Full Mission Roll:
3 Mini M.U.L.E.s, 10 Fester Fleas, Haz 4, Crystalline Caverns
Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A
Machine Event: Omen Modular Exterminator
Encounters: N/A
Extra Resources: N/A
Mission Special Beer: Tunnel Rat
Roll System in Final Phase
“Ah, Greg,” Applejack asked, “have you ever heard of a rescue of this scale before? Everyone is supposed to look for Fluttershy while they’re down there. It’s like Management gave us a continual objective.”
Greg, standing in for Pinkie Pie while she crashed after a long night of catering to every team on the Rig, scratched his grizzled silverfox beard. He wore his usual grease-splotched work uniform, but the top of his head sported a hairpin from Rarity’s collection that kept the longer strands of hair from blinding him. In his hand, he held a couple mugs and passed them to each of the four girls.
“No, I haven’t,” he replied after a few moments. “Not since Karl was lost, bless him.”
“Did you find him?”
His shoulders fell. “No. It’s believed he died. All we know is the location of his last cave, which disappeared some years ago when the tectonics shifted. During our attempt, three full teams of our most elite dwarves rendezvoused in that cave to search for him. None returned.”
“What happened to them?” Sunset asked.
“Likely what happened to Karl himself. A creature so incredibly dangerous it would make a cave Hazard Seven by itself. Noone’s seen it since, so its only real evidence is Karl’s final mission. We call it the Mother.”
“There’s something worse than Dreadnoughts?” Rarity’s eyes were wide.
“Aye. Speculation says that it’s what lays Dreadnought eggs. Any beast that can do that is a threat to all our operations on the planet, but as I said, we haven’t seen it since. It’s undetectable by scanner, and it’s so large that any caves it dug would collapse from lack of support after it passed, preventing our teams from tracking it.”
“If there’s such a danger, why does the Company care about Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, she’s our friend, but last I checked, we’re usually on our own.”
Greg sighed. “From what I’ve gathered from the other Rigs, your friend is already a legend. She faced overwhelming odds and ensured that with her sacrifice, five others made it back. That’s the mark of a true dwarf, and no dwarf is left behind.”
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“Hello, girls,” Twilight Sparkle’s voice crackled through the comms, “Mission Control is a little busy with one of our other teams in the Magma Core, so I’m filling in for him while I wait for the other Rigs to respond to my message. Let’s see… ah, there it is. Your objective today is to salvage three Mini M.U.L.E.s, locate and repair the previous team’s Drop Pod, and exterminate ten Fester Fleas if you have the chance. There aren’t any Warnings, but your cave is registered as a Haz 4, so be careful down there. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “What’s the other team doing?”
“They’re on the second stage of this week’s Elite Deep Dive. From what I can hear, it’s pretty chaotic. They’re low on Nitra and still have yet to reach an Ommoran Heartstone and kill a Dreadnought. They made it through their first refueling fine, but they’re coming up on a second. Oh, dear, it’s Shield Disruption there.”
“That sounds bad,” Sunset said.
“No kidding. Anyway, good luck! I’ll send resupplies as you request them and warn you of incoming swarms.”
The Drop Pod crashed to the cave floor, and everyone filed out. Rainbow had her minigun ready to buzz down anything that moved, Rarity cocked her shotgun, Sunset twirled her rifle, and Applejack’s drills revved in preparation to get them to the main cave. It was another mission in the Crystalline Caverns today, so the pinkish white rock was familiar to them.
They spent some time in the starting cavern gathering the minerals available. There wasn’t much--only a bit of Nitra and Gold--but Rarity insisted they be as prepared as possible before opening up the main cave. After a bit of exploration, they found that the whole thing was nearly devoid of Nitra--almost enough for two resupplies, but not quite. Unfortunate, really, but random chance couldn’t be helped.
Once again, finding the Pod and Mini M.U.L.E.s was the easy part. Applejack torched a small group of bugs trying to ambush her on top of her ledge and hammered one of the Mini’s legs back into place.
“Applejack,” Rarity called over the radio, “Can you switch to a private channel, please?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“It’s about magic. I know we’ve discussed it as a whole, but I’m worried. Rainbow Dash and I have already experienced strange phenomena regarding it and the Ommoran Heartstone through our geodes. Sunset might have, too, but I’m not sure yet.”
“So ya wanna know if Ah’ve had some fuzzies with the geodes here on Hoxxes.”
Rarity didn’t respond for a moment. “Yes, although I wouldn’t have put it that way,” she eventually said.
Applejack stopped to think. Catching a leg tossed up to her by Sunset, she hammered it into place. The Mini M.U.L.E., now with all four legs again, perked up and marched over to Molly, which sat by Rainbow Dash and the lost team’s Drop Pod.
“Yeah, Ah felt somethin’. Didn’t think much of it, though. Is it magic?”
The radio crackled. “That’s my suspicion, yes.”
“Heads up, everyone!” Twilight called over the radio. “We got four, six, no, eight--a lot of bugs heading your way! Get ready!”
“We’ll continue this conversation later,” Rarity said. Off the radio, she yelled loud enough for her voice to echo through the cave: “Girls, to the Pod!”
Applejack hefted her flamethrower and jogged along the ledge as far as she could, then leapt onto Rainbow Dash’s zipline over the lower floor straight to Rainbow and the Pod. She clambered over the last few rocks as Sunset landed in a roll from a near-horizontal grapple nearby.
The damaged Drop Pod’s emergency lights bathed the immediate area in a slowly blinking red light. Shadows grew and shrank like living beings. One of Rarity’s turrets sprang up and began scanning for enemies.
“Rainbow Dash, be ready on that shield,” Rarity ordered. “You and Applejack are crowd control. Sunset, you kite the bigger ones away from the group, and don’t forget about your power attack. I’ll cover the flanks with my turret.”
“How many do you have?” Rainbow asked.
“Just the one for now. I could have two if I wanted, but I’d need to change out my gear when we get back to the Rig.”
Applejack smirked and set a satchel charge on the wall. It had done a decent amount of damage on a Dreadnought, so she figured it could blow away quite a few bugs.
“Alright, girls, here they come!” Twilight called over the radio.
Sunset’s flares flew into the ceiling and walls, providing a solid light and illuminating the area beyond the Pod where the bugs crawled out of the rock to attack. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life almost immediately, firing a stream of tracers into the main group while Sunset’s rifle picked at stragglers. Rarity turned to another group on the side and lobbed a grenade at them, blasting a good number into the air.
Applejack shot at stragglers with her sidearm pistol like Sunset until the minigun stopped firing, then took center with her flamethrower. Rainbow rotated to the side and used her own sidearm while the minigun cooled.
“Applejack, blow the satchel!” Rainbow yelled.
She did without hesitation, and the resounding boom and dying screeches of a dozen Glyphids filled her ears. Rainbow Dash whooped and slammed her pickaxe down on the few remaining bugs that hadn’t been killed by the explosion.
Up front, Applejack’s sticky flame smothered the bugs, and their screeches filled the air as they burned. Rarity’s turret popped rounds until it suddenly clicked and stopped firing. Sunset tossed an inhibitor grenade into the main wave, giving Applejack a much-needed moment to refuel and swap out with Rainbow again.
As the main wave petered out, the hair-raising roar of several Praetorians echoed through the cave. Sunset fired a few more flares and disappeared into the dark. Rarity dashed to her turret and refilled it.
“I see three Praetorians--no, wait, four!” Sunset reported over the radio. Can we deal with four at this Hazard Level?”
“Only one way to find out,” Rainbow replied. “Hey, Rarity, use your hologram! We’ll hit them while they’re distracted.”
Rarity loaded another grenade into her launcher. “Good call. Applejack, do you have another satchel charge?”
“Yeah. Ah can only carry two, but they have a bigger charge.”
“Alright, here’s the plan. You pick a spot for your charge. I’ll throw my L.U.R.E. on it, and when they attack, fire a grenade. Blow the charge as soon as I hit.”
“Got it.” Applejack jogged around to an open spot near the main ledge and set her second of two satchel charges.
Sunset grappled back into the light, rolling to her feet upon landing and switching to her double-barrel shotgun. She popped open the firing chamber, reloaded, and closed it again with a click.
“They’re coming over the ledge now,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure I saw a Detonator in the far end of the cave. We need to move quickly.”
Rarity tossed a resupply beacon, which lit up with a green holographic arrow.
“I see your beacon,” Twilight reported. “Supplies are on the way.”
The first of the four Praetorians climbed over the rock, quickly followed by the other three. It roared and charged. Rarity’s L.U.R.E. sprang up with a hologram of Princess Twilight dancing as she did during the Fall Formal. All four Praetorians immediately turned to attack it, and when they were in place, she fired her grenade.
Applejack blew the satchel charge as the grenade landed, and the combined explosions sounded painfully big. Her ears rang, and she was temporarily disoriented from the echos. But as the smoke cleared, all four Praetorians were still alive and angry.
“Run!” Rarity yelled.
Rainbow immediately threw up a shield a few meters away, and Applejack joined the others in racing into it. The Praetorians chased them, and a bit of their acid spray splattered her boots, eating into her rig’s shield.
Just as the first two crawled over the resupply beacon, the pod came down and killed them instantly upon impact. As their bodies collapsed, they released their signature green gas, blocking the view of the other two.
Applejack saw an opportunity and took it, aiming her flamethrower at the cloud and shooting a quick burst of fiery fuel. The dual cloud lit up in a fireball that enveloped the two Praetorians behind it, killing them instantly. When the smoke and new gas cloud cleared again, all four were down for good.
In the distance, the Bulk Detonator’s growling roar echoed through the cave.
Rainbow Dash was the first to react. “That was awesome!” she cheered. “Way to go, Applejack!”
“It wasn’t special,” Applejack protested. “Ah just remembered the gas was flammable.”
“You did well, darling,” Rarity said. “That was a very excellent move. Now refill your ammunition, everyone, and let’s kill that Detonator. Sunset, keep an eye on it. Rainbow Dash, set a zipline where it can’t hit you. Applejack, recall Molly into the Pod, and you and I will set up the uplink and defend it.”
“Sounds good,” Sunset said, and she disappeared into the darkness after emptying a leaf.
Rainbow fired her zipline first, then grabbed as many bullets as she could carry before hooking herself to the line and ascending above the rest of the cave. Rarity refilled her turret again and stuffed her reserves. Applejack took the fuel tanks and bullets for her pistol as she held Molly’s recall button.
Another flare arced into the pinkish-white ceiling as the Detonator rounded a corner and came into full view. Almost immediately, Rainbow began firing into one of its tumors, and Sunset’s rifle barked briefly. Applejack joined with a few shots from her pistol.
Once all the M.U.L.E.s had boarded the Drop Pod, Rarity hammered the uplink together, and the holographic zone materialized around it. The Detonator had crept a little closer, but Sunset’s inhibitor grenade had slowed it significantly. One of its tumors exploded with a burst of yellow goop. It roared something fierce, raising the hairs on Applejack’s back as she joined Rarity in the uplink zone.
“At least it isn’t a Dreadnought,” Rarity said.
“Don’t tempt it, Rarity,” Applejack warned.
Rainbow’s minigun clanked to a stop, and her pistol took its place.
“Ah told her to watch the heat gauge. Ah swear, she doesn’t listen.”
“Can you hold down the fort? I’m going to--”
“AHHHH!” Sunset screamed. She ran into the light and dove for the zone with a dozen Glyphid Grunts on her tail.
Applejack torched the group while Rarity’s turret fired into the mess. In seconds, the bugs were dealt with, but now the Detonator crept ever closer.]
“Are you alright, Sunset?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. They just appeared out of nowhere!”
“How are you for supplies?”
“I spent nearly all my ammo on that thing!” Sunset panted. “It just won’t die!”
Rarity patted her grenade launcher on her hand. “It will eventually. I’ll go out, you two get the Pod working. We need to leave as soon as we can.”
Rainbow switched back to her minigun, and the familiar sound of a dozen hardened bullets a second buzzed in their ears.
“Alright, girls,” Twilight called, “triangulation is complete. Remote control is reestablished. Sending the fuel cells. Hang in there!”
The Detonator creeped closer. The second of its three tumors ruptured, forcing it to stagger momentarily.
“Ah’ll handle the fuel cells,” Applejack said. “Go find Nitra. We only need a couple more units for a resupply. A Loot Bug or two should do the trick.”
Sunset threw a mock salute and grappled off to the twisting tunnels that seemed to wrap around the main cave.
Applejack watched her go, then drilled a shelter around where the fuel cells landed to give herself more room to move. She connected them to the Pod’s charging port, turned them on, and waited.
Rainbow was firing short bursts now, either to conserve ammo or keep the gun from overheating--or both, most likely. Rarity’s grenade launcher boomed and her shotgun blasted. Sunset’s rifle made the occasional bark. But all that accompanied Applejack was the equipment on her back and the beeping of the fuel cells.
Something blue-white splashed into her armor from above, throwing her off-balance for a moment as she jerked her head up to look for the source of the liquid. The next few splashes landed in her face. Blinded, she fired her pistol in the general direction of the splashes and retreated into her dugout bunker.
“Somethin’ just hit me!” she yelled. “Ah didn’t even see it!”
“I’m coming,” Rarity replied over the radio. “Rainbow Dash, keep up the pressure!”
“Gotcha,” Rainbow called. She fired slightly longer bursts into the Detonator. It had to be close. Suddenly, she stopped firing altogether.
“Oh,” she groaned. “What in the name of--STOP HITTING ME! Ow!”
“I got the last Nitra we need,” Sunset reported. “I really feel bad about that Loot Bug.”
“Great,” Rarity said. “Get over here fast--something just knocked Rainbow off her zipline.”
The Detonator finally stopped completely and stood still for a moment, then exploded in a massive fireball that sent flaming chunks of rock everywhere.
“Who killed it?” Rarity asked.
“I got it!” Sunset cheered. “Man, I love this gun!” She grappled into the light again. “Came up right behind it and blasted it with the shotgun, then grappled away before it blew.”
Applejack wiped some of the liquid off her rig. “Well, something attacked Rainbow and Ah, so watch out. Rainbow, you okay?”
“I’m good,” Rainbow said as she jogged around the Pod. “What hit me?”
“There!” Rarity yelled and lobbed a grenade at the ceiling. It exploded against a blue-white creature that immediately burrowed back into the rock with a screech.
“Charging complete!” Twilight reported. “Drop Pod engine powering up. Just a little longer, girls!”
“Do we need that resupply?” Applejack asked the others.
“Don’t think so,” Rarity said. “Just avoid whatever that thing is.”
“Pod reactor spooling up in warm start.”
The group split to look around the Drop Pod for the creature, but it was gone.
“Onboard mainframe booting up.”
The creature reappeared and immediately received a hail of fire from Rainbow and Sunset before retreating back into the rock.
“Calculating orbital trajectory.”
The creature hit Rarity a couple times before being shot again. One of its tumors exploded, and it screeched.
“Powering radiation shielding.”
Another reappearance, another potshot. The second tumor exploded.
“EECOM operational.”
The creature reappeared once more and died under Rainbow’s withering fire. It fell to the ground.
“Pod thrusters calibrated.”
“It’s a Glyphid Menace,” Rarity read from her bestiary. “Quite the dangerous bug, if I do say so myself. That was difficult.”
“Pod powered up and ready to go!” Twilight said as the Drop Pod’s doors hissed open. “Bring it all home, girls!”
The group ran up the ramp and through the doors, and the Pod began its return to the surface.
“We just survived our first Haz 4, girls,” Rarity said. “Great job, everyone. Drinks are on me tonight.”