Celestia's Finest: Sombra Went Down to Ashtown

[Miltonian]

Happy tilts her head to the side. “Trouble? In the Hive?” she repeats, “No. There was no trouble down there. Everything was fine. The changelings loved our muffins!” Corby says nothing and looks sideways at Rose.

Happy sets the pot down and gets the bowls out. “Alright, how much do you want, Rose?”

--

Wire’s room has been turned into an armory, given its secure location and the fact that having all the munitions there gives them a nice excuse not to let anyone else in. They’ve commandeered the nearby bedrooms as well, moving the former inhabitants into the much nicer guest rooms. Down to the Wire’s security forces give their area a wide berth and the EDF mostly avoids their operations, so everyone’s happy and no one has to call Cabal.

Seafire begins cleaning her suit in the meantime, getting all the sand and random scouring off of it. Absorbed in her task, she lapses out of conversation and enters that almost-zen state that happens when you’re doing a familiar task that no longer requires conscious thought or attention.

--

It won’t hold forever, but it’s holding for now. Love has a few more days to rig up a replacement.

Love, unfortunately, just encounters another ‘layer’ of the spell.

Rem nods to Sniper, mollified. "Like I said. I took the compliment as it was meant."

[DigoDragon]

Happy tilts her head to the side. “Trouble? In the Hive?” she repeats, “No. There was no trouble down there. Everything was fine. The changelings loved our muffins!” Corby says nothing and looks sideways at Rose.

Happy sets the pot down and gets the bowls out. “Alright, how much do you want, Rose?”

Rose returns Corby's glance, then nods to Happy. "I'll take a full bowl, please. I haven't had dinner yet."

The trouble with Happy is that she's an 'unreliable narrator'. Often trouble goes over her head.

[Elbeyon]

Love dedicates a spare battery to Rem's device and will label it for the EDF later tonight. She'll make a note for command that the battery needs replaced within a couple of days. She sets the pedestal into its previous position.

She puts some stress in her cheek. She tells the group the news, "I did figure something out. The pedestal is enchanted with a bunch of dummy spells that are redirecting my spell to them. I don't know how many are warding the device. I can't learn anymore unless I brute force my way through every dummy spell, or I figure out the key spell that will unlock, dispel, all the dummy spells. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to brute force my way through." And, even though Rem might know the key spell she probably can't tell them. Maybe, she should go back down to the computer room and take another look around.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper nods to Rem and then slowly huffs at Love's news. A huff is intricately different from a sigh.

"So Wire or Sombra went to a lot of trouble to keep the pedestal's secrets under wraps." He taps the top of the tub and then looks at Rem again. "Perhaps you-- well, no. That wouldn't work. If you tried to give us cryptic clues about the pedestal, to bypass its control, you wouldn't be able to tell us if we guessed right."

He picked up the computer tablet and kicked the problem around a bit. There had to be a solution.

Spoiler: OoC Roll

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Intelligence Analysis
(3d6)[6][6][6](18) VS 14

[Miltonian]

Happy spoons out a full bowl and Corby puts it through the open slit at the top of the brig's door. Following protocol and all. Not that there's any suspicion of Happy trying to help Rose escape or Rose even wanting to escape but...wait, what?

There's a note stuck to the bottom of the bowl. "Say 'Cinnamon Sprinkles' if you want a jailbreak! - Happy Hooves"

--

Rem's ears droop at the news. "That would explain things that I do not know, all hail Sombra." Her face contorts into rage for a second, but she takes a deep breath and lets it out slow, calming herself. "It would be irresponsible of me to I can't give the spell away to unauthorized personnel people not in Sombra's bucking cult!"

Sniper hits a blank wall on this one. He just can't make heads or tails of it. And no matter what else he tries in the future, he will not be the one to figure it out.

[DigoDragon]

Happy spoons out a full bowl and Corby puts it through the open slit at the top of the brig's door. Following protocol and all. Not that there's any suspicion of Happy trying to help Rose escape or Rose even wanting to escape but...wait, what?

There's a note stuck to the bottom of the bowl. "Say 'Cinnamon Sprinkles' if you want a jailbreak! - Happy Hooves"

Rose... doesn't know what to make of this. She stuff the note quietly under her armor and eats the soup. "Great as always, Happy!"

Seriously, what did the note mean? I mean, yeah Rose knows what the words mean and the full thought pushed through lexicon was an offer to break out of jail, but... why? That didn't seem like something Happy would usually do. would it?

"I hope you're trying this, Corby, this is great," Rose says. She's halfway though the bowl already. "This cheers me up, Happy. I uh... well, I suppose you're curious about why i'm on this side of the door?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper puts the tablet down in disgust. Stupid magic users and their stupid magical antics.

He puts a foreleg 'around' Rem in an effort at comfort. It was strange how much Rem had come to mean to him in a short amount of time.

"We'll get this, Rem. Little by little, we're chipping away at that pedestal and we'll get it solved. We won't quit. In the meantime, let's get you fed and rested. I've got to be up and going in a few hours so we should make the most of it."

Spoiler: OoC

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I'm fine dropping out until the next in game day if need be.

[Elbeyon]

The condition forced upon Rem is frustrating. It isn't easy for her. Love looks at her with sympathy.

Love echoes Scope. "We'll get this Rem." They're going to free Rem one day! She just hoped today would be that day. The night isn't over, but the pedestal is more of a challenge than she thought. They know how to disable the magical circuit, but they can't do that without knowing what danger that'd pose to Rem. They need to act with tactical precision.

The scene is heart warming. Love unconsciously smiles at the two. "The two of you enjoy your night. Rem, I'm going to leave an insect here that can talk to me. I'm going stay awake all night. If you want my attention, say my name." Love will grab a bugbot from her lovebot and put it in the bathroom. She nods at Scope. "Goodnight, Scope." She nods at Rem, "Goodnight, Rem." Love will leave the two in peace if they let her.

[Miltonian]

"Oh yes I am," Corby says with a smile. She takes a spoonful and licks her lips appreciatively. "Mmm. Tasty."

Happy blinks several times. Sweet Celestia, is she trying to communicate in Morse Code? Aloud, she says, "Yeah...what's up with that?"

--

Rem's shoulders slump. "Sombra had very smart ponies. All wonderful and brilliant people complete and utter jerks. but smart."

Sniper's hoof feels cold, but Rem reaches for it and tries to grab it with hers. She looks so sad, so despondent. "Alright," she says, "Thank you both for trying. I AM hungry, I guess."

She fades away in preparation to enter Sniper's dreams.

Love leaves in peace.

[Elbeyon]

Love will step into the armory/wire's room with her LoveBot. She takes some time to run over her equipment and make sure everything is as intended.

Let's see: She visited the hospital, checked up on the farm town, and made muffins for Queen Chrysalis (and some other special ponies). That mostly leaves her with magic/science work unless she decides to spend time with someone else now. She needs updated on the gangs. The CPI chips need unraveled. She should do a security diagnosis to make sure everything here at DW is running right. The next step should probably be the gang check up. That means she needs to check in with... Red Tape? He ran comms last time Star was away from the base. Wildcat or some pony else might have handled things this time though.

[D.KnightSpider]

Lifelines. There were far too many ponies / entities in need of lifelines right now-- Sniper stopped that train of thought before it entered a more depressive station.

Love gets a good night.

Sniper sets out a bed roll and opts to sleep in the tub-- just in case any pony tries to use an out of the way restroom-- head opposite the faucet. With an exhausted sigh, he wills himself to sleep. His turn at watch would come all too soon...

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah...what's up with that?"

"I was studying the chips that the CPI puts in the necks of their soldiers. One chip I attached to my headphones to try and read a signal off it, thinking maybe the signal is radio-based. It exploded and... um, I had this vision of a galactic empire with millions of aliens at war. Meanwhile, whatever magic was in that chip tried to hijack my body and had me pull a gun on a civilian. I regained control and I seem fine now, but I am here under observation just in case there's any lingering magic effects. I should be ok by morning."

[Miltonian]

Love quickly narrows down her workload. The gangs are out of contact right now and her calls to them go unanswered. The one that does pick up hurls insults at her for bothering them when everyone was trying to bed down for the night before hanging up abruptly. Wildcat has forbidden further tampering with the chips and Red Tape is arranging for a courier to come fly them back to Equestria for analysis. The security situation is, to be honest, akin to junk car held together by duct tape and prayers, but no one can go in or out without their knowing it and the tank crew have set up shop in the garage, so the vehicles are safe as can reasonably be expected. Cabal bemoans having to share the security office, but doesn’t seem keen on leaving it with the Hive a few floors below.

Green Pine is currently working comms. Not well, but he’s doing a tolerable job.

--

Sniper sets up his bedroll and prepares for another round of Rem ‘helping’ him and herself. The efforts have already borne results, so he can’t complain, at least not too much.

--

Happy lets out a sigh of relief, followed by a yawn. “Oh. Okay. Have fun then. I’ll leave the soup with you. It’s time for bed.”

“Night,” Corby says.

Spoiler

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Digo, if you are alright with it, we can move on to the morning.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler

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Digo, if you are alright with it, we can move on to the morning.

Spoiler: ooc

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Yeah, I'm fine with moving forward. Not every tree needs to bear fruit. ^^;

Rose finishes up the soup (and half a second helping) before lying down for the night.

"Night, Corby. Thanks for being an awesome... pony..." She yawns and lies down on the cot.

[Miltonian]

And so Harrier Squad, decorated heroes of Equestria, one and all, descend into sleep. Brazen finishes his maintenance and curls up in his bunk, Rose uses her temporary cot, Sniper finds solace in a bathtub, and Love works through the night, seemingly tireless. The night passes without incident for most of them.

Rose, however, dreams an odd dream, though it is only a dream and carries with it no compulsion or mind control, as she had feared. She sees those countless worlds again, which had teemed with life before. But as she looks over them, they are barren, empty, and cold. Not even the dark creatures of chaos crawl either in or on them. The ancient forges that took in the resources of whole planets drift silently towards the corpses of their stars, unmanned and decrepit. Old battlefields dot the surface of countless worlds, now full of bones picked clean so long ago that even the carrion creatures have died off. A great Silence fills the void.

But as her eye looks over all this, she spots one sign of life. A single ship, or half of one, drifts through the void. Some cataclysmic explosion has torn the back half away, but the part that is still whole contains a small population of doomed pony-like creatures who strive to hold onto life for as long as possible. The children of the children of the original crew, the maintain ancient, dying systems that they have no hope of understanding. Their numbers dwindle, but they’ve known nothing else.

Yet in them, Rose sees something that she saw nowhere else. Though their faces are grim and lives doomed, every so often they smile and Laugh. They care for each other, all working towards their common goal. They are Honest, Kind, Generous, Loyal. So despite their hopeless situation, the Magic of true friendship fills that doomed hulk drifting towards some unknown disaster. They live in Harmony. And they sing long, slow, sad songs that are beautiful to hear. Most are forgotten when she wakes up, but one remains burned into her mind.

“Polaris was the Heaven’s king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing.
The last whose realm was fair and free
Betwixt the mountains and the sea.”

“His horn was long, his eye was keen.
His helm afar was seen.
The countless stars of Heaven’s yield.
Were mirrored in his gleaming shield.”

“But long ago he rode away.
And where he dwelleth none can say.
For into darkness fell his star.
In $*@#@ where the shadows are.”

She wakes with an odd sort of happiness mixed with sadness in her mind.

It's the dawn of a new day.

[DigoDragon]

Rose slowly curl up in her cot. She waits for the prison door to open, her hold metal legs burning against her chest. Tears come forth and she starts to quietly weep. She prays to the moon. Please let her wake up. The cruelty of this dream is too much. Let Rose wake up from it all.

Please?

[D.KnightSpider]

Back in boot camp, Sniper had heard legends about the soldiers of previous generations making do with little. Supposedly, they had held entire transport vehicles together with bailing wire and duct tape. At this particular moment, Sniper came to believe those legends... because he felt like a battered jalopy that was two potholes short of shattering. Between pain and exhaustion, the day had not been kind to him.

But duty was duty.

With Rose in the Brig, Harrier was spread thin. Between the Infirmary and the Brig, Hornet squadron was spread even thinner. He needed to do his part to make up the difference and build some good will.

Upon being relieved from watch, Sniper makes his way to the kitchen. He needed one of the oldest miracle drugs known to pony-kind.

No, not a romp in the hay-- coffee.

[Miltonian]

The waking world cannot be awoken from, unless you're in Inception. Rose is out of luck there.

The door bursts open and Red Tape stands there, a smile on his face. "Good morning, Lt! You passed the test and are free to...Rose?" He runs to her side. "Rose! Are you alright? What happened? Do I need to call a medic?"

--

Sniper finds a few of the staff puttering about the kitchen, setting things back in order after Happy put them away in the wrong place. He gets his coffee and some peace and quite to start the morning with.

[DigoDragon]

The waking world cannot be awoken from, unless you're in Inception. Rose is out of luck there.

The door bursts open and Red Tape stands there, a smile on his face. "Good morning, Lt! You passed the test and are free to...Rose?" He runs to her side. "Rose! Are you alright? What happened? Do I need to call a medic?"

Rose wipes her eyes. "No... it was... was just a bad dream. I'll be okay."

She sits up slowly and takes in a deep breath. "So... breakfast?" she asks, trying to signal that she is indeed herself, if just a bit shaken.

[Elbeyon]

Love retires to her LoveBot for the night. She gives the armory (with Brazen and maybe Seafire) the old CPI chip mage sense. After she talks to Green Pine (another scan if possible!), she heads to Commander Wildcat to talk about the chips. That doesn't go as she'd hoped, but she does give him the random CPI chip magical shake down that she has hoofed out to everyone. She doubles up on the cast like she did with Red Tape to be extra cautious. She checks in on Cabal in security and tries to smooth his ruffled wings over. She tries to have a private chat with him.

Eventually, she starts her night shift. She tries studying the strange radio signal and the Old World Blues' station again. She cross analyzes it with the signals the Protocol was spitting out. She tries to work on the security and figure out how Pins suddenly appeared on the cameras. She rides the elevator down in DW to re-search Rem's old room. And, she double checks that no changelings have breached the secret floors. Besides Rem's old room there were tons of "historical" boxes that might give her clues on Rem's key spell. And, maybe Equestria anthropology/libraries have a lesson to teach her on the old war key spell technology.

[D.KnightSpider]

A few minutes pass and the wonder drug of caffeine begins working its magic. The brain reports for duty while his appetite is still missing in action. He'll have to eat at some point but that point isn't just yet.

After a few moments of blissful silence, he picks up a few extra cups of coffee. He slips off to head toward the brig.

Comm. to the team.: "Brazen, Love, Star, I'm on my way to check on Rose. Where do we want to huddle for breakfast?"

Not a task he enjoyed, but a task that needed done.

[Miltonian]

Red Tape is not satisfied, not at all. But he will accept that explanation. "Okay," he says doubtfully, "Well, you're free now. Want to go get breakfast together?"

--

Love has a very productive night and learns many things, which she can dispense to the party at her leisure.

--

Star replies, "Love brought me coffee, so I'm good for anywhere."

[DigoDragon]

Red Tape is not satisfied, not at all. But he will accept that explanation. "Okay," he says doubtfully, "Well, you're free now. Want to go get breakfast together?"

"Yes, please," Rose says with no hesitation. She gets up onto her hooves to follow RT out. "Maybe I should keep a journal of my dreams. They've been getting pretty intense as of late. Not just the recent vision of Polaris and aliens, I mean more generally... like bad omens trying to get my attention."

She takes in a deep breath. "I wish I could get a hold of Princess Luna. She might help make sense of what's going on in my head at night."

[Elbeyon]

Love joins the team comm call, "Good morning, Scope! It's a pleasure to hear you!" She texts him, "How are you doing?" She says out loud, "Anywhere we feel comfortable to talk freely works for me." Love doesn't mind the location too much. She chuckles. "We could eat in the brig with Rose. I'm partial to eating in one of the rooms we've secured. The armory almost feels like the commons room." The armory would be Wire's room.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper checks the time. How long until Wildcart's briefing?

Team comm.: "Good morning all around. Sounds like we'll meet at the armory, then. I'll let you know when a soon as I f find out Rose's situation. I'll be in touch.."

Text to Love: "Doing well now that I have caffeine. How are you?"

He keeps heading towards the brig.

[Miltonian]

Red Tape looks uneasy. “I can’t deny that it would be very useful, but I do hope these are just nightmares. The mind does strange things in stressful situations.”

“We’re waiting on a reply from our previous message,” Red Tape says, “I can attach that request to the previous one. Maybe boost it up on her list of priorities.”

Sniper rounds the corner on them. Red Tape leaps backwards, startled. “My goodness, you do move quietly, Lt. Scope!” he says.

--

Star meets Love in the armory with a smile and wave. “Hello there,” she says in her best Obey-One voice.

And for Scope’s information, it’s a good half hour before Wildcat should call them all in for the morning briefing.

[DigoDragon]

Red Tape looks uneasy. “I can’t deny that it would be very useful, but I do hope these are just nightmares. The mind does strange things in stressful situations.”

“We’re waiting on a reply from our previous message,” Red Tape says, “I can attach that request to the previous one. Maybe boost it up on her list of priorities.”

"If you could, please. I just want to make sure they're nothing to worry over before telling others about them."

Sniper rounds the corner on them. Red Tape leaps backwards, startled. “My goodness, you do move quietly, Lt. Scope!” he says.

"Batpony ancestry I bet," Rose comments. "Morning, Sniper. I hope I didn't miss too much last night during my time-out."

[Elbeyon]

Love confirms on team comms, "I love the smell of a good armory. I'm almost there." Rose and Scope... will probably get their own breakfast?

She texts Scope, "Worried about a friend. Good to hear that you are doing well. I'm having a good morning." Love is having a great morning!

She heads to the armory so that Star can meet her there.

She peeks into the bathroom to see if Rem is still awake.

Upon Star entering, Love snickers and dramatically pauses for a moment before turning around. She turns around with an amused face, "General Cornobi." She giggles. She gives a maniacal laugh. The ScoutBot in the room flies overhead Star. "You are a bold one." She chuckles again.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper rounds the corner on them. Red Tape leaps backwards, startled. “My goodness, you do move quietly, Lt. Scope!” he says.

"That's why you hired me." Sniper replies in a perfect deadpan. He extends the kitchen tray to the two, nonplussed. "Coffee?"

"Batpony ancestry I bet," Rose comments. "Morning, Sniper. I hope I didn't miss too much last night during my time-out."

"Nothing so exotic: I'm told there's some earth pony in my DNA, Somnambulan or something. And you didn't miss much outside of Chrysalis trying to work her wiles on Love. The medical tests came back clean so Chrysalis didn't succeed in that, at least."

He nods over his shoulder. "We're setting up for a morning huddle in the armory. You two can join us if you want. Have you two eaten?"

After receiving their answer: Team Comm.: "I'm en route to the armory with Whiskey/Rose and Artie. We might want to call Happy for a muffin delivery to Wildcat's briefing."

[DigoDragon]

Rose grins at the coffee on the tray. She leans forward--and suddenly grabs her horn as it sputters underneath the horn lock that she had forgotten is still in place.

She grumbles at the pain and just grabs a cup with her hooves. "No, haven't eaten yet. Just got released." She takes several sips of coffee to distract her stomach from complaining. She looks over to RT for him to answer the question on joining the meeting. Rose doesn't know if he made prior plans with her or not for a special debriefing after being released from the brig.