//------------------------------// // 5a - Derogatory // Story: Half-Life : A World Beyond // by Random Gamer //------------------------------// We chose an alternate route through the various tunnels under the city. They were overgrown with various kinds of fungi, plants and had a very strong rotten smell. Nevertheless, they were our only chance of getting out of the city, even though we had absolutely no idea how. Pity we didn't have a map. "Clara, we went underground and are trying to find a quicker way through." transmitted Darek. " Could you scout a way for us or look for an opening somewhere outside the city?" The radio stayed on a static before responding again. "I'm afraid I'll have to reposition myself but I'll look it up for you." transmitted Clara. "In the meantime, keep your heads up because I've heard weird CP reports coming from the tunnels." "Understood." I transmitted and navigated the tunnels with Darek. For some reason, the tunnels were becoming more and more yellow in color, which somehow disturbed me. Gradually, they changed from pony-made, mostly-square tunnels to round, smooth ones. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, we begun finding pony skeletons and torn pieces of both rebel armor and civil protection uniforms. Both of us weren't afraid of dark or creepy tales, but this was just outright creepy. "What do you think killed them?" asked Darek, stopping to have a look at one of the unfortunate victims. "Some psycho cannibal who leaves nothing behind, just bones and cloth?" "Maybe. That wouldn't explain the carved tunnels, though. My personal guess is an unicorn." I answered, poking one of the skeletons and causing it to collapse. "They have all sorts of twisted magic, so why not?" Then, out of the yellow, I heard a roar but there was source of it. As both of us turned around, started by the sound, the collapsed skeleton looked exactly the same it did before I poked it. I looked at it, eyebrow raised and shotgun raised. For a split second, it appeared to have move slightly before returning to it's regular position. Darek just shook his head at my little jumpscare, thinking I'm just scared and paranoid. "I swear, I saw it move." I uttered, poiting my gun at the skeleton. "Really." Darek let out a wholehearted laugh but stopped after he saw the source of the roar. "Antlions? Here?" said Darek and took out his shotgun. "Surprised these things weren't killed off completely by the combine." From a small hatch at the top, an bug-like creature flew down onto Darek, only to be splattered in mid air with a precisely-aimed shot. "I though they had them contained." I said, loading my shotgun with shells and waiting for more. "Nice shot by the way." Contrary to superstition believed by a miniscule amount of rebels, finding a single antlion doesn't bring you luck. If being dead makes you lucky, you'll always get all the luck you want by calling a freakin' swarm. "There's gonna be many more of them so I suggest you keep you eyes opened." uttered Derek as we walked into an unlit part of the tunnels. More and more they seemed like caves. Instinctively, both of us lit the under-barrel flashlight and while his turned on in an instant, mine blinked for a few seconds before lighting up a small, cone-shaped area infront of me. As we went further, the concrete was slowly replaced by stone and even more fungi. Eventually, we reached a large, seemingly abandoned mineshaft. Our thoughts of if being abandoned quickly when we heard gunfire. Moving closer, we saw that it was defended by two resistance members while others were inside a small storage room. One of them almost shot us as we moved closer. "Hey, we got CPs here!" he aimed a mounted, pulse machine gun at us. It wasn't really that accurate but if someone needed to send a storm of pulse-driven bullets at someone else, it was just perfect for the job. "We're a part of the resistance. Vans' agents. Sigma omicron chi." He looked at me for a few seconds before turning the gun away and greeting us with a salute. Both of us then moved inside the building they were protecting and were greeted by four more members of the resistance. "Ah, it was just about time we were sent reinforcements." said their leader, wearing a red lambda on his shoulder as proof of his higher status. Yellow and red colours were used for ranking, while the rest was mostly just for looks. The most noteworthy was an orange lambda trapped in a yellow circle, which, despite it's superior look, was mostly used by crowbar-wielding lunatics of questionable sanity. "Actually, we're here because we're trying to get out of the city." said Darek, pointing his right hoove in the direction of what he believed, was the general direction of the way out. "How does the tunnel to Outpost Helios look like?" There were many plans on creating a tram system for transporting from station to station but due to harsher laws, all were put indefinately on hold. Thus, the only way of transport was walking, which, despite the relative security of the tunnels, was still risky. But, for a "Not good. Them and us were surprised by this year's spawning season and are trying to deal with the antlions." said the leader, putting a vague list of casualties infront us on a table. "We're good so far, all things considered. Can't say what we'll do if any of the bigger ones punch through. Last time, four of my best fighters fell to a single, big one and this year, there's just a half of us on active defense. The rest either relocated or stayed to help in a supportive way, be it a medic or a tech specialist." "Is there anything we can do to help?" I asked. "We really need to get to Helios and then for the nearest outside station." The special thing of agents or operatives were not our skills but our diversity. We were and still are, both the first and the last line of defense. Stealth, hacking or an outpost raid, we were always there to lend a hoove. "We need someone to man the stationary guns at the west and north side." he said, pointing his hooves in approximate location of the defences."Split up and take any supplies you need." "We'll defend this place no matter what. You can count on that." said Darek and we went our separate ways to said guns. This was a somewhat rare moment as agents were normally not required in direct combat, mostly helping by long-range elimination or by creating a chokepoint by temporarily closing the gate for both the CPs and their reinforcoments. Both of us could gladly say that this was a first, even though it was againts non-sentients. Two lights lit up on all four sides as we took command of the guns and soon after, the antlions started their assault. It lasted for just thirty seconds, during which more than fifty of them laid waste to our barrage of bullets. Then out of nowhere, something big smashed its way through a cave wall and roared. "Antlion guard!" shouted one of the resistance members while doing his best to take it down. But it wasn't enough. It sprinted to him, bashed him with its enormous nose-like sprout and sent him flying. Despite the other pones' fear and a bit of our own, we just grabbed the mounted guns and tore them out of their mounts, ignoring a small jolt of electrical current generated by a short-circuit of the gun stand. With an angered roar of the beast, we begun running on our hind legs and shooting. The antlion was confused by this dualistic movement and stunned itself by ramming into a wall shortly after. We took an advantage in this and opened fire on its abdomen and after a few seconds of sustained fire, it laid dead. The pone wounded by it slowly stood up, unhurt, save for a few cracked ribs. After that, everyone cheered, glad that the antlions were defeated. After our success, we took a few more supplies and headed through the north tunnel to Helios station, the so-called 'last station.' That, of course, was just a misleading nickname since more deserted underground stations were consider last, or, in relation on when they were built, the first. Despite this, it was the last outpost under Ponyville and a small part of it was even outside of the city borders. For one reason or another, it was unusually silent and initially, we though they won against the antlions too until we heard a familiar sound of bug wings. Sprinting out of the north tunnel, we saw a pack of antlion attacking the old workers' house along with a fifth, previouly unseen one. It spat greenish, gelatinous blobs of an unknown compound and upon contact with one of the walls, it started to melt. Our shotguns made short work of first four, but the last one was one hell of a badass. A single, small blob melted my shotgun and it pounced at me afterwards. I kicked it away and to my luck and suprise, Darek once again got a mid-air kill. It disappeared in a greenish cloud, with a rancid smell of rotten lemons and vinegar. Throwing away my now-useless shotgun, I took out my reserve pistol and the two of us went inside to see if our actions were or weren't in vain. The result? two mangled bodies and one partially melted by the corrosive antlion, three lives gone. We were about to leave when we were apprehended by a female rebel, jumping out of the only closet in the building and threatening us with a .357 magnum revolver. "Oh, there's gonna be pay!" she exclaimed, turning the safety off on the gun. "Bugs, CPs - all scum!" This was starting to get on my nerves. Desinformation was one thing, but flashing a gun at someone who barely looks like "scum" is just ridiculous. It was perfectly understandble for the previous outpost, which, during it's time, rarely saw a Civil Protection unit, but this was just plain stupid. "Sigma Omicron Chi..." I recitated. "Task force of Euclid Vans." The flame-headed mare put away her weapon and had a sorry look on her look. "I'm... I'm just sorry..." she said, looking at us sadly and looking around, not noticing the mangled bodies of her comrades. "Did... did anyone else make it? Reikor, Mahil, Deniamer?" Darek showed her the remains and upon seeing them, she gasped and burst into tears. "Sorry we're late." I said. "We had to help the Southern Miner outpost with the antlion infestation and when we arrived, there wasn't really much to do. The antlions appeared to be just breaking in and when we got rid of them, there wasn't anything we could do for your friends. Apologies. We weren't fast enough." Darek gave her a friendly hug, trying to soften her sorrow. "Don't bother with the surface access, there was a cave in." she said, letting go of Darek and wiping away her tears. "Your only chance of reaching the surface is venturing through Haunted Station and then, to Myriad." We looked at each other and nodded in unison. "Thanks for the information, but we won't leave just yet." I said, taking the mare's hoove. "Not until we get you someplace safe." The mare took a few of the station's tech and documents and together, we brought her back to Helios, which, after our successful defence, seemed to be a relatively-safe place to stay. We took a few replacement batteries for our flashlights and then ventured north of Helius, into the unknown, dimly lit tunnels. There are many stories, legends and myths about the Haunted station but only one of them is true. It is said that twenty five years ago, it was called Rose station because it was as big as a town and was the only station that had plants, the most prominent being red, glowing roses. But, as all good things in this world of pain, unfairness and hate, it all changed when the Combine sniffed them out. A near-perfect life for thirty families laid in ruin after several squads were sent and commanded to fire at will, despite the fact that all of the citizens were civilians and had no affiliation to the Rebellion or any of the rebels. They tried defending themselves, donning kitchenware and blunt weapons, but were no match for the pure strengh of the Civil Protection. Everyone was gunned down, dying groesome death. Fillies, adults, elders - everyone who was in their crosshairs. However, instead of keeping the station as captured by the CPs, something drove them off. A myth tells of the only unicorn in town, Misty Leaves, casting a spell upon the town with her dying breath and her last magical energy. A mere twelve hours, only a small fraction of the squads returned from the station, only speaking in mumbling and suffering from insanity and dementia. Then, a small team of rebels attemped to take it back, only to end up missing. Thus, Rose Station was renamed to Haunted Station and all records of the it's past, have been destroyed by the Combine, leaving the rebels with nothing more than just a handful of conspiracy theories, myths and legends. Recent reports of ponies who ventured into small parts of the station include disembodied voices, a yellowish fog, and supposedly, ghosts. Nevertheless, none of these reports were confirmed by either CPs or rebels and it attains its status as a creepy tale for both CPs and rebels alike. It took us a long time, but after nearly an hour, we finally reached Haunted Station. Oddly, it was relatively-well lit but due to a turquoise fog as far as the eye can see, we could barely seen anything. Must have been a raptured valve or something, natural fog can't even exist this deep underground. Probably just a side-effect from the fact that no one has been tending to the lesser known blue roses. They can make quite a mess if not treated correctly. "Man, this place gives me the creeps." said Darek as we were walking. "Why didn't we just... I dunno... turn around and go all around?" While that was true, time was not at our side and we had to advance as quickly as we could. "It's supposed to be a shortcut to Myriad station and the quicker we get there," I said, trying to calm him down."the better." I was about to call it a piece of cake when out of nowhere, an unknown voice pierced right through me, causing me to come to a halt. "Mooooommy....." an eerie voice said behind me. "M-maybe y-you're right." I proclaimed, genuinely creeped out. "Maybe we should turnback right now and try another way. You game?" I turned back to get his answer but to my dismay, he was gone. I was now completely alone in this spine-chilling mist with Celestia-knows-what hiding behind it. Instinctively, I took out my pistol and turned on its barrel-mounted flashlight. Then, I begun slowly walking through the fog itself, only to be plagued by laugher of fillies and screaming. Suddenly, after walking what seemed like an eternity, it all stopped and all I could hear was pained breathing from someone behind me. I quickly turned around and saw a decomposting CP with a torn vest, walking towards me in a zombie-esque fashion. Some of his organs were visibly seen, as well as the first three pairs of ribs and it has a sickly grey colour. The helmet on his head was badly damaged and a small partion of his greyish brain was visible too, along with his eyes, which were glowing red and illuminated a small area around them. My flashlight started blinking and with every blink, the CP was closer, even though it was walking at a very slow place. In just a few seconds, it appeared right infront of me. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?!" I exlaimed, taking a few steps back and aiming at the abomination with my pistol. It started transmitting some sort of corrupted signal from its still-functional radio and then once again, started walking toward me in a limping fashion, barely moving it's right hoove. "Necrotics... inbound..." It uttered in a painful manner, taking a short pause between each word. "evacuate... perimeter" I aimed at it was ready to end its misery, but before I could pull the trigger, someone did that job before me. With the sound of a shotgun, the zombie was blown away, parts of its brain tissue splattering my vest. "Why did you trail off?" said Darek, stepping out of the fog and cocking his shotgun. "I was starting to get really worried You just... disappeared." I exhaled, glad that I'm not alone anymore. I have seen headcrabs reanimate the dead, but this... This was just... insane. "Did you see that? That thing just appeared out of nowhere." I said pointng at the now-dead CP unit. "No headcrabs or stuff, it just waltzed around!" Darek tilted his head slightly to the left, as if not believiny my claim and then went closer to the corpse. "You mean this thing?" he poked the body of the CP with his shotgun. "It was dead when I found you. You were mumbling complete nonsense to yourself. Something about abandoning the perimeter." I'm not crazy, I know what I saw. The freakin' thing moved and talked. I didn't lose my mind or.... did I? "But I swear I..." I said, quickly abandoning my claim. "D-did you find a way out of here, or at least something vagually pointing to the exit?" Darek walked to me and put a few spare shells into his shotgun. "Just an old building with lots of dead in it." he answered. "No maps or anything we could use, though. Maybe we should keep moving and stay close." I nodded and followed Darek though the mist, keeping an eye for any paranormal activity. The creepy, random sounds started going on again and I felt it was an neverending circus of screams, laughter and a filly saying "Mommy." "Damn, my flashlight went out!" I uttered and turned to Darek so that he could fix it. But instead of fixing it, his went down too. Now, we couldn't see anything at all. "Oh, for the love of- You've got to be kidding me!" he uttered as he tried to replace the battery in complete, yellow-tinted darkness. When both of us lit our flashlights again, we saw a group of five or so zombie CPs heading our way, slowly putting one hoove in front of another, slightly limping. "Umm... T-t-t-terin." He stuttered, his voice tinted with fear. "W-what are those thing?!" I put a new magazine until my pistol and lit a flare. "Told you." I told him. "Headcrab-less zombies, they appear to be the work of some magic." Magic was often blamed for many unexplainable things but for once, this was something that fit just under that category. "So... so it was true. Leaves really did it." said Darek, swallowing his fear and aiming his shotgun at them. "Let's get out of here!." I threw the lit flare at them and we begun shooting like mad, mowing them down two at a time. This took a total of ten minutes worth of our time and after spending nearly all of our ammunition on the walking dead, we finally reached the exit - the old tunnel to Myriad Station. Using the only grenade we had, we blew up a bunch of rocks and caused a cave, blocking the access from Myriad to Haunted Station for the foreseeable future. For the first in all our years as agents, we were scared and afraid. The Combine perhaps had a few intiming methods but this was just beyong everything we saw. I almost through we wouldn't make but thanks to some deity of the lucky or the outright stupid, we got through in one piece. After three hours worth of walking through the old Myriad in our now-bloodstained uniforms, we finally reached the small underground town it was named after - Myriad. Due to it's nature of being both underground and on the surface, it was a sizable hub for anyone who navigated through the tunnels under Ponyville. Also, since it was right outside of the former Ponyville, a lot of defences had to be built around it, both to repel Antlions, CPs and soldiers sent by the Combine. When we reached the entrance, two cameras emerged out of a nearby wall and both of them performed a scan and decontamination. For some reason, apart from chemicals they also used water and thus both of our uniforms got cleaned up before we went inside. It was a simple, yet diverse town. It had a small library, a dining hall, a pub, many rooms to sleep and live in. There also was a stock market with either rare or just plain inferior equipment, some of it breaking shortly after being bough. The leader kept to himself in the central building, tending to reports of the other outposts and sat on his ivory chair. We didn't spend more time than we really needed. A rest would come in good but due to our mission, resting was just something we couldn't afford. We just needed some food and ammo and thus, we bought the cheepest surplus-grade ammo and upgraded it with the scraps we salvaged. It wasn't factory-quality but it was still good enough to pack a punch. After eating something in the dining hall, we left Myriad and set our hooves on the plains outside of Ponyville. Half-dead grass, small deserts, here and there and a few dusty outposts were the only thing to see there, along with a road used for the transport of units and supplies.We set course to the road and made it our duty to follow it, as it was the only way we could reach NLO on foot. Pity Myriad didn't have any spare vehicles or we would have taken one.