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Night Strike, Hispano, and I wandered down the line of boxcars that composed Maple Station’s market district, a distinct array of smells wafting through the air that only made my stomach growl more while Scouring and Crash Dive followed closely behind. We passed by a small noodle stand, my head turning to watch as the pony running the station was pouring out steaming pasta into cups. Night Strike chuckled, tugging on my coat gently. “Come on, can we at least find someplace that sells more than one kind of food, Sparky?”
I grumbled along with my stomach as I was forced to abandon the stand, following after Hispano down the line of cars. The griffon stopped in front of a stand where several chunks of meat sat skewered on a grill. Another griffon was standing behind the grill, occasionally rotating the food as Hispano leaned up on the counter. “Hey, can we get ten Shishkies?” My stomach growled once more and I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Alright, twelve.”
The griffon gave a small nod and began to prepare the food as I reached in to fiddle with all our caps. Okay, ten caps a stick, Hispano can get her own, and with a .05% interest that’ll add a few more caps that Scouring and Crash Dive owe me… I shook my head, chastising myself silently. Come on, Static, you can’t keep charging them for stuff like this. Just slice an even 6% off their shares of the final profits, they won’t notice. I scooped out the appropriate amount of caps and handed them over to the clerk as Hispano collected up our grilled food. The griffon tore into the bits of meat a lot more aggressively than a level I’d consider comfortable. Yeesh, you sure she doesn’t eat what she kills like that too? “Sho, watsh’s the nesht plan?” Hispano asked through a beakful of food.
Night Strike shrugged, tearing off a bit of food herself, only for her eyes to widen a moment later as she tried to push the meat back on the stick “AAaaaaah, okay, too hot, too hot still!” She pressed her tongue into her sleeve, trying to alleviate the burning. After a moment she lowered her foreleg, focusing back on the question. “Ah, well, I suppose at this point it’s just waiting to hear back from everypony about when they’re ready. And hoping the Cerberus guys don’t try and attack us while we’re still prepping.” She took another tentative bite of the food, careful to not fry her mouth again.
“I hope you aren’t planning on spending that time wandering around for more soda, Strikey,” I joked, doing my best to avoid dropping my four sticks of meat as I greedily chomped down on some of the chunks. Night Strike just rolled her eyes, waving one of the sticks around in a dismissive manner. I swallowed my food with a large gulp.
“Static does have a point, as much as I may be loathed to admit it. We’ve spent time preparing everypony else for this battle without taking any time to cover even basic combat training for either of you.” I gave a slightly confused look over my shoulder back at Crash Dive, Night Strike looking equally bemused. Not to brag, but it’s not exactly like we’re completely new to this idea of being shot at. Crash Dive gave a small snort of indignation, tossing aside her bare skewer. “So, you think a few raider skirmishes and dropping a couple bombs makes you combat experts, does it? That’s exactly the kind of attitude I’m talking about. If either of you starts to get cocky out on the battlefield, you’re going to get either yourselves or someone else killed.” I swallowed a large chunk of meat painfully, never a fan of whenever Crash Dive’s more militaristic attitude cropped back up. “I suggest that as soon as we can, we begin some training regiments. We want everypony to be in peak condition for when we start our attack.” Night Strike nodded, seeming satisfied with the excuse to practice blowing more things up. Hispano let out a small ‘whoof’ of air as she finished off her food.
“Well, more power to you guys, I suppose. I probably won’t be sticking around for that, got more than enough training as a Talon. Growing up as one kinda helped, had enough of drill sergeant dad that I don't need another one in my life...” Crash Dive gave her a bit of a glare, Hispano giving a smug smile. “See, right there, that’s what I’m talking about... oh, something I forgot to mention, Aerith came up here with me, too. Left her at the Tank Ghouls' shed, said something about getting her soundbox looked at. The docs back at Hopeville weren’t too happy to have her flying so far after recovering, but you try saying ‘no’ to an alicorn...” As if on cue, I spotted a familiar figure gathered standing at the counter of a station selling hayburgers. Aw, and they’d have been 12 caps cheaper in total, too… Stupid Hispano not knowing how to check prices.
Aerith turned her head to see us approach at the same time she shoved the burger into her mouth, giving a rather unflattering, albeit humorous, image. "Hey, good to see you’re doing just fine. Thought you were sticking around with the Tank Ghouls for a while.” Hispano said after taking a large gulp of meat. Aerith gave a slightly embarrassed look before trotting up to join our group. “Next time, you should probably give a bit of a warning, you know that? It’s harder to find somepony in this town nowadays than you might think.” Aerith waved her hoof, taking another bite of hay as we reached the end of the shops. As we prepared to loop around and head back towards the Valkyrie, I heard somepony call my name.
“Heya, Static Charge! That’s you, right?” I turned around, confused to see a young pony approaching. She bore a rather striking resemblance to the seamster in town... impressive for a mare, to say the least. The mare held a bundle of cloth in her hooves, various wires running around the bundle as well. “Hey, you, uh, dropped off that stealth armor of yours a while back, right? Well, I’ve got it right here for you! Now, what was the agreed upon price? I believe... 1000 caps?” The mare grinned, while I raised an eyebrow looking her over. She can’t really be serious, can she?
“You mean the suit we picked up a couple weeks ago? The heck is that, anyway?” Night Strike said. Before the mare could react, Night Strike had lunged forward and swiped the bundle of cloth from her, letting it unfold as she held it in the air. A plain black jumpsuit unfurled to reveal a mess of wires hastily taped and glued along the legs of the suit, with a few fuses shoved in for good measure. To top off the ridiculous look, a stealth-buck had been haphazardly sewn into place on the chest, several loose wires hanging off of it. The mare’s smile faltered as she glanced nervously between us.
“I… um… I’ll... I'll just go…” She turned around and fled, leaving the rest of us standing dumbfounded. I looked over to Night Strike, who was still holding the crude imitation stealth suit as Scouring tried to stifle a laugh. Night Strike eventually dropped the suit, the stealth-buck clattering loudly to the ground as several more loose wires and metal popped off of it.
“Well… that happened.” Night Strike finally said. I giggled a little, following Crash Dive as she began to trot away from the town. Shaking her head, Night Strike caught up with us as we crossed a few tracks that a few ponies were pushing a cart full of repair parts along. “Sheesh, you’d think if somepony was trying to embezzle you of all ponies, they’d come up with a better excuse than that. Then again, maybe that armor might’ve actually been useful. Why sneak by all the guards when you can laugh them to death, Sparky?” She poked me in the side and chuckled.
I simply rolled my eyes, all of us heading towards the Valkyrie. “Ay uh, Crash Dive, you sure you want to be headin’ back to the lighthouse? Preppin' for battle inn’t a bad idea, but there isn’t exactly that much ground there to cover. And, well, even I’m not sure I trust Night Strike to not accidentally blow something up there if you're lettin' her get some range time in with her grenade rifle.” Scouring said. Night Strike gave a small ‘hmmph’ of annoyance, but didn’t speak up beyond that.
Crash Dive frowned, muddling things over. “I suppose not, but I don’t think we have a better place. Anywhere else will likely either be too close to friendly towns, bathed in radiation, or going to get us made into bug food.” She glanced down at the ground as we walked along, still thinking to herself.
"Well, the tank ghouls have that whole firing range here, and Royce has that shooting range at the northern edge of town, too. If they think it's far enough away for their big guns, it's gotta be good enough for Thumper." Night Strike piped up beside me as we pressed on back through the railyard, heading towards the repurposed railsheds with all the tank tracks leading from the doors in the snow. "And, besides, I think Static might be better off just getting in more sneaking practice, so if he has to do any more of it it won't go as badly and leave me worried sick."
Crash Dive let off a small sigh, the snow crunching underhoof as we continued onwards, a few flurries coming down from the clouds above. Wouldn't have been spotted if Aerith hadn't have shot the robo-dragons in the radio station... but, I guess some practice sneaking about wouldn't hurt. "I guess as long as we're here anyways, that'd be a decent enough choice. But it'd be pointless to have Static sneaking around here, he's too familiar with the town's layout already. We need somewhere we haven't been for too long, don't know the ins and outs of yet."
"What about that place south of here… Gemville, or something? Me and Night Strike hardly went anywhere in it the last time we passed through.” I suggested. Crash Dive thought it over, scratching her chin a little as she did. We continued past the tank garages, where a loud clatter was heard and I glanced over in time to see Mad Jack hopping up and down on one hoof as he clutched at the other, a large wrench laying on the ground a few feet away. He uttered several unpleasant phrases before angrily kicking the wrench away, and returning to tending to his tank.
“I suppose that would work. The place is relatively empty, and it doesn’t hold any sort of strategic use to anypony, so I don’t think Cerberus will try poking around there if they weren’t already.” She nodded a little, starting to like the idea. We were soon stepping up to the Valkyrie, the power armored pegasus stopping in front of the cockpit door and looking out across the snowy field we'd landed in. Eheh, uh, kind hard to get going if you're blocking the way, Crash Dive... then again, watching as more and more snow began to fall around us, maybe waiting for this storm to pass wouldn't be a bad idea. At least if we were going to be flying anywhere in the Valkyrie, anyways... "Alright, new plan. We'll stay overnight here, so at first light tomorrow we can start with training. Weather should be clear by then, we need as much daylight as possible for you to sneak around. Everyone good with that?"
Aerith clapped her hooves excitedly as she fell over to hug Hispano, her horn alighting with another sign that as far as I could tell read 'Sleep-over!'. The gryphon chuckled as she steadied herself, Scouring seeming to answer with a shrug and nod while Night Strike was looking at the sky, chewing at her lip as she did. As she looked back at us... yeah, not gonna be flying anywhere with her wearing that look. Crash Dive gave a curt nod, before starting to trot back into town, everyone besides Night Strike following her. She patted a hoof against my shoulder, wearing a soft smile. "Well, look at it this way, uh... we can get dinner at the Roundhouse?"
My forehoof met my forehead as I let off a long sigh, starting to trot back into town with the rest. I swear, at this rate we'll barely have any caps by the time we get back home...
---
"Uuuuuugh, Come ooon Sparkle-Cola RAD, don't fail me now..." The sun was barely cresting the mountains in the east as we all made the trek out of the hotel and headed towards the firing range, Night Strike being as awake as usual in the early morning hours. I could only give my head a shake, trotting alongside her behind Crash Dive, Aerith and Hispano making up the rear.
The power armored pegasus gave off a grunt as she looked back towards Night Strike, passing on a glare she usually reserved for me. "You'd better wake yourself up one way or another, before I have to do it for you. The Valkyrie's the fastest way we've got for getting places, and you're going to have to fly them down to Gemdale and get yourself back here before we've lost too much daylight. Sneaking around at night would be too easy for them."
I let off a small huff, passing my own glare on to Crash Dive. Well, glad to know she's looking out for our best interests... then again, I suppose that does make sense. It is harder to see that shimmering when it doesn't have any light to catch in the first place. Night Strike let off a small groan beside me, still walking along... or, looking at her, maybe it was more of a snore. Yeah, maybe I'm with her on this one, I would rather she be fully awake before getting in the Valkyrie.
"U-uh, yanno, Gemdale isn't that far away, maybe we ask one of the tank ghouls if they could bring me and Aerith down there? I-I mean, they could use some practice... town-driving, too, right?" A weak chuckle escaped me as Crash Dive shifted her glare over to myself, causing me to fall back a little. "H-hey, it's nothing against her, I just remember the last time she was asleep and in control of the Valkyrie it ended with us crashing on a shoreline. That's a far cry from a built-up area."
Just as Crash Dive was about to speak up, the rumble of a large engine and clattering of tracks drew our attention over to the nearby tank ghouls' shed, myself looking over to see the newly-arrived boxy-turreted tank pulling up to the doorway, Poppy Gardener resting on the top of the turret. If that thing only has a three-pony crew, and there isn't too much inside that turret... well, it's probably fast for being that small, right? The moustached earth pony looked over at us and gave us a friendly wave, before his expression changed to a grimace and I heard the sound of a pony falling face-first into the snow behind me. Fillies and Gentlecolts, Night Strike has officially gone nighty-night... Crash Dive let off a long sigh, looking back at the passed-out pegasus, before waving a hoof toward me. "Ugh, fine, go and ask. I'll deal with her..."
Passing on a nod, and trying to hide a look of relief, I headed over to the disproportionately-sized tank, the engine queting as Poppy Gardener leaned over to face me... or, us. Flying with wings is an unfair advange when it comes to stealth. "Heh, wasn't expecting to see any of you awake this early in the morning. From the looks of Night Strike, I suppose neither was she... Well, anyways, what might you all be up to that has you moving about so early?"
I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head. Just gotta ask for a ride... "Eheh, well, uh, actually, I was wondering if you might be able to give myself and Aerith... and Hispano a lift down to a place called Gemdale, just to the south of here. We were originally gonna have Night Strike fly us down in the Valkyrie, but... well..." I looked back to where she was laying, Crash Dive still trying and failing to wake her up. Sheesh, did someone swap her Sparkle-Cola out for tranquilizers or something?... because if they did, that wouldn't be a bad idea actually, stabbing things with knock out drugs would probably be easier than relying on the umbrella all the time.
The old tanker ghoul let off a small chuckle, leaning back on the top of the turret. "Heh, you're in luck then, we were about to set off to the south anyways. Were heading down to Hopeville, apparently you'd led Rangefinder down south and not brought her back up yet, is my understanding. Gotta make sure all the tanks are together and all that, eh?" Poppy Gardener let out a small laugh, myself joining him weakly. Oh, yeah, right, Rangefinder... we are kinda bad at leaving ponies scattered around, aren't we? The tank commander nodded to the back of the tank, where the rear of the turret was being opened up. "Well, come on inside, should be enough room for all three of you. We'll try and head back up the same way when we come back through to pick you up, might be a while though considering an M4 like Fyre is a sight slower than the BT-42. Hope that won't be too much of a bother."
Passing on a nod, I hefted myself up onto the back of the small tank, adjusting my saddlebags and leaning down to move into the spacious turret, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. They both seemed to be smirking, letting off small chuckles as they... spread their wings. "Eheh, if it's all the same to you Pip, I think we'll just fly ourselves. Don't wanna get Suiza dinged up, just finished polishing her last night." The tank commander passed on a nod as he dropped back down into the turret, myself following him as the thickly-jacketed unicorn beside me shut the back doors, the engine giving a few revs. I made myself comfortable as Gardener barked a command into a microphone, and we began to start moving, myself looking down to my pip-buck and scrolling over to the radio. Hopefully this can go louder than a tank engine...
"1-2-3 o’clock 4 o’clock rock
5-6-7 o’clock 8 o’clock rock
9-10-11 o’clock 12 o’clock rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight!"
---
The loud rumble of the tank's engine eventually - finally - died down a little, myself letting off a soft groan as I stopped bracing myself in the turret. Guh, okay, fast as this ride was, I think I can appreciate the more comfortable ride that the TOG grants for being so slow now... Poppy Gardener gave my back a few pats as we stopped, the gunner beside me - uh, Quick Fire, right? - undoing the latches for the turret's rear doors and opening them up. The moustached tank ghoul gave off a small chuckle, as I flopped myself around to try and climb out of the turret. "Right in the center of town, far as we can tell, hope that'll do for ya. We oughta be back through a little after noon, depends on how long a coffee break Short Shift'll need. Ahm... ah, looks like we're here ahead of 'em."
Gardener let off a small chuckle as he pointed a hoof towards the sky, myself following it to see the sight of Hispano coming in for a landing. I dropped off the back of the small tank and to the snowy road below, the gryphon flaring her wings and bringing herself to a stop, dropping down in front of me with a smile. With a quick nod, Gardener ducked back into the turret, the hatches closing and the engine of the small tank revving, before it sped onwards to the south. Alright, well, we're here, let's get started, then...
Hispano watched the small tank speed off into the distance for a short while, before looking back to me, and letting off a small laugh. "Woah, yeah, blue-green -really- doesn't suit you for a color... eh, when you get done losing breakfast, we've already got a few things set up for you to try sneaking around in. Aerith's up first, if you wanna get changed into that sneak-suit you've got we'll be waiting for you. Be glad she convinced me to not make the first one a live-fire course." The gryphon let off a chuckle that I joined her in weakly, not entirely sure if she was joking about that. Really wish that she was... I might be able to handle a rifle round to the hoof, but I'm willing to bet a round like what her gun fires would leave me a little less... whole, afterwards.
"Eheheh, ah, yeah, I'll... go find a place to get changed, then. You gonna be on lookout in the meantime, or something?" I began trotting along the road, looking for a suitably non-destroyed building to get changed in, Hispano following along. She gave a small shrug, the large gun on her back clattering a little as she adjusted it. Eventually, a nearby shop seemed good enough, myself heading for the entrance before stopping and looking back to her, letting off a weak chuckle. "Also, eheh, you were just joking about the whole live-fire course thing... right?"
Hispano let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of the shop. "If you're thinking I'd do something like waste a few perfectly good twenty-millimeter rounds purposely missing you just for training, you're more of a dum-dum than I pegged you for. I'll go tell Aerith you're getting ready." That prompted a sigh of relief from me, and I pressed onwards into the shop. Well, good to know I probably won't be getting shot at today... The gryphon took a step back from the doorway, spreading her wings wide, a small chuckle escaping her. "...besides, that's what Aerith brought her Tommy Gun for, anyways."
Hispano took too the sky with a heavy flap, the snow erupting in flurries around her as I couldn't find the time to respond. Oh... boy, I hope she was kidding about THAT, too... Letting off a sigh, I pressed on to the back of the shop, undoing my saddlebags and pulling out the black fabric. It didn’t take too long before I had slipped off my jacket and into the sleek armor, the visor giving everything a slight orange tint. Slipping my umbrella under one of the wires on the back, I trotted back out to the street, finding a set of hoofprints that definitely weren't mine in the snow, as well as a message: Gem Factory, diamond heist. I grinned beneath the helmet, pressing a button on the front of the suit - this ought to be easy enough. The material shimmered for a moment before I flickered out of view - or, as out of view as old zebra technology could achieve in broad daylight, anyways.
Looking around, I spotted the old mining facility that we had explored the first time we had stopped in the area, and began to head off towards it. I slowed down a bit as I approached the front door, thinking for a moment - there’s no way Aerith would leave the front door without a trap. Scanning the outside of the building, I spotted a few windows at the very top… of course, the one time I don’t have Night Strike or Aerith here to lift me up. Continuing my search, my gaze landed on top of several conveyor belts running from the quarry below, a few unprocessed gem-bearing rocks still laying untouched on them. Why do gems come out of the ground with cut faces, anyways?...
Walking over to the long metal frames leading to the processing building, I hoisted myself up onto the belts, crouching down and beginning to sneak along the track. Lowering my head, I crawled through the large ducts leading into the facility. The visor began to glow ever so slightly, allowing me to see in the darkened pathway - well, it’s no magic-sensitive goggles, but that’s definitely helpful. I noticed a sudden drop in the belt, leaning my head forward to glance down. Below sat a mine cart full of gems and dirt, the stones glittering in the light. Carefully, I scooted forward, trying my best to avoid dropping immediately down into the cart of noisy gemstones. Unfortunately, as I tried to use my hind hooves to keep a grip on the belt, I realized there was nothing to grab and slipped, landing with a clatter into the cart full of admittedly slightly pointy rocks. Ow...
I shook my head, getting my bearings before sitting slowly up, trying to disturb as few stones as possible. Glancing around, I tried to spot any signs of Aerith, peering down across the main factory floor. Just as I had suspected, a slightly glistening tripwire had been drawn across the front door, tied to several buckets of gems hanging above the entrance. Well, I guess this entrance was still a little quieter than the main one, anyways. Slinking out of the cart, I landed softly on the ground, before darting away in case Aerith was coming over to investigate.
I looked around the factory floor, trying to remember the layout of the place. If Aerith wanted to hide a diamond, where would the best place for that be…? I began to slowly creep around the main factory floor, staying in the shadows underneath the various conveyer belts and large processing machinery. Looking around, I spotted an office overlooking the main floor, the glass of the window shattered. Noticing the stairs were broken, I grumbled as I tried to spot some other path up to it, and I was quickly able to spot a few bits of machinery below the destroyed stairs. Wandering over, I hoisted myself up the furnace, careful not to place my hooves on any rusted pieces of metal in case they were to break and fall away. Shimmying my way up some of the pipes, I was soon able to lift myself up by the railing of the stairs, my muscles aching a bit as I wandered up to the office. Eugh, I'm willing to bet the interior of Fort Maple is a little less dilapidated than this...
Stepping through the broken door, rather than some elaborately made trap surrounding a diamond, I was met with a simple office with a terminal sitting on the desk. Ugh, maybe it wasn’t here after all… Still, out of curiosity, I stepped up to the terminal, flicking the power on. The screen blinked to life, green lines flowing up from the bottom as the boot-up sequence began. Yeah, yeah, RobronCo termlink error, copyright 2023, it’s always the same. After a few tense moments of the fans humming away, a few options appeared on the screen; Quarterly reports, not interesting, trade agreement with Vanhoover, not relevant. Yeesh, it’s almost as if ponies writing crap down 200 years ago don’t always have the most interesting things to say. Map of the mines? Now that’s something that might actually be useful... depending on how much hasn't collapsed due to the balefire blast in the pit, anyways. Plugging my Pip-Buck into the computer, I began to download the information off of the terminal, only to look up out over the factory floor, and notice a brilliant white gemstone resting on the edge of one of the rafters. Oooh, Aerith, you little flying cheat.
Once the information was in, and I made sure I safely ejected my pip-buck's uplink before removal, I ran over to the window, leaning out to wrap my hooves around the girders connecting bits of the ceiling. Hoisting up onto the rafters, I began to crawl forwards towards the gemstone, my mind already trying to think of some way out of the facility once I had it. I suppose I could easily disarm the trap on the front door, no way I can make it out through the intake ducts again without a lot of noise. Drawing ever nearer, I reached out, trying to swipe the gem off of the girder. Stretching my hoof, I just barely managed to grab it, before I suddenly felt something wrap around my hind leg. I had barely enough time to yelp before I was yanked upwards, dangling upside-down by my right hind leg as I clutched the gem in my forehooves. I heard a soft chuckle as Aerith materialized in front of me, grinning widely as she watched my shimmering form swing back and forth in the magic rope.
I really hate anti-burglary enchantments.
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I grumbled along with my stomach as I was forced to abandon the stand, following after Hispano down the line of cars. The griffon stopped in front of a stand where several chunks of meat sat skewered on a grill. Another griffon was standing behind the grill, occasionally rotating the food as Hispano leaned up on the counter. “Hey, can we get ten Shishkies?” My stomach growled once more and I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Alright, twelve.”
The griffon gave a small nod and began to prepare the food as I reached in to fiddle with all our caps. Okay, ten caps a stick, Hispano can get her own, and with a .05% interest that’ll add a few more caps that Scouring and Crash Dive owe me… I shook my head, chastising myself silently. Come on, Static, you can’t keep charging them for stuff like this. Just slice an even 6% off their shares of the final profits, they won’t notice. I scooped out the appropriate amount of caps and handed them over to the clerk as Hispano collected up our grilled food. The griffon tore into the bits of meat a lot more aggressively than a level I’d consider comfortable. Yeesh, you sure she doesn’t eat what she kills like that too? “Sho, watsh’s the nesht plan?” Hispano asked through a beakful of food.
Night Strike shrugged, tearing off a bit of food herself, only for her eyes to widen a moment later as she tried to push the meat back on the stick “AAaaaaah, okay, too hot, too hot still!” She pressed her tongue into her sleeve, trying to alleviate the burning. After a moment she lowered her foreleg, focusing back on the question. “Ah, well, I suppose at this point it’s just waiting to hear back from everypony about when they’re ready. And hoping the Cerberus guys don’t try and attack us while we’re still prepping.” She took another tentative bite of the food, careful to not fry her mouth again.
“I hope you aren’t planning on spending that time wandering around for more soda, Strikey,” I joked, doing my best to avoid dropping my four sticks of meat as I greedily chomped down on some of the chunks. Night Strike just rolled her eyes, waving one of the sticks around in a dismissive manner. I swallowed my food with a large gulp.
“Static does have a point, as much as I may be loathed to admit it. We’ve spent time preparing everypony else for this battle without taking any time to cover even basic combat training for either of you.” I gave a slightly confused look over my shoulder back at Crash Dive, Night Strike looking equally bemused. Not to brag, but it’s not exactly like we’re completely new to this idea of being shot at. Crash Dive gave a small snort of indignation, tossing aside her bare skewer. “So, you think a few raider skirmishes and dropping a couple bombs makes you combat experts, does it? That’s exactly the kind of attitude I’m talking about. If either of you starts to get cocky out on the battlefield, you’re going to get either yourselves or someone else killed.” I swallowed a large chunk of meat painfully, never a fan of whenever Crash Dive’s more militaristic attitude cropped back up. “I suggest that as soon as we can, we begin some training regiments. We want everypony to be in peak condition for when we start our attack.” Night Strike nodded, seeming satisfied with the excuse to practice blowing more things up. Hispano let out a small ‘whoof’ of air as she finished off her food.
“Well, more power to you guys, I suppose. I probably won’t be sticking around for that, got more than enough training as a Talon. Growing up as one kinda helped, had enough of drill sergeant dad that I don't need another one in my life...” Crash Dive gave her a bit of a glare, Hispano giving a smug smile. “See, right there, that’s what I’m talking about... oh, something I forgot to mention, Aerith came up here with me, too. Left her at the Tank Ghouls' shed, said something about getting her soundbox looked at. The docs back at Hopeville weren’t too happy to have her flying so far after recovering, but you try saying ‘no’ to an alicorn...” As if on cue, I spotted a familiar figure gathered standing at the counter of a station selling hayburgers. Aw, and they’d have been 12 caps cheaper in total, too… Stupid Hispano not knowing how to check prices.
Aerith turned her head to see us approach at the same time she shoved the burger into her mouth, giving a rather unflattering, albeit humorous, image. "Hey, good to see you’re doing just fine. Thought you were sticking around with the Tank Ghouls for a while.” Hispano said after taking a large gulp of meat. Aerith gave a slightly embarrassed look before trotting up to join our group. “Next time, you should probably give a bit of a warning, you know that? It’s harder to find somepony in this town nowadays than you might think.” Aerith waved her hoof, taking another bite of hay as we reached the end of the shops. As we prepared to loop around and head back towards the Valkyrie, I heard somepony call my name.
“Heya, Static Charge! That’s you, right?” I turned around, confused to see a young pony approaching. She bore a rather striking resemblance to the seamster in town... impressive for a mare, to say the least. The mare held a bundle of cloth in her hooves, various wires running around the bundle as well. “Hey, you, uh, dropped off that stealth armor of yours a while back, right? Well, I’ve got it right here for you! Now, what was the agreed upon price? I believe... 1000 caps?” The mare grinned, while I raised an eyebrow looking her over. She can’t really be serious, can she?
“You mean the suit we picked up a couple weeks ago? The heck is that, anyway?” Night Strike said. Before the mare could react, Night Strike had lunged forward and swiped the bundle of cloth from her, letting it unfold as she held it in the air. A plain black jumpsuit unfurled to reveal a mess of wires hastily taped and glued along the legs of the suit, with a few fuses shoved in for good measure. To top off the ridiculous look, a stealth-buck had been haphazardly sewn into place on the chest, several loose wires hanging off of it. The mare’s smile faltered as she glanced nervously between us.
“I… um… I’ll... I'll just go…” She turned around and fled, leaving the rest of us standing dumbfounded. I looked over to Night Strike, who was still holding the crude imitation stealth suit as Scouring tried to stifle a laugh. Night Strike eventually dropped the suit, the stealth-buck clattering loudly to the ground as several more loose wires and metal popped off of it.
“Well… that happened.” Night Strike finally said. I giggled a little, following Crash Dive as she began to trot away from the town. Shaking her head, Night Strike caught up with us as we crossed a few tracks that a few ponies were pushing a cart full of repair parts along. “Sheesh, you’d think if somepony was trying to embezzle you of all ponies, they’d come up with a better excuse than that. Then again, maybe that armor might’ve actually been useful. Why sneak by all the guards when you can laugh them to death, Sparky?” She poked me in the side and chuckled.
I simply rolled my eyes, all of us heading towards the Valkyrie. “Ay uh, Crash Dive, you sure you want to be headin’ back to the lighthouse? Preppin' for battle inn’t a bad idea, but there isn’t exactly that much ground there to cover. And, well, even I’m not sure I trust Night Strike to not accidentally blow something up there if you're lettin' her get some range time in with her grenade rifle.” Scouring said. Night Strike gave a small ‘hmmph’ of annoyance, but didn’t speak up beyond that.
Crash Dive frowned, muddling things over. “I suppose not, but I don’t think we have a better place. Anywhere else will likely either be too close to friendly towns, bathed in radiation, or going to get us made into bug food.” She glanced down at the ground as we walked along, still thinking to herself.
"Well, the tank ghouls have that whole firing range here, and Royce has that shooting range at the northern edge of town, too. If they think it's far enough away for their big guns, it's gotta be good enough for Thumper." Night Strike piped up beside me as we pressed on back through the railyard, heading towards the repurposed railsheds with all the tank tracks leading from the doors in the snow. "And, besides, I think Static might be better off just getting in more sneaking practice, so if he has to do any more of it it won't go as badly and leave me worried sick."
Crash Dive let off a small sigh, the snow crunching underhoof as we continued onwards, a few flurries coming down from the clouds above. Wouldn't have been spotted if Aerith hadn't have shot the robo-dragons in the radio station... but, I guess some practice sneaking about wouldn't hurt. "I guess as long as we're here anyways, that'd be a decent enough choice. But it'd be pointless to have Static sneaking around here, he's too familiar with the town's layout already. We need somewhere we haven't been for too long, don't know the ins and outs of yet."
"What about that place south of here… Gemville, or something? Me and Night Strike hardly went anywhere in it the last time we passed through.” I suggested. Crash Dive thought it over, scratching her chin a little as she did. We continued past the tank garages, where a loud clatter was heard and I glanced over in time to see Mad Jack hopping up and down on one hoof as he clutched at the other, a large wrench laying on the ground a few feet away. He uttered several unpleasant phrases before angrily kicking the wrench away, and returning to tending to his tank.
“I suppose that would work. The place is relatively empty, and it doesn’t hold any sort of strategic use to anypony, so I don’t think Cerberus will try poking around there if they weren’t already.” She nodded a little, starting to like the idea. We were soon stepping up to the Valkyrie, the power armored pegasus stopping in front of the cockpit door and looking out across the snowy field we'd landed in. Eheh, uh, kind hard to get going if you're blocking the way, Crash Dive... then again, watching as more and more snow began to fall around us, maybe waiting for this storm to pass wouldn't be a bad idea. At least if we were going to be flying anywhere in the Valkyrie, anyways... "Alright, new plan. We'll stay overnight here, so at first light tomorrow we can start with training. Weather should be clear by then, we need as much daylight as possible for you to sneak around. Everyone good with that?"
Aerith clapped her hooves excitedly as she fell over to hug Hispano, her horn alighting with another sign that as far as I could tell read 'Sleep-over!'. The gryphon chuckled as she steadied herself, Scouring seeming to answer with a shrug and nod while Night Strike was looking at the sky, chewing at her lip as she did. As she looked back at us... yeah, not gonna be flying anywhere with her wearing that look. Crash Dive gave a curt nod, before starting to trot back into town, everyone besides Night Strike following her. She patted a hoof against my shoulder, wearing a soft smile. "Well, look at it this way, uh... we can get dinner at the Roundhouse?"
My forehoof met my forehead as I let off a long sigh, starting to trot back into town with the rest. I swear, at this rate we'll barely have any caps by the time we get back home...
---
"Uuuuuugh, Come ooon Sparkle-Cola RAD, don't fail me now..." The sun was barely cresting the mountains in the east as we all made the trek out of the hotel and headed towards the firing range, Night Strike being as awake as usual in the early morning hours. I could only give my head a shake, trotting alongside her behind Crash Dive, Aerith and Hispano making up the rear.
The power armored pegasus gave off a grunt as she looked back towards Night Strike, passing on a glare she usually reserved for me. "You'd better wake yourself up one way or another, before I have to do it for you. The Valkyrie's the fastest way we've got for getting places, and you're going to have to fly them down to Gemdale and get yourself back here before we've lost too much daylight. Sneaking around at night would be too easy for them."
I let off a small huff, passing my own glare on to Crash Dive. Well, glad to know she's looking out for our best interests... then again, I suppose that does make sense. It is harder to see that shimmering when it doesn't have any light to catch in the first place. Night Strike let off a small groan beside me, still walking along... or, looking at her, maybe it was more of a snore. Yeah, maybe I'm with her on this one, I would rather she be fully awake before getting in the Valkyrie.
"U-uh, yanno, Gemdale isn't that far away, maybe we ask one of the tank ghouls if they could bring me and Aerith down there? I-I mean, they could use some practice... town-driving, too, right?" A weak chuckle escaped me as Crash Dive shifted her glare over to myself, causing me to fall back a little. "H-hey, it's nothing against her, I just remember the last time she was asleep and in control of the Valkyrie it ended with us crashing on a shoreline. That's a far cry from a built-up area."
Just as Crash Dive was about to speak up, the rumble of a large engine and clattering of tracks drew our attention over to the nearby tank ghouls' shed, myself looking over to see the newly-arrived boxy-turreted tank pulling up to the doorway, Poppy Gardener resting on the top of the turret. If that thing only has a three-pony crew, and there isn't too much inside that turret... well, it's probably fast for being that small, right? The moustached earth pony looked over at us and gave us a friendly wave, before his expression changed to a grimace and I heard the sound of a pony falling face-first into the snow behind me. Fillies and Gentlecolts, Night Strike has officially gone nighty-night... Crash Dive let off a long sigh, looking back at the passed-out pegasus, before waving a hoof toward me. "Ugh, fine, go and ask. I'll deal with her..."
Passing on a nod, and trying to hide a look of relief, I headed over to the disproportionately-sized tank, the engine queting as Poppy Gardener leaned over to face me... or, us. Flying with wings is an unfair advange when it comes to stealth. "Heh, wasn't expecting to see any of you awake this early in the morning. From the looks of Night Strike, I suppose neither was she... Well, anyways, what might you all be up to that has you moving about so early?"
I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head. Just gotta ask for a ride... "Eheh, well, uh, actually, I was wondering if you might be able to give myself and Aerith... and Hispano a lift down to a place called Gemdale, just to the south of here. We were originally gonna have Night Strike fly us down in the Valkyrie, but... well..." I looked back to where she was laying, Crash Dive still trying and failing to wake her up. Sheesh, did someone swap her Sparkle-Cola out for tranquilizers or something?... because if they did, that wouldn't be a bad idea actually, stabbing things with knock out drugs would probably be easier than relying on the umbrella all the time.
The old tanker ghoul let off a small chuckle, leaning back on the top of the turret. "Heh, you're in luck then, we were about to set off to the south anyways. Were heading down to Hopeville, apparently you'd led Rangefinder down south and not brought her back up yet, is my understanding. Gotta make sure all the tanks are together and all that, eh?" Poppy Gardener let out a small laugh, myself joining him weakly. Oh, yeah, right, Rangefinder... we are kinda bad at leaving ponies scattered around, aren't we? The tank commander nodded to the back of the tank, where the rear of the turret was being opened up. "Well, come on inside, should be enough room for all three of you. We'll try and head back up the same way when we come back through to pick you up, might be a while though considering an M4 like Fyre is a sight slower than the BT-42. Hope that won't be too much of a bother."
Passing on a nod, I hefted myself up onto the back of the small tank, adjusting my saddlebags and leaning down to move into the spacious turret, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. They both seemed to be smirking, letting off small chuckles as they... spread their wings. "Eheh, if it's all the same to you Pip, I think we'll just fly ourselves. Don't wanna get Suiza dinged up, just finished polishing her last night." The tank commander passed on a nod as he dropped back down into the turret, myself following him as the thickly-jacketed unicorn beside me shut the back doors, the engine giving a few revs. I made myself comfortable as Gardener barked a command into a microphone, and we began to start moving, myself looking down to my pip-buck and scrolling over to the radio. Hopefully this can go louder than a tank engine...
"1-2-3 o’clock 4 o’clock rock
5-6-7 o’clock 8 o’clock rock
9-10-11 o’clock 12 o’clock rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight!"
---
The loud rumble of the tank's engine eventually - finally - died down a little, myself letting off a soft groan as I stopped bracing myself in the turret. Guh, okay, fast as this ride was, I think I can appreciate the more comfortable ride that the TOG grants for being so slow now... Poppy Gardener gave my back a few pats as we stopped, the gunner beside me - uh, Quick Fire, right? - undoing the latches for the turret's rear doors and opening them up. The moustached tank ghoul gave off a small chuckle, as I flopped myself around to try and climb out of the turret. "Right in the center of town, far as we can tell, hope that'll do for ya. We oughta be back through a little after noon, depends on how long a coffee break Short Shift'll need. Ahm... ah, looks like we're here ahead of 'em."
Gardener let off a small chuckle as he pointed a hoof towards the sky, myself following it to see the sight of Hispano coming in for a landing. I dropped off the back of the small tank and to the snowy road below, the gryphon flaring her wings and bringing herself to a stop, dropping down in front of me with a smile. With a quick nod, Gardener ducked back into the turret, the hatches closing and the engine of the small tank revving, before it sped onwards to the south. Alright, well, we're here, let's get started, then...
Hispano watched the small tank speed off into the distance for a short while, before looking back to me, and letting off a small laugh. "Woah, yeah, blue-green -really- doesn't suit you for a color... eh, when you get done losing breakfast, we've already got a few things set up for you to try sneaking around in. Aerith's up first, if you wanna get changed into that sneak-suit you've got we'll be waiting for you. Be glad she convinced me to not make the first one a live-fire course." The gryphon let off a chuckle that I joined her in weakly, not entirely sure if she was joking about that. Really wish that she was... I might be able to handle a rifle round to the hoof, but I'm willing to bet a round like what her gun fires would leave me a little less... whole, afterwards.
"Eheheh, ah, yeah, I'll... go find a place to get changed, then. You gonna be on lookout in the meantime, or something?" I began trotting along the road, looking for a suitably non-destroyed building to get changed in, Hispano following along. She gave a small shrug, the large gun on her back clattering a little as she adjusted it. Eventually, a nearby shop seemed good enough, myself heading for the entrance before stopping and looking back to her, letting off a weak chuckle. "Also, eheh, you were just joking about the whole live-fire course thing... right?"
Hispano let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of the shop. "If you're thinking I'd do something like waste a few perfectly good twenty-millimeter rounds purposely missing you just for training, you're more of a dum-dum than I pegged you for. I'll go tell Aerith you're getting ready." That prompted a sigh of relief from me, and I pressed onwards into the shop. Well, good to know I probably won't be getting shot at today... The gryphon took a step back from the doorway, spreading her wings wide, a small chuckle escaping her. "...besides, that's what Aerith brought her Tommy Gun for, anyways."
Hispano took too the sky with a heavy flap, the snow erupting in flurries around her as I couldn't find the time to respond. Oh... boy, I hope she was kidding about THAT, too... Letting off a sigh, I pressed on to the back of the shop, undoing my saddlebags and pulling out the black fabric. It didn’t take too long before I had slipped off my jacket and into the sleek armor, the visor giving everything a slight orange tint. Slipping my umbrella under one of the wires on the back, I trotted back out to the street, finding a set of hoofprints that definitely weren't mine in the snow, as well as a message: Gem Factory, diamond heist. I grinned beneath the helmet, pressing a button on the front of the suit - this ought to be easy enough. The material shimmered for a moment before I flickered out of view - or, as out of view as old zebra technology could achieve in broad daylight, anyways.
Looking around, I spotted the old mining facility that we had explored the first time we had stopped in the area, and began to head off towards it. I slowed down a bit as I approached the front door, thinking for a moment - there’s no way Aerith would leave the front door without a trap. Scanning the outside of the building, I spotted a few windows at the very top… of course, the one time I don’t have Night Strike or Aerith here to lift me up. Continuing my search, my gaze landed on top of several conveyor belts running from the quarry below, a few unprocessed gem-bearing rocks still laying untouched on them. Why do gems come out of the ground with cut faces, anyways?...
Walking over to the long metal frames leading to the processing building, I hoisted myself up onto the belts, crouching down and beginning to sneak along the track. Lowering my head, I crawled through the large ducts leading into the facility. The visor began to glow ever so slightly, allowing me to see in the darkened pathway - well, it’s no magic-sensitive goggles, but that’s definitely helpful. I noticed a sudden drop in the belt, leaning my head forward to glance down. Below sat a mine cart full of gems and dirt, the stones glittering in the light. Carefully, I scooted forward, trying my best to avoid dropping immediately down into the cart of noisy gemstones. Unfortunately, as I tried to use my hind hooves to keep a grip on the belt, I realized there was nothing to grab and slipped, landing with a clatter into the cart full of admittedly slightly pointy rocks. Ow...
I shook my head, getting my bearings before sitting slowly up, trying to disturb as few stones as possible. Glancing around, I tried to spot any signs of Aerith, peering down across the main factory floor. Just as I had suspected, a slightly glistening tripwire had been drawn across the front door, tied to several buckets of gems hanging above the entrance. Well, I guess this entrance was still a little quieter than the main one, anyways. Slinking out of the cart, I landed softly on the ground, before darting away in case Aerith was coming over to investigate.
I looked around the factory floor, trying to remember the layout of the place. If Aerith wanted to hide a diamond, where would the best place for that be…? I began to slowly creep around the main factory floor, staying in the shadows underneath the various conveyer belts and large processing machinery. Looking around, I spotted an office overlooking the main floor, the glass of the window shattered. Noticing the stairs were broken, I grumbled as I tried to spot some other path up to it, and I was quickly able to spot a few bits of machinery below the destroyed stairs. Wandering over, I hoisted myself up the furnace, careful not to place my hooves on any rusted pieces of metal in case they were to break and fall away. Shimmying my way up some of the pipes, I was soon able to lift myself up by the railing of the stairs, my muscles aching a bit as I wandered up to the office. Eugh, I'm willing to bet the interior of Fort Maple is a little less dilapidated than this...
Stepping through the broken door, rather than some elaborately made trap surrounding a diamond, I was met with a simple office with a terminal sitting on the desk. Ugh, maybe it wasn’t here after all… Still, out of curiosity, I stepped up to the terminal, flicking the power on. The screen blinked to life, green lines flowing up from the bottom as the boot-up sequence began. Yeah, yeah, RobronCo termlink error, copyright 2023, it’s always the same. After a few tense moments of the fans humming away, a few options appeared on the screen; Quarterly reports, not interesting, trade agreement with Vanhoover, not relevant. Yeesh, it’s almost as if ponies writing crap down 200 years ago don’t always have the most interesting things to say. Map of the mines? Now that’s something that might actually be useful... depending on how much hasn't collapsed due to the balefire blast in the pit, anyways. Plugging my Pip-Buck into the computer, I began to download the information off of the terminal, only to look up out over the factory floor, and notice a brilliant white gemstone resting on the edge of one of the rafters. Oooh, Aerith, you little flying cheat.
Once the information was in, and I made sure I safely ejected my pip-buck's uplink before removal, I ran over to the window, leaning out to wrap my hooves around the girders connecting bits of the ceiling. Hoisting up onto the rafters, I began to crawl forwards towards the gemstone, my mind already trying to think of some way out of the facility once I had it. I suppose I could easily disarm the trap on the front door, no way I can make it out through the intake ducts again without a lot of noise. Drawing ever nearer, I reached out, trying to swipe the gem off of the girder. Stretching my hoof, I just barely managed to grab it, before I suddenly felt something wrap around my hind leg. I had barely enough time to yelp before I was yanked upwards, dangling upside-down by my right hind leg as I clutched the gem in my forehooves. I heard a soft chuckle as Aerith materialized in front of me, grinning widely as she watched my shimmering form swing back and forth in the magic rope.
I really hate anti-burglary enchantments.
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Category Artwork (Digital) / My Little Pony / Brony
Species Horse
Size 1280 x 949px
File Size 100.6 kB
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