• Published 6th Sep 2020
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Deep Rock Equestria: Into The Abyss - The Atlantean



Sunset Shimmer and her friends at CHS find themselves working for the mining corporation Deep Rock Galactic and must survive the depths of Hoxxes IV to return home.

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4. [Rarity] Crystal Morkite, Part 2

Full Mission Roll:
200 Morkite, Haz 2, Crystalline Caverns
Same Mission as Chapter 3

Rarity smacked a vein of Nitra with her pickaxe, smiling contentedly as the red crystals collected themselves in her armor rig’s mineral pouches. After the swarm, there’d only been the occasional bug that was quickly dealt with, and they had almost reached their quota. She carefully made her way down the side of the cavern wall to the others and deposited her Nitra into Molly.

“That’s it in here,” she said, and sighed. When she got back to the space station, she was going to have a nice, hot, long bath or shower--one of the perks of working for DRG available to all personnel, according to Pinkie Pie’s sources. It had certainly been a hectic day, with Rainbow Dash going down and Sunset getting hurt, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t expect nice things once they returned to the station.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “I can’t wait to see what Pinkie’s cooked up for us!”

“Let’s call a resupply first,” Applejack. “Ah’d rather have a tad more ammo in case another of those Praetorians shows up on the way back to the Pod.”

“Good call,” Sunset agreed. She produced a beacon from her belt and tossed it on the ground. It immediately popped into a small cross shape, and an orange hologram materialized over it. “I hope it’s worth the 80 Nitra it takes to build one of these beacons.”

“Stand back!” Mission Control said. “Supply Pod inbound!”

Over the course of several agonizingly long seconds, a faint drilling noise could be heard overhead, slowly getting louder and louder until the Resupply Pod broke through the cave ceiling and crashed to the ground directly on top of the beacon.

Rarity stood back while the others each grabbed one of the four leaves sticking out the side of the pod. She was worried that more Glyphids would pop out of the dark and attack.

Eyeing Sunset’s injured leg, she saw bits of glowing red crystal coalesce around the wound, absorbing themselves into her skin. Once the glow had died, she could see that the wound had healed. Glancing over at Rainbow Dash, Rarity could see her friend’s physical well-being had rejuvenated significantly in a way that her Revival Juice had not.

“Ya grabbin’ a leaf, Rarity?” Applejack asked.

“Yes, I am. I wanted to wait in case some more of those Glyphids attacked us while our guard was down.”

“Good idea. Ah’m set, so go ahead and take yours.”

Rarity walked up to the last untaken leaf and started pulling ammunition from it to add to her stockpile. She noticed a bit of the red crystal coalescing around a bruise she’d suffered earlier and smiled. Whatever it was, Fluttershy would love it. She finished restocking and reloaded all her guns just in case she needed them. There were even extra grenades, but she couldn’t carry any more.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yeah!” they all cheered. It was good seeing how excited everyone was to return to the station. Rarity herself really wanted that shower. All the filth and dirt from venturing down here was starting to get in her hair, and it was going to take forever to clean. She brushed a bead of sweat from her forehead and exhaled as Rainbow enthusiastically pressed the recall button.

“Drop Pod inbound! Stand clear!”

The Drop Pod’s clanging drill sounded nearby moments later, echoing through the caves as it crashed to a halt.

“Drop Pod has arrived. The M.U.L.E. has been called back.”

Molly perked up, standing on her four robotic legs and turning around to go the way they came.

“Follow Molly!” Sunset called as the robotic minecart dropped a green directional beacon and continued up the tunnel. She ran after Molly with Applejack right behind her. Rarity was third while Rainbow Dash took the rear.

Something screeched. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life again, and Rarity turned around to see a crowd of Glyphids headed straight for them! Her heart sank when she saw another Praetorian in the back of the group.

“Rainbow, RUN!” she yelled. She pulled a grenade from her belt and threw it at the bugs with all her might.

To her surprise, the grenade didn’t explode, instead popping up a hologram of a dwarf dancing to some unheard tune. Nearly all the bugs converged on it and attacked. Rainbow Dash threw her own grenade, blasting a bunch of them to kingdom come, and bolted past Rarity up the tunnel.

“Last one pays for the first round!” she called.

“Rainbow Dash, we don’t have the proper rank to drink yet!” Rarity yelled in return, but she wasn’t about to be left down here alone.

Molly’s directional beacons were a godsend, pointing her to where she needed to go. Afterwhat felt like an eternity of running and shooting, the Drop Pod was in sight. Rarity had never been so glad to see such a dingy, rusty vehicle in her life. It was just as good that she was last, too--everyone was accounted for as Molly climbed into her socket on the side of the pod.

Rarity whirled around at the base of the ramp and fired her grenade launcher into the bugs on her tail. Even after the resupply, she still only had eight grenades, so she’d been cautious about their use. But at the end, it was now or never. She fired again, marveling at the beauty of her weapon as it blew Glyphids sky-high with orange clouds of explosive gas. Although crude in design, it was an elegant weapon, and she loved it. Perhaps a paint job would--

“Rarity, let’s go! Molly’s docked!” Sunset shouted over the noise.

“Drop Pod departing in T minus 2 minutes,” Mission Control said.

Rarity shook her head. Distractions like that could cost her the mission--and her life if she wasn’t careful. The Praetorian from deeper in the tunnel was getting closer. It backed up a step and opened its jaws wide to spew acid from its mouth.

Rarity tossed another dancing dwarf to distract it and sprinted up the ramp, diving into the safe area within the Drop Pod just before the door began to close.

“That’s one for the books!” Mission Control said. “Retrieving escape pod.”

---------------------------------

The Drop Pod docked back with the station with a satisfying clunk, shaking a bit as the magnetic clamps secured themselves.

“For new recruits, your performance has proven more than adequate--Management believes you are ready to take on a new mission type. Egg Hunts have been unlocked for you on the Mission Terminal,” Mission Control said before the doors opened to let them back out of the pod.

Rarity carefully placed her weapons back on their rack in the pod and pulled her armor rig over her head. Checking herself, she saw sweat and dirt all over her body. That shower was going to feel very nice.

First things first, though. She wanted to check out the Equipment Terminal and see if there was any way to make her grenade launcher hold more ammunition. She walked up to it, entered her credentials, and took a look.

There was an ammunition upgrade, but required Enor Pearls to get, and she didn’t have any of those. She had enough Bismor and money for either fragmented shells or high-explosive rounds. The former increased her damage radius, while the latter increased damage. She could get both eventually, but only one could be installed at a time. The same could be said for her combat shotgun, which could be upgraded for a faster fire rate if she didn’t upgrade her grenade launcher.

Grenade launcher, higher damage, she decided after a time. She selected the modification and set it to be built and then equipped. When she next used her grenade launcher, it would automatically have the modification on it.

She went through her other weapons and tools, selecting and equipping upgrades, and saw that Sunset, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had joined her to work on their own gear. Once she was done, she moved aside to give them more room and headed for her personal quarters.

All the better, she thought. The better equipment we have, the more likely we’ll survive.

Author's Note:

As has been hinted through the chapter titles, we have a perspective besides that of Sunset's, so buckle in. Next on the perspective roll is Rainbow Dash, which should be neat.

As for a hint to the next mission: pray for their sake, because RNJesus is a cruel god.

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