"If you’re going through hell, keep going."
The Agent tore through the street, lashing out at anything that moved with his rifle, knocking back wave after wave of freaks, only then beginning to realizing the problem that the city faced.
What at first had appeared to be a minor nuisance to the Empire now showed its true form as freak after freak died, and freak after freak tore the ground open, pulling themselves up from the underground caves and sewer systems that littered the city, refilling their ranks.
The Agent ran to the side of the street, throwing his sniper rifle onto his back and reaching to grab a nearby parking meter, the talismans in his armor forming a firm grip on it, and pulled upwards. With a rumble, the parking meter (and a large chunk of concrete) relented and disconnected from the ground. With a loud crack, a freak was suddenly a few feet shorter and had a lot less intact bones as two more freaks ran towards him, not smart enough to realize giant club = bad.
The Agent swung the club and stumbled, the motion of swinging the club almost impossible with hooves. The Agent swung again, this time connecting with the freaks, and one went flying, again stumbling, this time accepting his inability to swing clubs and dropping the club. He jumped over the heads of the ravenous freaks, landing near the overturned car and throwing two grenades into the crowd that was quickly shambling forward, and then crouching to inspect the windshield.
Fuck...That’s a lot of blood. He stood back up and examined the car. Well, here we go... The Agent turned around and bucked the car hard enough to flip it over, glass tinkling as the car settled. He looked inside quickly, checking the floors and in the back for any sign of Eclipse.
What? The only thing here is blood! The Agent wondered. What happened to Eclipse? Did they drag her somewhere? A sick thought crossed his mind. Did they eat her?!
The Agent’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar tugging on his back leg. He turned around and lashed out, the freak hitting the wall with a bloody thud, and looked down the street. What only minutes before was a small gathering of the mutants on the street was now a massive mob of deformity, all now rushing towards the burning car. Well, The Agent thought. This is going to be too easy.
The Agent reached down and noticed that the pocket that stored his grenades was empty. Or maybe not. He turned and leapt down the other side of the street, landing on a nearby car.
As soon as the Agent touched the car, a blaring alarm cut through the silence, the car alarm managing to draw more freaks, pulling themselves from the sewers and sprinting out of improperly secured buildings. He leapt from the car, touching down on the roof of a nearby building.
The freaks crowded around the car, smashing the windows that still remained and diving in through the broken ones, oblivious to the shards of glass cutting them while a few hung back, cautiously examining the large car.
The Agent took a couple shots at the stragglers, attracting the attention of the group. As the freaks looked up at him, they were greeted by a single gunshot, and then the resounding sound of a car’s fuel tank being pierced by a bullet.
As the fire died down and all the pieces of shrapnel began falling back to earth, the true terror revealed itself in the form of more mutation. Near the back of the still-advancing group, mutated ponies larger than the rest stepped forward, the one in front leapt higher than even the Agent could, landing in front of the carcass of the car. The others soon followed, about half began slinging acid which they secreted from their bodies while the remaining super mutants rushed forward, leaping into locations that would either give them a direct line to fire at the Agent or jumping straight towards the Agent himself. He began backing up, unsure of how to handle these new threats, and his confidence gave way to indecision as he leaped vertically onto a taller building, turning to fire at the new enemies.
A bullet hit one of the evolved mutants in the chest, pushing it backwards. It stumbled, then quickly regained its composure and returned to the chase as the Agent fired another shot into its body with the same results. Realizing that these things were beyond his killing ability as of now, he turned and ran back towards the Tower.
After fifteen or so minutes of being chased by acid-slinging mutants, he reached a building that appeared to be abandoned. It was largely elliptical, and upon closer inspection, appeared to be crumbling from old age. The Agent jumped from the roof he was currently standing on to the roof of the elliptical building, the crumbling roof strangely structurally sound, and stepped over to one of the smaller holes in the ceiling and peered inside.
What he saw shocked him. The building appeared to be a refurbished command center, the disrepair on the outside masking the advanced technology on the inside. Lunar Republic soldiers idled inside, talking, sleeping, or maintaining their guns while off to one side, what appeared to be a supercomputer was being repaired by technicians. Around the perimeter of the building, armed guards were on high alert.
Directly in the middle, Eclipse was being tortured for information.
She was bound to a pole and gagged with a cloth as Republic soldiers stood around her with what appeared to be blowtorches and hammers. The torturers removed the gag and checked to see if she was ready to talk. Fortunately, it appeared that she had not revealed anything yet. Unfortunately, that was mostly because she was now unconcious.
The Agent boiled with rage. Eclipse was the closest thing he had to a friend. Sure, she’s cold and sarcastic at times, but she did save my life... He thought. Now, I can repay that debt and kick some Republic flank. He walked over to a large hole in the roof and stopped. What am I thinking? I can’t waste time on one Guard! I’ve got to get to that beacon and stop the freaks! The Agent stopped, the Director’s silence and his own confusion breeding indecision in his mind.But...What they’re doing to her...Can I really just leave her here? He looked at the sky, illuminated by the three beams of light and the waning moon, then back down at the hole in the building and with an audible sigh, jumped down into the building and swung his rifle downward.
As he hit the ground (or, rather, the enemy who was unfortunately standing beneath the hole in the ceiling), the Agent swung his sniper rifle around blasted the closest three guard’s heads into nothingness. He galloped towards the supercomputer and ducked behind it, firing at the technicians on the side he was using as cover as stray bullets hit the sides of the supercomputer, damaging the circuitry inside the system unit. The Agent peered around the corner, looking for any indication as to where Eclipse was, turning towards where he had seen her from the roof.
An enemy soldier aimed the pistol in his mouth at the back of her head.
The Agent leaped, soaring over the masses, bullets pinging off of his armor. He landed on the soldier with enough force to crack the metal armor the hostile was wearing and kicked the pistol away, severing the ropes that bound Eclipse and sliding her onto his back, securing her with the mags integrated into his armor. He took a few more pot shots at the hostiles who were quickly regrouping before noticing that there were no ways of escape nearby.
Well, in case of emergency... The Agent slammed through a nearby wall, surprising three civilians as he ran from the Republic’s command post. The sun was just beginning to break over the horizon, and although the freaks still wandered the streets, most ran for nearby sewer grates or under cover. He turned and leapt onto the base once more, and ran across to the other side of the roof.
He fell to ground level, and flagged down a civilian in a car. “Empire emergency!” He yelled, and pushed the civilian out the passenger side door, sliding Eclipse into the unoccupied seat as he crammed himself uncomfortably into the driver’s seat and sped down the street, slowing down only for the occasional civilian.
They made their way away from the enemy, Eclipse still unconscious from the torture and trauma. She had multiple burns all over and a few lacerations to her sides and legs. Just what were they trying to accomplish with this? The Agent wondered. It’s not like she knows anything important. He looked down at her battered, sleeping form, wondering what it was that she knew that they wanted so badly.
The car was driving along a more rural section of town, containing multiple mountain passes and open plains. They turned onto a side street and made their way towards the mountains that both supported the city and comprised most of it, stopping at a ski-lift type transport where the Agent lifted Eclipse back onto his back and made his to the owner's building.
The unicorn operating the lifts nodded in his direction and levitated a key over to the door of a nearby storage shed, the door unlocking and swinging upwards, revealing multiple weapons and supplies along with a blue vehicle. The Empire kept supply caches like this all throughout the city, in case Agents or Guards need weapons without direct connection to command. The vehicle was an armor-plated, 4 wheeled ATV that was slightly longer than a pony and sported a rectangular, raised area, implemented with the same mags that allowed him to grip the handlebars. He slid Eclipse into a stray set of Guard armor, making sure it was secured to the mags, before starting the 4 wheeler and tearing down the mountain path.
As they sped towards the mountain, The Agent fiddled with his helmet, looking for any problems with the radio linked to the Tower. What? He said, stopping the ATV and removing his helmet. It should be working perfectly! Maybe somethings wrong on the other end? He shook his head and sighed, placing the helmet back on his head and starting down the path again.
After about fifteen minutes of driving, they reached a cave near the base of the mountain. The Agent dismounted the ATV and walked into the mouth of the cave. Now which one was it?... Ah! There. He moved one of the rocks near the back of the cave to reveal an intercom system, pressing one of the buttons, he spoke a single word.
“Anarchy.” A word the Empire would never guess. The Agent thought. The voice recognition scanner recognized his voice and the back of the cave opened, revealing the laboratory the Agent had been secretly stockpiling with medical supplies for the past few days. An examination table sat in the middle, a small table for surgical tools next to it. Cabinets full of medical supplies ringed the right side of the room, while books and audio recordings on medical treatment sat along the left wall, while a large sink sat under the cabinets containing the supplies. He guided the ATV into the cave and transferred Eclipse from it to the examination table.
The Agent was finally able to see the full extent of her injuries. The torturers appeared to have been extremely crude and untrained; they had simply burned her with blowtorches when she refused to give them answers. Her sides and back had multiple burns, most of them not serious, but her wings were blanketed by singed feathers and small 2nd degree burns. She hadn’t given them the information they wanted, that was for sure. Eclipse is a Guard, after all. The Agent thought, looking down at her battered body. But even they aren’t trained to withstand that kind of torture.
He walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed an audio recording on the treatment of burns. Listening to the parts about 1st and 2nd degree burn treatment, he shifted Eclipse once again onto his back and transported her to the sink, which was big enough to hold her and allowed her head to be kept above water. The Agent placed the stopper into the sink and began filling it with cool water.
When it had filled, he made sure Eclipse’s head would not slip underwater and trotted over to the medical books. No... no... no...Ah! The Agent thought as perused the books. He brought two books, on acute stress disorder and shock, over to the table, and began to read through them as Eclipse’s burns cooled in the water.
A sharp gasp brought the Agent out of the pages of the book. Eclipse sat up, shaking her mane to get the water out of it as she blinked and looked around, obviously confused.
“Wh- where are we?” She said, looking over at him. She looked around quizzically, first at the room, then at the sink. “And why am I wet?”
“It’s okay.” The Agent replied. “Do you remember where you were before here?” He asked, helping her out of the tub and bringing her a towel. He walked over to the cabinet and brought over a roll of gauze bandages and a bottle of painkillers.
“I was... In a car? Yeah, we were in a car, and then you left.” Eclipse replied, closing her eyes and trying to remember. “Then...” She paused, and her eyes snapped open, a look of pure anger on her face as the Agent led her over to the surgical table. “Those Republic assholes showed up. They threatened to shoot me if I didn’t get out of the car, and then one of them hit me in the head with his gun when the freaks showed up.”
“Hold still, okay?” The Agent interrupted, wrapping the gauze lightly around her body.
“They brought me back to one of their command centers. They tied me up and... After the initial torture, I blacked out. When I woke up... SHE was there. She asked me some questions, and then the real torture started.” Eclipse stopped talking and stared at the wall, a look of anger as she attempted to remember what had happened as she was tortured. "I blacked out again, and woke up here."
The Agent finished bandaging her body and looked up at her. “Who would she be, exactly?” He said, picking the bandages back up and moving closer to the table.
“‘She’ would be the current leader of the Lunar Republic.” The Pegasus said with a grim chuckle. “Nightmare Moon, the ‘one and only goddess of Eq’- hey! Watch it! Those are sensitive!” She snapped, turning her head to look at what the Agent was doing.
The Agent finished wrapping the gauze around her wings. “Well, this is the best I can do for now. You might not want to fly for a few days, and they might hurt for a bit, but they’ll heal in time.” He helped Eclipse to her hooves, and they walked back to the ATV. “We can leave this outside; I’ve paid a civilian to bring it back.” They walked outside the cave and he sealed the laboratory once more.
The Agent and Eclipse trotted back towards civilization and the hell of a city without rule. Once they reached the storage shed, the Agent nodded to the unicorn again, who was alreadylevitating a ‘Closed’ sign into the window of the operation room. As he started towards the trail, the car containing the two Empire soldiers began the long drive back to the Empire’s Tower.