//------------------------------// // 8. [Sunset Shimmer] The Swamp // Story: Deep Rock Equestria: Into The Abyss // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Full Mission Roll: 225 Morkite, 14 Ebonuts, Haz 4, Fungus Bogs Warning: Lethal Enemies, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: Cargo Crate, Lost Pack, Golden Loot Bug Extra Resources: Error Cube x1 Roll System in Phase 3 The next morning, Sunset Shimmer gulped at the screen showing their next mission. It was supposed to be a simple Morkite run…right? “Okay, who chose the Hazard Level 4 mission?” she asked. “With a “Lethal Enemies” warning?” “It was the assignment mission!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We’re not prepared for that!” Sunset gritted her teeth. “You’re going to get us killed!” “Ah reckon we can handle it,” Applejack said. “We’ve got some upgrades to our gear.” “It won’t be a walk in the park, but we can do it,” Rarity agreed. She gestured to the open pod doors. “If there are no more objections?” “Don’t say I didn’t warn you guys,” Sunset grumbled. She climbed the ramp and started equipping her weapons. Grenades to the belt, shotgun in the sling on her back, flare generator prepared, flare gun to her right holster, grapple gun on the left. She was so focused on preparing that she almost didn’t hear the descent alarm. She strapped herself in as quickly as she could and silently prayed to whoever ruled the universe to keep them safe as they began their descent to the subsurface of Hoxxes IV. --------------------------------- “This is a simple mining mission! Deposit your quota of Morkite into the M.U.L.E. and we’ll send a drop pod to get you out. Good luck!” “Thanks a lot, Mission Control,” Sunset grumbled. A little louder: “Alright girls, you know the drill. Get the stuff and get out, and watch your aim. Try to keep the bugs at range--the ones around here hit harder than normal!” Rainbow Dash smirked and hefted her minigun as she jogged down the ramp. “Don’t worry, Sunset, we’ve done this before.” Applejack was right behind her and turned left, mirroring Rainbow’s turn to the right, and threw a flare. “Looks all clear to me.” Sunset followed Rarity down the ramp and onto the green marshy soil of the Fungus Bogs. Despite it being solid rock, it felt wet and spongy under her feet. The humidity of the cave also weighed her down like a blanket, and the swampy jungle of it all felt more alien than anything she’d ever seen. Four columns of the oddly marshy rock pillared around where the Drop Pod had been before it began its ascent back to orbit, where it would wait in relative safety and act as a communications relay back to Mission Control (at least according to Twilight), providing him with real-time sensor and comm data. It was truly a remarkable machine. Sunset shook her head and grappled to a platform Rarity placed to get some Nitra. It wasn’t much, but the twenty units or so would go a long way towards a resupply--and they were going to need it. Back on the ground again, she took full stock of their surroundings. Their flares reflected surprisingly well off the spongy rock, assisted by bioluminescent flora that would give Wallflower Bush a heart attack in amazement. Some kind of alien grass grew in patches of more nutrient-rich soil, and vines hung from the cliffs and ceiling. “You hear them?” Rainbow asked as she approached the rest of the group, clustered at the seemingly standard compacted dirt blocking their path into the deeper caves. Sunset didn’t respond, dumping her Nitra into Molly as she listened. A muffled screech sounded through the rock. “Yeah, I hear them.” After consulting her terrain scanner, Applejack tunneled through the dirt with ease, breaking into the cave beyond in a few seconds. She threw a flare and looked back up at them. “Com’on, girls, the bugs ain’t here just yet.” Sunset shrugged and jumped through the gap in the dirt, taking the lead as everyone began to look around nervously. She fired a flare into the far wall of a particularly tall bit of cave and-- “Sunset, look out!” Rarity cried as she fired her combat shotgun into the air above her. “Wha--AAAAAHHHH! HEEEEELP!!!” Sunset screamed as something picked her up and pulled her towards the ceiling. She craned her head up to see an upside-down cancerous mound with several veiny tentacles grabbing at her. They started to hurt as they pinched at her armor rig, trying to slice through her shields and slash her skin. Rainbow’s minigun wound up and started pelting the area around her, eventually finding their way to the creature. Quite a few hit Sunset, but she was more than willing to forgive her friend as long as this thing let go of her! After what felt like an eternity of getting pincered, the main tentacle holding her up finally stretched down and released her to the ground, and the thing exploded into little bits that rained around her. “Oh, Celestia! Thanks for saving me!” she panted. “A Cave Leech,” Rarity said. “At least, that’s what my bestiary says. We should watch for more.” Sunset shivered. “Oh, that’s disgusting.” “Are you all right?” Applejack asked. “I think so, yeah. Let’s just watch for more, like Rarity said.” “Ah meant with Rainbow’s shots. It looked like some of them hit you.” “I’m okay, honest. A couple of Rainbow’s wayward bullets is probably nothing compared to being eaten by an upside-down lump of…I don’t even know what. Let’s just get going and get home. Oh, I need a bath.” They continued for a few minutes through the hershey humid cavern, only encountering a couple of bugs before they reached a large room. Sunset fired some flares across the dark, and, learning from her previous experience, carefully scanned the ceiling for any more Cave Leeches. “Look, a Praetorian,” Rarity whispered, marking her observation with her laser pointer. “Be careful.” The group split off a little to cover more ground and gather resources, taking care to not wake the Praetorian. However, as soon as the Morkite count passed around sixty units, the comms crackled to life with Mission Control’s concerned voice. “Hrm, this doesn’t look good…We’ve just picked up a pack of Praetorians heading your way. Dig in, team.” “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Sunset pulled out her grapple gun and zipped across the room to where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hunkering down with Molly. “Glyphid Praetorians attacking!” “Where’s Rarity?” Rainbow cried. “Ah don’t know!” Applejack yelled back. Sunset consulted her terrain scanner. There was a cluster of three colored arrows--her, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash--and one arrow down a tunnel to who-knew-where. It was approaching as quickly as it could, but it would be trapped. “Somebody help me!” Rarity’s voice screamed over the comms. “My shields are broken, and my rig’s health is almost--” The link died. For several seconds, all they did was stand in silenced horror. “Oh, no.” Even Rainbow’s normally upbeat tone had fallen. “We gotta save her.” “She’s down a tunnel. I don’t know how to get to it,” Sunset replied. A deeper version of the Praetorian scream echoed off the walls, and the ground almost seemed to tremor as whatever produced the scream approached. With a new flare, Sunset could see a large, hulking beast approach, surrounded by a small crowd of Praetorians. She was frozen in fear for another few seconds before her mind regained control. In that time, however, it had come almost close enough to attack. “RUN!” Sunset grappled away, feeling the wind in her face as she escaped danger. Turning, back, she saw the creature smack a terrified Rainbow Dash after a bunch of Praetorians sprayed her and all her escape routes with acid. She went down almost instantly. “Rainbow Dash!” Applejack was Hoxxes’ next unlucky victim, as the bugs entering her escape tunnel seemed more than even the hardy farm girl could handle. With nowhere left to run in the face of acid sprays and whatever the hell that big creature was, her comm link died. Sunset lifted her rifle and started pelting the bugs from afar, but her shots eventually strayed from a combination of exhaustion, fear, and recoil. She paused for a second to regain control of her aim, grappled somewhere else, and fired again from her new angle. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. You’re it, but you can do it. They’re counting on you. She felt the spray of acid from behind and screamed, falling to the ground as her rig activated its emergency protection protocols.