Title:           Filling Holes-Part 5
Author:          Wolfkrone
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/Z1gBHqzB
First Edit:      Tuesday 11th of November 2014 01:58:01 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Tuesday 11th of November 2014 01:58:01 PM CDT

>It's been 16 hours since your convoy departed from the hive to Queen Patina's city.
>Apparently, not all Queens make their hive below ground, as Ferrugo's hive is essentially a giant complex of buildings and reactors.
>Because of your title you've been cramped inside a large wagon, not really getting any chance to go outside.
>To make matters a bit worse Beaker is with you, and he has been incessantly babbling about how advanced and high-tech Queen Patina's hive is.
>According to him even though we are considered second, Ferrugo is miles ahead of us in every sector of science and technology.
>So obviously, he's excited to go, and you really can't blame him.
>However the ride has been stuffy and his non stop talking has began to get to you.
>Getting up from your seat you make your way to the front of the carriage and open up the front hatch.
"Hey driver, can we stop so I can get up to the passenger seat beside you? I could really use some fresh air, it's a bit stuffy in here".
>A torn expression comes over the changeling, "My lord, with all due respect the reason why you're in this carriage is because its' armor is invulnerable to all magic and physical attacks. If you were to be outside of it and we get attacked, it would've all been in for nothing".
>You ponder for a second, trying to find some sort of compromise.
"I'll tell you what, I'll sit beside you and if we get attacked I'll hop back in the top hatch, how's that"?
>The driver nods and signals the convoy to stop, as the everyone slows to a stop you open the side door and climb up to the driver.
>You tap your rifle.
"I'll even help keep lookout".
>The driver nods as you look out into the horizon, a vast expanse of sand and hills are all that meet you.
"So, this Queen Patina, is she a good Queen? Everyone seemed to speak highly of her".
>The driver nods, "Yes my king, she is considered to be of the most benevolent rulers of changelings. She keeps herself at the level of her subjects and spends her time caring for them while doing scientific experiments to help further our society".
>She sounds nice.
"Huh, well that's good, she seems like a nice person to talk to".
The driver nods again, "That she is, she is invaluable to us. Not many hives plunge into the sciences, about 60 or 70 percent of all scientific and technological discoveries come from Ferrugo while our own Beaker can attribute to the final 30 or 40 percent".
"Ahhh, so without her we would be far behind"?
>"More or less, yes my king".
>As you leaned back in the passenger's chair you stare out into the horizon.
>You're a pretty important person now huh?
>Not like on Earth, you were just a mechanic that loved hunting and playing games.
>You're a god damned king now, it's still hard to swallow though you've been doing your best to remain calm and collected about this.
>Just act like you always have Anonymous you'll do fine.
>"You seem a bit stressed my lord".
"And this Queen Vira...".
>The driver tenses up as you spoke her name.
"She's...pretty damn bad isn't she? If she's so hell bent on destroying the rest of us".
>"She is upset, see the way the changeling territory is ruled is that a Queen will preside over a certain area. For matters that need full attention it goes up to a council made up of the rest of the queens, that way any decisions are favorable to all hives".
"I see".
>"What Queen Vira wants is an absolute rule over all changelings, naturally the rest of us are not in favor of that, we prefer our current system".
"So she wants to take out the rest of the queens in order to have command over you all"?
>The driver shakes his head, "She wants to destroy any changeling that is against her, be it queen, cook, or child".
>Well she's a right bitch isn't she?
>While you were in your thoughts the driver pulls a lever and the carriage makes a hard right to avoid a steep dip in the road.
>You can't believe you didn't notice this before, but there's nothing pulling the carriage.
"Uhhh, forgive me but, how is this carriage moving if nothing is pulling it"?
>"Ah! It's one of Commander Beaker's inventions, it's essentially a magic fuelled motor that's under our seats driving the front wheels. These levers control things such as the acceleration and steering, this one is the brake".
>He taps the lever in between you two.
"Huh, this is pretty neat. Kind of like the cars we had in my old world but we used steering wheels, and our motors ran on gas".
>Over the next two hours the conversation topic goes from how human cars worked to other things like TV and kitchen appliances.
>Eventually the sun was starting to go down as you crested a hill.
>"Ahhh he we are, Ferrugo's city is at the bottom of this valley".
>He wasn't joking when he said city.
>It looked like a giant factory, with silos of god knows what towering over smaller buildings.
>White smoke is billowing from one of the smokestacks towards the back, you can barely make out a changeling on a wagon coming towards you.
>"That's our escort, from here he'll guide us to the main complex where Queen Patina is waiting. This place is very, very easy to get lost in, a rookie messenger had died from starvation a couple of years ago from being lost in the compound. No one had found him until last year, by then nothing was there but bones and some chitin".
>That's pretty damn morbid.
"None of the Ferrugo changelings seen him"?
>The driver shakes his head, "At the time the compound was vast, massive, colossal even. After the incident with the Queen the compound has reduced in size, however it's still easy as ever to get lost in if you haven't been born here or have lived here for your whole life".
>Well damn, you'll have to stick with the escort like they're your last hope.
"Incident"?
>"An explosion from one of Patina's many scientific experiments has destroyed most of the left half, a lot of personnel had died in the tragedy. The Queen herself had lost her right foreleg in the blast".
>Holy shit.
>As the two wagons meet you hop off and open the side hatch, making sure Beaker knows we're here.
>As you open the door you catch Beaker trying to straighten his small tuft of hair in the mirror on the side wall.
"Hot date"?
>Beaker nearly jumps to the ceiling. "Ah! Ahhh no my lord I uhhh just...didn't want to make you look bad by being in such a undesired state! Yeah...hehehehe".
>You cock and eyebrow at him.
"Uhhh huh, well we're there, escort wagon has arrived".
>"Oh! Alright, well we're staying in this carriage, you know, for protection and all hehehe".
>You'll never understand this crazy scientist changeling.
>Getting back on the driver's bench the Ferrugo carriage pulls up along side you, a lone driver is atop the bench.
>He looks just like your changelings except instead of green there's a fiery orange.
>The back carapace, the eyes, all orange.
>The door to their carriage opens, and who you assume is Queen Patina steps out. You take this time to hop off the bench for a second time.
>She is nearly identical to Chrysalis except for the orange, and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail which is further secured by a set of goggles.
>Her eyes don't have the allure that Chrysalis' has, however you can almost feel the fire behind them.
>Fire of a passion.
>Glancing to her right foreleg cements her identity, for it's a golden metal prosthetic.
>"Hello king Anonymous, I am Queen Patina of the Ferrugo Hive. It's an honor to have the first king from the new generations of queens here".
>You have to act all royal now don't you? You don't want to offend her in any way.
"Err, as am I".
>Smooth Anonymous, really it's a wonder how you don't get all the females.
>Patina chuckles, finally breaking into a hearty laugh. Her metal leg covering her mouth as she tries to stifle herself.
>"I'm so sorry, you looked so uncomfortable saying that. Don't worry though, a lot of the newer queens don't mind the formalities much, luckily I'm one of them".
>"So! You're here to see what I got cooked up huh? When I heard we might be going up against Reicher to be honest I was in fear. Last time we fought them it wasn't pretty, so this time I want to minimize our losses. We can get into more detail when we get to the sector the weapon is sitting in".
>She looks to you as she enters her carriage again, "You can ride in here if you want. We can talk while we travel, the sector is pretty far away".
>You nod and climb into her carriage after her, sitting down opposite her.
>The insides are identical to your carriage, except there's no hatches and all the green is orange.
>You feel a lurching as the carriage begins to turn around and head back into the compound.
>"This carriage was made especially for me by your Commander you know, he's such a fun and bright changeling. It's a shame he isn't in my hive".
"I noticed he was getting nervous and was checking himself in the mirror when you showed up, then he didn't even leave our carriage".
>Another low giggle from Patina, "He tries to hide his interest in me but he's so bad at it. To be honest I wouldn't mind being with him, he would be such a great addition to our hive, but even a Queen can't override certain laws".
"What law"?
>She sighs as she looks out the window, "The law stating a Queen cannot take a mate with a changeling outside of her hive. That's why I said it's a shame he isn't with Ferrugo".
"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe one day they can remove that law? I'm not entirely familiar with all the laws and all but I'm sure there's a way to change it".
>She uses her right foreleg to scratch the side of her face while she stares out the window, "Maybe one day, yes".
>She looks to you, a sudden interest in her eyes, "So how about you? I can honestly say I've never seen anything like you before. I didn't even know you existed until news of your attempted assassination travelled through the hives, you were king for a whole hour before that I think".
"It's was a bit longer but my memory is a bit fuzzy from that day".
>She lifts her head in acknowledgement, she reaches to a compartment next to her and procures a glass and what looks like wine.
>"Would you like something to drink? My manners are terrible sorry about that, not many come to Ferrugo apart from requests of tech and such".
"Sure".
>She nods and pours two glasses, magicking one to you.
>Taking it in your hands you begin to sip.
>Immediately what feels like fire soars down your throat, immediately after something like a sweet citrus flavor makes itself apparent. You manage not to choke it up but your discomfort was still very overt.
>"Never had Helios wine I take it"?
>She giggles after you settle down, your throat no longer in ablaze.
"N-No, I haven't, wow that was...something else".
>"Queen Alice makes it in her hive, I don't quite now how she makes it but I've grown to like it. You'll get used to the whole flame part eventually, the flavor really shows up after you do".
>She takes a sip herself, however no discomfort is on her face.
"So Queen Patina, how is it that you guys are so interested in technology? From what I hear you guys are miles ahead of the rest of the hives. Just curious as to why".
>She sets her glass down as the cart passes by a large steam boiler, it's whistle piercing throughout the otherwise quiet area, "It's because I was always against how some hives harvest their happiness, hives like yours Anonymous use a passive harvesting that has no effect on ponies or anything else really, however...".
>She adopts a sort of hardened expression, "Those like Reicher use a process that essentially leaves the feed-ee so to speak,in a lifeless husk. They are still clinically alive but they can't feel emotions ever again, and they adopt a severe apathy towards all things. They eventually die of starvation or other causes".
"Ah, so you're...finding an alternative to the whole draining them to a husk thing"?
>She nods, "Precisely, though I know they cannot help it there are those in our own nation that use the active harvest besides Reicher, I want to make it to where they don't have to. I'm personally on the verge of a breakthrough with the artificial love and happiness, so maybe one day here in the future we can all coexist here peacefully, without the fighting over food and wars".
"I would also like that to happen, I came from a world riddled with fighting and chaos. I would like this world to be quite the opposite of that".
>She smiles, "Good, we have the same objective. It's a shame it has to be done in this way though, this war is inevitable. Reicher has always been bloodthirsty and Vira is an evil queen, them together will call for us to be united and strong against them".
>The carriage slows to a stop, the front window slides open, "My Queen, we are at Warehouse 3".
>"Thank you Chii, Anonymous it's time for you to see what I've come up with. Hopefully it's to your tastes".
>The door automatically slides open, "After you Anonymous".
>You nod and clamber out of the carriage, after you get down you look forward and do a double take.
>What's in front of you can be described essentially as an enormous artillery gun, the barrel piercing the roof and going into the sky.
>The base looks to be about 50 yards long, about .
"This thing...is huge".
>"I have smaller one I had made for tests. They work fine, this one is going to be the permanent one obviously. It took us 2 weeks just to get it from our assembly plant to here for storage, we had to design and build a separate vehicle just to move it".
>"It's called the Mark I mostly because I haven't come up with a proper name yet. I have a hard time naming projects that are...this destructive, but this is necessary, we can't let them overrun us".
"What...does it do? I take it it fires some sort of projectile".
>"I took the inspiration from your own weapon, Commander Beaker had given me the full details and even a basic schematic on it. It fires what's essentially one of your bullets but instead of a metal tip, it's filled with a unstable magical compound that's sure to cause destruction, I know that firsthoof".
>You're still staring at the gun, it resembles something the Nazis would cook up from the sheer size.
"Has this thing been fired"?
>Patina shakes her head, "The smaller ones have been fired and approved, but this one hasn't been fired yet. We have only made three shells of ammunition for this one so far, I like to have a lot of data before making any changes".
>You nod your head as you start to walk around it, marvelling at it's size.
"That'll happen while I'm here I take it"?
>She nods, "Yes, in a few hours we will commence the first test. There's nothing but barren wasteland for about 100 miles towards the north, so we'll be testing it's maximum range by setting the firing angle to 45 degrees".
>The second carriage containing Beaker finally arrives, as Beaker hops out he spots the gun and nearly trips over his own feet.
>"W-Whuh, Q-Queen Patina, what is THAT"?
>Patina looks towards the gun, an almost sombre expression on her face, "Hopefully something so destructive we won't have to use it ever again".
>Beaker joins us in pacing around the gun, "Is this the reason you wanted details on Anonymous' weapon"?
>"Precisely, this one I've figured out will have to have a crew of 20 changelings, one gunner, two sighters, 12 loaders, a commander, and the rest will have to be communications between the other crews. This one will be one of five, after it passes the test of course".
>She stares at the gun, "I'm sorry for my poor mood, I am a pacifist at heart, I detest war. However I must put my feelings aside for the good of the nation, why don't we go have lunch? I'm sure you two are hungry, and we must discuss some things while we're at it".
>Lunch goes by smoothly, Patina brings up more questions about human technology and asks you if there's any other war machines that you think can be made using influences from it.
>A thirty minute conversation about tanks is the result, with Patina getting very interested in the concept.
>After lunch was done Patina had taken you on a tour of the city's main facilities including their manufacturing plant and the main lab, there you find hundreds of changelings flying and running about, papers in hand as they do god knows what. You're no scientist after all.
>Chrysalis was right, Ferrugo is miles ahead of any other hive in technology.
>Their power comes from some weird generator Patina had said produces raw magical energy from breaking down wastes.
>There was times you thought you were back on Earth with what she had here.
>After a while Patina checks a nearby clock and adopts a serious expression, "Well, they should have it loaded by now, we should hurry and try to arrive as quickly as possible".
>After a short carriage ride the three of you arrive at the warehouse, where there was at least a dozen changelings surrounding the gun.
>Patina walks ahead and tells them to start whenever they are ready.
>As she says that the ceiling begins to open up, letting rays of sunlight in.
>After some gun elevation checking and making sure everything is running smoothly, a siren begins to blare.
>"I would cover your ears, if I were you".
>You do so, however the resulting blast would render that action useless.
>What felt like the entire world shaking rippled through your body, the sound of the explosion tore through your hands and made your ears start ringing.
>After a second your bones didn't feel like they were coming apart anymore, and the smoke and dust had settled.
>After half a minute a changeling approaches, "My Queen, the weapon has made impact, range seems to be about 89 miles according to our spotter".
>Patina nods as she puts her goggles back on her head, "Initial firing test complete, please ready the teleporter for damage calculations".
>Teleporter?
>The changelings speed off and come back with what looks like a hoola hoop.
>"Anonymous, have you traveled by teleportation yet"?
"No I haven't".
>"Ah, well one rule would be to stay as calm as possible".
"Oh, alright, I think I can do that".
>Patina magics the ring to the two of you, "Commander Beaker, King Anonymous, please grab this ring. It will make the teleportation much easier for me".
>With a nod you grab the ring with your hand, as Beaker touches it with his hoof.
>"Three. Two. One".
>White.
>Speed.
>Your insides feel like they're trying to escape, against it all you stay calm.
>The next thing you knew you're standing on blackened sand, with Patina and Beaker next to you.
>Looking around as far as you could see was the blackened sand, with smoke trailing into the sky in some areas.
>Farther off in the distance you can see you're all surrounded by high dunes.
>The heat is considerably worse, as you're starting to sweat profusely from it.
>"This...".
>You look to Patina, who is fighting back tears.
>"This is going to kill us all".
>Only now do you realize.
>You're standing in the middle of the crater.