Handy turns and trots after Gearing, then leads the way to the medical bay. They step in through the first set of doors, and it seals behind them. Gearing looks around as the decontamination chamber’s sequence runs. This was a new addition that he hadn’t anticipated. This level of precaution is normally set aside for labs dealing with some biological or chemical hazard. It would be great for preventing pandemics, but for the entrance for a normal medical bay? That seems overkill. The scanning sequence ends, and kicks on a cyclone of air that cycles all of the air in the enclosed room up into the ceiling. Gearing stares up into the grates above and notices the glow of lights that gives him the distinct impression of light based sterilization.

The entire sequence finishes, and a moment later the inner door opens, revealing the medical bay interior. Handy walks in first, scanning the room with his eyes before going to stand near a sky blue pegasus mare with a blue-streaked red mane cascading around her shoulders. They exchange whispers as Gearing steps into the medical bay, just inside the door, far enough not to get smashed when the doors seal themselves again, and begins looking around. Gearing only trails his gaze around in a casual pace of taking the room in, and not gawking at the unreasonably attractive mare with the tornado cutie mark Handy’s conversing with.

On one of the medical beds to the right nearest the back right corner, a suncat lays on her back, with a bundle clutched to her cream colored underbelly. The feline glances around and says nothing, but regularly directs her attentions from the bundle in her paws, to the group around her. A white multi-armed nurse bot with pink and yellow trim floats near her, looking like a floating metallic jellyfish, taking in a variety of data and, after determining that the new arrivals have no impact on the task at hoof, continues its vigil over the suncat and the bundle being held so tenderly to her.

Gearing’s seen suncats before, in his out of country travels, but he can’t recall personally seeing them actually in Equestria before. So one being in a stable is an extreme oddity. The slight movement of the cloth draws all of Gearing’s attention for a few moments. The very foalish micro movements give him a pretty clear picture of the precious cargo being cradled in the fabric before he draws his attention across the rest of the medical ward.

The room, as a whole, is much larger than he’d expected for a simple stable. A lot of space and more than enough beds for typical usage. His eyes settle in the far back right corner, where a large egg like pod rests. He’s seen these before, and sincerely hopes he doesn’t have to use one. Medical procedures are bad enough when being administered by talented unicorns. But, the medical pods are another monster entirely. Cramped, enclosed, and all kinds of things going on to you while you can’t move. He shivers at the thought and shakes it off with his full body.

The other occupant of the room is a grey stallion that seems present, in the sense of being here, but has apparently entirely passed out over the bed he’s crawled over in a very rude manner. It’s a strange sensation, looking at someone’s who’s asleep, and the first thing that pops into one’s head is ‘Ruuuuude’. Just by the way he’s laying, fuck all cares style, gives Gearing a negative impression of him as someone that’s probably extremely annoying and, given how no one else is reacting to this sight, this must be the most pleasant he ever is: unconscious.

Gearing stretches, letting his wings expand out to their absolute fullest. “It’s nice to have a bit of room for a change,” he partially groans with the pleasurable effort.

Except for the slightly subdued lighting directly above the suncat, the rest of the room is brightly lit, showing off every shiny detail of Gearing’s polished bronze form with its silver and golden aspects. Which only gets magnified as Gearing stretches.

The light reflects and refracts off of Gearing’s wings, sending a cascade of sparkling color in a variety of directions, like some living disco ball. The light filtered through his wings hits the ground and wall in a tinted hue of greens and blues that are a stark contrast to the sterile grays and whites of the stable’s interior.

Handy tilts his head at the spectacle, then covers his face with his hoof as Gearing gives a few heavy flaps, sending wind out in gusts in front of himself before folding them back and settling down. Again, the thought of those wings being able to lift that much mass crosses his mind, but that wind was something else. Nah. No way. Handy decides.

Gearing looks at Handy then looks around at the others, including Sarge. “So, Handy, is this everyone… or?”

Handy narrows his eyes and says flatly, “Enough of us… yes.”

Gearing rolls his eyes. “Fine. You can explain the rest to anyone else. You’re the leader after all.”

At this statement the pegasus mare gives a disapproving look at Handy, who only shrugs. There’s a long silence as no one seems to know what to say first. After a bit Handy finally asks, “Well?”

Gearing looks at him. “Well, what? You brought me- Oh, yeah, I suppose I should introduce myself.” He flops down on his rear heavily and waves his right forehoof. “Hi. My name’s Gearing. I’m a Technician for Stable-Tec.”

“I’m Nahlah! Hi!” The suncat in the bed excitedly waves a paw from her bed.

Gearing nods his head towards her, and brings his attention back towards the pegasus mare. She stares at him with a level of suspicion in her dark green eyes that even exceeds Handy’s. “I’m Swift. And if you harm my children, I’ll destroy you.”

Gearing’s ears pop up. “Children? Is that one of your little ones over there?” He points a hoof at the suncat’s bundle.

Swift shakes her head. “That’s Nettlekiss’s foal.”

Gearing turns back to her. “Oh, okay, where’s-“

“Don’t worry about where my children are,” Swift cuts him off.

Gearing waves both hooves in front of himself. “You’re protective, I get it. Your foals, your rules.” He puts his hooves back down and stares at her as he asks, “Can you at least assure me that they aren’t going to be getting into areas where they aren’t supposed to be? That I won’t have to keep a look out for them while working?”

She stamps a hoof towards him, pounding a power hoof into the floor plating, as she snarls, “This is our stable, not yours. They can go where they wish!”

He looks at her for a few moments, and asks evenly, with a slight hint of accusation, “Really? I was told that this stable’s barely holding together. That it’s falling apart. And what’s worse, the lower levels are particularly dangerous.” He tilts his head and asks as his one eye on her narrows, “You really let your children play in radiation contaminated nests of beasts?”

She pulls back slightly, not expecting that response and hating the thought of it. “Well. No. Of course not. Don’t be stupid.”

Gearing nods. “Well. As long as they are safe and not in any danger, they aren’t any concern of mine…” He turns to look at Handy as he expects some sort of hint on where he’d like the conversation to go from here.

Swift tilts her head, staring at Gearing. It doesn’t pass her by that his questions were, in their entirety, confirming her foals’ health and safety. This goes a long way to get on her good side, but still far from where he’d need to be. They’ve been through too much to put too much trust into anyone so quickly.

“Hey, Handy, where’d you get the new protectapony?” the grey stallion asks from the bed as he’s flopped over in a near spread eagle style position. He scratches his underbelly with a forehoof a bit as he asks sleepily, “Damn thing’s bright as hell, mmkay? Could you turn it down a bit?” He yawns and flops over again, partially hanging off the medibed.

Oh yeah. Gearing’s not going to like him at all.

Gearing grumbles as he stares at the stallion that’s lost the war with unconsciousness again. “I’m not a protectapony!”

Swift and Nahlah both perk up and start looking around. Handy raises a hoof high in the air, getting everyone’s attention before anyone else says anything. “Okay. What are you then? You said you’d explain once everyone was gathered… so… here we are.”

Swift takes a step forward and gives Gearing a hard eye as she snarls, “You’re not with the Institute, are you?”

Gearing was about to say something, with his mouth wide open, then closes it and looks at her as he tilts his head. “Wait- what? What institute?”

Swifts eyes jump around his face for a few moments before backing up and focusing her attention elsewhere. “N- never mind. Forget it.”

Gearing’s tilted head leans and stretches towards her a bit as he tries to figure out her train of thought. He’s interrupted by a cough from Handy. He looks at Handy then nods. “Oh. Yeah. Well… Obviously…” He unfurls his wings out to their widest, causing a cascade of color behind himself as he strikes a pose with himself puffing up and his head slightly tilted, showing a profile of his face with his massive smile. “I’m a pegasus.” The light practically shines off his metallic teeth as he grins at them.

The spectacle is magnified by the fact that he seems to know just the right angles to turn his wings and crystalline shards that function as feathers to catch and reflect the most amount of light in the direction he wants.

Handy slaps a hoof over his face.

Swift looks at him only long enough to roll her eyes, with a motion that flowers through her whole body.

Nahlah’s eyes twinkle and she lightly claps as she grins.

The grey stallion farts in his unconscious state, drawing a distasteful look from both Swift and Gearing. Something for them to share.

Handy’s hoof slides down his face and after it falls off the front of his muzzle, he points his hoof at Gearing. “You know what I mean… You’re metal. Pegasi aren’t metal.” He points a hoof at Swift.

Gearing puts a hoof to his chest and slightly bows. “I know. Sorry, couldn’t help myself with the lighting in here. Anyway. I’m a clockwork.”

They all look at each other, and even Nahlah seems to lose some of her enthusiasm.

“A what?” Swift asks with a tilted head and a half closed eye.

Handy looks Gearing up and down as he asks, “That some kind of advanced model AI?”

Gearing sags his shoulders, and shakes his head hard a few times before stopping himself by putting both hooves to the sides of his head. He thrusts them both out towards Handy as he says. “I’m not artificial, there’s nothing artificial about-”

“Horseapples,” Handy and Swift say in unison.

Gearing grumbles and looks down at the floor plating as he tries to figure out how to explain it to this particular group.

Swift sits down and points at him as she looks at Handy. “What if he’s like Nettlekiss, his mind put in a machine?”

Handy looks over Gearing and bobs his head around. “It’s possible…”

Gearing grumbles as he interrupts any further comment, “No, it’s not.”

Swift directs her attention at Gearing. “Then how were you made?”

Gearing leans towards her and scowls. “How were you made?!”

Swift’s head pulls back at having the question thrown back into her face like that. She shakes her head then half closes an eye. “I wasn’t made! I was born.”

Gearing throws both hooves at her as he says, “So was I!”

Swift and Handy share sideways glances before Swift says, “I have a mother, who had me…”

Gearing points at himself with both forehooves “So did I! I was born just like all of you.” He points over at the bundle in Nahlah’s arms.

Swift’s head tilts the other way as she tries to makes sense of this. “How- how does that even… You’re gears…”

“It’s a curse.” This draws blank stares from everyone in the room. Gearing sits down and puts his hooves over his eyes as he runs everything through his head. He practically lays down then uncovers one of his eyes and points that forehoof at Swift.

“What?” Swift asks.

“You- you know about magic and such, right?” Gearing asks as he tries to connect the dots in a way they will understand.

Swifts eyes partially close as she feels more than a little insulted. “Duh.” She shakes her head a moment and restates, “I mean as much as anypony does. I’m not a unicorn, but, I get it. Why?”

Gearing pulls himself up and points at himself. "This is massively oversimplifying… but… think of it as transmutation magic.”

Swifts ears perk up as her eyes widen. Gearing, seeing that there’s some piece of recognition here continues on as quickly as possible, “I’m under the effects of a transmutation curse. Without it I’d be a normal pegasus, like you.”

Swift and Handy exchange glances as they try to figure out what to do with this information.

“Who’d you piss off that did that to you?” Nahlah asks from the bed.

Swift and Handy turn to look at her, but then direct their attention back towards Gearing and Swift points back at Nahlah, trying to prod for an answer.

Gearing sits up straight, then says after a long sigh, “That’s the worst part of it… I wasn’t even the one that did it. It’s hereditary.” They look at him as if he has two heads so he adds, “It’s passed on by blood. Somewhere a long time ago, someone pissed off some deity or whatever. And were turned into … this.” He waves his front hooves at himself. He sighs and looks off to the side. “My mother had it… and I’ve had it since I was born. Any foals I’d father, would also carry the curse.” He looks at them and scowls. “Get it now?”

Handy and swift blink a few times, in unison.

Swift takes a step forward, looking him over, and asks, “By bloodline? How do you even-“

Handy leans over and mutters with his head turned back the other way, “He comes fully equipped.”

Swift turns her head to look at him with an eyebrow raised, “What are you-?” She turns to look back at Gearing, and notices the way he’s sitting, a moment later her head whips back to look at Handy aghast, “What the hell!? Just what were you doing with him to notice that?! I thought you were straight!”

Handy takes a step away from her and waves both hooves in front of himself. “I couldn’t help but noticing!”

Gearing, smirks a bit, then turns his head sideways and avoids eye contact, looking rather bashful, as he says, “He had me all tied up… I- I was getting concerned for my chastity.” He fidgets with his forehooves and rubs them together.

Swift’s head whips over to look at Gearing with her mouth wide open, as does Handy. Handy yells out, “I was just making sure he wasn’t doing anything!”

Gearing grinds a forehoof into the floor and looks at Swift with big soulful eyes. “I couldn’t move if I wanted too... I- I don’t know what he did to me while I was knocked out… I came to all tied up with him running his hooves all over my body and this one pointing a laser at my head...” He points a hoof at Sarge.

“Zebra loving coward just laid there, no matter how much I taunted him,” Sarge confirms grumpily.

Handy yelps out, “It wasn’t like that!”

Swift spins around and bonks Handy on the top of the head with her pipbuck laden right hoof. “Keep your hooves to yourself!”

Gearing can’t help but smirk at the developments. He folds his left wing around his front, hiding behind it lightly, and trying to hide and distort his smile. A well executed prank is its own reward.

Nahlah starts laughing as Handy stoops down and holds his head. “What was that for?!” He groans and rubs the sore spot on top of his head.

Swift’s response is cut off by alarms blaring over the entire intercom system, including the pipbucks that all of them are wearing. Handy looks at his pipbuck then starts charging the doors as he says, “If you’re serious about helping, now would be a great time to prove it!”

Gearing side steps as Handy passes him, both doors to the medical bay open, allowing Swift, Handy, Gearing and Sarge to run through it.

As they are running, Handy yells out, “Stable-Tec, send a message to Scarlet, tell her to get to the front door now!”

“Confirmed,” the robotic voice of the stable comes over Handy’s pipbuck.

Gearing continues as fast as he can, feeling massively sluggish and having trouble going through his full range of motions. “What’s going on?!”

Handy looks back at Gearing and yells as they keep pulling away from him, “Proximity detector, and someone’s opened the outer doors!”

Gearing continues trotting after them as fast as he can. He looks at his legs and back at his flanks as he gets an increasingly sour look on his face. Something is indeed wrong with him, and he can’t quite put his hoof on what it could be. As he’s reaching the front door, a bolt of fire goes flying by him, quite literally, as a red pelted mare pegasus zips past him to stand by Swift’s side. By the time he gets to the large door that makes up the only way in or out of the stable, Handy has already pulled up the security footage of the area outside the door on a terminal.

Gearing peeks over Handy’s shoulder and sees a set of stairs descending from above. Given the design, and the controls he sees in the far end of the footage, he suspects there is an automated door that lays flat over them, hiding this area from the surface. There, in the center of the camera is a pair of ponies looking at the stable entrance. Gearing looks around at the others taking up the room he’s in, and can feel the tension rising. He’s seen this kind of thing before, and knows there’s about to be a fight. He looks back and forth from the group he is with, to the ones on the monitor.

How is he supposed to know which side is right? If it does come to blows, how can he really be sure he’s not helping a bunch of horrible ponies? He’s been threatened from the very onset. Repeatedly. Needlessly. Normal ponies wouldn’t do that. If nothing else, the ones outside the door haven’t done that, so they have that going for them.

Handy clicks a few controls and the sound begins coming in from the security footage and they can finally hear what the earth stallion and the unicorn mare are talking about.

“Fuck me running, there’s a sealed up stable down here!” the mare says as she walks up to him with wide eyes and her mouth barely off the floor.

The stallion nods. “This isn’t on any map I know of.”

The mare trots in place. “Oh man! Just think of all the goodies in there! Just waiting to get picked up!”

The stallion nods and smiles. “Yeeaaahh. This isn’t on contract, but we can’t pass this up.” He turns to look at her. “Go get the thermal explosives, we’re going to crack this sucker.”

She springs up in the air and hoof pumps with her right forehoof. “Oh hells yeah!” She turns around and starts towards the stairs, but stops just long enough to ask, “Think anyone’s still alive in there, Commander Bradoak?”

The stallion doesn’t even give it a second before he purses his lips to the side and responds, “Doesn’t matter. Probably not, but even if there is there won’t be once we’re done.”

The mare giggles and trots up the stairs. “We’re going to be rich!”

Tick.

Tick.

CLICK.

Gearing’s mind becomes clear and all previous questions are put on hold. Foal murdering for the purpose of profit? Not on his watch.

Handy holds onto the screen as he looks nervously at Swift. Swift steps away from the red mare long enough for Handy to tilt his head back slightly and say softly, with a hitch in his voice, and seemingly trying to keep the world from hearing the cursed words, “Gunners.”

Swift trots over and looks at the security footage. “What?!”

Handy nods and points a hoof at the screen. “His left shoulder. There’s no doubt. They’re Gunners…”

Gearing looks between the two, and can see this is having an affect on the others. He raises his hoof as he sits down. “Could someone fill in the clockwork, please? What’s a Gunner?”

Swift and Handy look at each other and Swift turns towards Gearing and frowns. “Gunners are high paid mercenaries. While in practice they’re not much better than raiders in how quickly they’ll kill you, they do have a code.”

Handy nods and adds, “Their loyalty is to the contract. That’s their number one. But, beyond that, they have no problem with killing anypony that gets in their way.” He looks over at Gearing and adds, “And they’re ruthless, well trained and, usually, very well armed.” He looks at the security camera and adds, “And they never send just a couple, so this is going to be a big fight at the least.”

Gearing steps over and starts going over the security footage of the hallway.

Handy looks at the others and says sadly, “I don’t know if we can win this.”

Swift pounds her power hoof into the ground. “Well we’re damn sure not going to just give up! Handy, we can’t go back outside. We barely made it here. Our foals…” She shakes her head. “We need a home for our foals, and I don’t want to just hand it over to a bunch of mercenaries because they want it too!”

Handy nods and looks around at everyone. “Well, Scarlet?”

The red pelted mare rubs her forehooves together greedily. “Oh hell yes I’m going to burn some sumbitches!”

Handy nods, then slowly, he regards Gearing. But says nothing.

Gearing shrugs. “What are you looking at me for? He just said he was going to kill everypony in the stable. If you think I’m just going to sit here and wait to be murdered, you’re dumber than you look.”

Handy smirks and Scarlet snorts out a loud laugh.

Handy nods quickly and looks at the screen. “Well… if it comes to that, we’ll fight. I’m going to try diplomacy first.”

Gearing shakes his head and looks at Handy with a sense of utter disbelief. He’d been threatening him all day, and all he did was wake up from stasis. These guys say they’re going to kill everyone in the stable, and take everything of value, and he wants to politely ask them not to? This makes no sense.

And Swift basically says the same thing Gearing is thinking.

Handy points at the screen as a pair of Gunners come down with crates. “I don’t want to kill anypony if I don’t have to.”

Swift stomps towards him and points back towards where they’d come from. “What about our foals!?”

Handy points at the screen. “What about their foals? They might have kids waiting on them. They might not be bad ponies! If we kill them, what happens to their children? Killing them would be a death sentence to their foals and I don’t want anymore blood on my hooves!”

Swift growls in his face, “Our foals come first. If they try it… Fuck them and whatever imaginary foals they may have!”

Handy looks at her absolutely appalled.

“Typically,” Gearing chimes in, “standard Rules of Engagement are clear… If they shoot or attack first, then it’s self defense… and their own fault. No reason to feel guilty over protecting your own.”

Swift turns her head and looks at Gearing quizzically. The word choice strikes a cord with her that she can’t quite place. However, she approves of the overall message, especially since it seems to have an affect on Handy.

Handy sighs. “Well. Let’s just see how this goes first.” He clicks on the microphone to the speaker box outside of the stable door. “Hey there. Would you mind terribly not trying to blow open our door?”

The ponies outside jump and look around wide eyed. The unicorn mare trots up next to the apparent leader and comments, “Well fuck me! There’s ponies in this stable! Cha-ching!” She pumps her right hoof in the air. “Stable dwellers fetch an amazing price on the market!”

This comment causes Gearing’s eyebrow to rise, and Swift to actually shiver. Not a good sign.

The earth pony in the lead walks over to the camera he spots and asks, “Well, we’d be happy to oblige. If you just open up the door and surrender.”

Handy sighs as he asks, “Anyway I can talk you out of this?”

One of the other members of the Gunner group walks over and grins. “Oh, sure. We don’t mind. Come on out and we can talk!”

The earth pony rolls his eyes and looks over at other one. “They’ve been watching and listening the entire time, moron. Don’t insult his intelligence.”

Handy chuckles. “Yeaaaah… sorry about that. Heard everything.”

The earth pony waves a hoof at the speaker box and half closes an eye at the other Gunner, who puts up both front hooves in surrender, before falling back to sit on the crate that he helped bring down.

Handy stares at the screen a bit longer before he asks, “You all are Gunners, aren’t you?”

The unicorn mare shouts back, “Hell yeah we are!”

The leader shoots her a glare, and she instantly shuts her mouth, dips her head, then turns around and goes to sit near the box. The leader turns his head back towards the camera. “So, you’ve heard of us?”

Handy nods, then, realizing the Gunner can’t actually see him adds, “I know of you, yes. I’ve heard you’re an honorable mercenary group. One with a code to follow your contract till the end.”

The stallion sits and folds his forehoves in front of himself as he stares at the camera. “I’d say that’s pretty accurate.”

Handy nods and asks, “Then, would you tell me what contract you’re on currently? You didn’t know the stable was here before you got here, so this can’t be your contract…Commander Bradoak”

The leader smirks. “You were listening for a while… You’re right. The contract isn’t for the stable… A large group of raiders around here went missing, and we were sent to find out what happened to them. And, if they were still around here, to take them out. Mind if I ask who I’m talking to?”

“Handy, I’m in charge of keeping this stable safe.”

“I can respect that,” Bradoak says flatly.

“Thank you… Is there any way I can ask you to… forget about this stable? We’d be willing to pay a bit. We don’t have a lot, and that’s the truth, this place is falling apart. But I have some spare medical supplies, and several bottles of Wild Pegasus I’d be willing to give you for the trouble.”

Bradoak looks around and smirks, then back at the camera as he shakes his head. “We were told explicitly to report anything out of the ordinary and… well.” He waves a hoof around towards the stable door. “An uncracked stable definitely fits. Sorry. Contract’s clear, I can’t just… not report this.”

Handy turns off the mic and looks at Swift who just mouths at him, “Told ya so.”

Gearing sits there, hearing the entire conversation, though his head is no longer looking at the screen. He runs through a variety of scenarios as he slowly checks and massages his body. Of all the times he’s cursed and hated his body and not felt like he actually belonged in his own skin, the feeling is massively magnified. It’s gotten far worse since he was brought out of stasis. He’s realizing, it’s not that it’s getting worse, it’s that he’s becoming more clear headed and the fog is lifting. He’s just becoming more aware of the problems he’s having.

“Handy,” the voice of Bradoak calls out after a long silence. “I’ll tell you what. I know what you’ve heard. But. I think a full intact stable would fetch a far better price. So… you go ahead, open the door, and come on out. I’ll let you and your people go… no one has to get hurt today… but if you make us come in there, and destroy the door in the process… well, it’s going to be nasty.”

Handy looks at the screen and his eyes dart around. “I need a moment to think.”

Bradoak waves a hoof. “Fine, but stalling won’t do any good. We’re not going anywhere, and you have until we get the charges placed to make up your mind.” He stands up and points at the other two and motions toward the door.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Handy calls out.

Bradoak turns to look at the camera sideways. “Time is money, Handy.”

“Wait,” Handy says softly, in resignation. “I need some reassurances. That my people, all of my people, will be free to go. I’ll bring out the Wild Pegasus, and we can sit down, me, you, and your men, and talk it over a drink. And you can even have the rest of it after we’ve negotiated handing over the stable.”

Bradoak turns around completely and grins. “Well now, aren’t you being the reasonable one! Hot damn. Save us money on the explosives!”

Swift leans towards him and hisses, “You can’t be serious about handing over the stable! Handy, where will we go!?”

Handy raises a hoof towards her and says loudly into the intercom, “I’ll be out in a moment.” Then turns off the microphone. He turns to Swift and his eyes jump back and forth as he starts pointing at the ground. “Okay, there’s three down here. I don’t’ know how many are on the surface, the cameras and other sensors are down. But, we go out there, and take them out, then take out the others as they come down. Swift, you and I will lead the charge. Scarlet, you fly around and hit who you can, Sarge, you stay near the door and take out anyone that tries to get past us. If we’re lucky, and do this right, we can go up top afterwards and get the rest of his crew…” He says softly, “Assuming the noise of the fighting doesn’t bring them down that is…”

The others start looking glum, except for Sarge, who seems to be literally vibrating with excitement.

Gearing sits down and waves a hoof. “Uhm… excuse me… You’re forgetting something.”

Handy rolls his eyes, with his whole head, and asks, “What now?!”

Gearing thumps his chest. “Me!”

Handy looks at him a moment, then can’t help but let a faint smile appear across his face as he asks, “Yeah. I guess I did… What can you fight with?”

Gearing pulls out a rod that had been attached to his side and flicks it out. “Well, I only have this now.”

Handy is far from impressed and his disappointment is painful to watch.

Gearing collapses the rod and shakes his head. “But, that’s not what I was talking about.”

Handy and Swift both tilt their head, not catching his meaning.

Gearing rolls his eyes. “Have you forgotten who I am?!” He stands up, fans out his wings, straight up into the air with his head looking straight up, then rotates the wings so they both, while fanned out, are pointing in the same direction to his right, with his head following suit. As his wings catch the various light sources, creating sparkles everywhere, Gearing grins and says with amusement coating his voice, “I’m The Glorious Bastard!”

Scarlet snorts a laugh.

Gearing folds his wings neatly to his sides as his grin takes on a slightly mischievous tone. “I’ve also built these things… I can rig up a surprise for our friends out there that’ll even the odds.”

Swift and Handy’s ears perk up, and even Scarlet seems to have lost her amusement as they’ve given Gearing their undivided attention.

Swift’s eyes shift to Handy for a moment before looking back at Gearing. “Such as?”

Gearing waves a hoof around. “Oh, I have many tricks up my gears.” He points at his head. “It’s all up here… Just depends on what I have to work with buuuut… off the top of my head? How about sealing up that outer area and flooding it with gas?”

Swift’s and Handy’s eyes blink a few times.

Gearing rolls his eyes. “Look. I know you organics might not like this idea. But… that stuff doesn’t bother me. I don’t breath.”

Handy and Swift exchange glances and blink a few more times.

Gearing points at the monitor and says with a sigh, “The area out there has its own auxiliary air circulatory system. It’s kept separate so any contamination doesn’t get into the stable. But, it still needs to circulate air, to make that area breathable… Sooo… We just get them all in there, even the rest of his crew, then I just tap into that auxiliary system, close off the system at specific points, and flood the room with gas. They’ll be dead before they can break through either door. No muss no fuss.”

Swift looks over at Handy sideways. “W- would that work?”

Handy’s eyes jump around for a few moments. When Swift actually turns her head to look at him Handy finally responds, “If the system’s segmented like that. Yeah…” He rummages in his saddlebag and pulls out a large crystal. “I have a chlorine talisman I salvaged a while ago… think you could use this to do it?”

Gearing looks it over and happily trots in place. “Definitely! Will just have to make a few more adjustments to make sure it stays gaseous, but I can definitely walk you through the process.”

Swift looks at Gearing and asks with a huff, “Why can’t you do it? It’s your idea and, like you said, you don’t need to breath!”

Gearing looks at her a moment then narrows his eyes before pointing a hoof and waving it between the two. “Because neither of you trust me, at all. And the only one with the ability to make the modifications to the system needed to do this would be a registered Maintenance Pony… like mister Head of Maintenance here.” He stabs a hoof towards Handy as he looks at Swift.

Before she can say anything Gearing adds, “Unless you want to transfer all control over to me now, and let me have access to all systems, in which case I’ll gladly do it.”

Swift looks at Handy and glares daggers at him. “Do it.”

Handy already has his pipbuck up to his face, tapping out commands, before Gearing even finished his spiel. “I can just give him temporary access.”

Gearing shrugs. “Works for me. Maybe if we all survive this, you’ll actually trust me a bit.”

Swift smirks and puts her hooves close enough together that a gnat would have trouble getting between them. “A bit… maybe.”

Gearing’s pipbuck chimes and he looks at it as the robotic mare voice informs him, “Subject Gearing, Credentials verified as authorized member of ‘Temporary Maintenance’ roster. Authorization for maintenance duties and access granted.” Gearing snatches the crystal from Handy and says as he trots over to an access panel, “Keep him busy, and get the others in there. This won’t take long.”

Handy nods and looks at the monitor and turns back on the microphone. “Okay, Commander, I’ve let everyone know, but there are some concerns.”

Bradoak taps a hoof as he scowls at the camera. “You’re going to really make me waste all these explosives getting in there, aren’t ya?”

Handy replies quickly, “N- no! Not at all! You have to understand, we have mares and foals. They need assurances before they’re willing to just open the door and let you in.”

Bradoak tilts his head and frowns. “What kind of assurances?”

Handy taps on the side of the monitor as he counts out. “We want your word that you’ll let us all go.”

Bradoak rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “I already said that, didn’t I?”

“You were also talking about selling us to slavers,” Handy reminds him.

Bradoak shoots a glance at the unicorn mare who tries to whistle as she finds a particular piece of debris on the floor incredibly fascinating. Bradoak looks back at the camera. “Okay. You’re right. No selling to slavers.”

“Okay, good, and neither you nor your men will shoot us?”

“No.”

“You’re not going to just track us down to do it later, are you?”

“Not unless we get a contract to,” Bradoak counters flatly.

“But that’d require you to get back to your boss first, right?” Handy asks.

Bradoak grins and nods. “Yessss, so you’d have a nice looooong head start by the time that happened.”

“No raping either. That’s not allowed either.”

Bradoak shakes his head and looks at the camera in horror. “The hell? I’m not going to rape you.”

“No one. No one rapes no one… no threats, at all,” Handy prods.

Bradoak slaps a hoof over his eyes. “Agreed.”

“We want your word on it. Your word as a Gunner that you’ll follow these terms,” Handy insists.

Bradoak grumbles then replies, “That’s what I saaaaid, isn’t it?”

“A verbal contract, is still a contract, Bradoak… so say it,” Handy points out.

Bradoak stands up straight and puts a hoof over his chest. “Neither me nor my men will harm any of you or your people, as long as we don’t have a contract to do so, and none of your people attack us first. Everypony in the stable is free to go. Does that sound fair?”

Handy catches a glint out of the side of his eye and sees Gearing sitting there, looking as pretty as can be. He strikes the same pose as before, silently, with his wings pointing off to the side of the hatch he just hopped out of.

Handy speaks into the microphone again, “That sounds like something we’d agree to, but first, you have to inform your men of the order.”

“What?” Bradoak’s voice comes out clearly indignant.

“There’s only three of you right there. I know you have more on the surface. We’re not coming out just to get gunned down the second we step out of the stairwell… so, bring down the rest of your men, and tell them, in front of the camera, so we can see it.”

Bradoak rolls his eyes. “Fine. Damn paranoid fucker.” He looks over at the other stallion and motions upstairs. “Tell the rest to get their asses down here. I want to be sleeping in a stable tonight.”

The subordinate hops up and runs up the stairs. Before he’s even off the stairwell he’s already yelling. “Hey! Commander Bradoak said to get your maggot asses downstairs before he beats your skulls in!”

Bradoak rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything about this creative interpretation of his orders. A few moments later a group of armed individuals starts trotting down the stairs. Handy’s arm starts shaking as he looks down at the dozen individuals taking up the space just beyond the door.

As they are gathered Bradoak begins reciting all of the various promises he’s made to the stable dwellers, and how they are all forbidden, by verbal contract, from doing anything to any of them except mean stares.

Gearing reaches over and lifts Handy’s hoof off the intercom button, drawing stares from both Handy and Swift. After establishing eye contact Gearing says flatly as he motions towards the door with his head, “Tell them the security protocol requires the outer door be closed, to open the inner door… Tell them it’s a contamination deterrent.”

Handy looks at him a moment and half closes one eye, not entirely grasping what Gearing is getting at, but then complies.

Bradoak waves it off. “I’ve heard about that kind of shit before. Go ahead. Hurry up and open up already.”

The outer doors start shutting and Handy’s eyes jump from the sight on the screen, over to Gearing who’s just finished tapping out a few commands on his pipbuck.

Gearing looks through a scroll of readings being presented to him from the stable, then looks up at Handy. He trails his eyes over to Swift and, as he’s bringing his eyes back to Handy he says flatly, “Blame me if it makes you feel better.” And slaps a hoof onto a button hanging from a cord out of the access port. The button seems to have been salvaged from an access port somewhere, and isn’t the prettiest job, but seems functional. Gearing slowly stands up, then walks over to the monitor and looks out into the entryway.

Handy asks quietly, as if they’d hear through the door, “H- how long?”

Gearing shakes his head then shrugs. “I rigged up a pressure storage area for it while you were still talking to them. The moment the doors closed I started emptying that batch into the room… coming from the stairs.” He looks at Handy and says softly, “So even though it’s a heavy gas the lowest concentration will be right outside this main door… they’re already dead.” He turns back to look at the screen as he adds, “Just a matter of how long it takes for their body to figure it out.”

Footnote: Pipbuck connection timed out.

Please wait, attempting to reestablish . . .

Please wait, attempting to reestablish . . .

Chapter 2's introducing a few new individuals, along with doing a bit of foreshadowing and hinting at things going on.

For those wondering about the "Footnote" section, it will be explained what's going on with the pipbuck in a future chapter. And is, in actuality, another hint of an ongoing plot point.

Enjoy!

-Quillsy