With a loud pop and a shower of sparks, the turret exploded under a barrage of well aimed shots. As the battle saddle mounted light machine gun attached to my Steel Ranger companion. I peeked up from behind an overturned desk.

“Not often you see a turret in a Ministry of Peace office,” I said as I stood. The Paladin named Peach Fuzz visually scanned the rest of the room for any other hostile signs.

He looked over at me. “Elder said that this was a special M.O.P office that may have some advanced pre-war tech.”

I levitated some papers that were lying on the ground from when I overturned the desk to use it as cover a few seconds ago. “Hope so. I’d rather not get shot up only to find more files on the nutrition suggestions for Equestria’s schools.”

Paladin Apricot callout down the hall. “Mint Chip, Peach Fuzz we could use some help with these turrets!”

I turned to Peach Fuzz with a smile. “Ahhh, my maiden awaits!”

I could hear the heavy sigh from Peach Fuzz. He’s not a fan of me dating his sister. However she and I have Elder Corncob’s blessing; ‘Steel breeds Steel,’ as the saying goes.

I still wish I could’ve seen Peach’s face under his helmet the day when the Elder cleared our actions. He still respects the Elder’s decision and loves his sister, so he hasn't crushed my head in. Yet.

Apricot does enjoy torturing us both about it. She set up a ‘private’ room for the two of us to spend time together, and she made sure that the bed is next to the wall were Peach Fuzz’s bunk is. Her torture for me was just to remind me that I should not cross her, or let her catch me looking at scribe Strawberry Swirl’s flanks again.

Peach and I reached the hallway overlooking a large office area with an armored door at the end of the hall. Apricot, with scribe Melon Seed, pointed out the two turrets above the door.

Peach looked at his sister. “What about them? There’s only two of them and they can't punch through our armor.” He took a closer look, realizing that a few rounds almost breached Apricot’s armor. The angle and thickness saved her neck from being hit.

Even though I wanted to make sure she was okay, the fact that we were in a combat zone brought me back to the present. Pure emotions cloud judgment and weaken focus. I stayed calm and assessed the turrets position in relation to the only opening to the room. The turrets were in remarkably good condition considering their age, and were quick to track targets.

Scribe Melon Seed looked at the door. “There’s gotta be something good in there for the M.O.P to use high-end turrets.” I had to agree with him, it was strange to see the M.O.P use high-end turrets at all, let alone in a remote office complex in this suburb of Vanhoover.

Our team had been searching for days for something good. Senior scribe Mustard Seed noted a MOP office in this area, figuring it had medical supplies. However when we got near it, it was clearly just an office. The only medical supplies we found were in the staff first aid kits, and those were the most basic. The turrets guarding this door, as well as the fact it was an armored door, told us there might be something nice in the next room..

Peach Fuzz looked through the bulletproof glass that prevented Apricot from just removing the turrets. The desk option was not useful against rounds that can punch Steel Ranger armor. He looked at a terminal that was on the wall near the entrance to the room. However no one would be able to get inside and work the terminal without being shot up.

Peach Fuzz looked at Melon Seed. “The wall that supporting the terminal: you think we can burn through it and back door the terminal wiring from behind it?” he asked.

Melon Seed looked at the wall and said, “Probably. There’s a metal plating behind the plaster, we can cut throught with a torch and not damage the terminal’s wiring. No idea why a MOP office needs the extra armoring though.”

Melon Seed and Apricot hurried back to the troop crawler that was parked outside. The crawler is a nice piece of old tech from the war that helps us be able to cover more area in these remote locations. It can take many hits and with a top mounted heavy machine gun it provides good cover if anypony or anything try to attack us.

Peach and I stayed behind and walked down to where the opening was. We stayed as close to the other side of the wall in the hallway as possible to stay out of the arc of the turrets. We then proceeded to remove the plaster around the area that was going to be cut. I always kept hoping that it would be Apricot and I that would team up to check out a building, however, by order of the lead paladin and scribe, they feel it’s best to keep us separate during missions. The only reason I was put on this mission was of my experience with M.O.P terminal networks. Also I think the elder suggested to them that, since this was a long mission, that we could have some time together. Apricot seemed to be getting annoyed with guard duty, and I’d been sitting behind a terminal setting up a net trying not to stab myself with my own horn from the boredom.

After a few minutes, Apricot and Melon Seed returned with the torch.

Peach Fuzz looked over at Apricot. “How are the guard dogs doing?” He said, jokingly referring to the two paladins that were standing guard by the crawler.

Apricot rolled her eyes. “They are setting up a remote link through that Com array East of us to send an update back to the bunker,” she replied. With this mission being a long distance and time away from the base, we needed to send out reports every few days. Luckily a Com array at Snowy Mountain provided a good line of sight relay to the base back in the center of Vanhoover.

Melon Seed was able to set up the torch and fuel line quickly, and began work on the wall. Within a few minutes he cut a large enough hole for me to do my work.

Using my levitation magic and a special spell that I created that allows me to summon a temporary magical wire that can be connected to existing wires without breaking the connection. I connected the magical wire to the remote terminal link on my pipbuck, and access to the turrets was established. Most of the time it also allows me to not have to even hack the terminal, since I just bypass it anyway. The times that I need to hack it is when the terminal is just the access point, not the programing point. Luckily for me, this turret system, although well made, did not have a system I needed to hack into. I attempted to add us into the targeting system so that we can use the turrets as a defence if we needed. However, the targeting talisman was corrupted, and it was defaulting to target anyone.

With that, I shut off the turret and listened to them power down in the other room. I stuck my hoof into the room to see if they were truly disabled. No shots were fired and the turrets made no sounds.

“Okay, it is safe” I said.

With the job done, the magical aura around my horn disappeared, and the magical wire connecting the wire to my remote link evaporated.

Peach Fuzz and Apricot stepped into the room and looked around for any other hazards that we all might have missed.

With the room cleared, Melon Seed and I stepped in. At first, I picked up some papers and looked at them. Apparently M.O.P wanted to create a new brochure about the dangers of unprotected “physical activity” while deployed. I glanced at the door that once was being guarded by some nasty turrets, hoping that we had not just found the M.O.P condom factory.

I heard Melon Seed snickering to himself. He levitated over a paper for me to see. On the page, it showed Fluttershy, the head mare of Ministry of Peace, showing proper use of a condom with the aid of a carrot. Based on the history we read, the sight of one of the shyest ponies to ever live letting somepony photograph her doing this tells me that somepony in the office was good at editing images, and probably spent the last days of the war in a unemployment line.

Peach Fuzz walked over to the still closed sliding metal door, and placed his armor covered hoof on it. “Well, power’s dead to the door, and I don’t think there were any employees left in the room that might have an employee ID key to open it,” He said He looked at it more closely and tapped on it. “Doesn't seem too thick. I can probably force it open.”

Melon Seed looked over at me. “Well, you're the one that gets to catalog this place. It’s your call if you want the door forced open. I advise that we don’t know what’s behind it, and whatever it might be may be upset that we damaged its front door.”

I looked over at Peach Fuzz and nodded to him to force open the door. This office was near some raider territory, and I was not in the mood to spend a lot of time at a office trying to find employee ID that would allow access to what looked like a high security level area.

Peach Fuzz turned around and reared up his back legs. With a forceful kick, he broke the locking mechanism on the door and bent it inward enough for him to get his hoof in, and started to slide it open.

The door slowly slid open, revealing a dark room. Peach Fuzz kept his body behind the door while we backed away from the front of it to avoid anything that might not have liked how we knocked. Peach Fuzz finally pulled the door completely open, and turned on his flood light. Inside the room was not the dreaded condom factory I was fearing, but a small room with a large wall-mounted terminal with one chair and the bones of a long dead operator. Around the terminal in a crescent shape were glass covered shelves with memory orbs sitting in protected pockets.

I stepped into the room and looked at the computer terminal. “Looks like a memory catalog. Maybe a interrogation block? Though thats more Ministry of Moral work.”

Melon Seed stepped in and looked around while Peach Fuzz and Apricot stood outside. “Maybe its a catalog of medical treatments?” Melon Seed said.

“Good point. It would also explain why it’s more protected. They might not have wanted the zebras to get ahold of more advance medical treatments.” I stepped over to the chair and slid the lab coat wearing unicorn skeleton off onto the floor. No real point for mourning a 200 year old skeleton that I never knew. I sat down and looked over the terminal more closely. It seemed to be in working order, and it had a standard keyboard setup. Looking around, I was able to find the on switch and, with a quick flick, the green glow of the terminal screen came on. On the screen, system data started to appear.

:System boot-up active:
:Running system check:
…......................................................
[Check complete]
System Processor [ok]
System backup processor [ok]
System coolant [ok]
Interface link [ok]
Memory orb retrieval [ok]
Recollector connection [ok]
Memory bridge link [ok]
Memory orb excelerator [ok]
External abort system [ok]
Local database link [ok]
M.O.P datalink [error: unable to connect to host. Contact admin]
Orb AI interface [ok]
Voice ID system [error: files corrupted]
Voice command processor [ok]

Voice ID system FAILURE
Please insert employee ID to continue with operation.

“Well thats a problem. Without a employee ID, let alone a probably high level ID, I wouldn’t be able to access the system,” I said. I considered back hacking the system, but with it not being a familiar design and the sensitivity to intrusion it might have, I felt that hacking it would be a poor choice. That’s when I glanced down at the skeleton that I’d moved onto the floor. If she was in the room, she may have the ability to access the computer system as well.

I searched through the lab coat. The employee ID was in the chest pocket of the lab coat. I removed it to inspect it more closely. ‘Dr. Winter, Lead Psychologist.’ The ID seemed to be in good shape, and with a quick glance at the terminal desk, I found a slot that would fit the ID. I placed the ID into the slot, and screen displayed ‘ID accepted.’

The speaker crackled to life as the AI began to speak. “Good evening Dr. Winter. Are you working late tonight?” I looked over at Melon Seed, who just shrugged and watched over my shoulder.

I turned back and looked at the terminal. “Yes. Describe the primary function of this terminal and the purpose of it.”

The AI replied, “This terminal is a fixed system recollector with a prototype orb interface system with AI and databank support.”

Fixed terminal was what I expected, however the other items were new. “Explain orb interface system.” I said to the AI.

The AI responded. “The Orb Interface System or O.I.S. is a prototype spell matrix that allows the user that is observing a memory orb to have access to additional information. Additionally, it allows the user to leave a memory orb at anytime they wish.”

“Okay,” I said then asked. “And the AI and databank support?”

“This system has an interactive AI support system that allows a user to give verbal commands to it and have the AI perform a task. AI support can process through memory orbs, looking for keywords indicated by the user. The AI draws information from a databank system. This allows access to data that been stored by ministries. It also runs an automatic update link with ministry databanks.” the AI replied through the crackling speakers.

Melon Seed spoke up. “This seems to be an interesting item we’ve found. I wonder if the interface and data bank system works for any orb, or just these in the cases?” He looked at the orbs surrounding us in a crescent shape.

I look back at him. “I don’t know, but I think I’d like to know what this thing is for.” I turned back to the terminal, “AI what is the purpose of all this?”

The computerized voice replied, “this project was design to help Ministry of Peace determine the effects of War-Time Stress Disorder on soldiers in combat. Memories were copied from soldiers after engagements in battle; or when an incident occurs. Would you like to continue with Memory block C?”

Apricot interrupted before I could answer. “Hey guys? They got the link established. You need to give your reports.”

Melon Seed and I look over at Apricot, who was standing at the door. We nodded and I shut down the terminal, removed Dr. Winter’s ID card, and placed it in my field bag.

We stepped outside onto the cracked concrete of an intersection. Back during the war, this area seemed to be a well traveled spot. Across the street was apparently a famous restaurant. When we checked it for supplies, we found old, damaged photos of popular ponies eating at the restaurant; including the goddesses themselves! Apparently it had been somepony’s birthday. On the other side of the intersection was a collapsed store. Whatever valuables that were inside were crushed or had been scavenged already.

The last building of the intersection was a bank. Normally we don’t spend too much time and effort trying to crack a bank safe. However, this one was different. Apparently it was a newer type of safe, and Melon Seed thought there might be something more than just pre-war bits in there. It seemed from the documents he read that it may contain a technology that a scientist was working on.

In the middle of the intersection was the crawler. It seemed that before Tea Leaf and Donut Hole set up the link, they’d piled up some rubble to create a protective wall around crawler and us. With the addition of a large canvas tarp over the crawler and walls, the small base was protected from the elements.

Tea Leaf had the link sitting outside of the wall, and Donut Hole had zeroed in on the Com Array.

Melon Seed and I approached the terminal that was set up. I stepped aside to let Melon Seed give his report first to Head Scribe Mustard Seed and Star Paladin Pinto Bean.

“Sirs, I have located a bank that may contain some old world tech. It contains a safe that is more advanced than the standard bank vaults we’ve seen. I’d like to try to crack the safe and gain access to the possible tech inside.”

The scribe and paladin look at each other. “Do you know what the tech might be?”

Melon Seed levitated a piece of paper to his side. “It looks like it might be a prototype heavy battle saddle. It looks like the scientist was trying to use different gems mounted on the battle saddle to magnify different spells.” A smile was building on Melon’s face as he explained what he’d found. “If the battle saddle is in the bank vault, then we can figure out how it works and apply it for our unicorns to use.”

Mustard Seed and Pinto Bean nodded in agreement. “Proceed to crack the vault and see if that tech is inside. Document any other useful items that might be in the vault.”

I approached the terminal screen as Melon Seed acknowledged his orders and finished his report. He stepped aside so I could give my report. “The Ministry of Peace building is not a hospital.” I said. “Its a office complex. No medical supplies were found. However, after dispatching some turrets in the main office, we found an experimental recollector that seems to have memories dating back to the war.”

The head scribe raised an eyebrow. “This is unlike the M.O.P. They don't normally take memories. Have you figure out what it is used for?”

I nodded as I replied. “It seems to be a psychological study of War-Time Stress Disorder and its effects on soldiers during the war.”

Mustard Seed and Pinto Bean seem still confused. “What is special about this room that they needed to guard it with turrets when all it is just memories?”

I thought about it for a second. “It might be due to the sensitivity of the information on the orbs, or the fact that this is not just a normal fixed wall recollector. It’s equipped with an advanced spell matrix that allows the user to observe the orb without touching it and being drawn in. It allows you to leave the memory at anytime, and provides additional information based on user commands. If there a piece of tech in the orb, I can ask the AI to explain what that tech is, and it goes through the databank to try to identify it.”

A smile seemed to form on the head scribes face. “Have you tried the system out yet?”

I shook my head. “No sir, I stepped out to make my report before I was able to observe an orb.”

Pinto Bean and Mustard Seed look at each other. “Very well, Mint Chip your orders are to observe some of the orbs in the system and test out the AI support. See if it will be as useful as I think it will be.” Pinto Bean said.

Mustard Seed looked back to Melon Seed and I, who was standing to the side and behind me. “Take good notes and follow what I teach you. Focus on your duties, and bring strength and wisdom to our chapter.”

Melon Seed and I nodded our heads and saluted.

Then Pinto Bean step forward. “Tea Leaf, make sure you have a good perimeter set up. I want your teams to stay in the crawler for the night, then tomorrow move your camp to the inside of the M.O.P office. Also reposition the crawler to use as a combat support platform if the Locals show up.” The Locals, as they are called, are a gang of raiders that seem to enjoy terrorizing the areas around Vanhoover. They tend to not to mess with Steel Rangers, Harbor Town, or Zed’s Caravan; however from time to time they get a little edgy and try to go for one of us.

With the report finished, the link was disconnected and the terminal put away back in the crawler. The crawler was a beautiful machine, and a blessing for us. Though on long search mission like this it gets crowded. It’s designed to transport two Steel Rangers, and eight fully armored pony soldiers with one driver. So with six of us, it shouldn’t be a problem; however on these missions we needed to bring enough supplies to last awhile, along with storage for some of the tech we find. Normally, if we find a big haul of tech, a recovery team is sent out while the search team proceeds to the next target. But small amounts of tech can be stored in the crawler.

All this made it a very uncomfortable place to ride, let alone sleep in. “Its going to be nice move our base into the office tomorrow.” Peach Fuzz said as he unloaded a box of cooking supplies.

Melon Seed and I nodded from the hastily constructed workbench formed from a slab of broken concrete and rebar. Everypony had a duty to do, no matter what. Donut Hole was performing some maintenance on the crawler. Apricot and Tea Leaf were taking watch while Peach Fuzz started to cook; and Melon Seed looked over a schematic of the vault door he’d found on the manual of the vault. We were trying to determine if the cutting torch we had would be effective enough to open the vault. It looked like it would work, but Melon was going to be working at it for awhile.

We were both excited about our missions. Me, with the hopes of finding a better way for the Steel Rangers to observe memory orbs, and Melon, for the chance of finding a prototype technology.

The smell of what Peach Fuzz was cooking caught our attention. Somehow he was able to make two-hundred year food taste only fifty years old. Though there had been a few times we’d wondered if he mixed in some radroaches that had gotten caught in the crawler’s grill.

“Dinner Time!” Peach called out.

Melon Seed and I trotted over to the crawler and grabbed our mess kits. Today, it was two-hundred year old canned corn, mixed with some freezed-dried carrots. Peach always says that all you need is a pinch of salt. I’m not sure if a ‘pinch’ would be enough to make two-hundred year old food taste good, but maybe if he used a whole salt cube, he could pull it off.

Donut was in line first. I’m not sure if his stomach is a bottomless pit of despair and digestion, or if he has the greatest metabolism that ponies have ever seen. He eats so much and is still just bones with armor wrapped around them.

For a while, I wondered if he was a unicorn ghoul in disguise. Peach Fuzz walked over to Apricot and relieved her of guard duty so she could eat. Peach was an honorable cook, and only ate when others had eaten.

Donut quickly ate his food and relieved Tea Leaf so she could eat. While Apricot was getting some food, I set up some rubble to resemble a table. I even placed a bent tin can onto the newly-fashion table. Bent tin cans were the dandelions of the wasteland. They are everywhere, for every one you clean up, three more take its place. Apricot sat down at the makeshift table and looked at the bent can.

I looked at her asking, “Too formal?”

She laughed a bit and took off her helmet. She was a very lovely, light green mare with a medium cut purple mane. In our chapter we have a lot of Paladin and scribe earth ponies, but of all of them she had to be the best of them. ”No, the rust gives the broken concrete a lovely shade of red,” she said with a smile. “What do you think these War-Time Stress Disorder orbs have on them?”

I had no real clue. “I’m guessing probably just statements by soldiers during the war. Something similar to M.O.M interrogation orbs. Just less interrogation, and more sit in this couch and tell me your problems about the war.” I watched her take a bite of her brothers cooking. She seemed to enjoy the two-hundred year old salty food. My guess is Peach was the cook of the family before everything happened that brought them to the Steel Rangers. We continued to eat and talk about how we were going to try to get us assigned to search teams on a permanent basis so we could be out and see the wasteland together.

Suddenly Peach called out. “We got a bunch of ponies approaching us!”

Everyone stood up from there meals and quickly went to work. Apricot put on her helmet, and approached one of the barricades. I climbed up onto the crawler and readied the heavy machine gun. Tea Leaf looked through the other side wall after checking the back wall for any surprises. It was clear there was only this group that were approaching.

Everypony readied themselves. We weren't in the Locals’ territory per se, but we were close enough that they might try to strike at a search team. A few tense seconds passed before the striped flag that waved on the cart that the now visible zebras were pulling could be seen.

Donut called out, “Its Zed.”

We stood down and allowed the Caravan to approach. Zed and his brother unhitched themselves from the caravan and approached Tea Leaf. “Hello again Tea Leaf. I hope the new firing pins I traded you are still working effectively.” he said.

“They’re doing fine.” Tea Leaf replied as she turned her attention back to the area around them.

I approached Zed’s brother, Zid. Though twins, Zid had stripes opposite from his brother, which was the only way I could tell them apart. I’d asked once about why they were like that, and he had only explained it as a birth defect. I whispered to him, “Do you have any Mint-als?”

Zid first looked over to Apricot and back to me. “You do remember that Apricot doesn’t like them.”

“Yes, yes I know, but I’m going to be working on a large project and might need the extra edge.” I replied. I gave him a pleading look.

Zid dug in his pack and careful pulled out a pack of Mint-als. “Ok, that will be fifty caps.”

“What? fifty caps? Last time it was twenty-five caps. Don’t you start doing that drug dealer crap with me.” I said and gave him a stern look.

Zid didn’t flinch. “The extra twenty-five caps is for hazard pay. You're not the only one Apricot will come after me if she finds out you have these. She might spare you more since she loves you but she’ll use my tail as a duster if she finds out I sold them to you. So fifty caps.”

I conceded and handed over the caps. I placed the Mint-als into my field bag that was sitting nearby when Apricot wasn’t looking. She was busy talking to Tea Leaf and Zed. I then removed a scope from my bag and walked over to Xjuan and Zdora were standing guard by the wagon looking out into the waste land. “Hello Zdora I hope you’ve been keeping everyone safe,” I said as I approach them. Zdora smiled and nodded. He was the lead guard and Xjuan was his apprentice. “Xjuan I hope Zdora has been keeping you out of trouble. I was able to replace and add the new lenses to your scope for your hunting rifle.” I said as I handed him the scope.

“Thank you.” Xjuan said.He stepped away and started to mount it onto his hunting rifle. I noticed the scorched hair on his back. When Zdora approach me and handed me some caps.

“Consider this a thank you from me. Xjuan is good at long range combat however his close range and situational awareness still needs some work,” he said. He then noticed that I was looking at the scorch marks on Xjuan back. “Don’t worry, it’s only a small burn. Xato was able to heal most of the burns. A Mr. Handy caught him by surprise and set him ablaze. I think he learned on that day to careful check around corners instead of blindly walking around them.”

I looked over to where Xato was. She was talking with Melon Seed and he was picking up a small package. I thanked Zdora again and waved goodbye to Xjuan and walked over to where the two were talking. “Good evening Xato, any new brews you been working on?” Xato was the caravan shaman and wife of Zed.

“Not lately my friend. Too busy with the usual orders of medicine that are needed.” She said as she place her bag of potions back into a trunk.

I noticed Tea Leaf walking towards us. When Melon Seed saw her he quickly moved off to go talk to Zid.

“Hello Xato. Have you seen any Locals in the area?” Tea Leaf asked.

“No. We traded with them the other day. About a half days trot south from here. They purchased my special brew and left us be.” Xato said.

Some of us believe that Zed the only one that can keep the Locals down from straight up attacking one of us in a drug-withdrawal fueled rage. Zed was good to try to not sell weapons to them, only the drugs that keep them mostly mellow.

There wasn’t much for us to trade. Zed was a fair trader and sometimes gave us deals, but he was still a trader and had to make a living. We were only able to get some spare old MREs and some rounds for Peach’s machine gun. We offered them a place to camp for the night in the outpost for protection, but they wanted to keep going.

Donut Hole marked on their map a building that we cleared of traps and pests about two hours up the road that they could camp out in. Wasn't perfect cover, but it was still better than what they normally had, which was camp outside in the middle of the road.

After Zed disappeared over the hill north of us, we settled in and got ready to sleep. Tea Leaf and Apricot were going to take first watch. Then Donut Hole and I had second watch, and Peach Fuzz and Melon Seed had third watch. So I get to stay up an extra three hours and watch the wasteland. Yay.

The crawler was a cramped spot to sleep. Only Melon Seed had a nice seat to sleep on, but since he was the driver, and leader of the crawler, he got that perk. Peach and Donut Hole laid near the door ready to respond to anything. A downside to the Paladins in a possible combat zone is they get to live in their armor. Even though Steel Ranger armor does have quick release and they can hop in and power up in about fifteen seconds, it’s considered wise by the Elder and Star Paladin to stay in them and be ready. I was sprawled out near the supplies. Sleep was an ok adventure, but at times it can be difficult.

Later on, Apricot woke me up in time for the changing of the guard. She took off her helmet and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Have fun at work.” She whispered. She then laid down where I’d been sleeping and curled up.

During my shift, Donut Hole stayed at the front opening of the makeshift concrete slab walls, while I walked around the inside perimeter, looking thru the openings that we’d made with the windows. I alternated my patrol method to make sure no pony was sneaking around while I was on a predictable path. The three hours passed without incident.

I stepped back into the crawler and woke up Peach.

“Time for your shift.” Peach asked if I saw anything interesting.

“I think I saw a star through a small opening in the clouds,” I said.

“You get to have all the fun in life.” Peach said back to me.

I walked over to where Apricot was sleeping, and gave her a kiss on the forehead before laying down next to her. Sadly, her armor was cold, and not comfortable to lay next to, but it was still the closest to her I could get for the night. I drifted off to sleep wondering what I would be seeing the next day in the memory orbs.