Project Neptune

Chapter 2

The light was like nothing I had ever experienced, it was blinding even with my tinted visor. I glanced down at my pipbuck, it was picking up several new signals that it couldn't receive in the vault, I picked one at random and tuned in. I listened to the upbeat old style swing being broadcasted by the station but I was more interested in what was going on around me. The landscape was brown with little to no grass growth, collecting some samples of grass and flowers I continued on my way. Nothing attacked me for the first few hours of travels accept for a few small flying bugs but I took care of them with a few laser blast. I made great progress along highway 31 towards Manehatten, my mission was to scout out the local area but more importantly to find old technology. I was heading to Manehatten because it was going to be my best bet for finding old technology and getting info on the locals. The highway was mostly intact for being 200 years old but it still had cracks and entire chunks missing, I passed a small convoy of dirty stinking ponies heading north but when I tried to talk to them they hurried to leave. My first night out on the waste wasn't all that bad, I woke once in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots but nothing else woke me in the night. The next morning I found what was being shot, just 200 yards from where I was sleeping two ponies lay dead. I didn't encounter much else that day but the next day I found a small settlement, it seemed lively at first but as I approached every pony darted inside of their home. I entered what seemed to be the local market and waited, after a time some ponies came out of the houses and went back to their business. One approached me. "Hello stranger, how can I help you?"

"I'm just looking for directions and information" My voice sounded electronic and strange through the mouth piece"

"Well based on that armor you're wearing and that rifle strapped to your side I think you can pay for those things. How did you get the armor, kill some Steel Rangers or are you one of those slavers up from Fillydelphia?"

"Do you always question your customers like this or am I the only one?"

"I'm sorry, it's just queer to see a lone pony in power armor that nice looking. I'll charge you 20 caps for directions to wherever and what information I have."

"Caps, do you not use bits?"

"Paper money isn't common or strong enough and bottle caps just work. If you don't have any bottle caps I can barter for whatever items you have in your pack or I might have a job or two for you to do."

"I'd rather not part with any of my items. What kind of jobs do you have lined up?"

"You look like somepony that can handle himself in a fight though I don't know, you don't even know about caps for money. There is a gang of raiders that live just a short walk from here, they have been chasing off the caravans that make living in these parts possible."

"So if I kill these raiders you will tell me what I want to know?"

"I would be willing to even pay you a little too."

"I'll take the job."

He marked the raider base on my pipbuck and I was off. It wasn't too long before the base came into view, it was just a bunch of run down shacks barely able to keep the rain off of you. I counted 6 raiders all dressed in rags and using poor pistols, 9mm at the most. I lined up my first shot and fired. It took the raider in the chest, his ragged scraps of cloth didn't even disperse a little bit of the laser blast and he toppled to the ground. The other raiders looked about in confusion and I was able to down 2 more, the others were nothing to worry about either. Their rounds plinked off of my armor as I carefully lined up each shot. I rounded up what I could from each of the bodies, my training had included basic field repairs and I was able to get at least one somewhat working pistol from all 6 of the original. I found where the raiders had been storing the spoils of the raided caravans, most of the food had spoiled but some precious ammo was still in their boxes. I carried most of it back to the village and I spilled it out on the stand that the pony who had given me the job owned.

"Looks like you got them."

"That I did, now about my payment."

"I promised it and I'll honor my agreement. What do you want to know."

After listening to him and getting all of the information that I needed I proceeded south to Manehatten, the way was mostly clear except for a single raider group I found looting a stranded caravan. I snuck up as close as I could get and I gunned the three raiders down before they could spin around and confront me. The caravan thanked me and I was once again on my way. Before long I reached a junction, the west road leading to Hoofington and the southeast to Manehatten. Hoofington had a certain appeal to it being one of Equestria's most advanced cities but something in my gut told me to save that city for another time. I had never really looked up and taken very much note of the sky but now as I had become bored I really started to study it. It was common knowledge that the pegasus had closed off the sky with clouds the day the bombs dropped but it was one thing to know it and one thing to see it. The pony took me by surprise, launching from somewhere to my left and striking my side. We wrestled in the dust beside the road for a few minutes before my training allowed me to get the upper hand. I had her on the ground but as I demanded for her submission she (being a unicorn) pulled a long dirk out of her saddlebag and started jabbing at my belly armor. The first stab did nothing but she was able to plant the second one in my leg joint, luckily it didn't go far enough in my muscle to do any damage but I wasn't going to give her a third chance. Her head didn't last long once I had slammed down with all of my suit's hydraulic power. Sifting through her belongings I found a note, it had little information but it did have the location of her base.

The base had more guards than I thought, I ran from rock to rock trying to escape their line of fire. The rounds ricocheted off my cover but only a few ever landed close enough to give me worry. My biggest problem was the heavy machine gun set up in a watch tower, it had enough punch to go through my armor given a few seconds. They had also sent out a squad to chase me into the open, the only thing they had gotten from that was a few dead friends. I got far enough away that the HMG couldn't accurately open fire on me and I made a run for it. I found a small industrial settlement and tried to hide there but the raiders made chase. On one side of the town was a collection of apartments and I ran for them. My pipbuck made a noise and Sky Hoof apartments appeared on my map, I made a dash for them trusting my pipbuck, inside all of the lights were out but my suits headlamp provided ample lighting. My suit warned me of trace amounts of smoke, I followed the suit to an upper floor and encountered what I thought to be the body of a donkey.....until it moved.