//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: The Runners // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie watched, fascinated as Steel ripped through the Harmony Inc. Building. “I need to see yer dang boss, now, ya Chicken-hearted wagesalves! And that means now you fribbling fussbudgets!” the street sam yelled. Pinkie wasn’t even sure if those words were real, but they certainly were hilarious. “Ma’am! Put the grenade down!” “I said I want to talk with yer boss!” Steel roared. Pinkie watched, sipping a cola as she gazed through the eyes of her favorite little Rotodrone PeeWee. The small helicopter drone hovered behind the cyborg on a rampage as she stormed her way through the compound. “Ma’am! Calm down!” “I’ll calm down when I get to talk!” she yelled back. “You let him know that Steel needs to talk to him, and that she wants to renegotiate!” So far, Steel had knocked out every single one of the ponies that came after her and had the mare that was working the front desk as a hostage. Honestly, it was her own fault, though. If she just made the call twelve minutes ago, then Steel would have probably been in and out of her meeting. Still, it impressed Pinkie deeply that Steel got this far with no plan. “Ms. Steel,” Spikarunz voice called from the down the hall before he walked into view. “I do not like it when my employees are being held hostage, and I would strongly suggest that you put her down, now.” The security ponies that had surrounded the street sam began to slowly back up behind their CEO, more confused that he somehow knew this crazy pony. Steel dropped the secretary, as ordered. “I needed to talk to you, and she wouldn’t let me in.” “I know, that’s why you’re still alive,” the dragon said simply, before he sighed, and rubbed his temples. “You said something about renegotiating?” “I want to change my payment,” Steel said. Spike nodded. “And it says much about either your bravery or stupidity for asking for it. Most learn quickly that deals with dragons are final. There is no negotiation, and no altering the deal. I’ve already bought your farm, you know that, right?” “You can keep it,” Steel said, though after she did, her lips and voice trembled. “I...I need something else. Something more important.” Spikarunz raised an eyebrow, every obviously intrigued. “What?” “My...my sister. I found her, and she needs help,” Steel said, as the security teams around her slowly began to lower their weapons. “She needs help, and I need you to give it to her.” “And what kind of help does she need?” Spike asked. “She’s...she’s been a dreamer. For a long time. The other docs I took her to said she’s too far gone. I want you to give her the best treatment you can, and wipe her slate clean.” Spike nodded, and snapped, magically summoning a pair of chairs and a desk, before taking a seat. “Captain, clear the hallway, and bring me the document labeled GMC, please.” “But sir—” “Now, Captain,” the dragon growled. The captain spun around. “Clear the hall! Back to your posts ASAP! Bring me Document GMC here on the double.” “Thank you, Captain,” Spike said, before motioning to Steel. “Have a seat, Ms. Steel.” Steel took the spot without a word. They waited a moment or two, before a pony returned to them with a datachip and a deck. Spike nodded his thanks to the pony, before plugging in the chip, and pulling up a contract, one for Gem’s Materials Company. The document hovered in AR space between them, and with a few clicks of his fingers, Spike pulled up Steel’s terms. “So, you don’t want the farm anymore.” “No, sir.” “Then at the very least, you’ll have to pay that off.” Steel grit her teeth. “Whatever needs to be paid.” Spike pulled up a receipt. The one for purchasing the land from Flimflam Inc. The price was...high. “Well, I don’t think you have that much,” he said simply. Steel didn’t answer. “However, I have come up with a relatively elegant solution to that.” “What?” “Simple. I have a farm now, and I need ponies to work it. So, the simple solution would be for you to pay me in work for the rest of your life, your brother’s life, and your sister’s, once she’s recovered.” Steel grit her teeth again. “The land will never be yours. It may not even be your children’s. It will always be mine, and I will own your family until the debt is paid.” Spike said. “With all that paid for, I will gladly make sure your sister receives the best treatment magic and technology have to offer. Sparing no expense.” Steel glared up at him. “Whatever needs to be paid…” Spike nodded. “I’m glad you agree,” he said, before typing quickly, adding the amendment right before her eyes. “There we go, you and your family work for me on my farm, and your sister gets the best rehab available.” “She gets treated first, right?” “Of course, I’m a businessman, not a monster.” Steel nodded. “Then I agree to the terms.” “Perfect, sign here, and we’ll pick her up. Where is she?” “Just outside waiting in the van,” Steel answered, signing her name. “Perfect,” Spike said, standing. “And while we’re walking down to the van, I can take the opportunity to tell you about your next job.” Pinkie grinned, before setting PeeWee to return, and turning to the young mare in the back of her van. “There, see. Your sister’s coming to pick you up.” Applebloom just rubbed her chip slot in the back of her head, wondering why she wouldn’t wake up from the nightmare. <><><|><><> “Alright, ladies,” Gem said, as the team gathered around the holotable again. “One last time before we get going.” A hologram blueprint, one a few years out of date appeared before them. “Our target is a light blue zircon, held by none other than Saddle Krupp. Now Rookie here knows our CEO, another dragon by the name of Emberax. Rookie is going to be heading up to the party on the 90th floor of the building, and will see if she can’t get the dragoness to just hand us over the gem.” “I still don’t like that part of the plan,” Web said. “According to what Spike’s told us, she had already agreed to this kind of handover, but communication has gone dead, that’s what we’re investigating,” Gem said. Pinkie nodded, following along, perfectly. “While Rookie is schmoozing upstairs, the rest of us, going in as her entourage, will access the elevators like we did back in Ahuiztech and steal it from the penthouse. If Emberax hands over the gem, no harm, no foul; if not, we’ll have to take it ourselves. Candy, what’s your job?” “The party!” Pinkie exclaimed. “No, you need to blow your way into the vault, that’s why we bought the detcord for you,” Gem said with a sigh. “Even better!” Pinkie said. “Wingmare?” Gem asked. “Make sure that we survive the elevator shaft,” the Adept recited. “Web?” “Elemental overwatch,” the shaman answered. “Steel?” “I’m with the elevator team, ready to shoot anything that needs shooting,” The mare replied, her southern drawl muddled by anger. “And Rookie,” Gem said, rounding out the team. “I’m with you trying to get Emeberax to hand it over peacefully.” Gem nodded. “Right, now. Let’s pack up and get ready, the party starts in four hours.” “Break!” Pinkie yelled, before leaping back to her van. The others simply shook their heads before they ran off to start their preparations, leaving Candy along with her many toys. PeeWee, Rocky, and Balboa were all running through their final diagnostics checks inside the van. PeeWee, her favorite Neighsan Phoenix Rotordrone was a well-oiled machine at this point, armed as he was with only a small-caliber defense turret. PeeWee was fast, agile, and as stealthy as a set of spinning rotors could be. Rocky, her Light Armored Neighsan Timberwolf model hummed gently. Rocky, unlike his commercially-available Rotodrone cousin PeeWee, came armored enough to be widely accepted as a police model drone, ready to climb stairs and ledges with its canine body before releasing several armaments at the target, including taser, light machine gunfire, and a nasty set of replaceable tungsten carbide claws. All of Rocky’s systems turned green, he was ready to go. That just left Balboa. A heavily armored, Steel Chimera model, Balboa shouldn’t even be available on the market. A military-grade drone, Balboa had the treads, armor, and caliber befitting a small tank. Pinkie only broke him out for the dearest of situations, one that...well...ones where you needed a small tank to take the lead. For this mission, with most of the security on the party floor, a smaller drone would do well. Unfortunately, PeeWee did not have the space to carry the detcord, and Pinkie herself wasn’t confident in her ability to climb while lugging around thirty pounds of military-grade explosives. The only problem was she couldn’t really justify bringing a drone that weighs twice as much to carry it for her. She had a few plans floating around, maybe air-dropping Rocky in, maybe hooking him up to a winch, but these were neither viable nor fun. No, she’d have to add a new member to the family if she was going to get that work. Instead she’d have to use one of her much earlier models. One of her very first drones, an older Saddle Krupp Courier drone that she dubbed Surprise, finally looked like she was ready to come out of retirement. Surprise’s main, rectangular delivery compartment had long ago been filled with a small gun that could not be detected without some difficulty. She made a killing back when these Couriers were everywhere. Quite literally, actually. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been the only Runner to come up with that idea, and Couriers were soon viewed with as much suspicion as ponies in long trench coats during the summer. But this was Surprise’s home, and she’d fit right in. Better yet, Surprise still had enough room for the detcord and a small swarm of Hackney Parasprites. The Parasprites were not something that Pinkie liked to use. The small flying drones did a wonderful job of hunting down other small spy drones and ripping them apart, but in a swarm, they could take on a drone PeeWee’s size. It just wasn’t a nice way to go. Still, with her limited carrying space, it was probably the best she was going to get on this job. The good news though, was that since Surprise was relatively small and easy to hide at Saddle Krupp, Gem had already approved the plan, which left PeeWee once more as the only drone she could bring with her. “Don’t worry, babies,” she said, whispering to her larger drones, “Mama still loves you both.” The drones said nothing but ran their diagnostics. Pinkie smiled and nodded at her favorite children, before reaching down to the bottom of the van, and pulling up the carpet to reveal a footlocker. Popping it open to retrieve a perfectly pressed suit, that Pinkie quickly donned, before taking on the mantle of Ms. Sparkle’s bodyguard. She took a moment to center herself, to relax, and to find the smile within the smile. Tight, lips drawn, suspicious of everything. The perfect guard, calm, but vigilant; imposing, but invisible; only ever seen when she is needed. And with that, Pinkie slipped on some mirror shades, stuffed a few extra grenades down her coat, and cleared her throat. “Get down, Mr. President! Get down Mr. President! Get down Mr. Presi-DENT!” “Candy?” Wingmare called peering into the back of the van. “Are you oka—” “Get down, Mr. President!” She yelled, jumping up into a full-body tackle. “Ah!” Several tools crashed and clanged, sending them flying out from beneath the table of bodies. “Candy, what was that for?” Wingmare moaned. “We need to get you somewhere safe, sir!” “Candy!” <><><|><><> Saddle Krupp’s Vanhoover location was lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree, and as the Harmony Inc.'s favor of a limousine pulled up to the front, Gem smiled. Pinkie could never remember if she ever saw Gem as happy as she was right now. Dressed in an ebony-black dress, that pulsed with the hint of circuitry. Rookie likewise was dressed to the nines, in a dress that sparkled like the night sky. Web, Steel, Wingmare, and Pinkie herself, were all dressed like the security detail. All serious suits with Surprise sitting between them. Hopefully they crowded the small drone enough that nopony would notice they until they got inside. “Alright ladies,” Gem said, “remember, we go in silent, make it to the elevator, and enact the plan. We’ll keep a channel open with you on comms until we know that Emberax is not going to cooperate.” “Roger,” Wingmare responded. The limo door opened, and Gem whispered. “Let’s go.” The door gave way to a red carpet, and the flashing lights of digital cameras trying to catch every pixel of the best of the best that Saddle Krupp wanted to honor. The pair of ponies and their entourage were led up the short flight of stairs to the doors without so much of a complaint. The only thing that could have possibly slowed them down was a paparazzi that got too close to their eyes with the flash. “Name?” A bouncer asked at the door, holding a dataslate. “Sunset Shimmer, from Harmony Inc.” Twilight answered. “We’re on the list.” They were, mostly because Gem put them there. The bouncer double-checked his datapad, found the name, and let them pass. “Sunset Shimmer” strode through the door like she owned the place, laughing and talking with anyone she could, if only to get them to pretend that they recognize her. They moved and glided their way to the elevator without so much as a pause. Meanwhile, Surprise slowly went around, hugging the wall of the foyer until she met up with “Shimmer” and her party. With the first floor easily navigated, the team quickly took to the elevator. The moment the doors closed all appearances of being innocent party goers lasted only long enough for Gem to run a loop, before they got to work. Pinkie, Wingmare, Web, Steel, and Surprise all quickly began assaulting the access panel on the elevator, prying it open before they slipped up into the massive shaft. “Do you have an anchor point?” Gem asked over the comm. Web nodded. “It looks like we have a crawl space we can use next to the elevators.” “Alright, get into position, but don’t move until we give you the signal.” “Roger-roony!” Pinkie replied before the elevator came to a stop on the 90th floor. The moment the cabin stopped, the B&E team fired their grappling guns and winched themselves into place. Wingmare grabbed the additional grappling hooks and began to fly up the crawlspace, straight up to the penthouse. “You got my back, Web?” The shaman nodded, before going slack in the ropes as she began to astral project up the building. Pinkie double-checked the hooks on Surprise before Web jumped back in her body. “This is weird.” “What?” Steel asked. “It’s too clean. Not a single elemental around.” “That’s…” Steel said though she didn’t finish. Pinkie knew what she would have said anyway. This may very well be a trap. “Gem, do you read?” Web asked. “Not now, Darling, I’m trying to rub elbows here,” Gem whispered over her comm. “We’re finding no elemental security at all, be advised.” There was silence on the line for a second. “Understood, proceed with caution.” Web nodded, and the elevator team felt their grapple lines tighten. “That’s our cue, let’s go.” The winches began to reel, pulling the team and their hidden drone up the elevator shaft to the top of the building. Within minutes they were at the top, and Pinkie grinned. “What’re the chances we can blow open the doors?” “The Mag-locked elevator doors?” Wingmare asked. “Maybe. It’s probably easier than trying to go through the concrete.” “So long as the elevator doesn’t come up to meet us,” Steel noted. “Gem, we’re in standby, waiting for your signal.” “Understood, moving in,” the decker whispered, before going silent. The elevator team hung in silence for a moment or two, waiting for any signal from Gem, confident in the fact that the security teams were all too preoccupied with the party down below to pay attention to them. <><><|><><> Twilight navigated the party with careful piloting from the apparent ball-expert of Gem, before suddenly finding herself standing in front of a cyan dragon. Emberax struck an imposing figure, almost more imposing than Spikarunz did. She strode through the party, a path appearing before her as she walked, no one daring to cross her path except when she approached them to talk. She commanded the room, as dragons do, and she commanded the fear of those around her. Luckily, Twilight knew Emberax very well. Spike and Saddle Krupp CEO spent more time together than any other CEO, and Twilight had been in the room for many of those meetings. Emberax would know exactly who she was, and that meant she had an in to talk to the dragon. All she had to do was get her attention. Navigating the party with all the practice Spike’s numerous etiquette lessons, Twilight carefully positioned herself directly in front of the dragoness, and oh-so-carefully kept her out of her eyesight to make the moment. Emberax bumped into her, and Twilight turned. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” the mage began. Emberax growled, glaring down at her with vicious eyes, and a growl escaping her throat. “Yes, you are sorry, pony. Get out of my way, or you will be moved.” Twilight blinked, and backed up, getting out of the way of the dragon, scrambling back. “You alright, Rookie?” Gem asked in her ear. She wasn’t alright. Ember was a dragon, she had an inalienable right to be standoffish and rough, but she softened when she saw ponies and dragons that she thought were friends. Her last four conversations with Ember had been years ago, but she never once been this vicious or cruel about it. No, something was wrong. Something was very wrong. “Something’s wrong,” Twilight whispered. “Are we aborting the mission?” Twilight shook her head. “This is the only time we have. We need to move forward. Just...just be ready.” Gem nodded from her perch by the punch table and sent the signal. <><><|><><> Pinkie swung to the door, fastening the detcord with what could only be described as a staple gun, before lighting the fuse all before she swung back. “And let’s go!” she said. The detcord detonated, and the steel doors to the elevator blew open. Then, with a final swing, the team landed in the penthouse. Web shook her head as she followed them. “I don’t like this, it doesn’t feel right.” Surprise wheeled forward, leveling guns at the empty hallway. “Then we need to move quickly,” Wingmare said, grabbing her pistols. And then they heard it. The blood of all four hardened Runners froze in their veins as they heard the sound of hissing chitin and chittering mandibles. “Abort!” Web yelled as Wingmare dived back into the elevator shaft while Steel and Pinkie turned and fumbled at their harnesses as they tried to follow. Behind them, the hallway went black as the physical manifestation of their nightmares appeared. “Go! Go!” Web yelled. The earth ponies clicked their harnesses together as the monsters began to swarm like ants. They covered the ground in moments, and the ponies were barely in the shaft before the swarm got to the elevator door. “Bug elementals!” Web yelled into the comm. Pinkie glanced upward as the winch on her harness spun, but the Swarm was easily catching up. “Come on! Come on!” Web fired a spell into the Swarm, and while a single elemental recoiled, it didn’t even slow the rest down. “Come o—!” Pinkie yelled before she was cut off by the swarm engulfing her. And her world went black.