Fallout Equestria Destinys Zerodawn
Sea Of Stars And Discovery
Ray Of Hope Part 2
Mount Artemis a craggy monolith of stone going thousands of feet into the sky as I made a second pass around the mountain as Kat callout out “there it is 7 o-clock low” she says pointing at a view screen at a large meadow with a stand of tree’s butting up to the rock of the mountain there was even a creek leading to a big pond with what looked to be a fountain in the middle it also looked to be just the right size to swim in
Bringing the Twilights Wing in for a soft landing a the struts touchdown as the others started to unbuckle their belts as I started to shutting thing’s down after that was done I got up just as I was passing the com’s station “hello Twilights Wing can you hear me?” came a voice picking up the head set “this is The Twilights Wing who is this?” I ask as the voice came back “oh good I found you guys I will tell you everything once I land Gaspar is not a fan of the cross winds up here I will be coming in from the west” came the voice before cutting out rushing outside “hay everyone I think we have company coming someone on the radio well two someone’s” I say as Milo looks up as he sinks a pole into the ground “who’s coming Belle?” he asked “I think it’s two of them a copilot and some pilot named Gaspar” I say as a big smile came to Milo’s face “oh ho the major told me he was sending us some help didn’t think he was going to send her to help” he says as my eye brow go up “um…Milo the voice on the radio sounded male to me not female” I say as Milo chuckles “hehe just wait till they get here Belle”
After about three minutes the sound of a prop engine coming from the west grabbing my macro binoculars and bringing them to my eyes I scanned the sky till a spotted…….it?.....was that a ball? My eyes beheld what looked like a big gray ball what looked to be a sleek looking pointed front end of a prop sky craft in a the same color as the ball the craft got closer and closer ready to land I noted that they did not have much room for a rolling type stop but to my surprise right before touching down the pilot pulled up hard and landed on the short legs of their Mobil Robot and stood there for a moment before leaning forward so the wheels touched down before pulling free of the flight unit
The robot looked impressive the main body was a dark gray almost black the arms were long like Milo’s but ended in rounded three fingered hand units was almost flat but was rounded as well two gold eyes looked out before the cockpit blister opened as a long metal container slid off the lower back of the robot as a figure stood up they were wearing a blue and white flight suit and matching helmet the figure sees us and jumps down landing on their feet before standing up “you must be Belle I’m Ralsei” they say as I blink “wait are you the same Ralsei from mayor Dale’s office?” I ask as they nod and take there helmet off a pair of gray glasses on his muzzle
That night we sat around the camp fire after a very tasty meal made by Ralsei and Kat as Milo came and joined us “okay everyone bath is almost ready water is heating up” he says as the girls smile and look at Milo and I as Lanolin chuckles “so you boys going to join the rest of the girls?” she says as we all get up heaven was the only thing that came to mind the water was perfect and the friends to enjoy it with were plentiful chatter was flowing freely I see Ralsei reach over the rim of the pool turned bath and she was now holding a pink bottle with six glasses and giggles “hehe say anyone feel like some wine?” she says I smiled as I helped pass out the glasses during dinner I had found out that Ralsei was trans and liked to be referred to as a girl the pop of the cork snapped me back realty as Kat pored the pink colored wine into the glasses and passed them around as Ralsei stands up in the pool “I propose a toast to good friends good food and good bathes with friends” she says as we all took a long sip of wine
One week later “okay Milo on three one……two….Three!!!!!!” I say as Milo and I heaved on a bar with all our might the two of us had been working on this odd looking tower up at the site for the better part of four days chipping away at some kind of iridescent blue stone but as we worked on it turned out it was some kind a solidified mana stone Ralsei had made this discovery in her research tent soaking a shard of the stone in water had turned the water into pure raw mana after that Nicole and Lanolin had suggested that we save the stone that it would sell very well back in the city
With one last heavy heave the last of the stone gave way falling to the ground as Milo and I sit panting hard looking up at our handy work a large chunk of mana stone sate close by it had to be the size of the hood of a car but that was not what held my gaze just passed the chunk of stone was a door into the tower but I did not see a handle “okay lets see” Nicole says hand held computer out and scanning the door
After a few moments Nicole giggles “hehe okay that was easy” she says looking back at Milo and me “looks like this tower has some kind of magic based lock system very old fashion but effective and…….were in” she says as the door opens and slides to the side the smell of old air wafts out as we enter the tower the bottom floor was large lobby with a wall set was a long shelf like counter with small windows covered with blinds that said closed what looked to be an elevator set in the back next to a stair case as we went up I found an office with what looked to be an active terminal turning it on I was surprised to see the same symbol as on the book a pair of angel wings with a star in the middle but this one had a skull under the star with the words “Grand Station Aincrad” just under that “oh my so I was right” came Ralsei’s voice from right behind me ah dame it she moves like a ghost I though as I looked back at her as she looked at the symbel “any idea’s as to this symbol or this word?” she asked and i nodded “yeah this symbol well a deferent version of it is the mark of the Lucis Caelum family the rulers of the kingdom of Lucis” I say as Ralsei looks at me with surprise on her face as she nods
A bit later I found myself in a rather large round office i must be at the top of the tower by now judging by the view I could see the whole site from here from the wrap around window moving away from the window I made my way to the ornate desk pulling the plush chair out and sitting down I powered up the terminal the wrap around screen came to life with a pass word screen “okay lets see if I can find the password” I say to myself as I search the desk I found a slip of paper in a false bottom of the top right drawer “okay lets see…….okay that was easy hehe” I say to myself as the home screen came up some short cuts to folders but my eyes fell on one named “the end” I read moving the curser over to the first folder ad clicking on it
As the folder opened it was empty blank exempt for link to something clicking on the link a video file started to play it showed what looked to be a view from the top of the tower it showed some odd looking tube like ships and mobile robots some armed with beam rifle’s some loading creates onto other ships as solders in dark gray armor and long cloaks billowing behind them in the wind as other solders lighter armor in the same dark gray adding others to get onboard the ships the view changed to a view of the sky and a half dozen cargo type looking ships long lines of ships going up to them then the view changed again this time to this very office an older man standing at the same desk typing away at the same thermal as two soldiers in dark gray and silver armor stood guard as the man finished and stood to leave a new solder this one had their helmet off a beautiful woman with short cut chestnut hair came up to the man and pointed to his belt and shook her head and the older man protested till one of the guard soldiers came up from behind and knocked him out before relieving him of his holster belt and placing it in the safe
As the soldier closed the safe a new figure entered the office who ever this was had to be important because all the soldiers stood at attention as the one with her helmet off bowed to the new comer there armor was light in style a dark gray almost black in color with silver on the shoulder guards and leg grieves there helmet was striking horizontal slits on the face shield on the sides were a pair of black backwards facing horns with one blade like black horn facing forwards like a spike as they walked forward the face shield split and slipped back as the figure took off the helmet came off my jaw almost hit the desk the man looked so much like my dad I had only seen pictures of him but he had a scar that ran from the left side of his for head down to the right side of his face just above his noes
He spoke to the others briefly before they took the knocked out man the knight walked around the office before moving to the desk typing at the terminal before taking something from a pack and affixing it to his left gauntlet and running a wire to the terminal before looking right into the cam as a voice started to speak in my mind “Hello you must be my great nephew I’m glad my brother but I need to tell you once you get…….power………Caster Woods……….Manor Bright Star…..a gift for you…….i..know you…..make use” the voice fade before coming back “safe……code…..7….2…..8…..” then the voice faded
Putting in the code the safe opened up and I saw the belt that had been taken off the man and wow boy I can see way it had two holsters one for a very ornate looking pistol and the other held two kukri daggers in a very ornate scabbard lastly on the belt was an odd scabbard it looked to have a hard metal strip on the back with three straps one on the top one in the middle and one on the bottom with a metal like bottom cap inside the scabbard was what looked to be a sword grip in the same dark gray metal pulling it free I started to looked it over that’s when I saw the top was open with a tip ton top of a small cone placing it back in the scabbard
Later that night at camp I sat in the bath pool with the others but my mind was miles away thinking about the man in the armor speaking to me from the past but who was he he called me his nephew so was he my dad’s brother or maybe…..”PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” I say as an ice cold drink was pressed to both my cheeks shaking my head as Kat and Milo look at me from each side of me “Belle are you okay you’ve been zoned out even scene the dig site” Milo says as Kat places a hand on my forehead “hum…..nope no fever maybe it’s something else” she says “but I think we have been in here for a bit lets so and cool off in the drying lounge”
later on I was walking around camp that was slowly growing into a small town a few days ago Tangle and Whisper stopped by with a delivery of a complex tent we had it setup in a hexagon style to maximize space I passed by Ralsei’s research cub and poked my head in “hay Ral how’s things going?” I ask as she turns around holding the twin arm bracers from the safe “belle so good to see you come in come in please look at this” she says waving me over I was still in shorts with no shirt on but Ralsei was in a short tank top and shorts that showed off her figure “here have a look” she says showing the bracers under a work light they looked amazing cased in a dark gray almost black metal “this right here is the find of all finds Belle” she says almost bouncing in place “this is a NightDiver’s pip bracer and this one” she points to the other “this one’s a LAF solders pip bracer meant for the everyday armed forces of Lucis “ she says before handing the NightDiver’s bracer to me “here try it on and see what I mean”
Ralsei had a big smile on her face as I slipped the bracer onto my arm just under the left elbow “ohhhhhh that looks really good on you” I hear Ralsei say “thanks Ral” I say as I feel her hand on my right arm “um…..Belle that wasn’t me” she says pointing at the work bench ware a fluffy pink and cream white cat with two tails and a pair of soft looking wings sat smiling at us
She giggles and pads over to us twin tails swishing happily till she stopped in front of me before holding up a paw as Ralsei whispers in my ear “I think she wants you put your hand on her paw” she says as I place my right hand under her paw then she started touching my hand with her paw her soft pads feeling nice and almost clamming “hummmm may oh my you seem to have quite a bit of stress let me see?.....oh such a pretty ring” she says looking at the Ring of Lucis sniffing it and even nuzzling it too before she places a paw on the black band as she does so I see a small flash of magic in her eyes before she gently lifts her paw off the ring “my my you are an intrusting one Belle but sadly your ring is incomplete but I think I know where it is” she says and jumps down and looks up at me “I think I will stick around you Prince Belle y would so like to see what you think once you get inside” she says before jumping down and rubbing up against my leg before making her way to my room
Three days later late at night we had finally made out way into Grand Station Aincrad a cave that led us to a sealed door I tried scanning it with my pip bracer all I got was a error saying it was shielded so we had returned to out now relocated base camp we were now located in a small valley our two new members Tangle and Whisper had found a new tower dig site just half a mile from ours “RING RING RING” the sound of my phone ringing started to wake me reaching out my hand I hit the button sending it to voice mail turning over I felt a fluffy body nuzzle close to me “purrrrrrrrr you should of taken that call young prince”
she says licking my nose “its way to early to be taken phone call’s Mom” I say as I hear her giggle “hehe I’m glade you and your friends took to calling me mommy that was one of my favorite names” she says as my phone started to ring again reaching my hand out with a grown picking it up I looked at the screen to see Amy’s picture puzzled I pushed the answer button “Amy?” I say “Belle thank the gods and goddesses you answered we have an emergency” she says as I grown “oh man did our last site data upload corrupted again?” I say as she cuts me off “no Belle that’s not it our satellites have picked up a mana storm a big one heading right for your dig sites and the camping gear that you have is not rated to handel a storm like this” she says “how much time do we have?” I say as I hear Amy typing “looks like you have three hours till the storm hits get moving get inside” she says as the line cuts off and I look to my left “mom go and wake the others” I say as she heads out to wake the others as I get dressed
later we found our self’s at the door I had a countdown clock on my pip bracer and our time was running out we had been spending the better part of two hours trying to crack the door open Kat even tried kicking the door with her auto mail leg to no avail looking down at Mom I picked her up and looked her in the eyes I think she knew what I was about to say she placed a paw o my lips and shook her head “no don’t you dare say it Belle I’m staying with you besides I have faith you will get the door open in time” she says
typing away at the holo key bored of my pip bracer I had found a small link port on the wall next to the door that allowed my pip bracer to interface with the doors spell matrix Nicole was helping me hack into the doors spell matrix controls telling me what to type in she had her own device linked to my pip bracer that was helping with the hack from the look of things we were going to make it we still have time it was going to be close thankfully Nicole’s magic hacking skills were on full display “okay Belle typing that command and……..dame it and this thing keeps blocking us maybe……….dame it dame it again this……feels………?” Nicole trails off before looking at the screen then at me “okay Belle keep doing like what we did before I think I have something that may work just keep doing what we did before” she says as a few clones of her hand held computer appeared around her “okay we can do this as a team”
after a few moments the door opened and just in time as the storm hits and hits hard shutting the door a hair too slow a bit of the mana energy seeped in as a felt a sting on my right arm like nothing I have ever felt before and it kept growing till I felt myself falling over passing out before I hit the floor I felt something large and fluffy cradle me as I feel into darkness some time later my eyes fluttered open I was in some small room a heater close by soft orange light “nya? Oh your awake that’s good” Mommy says curling up next to me I reach out with my right hand to pet her but as soon as I move it I wince in pain as Mommy looks up “carful Belle that mans burn was pretty bad that one girl Lanolin patched up”
she says as I hear footsteps as Kat came in her eyes lighting up as seeing I was up “well well nice to see sleeping beauty is finally up” she says with a smile that fails to reach her eyes “but…..still how are you feeling Belle any pain?” she says as i nod “yeah a little on my right arm” I say as she comes over and looks under my bandages causing me to wince a little “oops sorry Belle lets see……oh well now hats kind of odd” she says pulling out her phone and snapping a picture before rewrapping it with fresh bandages” okay those should hold you for now but here havde a look” she says and shows me her phone on the screen was a snap shot of my burn it was like someone has slapped my arm with some ribbon
after a bit I got up as Kat stood by ready to help “okay I think I’m good to go” I say as she smiles “okay so ware are we?” I ask as Kat giggles “well were in the break room of a sporting goods store” she says “its pretty nice thankfully the place has lots of med kits and other things” she says as we come out onto the main floor the placed was big at lest two stores it even had a water fall we ran into Tangle first she was
happy to see me up and about “good to see you Belle I had a feeling a little mana burn wouldn’t keep you down for long boss” she says slapping me on the back before going back to scaling an indoor rock wall next we came across Whisper who was looking over some rifles and pistols jotting down notes in a work pad she even had bullets lined up on the counter as well she looks up and sees us coming her way and wave’s at us “Belle Kat over here” she says as we come over as I let out a whistle “wow you got a real arsenal there Whisper” I say as she chuckles “hehe oh its far more then just that” she says and passes a hand over the array of guns and ammo “this my friend is art” she says just as bright over head lights blaze to life bathing the store in soft white light as cheery music starts to play from hidden speakers “ Hello Explore Mart Members please come up to the main office for our dally staff meeting” came Nicole’s voice from the pa speakers that got a laugh from everyone
after we made our way up the stairs we found the main office the place was big a massive stone fireplace sat on one wall with big book cases a large ornate desk at in a corner and Nicole was seated at it her face aglow from the terminal “hehe well looks like we can have that meeting” she says coming out from behind the desk “okay first off good to see your back on your feet Belle” she says looking to Lanolin “he’s got a pretty odd mana burn on his left arm kind of in the shape of a ribbon but all his vitals are good” she says as Nicole nods “okay that’s good to hear now on to us we made it inside were safe thankfully this mana storm is helping to jump start this places systems and speaking of systems this place has a crusader mainframe” she says as both Tangle and Whisper gasp at the news as a new voice come over the PA speakers “yes miss Nicole is right but please call me Cloud” came the voice “and a warm welcome to you all to Grand Station Aincrad and welcome to you Prince Belle” Cloud says
later that day Cloud was guiding us around Grand Station Aincrad well he was guiding the others as for myself I was on a privet turbo lift up to what Cloud called The Royal Estate Mama Nya sat across my shoulder’s “meowwwwwww this is really nice I have never soon this part of Aincrad before let alone the Royal Estate” she says nuzzling my cheek as the turbo lift let out a soft ding as the doors opened warm sunlight streamed in from tall windows that captured a view of an expansive valley stepping out my shoes bummed into a pair of sleepers “oh I think those are for you Belle” Mama Nya says after jumping down
after putting the sleepers on and I have to say they were super comfy the house was amazing two stories five bed rooms and five baths the place was just out of this world as I explored I found a study the tan plush carpeting was easy to walk on as I approached the ornate desk I felt something like a calling it was coming from a small box pulling out the high backed chair and sitting down I reached out and opened the box my heart almost skipped a beat inside the box was the rest of the ring it was a silvery white was a star burst fan like style with a white diamond in the center
later that night everyone was in the house Cloud had activated the homes helper bots tjey even had food I has asked Cloud ware the wood came from he just told me that it came from the replicators that used Meta Matter now that was a surprise I heard that meta matter was prized by mages that made Cloud who was now in his holo wolf form a light gray and dark gray wolf as the main meal was served there was a knock at the door Cloud got up “well looks like he did show Belle will you come with me please” he says as I get up “okay everyone just enjoy the food I’m sure were safe”
I say as Cloud and Mama Nya and myself head down the spiral staircase as we reached the front door and opened it sitting close to the welcome mat was a tall wolf its fur was gray and black like a storm cloud “so you must be him” came the voice like a rumble of thunder as Cloud comes up next to me and nuzzles my side “come on Fenrir you don’t need the whole menacing look” he says as Mama Nya giggles as Fenrir smiles “hehe well come on I have an image to maintain” he says and shrinks down a bit to fit in the door as he comes in he’s followed by a tan and brown furred cat it was surprising to see that the cat had a red vest with what looked to be a white sun dress under it before stepping inside the cat looked up at me “meow nice to meet you I’m Aerith I’m the other AI’s who helps Fenrir keep Grand Station Aincrad safe” she says and winks at me “and I’m looking forward to working with you Prince Belle” she says causing me to blush
Later that night after every one had gone to bed I sat out on a privet balcony just off the master bed room the night air was warm and present like a midsummer night reaching my right hand up to my left arm I felt the new wrapping on it Lanolin had looked at it before bed she was happy with how the mana burn was healing she even told me it would not even scar reaching for a glass of ice water my cell phone started to ring picking it up I saw it was Amy pushing the green button “Hi Any your up late” I say as she groans “yeah our R&D ship has been up for the last few days we have some new Mobil Robots to test out but we have been tracking this mana storm thankfully its only going to last two more days then clear so mana levels will go back to normal…..hang on” she says as I hear someone talking to her “are you sure?.......okay thank you” I hear her say before coming back on “okay Belle our recon drones may of picked up something” she says “what did they fined?” I asked a beep came from my phone looking at “is it the imperial’s?” I ask “no its not one of there’s it’s the same class as the Minerva but this one’s panted black and its not broadcasting any IFF codes” she says “any clue where they’re going?” I asked “now that I have some good news there just behind the storm I think there taken readings so once the storms gone so are they”
The next two days were fairly easy we explored Grand Station Aincrad Fenrir and Aerith took me up to the main control room for Aincrad it was located at the very top on floor 100 the room was round and sunken three tiers of work stations “were lucky that this mana storm came around when it did now we can fully recharge Aincrad’s systems and maybe get it up and flying again” he says as Aerith jumps from his back onto a work console and tapes a key with her tail as a map appears on the large main monitor it showed Aincrad and the surrounding mountains it also showed The Midnight Amy had gotten some more info on the ship it was captained by a man named Bondrewed a former imperial science officer and leader of some research team know as the Umbral Hand but something had happened that caused a riffed between him and the imperia
After looking at the screen as The Midnight passed by one of the mountains “okay so we need to get Grand Station Aincrad out of here and back to Starlight City but the midnight is still lurking about at the storms edge” I say as Aerith nods “yes that Mana storm is readying as a category F5 it’s a super strong if we took off it would fry our systems “ she says as Fenrir nods “yes she right thankful the storm will end tonight and luck is on our side it’s a new moon so the night should be black as pitch and the build up of back ground mana will help mask our exit” he says but I felt something was off “Fen way do I have a feeling thire a pretty big but coming up?” I say as Fenrir chuckles “hehe oh I had a feeling you were sharp just like your dad and grand dad” he says before reaching out a paw and pushing a few keys and a wire frame of Grand Station Aincrad appears on screen “and hers the big but” he says as a gage shows up next to the wire frame as small dots start to show up on the wire frame the gage starts to fill still it goes past a horizontal line and an alarm blares
Aerith pushes a button and the alarm goes silent and Aerith looks at me “that alarm sounds when our power output goes to high and we become viable to The Midnight’s scanner array “ she says looking at the screen “we have run millions of simulations to try and figure it out” she says then she and Fenrir looked at me “but….save for one and we” “hold on let me take it from here” came a new voice as a small tan puppy came padding in he’s eyes were a bright amber “hello my names Syaorin” he says jumping up onto a work station
Later that day I stood in the hanger of Grand Station Aincrad come to find out the bottom part of the massive grand station was a small military guard base as Syao led me around we came to a very elegant looking train it looked to be made of the same dark gray metal of my family’s home land of lucis Syao smiled “I love this train your father came here on this very train that was the last time we saw him” he says before showing me to a flat landing pad as lights came on reveling a tall looking machine cast in dark blue metal it looked a bit like a spider
The next day early I sat in the cockpit of the X-1157 you know no i’m not calling it that “you know what this is the Spider Fighter from now on” I say as a giggle from right behind me looking over my right shoulder I see Nicole behind me in the co pilots seat “hehe I had a feeling you wanted to call it that Belle” she says as the comes beep “okay Belle Nicole you two ready?” came Syao’s voice from my pip bracer Nicole and I nod “yeah were ready” I say as the propeller spools up “good now remember your our eyes you two will lead us out of the mountains once were clear then we can go to full power on our own” he says as I pull back on the control yoke and the spider fighter lights off as a door opens up “okay let’s do this
To be continued
