The Runners

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 28

Rainbow Dash sighed as she found herself staring into Flashpoint’s eyes.

As a mare that could force mana to flow through her muscles, she found the fact that she couldn’t do anything about that stare unfair. Lifting a car? With enough mana and time, no problem. Flying faster than a car? Easy if she’s standing on a leyline. Punching a ghost? That comes with the territory. Meeting Flashpoint’s stare as she waited for an explanation of something that was none of her business?

That one tripped her up.

Sure, the fact that she didn’t say anything nearly tore the team in half during the “Gem’s a technomancer” fiasco, and if the group knew where she stood, it might have made things better but…

Well...she probably owed Gem the explanation, at least.

Still, she didn’t have a right to ask. She was just some corp plant, dropped into her team by a dragon. A dragon that didn’t deserve to know anything about her either. Yet here they both were, pushing their noses where they didn’t belong, and asking her to answer.

She had no right.

Yet despite that, Rainbow found herself staring into her eyes and couldn’t help but answer.

“Okay, look,” she said, as the six of them sat around the safehouse. “I didn’t have to be a Runner. I had a real SIN, but it’s been gone for a while now,” she said, thinking back to the first time she met with the Belgrade family. “I could have gotten a real, wage-slave job. My Dad runs a small weapons company, a Marés subsidiary, and I could have gotten a job there shooting guns for a living.”

The others watched her without saying anything, and Rainbow became faintly aware of everypony that wasn’t as lucky as her staring back.

“I thought it was...boring, alright?” she said. “That and I watched one too many of the Daring Do trids, before I got it into my head that I could be a Runner. I made a deal with the Belgrade family, they erased me, I did some jobs for them, and next thing I know, I met with you guys for my first freelancing jobs.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “That’s the deal. I’m in this for fun. Not the money, not because I have to, because I want to. The cheque at the end of this job is just more money I can spend on more stuff to keep Running.”

There was a long silence in the safehouse for a second before Steel stood. She opened her mouth to say something, but then sat back down.

“Look,” Rainbow said. “I know most of you are only doing this because you have to, but I wanted something more to my life than being a wage-slave. I know some of you would rather not do that. I get it. No judgment here.”

No pony said anything for a long moment before Flashpoint suddenly broke the silence. “Oh, hey! Spike’s calling!”

Gem threw the call onto the holo-table, and everypony quickly breathed a sigh of relief, while Rainbow released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Oh well, the awkward silence was over now, and she could get back to the fun part.

“Ah, ladies, so good to see you all. We’re getting close to the end of our contact. There is only one more job for you. Unfortunately, this is also the largest job. This job is divided into two major parts. The first part is what you’re more familiar with at this point. You’re going to collect another gem, much like the ones you’ve collected before. It’s a ruby, with the same magical properties.”

The team nodded, expecting as much.

“The problem lies in where it’s held,” Spike said. “It’s currently in a Marés undersea research lab in the Celestial Sea.”

“That…” Web began. “How is it accessed?”

“A fair question. The entrance is disguised as an oil rig, and the ‘drill’ is, in fact, the elevator access.”

“So, there’s no way we can even approach the facility without raising kill-on-sight suspicion?” Gem asked.

Spike nodded. “Luckily, the entire lab has minimal security, as it’s hidden mostly by secrecy. However, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, they do have some security in a different location which is nearby. Once you get to the lab proper, you’ll have a little over twenty minutes to locate the gem. Once located, you can contact me at this number, and I will personally extract you with a team of my best security operatives.”

“Personally?” Steel asked.

“This last job is incredibly important,” the dragon replied.

“Important enough that you’re not only going to pull us out on your own, but you’ve done most of the legwork for us?” Web asked.

“That important,” Spike said. “What’s more, the job must be completed within two days, before the stroke of midnight, Canterlot time.”

“The stroke of midnight?” Flashpoint asked. “That’s…”

“A term reserved for magical rituals, yes,” Spike said. “I’m not going to lie to you ladies; this is big. Very big. If the job is not completed before the midnight deadline, then you won’t have to worry about not getting paid, because there’s a good chance none of us will be here.”

Rainbow Dash blinked.

“So…” Web said, and Dash could see her putting the numbers together in her head. “The second part of the job is stopping that ritual?”

Spike shook his head. “It can’t be stopped,” he said. “We’re just going to have to deal with the aftermath.”

For a second, the dragon seemed as though he were staring off into the sky, and Rainbow Dash was sure that he was almost reminiscing about something.

“I’ll see you all soon. Do everything you can to be ready to finish in two days.”

“Understood, sir!” Flashpoint said.

The call ended, and Web immediately stood up. “I need to get to work; I need to do all the legwork I can if we’re going to make it out alive.”

Steel stood up. “I’ll restock our ammunition. We’re all still running our normal weapons, right?”

“I probably should upgrade my revolver,” Candy said. “Maybe something that fires a little faster.”

“Submachine gun, got it,” she said, before making a note on an AR document she opened. “What about you?”

The remaining mage shook her head. “I’m good, this is a backup anyway,” Flashpoint said.

“Alright, and you take care of your own guns, right, Wingmare?”

Rainbow smirked. “Always.”

Steel nodded before stepping away.

Gem sighed. “I’m going to start a VR dive, look for anything I can dig up on this lab. Make sure I get something to eat and drink before the end of the day.”

Flashpoint nodded. “Will do, I’m going to study some spells, I’m nearly on a breakthrough for some of them.”

Before long, Rainbow Dash was the only pony left in the room.

She sighed and sat back to relax. Once they were ready to go, then she’d do her part.

<><><|><><>

Rainbow inhaled through the nose, exhaled from the mouth, and quickly settled into her ready position, a wide stance with her hind legs spread and her weight low to the ground. She breathed one more time, in through the nose, out through the mouth, before exploding into movement.

Her form started facing the left, striking hard at a simulated enemy as she ran through the techniques. Her punches and kicks led her through the form, spinning around as she faced new foes. The snap of her techniques spoke of power and speed, while the fluidity of her motions left her to dance across the floor. Her hind hooves slid across the floor, tracing the familiar I-shaped template that so many forms followed.

As she came to the top of the I, she let loose a loud “Kya!” before spinning a full 270 degrees, and striking at the next “opponent,” and then coming back to the other side.

She was about in the middle of her workout, the fourth of eight different forms that she knew, working on her technique, and getting a cardio workout all at the same time. She figured it was the best way to pass the day or so it would take for the others to finish the legwork they needed to do.

Rainbow filled every practiced move with all the power she would give an actual fight, pushing herself at every strike and block.

She gave her second “Kya!” of the form, and finished with her last four techniques, before exhaling through the mouth and returning to her ready position.

Her comm began to ring, and she walked hovered over, checking the glassy face of the device. Gem was on the other side.

She flipped on a pair of AR glasses. “Hey, Gem.”

“Wingmare,” Gem replied. “It’s time.”

“Already?”

“Already?” Gem asked back. “It’s been a day. We have nine hours to get there, get the ruby and get out.”

“Nine hours? That’s plenty of time.”

“It’s a six-hour trip there!”

“Ah, that’s the problem.”

Gem sighed. “Look, Candy has a smuggler friend who can get us to the rig, but we need to be ready to go. Meet us down at Flashpoint’s safehouse in thirty minutes, alright?”

“I’ll be there,” she said.

Rainbow ended the call, and pocketed her comm, before making sure that her duffle bag was ready to go. Inside of the bag thick foam plate were carefully laid and lovingly filled with her Reigner Superwarhawk heavy pistols, and the pieces of her collapsable HK Dragonslayer long-range sniper.

Sure enough, the carbide parts of the sniper rifle stared back at her, ready to go as always.

“Probably won’t need you,” she said. “But it’s good to know you’re there.”

With her weapons, what little they were, secured and ready to go, she hoisted the bag onto her back and took off.

Most pegasi didn’t bother flying these days. Most of them could very easily call a taxi and move faster than they could fly, but that’s what made Rainbow Dash different. She raced across the neon-filled sky, streaking between the towers in short bursts of incredible speed.

It’s how she learned that she had Adept skills. She always excelled at flying and flight races, and her parents frequently signed her up for races at her request. She raced in each one and typically won the races with minimal effort.

And then came the day she literally caused a sonic boom.

She put herself in a hospital for a week after that, but honestly, it was the beginning of how she discovered her magic. By channeling the mana into her wings, rather than in a spell like Flashpoint or Web, she could drive forward at incredible speeds. For a second or two at a time, at least, before her wings would rip themselves apart.

Her wings carefully flapped, filled with magic as she began to head for the safehouse. This would tire her out fairly quickly, but given how long it would take to get to the target, it wouldn’t matter. She could grab a nap on whatever transport Candy was setting up.

She slid into a glide, trying to conserve energy before shooting forward again. She danced across the updrafts of the city, soaring in the setting sun. She cut past a few corner offices, blowing raspberries at anyone she could, before she continued on her way, smirking to herself.

She flew quickly, before seeing the safehouse appear in the corner of her vision. With a smile, she pulled herself into a dive. She approached the safehouse and incredible speed and smiled before suddenly pulling up. She slowed immediately as her hooves hit the ground and she skid to a halt just in front of the van.

Both Gem and Steel glanced at her, before Gem checked the time. “Well, you did make it in time.”

“I thought ya said you couldn’t fly that fast?” Steel said.

“Not if I want to stay awake,” Rainbow answered. “We taking the Van?”

“We are,” Gem said.

“Alright,” Rainbow said, before crawling into the back, and falling asleep.

For the next six hours, Rainbow Dash dropped in and out of consciousness, being only vaguely aware that they changed vehicles at one point. Even later, she only barely remembered the fact that she got up to move into a plane of some kind. Still, she rested, gathering her strength.

Finally, she was shaken awake.

“Wingmare, Wingmare, it’s time,” Steel said.

Roused, she got up, and checked her bag.

“Okay!” Gem said, shouting to be heard over the small plane’s engine. “Here’s the plan, one last time. We’re not really able to go in quietly. The best we can do is hit the personnel on the rig hard and fast enough that they don’t have the time to sound the alarm. Chances are accessing the elevator will sound an alarm anyway, especially if the security system is as good as I think it is.

“Once we get to the elevator, we have twenty minutes to get the target and leave, according to our Ringo. That is not a lot of time. Luckily, I have located some basic floorplans of the lab.”

The plans, such as they were, popped up on her AR glasses. The floorplan had been censored into oblivion. Not a single room was labeled in any meaningful way, showing only three branching wings coming off of a single, hub-like room.

“We’re going to be fighting our way through every room in this building. This means we’ll need to split up as soon as we get down there to cover the ground in time. We’ll have to break up into pairs as soon as we get down there to cover the most space as fast as possible, without leaving us unprotected.”

At this point, Rainbow figured she knew everything she needed to. With a faint smile, she reached into her bag and began to pull out the pieces of her rifle, screwing them together in quick, practiced motions. Finally, she attached the suppressor, and slid the magazine home.

“Wingmare…” Gem said, breaking her reverie as she prepared the Dragonslayer. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to clear the rig,” she said.

“We’re supposed to do that quietly,” Gem said.

“It will be,” the pegasus replied with a smile.

“That thing is not quiet,” Steel argued.

“It is from this distance when it gets covered by a plane engine,” she said. “Besides, there’s no one to sound the alarm if there aren’t any witnesses.”

Everyone in the plane cabin collectively sighed.

“Wingmare, that’s a—”

“What? Sorry! Can’t hear you!” she said, before leaping out of the plane’s side door. Her wings caught the wind in a second, and her momentum carried her into a climb. She shot up into the air, above the sea, which shone in the light of a full moon. She breathed in deep, smiling as clear skies faced her, with thick, heavy clouds at her back.

“Wingmare! We’re one the same comm line, you Featherbrain!” Steel yelled in her ear.

“Yeah, and this is the best way to clear a landing zone. You glide in quiet, I take the shots from up here, where nopony’s going to see me.”

“We’re not worried about anyone seeing you, dear,” Gem said. “We’re more concerned about them seeing other bodies.”

But Rainbow Dash only smiled. “Like I said, no witnesses.”

She leveled off, and shouldered her rifle.

The heavy rifle, normally supported by the bipod at the rifle’s front, swayed for a moment. There would be no way she could shoot straight from this position this high up.

Except for, you know, magic.

As she poured mana into her arms to strengthen them, her aim immediately snapped into place. Then, with a smile, she glanced down the scope of her rifle. A security pony’s head, disguised rather poorly as a rig worker, wandered into her crosshair, before she squeezed the trigger and put him down.

The poor guy didn’t even hear the sound of the rifle until after he dropped to the ground.

Everyone else on the rig merely heard thunder, and while the more perceptive of them might notice that there wasn’t any lightning, Dash would very quickly take care of them. Letting her arms go slack, she shot off to a nearby cloud, before giving it a swift kick.

The cloud rumbled, almost as if it were angry, and lightning began to spark. With a smile, she turned back to the rig, steadied her arms, and fired again.

Another pony dropped, almost a mile away.

She turned to face another and watched as he glanced out at the clouds that sat behind her. The cloud beside her flashed with lightning, leaving the hairs of her fur and mane standing on end.

She kicked the cloud again, earning a significant flash of lightning and a roar that nearly deafened her. The reek of ozone filled her nostrils as she aimed, and fired again, turning another head into red mist.

She dashed down the line of clouds, running parallel along the storm, before slamming into another puff of vapor. Lightning discharged as she rammed it, before and Rainbow quickly lined up another shot. Another squeeze, another dropped security pony.

“How many ponies did you say were on the rig?” Rainbow asked.

“What?” Gem’s voice came in, the comm bead crackling in her ear from all the nearby lightning.

“How many ponies?” she asked again.

“I never said—” she began.

“Best guess?”

Gem sighed on the other end of the line, crackling through the static around her.“Thirty or so?”

“Twenty-six to go!” She said before she moved to the next cloud.

She built her smokescreen of storm clouds, using the thunder to hide her shots, suppressed though they were. No pony would be able to pick her out amongst all the noise, and they’d certainly wouldn’t be able to see her against the darkness.

She picked off six more ponies in quick succession before she dropped the empty magazine into her bag, and reloaded. She had just enough magazines to take out Gem’s rough estimate of security ponies without having to refill them, so, hopefully, she’d be able to clear everything before the plane dropped off the others.

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice said over, cutting in and out next to the wild electricity that shot around her. “We’re going to begin gliding in; you don’t have much time.”

Wingmare smiled.

“Don’t you worry about me!” she said. “I’m riding the storm.”

“What does that even mean?” Flashpoint asked.

Wingmare landed on a cloud, one of the ones that looked the least volatile, before she scanned the rig once more. The scope, along with her own magically-enhanced vision, showed her everything she needed. The main platform was spotless, with the occasional blast of red and corpse that marked the place that a body had been standing.

She didn’t see anypony else, but she’d been a Runner long enough to know better.

She grabbed her cloud and pulled down with her as she moved her position lower to get a better look at the platforms beneath.

“You know, Wingmare,” Flashpoint said, much clearer now that Rainbow was away from the lightning storm she agitated. “I really wish you’d be a little more cautious some times.”

Sure, she was a little reckless right now, but she had her team’s back. She scanned the platform, sending a few more shots at anything that moved. “Oh, don’t be so hard on me, Flashpoint,” she said, checking the next platform and dropping three more ponies. “You know I’m going to be with you on this job and every other job.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a second, Rainbow Dash didn’t notice. She began to line up her next shot.

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice said, cutting through the silence. “You know this is our last job, right?”

Rainbow froze.

“I’m done after this; I’m fairly certain we all are.”

Rainbow let loose a shaky breath, readjusted, and fired before reloading.

They...they were moving on. This was the last job she had with them.

She cleared the next platform, and the next one, leaving the platform clear. “I think I got everypony on the oil rig. We’re good to go,” she said, her voice sounding a little hollow to her own ears, despite her best effort.

“Thanks, Wingmare.”

“I have their backs,” Rainbow thought, “but I’m not so sure they have mine anymore…”

Comments

[Iron Comet]

Dash just got news she didnt really want.

[djthomp]

“I thought it was...boring, alright?” she said. “That and I watched one too many of the Daring Do trids, before I got it into my head that I could be a Runner. I made a deal with the Belgrade family, they erased me, I did some jobs for them, and next thing I know, I met with you guys for my first freelancing jobs.”

That is very Dash. I bet Spike already knows, though.

“That important,” Spike said. “What’s more, the job must be completed within two days, before the stroke of midnight, Canterlot time.”

Interesting.

“So…” Web said, and Dash could see her putting the numbers together in her head. “The second part of the job is stopping that ritual?”

Spike shook his head. “It can’t be stopped,” he said. “We’re just going to have to deal with the aftermath.”

So, Nightmare Moon time? I don't remember for sure if Luna has been mentioned yet.

She put herself in a hospital for a week after that, but honestly, it was the beginning of how she discovered her magic. By channeling the mana into her wings, rather than in a spell like Flashpoint or Web, she could drive forward at incredible speeds. For a second or two at a time, at least, before her wings would rip themselves apart.

Got to be careful with it, then.

“That thing is not quiet,” Steel argued.

“It is from this distance when it gets covered by a plane engine,” she said. “Besides, there’s no one to sound the alarm if there aren’t any witnesses.”

True!

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice said, cutting through the silence. “You know this is our last job, right?”

Rainbow froze.

She's good at many things, just not accepting change.