Chapter 119: Pillar of Autumn
“That’s our cue. Load up and let’s get out of here!” Copper called, Sassi following the group onto the platform. Now that she had a moment to breathe, the gears began to turn in the mare’s mind.
Astral is being stabilized, now we just have to evac. We can defend the tram as it moves upwards and get supporting fire from above.
The mare saw the problem just as Copper punched the controls. She was already moving away as a torrent of curses erupted over the radio.
“No power?! It was just on a second ago!” one of the stallions growled.
“Generator is over here!” Sassi called, “could use your covering fire if you see any contacts! I’ll get it started!”
“Copy that!”
She had noticed the blocky building when the squad was retreating with Astral. Twilight’s notes had mentioned it, but Sassi also recalled the fact that some of the RASP suits were sent here.
That meant maybe more guns, ammo, and armor.
To be fair, the mare partially guessed about the generator considering there were massive power lines leading into the warehouse-like shed. The door was surprisingly unlocked and swung open easily. Considering how thick the metal was, the hinges must have been bathed in grease. Sassi scanned the room. Lockers and containers lined the walls, and, thankfully, a backup generator.
The device was encased in a surprisingly large amount of metal. It could probably take a cannon blast before buckling and was a simple pull-start. It took a few tries, but the old device chugged to life. All it had to do was operate for a few minutes…
Her gaze was then drawn to a pair of massive metal pallets, their contents not visible. The markings on the side, however, made the mare pause.
RASP High-Threat Variant V-2 Rapid Deployment Module
“Sassi! It’s running! Get back here!”
As much as she wanted to open the case up, that was time they didn’t have. The cries of the Zeeps now filled the cave, gunfire echoing off the walls.
Sassi sprinted back to the tram. As soon as she jumped on, it began to inch upwards.
This is too slow.
The Zeeps poured from the edges of the cave. Dozens, then hundreds. The fact they came from the tunnel Sassi had recently exited from made her chest tighten. She and Astral had really been just a step ahead of them.
The miniguns at her side drowned out the gunfire from the other creatures as they opened up. While their aim wasn’t the best from the distance, it still made the horde of Zeeps trip into a bloody pile.
The automated turrets were now activated, their triple-barreled miniguns matching Sassi’s own. The sound was as if the air was being shredded, and the turrets’ aim was impeccable. The ammo counter, however, quickly dwindled as the mutated creatures fell into a gory slurry…but they still kept coming.
As the platform continued to crawl upwards, Sassi’s heart began to sink. She could see Skitters at the rear of the horde of Zeeps, and they had a different focus.
The generator.
“Sas?” a gurgling voice asked, Galleon frowning as he forced Astral to lay still.
“I’m here, Astral. We’re on our way out,” she said, throat closing up as Astral tried to look her way before a heavy set of claws pinned him down. “Don’t move. You took a nasty stab.”
“F-feels like it. Really woozy. Chest hurts. All blurry. What’s going on?”
“Shush. Don’t talk, just focus on breathing, ok?”
“O-ok.”
“They’re going for the generator!” Copper called, shifting his aim. “Requesting backup with belt-feds! We might have to run up the side stairs in the shaft if the generator fails! Could use some covering fire!”
“Acknowledged. Stick to the right-side stairs if you have to run; your right. Confirm?” a new voice said over the radio.
“Copy.”
Magical and physical bullets began to rain down on either side of the elevator, the horde’s initial energy starting to be spent. Unfortunately, due to the angle of the elevator shaft, they were only able to hit the edge-most of the mutants that were starting to edge towards the running generator.
“If the power fails, we’ll have to run. This elevator has emergency brakes.” Copper said, Sassi taking a few deep breaths.
She could hear the tension in his voice. With Astral in tow, there wasn’t any way the group would reach the top of the elevator shaft without casualties even with covering fire. They were barely a tenth of the way up as it was, and they’d move too slowly.
If Astral moves too much, he dies.
“Sassi, what are you thinking?” Copper asked, reloading his side saddles. The mare noticed it was his last box magazine. The AI had given her a running counter of the automated turrets down below. While the Zeeps now backed away, the ammo numbers had been ticking down remarkably fast; less than a few hundred shots on each turret. Considering the Zeeps took multiple shots to put down, and the Skitters took more…
“I’m thinking I can buy you time. There was a RASP suit in that generator hut,” Sassi said calmly. “If you have to run, you’ll never reach the top. And you’re almost out of ammo. I still have a few thousand rounds left in my guns.”
“You know I can’t approve that,” Copper growled. “You’ll get torn apart.”
“Not if I move fast. Look. Their front ranks are already backing up with the turrets. The Skitters are heading toward the generator again, and only one of those automated guns can hit them. You’ve got less than thirty seconds of ammo left if that horde charges again. You need time. And I wasn’t asking your permission.”
“S-sas?” Astral asked.
“You’re going to do something. What are you doing?”
Tears sprang into Sassi’s eyes as the stallion’s tired voice echoed in her mind. She wanted nothing more than to stay at his side.
But there wasn’t any time.
She reached down, gently squeezing his hoof with hers.
“I’ve got to go, Astral,” Sassi whispered, tightening her grip. “You showed me the pony I can be, the pony I want to be.” She gave his hoof a final squeeze before stepping away. “But right now, I need to be the creature the company made me to be. I love you.”
Galleon offered two massive grenades, and Sassi grabbed them before jumping off of the platform. Sparks sprayed from her armored hooves as she sped towards the battlefield below. Astral’s voice echoed in both her ears and mind.
“SASSI!”
The mare hit the ground running. The Zeeps sensed fresh prey and they pressed forward again. Two Skitters shifted their focus away from the generator shack but the miniguns forced them back behind a pile of boulders.
Shifting her aim, Sassi shredded a group of a dozen Zeeps that charged her; and that was it.
She had a few seconds to breathe.
Pushing her way into the shed, the mare ratcheted a massive bolt on the door, the thick walls and door immediately shaking under the assault of the mutated creatures.
The mare galloped over to the RASP container, a punch shattering the lock. Underneath a metal shield, a large, red button glowed.
She depressed it, and her HUD was immediately awash with information. Sassi couldn’t help but grin as the crate opened up, hydraulic arms wrapping around her body.
“Updated RASP model detected. Transferring control of High Threat System to AI subroutines…complete. Deploying RASP Armor System to existing framework.
Adapting ammunition auto-feeders to existing chainguns…complete
Attaching armored exoskeleton…FAILURE.
Diagnosing…Missing base armor mounts…reconfiguring
Attaching backup armor mounting hardpoints…complete
Attaching armored exoskeleton…complete
Attaching primary, secondary, and tertiary armor plating…complete
Attaching micro-reactor to exoskeleton…complete
Attaching shield-projection modules…complete
Attaching short-range fragmentation missile pods…complete
Attaching medical stabilization suite…complete
Activating all subroutines and countermeasures…complete
Activating all RASP systems. Running diagnosis….
…
Complete. System running at 100% efficiency.
Warning: containment breaches detected. Hostile contact imminent. Activating all countermeasures.
Have a nice day.”
“Stay still!” Galleon growled, the gryphon struggling to hold Astral; and that was with two unicorns practically flattening the Thestral with their magic.
“Let me go!”
The gryphon had no idea how Astral was able to move, let alone struggle. He was strong, far more than a pony should be.
The entire platform was abruptly shaken, a bright light making them turn away. Fire burned down below, and Copper let out a rather hearty laugh.
“Astral, your marefriend is back!” he grinned, Astral’s struggles lessening. “I can see her down there in the scope…are those missiles?!”
“You’d better believe it. Now make sure those guys up top don’t shoot me!” Sassi’s voice crackled over the radio. “When you get to the top, send the tram back down. Until then, let me work!”
“I’m ok, Astral. Just hang in there for me. Be there when I get back!”
Sassi’s voice flowed over Astral’s mind like a soothing poultice. He stopped struggling, the sounds of battle down below actually making his blood-stained lips crack into a smile.
“Go get ‘em, Sas.”
Sassi ducked the swipe of a Skitter claw, the owner being met with a hail of gunfire. The squat missile pods on her shoulders fired another salvo of fragmentation rockets, the miniaturized devices shredding dozens of Zeeps as they ran pel-mel towards her.
Only one reload of those left. Need to save them.
The miniguns then spun up, the wall of bullets sweeping across the horde. The hydraulic arms in the generator hut were standing ready to reload at a moment’s notice. All she had to do was run inside, stand still for five seconds, and then get back to work.
This is familiar.
Sassi’s emotions took a back seat, and the mare welcomed it, reveled in it. It was just her, the guns at her side, and a horde of enemies.
She galloped to stand at the base of the elevator shaft, bullets hosing two Skitters trying to sneak past her left. The cannons blew another Skitter’s face to bloody shrapnel, a dozen Zeeps being chewed into a pulp.
How many exercises did I practice for times just like this?
How many times did my hooves bleed from all my sparring fights?
An armored hoof smashed the face of a sneaky Zeep who got too close, Sassi standing on the body and confronting a dozen Skitters now pouring from a distant hole in the wall. A burst of missiles turned them into gory chunks.
An excited, almost feral grin was cemented on Sassi’s face as she bobbed and weaved, mutant blood running in rivers amidst the rocks.
The moment a distant roar echoed around the cave, Sassi fired off a final salvo and ducked into the generator shed. The arms of the rapid-deployment case slotted in two more boxes of magical ammunition and the missile launchers were reloaded.
There was one other item included in the response kit; a grenade born from a modified, miniaturized Limbo reactor. It was likely meant to collapse the tunnel as a last resort.
She dashed back to the position at the end of the elevator shaft, miniguns spinning at her sides as another horde of Zeeps began to flood over the rocks. An odd warmth blossomed in her chest, and a thought punched through her mechanical movements and training.
It nearly made the mare start crying.
If everything I went through was for this, to be able to find Astral and keep him safe…
It was worth it.
A full grin cemented itself on her face as the mare fired the miniguns.
Time to go to work.
Astral’s view of the world was limited. Bright sunlight abruptly made the RASP helmet dim, the stallion’s breath a steady gurgle. Despite the medications pumped into the stallion’s system, he was at least alert, to an extent. A dull ache in his chest was obnoxious, but even more so was the lack of mobility. The world spun, and it felt like he was laying on a cloud. His body felt stiff- and there was a “wrongness” if he tried to move, as if things inside his torso weren’t where they should be.
Then again, I did get impaled. I think…that’s what happened, right?
The gryphon at his side, Galleon, met up with three pony unicorn medics; their magic focused on the crystals embedded into Astral’s body. That made a bit more relief flood through him, and Astral let himself relax ever so slightly.
Sassi’s mind was a happy, determined hum in the background. She was ok.
Twilight looked around the excavation, a frown on her lips. It had been hastily set up, and security wasn’t exactly up to her standards. A series of military tents and sandbagged hardpoints were spread around the excavation site, troops moving to and fro. It was somewhat defensible at best, and yet, it was the best they could do. There was a second perimeter being formed, so at worst, this could buy them time.
The alicorn had refused to wait behind in a safe location. Besides, her magic would be needed to strengthen the shielding spells around the Silo if Celestia was going to drop a sun on it. They had monitoring stations set up around the perimeter, and Twilight had been reassured that the prior breaches were sealed. That, of course, didn’t inspire too much confidence.
The Last Light Organization had also just installed their monitors, and Director Shield promised to immediately stream the feeds of any underground activity to Canterlot Command. They had a few light airships on the perimeter and were standing by with more resources if any backup was needed.
“What’s the current status of Astral and Sassi?” Twilight asked Copper, the Princess flanked by a dozen royal guards.
“Astral is in the medical tent. We can’t chance a teleportation spell out of here with him. Any more movement and we might lose him,” Copper said, catching his breath. “He should be dead. We just need to keep the magic already around him stable. More spells can’t help, even yours.”
The stallion had already correctly read Twilight’s intentions, the mare had just taken a few steps towards the medical tent.
“Sassi bought us time. Three squads are being sent down on the elevator shortly to help her out. She found another suit down there that’s holding them off. But there’s a lot of creatures down there, Princess.”
“I also have airships standing by, Princess Twilight,” a familiar voice said.
Turning around, Twilight couldn’t help but smile. The gryphon emperor was quite the sight, black, metal armor wrapping around his body, accentuated with gold. A large pistol and sword were slung on opposite holsters, Tanzil looking at Twilight for a moment and blinking.
“You mentioned a new look in your letter, Highness. It suits you,” he said kindly.
A flood of relief poured through Twilight’s frame. Had she really worried about what he’d think that much?
Wait. Did he just wink at me?!
She should have expected the gryphon to flirt with her during a crisis.
“Thank you, Tanzil. Quite frankly, it’s nice to get a different perspective on things. How are your soldiers holding up?”
“Eager for a fight. I’m sending down some of my best.” Tanzil gestured to a squad of heavily-armored gryphons making their way to the elevator. “How is Astral?”
The grim look on Copper’s face made the gryphon emperor’s ears flatten.
“Well. Let’s get this place sealed, and then…”
An alarm abruptly began to chime from a small radio on Tanzil’s belt, a similar alert nearly deafening Twilight in her earpiece.
“Highness! Incoming ship! No authorization!”
Soaring through a portal crackling with hastily-cast magic, a massive airship was making a beeline towards them. Its underbelly bristled with cannon barrels, and the low hum of magic filled the air.
Twilight was about to charge a spell to blast it out of the sky- but a familiar voice bellowed over the radio.
“Princess! Emperor! GET OUT OF THERE!” Director Shield yelled, the massive cannons on the airship’s belly starting to glow with magical fire.
For a split second, Twilight thought she had been wrong. This was, after all, the perfect moment to take out two key rulers. Had she been played for a fool? Was the radio communication nothing but a smokescreen?
Then the ground around the creatures abruptly began to boil, long, gangly limbs reaching out of the sand. In the distance, dozens of more mutants clawed their way into the sunlight, beelining towards the edge of the shield.
As five Skitters erupted from the sand immediately around them, Twilight’s mind kicked into overdrive as the world slowed. The heightened-reflex spell had been on a hair-trigger since entering this place, and now it came time to use that advantage. Time moved slower for the mare- but to everyone else, she’d be a blur of movement.
It was faster to send their flagship than tell Canterlot Command to warn us.
That assumption was confirmed as a powerful teleportation spell began to charge around the group, the airship above them trying to yank them to safety before opening fire.
Thank you, Toxic. But I’ll take it from here.
The spells at Twilight’s command danced across her horn, the Princess smirking as she canceled the teleportation magic. This was an easy fight; they were in the sand, after all. She could see every particle jumping into the air, every creature moving at a snail’s pace.
To her shock, Tanzil was already moving. He was fast- far faster than a normal creature could be. Even with the spell, his sword was already spearing the Skitter closest to him. Another set of claws aimed his pistol at the mutant trying to bite Twilight’s throat.
Thank you, Tanzil. But that won’t be necessary.
Twilight’s eyes widened as the gryphon emperor began to smirk, his eyes meeting hers. It shouldn’t be possible for him to see her move in her accelerated state, yet Tanzil clearly was grinning as he saw Twilight moving with ease.
With a flash of magic, the friendly creatures around Twilight were hefted into the air in a split second. The Princess sent a fierce wave of heat through the sand, a magical shield cutting it off around the Skitters.
The creatures barely were able to utter a pained shriek before perishing, the sand around them turning instantly into molten glass. With another blast of magic, the morbid sculptures were cooled to a safe temperature.
The guards stared at Twilight, Tanzil letting out an impressed whistle.
“I’ve heard of your magical abilities, Twilight. But count me impressed,” Tanzil said, sheathing his sword and examining the creatures.
We’ll talk about your abilities later…
Twilight shrugged with a smile, keying her earpiece. Another transmission beat her to it.
“Princess! The Last Light data just came through!” A frantic voice half-yelled. “There are tunnels out of the Silo, all headed for you!”
“We just dealt with them, Command. We’re clear here.”
“That was just the first wave. Highness. There’s more! Dozens!”
Twilight’s own ships began to fire, striking at the perimeter of the containment shield.
They’re surrounding us. Trying to probe for any weaknesses to escape. It’s a full-on route!
“Director Shield. I’m requesting that you reinforce the perimeter ships with your own. Don’t let a single creature leave this place!”
“Happy to help, Highness. Sorry for the scare,” Toxic’s relieved voice rumbled over the radio. The massive battleship turned and more of the Organization’s ships joined the fray. “We count upwards of a hundred hostiles still burrowing towards the camp and shield perimeter. Shock troops are on the way to reinforce your guard. They’re under your command for this operation.”
With a flash of magic, a dozen armored ponies stood at attention in front of Twilight and the Emperor.
The two rulers shared a look. The armor worn by the Last Light troops was far sleeker than the exoskeleton models of either Equestria or the Gryphon Empire. The guns at their side didn’t have rotating barrels, instead sporting some sort of magical crystal at the rear of them. The armored suits were all encompassing, blue light shining from between the dark-grey joints.
To say it put the other troops to shame was an understatement.
“Thank you for the help. Two of you, please guard the medical tent. The rest, head to the elevator to support the troops there as needed.”
“Princess,” the lead pony nodded, the troops trotting off.
Twilight took a deep breath, trotting off towards the medical tent, Tanzil and his guard following.
They were almost there when a heart-rending scream made the mare’s blood run cold.
“SASSI!”
Sassi’s breath came in rapid, fit pants. Her armored hooves tore a Zeep’s head clean off, the guns beheading a Skitter as she ducked the snapping jaws of another mutant pony.
The battlefield had changed in a split second.
The waves of Skitters and Zeeps had almost overwhelmed her, the creatures throwing themselves at the mare now without care or strategy. She had run out of missiles, leaving just the cannons and miniguns.
It should have been enough. And it was, barely.
There wasn’t any safe area anymore. Sassi couldn’t rely on her rear being clear, even with the bullets raining down from the squads up top. They may as well have been across the world.
Even if the backup took the stairs or even slid down, that minute or two was an eternity on the clock of war.
Another roar shook the stone around Sassi, the mare glaring at two red eyes in the rear of the cave. The Skitters and Zeeps abruptly vanished into side tunnels, only leaving a smattering of Skitters that sported odd, fungal-like infections across their body.
So. He’s got his own minions then?
“You’ve hunted us long enough, you freak,” Sassi hissed. “Number Two. I don’t know if you can understand me, or even are sentient. But you’re not leaving here!”
The creature pulled itself out of the tunnel. Their guess of a giant sloth had been fairly accurate. Black, burned skin was stretched across its face, but it only made up a minority of the creature’s figure. The mutant was the size of a house, with white tendons and bone glinting through tears in the skin, and red muscles bulging across the mutant’s shoulders and limbs.
Its lower torso was fairly thin, with powerful hind legs pushing it forward. Its arms were far too long, however, and were tipped with hands sporting dagger-like claws.
The same claws that almost took Astral away from me.
The miniguns fired. Even at this range, the bullets were able to bite into the creature’s unarmored body. Yet Two didn’t seem phased by it in the slightest. It meticulously crept across the tall rocks, swinging itself forward with its gangly arms, fungal Skitters running ahead.
Two’s eyes never left Sassi, its mouth opening in what could only be described as an eager grin.
The mutant grabbed a rock, and Sassi barely had time to dodge as it threw the boulder with surprising speed. It embedded itself near the generator shed. Sassi’s eyes widened in shock.
It hadn’t been aiming for her.
The smiling mutant let out a huffing chuckle as the generator slowly spun down into standby. The rock would have only dented the shed itself. But it had cleanly severed the power cables leading to the elevator still locked up top.
With a swipe of its claws, one of the fungal Skitters clipped Sassi’s shoulder as she dodged.
These are faster!
A second one pushed the mare off balance, a burst of cannon fire tearing into the chest of the nearest Skitter. Instead of dying, the creature pushed forwards even though its innards were dangling out of its side.
Instead of trying to strike at Sassi, the Skitter instead simply latched onto her. Claws dug into the miniguns and one of her legs. Even as she blew its head to smithereens, it had delayed her long enough for another Skitter to get close. It dodged the gunfire, another thrown rock making the mare stumble as the armor groaned in protest.
Sassi lashed out with one of the arm blades. It lodged in the Skitter’s throat, the dying creature flopping onto the mare and pinning her to the ground for a split second.
That was long enough for Number Two to lumber closer. More Skitters flooded forwards- but they didn’t attack her. Even as a few of her shots tore into them, Sassi could see they were looking to immobilize her for their master.
“I’m sorry, Astral.”
Twilight was nearly bowled out of the tent by a gryphon, the creature having been thrown off of Astral.
“LET ME GO!” the stallion bellowed. The visor had been ripped off exposing a crazed look in the Thestral’s eyes. Blood, tar, and foam sprayed from the wounded warrior’s mouth, Astral shoving off Galleon as he crawled towards the door.
The spells from two unicorns and the bulk of two gryphons could barely keep him pinned. Even so, the Thestral moved bit by bit.
“She’s going to die! LET ME GO!” he cried, tears streaming from Astral’s eyes.
“Copper? Status?” Twilight asked.
“No time! Get down there!” the stallion on the other end yelled. “Something has Sassi pinned!”
Twilight turned back to Astral- and the mare felt her breath catch in her chest.
The rage in the stallion’s eyes danced with hate. He crawled forward with a fierce snarl on his face.
“Give me a gun or I’ll take it from you!” Astral hissed, setting his eyes on one of Tanzil’s honor guards. “Give me a gun! Let me help her!”
“Get me a sedative!” Galleon yelled to one of the other medics, Astral rounding on him with bared fangs.
“Knock me out? I’ll kill you!” he bellowed, making Galleon pause. “Help me stand or get out of my way!”
Blood and foam flecked from Astral’s mouth as he struggled, desperately crawling towards the stunned guard ahead of him. His gaze then turned to Twilight, an almost hateful sneer flickering across his face.
“If you won’t save her, I will!”
Twilight found herself frozen, even though it was for a fraction of a second. Astral’s attention then turned back to the guard in clear disgust, hauling himself over the sand towards the gryphon.
Tanzil only stood still for a moment. He reached over, nodding to the guard and taking the rifle.
“Bring more ammunition for this,” he said, looking to the medics. “Work on him when he’s over at the elevator site!”
The two unicorns looked to Twilight- and all she could do was nod, her own guards escorting her a distance away.
Astral staggered out of the tent. Despite the unicorns having ceased their spells, the healing crystals embedded into his body glowed with such intensity that they singed his fur and skin. One of the unicorn medics helped with a partial levitation spell; even then, Astral nearly collapsed multiple times.
His sides heaving, Astral examined the rifle in his grasp. His chest ached, heart pounding in his ears as the stallion coughed up foam and blood.
I’m not losing her!
The weapon was longer than he was; a massive, magazine-fed sniper rifle. Even though it was made for gryphons Astral knew how to operate this gun. He had seen it dozens of times in firearm catalogs.
Specifically, in the section titled “Ground-Based Anti-Airship Countermeasures.”
“Just keep me from passing out!” Astral yelled to the medics, then turned his attention back to the rifle. The fear over his link to Sassi was reaching a crescendo.
The two unicorns now focused their magic into Astral’s wounds, Galleon partially immobilizing his torso as the stallion chambered the gun. The scope would have been useless with the other muzzle flashes and the extreme distance.
But Astral didn’t have the eyes of a normal pony.
“Get your creatures out of the way!” He yelled, taking aim. The Thestral could see Number Two, the creature looming over Sassi as half a dozen Skitters surrounded her. It drew back its claws, and Astral pulled the trigger.
“YOU CAN’T HAVE HER!”
Sassi looked up at Number Two, the mare bracing herself. If she torqued her body at the last moment, she might avoid a lethal strike, even with the Skitters immobilizing her.
A raging voice then cut through the radio, also searing itself in the mare’s mind as Astral roared. A concussive shockwave made Sassi’s chest constrict.
Number Two reeled backward, a pained growl leaving its mouth as another explosive round blew part of its shoulder to boney pieces. A third round smacked the creature right in the face; the mutant’s left cheek was shredded like rice paper.
“Move it, Sas!”
The Skitter to her left vanished into a bloody mist, Sassi jumping up. She backtracked to the elevator shaft entrance. Miniguns spinning up, she sent a thousand rounds towards the creatures, Astral’s shots joining hers.
The Skitters melted underneath the combined firepower, Number Two grabbing another stone to throw.
“Astral! Hit the shoulder!”
The shot blew into the creature’s joint, nearly severing it. Sassi ducked a strike from a Skitter, aiming with the cannons. The two shots flew into the wound, blowing the vulnerable joint to pieces, the arm hanging on by a thread.
Sassi’s miniguns were happy to finish the amputation job.
As the mutant sagged to the ground, it lunged forwards with its other arm. Black claws tore into the rock, one of them digging into the armor at Sassi’s side.
The last of the Skitters met their end. Sassi could see her motion detector starting to light up with hostiles once again; Zeeps and normal Skitters creeping out of hiding.
“Let’s kill this thing, Sas!”
Astral’s next shot hit Two in the forehead, rocking the creature back. It snarled, lashing out at Sassi again-
The mare was already moving.
Two lurched backward, a glint of fear shining in its red eyes as Sassi jumped towards it. A shot from Astral tore into its knee, putting it on the ground for a few brief moments.
The mare landed on the rock in front of the mutant’s face, cannons already aimed. There were a thousand things Sassi wanted to say to this creature, the embodiment of everything wrong with the Silos, this world. Yet the only reply that felt appropriate was to send two magical projectiles into Two’s face.
The cannon shots turned the creature’s eyes to jelly. Astral’s follow-up shot blew the creature’s teeth away. Sassi had never played hoofball. But she’d like to think she was a decent throw.
Depressing the red button on the grenade, Sassi hucked the item at Two. With a rather wet *smack*, the explosive darted between the creature’s absent teeth.
The resulting detonation whited out Sassi’s HUD even when sheltering behind a rock. Bloody chunks splattered against the opposite cave wall and high ceiling, gore and blood dripping down around her. The mare only caught a glimpse of the shredded corpse as she ran back towards the elevator entrance.
The mutant’s body was in tatters, a horde of Zeeps and Skitters running towards it hungrily. Three squads of creatures finally arrived to meet her, covering their retreat up the long tunnel. But the remaining mutants were far more focused on the fresh meal than the angry creatures pelting them with bullets.
That was when Sassi felt Astral’s voice go silent.
“Astral?!”
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"MAC rounds? In atmosphere?"
Ok so when i see a chapter named after a Halo Spaceship i know im totally gonna enjoy it.
Perfectly sums up this chapter!
... Holy *fuck*.
I love that this action sequence is a lot more dramatic! So much at real stake since we are not sure if one might not actually make it; plot armour
versus poetic land stand.
Regardless that some encounters before wasn't as real as this chapter, they've all cumulated to this emotionally charged struggle!
I would hate to see if that bat doesn't make it... but I would also love it at the same time.
You've done it Wordsmith. You've nailed the homerun!
11632113
fine, but they better survive and get a somewhat happy ending after all there going through.
You better not.
You are a brilliant, cruel little rabbit.. Continue.
Hopefully things will have a good ending, I am on the edge of my seat.
Time for a butt whooping!
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That makes me quite happy! The climax of a story can make or break it. So glad I nailed it!
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Glad you enjoyed it!
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'tis a timeless classic!
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Aaaand just like that...nostalgic feels...
I have two words: DRACONIS UNLEASHED!!!!! If you're wondering that is my term for anything releasing the fury of an inner dragon.
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"What does he get off calling a demolition op priority one-?"
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And then the feels hits you like a plasma bolt.