(1000) Orchid looked at Snow, quite sickened that she was only referred to as a "tool", a tool that could be used by another for their own purposes and placed away when not in use. Orchid kept her mouth shut and waited for what happened next.
Snow sat there quietly, trying, and failing, to think of a way out. They were at the Commandos mercy right now, with now way out but from the outside, and any "rescue" would likely just be a trade of captors. Seeming hours went by, and Snow resigned herself to whatever fate the Commandos had planned for her after they push the Enclave away from Tenpony. Then the building suddenly erupted into alarms, "Well, looks like our new captors are here." Snow remarked bitterly to Orchid. It was only a few minutes before those alarms were silenced and a voice came on in an obvious general announcement, "Applejack's Rangers are now in control of this facility, all Commandos who remain who wish to live will lay down their arms and not interfere. To the Rangers, mission proceed, rescue the VIP and company."
The stainless steel door on the other side of the room slid open to reveal three ponies in full suit’s of power armour and energy weaponry heading towards Snow and Orchid. Once the two of them were released, the commanding officer pointed on the other side of the room towards a footlocker. “Despite our codex to remove all heavily advanced technology from the wastes, our superior officer wishes for you two to keep your energy related weaponry. You will need to meet her near the entrance of the building once you are dressed; you are going to need to listen to exactly what she will tell you due to it’s grave importance. Especially of what is happening outside?” Orchid raised an eyebrow. “What is going on outside?” “That is for our superior to inform you. What I can tell you is that Ms. Mark and you are the Enclave’s most wanted...”
Snow have the pony in the partially red painted power armor a cautious look, "Okay?" She said uncertainly before going to retrieve their stuff and getting suited up again, leaving Snow feeling much less vulnerable as she put her HUD display glasses on and the system booted up again, looking over to Orchid to make sure she was ready, she looked back at the Applejack's Ranger, "Lead the way."
Orchid had just got her light clothing back on, placing the E4-7 and her revolvers at her side as she looked over to the Rangers and Snow, who were just leaving the room and caught up. Eventually, the Rangers stopped to reveal the mare in charge of the group, alongside some captured Commandos stripped from their armour and weaponry with a rifle pressed against their heads. The Ranger commander nodded once Snow as close enough and the movement of the soldiers just stopped dead. The Commander went ahead and nodded. "I'm going to be as informative and brief as I can, incase that we are expecting a counter-attack by Commandos. The Enclave has invaded Equestria, attacking places across the wasteland and killing innocents and...undesirables such as Slavers and Raiders. As we speak, the Enclave is attacking Fillydephia and Red Eye, while all major settlements are being attacked by their forces. 1,000 lives are being lost every hour across the wasteland, many of them innocents. Simply put, we need to keep you safe while the entire wasteland resistance fights back " (The unnamed commander can be controlled by you and me if you wish for plot purposes.)
(Hey, remember, the Enclave didn't attack Fillydelphia until almost the end, so they aren't quite yet.) Snow grimaced at the commander, "No." She suddenly said, "No! I am not some tool, not some fragile thing that needs to be kept safe! I played a role in this Wasteland coming to be and.." She stomped her hoof, "Celestia damn it all if I let a chance for redemption slip by me like this! I made a promise to the Light Bringer that I would play my part, so I will! We need to destroy the Equestria's Messenger, I need...Can you get me to the closest Mark Co facility? If...if I set up a broadcast station, I could send a self-destruct code out to all Mark Co tech on the surface, that would decimate the Commandos...But we could need them to fight the Enclave...Get me to the Soldier." She ordered, "Get us to the Soldier. We can see if we can get him to stop chasing me and to focus on fighting the Enclave."
Orchid nodded in reply before looking at the Commander, who grumbled under her breath as she equipped her helmet as took out her rifle before turning around to and yelling to address the whole group. "Paladin Cheese will be commander of this facility. But just allow me to make this perfectly clear, incase that this does not sink through. Any Commando that even starts to act the wrong way, will be put down. Not just one, but an entire squad ! If one of us is killed, we will return the favour ten fold! Do you understand this?" The Rangers responded in a single yell, followed by a salute before returning to their positions. The commander then turned around to see a group of idle yet fearsome looking soldiers nearby her. "Sword Squad, you are coming with me." (Time-skip?)
(Yea sure) The Soldier pulled his knife, Head Hunter, from the throat of the Enclave soldier he had stabbed, calmly wiping the blood off it as the Enclave soldier bled out at his hooves. Above, the Messenger had knocked down the two offending Thunderclouds, while the last holdouts in Tenpony at the top of the tower were pushed out by half of Alpha squad led by Bloody 2. The loss of the building he had held Snow in was of little concern to him, it was supposed to be an easy target. 10 new recruits didn't cost him much at all, meanwhile, he had singlehoofedly freed Tenpony from the threat of annihilation by the Enclave. Activating the comm unit, he issued a general order, "Perform a final sweep of the area, bring any prisoners to me. Any resistance is to be put down with swift, lethal force. Soldier out."
(Hm...maybe the little group coming to within sight of some Commandos, but sensing there were more around, they decided to go get a vantage point?)
(Alright, cheers. I'll go ahead with that) Orchid and the rest of the Rangers escorting her eventually entered what was considered to be Commando Territory. Signs of them entering were apparent when they noticed one or two around the area, followed by ten, then twenty. Eventually, they found them seemingly everywhere. Once they noticed the Solider, the group stopped in a halt. Tensions were high, the Commandos and the Rangers were not particularly the best of friends. The last thing both of them needed was a bloodbath. Snow and Orchid stood in the middle, before the group of power armoured soldiers moved slightly to make an opening for them to pass through.
As Snow trotted forward, she noticed the tension in the air between the Commandos and the Applejack's Ranger, "Hmm..." She quietly thought to herself, she knew that Applejack's Rangers were a group more focused on the well being of the ponies of the Wasteland. "hello Soldier." She greeted him simply. "You have a lot of nerve coming here on the backs of Steel Rangers, Miss Mark, painted or not." He replied in a low, deadly tone. "Applejack's rangers are not the Steel Rangers you've come to think of. They almost completely control Fetlock as much as you control Manehatten Island outside Tenpony." Snow replied, "And they're here to help." "Help? Ever since the inception of the Commandos and our first tech recovery mission, we have been at war with the Rangers, what the hell in the Goddesses' names makes you think I'll just set aside that?!" "Because, the Enclave will destroy us if we are fractured, Soldier..You should know that." There was a visible twitch on the Soldier's face, a rare display of emotion, it looked as if he was debating the best way to kill them, before sighing, "Goddesses dammit, you're right. The Wasteland can't afford infighting right now..." "Good choice, now...I have a plan.."
Orchid relaxed her nerves after hearing that despite their past history, the Rangers and Commandos won’t be taking each other down with their weaponry, both of them knowing that in-fighting would be exactly what the Enclave would have wanted. Hearing upon a possible yet temporary alliance between the Commandos and Applejack’s Rangers, Orchid could only wonder what would happen if the Steel Rangers joined the alliance. All three of them would make it extremely difficult for the Enclave to take down all resistance in the wasteland, but Red Eye would rather destroy any that pose a threat to them, no matter how important they might be to their own survival. Orchid looked behind her, seeing an incredibly faint explosion in the distance from what appeared to be a town several hundred miles away. Orchid could not wait to hear the plan to take down the Enclave, saving damn wasteland in the process and will likely end up appearing like heroes because of it.
Snow opened her mouth, but a loud boom suddenly grabbed her attention, her eyes shot to the sky and her mouth dropped open, a sickly, yellow colored...Sonic...Rainboom was speeding across the sky, removing cloud cover as it went before disapating about 15 miles out from Manehatten, she stared with open eyes at the sight, unable to believe her eyes as the sun she once knew so well before waking up in the Wasteland poured into the Wasteland, fresh and clean, a first time for all those besides herself, "Sweet Celestia.." She muttered
"What.....is that the...." Orchid replied in absolute disbelief as she watched the sun appear for the first time in her life. She knew tales of the sun because of Celestia, but she had never actually seen it with her own two eyes. She just watched in wonder as the warm glow shined around the area.
"Sun? Yes...yes it is...I'm amazed it's still as brilliant as ever..." She said slowly, "I'll be willing to bet the Light Bringer or one of her friends had something to do with this. Well, obviously it was a ghoul friend, because I believe that was a Radboom, not a Rainboom." The entire group, even the Soldier, had turned to face the sun, soaking in its warmth. But all too soon... "they're closing it up!" A random pony exclaimed, and sure enough, Enclave ponies high above were flying across the sky, cloud trailing behind, as they divided up the gap into a grid, then the lines that they has made grew and before long, cloud cover once again covered the sun, dark rainclouds filling the sky. Snow sighed and turned to Orchid, "I think I know the Light Bringer's purpose now. She is going to bring back the sun. I know it." She told Orchid, "And even if she has not asked for it yet, we must try to help any way we can." Snow looked up as the first raindrop hit her head, knowing that somewhere, one of Littlepip's friends had just brought the sun out as if in a little trial, and Snow was certain, of things to come. "alright, listen up ponies!" Snow spoke up loud enough to be heard by all ponies present, even as rain began to fall, "The Light Bringer just found her destiny if my gut is correct, and I was the CEO of Equestria's largest company at one time, my guy is never wrong. We got our own job to do, we have got to scour the Wasteland of Raiders, Slavers, and all the other nasties, however, Red Eye is a good distraction for the Enclave, they THINK that they're the only organized in Equestria when they are not! And we will show everyone this! Now, Applejack's Rangers, I know your numbers are limited, but you could still help, clear out Fetlock of any of the TRUE undesirables, the Commandos can clear Manehatten and Bucklyn. Together, we can start to pave the way for the Light Bringer!"
The Rangers nodded in reply before heading off to Fetlock, mobilizing quickly and heading to clear the suburbs. Orchid remained behind, running through some plans with the E4-7 before deciding to assist the Rangers in clearing out the suburbs of Slavers.
(*raiders; any slavers would have been withdrawn to the Everfree or Fillydelphia by Red Eye) "Miss Mark, please excuse me for the earlier treatment, but I had to do anything in my power to prevent the Enclave from capturing you, that would be disastrous for the Wasteland." The Soldier told her. Snow sighed before replying, "I understand, would have just preferred to had been asked, ya know." She looked up at the sky, "I hope I'm right about the Light Bringer, she could very wel-" her PIN suddenly emitted a beep through her earbloom, noting a message had arrived. Narrowing her eyes in confusion, she looked at her hoof, Snow, I have an idea of how to bring the sun back and rid the Wasteland of the poison it currently has, I'm reallly not allowed to talk about how, and it seems a certain DJ and us are...just about to be hunted by the Wonderbolts...Calamity's got a plan, but...well...There's a high chance, as in a "a fire-breathing lesbian mouse" being a higher chance of happening. But I need you to find a way to help us out, or at least find something that can make our job easier,..Or you can go with a plan of your own, you're probably good at that right? I mean, you did run Mark Co." Snow groaned, "Dammit." She muttered simply
Orchid followed the Rangers, watching as they began to grow more and more numerous after a order was told to mobilize and clear out the entirety of Fetlock. After what felt like an eternity, Applejack's Rangers and Orchid began to see the outskirts of Manehatten on the horizon, as the Rangers now numbered in their hundreds. Once they began to enter Fetlock itself, the Rangers annihilated anything that came in their path. Within an hour, almost nothing remained of the Raiders.
(Uuuh, we kinda were just in Manehatten, and the Applejack's Rangers lived in Fetlock, and did not number in the hundreds. You really need to find some time to re-read FoE man x3)
