Redemption

All in all, it was a good conference. Phoenix showed up in the room near the end of the trade negotiations, but she left after a few moments of watching the rest of the rulers. She was there probably just to observe. Afterwards, I found out that she had been watching the entire thing on one of her screens down in the control room. She approved of the way I handled the other rulers. I did too. They need to know that they are no longer of the highest power on the planet. They must know that they are not invulnerable.

I was able to negotiate for resources from the dragon, who I suspect just wants to see how this will play out. Elder seemed to me the type to watch over the world just to see what happens, and be entertained by it. I gave him a home inside our home, and he gave me his resources. That would kick-start our race.

From the ponies, I was able to get a supply of food in exchange for my race's history and medical knowledge. This info was given under the condition that the ponies did not share, as I could still sell this info to others for resources. Our scientific discoveries were still going to be kept mostly secret from them for now.

I gave a large amount of our metallurgical techniques away to the minotaurs and griffins, and in return I asked for transportation by land and air respectively. The griffins had a network of airships, and the minotaurs a network of caravans and ships. That worked out well, although the griffins were unhappy with my personality, I was able to get them to cooperate. The minotaurs were mostly fine with it, as long as they received some profit.

I also was able to obtain a steady supply of unrefined metals from the diamond dogs. They only asked for gems, of which I honestly had no use for. The deal ended up that I would give the dragon's supply of gemstones to the dogs in exchange for 90% of their metal, as they just left it lying around.

I was also to trade away our medical secrets and history for a ridiculous amount of petroleum from the horses. They knew the petroleum was there, but were not able to access it easily. I offered to build an overground pipeline from there to here, and they agreed readily, as they had no idea what to use it for other than as a fire starter. I'm so glad I didn't nearly give them the scientific information.

I completely refused to deal with the changelings during the meeting, but I was able to contact them afterwards on the comm unit. I wanted spies. In return, I promised them sanctuary in the case of being discovered as these spies. I already knew they spied, and I informed Chrysalis of that fact. She denied it, but after I also told her that I had devices that could perceive heat signatures, UV radiation, infrared, and sonar, she quickly shut up and agreed. I might have blackmailed her a bit, but that's politics.

I might also have actually cheated the horses and ponies out of their possessions, because I didn't exactly tell them how to manufacture most of our chemicals. Also, humans use a lot of plastic, and they don't know how to mass produce it. If I'm correct, they're still using natural rubber. So... I guess I could get some more resources out of them later...

I also gave every one of the rulers a comm unit, so they could keep in contact with us for whatever reason. I also put a tracker in it, but they don't need to know that. It never hurts to keep tabs on your enemies... and friends... in a political environment.

The griffins ended up being the ones to accept my shipping offer. I refused to budge from my 5% offer, as it was still nearly enough gold to wreck the Princess' economy and definitely was enough gold to let one person live in opulence for the rest of their lives.

I also was able to salvage the old Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and I requested Elder's help drafting a new Constitution. After he looked over our Declaration, he stated that it was a 'masterpiece' and should be shown to the rest of the world. I agreed, and decided to publish it. He also assisted me in writing the constitution of a new nation named 'Sapius', in the same way the other species had areas named after their Latin names. I just though Sapius sounded cool.

Before I knew it, a week had passed. A full week of negotiating, bartering, information brokering, threatening, blackmailing, intimidating, coercing, middle-manning, trading, communicating, and in general, ensuring our future would be bright had passed. I swear the other races don't understand the fact that yes, I could end them at will, as we still had some nukes, and no, I would not give them any information about our weapons. The only races that even had a clue were the ponies, because I shot Twilight, cleaned a pistol on video, and shot a door lock, and the diamond dogs, because we killed a bunch of them with our guns. In addition, the first motorized vehicles were being created around the world. The other races took to the internal combustion engine quite well. I also informed them of the pollution caused by them, and told them to use the vehicles for emergency purposes only, due to the pollution. I spent fifty years living in a smoggy world, I don't need another fifty in one too. And it's good for them on the long run.

I also took a little time every day to check up on Phoenix. She might have tried to hide it, but I knew she was taking the new world hard. She had barely spoken after our first encounter, and she had devoted her time to the mainframe, the gym, the barracks, and the showers. Every time I saw her, I saw someone else in her place. We need to find some more people.

The vault was filling up quite nicely. In addition, our metal stockpiles were doing just that, stockpiling. Muse had told me that we would be able to manufacture most anything, and I asked her to make me a new shotgun, mag-rifle, and pistol just to make sure. In addition, I had her make some custom ammunition for all of them. The shotgun was now using a slab of titanium-lead alloy mixed with a sprinkle of other ingredient layered with iron oxide and aluminum with a magnesium pilot. This would cause the shot to become white-hot on its way out the barrel, but remain suspended in the center of the barrel when shot, while also allowing steam to exhaust out of a set of gill-like slits. Basically, dragons' breath. The mag-rifle was made with my special rounds, the iron core, depleted uranium point, and the ceramic cover, for maximum damage. I also had a few explosive rounds. I kept the pistol with hollow-points, as it wasn't meant for armored targets.

I also got an EMC. Armor piercing rounds all the way.

Finally, however, the last delivery arrived. It was, as I had expected, hand delivered by Elder himself. The ten-foot tall dragon walked in with an eight-foot long cryopod strapped to his back. I met him at the front, brimming with excitement.

"Phoenix, Elder's here. He has the pod. We'll open it in the warehouse, next to the statues." I was referring to the statues of our world's greatest people, in addition to the newest addition, the old president. It was a fitting place for the opening of a new pod.

I opened our front doors and let Elder in. He seemed to be somewhat winded, but not as exhausted as I expected him to be. In fact, I think he flew the entire way over with his own wings.

"Greetings, Virus, I have the pod of which you require. Where would you like for me to leave it?" Elder's resonant voice greeted me as the doors rumbled to a halt.

"We'll open it here, just bring the pod a few meters in. I also want to see who exactly this guy is..." I beckoned to the center of the statues.

"Absolutely. Give me a moment." I have to admit, dragons are freaking strong. Elder just picked a cryopod up with an arm and hung it under his shoulder like a boss. He took a few steps forward, and then set the pod down, gently.

"Just as a reference, where'd you find this pod?" I asked him as I brushed a layer of frost off the control panel.

"One of the younger dragons near my peak found it buried inside a cave that was apparently very 'creepy' and 'inorganic'. He said the cave made him feel like he was intruding upon it, rather than settling in it. He left soon after, but took this with him. I got it from him through some bartering, due to the fact that it was always cold and I could see a shadow underneath the ice." He chuckled. "It worked well as a cold pad to soothe my old limbs."

I laughed alongside him. "Maybe there's more in that cave? Would you mind asking a dragon or two to check it out for me?"

"Not at all, I'll inform them after we finish up here."

I had finally gotten the panel to start up. I tapped the screen, and after a moment, the screen lit up. The display was fractured, with shards of color splitting across it, and no discernible command prompts were visible. I stood for a moment, a frown on my face.

"Virus. Need and help?" A voice shot out from behind me, Phoenix hurriedly striding towards us. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Yeah, the panel's display is gone. Got anything for me?" I turned to her and asked.

"One sec, I can hack it. Step back please." Elder and I both took a step back as Phoenix pulled a cable from her wrist mounted computer and plugged it into the pod's display. After a moment, the screen wiped itself clear and reset, the prompts clear.

OPEN?
Y/N

Phoenix tapped the corner of her computer's display that corresponded with the 'Y'. A hiss of condensed water and freezing cold air ejected out of the now-broken seals. The pod began to open, and the three parts retracted into their bases, a 'Y' shape opening up on the pod. I felt a chill, the air mixing with ours and cooling it, as I stepped forwards to the base. I reached a hand in, and a hand reached out, grasping mine. It was cold and gloved, but I stepped backwards and pulled on it, the person behind it rising up with a shroud of mist.

"I'm Virus, acting commander n' chief of the USA." I held a hand out and stopped a salute. "At ease soldier. It's been a long time, welcome back."

A/N because my notes box is fucking with me.
Submit human OC's to me. Must be US military, must not be CQC spec, hacker, or Sniper/Spotter. I'm thinking heavy weapons or engineer.

You have a day, unless SeventhBrony read this already and then you have until I make the next chapter, which, at this rate, is a day.

Sorry for short chapter/filler