[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1

[Chaotic Bob]

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

"Not really," is the correct answer.

"It's calmer," is the answer that comes out of Down's helmet.

"Barring military exercises, it is a very tranquil world, compared to this one. Bright and soft...happier."
Sparing a glance up at the clouds above for only a moment, she spends the rest of the time scanning over the ruins around them.
"Most things are made from the clouds, so we have no ruins to scar our world. Most"
Don't even know what ruins look like, how bad this world really is.
" citizens are content."

It isn't the most flowery, or indepth, but it is definitely an answer to the question. An answer that seems to have bled off some of the pegasus' nervousness, to boot.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting

Lucky drops altitude, practically hugging the wall of a ruined skyscraper as he descends to get a better look at what's going on.

Hopefully he doesn't attract any unwanted attention, manticore or otherwise.



---

MoM - Ground Floor

"Medic!" Sprinkles growls, "holstering" the party cannon. "Griffin's in need of a potion! 'Bout had his heart klunked."

[Rebonack]

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

Getting closer now. Passing by the old Fourstar office complex. Oddly enough the front of the building looks shot up. Not just burned like most of the buildings around here, but actually shot up. As if there had been a fire fight in there.

Weird, right?

Might that be something worth caring about? Swiss doesn't seem to think so.

The negative reply to her first question results in the changeling sticking her tongue out at Down. Happens to be a totally normal looking pony tongue. "It sounds nice. Maybe a bit boring. But nice. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to trade boring for living in constant threat of horrible dismemberment. Shot, irradiated, eaten. And that's not even considering what Taint does to a changeling."

She involuntarily shudders.

Before she can elaborate though-

"Hey Swiss! Come down here and check this out!" calls Rye.

[Manehatten Scouting]

Yep. Looks like there's a stright up battle going on between ponies and manticores down there. Ponies are winning, but still... It isn't pretty.

Buuuut...

Wait, what's this?

Off in the distance Lucky should be able to spot a pair of pegasi flying toward Tenpony Tower. Details are hard to make out at this distance, but one of them is almost certainly wearing a suit of glossy black armor.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

"Boring..."
Down's never really thought of it that way, and it shows in her trailing tone.
It's suddenly getting thought about now.

"Maybe. 'Peaceful' or 'safe' are nicer words for it. But I guess if you're used to this place down here, 'boring' might be accurate."
She shrugs a bit, the motion giving her a slight raise in altitude as her wings flick a bit harder.
"I'd rather it stay that way."

The Enclave is possibly the last, stable society in Equestria, having persevered these two centuries where others have risen and fallen.
Down can't even imagine that changing.


But before those thoughts go much further, or are threatened by Swiss going into some else unpleasant, Rye makes his call.

Adjusting her gaze to follow the voice, she makes no move to follow, but is nonetheless curious.

[Lycan 01]

Scouting Manehatten

Lucky's eyes go wide. "No..." he mutters.

His heart begins to hammer in his chest.

Was this for real? Was that really...?

Why. Why would the Enclave be here. They're not supposed to be on the surface. They don't-

The other pegasus. With no armor. A normal pegasus, flanked by one of those bug-armored bastards. Were they an officer? A VIP? A Dash-ite? Or a hostage? Had a strike team been sent to recover them, had they just been happened upon by chance, or were they a part of the strike team itself?

Lucky knows what the Enclave do to surface-dwelling pegasi. Nearly being branded by a pack of Enclave troopers is pretty damn high on his list of "life experiences I don't ever want to repeat again." He still had nightmares about it. Granted... he had nightmares about a lot of things.

Lucky has a rather tortured soul. But that other pegasus was probably being led of for real torture. And Lucky couldn't just sit back and let that happen. "Damn this new conscience..." he growls to himself, before zipping off towards the winged figures in the distance.

He's not dumb enough to approach directly, though. He sticks close to the ruins of the ancient skyscrapers, using their twisted girders and warped wreckage as cover and concealment as he slowly flutters closer.

He keeps his sniper rifle firmly held in hoof, but not leveled. If they happen to spot him, he'd rather not give them a good reason to shoot him...

"Luna, Goddess of Night, cover me in shadow that mine foes may be deceived..." the pegasus quietly intones as he does his best to be a sneaky little bastard. "Let the shadows hide me, guide me, and keep me safe from harm..."

[Benson]

-snip-

"SURPRISE!"

One more alicorn down.

One left.

The remaining blue kicks in her stealth and absconds the hell out of there. No reason to let these bodies be destroyed if no good will come of it.

Sven is gasping and generally looking uncomfortable, but he's managed to lift himself back to his feet again. Probably going to recover. Probably could also use a potion.

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale- Elevator-Ground Floor-Bucked- 1:45 PM

Fox Trot

"That...was close...thank goodness for superior fire weapons, and numbers to wield them," I let out a sigh of relief and fished for a potion and gave it to Sven. "Here, take it, don't die, that would be no bueno."

[Manehatten Near Stable 29]

The cub is buffeted away! The creature is so weak and emaciated that it offers little resistance to being shooed by the griffon. It mewls pathetically.

Apparently the back-half of Gwen smells liony enough that the monster sees her less as a food source and more as someone to get food from.

[Manehatten Near Stable 29]

"Boys, you two keep moving on ahead I'll watch your backs," Whenever they did collect themselves and follow her order, she would quickly dart her eyes and head around to make sure they or no one was looking.

She would then fish for a piece of raw iguana meat rations she kept in a waxy paper and casually toss it to the manticore cub.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Killed Alicorns of Morale

Alright, that still wasn't an ideal position to fire from, so Whadda absorbs a little more recoil. Needless to say, it's going to leave a bruise. Also nose bleeding. Scoops wipes some blood off and notes the gingerness of that. All-in-all some minor injuries not worth wasting a potion on.

"Not used to firing enchanted guns. Makes it kick doesn't it?"
A beat.
"Also my everything hurts."

[Rebonack]

[At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

"Okay, yeah," Swiss laughs, giving a weird sounding snort in the process. "Peaceful would probably be better. There are probably all sorts of fun non-lethal things to do up there, right?"

Like watching the sunset.

That has GOT to be amazing.

Anyhoof!

Down the changeling flies and lands next to Rye. The earth pony mare is examining the bullet holes in the glass. "Murderous intent without malice," she says somewhat cryptically. "Probably turrets and robots. What do you make of it Allomyrina?"

The changeling frowns. "Well, off-hoof I think I've fought enough killer robots today. Maybe we could check it out later? But if you want a more technical reply?"

She looks the building up and down. Then examines the electronic lock. "This place is on lockdown. High security stuff. Way higher security than makes sense for some random office building. This is Ministry Hub level. You know anything about 'Fourstar' Sour?"

The ghoul pony shrugs. "They ran the train systems through most of Equestria. Not much beyond that."

As for Lucky...

He gets closer!

Nopony seems to see him.

Aside from the Enclave solider... A white unicorn with a pink mane. An earth pony in some heavy armor. A brown earth pony mare in reinforced stable barding. The golden-yellow pegasus wearing nothing aside from a pair of saddle bags. And... a robot of some kind?

Quite the motley crew. The yellow pegasus seems to be checking out a lock on an office building.

[Near Stable 29]

As soon as the iguana meat is tossed the manticore cub pounces on it and begins tearing into the food with the gusto only summoned up by days of hunger.

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

He'll probably be at it for a while.

[Ministry of Morale Ground Floor]

Sven takes the potion with a muttered, "Thanks," and chugs it in one pull. That should fix him up right and proper!

When Scoops makes her comment about the rifle she'll find Surprise bouncing along. Like... literally bouncing. "Yupper duppers! Going Away Party kicks as hard as one of Pinkie's all-nighters! I'm going to go catch up with that other alicorn. She still hasn't told me what her favorite color is yet and I've got a great surprise for her! Everypony go on ahead, I'll catch up!"

And with that she bounces right out the front door!

Should anyone follow they'll find that she is mysteriously absent outside.

Sven just shakes his head. "Okay. I believe you that she's an assassin now."

[Chaotic Bob]

[At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

She kind of hoped it was something other than all the bullet holes...

Down was hoping she could get away with just keeping an eye out for trouble while they passed by...
But noooooo, apparently these insane ponies have a severe case of the FATAL CURIOSITY.

"Is...this the time? We have an escortee and have already brushed death more than once today.
If we linger here, we may not just brush by it."
Which...is the actual reason she doesn't want to investigate this.

It isn't safe, they're not in top form, and they have a non-combatant.
Several reasons to avoid combat or even something that smells dangerous.


Which...is why she's now looking around a little more worriedly.
Down flies up a little bit higher, expanding her viewing angle accordingly.

No surprises.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-round Floor- 1:49 PM

Fox Trot

My eyes, a little too busy bugging out a little bit that I missed out on a chance to reply to Whadda with a playful comeback out of habit. It was set up for me and everything!

"Cool...Right...we'll just head on out..." I glanced to the side and moved forward. But my mouth does find something for me to say to Whadda Scoops that isn't flirty. "Well.....when we get back to the Scav Post....I'll make sure a nice relatively comfy bed is waiting for you, and a cup of coffee."
=====

Near Stable 29-Manehatten

It was admittedly very cute, for something that would grow into a pony and griffon eating monster with very poisonous venom. Gwendolyn watched the manticore cub for a moment before moving on and following after Flim and Flam and their two headed beast of burden.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting

Lucky blinks dumbly a few times as he peeks out from behind some warped metal jutting off a ruined office building.

Enclave pony. Plus... band of mercenaries? And a creepy robot wearing sunglasses?

"What the buck?" Lucky quietly whispers to himself. "Okay, this is weird..."

Maybe they were a Dash-ite? Or a renegade? Or maybe they were on a special secret mission, and how hired a band of mercs to help them? This was utterly confusing. And scary. So many possibilities, so many worrying implications...

And then the Enclave trooper flies higher. And gets a better view of everything. Possibly including him. "Shi-" he hisses, before quickly ducking into what was probably the 13th floor of a ruined office building. He slowly picks his way through the wreckage, looking for an old office table or desk he can hide behind. He figures if he hides for a bit, they'll eventually fly away, and then he can zip off. He just needs to be carefully not to step on or knock over anything, and then find a good hiding place...



---
Manehatten Merchants

Flim and Flam trot on ahead to the next intersection, and wait for Miss Gwendolyn to catch up. They don't want to move too far ahead without her...



---
MoM Ground Floor

Sergeant Sprinkles chuckles darkly, and begins to hover towards the front door. "Oh, you think that was impressive? Heh. She's still got plenty of surprises..."

[Rebonack]

[At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

"See?" Swiss says as she waves a hoof at Down. "She totally agrees with me! No killer robots twice in one day."

"But if there's high security then there MUST be something worth protecting in there!" Rye complains.

"I believe," Sour interjects. "That whatever is inside will be able to wait for a day. If it has lasted these past two hundred years then I'm sure it can sit while we recover."

The earth pony mare huffs. "Fine... Let's go..."

And then they're off once more toward Tenpony! Swiss flashes her snaggle-toothed smile at Down. "Thanks for the backup! Rye has got a real scavenger's eye. Hard to dissuade her sometimes when she gets a whiff of loot. Gets a little dumb about it now and again."

"I heard that cheese-for legs!"

[Near Stable 29]

Aaaaaaand it looks like they're off again!

...with a new follower.

The manticore cub picks up what remains of the meat and begins bounding after the griffon. You know what they say about feeding wild animals...

[Chaotic Bob]

[Towards Tenpony Once More]

Down didn't do it to support Swiss...but it is highly unlikely the changeling cares.
"I'm not sure it should be investigated at all, if it has managed to last this long. There's a reason for that."
Either it's a really, really tough nut to crack.

Or it's guarded by something really, really nasty.

"But if it needs to be checked out...it's better to be ready."
There's a little pause in here somewhere.
"Rye is probably right though."

She lowers her altitude a bit, now that they're moving, but continues to keep an eye out...just in case.

[Manehatten Scouting]

Lucky zooms into the building!

Phew, that was close. Doesn't look like that Enclave soldier noticed him.

They're even moving on again! Evidently he's in the clear.


A faint trail of wind billows through behind the pegasus as he finds a good desk to hide behind!
There's also a slight creaking noise afterwards, as a light cup falls off the other side of the desk, and a tink as it lands on something metallic on the other side.

"Beep."

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting

Down will hear a scream of surprise and terror. It sounds like it's coming from the 13th floor of an old office building right behind her. The scream will be followed by a stream of yelling and swearing and incoherent babble.

A few short seconds later, a brown pegasus with a dark brown mane and tail will frantically fly out of the shattered windows. He's wearing a black leather vest and desperado cowboy hat, has bandages all over his face and hooves, has a rifle-armed battle saddle strapped to his sides, and has a sniper rifle clutched in his hooves. His saddle bags conceal whatever cutie mark he may or may not have.

And a split second after he flies out of the window, an explosion rips through the building. A wall of flame chases after the pegasus, but he manages to escape it with naught more than a few singed hairs and some superficial shrapnel wounds.

"HAH!!" the pegasus laughs triumphantly, spinning around to point his rifle at the burning windows. He's just about to say something else, when suddenly a larger, more powerful explosion rips through the building. It gives off a massive shockwave, which rattles the entire building and demolishes the majority of the 13th floor.

The ensuing wall of force rips through the side of the building, and smashes into the pegasus. He is subsequently hurled like a feathery ragdoll all the way across the street and into an adjacent building, shattering a window and disappearing into the darkened structure.

What an unlucky fellow...




---

Manehatten Merchant Misadventures

Flim and Flam both smile when they see Gwnedolyn. Then the frown. "Um, Miss Gwendolyn..." Flim raises a hoof.

"What's that behind you?" Flam asks warily.

There's a small boom a few blocks over. The boys don't think much of it.

[Benson]

Manehatten Manticore Cubs Madness

Gwendolyn slowly turned around with a light beak grimace and wide eyes. "Aww crap..."


She forced the fakest smile and looked down the little manticore cub. Even emaciated it was still kinda cute. Did it just mew? D'aawwww....no ack!

"Hey...little...uh..your gender..." She gave a pointless tilt of her head. "Shoo...go away..." She lamely said and made the shoo gesture. It was probably too late.....Gwendolyn did just show herself to be a provider of food, and why would a little starving kitten cub shoo away from the provider of yummy meat? Gwendolyn paid no heed to the explosion off in the distance either. That was an expected thing considering what was seen earlier.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-round Floor- 1:49 PM

Fox Trot

My eyes, a little too busy bugging out a little bit that I missed out on a chance to reply to Whadda with a playful comeback out of habit. It was set up for me and everything!

"Cool...Right...we'll just head on out..." I glanced to the side and moved forward. But my mouth does find something for me to say to Whadda Scoops that isn't flirty. "Well.....when we get back to the Scav Post....I'll make sure a nice relatively comfy bed is waiting for you, and a cup of coffee."

Manehatten - Outside the Ministry

Fox better watch out, combining earlier flirty behavior with seeming genuine empathy. Scoops is just short of an awkward blush, but manages to keep it together. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to talk to the powers that be, find a secure communication line, and all that fun jazz. Oh, and I think we may be able to get you something out of this whole ordeal if you claim you'd like a reward for your 'continued silence' about what happens."

The mare then gets out her communicator. She bumps her nose against the side of the saddlebag though. Still hurts a bit. "Speaking of which....

IO3 to command, primary package secure, multiple secondary objectives. Request secure line for debrief."

[Rebonack]

[At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

"You've got to understand Down, we don't get paid for just doing nice things for the Wasteland," Swiss explains. "We need to make our money somehow and salvage is usually our best bet. That building is on full lockdown still. Nopony has gotten IN since the bombs fell. That means a strong possibility of loot."

And killer robots. Oh! And speaking of killer things there's an explosion or two!

"Sure have been lots of explosions today," Rye comments, looking up at Swiss.

"Eeeyup," Corn agrees.

"That one wasn't my fault!" the changeling yells down at them. "But it was a pretty nice explosion. I think that blast just launched a pegasus into another building. You don't see many of those around."

Aside from current company of course. "One of us should probably go up there and check on her or him. Make sure she didn't get impaled on some exposed rebar or something," Swiss muses, giving her wings a flap. "I'll sneak my way in, keep the Glamor cranked up to eleven. Hopefully he won't even notice me."

And without waiting for a reply Swiss starts winging her way toward the shattered window.

[Near Stable 29]

Gwen makes shooing motions at the cub!

The cub playfully bats at her talons!

Yeah... getting rid of the animal now that she has fed it is probably going to be difficult. Assuming they don't just shoot it and eat it.

[Outside the Ministry of Morale]

Seems pretty well clear of threatening things out here! Unless one counts the dilapidated city in general. A building falling on top of a pony could be pretty threatening after all. Surprise is still absent. But she'll probably show up again at the most comically opportune moment possible.

"Read you IO3. Encrypting the channel now," repeats the nasally voice of a stallion on the other side.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Oh Look, Distracted Again]

There's an ominous rumbling from the building that just exploded, as the upper portions of it begin to list to one side.

Hmm. That probably isn't good.


Meanwhile, Down seems to be of mixed opinions and thoughts about this situation.

That was a pretty big explosion, which...usually doesn't happen for no real good reason. That would be ridiculous.
So what caused it?

And why was a pegasus in there?
...why is the pegasus down here? Unfortunate Dash-ite? Child of a Dash-ite? Just a stray?

"Hmm."
Without much of a word otherwise, Down begins following Swiss at a distance.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Outside the Ministry of Morale- 1:53 PM

Fox Trot

It was nice getting fresh air...relatively fresh air. It beat the moldy stuffiness of inside, though, the SUPER SECRET SUB BASEMENTS were alright. Wait what?

I glanced at Whadda again. "My 'continued silence' about what exactly here? Just so that I'm clear." My mind briefly wondered where Surprise was at now....but she'd likely ending up popping out of my beautiful wavy locks.
======

Outside Manehatten near/past Stable 29

Damn that was cute. Gwendolyn lamely tried again. She'd probably give up soon and resign herself to a manticore cub following her. "Go on, skedaddle, go find your mama or something." But Gwenny...you're its mama now :P

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Outside the Ministry

"Well due to various reasons that I'm not being told of because things, I'm 99% sure that command's not wanting ponies to go running around bragging about what happened here. Might be a present in there for you if you keep it on the low."

All of the sudden Scoops is in serious bsns mode. It can be seen with her body language and her sudden change of tone of voice. Obviously, this communication needs to be understood. That means no comedic intrusions by, oh, an insane pegasus for example. She switches back on to broadcast on her communicator.

"Heavy casualties in objective group. Large data recovery, need uplink. Source: late-war pipbuck. Ten Alphas taken down, confirmed 3 personal. Exfil: one talon, Codename Rhonin, sapient ministry guardian, living high-ranking ministry combat operative."

[Lycan 01]

MoM Hub - Ground Floor

Sergeant Sprinkles hovers up behind Scoops. His optical units are not cheerful neon pink.

They are blood-red.

"Miss Ranger," he states flatly. "I respect you, and I appreciate all the hard work you've done. But you are not taking me and Miss PV to meet your Ranger friends. I know what they're like, and I know how they operate. And I refuse to let you take Miss PV in for tea and cookies and scientific dissection on an operating table. And don't try to tell me that won't happen, because you and I both know how Steel Rangers treat sufficiently advanced technology," he growls, his synthetic voice a low smoulder of rage.


---

Manehatten Merchant Caravan

Flim and Flam stare in bemusement for a moment, before laughing.

"It thinks your its momma," Flim chuckles.

"How cute," Flam snickers.





---

Manehatten Scouting and Demolitions

Lucky opens his eyes, and tries to figure out where he is.

It seems he smashed his way into an office building, and violently plowed a path across the floor. Several desks and cubicles have been utterly destroyed, leaving a wide swath of clear space in his wake. Well, mostly clear. His saddle-bags apparently fell open during the crash landing, leaving a variety of food and medical items strewn in a trail leading straight to him. His sniper rifle is hanging from the ceiling, the strap having apparently gotten caught on an old ceiling fan. Which promptly reactivating, leaving his weapon slowly arcing around in a lazy mid-air circle. And his hat is perched atop an old imitation potted plant.

And where is Lucky himself?

He's crumpled against an old section of drywall, sprawled out upside down with his head and shoulders on the floor and his lower body up in the air. "I'm... alive?" he mutters, blinking the stars from his eyes. "Wait, I'm actually okay? I'm not crippled or concussed or dying? What.... how... why....?"

And then he notices the Rainbow Dash statuette. It apparently fell out of the old jacket he wrapped it in, bounced across the floor... and is now resting on its base right next to his face. Lucky stares at the Ministry Mare's smiling visage, which is level with his own bandaged face. He looks down at the inscription. Be Awesome!

"Heh. That's awesome," the battered pegasus grins.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Arguments of Morale

Oh... well Scoops had made the 'not alive' mistake earlier with Sprinkles, so he's right about himself. She has faith in the command structure that they wouldn't do something stupid like killing Surprise.

Also she may or may not still be broadcasting. Her voice sort of waivers. "They wouldn't do that... there's so much Surprise can tell us. They wouldn't throw so much knowledge away..."

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

"I know, right?" comes a voice from none too far away. Apparently Swiss noticed that Lucky's weapons were strewn all over the place and decided that being overly stealthy wasn't at all necessary. "That explosion was definitely awesome. You must have set off a whole network of mines. And the way you crashed through the window like a missile? HA! Not going to forget that soon!"

Should Lucky look toward the source of the voice he'll see a golden-yellow pegasus grinning at him. She's moving at a measured pace. Not really cautious. Nor overconfident. But the sort of walk that one would use when... well... walking pretty much anywhere. The yellow pegasus seems pretty casual about all of this.

"You don't have the Crazy Eye of a Raider. And judging from your dangly gun," she gestures at the rifle with a wing. "I would guess either a well equipped merc or scavenger? The latter would explain what you're doing poking around in decaying towers. So! How about we do some introductions? I'm Swiss Cheese, demolitions expert of the illustrious Team Ruben Sandwich GO! Maybe you've heard DJ Pon3 mention us before? Now it's your turn mister lucky pegasus. Who are you?"

[Outside Stable 29]

More shooing motions results in renewed and equally playful batting.

Aaww...dat kitteh...

And his parents are likely dead. Lots of manticore killing has been going on of late. Poor thing is without a doubt orphaned. Trying to raise it may or may not be wise. Manticores are pretty dangerous after all. Unless you're Fluttershy. But noone here is Fluttershy at the moment.

[Outside the Ministry of Morale]

Oh hey!

Voices!

There's some muttering from the other side of the line. No doubt talking about Scoops' waffling and Sprinkle's comments. This is all shortly followed by, "Please confirm. You have a living Ministry of Morale operative? Not a ghoul? How was he or she preserved?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

For better or worse...once Swiss is heard actively talking and revealing herself, Down flies over and lands just inside the window.

It can't possibly be a bad thing to have an Enclave soldier land nearby, while you're disarmed.

As usual, it is impossible to tell what she's thinking from facial expressions, but she's sounding cautiously concerned.
"Are they alright, Swiss?"

[Lycan 01]

MoM Hub - Morale Quandaries

Sergeant Sprinkles stares into Scoops' eyes with his own optical sensors. The feeling is likely quite unnerving.

"You're right," he quietly whispers. "They wouldn't throw such knowledge away. Not when there's so much they can learn from it."

He idly waves a claw at the radio, gesturing for her to keep talking.



---

Manehatten Merchant Mischief

Flim and Flam both go "Awwww."

"It's so cute," Flim grins.

"Minus the whole 'rawr I wanna eat your face' thing," Flam shrugs.



---

Awkward Introductions

Lucky blinks a few times, trying to grasp what he was seeing. Another pegasus, casually approaching him, and introducing herself. Swiss Cheese, of Team Ruben Sandwitch GO!, apparently.

"If you can believe it," he cracks a smile, "My name is actually Lucky Break. And yeah, I'm something of a scavenger, doing a bit of merc work on the side. And-"

And then Down speaks up.

"And I'm totally about to die, aren't I?" Lucky deadpans.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Arguments of Morale

Not sure if about to get buzz-saw'd, court marshal'd, or something else entirely... Whadda needs to take a moment before responding. She's not exactly an officer but being out in the field may make the mare listened to.

"Alive, sir. Cybernetics and stasis. Advise: a scribe might like to get in touch with her over radio comms."

[TheAmishPirate]

[Outskirts of Girdershade - And we don't wear inskirts either!]

Soon enough, the band of four ponies reached the town's (if two houses could be called a town) borders. No sign of Bucky yet, so far so good.

Fleetwing took a moment to re-organize his bags, placing the sodas all in the main pouches, and his personals in the side pockets. If Fizz was even half as excited as he thought she'd be, then it seemed a wise precaution to move the things he didn't want tossed around the room. "Alright; I'm going t'go over t'Fizz's house and drop these here off. Once we've got the grenade schematics, we can look them over in the shed." He shouldered both packs and nodded in readiness to the group. "Anypony else fancy coming with?"

[Tag: Purity, Luka, Oblivion]

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

"Wait, really? Your name is 'Lucky'? HAHAHAHA!" the pegasus laughs hysterically for a few moments. There's something off about it. Not just the tone, but how wide her mouth is, too. A faint crackle of green and suddenly it feels much more comfortable to just ignore those nagging details. Obviously she's a normal pony and nothing more. "I guess that's what you could call us. Scavengers, mercs, and part time make the Wasteland a better place...ers..."

Something like that. Comments from Down come next! "He's totally unscratched. This guy has to be either the most lucky or the most unlucky pony ever. And get this! His name is 'Lucky Break' too!"

When Lucky speaks up again Swiss looks downright baffled. She flutters her wings slightly. "Uuhh... I guess everypony has to die some day? I doubt it'll have anything to do with us if that's what you're implying. OH! That's Down Feather."

The goldenrod pegasus nods at the armor clad pony behind her. "We just ran across her this morning. Since then we've saved one of my friends, possibly found the original DJ Pon3 in brainbot form, blew up a stable full of killer robots, and squashed an infestation of giant wasps. Quite the eventful day, eh?" she grins a rather snaggle-toothed grin.

Again the green crackle. Pay no attention to those teeth. They're obviously a trick of the light. No normal pony has teeth like that. And Swiss is clearly a normal pony.

[Outside the Ministry of Morale]

Silence from the other end of the line. Of the stunned sort.

"Cybernetics? And a high-level Ministry of Morale combat operative? She was probably in the Steel Pony project then... With the terrible luck the Hoofington Chapter has had capturing the one that calls itself 'Deus' this might be our lucky break," wow! He sounds pretty excited on the other end of the line! "IO3, you are to secure the cyberpony by any means necessary and deliver her to Buckland Cross for study and archiving. I believe a promotion may be in order fo-"

"HIYA! I'm Surprise Party!" comes another voice over the radio. An absolutely unmistakable one. "Ooooh! Are you talking with Scoopy? HIYA SCOOPY! This place is pretty neat for a post-apocalyptic wasteland!"

"How the HELL did you get in here!?" the star paladin swears. "Guards! We have a MMPH!"

Followed by a muffled choking sound that could only be a pony getting force-fed a cupcake. Then thrashing about. Stomping around. Ponies galloping. More than a little gunfire. Party poppers and noise makers filling the air with good cheer. And all the while Surprise going, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The radio goes dead.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Arguments of Morale

And that's where the brain snap happens. It's not the fact that Ranger encrypted comms have been breached, traced, and attacked. Instead, well, she was just ordered to do something with a 99% of killing her.

After being ordered blind into somepony else's grey-op. Alone.
And this order was to do something horrible and end with dead friends.
The kind of order disobeying would have meant an immediate firing squad.


So the mare just kind of stands there not thinking anything or moving.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

...completely unscratched?
How?

Down is more curious now, and steps further into the room, moving around Swiss to get a better view of Mister Lucky Break.
There's a thoughtful flick of her bladed tail, as her gaze settles rather simply on his flank. A quiet "hmm".

"Calm down, Swiss. Do you bear down on every new pony like this?"
Probably.
"He's likely distressed enough without having to process a million words per minute."
Faint humor again?

Another thoughtful tail flick and she shifts her gaze up to his face.
"Speaking of, what just happened, 'Lucky Break'?"