaking the action. Another explosion went off somewhere, before the dark blue pegasus shot off again, the bloodied sword sizzling as the electricity burned off the gore. Crash Dive tossed me strips of the merc's underclothes as she tore new ones, a purple pouch landing in front of me as well. “Get those over the wound and that inside you, now. We’ll find some proper bandages soon.” I obeyed, wincing as I stretched my legs to wrap the cloth around my waist. My Pip-Buck buzzed as I was bandaging myself up, a small notice appearing on its front.

'Your health is low! You should find a healing potion or some water to drink!' Thanks for the alert, Stable-Tec...

You know, I've never really been fond of the color red. I mean, the bright orange-red of a cooling fireball is nice, but it doesn't really compare to the brilliant initial white-hot flash that sears skin and muscle before the blast wave has a chance to tear them apart. It's a nice color for an accent here and there, those bands I wear are technically a muted red, but it's just not flattering when it's bright and in your face, and all that you can see.

And it certainly doesn't belong coming out of the side of a blue earth pony.

My wings carried me through the air as barrages of bullets and birdshot peppered me from all sides, some bouncing off of my jacket or slicing through my feathers. If it had hurt, I didn't feel it, not through the adrenaline forcing it's way through my veins and the rage burning behind my eyes. Thumper snapped shut as I reloaded him with a shotshell of my own, making a snap-turn to throw myself towards another one of the gryphon mercenaries. He released a muted scream as the 40mm-bore barrel dug into his chest, the automatic rifle he had in claw being thrown off to the side as momentum carried us skidding along the snow. His eyes met mine for only a fraction of a second before I released Thumper's hammer, the barrage of searing flechettes flying through the barrel and burrowing deep into the merc's chest with the muffled blast, letting off a sickening hiss. Doesn't feel that good on the receiving end, does it?

I just managed to wrestle Thumper's barrel out of the gryphon's body, shooting back off into the air with my sword held in my mouth. Thumper's action broke open to accept another round, more gunfire filling my flightpath. Darting in a zig-zag pattern towards another gryphon, she fruitlessly tried to track me with her gun's barrel, loud shotgun-caliber bursts ringing from it in automatic action. Her eyes were wide, and stayed that way as the crackling ozone smell filled the air, the electrified blade slicing clean through her neck and separating her body from whatever brains she probably didn't have. Her shotgun let off two more bangs behind me before her talons got the memo, myself following through to the next bastard with a deathwish.

A crackling shot narrowly missed me, my tail flicking high as the penetrating round imparted what energy it had onto them, four more shots similar to it flying around me as I maneuvered. That sound... I know I've heard that gunshot before, somewhere. Smaller automatic pistol fire struck against my jacket, drawing my attention, a slug round sliding into Thumper's breech. Snapping the grenade rifle shut, I broke left and turned myself around, catching a gryphon in the air, unsteadily trying to hit me with a ten mil auto. Closing the gap and taking quick aim, Thumper's recoil sent me into a roll as the solid projectile flew ahead of me and burrowed a hole through the mercenary's wing, leaving it hardly connected by a few shreds of flesh. The gryphon began to plummet, myself catching him mid-roll to cut a deep gash through his side with the end of my blade, the drag swinging me back around as his body cracked against the snow.

The gunfire had lessened to only a few errant bangs, screams of terror echoing around as windows broke and a few gryphons made to flee from the buildings. Crash Dive's rebar cannon sounded out beneath me - if any tried to escape, they wouldn't get far. Scanning the town for just a moment, everything was tinted a faint red, a birdshot round fitting into Thumper's breech. That familiar muzzleblast sound filled the air as more of the projectiles whizzed by me, one sending me spiraling as it caught the edge of my jacket, the force of the impact giving the sensation of a hellhound using my side as a hoofball. I tried to catch myself, just managing to get my hooves out before they crumpled underneath me, legs sprawling as I landed hard in the road.

Grunting hard, I forced myself back up, picking up Thumper and leaving the sword, looking around at the carnage. Crash Dive was rushing over to me, and behind her I was just able to make out Static, laying in crimson snow and with makeshift bandages on his sides. Tears welled in my eyes as a ghoul-like scream burst from my mouth, the power-armored pegasus even skidding herself to a stop as the snow erupted in a plume beneath me. The five-shot burst from the gauss rifle-weilding merc came again, the aim scattered and inaccurate, pointing me towards the clock tower at the far edge of the town. The cold air cleared my eyes as I beelined for it, the figure that was in the window backpeadling as the glow from something on the stock of their gun illuminated their face, a shot from Thumper peppering the brickwork and window before I reached it.

The mercenary tried to grab for a pistol nearby as I plowed into her, sending us both sprawling on the floor of the tower. I recovered before she did, snapping my wings back and tackling her again, slamming her against the heavy steel bell, starting to hammer my hooves against her body. Some missed, ringing against the bell instead, though most managed to shatter some of the bones in her left wing, loud screams of pain filling the air over the ringing.

The gryphon eventually managed the strength to force me off of her, sending me stumbling backwards for a moment before I charged forwards again. Her beak scraped along the steel of the bell before she hit the floor, my back hooves keeping her wings down as my front ones began pounding against her skull, forcing it against the hard wood underneath us. She clawed to try and get away, or turn herself over, my forehooves starting to try and smash against her ribcage and spine instead, vision blurring heavily. Each impact was compounded with a screaming grunt, myself managing just a few coherent words. "THIS is for STATIC, you COLOSSAL, CUNT!"

The mercenary writhed in agony underneath me, myself stepping back only to pick up the grenade rifle from the floor. The action broke open, myself pulling a 40mm slug from my jacket and slamming it home, snapping the barrel shut. Turning back to the mercenary, she was trying to drag her broken self away, myself leaping forwards with Thumper to slam the butt of the grenade rifle into the base of her neck, drawing another scream from her. Flipping Thumper around, I drove the end of the barrel into the gryphon's temple, tears blurring my vision and my hoof moving for the trigger lever. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE US THE FUCK ALONE!?"

A loud bang filled the air in the clock tower as I felt myself thrown off of the gryphon, though it wasn't from the recoil of Thumper. I felt myself slam against the heavy steel bell as the grenade rifle discharged into the floor, flying from my hooves and landing a short distance away. Picking myself back up, I was met with the shocked eyes of Crash Dive, sputters escaping me as she looked down at the last mercenary I needed to kill. I tried to get back to my hooves, the power armored pegasus placing an armored hoof on my shoulder, looking into my eyes. "Night Strike, I'm... I'm sorry. We need her alive, at least for now."

My hooves fell weak underneath me, sprawling out on the floor of the clock tower, myself breaking out into shuddering cries. Celestia-damnit, why couldn't it have been me that got shot instead?

Night had fallen by the time we'd found the town clinic - apparently this place was nce known as Rock Ridge - Static resting in one of the medical rooms with proper bandages around him. I was sat next to him, a hoof holding onto his as he rested, my free one rubbing at my aching eyes. Come on, Strikey, this regrettably wasn't the first time that he's been shot, and that was with a single large bullet, not a bunch of small pellets. Small pellets that could be leeching lead and toxins into his bloodstream even as the bandages and healing potions worked their magic... He's gonna be fine, goddess-damnit. He's... he's a strong pony. I should be one for him.

I sniffled lightly, blinking a few times and looking up as I heard the door to the clinic opening, followed by heavy hoofsteps. Crash Dive appeared in the doorway, looking towards myself for a moment and glancing towards Static. "Well, I didn't get much out of her, but the merc did confirm that it's what's left of my old squadron that's coming after us, and they are working for someone by the name of Cerberus. Said that they took off to somewhere in the southeast after they'd paid up at Jericho Beach. Once you get the Valkyrie running, that should be where we start looking, might even be able to surprise them with one of the megaspells if you catch them offguard." The light smile on her muzzle faded as I turned my eyes towards Static, the earth pony sleeping quietly. Well, it's something to remember for later, I suppose...

The heavy armored hoofsteps drew closer, Crash Dive resting one gently on my shoulder. She looked to the floor for a moment, letting off a small sigh. "Night Strike, I... can you come with me for a moment? Static'll be fine." Lingering my gaze on the earth pony, I lifted myself to my hooves to place a gentle kiss on his cheek, turning to follow Crash Dive. She stepped out into the hallway, looking towards the resting stallion for a while before focusing on myself once again. "Look. I saw the look in your eyes earlier, I... I saw that you were hurt, ready to tear her apart. I had to keep you from doing it then, we needed to get what info we could on them." She paused for a moment, first looking into the room Static was resting in, then out towards the door, before meeting my eyes again. "I left the merc alive. I'll stay with Static, keep an eye on him. Whatever you want to do with her... I won't judge you."

I blunk a few times in response, just staring at Crash Dive at first. She wasn't suggesting... then again... what'd be one more? They were sent to kill us, and we killed plenty of them. Killed them too fast, even, didn't even give them proper time to suffer... my eyes fell on the bandaged, bloodied earth pony laying in the bed. I'll make sure this one doesn't have that luxury. I passed on a nod to Crash Dive, the power armored pegasus heading into the room with Static as I trotted through the clinic and out the door.

The mini-tank rested outside with the wagon behind it still, a nice wide path for us to drive through having been cleared through the minefield earlier courtesy of several of the other merc's bodies. Snow crunched underhoof as I trotted over to the green duffelbag on the side, pulling back the zipper and rifling through the contents. The familiar, reliable forty millimeter grenade rifle settled on my back, along with the electric sword and automatic sniper rifle. The large 20-round box clip that went with it came out next, along with a pair of dragon's breath rounds for my grenade rifle. As I slid these into my jacket, however, I paused, looking down into the opened inner pocket.

A pair of lime-green buttons stared back up at me from behind a black mane, the little golden pegasus plushie resting with his forelegs over the pocket's side. I set one of the shells down on the half-track's fender, reaching in to remove the duster-clad plushie. Closing my eyes, I set the plush into the duffel bag, grabbing the shotshell and sliding it into the plushie's place, zipping up my jacket. He didn't need to see this. He doesn't need to know about this.

The only other building that was lit up in the town sat across the street from the clinic, a few trails of heavy hoofmarks showing the few trips that the power armored pegasus had made between them already. 'Ironsides Savings & Loan' it was called, myself pausing halfway across the street to look at the sign. A sigh escaped me, before I pressed onwards through the door, making way to the back of the building. The sound of pained breathing came through a heavy steel door that was left open, a single light inside the room streaming down the hallway as I approached. The hinges creaked softly as the door swung open, my eyes settling on a single figure tied to a chair, resting in the middle of the room. They perked up as I shut the door behind myself, looking around.

"W-wait, please, I swear I told you everything I know! They-they didn't..." She trailed off as I trotted in front of her, seemingly surprised. I caught her eyes for a moment, before sliding my weapons off of my back, setting them all out onto the floor. Looking around the room, I let off a small grunt - sound-proof, blast-proof, bullet-proof, confined... not the ideal place, but it's the place I've got to work with. I sat myself down in front of my three weapons, looking them over, the mercenary speaking up behind me. "U-uh... you... you're not the one in the power armor... what're you going to do to me?"

My hoof grabbed the gryphon sword first, picking it up and looking over the blade. I rose to my hooves, turning to face the mercenary, her eyes darting between myself and the sword. "Spread your wings. Now." The gryphon blunk a few times, seeming to think, myself taking another step towards her with the sword in my hoof. Her eyes went wide as she sat upright, seeming to try and get herself away from me as I moved the handle to my mouth.

"You're the crazy bitch that was on me in the tower... like hell I'm gonna spread my wings for you!" She passed on a frightened expression for a moment, before lifting her head high, the tip of the sword held near her throat. I trotted myself around the chair, keeping the sword aimed towards her, looking at her wings; shattered, slightly bloodied, plenty of feathers torn out. Hardly could be used for flying... let's make sure she absolutely won't be able to do that.

Lifting my forelegs, I placed them on the back of the chair, shoving forwards. The gryphon mercenary fell, landing with a hard thud against the concrete flooring, her damaged wings splaying slightly as she let out a long grunt of pain. I placed my hoof on one of her wingtips, starting to slowly drag it open, holding it down. Her eyes looked up at me, wide and pleading, as I rested the sword against the ground for a moment. "Your friends hurt somepony I cared about. I'm here to return the favor... not that there's anyone left to care about you." Taking the handle of the sword back into my mouth, I lifted the blade high, holding it in the air above her spread wing.

My eyes held shut tightly and teeth bit into the wrapped handle as I brought it down in a slash, cutting a long parallel line through the furthest parts of the Gryphon's wing. She let off a loud scream of pain as I took a single step forwards, slicing again. And again. And again. Blood stained my hooves as it started to leak from the cut limbs, the mercenary pulling quick, pained breaths as she held on to consciousness. How nice of her.

I trotted back, setting my sword down as the electricity crackled, boiling off the blood, the ribbons of flesh and feathers that were once a gryphon's wing being stained a deep crimson in the puddle on the concrete flooring. The mercenary's eyes were clenched shut tight, tears streaking across her face, myself watching as she slowly came back from it. Wouldn't want her going and dying so soon, now would we? She shuddered her breaths, looking up at me through the tears, responding through clenched teeth. "You're fucking mental, I saw you cutting through those guys, like a damned rampaging lunatic! You're- you're makin' me suffer, just because your little bitch of a boyfriend got hit?"

I set my sword down with Thumper and War Crime, picking up the former and breaking open the action. Pulling the spent shell out and letting it clatter to the floor, I slid in a dragon's breath, trotting around the bloodied wing and stopping behind the chair, looking at the Gryphon's legs. Pushing the legs of the chair forwards, the mercenary flailed and screamed, her claws and paws eventually supporting her back end in the air. Her hocks stuck out clearly, allowing a clean shot down the length of her legs... I hope she's courteous enough to stay awake for this.

Bringing Thumper to bear, I placed her muzzle in line with the first of the gryphon's back legs, holding it firmly in place. The mercenary frantically tried to look behind her, her tail madly flicking back and forth between both her legs, myself eventually settling Thumper's position. I stood on my hind hooves to shoulder the grenade rifle, pulling on the trigger lever with my forehoof, the hammer releasing and igniting the propellant. The burning hot flechettes flew from the forty-millimeter barrel, cutting clean into the gryphon's back leg, the ones that did get through hissing on the floor while those that didn't sizzled inside, cooking the muscle and blood to a sickening boil. The gryphon let off a scream much louder than the earlier ones, myself pulling the casing out and giving her a moment to recover.

"Fuck me... I wish I'd blown your fuckin' heads off when I had the chance! Would've made my life easier if you were stuck standing still with that earth pony's brains on your face." She grunted loudly, straining her breaths as she tried to move her back legs, only causing herself to scream again. Thumper clacked shut, and I pressed the barrel's end to her other hock, listening as she screamed through a clenched jaw. The second shot from Thumper caused her screams to be muted, replaced with a whining sound for a few moments, the sounds of searing flesh and cooking meat coming back to me afterwards, along with her pained screams. Good, she's still awake, haven't gone too far yet.

She eventually caught her breath, myself trotting around the now-large pool of blood on the floor to pick up my other weapons. Can't have War Crime or the sword getting stained, after all. The mercenary struggled behind me, her teeth audibly straining together. "You think we're it? That you kill me, you don't have to worry about shit anymore? They're gonna find you assholes, they're gonna make you suffer..." Setting my weapons down safely away from the pool, I picked up War Crime, pulling the bolt back to load a fresh round. The mercenary let off a shuddering breath, that turned into a small laugh, causing myself to freeze. "I fuckin' hope they leave you alive, so you get to find what they left behind of your friends. Love to see the look on your face with half that earth pony in your lap..."

Teeth clenched, I threw myself over to her head, War Crime's muzzlebrake pressing firmly against her temple. Letting off a long, pained scream of my own, my hoof held the trigger firmly against the stock, round after round after round of the massive machine gun ammunition emptying from the clip and into the gryphon's head, the recoil shaking me violently about. My ears were left ringing loudly, the only indication I had of Thumper's clip being empty being the sudden lack of the force from the butt of the gun hammering my shoulder, myself slowly opening my tear-stained eyes.

I was left standing over a pulpy mess on the floor of the storage room, War Crime's barrel hissing slightly as crimson dripped down it's length, the bloody stump left behind leaking more out onto the floor and against my hooves. Short, shuddering breaths escaped me as I trotted back over to my other weapons, picking them up and heading out of the building, leaving the mess behind. The snow turned a dark hue as it soaked up some of the blood left on my forehooves, myself looking to the long barrel and smoky muzzlebrake of the automatic sniper rifle. Nearing the Mini-tank, I wiped it against my duffel bag, cleaning most of the blood and gore off of it. I unzipped the olive-drab sack, starting to move my weapons off before stalling myself, staring into it.

Thumper, War Crime, and the sword all resting on the back of the half-track, I reached into the duffel bag, retreiving the small plushie inside. The lime-green eyes stared back at me, my vision slowly becoming more and more blurry as I felt my legs give out, myself falling into the snow. My forelegs held the plush against my chest, the cold air stinging my throat as I cried out into the darkness, the freezing night icing over my tears as they streamed down my cheeks. I just wanted to go home, I just wanted to go back to my dad's hooves, where he'd hug me close and tell me everything's going to be alright...

My anguished screams were carried on the night wind for a few minutes longer, before I pulled myself back up onto my hooves, lips quivering and breaths forming into light wispy clouds. I drew in a breath and held it for a moment, before releasing it with a shudder, sniffling hard and trotting around to step back inside the clinic building. Crash Dive poked her head out of the doorway as I headed further in, trotting over to meet me. She seemed to pause to start to say something, though stayed quiet, simply watching me as I trotted over to Static's room, the plushie held in my hooves. I moved myself over to a small couch in the corner, dropping myself upon it, whimpering softly - why can't this nightmare be over?

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to K A O S, Kaos in Vanhoover, and it's a beautiful wintry day out there today. If you're just joining us, we received a surprising and heartwarming bit of news out of Maple Station this morning, I'm quite happy to report that the long-lost fifth tank ghoul, Caution Tape, has finally returned, with the assistance of the Vanhoover Five. From the way his tank was described, the, ah, 'Deathtrap', I can only imagine that everyone in Maple Station let out a collective sigh of relief when they saw that land-battleship on the horizon. Welcome home, Caution Tape.

"This brings us on to the more surprising news, as apparently the Vanhoover Five... aren't Five anymore. Now, don't get me wrong, they're still all alive, but they've been split up over the last few days for whatever reasons - in the case of Aerith, the alicorn who I've got a feeling has been listening to my broadcasts of The Silver Shroud radio plays, she stayed with Caution Tape and Deathtrap to ensure both of them made it back to Maple Station safely and in one piece. Scouring Charge, a steel ranger from B Company, was called off and went back to his base after the Five had encountered the remainder of B Company by chance, so as it stands now the Vanhoover 'Five' are just down to Crash Dive, Night Strike, and Static Charge. If you guys are listening, here's hoping you're having good luck with whatever you're doing - try to not get shot or blown up too much, heh.

"You're tuned into Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful Vanhoover day out there, and I'm feeling a little mellow today. Here's a Roger Trotters album that I'm surprised made it past the censors with this name intact, The Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy."

"I really hope that isn't what I think it is." It was just around mid-day by the time Static was recovered enough for us to set off again, continuing on east through the mountain ranges towards the Vanhoover Air Base. As we crested a ridge and spotted the telltale continuous bump of a snowed-over railroad embankment, however, following it along with our eyes had us finding something that was a little more than unsettling, to say the least. We pulled up beside the mechanical body of a robotic dragon, stopping outside the entrance to some sort of tunnel. "What d'you think brought it down? Are we that close to the Air Base already?"

"Either they did, or whatever's inside there did this." I lifted a hoof, pointing into the darkness that was only slightly illuminated by the afternoon sun. Static switched on the headlight, illuminating the tunnel further, myself looking up around at the valley the tunnel's entrance rested inside, and where the dragon laid. The more I looked, the more that things started to bother me - the valley walls were more than high enough to make sneaking through here a viable option, and if this thing did take an 88 flak shell to it, it didn't look like it was flying when it did. I'm not even certain that it was a flak shell that put this thing down... "I've got a bad feeling about this, guys."

"Look at all the claw marks around the entrance. Whatever this dragon was doing here, it wasn't the only one." Blinking a few times, I finally properly looked at the snow by the tunnel's entrance. More robotic dragons... oh, crap. Crash Dive fitted her full helmet on as Static started to slowly pull us inside the tunnel, the engine purring quietly as we followed alongside the rusted steel rails. I grabbed ahold of Thumper, before pausing, having the grenade rifle at the ready with a Solar burst but keeping her set aside as a backup. War Crime'd be better in this place if I have to go dragon hunting, at least a little tinnitus never hurt anyone - can't exactly say the same for what a balefire egg equivalent would do inside a confined space like this.

The half-track bumped slightly as we passed over a parallel set of tracks, Static looking around in the darkness out of surprise as I took hold of Boomer to steady myself. What kind of tunnel needs a switch inside of it? He pulled his goggles on, suddenly bringing the mini-tank to a halt, turning the headlight to illuminate something further down the line. I hopped off the back of the mini-tank, War Crime held at the ready, approaching the parked carriage the light was focusing in on.

The strange rail vehicle rested on two massive trucks, six pairs of rusted wheels apiece, the whole thing made of hardened olive-green-painted steel. Looking along it's length, it seemed to be around three times the length of the TOG, right in the ballpark of thirty meters or so, and shaped kind of like an elongated hopper car with a towing loop on the top middle. I hopped up ontop of the carriage, confused as to why a hopper car was hidden away inside a mountain, but the sight of the central 'hopper' just left me more confused. Why would a hopper car ever need a shell loading trough?...

"Uh... oh, crap. Static, remember those old films that Twintails like to watch, specifically that one about the 28-centimeter gun? And how that gun was a road modification of a previously rail-transported cannon?..." My eyes met with those of the earth pony, him pushing his goggles up in confusion for a moment. Crash Dive glanced between us, also seemingly confused. Don't tell me I'm gonna have to spell it out... "This is the same carriage that that old gun was carried on, or at least the same type. Problem is... there's a distinct and extremely worrying lack of 280mm gun in it. I don't want to be drawing conclusions, but..."

"Let's see if there are any more deeper in, maybe this one's just a fluke." Crash Dive's helmet lamp flicked on as she sat up on the back seat of the mini-tank, myself hovering alongside as Static drove deeper into the tunnel. I kept War Crime at the ready, reaching the end of the first carriage and the start of the second - 12-wheel trucks, hopper with two tow hooks... gun elevation rollers, rather, on top at the middle, no gun. Another set of tracks ran along the other side of the tunnel, myself hovering over to check the railcars on it - trucks, hopper with elevation rollers, no gun. This can't be a coincidence.

We passed seven more of the empty railway gun carriages before turning back, every single one of them lacking the actual gun, myself landing on the back of the mini-tank and swallowing hard. Okay, math time again, what do you get when you take ten or more 280mm railway cannons with effective ranges of several kilometers, remove the guns, and factor in a disabled robotic dragon and plenty of markings from other robo-dragons at the entrance to the tunnel they were being stored in? A hell of a bad time and some very worrying implications, that's what. "So... whoever owns the robo-dragons now also owns a lot of railway guns that have been converted to fire small megaspells before... Yeah, I think that at this point, getting back home is second on our to-do list after fixing the Valkyrie, first being tracking down and smacking wherever all these guns are being kept in the face with a couple 500 tons yield equivalent megaspells. Or kiloton-equivalent megaspells, because there are still a few of those at the sub pen."

"And if they can build robotic dragons, something tells me that setting up those guns isn't too far out of their reach, either. Do you have any idea how far those things can throw the kind of shells they fire?" Crash Dive looked towards me, myself only able to answer with a sobered shake of the head. Ask me how fast they fire the shells, ask me how big a boom the test conducted on the Fancymare Flat lake bed was, ask me how screwed we are, I can give you a rough answer. These things could use rocket-assisted shells for all we know... Crash Dive suddenly sat herself up, looking around frantically. Oh, as if I didn't have enough to be worried about... "We need to move. Now. Drive to the other end of the tunnel, fast!"

Static just blunk at her for a moment, before an odd sound started to funnel it's way through the valley at the entrance. I swear I've heard it before, that wooshing sound, with a high-pitched whine backing it... why do I remember my wing getting injured when I heard it? Unless... it couldn't... oh, crap! The engine roared as Static finally got us moving, myself looking back towards the tunnel entrance we'd come through initially. The whine drew closer, echoing loudly through the tunnel, before it passed overhead rapidly, something landing with a loud thump nearby the downed robo-dragon. Oh, sweet Celestia and Luna above, please let it be a dud.

I tried to make myself small as a small thump echoed through the tunnel, followed by a massive wooshing sound as the air was rapidly burned up by the detonation of the thermobaric explosive. The blast wave hit us hard, myself managing a scream as I was thrown clear from the back of the mini-tank, everything fading to black. Static...

My eyes met those of a unicorn mare as I gasped, feeling a woolen blanket underneath me. My legputer and jacket were missing, and as I looked around... grassy hills and trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, a few ponies playing down by the shore of a lake. The mare beside me brushed her hoof against mine, a faint look of surprise poking through her gentle smile, the breeze blowing her lime-green mane around. "Oh, dear, what is it with Twinnie's family and getting caught in explosions. At least I can't scold you for doing something like climbing into a fridge to escape it." She let off a light chuckle, myself only managing to blink in response. Where the hell am I... the unicorn levitated up an old bottle of Sparkle-Cola, moving it to my hoof. "Here, probably would want this. Isn't as big as those other bottles, but if you're anything like your father... shame I wasn't around to see you grow up for myself, Night Strike."

"You... you know my... have we met before?" I blunk, trying to remember who that mare was. She seemed familiar... somehow... I started to look over her more closely. Soft blue coat, a lime green mane, wears it in a pony-tail like I do with mine... She let off a small chuckle, watching me as I racked my brain. After a moment, I let out a weak chuckle of my own, taking the Sparkle-Cola bottle and popping the cap, taking a sip.

"The name you're looking for is Gamma Ray, sweetie, I used to take care of your father. The knock you took this time was a little more rough than before, an explosion usually is a little tougher to recover from compared to high G-forces..." Explosion... we were in a tunnel when the entrance was hit with a fuel-air bomb. I just remember screaming as everything shook, the air getting sucked out of my lungs, a glimpse of a silver mane... oh no.

"W-w-what about... am... is Static going to be alright? Oh goddesses, the blast could've forced some of those pellets around in his body, we're days away from an actual doctor that could..." I looked around again, starting to scuttle myself up the blanket, breathing quickening. The fresh grass, the sunny sky, the ponies frolicking by the lake shore... oh, Goddesses. "Am-am I... is this..."

The unicorn mare - Gamma Ray, gently grabbed my hoof, pulling me into a soft hug as she hushed softly into my ear. It at least kept me from a total freak-out... for the moment. "Ssh, ssh, it's alright. You and Static are both going to be fine, your friend in the power armor, Crash Dive, right? She's getting you both some help now, I promise. You're both strong ponies..." I weakly rested my forehooves on the unicorn's shoulders, letting off shuddering breaths and sniffles as I tried to calm myself. Gamma Ray started to slowly, gently, run her hoof along my back between my wings, drawing a soft shudder from me as I finally caught my breath again. Her soft eyes met mine as I leaned up, rubbing at my own sore eyes.

"Al-alright..." I drew in another breath, letting it out slowly, sitting back. The unicorn brought over my opened bottle of Sparkle-Cola, myself taking it in hoof and going for a long sip, draining half in one go. You're gonna be fine, Static's gonna be fine, Crash Dive must be fine. Just... hang in there. I looked over to Gamma Ray again, watching as she pulled out her own od-style bottle and started drinking it. "You know... why'd you show up again? If I'm not dead, then..."

A smirk came to the unicorn's muzzle, herself leaning back. "A promise I made, a long long time ago. I'd always be there for my Twinnie..." She took a sip from her bottle, eyes looking up towards the sky. "I suppose you just have enough of him in you to count, too."

Passing on a weak nod, I rested myself back, swirling what's left of my own bottle around and watching it settle and fizz. Unicorn magic... I guess. Something like that, maybe... love is a kind of magic too. "He's coming to get you, you know, all the way in that tank of his. He'll be here eventually... suppose I'll have to be sure to be with him when he does show up.. Who'd have thought Vera Lynn was still alive, huh?" Gamma Ray wore a light smile as my own ears perked up, looking over to her. Dad... dad actually is coming to find us? With the TOG, of all things? Holy Celestia...

A soft, steady beeping faded in on the wind, myself blinking and looking around for it. Gamma Ray let off a sigh beside me, her eyes meeting mine. "Sounds like you're heading back. Keep yourself safe, Strikey, I don't want to have to see you again permanently. Least give my Twinnie the joy of being a grandparent..." She moved herself over to me, wrapping her forelegs about me in a tight hug, brushing her cheek against mine. Her mane smelled of an odd aroma... reactor coolant and machine oil? It was... oddly, comforting.

Consciousness graced me once more, followed nearly instantly by a splitting headache. I let off a long groan of pain, heavy hoofsteps rushing to my side, power armored hooves moving to rest against me as the blinding lights filled my vision. Crash Dive slowly came into focus beside me, smile on her muzzle, a sigh of relief escaping her. I blunk a few times, shuffling back on the bed, another amorphous blob trotting itself up along the opposite side. Eventually my eyes focused in on it - well, her, actually - a light-brown black-maned pegasus smiling softly beside me. Um... "Thank goodness, you finally woke up. You all were in pretty horrid shape when Serene finally found you - you rescued Contrail, right?"

"Um... yeah, that was us, the, uh, Vanhoover Five... Three-ish, nowadays." I held a foreleg up to block the light, resting back against the bed. Well, back in the land of the living... "Ahm, just, who are you? And, after that, where are we, now?"

"Oh, I'm Sharpwing, and... well, hope you don't plan on leavin' for a while. Welcome to the Vanhoover Air Base."

Calling the Cavalry

We all stood in relative silence, myself closing my mouth to glance about awkwardly between the others. “Okay… okay, well, before everyone starts freaking out, we need to remember we do have at least some advantages here. They don’t have plans on our towns, or other places that we might come at them from… assuming they really need them… uh… well, the Valkyrie can probably take down any of their Harriers no problem, right? And all we really need to do is try to make another fly over and some Hail-Luna drop and we’ll be fine. The base looked prety well fortified, but it can’t be -that- megaspell proof, right?” I said, trying to inject some positivity into the others. It didn’t really have the intended effect, all of us just grimacing more as we tried to think up some plan of attack.

Crash Dive shook her head, the first to truly regain her composure. Standing tall, she marched to the center of the room, her power armor stomping loudly as she did. “Alright, we have even less time now than we’d like, if we don’t formulate a plan now to take down whatever Project Cerberus actually is, this whole country’s likely to go right back down the shitter,” she barked, putting on her best drill sergeant voice. “We have the plans, we have the resources, we can get the backup, it’s now or never. Scouring, bring up the schematics of the base, give us all the details you can.” Scouring nodded, following Crash Dive’s orders and bringing up a map from the holotape.

“We’ve got most of the floors, maps o' the lowest two're too corrupted to use, but everythin' else seems good. Five levels deep, top level’s security is mostly those anti-aircraft guns and any of their robots still on duty. Let’s see…” He punched a few buttons on the terminal, bringing up a map of the next floor down. “Looks like the deeper you get the more they rely on mounted turrets… there’s a security hub on the third floor for most of those, but that’d require getting somepony in to hack their computers, and I doubt they’re going to be running something like Edge’s baby’s daddy’s firewall. A manufacturin' room… elevators to the lower floors… I’m willing to bet that any sort of main control hub or launch station is going to be in the lowest floors. Not sure how to get there though, all the elevators only seem to go to floor 4, nothing below that.”

“So we take the stairs, they’ll have something. Any useful data outside the maps? Repair reports, extensions to the fortifications, low ammunition counts? What about the railway cannons?” Scouring began to search through some of the data in the holotape, his eyes sweeping across the screen. Backing out of the map, he switched through a few more lists, scrolling down each one.

"Hm... Looks like they have made a few extensions into the mountains, basic trenches, some pillboxes and stuff like that. Nothin' we can't fly over, but would give a frontal assault, even with a load o' steel rangers, one hell of a headache. Far as the guns..." More scrolling through menus, along with a bit of keyboard-tapping as he searched through things directly. Scouring blunk a few times, letting off a small grunt. "Dunno what they've done exactly with 'em, but there is some talk about mountain turrets along the northern passage. Could be pre-war fortifications, could be new. Bad news is they definitely do have 'em, Clopp K5 28-centimeter railway guns. Nasty pieces to get hit with."

I caught a grimace from Night Strike as Scouring looked back to us, myself joining her. What was it she said that those guns were also used as? Megaspell artillery cannons? Oh, Celestia... Aerith waved a hoof to catch my attention, pointing at both myself and her, before back to Scouring. It took me a moment to catch on... oh, I hope she heals up soon, I'm not great at charades. "Uh, are you sure all we got about the base itself was their maps? Nothing like headcounts, or, uh, damage reports?" Scanning roughly over a few more menus and walls of text, he frowned, shaking his head before looking back over his shoulder at us.

“Nothin' that I think will help us. They’ve got patrol routes, but every square inch of the interior seems t' be monitored by cameras or robots, that’s not going to help much. Says there’s a vault somewhere too, no info on what’s in it. Could be money, could be tech, could just be some storage bay now.” Crash Dive nodded, pacing back and forth for a moment.

“Okay, still is a good start, so long as we aren’t going in completely blind. The next step is going to be materials. We’re going to need weapons, ammunition, explosives; there’s no way we’re going to be able to bring more to the fight than these guys already have, so we need our first strike to be a big one. And we’re going to need ponies to operate those things, too. Our next move should be to head to each town, get as many ponies together as we can, we’re going to need to build ourselves an army... The trouble is going to be doing that without drawing attention. If they get wind of what we’re up to, they’re going to start bombing the hell out of every place that they can to cripple any morale the towns will have.”

“Well, there’s the HMS Cadence to start with, maybe.” I suggested. “We can send out a distress signal, some kind of call to arms. Aerith killed off the robo-dragons running the comms station, they might not be able to listen into the radio signals for a bit.” Crash Dive thought for a moment, pausing in her pacing.

“I wouldn’t count on it, they’ll get something in there as soon as possible, intel is one of the most important aspects in war. Besides, heading to the towns will let us get more specific information on what services they can provide and let us stock back up on ammo. Still, the Cadence and her radio station would be useful for timing our attack and relaying information in the middle of the battle, if nothing else.” Crash Dive looked back over Scouring’s shoulder at the files on the terminal. The stallion merely shook his head, motioning for Night Strike to hand over her Pip-Buck.

She unclipped it and tossed it over to her, Scouring connecting it with a few wires. “I think I’ve got all the info recovered that will be most useful t' us right now. Will get a better chance to look over all the data when we aren't on a hospital terminal... Any more plans we want to make should probably wait until we’ve got confirmation from the other towns with how they can help. Then we’ll have a better idea of what sort of troops we’ll have on our side.” He leaned back in the chair as Night Strike’s Pip-Buck downloaded some of the info off the storage drive.

“Hey, would the Steel Rangers be able to help out? If we tell them about all the tech in that place, they’ve gotta want in!” Night Strike said as she leaned back against her hospital pillow. Scouring frowned, scratching at his unshaven scruff as he pondered the idea.

“Well… you’re no' wrong that they’ll want in. The problem would be stopping the Elder ordering the Knights to turn right around and start opening fire on everypony else if they even look at the stuff there wrong. And if he does agree, any talk of bombing that place with a megaspell goes out the window, unless you want a whole chapter o' the Rangers out for your blood, lass.” Scouring said. Night Strike grimaced, clearly not happy about the prospect of an explosives-free attack. Scouring unplugged Night Strike’s Pip-Buck, and I placed mine on the table to download the stolen schematics next.

“Their tech and support will be invaluable, though. I think you should radio to your Company when you can. That tank of theirs would be useful too, you were providing fire support well away from the Battered-Sea monster with it, think it might actually be artillery. All else fails, could work as a battering ram.” Crash Dive responded. Scouring tried to look amused at Crash Dive’s comment, though I wasn’t entirely sure she was joking. Scouring looked back down, giving a small awkward cough before unplugging my Pip-Buck. “Well, if you think what you've got off the drive for now will help, we should head out now. The sooner we can get an attack together, the less we’ll need to worry about them regaining their forces and trying to bomb out another one of the cities.” Crash Dive turned to head out of the hospital room as Night Strike refitted her Pip-Buck.

I watched as she trotted out into the hallway before turning back to Night Strike and Aerith. “Uh, are you sure you guys are going to be alright getting up? I really doubt I can fly the Valkyrie on my own, but at the same time I don’t want to drag you out of recovery, either.” Night waved a hoof, pushing back the covers to climb out of bed, grimacing a little as she felt the weight of her wing brace.

“Naaah, I’m fine to fly. Just a bit roughed up from the dragons, nothing a few more bottles of RAD won’t fix. Aerith... ahm, she's gonna stay here, with Hispano. It's for the better, really.” The alicorn grimaced, nodding her head solemnly. Watching her for a moment, and letting off a sigh of her own, Night Strike tried to cheer her up. “Ah, don’t worry about it too much. You went through a lot, I’d say it’s a pretty good sign you’re awake at all after yesterday. You get some rest, I’m sure you’ll be fine before we get back. You make sure she doesn’t fry her horn again, alright Hispano?” Night Strike smirked at the Griffon, giving her wings an awkward flap. Hispano just rolled her eyes in response as she looked back to the alicorn, Aerith grinning in return. Scouring unplugged the drive and passed me back my pip-buck, standing up from the terminal and heading back out of the hospital room with the rest of us.

The hospital was just as busy as it always was since the first attack, with nurses and doctors rushing back and forth between the rooms, tending to the patients. As we were trotting to the exit, Pearl floated out one of the rooms, turning her screens in our direction. “Hey guys! Heading out already? I was hoping to get some research done on that mutation of yours, Night Strike! Who knows what kind of healing we could do if we could replicate it!” Night Strike looked at the array of sharp tools dangling from Pearl’s chassis, her face going a little white.

“Ah, haha, no, no, I’m good, we’re just heading out for a bit. Though…” She thought for a moment, before letting off a small sigh. “Look, Pearl, there’s going to be a battle soon. A big one. We’re going to need a lot of medics, anything the Triage could offer would be a huge amount of help.” Pearl’s screen swapped to the thinking animation as she hovered up and down slowly in the air.

“Well, depending on when this little tussle is going to be, and the probability of Hopeville being under another attack, and the fact that a lot of ponies have evacuated already… I think we can offer a few of our doctors, and some medical supplies. If you can find more supplies from somewhere, though, we’ll be in better shape. I bet you couldn’t find a better doctor in the wasteland than those here, and that’s not just my loyalty program talking there! The trouble is going to be having enough healing potions, blood packs, med-x, all that stuff for our doctors to work with.”

I thought for a moment, scratching my head. “The Vanhoover Air Force Base probably has a lot of meds. You can’t live in an old military outpost and have their reckless kind of attitude without at least something to patch yourself back together. Ooh, not to mention if Serene and Sharpwing got that walker back up and running, that thing’s going to be an absolute beast on the battleground...” My own grin was widening. Night Strike grinned a little too as we started to head back to the lobby, Pearl getting on with her work.

“Hah, since when have you been a fan of the explosive entry, Sparky? I doubt that walker is going to be able to turn invisible and not sound like an earthquake when it walks everywhere.” I only rolled my eyes, jumping a little as I heard a scream of pain from one of the patient rooms. Pearl leaned out of the door, waving her bonesaw around nonchalantly.

“Hehe, don’t worry, he’s fine! Just a bit of a jumper!” She floated back into the room, only for a few more whimpers of pain to echo down the hall. Cringing, I slowly started back after the others. How in Equestria did I ever manage to trust her enough to install that implant? We headed out of the Triage, the Clydesdale sitting up on the curb outside the door. I spotted a large dent in the fender that most certainly had not been there the last time I’d driven it.

Climbing onto the driver's bench, I started up the engine of the massive half-track as Night Strike slid in beside me and the others climbed onto the back. “The Valkyrie’s just outside the town. You guys can drive this back to the Lighthouse while Static and I fly to the Cadence to get their help, right?” Night Strike looked over her shoulder to Scouring and Crash Dive. The power armored pegasus nodded in response, and I did my best to stifle a snort of disbelief. From that dent, it sure seems like I’m the only one who knows how to drive this thing... The Clydesdale trundled through the streets, quickly making its way to the edge of town. I pulled up beside the Valkyrie, hopping back out along with Night Strike to head into the plane.

“Alright, we’ll see you back at the Lighthouse once Aerith’s feeling better. We’ll see about talking to the gunsmith here about munitions too, if we can find him. There might be a few ponies still around here who’re willing to help out.” Scouring responded. Night Strike gave a wave as Crash Dive shifted it back into gear and turn away, heading back into town. She narrowly missed a streetlamp as she turned the corner towards the gunsmith’s building, seeming a little uncomfortable at the wheel. Shaking my head, I followed Night Strike up into the cockpit, sliding into the seat behind hers as usual. Night Strike began to fire up the engines as I looked down at my Pip-Buck, flipping over to the radio station. The music was just audible over the roar of the motors as Night Strike began to roll forward, preparing for take-off.

"I’m am in a conventional dither
With a conventional star in my eye
And you will know there’s a lump in my throat
When I speak of that wonderful guy!"

“Alright, Valkyrie, you are clear for landing. Fowler says to try not to scare away the doves this time.” White Noise's voice came over the headset as we approached the island, the large warship with her four twin-gun turrets clear in my camera as Night Strike throttled back.

“Uuuhh, not sure if that’s entirely possible, but we’ll try our best.” Night Strike began to push down on the controls, slowing the Valkyrie down considerably as we passed over the busy deck of the Cadence and firing up the vertical engine. The engines' humming quieted a little as we lowered down onto the concrete parking lot below, Night Strike easing about with the controls. The wheels of the Valkyrie touched down comfortably with the cracked asphalt, and I let loose a long breath. Okay, yeah, if I was meant to fly, I would've been born a pegasus, dangit... never gonna get used to it.

The whine from the turbines died down as Night Strike shut them all off, myself undoing my buckles and stepping up from the seat to undo the access door. Night Strike followed close behind as we both headed over for the warship, trotting up the long gangway and onto the maze of corridors that was the ship. Sense of direction, don't fail us now... "Hm... you think that this thing could actually fight still? I mean, it was turned into a museum ship, yeah, but it's still got loads of ammo aboard, and I'm willing to bet that includes a few of the shells for the eight-inch guns." Night Strike piped up ahead of me, looking around, as we pressed on through the interior to find the broadcast center for Radio KAOS.

I let off a small sigh in response, looking at the walkways and whatever signs I could find. At least this place was better labeled than Cerberus' base, even if it felt more maze-like. "Well... maybe. With how Fowler reacted to us taking the guns off of it, though, I say we better ask him first. Might want to see how well you handle doing an imitation of an eight-inch shell just for suggesting it." The pegasus ahead of me shot me a glare as I let off a small chuckle, following her as she headed up a flight of steep stairs. I suppose, if these guns did have the range to reach over to that base, the extra firepower wouldn't hurt at all...

Eventually we managed to find our way to a familiar portion of the ship, heading up the stairs that pointed the way to Radio KAOS' broadcast center. As we approached the comms room of the warship, we were met by the flashing red light of the ‘on air’ sign above, and Jim chuckling into the microphone. Night Strike tapped lightly on the door, the DJ looking up from the desk for a moment before nodding and raising a hoof. He gave a small send-off to wrap up the bulletin, before sliding a holotape into the player and switching off the sign, beckoning us in. Night Strike opened up the door and lead us in, as the DJ rested back in his seat. “Hey, long time no see, guys. Wasn’t expecting you to show up here, what's up?”

Night Strike and I sat down across from him, a smooth jazz song playing softly. The pegasus beside me rubbed at the back of her head, thinking for a moment. “Okay, um… so, this is probably going to sound... well more than a bit crazy, but we’re going to need the Cadence up in full working condition. We’ve discovered the source of the robo-dragons, it’s a pretty heavily fortified military base with only Celestia knows how many tactical megaspells at their disposal. We need you for firepower and information coordination, the radio station is the best means we have of that.” The DJ’s jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between us.

“You… uh… goddesses, you’re serious about this? Jeez that’s… uh… well, a tall order, to put it lightly.” He leaned back in his chair, rubbing the back of his head and chewing at his lip. Okay... thinking about it, the fact that we passed a mess hall and sleping quarters to get here probably should've been an indication that three ponies can not run a whole warship. “You sure you don’t just need the radio, because that’s definitely going strong! I mean, as far as Vanhoover and Maple Station, anyways... ahem.” He gave a weak chuckle, but it quickly died down as he thought. We sat in silence for a moment, the DJ stallion looking around the room at the electronics, his mouth moving a little as he spoke silently to himself during his thought. “…okay, well, uh… I suppose we can help out, as far as the radio and coordination goes, but you’re going to need to talk with Fowler about getting the whole shipp going. I really don't know about the practicality of that request, I was just signed on here after the last DJ kicked the bucket. All I can guarantee is you’ll have the station at your disposal.”

“Okay, we’ll make sure to send some kind of signal for when the attack should begin, the Valkyrie can access a fair few channels that should be secure. We also have a few maps and stuff that should help out, if you need to help with coordinating any attacks directly.” I lifted up my Pip-Buck, the DJ pulling over a blank holotape to burn the information onto as he looked back to the broadcast equipment, checking the runtime of the tape he'd put in. Grabbing a third tape off of a rack, he slipped it into a second slot, ejecting the first as it came to a stop and starting the second. My pip-buck dinged as the file transfer finished, and I ejected the tape to pass it back over to Jim, the stallion grabbing another bottle of wild pegasus from the fridge nearby. As the DJ watered himself, I looked over to Night Strike, passing on a shrug. “I think that’s all he'll be able to help with for now. We better find and ask Fowler about the ship.” She nodded in agreement, and after a short goodbye we headed back out of the recording room.

Making our way back through the body of the ship, we somehow managed to find ourselves out onto the seaward side of the upper deck, trotting along it's length. After a while, we eventually spotted Fowler sitting on the edge of one of the launch rails that extended over the side of the deck, a small collection of birds gathered around him. His head turned to see us coming closer, putting a hoof up before we could get too close. “Aye, slow down! You already scared ‘em off once with that fly-over, do it again and they’ll never come back. Nasty buggers, but, yanno, makes the days go by a little easier...” I resisted rolling my eyes as we stepped slowly up to him, watching as he spread a few more seeds on the deck for the collection of small birds.

“Right... so, uh, Petty Officer Fowler? We've got a... severe situation on the horizon, and we wanted to ask you about getting the Cadence back up and running, if that's possible at all.” Night Strike said. Fowler paused, his hoof halfway into the seed bag. He turned in place on the rail, a few of the birds jumping back from his hooves swinging around. “We need the Cadence to sail again, and beyond that be able to use all of her guns to full effect. You think she can do that?” He just stared at us, frozen in place with jaw slack, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted... Right off the end of the launch rail and over the edge of the ship. Rushing to the railing, we watched as he fell into the water, only for his head to break moments later, a crazed laugh reaching our ears. I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my head down as Fowler floated in the waves, starting to swim around the outside of the warship.

Well, at least he’s excited.

"You know, it's been two centuries and damn well near forty years since Cadence last sailed under her own power, and for the last twenty-five decades she's been kept under my close watch and care. When I saw that missile hit Vanhoover, well, was just mad as hell that most of my old mates were shoreside and pretty unlikely t' be coming over to bring 'er over to zebra lands and blast the ever-loving hell outta everything forty kilometers inland..." Fowler gleefully trotted ahead of us as we made way back through the innards of the HMS Cadence, at least a little thankful that we had someone who knew where he was going on this thing. Seriously, half the time it feels like this place changes on us... "But, if she's got a calling to arms a bit closer to home now, you can be damn well sure she'll take it! You're in luck, actually, was chatting up a couple of the old lads yesterday. They live a little ways away nowadays, but Captain Marigold and her Seaddler oughta be able to get 'em here well in time for the fight. After that, just need some recruits for handling the rest of Cadence's other operations, we can have her up and going again in under a week if they're willing..."

"Erm, when you say some recruits, how many would that be? I mean, I know you, Jim, and White Noise can't run her by yourselves, but, well... how many ponies does a ship like this need?" Static tapped his hoof against the railing as we ascended a steep staircase, heading up towards the KAOS broadcast room... I think. Really still dunno how these corridors are put together. Sheesh, at least those old ghouls ought to be able to make sense of this when it comes time for the push. "I-I mean, it's gotta be at least, what, fifty? A hundred crew, maybe?"

Fowler gave off a little scoff as he turned a corner, myself stumbling over a bulkhead and hearing the wing brace clatter off the metal wall slightly. Just another day or so, Strikey, keep drinking that RAD... "Try seven-hundred fifty, lad, a Heavy Cruiser is a far cry from a Destroyer. We'll have to run her light, aye, but if we can get something close to that then we'll be in good shape. Ammo shouldn't be much an issue, one of the things in storage in the island was this old ammunition duplicator. Haven't used it in a while, but it should still be alright to work if we need it. Ah..."

Myself and Static shared a long look as we stopped in the hallway, him sharing my expression. Seven-hundred fifty... I don't even know if there are that many ponies living in Maple Creek and Hopeville combined. -Maybe- there are that many in Vanhoover. Oh, hell... this might be a larger undertaking than we hoped. Fowler had gone ahead and was fighting with something in one of the rooms, us both eventually finding him sat at an old, more military-looking radio. "Nngh... hell, forgot to crank the broadcast range. Always turn it down when that idiot upstairs is broadcasting. 'We can just share the antenna, you don't use it anyways', gnh, I should've never agreed with that jockey seventy years back..."

"Crank the broadcast... Radio KAOS doesn't transmit at full power?" Fowler passed on a small glare as he continued fiddling with the radio, myself scratching at the back of my head. You'd think a radio station would want to reach as many people as possible...

"Hasn't a reason to, you're not gonna find many functioning HC2MWT reactors out in the wild nowadays, let alone four of 'em. Even then, only run Reactor 2 at quarter-power usually, just enough for that blasted station to be satisfied. Half-power for when I wanna reach the boys a bit farther away, some shacked up in Merritt, Vanderhoof, Terrace, you know, places well out there. Would have to up the reactor's power manually, but sometimes I can piggyback through Maple Station..." The radio whined for a moment, the earth pony sailor holding the headset to his ear. "Besides, all that music he broadcasts during the day is rubbish, anyways... Maple Station? Come in, Maple Station. HMS Cadence looking for a signal boost to Hope, Vanhoover Five's looking for our help."

The radio whined for a moment, some of the needles hopping and swaying as someone broadcasted over the other line, Fowler seeming confused for a moment. He glanced back to us, a look of confusion clear on his face, before disconnecting the headset and letting the voice play out over the speaker. "-that one story that landed me the Celestial Cross back during the Tobuck campaign. Anyways, ah, what's the trouble, HMS Cadence?"

I blunk a few times, trying to think - that voice... wasn't Mad Jack, wasn't Rheinmetall, sure as hell wasn't Caution Tape or Sensha... but it still soundd familiar. Think, Strikey, how many ghouls would/ve earned what's probably some sort of important medal? "Well, just need a station-to-station up the coast to a few of my old navy mates, though could I ask who's on the line right now first? Don't believe we've met."

"Ah, where're my manners, Captain Poppy Gardener of Her Majesty's 4th Royal Tank Regiment, pleasure to hear from a Royal Navy ship still in fighting condition. I'll have Jack on the line to patch you through north soon enough, we're just having a little reunion down here first, heh." Poppy Gardener... I leapt for the radio console as the memory hit me, Fowler stumbling on his hooves as we both tried to occupy the same space and my momentum won. Scaning over the controls, eventually I managed to find the microphone, and the transmit button. "HMS Cadence? Are you there?"

"Ah, yeah, we're fine here, uh, you-you had a message, that you were sending north to our dads, right? Did they get it yet? Did they reply? Are they alright?" The radio was silent save for static for a moment, before I lifted my hoof off of the button. Fowler seemed to be wearing a bit of a glare beside me as he picked himself back to his hooves, myself looking to him and letting off a weak chuckle - eheheh, sorry.

It took another moment, but eventually Poppy Gardener came back over the radio. "Ah, right, I remember! Can't say that we've heard any response back yet, but the message is waiting for them at Cordite. Have some patience, lass, it's a big wasteland and their tank is far from fast, heh." The ghoul sailor next to me tapped on my shoulder, myslef moving aside and giving him back control of the radio, myself chewing at my lip. Okay, so I might've ben a little overexcited, it's our dads, for Luna's sake, though! "Hm, if you've the time, wouldn't mind getting a proper meeting with you sooner or later. From what Jack's told me, you're nearly as crazy as my driver, heh..."

"Aye, they'll be headin' over to you soon, just need to get outta my hair first. Since they've got their message over and I'll need to be sent through to Hope first, anyways, I'm hopin' they'll take the hint..." The sailor ghoul turned to look towards us both as I trotted back beside Static, wearing a weak grin all the while. Well, I mean, I guess it's something, and if he can't get anything else done right now, well... yeah, maybe we should just go. Static passed on a light nod to Fowler as we both turned about, heading out of the doorway and down the hall a few steps... and then turned back around, heads low, and knocked on the radio room door again.

"Eheheh, um... how do we get back to the island from here?"

"How many ponies do you think we'll be able to get from Hopeville? I mean, with the attack, and the fact that it's a pretty small town already... and the fact that some poies are probably gonna have to stay behind to run the AA armaments, too, thinking about it... oh, boy, this is just gonna be a logistical nightmare. Let alone trying to figure out how many trips Ripple and Trout'll have to make to get everypony over there..." Static rubbed at his head as we trotted back into Hopeville to find Scouring and Crash Dive, the Valkyrie landed in the usual clearing on the eastern side of town. I guess, maybe in the pre-war days, 750 ponies would've been considered a good size for a small town, or something. Nowadays? You'd probably be lucky to find 750 ponies in an entire county of Equestria. "Hm... well, I guess the Seaddler could help, too. You think the Vanhoover Air Base would have any air craft for carrying passengers?"

"Pff... maybe. I guess if they did have any, they could at least take off from there... problem then is the fact that Deadstallion's island doesn't have a runway, and I doubt Fowler's gonna go and plow one out himself." I rubbed at the back of my head, both of us entering the long shadow of the Triage. Trotting along the road that ran along shoreside, I looked out across the calm waters of the lake, thinking for a bit. "They do have the Seaddler's sister aircraft in storage, maybe we could convince them to build some more flying boats or something. You could make them into amphibious aircraft if you added regular landing gear to 'em, I think."

Static let off a chuckle as we neared the intersection that led to the front of the Triage, giving his head a shake. "An aircraft that can land on water and earth, that's like a, I dunno, sea pony with wings, or something. Probably actually exists, thinking about it, somewhere in this crazy world... hopefully already blown to smithereens along with the rest of Shady Shores." Giving an eye roll, I looked back over to him as we passed the intersection, and just in time to see somepony being rather forcefully thrown out of the triage doors, along with her notepad and pen. Static stopped to look as well, myself also seeing who it was that decided to give that familiar unicorn reporter an impromptu flying lesson - oh, Hispano, what's going on now?...

"Friends and family only, ya cunt! By my count, you're neither, so buzz off before I have to get Suiza involved..." Extra Edition was picking herself back up to her hooves as we rushed over, Hispano turning to head back into the hospital building. She caught herself, or, well, caught sight of us, pausing to pass on a wave as we drew nearer. Static went over to help the reporter as I headed over to Hispano. "Hey, just in time, I was just escorting little miss nosy here out of Aerith's room. Wouldn't take the hint that she's not really in the mood for an interview right now..."

A weak chuckle escaped me as I looked back to see Extra holding a hoof to her head, Static helping to steady her. Well, at least we're right outside the Triage, anyways... "Eheh, well, don't blame you for that... just, uh, you aren't serious about introducing her to Suiza, are you?" Hispano wore a smile as she gave her head a shake, leaning on the outside of the hospital doors. I get that Extra can be pretty annoying when she wants to be, but, well, I also know what happens when a soft, fleshy pony is introduced to a 20mm bullet traveling at supersonic velocities, and the results are really far from pretty...

"Eeeeh... depends on how much she values the use of her legs over getting a story out of Aerith. She'd probably understand it after losing a hoof, ponies can still function fine without one." She craned her neck to look past me, myself moving to the side and looking back towards Static and Extra Edition, the reporter answering the earth pony with a nod and trotting off to somewhere else in the town. Hispano let off a small chuff into the air, watching Static as he trotted over to join us. "Pegasi have a harder time adjusting at first than earth ponies or unicorns, sudden weight loss and all, but eventually they get used to it, too. Hell, some even benefit from it."

Just as I was about to ask her what she meant by that - I mean, I get it, losing a hoof isn't pretty in any sense, but a pegasus actually benefitting from it? Really? - Static made his way over to us, a grimace clear on his face. "I don't think she's alright, I might not know too much about medecine but that looked like a concussion. Guess we should be glad there wasn't a log for her to land on, but did you really have to throw her that hard, Hispano?"

The gryphon answered with a shrug, looking back through the door glass and turning to head back into the hospital, myself and Static following. "She was trying to get Aerith to talk and otherwise annoying the hell out of me, I'd say I went easy on her. Anyways, how'd things go with getting the guys on the ship on side? That radio station gonna be any use besides playing more old music?"

We followed her up through the building, heading for the floor that mine and Aerith's bedroom was on, myself letting off a small chuckle. "Well... yeah, and then some... maybe. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find around seven hundred and fifty people to help run a giant warship, would you?" The gryphon stopped in her tracks in the middle of the hallway as the words met her ears, turning to stare back at us, wide-eyed. Well, it's -almost- the look we get when we tell people about our dads... almost. I rubbed at the back of my head, wearing a weak grin. "We went for help, and what's more helpful than a mostly intact Heavy Cruiser, right? I mean, eight 203 millimeter guns and ten... well, eight 40mm twin AA batteries, plus a few more secondary guns, and... a couple of aircraft, I think, maybe, that's helpful."

Hispano was quiet for a moment, just turning back to face forwards and carry on walking, before trying to hold in a laugh. She rubbed at her forehead as we reached the doorway, the gryphon supporting herself in the doorframe as she shook her head. "Man, whenever I think I'm one of the people in this wasteland that considers overkill a usual standard, you guys go and just blast those feelings clear out of the water, don't you?" She continued on with a chuckle, Aerith looking over at us all in a bit of confusion, a small meal tray placed in front of her. Well... I mean, the Cadence isn't a Battleship, at least, it's not as crazy as it could be! "Heh, yeah, there is one place I know of that could lend a few hooves, Enclave remnants camp. I... think they might still have a few functional vertibucks, too. They're nice enough."

Myself and Static both shared a long, uneasy look as Hispano sat next to Aerith, making herself comfortable. Enclave remnants... well, if they can make up a good bulk of what we need for the Cadence, then, I guess it's the best we've got. We'll probably have to let Crash Dive know, just to see how she feels about it, though. And then, there's the matter of what they'd be shooting at... "Aheh, ahm, yeah, slight, slightest of issues there, uh, the bad guys operating under Cerberus? Yeah... they're kinda remnants of the Enclave, too. Specifically Crash Dive's old squadron, or, wing, or whatever the term is. They won't have any problem shooting them down, or dropping an eight inch shell on their heads, would they?"

"Let's see, around a city's worth of well-meaning former members of the Enclave, civilians and military, that would love a chance to prove to the wasteland that they aren't the bad guys anymore, against three pretty much obviously bad Enclave remnants that I'm willing to guess already wouldn't have any issues with opening fire on anything and everything on the ground or water. Doesn't take a mercenary's education to guess whose side they'd be more likely to support, missile-flanks." The gryphon let off a chuckle as she pulled a glass bottle from her duffel bag, popping the cap off with her beak and passing a bottle of Sparkle-Cola over to Aerith. Well... guess that works, then. Heh, who knows, maybe they'd actually idolize Crash Dive once they learn about her... We'll tell her soon as we can find her. "We've got some pull with 'em, I... know a guy, who's former Enclave. Most should at least be kinda familiar with working onboard a ship, cloud ones aren't too different from the water-based ones."

"I suppose we just need to take all we can get right now. If they're willing and able to help out, call them in and send them to Deadstallion's Island, just off the coast from Glowing-Sea. A ghoul named Fowler will be waiting for them there." Hispano answered Static with a nod, myself rifling through my own duffel bag to pull a bottle of RAD out and begin drinking it down. That wing isn't gonna heal itself... quickly, anyways. Maybe I can just see about having the brace taken off before we head out of here, I've been drinking plenty of RAD and I'm pretty sure there's less that has to be pulled together in the wing bones compared to a shoulderblade, anyways. Static looked towards me for a moment, before letting off a sheepish chuckle. "Eheh, uh, they won't have problems working under ghouls, right? I think Fowler's also bringing in some of his old shipmates to get the Cadence running."

The gryphon thought for a moment, before answering with a shrug, finishing another sip of her bottle. "Long as they aren't ferals or incompetent, shouldn't be an issue. They might voice some concerns, some might let a 'zombie' slip here and there, but if they're actually pre-war navy then they'll learn to listen." Static gave a nod, myself already having drained half of the bottle of glowing soda and continuing on. Mmh, well, long as they don't try taking control of the Cadence for themselves, I guess it'll work out.

I gasped for breath following that last long gulp, Hispano letting off a chuckle as I wiped my lips with the sleeve of my jacket. "Heh, speaking of things acting out of the ordinary, how's your mutation workin' for ya? Wing almost healed up?" Blinking a few times I looked down towards my braced left wing, moving it around as much as I could. Well, it's not making me scream in agony, and the brace is really just feeling uncomfortable now, so... guess we just need to find a doctor to check and see. The gryphon smirked as she gave her head a shake, looking down to the bottle in her talons. "You drinking Sparkle-Cola RAD equals instant broken bone healing, still can't believe that's true. You both are some crazy ponies in general, y'know that?"

I passed on a grin as I finished off my bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD, rummaging through my duffel bag for a moment before tossing another bottle over to Aerith, the alicorn managing to just about catch it in her hooves. She let off a silent chuckle, myself passing a nod on to them both and turning about to exit the room. "I prefer to say that we just keep things interesting for everyone else..."

"Tank firing range looks clear again, can bring us down there. Bring her around to 270 and let's touch down." The day had grown well on into evening as we finally got underway to Maple Station, mercifully lighter one wing brace. Once again, Sparkle-Cola RAD has saved us a lot of time waiting around doing a whole lotta nothing... still shouldn't fly on it for a day, but it's better than it still being broken a week from now. Picking up Scouring and Crash Dive went as smoothly as usual, as did the flight over - actually kept her from nearing trans-sonic speeds for once. See, Static, I'm a good pilot!... now, anyways. Shuddap.

The landing gear compressed under the Valkyrie's weight, the turbines shutting off as we gathered our things together and prepared to exit the cockpit into the fading light. The bomb bay doors hissed open behind us as I opened up the cockpit access door, the short ladder falling into place and allowing me to climb down, Static eventually following behind. Scouring and Crash Dive both trotted out from underneath the bomb bay, the doors shutting behind them as they joined up. "Ach, aye, well, still not eactly a vertibuck in terms of comfort, but not much you can do fer it. Least the flight was smoother than last time..."

Giving my eyes a roll - like I said, at least ordinance doesn't complain about my flying - I turned to start heading in towards the town, Crash Dive pulling up alongside me as Scouring and Static took up the rear. She seemed... a little anxious, to say the least. "So... a big chunk of the ponies running the warship off the coast are going to be Enclave remnants. Are you sure that that's a good idea, putting them all in charge of something like that? I mean... you are aware who it is we're fighting, right?"

"I know, Crash Dive. Thing is, they... your old squad, they're not like that group. Hispano trusts them enough to've suggested it, and both myself and Aerith trust her. We need what help we can get." The power armored pegasus looked at the ground as we walked, a light snow starting to fall as we soon reached the town limits. A sigh escaped my lips, myself resting a hoof on her shoulder. "A lot of the remnants from this place want to show that the Enclave aren't something to fear anymore, that they want to do good and help everypony. They'd probably really look up to you, you know."

She passed on a momentary smile, the blue lights from the railyard ahead catching the flakes as they fell through the air. The sound of snow crunching underhoof filled the air for a moment, before it was joined by Crash Dive's... laughter. Yeah, that's something you don't hear too often... we'll work on fixing that. "A few hundred fully-able pegasi looking up to a washed-up old Private with two useless wings and a set of power armor better suited for diving than flying, and I thought I'd heard it all when you said you had two fathers. What makes you think they would?"

"Well, to start with, the fact that you're one of the founding members of the Vanhoover Five does help. C'mon, they're literally gonna be working onboard the radio station, it's pretty likely they'll learn about all of us. We've helped plenty of ponies all around, and your armor is pretty distinctive..." She wore a small grin as we caught sight of the familiar service shed, stepping over some fresh sets of tank tracks left in the snow and mud. Huh, pretty thin ones... well, compared to most of the other tanks. No deep trough like what Sensha's tank leaves, either, and I'm pretty sure hers is a bit wider than whatever left these, anyways... huh.

"Correction, YOU'VE been helping plenty of ponies all around, I've just been dragged along with you. Will give you that it has been more fun than sitting back home and drowning myself in wild pegasus, though..." The large doors of the rail shed drew near, and as we got closer the sound of laughter, music, and some glass bottles clinking about met our ears. Crash Dive looked up at the doors for a moment, before truning back to me. "So, who's this new tank ghoul that came down here? Said it was a friend of your fathers, or something?"

A weak chuckle escaped me as I took hold of the handle, Scouring and Static joining us. "Eheh, nah, no, he just... sent along a message, to them. Actually one of Mad Jack's old friends, I think..." The heavy door swung open with a loud creak, us all filtering inside to a few cheers and sounds of excitement. I pulled the door shut behind us, before turning about and being greeted by a proud-looking stallion adorned in some rather well-maintained pre-war military khakis, as well as a burgundy beret. A smile lifted the small mustache on his muzzle, and he raised a hoof up between us.

"I do believe you must be the mare I've chatted with over the radio. Captain Poppy Gardener, 4th RTR, now serving with Cordite, pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Taking his hoof and giving it a firm shake, he turned to look towards the usual lineup of tanks, Scouring and Crash Dive having already pressed on ahead towards them. As I looked over them... well, guess we know what made those tracks. Parked neatly between Porshcia and Avery, almost dwarfed by both if not for it's almost comically oversized turret, sat a small tank with a somewhat pointed front and a ridiculously large gun. Well, relatively large, anyways - was a far cry from Avery's dustbin mortar, but I'm pretty sure I could still fit my hoof down the barrel without getting stuck. Poppy Gardener looked between myself and Static as we trotted back over with him, still wearing that smile. "So, as Jack thought it more appropriate you be the ones to do so, might I learn your names if we're due to be going off to war together?"

"Well, I'm Static Charge, and she's Night Strike. We're... out-of-towners, heh. Pleasure to meet you, ah, Poppy Gardener." The earth pony on the other side of the tank commander piped up as we drew nearer to the tank, myself torn between looking at Poppy Gardener and looking over the ridiculous thing. The front driver's hatch was left open, giving a bit of an idea of how thick the armor was... namely, not very. Heck, War Crime could probably punch through armor as thin as that. Hardly could call it a tank... then again, not many people would have guns that fire War Crime's ammo, too.

The old ghoul let off a small chuckle, trotting to the side of his tank, myself reading off some faded paint on the turret's large side - 'BT-42 Cordite'. Huh, guess the tank must be a BT-42, then, I suppose. Why does Equestria have so many different ways for naming their tanks? "Ah, please, just call me Gardener, or 'Pip' if it takes your fancy. Been around long enough to know that life's too short to bother with full names... relatively speaking, anyways." He let off a short chuckle, before giving a few taps on the side of the turret, looking up towards it's high top. "Hey lads, c'mon out and meet the great white slug's kids!"

After a moment, the top hatch of the turret clattered open, a ghoul who looked quite appropriately dressed for the weather poking his head up out of it. He seeme to look about for a moment, before leaning over and settling his eyes on us, wearing a faint smile across his decaying muzzle. He ducked back down into the body of the tank, before reappearing out the back of the turret, trotting onto the back of the tank and hopping down to greet us. "Ah, hei. Sorry about that, don't really care much for commotion. I'm Quick Fire, the tank's gunner."

We both gave his well-insulated outstretched hoof a shake, Poppy Gardner looking about behind him. The old tank commander gave another pair of taps against the turret, only to be answered with by a loud snore from the front of the tank. Quick Fire let off a long sigh, shaking his head, Static moving out of his way as he pressed onwards to look through the open driver's port. "Tule, Short Shift, herata! Humalassa typerys..." We were only greeted with another bout of snoring, the tank gunner letting his head fall forwards in defeat for a moment, before regaining himself. "You'll have to excuse our driver, he's usually competent. Too much viski, not enough petroli, eh?"

Poppy Gardener gave off a small chuckle as he trotted forwards, myself passing Static a shrug. I'm... not sure what petrol has to do with anything here, or what language he was speaking for that matter, but, well, long as they know what they're doing, I guess. "Ah, Shifty was just getting into the spirit of things, he'll be fine come morning. Was a long drive down here anyways, give 'im a break Quick Fire."

The thickly-jacketed ghoul let off a soft chuckle, before lifting his foreleg and pushing back his jacket sleeve for a moment, trotting over to the other side of the tank. The tank's commander, meanwhile, looked around, rubbing at the back of his head. "Huh, wonder where Jack and Rheinmetall went off to... ah, well, suppose it was rather early to break out the fine scotch, anyways. Anyhow, nice to finally see the faces that Jack was raving about earlier, if your fathers are as absolutely mad as Jack's made you out to be it's little wonder they've been so persistent on finding you two. Hopefully they should be meeting with our friends back up in Cordite sometime in the next few days, last I heard they were-"

A loud clatter came from the other side of the tank, catching our attention, myself looking to see... the stock of a Gauss rifle? "Vittu! Agh... Short Shift, senkin huoran..." The whole gun was encased in an aura of magic, lifting up to show it's full size - okay, definitely NOT a gauss rifle. Quick Fire brought out a set of bipod... skids for it next, followed by one of the gun's magazines and a few rounds for it. Looking at the size of the things, I was just left dumbstruck.

"What... when did they turn a Gauss Rifle into a twenty-millimeter... well... anti-tank rifle?" Static glanced towards myself for a moment before looking at the gun with me, myself still examining the huge thing. Quick Fire set it on his back, letting off a small chuff as he trotted back around the front of the tank, a glare on his face - what? Did I say something I shouldn't have? It was a legitimate question!... I think.

"Voi hyvanen... This rifle came first, Lahti L-39. Your Gauss Rifles were made from these, and it's a shame that so many were gutted for that use. They're hardly an upgrade." Okay, note to self, never let Minty meet Quick Fire while he has Jolts out, otherwise I'm pretty sure he might just smash it to pieces right then and there. Also never have the burst-Gauss out in his presence, either, for that matter. The tank gunner let off a sigh, looking to the doors of the shed. "I'm going out hunting for a while. Need some time to relax."

"Alright, just be back before it gets too late, might have some plans drawn up by the time you get back. Try to not vaporize too much game, eh?" Gardener let off a small chuckle as Quick Fire responded with a nod, his rifle balanced on his back and magic encompassing the door's handles. As he was about to open them, though, the loud growl of an engine filled the air outside the shed, us all trotting forwards to see what was approaching. The unicorn opened up the doors, a flurry of fresh snow blowing in as a pair of headlights shone through, soon followed by a massive trundling beast of a landship, and a boat on tracks behind it. Huh, guess it's the changing of the guard, or something.

Gardener and Quick Fire both just watched on as Deathtrap and Sensha's boat-tank both moved towards their respective places in the shed, a look of surprise and faint recognition on both their faces. This was only accentuated as the deep, throaty rumble of Deathtrap's engine was quieted, and the zebra popped his head out of the top hatch, letting off a long sigh. He turned to look back at us, eyes going wide in surprise. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the unluckiest Equestrian-born zebra still on the planet. Sure have kept that leaky landship of yours going alright over the years, eh, Caution Tape?"

The ghoul zebra let off a small laugh as he climbed down from his tank, trotting over to the other tank commander. "Ah, Poppy Gardener, it's been quite a long while since I last saw you! Tell me, your little sturmhaubitzewagen still managing to remain upright? From ze looks of things, Short Shift's still no stranger to the bottom of a bottle." They both shared a laugh, followed by a quick hug, Sensha hopping down from her tank and starting the long walk over to join everyone else. Well, glad to know we're all still friends here. "It's good to see you again, kamerad. Vhat brings you all ze way down to Maple Station, though?"

"Answering a call for help, the lovely lady over there's said that there's a war brewing on the horizon down here and, well, you know how I can't resist a good challenge. Things've been a bit slow back home anyways, more new recruits getting in than we can handle and we've been low on work. Were on leave up by Mare's Lake when we got the signal." Myself and Static both trotted over to join up with them, Poppy Gardener wearing a grin as he continued. "Of course, would help if we knew just what we were due to be going up against. Mind clueing us in sometime later?"

Static gave off a chuckle, answering with a small nod. "I think that's what Scouring and Crash Dive are doing right now with Mad Jack and Rheinmetall, we've got a pretty good idea of what we'll be facing at their main base as it is. Ever killed a robotic dragon before?" Gardener gave off a small laugh, looking between us, before his eyes went a little wide. Well, he's the one who said he wanted a challenge. Static looked about the shed for a few moments, trying to see behind the tanks, before turning to face back forwards. "Scouring's got most of the data with him, would be nice if we knew where they went off to, though..."

As if on cue, the sound of four sets of hooves trotting back out from somewhere at the side of the shed could just be heard, two of them accentuated by the sound of power armor. We all trotted a little further along Deathtrap's side to see them, the group emerging from a short hallway behind Avery. Scouring took the lead, wearing a smile on his muzzle. "Ah, good, seems like everyone's here. So, we were goin' over a bit more o' the data, and, ah, did happen to occur to us that we missed a bit of intel that could be useful t' have... Ah, Rheinmetall?"

The tank ghoul unicorn stepped forwards, pulling out a few faded, old photographs from his pocket. Holding them up for us to see, the sight made me a little confused, understandably - that... looked like a warship turret, kinda, aside from the fact that it seemed to be buried in the ground... and this other photograph of a turret buried in a bunker seemed to be up the side of a mountain. Well, at least Gardener seemed to understand what we were looking at. "Back during ze war, one of the zings ve encountered vhile fighting during the Tobuck Campaign were these, zebra bunkers outfitted with large gun turrets, used for defending areas such as valleys und mountain passes, anyvhere that a fighting force could feasibly approach from vhen attacking a main fort. Equestria did copy the idea for her own fortified bases during ze latter parts of the war, and if ze base ve are to besiege is vhere you say it is, zhen it is -very- likely zhere are some of these in place already, possibly even as far up as Saddlebrook. We need to know vhere they are, these have guns vhich can tear a tank apart, let alone any unarmored forces."

A long sigh escaped me as this new info sunk in, myself bringing a hoof to my forehead. More recon duties... then more planning. This is gonna be a long war.

“Well, I suppose we better get moving, then.” Night Strike said after she brought her hoof down from her face. “I swear this thing is going to be the death of me. And not the gunfire, explosion-y kind of death. You know, the fun kind.” I just rolled my eyes at her banter, shaking my head slightly. The war wasn't a case of everyone suddenly having these fancy machines and missiles either, Strikey, they had to do planning and recon too. Just hope this time it doesn't involve Aerith injuring herself as much, if the need for a hooves-on approach is required... Night Strike let off a sigh, looking around at the tank ghouls around us. “You guys can make sure everyone's all stocked up on ammo, right? We’re not really sure how soon we’re going to need you.”

Sensha gave a quick nod, trotting forwards beside Poppy Gardener and Caution Tape. “I'll get the ammunition replicator cart up and going. Assuming she hasn't been causing too much havoc down in Hopeville, Rangefinder should still be set for ammo from setting up Glowing-Sea, and I hardly use my tank's cannon anyways. Just leaves Porschia, Avery, and Deathtrap to tend to...” The zony trailed off for a moment, looking at the strange boxy-turreted tank parked between the two larger single-turreted ones. She blunk after a moment, letting off a weak chuckle. "O-oh! And, uh, of course your BT-42. Sorry, not used to accounting for six, heh..."

The moustached tank commander gave a small wave of his hoof, letting off a chuckle. "Ah, don't worry yourself my dear, didn't face much on the drive here. We've still got a healthy supply of HEAT and HESH for her gun, though if you know of anywhere that might stock 20mm rounds, I've a feeling Quick Fire would appreciate it. Those robo-dragons you mentioned probably wouldn't fare too well against an anti-tank rifle, right?" Poppy Gardener let off a chuckle that Night Strike joined him in, rubbing at the back of her own head uneasily. Oh, right, Hispano's gun is a 20mm, isn't it?... well, she did manage to kill one of the dragons by herself! I think.

“The guys up at Vanhoover Air Base might have something for ammo, 20mm was a pretty common aircraft round, I think. We have to go there next anyways, might as well see if they can pitch in. They’d probably be able to give us some intel on the valleys and stuff to the south, too.” I suggested. Night Strike nodded in agreement, putting her hoof up to her mouth as she thought, Rheinmetall putting the photographs back into his jacket's pocket. “Alright then, um, until we can get the HMS Cadence staffed and going, uh... I dunno, I guess just stay and wait for our signal, maybe. Unless your guns can point higher than I think, I dunno how effective you'll be against airborne dragons, but having some armor on side can't hurt.”

Mad Jack gave off a small cough, trotting forwards. "Well, having armor's all well and good, but if you're asking us to head somewhere all the way in the southeast from Maple Station that's an order in and of itself. Would be better if we had somewhere closer to the target for staging everything, you know, some sort of FOB. Some of us don't exactly have fast tanks, eheh..." Night Strike gave off another sigh, myself putting a hoof up to rub at my forehead. Well... okay, that is a good point. If Avery can only go as fast as the TOG, then there being some place for it to start from that's closer to the actual base would be better...

"Alright... we'll sort something out. Vanhoover Air Base, Saddlebrook, maybe that golf course B Company mentioned or something, or the ski lodge they got that one not-a-tank thing from..." The hoof rubbing at my forehead moved to my eyes, a soft grunt escaping me. It's already late, my brain can't logistics this time of night... let's just get to the hotel soner than later. I turned attention back to the group, letting off a small huff. "Okay, we aren't going to be moving on this anytime soon anyways, we need to get the HMS Cadence staffed and... I think your guys' tanks too, if I remember it right. For now, I think some sleep would help us more than anything."

Night Strike looked over to the others, a long yawn escaping herself as well, soft chuckles escaping Rheinmetall and Mad Jack. Poppy Gardener gave a gentle pat on my back with his hoof, getting my attention. "Ah, of course. Don't you worry about sorting crews for us, I've got a few friends heading down to lend hooves myself. Wish you would've told me that we're facing airbone foes earlier, but I can see if we've anything back at Cordite that could get down here in a hurry to help. You all get yourselves a good rest, we won't be going anywhere, heh."

The other tank ghouls gave nods of agreement, and after saying our goodbyes - and making sure they knew where we'd landed and that they wouldn't be heading out to test their guns anytime soon - we headed out into the frigid night air, the light snowfall from earlier having thickened noticeably. I gave a grimace as I moved up close beside Night Strike, the pegasus' breath making faint clouds in the blue-lit air. "For the best, I might be getting to be a decent pilot but I wouldn't risk flying the Valkyrie in a snowstorm that's getting this heavy. Let alone..." She paused to let off a long yawn, giving her head a shake. "Let alone while this tired. You're good for paying for our hotel rooms, right, Sparky?"

She passed on a sly grin as I answered with a roll of my eyes, looking towards the hotel in the distance. Our fault for getting here so late... hopefully we can get through the rest of this without spending all of our caps. Hopefully.

Night Strike pulled back on the controls of the Valkyrie as we descended towards the air base, peering ahead over the nose of the plane and towards the snowy runway beyond. I did the same, albeit with the benefit of the forward camera - o-kay, well, a standard horizontal landing isn't as bad as viewiing the ground while mid-flight, at least. The landing gear extended and locked into position with a clunk, the rear sets touching down first in the fresh snow before the front one did, Night Strike letting off an audible sigh. A few ponies watched from the sidelines as the Valkyrie slowed down, Night Strike pulling the throttle back as I looked out over the side of the cockpit. A mini-tank appeared alongside from one of the bunker-hangars, driving ahead of us and into Night Strike's vision. After a moment, we began to roll off of the runway and towards one of the open hangars, much unlike the last time alive with several ponies working on constructing more air craft.

Pulling up inside an empty section of the hangar, Night Strike flipped a few switches, the Valkyrie's engines powering down and systems shutting off easily, myself undoing my buckles. Hitting the button for the bomb bay doors, they fixed themselves open with a clunk, allowing Scouring and Crash Dive to disembark as Night Strike opened the cockpit door for both of us to make our own exit. As we stepped down onto the hard, cool concrete of the hangar, we were greeted by a crowd of ponies already swarming about the Valkyrie, all extremely eager to get a look at it. “Eheheh, guess they’re a bit more excited than I thought they’d be...” Night Strike said, trying to squeeze past them as they admired it.

“Nnf, well, seeing how the Dragon Mare is... was, probably the most advanced thing they’d have seen, I’m not really surprised. Let’s just hope one of them doesn’t try and take it out for a joyride.” I said, looking back over my shoulder through the crowd and catching the two ponies in power armor pushing through them as well. Night Strike gave a weak chuckle, also looking back towards the mass of ponies as we finally reached the end, appreciating the breathing space. As we looked about the hangar, a familiar voice echoed over the large group of ponies, and we spotted Sharpwing flying over to us.

“Ay, 's been a while! Wasn’t expectin' you to be stopping by.” She trotted up to us after landing, wearing a grin as her eyes moved from us to looking over the Valkyrie. “Ah, that thing’s a real beauty, innit? I can see why you were so eager to get her runnin' again. What I wouldn’t give to be able to fly like that thing can…” She stared whistfully, letting off a soft sigh before shaking her head and refocusing. “Ah, sorry, just daydreamin’ again. So, what brings you back here?” She began to lead us out of the large hangar and over towards the main complex, the crowd of ponies starting to slowly disperse as each individual got their fill of gawking.

“Oh, you know, just adventures, mass armed conflict, possible fate of Equestria at stake and such.” Night Strike responded somewhat sarcastically. Sharpwing gave her a quizzical look, about to open her mouth to speak. “No, no, I um… look, this is probably something better discussed once we’re with Serene too. It’s kind of a big deal, and we’re going to need the whole base’s help.” Sharpwing didn’t look any less confused, but she continued to head towards the old office complex.

Stepping inside, we were greeted by a guard in a flight jacket, who immediately stood at attention and saluted. Sharpwing returned the salute, speaking up. “At ease, I’m bringing the Vanhoover Five up to talk with Serene. They say it’s urgent business.” The guard stood down, giving a small grin before waving his hoof along.

“Aw, heck, I remember you guys. Beating out Turbine in that race was pretty impressive, that bastard got what was coming to him... Uh, apologies for my language, Air Marshal. Serene is in the command room, you can head on up.” We headed up the stairs he was standing post at, looping back and forth for what felt like ages as we climbed the control tower. Yeesh, I’m not even sure the Lighthouse was this tall... then again, I guess it would be kind of hard to see approaching aircraft from the bottom of a valley. It thankfully wasn’t too long before we finally reached the top room of the control tower, where we found Serene leaning over one of the old radio equipment, polishing his sword.

He looked up as we entered, giving an exasperated sigh. “For goodness sake, Sharpving. Ve agreed on svitching posts at exactly zhirteen-hundred hours and it’s already past two zhirty! I’m going to go mad if I have to stay up here while my Valker lies rusting in the vorkshop for anozher day! Wizout regular maintenance and training all of its gears are going to stick, und I’d be better off piloting a sled into combat!” He stood up, holstering his sword as Sharpwing rolled her eyes.

“Oh, stuff it, ya spoiled prince. Your walker isn’t going to rust just ‘cos you leave it unused for one extra hour. Besides, if you were too busy tendin' to your fancy show-sword to notice, we've got visitors.” She stepped aside, allowing all of us to enter the room. Thank you, standing on the stairway was starting to ache...

Serene’s eyes widened in surprise, and he stepped forward to shake all our hooves, Scouring looking about the well-kept tower and out the high windows overlooking the runways. Well... I guess that is fair, he wasn't here the first time around to see all this. “Vell, it’s good to see you two again. Why are you back here, zhough? I zhought you vould have been heading back to your home vonce you got your Valkyrie vorking again.”

Night Strike rubbed at the back of her head, sucking in some air through her teeth. “Yeah, about that… listen, I don’t know how long it takes for you guys to get info on stuff outside the base, but there’s a big war coming, and soon. You remember those guys that shot down Turbine mid-race? They shelled Hopeville after we got the Valkyrie airborne, and they’ve got some of Crash Dive’s old Enclave squad members helping them out with aircraft of their own, VTOL ones named Harriers. Worst of all, they’re sitting on a pretty massive supply of megaspell warheads, tactical ones that are part of some recoilless gun systems.” Both Serene and Sharpwing were dumbstruck, Serene’s face turning pale as he sat back down in his chair. Yeah, that's a fair reaction, honestly... "We need your help... and maybe a few pilots that would be willing to head over to the HMS Cadence, too."

Sharpwing stared intently between us, trying to comprehend what Night Strike had just said. “W-what? Are you serious? But… why’d they go after that place? What’re they trying to achieve?” Both Night Strike and I looked between ourselves before answering with a shrug, Sharpwing’s brow furrowing at our response. “There has to be bloody somethin'! Ponies don’ just go out an' bomb places 'cause they like the sounds of their kin screamin'. At least, nopony with access to such advanced tech and that knows how to use it. You really don’t have any idea on what they want?”

I lowered my eyes, trying to think about anything… the recording? No, that was just the flight of dragons, the place was hit by the mortar first. Ahm, uh, going after the dam, and the wind blew the shells off course, maybe? Agh, no, probably not... I shook my head, letting out a grunt of frustration. “I’m sorry, but we just don’t know. I’m not sure if they’re even trying to take over Vanhoover, or just want to try and kill out the wasteland. They’ve been pretty destructive if that’s the case.” Serene screwed up his face in concentration.

“Vhell, zat might be somezhing. If zhey vanted to take over ze Vanhoover area, zhey vould have done it already, ja? Zhey can’t be zhat new, not if zhey’re vorking viz ze Enclave. Zhey have to be vaiting for somezhing, or somevone.” Serene leaned down over the consoles, staring at nothing in particular as he wracked his brains to try and think of more clues. “Do you have any other intel on zhem? Some big veapon zhey’re vorking on, maybe? Or somepony zhey’re vaiting for?”

“Maybe... Wasn’t the shouty guy in the recording talking to some kind of robot researcher? Maybe they’re trying to develop some kind of mega death robot that can throw the megaspells around by itself? Or, uh, maybe they're using the railroad cannons to make some sort of super-tank, or something?” Night Strike suggested. I tilted my head in a noncommittal way. Well, I suppose it’s not impossible, though I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just use the dragons as is. Scouring did say that these bombs only weighed thirty-five kilograms or something, and I'm willing to bet that the barrel of a massive cannon weighs more than that.

Sharpwing sighed, flopping into one of the smaller chairs pushed up against the wall. “Well, not really much to go on. You guys got anything more concrete on this place? I think we’d be able to convince some of the ponies here to help out, but only if we can know what we’re up against. Least if they've got planes, we've got 128mm AA guns.” Scouring looked over from one of the windows with a grin, answering with a nod. He brought up the large storage drive from a compartment on his armor, plugging it into a nearby terminal and bringing it up onscreen. After it'd loaded in, he started to transfer some files over, Sharpwing and Serene watching him intently.

“Aye, we’ve got plans of the top level an' a few of the lower ones, along with a few bits an' pieces of jucier intel. Been sifting through the data the last few days to get all I can saved, will give ye copies of the important stuff. Seems like the main place is heavily fortified, but there's smaller stuff that's more freshly built, should be an easier nut to crack with bombs in the right places. Aside from that, well, if you've anything with some large guns on it, can help with shootin' down the dragons, too..." The power armored staiion wore a grin as he rested back in the chair, letting the file transfer complete. Well, they're all clued in now too... good.

I stepped forwards, watching as the transfer finished and Scouring ejected and then removed the drive, seeming to smirk at me as he did it. Oh, come on, I was kind of under a lot of pressure when I did that! Getting out of there alive was more important than getting out of there with every last bit of data uncorrupted. "I think the biggest threat you guys are going to have to worry about are the anti-aircraft guns they have themselves. They almost shot us down in the Valkyrie, I really doubt they’ll have much trouble trying to hit something as slow as Night Strike’s propeller-driven… thing.”

Night Strike gave a small huff. “Hey, that 'thing' won us the race, remember! It’s probably better than half the stuff they've got here still, being flightworthy for one.” I looked back over to her suspiciously, while Sharpwing and Serene were wearing small smirks of their own. She rolled her eyes in response, letting loose a sigh. “Okay, yeah, fair enough, I think I’d rather be flying over that place in the Valkyrie, but the Stork isn’t completely useless, either. Maybe somepony can fly a copy of it to spot for the Cadence's guns, or something. Maybe help with delivering messages or packages to the tanks once we get their forward base set up, or whatever...” Her eyes suddenly went wide as she turned back to Serene, a grin forming on her muzzle. “Heeeeeey, that walker of yours would be pretty good at storming the gates once we get those guns taken care of! It’s like wearing a set of power armor the size of a tank! And with it's own guns, too!”

Serene’s pupils shrank as she spoke, and he started trotting away from the terminal, shaking his head wildly. “Nein nein nein, absolutely not! I vill not let my valker come under such heavy fire! Besides, we need a team of four ponies, minimum, to operate it, and zhat’s not including a backup gunner or engineer! And if ve vere to fall in zhe middle of zhe battle, ve vould be sitting ducks!”

Sharpwing glared at Serene, who stood his ground. “Oh, for Luna’s sake, Serene! You keep moanin' and whinin' about how that big old thing is going to rust up without regular use, and then when you’ve got a chance to actually do something with it, you’re gonna just sit back at home? Barking spiders, and you keep trying to tell me those machines aren’t useless.” Serene returned the glare, Sharpwing letting of a frustrated sigh. “Unless you want to explain to the ponies we send out why you couldn’t bother to give them ground support and led to their inevitable demise, I really think you ought to think long and hard about this idea.”

Serene scowled, looking down at the airbase below through the control tower’s windows, and over towards the hangar where his massive walker was kept. Letting off another sigh, he shook his head, muttering something under his breath. “Scheisse… you’re going to get us boz killed, Sharpving.”

“Well, suppose I better start making funeral arrangements.” The Pegasus quipped. Scouring moved back to looking out the windows at the air base, as Sharpwing let off a sigh and moved over beside Serene, resting a hoof on his shoulder. "Come on, you won't be going it alone in the thing, anyways. You guys mentioned something about seting up a forward base for tanks, right?"

I answered with a nod, pausing to think. Eugh, well, we're probably heading back to Maple Station for something after this, anyways... maybe lunch. "Yeah, as a matter of fact we know somewhere that might be able to send along a few tank crewmen to help you out. If they're already familiar with working in a tank, how different would a walker be? Could you at least train them where it'd be needed?"

The red-coated unicorn let off a long huff, falling back into a nearby chair and starting to think. Well, I mean, tank, walker, they're both armored vehicles with guns, there's gotta be at least some overlap, right? Worst case, Serene just has to pilot the thing rather than being the one commanding it, probably. "Hm... ja, ja, I suppose zat could be a possibility. Ze guns' mechanisims probably aren't too different, und I'd assume zhey'd have experience vith at least some form of internal combustion engine far as vhat zhe engineer's skillset would have to be..." Serene trailed off, staring at the ceiling, as Sharpwing wore a triumphant smirk. "Still, I'm not exactly thrilled about zhis idea. Vhish my old instructor vere here, Clopp vhould be a far better sturmvalker instructor zhan I vould."

Sharpwing trotted over to rest a foreleg over Serene's shoulders, wearing a small smile herself. "Ah, c'mon ya barking prince, they've obviously got some sort of plan in the works already, we oughta trust 'em. If you're so bloody thick-headed about it you won't take her in for the big frontal assault, then maybe you can help them with setting up that base they were talking about, stamp out a few radroaches or bloatsprites for 'em, maybe." The pegasus wore a grin as Serene seemed to glare at her in mild disgust, both of them turning attention towards us. "So, since knowing where exactly Serene's thirty-ton pest extermination machine is needed would be useful, you've an idea of where that base's gonna be set up for us?"

I glanced between Night Strike and the others, the pegasus beside me breaking into some weak laughter as she rubbed at the back of her head, myself putting on a small grin. Oh, right, the other reason we came here... yeah, I wouldn't be looking quite as assured either, Serene and Sharpwing. Crash Dive let off a sigh as she brought a hoof to her forehead, myself clearing my throat and glancing around the control tower.

"Ahm... not exactly. You wouldn't happen to have a map of the area directly south from here, would you?"

"Well, took some digging, but this seems like the most thorough map we have on offer of the southern mountains." Sharpwing spread out the old, rolled-up map on one of the tables in the control tower, Crash Dive moving to help hold down the eastern side as myself and Static looked it over from the bottom. Sharpwing trotted around Crash Dive to join us, attention moving to the relevant area. 'Valley of the Two Sisters', huh? Well, it seems to be the best passage straight south from Saddlebrook... guess that'd be as good a place as any for the staging area.

Crash Dive seemed to focus more on the area further towards the south in the corner of the map, which just seemed to be empty mountains for the most part. Yeah, probably a printing error, that... "This isn't a military map, there's definitely some sort of base that should be located right here. Still, it'll provide us with some way to better coordinate things now that we at least have an idea of the routes they'd have to take, so it's better than nothing. Not to mention easier to distribute with some work, no need to try and give the entire invasion force pip-bucks..."

I gave off a small nod, looking at the blank corner in the mountain ranges. Yeah, just have to try and get copies of this map done up for all the tanks, at least... and maybe the HMS Cadence. Then again, they can probably fire without necessarily seeing the target, warships could do that, right? Eh... I found my eyes falling off of the map and to my foreleg to the west, the legputer inside my baggy sleeve poking against the fabric here and there. Guh, brain, really don't need to be zoning out at a time like this, I know we're more of the 'just get in there and bomb it' kind of attitude but we should at least be paying attention... unless... my eyes glanced back towards Static, and his own legputer, something finally clicking. Brain, you're a genius!

"Static, you were actually in the base, wouldn't your legpu- pip-buck have a map marker for it?" The earth pony blunk at me a few times, before looking down at the screen and flicking through the options a few times. His eyes went wide as he scrolled to the corner of the map, scratching at his head and sticking it out for us to see. "Fort Maple... huh, well, it's a name at least. More importantly... uh, is there a pen or pencil around?"

Serene wore a grin as he came over to start marking down the location for reference, a pencil held in his magic, as Static let a weak chuckle escape his lips. "Gonna be honest, actually kinda slipped my mind that that popped up on the pip-buck... i-in my defense, I was kind of more concerned with getting the info and getting out in one piece!"

I let loose a small chuckle and gave a shake of my head in response, leaning over to give Static a quick peck on his cheek. Oh, ya silly pony... "Don't worry about it Sparky, important thing is that now we've got a definite location for the place. All that leaves now is to get some more info about the places we'll be coming in from... uh, the tank ghouls over in Maple Station mentioned one possible thing that could've been set up in the valleys, these bunkers outfitted with turret guns, would pose a very real threat to the tank forces." I leaned forwards, looking over the map and scanning the valleys that lead down to the base. Of course, with it just being a standard road map... "...and of course this map doesn't show them listed anywhere. Great..."

Serene seemed to study the valleys leading down a little more closely, the pencil he'd used to mark the base now moving to draw circles around some bits along the sides, where the lines were a bit wider apart. I leaned over to see a bit closer, while Static brought his foreleg back down from the table. After a few moments of marking, the unicorn looked towards us with a grin, lifting the pencil up. "Vhat, don't you know how to read a topographical map? I vill admit, zhese are not anywhere near exact, but... vell, you see how zhese portions of the valleys flatten off occasionally? If I vhere setting up defenses, I'd want zhem to be in places vhere it's already easy to build und have a good view of the valley as vell, especially if zhey vere glorified buried battleship turrets."

Sharpwing wore a smirk as she adjusted herself, Serene taking a step backwards. "Well, it's not much, but it's somethin'. Suppose all that time you spend playin' with your toy soldiers has a use after all." The unicorn passed on a glare as the pegasus gave him a pat on the back, eventually moving into an eyeroll and trotting aside. Sharpwing gave a nod to us as Crash Dive moved back, letting the map roll back up. "It'll take some doing, but we might be able to convince a few o' the pilots here to have a recce in the places he marked out, maybe take some pictures too, if needed. We'll get as much as we can for you."

That prompted a moment's relief from me - well, least we won't be dealing with more boring taking pictures ourselves, even if they might not come out quite as high-res as ours would. Yeah... it'll only involve someone else putting their life on the line in a likely dubiously flight-capable airframe that could collapse if they sneezed, let alone if any dragons are airborne at the time. Thanks for the reality-check, brain. Crash Dive seemed thoughtful about something, tapping a hoof against her chin, before looking out at the hangar near the far end of the runway.

"Hm... you know, this might be a bit of a stretch, but I've got an idea. Think I remember hearing a broadcast over Radio KAOS that was talking about the Dragon Mare, a while back, some ghouls that saw it referred to it as an old surveillance aircraft..." A smirk came across her muzzle as Serene and Sharpwing shared a glance, along with myself and Static. Well, if it was supposed to be a surveillance aircraft, I dunno how much surveillance a burnt-out wreck could actually do... and that's before considering the kind of pilot that'd have to fly the thing, likely on a suicide mission considering what we're facing. "Tell me... Turbine's still locked up here somewhere, right?"

"Well, yeah, in the eastern sub-hangars, but... you're not suggestin' what I think you're suggestin', are ye?" Sharpwing wore an uneasy look as Crash Dive continued grinning that sly grin, Scouring... just seeming confused. Yeah, we're gonna have to bring him up to speed on a lot of things here, aren't we? The earthen-colored pegasus let off a sigh, turning for the stairs. "Wouldn't hurt if everyone could get to know just how that bumrag got his aircraft to go so fast, and... I guess... well. He isn't exactly being much help rotting away in an empty hangar. Alright."

As we started making way to head back down, Serene suddenly rushed ahead of us, eyes focusing on Sharpwing as he cleared his throat. The pegasus ahead of us seemed taken aback for the moment, before the red unicorn tapped against his foreleg a few times, prompting a sigh and facehoof from Sharpwing. "You had your off time, now it's mine, Sharpving. I can bring zhem to Turbine just as vhell as you can, in ze meantime it's your turn to be stuck up here."

"Oh, fine, whatever, ya barking prince. He's in the hangar in the north-west, the furthest one from the runway, over buried in the mountains. If you can convince 'im to help, or at least let us in on his design for the Dragon Mare, probably wouldn't hurt anythin'. I'll be up here if you need me." Sharpwing slumped back in one of the chairs, hooves crossed over her chest as she looked out the windows. Well, if being the Air Marshal or whatever meant spending half the day cooped up in the tower like a princess from an old fairy tale, gonna admit I'm really glad that none of us kept that position... least of all because of all the bloody stairs you have to climb to get up to it.

As we passed back out through the lobby behind Serene, and he passed a firm salute to the guard, we stepped out onto the snow-covered taxiway, the drone of a few engines filling the air to the south. As we looked over to try and find the source of the noise, the sight that we recieved... admittedly, was far from what we were expecting. Or, well, at least what I was expecting, anyways. Serene let off a small chuckle before the vehicle got too close, ushering us back a little ways. "Vhell, suppose we won't have to valk over to it, at least..."

The strange craft pulled up in front of the buildings, a great white cloud of snow being blown out from underneath it even as it came to a stop, a familiar stallion at the controls inside the seemingly spacious cabin, along with two others. Wait, wait, don't tell me... uh... okay, I know one of them's slow, and the other likes shouting a lot, and I think the third one was the one that crashed during the air race... right? The two ducted fans on the back of the strange craft stopped as it started shutting down, followed by the bizzare rubber skirt around the whole thing deflating flat. As the snow settled, and the craft came to a rest with a small shudder, I could just about make out what was printed on the side... "Hover-Van Grand Touring?"

Serene gave a nod beside me, trotting forwards, as the three stallions inside were gathering themselves together. "After zhe air race und Fast-Track's recovery, zhey started making zhese things instead of air craft. More useful und comfortable zhan driving around on ze back of ze Motorbugs, at least..." Scouring and Crash Dive both seemed to be trying to make sense of the craft themselves as the trio of stallions emerged, the pegasus - Fast Track, right? - getting out on the right... driver's side. Isn't it usually on the other side? "Guten morgen, Fast Track. Just making ze rounds? Mind if ve vhere to trouble you for a lift to zhe northvest hangar?"

He wore a grin as he hopped down from atop the craft... hover-van, I guess... looking back towards it. "Ah, well, would be glad to!... once we get the tanks topped off. Two eight-cylinder boxer multifuels from those Motorbugs tend to drink a lot, and we don't exactly have the largest of fuel tanks aboard. Still, the Vanhoover Air Base Hover-Van Grand Tour service is a rousing success so far, and we've even started work on a second Hover-Van!" The pegasus gave the side of the hover-van a satisfied little pat, as myself and Static moved a bit closer to examine it - if we had to wait for it to get fueled up, might as well.

Scouring and Crash Dive moved around the front as we headed towards the back, myself paying close attention to what mechanics I could see. Okay, so I guess the fans on the back provide the thrust, that's obvious enough, but the inflatable rubber bag-thing... that's more confusing. I guess it must have holes in the bottom or something, there was snow being kicked up even when the fans on the back had stopped, so... huh. I guess it blows air downwards, or something, then... Static moved a hoof to press against the rubber along the back, it seeming a bit more baggy than on the sides. A small chuckle escaped him as a smirk came to his muzzle, looking towards me. "Hey Strikey, does all this rubber at the back remind you of anything? You know, like something else that's rubber and inflatable, and found on the back of stuff that tends to stay near the ground~"

I'll admit, it did take me a second to understand what he was getting at... helpful as always, brain. The earth pony seemed to not be containing his laughter as well as it finally dawned on me, a firm glare shooting in his direction. Swear to Celestia above... "Static, I might be the pilot of the Valkyrie but I'm willing to bet that there's some sort of rear seat ejector system I could activate from my controls, and I'm willing to find it."

The earth pony stuck his tongue out towards me as I continued on to the opposite side of the hover-van, looking out across the airfield. "Oh, come on, Strikey, you've only had to wear it two or three times, and you can't deny it was at least kinda comfortable. It's not like I've tried getting you into a pair while you aren't looking..." I let off a small huff, giving my head a shake before looking up the valley sides. A small glint to the north caught my eyes, along with a pair of contrails in the frigid air. Huh, somepony's got a twin-engine design going already?... wait, I recognize that shape... "...well, yet, anyways."

Ignoring Static for the moment, I focused in on the aircraft on approach to the main runway, watching it's descent as the landing gear lowered from the fuselage... wing-bit. It's hard to tell what to call it when the whole thing is largely a circle, at least the Valkyrie has somewhat of an obvious main body. The strange pancake shape seemed to be flying almost frighteningly slow as it nosed up for landing, another mini-tank going out onto the runway to guide it followed by an emergency response one, the crowds either side watching it approach. Unbelievably slowly, the F/A-5U dropped onto the snowy tarmac, coming to a smooth stop in the middle of the runway. Static trotted up beside me as I let off a small chuckle, finally realizing just who was the pony piloting that particular pancake - We're really not that great as far as helping with getting people back home, are we?

The bizarre aircraft taxiied off of the tarmac and over to the main hangars, led by the motorbug, the two large repaired propellers spinning to a stop as it came to rest outside of the hangar we'd parked in earlier. I'd already started heading towards the craft, Static following behind, a door opening and ladder dropping down from the bottom, near the cockpit. A pony emerged, wearing a slightly singed flight jacket, pink mane poking out from under his thick winter cap and a grey muzzle being the only thing visible from under his flight gear. He grinned as we both approached, probably a little thankful most of the crowd in the hangar was still fawning over the Valkyrie. "Contrail! I... eheh, uh, sorry about leaving you in Hopeville for so long, we kinda ran into a lot of things that had to be taken care of first... sorta slipped our minds."

The pilot stallion gave his hoof a small wave, a grin holding on his muzzle. "Ah, don't fret about it, ah know y'all are the big heroes 'round here. Bein' honest, was for the better, was able to find somepony over in Maple Creek who could make new propellers fer the Pancake, and it only took a little bit of tweakin' to get the right-side gearbox back into shape with Marigold's help. Wasn't about t' leave this thing just layin' on the coast to rust away, yanno?" He gave the landing gear leg of the aircraft a few gentle pats, looking up at the flat fuselage above. Well, I guess that does make sense... wait... are those bomb bay doors up there?

Contrail looked back towards us as he seemed to remember something, myself still looking at the underside of the Pancake. If those are bomb bay doors... those slots look like they could be shell ejection ports... F/A-5U. If 'A' is for 'Attacker' like the Valkyrie, what would the 'F' be? "Actually, kinda a good thing ah caught y'all here. Was goin' over the radio bands on the flight over, sounded like somethin's coming in fast from over at Maple Station. Ah didn't catch much other than the words 'Vertibucks' and 'Enclave', sounds like somethin' you guys'd prolly wanna look into, though."

Well, that certainly caught my attention. Enclave Vertibucks... well, he doesn't sound too panicked about it, so maybe they're friendly Enclave Vertibucks? But who would... a hoof hit my head as I finally pieced it together, looking over to Static. "That must be the group Hispano said she'd call in, the ones that'll be working aboard the HMS Cadence. Thought she would just send them straight to Deadstallion's island, though..." Pausing to think for a moment, I gave my head a shake, getting myself back together. Okay, no, this is a good thing, we can coordinate some stuff with them better if they're heading through there. My eyes fell back on Contrail, who only seemed a bit confused. "Ahm, whatever. Do you know if they said how far out they were, when they might get there?"

The pilot stallion rubbed at the side of his head, seeming to think. "No, can't say that I do, but from the sounds'a things they were gettin' closer fast, their signal stuck around a little while after I passed outta range of Maple Station. Might be able to catch 'em before they land if ya head out now, maybe." I answered him with a nod, looking past Static and towards the parked Valkyrie, the crowds taht were around it having thinned some. With a supersonic bomber that can get from here to Maple Station in only twenty minutes, I'm sure we could probably outpace a few Vertibucks. Even if I might have to break the sound barrier a little...

Static seemed to read my mind as he turned and ran off to get Crash Dive and Scouring, myself darting over to the Valkyrie's cockpit door and climbing up the ladder to get into the cabin. The computers aboard hummed as they all came out of rest mode, myself puting her through her standard startup procedure. Hydro talismans one through four, on, primary igniters one through four, primed. Engine throttle at zero... alright. My hoof pressed and held the igniter switch, the sound of the four large turbines spooling up... not filling the air. I cracked open my eyes to look at the button, pressing it a few more times. Oh, please don't be broken... eventually, just around the time I started hearing a pair of power armored ponies climbing into the bomb bay, I looked up at the display ahead of me. Yeah, that... that's embarassing. Static seemed confused as I looked back towards him, letting off a weak chuckle.

"Uh... anybody know how to put this thing in reverse?"

"Gunnery range... mostly clear. Watch out for gryphon strikes." After a twenty-minute flight that took exactly 43 minutes because apparently parking a jet in a hangar nose-forwards is a mistake, we were finally over Maple Station, a cursory glance out the right of the cockpit showing a noticeable fleet of something out on the horizon. The landing gear once again compressed to take our weight on the fresh snow, a smooth vertical descent and touchdown geting a soft sigh from me. It's getting easier, still pretty darn stressful, though. The engines whined down as I shut them off, Static opening up the bomb bay as I started to unbuckle myself, a sudden bang against the roof of the craft jolting us both for a moment. I looked up through the canopy towards the turret, eyes meeting with the blue ones of the gryphon merc outside as she passed on a friendly wave. Nice to see you too, Hispano...

Climbing out through the side door, the olive-drab gryphon hopped down to greet us, a smile on her beak. "Hey guys, just in time, they're almost here! They're around three hundred strong, mainly soldiers but about a Company of engineers, too. Along with a few groups of ghouls they picked up that said they were heading that way, too, for some reason..." Hispano scratched at her head, before giving a shrug, looking off towards the north. Ghouls... could be Fowler's old navy buddies, I guess. The gryphon semed to focus on something at the top of the range, before reaching into her duffel bag and producing a flare gun. She broke it open to slide one in, looking over towards myself and Static. "Heh, might wanna step back..."

Glancing betwen ourselves, we took a few steps away from Hispano as she steadied herself and aimed the stubby pistol skywards, pausing for a few moments. A short breeze blew towards the east for a moment, the flare gun letting off a loud crack and whine as the bright projectle climbed skywards, eventually detonating with a loud pop a short while later. Hispano coughed as she fanned the base of the smoke trail away with her wings, putting the flare gun back away. "Lotta messy terrain around here, just wanted to be sure they knew where they were good to land. Should be touching down in... yeah, just a minute."

Giving a nod to her in response, we both trotted back over beside her and sat down in the snow. Well, guess we just gotta wait now. Scouring eventually joined us over where we were sitting, the power armored unicorn looking back towards the Valkyrie as he let his armored flanks rest in the snow as well. "Hey, uh, Night Strike? Think ye might be needed o'er at the bomb bay, Crash Dive inn't wantin' to come out. Looks like she got herself worked up again." Meeting his eyes for a moment, I answered with a nod, picking myself back up to my hooves. Alright, Crash Dive, come on, we've talked about this already... Still, probably wouldn't hurt to be with her.

A short glide got me over beside the Valkyrie, ducking underneath the opened door and troting in to look up at the half-empty belly of the aircraft. At the nose end of the bomb bay, the power armored pegasus seemed to have curled herself up, her armored forehooves keeping her face hidden as a few sniffles escaped her, echoing in the small space. I landed myself on the small walkspace beside her, our eyes finally meeting - even in the dim lighting of the bay, hers looked reddened and sore. She rested her hooves in her lap, a distant sound starting to be carried over the wind. "It's gonna be okay, Crash Dive. They're here to help us, and with all you've helped us do they're gonna be looking up to you, too. You don't have anything to worry about."

The power armored pegasus drew in a breath, releasing it in a small shudder, looking down to the ground. The sound outside was starting to become a little more defined - the distinct 'whap-whap-whap-whap' of a Vertibuck's rotors. They were getting close... "I... I know. It just... I haven't seen a large Enclave force in a decade." She let off a long sigh, sniffling in again. "Y-you know, besides the whole thing about having to cleanse the ground below, in the Enclave we also had it hammered in that, in the end we'd be helping everyone by doing what we did. It... it's just a little bittersweet to see it actually happening, finally." As Crash Dive started to break down again, I leaned over to pull her into a hug, trying my best to squeeze her with all the armor on. Looking to her muzzle though... she was smiling.

The sounds of the multiple vertibucks were loud and clear after Crash Dive had calmed back down to a presentable state, the engines on a few of the closer ones starting to shut off as we stepped out from underneath the Valkyrie. Trotting over to join up with Static, Scouring, and Hispano again, a pair of official-looking pegasi had joined them from one of the Vertibucks, the stallion extending a hoof. "Lt. Colonel Tail End, Enclave remnant forces, we hear you've got a few rogue elements determined to have the rest of us keep that damaged image. We're here to help out in any way we can."

I returned the hoof-shake as he went down the line, the Enclave officer moving to Crash Dive next. A soft smile came to his muzzle, and instead of a hoof shake, he opted for a salute instead. The power armored pegasus blunk for just a second, before scrambling to stiffen her legs up, taking on a posture that I've only ever really seen from some of the Steel Rangers when walking with Knight Fringe back at EQUAD. She returned the salute in the same motion, holding it, leading to... a rather bizzare staring contest, as far as I could tell. "My mistake, sir, it's been a long time since I last was in the presence of a senior officer."

Tail End held his salute, though seemed to let off a small chuckle as he did. "At ease, Private, from what I've been told you're more deserving of treatment as a senior officer in this situation." Crash Dive only blunk in confusion at that, bringing her hoof back to the ground. The Enclave officer followed, a hint of something in his eyes as he looked at Crash Dive, stepping to the side so that the crowds behind could get a look themselves... sweet mother of Celestia, I didn't realize that a couple hundred ponies would look like this. And this is barely half of what we need for the Cadence... "Two-hundred sixty general infantry under my command and 45 engineers under Flight Officer Ram Turbine's supervision, we'll follow your orders wherever you need us to be. From my understanding, it'll be aboard a warship of some description, correct?"

"Yup, the HMS Cadence, it's moored on an island out to the west, probably can't miss it. I'll be honest, we have no idea how much work it's going to need done to be battle-ready again, but the ghoul aboard it seems like he's confident it's doable with enough crew." I stepped forwards, Tail End's own smile seeming to waver slightly, giving way to concern. Yeah... maybe we should've gotten a more definitive answer out of Fowler before now on the whole 'will this crazy idea actually work' thing. Then again, why break the mold now? We're the Vanhoover Five, after all... Brain, please stop being sarcastic for at least a little while. Taking a moment to look over the crowds in front of us, a distinct lack of old stallions and mares with their skin falling off caught my attention. "Ehm, speaking of ghouls, Hispano mentioned you picked up a few on the way down?"

A small ruckus was being raised through the crowd, eventually producing a small band of ghouls wearing naval uniforms, all seeming to grumble as they looked back at the large group of pegasi they'd just pushed their way through. Well, guess that answers that question. "Good fer nuthin' lousy... hrm. Captain Sea Salt, formerly of the HMS Manechester. I understand Petty Officer Fowler's looking to resurrect the Cadence with our help, that correct?" Answering him with a nod, the stallion seemed to let off a dry chuckle, giving his head a shake. "Weren't for the fact that these lot came down for it too, would've said living on that ship's driven him mad. We'll see 'er up and going soon as we can, with any luck she'll purr the same as she did back durin' the Foallands. Least if she doesn't, we'll all have some last hurrah before getting a burial at sea, eh?"

The rest of the ghouls seemed to join in a small laugh, while the large group of pegasi behind them just seemed to range between nervous and mortified. I elected to join the remnants' reaction, letting off a nervous chuckle of my own. "Eheheh, yeah, let's try to not let that happen. I mean, if nothing else that is kinda where our only radio station is located at, heh..." A few of the sailor ghouls only seemed to laugh a little more at that, the crowds starting to edge a little away from them. Honestly, I couldn't blame them, kinda was hoping that given it's distance from the base the HMS Cadence would be about as safe a place as you could be during the battle, rather than a suicide mission.

As the laughter eventually died down, the heavy beating of large wings seemed to meet the air, the crowds looking up and catching sight of a flock of gryphons overhead. Oh, what's this now... wait... those are some REALLY degraded wings, and... huh... gryphon ghouls? That's possible? The sailor ghouls seemed to be muttering more than the enclave crowds were, a few of them taking on... less than welcoming expressions as the flight of gryphons landed. Boy, this place is getting pretty crowded... The leading gryphon passed on a salute, before extending a talon to shake. "Captain Bronze Wing, formerly of the AGR General Guto. Me and my friends understand you're looking for assistance with geting a warship back into op-"

"What in the name of Celestia's sweet rotting forehooves do you think you're doing here?!" Sea Salt's voice rung out loud as he pressed forwards towards the gryphon, the other sailor ghouls seeming to follow him and build themselves into a line while the ghoulified gryphons did the same. Oh... boy. "You've got a lot of bloody nerve to think we'll let you lot aboard the Cadence, I still remember my time aboard the Shetfield and don't think I've come close to forgiving you beaked bastards for what you did to her!"

Myself and Static had stepped back from the crowds of ghouls as they drew closer to each other, Scouring and Hispano holding ground and seeming ready to intervene. Oh, come on, we've got bigger stuff to worry about, let's not start infighting before you've even seen the ship... Bronze Wing held himself steady, meeting Sea Salt's angry eyes. "Given the state of the world today, I would've thought a war twenty-five decades ago would hardly have an impact on current events. It was your country that sank my ship in return, if you remember." The gryphon looked over towards myself and Static, a flash of pain crossing his eyes. "Regardless, it isn't your call to make. We want to make amends, there's been too much loss in the world already and any more which we can prevent we will try our hardest to do."

Both of the head ghouls were looking over towards us now, myself just feeling confused. Okay, so they both served in a war two hundred fifty years ago on opposing sides... when did Equestria go to war against the gryphons? Feels like I should... oh, right, the Foallands War! The same war that... that the HMS Cadence served in. Ho, boy. Well, at the same time, more trained people onboard the ship, and if nothing else the 'really want to survive this whole thing' crowd heavily outnumber them if they try anything. I let off a long sigh in the cold air, only afterwards realizing how unnervingly silent everything had went. "Well... we need as many capable bodies onboard it as we can, we've only got half of what we need so far. So long as they won't work against us, any help we can get..."

The ghoulified gryphon looked back towards Sea Salt, shuffling back slightly to extend a claw out in front of him. The old sailor ghoul grit his teeth as he looked down at it, eventually releasing a small huff and reaching out to meet the gryphon's talons giving it a firm shake. Necessary truce, alright, that's a good thing. The important bit is that we finally are getting towards having a full big warship on side... "Fine. Moment this is over, we never have to see each other again, at least."

Hispano clapped her talons together as she hovered above the crowds, wearing a wide grin. "Alright, one big happy dysfunctional family, then! You heard the mare, everyone get airborne and over to that island, we'll call ahead to let 'em know you're heading in. Come on people, that ship won't run itself!" The crowds began to shuffle back aboard their Vertibucks and take to the air, Scouring and Crash Dive both reconvening with us as the olive-drab gryphon landed back down on the ground. The Ghoulified gryphons joined in the takeoff as well, the other sailors pressing forth to the vertibucks near the back, everything starting to clear and calm back down again.

Tail End stuck around as the first few Vertibucks started taking to the air, passing on a nod to us. "We'll keep an eye on them, make sure everyone plays nice with each other. Lot of work ahead of us... You know how to reach us already. It'll be a pleasure serving for our country again, and bringing those sad excuses for Enclave soldiers to justice. Private." The officer passed on a salute to Crash Dive, which she returned, before climbing aboard his own Vertibuck and departing as well. Alright, three hundred and something capable bodies heading over to the HMS Cadence, confirmation on assistance from the Vanhoover Air Base, and a definite location of the big base we're going up against... today's been a productive day.

The last few vertibucks and pegasi vanished behind the hills in the distance, the drone of the engines fading on the wind. As we started to gather ourselves back together - myself still trying to comprehend the sight of all those hoofprints in the snow - a low growl was heard to the west, catching the attention of most of us. Half-expecting to see a smoke trail rising up over the hills, the only one of us who didn't seem to be fearing the worst was Static, and as the growling was heard again... Oh, really? The earth pony let off an embarassed chuckle as he rubbed at the back of his head, his stomach growling again.

"Eheheh... anyone up for lunch?"

In the Shadow of the Valleys

I looked up from the terminal at the sound of the screeching metal, glancing out of the window to see Dragon Mare sliding along the runway down below. Sparks flew from the wingtip as it dragged along the ground, Serene giving a gasp and bringing a hoof to his muzzle as he dropped the radio. Geez, how did someone with such poor flying skills become such a high-ranking member in this place to begin with? Ignoring the sirens from the rescue vehicle, I turned back to the terminal to look over some of the data Scouring had managed to salvage form the drive I got from Cerberus. Alright, so we know about the robo-dragons, is there anything else we should be worried about…?

I scanned through a few more of the files and pictures, but all the remaining diagrams were either detailed blue-prints of rocket engines, some sort of arcane reactor, or plans for a submarine. Well, I suppose that could be useful, but I don’t see Cerberus really using a plain old missile sub, and there weren't any at the sub pen when we last left, either... Scouring furrowed his brow, leaning in to get a better look at some of the files. “Hang on, somethin’s not adding up 'ere…” He said, pushing me aside slightly to sit in front of the terminal and start working away at the keyboard. I leaned over his shoulder, trying to see what he was looking at, lines of code running past. “Hrm, look, each file’s about 40 kilobytes, an' there’s only 8 of them in this folder. But if I check the memory…” He punched a few keys into the terminal, few incomprehensible lines of code appearing before a number flashed up on the screen. “Almost 350 kilos are in there. There’s got to be some files hidden in this thing...” He began to type out long strings into the computer, occasionally pausing as the terminal attempted to run his programs.

After a few moments of the fan whirring and code writing and erasing itself from the screen, a few more files began appearing below the others. Scouring selected the first one, the screen slowly beginning to load up the image. Like the other images in the list, it was a set of blueprints for some sort of device, however this one appeared to be much, much larger in size. The blueprints also appeared to be only one section of whatever the device was, showing an absolute mess of wires and cables, along with several motors, servos, and other various mechanisms for movement integrated to each portion. They came together to form some sort of… tail? If you could really call it that. If it was a tail, it was for something that looked to be even larger than the robo-dragons were.

Scouring loaded up another image, the computer whirring loudly as it attempted to pull up the large file. My eyes widened as the computer began to show something that looked worryingly like enormous jaws, when suddenly something erupted into a geyser of flame out on the runway, the lights flickering for a moment as Sharpwing rushed over beside Serene, myself looking over at the commotion. Scouring worked with the terminal for a little bit longer as Night Strike and I hurried over to the window to see what had happened. As we finally caught sight of the runway below... oh no.

Flames were once again engulfing the tail of the Dragon Mare as it rested on the end of the runway, a second motorbug rushing out to assist with quelling the fire. Foam fire-killing jets rained down upon the tail of the craft, the second motorbug pulling up to the cockpit, the few crew aboard it quick to remove Turbine from the plane and get him situated with some help. Even from over here, the dark stain on his flight jacket's stomach didn't look particuarly good...

The pegasus beside me held a hoof to her muzzle as she watched on, her eyes going wide as she looked between us. “The photos... shite, the photos! If the fire reaches the camera, we won't have any fresh data on what else they've got!” Sharpwing said, looking to either side of the control tower as I took a step back to watch her panic. Huh, but, wouldn't Turbine have the camera with him? How would he have taken the photos otherwise? She stopped herself in front of an exterior access door, looking over to us. "We found a big electronic surveillance camera that just about fit inside the Dragon Mare in one o' the hangars, were hopin' that'd give better pictures than just sendin' him up with a cheap hoof-held one. We'll be stuffed if we can't get 'em out before they get burned up!"

Night Strike and Aerith both pushed past me towards the door Sharpwing was stood in front of, the jacketed pegasus flashing her pip-buck and wearing a determined smile. "If they're digital, that means I can probably move them onto here, right? We'll get the pictures just fine, we've pulled stuff out of flaming aircraft before, eheh..." Sharpwing passed on a nod as she stepped aside, letting them both out of the tower and onto the walkway around it. We all watched them spread their wings wide and fall over the railing, heading off towards the slightly burning wreck, the earthen-colored pegasus letting loose a sigh and rubbing at her eyes, leaning against the desk.

Serene trotted over to rest a hoof on Sharpwing's shoulder, myself still watching the buring wreck. This could've gone better, probably... at least we do have the map, still, so we have a rough idea of how we'll have to get around to reach the base on the ground. Speaking of... "A-ahm, oh, uh, we have a holotape we found that you guys might be able to find useful, it's got a map of the valleys and areas we'll likely be taking on Cerberus' forces. It's pre-war, but since this place wasn't too badly hit I doubt too much has changed."

Scouring trotted himself over with the holotape at the ready, passing it over to Serene and Sharpwing before moving closer to Crash Dive and I. It was a little hard to tell, but his coat seemed... whiter, than usual. He gave a weak nod over to the terminal he was working on earlier, both of us following behind him as he let loose a shuddering breath. "W-well... suppose we finally got a bit of an answer as to what a 'Steven Electromagnet' is... an' why Cerberus was interested in the sub pen..."

The steel ranger stepped aside as I sat down in front of the terminal, looking over the data. Mark VII anti-vessel robotic serpent, codename Steven Electromagnet... anti-vessel? As in, anti-ship? Scrolling down, a full-body internal diagram of the robotic sea serpent came into view, and as my eyes fell on the reference scale for the diagram... "That... that's a big robot..."

Crash Dive leaned over to inspect it with me, reaching forth to point at a section on the screen. Obliging her, I scrolled up, letting her read the passage out loud. "The Mark VII prototype is an optimization of the more successful Mark IV design, though due to the concessions made for the more powerful offensive weaponry the armor protection of the Mark VII has been reduced to only stand up against MWT 40mm autocannon fire from usual attack angles and only around vital components. This has been deemed sufficient protection due to the Mark VII's intended role, and should not be of concern... If this thing is the Mark VII version, then the Valkyrie should be able to at least damage non-vitals with the guns it has, might be enough. If it's not been upgraded, well, at least we don't have to worry about whatever weapons it has being even more dangerous."

"To be honest, I'm really more concerned about the fact that thing exists at all. Let alone if it's operational..." I leaned back in the chair, really not looking forwards to possibly having to deal with that monster. Well... maybe there are still some of those megaspell depth bombs at the sub pen that haven't been converted yet, or we could always just use one of our own megaspells, right? Or the Cadence could handle it, too, those guns it has are huge! Letting loose a weak sigh, I sat up again, looking over to Scouring. "Night Strike mentioned something about Cerberus maybe having some other ground robots beside the robo-dragons, did you find anything like that in here?"

"Well, aye, but she's probably not gonna like it..." I shuffled back to let Scouring work at the terminal, a clatter outside drawing our attention as Aerith and Night Strike both arrived back at the tower. The pegasus wore a proud grin as she held up her pip-buck again, Crash Dive rushing over to look at the screen herself, Night Strike seeming the least bit surprised as her foreleg was grabbed.

I trotted over to join Crash Dive as she flipped through a couple of them, myself leaning in and squinting down at a particularly grainy one. “Well, that’s a lovely… pigeon? Can you make anything out of these?” I looked over to Crash Dive, who looked down at the photo on the small screen more intently, squinting and pulling it closer to her face while Night Strike just seemed to go with it.

“It’s a bit difficult to make out some of the details, but these still came out better than I was expecting. There, you can see the four turrets on the side of the mountain here…” She pointed to a few circular splotches in one bit of the photo, that seemed to run parallel with a stream at the bas eof the valley. “And those surrounding it should be anti-aircraft emplacements. We'll need to find a projector of some sort to get any real detail out, these tiny screens aren't great for showing high-resolution pictures, but it shouldn't be too hard to find one on an air base like this. Especially considering they already had the camera in storage...”

As Crash Dive was studying the photos, there was a small shout from the other side of the control tower, prompting us all to look over. Sharpwing had done a flying leap to get over to us, flaring her wings and turning up at the last moment to come to allow herself to canter to a stop in front of us. “We just got some distress call from the Cadence, just off the coast from that submarine pen. They say there’s summat attackin’ them!” I could only return a look of dread, fearing the worst. But, shouldn’t the Cadence be able to deal with something like the serpent? Those guns should be more than big enough...

Night Strike looked between myself and Sharpwing, Crash Dive giving her her hoof back as we all started for the stairway. “Did they say what it was? Harriers, dragons, what? They should be pretty well-defended against most stuff, we only took two AA turrets from them.” We soon reached the bottom of the stairs, bursting out of the doorway onto the tarmac, making a rush for the hangar the Valkyrie was stored in. Sharpwing only shrugged, picking up her speed to keep pace with the rest of us.

“No idea, we lost contact before they could give us any details. Whatever it is, it’s gotta be serious, though.” We soon arrived at the Valkyrie, Night Strike and I climbing up into the cockpit as the others moved themselves into the bomb bay. Sharpwing stopped at the cockpit door, looking back towards the engines. “We’ll try to send a few aircraft out to help, but it’ll take a while for them to get there after you.” Night Strike nodded in response, Sharpwing rushing off to allow her to shut the door, as we sat down and began to power up the Valkyrie.

“Alright... er, wait, what about Hispano and Cora?” I asked, flicking a few switches to set up the turrets, while Night Strike brought the engines online. The pegasus in front of me waved a hoof, working the controls as the Valkyrie taxiied out of the hangar and back onto the runway. Ooh, please tell me we can take off quickly, especially with that crash at the other end...

“They’ll be fine, they can take one of their planes back to Maple Station or something. It’s not like they’re going to hold them captive and make them compete in a race, anyways.” The engines whined as she pushed the throttle forwards, a small clatter being heard behind us. Ech, yeah, seat belts probably wouldn't hurt to have back there... A sudden kick of acceleration hit me as we started to climb rapidly, soon easily cresting over the mountains and making a turn towards the western coast. Ewuh, I'm never gonna get used to speeding up like that...

I kept my eyes on the top turret gunsight view as we approached the sound barrier, a few curses managing to be heard from the bomb bay above the engines as we went ever faster. The Valkyrie shuddered only slightly, Night Strike pushing on the throttle controls as far as they'd go, before a muffled explosion rang out around us as we broke through. We dashed through the sky, racing towards the sea as I let loose a sigh. Yeah, watching clouds go past instead of ground is a lot easier on the stomach...

Slowing down as we cleared the coast, the ground flashed past us, rocky green-ish cliffs soon giving way to the sea stretching out below us as I swapped to the lower camera. “Alright, they should be coming into view soon. Let’s just hope it’s not something like another angler queen...” Night Strike said, starting to slow the Valkyrie back down as we approached the Cadence. At first, it looked like whatever had been attacking them had already been driven off. There weren’t any dragons circling overhead, and it didn’t appear as if they were being bombarded by something from inland either. As we drew closer, though, it became clear what was really going on - and the pit in my stomach's bottom fell through.

Ghouls and ex-Enclave alike were darting back and forth across the deck, a few operating the smaller-caliber guns, spinning them around to attempt to fire upon something circling the ship beneath the waves. Water sprayed up as others threw what looked like huge grenades overboard into the brine, but whatever was below appeared to be unaffected by them. The dark figure changed direction suddenly, darting up and breaching the water. An enormous mechanical sea serpent twisted about to face the warship, its sharp jaws opening wide to reveal a network of wires and talismans, one particularly large gem resting at the back of its throat. Some autocannon fire futiley struck against the beast's hide before there was a flash of light and a loud discharge, as a laser beam shot out of the serpent’s mouth. The beast swept the laser across the deck of the ship, leaving a trail of blackened, scorched steel in its wake as ponies attempted to avoid the searing beam.

I looked down at my controls, trying to get a lock on to the dragon as Night Strike swung us back around to begin circling the ship in a steady orbit. Uuggh, heights are bad enough, I really don’t need to be spinning around constantly either. Gripping the controls, I stared through the viewfinder as the dragon’s laser died down, and it started to fall back below the waves. Taking a shot, a burst of lightning bolts flew from the tesla cannons towards the sea serpent. The shots failed to hit, however, instead sending up a spray of foam and a shock through the water several yards away. The serpent let out a mechanical screech before it disappeared beneath the water, diving deep to avoid the incoming fire from the ship.

There was a crackle of static, and a voice came in over the radio as we continued to circle around. “Hey, uh, we appreciate the help and all, but would you guys at least try to not fire tesla cannons near the Cadence's deck? The hull can take it, just please be careful. And tell us if you see anything from up there, the sonar was knocked out when the radio went so we're flying blind for the moment.”

Night Strike lifted a hoof to her headset, pressing it against the send button. “Roger that, Cadence, we'll mind our fire and go for some strafing the next time it shows itself.” She glanced back at me, and I answered her with a nod before looking down at the water. Ah, come on, I’ve survived 5,000 volts before, I’m sure they can! We turned around once more, circling above the ship as I tried to spot the mechanical leviathan through the turret cameras. A muffled explosion could be heard as a column of water shot up into the air suddenly, splashing against the side of the ship. Another explosion, and I swore I saw the Cadence actually shift a little in the water, as the crackle of static came in again.

“Hell, we’re taking hull damage, it’s firing on us from below!” I gulped, trying to spot any sort of clue as to where the machine was swimming as it fired upwards against the Cadence. I took a few potshots that I hoped were far enough away to miss, splashing water up as the bolts struck hard against the sea. A few coils breached the water for a moment, the tail of the beast thrashing about as it tried to obscure its movements. Several shots were fired at the point in the water where the robot had just disappeared, but it was unclear if any of them had managed to connect. There were several more explosions from beneath the waves, and a few ghouls began to hurry to the side of the ship with several large objects gripped in their hooves. They tossed them overboard, a few seconds going by as they fell beneath the waves, before yet another explosion rang out. This time, however, the explosion was met by a sudden stirring as the serpent shot through the water, running away from the detonations.

A moment later, the serpent burst out of the water again, its mouth charging up before letting loose several blasts of blue energy up the command tower. Before it could reach the control center at the top, however, I fired a burst of tesla cannon shots towards it, managing to land several bolts into its gaping jaws. The robot’s head jerked backwards from the electrical overloads, several sparks flying as wires and talismans dropped into the water below. The robot snapped its jaws a few times before dropping low in the water, attempting to keep the loose overladed wiring dry as it slithered up to the ship.

In a flash of movement, the metal monster lunged up out of the water, its metallic body crashing down on top of the deck. It began to slither and whip its tail around wildly, smashing ghouls into the guns on deck or throwing them off into the ocean. It gripped one of the large cannons in its jaws, thrashing its head back and forth in an attempt to wrench it free from its turret. As it fought with the solid metal gun, a large blast erupted from the barrel, an explosion managing to shred the side of the serpent's head as it let loose a loud roar. The second gun in the turret eruped, another shower of sparks and explosion sending the serpent back away from the ship's deck, the secondary guns and autocannons opening up on the leviathan. As it finally pulled away from the ship, the robot writhed and smashed its tail against some of the gun turrets, causing the ponies working them to be knocked off and smashed against the metal sides of the ship.

Night Strike brought us around again for another pass, allowing me to take a few more pot-shots at the serpent while she opened up with the Valkyrie's own autocannons. The robot was beginning to fall apart, several pieces of its armor plating dropping onto the deck of the Cadence as it reared above the waves, trying to keep its perforated body above water. It smashed its tail against the armored hull, sending some of the jagged metal plates flying in all directions. Several ponies began to hurrying up from below decks to retrieve the wounded as the main turrets swung around, aiming up at the serpent. Tracers from the AA turrets and secondaries lit up the sky for a few moments, before the masive main guns erupted in fire as well, punching clean through the serpent's body with the massive shells. It began to flop forwards, attempting to slip back beneath the waves, but several of its components were sparking and smoking dangerously already, a slick film of dark reddish fluid following in its wake. With a final push, it dropped down below the waves, several bolts of electricity dancing across the surface as it fried itself upon re-entry.

The air grew quiet as the sound of autocannon fire and explosions died down, a few of the crewmembers that were operating the guns hurrying over to assist with others that were injured. I slumped back into my seat and let out a sigh of relief, Night Strike pulling the Valkyrie around and slowing down yet again to pass by, a hoof moving to her headset. “Looks like it's gone from up here, you guys alright down there?”

“Y-yeah, looks like the things been knocked out of commission. You think you can hang around for a while longer, just to make sure they didn’t have anything else planned while we try and recover ourselves?” Night Strike gave an affirmation, only to look up a moment later and spot several planes incoming. I gripped the tesla cannon controls in anticipation for an attack, but there was yet another crackle of static coming in over the radio.

“Aw, that's a shame, seems we’ve missed the battle. That’s what you get when you gotta wait for somepony to finish with their tea... Well, we’re here for support, so long as we've got fuel and ordinance left. We’ll take things from here, Valkyrie.” I released my grip on the weapons, finally starting to ease out of the panic of batle, Night Strike pulling away to give room for the VAB’s smaller flying machines to maneuver around and begin to circle the Cadence instead.

“Good to hear. Keep an eye out for any follow-up attacks, and let us know if you need any assistance. We’re heading back to the Air Base. Over.” Night Strike responded, before turning to head to the northeast once again. The kick of acceleration from the engines meeting us, we began to speed off, as I leaned back into my chair and began to fiddle with my Pip-Buck's radio, leting loose a long sigh of relief. It took a moment, but soon Jim’s voice came in, albeit a lot more shaken than usual.

“U-uh, ah, sorry about that Vanhoover, we, ah, we've just had a slight issue of the massive fuckoff leviathan-esque robotic sea serpent kind. Th-thankfully, um, uh, I guess all our guns are definitely lethal against more than just cliff faces, eheh, as are the Vanhoover Five's aircraft cannons... Anyways, uh, while I try not to have a heart attack here, here’s some more music...” There was a clatter of tapes before the whirr of the holotape player could be heard.

"A whop bop baloop-bap a whop bam boo!
Tutti frutti, Aw rooty
Tutti frutti, Aw rooty
I got a gal, named Sue, who knows just what to do
She rocks to the east, she rocks to the west
She’s the gal that I love best!"

Arriving back at the air base and pulling into the hangar, we stepped out of the Valkyrie, Crash Dive, Scouring, and Aerith... less hopping, and more falling out of the bomb bay. Scouring rubbed the back of his neck, giving a small grunt of pain as he picked himself back up, walking over to us. “Ugh, s'pose we didn’t really need to come along fer that ride. Hope this crick goes away soon…” Regaining ouselves, we trotted along the taxiway towards the central control tower again, the sun threatening to sink behind the western mountains as we approached it. As we were about to walk through the doors, Serene stepped out of the base of the stairwell, perking up a bit as he saw us.

“Ah, thank the goddesses, it’s good to zee you’re all doing vell. Ve heard back from zhe Cadence, zhe flock sent zhere should be equipped to handle any intermittent attacks upon zhe ship during zhe upcoming battle, und zhey're getting their own onboard aircraft ready as vell. So long as you are able to take out zheir dragon production quickly, ve shouldn't have any issues.” I nodded in acknowledgement, Serene turning to face myself in particular. “Oh, and Cora would like to speak viz you, Static. Somezing about his fees? He’s in zhe vorkshop, come viz me.”

I gave a small grin as I broke off from the group, and followed after Serene. Fighting off a robotic sea serpent was way more than enough for me for one day... but more opportunities for price gouging? Like I'd ever turn that option down.

Static having disappeared off somewhere for the time being, myself, Aerith, Scouring, and Crash Dive all were resting in another section of the Vanhoover Air Base complex. Sharpwing and Serene were stood at the front of the large underground war room where the images Turbine had gotten were being projected, several of the other pilots and ponies who were living on the base joining us for the breifing. "Alright, as seen here, the valleys leading southwards to Fort Maple from Saddlebrook are protected by these Tobuck turrets, four in each complex. Besides these, they also have some smaller anti-aircraft gun emplacements between the first and second, and third and fourth turrets, as well as some form of larger turret further up the mountains - these appear to be a new construction. We're not sure if these are connected to the original complexes as well, but it would be reasonable to think they are."

The image being projected zoomed in on the anti-aircraft positions, Serene levitating up a stick to point towards specific sections. "Zhese will be your biggest threat from ze ground, ROQF 1-pounder autocannons. We do not believe that Cerberus vill be able to install heavier anti-aircraft firepower before our attack, at least on ze nearest complex to Saddlebrook, but be vary all the same. Disabling zhem should be your primary concern, zhen you can focus on zhe turrets vith zhe shaped-charge bomblet casettes."

Scouring cleared his throat for a moment, sitting up and catching Serene's attention. "Ah, sorry, just thinkin' it might be better fer you lot to focus on wipin' out the main turrets, those'll be a harder nut to crack than the AA stuff. Can get on the radio with B Company, from Saddlebrook they ought to have the range in their artillery to drop a few volleys on those positions for ye, maybe even further back. Safer'n flying over." The power armored unicorn looked about the room for a moment, everyone else having gone silent. Serene's expression... well, I didn't really think there was anything insulting in what Scouring said...

"Oi, you think we can't handle those damn AA guns ourselves? We've got enough ordinance here to bring the mountains down on top of 'em if we had to!" I didn't really recognize who had the outburst first, and the general rabble that followed was not very pleasant-sounding either. Oh boy, this might turn ugly... Sharpwing brought a hoof to her face and took to the air, hovering just above the crowd and lifting her hooves to the roof.

"Hey, hey! Enough! No fightin' in the War Room!" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as the rabble seemed to die down to grumbles, Sharpwing glaring over the crowd. As I calmed down and looked around with her, I just about noticed the fact that Crash Dive's rebar cannon was making the not-destructive 'unloading' sound. Oh, for Luna's sake Crash Dive, it was going bad but it probably wasn't going to go THAT bad! The earthen-colored pegasus let off a huff, setting herself back down on her hooves. "Scourin's got a point. Those AA guns might be a far cry from our twelve-point-eights and eighty-eights, but they're just as good at blowin' holes in the wings of homemade flyin' machines, and that's before ye get to the fact that they're bein' run by robots with fancy-feathers computers fer their brains. We can't completely ignore 'em ourselves, but we'll at least make 'em secondary objectives to the turrets threatening the tanks, aye?"

Sharpwing looked over at Serene as she finished, the unicorn letting off a small sigh as he dropped his shoulders, answering with a stout nod. "Very well, disabling ze turrets is your primary concern, but if zhere are still operational ROQF 1-pounders while you are in ze area do not hesitate to destroy zhose first." The earthen pegasus gave a light nod in response, stepping back to her previous spot. Serene clicked over the projector to another image, this one being the map we'd given them, albeit zoomed in on the valleys surrounding Saddlebrook and the southern areas. "Luck villing, we should not encounter too much anti-air resistance around Saddlebrook, so ve should be able to fly over zat area vith impunity. Just in case, however, I would reccomend flying on ze eastern or vestern side of ze ranges around ze town, und only cresting for your attack runs."

"Hey, uh, what about supporting the tanks directly?" The room had gone silent again, and this time I felt more than a few pairs of eyes drilling into the back of my own head. Oh... please end well. Serene set the hoof he was using to point at the flight routes down, joining in with all the eyes as I let off a weak chuckle. "Eheh, uh, I mean, um, they've got the larger of the two battalions, but they don't have any support from the HMS Cadence's guns. Could you at least do something to help after taking out the turrets that overlook Saddlebrook itself?"

The unicorn tapped a hoof against his chin, seeming to think for a moment. "Vell, I suppose, but aren't you going to be assisting in ze Valkyrie as well? I mean, we've only got so many airworthy designs, and not exactly much training in ze art of bombing, for that matter, let alone against moving targets." ...well, it was worth asking about, at least! Though, I can't really fault him for making us handle that in this case, far as it all goes the Valkyrie is kinda our ace in the hole... "And all zat is before us having to deal vith whatever robo-dragons they have as well. We can certainly try and add some defensive weaponry onto our aircraft, but... it vill be a challenge."

"Alright, yeah, that's fair enough. Well, I mean, if we get the turrets dealt with, you could at least help with mopping up afterwards, bombing a few disabled robo-dragons or something, right?" The unicorn answered with a small shrug and nod, turning to look back at the screen. So I'm not a tactician, sue me. "We'll do what we can over Saddlebrook, but sooner or later I'm gonna have to divert to Fort Maple for Static and Aerith to get into the main base, raise hell there and try to get them disorganized before the tanks arrive. If they can disable the main AA somehow, you think you could raze some of the outside with the ordinance you have left?"

Serene paused for thought again, while Sharpwing glanced up at the clock behind us on the wall, moving towards the projector. As I glanced at my own legputer clock... how is it already this late? "We'll sort somezing out. Anyvays, zat's the basic plan for tomorrow, our planes vill launch as early as ze tanks vill allow. Get some good rest tonight, everyone, you will need it."

The crowd of ponies slowly began to shuffle themselves out of the dark room, while we hung behind to let them pass. Serene approached us, checking to see the crowd had largely made their exit first before speaking. "We do have one wunderwaffen of our own we could deploy, a form of short-range missile, but we're unsure of if it would actually be of use. Contrail had taken the engines from two of zhem for his own flying machine back before he left, but we haven't yet tested zhem to see if zhey even still work. Zhey should be quite useful against ze main fortress, however." I blunk a few times as he spoke, giving my head a tilt. Short-range missiles from an air base, and you didn't think this could've been brought up earlier? The unicorn rubbed at the back of his neck, looking to the side for the moment. "I didn't vant to mention it during ze breifing, but if you believe zhis could help, we can see to getting ze launch mechanisms set up und weapons calibrated tonight."

I looked between Scouring and Aerith, both of them doing the same, the power armored unicorn responding with a shrug. Well, I mean, any more ordinance we can throw at Cerberus can't hurt... Crash Dive cleared her throat, getting our attention. "If you do set it up for launch, you'll probably only have a small window to do so. Launch too early, and Cerberus will know something's up, launch too late and you might end up catching Static and Aerith in one of the blasts." I blunk a few times, just processing that for the moment. Okay, yeah, when you put it like that, it does make a good argument for why we shouldn't do that.

Sharpwing answered with a nod as she trotted herself over, carrying the holotapes with the photos and map on them. "We'll have a direct line to ya through the Valkyrie, won't we? Just give us some forewarnin' of when you're goin' in, and we'll make sure the barrage is stopped before then. We can work out the timin' right, might even be able to have you getting in just as the last one lands." The earthen pegasus smiled as she continued on out, us all following behind her. Well, she sounds confident in the plan, at least.

Navigating through the underground tunnels, we eventually found ourselves back near the entrance, something out on the taxiway making a noise like a single-rotor vertibird, and sporting a big red cross on the side of it. Cora and Hispano seemed to be milling about around it, along with a few other ponies actually at the controls of whatever it was. Huh, so that's what he was looking for... A small squeak caught my attention beside me, and I looked over to find Static sitting outside the tunnel, shoulders slumped and eyes wide, staring off into the distance. Ooh, come on Sparky, don't start acting like dad now... His eyes met mine as I moved over to him, before going back to stare over at Cora, a shuddering breath leaving him. "You know, Night Strike, I always thought that I could land a good deal. Not... not... didn't happen with Cora."

I paused just for a moment to process what he just said, before letting loose a sigh and bringing my forehead to rest on my hoof. Leave it to Static to get a case of shell-shock through bartering...

"Good bright, beautiful, early morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio K A O S, and that hue out the port window here is looking exceptionally pretty. Here's hoping things'll last through the whole day, as we've got quite an interesting day ahead of us, indeed. It's a nice and early 5 AM all across this wonderful patch of Equestria, and for all you early-risers or late-sleepers, how about we get on to a bit of early-morning news, eh?

"Out of Maple Station, we've got some rather intriguing reports come in from the town of Hope, actually, about a very peculiar convoy headed down this way. Whether or not they're here because of the Vanhoover Five is anyone's guess, though I will admit I really wouldn't mind getting to see whatever in the name of Celestia the 'Great White Northern Slug' is for myself, heh. I might not've been around the wasteland for long, but I can honestly say I have never heard of a giant slug before-"

"All hands inside, all hands inside, watch your heads!"

"Ahem, heh, sorry listeners for that and any further interruptions, we at Radio KAOS are still getting some things sorted onboard this old warship after yesterday's excitement. But, yeah, this new convoy, on top of having a giant white slug, also apparently consists of a ghost or ghost story from the town of Cordite, and more than a few vertibucks as well. Can only hope that whoever these are, they're at least a benign supernatural force, heh.

"Ah, anyways, now that I look at the time, I should move on to the weather forecast for today, while I get the next song queued up here. We're looking at an overall clear day today, moderate clouds giving way to the kind of day the wasteland's sweetheart would sing about..."

"FIRE!"

"...oh, and to the area east of Hopeville, there may be a -slight- chance of eight-inch high explosive shellfire. Keep your heads down, folks."

"Engines 1, 2, 3, and 4, all active and idling. Pilot... half-awake." A short yawn escaped me as I adjusted myself in the Valkyrie's pilot seat, the earth pony behind me clacking away at his console in his stealth suit, with the alicorn beside him watching on. The tinkling of magic and hiss of carbonation being released met my ears, and I looked over to see Aerith passing a bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD up to me, the glowing soda overpowering the glow from the instrument panel. I took it from her aura, putting the neck to my lips and taking a few large, long gulps, a relaxed sigh escaping me as I finished off the first half of the bottle. "Okay, pilot mostly awake now. Things green on your side, Sparky?"

"Well, other than being strapped in a supersonic aircraft with somepony who can't even wake up in time for the start of a major war without the help of Sparkle-Cola, just peachy." I gave my eyes a roll as I went to finish off the second half of the bottle, Aerith taking the now-emptied one from me and fitting it back in my duffel bag. "Tesla cannon turrets primed and at the ready, and bombs 3 and 4 are locked down tight with 1 and 2 free. Feels like a bit of a waste to only be carrying two of the thermobaric bombs when we could be carrying five instead, really..."

"Better we have the megaspells onboard than leaving them somewhere when we might need to use them, Static. Yes, it is a 'might', but better safe than sorry, yanno..." The soft glow of dawn breaking behind the mountains to our back started to light the sky outside the hangar, myself sitting up in the cockpit chair to watch for the guidance motorbug. Come on, let's stop stalling... I lifted a forehoof to the headphones in my ears, looking either side of the taxiway. The Valkyrie rolled easily out as I gave her a little throttle, trying to net a clearer view. "Valkyrie to VAB Control, we're good and set to go. Just waiting on our runway escort."

The radio set crackled with static for a moment, before Sharpwing's voice came across it, Static doing a bit of fiddling with the controls to clear up the signal. "Copy Valkyrie, escort should be there soon. Should have the frequency for the tank radios as well, Ironside dropped it off last night. Won't work until you get near the valley, but at least you'll be able to hear what's goin' on with 'em down there. Ah..." There was a light shuffling, and over the sound of the four large turbines I could just about make out the rumble of an eight-cylinder boxer multifuel powering down the taxiway. "Escort is there, once the runway is clear ye can punch it and head out. Goddess-speed Valkyrie, and good luck."

The small half-track slowed as it passed our nose, myself waving down from the cockpit as the pony driving it answered with a nod. The turbines spooled up, and slowly we made our way down the paved taxiway, the headlamp of the motorbug being the only thing keeping the ground lit to an appreciable extent. Turning to line up with the middle of the runway, we came to a stop, the little half-track rushing off to help get the next aircraft in place. I took in a breath, letting it loose in a soft sigh, eyes focusing on the holographic reticle ahead. Go-time, Strikey...

Pushing the throttle to full power and releasing the brake, the Valkyrie began picking up speed down the runway fast, a distinct howl echoing around us and in the valley as we accelerated further and further. Pulling back on the stick, the nose lifted up quickly, and with the clunk telling us the landing gear's retracted we were finally fully in flight. I rolled us slightly to put us into a turn, following the valley around to watch the second aircraft take off. More we have to hit 'em at once, the better...

The second aircraft to taxi out, even in the orange-blue of early morning, was a very sharp red color, sporting an engine strung under both of the visibly-bent-upwards wings. The motorbug peeled off, and after a moment a loud droning sound echoed up from the valley, the odd aircraft buzzing down the length of the runway and taking to the air as well. Huh, that little thing might even be able to catch up with us... The radio crackled, Contrail's distinct voice coming over. "Ha-ha! Goddesses, first takeoff of the Icarus and she's handling like a beauty, even with a bit more ordinance on her than first planned for. Got 24 hollow-charge rockets on here, should put a big dent in anythin' the tanks're having trouble with."

"Copy that, Contrail, we're just finishing our orbit and will start heading for Saddlebrook now. Seeya there." The bright red jet gave a short waggle of its wings as we passed by it, myself leveling off the Valkyrie finally and letting us pick up some proper speed. Gonna have to slow down to loiter when we get there, but no need to take our time getting there in the first place... I glanced back towards Static, setting us up for orbiting around the western edge of the Saddlebrook valley. "You got the turret computers set up for gunshipping, like yesterday? They oughta do some good here now you don't have to be so careful with your aim."

"Yeah, it's set, though we kinda do have to hope that the dragons or whatever don't get too close to the tanks. I'm no electrical engineer, but I kinda doubt that concentrated directed lightning and big metal boxes with ponies inside mix that well..." ...kill 'em before they can get on the tanks then, got it. Or I guess if worse comes to, we do have the autocannons to help... oh, I hope they can go down in less than 80 shots. Ah, no, shouldn't worry, these tanks are good for longer ranges, they've got Porschia and Fyre on side, after all... just breathe, Strikey.

The valley the destroyed town resided in passed by underneath, and I put us into an easy, high orbit, looking out of the cockpit canopy to the ground below. The tanks were barely visible on the north end of the valley, though the intermittent flashes as the small artillery piece backing them up went to work gave some idea of where they were, as well as the tracers from their own guns. Static worked with the radio for a moment, the sound of muffled machine guns coming in to match with the tanks, Rheinmetall barking orders over his set. "Gardener, Rangefinder, flank far right und hit as many as you can, Ironsides and I shall take ze left flank. Keep your distance und never let zat OQF 17-pounder stop firing if zhere's something to shoot at!"

"Come on, Rhymey, I know what I gotta do! Just gotta wait for 'em to- shit!" The heavy rattle of Rangefinder's cupola MG filled the radio, and I was just about able to look down and see red tracers pinging off of something approaching the tank as we reached the opposite side of the valley in our orbit. Static fell silent as he focused, the tesla cannon turrets - both of them at once, surprisingly - sounding out with rapid discharges and leaving blue bolts in the sky above the town. The electrical discharges made the radio frazzle for a moment, but soon it faded back in with Rangefinder's voice. "Hrrm, heh, hell yeah! Get some, ya robo-bastards! Woo!" Well, at least she seems to be enjoying herself in all this. Can't really blame her... "Izzat you up there, Valkyrie? Can ya hear us?"

"Bit staticy, but yeah, we're getting you! Here to help, with more friends coming in, just keep at what you're doing and we'll keep blasting 'em." A small chuckle escaped me as I watched out down into the valley, soon reaching the northern edge and beginning on the second orbit. As I looked south, a pair of flashes from the valley beyond caught my eye, followed by two tracers flying in and impacting well short of Fyre. Rangefinder let off a small startled scream, before the sound of her tank's hatch closing met our ears, the blond mane of the pegasus ghoul having vanished down inside the turret. Tobuck turrets are occupied and working, let's just hope that's already their max range... "Bunker turrets are opening up, might not want to press forwards much further, you might be just outside their range."

"Jahwol Valkyrie, engaging from range is what Porschia und Fyre are best at! We'll keep our distance, though zhere's been far less activity in ze town than vhat we were expecting. Do you see anything out of place from up zhere?" Holding our orbit, I glanced back to where Static was sat, listening as the earth pony clacked through the viewfinder dials. Turning attention back to the valley below, I tried to spot anything out of place looking down just in time to see another two shells from the bunker turrets land and blast open a large crater in the middle of the road. Huh, that's weird, weren't even any tanks there...

Static kept scanning over the area with his cameras, the western side of the valley passing by below once more. Some soft thumps could be heard outside - probably those AA guns mentioned yesterday - the two smaller tanks starting to move in towards the town. The dials clacked a few more times, Static going silent for just a moment, before letting loose a sharp gasp. "Night Strike, bring us over for a bomb run on that new crater as fast as you can, we might have an issue. I'm seeing a lot of magic signatures underground, I think there might be robots hiding in the drains."

The radio fizzled as I nodded in acknowledgement, leveling out our orbit and starting to extend out towards the east, setting up for the run. Gardener's voice came over, almost muffled by the sound of his tank's engine, before he presumably dropped down into the turret. "Hiding their main force underground? Oh, now that's a dirty tactic, haven't heard something like that pulled since Jack told about his time in Burroma fighting the stripes there. We'll keep well clear of the crater, hope you've got a lighter bomb onboard than what I've heard you carried in the past!" A tight bank had us lined up and heading directly west again, myself dipping the nose slightly to get a view of the valley. Yeah, hope you're quick on the draw when it coems to bombing Static, because this valley is not that wide at these speeds...

The bay doors clunked open fast, the eastern crests falling out of view behind the instrument panel and rushing past the canopy. The soft clatter of the release mechanisms going signified the bomb leaving the plane, myself pulling back on the stick and rolling us over to try and set up for going back to orbiting, and to watch the blast myself. Hey, we've only set off one or two of these so far, I wanna see an uninterrupted blast! Looking out the right side of the canopy, I could just about see a parachute drifting down to where the crater was, before the entire area was rapidly engulfed in a white, misty cloud, followed by a massive orange fireball. The buildings around the blast were quickly flattened, the cooling fireball rising into a lovely mushroom cloud below, a faint little giggle escaping me. Ah, okay, that was alright.

Swinging us back east to ease into another counter-clockwise orbit from the viewing pass, Ironside's voice came over the radio next, the old ghoul grunting heavily. "Bloody hell, coulda warned us about the size of that blast! Were only just at a safe distance, it sounds like it pinched the track coverings over, hearing a hell of a scraping noise while on the go. Also knocked out my loader, he should be fine but we'll be a bit slower on the six-pounder, assumin' anything's left to kill." A grimace soon replaced that grin I was wearing, bringing us back into the high gunshipping orbit over the valley, the mushroom cloud getting carried by the winds and dissipating from the floor. Ech, sorry, thought everyone was on the same comms...

Static went back to working with his cameras, myself looking up out of the canopy to see a few craft starting to buzz by overhead, sticking to the far eastern edge of the mountain ranges. Hah, well well well, looks like the Stork must've caught on... as did the Reliant Robin, somehow. Guess they made it more reliant, or something. A handful of other varying designs also passed by on the western side as we reached the eastern range, the bright red Icarus buzzing in directly over the valley. Contrail's voice came over the radio set, the stallion letting off a small laugh. "You guys sure know how to leave an impression! Sorry we're a bit late, I uh, eheh, forgot to check my fuel tanks before taking off the first time..."

The small jet did an arcing roll over the top of the cloud, before it came back around to match up with us in our orbit, hanging on our right wing. "So, what's the damages down there? Ah mean, besides the obvious explosion an' all, any more stuff these rockets might be needed for?" Static clacked away at his console for a short while, the stem and head of the mushroom becoming wisps on the wind while the ground cloud remained, thick and low. The earth pony behind me let off a few uncertain grunts, watching his screens.

"It's hard to see exact figures, but I think we've gotten a healthy number of whatever's underground with that bomb. Still see some moving towards the entrance, though, so try and get set up for a strafing pass or two there. We'll keep gunshipping from up here." Contrail gave the wings of the Icarus a little waggle, before peeling away from us and looping back around. I turned attention back to the valley, watching the wispy ground cloud start to dissipate finally. The tinkling of magic filled the cockpit, and in the corner of my vision I was just about able to see Aerith bring up one of her screens.

'I don't think those are robo-dragons, down there. The way their magic signature looks... it's not the right shape for it.' The cockpit went quiet as I watched down through the canopy again, Static still clacking away at his console behind me. The ground cloud had mostly settled by now, revealing the sight of the now much larger crater, and the flattened structures surrounding it. As I kept watching on, almost able to see the glint of something moving around down there in the debris, the radio broke over with another, panicked voice.

"They got-- --flak, HUGE SHELL---! Second complex still live, not enough hits! AA still up! Returning to-" There was a loud boom over the radio before it cut out to static, my eyes darting from the crater to the valley ahead. The air was thick with black, spotty clouds, a few smouldering craters around the emplacements and some large fire burning away on the first and closest of the bunkers. The few aircraft that were still buzzing around were all heading back north, spotty flak fire and large bright tracers following them as they tried their best to escape. A few managed to get over the crest of the mountains, or at least out into the valley where the AA couldn't hit, but... there were more smoke trails than I particularly wanted to've seen, all leading down to flaming wrecks on the mountain's slopes. This isn't good.

As we slipped into another orbit, I leveled off the Valkyrie, slowing us down to linger for a few moments longer. "Shit, we're losing too many aircraft to flak! They must've hidden some guns somewhere, or something. Uh..." Looking around the cockpit for a moment, the sound of the earth pony behind me undoing his restraints caught my attention, my eyes looking back to him as he got to his hooves and picked up the helmet of his stealth suit. "St-Static? What d'you think you're doing, we're not going for the main insertion yet! We have to, I don't know, blast the second bunkers away first, at least!"

The earth pony moved himself forwards, his eyes meeting mine as he rested a hoof on the side of my seat. A soft sigh escaped him, and the hoof that was on my seat moved to press against my shoulder instead, a sober look on his muzzle. "Strikey, the second complex is split by a slope, even if we did bomb one side there'd still be another pair of turrets and the AA guns on the other to contend with. We only have one conventional bomb left, and by the time you could get back to load up again, we'll have lost even more planes to them. I can get in there with Aerith, and we'll take them out faster and easier, just... trust me."

My eyes lingered on his for a long moment, looking back towards Aerith afterwards, the alicorn fitting a flare gun into her armored vest. She passed on a smile and confident nod, myself looking back to Static again. I let loose a long sigh, looking out of the canopy. "Alright. Promise me that the very moment things start to go wrong, you both get out of there, and find somewhere safe to wait. I'll try and loiter to pick you up immediately afterwards, just... please be careful, Static." The earth pony returned a smile, leaning forwards to pass on a quick kiss before he moved to fit his stealth suit's helmet on, the clatter of the access door opening heard behind us.

The bomb bay doors clunked open as I made the turn for the location of the second complex, dropping the nose to put us in a dive while I moved the throttle open. The winding valleys below proved well past intimidating at these speeds, so I elected to at least try and keep us as high up and out of them for as long as I could manage. I heard the access door finally close shut, the faintly cratered and pockmarked northern face of the mountain the second bunker lived in started to open up with tracer fire, the back of the Valkyrie shuddering as their proximity-fused shells had trouble keeping pace with our speed. I lined us up for the flak trench, leaning forwards to bring the reticle on target over the main, large cannon, it vanishing in another cloud from the muzzle. Hang on, guys...

Both of the autocannons opened up with a burst, the shells impacting against the ground in streams of explosions and fires, some managing to strike the gun and it's ammunition. The shells began to fizzle and pop, other explosions filling up the entrenched position as the ammo cooked off, myself pulling the nose up after the autocannons had loosed sixteen rounds between them. The mountain slope that divided the bunker turrets rushed past as I rolled right to avoid it, hearing the tinkling of magic activate the controls for the bomb bay and the large doors shutting behind me, letting off a breath as I climbed back skywards. The thumping of flak behind me grew muffled as I leveled the Valkyrie off above the mountains, heading back towards Saddlebrook.

As I started dropping to get set up for some strafing runs around the wrecked town, a loud roar filled the air overhead, myself looking up in time to see another jet shoot past, followed by a second, and a third identical craft. I watched them speed ahead for a few moments, their odd-shaped tails and lack of visible rear exhausts taking a moment in my brain to register, before I shoved the throttle open wide to pursue them. The Harriers... strafing's gonna have to wait, I have bastards to kill.

Catching up on the tail of one, little movements were needed to get the reticle lined up on them, the radio crackling with static every now and again. They weren't any the wiser I was even trailing them... Heh, must've taken their stupid pills today. Grabbing the triggers on the yoke, the cannons began sounding out loud again, myself watching the tracers flying ahead and starting to rip holes in the jet. Explosions threw off debris and cut into hydraulic lines, the radio's crackling growing louder as a vaguely familiar voice started to filter through. Something shot up from the plane ahead of me as it rapidly dropped in altitude, a split second before it passed overhead revealing the sight of a white parachute opening up, a low grumble escaping me. Bastard managed to escape... should turn around and shoot his chute out... "-Gyaah! Fucking hell! Hold fire, we're surrendering! Mercy, mercy!"

...I can honestly say, I wasn't expecting to hear that. I blunk a few times, easing back on the throttle to avoid overshooting the two remaining Harriers, the gunsight settling on the second one of the group. I lifted a hoof to hold against my headset, looking at the frequency on the HUD ahead. "Oh, really? And why in the hell shouldn't I shoot you two down, after all you've done? After this war you've brought on yourselves? Huh?"

The radio was silent for a few moments longer, before the voice came over again. "We can tell you what he's up to, why he's still attacking you with his robots. You nearly killed Slipstream already, we just want a fair goddess-damned trial first if we're gonna be offed!" The voice gave an exasperated sigh, myself watching teh two remaining aircraft start to descend. "I'm Private Sundowner, and the other plane is Sergeant Windshear. We're going to land at Vanhoover Air Base, after that we'll give ourselves up as POWs willingly to whoever's in charge of your forces. We just... please, a fair trial to answer for what we've done first."

A small huff escaped me, as I dipped the nose to get some bearings. We'd drifted a bit further east than I expected, but we should still be able to get to the VAB soon enough... and I'll have them in my gunsights if they try anything... "Fine. I'll tell them to hold fire on the guns. If either of you try anything funny, I won't hold fire with mine." The Harrier I didn't have my gunsight on gave his wings a short waggle in acknowledgement, myself switching the frequency over to the Vanoover Air Base control tower. "Valkyrie calling Vanhoover Air Base, Valkyrie calling Vanhoover Air Base, I'm coming in with two POWs... whatever those are. Hold fire and have some guards ready to take them into custody."

"Reading you Valkyrie, we'll have more than enough here to handle that. Scourin's friends have arrived, gonna be heading south to Saddlebrook shortly to keep it held down, and we're just about t' start launchin' the first few missiles as well. All goes well, we... ahm, hold on..." Sharpwing went quiet for a few moments, myself watching ahead at the two Harriers as they flew on towards the air base. She came back after a moment, the familiar canyon runway just about visible up ahead. "We're seein' you out to the southeast, we'll take over landing 'em from here. Valkyrie, divert back to Saddlebrook, they're havin' some trouble with the robots there, requested your help."

Taking a moment to process, I started to bring the Valkyrie's nose back around, powering on towards the town. Trouble with the robots? But they've got guns that're more than powerful enough to handle them, I mean, I saw Fyre blast apart a robo-dragon! Assuming these are robo-dragons... "Copy that Sharpwing, diverting now. Did they say what the robots were? They shouldn't be having too much trouble with robo-dragons, we didn't see any in the area while we were loitering."

The radio was quiet for a few more moments, the valley town coming into view fast. I arrived just in time to catch the Icarus loosing a barrage of rockets against something on the ground, Porschia and Fyre's cannons barking away at other things hidden in the dust clouds being kicked up, and the BT-42 running circles around... something that looked worryingly familiar in shape to things I've blown up before. Sharpwing's voice crackled over again, my vision going a slight shade of red as I brought the guns to bear. "They say they aren't the robo-dragons this time, they're..."

"Fucking robot Manticores!"

The wind whipped around me, my heart pounding against my chest as Aerith and I stood over the open bomb bay doors. A few explosions could be seen below, passing over one of the tanks, the ground sweeping by at a nauseating speed. I glanced over to Aerith, her outer suit jacket fluttering wildly in the rush of air. Taking another breath, I looked through the bay doors once again. The ground suddenly dropped out from beneath us as Night Strike went into a dive, the autocannons firing a stream of bullets along the mountainside as she tried to decrease the distance between us and the ground as much as she could. Leaning back, I let out my breath and threw myself out of the plane, Aerith jumping out after me.

The Valkyrie peeled away, the roar of the engines and the explosions drowned out by the air flying past the face of my suit's helmet. Oh sweet Celestia, this was a horrible idea! Fighting against the wind, I pulled a leg down to punch the buttons on the chest plate of the suit, which quickly began to shimmer and turn invisible. Aerith tucked her hooves under her, allowing her to dive until she was below me. Her wings suddenly flared, causing me to thud into her as her horn began to glow. Her own body vanished as I wrapped my forehooves around her neck, Aerith banking to turn us back towards the string of mountain bunkers. We began a steady, slow spiral downwards, and I tried to keep my lunch down as the world spun around me. It was thankfully not very long before Aerith’s hooves hit the ground, and I slid off of her to land in the dirt beside her with a heavy groan. My mind began to come back to me, and I began to register the myriad of explosions once again. Oh, right, big battle on and all...

Getting to my hooves, I looked up, watching as the Valkyrie turned about, the scream of its engines drowning out everything else as it passed overhead. I scanned the area, trying to find some way into the facility. Aerith had dropped us down near the northernmost bunker turret, the large guns moving about on the hilly cliffside above as we ducked in the trenches before it. The turret spun about automatically, attempting to get a shot further down the valley where the tanks still were, while other cannons further along the cliffside sent up tracers at the planes overhead. Okay, okay… what do we do now? I glanced over to Aerith - or at least, where I thought she was still standing - hoping she might have some sort of idea. She gave no indication she was even present, let alone any sign she had a plan as well. Letting out a breath, I began to trot forward along the trench, eventually ducking through an opened steel doorway and into the bunker complex below.

The explosions from the guns and the shells raining down around us thankfully drowned out any noise that Aerith or I were making as we trotted through the first of the bunkers. Several dragons clambered out of another section of the underground complex, each carrying with them several small shells. My gaze followed their movements, metal wings scraping against the concrete walls as they navigated down the other hallways, presumably towards the turrets. A small sign popped up in my vision, hovering just between my eyes and the visor of the suit. ‘So, what exactly was your plan?’ The words scrolled across.

I looked down a little sheepishly, trying to make my next words not sound too idiotic. “I… uh… may not have thought this all the way through. We don’t have anything like explosives to take out these guns, and even if we did, I don’t think either of us would know how to set them without blowing ourselves up. We’re going to have to just go up to each turret individually and try to sabotage them without making it seem too obvious that we’re here.” I muttered as quietly as I could. I could practically feel Aerith smack a hoof into her face and shake her head, forcing me to let out another sigh. “Well, we’re here now, it’s that or run off and force Night Strike to try and pick us up with a rain of shrapnel slicing through the Valkyrie, and tell her that the tank ghouls can't advance without getting shelled, too.” A slight sigh escaped Aerith beside me - well, it's not great, but it's something.

Determined, I began to hurry towards the far side of the bunker, past the heavy doors that led to the artillery turret and up a concrete stairway to the higher terrace of trenches. My gaze turned to the nearest gun, which was now turning to track the flight of the bright-red Icarus, firing off a shot ahead of it. Contrail banked sharply to avoid the explosion, flying headlong into a few clouds before turning back around and firing on a few dragons that began to circle the skies. Moving along the trench and rounding a corner, I found myself in the wider pit that held the gun, several smaller ones all laying broken and destroyed from the Valkyrie's earlier strafing run. Well, at least we did something helpful...

Another shot rang out from the larger cannon, and I was thankful the helmet did at least a little to muffle the noise and prevent me going deaf. After a moment, Aerith leaned up against the corner of the muddy artillery pit with me, the shimmer of her form just barely visible against the rough stone and wooden planks. Myself giving her an invisible nod, we began to creep closer towards the lone artillery cannon. It rotated around, and rather than a robo-dragon running the gun, there was instead what looked like several large computer banks stacked on top of each other, wires running between them and some hastily-added machinery. A small orb rested atop what would've been the gunner's seat in a pivot, rapidly scanning the skies and making a clicking noise as the lights on the machinery below it beeped and whirred. I felt Aerith tap me on the shoulder, drawing my attention to look down over the other side of the gun's base.

Laying on the ground was what looked like a severely mangled corpse of a smaller robotic dragon, one that must've been hit almost directly by one of the shells flying about above. Much of its electronic interior had been stripped, with wires running up from the still intact power core to the device running the gun. Its head lay a few feet away, one of its eyes missing, while the other dangled from a cord lifelessly. Ooookay, so the dragons are breaking each other down into parts to make aim calculators. I can’t really decide if that’s gruesome or not. I leaned backwards, turning to face the machinery again.

The eye spotted another aircraft turning about above, the servos whirring loudly as gears began to grind and turn the gun about. As I looked up to try and spot what it's new target was, the howl of the Valkyrie's engines caught my ears, eyes going wide - Oh no you don’t! Opening the facemask, I reached back and pulled my umbrella off of the back of the suit, squeezing down on the handle as the prongs at the end crackled. Jamming it into the machinery, the eye spun about wildly, the gun's servos spinning about again for a short while before it fired, causing the shell to fly up into the side of the mountain instead. With a dying whirr, the lights on the computer banks grew dark and the glow of the eye dimmed.

“Well… maybe taking care of these things will be easier than I thought.” I said, stowing my umbrella and turning to Aerith, only to find she wasn’t there... at least, I think she wasn’t there. I really wish I brought my magic goggles down here. Looking about, I spotted Aerith’s faint shimmer standing near another stairway leading below ground, on the far side of the anti-aircraft pit. I hurried over to catch up with her, and both of us descended into the second bunker. The explosions were muffled even further as more and more layers of thick stone, concrete, and earth were put between us and the surface, as we descended into the pre-war ruins.

Much like the slaver camp on the coast, this bunker had clearly not been occupied until very recently, as all the lighting was provided by ancient electric lamps, many of which were either burnt out or just plainly missing or shattered. Occasionally the ground would shake as bombs rained down from above, and the centuries-old dirt being shaken loose from the ceiling did nothing to dissuade the thoughts of the bunker collapsing in on itself that were now running through my mind. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it, moving onwards. Another sign appeared in my visor, scrolling along slowly. ‘You think there’s some kind of command area around here? Maybe we can find whoever’s sending the orders out, and stop them.’ Aerith asked.

I tilted my head a little, unsure. “Maybe… but that dragon aiming device didn’t seem to be hooked up to anything down here, it was just running autonomously. If anything, they’re probably receiving programmed orders directly via radio waves or something. If there is a command center here, it’s probably not being used.” I muttered, still trying to keep my voice as low as possible in case anything was creeping around below ground with us.

‘True… maybe there’s at least a map somewhere. It’d make finding our way to the other turrets while inside here easier at least.’ Aerith’s sign read. I nodded in agreement, only to voice it a moment later upon realizing Aerith likely didn’t see that. We continued through the maze-like bunker, the sound of our hoofsteps echoing off the walls as we trotted along. The sounds from above grew only slightly louder as we found ourselves standing at the base of another stairway leading upwards, the booming of artillery cannons being the loudest - this must be the second turret... did we take care of the first? Egh, we'll handle it later. Heading upwards, I peeked up through the doorway at the top of the underground passage to see... what I think was the mechanisms for the turret cannons, maybe. Rather than a compact device running the guns, however, there was an intact, smaller dragon, its talons gripped tightly on the gun’s control mechanisms. Its eyes were focused against a viewport that periscoped up to the turret top, the cannons turning as it searched for targets.

Aerith climbed up the steps after me, spotting the dragon and pulling out her automatic rifle. She began to creep towards it, staying low to the concrete floor as she lifted up her gun. She was just a few feet from where it sat in the turret, when she levitated the gun a bit higher and took a few shots at its head. Sparks flew across the metal as the bullets... harmlessly bounced off of it. Oh, come on, this wasn't even one of the big ones, and she killed those before with a smaller bullet, even! The dragon roared, twitching its head around to search for the source of the undamaging rifle rounds. Aerith stumbled backwards, the dragon hearing her fall over a wooden box as it looked down out of the turret basket-thing. Its jaws opened, a ball of flame building in the back of its throat, Aerith still scrambling for safety... right by me. Oh, Celestia help us.

As the dragon was about to fire, however, an explosion rocked the bunker directly overhead, causing the loading mechanisms to clatter and sending the distracted dragon falling backwards. The fireball engulfed one of the exposed artillery shells as it flew freely, a loud bang going off as the propellant cooked first, the free shell connecting with the point-blank dragon. A deafening explosion rang out in the enclosed concrete space, sending Aerith falling backwards down the steps as the shockwave knocked her down into me.

We fell painfully back down into the bunker, the dragon letting out another roar and several loud error beeps as it was torn asunder by the explosion. I fell onto the cold stone floor a story below, slamming my eyes shut from the pain as Aerith bounced off my chest and knocked the wind out of me, ears ringing. Uggghhh, ouch, yeah, that’s going to hurt for a few days... Taking several breaths to regain myself, I tried to get back to my hooves, as Aerith did the same. My hooves bumped up against some concrete debris from the stairwell, which was now completely blocked by rubble and robotic parts, cracks running along the concrete ceiling. “Oww… okay, I think we both agree to not do anything like that again while we take care of the others. Guh, why would the robots even still have their fire or plasma breath active while in an artillery turret with exposed shells? Whose design idea was that to have the shells exposed in the first place, anyways?”

We both collected ourselves and began to work our way back down the hallway again, wanting to get as far away from the wrecked section as quickly as possible. We continued along the tunnels, my ears still ringing slightly as we pressed forth - guh, I wish I wasn't so used to hearing loud explosions. Damnit, Night Strike... I suddenly stopped in my tracks, only for Aerith to bump up against me accidentally. There was another stairway leading down into a darkened room of the bunker, and what looked like several boxes stacked up against the walls inside. Looking back for a moment, and disabling my suit's stealth field, I carefully stepped down inside, as Aerith’s horn began to glow faintly to illuminate the unlit room.

Once again visible as well, she walked over to one of the crates, peering over into it, as I tried to make out some of the faded writing on another closed one. She let out a soft gasp, as her magic surrounded something and lifted it out of the straw, myself looking back towards where she was. A shell almost as large as my head was being held aloft in her magic, myself stuck staring at it in surprise for a moment. I trotted over to her side of the room, looking down to see the crates stocked to the brim with the huge high explosive shells. Aerith glanced back to me, giving off a small chuckle as a sign appeared beside her. ‘I think we just found our solution.’

I gave her a look, seriously hoping she was just joking. She only grinned wider. Yep, I’m going to get myself blown up today... Aerith began to levitate out more of the shells, motioning for me to follow her. ‘Look, it’s either this or take our chances fighting those dragons one-on-one again, and I don’t think either of us really have the weapons to do that. Just watch my back while we lay these out, in case anything comes down here to restock the guns anywhere else here.' I nodded nervously, following Aerith back up into the main passageway. She began to trot along, and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves at another stairway leading up to a gun turret. Aerith carefully lowered two of the shells onto the floor as another sign appeared in my visor. ‘How much of an explosive load do you think these shells have?’

I scratched my head, looking down at the artillery shell. “Uh… I think it said twenty pounds of explosive filler… maybe. And assuming the explosion is directed by the tunnels, it... -might- be enough to set off another shell? Assuming there’s nothing really in the way, maybe?” Aerith nodded and began to walk down the hall again. After a couple minutes, she stopped, almost causing me to bump into her as she placed another shell on the ground. I looked down at it, only to look back at her shimmering semi-invisible face. “You aren’t seriously thinking about bread-crumbing shells around this entire base, are you? We barely even know how big it is! How would we even set the chain off when we're done?” I asked. Aerith simply held the shell upside down, as if to drop it on it's nose. I dropped my head into a hoof, shaking it as we began to trot back along the hallway to place the remaining shell she had down.

It took several trips back and forth, but setting up the shells took surprisingly less time than I had expected. Despite the explosions still thundering down from above, it was also largely uneventful, though that didn’t stop either Aerith or me from checking every corner before we trotted around. “Okay, I think that’s the last of this sector. Just the newer turrets at the top of the mountain to go, how many shells do we have left?” Aerith levitated out the five remaining shells in her magic, and I gave a small nod. “Alright, let’s hope that’s enough.” We began to hurry back towards a cross in the hallways, turning to head down the one that had not yet been dotted with artillery shells.

Unfortunately, as we reached the end of the hallway, it suddenly came to a stop and just opened up into an immensely tall vertical concrete shaft. I stared straight up it, some very faint light streaming in from up top, just enough to illuminate a ladder placed in one corner - oh, yeah, no, screw that. Looking over to Aerith, she already had her wings spread wide, her magic encompassing me as we both started to fly up the shaft instead. Well, this might make setting up the shells difficult, but we'll work something out... probably.

As we ascended, I heard a faint noise coming from my foreleg, looking down at it. The glow from my pip-buck showed the radio screen - did the explosion knock that on? And, after that, what the heck was that song playing on Radio KAOS, anyways? A mare singing something about eating... snakes? And it was playing at ridiculous speeds, too. What the... Jim's voice broke over the speaker as we neared the top, a weak chuckle escaping him. "Aheh, sorry about that, folks, just a minor recoil-related hiccup here, jarred the player on double-speed. We'll get things sorted-"

Turning the radio off, I was set down on the upper level of the massive mountain shaft, Aerith landing beside me. Choosing to not turn around and look down the huge drop we just came up, I turned on the stealth field for my suit, Aerith going invisible again, and we both headed forwards through the uper levels. Stepping through what used to be the end of the bunker complex, I heard metal scraping against stone, the sound causing both Aerith and me to freeze in place. Up ahead, something was clawing away on the other side of the bunker walls. Suddenly the walls gave way to reveal a newly-cut tunnel, and a large robotic beast. What looked like a lion was stepping out of the makeshift tunnel, a scorpion tail reaching out over its head to blast away rock with a laser embedded in it. It pushed aside some rubble, clearing out a hole to reveal the soft earth behind it. It began to walk through the tunnel, a large case balanced on its back.

I crept forward, Aerith dropping down the last few shells, saving one as we found our way to a stairwell, and headed up to step outside. I almost fell back down the steps as I took a sudden jump back, finding myself standing among a small group of the robotic Manticores, all of them milling around a complicated-looking machine. Aerith and I slowly walked forward, hugging the walls of the dug-out area at the summit as we moved away from the machine, still watching as the manticores gathered around.

Looking back towards the massive mechanical monstrosity, it mounted in it two massive cannons. Each looked to be over twice the size of the ones the dragons were operating below, and had multiple dragons running the whole turret as well. Another two manticores walked past from an earthen bunker dug out on one side of the gun pit, a large crate held up by handles their scorpion tails were slipped through swinging between the both of them. They walked up to the back of the turret, dropping the crate onto the ground as another dragon opened it up. Inside lay a large, gleaming shell - one that looked disturbingly familiar as I studied it.

Aerith looked over to me, and despite neither of us being able to read the other’s expressions, we both knew exactly what the other was thinking. She bent down, spreading her wings to allow me to climb onto her back. I took the large shell in my hooves, clutching it tightly to my chest as she began to flap her wings and slowly ascend. As I watched, the dragon opened a hatch in the back of one of the guns, sliding the megaspell into place. Some powder bags followed, and the dragon screwed the breechblock shut. The loaded gun began to rotate upwards as the dragons and manticores operated it, as another dragon slid a second megaspell shell into the other gun's breech, that one starting to elevate as well. What were they aiming at?...

A few jets flew past, being pursued by dragons - those... don't look like ones I've seen at the Air base before, but i swear I remember them from somewhere... the Cadence, maybe? I looked down to the pair of massive guns below, watching them elevate and point towards the far west. From where they are, they're either aiming at something off the coast... or, maybe even something a bit more City of Vanhoover-shaped, too. “Oh fuck, fuck, Aerith, get higher quick!!” I shouted, not caring if they managed to hear us. Aerith began to flap harder, and I lifted the last shell we had out in my hooves. Wobbling about a bit on the alicorn’s back, I leaned to the right, hoisting the shell above my head. With a grunt, I leaned back towards the gun, chucking the shell before falling down to grab at Aerith’s neck.

The shell fell quickly towards the open rear section of the lagre turret, falling nose-downwards. The mechanisms kept the gun still elevating higher as we both watched on with bated breath, praying to not see any muzzle flashes before the shell hit. Vanishing in the ground clutter below, the shell landed next to two of the manticores that were ferrying the megaspell shells back and forth, and - mercifully - detonated. The resulting explosion sent a shock through us both, making Aerith tumble slightly in the air, starting to fly away from all the explosions. You can thank us later, Vanhoover...

Crackling fizzes and pops could be heard below, and a moment later the megaspells gathered around the guns shimmered and exploded, a faint blue light following the shockwave that pushed us both forward. Down below, nearer the base of the valley, the tunnels could be seen blowing apart, collapsing in on themselves as the shells scattered around the bunkers began to explode. Dragons still running the few surviving anti-aircraft guns were sent flying as the ground beneath them blew out, the three un-bombed turrets erupting in flames as their own ammo stowages went up, sending the heavy cast steel domes rocketing into the air. Dirt and stone erupted from some of the entryways as the ground visibly buckled in to fill the bunkers, burying the last of the dragons.

Aerith eventually stabilized herself, starting to ride the shockwave out down towards the valleys to the east. I let out a sigh as we drifted down to the ground, landing near a clearing a fair distance away from where the planes were running bombing runs. I pushed the button on my suit, flickering back to visibility as Aerith let her own magic fade. I fell off her back, flopping to the dewy mountain grass below as she pulled the flare gun out of her vest pocket. She aimed it up at the sky, pulling the trigger, the bright ball of light flying skywards. It climbed higher and higher before suddenly bursting, the flare drifting slowly back down to the earth. We both let out a sigh of relief as we watched the flare slowly descend, the smoke rising from the destroyed guns just visible over the top of the hill behind us.

“Alright, one base down. One… bigger, scarier one to go.”

My breathing was heavy as I finally brought the Valkyrie to a stop, looking down to the yoke and peeling my hooves free from the death grip they had on it, rubbing them softly. The lights flashing on screen indicated zero ammo remaining in the autocannons, myself loosing a few long sighs as I looked past the display and down to the ground below. Smouldering robotic Manticore carcasses littered the area, some mostly whole, most reduced to unrecognizable piles of scrap, an overall sensation of relief and satisfaction washing over me. I love the smell of burning manticores in the morning...

"That looks like the last of 'em, we can finally take a breather. Whoo, don't even remember the last time Fyre's barrel got that much of a work-out..." The radio crackled as the tank ghouls all spoke up again, myself still calming down. Hoo, okay, bloodlust satisfied for the moment, and with the Cadence in play on the other side of the mountains I don't think there'll be too many more manticores to blast apart, either... y'know, after getting the guns reloaded and all. Rheinmetall's voice broke over the radio next, coming in with a slight laugh.

"I think I have a good guess, Rangefinder, last time your tank had ze pleasure of seeing this much action was vell before she ever had the misfortune of being under zhe command of your hooves." The old unicorn cackled for a moment, before the sudden sound of heavy machine gun fire and metal pinging off of metal filled the radio, along with a few choice explitives. Rangefinder broke into laughter next, Rheinmetall letting off an annoyed grunt. "Hmh, of course, if you'd vish to waste all of your fifty-caliber ammunition scratching Porschia's paint job rather than shooting down dragons..."

"Ah, c'mon Rhymey, ya should'a seen the look on your face when you dropped back down into your turret! I was only aiming for Porschia's big fat ass with a short burst, anyways." The pegasus tank ghoul let loose another long cackle, eventually regaining herself as Porschia and Rheinmetall began moving. I could just about see Fyre starting to follow along as well, the BT-42 and Ironside's tank heading in behind them. "Things are looking pretty cleared out up the valley, we'll push on to the turnoff for Hopeville and hang there to regroup with Jack and Epine. You commin' with, Valkyrie?"

My eyes fell back to the HUD, and the blinking 'no ammo' alert for the autocannons. Don't think I remember seeing the tesla cannons opening up on the maticores while I was ripping them to shreds, so... yeah, probably would want to remedy that. One hoof grabbed the Valkyrie's yoke while the other reached up to the headset, myself checking the other systems quick. "Gotta head back and get a reload for the autocannons, if there's anything else on the ground to deal with I'm gonna need them. The tesla cannons only go after ground stuff if somepony's aiming them manually, and, well, Static's still taking care of that second bunker system."

"Right, we copy you Valkyrie, we'll be holding position at the junction all the same. Rheinmetall, Rangefinder, we'll do a bit of scouting ahead just to see how the second bunker's come along just in case. Memory serving, there's still one more to go, sure hope that Static's up for-" There was a sudden burst of interference, and I scrambled to pull the headset off, the ringing in my ears sticking around for a little bit afterwards. Gwuh, fuckin' hell... what was that, anyways? Something Cerberus was up to? Couldn't have been an EMP... Swinging to look south, there was a large billowing plume of smoke that rose from further down the valley, almost forming into a bit of a mushroom shape. That looks like where the second bunker is... was... Static!

Grabbing the throttle and punching it forwards, the Valkyrie quickly rose in the air, a fast transition from vertical to level flight mode getting me headed back towards the valley once again. Ooh, come on, don't get yourself panicked, I'm sure he's just... yeah, they just made sure the bunker was destroyed, is all. Nothing to worry about. Yeah, just don't freak out over the magic-scarred mountaintop or the debris field scattered halfway down the slope, or the sight of the definite mushroom-shaped fireball that might've been from the megaspells Cerberus has access to... brain, seriously, not helping!

As I circled the charred remains of the mountaintop in the Valkyrie, a red light caught my eye in the morning glare, exploding in a bright flash a moment later before drifting slowly back to earth. That's off to the east... they made it out! Oh, thank Celestia... or, well, maybe only one of them made it out... brain, shut up and let me have some hope. The mountains leveled off into a clearing, just about big enough to touch down in, myslef doing a circle of the area first. Two black specks in the mountain grass caught my eye, Aerith waving her hooves in the air while Static laid back on the ground. Oooh, he better just be exhausted...

Throttling back the bomber, I eased it into a hover, the landing gear compressing as the thrust of the engines trickled down to idle, Aerith nudging the earth pony beside her. He rose to his hooves after a moment, stumbling behind the alicorn as she opened up the cockpit door, climbing inside with a grin on her muzzle. 'One bunker thoroughly taken care of, courtesy of a load of Royal Equestrian Ordinance 120mm HE shells. How nice that they left 'em all just sitting out like that.' I let off a chuckle to match with Aerith's, Static eventually pulling himself up through the cockpit door with some heavy huffs, pulling it closed behind him.

"Okay... I'm... I'm gonna need a while... there any other way we could deal with that last bunker before the main one that doesn't involve me being inside it?" He slumped back into the seat behind me as I brought the Valkyrie's throttle back up, lifting us skywards and turning us around to point towards the air base. Well, glad to know he's alright, you'd think he'd be used to escaping explosions by now with me around... that's not a good thing. He let loose a long sigh, the radio crackling for a moment before his voice filled my headset. "Valkyrie to Cadence, Valkyrie to Cadence, come in. We've got a big issue, the mountaintop turrets are megaspell capable, and probably have you in range too. We'll... we'll destroy them as fast as we can, may want to adjust fire and see if you can reach them at all with your guns, if possible."

The radio fizzled in silence for a moment as I just stared out the canopy, wide-eyed. Megaspell-capable... shit, they really worked faster than I thought they could. And if they're able to hit the Cadence from here... I threw us into a hard bank to the left, heading southwards along the valleys again. The remains of the second bunker shot past, the skies calmer without as much flak and tracer fire. "Static, I'm empty on the autocannons but we've still got a thermobaric bomb left, if they've got the cannons able to fire on the Cadence then we should at least take one of 'em out, if they're exposed enough. You think you can do that?"

The console clacked behind me, as I peered up through the front of the canopy to the mountainsides ahead. "Yeah, the big turrets have open backs, not like the enclosed ones in the bunkers. If the complexes are similarly constructed, hopefully they've got a big open doorway nearby so the blast can get into the rest of the bunker, too..." A smirk came across my muzzle as I powered the Valkyrie onwards, a glinting from the top of the valley side catching my eyes. Lookit you, Sparky, I might've just taught you a thing or two about explosions after long last. The bay doors clunked open behind us as I lined the Valkyrie up with the glinting, a few minor adjustments occuring as it passed out of my view. With a clunk of the mechanisms releasing the large bomb, I began to peel us off and turn back away, a few errant thumps of flak fire being heard outside... "Oh, SHIT!"

...at least, I hope those two thumps were flak fire. By the way Static was scrambling with the radio, I kinda doubted that being the case. "Shit shit shitshitshit, fuck, Cadence, this is Valkyrie, we've loosed a bomb on the third megaspell turret but the guns managed to open fire before it hit, start maneuvering, brace yourselves, I dunno, just, incoming big explosions!" As if on cue, the bomb decided then was the right time for it's lengthy shockwave to catch up with us, rattling the Valkyrie in the air. Truth be told, though, any rattling teh Valkyrie was doing to me was kinda offset by the revelation Static had just shouted over the intercom as we sped back northwards. Ensuring we weren't gonna hit any mountains anytime soon, I looked backwards towards him, finding him chewing on the rubber hoof of his suit.

"U-uh, are you sure it was aiming at the Cadence? I mean, uh, well, m-maybe they didn't use a big enough powder load! Yeah, it could fall short instead, just detonate mostly harmlessly in some other part of the wasteland..." My attempts at reassuring... well, they were attempts, at least. There were a few more loud clacks behind me as I settled eyes back forwards, speeding along past Saddlebrook. The worried noises Static was making did not instill much confidence.

"W-well, if they were aiming at the Cadence, from their position that puts the shell flying over the dam, Hopeville, Maple Creek, and the lighthouse, so... eep..." ...in other words, a lot of things that would not enjoy getting smacked with twenty-odd tons of TNT. Just what we needed... Static fiddled with the radio again, only silence and dead air coming through, at least until the sound of a very angry sailor broke through. Oh, old Fowler, nice.

"WILL YOU KEEP YOUR BLOODY HOOF OFF THE SEND BUTTON FOR ONCE WHEN YOU'RE DONE SENDIN'!? Celestia above! We're making a hard turn to starboard now, won't be giving much in the way of artillery support while we adjust but it's preferable to seein' her get blasted. Thanks for the alert, Valkyr-" The radio came over with a loud squeal in that moment, myself ripping my headset off and casting it aside while Static was fast in turning the radio off, the roar of the Valkyrie's engines filling the air instead. A slightly deafening silence overtook us as I looked back to Static, the earth pony returning a shocked expression. Didn't really need to say what we were both thinking...

The landing went about as smoothly as could be hoped for, all of us still trying to process what we'd heard over the radio even as we parked the Valkyrie in the loading hangar and disembarked while they saw to geting her refitted with more ammunition. A motorbug rumbled up to the open hangar doors soon after, Sharpwing sitting behind the handlebars, her own eyes going wide as she looked at us. "Hop on, Crash Dive and Scourin' are seein' to the interrogations now. What's happened?"

"The... the Cadence... they might've destroyed the Cadence." Sharpwing blunk at us a few times, jaw hanging loose, before she clenched it and gave a nod in response. We all piled onto the back of the half-track, Sharpwing revving the engine a few times before powering down the tarmac, a heavy sigh escaping me. Of all the things we could've lost today... the Cadence was supposed to be the safest place in all of this, goddess-damnit. Why couldn't we have just been faster about it...

We soon pulled up beside one of the other hangars down the runway, Sharpwing parking and shutting off the motorbug as one of the other aircraft came in and eased itself to a landing on the south edge. We all hopped off to follow her inside, pained grunts catching our ears as the rumble of waiting aircraft engines was muted by the walls, the pink-maned pegasus looking over to us from where she stood. Not too far away was Scouring, and behind them, tied up on a pair of chairs, were two more pegasi in power armor, albeit the kind that looked more like Flash-Bang or Sugar Rush's old kit compared to Crash Dive's bulkier suit. Two of the bastards that've been causing us so much trouble - just a shame it wasn't all three.

Crash Dive took notice of me and stepped back as I trotted up to the more important-looking of the pair, a radio in the corner of the hangar playing out another song. My eyes met those of the Enclave officer, his returning a stern glare, one that was swiftly wiped from his face as I lifted a forehoof and struck it across his smug jaw. He let off a low grunt as he recovered, a smirk forming and soft chuckle escaping him as he looked back to me. "I can honestly say, for somepony who's been a thorn through our wings for so damn long, I expected a better bite. Can't believe I was convinced to surrender to you surface-dwelling lowlifes..."

Teeth gritted, I felt my ears start to burn hot, only to feel a hoof rest itself on my shoulder. Looking beside me, Static met my eyes, his look geting me to ease back - if only for the moment. Taking a step backwards, I let the blue earth pony look over the pair, turning his attention off the commander and to the other soldier behind him. Looking over the other pegasus for a moment, Static eased back on his hooves, us all watching. "You know, you guys have a -lot- to answer for. I'm convinced about half of us would love nothing more than to put two bullets in your heads and leave you both in a shallow grave, if I can get them to show some mercy and make it quick, anyways. But, we need answers, and you have them. So..." Static leaned forwards, making the other soldier pull back in his chair, struggling against his binds. "You going to cooperate, or am I going to have to let Night Strike introduce you to all her friends, and see if there's still enough left of you to talk afterwards?"

Before the younger soldier could respond, the commander let off a cackle, knocking one of his back hooves against the ground and shaking his head. Crash Dive let loose a deep growl as he did so, myself ready to join her in tearing that bastard apart, piece by bloody piece. "Oh, wow, -that's- the most intimidating you little worms can muster? Skies above, is this kiddie time or something? You have about as much of a chance at getting anything out of us as Cerberus does actually doing anything meaningful in this battle-"

Letting loose a scream, I leaped forwards at the commander, knocking him over in his chair and pinning him against the ground with one hoof, my other forehoof going towards smashing his face in as best as I could. After a few punches though, I felt an aura wrap itself around me, pulling me off of the Enclave officer and keeping me held in the air, Scouring looking at me wide-eyed. A few shuddering breaths escaped me as the officer coughed and spat out a bit of blood, tears welling up in my eyes as I flailed around in Scouring's magic. "That was for the Cadence, you cunt! You and your goddess-damned megaspell cannons destroyed it, and everyone onboard!"

There were a few sharp gasps from Scouring and Crash Dive, and - interestingly enough - the Enclave soldiers as well. Well, sharp from the one I wasn't just trying to smash into a pulp, anyways. Aerith's magic lifted the officer back to a seated position as Scouring finally let me back onto my hooves, legs feeling admittedly a bit weak. W-we had... seven hundred, maybe more, just, just... Crash Dive put a foreleg around my neck as the tears stained my cheeks, Scouring trotting over. "The Cadence is... that... that can't be right! We would've heard it, or, wouldn't have heard it..."

Both myself and Crash Dive, and probably a few others in the hangar all looked over at Scouring as if he was talking crazy. However, as I started to not hear the blood pumping in my ears as loudly, something did catch my ear - music, being played over a radio. And not just any music, no, that was definitely Radio KAOS music... but... but how? My eyes were wide as I stared at Crash Dive, glancing over to Static as well - he was just as surprised as I was, guessing he heard the music too. He stammered for a moment, looking over to the radio in the corner. "But... but... we-we heard the squeal of the reciever getting melted, or whatever, what could've caused that aside from a megaspell exploding and destroying it? How could the radio still be playing music, I don't think radio waves travel THAT slowly!... do they?"

Shaking my head side to side in disbelief, and to sorta answer Static's question, everyone just stood and listened as the song wrapped itself up, Jim's voice chiming in afterwards. "'...We play the game with the bravery of bein' out of range!' Aheh-heh, that was The B-bravery of Being Out of Range, by Roger Trotters, and us here at Radio KAOS would j-just like to apologize for any interruptions there might've b-been while that was playing. Suffice to say, even with us being on the opposite side of the watseland, I don't feel like we're really that far out of range from where we are, eheh... On the upside, uh, well, until they can get the transmitter fixed, um, I guess we'll be providing music and info to the nice pilots flying around over there. I'm... I'm gonna try and find a hard drink and a new pair of pants here..."

The silence was replaced with the next song on the album, myself letting off a few shuddering breaths before feeling my back hooves give out underneath me, dropping my rear to the concrete of the floor. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I let my head fall back, half-crying half-laughing, a wave of relief washing over me. Oh, thank Celestia and Luna above... As I looked back to the Enclave soldiers, however, they... didn't seem to be quite so relieved. Matter of fact, they both seemed a lot more worried than earlier - which is saying something, considering I'm pretty sure Crash Dive was literally torturing them. Maybe. I mean, I wouldn't blame her...

Both of the bound pegasi looked at each other for a moment, before the Officer turned back to face us, his jaw a little more slack. "That fucking madstallion actually did it... son of a bitch, I thought we bombed that tunnel out before he could get those guns! He was supposed to just use those recoilless warheads as standard bombs, or as intended, not turn 'em into arty shells! Fuck!" The tunnel... they were actually trying to seal those guns away? Sheesh, and leave it to us to be inside the damn thing when they dropped at the entrance, they didn't even know we were in there. The Officer thought for a moment, before looking across all of us. "We'll tell you whatever you need to know, that... that lunatic is gonna turn this whole continent into an irradiated hell if he isn't stopped."

Static blunk a few times before stepping forwards, rubbing at his own eyes a little - heh, well, least I'm not the only softie. He sniffled a bit, before giving a nod, attention on the Officer. "Alright, how about we start with what you mean by that. Does it have something to do with Project Cerberus?" Wiping at my eyes, I stopped for the moment, looking up. We... actually still don't know what that is, do we? Well, I mean, in our defense making sure everyone was set up for battle was more of a pressing matter the last few days!... and we didn't get that much off of the drives, either.

The younger soldier fidgeted in his seat as the officer looked back at him, both of them... not really having confident looks on their faces. "We... we think so. Even we're not sure what Project Cerberus actually is, all we could figure out was that it was some sort of air-breathing megaspell-armed missile, not like the usual ones that leave the atmosphere and then reenter. And also that it was a superweapon that we could use as a bargaining chip to try and threaten whatever the next major wasteland government was for amnesty..." Both myself and Static just stared at both of the soldiers, the officer seeming to wear a slight scowl as the younger one's eyes darted about. "Okay, I admit the plan had some minor flaws, we were desperate!"

Just as Static and Crash Dive both looked like they were ready to give both of the enclave soldiers a piece of their minds, the rumble of another motorbug engine driving up was heard before it quickly came to a stop outside, the tracks skidding on the pavement. A red unicorn burst through the doorway, panting heavily, his mane rather frazzled and eyes in a panic. "Zhey've hit the Cadence vith a megaspell! Ze radio's been going haywire vith all her fighters wondering vhat's happening, and our wing of escorts are returning for fuel..." Serene's eyes scanned the room, eventually reaching myself and Static. "Oh, and we've lost good contact vith ze second panzer battalion, zhey weren't in combat at ze time but it would help to know zhey haven't been lost as vell. If you could investigate both, zat vould-"

"Oh, for- first, tell 'em to switch to the Radio KAOS waveband for the time bein', just heard from there that the blast took down their transmitter for the aircraft radio set. I'm sure they're handlin' themseves fine enough too, Serene, probably just headed into a tunnel or somethin' is all. We're a little busy right now, if you hadn't notcied..." Sharpwing took point, the red-coated unicorn looking at her like she was crazy for a second before, presumably, also hearing the radio playing in the corner. He let off a weak chuckle, answering with a slight nod as he straightened himself up, clearing his throat.

"Ahem, ahm, ah, yes, vell, alright. Anyvays, uh, ze Valkyrie's guns are reloaded if you vant to head out again, and we'll be beginning ze missile barrage against ze fortress shortly as vell once contact is restored vith both panzer battalions. So, ahm, if you vould be so kind as to investigate ze fate of the second panzer battalion, ah..." Serene let himself trail off, rubbing a hoof at the back of his head. Thinking for just a moment, I looked over to Static - well, the tanks'll probably want a bit of a head start anyways, and those missiles probably don't fly so fast that we couldn't outrun the last of them to get in position... not to mention the fact we still don't know the underground layout of the place, at all. Right.

"I can fly over solo to find Mad Jack and the rest now, Static needs to stay here to get info out of these two before he heads in. Probably best to give the tanks a head-start anyways, last I checked Avery wasn't too much faster than the TOG, heh..." Static nodded in agreement as I passed him one last look, Serene doing the same before turning and trotting back out the door to the tarmac outside. The door shut behind us as I landed myself on the back of the motorbug, Serene climbing onto the driver's seat. "Oh, right, Static took care of the second bunker but the third one's still active, at least on the smaller turrets. Think you could try aiming a few of the missiles at them, get 'em dealt with quick while I'm tracking down Mad Jack?"

Serene gave the engine a quick rev before dropping us into gear, the mini-tank lurching for a moment before settling in to a normal drive. We sped along the tarmac, and as we got near the other hangars, the sight of a few very shiny-looking ponies milling around a vertibuck caught my eyes. Huh... guess Scouring's ranger group has finally decided to arrive. Coulda been a little bit faster on that, yanno... "Sorry, had enough trouble getting ze launch rail set up in ze first place, don't think we can adjust it now to hit a different target even if we wanted. Besides, ze Mountain Springs rangers are here to help out as vell, zhey could probably handle one little bunker complex, at least!"

I passed on a nod, watching the Steel Rangers Vertibuck idling beside the other rotor-craft that Cora and Hispano were looking at, the hangar storing the Valkyrie coming up fast. "Alright, that'll work too, just get 'em breifed and all first. We already dealt with the big twin guns on the summit of that mountain, seems like just flat-out blowing their ammo loads is the easiest and quickest way to deal with them."

The motorbug came to a halt inside the hangar, the Valkyrie already pointing outwards - convenient that they got it done and turned around so quickly, really. Serene kept the engine running as I hopped off, heading over and opening up the cockpit door. "Vell, I'll pass zat information on, but I can't be sure zhey won't want to try and keep ze bunkers intact. Truth be told, wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to have a route to ze east under Steel Ranger protection..."

"We'll... work things like that out later. Anyways, all clear for takeoff already, yeah? You gonna guide me out?" Serene responded with a nod on both accounts, giving his motorbug a rev while I climbed up into the cockpit to get the bomber started. The engines whined up to idle as the console lit up and canopy shone with the light of the holographic displays, indicators for the cannons showing a full forty rounds each. Might not have to use 'em, but hey, still better than no rounds...

Taxiing out onto the runway afforded me a good view as one of the Vertibucks took to the air, starting to head off to the south. Euh, well, hopefully they follow a different flight pattern than I will. Settling on the runway's end, Serene peeled off to the side before waving a pair of green paddles in the air, myself answering with a wave of the hoof and opening up the throttle. The Valkyrie's wonderful howl rattled the cockpit as I finally remembered to drop flaps, mostly gracefully lifting into the sky. Alright Jack and Epine, let's find what's happened to you.

Turning a bit for the west, I crested over the mountain range, the Vanhoover Reservior shining in the midday light as the wasteland stretched out ahead of me. Not a view you get that often... hm... "Valkyrie calling Vanhoover Air Base, anyone there reading me?" Static met me on the line - the electrical kind, not the earth pony - as the Valkyrie powered on southwards, myself easing the throttle back a little as the eastern edge of the reservior vanished past the nose. Hooking in east, I settled in to try and find that golf course, and the other tanks... hopefully. "Vanhoover Air Base, this is Valkyrie, anyone even in the tower?"

"Haah... hoh... sorry Valkyrie, elevator is still out. Vhat did you need?" Serene's voice came over as I switched the Valkyrie over to hover mode, dipping the nose to be able to scan the ground. The slush-covered hills were spotty with patches of grass, a few muddy lines at least making themselves apparent as I continued onwards. Hopefully what I find is good, at least...

"Just a bit of confirmation, you said that they weren't in combat when you lost contact, were they in combat yet before then? Or, near their target? They're supposed to be meeting up with First battalion in the valley, at a tunnel exit..." A few smoke clouds started to rise up ahead as I looked down the valleys, the many pairs of muddy tracks heading towards the plumes. Well, I doubt anyone's having any campfires today... and I think I recognize that track-truck. "Uh... nevermind, Serene, found 'em. They look like they're doing fine, gonna switch channel and see if I can pick them up."

Bringing the Valkyrie to a hover, I fiddled with the set, tuning it around a bit. Garbled static eventually gave way to the faint whine of a tank's engine, and... some kind of music, I think. Yep, that's Mad Jack alright. The tune was abruptly cut short by the sound of Avery's main gun loosing a massive shell, the top hatch doors clattering against the armor as the stallion let off a gleeful cackle. "Hah! Take that, ya bleedin' metal monstrosities, that's what true Equestrian engineering can do! Nngh..." There was some shuffling as his plaid pipe-bag-thing was set aside, the unmistakable sound of a sword being pulled free from a scabbard being heard as he hefted himself up into open air. For my part, I got the Valkyrie moving again. "Come on, lads, it's a long way to Trotterary and we won't let these mongrels get in our way! Get me closer, I wanna decapitate one of the clankin' bastards!"

I couldn't help but let off a small laugh of my own as I flew the Valkyrie closer to the battlefield, soon getting a look down at the sight of the tanks below, and the massively churned and cratered earth - well, guess the HMS Cadence was doing some good work here, after all. Huh, guess that track-truck must've been a mortar carrier or something, too... Every so often another small blast would rattle the area the tanks were pushing up towards, Avery flanked on the left by the small blue T-8 while Epine and the Liberty Bell covered their right, both of the smaller tanks' guns hammering away into the dust cloud. Could just about make out the sight of that crazy stallion waving his sword around outside his tank's turret. "Jack, I don't mean to put a damper on your fun, but trust me, these things don't lose their heads that easy..."

"Hah, Valkyrie, about time you showed up, we were just getting to the fun bit! Eheh, do send my apologies on to the Vanhoover Air Base, been a while since I last used my sword in action and the weight of it threw me off, cut down my own arial slightly. This lot's been an absolute push-over so far, haven't even been fired upon yet!" Mad Jack let off another laugh as I joined him with a weak chuckle, watching out the canopy and half-expecting a plasma ball or flame spout to erupt from inside the dust cloud. Mercifully, it seemed like dramatic irony was finished for now... "How're Rheinmetall and Rangefinder getting along with Ironside and Pip in the valley? Sure seemed like they were having a fair bit of fun earlier!"

"You could've asked zhem yourself if you weren't such a klutz with your broadsword, Jack!" Epine's voice chimed in, interspersed with the noise of full brass shells being moved about and a small breech closing shut. Sheesh, she actually is having to run that whole turret herself... thank Celestia we've got more advanced stuff in the TOG. Epine grunted for a moment, before speaking again. "Ach, merde, the smoke is too thick to see anything. Ahm, all machine guns, spray it down with tracer fire and see if anything sparks in there. Get a hit, let loose, zese robo-dragons are worse-armored than even the T-8!... Eheh, I mean, um, just... just fire."

Annoyed grunts came from an unfamiliar voice, presumably the commander of the small tankette on Avery's left, as I pushed the Valkyrie's nose forwards to fly ahead of the three tanks. Well, I mean, I guess if I were down there, I wouldn't really want to be told that the tank I'm driving has worse armor than the stuff it's having to fight. The debris cloud passed by as I swung the Valkyrie back around to look at the southeastern side, trying to get a better sight of the targets... if there were actually any left down there, anyways.

Pausing for just a moment, all three of the tanks started opening up their machine guns at the base of the plume, the multicolored tracers flying through the smoke and striking against what looked like wood and thin sheet metal. Hm... fiddling with the console a little, the display lit up with a few green wireframe shapes, three triangles above with a few squares below, closer to the Valkyrie's nose. Well, assuming the triangles are the tanks, the square things must be... not friendlies. Hopefully.

Lingering for a moment longer, one of the squares stirred as a few of the tracers pinged off of it, soon followed up by two shots from the small tank cannons. The shattered form of a manticore-bot dragged itself out of the debris cloud on three legs, the tail dragging behind it by a few wires as it left a streak of leaking fluids staining the dirt. It craned its head skywards as if to look at myself inside the Valkyrie, another shell ricocheting off of it's armored hide and making it recoil from the impact. Aw, it almost makes be feel bad for the horrible monstrosity... almost.

"Jack, robot Manticore about 40 meters off Avery's front, and two more unidentified targets at 35 meters to the south of it, in the cloud. Mind banishing it to Tartarus with a helping of high explosives?" The old stallion let off a deep laugh at the other end of the line as I pulled the Valkyrie back a bit, just in case. The massive mortar resounded with a loud 'thoom', myself just about able to see the shell arc through the cloud and land smack on the backside of the disfigured abomination of a robot. Oh, that's a good feeling.

The Mantibot vanished in a fireball, the blast reducing it to shrapnel that peppered the ground around and made me just feel quite relaxed at the sight. The hydraulic fluid was lit up in a blaze with smoke that matched the color of the other plume, myself taking hold of the Valkyrie's controls again. One square down, two more to go... "Good hit Jack, give Avery another kill mark or somethin'. I'm gonna give these last two a quick strafe and then head back, first battalion is waiting for you at the tunnel junction in the valley. Regroup with them and push on to the fort, third set of bunker turrets is getting dealt with by Steel Rangers. Good luck, guys."

"Roger that Valkyrie, happy flying! We'll mop up here and proceed on, shouldn't take us too long to get to 'em. We'll send all these rotten robots to the scrap-heap and be home in time for dinner!" Letting off a light chuckle as Jack switched off his set, I pulled the Valkyrie back a little, just enough to give me a good long pass over the pair of wireframe squares. Both autocannons sounded out loud either side of me as they emptied away, a few flashes and sparks seen inside as they struck home, sickly white clouds joining in with the smoky plumes from the burning hydraulic oils. Good ol' white phosphorous, such a wonderful shell. The boxes seemed to flail around a little as the robots tried to escape, before vanishing past the bottom of the canopy as I passed over fully, leveling the Valkyrie off.

Giving a short waggle of the wings and looking down out of the canopy at the three tanks charging forwards, I pushed the throttle to max and switched back to level flight, hearing that lovely howl and charging north once again. Least things were going a bit calmer on this side of the wasteland... Hopeville deserved the break. I fiddled with the radio set, getting Serene back on the line. "Valkyrie calling Vanhoover Air Base, got a report on second battalion. Turns out Jack slightly chopped off one of his own antennas, they're handling themselves fine. Should be meeting up with first battalion shortly."

The radio was quiet for a moment, as I assume Serene was removing his forehoof from his face, the red unicorn letting off a sigh. "Copy zat, Valkyrie, thanks for the update. We've begun launching ze wunderwaffen, we'll hold fire as son as you return and are ready to take off again. Vanhoover Air Base, out." I let off a sigh as I leaned back in the pilot seat, a smile crossing my muzzle. Pick up Static and Aerith, drop them off in the base, get a good look at the destruction all those missiles did to it... and home's not too far away, either...

Ah... nice to have a battle going our way.