Chapter 7: How it Enters the Final Act
One good thing about being in the temporary employ of the world’s largest Megacorp was that price was suddenly no object. Lyra might have accepted that she was walking into what could easily be her last run, but at least she wasn’t about to go down from lack of proper gear.
She and the girls had been given the complete run of Luna’s all but limitless resources to requisition equipment for the attack on the airfield. Granted, Lyra and her team hadn’t exactly been poorly equipped before, but every shadowrunner has a ‘wishlist’ of the finest kind of gear that couldn’t be easily gotten a hold of. And now they had a proverbial genie granting those material wishes.
If only there was a gun that could instantly rescue Bon Bon, or Raindrops’ little brother, Lyra thought bitterly as she checked the new Thunderbolt Mk. II anti-material rifle she’d acquired. The thing didn’t even fire conventional ammunition, instead using electromagnetic rail technology and spells to throw 10mm tungsten spikes at speeds surpassing Mach 2. It wasn’t a gun so much as a personal sized artillery piece suited for hunting tanks, not ponies.
Lyra imagined it’d do well enough against these Changelings.
Normally she rated her gear based on how well it’d help her complete a job with a zero body count. She wasn’t so concerned with that, this time around.
And just in case she was taking some nifty toys for downing any corrupted ponies or confuse security guards. She had a pair of Hydra 22F heavy pistols in quick fire straps on her arms, each armed with smart ammo magazines. She could, with a word or flick of magic, switch between half a dozen rounds; including stick-n-shocks, knockout gel rounds, and rubber rounds. Plenty of non-lethal options when she needed it.
The others on her team were similarly equipping themselves in the ready room that was just outside the helipad where the VTOLs were waiting for them. Cheerilee was wearing sleek new bodysuit, pitch black. It was made from a new ballistic spell-mesh that used miniature shield spell arrays combined with the latest in kinetic absorbing gel pads to make a armor that felt like wearing a second coat, but let one dance through small arms fire. Most the rest of the girls were wearing similar suits, though not Raindrops. Raindrops was… well, Lyra wasn’t sure what to think of what Raindrops was wearing.
“I don’t care what it takes, I just need the power to beat that monster,” Raindrops had told Luna, when Raindrops had selected the… suit, from the list of M.A.S.T’s available tech.
Luna had warned Raindrops that it’d required additional cyberwear implants to let Raindrops interface with the suit, and that Raindrops was already dangerously low on ‘essence’, the innate magical energy that permeates a pony and makes the, well… alive. Raindrops insisted. Lyra hadn’t had the heart to argue with her. So Raindrops had gone through the procedure in record time, Luna personally overseeing the implanting of the new nodes across her spine that let her wear her new “armor”.
The frame was called an ACPA (Assisted Combat Powered Armor) and it didn’t exist yet on any market; military, black, or otherwise. They were entirely bleeding edge new tech courtesy of M.A.S.T’s most advanced research department. Luna claimed they were developed specifically to counter threats like the Changelings, though Lyra had her doubts. The Changelings and the Insect Spirits were a deadly threat, yes, but one that you’d need more subtle means to counter on a large scale. This power armor stuff looked like it was meant to take on a more direct threat, like an enemy nation, or giant monsters, or the return of the Tyrant Sun, as if that would ever happen.
What Raindrops was wearing was a prototype, meant exclusively for close range combat. It was a bulky affair of dark blue steel, encasing almost all of Raindrops save for her head, though there was a helmet with a red tinted visor that could lower to seal her into the suit entirely. Her wings were encased, but the suit had a pair of tilted V-shaped wings with levitation and miniature VTOL rotors that’d allow for short distance flight. It was equipped with numerous weapons; machine guns in the forelegs, small concealable grenade launchers in the shoulders, a side mounted flame thrower, and a large set of mono-claws in both front hoofs. Nothing long range, but in close quarters it’d turn Raindrops into a monster.
Fitting, since monsters were what they’d be fighting.
Aside from the normal arrangement of upgraded pistols or in Cheerilee’s case a fresh new pair of compact Chimera sub-machine guns, it was Carrot Top who’d taken the most new gear in a host of new drones, including a replacement for her lost Rabbit Crusher. This drone wasn’t as large as the burly, custom built Rabbit Crusher had been, but it looked deadly enough; a matte black tilt-wing roto-drone the size of a shopping cart, like a little flying black wedge. Carrot Top assured Lyra it had a impressive suit of cannons and rockets, and that it’d add a lot of punch on top of Raindrops’ power armor.
And yet despite all of this Lyra still felt nervous.
“You wanted her to come, didn’t you?” asked Ditzy, making Lyra almost start. Ditzy’s wall-eyes were inches from hers as the gray pegasus stared at Lyra.
“I what?” Lyra asked, blinking.
“Trixie,” said Ditzy, “You’re disappointed she skipped out on us?”
“Why do you think that?” Lyra said, looking away, “She was never meant to be a permanent member of the team. She was just brought on for the one run, that’s it. I got no biz asking her to risk her hide more than that and she had every right to trot away.”
“Maybe, but you’ve been looking unplugged since she let,” said Ditzy, an icon flashing above the mare’s head, Lyra’s AR mirrorshades showing her the little frowny-face muffin icon as it flapped on tiny pegasus wings around Ditzy’s head.
“Ditzy, she’s got a marefriend who’s currently in the clutches of bug monsters from Dimension-X, I think she’s got plenty of reason to be out of sorts besides our magician friend sitting this one out,” said Cheerilee, face wearing a small smile of encouragement, “Though if you did want her back for a little action sometime, Lyra, I could probably convince her. I don’t doubt I can figure out what buttons to press on her.”
Lyra raised and eyebrow, “Don’t think she’s wired for that, Cheerilee. And like I said, it was her call. Anyway, are we all set to go?”
Raindrops grimaced, her face fighting a bit, “More or less green over here.”
Carrot Top came over to her, putting a hoof on the shoulder of the power armor while looking up at Raindrops’ face. The suit gave the pegasus about nine extra inches of height.
“Don’t try to act tough Rains,” Carrot Top said, “If you’re nervous system is having trouble adjusting that’s not abnormal. If you’re in pain-“
“I’m okay,” Raindrops cut the other mare off, not harshly, but firmly, “It doesn’t hurt. Opposite, actually. It’s a tad numb in a few spots and feels… weird. I just… I don’t feel like a pony, right now, is all.”
“Well, you do look like a walking tank,” said Cheerilee, “Bound to have some disconnect with feeling like a normal pony when you’re strapped into a ton of metal and firepower.”
At Raindrops’ glare Cheerilee grinned and raised a hoof, “Kidding. I’m kidding. But seriously, CTs right. If you’re feeling out of sorts, tell us. We’re you friends, and we’ll do whatever we can to help.”
Raindrops glanced away, “Right now the only thing that will help is getting my brother back.”
Ditzy nodded emphatically, a small swarm of mini-muffins mass hugging Raindrops in AR space, “We’ll get everypony’s important ponies back safe and sound, and make all the bad guys see what happens when you make a team of shadowrunner mares mad.”
At that Raindrops did smile slightly, then the helmet of the power armor flipped down, the red visor seeming to come alive with internal light. Raindrops’ voice came out in a synthesized drawl, “Damn straight.”
With that they all exited the room and went down a short corridor to a set of metal sliding doors that hissed open at their approach, leading out into the bright, star filled night. They were on the roof of the M.A.S.T tower they’d met Luna in, and there was a single sleek VTOL waiting for them there. CEO Luna herself was standing outside it, her eyes gazing off across the glittering skyscrapers of the Canterlot Metroplex, her ethereal mane blending in with the dark night skyline.
She wore no armor nor bore any weapons, but Lyra suspected the ancient alicorn required neither. It still surprised her somewhat that Luna was accompanying them, but then again, this fight against the Changelings and Inspect Spirits was part of Luna’s personal crusade to protect Equestria, so why wouldn’t she come? Besides, given the magical nature of the Insect Spirits they’d need the kind of mystical backup the alicorn could offer, and Luna had suggested that she herself might be required to help save Snails from the clutches of the Insect Spirit’s influence.
“Princess Luna,” Lyra said as she approached, and paused, blinking. Why had she just called her ‘Princess’? Luna hadn’t carried that title since before Lyra was born.
Luna looked at her, smiling kindly, “I trust the five of you are satisfied with your preparations?”
“Loaded as my sister on Friday night,” Cheerilee said, causing Lyra to give her a sidelong look. Cheerilee shrugged, “What? My sis is a lush. A fantastic lush I love to pieces, but truth’s truth.”
Carrot Top snickered, shaking her head, “Remind me when this is all done we ought to hit up her bar.”
Cheerilee pumped a foreleg in the air, “We’ll paint the Ponyville Barrens red! You know that phrase’s origins are pretty neat; back in 837 Marquis Mulberry went on a all night binger in his hometown, leading a whole mob of revelers in all manner of vandalism, culminating in painting the town’s bridge and a number of stores with red paint.”
Luna suddenly sighed, “I remember that. Quite the mess that needed cleaning up that morning.”
Lyra shook her head with a small laugh, “It’s so easy to forget how old you actually are.”
“Old am I? Hmph, I’ll have you know I’m only around six or so eons young, give or take a few millennia,” the alicorn said with a smile and a wink, “In any case we need to wait a few more minutes before departing.”
“Why?” snapped Raindrops, her power armor seeming to twitch slightly, “I don’t want to let Snails wait a single second longer to be free of those monsters!”
“I understand,” said Luna with a knowing look in her eyes, “But I’ve just received word from the front desk. It seems we’ll have one more joining us on this most dangerous yet important of ventures.”
The mares exchanged confused looks but only a few scant minutes after those cryptic words one of the small elevators lining one end of the roof opened up and a familiar blue unicorn came trotting out. Her gait was the kind of casual stroll of somepony arriving late to the party but trying to make it look fashionable. Trixie Lulamoon was wearing a light violet cape and pointed hat, both ridiculously star speckled. Strapped to her leg was her short barreled Street-Cold Special, but otherwise Trixie wasn’t carrying any additional equipment. When she reached the group Trixie put on a casual smile.
“I hope I’m not too late to be added to the list of guests for this particular party?”
“Dressed like that?” asked Cheerilee with a wry half-grin, “We’re going into the fight of our lives, not a Las Pegasus magic show.”
Trixie flipped her cape with a flourish and ran a hoof over the brim of her pointed hat, “I’ll have you know these are more than mere garments of elegance and theme; they’re lucky.”
“Lucky?” asked Carrot Top.
Trixie nodded firmly, “Lucky.”
“You do remember you got shot last time, right?” asked Raindrops, and Trixie blanched at Raindrops’ new armor that made her look like an imposing walking robot.
“Is that you in there, Raindrops?” asked Trixie.
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Nothing,” Trixie said, hiding what Lyra imagined was her unease at Randrops’ appearance, “And to your question, yes I remember being shot. Hence why I’m wearing these garments. Armored clothing is nice and all, but I prefer mobility. Magic will be my armor. Besides, if I stick behind you I think you’ll make an excellent piece of walking cover now.”
Raindrops made a sound that might have been a laugh, “Whatever. Don’t complain if I end up stepping on you.”
Ditzy flew over and gave Trixie a sudden hug, causing Trixie to blanch at the sudden contact, almost pulling away, though Ditzy’s hooves were powerful things when delivering hugs so the magician was thoroughly trapped in the embrace of affection.
“You came! You really do care about us!”
“I, uh… well… “ Trixie stammered, face red, eyes flicking about almost in panic, “It just feels like the job you hired me for isn’t actually done. Not until all loose ends are tied up. It’s only professional. And… and yes, I didn’t like the idea of never finding out how this all turned out. It’d keep me up at night! I require my beauty sleep, and can’t have nightmares of bug monsters and your unknown fates plaguing me. That’s all.”
Ditzy eventually let Trixie go and gave the poor mare a moment to breath. Lyra walked up then, and Trixie looked up from panting to catch her breath and met Lyra’s eyes. Lyra lowered her mirrorshades, and smiled, offering a hoof.
“Welcome to the team, Trixie.”
Trixie returned the smile with a rueful one of her own, griping Lyra’s hoof, “Well, can’t leave the team without a mage, can I?”
Luna made a soft chuckle, causing Trixie to blink and then quickly wave a hoof, “Not that I’m saying you’re not a capable mage! I’m sure you are. You’re an alicorn and all and probably know all sorts of spells I can only have egotrips about- not that I have egotrips all that often. Just occasionally.”
“It’s alright my little pony,” said Luna, striding towards the back of the VTOL, the doors on the rear end o it opening up at the alicorn’s approach, “You are part of that team, now. I’m merely a benefactor, here to provide support. The six of you, I think, will be the keys that carry the night… “
Lyra gave Luna a sidelong glance as they all loading onto the VTOL, strapping themselves into the available seats of the roomy passenger area. She couldn’t really read the alicorn’s face, Luna’s expression inscrutable beyond simple confidence. It wasn’t as if Lyra thought there was anything wrong… but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a great deal going on behind Luna’s eyes than she was letting on. It reminded her of an old shadowrunner proverb that she’d never really understood:
Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever cut a deal with an alicorn.
Considering the world only had two alicorns (three if you still counted the one locked up in the sun) it just seemed an odd saying to Lyra. Yet that enigmatic look on Luna’s face made Lyra wonder.
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Joints popped as Trixie stretched and forced herself not to yawn. In her eagerness to get back on the team she’d forgotten just how little rest she’d gotten, as in none, and she hadn’t even been able to grab a quick soykaff or stim tablet. Fortunately Carrot Top came to the rescue, leaning over and nudging Trixie.
“Guessing you didn’t grab a power nap like the rest of us?”
“Mmmrrrphg…” Trixie replied, rubbing at her face with a hoof, “Been a busy day, filled with corporate espionage and mortal danger. Been a shade too wired to think sleep, but feels like its catching up with me.”
“Well, won’t fix your tiredness, just make you feel like its fixed,” said Carrot Top as she offered a slap patch, a small plastic square that you, as the name suggested, slapped on your hide and the lovely drugs inside would be absorbed through the skin. Trixie didn’t even question Carrot Top on what was in the patch as she put it on her neck. Almost immediately she felt a wave of cold alertness pass through her bloodstream, as if she’d just downed ten straight cups of the blackest soykaff she’d ever had.
“Oh, yes, this will do,” said Trxie, stretching once more, this time with a pleased grunt as her limbs came alive.
“Should keep you juiced for a few hours. Crash will be hard, but with luck we’ll be done with this business by then,” said Carrot Top.
“Thanks,” Trixie said, managing a small smile, which Carrot Top returned, then Trixie glanced towards the front of the VTOL’s dimly lit passenger compartment. She couldn’t see the cockpit, and could only barely make out the others strapped in to their respective seats. “How much longer before we get there?”
“We’re running silent, and not at top speed, so the stealth spells and electronic based countermeasures can do their best work,” said Luna, “But not long. Less than an hour, now.”
“Shouldn’t we, well, plan out just what we’re doing?” asked Cheerilee, “Not that I don’t love the idea of rushing in blind, but maybe now would be a good time to work out a few details?”
“Unfortunately,” said Luna, “Details will be difficult to plan due to the fact that we lack knowledge of just what we will be facing, at least in terms of numbers, locations, and layout. We know the surface area of the mesas and airfield, and know where to hit for insertion to the closest area we’ve seen the Changelings’ slaves being taken, but my own ponies have been unable to garner more detailed information.”
“Just leave that to me!” said Ditzy with a confident tone, wall-eyes winking, “Get me to an direct access port inside the place and I’ll find everything we need.”
“That’s great, Ditz,” said Raindrops, “But we’ll still need to land and crack our way inside before you can do that. Until then we’ll be, like Cheerilee says, running in blind.”
“So our plan is just to land, rush in, and make things up from there?” asked Trixie.
“Essentially,” said Luna with a small, apologetic shrug, “I doubt what we shall be seeking will be found inside the airfield’s actual facilities. The Changeling hive will be hidden beneath that façade. Unlikely that any details could be garnered even by breaking into the facility’s Matrix nodes. No, Miss Lulamoon, I’m afraid this will be a matter of quick thinking and instinct.”
Trixie winced a bit, never much liking the use of her last name, but she didn’t mention anything, her mind thinking ahead to the task before her. From what she’d seen on the news that messa was huge. If there was some kind of hive inside it then this wasn’t going to be an easy search. They’d need some kind of hint of where to go.
“It’s not hard,” said Raindrops, flexing one arm of her large power armored frame, “We find one of these Changelings, and make it talk. With fire.”
Lyra sighed, “Probably our best bet. Assuming they’re the kind of creatures that can be persuaded that way.”
“We’ll find out,” Raindrops said coldly, and the cabin went silent, nopony really wanting to speak more of what they might have to do. Ultimately they all knew this wasn’t going to be a clean run. Their opponents weren’t ponies, but for some that didn’t soften the notion of what they’d need to do. Trixie knew she wasn’t relishing the idea. She’d never taken a life and didn’t intend to start. Staying alive was, however, a top priority, as well as keeping her newfound friends intact. If it came down to it… well, she’d cross that bridge when the time came.
Time passed with agonizing slowness, but pass it did, and before long a lisping female voice spoke over the VTOL’s intercom, “Madame President, we’re approaching the target. Two kilometers out, we’ll be in range to touchdown in five minutes. So far no pings on our scans. I think we’re still invisible to whatever eyes our out there looking.”
“Very good, Fleetfoot,” said Luna, “Continue the course. Stay low, and keep pace with Regal 2. I’d prefer our hosts don’t realize they have guests until we’re on their doorstep.”
Trixie felt the deck shudder slightly and it seemed to her as if the VTOL’s speed increased, but without a window or any kind of exterior view she had no idea what was going on outside. That in and of itself was nerve wracking, causing a bit of sweat to bead on the side of her head. What if the airfield had defenses? What if they were spotted before they could land? Trixie’s hyperactive imagination plagued her with images of the VTOL exploding in a ball of flames from any number of attacks or mishaps that might occur in the next few minutes, with her helpless to do anything about it.
She suddenly felt a hoof on her arm, glancing to her left to see Ditzy smiling at her as the gray pegasus leaned towards her and whispered, “Don’t tell anypony, but I hacked the VTOL’s systems and can see outside. Don’t worry, we’re fine. We’re just coming up on the messa and its all dark out there. I don’t think anypony over there has a clue we’re coming.”
Trixie didn’t know whether to be grateful for the reassurance or worried that Ditzy was screwing with the VTOL’s systems. She just ended up giving Ditzy a uneasy smile and nod and continued to wait while sweating bullets.
Suddenly Trixie’s stomach lurched as the VTOL went into an abrupt and sharp climb. From the soft groan and the green tint to her otherwise yellow fur it seemed Carrot Top wasn’t at all happy with the maneuver either. Ditzy giggled slightly, “Up we go. Wow, she’s hugging the messa wall real close. Hope we don’t crash.”
Trixie shot Ditzy a withering look but Ditzy just kept smiling, making it hard to stay functionally mad at her. Trixie grunted again as the VTOL apparently reached the top of the messa and leveled out of its climb, now skimming the airfield. Trixie wished more than ever to have some kind of exterior view. Luna unstrapped herself from her seat and stood.
“Prepare yourselves,” the alicorn said with a grim tone.
With that the mares all did their last second checks of their gear and got up from their seats. Luna took the front of the line at the rear opening hatch of the VTOL, with Raindrops and Lyra right behind her. Cheerilee and Ditzy were next in line, with Trixie and Carrot Top bringing up the rear. Carrot Top had unhooked her new, hefty drone from a top hatch and let the rotor driven craft hover next to her like an oversized, protective guard wasp.
Seconds ticked by as they all tensed, waiting.
Then there was a shudder that ran through the hull of the ship that Trixie was pretty sure wasn’t normal, given the accompanying metallic pelting noises that rapidly echoed across the bulkheads. The floor jerked violently and Trixie struggled to keep on her hooves as the pilot’s voice spoke up again over the com.
“Think they know we’re here! The whole complex just lit up and we’re taking fire! Hold on, opening the catch, you’ll have to jump as we glide past the LZ!”
Without any further warning air blasted into the compartment as the hatch in the back hissed open, showing a dark night sky, a shadowy ground that was being lit up by flashes of gunfire and tracers, and a set of large black hangars silhouetted against the star filled horizon. They were probably skimming no more than ten paces off the tarmac of what looked to Trixie like an air strip, moving at high speed. Sweat cooled on her brow from the wind as she thought about just how insane jumping out was, but the VTOL was slowing down, and it wasn’t as if she had much choice. Raindrops went out first, the mare in heavy power armor slamming into the tarmac and taking off at a run.
One by one the others followed, Luna spreading her wings and streaking into the night, and the others jumping behind Raindrops. Only Ditzy remained with Trixie and the decker gave Trixie a wink as she grabbed a hold of Trixie’s barrel with her forelegs and without waiting for Trixie’s respond took flight.
“Ggggaaaaah!” Trixie protested.
“Hey! Stop kicking! I won’t drop you!” Ditzy said.
“Sorry, just had to get that out of my system,” replied Trixie once she caught her breath.
Ditzy landed in short order, Trixie scrambling with her legs until she got solid purchase on the smooth concrete of the runway. Once she got her bears, Ditzy standing next to her, Trixie could see the VTOL only as a faint darker outline in the sky, along with the other VTOL that was landed nearer to the large hangars. The gunfire seemed to be coming from small, squat shapes that hovered along the ground coming from a series of larger buildings that looked like the control tower and terminals for the airfield. Drones? They didn’t move like living things, like the Changelings that’d chased them through the Mextroplex, so Trixie was assuming they were security drones.
Luckily the drones seemed focused on the VTOL that’d just dropped them off, flashes of orange tracer fire stitching across the sky at the sleek craft as it sailed away in a series of looping evasive maneuvers.
“Trix! Ditz! Move your flanks!” called Lyra’s voice and that galvanized Trixie into action.
Soon enough Trixie made out where the others were, all making their way for the hangars where the team of M.A.S.T security forces had also landed, the VTOL that had brought them in also lifting off and flying off. Trixie wondered if they’d just wait somewhere nearby until it was time to come back and extract the team? Or did Luna have some other plan for getting out of here once they took care of the Changelings and Insect Spirits?
At the front of one of the large, looming and intimidating shape of a hangar Trixie found the other members of her team standing with Luna and the group of half a dozen M.A.S.T guards in their midnight blue armor. One of them was speaking, Trixie recognizing Shining Armor’s voice.
“We’ll begin the distraction operation and take out the hangars, Madame President. I think we can draw enough attention so you and the others can slip into the main terminal unseen.”
“So be it,” said Luna, “Be careful. If you think you can’t hold out, call for an extraction, regardless of whether you’ve heard back from my team or not.”
Shining Armor’s posture went stiff but he nodded smartly, “Yes, Madame President. Just don’t make me have to make that call. I wouldn’t look forward to trying to explain to my father how I lost our CEO.”
Luna’s short laugh was soft as starlight, “I’ll try to spare you that conversation. Now, my little ponies, let us go, to battle.”
Trixie had half expected the alicorn to fall into some kind of olden dialect of ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ at that point, rearing up to kick her legs and neigh a battlecry before charging away, but instead Luna’s horn lit up briefly and Trixie felt a spell falling across her and the other mares of Lyra’s shadowrunner team.
It was unicorn magic, and feeling the tingle on her fur Trixie knew it was a spell layering across her and the other’s bodies. Glancing around she could see the other’s forms shifting and blurring until they seemed like little more than mirror pools of motion that blended into the background.
“I’m placing spells that should help us get to the main building undetected. However I’m afraid more mundane devices of technology could prove problematic, as I cannot hide our thermal signature or bio-electric fields. Miss Ditzy, I was hoping you could perhaps disable those systems?”
The blurred form that was Ditzy Doo shifted slightly as Trixie thought the pegasus might have just saluted with one wing, “I’m all over it! One slice and dice into their system ICE coming right up! I can hack on the fly, so let’s go!”
There was certainly no argument from anypony else, so Shining Armor and his team went for the hangars to prepare their distraction, which Trixie could only imagine would involve plenty of explostions if the packets of plastic explosives she saw a few of the guard carrying was any indication. At the same time she and the other shadowrunners began a fast trot, keeping their faint shimmers in sight and being careful not to trip over each other.
Soon enough the form of the main terminal loomed ahead and despite the gunfire still constant from the drones towards the VTOL the area seemed dark and dead. Trixie had to wonder just what they’d find once they were inside.
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Ditzy’s mind was now split between two realities. In the physical world she moved her body along with her fellows, coming up on the long, L-shaped main terminal building of the airfield they wanted to break into. There was a lot of space to cover, giving her about five, maybe ten minutes to work her magic and slice into the systems she’d need to shut down any devices that might detect them despite Luna’s fancy cloaking spell.
Ditzy thought it was kind of funny that the all-powerful alicorn needed the skills of a decker just like everypony else did in this day and age. She supposed Luna wouldn’t be the type to put a datajack in or install an internal comlink like Ditzy had so interface with the Matrix. Well, Ditzy didn’t judge. Cyberspace wasn’t for everypony.
One of the best benefits of having her comlink installed internally was that she didn’t need to rely entirely on jacking into a terminal or using a full cyberdeck to hack on the fly. Sure she could whip out her deck to do a full VR dive, even with a wireless port, but she could also use Augmented Reality superseding some of her physical senses to do her job. So it was that while she was moving her body like normal her mind was partially delved into the world of the Matrix, seeing images and objects flowing across her vision that weren’t real to anypony else but her and the system she was interfaced with.
While others would be horribly disoriented by this dual vision, to Ditzy it came as natural as breathing… or having strabismus. Ditzy was used to looking in two different directions at once, seeing two worlds at once. While her body ran along with her friends her mind flew across a sparkling landscape of circuitry, her Matrix avatar of a fresh baked muffin with gray wings and a friendly pair of eyes and a smile much like her own cruising towards the system entry port for the airfield terminal.
The port, the SAN (System Access Node), looked like a massive set of black trees, standing like a thick fence against intrusion, branches covered in large thorns blocking entry to the rest of the system. Ditzy quickly scanned around, activating subtle sensory programs to detect any security programs that might be defending the SAN.
Soon enough she saw a pair of giant chrome wasps buzzing near the treetops, sentry ICE that would guard the SAN from any intrusion. Unless of course they never saw that intrusion. Ditzy’s muffin avatar pulled out a sparkling wand capped with a mini-muffin and wove a pattern of glitter that made her form shimmer, much like Luna’s invisibility spell. This masking program would hide her from detecting, hopefully, while she looked to access the SAN.
Masking algorithms bean a deadly dance with the sentry ICE’s detection code as the invisible muffin avatar approached the black tree fence under the sharp watch of the chrome wasps. The wasps buzzed and fluttered their wings, but did not take flight, Ditzy’s avatar remaining undetected as she reached the SAN’s huge, thorn woven gates. Once there her muffin reached behind its back with comically thin cartoonish appendages and pulled out a tray with fresh backed muffins, steam rising from their golden brown tops. Ditzy, in real life, licked her lips. She really needed to remember to bake some muffins when she got home.
The muffins in the Matrix were a spoofing program meant to crack the security codes on the gate ICE the trees represented. While hiding as mundane code the spoof would throw thousands upon thousands of possible passcodes hidden as junk code in the hope of slipping the right combination into the gate ICE. Tense seconds passed as the muffin avatar held its tray of delicious baked goods out to the black trees… then slowly a branch uncoiled from the trees, its thorn covered form snaking to the tray, the tip of the branch seeming to sniff at the muffins as if a snake tasting the air.
Then the branch snatched up the muffins from the tray, pulling them back into the dark depths of the trees. Slowly the branches shifted as the gate ICE accepted Ditzy’s spoof codes and opened up the SAN for her avatar. With a tiny, happy ‘yay’ Ditzy sent her avatar through to enter the terminal’s system proper.
In real life only a minute had passed and they were just over halfway in hoofing it to the terminal. Plenty of time left. Now that she was through the SAN she took a gander around the interior of the airfield’s systems. It was like being in the depths of a dark, twisted forest. A labyrinth of trees stretched around her, but Ditzy didn’t let it overwhelm her. This was a common defense as well, a spam of fake node information to overload an intruder’s ability to find anything.
Ditzy didn’t have time to play games with this system, so she decided to cut straight to the chase now that she was inside. Her muffin icon rapidly began to spin, spitting out a small furry of spawned mini-muffins with wings of their own that went flitting about the trees like bizarre baked good breezies. This was among her most potent search programs, written when she was but a filly but updated over and over until she could use it to track down any kind of information she wanted inside a system. It was a relentless program that disguised itself by piggybacking on other programs that naturally flitted about the system, self-replicating itself in each node it broke into until it spread through the whole system, all the while streaming data back to Ditzy.
It couldn’t actually manipulate any nodes, however, so once Ditzy’s search program sent her the location of the utility node responsible for controlling the airfield terminal’s cameras and similar security systems she jetted of down the information highways to reach it. She zipped between branches, flew between brambles, rounded half a dozen other nodes whose ICE she avoided with more masking programs, leaving behind their icons of vast insect-like predators behind her.
Soon she was hovering before a dark forest cave in the side of a steep rock cliff, its entrance ominously dark and open. Ditzy frowned, wondering what ICE might lay within. She saw no barriers, no sentries… and that worried her. Ditzy was fond of surprises, but only good ones, like when Dinky threw her a surprise birthday party. She didn’t like nasty surprises like the one she was sure was waiting the unwary who approached this node without caution.
She still felt the sting both in her head and in her pride at the beating she took from that Flim jerk. Or was it Flam? Well, both brothers were jerks, so it didn’t matter! Ditzy wasn’t going to be caught off guard again!
The muffin icon’s cartoony derped eyes narrowed dangerously and its small spindly appendages reached into its fresh baked form to withdraw a shining metal cooking pot lid and a razor sharp spatula. The pot lid was an armor program that reinforced her icon’s base code against aggressive intrusion. The spatula was a ready attack program of her own designed to cut apart the data of any ICE it touched.
She still cloaked herself with a masking program, hoping to avoid whatever danger lay ahead, but she had to access this node, and do it soon, because in the real world she could see that they had nearly reached the terminal building. Time in the real world seemed to slow to Ditzy’s senses as she focused more of her attention on the Matrix and her icon approaching the utility node.
In the digital world Ditzy felt the ground shake and heard an roar that would have split eardrums had she had any to split in the Matrix. Her masking program must have failed, for out of the dark cave stomped a massive, monstrous form. Covered in black scales, with long purple claws dripping what looked like globs of acid, with green eyes that were literally blazing with fire was a gigantic dragon. If Ditzy had any doubt this was Black ICE, for what else could this be but the type of lethal Intruder Counter Measure programs designed to not destroy a decker’s icon but give them lethal biofeedback to try and kill the intruder outright? The Black ICE had clearly detected her, because it took one glance at Ditzy, snarled, and unleashed a wave of acidic poison from its gapping maw.
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When Ditzy staggered, letting out a strangled cry, Lyra’s heart froze for a second and she halted, looking for the sight of her friend despite the fact that Luna’s spell was keeping them hidden.
“Ditzy’s! What’s wrong!?” Lyra tried to keep her voice down, but not without effort.
“I’m, I’m wiz, just wiz. Run into a problem, but I can take it,” came Ditzy’s strained voice in reply. Lyra felt her teeth grind, and forcibly took control of herself, breathing slowly.
“How big a problem?” she asked. She could tell the rest of the group had stopped. The dark form of the looming airfield terminal was less than a hundred meters ahead. They risked detection if they got much closer without knowing any technological devices had been shut down. For that they needed Ditzy, but Lyra didn’t want the decker to risk her life more than needed. Lyra would rather take on the building’s security rather than lose Ditzy to some ICE.
Lyra had tried her best to mentally prepare herself for losing any of her team. You didn’t become a shadowrunner without being willing to accept the risks involved. However out of all of her team the one she feared losing the most was Ditzy, because if that happened there was a little filly Lyra would have to talk to about why her mother was gone. Ditzy had made Lyra promise when she’d taken Ditzy onto the team that if anything happened to her that Lyra would take care of Dinky, and Lyra would fulfill that promise. She just didn’t want Ditzy to make her have to fulfill that promise.
“Big,” was all Ditzy said, and Lyra could almost make out her indistinct blurred form flinching, “Just… just need a minute. This is a tough one. Can’t be distracted.”
“Do we have a minute?” asked Carrot Top, concern straining her voice.
In the distance the night light up with an orange flash and one of the hangars they’d left behind burst outward in an expanding ball of fire. Almost as one the security drones that had begun to spread out in a searching pattern all turned towards the explosion and started making their way towards it. Gunfire erupted from another hangar, lancing into the approaching drones machines in showers of sparks. The drones returned fire, turning the night into a flashing display of criss-crossing tracers.
“Shining Armor’s distraction buys us more than a few minutes,” said Luna, though there was a clipped worry to the alicorn’s own voice, “Do what you must, Ditzy Doo.”
Lyra didn’t like the alicorn calling that shot, but said, “No risks Ditzy. Crack the ICE if you can, but jack out if it gets too dicey. We can take the building head of if need be.”
“I can do it…” was all Ditzy said, and Lyra hated hearing the pain in the pegasus’ voice.
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Ditzy’s icon leapt aside, a small part of its form caught in the corrosive acid that was a highly dangerous and virulent attack program that melted away her defensive code at a meter touch. Her pot lid armor program absorbed some of the Black ICE’s attack but lethal biofeedback still crawled its way across neurolinks, sending a jolt into Ditzy. She shook her head and focused. If she was dong a full dive, running hot in the Matrix with all her mind, she knew she could have dodged that attack, but dividing her attention was working against her even if she was exceptional at the task.
Fearlessly she drove in at the dragon, her spatula flashing. A talon that was poised to strike her was cut, violet blood spilling as code was sheared away from the Black ICE.
The dragon’s roar shook the nearby trees, and Ditzy quickly sent a program out, a small swarm of mini-muffins that suddenly formed a circle and expanded, like fresh baking bread, to form a canopy of toasty goodness around the battle. That roar had been an alarm signal trying to alert the rest of the system and call in more ICE, but Ditzy’s own program blocked the singal.
“Just you and me, scaly,” said Ditzy with a grim smile, flourishing her spatula, “I’ve got a muffin to come home to and you’re not stopping me!”
She flew at the dragon again, which let out another jet of acid and poison. Ditzy just barely scrapped by without taking another dose of lethal biofeedback and tagged the dragon across the chest with another deep cut, torn code leaking from the dragon in the shape of more oozing blood.
That seemed to only make the Black ICE more furious and Ditzy was soon put on the defensive, having to duck, dive, and roll as talons and tail both came into play, lashing at her with a rapid series of programs designed to cut away her own armor code. She had to deflect with her pot lid, and each time it got more and more dented. With a final shattering blow a talon struck the lid dead center and it shattered into a series of quickly dwindling code fragments.
Ditzy was vulnerable, and she saw the dragon take a deep breath, ready for a last breath that would certainly finish her if it hit. She had no space to dodge, bracketed by the Black ICE’s talons. There was only one way to go.
Straight at the dragon’s maw.
Ditzy narrowed her eyes, her muffin icon’s wings spreading wide, and she gripped her spatula with both cartoonish limbs.
Both her eyes now focused on one point, no longer spread. She flew forward at breakneck speed, spatula thrust out before her, aimed right for the dragon’s throat.
The Black ICE’s fanged mouth opened wide.
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Lyra nearly jumped as Ditzy screamed and she actually saw the puff of dirt as the pegasus hit the ground.
“Ditzy!” she shouted, rushing to the shimmering shape on the ground. She reached down, feeling about until she got her hooves on her friend’s warm form. She felt the others kneeling around her.
“Is she okay?” asked Trixie.
“Luna, can you drop the invisibility for a second?” asked Carrot Top.
“I can,” said the alicorn, and their forms wavered into the visible spectrum briefly. The alicorn’s horn was still alight and her eyes thick with concentration, “I can hold a directional barrier for a time. We shouldn’t be spotted unless we move too much.”
Ditzy was laying on her stomach, and Lyra was holding her, pulling the pegasus’ head up. Ditzy’s eyes were closed and a bit of blood trickled from her nose.
“Carrot Top?” Lyra asked as the earth pony sat down next to them.
But before Carrot Top could pull out a medkit Ditzy’s eyes fluttered open and the mare got a small, goofy smile on her face, “I’m a dragon slayer.”
Lyra and the others all exchanged looks, and then Lyra said, “Ditzy? Are you alright there, girl?”
“Oh, yeah, great. Kind of got a headache, but what else is new? Oh, got into the right node. Shut down most the building’s security. Stuff that’s not magical, anyway,” Ditzy slowly got to her feet, wavering and teetering until Raindrops put out a armored hoof to stabilize her.
“Wheeee, world is tilty,” Ditzy said, until Luna knelt down, tapped a horn to Ditzy’s head, and a wash of dark blue energy washed over the pegasus. At that point her eyes went wide and her mouth made a small ‘O’ of shock. After the light faded Ditzy blinked, “Wow. I feel great!”
Luna wiped some sweat off her forehead, “It has been some time since I’ve had to use so much magic so quickly. I feel almost out of practice.”
“Thank you,” said Lyra to the alicorn, and then patted Ditzy on the shoulder, “And good work. Hang back and let us take the lead from here. You’ve done your part.”
“Yeah, none of us are going to get to slay any dragons, so let some of us put in some work tonight, eh?” asked Cheerilee.
Ditzy giggled, shaking her head, “I guess I can take it easy for a bit. Still need maps of what’s inside there, though. Maybe I’ll find a nice safe terminal to jack into.”
“Regardless, we must capitalize on her success and enter the belly of this beast,” said Luna, recasting her invisibility spell upon the team, “Our night has only just begun.”