private FoE: Aftermath; After the Fact (1x1 with Meson Bolt)

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

"Water?" Kronos asked, "That could mean a variety of things: A mountain stream, a flowing river which could lead to a lake or estuary, or maybe even a waterfall, in which case we should be careful so as to not fall off any chasm. Nevertheless, any form of water should usually mean Mirelurks, and hopefully no Mirelurk Queens. We should try following it. If the water ends up flowing beyond a wall of stone, I'll try smashing my way through."

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray nodded, keeping an eye and ear out for any of the hideous crab creatures while venturing forward slowly. The sounds of water grew slightly louder as they moved towards what she presumed to be the center of the room.

 

The ground suddenly steepened in front of Foray, and a misstep caused by the inconsistency in the floor sent her sliding down on loose gravel towards a deep pit. Quickly flipping open her saddlebag, Foray smashed her crowbar into the dirt and hung on, her rear hooves dangling over a deep chasm.

 

Gasping quietly and catching her breath from what she'd presumed to be a close encounter with death, she gazed down into the abyss. Some sort of eerie green glow shone up from the darkness, and the sounds of water were now clearly audible. Grunting slightly, Foray climbed back up to level ground, feeling around until she found Kronos.

 

"Well ah, that was... kinda dumb of me," she smiled sheepishly, regaining her composure. "The water's down there... I'm guessing it's some sort of subterranean river... so our next step is finding a safe way down..."

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos quickly snapped his head towards Foray's direction when she fell over. In a panic, he rushed over to where she slipped to find her dangling off of a cliff with dark abyss waiting for her down below. Damn, he thought to himself, that looks really deep. He noticed that Foray shortly managed to hoist herself back up and managed to find him by herself. He sighed with relief when he knew that she was okay.

 

"Well, you saw earlier that I can fall from any altitude and land unscathed," Kronos replied to Foray, "You can hop on my back again and I'll land down there, if you'd like to try that."

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray pursed her lips in mild disgust, not desiring to again be carried like a sack of potatoes while Kronos did all the work, but despite being able to jump down from heights... this was different.

 

"...Fine, I guess," she answered reluctantly, ears lowering a bit. "Be careful though... there's something glowing down there, and it's probably radioactive. And try not to land in the water... I don't think it'd do you any good."

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos lowered himself to let Foray onto his back. Taking note of Foray's caution of the glowing in the darkness, he leaped forward and dug his claws into the wall on the other side, which rapidly slowed his downward velocity into the darkness.

 

Possibly a Glowing Mirelurk, Kronos thought as he saw the glowing spot moving, I might be able to get the jump on it. Or, actually.......

 

After Kronos got to the bottom of the wall he was grinding down, he was but a few feet off, at least that's how it looked considering that the glowing was considerably closer than it was earlier. He jumped off and lightly landed on shallow water which made a slight splash. He stopped for a moment to see if it got the attention of the glowing creature. When the glowing creature turned towards him, it confirmed his suspicion of a Glowing Mirelurk.

 

If there's a Glowing Mirelurk here, Kronos thought, then, that must mean........

 

He held his claw out towards the Mirelurk and made a few chittering sounds towards the Mirelurk. The mutant crustacean chittered back at him. It then made a motion almost like a bow towards him. Giving out a sigh of relief, Kronos told Foray, "Good, he'll show us a way out of here."

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray raised an eyebrow. "You ah... you can talk to Mirelurks?" she asked, cocking her head to the side as she climbed to the ground herself, her hooves splashing in the shallow water. "Not like I'm doubting you... I've just never heard of anypony having that ability."

 

The ground was mucky and wet, and the shallow water that covered the cavern floor was also glowing dimly with radioactivity. Without a hazard suit, it would have probably been enough to kill Foray were it not for her natural radioactive resistance.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

"Oh yeah, I forgot that I never told you nor Lupus," Kronos replied, "Yeah, I can sort of talk to most of the wasteland creatures out here. Mainly I just get them to be docile and friendly. I can't really talk to them to the extent that I can corral them up and make a natural army or whatever. I'm a cyborg, not a druid. Anyways, this Mirelurk here is gonna show us a way out of here, but it goes through heavily populated Mirelurk territory, so, uh, I have lots of advice when it comes to Mirelurk colonies. Don't go near their egg clutches, don't disturb any hatchlings, don't agitate any normals, Razorcalws, Killclaws, Kings or Queens, Softshells won't really do anything when they see a higher ranking Mirelurk like this guy here escorting us through here, keep you weapons holstered and try not to stare at any of the Mirelurks, they take staring as a challenge. Well, with that out of the way, lead the way, Mirelurk."

Edited December 2, 2016 by Kronos the Revenant

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

"Right... sounds completely safe," Foray retorted quietly, plodding along behind Kronos as he followed the strange creature to... wherever it was taking them.

 

But I am gonna keep my weapons ready, she thought. Who knows, this Mirelurk could be taking us to its colony as prey...

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

As they were escorted out through the colony, it was exactly as what Kronos expected. It was filled with egg clutches, some looking like they're about to hatch, and sure enough, there were Mirelurks of all kinds down there. There were Softshells, Normals, Razorclaws, Killclaws and even Kings. It didn't surprise him that there were no Queens around considering that the area that they were in was too small for a Queen to maneuver around. As they trudged through, all the Mirelurks in there looked their way and screeched towards them, but they didn't advance towards them; rather, they went closer to their egg clutches as if they were guarding them. A few Mirelurks went up to them, some of them were immediately turned away when their escort screeched at them and some managed to get a sniff at either Kronos or Foray. As they passed, some of the eggs hatched and the Hatchlings skittered towards them. Most of them were herded back by other surrounding Mirelurks, others managed to latch onto Kronos.

 

"Hey," Kronos laughed as he tried to get the Hatchlings off of his arms and legs, "Get off, you jittery little critters, that tickles." The hatchlings eventually latched off of Kronos and back to their nesting areas to which Kronos replied "Ahh, Mirelurks. Aren't they just magnificient, Foray? This is an example of how even wasteland creatures that seem feral have the mindset of colonists. It's basic primitive instinct that drives these seemingly abnormal creatures and it's what we all have in common: Primal instincts."

 

They eventually reached what looked like a constructed pathway of some kind. The Mirelurk turned towards Kronos and chittered at him.

 

"Uh huh, mm hmm," Kronos replied before turning towards Foray, "He says that this is as far as he and the other Mirelurks go in terms of territory. The Mirelurks apparently call this The Passage of Fire on account of what they interpret as 'beings with tools that spew fire and strike with the force of Kings'. I'm gonna go off on a limb here and say that there's basically a little Raider encampment just beyond here somewhere." Kronos chittered back at their escort and the Mirelurk parted away from them without a hitch. When that was over with, Kronos asked Foray, "Well, you wanna lead the way?"

Edited December 2, 2016 by Kronos the Revenant

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray's eyes and ears were down as she passed through the Mirelurk colony, ready at any moment's notice to draw her weapon and gun them down if they made any hostile moves. Fortunately they didn't, and the ponies were able to pass through peacefully.

 

Yes, Kronos, Foray replied in her head, though she didn't dare speak out loud. Mirelurks are many things, but magnificent is definitely not one of them.

 

She didn't hate the creatures, she just didn't believe they were sentient. She'd heard of beast tamers before, but the Mirelurks she knew were nothing more than savage hunters. In fact, she'd heard rumors of a beast tamer who was killed by his own Mirelurks while attempting to tame them, so she was more than skeptical about Kronos' interpretation of the weird chattering.

 

Force of kings, huh? Sounds cheesy... nevertheless, if there are raiders down here, I'll have to protect headcrab-lover here...

 

Taking the lead, still silent so as not to disturb the Mirelurks, Foray plodded on ahead through the glowing stream.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos followed Foray at a respectable distance. As he followed, his mind wandered off into the complexity of the Mirelurk colony they just passed by.

 

If only we saw a Queen back there, Kronos thought to himself, That would've been a wondrous stroll through such a beautiful colony.

 

When they went further into the passageway, Kronos noticed that Foray was silent despite being far away enough from the Mirelurk colony. In an attempt to break the awkward silence, he pondered what he should say. After careful consideration, he finally said, "So, uhh, Foray, what did you think of those Mirelurks back there?" He subtly bit his lip, knowing that instead of breaking the awkward silence, he just made things more awkward, again.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray thought for a moment, trying to think of something positive to say. She'd seen colony-building creatures before -- specifically the deathroaches that infected Stable 105 -- and she wasn't a fan.

 

"Well, ah... they were a lot more peaceful than I thought," she replied, forcing a weak smile. "Kinda expected us to end up as dinner, but... well, we didn't." She stopped for a moment and thought. "The hatchlings were kinda cute too."

 

Turning away and biting her lip, she chided herself internally for spewing such a bold-faced lie.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

"Oh, okay, well, there's a few things we at least can agree on," Kronos awkwardly replied, "So, umm, I know that I've asked this stupid question before we kinda fell, but now that we have this new sort of pathway that we're going through, do you know where we're going from here?"

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face and replying, "Well, I do have an idea. There's a lake near Fetlock named Moonlight Lake, and it's known for glowing dimly at nighttime." She glanced down at the glowing water they were trudging through. "I'll bet this stream flows into it. It's only about a day's hike from the lake to Fet-"

 

She was cut off by an involuntary yawn, her body reminding her that she hadn't slept much the previous night.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos raised an eyebrow at Foray's yawning. It was yet another case of sleep deprivation from her.

 

She's very committed to what she does, Kronos thought, Which is very admirable, don't get yourself wrong, but a tired Wastelander might as well be a dead one. We both need to rest. I wonder if there are some close Raider encampments around here.

 

"Hey, Foray," Kronos told her, "We should get some rest somewhere. Maybe we can find a small Raider encampment around here, clear it out and spend a night there so that we're both well rested for the rest of the way."

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Foray trudged on silently for a few minutes, thinking.

 

"It's probably still early morning... let's get out of this tunnel first and rest at the exit. When we continue, we can follow this stream to Moonlight Lake and spend the night there," she suggested, not particularly in the mood to fight raiders.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

"Alright then," Kronos replied, "If you say so. You're the one leading since you know your way around here."

 

Hmm, Kronos thought while looking at his partner's condition, She does seem pretty beat up as is. I don't think she needs another Raider fight to aggravate her current condition. She's right, though, the safest time to rest is when we're out of here.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

Again the pair continued forward, the glowing stream illuminating them dimly, whilst also growing wider and deeper, but continuing straight forward.

 

Strange how it hasn't made a single turn yet... like it was carved out of rock on purpose.

 

It wasn't long until Foray heard the sound of a more rapid flow of water.

 

"Hear that?" she asked. "Sounds like the end of the tunnel to me. If those Mirelurks are anything to go by, we'd best keep alert."

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos looked forward, trying to listen attentively for whatever sounded like an end of a tunnel. Such a noise wasn't really too familiar to him, just the sight of the end of a tunnel was what he could recognize.

 

Welp, Kronos thought, If she could hear it, then it must be there.

 

Kronos looked at and nodded at Foray following her command to remain alert, followed by scanning the area as they trekked forward.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

As they continued forward, sounds of what seemed to be a waterfall grew louder, as well as the sound of a rushing wind. Foray raised her hoof, signaling for a halt.

 

On one side of the stream, an alcove was illuminated by a dimly flickering light, and voices could be heard echoing from there.

 

"Sounds like raiders," Foray whispered. "We'd do well to avoid them... just stay quiet..."

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos nodded and kept his claw over his weapons just in case and attempted to tread lightly behind Foray. As much as he was itching for a fight, he didn't want to agitate his partner any further than he already did after his previous antics at the shack that lead them into the current predicament they were in.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

As the two continued further, the sound of rushing water grew louder, and soon the exit of the tunnel was near. The glowing water was gushing out of what appeared to be a hole in a mountain, though where the waterfall ended was unsure.

 

Her full attention taken by the alcove containing the raiders, Foray wasn't watching where she was going, stepping on a clay-covered cobblestone that slipped out from beneath her, causing her to keel into the stream with a splash. Quickly she righted herself but feared that she'd attracted attention.

 

"Shit!"

 

"Quiet! Did you hear that?" a voice came from the alcove.

 

A moment of silence followed. Even the flowing stream and crashing falls seemed to go quiet.

 

"There's something over there, go check it out!"

 

"Quick, down!" Foray hissed, not even waiting for Kronos to follow through with her order as she pulled him into a crouching position.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

When he was scrambled onto the ground by Foray, Kronos motioned his arm into mashing a few buttons on his console to bring his body into stealth mode, which rendered his joints inaudible and his steps light, although given their current position, that seems a little bit useless now. As the gears and pistons in his body went silent, he switched the current weapon in his free arm with a rifle, then hastily tried to screw on a suppressor to it, with a little struggling, but it was managed. He then turned his silenced weapon towards the front, waiting for the bandit or bandits to show their faces out.

 

In the silence, Kronos chuckled to himself and thought, So, this time I'M not the one who screwed up trying to get past Raiders. Still, we need to try to wait them out, and I still have my weapon drawn out. Just. In. Case.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

It wasn't long before a trio of raiders appeared at the entrance to the alcove, their heavy rifles pointed in the direction of the river, and barrel-mounted flashlights scanning for anything moving. Foray crouched low, her small form hidden by Kronos' large bulk, but it wasn't long until one of the lights illuminated her companion.

 

"Silver!" somepony shouted, and the three ponies quickly ducked behind the cavern walls. "There's a Levi here!" A moment later a few shots rang out at the two, missing wildly.

 

Foray quickly drew her pistol, firing into the dirt in front of the alcove. She was trying to keep the raiders at bay for a few moments as she relayed her plan to Kronos.

 

"Listen carefully..." she hissed quietly, though she'd climbed up onto his shoulder and was speaking directly into his ear so there was no way he couldn't listen. "These guys aren't normal raiders. They WILL end you if you don't do exactly what I tell you."

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

Kronos moved his eyes towards his companion, both in attention towards her instructions and in confusion of her actions. 

 

They will END me? Kronos thought to himself amusingly, Hehehe, it'll take a lot more than a few Raiders to waste me, but I'll listen for her sake. Also, so much for stay silent. I personally thought I was the one that was gonna draw their attention, not her. Hehehe, I guess we all aren't perfect.

 

With that thought, Kronos replied, "Okay, what do you need me to do to get us out of this mess?"

Edited December 21, 2016 by Kronos the Revenant