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“Where are we even going to get food, anyways?” Night Strike asked as we trundled along the dock towards the island. “I don’t remember seeing any stands back up by the museum, unless you’re suggesting we slice open that bear and cook it up.” I turned off of the dock, starting to travel along the sandy shores of the island. The treads rolled and dug into the sand, the engine dying down as I pulled up to a small cluster of large rocks and switched the small engine off.
“I figured we could go fishing, spotted this place when we were back up aboard the ship, looks like a good spot.” I hopped out of the mini tank, my hooves sinking into the sand slightly, some grains getting into my jacket's sleeves. Oh, that's gonna itch after a while. Pausing to think for a moment, I scratched at the back of my head, letting off a weak chuckle. “Eheh, though I suppose we’ll need to find some fishing equipment...” Crash Dive opened up one of the compartments of the mini tank, fishing around inside before producing two poles and a small box. Oh, well, problem solved.
“Stashed these on here last time we were at the lighthouse, figured it wouldn’t hurt to have them for emergencies again. Or if I just needed something to do while you do whatever you have to.” She handed me one of the poles, both of us trotting over to the rocks as the others climbed out of the mini-tank. I clambered up onto one of the large rocks sitting just at the edge of the lapping waves, taking a hold of the pole. Alright, let’s see if I can cast this without getting the hook stuck in somepony’s neck. I pulled the pole back before flicking it forwards, the hook sailing out into the sea. Crash Dive cast out beside me as Aerith sat down on the sand, letting the waves roll over and cool off her legs.
“Say, Scouring, I don’t think I’ve ever asked, what exactly do the Steel Rangers up here do? The ones back home do a bit of work helping to clean up the wasteland now, but I heard that a lot of the other branches aren’t as hospitable.” Scouring sat down in the sand as well, Night Strike hopping between the stones in the sand, making her way further along the shore.
Scouring looked over to me, pausing to think for a moment before letting out a small huff and leaning back. “Not all that much, really. At least, we aren’t really sent out to help with the locals. Elder’s been pretty strict on recovering technology, it’s just there really isn’t that much valuable stuff still located here. At least, none that we knew about at the time.” He shifted a little, pulling a salt cube out of a pocket in his suit and popping it into his mouth. “Have half an idea, but I’m not completely sure why we’re still stationed here. Probably something in the Codex about not abandoning posts if there’s still a slight chance of tech being found.” He shook his head a little as Crash Dive felt a tug on her pole, starting to reel it in. “B Company, we're the place knights get sent when the high command just doesn't want to deal with us. Had to hazard a better guess why I'm still 'round this part of wasteland, the scribes in their fancy robes back home figured there's nothin' for our group to find.”
Crash Dive tugged on her fishing pole, the line straining as she reeled it in. A small fish was soon flopping on the sand beside her, gasping for breath. Crash Dive removed the hook from its mouth and tossed it onto the sand behind her, letting it flop around, trying to find its way back to the water. Watching it writhe for a moment - come on, Crash Dive, show some mercy to the things - I turned to look at the alicorn lazily splashing about, catching her attention as I cleared my throat. “Ahm, Aerith, think you and Night Strike could go grab some wood for a fire?” She nodded, shaking her wings dry before hovering along the beach, both her and the Jacket-clad pegasus returning a moment later. Night Strike hovered over to the tank to grab Thumper as Aerith pulled out her machine gun, both of them trotting into the woods in search of firewood. I turned back to Scouring as Crash cast her line out again. “Where are the Rangers based around here, anyway?”
“Fairly far to th' north, east of Maple Station, along the coast. Used to be an old Stable there in the mountains, but that one ended about as well as the other ones did.” Hey, they weren’t all bad! At least it wasn’t the experiments that ended up getting my dads’ stable destroyed. “Think it was something to do with a leopard or a lion or somethin’. Made a hell of a mess with the bodies, but most of the other stuff kept working fine, so the first scouts out here just called in help to scrub the place down. Stable 95, though it’s officially known as the Mountain Springs branch.”
I felt a tug on my fishing pole. I jerked the wire, starting to crank the reel. The line moved back and forth in the water, whatever was on the line putting up a big fight. I yanked again on the pole, reeling the line in a little more. Crash watched as a shadow could be seen underneath the water, her eyes widening a bit. The top of the pole was bending dangerously as I gave a final pull, an oversized crab being pulled up into the shallower water, its pincers flailing about as it tried to find the wire lodged in its eyestalk. Holy crap, I don’t need to be losing a leg today! I dove behind the rock as Crash Dive stood up suddenly, jumping over to the mini tank and pulling out her harpoon gun. She took aim and fired, the bit of sharpened metal whizzing through the air before piercing the giant crab, causing it to flop into the shallow water, motionless. I chuckled a little, moving forward to untangle the line from the crab, carefully stepping over its large claw. “Think this’ll be enough?”
I took a hold of the rebar shaft, a bit of blood oozing out of the wound as I removed it. Bluh, yeah, hopefully this looks more appetizing when it’s actually cooked. I slid the pointed end of the steel rod back into the crab a little, trying to wiggle it between the hard shell and the soft flesh. The shell cracked sickeningly, revealing the pink meat beneath it. “Ech... either of you got a knife?” Scouring gave a quick nod, rummaging in the metal containers either side of his power armor for a moment before tossing a small jagged knife onto the sand beside me. I picked it up and began to carve up the giant crab.
“Ay, better you 'n me, lad.” Scouring chuckled as he saw my face twisted into a grimace as I cut out hunks of meat and tossed them onto the rocks. The sun sank into the sky as I sliced up the crab, several pounds of meat now sitting on the rocks beside us. I went to wash the knife off in the sea as Aerith and Night Strike returned, a large bundle of stick balanced on their backs.
“Sorry about taking so long, we found some giant rainwater outlet and Aerith wasn’t going to leave until we saw where it went. Remind me to never go exploring in a dark tunnel with her again.” Night Strike slid her sticks onto the ground, looking over to see the husk of the giant crab. “Sheesh, I guess we’ll be eating plenty tonight, nice catch!” She began to go to work building a small fire as I grabbed a couple of the sticks and skewered the hunks of meat. We soon had a small fire burning on the sand, the bits of crab slowly turning brown. My stomach growled again as the smell met my nose, causing me to blush as Night Strike snickered.
The fire crackled softly as we began to eat the crab, my growling stomach quieting down. “Mmh, so, just how bankrupt are you planning on making Hopeville and Maple Creek anyway with these guns?” Night Strike asked. I chewed on the slightly rubbery meat, skewering another mouthful and holding it over the fire.
“Well, each of those things should be worth about 500,000 caps apiece, they’re still in good condition and like you pointed out, they're electircally driven with those fancy targeting systems. Though I suppose we’ll need to get them some ammo for it or they’ll pretty much be paying for a very pricey amusement ride.” I swallowed the crab. “You think they still have some shells left on the ship?” Night Strike thought for a moment before giving a nod, and I looked back to my cooking meat, turning to keep it from burning on one side. “They can probably make some of the shells themselves too, we’ll only need a few so the guns are actually of use before they can start manufacturing their own. Maybe someplace in Vanhoover’s willing to make them.” I thought aloud.
“There were a few with them already when we pulled them off, but couldn't be more than a few reloads in those boxes, and these things are autocannons. I just hope Fowler back on the ship doesn’t try and keep them to himself as museum property or something, what good is an 8-inch shell if you can’t fire it due to 'historical posterity'?” Night Strike said, chomping down on some more crab. The sun was starting to set, the sky around it turning a vibrant mix of purples and oranges. “Mmh, suppose we better head back, though. Ripple should be docking soon.” We all stood up and climbed into the tank, the engine rumbling to life. The treads spun uselessly in the sand for a moment before catching, allowing me to turn us around and head back towards the docks.
My umbrella bounced against my hind legs a little as the small tank rolled over the sand before I turned back onto the road towards the dock. Ripple had yet to return, so I slowed the tank down in front of the HMS Cadence, Night Strike, Aerith and myself all hopping out. “We’ll see if we can get some ammo for the guns, just tell Ripple to wait out here if he gets here before we do.” Crash Dive gave a nod before climbing into the driver's seat, trundling the half-track and wagon closer to the edge of the dock, the other two following me inside the ship. Glancing around the entrance hallway, I scratched at my head - warship, right... “Uh, do you know where we actually might find the ammo?”
“There should be some sort of armory or hold in the lower bits of the ship, I think. If I were a ship designer, I'd put the big ammo under the water where it's less likely to get hit, and the smaller stuff somewhere the people on the anti-air guns could get to it fast.” We began to climb down the steep steps to the deeper parts of the ship, the hallways twisting and turning as we tried to locate the extra ammo. As we wandered down another unmarked corridor, Aerith tapped me on the shoulder, tilting her head towards an open door we’d passed. We trotted back to it, stepping through to reveal a large room filled to the brim with ammo and guns of all kinds. Jeez, how did we miss this? I trotted through, looking at the massive array of ordinance. Night Strike giggled and picked up a few grenades, turning them over in her hooves.
“So, erm, which of these shells are actually for those guns?” I asked, trotting down through the shelves of explosives. I don’t have the faintest clue how Night Strike can tell the difference between these things, they just look like different painted ones of the same thing, who knows what the payload is supposed to be. I looked back to see her ogling a large missile launcher, flicking one of the switches repeatedly. Ah, c'mon... “Night Strike, we’re just here for the shells, remember? I’d love to sell off half this stuff, but I think Fowler’s going to be mad enough if he finds the missing shells.”
Night Strike tore her gaze away from the missile launcher, looking back to me. “Huh, what?” She said, bemused. I put a hoof up to my head. “Sorry. Anyway, yeah, shells, forty millimeter MWT Bofors.” She trotted over to me, looking over the various different boxes of ammunition. “These one should be the right size.” She pointed to a few boxes of shells that looked a little bit shorter than Aerith's horn. I slid one of them off the shelf, needing to steady myself against another shelf due to its surprising weight.
Aerith’s magic encompassed the clip of ammunition, along with several others, levitating them in the air. As she levitated them by, some of the shells of a similar size that appeared much more technologically advanced than the others caught my attention. The tips of the shells shone with a faint blue light inside of Aerith’s aura. “What kind of shells are those?” Aerith lowered one of the clips, allowing Night Strike to inspect it better, carefully flipping the heavy thinga round and reaching in with a hoof to remove one of the massive bullets. She scrutinized it for a moment, before blinking in surprise and sticking it back inside the clip.
“It’s some sort of pulse shell, I didn’t think they made them for guns like this. Grenade rifles like Thumper, sure, but a high-velocity autocannon, that's a new one.” Aerith lifted the clip back up with the rest and we began to make our way back towards the exit. “They’re good against bots and machines and other electronic stuff, but they’re not nearly as fun to use. No explosive shockwave, won't do anything against a fleshy target without a direct hit.” She stepped through the door, Aerith carefully moving the massive clips through before moving through herself. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to sell a few of them, though. It’d be an easy way to take out the Harriers without too much damage if they're low to the ground and miss. Just a bit of a blackout and a hole in the roof for the building it hits.” We were soon trotting down the ramp leading from the lower deck of the ship, spotting Trout already at the dock with Ripple chatting to Scouring.
He looked up as we trotted over to him, looking exasperated at the sight of the few shelves' worth of autocannon clips. “No! No, that is it, I’m NOT making another delivery! You either take this boat back or you’re swimming back to shore.” He spouted off. I gave a slightly nervous chuckle as Aerith lowered the clips onto the deck, Night Strike glancing behind us with a slightly nervous look on her face.
“Don’t worry, we’re coming this time, we just needed to grab these for those guns. They’re not really of any use without something to fire. It’s maybe an additional couple hundred pounds, the pulse ones are probably lighter than the others. We’re not going to sink Trout if we take them with us.” Ripple looked relieved, lowering the ramp down to the dock to allow us to climb on board.
“Good. Like I said, I’m happy to give you guys free rides, but I’d much rather have you actually riding when I'm doin' 'em.” I trotted up the ramp, Night Strike following closely behind. Scouring took the clips from Aerith with his own magic, levitating them up and moving them below deck as she went to work lifting the mini-tank back up onto Trout. The boat shifted a little with the extra weight as Crash Dive undid the moorings and trotted up the ramp behind Aerith. I began to slide the short ramp back up into place as Ripple stepped up to the controls of the boat. “Already dropped one of the guns off in Hopeville, we can swing by there for your payment before heading back to Maple Creek. Longer route to get by, but less rapids.”
Trout’s engines sputtered to life as we began to move away from shore, turning to head south along the mainland coastline. As Trout cut a wake through the water, a figure ran out of the HMS Cadence, running all the way to the end of the dock. Fowler’s screams were incomprehensible, though from the abuse he was giving his hat, I doubt he was very happy. Yeeaaah, we may not be coming back for another interview any time soon...
---
Ripple spun the wheel as we moved up the river towards the large reservoir that Hopeville sat on, the water flowing against us and causing the engine to strain slightly more than normal. I leaned against the side of Trout, watching the passing countryside as Scouring inspected some of the autocannon rounds we’d gathered. The bottom of Trout scraped against some rocks in the water as we followed the river, the small town of Hopeville coming into view on the edge of the lake.
The river we were on soon entered the reservior properly, Trout being able to move a little faster in the non-flowing water. The lights of Hopeville grew larger as we travelled along the south edge of the lake, giving the dark docks and canal of Clearwater a wide berth. Soon coming to the shore not far out of town, a few other boats anchored in the water. You know, it probably wouldn’t hurt these guys to build a proper pier like the one in Maple Creek... Ripple climbed down below deck before dragging a heavy anchor back up, a thick chain wrapped around one end. I helped him take it and throw it overboard, the chain sliding along the deck quickly before coming to a sudden halt.
“Alright, don’t take too long, I’d like to be back in Maple Creek before midnight.” Ripple said, climbing back up from below decks with a short metal walkway. I nodded and helped him lock it into a few rungs in the deck, allowing us to climb down before hopping into the knee high water. Crash and I waded through the dark water as Night Strike and Aerith fluttered down onto the beach, Scouring looking over to Ripple.
“Uh, you sure there’s not a better way? My suit ain’t exactly what ye might call watertight. Not sure how wet it can really get before something gets damaged...” Ripple shook his head and Scouring sighed. Night Strike looked over to him before flapping her wings, hovering herself back up onto Trout.
“You guys go ahead, we’ll stay here. Somepony needs to make sure nopony steals the rest of this ammo after all.” I shrugged and Aerith’s magic encompassed a few of the clips of ammunition, levitating them down to us. We turned and headed towards town hall, which was now easily visible with the large guns sitting on its roof. The oak doors creaked open, allowing us into the small lobby. The receptionist waved us by, her eyes widening upon seeing the shells Aerith carried. We pushed open the next set of oak doors, stepping into the mayor’s office where she sat on the opposite side of her fancy desk looking over several papers and flicking abacus beads left and right, a pencil hanging from her mouth.
She looked up as the doors shut behind us, not looking anymore relieved, and spitting the pencil out. “Oh, it’s you. Look, I…” She paused, letting a stack of papers she’d been flipping through flop back onto her desk. “I… appreciate the extra defense for this city, I really do. But, I just…” She went back to flipping a few abacus beads. “I can’t see how we can afford them! The gunsmith is still trying to come back from the first delivery, who knows when he’ll have enough to pay you for these ones! I can’t pay for them, I’d have to raise taxes 37% just to reach my advisor’s estimation; I don’t know how much that thing really costs!” She flopped her head down onto the desk, giving a soft weep. “I caaaaaaaaaaaan’t!”
I grimaced a little, Aerith lowering the ammunition. Sheesh, not really sure how she came to be in a position of power if she buckles so quickly at the first real dilemma. Then again, maybe she never had to deal with a purchase like this before... I looked over to Crash Dive and Aerith, the first doing nothing as the second simply shrugged. I looked back to the mayor, watching her break down atop all her papers. "A-ahm, we're... only going to ask for five hundred thousand, ma'am, including the price of ammunition. If you were thinking you'd have to pay somewhere in the same range as the gunsmith, that was for several guns and ammunition, this is only one. Well, two, technically, but you get my meaning."
The mayor lifted her head, a flustered look on her face as she picked herself back up. "O-oh, um, is... is that all?" Answering her with a small nod after glancing at Aerith and Crash Dive, she slumped back in her chair, staring off between us for a moment. Her eyes looked down at the piles of papers in front of her, rustling a few about as a blush came upon her face. "I-I-I... um... s-sorry for breaking down like that, my financial advisor it would come in as at least a million caps, at the lowest estimate. Oh, this is relieving news..." Moving through a few more papers, she paused and looked at one, thinking for a moment. A million caps for just one? Well... I suppose, if they wanted to count both barrels as separate guns, which they technically are, that could cause the price to jump up... No! Bad brain, we're getting enough caps as it is, don't need to extort these towns into bankruptcy. But a million caps, though... "Hm, well, I'm sorry to say that currently we only just barely have that amount in our treasury. I-I mean, I could see about getting you the caps, but... I'm not sure how long we could run so close to a deficit. We have to pay people to operate these things, after all."
The room fell quiet as the mayor looked towards me, Aerith and Crash Dive presumably doing the same. Okay Static, decision time, do the... mostly right, thing, or the thing that'll see you being able to buy your own dads out of the house. Or, well, at least mostly out... guh, I've been traveling with Night Strike too long. "Well, we could accept payment in other forms than caps." The mayor blunk a few times, readjusting herself in her chair and leaning forwards over her desk. Better not screw this up... "A-at least, not totally in caps, anyways. How would, um... four hundred thousand caps, and two free weeks at the hotel work for you?"
The mayor flicked around her abacus a few times and shuffled about more papers, pausing to think for a moment longer before looking back to us with a small smile. "I'm certain I can make that happen. Thank you immensely, just, please give some forewarning of how much the next gun you decide to sell to us will cost next time." She gave a little chuckle which I returned, the mare behind the desk moving to a notepad and writing down something. "If you wouldn't mind coming back tomorrow, I'll have the bottlecaps readied for you. Um, unfortunately I can't have the two free weeks at the hotel for you tonight, though, I hope that isn't an issue." Wearing a small smile and responding to her with a small nod, I turned and started to make my way back out of the office and into the illuminated streets, Crash Dive and Aerith following along. Yeah, next time... after the headache these things have been, I sure hope there won't be a next time...
‘Well, that was rather nice of you. Fourteen nights at the hotel would only cost 2800 caps.’ Aerith’s magical sign read as we headed out of the door and back towards Trout. Yeah, yeah, please don't remind me. Stupid conscious not wanting me to extort entire towns into bankruptcy... As we made our way back towards Trout, I noticed a small congregation of ponies heading towards the lakeshore as well. I began to pick up my pace, wondering what was going on. Suddenly the sound of gunfire met my ears, as well as a familiar scream of pain. Oh, no.
I broke out into a sprint, almost crashing into some ponies that were running in the opposite direction. I whipped out my umbrella, Aerith taking to the skies behind me and drawing her submachine gun. As we reached the beach at the edge of the town, I could see a pair of familiar gryphons with a small entourage firing at the ship. Scouring was launching rockets off at the gryphons, managing to hit one of the mercenaries and turn him into a fine red mist. I spotted Night Strike sitting on the deck, clutching her shoulder with her eyes clenched shut in pain. Ripple had taken up one of the steampipe machine guns and was firing haphazardly in all directions.
I leapt forwards onto one of the gryhpons with an injured wing that was trying to climb up the ladder, my umbrella connecting with his spine, causing him to spasm and fall into the water. Aerith let out a stream of bullets, knocking a few more of the mercs out of the air. The two leader mercs glanced to each other upon realizing their team now consisted of nothing but a pile of bodies floating in the reservoir, the looks on their faces understandably dumbfounded. “Uh… can we talk this out?... Shit!” I grabbed a shotgun from one of the mercs and aimed it towards him. He grabbed the other’s claw and both began to zip away through the air, a late night fog rolling in over the lake quickly hiding them.
Night Strike panted as she clutched at her shoulder, myself hopping up the ladder and over the side to inspect her. She let out a weak chuckle to herself, rubbing her leg and gnawing at her lip. “Well... suppose I learned why I shouldn’t fire War Crime with a partially dislocated shoulder. Gah, fuuuuck!” She clenched her shoulder some more, rocking on the deck a little. Well, that’s Night Strike for you, attacked by five mercenaries and it’s her lack of foresight that gets her hurt.
She grunted a little as I helped her to her hind legs, Aerith fluttering down beside her. “We need to get her to the Triage right now.” She nodded and bent down, allowing me to help Night Strike to sit on her back. She took to the skies, flying towards the center of town. I jumped back down in the water, following closely behind on hoof. Sweet Celestia, Night Strike, why do you need to keep getting into all this trouble?
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“I figured we could go fishing, spotted this place when we were back up aboard the ship, looks like a good spot.” I hopped out of the mini tank, my hooves sinking into the sand slightly, some grains getting into my jacket's sleeves. Oh, that's gonna itch after a while. Pausing to think for a moment, I scratched at the back of my head, letting off a weak chuckle. “Eheh, though I suppose we’ll need to find some fishing equipment...” Crash Dive opened up one of the compartments of the mini tank, fishing around inside before producing two poles and a small box. Oh, well, problem solved.
“Stashed these on here last time we were at the lighthouse, figured it wouldn’t hurt to have them for emergencies again. Or if I just needed something to do while you do whatever you have to.” She handed me one of the poles, both of us trotting over to the rocks as the others climbed out of the mini-tank. I clambered up onto one of the large rocks sitting just at the edge of the lapping waves, taking a hold of the pole. Alright, let’s see if I can cast this without getting the hook stuck in somepony’s neck. I pulled the pole back before flicking it forwards, the hook sailing out into the sea. Crash Dive cast out beside me as Aerith sat down on the sand, letting the waves roll over and cool off her legs.
“Say, Scouring, I don’t think I’ve ever asked, what exactly do the Steel Rangers up here do? The ones back home do a bit of work helping to clean up the wasteland now, but I heard that a lot of the other branches aren’t as hospitable.” Scouring sat down in the sand as well, Night Strike hopping between the stones in the sand, making her way further along the shore.
Scouring looked over to me, pausing to think for a moment before letting out a small huff and leaning back. “Not all that much, really. At least, we aren’t really sent out to help with the locals. Elder’s been pretty strict on recovering technology, it’s just there really isn’t that much valuable stuff still located here. At least, none that we knew about at the time.” He shifted a little, pulling a salt cube out of a pocket in his suit and popping it into his mouth. “Have half an idea, but I’m not completely sure why we’re still stationed here. Probably something in the Codex about not abandoning posts if there’s still a slight chance of tech being found.” He shook his head a little as Crash Dive felt a tug on her pole, starting to reel it in. “B Company, we're the place knights get sent when the high command just doesn't want to deal with us. Had to hazard a better guess why I'm still 'round this part of wasteland, the scribes in their fancy robes back home figured there's nothin' for our group to find.”
Crash Dive tugged on her fishing pole, the line straining as she reeled it in. A small fish was soon flopping on the sand beside her, gasping for breath. Crash Dive removed the hook from its mouth and tossed it onto the sand behind her, letting it flop around, trying to find its way back to the water. Watching it writhe for a moment - come on, Crash Dive, show some mercy to the things - I turned to look at the alicorn lazily splashing about, catching her attention as I cleared my throat. “Ahm, Aerith, think you and Night Strike could go grab some wood for a fire?” She nodded, shaking her wings dry before hovering along the beach, both her and the Jacket-clad pegasus returning a moment later. Night Strike hovered over to the tank to grab Thumper as Aerith pulled out her machine gun, both of them trotting into the woods in search of firewood. I turned back to Scouring as Crash cast her line out again. “Where are the Rangers based around here, anyway?”
“Fairly far to th' north, east of Maple Station, along the coast. Used to be an old Stable there in the mountains, but that one ended about as well as the other ones did.” Hey, they weren’t all bad! At least it wasn’t the experiments that ended up getting my dads’ stable destroyed. “Think it was something to do with a leopard or a lion or somethin’. Made a hell of a mess with the bodies, but most of the other stuff kept working fine, so the first scouts out here just called in help to scrub the place down. Stable 95, though it’s officially known as the Mountain Springs branch.”
I felt a tug on my fishing pole. I jerked the wire, starting to crank the reel. The line moved back and forth in the water, whatever was on the line putting up a big fight. I yanked again on the pole, reeling the line in a little more. Crash watched as a shadow could be seen underneath the water, her eyes widening a bit. The top of the pole was bending dangerously as I gave a final pull, an oversized crab being pulled up into the shallower water, its pincers flailing about as it tried to find the wire lodged in its eyestalk. Holy crap, I don’t need to be losing a leg today! I dove behind the rock as Crash Dive stood up suddenly, jumping over to the mini tank and pulling out her harpoon gun. She took aim and fired, the bit of sharpened metal whizzing through the air before piercing the giant crab, causing it to flop into the shallow water, motionless. I chuckled a little, moving forward to untangle the line from the crab, carefully stepping over its large claw. “Think this’ll be enough?”
I took a hold of the rebar shaft, a bit of blood oozing out of the wound as I removed it. Bluh, yeah, hopefully this looks more appetizing when it’s actually cooked. I slid the pointed end of the steel rod back into the crab a little, trying to wiggle it between the hard shell and the soft flesh. The shell cracked sickeningly, revealing the pink meat beneath it. “Ech... either of you got a knife?” Scouring gave a quick nod, rummaging in the metal containers either side of his power armor for a moment before tossing a small jagged knife onto the sand beside me. I picked it up and began to carve up the giant crab.
“Ay, better you 'n me, lad.” Scouring chuckled as he saw my face twisted into a grimace as I cut out hunks of meat and tossed them onto the rocks. The sun sank into the sky as I sliced up the crab, several pounds of meat now sitting on the rocks beside us. I went to wash the knife off in the sea as Aerith and Night Strike returned, a large bundle of stick balanced on their backs.
“Sorry about taking so long, we found some giant rainwater outlet and Aerith wasn’t going to leave until we saw where it went. Remind me to never go exploring in a dark tunnel with her again.” Night Strike slid her sticks onto the ground, looking over to see the husk of the giant crab. “Sheesh, I guess we’ll be eating plenty tonight, nice catch!” She began to go to work building a small fire as I grabbed a couple of the sticks and skewered the hunks of meat. We soon had a small fire burning on the sand, the bits of crab slowly turning brown. My stomach growled again as the smell met my nose, causing me to blush as Night Strike snickered.
The fire crackled softly as we began to eat the crab, my growling stomach quieting down. “Mmh, so, just how bankrupt are you planning on making Hopeville and Maple Creek anyway with these guns?” Night Strike asked. I chewed on the slightly rubbery meat, skewering another mouthful and holding it over the fire.
“Well, each of those things should be worth about 500,000 caps apiece, they’re still in good condition and like you pointed out, they're electircally driven with those fancy targeting systems. Though I suppose we’ll need to get them some ammo for it or they’ll pretty much be paying for a very pricey amusement ride.” I swallowed the crab. “You think they still have some shells left on the ship?” Night Strike thought for a moment before giving a nod, and I looked back to my cooking meat, turning to keep it from burning on one side. “They can probably make some of the shells themselves too, we’ll only need a few so the guns are actually of use before they can start manufacturing their own. Maybe someplace in Vanhoover’s willing to make them.” I thought aloud.
“There were a few with them already when we pulled them off, but couldn't be more than a few reloads in those boxes, and these things are autocannons. I just hope Fowler back on the ship doesn’t try and keep them to himself as museum property or something, what good is an 8-inch shell if you can’t fire it due to 'historical posterity'?” Night Strike said, chomping down on some more crab. The sun was starting to set, the sky around it turning a vibrant mix of purples and oranges. “Mmh, suppose we better head back, though. Ripple should be docking soon.” We all stood up and climbed into the tank, the engine rumbling to life. The treads spun uselessly in the sand for a moment before catching, allowing me to turn us around and head back towards the docks.
My umbrella bounced against my hind legs a little as the small tank rolled over the sand before I turned back onto the road towards the dock. Ripple had yet to return, so I slowed the tank down in front of the HMS Cadence, Night Strike, Aerith and myself all hopping out. “We’ll see if we can get some ammo for the guns, just tell Ripple to wait out here if he gets here before we do.” Crash Dive gave a nod before climbing into the driver's seat, trundling the half-track and wagon closer to the edge of the dock, the other two following me inside the ship. Glancing around the entrance hallway, I scratched at my head - warship, right... “Uh, do you know where we actually might find the ammo?”
“There should be some sort of armory or hold in the lower bits of the ship, I think. If I were a ship designer, I'd put the big ammo under the water where it's less likely to get hit, and the smaller stuff somewhere the people on the anti-air guns could get to it fast.” We began to climb down the steep steps to the deeper parts of the ship, the hallways twisting and turning as we tried to locate the extra ammo. As we wandered down another unmarked corridor, Aerith tapped me on the shoulder, tilting her head towards an open door we’d passed. We trotted back to it, stepping through to reveal a large room filled to the brim with ammo and guns of all kinds. Jeez, how did we miss this? I trotted through, looking at the massive array of ordinance. Night Strike giggled and picked up a few grenades, turning them over in her hooves.
“So, erm, which of these shells are actually for those guns?” I asked, trotting down through the shelves of explosives. I don’t have the faintest clue how Night Strike can tell the difference between these things, they just look like different painted ones of the same thing, who knows what the payload is supposed to be. I looked back to see her ogling a large missile launcher, flicking one of the switches repeatedly. Ah, c'mon... “Night Strike, we’re just here for the shells, remember? I’d love to sell off half this stuff, but I think Fowler’s going to be mad enough if he finds the missing shells.”
Night Strike tore her gaze away from the missile launcher, looking back to me. “Huh, what?” She said, bemused. I put a hoof up to my head. “Sorry. Anyway, yeah, shells, forty millimeter MWT Bofors.” She trotted over to me, looking over the various different boxes of ammunition. “These one should be the right size.” She pointed to a few boxes of shells that looked a little bit shorter than Aerith's horn. I slid one of them off the shelf, needing to steady myself against another shelf due to its surprising weight.
Aerith’s magic encompassed the clip of ammunition, along with several others, levitating them in the air. As she levitated them by, some of the shells of a similar size that appeared much more technologically advanced than the others caught my attention. The tips of the shells shone with a faint blue light inside of Aerith’s aura. “What kind of shells are those?” Aerith lowered one of the clips, allowing Night Strike to inspect it better, carefully flipping the heavy thinga round and reaching in with a hoof to remove one of the massive bullets. She scrutinized it for a moment, before blinking in surprise and sticking it back inside the clip.
“It’s some sort of pulse shell, I didn’t think they made them for guns like this. Grenade rifles like Thumper, sure, but a high-velocity autocannon, that's a new one.” Aerith lifted the clip back up with the rest and we began to make our way back towards the exit. “They’re good against bots and machines and other electronic stuff, but they’re not nearly as fun to use. No explosive shockwave, won't do anything against a fleshy target without a direct hit.” She stepped through the door, Aerith carefully moving the massive clips through before moving through herself. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to sell a few of them, though. It’d be an easy way to take out the Harriers without too much damage if they're low to the ground and miss. Just a bit of a blackout and a hole in the roof for the building it hits.” We were soon trotting down the ramp leading from the lower deck of the ship, spotting Trout already at the dock with Ripple chatting to Scouring.
He looked up as we trotted over to him, looking exasperated at the sight of the few shelves' worth of autocannon clips. “No! No, that is it, I’m NOT making another delivery! You either take this boat back or you’re swimming back to shore.” He spouted off. I gave a slightly nervous chuckle as Aerith lowered the clips onto the deck, Night Strike glancing behind us with a slightly nervous look on her face.
“Don’t worry, we’re coming this time, we just needed to grab these for those guns. They’re not really of any use without something to fire. It’s maybe an additional couple hundred pounds, the pulse ones are probably lighter than the others. We’re not going to sink Trout if we take them with us.” Ripple looked relieved, lowering the ramp down to the dock to allow us to climb on board.
“Good. Like I said, I’m happy to give you guys free rides, but I’d much rather have you actually riding when I'm doin' 'em.” I trotted up the ramp, Night Strike following closely behind. Scouring took the clips from Aerith with his own magic, levitating them up and moving them below deck as she went to work lifting the mini-tank back up onto Trout. The boat shifted a little with the extra weight as Crash Dive undid the moorings and trotted up the ramp behind Aerith. I began to slide the short ramp back up into place as Ripple stepped up to the controls of the boat. “Already dropped one of the guns off in Hopeville, we can swing by there for your payment before heading back to Maple Creek. Longer route to get by, but less rapids.”
Trout’s engines sputtered to life as we began to move away from shore, turning to head south along the mainland coastline. As Trout cut a wake through the water, a figure ran out of the HMS Cadence, running all the way to the end of the dock. Fowler’s screams were incomprehensible, though from the abuse he was giving his hat, I doubt he was very happy. Yeeaaah, we may not be coming back for another interview any time soon...
---
Ripple spun the wheel as we moved up the river towards the large reservoir that Hopeville sat on, the water flowing against us and causing the engine to strain slightly more than normal. I leaned against the side of Trout, watching the passing countryside as Scouring inspected some of the autocannon rounds we’d gathered. The bottom of Trout scraped against some rocks in the water as we followed the river, the small town of Hopeville coming into view on the edge of the lake.
The river we were on soon entered the reservior properly, Trout being able to move a little faster in the non-flowing water. The lights of Hopeville grew larger as we travelled along the south edge of the lake, giving the dark docks and canal of Clearwater a wide berth. Soon coming to the shore not far out of town, a few other boats anchored in the water. You know, it probably wouldn’t hurt these guys to build a proper pier like the one in Maple Creek... Ripple climbed down below deck before dragging a heavy anchor back up, a thick chain wrapped around one end. I helped him take it and throw it overboard, the chain sliding along the deck quickly before coming to a sudden halt.
“Alright, don’t take too long, I’d like to be back in Maple Creek before midnight.” Ripple said, climbing back up from below decks with a short metal walkway. I nodded and helped him lock it into a few rungs in the deck, allowing us to climb down before hopping into the knee high water. Crash and I waded through the dark water as Night Strike and Aerith fluttered down onto the beach, Scouring looking over to Ripple.
“Uh, you sure there’s not a better way? My suit ain’t exactly what ye might call watertight. Not sure how wet it can really get before something gets damaged...” Ripple shook his head and Scouring sighed. Night Strike looked over to him before flapping her wings, hovering herself back up onto Trout.
“You guys go ahead, we’ll stay here. Somepony needs to make sure nopony steals the rest of this ammo after all.” I shrugged and Aerith’s magic encompassed a few of the clips of ammunition, levitating them down to us. We turned and headed towards town hall, which was now easily visible with the large guns sitting on its roof. The oak doors creaked open, allowing us into the small lobby. The receptionist waved us by, her eyes widening upon seeing the shells Aerith carried. We pushed open the next set of oak doors, stepping into the mayor’s office where she sat on the opposite side of her fancy desk looking over several papers and flicking abacus beads left and right, a pencil hanging from her mouth.
She looked up as the doors shut behind us, not looking anymore relieved, and spitting the pencil out. “Oh, it’s you. Look, I…” She paused, letting a stack of papers she’d been flipping through flop back onto her desk. “I… appreciate the extra defense for this city, I really do. But, I just…” She went back to flipping a few abacus beads. “I can’t see how we can afford them! The gunsmith is still trying to come back from the first delivery, who knows when he’ll have enough to pay you for these ones! I can’t pay for them, I’d have to raise taxes 37% just to reach my advisor’s estimation; I don’t know how much that thing really costs!” She flopped her head down onto the desk, giving a soft weep. “I caaaaaaaaaaaan’t!”
I grimaced a little, Aerith lowering the ammunition. Sheesh, not really sure how she came to be in a position of power if she buckles so quickly at the first real dilemma. Then again, maybe she never had to deal with a purchase like this before... I looked over to Crash Dive and Aerith, the first doing nothing as the second simply shrugged. I looked back to the mayor, watching her break down atop all her papers. "A-ahm, we're... only going to ask for five hundred thousand, ma'am, including the price of ammunition. If you were thinking you'd have to pay somewhere in the same range as the gunsmith, that was for several guns and ammunition, this is only one. Well, two, technically, but you get my meaning."
The mayor lifted her head, a flustered look on her face as she picked herself back up. "O-oh, um, is... is that all?" Answering her with a small nod after glancing at Aerith and Crash Dive, she slumped back in her chair, staring off between us for a moment. Her eyes looked down at the piles of papers in front of her, rustling a few about as a blush came upon her face. "I-I-I... um... s-sorry for breaking down like that, my financial advisor it would come in as at least a million caps, at the lowest estimate. Oh, this is relieving news..." Moving through a few more papers, she paused and looked at one, thinking for a moment. A million caps for just one? Well... I suppose, if they wanted to count both barrels as separate guns, which they technically are, that could cause the price to jump up... No! Bad brain, we're getting enough caps as it is, don't need to extort these towns into bankruptcy. But a million caps, though... "Hm, well, I'm sorry to say that currently we only just barely have that amount in our treasury. I-I mean, I could see about getting you the caps, but... I'm not sure how long we could run so close to a deficit. We have to pay people to operate these things, after all."
The room fell quiet as the mayor looked towards me, Aerith and Crash Dive presumably doing the same. Okay Static, decision time, do the... mostly right, thing, or the thing that'll see you being able to buy your own dads out of the house. Or, well, at least mostly out... guh, I've been traveling with Night Strike too long. "Well, we could accept payment in other forms than caps." The mayor blunk a few times, readjusting herself in her chair and leaning forwards over her desk. Better not screw this up... "A-at least, not totally in caps, anyways. How would, um... four hundred thousand caps, and two free weeks at the hotel work for you?"
The mayor flicked around her abacus a few times and shuffled about more papers, pausing to think for a moment longer before looking back to us with a small smile. "I'm certain I can make that happen. Thank you immensely, just, please give some forewarning of how much the next gun you decide to sell to us will cost next time." She gave a little chuckle which I returned, the mare behind the desk moving to a notepad and writing down something. "If you wouldn't mind coming back tomorrow, I'll have the bottlecaps readied for you. Um, unfortunately I can't have the two free weeks at the hotel for you tonight, though, I hope that isn't an issue." Wearing a small smile and responding to her with a small nod, I turned and started to make my way back out of the office and into the illuminated streets, Crash Dive and Aerith following along. Yeah, next time... after the headache these things have been, I sure hope there won't be a next time...
‘Well, that was rather nice of you. Fourteen nights at the hotel would only cost 2800 caps.’ Aerith’s magical sign read as we headed out of the door and back towards Trout. Yeah, yeah, please don't remind me. Stupid conscious not wanting me to extort entire towns into bankruptcy... As we made our way back towards Trout, I noticed a small congregation of ponies heading towards the lakeshore as well. I began to pick up my pace, wondering what was going on. Suddenly the sound of gunfire met my ears, as well as a familiar scream of pain. Oh, no.
I broke out into a sprint, almost crashing into some ponies that were running in the opposite direction. I whipped out my umbrella, Aerith taking to the skies behind me and drawing her submachine gun. As we reached the beach at the edge of the town, I could see a pair of familiar gryphons with a small entourage firing at the ship. Scouring was launching rockets off at the gryphons, managing to hit one of the mercenaries and turn him into a fine red mist. I spotted Night Strike sitting on the deck, clutching her shoulder with her eyes clenched shut in pain. Ripple had taken up one of the steampipe machine guns and was firing haphazardly in all directions.
I leapt forwards onto one of the gryhpons with an injured wing that was trying to climb up the ladder, my umbrella connecting with his spine, causing him to spasm and fall into the water. Aerith let out a stream of bullets, knocking a few more of the mercs out of the air. The two leader mercs glanced to each other upon realizing their team now consisted of nothing but a pile of bodies floating in the reservoir, the looks on their faces understandably dumbfounded. “Uh… can we talk this out?... Shit!” I grabbed a shotgun from one of the mercs and aimed it towards him. He grabbed the other’s claw and both began to zip away through the air, a late night fog rolling in over the lake quickly hiding them.
Night Strike panted as she clutched at her shoulder, myself hopping up the ladder and over the side to inspect her. She let out a weak chuckle to herself, rubbing her leg and gnawing at her lip. “Well... suppose I learned why I shouldn’t fire War Crime with a partially dislocated shoulder. Gah, fuuuuck!” She clenched her shoulder some more, rocking on the deck a little. Well, that’s Night Strike for you, attacked by five mercenaries and it’s her lack of foresight that gets her hurt.
She grunted a little as I helped her to her hind legs, Aerith fluttering down beside her. “We need to get her to the Triage right now.” She nodded and bent down, allowing me to help Night Strike to sit on her back. She took to the skies, flying towards the center of town. I jumped back down in the water, following closely behind on hoof. Sweet Celestia, Night Strike, why do you need to keep getting into all this trouble?
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Category Artwork (Digital) / My Little Pony / Brony
Species Horse
Size 1052 x 467px
File Size 118.4 kB
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