Chapter 15: Containment Lost
“Talk to me, Captain,” Celestia commanded into her headset. She paced the castle’s communication center, the afternoon well underway. With only a few hours to put together the operation, she was beginning to wonder if it had been wise to raid the CED so soon. There were too many variables, so many things they hadn't planned on. “What is happening?” she asked, hoping for more details.
“I don’t know,” the Captain’s voice could be heard grunting over the speakers. The mountain rock was too thick for a video feed, but low band audio could still make it to the castle's communication center, a small roof full of monitors and feeds tucked away in a remote corridor. “We sent your informant in, but then something struck the door from inside. It’s jammed.”
“This isn’t good,” Professor Lakeshore told the worried alicorn. “Dr. Trotter is key to exposing the Defense Coalition. If anything happened to him in there…” He didn’t bother to continue.
“T'was was a mistake, sending him in alone,” Luna told Celestia. “We must get him out of there.”
"I know," she admitted. "I was hoping Director Haze would cooperate." Celestia looked around the center, the ponies at her disposal waiting for her to make her decision. They always were (but that was nothing new). She locked eyes on Brass Buckle, the stallion on one of his few excursions out of the royal bunker. He gave the Princess a small but firm nod of his head.
“Break it down,” she instructed into the headset. “Get Dr. Trotter out of there and secure that lab. I want Director Haze and whatever is in there recovered at all cost.”
Shuffling could be heard on the other end. “Torchwood! Clementine! Get the ram! Break her down.”
Wham!
The sound of steel clashing against steel reverberated over the radio, ringing like a great bell.
“Put your flanks into it!”
Wham!
Celestia was pacing again. “This isn’t good. We need eyes in there now,” she muttered.
Wham!
“Do you think Dr. Haze would try anything stupid?” she heard Romulus whispered into her sister's ear. The tension in the air could be cut with a sword.
“She hath made it this far. I’m not sure what she would do if she has the Defense Coalition on her side,” Luna answered in a restless tone.
Wham!
“She’s about to go!” the Captain could be heard.
“Whatever the outcome,” Celestia closed her eyes and asked quietly, “please let it be over quick.” Words she would very soon regret.
Wham! Thump!
“We’re in!” the Captain yelled through this radio. “Royal Guard, get down on the– fucking stars!”
Suddenly the sound of screams and weapon fire assaulted the communication center, ebbing from the speakers, a concert of epic proportions.
“Weapons free! Shoot! Shoot it!”
Then more gunfire and screaming. They mixed like instruments of an orchestra, rising and falling and moving as one, a ballad of terror, and horror, and agony. Sounds of something being torn, wet and dripping, followed loud slurping. And then it stopped - everything all together. No screams. No firing. Nothing.
Celestia slowly pulled the headset off her head, turning to the terminal beside her, eyes wide and out of focus. “No,” she crowed.
Connection lost, the screen flashed.
“No, no, no.” She covered her face, letting the headset fall out of her hooves and clatter across the floor. “Not again,” Celestia gasped. “Not his again.” It was a cruel trick, a masterful deception concocted by the powers of the universe that be that wished to torment her. It was like Ponyville all over again. The comms link was gone.
Stardust exited the elevator to biocontainment level four, the doors silently sliding shut behind her. Everything was silent save for the buzzing of the lights overhead, casting their thin shadows over the featureless corridor.
“Trotter!” she called to no reply. She strolled down the corridor peering in the empty labs, the lights inside off. “I found it, just like you said, a private server. I found everything, Defense Coalition official orders and all,” she called again, to which she received no reply. “Trotter?”
It was only then she stumbled upon the door lying in the hall, it's hinges shorn. Most of the lights inside were destroyed or flickering sporadically, leaving the room in a transition of darkness. But what she saw was enough.
“Oh, sweet Celestia!” she cried, jumping back.
Trotter lay on the floor of the outer lab, his coat and vest completely soaked from a pool of blood that painted the ground. There were other puddles of red, too. The barrier to the containment lab was shattered, equipment littering the ground around the room. Lights beyond it were off, the broken window a portal of blackness. Three streaks from the other crimson stains led to the darkness of the inner lab.
Stardust knelt over Trotter, the sticky hemoglobin covering her hooves as she rolled him over, his body limp as a ragdoll. “No, no, no, no,” she cried in revulsion. A large chunk of Trotter’s neck was missing, bubbles of blood frothing at the hole, a glimmer of life still remaining in his eyes. His lips moved slowly and silently as if he was trying to speak. Stardust leaned closer, cocking an ear. She could just barely make out words.
“Still…here,” he gurgled softly, air rasping from his exposed windpipe.
“I've got you. Don’t try to talk, Trotter. Just hold on,” whimpered Stardust, cradling his head, her lab coat stained a bright red. “I’m here, Trotter. Stay with me. What happened?”
“SHE...is...still...here.”
From the dark inner lab came a low growl, Stardust looking up from where she held Trotter. It sounded like something was moving around inside.
“Just hold on, Trotter,” she begged, gently eased his head down. “I’ll get the guards. I’m going to call for help.”
The unicorn scrambled for the telephone on the bulkhead next to the shattered barrier, the phone swinging from its cord.
“No…” wheezed Trotter, reaching out a hoof in desperation as Stardust tried the phone. She held the phone to her ear, whipping the cradle to try and get a tone, receiving nothing.
“Stardust,” the phone crackled in her hooves.
The mare screamed, dropping the phone. Two glowing green eyes were peering at her from the ceiling beyond the dark lab.
Come to me, Stardust. I hunger.
In an instant, a dark figure reached out and pulled the unsuspecting Stardust through the shattered window, upwards. The pony let out a horrified scream, trying desperately to keep a grip on the wall. Futilely she clung to the frame, struggling to pull herself free from the embrace of the creature. Broken shards of glass still lodged in the frame cut deep into her hooves, causing blood to seep from the wounds. She only pulled harder driven by an animalistic fear, screaming desperately for help, though no one except the quickly fading Trotter could hear her.
Just before Trotter’s vision faded completely to black and his senses departed him, the shadowy figure heaved the screaming Stardust upward into the darkness with a beastly strength. From the gloom came a wet, tearing noise as the pony’s terrifying shrieks finally ceased, leaving only the sound of slurping.
Trotter, there is much to do. We will need more, many more within our ranks. A Queen needs her subjects.
Deep in the Canterlot tunnels, the engineers and laborers were busily working on completing the new tram line.
Dust filled the air while dim bulbs overhead cast thin halos of light that struggled to pierce the gloom. The giant tunneling machine never ceased its rumbling, carving rock both day and night while workers maintained its various parts and functions.
A burly unicorn in an orange reflective vest made his way away from the noisy tunneler and back down the freshly carved tunnel. Clipped to his hard hat, a lamp cast a beam through the dust while a mask covering his muzzle filtered the dust.
The unicorn stopped at a junction and removed his mask and goggles while he leaned against the wall of rock. He beat the particles from his mask and vest, retrieving a pack of cigarettes from a pocket. Sliding one behind his ear, he hung another in the corner of his mouth. With a simple spell, the tip of the cigarette ignited casting a dim orange glow through the dust. He inhaled deeply before placing the pack back. He could only spare a minute or two before he needed to be back, and he was savoring every second. He exhaled, twin jets of smoke ebbing from his nostrils that mixed with the dust.
About to turn back and head down toward the tunneler, the lights of the main tunnel unexpectedly went out.
“Dammit,” he muttered under his breath, stopping and pulling out a portable radio. He looked to see the tunneler still chugging along. “Hey Corona, something tripped the lights down the main junction again,” he said, depressing the transmit button.
He paused, waiting for a reply. There came no response. “Corona, it's Jack Hammer, you reading me. Something tripped the main tunnel lights.” All that he received was static. “Great,” he sighed, banging the radio for good measure.
“Hey, boss,” he called on the radio again. “It’s Jack on the digger crew, come in.” A voice crackled in return this time.
“Yea. What is it?”
“Something tripped the lights in the main tunnel again, and I can't get ahold of Corona in electrical.”
“Probably the rock blocking the signal. Go try and see what it is will ya. We’re kinda backed up over here, and I’m not sure I can spare a hoof. Think you can find the main wire junction?”
“Yea,” sighed Jack Hammer. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, mate. I owe you. And if you see Corona tell her to switch out her radio for a fresh one.”
Slipped the radio back into his vest, the stallion extinguished his cigarette stub against the rock. He yanked the one behind his ear and stuck it in his mouth before clicking on his headlamp. "Darn right you owe me," he huffed and entered the dark tunnel.
The bright light cut a clear path down the new rails. Jack made his way through the black, pulverized rock hardly larger than peas crunching beneath his hooves. Lighting the cigarette in his mouth with his magic, he took a long drag, stopping after some distance at a small alcove cut into the side of the tunnel.
A red bulb shone from a metal box bolted to the rock, wires trailing from its side. “Corona? Hello?” he called, his voice echoing down the emptiness of the tunnel, the light from his helmet illuminating the alcove. Jack Hammer stepped onto the ledge and examined the metal junction box. He pulled the main power switch first. There was a loud click, but nothing happened. He pulled it several times to no avail.
“I don’t get paid enough for this,” he murmured. “Where is Corona?”
Jack Hammer pulled his portable radio out once more. “Hey boss, come in.” There came nothing but static. “Boss, you reading me?” Still nothing.
“Damn,” he said, setting the radio down on the ground. “Come on,” he growled, hitting the side of the junction box. He tried the lights again to the same result.
Atop his hard hat, the lantern blinked several times, then went out, leaving him standing in the glow of red light coming from the junction box. “Stars, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he cussed, pulling off his hard hat and checking his lamp.
He tried but could not get it back on. Before he could throw the hard hat in frustration, a sound caught his ear. He could hear something. It sounded like someone coming down the tunnel.
Hammer hopped off the ledge and looked down the tunnel, the only light coming from the red bulb on the junction box and the glow from his cigarette. He saw no other light coming down the shaft. “Hello?” he called.
He was pretty sure he had heard someone walking toward him, the sound of their hooves crunching on the ground. Turning around, he faced the other direction. The sound, it was coming from the opposite direction, from the way to the CED. Nopony should have been down there; the work crews had finished months ago.
“Corona, is that you?” Nopony replied though the hoofsteps continued. “You guys had better not be screwing with me,” he warned. “This isn’t funny. Who's there?”
A deep and low growl answered.
Jack Hammer backed up against the junction box. Two glowing green eyes shone from the roof of the tunnel, bathed in darkness. His legs trembled, his back to the corner. The color drained from his dirty face.
“Sweet Celestia,” he exclaimed, his cigarette falling from his mouth and rolling down his vest. Two other pairs of glowing eyes materialized out the dark, a light blue. A voice seemed to fill his head.
Take the bounty of this world that is now yours, my subjects. Be baptized in red splendor and claim what is ours.
Jack Hammer's fallen lamp flickered to life, exposing the creatures in all their wonderful horror. He managed a short shriek as the green-eyed creature lunged from where it clung to the rock, his neck exposed.
It was the perfect target. The treasure they sought lay just below the skin, a river of sticky, sweet life.
They would drain him of every drop.
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Is this story still going? I am sorry to ask, but this story looks very interesting and I don't want to get commited if it is not going to be finished.
Is this story still going? I am sorry to ask, but this story looks very interesting and I don't want to get commited if it is not going to be finished.
10023315
It’s definitely still going. There is still over 70,000 words and about 20 chapters still sitting on my computer. All they need is last minute editing, which actually takes a while. I might split the chapters into smaller sections in order to get them out at a faster pace. I’ve just been so focused on other projects, but don’t worry, I’ll have more out this week.
10024295
Thank you so much for answering! I will start reading now.
10025026
Honestly I have struggled to get to this point. It has all been a buildup to when the story really starts, and I have worried I have spent too much time on the buildup. Glad you are enjoying it though. Expect a chapter soontm.