Irradiated Changes

***

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By the time James had cleared his way through enough Raiders to make a break for Megaton, Hacksaw and Moth had made their way ashore and had begun quickly rolling after him at a pace only slightly below his normal jogging speed in full T-51b armor. Not as fast as he could’ve gone, but fast enough that he didn’t pass out at the gates of Megaton when he arrived. The slow, steady rhythm of his feet and the emotion-powered motors of the two changelings lulled him into the steady pace of travel he’d grown accustomed to, letting him consider what all he’d need for this encounter.

“Y’know, from my observations and the conversations we’ve all been having for the past day or so, I’m beginning to notice a pattern with the mentality and life of you humans here in the Capital Wasteland...” Hacksaw’s voice shattered the near-silence, the medical and maintenance drone musing aloud, “You’re all about survival and either helping or killing anyone you meet.”

“That’s a general definition, yeah.” James agreed as they plodded along, “Why, this complicate things? I mean, I know Chrysalis said changelings don’t kill, and you at least seem to be a peaceful race...”

Hacksaw shrugged, an odd motion given he couldn’t move his hooves from the ground, “It doesn’t complicate things so much as make me curious. changelings don’t kill because the practice wastes emotions we could be passively taking from live, sentient, or at the very least semi-sentient, beings. We’ve also been a semi-peaceful race that has been stuck in an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality to the nation in which we live. The hives will never admit it, nor will mother, and even I find it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but we do live in the borders of Equestria; a nation that has been known for its love, tolerance, and harmony. A paradise compared to the frozen northern pole and the southern badlands and desert.”

He sighed, “You see why I find you humans so curious now, right? You’re a violent species living in a place that is, frankly, worse than Tartarus; the one place that makes even the Badlands look nice by comparison.”

James nodded, “Yeah. After the bombs fell and everything was blown to shit, society went out the window rather quickly. Or at least that’s what everyone who was around before the blasts tells me. How bad is Tartarus, exactly?”

Hacksaw looked at Moth, who shrugged himself, “Honestly? It’s not as bad as everyone exaggerates it to be. Sure, it’s a prison, but it’s also a society in and of itself. At least from what those who have been near or inside it say. Apparently it’s also really good at making weapons from the metals and minerals in the area around Tartarus proper. Something to do with the volcanic activity or something... If I was anywhere near the hive, I’d talk to one of my siblings about it; I know we have a geologic team for surveying and helping with the alloys we produce for tools and buildings...”

Again, James nodded subconsciously, cresting a hill and sliding down before he picked up his pace again, “Sounds a lot like The Pitt to the northwest. Place is a hellhole compared to the rest of the Capital Wasteland, but having been there, I can say there are worse places...”

“I don’t think I’d want to know about worse places, honestly. Where are we going again, exactly?” the rough-voiced drone asked.

The Knight pointed towards Megaton’s gates a dozen or so yards ahead, “Through the gates and to the first house on the left. Simms will want to talk to me about you guys, so after we clear the gates, head inside and wait for me. Tell Wadsworth you’re my guests, and he should be helpful with just about anything.”

The two changelings nodded, and the Lone Wanderer poured on a bit more energy to rush ahead of them, giving a nod to Stockholm and giving a quick thumb behind him and thumbs up to let the sniper know that the two drones weren’t a threat. Stockholm nodded, the inner gates opening as James approached. Behind him, he could hear the gentle whir of Hacksaw and Moth’s diggers as they approached, “Well, look who’s back from cleaning up the wastes.”

He turned, seeing a familiar sheriff with a wide grin plastered on his face. Lucas Simm’s traded a quick handshake with the Lone Wanderer, “Always have time to stop by Megaton Simms.” his smile dropped into a hard line, “Listen. I’ve got a Raider band with heavy arms heading for either here or one-oh-one from Springvale. I don’t know who they’ll hit first, but we need to shore up defenses. You still got those Security Bots I brought in a month ago?”

Simms nodded, all-serious as well upon the Knight’s words, “Arthur and Lancelot are in the Armory with Steel.” he reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled out a key, “This should open the door; just give them the code and they’ll activate the defensive routines we programmed in. I’ll get a small militia together if they hit before you head out. Can’t be too careful with the Raider’s numbers starting to swell. Any idea what they’re packing?”

“Missile Launchers, Chinese AKs, Shotguns, leather and metal armors; the expensive stuff that isn’t too hard to find, but a pain in the ass to buy. How the hell Raiders got ahold of anything other than the cheap shit they wear is beyond me, but they’re geared for sieging and slaughtering the place.” James tucked the key behind one of the armor’s plates, “Also; you heard Three Dog’s broadcast about the Pride, right?”

Simms nodded, “Two of the bugs are coming through the gate right about-” Hacksaw and Moth drove through the door a moment later. The voiceless changeling fluttered his wings slightly and landed on the large water pipe that lead down the path, a small trail of sparks behind him as he flew past and hopped off, landing on the metal platform to James’ home a second later, “Now. I’ll meet you at the gate.”

Without waiting for Simms to get over of his shock at the two insectoids, the Lone Wanderer quickly passed him and descended, hopping over the pipe and opening the door fully, which Moth was already attempting with a bit of levitation. As usual, he was immediately greeted by Wadsworth, “Ah, master LeBlanc! Good to see you’re alive and well, sir!”

James nodded, “Wasteland can’t keep me down that long, Wadsworth. Oh, and consider the changeling species,” he thumbed back towards the two, who gave light inclinations of the head in acknowledgement as they rolled in, “To be guests.”

“Other companions in your travels, I presume?”

The Knight walked over to the lockers opposite the doorway, “Something like that. I’m going to need supplies, too. We’ve got Raiders on the way geared for siege.”

“I am to assume this means you’d like several doses from your chemical stash, as well as a plasma weapon and an automatic firearm?” the robotic butler asked, a blue beam of light encompassing Miss Launcher and the MIRV as James removed them from his back.

The Lone Wanderer nodded, pulling off his military pack and the Reservist’s Rifle before unloading the bag, “The Xuanlong and Harkness’ plasma rifle should be fine. Just enough magazines and cells for about three hundred shots each, please.” he turned back to Moth and Hacksaw, looking over them for a minute as their gaze wandered around the house, “Also; does that Armorer program I found cover quadrupeds?”

“For the... changelings, you said sir? I believe I can rig up a pair of working suits. Are there any specific requests?” the last question the Mister Handy directed at the two changelings directly.

Hacksaw shook his head at the robot’s question, only slightly taken aback by the flying machine, “Nothing beyond being functional.”

Wadsworth nodded, then began floating around the house, storing and removing several weapons and boxes. James finished setting down several paint guns and spoke to his butler again, “If you can, use the Combat Armor from the Anchorage Armory. It’s about time I found a use for those suits...”

Wadsworth let out a short, “Acknowledged, sir.” before floating upstairs.

Hacksaw finally spoke a full sentence, “You have a butler, that’s a flying ball with arms.”

The Knight nodded, raising an eyebrow slightly in confusion, “Yeah. Wadsworth’s a Mister Handy from before the War. I’ve managed to get him a few upgrades over the weeks. Like that Tractor Beam thing from Zeta; the blue light... Though... you don’t sound overly surprised...”

“I’ve managed to see and hear about a few golems from time to time. He’s similar to one, I guess. More advanced, but the same.” the medic/repair drone shrugged, this time with the full range of motion.

Moth rolled his eyes and slid out of his Industrial Diggers, though his brother voiced the question, “Moth wants to know if he could browse around.”

James shrugged, “Bedroom’s off limits, because Wadsworth works best without distraction, but you’re free to look around. We’ve got a few minutes before he’ll be done, and from our pace compared to the speed the Raiders were walking, we’ve probably got... fifteen minutes, tops.” he pulled the key Simms gave him out from under one of his suit’s plates, “I need to go get the town’s defensive robots out of the Megaton Armory. I’ll be back in a second.”

The two changelings nodded, watching as the Lone Wanderer left, closing the door behind him.

***

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The Queen of the Changelings levitated another cylindrical magazine into the chambers of her forty-four Magnum again as she ducked down, idly heaving a sigh at how often she was having to reload. It couldn’t be helped, however, as her Silenced ten millimeter lacked the necessary range for the distance between her vantage and the Raiders along the shores. Those that did get into close range were taken down by the Pride or a silent huff of air from below; the spray of automatic gunfire going by almost unnoticed from Steel’s magical grip.

She grumbled to herself, deciding that next chance she had to safely fly down to the boat’s armory, that she’d be exchanging the weight of several ten millimeter magazines for that of her Sniper Rifle’s three zero eights. She’d run out of rifle ammunition far too quickly to be of any use with anything beside the Magnum, leaving Knight Captain’s Dusk and Colvin to pick up her slack and decrease their efficiency. Having lead an army almost single-handedly, the Changeling Queen had long ago focused on the larger picture when it came to combat, rather than herself. Statistics relating to the efficiency of even a single unit had long become second nature, only now sparked alive by combat on a much larger scale.

Besides; Steel handled smaller engagements with such a refined art of micro-suggestions and coordination she had little to do or focus on beyond saying the word ‘go’ over the Hivemind. she’d let him have his fun; now it was her turn to lead.

And lead she had; ordering her changelings from the safety of their cover on high-priority raiders with Missile Launchers and automatic weapons of their own. Cicada would toss explosives into clusters with a combination of her own strength and levitation, Cocoon aiding her at much longer ranges with her Missile Launcher, as well as destroying the crumbling remains of protection many of the more cautious Humans hid behind. With Moth, Hacksaw, and James gone, Chrysalis had little choice but to let the pride handle the main portion of the fighting, leaving only Steel to mop up any stragglers who got too close, while she picked off what Raiders she could with her scoped weapons.

All of these thoughts roiled around Chrysalis’ mind in the few moments she took to snap the cylinder of the revolver closed, levitate the scope to her eye, and lean up long enough to fire two quick shots into the legs of another Raider, before it’s skull was melted in a blast of laser fire from Sentinel Lyons. The Queen ducked down again as another, further away sound hit her ears. The distinctive crack of a Sniper Rifle much like her own, followed shortly after by a loud ping as the bullet slammed into one of the smokestack nearby, ricocheting off the metal and into the river below. She turned towards Dusk, about to warn her of a sniper, before the Paladin turned slightly and fired, letting out a static-filled, “Sniper down. Clear.”

“Clear!” called the voice of Glade from below, as well as several other Pride members giving the same word.

The Changeling Queen gave Dusk a curt nod, “...Thank you...”

“Eh, don’t mention it. Just watching another sniper’s back.” the Knight Captain replied, tossing Chrysalis a magazine from her side. The Queen caught it in her telekinesis, then snapped it into place before pulling back the bolt with a hoof.

That done, the changelings and humans, began to relax, moving from their positions and holstering their weapons. The Changeling Queen exhaled slowly, excess adrenaline still coursing through her body as she sat up and replaced the two rounds she’d fired from her Magnum. A quick check over the Hivemind with her changelings came after, to ensure they were unharmed and they had passed the danger. This was followed by levitating her now replenished Sniper Rifle onto her back, before Chrysalis began to slowly walk down the stairs and towards the armory. The danger had passed, none of them had been harmed, and she now had a chance to practice using both the pistol and rifle, minutely adjusting the strength of her spells as needed to compensate for the heavy kick of the two individual weapons. Things seemed to be, for once in a long while, going well for the Changeling Queen, all things considered.

She idly heaved a sigh as her hooves touched the ground floor of the riverboat, an action that she’d been doing a lot of recently, and moved a lock of pale hair from her face with a hoof before her lips formed into a thin line. She furrowed her brows as she walked, mind wandering back too much to consider simply flying; memories of past events always put her in a monotonous sequence of one hoof in front of the other.

Indeed; her mind had sunk into memories of the past few days, and how it had all gone so wrong in such a short time. Of how the Empire began to slowly face the threat of starvation as Equestria cast it aside without even realizing.

***

It hadn’t been a quick process, Chrysalis mused to herself, but nonetheless one that progressed much faster than she and the drones assigned to distributing out Love and its lesser offshoots had predicted. She didn’t blame them of course; they’d always performed their jobs to the best of their abilities, making sure they gave out what was best for each member of the Swarm. Even Cicada had never been too generous with distributing emotion, despite her friendly and almost odd desire to help any of her siblings. No; they were not to blame. Emotion stores had been predicted to dry up eventually, so perhaps the error was simply in the calculations of their supplies.

So what had been the problem? She had dispatched scouts to other hives with request for aid once the Empire’s feeding grounds began to lack the necessary emotions, or rather ponies that carried those emotions, receiving plenty of help from other hives to get back on their hooves. Several even sent drones with saddlebags brimming with enough love to extend them out for more than three months!

She growled lowly under her breath in frustration, forcing the worries and thoughts into the back of her mind. Her hooves finally stopped before the door to the ship’s armory, which loomed before her like some personification of her current situation; old, decaying, and filled with too many holes, even for changeling tastes, No point in worrying about the past right now. Especially when on another planet and unable to do anything about it...

***

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“...the pies are the crustiest... The songs the lustiest, the friends the trustiest... Waaaaay back home...” the stallion muttered to himself, hidden beneath the cover of an old building and a sandy-brown Pre-War trench coat. Through the scope of his rifle, he observed the riverboat, and, more specifically, the Changeling Queen on board. The tune from the nearby radio his only companion...

“Hey, Long Shot.” yep. Only companion. Nopony or nobody else. Just him, the radio, and his Tartarus-damned rifle, set up in a building and spying on royalty through the red-hued lenses of his goggles to make sure she was okay. No one else there, “Long Shot. C’mon man; I said I was sorry...”

“You nearly lost my most valuable rifle simply because you thought it would make good metal to give the Forgers, whom you wanted to turn it into a new halberd.” he muttered, not looking at the pegasus behind him, who, coincidentally, actually did have a halberd, along with several spears, knives, and a set of brass hoof dusters, “So frankly, buck you Brass, we won’t be buddies again until you get me one of those human’s sniper rifles.”

Behind him, Brass Cloud sighed behind the filtration mask he always wore, the irritation evident, “Just... you... fine. How’s the Queen?”

“Annoyed. Probably thinking about her kids waaaaay baaaaaack hooooome...” Long Shot grinned to himself at his own joke.

Brass gave a light gagging sound before speaking again, “Oh, buck, you’ve been listening to that crap?”

“Oh, shut up. You only like Vinyl Scratch’s music because she had a nice flank anyway...” he shot back, then stood up and levitated his rifle onto his back and grabbed the radio with a hoof, “I need to move buildings again. Did you get the packaged delivered to the Citadel?”

Brass nodded slightly, any traces of annoyance hidden behind the gas mask on him, then stretched his wings in preparation to carry the unicorn, “Done and in the air before someone even noticed it, just like I said. Didn’t even think of having to come back and get you to use that cloaking spell again. There was only like two guys by the door anyway, so it’s not like it would’ve mattered. Though, I have to ask; is giving Cicada a bucking Vorpal Blade, one that cost us both a month’s pay might I add, really a good idea?”

“You tell me; you want to expect an inexperienced drone like her to fight only using her bare hooves and a few explosives?” Long Shot turned to look at his companion fully, the combination of rough brown cloth, tubes, and metal staring back at him expressionlessly.

Brass turned his head away, breaking eye contact, “...Point taken. Ready?”

“Yeah; let’s head a bit further down than last time; keep us from making too many trips.” the sniper suggested, earning a quick nod from the pegasus. Brass flew above him and locked his hooves around the slightly larger unicorn’s stomach a moment later. With a small grunt of effort from his suit-wearing friend, Long Shot rose into the air, moving out of the busted section of the building and outside, winds whipping around him.

***

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“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait.” Hacksaw spouted rapidly, shaking his forehooves slightly as he flew in place at Wadswroth’s level, “You’re telling me that James is partially fake?”

“Artificial, Master Hacksaw.” the Mister Handy corrected, fully articulating the word for the changeling to understand clearly, “The good sir merely began replacing parts of his body with the latest technology before, as he put it, ‘leveled up’ enough for his cells to regenerate in direct sunlight.”

“And he can regenerate in the sun?” the sound of the door opening behind the two changelings and robot cut Wadsworth off before he could explain.

As expected, the helmeted head of the Lone Wanderer poked through, “Why yes, yes I can. Pip-Boys are a Hell of a Pre-War miracle.”

“What, that thing on your wrist that plays music?” Hacksaw questioned.

James nodded, “Yep. Neat little toy that twists your Dee-En-Ay to help out in life. Anyone in a Vault always had one. Speaking of which; Stockholm spotted the raider’s a ways out, so we need to head out Ay-sap.”

The Knight pulled off his helmet and began sliding out of his armor, revealing the blue jumpsuit underneath, “Not with this though. Servos or no, the Tee-Fifty-One isn’t the best choice as far as weight goes...”

He began folding it down, Hacksaw taking notes again as Moth was re-attaching his Industrial Diggers, “Wadsworth, can you grab my...”

The Lone Wanderer paused for a moment, snapping his fingers to try and remember before finishing his sentence, “Ranger’s armor?”

“Of course sir. I’ve also finished with Master Hacksaw and Moth’s own suits.” the robot replied, swiftly moving to one of the lockers and pulling out a faded green suit of hardened plates and a matching helmet. Taking the T51-b to store away, the robot was gone for the few moments James needed to slide the armor over his jumpsuit.

Hacksaw looked him up and down, “Militaristic. I’m guessing this is part of some special unit?”

“Eh, just Riley’s Rangers. Swell group of guys and gals I helped out in DC a while ago.” he shrugged, sliding the helmet over his head before moving to don a pair of sunglasses.

He then paused, turning his head to Hacksaw again, “Y’know, something just occured to me.”

“Hm?” the medical/maintenance drone looked up from his clipboard, having been only slightly paying attention as he was sketching out the Lone Wanderers armor, along with several speculations and notes around it. Mostly it was out of boredom, but the concepts gave him ideas for his own projects.

His ear twitched again, reminding him of James’ voice, “How is it that drones have that single plate of an eye, when your Queen has perfectly... human, ones?”

“Technically pony, and in answer to that; genetics. Queens are slightly more adapted than drones, following the logic of ‘authority is equal to or greater than being better than those they lead’ or something. It’s not exactly a line of our species’ origin and adaptation I’ve looked into...” Hacksaw replied, tucking the clipboard away in his dimensional pocket.

It was at that moment that Wadsworth made his way to the trio again, several items held within his grasp. The thought crossed the technology specialist’s mind on if he had enough time to make a few notes about each, but given that the Knight was rushing them, he thought better of it. At a later time, he would likely get his chance anyway, “And as your requested, modified Winterized Combat Armors of the United States Army for Masters Moth and Hacksaw.”

Upon Wadsworth’s words, a suit of armor similar to James’ was levitated into the drone’s grasp. Though, to call it a ‘suit’ of armor wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Much like the natural chitin of a changeling’s body, most Equestrian and even Griffon armors were made of interlocking and overlapping plates to prevent chinks in defenses. The armor given to him was composed of the same plates, of course, but were by no means interlocking. All in all it seemed rather exposing compared to... just about anything he’d seen before.

“I also took the liberty of modifying the undersuit’s limbs to account for the holes in the legs.” the golem-like assistant added, giving the pair of changelings a grey bodysuit each, holes cut into the cloth at the points where they would match up with the actual holes on their bodies, “...How did you know where to cut the holes?”

Rather than Hacksaw himself, the question came from James, to which Wadsworth replied with a simple, “Measuring and altering them after taking a few photographs of the young Masters’ limbs. I do find the camera you installed in my center optic to have more uses than for cataloging and status updates on Megaton, sir.”

“You have our thanks then for such an extensive job, Wadsworth.” during this, Moth and Hacksaw both had been slipping into the grey undersuits. It was during this that the intelligent drone discovered why the plates didn’t so extensively cover the body, at least beyond the fact that the thick material used to make it was exceptional at trapping body heat. A single tag with references to projectile and energy resistance, as well as even flame retardance being said discovery.

Were it not for the fact that this was likely just meant for only so few bullets or calibers, both of them would have likely just forgone the plates in favor of the bodysuits alone. Moth, however, slid the matte white plates over his body without a thought or concern broadcasted over the hivemind, the plates quickly covering his hooves, chest, shoulders, and flanks. Wadworth had likely guessed their back plates would have been enough protection, as only a belt with several pouches on each side and the stomach were even remotely near these parts of their bodies. In addition, the pouches on the legs of James’ own combat armor were present on their own front back legs, just below the flank. Moth slid his ammunition into these without a thought as well, though he did debate with himself a moment before placing his Dart Gun and Magnum into the two pockets towards the middle of his sides.

Hacksaw shrugged to himself, then moved to do the same. He paused, however, upon seeing a red circle with an addition sign in the center, placed just above his shoulder blades. He looked up at the golem-like robot of Wadsworth with a raised eyebrow, but knowing he couldn’t read the optics or body language of a machine, slid the plates onto his body without a word.

“I was, unfortunately, unable to modify any suitable armor for the skull, or even a balaclava with the short time it was required. I trust you will still be able to make do?” Wadsworth questioned.

Hacksaw replied with a swift, “Yes, of course. Thank you, Wadsworth.”

“Of course, sir. As for you, Master LeBlanc, I have A Three Dash Twenty One’s Plasma Rifle, the Xuanlong Chinese Assault Rifle, the specified ammunition for each, and as always, your baseball bat.” with that, the Mister Handy gave the Lone Wanderer a conventional assault rifle like one that Hacksaw had seen on the Duchess’ Gambit, a high-tech rifle with a green glowing end, and a simple wooden bat with a tarnished and scratched metal handle.

James placed each rifle onto a side of his back, holding the hoofball, or rather baseball apparently, bat loosely in one hand, giving a quick nod, “Thanks Wadsworth. We’ll be back soon.”

“Very good sir. I shall watch over your fortress of solitude, as always.” despite the fact that it shouldn’t have been possible, the Mister Handy actually sounded as if he was joking. Thankfully, before Hacksaw could fully ponder if his sanity was slipping, James opened the door and beckoned them with his baseball bat holding hand.

***

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“I must confess that I do feel the need to aid you in some way here, Colonel. Compared to the vibrant and lively world of Equestria, the United States seems rather... desolate.” Celestia had been in audience with the military-commanding human for several hours now, ironing out the finer points of their mutual agreement from between Autumn’s semi-intact desk, which had several papers relating to supply numbers and such. She had to venture a guess, however, that the more important files were directly beneath. Still; she did not press, instead focusing on the task at hand.

“While I have not had the pleasure of visiting your world, madam, I fear I must agree; nuclear exchange with China has left the United States rather barren. The Enclave has been attempting to rebuild for years now, but the... difficulties, we’ve been encountering have but us at a severe disadvantage.” the colonel replied carefully, pausing as if he were about to explain more, then deciding against it. Celestia had, despite friendly open intentions, been picking and choosing her words carefully as well; such was politics with a new nation or race. While the Enclave commander had not been lying, per se, he was hiding something. That alone had made the princess of the sun cautious.

She didn’t skip a beat as she offered her help, “Then I suggest my little ponies and I, at least those already in your world, aid the Enclave however we can before we are able to fix the tear between our worlds. Progress was expected to be slow to begin with, so I’m sure we will have plenty of time to decrease the size of that paperwork of yours.” she gave a slightly impish grin and a low chuckle.

Autumn giving a genuine, lighthearted one of his own before nodding his agreement, “I’m sure that that will be an acceptable agreement, for now, at any rate. We’ve only recently moved from our main base of operations due to unforeseen events, so any aid to render this facility operational for Enclave use would be greatly appreciated.”

Celestia smiled internally, though her visible one had softened to a simple one of acceptance with a nod of the head. With luck, they could further understand these humans, maybe even form an alliance with them. While Equestria certainly didn’t need to expand its borders, the additional commerce and cultural exchange would be a welcome respite from the changeling invasion, especially with Canterlot being repaired after the mass of small amounts of property damage done to the city. That, and it would give her the time needed to discover just how dark this apparent skeleton in the Colonel’s closet was. With luck, it was merely an ‘unforeseen’ blunder he felt guilty about and wished to make up for. It would be something Celestia could relate to, that was for sure.

She held out of hoof to shake, Augustus reaching forwards and firmly gripping as they shook limbs in agreement, “Well then, Colonel Autumn; I trust this will be the beginning of a close friendship between Equestria and the Enclave.”

***

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“...Yeah, you said it Moth...” Hacksaw muttered, the two changelings on either side of James as they looked down upon the Raiders from either side of the Lone Wanderer, no longer armored enough to support them on his smaller pauldrons. Moth and hacksaw had been using their revolver and the Lone Wanderer’s binoculars respectively, to scout and check the movements of their sieging enemies. James had just been watching them with a nervous twitch to his fingers as he had been clearing and checking his Xuanlong several times; his intended primary weapon to punch through the standard leather and black mesh of the metal armors of his enemies. He knew it was nerves, because his mind kept on drifting to who the Raiders would hit first, and how quickly he could move to intercept.

Sure, Megaton had two of the finest Sentry Bots he had been able to scavenge parts for, and equipped them with a rocket launcher and gatling laser each, not to mention Simms, the deputies, Stockholm, and even the militia, but he was still nervous. He could spot a full eighteen Raiders, six in metal armor, eleven in leather, and the apparent leader in Enclave Hellfire armor.

Fucking hellfire armor of all things!

He also had a flamer, his metal-coated lackeys apparently being the artillery, as each had at least a rocket launcher and 10mm SMG each. The leather-bound raiders carried Chinese assault rifles instead of the usual R91 american versions; it was like watching a group of Talon Company without the black combat armor he’d grown to hate.

“This isn’t good.” the Knight muttered, smacking the ammo clip into the unique rifle he’d scavenged from Prime all those weeks ago, “Actually; this would be good, but only if the assholes weren’t about to fuck my home up...”

“Moth’s got a point; then what in Tartarus are we doing sitting around for, James?” Hacksaw asked as he pulled his Atomizer out of his side holster. he checked the cell inside before he spoke again, “We’ve got the high ground, the element of surprise... and on top of that, Cocoon’s bugging me to get as many of the Missile Launchers as possible. Something about putting a few of them together for an artillery stack like the defense turrets on our Hive or something...”

James turned his head away from the Raiders to look at the drone, eyes blinking in confusion, “...Seriously?” Hacksaw and Moth both rolled their eyes, but nodded, “...That’s pure genius.”

Both of the drones’ forehooves smacked against their faces in a the changeling equivalent of a facepalm. The Lone Wanderer barely paid attention however. Sure; he was an honorable, helpful, and all around attempted decent guy, but really big guns and even bigger explosions always had a certain charm for him; especially when he found enough ordinance to have fun blowing up the flavor-of-the-month enemy of the Brotherhood, and generally all of decent humanity. Throw in the fact that he was essentially fighting for his home, and the prospect of later fun with big guns, and it took him less than a minute to go from nervous to excited.

He patted the two changelings, “Alright. Alright; let’s go have some fu-.”

He was cut short as the scream of burning missile fuel reached his ears a second before the actual explosive plowed into his chest, impacting at point blank and throwing him off of his feet. The Knight went flying back from the hill and slamming into the metal gates of Megaton so hard his teeth cracked and spine nearly shattered, if not for the sheer amount of Rads, combined with a reinforced spine. Unlike yesterday, which seemed rather peaceful for once, it was clear to James now. The missile to the chest had been enough of an indication. No, scratch that; the missile to the chest was the indication.

It was going to be one of Those days.

God help those poor Raiders when he peeled himself from the dented scrap metal. Assuming he wasn’t in need of an Auto Axe or a Steel Saw this time...

***

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Chrysalis winced, both mentally and physically as her sons witnessed James being hit in the chest by a missile and thrown into a wall, yet somehow still alive. They themselves were relatively fine, shaken and dusty, but able to ride the blast of air and pressure far into the sky like a sudden updraft. What instilled a bit of respect and even a touch of fear within her mind was the fact that the man was clearly still alive and relatively well, even though he’d been blown up and hurled into solid metal, “What the buck...”

“Huh?” the voice of Sarah Lyons came from behind the Sentinel’s blonde hair as she tilted her head only slightly to look at the Changeling Queen. They’d been on the metal benches of the second level of the Duchess Gambit since they’d resupplied on ammunition, relaxing while they traveled the rest of the way downriver to the Citadel; the apparent fortress the Brotherhood of Steel resided in, they’d explained to Chrysalis and her changelings.

Said Queen shook her head, “Hacksaw and Moth just witnessed James being hit by a missile and thrown into the gates of... I believe Megaton, yet James was still alive...”

The leader of Lyon’s Pride chuckled, “It must be one of those days then.”

Chrysalis tilted her head, attempting to read the woman’s indiscernible face. So, that failed, she made do with a slight snort of annoyance at her lack of knowledge on the subject before asking, “What do you mean?”

“It’s basically the one time LeBlanc doesn’t love the heavier ordnance, on account of it’s usually the one thing capable of fucking up him anymore.” this came from Dusk, who was also sitting with them, though she was more focused on polishing and cleaning her Sniper Rifle to be relaxing in the same method the Changeling Queen and Sentinel were.

“So, let me get this straight; he hates heavy weapons being used against him, yet loves to use them himself. He’s also filled with technology improving his entire body, he can regenerate in sunlight, and he drinks blood...” Chrysalis counted off, tapping one hoof to another as if she had fingers, which she obviously didn’t, but the tapping helped keep count nonetheless.

Sarah and Dusk glanced at each other, or at the very least Dusk raised her head up, before both chuckled, “Oh, you have no idea how much shit happens to that kid...”

“Enlighten me.” the Queen of the Changelings dared.

***

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“COME GET SOME ASSHOLES!” James roared, his trigger finger practically snapping the actual trigger on his Xuanlong as he sprayed a hail of lead around him, the trigger of Harkness’ Plasma Rifle clicking rapidly as he squeezed it with an errant twitch, the likes of which would have made a Jet addict seem stable by comparison.

The Knight had ripped himself out of the door about three minutes prior to the next missile being fired, but with the element of surprise all but gone, the Lone Wanderer shown no mercy. He’d entered VATS and put a quick burst of 5.56 rounds into each explosive fired his way, sometimes even as they were fired directly out of their Launchers. The resulting explosions had allowed him just enough time to take the mass of Chems that Wadsworth had tucked into the same pouch as his ammunition; a potent combination of Med-X, Psycho, Jet, UltraJet, and Mentats. The second the drugs had entered his system, the Lone Wanderer let out a roar in challenge before barrelling forth with the changelings on his tail and guns blazing, and now...

Now he was the fucking God of Death. Every shot, precise and brutal, landed squarely into the spots he willed them, with no quarter given. Quick as he jumped into the mass of Raiders, however, he’d already emptied the magazines of both guns, only having taken out three and wounding two of the Raider scum. He slid both weapons onto his back and slammed his fist square into the jaw of man with a chinese AK, knocking him back and stumbling into Moth’s waiting hooves. Quick as a flash, the man crumbled to dust, leaving behind a small pile of scattered emotion crystals for the drone to scoop up. Hacksaw flew by James’ ear before he could bring his bat to bear, slamming his own hoof into the now dust Raider at his back, a chinese officer’s sword inches from the Knight’s neck.

“Thanks.” he managed to choke out through the chem-haze, pulling out his bat fully and slamming it into the jaw of another, armored Raider’s skull.

Hacksaw nodded, pressing himself against the Lone Wanderer’s shoulder and squeezing off a quick burst of alien pistol fire before tossing back a, “No problem. Duck!”

He yanked James’ head down, along with most of his body, causing him to stumble and dodge the missile that would’ve exploded where his head had been. Annoyed, the Knight surged forwards and delivered another strong punch to Raider chin, knocking the armored man down before picking up his Missile Launcher and sliding a new missile in. He then began hopping back with Hacksaw and Moth quickly moving out of the way as he pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion quickly took out three more opponents, “WHO’S NEX-?!”

His words were cut short by a gout of flame searing his skin, flamer fire coating him and setting the non-fire-retardant bits of his armor to the point of ignition. The Lone Wanderer clenched his teeth as he rolled forwards from the searing heat and plasma, tucking in and over a corpse. He turned just in time to see Moth riddle the power-armored leader in .44 magnum rounds, scoring quick, precise headshots with each yank on the trigger with his spell. Sliding a new magazine into the Xuanlong, James clicked into VATS again before checking how many of his targets remained...

Already the enemy’s will was beginning to break, with several of the more cowardly Raiders panicking from the fight and running off. It seemed Stockholm and Simms were watching them, however, as rotating around he was easily able to see the two men, along with the robots, firing at any stragglers who strayed from the fight in a hail of laser and bullet fire. Counting the runners, who were likely to die once he exited VATS anyway, they’d quickly taken care of 14 of the full 18 Raiders, with their leader already wounded and another one with a bullet in her leg to prevent her from getting far. Even in the chem-induced stupor, or maybe just the Mentats, James remembered to keep one of the idiots alive for interrogation.

That being said; the others were useless to them, or the Brotherhood for that matter. He sighted his targets and let VATS loose with impunity, putting six rounds each into the heads of the untouched Raiders. The first’s skull exploded in a shower of gore, and the other’s to twist violently to the side, likely breaking his neck with a crack that the Lone Wanderer could hear clearly even through the muffled sounds of VATS. His ‘Action Points,’ the internal battery power of the targeting system, drained empty as the last bullet left his gun, and everything sped up around him soon after. The crippled woman from before slumped over into the dirt, though she kept attempting to crawl away, with those who ran, as he’d thought, were cut down by Megaton’s defenders.

This left Hacksaw to fire his own clip into the leader’s face, a barrage of energy melting plates and flesh and bone, before one lucky round finally compromised his body’s cell structure. the Man inside turned into goo in an instant, causing the now near-empty suit to fall to the ground. What was left of the Raider leader spilled out onto the wasteland’s dirt.

The changeling floated there in the air for a moment, not fully comprehending the situation, then turned his head to look at James and say one word, “What?”

The Knight shrugged, his body still in overdrive from the massive amounts of drugs in his system, advanced and partially mechanical system or no. He could answer when the chems wore off; for now, his thought process was singular and all over the place at the same time, clairvoyant only by the mental stimulation of Mentats. To describe it any better would be impossible, as the effects of so many conflicting and powerful substances took logic and kicked it out of the door onto its ass the moment they entered ones syste-

What was he doing again? Oh, right; interrogation.

James wandered over to the fallen woman, dirt and grime caking one side of her face, alongside dried blood from the long gash down her left cheek. He crouched down and lifted her up to look at him, muttering one word in a low growl, “Why?”

She coughed, a dusty, dry action, “F-Fuck you...”

He growled, touching the edge of his bat to her face, “Listen, lady; we can do this the easy way, or the ‘I break your bones one at a time’ way. And judging by that broken femur from my buddy’s magnum, you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon...”

Genuine fear coated her eyes at those words, prompting the Raider to gulp harshly, her thick bronx tone peeking through, “...I-I don’t know ‘is name! Da boss just gotta deal with some guy ta get some good gear ‘nd a fuck-ton of Jet if we crashed Megaton ‘nd da Vault. Dat’s all I know; I swears!”

James nodded, then pulled out a pair of syringes, “Med-X and a Stimpak. I ever see your face with a Raider Gang again, I’ll string you up just like the wastelanders you cut up at your gang’s base. Except I’ll do it inch by inch and as slowly as possible...”

She nodded quickly, slight tears of terror forming in the corner of her eyes.

The Lone Wanderer quickly injected the two chemical cocktails and hauled the woman to her feet, picking up a fallen Chinese Assault Rifle and shoving it into her hands, “Arefu’s just up the river, if you’re looking for a town. You’re on your own.”

She coughed once, but nodded and quickly jogged off as quickly as she could.

“And I thought Gallows was crazy from those stories about the guy...” Hacksaw muttered, walking over by the Knight’s side.

James shrugged, feeling the yank of the chemical chain lessen slightly as the roiling rollercoaster of drugs subsided to a much milder height of sensory overload, “Needed to know who the fuck thought they could take Megaton and Vault 101...”

He growled, kicking a Raider’s corpse, “Still don’t know.”

Moth nodded from off to his left, digging through the pockets of a few Raiders and pulling out things like caps and ammo. Knowing he had the right idea, given the value of most of this stuff, James sighed and went about a long-held tradition of his with Raiders...

Stripping them of anything of value, then tossing them to the creatures of the wastes.

***

“So this is where you grew up, eh?” Hacksaw asked, looking at the plain wooden door that apparently signified the entrance to James’ childhood home.

Finally having, mostly, come down from his chemical-induced rage and haze, said Lone Wanderer nodded forlornly, “Yeah. Last time I left, it wasn’t exactly under the greatest terms, but it was at least a decent note... Figured we might check on them before we headed out, y’know? I haven’t been here in...”

He sighed, “About a month or two, actually...”

Moth eye-rolled and moved towards the door, I fail to see why we’re standing around, then. If he has such fond memories of his home, then perhaps this will instead be a positive thing for him.

“Moth’s got a point; if you love the place so much, then things should be fine, right?” Hacksaw pointed out.

This earned a small smile and a nod from the Knight, “Yeah, I suppose. Whelp; time to meet the residents of Vault 101, then. Just, ah... you know the usual; let me get them to not flip out first...”

“Sure, sure; we’ll kick back by the door with the goods.” Hacksaw waved off with his hoof, leaving James to head inside.

The drone looked over at the said ‘goods’ and pulled out his clipboard, beginning to sketch out the profile of a Chinese Assault rifle, of which there were many. Alsoa amongst the pile were several other weapons that James had apparently intended to give to the residents of Vault 101 for their personal protection, as well as the leather and metal armors. The suit of powered armor and flamethrower, however, he’d taken near megaton to let Simms give to someone he’d called ‘Moira’, apparently the town’s resident trader of goods. What she’d do with a semi-ruined suit of powered armor, Moth didn’t bother to wonder. After all, he’d do several thing himself with something of that much power...

“Okay, we’re good.” the door opened to those words and the Lone Wanderer himself returning with a bit more life in his step and residual joy radiating off of him in waves.

Neither Moth nor Hacksaw commented as Hacksaw put away his clipboard and levitated several weapons and suits of armor, Moth handling another chunk and James carrying several Chinese Assault Rifles in his arms. They descended the short path to a massive hole of metal at the end of the tunnel, opening into another room, and, if James’ description was to be believed, a small town hidden underground. It almost reminded Hacksaw of the changelings of the San Palomino and the way they constructed some of their hives, though theirs were to keep the heat and cold out.

Standing near the entrance was a woman slightly smaller than James and in a jumpsuit identical to his, though shaped for a female, obviously. She had dark hair and a cautious but kind expression, with a much larger man in a similar suit next to her, though armored plates and a helmet seemed to be added to his attire.

James chuckled, “Glad to see you’re still kicking too, Gomez.”

The man, apparently Gomez, chuckled, “And you’re still getting into all kinds of craziness, James. It’s good to see you’re that same crazy kid from the Vault...”

The woman chuckled as well, walking forwards and giving the Lone Wanderer a quick hug, “It’s good to see you again, James. Things have really improved since you helped with my father like you wouldn’t believe...”

Despite the rifles in one arm, he managed to return the hug, “I bet. Oh, sorry. Hacksaw, Moth; this is Officer Gomez and Amata Almodovar.”

Moth nodded politely, leaving Moth to fly up to Amata’s level and offer his hoof to shake, “On technical behalf of the Changeling Empire, it’s a pleasure, Ms. Almodovar. Though, I do have a question I wish to ask.”

She gave him a quick nod and a hoof/handshake, “Pleasure’s all mine to meet an insect in the Waste’s that’s actually capable of talking and isn’t trying to take over the world. Shoot.”

He pointed to the Pip-Boy on her wrist, “Do you have any of those you’re willing to barter out, because after seeing James with one, I think I’d give just about anything for one...”