//------------------------------// // Chapter 56 - Failures // Story: The Freelancers // by OverHeart //------------------------------// “Seriously, Access, you just had to pick the most banged up jeep in the whole motor pool didn’t you?” Sheet Rock remarked. “The others wouldn’t even start, quit your bitching.” Access shot back. “I wasn’t aware we were shopping for a new vehicle, remind me to get a self-driving module for the van, then we can run away in comfort for once.” “Wish we could’ve brought it with us, the sun is unbearable.” “Hope Star and Gray got out okay though, it was looking a little dicey out there for a while.” Access said, clutching the steering wheel tightly. “I’m sure they’re fine though.” Thankfully, the tunnel led out directly south of the Nomad’s compound, though it was some distance away if the jeeps inbuilt GPS was correct, though it was hard to tell just how far it was through the visual glitches and occasional resets. They had ample time to process the failed mission on the way as well, although Lucky didn’t look like she wanted to talk about it. As any Unicorn is taught in magic school, an unfocused teleport could lead you literally anywhere depending on how much Mana was channeled into the spell, and with his horn unchained he could’ve teleported an entire city block away for all she knew. Lucky sat back and stared up at the cloudless clear blue sky, heart pounding in her chest like a drum and mustered an annoyed sigh. “What’s gonna happen when you tell Luna you lost her prized stallion then?” Sheet Rock said, twisting her body to face Lucky in the back seat. “She’ll either strip me of my rank and give me the biggest demotion I’ve ever seen, fire me outright, or have me shot on the spot.” she said absentmindedly. “It really depends on her mood when we give our report, but I have to say, she isn’t exactly known to be merciful these days.” “Well, lets hope for the best then!” Sheet Rock said nervously as she turned back around. “No use worrying about it, what happens, happens.” “Easy for you to say.” It wasn’t long until they found themselves at a junction that led onto a paved asphalt road, and with a brief look in each direction down the road, Access pulled out and headed toward the Nomad compound in the distance at a rather expedient pace at the expense of Sheet Rock’s pleas for him to slow down. In the distance, she saw a dark shape point in their direction then vanish from view, followed by a larger group of dark shapes. A raised eyebrow was all they could muster until a glossy black gunship appeared from the direction of the compound. It approached at speed and followed them for a time, spotlight trained on them until in suddenly broke away and flew back toward the compound. They had company, or more specifically, the nomads had company and it seems they were expected. The logo on the gunship was familiar to Lucky however, a silver moon on a gleaming ashen shield. “Looks like things are worse than I thought.” Lucky said with her head in her hooves. “The director’s here, that was one of her personal guard’s gunships.” “What is she doing all the way out here?” Sheet Rock remarked, peering out of the side window at the group of armored ponies outside the compound gates. “Looks like they brought a whole damned battalion, heavy armor and all.” They were stopped abruptly outside the compound’s gates by the waiting troopers and ordered out of the vehicle. Naturally they complied with little extra persuasion needed, though much of the trooper’s ire was directed at Lucky. “You two, that cargo VTOL over there has your van in it, please wait there until the Director has dealt with Lucky.” one of them said, a gray coated mare with a stoic if a little sour expression on her face. “You’ll be dropped off back in Canterlot shortly, your friend is eager to see you return,” “Star got out okay?” “Yes, we sent her back on an AV a few of hours ago.” the trooper confirmed. “She didn’t feel like waiting around here, as you can probably understand.” Lucky was manhandled past the rest of the troopers and inside the main building with little care for what she’d just been through, leaving Sheet Rock and Access to wait outside in the rapidly cooling desert. “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to end well?” Access said. “Everyone around here is on edge, like they’re expecting something big to go down.” “Not our problem, let’s just wait in the van. Assuming Lucky gets out of this lightly, no doubt she’ll want to be around ponies that at least don’t hate her.” “Director, Lucky has returned.” Chip called out as Lucky walked inside, flanked by a couple of troopers. “Shall I have her brought in?” “Please.” Luna said without an ounce of emotion. “Be quick about it.” Chip scuttled out of the little room and murmured to the troopers outside before they too scattered, not wanting to be nearby once the grilling started. The Directory had a fiery temper at the best of times, but sometimes Lucky would argue right back and their arguments would then often feed back into themselves as the two got angrier and angrier with each other. Such an approach would normally cut down on any awkwardness, but right now it would be very inadvisable however and Lucky knew it when she laid eyes upon the Director and her cold expression. “What the fuck happened down there, Lucky?” Luna said bluntly. “I sent you to deal with our mutual problem, not start a damned war!” “Equi-Tech marines showed up midway through the mission, we had no way of knowing. It was too dangerous for the Runners to set up monitoring within their network, they would have been fried for sure.” Lucky said defensively. “Speaking of which, since when was X9 able to access the net, better yet, why did you let it?” “I’m asking the questions here, Lucky, not you. I would advise you to keep your mouth shut and just answer the questions as asked.” Luna warned. “Now tell me precisely what happened and you just might get off lightly.” “We were ambushed, Director, there wasn’t much we could’ve done. Riot had placed demolition charges in the ceiling and under the pavers on the floor.” Lucky began. “Matterhorn got caught on the other side of the tunnel as they went off, and his only option was to teleport out. I don’t know where he is, but I do know is at least alive.” Luna raised an eyebrow as a smirk crossed her face. “So why is his transponder not functioning then?” “Damaged in the chaos probably.” Lucky shrugged. “What are you trying to imply?” “I’m not implying anything, I just find it exceedingly hard to believe that he just so happened to be untraceable when he went out of your care, thats all.” Luna said bluntly. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you shot.” “Because I doubt our two friends will keep quiet if they hear gunshots, I imagine they’ll sell what they know and you know what’ll happen then.” A chuckle came from Luna that Lucky didn’t expect. She sounded amused, as if she’d heard the funniest thing she’d heard in a long time. It was more than a little unnerving given the Director’s otherwise muted personality. “Threats wont help you, but I applaud you for at least trying to assert yourself even after failing so hard that you lose our most valuable asset.” Luna said, her laughter trailing off rapidly. “Looks like your friends are getting ready to leave, why don’t you go out there and bid them farewell since you wont be going anywhere until this mess has been sorted out.” “Been a while, hasn’t it you two?” came the voice of Pilot Wings as he jumped out the pilot seat of his VTOL. “I hear you two have been keeping busy.” “Busy doesn’t even describe it.” Access chuckled weakly as he checked the tie down points that anchored the van to the floor of the VTOL “I think we’re both ready for some overdue rest, maybe take a vacation.” “That I can understand, this job ain’t for everyone least of all ponies like Lucky.” Pilot Wings remarked. “She’s a former Canterlot Police Department Officer, and I don’t think she was quite ready for the kind of workload they put on her now. Keep this between us though, the Director doesn’t like us discussing these kinds of things.” As if summoned by the mere mention of her name, Lucky emerged from the building looking utterly deflated. She wandered over to the VTOL silently to join the others and after a brief few awkward moments, she managed to croak out a few words. “You guys are heading back to Canterlot, right? Well, it looks like this is where we part ways, the Director is beyond furious with me and I don’t think I’m going to be a handler much longer.” “There is always the sprawl pony life, you know.” Sheet Rock chuckled. “If you can get over the taste of synth-wheat and low quality cheese, you can manage on what we eat on the regular.” “Tempting, but no, I’ve still got some unfinished business. If I run now it’ll only make things worse for me for sure.” “I know we didn’t always see eye to eye, but for what it’s worth, it’s been a hell of a time.” Sheet Rock stuck her hoof out for Lucky shake. “Access won’t say it cause he’s a hardheaded idiot, but he appreciates the assist back at the hideout. It’s especially hard for him to lose the place like that, lot of memories tied up in there.” “Assuming we ever meet again, I’ll see if I can do something about that.” It was inadvisable to teleport without a specific destination in mind, and even more inadvisable to charge more Mana into one’s horn than would be reasonable. But in his desperation, Matterhorn had made an unfocused jump to who knows where. Wherever he was now was dark, silent, and a little damp. He couldn’t see the sky at all but he wasn’t inside a building, maybe underground, though it was hard to tell through the sharp stabbing pain in the back of his neck and the warm trickle of blood that started to drip onto the ground. “Awake at last I see.” came a familiar voice. “I ask that you try and stay calm, you’re exceedingly lucky that we found you in time. You were close to being eaten by the forest wildlife.” Sat in the corner of the room on a rusted metal stool was Riot, presumably the real one, though it was near on impossible to be sure, and he wore an expression that bordered the line between concerned and apprehensive. “I know what you’re thinking, and yes, this is the real me not another Changeling. I promise.” A pain shot up through Matterhorn’s lower spine, which then traveled up the entire length of his back and into his brain. It was a burning, sharp, and persistent kind of pain indicative of serious trauma. His hoof shot to the back of his neck and he felt a small pit in his flesh roughly between the back of his neck and his skull, and when he brought his hoof back to his face, a small spot of blood was visible. “You landed in a clearing in the Everfree Forest, though it was into a pile of branches from a decent ways up, if my doctors are to be believed.” Riot said calmly. “I took the liberty of removing your transponder too, I apologize for any discomfort you might be experiencing.” “Why did you save me, Riot, you are aware we’re not exactly friends right?” Matterhorn said, wincing in pain. “Don’t give me that family bullshit either, we’re created, not born, we have no family.” “Well that’s where you’re wrong. I think of you like a little brother, no matter how ridiculous that might seem.” Riot pointed out. “I wont try to convince you since that Crown conditioning is still going strong, but the fact I’ve let you live should speak volumes.” “The Director is going to be sending a search party soon.” Matterhorn stated as he got to his hooves, noticing he wasn’t restrained. “If you’re smart you’ll start running now.” “You’re a tool to them, not a colleague or an equal no matter how much you want to be.” Riot barked. “I should know, I was the first. From the very moment they made me I knew that I was a curiosity, an answer to a question that should’ve have been asked.“ “Makes you wonder why they kept doing it then, doesn’t it?” Matterhorn remarked, trotting over to a table where his set of meager belongings rested. “Just get to the point, what do you want with me?” “Don’t want to beat around the bush too much more then?” Riot responded quickly. “I’d like for you to stay here, with me, we might not be related by blood but we are via our genetic template. Whether you want to believe it or not, we’re family, at least in a fucked up kind of way.” “A template of who?” “That’s what I’d like to find out, if you’ll help me.” Matterhorn stared Riot down intently. He didn’t sense that he was being misled, but that was the insidious thing about manipulators, you very rarely saw the warning signs until it was far too late to change your mind. He knew full well why his movements were tracked, but certain questions slowly formed in his mind, ones that he hoped were born of a genuine desire to know the truth. “Alright. You get one chance, squander it and I’ll drag you kicking and screaming to the Director myself.” “When we figure this out, I doubt you’ll want to.” Riot said thankfully. “I stopped wanting to go back long ago, you’re better off here, trust me.”