The Freelancers

by OverHeart

Chapter 80 Collapse - Part Two

Weapon readied, Access darted out of the elevator as it reached the end of its run. It let them out into some sort of warehouse, mostly empty save for a few large shipping containers that looked to be in relatively good condition.

Hopefully this meant they were in a section of the Arcology that had normal ponies in it.

“Thought a place like this would be bigger.” Access said absentmindedly. “Sure is empty though, you’d expect there to be more stuff lieing around.”

“Not to mention the lack of staff.” Star added. “I’ve had enough of this place to last a lifetime.”

A box fell out of one of the shipping containers, spilling its contents over the floor. Hushed voices could be heard coming from the open container, which Access went to investigate, but not before he picked up one of the packages that fell out of the fallen box.

They were emergency rations, most of which were sealed into their original factory packaging, but there were a few that had been opened and partly eaten. Access raised his sidearm and pointed it at the open door then looked to Star for confirmation, to which she nodded, drawing her own weapon.

Access fired a single shot at the door’s hinges to serve as a warning shot to whoever was inside, which then bounced off into the floor.

He figured that it was a bunch of kids ransacking a container of emergency supplies for laughs, but a couple of disheveled bat ponies emerged from behind a box instead.

“Stand where we can see you, now.” Access ordered. “I wont ask again.”

“Looks like Arcology Security finally found us.” one bat pony said to the other. “Let’s not drag this out.”

The two bat ponies, a mare and a stallion, left the container and carefully stepped around the spilled boxes of rations. Their clothes were dirty and wrinkled, barely holding together in places, and they looked like they hadn’t seen a good meal in a long time.

“We’re not Arcology Security, we’re just encountering a lot of new ponies recently, many of which seem to keep taking advantage of our crew.” Access remarked. “Are you going to be one of them?”

“I don’t know who you think we are, but we’re just taking what’s rightfully ours.” the stallion said. “It’s ponies like you that forced us to live like this.”

“Watch your tone.” Access growled. “It isn’t exactly paradise out there either.”

“Ignore my husband, he gets a little worked up sometimes.” the bat pony mare said. “We scoped this place out looking for food and water. It was supposed to be empty, where did you come from?”

“Down below.”

The two bat ponies looked at each other strangely.

“Didn’t know anybody still worked down there.” the bat pony stallion said. “We’ve been in and out of here for weeks, we figured the elevator led somewhere, but we know better than to make more noise than we need to.”

“How’d you get in?”

The bat pony stallion pointed at a set of double doors on the far wall, lit by a red exit sign.

“Head out the door and go up the ramp, from there and you’ll run into a blast door, behind that is the main warehouse for this floor, further back is a loading dock that’ll take you outside.” the stallion said. “You’ve got what you want, could you stop pointing that gun at my head?”

“No.” Access stated plainly. “Star, go check if they’re lieing.”

“What’re they gonna do, Access, menace us with a protein bar?”

“Just do as you’re told, I’m about at my limit for bullshit.” Access remarked as Star relented with a loud groan. “Why are you two stealing emergency supplies exactly?”

The two bat ponies looked quite nervous when they attempted to answer and they stammered out a few excuses, most of which weren’t particularly justifiable, as the penalty for theft in the Arcology was execution by firing squad.

Access supposed it wasn’t really his business, but they seemed genuine enough for him to lower his weapon slightly.

“See anything?” Access called over to Star.

She poked her head out the door and observed a single long hallway, at one end was a ramp leading down into the dark, and in the other direction another, which led up toward a heavy blast door that appeared to be slightly ajar.

There didn’t seem to be any signs of forced entry, in fact, it looked like it’d been gently pushed open and then closed just enough so that anyone passing by would assume it to be closed as it should be.

“Blast Door, open.” Star remarked, drawing her head back. “Looks like they’re telling the truth, happy?”

“By the way, you’ll need someone to open up the loading dock’s doors if you want to get out without shooting up the place, good luck with that.”

“Moon let us in, she’ll let them out no problem.” the bat pony mare said to her husband. “Call ahead and tell her.”

“Fine.” he huffed. “Someone will be waiting, just grab their attention and she’ll let you out.”

“What’s the catch?”

Despite being held at gunpoint, the bat pony stallion turned his back on Access and walked away, which could be seen as very brave or perhaps very stupid, but Access didn’t feel the need to point that out.

The stallion seemed to realize what he’d done a little too late to backtrack without looking at least a little bit foolish, so he busied himself with the box he and his wife had been emptying before they were interrupted.

Access holstered his weapon and joined Star by the double doors, who shared a look of concern with him, but he just shook his head.

Freedom was in sight, that was all that mattered at the moment.

“What do you suppose he meant?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t think the deal you cut with the bosses will save you.” Star said plainly. “That is what he said, no?”

“The Crown were the client, it only makes sense that Phantom was the one they spoke to.” Access replied. “Problem is I don’t think she knew who Matterhorn was and how badly they wanted him returned to them.”

“She knew, she must’ve.”

Access stopped just shy of the blast door, anger just barely contained by a disinterested frown. “I’m not really in the mood for jokes.”

“Think about it for a moment.” Star half-shouted. “Phantom hires us for a well-paying job of dubious origin, brings Matterhorn along for the ride for reasons known only to her, and then the Crown shows up just as we were about to be home-free.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“You don’t need to, but I’ve seen tactics like this before, it’s standard operating procedure for corps large and small.” Star pointed out. “I think the Crown is gathering resources and tidying up loose ends.”

“And Genetech?”

“Those creatures we saw, there was a stallion we met that said they were remnants of GeneTech’s experiments.” Star pointed out. “I think they’re creating soldiers.”

“Normally I’d scoff at the thought, but you might be right.” Access relented. “Let’s cut the chatter, we’re wasting time.”

Access gently pushed the blast door open enough for the pair to squeeze through, and they found themselves in a large loading dock, presumably used as a place to store cargo containers before they were moved elsewhere.

Opposite a heavy duty crane for transferring containers to an industrial elevator that moved the containers between storehouses was a control room, empty, devoid of the pony that was supposed to open the door for them.

It looked like the workers here had evacuated in a hurry as well, and they had left their tools and personal belongings wherever they were at the time when the order to leave was given, whenever that was.

Access figured that the Crown’s rather explosive entry was what made the Arcology’s administration call a full evacuation of the surface level facilities, so the workers were either underground where it was safe or holed up in panic rooms nearby.

“It’s too damned quiet.”

“Evacuation orders get issued through the worker’s cyberware, only civilian areas have audible alarms.” Star replied. “At least, that’s what I’m told.”

“Interesting system.”

“My father said that it was to reduce the level of panic involved during emergencies. The only time there’s an audible alarm is if something serious is occurring, like an environmental malfunction or a natural disaster.”

“Did he say anything we could use to get out of here?”

Star pointed at a huge rolling door on the opposite wall, likely protected on the other side by more blast doors.

“We need to get that open, try the control room.”

“Got an idea?”

“Assuming my father wasn’t lieing about his time here, I might do.”

---

“Sir?”

“I order you to find them and bring me their heads.” Raptor growled. “Those who fail to do so will join their friend over there.”

He’d tossed Phantom like a rag doll in a fit of rage, using her as a makeshift battering ram in an attempt to get the elevator to halt its ascent.

A trooper with a white combat helmet combined with the usual dark armor attended to the injured bat pony, purely because her moral code compelled her to, even though Raptor had threatened to do the same to her if she did not follow orders.

The medic reminded Raptor that she did not have to answer to him, as he was not her commanding officer, and his level of control extended to his squad and not a single pace more. Raptor stomped off like a petulant child and left her to deal with the consequences of his actions, and she feared that it might not be the last of his messes she’ll have to clean up today.

“Are you awake, can you hear me okay?”

Phantom nodded slightly, taking in a raspy breath.

“Good, I’m going to connect to your bio-monitor so I can get a sense of where we’re at.” she said soothingly. “Depending on what it reports, I’ll have a number of options I can offer you, okay?”

The medic connected a cable to the base of her hoof and connected the other end to the port in Phantom’s neck. An AR display jumped to life, displaying the medic’s name and medical software version before it abruptly shifted to a readout of Phantom’s bio-monitor.

To the medic’s dismay, the bio-monitor reported that Phantom’s injuries were far more serious than some field triage could address. Many of her bones were broken in multiple places due to the forces put on them during Raptor’s tantrum, and she was bleeding internally as a result.

The internal bleeding could be addressed now with a strong healing stimulant and later on some corrective surgery once she was stable enough, but the more pressing issue was the condition of her skeletal structure.

It would need a series of invasive and extensive surgeries, perhaps even cyberware to correct the damage if she wanted to retain use of her limbs even on a basic level.

“So?”

“You’ll need surgery at minimum.” the medic said carefully. “I can give you a stim now that’ll ensure you don’t bleed out on the way back to base, but beyond that I can’t say what they’ll decide to do for you.”

“How about you just shoot me in the head now and save yourself the trouble?” Phantom spat, half out of malice and half due to the internal injuries.

“I am not your enemy.”

“The uniform says otherwise.”

“My name is Red Cross, I am a trained combat medic with years of medical experience, I have served in both corporate and civilian organizations. I swore an oath to assist the sick and injured no matter their allegiance.” she said. “If all you see is the uniform then it’s no wonder why you’ve ended up here, spitting venom at someone that’s trying to help you.”

“A paycheck is a paycheck, huh?”

Cross shook her head in dismay and produced an auto-injector from a side pouch on her armor, which she pressed into one of the only spots on Phantom’s body that wasn’t covered in cuts and bruises and pushed the button on the top.

“Painkillers and a healing stim like I said before, should take the edge off.”

“Dunno if it’s the broken bones or whatever, but the tiny needle in that thing feels like I’m being shot.” Phantom joked. “I’ve got a real bone to pick with your boss, assuming I ever recover.”

“He wishes he was my boss, the pony’s a savage and the Director knows it, that’s why there’s an entire platoon with him.” Cross said without thinking. “Shouldn’t ever have been let out of the freezer, let alone given command of a squad.”

“What’ll happen to Matterhorn?”

“Liquidated probably, depends what mood the Director’s in.” Cross remarked. “One thing’s a certainty though, she’ll be displeased with your failure.”

“Will she?” Phantom remarked. “Suit pocket, check it.”

Grisly as it was given Phantom’s condition, Cross dug into the Runner’s front pocket and her hoof came into contact with something small and thin.

“A Data Chip?”

“It’s one half of the data she asked for, couldn’t fit it all on one chip.” Phantom pointed out through a jab of pain. “The other’s in a safe place, I’ll tell you where to get it if you do a favor for me.”