//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Fallen // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// Soarin saw Val and her guards leave, the shuttle undocking. But he didn't see Spitfire- and didn't bother hiding his worry. He quickly paced through the corridors of the OASIS, but all he saw was the occasional officer walking down the corridor. "Officer." he laid a firm hoof on a passing officer, stopping him. "Have you seen the Captain?" "No, sir. Haven't seen her. Although, from what I last heard- she and that phsyco Val went into the bar. That's why everypony's avoiding that area." the officer said, and Soarin let him go; temporarily frozen. "Buck." he cursed, quickly running down the corridor and towards the bar. He bumped into several officers on the way, but didn't bother apologizing. They knew he was in a hurry by the looks of it. "Spitfire! Captain!" he yelled as he turned the corner of the bar, then froze with his eyes wide. "Captain!?" Spitfire was sitting at the bar table, and had served herself to a bottle of whiskey. Its half drunk contents slushed about as Spitfire looked behind her at Soarin- the misery in those eyes he'd never forget. Aside from that, there was a gaping hole torn in her left shoulder, blood still slowly sliding down her uselessly dangling arm. "What happened...?" Soarin whispered, quickly rushing to her side. Spitfire didn't reply, just took a large swig from her bottle. Some of the golden liquid trickled out of the corners of her mouth and slid down her neck. "Your arm..." Soarin looked at her dangling and bleeding left arm. "I'll be fine." Spitfire sad, although it sounded more like a croak. "Get me a medical officer in the bar. Captain is wounded." Soarin said quickly into the mic, and Spitfire didn't stop him- just took another swig. "Thanks." she said, coughing slightly as she choked on a drop of alcohol. "What did she say?" Soarin asked, laying a firm hoof on the downed Captain's shoulder. Spitfire just shook her head. "I know something is up. The good captain was never drunk before." Soarin said, tightening his grip on Spitfire's shoulder. "Tell me- what did she say?" Spitfire shook her head again, letting out a deep sigh; her stare on the shelves of alcohol, however her mind drifting away into a different place. "She knew, Soarin. She knew all along." "What do you mean?" Soarin still hadn't registered the message yet. "She knew about us, all along. Of course she did..." Spitfire had a tear sliding down her cheek as she buried her face in her hoof. "No way..." Soarin mind finally caught up. "How...?" "I don't know, but she says we aren't the only ones with those extra memories." Spitfire said, leaning heavily on Soarin. "Guess she remembered things from the last world." "The last world, huh..." Soarin muttered, giving Spitfire a short and gentle squeeze. "I can't take this anymore..." Spitfire sniffed, putting down the empty bottle with a loud clink. "...I just can't." "Come on, captain. Yes you can." Soarin said, taking the empty bottle away. "I know there's a lot of strain on you- but we need a leader now. No matter if we win or lose, we need a leader to lead us on. We need somepony to keep us organized." "And why does it have to be me? Can't somepony else who is more up to the task do it? Like Dash?" Spitfire asked, eyes closed and head lowered. "If she's more qualified- then why did they choose you? Why did WE choose you? Dash is a fighter. And what we need is a leader- you, Spitfire. You organized our infiltration of the S.F. space fleet. And you will organize our attack." Soarin said as hoofsteps rang out behind him. "Ponies have respect for you. Don't back down now and lose that." Spitfire nodded. "I won't." "Is the captain alright?" Nurse Redheart shouted as she led a small med team around the corner. "Aye, aye... A scratch, a scratch..." Spitfire said, standing up. "Ma'am- we need to take a look at it under the x-ray. Seems like you've got a disjointed arm, probably even worse." "Do what you have to." Spitfire said, following the medic team out the bar. Just before she left, she tilted her head to one side so Soarin could see the gentle smile on her face, nodded; and left. * "We're here." Magnum said, cautiously stepping onto the small boarding area for the platform. "Team 1. Need you to keep an eye on the other platforms." "Confirm. Two hostile units moving in, ETA five minutes." "Right. Get this one moving." Magnum said, jumping on. She felt a few thuds as the others followed. "Keep an eye out for hostiles." The platform started floating off the floor, and levitated into the air. It began slowly moving towards the central structure, a small dot on the other side indicating the other entrance. "Storm, watch those light bridges." Magnum pointed at the light bridges that connected both sides overhead. "Anvil, watch our backs. Bluefyre, send the drone ahead of us and scout the area." "Yes ma'am." Magnum peered over the edge of the platform. She could see the surface from here, and the giant blazing engine of the barricade. All so far away, and once considered home. Now it was considered hell. "Enemies! Up there!" Storm yelled, pointing at the light bridges as several assault units started running across. "Team 1! Try and shut down those bridges!" Magnum yelled, her rifle cracking loudly as she pulled the trigger. The head of the assault unit she aimed for instantly shattered, and the remains of its body toppled over the bridge. It clunked loudly onto the side of the platform before falling down into hell below. "Platforms!" Anvil warned. "Take down the damn RPGs first!!" Magnum yelled, sending a bullet through the assault unit with the rocket launcher. "Storm! Gimme that shotgun!" she yelled, tossing Storm the anti-matter rifle. Storm flung his shotgun at her, and caught the anti-matter rifle. Magnum grabbed onto the reload handle of the shotgun, its momentum sliding it forward and loading the gun with a loud click. Magnum never misses- no matter what. She swung the shotgun at the group of five assault units approaching from the light bridge. She pulled the trigger once- sending a spread of pellets into the enemy's heads. None missed. One shell, five down. "More of em!" Anvil yelled, assault rifle blazing. "Storm- do you still have any EMP grenades?" Magnum asked. "One left!" Storm said, the face of his helmet lit up by the beam of anti-matter blazing in front of him. "Pull the pin and throw it at me!" Magnum yelled, her shotgun sending out another fatal spread of pellets; sparks flying out of the barrel and soon followed by thick grey smoke. "Ma'am!?" "Hurry up!" Storm flicked out the EMP grenade and pulled the pin with his left hoof, while his right hoof kept shooting short bursts of anti-matter at the assault units. He tossed the grenade at Magnum, who did a three-sixty turn and launched a hoof flat into the grenade. The grenade was sent flying across the artificial canyon, and exploded with a burst of electric blue on one end of a light bridge. The bridge fizzed and flickered, then faded away; throwing the units on it down below. "Team 1! Progress?" Magnum asked, flinching as several bullets clipped her on the shoulder; however making less than a dent in the thick armor. "Arseholes shut down the terminal! We don't have any control over it- I think they cut the power! Buck- here they come!" the communication was immediately cut short following an explosion. "Damnit!" Magnum cursed, then her gun clicked empty. She flung the shotgun back to Storm, who threw her back the anti-matter rifle. Then there was a loud whoosh- there were assault units on the balconies of the canyon, and bullets weren't the only things they were shooting. Magnum realized a second too late, and failed to dodge the rocket in time. It hit her full in the chest as she turned around, sending her flying off the platform. She cracked her back against another, and instinctively reached behind her. Her hooves slipped on the smooth metal hull of the platform, and she started falling. She quickly whipped out a knife from behind her back, and slammed it down into the flimsy hull. The knife slid through the metal several centimeters deep, and stopped eventually. "Shuck." Magnum said, looking down at her back hooves; dangling over almost certain death. There was a robotic groan as an assault unit on the platform walked towards her to check out what was going on. Magnum quickly activated her jetpack, the thrusters bursting to life. She had already used half her fuel- but she didn't check the meter. The sudden boost sent her into the air, and she tackled the assault unit head on. It skid several meters, then stopped on the other end of the platform. Magnum scrambled up, the anti-matter rifle between them. They both started crawling towards it, but the assault unit got there first. Magnum leaped up, kicking the rifle off aim. Then she stabbed her knife into the side and kicked the assault unit away with a broken anti-matter rifle. She used her jetpack again, flying back and out of range as the remaining bit of anti-matter was released and caused a huge purple explosion. The unit and the platform went down in thick black smoke. Magnum landed on a light bridge, the charged particles beneath her hooves fizzing as she made contact. "Team 2! Enemies are remote controlling all systems- we don't have any control over the internal systems! The only way is to reach the command center!" a member of team 1 said. "Bucking great news." Magnum said, the light bridge beneath her hooves slowly fading away. She sprinted forward, feeling her hooves sink more and more into the bridge with each step. Then finally it fizzed out, and she fell. With a boost from her jetpack she managed to land on the platform her team was on. "We better get off this damn thing. How much fuel do you guys still have?" Storm asked, and even as he said this the engines of the platform were slowly dying. "Not much." Anvil said, and Bluefyre nodded. "Buck it. Don't have a choice." Magnum said, shooting down several assault units and leaping onto their empty platform. "Come on!" Storm and Anvil leaped across easily, but Bluefyre was last- and the platform had already started falling. Instead of pushing off like she was supposed to, the platform fell out from underneath her hooves. She hit the edge of the other platform, and began slipping off. Magnum leant over the edge and quickly pulled her up. They rolled onto temporarily safe ground, breathing hard. "No time to wait in line- just jump!" she said, giving Bluefyre a pat on the back- and she nodded. "Light bridge!" Storm yelled, leaping off the slowly failing platform. "Move it!" Magnum yelled as the platform started falling. She leaped forward, but was no-where near the light bridge. A boost from her jetpack did the trick, and she heard several fizzes as her teammates landed next to her. "Go! GO!" Anvil yelled, pushing Bluefyre and Magnum on. "Hostiles!" Magnum said, releasing several shots into an assault unit's head. She had to resort to her pistol now, since the other weapons all but the ACPW were out of ammo. The unit tumbled off the edge of the platform, clipped the side of another and continued falling in several pieces. "Jetpacks!" Storm yelled, firing a spread of shotgun pellets into the air above him. A few seconds later a modified assault unit fell out of the sky, jetpack out of control and sending it flying all over the place. "Buck- LOOK OUT!" The out of control assault unit suddenly swerved back, flying straight towards Bluefyre. It hit her in the side, knocking her off the edge of the light bridge. She tried to grab on, but the tips of her hooves only just missed. She fell onto an assault unit about five stories down on a platform, her suit preventing any damage from getting to her. She scrambled up, picked up the downed unit's anti-matter rifle, and took a boost from her jetpack. She flew onto a higher vantage point, a different platform. A short burst from the anti-matter rifle took care of the assault unit on it. "Go! I'll provide cover fire!" Bluefyre yelled, the purple beam of the anti-matter rifle cutting through the air. "It's going off again-!" Magnum warned, feeling that familiar sudden drop as her hooves sunk partially through the light bridge. "Almost there-" Storm said, then suddenly the bridge collapsed out from underneath them. They fell, stomachs leaping. They cracked their backs onto a platform after a five meter drop. The platform Bluefyre was on was going down, so she quickly leaped onto the one everypony was on. It wobbled slightly as the extra weight from her suit crushed onto it, but held. "Buck- does anypony have enough fuel left?" Magnum asked, looking up at the top right corner of her HUD- jetpack fuel levels were at zero point five percent. "Just a little bit. Don't think I'll even make it." Storm said. There was a loud bang and whoosh- Magnum didn't need to look up to see what caused that. "Well-" she said, backing off to the far end. "Don't have a bucking choice-" she said, sprinting forward and leaping for the entrance. They all jumped at the same time, the rocket hitting the platform they were on a split second ago and blowing it to pieces. The shockwave swept over them in mid-air, sending them spiraling off balance. Storm, Anvil and Bluefyre all made it with a little boost from their jetpacks- but Magnum didn't have enough fuel left. "Shu~~ck!" she yelled as she fell short. She bumped her head on the edge, cracking the visor. She grabbed at the edge, but all she felt was the smooth metal wall and nothing to grip onto. She looked down at the console on her arm- time to test out one of the new gadgets. "Come on grav boots! COME ON!" she pounded the touch screen. "Artificial Gravity Activated." the suit's computer said, and instantly Magnum felt a tingling sensation in her back hooves. Now she just needed to get her hooves onto the wall- easier said than done. It kept pulling away from her, sparks erupting every time she tried to land. Her hooves scraped on the metal, the suit and the wall grinding together in a loud screech. Magnum growled, yanked the knife out from behind her back and tried stabbing it into the wall- but this was a lot thicker than the flimsy hull of the platform. She looked at the knife, which had been sanded down almost to the hilt. There were enemies shooting at her too, their bullets landing short and causing bright flashes to scatter across the wall. Finally she slid to a halt, hooves smoking from the grinding. She couldn't walk normally- there would always have to be a hoof on the wall, otherwise gravity will revert to normal. "Come on! You can do it!" Bluefyre yelled from high above, anti-matter rifle blaring. "Trying the buck outta myself!" Magnum growled, whipping out the ACPW and firing carefully aimed rounds back at her attackers. It was annoying because she kinda had to aim above her. Finally she reached the entrance, and her teammates quickly pulled her in. "Shuck! That was bucking close!" Storm said as Bluefyre punched in an activation code into a console, sealing the door shut. "Tell me about it..." Magnum breathed, still a little breathless. "Get up squad leader-" Anvil said, pulling her up. "We got quite a bit of work ahead of us." "I managed to tap into their monitors, but I can only see what they're doing- not control it. We'll need the main command center for that." Bluefyre said, peering at her HUD; a small sign of a frown on her face. "And... They just launched a nuke in the direction of the Crsytal Mountains." "What!?" Magnum gasped. "That's where the Haven is!" "I know..." Bluefyre sighed. "We need to notify the captain immediately! Put me through." Magnum said. "Are you crazy!?" Bluefyre yelled. "They'll track the signal! We don't have systems needed for a secure encrypted signal!" "Put me through!" Magnum yelled, jabbing a hoof into Bluefyre's chest. "If you don't- all those ponies will be dead!" "And if I do- more will be! The OASIS will be discovered!" "Magnum-" Storm said, placing a firm hoof on her shoulder. "They'd be dead anyway. If the barricade knows they're there, then they won't stop until they run out of weapons. Not even the OASIS can do anything about it." Magnum stared down at the ground, her teeth grinding together and her jaw clenched. Then she roared, and slammed a hoof into the wall to her right. It buckled, and when her hoof fell down by her side there was a giant dent left in it. "I'm tired of not being able to do anything." she said finally, and was glad that her team couldn't see the tear drift down her face through her visor. "I'm sick of it." Storm lifted his hoof, and patted her on the back. "We all are." he said, and started walking towards the marked command center. Slowly, one by one- they turned and followed. Magnum stared at the dent in the wall for a second longer, then turned and left too. There was no time to whine- but she couldn't help but whimper when she thought about that feeling of guilt in her heart. She knows she didn't cause this- but she didn't stop it either. It was like all those years back again- she could only wake up, and hope she didn't pull the trigger on the wrong pony again. It wasn't her fault, she was always told. But still the guilt stayed, eating away at her spirit. ^and if you don't know what this is about, read: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62630/1/On-That-Snowy-Night.../On-That-Snowy-Night...