The airlock, elevator, and tight labyrinth of tunnels were a blur. Ovronaan gave me a hand-sized data-pad that displayed a transparent map of where I needed to go, then sent me off on my way. His explanations were that he couldn't fit through those tunnels anymore, and that he needed to keep watch anyway, both of which made perfect sense. At the moment I was in front of a black blast door in a hallway that widened out from about twenty feet back with no cover. A bottleneck, I realized. A control panel with blinking lights covering its surface protruded slightly from the smooth, porcelain white walls.
The data-pad pinged and showed a red dot around where the button would be on the map. I walked over to it, completely lost on which button to press. My claw hovered an inch above the buttons, one at a time. It reached a red laser of some sort and a grid of red lines covered my entire body. I jumped back a little bit, but didn't take any action on it.
"IDENTIFICATION: QAHNAARIN-No. UNKNOWN
ARMOR CLASS: LIGHT/UNKNOWN
WELCOME HOME, QAHNAARIN." It said in a robotic monotone.
The doors quickly slid back into the walls to reveal a massive chamber, the entire thing bleach white and very well lit.
I squinted in the intense light, then activated my helmet, which polarized and allowed me a bearable level of light. I wandered in. There were no visible doors, but I could definitely see a row of windows to my left, up near the ceiling. They had smokey tinted glass, and the seven figures watching him from above were perfectly silhouetted against a dim light from behind them.
They were definitely dovah, but they were wearing some sort of armor. It didn't look smooth and rounded like mine, but rather angular, with pieces sticking off in places. I was about to see if I could get a closer look at them, but a synthetic female voice cut in before I could start.
"Hello, Loki. It's nice to see you again. Last time I saw you, you were just an egg. But personal feelings aside, I think it's time to get down to business. You've been away far longer than anticipated, but we can still continue. You just need some... extra-hard practicing. That's it." She said. I quirked my head. This definitely sounded like my mother, but I had a hard time figuring out what she was talking about.
"Um..." I managed, still barely having enough energy to hold a steady conversation.
"Oh. You're tired. I should have known Alduin would have you running ragged. He never could gage peoples' limits. Come in, i'll get you cleaned up." She said in a sort of exasperated, yet motherly, tone. I nodded dumbly and a pair of panels separated from the wall to reveal a door. I walked into it and the wall closed up behind me.
One of the dovah behind the window turned their head to look at the one next to them.
"Kaaz, are we absolutely sure that it's him?" He asked the one next to him.
"On it. The info from his armor uplink and mobile unit are being uploaded as we speak, commander." She said in a Russian, or perhaps German, accent.
"Good. Sah, what do you make of that helmet he had on?"
"Lots of advanced electronics and mech in there. Folds over his head, most likely has a heads up display inside. Also saw traces of magical residue... high possibility of arcanite somewhere in there." He reported.
"Alright. Rahgol?"
"Nothing to report, sir." A male voice announced.
"Tuz?"
"Bow, quiver, high penetration arrows, looks like some magnetic clips for side-arms or one-handed melee weapons." She responded simply.
"Mirmulnir?"
"'m pretty sure it's all covered, commander." He responded in an Australian accent.
"Alright then. Kaaz, what's the status of that upload?"
"Done and done, commander. Here's a basic overview." She handed him a data-pad that showed schematics, walls of text, and snapshots of various locations.
"...What am I supposed to get out of this?" He asked.
Kaaz sighed. "He grew up in a large artificial cave with his mother until he was ten. The Burning Queen shows up, boom! No more queen Caroline. After she left, he salvaged some prototypes from the armory and made his armor and weapons. He went lone wolf for ten years after that, searching for the egg of his brother. About a year ago he finds out it's in the capitol pony city. He goes there, finds out it's in a nearby town, retrieves the hatchling, then continues about heading northwards toward his old cave. His brother somehow gets a message to the Burning Queen and she's right there. Brother gets poofed, he runs away, comes up to here by chance, and here we are now." She said in one breath. The other dovah gave her a look.
"You do know how crazy that all sounds, don't you?" Rahgol asked.
"Of course I do, but the data doesn't lie. He's been lone wolf for half his life here, which, might I add has been much longer than ours currently. He's been through too many traumatic experiences to count and he covers it up with jokes and his mobile unit."
"...Damn." The commander put a hand to his helmet. "GLaDOS, I recommend a full psyche evaluation of Loki."
"Commander Kein, you're aware that I listen to everything you say, right?" She asked through the radio.
"Just making sure, ma'am."
OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND
Hydra Wolf kicked at the cracked ground, releasing a small puff of dust. Behind him, Ditzy sat next to the mouth of the small cave that was now covered with a toothed metal wall. In the distance an angry black storm front rolled its way towards them, painting the ground beneath white with snow. He sighed, turning to the mare. "So, how do you think they closed off the cave like-"
"Muffins!" She cut him off, smiling dumbly and staring at him with one eye. He groaned. Muffins was all she ever seemed to say...
"Ugh... Naerud, can we just cut through this wall and go in?"
"...Yes."
"Well why didn't you say so?!"
"...You never asked." Hydra groaned and face-hoofed.
"Just... just open the damn door, Naerud." A blue, spectral wolf head appeared next to him. It was about twice his size, and when it moved it blurred, so it was hard to make out any real features besides being a giant ghost wolf head. Its jaws opened as wide as possible, then a stream of water shot out at hyper-speed and started cutting through the outer door. It kept going until a square was cut out near the base, revealing... another door.
Hydra looked at the offending door accusingly.
"Well, at least we know why they put more than one door in." He huffed as his ears perked up. "Is that... a klaxon?" He asked to no one in particular.
"I believe so."
INSIDE THE COMPOUND
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! Enemies attempting to enter the base!"
Klaxons blared as the team of seven rushed through the narrow hallways.
"Move, move! Kaaz, what are we dealing with?!" He shouted into his radio.
"A pair of ponies, one pegasus one unicorn, and a giant floating ghost wolf head!" They ran in silence for a moment before simultaneously yelling:
"What?!"
Hydra shielded his face from the spray of water bouncing off of the door; whatever this new material was, it was stronger than Naerud seemed to be able to penetrate.
"Alright, stop it. This isn't getting us anywhere." He said, and the water stopped. "They know we're here, so we just have to hide." He looked around the barren, rocky plain around them. "...Or not." He snapped his head around as the door slid open to reveal... nothing.
A slight shimmer caught his eye before disappearing.
"They're cloaked! Stay close!" He yelled. Naerud revealed his whole ghostly body, crouching in a defensive position, while Ditzy simply sat down between them with a confused frown. A grey figure revealed itself in the cave holding a blocky black object with a square device on top and a short tube protruding from the front.
He readied himself for a fight.
"Govey geinmaar, volaan!" It shouted, pointing the tube part of the device at them threateningly.
"Heyheyhey," Hydra yelled back at the obscure figure. "We didn't mean for any trouble, we were just... curious!"
"Govey. Geinmaar. Volaan Nahgadinok!"
"I can't understand what you're saying." The dovah twitched its tail.
Something thwacked Naerud on the forehead. A purple tinted piece of streamlined metal was buried in his ectoplasmic skull, draining away his size, which in turn drained Hydra's energy. he stumbled a bit as the arcanite bullet sapped up all of his energy, then lost consciousness as the world turned on its side. The last thing he could note was that something caught him from behind.
'Damn cloaker...'