Bridlewood: the Cost of Lies

Bridlewood Spectra Power Station, Reactor Power Room, just outside roof

General Rider cleared his throat as he addressed one of his fellows. "Major General Steel Mustang, I take it you understand the importance of the task assigned to you?"

"Yes, General," Mustang replied, nodding his head. "I am to brief the men as they each head out onto the roof to ensure that they have the correct safety equipment and correct brief. They are to make sure they safely make it back inside, and that their HAZMAT suits are correctly fitted to their bodies. If not, they will be in serious danger."

"Very good," General Rider replied. "Carry on. I must be away to oversee the requisition of additional troops. The first group of soldiers should be arriving shortly."

Steel Mustang saluted as General Rider moved away. Truth be told he hated work like this, as exposing his troops to risks he himself was not there to help with rather ran against his moral code. But at the same time, his duty dictated that he had to stay here and ensure that each soldier who came through knew his duty, and how to keep themselves safe in this dangerous new world.

The troops shuffled in, already outfitted in their HAZMAT gear. Their gas masks made them impossible to identify, and yet he felt as if he knew them all. They also had other equipment fitted to them.

"Alright, listen up!" Mustang said, causing the ponies to snap to attention. "Your orders are simple; you have been tasked with shovelling the graphite on the roof back into the reactor core. You will be working on that rooftop for a maximum of sixty seconds, as any longer risks a fatal radiation dose."

He indicated to the plating on the floor. "The metal plating on the floor is lead. Fit this to your suits, and it will help to mitigate the worst of the radiation levels. Do this now."

There was an ecstacy of fumbling as the troops attached the makeshift collars and plates to their suits, fitting the equipment with clumsy straps to their clothing in time for duty. Truth be told, the equipment had been more or less thrown together, but it was the best that the Army could do in the circumstances.

"You are each equipped with a gas mask and a high power dosimeter to allow you to check radiation levels. Radios will be useless in the conditions so communicate via wing signals. Finally, no matter what you do, do not look directly into the core. This will expose you to a fatal dose in seconds, so be careful. Once the bell sounds, make your way back to the safe zone, rotate to the cleaning room, and then wait until you are called for duty again. Make sure no breaches occur in your armour."

The ponies saluted, and turned to face the door with one synchronised motion. The doors sat before them, and they had lined up behind them, ready to go.

Bridlewood Spectra Power Station, Reactor Power Room, just outside roof

Private Rainbow Dawn listened out carefully for the bell that would signal that they could move. Everybody who had been deployed upon this mission knew of the dangers. The briefing they had received said as much, and it was their duty to do it. After all, if they couldn't stop this threat that would posion all life, it would prove to be a serious situation for all life on the planet.

She tensed herself up as she prepared to move. Her shovel weighed a ton, but it was critical for her survival.

Suddenly, the bell rang, along with a loud siren to signal them to move. The doors slid open, revealing the harsh world before them.

"GO, GO, GO!"

Rainbow Dawn charged out onto the roof alongside her fellows, and found herself cantering through a broken, shattered place, with eerie ruins and broken machinery sitting all over the place. She could see what they were looking for, though. Before them, lying all over the place, were suspicious mounds of rock. These, they had been informed, were graphite, and were what they needed to shovel back into the core.

She saw several other soldiers shifting a large piece of the stuff back towards the edge of the wall and down into a gigantic pit before them. The mounting enormity of the situation was building upon her, and she closed in on another piece, lodging her shovel underneath it. It was deceptively light, with lots of holes in it to make it surprisingly easy to lift.

She trotted over to the edge, being extremely careful not to look over. Based on photographs she had seen, seeing that core was like looking into the mouth of Tartarus itself, a place of eternal suffering and ruination.

With a considerable effort, she shifted the piece of rubble into the core and turned away as fast as she could. Suddenly, another bell rang.

"EVERYPONY BACK INSIDE!"

Rainbow Dawn swung about and got up speed back towards the door, covering the ground with all the speed she could make. She dashed along, noticing the others keeping up their pace. She tripped, falling down into a puddle of water with a bang.

As she tried to pull herself up, she suddenly felt a wing grasp hers. The wing belonged to one of her fellow soldiers, and he beckoned for them to go back indoors. Once they were through the doors, the General was there, waiting for them.

"Well done, all of you," he said. "You've done our country proud today. Proceed to the cleaning room for scrubbing and processing before you are needed again."

"Sir?" said one of the pegasi. "We have a problem here."

General Mustang came over, and saw Rainbow Dawn. Specifically, that her boot had a hole in it. A hole through which radiation could have leaked in to lethal levels.

"Get her to the infirmary," he ordered. "The rest of you, get cleaned up."

Bridlewood Spectra Power Station, Safe Zone, Command Trailer

Alphabittle finally completed connecting his equipment to the network, allowing him to start the Zoom call with his superiors who were, of course, an extremely long distance away from him. The equipment beeped as it connected to the network properly, and finally the system brought up their faces.

Before him was the King, Princess Haven, Emperor Haven, and several other important dignitaries connected to the local area (the Bridlewood authorities were elsewhere, he assumed, trying and probably failing to keep the populace calm as they had been evacuated to another place in sudden circumstances).

"What news, Alphabittle?" asked the King. "Is there good or bad news from Bridlewood?"

"Both, Your Majesty," Alphabittle replied. "The good news is that we have works underway to contain much of the disaster and limit the effects to the surrounding area. This is currently taking the form of clearance works, moving rubble, and digging tunnels to try and remove graphite blocks and limit radiation leaks into the local area as much as we can. Concrete is being used to bury large quantities of rubble and radioactive substances in order to prevent too much local damage."

"And the bad?" the King asked.

"I can help out here, your majesty," Princess Haven began.

"Silence," the Emperor proclaimed, the only words he had said the entire conversation. "Alphabittle was the one he asked, not you."

Princess Haven looked stunned by those words, but did not speak up. Instead, the King asked his question again. "And the bad? You said that there was bad news."

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Alphabittle sighed. "Owing to the way the fire was fought, water has pooled in a large tank underneath the reactor building, where it has been building up for some time and is surrounded by rain water. The reactor core has turned to some sort of lava-"

"You made lava?" Emperor Haven asked, incredulously.

"Yes, and it's leaking its way down to the water table. We're looking at a massive explosion, possibly an extinction level event." Alphabittle paused.

"How are you planning on mitigating it?"

Alphabittle nodded. "I believe Princess Haven can tell you her side of the plan."

"Thank you, Alphabittle," Princess Haven said. "I called upon the services of miners who are currently digging a tunnel underneath the complex, so we can get the reactor remnants flowing in a different direction."

"We also have a backup plan." Alphabittle took over the conversation. "We are sending a team of divers down into the tunnels to they can drain the water out of the tanks and prevent a steam explosion."

"We would rather you had secured permission from us first before taking such a drastic step," another voice said. "Pony lives are not to be used lightly."

"I am aware, but had we waited it could already be too late."

The King nodded. "Carry on. We may well save the planet yet, but I hope it never comes to that which we fear most."