Steel Giantby clideb50ChaptersCh 1 Arrival (rewritten)Ch2 Encounter (rewritten)Ch 3 Dragon (rewritten)Ch 4 The Dust SettlesCh 5 The Sun RisesCh 6 The Soldier Presses On.Ch 7 Travel (Edited)Ch 8 Appleoosa (Edit)background information(warning lots of pictures)(Updated)Ch 1 Arrival (rewritten)The serene silence of space above a temperate planet was interrupted by space and time boiling and ripping itself apart. In a flash of light a jump ship trailing smoke and fire from many sections appeared from the hole, deploying a Mercer class drop ship before exploding. As the hole in space shrank, a second flash of light happened, leaving a Leopard class drop ship in its wake. The Leopard and Mercer began to exchange fire. The Mercer landed a few light hits along the nose of the Leopard. Aboard the Leopard the bridge was alive with activity. The Officer at engineering turned towards the captain. “Damage reported on the nose section, sir. Nothing serious yet, but if they keep hitting there it’ll become a problem.” “Oh this is insane!” complained the pilot. “We’re a ‘brick’, not a warship.” The captain looked at the pilot. “We had no other choice. Our ship was the only one fast enough and in range to chase after them, and we both know if we let those clanners get away, they’d just come back with more dropships and warships. Chances are it wouldn’t be just single lance dropships either. Probably Overlord cla-” The captain was cut off by an explosion on the outside of the ship. “Guns!” the captain shouted to the gunnery officer. “Focus fire on their engines! We cripple those and the ship will drop to that planet like a rock!” “Yes sir!” The officer replied. The Leopard’s missile racks unleashed a hailstorm of missiles towards the Mercer’s engines. A moment later, the Leopard’s PPCs flashed and sent a pair lightning bolts towards the same engine block. The missiles and bolts nailed the right engine at the same time, ripping it to pieces. With only 3 engines left, the mercer began to spin slowly. Several points along the hull glowed brightly. “HARD STARBOARD, NOW!” the captain shouted! While the bridge was alive with activity, the mech bay had almost no signs of life. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the battle, and the hum of the reactors belonging to four battlemechs clamped into place in the hanger. Roy, the lance’s scout, broke the silence. “Round 2, ready, fight!” “I’m glad to see you think it’s funny Roy.” retorted Gerald, who was checking his emergency hot drop boosters, and life support pod, making sure they were connected properly to his Hunchback for the fifteenth time since they jumped. “I hate these space battles. I rather have control of whether I live or die than leave it in the hands of some dropship pilot.” While Roadie didn’t say anything, he agreed with Gerald. He peeled his eyes off of a book he was reading to look at a console. It showed all green lights for the hotdrop booster pods, and the life support pod. While most Inner Sphere ‘mechs were designed for supporting a pilot on an extended mission, he had special equipment that required the extra pod. The extra supplies, and computer was an added bonus. He resumed reading his book as the lance commander started talking on the radio. “That’s enough you two.” she said. “Roy, leave Gerald alone. As for you Gerald, if I catch you trying to exit that cockpit to double check those hot drop pods, I’ll throw you off this ship in nothing more than a space suit. So sit back, and relax. Even if the hull is breached the hanger’s magnetic clamps will prevent you from moving a foot.” “Wynne D.” Gerald replied. “You’re forgetting Roadie’s magnetic clamps aren’t wor-” “And do I hear him complaining about it?” She interrupted. “No.” Roadie finally chose to say something. “The only thing I’m concerned about is what happens after the battle. We chased that Clan Wolf ship blind into a hole in space. That’s never been done before, and I’m concerned we’re trapped God knows where.” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there Roadie, but for now let’s focus on-” An explosion tore through hanger door beneath Roadie’s Centurion, and cut Wynne D off. There was a split second of absolute silence. Roadie realized what happened, and what was about to happen as a result. “Aw fu-” The mech bay had turned into a hurricane. Roy’s Commando, Gerald’s Hunchback, and Wynne D’s Jagermech all slid a little before the mechbay’s clamps activated their electromagnets. Roadie’s Centurion, however, slid right out of his clamps and was sucked into space. “Shit shit shit shit shit!” Roadie panic as he tumbled out of control. “Ro-d- ca-.....-ou…-me?” came Wynne D’s voice before it dissolved into static. “Okay don’t panic. I just have orientate the Centurion, then fire the boosters up, and let the computer take care of the rest.” Roadie said to himself. Using the Hot drop boosters’ RCS; Roadie orientated the Centurion so it faced feet down. The pods fired off in a blaze of blue light as the Centurion’s feet began to glow orange, and it plummeted into the atmosphere. Ponyvile 0300 hours At a small inn at Ponyvile, a door is opened leading into one of the smaller rooms. A light yellow Pegasus with a short brown mane walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the window. “Another fine job Aile.” the Pegasus quietly said to herself. She looked up into the night sky to catch a bizarre sight. Not just one, but two shooting stars both coming from the same point in the sky, but falling towards different areas. ‘Luna must be having fun again’ Aile thought to herself. She closed her eyes, and made a wish upon one of the shooting stars. She opened her eyes, and noticed a third star at the point of origin glowing brighter and brighter. Stars don’t just get brighter like that unless… Aile threw herself out the window and flew as fast as her wings could carry her to the library near the center of Ponyville. As stopped by slamming her forehooves into the front door and began to pound at the door. “Twilight! Twilight, open up! Please, it’s an emergency!” Aile shouted. The door opened up. “I’m sorry to wake you up this late but-.” Aile started before she lost her voice and her eyes went wide. Standing in the door wasn’t the purple unicorn, but a white Alicorn with an ethereal mane. “What’s the emergency my little pony?” Princess Celestia asked in a worried tone. Aile worked her mouth for a few seconds before finding her voice again. “A-a-a- a meteorite is heading straight for Ponyville! I saw a couple shooting stars start at one point in the sky, and now this one just gets brighter, and brighter.” Aile explained. Celestia’s shocked expression lasted for a split second before becoming a mask of determination. She pushed passed Aile and looked up in the sky. Aile heard her muttering as she looked between the ground and sky several times. Celestia suddenly let out a soft gasp, and turned towards the door. “Applejack, was anypony still at Sweet Apple Acres?” Celestia asked. “No yer majesty. Granny Smith is in town hall with ev’rypony else, ahn Big Mac is with Fluttershy, ahn tha foals. ” came a southern accent from inside. Please don’t tell me tha’ rock is headin for mah farm!” “I’m afraid so, but if my estimates are right, it’ll land on the part that borders of the everfree.” Celestia explained. Five ponies poured out of the library. Aile realized they were five of the Elements of Harmony. “How long until-” Twilight began to asked when a loud screech followed by an earth shattering kaboom interrupted her. “Nevermind.” Twilight said with a moan. “Can tonight get any worse?” “Wellwecouldfailtostopthedragonthat’sthreateningPonyvile,andhecoulddestroythetown.OOhhthemeteoritecouldberadioactiveorevenaliens” Pinky rapidly fired off. “Oh for the love of-, Aliens don’t exist Pinky.” Twilight said. “Oh yeah? What about all those abductions, and crop circles? Or those weird ray guns ponies sometimes find?” Rainbow asked. “Ponies who just want attention and-, oh forget it. Let’s investigate to make sure no pony got hurt.” Twilight said, her horn glowing brightly. In a flash of light, Aile noticed they were no longer in front of the library, but near the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. Smoke rose from the direction of the Everfree. The bearers, and princess began to move towards the smoke. Aile quietly brought up the rear. Celestia lagged behind so she now walked side by side with Aile. “I forgot to ask you name little pony.” Celestia said with a gentle smile. “My name is Aile, your majesty.” Aile replied nervously. “Nice to meet you miss Aile, and please relax. Why does everypony think I bite or that I’ll send them to the moon over the tiniest things?” Celestia said with a chuckle. Aile giggled a bit at Celestia’s question too. As the group reached the smoking crater there was a metallic moan, and hiss. “Look out!” Rainbow shout as series of bangs went off in the smoke, and something large began to fall towards the group. Everypony scattered as the metallic block fell to the ground, one end of it still glowing a dull orange. Celestia took to the sky, and with a flap of her wings; cleared away the smoke hiding the “meteorite”. Everypony gasped as a giant metal alien was revealed crouched in the crater. The alien slowly rose up to full height; it’s body pinging, and groaning from the extreme temperature changes. Twilight let out a moan before face hoofing. “‘Could this day get any worse?’ I just had to ask that, didn’t I.” Author's Note MUCH better than the 1st time around in my opinion. Ch2 Encounter (rewritten)Ponyville 0330 hours “Not my finest moment.” Roadie groans as he types away on the Centurion’s command console. He had come in a lot faster than he was suppose to. Several bangs sounded outside. “Hot drop boosters jettisoned, and the life support pod is deployed as well. Hmm, only minor leg damage? I’m lucky that landing didn't tear my legs clean off.” Roadie failed to notice that the smoke around his ‘mech had mysteriously vanished as he continued typing away at the keyboard. “Let’s see here: Temperate planet, twenty one degrees Celsius, and the atmosphere consists of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Ar- wait a minute… This is the same mix as Terra. Well at least I won’t die from stepping outside to-” Thud Roadie looked up out the clear steel window and froze. A sky blue horse, no a sky blue horse with wings floated outside. It had its forehooves pressed to the window and peered inside. “What?” Upon spotting Roadie she flew back a couple feet and started talking? to something down on the ground. Roadie used his ‘mech’s ground camera and sure enough there was a group of them on the ground. “What!?” Roadie looked back up to see a bright yellow horse, also with wings, peering inside and started chatting excitedly to the blue one who rolled its eyes. A moment later the yellow one waved at Roadie who was still sitting there with one word on his mind and tongue. “...What…?” ******************** Aile couldn’t believe it. An alien! In a giant metal machine that was years beyond anything at the latest tech demo in Canterlot a couple weeks back! “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh” Aile breathed. She couldn’t recall the last time she was this excited. “I don’t believe it Rainbow! A giant metal walker! The only thing that came close at the tech demo was a motorized carriage, but the motor suffered a malfunction and-” Rainbow grabbed Aile and said “Aile. Breathe. I know how excited you get around technology, but right now we got bigger problems. A dragon is on its way, and we have to deal with the alien before the dragon gets here. You and Twilight can egghead it out later okay?” Aile looked down. Sure enough, Twilight was in a similar state with Applejack trying to calm her down. Princess Celestia watched the scene silently, clearly amused with her student. Before Aile could reply the metal giant took a couple steps back, and kneeled down. There was a hiss as a small hatch opened up, and a rope ladder unrolled itself from the giant’s head. Everypony held their breath as the alien stepped out onto the top of the metal giant’s head. He stood on two legs and had claws similar to a griffon or a dragon but without the sharp tips. It had a small round face with tiny eyes and a proportional nose. It reminded Aile of a monkey without its tail. It wore a grey jump suit with a few plates made from something Aile wasn’t familiar with. After a couple seconds of absolute silence, the alien held it’s claws level with its face, and made guttural noises Aile couldn’t understand. A sudden bright flash of light near the alien knocked it off balance, sending it tumbing over the edge with a cry. Aile and Rainbow Dash dove to save it, only for a purple glow to gently lower it to the ground. It sat there as another flash went off, and a very concerned Twilight appeared next to it. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.” Twilight said repeatedly. The alien glared at Twilight for a moment before giving her a small smile and muttering something else. As Aile and Rainbow landed, Twilight’s eyes lit up; she points to her horn and then to the alien’s head. The alien raises an eyebrow before shrugging and leaning a bit towards her. Twilight’s horn glows with magic and she gently touches it to the alien’s head. A third flash and the alien looks dazed. “What was that?” the alien asks. “Yes it worked! Hi I’m Twilight. That’s Princess Celestia, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rar-” “Wait, you can talk? I can understand you? What did you do?, and why… do… I… feel… fun-” the alien says before passing out with a look of agony on his face. Celestia’s horn glows for a bit, and she lets out a gasp. “Rainbow! Aile! Get him back to his giant immediately! Equis’ magical flux is killing him! I’ll be up in a mo-” A loud roar cuts her off. Celestia sighs. “Figures he’d be here by now. Please keep an eye on the alien. Twilight, please come with me. We have a dragon to calm down.” With a flash of golden light, Princess Celestia and her student are gone. ******************** Roadie comes to back in the pilot’s seat of his Centurion. He notices the yellow one is eyeing the controls of his Centurion and says the first thing that came to mind. “Don’t touch anything. This is a Battlemech, not a toy.” Roadie says in a polite, but firm tone. “Sorry. I didn’t touch anything.” the yellow one replies. “It’s oka-” Roadie says before his eyes widen. He just stares at the yellow one, who is beginning to look nervous. “Are you okay?” it, no she asks. Roadie puts a hand up to his forehead.“Give me a minute. I’m trying very hard not to panic over the talking yellow horse, …no sorry the flying talking yellow horse.” “We’re pegasi.” another voice behind Roadie replies matter-of-factly. Roadie spins around and sure enough ‘sky blue’ was behind him eyeing him with a deadpan expression. “Right, pegasi, right out of Greek mythology, or was it Roman? You know what? Fuck it. Hi I’m Roadie. What are your names?” “I’m Aile.” ‘yellow’ replies. “I’m Rainbow Dash; the fastest flier in all of Equestria.” ‘sky blue’ says, puffing out her chest. “and what the hay are you anyway? A talking monkey?” “Human, and why can I understand you now? All the purple one made was a bunch of whinnying noises.” “Twilight probably did a translation spell. She’s really good when it comes to magic” Rainbow explains. “Horned horse… Oh god, a Unicorn. What’s next a dragon?” Roadie groans. Aile and Rainbow exchange a look. “...No.” Neither reply. “Fuck no. No over sized fire breathing-” A loud roar and column of fire appears in the distance. “...Of. Fucking! COURSE!” Roadie puts his helmet back on and straps himself into the pilot’s seat. He spins the ‘mech’s torso to face the direction the flames came from and zooms in. Sure enough he could see a dark blob. That was the dragon, and a smaller white dot was nearby. Golden lines and fire cross between the two occasionally. “What are you doing?” Rainbow asks as she watches the battle through the glass. “Using my ‘mech’s scope to watch. Something is fighting the dragon.” Roadie explains. “Oh no the princess!” Both Aile and Rainbow shout. Rainbow flies out through the top hatch and Aile presses her nose to the window. The three of them watched the dragon and princess attack and dodge before the dragon catches the princess with a swipe of his claw. “NO!” Aile shouts. Rainbow flies off towards the fight leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. “I’m going to regret this. Hang on to something Miss Aile.” Roadie says as his fingers dance across the control console. Aile flies to one of the jump seats as the ‘mech begins to rumble beneath her hooves. Author's Note HUGE thank you to Rarity_HD who spent an hour of his time proof reading and giving me several pointers. Ch 3 Dragon (rewritten)Roadie smiles as the ‘mech’s reactor rumbles to life beneath his feat. Aile practically throws herself into one of the jump seats as the cockpit begins to shake and rumble. A familiar voice sounds off inside his helmet, pulling Roadie out of an alien world full of burning air and talking mythical creatures… ...and right into his comfortable zone. Reactor: Online Sensors: Online Weapons: Online All Systems: Nominal Roadie presses down on the foot pedals to orientate the Centurion towards the dragon, and shoves the throttle as far forward as it would go. The old battlemech responds by moving right into a stride; charging straight at the dragon who busy doing something to not notice the 50 ton giant. How does something that large not notice it’s being charged? Roadie ponders as a beep and hollow red triangle catches his eye. The sensors can get a lock on it? How can it- never mind. That just makes this a whole lot easier. Roadie presses a button to lock on to the dragon, and presses another to turn a yellow led in the cockpit green. ******************** Celestia grunts as she tries to get up. She only gets as far as raising herself part way up before falling back down. Slow thuds along the ground tell her the dragon is slowly closing in for the kill, and in her current state; there was nothing she could do about it. No… I will not let my little ponies down! Celestia tries again, and succeeds in getting to her shaky feet. “Oh good. You still got some fight left in you.” The dragon said as it glares right at the Solar Princess. “I've heard the legends of what you've done in the past, and was starting to worry that a thousand years of peace had made you soft.” “As long as anything or anypony would threaten my subjects, I cannot and will not give up!” Celestia shouts as she charges up her horn. Before she can fire, there's a spark and she gasps as she falls onto her knees. Her ears flick as rapid thuds get closer. “Really? Looks like you’re on your last leg. A pity, I really was hoping for something more glorious to tell when my brethren asked how I was able to defeat you. Goodbye.” The dragon inhales, but is thrown off balance by a pair of explosions. The dragon spins around to face the source as Celestia twists her head. Both of their jaws drop in shock at the sight of the steel giant standing there with smoke coming off it’s chest. A pair of green lights begin to glow, and there was a ‘click-clack’ noise from its arm. What’s he doing? Celestia thinks. Her eyes widen as she comes to a realization. He wouldn't... ******************** “Uh Roadie, was that a good idea?” Aile asks as the dragon spins around, and roars at them. “To be honest; probably not.” Roadie said. The dragon roars again as he charges towards the Centurion. “But we’re committed to the fight now. Hang on to something!” Roadie spins the ‘mech to the right and begins to circle strafe the dragon. Roadie unleashes more Streak SRMs at the dragon and fires the medium lasers. The missiles blow off chunks of the dragon’s scales as the lasers carve neat lines into them. The dragon roars in pain and unleashes a torrent of fire at the battlemech. “No!” Aile screams as she holds her hooves up in a vain attempt to protect herself. Roadie twists the torso in an attempt to minimize the damage. He grins as his left arm and torso take almost no damage from the fire, and the ‘mech’s heatsinks quickly pump out the heat of the fire. “Well that wasn't as bad as I -SHIT!” Roadie shouts as the dragon slashes at the Centurion’s chest, leaving massive claw marks in the armor across the torso. The Centurion stumbles as it tries to recover from the blow. “Fuck off!” Roadie shouts as he fires another volley of streaks, and a blast from his LB-10X auto cannon. The dragon lets out a scream of pain as more scales fall off and as several LBX pellets pierce his leathery hide. The dragon falls to its knees as it tries to recover from the auto cannon and missile strike. The Centurion comes to a halt in front of the dragon. “This. Ends. Now!” Roadie unleashes an alpha strike at the dragon. The dragon lets out one last roar of defiance before falling onto the ground at the Centurion's feet. Roadie lets out a sigh of relief as he puts the ‘mech into standby. “Well, that was a thing. Are you okay back there Aile?” Roadie asks. Aile doesn't reply. She sits there clutching the back of the jump seat trembling with her eyes opened wide, and her pupils tiny little pinpricks. “Smooth one Roadie. First extraterrestrial contact in human history, and you traumatize the poor thing.” Roadie mumbles to himself. Griffin Territory ---- hours A squad of five griffins are making their way home after making what they felt was the most important discovery of the Griffin Kingdom. They found an alien ship, along with the bodies of several of the crew. They marveled at the wreckage of the giant ship along with the giant metal creature they had never seen before. It was missing its left leg from the knee down, and its right arm was lying at its feet with its arm consisting of 2 long barrels instead of a hoof, or talon. The griffins noticed its head was attached to the back its chest and had a face of glass. The glass had broken to reveal a seat with controls. The griffins could not believe what they it; the aliens somehow operated the giant creature. The squad decided to return home to get a team out to investigate the wreckage. As they flew home, one of them notices a giant outline in the fog. Before he could react, both the outline's arms flash green taking down four of the griffins. The last griffin panics, and flies as fast as his wings could carry him. He never sees the second outline hidden in the fog, or the lightning bolt it fires. “Was that really necessary guys? That was a massive waste of energy.” “They had invaded our dropship. For all we know, they killed any survivors.” “Only two of them were armed. They look like an exploration crew, not a strike team.” “Silence, and how dare you question me.” “Our star leader would not have-” “Carns is dead, and I am the star lead now. I will lead us to victory on this rock, and when we return; we will be receive the greatest glories any clan warrior could hope to receive.” “Conners…” “Enough of this. Radick, and I will remain here. Once you are resupplied, take Kaiden, and begin looking for those filthy freeborn scum.” “...yes sir…” Author's Note Well that was fun. I hope you enjoy it. As always constructive criticism is always welcomed. Ch 4 The Dust Settles“Aile. Aile, wake up. Please answer me.” Roadie nervously says while trying to shake Aile out of her trance. After what felt like a life time, she blinks and her eyes return to normal. “Huh? What happened? Where did the fire go?” Aile shakily looks around. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Do you want to go outside?” “Y-yes please.” Roadie taps a button on the console and the hatch pops open with hiss, and a clank. Aile stretches her wings, and quickly flies out of the cockpit. Roadie climbs out behind her. Roadie sits down on top of the Centurion watches Aile flies to the ground, and begin talking to the other ponies. Ponies… freakin’ ponies. Where the hell did that jumpship take us? Roadie shivers and begins to scratch himself. Something’s wrong about this place. It clearly a temperate planet, yet I feel like I just jumped into a tub of fleas. Roadie stops scratching with one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. and now a sinus headache. Maybe I should- “GET BACK IN YOUR GIANT QUICKLY!” something shouts, snapping Roadie out of his thoughts. Roadie looks in time to see Celestia fly straight at him. “I’LL EXPLAIN AFTER, INSIDE NOW!” She shouts as she grabs Roadie with her magic, and puts him back in the ‘mech. “What the fuck was that about?” Roadie asks in a furious tone. “I just popped out for a breath of fresh air.” “Has your headache and itching stopped?” Celestia asks in a tone that reminded Roadie of a concerned mother who caught their child near something dangerous. Roadie’s head twitches as something clicks in his head. He looks back up to Celestia who is laying down on top of the ‘mech poking her head into the cockpit. “Wait how did you-” “You appear to have no connection to magic. I’m guessing there’s no such thing as magic where you come from. Would that be true?” Roadie let’s out an explosive sigh. “Yes, magic is nothing more than either stage illusions or just a fancy word to describe los-tec.” “I see, that would explain quite a bit. Magic is very real in Equestria, and everything, including the world itself, has some sort of connection to it. I fear that since you have connection to magic, Equestria’s magical flux is harmful to you.” “Oh, great. Hmm” Roadie says as he begins to pace around the cockpit trying to think of something. “Wait, something doesn't add up. How come I’m not sick right now?” “A good question. Perhaps it has something to do with how your giant is built. Several teachers who teach and study magic at my school have found certain materials tend to block Equestria's flux. Lead, and concrete for some reason have-” “OH! Oh why didn't I think of that. Oh you idiot Roadie!” Roadie shouts smacking himself on the forehead. “It’s like radiation. Your magical flux is just like radiation. Might want to move miss...” Roadie pauses. “I never introduced myself or got your name did I?” Celestia stifles a giggle. “No you didn’t. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria.” “I’m Roadie, a sergeant of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. In any case, I need to move back to my landing zone. There’s something there I need to grab.” Roadie jumps back into the command chair, and begins the power up sequence when there was the thud behind him. Roadie looks back to see Celestia dusting herself off. “I wish to observe you controlling the giant.” Celestia explains in a formal tone. “I am curious as to how you do so.” “Alright, but please don’t touch anything. You could do something as simple as turn the lights off or shut off the reactor’s safeties which would end rather badly.” Celestia nods as the reactor begins to hum beneath their feet and hooves. Roadie turns turns on the flood light attached to the Centurion’s chest, and begins to head back towards his landing zone while trying to not step on anything. Roadie stops as he reaches the edge of the farm he landed on. “Crap, they're going to be pissed when they wake up.” Roadie mutters. Celestia looks at the farm and flinches internally. A path of destroyed trees, and massive foot prints led from the edge of the farm to where Roadie landed. Countless apples wasted or destroyed. Celestia made a note to compensate the apple family for the damages to their farm. “What did you need from where you landed?” “Life support pod. Most ‘mechs are equipped to handle prolonged time in the field, but the pod provides extra shelter and supplies. I have something special that warranted me having the pod. It’s-” Roadie was cut off as Celestia vanished in a golden flash “-something I’ll have to explain when you get back? I really hope she comes back, and didn't just go poof on me.” A few minutes later Roadie sees Celestia flying back with the life support pod suspended in a golden glow. “Whoa…” Is all Roadie manages to get out of mouth. Roadie makes the ‘mech get into a crouching/kneeling position, and powers it down. He then climbs out, locks the hatch, and swiftly works his way down as Celestia puts the pod down on the ground. “Perfect, thank you Princess.” “You’re welcome.” Celestia says with a small smile. “Everypony else has decided to get some rest after what has happened tonight. You should get some rest too. We can discuss what’ll happen later today.” Roadie replies with a small nod, and enters the life support pod. Despite the interior being slightly bigger than the Centurion’s cockpit, the lack of complex equipment require to move and operate a ‘mech made it feel much larger. A computer system was embedded into the wall. Next to the computer terminal was a foldout chair. Several cabinets full of supplies lined one of the walls. The other wall was taken up by a generator, a foldout toilet, and something that no one would find in a normal pod; a set of power armor. Roadie smiled as he looked at the armor. It was the whole reason he was issued the pod. He had recovered it during a previous mission, and after the R&D scientists had a blast tearing it apart to see how it worked. Roadie expected to never see it again, but was surprised by a decision from the brass. ***** “You giving me what?” Roadie asks the Lt. that had summoned him from his barracks. “A prototype power armor reverse engineered, and built from the Elemental you brought back. The Elemental itself appears to have been designed for some kind of super soldier, so our techs built a new design that should be usable by anyone. It needs to be tested first, and we decided why not the mechwarrior who brought it to us.” “Why not a soldier on the frontlines? Wouldn’t it get better testing out there?” “Well yes, and no. We’ve built several types and have distributed them accordingly. this one will ideally replace holdout weapons that are given to pilots for when they have to eject. While the techs figure out how to make it eject with the pilot, we decided to test if a mechwarrior can make effective use of it.” Roadie snaps to a salute “Sir, I’ll be sure to put it to good use. Without having to eject.” ***** “Well I kept my word sir. Power armors are usually radiation proof, so it should keep me safe from this place’s… magical… flux…” Roadie sighs as he rolls out a sleeping bag and settles in for the night. Seriously? Magic? Just where the hell am I? Author's Note Sorry for the delay. Writer's block plus motivation tittered out for a bit. Enjoy! Ch 5 The Sun RisesRoadie lets out an explosive sigh as he tossed the rolled up sleeping bag into a corner of the room. Despite being tired, Roadie only got a few minutes of sleep, and several hours of restless tossing and turning. Since sleep is obviously not an option, I might as well do something productive. Oh I know! Roadie approached the folded up power armor, and stepped into the metal boots. “Please say access code” ‘Betty’ states through Roadie’s neural helmet. “I thought it would be bigger.” Roadie states in an even tone. The armor opened with a pressurized hiss and unfolded over Roadie body. It sealed back up and the HUD appeared in Roadie’s helmet. Unlike the Elemental the armor was based off of, the ‘Inner Sphere Standard’ was a cheap knock off. The armor panels were bulky, several sections near the joints were only offered marginal protection, and it couldn't carry anywhere near as much firepower. On the bright side; the armor could be used by almost anyone with minimal training, the helmet wasn't a solid piece with the torso allowing the user to look around freely, and the weapon mount was a modular design. This modular design allowed the user to easily swap weapons in the field. Roadie’s armor had some special modifications. Since it was designed for use for pilots who had been forced to eject; the armor was designed to work with a neural helmet which gave Roadie a bit more control over the armor. it also used slightly slimmer armor components for a little more freedom of movement and compact the size down. The powerpack, battle claw, and ER Micro Laser were off of the Elemental itself. Roadie inspected the armor off hand, and stepped out of the life support pod. The first thing he sees is Princess Celestia looking weary, but satisfied. Before Roadie could say anything, her horn lit with a golden light. The counter built into the suit begins rapidly clicking before screaming in alarm. Roadie looks up in time to see her gently float into the air as the sun rises over the horizon at the same time. The golden glow spreads from her horn to her entire body, bathing her in golden light. As she gently touches down, Roadie’s jaw hits the bottom of his helmet. Every scratch, cut, sign of weariness, or the battle last night had vanished completely. Celestia’s ears twitch before she turns around and tilts her head at Roadie. “Is that you Roa-” Is all Celestia says before Roadie turns around and runs as fast as he can. Away from the sun, away from the farm, and as far as possible from the impossibility he just witnessed. ***** Ashley’s fingers danced across one of the few functioning computer terminals aboard the dropship. “I thought I commanded you to find the freebirth scum. Why are you still here MechWarrior?” a loud voice shouted, pulling Ashley from her thoughts. “The Nova has limited space for supplies for a MechWarrior alone, nevermind with an extra Elemental. It would be foolish to waste time searching an alien planet for a lone dropship without recon.” Ashley calmly explained, not taking her eyes off the terminal. “Then get your ass out there, and get to work!” “Conners, we can not just rush into-” “That’s Star Commander Conners, and you will follow my orders!” “...-rush into this, which is why I am trying to establish a link with what remains of the jump ship. If I can get the ship’s cameras online, I can use it as a satellite to find the Davion ship. Worse case, I can at least get their trajectory data to narrow it down to which direction.” “Alright, but hurry up! The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get home. When command reads my report about how I lead us to victory over the freebirth scum, and discovered a new planet to colonize; I will finally be free of this dezgra unit, and back on track to eternal glory!” “Aff.” Ashley said as Connors continued ranting while leaving the room. “Been watching long Kaiden?” “Long enough to lose my appetite for the next few days.” A gravelly voice said from a darkened corner of the room. “Whenever he goes on one of his glory rants, I miss the commander. He always placed unit safety and survival over glory. While it did lead to missed opportunities, it also kept us safe from many freeborn traps and tricks. I have also been meaning to talk to you about him.” Ashley stopped typing on the computer, but didn’t twitch otherwise. “Oh?” she said in a measured voice. “I noticed you both have the bloodname ‘Carns’. May I ask were you two… related?” “It is a long story best kept to kill time during the long travel our beloved new commander will send us on eventually.” Ashley said before continuing her work. “Very well.” The Elemental said as he began to leave the room. He paused at the doorway, turning to face the MechWarrior. “Be sure to get some rest at some point. No point in pushing yourself before it is necessary. I will bring up some food from the mess in little while.” Ashley gave a small chuckle. “Always looking out for everyone’s best interest. Thanks Kaiden.” ***** Celestia flew swiftly after Roadie. She no longer had any doubts it was him, but why is he fleeing from me as if I'm a spawn of tartarus? All I had done was raise the- Oh… Pony feathers. Celestia picked up her speed. Roadie looked back to see her gaining, and responds with blue fire from his back to propel him a bit further. He looks ahead in time to trip over a small fence near a log cabin. Celestia lands next to him. “Roadie please calm down. I will not hurt you.” Celestia explains. “No! No no no no no! Physics says no! That’s just not possible!” Roadie rambles on while crawling away on his back. Celestia sighs and begins to charge up a calming spell. Roadie shouts a panicked cry and leaps at her. Celestia grunts as the cannon arm hits her and her horn touches Roadie’s forehead. “Uh oh...” Celestia says as the spell activates. In an instant Roadie’s life flashes before her eyes: A grandfather telling old war stories holding a picture of a brand new steel giant, a video call with a middle aged man with an aged steel giant behind him, a letter of acceptance into an academy, life and lessons at the academy, the passing of the steel giant to Roadie, a fierce battle, and the chase of a ship through a tear in time and space. “Oh my goodness. Are you okay?” a quiet but concerned voice asks. Celestia shakes off what she just witnessed to see a butter yellow pegasus in front of her. Celestia opens her mouth to say something, but at that moment; her mind finishes processing what she just saw. Instead she wraps the surprised pegasus in a hug. “I’m okay my little pony, just... shaken up a bit.” Author's Note Sorry for the delay. New job, and lack of motivation tends to delay things, but my friend was right. If you don't feel like writing don't. I came up with several ideas this way, and I think you'll enjoy them. Also note: I'm going back to writing in past tense instead of present. Feels a lot smoother that way. Also please point out any spelling/grammar issues you see. I don't have an proofreader, and some stuff slips under the radar.\ EDIT: 10/5/2014. I've decided to keep the battle claw on the power armor instead of an armored glove. It will make the rewrite progress a lot smoother. I also edited the clan conversations to remove I'll, can't, etc and used I will, can not, etc. (If I recall, clanners don't like contractions.) Ch 6 The Soldier Presses On.Roadie awoke to whispering. He was laying down inside somewhere. He slowly moved his head to the side to see Celestia, and a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane were the source of the whispering. “-as it really that awful?” The pegasus asks. “So much conflict for so long, and over countless worlds. No wonder he has that armor, and the battlemech. They’re needed to survive where he’s from.” Celestia said with a sad tone in her voice. “On a more positive note; while they are capable of such horrific violence, they are capable of great compassion.” Without warning, Roadie felt a rapid tapping against his head. He turned to face the source; a little rabbit, which proceeded to rapidly kick his helmet and motion for him to move. Seriously? Roadie thought. I’ve been awake for less than a minute and you want me to-. “Angel!, you leave him alone this instant mister.” the pegasus said in a firm voice that still sounded quiet. ‘Angel’ made several hand gestures at Roadie, and something beneath him. “I know he’s in your spot on the couch, but you can share it for a little bit.” “Umm. I can move if that’ll make things easier. I’m not sure how I got here anyway.” Roadie said. The pegasus responded with an “eep” before trying to hid behind her mane. Celestia frowned, and approached Roadie. “How much did you see?” see asked. Roadie just sat there for a few seconds before replying “A battle over a crystal city, Turning some… thing into stone, and you being forced to send someone to the moon because she turned evil. You’re impossible. You can’t exist. Organic beings can’t live for several thousand years, and move suns around like toys!” replied in equish. “...and I also learned a new language? Alright what did you do?” Celestia let out a sigh. “I was charging up a calming spell when you accidentally bumped me with your laser cannon. Since I lost focus the spell went from being a calming spell to a memory spell. You got flashes of my life, and I saw… your whole life. Childhood, school, mechwarrior training, and even the Centurion when it belonged to your father, and your father’s father.” “I see…” Roadie said. A scroll flashed into existance in front of Celestia. Celestia quickly unrolled it and read it. “I think we found your friends.” Celestia said. “My captain of the guard, and niece are on their honeymoon in Appleoosa when they saw a fireball land in the desert. They can’t get close whatever landed without it firing lightning and beams of light at them.” “Could be my friends or the clanners. Hmm. Where is Appleoosa? I’ll head out and investigate at once.” “An excellent idea. I’ll visit Twilight, and see if she wants to help out. I believe she will want to help along with her friends.” Celestia said while giving the yellow pegasus a small smile. The pegasus returned the smile and nodded. “Oh! you’ll probably need a guide. I’ll look around town and see if I can find anypony who can help you.” “Thanks. I’ll meet them by the farm I landed in. I have to load the life support pod onto the ‘mech.” Roadie explains as he heads towards the door. He stops and turns to the yellow pegasus. “Thank you for letting me rest here ma’am.” “Oh… umm… you’re welcome.” the pegasus said while trying to hide behind her mane again. Roadie nodded before exiting the small home with some small difficulty fitting through the doorway. Author's Note Sorry for delay, and constantly trying different formatting. I think I like this one the best, and this should be the end of major revisions so I can start to add older chapters with edits. I'm also working on some bonus chapters. These'll be little snips from the scrapped sequel . Enjoy! Ch 7 Travel (Edited)Roadie sat in the Centurion, his face a mask of concentration. He relaxed as he heard a Clank followed by several clicks. His HUD confirmed the pod had been successfully reattached to the battlemech. He let out a breath of relief. Roadie noticed a familiar yellow pegasus trotted towards the battlemech with her supplies on her back. Roadie popped open the hatch. Aile flew up to the Centurion’s cockpit, and entered it. Roadie closed the hatch behind her. "Hey Aile. I'm guessing Celestia asked you to be my guide?" "Yep. Do you have a place I can put these?" she asked motioning towards her saddlebags. Roadie nodded towards one of the jump seats behind the cockpit. Aile put down her supplies and sat in the jump seat for all of 5 seconds before jumping up on the back of the pilot’s chairs, and wrapping her fore hooves around the top of the seat. "Didn't you watch me when I was fighting the dragon?" "I was more focused on the dragon and not you pressing buttons." "Fair enough. Which way to Appleoosa?" Aile pulled out a map from her bags, and gave it to Roadie. "We're here." she pointed to a point on the map "and we need to go here." she pointed west and a bit south. "Alright hang on." Aile watched as Roadie flipped a couple switches, pushed down the left foot pedal, and moved the horizontal stick forward. The centurion turned towards the west, and stomped off. As they left Roadie noticed the farm was missing any and all signs of the 'mech's landing and movement. Must of been what Celestia was working on last night. 15 minutes later "NOOOOOOoooo!!!!" Applejack scrambled out of the farm too see Pinkie Pie standing on the edge of the farm. "What in the hay was that about Pinkie?" Applejack asked. "They left! They left before I could give Roadie a welcome to ponyville party! That's twice now I missed it. I. Will. Get. Him. A. Party. No. Matter. What!" Pinkie yelled. "Wait twice?" "Yeah. Clide completely forgot about the first time, and just thought of it now. Oh well. He'll figure something out." Pinkie explained before walking back towards town. Applejack just sat there a minute. "...what the hay is a Clide?" Several hours later… Aile and Roadie had passed the time during the trip so far with Aile asking what each button did, and Roadie answering her questions. Roadie had in turn asked about pony culture and customs. He didn’t step on any toes, or in this case hooves. “So let me get this straight: Celestia and Luna raise and lower the sun and moon. Pegasi like yourselves control and produce weather, and you consider places like the Everfree where this is happens on its own unnatural?” “Yep.” Aile replied but then furrowed her brow. “Is it different where you’re from?” “Every planet in the inner sphere that has been explored by humans is like the Everfree. We have tried weather control and terraforming, but nature tends to throw a curveball at us and wrecks that plan. Terraforming takes years, and weather control always bit us in the butt in the end.” Roadie said, recalling several disasters he heard on the Comstar News. “Wow technology can even control weather?” Aile asked dumbstruck. “Why are you so fascinated with technology Aile? None of the other ponies, god that’s still weird to say, *ahem* none of the others seemed so interested in technology. So why are you?” Aile’s ears drooped. “Promise not to tell anyone?” Aile asked, her voice a quiet whisper. “I promise.” Roadie said. “Well it began when I was young little filly.” Aile began… 10 years ago… “Hurry honey. We don’t want to be late.” A pegasus mare said to a pegasus stallion with a small yellow filly riding her back. “I’m coming sweetie.” The Stallion said. The family walked through the streets until they came across a large and long platform that ran along two metal rails. As a column of smoke appeared in the distance, the stallion turned towards the filly on his back. “You’re going to love this Aile, and to think it doesn’t need any form of magic at all to work.” Aile watched as the metal caterpillar slowed, and crawled to a stop. “Amazing isn’t it Aile? Aile?” The stallion turned to see that Aile had buzzed off his back and was looking at the engine. She was still on the platform but had run right up to the engine and was looking at all the gears, wheels, and smoke stack. The stallion let out a chuckle before spotting something new on his daughter that filled him with pride. A symbol had appeared on her flank, but she was so busy with the engine and assaulting the driver with endless questions, she didn’t even notice it. The Stallion spared the driver from having to answer her questions by walking over, and scooping up his daughter. The family got into one of the passenger compartments, and in a few moments the train left the station. “…And that’s how I got my cutie mark along with my hobby.” Aile said finishing her story. Roadie let out a small chuckle. “I know what you mean. First time I saw a battlemech as a child, I fell in love instantly. Cutie marks show what your special talent is right? I thought it was a thundercloud with a lightning bolt?” Aile let out a small smile. “That’s what a lot of ponies think, but look a little closer.” Roadie made sure the Centurion’s path was clear for a bit then looked at Aile’s cutie mark. Upon a closer inspection he noticed the clouds were not clouds, but in fact several gears overlapping to create the illusion of a cloud. "Huh. Neat." Roadie said. “It’s rude to stare you know.” Aile said with cheeky grin. Uh oh she thinks I was staring at her out of… “Whoa. No no no no. I wasn’t staring like that I kinda just drifted into space that’s all.” Roadie said, snapping his head and eyes forward again. “Unhuh sure you did. Hey what time is it?” Aile said. “1400 local time. Why?” Roadie replied, secretly glad to be switching topics. As Aile opened her mouth, her stomach grumbled loud enough for Roadie to hear. Roadie laughed as Aile blushed to the point her entire face was bright red. “Lunch sounds good to me too.” Roadie brought the Centurion to a halt, and deployed the pod. Lunch and the rest of the day were rather uneventful with Roadie driving, and Aile reading a few books she brought with her. That night was also uneventful. Roadie slept in a sleeping bag that was on the life support pod, while Aile wrapped herself in a blanket she had brought with her. The second day of travel, Roadie keyed up some Solaris replays to keep himself and Aile entertained. Both of them enjoyed the sport cheering on mechs they liked while taking silly bets on who’d win when they were cheering for opposing mechs. The most embarrassing one for Roadie was when he lost he had to let Aile sit in his lap, and try driving the Centurion. She drove it well for a pegasus. Roadie helped here and there, particularly with the throttle, but her hooves had no trouble with controlling the rest of the battlemech. The end of the second day, they were deep into the Mild West. They still had a day of travel left, but were exhausted to continue any further that day. As Roadie got ready to sleep he noticed Aile was shivering despite the blanket she had on. “You okay?” he asked. “Y-yeah. J-just cold t-that’s all. Aile said through chattering teeth. “I t-thought the desert w-was suppose to be w-warmer.” “During the day yea, but at night it can get to freezing temperatures pretty quick. Did you bring anything else?” “N-no.” “Crap. Hmm…” Roadie got out of his sleeping bag and rebooted the generator in the corner. Once the generator was up, he walked to the climate control, and turned the heat up to a comfortable 70F. “That ought to.” Roadie never finished his sentence as the generator made a snap noise and died. Roadie swiftly ran to the shelf, grabbed a flashlight, and began to examine the generator. “Great. Capacitor is shot…” Roadie said with a defeated sigh. “C-can you fix it?” “It's easy as swapping a wheel, but All the spares are onboard the Leopard. Problem is now both of us are going to be cold in a bit.” “A-any ideas.” Aile asked. “One, but I'm not sure you’re going to like it.” Roadie said, knowing he didn’t like it, but it’d beat sleeping in the battle armor. “A-anything beats f-freezing to death.” Aile said, her shivering getting worse. “Okay, come over here then.” Roadie said. Aile promptly followed as Roadie fully unzipped the sleeping bag. Roadie indicated a spot for her to lie down. She lied down in the spot Roadie indicated. Roadie grabbed her blanket and put it near her as he slipped into the other side of the sleeping bag. Roadie didn’t notice Aile’s face had turned pink in the dark. He zipped up the sleeping bag and threw the blanket over both of them. “Bit tight, but do you have enough space?” Roadie asked. “Yep.” Was all Aile got out starting to feel the warmth from the sleeping bag, the blanket, and the body heat of the human she shared them with. “Hey Roadie.” “Hmm?” “Thanks.” Both of them were out in a matter of minutes. Aile suddenly awoke shivering. It was the middle of the night judging by how dark it was. she pressed herself into Roadie to warm up some more. Why is it so bucking cold? She thought as she pressed harder. Roadie suddenly turned around mumbling. His arms wrapped around Aile, and he began to cuddle her like a foal with a giant teddy bear. Aile's face flushed red, the cold temperature completely forgotten. Ch 8 Appleoosa (Edit)Soft. So soft. That’s all Roadie could think as he began to wake up. Did logistics get new pillows for the bunks aboard the dropship? Mental note: track down a logistics officer, and ask where they got the new pillows for. These are comfy enough for kings, never mind mechwarriors. The “pillow” had mumbled and moved a little. This instantly snapped Roadie out of his thoughts, and forced his eyes open. Dawn had cracked over the horizon so there was just enough light to see. Roadie saw yellow in the bottom of his vision, causing him to look down. Aile was still asleep, her head buried into Roadie’s shirt. Roadie recalled that they had both fallen asleep with their backs to each other. We must’ve rolled over in our sleep. Wait, why am I worrying about moving in my sleep? I just cuddled with a pony. What the hell is wrong with me? Would you have minded if she was human? What does that have to do with anything? Roadie found himself in a mental debate. Oh come on. You like her, and you know it. No I don’t. Why would I? Let’s see here hmm. Maybe because she’s smart, and you get along with her a lot better than you did with most young women you talked to when you were dragged to the clubs by the other recruits during training. Maybe because despite being a pony, she’s cute. It could even do with the fact you both have the same interests, and hobbies. So she’s a good friend, big deal. If she was human, would you ask her on a date? …no? ... I’ll worry about it later. I got bigger problems right now. You always say that… Roadie pushed his thoughts aside, and crept out of the sleeping bag slowly to avoid waking Aile up, and checked what time it was. 0647 hours local time. Roadie grabbed another MRE, and ate it for breakfast. As he finished eating it, Aile began to wake up. It became clear she wasn’t a morning pony. She slowly stumbled out of the sleeping bag, looked back at it, and then at Roadie. Her eyes opened wide as her memory came back, her face turned red, and she swiftly looked down at the floor. “Sleep well?” Roadie asked. Aile mumbled in return, walking to her bag to get her own breakfast. ***Several hours later*** “We’re almost there. It should be just over that ridge there.” Aile said. “It’d be nice to finally stretch and walk around in an open area instead of the cramped pod, or this cockpit.” Roadie replied, trying to stretch in the cockpit. As they crossed the ridge their expressions changed. Aile held a face of horror, while Roadie let out an explosive sigh, before settling into a focused stare. “Aile, find something to hold onto.” Roadie said flipping a safety lid up, and flicking the switches underneath. The computer responded through both Roadie’s helmet, and the cockpit speakers. Safties, disabled Weapons, online. The Centurion went from its slow but steady stomp to a full stride, increasing its speed up to 89.4kph. Appleoosa had smoke rising from several buildings in the city. The citizens of Appleoosa, and Royal Guard were battling what looked like a mix of ponies, and minotaurs. The ponies that were attacking had skulls painted over their cutie marks. The Royal Guard held most of them at bay, but the one problem they couldn’t handle was a Hydra supporting the army of bandits. Each head took turns smashing a large purple barrier that dimmed with every strike the hydra gave it. The barrier seemed to be focused on just holding the Hydra at bay, allowing ponies, and minotaurs to attack as they pleased. Shining Armor didn’t know how much longer he could hold the spell together. His troops were doing okay in the battle, while coordinating the citizens who wished to fight, and while protecting those who didn’t that had taken shelter in the town hall. “Captain!” a guard had shouted just as the Hydra smashed the barrier with all four heads simultaneously. Shining Armor collapsed to the ground the barrier gone. Up! Get up! You need to protect everypony including Cadence! Shining mentally shouted to himself as he struggled to his feet, taking note of the telltale thud of heavy footsteps. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA IS THAT!?!?” one of the guards shouted. “A Hydra, now-!” Shining replied before being cut off. “No sir! that!” “What are you-?” PEW Shining looked at the Hydra that had began screaming. A pair of green lines of light had struck the hydra in one of its necks, and traced a line across causing the upper part of the neck along with the head attached to it to fall off the hydra. One of the pagasai guards that had flown over to help turned towards Shining. “Sir! That light, it’s the same as the light that kept up from getting near the meteor that landed a few days ago!” He reported. Shining and the two guards with him turned towards the source of the light. “What in the name of Celestia…” Shining said as he looked at giant. If he to choose one word to describe it, he would have used formidable. A massive metallic being resembling no creature Shining has ever seen before. It looked as if it was painted a mix of green, tan, and brown. It's legs, and left arm appeared coated black from intense fire. The black arm carried a shield the size of its massive arm. It’s other arm missing completely, instead it had a large square block with a barrel that unleashed a loud bang as it flashed and sent something towards the Hydra’s center mass. The hydra twitched as its slump of a neck became two necks with two heads. The battle froze in place as combatants from both sides watched the giants square off. “It’s a Hydra Roadie. If you cut off one head, it gets two.” Aile said. “Well fuck. Talk about planning ahead.” Roadie joke. Aile gave Roadie a look that said ‘really?’ “Okay. Plan B, center of mass.” Roadie said adjusting his aim. The centurion fired more lasers, another volley from the LB-10X, and 4 missiles into the center of the Hydra’s body. It became apparent the Hydra had a hide that was nowhere near as tough of the Dragon’s. The shell alone had ripped it to pieces. The missiles exploded along the surface of the skin, tearing away entire chunks. Roadie grinned, but the grin vanished as the Hydra's wounds healed just as quickly. "Fine. You want more? COME AND GET IT!" Roadie shout unleashing a hailstorm of shells, lasers blasts, and missiles. *5 minutes earlier* Roy let out an explosive sigh as he watched the local life battle over a small western town from a distance with his 'mech's scouting scope. He hated not being able to help. He could easily tear the hydra apart with his Commando. "C'mon Commander, let me help. Since when were you one to not help those in need?" he said as he watched the barrier grow weaker. "Since we have no idea who's who, and how they will react to a 25 ton metal giant striding into their fight." Wynne D replied. "You know... they would-" "The Major is still in the Inner Sphere, and the Sergeant... the Sergeant is... missing. Just... just get back here. We'll think of something." "Yes ma'am, and Wynne D; I'm sorry. That was a low blow, and-" Roy said as he began to turn the Commando towards the dropship. "It's alright, but you're right, they would've jump in guns blazing." As Roy's hand wrapped around the throttle, familiar echoes rolled through. Roy spun back around and zoomed back in on the fight. A familiar metal shape had entered the fray. "Contact! It's Roadie! I found the Sergeant! and... and guess what he did..." Roy explained while face palming. "...Go help him out. No point in trying to be subtle about first contact now." "With pleasure." Roy grinned, and charged towards the battle. ******************** "Give it up, you're a goner!" Roadie shouted as the Hydra rammed into the Centurion sending it stumbling. The Centurion quickly recovered and fire more shots into the Hydra. "Hang on Aile. I hate doing this." Roadie said as he flicked a switch on the joystick. Aile yelped as sparks flew from Roadie's helmet, and the neural link. Roadie groaned in pain, but was swiftly drowned out by a groaning sound coming from the left arm of the Centurion. As the hydra closed for another charge, Roadie shouted and yanked back on the stick. The centurion's left arm struck out in an upper cut motion, nailing the center head right in the chin, and sending the hydra sprawling to the ground. Every creature below had gotten themselves away from the giants as they brawled. Several ponies yelped as a second, smaller giant appeared from nowhere, sprinting towards the melee. Roadie took aim at the fallen hydra's chest. "DIE YOU PIECE OF-" Roadie shouted while unleashing an alpha striking. Roadie grumbled as the wounds began to heal, only to have another volley of SRMs strike the already wounded hydra, and blow it into several rather messy chunks. "We all worry about if you survived orbital reentry, and here you are playing hero. You could of called, jackass. I would've loved to join in." a familiar voice came over the radio. "Roy! Man you're a sight for sore eyes. Is everyone okay?" Roadie happily replied. "Yea everyone is fine. Let's finish up, and head home." "Going to have to put a pause on that. Meet me at the town hall, and I'll explain later." "Uhh have you tried going outside? Not the healthiest choice we can make." "I know, the princess is working on a solution." "Wait. Princess? What the hell have you been doing?" "I'll explain at the town hall. I'll have my radio on, but we really need to figure out what is going on here." "Alright. I'll drop a beacon, and head back to the drop ship, grab the rest of the lance, and meet you back here." "Roger." The bandits quickly noticed how their key asset had fallen, and now the guard had their own pair giants. They swiftly retreated into the dunes. As Roadie began to bring the Centurion about, he noticed a stone collar with purple lights on one of the Hydra’s heads. As the lights died out and the collar crumbled to dust, Roadie couldn’t help but shudder. Something in his gut said that collar was bad news, and it was only going to get worse. Well on the bright side, I found everyone. Author's Note NOTES: Special thanks to AdmiralTigerclaw for the creation of one of the best OCs, and stories I’ve ever read. Link is here. Go and enjoy it! Note #2. Although I took Ms. Danity out of the story, you should still go read Admiral's story! Go! Shoo! This story will still be here when you get back. background information(warning lots of pictures)(Updated)As someone requested, here is some helpful background information, and links. I'm going to do what I can to limit the technology to the early clan invasions. So if you see something that doesn't seem to fit, please let me know. The only exception I'm going to make to this is Roadie's armor, but that'll be explained in the story. Also this is just how I imagine the mechs. If you have a different idea of what they look like by all means. The pictures are mostly for those who are either new to battletech/mechwarrior, or only have a small amount of experience in the universe. Davion/Federate Suns: link Clan Wolf: link Federate Suns units: Leopard Class Dropship: Atlas: Centurion: Commando: Hunchback: Jagermech: Stalker: Sparrowhawk: Roadie's reverse engineered armor: Clan Wolf units: Mercer Class Dropship: Black Hawk (Nova): Daishi (Dire Wolf) Mad Cat (Timberwolf): Thor (Summoner): Vulture (Mad Dog) Elemental: Author's Note Updated to contain units that pop up through out the story. Credit for images goes to MWO, and the battletech wiki which can be found here.
Ch 1 Arrival (rewritten)The serene silence of space above a temperate planet was interrupted by space and time boiling and ripping itself apart. In a flash of light a jump ship trailing smoke and fire from many sections appeared from the hole, deploying a Mercer class drop ship before exploding. As the hole in space shrank, a second flash of light happened, leaving a Leopard class drop ship in its wake. The Leopard and Mercer began to exchange fire. The Mercer landed a few light hits along the nose of the Leopard. Aboard the Leopard the bridge was alive with activity. The Officer at engineering turned towards the captain. “Damage reported on the nose section, sir. Nothing serious yet, but if they keep hitting there it’ll become a problem.” “Oh this is insane!” complained the pilot. “We’re a ‘brick’, not a warship.” The captain looked at the pilot. “We had no other choice. Our ship was the only one fast enough and in range to chase after them, and we both know if we let those clanners get away, they’d just come back with more dropships and warships. Chances are it wouldn’t be just single lance dropships either. Probably Overlord cla-” The captain was cut off by an explosion on the outside of the ship. “Guns!” the captain shouted to the gunnery officer. “Focus fire on their engines! We cripple those and the ship will drop to that planet like a rock!” “Yes sir!” The officer replied. The Leopard’s missile racks unleashed a hailstorm of missiles towards the Mercer’s engines. A moment later, the Leopard’s PPCs flashed and sent a pair lightning bolts towards the same engine block. The missiles and bolts nailed the right engine at the same time, ripping it to pieces. With only 3 engines left, the mercer began to spin slowly. Several points along the hull glowed brightly. “HARD STARBOARD, NOW!” the captain shouted! While the bridge was alive with activity, the mech bay had almost no signs of life. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the battle, and the hum of the reactors belonging to four battlemechs clamped into place in the hanger. Roy, the lance’s scout, broke the silence. “Round 2, ready, fight!” “I’m glad to see you think it’s funny Roy.” retorted Gerald, who was checking his emergency hot drop boosters, and life support pod, making sure they were connected properly to his Hunchback for the fifteenth time since they jumped. “I hate these space battles. I rather have control of whether I live or die than leave it in the hands of some dropship pilot.” While Roadie didn’t say anything, he agreed with Gerald. He peeled his eyes off of a book he was reading to look at a console. It showed all green lights for the hotdrop booster pods, and the life support pod. While most Inner Sphere ‘mechs were designed for supporting a pilot on an extended mission, he had special equipment that required the extra pod. The extra supplies, and computer was an added bonus. He resumed reading his book as the lance commander started talking on the radio. “That’s enough you two.” she said. “Roy, leave Gerald alone. As for you Gerald, if I catch you trying to exit that cockpit to double check those hot drop pods, I’ll throw you off this ship in nothing more than a space suit. So sit back, and relax. Even if the hull is breached the hanger’s magnetic clamps will prevent you from moving a foot.” “Wynne D.” Gerald replied. “You’re forgetting Roadie’s magnetic clamps aren’t wor-” “And do I hear him complaining about it?” She interrupted. “No.” Roadie finally chose to say something. “The only thing I’m concerned about is what happens after the battle. We chased that Clan Wolf ship blind into a hole in space. That’s never been done before, and I’m concerned we’re trapped God knows where.” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there Roadie, but for now let’s focus on-” An explosion tore through hanger door beneath Roadie’s Centurion, and cut Wynne D off. There was a split second of absolute silence. Roadie realized what happened, and what was about to happen as a result. “Aw fu-” The mech bay had turned into a hurricane. Roy’s Commando, Gerald’s Hunchback, and Wynne D’s Jagermech all slid a little before the mechbay’s clamps activated their electromagnets. Roadie’s Centurion, however, slid right out of his clamps and was sucked into space. “Shit shit shit shit shit!” Roadie panic as he tumbled out of control. “Ro-d- ca-.....-ou…-me?” came Wynne D’s voice before it dissolved into static. “Okay don’t panic. I just have orientate the Centurion, then fire the boosters up, and let the computer take care of the rest.” Roadie said to himself. Using the Hot drop boosters’ RCS; Roadie orientated the Centurion so it faced feet down. The pods fired off in a blaze of blue light as the Centurion’s feet began to glow orange, and it plummeted into the atmosphere. Ponyvile 0300 hours At a small inn at Ponyvile, a door is opened leading into one of the smaller rooms. A light yellow Pegasus with a short brown mane walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the window. “Another fine job Aile.” the Pegasus quietly said to herself. She looked up into the night sky to catch a bizarre sight. Not just one, but two shooting stars both coming from the same point in the sky, but falling towards different areas. ‘Luna must be having fun again’ Aile thought to herself. She closed her eyes, and made a wish upon one of the shooting stars. She opened her eyes, and noticed a third star at the point of origin glowing brighter and brighter. Stars don’t just get brighter like that unless… Aile threw herself out the window and flew as fast as her wings could carry her to the library near the center of Ponyville. As stopped by slamming her forehooves into the front door and began to pound at the door. “Twilight! Twilight, open up! Please, it’s an emergency!” Aile shouted. The door opened up. “I’m sorry to wake you up this late but-.” Aile started before she lost her voice and her eyes went wide. Standing in the door wasn’t the purple unicorn, but a white Alicorn with an ethereal mane. “What’s the emergency my little pony?” Princess Celestia asked in a worried tone. Aile worked her mouth for a few seconds before finding her voice again. “A-a-a- a meteorite is heading straight for Ponyville! I saw a couple shooting stars start at one point in the sky, and now this one just gets brighter, and brighter.” Aile explained. Celestia’s shocked expression lasted for a split second before becoming a mask of determination. She pushed passed Aile and looked up in the sky. Aile heard her muttering as she looked between the ground and sky several times. Celestia suddenly let out a soft gasp, and turned towards the door. “Applejack, was anypony still at Sweet Apple Acres?” Celestia asked. “No yer majesty. Granny Smith is in town hall with ev’rypony else, ahn Big Mac is with Fluttershy, ahn tha foals. ” came a southern accent from inside. Please don’t tell me tha’ rock is headin for mah farm!” “I’m afraid so, but if my estimates are right, it’ll land on the part that borders of the everfree.” Celestia explained. Five ponies poured out of the library. Aile realized they were five of the Elements of Harmony. “How long until-” Twilight began to asked when a loud screech followed by an earth shattering kaboom interrupted her. “Nevermind.” Twilight said with a moan. “Can tonight get any worse?” “Wellwecouldfailtostopthedragonthat’sthreateningPonyvile,andhecoulddestroythetown.OOhhthemeteoritecouldberadioactiveorevenaliens” Pinky rapidly fired off. “Oh for the love of-, Aliens don’t exist Pinky.” Twilight said. “Oh yeah? What about all those abductions, and crop circles? Or those weird ray guns ponies sometimes find?” Rainbow asked. “Ponies who just want attention and-, oh forget it. Let’s investigate to make sure no pony got hurt.” Twilight said, her horn glowing brightly. In a flash of light, Aile noticed they were no longer in front of the library, but near the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. Smoke rose from the direction of the Everfree. The bearers, and princess began to move towards the smoke. Aile quietly brought up the rear. Celestia lagged behind so she now walked side by side with Aile. “I forgot to ask you name little pony.” Celestia said with a gentle smile. “My name is Aile, your majesty.” Aile replied nervously. “Nice to meet you miss Aile, and please relax. Why does everypony think I bite or that I’ll send them to the moon over the tiniest things?” Celestia said with a chuckle. Aile giggled a bit at Celestia’s question too. As the group reached the smoking crater there was a metallic moan, and hiss. “Look out!” Rainbow shout as series of bangs went off in the smoke, and something large began to fall towards the group. Everypony scattered as the metallic block fell to the ground, one end of it still glowing a dull orange. Celestia took to the sky, and with a flap of her wings; cleared away the smoke hiding the “meteorite”. Everypony gasped as a giant metal alien was revealed crouched in the crater. The alien slowly rose up to full height; it’s body pinging, and groaning from the extreme temperature changes. Twilight let out a moan before face hoofing. “‘Could this day get any worse?’ I just had to ask that, didn’t I.” Author's Note MUCH better than the 1st time around in my opinion.
Ch2 Encounter (rewritten)Ponyville 0330 hours “Not my finest moment.” Roadie groans as he types away on the Centurion’s command console. He had come in a lot faster than he was suppose to. Several bangs sounded outside. “Hot drop boosters jettisoned, and the life support pod is deployed as well. Hmm, only minor leg damage? I’m lucky that landing didn't tear my legs clean off.” Roadie failed to notice that the smoke around his ‘mech had mysteriously vanished as he continued typing away at the keyboard. “Let’s see here: Temperate planet, twenty one degrees Celsius, and the atmosphere consists of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Ar- wait a minute… This is the same mix as Terra. Well at least I won’t die from stepping outside to-” Thud Roadie looked up out the clear steel window and froze. A sky blue horse, no a sky blue horse with wings floated outside. It had its forehooves pressed to the window and peered inside. “What?” Upon spotting Roadie she flew back a couple feet and started talking? to something down on the ground. Roadie used his ‘mech’s ground camera and sure enough there was a group of them on the ground. “What!?” Roadie looked back up to see a bright yellow horse, also with wings, peering inside and started chatting excitedly to the blue one who rolled its eyes. A moment later the yellow one waved at Roadie who was still sitting there with one word on his mind and tongue. “...What…?” ******************** Aile couldn’t believe it. An alien! In a giant metal machine that was years beyond anything at the latest tech demo in Canterlot a couple weeks back! “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh” Aile breathed. She couldn’t recall the last time she was this excited. “I don’t believe it Rainbow! A giant metal walker! The only thing that came close at the tech demo was a motorized carriage, but the motor suffered a malfunction and-” Rainbow grabbed Aile and said “Aile. Breathe. I know how excited you get around technology, but right now we got bigger problems. A dragon is on its way, and we have to deal with the alien before the dragon gets here. You and Twilight can egghead it out later okay?” Aile looked down. Sure enough, Twilight was in a similar state with Applejack trying to calm her down. Princess Celestia watched the scene silently, clearly amused with her student. Before Aile could reply the metal giant took a couple steps back, and kneeled down. There was a hiss as a small hatch opened up, and a rope ladder unrolled itself from the giant’s head. Everypony held their breath as the alien stepped out onto the top of the metal giant’s head. He stood on two legs and had claws similar to a griffon or a dragon but without the sharp tips. It had a small round face with tiny eyes and a proportional nose. It reminded Aile of a monkey without its tail. It wore a grey jump suit with a few plates made from something Aile wasn’t familiar with. After a couple seconds of absolute silence, the alien held it’s claws level with its face, and made guttural noises Aile couldn’t understand. A sudden bright flash of light near the alien knocked it off balance, sending it tumbing over the edge with a cry. Aile and Rainbow Dash dove to save it, only for a purple glow to gently lower it to the ground. It sat there as another flash went off, and a very concerned Twilight appeared next to it. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.” Twilight said repeatedly. The alien glared at Twilight for a moment before giving her a small smile and muttering something else. As Aile and Rainbow landed, Twilight’s eyes lit up; she points to her horn and then to the alien’s head. The alien raises an eyebrow before shrugging and leaning a bit towards her. Twilight’s horn glows with magic and she gently touches it to the alien’s head. A third flash and the alien looks dazed. “What was that?” the alien asks. “Yes it worked! Hi I’m Twilight. That’s Princess Celestia, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rar-” “Wait, you can talk? I can understand you? What did you do?, and why… do… I… feel… fun-” the alien says before passing out with a look of agony on his face. Celestia’s horn glows for a bit, and she lets out a gasp. “Rainbow! Aile! Get him back to his giant immediately! Equis’ magical flux is killing him! I’ll be up in a mo-” A loud roar cuts her off. Celestia sighs. “Figures he’d be here by now. Please keep an eye on the alien. Twilight, please come with me. We have a dragon to calm down.” With a flash of golden light, Princess Celestia and her student are gone. ******************** Roadie comes to back in the pilot’s seat of his Centurion. He notices the yellow one is eyeing the controls of his Centurion and says the first thing that came to mind. “Don’t touch anything. This is a Battlemech, not a toy.” Roadie says in a polite, but firm tone. “Sorry. I didn’t touch anything.” the yellow one replies. “It’s oka-” Roadie says before his eyes widen. He just stares at the yellow one, who is beginning to look nervous. “Are you okay?” it, no she asks. Roadie puts a hand up to his forehead.“Give me a minute. I’m trying very hard not to panic over the talking yellow horse, …no sorry the flying talking yellow horse.” “We’re pegasi.” another voice behind Roadie replies matter-of-factly. Roadie spins around and sure enough ‘sky blue’ was behind him eyeing him with a deadpan expression. “Right, pegasi, right out of Greek mythology, or was it Roman? You know what? Fuck it. Hi I’m Roadie. What are your names?” “I’m Aile.” ‘yellow’ replies. “I’m Rainbow Dash; the fastest flier in all of Equestria.” ‘sky blue’ says, puffing out her chest. “and what the hay are you anyway? A talking monkey?” “Human, and why can I understand you now? All the purple one made was a bunch of whinnying noises.” “Twilight probably did a translation spell. She’s really good when it comes to magic” Rainbow explains. “Horned horse… Oh god, a Unicorn. What’s next a dragon?” Roadie groans. Aile and Rainbow exchange a look. “...No.” Neither reply. “Fuck no. No over sized fire breathing-” A loud roar and column of fire appears in the distance. “...Of. Fucking! COURSE!” Roadie puts his helmet back on and straps himself into the pilot’s seat. He spins the ‘mech’s torso to face the direction the flames came from and zooms in. Sure enough he could see a dark blob. That was the dragon, and a smaller white dot was nearby. Golden lines and fire cross between the two occasionally. “What are you doing?” Rainbow asks as she watches the battle through the glass. “Using my ‘mech’s scope to watch. Something is fighting the dragon.” Roadie explains. “Oh no the princess!” Both Aile and Rainbow shout. Rainbow flies out through the top hatch and Aile presses her nose to the window. The three of them watched the dragon and princess attack and dodge before the dragon catches the princess with a swipe of his claw. “NO!” Aile shouts. Rainbow flies off towards the fight leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. “I’m going to regret this. Hang on to something Miss Aile.” Roadie says as his fingers dance across the control console. Aile flies to one of the jump seats as the ‘mech begins to rumble beneath her hooves. Author's Note HUGE thank you to Rarity_HD who spent an hour of his time proof reading and giving me several pointers.
Ch 3 Dragon (rewritten)Roadie smiles as the ‘mech’s reactor rumbles to life beneath his feat. Aile practically throws herself into one of the jump seats as the cockpit begins to shake and rumble. A familiar voice sounds off inside his helmet, pulling Roadie out of an alien world full of burning air and talking mythical creatures… ...and right into his comfortable zone. Reactor: Online Sensors: Online Weapons: Online All Systems: Nominal Roadie presses down on the foot pedals to orientate the Centurion towards the dragon, and shoves the throttle as far forward as it would go. The old battlemech responds by moving right into a stride; charging straight at the dragon who busy doing something to not notice the 50 ton giant. How does something that large not notice it’s being charged? Roadie ponders as a beep and hollow red triangle catches his eye. The sensors can get a lock on it? How can it- never mind. That just makes this a whole lot easier. Roadie presses a button to lock on to the dragon, and presses another to turn a yellow led in the cockpit green. ******************** Celestia grunts as she tries to get up. She only gets as far as raising herself part way up before falling back down. Slow thuds along the ground tell her the dragon is slowly closing in for the kill, and in her current state; there was nothing she could do about it. No… I will not let my little ponies down! Celestia tries again, and succeeds in getting to her shaky feet. “Oh good. You still got some fight left in you.” The dragon said as it glares right at the Solar Princess. “I've heard the legends of what you've done in the past, and was starting to worry that a thousand years of peace had made you soft.” “As long as anything or anypony would threaten my subjects, I cannot and will not give up!” Celestia shouts as she charges up her horn. Before she can fire, there's a spark and she gasps as she falls onto her knees. Her ears flick as rapid thuds get closer. “Really? Looks like you’re on your last leg. A pity, I really was hoping for something more glorious to tell when my brethren asked how I was able to defeat you. Goodbye.” The dragon inhales, but is thrown off balance by a pair of explosions. The dragon spins around to face the source as Celestia twists her head. Both of their jaws drop in shock at the sight of the steel giant standing there with smoke coming off it’s chest. A pair of green lights begin to glow, and there was a ‘click-clack’ noise from its arm. What’s he doing? Celestia thinks. Her eyes widen as she comes to a realization. He wouldn't... ******************** “Uh Roadie, was that a good idea?” Aile asks as the dragon spins around, and roars at them. “To be honest; probably not.” Roadie said. The dragon roars again as he charges towards the Centurion. “But we’re committed to the fight now. Hang on to something!” Roadie spins the ‘mech to the right and begins to circle strafe the dragon. Roadie unleashes more Streak SRMs at the dragon and fires the medium lasers. The missiles blow off chunks of the dragon’s scales as the lasers carve neat lines into them. The dragon roars in pain and unleashes a torrent of fire at the battlemech. “No!” Aile screams as she holds her hooves up in a vain attempt to protect herself. Roadie twists the torso in an attempt to minimize the damage. He grins as his left arm and torso take almost no damage from the fire, and the ‘mech’s heatsinks quickly pump out the heat of the fire. “Well that wasn't as bad as I -SHIT!” Roadie shouts as the dragon slashes at the Centurion’s chest, leaving massive claw marks in the armor across the torso. The Centurion stumbles as it tries to recover from the blow. “Fuck off!” Roadie shouts as he fires another volley of streaks, and a blast from his LB-10X auto cannon. The dragon lets out a scream of pain as more scales fall off and as several LBX pellets pierce his leathery hide. The dragon falls to its knees as it tries to recover from the auto cannon and missile strike. The Centurion comes to a halt in front of the dragon. “This. Ends. Now!” Roadie unleashes an alpha strike at the dragon. The dragon lets out one last roar of defiance before falling onto the ground at the Centurion's feet. Roadie lets out a sigh of relief as he puts the ‘mech into standby. “Well, that was a thing. Are you okay back there Aile?” Roadie asks. Aile doesn't reply. She sits there clutching the back of the jump seat trembling with her eyes opened wide, and her pupils tiny little pinpricks. “Smooth one Roadie. First extraterrestrial contact in human history, and you traumatize the poor thing.” Roadie mumbles to himself. Griffin Territory ---- hours A squad of five griffins are making their way home after making what they felt was the most important discovery of the Griffin Kingdom. They found an alien ship, along with the bodies of several of the crew. They marveled at the wreckage of the giant ship along with the giant metal creature they had never seen before. It was missing its left leg from the knee down, and its right arm was lying at its feet with its arm consisting of 2 long barrels instead of a hoof, or talon. The griffins noticed its head was attached to the back its chest and had a face of glass. The glass had broken to reveal a seat with controls. The griffins could not believe what they it; the aliens somehow operated the giant creature. The squad decided to return home to get a team out to investigate the wreckage. As they flew home, one of them notices a giant outline in the fog. Before he could react, both the outline's arms flash green taking down four of the griffins. The last griffin panics, and flies as fast as his wings could carry him. He never sees the second outline hidden in the fog, or the lightning bolt it fires. “Was that really necessary guys? That was a massive waste of energy.” “They had invaded our dropship. For all we know, they killed any survivors.” “Only two of them were armed. They look like an exploration crew, not a strike team.” “Silence, and how dare you question me.” “Our star leader would not have-” “Carns is dead, and I am the star lead now. I will lead us to victory on this rock, and when we return; we will be receive the greatest glories any clan warrior could hope to receive.” “Conners…” “Enough of this. Radick, and I will remain here. Once you are resupplied, take Kaiden, and begin looking for those filthy freeborn scum.” “...yes sir…” Author's Note Well that was fun. I hope you enjoy it. As always constructive criticism is always welcomed.
Ch 4 The Dust Settles“Aile. Aile, wake up. Please answer me.” Roadie nervously says while trying to shake Aile out of her trance. After what felt like a life time, she blinks and her eyes return to normal. “Huh? What happened? Where did the fire go?” Aile shakily looks around. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Do you want to go outside?” “Y-yes please.” Roadie taps a button on the console and the hatch pops open with hiss, and a clank. Aile stretches her wings, and quickly flies out of the cockpit. Roadie climbs out behind her. Roadie sits down on top of the Centurion watches Aile flies to the ground, and begin talking to the other ponies. Ponies… freakin’ ponies. Where the hell did that jumpship take us? Roadie shivers and begins to scratch himself. Something’s wrong about this place. It clearly a temperate planet, yet I feel like I just jumped into a tub of fleas. Roadie stops scratching with one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. and now a sinus headache. Maybe I should- “GET BACK IN YOUR GIANT QUICKLY!” something shouts, snapping Roadie out of his thoughts. Roadie looks in time to see Celestia fly straight at him. “I’LL EXPLAIN AFTER, INSIDE NOW!” She shouts as she grabs Roadie with her magic, and puts him back in the ‘mech. “What the fuck was that about?” Roadie asks in a furious tone. “I just popped out for a breath of fresh air.” “Has your headache and itching stopped?” Celestia asks in a tone that reminded Roadie of a concerned mother who caught their child near something dangerous. Roadie’s head twitches as something clicks in his head. He looks back up to Celestia who is laying down on top of the ‘mech poking her head into the cockpit. “Wait how did you-” “You appear to have no connection to magic. I’m guessing there’s no such thing as magic where you come from. Would that be true?” Roadie let’s out an explosive sigh. “Yes, magic is nothing more than either stage illusions or just a fancy word to describe los-tec.” “I see, that would explain quite a bit. Magic is very real in Equestria, and everything, including the world itself, has some sort of connection to it. I fear that since you have connection to magic, Equestria’s magical flux is harmful to you.” “Oh, great. Hmm” Roadie says as he begins to pace around the cockpit trying to think of something. “Wait, something doesn't add up. How come I’m not sick right now?” “A good question. Perhaps it has something to do with how your giant is built. Several teachers who teach and study magic at my school have found certain materials tend to block Equestria's flux. Lead, and concrete for some reason have-” “OH! Oh why didn't I think of that. Oh you idiot Roadie!” Roadie shouts smacking himself on the forehead. “It’s like radiation. Your magical flux is just like radiation. Might want to move miss...” Roadie pauses. “I never introduced myself or got your name did I?” Celestia stifles a giggle. “No you didn’t. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria.” “I’m Roadie, a sergeant of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. In any case, I need to move back to my landing zone. There’s something there I need to grab.” Roadie jumps back into the command chair, and begins the power up sequence when there was the thud behind him. Roadie looks back to see Celestia dusting herself off. “I wish to observe you controlling the giant.” Celestia explains in a formal tone. “I am curious as to how you do so.” “Alright, but please don’t touch anything. You could do something as simple as turn the lights off or shut off the reactor’s safeties which would end rather badly.” Celestia nods as the reactor begins to hum beneath their feet and hooves. Roadie turns turns on the flood light attached to the Centurion’s chest, and begins to head back towards his landing zone while trying to not step on anything. Roadie stops as he reaches the edge of the farm he landed on. “Crap, they're going to be pissed when they wake up.” Roadie mutters. Celestia looks at the farm and flinches internally. A path of destroyed trees, and massive foot prints led from the edge of the farm to where Roadie landed. Countless apples wasted or destroyed. Celestia made a note to compensate the apple family for the damages to their farm. “What did you need from where you landed?” “Life support pod. Most ‘mechs are equipped to handle prolonged time in the field, but the pod provides extra shelter and supplies. I have something special that warranted me having the pod. It’s-” Roadie was cut off as Celestia vanished in a golden flash “-something I’ll have to explain when you get back? I really hope she comes back, and didn't just go poof on me.” A few minutes later Roadie sees Celestia flying back with the life support pod suspended in a golden glow. “Whoa…” Is all Roadie manages to get out of mouth. Roadie makes the ‘mech get into a crouching/kneeling position, and powers it down. He then climbs out, locks the hatch, and swiftly works his way down as Celestia puts the pod down on the ground. “Perfect, thank you Princess.” “You’re welcome.” Celestia says with a small smile. “Everypony else has decided to get some rest after what has happened tonight. You should get some rest too. We can discuss what’ll happen later today.” Roadie replies with a small nod, and enters the life support pod. Despite the interior being slightly bigger than the Centurion’s cockpit, the lack of complex equipment require to move and operate a ‘mech made it feel much larger. A computer system was embedded into the wall. Next to the computer terminal was a foldout chair. Several cabinets full of supplies lined one of the walls. The other wall was taken up by a generator, a foldout toilet, and something that no one would find in a normal pod; a set of power armor. Roadie smiled as he looked at the armor. It was the whole reason he was issued the pod. He had recovered it during a previous mission, and after the R&D scientists had a blast tearing it apart to see how it worked. Roadie expected to never see it again, but was surprised by a decision from the brass. ***** “You giving me what?” Roadie asks the Lt. that had summoned him from his barracks. “A prototype power armor reverse engineered, and built from the Elemental you brought back. The Elemental itself appears to have been designed for some kind of super soldier, so our techs built a new design that should be usable by anyone. It needs to be tested first, and we decided why not the mechwarrior who brought it to us.” “Why not a soldier on the frontlines? Wouldn’t it get better testing out there?” “Well yes, and no. We’ve built several types and have distributed them accordingly. this one will ideally replace holdout weapons that are given to pilots for when they have to eject. While the techs figure out how to make it eject with the pilot, we decided to test if a mechwarrior can make effective use of it.” Roadie snaps to a salute “Sir, I’ll be sure to put it to good use. Without having to eject.” ***** “Well I kept my word sir. Power armors are usually radiation proof, so it should keep me safe from this place’s… magical… flux…” Roadie sighs as he rolls out a sleeping bag and settles in for the night. Seriously? Magic? Just where the hell am I? Author's Note Sorry for the delay. Writer's block plus motivation tittered out for a bit. Enjoy!
Ch 5 The Sun RisesRoadie lets out an explosive sigh as he tossed the rolled up sleeping bag into a corner of the room. Despite being tired, Roadie only got a few minutes of sleep, and several hours of restless tossing and turning. Since sleep is obviously not an option, I might as well do something productive. Oh I know! Roadie approached the folded up power armor, and stepped into the metal boots. “Please say access code” ‘Betty’ states through Roadie’s neural helmet. “I thought it would be bigger.” Roadie states in an even tone. The armor opened with a pressurized hiss and unfolded over Roadie body. It sealed back up and the HUD appeared in Roadie’s helmet. Unlike the Elemental the armor was based off of, the ‘Inner Sphere Standard’ was a cheap knock off. The armor panels were bulky, several sections near the joints were only offered marginal protection, and it couldn't carry anywhere near as much firepower. On the bright side; the armor could be used by almost anyone with minimal training, the helmet wasn't a solid piece with the torso allowing the user to look around freely, and the weapon mount was a modular design. This modular design allowed the user to easily swap weapons in the field. Roadie’s armor had some special modifications. Since it was designed for use for pilots who had been forced to eject; the armor was designed to work with a neural helmet which gave Roadie a bit more control over the armor. it also used slightly slimmer armor components for a little more freedom of movement and compact the size down. The powerpack, battle claw, and ER Micro Laser were off of the Elemental itself. Roadie inspected the armor off hand, and stepped out of the life support pod. The first thing he sees is Princess Celestia looking weary, but satisfied. Before Roadie could say anything, her horn lit with a golden light. The counter built into the suit begins rapidly clicking before screaming in alarm. Roadie looks up in time to see her gently float into the air as the sun rises over the horizon at the same time. The golden glow spreads from her horn to her entire body, bathing her in golden light. As she gently touches down, Roadie’s jaw hits the bottom of his helmet. Every scratch, cut, sign of weariness, or the battle last night had vanished completely. Celestia’s ears twitch before she turns around and tilts her head at Roadie. “Is that you Roa-” Is all Celestia says before Roadie turns around and runs as fast as he can. Away from the sun, away from the farm, and as far as possible from the impossibility he just witnessed. ***** Ashley’s fingers danced across one of the few functioning computer terminals aboard the dropship. “I thought I commanded you to find the freebirth scum. Why are you still here MechWarrior?” a loud voice shouted, pulling Ashley from her thoughts. “The Nova has limited space for supplies for a MechWarrior alone, nevermind with an extra Elemental. It would be foolish to waste time searching an alien planet for a lone dropship without recon.” Ashley calmly explained, not taking her eyes off the terminal. “Then get your ass out there, and get to work!” “Conners, we can not just rush into-” “That’s Star Commander Conners, and you will follow my orders!” “...-rush into this, which is why I am trying to establish a link with what remains of the jump ship. If I can get the ship’s cameras online, I can use it as a satellite to find the Davion ship. Worse case, I can at least get their trajectory data to narrow it down to which direction.” “Alright, but hurry up! The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get home. When command reads my report about how I lead us to victory over the freebirth scum, and discovered a new planet to colonize; I will finally be free of this dezgra unit, and back on track to eternal glory!” “Aff.” Ashley said as Connors continued ranting while leaving the room. “Been watching long Kaiden?” “Long enough to lose my appetite for the next few days.” A gravelly voice said from a darkened corner of the room. “Whenever he goes on one of his glory rants, I miss the commander. He always placed unit safety and survival over glory. While it did lead to missed opportunities, it also kept us safe from many freeborn traps and tricks. I have also been meaning to talk to you about him.” Ashley stopped typing on the computer, but didn’t twitch otherwise. “Oh?” she said in a measured voice. “I noticed you both have the bloodname ‘Carns’. May I ask were you two… related?” “It is a long story best kept to kill time during the long travel our beloved new commander will send us on eventually.” Ashley said before continuing her work. “Very well.” The Elemental said as he began to leave the room. He paused at the doorway, turning to face the MechWarrior. “Be sure to get some rest at some point. No point in pushing yourself before it is necessary. I will bring up some food from the mess in little while.” Ashley gave a small chuckle. “Always looking out for everyone’s best interest. Thanks Kaiden.” ***** Celestia flew swiftly after Roadie. She no longer had any doubts it was him, but why is he fleeing from me as if I'm a spawn of tartarus? All I had done was raise the- Oh… Pony feathers. Celestia picked up her speed. Roadie looked back to see her gaining, and responds with blue fire from his back to propel him a bit further. He looks ahead in time to trip over a small fence near a log cabin. Celestia lands next to him. “Roadie please calm down. I will not hurt you.” Celestia explains. “No! No no no no no! Physics says no! That’s just not possible!” Roadie rambles on while crawling away on his back. Celestia sighs and begins to charge up a calming spell. Roadie shouts a panicked cry and leaps at her. Celestia grunts as the cannon arm hits her and her horn touches Roadie’s forehead. “Uh oh...” Celestia says as the spell activates. In an instant Roadie’s life flashes before her eyes: A grandfather telling old war stories holding a picture of a brand new steel giant, a video call with a middle aged man with an aged steel giant behind him, a letter of acceptance into an academy, life and lessons at the academy, the passing of the steel giant to Roadie, a fierce battle, and the chase of a ship through a tear in time and space. “Oh my goodness. Are you okay?” a quiet but concerned voice asks. Celestia shakes off what she just witnessed to see a butter yellow pegasus in front of her. Celestia opens her mouth to say something, but at that moment; her mind finishes processing what she just saw. Instead she wraps the surprised pegasus in a hug. “I’m okay my little pony, just... shaken up a bit.” Author's Note Sorry for the delay. New job, and lack of motivation tends to delay things, but my friend was right. If you don't feel like writing don't. I came up with several ideas this way, and I think you'll enjoy them. Also note: I'm going back to writing in past tense instead of present. Feels a lot smoother that way. Also please point out any spelling/grammar issues you see. I don't have an proofreader, and some stuff slips under the radar.\ EDIT: 10/5/2014. I've decided to keep the battle claw on the power armor instead of an armored glove. It will make the rewrite progress a lot smoother. I also edited the clan conversations to remove I'll, can't, etc and used I will, can not, etc. (If I recall, clanners don't like contractions.)
Ch 6 The Soldier Presses On.Roadie awoke to whispering. He was laying down inside somewhere. He slowly moved his head to the side to see Celestia, and a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane were the source of the whispering. “-as it really that awful?” The pegasus asks. “So much conflict for so long, and over countless worlds. No wonder he has that armor, and the battlemech. They’re needed to survive where he’s from.” Celestia said with a sad tone in her voice. “On a more positive note; while they are capable of such horrific violence, they are capable of great compassion.” Without warning, Roadie felt a rapid tapping against his head. He turned to face the source; a little rabbit, which proceeded to rapidly kick his helmet and motion for him to move. Seriously? Roadie thought. I’ve been awake for less than a minute and you want me to-. “Angel!, you leave him alone this instant mister.” the pegasus said in a firm voice that still sounded quiet. ‘Angel’ made several hand gestures at Roadie, and something beneath him. “I know he’s in your spot on the couch, but you can share it for a little bit.” “Umm. I can move if that’ll make things easier. I’m not sure how I got here anyway.” Roadie said. The pegasus responded with an “eep” before trying to hid behind her mane. Celestia frowned, and approached Roadie. “How much did you see?” see asked. Roadie just sat there for a few seconds before replying “A battle over a crystal city, Turning some… thing into stone, and you being forced to send someone to the moon because she turned evil. You’re impossible. You can’t exist. Organic beings can’t live for several thousand years, and move suns around like toys!” replied in equish. “...and I also learned a new language? Alright what did you do?” Celestia let out a sigh. “I was charging up a calming spell when you accidentally bumped me with your laser cannon. Since I lost focus the spell went from being a calming spell to a memory spell. You got flashes of my life, and I saw… your whole life. Childhood, school, mechwarrior training, and even the Centurion when it belonged to your father, and your father’s father.” “I see…” Roadie said. A scroll flashed into existance in front of Celestia. Celestia quickly unrolled it and read it. “I think we found your friends.” Celestia said. “My captain of the guard, and niece are on their honeymoon in Appleoosa when they saw a fireball land in the desert. They can’t get close whatever landed without it firing lightning and beams of light at them.” “Could be my friends or the clanners. Hmm. Where is Appleoosa? I’ll head out and investigate at once.” “An excellent idea. I’ll visit Twilight, and see if she wants to help out. I believe she will want to help along with her friends.” Celestia said while giving the yellow pegasus a small smile. The pegasus returned the smile and nodded. “Oh! you’ll probably need a guide. I’ll look around town and see if I can find anypony who can help you.” “Thanks. I’ll meet them by the farm I landed in. I have to load the life support pod onto the ‘mech.” Roadie explains as he heads towards the door. He stops and turns to the yellow pegasus. “Thank you for letting me rest here ma’am.” “Oh… umm… you’re welcome.” the pegasus said while trying to hide behind her mane again. Roadie nodded before exiting the small home with some small difficulty fitting through the doorway. Author's Note Sorry for delay, and constantly trying different formatting. I think I like this one the best, and this should be the end of major revisions so I can start to add older chapters with edits. I'm also working on some bonus chapters. These'll be little snips from the scrapped sequel . Enjoy!
Ch 7 Travel (Edited)Roadie sat in the Centurion, his face a mask of concentration. He relaxed as he heard a Clank followed by several clicks. His HUD confirmed the pod had been successfully reattached to the battlemech. He let out a breath of relief. Roadie noticed a familiar yellow pegasus trotted towards the battlemech with her supplies on her back. Roadie popped open the hatch. Aile flew up to the Centurion’s cockpit, and entered it. Roadie closed the hatch behind her. "Hey Aile. I'm guessing Celestia asked you to be my guide?" "Yep. Do you have a place I can put these?" she asked motioning towards her saddlebags. Roadie nodded towards one of the jump seats behind the cockpit. Aile put down her supplies and sat in the jump seat for all of 5 seconds before jumping up on the back of the pilot’s chairs, and wrapping her fore hooves around the top of the seat. "Didn't you watch me when I was fighting the dragon?" "I was more focused on the dragon and not you pressing buttons." "Fair enough. Which way to Appleoosa?" Aile pulled out a map from her bags, and gave it to Roadie. "We're here." she pointed to a point on the map "and we need to go here." she pointed west and a bit south. "Alright hang on." Aile watched as Roadie flipped a couple switches, pushed down the left foot pedal, and moved the horizontal stick forward. The centurion turned towards the west, and stomped off. As they left Roadie noticed the farm was missing any and all signs of the 'mech's landing and movement. Must of been what Celestia was working on last night. 15 minutes later "NOOOOOOoooo!!!!" Applejack scrambled out of the farm too see Pinkie Pie standing on the edge of the farm. "What in the hay was that about Pinkie?" Applejack asked. "They left! They left before I could give Roadie a welcome to ponyville party! That's twice now I missed it. I. Will. Get. Him. A. Party. No. Matter. What!" Pinkie yelled. "Wait twice?" "Yeah. Clide completely forgot about the first time, and just thought of it now. Oh well. He'll figure something out." Pinkie explained before walking back towards town. Applejack just sat there a minute. "...what the hay is a Clide?" Several hours later… Aile and Roadie had passed the time during the trip so far with Aile asking what each button did, and Roadie answering her questions. Roadie had in turn asked about pony culture and customs. He didn’t step on any toes, or in this case hooves. “So let me get this straight: Celestia and Luna raise and lower the sun and moon. Pegasi like yourselves control and produce weather, and you consider places like the Everfree where this is happens on its own unnatural?” “Yep.” Aile replied but then furrowed her brow. “Is it different where you’re from?” “Every planet in the inner sphere that has been explored by humans is like the Everfree. We have tried weather control and terraforming, but nature tends to throw a curveball at us and wrecks that plan. Terraforming takes years, and weather control always bit us in the butt in the end.” Roadie said, recalling several disasters he heard on the Comstar News. “Wow technology can even control weather?” Aile asked dumbstruck. “Why are you so fascinated with technology Aile? None of the other ponies, god that’s still weird to say, *ahem* none of the others seemed so interested in technology. So why are you?” Aile’s ears drooped. “Promise not to tell anyone?” Aile asked, her voice a quiet whisper. “I promise.” Roadie said. “Well it began when I was young little filly.” Aile began… 10 years ago… “Hurry honey. We don’t want to be late.” A pegasus mare said to a pegasus stallion with a small yellow filly riding her back. “I’m coming sweetie.” The Stallion said. The family walked through the streets until they came across a large and long platform that ran along two metal rails. As a column of smoke appeared in the distance, the stallion turned towards the filly on his back. “You’re going to love this Aile, and to think it doesn’t need any form of magic at all to work.” Aile watched as the metal caterpillar slowed, and crawled to a stop. “Amazing isn’t it Aile? Aile?” The stallion turned to see that Aile had buzzed off his back and was looking at the engine. She was still on the platform but had run right up to the engine and was looking at all the gears, wheels, and smoke stack. The stallion let out a chuckle before spotting something new on his daughter that filled him with pride. A symbol had appeared on her flank, but she was so busy with the engine and assaulting the driver with endless questions, she didn’t even notice it. The Stallion spared the driver from having to answer her questions by walking over, and scooping up his daughter. The family got into one of the passenger compartments, and in a few moments the train left the station. “…And that’s how I got my cutie mark along with my hobby.” Aile said finishing her story. Roadie let out a small chuckle. “I know what you mean. First time I saw a battlemech as a child, I fell in love instantly. Cutie marks show what your special talent is right? I thought it was a thundercloud with a lightning bolt?” Aile let out a small smile. “That’s what a lot of ponies think, but look a little closer.” Roadie made sure the Centurion’s path was clear for a bit then looked at Aile’s cutie mark. Upon a closer inspection he noticed the clouds were not clouds, but in fact several gears overlapping to create the illusion of a cloud. "Huh. Neat." Roadie said. “It’s rude to stare you know.” Aile said with cheeky grin. Uh oh she thinks I was staring at her out of… “Whoa. No no no no. I wasn’t staring like that I kinda just drifted into space that’s all.” Roadie said, snapping his head and eyes forward again. “Unhuh sure you did. Hey what time is it?” Aile said. “1400 local time. Why?” Roadie replied, secretly glad to be switching topics. As Aile opened her mouth, her stomach grumbled loud enough for Roadie to hear. Roadie laughed as Aile blushed to the point her entire face was bright red. “Lunch sounds good to me too.” Roadie brought the Centurion to a halt, and deployed the pod. Lunch and the rest of the day were rather uneventful with Roadie driving, and Aile reading a few books she brought with her. That night was also uneventful. Roadie slept in a sleeping bag that was on the life support pod, while Aile wrapped herself in a blanket she had brought with her. The second day of travel, Roadie keyed up some Solaris replays to keep himself and Aile entertained. Both of them enjoyed the sport cheering on mechs they liked while taking silly bets on who’d win when they were cheering for opposing mechs. The most embarrassing one for Roadie was when he lost he had to let Aile sit in his lap, and try driving the Centurion. She drove it well for a pegasus. Roadie helped here and there, particularly with the throttle, but her hooves had no trouble with controlling the rest of the battlemech. The end of the second day, they were deep into the Mild West. They still had a day of travel left, but were exhausted to continue any further that day. As Roadie got ready to sleep he noticed Aile was shivering despite the blanket she had on. “You okay?” he asked. “Y-yeah. J-just cold t-that’s all. Aile said through chattering teeth. “I t-thought the desert w-was suppose to be w-warmer.” “During the day yea, but at night it can get to freezing temperatures pretty quick. Did you bring anything else?” “N-no.” “Crap. Hmm…” Roadie got out of his sleeping bag and rebooted the generator in the corner. Once the generator was up, he walked to the climate control, and turned the heat up to a comfortable 70F. “That ought to.” Roadie never finished his sentence as the generator made a snap noise and died. Roadie swiftly ran to the shelf, grabbed a flashlight, and began to examine the generator. “Great. Capacitor is shot…” Roadie said with a defeated sigh. “C-can you fix it?” “It's easy as swapping a wheel, but All the spares are onboard the Leopard. Problem is now both of us are going to be cold in a bit.” “A-any ideas.” Aile asked. “One, but I'm not sure you’re going to like it.” Roadie said, knowing he didn’t like it, but it’d beat sleeping in the battle armor. “A-anything beats f-freezing to death.” Aile said, her shivering getting worse. “Okay, come over here then.” Roadie said. Aile promptly followed as Roadie fully unzipped the sleeping bag. Roadie indicated a spot for her to lie down. She lied down in the spot Roadie indicated. Roadie grabbed her blanket and put it near her as he slipped into the other side of the sleeping bag. Roadie didn’t notice Aile’s face had turned pink in the dark. He zipped up the sleeping bag and threw the blanket over both of them. “Bit tight, but do you have enough space?” Roadie asked. “Yep.” Was all Aile got out starting to feel the warmth from the sleeping bag, the blanket, and the body heat of the human she shared them with. “Hey Roadie.” “Hmm?” “Thanks.” Both of them were out in a matter of minutes. Aile suddenly awoke shivering. It was the middle of the night judging by how dark it was. she pressed herself into Roadie to warm up some more. Why is it so bucking cold? She thought as she pressed harder. Roadie suddenly turned around mumbling. His arms wrapped around Aile, and he began to cuddle her like a foal with a giant teddy bear. Aile's face flushed red, the cold temperature completely forgotten.
Ch 8 Appleoosa (Edit)Soft. So soft. That’s all Roadie could think as he began to wake up. Did logistics get new pillows for the bunks aboard the dropship? Mental note: track down a logistics officer, and ask where they got the new pillows for. These are comfy enough for kings, never mind mechwarriors. The “pillow” had mumbled and moved a little. This instantly snapped Roadie out of his thoughts, and forced his eyes open. Dawn had cracked over the horizon so there was just enough light to see. Roadie saw yellow in the bottom of his vision, causing him to look down. Aile was still asleep, her head buried into Roadie’s shirt. Roadie recalled that they had both fallen asleep with their backs to each other. We must’ve rolled over in our sleep. Wait, why am I worrying about moving in my sleep? I just cuddled with a pony. What the hell is wrong with me? Would you have minded if she was human? What does that have to do with anything? Roadie found himself in a mental debate. Oh come on. You like her, and you know it. No I don’t. Why would I? Let’s see here hmm. Maybe because she’s smart, and you get along with her a lot better than you did with most young women you talked to when you were dragged to the clubs by the other recruits during training. Maybe because despite being a pony, she’s cute. It could even do with the fact you both have the same interests, and hobbies. So she’s a good friend, big deal. If she was human, would you ask her on a date? …no? ... I’ll worry about it later. I got bigger problems right now. You always say that… Roadie pushed his thoughts aside, and crept out of the sleeping bag slowly to avoid waking Aile up, and checked what time it was. 0647 hours local time. Roadie grabbed another MRE, and ate it for breakfast. As he finished eating it, Aile began to wake up. It became clear she wasn’t a morning pony. She slowly stumbled out of the sleeping bag, looked back at it, and then at Roadie. Her eyes opened wide as her memory came back, her face turned red, and she swiftly looked down at the floor. “Sleep well?” Roadie asked. Aile mumbled in return, walking to her bag to get her own breakfast. ***Several hours later*** “We’re almost there. It should be just over that ridge there.” Aile said. “It’d be nice to finally stretch and walk around in an open area instead of the cramped pod, or this cockpit.” Roadie replied, trying to stretch in the cockpit. As they crossed the ridge their expressions changed. Aile held a face of horror, while Roadie let out an explosive sigh, before settling into a focused stare. “Aile, find something to hold onto.” Roadie said flipping a safety lid up, and flicking the switches underneath. The computer responded through both Roadie’s helmet, and the cockpit speakers. Safties, disabled Weapons, online. The Centurion went from its slow but steady stomp to a full stride, increasing its speed up to 89.4kph. Appleoosa had smoke rising from several buildings in the city. The citizens of Appleoosa, and Royal Guard were battling what looked like a mix of ponies, and minotaurs. The ponies that were attacking had skulls painted over their cutie marks. The Royal Guard held most of them at bay, but the one problem they couldn’t handle was a Hydra supporting the army of bandits. Each head took turns smashing a large purple barrier that dimmed with every strike the hydra gave it. The barrier seemed to be focused on just holding the Hydra at bay, allowing ponies, and minotaurs to attack as they pleased. Shining Armor didn’t know how much longer he could hold the spell together. His troops were doing okay in the battle, while coordinating the citizens who wished to fight, and while protecting those who didn’t that had taken shelter in the town hall. “Captain!” a guard had shouted just as the Hydra smashed the barrier with all four heads simultaneously. Shining Armor collapsed to the ground the barrier gone. Up! Get up! You need to protect everypony including Cadence! Shining mentally shouted to himself as he struggled to his feet, taking note of the telltale thud of heavy footsteps. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA IS THAT!?!?” one of the guards shouted. “A Hydra, now-!” Shining replied before being cut off. “No sir! that!” “What are you-?” PEW Shining looked at the Hydra that had began screaming. A pair of green lines of light had struck the hydra in one of its necks, and traced a line across causing the upper part of the neck along with the head attached to it to fall off the hydra. One of the pagasai guards that had flown over to help turned towards Shining. “Sir! That light, it’s the same as the light that kept up from getting near the meteor that landed a few days ago!” He reported. Shining and the two guards with him turned towards the source of the light. “What in the name of Celestia…” Shining said as he looked at giant. If he to choose one word to describe it, he would have used formidable. A massive metallic being resembling no creature Shining has ever seen before. It looked as if it was painted a mix of green, tan, and brown. It's legs, and left arm appeared coated black from intense fire. The black arm carried a shield the size of its massive arm. It’s other arm missing completely, instead it had a large square block with a barrel that unleashed a loud bang as it flashed and sent something towards the Hydra’s center mass. The hydra twitched as its slump of a neck became two necks with two heads. The battle froze in place as combatants from both sides watched the giants square off. “It’s a Hydra Roadie. If you cut off one head, it gets two.” Aile said. “Well fuck. Talk about planning ahead.” Roadie joke. Aile gave Roadie a look that said ‘really?’ “Okay. Plan B, center of mass.” Roadie said adjusting his aim. The centurion fired more lasers, another volley from the LB-10X, and 4 missiles into the center of the Hydra’s body. It became apparent the Hydra had a hide that was nowhere near as tough of the Dragon’s. The shell alone had ripped it to pieces. The missiles exploded along the surface of the skin, tearing away entire chunks. Roadie grinned, but the grin vanished as the Hydra's wounds healed just as quickly. "Fine. You want more? COME AND GET IT!" Roadie shout unleashing a hailstorm of shells, lasers blasts, and missiles. *5 minutes earlier* Roy let out an explosive sigh as he watched the local life battle over a small western town from a distance with his 'mech's scouting scope. He hated not being able to help. He could easily tear the hydra apart with his Commando. "C'mon Commander, let me help. Since when were you one to not help those in need?" he said as he watched the barrier grow weaker. "Since we have no idea who's who, and how they will react to a 25 ton metal giant striding into their fight." Wynne D replied. "You know... they would-" "The Major is still in the Inner Sphere, and the Sergeant... the Sergeant is... missing. Just... just get back here. We'll think of something." "Yes ma'am, and Wynne D; I'm sorry. That was a low blow, and-" Roy said as he began to turn the Commando towards the dropship. "It's alright, but you're right, they would've jump in guns blazing." As Roy's hand wrapped around the throttle, familiar echoes rolled through. Roy spun back around and zoomed back in on the fight. A familiar metal shape had entered the fray. "Contact! It's Roadie! I found the Sergeant! and... and guess what he did..." Roy explained while face palming. "...Go help him out. No point in trying to be subtle about first contact now." "With pleasure." Roy grinned, and charged towards the battle. ******************** "Give it up, you're a goner!" Roadie shouted as the Hydra rammed into the Centurion sending it stumbling. The Centurion quickly recovered and fire more shots into the Hydra. "Hang on Aile. I hate doing this." Roadie said as he flicked a switch on the joystick. Aile yelped as sparks flew from Roadie's helmet, and the neural link. Roadie groaned in pain, but was swiftly drowned out by a groaning sound coming from the left arm of the Centurion. As the hydra closed for another charge, Roadie shouted and yanked back on the stick. The centurion's left arm struck out in an upper cut motion, nailing the center head right in the chin, and sending the hydra sprawling to the ground. Every creature below had gotten themselves away from the giants as they brawled. Several ponies yelped as a second, smaller giant appeared from nowhere, sprinting towards the melee. Roadie took aim at the fallen hydra's chest. "DIE YOU PIECE OF-" Roadie shouted while unleashing an alpha striking. Roadie grumbled as the wounds began to heal, only to have another volley of SRMs strike the already wounded hydra, and blow it into several rather messy chunks. "We all worry about if you survived orbital reentry, and here you are playing hero. You could of called, jackass. I would've loved to join in." a familiar voice came over the radio. "Roy! Man you're a sight for sore eyes. Is everyone okay?" Roadie happily replied. "Yea everyone is fine. Let's finish up, and head home." "Going to have to put a pause on that. Meet me at the town hall, and I'll explain later." "Uhh have you tried going outside? Not the healthiest choice we can make." "I know, the princess is working on a solution." "Wait. Princess? What the hell have you been doing?" "I'll explain at the town hall. I'll have my radio on, but we really need to figure out what is going on here." "Alright. I'll drop a beacon, and head back to the drop ship, grab the rest of the lance, and meet you back here." "Roger." The bandits quickly noticed how their key asset had fallen, and now the guard had their own pair giants. They swiftly retreated into the dunes. As Roadie began to bring the Centurion about, he noticed a stone collar with purple lights on one of the Hydra’s heads. As the lights died out and the collar crumbled to dust, Roadie couldn’t help but shudder. Something in his gut said that collar was bad news, and it was only going to get worse. Well on the bright side, I found everyone. Author's Note NOTES: Special thanks to AdmiralTigerclaw for the creation of one of the best OCs, and stories I’ve ever read. Link is here. Go and enjoy it! Note #2. Although I took Ms. Danity out of the story, you should still go read Admiral's story! Go! Shoo! This story will still be here when you get back.
background information(warning lots of pictures)(Updated)As someone requested, here is some helpful background information, and links. I'm going to do what I can to limit the technology to the early clan invasions. So if you see something that doesn't seem to fit, please let me know. The only exception I'm going to make to this is Roadie's armor, but that'll be explained in the story. Also this is just how I imagine the mechs. If you have a different idea of what they look like by all means. The pictures are mostly for those who are either new to battletech/mechwarrior, or only have a small amount of experience in the universe. Davion/Federate Suns: link Clan Wolf: link Federate Suns units: Leopard Class Dropship: Atlas: Centurion: Commando: Hunchback: Jagermech: Stalker: Sparrowhawk: Roadie's reverse engineered armor: Clan Wolf units: Mercer Class Dropship: Black Hawk (Nova): Daishi (Dire Wolf) Mad Cat (Timberwolf): Thor (Summoner): Vulture (Mad Dog) Elemental: Author's Note Updated to contain units that pop up through out the story. Credit for images goes to MWO, and the battletech wiki which can be found here.
