//------------------------------//
// System Shock 
// Story: Hecate's Orphanage 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Thirteen: System Shock
~BlackRoseRaven

The Worker Drone strode calmly towards the cargo entrance, a Kirin in armor striding beside it as it dragged a heavy steel crate behind it. As they approached the opening, the Kirin guard beside the gate frowned and said sharply: “Stop.”
The Worker Drone stopped immediately as his escort frowned before saying shortly: “In a hurry here.”
“Who are you? Cargo shipments stopped-”
“Because of the alert, cargo shipments were delayed. Deliveries are being rushed. Get out of my way.” the Kirin snapped, and the Kirin guard at the door narrowed his eyes dangerously, but the patrol only leaned forwards and asked harshly: “You want me to get Deity on the line?”
The Kirin guard grimaced at this, then snorted and motioned for the escort to pass as he looked up and saw another Kirin approaching with his own box of cargo. “I wasn't informed of this.”
“Excuses, excuses.” grumbled the escort as he passed and they entered a wide concrete room. There were stacks of cargo to one side, along with roughly a dozen inert Worker Drones, but the Kirin strode quickly past his own escort and gestured shortly with his head towards what looked like a massive elevator at the far end of the hall.
The Worker Drone wheezed, and the Kirin shot it a horrible look before Moonflower mumbled from beneath the steel shell clasped painfully tightly around his body: “It's very, very hot in this. And disgusting.”
“Taisse-toi, you ouaouaron. Y'think it's easier for me, havin' to channel Grimsmoke's spirit and form? Ain't!” La Croix growled back from the Kirin's mouth, and then he quickly looked forwards as they approached the cargo lift.
The guards on either side gave him strange looks, but they didn't try and stop him as he walked past. He waited for Moonflower to drag the crate into place, and then he turned his attention towards the control panel at one corner of the elevator: thankfully it was fairly straightforward, and all he had to do was push the lever to the top position to make the elevator start to rise.
It was a grueling wait for it to reach the top, La Croix pacing incessantly as Moonflower panted beneath the steel shell, both of them shooting nervous looks at the crate. But when the elevator did finally grind to a halt and the massive transport shutter slid open, the Kirin looked as cold and professional as any other soldier in the station, and the Worker Drone dragged its cargo with the same patient monotony as any other.
They followed a trail marked by painted lines through a warehouse filled with cargo boxes and inert Worker Drones to another set of guarded shutters. The armored Kirin here both looked at La Croix oddly when he approached, but neither moved to stop him when he hit the button to open the shutter.
But this was the part that had La Croix worried, as he took a deep breath before he and Moonflower stepped onto a conveyor belt that pulled them slowly towards a long steel tunnel filled with ominous, humming archways.
La Croix simply did his best to stay still as he felt his body being scanned over, keeping his concentration on the Kirin he was channeling and only praying that this technology wasn't focused on examining them as much as the cargo, but that just left him worrying about whether or not Sombra's crystal would be enough to offset the scanners...
There was a blare of noise as they came to the other end of the tunnel, and La Croix tensed for a  second, before he had to withhold a sigh of relief as the armored doors buzzed open and a voice said calmly: “Proceed to platform three.”
La Croix and Moonflower followed the signs on the wall of the loading bay they emerged into, heading to the platform they were directed to. An armored Kirin stood guard here with several Worker Drones, the latter immediately moving to unharness the disguised Moonflower as the former frowned at La Croix.
La Croix looked evenly back, until the armored Kirin asked: “What's this cargo? The train just went through final inspection, we shouldn't be putting more on board. Who authorized this?”
“Deity.” La Croix said shortly, and the armored Kirin gave him a foul – and suspicious – look.
“What's the cargo?” asked the Kirin, and La Croix felt like he was starting to sweat a little, even as the Worker Drones carefully began to push the crate into the mostly-empty freight car.
“Classified.” La Croix grunted, and the armored Kirin snorted in contempt.
“I'll pretend that's a joke. Now tell me what the cargo is or I'm going to contact the freight manager and have your ass hauled to wasteland patrol for the next year.” retorted the armored Kirin, and La Croix narrowed his eyes as his hoof flexed against the ground-
And then there was a crackle of lightning through the air, the armored Kirin flinching in surprise as his eyes bulged before his helmet popped off as his body underwent a terrible, hideous transformation. A moment later, it was not a Kirin that hit the ground, but a squat, horrified-looking lawn gnome roughly in the shape of a Kirin, wearing a cute little outfit that vaguely resembled the armor it had been dressed in.
La Croix rolled his eyes before he glared at Moonflower, who reached up and grabbed the Worker Drone facemask covering his features, wiggling it back and forth before he wheezed loudly as he yanked it off. A moment later, his horn popped almost comically back out of his head as he mumbled: “Funny, how some things are so much harder to polymorph than others. But I suppose we stallions are proud of our horns, aren't we?”
La Croix sighed, then he looked nervously back and forth before picking up the lawn gnome and helmet, flinging them both at Moonflower as he grumbled: “Just get on the train, before you get us into any more trouble.”
Moonflower huffed at this as he caught both objects with telekinesis, but then he nodded and scurried back inside as the Worker Drones calmly filed out, paying no attention to either of the stallions as La Croix hopped into the freight car as well. The zebra sighed in relief as his own polymorph faded, rubbing wildly at his features as he sat himself down between a pair of crates, mumbling: “Oh, merci, whatever lords of Darkwater be lookin' out for me still. I can't believe we got through that.”
“Don't get cocky La Croix. That's my job.” Moonflower said as leaned over one of the crates, and then he giggled childishly as the zebra glared at him, before the winged unicorn suddenly added in a more serious voice: “We aren't safe until we're moving. And even then, well...”
“Oh, don't you try and be the smart one now, Moony.” La Croix grumbled, looking sourly up at the winged unicorn before he gestured at him irritably. “Allez.”
“Allay yourself, you... oaf.” Moonflower retorted, and then he pushed himself off the crate before he winced at the sound of approaching hoofsteps, hurriedly scrambling behind another crate as La Croix winced and pushed himself as far back into his own niche as he could.
“Where the hell is he...” muttered one of the Kirin as he strode into the train car and looked back and forth. “No one present.”
“Fine, let's close it up. He can explain to the section head later why he abandoned his post.” grumbled another, and the Kirin who had entered the train muttered under his breath, but then left. This was followed by a loud clanging and banging, before the freight car was suddenly engulfed in darkness as the door was sealed shut.
Moonflower and La Croix both remained quiet for the moment, until they felt the train beginning to gradually rumble to life. Then there was a sudden lurch before it smoothed quickly into a dull humming, and La Croix wheezed in relief as Moonflower flopped over... then rose his head and blurted: “I told you so!”
“You didn't tell me anything, you idjit. You told me the opposite of that, 'smatter of fact!” La Croix snapped, glaring towards the winged unicorn, but Moonflower only huffed as he began to wiggle the rest of the Worker Drone shell off his body.
La Croix, meanwhile, only rolled his eyes before he started to pull the uncomfortable Kirin armor off his own form, muttering under his breath the entire time. Once that was done, he walked over to the crate, ignoring the fact that Moonflower was rolling back and forth on his back as he struggled to yank off the too-small metal boots on his rear hooves.
The zebra hammered firmly on the side of the crate, and then he stepped back and waited: it was less than a minute before the top of the heavy box groaned loudly as it was forced up, then knocked completely open with a tremendous bang, clattering loudly to the ground and still caked on the inside with black crystal.
Cadence wheezed loudly as she flung herself over the edge of the crate, while Sombra sat up and looked around in the almost-complete darkness of the freight car before his horn lit up, spreading faint luminescence through the car. He smiled a little after a moment, then said quietly: “We just need to be careful now: if these systems are automated, like Decretum's...”
Cadence nodded a few times, but she didn't have the energy or mind to really process what was going on: all she knew was that she had been trapped in a crate for the better part of the hour and even if she had just yanked herself up into a dark room, it was a thousand times better than being stuck in a box filled with metal and crystal.
She shook herself quickly out, flapping her wings a few times to work out the tension in them before she hopped out of the crate, stretching her back out slowly with a grimace. Her own horn lit up after a moment, the mare directing the glow around the room as she muttered: “I wonder what else they must be transporting...”
Sombra calmly climbed down, looking towards La Croix and asking: “Were there any problems? I thought I heard a brief commotion.”
La Croix grunted before he shot a look at Moonflower as the winged unicorn finally yanked the metal boots off his hooves. “Nothin' that can't be fixed.”
“Excuse me, but I did fix it. I fixed it very well, as a matter of fact.” Moonflower said as he rose a front hoof pointedly, glaring back at La Croix from his position on his back, and then he rolled quickly up to all fours, sniffing loudly as he brushed quickly at himself. “My Gnomatic Curse is-”
“Oh god no, you didn't.” Cadence groaned loudly, looking quickly back and forth before she sighed tiredly as she saw that yes, Moonflower had: there was a horrified looking Kirin gnome sitting right over there on the floor, next to one of those fancy helmets... well, at least I can finally take a look at that... “Fantastic. What are we going to do with him?”
“Oh, we can just... put him in a vent or something. He's not aware of anything, and he won't turn back into a Kirin until I dispel the curse.” Moonflower said absently, gesturing off to the side before he sat back and began to carefully smooth out his mane, adding mildly: “I swear, though. It's like you don't trust me or something, which I find very offensive. I'm not stupid, Cadence, I would never use a spell without being assured of its potency.”
“Yeah, you've never done that before.” Cadence said dryly, rolling her eyes before she sighed and walked over to pick up the helmet. As she started to examine it, she asked: “La Croix, would you mind scouting ahead through the train? We need to know what we're up against.”
La Croix rubbed at his face, grimacing a bit before he rose a hoof, suggesting: “How about I send Grimsmoke ahead? He can see what there is to see and it'll save me some energy. I'm feelin' a little... usé after all the runnin' around we been doing.”
Cadence glanced over at the zebra, then she smiled a bit and said quietly: “Alright, you know I trust your judgment. If you think that'll work better, then go for it. Once we're done making sure the train is safe, we'll be able to take a break until we reach the facility.”
The zebra grunted, and then he reached back and pulled the crystal that contained Grimsmoke's spirit out of his sidepack. He shook it briskly, and it pulsed faintly before the spirit of the Kirin appeared with a scowl.
La Croix only had to gesture with his head, and the Kirin vanished to go about his mission. The zebra smiled slightly, beginning to settle in... before he looked up curiously as Sombra asked: “What do you think you'll do with Grimsmoke once his duties are complete?”
La Croix frowned a bit at this, and then he shrugged awkwardly before saying finally: “Never really thought about it. Figured I'd just do the same as always, let him go. Even if I don't completely trust him, just on principle.”
Sombra nodded slowly, and then he said softly: “Let's bring him back to Queen Hecate first. She might be able to learn more from him than we can: she'll know the right questions to ask. I think she may be able to offer him more... peace of mind, as well.”
La Croix only shrugged at this, looking curiously at the stallion, but Sombra simply smiled before he headed towards one of the crates. Moonflower bounded after him, and La Croix simply shrugged before reaching up for his hat... and scowling when he realized too late it wasn't there, instead rubbing his hoof slowly down his face before he slumped back against the crate and closed his eyes.
Grimsmoke returned after five minutes, announcing calmly: “Seven cars, plus the engine. Five Kirin: three are soldiers, two are engineers. One prisoner is being transported in stasis. Otherwise, it's basic cargo and mechs.”
“Mechs.” Cadence didn't like the sound of that: she had heard that term used around Decretum, too, and seen the machines it had referred to. “Is it safe?”
“The soldiers will stay in the transport car in front of the engine. One goes back to check on the prisoner every hour or so under standard protocol.” Grimsmoke said shortly, and then he glared at La Croix, who half-opened one eye to look at him moodily.
“Y'know, I just brought you back. She be the one who killed you. You just bein' ungrateful now.” La Croix said blandly, and Cadence scowled out from beneath the helmet she was now wearing, the zebra looking back at her innocently for a moment before he simply held up the black crystal in one hoof, and Grimsmoke's spirit was pulled into this with a thrum of green light. “What?”
“I just don't know how I manage to work with you two without losing my mind, that's all.” Cadence muttered, as her eyes flicked to Moonflower, who was happily helping her father open crates to check through them curiously. “When the train stops, what do we do?”
La Croix shrugged a bit, and then he said finally: “Well, we ain't gonna be able to just hide in here, that's for sure. I guess the real question is whether or not this place is where the target is... if it is, well. We might have to take on a whole prison. And I ain't lookin' forwards to that.”
Cadence looked down thoughtfully, and then she took off the helmet, pressing the button on the side to turn it off as she mused: “I wonder...”
La Croix tilted his head as Sombra and Moonflower both looked up, and then Cadence gave a slight smile before she strode past, saying: “Excuse me for a minute, colts. I think I'm going to go and take a look at these mechs.”
Moonflower cocked his head, while La Croix groaned and Sombra sighed, shaking his head with a wry smile before he said softly as his daughter strode through the door into the next car: “Well, she always did enjoy the direct method.”

The train slowed as it approached a massive, octagonal facility located in the middle of the wasteland: large towers stood sentinel all around it, with enormous cannons and turrets mounted on platforms that spiraled up the length of these monoliths.
The train rolled through an archway, electricity sparking over its cars as it passed through an invisible barrier that further slowed the vehicle. It rumbled its way into a tunnel that led into the facility, passing through several open security shutters before the train finally slid its way to a halt at the platform.
It clanked loudly as it stopped, and a signal blared loudly through the platform, the Worker Drones standing at the ready immediately gearing to life and striding forwards towards the first car in line. As they went to work, Kirin officers watched them emotionlessly: these soldiers were visibly different from the soldiers in Valheim, with more mechanical parts visible over their bodies, and strange steel ridges down the backs of their necks that stuck out just beneath the helmets they wore.
Several other Kirin were at the ready in bipedal machines harnesses securely crossing their chests and their hind legs vanishing into the steel bottoms of the mechanical suits, protected by thick steel plating that covered their backs and curled around their sides, but left their fronts and faces exposed. Their forelegs vanished into the sleeves of massive metal arms that ended in steel vise grips, and they moved the exoskeletons as easily and naturally as they did their own bodies.
The Worker Drones slowly escorted the capsule that contained the single prisoner out of the train before they carefully pushed it up to a standing position, and one of the exoskeleton-suited Kirin strode forwards to grasp into the large handles on either side of the tall, wide machine before lifting it and easily turning around to carry it away, several soldiers escorting him.
The Drones moved on to the next car, sliding the massive door open-
A bipedal machine leapt over the Worker Drones and landed with a crunch on its large, tripod-clawed feet, the Kirin staring with shock as the battlemech straightened: it had thick limbs plated with blue armor, and a spherical, black metal body, with stubby wings sticking out of its back above large, rectangular engines. Before any of the Kirin could react, the battlemech rose an arm quickly and opened fire with the machine gun at the end of its limb, sending two Kirin down in a hail of blood as the others leapt for cover.
One of the exoskeletons began to charge forwards, and the other arm of the mech sharply rose, the cannon that this one ended in glowing before unleashing a tremendous blast of concussive force that knocked the Kirin flying backwards like his exosuit was a toy. He crashed into the wall and collapsed in an unconscious heap as an alarm began to blare loudly, a Kirin yelling into his headset: “Central command, we have-”
He was blown away a moment later in a hail of gore and bullets, and the other Kirin scrambled for the exit. The battlemech concentrated its fire on the back of the Kirin in the exosuit, which was – to the operator's surprise and horror and sick thrill – torn almost completely apart by the powerful machine gun the battlemech's limb ended in.
Cadence, Moonflower, and Sombra hurried out of the train car as La Croix wheezed loudly inside the machine, shivering a bit as he snapped in a voice distorted only faintly by the speaker he had to talk through: “I don't like this one bit, Cygne! You owe me big for this!”
“You're the only one who can channel Grimsmoke, and he's the only one who can operate that thing. Let's go, we push!” Cadence snapped, before she looked up and swore as a security shutter began to close at the entrance of the platform.
Sombra immediately stomped a hoof down, and black crystal shot up the rails of the shutter, stopping it from sealing shut as the ponies hurried forward. La Croix barely managed to duck the battlemech under the screeching shutter, and then he groaned loudly as he saw the shutter at the other end of the corridor had already closed, asking sharply: “Now what?”
“Daddy?” Cadence asked with a look over her shoulder, and Sombra nodded calmly before he took the lead, running towards the shutter and slamming his front hooves into it. Immediately, the shutter began to tremble as black crystal first spread over it, and then began to twist through it, the stallion breathing quietly as he slowly converted the shutter into dark gemstone.
Then he frowned slightly, before murmuring: “I can sense them on the other side of this. There are at least five Kirin, waiting for us to break through.”
“Then let's not disappoint them.” Cadence said grimly, before she looked quickly over her shoulder towards Moonflower. “Provide a barrier. La Croix, you're point after I breach.”
“C'est des conneries.” La Croix mumbled, but he nodded all the same, the mech's arms raising to ready positions as Moonflower's horn glowed, and a protective barrier formed in front of the war machine. “Well... laissez les bon temps rouler!”
Cadence smiled slightly as her horn glowed brightly, and then the moment her father leapt away from the crystallized barrier, she turned and fired a blast of holy energy into the crystal. The black stone dissolved from the magic, most of the middle of the shutter exploding outwards and pelting the Kirin beyond with energized chunks of crystal and slag.
They shouted, stumbling and firing wildly in the direction of the shutter as La Croix waded forward in the battlemech, bullets bouncing uselessly off the barrier protecting him as he returned fire with the machine gun and concussion cannon. The line of soldiers was quickly mown down, but the zebra could already see more charging down the hall towards him, followed by several plodding, enormous mechs that had their own deadly weapons at the ready.
He winced a bit as one of these latter took aim and fired at him, the zebra yelping as the massive spike of iron smashed through the magic barrier and tore off part of the mech's shoulder. “Cygne, I ain't gonna last long out here alone!”
La Croix fired down the hall, and then he winced in surprise as he saw most of his bullets deflected by some kind of magic shield protecting the Kirin. He swore, concentrating the machine gun fire on one as he began to raise the concussive cannon-
Another of the approaching battlemechs fired, and La Croix staggered to the side with another yell as the cannon-limb of his own machine was all-but-disintegrated by some kind of cutting blade that tore through metal as easily as it had Moonflower's shield. The zebra cursed as statistics and warnings blared wildly over the static-riddled screen in front of him, hammering at the controls before he yelled desperately, as he saw the third battlemech aim the massive cannon it was carrying at him: “Cygne!”
The battlemech fired, and La Croix stared in horror as he saw the rocket streak through the air towards him-
As suddenly as it had shot at him, the rocket was flipped by a blast of gravitational magic, shooting back and hammering into the battlemech that had fired. It exploded in a tremendous bang that knocked the other mechs stumbling and reduced the unfortunate target in the center to scrap metal, broken legs uselessly trying to stagger backwards, dragging its remains of body before it lurched to the side and collapsed with a tremendous bang.
The other mechs sizzled as the Kirin who had been knocked sprawling from the blast started to pick themselves up: only one managed to reach his hooves before a knife tore through his face, however, sending him sprawling back in a dead heap.
One of the battlemechs rose its weapon, but then there was a tremendous boom before a blast of electricity exploded through the air around it, making it sizzle and crackle violently. It staggered back and forth, firing off several spinning blades, Kirin screaming as they were sliced apart by the massive, spinning discs before the battlemech collapsed.
The remaining mech sizzled as electricity lashed against it, but it avoided the worst of the blast, managing to limp a step forwards. All the same, the lightning seemed to have done some serious damage to its systems as it struggled to raise the spike cannon it was holding in its simple mechanical hands.
La Croix gritted his teeth, making his battlemech raise its own weapon before he opened fire. Massive machine gun rounds pounded through the limping mech and the remaining Kirin, knocking the latter backwards in a hail of gore, and the former clanking, whirring, trying to force forwards even as the huge bullets tore hoof-sized holes in its armor plating. It managed two steps before it simply halted, fizzling faintly as it slumped forwards, and there was a loud groaning noise before the mech shut itself off and listed slowly forwards to crash down on its face.
Cadence sighed in relief as Sombra and Moonflower strode out of the shutter, and La Croix groaned loudly before the cockpit of the battlemech he was in opened, the zebra dragging himself free of the machine to flump loudly to the ground. “I ain't ever doin' that again, Cygne. Not ever.”
The ivory mare only smiled briefly before she looked quickly around: they were at an intersection, and she could see that armored shutters had been closed at all points of entry. She could also hear an alarm still blaring in the distance, and the mare frowned a bit before her eyes flicked up to one corner of the room, noting a camera.
“We're being watched.” Cadence strode quickly towards the fallen Kirin, before she looked over her shoulder and said quietly: “La Croix, need you to do your thing.”
“Wish I had more to work with.” the zebra muttered, but then he nodded as he strode towards the corpses, grimacing as his hooves crackled with green energy before he reached out and touched one of the bodies.
The corpse flexed once, and then its mouth sighed open before the spirit of the Kirin rose up, looking back and forth with surprise before it gazed down at its own hooves, almost in awe. It was quite a different reaction from Grimsmoke, and before La Croix could say anything, Cadence stepped forwards and asked quickly: “Do you know what happened to you?”
The spirit looked up, not seeming to comprehend her for a moment before it suddenly smiled. And La Croix flinched before he grabbed at his face with a groan, shivering a little as Cadence looked at him worriedly. “No, no, I... I'm fine. It's just... it ain't able to communicate like Grimsmoke. This thing, this be a...”
La Croix visibly fumbled for the words, looking awkwardly at Cadence, but the mare only looked out over the Kirin, seeing them and understanding when she saw the emotionlessness even in death, the lack of distinction... “They're copies.”
“Golems or constructs or...” La Croix halted at the look on Cadence's face, and he gave a lame smile before clearing his throat and continuing quickly: “Anyway, this guy here tells me they get put together in some kind of lab, and then they get what sounds like a node shoved into their brains to make 'em 'smart...' poor têtards be born without a chance.”
Cadence grimaced at this, but forced herself to be professional, swallowing her emotions as she asked: “I need to know what he knows, though. What can he tell me about this prison?”
The Loa nodded as Sombra walked up and gently touched his daughter's shoulder, both calming and reassuring her as La Croix looked back towards the spirit. Both the Kirin and the zebra were silent, but La Croix was visibly grinding his teeth together, shifting back and forth before he finally sat back, grabbing at his face and waving a hoof wildly as he groaned: “Okay, okay! Yeah, he says... he showed me the whole damn thing, they... damn. My head be ringin'. I'm gonna need another crystal, Papa Sérénité.”
Sombra nodded, holding up a hoof and easily creating a sphere of black gemstone, and La Croix took this before he grimaced and looked over at the ghost. It only looked at him with a curious smile, and the zebra sighed before he mumbled: “I'm gonna try and be nicer to y'all than I am to Grimsmoke. Come on.”
The Kirin nodded, then vanished from sight as the black crystal glowed with eerie green light, La Croix looking moodily down at this before he muttered: “Okay. Sorry 'bout that, Cygne. When spirits ain't able to speak, they like to just ram a whole bunch of thoughts at me.”
Cadence nodded, and then Moonflower frowned nervously as he asked: “So? What do we do? What did you find out?”
The ivory mare gave Moonflower a sour look, but La Croix simply pointed ahead, answering: “It's all controlled from the top of the tower. The last order they got was to lock down everything while they send security teams 'round the long way. They gonna try to box us in, then catch us in the crossfire, like we animals or somethin'.”
Cadence nodded, and then she closed her eyes and took a breath, thinking for a moment before she asked: “How does the security system work?”
“Ain't no overrides here, or at least ain't any we can access. And you can forget 'bout trying to take over those mechs, too. They're all customized, the same way those exosuits are.” La Croix shivered a little, and then he grasped one of the corpses in front of him and gently shifted it to the side, maneuvering the head to reveal the metallic ridge that jutted out of the back of the neck: it ended in what... no, that can't be... “They be livin' software.”
Cadence shivered in disgust: that was exactly what she thought it was, a plug-in, that probably fed right into the node in their brains, if she knew how Decretum technology worked... except Hecate would never do this to her soldiers... would she?
She hoped not. But this wasn't the time to think about that, was it? She forced herself to tear her eyes away, before she grimaced and spread her wings, flying up towards a vent cover in the ceiling.
She pressed against it to peer into the vent beyond: the whirring fan she spotted wasn't the problem, but she could feel the ominous heat that was emanating from the vents, and considering the few times she'd been forced to work vent duty and scrape out the charred corpses of bugs and other unfortunates stupid enough to crawl into the ducts in Decretum... “These won't work either. It's the same as Decretum.”
“Everything is.” Sombra said thoughtfully, and Cadence frowned as she dropped out of the air, turning to look towards her father curiously. “That is the answer. Decretum and this world function on the same principles, the principles created by Valthrudnir. Everything has rules, logic, structure...”
Moonflower looked lost, but Cadence was nodding slowly, closing her eyes as she thought about her first few weeks in Decretum: about everything she learned about Clockwork World, and about the ways she had learned to subvert the rules when she found them too frustrating, about the glitches and the bumps in the programming...
“How long has it been since we left Valheim?” Cadence asked quickly: she knew the train ride had been more than twenty hours, because they had been able to nap in turns, but she needed a better answer than her body could tell her.
And as always, her father had it for her, the stallion saying quietly: “Twenty-six hours... give or take half an hour. I would say by now...”
“Security alerts end after twenty-four hours of no contact. If an alert is triggered after that, the information from the previous alert is compared and the threat level is upgraded.” Cadence said quickly, thinking rapidly before she looked up at the camera with a grimace. “The higher the threat level, the more aggressive the response. We need to make them upgrade the response one more level.”
“What? How does that possibly help us?” Moonflower asked in disbelief, staring at Cadence, but the mare only smiled grimly over her shoulder, although this reaction made Moonflower rear back slightly as nervousness turned to outright fear. “Oh no. I don't like that look, Cadence. I do not like that look at all.”
Cadence turned her eyes towards La Croix, who was also staring at her like she was insane. But still, the ivory mare ordered: “You need to make one of these corpses into a puppet. Sombra, I need you to block off the hall behind us, we absolutely can't risk getting boxed in under a crossfire. I think I can fool the sensors into upgrading the alert and making us a priority target.”
“You better have a damn good reason for this, Cygne.” La Croix muttered, biting his cheek as he turned towards the corpses, then he took a deep breath before pointing at one, even as he reared back slightly in visible discomfort with what he was doing.
The body convulsed, and then the corpse of the Kirin slowly clambered up to its hooves, only standing placidly in the spot. Cadence looked over her shoulder at the camera, then grimaced before she strode over and grasped the Kirin corpse, quickly pulling it backwards to make sure it was in clear sight before she muttered: “Sorry about this. Guys, you might want to turn away.”
La Croix did so quickly, hugging himself and looking a little revolted as Sombra smiled faintly and Moonflower tilted his head, and then the winged unicorn reared back in horror as the ivory mare drew a knife and leapt forwards, driving it into the puppet's face and sending it bonelessly to the ground. “What the hell, Cadence! Even... even I wouldn't-”
“Shut up, Moonflower!” Cadence snapped, and then she grimaced as she hauled the puppet back up to its hooves, pulling her knife free before she slammed a short series of blows into the corpse, then drove it down with another lethal attack, this time to the throat.
The mare glanced up at the camera, taking a breath as she dragged the corpse back up to its hooves. If the visual metrics were the same as in Decretum, it was counting her 'kills:' it would be smart enough to recognize what was 'lethal' to the Kirin, but too dumb to understand that all Cadence was killing over and over again was a corpse.
As she kept herself moving, her father turned and went to work creating a barrier of black gemstone. Moonflower hurried to help, grimacing a bit but clearly trusting in Cadence in spite of the fact he was clearly questioning her sanity, while La Croix was simply rubbing at his temples, mumbling: “What the hell would you think of me for doin' this, cher? Oh, the things I gotta do for fou Nanny Hecate and très fou Cygne...”
“Shut up, La Croix.” Cadence grumbled, as she drove the puppet down again. Ten kills, she thought... was the camera keeping count?
The puppet became more and more damaged: at twenty, it was ragged, and at thirty, it barely resembled a Kirin anymore. Her father and Moonflower had created a solid barrier of black gemstone that would probably delay any troops for at least a few minutes, thanks to the magic energy pulsing through it, and La Croix was watching the camera uncertainly: it was tracking Cadence's movements, but time was ticking by far too quickly and even if she was right-
Cadence swore as she drove the corpse down again, her teeth grit, sweat rolling down her body before she looked up sharply as there was a loud double-beep, and then the mare grinned in spite of the strain and the fear of what was coming next, shouting: “Moonflower, wall!”
Moonflower snapped his horn forwards, creating a powerful barrier in front of them, the stallion bracing himself as his horn continued to glow brightly. A barrage of bullets and magic exploded uselessly against this as Cadence leaned forwards, her eyes searching back and forth almost desperately over the platoon of enemies marching towards them through the open doors as they continued to fire on them. Where the hell is it?
She saw almost two dozen Kirin, firing with both weapons and magic; she saw battlemechs and Kirin in exosuits advancing behind the infantry, using the rows of soldiers as living shields. But none of them were what she was looking for...
She cursed, then looked over her shoulder, and Sombra grimaced before he slammed his hooves down into the ground: a moment later, massive spikes of black crystal exploded upwards in front of the advancing line, tearing through the infantry advancing on them, halting their advance for a moment as Moonflower wheezed loudly, his body trembling as he snapped: “I can't hold this forever, Cadence!”
Cadence opened her mouth, before her eyes widened as she heard a loud banging, felt the trembles through the ground: a moment later, several Kirin were knocked flying as a massive Clockwork Titan smashed straight through its own rows of soldiers, heading for them with murder gleaming in its crimson eyes. It wasn't precisely like the Clockwork Titans of Decretum, Cadence saw, but it was all the same close enough as she watched it draw closer, before shouting: “System override, authorization code 1X1X, user code empress-0! Trigger full system recalibration!”
The Clockwork Titan stumbled to a halt as its crimson eyes glowed, and the mare shouted almost desperately: “Shut down AI link! Purge all data, uh...”
What was the code? Cadence grabbed at her head, trying to remember before she blurted: “Threat level red, uh... infection, all systems are compromised, switch to manual command mode!”
The Clockwork Titan whirred loudly for a moment as bullets fired all around it, Moonflower gasping as he struggled to keep up the shield under the barrage as dead Kirin were pushed aside and trampled under the once-more advancing horde, but Cadence's eyes lit up as she saw her commands had worked.
Then the ivory mare outright grinned as the Clockwork Titan slowly straightened and asked in a cold mechanical voice: “Orders, Administrator Hecate?”
“Terminate them.” the Swan said coldly from Cadence's mouth, as the ivory mare pointed sharply, suddenly forward, and the Clockwork Titan turned calmly around before it charged forwards. The Kirin didn't react, didn't understand what was happening until the Titan stampeded straight through two of the soldiers, then seized into one of the battlemechs and picked it up to fling it savagely into one of the exosuits, crushing both the machine and the user.
The Kirin ranks fell into chaos, and Cadence gestured sharply forward, not needing to give a verbal command. Moonflower immediately dropped the barrier as Sombra ran forwards and La Croix grimaced as he swept up a rifle, channeling the knowledge of the Kirin spirits as he took aim at the advancing infantry.
Cadence felt the Swan take over, driving her into combat: she slashed aggressively through the throat of a Kirin that got in her way, then drove a knife into the spine of another even as she leapfrogged it, both rear hooves kicking out into the face of a third and sending it down in a bloody spray. She finished it off with a vicious, throat-crushing blow before her wings flapped hard, launching her into the air to narrowly evade the boom of force that tore through the air where she had been a moment before as one of the battlemechs advanced on her.
The Swan flung a knife out, and it bounced harmlessly off the rounded front of the machine as it took aim at her with the cannon on the end of its arm, but Danzsöngr grinned coldly as she caught the knife with telekinesis as it ricocheted and stabbed it downwards into the barrel of the cannon as it began to glow.
The mech's arm exploded in a tremendous boom of thunder and electricity, the machine staggering to the side with a broken whir, and the Swan smiled coldly before she drew another knife free from her belts, flinging it sharply into the face of a Kirin in an exosuit, sending it staggering backwards before it collapsed with a clang, the ivory mare saying coldly: “Borrowed strength will not save you, puppets of the ice-lords.”
The Swan turned its attention towards another battlemech, leaping towards it eagerly; Sombra, meanwhile, had captured the last battlemech in black crystal, his purifier sparking and humming as his dark gemstone flooded the joints of the machine and tore through the sensitive machinery, rendering the war machine useless.
The unicorn's eyes flicked to the side as a Kirin lunged at him, its horn glowing: with ease, Sombra met the attack with his own, parrying the attack before he created a blade of crystal at the end of one hoof, driving the spike sharply through the Kirin's armor and into his heart as he murmured: “Dormi bene.”
He caught the Kirin as it fell, lowering the corpse to the ground gently even as he shoved his other hoof up to create a shield of dark energy that disintegrated the spikes fired at him from a Kirin in an exosuit. Then, with a snap of his hoof downwards, the shield became a massive fireball that shot through the air and hammered into the assaulter, destroying both rider and machine.
Moonflower shot through the air above Sombra a moment later, snapping his horn down to create a powerful pulse of gravity that knocked the remaining exosuits off their mechanical feet, the stallion laughing loudly as he shouted: “Yes, none of you are any match for-”
A blast of force hammered into the stallion, knocking him crashing through the air before he hit the ground face-first and rolled backwards, looking stupidly out past the shutter and into the open area beyond, across which another group of Kirin soldiers was already hurrying towards them. The stallion winced at this, and then he shouted: “Cadence! There's a lot more coming!”
“Cygne, we can't fight 'em all! We gotta move!” La Croix snapped, and the Swan snarled as it looked up from the fallen battlemech it was standing on top of, the metal still smoldering under her hooves from being superheated by her white fire, the machine still twitching but the pilot inside most assuredly dead by now from the heat.
But then the ivory mare grasped at her face, before Cadence took a sharp breath and looked towards the Clockwork Titan, shouting: “Titan! Go to central command and disable all systems by any means necessary! Lethal force is authorized!”
“Command acknowledged.” The Clockwork Titan tossed the Kirin in its hand aside, then it turned towards the open shutter, sprinting through it and smashing its way through the group of soldiers in its way. The Kirin picked themselves up quickly, and as Cadence had hoped, they turned to hurry after the Clockwork Titan: a rogue Titan would register as a level five alert, while they likely hadn't even reached level four, so for a few minutes all the soldiers in the area would be focusing on the construct.
Cadence whistled sharply, and the three stallions immediately abandoned their combat with the remaining wounded Kirin. The soldiers began to scramble after them, but Sombra quickly snapped his horn out, creating a wall of black crystal that would give them enough time to escape, as Cadence gestured for La Croix to take the lead even as they hurried through what seemed like a large processing courtyard, the mare asking quickly: “Which way to the nearest access terminal?”
La Croix steered sharply to a set of armored doors on the right: they were electronically locked, but the zebra grinned as he slipped over to the control panel, quickly tapping in a short code across it as he said wryly: “Same code through the entire facility. But guess they don't have a lot of security issues to worry 'bout normally.”
The doors clanked and swung open, and the four hurried into a thankfully-empty shower area. Cadence grimaced as they hurried through, entering a stone room beyond clearly used for processing, and La Croix led them to a side door before he yelped when the door was kicked open and a Kirin in heavy armor stormed through with a snarl, raising his rifle-
Cadence seized the weapon and slammed the butt of the gun into the side of the soldier's face, knocking him staggering before she threw the weapon away and leapt forwards, catching him by the shoulders and slamming her head cruelly into his face with enough force to knock his helmet off and stun the Kirin. She began to raise a hoof, ready to crush in his skull, but then she stopped; instead, she flung him down and dragged the Kirin quickly back into the booth, smiling thinly as she saw something else she recognized from Decretum: the control panel built into the countertop had a touch access scanner.
The mare yanked the Kirin over to the scanner, then she simply dropped him face-first onto the machine. It beeped after a moment, then dinged loudly before a mechanical voice asked calmly: “Command?”
“System override, authorization code 1X1X, user code empress-0. Shut down all systems.” Cadence ordered, and there was silence before the machine beeped several times.
“Warning. Voice print match has failed. Code two alert-”
“Oh, please, really?” Moonflower complained, and then he cleared his throat loudly as his horn glowed before he leaned forwards and said in a cold, perfect imitation of Hecate: “System override, authorization code 1X1X, user code empress-0. Shut down all systems. And do not make me repeat myself again, Moonflower, or I will step on you and your gorgeous face until you look like me.”
The computer beeped again, and then the mechanical voice said calmly: “Voice print match confirmed. Warning: this action exceeds administrative authority. Please detail-”
“Shut down all systems. I told you not to make me repeat myself.” Moonflower snarled in Hecate's voice, and then he leaned forwards and punched the panel, and Cadence and La Croix stared in horror as it shattered, Moonflower wincing back before he cleared his throat and said hurriedly, as the glow faded from his horn and his voice returned to normal: “It... it seemed like what she would do!”
There was an awkward moment of silence, and Cadence slowly ground her teeth together as one of her eyes twitched. Moonflower winced away as Sombra began to slide himself quickly forward, before the entire team looked up in surprise as the lights above simply shut off.
For a few moments, the group only stood together in dumb surprise before a furious roar echoed through the halls, and Cadence smiled grimly as the Swan twisted in delight inside of her, as the ivory mare muttered: “Sounds like some of the prisoners must be unhappy.”
La Croix smiled uneasily as Moonflower relaxed with a wheeze, and Sombra only looked uncertainly into the distance, hoping that Cadence had made the right decision, but preparing all the same for the very real possibility they had just ultimately made their problems far worse.