//------------------------------// // Chapter Forty Seven: Castling // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// Astral followed Sassi as she beckoned him onwards, tearing his eyes away from the nameplate at his hooves. The electronics room was just ahead, the mare scanning this way and that for any threats. As they ducked inside the room and flipped the switches, Astral let out a relieved breath. “Well, at least you winged that thing. Whatever it was.” “It’s gone for now. That’s good enough for me.” Nodding in agreement, worry itched into Astral’s mind as they made their way back to the elevators. Sassi was clearly on edge. Then again, so was he. If he had been leading, the flames from earlier would have barbecued him. Once back in the safety of the elevator, Astral waved a hoof towards Sassi as they traveled downwards. “You doing ok?” he asked, genuine concern leaking from the radio. She nodded, but a dull roar then cut off any further conversation. “That…didn’t sound mechanical,” Astral whispered, Sassi punching the emergency stop on the elevator. It ground to a halt just before it stopped at the next floor. “I don’t think it was. And this is floor two; the car will lock here,” she muttered. “Only a few floors from the Queen’s supposed location. Of course.” Icewater dumped itself into Astral’s veins as a simple realization hit him. “That wasn’t a Skitter, was it?” Sassi checked her guns, Astral doing the same. “Nope. Queen’s Guard. And we’re going to attack it first.” “We’re what now?” Sassi let out a huff, gesturing to the floor below them. “We know it’s there, which means it lacks a bit of surprise. Either that, or it smelled us and is waiting. Let’s take a peek.” Flattening herself onto her stomach, Sassi took out one of her knives and pried the elevator doors open a crack. “We’re clear. Hit the emergency stop again and take us down. When the doors open, you take the left side of the hallway, I take the right,” she instructed. “If it comes at us head-on, aim for the head. If it’s too small of a target and moving too much, go for the ends of its limbs or joints.” “I can do that,” Astral muttered, waiting to see Sassi nod again before he punched the button. A strange thrill ran through Sassi’s veins, clearing out any other thoughts. This sort of thing was familiar, easy. Taking down a freaky monster? That was the equivalent muscle memory at this point. And yet the idea of kissing Astral makes- She cut that thought off right away. This Guard was going to take both of them, and the last thing the mare needed was to not be focused. The doors opened, and they took their sides of the hall. The office space looked like one of the many other hybrid lab floors with cubicles and glass rooms on either side of the main hallway. The lights flickered on and off, the back half of the halls being dark. Maybe hiding in the dark? That’s odd. They moved quietly. At first, everything seemed to be intact. It was about a dozen cubicles and three lab rooms down when Sassi spotted a piece of debris. “Bingo. That’s what made it roar.” “…ouch.” The jagged metal edge dripped with dark blue blood, what was once a support beam having been warped and physically torn from the ceiling. It angled downwards at an angle that would definitely have jabbed into a larger creature, let alone that behemoth wandering about. “Watch the end of that hallway,” she instructed, the two of them moving now into the darker portions. Their helmets were able to use the ambient light to brighten things up, but things looked quite odd. “The hallway ends?” Astral whispered, “it looks off.” That was when the ‘hallway’ moved. A comparatively small, watermelon-sized head turned to look at them, an elongated mouth letting out a toothy roar as the room-sized wall of muscle and armored bone abruptly charged at the pair. Two massive arms yanked it forwards, smaller hind limbs propelling it in unison. Another two limbs sprouted from its upper back, long and spindly with three claws on each end. Sassi’s guns roared as soon as she saw the creature. The first shot barely missed the creature’s head, the Guard seeming to move that part of its body back and forth erratically even as it had roared at them. The explosive shell hit- but despite making a bloody, hoof-sized hole in the Guard, it didn’t seem to faze it. The massive, armored bone plates covered the Guard’s upper torso, top of its head, and arms. That protection also extended into parts of its collarbone. Another shot, this one skimming the top of the Guard’s head. Sassi briefly kicked herself for not having a rifle. Astral’s guns now joined in with their chorus, the stallion not taking as much time to aim. Then again, when a carriage-sized beast is charging you, Sassi didn’t blame him for a bit of panic. The shots from Astral hit the creature in the chest- armored bone crackling. The others walked up towards the head but stopped at the armored collarbone. Ducking a thrown desk from the Guard, Sassi continued to fire, her guns running dry even as one of the rounds punched a hole through the side of the creature’s mouth and right side of its head. A glancing blow, one that missed even its eyes. Another series of shots glanced off the creature’s thick skull, others into the softer flesh around its stocky neck. Despite showing jaw muscle and sinew through the exposed hole in its jaw, the Guard didn’t slow down. Sassi backpedaled as Astral fired again, the mare kicking out the dry magazines and slotting new ones in. The stallion was about half out of ammo; on par for when the mare was usually able to empty her weapon and reload it in similar training. Her thoughts were cool and calm. A simple rundown of the following events flowed through the mare’s mind in a pleasant stream. Astral is about out. I’ll cover him as he reloads, and then we- With an abrupt THUD, the Guard face-planted into the floor in front of the two. Astral’s guns made a soft clicking as he tried to fire again before noticing the ammo counter in his helmet display. Sassi drew her knife, throwing it at the Guard’s head to double-check and watching it stick in without so much as a sound from the motionless creature. “Huh…” she muttered, cautiously walking over to inspect the creature. Letting out a laugh, she then gestured to the creature’s head. Or rather, what was left of it. Her knife was embedded on one of the few intact areas on the back of the Guard’s skull. “That was a fantastic shot, Astral. Right between the eyes!” Sassi exclaimed, letting out a whistle. The stallion appeared more miffed than anything, hooves awkwardly reloading the saddle guns. “I just wish it had been skill. These shotguns aren’t very precise, even with slugs,” he grumbled. “A good shot is a good shot. You picked up on the saddle guns pretty quickly in the armory, if I recall. That used less ammo than I thought, but still way too much,” she muttered. “That’s two magazines used for each of us for one guard. We only have three more reloads. Two more guards, maybe three with just guns.” “That’s…not good,” he muttered. “We’ll just be careful. Maybe get some more great shots from you at the start!” He waved off the compliment with a huff, the stallion appearing more annoyed than anything. “I just wish I could say it was skill rather than luck. I’m a fantastic shot with the crossbow, the top three in my class, and the top for long-range with the basic rifles. These are nothing like that. Close quarters and such. The slugs clearly don’t have much power against armored targets.” Sassi let out a hum at that, the two carefully entering the blacked-out area of the hall. “So, you’d probably do better with a gryphon-style rifle. It has a stock you can put to your shoulder if you rear on your hind legs, or lay down to balance it on something,” she mused. “Most likely. I’d love to try them. Have you seen the size of those bullets?!” Astral let out a jealous sigh. “I’d love to get my hooves on a few of those. A rifle would tear right through that bone.” “Well once we get out of here, we shou-” Sassi’s words were cut off as something tore through the floor. Throwing cubicles, chairs, and desks aside, another Queen Guard immediately charged at them. With a swipe of its arm, it sent Astral flying into a cubical wall with a yelp. Bloody holes erupted from its collarbone, a shotgun slug glancing off its skull. Ducking a blow from jagged bone claws, Sassi skidded underneath it. Two shots tore into the Guard’s exposed hip joints and made it stagger. The mare clambered up its back. With a smooth motion, the mare buried a combat knife into the base of the Guard’s skull, jumping off to land in front of Astral protectively. *THUD* A wet, dull explosion was heard, Sassi smirking as the guard flopped onto the floor in front of them. She turned to Astral, helping him up. “You ok?” the mare asked, looking over him worryingly. Her eyes widened on seeing a long gash in one of the armored plates along the Thestral’s side. A hoof’s length either up or down and it would have missed the metal plating. The stallion would have been gutted by the jagged bone. He nodded, testing his limbs a bit. “Fine here thanks to that armor. And those cubical walls are made of that flimsy fabric. I’ll take that over concrete,” Astral explained. “Can we just…you took that thing on yourself! That was awesome!” Her visor flipping up, Sassi shrugged. A bashful blush flared on her cheeks as Astral looked at the downed creature. “Seriously, you didn’t even need my help that first time! That was incredible!” he continued, then gesturing to the creature’s missing head. “How did you do that?” Drawing out another knife, Sassi then gestured to where an empty grenade pouch was located. “These knives are quite nice. I had them custom ordered. They have a metal edge which a grenade can be pinned to. I stuck that thing right in its skull.” “Whoa.” The stallion couldn’t really say anything else other than that. It had been some time since seeing the mare in action, and it still blew him away. Her movements had been too fast to track. “I don’t suppose I could get some of those knives?” She let out a snort, the two walking towards a familiar electrical room. “You already have two of them. I just wouldn’t recommend a normal pony using them as I do.” “Oh.” They flipped the switches, the two Thestrals making their way back to the elevators. Astral shook his head as they passed the guards, letting out a soft whistle as the gore continued to spread out from the bodies. “I’m still dumbfounded. That was…wow.” Even with the visor down, Astral could sense the mare was a bit flustered. How she wasn’t used to compliments with such feats, he didn’t know. As the elevator whisked them down again, the Thestral felt a strange energy barrier make his fur prickle, Sassi letting out a hum of interest. “That’s new. Some sort of protective field,” she murmured. “Considering the occupant, that may be appropriate.” “Time to see if that Skitter was telling the truth?” “Yup. Either it’s a trap, or we’re going to meet the Queen. Either way, let’s see what she wants.”