Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter forty-one: Road less traveled

How the Crystal Empire got its name, I might never know… anything outside the capital was nothing short of a town that I could kick a rock to the other end of. While of course, every one of them was blanketed in a sheet of snow. Nothing like we trudged through in the city, but enough to keep certain mares clinging to their cloaks to stay warm… or a gryphon.

Empire my ass… one city didn’t make a country. Years back I wouldn’t have thought I’d ever want to leave the city, once I got in there and saw all it had to offer from being hidden for so long. Never the less, we found ourselves walking across the territory out west towards our new destination.

It had been a few hours since the spire of the palace left our view, and what little sun Equestria got was nearly cut in half for the Crystal Empire. I couldn’t tell if it was actually getting to be nighttime, or just that terrible of visibility. Either way, I was more than happy to put some additional distance between myself and that bot… though that meant moving forward, and as such, more time to ourselves.

Silence wasn’t a virtue in my book, if anything it just let my mind wander while I kept the waypoint ahead and trudged on. Hell, even the lack of anything shooting at us wasn’t helping, and I just got my suit back up to 100%. By now I was practically begging for something to jump out at us crying for a fight. Otherwise, I was left to wonder just one thing…

How to take on a Ranger port.

The Port of North Luna Ocean had been mainly for shipping, even as today as it was back then. Get ships inside and out as fast as possible. It was large sure, but they also hadn’t expected to be hit so close to their operation. Was this one any different? Kinda, the Dockyard was their home turf, the port was nothing more than a stepping stone for them into Equestrias’ borders. There would be more rangers ready to die for a cause their Elder believed in, more ground to cover once we got to the place, and a whole lot more variables that could play into us not making it out-

“You’re steaming there, Wild,” Deacon nudged me with one wing, as Tumble stayed well tucked under his other.

Was it that obvious? “Not steaming, just lost in thought,” Alimite kept herself wrapped up only a few paces away from me. So, for now I had time for a little guy talk about our next move, if any creature could get a lay of the land, it was the one who could soar above it. “Seeing how the odds are stacked against us if you would.”

“Oh, we’re totally screwed on a number of levels there chief,” not the confidence I wanted to hear… “they have the home field advantage, there’s surely more of them than us, we have to destroy two ships while avoiding getting shot at, and that’s nothing to say of how long we can keep that element of surprise on our side.” Deacon had been waiting to rattle all that off, I just needed to ask the right question. Yet here he was, saying it all with a smile.

“So why the grin?”

“Because… look what you’ve managed to do still?” really, vagueness was not helping right now, “You took on one of the best groups in the wastes and came out on top, had help along the way, but still did it.”

I don’t know if I’d call the Gunners, the best, but they had to be up in the rankings. “A lot of help doing it mind you… now it’s just the five of us…”

“So? You’re not leading a whole war party down upon the rangers… big deal?” Someone wasn’t seeing the point in all this?! Neither was I if I’m being honest. “Our smaller group might be able to get in there to where we need to go without being seen.”

Not being seen… has he looked at our group? Alimite was the sneakiest of us, then there was himself who could stick to the skies, and finally Tumble who could do her thing from a distance. All with myself and Riff at the tip of our spear. Hellhounds stuck out like a sore hoof, there was just no hiding one of the largest threats to the wasteland. Finally, my metal ass came up to bat with the sorriest excuse for stealth one can imagine.

I’ve heard it enough times already, but stealth wasn’t my middle name. “How are you being so optimistic about this?” I watched his brow start to raise up at that. Although it was a downer on the train, one hound had it right, “… there’s a good chance we won’t have to worry about that return trip…” not with everything as it presented itself now.

One wrong move, one slip up, and there goes the act. I’d be Steel Ranger propaganda with them toting my head around on a pike, just as all of theirs would be. Big headlines of ‘Stay clear of the Rangers, or else’ below in bold outside their stronghold. It might have been the walk alone to my thoughts letting all the negativity in, but it was flowing freely now finally.

This was an all or nothing bet, either we succeeded, or we failed…

“Because you believed we could,” Come again? His curiosity was replaced with just a smile, and a gentle look down to the one hiding under his wing. “You’ve made friends out here ya know, ones that weren’t afraid to follow you across the land searching for one you thought you lost…” one that I did lose in the end still, but he must have caught my look, “… and even after that, we stuck it out to see things through. I wasn’t lying when I said I hadn’t had this much fun in years…” whether he intended to or not, that wing of his clenched a bit tighter around the mare. “It’s been a hell of a ride, Wildfire… and I know you wouldn’t have made this trip if there wasn’t at least the smallest chance of us coming out on top.”

Key word there, smallest chance…

“So… do you want to turn tail and run now that we have that goal in sight?” his eagle eyes looked through my visor, and he already knew that answer just like he did after giving my diagnosis.

With friends like these, what could I say? Though one mare beat me to the punch, “… we’ve come this far.” Alimite smiled back at me, barely hidden under the vail of her cloak.

And just like that with the words of a friend, I could feel some of that worry letting go… call it cold feet. I’ll just go ahead and blame the snow. Though that does beg one question, “So… how much do either of you know about submarines?” here I was spit balling on our way to the target, what a time to formulate a plan, “any idea where to start?”

“Like I said on the train, sink it like any other ship…” Deacon started with a shrug to his shoulders.

“…I mean they’re probably a pain in the ass to fix once broke,” Alimite finished off.

Right… I was the pony-cicle… alrighty textbooks and engineering 101 don’t fail me now! Getting a ship to sail was one thing, getting it to sail under the water was another altogether. So many things could go wrong that would send the crew to a watery grave. At least on an actual ship you could always get off and swim, but with a sub? Humph… how well could you hold your breath? You had to make your own air, carry enough food, give it the energy to drive itself, give it a way to submerge and…

Lightbulb, I got an idea, about 10% of an idea at least.

***

Que the abandoned town in the middle of nowhere… no seriously, the only motion I was seeing from any of the buildings in this place was the snow falling off those roofs. As for a town, I’d call it a village, but who was I to judge. This wasn’t even enough of a blip on the map for it to get its own marker.

Nothing but boarded up windows, rolling tides of sleet, and the occasional shutter flapping in the wind. There also weren’t any tracks that shown others recently visiting, so my guns could rest at ease. Although my eyes certainly couldn’t, every step we took I got to see that little marker off in the distance getting ever closer. Calming words of a friend or not, my heart was still thundering at the prospect of going toe to toe with em.

I had to relax… or at least get the figment of a plan out of my head or else it was going to explode. That concept was sitting at about 69% complete the way I saw it… hmm, nice. Though I still needed to draw it out for those with me to get the overall picture down pact.

“We should probably poke around some of these homes…” Tumble sniffled through her nose, “Might have a potion or two to use for the next hump.”

“We’ll need to rest till the cover of night, or at least dusk as well,” and all eyes on me. I hadn’t elaborated at all with what was buzzing through my head since out little chat, and that helped past the time till we were only several miles away from the coast. However, it also kept them all in the dark, “I have a plan.”

“Oh shit…” Thank you for the vote of confidence dear!

Yet even with her snicker, the mare was staring pretty intently for me to spill the beans… now you’ll have to wait. “Tumbles’ right though, we could always use a few more supplies.” A quick look around nabbed me a medium sized house, more than enough for us to pile inside. More importantly, it had a chimney, “Think you girls can poke around? Deacon and I will clear a spot for us to kick our feet up.”

Each of them looked at me a little funny for that, our usual ‘split up’ routine well and broken. Was there any reason? Kinda, but we’ll get to that… I wanted to map out the details a little better before I proposed them to the ones who’d be doing the heavy lifting. Without so much as a huff, the girls went one way, and we went on towards the house.

Plywood was great for weathering the storm, not so good for a metal hoof. Half a kick later earned us a grand entrance, and a dusty old room. Once again, I was thanking the filters on this thing, otherwise I’d be like Deacon sneezing up my entire sinus cavity. Now where was… there ya are. Just like I hoped, that fireplace was smack dab in the middle of the living room wall. Plenty of space for us to get ready, and me to put some ideas out for all to see.

Another buck to an innocent chair almost shattered the furniture to manageable chunks, anything else I needed my horn took care of as I piled them in the fireplace. Deacon however, moved just past the main living room on to another part of the house while I went. A quick burp of flames had the fireplace burning bright, and already I could almost sense the warmth on my face… if it wasn’t for all this plating.

Screw it… a few clicks of the latch, and helmet slid off. Letting me- “Ahh…ahh…achoo!” taste that sweet stagnant air.

“Yeah, not so fun is it,” Deacon came back empty taloned, “Kitchen was empty… but it looks like you’re already doing some redecorating.”

One leg of the chair I sacrificed was just what I needed, and in an aura, it levitated out of the flame and snuffed out with a puff of smoke. “Only if I wanted to make this place a classroom…” he had no idea what I was talking about, but it’d all make sense soon enough.

The wall was clear enough for my needs, and with the careful twist of my horn I started out simply. I didn’t design subs, barely even knew of their concept alone… but I did understand article and principals.

The idea wasn’t hard to grasp, and had been experimented with by others as a way to explore the waters around Equestria itself. A metal haul was heavy, but hollow it could still float. You needed a way to control its buoyancy, how do you do that one might ask? Simple, just use what’s around you. Zeppelins of old used the same idea in some ways, submarines just had a more abundant source of it… Water.

As I thought the lines on the wall were making sense in my mind, and I started to add the little details that might help the others along. A tank or two there, a pump here, piping everywhere in this damned thing. I swear I didn’t have a hoof in their creation, but I understood machines well. With my ‘chalk’ wearing thin, I finished up what I needed and took a step back.

“Ahh… we miss something?” Riff asked from behind me, and low and behold the whole gang was back together.

A small sack from Alimite poured onto the coffee table, and inside were just an assortment of your usual wasteland grocery list. Canned meat that the hound swiped up immediately, a few things of water that only sounded partially frozen, and a few boxes of sweet treats that might be a good fill in for popcorn.

The box of Fancy Buck Snack Cakes found a new home in the hooves between the two mares, as they and the hound took their seat on the couch. “Actually, I’m just getting started,” okay… deep breaths, you went through the plan your whole way here. Now just to spell it all out, and one of my hooves acted as a pointer. “Subs need to be able to regulate their ballast,” blank stares as far as the eye could see… alrighty, simpler terms then, “how well they can float,” that’s more like it, “mostly this is done by either pumping air or water inside what's called ballast tanks stored along the bellies of the beast.”

Using the stump of my chalk I circled around the crudely draw parts. “More water, and they sink. More air, and they float… simple really, but tedious…” it was all a balancing game. You needed the right about of both to get yourself neutral in the water, and having too much of one would make you either a boat on the surface or a rock on the sea bed. “I’m aiming at breaking those pumps, maybe even rupturing the ballasts if possible. The subs will sink, and without repairs, won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.” If at all that is.

One talon shot up, “why not break the haul?” Deacon pointed out one thought of his not too long ago, “probably be harder to fix that than some pumps.”

“I don’t know how well the haul is protected… if we use too much, we might just set off those warheads all together,” as spectacular as it’d be. I would much rather have a controlled level of destruction, “even with these parts being damaged, I doubt the rangers would be able to get the ball rolling on any repairs…” hell they needed shipments of steel from Equestria to just patch up the subs before. How much gear would they need to raise them from the sea bed? “Sinking them would render both useless for decades. Hell, they’d probably have better luck rebuilding the damned things from the ground up.”

Even with the ranger numbers at their disposal. They weren’t engineers, if they were they wouldn’t need me after all to upgrade a few suits of armor. Creating these ships needed entire teams at the drawing board likely, something the Rangers just didn’t have.

“I propose going in at night, get on the subs, set a few charges, and with some level of precision… send them to the bottom.” A solid plan, probably the best I’ve had. We get in, and get out with our heads well out of any ponies’ crosshairs…

Just one problem.

“And how do you propose we get in without being noticed?” Alimite picked that one up quick.

Alas, she was right. Some of us were better suited at stealth from the get go… though not amongst the rangers. My suit was too far changed to blend in, and Riff and Deacon were entirely different species. We needed someponies that could blend in, and waltz around like any other in their ranks. That just left two… Winter forgive me.

“With you two…” and just like that, both the mares present eyes grew wider as they fell back into the couch in near perfect unison. Alrighty, phase one! “None of us are suited really to sneak aboard a ship, we all stick out too much… but you two can look like any one of them.” Alimites’ bandana might have to be covered up a little, but last I checked none of the rangers had ever met her in the first place. Even Tumble could slither away in amongst them, with a few changes, “They have what's called Scribes, wear a different uniform than power armor, and with one over your coat you could blend right in.”

I hated this part of the plan… if we had the numbers, I’d say charge head long into the fray and hope for the best. However, we were limited in that. Tumble was the first real friend I made out here in the wastes. Literally from the beginning just after I dawned this suit of armor, she’d been there over my shoulder. Questioning Deacons trustworthiness, worrying over Riff slicing us in half, and who could forget all the times she had others in her crosshairs to watch my ass. It felt wrong to throw her into the mix of things when I couldn’t help right beside her… some friend I was.

Then there was another mare… I made a promise to Winter to watch over her daughter, and here I was throwing her to the wolves to make ends meet. Somewhere I could hear her mom almost cursing my name at even the idea… or maybe that was just myself arguing with it. I wanted there to be another way, but the more I looked at it, the more this seemed like the only chance. I’d be right there with them if I could, suit or not, but that issue should seem obvious.

Alimite hadn’t said a word, none of them did, so I had nothing more to do than drive the point home. “You also know machines… I’ve never seen a ballast pump, but out of all of us, you’d be the one to pick it out, and know where to put the charges.” If the gears in my head were already turning, then surely hers were as well. My eyes fell to Tumble, “and it’d do her well to have somepony watching her back, like you have for me since the start.”

After a quick cough, at least one of them found the thought to speak. “Speaking of charges,” Tumble finally put in her two cents. “Unless you want to start strapping grenades to one another, we’ll need to go shopping.”

“I was getting to that…” and time for phase two! “That’s where I come in,” all my M.W.T. training was going to come mighty in handy for this next go around. “We don’t have the firepower to rig something up for those pumps, but the Rangers sure do.” If this really was their main hub, then they had to have a stockpile of goods to choose from. “I can rig a few charges up to put a hole in anything important.”

“And as for the uniforms?” Deacon asked, “or were we going to the dockyards gift shop?”

Not even close, and que phase three. “Nope, that’s where you come in,” now the gryphon looked nervous. “Myself and Riff can’t sneak around willy-nilly, and it won’t take long for a naked mare to have questions asked to her…” you know for ponies mostly being naked as part of our daily lives, that word still managed a small blush out of the two present. “You at least can stick to the skies, find some sort of barracks, and swipe something their size to make this work.”

We had a shopping list now. Uniforms wouldn’t go unnoticed till it was too late. The explosives however might meet with some resistance, Riff and I had the best chance of dealing with that before somepony raised the alarm… as stealthily as you could ever call us together. All I’d need was a quiet place to tinker and I could have a few bombs that would blow the rug right out from under Snatchbacks’ hooves.

Did I still want to put a bullet in the guy? Oh fuck yes… but if I could take away his trump card, then he wouldn’t have that looming over my shoulder. At least then I wouldn’t think them as much of a threat, and if anything when he reared his head again it’d be easier to squash.

Once again, silence fell on the room. Either they were counting their blessings, or thinking of better ways to go about this… I was really hoping for the latter. “It’s a long shot, and I know I’m counting on each of you here… but it’s all I could think of.” Strategy in board games were fluent to me, I knew the rules, and what my opponent could do. In the real world though there were just things I couldn’t predict.

Would somepony spot Deacon on his way out of the barracks? Would I be able to make something go boom enough to matter, and not just raise the alarm? Did any of the rangers remember seeing Tumble from the few times we encountered them before? What if it was laundry day and all the uniforms were at the cleaners? Yeah, that last one was just bullshit, but I still had to consider it. In the end, I only had four chess pieces to play with, Snatchback had the entire board at his disposal.

Of all things, a chuckle wasn’t what I was expecting. Yet still, one mare found some humor in this, “you know my mom would have shot you if she heard this?”

Yes, I know that all too well, “I can already hear her cursing my name…” I wasn’t happy about it in the slightest, “if you think it’s too risky, I can try and think of something-”

“Risky is an understatement,” Celestia, you knew how to kick my ego! “I’d go with outright crazy…” finally the mare rose up from her hooves, and I waited for her to walk outside if only to cool off before she beat my head in. I know damn well that wrench was on her some- “Fortunately for you, I like crazy.”

I was about ready to take a swig of that water just to blow it out of my mouth… “You mean?”

“You heard her there Wild,” Deacon answered with a salute of his talons and stood up, “your mares’ in on the plan, and if she is, so am I.”

Tumble was the next to follow, already propping Mercy to her shoulder. “Up close might not be my glass of gin, but I can keep anything nasty in my sights and off her.” She passed a wink my way, before those eyes turned to the gryphon, “Take care of this for me when we’re in, will ya?” Deacon didn’t have a hope of firing the thing in the skies if he needed. Though if he lost it in the fray, judging from that glare she gave the guy, the rangers would be the least of his problems.

With friends like these… that left just one.

Riff looked to the four of us, finished her can of Cram, and crunched the rest of it in her paw. “Fine…” her legs found the ground, and I heard the floorboards starting to crack, “there now all us stand like jackasses.” Now we were five for five with this convoluted scheme, a million and one things that could go wrong, and I just needed it all to go perfectly and we could be back at the settlement in no time. “One question… what dog doing?”

Something that might just bring a smile to her face. “Both of us can handle rangers pretty well, but only one can do it quietly,” it took her a minute to catch my drift. Though in time I saw realization dawn on her. You know, I was actually enjoying that toothy grin, “your claws are sharp after all.” A grin that was growing ever wider.