For the first time in a long time, Princess Luna was out of her element. She was currently walking through the New Liberty Weapon Works, the newest factory to be constructed in America. Beside her was Fortress Wall and General Bulwark, they were overlooking the factory to ensure it was up to standards. Some stallions yelled to each other as sparks fell from welding torches, heavy hammers banged away across the building, and conveyer belts carried pieces of hardware all about the floor.

Luna had seen large blacksmith shops before, that was where Equestria got most of its weaponry from. The closest thing it had to a weapon’s factory were ammunition factories like the one in Ponyville, and even then it was a stretch. What she was seeing was the face of industrialized warfare. The tactician in her was impressed, the Princess in her was terrified. It had been several days since the refugees had come through, and with them had come weaponry, weaponry that was being broken down and studied. Soon things like them would be rolling through that factory and out onto the battlefield.

“We’ve just started work on a new line of tanks.” Fortress Wall said as he pointed to a rather large chassis that was being worked on. The group stopped to admire the work, it was certainly larger than the current tanks. “Thicker armor, a bigger gun, a bigger engine, faster hydraulic speed. We’re keeping the control scheme though, so we won’t have to retrain our crews as much.” Luna could see there were a few humans near the tank, they wore lab coats and normal clothing, each of them carried a clipboard. “With those guy’s help we’ll be able to reduce our reliance on the bulldozer approach, we’ll be making actual tanks from scratch.”

“Very good.” Bulwark said with a nod, meanwhile Luna was a bit surprised to see the looks on the human’s faces. They were paid volunteers, three or four engineering students and history majors that had finally found something to do with their college courses. The pride and joy she saw in those eyes filled her with a bit of happiness, even if they were creating weapons of war, it seemed they were doing what they loved. “Will they be ready by the time the portal opens again?”

“We should just be starting mass production, sir.” Fortress Wall replied, he looked over at Bulwark and away from the masterpiece of death being constructed several feet away. “After we do, we’ll need two classifications of tanks. Our current fleet is faster and lightly armored. We call them light tanks, simple enough.” Bulwark nodded, Luna continued to stare at the tank, part of it looked rather familiar.

“Where did the idea for this vehicle come from?” She asked, Fortress Wall simply pointed at the fellows in lab coats.

“They came up with it, said it was based off a human tank.” Fortress said with a shrug, Luna nodded and noted the angular size of the vehicle, not to mention its size. It looked like a roving pillbox. “However, I was hoping perhaps we could move along to the ammunition portion of the factory.” Luna and Bulwark nodded and followed the thestral, the one time tinkerer and now head of American R&D lead them onward. The tour went briskly after that, occasionally they’d stop to admire some of the artifacts that were being looked over, but eventually they were finished and exited the factory.

Luna watched the General and Fortress Wall walk off to discuss other matters, leaving her to her own devices. Normally she would’ve returned directly to the capitol building, but Luna wanted to get to know more of the refugees. Her wings opened and with a mighty flap she’d taken to the air, coasting along on an updraft towards the refugee center. She could see there was a decent crowd of people meandering around, Luna angled her wings towards the front entrance where a tank had been parked for security purposes.

The Princess landed outside with a quiet thud, her wings curled up against her back and the tank commander nodded his head towards her before gesturing for her to go on by. Luna walked through the entrance and past the chain link fence, taking note that there were several people staring at her and whispering. A couple children ran past, laughing and putting a faint smile on Luna’s face.

“Don’t run out there, you’ll get run over by a tank!” A woman called, Luna turned to see a woman was chasing after the children. She recognized her as Svetlana Adler, a woman that had basically become the woman in charge of the orphans of the wastes. She had auburn hair and blue eyes and wore a very conservative skirt and shirt, of course that didn’t make chasing her unruly children any easier. “Please, you’re going to fall and get hurt!” Her voice was laced with a rather thick Baltic accent, Luna wasn’t exactly sure where she was from though. The concern was also rather evident, it was clear that Svetlana was high strung, but that came from having ten adopted children.

“Children!” Luna heard another voice call, a male this time. The princess stopped in her tracks and watched another man rush out behind Svetlana, he was tall and stocky and wore a mix between jeans and a fatigue jacket. Stephan Adler was Svetlana’s husband and now that he’d come through the portal he was a former member of the Colorado National Guard. He was German, Luna had no doubts about that. “Listen to your mother!”

The pair of children turned towards Luna and started running at her, she blinked and cleared her throat as they got closer and closer. At the last second she put her wings out and caught them both, much to their annoyance, and much to their parent's relief. As if to prove Svetlana’s earlier fears, a tank happened to rumble by with a commander that looked preoccupied with other things. He would’ve easily not seen a child running about in the open.

“Thank you, Miss Luna.” Svetlana said as she came over and grabbed the two kids in her arms, she hugged them tightly. Stephan nodded towards the princess, he didn’t speak much in the way of English, then again German was very similar to the language of Thestrals.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m happy to help.” Luna said with a faint smile, Svetlana and Stephan began walking the children back to their assigned refugee housing. She continued walking along through the large area, listening to muffled conversations and the occasional laugh or cry. The human’s had a resilience to them that Luna rarely saw in ponies, but the princess supposed that came with the territory. She stopped mid step as she heard the familiar sound of a guitar off to her left, she looked towards an area surrounded by camouflage netting, the occasional gunshot echoed from that direction. It was the shooting range, a place for the refugees to let off some steam.

Curious about the song, Luna trotted closer to the guitar and listened in as she heard someone singing in a rather odd fashion, occasionally she’d hear a laugh go up as well. The princess took a seat by the camo net and listened closer, it sounded like a song Dominic had called ‘The Colonel Bogey March’.

“Raven has got some hairy balls! Ingred had two but her’s were small! Lady Shackle, lost hers in battle! And Moonbeam's got no balls at all!” The singer sang rather off key, Luna’s eyes widened a bit at the crudeness of it all. “Yes, Raven has got some hairy balls! She hides them up near her fat face hole! Her mother, the dirty fucker, musta dropped her when she was small!” Luna decided that was enough music for one day and didn’t stick around to hear the rest of the verse. She knew a couple of the names in the song, they were high profile members of the EOL’s government.

Ingred had been a field commander that believed she was an ancient norse god, only she had been shot by a hill folk sniper on a routine patrol. Lady shackle had been a commander in the first offensive against the CNG and rode in a makeshift tank, said tank was blown to kingdom come in a matter of minutes. The last one, Moonbeam, was someone Luna was particularly disturbed by. A woman that claimed to be Princess Luna, such a thing had never happened before. If it had happened in Equestria, she would’ve dispatched Dominic to deal with such a usurper. As her Warrior of the Night, that would fall under the purview of his duties.

As it stood though, she was here, and Moonbeam was there. The thought of someone doing evil deeds in her name disgusted her, but she couldn’t send Dominic to take care of it. For one thing he would need more than the forces he had to even get near her, and for another thing Luna wasn’t entirely sure what she would have him do once she got near her. She realized that the woman probably didn’t know Luna was actually real when she’d chosen her persona, it could’ve just as easily been another popular figure.

Still, the thought made Luna feel icky, and as she continued to walk through the refugee center she couldn’t shake the feeling that ‘Moonbeam’ would prove to be a thorn in her side over time. The princess turned her thoughts back to Dominic, word had come through that he’d reunited with Maria, and it seemed they were already closer than Luna and Dominic had been. She sighed at that thought and took flight once more, this time in the direction of Johnny’s bar. She arrived in a similar fashion, this time it was the bouncer outside that nodded and opened the door for her.

As she entered the bar she was greeted by the sweet smell of ‘American Hard Apple’, mixing with the smell of freshly cooked food and smoke from cigars and pipes. The bar wasn’t fully packed, most of the patrons were human refugees. Johnny had instituted a policy of reduced prices as well as a drink limit for refugees. He didn’t want people to spend all of their relief funds on booze. As Luna walked towards the counter she caught sight of a couple stares, she supposed that was to be expected considering her human counterpart’s infamous misuse of her image. To her surprise Johnny was actually working the bar rather than undoubtedly conducting shady business deals from his upstairs office.

“Hey, Luna.” Johnny said as he washed out a glass and adjusted his white button down shirt, Luna took a seat at the bar and sighed. “Give me a minute to get the water boiling, I’ll get your usual.”

“I need a drink.” Luna said simply, Johnny paused his washing of the glass. “The hardest drink you have.” The mob boss looked at her with a slight bit of curiosity before he shrugged and picked up a glass. That was followed by a brown bottle with a red label and an odd image on the front, he set the bottle down in front of the princess, followed by the glass.

That gave Luna time to get a look at the picture. It was a gold colored sketch of Jen, blindfolded and holding a scale in one hand and a sword in the other. One scale held an apple, the other held a bag of money. Luna recognized it as a sort of take on another symbol of America. Lady Justice, if she remembered correctly. The words ‘Gambino and Co. Spirits’ were scrolled across the top, while ‘American Hard Apple’ was plainly printed along the bottom.

“New bottle?” Luna asked as she took note of the red label and somewhat flashy design, Johnny nodded as he gave a slight smirk and poured her a glass.

“Yeah, we’re trying out something that’ll catch a customer’s eye. All the other companies have that plain text stuff, not us.” Johnny said with a bit of pride, he turned the bottle so he could get a look at the sketch up front. “And it’s like having a bunch of pictures of her, you know?” The man poured himself a glass before quickly downing the shot. “Besides, we’re starting out a new product line soon. Midnight Special Cherry.” The man reached below the counter and set down a dark brown bottle with an olive drab label, this one depicted a familiar tank in grey. “What’s got you so down? It’s normally tea when you come in.”

“I’ve been thinking more about Dominic and Maria.” Luna admitted as she took a sip of her own sweet, yet tart, apple beverage. “From what I’ve heard it sounds like they’re getting on well, and I’m not sure how to feel.” Johnny hummed and leaned back, drumming his fingers on the bar in thought.

“Well, herds are a popular thing around here, or so I’ve heard.” He said with a shrug, his eyes shifted over the room to a group at a table, two women and two men. “Take those folks over there for example, if I went into how complex their story is we’d be here all day, but suffice to say that is a prime example of a human ‘herd’.” Luna looked at the group, they all seemed to be getting along okay, with a bit of confusion she looked back to Johnny. “People get separated, some move on, then they reunite and it’s too painful to let someone go after all that shit happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if monogamy becomes the new ‘odd’ thing.”

“What’s that got to do with how I feel about Maria and Dominic?” Luna asked, Johnny poured her another glass as the rumble of conversation continued to drone on in the background.

“It may be that Maria is open to a ‘herd’, she’s been living in an environment where it’s pretty well accepted for the past four years.” Johnny said with a shrug, he leaned back against the wall. “I mean, I’m a pretty old fashion guy when it comes to stuff like that, but what can you expect? My Mom was pretty die hard about it.”

“Dominic’s an ‘Old fashion’ guy too, that’s what worries me actually.” Luna said as she knocked back her second drink, it would take a lot to get her drunk but just the act seemed to calm her down. “Speaking of significant others… How’s Jen? I saw you got a letter a couple days ago.”

“She’s doing well from what I read, caught a little static from some of the guys there about some stuff she did a while ago, but aside from that they’re being pretty nice.” Johnny replied, smiling as he thought of the beautiful maiden that had basically brought out the sappy side of him. He left out the part of the letter where Jen had talked about how ‘Absolutely adorable Dominic and Maria look together’. Johnny figured that wasn’t the best thing to say to an alicorn that could turn his entire business into a crater if she was drunk and angry.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Luna said, after a few seconds Johnny poured her another drink that again she quickly knocked back. “Can I ask you something?” The man shrugged. “The Appleoosa Sheriff’s Department found one of their deputies roaming the desert… You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Do I need a lawyer?” Johnny asked, Luna gave him a look that basically amounted to ‘Spit it out’. “Yes, because you just told me about it.” The princess sighed quietly and poured her own drink. Johnny meanwhile was doing his best to mask the annoyance he was feeling.

Somehow Ball Peen and Oregano had gotten jumped by Buffalo. In the confusion the deputy had escaped. Of course, the buffalo had let his guys go once they realized they weren’t out to plant apple seeds on their sacred ground or whatever it was they were upset about. All Johnny really knew was that he’d let his two best stallions have the rest of the week off. He’d assumed the deputy would up and die in the desert, but apparently not.

“I’ll be right back.” He said, Luna just nodded and kept the bottle close to her. Johnny adjusted his shirt and walked to the door that lead up to his office, when he got up there he found Anton, Oregano, and his latest enforcer, a diamond dog named ‘Curly’, sitting around what at one point had been the kitchen table. They were playing cards and smoking cigars, at least until they saw their boss enter. “Our Deputy friend didn’t die in the sandbox, they picked him up in Appleoosa. From what I’ve seen so far he hasn’t talked yet, but you know me, I get paranoid.”

“I’ll clip ‘im, boss.” Oregano said, standing up from his seat and wincing slightly.

“Are you kidding?” Curly asked with a bit of annoyance, Johnny gestured for Oregano to sit down.

“He’s right, Oregano. I know that shit wasn’t your fault, but I need someone that can get the job done. With your shoulder fucked up like it is I can’t take a chance.” Johnny said, Oregano sighed but slowly nodded. The man’s eyes turned to Anton, the burly griffon’s feathers rustled. “Anton, it’s up to you.” The griffon silently nodded. “We’ll talk more about it later, right now I’ve got things to take care of.”

Johnny turned and closed the door and returned down the steps to the bar, Luna was still there and had gone through half a bottle by now. She still looked steady as a rock, but just to be on the safe side Johnny snatched up the bottle and set it under the bar. Luna looked at him with a bit of annoyance but eventually shook her head.

“Thanks…” She mumbled, Johnny shrugged again and leaned on the bar. “I’ve got to take care of a few things, put this on my tab, alright?” The man nodded silently and watched the Princess stand up and walk out of the bar, once again steady as a rock. He quietly began to wash the glasses, he didn’t deny he felt a bit concerned about Luna. He played it off as her being his connection in the Equestrian government, but in actuality it was because he was starting to see her as a bit of a friend. He’d not had many friends in the time before the fall, and barely any in the harsh society of Newark.

Deep down he hoped things would work out for her in the end.

[♠]

Melissa sat quietly behind the shack, watching Dominic and Maria as they trained each other. The woman was showing Dominic how to properly fire a rifle, in return he was showing her how to properly wield a sword. The snow had fallen and was relatively high, but they had cleared enough of it away to have a decent area in which to train.

The past few days had been spent getting her settled in the shack, as there weren’t any other people she could really share a room with. Melissa hadn’t seen many of the ponies, but that was due to how busy she had been. Now that she was fully settled she hoped to meet with a couple of them, for now though she adjusted the cloak she wore. It had been a gift from Maria to help her in the cold until they could find her some warmer clothes.

“Alright… You’re doing well so far.” Dominic said as he held a stick out in front of him, Maria held a similar one. Melissa watched in awe as the man moved with the grace of water, swinging his stick with what looked like lightning speed. There was a thwack as Maria caught it, followed by several more as they traded quick assaults and parries. “See? You’re almost as good as you look.”

“You know how cheesy that sounded?” Maria asked as she brushed a bit of her punk cut hair out of her eyes.

“That’s why I said it.” Dominic said with a grin as he lowered the stick to his side and walked forwards, Maria smirked as well and tossed hers aside. “I think that’s about enough for today, what do you want to do next?” Maria shrugged, then looked over at Melissa with a bit of a smile.

“Hey, Melissa!” She called, Melissa looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Wanna meet the ponies?” Melissa’s eyes widened as she nodded ecstatically, she’d been waiting for so long to talk to the ponies more than just a couple passing words. She’d known a couple ‘ponies’ in the EOL, most notable of them was ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’, but now she had a chance to meet her actual brethren. Melissa was up on her feet and ready in no time as Maria and Dominic walked towards her, the man had his AK slung over his back and his helmet perched on his head.

“Try not to fangirl too much, okay?” Dominic said with a bit of a cautious tone. “They hate it when you stare.” Melissa nodded as she walked through shack with her two companions and out into the snow, she was practically bouncing back and forth on her heels. Finally she’d be able to prove she was who she believed she was, surely the ponies would recognize a princess once they spoke with her. At least she’d be able to prove that some of what the Empress had told her was true. “Hey, Maria?”

“Mmm?” Maria replied as the three of them walked out of the shack and started trudging towards the temp buildings at the edge of town, Dominic reached down and grabbed a handful of snow.

“What’s the weather look like?” He asked, Maria paused mid step and turned to look at him, he quickly dropped the snow and smiled sheepishly. The woman grabbed a handful of snow and flung it at him, rolling her eyes as she heard him start laughing. Melissa smiled faintly at their antics, she hadn’t seen acts like that in the EOL before. The Empress had put a ban on throwing snow because it could cause someone to get upset.

They walked for a couple minutes, Maria and Dominic fell in step beside each other and eventually clasped their hands together. Dominic had turned beet red at first and ended up looking at the ground, all the while Maria was giggling as she tried to hide her own blush. Neither of them had held hands before and it felt a bit weird, not bad, just weird. Once again Melissa was surprised, public displays of affection were banned in the EOL because they could make lonely people sad.

“So… When we get in there just talk to them like you’d talk to Dominic or me.” Maria said, quickly doing her best to hide her bashfulness. “They’re pretty normal folks, you know?”

“For the most part.” Dominic said with a nod, Melissa raised an eyebrow at that. “You’ll see when we get in there, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” The man turned his gaze off to the horizon, not matter how many times he saw it it sent a feeling of nostalgia through him. Part of him wished he could stay on Earth forever, but that seemed unlikely considering what was happening as it stood. Perhaps if the war came to an end he could recolonize. Dominic shook his head internally, one ambitious project at a time.

The group eventually came upon the first temporary building, Melissa was still giddy as ever as she tried to think of what the surprise could be. Perhaps one of the main six had come, like Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. She watched Dominic walked up to the door and push it inwards, there was a sudden shout from inside.

“Commander on deck!” A male voice called out, Melissa could see that numerous ponies and thestrals had snapped to attention inside the building, Dominic shook his head quietly.

“As you were, gents.” He said before gesturing for Melissa to walk up beside him. “Now, I’ve got a friend here who’s a bit curious about you all, I figured I’d bring her by.” There were a couple mumbles from inside and Melissa couldn’t believe what she was seeing, there were thestrals, earth ponies, and even a unicorn. Then at the back of the room she caught sight of someone she hadn’t expected to see. Princess Twilight Sparkle, in all her alicorn glory, was looking at her with a curious expression.

“Come on in, we don’t bite!” Called one of the thestrals as he quietly seemed to be looking over a sabre, Melissa nervously stepped inside with Dominic and Maria close behind her. She had expected someone she didn’t know, or at least someone she thought she didn’t know. If Twilight was right in front her, it seemed to make sense that the woman calling herself Twilight wasn’t really Twilight. Melissa felt a bit of a pit form in her stomach, but she steeled her resolve and walked further into the building.

“Um… Hi.” She said nervously, a couple of the thestrals smiled and waved while the others just gave a few quick glances. It seemed they were a bit focused on maintaining their swords and other equipment, Melissa could understand. Twilight Sparkle stood up from the cot she was resting on and trotted over, smiling warmly and offering out a hoof.

“Hi there! I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She said with a friendly smile, Melissa shook the hoof carefully as she suppressed her worries and excitement. Twilight could see that the woman seemed a bit nervous about meeting her, but she supposed that came with being an alien on this planet.

“I’m Melissa…” Melissa said in a somewhat quiet voice, she was doing her best to keep her cover and her cool. She had been denying that what she’d heard about who she thought she was, but it was impossible to look past the facts in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Dominic and Maria watched as Twilight and Melissa talked among themselves for a couple minutes until, Maria tugged at the man’s hand and gestured for him to step outside with her. With a bit of confusion Dominic complied and the two of them stepped back out into the cold daylight, he flipped up his collar as a particularly cold wind met his skin.

“What’s up?” He asked, Maria glanced towards the door for a moment before she nervously gestured for them to start walking again.

“I’m a little worried about Melissa…” Maria said as they walked along, her gaze slipping over her shoulder for the moment. “I don’t know what or why, but I’m getting a bit of a strange vibe off of her. Like, she’s hiding something…”

“Lot’s of people hide things out here.” Dominic countered, Maria nodded. “We’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry. Once we’ve got everything settled in we can try and find out what it is. We’ve got six months to kill, after all.” The two of them continued walking, the silence eventually growing a tad comfortable. After a couple minutes Dominic caught sight the bushy mustache of Colonel Baxter, Maria and Dominic quickly separated their hands as the man got closer. Baxter was normally one to make a wisecrack or two when he stumbled upon the couple, but his lack of comment this time caught both of them by surprise.

“Commander. We need to talk.” Baxter said in a serious tone, Dominic straightened up and nodded. He looked to Maria with a slight frown before giving her a kiss on the cheek and following behind the Colonel. The Commander quickly was walking alongside Baxter, though he wasn’t sure where they were walking to, it seemed they were headed towards the train station.

“What seems to be the problem, Colonel?” Dominic asked as he straightened his helmet, Baxter let out an annoyed sigh as they got closer to the station.

“Talk spread that we somehow evacuated our civies, and as such we’ve been preparing for an influx of survivors. Normally in the winter it wouldn’t be an issue.” Baxter explained as they walked along, his gruff voice conveying the seriousness of whatever was bothering him. “We’ve been so busy making biomass briquettes and such that I had to pull some shifts from our observation post on top of the mountain.” Dominic raised an eyebrow as they got closer to the station. “Well, now they’re back up there and they see something.”

“They do?” Dominic asked, Baxter nodded. “What did they see? We due for some bad weather?” The Colonel shook his head as the stepped up onto the makeshift train platform and walked into the train car, Baxter walked directly to the control panel and took command. The train lurched upwards.

“You could call it that.” Baxter said with a grunt, Dominic looked out the window as the cog car began to go further up the mountain. “The EOL’s just moved four or five tanks, and I use the word lightly, to their position just south of us.”

“They have tanks, Colonel?” Dominic asked, Baxter shook his head and leaned against the window.

“They call them tanks, they basically take old construction equipment and poorly attach scrap metal to the sides, then mount a couple machine guns.” Baxter explained, Dominic hummed as he thought back to how his tanks had been built. Except he had a budget and a competent design team. “Slow as hell, but they’re surprisingly resistant to small arms, so the EOL uses them to cover troop advances.”

“Oh…” Dominic said as it clicked in his mind what a sudden influx of tanks like that meant. “How many did they already have there?”

“Four, and they can squeeze about ten troops behind them before we can get a shot on ‘em.” Baxter said as the cog car continued up the tracks at a rather high speed, Dominic looked out the window at the passing landscape. He could faintly see buildings off in the distance, but nothing out of the ordinary. “They have either eight or nine tanks, that’s ninety troops they can ferry at a time, and they have about three hundred assault troops at the base. As opposed to our five hundred total.”

“It sounds like they’re gearing up for a winter offensive, sir.” Dominic said as he straightened his helmet, Baxter nodded firmly.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” He said as the car continued along, Dominic adjusted the AK strapped over his shoulder, followed by his gloves. “They’re coming our way, no doubt about it, but there’s not a helluva lot we’ll be able to do if they roll up to our gates like that.”

“You seem to be forgetting that we have five tanks of our own, five tanks with very big guns that can outrun and outmaneuver theirs.” Dominic said, Baxter looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “With all due respect sir, the time for defending is over. The EOL is growing in size because no one is challenging them.” Dominic stepped forwards and pointed towards the base of the mountain. “You have a tremendous force multiplier at your disposal.”

“I suppose I do…” Baxter said, smirking faintly at Dominic’s tenacity. “What do you propose, Commander?” The man turned to look out the window quietly, humming quietly in thought.

“I’d need to see a map sir, but I believe that if we hit them hard enough they’ll fold.” Dominic said, his mind was racing with ideas for a possible battle plan. “They’re so used to being told they’re invincible, crushing their forces here would put a real bee in Night Raven’s bonnet. That being said, I normally would consult with my head general…” Baxter shrugged as the train continued up the mountain, silence reigned as the minutes ticked by until finally the train reached the top and the doors opened. “I’d also send some troops on air recon, but I can’t risk any of them.”

“We’ll get it sorted out, for now though let’s get you up to speed on what you need to know.” Baxter said as they walked towards a rather large stone building with radio equipment and other antennas sticking off the roof. There also seemed to be watchtowers, each seemed to have some form of binoculars or telescope. Baxter lead Dominic towards the building, a pair of guards straightened to attention at the sight of the two approaching officers. It occurred to Dominic this would be the first battle plan he’d be masterminding.

On top of that, if he ended up failing, it was curtains for the CNG and his armored vehicles. He doubted that if the attack failed they would be able to recover, they’d have to scatter and run and hide for six months until they could get reinforcements. By then the EOL would probably have scooped up any remaining people willing to help the CNG’s cause. Dominic took a deep breath and beat down the worries of failure, it would work, it had to work. He prayed to god for the knowledge to defeat his enemy, and hoped that the warriors of his family would aid him to victory.

Baxter and Dominic walked into the building, it was filled with computers and television monitors. Some of them were on but most of them had been turned off, the sound of a generator outside told him where the energy for them was coming from. Silently the pair made their way to a room with a large map laid out on a ping pong table. The table’s size was barely enough for the massive piece of paper, plastic soldier figures were laid out on it in numerous places.

“Commander, welcome to the war room.” Baxter said as he walked around the table and turned on an overhead lamp, Dominic took note that the map was of Colorado and had markings on it that indicated where certain armies were. Baxter gestured to an area and Dominic took note that it was in fact the area they were currently operating in. The map was more like a model than anything, with peaks and valleys and even tiny little cities and towns. “We recovered this map from a Library a couple years ago, it’s the closest thing we have to a three dimensional look at the battlefield.

Dominic leaned forwards and examined their particular part of the world, then paused as he saw something else. There was what looked like a United Nations flag placed near the city of Boulder, as well as a couple army figures that had been painted blue. The man was about to inquire but Baxter shook his head.

“Don’t worry about that right now, we’ll deal with that soon enough.” Baxter pointed to the section of the map where the EOL’s base was located. Dominic hummed quietly and moved his focus to that part of the map in question, the detail certainly was commendable. “The EOL’s constructed a ten foot high wall out of old cars, concrete road dividers and sandbags around this warehouse complex here, the only ways we’d be able to get in is through the two main gates.”

“Or we could destroy the wall.” Dominic said as he stood up straight, Baxter looked at him with a bit of a skeptical expression. “Our last shipment of ammunition came with a couple crates of high explosive shells, they’re still somewhat experimental though.”

“You’d need something like an ol’ kraut eighty eight to even put a dent in the wall.” Baxter said, Dominic hummed quietly. “On top of that, that’s where they keep their slave pens… They know we won’t attack the walls if it risks killing innocents.” Dominic let out a slight sigh as he looked to a rather small window, storm clouds were rolling in once again, dark grey like those of a thunderstorm.

“I need to know more, I need to actually see this place…” Dominic said as he stepped away from the table and to the window. “If I’m going to lead an attack, I’ve got to know what they’re doing.”

“I can’t spare any soldiers to take you out there.” Baxter said sternly, Dominic nodded as he looked to the ground.

“I have an experienced black operator, but he’s essential as well.” Dominic turned his gaze skywards, he could practically hear his ancestors calling to him, telling him that it could work if he had the chance. “What about Major Valova, from what I’ve seen she’s a capable sniper.”

“She also happens to be your girlfriend, and trust me son, mixing combat and romance isn’t the best idea.” Baxter said, Dominic nodded as he remembered all too well what that could lead to.

“Do they have any heavy weaponry? Cannons, RPGs, stuff like that?” Dominic asked, the Colonel shook his head. The younger commander looked at the map for a few seconds, it seemed that the EOL was using a triangle type of wall around their base rather than a normal square, meaning there were three gates at each point.

“I propose we hit their main gate’s here and here.” Dominic said as he pointed to the map. “Spearheading the first prong will be myself and Captain Poplawski, the second prong will be made up of Major Thunder and Major Draco. You can bring up troops behind them.” The colonel watched the man carefully. “But even then, they still outnumber us. So I suggest that before the attack we commence a five minute bombardment with high explosive shells, after that we wait fifteen minutes, and then begin another volley, this one lasting twenty minutes.”

“What about the fifth tank with my men acting as the crew?” Baxter asked, Dominic pointed to the third gate.

“They’ll lay in wait here, we can mount a heavy machinegun to the turret.” Dominic could feel it coming to him, all the lessons that Luna had taught him were starting to come through, for the first time he felt like an actual commander. “Coupled with grapeshot and help from units on the ground they should be able to stop most of the enemy soldiers from escaping through that gate.” The man looked at Baxter for a moment. “The enemy won’t even be able to use their tanks, their slow speed would be too much of a hinderance. If they try to use them escape we’ll easily be able to destroy them.”

“What if they surrender?” Baxter asked in a very serious tone. “We don’t have the resources to keep them locked up here, nor do we have the food or water, and it’s going to be six months until we get another supply shipment from your side.” Dominic got quiet after that, taking a step back and rubbing his temples. “This is war, son. That means you may have to do things you’re not proud of.”

“I… I know…” Dominic said quietly as he turned back to the window, the thick clouds had pretty much blotted out the sun in the sky. “Hopefully they won’t surrender.” He cursed himself for saying those words, it felt rotten inside to even think of it, but he was a soldier now, a commander, and that meant making very tough, very cold decisions. “What do you think, Colonel? This is the biggest plan I’ve ever laid.” In fact it was the only plan he’d ever made as well.

“It’s a pretty sound concept, I doubt they’ll know what hit ‘em either way.” Baxter rubbed his mustache quietly and leaned on the map, looking at the area closely before moving several of the plastic figures to their proper positions. “What should we call it?”

“Operation… Meat Grinder.” Dominic said as he turned back to the map, he gestured to the fifth tank that was taking the gate at the longest point of the triangle. “We’ll be pushing all of their forces to one place for a slaughter, it seems fitting…” Baxter nodded quietly, the wind began to buffet the window and snow began to fly fast.

“We can go over the further details later, right now it looks like there’s a big storm on the way.” The Colonel said as he flicked off the light, the two of them walked out of the building and back to the cog car. Baxter took command of the car once again and pushed it to go faster, he didn’t want to get caught on the summit in such a storm. “Hunker down close together when you get to your shack, this is gonna be a cold one.”

“Right…” Dominic said as he looked at the massive storm, the wind was pushing against the windows as snow flew past at high speed. The cog car continued down the tracks, clicking and clacking while Baxter nervously tapped his foot. Dominic straightened his helmet and took a seat, closing his eyes as he thought of the operation he had just planned. It was risky, even with tanks there was a chance the EOL could force the attack back. The man firmly shook his head, the plan was sound, the Colonel would’ve stopped him if it wasn’t. The train lurched to a stop, prompting Dominic to open his eyes.

“Get goin’, see you when it’s over.” Baxter said as the doors to the car slid open, Dominic stood up and nodded before he walked out onto the shanty town platform. Snow whipped past him and the bitter cold chilled him to the bone, with a bit of a grunt he began trudging his way to his shack in the hopes that Melissa and Maria were already inside. His jacket fluttered in the breeze, even with it fully buttoned he could feel the cold wind pushing against his chest. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a door swinging freely in the wind, but the snow was becoming so thick that Dominic could barely see three feet in front of him.

The man spotted the familiar shack and it seemed there was a light on, Dominic picked up the pace and moved as fast as he could to get there. He pushed the door open and entered with a shiver before he quickly closed the door behind him, then he turned to see who was in the shack with him. To his relief he saw Maria was sitting underneath every blanket they had, but his concern grew when he noticed a lack of Melissa.

“Hey…” Maria said as she shivered under the blankets. “What was so important?” Dominic stepped further into the room and did his best to shake off the snow that had accumulated on his boots and pants.

“Battle plans.” Dominic said simply, Maria only nodded. “Where’s Melissa?”

“I… I don’t know, for some reason I thought she was with you.” Maria’s voice became concerned, she started to stand up but Dominic held out a hand.

“I’ll go find her, you just stay here and keep the blankets warm for us, alright?” He spoke in a somewhat comforting tone, Maria nodded and pulled the blankets closer before Dominic turned and walked back outside. The wind and snow was painful to walk through, the tiny flakes of ice felt like razor blades against Dominic’s skin. “Melissa!” He called out, but no one called back. His own sense of worry was starting to grow, he could see the lights of the temporary buildings in the distance and made that his destination. All the while the man called out the woman’s name in the faint hopes of hearing her.

He arrived at the door of the ponies’ building, then stepped inside as quick as he could. To his growing worry all he saw there were ponies, he didn’t even stop to speak as he rushed back outside and closed the door. The man rushed down the steps and made his way over to the second temp building, but a quick look inside yielded the same results. Panic was growing in his chest, he had to find her before it was too late.

“Melissa!” He called again, cupping his hands over his mouth for maximum volume. Once again there was no response, just the howl of the blizzard. Dominic let out a nervous groan and walked back towards the ponies’ building. Maybe she was there but he hadn’t seen her, she could’ve been hidden in a jumble of ponies trying to stay warm. Once again he pushed the door open and stepped inside. “Is Melissa in here?” After a few seconds the man felt his fear subside, the girl’s head popped up out of the mass of ponies. “We were just worried where you were.” Dominic said.

“I’m here.” Melissa said with a shrug, she seemed a bit sadder than Dominic expected. Then again, perhaps something had happened during the day while he was of planning the battle. “I’m gonna hang here for the blizzard, okay?”

“Alright.” Dominic said with a nod, he gave a slight wave and stepped back out into the snow. With his fears successfully put at ease, the man began trudging back to his shack, he shivered and rubbed his shoulders and hands for warmth. The boots he wore did their best to fight back the cold, but even they couldn’t keep his feet from feeling the freezing wrath of winter. For what felt like half an hour the man trudged through the freezing snow and wind, until finally he caught sight of what he sought. With as much energy as he could muster the man approached the door to his shack and pushed it open, he rushed inside and slammed the door behind him.

“Did you find her?!” Maria called out as soon as she saw him, Dominic nodded as he removed his helmet, belt, rifle and jacket.

“She’s staying with the ponies.” Dominic said calmly as he walked towards Maria, pausing to pull off his snow covered boots before getting onto the floor and crawling up beside the punky brunette. The woman snuggled up next to him and threw the blankets over his shoulders which effectively encapsulated the both of them under the same cloth. Dominic let out a comfortable sigh as he felt the warmth of the blankets around him, he put his arm around Maria’s shoulders and leaned his head against hers. “You know you’re really warm.”

“You’re just very cold…” Maria replied as she continued to snuggle against the man, the wind blew loudly outside their humble shack and the two of them sat in the dark, staring out the crude windows at the storm. “And your clothes are wet, so there’s that.”

“I didn’t want to make things weird by taking them off.” Dominic said, Maria gave him a bit of an annoyed look.

“You know we’re in a relationship, right? I’m going to see you without clothes eventually.” She said in a deadpanned tone, Dominic blushed with a bit of bashful nervousness and looked at the floor. “Besides, it’s not like you’re getting naked, I assume you’re wearing underwear.”

“Fine.” Dominic said as he reached his hand up to his uniform shirt and began to unbutton it, Maria smirked and started humming a rather raunchy tune. Dominic froze and looked at her with a slight scowl. When she stopped humming Dominic finished removing his damp uniform shirt, leaving him in just a tank top. After a couple seconds of contemplation he undid the buttons on his pants and slipped them off as well, leaving him in his socks and boxers. “There, happy?”

“Yup.” Maria replied as she snuggled up closer against him, Dominic put his arm around her again. The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence that left the sound of the blizzard outside as the only noise they could hear. Dominic gained a bit of a smirk as he looked over at Maria.

“Hey, Maria.” He said, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I just realised we’re gonna be here all night, together, alone…” The woman suddenly went bright crimson, prompting Dominic to start laughing. “It’s not so funny now, is it?”

“No.” Maria replied with a bit of a pout. “I guess you can make that joke too.” Dominic smiled and gave her a kiss, the blush on her face grew deeper. She leaned into the act, bringing one of her hands up to Dominic’s cheek. The kiss lasted for a couple seconds, but it felt much longer, and when the two of them broke it off their body heat had grown considerably. “Do… Do you want to…?”

“I…” Dominic looked at her and sighed, his nerves taking over his thoughts once again. “I would love to, but… It just seems so… Fast. You know?” Maria nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek, smiling faintly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I know…” She replied, Dominic leaned his head against hers and sighed as he pulled the blankets up to better cover her. “Hey, Dominic?” The man hummed quietly. “Can you tell me a story?” The man looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Come on, like you used to at the sleepovers.”

“Alright…” Dominic hummed in thought as he leaned his head back against the wall. “Once upon a time there was a powerful young wizard, a wizard that could do tremendous things with a snap of his fingers.” Maria closed her eyes as she listened to the man’s voice, sighing quietly and nuzzling into his shoulder. “He lived in a mysterious place, shrouded in secrecy, hiding himself from the world. You see, the wizard didn’t know how powerful he really was, he worried people would laugh at him.” Dominic leaned his head against Maria’s as he looked out the window, watching the snow flying against it. “Until one day a beautiful battle maiden accidentally wounded him, she felt so upset by this that she stayed by his side for many years to come, until a great calamity struck the world…”

Maria let out a yawn as she continued listening to the words, tearing up a bit as she started to realize what the story was about.

“The wizard was forced to cast a spell and leave his friend behind, for many years he wandered in sadness, until a powerful magic transported him to a strange land.” Dominic’s voice had a tiny tremble to it, a small smile played across Maria’s face. “There he made numerous new friends, but he never forgot how much the battle maiden had cared for him, or how much he cared for her.” The man closed his own eyes and rested his head against Maria’s. “And one day he returned to his homeland, where to his unending joy… He found her.” Afterwards Dominic became quiet.

“How does the story end?” Maria asked quietly, Dominic didn’t open his eyes as he stopped to give her a kiss on the top of her head before going back to resting.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet, but I hope they live happily ever after...” He replied, Maria put her arms around him and sighed. “Good night, Maria… I love you.”

“I love you too…” The woman replied as the two of them leaned against each other for warmth, and gradually Maria drifted off to sleep. Dominic kept his eyes closed, his ears trained on the door and his brunette companion. Hours passed by with the only noise being the sound of the wind and snow, until Dominic felt Maria’s grip on him tighten. She let out a quiet whimper, it was obvious she was having a nightmare. Dominic put his arms around her and patted her back, quietly holding her against his chest to try and provide her some comfort.

His motives for the coming attack became much clearer in that moment, so that future generations would not have to suffer such a horrendous existence and the constant plague of nightmares. For his children and his children’s children, for Maria and Jen and everyone else, for even the faintest hope that humanity could be whole again. He would fight, and if necessary, lay down his life. As Maria’s cries and whimpers faded off Dominic felt his grip on consciousness slipping away, until finally he too had slipped into a restless sleep.

[♠]

At the foot of the mountain Jen was having a far less happy experience with the cold, she had drawn the short straw and was now freezing her ass off on guard duty. Of course misery loves company, and so she was sitting with Smalls, Kowalski, Rocky Road, and Sergeant Avos. Of all of them Sergeant Avos seemed to be struggling the most with the sudden blizzard, that was something that surprised most of her comrades in arms. She’d boasted of how mild Colorado was in terms of weather not five days ago, and now she’d grabbed up every spare jacket she could.

“B-B-By the gods! H-How do you live here!?” She said with a shiver as she did her best to warm herself beside the barrel fire, her talons and wings were extended for warmth while the others had set up a small table and were playing a game of blackjack. They’d gone the route of using spent shell casings as betting tokens, and so far it seemed that Rocky was up by a lot.

“You get used to it.” Smalls said with a shrug as he looked at his cards, a cigarette hanging from his lips. He momentarily paused to adjusted a plaid scarf he’d wrapped around his neck before tapping his ashes into a soup can turned ashtray. “Come on Captain, hit or stay?”

“Stay.” Jen said as she looked over her cards carefully. “You know if we were back home you’d be complaining it’s too hot.” She looked over her shoulder at the griffon that was doing her best to preserve the warmth in her wings. “Rocky’s perfectly fine with the cold, aren’t you Rocky?”

“Oh, y-y-yeah… Bloody excellent.” The painted stallion replied with a slight scowl, his expression remained rather passive as not to give away his cards. After a couple seconds a faint smile played across his lips. “I’ll stay as well.”

“You know what would make this more interesting?” Kowalski but in, Jen and the others looked at him curiously. “Strip poker, that’d give some real incentive not to lose.”

“Goddamn it, Kowalski. How many times do we have to go over this?” Smalls said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No one wants to see you naked, furthermore, no one here wants to be naked.” Jen looked off to the side. “...Most everyone here doesn’t want to be naked. So cut that shit out.”

“Just saying…” Kowalski shrugged quietly, the group lapsed into a bit of a lull, making occasional conversation between hands. All in all though, it was just a quiet night, and Jen appreciated that more than any of them could tell. She missed nights like this back with Johnny, sometimes they would have people over or just hang around, and sometimes mess around too. As her thoughts turned back to her fiance her eyes focused more on her ring, the intricate designs and little details truly made it something she could cherish.

After a couple moments of staring at it the woman excused herself from the table and went off to a corner of the room, from her pocket she withdrew a blank piece of paper and a pen. She dabbed the pen on her tongue to wet the ink before putting it to the paper, Jen always hesitated with how to start her letters. Starting them out ‘Dear John’ just didn’t feel right, even if that was his name, still she supposed she couldn’t start calling him anything else.

Dear John,

This is my second letter to you, but you already knew that. I guess I’m just telling myself for the sake of telling myself, reminding myself that I’m still in contact with you. It’s bitterly cold here, you know? Like. You’d hate it. Smalls and the others are playing blackjack, and Rocky’s been cleaning up alright, but I know you’d have them all beat if you were here. Dominic’s been keeping us alright, he’s even taken to housing a new refugee in his shack here. He got a shack by the way, moved in with Maria, and now this new lady as well. She’s alright, a bit timid, but alright.

Jen paused as she read over the letter, momentarily looking over towards her comrades again, they were all chatting up one another and didn’t seem to take note of her, which was fine, she didn’t like being the center of attention. With another quiet sigh Jen turned back to her letter and bit her lip in concentration.

I know you’re probably worried about me going into battle, that I could get hurt, but… These people out here really need my help, by now I’m sure you’ve seen just what we’re dealing with. I need only think of you to restore my strength, and you need only think of me to know I love you. Don’t be afraid, and don’t lose your way, and try to have a little fun while I’m not there.

The woman stopped her writing, she could feel a bit of a lump forming in her throat. Jen longed to hear his voice, to see his face, to touch his skin. She was separated from him by more than distance, but by the fabric of reality itself. Nonetheless she buckled down and kept a stiff upper lip, she couldn’t let him see just how much she missed him, if she did that he might go and do something stupid like join the army.

When all this is over and I’m home I hope we’ll be able to see the fruits of our labor, get a little house, maybe have a couple kids. I know you’ll probably freak out when you read that, but I have to give you a heart attack somehow, don’t I? It’s something we should talk about in person, not over letters, and I look forward to doing just that. No matter the outcome. Again, a discussion for a later date… I think I’m just rambling now. Speaking of relationships, my latest ship seems to be going along alright. I know you think it’s weird for me to ship people we know, but come on, you have to admit it’s kind of fun.

Jen smiled faintly as she stopped her writing, looking over towards Sergeant Avos and Rocky Road.

I christen this ship the mighty… name pending. Avos and Rocky Road don’t really go together in name, but I sometimes see them glancing at eachother. Wouldn’t that be adorable? It would almost be as cute as Dominic and Maria. I got a look at them actually holding hands earlier! It was so cute! They were all blushy and bashful and I just wanted to pinch their cheeks, but Colonel Baxter pulled Dominic away before I could even say ‘hi’, and I had to head down the mountain before I could say anything to Maria. Wish them luck, but also wish them some luck with Luna, I think they’d make a great threesome. That came out wrong. Oh well, I’m to lazy to cross it out, so nyah.

Jen yawned quietly, a bit of exhaustion coming over her. Soon she’d take a nap between her next shift, but for now she had to remain awake.

In all seriousness though, I really miss you, and I really love you. You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last I think of before I go to sleep. I can’t wait to see you again, and I’m counting the days until it happens. Just remember that old Vera Lynn song from that movie you like, you know the one with Slim Pickens and the atomic bomb? Pretty sure you and Dominic are alike in that regard, but again I’m rambling again. We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when. I know it’ll happen someday.

Faithfully and lovingly yours forever, Jennifer Poplawski, soon to be Jennifer Gambino.

Jen looked up as she heard the faint noise of laughter from the table, with a slight sigh she folded up the letter and slipped it into her breast pocket before standing and walking back to the game.

[♠]

Mike quietly sighed as he stared at the ceiling of a rather interesting building on a tall hill in the middle of the woods. Said building had at one time been a part of the Emergency Broadcast Network, it was now the home of ‘Ghost Peak Radio’. It was fairly large, and thanks to it’s location, fairly hidden as well. It was no wonder the EOL hadn’t been able to find it, and on top of that, it had some of the best security Mike had seen in awhile. Of course, he couldn’t go out and get a look at it further. His shoulder was bandaged up and his doctor, a rather good looking Canadian woman, was very strict in keeping him in bed.

The worst part of it all was that they were piping through the radio music nonstop, and after a while, electronic music began to grate on his ears. Overall his stay in the mysterious radio station was actually proving to be very boring. What was worse was that he had heard there were musical instruments on hand, his fingers longed for the sound of an electric guitar and the mighty boom of metal. Mike sighed as he sat up in the bed, wearing only a pair of jeans and some socks. He ran a hand over his abdomen and looked around his quarters for what felt like the eighth time.

It was little more than a cubicle with his gear stashed off in one corner and a mirror on one of the walls. There were at least ten cubicles in the room, each of them had something similar as a set up. Mike paused to take a look at himself in the mirror, smirking as he saw numerous images of ink across his torso, ranging from battleships and tanks to a woman’s face on his undamaged shoulder. He decided that he’d had enough of the room, and more importantly the music, and he wasn’t going to let his doctor tell him to stay in bed again.

The man stood up and wobbled on his feet for a moment before he walked over to his equipment and slipped into his boots, it took a bit of effort to bend down and tie the laces with only just one hand. He adjusted the sling that held his arm in place before walking to the door of the cubicle, he could see the doctor was across the room speaking with some of the men and women that had taken to acting as nurses. She was distracted, and that gave him time to turn and start walking down a corridor towards the main part of the station.

He passed by numerous boarded up windows, the sound of wind blowing outside made it clear there was a blizzard on. Thankfully the building had been outfitted with solar panels, so there was some form of light and heat. He passed by a couple doors to other offices, some had been made into relaxation or eating areas, but most were just used to store an ever growing surplus of supplies. Mike grunted quietly as he passed a couple of the guards, they mainly comprised of Native Confederates, though some of them were former Colorado Kids like Mike and Mark.

Mike heard the guards mumble something to each other as they passed him, he shrugged it off, and immediately regretted doing so as pain lanced through his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and rubbed at his wound before sighing. He could see the door to the actual radio station ahead, there were two guards standing outside. They raised eyebrows at him as he got closer to the door, a shirtless tattooed wounded man certainly wasn’t on the list of people to let through.

“I’m here to see Mark.” Mike said simply, the guards looked at each other for a moment before one of them opened the door and leaned inside to look. “Goddamn it, Mark! Zip up your pants and let me in!” He yelled, he could hear a rather loud sigh from inside before the guard stepped back and stared at him. Mark opened the door and stared at him.

“The fuck are you doing, Mike? Doctor Patterson’s gonna kill you if she finds out you’re out of bed.” Mark said, Mike shrugged, once again wincing, before he pushed past his friend and into the station.

“What the doc doesn’t know won’t kill me, I figure they’re gonna keep me laid up for a couple weeks anyway.” Mike mused as he looked around the station, there were dials and knobs and buttons. Some were flashing, others beeped, and of course there was the microphone next to an old CD player. A pair of women were staring at him as he walked towards them, one he recognized as the Polish girl that had saved him. The other was a bombshell, a redheaded curvy fox that could make just about any man bend to her will. Mike thought she was alright looking, he wasn’t into sex symbols like that. In all honesty he preferred Wiktoria to whoever that woman was. “Where’s the fuckin’ off button on that electronic crap, it’s driving me insane.”

“You can’t be serious…” Mark said as he tried to rush and stop Mike, the larger man looked down at his unwounded scruffy comrade. “I get it, you’re not big on that type of music, but you can’t just barge in and take over the music selection! Andie would kill you!”

“Death would be preferred to the headache that noise is giving me.” Mike countered, the redhead across the room cleared her throat and both men turned to look at her. She was clad in rather baggy winter wear, a mix of browns, greens, and greys. Her piercing blue eyes caught Mike off guard, but only for a second. “Mark, is that her?” Mark nodded. “Huh… Not what I was expecting.”

“What exactly were you expecting?” The woman asked as she sauntered over, her arms still crossed beneath her bosom to accentuate her body.

“A small chested raver.” Mike replied honestly as he turned fully to face the redhead. “Or something along those lines, you know? Short hair dyed blue, maybe some body piercings. You look more like you belong on the nose art of a fight plane than in a radio station.” The woman stared at him for a few seconds before she looked over at Mark.

“Mark, is this your charming friend I’ve heard so much about?” She asked, Mark nervously rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. A faint smile played across the woman’s lips as she looked back at Mike. “Andreina Brunilda, better known as the Queen of the Wastes. You can call me Andie.” She offered out her hand, Mike stared for a moment before he offered his unwounded arm.

“Mike. Just Mike.” He said as he gave a somewhat firm shake, to his surprise the woman’s grip was somewhat painful in strength. He opened and closed his hands a couple times after the shake to ward off the somewhat numb feeling.

“Well, ‘Just Mike’, it’s nice to have you here. Though I’m sorry it took a bullet to get Marky Bear to invite you.” Andie said, she and Mike turned and looked at Mark. The scruffy man once again appeared a little nervous. “Really, you should know I’m made out of tougher stuff than I look.”

Wiktoria muttered something in Polish as she overheard the conversation, then she walked towards Mike. The Doctor had only let her see him twice since he’d come in, and she hadn’t really been able to tell how well he was doing. He looked alright now, but the tattoos that adorned his chest and upper body had Wiktoria curious. She took a moment to start examining the one on his shoulder, it depicted a woman with blonde hair dressed as a valkyrie.

“Nice to meet you too.” Mike said with a shrug before he looked at the radio equipment. “Now, can you please change the music?” Andie chuckled faintly and strolled over to a computer screen, watching the audio levels jump up and down for a few seconds.

“Well, I suppose since you guys brought me that tip about the EOL armor…” She said as she typed away on a keyboard, her the click clack of her fingers on the keys echoed through the room. “What is it you want to listen to?”

“I’m feeling nostalgic. How about some Sabaton?” Mike said with confidence, Andie smiled and nodded before she went back to typing on the keyboard. Mark walked over towards the woman to speak with her in a hushed voice, Mike figured it had something to do with him, not that he cared. His attention shifted to Wiktoria. She was currently staring at the tattoo on his arm, an old relic of his previous career.

The polish woman was far different up close than she had looked during the skirmish. Her silky auburn hair was bobbed just above her shoulders, and aside from her black fatigue pants and boots, she was completely void of any marks of the EOL. She had intense brown eyes and a round face that complimented her rather bulky muscled build, she wore a tight crimson long sleeved shirt and a pair of fingerless gloves. Mike cleared his throat and the woman quickly averted her eyes from his tattoos.

“See something you like… Slugger?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, smirking faintly as the Wiktoria crossed her arms and looked at him with an expression bordering on a frown. “What? I’m not allowed to make a joke?”

“You can’t if you don’t know my name.” Wiktoria said faintly, the Ex EOL soldier had her eyes locked firmly on Mike’s. “It’s Wiktoria, spelled with a ‘W’ but pronounced with a ‘V’.” The burly woman honestly intimidated the man with her muscular size, he likened her to a bear or the image of a valkyrie that was tattooed on his shoulder.

“Okay… Jeez, you don’t need to bite my head off.” Mike said with an upset expression, he supposed that he had that coming. He’d only just met this woman after all, and she’d recently been his enemy. “Are all you EOL people so touchy?”

“Ex EOL!” Wiktoria corrected rapidly and somewhat angrily “Do not toss me in with them, I didn’t have a choice!” She took a step forwards, getting into Mike’s face. Normally he would’ve decked her, but a quiet clearing of the throat from across the room caught both of their attention.

“Both of you need to calm down.” Andie said as she hit the enter button on the keyboard, Mark turned with her to cross his arms. “I won’t have any fighting in here, is that understood?” Mike just grunted and wiped his nose, Wiktoria muttered several obscenities in Polish as she walked away from the tattooed man. She went to a couple control panels and examined them just as the song ‘Panzer Battalion’ began to play over the radio. The man sighed quietly as he heard the familiar sound of Doctor Paterson’s voice outside the door to the room.

“Welp… This was fun while it lasted.” He muttered to himself as he turned and walked out of the room, he ignored the rant that the Doctor was going on, leaving the room in a bit of an odd silence. Wiktoria stepped away from the control panel and watched Mike leave, sighing quietly before she looked at Mark and Andie. The redhead had offered to take her under her wing, but the Polish woman believed it was actually to keep an eye on her. She could understand that to a point, she had been an enemy soldier days ago, but she absolutely hated being locked up in one place.

Wiktoria was hoping that soon her time of probation would be over so she could get back to doing things, even if she didn’t know what those things were yet. As she continued to listen to the radio and watch Mark and Andie she adjusted her shirt, she was naturally curious about what it was the two of them were discussing in such hushed tones. Whatever it was, she was sure it had something to do with something big, that was always how it went. Little did the two of them know, but they were actually some of the most powerful people in the wastes. The Colorado Kids had grown an odd sort of cult following within the Empire, and more than a few Imperial officials were guilty of listening to Andie’s ‘forbidden’ radio station.

With another dejected grunt Wiktoria took a seat in one of the swivel chairs that littered the building, she leaned back and put her feet up on one of the numerous tables. She was certain that big things were just around the corner, and somehow she was going to get herself stuck square in the middle.

Author's Notes:

These longer chapters are really difficult to do, so they may get shorter and shorter as time goes on. I've recently gotten a new job, so that may take more time out of my schedule as well, but hopefully not too much. I'm trying to get as much as I can done as fast as I can, so please, bear with me.

Here's your clip of the day, or week, or whatever it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6NJnjprd1s