Firebase Bravo (Stalliongrad Main Hub)

Blast turned to Night-Shade "Nice to see you again Shade," he said reluctantly. he hadnt planned of talking much but it would be better to do it now instead of when the lead is flying. "Thanks" he said smiling. "So how have you been since the party?"

"I've been alright, been a couple crazy adventures but i'm stick buckin." answered Shade. He really hadn't planned on doing so much while at Stableton but it ended up that way. "I was about to return to New Appleloosa when I heard that broadcast and saw these ponies gathering at the gates of Stableton. What about you? anything new?" responded Shade.

Blast smirks " Good thing, this place needs all the ponies it can get" he wonders what exactly he got himself into with this job "I havent been up to much recently, i decided to take a little break, but this job was too good to pass up."

"Yeah, 2000 caps sounds pretty nice." responded Shade with a smile. "Also this these ponies have an interesting cause, a whole group of ponies dedicated to Luna. Sounds kinda nice." said Shade. He really was interested in this faction. They seemed organized enough, and pretty well armed.

Bakewell hadn’t originally wanted to head to Stalliongrad. While she had heard hearsay that the Enclave were “bad”, but she had never been personally wronged by them. This put their placements on her personal evil list under slavers, raiders, and horrible tyrant monarch foals. Even while Zestari, Sky, and Scrap signed up and marched off, Bakewell had told herself that it was best to stay out.

But then she had started to worry. Scrap wasn’t the hardiest pony in the wastes by any stretch of the imagination, and Bakewell knew little of Zestari’s fighting ability. Sky was probably able to take care of herself, but what if she got unlucky? It had taken only minutes for Bakewell to decide that the guilt from staying behind should her friends die fighting this war would be insurmountable. If the wastes didn’t off her shortly afterward losing them, she would probably end up killing herself. The very prospect terrified her into rushing out of Stableton at top speed until catching up with the traveling group that had only recently left.

She couldn’t quite say that the temptation to turn and leave while she still could wasn’t an ever present thing on her mind as she observed the frozen landscape around herself as the group had approached the city.

Bakewell felt her heart sink as Trails called Scrap away. The separation meant that the two would be unable to watch each other’s back, which had been one of the major reasons for her coming along. If she felt that backing out was still an option, she would have done it on the spot. Instead she quietly ignored the conversations of her peers and walked over to Brass, attempting to mentally prepare herself for what would probably be one of the worst experiences of her life.

Dash then remembered something, that Lightning Flash was looking to sell his scoped hunting rifle. It would prove invaluable to him if he could get it before the battle started, so he quickly trotted over to Flash, "Hey Flash, I just remembered that thing about your hunting rifle... How much would it take for me to get it?" he asked, smiling. He hoped it was in his price range, he really felt like this could potentially save his neck.

Lightning had been carrying an...larger amount of weapons than he was used to carrying on a normal trip in the wasteland. Not only did he carry his usual 10mm pistol, his 10mm SMG, his sniper rifle, and his new broadsword, he brought one extra gun to the battle. His scoped hunting rifle. He had a feeling that in a battle this big, he could find a way to either use it or give it to another pony that does.

It didn't take long before a pony did come up. A pegasus that he remembered back from Filly. Galactic Dash. Lightning gave the stallion a quick bow of his head as greeting before saying, "My hunting rifle? Well, I was planning to sell this to the soldiers for quite a bit of caps." He paused for a second before adding, "But...I consider you a friend, Dash. I would rather have you take care of this gun instead of some random solider that might abuse it. How about...500 caps?"

Dash's ears perked up as much as they could when he heard a price that was in his range, "Really! Man, Flash, you're awesome, this'll really save my neck!" He dug through his bags and brought out a bag of 500 caps for the blue pegasus pony.

(Caps: 699-500=199 Weapon Recived: Hunting Rifle)

Aside from his SMG, this was the first weapon that Dash had received that looked like it could deal some real damage. Dash looked sort of like a colt who had just received an item at the top of his Hearths Warming Eve wish list, but those who knew him would know that he knew the value and power of weapons in situations like these.

Lightning would nod and pull the weapon off his body and set it down in front of Dash. Taking a look at the bag of caps the pegasus gave him, Lightning stuck the caps safely in his bag and bow his head, "Thank you, Dash. Take good care of that gun. And...stay safe on the battlefield." He would about to turn back to the officer and wait for instructions but then he remembered something he wanted to do. Reaching into his bag, he would pull out two boxes of ammo and set it down beside the rifle, "Here, take this. It's free. What is a gun without it's ammo, right?"

Wait... what! Why? Atriark mentally glowered. Kira and him were going to be separated. How could they protect each other when they wouldn't see each other in Luna knows how long?

Atriark hugged Kira tightly and kissed her beak. "Take care love, and please don't get shot. I'd never forgive myself if you did."

He did not want to let her go, but he would have to. He didn't have any say here, this was a military operation and he'd have to obey like a good grunt. So that left with where to go. There was no way Atriark was going to get stuck in some MASH in this hellish place. And he was rubbish at surgery. But there was also the very real possibility that he would see Kira get carted in injured... Or worse...

No, despite his medical training, Atriark didn't feel as useful when he was cast in medical light. Looking around and seeing a unicorn filly proclaiming her intentions and brandishing a bone saw opened up old resentments. Yeah, he would avoid being stuck with unicorn doctors who would inevitably overshadow him and he would once again find himself useless. So, he would go where he wouldn't become useless and he wouldn't probably end up stuck in some fowl smelling MASH.

Trailing at the rear of the group, as they made their way through trenches, it wasn’t until the group converged on a squat, tent that Zestari realised that the key pony leading them here was Happy Trails. As she watched him hug Snowflame and then address the group at large there was a storm of mixed emotions within her at seeing the large brown stallion she had shared a brief romance with.

With a sigh she focused on Snowflame and his instructions not wanting to miss any important details from the authoritative pony. As he introduced each leader, she looked towards each, giving them a nod of acknowledgement.

Zestari stood there for a long time, twiddling her hooves nervously, debating who she should go with. Ultimately, her greatest talent lay in her zebra alchemy, but Snowflame hadn’t really provided an option where she should assign herself taking that skill into account. After briefly considering her other options, she nervously paced over towards Grace, the warm smile on the magenta coated unicorn was friendly and reassuring.

She paused halfway over and redirected herself towards Happy, before bowing her head as she considered some words for him, “Please be safe, Happy, and take good care of those you are taking with you.” She gave him a look before slowly trotting over to Grace and introducing herself to the medical Mare.

“I am Zestari; I am skilled in medicine but also, and more importantly, alchemy. I look forward to helping you to save lives and help ponies.” She smiled and looked at the other two ponies to also come over to Grace. One, a small purple unicorn that appeared to be adolescent in age, and the other, a brown coated, red maned unicorn that she hadn’t met before.

Dash took up the gun and ammo happily, "No kidding! Thanks again, Flash, I really, really owe you, you have no idea." He quickly gathered his new stuff up, not wanting to create a bad first impression by holding everything up, "So thanks again, man. Maybe we could hang out or something after all this." he said. He realized how optimistic it sounded, considering how what this was, was nothing short of a full-on war by the looks of it, but little things like these were important.

Winter looked to Cross and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you soon" she said and pressed her nose against his neck softly before she trotted over towards Trails as she was called. The whole thing was already quite overwhelming but she knew she had to be here for whatever fallout this war made. With any luck he wouldn't as her to fight, and would merely need her medical expertise.

Trails felt the awful mixture of his stomach doing a backflip and heart tearing itself to pieces when Zesty spoke to him. There she was, only inches from him, but might as have been on the other side of the wasteland. He thought of a thousand things he wanted to say to her over the past few months, dreamed of the day he'd get a chance to see her again, but all of those thoughts were worthless. He stood there silently as she walked away, paralyzed by his own desire.

"Let's move out." He said finally, his voice was hoarse and unusually soft.

He jerked his head and exited the tent, walking off in the direction of a giant bombed out brick building. Before the war it was a tractor factory, one of the countless factories that dotted stalliongrad. Now, though, it was the Chapel, the central nerve of the Apostolov's operations.

Lightning would smile and nod, "We shall. In fact, let's stick together during this battle. It's better we work together instead of rushing out alone." He would look around at the other ponies in the crowd before saying to Dash, "Best of luck to you. I'll be right back." He began walking back into the crowd and searching for a certain griffon. There was something he wanted to ask.

Locating Kestrel, which wasn't too hard considering how large he was, he looked like he was going to be on another mission with Trails and some of the others. Lightning quickly walked up to them and gave them all a bow of his head, "Good luck to all of you out there. Stay safe." He would turn to Kes and ask, "I hate to ask this from you, Kes, but...I'm afraid the weapons I have right now aren't the strongest. Do you perhaps have another weapon I may borrow or perhaps buy from you?" The griffon always carried some of the best weapons and he always took good care of them so perhaps by some stroke of luck, maybe he'll let him use something of his'.

Kestrel turned at the first signs of movement, his eyes locking on the familiar form of Lightning Flash. The griffon had met the buck a long while ago, even taught him how to shoot, and a few other things. The kid had taken the lessons to heart, and rumor had it the young stallion had put what Kestrel had taught to good use.

The was reason enough for Kestrel to offer up something for the kid. He'd gotten the weapon back in Manehatten, during that mgame' he'd been trapped in. The memoeries were still fresh, and for all intents and purposes kestrel had been planning to just sell the peice off and use the caps for other things. But lightning...Lihtning could use something like this more than Kes could.

Reaching back the big black griffon pulled out a well kept .45 Auto pistol, and a few magazines for it. Wordlessly Kes held them out, and waited for the young buck to take them.

"Planned on selling it, but youve put my gear to good use thus far kid. This isn't much, but its reliable and shoots straight. Slight nick in the front sight post, use it to help you aim. 375 caps it yours. Mags and ammo included."

Lightning was hoping for a slightly strong weapon than his 10mm stuff. The sniper rifle he got from Kestrel was great and it had served him well. But, as the battles he fought got more and more heated, it was slowly becoming obvious that he needed a gun with a stronger punch. Kestrel had come through once again and offered to sell him a weapon he had longed for for so long. A .45 Auto pistol. Thankful that he had just sold his hunting rifle for some caps, Lightning leapt (not literally) at the offer. "I accept!" Taking out 375 caps, he gave the bag to the griffon before taking the .45 and throwing his old 10mm in his bag and putting the new .45 in it's place.

With the extra ammo, Lightning stuck that in his bag as well, giving Kestrel a respectful nod and a, "Thank you. Take care of yourself out there." He would look at the others and bow his head one last time before heading back to his officer, waiting for the next order.

Arc moved to the corner of the tent when his group entered, listening to the invitation briefing with bored expression on his face. As others started to flock to their respective officers and the crowd started to be much more easily navigable, he trotted to Axle and Bit, seeing that he was already second pony to arrive there.

As he approached he nodded to Axel and Bit, and when he got close he greeted both of then and the third one with "Hello. I'm Arc Weld. Engineer with Stable education." Then he stood aside to make space for any other who would join them.

Breeze was a little behind the others in getting there. She had brought as much medical supplies as she could carry, as well as a 9mm just in case.
She followed Grace along with the other medics, and was very ...concerned about this glowy-eyed filly. She obviously wasn't quite right in the head.
Breeze noticed a lot of ponies she recognized going into the soldier group, and she was surprised to see Atriark here. She hadn't seen him since she had just become the Stableton Hospital employee, and now she was a Kahn.
Huge change. What had happened since last they had met? Was he different, too?
Breeze suddenly felt self-conscious. If anypony mentioned it...
There were also a lot of ponies she had never met. Would anypony new approach her? She wasn't used to meeting new ponies unless they were hostiles, or ponies that she did jobs with. Well, this could be considered a job, but it wasn't the same.

She hoped nopony would talk to her, then she'd have to open her mouth. And speak.

(Ready to talk to anypony available in the medic group)

"Say Bit, should we take these ponies to the Skunk Works?" Axel wondered, leaning against a file cabinet. "Or just let them wonder round the ruins and see if they come up with any useful tech?"

"That is a good idea Axel. After all, who's to say they actually know the difference between a bit and a byte?"

"Or three quarters and six eighths, bet they all use S-bends."

The pair of officers shared a laugh before turning to the recruits, grinning like a pair of jackals.

"Tell you what," they chorused, "you ponies managed to get into Skunk Works, you've earned yourselves a debriefing." Axel pointed at a tick on the map of Firebase Bravo that hung on the corkboard at the center of the tent. "That's Skunk Works. Maybe we'll see you in a bit."

If anyone was paying attention to Ashen when 'Bit' and 'Axel' were talking, they may have noticed the unicorn actually twitch at the mention of S-Bends. It passed quickly however, and the colt's usual impassive face quickly returned. His eyes glanced over to the map that was indicated, and he lifted his left forehoof up and brought up the map display on his Pipbuck. He did a quick check of the area already drawn by the Pipbuck's programming, and glanced back at the map in front of him.

After less then a minute of cross-referencing the map and his Pipbuck, he managed to make a reasonable guess as to where the entrance to the 'Skunk Works' was on his own map. [Int 10] He placed a marker there, and turned to leave the tent, intent on leaving right then, bringing up his EFS so he could follow the marker. If the only other pony that went over to Axel and Bit, Arc Weld, a pony Ashen remembered from Stable 113, wanted to follow he was fine with that. Ashen however didn't want to stop and wait for him or actually help him figure out how to get there, he could do that himself.

Arc listened to the jokes of the two, and he gave it a try to laugh at them. The laugh came out bad. Dear tapdancing Luna... just let's hope these two are the unit's fools and they are here to perform paper pushing to prevent them from screwing things up. Just... hope. Arc gave both a smile he considered polite and convincing and trotted to the map.

After a moment of studying the map, when he was sure he could at least partially remember it out of his head, he gave the pair a quick goodbye, and not giving Ashen much attention he trotted from the tent to the cold weather outside. He looked a little around and when he managed to find a first landmark from the map he set on his way to Skunk Works.

"Hi there," Grace said giving the four mares in front her a warm smile. "hope you're all ready to go, because the MASH really is gonna need us soon. The Enclave like to go on runs round now, and the aftermath is...nasty."

Spectrums ears flattened in distaste of the banter of Bit and Axel, she wasn't the brightest of ponies by far, but show her what to look for and she could spot it no problem. The old pre-war phrase 'finding a needle in a haystack' was foalsplay for her.

Spectrum looked at the map that they left, mainly at the key points and landmarks that would light up her way to the place labeled so pleasantly 'The Skunkworks'. She looked up as the only two other ones that would be heading for the same destination left, quickly trotting after them. Keeping her eyes out for the noted landmarks that she made mentally. It confused her a bit but she was at least visually adept as too feel save as to not loose her way to the 'Skunkworks'.

Violet just smiled at the nice lady. "Me and Liz are all ready!" she told Grace. "And don't worry, me and Liz are no stranger to horrible and icky wounds! Although it's usually disembowelment or severed limbs, I don't think we see plasma burns usually..." She turned to her pet Gecko. "This'll be something new Liz! This should be very interesting!" The Gecko let out a short, buzzy growl, almost as if he was agreeing with her.