Celestia's Finest: Old World Blues

[Miltonian]

Gathered in Wire's old room, several decisions lay before the EDF. Their orders are to, if possible, dissuade Chrysalis from her current course and forge an alliance with her. If such a deal cannot be negotiated, both factions will have to make their own, possibly overlapping plans to assault the fortress of Ashtown.

Of course, Chrysalis has been...less than cooperative.

[DigoDragon]

"Meet you at your little pow-wow shortly."

Rose nods and gives him a password to use to enter the office. She also wishes Doctor Violet luck and to take care of herself by building on her confidence. She'll trade passwords with her too. You can't be too careful at the moment.

Skipping the visit to Pins, Rose makes her way back to the office with her zebra guards. She doesn't say much, more taking a look around where everyone is positioned and waiting for the inevitable argument to burst forth.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper grappled with his natural resistance to this conversation. If old habits died hard, then this one was effectively immortal; but he had to deal with it. If he wasn't a broken Pegasus then his standing did count for something. It was time to pony up an deal with it.

"Before we can effectively discuss our next move, I think we need to discuss our recent interactions." Sniper said. He took a deep breath. "I get it. Some of you don't trust me and given my recent bad judgments, failures and secret orders I can't blame you for that mistrust. I'm trying very hard to turn a lot of things around and do better. Part of that change means sharing that I don't appreciate the way our last meeting ended.

"If I bucked two of you, delivered an ultimatum and walked out on a strategy meeting, there would have been Tartarus to pay. If we're supposed to be a team then we need to come to a consensus about how we proceed. Even if it means taking the time to do so. We've tried having each of us off doing our own thing and overruling each other. It was a disaster. I don't want to go back to that."

Sniper fell silent and waited for the fallout.

[DigoDragon]

"If I were Wildcat, I'd be perfectly in my right to shove a Big Chicken Dinner in Rose's face," she says with a calm, even tone. "Like, holy crap, you just had your doctor go AWOL. The hell is that about?"

Rose gestures to the door out of the office. "Well, here is why I felt things were different. Chr--the queen is a schemer. If she's not making a gambit pileup then she's probably passed out drunk." Rose avoided using Chrysalis' name for Cabal's sake. She paused as well to word out her next bit of dialog to avoid giving out details in front of Emerald. Mostly for her sake as a believer in the CPI.

"As I understood it from our command, the queen's plan is to replace several gang leaders with her own changeling infiltrators. This will give her the horsepower needed for our planned joint-military exercise later. Command ordered us to consider the queen an ally to this end. However, RT did ask us to try and convince the queen not to go replacing ponies with changeling. While I commend RT for having heart, the queen is going to laugh in our faces for making such a request. Given I received nothing from Love's talks with her, I assume it basically unfolded as such. Well, fine she can have the gang leaders. However, we can and should curb her plans to just those gangs. While negotiations were going on I decided that at the same time to enact Plan B--inform Cabal that the queen also has a plan currently in motion to replace him and several other casino workers with changelings so she can take control of this place. I don't consider that bucking our orders. I consider that prudence because I have no faith that the queen is only going to take what's needed. She's got a self-serving manifest destiny to feed and I think our command is foolish to tell us to play nice-nice with the queen without leveraging a leash on her insatiable desires."

She gestures to Cabal. "And this stallion has a good head on his shoulders to know that if he pulled out his guns and called out the infiltrators, a lot of folks are gonna die. We aren't going to corner a hungry pack of wolves in the house. What we do is throw some meat outside in the direction we want them to move and then see them out before we lock the door behind them. Will the changelings get wise that we know their plans? Yes, they eventually will. But if we work diligently we can walk them out before they do, and thus prevent a fight."

"I fully expect that my report-loving squadmates are going to report all this to command. That's fine, as long as it goes correctly on record why I took those actions; I do not agree with command's one-sided orders to trust the queen and just 'talk' it out with her. I believe playing nice-nice with her is for ponies who get eaten by the wolves. I do not trust the queen and I'll eat that chicken dinner with no regrets."

[D.KnightSpider]

"And while all that is fine, and I agree with much of it, it doesn't give you the right to walk out of a planning meeting or shut down conversation. Yes, I filed an official report that misrepresented your actions because I misinterpreted them. I've taken responsibility for that and I personally corrected the record with Wildcat-- which very nearly cost me this position in the squad."

Breath. Sniper reminded himself to de-escalate.

"If we want to go there, however, my mistakes and the overall situation also don't give you the right to misrepresent my positions-- especially in a public broadcast. I don't want to see any pony replaced with a Changeling. It doesn't matter if they're a gang member or a resident of this casino. I've never advocated blindly trusting Chrysalis.

"Since Chrysalis is conditionally an ally against the CPI, I felt it appropriate that she be given the opportunity to withdraw first. If she didn't, then we would still have the option to talk to Cabal about the infiltration. If by some chance she did agree, we would have the opportunity to make a statement by verifying her promises. We have eyes on her captives. We know the ex-staff. The situation is contained and no pony can leave until the shaft is clear. If we blocked her attempts at deception and backstab, then it would put her on notice not to mess with us and it would give us some teeth in this cooperative venture. Letting Chrysalis have the casino was never an option and I wouldn't have tolerated it. That was the position I was going to advocate before everything fell apart.

"I'm trying to do better about acting on information instead of impulse. I don't know what the result of Love's conversation was, but until it's reported I'm trying to keep an open mind."

[DigoDragon]

"Oh? We know where the infiltrators are keeping the original ponies replaced?" Rose asks with keen interest. "Seems I missed the good part of that meeting. Well, guess that's on me."

She nods visibly to herself at the possibilities of that knowledge. Rose is still acting calm. "Well, we now have identified what our impasse was. You were willing to give the queen the benefit of the doubt, waiting for her to withdraw the plans to take the casino first before acting to verify if Cabal and his staff had been replaced, while I believed we should have immediately moved to determine who was already replaced by changelings, giving no trust to the queen until she's earned it. Doing both at the same time would have been acceptable, as they're not mutually exclusive."

Rose pauses, then turns to Cabal. "Do take your girlfriend in for a check up later. You know, for 'radiation' purposes."

[Elbeyon]

Love is wearing her goggles and researching on the internet. A program is transcribing her conversation with bugbutt.

She looks past Scope when he takes his deep breath to not focus on him too much. "I won't belabor the aside. Scope, I trust you. I've never felt my trust in you misplaced at any point. I see you have been trying very hard despite any difficulties down here, and I hope others know that as well."

"Rose, I felt stepped on by you this morning. We can't report things we don't know, and we can know our team's thoughts by properly discussing matters on hoof. I feel a delicate process was rushed under threat. I, a report-loving squadmate, suggest that you read the reports I spend hours of my day on creating."

Love turns to Scope and offers him a datachip. "Here is my conversation with the Queen. I'll take any criticisms. I didn't fully realize your advice and rushed towards an end. The conversation is still unfinished."

"Cabal, would you show us what you showed Rose? What's the situation? I'd like to hear your story."

[DigoDragon]

"Rose, I felt stepped on by you this morning. We can't report things we don't know, and we can know our team's thoughts by properly discussing matters on hoof. I feel a delicate process was rushed under threat. I, a report-loving squadmate, suggest that you read the reports I spend hours of my day on creating."

"What process was this that was rushed?" Rose asked in a curious voice. "I feel we are belabored to creating these reports for command, as if we are not a military force but a committee needing our hoof held by our superiors. If we sat on our haunches reporting everything and then await new orders, it would likely take us a year before we took any actions."

"...But that is my opinion, and I understand that I am in the minority, both with the sense of urgency I felt to ensure Cabal's safety, and that these multiple long-winded reports are absolute bollocks." That was probably the nicest delivery of an insult Rose had ever given.

[Miltonian]

Cabal lets out a breath. "For the record, this is unlike any staff meeting I've been to before," he says, "Soon as we can get access to the garage crew, we'll bring them in for mandatory radiation scans as well. As for...what I showed to Lt. Rose earlier that convinced her I was not, in fact, a threat..."

Green flames envelop his form and reveal the cheerfully colored chitin below. But only for a moment and then he is back in disguise. "I had heard of Cabal, the 'fastest gunslinger this side of the Western Range', but I never thought I'd run across him. He had two ponies with him, his partner and a kidnapped hostage they planned to ransom off." He looks up and into the distance, calling to mind the encounter.

"When they spotted me, Cabal made it clear he was going to kill me. Challenged me to a draw and thought he would win." He shakes his head. "So did I. But some quirk of fate let me get my gun out first. Both of us were surprised when he was the one who dropped to the ground and died. His partner ran off, I set the hostage free, and decided I'd get a lot less trouble if I went around as Cabal the Gunslinger and not Marrow the Wanderer. Stumbled across a few of Wire's recruiters, they offered me a job as security chief, one which involved trying to stop gunfights instead of starting them, and I accepted. I've been here ever since. Fell in love. Changed my color. And have been avoided any contact with other changelings since."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Yeah, well, you're about a thousand miles from any form of normal competency." Sniper quipped in response to 'Cabal'. It didn't do much to reduce his frustrations. "You managed to get a good deal out of a bad situation. That's awesome."

More and more it looked like the good will around here ran one way: toward Rose. Maybe he was mistaken to try and get RT set up with her. Maybe he was mistaken about relationships after all and the only pony you could trust was yourself. If it hadn't been for Rem and Diamond, the temptation to believe that lie might have snagged him.

Sniper opted to ignore Rose's thorny comments. Calm was the order of the day.

"I think what Love means is that she wasn't able to do her best because you gave her a strict time limit. She had to rush a process that required time and attention." Sniper tried to explain ashe accepted the data card from Love. "I'll review it and get back to you."

He broadened his comments to every pony. "We can't change the past, so can we agree to fully hear each other out in the future? Even if a proposed course of action isn't acted upon, we can at least make sure all of our options and information is properly accounted."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, if we're gonna fully hear each other out, I'd like to mention something," Rose says in response. She points to Love. "Love is the wrong pony to have negotiate with the queen. You need someone who'll show her some tough love and can do so under pressure. Delicate and queen cheese-legs aren't concepts that go together."

[Elbeyon]

Love takes a deep breath and lets go of her frustration.

She looks to Cabal. "This is a very unusual staff meeting. Meetings normally don't happen like this for us either, but the Queen tends to, sometimes purposefully, drive us apart and weaken our teamwork."

Love examines Cabal through her goggles as he changes his forms. Though no one is in the hallway outside, she whispers, "It's nice to meet you, Marrow." Love smiles at him.

After Love hoofs off the data chip to Scope, she says, "Thank you. I'll be expecting your review."

She stands up and moves over to Cabal to start examining him with her gaze. She checks him with the Hound inside of her bag without removing it from said bag.

She calmly says to Rose, "We'll move to a harder line if that's where we need to go next, but I have an idea before that. If you think Queen Chrysalis is bluffing, we need to be prepared to face the consequences to calling her bluff. It's not something that should happen without planning, and we didn't plan what to do if I did call her bluff so that option was off the table during the last round of negotiations."

Love nods along with Scope talking then turns to talk to Rose and in some sense the team. "We need to make sure we're properly communicating though. I feel like you've misunderstood me, and you seem to feel like I misunderstood you. We needed to have that meeting that never took place to get everyone on the same page. Even if we don't always agree with each other, we need to fully understand one another at the very least. If something doesn't make sense, ask about it."

[DigoDragon]

Rose shrugs. "What doesn't make sense to me is that... I feel like the only one who's actively planning on calling out bugbutt's bluff."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Love has it right. If we make an enemy of Chrysalis then we're fighting a war on two sides and we are laughably under-prepared and under-equipped to do so. In that sense, Chrysalis isn't bluffing. If we try to undermine her without being prepared we are going to lose and lose badly."

Sniper held up a hoof to stage off interruption and keep the floor.

"Down to the Wire is inconsequential enough in the long run, no offense Cabal, that I think we can convince Chrysalis to give it up. Or we can secure it. If we can find leverage then we might be able to keep the gang leaders from being replaced and that's where I'd like to hear Love's idea. I can try talking to Chrysalis but, since she read my mind two missions ago, doing so effectively is going to take time that we don't have. Love is a wildcard to Chrysalis and that might be something we can exploit."

[Miltonian]

Cabal clears his throat. "Something...wrong, miss?" he asks Love as she stares at him.

He nods to Sniper. "None...none taken. I'm not sure what the long term fate of this place will be, if I am being brutally honest. But I do know that I prefer not to have to flee again." He pauses. "So what's this about that 'bugbutt' nickname?"

[DigoDragon]

"Oh I got lots of nicknames for the queen of the changelings; Bugbutt, Cheese-Legs, Her Hole-yness... you know, the kind of quaint names you give a friend you aren't close to, but you got a history with," Rose answers.

She shakes her head. "Anyway, seems I am resigned to just not be understood by my teammates."

[Elbeyon]

She says to Rose, "I'm sorry you feel that way. We were starting to discuss that topic when the meeting got canceled. If you feel misunderstood, keep talking til it becomes clear."

Love looks at Cabal as he draws her attention. "Ah, I was interested in your disguise. Please, call me Love. That's what everyone calls me. I think your wings are very beautiful."

"There isn't any extra meaning except what a person points into it, good or ill. I have it on good authority the name shouldn't be used to directly address Queen Chrysalis." She chuckles. Love takes a seat near Cabal as her examination has come to an end.

"I agree with the notion that Queen Chrysalis will release Down to the Wire with minimum resistance. While she will grab every piece available to her, this place doesn't really offer her much in the short-term outside of the bosses. She'll let the employees that she replaced go without a fight. She won't start a fight over the Down to the Wire employees unless drawn into a fight."

"Queen Chrysalis is a survivor. I think that she'll adapt her plans to the current situation, whatever situation arises. The conclusion that I drew from our conversation, free free to draw your own conclusion, is that she fears the bosses' rejection to assist us. The fear of changelings and her kidnapping them is why she thinks that. A previously raised point. She could have gained their aid in other ways, but she went the route that was easiest and most convenient for her, an old routine. The tertiary benefits, her rule, from her approach are just that, tertiary, I believe. So, we simply need to get the big bosses to work with us."

"Cabal, that's why I asked you be here with us. Changelings aren't feared or misjudged everywhere the way they are here. A part of her fear is that the bosses won't accept changelings, but I know the people here can accept changelings. There is a lot of misunderstanding and baseless rumors floating around the wasteland. There is love in people's hearts and a wiliness that people underestimate. If you are willing to take that same bet, I'd ask that you entertain the idea of seeking the acceptance of your fellow employees. You can say: no. We can work out the details to ease everyone into the situation. One at a time with that doctor pony?"

[DigoDragon]

"Why would the gangs help us? It doesn't matter if they like or hate changelings. The plan calls for them taking the hits. That's why she needs the gang leaders, she doesn't have anything to offer them."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper took a deep breath and studied the ceiling for a long moment. Celestia give him strength because none of this was working and the harder he tried to make it work the worse everything became. There had to be a way to get the squad back together. For some reason, maybe because it was recently mentioned, his mind turned back to Tartarus and the final confrontation with Chrysalis.

He held up a hoof to request the floor once again.

"Cabal, I'm sorry that you were subjected to this. It... hasn't put us in the best light. I have a suggestion. I'm humbly requesting that we put this entire conversation aside and hold a Sharing Circle. I think we all need to stop worrying about the casino for five minutes and clearly state our feelings so that we can get to the root of these personal issues.

"Yes, I know this is surreal coming from me, but I think we need to come clean with each other. Then we can worry about the casino. I'm willing to go first if that's agreeable." Sniper paused and then chuckled. "Or you can check me for Changeling blood first if you want. I'll understand."

[DigoDragon]

"A sharing circle?" Rose had an eyebrow raised. "Sure, go first since you suggested it."

[userpay]

Ooooh horse apples. Bugbutt really had her claws in just about everything already didn't she? And on top of that Cabal was a changeling, not one under Bugbutt's control but surely she must have some idea? "Well ah guess it's ah good thing ah accidentally set off the explosives connecting the Casino to the garage then... Bugbutt's changelings are forced to keep their victims here thanks to that so we've got that much goin for us."

Brazen presses his hooves together. "The best way to get the gangs to work together is showin what a threat CPI is... But they need it from ah source they can trust. Ain't sure we got that right now considerin and the best evidence we need is in Ashtown which we need their help to get anyway."

"Further, reports smorts. Weren't we formed specifically to make on the fly choices and save the consequences for later? It's how ah got my spot on the squad."

[Elbeyon]

Love puts some stress in her cheek. "You're fine, Scope. I know you are you. Alright, let's table the casino conversation." She looks to Cabal to see his reaction.

[Miltonian]

Cabal is looking more and more nervous. Not the nervousness of someone with something to hide, but more like 'these are the ponies I'm trusting right now?'

He shakes his head. "No. Absolutely not. I am not revealing myself to anyone who doesn't need to know. And those ponies out there don't need to know." He shakes his head. "I've been around here long enough to know a bad bet when I see it."

Star nods at Brazen's words. "Yeah. We are the ones who are supposed to avoid all the bureaucratic mess the other branches get into. With all these reports, it's cut our productivity down dramatically. Sure, Red Tape loves it, but we need to go out there. Be decisive. Take charge of the situation and stick to our guns. Not play the role that others set out for us."

[DigoDragon]

"I agree with Brazen and Star," Rose says in a low tone.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper carefully boxed up his emotions.

"Understood." He said. "I'll be less rigorous with making them."

Trying to stick to his guns was what caused this mess. Everything was upside down and inside out and he wasn't sure how to right the ship. It was time to abandon that track and start putting the squad back together. Which meant... sometimes it meant taking the bullet and sometimes it meant taking the blame. That was the only way they were going to get past this.

"And I agree that Cabal revealing himself is a bad idea. Without any lynch pin to negotiate with Chrysalis, I'm advocating a bum position." He looked at Rose. "What's the play?"

[Elbeyon]

The team seemed ready to go do something. Now, they just need to figure out what to do.

Love rubs her mane. "Saying my idea out loud, it does seem pretty bad. Forget the the idea, the shot in the dark. Sorry, Cabal. I didn't mean to worry you so much."

She turns to Rose to hear her thoughts.

[DigoDragon]

"I blame myself for letting you two talk with Chrysalis," Rose says in a sad tone. she looks looks at both Sniper and Love. "She doesn't have the mindset for our love and friendship crap. She has just one singular goal--to capture Hyper Thought and slowly torture him to death so that she can savor every scream and bone snap from his body. Something like that you don't just hug it out. You need intervention. You need to draw lines because she will sacrifice everything to reach that one, single goal in her mind. That includes this casino, the CPI, us, herself, and every settlement between her and Hyper Thought."

Rose fiddles through her comm unit's GUI for something. When she finds it, she raises the volume a little for everyone to hear and presses play.


“Hello ponies. My, my, you do have a bad habit of letting this one get caught, don’t you? Not that I’m complaining. More like making an observation. Now, I want this message passed along directly to Luna. As per our agreement, I’ve infiltrated the facility and made contact with the local changeling population. Their adoring praise of me is a welcome change from prison bars. I’m beginning to feel like my old self again. Maybe I’ll invade Canterlot when all this is over, for old times’ sake.”

“Oh? Does that surprise you, Celestia? That’s right, your dear, devoted sister is the reason I escaped. I can’t wait to see what the fallout from this one is.”


Rose stops the recording. She then fiddles for another file and plays that one.


"So Pins, Needles... why were you all disabling a bomb in the reactor?"

"You sneaky, underhoofed, double-dealing--"

"Flattery will get you nowhere! Oh, we didn't want the reactor going boom when we killed and replaced Wire."

"It doesn't look like you have to worry about that little detail any more."

"I have to feel a bit amused that by killing Wire, I put a wrench in the changeling plan to replace him. So, was there a plan to replace Cabal too? Cause that be the next step if it were my plan."

"Oh yes. I am very grateful they got my friends killed and me crippled. Give me a month so my legs heal a bit and I'll show them just how grateful."

"Yep! That was phase two of the takeover. After that, we lighten restrictions, improve morale, and turn the place into a profitable venture instead of marginally profitable but also one stallion's personal paradise."


Playback stops. Rose lets her comm unit hang there for a second before she speaks again. Her voice deepens with an air of seriousness. "Queen Chrysalis has long been plotting to capture Hyper Thought. Our command ordered us to assume her to be an ally in that unified front. However, there are rules for alliances. And the rule we're tripping ourselves over, is that we don't let Chrysalis do whatever she damn well pleases to get to Hyper. We must draw those lines for her and we cannot act like scared little foals that standing up to her will cause every changeling here to riot. Most of these changelings are infiltrators, not fighters. Maybe they'll take one or two of us down in a straight fight, but Chrysalis would not only lose a lot of her best brood, she will also lose us and those gang leaders. That jeopardizes her plan and as I've stated, she will sacrifice everything for her plan."

"What we do is play the alliance game. Quid pro quo. She wants to take control of the gang leaders? Then we demand sovereignty of the casino. We don't have to advertise it to everyone, we don't have to point guns to anyone. We make our stance perfectly clear and we push back as she's pushed us. Chrysalis responds much better to power than coddling. We tell her she can have the gang leaders, but we're staying put to protect this casino. Quid pro quo. This place isn't needed in her plan, and remember, everything is all about her plan."

Rose sits down, checking her snout with the back of her hoof as if she felt something trickle. She looks around. "If I had put this forth sooner, we'd probably already have secured our part of the bargain and be clearing the last of the elevator shaft. I assumed you all would have climbed aboard this wagon on your own, but it is my fault for making that assumption. You all clearly want this alliance to work and you want Chrysalis to be redeemed. But... now is not the time to attempt friendship with her. For now, we need to secure this place and finish that exit. A lot of ponies died in these two days. Let's ensure no one else needs to."

She looks around, then at the back of her hoof again. "I like sharing circles."

[D.KnightSpider]

Since his emotions were already restricted, Sniper easily shut off the faucet of frustration before it opened into a torrent of anger. He fiddled with the mental knob. Little trickles emerged and evaporated until the well of negativity was dry. The process took a few moments, but it let him process and not immediately react in fury.

He opened up his emotions enough to empathize. Then he kicked the problem over to his tactical side and tried to find a resolution.

"I can take that criticism." He admitted. "Perhaps I haven't balanced long-term and short-term goals successfully. I need to contemplate that one. But, Rose, if you thought we were blinding ourselves to our shortcomings then the time to tell us this was at the meeting, as a concern, before those shortcomings could impact our actions. That's why we have meetings, so that we can check and balance ourselves and our ideas. If we can't hold each other accountable for our weaknesses, then we're not a team and this isn't going to work.

"That's what aggravates me so much. This is the end of our last venture all over again, only this time the horseshoe is on the other hoof. You made an assumption about our intentions and plans, kept it from us, acted on and broadcast that assumption without verifying it with us first. I experienced a tremendous amount of hot water for doing that and now you're doing the same thing.

"I don't hold your going to Cabal against you at this point
.
This is not a referendum on you talking to Cabal. It was never intended to be. I would have preferred that we acted in a different order, but in the long run that doesn't matter much. As you said, our desires weren't mutually exclusive. But we never got the chance to make them mutually inclusive because you shut us down and hamstrung our efforts to negotiate.Throughout this conversation, I tried to the right thing and explain my frustrations and why I was upset. In response, I was met with self-righteous passive-aggression. What was I supposed to do at that point but roll over and let you run the show?

"We can deal with our Chrysalis problem in a moment. I want to get things sorted between us first and foremost." Sniper passed Cabal a look that said 'Sorry for the soap opera, but what can you do?' "Preferably before Cabal decides that we're a bunch of nutcases and he was better off under Wire."

[DigoDragon]

"Like I said, I assumed you two would get on the wagon. I thought you two knew Chrysalis well enough. The evidence was apparent that the queen was doing something under our noses," Rose says, remorse in her voice. "We needed to act on that. Cabal here said his coffee was tasting funny the past few days. I hope you at least know what that eludes to. And we're a group of... what, five, six plus? Why would we take things one step at a time when we could do several actions simultaneously? I figured that one group ensures Cabal's safety while another calls the queen and negotiates. We've done several actions simultaneously before; communicated our actions as we did them... okay, yeah, it's pretty messy at times when we did it that way, but I thought it was a strength because we were able to adapt on the fly. Think on our hooves and prevent the enemy from predicting our moves... that was why we took on the entirety of Tartarus Station ourselves... and won."

Rose rubs her left temple. "And don't get wrong... I can see why we should get together each morning for those meetings and review what we know. What we found out. Yes, that's a smart move. I was stupid for bailing early on that. That's on me. I just... this morning it's like..."

Her horn flashes in a spiral of aquamarine light and Rose takes the illusion form of Sniper. "Here, Rose, I need you to review this report during this meeting. Gotta get this to command so they know our position."

She flashes again to become the illusion form of Love. "Rose, I spent hours on this report, you need to read these things so you know what's going on."

Rose flashes once more time and returns to herself. She pauses, bracing against the floor. Her voice sounds weak now, but sounds almost gutteral. "I. Hate. Your. Reports." She pauses. Rose catches her breath. "That isn't communicating to each other. That's... reports are the crap you send to command every few days to update them. I crave words. Your voices. Just a few minutes ago Love, you gave Sniper another report to look over. What on this good green world has turned you two into Red Tape? I just... I'm sick of reports. Just tell me what you ponies saw and did."

She lets herself flop onto her back. Rose gives up on physically staying upright. "Sigh... I'm not discrediting you two that I acted rashly and didn't communicate what the buck I did down on the casino floor. Yeah that was me not communicating. That was me being a b**** with a double standard. For that I apologize. I'm... acting on my love for the ponies in this casino and I want everyone to be happy now that Wire's gone. I want to work with Cabal so he can right a fair, tight ship and this place can make the workers money and we don't have to sleep out in the sands at night. Gods do I not want to sleep out on the sands. Do you guys realize how it feels getting sand in the cybernetic crevices you don't realize you have?"

"So, if you wanna light me on fire for not telling you proper what I wanted to do, go ahead. At least Cabal is safe now. And so you all know, there is a doctor that works at this casino. She's a cute petite earth pony named Ultra Violet and I trained her to use my scanner so that she can secretly track changelings going through her office for checkups. We know of three security guards replaced thus far and Cabal assigned them to the casino floor where security cameras can track them. So... that's a thing now."

[Miltonian]

Cabal sits back and whistles. "No, no, please continue. I think I prefer this to everyone keeping their opinions to themselves out of fear. Still not entirely decided on that, but it's growing on me a bit."

Star clears her throat. "We don't always have time to call and tell everypony what we did. A short, three bullet point report allows us (or me) to keep running tabs on what's been accomplished with, like, ten seconds of reading instead of a minute of conversation."

[D.KnightSpider]

"It's a heckuva management training seminar, I'll give you that." Sniper said to Cabal. He adds for Star: "More frequent notes might not be a bad idea. I'll try to use those"

The weighing of options gave him a path forward. He moved forward and laid down on his stomach, within her field of view, and tried to modulate any lecture out of his voice.

"I get what you're saying, and... Tartarus was both simpler and different. Our purpose was defined for us and it was much narrower: get from Point A to Point B rescuing hostages along the way. Even then, it wasn't one long string of ad hoc decisions. We stopped to talk things out and get organized, such as right before the final battle with Chrysalis. Out here, it's different. The ultimate goal is defined for us but we all have slightly different variations of what's acceptable in reaching that goal. It's important that we all understand that and be willing to give and take.

"Yes, I'll admit that the written reports have undermined that conversation at times and... that's related to another problem. I'm not trying to pick at an old wound, but I'll have to in order to get through this. I'm not doing anything different. Up until recently, I've acted as the buffer between the Squad and Command, handling all the reports and documentation in the background because that has to get done. It's not to ask permission what to do, it's to tell them what we've done. Back at the Castle, we narrowly dodged a bullet because I was timely on our documentation. Can you imagine what would have happened if the VIP walked into that graveyard without a report being on the record?

"Again, I don't want to reopen old wounds because I'm the one who bucked it up... You're the one who established the requirement that everything go through you which means that I have to send you everything. I'm not trying to make your life miserable but live within the boundaries you set. It, well, seems redundant for me to send you a report and then go over everything verbally. But if it's going to cause this much of a problem, I guess we could do both."

[userpay]

"Maybe we could go with short periodic updates and somethin more detailed later on or if somethin needs clarifyin?" Brazen sighs. "Ah have to admit ah prefer the talkin more than the readin but unlike the Station where we stuck together and could chat without issue we're havin to scatter ourselves around for this mission and handle several issues at once."

"Ah do agree we need to secure the Casino at the very least from Bugbutt, having neutral ground will be important later on in tryin to get the Wasteland to act together but that could all still go up in smoke with what she's doin. She knows the Wasteland aren't willin to trust changelings but she seems more than happy to feed that outlook rather than tryin to fix the source of it."

[DigoDragon]

"Again, I don't want to reopen old wounds because I'm the one who bucked it up... You're the one who established the requirement that everything go through you which means that I have to send you everything. I'm not trying to make your life miserable but live within the boundaries you set. It, well, seems redundant for me to send you a report and then go over everything verbally. But if it's going to cause this much of a problem, I guess we could do both."

"Bah," Rose bleps with a singular wave of her right hoof. "I hereby rescind that requirement. I'm a doctor, not a pencil-pusher, so you can send your reports to RT like you've done before. I'll take the bullet points version Star suggested."



"Ah do agree we need to secure the Casino at the very least from Bugbutt, having neutral ground will be important later on in tryin to get the Wasteland to act together but that could all still go up in smoke with what she's doin. She knows the Wasteland aren't willin to trust changelings but she seems more than happy to feed that outlook rather than tryin to fix the source of it."

Rose continues to study the ceiling, but she does clap her hooves together and then points to Brazen. "Aren't willing to trust changelings. All changelings? How many reformed changelings do we have so far out here in the wasteland? Just the one handsome stallion we met so far. Pastel colors, right? Chrysalis' hive is made up of what? Black carapaces, black carapaces, and... black carapaces. That right there might be a possible selling point for changelings. Reformation changes their colors. Like changing your flag in Bray of Duty III. I know, I'm behind in that game series. So all we gotta do is sell that difference to the public. Oh if only I could speak with the dead. Err, not counting Octavia. I mean Starlight. Anyway, just a thought."


'Damn, why didn't you just shake her hoof Chrysalis...'

[D.KnightSpider]

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling that your posse might be able to help with that. Maybe?" Sniper opined to Rose.

He nodded to Brazen. "That sounds like a middle-of-the-road road solution that works for every pony. We can do that. And at a minimum, we're sheltering the casino. Don't ever doubt that."

A quick look around the room brought him back to Rose. He found a thin smile. "So are we all good now? Everything clear between us?"


Sniper will gently try to guide Rose upright and give her a hug.

((OoC: Yes. Yes. Yes. I know I'm tempting fate. I'm hoping the predictability will ward off the inevitable.))

[DigoDragon]

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling that your posse might be able to help with that. Maybe?" Sniper opined to Rose.

Rose's eyes widen as the idea might actually be a thing. "Huh..."



Sniper will gently try to guide Rose upright and give her a hug.

She didn't fight the guidance because she needed to get up anyway. But the hug surprised her! Rose didn't move for a moment, trying to figure out what the right response was for a Sniper hug. Was there a response? She reaches up to pat his foreleg ad lean into the hug.

"Thanks. It's been a while since I had one of these from anyone."

[Miltonian]

Cabal raises an eyebrow. "Well, I'm still not exactly clear on what we're doing, but I am glad to hear the casino remains free, no matter what."

Star, however, is openly shocked by this blatant PDA.

[Elbeyon]

Love rubs the back of her head at the PDA and looks over to her nearby sitting partner, Cabal.

She sincerely says, "I have a lot of friends here. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them."

Though, she'll smile real big at the hugging duo. "Rose. If anyone is feeling a little short on hugs, I wouldn't mind giving anyone a few!"

[DigoDragon]

"Well, I guess when you're busy trying to save lives and fight evil, you forget personal time," Rose says to Love.

"As for what to do next, well we seem to have to first settle the question if we're letting Chrysalis walk out of here with the gangs. Do we let her run with that plan or not?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper released the hug and stepped back into personal space.

Cabal was up first: "It was a lot messier than it should have been, but that was two friends working through some very large problems without resorting to violence. In the end, no pony got hurt and we're all better for it.

"Now as to the task at hoof, there is a way to short circuit Chrysalis' entire plan to replace every pony. Wire was a paranoid fool but he shared my sense of meticulous documentation. It must have been what made him evil. I have all his records of the Wasteland dealings in excruciating detail. Who killed what where and so forth. It's prime blackmail material.

"If Chrysalis refuses to stop her plan and replaces the gangsters, then Night Sky drops our opposition research on the Wasteland..." Sniper made an explosive gesture with his hooves. "Boom. The Changeling Infiltrators lose their influence and cover. It would throw the entire warlord scene into chaos. But, if we dropped it then the original gangsters would be marked ponies for the rest of their lives."

Sniper looked back to Cabal. "How much would that upset you?"

[Miltonian]

Cabal shakes his head and grins. "Honestly? Screw these guys. They're just as bad if not worse than many of the changelings I've met. I'd love to see them crash and burn. Give others a chance to rise up in their place."

Star clears her throat. "I would like to see Bugbutt's plans crash and burn. But I don't want to risk losing because of it."

[DigoDragon]

Rose nods at the answers. "I think no one would be surprised that I'd let Chrysalis take over the gangs, but nothing further. Scrapping her plan without having one of our own isn't good military policy."

[Miltonian]

Star looks troubled. "I...tentatively agree," she says, "So we need a plan. An actual plan. Not just a big, fat 'no'."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, she's gonna be pissed. So if you're not on the negotiation channel, you need to be on the floor and armed for a possible changeling riot. Dr. Violet has my scanner, so you'll need to go with cunning on figuring out who is who. Knocking 'em out should return a changeling to their original form," Rose advises with seriousness. "Also, we need 2-3 personnel here to guard the camp and protect Emerald."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Here's my proposition, then. Love and Brazen secure the central room. Then they get Night Sky on the horn and secures his cooperation: give him a few choice pieces of information and have him stand by to broadcast it on our signal. If a fight breaks out, then we hold the room at all cost.

"Rose and I can approach Chrysalis through Pins. We begin with the proposition that Chrysalis can have the gangsters or our cooperation, but not both. We have orders to talk her out of infiltration. If she decides on pursuing her plan over taking our cooperation, then we reveal the blackmail and show we're serious by revealing some of it.

"What happens next is determined by how badly Chrysalis needs us. If we're icing on the cake, then a fight may break out. If we're integral then she may back down. I'm hoping that she'll back down. If not, then we dump what we have onto the airwaves to prevent her from taking over the Wasteland and resort to fighting it out. It's a high risk, high reward scenario, but no matter what, we won't have compromised our integrity and we'll have been better than the CPI. We'll have to accept that our job becomes that much harder in the long run if we fail.

"I'll need help developing a counter offer for that scenario.

"If you feel the cost of that is too high, then the other option that I see is to modify our demands so that Chrysalis leaves the casino alone in return for our cooperation. If Chrysalis doesn't cooperate, then we use the blackmail as leverage to keep the casino free. The rest of the operation stays the same. Chrysalis gets the gangsters, we're allied and we're complicit in what she does. If news of our cooperation gets out, then we're in trouble. When we're done, Chrysalis a means to later blackmail us. We could always drop our blackmail later to prevent her from keeping control of the gangs."

Sniper stopped to look around the room. This was a monumentous decision with high stakes, but making those decisions was their entire reason for being.

"The rubber is meeting the road, ponies. Which way do we go?"

[DigoDragon]

"It sounds like integrity means more than anything else, so I'm under the impression cooperating with her is gonna make everyone regret later."

[Miltonian]

Star nods to Sniper. "If you two can keep a united front," she says, "I think showing Chrysalis that we aren't going to be pushed around is good. We need to act now. Quickly. Give us as much time as possible. Because something happens in five days and we need to be there to stop it."

[DigoDragon]

"That's the... Andromeda concert?"

[Miltonian]

Star nods. "That's one thing, yes. But the intel we've recovered so far points to something else going on at the same time. The concert's a distraction, I think."

[DigoDragon]

Star nods. "That's one thing, yes. But the intel we've recovered so far points to something else going on at the same time. The concert's a distraction, I think."

Rose scratches her head. "Someone remind what all the intel is that we have. I've had info overload lately."

[DigoDragon]

Rose slowly sinks back down onto the floor and flops on her side. She couldn't fully grasp this odd concept the others had about morality. Her squadmates didn't like the idea of Chrysalis taking over the gangs and use them as a distraction against the CPI, but somehow no one seemed to have lost sleep over the destruction of the Pacification Protocol and the deaths of possible hundreds of ponies therein? Maybe this was more about Chrysalis than pony lives.

"Nevermind, it's not important right now, Star. Seems that we want the bug queen to play the game our way, so let's just focus on that. We' should get some info on the gangs and how to push them to still play the role of distraction. Freeing their leaders from changeling capture and making them think they owe us one would be a start. Then... well heck, the CPI is a threat to their existence. We could use that nagle to give them incentive to work together to be our distraction. Chrysalis is gonna be mad at this change of plan, but maybe we can convince her to let it work if we sell it as wanting her changelings to come with us at Ashtown. After all, her prize is Hyper Thought. Can't claim your prize if you don't get down there to the facility."

She rolls onto her stomach and folds her forelegs together. "So... let's huddle and see who we can tap for 'phase one' of this before we go light Chryssi's butt in phase two."


Phase 1:
Love - Contact Powder Keg for info on the gangs. Find out their motivations and who their leaders are.
Rose - Go see the newsmare in the brig and see what she knows about the CPI. Ask Cabal for directions there.
Sniper - Contact Night Skye and ask about what he knows of the area, the CPI, etc.
Brazen - Accompany Sniper as per command regulations, join in on the discussion with Night Skye.

Phase 2:
Rose & Sniper - Contact Chrysalis and state the terms of the new plan. Push her to decide for it.
Love & Brazen - Prepare office campsite for possible rioting. Check videos and start tracking who's a changeling infiltrator. Map out paths to the room the replaced gang leaders have been stored in in case we need to force their release.

NPCs to be used as guards or informants to relay messages. We should set up passwords and travel using the buddy system for safety.

[D.KnightSpider]

"If we add these other resources to Wire's information, then we might have a chance." Sniper nodded. "For information recon, let's see, Love has some standing with PK that could yield some more information. There's a News in the brig somewhere that might have some more up to date information. Between the two of them, we should be able to find out if this is a workable idea. Rose, you at lease know what she looks like, so can you head up that one?

"I'll contact Night Sky and make sure that he's on board with this. I can give him a Cliff's Note version of the situation. Brazen and Star, why don't you come with me? Star can help coordinate our communications so that none of our plan's moving parts grind to a halt and the main room could use some fortification in case Chryssi gets hissy. We have civilians to protect."

He took a deep breath. "This might be one of the craziest things we've ever done. And that's saying something."

[DigoDragon]

"Rose, you at lease know what she looks like, so can you head up that one?"

"Sure, I'll do it," Rose responds. "Hey Cabal, which way to your brig? I recall that news mare getting carted off to cool in a cell."



"...the main room could use some fortification in case Chryssi gets hissy."

Rose lets off a playful snort. "Oh the queen will be hissy. Because she's like me and gets annoyed when things don't go the way we plan them. Buuut, hopefully she's also like me and is willing to hold her tongue and go with someone else's plan if it still nets us the prime objective we want."

[Miltonian]

"You know," Cabal says, "If this doesn't work, at least we can say we tried to do things the right way."

"If this doesn't work, we'll all probably be dead or enslaved," Star says with a wry smile, "Suppose you could say we'll be 'Starstruck', and not Love's version. At the very least, this is going to bug the queen."

Cabal nods. "Yes, yes she is. Follow me and I'll show you."

If Rose has no objections, he will lead her down the hall and a set of stairs to a fortified, metal door. "The brig," he says, nodding to the guard on duty. He slides the window open and peers inside. "Oi! Today's your lucky day, punk. Somepony wants to talk to you and they don't look like they want to kill you either."

A surly voice from inside responds. "Well isn't that nice! And I was just seeing if there's a pattern to how the lightbulb in here flickers on and off. But I guess I can tear myself away to talk to whoever this is."

[DigoDragon]

"If this doesn't work, we'll all probably be dead or enslaved," Star says with a wry smile, "Suppose you could say we'll be 'Starstruck', and not Love's version. At the very least, this is going to bug the queen."

And for once in her chaotic, difficult life of conflict and near-death experiences... Rose had no counter-pun.

Maybe the world just died a little on the inside.



A surly voice from inside responds. "Well isn't that nice! And I was just seeing if there's a pattern to how the lightbulb in here flickers on and off. But I guess I can tear myself away to talk to whoever this is."

"My name's Rose. You might remember me from the casino area when you made a grown stallion cry," Rose introduces herself. "I came to you for answers, hoping you can enlighten me about what you know of the CPI."

[D.KnightSpider]

"If this doesn't work, we'll all probably be dead or enslaved," Star says with a wry smile, "Suppose you could say we'll be 'Starstruck', and not Love's version. At the very least, this is going to bug the queen.

"So it's business as usual, then." Sniper remarked. "Before we can put a buzz in the Queen's ear and tick her off, we need to get our prep work done. Let's head out."

He'll lead the way to back to the room, step into the bathroom and put out a call to Night Sky.

[Elbeyon]

Love grimaces for a second at Rose's wording. "The bosses will hopefully agree to tangling reinforcements, so that with their aid we can knock down the abominable factory that threatens us all."

Love nods to Scope, "I'll talk to PK to try to predict some reactions and really refine the pressure points we'll be applying with the bosses."

"It's pretty risky", she agrees with Scope. Love jokes, "The chances of us literally free-falling within the next few hours is non-existent. In a cruel twist of fate the ground is more likely to fall on us." She chuckles.

At Star's words, Love clutches her heart, "She is a really good singer even if she apparently has zero composition ability. We'll have to see how well she does when we force her off script." She chuckles. "Luckily, my starstruck self is already struck with the most wonderful Star."

---

After the meeting wraps up, Love will head to the elevator shaft to plan/work so the ponies don't get too anxious. They'll be free today if they can hold their shirts! She checks in on the engineers and hopes they appreciated her note and gift. She wants to make sure everyone working finishes on a strong note. They should take a little extra time to perform flawlessly, but they can't hold things up too much. Let Down to the Wire's engineering ability be known! These four engineers can handle anything!

When she gets a clean moment, Love internally radios the base of operations to talk to PK. It's a wonder if she'll even be able to get the mare on the radio.

[Miltonian]

Whether the world did or not, it rolls onwards without comment.

"Ah-ha!" the mare inside says, "So you're the one that...okay. Got it. What can I say? He deserved it. And more. A lot more." Her voice almost drops into a snarl. "Don't worry about it. He doesn't deserve any of your sympathy. None of them do."

--------

"Heh. Right you are!" Star declares, "So let's flutter on over and get to work."

Sniper hears the call being answered, but no words come through. He hears movement and breathing on the other end, but nothing resembling a sentence itself.

---------

Powder Keg is not available, but Red Tape is. "I have a very large appreciation for Star," he says, "Working a radio is harder than it seems. What can I do for you?"

[DigoDragon]

"Ah-ha!" the mare inside says, "So you're the one that...okay. Got it. What can I say? He deserved it. And more. A lot more." Her voice almost drops into a snarl. "Don't worry about it. He doesn't deserve any of your sympathy. None of them do."

"Them?" Rose asks. "I'm new to these parts. What can you tell me about these ponies."

[userpay]

Brazen nods. It was the best plan they had and it would hopefully work, it had to. Even if most of it would be babysitting duty. He follows along behind Sniper and leans against the wall outside the bathroom... Unless Sniper wanted him in there as well.

[D.KnightSpider]

In what must be the second most surreal sentence of Sniper's narration, Brazen is allowed into the bathroom.

"Hello?" Sniper queried over the connection.

Possibilities spun through his mind, alongside a feeling that something might have gone very, very wrong.

If no response comes, then Sniper with continue to probe: "Shadow? Is that you? Give me two clicks if it's you."

[Elbeyon]

"Hello!", she says again. "There is a lot to appreciate." Love chuckles over the radio. "Star is very good at what she does."

"I do hope your managing alright. Try not to stress too much. I have confidence in your ability to sort everything out!"

"I need to talk to our wonderful guide, Powder Keg. Could you grab her for me? I need her advise on some wasteland diplomacy."

[Miltonian]

"The other ponies who played the game? The scumbags that got where they are by stepping on everypony else?" the Newsmare says, "Look, this is very disconcerting, talking to somepony through a door. Could you open it and maybe come in? I promise I don't bite."

-----------

Meanwhile, Seafire goes to see if she can fortify the room a bit. Examines angles of attack from the hall, that sort of thing.

Sniper hears a brief pause, and then hears two clicks. Nothing nefarious, just a mute pony trying to figure out how to communicate over the phone.

------------

"Thanks," Red Tape says, "I'll do my best."

"Of course. I'll have...Sgt. Corby! Sgt. Corby, please fetch out guide and bring her here."

"She'll be right along, Lt. We've been having her confirm a lot of the intel you sent us on the gang leaders. So far, it matches up more or less with her observations. She's a bit ticked that you didn't take her with you to the casino."

[DigoDragon]

"The other ponies who played the game? The scumbags that got where they are by stepping on everypony else?" the Newsmare says, "Look, this is very disconcerting, talking to somepony through a door. Could you open it and maybe come in? I promise I don't bite."

Rose looks around to see if there's any guards watching. Or at least a camera. "Yeah, I guess it does seem impersonal. Alright, if you won't bite, I won't bite."

She'll open the door to step inside and close it behind her. "I'm interested in a different kind of group stepping on others, the CPI."

[Elbeyon]

"I appreciate it."

"The document's validity is important though troubling news considering what they contain. Give a special thanks from me to whoever is reading the intel to her."

"Her being ticked seems reasonable."

"I hope Ace has recovered. No one saw through his hoof work."

"Everyone going was impossible. I would have valued her company though."

[D.KnightSpider]

"This is Sniper Scope. I hope you remember us from our visit earlier." Think through the questions to minimize difficulties and maximize information. "Did your cell phone stop working? Two clicks for 'yes', three clicks for 'no'."

The back of his mind noted how utterly ridiculous his name was. While it had always been an annoyance, now, well, there was a strong urge to do something about it. Realization came that he liked 'Longshot'. Sniper frowned. He'd need to sleep on this.

[Miltonian]

Rose slips inside and finds her lounging against the back wall, hat tilted down and forelegs behind her head. All she needs is a strand of hay between her teeth to make the image complete. The mare raises an eyebrow. "The saviors or Windigoes of the Wasteland, depending on who you ask. I take it you're of the latter opinion."

----------

"That would be Wildcat," Red Tape says, "He has the final say on what should and should not be revealed, so he's the one reading it to her."

"Yeah, and he's got a real boring voice to listen to," Powder Keg breaks in, "Monotone. For hours. And he glares if I crack a joke."

-----------

Sniper receives three clicks back.

"Who is it?" Night Skye asks. "Oh?" His voice brightens. "Well hello there, Lt. Sorry about not picking up. I was in the middle of a broadcast. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[DigoDragon]

Rose slips inside and finds her lounging against the back wall, hat tilted down and forelegs behind her head. All she needs is a strand of hay between her teeth to make the image complete. The mare raises an eyebrow. "The saviors or Windigoes of the Wasteland, depending on who you ask. I take it you're of the latter opinion."

Rose sits down wherever and lets out a soft sigh. "I really wish the former, but the CPI is being run by a group that is very dangerous to everyone."

She reaches into her medical bag and pulls out a tiny container holding a minuscule microchip. "What do you know of the chips they put into their soldiers?"

[D.KnightSpider]

A buzz saw filled his vision. Sniper blinked. Great. As if random visions of asphyxiation weren't enough. Pull yourself together, Scope.

"That's perfectly understandable." Sniper bit off a 'sir' and tried to relax. "And since you're on the air, I'll be brief. The Changelings have gotten organized and they're making a play to replace all of the gangsters / warlords. They want to unite and attempt to take control of the Wasteland.

"Wire, of Down to the Wire fame, kept a lot of records of what happened around here. After trying to kill us, he was kind enough to posthumously donate those records to our cause. There's a lot of blackmail material. We're going to approach the Changelings about abandoning their plan and joining our cause, but we need an ace in the hole. If we can't convince them to abandon their plan, then we're going to publish our material to render their plan impossible. They'd be replacing ponies that every pony wants dead.

"We're wondering if you'd be kind enough to broadcast some potentially explosive information if we give you a signal that its necessary."

[Elbeyon]

There is a pause. "That makes a lot of sense now that you say that."

"Powder Keg!", Love says "I've missed that personality!"

"I'm sorry to jump right to business, but I've got some questions that you might be able to help answer. How do the bosses here normally communicate? Are most of them rich enough to have a radio?" That answer shouldn't be too complicated.

"Do you think the bosses", she names a few of the big bosses, "feel threatened enough by the CPI to easily rally them toward that direction? We need to motivate them."

[Miltonian]

"I could go for some chips," she quips, "But, uh, what's this about chips in the soldiers? That's not food, right?"

---------

Night listens closely to Sniper, occasionally muttering something or sighing at the appropriate times. "Send it on over. Ain't nothing I haven't seen before, I'll wager, but some proof would be nice before I broadcast it all over the Wasteland. After this blows over, might send it all off anyway."

---------

"Hey! Good to be missed," Powder Keg says.

"Couriers," she says, "Some of them got radios, but they're not exactly private. Anyone can tune in and hear your conversation. They mostly talk by courier."

"I'd reckon so," she muses, "Problem is, they don't like each other. Each one's gonna want to rub the others out, assimilate their territory, and then take on the CPI."

[DigoDragon]

"I could go for some chips," she quips, "But, uh, what's this about chips in the soldiers? That's not food, right?"

"Nope, each soldier who joins the CPI gets one of these put in the back of their neck. It allows them to talk to each other like walkie-talkies, but it also controls them. Makes them puppets for their master." Rose puts the chip away in her bag. She folds one leg over the other.

"I want to learn how they make these chips work, but to do that I'll need to know where the CPI has outposts. Since news travels through you, I was hoping you might point me in the right direction. Maybe you've heard about upcoming CPI events?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"What you do with the information afterward is your discretion. Although, if this works, it would help if you could hold off on broadcasting anything for a few weeks. Our ideal outcome is that we dissuade the Changelings and then convince the freed gangsters that they owe us enough to unite for a strike at the CPI. If we can work that out, then the CPI will be gone in short order.

"We have independently verified the information. Wire, well, he was sitting on a lot of tech and power. We found the system he was using to spy on every pony and confirmed what he documented. The good news is that no pony has to worry about that system ever again."

Sniper looked at himself in the mirror. There was no room for pony error or weakness. Not when the world was at stake.

Suck it up, buttercup.

[Elbeyon]

"Couriers aren't a bad way to keep things private." There is something good to say benefits of analog security even back in Equestria.

"I'm trying with this information to place all these factions on a map, figure out their territory boundaries, lairs, and which towns each boss tangles. I might be asking a bit too much here." She names a few of the bosses she thinks are more heavily involved with a town to try to jog Keg's memory. "How deeply interconnected are they into their communities? How does the township view these groups? Do you have any relations with these bosses?"

"The CPI is trying to bring everyone to heel, bosses included. How did the Red Scorpions get caught in everything? Do you know of any other gangs, or gangs located in towns that the CPI occupied? You know anything about what happened to them?"

[Miltonian]

"Huh," the mare says, "Well that's news." Truly, Star would be proud of that pun.

She rises and dusts herself off. "Sure, I can help with that. First, proper introductions. I'm called...a lot of things, really. Best to use my name, Atom Bomb. Nice to meet you."

--------

"I can keep a secret. Just need enough time to kick the CPI out, then we can move on to other things," Night agrees, "Though the death of Wire is going to be pretty big news in and of itself. I know a lot of communities that won't be mourning his loss. That part of your information lockdown?"

--------

Powder Keg snorts. "They run the communities. Any boss that doesn't have a personal hoof in the day to day business of her hold isn't worth her salt." She hesitates. "I was out of communication for a few years, you know. So I don't have the best lay of the land. The info you got is more current than most of mine, probably."

"And, uh, all that other stuff varies from town to town. Some love the raiding and the fighting. Others just want to live in peace and make easy targets. I know a few of them, but I'm kinda old news. Not sure if they'd listen."

"We lived right on the border of Equestria. That much you know. But out HQ used to be Ashtown, before we got kicked out of it. I know that place very well."

[DigoDragon]

She rises and dusts herself off. "Sure, I can help with that. First, proper introductions. I'm called...a lot of things, really. Best to use my name, Atom Bomb. Nice to meet you."

"Well, Atom. Again, I'm Rose Croix," Rose reintroduces, getting up to shake the mare's hoof. "I would love to hear what you know. Oh, and afterwords, maybe I can talk to the security chief about letting you out early. you know, scratch your back a bit for your info."

[D.KnightSpider]

A quick review of the situation said: "That information will be impossible to contain. Half the Down to the Wire Staff is ready to leave the moment the elevators are repaired and we're not going to keep them here for the sake of keeping Wire's demise a secret. You can let that be known.

"As far as the staff knows, a new mercenary group known as 'The Crew' showed up at the casino. Wire got paranoid and tried to frame them for the random disappearances plaguing the Wasteland. The Crew objected and things got messy. Wire died, The Crew beat his death traps and freed his slaves. They left the casino under new management and are allying with those standing in opposition to the CPI."

Sniper paused to organize his thoughts.

"You don't have to worry about the random disappearances, either. We took care of that particular bit of black magic. That's what it was."

Okay, Scope, think. Clear the head and try to figure out how to get a quiet message to Vinyl.

[Elbeyon]

Love feels warm and amused at Powder Keg's snort. "I'm not going to bash my guide's expertise", Love transmits a chuckle and jokes, "That's how some pony ends up stranded in the middle of the desert without a guide. Your personal experience and grasp has already been a huge help. Them being in the communities' business reminds me of growing up here, definitely."

"A few of them knowing you might be better than you being unknown if they've got no serious upsets with you. Would you be willing to tell them what you saw the CPI doing? You still saw what you saw no matter what. We need as many witnesses as possible, and our witness list is a little short now."

"Oh, an Ashtown local? You're full of wonderful surprises today."

"You've heard some of the information we got in our boxes. A real mixed bag there. What do you think would happen if Night Skye put all that information over the air?"

[Miltonian]

Atom grins slyly. "Oh it's not so bad in here. Got out of lifting heavy rocks, didn't I?"

"Right, so what you want to know about the CPI is that most of their strength comes from their mobility. They don't leave large garrisons anywhere, just enough to hold off an assault until central command can dispatch reinforcements. They have a few heavy hitters, rumors of some kind of dragon and larger ships, but they tend to use 'dropships' to move troops about for ground assaults."

----------

"Right-o. I will sing your praises from sea to shining sea. Or the 'Crew's praises, I suppose. You'll be the heroes of the Wasteland in no time," Night promises, "Be sure to tune in. It'll bring tears to your eyes."

----------

"Sure thing, love," Powder Keg says, "Can do. Mmm-hmm. Already promised to do whatever I can to help, so you plop me down in front of somepony and I'll give them the whole, sad story."

"Yep! Took it over from some old remnants of the old empire. Then got ousted by 'Equestria'."

"Oh chaos. Absolute chaos. All the gangs would be at each other's throats. Would really shake things up. All the old leaders would end up deposed or lock themselves up in their fortresses and shoot anyone who gets close."

[DigoDragon]

Atom grins slyly. "Oh it's not so bad in here. Got out of lifting heavy rocks, didn't I?"

"Right, so what you want to know about the CPI is that most of their strength comes from their mobility. They don't leave large garrisons anywhere, just enough to hold off an assault until central command can dispatch reinforcements. They have a few heavy hitters, rumors of some kind of dragon and larger ships, but they tend to use 'dropships' to move troops about for ground assaults."

Rose grins at her first comment about the rocks. She hears Atom out on the CPI forces, forming a list of questions.

"Alright, well those dropships have to be parked somewhere for fuel and maintenance. Know of where their hangers are?" Rose asks intently.

[D.KnightSpider]

"There's no other station to which I'd listen. I'm not in it for the praise, but to do the needed dirty work so that others can live a peaceful life." Sniper replied. "If the news gives ponies a rallying point, then I'm all for it."

"When the time comes to negotiate, Love will contact you with the information and let you know whether to release it." Deep breathe. "And, Night, there's one last thing. You're already doing a lot for us, and I want to thank you for that. This last request won't make any difference in our efforts to stop the CPI, it's a personal favor. We've learned that the CPI is holding an Equestrian national prisoner. There's a remote chance that we could get a message of encouragement through to her via radio. If you ever get the occasion to make a comment about missing the original host's sparkle and looking forward to a reunion or homecoming, we'd all appreciate it."

[Elbeyon]

Love swears she can hear her back breaking under these heavy rocks.

"Thanks as always, what you witnessed is important to share", Love simply agrees to Keg telling the truth to everyone.

"That long ago, huh?", Love says sounding troubled by everything that happened years ago. "How much experience do you have with Ashtown's vault? I'd be interesting in hearing more about you and your personal stories with Ashtown. The place has some real interesting history, I'd bet."

"Have any advice on how to motivate the bosses'? These ponies have a lot of differences, and I'd be willing to go over each to try to pinpoint a way to win them over. We have information on what they want already, but if there is a certain way they operate we could appeal to that. We could narrow in on each of them specifically instead of trying to hammer them all together. Make the message slightly more personalized for each."

[Miltonian]

"Ashtown, mostly," Atom says, "Though they've been expanding their territory recently. They always go for the plateaus. Gives them a good view and makes it hard for ground based assaults to reach them."

---------

"And that's why I like you," Night Skye chuckles.

"Sure thing. Though it would be easier if I knew the name of the pony receiving the message," he says, "And the one sending it."

----------

"Alright," Powder Keg says, "Here's what I know..." She gives Love a long, exhaustive list of all the bosses she knew personally. Her take on them, what they respected, and what their general approach was. It's an eclectic lot, but Love quickly comes to understand that they respect strength first and foremost, though not always in the same form. Some prefer strength of presence and presentation, turning away battles with force of personality. Others don't respect anyone who can't stand and take a punch from them.

As for the vault, it was very extensive. The Red Skorpions were in the middle of excavating it, a years-long project, when they were taken. They weren't building new tunnels, merely clearing out the old ones. There's a lot of room down there.

[DigoDragon]

"Ashtown, mostly," Atom says, "Though they've been expanding their territory recently. They always go for the plateaus. Gives them a good view and makes it hard for ground based assaults to reach them."

"Alright, so they got someone with decent tactical experience leading them." Rose thinks for a moment. "Any towns that oppose them? I've heard that the CPI has been forcing ponies to serve, so I imagine several places have had their able-bodied citizens taken from them."

[D.KnightSpider]

"That's where we have to be careful. If the Co-Prosperity Initiative finds out that you're trying to communicate with this pony or that you know she's there, then they'll send much more than a gunship after you. The message can't sound like a message, but an off-hoof comment. The pony it's intended for will understand-- assuming, of course, she even hears it. We're trying to tell her that we're coming for her. That's what matters to us."

Sniper hoped that Vinyl would be discerning enough to keep the message a secret. But given his glimpse of her brashness, he doubted it. Still, Vinyl had given up a lot to get a message to Octavia. The least he could do was return the favor.

[Elbeyon]

Love talks to Powder Keg for a while longer to discuss wasteland diplomacy and the bosses. She asks Keg a litany of probing questions about ways to get the big bosses to work with the EDF. Payment, loot rights, how some treat their targets, working procedure, independence, etc etc. The topic itself seems interesting, but Love tries to interject some personality and sense of humor into the conversation to help ease along the process that might otherwise make Red Tape proud. In the end, she appreciates Keg's hard work. Love says, "Powder Keg, I really would like to chat with you for a while longer, but this is more of a business call, sadly. I need to talk to Red Tape in private about an important matter."

[Miltonian]

"Sure there are," Atom says, "Though not for long. I've seen plenty of towns turn from suspicious conclaves of survivors to rabid CPI supporters overnight. Stirring Words visits and they all fall over themselves to join their cause. Something's off about that guy."

----------

"Copy that. A secret message. Still need to know a bit about the target so I can say something she's likely to get and not anypony else," Night Skye insists gently.

----------

Powder Keg sighs, almost sounding disappointed. "Well...I understand," she says, "Too bad, but I understand. I'll get off now."

Soon, Love is left with Red Tape. He clears his throat. "Yes, Lt.?"

[DigoDragon]

"Sure there are," Atom says, "Though not for long. I've seen plenty of towns turn from suspicious conclaves of survivors to rabid CPI supporters overnight. Stirring Words visits and they all fall over themselves to join their cause. Something's off about that guy."

"I have similar suspicions with Andromeda. Hear she's helping the CPI with recruiting efforts and she gets lines of ponies signing up," Rose says. "course she is a popular singer so maybe that's just the celebrity part of her winning them over. Stirring though? Hmm, he must have a wasteland doctorate in marketing."

She leans to her left. "So, you certainly are knowledgeable in the CPI. Is that just your newspony senses or do you have a backstory with them? Just curious, is all. Info is hard to come by without getting shot so... figure you're a rare opportunity here for me to learn something."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper frowned. It looked like the original details of his request had gotten lost in the shuffle. How could he reiterate this?

"Her real name is Vinyl, although that obviously can't be used. On a personal level, she's very good with old tech even though she's the first in her field. 'Retro', if that word means anything out here. Her work had a certain long lasting sparkle, that word is important, to it and her taste in music is excellent, timeless and classic. There's a family that wants her back safe and sound."

He probed his mind looking for any other details to give. "I don't know her personally, so that's not much else I can tell you on an individual level."

[Elbeyon]

"I'll be looking forward to our next talk!", Love enthusiastically says.

"Here, I'm going to give you some information." Love sends him data containing the plan, outlying their negotiation strategy, bargaining chip, and platitudes. She pauses for him to read the short message then she says, "Commander Wildcat will probably want to see that and curate any information that we'd release."

[Miltonian]

She shrugs. "There's something going on. And I mean to get to the bottom of it."

Atom clams up real quick. "Look, you asked for info. I can give you that. But if you want my whole life story, you're gonna have to buy me a few drinks and put on a nicer outfit than that."

-----------

"Got it," Night says, "I'll do my best."

"Now, I have a request for you, if you're willing to hear it."

-----------

"I will...pass it along," Red Tape says, "Though I do have to question the wisdom of this plan. Even with our...reinforcement, I don't think we can take Ashtown alone. And certainly not in a few days time."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'm all ears. What do you need?" Sniper asked.

[DigoDragon]

She shrugs. "There's something going on. And I mean to get to the bottom of it."

Atom clams up real quick. "Look, you asked for info. I can give you that. But if you want my whole life story, you're gonna have to buy me a few drinks and put on a nicer outfit than that."

Rose chuckles with an awkward look on her face. "Oh my, I didn't mean to put it that way. If I weren't on business though I might just buy those drinks. I suppose that's too broad of a question. Hmm..." She thinks on rewarding her query.

"Do you and the CPI have a history? Seems like they've done something that has you pretty determined to uncover their dirty laundry."

[Elbeyon]

Love transmits a depressed sigh. "It's an all or nothing gamble. Either, we get everything we want, Chrysalis and the bosses' aid, or we get nothing, maybe worse than nothing. The plan is bold and reckless, but I think it maximizes our chances to work with Chrysalis besides giving into her activities. Considering what we've witnessed so far, I don't think we can take Ashtown alone either. If you don't mind, I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I could pass your thoughts along to the others as well."

[Miltonian]

"Well, it goes like this," Night Skye says, "There's a mare that is a good friend of mine. She had a radio and we liked to chat over it. She told me what's going on over closer to Ashtown. When the CPI made itself a presence in the area, she went to ground and hid. But I haven't heard from her recently. I'd like you to check on her."

----------

Atom shrugs. "No more than most. Know a few ponies living over there, etc. I just know they're bad news. The worst kind of news. Like that church. The Daybreakers. Too many smiles. And it turns out I was right." S She grins. "I love being right."

----------

Red Tape sighs. "From a purely results-based standpoint, Chrysalis's initial plan has the greatest chance of success. Assuming, of course, that your goal is to bring down the CPI and capture its leaders. But the problem with that is what happens afterwards. Nothing good. At the same time, any other plan has dramatically reduced chances of success."

[DigoDragon]

Atom shrugs. "No more than most. Know a few ponies living over there, etc. I just know they're bad news. The worst kind of news. Like that church. The Daybreakers. Too many smiles. And it turns out I was right." S She grins. "I love being right."

"Daybreakers.... think I've heard the name before. Not the smiles though. Is that the temple east-ish from here?"

Rose thinks for a moment before she continues. "Let's see... the CPI's airship, Pacification Protocol, crashed and burned. Do you know if they have any other airships like that?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"I can do that; it shouldn't be too hard to sell the idea to our superiors." Sniper replied. "Give me the details and we'll find out what happened to her. What's her name?"

Okay, Scope, this had gone on long enough. Ponies are depending on you. Now stallion up, push past the trauma and get in the zone. The doubt and fear had to go so Sniper hamstrung his worries and began mining his mentality for some determination. Celestia had entrusted him with this mission. Rem depended on him getting his act together. Diamond's future depended on his actions. His duty was clear and he would not falter in it.

[Elbeyon]

"After my conversation, even before, with Powder Keg, the Bosses seemed recruitable against the CPI. Her vouching may mean something as well. If Queen Chrysalis simply agrees with us working alongside the Bosses, not that much will have changed from her plan. I hope she sees that and agrees to work with us towards our shared goal. If she doesn't..." Love transmits a sigh. "That's were our chances of success really drop into the bucket. We need to do everything we can to make sure that Queen Chrysalis agrees to work with us."

[Miltonian]

"Yep. That's them," Atom says, "They give you the whole 'Hello! Hi! How are you?' with big smiles on their faces and then stab you in the chest if you don't 'accept the purifying light of the sun!' Buncha freaks, if you ask me."

"Heard about that," she says, "Only one I know of, so that's their major strike force destroyed."

----------

"Storm Wind. Or Stormwind. Never could tell if it was one word or two. She always talked very fast," Night says, "Which made it hard to understand when talking over the radio." He chuckles. "I can give you her approximate coordinates. She said the door to her hideout was under a rock shaped like a spoon, so that should help you find it."

----------

"I won't stop you," Red Tape says, "But I'll have you know that I still feel a bit leery of all this. Actually, anxious is a much better word."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Storm Wind. Might be one word. Got it." Sniper hesitated for a split second. "It's better than 'Storm Door' at any rate.

"Send along the coordinates. When we get out of here, we'll check it out and report back. With any luck, everything will be alright."

That familiar bad feeling returned. Let it be a false alarm like the previous one.

[DigoDragon]

"Well... At least the fanatics have the decency to not wait until my back is turned."

Rose sits up tall now. "I was there for the airship takedown. That chip I showed you earlier? Every soldier had one. Made them shrug off pain; removed their emotions. Perfect killing machines in pony form. The CPI wants to unify the wasteland, but they seem to do it by removing all ponanity."

[Elbeyon]

"Thank you, sir. I understand the feeling. An all clear list for release would be appreciated before we proceed."

It's difficult to carry on two conversations at once, so Love must be seem quiet compared to yesterday. She has been trying to use the elevator opportunity to make some friends. Love looks around for some random folks to chat up, assuming the call is close to an end, to continue on with that process while she works. The old voice box might as well be getting a work out today alongside her legs.

[Miltonian]

Night Sky lists off some coordinates that are, well, not too far from Ashtown, by plane at least. There is some rough country in between her and Ashtown, but that won't help if the enemy can fly. "Call when you have news. I'll be here."

------

Atom purses her lips. "Right. Course they are. One question left, then. When are we getting out of this dump?"

------

"Get back to you shortly, then," Red Tape says.

Love is able to stir up conversation, but most ponies are focused on getting this last blockage clear.

Please roll an engineering or architect skill, Elbeyon.

[DigoDragon]

Atom purses her lips. "Right. Course they are. One question left, then. When are we getting out of this dump?"

"Likely by the afternoon I imagine," Rose answers. "In fact, I should check on that because I'm sure there's gonna be a stampede for the exit and the elevator is being held together with duct tape. Well, it's been an informative conversation, Atom. I will let security know you have been quite behaved so they can let you out sooner than later."

If there's nothing else, Rose will leave.

[userpay]

Well thus far there hadn't been any loud noises from inside so Brazen assumes things are going well. Seeing Seafire start to fortify the room however the earth pony moves to help. "Right, almost forgot about. Need to make sure this place is ready for hell to happen..."

[D.KnightSpider]

"As soon as I know something, you'll know something." Sniper replied.

Provided there was nothing else, Sniper will conclude the call. Then put out a message to the team: "Night Skye is on board. Asked us to check up on a friend of his when we're free. Ready to do this."

[Elbeyon]

Love focuses on lifting a rock or taking a drink when she texts the group, "Talked to Powder Keg. The bosses' are fairly integrated into the communities around here. She is confident we can win over the Bosses' support against the CPI and gave me some good advice. She is willing to provide witness against the CPI for them as well. Red Tape is nervous about our plan, but he is green lighting which information we release over the radio. PK wasn't even getting the full debrief on everything. Do we still want me to head down to central heating or the radio room?"

[DigoDragon]

Rose's Team Text reads, "Finishing up with Atom, our newspony. Seems we took out their flag airship. CPI uses drop ships to move troops and outposts on plateaus."

[Miltonian]

Atom tips her hat. "See you round." And with that, the interview is over. Time for Rose and Sniper to reconvene and go talk to Chrysalis. Also, treat Pins. Maybe do both at once. Up to them really.

Seafire and Brazen pool their tactics knowledge in preparation for the worst.

Love waits on instructions. But the construction job will still take some time. Plenty for a conversation or two.

[DigoDragon]

Rose texts Sniper, "Hey, where do you want to meet up for this Chrysalis call? Gotta get on that soon since the exit should be done today."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I can meet you at Pins and Needles' room." Sniper texted to Rose.

He'll escort Octavia to the Maybe Safe Room and hurry back to the Super Changeling Bros.

[DigoDragon]

Rose thinks she remembers where the changelings' room was and heads there.

[Miltonian]

Octavia looks up sharply when he enters, but does not protest to being led away.

Nopony is going to stop them from heading to their destination. Rose and Sniper meet up in front of the door, ready to knock when they should so desire.

[DigoDragon]

Nopony is going to stop them from heading to their destination. Rose and Sniper meet up in front of the door, ready to knock when they should so desire.

As nopony can stop her (http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/502/037/5c5.gif), Rose knocks on the door once Sniper is with her. She gives the door a firm rapp-a-tatt-tatt.

"House call for Pins," Rose calls out.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Love passed along your condition. We're here for a follow up visit." Sniper added.

[Miltonian]

"Again?" Dagger groans, "When will these blasted ponies go and leave us alone?"

"Should I...?" Needles asks.

"YES! ANSWER THE DOOR, IDIOT!"

Pins opens the door, a sheepish grin on his face. "Hello!"

[DigoDragon]

Pins opens the door, a sheepish grin on his face. "Hello!"

Rose isn't sure about who the females are, but she recognizes Pins and Needles. "Hello, Pins. Love asked me to check on your injury to ensure it doesn't get infected."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Sounds like she has a rough night. Or a long one." Sniper commented. "Perhaps we should repeat history and relocate to our old room? It would be quieter for Cloak and Dagger, and it would give us space to talk."

Provided there are no objections, Sniper will lead the way to the old room.

[DigoDragon]

Provided there are no objections, Sniper will lead the way to the old room.

Rose will have no objections.

[Miltonian]

"And back to this place," Pins says, stepping in behind them, "I seem to be coming here a lot lately."

He sits down and clears his throat. "So...should I get on the bed? I feel like I should get on the bed."

[DigoDragon]

"And back to this place," Pins says, stepping in behind them, "I seem to be coming here a lot lately."

He sits down and clears his throat. "So...should I get on the bed? I feel like I should get on the bed."

"I'm sure you've gotten all around this casino. I know how busy changelings are these days; places to go, ponies to impersonate," she say with a bit of wit. Good humor aside, Rose will motion for him to sit on the bed so she can examine him.


Physician [roll0] vs. 16
Diagnosis [roll1] vs. 14

[D.KnightSpider]

"And while Rose is doing the doctor bit, I need you to tell Chrysalis that we have news for her." Sniper said. "She'll want to hear it as soon as possible."

[Miltonian]

Rose has got this down. The medical check-up is easy for her. Pins is in no danger under her gentle hooves. She staves off infection for another day.

Pins looks surprised. "Alright. Give me a minute here." He does his best to get Chrysalis' attention with Rose attending to him, but either she is trying to ignore them or is busy with other things, because it takes a bit for him to respond. "She's listening. What did you have to say?"

[DigoDragon]

"She's listening. What did you have to say?"

"Dear Queen Chrysalis," Rose says in a dictation sort of way, "We appreciate the opportunity to work together in order to bring down Hyper Thought and dismantle his machinations. However, we will be taking over the operation because we feel the infiltration and subsequent misinformation of wasteland gang leaders is not the way to properly conduct this war. The EDF acknowledges that it is a workable plan, but the subsequent loss of the gang leadership will greatly destabilize the region, a result we wish to avoid as the ensuing conflict will be protracted and take resources away from the pursuit of Polaris."

Rose leans over so that Pins can see her. "So here's what we're doing. We're going to 'pretend' we rescued the gang leaders from their imprisonment and encourage them to work with us (through guile and bribery if necessary) to attack several key CPI outposts as your plan originally called for. The CPI is a mutual threat to all gangs so they will be enlightened to our call to arms. This frees up your infiltrators to work with us at Ashtown's vault in order to get past their security and capture Hyper Thought together."

[D.KnightSpider]

Well... that could certainly be called 'aggressive negotiations'.

"In short, we're willing to work with you but not at the cost of deceiving the populous." Sniper said. "I would also like to apologize in advance for any discomfort Chrysalis' reactions cause, Pins."

[Miltonian]

Pins cringes, crouching down and preparing for the worst. But he blinks and looks surprised. "U-um, Queen Chrysalis is...she's...crying," he says, "But she's...happy? I...I don't..." He takes a deep breath. "She says she is very proud of you both. You're standing up for yourselves and planning things out much like she would in your position. But also that you're both idiots and we need to go with her plan."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'm afraid you misunderstand. Both of you."

Sniper set himself. It would be easy to tuck in behind Rose and let her take the lead, but then he never prove himself. He was going to take ownership.

"Wire left some very detailed records of who killed whom in the Wasteland. It's really nasty stuff that you don't want to read before bedding down for the night. If it were ever to be published, then it'd be open season on every gangster and warlord in the Wasteland." Sniper shrugged. "Does Chrysalis have access to a radio? I hear that Night Skye might have some very interesting things to say if certain plans aren't adjusted to accommodate our requirements."

"This is where my apology becomes applicable." Sniper informed Pins.

[DigoDragon]

"I dunno, Sniper, what we have might be a juicy bedtime story for Chrysalis," Rose says. "Speaking of blackmail, we're quite aware that you are attempting to replace certain individuals here at this casino. The casino is under out protection, so here's what you're going to do."

"You will recall your infiltrators from the casino and the gang leaders. We let them walk out of here, alive and well, and we'll rendezvous in a few days for our joint-assault on Ashtown. We've identified who your spies are and who they're impersonating, so if you rather do this the hard way, we can certainly take them all down. Sure, it'll be a messy fight, but you've seen what we're capable of at Tartarus station. This is cakewalk compared to that scenario. And additionally, us going at Ashtown without you means you won't get your pretty hooves on Hyper Thought. I know you've been looking forward to slowly peeling his hoof nails back, savoring each scream from his dry lips as you slowly torture him. The reverberance of his cries for mercy echoing throughout your hive as you lay down to sleep at night..."

[Miltonian]

Pins doesn't respond. He shifts nervously, moving from hoof to hoof. He clears his throat. "She's not responding," he says, "I...I don't know what to tell you."

Then he blinks. "Oh. She just laughed. Um...okay. She says she's calling your bluff. And asks you how you plan to deal with Ashtown's defenses without her infiltrators sabotaging them for your assault."

[DigoDragon]

Then he blinks. "Oh. She just laughed. Um...okay. She says she's calling your bluff. And asks you how you plan to deal with Ashtown's defenses without her infiltrators sabotaging them for your assault."

"Our plan B are the CPI agents we've turned to our side. It'll be a tougher infiltration, but they have knowledge on those defenses we can exploit."

[D.KnightSpider]

The old axiom still applied: when Chrysalis started asking probing questions, it was time to shut her down. Sniper wasn't going to give up control of the conversation that easily.


"I have the distinct feeling that we're not being taken seriously."

His hoof went to his webbing and retrieved Wire's little black book of secrets. He opened it to an entry on one of the smaller warlords and read several paragraphs of information. When the account ended, Sniper closed the book and tapped his communicator.

"Now, do I need to have Night Skye broadcast that information? Love's got him on the phone. All we have to do is say the word and you have one less leg upon which to stand."

[Miltonian]

"She says that's a horrible plan B and you should feel ashamed of yourself for suggesting it," Pins says to Rose, "For one, it will fail. For two, those agents will never be accepted back into the CPI's ranks without some major vetting. And for three, you're smarter than that."

Sniper's information is absorbed without comment. Pins blinks. "Um, she says this is getting tedious. One moment." He straightens and breathes out. When he breathes back in, his eyes remain open and unblinking. A voice not like his own but not quite Chrysalis' comes out instead.

"Do that," she says, "And you only put the Wasteland in the same state that I will. If your threat is to do the same thing I was already planning to do, only at the most inconvenient time and doom us all in the process, then you are fools."

"Besides, you can't release that information! Who will work with you if there's suddenly a massive gang war spreading across the Wasteland? Honestly, that will simply give the CPI more power as communities turn to them for safety from the marauding bands of raiders roaming about."

[DigoDragon]

"What does it matter if our agents will be accepted back to the CPI ranks or not? When Ashtown is compromised and we capture Hyper Thought, the CPI is going to collapse," Rose argues. She glances at Sniper about doing the same state to the wasteland Chrysalis is doing. Does Sniper have a plan here?


Rose texts Love, "Can you make it cold? Bug queen hates our plan so we need to raise the stakes."

[D.KnightSpider]

Glad to know that miscommunications weren't limited to intra-EDF matters. Sniper absorbed Rose's look while pondering whether to straighten out the misunderstanding or let it stand.

"That being the case, Chrysalis, it's time to start asking yourself about the ponies holding the game over button. Are we crazy and stupid enough to push it?"

The old rules applied. Don't play defense. Don't surrender control of the situation. Keep on the attack. He set himself and doubled down.

"All of this goes away if you let us recruit the leaders of their own free well. No deception. No tricks."

[Miltonian]

"Because," Chrysalis says, slowly, like speaking to a foal, "They won't do you any good at disabling Ashtown's defenses if they aren't accepted back. Do I need to use smaller words, Rose?"

She snorts. "I believe you're crazy enough to push it. I also know that, if you do that, the world's doomed anyway and I'll be tracking you down to teach you the meaning of pain. You can't get past Ashtown's defenses without me. So really, you should be accommodating me, not the other way around."

Her eyes narrow. "If you proceed with your plan," she says, "And offer them a chance to help 'of their own free will', it will fail. And we will all die. That is the simple fact of the matter. You will have to accept that my plan is the only one that will work. If you don't, then we can all spend the next four and a half days getting very mad at each other and shooting each other on sight."

[DigoDragon]

Rose stands close to Pins. "Chrysalis, you were kept in a little prison box for a very long time. A lot of things have changed since your confinement; We've developed computers, space fight, artificial intelligence... but the one thing that has remained unchanged in all these years is that friendship is still the magic that unifies us all. If it were just me, I would of just gone with your plan and be at the bar now doing shots with a pretty zebra I met."

"But it isn't just me. I have my teammates with me. We have allies we've made here. We have a wasteland full of ponies that need us to stop Hyper Thought. We cannot deceive and cheat everyone we meet to reach our goal. We cannot destroy their home just to catch Hyper Thought. We're here to save these ponies. What are we fighting for if we ruin the world just to do things the easy way? What all these poor ponies want is to be accepted by others. To have a friend they can trust. That is why so many ponies go to the CPI. They want that chance to find some acceptance. If we trick the gangs into this fight and destroy the CPI, destroy themselves... there's only chaos in this wasteland. I believe in my teammates plan to befriend these gangs and work together."

Rose leans closer to Pins. "And, I believe we can make this plan work together. You say you don't believe in friendship, but you know there's power there. Our friendship had stopped you on Tartarus. Our Friendship had stopped Polaris' attack on Twilight. We're going to do this plan our way and you are either going to help us or get out of our way. But I want you to with us. If you and the changelings join us together to do this wasteland a solid, then the changelings have a chance to not need to hide anymore from ponies, just like the changelings back home in Equestria."

He horn lights up and she creates the illusion of Starlight Glimmer beside her. Starlight stands there looking solemnly at Pins.

"There was once a pony that reached out to you, because she believed in you. Believed that you could come to understand what friendship was. I want you to know she isn't the last pony who thinks that. Yes, this plan is harder than yours, and it sounds dumb. But... if we pull this off, things are going to be so much better not just for the wasteland, but for you and your new hive."

Rose holds out her hoof. The Starlight illusion does so as well. "This is your second chance, Chrysalis. All those years alone. Won't you give friendship one more chance?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Oh dear sweet Celestia, please tell him that Rose wasn't going to--

And she did...

Chrysalis had betrayed every one of his expectations thus far. Sniper prayed she would do so again.

[Miltonian]

Pins waits. He waits and waits and waits. Then, he frowns. "I don't hear her," he says, "Not only that, I don't feel her. She...disconnected."

He looks at Rose, suspicion in his eyes. "Who is that? That mare you conjured up?"

He stiffens and Chrysalis' voice returns, dark, dangerous, and hateful. "Rose," she hisses. She says nothing else, but she does not need to. The weight of her fury is carried in that word.

[D.KnightSpider]

"I hate to ask this and I know I'm not supposed to, but I'm going to anyway."

Sniper stepped between the two.

"Rose, could you give the two of us a moment alone?"

The situation had just gone critical.

[DigoDragon]

"This pony was known as Starlight Glimmer," Rose says, pointing to the illusion. She dismisses it and turns to Sniper. "And no, I'm not leaving you alone. Commander's orders."

Rose sits her plumb butt down. "A long time ago, Starlight journeyed to meet up with Chrysalis in the name of friendship. She believed that there was good in the queen. But Polaris impersonated Starlight before she could get there and attacked Chrysalis before fleeing into hiding. When the real Starlight arrived, Chrysalis, thinking she was under attack again, killed Starlight."

"Polaris tricked the queen into killing the one pony that would gable everything for her. It's a tragedy and no amount of justice could ever make up for that. But the story doesn't have to end there," Rose says, punctuating the last few words with her hooves together. "I'm serious, Chrysalis! I risked my career for you. I defended you. And even though I know you used me to escape prison, I still believe somewhere deep down in your soul you want a second chance at a real friend! Yes, it must bucking hurt in your heart what Polaris did to you, but don't throw away the possibility to have real friends. To feel what it's like to be valued without coercion."

[Miltonian]

Chrysalis weathers Rose's verbal assault without words, either of protest or anger. Pins sits up straight and stiff, imitating her posture as best he can. She waits, with eerie, disquieting patience, for Rose to fully exhaust her arguments before replying.

"I..." Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, chokes. Her teeth clench and her words come in a low hiss. "How much of me would remain, hmm? Answer me that. Would it be me? Or something else that's taken my place while I share the fate of Nightmare Moon?"

[DigoDragon]

"I..." Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, chokes. Her teeth clench and her words come in a low hiss. "How much of me would remain, hmm? Answer me that. Would it be me? Or something else that's taken my place while I share the fate of Nightmare Moon?"

"The fate of Nightmare Moon is Princess Luna. She's the same pony, but she is now someone without the jealousy of her sister. Just as you'd be the same Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, but a royalty without the anger and pain inside," Rose answers.

[D.KnightSpider]

"That's... not entirely true."

If they were going to go down this road, then Sniper had little choice but to follow-- Rose's convenient adherence to orders be banished. He wished that more groundwork could have been laid, however. Trying to do this half-cocked increased the chances of disaster.

"The middle part, I mean. Not the statements on either end. The darkness, evil, negativity or whatever you want to call it, never fully goes away. It's a part of you. But it doesn't have to rule you. There are good parts to you, Chrysalis. They're just buried beneath all the anger, fear and guilt. It's a cycle without end.

"I know what I'm talking about. Most of my life, I lived in fear and anger of who I was. I hated myself. But here's the thing, that anger and hatred never made things any better. The more I held on to them, the less control over them I had..And they led me to lash out and hurt those around me, which created more anger and guilt, which caused more trouble controlling myself.

"I wish I could say that those parts of me are gone, but they're not. I'm not sure that they ever will given some things that I know. But they don't have to control me. I don't have to live in the misery that they cause. I've discovered that I can experience the good things in life and there's nothing wrong with that."

Sniper shook his head.

"The last time we met, I tried to show you the acceptance that I craved, Chrysalis. I wanted to show you glimpses of how things could be. No matter what happens, no matter how often we get put on opposite sides, I'll still do that. There's a better way to live, Chrysalis. But I won't try to force that way on you. I can't change you. Rose can't change you. No pony from the past can make you change, so its wrong of me to try. The only pony who can change you is you.

"And since you're the only pony who can change, whatever pony you change into will be you. The darkness may never fully evaporate from your soul, and you may have to struggle against it at times, but open relationships with others help and make it easier. They make us want to change for the better. Not because we have to, but because we want to.

"It's your choice Chrysalis. No pony can make you take it. But it's the only choice that will end your torment. Torment that you don't deserve."

[DigoDragon]

Rose beams with the confidence of the sun. "I stand corrected; all emotions do live inside all of us. But it is as Sniper says. You don't have to let your anger and pain control you. You are the master of your own fate. Friends support you and lend you the strength to conquer that fate."

[Miltonian]

"You know what happens when a changeling 'reforms'," Chrysalis snaps, though there's an edge there. A brittle, fraying edge. "Lights flash and they are something else. We're different, different than before! Is that the original? Or is it someone new stepping out of their skin like a molted carapace?"

She takes a deep breath. "This is not what we should be discussing," she says, "We were discussing your insane, doomed plan to unite the Wasteland in an attack on the CPI. The Wasteland. Your magic of friendship was burned out of this miserable place. You cannot in all seriousness expect me to believe that the gang leaders will unite!"

[DigoDragon]

"Their body changes, but it's still them. Like caterpillar to butterfly, you're evolving into something greater."

"As as for the gangs, so long as there are ponies who want to better their fellow neighbors, there will always be friendship. Even in the wasteland," Rose says. She swishes her tail to the opposite side. "But let's put aside the power of friendship. The gangs share a common enemy in the CPI. Gangs are always comprised of like-minded folks who just want a place to belong. The CPI threatens to destroy that sense of belonging to make conformed automatons out of them. Yes, they will band together because the alternative is to surrender their freedom."

She gives Sniper his moment to speak and quietly texts Love to hold the cold a moment. With an apology.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Back on Tartarus, there was a Changeling plugged into the main frame. Bristle, I think his name was. For the most part, he looked like a loveless Changeling. All black and venom. But there was some orange on his shell. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22336488&postcount=1274) Not much, but some. The implication I received is that he was a pastel who reverted back to his old nature."

Sniper brought the memory back to mind and studied it for a moment.

"Which would imply that, yes, he was who he was. While his exterior changed, those internal thoughts and emotions that made him who he was were all still present. The fact that the Royals can still fall after all this time also implies that their inner core doesn't change. We are who we are. It's a question of whether we let the darkness within us reign."

He stretched his neck to work out a crick and then looked at Chrysalis/Pins.

"If you want to get back to the task at hoof, I'd like to make a proposition."

[Miltonian]

"Implications without certainty are useless," Chrysalis says coldly.

"I don't believe they have the foresight to set aside their differences," Chrysalis says, "But if you have a concrete plan to do it, I suppose I could hear it out."

[D.KnightSpider]

Time to throw a long range pass and hope for the best. Sniper took a deep breath to steady his nerve and then continued.

"Give us the chance to prove you right. Let us try to recruit the gangsters of their own free will. We have outside verification. We know that it's a mix of motivations and egos. The fact that we negotiated their release would help us make inroads with the more pacifist gangsters. That we can take on the CPI will help with the more aggressive ones.

"If we fail, then you're proven right and we'll cooperate with your plans. We can set up a bottleneck outside the holding room so that any ponies who try to leave negotiations are an easy capture for your Changelings. You'll have no interference from our end during the raid on Ashtown. If we succeed, then the attack still proceeds as planned."

[DigoDragon]

"Either way is a win, but the beauty of our plan is it puts to the test the power of Friendship. Wouldn't you like to see just how strong those bonds could be?"

[Miltonian]

"No, no I don't want to test that," Chrysalis says, "But I recognize that you will not agree to my plan until you get to try yours first. And since mine will not work without you and you cannot win without me, we need to work together. And so, we will try yours and when it fails we will go with mine."

[D.KnightSpider]

"That's the agreement." Sniper replied. "And that's what we'll abide by. If you'll put word out to the Changelings, then we'll quirk with them to set up the test. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to try the right way first."

His plan for handling a chaotic, Changeling infested Wasteland was the same as for pushing the Game Over Button: 'Don't screw up so bad that you have to.'

[DigoDragon]

"And since mine will not work without you and you cannot win without me, we need to work together. And so, we will try yours and when it fails we will go with mine."

"The chance to enact our plan is all we ask, you majesty," Rose says with a small bow. She adds in a softer tone, "And if it fails, you can surely gloat to Princess Twilight about it."

[Miltonian]

"Then do so," Chrysalis says, "I...will be watching."

And then, she is gone. Pins blinks and slumps forward. "I really don't like doing her voice."

[DigoDragon]

And then, she is gone. Pins blinks and slumps forward. "I really don't like doing her voice."

"Well, looks like we're on the clock for step 2 on this plan, Snipes."

Rose leans close to Pins and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. "That's for putting up with us using you as a radio. You have my gratitude."

Rose is ready to go when Sniper is.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Sorry, Pins. We can schedule another round of cards to make up for it."

Not that he was looking forward to the prospect, but what could be done?

At Rose's suggestion, he inclined his head toward Pins. "I don't think we have too far to go. Pins, you already know us, would you mind introducing us to the other Changelings? We'll need to work with them to make this scheme work."

Sniper looked at Rose. "Do you want to message the team or should I?"

[DigoDragon]

Sniper looked at Rose. "Do you want to message the team or should I?"

"Already on it, Longshot."

Rose texts EDF, "Chrysalis gave us one chance to make out plan work. Get your game faces on, ponies!"

[Elbeyon]

Love texts back to everyone, "Both of you are amazing! Great work! Thank you for treating Pins!"

"Let's see: We should get PK ready on the radio. Cabal should be there to represent DW and her security. I should grab a local projector or TV for our slide show."

"Rose, how'd the News talk go? Is she reliable enough to bring with us? PK may be enough as is without introducing an unknown element."

[DigoDragon]

"Rose, how'd the News talk go? Is she reliable enough to bring with us? PK may be enough as is without introducing an unknown element."

"She... isn't fond of the CPI and wants to uncover dirt on them. Potentially an ally."

[Miltonian]

Pins coughs and pats his chest. "Bleh, need some water. No problem." He nods to Sniper. "Yeah. I can call them all up." He heads for the door. "Meet me in storage room 3 in, say, half an hour? Give us time to slip away unnoticed."

[DigoDragon]

"Storage bay 3, half an hour. Okay."

Rose waits until Pins is out of the room before speaking to Sniper. "That went well for what it was. I feel like a dog that just caught its first car though."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Already on it, Longshot."

Blink.


"Rose, how'd the News talk go? Is she reliable enough to bring with us? PK may be enough as is without introducing an unknown element."

Sniper replied: "I'm unsure if that's a good idea. My impression is that she's hostile to aggressive factions and she might undermine us just to stick it to the gangsters."


"Rose waits until Pins is out of the room before speaking to Sniper. "[COLOR="#800080"]That went well for what it was. I feel like a dog that just caught its first car though."

"Either way this falls, we can cover the bet. Now it just comes down to fulfilling our friendship orders on an accelerated time table. In that regard, no thing's changed." Sniper shrugged. "The most I feel is empty, but that's fairly standard.

"We should go help Love get set up."

[DigoDragon]

"Either way this falls, we can cover the bet. Now it just comes down to fulfilling our friendship orders on an accelerated time table. In that regard, no thing's changed." Sniper shrugged. "The most I feel is empty, but that's fairly standard.

"We should go help Love get set up."

"Empty? Yeah, I guess an unmitigated *itch like me has been very unfair to your feelings. Well, I did my best to be a team player. Not for like, lip service, I mean I am wholly committed to the high road here. You heard the way Chryssi sounded. I felt, for just a moment, that we saw past her mask. Anyway..." Rose gives Sniper a quick hug and then gets up to follow him. "I'll buy you an O'Douls when we get back home. Let's go make this plan happen."

[D.KnightSpider]

"It's not entirely you. I'm reaching the point wherein I'm no longer making myself feel things because I'm supposed to feel them." Sniper waved a hoof. "This isn't some written work wherein I have to react in a conventional manner. If my reactions don't fit into the normal expectations, then I don't care any more.

"This was going to be a step in our plan no matter what we did. So reaching it doesn't phase me much. Although, I am starting to agree with you. I put a bit too much emphasis on the long term. I need to consider the short term as well."

He paused at Rose's offer for a moment, then resumed his forward Stride.

"If we survive this, then I'll take you up on that."

[DigoDragon]

"It's not entirely you. I'm reaching the point wherein I'm no longer making myself feel things because I'm supposed to feel them." Sniper waved a hoof. "This isn't some written work wherein I have to react in a conventional manner. If my reactions don't fit into the normal expectations, then I don't care any more.

Rose nods, understanding his platform. Don't have to react emotionally to everything. He isn't Rose. Heh... awkward...



"This was going to be a step in our plan no matter what we did. So reaching it doesn't phase me much. Although, I am starting to agree with you. I put a bit too much emphasis on the long term. I need to consider the short term as well."

"If we survive this, then I'll take you up on that."

"It's a complex dance for sure," she says, following alongside him. "So now we hit this meeting and work our honey words on the gangs. I feel we should also update Cabal on the plan. Would you like me to tell him before we take to the storage room?"

[userpay]

Brazen puts his back into fortifying the room. It's not much, and it's boring work, but it's something to do while the others work their verbal 'magic'. His verbal magic just made ponies angry unless it involved the chin. He can't help but grin though as the good news comes through. "Ah can't help but wonder how many heads will turn back home if we manage to pull this off?"

[DigoDragon]

"Ah can't help but wonder how many heads will turn back home if we manage to pull this off?"

Rose radios back, "Enough to give us the Medal of Honor, I guess?"

[Elbeyon]

Love texts back, "Roger! We'll keep News withheld until her information verification contribution is more valuable than the trouble of her opposition. Wasn't she drunk last night though? He tongue might be more reasonable today."

"Somepony besides me should be able to set up the radio's the way I'm imagining. We simply need a pair of walkie talkies, one by DW's large radio output and one for us to carry. It'll be a more wasteland style than use pulling out a comm device. Thoughts?"

"I'll go see about grabbing a projector. I'm not sure if they have a TV up here, but I could go downstairs for one."

[Elbeyon]

Love will track down Cabal to ask him for permission to grab/check out the projector on the main floor. She'll also want her earbud back for the upcoming meeting with the bosses, so the team can easily communicate. Ah, and they could use a pair of walkie talkies to key off the main radio, so PK has a voice. Negotiations look like a real possibility. Rose and Scope know the details of what happened with the Queen if he is interested, but she needs to hurry things along to get things done in a timely manner. She only needs to borrow the stuff. Everything will be returned.

[DigoDragon]

Rose will meet or contact Cabal and let him know how their meeting with Chrysalis went.

The teal deer is that Chrysalis grudgingly gave the team a chance to convince the various gangs here in the casino to band together against the CPI. If it succeeds, great! We will go with attack plans for Ashtown later in the week. If this fails, then we concede to Chrysalis' original plan to replace the gang leaders to trick them into working together. Gonna meet with the changelings and make the exchange in 20 minutes in storage bay three.

[Miltonian]

Cabal grudgingly gives Love permission to steal the projector. He's much more willing to hand over his comm and gives her the requested walkie talkies.

Rose's arrival is a welcome change and he accepts the explanation with...only slight trepidation. "If it fails," he says, "How will you keep them from leaving and get them back into the pods?"

[DigoDragon]

"If it fails," he says, "How will you keep them from leaving and get them back into the pods?"

"I have no idea. I'd guess the changelings will think of such a Plan B. Maybe replace them when they go to pee after the meeting. Whatever that is, I'll let you know if it happens. However, I'm feeling confident we can pull this off. The CPI is a real threat and all we have to do is sell that."

[Elbeyon]

Love thanks him! She notices his reluctance to let the expensive machine go and promises him she'll do everything she can to treat his baby right. She'll make good on her assurances!

Scope needs his earbud, so she'll pass that off to him next time they see each other.

The radios still needs to be set up.

She will go check the projector and see what she can do to get it to display their video or pictures.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper will accept the earbud from Love and fill her in on the overall situation. He'll stick by Rose, however. Along the way the security feed from the cameras is pinned to his HUD. What are you up to, little Changelings?

"We're on our way to figure that out." Sniper informed Cabal. "Most likely it will involve setting up a choke point and ambushing them as they leave. With any luck, we won't need to turn them back over to Chrysalis."

[DigoDragon]

"Right so, we'll keep you in the loop. Keep the peace and we'll do our best to get these negotiations won."

[Miltonian]

"Best of luck," Cabal says, not much hope in his voice.

The projector is a simple projector. It will put out whatever Love puts in.

And they move onto the appointed meeting place. Sniper has noticed quite a few ponies go in and out of there, but when they arrive, it is seemingly abandoned. No guards at the door, just a mare looking at them quizzically from down the hall as she sits and reads a book.

[DigoDragon]

Rose looks around, then steps into the room. She only takes a few steps and waits to see if maybe there's a method to this.

[Elbeyon]

Love is not overly happy with the agreement, a ball of stress in her cheek, but she will have to accept what deal was arranged and simply make sure that they don't fail. Failure is not an option.

She stands at the storage room door with the projector on a cart nearby her. Love is very much in her 'wasteland' coat and is prepared as she can be without showing she is prepared. The door gets another look over by her, and she watches Rose enter. Her goggles are stashed partly exposed so she has limited access to her hyperspectral vision.

[D.KnightSpider]

Before entering the room, Sniper took a moment to play 'Are You A Changeling?' with the far off mare.

Observation
[roll0] VS 16

[Miltonian]

Stepping into the room is...not that bad, actually. Any expectations of webbing everywhere, a horrid stench, and things that glow green is cast by the wayside and replaced with crates. Lots and lots of crates. Ponies stand here and there. They look up, but don't seem disturbed by the EDF's entrance. In the middle are Pins and Needles, reunited once more.

Sniper is fairly certain the mare outside was a changeling. Furthermore, he's confident all the ponies in this room are disguised changelings.

[D.KnightSpider]

"I think we found the right place." Sniper muttered.

"Pins, Needles" He greeted the Changeling Bros. "What's the scoop? Am I correct in assuming that the ponies are in the crates?"

He took a look over the area, sizing it up.

Tactics
[roll0] VS 16 (13 Skill +2 Software +1 Extra Time)

[Elbeyon]

Love walks around to grab the cart and allows her goggles to get a good view of all the ponies in the room.

"Yep!", Love silently whispers into their comms.

She starts moving things inside after everyone else. "Needles. Pins", she says with a smile and nod toward them.

[DigoDragon]

"So, how much are these ponies gonna remember when they come to?" Rose asks.

[Miltonian]

"Yep," Needles says, "Packed away nice and easy. Sleeping in cocoons. Probably dreaming of murdering each other or something." He smiles back at Love.

Pins clears his throat. "Well...that's a tricky question, Rose. Things will be fuzzy for them. The few minutes before they will captured are gonna have a dream-like quality, if they remember them at all. So your best bet is to convince them it was all a dream or something."

There are a lot of changelings here and the crates are stacked in a way that could be seen as a barricade. If forced to a retreat, this is likely one of the changelings' fallback points. It would be hard to dislodge them, too.

[DigoDragon]

Pins clears his throat. "Well...that's a tricky question, Rose. Things will be fuzzy for them. The few minutes before they will captured are gonna have a dream-like quality, if they remember them at all. So your best bet is to convince them it was all a dream or something."

"Hmm, it would be grand if we can convince them of that to keep you changelings blameless. That way we can paint you all more heroically at Ashtown for the wasteland to go easier on your lot. Let's see... Maybe the cover was a series of gas traps that knocked them out?" She looks to her squad if they like the idea.



There are a lot of changelings here and the crates are stacked in a way that could be seen as a barricade. If forced to a retreat, this is likely one of the changelings' fallback points. It would be hard to dislodge them, too.

Rose now understands why Love worships at the Church of the Holy Gas Grenade. Maybe Rose should convert.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Whether we could convince them it was a dream would depend on how much and often they'd been emotion drained." Sniper invited the Changelings to share that bit of information. "And whether we could get them out of the cocoons, transported elsewhere and/or clean up the cocoon mess before they woke up."

He mulled over the situation for a moment. "It introduces a lot of requirements that would easily undermine any cover story. I'm not a fan of deception in the first place, but I'll yield to what the squad thinks is best."

[DigoDragon]

"The best thing to do then, is not address the story," Rose says. "We found them, we freed them, and we'd like their cooperation on a job bigger than any one faction. If they insist on an explanation, we tell them only that we found them as they are while we campaigned to have our case made to the gangs on unity against the CPI."

[Miltonian]

"So...no matter what you decide, we should all make ourselves scarce, right?" Needles asks.

[Elbeyon]

Love comms Rose and Scope, "I don't like using deception. There is too much lying going around. We're going to get bitten on the flank one day. We can't directly lie to the bosses, but we may be able to avoid the topic enough that they give up on asking us. Do we rip off the band aid now or risk a tear?"

She probes the changelings, "How quickly will the bosses wake up once we free them? If they are familiar with cocoons at all, they'd know what's up. What's the experience here in the wasteland with cocoons? How likely are they to recognize a cocoon? Nobody seems to know much about changelings at all around here." She makes sure to give them time to answer. They are working together now. "What about their traveling companions? Their status? What's the longest some of these people have been here?"

[DigoDragon]

Love comms Rose and Scope, "I don't like using deception. There is too much lying going around. We're going to get bitten on the flank one day. We can't directly lie to the bosses, but we may be able to avoid the topic enough that they give up on asking us. Do we rip off the band aid now or risk a tear?"

Rose subvocalizes a reply, "Just tell the bosses we dunno what happened. Wire died and everything went tidds up."

[D.KnightSpider]

"In answer to your question, Pins, yes. You'll probably want to be elsewhere... probably setting up a means to recapture the ponies if we fail." The words tasted like poison, but it was the best they could do.

Sniper sent out a sub-vocal message: I'd propose that we be honest but vague. With the overwhelming level of cud we've dealt with, there's no time to get bogged down in details. We keep mum about the deal but focus on that we saved their lives but there's another enemy that we need to unite against.

[DigoDragon]

Rose nods at Sniper's statement, though she was also nodding at the quiet message after. But either way, she was in agreement.

"Alright, we'll give you a couple minutes to stealth out and then I believe it's Hearthwarming time."

[Miltonian]

"We will be closeby," Needles assures Harrier Squad.

The changelings file out one by one. Pins nods to them as he passes by. Soon, they are left alone to do...whatever they wish, really. If any of them care to think about it, this is a sign that Chrysalis trusts them. To some extent.

[Elbeyon]

"Wish us luck", she says to the changelings. She'll protect the projector from being bumped over or any other paranoid idea as people funnel through the door. Cabal wants his baby protected.

Love comms, "That went well." She jokes over the comms, "A pony still has questions though." She moves over to the crates and starts inspecting them and their surroundings for the tools to open them. She has her knife, but hopefully, there are enough tools around for everyone.

[DigoDragon]

"Alright, let's crack open these crates and wake up our new friends." Rose will wait for agreement before actually cracking them open.

"Oh, and maybe let Cabal know we're recovering the gang leaders now."

[D.KnightSpider]

It would have been nice to get some of Love's answers, but, oh well.

He visually swept the area, searching for a place to get set up for sniping if need be. His bum wing would be a detriment but it couldn't be helped.

Then he turned his attention to Love's create. While she looked for tools, he examined it for any sign of ill intent.

"It wouldn't hurt to keep him in the loop." Sniper agreed with Rose. He surveyed the area again. "This... is going to take a while. It might not be a bad idea to get some food and water down here, just in case."

Perception
[roll0] VS 16

[DigoDragon]

"Alright, I'll start taking vitals and getting them out. Someone contact Cabal, someone make the food run. Maybe ask Anaki to borrow a couple of her siblings to help carry the food?"

[Elbeyon]

Love volunteers, "I'll ask Star", another pony.

She silently comms Star, "Hey, Honey!", she says dripping with sweetness. "Would you let Cabal know we're about to make contact with the Bosses."

"It has also been suggested that some food and water would help the situation. The Bosses might be in the mood for some food." Seafire might be able to help with that.

[Miltonian]

The crates do not require tools to open. They are easy-access. Love opens them up and looks inside to find a pony sleeping in a green cocoon. No sign of malnourishment yet, so he probably has not been under for long.

Sniper has the perfect spot to live up to his name. This crates are arranged in a defensive pattern and he is able to set up on a 'tower', if he so desires.

"Will do!" Star says, "And I'll have the zebras send something over."

Medical check from Rose if she wants to assess the prisoners' conditions.

[DigoDragon]

Rose begins medical checks. "Would this be like a second birth?"

Med Check [roll0] vs. 14

[Elbeyon]

Love silently comms Star, "Thank you, Bae!"

"Star is handling everything."

She tilts her head in confusion at Rose, "No..."

Once everyone is ready, Love will help remove the ponies from the pods/crates and suggest they leave the pods inside the crates (so the pods aren't in immediate view).

[DigoDragon]

She tilts her head in confusion at Rose, "No..."

"Maybe more like butterflies," Rose says. She pulls out a knife to cut the first pony out.

[D.KnightSpider]

"We might as well assembly-line this." Sniper said. "I can open the crates, Love can cut them out of the cocoons and Rose can follow-up with medical checks. Bulkhead (Brazen) over there can haul ponies around and get them comfortable."

Provided there were no objections, he went to work.

[DigoDragon]

"We might as well assembly-line this." Sniper said. "I can open the crates, Love can cut them out of the cocoons and Rose can follow-up with medical checks. Bulkhead (Brazen) over there can haul ponies around and get them comfortable."

"Good idea. Big B, could you help pull these unconscious ponies in a row here? Space them about six hooves apart."

[Miltonian]

The ponies are, as a general rule, fine. Being trapped in a cocoon is not harmful in and of itself, except if the pony in question has some pre-existing condition. The changelings have been careful with these ones, though.

In short order, the zebras trot in, pulling carts of water and food. They set the carts along the side, exchange pleasantries, and Anaki steps close to Rose. "Do you want us to stay?" she asks, "In case the crowd should get...unpleasant?"

The ponies do not wake up immediately upon their release, so there is plenty of time to line them up.

[DigoDragon]

Anaki steps close to Rose. "Do you want us to stay?" she asks, "In case the crowd should get...unpleasant?"

"We could use two or three extra sets of hooves just in case," Rose answers. "The rest should keep our camp in Wire's office safe. Since the changelings left they might get bored and poke their nose in our business."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Keep in mind that we don't know how long they've been here. Some of these gangsters might have lost family to the games." Sniper said to Rose. "I'm not saying that they shouldn't stay, simply to be aware of what could happen.

"And speaking of which, we should get into character. Last call for any tweaks to the plan and let me know when to head topside."

[DigoDragon]

"Keep in mind that we don't know how long they've been here. Some of these gangsters might have lost family to the games." Sniper said to Rose.

Rose's eyebrows furl. "Good point. Anaki, if any of these ponies look like someone who played the board game, do let us know."

[Miltonian]

Anaki, Urur, and Oroko elect to stay, as they have the best combat utility. The others will file out and head back to guard the home base.

Anaki examines each boss in turn, but shakes her head. "It is difficult to tell. We did not see much of them and they are currently covered in..." She sniffs and wrinkles her nose. "The world's worst perfume."

[Elbeyon]

"Being efficient sounds lovely", she agrees with Scope. She helps let out all the pretty murderous butterflies from their lovely cocoons.

She exchanges hellos with the entering zebras.

Love silently comms, "We're going by our names, right? Scope, Rose, Love, Brazen?"

[DigoDragon]

Anaki examines each boss in turn, but shakes her head. "It is difficult to tell. We did not see much of them and they are currently covered in..." She sniffs and wrinkles her nose. "The world's worst perfume."

"Yeah, it's not unlike embryonic fluid. Highly oxygenated... well, it's a cocoon." Rose stopped herself from going full technobable on Anaki. "Basically changelings that replace others will put the original in one of these to keep them safe. Later they can release the captive or feed on their love as needed."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper spoke via subvocal: "We know that the CPI has been spreading the word about us. How far and what they've said isn't known but I don't think it's flattering. If the gangsters have lost loved ones to the game and they're under false impressions about us then it might be too much to fast for them.

"It might be best to come clean immediately, however. Draw a line and establish that the zebras are off limits."

[DigoDragon]

"It might be best to come clean immediately, however. Draw a line and establish that the zebras are off limits."

Rose nods, but she's zoned into taking a pony's vitals, so she isn't able to talk long statements. She just radios back, "No one will hurt my friends."

Taking a pulse manually on a slimy pony pulled out of a cocoon is... fun? Okay, now the smell is starting to get funky. Rose wibbles a bit, because something in the back of her mind reminds her of Chrysalis' scent. Maybe this is what a recovering alcoholic feels like at a bar. Rose concentrates on her work, tuning out her brain's other thoughts.

[Elbeyon]

She says to Anaki, "Any of you not recognizing the bosses is a decent circumstance."

Love silently comms, "It's better to show a strong front and tackle our baggage now."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper replied via silent comm.: "Agreed. Let's keep it real."

[Miltonian]

Any further discussion is cut off as the first boss lets out a groan and tries to sit up. Like someone just coming out of surgery, his attempts are weak. He fumbles and slips, unable to get his hooves under himself. His eyes have a confused and half-asleep look to them still, though he will recover in short order.

[DigoDragon]

Rose checks to see if his eyes respond to light, then ensure he's breathing okay, and other stuff she generally goes through on a list of procedures to help ponies in distress.

"Don't move too fast. You've been out of it a long while."

[D.KnightSpider]

It was time to make himself scarce. Sniper slipped away from the others. His perch had already been identified, now he had to reach it.

Stealth
[roll0] VS 14 Skill

Camouflage
[roll1] VS 15 (14 Skill +1 Extra Time)

[userpay]

It seems the fun was about to begin. Brazen warily watches the pony groggily come to their senses, these pods gave him such the heebie jeebies...

[Miltonian]

The stallion tries to swallow. He's alright, simply very sedated and still coming out of it. "How..." he rasps, "How long?" Rose can't spend too long with him because a few others begin to show signs of stirring.

Sniper slips away undetected, like the sneaky pegasus he is at heart.

[DigoDragon]

"How..." he rasps, "How long?"

"I don't know. Hours, maybe a day or two? It'll be alright, you're in safe hooves now." Rose will motion for one of the zebras to get him water so she can attend to the next one.

[D.KnightSpider]

It wasn't like hiding from disoriented ponies was anything difficult. Sniper began setting up to provide overwatch while staying out of sight.

"Love, can you give me TacNet?" He asked over silent comm.

[Elbeyon]

A silent reply goes out, "Roger, you can have my eyes." Love turns on TacNet and exports sensies information to her saddle computer to allow a visual. Her goggles are available instead of her "eyes', but they're in a fixed partially covered position in her bag. The goggles are "the pen in her front pocket" on her side.

The database they've established keeps spitting out the information on the bosses. Information she's already sifted through but a reminder and notes aren't a bad thing.

Love steps up to Rose's pony. The group could only make an educated guess on how each one of these people had been in here. "We rescued you from what ever the hay was going on here." She doesn't interfere with any of the zebra's getting the stallion water. She simple 'manages' the situation. "Everyone calls me Love." She motions to the doctor. "That's Rose." And, motions back to their pony tank, "Brazen." She tries not to overwhelm the pony with a conversation yet.

[Miltonian]

The next one Rose tends to is not actually a pony, but a female griffon missing an eye. She weakly bats at Rose. "Hooves off," she mutters.

Sniper has TacNet.

The stallion accepts water and tries to guzzle it. Some of it spills, but with help, he is able to down a lot of it. He groans and looks Love over. "Thank you, I guess," he says, sounding better, "I feel like crud."

[DigoDragon]

The next one Rose tends to is not actually a pony, but a female griffon missing an eye. She weakly bats at Rose. "Hooves off," she mutters.

"I'm a medic, just want to help," Rose defends, though she does back off from the griffon's protest. There's a line to get through and she can't fuss over one patient for long.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper pinned the TacNet feed to his HUD. He couldn't give it dedicated attention but it would be a nice second sight.

He readied his rifle, but didn't take aim just yet. He still needed to finish setting up his cover.

[Elbeyon]

Love softly brightens with his appreciation. Her usual smile isn't there, but he seems to have made a positive impression on her.

"Rose thinks you're healthy aside from feeling like crud. You should feel better in time."

"I'll give you a moment to collect yourself. We'll talk again soon." She'll offer a word or two more of reassurances if he seems to need them, but when he registers what she said she scoots over to the next person.

She moves to help others wake up and orders them a drink. If they seem like the right type of boss, she'll introduce herself and give them the same spiel. She tries to match her bedside manner with the boss.

[Miltonian]

The griffon glowers with her one good eye. Rose moves on down the line and finds the other bosses very accommodating, though the question 'how long was I out?' quickly becomes the bane of her existence.

Sniper will need to roll the proverbial dice and hope he can set it up without anypony noticing.

Love quickly learns that just because you're a bandit leader who has put ponies to death by the hundreds doesn't mean that you don't know how to be polite. Or that just because you've kept to yourself and only shot outsiders that you're polite and pleasant to be around. It's quite a mix.

Soon, the majority of them are awake and the griffon asks, "Where the buck are we?"

[DigoDragon]

Soon, the majority of them are awake and the griffon asks, "Where the buck are we?"

"You are in a storage room inside the Down the Wire casino," Rose replies, raising her voice so everyone can hear. "I do not know how long you have been out, but I can tell you that in the past twenty-four hours management has changed hooves here. Wire is dead and that set off a series of dead-mare triggers that have killed and injured many folks. Whatever knocked you all out seemed to do nothing worse than that."

"As for my friends and I, we came to this casino to gather information about local groups in hopes we can recruit for a front against the CPI. I guess lady luck smiles upon you that we happen to find everyone."

[D.KnightSpider]

From the looks of things, Griffin Girl is going to be their first major headache. But situational awareness demanded that Sniper not fixate on one threat. He tried to stay aware of his surroundings as he worked.

I cleared a 15 difficulty Camouflage check with an 11 a few posts ago. Was it too early for a roll?

Camouflage
[roll0] VS 15 (14 Skill + 1 Extra Time)

[Elbeyon]

They need to take things slow until the conversation hits its stride, not front load the objective. Rose is easing everyone into things, so Love focuses on horizontal progress. Not all the bosses are up and running full force. She keeps working on improving the mood of the crowd with simple introductions and complimentary breakfast.

[userpay]

Brazen helps out in passing out food and such. Hopefully things would pan out well...

[Miltonian]

The zebras go around, passing out drinks, food, and towels where necessary. Few of the bosses have any reaction to them.

The bosses are still disoriented, but the female griffon rises and stands shakily on her legs, a frown on her face. "I need to make a call," she says. And the sentiment is echoed by the more coherent bosses.

[DigoDragon]

The bosses are still disoriented, but the female griffon rises and stands shakily on her legs, a frown on her face. "I need to make a call," she says. And the sentiment is echoed by the more coherent bosses.

"We can help with that, we got a radio. First I'd like everyone to recover. You can barely stand, let alone walk. Probably haven't eaten in a while. Don't worry, this area is safe. Just rest a bit and we'll get you the calls in a moment."

Rose continues checking on everyone in triage fashion. "I dunno if any of you have crossed paths with the CPI. My group has. They're pretty scary, like fighting zombies. Took two attempts to crash their airship. Even half dead they crawled out of the wreckage like the undead."

[Elbeyon]

Group cohesion, whatever existed, is being threatened. Love excuses herself from any mini-conversation she has going on and breaks away from the pack to stand before everyone. "The CPI is taking over the wasteland in a hurry while silencing all opposition. They're targeting anyone that wields any power to forcefully recruit or destroy them. Mayors. Towns. Gangs. The CPI is becoming increasingly aggressive against any that value their own freedom. We will not get another chance like this to oppose them before they burn us out one by one." Love carefully selects and calls out one of the well-known damages they've inflicted on a boss in the room. "There are those that could have been here that are already in chains. The CPI are coming after your head."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper checked their notes for information on Griffin Girl and communicated this information to the squad via sub-vocal comm.

[Miltonian]

The bosses are not fond of Rose's response, though they are either too weak to protest or see the logic behind it and so no objection is raised. Love, however, draws looks of ire. "It's too early to deal with this horsefeathers," one mutters.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the first one who woke up and the most alert says, "Hold the phone there. You jumped from 'hi, we sprung you from some sorta meat locker trap' to 'we're attacking the CPI'. Lady, we don't even know if our territory's still in one piece. We got other, bigger concerns than some war you're looking t' wage."

[DigoDragon]

Rose calls Star. "Yo, can you come by with your radio? Some of these folks would like to call their gangs to make sure they're still around."

"No worries, Rose speaks up to the crowd. "I got the best radio operator coming down now for those calls. We can square off the status of our friends before talking about hurting our enemies."

[Elbeyon]

Love stays calm and confidence with the bosses' eyes on her, a metaphorical shine under pressure. "A radio is on the way here. You'll be able to check your territory when the operator arrives."

She looks at the first boss she introduced herself to and pays him the respect he deserves for being the one to speak up in the crowd. "I'm not starting the war. The CPI have already struck the first blow upon many and drawn up their plans of conquest. Plans that include you." She references CPI encroachment near the stallion's territory and one other's territory if possible. They need to realize they are being threatened by the CPI. "Their attacks will continue until they've brought everyone under their heel, or the CPI is stopped. The war has begun. Now, it's a matter of defending ourselves from their rule and enslavement."

[D.KnightSpider]

Well, things were off to a fine start. Then again, no pony else liked to move as slowly as he did, even if the situation called for it. But Sniper wasn't about to backseat drive this conversation.

He tried to get a sense for the crowd and relay the overall picture over the comm.

Observation
[roll0] VS 16

[Miltonian]

"Be there in a minute," Star replies, "Just packing things up and hauling it over."

The pony Love is talking to has the cheerful name of Funeral Dirge. He is known as a fair, but brutal, leader who always keeps his word and takes great 'exception' to those who fail to do the same. The lives of those who cross him almost always end in blood and pain.

His eyes narrow. "Who are you? Really?" He cuts off any immediate response with a wave of his hoof. "No, no, no. Don't give me any lies. I don't think you just 'stumbled' across us. You got something against the CPI. You can't take them on alone. So you want our help. That's the reason we're free, isn't it?"

He snorts. "It's cute, talking about 'defending ourselves'. As if we're all in this together. But I don't know you, so you're not 'one of us'."

[DigoDragon]

"We're soldiers, from Equestria," Rose answers. "The CPI attacked us, tried to kill some friends with their strange tech. We decided to take the fight to them instead of just sitting around. They got a mad genius named Hyper Thought building them super weapons."

Rose rubs the back of her neck. She felt this air of impatience down on her. "We managed to take down their best airship, but it wasn't easy. Yes, we could use the help to take the CPI down. Nothing too hard. Just draw their attention from their main hub in Ashtown so we can get at Hyper Thought. There'd be plenty of good loot for y'all in it. Recognition, territory... All that good stuff. We just want to stop their tech supplier."

[Elbeyon]

"My name is Partial Charge. Everyone calls me Love. I'm from the Junk Town way south on the coast by Black Skull Island. It's a little ways away from the edge of the Sea of Clouds."

Love tries to keep their attention. "Stumbled across everyone isn't actually a bad way to describe how we ended up here." Love lays out some truth. "In the last day, we've dealt with a mess of killer and down right weird vault tech. The last of which was bombs set to blow this place away; that we dismantled. Everyone here is alive because of us. Yeah, we're taking advantage of the situation we stumbled upon. We didn't have to wake anyone up, but a room full of bosses would be stupid to pass up and ignore. We're simply being opportunistic with the situation presented to us to gain your attention."

"The CPI enslaved my brother. Hyper Thought has made a chip that controls people like dead puppets, and they've stuck them in anyone they can, tricked or unwilling. They have a whole factory set up to enslave people on an assembly line. They brainwashed my brother, put him on an airship, and made him fight me. I've taken out the device in his head, but he hasn't recovered yet. The CPI has a lot of weird tech and an even weird vault in Ashtown. I would have taken care of them for what they did if they were some nobodies, but the CPI is growing stronger and wants to enslave everyone with their strange technology. It's not pretty. The chips take away all emotions, the person, and lock them inside their own bodies. The CPI leaders don't want allies - they want everyone to bow to them under mind control. The leaders secretly hate the idea of a free person. Powder Keg from the Red Scorpions will back me up. We can show you what they've done to ponies. What they plan to do to you."

I have social skills to roll! I'd appreciate if I was let know when they are applicable. I do want to roll them.

[userpay]

"Names Brazen Hoof, also from Equestria." Well the briarhound was out of the bag, might as well shake loose the rest. "We're just here to take care of ah problem named Hyper Thought whose got no issue with usin ya'll against yer will which we don't like one bit. Aye we need help, yer help, but this is ultimately to keep the Wasteland safe. If ya'll don't want Equestria muckin around that's understandable but we'll be gone soon as Hyper Thought and his underlings are dealt with if that's what ya'll are wantin."

[Miltonian]

From Sniper's vantage point, he sees a few of the bosses are searching their pockets in what they think is a stealthy manner. They aren't finding anything, but...

The griffon growls. "I'm not agreeing to anything until I talk to my boys." Several others mirror the sentiment.

Dirge, however, looks thoughtful. Concerned and disturbed too, but for the moment he is digesting this information. "I would like to see this proof," he says, "This lines up with a few things I was investigating before I took a trip here."

[Elbeyon]

"Star, our radio operator, is on her way. I'll put on a worthwhile show while you wait to reconnect." She offers up a token toward that end. The griffon is certainly one of the rougher people here. They have a diverse bunch. Powder Keg said that the squad would have to take a hit to win over some of the gangs. It might be time to divide and conquer their hearts through methods they respect. Dirge seems interested in talking things through though.

The beautiful fact of them being connected to Equestria means they can show off more technology. Love's projector show got a lot more interesting now that her footage isn't so limited. Love keeps her calm nature throughout the conversation, careful never to show weakness, "Down to the Wire lent us her projector for just such an occasion." Love warms approvingly to Dirge's interest. "Let me show you." She smoothly walks backward, wise to turning her back to a griffon, and starts setting up the projector. She intends to provide proof that the chipped soldiers are tools of flesh to the CPI, no longer ponies of their own freewill. "Zombies" as Rose likes to put them.

[DigoDragon]

Rose texts Star to please hurry.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Heads up, ponies. Some of our guests are giving themselves a pat-down to find out what's on their being." Sniper said via sub-vocal comm.

He readied his rifle. A familiar hunger made is presence known as Sniper was struck anew by how frail this world was. A single twitch on his part and a pony would die. The past few intense situations were all the same-- a tease of danger without any actual combat payoff behind them. A part of him, he found, was frustrated and starving for a kill.

Withdrawal. Great.

[Miltonian]

Star finally arrives, pushing a cart laden with the clunkiest radio the team has ever seen. This thing belongs in a museum, but it seems to be working. "Sorry, sorry," she says, "This thing is, wow this is heavy. Let me find a place to plug it in." She'll begin searching for a plug.

Unfortunately for Sniper's withdrawal, the changelings have stripped the bosses of all weapons. They come away, disgruntled and looking very put out, but they might be trouble later. He identifies five targets.

While Star is setting things up, the bosses watch the presentation. Even those that are impatient and trying not to pay attention can't help but glance that way. What they see leaves an impression. Dirge, at least, looks disturbed. He temples his forehooves together and thinks. "I want to verify this with my ponies," he says quietly.

[DigoDragon]

"I want to verify this with my ponies," he says quietly.

"Alright, we only have so much radio. While Star sets up, I'm gonna hand out numbers so everyone gets a turn." Rose will use Sniper's info to identify the least-patient/most-trouble ones to go first and then she'll line them up from there.

"So that we're not here all day, please keep it to one call each. There's only so much battery power on this equipment I imagine."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I have eyes on five." Sniper performed the oxymoron of silently saying.

He kept his rifle ready, but didn't take aim yet. Meanwhile, he began cross-referencing their data to figure out who would be most likely to have a very with PK and if that beef would trigger a problem.