I quickly found myself completely and indefinitely restrained by the time I was able to lift Undertaker. I mean, as amazing as I am...Er...was, I still couldn't fight off an armada of robotic tentacles while in mid air with nothing but a single bullet. Now of I had two bullets...
"I will hand it to you, Vermin, you are one very amusing specimen." the AI complimented, raising me once again to the camera lens, "Perhaps I will reconsider exterminating you. I believe you will be a very amusing subject to experiment with, on, and in."
Now lemme explain the kind of position I was being held in, before I go on: Each leg was being held, spread eagle, apart by a different tentacle while another wrapped around me waist. One more made sure to keep Undertaker far out of my reach while yet another would poke or prod me in different spots just to see how I'd react.
I have to admit, I couldn't help but think one thing the entire time, 'I've seen enough hentai to see where this is going...'
"What exactly do you mean by 'experiments,' sir?" I asked, purposely sounding extremely disinterested.
"Well, I could test your durability and resilience..." he suggested with a dark undertone. Of course, to prove his point, I was slapped across the face by a tentacle, then slammed in the gut immediately after, "How does that sound?"
I groaned, lifting my head with a bright, and now bloody, grin, "Sounds like a box of fun."
"There's also your flexibility." he pointed out while one tentacle started to push me forwards from directly behind my shoulders as two others forced my fore hooves back to nearly the point of snapping, "Is this a good choice?"
I grunted and gritted my teeth, forcing my cries of pain and anguish back as best I could. I just did not want to give this sadistic freak the satisfaction of watching me break, even if it meant dieing first. Unfortunately, I could only hold out for so long...
"Eeerggg, buck-buck-buck-buck-buuuuck! GAH, BUCK!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked smugly.
"I ssssaid, SSS-SOUNDS LI-K-KE A BUCKING GOOD TIME!" I screamed, my shoulders feeling as though they were about to crush in upon themselves.
With a clearly unsatisfied sigh, he released the pressure and let me slump back into my original position, "Hmm...it's very clear you are resilient and very dexterous mentally, the same being said physically, but..." I let out a couple deep breaths before looking up at the lens through which he scrutinized me. I was going to make sure he got destroyed if it was the last thing I did...heh, "How are you on the inside, hmm? Under all of that armor and flesh."
I gave him a very confused stare, not entirely sure what he was getting at, "I have an abnormally high metabolism?"
A single, somewhat smaller mass of wire and metal swiveled it's way to my face, swaying in front of me for a couple of moments while I stared at it expectantly, "Why don't I just FIND OUT, HMM!?"
My eyes shot wide as saucers as I finally understood what he was about to do, "OH BUCK NO, YOU REALLY ARE ABOUT TO RA-GMNN!" I slammed my mouth shut, clenching my teeth tightly as the little wire appendage zipped toward my maw, slamming into my face at a pretty painful speed.
"Oh now, you seemed to WANT this not too long ago!" the AI mocked, "Why don't you open that mouth of yours to spout more shrewd insults, hmm?" I glared ahead while still keeping sure to refute any entrance to the tentacle, "Nothing? Fine. I can fix this. I know one way to get that mouth of yours open, but knowing your refusal to comply, this will be VERY, VERY painful!"
Again, something slammed into my gut with tremendous force, attempting to elicit a shout or scream so he could "explore" my insides. I was just glad I had armor on or I'd be screwed...literally.
"Come on. I'll be gentle!" He laughed, enjoying the torture he was inflicting upon my body.
Another blow to the stomach, forcing a spurt of blood to slip through the slits between my teeth. I was going to be sore later, that was for sure...
"Your resilience truly is something to admire!" the AI noted, "But I WILL break you!"
I clenched my teeth tighter, screwing my eyes shut as yet another blow to my gut forced a grunt, accompanied by more blood, from my muzzle. There was just almost nothing left in me to keep resisting; I was almost spent.
"One more should do it." the AI commented smugly, "Get ready, Vermin."
I took a deep breath and awaited the pain, and soon to be violation. I had but one regret at that point:
'And I tried so hard to save-out for Luna...'
"For an all-seeing AI, you sure have a bad case of tunnel-vision!"
I opened my eyes at the sound of Widow's defiant voice, then looked below me to find she had found something similar to a Gravity Hammer, except BIGGER, and had it primed to crush whatever protected the AI's control center.
"Widow!" I shouted with probably the most joyful voice I had used since receiving Luna's little gift.
Widow raised the hammer and started to bring it down, but the AI was already in motion, obviously panicking as he used every last tentacle to zip to her position, attempting to stop her. He even let go of me entirely!
"No! Do NOT touch that, filthy Vermin!" he shouted frantically, his tentacles closing in on Widow as I began to fall.
Unfortunately for him, he reacted far too late and Widow had already dropped the hammer, shattering the clear case with a loud, thunderous clap which released a very obvious and visible shockwave centered at the impact, knocking her off her feet and sending her sliding backwards a couple meters.
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
The tentacles forgot about both Widow and I, deciding to instead conceal and shield his "brain" from further threats. Meanwhile, Widow scrambled back to her feet in time to catch me, preventing me from attaining what would probably be the worst concussion I would ever have.
"Charge placed, let's go get Pip and Ryan." Widow muttered while the AI frantically screamed a bunch of insults and nonsense, "They sent a distress beacon some minutes ago."
Widow quickly dashed out of the room, disregarding my helmet, but grabbing the dropped Undertaker, as she threw me over her shoulder so I could hold on around her neck with my fore hooves. I hated being carried, though...it makes me feel like I'm just being a problem...I mean, I live by the philosophy that "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," so...well, at least I used to, anyway.
"Put...me...down...please..." I demanded after being carried far away from the AI's room.
Widow slowed to a halt, but obviously didn't think setting my on my own hooves was the right choice as she hesitated to comply. But...she eventually set me down, leaning me against the wall and setting Undertaker directly beside me.
"You took a hell of a beating, Artemis." she stated, "You don't need to carry your entire burden you know. That's why we're a team."
My lungs felt like they were going to explode as I took deep, shaky breath after deep, shaky breath. I think one of my ribs might have broken and punctured something...
"No...I-I will be fine." I lied, "Honestly, nothing wrong here!" I stood upright and held my fore hooves out with a bright, yet still blood-stained grin, flinching slightly in pain but hiding it quickly.
Widow shook her head, obviously debating over whether or not to force me to comply, or to just let me be my stubborn self.
"You don't need to be strong for us, Artemis." Widow stated quietly, reaching into a pouch strapped to her thigh, "You need to be strong WITH us." Before I could question what she was talking about, something sharp and needle-like pierced my suit through the flexible section around my thigh, then continued through to puncture my skin.
"Heeeng! The buck!?" I shouted, looking down to see Widow removing an empty adrenaline shot from my thigh.
"But seeing as you're too stubborn...just, please, don't do anything stupid." she tossed the empty vial away and patted her pack, "Be sure not to get as beat-up again. You can really only use these once or twice within a short time span or else your heart will explode."
I shivered as the adrenaline shot quickly acted upon my body, enticing it to produce more adrenaline so as to kickstart my heart and numb the pain. I remember the first time I used one of these...I thought it was the most wonderful invention in the world and had to be pinned down by the rest of my Team so I wouldn't preemptively use another.
After taking in one last, deep, and still somewhat shaky breath, I grabbed Undertaker, slung her around my body, and flashed the best, most sadistic grin I could, "Let's blow this place to hell."
Widow nodded to me and immediately began to lead the way back to Pip and Ghost. We severely hoped that they had been able to stay alive this whole time, as the distress beacon was sent quite some time ago. On the way, I could still feel a slight twinge of pain in my side, as though something was clamped onto it and, with every step I took, started twisting and pulling at it...it was only minor at first, but I could tell the pain was building as the adrenaline started wearing off. I'd either have to bring adrenaline pumping naturally again, or take another shot, and soon. I did not want to be carried again.
Again, we passed the armory and I stopped to stare. Widow stopped as well after noticing I was no longer running.
"C'mon! We can't wait!" she shouted, "We gatta move!"
I looked at the doors in thought, then turned and gave Widow a dark grin, "Go on ahead. Find them and make sure they're okay." I pushed the doors open and began to walk in, feeling complete delight at finally being able to use one of these weapons...or maybe more, "I'm grabbing somethings that'll aid in our escape."
-------------
I didn't bother to wait for Widow's response, but seeing as she didn't come get me, I figured she just went along with it. Inside that room, I again marveled at all of the tools of mass destruction and war...I hated and loathed every bit of technology I saw. All I wanted at the outset of the attack on Equis was for everything to just go away, for all of the invaders to just die, or leave. When that didn't happen, when they destroyed what few things which kept me from just losing it, I came to the conclusion that I would do everything in my power to make sure every last one of them died...if only to end the death.
I hate death, really, I loathe it beyond belief, but I've learned to love it, to embrace every aspect of it. It is an art, basically, and perfecting that art would help me accomplish my goal of killing every Covenant bastard I saw. I also came to realize that I couldn't wait until death came to me...but what am I doing? You're not interested in my own personal thoughts, Halsey, you're interested in hearing how your crazy little project did it. How Artemis was able to escape, almost, certain death at the hands of that damn AI, of which, thanks to you, is now an equal to me. So shall I continue? Shall I finish this story for you, Ma'm? Fine. Like I said, I just want to be deleted as soon as possible...
-------------
Since I didn't want to waste too much time, I quickly grabbed the first few things I saw. One looked very similar to the standard Plasma Rifle which many Covenant used, except this was bigger, much bigger. In fact, after quick inspection, I saw that the mechanism next to it was supposed to be attached to allow two-hoofed carrying. I figured it was supposed to be a somewhat heavy piece of weaponry, but was able to hold it with one hoof anyway. The other major difference was the constant sound of pent-up energy which emanated from it. I wasn't entirely sure if it would actually work, or just explode the moment I tried to use it, but I really wanted to see what the formidable-looking device could do!
The next item to catch my interest was a doozy. Seeing it really tickled my insides to no end, honestly. What it was, essentially, was a suit, yet at the same time, a gun. It looked like it was supposed to be worn, like a blue, exoskeletal armor, as a chain of ammo which looked similar to the Spiker needles, except longer and thinner, threaded through and around it to the parts which connected to the arms, which appeared to be where the firing mechanism was. Now, although it was too big for my body to just wear it, I was sure I could think of a way to use it when the time arose, so I grabbed it and started to bundle the small mass of metal and bullets together when I accidentally hit a button and the whole thing shrank in on itself and became a nice little package, the long strips of ammo wrapped nicely around it.
"Sweet." I grabbed the suit and connected it to the magnet lock on my back while taking my DMR, which had previously been there, and wrapping it around the opposite shoulder Undertaker was on with another clip-cord. It was a bit of a clunky set-up, but I'd be fine.
Before I left, though, I spotted an Energy Sword handle laying amidst a pile of junk, so I grabbed it and clipped it beside the magnum on my left thigh. With all this stuff, I would be a bit weighed down, but I figured that, with the current circumstances, the more weapons, the merrier!
I hefted the somewhat large, oversized Plasma Rifle and grinned, making my way out to the hallway. I was so excited at my finds that I forgot about the pain in my side. Whatever was going to happen in the coming minutes, however this whole fiasco would surmise, I knew that at least it would be a spectacular performance. Though, ending in the most beautiful piece of art I ever saw was not how I intended to end it all going in...
-------------
Halsey, if you couldn't tell, I'm promoting my own death as the most beautiful thing I had ever seen...well, second most beautiful...could...could you bring Luna in here for a bit? That'd be n-o-oh! Fine...I'll continue...Geeze...still heartless as ever, I see.
-------------
After only a few short minutes of running I could hear the sound of gunfire. Either Widow had found the others and was defending them, or she was being attacked...wait, she was being attacked anyway...er, so, anyway. I spurred myself to run faster, even though the pain was ebbing back and becoming quite distracting again. That AI really did a number on me...I was just glad he didn't get a chance to go through with his plan to up and violate me like I was in some dirty comic...I would visit the Internet if I wanted to see that!
"Damn, where the buck are you, Artemis!?"
Widow's voice reached my ears as I turned a corner and found a long hallway, the end of which being a doorway back into the Construction room. Continuing to run, I unclipped my DMR and shouldered with my right fore hoof while carrying the Plasma Reactor (the name I gave to the large Plasma Rifle) under my left armpit, aiming down the ranged sight of my rifle to see Widow has firing off at enemies which I could not yet see while bullets of varying kinds whizzed by. Pip and Ghost were both slumped over behind some kind of wreckage of junk or something, unconscious...at least, I hoped they were unconscious.
I lowered the rifle so I could run faster, wincing as a sudden pain lanced through my body, centered at the right side of my chest. I ignored the pain, though, I had to. I couldn't afford to be held back in this situation if everypony was to get out alive. This thought in mind, I sprinted through the doorway, hefting both my DMR and my pistol while sliding the Plasma Reactor near Widow so I had a better range of free movement.
"Right here, boss!" I shouted, vaulting over the wreckage of what I then identified as some kind of robot warrior.
"Artemis! Took ya long enough!" Widow shouted, continuing to fire off rounds with the Assault Rifle she lifted off of Ghost.
Immediately after vaulting the robot, I came face-to-optical sensor with another mech fighter. These things were pretty big compared to me. They seemed to have a similar skeletal build as Brutes, except without the layers of muscle and fur. I guessed there was supposed to be more than the skeleton, but they were obviously unfinished. I quickly opened fire with both my firearms, the bullets clanging on impact as sparks flew where they created dents and holes in the metal while knocking the machine stumbling. Before it had the chance to recover, I planted both rear hooves onto it's chest, crumpling the metal and forcing more sparks, this time of the electrical kind, to fly as I forced it onto it's back, where I fired a couple more bullets into it's head just to make sure.
"Ghost and Pip are really hurt!" Widow called, tossing a grenade towards a crowd of V2s, even though they scattered before it could explode.
I had run out of bullets in the rounds for both my DMR and pistol at this point and was forced to beat back a pair of V2s which had gotten bold. I slammed my rifle across the first drone's creepy little head with a swipe of the hoof, killing it there, while tossing my pistol, then caught the other with my now free hoof. I pushed it back while clamping my jaws down on the pistol before it fell too far. The V2 which I pushed was about to dive at me again, but I pulled the trigger of my pistol with my tongue, the click scaring the V2 as it thought it was about to be shot. With a grin, I used it's hesitation to round-house kick the bugger into a crowd of it's own kind.
I swiftly dove back behind the same mech Widow had been using to defend herself before I could get caught in the V2's blast, or riddled with bullets, to find her looking Pip over for any new injuries. I came over, being sure to stay low and began speaking to him, to make sure he was awake. After he didn't respond I removed his helmet and tried shouting at him, finding that he was too groggy to answer.
With a sigh, I pulled my knife out, feeling my mind beginning to slip at the sight of somepony I cared about in such a state. The bastard Covenant were all going to die, I was sure of that, and I wanted to do it personally as I stared into their eyes...
"Go tell your 'favorite princess' that I thought she was hot for me, hmm?" I semi-joked, my body twitching as I almost jumped back over the mech to begin tearing everything over there to pieces. Luckily, Widow had tossed a flash bang and it snapped me back into my right mind, but Pip was out again.
"We gatta getthe fuck out of here, NOW." she said, grabbing Ghost's arm...his ONLY arm, "We'll just blow it up with all of these bastards still inside." I helped to lift Pip onto her shoulder, then nodded before flinching as a Spike imbedded itself in the mech directly above my head.
"Let's go. Cover my back."
I finished reloading both firearms and nodded at her, indicating I was ready. I dashed out of cover, firing both weapons randomly into the crowds of mechs and V2s to get their attention first. Just as I planned, they focused all of their fire on me and Widow slipped out the same way I came in while I took cover behind a Revenant. I would catch-up to them soon, I thought, right after I found a hole to push through, but that's when the Revenant suddenly turned itself on and turned on me.
"Oh buck."
I dove to the side and avoided the purple mortar blast barely, the heat from the plasma explosion warming my entire body as I rolled back to my hooves in time to see the beautiful pink and purple flare dissipate, leaving nothing but a scorch mark behind.
"Now that is just not fair..."
The living vehicle boosted towards me, and since I didn't have time to dive away, I jumped and kicked off the hood, the force propelling me up and back. I eventually was able to get my bearings again just in time to land, quite painfully, on my hooves next to the mech we hid behind only a couple moments ago.
"Oh...well that makes up for it!" after shaking my legs, I clipped all of my weapons back into their spots, grabbed the Plasma Reactor, and ran like hell out of that room, V2s instantly swarming after me while the sluggish mechs and large vehicles waited behind.
As I pushed to catch up, all I heard was the sound of my own, heavy breathing, and the scrambling of all of those damn buggers...then something else. Something small and quiet. It was like something was in my head, whispering to me. At first, I was unable to discern what it was saying, but eventually it clarified.
'The interference will deny you your hopes...'
I started to ponder if that voice was real, or if I was just going crazier, but suddenly found myself about to plow into Widow.
"Wha-Widow! We almost out of here?" I asked, hoping we were.
"Literally, yes." she said darkly, "In actuality...no."
I ran along side her, suddenly feeling some of that stress I've been putting on my body, with a worried look. I didn't like the sound of this...
"The remote detonation doesn't work."
The rest of that stress quickly hit me, full force. I almost fell to my face then and there! But I kept running...I had to, even though, for the first time since Equis, I felt hopeless...then Widow's next words completely ruined everything that was left for me to hold onto.
"A countdown started from when the last charge was primed in case of this jamming counter-measure."
And of course, just to add more dissapointment, we reached the same doors we used to enter.
"The bombs will explode in thirty more minutes, but by then, all of these things will have escaped after the AI investigates the charges...and this whole mission, and the entire population of soldiers out there, will be in ruin."
I solemnly, yet still hastily, opened the doors and let beautiful sunlight flood in...I never thought I would love Celestia as much as Luna before, but DEAR CELESTIA did I enjoy that sun!...though, it was quite bittersweet...actually, it was just bitter now that I think about it.
Widow rushed out and I quickly followed. Shutting the doors just in time to keep the V2s from escaping. Immediately after, I threw all my equipment and weapons to the ground and screamed "buck" as loud as I could, repeatedly, for a whole three minutes.
"Artemis...we just have to warn everyone, get them mobilized to reduce the casualty number." Widow explained, approaching me from behind after setting Pip and Ghost down while I slammed my hooves against the metal.
"No! They won't get out fast enough!" I shouted, "I cannot just let everyone and everypony die!"
"We don't have a choice, Artemis!"
I turned, ready to scream again, but Widow anticipated this and threw her helmet off, grabbing both my fore hooves and pinning me, against my back, to the doors.
"Artemis, listen! Just fucking listen!" she shouted, silencing me, "Not every mission can be a success, not every life can be SAVED!"
At that moment, I swore my vision flashed and I saw Luna giving me the same speech...but it quickly went back to reality.
"I know what you're planning...I know what you want to do right now, but as your Leader, your teammate, and-and your friend..." she took a shaky breath, looking away for a moment, "JUST GIVE UP, DAMNIT!"
I looked down, my angry sneer shifting into a sad, distant gaze as Widow let me go and backed away, breathing heavily and retaining her serious stare. I hated this...I hated the choice I had to make, the people and ponies I had to let down...I joined the Spartan program long ago thinking I would just kill all of them, make them all suffer, but it all changed after my first mission because of that nurse...that meek little pegasus showed me why everyone else fought, and that's what I came to fight for. Not to kill, to defend, to avenge everypony that the Covenant threatened or hurt. Again, my drive changed when Luna showed me that I wasn't alone...I didn't just have to fight to defend, I had to fight to live, so I could come back home again...
I just wished that I could have made it home...but like I said, I didn't like the choice I was forced to make, so it doesn't matter anymore.
"Widow..." I kept my eyes downcast, but I knew she was looking, "You know I can't do that." I put on a wide, dark grin and slowly looked back up, staring her dead in the eye with a look I picked up from the same pegasus that changed my whole drive to begin with, "You know it's just not my style."
With Widow frozen in shock and awe, I slowly reattached everything I threw off, taking my time, for I knew that it would be the last time I did it.
"So promise me one thing, hmm?" I asked, finishing reclipping the last of my equipment and beginning to loop Undertaker and my DMR back on. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dumbfounded Widow nod, mouth agape, "Live on for me and show everypony that, sometimes, when given nothing but insane options, it's best to be insane yourself."
Finally done with my prep, I turned back to the doorway, the sound of V2s no longer scratching on the other side, and began to open them. I looked again down the hallway which had been nothing but black first time around, then turned to look back at Widow, who now had tears on the verge of pouring, yet retained her dumbfounded face...that frail Fluttershy really knew how to fight a mental battle, I'll give her that. Changing my grin to a soft smile, I turned back to the hallway and began walking back, the doors closing slowly automatically like they were designed to. I could hear Widow suddenly start shouting, but there was nothing for me to hear.
I was once more, again, unto the breech...one last time.