Astral stood at the end of the hallway, a series of smoking holes in the metal at the other end.
The minigun had minimal recoil, but the canon made Astral’s body shudder with the recoil. The forelimb-wide hole at the end of the hall indicated that it was a small sacrifice to make. He began to trot towards the elevators, some text popping up in the corner.
‘Weapon discharge detected. Final fire-control system calibration needed.’
“Calibration? How long will that take?” he asked, the AI providing an immediate answer.
‘Three minutes to achieve optimal power flow and targeting projections.’
“Then do it.”
The loading bar ticked down for the calibration, Astral’s eyes narrowing.
Four hours.
He didn’t know what awaited them in Silo Three. But at that moment, the Thestral didn’t care.
I promised her.
Punching the next level, he had to wait only a moment before the elevator jarred to a stop, the power then shutting down at the next floor.
‘Calibration complete. Combat recording active. All systems operating at maximum efficiency.’
Astral took a deep breath.
I’m like a hero in all of those action movies…
He let out a snort at that, a jarring through punched through the stallion’s mind as he forced the doors open.
No. That’s not right.
As a Skitter charged from halfway down the hall, Astral planted his hooves and fired. The guns roared, the shots shredding the creature as it collapsed into a gory pile a few paces from Astral.
This place doesn’t need a hero.
Two more Skitters burst out from rooms on the side of the hall; guns screaming their response as the creatures collapsed into a mound of shredded limbs and claws.
This place needs a monster!
A fire was building in Astral’s chest as he walked over the Skitter. The same creatures that had tormented him for days, nearly killed him…
They were nothing now.
I have to move fast!
“Start a timer. Three hours, forty-five minutes. And can you tap into the speaker system of the Silo?” Astral asked the AI.
A timer appeared in his HUD, and a confirmation also popped up as a list of broadcast options was listed.
‘Two-way broadcast available. Multiple speakers and microphones detected on multiple floors.’
“Broadcast everywhere. I want that Queen to hear me!”
“Broadcast coming through! We’ve got audio on this broad spectrum, but it’s going to fade soon.”
“Queen of the Skitters, Clone of Joro!” Astral’s voice boomed from over the speakers. Ponies abruptly turned down the volume in the control room, Twilight and Vial listening intently. With a wave, the audio stream was broadcast was sent to the other monitoring stations in the neighboring kingdoms. The video feed was shaky, but they were able to see the armored Thestral pause on the Silo floor.
“Let Sassi go.”
An evil hissing laugh echoed through the speakers, the Queen sneering from her level twenty-five floors below him.
“No.”
Astral’s eyes narrowed, his eyes picking up movement at the other end of the destroyed office floor despite the lights being off.
“Let her go, or I’ll kill every one of your spawn until you do!”
Another hissing laugh.
“You amuse me, pony. You may try.”
The movement intensified, four Skitters charging across the rubble towards Astral. Two more punched through the ceiling, nearly on top of the Thestral as they lunged at him.
Their limbs slowed, Astral watching as they bounded towards him.
The miniguns spun up, their barrels rotating far too slowly for Astral’s liking.
There was, however, another weapon he had seen listed in the tutorial.
His right forelimb jerking, a blade snapped out and locked into place from the armored vambrace. Ducking the swipe from the nearest Skitter, an emotional dam snapped. A roar left the Thestral’s mouth, Astral sending the blade up through the Skitter’s jaw and into its brain. The miniguns finally spun up, shredding the other with a blast of rounds.
The other four were almost close enough to strike, but the magical bullets tore into the flesh as if it was tissue paper. Holes were punched through chests, arms, and heads. Their bodies tumbled to the ground as Astral lashed out with the blade at the last Skitter who got too close.
Standing on the pile of former experiments, Astral saw a Spiders creeping towards him, apparently having followed the Skitters.
The cannon blast blew a hole in the floor, the spider now nowhere to be seen.
I hate those things.
“Broadcast again.”
‘Broadcasting.’
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” Astral growled. “I’m going to kill every one of your minions until you let Sassi go. If you want to make a deal, send a single Skitter to the floor below me. I won’t ask again.”
“Interesting. You are not normal,” the Queen mused over the speakers. “Perhaps your modifications will serve my children well too!”
“Is that why you want Sassi?”
The Queen paused, chuckling darkly over the speakers.
“This mare’s genetic structure can give me an edge to spread beyond this place. The collapse of the portals means nothing!”
Good. So, they did close, or are about to. That means no more creatures coming through.
“If you hurt Sassi, I’ll overload the reactor,” Astral warned, “Split Tie told me that room is heavily shielded by systems even you don’t know about! I’ll be safe up here, but that room will be incinerated. Then I’ll get her!”
It was a bluff, but a logical one. However, it clearly caught the Queen’s attention, a furious hiss echoing around.
“The detonator? You would kill her!”
Astral smirked. A bluff and a bet had paid off. He assumed the Queen had Sassi close; now he had a more solid idea of why and exactly where.
“So. She’s close to you then? Twenty-five levels down? Good to know. I’ll see you soon, Queen.”
“You will die, pony.”
“Eventually, but not today. My deal stands. Let Sassi go, or I’ll kill every one of you. Goodbye.”
“You DARE threaten-”
“Pause broadcast mode.”
The Queen was abruptly cut off.
“Chart fastest route to the source of where that voice was.”
A simple directional compass appeared, aiming directly at the large utility elevators at the end of the floor. This Silo had odder elevator shafts than others; the passenger ones being separate from the multiple cargo options spanning multiple floors.
Astral let out a growl as he saw a familiar, bulky shape climb out of the destroyed utility elevators at the end of the room. His hooves slammed into the ground, a nearly uncontrolled rage spiking in the stallion’s heart.
The cannons roared, the Queen’s Guard reeling as its bony armor was blown to pieces. Its left arm was severed at the shoulder, then its right. The arms on its back were then shot off, the behemoth toppling to land in front of Astral as he aimed the cannons again. The creature looked at him, and Astral hoped the Queen was watching from her hive mind.
A single shot to the head coated the floor in gore, Astral then galloping towards the open elevator.
“If you can think you can do it, then you can. That’s what these modifications can do.”
I hear you, Sassi.
The anger was still building, the idea of some monster harvesting Sassi for her blood…it was just like the Company all over again.
Another creature using her.
His hooves slammed into the tile, the ceramic shattering as Astral charged towards the open elevator, the doors having been long since torn aside. The AI picked up on his intent, marking the target with a simple dot.
Jumping into the elevator, Astral wrapped his hooves around the thick cable. His heavy weight sent the Thestral flying down, sparks flying from his hooves.
As he landed on the utility elevator ten floors down, Astral felt his limbs shaking, but not with fear.
The doors were blown off their hinges, two Skitters desperately lunging at the Thestral as he charged from the elevator shaft, a dozen more scrambling to catch up to the pony. As the guns tore the Experiments to shreds, Astral saw more creatures surge from a side hallway. His vision sharpened, the world moving in slow motion.
The anger at the injustice of the world, of this place; Astral couldn’t take it anymore. He had been running and hiding for weeks, months.
Running.
The moment when Astral had tried to stand against the rotting ideals in the world as a Night Guard Trainee, the world had just forced him to run. Run from the city. Run from a normal life. Run straight into the jaws of this Company.
Then running from the AI that then tried to collapse the Silo on top of him. Running from the Skitters…
I’m so sick of running.
The evil of this Silo, this world; they all wanted a piece of the pony that had evaded them for so long. More Skitters joined the horde ahead of him.
This place wanted to tear away the one mare Astral cared about. As if a childhood of torture wasn’t enough penance, the world wanted to extract even more from the mare.
Gaseous fear rose in Astral’s throat; but not for the horrors that reached out with boney claws. It then condensed, a white-hot ball of rage burning in Astral’s chest.
“You want a monster?!” he bellowed. Astral wasn’t sure who he was talking to. The Skitter Queen, the World, the ‘Harmony’ that was supposed to keep everything in check?
He didn’t care.
“WELL, HERE I AM!”
Hooves slammed into the tiles; the ceramic shattered as the Thestral charged the oncoming horde. The guns made the air scream with magical rounds. A wordless yell left Astral’s throat, fangs bared as the guns joined in with their own calls.
The Skitters became shredded underneath the rain of rounds, limbs torn off and were sent flying. The ones who got close enough met Astral’s blade. As he threw off the body of one Skitter, he caved in the head of another, hoof punching clean through the bony skull with a splash of gore.
Another wave gathered, but Astral didn’t give them a chance to regroup.
I promised to not leave her.
The guns continued to fire, barrels heating up to a cherry red. Even as they paused to cool down, the stallion charged, cannons blowing two of the Skitters to pieces.
The suit inadvertently broadcast his next words as he skewered a Skitter with his blade, speakers across the Silo and control rooms roaring.
“GIVE HER BACK!”