Astral entered the next floor and was genuinely shocked to see it mostly bare. Destroyed, but empty. Desks and workbenches were scattered everywhere, these final floors apparently having been dedicated to manufacturing and occasional research the closer he got to the reactor. Quite a few storage rooms branched off from some side hallways, but those weren’t Astral’s concern.
A single Skitter greeted him at the end of the floor. Even from the creature’s mutated features, Astral could sense the rage radiating from every pore as it spoke.
“Very well, pony. Follow this one,” the Queen said through her drone.
Astral followed into more stairs, senses on a swivel. It was the perfect place for a trap, after all.
Halfway down the stairwell, his hooves began to squish on…something. Maroon, webby organic matter carpeted the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.
He was fairly certain parts of it were pulsing, an organic hive structure starting to cement itself, replacing concrete and rebar. They descended past the last few floors, and Astral’s stomach abruptly convulsed.
Spitting up a blob of black tar, Astral’s eyes widened in horror as the helmet disposed of it with a fizzle.
It’s too soon. I should have another thirty minutes!
He thankfully didn’t feel any different yet, so down they went, exiting a few floors above the reactor.
They then passed through numerous previously-secure doors, decontamination stations, and monitoring checkpoints. Astral had no doubt this had once been secured as they went down a few more sloped halls and wide stairwells. But the organic mush and Skitters had destroyed it all. The halls felt like they were closing in, the hive material providing an infinite number of holds for Skitter and Spider claws.
Dozens of them were watching the Thestral. Full-grown Skitters, the small ones, and Spiders too.
A final Queen’s Guard stood at the end of the destroyed hall; the creature moving aside as they neared. It was eerie to see them still and not lunging at the stallion.
The hum of a reactor now reached Astral’s senses as the room opened up.
To both his left and far, far right, large organic pillars rose to the ceiling, many floors in height above them. To his immediate right, the wall was carpeted with the hive material, more dozens of Skitters watching him.
On his left and in the distance, a massive series of crystals and metal stalactites and stalagmites jutted out from the ceiling and floor in the background. Blue plasma flickered from point to point, all from behind a thick, plexiglass window.
In front of the reactor, he came face to face with the Queen.
Towering over hundreds of eggs, the spider-like creature glowered at him with eight eyes radiating rage. A skitter watched Astral to his left on one of the pillars, even more latched onto the ceiling far above.
Past the Queen and down a short slope on her left, Astral saw the top of a tunnel.
The utility tram!
“You wanted a deal, pony?” the Queen growled. “Then speak!”
“You let Sassi go, and we leave,” Astral stated flatly.
“And then you would destroy us with the reactor. Give us the detonator, and then you can take your mate and go,” the Queen countered. “Not that it matters. We’ll be free soon enough!”
“Let me see Sassi. Give her to me, and then we’ll discuss what I do! I have no assurances that she is even alive!” Astral growled.
With a hiss, the Queen waved a large limb, the Skitter to Astral’s left moving. The Thestral’s heart lodged in his throat as a familiar mare was cut down from the organic prison.
She fell into a heap on the floor, Astral moving over to gently check on her, all the while making sure his guns were trained on the Queen. Sassi was alive, but her pulse was weak, the mare unresponsive outside of briefly managing to open her eyes from behind a shattered visor.
“I warned that if you hurt her…”
“She was sedated. The poison will wear off, assuming she gets one of your antidotes,” the Queen replied dismissively. “I didn’t plan on keeping her alive much longer regardless. Now then…” she growled.
Astral nodded, first picking up Sassi and securing her on his back with some repurposed rope. A hasty, sloppy job, but it’d work. It also masked his cough as more black sludge came up.
“So, you let us go free after we give you the detonator?” he confirmed.
“That is the deal.”
Astral noticed movement on his motion detector. A large dot and five smaller ones slowly moved above him and got closer. He’d have never noticed unless he looked up.
An ambush.
“Alright. Here’s the detonator,” he said slowly, drawing out the device.
The dots moved even faster.
He wasn’t a fool. The Queen had no intention of letting them go; especially if she could just re-capture Sassi. The creatures were almost on top of him now, barely a few paces away.
“Drop it on the ground and then you can leave,” the Queen said, a bit of smugness entering her tone. “A deal is a deal.”
Her eyes widened, the detonator wasn’t the only thing being held in Astral’s hooves.
Slamming a combat knife onto the metal pole, Astral stomped on the end of the hollow tube. The detonator was already affixed to the knife.
“Say hello to the Company for me!” he snarled, flicking the switch. The Thestral depressed the button and hurled the weapon at the Queen.
She moved to dodge the makeshift spear, but the mutant hadn’t been Astral’s target.
Hitting the floor in front of her, the spear slid underneath the Queen’s massive bulk and was lost among the eggs and fleshy floor. Astral galloped towards the utility exit. The six ambushing creatures now lunged towards the Queen, desperately trying to locate the detonator as she let out a wrathful roar.
The reactor began to spit red sparks, Astral barreling towards the utility gate as a powerful teleportation spell began to activate.
“Timer. Thirty seconds. Medical Center Destination, Silo Three.”
The countdown began, no Skitters following as they focused on the detonator. Not that it mattered. If what Split had said was true, once activated, the device itself was useless after a few seconds. Hopefully, the teleportation spell had activated when the spear was close enough.
The downward-sloping tunnel was a fairly steep one, the arching area easily big enough to park three carriages side by side. A dull orange metal moving platform sat parked just behind the torn-open blast doors.
Landing on the platform, Astral punched the activator switch. The gears began to turn, the platform moving down the now-visible central tram line, one gear tooth at a time.
Twenty.
It was too slow.
Jumping off the platform, Astral heard the Queen let out another bellow, the Thestral shooting a lone chasing Skitter with a blast from his cannon.
His hooves sent out a cascade of sparks as he slid down the smooth cement. Red emergency lights became a blur, the stallion watching the countdown in his HUD.
Ten.
True to Joro’s word, a set of security doors halfway down the tunnel was torn open, a hasty barricade of metal and debris covering the opening. Two shots from the cannons blew them to pieces, Astral zipping through the jagged entrance with a flurry of sparks.
Even at his speed, Astral could see the walls on both sides of the security door painted with blood and gore. Odd, white-colored fungal growth was blooming from the Silo side of the door.
Five.
The bottom was now visible, a set of rusted, corroded catwalks winding up from the subway-like station.
Sliding across the cement, Astral’s armored hooves scrabbled to regain traction as he shifted into a gallop. He turned, spying a large red button next to what appeared to be some sort of control panel next to the tunnel entrance behind him.
Astral fired a flurry of shots as he was jumping up the stairs. It had the desired effect; the weathered device shorted out and sent a large blast shield rolling down from the ceiling as the magical bullets hit the button.
Zero.
The explosion shook the entire room, cement cracking as a bright light ignited at the end of the tunnel. The roar grew in volume, flames starting to lick around the blast shield before it slammed into place. Debris rattled against the metal, the door starting to crack and spit out flame before subsiding.
Astral continued to climb, his limbs starting to become weak. He burped up more sludge, a cold shiver running down the Thestral’s spine.
Time’s up.
More flights of stairs, the metal and concrete halls looking more decrepit the farther Astral went. The only modern areas were the thick, white doors that were securely bolted into the walls, ensuring no passage without proper clearance. They were thick enough to potentially withstand a few blasts from the cannon.
Thankfully, the override code still worked, and Astral continued on. There was only a single pause in a simple decontamination cycle; no more than thirty seconds. The water pelted down over the pair, Astral’s gore-soaked armor now at least not dripping with blood.
Entering a long hallway with faded white tiles, Astral stopped at one of the large double doors to his left. Halfway down the hall, it was pitch black, so that would have to wait.
Pushing into the medical center, Astral immediately secured the two-room medical bay. There were only two main doors, one having already heavily barricaded in the other room and leading to a small side-hallway. That left the main doors in the room with four beds. That was easy enough to seal. Even though there was a small, circular window on each door, the glass was fairly thick. The air vents were also barricaded, safe enough for now.
The medical center was at best, non-sterile. The floor was at least clear of debris aside from faded bloodstains. The counters were ruined; clearly having been scavenged by some sort of individuals along with the wall-mounted shelves. The medical beds themselves, however, were somehow spotless, robotic arms with healing crystals awaiting activation. What sort of backup power they ran on, Astral wasn’t sure, but the magical spells were still active. The lights in the center of their room flickered on and off, finally settling on a dim glow.
Astral set Sassi carefully down on the middle medical bed. He then got to work. A cold sweat spread across his fur.
Opening the cabinets above the medical beds, Astral’s eyes flickered over the contents. At first, there was nothing in any of the storage cabinets of use. Old, expired medications, ruined materials, and a slew of ruined IV bags. The helmet seemed to switch into a different mode, cabinets abruptly being highlighted with potential supply locations.
He filed that away for the future.
A few empty highlighted cabinets later, Astral then he found. In the back of one of the large drawers beneath the cabinets, a single, intact IV bag full of antivenom greeted him, along with a basic first aid kit.
He quickly set up the IV drip into Sassi’s arm, the stallion then stumbling. His limbs were starting to become numb.
‘Warning. Blood toxicity levels rising. DNA destabilization process beginning. Seek medical attention.’
Dropping one of the miniguns on the floor, Astral lay on the bed, body starting to shiver. He punched the large power button, watching as the machine spun to life.
“Auto-detection mode activated. Multiple patients detected. Stand by for treatment.”
As healing magic saturated Astral’s frame, he could barely keep his eyes open. Black tar continued to ooze from his mouth despite trying to clear it. The door then shuddered. From more explosions or a creature, Astral didn’t know.
He flopped to the floor, barely managing to aim his gun towards the secure entrance. The faint, red mist of a healing spell still managed to reach him off the bed. Sassi was able to get a full dose from her position.
The last thing Astral saw was the mare still out cold. Even with his failing body struggling with the healing crystals, Astral couldn’t help but smile at the warm glow in his chest at seeing her. He then turned back to the door as it shook again, something collapsing in the distance with a rumble. The stallion’s mind was oddly clear and peaceful. There was no more monster, not anymore. The battle had been won, and the Thestral almost laughed at the thought. But that was too much work. His eyes drifted closed. The utter exhaustion was too overwhelming. But they were safe.
Sassi was safe.
I kept my promise, Sassi. I didn’t leave you.
I hope I can see you again, but now I’ve got to go.
I’ve done everything I can.
You’re on your own.
Everything faded away.