open Fallout Equestria: Endeavor (Reboot)

[Unicorncob 5,694]

Solar scowled at the Steel Ranger's remark, implying that 'traitor' meant her.

"I'm no traitor," She spat, glaring through her visor at the stallion, "my being down here kinda proves it."

 

She'd heard of the Steel Rangers back home, how their armour was essentially bulkier, but had a poorer design compared to the sleek, aerodynamic Enclave suit she was wearing.

 

"Trust me, earther," She added, folding her forelegs, "if I was with them, none of you would be alive right now. Not a threat, a fact."

[Ranger22 179]

The zebra in front of me mentioned spirits being the source of the strange energy spike, normally I would have tagged him as crazy but considering how spread out magic was it wasn't something I could just ignore. Now that I gotten my answer I turned my attention to the other members of the party. Unlike the zebra the two mares were less then friendly in their statements compared to the kindness of the striped one with funny hair. I responded to each one of them in order because I'm just that type of guy, of course I stay close to the zebra as I speak my words. "I prefer the term full metal jack ass, tin can is rather rustic don't you think? It's awfully rude to ask my intentions if you have no intention of revealing your own, so I'll wait till your ready to speak up till I answer."

 

I looked at the pegasi and took a moment to control myself as laughter had a high possibility of occurring. "Strange, I was lead to believe this land was blighted and too dangerous for anypony to be able to live in. Surely anypony who stays down here is contaminated and risk the health of everypony in the sky. The safest and most sensible option would be to kill them before they can fly back up and poison our loved ones." I couldn't hold back anymore, I let out a slight but audible chuckle. "Oh and do be careful who you threaten girl, no amount of fancy armor and weapons can save you from an entire army on your tail. Fighting in Fillydelphia for twenty years taught me that, so take my advice and watch your mouth when your around ponies. You never know who has their back."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Ranger22, @@Unicorncob, @@Defender of Tomorrow,

 

"People please! This is not the time for grudges old, a threat to all that remains is about to unfold. I have no choice but to see to it's demise but I could use all of your help if you don't mind. You route your hearts in hatreds arcane, they poison your soul and pollute your brain. There is work to be now, that is for certain. See your neighbor now not as a faction, but as a person." The Shaman tried to keep things from getting bloody or even much more heated than they already were.

[Unicorncob 5,694]

@@Ranger22

 

"Oooh, spooky," Solar snarked, waggling her forehooves at the armoured stallion with a deadpan expression, "Like I said, if I was still with them, nopony here would be alive. The Enclave are that dangerous. Hell, if they haven't decided to leave me for dead, they'll likely be hunting me down for treason."

 

@@Steel Accord

 

She looked over to the zebra, and sighed. He was right; they couldn't afford to squabble like this when there was a bigger threat at hoof.

"I'll work with Tinned Meat over there," she agreed, nodding toward the stallion again, "Just don't ask me to like it. Because it's probably going to suck. Long and hard."

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

Ellieum huffed as she listened to the Zebra, she knew he was right, whether she liked it or not. "Agreed, whatever had happened back there is far more dangerous than tin man here." She snorted and looked at the Ezekiel. "So what's the plan then peacemaker? You seem to be the only one that actually saw...whatever the hell was back there." she shivered just thinking about the awful screeching and dread she felt just moments ago.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

If only they knew. He saw it all right, but more than being able to see it, he saw it. He could see what that abomination was, it's essence of pure evil and slaughter. Not death, a natural part of the world, but slaughter, an incarnation of sadism.

 

He sighed. "I wish I knew . . . the spirits only told me to spread word of this threat anew."

Edited November 11, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Ranger22 179]

I gave off a quick chuckle in response to the pegasus's stark expression, if all enclave soldiers acted like this it would have proved my daughter's theory on the enclave's inexperience and overconfidence with their military. I turned back to the zebra who stopped the verbal conflict and was currently explaining the situation to the best of his ability. "Warnings are better then nothing checkers but if we don't get details it will simply be a waste of time. Since everypony is pressing you for information you don't have do you happen to know anyone else who does?" I asked as I tucked away my fragmentation grenades in my armor.

 

Hmmm a threat that normal ponies couldn't see, sounds normal enough until you add the word spirit in the description. My knowledge of spirits was mostly from old storybooks, tribals, and junkies. Not a whole lot of useful information to create any form of plan or defense against whatever this thing was. I still can barely believe I'm just accepting this thing was actually real. But living in this wasteland has taught me to expect the unexpected even if it was ridiculously surreal. Was there anypony I knew who would be of use to us in this situation? Maple would just dismiss it as myth, the eldest of my daughters would over think it and not of gotten anywhere, and my youngest would just be pondering like me. I gave off a sigh as I accepted the fact I needed these wastelanders help.

[Unicorncob 5,694]

If only they knew. He saw it all right, but more than being able to see it, he saw it. He could see what that abomination was, it's essence of pure evil and slaughter. Not death, a natural part of the world, but slaughter, an incarnation of sadism.

 

He sighed. "I wish I knew . . . the spirits only told me to spread word of this threat anew."

 

Solar tilted her head, unsure of what the zebra meant. Had he seen something the others didn't? Like what was making the warehouse so hot?

Did he know what that...thing was?

"Spread word of this threat, huh?" She repeated, then shrugged with a grin, "Looks like we have our quest then. I guess you're leading the charge then, Rhymes on a Dime."

 

She looked over the others. "I guess we should get names outta the way. Would make things easier for us all." She put a hoof to her chest. "I'm Solar Dust, ex-Enclave soldier turned scavenger and occasional moving target for locals."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Ezekiel contemplated who could help them. Possibly the Arch-Druid but the spirit cast doubt on that when it said not even the Goddesses could have beaten this thing. It was better than nothing though.

 

"I am Ezekiel, Shaman of the Treeminders." He once again held up his hoof in a prayer position and bowed to his companions.

[Ranger22 179]

Introductions? Funny how we wanted to kill each other a few seconds ago yet here we are introducing ourselves like neighbors. "My name is Hazel nut a paladin of the Fillydelphia steelrangers. Occasional murderer, acquirer of pre-war technology, and a lovable suburban dad." I spouted with a sense of sincerity. If these bozos want honesty I'll just be as straight forward as possible with questions they ask. This'll be a really interesting field trip, I mean after all the fate of equestria lays in our hooves. I smiled in response to the thought, this will truly be an interesting field trip.

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

Ellieum scoffed as everypony and zebra began their little introductory speech, did this seriously turn into a group therapy session? Whichever the case, it was her turn now and they were gonna expect her to say something. "I'm Ellieum Loyce, expert adventurer, explorer, ect." She bowed slightly and tipped her unique hat, like seriously if her hat didn't give away who she was, these people seriously needed to get out more often. 

 

"So, now that that is taken care of, how about we just don't stand around in the open like a bunch of idiots. I for one think that we should head towards Ironshod Firearms for the night, it's getting late and the road that we're currently on is the most popular for raiders and slavers to travel on." Before she could get a response, she already started towards Ironshod Firearms.

[Unicorncob 5,694]

"See, not too hard, is it?" Solar smirked, looking to the others, "Now we don't have to rely on pointing hooves and going 'Hey, what's-your-face!'."

 

She raised an eyebrow as Ellieum suggested heading towards another warehouse, this one labelled 'Ironshod Firearms'. Must've been a pre-war weapons factory or something.

That's wise, trust a bunch of strangers to sleep in a warehouse full of guns. She must fancy herself the leader or something.

 

She gave a half-flanked salute, smirk unwavering. "Right behind you, boss." She snarked, and began following the other mare.

 

She'd be keeping one eye open tonight, for sure. Especially for that Steel Ranger; he seemed to hold nothing but contempt for everypony, and zebra, here, especially the ex-enclave pegasus.

 

She shot the larger stallion a warning glance on her passing him.

['Tia Leaf 200]

Gah...more of these confounded guns.

 

The lid to a heavy metal crate slammed shut with a loud CRASH, as a clearly agitated pegasus threw it shut.

 

All that is in this damn place is guns. Hell, I could have hundreds of them if I even cared for them. Surely there must be SOMETHING I can use in here. Bandages at the very least. I mean, even workers get hurt on the job, no place of employment is safe...was ever safe.

 

The figure sighed to herself and trot slowly over towards another crate that had been left, dusty and abandoned in the old warehouse. Surprising, given the state of the world these days.

The mysterious mare took a deep breath, holding a silent hope that this container might hold some treasures that would help sustain her for a few more days. She touched the cold lid of the container with a forehoof, staring at the box as if it was going to react to her touch in some fantastical way, losing herself to her thoughts as she swung it open and began to rummage through the discarded goods.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Ezekiel called out to the others.

 

"I believe I've found the way inside, surely this will be a good place to rest and hide." He pushed some broken sheet metal out of the way to clear an entrance for the others to go in before he did.

 

The entire factory was surprisingly intact save the weathered surface. Evidently earth pony construction was truly built to last. The interior though was mostly picked clean of weapons given the decades of scavengers.

[Ranger22 179]

So the mare's name was Ellieum, strange name. But considering most of the ponies I know at home are named after food I had no place to talk. Her decision to head to the ironshod facility seemed irrelevant to the current task at hoof. Well if that facility still had weaponry and ammunition it would surely aid us in culling the numbers of the cult we face. I kept quiet and followed the others, staying at the back of the group for tactical purposes. The black armored pegasus seemed to suspect me of foul play. I had no doubts everypony else had similar opinions about me and each other. Truly this was a party destined for success.

 

After a few minute walk the party reached the firearm facility of respectable size. The fact that it was standing proved the skill of those who built this facility two hundred years ago. The zebra named Ezekiel was the leading party member despite not having any form of protection beside his sword. I was about to speak up but decided not to after I realized what he was doing. I turned on my head lamp as I walked through the path Ezekiel created for the group. I kept a close eye on my E.F.S while I scanned the dirty dust filled hallway that was ironshod. To think this empty building once had life in the form of countless employees with smiles on their faces. I always get a chill down my spine whenever I delve into ancient ruins like this, I didn't really want to disturb the peace.

 

Being a steelranger most would assume I would never had let wastelanders scavenge ruins while I was around. Normally that would have been the case but with the situation at hoof and years of doing so eventually got me to stop caring. One would think the other rangers would have noticed a change like that. But serving for years gave me an itchy trigger, or mechanism in my case. Most of the facilities in the building would have been in the lower levels while the offices were in the top ones. It was still an ironshod building, I was sure to find something if I kept looking. My would be tranquil search was interrupted by a noise that echoed through the building. I primed my weapons as I began searching for the source of the noise. "Watch out we've got company!" Surely I would have been found first due to my equipment, however unluckily for them that's exactly what I wanted.

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

Ellieum smiled as she saw the building come into view, the structure still standing as tall and as proudly as ever as the giant words 'Ironshod Firearms' remained planted into the wall, it was like it was mocking, even challenging the wasteland to bring it down. Ellieum had walked behind the Zebra and into the building, as she expected the entire first floor was picked nearly clean, save for a few near useless scraps of metal here and there. "At least there is a chance the lower floors haven't been breached.." she muttered softly to herself.

 

"It's a damn good thing this place has many office rooms, now only if we could just find the keys to at least one of the rooms so I could lock myself in and sleep soundly." she thought to herself as she looked at the many offices. Before she could go looking for the keys, her ears perked up as the tin can informed them of having company. "Well then why don't you go check it out with Solar then? Unlike you guys, me and stripes over here don't have the fancy metal you guys have." She suggested in an almost commanding manner.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Defender of Tomorrow

[Unicorncob 5,694]

Solar looked up at the Ironshod Firearms building, the large words on the front almost daring the group to enter and explore. And naturally, as per the plan, they took the bait.

 

"Can't say the same for the higher floors," she added to the mare's comment, checking her E.F.S. for any potential threats. Indeed, only the group appeared as amber blips.

 

The Steel Ranger, Hazel Nut if she recalled correctly, informed the group that somepony, or something else was in there with them.

 

 

She raised an eyebrow at Ellium's order.

"You two don't look at me like you want to murder me either," She retorted, then looked toward a hallway, "I'll check out that noise, but not because you asked me to."

 

She walked further inside, keeping a close eye on her E.F.S. in case any other blips popped up.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Unicorncob

[Ranger22 179]

Ellieum's words echoed through the empty halls as I began my search of the source of the loud crash from earlier. Her statement was supposed to be demeaning as it was informative. I myself loved the combination of the two yet sadly was not witty enough to come up with anything on the spot. I looked over to the armored pegasus as she began searching with me. Her face showed reluctance and a bit of boredom, truth be told she was probably wrapped up in this as suddenly as me. I never understood the design of the pegasi helmets, why would you put less defense on a helmet and remove the built in respirator? The thought came up as I observed her face, maybe they did it to make them seem more ponylike.

 

Satisfied with my observation I turned back around and began searching once more. If I were to describe the noise I would have said it sounded like a crash. Due to it being a weapons facility I presumed somepony or something knocked over a box or crate filled with objects of a metallic nature. Observing my E.F.S I continued searching each individual room that crossed my path. That's when I heard it, a faint sound of metal touching metal. Rustling...yes that was the word to describe what I was hearing and it was close. I looked at my E.F.S to confirm my suspicions, and there was indeed another yellow blip showing up that wasn't the pegasus. Following the blip I passed through the door ignoring the faded sign that was on the wall. 

 

I was greeted by a dusty room filled to the brim with crates and scattered pieces of metal. My breathing was kept at a steady pace and seemed to keep a constant rhythm. My suit made its familiar clanking noise as the metal joints connected smoothly as I walked with caution. The hissing from the pistons as it moved with the armor didn't help in keeping me stealthy. My helmet light scanned the dark room like a watchtower searching for escaped prisoners. I ignored the blip on my E.F.S as I searched the room, searching for my target was always the fun part about missions. Like a game of hide and seek except it was for keeps. Even if this being escaped my gaze surely the pegasus would catch them at the door.

['Tia Leaf 200]

The pegasus chuckled with glee, finally smiling as her luck began to turn. Humming a tune to herself she pulled some bits of metal and wire, along with some old cloth out of a crate, and deposited the scraps into one of her saddlebags. It wasn't the most amazing of treasure, but at least it was somewhat useful.

She had just shut the lid to the crate and began to close the clasp of her bag when she perked up her ears. Noises? She hadn't noticed them before what with the whole top half of her body shoved into a crate, preoccupied with looting.

 

Wind...probably just the wind...or this old place falling apart...

 

The mare muttered to herself, her eyes scanning the darkened room around her. She came here alone, and as far as she knew nopony else was here. There was nothing but old crates and shelves.

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

"So if you don't mind, I'm going to be searching for a key for one of these office rooms, I suggest you do the same if you want to get a good nights sleep." Ellieum said as she levitated various objects off the ground and peeking under them, looking for anything that resembled a key. Her search had yielded no fruit and she groaned, tossing the objects she had levitated into the wall, all of them colliding with each other and through all of that a distcint *cling* sound rang through the noise.

 

She glanced over to the Zebra and shrugged as she levitated the tiny key through all the junk and proceeded to test it on the various office doors, luckily for her she found out which one the key belonged to on the second try. "Well that was easier than I thought." she smiled to herself as the door unlocked and opened for her, nothing special was in the room, just dust, parts of the ceiling and your basic office equipment. She locked the door again and went back to the center of the room, scanning around for anything that was out of the ordinary, she had nothing better to do anyways.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Ezekiel searched about for a safe place to crash for the night. He found what looked like a blown out heater or air conditioning, literally blown out. The only thing that remained were a few torn sheets of metal hanging over the ground like a griffon's claw. He smiled and nodded. Bringing out a sleeping mat from his saddlebag and getting himself ready for the evening.

 

He sat in lotus position, put his front hooves together pointing upward and started breathing calmly.

[Unicorncob 5,694]

Solar continued to search room after room, trying to detect where that noise had come from. She kept a close eye on her E.F.S., waiting for an amber blip to appear that wasn't Hazel's.

 

Quickly, however, such a thing happened, and ahead of her was a new amber blip. At least this proved who-or-whatever this was wasn't hostile.

 

She followed the armoured stallion into the room, assuming he'd gotten the same suspicion. The clanking and hissing of his armour wasn't exactly helping the whole 'sneaking around' factor.

 

Look at Mister 'Oh look at me, I'm a big bad Steel Ranger with the coolest armour in the universe, come at me!' now. She snarked internally.

 

She took to the air for an eagle eye's look of the room, her helmet's visor providing good visibility in the dark without giving away her appearance.

 

Unlike Mister 'Hello, I'm right here, run away from me or shoot at me at your leisure'. She continued in her head. She was obviously sore about the Steel Ranger, but his accusations and taunting her earlier didn't exactly give a good first impression in her eyes.

[Ranger22 179]

The room had a lot more nooks and crannys then one would suspect out of a large and open room. It was filled to the brim with crates and scrap so I guess it was a good place to hide in as any. I looked back and found no sign of the armored pegasus at the door. Initially I was surprised however I gave it some thought and looked up at the ceiling. I saw the armored pegasus hovering over and scanning the area just as I presumed.

 

You'd think flying would make you stealthier, I mean when you're not in a heavily armored suit. Sure it's not as big and entirely covered in metallic plates as my suit. But it's still heavier and more covering then a combat armor set, so it ain't exactly a zebra stealth suit. I put away the thought as I continued my search along with the winged mare. After a while it seemed the more I searched the room the duller it became. It didn't help that the room itself was old and deteriorating. Surely if I hadn't been accustomed to looting old facilities I would have gone mad, well I was over exaggerating but it didn't hinder the fact the room was horrifyingly dull. 

 

The only thing I successfully found was rusty torn up weapons that would never see the light of day again. I began to even fancy the thought of looking down at my E.F.S which would have hurt my pride a little bit. Before I looked down a faint rustling noise managed to reach my armored ear. With a grin I began to make my way towards the sound. Fighting in Fillydelphia kept me wary of ambushes, which helped me train my ears and eyes. Not long I finally found a trace of life. There was a few colored hairs on the floor, definitely a ponies.

['Tia Leaf 200]

​Unfortunately for the scavenger, the noises did not seem to stop. In fact, they seemed to become slightly louder, and more consistent. She was not alone, she was almost certain of it now. Had some raiders made their way in? If they did, she was not equipped to deal with such threats. It would be a fight she would surely lose.

The pegasus edged around in the darkness some more, creeping her way towards a door in the distance that was hopefully unlocked, and would lead her away from this predicament.

Keeping her eyes on the shadows in the distance, she made the unfortunate mistake of not watching where she was going. With a THUD, the mare ran into an old shelf, piled high with bits of rusty metal and boxes.

She yelped in surprise, taking a step backwards from the object she bumped into, and looked at it in horror as the slight tap was enough to cause it to become unbalanced, and come crashing down to the floor. The boxes, the scrap, the rusted guns all clattered to the floor loudly around her.

 

C-crap...
She stammered, staring at the mess before her with wide, terrified eyes. If the raiders did not know she was here before, they certainly did now. With her luck, the whole scene had probably echoed through the entire facility.

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

Ellieum's ears perked up as she heard the sound of crashing metallic objects echo through the building, what the hell were those two doing? "Either those two really suck at scavenging, or we have an enemy in our midst." she said to Ezekiel softly, not wanting to create any more noise. "We should probably check it out." she added and then walked in the direction the two had went.

 

Following their path she soon found herself in a room littered with various metal and wooden crates, most of them looked looted or damaged. She looked up to see the Pegasus mare surveying the area and the steel ranger trying to make his way over to what looked like a collapsed shelf, judging by his movements she could tell that somepony else had dropped the shelf. "What's going on?" she whispered to Solar, hoping she could hear her.