//------------------------------// // Interviews, Promises, and Ultimatums. // Story: Haylo: Crimson // by Zarius9998 //------------------------------// Crimson-3 Ugh! That Artemis...she always irked me...always. It seemed like her life's goal was to mess with me at all times...still...maybe she thought that's what I needed. When the war efforts started, I was no longer able to talk with Twilight or the others...especially since most of them were dead. Even my sister...she was first to leave me. I swear, sometimes I wish I could join the Spartan army, but I'm far too old, they tell me. Only foals were allowed to join, they said, but I think they forgot about my Immortality. Or maybe they didn't, and they just wanted to keep me out of the actual battles. That was part of the reason I orchestrated this whole fiasco, more or less. I knew that there was a group radically opposed to our joining the Army, and I also knew that they'd jump at a chance to capture me or any of my subordinates, so, to at least prove my worth, as well as the worth of Artemis and the other Spartan-IVs, I purposely fell into their trap. I set-up the Public Meeting for the first public showing of the Spartan-IVs outside of battle to be right next to the Anti-Pony radicals so they would pull the stunt that they did, and I picked Artemis and her Rookie so that they could show those stupid radicals just how...tough, we are. Actually, maybe picking Artemis wasn't the best idea...oh, um, sorry, Miss Halsey, I'll try not to stray to far from the subject anymore. I know you just want to hear how the inhibiting capabilities of the armor went, but...seeing as they TOOK her armor, it relied entirely on MY voice and actions to keep her in check. Plus, I don't think you could inhibit her sanity without also inhibiting her capabilities with your technology...yes, Ma'm, I'll be sure to send him in again. It's good to chat with you once in a while, but I have an important matter to set-up...are you recording this? Do you people record everything...? Right, sorry, hehe... ------------- As I was saying, before you told me to get Luna in here...I was recalling how Artemis and Luna escaped, using facts I put together through what they told me afterwards...so on their way out, they ran into quite a few roadblocks... ------------- "So, Prissy, ever been in a fight before?" "Artemis, please don't call me that..." she grumbled, letting go of her piece of wood and letting it float using her magic, "You know, we could wait for my head to clear more and we could just teleport out of here, right?" "What's the fun in that?" I responded stopping at a corner and holding her back while I peeked around it, "Besides, I want my armor back." I looked around the hallway ahead. The entire place was as cruddy and grimy as the room was, and just as dimly lit as well...meaning I could easily sneak around and take-down anyone in silence...but Luna had an injured hoof and would NOT be able to do that. "You can get new armor..." "I like my armor, though." I answered with a grin, noticing two humans exiting a doorway near the end, "Shoot!" I whispered, leaning back and covering Luna'a mouth with my other hoof to prevent her from making a noise. "Mmf! Hmermf! Armfeshiss!!!" "Sssshhhh!" I sneered, glaring at her before peeking around the corner again to see the two humans enter another room through a different door, "They're gone..." I turned back to Luna and let my hoof off her mouth, "What did you need to say so badly!" "Your hoof was getting uncomfortably low, Miss Unrestraint!" she spat back, "...still is, too!" She quickly stepped back while I looked down in embarrassment to see that the hoof I used to hold her back had fallen after all of the moving about and ended-up around where her...nevermind, moving on, it's not relevant! I turned back to the corner, blushing too hard to want to show it to the little...anyway, after seeing no one was there, I motioned for Luna to follow me down the corridor. I kept ears and eyes open in case anyone else blocked our path. I didn't want to alert them of our escape until I at least found my armor, seeing as I wasn't allowed to use lethal force, it would be easier for one of them to harm me.  "Sooo...about that promise of yours..." I started, still refusing to turn around and face her, "If I manage to not kill anyone...will you really?-" "Yes, I will." she cut me off, "I promise." "Alrighty...I'm ganna have a hard time doing this, you know." I began again, peeking through a door tentatively. "Artemis..." "ESPECIALLY if you get hurt again." I cut off her angry rant, "M'ganna lose it." She was silent after that, "I think my armor's in here..." wait out here and shout if anything happens, okay?" I turned to look at her and found she was nodding in understanding. I nodded once as well before entering the dark room. The lights were off, but I slid my hoof along the adjacent wall until finding a switch. With a flip, the light flickered on to reveal what I could best describe as a miniature heaven. "By Celestia's beard..." I could only marvel at the sheer epicness found in that room...especially since my armor happened to be stashed there. After taking a few minutes to take in the beautiful sights, I went for my armor and scrambled to put it on. Normally, it's a very lengthy process that involves a LOT of specific maneuvering of pieces...which is why my favorite Technician rigged the pieces to meld and lock together on it's own through an AI he coded a while back. That guy was a prodigy...sucks his talent is wasted on something as sick as war...I feel bad for him... A couple of minutes later, while I overlooked my armor to make sure it was all in place, I heard a thwack of wood on skin outside the door. Quickly grabbing my helmet and charging out of the door, I made it out just in time to see Luna throw some human over her shoulder while pummeling a guy behind her with the stick she had in a levitation hold. "Damn...Prissy got skill." I laughed, seeing more humans hastily turning the corner at the end of the hallway. In them was the four from the room we were tied in...except this time, they had guns. The leader started to shout orders as they all pulled their pistols and rifles up, "Safety off, gentlemen! But make sure the blue one doesn't die!...as for the black one..." "Luna! Run, now!" I ordered as I quickly shoved my helmet on, running towards her while she ran to me, "Sons of bitches..." I grumbled, the sound of my Overshield charging up. "Kill her!" I quickly dashed in front of Luna and spread my fore hooves to defend her from all possible fire. Looking at the energy meter for my shield, I saw that it was QUICKLY falling. Luckily for me, these were rounds no where near as powerful as what the armor was designed to defend against. Looking over my shoulder in time to see Luna zip around the corner, I quickly dove and rolled out of the spray of ammo, taking refuge behind the opened door to the room my armor was stashed in. "Buck me, 'NO LETHAL FORCE!'" I shouted angrily, cringing as part of the door exploded from an apparent shotgun burst, "And there's a whole ARMORY in this damn room, too!" I complained, at least somewhat grateful for my recharged shields, "Fine, fine! FINE!" I looked down the hall to see Luna looking at me in fear, "Find an exit! I'll draw all the attention to me! You're the VIP here, and I'm just the grunt!" she seemed to hesitate, not wanting to leave me, so I removed my helmet and have her a big, toothy, grin, "I'll be fine, PRISS, and I expect my reward after I get out of here!" She nodded and ran off down the hall, so I put my helmet back on and peeked around the corner, noticing that the shooting had subsided...and immediately wished I didn't, "...Really?" "RPG, out!" "IN A SMALL HALLWAY!?" I jumped to my hooves and scrambled down the hallway towards my attackers. All of them instantly raised their weapons again, "You are all bucking IDIOTS!" First, the tube sparked, then, the rocket exploded out and zipped straight to me. In all honesty, I could have knocked it away, but seeing as I was in a cramped hallway, that would have accomplished nothing, so, I jumped over it instead. The instant I landed, though the rocket collided with the wall at the other end of the hallway, kicking up dust and debris so thick I couldn't see. Amiss the dirt, the sound of a roof collapsing reached my ears, 'Idiots...' Taking my mind off of the terrible durability of this building, as well as the idiocy of those humans, I tapped my visor and it switched to thermal vision, red, yellow, and green popping up within the fog, "Alright, bullets, verses hoof..." I took note of each and every enemy form, my eyes darting around as adrenaline kicked in...ah, one of my most favorite of moments in life...when your heart pumps, you blood surges, and searing adrenaline pushes you to go beyond the possible...especially as a Spartan! Dashing into the fray, I slid to a halt beside the nearest crony, sweeping his legs and catching his arm before twisting and grinning at the sound of a sickeningly pleasurable snap and scream. Of course, this alerted the others of my attack...but due to the dust, they couldn't see me. They still had to shield their eyes from all the dirt in the air! "The black one's in the dust! Find her!" 'Good luck.' I sneered mentally before subconsciously flipping backwards and planting lower hooves into someone else's back. He, in turn, bumped into someone else who then proceeded to knock him clean out with the but of his rifle. "Crap! Kev! So sorry!" For one moment, the dust cleared from the rifleman's view to me, "Sir! She'a eight h-eeck..." I must have looked pretty darn intimidating in my armor since he seemed to freeze-up in fear. "Nice rifle...I'd take it, but I'm not allowed." He eventually regained his senses and aimed down at me again, but the dust had blocked his view again and I had moved, so all he shot was a wall. "Sir, screw this! Just get out of the dust!" "Oh no you don't!" turning upon one of the three four remaining men, I delivered I powerful backhand to his stomach. He fell with a weak gasp, the air whooshing out of him. "John's right! We can't defend ourselves in this!" turning back around, I saw the last three running away, the slowest being the one that shot the rocket at me. I was about to just leave them and try to catch up to Luna, but I had to keep the entire facility distracted somehow, so...remembering the rocket, I had an idea, "Get your sorry flanks back here!" I shouted, running out after them on just my back hooves.There's never been a need to switch to all fours when chasing humans...they're all just too SLOW! ------------- So, while Artemis was...well, having fun, Luna was trying to avoid detection while the entire building was in a panic. Also at the same time, I was still making my way towards Artemis' waypoint, which, obviously, had started moving since she put her armor on. I was close, though, only about a hundred meters away. I could see the building in the distance, and I could even identify a marker a ways away which I remember to be near Boot Camp. As I trotted closer, I noticed a lot of commotion going on in and around the building, there was even an explosion, probably the RPG which was shot at Artemis. Of course, there were a couple more explosions later, probably thanks to her "distraction." But all of that is irrelevant to your purposes. You wanted to know how Luna made it out, correct? Before I continued, may I ask what you need this information for...really, now? So is this FOR her augmentation, or AGAINST?...right, yes Ma'm...continuing with the recollections...Luna had made it near the exit only to he blocked by...oh, about twenty guards sent to make sure she didn't make it out... ------------- 'Great...' I had managed to keep out of sight all the way here, the exit, only to be blocked at the very last moment...by twenty some guards, no less! I thought I was at an insurmountable blockade, starting to turn back to find a different exit, but then I remembered that, in the time to took me to REACH this point, my head had clear Ed enough to use upper-level magic, mainly, teleportation. Of course, I wouldn't be able to go far, but I would definitely be able to make it beyond the door...but...I remembered the whole reason for DOING this. "Alright...they don't think we, neigh, they don't think I have what it takes to fight." I started, really only talking to myself, "Time to show them how much of a NIGHTMARE I can be!" Taking one, last, calming breath, I slowly made my away around the corner, focusing my magic on my physical form. It didn't take long for most of the guards to notice me, taking up their rifles and pistols. "There's the VIP! Remember, nothing lethal! We need her ALIVE!" one of the men shouted as each an every one loaded and locked their weapons. "You speak as though you've already caught me..." I muttered, closing my eyes and allowing my form to shift, "Neigh, you speak as though you've caught US! But actually, it is WE, who have caught YOU, FOALS!" With a blinding flash, I once again donned the battlements of Nightmare Moon!