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Description
The wind gently blew around their manes - a stark contrast to the usual harshness of the wasteland - as the two stallions lay atop a hill, Shank levitating a pair of binoculars in front of his face.
In front of them, about two miles down the slope, lay a clutter of shacks with a sourrounding wall made of debris and reinforced with rusty metal plates. In the center was a brick building, presumably from before the war. Even from this distance, Shank could tell it had a subterranean compound beneath it. The regularly arranged ventilation shafts around the encampment were a dead giveaway.

"Are you sure this is the place?" , Vignette asked, as he tried to make out anything without any means of visual enhancement. He had little success.

"I held enough ponies at knifepoint to verify that." Shank wearily answered.
For a moment he thought somepony glancing along their way may have seen them, but as the pony in question turned his head and kept on patrolling, he apparently didn't.

"It's somewhat disturbing to hear you talk about something like that so dismissively...", Vignette remarked, eyeing the dark green unicorn whose face was set like stone as he tried to take in any and all details through his binoculars.

"Where'd you get those anyways?, said the Pegasus, pointing at the object in question.

"I told you, I held some ponies at knifepoint.", Shank deadpanned. "At any rate, this is where our target was seen last, if those travellers didn't lie to me. And Celestia help them, if they did. The question is, if he is still here. By the way, you might wanna get down. A coat like yours practically screams to be seen by a sniper."

Vignette subconsciously lay lower. By now he had learned to trust Shank in matters of stealth and staying alive as long as possible.

"I still think it to be wrong to threaten travellers for information...", the now somewhat less noticeable Pegasus grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, I asked them nicely before. Only when they started to charge caps for the information did I pull out the pocket knife.", Shank nonchalantly chuckled.

"Pocket knife!? That thing is almost a machete!", Vignette exclaimed, unbelieving of what he just heard.

"Would you KEEP IT DOWN!? You'll get us detected over a little joke!", Shank hissed.

"Sorry...", his friend mumbled.

"Alright, here's the plan: The main entrance is heavily guarded. Four guys with equipment that's way beyond your average raider weapons. Grenade launchers and miniguns. These ponies mean business. But there seems to be a hole in the western section of the wall, just covered with a steel plate. A good buck should be enough to knock it over. That would be a good entrance point. And it's only lightly guarded. We need to look out for the sniper on the roof though. That guy is sweeping the area for a while now...", Shank explained.

"Could'nt we just, y'know, try a diplomatic approach for once?", Vignette asked innocently.

Shank slowly lowered the binoculars and turned around, seemingly in slow-motion.

"Come again?"

"Try to talk before shooting them."

"Maybe you should take these and just look for yourself...". Shank levitated the binoculars in front of the pegasus.

What Vignette saw was only reassuring him in his plan.

"Well, they do seem pretty well equipped, but that might just mean that they are disciplined and won't shoot on sight like a junkie on Dash."

Shank's mouth fell open.

"You really plan on walking up to ponies with celestiadamned minigun battle saddles, and ASK them to let you in?", the unicorn asked in horror. A plan like this went against every survival instinct of his.

A gunshot rang through the air, but it was several miles from behind them, probably just some travelling trader fending of scorpions. The sniper didn't spot them yet.

"You wouldn't believe how convincing I can be.", his companion replied with a smirk.

"You just- and- I-....you're serious? You...you are actually serious."

Vignette nodded determined.
Shank sighed.

"Fine. This plan might work, despite how stupid it is. But I can't back you up down there. I burned some bridges in the past, metaphorically and in some cases quite literally. I'm pretty sure somepony would recognize my face. The first sign of trouble and you get the hell out of there. And if you actually do get in, you might want to take out that sniper in some way or another. Would make getting out of there alot easier. And to be honest, I really miss my rifle...", Shank said with a small pout.

"Okay then, I will try to talk my way in and you will...?", Vignette asked expectantly.

"I will sneak around and enter through that hole. We'll meet up inside the main building. And some advice: When you walk up to that gate you'll want to be as visible as possible, alright? Get their full attention, that should give me a possibility to sneak in undetected. And for the love of Celestia, avoid all sudden movements. The more casual you look the less likely it is for you to be immediately gunned down.", Shank told him, worry lacing his voice.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll think of some reason for an incapitated pegasus, far off from any Enclave outpost, to casually stroll into an armored compound.", Vignette casually beamed at him. He already had everything planned out.

All the while, Shank had no idea why his friend was smiling as much as he did...

Previous: [link]
Next: [----]

Time to get back on track with our plot. Heh, plot...

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Description
The wind gently blew around their manes - a stark contrast to the usual harshness of the wasteland - as the two stallions lay atop a hill, Shank levitating a pair of binoculars in front of his face.
In front of them, about two miles down the slope, lay a clutter of shacks with a sourrounding wall made of debris and reinforced with rusty metal plates. In the center was a brick building, presumably from before the war. Even from this distance, Shank could tell it had a subterranean compound beneath it. The regularly arranged ventilation shafts around the encampment were a dead giveaway.

"Are you sure this is the place?" , Vignette asked, as he tried to make out anything without any means of visual enhancement. He had little success.

"I held enough ponies at knifepoint to verify that." Shank wearily answered.
For a moment he thought somepony glancing along their way may have seen them, but as the pony in question turned his head and kept on patrolling, he apparently didn't.

"It's somewhat disturbing to hear you talk about something like that so dismissively...", Vignette remarked, eyeing the dark green unicorn whose face was set like stone as he tried to take in any and all details through his binoculars.

"Where'd you get those anyways?, said the Pegasus, pointing at the object in question.

"I told you, I held some ponies at knifepoint.", Shank deadpanned. "At any rate, this is where our target was seen last, if those travellers didn't lie to me. And Celestia help them, if they did. The question is, if he is still here. By the way, you might wanna get down. A coat like yours practically screams to be seen by a sniper."

Vignette subconsciously lay lower. By now he had learned to trust Shank in matters of stealth and staying alive as long as possible.

"I still think it to be wrong to threaten travellers for information...", the now somewhat less noticeable Pegasus grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, I asked them nicely before. Only when they started to charge caps for the information did I pull out the pocket knife.", Shank nonchalantly chuckled.

"Pocket knife!? That thing is almost a machete!", Vignette exclaimed, unbelieving of what he just heard.

"Would you KEEP IT DOWN!? You'll get us detected over a little joke!", Shank hissed.

"Sorry...", his friend mumbled.

"Alright, here's the plan: The main entrance is heavily guarded. Four guys with equipment that's way beyond your average raider weapons. Grenade launchers and miniguns. These ponies mean business. But there seems to be a hole in the western section of the wall, just covered with a steel plate. A good buck should be enough to knock it over. That would be a good entrance point. And it's only lightly guarded. We need to look out for the sniper on the roof though. That guy is sweeping the area for a while now...", Shank explained.

"Could'nt we just, y'know, try a diplomatic approach for once?", Vignette asked innocently.

Shank slowly lowered the binoculars and turned around, seemingly in slow-motion.

"Come again?"

"Try to talk before shooting them."

"Maybe you should take these and just look for yourself...". Shank levitated the binoculars in front of the pegasus.

What Vignette saw was only reassuring him in his plan.

"Well, they do seem pretty well equipped, but that might just mean that they are disciplined and won't shoot on sight like a junkie on Dash."

Shank's mouth fell open.

"You really plan on walking up to ponies with celestiadamned minigun battle saddles, and ASK them to let you in?", the unicorn asked in horror. A plan like this went against every survival instinct of his.

A gunshot rang through the air, but it was several miles from behind them, probably just some travelling trader fending of scorpions. The sniper didn't spot them yet.

"You wouldn't believe how convincing I can be.", his companion replied with a smirk.

"You just- and- I-....you're serious? You...you are actually serious."

Vignette nodded determined.
Shank sighed.

"Fine. This plan might work, despite how stupid it is. But I can't back you up down there. I burned some bridges in the past, metaphorically and in some cases quite literally. I'm pretty sure somepony would recognize my face. The first sign of trouble and you get the hell out of there. And if you actually do get in, you might want to take out that sniper in some way or another. Would make getting out of there alot easier. And to be honest, I really miss my rifle...", Shank said with a small pout.

"Okay then, I will try to talk my way in and you will...?", Vignette asked expectantly.

"I will sneak around and enter through that hole. We'll meet up inside the main building. And some advice: When you walk up to that gate you'll want to be as visible as possible, alright? Get their full attention, that should give me a possibility to sneak in undetected. And for the love of Celestia, avoid all sudden movements. The more casual you look the less likely it is for you to be immediately gunned down.", Shank told him, worry lacing his voice.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll think of some reason for an incapitated pegasus, far off from any Enclave outpost, to casually stroll into an armored compound.", Vignette casually beamed at him. He already had everything planned out.

All the while, Shank had no idea why his friend was smiling as much as he did...

Previous: [link]
Next: [----]

Time to get back on track with our plot. Heh, plot...

(Click "Download Image" for highest quality)