Chapter 4: Assault

FALLOUT EQUESTRIA: SURVIVOR'S GUILT

CHAPTER 4: SIN CITY
PART 3: ASSAULT

We took out the guards easily enough as we moved into the hangar, I'm not quite sure what any of us really expected, but I don't think we expected what we did find in there.

Inside was a small fleet of airships of a design I had never seen before, each of them had the symbol of the Enclave on them. We checked the nearest one, it was empty so they hadn't made a move yet, they must be saving it for a full attack.

"Okay, that's not good," I said with a gulp. "Any suggestions on what to do?"

"Hey, I've got something!" Joy, the pink colored earth pony said, she had found a terminal made of cloud material nearby.

I trotted over and looked at it carefully for a moment, it was encrypted of course, but I was able to break through it pretty easily and the options came up on the screen.

[quote]LOCK HANGAR DOORS.
MAINTENENCE LOGS.
ORDERS FROM BLUEJAY.[/quote]

I glanced around a moment, the others were checking out the ships, I hit the first option which caused the doors to the hangar to close and lock. That at least would help, I cycled through the logs but not much was interesting there, so I checked out the orders.

[quote]To: All Ponies in the Grand Pegasus Enclave.
From: General Bluejay
Subject: Orders

In the wake of Mr. Rider's death at the hooves of Rain Runner, the sectors of the cities will need to be taken fully under Enclave control. The so-called Independent Pegasus Movement among the Three Families may have served our purposes well during the infiltration, but they will have to be dealt with. Guards will be kept on their quarters in the Double Diamond and Crystal Palace casinos 24/7.

In addition, guards have to be placed on the four shield nodes around New Pegasus in order to keep control over them in the event of an attack by the New Canterlot Republic or their allies. I doubt that they will find a way in, but in any event I want to make sure that they don't get the chance.

We have completed our part of the Enclave's grand design and our leader will ensure that we all go down in history for this. This is the first step in re-claiming the Wasteland from the savages and mutants below, and we will hold it for as long as we draw breath.

Glory to the Enclave![/quote]

"Laying it on a bit thick aren't they?" Arc Light commented as she looked over my shoulder to read the screen. "Sounds like we need to take out the shield nodes."

"Okay, we split up into four teams, Scootaloo you and Arc Light will take out the ones on the east and south sides of the city," Rain said as she examined a map of the city on the wall and passed out the rest of the instructions, which included her and Crystal going to free the heads of the Three Families. "We'll meet up again at the Lucky Horseshoe, that'll get us access to our objectives."

We all nodded in agreement and headed out of the base and up into New Pegasus proper.

And into Tartarus.

---New Pegasus---

The city was covered by a dome of magical energy that was shuddering from the impact of the attacks coming from the assault by the Typhon and its assault craft. The Enclave were moving into positions in case the shield was breached, but they didn't seem all that worried.

It was time to give them a reason to be worried we hoped at least. I checked my EFS' compass, we weren't too far away from the south node, near Stable 21, yeah that really figured.

I nodded to Rain and the others as we split up and went to our respective targets. Me and Arc Light moved quietly through the shadows towards the south node and hoped that we wouldn't get spotted before we got to the destination.

As we neared the node however, our luck finally gave out.

"Halt, who goes there?"

Crap, that really figured, we were spotted by the guards at the node. I looked at Arc Light who moved further into the shadows before I turned to see two Pegasi dressed in Enclave Power armor looking right at me.

"Uh, well, see, I'm here from headquarters, I'm here to..." I said nervously as I pulled my hat over my face. "Inspect the, energy flow systems to the, shield from the, uh, generator in the Lucky Horseshoe."

"Uh-huh, we're just going to have to make a call about this," one of them said and went to go talk to their superiors over the radio.

I was about to say something when there were two muffled gunshots as the guards slumped over. I turned to see Arc Light looking at me with a smirk on her face.

"You're really not very good at bluffing are you?" She asked with a shake of her head as she went over to the control panel.

"Tell me about it, though at least I didn't have to wear silly glasses this time," I commented rubbing the back of my head.

"What?"

"Long story."

Arc Light just looked at me strangely for a moment before getting back to work on the console with me guarding her. As I kept an eye out my eyes fell on the massive Stable 21 sign, and I  couldn't help but think about that.

Stable 21 had been a pretty benign Stable, having been constructed to build a society around games of chance (well it was Las Pegasus after all), but I wondered how the inhabitants fared.

I hoped everypony made it out okay.

"Almost... got it!" Arc Light said and we looked up to see the shield start to flicker, but it still held on. "Come on, lets get going."

I nodded and we started moving again towards the east node.

---New Pegasus---

As we neared the place where the eastern node was marked on my EFS, we looked up when the shield shuddered again.

"Looks like another node is down," I said and Arc nodded. We moved forward for a moment before I saw a glint above us, it took me a split-second to realize what was about to happen and I dove forward, pushing Arc into cover as a bullet was fired by a sniper and hit me in the wing.

"You saved me," Arc Light said surprised as I started to bandage my wing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I've taken worse," I said with a pained smile, it was a lie of course, but I didn't want to worry her. "And you're my friend Arc Light, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You, consider me a friend?" Arc asked surprised as she lined up her rifle towards where the sniper had shot from. "I attacked you when we first met."

"Yeah, I kind of deserved that," I admitted, rubbing my jaw a little as I went to help her scan the area. "For what its worth I really am sorry... maybe someday we can go back to Stable 66 and settle things down."

Arc paused a moment at that but didn't say anything as she lined up a shot and pulled the trigger on her assault rifle. I looked up towards where she had shot just in time for the bullets to impact the head of a stallion, causing him to fall over dead.

"Nice shot," I commented.

"Thanks," Arc said with a nod. "Scootaloo... I'm glad I met you, and honestly, I'd like that, but for now I just want to find Caramel."

"I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure you find her," I said with a reassuring smile as we started walking again. "I know what its like to lose your best friend..."

Arc nodded, and actually gave me a smile. That made me feel a little better at least as we headed towards the eastern node.

---Shield Node Building---

When we reached the building that housed the node I was surprised to find it unguarded, at least by ponies wearing Enclave uniforms. Two ponies dressed in what I could only describe as gangster gear were in front of the building and pointed their weapons at us when we approached.

"What are you two doing here?" One of them demanded.

"The boss doesn't like ponies who might be working for the Enclave," the other one said, making me gulp a little.

"We don't work for the Enclave," I said. "We're part of a team sent to take down the shield so that the Enclave can be stopped."

"And why should we believe you?" The second guard asked. "I've never seen either of you around here, you could work for the Enclave. Most Pegasi in the city do these days."

I looked at Arc Light for a moment, there was really only one way I could prove that I wasn't with them, but this wasn't exactly going to be easy. I reached up and removed my hat, looking at the two guards.

There was a long pause as they took that in before a dark red furred Pegasus mare stepped into the doorway and looked at me with wide eyes. She looked between the guards unhappily before speaking up.

"Let her in already, can't you see she's hurt?"

"But Doctor..." one of the guards says.

"No buts, besides, she's one pony we know for sure isn't with the Enclave," the mare said, the guards shrugged and let us in, the mare turned and started back into the room. "I'm Doctor Saffron, what happened to your wing?"

"It was shot by a sniper," I said. "Arc Light needs access to a terminal here so we can shut down the shield, where is it?"

"Its in the back, let me have a look at your wing," Saffron said as Arc Light headed into the back room to work, she took out her equipment and started working on my wing. "Are you really Scootaloo?"

"Yeah, its a long story," I said with a sigh before giving her a brief summary of how I got here. "So, I've been looking around Equestria for any surviving family and that's, really about it."

"I see," Saffron said as she cleaned my wing. "You got lucky, your wing's not too badly damaged."

"Are they going to drive out the Enclave?" Another pony who looked like he was being healed asked looking at me.

"Yeah, the NCR and their allies are going to hit the city as soon as the shield goes down," I said. "My group will be taking on General Bluejay in the Lucky Horseshoe."

"Let me guess, Rain Runner is with you?" Saffron asked and I nodded. "Of course, anything happens in this city and she's usually at the heart of it these days. Well, at least she's trying to make up for causing this mess."

"Because she killed Wind Rider right?" I asked and Saffron nodded. "Well, lets hope we can stop Bluejay, the last thing we need is for the Enclave to control this city permanently."

"My family's never lived under the Enclave really," Saffron said as she finished patching me up. "My ancestors made it into Stable 21, and since the Enclave hadn't ever breached the city, we were safe, at least until they infiltrated us."

Yeah, that figured, the Enclave wasn't going to play fair, but it was at least a clever plan, I had to give them that.

"Who was your ancestor?"

"Lightning Dust," she said simply, that surprised me a little given Lightning Dust's, actions before the war, I had almost forgotten she was on the list for Stable 21. "There you go, you're all set."

"Thanks Saffron," I said with a smile as Arc Light came in, a moment later the city shook with an explosion.

The shield was down, the real battle for New Pegasus was about to begin.

---New Pegasus---

We left Saffron who said she was going to meet with the NCR forces in order to help with the wounded. I looked up to see the looming structure of the Lucky Horseshoe as we approached it, expecting a fight every inch of the way.

The Enclave Soldiers we did find however were all dead or dying, the battle had taken its toll on the Enclave forces so there were only a few guards up ahead as we met up with Rain and her group.

"Did you have any problems?" Corona asked.

"No, the eastern node was controlled by friendlies, a pony named Saffron," Arc said.

"Well, glad to hear she's still alive," Rain said with a nod as we all got our weapons ready for the final attack. "We got Lucky and Peridot out of their casinos and to the NCR camp, they'll be okay."

"Good, sounds like an all around successful mission," I said and looked up at the Lucky Horseshoe again. "Are we all ready for this?"

There was a murmur of agreement and we all pushed forward towards the entrance, firing at the Enclave soldiers and taking them out before they could get a shot off. The interior wasn't well guarded, they just had several robots that tried to move in and fell easily enough.

We were directed into the basement where the mainframe for the entire city was kept, and it was presumed that Bluejay kept her files for the Enclave. Rain and her group would head upstairs into the Penthouse and take on the General herself.

"Stay safe Scootaloo," Rain said with a smile as she gave a very Rainbow Dash-like smile. "Drinks at the Aces lounge are on me after we're done here!"

"I'll hold you to that," I said with a laugh as me and Arc started down the stairs towards the basement.

I hoped that it wasn't the last time we'd see each other, after all in the Wasteland, family was family.

---Lucky Horseshoe, Basement---

As we ran down the stairs towards the basement, my thoughts ran back to Rainbow Dash. I, hated to admit it but ever since I had left stasis my memories were a bit hazy, and some of them centered around her, I'm not sure if that was because of the stasis or the memory spells I had Honey Bee use on me during the war had caused it.

She had admitted that memory magic wasn't her strong suit and even suggested I talk to the Ministry of Peace, but I hadn't been comfortable with letting them poke around in my mind, so I had asked her. I had been under a lot of stress during the war and I had hoped it would alleviate some of it, it had helped a little.

But deep down I knew that I needed to know what happened to Rainbow Dash, after this was done that was going to be my first priority.
We reached the basement finally and got to work at the large computer terminal, I briefly noticed that there was a stasis pod nearby but ignored it as we worked.

[i]"Well, well, looks like somepony couldn't read the keep out signs,"[/i] a mare's voice said from the speakers, we both looked  up at the screen to see an image of a Pegasus mare with a slicked back mane and dressed in a uniform with the Wonderbolts insignia on it.[i] "Just the two of you huh?"[/i]

"Yeah, well we're just here for your data," I said as we started working on the terminals and hooked our PipBucks to them. "So if you don't mind leaving us alone, that would be appreciated."

[i]"Yeah, like I'll really do that, Scootaloo,"[/i] Bluejay said, making me pause and look up at her. [i]"Yes, I know who you are, I have agents everywhere, its one of the advantages to being the head of Enclave Intelligence. I'm sure the rest of the Remnant will be very interested to know that you're still alive."[/i]

I flinched a little at that, the Enclave likely hated me for what I had done all those years ago. Even if I hadn't done a lot of damage, the Dashites had become the first real challenge to the Enclave's authority, and I had started it all because I wanted to be like Rainbow Dash.
Maybe I should've just stayed with my family after all.

"Are you going to be able to get a message out before you get your flank kicked by the NCR?" Arc pointed out as she typed at the computer. "Because I'm pretty sure we took out your radio transmitter."

"Hmm, maybe we should let her live after all, I'm sure whoever she answers to will love that she failed here," I said with a light smirk as I found the genealogical data from the Enclave, of course it was encrypted but I downloaded it to my PipBuck anyway, I was sure that I could get it broken later. "Then again she's caused a lot of trouble for this city, maybe not."

[i]"Oh, and what are you going to do to me?"[/i] Bluejay asked. "[i]You're all the way in the basement, you'd have to fight your way through my..."[/i]

"General Bluejay!" Another voice said from off screen. "We have intruders coming up the stairs into the penthouse!"

"You were saying?" I asked with a smirk. "Sounds like you're about to be very busy."

"I'll deal with them shortly, you're not going to live forever Scootaloo, the Enclave will find you, someday," she said and the monitor went off

"Geez, what did you do, steal her parking space? Or her ancestor's parking space?" Arc asked me.

"Eh, the Enclave just don't like me very much because of the Dashite thing," I said as the download finished. "Any luck on your end?"

"A little bit, but nothing major," she said with a sigh. "Any luck on your end?"

"Yeah, I found the files I wanted but they're encrypted, here's hoping we can find a codebreaker," I said with a sigh as we started back up the stairs.

It took awhile longer for Rain and company to return, but when they did Rain was slumped over Cinnamon Apple's back unconscious.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"She'll be fine," Corona said, they all look exhausted. "Bluejay is dead finally.

"Lets just hope the battle for New Pegasus is over," Cinnamon added.

---Fillytown---

The battle raged for another day before the Enclave was fully pushed out of New Pegasus. For the most part we just stayed in Fillytown with Rain, well except Joy and Cinnamon, at least, but me and Crystal were always at Rain's side.

The Enclave either surrendered or retreated out of the city to parts unknown. It left the Three Families to rebuild, and with the death of Bluejay the Omaretas had to select a new leader, we were all surprised that Saffron took the job. When she was questioned by Windtalker, the local radio DJ, interviewed her, she had this to say:

"The time has come for a change in the Omaretas, it was our secrecy that allowed Bluejay to take over in the first place. I will make sure that we will thrive as we face the future together as a city."

What followed was what could best be described as a rebirth, a deal was struck between the NCR and the three families, deciding that the city would be opened up even more. They'd get rid of the old way under Wind Rider of having to pay your way into the city and welcome anyone with open hooves.

Though, something weird happened, at one point I woke up to see what I could've sworn was a pony shape in my room, but they vanished in a burst of white magic before I could question them. When I asked around, several other ponies admitted that they had experienced similar situations.

Then on the fourth day after Bluejay died, Rain finally woke up. She was tired, but happy to see us both. And once she was done making out with Crystal, she finally turned her attention to me.

"Hey Scoots, any luck?" she asked.

"Yeah, some, I think I found the records I wanted, but they're all encrypted," I said with a sigh. "Do you know any codebreakers?"

"Well, honestly no," she said with a sigh, then looked thoughtful. "Actually I take that back, there was one who lent us a hoof in breaking some Project encryptions awhile back. The tricky thing is that she doesn't live anywhere near here."

"Oh, where does she live then?" I asked.

"To the north, with a tribe called the Dayrunners near Stable 13," she answered, then paused a moment. "You should go there anyway, there are, answers there that you're going to want to know about."

I wasn't sure what to say to that.

---The Wasteland---

A few more days passed as things finally settled down around New Pegasus, and finally it was time to go. I had all my stuff packed and was about to head out when I saw Arc Light walking up to me, packed up as well.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"Yeah, but, why are you coming?" I asked her. "Not that I don't want you to but, we're not going anywhere near the Enclave."

She paused for a long moment and straightened her rifle out before speaking up. "Well all my leads have dried up and... I wouldn't want to leave behind a friend."

I blinked a little, that was the first time she had ever called me a friend. I smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad to have you along for the trip, Arc," I said with a smile as Schooner barked in agreement. "Come on, lets get going."

We said our goodbyes to the others, many of them seemed sad to see us go, but understood why we had to do it. Of course we'd try to visit them, but we still had a long journey ahead of us.

I put my headphones in and set it to DJ Pon3's radio station and started walking to the north with my friends, and into the unknown as music began to play.

They call me the wanderer yeah the wanderer
I roam around around around...

[b]LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Spirit of Loyalty.
Details: Your loyalty to your friends and companions have lead to them treating you the same like Rainbow Dash before you. When you drop below 50% health, your companions gain +50 damage resistance.</b>