//------------------------------// // Chapter 45: Evac! // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// "What the hay...?" Spitfire frowned, checking the radar on the OASIS. Everything seemed normal.... But then how did they not detect the pirates sneaking around? Then she froze as she realized- Val hadn't sent any more reinforcements. She cursed, and turned to Soarin. "Check if our radars and camera feeds are working properly!" She yelled. Soarin came back a second later, holding a tablet with a number of statistics on it. He frowned at one of the graphs, and tapped it for an enlarged version. "Looks like our radars are getting some odd readings..." "Damnit." Spitfire pulled up a holo screen, swiping through the ship's radar's settings. She quickly changed the radar's signal wave frequency, and checked it again. "Shuck." She said as an extra twenty red dots popped up, on the cliff behind the teams- Val was using the pirates, even if they didn't know it. She had concealed them from the OASIS's radar by absorbing the radar signals to the COLOSSUS. "Bloody hell! Encrypt the damn signal! Check all security systems, now!" Soarin yelled. There was no way of determining the signal's frequency remotely, and someone must've exposed the system's firewall before statistics on the radar could've been revealed from a remote location. Someone had sabotaged the ship. * "Med team's dropship is down!" Thunderlane heard Spitfire yell through the comms, and cursed. That meant the Albatross gunship was the only ship available for extraction. "Come on! We gotta help them!" Rig yelled, climbing up a ladder and opening the top hatch, located on the roof of the gunship. "Thunderlane, take off! Try and catch them as they fall!" "Copy." Thunderlane said, pushing a lever forward. The gunship's engines' low whine grew to a furious roar, and slowly it started taking off the ground. It hovered in the air, then started flying up to meet the med team. "RPG!!" Asty yelled, spotting something through the opened hatch. "GET DOWN!!" The RPG flew straight towards the center of the gunship, and there was no-one to stop it. But then it got to about two meters away from the gunship, and got yanked straight of the air and towards one of the engines. The engine sucked in the rocket, then the anti-gravity generators flung it into the ground below where it exploded. "That works." Rig shrugged, then climbed out through the hatch onto the ship's hull. He helped his twin sister out, and crouched down so he doesn't get sucked into the engines as well. "Cover them! Med team, do you read!?" Blinkie yelled, putting her sister down to rest in the gunship while she went up to join the others. "We see you ground team!" Thyme yelled back, looking at the gunship down behind her as she fired up at the pirates. "We've got casualties and wounded- GAH!!" She yelped as a bullet struck the side of her helmet, tearing through wires and shredding the light armor plating. "Damnit!" "Med team?" Blinkie fired a few shots up at the pirates. "Copy, but going offline." Thyme said, her helmet broken. She grabbed one side of it with her spare hoof, and ripped it off. Sparks flew as the wired connection between the helmet's HUD broke from the suit, rendering several functions useless. She threw the helmet away, her short green mane falling down over her face as she continued punching bullets up at the cliff top. She jumped up, the cable loosening up once again and sending her down several meters. There was a loud thud as she landed back on the cliff face, Lightning Dust still firmly strapped to her back. "Jump! You're in range!!" Rig yelled up at the meds, waving them towards the gunship. Thyme looked down. The gunship was still quite far away- she might just move down a little more before she gets aboard. Then she felt her cable loosen even without her jumping, and looked up. The pirates were cutting her loose- and she was slowly slipping. She cursed, turned back around to face the ground and slammed the eject button on her hip. The cable broke free from her, and she launched both back hooves into the cliff face and pushed off. Suddenly she was in free fall, and felt oddly naked despite the twenty kilograms of armor she was wearing. She was about to land on the gunship when suddenly she was violently tugged sideways. She looked at what was dragging her through the air- and was horrified to see the anti-gravity generator roaring at her back hooves. Then somepony grabbed her wrist, and slammed her down onto the gunship's hull. She was instantly dragged away from the engine's airflow, but also body-slammed painfully on the hull; Lightning Dust still unconscious on her back. "Get inside- quick!" Rig helped her up to a crouch, and fired a spray up at the cliff. "We've got one wounded inside- do whatever you can." Asty nodded at the open hatch. She slowly crawled her way to the open hatch, and eventually was relieved to be away from the roaring engines. Her arms were weak as she lowered herself down into the gunship and laid Lightning Dust down on the floor. She stumbled a bit, completely disoriented from past events. But she quickly shook it off as she saw Inkie- and went to attend to her wounds. "Come on... Come on..." Rig tutted as more of the meds arrived. And by more, it only meant three- two of which had extra ponies strapped to their backs- obviously the wounded. Rig sent a short burst of bullets into a pirate's leg, and he stumbled and fell over the edge. He screamed his way down, but went silent as his head clipped the cliff face with a loud crack. The rest of the way down his head remained backwards. Then one of the gunship's engines drew him in, then flung him down towards the ground. He splattered into the earth, limbs and other bits bouncing high up into the air from a pink mist where his body had landed. Another med made it down with Doctor Whooves, and Rig helped them away from the engine's air flow. That left two more meds and one injured. "Enemies approaching from the front!" Thunderlane warned. "Turning around..." He said as he turned the gunship on its side so the guns faced the oncoming pirate troops from the city. "Might wanna cover your ears." He said, and let loose on the troops. The heavy flak rounds hit the ground, generating huge craters in the road and sending rock shards up in the air along with its own shrapnel. "We're clear Thunderlane! Get us out of here!" Rig yelled as the last med got into the gunship with Derpy Hooves. "Copy. We're leaving fellas!" Thunderlane said with a light whistle, and the gunship flew higher into the air. Rig and Asty followed Blinkie and hopped down into the gunship's interior, clunking onto the metal floors. Rig closed the hatch as he got in, slamming it shut and locking it in place. Then they all slumped onto the ground as the gunship took off, closing their eyes as to rest from the exhausting day of fighting. Then the ship shook violently as somewhere to the side an explosion tore through one of the engines, the entire gunship tilting to one side and tipping everyone against the wall. "We've been hit!" Thunderlane cursed. "Engine three has been hit!" "We're still in the air though, right? So get us out of here!" Asty yelled. The gunship trembled as the cannons let rip, tearing down entire buildings and sending streets up in explosions. "Alright! We're clear, we're clear..." Thunderlane let out a sigh of relief as the gunship reached the clouds. "Buck'n hell, that was pretty darn close." "Shuck..." Rig slumped down on the ground, exhausted. "Third engine's damaged, but it'll maintain for now. Problem is that there's a power leak because of that- our flight path just got a lot bucking shorter." Thunderlane said, flicking through some statistics. * "Damnit! Bastards got away." The pirate leader cursed, ripping his watch from his wrist and throwing it at the ground in pure frustration. "You better get those wounded men cleaned up! And don't talk to me unless it's buck'n good news." He yelled at his second in command, and stormed off. A very bad idea. He turned a corner, then suddenly felt a claw clamp over his mouth and tug him away from his troops. He couldn't make a noise, but stopped trying anyway when he felt the barrel of a peculiar weapon press against his back. Then he felt the weapon move away, and suddenly whoever was holding his mouth grabbed him by his belt and lifted off into the air. He watched horrified as the earth grew further and further away, the wind whistling in his ears as his stomach lurched from the sudden gain in altitude. Then he was thrown onto the roof of a deserted building face first. He spat out a mouthful of dust, then something clawed into his back and he was flipped over like a crab on the beach. The sharp pointy end of a knife mounted to a rifle pressed lightly against his throat, the silhouette holding the rifle backlit by the sun. One thing was for certain though- it ain't a pony. "So, mister leader-of-the-mother-bucking'-pirates." Frostbite sighed. "I've got a few questions for you." The stallion gestured at the knife at his throat, just below his Adam's apple. He didn't dare swallow to talk. Frostbite pulled the weapon away, and immediately the pirate pulled out a pistol from his belt and aimed it at him. Frostbite showed the clip of ammo that he had pulled out from the pistol when he hoisted the pirate by his belt, and threw it off the side of the building. He heard the stallion curse under his breath, and throw the pistol away. Then he produced a knife from inside his jacket, and lunge up at Frostbite. Frostbite simply slammed the back of his claw against the side of the knife, knocking it away from the pirate. They both watched it tumble off the building. Then the stallion heard a click as Frostbite flicked the safety off his rifle and pointed it at him. "Fine." He grumbled, raising his hooves above his head as Frostbite sighed. "I know you were fighting the Science faction before we arrived." He got straight to the point. "Why did you attack them?" "They bloody attacked us!" "Not from what I can see from the battlefield." Frostbite shook his head. "They sent reinforcements after you raided one of their convoys. What did you find on that convoy?" "Nothing! Just some general goods-" "Quit your bull crap. You wouldn't have attacked a fully armed convoy unless you thought or knew there would be something on board that would've been of worth." "Really! There was nothing-" Frostbite grabbed him by the collar, his sharp claws tearing halfway through the fabric of his thick jacket. "Listen. You could tell me what it was and where it is now, or I could kill you and find it anyway. Wastes both of our time, and your life for that matter." He said, his eagle eyes piercing the stallion's. "Damnit! There's nothing of worth!" "'Of worth'? So there was something. Give it." He growled. "Bucking hell! Just leave me alone!" The stallion yelled, and threw a small box at Frostbite. Frostbite caught it with a claw, and flicked it open. Inside was a single card, cushioned in a bunch of soft plastic. The card looked like any ordinary playing card- just a red ace. But it obviously had some sort of technology in it, as there were glowing blue lines that pulsed every second or so. It was as if it had its own heartbeat. Frostbite closed the box, and put it in his bag. "Thank you for your time." He said, and took off- but not before he ripped the stallion's mic set away from his ear and stole his phone. "You'll have to take the stairs." He said, and flew off. "Do you have the info?" Vinyl asked through the mic. Frostbite crushed the pirate's communications devices in a claw. "I also got what we were looking for. No idea what it is though." "Well buck it. Hand it in to command and that's our job done." Vinyl sighed. "Now.... Let's start our hike back to Haven. Damnit, should've asked for a ride." * "That's them gone." Val said, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she watched the gunship disappear off radar and into the clouds. "Eclipse- retrieve the key card from the pirates, will ya." "Copy." Eclipse said through the comms. She was already on her way to the planet surface. "Key card?" Blithy raised an eyebrow. "The ace." Val nodded, a grin on her face. Little did she know that the pirates don't have it anymore. * The pirates were tidying up their equipment and attending to their wounded when their radars picked up a small dropship entering the atmosphere above their location. "The bastards are back for more are they?" The pirate leader growled, having been retrieved from the roof top. "Buck'n arseholes." "Should we shoot it down?" "And start another battle? Ya think that's a buck'n good idea right now!?" The leader snarled. "Leave them be- let's just see what they want." Slowly the dropship turned around to land in the middle of their camp. Engines whined as the dropship was lowered onto the clearing, and with a curl of dust it settled down. There was a hiss as the ship's door opened, and slowly lowered. Inside a figure stood waiting, hidden in the shadows as the door lowered to form a ramp. The pirates couldn't see any details just yet, but they were able to see two blood red eyes staring out from the darkness at them. Eclipse stepped out from the dropship, her arms folded behind her back as usual. She scanned the crowd of remaining pirates, all staring back at her hatefully. The injured had even stronger expressions on their faces, their eyes glaring. There was a lot of tension between the two sides, but Eclipse ignored it completely. "Who is your leader?" She asked calmly, not even flinching considering she was surrounded by enemy forces. "I am." The pirate leader said, walking out from the crowds. Eclipse tilted her head to one side. Wasn't quite expecting that, but alright. "You took something from our convoy. Hand it over." She said. "I don't have it anymore. I gave it to some griffon." He said, disregarding the consequences. He hated the science faction so much that he didn't even care anymore- and the last thing he was about to do was beg for mercy. He knows he won't get it anyway. "I suppose that settles it then." Eclipse clicked her neck, letting an arm dangle down by her side. The pirates all around her raised their weapons, but she was way ahead of them. She flicked her arm across, a huge glowing orange scythe suddenly sprouted from her hoof and disconnected all the heads to her right. The pirates didn't even get a chance to scream. Then she pulled up a shield to her left, the bullets and even rockets not even able to budge it. With her left hoof, she conjured up her incineration rifle again- and fired. The pirate that got hit instantly caught fire and went down in ashes. Eclipse flicked her right arm up, and glowing orange tentacles sprouted from her shoulder and slithered along her arm. They flew towards the pirate leader, and stabbed through his chest. They then impaled him to the building behind him, blood splattering over the concrete. "You're all useless now." Eclipse said, her expression bored as she turned her hoof. The tentacles splayed out, and tore the pirate leader in half, his guts spilling over the floor. Eclipse sent a wave of spikes into the pirates, spilling more blood and rupturing more organs. Within seconds the entire pirate group was dead. But then she heard the loud whistling of a knife behind her as someone tried to stab her- but she was way too quick. An orange cuff formed out of thin air around the stallion's wrist, stopping the knife inches away from Eclipse's head. She slowly turned around, looking at the knife at her nose indifferently. "A sneaky one, aye..." She muttered, emotionless as ever. "Tried to be smart, aye..." She raised a hoof, and cuffs formed at the stallion's limbs. He struggled, but nothing he did could even make them budge the slightest. Eclipse stared into his eyes, her own blood red irises casting fear deep into his heart. Slowly he stopped struggling, and started trembling. "Please... Don't kill me..." He started, whimpering. "Pathetic." Eclipse snarled, and turned her hoof slightly. One of the cuffs suddenly started moving away, slowly tearing the stallion's left leg away from his body. He screamed, tears streaming out of his eyes. Then there was a loud rip and a snap as the leg was severed, and fell lifelessly to the ground. Blood splattered everywhere, the remains of a joint dangling by several nerves from the bloody stump where his leg used to be. "Please... Please... Don't..." He sobbed, not able to look up. Eclipse turned her hoof the other way, and started ripping his other leg off. Again he started his bloody screaming, his throat sounding like it could tear itself in two any moment. Then with a loud crack it broke away, blood pouring out of his wound. His entire body was shaking- at least what remained of it. He was still conscious. Then without warning, Eclipse flicked her hoof down. The stallion's arms were twisted three hundred and sixty degrees, the flesh tearing itself apart and the bones popping out of his shoulder sockets with loud snaps. He screamed, blood surging into his mouth. His body fell onto the ground, with no limbs whatsoever. They were lying dead on the ground around him in large puddles of blood mixed with dirt. "Please... Kill me..." He managed, writhing on the dirt floor, his face pressed against the rough gravel. But there was nothing he could do about it. Eclipse picked him up by the head, dangling him so he was the same height as her. She observed him as a little kid would an ant under a magnifying glass on a sunny day, her expression indifferent. Then his head exploded as she crushed his skull in her hoof. She let what little remained of his body collapse to the ground, and shook off the blood on her hoof. She heard a light sob behind her, and turned. There was a small foal, aged about twelve or thirteen. He was sitting down on the ground, next to the body of a similarly colored stallion. Probably his father. Eclipse only stared at him like she did the others. She received the same hateful, tearful look the others had given her when they were alive. Emotionless, she raised her incineration rifle and reduced the foal to ashes.