The Chapel (Vityaz)

The inside of the Chapel was a flurry of activity. Chaplains ran past with saddlebags bursting at the seems with intelligence reports, schematics, and medical entire POD's for columns of the army. The old manufacturing floor served as a bull pen for the Apostolov's officers, causing it to be constantly awash with the noises of campaign planning. Save for one corner office on the west side.

Trails waved at his four companions, each hoof picked to serve as his new squad, telling them to follow him to the corner office. He rapped hard on the door with his hoof, smiling as a familiar stallion opened it.

"Hangfire you old sack of radioactive crap, how's it been?" He yelled, taking up his old war buddy in a hug.

Besides Hangfire sat three other ponies dressed in identical armor. Hangfire was easily the largest of them all, only matched by Trails in size. The smallest, an ivory white mare, sat at desk with a pot of coffee boiling. Another new face stood throwing darts at an enclave banner at the farside of the room, an anemic looking buck with a nervous twitch. Then there was Mil Dot, a dark blue earth pony who only seemed to want to clean his giant rifle.

"See you've got some rookies." Trails joked as he sauntered in.

"The mare's Mags, the buck's Gibbs." Mil Dot answered in his tired voice, making what Tails knew would be his only contribution to the conversation.

"Nice to see you too Dot."

"How about you introduce us to your friends, eh Trails?" said Hangfire, his low voice rumbling through the white noise outside.

"This is Kes, he and Mil Dot are gonna be besties, trust me." Trails said, clapping his friend on the back. "Then Kira, a gryphoness who'd no doubt like to hear about the dynamite and lemon wedge. Then Bell, who I'm gonna have to introduce to Grace. And finally Scrap, kid can do stuff with a terminal that'd make Bit sweat."

Trails pointed to each of his squadmates as he bragged on them. A wide smile on his face as he introduced old friends to new, happy only the way somepony being reuninted could be. Before they could continue their chit chat there was a loud bark then the sound of claws scratching against the tile floor of the office. Trails' jaw fell open and he began laughing as a giant wolf that looked to be made of ice came bounding out of a room connected by a hole in a wall and pounced on him.

"And this everypony, is Brutus." He said, petting the giant wolf as it licked his face madly. "Who's my good boy?"

The introductions over, Trails got back to his hooves and walked back to the room Brutus had came running from. Inside sat a few bunks and footlockers, the one on the far right clearly marked as the wolf's by the icicles hanging on the edge. Trails walked over to it and let out a content sigh.

"This was mine." He said to no one as he kneeled to flip open the locker.

His armor lie there neatly folded, the helmet rested on top of the duster. He took his time putting the gear on, finding joy even in this simple ritual. He had thought returning to Grad would put him in a somber mood, he couldn't have been more wrong.

After collecting his old armor Trails went back into the main, finding that Hangfire had geared up everypony else,and asked, "Anypony got anything they want to do, if not I'm gonna take Bell to the Mash and introduce her to Grace."

Silently he told himself it wasn't just an excuse to get another chance to talk to Zesty.



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Loot List:

Everypony Gets

AL Honor Guard Armor-
DT- 20
Value- 8500

Those soldiers who have tested their mettle countless times and come out scarred but far from broken are rewarded. Rather than the rags most wear the Elite can look forward to wearing armor that offers adequate protection against more than just the cold. These suits of armor were found in an abandoned bunker early in the war, and were instantly confiscated by the highest ranked members of the AL. It was decided that this armor be reserved for those who earned it to make sure only those who would see action worthy of it would wear it.

Automatic Rifle (.308) [Heavy Support]
DM:40x3 AP Cost: 4 ST Req:8
Ammo Cap.:20 Skill Req:100 Value:4500 Crit Multiplier x 2
An extremely powerful but rare weapon, the automatic rifle is notable in that it’s a fully automatic weapon that uses ammo typically used with sniper rifles, making it very deadly. However, .308 rounds typically don’t come in large quantities cheaply, so it’s also an expensive weapon to use.

OR

Brush Gun (.45-70) [Support]
DM:75 AP Cost: 2 ST Req:6
Ammo Cap.:6 Skill Req:100 Value:4900 Crit Multiplier x 1.5
The king of all lever action rifles, the Brush Gun is sturdy, reliable, and hits harder than a Hellhound on Stampede. Chambered in the hard hitting .45-70, this rifle has a lot of recoil and must be supported to be fired properly. Its short design makes it compact enough to use indoors without much trouble, and with the addition of a scope this beauty can pick of just about anything with one shot that is within 200 yards.

Trench Knife
DM:18 ROF: ST Req:5 Effects: +10 to punching attacks
Skill Req:50 Value:2500 Crit Multiplier x 1.5
An upgraded version of the Combat knife, the Trench knife features a hardened steel hand guard, allowing its user to punch with devastating effects along with all the things you can do with the normal Combat knife.

Scraps followed Trails into the Chapel, remaining quiet as he walked along, now really starting to worry about Bakewell. After she had joined he figured they could stick together and keep each other safe, but now they were separated and he was worrying like mad. Eventually he calmed himself down, Bakey could take care of herself and there were plenty of ponies she could stick around with. Still he was worrying as he entered the room and was greeted by the members of Trails's old squad.

Again Scraps kept to himself as Trails introduced them to the four ponies that were already in the room and the stallion known as Hangfire introduced the group members to them, the one buck in the back, who was rather small and had a twitch was the one in the room Scraps most identified with based on first appearances, the others seemed to be more like other members of the group he was in. His jaw did drop though when the massive wolf came in and started to lick Trails and his earth pony friend introduced the icy-looking wolf as Brutus.

When it came time to grab the equipment that was provided Scraps carefully slipped off his old armour, shivering from the cold before he slipped the new armour on and instantly felt better as the armour made for this cooler climate helped against the cold. As for the gun, he couldn't use it but he knew that this particular make was quite valuable so he took it anyway. Holding it in his magic he quickly ans without a sound (Repair 91) broke it down into several pieces that would fit into his saddlebags much easier.

When he is finished he turns back towards Trails and in response to his question asks one of his own.

"May I go talk with Bakewell one more time before we go off and do whatever mission is assigned to us?"

"Sure," said Trails, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet's mask. "I'll take you out to Milk Run while we're out and about, don't want ya getting lost round here."

Winter smiled politely as she was introduced and tipped her head curtly. Even if this was war, there was always time for manners. When Trails explained about introducing her to a mare named Grace her ears perked up as she looked to Trails, "Oh?" she began, "Who is she?" she asked, interested to know about the pony she would be meeting, and of course why she was meeting with her.

Kestrel offered even less to the conversation than Mil-Dot had upon his introduction. The big black griffon offering up only his usual stoic nod. The war-weathered griffon would admit, the team looked solid. Few rookies in place, but in war that sometimes happened.

He cast a quick glance over to the pony in the corner cleaning his gun. Kestrel knew his guns, and there was only one rifle that had that much meat to it; an AMR, hell of a rifle. Bit heavy on the recoil, and for most things it was overkill. But if the rumors were true around about the opposistion around here, its heavy round was going to pack just the punch needed to take the enemy down.

Before Kestrel could continue that train of thought he was made keenly aware of the sudden apperence of 'Brutus'; Trails' old pet. The stallion had told Kestrel a little about the old dog, and from his own personal travels Kestrel knew a bit about the breed. Tough, loyal, and fierce. Good war dog, good pet.

Big threat.

For a good while Kestrel just stood there waiting, silent and stoic as ever, his sharp eyes scanning over every available nook and cranny he could see. Call it habit, call it instinct, but Kes always tried to commit the details of his locale to his memory whenever he was shifted into a new home.

Who knows, maybe knowing about those cracks along the arch way, or the spider-webbed concrete in the corner would come in handy?

"Anypony got anything they want to do, if not I'm gonna take Bell to the Mash and introduce her to Grace."

"Need to see the Quartermaster." Kestrel spoke up, his voice low and tone calm. Just like always. The griffon needed to pick up and sell off some of his stock before heading into the field. Hopefully the QM had some nice things on sale, Kes could use with a few upgrades to his current load out.

Not to mention some insulation for his armor.

He might not have been cold right at this second, but Kestrel knew the dangers of Lady Winter. Frostbite, hypothermia, and shock were not good things. On a battlefield they could be down right lethal even, more so than bullets and blades in some cases. The locals could poke fun at him all they liked; Kes wasn't going to let that stop him from preventing such grievous injury.

Kira looked over each of the ponies that Trail had introduced they looked like a... interesting group still she was not really sure what to make of them yet, but is Trails trusted them she would as well. She walked among the ponies for a moment before she finally got around and stood by the entrance to the room.

When the large canine came running at Trail and jumped the gryphoness felt a creeping feeling across her back, she had never liked canine dog or wolves they just creped her out in so many ways that she just backed off from the big creature.

"Ehh... I think I will follow Kes to the quartermaster, see if they have any explosives." She said nervously looking over at the bigger gryphon of the two.

"Alright, I'll take you guys there on my way to the MASH." He said to Kes and Kira, rolling his neck. He'd forgotten what it felt like to have the weight of gunny on him. "Grace is one of the nicest ponies I've ever met, someone I think you'd get along with. And a pony who's saved my sorry flank even more than Hangifre."

"Lead on" Kes said upon hearing Trail's response. He already had a list of things he was going to sell in mind...though the griffon was going to let the stallion do all the talking. Kestrel would be the first to admit that he was terrible at bartering when the deal did not involve a blade against someones neck, or a gun against someponys temple.

Probably need to work on that...

Scraps nods to Trails when he said that he could stop by "Milk Run" or wherever that is and talk to Bakewell a little bit more before they started. As he stood waiting to leave he couldn't help but overhear that Kes and Kira both wanted tk go to the quartermaster. Scraps had forgotten about that, maybe he could get a mod for one of his energy weapons, give them some more oompf.

"Hey Trails, think I can tag along and visit the quartemaster with the others before I go see Bakey?"

"Course," Trails said to Scrap on his way out of the chapel, "it's along the way to Milk Run, I'll take Bell by the MASH on the way back. Y'all have any questions, I imagine this is a bit new to you." He stopped to let a group of running recruits pass, panting as they completed the 10 mile loop of the outer trench around the Firebase. He smiled remembering the first time he'd done the loop, feeling like he'd die halfway through. So much fun. "Not often you're sitting round a bar in Stableton and in a warzone the next."

The Quartermaster was in his usual spot, a small tent just off the main drag. The grey maned buck behind the table gave them all a wary look before nodding to Trails and saying, "bout time" as his hello. Trails returned the nod and turned to Kes, knowing he'd be the one doing the actual haggling.

Quartermaster's Inventory:

1x Light Machine Gun Value: 5200
3x Marksmare Carbine Value: 5200
3x Assault Carbine Value: 3950
2x .44 Magnum Value: 2500
2x Hunting Revolver Value: 3500
6x .45 Auto Pistol Value: 1750
2x Riot Shotgun Value: 5500
3x Grenade Launcher: 4200
2x Kukiri Value: 2500
1x Electric Hooves Value: 5200
1x Lightning Claws Value: 5200

Ammo:

3x Box of .45 Auto Round Value: 1
20x Box of .556mm Round Value: 1
15x Box of 45-70 Govt Round Value: 3
10x Box of 5mm Round Value: 1
6x Box of 20 Gauge Shell Value: 1
6x 40mm Grenade Value:12

Armor:

20x AL Trooper Armor Value: 1050
2x Combat Barding Value: 6500
1x Reinforced COmbat Barding Value: 7000

(All items have been posted at base value)

Glancing over the stock Kestrel didn't see much that intrested him. He already had a lot of good gear on him, most better than what he saw before him...at least thats what he thought until he saw a set of what looked like razor claws.

Squinting a bit Kestrel noticed that this set seemed to have what looked like sapphires imbedded into them. No way...could those be...

A hastily scrawled sign told Kestrel all he needed to know. He was looking at a pristine set of Lightning Claws. The price tag on em was heavy. It was going to cost every cap Kes had, and then some to get them, but he had heard rumor of the weapons effectiveness before. They'd be worth every one of the caps he'd have to shell out for them.

Right now he had roughly 3860 caps on him, he needed a few thousand more to break even and afford the claws.

Reaching back into his overstuffed saddlebags Kestrel offered up a few items to sell. The first item was a sniper rifle, the next a lever action shotgun. Both were kept in as best condition as Kestrel could have managed, and neither one had seen any action since Kes had picked them up. Leaning over to whisper into Trail's ear Kes gave his deal.

"Selling these, and buying those Lightning Claws. Got 3860 on me."

He'd let Trails do all the talking now...hopefully Kes would get a good deal out of it.

=====
Base Value, Item, Selling price With Trails selling for me.

Selling

2000, Lever Action Shotgun, 1060
4100, Sniper Rifle, 2583

Buying

5200, Lightning Claws, 7027

The gryphoness had followed Trails over to the Quartermaster and his small tent that the grey maned buck used to keep his inventory in, and indeed it was quite and impressive stock except for the lack of the explosive weaponry. Still there was some things that she could use.

Kira looked over at Kes as he purchased the claws in the inventory and did at first not care much about it as razor claws was not that hard to get you claws on, but when seeing the sapphire embedded in them she felt a sudden wave of jealousy from his find. Lightning Claws, the big black gryphon had managed to find and buy lighting claws.

"Nice... buy Kes." She just said as she pulled out some of her own old equipment that she needed to get rid off and is place would probably need any weaponry they could get even if it was not that great weapons was still weapons.

"Selling these things and getting me some of those 40mm grenades." The gryphoness said as she placed there old weapons and armour up for selling.

=====

--Selling--

AL Honor Guard Armor 4590
Automatic Rifle 2430

10mm Pistol 405
Cowpony Repeater 435
.45 Auto SMG 2025

Police Barding 435

--Buying--

6x 40mm grenades 102

CAPS GAINED: 10218

Scraps had followed Trails and the others over to the quartermaster and watched quietly as the two griffins made their purchases and finished their businesse. When they were done he started to browse the quartermaster's selection. Not much interested him so he figured that he may as well offload some of his excess weapons and armour. Maybe make a few caps in the process.

Then he noticed the electric hooves and thought that Bakey might like them, she used hooved weapons. He decided to get her a nice gift. Probably would use up his caps but who cares.

Caps 2425

=Selling=

x2 .45 Auto Pistols
x1 Plasma pistol
x1 Scoped Prism Rifle
x1 Automatic Rifle
x1 Plasma rifle
x1 Reinforced Leather Barding
x1 Combat Armour Reinforced MKII

=Buying=
Electric Hooves

Kestrel:

Gains: 3643
Loses: 7027

Total Gain: 476, Lightning Claws

Kira:

Gains: 9932
Loss: 105

Total Gain: 9827, 6x 40mm Grenade

Scrap Parts:

Gain: 10140
Loss: 7592

Total Gain: 2548, Electric Hooves

Trails gave Kes the large stack of caps he'd just bartered for the gryphon. It was a good haul, and doing it reminded him of the good old days before even Grad, back when he was still just a smartass colt. He doubted he'd like his younger self if they'd met on the street, seemed like they were worlds apart. Hopefully this last mission for the AL would change the wastes enough to make that expression true.

"Next stop, Milk Run, my first posting."

Taking his recently acquired funds and placing them where they needed to go, the Griffon then collected his purchases and instead of tucking them away, put them on.

They fit nicely. Tightening the straps he secured them further, giving a few testing punches and swipes, the weight addition was negligible, a bit of training and he was sure that he could employ these terrifying weapons of war to great effect against those that stood against him.

He'd not be able to sneak with them though, he'd heard that when the enchantment kicked it it produced a loud electric sound and bright sparks...which made sense. After all wearing the claws basically granted Kestrel fists full of lightning.

He'd need to test that later though, right now, it was time to move.

Back inside the Chapel the rest of Vityaz were already geared upand waiting to go. Mil Dot was just finishing his premission ritual: a max set of push ups on his AMR. The deja vu that hit him at this helped calm the nerves that had been creeping up since getting the call better than anything else. He checked his gear, making sure the brush gun he'd gotten in Filly was secure in his battle saddle, and took his old spot at the HAM radio.

"Good to see you could make it." Hangfire boomed as gave the debrief one last look over. "You ready, Mil?" The sniper paused mid push up and gave Hangfire a blank look. "Guess we'll get started then. The spooks up at Alpha decided they need one more piece for the jigsaw before they execute their 'ultimate strategy'."

"What'cha think it is this time, shoot the pegasi?" joked Gibs, occupying himself by casually tossing his knife in the air.

"Probably. The piece is an Enclave officer that's been spotted over by the Glassworks." Hangfire turned to Trails, "You and your fireteam will be the ones doing the grab, Mil Dot'll run sniper support, the rest of us will cover the exfil. Sound good?"

Walked back inside the Chapel, Kestrel stopped and listed to the game plan offering naught but a silent nod to show he was up for it before walking off. He had his own premission rituals to complete, but first he needed to drop the excess weight and secure his gear that wasn't going to be used.

Walking into the room that Trails had entered before, Kestrel looked around for Trail's footlocker or even his bunk. Most looked the same, but there was one that stood out. The one covered in Ice, near the back. Only thing that could be sleeping on that bunk was Brutus and Kes guessed that the old ice wolf would never venture far from his old Master's bunk.

His gear would be safe here until he got back.

Setting down his newly acquired Caps, and his Ghost Suit, the griffon secured his gear then began walking back towards the primary group.

He looked ready for battle, his armor secured, his weapons placed in all their holsters. The handle of his Vakara stuck up above his Right shoulder, positioned so that all it would take was a quick flex to unsheathe it and ready it for battle.

On his left side hung his Casull revolver, well kept, and ready to go; safety off. Back in his saddle bags, his Hellsing lay waiting, depressurized for the moment, but still fully loaded with 8 fresh armor piercing bolts. The only bolts Kestrel actually had for the thing.

It would most likely not be seeing use in this mission. The powerful, pneumatic spear gun far to specialized for stealth and not assault. He wanted to give it another look over anyway before he began employing the weapon in combat.

On his talons, the signature form of his newly acquired Lightning Talons rested. Their enchanted form ready to rend flesh, armor, and sinew asunder while electrifying whoever was unfortunate enough to get caught by Kes with the fury of a storm.

WIP WILL EDIT IF NECESSARY

Kira had returned to the Chapel after saying her goodbyes before the mission, she was not sure about that is was such a smart idea but there was not time to have second thought now and she threw those thought out away and focus on the now.

Like so many of the others ponies she made sure her weapons were ready for the ordeal ahead, she made sure that her launcher was loaded and secure before she pulled it under her right wing where she usually kept it. This was going to be one hell of a time for them all but she could only do the best of it, if it even would be any best of it but she could always hope.

Winter checked through her gear as Trails explained the mission. She sifted through it quickly, making sure she had a sufficient supply of Health Potions, Rad-X and Med-X along with her own customized medication. After the check she looked to Trails and gave a nod to show that she was ready to move out.

Scraps had returned to the chapel shortly after his radio had crackled to life, giving Lightning a nod and his loving Bakey a last hug and promised to stay safe, before trotting off to catch up with the others.

As he ran he checked all his weapons, making sure they were all in prime condition, locked, loaded and hopefully well enough to not jam when he needed them the most. He also made sure that his new armour was set as he settled down and waited fir the mission to begin.

The target was near the heart of the city. Trails had kept radio silence for the entirety, and made sure that all of his team knew to do the same. He was surprised to see Mil Dot with the Sergeant stripes, the buck never showing even an ounce of desire to lead. Even now he seemed to defer to Hangfire for most everything, just another thing to ask about when they got back to Bravo.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon just as the Glassworks came into view. Mil split off, finding a perch somewhere in the bombed out buildings. Mags took Gibs and skulked off to wait for the word to cover the exfil. Hangfire insisted on walking with them to the door, saying something about ambushes.

Trails just gave his old friend a pat on the back as they entered the old glass factory. The atrium of the factory was pitch black save for the soft green glow of plasma lights. Trails waved his team forward, and went to check the light.

Sneak Roll: 125 Required: 350 Fail

Celestial Aid

Sneak Roll: 457 Require 350 Success

Kestrel had been about to take up a position at the back of the group, scanning the area for any possible threats. On the way to the Glassworks nothing had shown up.

This was easy...too easy.

Trails had taken point as was currently leading them inside. Before he entered however, Kestrel gave a low growl. Speaking in the code that the AL had taken to using.

"Hold."

Sure that he had gotten the stallions attention Kestrel stared forward, down the hall. Scanning the shadows for anything that was...out of place. The dark had always been kind to Kestrel, it was his element. Nothing could hide from him there.

(Checking for traps, Enclave, or anything else. Perception 10, due to Luna Blessed.)