The Freelancers

by OverHeart

Chapter 52 - Breach the Tunnel

Sheet Rock woke up to an empty crawlspace with Access looking down on her with a goofy smirk on his face. The sound of shouting and gunfire was very prominent, although thankfully none of it was as of yet directed at them there was the sense that they could come under fire at any moment.

“What took you so long, forget how to jack out in your old age?” he joked, offering her his hoof.

“You’re one to talk, that little stunt back there could’ve gone way worse than it did!” Sheet Rock shot back, grabbing Access’ hoof to help pull herself up and out of the crawlspace. “Besides, some of us spend time in the real world too and deep dives are a little harder on us normal ponies.”

“Oh get a room already!” Scarlet said, howling with laughter. “Actually scratch that, we’re gonna be in trouble pretty soon.”

“Is this really the time to be trying to pair us up, Scarlet?”

“Probably not, but let’s face it, you two do a pretty good job of that on your own!” she said jokingly, before her tone turned frank. “Your two friends ran off somewhere just now by the way, they probably got wind of that pony you’re after, Riot.”

“How’d they find him, we didn’t have the time or resources to extract anything from their network, not without help.”

“They didn’t say, in fact they didn’t say much in general and just up and left.”

Gray stepped forward. “I know what you’re thinking, you want to go after them and exact revenge. But trust me on this one, you don’t want to go out there right now. Those marines out there would make short work of you, of any of us, so just stay put.”

Neither of them wanted to stay put as Gray had so eloquently put it, but as the scrap shack they were inside was rocked by the shockwave of an explosion nearby, they reluctantly agreed. Apart from Gray, they were the only ponies that were armed and capable of defending themselves with any degree of effectiveness.

They looked over what weapons they had with them, wishing they had the van with them, and gave Bulwark and Scarlet their sidearms, keeping their primary weapons to themselves. Access had a simple twelve gauge shotgun to hoof, compliments of the trip to Ammo Can’s place while Sheet Rock had her “Smart” SMG that could track targets as they moved, lessening the amount of time she’d need to aim even if it was a little complicated to handle at times.

Both were loath to admit their weapons would perform poorly against the marine’s composite armor, but at this point, any weapon was better than no weapon.

---

“Sir, we have some news!”

“Talk.” Riot responded without any care on his voice.

“The comms building has been occupied by an unknown group of ponies, likely the secondary intruders. Forward scouts report two have left the building and are heading this way! One Mare, one Stallion.”

“Have the forward scouts confirm their identities for me, I need to know who they are.”

Riot watched as his subordinate talked into a radio for a few moments, growing more impatient by the moment. In the distance what was left of his group fought with the invading marines and their tools of war. At first it just seemed like they’d drop a squad and leave, but it soon became clear that Equi-Tech wanted to utterly crush them.

The gunships that escorted the troop transports hadn’t left yet and had continued to take potshots at anything that wasn’t a marine, irregardless of whether it was an actual threat or not. Riot had really come to understand how Equi-Tech dealt with their problems, and even though he was but a morally gray mercenary, even he could see they acted like they were being commanded by a child having a tantrum.

Obviously, Bright Sun had lost his patience long ago and was now content to take out his child-like sense of justice out on everything within reach. He was known to be a poor loser, and Riot had made sure that he would stay that way.

“Sir, the scout’s report has just come in, and it doesn’t look good for us.”

“Explain.”

He gave him a slip of paper printed from a portable printer, used for transcribing radio communications, on it was the brief conversation between his comms operator and one of his last remaining scout groups.

It seemed that the crown finally felt bold enough to make another attempt on his life, but this time they didn’t send what amounted to cannon fodder and instead sent their pride and joy to bring him down.

“Get everyone that isn’t dead or injured back here now, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Sir? Forgive me, but it’s two ponies, how can just two ponies take on a group of twenty?”

“That isn’t a pony down there, that’s a freak of nature in the shape of a pony.” Riot spat. “He represents everything wrong with the ponies we fight against, sure we’ve done reprehensible things in the past, me most of all, but it pales in comparison to what they’ve done.”

“To us, or to you, sir?”

Riot didn’t answer, he lacked the strength to admit that their presence bothered him more than he had let on. In a strange, almost tragically sad way, Matterhorn was like a brother, but he was in the hooves of a group that cared little for his own well-being and likely would not see things his way.

He was under no illusions the kinds of things both they and their comrades likely heard about his escapades would’ve painted him in a poor light, but his resolve was firm. He didn’t expect to be forgiven or even understood, and all that mattered was that he understood why he’d done what he’d done.

---

Matterhorn and Lucky moved swiftly past the buildings on the way to a small tunnel in the distance, one of the module’s only entrances and exits. They were train tunnels dug out to serve as the main transit method in and out of the module, they were to link up to the Arcology itself and Rift City but had since fallen into disrepair.

“You think that tip was legitimate?” Matterhorn remarked, peering around the corner of a small storehouse. “Seems a little much to trust a supposedly defective AI.”

“It found comms chatter between Riot and his troops in their comm-hub, that’s good enough for us to act upon. Besides, you looked like you’d go crazy if you stayed cooped up in that room for much longer.”

“Funny, the ponies that said they could handle it managed to screw it up royally, and it took a chance happening to pull their asses out the rising fire.” Matterhorn snickered. “You’re sure he’s still here, Lucky?”

“That’s what X9 said.” Lucky said tiredly, taking note of the group of ponies up ahead of them. “Heads up, trouble ahead, take them down quietly.”

Matterhorn moved silently over the cobbled path between him and the mostly unaware ponies ahead of him. By the looks of their dirty leather coats, penchant for cheap tobacco products, and general lack of interest in the world around them, they were likely mercenaries.

Lucky remained some distance away and allowed Matterhorn to continue on by himself, he was light on his hooves but not particularly fast and it was a tense few moments until he could get close enough for a take down.

In one swift moment he gripped the hind legs of one of the ponies in his magic and tugged harshly back and upwards, sending the pony’s face into the dirt and while his compatriot was dumbfounded by the sudden assault, brought a hoof down onto the pinned pony’s face with a sickening crunch, knocking him unconscious.

The remaining pony fumbled for a radio that he had dropped onto the grass but it was ripped out of his grasp at the last moment and crushed in Matterhorn’s magical grip. In retaliation, the remaining merc charged Matterhorn at a frightening speed with a knife deftly pulled from a tactical holster on his front-most leg.

The merc thrust the large, straight edged knife in Matterhorn’s direction, swinging it wildly occasionally as he advanced in anger. Evidently the merc wasn’t very skilled with a knife and simply sought to drive Matterhorn off with some fancy looking moves, but he still got in a decent few slices to Matterhorn’s shoulder and face before he managed to get in a few lucky jabs to the merc’s stomach and face, which caused the merc to crumple like a wet cardboard box onto the grass.

“Didn’t I say do it quietly?” Lucky said, unimpressed with the amount of noise Matterhorn’s little fight caused as she crept over to him. “Are those cuts deep, do you need help?”

“Not really, no. Just a few nicks here and there.” Matterhorn said, shaking his head a little. “That tunnel up there looks like the perfect place for a merc to hole up, doesn’t it?”

“Don’t lose sight of why we’re doing this, he cannot be allowed to share the Director’s secrets nor be allowed to sway any more ponies to his side.” Lucky said, peering at the two unconscious mercs for a moment. “Imagine if he gains the help of someone more competent than those two, imagine if Access and Sheet Rock learn the truth, they’ll have a fucking field day with what he could tell them!”

Matterhorn chuckled heartily. “I doubt he’ll even manage to get a word out before they shoot him between the eyes, Lucky. We should be more worried about him swaying ponies that aren’t the most… forward thinking.”

The tunnel that they found themselves in front of was sealed off from the outside, having been converted into a makeshift entrance-way. It had a large metal rolling shutter covering what was assumed to be the entrance, the frame of which was welded to the module’s metal walls.

The rolling shutter wasn’t a normal part of the tunnel’s opening it seemed, and had been added on after the fact. Since the tunnels weren’t in use anymore and trains didn’t stop at this particular section of the Arcology, it made sense that this would be a perfect place for a hideout.

There wasn’t anyone else outside now, but there were a few security cams mounted to a pole nearby pointed at the rolling shutter in front of the tunnel and another pointed down the path opposite. It was likely the operators of the cams would’ve seen brief scuffle outside, but there was no reaction, no security, nothing.

“I don’t like this.” Lucky breathed. “Two ponies watching the entrance with only a few cams to watch over them. There’s no way they didn’t see the beating you gave them, so what’s taking them so long?”

“Let me give them a reason to hurry their asses up.” Matterhorn chuckled darkly, readying an unknown spell.

“What’re you…”

Lucky barely managed to get a word out before a thin beam of light shot from Matterhorn’s horn, cleanly slicing one of the cams from its pole where it came to rest on the pathway after a brief fall, though not before it received a beating from Matterhorn like he was some common thug.

Still, he got no reaction, and he opted to ready another spell this time aimed at the shutter itself. His horn glowed for a moment and he began to cut at a section near to the left side, and although it was made of a thick, heat resistant steel, it would not stand up to his magic for very long.

“That’s one way to do it I suppose, here, let me give you a hoof with that.” Lucky remarked as she joined Matterhorn in his attempts to cut away the shutter.

Her magic wasn’t as potent as Matterhorn’s, but it still helped make short work of the shutter. Almost as soon as the two started to cut, a neat rectangle of steel clattered to the ground, a small sheet steel door stood behind the section they removed and looked to be unlocked due to the lack of a visible keyhole or code lock.

A sharp shove of the door supplied by a concussive blast of magic from Matterhorn revealed that it was indeed, not locked, nor was it secured very well to its hinges either.

“Pathetic, all this trouble you’ve given us in the past and THIS is how you attempt to shut me out?”

“Keep in mind why we’re doing this, Matterhorn.” Lucky groaned when she attempted to pull the rectangle metal aside. “He’s dangerous, and whether you like it or not, you have to get this grudge out of your system.”

“Nothing a good beating won’t fix, let off some steam you know?” he said darkly. “Admit it, you want him dead too.”

“Despite what I said earlier, the Director would prefer that he be alive when we deliver him to her. He still has some usefulness, even if that usage is as material for research.”

The two shared a dark chuckle between themselves, but the rustling of grass behind them startled them somewhat. In one swift motion, Lucky drew her sidearm and leveled it down range at the sound with Matterhorn springing to action in front of her just enough to shield her with a glittering barrier and most of his body.

“Did you really think we were going to let you have all the fun?” Access said, peering down the sights of his shotgun.

“How’d you get Gray to agree to this?” Lucky said in surprise, lowering her weapon to re-holster it. “He was adamant about not letting you two go off on a crusade, he had this big speech prepared and everything!”

“Some ponies loyal to Gray found us huddled behind cover as a skirmish crossed the street over from us, they came by to search for anyone still left behind afterwards and reassured us that they’d take care of everyone if we insisted on staying.”

“I don’t know if you’re stupid or brave, perhaps a bit of both. At any rate, this is likely going to be the big one, are you ready?“

“Born that way.”