/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>165711
Another roll - dexterity modifier

What portion of the roof, precisely, is Amber flying to? The roof is fairly exposed

>>165712
The roof farthest away from the eyes of the officers? If that's possible.
[1d20+2 = (9+2) = 11]

>>165713
The roof is fairly steep and covered in black tile. Amber could avoid being visible from three angles but would necessarily be visible from at least one angle, if only the officers looked up. Presumably, if Amber attempted this, she would attempt it on the side closest to the patch of woods.

>>165714
And so she does. Hopefully griffons are as disinclined to look up as ponies are.

>>165715
As you probably guessed... This is a dice roll. Wisdom modifier may be applied

>>165728
Amber flaps her wings and jumps up. Her first effort results in her hitting the side of the house and falling to the ground, thankfully not hard enough to knock her down, or to be heard. But with the second try, Amber's wings spread and flap in rotating fashion, and for the first time, she feels herself move upward, and take flight. The feeling is unnerving, and the flight pans only a few feet, enough to let her grab her claws onto the roof of the house, and then pull herself up, and onto the roof. The roof is relatively high, and Amber has to cling carefully. She places herself in a position where it would be impossible to see her from the opposite side, and difficult to see her from the sides. The woods behind the house prevent a griffin from going too away from the house to get a good angle to look onto the roof.

The officers look around the house, through the rooms, and through the field next to the house. But to Amber's great luck, they don't look up. Not on that side of the house, at least.

>>165701
He extends his wings, and is clearly afraid
"Stay back!"

>>165757
Silver takes out the flashlight, and tries to shine it in the pegasus' eyes as he talks to him. True to his request, Silver doesn't advance further.

"It is okay, I will not hurt you."

>>165758
The pegasus blinks, but the blink is rather delayed. Silver can see amber colored iris that glow, but the whites do not.

"That's what the last ones said!"

>>165759
Silver sighs in relief.

"I am with Homeguard. We were sent to eliminate changelings from building and rescue hostages. I can show you bodies of your changeling captors if you do not believe me."

>>165760
The Pegasus is not relieved in kind.
"What do you want?"

>>165761
"We are clearing building of changelings, then evacuating hostages. We just need you to stay here and keep out of sight until we have verified building is clear. Then we will come back for you."

>>165762
He raises his wings up, fully folded out, and then sits down.

"Oh... Okay..."

>>165763
Silver stands up, and smiles at him.

"Way things are going, it will not be long. Stay safe, stay out of sight."

He brings his changeling assault rifle up, and resumes his search of the floor.

>>165764
The hallways move in a circle. Clockwise, or counterclockwise?

>>165765
Clockwise.

>>165756
Amber waits until they are outside the house (so as to not be seen through the windows) and on the other side, then carefully lets herself down and creeps into the vegetation until she is out of sight.

>>165766
Moving through the hallways clockwise, Silver walks past the corpses of the drones, and past the location of the stairwell, taking another turn along the hallway. To the left, Silver looks into a new, large room that seems larger than what existed on the other side and suggest an asymmetric layout of the floor. The hallway does continue, however.

>>165782
After some minutes, several officers leave the house, though it's hard to say if all have left.

>>165784
It would be unwise to wait until dark, because more police are likely to arrive and conduct a more thorough search. She takes the risk and follows her friends.

>>165786
>>165785
>>165785
Amber moves to the edge of the roof, and prepares to jump off, spreading her wings. But she plumets nearly directly down, half into a bush, and half on the grass, hurting (but at least, not breaking) a hind leg and her left wing.

But far more importantly, Amber can hear from above "Here! There's one!"

>>165787
This is an exceedingly unfortunate series of events. She takes off sprinting on all fours, not directly toward her friends but more off to the side, into the woods.

>>165788
Amber sprints into the woods. It must be understood that this is not woods in the proper sense, but more a survival of forest that covered these lands before much was cleared to make way for pasture, or the adjacent homestead, or nearby road. Consequently, it is thin in many areas, although it stretches much further forward. Amber knows that a few hundred feet off to the right is a road, and to the left is a pasture. The forest has little underbrush away from the edges, but comparatively dense brush that is unpleasant to move through at the edges.

>>165789
Amber decides to move through the area with relatively little underbrush. She needs to get as much distance as soon as possible, and moreover she doesn't want to draw attention to the road.

>>165783
Before Silver continues down the hallways, is there anything of note in this large room?

>>165896
Unfortunately Amber cannot proceed as fast as she wants to, but still tries her best.

>>165897
I decided to just press buttons on the keypad without looking at it to see what autocorrect came up with. The result was “Concubine”.”

As there are many possible outcomes, I think it’s appropriate for Amber to have a luck roll

>>165899
Amber continues through the forest undergrowth, running over the first fallen leaves of autumn and under a canopy beginning to thin and show holes. The sky is dark, as night will be coming soon, and the trees cast long shadows that almost make it hard to see. Amber does not see her friends. She does not see any other structures, or any meadows or pastures. But she doesn't see the police either.

>>165900
Although in normal times this would be enough to give her pause, she continues on. She starts making her way to the right, closer to where her friends are. But whether she sees them or not, she doesn't stop.

>>165901
Amber moves right, taking a detour, and eventually comes across a road. Though unpaved, it's well traversed, with little vegatation growing down its center

>>165902
Amber does not take the road itself but proceeds down its edge, behind the vegetation. Before she does so she looks up the road to see if her friends are behind.

>>165903
Amber hears someone behind her, flying above

>>165905
Amber quickly ducks in the shadow of a bush or tree, trying to stay hidden. [1d20+2 = (17+2) = 19]

>>165906
Amber ducks into the bushes. Two griffins fly above, or seem to, and are followed by an unmarked black car with several serious looking well-dressed griffins with hats.

>>165907
The Inquisition! It's obvious that they will be waiting later down the road and it's unwise to proceed. When they pass by Amber goes away from the road and into the forest.

>>165908
Amber goes deeper into the forest, a forest that slowly grows darker, not from the claustrophobia of oak trees, but from the fading light of the sun.

Amber comes across a small clearing with what appears to be a cabin.

>>165909
She cautiously walks up to the cabin and looks at it closely.

>>165910
Small, presumably not intended to be a homestead, and adjacent to a shed. There are several windows

>>165911
A hermit of some sort probably lives here. Against her better judgement Amber knocks on the door.

>>165912
No response.

>>165913
She tries the doorknob to enter.

>>165914
From the side of the cabin:
"Oh good. It's you."
Amber sees Federklied holding her pistol by the left side of the cabin.

The cabin door opens, and Amber sees Erich through the crack of the door.

>>165915
"You made it! That's a relief. They went down the road and passed me, but are likely to double back. Do you know whose cabin this is? If I found it so easily they will too."

>>165916
Erich answers, opens the door, and motions for Amber to enter. Federklied moves in quickly behind Amber. Inside the cabin is a bed, a fireplace/stove combination, a chair, and a couple other items of furniture, but not much else.

"Must be for some landowner who has their main house elsewhere. They are not here now."

>>165917
Amber enters and sits down. "We can rest here a minute, I suppose. Where is Helder?"

>>165918
"Over there in the corner." Federklied replies, walking in. Begrudglingly, Erich says,
"He got the bed first..."
Moving deeper into the room, Amber can see Helder laying in the bed with the blanket over him.

Against all odds, Amber sees her viol leaning against the wall, next to the bed.

>>165919
Amber gratefully picks up the viol, grateful it was not left behind. "You think this is a safe place to stay?" she asks Federkleid. "I saw some of them in the air, and this cabin is in a clearing."

>>165920
"I wouldn't bet on it. Helder wants to leave in the night."
Erich, grumpily:
"Which of course is why he took the bed first. So he'll be the only one."

>>165921
"He has the best opinion on this matter. Rest up, we'll have to leave whether we are ready or not."

>>165922
“We’ll have to cut through the swamps, and to the river. We’ll still pretty far away. We’ll need to keep up the pace.”

>>165923
"Yes," she replies grimly as she tries to relax, perhaps being lucky enough to sleep.

>>165924
Amber can sit and wait, attempt to sleep, or urge them to leave by nightfall

>>165925
Amber attempts to sleep. Though perhaps they should carry on, they have been on the run all day and would surely collapse if they do not rest.

>>165926
Amber doesn't get to lay down in the bed - that is taken by Helder - or in the chair - Erich and Federklied fight over that, with Erich winning out. But she does get to sit up against the bed, and briefly doze off. She is awakened by Federklied some indeterminate time after nightfall, but after not enough sleep.

"We need to go."

>>165927
Amber nods silently and carefully carries her viol. She looks to make sure the others are ready.

>>165928
Helder requires a jolt to wake up, looking startled and disappointed to find himself not in his bed. Erich wakes up quickly, but seems to be annoyed that he has to leave now. They are ready

>>165929
Amber leads them out of the cabin onto their way. "We're headed north, but stay as quiet as you can. They will be on the road but even in the woods they might be listening."

>>165930
The griffins walk out a back door, and past the wooden shed, and then carefully move over a barbed wire fence into a set of forest.

Helder nods. Then he says, "It's quicker to follow cattle trails and roads as much as possible, but even these lands are not without griffins. We'll move through the forest as necessary. Quickly. If it takes us too long, they can alert the police in Bronze Hill."

>>165931
Amber goes along. "I just hope it is possible to get through Bronze Hill before they do so."

>>165932
The group walks north, through forest floors that become increasingly damp, then to a barbed wire fence, then across a field which is within line of sight to a house, then to another barbed wire fence and a trail

>>165933
Barbed wire fences are oddly common here. When they reach the trail they follow it north, splitting off from it if it does not lead that way.

>>165934
Helder
"These farms and pastures are new here. Cleared only a few decades ago. Most of this land is still wild. We'll have to go through it to get to the Griffking."

They enter onto a simple trail flanked by tall trees, and elevated somewhat above the surrounding forests. This trail ends near a house, and converges with a road.

>>165937
Amber decides not to approach the house, or get seen by its inhabitants, nor brave the openness of the road. Instead, going through the woods is better.

>>165938
Amber steps off of the elevated trail and onto the forest floor to find it is not solid and leaf covered like the broad-leafed forest Amber traversed before, but damp, moss-covered, and slowly giving way to Amber's claws.

>>165939
It will not be as easy trekking. They'll need to watch their steps.

Soon

>>166029
B-BatPurple

>>166029
Soon?

>>165799
Yes. Silver sees a bank of several televisions playing broadcasts, along with a large control panel, and black tables with several reels of film.

>>165940
Amber goes further and further, but the night drags on. Amber's claws drag on too, as the ground goes from damp to outright covered in water. Eventually, the terrain is more or less impassible, becoming sunken forest.

>>166070
Oh, televisions! This is the first time Silver has gotten to see so much television broadcasting. What are they playing?

>>166071
This is an unfortunate development, and Amber becomes worried that, despite the assurances of her friends, it will be impossible to traverse anywhere in the direction they need to go. Nonetheless, the party turns right and skirts the edge of this impassible terrain.

Just a little post to show this isn't abandoned. I'll continue the story sometime soon, when I am less busy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsM_VmN6ytk

>>166197
It's ok fren, take all the time you need!

>>166072
Several of them are playing clips.

The first clip Silver notices is on the far left. This must be a live broadcast, because the quality of the image is poor, regularly covered in 'snow,' or breaking up in static. All the same, Silver can make out tremendous detail as the camera pans across what seems to be a group of soldiers standing in a trench. The trench itself is well built, with concrete walls and a wooden cover above. The soldiers are packed against the wall in a dense line, most standing, some sitting, and many at various angles to the wall, but by and large facing the camera. There's something decidedly unnatural about their appearance. Whereas the soldiers of yesteryear were noble born stallions who stood straight and firmly in amber clad armor that accentuated and never covered their legs, horns, and wings, the row of conscripts staring back at the camera wear gas masks with large dual filters and rubber covered goggles that give them an almost insect-like appearance. Their heads are sheathed in thick steel helmets that bend out and cover the back of their necks, do not allow the ears to poke through, and only begrudgingly admit of the few unicorn horns. Their backs and sides are covered in what must be several inches of thick nylon. Nylon pads cover their legs, and no wings can be seen, though several bulky outfits attest to hidden appendages. They carry big heavy sacks on their backs, although half at least have taken these packs off and placed them beside or in front of them. Most carry Jenny battle rifles, some pointed up, some on the side, and some let their rifle point carelessly whichever way, even directly at the camera. But most let it simply slump down on the sling or have taken it off and lean it against the concrete wall. Through these cocoons of rubber, nylon and steel, there is a glimpse of the ponies beneath. Hindquarters press firmly against the concrete walls and back against the edges, tails bend in between their legs, and iris in every shade of grey peer back at the camera. They are ponies, after all.

The camera moves further along the trench, before cutting to a pair of ponies with large steel cylinders on their backs, and even thicker goggles and jackets. They carry thin, pointed devices linked by rubber hoses to their backs. And though Silver knows what these are, the narrator explains. These shock troops will help to clear out the webwork of Changeling tunnels once they get there. The camera cuts again, to show a perspective beyond the trench of the yet to be liberated Equestria. Only the tops of trees and distant foothills can be distinguished in the grainy image, beneath a gray and black sky. Small objects trailing dark gray smoke fall down at angles as the footage plays.

Moving over to the next screen, Silver sees what seems to be an earth pony mare and her foals. The angle of the shot allows only the edges of bushes and a paved road to be visible at the bottom of the screen, instead focusing the image almost entirely on a clear blue sky and the ponies within. A mare moves forward, dragging a large bag. She wears a rather nice semi-formal dress that must be green with a band around her middle. Her tail is long, and like her mane, kept up with a tie. Her coat is a soft color, perhaps pink. One, two, three foals of varying sizes follow her. The smallest one stops for a moment, looking back, and the mare in turn stops, sets her bag down, goes back towards the smallest foal, and with a hoof drags him forward, before using the same hoof to pick up her bag and start walking again. What makes the scene different is that every pony in it is wearing a mask - a large, black rubber mask held on the head with a cloth band, with thick goggles that completely obscures the face and muzzle and capped at the end with a pair of short green cylindrical cartridges. The large, rounded ears stand out from the almost insect-like face. The narrator states: "Precautionary evacuations of major urban centers continue."

The next screen is likewise seen for only a few seconds, and is even grainer, with static appearing almost like snow. The camera's perspective is from a road on a small hill, with a few houses of an architectural style Silver knew in his youth below in the foreground. In the distance, Silver sees a cityscape of low buildings, powerlines, smokestacks, and the tops of church steeples that he finds a little too familiar. Much of what is visible is on fire, or at least spewing black smoke, and most of the cityscape is obscured by a black cloud that now consumes the sky. This black cloud rises into the sky with a mushroom shape, with a base and a top almost as wide the city itself. The narrator sorrowfully tells, "Coltsyn has fallen to an infiltrator's attack."

On another screen, briefly, Silver sees another, grainier image. Looking across a bay and beneath rock-capped, tree covered foothills, Silver can see a city of low, foreign-looking, tall-roofed buildings, many ruined, collapsed, or washed away with receding water. In the gloomy skies, Silver can see dots falling with black tails, and thick dust rising in the distance.

Still another screen shows a pony in a white-walled room using magic to insert a pair of glass spheres in an odd container into an opened side of what seems to be a large rocket. This pony wears not only the now expected mask, but thicker goggles, and is completely covered in a thick, presumably rubber suit. Even the horn and tail are covered by rubber.

The narrator explains that this little pony is inserting sarin precursors into a home guard artillery rocket. Sarin, you see, must be stored as its precursors, lest it decay. That the minotaurs of the Asterionese Republic would betray their benefactors in this time of weakness is disappointing, to be sure, but nothing the Republic has not prepared for. Over a hundred thousand tons of Sarin nerve gas were manufactured and distributed, including to the garrison in the Griffonian territories.

>>166293
Feels like it's been an eternity, but we're back!

Silver has to physically stop, the neverending flow of sights, sounds, and information giving him a brief sense of sensory overload. Each image adds to the tragedy that is playing out before him, in this time. Even compared to the Great War...this is too much. The armor those soldiers are wearing, while no doubt effective, make them look more like machines of war than they ever did before, and the image of the mare fleeing with her foals causes him to hope that his own wife and foals have made it safely out of the city. But most of all, seeing Coltsyn, the heart of the Motherland with its ancient name restored, on fire does more to break his heart than even hearing that Canterlot was destroyed. All of that history, his people's history, wiped out in such a short time...

He registers the story on the missiles, not really knowing what this "Sarin" is except that nerve gas sounds like a particularly bad way to die. A sense that the world is coming to an end lingers in the back of his mind.

He has a mission to complete, however, and as he is untrained in how to control the bank of televisions, he returns to the hallway and continues onwards clearing the floor.

>>166301
But in the moments before he leaves, one last lonely screen, located on a desk by the entrance opposite the main bank of screens, plays its broadcast to an audience that by now must surely be occupied with more important matters.

The screen shows what must be a street view of a pair of Homeguard soldiers standing next to a truck, pointing machine carbines at a pair of ponies, one of whom lays prostrate on the street, while the other kneels with his forehooves in the air, looking up at his captors. But this image is not viewed for even a second.

The image cuts away to show a black screen with the flags and symbols Silver saw before on the television at his ocean-side house. Music plays, and a voice proclaims, "An important message from the Office of the First Consul." The image cuts a rather clear visual of a now familiar office, with flags in the back, a desk in the foreground that is largely cut off by the close angle of the camera, and a young, light-colored mare in the middle. She is leaned back in a chair, turned slightly on her side and facing the camera. She leans forward toward the camera and places her hooves on the desk.

"Hello ponies" she says, with serious eyes and a voice that does not sound pleased. "Our diplomatic sources have confirmed what we thought at first must be a Changeling trick. The Griffonian Empire has issued a formal Declaration of war against our United Pony Republics, and her Sister Republics. Thousands of their troops have crossed over the borders into the Falcor and Puimont Republics. Revolts have broken out in these and other areas, though whether these revolts are the fifth column of some malign Imperial design, or the coincidental products of a perfidious griffin nature, is not known."

She moves back in her chair, and stares at the camera with a serious expression and focused eyes. Then she places each forehoof on the arm of her chair and leans back. She smiles, though the angry expressions of her face suggest the smile is not intended to make light of a serious situation.

"Did the griffins think that because our ground forces were elsewhere, that we were defenseless against their attacks? Did they think us unprepared? Did their limited minds not comprehend that we can strike them in other ways?" She moves in her chair again, back over her desk. She drops the smile and has a blank, unpleased expression. "For centuries, Equestrians left the Griffonian Empire in peace, even as they ravaged, stole from, and oppressed our kinfolk. We have always pursued a policy of peace and cooperation. And now in this defining hour of our young republic, they have revealed to us who they really are. Who they always have been, and always shall be. Peaceful coexistence is not possible."

She pauses, and looks over to her left, turning her head. Silver can see the freckles under her right eye. A smile slowly builds across her face. "Heh heh heh heh" she laughs, and neither the smile nor the laughter seem reflective of any lightening in her disposition. She looks back at the camera with wide smile showing her bright white rows of teeth, and purposeful eyes. Both hooves are planted firmly on the table. She speaks in a softer tone,

"For centuries, Comet Giotto was viewed by the superstitious Griffins of their Empire as a portent of doom, foretelling personal calamity, or national catastrophe, as it made its pass across the sky above. Well, my little ponies, as Comet Giotto makes its final pass through their skies this afternoon, the Empire will find out just how prescient their ancestors were."

A short pause, and she leans back yet again. "Heh heh heh heh. Our crusade continues unabated. We shall have unity, or else death. Justice shall be done, may the heavens fall. Long live the Republic."

The feed cuts off, showing the symbols again. No music plays.

>>166303
This sudden announcement makes Silver pause. It makes sense to him, after all: the Hegemony and the Empire were allies for far longer than either of them were allies to New Mareland or these 'Republics'. Of course they would join together in this war. Those final statements by the First Consul, however, send a chill up Silver's spine. To him, it sounds like she fully intends to bring about the end of the world, in the name of victory. He finds himself longing for the days when the only things he thought could do that were long-gone mythical creatures like Windigoes.

He tells himself to focus on the task at hoof, and continue clearing the building of hostiles.

>>166304
Silver sees Spectral Streak walk up behind him within his peripheral vision, followed shortly by the Salmon stallion.

"Alright, this part of the floor is cleared. That just leaves the far end."

>>166310
Silver looks back at the two stallions, then at Spec directly.

"What are your siblings' names?"

>>166311
He looks back at Silver and pauses for a moment, though only very briefly.

"White Light, Silver Rain" looking away "Brown Birch, White Orchid, Mint Marine, Powder Flash. I forget the little one... Daffodil. And my mother?"

>>166312
"Storm Warning." He looks to the salmon stallion. "Neither of you left the other's sight?"

>>166313
The salmon stallion replies

"Not really, no."

>>166314
"Good." He addresses the both of them now. "Let us go to next floor then, together. It is possible more survivors may be found."

>>166315
Spectral Streak nods and moves his rifle to a low-ready position. Does Silver know precisely, where he will go?

>>166316
Silver is going to retrace his steps back towards the central stairwell to get to the next floor. Presumably as they work their way carefully back towards the stairwell, he relays the major points of information he learned from the bank of televisions.

"Coltsyn got firebombed, badly, and Griffonian Empire has joined war on side of Hegemony. It is officially worse than Great War."

>>166317
Spectral Streak:
"What, those bastards! We can't kill enough of them, I swear."

Salmon pony:
"Who's winning?"

Silver thinks he hears a voice somewhere from behind, though who can tell? The walls are littered with bullet holes, as they pass the few insectoid corpses they left before.

[1d20+3 = (13+3) = 16]
>>166318
Listen: Silver stops in his tracks, motioning for the others to halt as he listens carefully.

>>166319
Nothing. And then, brief, subdued talking. Most likely ponish language. From behind. Then silence.

>>166320
Silver keeps his Jenny at the ready as he addresses the source of the sounds.

"Baltimare Home Guard. Identify yourselves."

>>166321
Is Silver brandishing a Jenny, or a Grim?

Silver looks down the hallway to see... a left turn in the hallway. There is no reply

>>166322
Hmm...he probably should brandish the Grim, since he actually has the ammo for it. He carefully moves towards the hallway on the left.

>>166323
Down this wide, black hallway, there are windows on the right, and two open doors on the left, equally spaced from the respective ends

>>166324
Silver checks the first open door on the left.

"Hello?"

Silver sees that the whole area is one massive room, with a ceiling extending high up to the floor above, and going back perhaps some forty or fifty feet. In the center and on the far side is a couple desks on a raised wooden platform. Surely these desks must move. With lights hanging above him, black walls, and massive devices that must be cameras aimed towards the platform, this must be a stage. Above the stage is are windows on the second floor, and on the stage stand three ponies, all wearing the green uniforms and khaki pants of the homeguard. One, a white(ish) unicorn in the center holds a Jenny battle rifle, a pony to the left carries an Great War era New Mareland submachine gun, and a pony to the right carries a bolt action rifle of an older Equestrian type, either from before the Great War, its first year, or a New Mareland model. And though they hide partly behind the platform, Silver can see that there is more than one other pony cowering behind, including an orange mare.

"Halt!" the off-white pony demands. "Identify yourself!"

>>166326
Silver takes a quick stock of the situation, realizing that the distribution, number, and demeanor of the ponies in this room heavily suggests survivors. He lowers the barrel of the Grim, and replies.

"Silver Sword, Baltimare Home Guard."

>>166327
"And how do we know you are not with the attacking Changelings?"

>>166328
"I will submit myself to flashlight test if you do not believe me."

>>166329
"Where are your comrades?" He asks

>>166330
"They should be just behind me."

Silver looks to make sure.

>>166331
Sort of. They are next to him against the wall. Out of line of sight of the ponies on the stage

>>166332
Silver nods, then looks back to the ponies fortified in the large room.

"Permission to enter, unarmed?"

>>166333
"Sure" He says

>>166334
Silver removes his weapons, giving them to his comrades in arms before entering the large room. The first thing he does is get a better perspective on the situation here.

>>166335
Spectral Streak takes the Grim, and hooves it over to the Salmon stallion.

Silver can see the three of them are standing around about the center of the stage. The one in the center points his rifle at Silver, while the other two focus on the respective doors. Silver can see that there are one, two, three, four ponies on the floor behind the stage, trying to use the desk and the stage itself to hide. A green unicorn stallion looks up and over towards Silver, as does a blue-berry pegasus mare, who peaks at Silver through an opening in her wings.

>>166336
It's never good having a barrel pointed towards you, but considering the circumstances he can't really blame these ponies. Silver addresses the off-white pony, assuming he's the de facto leader of this group of survivors.

"We saw some carnage on our way through building, I am glad to see more survivors. What happened?"

>>166337
"Infiltrators attacked, we retreated here." He answers curtly, and evidently unpersuaded

>>166338
"Again, if you have flashlight I will gladly submit myself to flashlight test."

>>166339
“Don’t come any closer. Now are those you came with?” He replies

>>166342
Silver nods.

"They are ponies I came into building with. We have been regularly checking to ensure no replacement."

>>166345
He has his rifle leveled and pointed directly at Silver, holding it up to his left side, and looking down at Silver though the optic. If Silver looked to either of the two other armed ponies, he'd see that they have their rifles leveled in the direction of the open doors.

He speaks to Silver
"So you've said, but I have civilians here, and to protect them, I need to actually see everyone who is up here. Not let us get distracted while they get the jump on us."

>>166353
Silver looks directly at the pony in front of him, staring him down directly through the other side of the scope. He clearly looks tired of the welcome he's been getting from these ponies.

"I have killed many Infiltrators today, stopped oil depot from exploding, lost my weight in blood after being peppered with changeling bullets, and even found three other survivors in this building before finding you. I came in here, unarmed, calm as can be despite being in sights of three armed gunponies, which would be very odd if I was Infiltrator trying to not get killed so I could complete my objective. I appreciate vigilance, but if you will not believe I am who I say I am and will not test me to see I am not changeling, then you had better just shoot me now."

>>166354
He blinks, and then takes his right hoof to motion to Silver to move to the side. He yells out "Alright, come out where I can see you" evidently not at Silver.

Silver thinks he sees Spectral Streak poke his head in, and then move his head back out of line of sight again.

>>166355
Silver moves to the side a bit, looking back at Spec before turning again to look at the leader of these ponies.

"One of my team who came with me. Seriously, however, you can not stay here forever. I do not suppose you have been listening in to reports coming over radio?"

>>166358
The lead pony looks past Silver.

"Alright, you don't want to come out? Well I've got your friend here. And three civilians. If you want to walk away, show yourselves, and put down your arms."

He resumes pointing his Jenny rifle firmly at Silver, though tending to glace to the right doorway.

>>166360
Silver frowns at that statement.

"...you three are changelings, are you not?"

He ignores Silver, or seems to.

"We are not fooling around here! Come out! Now!"

>>166363
With a groan, Silver shouts out to the three gun'ponies', "ПРОСТО ПРИСТРЕЛИ МЕНЯ УЖЕ, СЛАДКАЯ ВЕЧНО ЛЮБЯЩАЯ СЕЛЕСТИЯ!"

>>166364
This startles them. Now, all three are pointing their guns at him.

[1d20 = 3]

>>166365
Silver just keeps on staring them down and shouting angrily at them in his native Cyrillic tongue.

"Я БЕЗ ВООРУЖЕН И ОКРУЖЕН, НЕ ВАЖНО, ПОНИ ИЛИ ПОДМЕНИМКИ, ТЫ ГЛУП, ЧТО В МЕНЯ НЕ ПРИСТРЕЛ!"

>>166366
All three ponies stare at Silver. The lead pony fires a single shot with a Bang at Silver.

[1d20+3 = (20+3) = 23]

The ejected cartridge hits his face immediately, and he flinches.

>>166367
>>166366
But it hits

[2d7 = 7]

[1d20+3 = (6+3) = 9]

>>166366
>>166368
Now, both of Silver's commrades enter the fray

[1d20+6 = (2+6) = 8]
[1d20+6 = (3+6) = 9]
[1d20+6 = (11+6) = 17]
[1d20+6 = (8+6) = 14]

[1d20+3 = (2+3) = 5]
[1d20+3 = (15+3) = 18]

>>166366
>>166370
The lead pony is shot twice, and stumbles. The pony with the submachine gun is hit, but remains standing. The third pony, with the bolt action rifle, manages to turn and shoot.

[1d30+4 = (14+4) = 18]

>>166371
>>166370
>>166366
He shoots the Salmon pony
[2d8 = 9]

>>166368
"ЧЕРТ ПОБЕРИ!"

Silver attempts to run back towards his companions.

>>166373
The pony with the Submachine gun is hit, but turns towards the Salmon pony, and fires

[1d20 = 1]
[1d20 = 6]
[1d20 = 15]
[1d20 = 14]
[1d20 = 1]
[1d20 = 3]

>>166374
He hits twice
[4d6 = 19]

>>166375
>>166373
Silver hears a high pitched whine that sounds like a crying child, and the Salmon pony falls down.

Spectral Streak turns to the submachine gun pony, and fires four rounds in rapid succession

[1d20+6 = (9+6) = 15]
[1d20+6 = (7+6) = 13]
[1d20+6 = (10+6) = 16]
[1d20+6 = (13+6) = 19]

>>166377
>>166376
>>166373
Blue blood bursts out of the submachine pony as with a burst of green light, it turns into a changeling drone before it falls back and hits the ground.

But Spectral Streak opened himself up to fire from the rifle drone
[1d20+4 = (4+4) = 8]

>>166378
>>166376
Who misses

Silver is able to retreat to cover relatively easily, as it seems everyone is distracted

>>166379
Silver checks on the salmon pony as a top priority

>>166380
The Salmon pony is still exposed in the open. He's alive, but that's about the extent of the good news. His chest is pierced, and he is bleeding internally.

>>166381
Silver's first task is to drag him back behind cover, and stabilize him.

>>166382
Silver pulls him back, but Spectral Streak is still in the fight. He fires at the rifle pony

[1d20+6 = (15+6) = 21]
[1d20+6 = (6+6) = 12]
[1d20+6 = (12+6) = 18]
[1d20+6 = (19+6) = 25]

>>166384
>>166383
>>166382
The rifle pony is downed

Silver will need a medical roll to attempt to stabilize the Salmon pony

>>166386
The Salmon pony is still bleeding, and badly

[1d20+4 = (18+4) = 22]
>>166387
"Dammit! Stay with us!"

>>166388
With added pressure on the barrel, Silver thinks he's achieved something. He still makes pained whines, and labored breaths.

Spectral Streak comes up to Silver.

"Are you okay?"

And from behind, a shot
[1d20+3 = (14+3) = 17]

>>166389
>>166388
And Spectral Streak is shot
[2d7 = 7]

>>166389
>>166390
Silver physically pulls Spec into cover.

"Forget me, you are one getting shot so much! Hoof over my gun!"

>>166391
“Ah!” Silver can see that the shot to Streak came from behind, and hit him lower on the barrel, around the belly.

“Ah!” He breathes out, and with a hoof, slides over the Grim. Silver presumably has a Jenny on a sling over his back.

>>166392
From behind...is there a changeling directly in view of them?

>>166393
There was, where Streak was standing in the doorway. Bug now he’s to the side of the doorway along with Silver, out of line of sight from the room.

>>166394
Spec got hurt bad, but how badly is he hurt? Is he still standing or is he as bad as the salmon stallion right now?

>>166395
He's in clear pain, but is still able to move around.

>>166396
Silver places himself between his comrades and the attacking changelings, keeping his Grim ready. He peaks the doorway for sight of the changelings.

>>166397
Silver can look over to see the "pony" formerly on the left is lying on its back, dead, the pony on the right has collapsed on its belly, evidently dead, but the pony in the center is on its belly, still trying to grasp a Jenny rifle. It has lost its disguise and can pull itself forward only with its right foreleg. Behind, a light yellow pegasus stallion is poking its head up.

>>166398
Silver comes out, aiming the Grim directly at the still living changeling. He shouts at him.

"Drop your gun and surrender!"

>>166400
Hmmm... roll intimidate

>>166402
The creature curls its lips back, and raises the rifle, firing a shot while holding it with its non-dominant leg.

[1d20 = 6]

>>166402
>>166403
Missing, naturally

[1d20+10 = (14+10) = 24]
>>166404
Perhaps for that fleeting moment in between him pulling the trigger on his Jenny and the sound of Silver's Grim going off, the changeling regrets his choices up to that point. It is a very brief moment, however, before the BANG of the Grim cuts him off.

>>166405
Ching

It's almost difficult to manage a single shot on the Grim. Almost. The shot lands somewhere around the base of the head. The creatures head slumps down, and its magic aura and foreleg let go of the jenny rifle.

>>166406
"Auf Wiedersehen, Dummkopf."

Silver looks up towards the pegasus who was peaking out.

"Is everypony okay?"

>>166407
Clearly frighten, he answers

"Uh, yes. I think so. You're ponies?"

>>166408
Silver nods.

"We are. Sorry it took so long to figure out they were not. Stay where you are for just one moment, I need to check on my comrades."

>>166409
"Uh, okay" He answers, hiding behind a chair behind the stage

>>166410
Silver returns to Spec and the salmon stallion, pulling out their first aid supplies.

"Hold still, let me patch you two up."

>>166411
Both are lined up by the wall. It looks like all three ponies will need treatment. The salmon stallion seems barely conscious, but Spectral Streak presses his teeth together, and waits for Silver to help.

>>166432
Spec will have to hold on for just a moment longer, as the salmon stallion's more grievous injuries take priority. What can be done to him with the supplies they have left?

>>166433
Silver could try to find and remove the bullets, although it may be safe to let them linger for the moment. He has already stopped the bleeding. The salmon stallion is in most dire need of the magical coagulant, which unfortunately is in the shortest supply.

>>166434
Silver looks back at Spec.

"He needs that coagulant stuff..."

>>166435
He breathes out. “So do you. Give him some.”

>>166436
"I will be fine, it is you two I am more worried about."

He still nods at Spec, and gives the salmon stallion a dose of the coagulant.

>>166437
His breathing improves. He - and Silver, and Spectral Streak - needs bandaging and pain killers, and presumably plasma and blood later.

>>166438
While the bullets do need to be removed from the salmon stallion, they'll be fine left inside for the moment. For now, Silver focuses on just bandaging them up and giving them painkillers, starting with the salmon stallion, then going onto Spec, and then himself if any are left.

>>166439
Silver feels a surge of energy as the painkillers hit him. Spectral Streak gets back up, and then slowly, the Salmon stallion. Silver feels tired, as if carried entirely by stimulants. Large portions of his body feel numb where he knows intuitively he should feel pain. His heart beats quickly, yet it doesn't move much blood. But he doesn't feel like he is in a daze. The world around him feels all too real. All three stallions are ready to proceed.

>>166440
"Okay, for love of Celestia, do not get shot anymore you two."

Silver goes back into the room with the survivors.

"How many of you are there?"

>>166441
The yellow pegasus stallion stands up, and looks over, followed by a rust-colored earth pony stallion, and the orange unicorn mare. The Pegasus and the Unicorn are noticeably well dressed, although the blue sweater worn by the rust-colored stallion is not far behind.

>>166442
"Right. We are with Home Guard, and we were sent here to clear building of hostiles and rescue any captives. There may still be changelings left in what parts of building we have yet to clear, so I advise that you stay here and stay hidden until we can verify there are no more hostiles, then we will call for evac and get you out of here. Understood?"

>>166443
He's standing up fully.

"Uh, yes. Thank goodness. They had us convinced that they were Home Guard. Heh" he says, looking nervous. "We'll wait"

>>166444
Silver nods at him.

"They had me convinced, as well. That is reason you always perform flashlight test. Wish us luck, we should be back before long to pick and other survivors up."

Silver keeps his Grim handy as he, Spec, and the salmon stallion resume their sweep of the building, likely at a slower pace to accommodate how injured the salmon stallion is.

>>166445
(It should be noted that the deceased changeling has a Jenny and ammunition for it)

>>166449
Hmm...how much ammunition?

>>166450
Two magazines, plus the magazine in the rifle

>>166451
Silver definitely swipes all three mags before he goes, replacing the mag he has in his Jenny.

>>166452
Silver now has a full set in his rifle. Spectral Streak, limping ever so slightly, stays near the door well. But as Silver investigates the weapons left behind by the drone leader, Spectral Streak ventures further into the studio, moving over to the corpse of the drone on the far right, inspecting and then taking the bolt action rifle. The earth pony stallion starts to walk towards Spectral Streak, and then towards Silver and the door after Spectral Streak does not acknowledge him but moves towards the door.

"What do we do now?" He asks Spectral Streak, and Spectral Streak looks back to him only momentarily before placing the sling of the rifle over his shoulder, facing his head forward, and speaking as he walks towards the door.

"You heard him. Stay put for now."

The mare and the Pegasus are both standing, with the mare taking a moment to breath. The yellow pegasus tries to address Silver, or maybe it's Spectral Streak, saying

"Thank you, by the way. Can I get your name? We'll definitely want to tell this story when this is all over."

The salmon stallion cautiously pokes his head through the doorway to speak to Spectral Streak, who is limping as he walks along the wall to the doorway.
"We still don't know where-"

A loud crash, and the thunder of the second most evil sound of gunfire Silver has ever heard:
CHACHACHACHACHACHACHACHA

In a moment, Silver hears the sound of glass breaking, he sees bullet holes appearing immediately above the lowered shoulders of the limping Spectral Streak, the Salmon Stallion moving behind the wall and raising his rifle, clouds of drywall in the hallway on the other side of Spectral Streak, Spectral Streak diving down and towards the door, and the yellow stallion falling.

From the second floor above the recording studio, one of the windows that line the wall breaks.

[1d20+6 = (14+6) = 20]
[1d20+6 = (19+6) = 25]
[1d20+6 = (3+6) = 9]
[1d20+6 = (19+6) = 25]
>>166454
"SHIT!"

Silver turns his sights upwards and fires a burst from his freshly-loaded Jenny into the second floor window.

>>166458
In the dark of the window, Silver can see a dark silhouette holding what seems to be a rifle. With a quick Bang Bang Bang Bang in rapid succession, the silhouette recedes from view. In the next tense moments, Silver expects a reply. But none comes. The room above the studio, illuminated by dim blue lights, is silent, and no motion is visible through the window from this angle. More glass shatters as it falls to the floor. The yellow pegasus starts to get up. Silver may believe at first that his fall was caused by a bullet strike, but he appears unharmed. Spectral Streak, having dived to the ground behind the wall outside the doorway, peaks back in in prone position, holding his rifle. The salmon stallion, not peaking in, but speaking behind cover, laying next to Streak, says
"Well... at least we found their machine gun."

>>166460
Silver calls out to the room, "Is everypony okay?"

>>166461
Earth pony:
"What was that?"

Yellow pegasus:
"I'm okay..."

Mare:
"Are there more?"

Spectral Streak:
"Almost got me. Keep your eyes up."

>>166462
"That could have been bad...maybe this room is not best place to stay hidden, yes?"

>>166463
Spectral Streak: “It’s not hidden at all. There could be more up there.”

>>166464
"Okay...change of plans. We will put these three and other captive I rescued in another room. I know of one that will be suitable." He looks to the yellow pegasus, the earth pony, and the mare. "You three are coming with us."