Haylo: Crimson

by Zarius9998

*Action Filler*

I think that near-death experience shocked Artemis back into her previous state of home-sickness, because the entire time we discussed what the next best plan of action would be, she just sat against the wall and brooded silently. I was a bit worried she would be unable to help any further in the mission, but just as we decided on what to do, she got right up and joined us.

"Alright, our desire to leave has beaten our desire to stick together so...splitting up into the same groups as before." Widow announced, "Got it? Shoot to kill every time. Take NO chances, and honestly...living over planting bombs this time." Widow grinned, "I want to celebrate Christmas without remorse this year."

We all nodded, fitting our helmets on again. We were all determined to make it out of there alive, right after blowing the place to hell. Again, we went our separate ways: Widow and I would take the second floor, while Artemis and Ghost would finish the first floor then warn all of the soldiers stationed outside of the Factory of the impending explosion. As much as we hated to separate again, we wanted to leave more.

"Let's get this done quickly and smoothly." Widow demanded as we found the passageway to the second floor, via a series of ramps and curves, "Whatever we find lurking up there, just keep running and shoot everything in the way. I've got a perfect path already set-up to allow us to constantly move."

I nodded in understanding, pulling my pistol up with one hoof and taking my combat knife out with the other. As I saw the door to the next floor begin to open ahead of us at the top of the ramp I held the knife-hoof across my chest, the knife aimed out away from me, and rested my pistol-hoof on top of that. If speed was the game, then this was the way to do it.

"Get ready!" Widow shouted, lifting her shotgun and pumping it once, "Lets give' em hell!"

'Indeed,' I thought, gaining an almost Artemis-like grin, 'LETS!'

We burst through the doorway to find, unsurprisingly, a couple more V2s awaiting our arrival. They screeched their fury at us only to be met with a magnum round through the skull as both Widow and I ignored their collapsing corpses. I quickly reloaded before sliding to a near halt to place the already primed cohesive charge on the marked spot. Yes, it was dangerous to carry them already primed, but it was the quickest way to get things done. Doing this, though, placed me a couple feet behind Widow, so as I started to catch-up, she turned a corner into a new enemy. Before I turned the corner as well, I was able to catch her diving over some kind of long and sleek appendage whipping out at her. She rolled to her feet and blasted whatever it was twice, sliding a ways before hitting the wall and ducking under another swipe. I turned the corner at this time and caught a full glimpse of the creature. It appeared to have been created from the base of a Hunter, as the armor of the massive worm-like tanks was attached to it in spots, but it was clearly something different as instead of being a lumbering monster, this was a slithering, tentacled eel...of sorts.

"Keep running!" Widow demanded, "This'll take too long to handle!"

I continued to run, jumping over a swipe from the creature while Widow dashed out of the way of another tentacle to continue on our run through the hall. I had to dodge a couple more attacks from the thing before I was seemingly out of range, but, at the sound of some sickening slithering and slurping, I looked over my shoulder to see the beast convulse and actually MORPH it's appearance into a shape which resembled any normal hunter, except this version proved to be MUCH larger, and MUCH more agile, as it quickly began to pursue us in lumbering bounds, roaring furiously.

"Well fuck." Widow half laughed, "I dub thee, Leviathan!" she shouted, slamming another explosive on the wall as she turned another corner without even slowing.

Leviathan...fitting name for this thing, actually. I turned the corner directly behind her, spotting multiple V2s of varying form ahead of us. Some looked just like the one's we had been running into, but it turned-out these things had much more than two variants. Along with two standard and two wrist-shielded V2s, I saw three which had blade-like appendages instead of actual arms, and three more which had more powerful-looking lower bodies and large, battering-ram-like heads.

"We can't slow down!" Widow reminded, "Open fire, but don't stop moving!"

As if to reinforce this statement, I heard the Leviathan inelegantly slam into the walls a ways behind us. It could probably get pretty darn fast if given the room, but seeing as it took some time to reach a good speed, AND it was terrible at making turns, it would be easy to outrun in the curving halls...at least, if the V2s weren't in our way.

"Go' it!" I shouted, taking aim.

The entire platoon of V2s screeched and began to barrel down the hall at us, while we did the same towards them. With the use of an entire clip, I was able to take-out one of the bladed V2s as well as both of the winged V2s. The rest of my bullets bounced off the shields of the purple ones and the apparently very dense skull-caps of the brown, ram-headed ones. Without the time to reload, I thought quickly, kicking my sprint into overdrive for a moment to take the lead in front of Widow, then jumped, aiming my back hooves at the front of the pack in the V2s.

I landed both hooves on the purple freak, it's shields being if no use here, and slammed my knife into it's chest as the momentum I carried caused me to slide across the hall on top of the V2, riding it like a skateboard while I reloaded my magnum. As I reached the second V2, I ripped my knife up and out, jamming a hoof down on the dead beast's head and causing us to flip into the air above the brown, ram-headed V2 which almost collided with me. As I sailed through empty air, I started to feel one of those moments Artemis always enjoyed telling me about...it was as if time itself were slowing to a near stop, and everything, every single detail, down to the small smudge on my magnum, was enhanced. All of my senses were on overdrive, forcing every last sight, sound, smell, taste, and feeling into my mind, which then spewed-out a plan of action in the time it took an electron to move...I had to admit...it was pretty damn sweet.

Seemingly in slow motion, I fired three bullets at the brown V2 as I soared over it. The first caught it's right knee, the second, it's right side as it started to stumble, and the third buried itself into that thick head of its by bursting through it's upturned jaw and barreling through to it's brain. With that down, all that was left were the two remaining red, blade-armed V2s, two more brown, ram-headed V2s, and one more purple, wrist-shielded V2. With that thought in mind, I landed and quickly spun around, readying my knife for an attack of any kind. Luckily, I was able to bring the knife up just in time to block a slash from one of the bladed V2s, though it had another bladed arm so I was forced to roll out of the way of the second swipe.

And again...THAT was when the explosions ensued. Just as I was getting back to my hooves, one of the V2s exploded at the end of the hallway and knocked me off balance, then the two others exploded and forced me onto my rump. When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was brown, and before I could realize what this meant, a powerful smack, along with a couple crunches and cracks, rang through my ears while pain rang through my entire body, from my skull and my chest to everywhere else.

The collision caused me to roll across the floor a couple of meters, pain and more pain spiking through me constantly while my ears rang. When I looked over upon stopping, I saw karma hit the ram-headed V2 like a wall of bricks as it's companion I killed a few moments ago exploded next to it while it was turning to come at me for another charge. This still left four enemies and I was not in the condition to defend myself. This realization really sank in when, with the alert of a pair of inpony screeches, the two bladed V2s started to come down upon me with their blades...thought I was as good as mince meat, there.

"Fuck no!"

The two V2s were blasted off their feet by one, close range blast from Widow's shotgun. One of them was dead on the spot, but the other began to get back up, whining in anger and pain.

"Good, fucking, night!" Widow shouted, delivering a skull-crunching kick to the side of it's head before blasting another shot into it's body, "Pip! Get up!" she ordered, "I know you're hurt, but you can't afford to be! The Leviathan is on it'a way!" Widow quickly kicked the dead V2s away so their blue explosions would't affect her.

Through my cracked visor, I slowly started to force myself back to my hooves, ignoring the pain in my chest and jaw as best as I could. Looking to my right, I clearly saw the Leviathan almost halfway down the hall to us, and quickly speeding up as it shook the foundation with every step. Putting it out of my mind, I grabbed my knife, ignoring my lost magnum as it was further behind me and closer to the Leviathan.

"Oh shit!"

I snapped my head back to Widow, wincing when the sudden movement sent a spike of pain through my jaw, to see she was directly in the line of impact that the last ram-headed V2 was heading. Her shotgun would be useless against that thing's head. Thinking on my hooves, I took sloppy aim and pitched my knife at the thing, hoping to do something that would knock it off course. To my luck, I did more than that, I lodged the knife into one of it's legs, RIGHT into a joint. This sudden intrusion into it's body forced the monster to collapse mid stride and roll painfully across the ground, coming to a complete stop right at Widow's feet.

"Well fuck." she casually aimed and blasted it point blank with her shotgun before removing my knife from it's leg, "Let's go!"

I nodded, grabbing my side and limping towards Widow as best I could. She met me halfway and started to help me along while the last brown V2 exploded. Those things really got annoying, exploding after death and all...

"Fuck, we're not ganna make it!" she shouted, the frightening roar of the Leviathan reaching our ears, not far behind us. Making a somewhat painful decision, I let go of Widow and charged ahead quickly, making ten painful yet far steps before lunging and rolling, landing not far from the door, but forcing pain all through my body yet again. Luckily, Widow was at my side in an instant and she started dragging me to the door, "Jesus, kid..." she muttered, looking down at me, "Wait...where's that last bug-thing?"

As if it was waiting for this, the remaining V2 dropped from the ceiling and latched onto Widow's back, it's wings starting to buzz while it gripped her tightly.

"Gah! Let go you little shit!" Widow shouted, struggling to get it off of her. Obviously it ignored her pleas, beginning to lift her with what appeared to be a wry grin. This thing thought it had won, but Widow suddenly stopped struggling and instead seemed to relax entirely. I was about to think she had given up, but she, out of no where, just slipped through the thing's grasp and fell to the ground, landing with one arm limp and the other pulling out her pistol. The bugger quickly put the shields up, though, and blocked every bullet, landing in front of Widow with the grin seeming to reappear.

"Damn..." Widow frantically tried to reload with just her one hand, but ended-up dropping her pistol, "Damn!"

The V2 was about to raise it's weapon, a Plasma Rifle, in triumph, but Widow saw something that it did not and dove to the ground, covering her head. When I myself looked behind the V2, I saw the doors which Widow and I had been trying to reach begin to slide open, the tip of a very large rifle barrel poking through. When I looked past that, Artemis was standing there, holding Undertaker in a ready stance with a sadistic and joyful smile while Ghost was standing behind her and bracing her body for the recoil. Damn bug didn't even know what hit it...

With it's signature sonic boom of a blast, Undertaker's bullet turned the V2 into a pile of smoking goo. The bombs didn't even explode; the bullet wiped them out before they could arm themselves. Of course, the bullet wasn't done there. Switching my sight back to the Leviathan, I saw a HUGE chunk of it suddenly explode and become ripped apart when the bullet hit it; Artemis definitely had her Armor piercing rounds in. The monstrous beast roared loudly in pain, falling to the ground and sliding down the hall towards us because of the momentum it carried while it was still running.

"Goddamn, that was close!" Widow shouted, grunting and flinching when her snapped her shoulder back into place before picking up her pistol, "Now let's get the fuck out of this thing's way!" She grabbed me again and started to drag me through the doorway as the Leviathan continued to surge closer. When we passed the doorway, it turned-out that it was another ramp-way between the floors, and that both Artemis and Ghost were forced backwards down the ramp, since they were in a tangled mess at the bottom of it.

"WHY do you need a gun like that!?" Ghost shouted, hopping back to his feet.

Artemis rolled back onto her front hooves before kicking up and landing on her back hooves, brushing herself off, "You know me: Overdoing stuff is what I love!" she started to laugh, but suddenly stopped, bringing a hoof up to her chin in thought, "Hmm...that sounds very dirty...I gatta remember that for a later time, hehe."

Widow shook her head and smacked both of them in the back of the head before grabbing me again and dragging me further down the ramps, "We gatta get out of this rapway or we'll become a mixed stain on the ground from that giant pile of worms!"

At first, Artemis and Ghost just stood there and stared at us in confusion, but as we rounded the second ramp, the mangled Leviathan burst through into the ramp way, goo, slime, and debris flying everywhere as it started to collapse the ramp system.

"HOLY FUCK!" Ghost immediately sprinted down the ramps after us.

Artemis, though, grabbed Undertaker and was forced to jump off the ramp walkways into the space between the ramps. The ramps were all attached to the walls, so...she just fell down five flights of ramps. Ghost, on the other hoof, managed to reach us as Widow was dragging me off the last ramp. Thankfully, Artemis had already opened the door for us and we all quickly ran through just as the entire room practically collapsed in on itself, with the Leviathan both on top of, and underneath all of it.

Widow set me up against a wall and leaned over, taking quick and heavy breaths, "Seriously...we all need vacations..."

Artemis, with the tip of Undertaker, poked a bit of the Leviathan which had been detached from the main body and had ended-up out there with us, then giggled like a little filly when it wiggled, "I wanna keep it..." she muttered, slinging her enormous rifle around her and picking up the somewhat slimy thing into her hooves, "I'll call it Sluggy."

The rest of us, at that instant, all facehoofed at the same time.

Comments

[colemcgrass]

AWE.SOME.

[Zarius9998]

86171 Oh no-nono! Don't encourage h-HMF!

Artemis- Really now! C'mere, then...

Me- Don't trust her she's just trying to be a !

Artemis- Shut up! ...

[yusha]

OOOH MY I TOOTAL FORGOT TO READ THIS STORY. wait this story is a week old. oh my, my laptop is open for more then a week

[Silverstein]

Now she has a pet...

Silver out!