Good afternoon Diamond City! This is Traveling Miles with the lunch hour news. Little bit of a buzz today after those bounty hunters came in trying to claim the reward on friend of the station Fast Times. Now seeing how those Gunners in D.C. strongly suggested I come along and take a look at the body that was brought in, I wasn't worried, whoever that poor buck was it wasn't Fast. That didn't stop the rumors though, but lo and behold I've got new stories coming in of a certain stallion in black out and about in the Commonwealth.

Seems Applenathy farm was liberated overnight, the folks there fell on hard times and ended up under the hoof of one of our own 'nobility', the Silver Seed Agriculture company. Apparently the conditions there were so bad it inspired our favorite fugitive to bring down Luna's wrath on the place. A couple of the slavers there left willingly and were spared, the rest not so much. Once he was done and the original owners of the small spread were in charge again, under the protection of the Minutemares now, Fast left to follow up on rumors of the old Equestrian Ration Stockpile nearby.

Wherever he is we wish him luck, those Gunners I spoke with seemed awful mad at being tricked... Here's a little Sweetie Belle to send his way.

Working on the large, multi limbed, 'Super Quicker Crop Picker' harvester was made more difficult by the three ladies badgering me while I was stuck under it. Whoever Hippocratic Research Industries' were they made almost overcomplicated but sturdy machinery, I was actually making some progress despite the stern voice above me, slowly edging up towards goddess levels.

"Fast you may not! This plan of yours is madness! I... I will not allow it!" Jade was seriously upset with me, but it was too late now, they all heard the radio too.

"She's right boss! Thanks to your little letter to Miles we gotta get outta here, every Gunner in the area is gonna be swarmin' this place, lookin' for blood! Why the hell you do that without even tellin' me!" I watched Val's claws and paws padding along, pacing on the other side of the large machine I was under.

"I don't like it either daddy! You leavin' me alone is bad enough, but you wanna... f-fight those bad monsters? Make all those mean Gunners come after you on purpose?!" Glitter was low enough to actually stick her head down here with me to yell at me, crouching under the front of the machine so I got it from three sides.

With a sigh I tightened the next series of connections and followed the circuit I had been repairing again, "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you because I knew you'd try to stop me. I can't let this go, I am getting into that fort one way or another, this is the best idea I had...."

"Using that strange spell of yours does damage to your body Fast! You have not let me examine it to see the potential side effects! The stress on your hooves alone moving at that speed is unacceptable!" Jade tried the medical approach first, she did have a point though. A large part of my plan hinged on my weird lightning walking spell, not a bit of magic I had ever seen in any book. It did do some damage if I overdid it, but this wouldn't be as bad as trying to keep ahead of those mutant alicorns.

"Boss you don't know Gunners! After foolin' em like that, they are gonna be righteously pissed off and you wanna bring em here intentionally!? This whole Kellogg thing is makin' you crazy, yer lettin' him get to you! Just wantin' to fight him is bad enough, but a horde of manticores and the Gunners before you even get to him!?" Val's concerns were tactical and also well thought out. Maybe I was too obsessed with the cyber-buck that killed so many in my Stable... I was still going to kill him though.

Glitter was the hardest to deny however, "Everybody's worried about you dad! Y-You could get k-killed! You can't leave me! N-Not you too! Just forget about this bad pony, let's run away!" Since she could stick her head down here with me I had to look into those watery pink eyes as she begged. I wished I could do as she asked, I wasn't running away though...

At the flip of a switch the repaired circuit hummed to life and the machine clattered above me, this was the biggest problem with the harvester fixed then. I crawled out towards the front to give the blubbering foal a hug and stroke her mane, "I'm sorry... really I am Glitter. I'll be careful, I'm not leaving you ever ok? But... I have to do this. I know it's hard to understand, but I have to. Trust me ok, I'll be back before you know it and we'll do something fun alright?"

Sniffling in my chest she wimpered out a response, "C-Can we go home? See everypony? I w-wanna check on Sassy... see Short an Sturges... Let AssaultJack meet Cogsworth so they can be friends! Can we?"

That was still a difficult order to fill, if everything worked out perfectly though... maybe I could give her what she wanted. "We'll try, that's one more reason for me to do this. So we can go home for a little while, I miss it too. You're not trying to play matchmaker with Cogs and your babysitter though are you?"

A small tickle at the joke got her to giggle, "M-Maybe... they're both robots! AssaultJack should have robot friends, there's others back home I guess... but they don't talk like Cogsworth and AJ."

Looking out over the field I could see another Minutemare returning to Sunshine and Rainbows Co-Op, this one loaded down with heavy bags and panting from his run to the outside. There was another piece of my... plan like thing... it was sort of a plan, I needed what he had brought and to get them set up ahead of time anyway, so I trotted over once Glitter was calmed.

The alicorn and griffon pair trailed me and continued their argument against my idea, distracting the poor Minutemare earth pony buck from giving his report with a salute and handing over his heavy load. "H-Here you are sir, ran as fast as I could and bought every last mine and grenade in Hex. Hell of a discount when I said who it was for and gave em your note sir!"

I rooted around in the large bag a moment and examined the haul, more explosives than I could carry stared back, a few looked like old Stable-Tec lunchboxes and jingled for some reason. I grinned at the young Minutemare and tipped my hat. "Thanks a lot for doing that, I really appreciate it, this will help a lot. Now get some rest soldier, gonna be busy soon I think."

The light purple pony gave another salute and trotted off to the long commisary building to join his fellows, eager to share the praise and add to the excited conversation. My view of him waving to his friends was blocked by the large blue alicorn looming over me with a frown however.

"You may not do this Fast. It is too dangerous, if I must I will tranquilize you and force you to leave this place before these Gunners arrive..." If I didn't know her so well I'd believe that threat, it was still a concern she might do it anyway, she was that upset after I explained what I was going to do.

"That wouldn't be very nice Jade, I don't think you will. You know what this means to me, I'd do anything to not worry you I could, but I have to do this. It's my family, I love them as much as you, don't make me choose between you. Please."

She looked utterly crestfallen at that, her ears drooped and she slumped on the spot, answering sadly with a whimper. "B-But... you could... I cannot lose you, I cannot... I wish to see you find your family, very much... I wish to meet them someday. But this... is there not some other way?"

"We watched them for awhile and talked to all the ponies here, those manticores don't go away. If I want in they have to go, and I want in. We don't have the kind of firepower we need to do it alone, this will work though. I know you're scared, trust me... so am I... But I'm doing this, c-can I ask you help me?" I tugged at the heavy sack uselessly to demonstrate, there was no way I was lugging this kind of ordinance into the woods on my own.

Val grabbed the overloaded sack and snatched it away before her pale blue magic could envelop it as she sighed in defeat, "No! You are playin' with fire here boss, this is slightly crazier than most of your plans, figure something else out that doesn't make you into bait!"

"Can you do it Val? Can Jade? Summer? Dance? Preston? Who here is fast enough? I need your help with those too, we need to scout out the path to that raider place the ponies at Applenathy told us about and get it all set up. Unless you can come up with something better, this is what we got. I'm counting on you too, it's not like I could think of a way to keep you and Jade out of danger while I do this, it's all fair right? I... I c-could order you..."

She snorted laughter at that and mussed my mane under my hat, "As if you would! C'mon boss, yer a pushover, not like that Fancy bitch. My part of this little production of yours is a helluva lot easier than yours too y'know, without Freya there's not many of them Gunners I don't think I could take in the air. I still don't like it."

Giving her fluffy neck a hug got her to reluctantly relax and give in, "I know Val, but this is what I'm doing and I really want you with me. Now come on, I need you both to get this all set up. Have to go over the trail again and don't want to be spotted early do we?"

Neither lady looked happy, but they were worn down now, I was just too stubborn on this. Part of me knew it and hated myself for putting them all through this, but it was in the minority. The rest was completely focused on what lie in Fort Haygone and getting inside. On the way out of the settlement I spotted Zed and gave him a nod, he looked like he was getting ready to go scouting himself for his part. Once he knew of Kellogg's connection to the Institute he was fine with whatever it took.

That just left setting up a long string of surprises between the fort and the raider camp around the entrance to the Equestrian Ration Stockpile the farmers had to informed me about. It was perfectly positioned, and somewhere where collateral damage wasn't an issue. If the raiders who hoarded all that food like I was told got hurt, it was no big loss.

Standing on the hill overlooking Haygone in the heavy evening rain, I gulped and had serious second thoughts for a moment. Eyes Forward Sparkle was trying very hard to inform me how insane this was, filling with red as I picked out the huge forms milling around in the town below me.

Steel Dance didn't help with his comments either, "You're sure about this Fast? I admit it is tactically sound, but this puts you at a lot of risk. Once those things get riled up and have your scent... they won't stop..."

I shook myself in the rain and gave a determined nod, "That's what I'm counting on. Thanks for going along with this and letting me borrow your weapon Dance. Are you two going to be alright once this starts?"

Dance looked back to his pegasus scribe Summer Wind before turning back and giving the short tube of the grenade launcher in my grip an affectionate pat. "We have a hiding place all picked out, downwind... Don't worry about the loan, just make sure you come back to return it alright? Scribe Wind and I will secure the entrance and be waiting."

"H-He's right Fast, don't get yourself killed doing this. You'd be making a lot of ponies unhappy you know." Summer looked as upset as Jade, but wasn't trying to stop me at least.

I examined the 40mm grenade launcher my pip-buck had identified as "Thump-Thump" for some reason, it was encouraging at least, when my pip-buck gave it a name it was usually for a reason. I wasn't very familiar with explosive weaponry like this, I had enough experience with mines and grenades now I appreciated the capabilities, but this was a first. Dance gave a good tutorial, but I needed every one of the thick cylindrical rounds he had, so no test fires beforehand. It had a long tube barrel and a wide drum magazine that held eight rounds, according to dance it would arc the explosive rounds out so he said to aim high.

Well... best to get this show on the road... Jade and Val were flying to Sanctuary and the surrounding area, stirring up every Gunner they could find and drawing them in by now. Between the griffon's aerial skills and Jade's invisibility and shield, I gave them the best odds I could. Val had been right there, their part was easy compared to this.

One final gulp to myself and I brought up my lightning walking spell, I didn't pour as much magic into it as before, the manticores were not as fast as the mutant alicorns from what I had learned. I did put a good charge into it though, I wanted breathing room... The two Brotherhood ponies watched the lightning arc around my wrapped hooves with interest, the duct taped rags a concession to Jade for the amount of damage this could do to my hooves. They gave me a nervous send off and galloped away into the gloom, leaving me alone with a town full of manticores below.

I gave them a couple minutes to get safely away to their hiding spot, they had their own job to do once I did this. When I was comfortable with their lead and pumped myself as much as I was going to get, I charged down the muddy hill and into the old military town, floating the grenade launcher with me.

The response was immediate... even blurring by them with electricity trailing behind me, the manticores started roaring in the streets to each other over the intrusion. I had to zip by three that came uncomfortably close with those claws or stingers of theirs, even as fast as I was going, but I had to get as close to the center of town as I could, I wanted all of them.

Once I was approaching the front entrance to the fort my pip-buck flashed Discovered Location: Fort Haygone uselessly in my vision and I started unloading with Thump-Thump. The name was appropriate anyway, each soft thump it made sent out a crashing explosion ahead of me, stirring the manticores up even more with blood in the air. I kept running south, dodging increasingly agitated feline monsters that were launching themselves into the air or charging out of buildings after me, now leaving a trail of both lightning and fire.

Turning around the short southern edge of the town to go around the fort and head north again, I was worried about the wall of clawed death ahead, they weren't fast enough but they weren't stupid. A full day of scouting this place out left me with options though and I blasted down an alley, around an old Starbucked Coffee and back out to the western road leading north/south. I heard a lot of frustrated roars behind me as I reloaded the grenade launcher and continued firing, big chunks were blown out of the targets it hit with, but they weren't going down.

Well that could be good or bad, depending on how well this all went. I was approaching the edge of town again, back where I started and the woods beyond. A trail to the west let me get up the hill without losing much speed, which was fortunate with the sky filling with manticores behind me and the thunder of their running in my ears.

I had walked this path a dozen times, stringing it between what landmarks I could find so remaining on course in the dark would be easier. My first concern was answered now at least, they were definitely leaving Haygone to follow me. Now to see how effective my traps would be and what I could find along the way...

The creek in a shallow valley was just ahead, marked by a tree that had fallen over the small declivity, big enough for me to pass through but not the huge manticores. Not that it was really an obstacle for them, but it gave me something to shoot for, and to set all the explosive slave collars I had collected from Sunshine and Rainbows along with Applenathy Farm.

Taking the second farm from the slavers was far easier than the first, having a dozen Minutemares and a Steel Ranger made me very convincing. When the slaver holding the detonator for all the collars at Applenathy dropped limply to the mud before he had a chance to say a word, they were easy pickings. Jade's tranquilizing spell made sure he never got near the button he held that was now in my possession.

I stopped in the quickly running stream washing around my hooves, prancing in place as the sea of red on E.F.S. grew closer, I could outpace them when I wanted so this should work. An airborne manticore came slamming down in front of me, the long scorpion stinger grazing my side but deflected by Sassy's amazing Shroud costume. I sent a few shotgun rounds at it and ducked back, waiting for the clump that was charging up the creek bed. Once they were in range I hit the detonator and ran off into the woods again, the firecracker series of explosions dealing more damage to my pursuers.

Alright, after the creek I needed to look out for that Gunner squad... we had spotted them searching the area when we were setting this all up, I hoped they hadn't gone too far, I had to stay close to my prepared path. Just when I was getting worried I saw the cluster of red in my vision just ahead, ten more Gunners to add to the fray... Zipping straight at them I wound up skidding to a halt right in the middle of their camp to a lot of surprised stares.

"Hi! I hear you're looking for me! Well come and get me fellas!"

The griffon leader spat their thin stew out in a long stream and sputtered out a furious shout, "It's him!! Son of a bitch! Kill him!!!"

The clicks of a lot of weaponry being hastily grabbed was all I heard before I zoomed off again, back to my trail of tricks heading north. That brief pause gave the manticores time to catch up again and they were getting pretty agitated. Another series of explosions back that way probably had something to do with that, we had set a loooot of mines out there...

Some of the beasts were getting the idea and staying airborne, the web of skeletal trees ahead should help with that though. Navigating the maze of trunks slowed me down a little, but the satisfying kabooms above and behind me made up for it. Val spent a good deal of time setting up grenade bouquets up there, the same trap I had nearly died from in Thundega was proving just as effective against them now.

Once I cleared the tight thicket I glanced around frantically, spotting the ruined church to the left in a flash of lightning that made my horn tingle. Getting close... according to the farmers at Applenathy and Zed's scouting, there was a secret entrance to the Ration Stockpile in there, not the one I was taking now, but it would come in useful later. I stopped at the base of the hill leading to the crumbling stone structure and fired off a few more rounds from Thump-Thump for good measure. The roars out there in the dark accompanied by angry shouts of Gunners coming in from the side.

Charging off to the north again I could see the lights of my destination, a good thing as those manticores were getting close and sounded really angry. I crested the last hill and saw the now familiar raider camp we had scouted out over the last day, a series of ramshackle wooden structures and tents, all built around a sturdy pre-war bunker door. Spotlights and turrets still functioned and roved around, but I was just out of their range at the moment so had a chance to check over the crew out here, a good dozen at least along with the turrets... good.

Putting on my best Shroud voice I shouted over the crack of thunder behind me, "Greetings Evildoers!! You have been some very bad ponies and Luna has passed her judgement upon you! This is your only chance, I suggest you leave and do it fast..."

"Oh what the fuck is this?! This lunatic is for real!?" The first raider to react sounded a bit incredulous, not helped by one of his companions reply.

"Shit! Snick you heard the radio! I think that's the one the Gunners want! 5,000 caps bro!"

The pair hovering above the camp and the black and white blur by the bunker door made me sure they'd never collect that bounty, they were running out of time without knowing it as I could hear the chaos in the woods behind me catching up. Val and Jade disappeared once they were sure I saw them, moments ahead of a burly grey griffon slamming to the ground on the opposite side of the camp, followed up by several heavily armed ponies in Gunner gear.

"Over there! There he is the little bastard!! You raiders, stay out of this or die, that's our bounty!" The griffon looked pretty annoyed, Val must have been flying circles around him, aided with the ability to simply disappear. It had to be frustrating...

"Who the fuck are you to tell us what to do in our camp! Gunners or not you're outta yer territory here feather duster! Piss off, you can pay us the bounty when we waste him!" The raider leader behaved like I hoped, making the situation more tense as half of each force's weapons now pointed at the other, the rest at me.

Shifting nervously on my hooves I risked one last look back and saw a dozen or more bloody, wounded and very pissed off manticores burst from the woods and start up the slope I was on. "Hate to interrupt guys, but you have bigger problems... Riiiiight about now..."

As I spoke they started hearing the roars, when I blasted forward narrowly avoiding another flying manticore trying to crush me, they got extremely concerned. A lot of fire came in, directed at me and the manticore and each other, my armor protected me from most of it and I dodged for all I was worth through the cluttered camp. Closing in on the bunker door I saw Zed's work on the raiders surrounding the portal, several raiders had been silently taken out with his hooves and he, Jade and Val waited anxiously at the steel door.

"Go, Go, Go, Go!!" I yelped at them to open the door and get inside while I covered the last of the distance between us in a flash, whatever happened out here now, the three groups were going to keep each other occupied.

Once through the bunker door I spun on the spot and slammed my pip-buck cable into the terminal by the door, panting as I cracked the security and locked the door from this side, didn't want to have any surprise followers or give them a way to escape. Now that we were relatively safe Jade grabbed me in a strong embrace, her horn glowing to check and heal what injuries I had picked up during the chase, she fretted and groused while she smothered me with affection.

"That was very dangerous Fast! I saw those creatures chasing you from the air, if you had faltered at all... You are lucky it worked so well but I do not like it, you may not do such things in the future!"

Stripping away the tattered rags that remained on my hooves now that I dismissed the spell, she gave a disapproving tsk and started focusing on healing the damage. If we did get a chance to go home maybe I should ask Sassy about some kind of shoes if I was going to use this spell, it wasn't as bad through the muddy woods as the asphalt streets, but it did sting. Once she had healed me to her satisfaction I gave her some reassuring attention and looked to Val and Zed, both were on guard and looking into the rest of the complex we had entered.

"If the alarm was not raised, they most likely are relaxing within. I have scouted as far as possible here, it is not a large structure and only the raider's leadership dwells within." I was impressed, I asked Zed to scout this place out but didn't think he'd actually go inside too, that was one sneaky zebra.

Val punched my shoulder once I was free of Jade and grumbled at me, "Well, since you managed ta not die boss, let's get goin'. Hope them Minutemares up there know to stay out of it till it's settled, gonna be nasty for awhile."

Looking back at the door and the nearly solid block of red on my compass, I agreed with her. Preston had them pulled back and surrounding the camp at a safe distance, keeping an eye on it until the three groups had more or less whittled each other down. I couldn't hear through the heavy steel door and concrete, but I could feel explosions reverberating through the ground. With the amount of damage the manticores took following me, and as outmatched as the raiders were, I actually hoped the Gunners would be the last ones standing more or less. I had plans for them, if everything worked perfectly that is...

A raider strolling along the concrete hall ahead of us brought me back to the present, had to keep moving forward and we wouldn't be safe for a long time yet. HIs eyes widened for just a moment as he noticed us, then Zed sprang forward and pummeled him into a bloody heap silently, giving us an impatient look as he nodded to the rest of the complex.

"Right, sorry Zed, let's get moving. The Church is southwest of us, so we're looking for passages that lead that way, and to clear this place out if it really has a lot of food still."

I drew my silenced pistol and trotted up to Zed, the others falling in behind us. We'd keep this quiet as long as we could, things would get loud soon enough. The wide stone halls were littered with crates and the signs of raider habitation, empty bottles and drug containers, grisly trophies and loot stashes Val investigated eagerly. Going down the next long hall Zed and I managed to dispatch three more raiders silently, a poorly timed fourth entering from the end of the long hall shouted and raised the alarm however, right before Val's red magical energy weapon turned him to ash.

From then on it was a running firefight, the raiders weapons weren't that great after dealing with Gunners, but they had a lot of them and their use of molotovs negated the advantage my armor gave me, it could take .38 rounds and buckshot all day long but fire was a problem. The large metal crates in many of these halls had been stacked to provide cover for them and make sure there was no clear path forward, a pinch point leading to a widening of the halls let one particularly stubborn group keep us pinned until Val unloaded with her grenade machine gun.

The 25mm rounds for her weapon didn't match Thump-Thump's 40mm needs, so she had plenty of rounds, I had been pretty liberal with using my own outside, leaving me only a few rounds left which made bigger explosions than Val's, so I left it to her for now. I had also used every mine and grenade in my inventory, so now I was sorely lacking in explosives if I needed them, as we went I began collecting the raider's molotovs as a makeshift replacement, though I had come to appreciate making things go boom.

With the way clear we moved up to a large room, a fenced barricade with a security door and terminal led to a storage space stretching off into the distance. Through the chain link I could see shelves still stocked with a lot of canned goods and boxes of rations and dried goods, so some of the stockpile was still here after all... I ran over to the terminal and started on the security while the others spread out and took up a guard, we could always use food and I wanted this unlocked for the Minutemares when they took this place over.

Jade joined me and stared at the gloom beyond the barrier, taking in all the loaded shelves. "This will help Sanctuary quite a bit Fast. If nothing else comes from this at least food should not be a concern, between this and your work with the farms outside."

"That was the idea, I told you I had a plan.... sorta... It wasn't just my work with the farms either, you convinced them to join, healed all those slaves at the Applenathy's, helped convince some of the slavers to give up and go away. They all loved you Jade, you make a good princess, just like I thought."

She gave a small whinny at the praise and flushed, "I may have accepted the role you gave me, but it is still a lot to take in... I was just doing what I thought I should, and as much as I wish it were otherwise without some degree of violence those places would still be under the hoof of that Silver Seed pony..."

The heavy steel door swung open once I got through and found the command, letting me turn away from the terminal and give her a nuzzle before entering the storage chamber. "Well, every princess needs their knight right? You're the good cop, I'm the bad cop."

"Cop? We are not police Fast. You are not bad either." She gave a quizzical look at that and followed me in.

I started floating food and water off the shelves while we walked, resupplying our stores and grabbing things I knew Glitter would enjoy. I felt bad leaving her at Sunshine and Rainbows, but Wilt agreed happily and there were other foals there to play with, she had AssaultJack to guard her, and I made sure to keep all this chaos as far away from the farm as possible. When we got back I still wanted to have something to give her and the perfectly preserved snack cakes were always her favorite.

"It's an old expression I got from tv Jade, trust me it fits. You're the nice one that asks them to be better, I'm the one who deals with them if they refuse the chance."

She still looked confused but shrugged as she floated more food and water to her own medical box saddlebags. "If you say so Fast. You are not bad though. I do not like you taking on a role of such violence and bloodshed, it does not suit you. However you are correct, sometimes it seems there simply is no other choice, no matter how much I wish it were not so. Perhaps someday we..."

Whatever she was about was cut off by the roar of a minigun outside, the door at the back of this storage chamber would have to wait. Running back into the chamber I spotted Val pinned under the stream of fire behind some metal crates, and Zed crouching his way as close as he could to the crazed raider with the huge weapon. A red earth pony mare with a battlesaddle was pouring lead into the room and cackling madly, her patchwork armor was of a higher quality than the others we had fought down here, this must be the leader.

Noticing the number of wounds Val was bleeding from, Jade threw up a shield and dashed out to her. With the sudden movement the raider spun and laid down fire uselessly against her bright blue shield, the only thing it served to do was distract the raider and make me furious. With her so focused on hitting the strong shield I had a clear shot and charged the Last Minute, how dare she attack Jade was all that ran through my head as I slid into S.A.T.S. and selected two shots to the head.

With that weird whine and flat crack the gauss rifle annihilated the raider's head on the first shot, leaving a quivering body that kept shooting the minigun for a few seconds before falling over in a heap. E.F.S. didn't show anything else nearby, and Val was getting to her feet, expertly healed by Jade's magic. Zed reappeared halfway to the raider from where I last spotted him, looking at the corpse in distaste and turning to me.

"I believe this is the last of them, I overheard many of the raiders speaking of a Scarlet that was in charge, this must be her."

Shaking off her wounds, Val crossed the room and kicked the dead raider before rifling through her possessions. "Bitch came outta nowhere, nice shot boss. We find where we're goin' yet?"

I checked my map and compass, making a slow circle until it lined up on the storage room. "Yeah, think I know where it is. Grab whatever you want and let's go, may take me a second to open it up."

Trotting back to the end of the long storage room, I came back to the steel security door and terminal beside it. I was guessing these raiders couldn't crack this door, thus they didn't use the secret entrance in the church outside. Maybe they found the password for the other one, or it was just unlocked, who knows. I was grateful though, if they never used it then I didn't have to worry about more of them.

It took a few attempts, but finally the terminal was defeated and the door opened, revealing a long straight passage with flickering lights leading roughly south. The others joined me and we started single file down the narrow corridor, it was damp and musty, a few radroaches provided a minor annoyance as well, but eventually it ended at a rusting steel ladder.

Ever the bodyguard Val shoved past me and flew up to the steel trapdoor, pushing it open with a screech and a gust of rain and chilly wind. Once she popped her head out and looked around she reached down and gestured the all clear, launching herself out the door with a flick of her tail.

Stepping out into the rainy evening gloom made darker by the ruined church, I could still hear distant roars and gunfire to the north. Well whatever was happening back there was none of my concern now, what I wanted was to the south, Fort Haygone. I looked to my companions gratefully and nodded in that direction.

"Ok... Everybody ready?"

There wasn't a voice against it, they all we're prepared to go into this with me without complaint, making me swell with pride and happiness. Wiping a bit of... extra rain... from my cheek I put on a determined look and started walking. Kellogg was waiting...

Without all the manticores the town of Haygone was creepy. A few of the creatures died in my initial high speed assault I was unaware of, along with some more who were disabled but still alive that Val took care of. Walking the cracked streets and looking over the faded, ruined buildings once either brightly painted or a uniform green, I could almost see what this place was like before the war.

As we approached the imposing front doors of Fort Haygone a light voice called out, "Fast! You made it! Here, this way, the front's blocked. Paladin Dance has found another way in, through the motor pool."

"Scribe Wind, good to see you. Any problems?"

The light yellow pegasus landed in front of us and tipped her red cap up, her green eyes wide and bright. "Us? No, not after you drew them all away! That was amazing Fast, how did you do that? You were so.... er... fast, I mean you actually left that lighting trail and were just blowing right by them! What spell is that?"

"Umm... it's supposed to be cloud walking... I can't cast it right anymore, but I'm getting better at it. Using that has some costs though." I scratched my mane and started moving, the scribe's praise was just going to irritate...

"Impressive as it is, Fast should not use that spell often or very long. He does himself damage when he does." Jade huffed with her nose in the air, trotting along at my side as we headed to the ramps leading down from the street ahead.

Summer flew ahead of us, leading the way backwards. "Oh... well it was still quite a show Fast, Paladin Dance was impressed. He really wants you to join the Brotherhood now!"

Walking down into the gloom of the motor pool I saw the spotlight of the Steel Ranger in question, roving about the cavernous space. The rusting hulks of a few armored carts were down here, I thought I even saw an ancient highwayman before his light moved on and spotted us. Dance's steel clad hooves echoed on the concrete as he walked up, his helmet sliding back with a hiss to reveal his beaming face.

"Excellent work soldier! I had my doubts, but I have to admit that was quite the plan. I can only assume everything worked as intended?"

"I hope so... We don't know what happened once we went in the bunker, they were still going at it when we came out from the sound of it. I hope Preston and the Minutemares are alright, just one more reason to get on with this and back to them as soon as possible. Thanks for letting me use your weapon Dance, only a few rounds left but here it is. So you found a way in?"

Dance nodded briskly and trotted over to a nearby wall with a faded map of the structure as he spoke. "Why don't you hold onto it awhile Fast, you put it to good use out there. Now, the main entrance isn't open, but if we go up a level here to the repair bays we can enter on the ground floor. Scribe Wind also scouted as much as she could, there are entrances on the roof, though reaching them is more problematic."

He gave his heavy armor a hoof to the chest to illustrate his point, the sharp clang reverberating in the dark. Yeah getting him up there wouldn't be easy, Zed and I could get there easily enough but not the heavy Ranger. I studied the map a moment and hoped the entrance I saw was open, all the repair bays up there put a mark in Dance's favor too. They'd probably have things I'd find of interest, parts and tools if nothing else.

"Alright, up we go then. Stairs are this way?" I gestured to the darkness and Dance nodded in return as his helmet slid back into place.

All of us turned on our pip-buck lights, pushing back the gloom a bit, and headed off. In the corner of the empty garage a small steel door was where the map said it should be, a darkened sign reading 'Stairs' confirmed it was the right one. The stairs beyond were in poor shape, cracked and crumbling but still intact, a pile of rubble from above was in the floor. I walked up cautiously, passing bent and rusting railing on the way to the first floor.

Val flew up above me and reached the door first, shoving it open and peering inside before allowing me in with a chuckle. "Oh yeah boss, this place is right up your alley..."

I was hopeful at her comment, but still amazed at what lay within. A huge space, divided with steel cages around the edges, making separate work spaces. What looked like a service center, for power armor... Big yellow power armor workstations sat in each cage, their rusting chains to hold up the suits jingling in the gust of air from a large hole to the second level in the distance. Working my way towards where the entrance to the fort should be, I couldn't help sticking my head in each workstations, rummaging in tool chests and grabbing parts where I found them.

Dance's spotlight picked out something even more interesting in one of them, a suit of armor still hanging from the frame in a larger caged work space than the others, a terminal glowed in the dark nearby. I followed as he trotted forward and examined the armor with him, this was more advanced than the one I had briefly worn in Poncord.

"T-51... good shape. Though it's had some modifications I've never seen before." Dance circled the armor with an appraising eye while I took a look at the glowing terminal.

Mostly it was work orders and standard complaints I was used to seeing from repair ponies, not enough parts, unreasonable deadlines, ridiculous repairs from ponies not keeping their equipment in good repair or doing something stupid. It may be about power armor and vertibucks, but the tone was no different than bitching about the Stable's lights flickering or water not draining back home. A couple of files caught my interest however;

Subject: T-51U Modifications

Putting the finishing touches on the modifications to this suit, starting with the T-45s was a good learning experience. Still not entirely sure why we're going through all this work making them unicorn compatible, but I guess I can see some of them using it. At least we got those C.I.A.T. interns of Klein's doing most of the work, though I'd like to know what this next project is they're so excited about getting to after this one.

Subject: Really?

Come on, those brats want to do the same mods to a suit of Shadowbolt armor? Why!? I can see a unicorn using one of the Steel Ranger suits in a pinch, system even works pretty well with the improvements we've made since the first run, but one of the Shadowbolt suits?! Why in the name of Celestia would a unicorn ever wear a suit designed for a pegasus?! Half the damn systems in the armor would be useless with no wings or flight ability.

Don't even get me started on this A-01 thing they're talking about when they think I'm not listening either. What, do they think Princess Luna's gonna need her own suit to jump into the fray with? If things are getting that bad one suit of power armor isn't gonna make a difference, even worn by one of the princesses. I know we get to play around with cutting edge stuff thanks to the school, but some of their experiments just seem like a waste of time.

So the Institute had a hoof here too... just their interns working on the base, but still, they were modifying power armor suits to be unicorn compatible? Looking closer at the suit in the station in front of me I could see it now, the helmet did accommodate a horn, there were other additions connected to the spell matrix and power systems as well.

My inspection was interrupted by a rumble and the sound of rubble falling nearby, I trotted out of the cage and peered into the dark with the others. Something was definitely moving out there, just outside of the range of E.F.S., Val felt no compunctions with cutting to the chase however. Her red M.E.W. lanced out into the dark towards the sound, lighting the shadows up in a stream of flashes that revealed something big, vaguely feline, shaggy and very pissed at being hit by the random stream of fire directed at it.

Eyes Forward Sparkle lit up with a single red dash as it lunged forward, swiping at Val with a massive claw and barely missing. A manticore, I missed one... it must have made its nest here, used one of the doors on the second level for flying vehicles perhaps. This one seemed even larger and meaner than the others, stabbing out with its scorpion tail at anyone in range.

Val and Dance both opened up with their heavy weaponry, pushing the beast back as I tried to line up a shot with the Last Minute. The blurring 2mm round pierced the shaggy hide easily, but it was like hitting a brahmim with a BB, the thing was too large and powerful, even a head shot wasn't guaranteed to take it down.

I caught sight of a pale yellow streak trying to escape the creature that was quickly jabbed with its tail and sent crashing to the ground. I sprinted over to the crash site and found Scribe Wind, groaning weakly and bleeding heavily from her flank, gasping and shuddering where she lay.

"Jade!! Help!" At my yelp the alicorn came speeding over, taking in the scene and quickly getting to work.

Her magic was closing the wound, but she looked up to me with a worried expression as the fighting raged nearby. "She has been poisoned Fast, manticore venom. I can keep her alive for now, I need that creature's tail to make an antivenom. Quickly..."

"R-Right... Take care of her Jade, I'll be right back!"

The motor pool was so shadowy blending in to the darkness was easy enough and I started making my way around the furious beast as fast as I dared. Zed had been using the same tactic on the other side apparently, as I watched he came backflipping his way out of the dark, ended on a powerful buck that made me wince just watching it as the manticore screeched, then dodged gracefully out of the way and disappeared again.

I was good working in the shadows, but that zebra put me to shame still, thankfully he and the others were effectively distracting the creature. Drawing Best Served now that I was as close to it's rear as I was going to risk, I started it spinning vertically and focused on the base of that wildly lashing tail. I was only going to get one shot at this and didn't want to screw it up, waiting impatiently as the seconds ticked by and the poison worked its way through the pegasus waiting for me.

Finally it lashed out at Val again, as soon as the tail returned to its resting position I shot the star metal blade forward with everything I had. In a spray of blood the appendage was cleanly severed and flopped to the ground, the earsplitting wail the manticore let loose made worse by the echoing effect in here. As I returned the knife to me I snatched the tail up in my magic and dragged it along, bringing both to my side just in time for the wounded manticore to turn on me.

One massive paw swatted at me in annoyance and sent me flying with a wave of searing pain, I wrapped my legs around the tail as I went, focusing all my magic on not dropping my knife as I went tumbling across the hard ground. I heard Val and Jade yell while I watched the ceiling spinning above me, the griffon was otherwise occupied, but lifting my head with a groan I could dizzily make out Jade charging towards me, Scribe Wind floated along in tow.

"Fast! A-Are you alright!? Let me heal..." She was nervously shifting on her hooves and trying to inspect where I was hit, I had to wave off her concern though.

"Fine... H-Here... one manticore tail... hurry. I'll be alright..."

I released my deathgrip on the chitinous tail and shoved it her way, trying to keep the side I got swatted on out of her view. She didn't look happy but was a professional when it came to healing, forcing her personal feelings aside she grabbed the tail and started floating bottles out of her saddlebags hastily. While she was busy I took a moment to down a healing potion and check the damage, only two claws had made it through the magical armor, slowed enough to not eviscerate me on the spot. Sassy's armor was amazing, though I really had to ask her about adding some kind of padding if we made it back to Sanctuary, that felt like getting hit by a train.

With the healing potion doing its work I groaned and got to my hooves again, the others were holding the beast back and dealing damage to it, but the longer this went on the more dangerous it got. With no mines or grenades I didn't have much that could make much of an impact except Thump-Thump, and I only had a few rounds left with it. Plus I was a little leery of getting that things attention again, though there was another option nearby I had been more reluctant to use, but getting hit had decided me.

I ran back to the largest work cage and started flipping through the menus of the nearby terminal. With the right commands the chains holding the dusty suit released and it started folding open before me, I had only used one of these once, but this seemed like the right occasion to attempt it again.

I took my hat off and stepped into the open suit with my heart pounding, feeling it close around me with a wave of claustrophobia before the vision system hummed to life and the suit started going through its startup sequence. Squirming in place impatiently I watched it go through the same series of notifications as the other I had worn, come on.... hurry up already...

INITIATING NEW USER SEQUENCE
ENHANCED E.F.S. ONLINE
ENHANCED S.A.T.S. ONLINE
ADJUSTING FIT...
MINIMUM FIT ADJUSTMENT REACHED

Well it went through the whole thing faster and smoother than the less advanced suit I used previously, I could still do without the cold reminder about my height though... As I grumbled to myself about it the suit gave a few new alerts the other hadn't that piqued my interest.

CALIBRATING FOR UNICORN USER...
SPELL MATRIX INTEGRATED
POWER SUPPLY INTEGRATED
SPELL LIST UPDATED

My short list of available magic flashed by at that, Lighting, Teleport (Minor), and Unknown Spell, so they had been making progress with their modifications on these suits then... Whatever, the important data was listed next, 1290 rounds of 5mm minigun ammo on my right side, 32 missiles on my left side... That would work alright...

"Everybody look out! Incoming missiles!" My amplified voice boomed through the garage as I ran forward, away from Jade and Summer and towards the bleeding manticore ahead.

Zed ended another of his impressive assaults against the beast, rolling under its snapping jaws and springing straight up into an uppercut that clicked its mouth shut with a crunch. At my warning he leapt back and I was free to fire, launching half a dozen missiles as close to center body mass as I could manage. Heavy weapons really weren't my thing, two went high and hit the crumbling ceiling with an ominous rumble, while a third zoomed past it entirely, the other three at least managed to hit the target and the roar of explosions filled the cavernous space.

When the smoke cleared the manticore was still moving, battered and bloody but very ticked off.... at me... I brought up S.A.T.S. to have a moment to think, this thing just wasn't going down, I really hoped all the others I led out of town weren't this tough. The enhanced S.A.T.S. the suit provided made me hopeful there, it was able to not only give an estimate of the targets health (half... really?!) but also identified the monster as Alpha Manticore.

Ok... my hit chances in S.A.T.S. with the heavy battle saddle weaponry were abysmal, if I unloaded every missile and they all hit I might drop this thing, long odds on that though. Looking around I saw Val and Dance had taken some damage, despite carrying on the fight so well, even Zed had a few scratches which was unusual. I turned my attention back to the angry manticore and wondered what would happen if I did use more missiles, last time three missed entirely, the couple that hit the ceiling could have...

Dropping S.A.T.S. time resumed and I shouted out to the others, "The ceiling! Drop it on him!! Jade get Summer to the exit! Everybody get ready to follow!"

"Alright boss! I like the power armored you! Val whooped and started launching grenades at the ceiling above the manticore while Zed sprinted away towards the exit.

Gulping at the danger involved in this insane idea I started letting loose with missiles, vaguely aimed above the target and hoped for the best. I think I actually hit the manticore more when not aiming at it than I did when I was trying to hit it... Still a decent number of the explosives hit the ceiling, the whole building started to rumble at the assault and a few chunks of concrete fell on its head. That was good enough for me, I fired off a couple more for good measure and ran for the door Jade waited at anxiously, the red EXIT sign still lit up somehow.

Charging forward as the structure shook beneath my hooves, I leapt through the door, clearing the way for Val to swoop in behind me and Steel Dance to dive through just ahead of a cloud of dust as the ceiling gave way. There was one final roar behind us as Jade slammed the door shut, followed by a lot of shaking, if that thing was still alive it wasn't going anywhere at least.

Releasing the helmet with a thought I looked around to make sure everyone was still alright, Val and Dance looked like.... well like they had tangled with an angry manticore, but they were still alive and Jade started healing them immediately. Zed's wounds were minor despite his breathtaking close range attacks, he drank a healing potion and inspected the damage with a disappointed look. Scribe Summer Wind looked pale and shaky, but she was up and about thankfully, Jade's antivenom worked.

At my concerned look she shuffled over to Jade, tugging her hat down and looking up to the alicorn as she worked on her Paladin companion. "Er... t-thanks for that umm.. Jade... Thought I was a goner there, glad you were here and such a good doctor. I r-really appreciate it, so thanks a lot."

Looking down at the pegasus primly, Jade sighed and gave her a kind look. "Think nothing of it Scribe Wind. The Followers teach us to help everyone, I am glad I was able to do some good and help you. You should thank Fast as well.... he did retrieve the tail required."

Her light green eyes widened at that and she turned to me with a blush, "Y-You took that monster's tail?! Er... t-thank you Fast!"

"No problem, thank you for coming with me here. Jade told me what she needed and I went to get it is all, pretty useless without a doctor to put it to use. Now then... I guess we're in."

Emergency lighting flickered down the hallway ahead, a clump of skeletons were gathered against another steel door with a glowing terminal waiting at the end, with a simple message stenciled in white paint;

Once the others were completely healed and ready, we were going in... Kellogg was in there somewhere and I was finally going to find him. I could hear the soft voices of the Ministry Mares in my head fighting that darker Shroud up there, waging a constant battle with it as it raged at the prospect. Thoughts of all the horrible things to do to the one who took my family to make him talk, all the ways to kill him once he did, floated up and were softly argued against. "Be Kind...", "Be Strong!", "Be Unwavering." struggled against the thought of carving the names of the foals he killed into him and one pulsing mantra to counter them, "Be Dark..."

I shook my head to clear the battle, I didn't know if I could keep those darker thoughts back when faced with Kellogg, but I was going to try as much as I could. Kellogg deserved to die, but he was going to talk first and I shouldn't take pleasure in any of it... too much...

New Perk Added!---------------------

Demolition Expert--------------------
--The bigger the boom the better! You're explosives now do 25% more damage and you can craft explosives with the proper materials.