Celestia's Finest: The Wasteland Wailers

[Miltonian]

Love wins the first hand, more by luck than anything. Card Ace smiles and accepts the defeat and starts dealing out another round. "Anypony else care to join? We can switch to a different game. One that allows more players."

Green Pine nods to Brazen. "You could say you inspired a lotta ponies, especially in the guard."

At Rose's question, Angel winces. "A little bit," she says with a wry chuckle, "But they were old when they had me and have since passed on. I don't want to say much more because it's not good to speak ill of the dead."

Sniper's question causes them to exchange quizzical glances. "Well, two of us can fly," Ace says, "So no problems so far."

Corby sighs. "I knew her as any of the Lunar Guard knew her. She was our supreme commander. Those of us in Canterlot just got to see more of her, that's all. Specially the ones in the palace like I was." To the blade, she shakes her head. "No thanks. When I get crawling in tight spaces, I need small pieces of gear that I can reach at a moment's notice."

[DigoDragon]

"Of course, of course," Rose says to Angel. "You made a good career choice though. This job is challenging and rewarding."

(3d6)[9]

[Elbeyon]

Love flies her sword back and puts it on web again.

To Corby, "I see. Knowing Luna is probably a question you get a lot. I didn't mean it like that. I asked because you mentioned that she might have been responsible for your switch to here."

To Angel, "My condolences. To share, I never knew my biological sire. He was gone when I was a tiny filly, and my father stepped in before I even remember. I've always assumed he was dead. It's better that way. There are lots of children missing parents in the Wastes. I was lucky to have two."

[D.KnightSpider]

Love wins the first hand, more by luck than anything. Card Ace smiles and accepts the defeat and starts dealing out another round. "Anypony else care to join? We can switch to a different game. One that allows more players."

"Perhaps in another round or two I'll join in." Sniper said.

Sniper's question causes them to exchange quizzical glances. "Well, two of us can fly," Ace says, "So no problems so far."

"That's good; if you're fortunate it'll stay that way. We seem to spend more time fighting artificial gravity and free falls than anything else. Ask Love about it some time. She can show you what it's like to meteor strike a dragon."

He added his condolences to Angel Wings pile.

[userpay]

Brazen bows his head for a moment in consideration for Angel's parents.

"Bet the other divisions ain't to happy with how much attention we're gettin. We're taking not just their recruits but their established folks to." Now that though amuses the stallion greatly.

"Ah still say ah did it first... Just the ground is a much harder target than ah dragon..." He says when the subject of the meteor strike comes up.

[Elbeyon]

"You did," Love admits to Brazen. "Twilight's not the only one trying to fix our falling problem. If you're ever fall, hit yourself with one of the new SA Tangler rounds."

Love smiles big when her favorite dragon topic comes up. She smiles even bigger, scary horror movie big, when she realizes now is a good time to show off. She gets her phone out and starts playing with it. "I scraped all our sensor data together to create my very first ever Holo!" She projects a 3D imagine the size of a pony into the middle of the Firebird. It starts with her on the ladder, shows her jumping off, the camera spins downward behind her as she goes driving down, and shortly ends with her slamming her hooves (nearly breaking them!) into the dragon's snout.

"They say a holo is worth 30,000 words."

[DigoDragon]

"Ah still say ah did it first... Just the ground is a much harder target than ah dragon..." He says when the subject of the meteor strike comes up.

Rose giggles. "Sure showed that floor who's boss though."

[Miltonian]

"You're from the Wastes?" Angel asks, "Oh. Did...did anypony grab our guide?"

"I did," Red Tape said, "She's locked up down below. Special prisoner compartment. The Thunderbird was designed to do all sorts of things. And besides, didn't want to risk her turning on us mid-flight."

"She's alright though, right?" Angel asks.

"Oh yes. It's very comfortable. And we left her several books."

----- Down Below ------

Powder Keg frowns and examines the strange markings in front of her. "I can't read."

--------------------------

"So she'll be fine," Red Tape finishes.

Angel bows her head to everyone's condolences. "Thank you, everypony."

Green Pine looks sideways at Love. "Meteor strike a dragon? I didn't hear that one." They all watch the holo with rapt attention.

"Whoo," Corby whistles, "That looked like a rush."

[DigoDragon]

"We were fighting Sulmandeer, who happened to be both invisible and snarky," Rose says. "We threw grenades, crates of stuff, and the elevator at him. Msotly made him mad, so we dropped Brazen and Love at his head."

[D.KnightSpider]

"It's a good rule of hoof. If something is causing trouble, throw Brazen in it's face. If that fails, then turn Love loose on it. Problem solved."

Mostly because they were crazy enough to make anything work. But he didn't feel the need to verbalize that.

[Elbeyon]

Love let's the holo repeat once more before retreating her phone. Silly magic ruined the wonder of her holo. This wasn't magic though!

"The crates really did a number on him." She looks up as she creates entirely new names for her bots. "He broke Sara! The first Bot to fall while on duty. Johnny pulled through, luckily."

"It was a rush. All the way to the bottom." She smirks. The unpacked FleshLove next to her gets a pat on the back leg. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. Thought I'd be waking up from death."

Love nods to Angel's question. "I spent most of my life there. Though, I have lived the better part of a decade in Equestria. I'm looking to let Equestria win that ratio over the next couple decades."

Spoiler: OoC

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I had Love bring FleshLove without her box due to load concerns. I thought it made sense in the fiction.

[Miltonian]

This time, Rose take the game. Ace sighs. "This is not my day." He flashes them a grin. "How'd Sulmandeer's skull look afterwards?"

"We're coming up on the first drop point," Star says, "Get ready to set up the first relay."

Spoiler

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Tell me when you all are ready to move on.

[D.KnightSpider]

"It was a rush. All the way to the bottom." She smirks. The unpacked FleshLove next to her gets a pat on the back leg. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. Thought I'd be waking up from death."

"I thought you'd end up dead." Sniper muttered under his breath. Love's fall was a prime reason to start pushing his flying skills once again. He should have been able to catch her, but he hadn't.

Never again would be be so slow.

This time, Rose take the game. Ace sighs. "This is not my day." He flashes them a grin. "How'd Sulmandeer's skull look afterwards?"

"Like a skull. Somehow, the wretched lizard survived. We trussed him up and left him for the clean up crew."

As much as it defied explanation, it was the truth.

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah--" The call for a coming drop point gets her attention. She gets ready to help set up for the relay.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Sure, can move whenever I guess. I'm fine with the majority.

[Elbeyon]

"I was really scared I'd kill him. My choices were limited though. I'm glad he was made out of crystals or lasers or something. He should be fine now. I hope."

Star gets Love's attention. "Scope, would you lead the team in setting up the camo on the radios?"

Love yells up to the front. "Thank you, Star!"

[Miltonian]

"No problem!" Star calls back.

Spoiler

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Alright, DKS, if you want to help, make three checks for the three relays you'll have a chance to lay.

The flight continues mostly undisturbed. The relays are put in place and the games continue. Eventually, Ace's luck turns around and he begins to win a few of them. Seafire makes idle chit-chat with Brazen over the radio, commenting on the scenery down below. Angel Wings sits beside Rose and chats some with her. Red Tape comes and sits by Sniper to go over a few more details of his new noble title, like how public he wants to make it. And Star talks with Love on the radio. A tapping comes from below the floor. Red Tape turns on his comm.

"What is it?" he asks sternly, but not cruel or mean-spirited, "It's been two hours so far. No, we are not stopping for snacks. There is a toilet in there with you. No, you may not come up here. We will let you out when we arrive."

"Crossing the border into the Wastes," Star calls.

[userpay]

"Come to think of it never did check up what they did with Sulmandeer. Bet he had ah headache to rival the wildest night of drinking." While one would think flying around the ship would be more fun than being stuck inside it it was still guard duty, thus Brazen was more than happy to alleviate at least some of Seafire's boredom with some chit chat. Red Tape's interaction with the guide draws a raised eyebrow. "Sure they like books?"

[DigoDragon]

Rose selfies with Angel. 'Team Medic'

She doesn't win much more on cards as she's not skilled. For her it's more luck than anything. "The dragon is fine. We did more damage to his pride than anything else."

[Miltonian]

"Sulmandeer was transferred to a high-security facility down in the tropics," Red Tape says, "At least, that's what the reports said. I never did find time to check up on that personally."

He frowns and looks down. Over the comms, he says, "Excuse me, Ms. Keg. Can you read?"

Faintly, they hear the sound of her shouting back. "No I can't bucking read, you moron!"

Red Tape looks abashed. "Ah. I see. A minor oversight on my part." Under his breath, he adds, "And hopefully, the only one." He turns to the team. "Would anypony care to talk to our dear little friend to keep her from going stir-crazy?"

[DigoDragon]

"I'll go," Rose volunteers. "I can discuss some of the more common infections and diseases to expect out there."

She unbuckles and heads below deck to see Powder Keg.

[D.KnightSpider]

Red Tape comes and sits by Sniper to go over a few more details of his new noble title, like how public he wants to make it.

Given how convoluted the nobility likes to make things, Sniper's certain there's a thousand different political angles to consider-- all of which are unfamiliar to him. He's in over his head and knows it. Responsibility comes before his personal comfort. Whatever level of presence, precedence or common knowledge Red Tape needs to keep the nobles off the EDF's back is what will happen.

"I'll go," Rose volunteers. "I can discuss some of the more common infections and diseases to expect out there."

She unbuckles and heads below deck to see Powder Keg.

"Let me know when you're ready to switch out." Sniper said. "I have a few questions of my own for Powder Keg."

[Miltonian]

Going below, Rose enters a very small crawl-space. The ship is only a shuttle after all. But behind a small door and trapped in a room not much bigger than the bottom bed in a bunkbed is a glum-looking earth pony mare with a wild, unkempt mane that looks like it just received a thorough (if not entirely voluntary) scrubbing. She's stacking the books into little forts, not really having much else to do. She jumps when Rose knocks on the glass.

"Uhhh...hi?"

[DigoDragon]

"Hello there. I'm Lt. Rose Croix, one of the medics on this mission. Thought you could use a little company so I came down here to talk. Maybe you can teach me a bit about the wasteland and what to expect." Rose shows her attention and is curious to know about their destination since they'll be out there for some time.

[D.KnightSpider]

They were officially in the Wastes. Sniper began breaking down his Sniper Rifle, checking it over and reassembling it. There hadn't been much time to reacquaint himself with the weapon since Love's last round of tweaks and improvements, but the weight and feel weren't too different. He didn't expect any problems.

"Out of curiosity, has any pony ever been to the Wastes aside from Love?"

[Elbeyon]

Her voice reaches down toward the underbelly, "I want to talk to her after Scope!" She'll join the queue.

No matter under what circumstances you leave it, home does not cease to be home. No matter how you lived there-well or poorly. The place didn't provide what she needed nor what she wanted, but there is a certain nostalgia for a place a pony has spent a lot of time. There were parts of this horrible place that she missed. The food wasn't good, but no one quite cooks like here back in Canterlot. The smells. The wind. The big city was missing a special familiarity. She tries to get vision on below as they pass into her homeland.

Love drops out of the conversation for a moment to comm Sunshine. "What do you think of the view?"

[Miltonian]

Powder Keg brightens. "Heh. Guess whining does pay off sometimes then. Mr. Paperwork finally get fed up enough to send someone else to deal with me?"

She tries to sit up and hits her head. She rubs it ruefully. "Rose, eh? I'm gonna call you Doc." She draws herself up as much as she can in the confined space and, in a loud, booming voice, declares, "And I'm the Baroness of Booms, the Knight of Nitro-Glycerin! Powder Keg! In the flesh." She grins. "Nice t' meetcha. Are we there yet?"

-------------

There's a slow round of negatives to Sniper's question. The Wasteland is undiscovered country. Love peers out of the windows and sees the bleak cliffs and course sand of her old home rolling on into the distance like a sea frozen by time. Here and there, green patches dot the landscape, signs of oases or the like. This part was already a desert before Celestia blasted it and was far away from the princess's wrath. It is much the same as it has always been.

"I'm glad we're in AC," Star replies, "And that we have plenty of water."

"And a purifier," Red Tape adds, "The best one on the market, might I add." He pauses. "Sorry, I'm monitoring comm traffic, looking for any suspicious signals. Carry on."

[DigoDragon]

Powder Keg brightens. "Heh. Guess whining does pay off sometimes then. Mr. Paperwork finally get fed up enough to send someone else to deal with me?"

She tries to sit up and hits her head. She rubs it ruefully. "Rose, eh? I'm gonna call you Doc." She draws herself up as much as she can in the confined space and, in a loud, booming voice, declares, "And I'm the Baroness of Booms, the Knight of Nitro-Glycerin! Powder Keg! In the flesh." She grins. "Nice t' meetcha. Are we there yet?"

Rose finds her introduction charming, if cheesy. Hey, its a sense of humor Rose is familiar with. She lays down on her tummy and chats. "Not quite there yet, but I think we're close. Well Baroness, I was curious to know if there are any particular diseases I should be aware of in the wasteland? Don't want anyone getting ill from something mysterious."

[Miltonian]

Powder Keg tilts her head to the side. "You're the doc, Doc. I dunno what diseases you know and don't. I mean, there's the one that makes your coat fall out, but that's not deadly. Just really embarrassing. There's colds, flu, stuff like that. I dunno what you'd call the others."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, I've never been to the wasteland. I hear about things, but since this is your territory, you would know the ins and outs of what to expect. Like say, what snakes are poisonous, what water sources to avoid cause it's tainted with something. That kinda knowledge." Rose taps a hoof to the floor. "We can tackle this from a different angle--say someone in your posse gets hurt in a gun fight. What do you do to help them recover? Are there any soctors out here folks know? Maybe someone with a reputation for stitching your crew up quickly?"

[Elbeyon]

"You're fine Captain Red Tape. We wouldn't expect a private conversation on military comms. You spot anything suspicious activity?" Love makes a kissing noise in the channel then chuckles over it. She was glad command was ignoring her relationship with Star. She best not push things too far or they'll have to recognize the "issue."

"I hope you brought some light airy reflect clothes. The heat can be unbearable with protection." She chuckles. "Tell me if it's too much. I'll carry you on my power armored back."