POV Rio
I was right outside the massive shield that the probe droids had found on Equus a few days prior. When I first saw the report, I was excited as it was proof that life still existed on this planet. But when I finally started coming this way, I started to realize the issue. I had no way of knowing what I was walking into. I tried seeing past the shield, but I was unable to see anything. It seems the creators had designed it to prevent scrying.
As such, I was camping near the shield and thinking about what to do. For this mission, I brought a much larger group: Cait, Guto, 6 Griffon Guards, Loona, and Quiet. Quiet decided to come along this time despite her dislike for clothes. Loona, on the other hand, didn't come with us directly and instead decided to spy on us from a distance for some strange reason. She even forced Moxxie into tagging along. I didn't say anything because I thought it was funny to see how long they would struggle through the cold. I didn't even know what their plan was. They borrowed some speeders from the droids I keep on the Equus side of things.
However, there was a major warning I gave everyone who came along. We had to blend in with the locals. Guto and the Griffons had no issues doing so, as it basically changed nothing. I could handle the change easily enough. Cait and Quiet did not do so well at first with the change. I admit I might have chuckled a bit. But this was serious business, I assure you. Yes, much businessing. Despite the massive change, Cait and Quiet refused to give up and still came on this trip.
Loona and Moxxie, on the other hand, were not warned, so I had to stop myself from laughing as Moxxie struggled being a pony. Loona, unfortunately, didn't get changed much, as her normal bipedal form was close enough to a Diamond Dog that she hardly changed. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from laughing if the usually stoic and emo hellhound started flailing around in panic.
Loona and Moxxie were camped a ways North of us, and I truly didn't know what they expected to happen. They can't exactly follow us into the city, as I wasn't even sure if we could get inside.
"So, what's the plan?" Quiet asks.
"Sigh. Well, there isn't a perfect solution. I think in this case, sending an advanced party to request parlay would be the correct choice. The issue is that it's very risky, as we have no idea what we are walking into. In the best-case scenario, they are curious about outsiders," I explain while not saying the worst-case scenario out loud, as everyone already knew how bad it could be.
"Let me do it," Guto volunteered.
I looked at Guto and saw he understood the risks and was still willing to do the task.
"Okay, take Gus and Grover with you. Attempt peaceful contact, but if they start attacking, activate this medalion and retreat. I will lay down suppressing fire if I can," I say firmly.
"Yes, sir!" Guto says with a salute.
POV Guard Captain Steel Hooves
It was another boring day on patrol when suddenly a corporal ran towards me.
"M-Ma'am! W-We have a situation at the gate!" Corporal Swift Gallop managed to say between heavy breaths.
"What now? Some idiot noble trying to go outside the wall?" I ask with nonchalance as I figured it wasn't that big a fuss.
"N-No, we have visitors, f-from outside," Corporal Swift Gallop nervously replies.
I had to respond, but then froze as his words fully registered.
"Outside? Like from the wastes?" I asked dumbly, and my mouth was slack.
"Y-Yes, sir, i-it's a group of griffons asking for entrance into our city," Corporal Swift Gallop replies.
My mind starts running a mile a minute as I try to think about how this could be when Corporal Swift Gallop chimes in again.
"They also said they are the guards of a Lord Rio," Corporal Swift Gallop adds in.
"I... let... keep them occupied, I will run to the palace!" I ordered before galloping as fast as my legs could carry me to the palace.
When I reach the palace, I report to General Iron Hide, and she reports it to the Princess. I am ordered to let the outsiders in and to bring them to the palace. I am also ordered to keep this quiet or else. When I get back to the wall, I instruct the few guards we have stationed there to take over for me as I lead the outsiders to the palace.
POV Rio
When Guto came back with news that they are letting us in, I was a bit... wary. Guto couldn't say much about those on the other side of the shield, other than that the one he spoke to was a Guard Captain and seemed trustworthy. Guto had an eye for that kind of thing, so I decided to give this, Cpt Steel Hooves, a chance. However, just in case, I took two safety measures. I left a duplicate along with two of the Griffon guards to protect our camp while we entered. This was in case they captured us; my clone could report this before the Griffons fled. And it was possible that Loona and Moxxie could also bring back the bad news as well.
The rest of us walked into the shield, and we were let through. When we got inside, we could feel a slight difference between the inside and outside. The air inside was warmer, but far less than I would expect given the power of the shield. I would know, as I could feel the magic in the shield. It was literally strong enough to taste. And it was also partially the reason I couldn't use my Hoshigan to see through it.
The trip to this palace they were taking us to was not that bad. The distance was fairly close and not far from the wall they had built on the edge of the shield. We were escorted by 8 pegasi guards led by the Cpt previous person talked to. We were led into the palace and then to a set of rooms for us to use. The palace was quite different. The outside was fairly grand, but the very top of the place had a brightly glowing moon that was beaming a ray of magic towards the sky, creating the shield. The inside was far warmer than the outside and was also very... empty. There was furniture, but there were very few residents. Of course, that is true for the surface. I could see that below the palace was a sprawling underground city.
[Image Of The Palace]
The city seemed quite bustling and large. It was at least large enough that I couldn't see the entire city. But what I did see made me a little less worried and more worried. On one hand, they seemed to be a fairly free society with no... propaganda and totalitarian designs. Like, it didn't look like I was seeing 1940s Germany, if that makes sense. But the thing that worried me was that it seemed like there was a decent amount of segregation. Not discrimination per se, but it seemed like the various groups didn't intermingle that much. It could have been a coincidence, but it seemed too common to be a misunderstanding.
'Hopefully, things aren't that bad.'
We were offered some refreshments and told that the Princess would like to meet with us later today. When I asked if we would be permitted to see the rest of the city, we were told not until after the meeting with the Princess. We took off our winter gear, and when I did so, the servants ended up dropping the tea set they were holding. They looked spooked, and I was worried that we had done something wrong, but when questioned, they started bowing and then excused themselves.
"The heck was that all about?" Cait asked.
"I have no idea," I reply.
"Maybe we did something culturally wrong?" Quiet asked.
"I guess that could be the case. Maybe with the cold, it's inappropriate to take off clothes in the presence of others?" I said, but I knew I was grasping at straws with that explanation.
We all just shrugged our shoulders and waited to see if they would come explain what that was all about. We were also a bit more on edge, as it's possible they saw something that made them less friendly. We kept our weapons handy just in case. Or at least in this case, in our inventory, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. Speaking of weapons, I had noticed that the residents didn't have any gunpowder weapons. All the weapons were spears, swords, shields, bows, and the like. We were searched for weapons when entering the palace, but they didn't seem to be looking for anything like a storage system. Guto's men turned over their sabers. Guto was permitted to keep his staff under the pretense of his older age, which I found to be amusing, as Guto is not that old. In fact, his physical health is actually far above that of the average Griffon. He just looks old.
The staff was not, in fact, his walking stick but a lightsaber staff that could double as a bo staff and a magic focus. It also contained a portable bubble shield that could fend off a good amount of damage if it came to it. It was meant as a last resort to buy us some time for a teleportation spell. It also had a technical teleportation device, as I had already recreated the Molecular Relay the Institute had made.
'I wonder how Shaun and the other few survivors in the Institute are doing?'
POV Shaun
The lights flicker off again as the generator breaks down once again. It stayed dark for a minute before the lights turned back on.
"Sigh. Liam, how close are you to finalizing the work?" I ask.
"Well. I have dealt with the Virus completely at this point, but as we already know, we have had to scrap every last terminal and old synth to get things to stop trying to kill us..." Liam starts, but I stop him from going on another one of his rants.
"How. Long?" I ask.
"Ehem, sorry. Another couple days. Assuming power stays stable enough," Liam suggests.
"X6 will make sure power stays stable. Just... Just make sure this time we don't lose more synths," I say with an exhausted tone.
Liam nods and avoids eye contact. We used to have 3 Heavy Duty Synth Troopers, but they were all lost during Liam's attempt to activate some newly created Gen-2 synths. They were made of the remains of the other rebellious models, and we learned the hard way that the virus stays in their hardware until it is reactivated.
'I'm so tired.'
I was honestly barely holding together. My cancer was barely being kept in check thanks to Dr Volkert, but that was mostly thanks to a heavily reprogrammed X6-88. Dr Volkert was injured during the synth rebellion, and his advanced age only made it worse. Even with all of that effort Dr Volkert made it clear. I had at most another 2 months before my cancer killed me. When I die, that would only leave Volkert and Liam in the Institute. Volkert might not make it to the end of the year based on his own health, and Liam is quite young. As for Synths, there is X6-88. That's it. We used to have another, but Justin Ayo attempted to use that Courser to kill me.
'It seems like humanity is doomed. But I can't give up. Not until I at least get to see my father. Just one last time.'
"One last time," I say to myself as if it were a mantra being used to keep me alive.
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Author's Note:
A little peek into the Institute to give you an idea of what they are doing. Shaun almost makes you feel bad for him. Almost. The Institute still did some real nasty stuff under his reign. Until next time, Ciao.