//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: No Place is Safe // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// "On the ground- search their pockets!" a stallion commanded, gesturing at the group with a hoof while keeping his rifle firmly trained on Rainbow's head. Slowly, the group knelt down, the mercenaries' rifles following their heads. "Didn't think we'd run into mercenaries this quick." Nightshade muttered. "Leave them- stand down." a voice said, and another hooded figure emerged from the darkness; a thread of grey hair peaking out from under the hood. "Ma'am?" the stallion raised an eyebrow. "I know these ponies." the hooded pony insisted, laying a hoof on the stallion's rifle and bringing it down. Rainbow studied the figure- she was obviously the leader of the small group, the dark yellow skin on her hooves seemingly merging with the background. Her cutie mark was hidden under her coat, like the other figures standing around them. The figure slowly took off her hood, a long silky mane of various shades of grey dangling down by her side. Purple irises were only part of that famous grin. "Wha...?" Rainbow tilted her head to one side. "Stand up- up you go." Daring Do pulled Rainbow to her hooves, and some of her followers helped Octavia and Nightshade up. The fillies scuttled behind the older ponies, scared of the new ponies. "So I should've thought- a survivalist and adventurer like you- obviously out here in the wasteland." Rainbow said, grinning. "Tell me about it-" Daring said, then dropped her grin. "Better get inside first. It's getting dark, and you don't want to be out here when the moon goes up. Hand them their weapons!" she said, turning away and walking down the way she came. "Follow!" she waved a hoof in the air. Rainbow took her cleaver back from the stallion. Their eyes met, both cold and unwavering- however no grudge was held. They followed Daring Do into the jungles, all the new ponies seemingly familiar with the paths. Well, of course they were- who knows how many years they've been living here? 'Living' might even be an overstatement, seeing their state. 'Surviving' sounded more appropriate. "You've got two wounded, right? Base has some medical supplies left... Let's see if that'll help." Daring said to Rainbow, who was trotting at a moderate pace behind her. "One with a messed up wing. The other has foreign matter poisoning." Rainbow said. "Not sure if we'll be able to do anything about the foreign matter poisoning- but we'll do our best." Daring said. "You know-" Rainbow started, after a long period of silence. "You could've perfectly took us down right there instead of wasting your supplies on us." "I know. But maybe some of you are more valuable to us than supplies." Daring said simply. Suddenly she held up a hoof, and everypony stopped. Her ears twitched, turning this way and that- and soon enough, they could hear the constant heavy rumbling as something pounded against the earth. "Walkers." Rainbow whispered. "Everypony- make a run for it!" Daring said in a hushed tone, gesturing in the direction they were running in. "The walker should distract the mutated for now- go! GO!" They ran through the jungle, leaping over the roots of some old trees and ducking under vines. There was nothing but the fading pounding, the rustling of grass and leaves as they ran through the jungle, and their controlled breaths. There was a fog coming in- slowly seeping through the thick vegetation. It became hard to see the far side, with the fog shielding up everything and the darkness not doing much to help either. "We're here." Daring Do whispered as they approached a thick wall of vines. She reached into the vines, and Rainbow heard a soft click before the vines fizzled and faded away. "Hologram." Daring explained. There was a heavy metal door behind it, nuts and bolts running along the edges. There were a few beeps as she punched a code into a small console on the side, and with a loud click the door unlocked. "Get the wounded to the med bay and see what you can do." Daring said, opening the door and letting the others pass. "I got to exchange a few words with Rainbow here." Nightshade eyed Rainbow, who nodded a reassurance. Nightshade nodded back, her look saying 'stay careful'. "Sis..." Dainty asked worriedly. "Don't worry. These ponies are friendly." Rainbow smiled, patting her on the head. She turned to look at both of the fillies. "You two be good... Cause I'll know." "Ok." Lily said, feeling slightly relieved that there were actually other ponies out here. They were led off to the med bay by several other ponies, following Nightshade and Octavia. Daring activated the holograms again, closing the door and locking it behind her. The hallway inside was well lit, doors lining the walls. The group headed down one way, and Rainbow was about to follow them when Daring placed a hoof on her shoulder. "This way. They're going to the med bay- I need to speak to you about this whole situation." Daring said, leading the way down a different hallway. After walking through a small maze of doors and corridors, she opened a much more intact door and stepped in. Rainbow followed her into what seemed to be a small office, salvaged goods and files lining the rotting shelves. There were some furniture- several badly ripped armchairs and sofas, plus a glass table with rotting wood. But still- it was a comfortable sight after all the chaos of the previous day. Rainbow sat down, letting out a sigh of relief- her hooves ached from walking all day, and her body was tired. Daring took a seat opposite her, a serious expression on her face. "Rainbow- I'm going straight to the question at hoof. Do you know what's going on?" she asked. "Not a clue." Rainbow said, sighing. "But apparently everypony else have two sets of memories?" "You mean you don't?" Daring raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't. You do though?" Rainbow asked. "Everypony should." Daring said, running a hoof through her mane. "And I do. So which set do you have? You know who I am- right?" "Yeah. I've got whichever one that isn't this one. I don't even know what happened here... I was sitting in the backyard, then all of a sudden I was getting chased by science faction assault units." Rainbow said. "I see..." Daring muttered, her mind drifting elsewhere. Then she seemed to snap back, sitting up and leaning forward. "Then let me fill you in on what I know- then you tell me what you know. Exchange info." "Go ahead." Rainbow said. "All I know is that the Science Faction and the barricade is all back up." "Right. Then you know about twenty percent of the Science Faction space fleet are actually Magic controlled?" "Yep." "Okay..." Daring rubbed her hooves together. "The rest of out kind are working underground as slaves, after Science won the first war. We were forced to go down underground, as the surface was filled with mutations and other things you won't want to run into. All the creatures are under the control of the barricade, and they'll kill anypony- or anything- that tries to rebel. They constantly have patrols across the surface, taking down survivors like us." Daring said, leaning back into the ripped sofa. "We heard there was a safe haven roughly six hundred kilometers north-west of here, controlled by a trio going by the code name of 'CMC'. Familiar?" "Yeah... I haven't heard of this safe haven before, but I think I know who's commanding it." Rainbow said. "Anyway- they're located deep in the mountain ranges of the Crystal Mountains, beside the remains of the Crystal Empire. They keep on radio broadcasts- signaling survivors to join them at the haven. But many think it's unsafe there- the haven is too large, and easy to be discovered. If we stay scattered... There's a lower chance of the science faction finding us." "But wouldn't the barricade see it?" Rainbow asked. "No- they used the Crystal Tower in the center of the Crystal Empire as an amplifier and relay, casting a mirage spell that reflects and covers the entire haven. According to them, anyway... We were planning to go, but there are some of us that don't want to." "Wait a second- radio broadcasts? They can pass word around?" Rainbow was intrigued- if the sun was really worth a shot like Octavia explained, then the haven could be used to direct the magic faction out of the underground and fight. "Yeah- they can. DJ-PON3 is their broadcaster." Daring said. "Why?" "I'll tell you in a minute- you keep going." Rainbow said quickly. Daring cleared her throat loudly. "Anyway. The haven was supposed to be a gathering ground for the survivors... But barely any turned up. We were going to head out tomorrow. Now- what do you know?" "I was sent from a secret underwater magic faction HQ from the Atlantic ocean- well, apparently anyway. I don't remember anything." Rainbow said. "But... Apparently the Science Faction space fleet has taken a sudden interest in the sun... And because of our insiders, we managed to learn that there was a surface base in Foal Mountains- we were sent to retrieve intel, because from what we managed to gather the sun might be able to tilt the balance of this entire situation." "How?" Daring asked, fascinated. "I don't know- and I don't think anypony does. But this intel could be very well worth a shot." Rainbow said. Daring was silent for a moment, trying to piece everything together in her head. "But do you know why all of a sudden we have these memories?" "Not a clue..." Rainbow sighed. "Damn..." Daring ruffled her own mane frustratedly. "We'll find out eventually- don't worry." Rainbow said. "Yeah, but-" Daring started, but was interrupted by a loud siren that shook her bones in her flesh. "Bucking hell!!" she yelled, getting up. "What's going on?" Rainbow asked. "Front door's been breached." Daring explained. "That siren only goes off when that happens." she walked up to a book shelf, grabbed the edges and brought the entire thing crashing down onto the floor; revealing a hole dug into the thick concrete wall behind it. She reached in, plucking out a double barreled shotgun from its hiding place. There was a loud click as she slammed the handle forward, loading the gun. "We have emergency stashes all over the place." she explained. "Right." Rainbow said, flicking out her cleaver and sliding the handle forward. "Who is it!?" Daring yelled at a nearby stallion, the safety off on his rifle. "S.F. Assault units!" he replied, gesturing down the hallway. "Get to the broadcast room. Put the stronghold on high alert- weapons hot, safety's off." "Copy, ma'am." the stallion said, saluting and running off down the hallway. The place was beginning to fill up with activity, ponies stirring and waking from rest. Some of them emerged from their shelters, weapons in hooves. "Giddy-up ponies! They've found us!" Daring yelled, banging the butt of the shotgun loudly on a metal door, the echoing hollow sound echoing down the corridors with her voice. She turned to Rainbow. "We better get to the med bay." Rainbow nodded, following Daring as she sprinted down the hallway. "How the hell did they find us!?" she asked. "They have their ways- we'll never know." Daring said. There were three stallions up ahead, looking confused- but none the less they had their weapons. "You two! With me- to the med bay!" Daring yelled at them, gesturing towards the left side. "Yes ma'am!" they said loudly, falling in behind Rainbow and Daring. "Lenz! Check the security cameras and co-ordinate our attacks! Seal off and defend all hallways to the emergency escape routes!" Daring yelled into a micro mic in her ear. "Copy." came the reply. "Do you see anypony coming our way?" Daring asked as they strode down the corridor, the lights flickering as a loud boom came from somewhere far off. "A squad just breached the north wall, coming in. Two assault units are heading your way, the rest are spreading out." "Tell our troops to only hold off and stay alive- don't try to fight them! They've got an infinite supply of the bastards." Daring said, turning a corner. "Copy. The two assault units are just around the corner from your hallway." "I can hear 'em." Daring said, swinging around the corner, the shotgun sending a deafening bang echoing off the walls as a dozen metal pellets ripped through the helmet visor of an assault unit. It stumbled back, wires inside the visor severed. Rainbow ran forward, stabbed the cleaver through the assault unit's chest and pulled the trigger. The high calibre bullet tore through the head of the assault unit behind the current one, rendering it useless as it crumpled onto the ground. Rainbow ripped the cleaver out, then swung it around and sliced the demented assault unit in half. "I guess those memories are true, then." Daring said, remembering the bar fight she had with Rainbow- she thought those were all fake, but Rainbow just proved her wrong. She turned, kicking down a door to their right. The sign on top said 'medical bay', scribbled in marker pen. "How're our patients?" she asked, striding into the room. "We gave the grey pony here some medicine to fight the poisoning, but it's only holding off the effects. She'll need to keep those tablets going if she wants a full recovery..." the pony in the white coat said, sighing. "We gave the bat pony some painkillers and a better bandaging job, but everything's temporary. It should stop the bleeding, but to heal properly... It'll take a lot of time at this stage." "Don't worry." Daring said, patting the pony on the back. "You did your best in the time frame." Dainty rushed to hug Rainbow, shaking. "W-what's going on?" "Bad guys found us." Rainbow sighed, kneeling down and patting her on the head. "But as usual, we'll get out of this. Together and alive- and you know I always keep my promises." "I do." Dainty said, and Rainbow grinned encouragingly. She then stood up and went to Octavia's side. "Octavia-" she laid a firm hoof on Octavia's shoulder. "Can you still fight?" "Barely- but I will." Octavia said, standing up. She had eye bags under her eyes, and seemed like she hadn't slept in a thousand years. Rainbow looked at her with respect, and gave her a firm pat on the back. "Good to have you back, partner." "Hell yeah." Octavia said, grinning weakly. Daring threw Octavia her shotgun, then pulled out another from under the hospital bed. "We've got an emergency escape route just in case they find us." she said, leading the ponies out the med bay, all of them armed. "Lenz." Daring said. "I count more than twenty assault units in the building. Five are pretty close to you guys." the voice said through the mic. "Right. Get to the emergency escape route- shut everything down and wipe the entire data base of EVERYTHING. We're not coming back." Daring said, jogging down a narrow hallway. "Roger. Been an honor." "You too." Daring said, hearing metal hoofsteps up ahead. She nodded behind her, indicating to the ponies to get ready to fight. They raised their rifles, ready to pull the triggers. Daring waved a hoof in the air, gesturing around the corner. She mouthed a countdown, and swung around the corner. There was an assault unit with a rocket launcher standing in the middle of the hallway, and fired the rocket the instant it saw them. Daring stepped to the side, the rocket passing by her side. Rainbow leaped into the air, dive rolling over the flaming rocket. Octavia kicked a stallion in the knee, causing him to fall over while yanking another pony out of the way. The rocket passed millimeters away from the stallion's face as he fell backwards, and only just grazed the other pony's mane. The two fillies screamed, dropping down and covering their heads- but there was no need. They were too short in the first place anyway. Nightshade grabbed the ponies either side in front of her, blinking. The air around them became disrupted, and the flash faded just as the rocket flew through thin air where they were a second ago. They appeared a little behind of the rocket, and heard the explosion twenty meters down the hallway behind them a second later. Daring Do fired the shotgun, sending the assault unit stumbling back. Nightshade teleported forward, a knife already in her hoof. She leaped onto the unit, her momentum forcing it to turn around. She reached up and pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher, sending a high explosive into a group of approaching assault units. She swung over the unit just as it was about to grab her, landing on its back. She stabbed the explosive knife into a gap in its armor, then blinked again. A moment later she was back, the assault unit nowhere to be seen- all they heard was a loud bang down the hallway, where Nightshade teleported the unit to. "Wait- you hear something?" Daring raised a hoof. "A lot of things." Rainbow said- her head was filled with all the bangs and cries of battle in the distance, somewhere in the building. "No... Something else...." Daring's ear twitched, searching this way and that. Then her eyes widened in horror. Rainbow could hear it now too- and it was getting awfully loud. It was the sound of screaming, but different- the screaming of dry, bloodied throats... Long dead and never to live again. "Mutations! The battle must've drawn in a buck load of them!" Daring cursed, waving the group on. "RUN!" "You mean the dead ponies?" Rainbow asked as they galloped through the building. "Yeah. We won't stand a chance against them- from the sounds of it, they're moving quite fast. Don't let them bite you! Try to avoid any contact with them at all- they're all highly contagious." Daring said, checking behind them. "Gotcha." Rainbow said. "They were made from bio-bombs the science faction rained down during the- HOLY BUCK!" Daring dived down, rolling and skidding across the floor. Rainbow leaped to the side, her ears hearing the whoosh as a large blade cut through the air inches away from her face. "Ghost! GHOST! TAKE IT DOWN!!" Daring yelled. "Can't bucking see it!" Rainbow yelled, but then ducked down again as she heard the whoosh. Her hat almost fell off as the blade passed by overhead. One of the medics pointed the laser sight of her rifle in that general area. "There it is!" she yelled as the laser suddenly started bouncing all over the place- it had hit the insides of the ghost, reflecting off the cloaked surfaces. She briefly saw the point of disruption move towards her, before blood gushed out from a sword wound in her stomach. She spat blood onto the floor, sending the crimson red liquid splattering onto the cold concrete. Then she was thrown away, tumbling down the hallway. "You bucking arsehole!" Daring yelled, leaping up and firing the shotgun. The shots hit something, as a shower of sparks erupted off thin air. Then the air fizzled, and the ghost's cloaking systems went off line. Rainbow stabbed her cleaver forward, but was stopped dead as the ghost crossed its two blades in front of itself protectively. The tip of the cleaver stopped inches away from its helmet, and it seemed to laugh a Rainbow's failed attempt. "Go to hell." Rainbow growled, pulling the trigger. The cleaver firing mechanism was even more deadly at close range- it tore the entire head of the ghost away, and with it a good chunk from its shoulders and chest as well. Blood splattered all over the walls, guts spilling onto the floor as it collapsed to the ground. "Serves you right." Daring spat onto its dead carcass, before following the others and galloping off.