Fallout Equestria: The Silent Wasteland [Closed]

[Xiee]

The day turned to night as the rays of a fading sunlight that pierced the clouds seemed to wane. An eerie wind blew across the dusted pathway that was obviously used by numerous caravans. It was the road to Friendship City. Light had heard of rumors from the occasional passing trader that they've seen a few Griffons make their way into the city. It was a slim chance that this group of Griffons were those from Blackwing's Talons, but not many Talon groups were active in the wasteland so with that thought her chances rose, so she thought.

Passing by an odd faded pre-war billboard about rockets and bananas, she had wondered how ponies seemed to come up with the craziest past times. Wasn't that a picture of their own God-Princess who was mockingly portrayed as some sort of robot? Maybe such foolish things lead to the whole nation blasted in a balefire winter. Then again she couldn't complain about the Zebras and their odd traditions. In the end, both sides saw foolishness in each other and in their own way, blew each other to the moon. Perhaps that was the main reason for this war after all?

Light was forced to tough it on the dirt rather than fly. There were too many Bloodwings in the area and she didn't want to alert them to her presence. It was tough to take on the little evil flutterers alone. Not to mention a waste of precious ammo. The last time she looked, she had about 4 clips of bullets left and her supplies of food and fresh water were dangerously close to depletion.

She could barely see Friendship City in the distance and from her current position it would only take about an hour's flight to get to it, but as she was stuck on the ground, she figured that it would take at least 3 or 4 hours. She cursed at the Bloodwings as she stealthily made herself scarce, not to closely following the main road but well within its sight just in case an abomination from the wild decides to make a quick snack of her. She winced at the thought as her grip on her sniper rifle tightened. It was the worst possible thing.

[Imagination]

The filthy things were out in force tonight, though they usually never dared to come too close to Friendship City. The old statue was too secure, as far as they knew from previous attempts. Tonight, every able-bodied pony was on duty, just to be safe. Everypony was advised to stay in their quarters for the evening... And everypony did. Except for those who left with the most recent caravan.

Gridpoint had managed to get out of the city before the lockdown, not wanting to be stuck in the head knowing that none of the things were going to come near the city. Though he also left because he had heard that one of the caravans needed an extra guard, at least in order to get to Tenpony Tower. They could take it from there. When he shared his experience as a sharpshooter, they were practically begging. Of course, everything was going smoothly until the idiot guard got jumpy and fired his weapon at one of the Bloodwings. It didn't take long for the Caravan to get attacked, and they were quickly overwhelmed. One of the merchants and his guard was killed, as well as the cart being decimated. The surviving merchant, likely the late one's younger daughter, was taking cover in what was probably an old maintenance locker at ground level with the sniper and scared out of her mind. It took nearly every ounce of Gridpoint's patience to keep her quiet.

The Captain still had his battlesaddle, as well as his Enclave uniform on. What supplies he had were only supposed to last him for one, maybe two days travel between cities, or maybe even further. Since he had to share with an extra mouth, her own supplies being consumed by the ghastly creatures, they had nothing. The one-winged pegasus had a light that he could use to scare them off if he got swarmed, though it didn't have much charge to it. Maybe enough for three good flashes. After he had gotten as far as he did, he decided maybe picking them off and making a run for it wouldn't be such a bright idea.

"H-How long are they going to be out there...?" the light blue earth pony asked, keeping her question as quiet as she could in order to avoid being berated again by the pegasus. "Possibly till daybreak... And they'll likely go into the buildings for shelter. We can't stay here..." Despite that being true, it seemed the merchant wasn't going anywhere. The poor thing was too afraid to move, having pretty much watched her father be sucked dry. Leaving her to her grief, he took a look at the surrounding area. They were a good distance from the city, but they might be able to make their way past the Bloodwings... But while Gridpoint was busy looking one way, the merchant looked to their rear and saw the silhouette of a griffon approaching them! She waved her hooves frantically in Light's direction, whispering loudly "Hey! Over here!" desperately wanting as much help as she could get. But, Gridpoint was quick to react, clamping a hoof around her mouth and pulling her into the cover of the old locker. "Shut up you idiot!" he scolded through his teeth, hearing the fluttering of curious wings overhead.

[Xiee]

*BANG!*

A gunshot rang through the air. The location of the sound seemed to be close to where she was. They might be raiders. Light readied her sniper rifle clutching it with her talons and made sure it was loaded. Or it might be somepony trying to defend themselves from these grotesque life sucking Bloodwings. The thoughts in her head began to swim around as she made a gentle hover towards the sound.

"Hey! Over here!"

There was somepony who called out from what looked like a wrecked maintenance locker. She couldn't see the pony clearly from behind all that rubble but what she did see on the road was at least four Bloodwings on the ground and two more circling overhead. They were rummaging through scattered supplies and sucking every bit of life out of those poor dead Brahmin. Not far from there were the bodies of two ponies.

She thought of trying to go over to the side where she heard somepony call out to her but it would be risky since two bloodwings were flying overhead. She had no choice but to shoot them. There were a total of six bloodwings and her ammo clip had only 5 rounds in it. She could quickly dispatch the five without alerting the bloodwings to her presence, but of course that is if she had clear shots to their head. Then she had to reload. Maybe this isn't a good idea. She needed help.

She peeked above the rubble where she was hiding and tried to get a glimpse of the Pony hiding in the rubble on the other side. It was too far for them to talk or hear each other so she had hoped that whoever was hiding there would follow her lead as she took shots at the bloodwings.

The two bloodwings flying overhead provided her with an excellent and clear shot. They were hovering, scanning the area as their other companions were trashing what was left of the caravan. This was an opportunity and she took it.

*Pffft* *Pffft*

The muffled sounds of the sniper rifle let out as the first bloodwing fell to the ground flinching.

*Pffft* *Pffft*

Two more shots and the other fell but it let out a screech before it died. This got the attention of the other four not far away from them and they began to fly as well, sensing danger.

This was not good.

[Imagination]

"Are you trying to get us killed? What's the matter with you?" He could understand this was a difficult time for her, but still, this is survival 101 right here!

Letting her go, but giving her the 'stay' motion with his hoof, he was about to take a peek outside to see just who the Tartarus she was trying to talk to. But not long after he poked his head out did he hear the distinct popping of a silenced weapon. He quickly ducked back inside, thinking at first that she shots were directed at him. This girl must've caught the attention of some raider or something. His rifle unfolded, able ready to take a look again and sight in on his target... When a dead Bloodwing fell not too far from the locker! Oh. Much more pleasant than a raider. Then came two more shots, and a screech. It wasn't long before the other four were airborne, but Gridpoint wasn't going to let this potential extra gun get wasted away.

He couldn't shoot, though. not without a guarantee of new reliable cover. his weapon was way too loud. High-caliber, no silencer. The best he could do was divert the remaining Bloodwings away temporarily.

Emerging from cover, he looked to the four Bloodwings coming to investigate the screech. When he was spotted, they dove for him! Quickly, Gridpoint went to the light he had and gave them a bright flash when they got close enough, bathing them in light. Screeching loudly, the three retreated as fast as they could. It would probably buy them about five minutes to move to a new spot, either before those three came back, or new Bloodwings came. Looking to the new gunman, or gunwoman rather, he saw it was a griffon! Not too many of those around here... A mercenary?

"You have some kind of deathwish? Wandering here by yourself with the Bloodwings out?" he asked, doing his best to speak loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to completely blow whatever cover they had left. The merchant followed the Captain out, though hid behind him as she watched the griffon.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Imagination

[Xiee]

It was a rather bold move for the Pegasus to jump out and scare the Bloodwings bathing them in light. She made a mental note to remember that these things hated the light or were rather sensitive to it. The Bloodwings immediately scattered in different directions, disoriented and screeching away. It won't be long when more Bloodwings would arrive.

"You have some kind of deathwish? Wandering here by yourself with the Bloodwings out?"

The odd one-winged Pegasus complained. Looking around her, she made sure that there were no Bloodwings in sight. Quickly, she decided to do a hover towards the Pegasus. Behind him was an Earth Pony Mare, crouching down looking uneasily at her. She landed the Pegasus as slung her sniper rifle behind her.

"It's my first time traveling this direction. I didn't expect any Bloodwings to be in the area." She said calmly as she preened her right wing. "I was on my way to Friendship City to replenish my supplies, but I heard a gunshot from the distance and saw your problem."

Numerous screeches could be heard from the distance. It was clear that the Bloodwings were regrouping and they wanted to make another pass at the mess of what was left of the caravan scattered all over the road. The ones that fled earlier probably told their companions that there were succulent juicy Ponies ripe for the picking. They probably brought the whole brood this time. It was not a good time to be out in the open.

"We have to move."

[tyler008bon]

Six covered Mill's muzzle as she nearly let out a scream. Bloodwings, and dozens of them, were directly above the bridge He and Mill were camping under. They were so close, less than five miles from Friendship city, less than five miles from the bridge they would walk across into the safest city in the Wasteland.

Six almost laughed. A bridge was what they saw as survival, and now they were going to die under one. He checked his ammo after holding back the urge to even smile. Mill followed his example and checked her shotgun, looking more clueless than a raider with a book. For some reason that made him more angry than the very fast and painful death he was likely to experience in the next few moments.

Motioning for Mill to hide, Six quickly threw himself from cover and aimed at...

Nothing. the Bloodwings were gone.

They were safe.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Flu Shot ambled down the side of the dusty road, his armor and supplies shuffling against each other every time he took a step. He was not a very stealthy pony, even less so when he made no effort to hide his large, lumbering presence, and he knew it. He also knew that he'd need to find shelter soon, before the sun went down, or else he would be a tasty target for the predatory night creatures of the waste. He was contemplating breaking into one of the run down houses which seemed to show up along old roads like this, but so far he hadn't seen one that would provide much protection while he slept.

The big unicorn groaned, about to give up in his search and settle for the best housing he could find, when he heard a gunshot in the distance. Flu paused, suddenly very alert and very worried that there were Raiders not too far from where he intended to stop for the night. Wait, why should I be afraid of Raiders? I've taken on those guys before. Flu Shot though to himself as he considered what to do. Even if it isn't Raiders I should at least investigate... Hay, maybe somepony needs help!With this realization Flu shot started trotting down the side of the road, trying to stick to the bushes as much as possible. whatever it was he'd give his best effort to stay hidden, even if he was awful at it it would give him a slightly better chance of avoiding anything too dangerous.

A little ways down the road Flu came upon the attacked caravan, it's wares scattered haphazardly and the dead bodies of the ponies sucked dry of blood. The destruction was visible even at his cautious distance, as well as a griffon and two ponies. He instantly assumed that they were behind the attack, but he was smart enough to realize that wasn't the case. Not only had there been only one gunshot, but the bodies were completely shriveled and a couple of dead bloodwings were slumped on the ground not far from the wreckage. They were probably survivors from the attack, or possibly scavengers.

There was no way he could sneak up on them, and just running out into the open could get him killed, so he decided to stay where he was and watch how things played out. He prayed that they wouldn't see him, but with meager cover and sneaking skills, he wasn't so sure.

[Imagination]

The uniformed pegasus looked out toward the sky at the screeching. "We have to move."

"Agreed."

"W-Wait a minute! I can't just leave my father's body here!" the merchant pony voiced her concern, especially to the Enclave pony, who seemed very ready to just high-tail it away from the site. "Fine, stay with the corpse and become a corpse. Makes no difference to me". She seemed quite hurt at his, looking back at the wrecked caravan with uncertainty. He started off down the road, noting good places for cover and mumbling "Idiot waster" to himself. Though had either of them known about his own past, they could've called him out on being quite the hypocrite. Stopping short before he could go too far, he looked back at the Griffon, pointing a hoof out toward what seemed to be the ruins of an old town... or at least a secluded residential street.

"That area's far enough from the site that the Bloodwings won't swarm it right away. If need be we can barricade ourselves in one of the houses and wait until morning, but if we want to dive from cover to cover, I can't use my weapon. High caliber, too loud and only a few rounds. What do you have left for a clip?" It seemed he wanted to talk on the go, as every second they wasted was a second closer to being surrounded and devoured by Bloodwings. Of course, he didn't know about the others that were about, thinking it was just him, the Merchant, and the Griffon. Taking another look toward where the screech came from, he unfolded his rifle and took a look through the scope at the swarm of Bloodwings flying straight for them. "[scout Officer] We have less than five minutes... Nine of them"

[Xiee]

Light wanted didn't know what it felt loosing a loved one. She never knew her parents so she didn't know what it felt like. It was clear though that they needed to leave and there was no time for this drama. She just kept to herself when the one-winged Pegasus scolded the young mare.

"It would be a sound idea to wait this out until morning. I have one bullet left in this clip. But I have 3 more clips on me. I'd rather not waste it on these Bloodwings. Let's move together, slowly. Grab what you can from what's left of the caravan. Healing potions, water, ammo, anything. And lets get out of here!"

[ Stealth Specialist: Companion perk the group gets this ability as long as they are close to Light. You're experienced with blending into environments. You can literally become one with the shadows and are invisible when hiding in dark areas and make less sound in general. ]

[ Perception 8 ] Oddly enough, a strange pony was watching in the distance. She could have sworn that she saw a Steel Ranger, but later realized he didn't have the intimidating armor that the Steel Rangers wore. But he did seem to be packing. Was that a gatling gun?

"We've got company." Light said while she started walking to the direction the one-winged pegasus pointed earlier. "He doesn't look like a raider, but I'd rather we don't pick up other stragglers right now. If he follows, I'll keep an eye on him. If he does anything stupid, leave it to me."

The wasteland was sure getting crowded today. Normally it wasn't this rowdy. What were the chances she'd met with others in such an odd predicament as this. She kept her thoughts under wraps for now and concentrated on the task at hoof. The Bloodwings were closing.

[Dunder]

Dunder Blust had been camping out, watching the road for any raiders while resting in a small foxhole he made under a nearby bridge. He had been sleeping through everything, except when the gunshot rang out. He jolted awake and quickly got to his position, watching the road.

He couldn't see much, but he could definitely see some bloodwings through his scope. He lined up one shot, but before he fired, it got shot. He lowered his rifle, scared that there was a raider sniper somewhere around him. Or even a group of raiders would cause enough problems. HE scanned the landscape through his scope, but couldn't see the shooter. Their use of a suppressor wasn't helping either.

While searching, he noticed what seemed like some ponies. He could only see their heads through the scope. They looked like they were rushing, maybe raiders or more bloowings were coming... maybe they were raiders too. He crawled out of the foxhole after making sure he had everything he needed. He put his rifle in its holster before flying on top of the bridge, fortunately for him, they seemed to be distracted by something else.

He climbed on top of the bridge and got to cover where a section of the bridge's wall had been broken. From there he watched.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Flu Shot was amazed that his luck had held out, the ponies and griffon failing to notice his location. Unless that errant glance the griffon had given in his direction had noticed him. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if it had, but if she did notice where he was hiding then why hadn't she done anything? The big unicorn was even more curious now, though he knew that curiosity would often get you killed in these situations.

The small party started moving towards the residential district that Flu had had his eye on for shelter. Why weren't they scavenging the wreckage of the caravan? Most of the loot looked destroyed, but it could still hold useful supplies. Maybe its because it was getting dark, or Maybe they were in a hurry somewhere. Flu Shot failed to notice any signs of further threats, so it was probably the latter. Well, more for me He thought. Every little bit would count, and he could make a lot of bits at Tenpony with the scrap. He also briefly thought back on his previous assumption that curiosity could get you killed, but when it came to supplies you never knew when you'd need them.

After a minute or two, and after the others had gone further down the road, Flu moved out of his meager cover and trotted over to the remains of the wagons. Eeyup, these ponies had most certainly been killed by Bloodwings. Their remains didn't bother him too much, he'd gotten used to the harshness of the wastes over the years, but it still creeped him out how the bones of completely dried husks pressed against the skin. No matter, supplies were first and foremost in his mind, and he started moving among the scattered remains looking for something useful. There were some random bits and bobs that he could easily sell, some ammo for guns he didn't use, a few weapons in poor condition. Unfortunately the medical supplies had been stashed next to the food, so when the Bloodwings tore apart the food the medicine was also destroyed. He let out a sigh of frustration as he started to pack away the things he could use.

A moment later and he realized why the party had left prematurely, because out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse something flying it's way through the sky, the other half of the pack of Bloodwings. CRAP! Why was I so stupid? How could I have not realized it? OF COURSE there were more, that's how these Celestia-darned things worked, Together! Flu Shot thought to himself in a panic. He stashed the last thing in his saddlebag and started running, looking back over his shoulder at his approaching doom. He was never going to be fast enough, and he knew it. NO He thought to himself, flying into a rage. They're just some darn animals, I can take 'em. I'll never let something so insignificant be my end. The medic turned around, spinning up his massive gun with his magic and sliding out his sledgehammer. They were close, close enough that he could make out their shapes and features, close enough so that they'd most certainly spotted him.

The creatures let out several shrieks as they tried to descend upon the unicorn, but some were cut short as Flu's gun started spraying bullets into them. A couple went down, others were injured, but he was still in a bit of trouble. One got close enough to warrant a violent smack across the head with the sledgehammer, another dashing past him and raked him with it's claws. Most of it was deflected by his heavy armor, but blood started seeping out of a scratch to the side of his neck. He rotated and let a short burst of fire rip through the creature as it tried to make another pass. The fight continued as the Bloodwings split apart to avoid his fire, trying to find a way to get at him. Flu Shot furiously swung at each one as they came by, realizing that the animals were staying out of the range of his not-so-accurate gun. This was not going as well as he would've liked, but he wasn't dead yet and that was something.

[tyler008bon]

Six and Mill both perked up at the sound of a gun, firing very quickly and loudly. Under its volume were the screeches of dying Bloodwings, coming from very close by. Turning to look at Mill, he noticed a look on her face. She wanted to help whoever was fighting those things, which was vastly different from earlier, when she only wanted to hide. Against his better judgement, he began galloping with her toward the noise.

One Stallion was fighting nearly half of the Bloodwings they encountered before. When they got close, Six noticed blood seeping down his neck and hoped the Stallion would be able to keep himself alive until these creatures left.

Pulling out his pistol, Six aimed down the scope and fired three times, killing only one Bloodwing with a shot to the head, sending the body back to the ground. He didn't expect to have any ammo by dawn, if he even survived that long. The Stallion continued to fire with a seemingly endless amount of ammo, and Mill was fiddling with her shotgun. Six really hoped she wasn't going to end up shooting herself by accident.

"So," Six started a conversation after the Stallion made no notice of his two new allies, "Are you headed to friendship city?" Six was kind of shocked that he had even been able to take himself out of concentration long enough to talk, but in a moment's notice he was back in the zone and downed another Bloodwing, glad that it only took two bullets.

[Xiee]

[[ OCC: Okay guys since there's quite a lot of us in the RP now, may I suggest a posting order? Xiee, Imagination, tyler008bon, AsthmaticPegasus, Dunder. In that order. And I hope we can post regularly to keep the RP moving. ]]

[AsthmaticPegasus]

(Yeah, that seems like it would be good, keep it from getting too chaotic or leaving any one person behind.)

[TotalEcplise]

[[Place me in at the end of that turn list, if ya don't mind.]]

[AsthmaticPegasus]

(I don't see a problem with it. I guess I'll go next though, since Tyler just went)

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Flu Shot was a little shocked at the sudden assistance from two random passerby. It wasn't necessarily good judgement to wander up to random ponies in the wastes and start small talk. More often than not it would probably get you killed. It also struck him as even funnier to do this to somepony who was fighting off a swarm of Bloodwings, wielding a gatling gun, and swinging around a bloody sledgehammer. In fact he found it a little aggravating, he didn't want to feel responsible if these two died horribly at the hands- no, wings of these things. He'd sure as hay fight to protect them, even if they were acting a little strange.

Briefly shooting at a swooping Bloodwing (which only seemed to ward it off for a moment) the medic turned to this crazy buck. "What the hay are you two doing out here? Get to safety!" He shouted, ignoring the Stallion's questions and giving him a bit of a shove towards a nearby house. Yeah, not really good with people this one. It's not like he wasn't thankful for help, it's just that all that thankfulness was buried under survival instincts, anger, focus, and another layer of anger. Ugh, just my luck. Flu thought to himself before letting go another short burst of bullets and missing the agile bats by a hair Darn things just stay still!

[Xiee]

[[ OCC: Will compose my reply tomorrow. Closed the thread since there are too many of us in it already. Its hard to keep track of all of you. ]]

[Xiee]

[[ OCC: It's going to be tough to interact with everyone so at the moment, I'll be concentrating on getting myself and Imagination to Friendship City. Feel free to intercept our little party on the way if you want. ]]

The sounds of the wings flapping ever grew closer. It was clear that something was stirring up the Bloodwings, probably the whole brood was converging to the site of the wreckage. Light figured that it might have been the sudden arrival of a few other Ponies. [ I've got my eye on you ] Light must have noticed at least 2 other ponies out in the open but paid no attention to them as she was trying to get her group to one of the damaged buildings in the area.

"We can stay here until daybreak." She said as she took a peek out the window. "I'll take first watch, you two get some rest."

Whoever those other ponies were in the open had to find shelter soon. The sound of rapid fire from what sounded like a machine gun rang though the air. One of the other ponies must have engaged the Bloodwings. Bad move, she thought. It's only going to attract more of the flying abominations since they were probably near a nest.

"Light... my name is Light Gentebeak. I'm with Blackwing's Talons." She introduced herself to the one-winged Pegasus and his companion as she settled down on her haunches looking out the window.

[Imagination]

[sorry for the wait everyone. Summer has been unkind to me thusfar xD]

Gridpoint eased himself out of his battlesaddle, not seeming to mind having someone else volunteer to take watch. He hadn't even had the chance to sit down since they had left Friendship City. He took off his black hat with a yawn, setting it on top of the saddle and reclining against the wall s the griffon introduced herself. "A mercenary... Well, I suppose I'm more at ease knowing there's a competent fighter with me, rather than some hot-headed wastrel..." he scoffed, though his words did still seem sincere. At least there was a good chance Light knew what she was doing. [Enclave Officer] "I'm Captain Gridpoint of the Grand Pegasus Enclave" he introduced, resting with his hooves behind his head and a cocky smile stretched on his muzzle, as if his title were some kind of proof of his superiority. "My traveling companion is... Ugh, I can't recall her name..." he said, referring to the light blue pony sulking in the corner. It seemed she wanted to be left alone. She probably had a lot to think about.

Perking his ears to the gunfire outside, Gridpoint rolled his eyes. "I swear, these idiot wasters know nothing of discretion. I suspect we'll be looking at some new bodies in the morning. Not so bad. Means the wastes will be a bit less crowded..."

[Xiee]

The Enclave? Now that was something of a rare occurrence in the wasteland. Surely he must have been grounded here for a reason. Perhaps his other missing wing was the answer? But it was unusual for Enclave-types to be this far out. She didn't know if he could be trusted. She had clashed with the Enclave before with her Talon group on a job so she couldn't bring herself to trust one of these Pegasi.

But now was not a time to think of mistrust and all the other delicacies of the Enclave. She needed every help she could get and the gunshots in the distance were welcome. That should throw off all the Bloodwings on their path and divert their attention to the poor sod who fired those.

"There will be some good loot in the morning indeed. If nopony survives that is."

Settling down on her haunches she preened her left wing as she conversed with the Pegasus.

"So Captain, what brings you to the surface. I thought the Enclave kept to themselves up there in the clouds?"

She knew well enough to call him by rank. She knew that it was important for soldiers like her to understand the pride of earning a rank. She made sure she showed respect even though she didn't trust the pony.

[Imagination]

What brings him to the surface? He probably would've been offended by the question if he thought she knew better. But how could she? They just met! Not under the best of circumstances either. He explained by pulling at the tan covering over his black uniform. "Any Officer you see in tan is either a scout, team or outpost leader... I'm a scout. Recon for the S.P.P. outpost... As for why I'm so far away from the outpost or why I'm still down here... We'll say there was a complication..." There was a short pause, before a sudden, hostile "No, I don't want to talk about it" from the Captain. Touchy subject.

"What about you...? Judging by the direction you were heading and there being nothing else around here, I'd say you were headed to Friendship City." A nice place. They took him in when he needed, which he is still grateful for (even if he won't admit it to most). A merc going to the city might either be looking for work or supplies, the latter probably more likely to be found. But why assume when he can get the story itself?

[Xiee]

The Enclave Pegasus obviously had a bad experience in the surface. If Light didn't know better he was either stranded or abandoned by his kind. She didn't want to pry so she just changed the subject by answering his question. The Enclave Officer was definitely proud and she didn't want to insult him with her questioning him any further.

"Yes I was on my way to Friendship City." She said as she settled down after preening her wing. "My Talon was undertaking a contract at Horsehoe Tower. We were searching for some important documents that the client wanted when a wing of Alicorns ambushed us. Half of our group fell and only a few of us survived. I was knocked out when one of those things fired a ball of lightning on my position. When I woke up, the others were dead, missing and the last of the survivors gone. They probably thought I was dead too so they left me there."

Light paused as she removed the mechanical Talons that augmented her own. It felt refreshing to be without them every once in a while.

"I heard from a passing caravan that there was a group of Griffon mercenaries who visited Friendship City a few days back. I'm hoping that it's my Talon that went there..."

This was the first time Light had talked this much. When she was with her Talon, all she did was take orders and didn't say much. Her comrades had began to worry for her so they began lecturing her about chatting with others, that it was a good way to pass the time and blow off steam. She didn't quite get the notion but had to try it since there was nothing really to do at this moment.

[TotalEcplise]

[OOC: Hope you don't mind if I come in here.]

Arik was always looking for deserted towns and structures and the like. He was going to make big things happen for the newly refurbished town of Arbu, but all would be for naught if he couldn't house his citizen, his Crimson Wings. His friend closest friend and "asset acquisition" adviser Brown Sugar, had suggested he check out the small empty settlement near the road between Tenpony and Friendship City. Sugar's suggestions usually lead the griffin to a situation where he has to jump through a million and one hoops of horse-apples, but Arik had to admit, the profit was always worth the insanity.

Lo and behold, predictable as the rising of the sun, the crap had started. Off in the distance, some fool pony had fired on the blood wing swarm, bringing down the beasts wrath upon a caravan, the poor souls didn't stand a chance. The burgundy griffin watched the entire thing go down through a window in one of the buildings situated in the abandoned structures. He began to turn his head away from the slaughter, but his [Enhanced Sensors] EFS told him that the situation was not as it seemed.

"Survivors?" He said scratching his chin in intrigue.

He squinted in the direction of the gunfire, he saw several dim flashes and the blasting of some sort of chain gun, but that isn't what caught most of his attention. [Enhanced Sensors] A small group, outlined by his cybernetic eyes, was skulking away from the massacre and towards the small derelict establishment.

"Hmmm, a griffin." He mused. Arik, focused for a second to activate his pipbuck. He slowly faded from existence. "This could be fun." He watched as they headed towards an empty building. Before they entered he flew out of the window and positioned himself outside their temporary shelter to eavesdrop of the party. He peaked into the building through a window opposite the three survivors. "Two ponies, one griffin..." He took a closer look at the griffin and the pony's wear "...a Blackwing merc, some other pony, and," He began to scowl, "Enclave."

Their conversation confirmed his observations, Arik's anger began to boil over. He had dealt with the Enclave before, pompous jerks the lot of them. When they wanted something they take simply take it, no bartering. His claws gripped the side of the building, causing a loud crack.

"S***!" He said a bit too loud for his own good.