Mane vs Machine: Coal Town (Apply in OOC!)

[TheBritishBrony]

Red ignored the rest of his team's bickering, pulling out his sandvich and taking another bite. As long as the pyro and spy kept their hooves away from each other and pointed at the metal ponies, he wouldn't bang their heads together. He finished re-stocking his bandolier and picked up Natascha, slinging the weapon on his back and walking towards the door. He stopped, remembering he was in a team. [colour=#ff0000]"Come, we will locate good choke holds and holding points to prepare our defences." [/colour]He spoke in his usual gruff tone, the heavy could care less if they all wanted to stay and continue their child like arguing.

[Kaibunny94]

widdlebiscuit lept at the subject change and grabbing her degreaser. a makeshift flamer made from bits of car she scurried after the heavy neon sign strapped to her back and a batterwd flare gun in her rump holster. "robots are weird! " mmh mmh mmmmh she triumphantly squeaks

[Kirby Krackle]

Well, off to the front lines for drills of tactics he's never performed in his life. Though, as he followed the one massive and one tiny teammate out from the barracks, he suddenly felt much better about his weapon of choice. Her... his... its? Whatever the Pyro was had an arsenal that looked just as bad as his. On close inspection (purposely ignoring the neon display), the biggest gun looked like it had a car muffler bolting everything together! Was this Mane Co. in the business of hiring the poor, derelict and crazy? Because he could only find one pony that probably wasn't bonkers, whom he beckoned to follow with the rest of the team.

"[colour=#0000cd]Let's go, Doc. Best to know what we're doing before any sirens blow[/colour]", Reveille called, keeping the automatic door open for Sweet Scent.

[korok132]

Hope glimmered ever so faintly in Reveille. Her initial impression of the stallion was that he was a genuinely nice guy, despite his line of work. Her second impression was an insane rocket-shooting madpony, and now he was treating her like a gentlestallion again. She shrugged it off as paranoia.

Sweet Scent wished she hadn't, but she noticed what appeared to be a car muffler on the rubber pony's... weapon. That's an accident waiting to happen. She then noticed, on closer inspection, that Reveille's bazooka was also held together by what appeared to be random bits of metal, duct tape, and happy thoughts. She was suddenly glad that her equipment was given to her by an outside source, namely Mane Co, the ones that had the money to actually make equipment from things besides... is that a coat hanger cut and tied around a pipe on the end of that bazooka!? THAT'S supposed to hold it together!?

Know what? Screw the mental state of her team. Screw the equipment. Heck, screw the fighting. If she worried about everything that could go wrong (and likely will) then there won't be any worry left for when things actually start to go wrong. Emboldened by her new-found enlightenment, (see: "WhatamIdoingheresomeonehelpmepleasefortheloveofeverythinggetmeoutofhere" etc. etc) she tried to look as professional as possible as she calmly strolled past Reveille, smiling as she said "Alright. Let's go," with all of the confidence she could muster. Which, granted, wasn't too terribly much, but she tried.

[Kaibunny94]

The little pony bounced around dust flying up behind her as she looked for a good position and for the first time she saw the giant blue carrier. "oh......****" she whimpered slumping into a sitting position. -where had they sent her!-

[MidnightBlackhorn]

Jaque Unholstered his ambassador and clicked the button on his watch, cloaking instantly

[Kirby Krackle]

Reveille had come to a painful realization: this death trap he was lugging on his shoulders hasn't even been tested yet. He then, with a heavy heart, weighed his two options: test it during this calm before the storm and die now, so he can't be a burden. Or, he could test it during legitimate combat, die then, and put his whole team in serious danger. The first option seemed best. Looking to Sweet Scent for a prayer briefly, he took aim at the horizon and pulled the trigger for... absolutely nothing. Silly thing wasn't even loaded. He then questioned how to even complete that step. He fumbled with his hooves for a bit, looking for something he may have installed that resembled a clip or magazine. Nothing. The only real opening was the barrel itself. After one long, nervous gulp, he slid one rocket from his backpack down inside its gullet. In response, the bazooka violent spit the round back out. It took to the sky immediately and flew a few meters in no real trajectory, detonating spectacularly in the sand at the bottom of the hill they stood atop. Reveille felt like a colt at Hearth's Warming.

"[colour=#0000cd]You saw that, right? You all saw that? Brilliant![/colour]" Now giddy, he shoved in two and let them rip, with similar results. His joy only escalated. He repeated the process with three. Even better! Time for four, which was his unlucky number it seems. There was no more room at the inn, it seemed. The innate faultiness of his weapon backfired and he took a full detonation to the face, being launched high into the air then back down onto a nearby rooftop with a sickening crunch.

"[colour=#0000cd]...ow...[/colour]"

[korok132]

Sweet Scent hadn't noticed Reveille load his rocket, and let out a squeak of fear when a rocket exploded the hill in the distance. "[colour=#0000cd]You saw that, right? You all saw that? Brilliant![/colour]" She whirled around to see him shoot off two more. She hesitated as she began to speak up, only for him to load three more rockets and fire them off. He's gone mad. If he wasn't before, he is now. She tried once more to talk to him, only to see him go exploding off into the air, crunching down on a rooftop.

"REVEILLE!" She shrieked as she took off as fast as her wings would carry her. Oh no oh no oh no no no no. Not before the battle starts. "[colour=#0000cd]...ow...[/colour]" Seeing him alive, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She then remembered that she's supposed to be the Medic. She also then remembered she had absolutely no idea on how to actually do Medic-y things. Her wings flared as she started to panic. "Oh no oh no. Reveille. You'll be okay. Just..." She looked around nervously. Oh. Right. That back-pack-thingy on her. That was connected to some weird cannon-tube thing. She pointed it at Reveille and pushed the handle forward, releasing a beam of energy. Sweet Scent felt immense relief as she saw his wounds start to fix themselves under her beam. "Did... did that work? Are you okay now?" She kept the Quick-Fix trained on Reveille until she was absolutely sure his wounds were completely healed.

[Kirby Krackle]

So. This is what dying feels like. Legs broken, definitely. Flesh burned. Blood lost. There were probably some chunks of him missing, even! He was pretty sure this was ultimate suffering. There were no regrets, right? He tried. Good enough. Time to cash in his chips and meet his ancestors at the Great Rodeo in the Sky. Look, there's an angel coming to greet me, he mused through the pain. And there was that light everypony kept talking about. He closed his eyes, accepted his fate and drew his final breath... only feel something akin to lightning surging through his fibers. Instantly he sat up, swallowing a huge mouthful of air, eyes wide as could be.

"[colour=#0000cd]I'm alive. I'm alive! No holes or anything![/colour]" Looking down at his body, he saw absolutely no signs of abuse. A miracle! What he did see though, was a glaring spotlight fixated on him. The source was from the bizarre machine strapped to Sweet Scent. She was an angel after all. "[colour=#0000cd]You did this. You saved me! Oh goodness I can't thank you enough![/colour]" Her reward was his forelegs thrown around her, clutching in a tight bear hug.

[Kaibunny94]

widdlebiscuit snapped round looking at the rocket firing pony...she shook her head -wasting ammo now? silly pony- she bounced round the corner hiding out of sight.

[korok132]

"[colour=#0000cd]I'm alive. I'm alive! No holes or anything![/colour]" Sweet looked past the Quick-Fix to see Reveille spring back to life and hug her. "[colour=#0000cd]You did this. You saved me! Oh goodness I can't thank you enough![/colour]" She dropped the cannon as she returned the hug, tears coming to her eyes. "Thank goodness! Oh thank goodness that worked! You're okay!" She started to cry as she nuzzled Reveille's neck. Never before had she been as happy as she was at this very moment. He survived. Thank goodness he survived.

And it was because of her. Well, more accurately the Quick-Fix, but it was her tool and she saved someone with it. So this is what a Medic does. She hugged Reveille tighter. "Don't ever do that again, okay?" She pushed him back to look him in the eye. "Promise me?"

[MidnightBlackhorn]

Jaque uncloaked behind Sweet Scent.

"So that's how you fix us, eh? Remind me to stay at least reletivly close to you" He said, impressed

[Kirby Krackle]

Once the shock of not dying wore off, Reveille suddenly realized what this kind of embrace this must have looked like. Enter a new kind of shock. He blushed terribly, frozen in place, thoughts rattling around in his mind along the lines of 'Oh Celestia what do I do' and 'She smells nice'. She shove snapped him out of it and, to avoid any awkward eye contact, he tipped his hat downward to hide in the shadow. Speaking of awkward, the only response to her heart-felt demands was the facade of Soldier he was supposed to be wearing. His body stiffened to attention, one foreleg (Reveille couldn't remember which one, so he assumed the right) snapping upward in salute. "[colour=#0000cd]Yessir-ma'am! Yes ma'am![/colour]" But it wasn't the right fit for him. Or her for that matter. His body language slackened and, with eyes still downcast in embarrassment, he went off to find his weapon. It conveniently traveled with him, landing less than three yards away, by a balcony behind him. He didn't blame the thing for trying to remove his face, or himself for building something with a life threatening malfunction either.

"[colour=#0000cd]Hey, at least I know for next time that three is the magic number. I promise I'll be careful[/colour]", he managed to get out. Distance made him a little more courageous. "[colour=#0000cd]Sorry for making you worry.[/colour]" And he even smiled at her. The stallion is learning!

He hopped down from his high ground (though he recalled the Art of War mentioning to keep it) and went back towards the Heavy one and the... Pyro? (Is that what it was? Never mind. From this moment, he just assumed 'her'. Just so he could pick one pronoun and stick with it) There were drills to perform and he wasn't helping anypony by blasting himself sky high.

The first robot battalion! They're here! If they get that bomb into the hatchway, we're all done for!

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One!

Oh crud.

[MidnightBlackhorn]

Jaque cloaked as the robots headed their way. He disguised as one of them with a paper mask (robots are dumb) and readied himself

[Fawful117]

(Hey guys. I heard there was a Mann Vs. Machine based Roleplay goin' on so I was wondering if I can join the RP with either Michael or Nightshade.)

[korok132]

(Yes. You can. Go here for more info.)

[TortoiseShell]

Belle Plaine stomps her hooves nervously as the train comes to a slow stop in Coal Town. Had she known traveling by train was going to be so slow, she would have left a day earlier. She was raised to be early for everything, yet here she was, on the most important day of her life, showing up an hour late to Orientation. She swipes her shiny ID card and smiles as the door beeps and grants her access. At least something seemed to be going right. She raises her shoulders, making sure the massive weapon around her neck is balanced nicely, and steps forward.

[colour=#8b4513]"Hi all! So sorry I'm la--" [/colour]Belle's words trail off, as she enters an empty room with nothing but dust swirling in the air, freshly kicked up. She hears a voice calling out over tinny loudspeakers. [colour=#8b4513]"Oh no! I'm REALLY late! How does this thing work again..." [/colour]She rushes out into the dusty yard as fast as her stocky body can carry her, poking around the gun trying to find that stupid switch. The Brass Beast was modified to more easily work with hooves, so it was a simple lever that brought the gun whirring to life, and a button that would make the bullets fly when she chose.

She leaves the gun spinning as she glimpses the tail ends of what appear to be her comrades in battle. [colour=#8b4513]"Guys, guys, I'm here!"[/colour] She curses her large stature as they all get further and further away from her, even though she is galloping at top speed.

[Kirby Krackle]

Reveille had to admit: he had no idea what to expect when in regards to the word 'robot'. Movies and comic books and the like have given him certain expectations. So have the rumors floating around in the Galloping Gazette and so has his overactive imagination. The worst case scenario at the moment was some kind of... atomic monster. A giant assembly of metallic pony bones, arranged haphazard, with sparking exposed wires and spikes and buzz saws pressure dials and howitzers where wings should be. In short, nightmare fuel. What actually came out of that carrier off in the horizon, on the other hoof, was less terrifying and more unnerving. He was neck deep in the Uncanny Valley.

The Pegasi rushing towards him were... geometric. Like somepony tried to make an army out of toy blocks, more than anything. They looked rickety. Cheap. It was that, combined with the almost natural (key word being 'almost') way they behaved that made him instinctively want to fire deadly explosives at their general direction. Heck, as their metal wings flew them closer, he could see their LED lights for eyes and hear the trash talking coming out of their literal voice boxes. Which begs the question: Why were they programmed to have a Manehatten accent?

'Hey, lookit me, Ma!'

'Woohoohoo!'

'I dunno whodah thank first. Oh, I know! Me!'

'Eat my dust!'

'It's startin' ta bore me how much you suck!'

'Lookitchu! You look like you ran through traffic!'

'I. Hate. Daktahs!'

Yeah, these things need to die. Aside from keeping the moral of 'Only 3 Rockets at a time' close to his heart, the would-be Soldier wasted little time. He opened fire, the missiles veering off in directions not all parallel to the route robots were traveling. He would kick himself for being a lousy shot and wasting ammo later. He fired three more. Three more misses. Meanwhile, robots were practically on top of him, already pulling the triggers on what looked like sawed off shotguns. The rhythm of three was in his muscle memory already and it was failing him. In fact, he had just loaded number two in before he took a round to the leg. Pain happened. The trigger released prematurely. It was a good thing. There was no over-thought this time. Just panic and instinct.The rockets hit the ground this time, their detonation much quicker and the damage being done much more spread. Oh, he caught the robots this time, scattering the resulting scrap metal all across the desert. "[colour=#0000cd]Much better[/colour]", he growled, knowing exactly how to shoot from now on.

Despite the rest of the noise surrounding him, his ears could definitely pick up a motorized whirring from way behind him. He could only use his peripherals at the time, but the only metal he could see on the pony incoming was in the hefty gun being used. Details could come when they're not being shot at. "[colour=#0000cd]You're with us, right? Fire! Fire! Fire! They're right on top of us![/colour]"

[MidnightBlackhorn]

As a couple of the robots neared Reveille, they suddenly dropped. Behind where they were standing stood Jaque.

"It appeared as though you needed a hoof"

[Kaibunny94]

Widdlebiscuit stood cuddling her degreaser behind the building, she saw the scout style robots move out first she was biding her time, waiting for the...they they were the slightly more tank like ones lumbering after the scout ponies she watched them deploy and wasting no time charged out spreading fire willy nilly all around them "MMMPH MMMMHN MMMMPH!!" she screamed.

[TortoiseShell]

Over the roar of her spinning gun, she heard someone yelling at her. [colour=#8b4513]"Yes, I think I'm with you!"[/colour] she yells out, and hits the button to start firing, seeing the first flashes of metal coming around the corner. She comes to a stop and her eyes widen as robots upon robots come bearing down on them. The gun is still firing, though, and as she sees a couple robots mowed down, she shakes her head to snap out of it. [colour=#8b4513]"Wow..."[/colour] She looks down at the gun, amazed at its power without her even doing anything. With that, she throws a leg over it to help aim it, and starts mowing with passion. She's got a job to do!

[korok132]

Sweet Scent dreaded this moment. The moments before fighting to began were filled with nothing but anxiety and fear. The countdown only made it worse. As the voice counted down the numbers, she continued pointing her Quick-Fix at Reveille, still not believing he was completely fixed. She braced herself as the voice reached one and the tell-tale clank of metallic hooves came over the hills. This is it. The fight has begun.

She had expected massive robots to come, destroying anything and everything in it's path. That was their goal right? To destroy the town? Why not send giant death machines to blow everything up. Rather, what she received was a swarm. Okay, not as horrifying and impossible, but still really bad, right? Well, apart from them being metal, the pegasii seemed rather... scrap-ish? Hodge-podgy? A heck of a lot less intimidating than she had anticipated, anyway. However, they were incredibly rude. THAT she could deal with. She dealt with rude customers all the time. Except this time they were just being generally obnoxious rather than directly rude to her.

To accent their rudeness, they even put a round in Reveille's leg, at which Sweet Scent winced. The wound seemed to close rather quickly from her Quick-Fix, however, so it didn't seem like it would slow him down much. Speaking of slow, she heard from behind her a new minigun rev up and unleash a maelstrom of bullets into the robots. Somehow, the bullets never hit her or Reveille, who had started shouting at the slow moving shooter "[colour=#0000cd]You're with us, right? Fire! Fire! Fire! They're right on top of us![/colour]" Sweet Scent crouched down, trying to be as small a target as possible. Heal ray or not, she did NOT want to get shot.

[Kirby Krackle]

Chaos. Utter chaos. Whoever said war was Hell, they weren't kidding. And in the heat of battle, wow was Reveille in a panic. While every blast from his rockets did reduce robots to Radio Shack refuse, his frazzled nerves felt worse. Though as the fight waged on, his peripherals could see around him other ways robots could die. Some had their chassis melted to a useless red-hot blobs. Others he could see violently shake, their circuits shorting out before a knife severed all ties. All the while, laser guided triage was ensuring he felt no pain. The Soldier wasn't alone. And that was something, at least.

When the tank off in the distance finally ran out of tiny metal jerks to throw at them, he briefly hoped that it would be the last of them. Fort defended. Job done. End of story. Except no, he's not that lucky. Larger ones came out this time, built like some kind of... metal bear that hates ponies. And why on this Earth were they wearing boxing gear? No matter. This day was already weird enough. He dug through his pack for more ammunition only to find a single rocket left. Dang it. Looking down at the impending doom, he saw four of those Heavyweight Champs marked slightly different. The gloves worn had fire decals. Cool. Except those four moved much faster than the others. Not cool. One of them was carrying the infamous bomb being talked about by the announcer. Bad to worse.

"[colour=#0000cd]Take cover, Doc. I need a refill. You[/colour]", he was now addressing the larger girl finally caught up with the group, "[colour=#0000cd]Take care of her.[/colour]" Clearly not learning his lesson since the last time, he loaded his final rocket and wished himself luck. Aiming at the ground with the Laws of Motion in mind, he hopped as much as his Earth Pony legs could lift him, then fired. He rode the shock wave as intended, wanting every Pegasus in the word to envy him!

The roof he landed on a second time, with a slightly more graceful landing (i.e. he didn't break anything), still had that crate of ammunition. Thanking Celestia for it, he rushed to fill his bag with every last bomb built to fly. And while his hoof was buried in there, he felt the horn he brought along. He remembered the corners he played on, the concerts he performed and the single tune in the Mane Co. secret base. That might have been the last time he could play this thing. Except...

Nuts to that, he thought! He gets to play again if these robots are beaten back. And to do that, he needed to fight harder. His friends need to fight harder. So, why not a little inspiration? He blew four simple chords, filled with righteous rage before switching weapons again and leaping back down into the fray.

"[colour=#0000cd]CHARGE![/colour]"

He was positively glowing.

[TortoiseShell]

[colour=#8b4513]"Yes, sir!" [/colour]Belle moves slowly in front of the small medic, putting herself between the girl and the robots, still firing away. She was glad there seemed to be a leader of this outfit that knew what the heck was going on. Her eyes widen as she sees a large, bulky robot run by with a bomb strapped to his back. That can't be good! She makes a little circle around the medic, mowing down the robot with the bomb before he can get too far. [colour=#8b4513]"Should I be protecting this?"[/colour]

[Kaibunny94]

Widdlebiscuit was running around like a mad thing spraying fire then running away again and letting the robots burn trying to work out how they were suddenly on fire, she heard a trumpet and ran out again to see what the noise was, this was when a huge pony with big metal hands punched her and she was knocked flying backwards, she sprawled out onto the floor with a thump.