//------------------------------//
// Ten Moons 
// Story: Hecate's Orphanage 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Forty One: Ten Moons
~BlackRoseRaven

Hecate looked moodily over the group of ponies in front of her, measuring them calmly with her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this mission, but she also knew that alone wasn't enough reason to cancel it: not that she would, even if she had an excuse. The Ten Moons facility was too valuable to lose, and she had faith that Thorn would see things through to completion, no matter what kind of resistance he encountered.
Cadence was fully healed: if anything, a few quick tests had proven that she was stronger than she had been before. Or at least smarter, Hecate reflected: completing an obstacle course wasn't exactly something that required a lot of strength. And she still hasn't beaten Thorn's time. 
Muse and Necrophage were both ready, and Hecate studied these two for a moment, how they both seemed healthier, she supposed, for the lack of a better word. Their interactions with Thorn seemed to be helping shape them in a way she hadn't expected. More than just learning how to socialize better, they seemed to be developing further, altering their own psychology... learning.
It was something that she would have to explore later on in greater detail, and she would be going over the data gathered by Thorn during this mission with interest. If there was a way to make her Replicants better, and by such simple means...
Hecate allowed her eyes to wander meditatively towards the other pony who had insisted on joining this little band: Moonflower. The unicorn had accelerated his healing with a bit of magic, and the scars on his back had almost completely vanished, but Hecate had to admit that he seemed to be adjusting to his lack of wings quite well. Then again, for Moonflower, the polymorph had been mostly a status symbol more than anything else.
Moonflower smiled lamely as he shifted back and forth when he realized that Hecate's eyes were on him: at least he was outfitted properly. Thorn had equipped him with crystal-lined armor to enhance his magic and offer the most protection possible. He was also carrying the equipment bags: for once, without whining about it, Hecate thought. And she did grudgingly agree that having someone who could function as magic artillery wasn't a terrible idea for the mission.
Cadence had a brand new set of armor: Hecate had forged it herself, as a matter of fact, out of Iversteel, an ivory alloy that the Pious provided for them. Hecate had also built several enhancements that Cadence had asked for: perhaps because she was becoming more comfortable with Thorn, she had made a few requests that the mechanical empress had gone ahead and honored.
Not only was Cadence's armor completely redesigned so it would be more comfortable and lightweight, her bracers now had a wire system in them. Hecate guessed that she had gotten the idea from Sol Seraph... which at least showed that Cadence was paying attention and adapting herself. Either that, or the Swan simply anticipated this as a better way to kill its victims.
Hecate had designed the wire system for other uses than simply garroting enemies, however: the hidden reels were extremely strong, and the tensile strength of the wire was incredible. Hecate had provided a few other tools to combine with the wire, which would allow it to function as everything from a grapnel system to a simple lockpick.
Cadence also had been assigned a new version of the MARES rifle: whether she wanted to learn how to use the tool properly or not, she was damned well not getting away with ignoring her orders simply because she didn't like it and all their equipment had been 'irretrievable.' And until Cadence learned to both take the orders she was given and actually use the equipment she was assigned, Hecate was going to continue to force her to take the rifle on every mission.
Hecate paused as she studied Cadence for a moment, and then she barked suddenly: “Cadence! Your armor is loose, and I am not going to dote over you and fix it for you like your father!”
Cadence flinched, then hurriedly began to adjust her equipment, tightening some of the clasps and straps as Hecate shook her head slowly and said dryly: “Perhaps if you took better care of your equipment, you wouldn't need nearly as many repairs. And I wouldn't have to devote so many resources to keeping you and your team equipped.”
Cadence shifted lamely, nodding hurriedly, and Thorn smiled a bit before he looked towards Hecate and said quietly: “I'll take the fault for that. I told them to get ready but didn't say that we had officially begun mission preparation.”
“Cadence has a history of being messy with mission preparations. And as an officer herself I expect her to take responsibility for her own errors.” Hecate replied calmly, and then she glanced over Thorn before asking shortly: “And what about your own equipment?”
Thorn glanced at himself with a slight smile as he raised his mechanical leg and flexed it slowly as the pistons pumped once, sending energy not just through his limb, but the powered armor he was wearing. The polished, smooth metal was shaped to his body almost like a second skin, with a comfortable layer of mesh fabric between plating and flesh and visible in the joints.
The servomotors in the powered armor thrummed, the reactive suit tightening for a moment before the plates relaxed, and Thorn mentally measured the reaction time before he nodded once to his mother. Hecate rolled her eyes, and then she pointed at him and said irritably: “Put your helmet on.”
Thorn nodded, then he smiled again when Necrophage quickly bounced over to him to thrust his helm towards him, the stallion nodding politely to her as he took it and quickly put it on. Hecate rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but watch with slight interest all the same as the Replicant encouraged: “You're gonna do great, Thorn, just you wait and see! And I'm really excited and super happy to be able to be here to help you out, too, sir!”
The sapphire stallion chuckled a little as he slipped his simple pearl helmet on, his horn fitting perfectly through the slot in the front. He adjusted his mane absently as he turned the visor over his eyes on with a faint thrum of magic, and he nodded after a moment as statistics immediately began to display over the tinted glass. “Looks like everything's in working order. My link to Seneschal is working as well.”
“Remember that you won't be able to rely on that, so don't get too used to it. You'll only have your archived information and whatever you're able to get from analysis and active scans.” Hecate replied, and Thorn nodded again as he turned towards her, looking up at her attentively. “I assume you've already loaded your mission objectives and double-checked the data?”
“Of course, Queen Hecate.” Thorn nodded calmly, creating a holographic screen beside him that he turned to face the mechanical goddess, and Hecate moodily surveyed the data that scrawled by on screen before she nodded briefly back in approval. 
“Good. My main concern now is that you keep everyone in line. Cadence and Moonflower are not your friends, and their rank does not matter. They are subordinates, pure and simple. The same goes for the Replicants.” Hecate gestured dismissively at Necrophage, and the Replicant blushed even as she giggled a little, but she at least bounced her way back to her sister, who was standing with her head respectfully bowed.
Hecate looked at them for a moment, then returned her eyes to Thorn as he promised: “I'll ensure my authority is not questioned, and that the mission is completed.”
The mechanical mare nodded briefly after a moment, and then she turned her eyes towards Moonflower and Cadence, saying calmly: “It is imperative that this operation goes as smoothly as possible. Whatever Thorn tells you to do, I expect you to do. Is this understood?”
Both ponies nodded, and then Cadence winced when Moonflower blurted: “Don't you worry, Hecate, your son knows just how to keep me in line and I always listen to him, he's excellent at staying on top!”
There was an awkward pause, and then Moonflower added hurriedly: “Of things! On top of things! He stays on top of m- I mean, he keeps me in line because he's so firm- tough! Right! Smart!”
There was silence for a few moments, punctuated only by Necrophage's mad giggling, until Hecate said sourly: “It is becoming increasingly tempting to put a cerebral node in your empty skull for your own sake, Moonflower.”
Moonflower blushed deeply and lowered his head with a mumble, and then Thorn cleared his throat before he said calmly: “Mission preparations have all been completed, Queen Hecate.”
Hecate grunted at this, and then she nodded and surveyed the group one last time before her eyes roved moodily off to the side of the portal room, where several ponies were watching from behind a viewing window. Well, if they wanted to spend their free time watching other ponies do their jobs, then so be it, as long as they stayed out of the way.
The mechanical empress was half-tempted to close the security shutter all the same: they were using a secure portal for a reason, after all. But since there were already four Titans standing at the ready in the room – not to mention her own presence, since she was overseeing all of this – she thought they could probably hold back any attempt to invade long enough to trigger a lockdown.
Her eyes instead turned to the portal ring itself: unlike most of their portals, this one was welded into the wall, made of foot-thick titanium alloy, and with a series of crystal-topped bolts embedded throughout it capable of channeling different types of energy as necessary. In the event that something did try to punch its way back through the portal, they had a variety of countermeasures available... including simply detonating the ring, which would have a particularly nasty effect on anything trying to pass through.
Hecate clicked her tongue, and the machinery on either side of the portal ring thrummed loudly before electricity crackled over the portal, energy beginning to rapidly build in the center of the ring as she said shortly: “Assemble and ready yourselves. Remember that whether it's been investigated or not, this is still considered a hostile world. Class C.”
Thorn nodded, then he turned and quickly strode forwards, halting at the marked line on the floor before he said crisply: “Team Concept, escort formation.”
Necrophage and Muse immediately stepped up on one side of Thorn, and Cadence took her position on Thorn's other side, leaving Moonflower to scramble hurriedly to the last spot. Hecate rolled her eyes, but turned her attention away, creating a holographic screen as she ordered: “Seneschal, scramble our coordinates. There's no point in making it easy for the enemy to lock in on us.”
“Yes Queen Hecate, of course.” Seneschal said quickly from the screen, and Hecate smiled wryly. The AI had been especially well-behaved lately: likely because after she found out he'd been harassing Thorn after she had revoked his authority temporarily, she had shut him down for three days to run a deep-scan and defragmentation, which was like receiving a full-body massage with sandpaper to Seneschal.
The mechanical mare turned to watch silently as Thorn simply waited, but he did so with head raised, eyes forward, body unflinching, commanding respect from his little unit and keeping them in line with his posture and focus.
The portal gradually opened in front of them, energy crackling between the ring as it grew into a glowing vortex, and the moment it was stable, Thorn ordered fearlessly: “Forward!”
He strode ahead, with Necrophage and Muse following immediately, and Cadence and Moonflower bringing up the rear. They leapt through the portal, passing through a whirling tunnel of light and energy, and tore out the other side into a world of black and gray.
Thorn skidded to a halt, sending up a spray of colorless dirt and dust before he grimaced as he looked up at the eternally-black sky above, muttering as his eyes roved over the planets and the stars in the distance: “We're a little off target. We have a bit of a walk from here.”
The others assembled quickly beside him as they emerged from the portal, which slammed shut with enough force behind Moonflower to knock him over with a squawk. But Thorn didn't look back, the sapphire stallion instead striding to the edge of the broken cliff they had landed on as the visor of his helmet slid down, giving him a clearer view of the area ahead. 
He scanned quickly over the sprawling, pockmarked plains beneath the cliffs as Cadence looked back and forth, before her eyes widened in amazement as Moonflower picked himself up out of the dirt. Necrophage was standing off to one side, curiously studying a large rock, while Muse simply had her eyes closed, a glass orb floating silently around her head as she murmured: “Conducting area scan, Lord Thorn.”
“Acknowledged. I'm setting a checkpoint ahead and sending the data to your Mission Drives.” Thorn replied calmly, and Cadence grimaced a bit as she awkwardly looked back at the metal rectangle strapped to her foreleg before blushing when Thorn said: “Cadence, please activate your Mission Drive.”
“Um. Right, yes.” Cadence mumbled, her horn glowing as she toggled switches over the little machine until Thorn sighed and strode over to her, flicking his own horn to turn the device on with a beep. 
Cadence smiled lamely, but Thorn had already turned back around, his horn glowing as readouts and data flashed over his visor as he returned to the edge of the cliff. He grimaced a bit as he looked at the dark shape of the facility in the distance, lamps flickering weakly around it as he muttered: “I'm not detecting any familiar signals, but there's a large amount of electrical energy being generated ahead. We might have hostiles present after all.”
Cadence frowned a little as she and Moonflower both strode forward, but Thorn turned his eyes towards Muse, saying calmly: “I need a localized area scan of the facility ahead.”
Muse nodded quickly as she opened her eyes, giving a small smile to Thorn as the glass sphere slowly spun to a halt beside her head. “Of course. It would be my pleasure.”
The Replicant turned to face the facility, the glass orb floating in front of her and glowing faintly as it began to spin faster and faster, while Thorn turned his eyes back towards the others. Cadence saluted, and Moonflower awkwardly mimicked her after a moment. The sapphire stallion smiled at these two briefly, then glanced over at Necrophage and sighed a little as he saw her sitting with a large rock jammed in her muzzle, chewing it up thoughtfully.
“Necrophage.” Thorn said dryly, and the Replicant blushed before hopping up to attention and spitting some rubble out..
“Sorry, sir! I was just curious!” Necrophage paused, then leaned forwards and added almost nervously: “But there's almost no nutrient content, and I don't just mean because these are like space rocks. I mean...”
“Sterility?” asked Thorn and Necrophage hesitantly shook her head.
“Barren.” she said after a moment, and Thorn scowled a bit before he nodded slowly, muttering to himself. 
“Of course. But that means we might be dealing with...”
He halted, then shook his head quickly before looking over at Muse expectantly. After a few moments, the Replicant hesitantly looked up before she shifted uneasily and murmured: “I think they must be protected by some sort of psychic layering. It's very difficult to get a read on anything... but there are... hostile minds.”
“Alright. We move in fast, then, hopefully before they locate us.” Thorn said calmly, turning towards Moonflower and Cadence. “We will be doing our best to avoid and move around targets. If we engage the enemy, they must be destroyed quickly and quietly. We want to be as stealthy as possible: we don't have the time or resources to fight an army.”
Moonflower and Cadence both nodded, the Swan shifting silently inside of the mare, but thankfully not arguing. Moonflower looked like he wanted to say something, but he seemed anxious, uneasy, like he was nervous about saying anything.
Cadence smiled a little, then she nudged the stallion lightly as Thorn turned away, the mare murmuring: “He's still the same guy, you know. If you want to say something, then say it.”
“I like him when he's so serious, but... it always makes me nervous. I don't want to... you know.”  Moonflower mumbled embarrassedly,  and Cadence rolled her eyes in amusement before they both winced when Thorn cleared his throat loudly and looked moodily over his shoulder at them.
But to their surprise, the stallion only shook his head before he said quietly: “I plan to run this mission my way. But that does mean I need your input as much as I need you both to listen to me and follow my instructions. Can we do that?”
Cadence nodded, and Moonflower smiled lamely before he saluted, even as he blurted out: “Are we on the moon?”
“In a sense.” Thorn turned towards the facility, grimacing a bit: of course they hadn't read any of the background data. Not that he could entirely blame them, though: this had all been thrown together very quickly. “We have to move, but I'll explain on the way.”
The two nodded, and then Necrophage happily bounced ahead, saying quickly over her shoulder with a bright smile: “I'll lead the way, boss! You just trust me, okay?”
Thorn smiled back after a moment, and Cadence couldn't help but look at the Replicant with amusement as Moonflower looked almost jealous for a moment.
The group fell into pace, with Necrophage leading them along the edge of the cliff as Thorn explained calmly: “The Ten Moons is a supermassive facility: quite literally, it's comprised of ten different moons from ten different worlds to form one massive ring.”
Cadence grimaced a bit in surprise, raising her head slightly as she asked: “So Valthrudnir conquered at least ten worlds, and... why did he take their moons, though? Are they some kind of... weird trophy?”
“Valthrudnir conquered many more than ten worlds. It's just that most worlds he didn't turn into facilities like Decretum.” Thorn answered with a short shake of his head. “And no. Ten Moons was built to this specific size and weight so it would be able to remain in orbit at its current location, out of the sight and range of most worlds.”
“Are all the worlds in space? Are all the different Equestrias just... floating around out there, maybe even glimpsing each other, never knowing...” Moonflower quieted, then smiled awkwardly when Thorn gazed over his shoulder at him softly. “I'm sorry. That's... probably quite a stupid question, isn't it?”
“There are no stupid questions, Moonflower. Just stupid expectations.” Thorn replied almost gently, and then he shook his head before continuing: “And we don't know. That is a discussion for a different time, though: we need to keep our attention on the matter at hoof, not time-space philosophy.”
Moonflower nodded lamely, but he was smiling all the same, and Thorn turned his eyes back ahead before he continued: “Ten Moons is mainly used as a storage facility. However, what it houses are some of Valthrudnir's largest-scale projects. Each section, one through ten, is controlled by a computer core, all of which connect to the main neural core in Sector Seven. We only need to worry about connecting to the core in this section, however, Sector Three.”
Cadence tilted her head, asking: “Because they're all networked?”
Thorn smiled slightly: Cadence was learning fast. “Correct. Furthermore, this is the section of Ten Moons that was reported to have the highest concentration of energy. It's highly unlikely that the enemy has spread much further out through the base.”
“Although it's possible they've already secured what they were looking for from other sections of Ten Moons, right? Thokk seemed to... I don't know how to put it into words, but she seemed to understand technology. Or maybe just... Valthrudnir.” murmured Cadence, and Thorn nodded slowly.
“That is a concern, yes. But since there's not much we can do about that, we're trying to focus on where we can make a difference.” Thorn answered, as Necrophage led them down a half-hidden trail along the cliff, while Muse's glass orb floated silently over their heads, glowing faintly as she scanned the area around them. “After we activate the facility's defenses and reconnect it with Decretum, then we can take an inventory of the situation.”
Cadence nodded, and Moonflower shifted a little before he asked hesitantly: “And once we activate the defenses... we'll be safe, right?”
“It may take some time for the base's defenses to clear out the enemy, but yes, we should be relatively safe.” Thorn answered with a calm nod, as he gazed down at the facility in the distance. Yet what Necrophage had told him, that the ground had been barren, tickled at his senses, made him wonder if there was something here that perhaps their security forces wouldn't detect...
But for now, he remained silent on the subject. There was no point in getting the rest of his team  concerned before he could even be sure of what was going on. They would just have to take things one step at a time, as they happened. He would just have to share the information as it became available to him, that was all.
He just hoped that his instincts were wrong about what might be waiting for them up ahead.

They weren't approaching the front of the facility, like Cadence had expected them to: instead, they seemed to be taking a roundabout route towards the back of the enormous, square building, as if Thorn intended to circle around the mountain it was built into the side of.
The dirt beneath their feet felt almost brittle, somehow. It was hard to put into words: it felt like dust was flaking away with every step, staining their hooves and legs with gray, ashen grime. There was no substance to it: she was beginning to understand what Necrophage had likely meant when she had said it was barren, not sterile.
Thorn suddenly came to a halt, turning towards the stone wall of the narrow gorge they were passing through. He tested the wall with one hoof before his eyes turned towards Necrophage, ordering: “Make a hole.”
Necrophage saluted with a bright smile, and then she turned towards the wall, wiggling her rump as she bared her teeth with a little growl. Then Cadence and Moonflower both winced away as the Replicant lunged forwards and bit into the stone wall like it was made out of candy, not rock.
Gravel and shale pattered down around her as Cadence grimaced, then frowned and leaned forwards as she realized there was something beneath the thin facade of stone. Is that... metal?
It took less than thirty seconds for Necrophage to tear down the layer of rock that had shifted over what looked like some kind of vent cover. All Cadence knew was that it reeked and it looked like something had been eating away at the metal, which was layered with not just rust, but pockmarked with scars and grime. 
Thorn studied this for a few moments, and then Necrophage spat to the side and rubbed vigorously at her mouth, complaining: “The stone is bad enough, but there's some kind of icky yucky stuff that's coming out of that grating! You guys better be careful!”
“Moonflower, I need you to cut open this grating. It's not safe for Necrophage to break through.” Thorn instructed, and Moonflower nodded quickly as he stepped forwards, his horn glowing as Thorn continued: “We have to be careful. We're going to be moving through the waste and toxic disposal facility, specifically exhaust venting, the corrosive furnace, and waste intake. We should be able to make it through with minimal enemy interference or knowledge, but we will have to be cautious, all the same.”
Moonflower grimaced nervously as he carefully cut a hole in the vent with a beam of magic, the stallion muttering: “I certainly respect the idea, Thorn, but it sounds a little dangerous...”
“It's something that the enemy won't expect. And it's the easiest way for us to maintain stealth.”  Thorn replied with a shrug, and then he grimaced a bit as he added: “You're using too much energy in your beam. Don't add more power, but focus it tighter. Pressurize it, like tightening telekinesis.”
Moonflower nodded hurriedly, and Cadence winced as the laser of magic energy fizzled for a moment, cutting a rough hook along the side of the grating before he hurriedly refocused the laser of energy. “Sorry, yes, of course!”
Thorn only nodded with perhaps the faintest look of exasperation, but Cadence thought he probably handled Moonflower with better aplomb than she did. It was funny to think about, but it seemed like Thorn really did understand Moonflower quite well, and Moonflower, well, seemed to enjoy being ordered around, at least when it was another stallion doing the ordering.
Cadence smiled a little despite herself, shaking her head briefly before she glanced up when Thorn said quietly: “I need you to scout ahead, Cadence. Try to avoid contact with any of the toxic waste, I don't know how damaging it will be or what the composition might be.
“On that note, actually.” Thorn's horn glowed, slipping what looked like a glass vial free from Moonflower's equipment bag: he did it so smoothly and easily Moonflower didn't even notice, and Cadence couldn't help but reflect that Thorn would probably make an excellent thief. “Get a sample for me if at all possible, please. We need to have some idea of what's ahead.”
Cadence nodded, taking the vial and tucking it back into one of her sidepacks before she looked up as Moonflower grasped the front of the grating with telekinesis before yanking backwards with a wheeze, looking proud of himself as he tore the metal covering loose. “I did it!”
“Good. Put it aside.” Thorn instructed, and Moonflower nodded hurriedly before he almost flung the grating off to the side, making Thorn and Cadence wince slightly as Muse and Necrophage only watched curiously.
Thorn sighed, then he turned his eyes towards Cadence, and the mare smiled awkwardly before she saluted quickly, then turned and leapt through the hole in the grating, grimacing a bit as she skidded down the long, sloping passage and into the darkness below.
Her horn lit up, filling the passage around her with dim light as she grimaced a bit at the walls of what she guessed was the sewage system: they were stained with grime, some ugly, mossy substance growing here and there between the rusted and scarred metal plating that made up the wall.
More worrying than that, there was some kind of shivering slime here and there on the walls, oozing its way back and forth, leaving visible damage over the metal wherever it crawled. The larger ones seemed almost like they were steaming, and they stank horribly...
Cadence blinked in surprise as a beeping came from her Mission Drive, before she stumbled to a halt as a holographic screen projected in front of her, the mare falling on her rump and rearing back in surprise.
Thorn scowled at her from the projected screen, and Cadence gave a lame smile after a moment before she began to salute, but she was cut off as Thorn instructed: “There are dangerous levels of carbon dioxide in the air there. You'll have to either protect yourself with magic or put on your gas mask.”
“Uh... gas mask...” Cadence winced a bit as she grabbed at her sidepacks: she had the distinct feeling that was probably one of the things she had left behind to make room for more weapons in the packs strapped around her body. “I'll use magic.”
Thorn looked at her sourly through the screen, even as Cadence created a bubble of air around her head before grinning lamely. “See? Just uh... learned this on the last mission I-”
“Please just continue.” Thorn said tiredly, and then the hologram vanished. Cadence shook herself quickly out before rubbing awkwardly at her face, and then she quickly climbed to her feet and mumbled to herself. Okay, not a great start, but... it can only get better from here, right?
Cadence continued quickly down the sloping tunnel, but she didn't have much further to go before she reached a dropoff into some kind of massive underground pipe. The mare carefully hopped down, spreading her wings to catch herself before she hit the bottom of the pipe: and lucky for her that she did, since the floor of the sloping tunnel was covered by some kind of reeking acid.
Her Mission Drive beeped, and this time she wasn't quite as surprised when a holographic screen projected beside her, Thorn saying quietly as she hovered in the air: “I'm getting extreme toxicity readings. Is there a liquid substance beneath you?”
“Yes, there's some kind of creek flowing along this pipe. It looks almost like a sewer.” Cadence responded, as she hesitantly lowered herself towards the sludge flowing slowly through the bottom of the pipe. “Uh... do you want me to take a sample?”
“Yes, then return to the mouth of the pipe.” Thorn instructed, and Cadence grimaced and nodded as the hologram vanished.
She extracted the vial from her sidepack, then used telekinesis to lower it and carefully scoop up a bit of the liquid. She grimaced at the stink before she quickly tucked the vial back into her pack, then she flapped her wings, turning around to hurry back the way she had come.
It only took a few minutes for her to fly back up the pipe, where she found the rest of the team: Thorn and Moonflower were both in gas masks that securely covered their muzzles, the black unicorn fidgeting awkwardly and pawing at his childishly every now and then, while Thorn only held out a hoof. “Sample?”
“Right here.” Cadence pulled the vial out and passed it to Thorn, who took it with telekinesis and studied it intently as readings flashed over his visor.
Finally, he nodded before tucking the sample away. “Necrophage, Muse, we have a Class IV Biohazard ahead. It looks like Mazuku tailings. Necrophage, I'm afraid that...”
“It's okay, boss! I understand, and we sure don't want me reacting badly, right?” Necrophage smiled brightly, then chirped: “Emotions off!”
The Replicant blinked once, and then she looked emotionlessly up, her expression hollow, her eyes almost cold, and yet Cadence thought she saw some spark all the same in the way she looked at Thorn, as she said calmly: “Ready to serve, Thorn Blackfeather.”
Muse smiled faintly at her sister, and then she turned her eyes back towards Thorn, asking quietly: “Do you have a spare mask? I'm sorry, I didn't bring one.”
“You weren't expected to. You can use mine.” Thorn replied, reaching up and removing his own mask, and Cadence's eyes widened in surprise as he passed it to Muse, who smiled before strapping it quickly on.
Before either Moonflower or Cadence could ask, Thorn simply flicked his horn, creating a bubble of air around his head. Cadence smiled a bit at this, and then she watched as Thorn strode past, the sapphire stallion taking the lead as he said: “Follow me. We have to move quickly, I'm detecting drone movement.”
Cadence frowned, and Moonflower asked uneasily, as he stumbled along at the rear of the group: “Drones? How could they have drones? I thought we had all the drones.”
“They could be any kind of synthetic that gives off a distinct energy pattern. They're likely drones because we're sitting on top of a storage facility, as I mentioned before. It wouldn't be very difficult for the enemy to activate them.” Thorn answered, shaking his head briefly. “For now, we should just keep ourselves moving and try to get through the tailings pipe.”
Cadence nodded as Moonflower winced a bit, asking nervously: “It won't... I mean... it won't hurt us, will it?”
“We'll be alright as long as we move quickly. The tailings pipe should feed into a processing sluice, where we'll be able to get out of the sludge.” Thorn answered, giving a brief smile over his shoulder before he turned his eyes back ahead. “It's important you minimize your contact with the tailings, however. The acid is dangerous enough to damage both your body and your armor.”
Moonflower winced a bit, and then Thorn said in a gentler, reassuring voice, even though he didn't look back: “We can do this. I can't promise it will be easy, or that everything will go according to plan. But I know we're more than capable of getting through this.”
Moonflower bit his lip, but then he nodded firmly once as Cadence smiled in agreement. Muse gazed softly towards Thorn, while Necrophage only plodded calmly forward, completely devoid of all her usual bounce and energy, but Cadence couldn't help but notice the way Necrophage all the same seemed to strive to stay close to both Thorn and her sister.
They made their way down the tunnel to the tailings pipe, where Thorn grimaced as he leaned down to gaze through the hole. “Worse than I expected... and I'm detecting fresh material, as well.”
He leaned back, creating a holographic screen in front of himself, before he tapped quickly across it. The pistons on his shoulder pumped with a hiss before the hidden machinery in his armor began to hum quietly away.
Thorn dismissed the screen, then leapt down through the hole in the ground, grimacing as he landed with a splash in the toxic sludge. His eyes narrowed slightly as a warning flashed over his visor, but he ignored it for now as he began to stride up the sloping tunnel, calling over his shoulder: “Moonflower, insulate your legs with magic! Cadence, keep to the air!”
Cadence grimaced, then winced when Necrophage leapt past her to splash down in the muck, the Replicant saying emotionlessly: “Warning. Organic damage detected. Promethean byproduct present.”
The winged unicorn nervously leaned down through the hole, then looked up at Muse, asking hesitantly: “Will you be okay?”
“Yes, of course. Don't worry about me.” Muse said softly, and then she smiled reassuringly before calmly making her way down through the hole, and Cadence stared in disbelief as the Replicant gracefully climbed out onto the ceiling of the pipe to stride easily along it in plain defiance of gravity.
Cadence blinked slowly, and then she shook her head quickly before looking back over her shoulder at Moonflower, who was mumbling to himself awkwardly as he nervously looked at one of his forelegs, his horn flicking through a variety of auras.
“Hey. It's going to be okay.” Cadence reassured, even though she wasn't exactly sure what she was reassuring Moonflower about now: he just had that same expression he always got whenever he needed to be encouraged about something.
Moonflower looked up lamely, and then he flinched when a holographic screen appeared beside Cadence, Thorn saying dryly out of the projection: “Hurry up. We can't afford to be separated for too long. Moonflower, you can easily concentrate enough magic to avoid toxicity. Just focus.”
“Yes, of course, I'm... I'm not scared or anything!” Moonflower said hurriedly as the screen vanished, and then he grimaced a little before he nervously looked at himself as his body was suffused with energy, the stallion mumbling: “Okay... impermeable, impermeable, just... think thick thoughts.”
Cadence sighed a little, but then she only turned and leapt down through the hole, flapping her wings and calling: “Let's go, Moonflower!”
She turned her attention ahead, flying quickly up the tunnel after Thorn, since she knew if she stayed for any longer Moonflower would probably just stall for that much longer. All the same, she couldn't help but wince and look back over her shoulder when she heard a loud splash behind her.
Moonflower wheezed loudly, his legs shuddering a bit but supporting him: he had tripped over the rim of the hole, but managed to not-so-gracefully land on his hooves in the creek of slime. He shivered a little, but hurriedly refocused his concentration, making his armored body glow with light from hooves to neck: the last thing he wanted to do was risk getting that poison all over himself.
He splashed hurriedly up the tunnel in the wake of the others, rejoining with the group quickly. It stank terribly, even through the gas mask over his features, and he could feel a strange gnawing at the energy protecting his body, like the acidic goo was already eating its way through his magic.
Thankfully, the travel through the tunnel was boring and quick, even if it was also a more disgusting experience than Moonflower would have liked. Near the top of the long, sloping pipe, in front of some kind of broken filter system, Thorn approached a set of rusted section of wall plating and ordered: “Necrophage. Make a hole.”
It was a matter of seconds for Necrophage to rip down the wall, and Thorn sighed in relief as he was able to climb through into a dusty, derelict, but free-of-muck passage, the stallion calling: “Assemble! We'll figure the rest of the situation out from here!”
The ponies were all too glad to pile into the narrow passage, and Moonflower visibly relaxed as he allowed the magic around his body to dissipate, brushing awkwardly at himself as Cadence landed and shook herself out. Necrophage was simply standing near the other end of the short hallway, and Muse lingered nervously on the ceiling, her glass orb orbiting her, before she lowered her head to Thorn respectfully when he addressed her. “I need you to provide an area scan and inform me of what's nearby.”
Muse nodded, then closed her eyes, taking a slow breath as the glass orb thrummed silently around her, giving brief pulses of light before she frowned slightly and murmured: “I... I don't think what I'm detecting is the enemy... but there is strange life, and stranger still magic...”
Thorn nodded as he reached up and tapped his visor, half-turning to mutter: “Might be Illrhapp. We'll have to watch where we step.”
Muse nodded, and then she murmured: “I'm not detecting any other lifeforms in the vicinity, nor any other energy readings. I think we are safe.”
“We're never quite safe. We should still be cautious, but we are hopefully outside of enemy attention.” Thorn said, nodding once before he turned his eyes ahead, saying quietly: “Emotions on.”
Muse blinked, then bounced once on her hooves before she looked up with a bright smile, saying happily: “Hello! And yuck, I've got all sorts of goop all over me!”
Necrophage giggled all the same, even as she brushed quickly at herself to try and get the slime off her body, and then she blushed and smiled widely when Thorn calmly tilted his glowing horn towards her, his magic burning over her body and cleansing her of the ooze as he said quietly: “We'll try and keep your toxicity to a minimum, Necrophage. You might be able to handle much greater levels of biohazard than the rest of us, but that doesn't mean it won't do damage to you all the same.”
The Replicant blushed and saluted awkwardly, and then Thorn gestured towards a sealed door ahead, saying calmly: “I need you to smash a hole in that. Try and keep quiet.”
Necrophage nodded firmly, then she trotted quickly past before she reached up and pushed carefully along the door, biting her tongue thoughtfully before she brightened and craned her head up over her shoulder, exclaiming: “Okay, sis! I'll loosen it up and you tear it off!”
Muse smiled and nodded from where she was still standing calmly on the ceiling, Moonflower awkwardly, slowly looking up at her as Cadence shifted almost nervously. “Of course, Necrophage.”
The Replicant nodded happily, then she spun around and pushed her hooves into the door, grunting as she carefully began to force the door out of place, and Muse gripped into the door with telekinesis as it began to twist out of the frame.
After a few moments, the door was torn loose in a hail of dust, the psychic Replicant carefully setting this aside and Necrophage poking her head through into the hall beyond before she smiled and looked over her shoulder: “Clear!”
Thorn nodded as he strode forwards, stepping through the broken doorway to scan quickly back and forth with his visor. Necrophage was right: the area around them was clear, at least. And considering how disused this place looked...
The ceiling was starting to collapse in places from the weight of whatever was above, and tiles had rotted away here and there over the floor. Several pipes had broken on the wall, and were bleeding sludge into a hole; machinery laid in ruin and disarray in front of permanently-sealed, rotting shutters, and pipes hung loosely, along with clumps of wire standing out of holes here and there in all surfaces of the room.
Thorn approached one of the broken machines, studying it meditatively before he looked over his shoulder as the others joined him in the open room. “Let's pause here for a moment. I'm going to try and bring one of these machines online. Necrophage, I need you to find a weakness in this wall.”
Necrophage nodded, smiling over at Thorn before she turned towards the wall he had indicated and bounced over to it. She began to feel quickly along it, humming to herself, while Thorn headed to one of the rusted machines, ducking down to peer through an open panel as he muttered: “The corrosion here is much worse than it should be. And the toxicity in the air is still reading at unacceptable levels, in spite of the fact this room was sealed off, which makes me think there was either a leak, or...”
“Uh, boss? They've sealed this up pretty recently!” Necrophage called nervously, and Cadence and Moonflower both looked up uneasily as Thorn rose his head with a frown. “I'd say within the last few days. Nothing on this side is disturbed, but it tastes... funny!”
“Funny how?” Thorn asked, and Cadence looked at him awkwardly: she wasn't sure that a 'funny tasting' wall was exactly a good way to measure things. But apparently Thorn was taking it seriously, and considering how serious Thorn was...
“Uh... chemicals... composition of mainly...” Necrophage leaned over and licked the wall, then scrunched up her face thoughtfully. “Silicon and oxygen? Yeah! I bet it's-” 
“Pozzolan mortar.” Thorn finished, and Necrophage nodded several times with an earnest smile. “That would make sense, it would probably be the most accessible in the area. Muse, I need another scan, but keep it to a roughly hundred meter radius and detect all organic energies.”
“Yes, Prince Thorn. Of course.” Muse said politely, closing her eyes as the glass orb shimmered faintly, orbiting around her head slowly as her horn thrummed with energy. She smiled a little after a moment, even as her features tightened slightly, and then she whispered: “I feel... insignificant lives. Many; insects, parasites, lower life forms. But hidden among them are the Contagium. And I sense other tainted entities as well, low-lifes...”
She shifted slightly, then murmured: “Biotrails. Hints of lost essence. And something... familiar. Something that even now might be able to command us...”
Muse shivered a bit, before Thorn ordered gently: “Stop. Secure the area, then get some rest.”
The Replicant nodded after a moment, and Thorn turned his attention to Moonflower and Cadence, saying quietly: “Check for breaches or holes in the perimeter. Then get some rest yourselves. I'll need you both shortly.”
The two nodded, and Moonflower smiled hesitantly before he turned and hurried away, as Cadence simply saluted, doing her best to remain professional and serious. All the same, she hesitated, and Thorn seemed to notice this as he tilted his head towards her, asking: “Is there a problem?”
“Yes.” Cadence said before she could stop herself:she didn't even realize what she was saying, until she stated: “This is a waste of time and resources. We should push forward.  You should not be here, you are a jarl.”
That was more than a backhanded compliment, that was an outright insult, the way she had just used it, but Thorn only looked calmly back at the mare before he said quietly: “Cadence, please keep the Swan in line. I asked you to come on this operation. Not her.”
Cadence shifted uncomfortably as she felt the Swan twist angrily inside of her, but she quickly stomped on the creature, pushing it back down. The Swan had slithered her way up into her mind without her even being aware of it, making her say stupid things before she even realized- “I'm so sorry, Thorn, I didn't-”
“Not important. You have your orders.” Thorn said bluntly, and Cadence winced but then saluted awkwardly as she gave a lame smile to the sapphire stallion. She didn't know if she appreciated his bluntness or not, but it was nice to at least always know where she stood with him and what he wanted her to do.
She hurried towards the wall, then realized dumbly she had no real idea what she was supposed to be doing. She strode along the wall, tapping lightly along it before she looked almost hesitantly over her shoulder at the sapphire stallion. But Thorn was busy with whatever he was doing with the computer, so the mare only shrugged a bit before continuing her hesitant probing along the wall.
It looked fine to her. Then again, it also just looked like a wall. No big holes, no large cracks, it was just a wall to her. She studied it for a few moments, then suddenly flinched when Necrophage grasped her shoulder and said brightly: “Thank you for helping! I know this must be pretty strange for you, but you and Thorn make a great team and I know that you and the Swan both just really want to help us!”
Cadence smiled awkwardly, not really knowing what to say before she cleared her throat and asked finally: “So uh, Necrophage. You can... taste chemicals?”
“Yep! I can do lots of things! I was designed to be an all-around industrial worker, after all!” Necrophage said brightly, smiling warmly at Cadence before she gazed affectionately at her sister, who was standing silently in front of the sealed door, simply staring blankly at it. “My sister is even smarter than me, though, you know! I was designed to detect stuff, but she knows how to work with all those things. Not to mention her amazing mind powers and all!”
Cadence smiled lamely, and then she leaned back slightly when Necrophage suddenly leaned up knowingly into her face, the Replicant smiling brightly but gazing at her with strangely sharp eyes as she said softly: “We're all kinds of funny here, but that's not a bad thing at all, really. Not so long as we remember to work together, and that we're all working for the same goal, right?”
“Uh. Right.” Cadence said slowly, and Necrophage smiled happily before the ivory mare asked: “So you really believe in Decretum and Empress Hecate?”
“Oh yes! But more than that, I trust them, and especially Thorn!” Necrophage said brightly, giving a warm smile to Cadence, and Thorn shifted ever so slightly in the corner of Cadence's eye before Necrophage called: “Are you sure you don't need help?”
“I'm sure, Necrophage, thank you.” Thorn said mildly, glancing up before he said finally: “If you need something to do, why don't you and Cadence start opening up that wall for us? And Muse, please stop trying to scan ahead. If there are other Replicants present, we will deal with them when the time comes. I will not allow Psukhikos or any other Replicant to harm you.”
Muse dropped her head with a deep blush, but she seemed more grateful than embarrassed all the same, smiling faintly at Thorn before she murmured: “I do not deserve your kindness, sir.”
“You deserve the same treatment as any other pony.” Thorn answered, and then he gestured to her, saying softly: “Come help me with this. Moonflower, please help Cadence and Necrophage open a path.”
Moonflower nodded quickly, looking like he wanted to say something, but then he only gave a lame smile to Thorn, who looked back at him oddly before shrugging and turning away. As he and Muse went to work on the computer, Moonflower strode over to join Cadence and Necrophage, his eyes pausing for a moment on the short Replicant as he scowled ever so slightly.
Necrophage smiled brightly back at him, and then she said positively: “You really are one of his favorite people, you know!”
Moonflower blinked, but then he smiled hesitantly and relaxed slightly, and Cadence smiled in relief herself: the last thing she wanted to deal with was a jealous Moonflower. Necrophage seemed blissfully oblivious, but Cadence couldn't help but wonder all the same if maybe the Replicant was more aware than she was letting on. “Maybe you could use your magic to help cut through? And Cadence, you can help cut through things!”
Cadence shrugged a bit, saying after a moment: “Whatever you need, Necrophage. Just tell us where you want us and we'll listen to you.”
Moonflower nodded in agreement, and Necrophage giggled before she said brightly: “Oh, silly! That makes it sound like I'm in charge or something, when really I'm just... making helpful suggestions! You guys are still my superiors, yep yep!”
Moonflower puffed up a little at this, which made Cadence roll her eyes in amusement before she said finally: “Then just uh... give us whatever suggestions you feel comfortable with.”
Necrophage nodded firmly, then she looked back at the damaged wall she had indicated before she leaned up and carefully scratched along the dusty wall with her hooves, marking out a large rectangle. “Here we go! Moonflower, can you cut out this shape with your magic?”
“Of course. Simple.” Moonflower declared cheerfully, and Cadence looked at him with amusement before his horn began to glow, the stallion adding: “You know, this is quite simple work. I could easily just tear down this whole wall-”
“Oh no, we don't want that! That could cause structural damage and then bazoosh, the whole ceiling could fall in on us here!” Necrophage exclaimed, raising her hooves and making childish explosion noises before she added in a suddenly serious voice: “Also, the more damage we do to the structure, the more likely it is that we'll be detected by kinetic activity scanners, which are housed in these sections in the event of a mechanical failure.”
Moonflower stared at her, and then Cadence gently pushed on his head, guiding his glowing horn to point back at the wall as she said mildly: “Just do your job, Moonflower, and listen to the mare, okay?”
“I always listen to mares. I do not let my feelings – or rather, lack thereof – for mares ever get in the way of my professionalism.” Moonflower said huffily, shaking his head quickly before he pointed it back at the wall and added grouchily: “Mares. Always judging me. Telling me to do things. Trying to touch me inappropriately.”
“You... well, alright, yeah, there have been a few awkward times where people have gone a little too far.” Cadence admitted after a moment, and Necrophage giggled behind her hooves. “But still. It's your own fault for being so... pretty.”
“What, am I supposed to not be pretty? I have a perfectly reasonable right to be pretty, you know.” complained Moonflower, as he focused his magic into a laser, cutting smoothly along the lines Necrophage had marked. “The one nice thing about all this silly armor you all make me wear is it at least keeps me safe from... prying hooves.”
Cadence smiled despite herself, and then Moonflower hesitated as he finished cutting one of the lines, frowning a bit and muttering: “Odd. It felt like there was resistance, but It looks like a perfect cut...”
“They might have stuck some goop on the other side. It'll be a team effort to get through.” Necrophage said, and then she smiled and encouraged: “Go on, finish cutting the stone out, at least! You're really amazing at this!”
Moonflower rose his head proudly, and Cadence rolled her eyes in amusement. Still, the unicorn worked efficiently, without showing off too much, and he was able to remove the layer of stone with telekinesis before he frowned in surprise at the almost translucent gunk they found beneath... but Necrophage didn't look surprised as she turned towards Thorn, saying quickly: “Spongecake!”
“Alright. Cadence should be able to cut through it with her magic.” Thorn said without looking up from the wiring he was repairing. 
“Spongecake?” Cadence asked blankly, and Necrophage nodded with a smile as she turned towards her, while Moonflower scowled and testingly prodded the gel-like substance with his horn. 
“Yep! That's what we call uh... well, it's a synthetic element, V-191. It can withstand just about any kind of magic, and we mainly used it to layer containers we'd put the Clay in, since it resists breaking down really well. But your purification should be able to cut through it.” Necrophage informed, nodding rapidly.
“I'll cut through it, I can certainly overpower some... fake elemental, or whatever it is.” Moonflower scoffed, scowling a little before he charged his horn with magic, and maybe peeking just a little over his shoulder back at Thorn as he snapped his horn forwards.
But the blade of gravity had no effect, doing little more than making the gel-like substance ripple and creak strangely. Necrophage smiled brightly even as she shook her head and said quickly: “No, no! It absorbs the charged ions present in magic, uh... I can't explain it very well. Sister? Thorn? How does magic work?”
“Moonflower understands what you mean, Necrophage. Moonflower, let Cadence do it.” Thorn said mildly, giving the stallion a pointed look. “I don't think you have the proper control to.”
Moonflower winced and lowered his head slightly, before he suddenly thrust his head upwards and blurted: “Wait, I can do it!”
Cadence had an awful feeling about what was about to happen as Moonflower spun back towards the gel-like substance, his horn glowing darkly as he said quickly: “I've been working on this for a long time now, and I finally have it mastered, just watch!”
The stallion leaned forwards, and a thin beam of black energy shot out of his horn, slicing cleanly through the gel substance before he smiled proudly, turning his head slightly, and dragging that pencil-thin beam not only through the gel, but in a laser that cut easily along the wall like a hot knife through butter, making Necrophage squeak as she dropped to the ground and Cadence wince and leap backwards as Moonflower began: “Look, look, I-”
“Drop your magic!” Thorn ordered sharply, and Moonflower's eyes widened in shock as he reared back, accidentally slicing upwards through the ceiling before his horn thrummed with energy, and the unicorn looked up dumbly before there was a powerful shockwave of magical recoil that sent a blast of gravitational force hammering into the roof above as black particles pelted the rest of the room.
Moonflower squeaked as he was knocked onto his back, while the others hit the floor, Thorn creating a shield in front of himself and Muse that bolts of dark light hammered into and rapidly began to eat their way through. Cadence swore as one of her wings was seared by the particles of dark energy, and Necrophage barely rolled out of the way of several rocks that fell from the cracked ceiling, looking up fearfully as dust and debris hailed down from the shivering roof.
But after a few moments, silence descended as the room settled back into uneasy quiet, and Thorn slowly pushed himself up as he dispelled his rotting magic, Moonflower trembling on the ground before he gave a weak smile as he said quickly, pleadingly: “I... I can do it right, it's just that I... got distracted, and-”
“And that is precisely the problem. You got distracted. You don't think, Moonflower.” Thorn said in a soft but serious voice, and Moonflower wilted in front of him, shrinking down and lowering his head before Thorn sighed and shook his own, muttering: “Cadence, clear the doorway. Muse, was the computer damaged?”
Muse shook her head meekly as she straightened a bit, and Thorn nodded once before he glanced towards Necrophage, saying quietly: “Scout ahead once Cadence has cleared the doorway. Then return and wait for my next order. Keep things quiet.”
Necrophage saluted as Cadence lamely shifted, and Moonflower sighed as he looked down, understanding that he had just been silently ordered to stay out of the way, and painfully aware that he had once again gone from helping, to hindering everyone around him.
But some things, he supposed, would never change.