Scoops gets shoved in with everyone else in the too-small elevator. Once again, the sword may just poke somepony, but hey could be worse. Then they say something that has to make her serious for a moment.
"Actually you'll be handing that off to me."
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"Still alive then."
Down's right wing folds up snugly to her back as she glances around.
Pretty much at everything that isn't Swiss and...whatever she's doing.
"Get her location and the mapping program should be able to get us there. We'll want to suppress anypony between here and there, to prevent getting our escape cut off..."
Business again, her crazy stunt outside completely forgotten it seems.
The EFS and their goal are the most important things on her mind again, at the moment.
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Sergeant Sprinkles withdraws all his limbs and weapons, retracting them all up under his chassis. This makes the elevator slightly less cramped, and it removes the bloody saw-blade from the equation.
Still, a hover neon-pink robot gratuitously splattered with Alicorn blood is probably not a fun elevator partner.
"Sorry 'bout yer comrade..." the old robo-soldier gruffly informs the Talon mercs. He knew what it was like to lose an ally in the field, and the feeling of having to leave their body behind...
Thankfully, he's got enough sensitivity programming not to start barking at Fox Trot about why you never leave a friend - living or dead - behind. That would just make the situation worse.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Swiss seems to really unnerve Down. Which is too bad, really. The changeling just wants to be friends for reasons that surely have nothing at all to do with devouring emotions.
Deeper into the Stable they go.
The EFS isn't showing any hostile contacts yet. No contacts at all, aside from those gathered. Swiss continues to baffle the equipment, her bar flickering in and out erratically. Much as the florescent lights buzzing in the ceiling do. The strobing light probably makes sight even more difficult than darkness alone as one's eyes aren't given the chance to adjust to the shadows.
Rye flicks her PipBuck's lamp on whilst Swiss lights up her horn, giving the surroundings a reddish glow.
"Can you elaborate on 'creepy' Sour?" the earth pony replies. "What are we trotting into?"
A mare decided that it would be a good idea to make a demand of the two remaining Talons!
Blackbeak glares at her. "That's out of the question. We can pay you with caps, equipment, work, what have you. But I've got strict orders regarding my objective and Gawd will have my tail if I break Contract."
Nopony wants to face the wrath of Gawd.
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Down glaces at the Pipbuck, resisting the urge to break stride in confusion.
Her mask adjusts the lighting itself, cutting out some of the needless ambient glares and shadings (Swiss' glow is really just making the place creepier than necessary...).
"...turn that off."
Okay. This Stable is dead.
A lot of Stables were dead. Is this related? Although, the bandits seemed to be fine...more recent then?
She can't produce any immediate ideas, so she decides instead on just being Really, Really, Concerned.
"I assume this doesn't happen often down here?"
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Rye responds to that request with an uncertain look. "But what if Sour-"
The noise continues to rise in intensity until a sharp, ringing tone sounds and it falls silent again. Save for a scarcely audible jumble of incoherent half-whispers.
"Seriously Rye, shut it off," Swiss snaps. "This place gives me the jeebies and that broadcast isn't helping."
Oh swell. The dead stable is creeping out the shape-shifting empathic vampire.
"We've been in plenty ah dead stables before," Corn pipes up. "All of 'em are distrubin' fer one reason er another. Usually they're some kinda death trap. But so far this one is just spooky."
Before long our heroes reach an intersection. To the left a sign reads 'Atrium'. The right 'Living Quarters'. And that set of stairs leading off into the depths of blackness? Maintenance.
"Does anypony else hear that buzzing?" Swiss asks, her wings twitching nervously. Aside from the hum of the electric lights the stable is silent.
Rye shakes her head.
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Well, this Stable is probably going to keep the status quo of being a death trap.
But if it's going for a spooky angle, it's still new, so Down can trust past experiences guiding these ponies (and by extension herself) safely through this.
She had been expecting manticores. Maybe some silly monster leader.
Bandits were unexpected, but she could roll with that. Maybe they figured out how to train the beasts?
This though...seems to be something entirely different than just a silly monster and its pawns. ...haunting?
"Keep us informed on that buzzing."
If Swiss was some other form of weird monster, maybe she has an extra sense that can pick up what they can't.
Down is going to try to see if her suit can pick up any weird frequencies, but she's doubtful. Comm's functionality is rather severely crippled, but just analyzing ambient frequencies and such shouldn't be too hard.
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Fleetwing winced, and made yet another mental note to have some words with Violetta once they could finally get a moment to themselves.
"So you want us to go find this truck, and bring back any of those special sodas we can find?" The pegasus finished, partially for Violetta's sake. Come to think of it, now that they were potentially getting into a proper business arrangement, maybe he should just try and take the driver's seat on this one. You know, before the filly said something crazy like offering to do it for free. "What sort of...compensation can we looking forward to for trekking out to this here truck of yours?"
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We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
"Well, of course she wants it, and of course we'll help."
Violetta considered compensation, first to remember what the word meant, then to figure out what to do that involved it. Rewards hadn't actually occurred to her, but now that Fleetwing mentioned them, they seemed like a pretty good idea.
"Maybe we could get a share of the cola we retrieve?" she suggested.
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Swiss isn't a weird monster! She's a perfectly normal pony. Or... pony-like creature. Though she does seem unusually jittery. The changeling lowers her stance slightly and begins creeping along silently, her outline becoming rather difficult to focus on. "I'll keep everypony posted."
Rye is giving her PipBuck a good shake. "Having trouble finding her tag now. I'm getting all sorts of phantom contacts-"
In similar fashion red bars will keep flickering in and out of Down's eyes forward sparkle. Certainly not the sort of thing that is at all encouraging. And plenty of signals are being picked up, though it is a jumbled chaotic mess. Something down here is scrambling incoming data.
A shadow in the distance shifts.
A vague sense of motion toward the living quarters.
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Manehatten - Morale on an Elevator (smilin' it up when you're going down)
Not backing down, and not just because there's no place to back off to, Whadda challenges back, "Yah, well I'm taking direct orders from your employer in more ways than you realize. The best I can do is to keep both eyes on you as I escort you to whatever meeting place and delay how long somepony gets nervous enough to send an assault-recovery squad in."
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"It's been too long since I had a proper wash, and the feeling of radiation actually is pretty pleasant when it isn't slowly killing you."
Shortly after arriving, the Ghoul begins removing her barding and setting her things aside, next to the pool, before wading in. It's surprisingly warm water, with very mild radiation content. A normal pony could likely drink from it with no serious ill effect. Nothing like that pool of instant radioactive death on the East Rim of Ghastly Gorge in the other thread.
Overall though, it's a nice break from the horrors of the wasteland to just take a nice mineral bath that just so happens to aid the regeneration of its occupants.
(Sorry for taking so long to post; This one got caught by the forums going down and was frustrating to recover, so had to be retyped.)
Fizz smiles at the mention of compensation, but frowns at the mention of sharing soda. "Well, I might be willing to share some of the normal Sparkle Cola, but... I can't afford to let you have the rarer types. I need them too much. For my collection," she grins. Though, something in her eyes seems to show she needs them for more than the museum...
"Tell you what. I'll pay you in caps for your trouble, and if you bring me back the good stuff, I might be able to make other... offers," she smirks.
The unicorn then begins to slowly slink towards Fleetwing. "Tell me, big boy... How do you... feel about...." she purrs, closing the distance between them. Their faces only inches apart, she smirks mischievously. "Blowing stuff up?"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Fleetwing's heart nearly flew out of his chest, and it wasn't just from fear of a grumpy, jealous, shotgun-weilding pony. "I-I-I like 'em a l-lot when they're n-not happening t-t-t me." he stammered with cheeks flushing red. The cowardly pegasus would back away for some breathing room, but only if he could do so without risk of disturbing any of the many fragile "artifacts". So really, he was trapped but good.
(How do these sorts of shenangians always happen to my characters? I swear, if Cloud starts getting Garion flustered... )
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
Violetta was confused. "It depends on what you're blowing up, but I think I could do it. But I've got a couple questions. What are your other offers, and-"
She then noticed Fleetwing's fear. "...And what are you trying to do with him? I suggest you back off. He wouldn't like it, and neither would your friend outside."
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Soda Fizz recoils back a bit. "Back off?" she asks, looking genuinely confused. "But... I was just asking if he likes to blow stuff up. I have some schematics for a grenade, and I thought....."
She then slinks back a step, looking hurt. "Oh, but, if you don't want to do the favor for me, it's alright. I didn't know he wouldn't like it, and if you think Bucky doesn't want me asking you for help, then that's okay." The disappointment in her voice is quite noticeable. "We can just do the tour instead..."
Aw, she looks so sad...
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Oh by the sun and moon, he took back everything bad he ever thought about Violetta, oh savior of his bacon. Maybe having such a blunt, forward pony on his side could be...
Wait, schematics?!
...a foolish, unimaginable detriment to everything he was striving for. "Woah woah woah woah there, let's not get too hasty here." Fleetwing perked up in an instant, not-so-casually making a "zip your daggum lips" gesture to Violetta. "When you put it like that, I think I would like fetching those sodas for you. And Bucky probably just got up on the wrong side of the bed or somthing. I'm sure he won't mind us checking it out."
The pegasus whipped out his little notebook and pencil, eyes practically burning with anticipation. "Now, what sorta fancy grenade are we talking here? Big booms? Some sorta armor-dissolving acid? Flashbang?" Folks didn't start fights with folks who could blow you to bits even after they were dead. This might just be his ticket to that little extra firepower he was looking for.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
"My apologies. I must have misunderstood your behaviour." Violetta quickly shook her head and decided to let Fleetwing handle this part. She really needed to increase her Leadership score soon.
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When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
"It's been too long since I had a proper wash, and the feeling of radiation actually is pretty pleasant when it isn't slowly killing you."
Shortly after arriving, the Ghoul begins removing her barding and setting her things aside, next to the pool, before wading in. It's surprisingly warm water, with very mild radiation content. A normal pony could likely drink from it with no serious ill effect. Nothing like that pool of instant radioactive death on the East Rim of Ghastly Gorge in the other thread.
Overall though, it's a nice break from the horrors of the wasteland to just take a nice mineral bath that just so happens to aid the regeneration of its occupants.
(Sorry for taking so long to post; This one got caught by the forums going down and was frustrating to recover, so had to be retyped.)
(NP )
Gleamy just slowly enters and leaves the cloak Violetta gave her close to Xithr's stuff; It would be even more relaxing to her, having been several days wandering around. She kind of just catloaves there and closes her eyes, just relaxing
"It's.... pretty nice" She says pretty low
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Fleetwing gave a low, appreciative whistle; in his notebook, he quickly sketched a picture of a Sparkle Cola bottle shooting out fire from its lid. Lots and lots of fire. "Now that does sound interesting. You don't see the fiery-type booms much nowadays, it's all just shrapnel and loud noises. Guess nopony wants to play with fire; and with any luck, they won't want to play with the pony holding it either." He chuckled at his little joke as he put his notebook away, and then held out a hoof for the mare to shake. "Caps for Sparkle Cola and fancy schematics for the rare stuff; you got yourself a deal, Soda Fizz. Just point us in the right direction, and we'll head off sometime tomorrow."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
"You are?" I questioned Whadda with a confused expression.
Well Fox seems to be dangerously close to figuring out Whadda's loyalties. At least he has some sort of weird amnesia that prevents him from making the connection to the name... hopefully.
"Yes." she states simply.
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Blackbeak fluffs her feathers in a rather irritated fashion. "Cottage Cheese didn't say anything about any Steel Ranger escorts. So you'll have to excuse me if I'm skeptical about your claims."
Well! That's out in the open now.
As for PV-4...
She remains silent for a time before muttering, "That's the floor Pinkie Pie's office was on..." it's a rather sad realization on her part. "I... don't have any sensors in her office. If... if you could check to see if what's left of her is still in there I..."
There comes a shallow choking sound akin to somepony trying to swallow a sob. "I know she went kind of crazy... but she was my friend... She deserves to be buried instead of moldering away at her desk..."
Another pause.
"Bury Pinkie's remains and you can take whatever you need. This Ministry has been dead for two hundred years... and if ponies could use some of our old junk to make themselves a little happier I think that would have made Miss Pie happy, too."
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Souls Nommed: 657
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Sergeant Sprinkles hovers in place, completely silent. He doesn't seem to react at all to the revelation that Wadda is possibly a Steel Ranger. Whether he knows the actual implications of that or not, though, is an enigma to all by himself.
At the end of PV's request, Sergeant Sprinkles' visual sensors go from hostile red to passive pink. "Yes, Miss PV," he states quietly, his synthetic voice carrying a somber tone to it. "Understood.."
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Swiss isn't a weird monster! She's a perfectly normal pony. Or... pony-like creature. Though she does seem unusually jittery. The changeling lowers her stance slightly and begins creeping along silently, her outline becoming rather difficult to focus on. "I'll keep everypony posted."
Rye is giving her PipBuck a good shake. "Having trouble finding her tag now. I'm getting all sorts of phantom contacts-"
In similar fashion red bars will keep flickering in and out of Down's eyes forward sparkle. Certainly not the sort of thing that is at all encouraging. And plenty of signals are being picked up, though it is a jumbled chaotic mess. Something down here is scrambling incoming data.
A shadow in the distance shifts.
A vague sense of motion toward the living quarters.
Unreliable EFS...of course. If the PipBuck started to throw static, other electronics are likely susceptible as well.
Down frowns a bit and flicks off that part of her system.
If it's unreliable, it's pointless. Only going to add stress and paranoia.
Speaking of which...
"Possible movement over there. Let me go first, cover me?"
The pegasus seems quite willing to take point on this investigation, if allowed. Less out of generosity and more out of pragmatism. Fully armored and with military training, she is willing to reason that she's probably the most combat-able individual here.
Whether that is necessarily true, doesn't matter. It seems likely true, to her.
"I suppose if I die horribly, that would be your hint to not follow."
With that dry little remark, it's just a matter of the Team allowing her to sneak forward with her tail twitching readily.
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Soda Fizz beams. "Oh, well it's only a few hours away. You could probably make the trip and be back before sunset if you leave now!" she exclaims cheerfully. "Just head Southwest, following the old highway. Eventually, the road passes over a small ravine. Apparently, there's an old Sparkle Cola truck down at the bottom of it. I don't know what sort of critters are lurking around there, though..." she warns with a small frown. "So please be careful, okay?"
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Elevator - 10:50 am
Fox Trot
"Ah...okay...I guess..." Whelp, I felt all third wheelie here. Like the load of the group. Ah well. At least we weren't going to meet opposition from PV-4 about a little looting.
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