“Morning, remember what we spoke about. Keep an eye on Silent, and I’ll do the same for Malin.” I aid to my friend as I slid the helmet on and locked it in place before following Malin out of the torus and into the spire. He floated in front of me, dragging the circular cutter behind him, and reached the door first.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” he confirmed.
“Okay, hold onto that saw tight, this is not gonna be pretty,” I put a hoof on the door and pushed the release.
Instantly, the air in the spire attempted to drag us out into the void with a gut wrenching force. Before I could do anything, Malin slipped out of the open door, taking the saw with him.
Without even thinking, I hit the button to close the door and dived out after him before it slammed shut behind me. With one rear leg outstretched for him to grab onto, I grasped a piece of debris jammed into the exterior of the station. Malin scrabbled at my leg for a moment before finding grip and holding tightly.
With a furtive glance behind me to check on Malin, I began to claw my way back up the debris towards the emaciated doorway. When we at last reached the exterior wall of the station, Malin let go and floated in front of me.
I’m okay, he mouthed.
Nodding, I pointed down the length of the station to a small gap in one of the room jutting out of the spire. Together, we moved silently along the pitch-black wall until we reached the gap. My heart fluttered with relief as I saw that the gap did indeed lead to the security station.
Taking point, I squeezed into the small, dark room, careful to avoid the jagged pieces of ruined wall. Malin followed close behind, and once through, pressed his helmet against mine, allowing us to talk.
“So where do we place the cutter?” he asked.
“Jammers like that, I remember from the war. They give off vibrations, like a pulse,” I explained, “touch your helmet to the wall. See if you can feel it.”
We both pressed our helmets to the steel wall, listening to the low vibrations emanating from a point somewhere nearby. We shifted along the wall, carefully treading over piles of debris floating around the floor. Moments later we reached the far end of the wall, where the vibrations were much more intense, and seemed to be emanating directly from the other side.
I tapped twice on the section of wall that was vibrating and gestured to the circular cutter. Malin nodded, lifted the cutter onto the wall, and clamped into place before beginning cutting. The saw was doing so extremely slowly, its only propulsion being an outdated motor.
As Malin steadied the saw, I turned to the door of the security station, behind which were a lot of ponies ready to kill us in an instant. Moments later, the door began to rattle and shake silently. Somepony on the other side was attempting to break it down. I should have known this wasn’t going to go smoothly.
Little by little, I could see large dents appearing in the door. I frantically looked about the room for something to bar the door with, but found nothing. I instead used myself, pushing my back against the door and bracing my rear legs against the walls. The terrorists outside continued to hammer on the door, getting closer to knocking it down.
“How much longer?” I pleaded, before remembering that Malin could not hear me.
With all my strength, I pushed against the door, but to no avail. Seconds later, a particularly brutish against shove sent me across the room, along with the door. Thinking quickly, I kicked the it back across the room where it hit one of the intruders, sending him back outside. I pushed away from the wall and launched myself at the terrorists, head first. As I flew across the room I could see Malin in my peripheral vision, gaping at the sight before him.
I planted two hooves into the helmet of the closed assailant and, feeling a satisfying crack, spun to the next in line for a similar attack. My plan backfired however, as the second intruder caught my rear legs and used my own momentum to send me right back at Malin… who turned around and kicked me square in the chest, knocking the wind out of me.
In my dazed state the pony whose helmet I’d cracked wrapped his front hooves around me, holding me in some form of deranged bear hug. Once my lungs had refilled, I briefly saw the second pony nod to Malin, who returned it, before I was dragged out of the door into the wrecked interior of the station.
I began to struggle. I flailed my legs, shaking my whole body, trying to escape the vice-like grip of the pony holding me. My front legs kicked out, knocking a shotgun from the hooves of my captor, where it spun out of the gaping hole in the side of the station.
In sheer desperation, I swung my head backwards, smashing it once more into the helmet of my captor. Once again, I heard a satisfying crack followed by an even more satisfying crunch. The pony holding my let go suddenly, trying to cover the hole in his visor spewing precious oxygen.
As the last of the air in his suit escaped, he gave one last bitter attack, two hooves connected with my back, shooting a burst of pain through my body and kicking me out of the station and into the black.
My stomach churned as I spun around, swinging my legs in attempt to counter my rotation, all the while the Celestia I was getting smaller and smaller. When I had successfully stopped spinning, I allowed a few moments for the panic to set in, and then vocalised my verdict regarding my current situation.
“Fuck.”