Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis

by Jasper77W

Chapter 48: Welcome to the Arctic North

The compact speeders were only about two meters in length, barely able to fit two ponies on. It was even a miracle that the gunship had six of them.

Speeders were light-weight anti-gravity vehicles, designed to be silent and stealthy. They were meant for recon missions, but then there were modified versions that serve various purposes like evacuations and just conventional civilian transport. It was basically a motorbike that hovers.

A speeder's top speed can reach up to over three hundred kilometers an hour, faster than some combat vehicles due to its extremely light weight. Because of this, it didn't have any other functions other than getting from point A to B. there weren't even any compartments for storage.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Thunderlane yelled, then ducked down and covered his head.

"Speeders! GO! NOW!!" Rainbow yelled, waving towards the open door.

The speeders took off out the gates of the gunship, which was still in mid-air. The anti-gravity generators of the speeders should be enough to cushion the impact when they land, plus the snow would help too. Better get the speeders out now, since they could easily gain enough speed to clear the ship. But if somepony else without sufficient speed tries, they could easily get struck down by the engines or get caught by debris during impact.

The speeders cleared the gates, now out of the gunship and out of harm's way.

"Shuck- WATCH IT!" Thunderlane yelled as the gunship plummeted towards the ground.

There was the loud whining of failing generators, the red glow of the anti-gravity engines slowly fading away into the white snow storm. There was a thin layer of ice building up on the ship's hull, turning the dark grey metal white inch by inch. Ice creeped across the cockpit windshield, making the glass brittle.

Then the gunship crashed down into the snow belly-first, the impact throwing everypony inside down on the ground.

Rainbow suddenly collapsed down and slammed her head on the floor, the concussion knocking her eyes out of focus and making her brain dull.

The gunship bounced back up, engine three's damaged joint clipping the snow-covered ground. It immediately got caught in the snow, getting stuck in the thick layers. But the gunship kept going, and that snapped the half-operating engines right off the side of the ship.

It collapsed back, hit engine four and bounced high up in the air, a ring of metal still glowing red as its remaining energy was channeled into the anti-gravity generators. It bounced behind a mountain of snow and out of sight.

"Shuck! The engines are still going!" Thunderlane yelled, making a run for the cockpit.

The loss of engine three caused an imbalance in the ship, making it tilt dangerously to one side. The engines, since they were still on; were pushing the ship on and dragging it through the snow. At this rate they were gonna flip, and at this speed it would be very unpleasant.

Suddenly the weakened cockpit window shattered, as there was no energy left to supply the shields that were protecting it. Razor sharp glass shards blasted into the cockpit at over a hundred miles per hour, hitting Thunderlane's armor and making deep groves. A piece hit his visor and cracked it, his HUD malfunctioning. He fell back, but then felt something close around his ankle.

"THUNDERLANE!!! INFECTED!!" Octavia screamed, but it was way too late.

A mutated pony had busted through the cockpit windshield, and had grabbed Thunderlane by a leg. He tore it right from his body, and he screamed as blood splattered onto his armor.

"How the buck did it get in here...?" Rainbow snarled, and reached for her cleaver.

Too bad it was in her coat pocket, firmly locked away under her armor.

"Shite." She muttered, looking down.

The mutated stallion threw Thunderlane's body out the broken windshield, and threw his severed leg at Rainbow.

Rainbow ducked down, but a splatter of blood made its way to her armor.

They heard a loud crunch and metallic groan. That must've been Thunderlane's body getting crushed by the gunship then. Rainbow and Octavia didn't even have time to react to his death- infected were swarming the place.

"Where the hay are they coming from!!!??" Octavia exclaimed as three more zombies suddenly dropped in from the back of the gunship.

"This is the crystal mountains." Neon said. "They must be mutated crystal ponies, adapted to the cold weather."

"Shite." Rainbow said again.

"Well then, take them out!" Octavia yelled, picking up a rifle from the ship's storage room.
Neon ran towards the big buff mutated stallion that killed Thunderlane earlier, and swiped a claw at his jaw. It made contact, but only made a few scratches.

"Hmmm." She titled her head to one side. "Crystals. Bloody crystals." She muttered, and the stallion slammed a fist into her. She went tumbling back, scraping her back on the floor.

"You need anti-matter rifles!" Octavia yelled, firing a purple beam and shattering a zombie. "Physical attacks probably won't work!"

"No crap." Rainbow muttered, rolling under a swipe from a crystal zombie.

"Rainbow! Catch!" She heard Dainty yell, and turned in time to see her throw an anti-matter rifle at her.

She reached out and grabbed the rifle, then turned around and shot the zombie's head clean off. It shattered into individual crystal pieces, all clattering to the floor.

Suddenly the gunship lurched upwards, throwing everyone inside into the air- but it didn't stop there. The engines had forced the gunship to turn.

Sparks skipped away from Rainbow's back as her armor ground against the gunship's floor, momentum carrying her towards the side of the ship. Her shoulder clipped lightly on the wall, and she struggled to get up.

But then as the gunship turned, it started flipping and rolling. Two of its engines were crushed underneath it as it kept going, the rings bent out of shape and the antigravity generators contradicting each other. The result was a huge explosion, however without a fireball nor shock wave. It was simply a sudden release of gravity in almost every single direction, throwing every piece of matter in the area outwards and inwards at high speeds.

That tore a hole in the side of gunship, ripping the hull away and exposing the ponies inside to the elements.

"Shuck-" was all Octavia managed to say as she was wrenched towards the opening by the high winds. Neon leapt forward and grabbed her by the ankle, then yanked her back in. They clattered onto the ground, the crystal pony zombies already closing in.

Rainbow sent a beam of anti-matter through one's chest, then atomized another's leg. Neon leaped up and slammed a knee into the crystal head- which shattered from the force. The remains clattered heavily to the floor.

The gunship continued tilting as the one remaining engine started pushing it on its side, the engine itself lifting towards the sky.

Rainbow and the others had to walk from the floor to the walls as the gunship started rolling. There were loud snaps as the barrels of cannons and various other weapons were torn away from the side, dragged away in the snow.

"RAINBOW!" Dainty yelled. At first Rainbow thought the zombies had gotten to the fillies, but when she looked up there was nothing there. Dainty was pointing frantically out the opening made by the explosion earlier.

Rainbow looked out the opening, and caught a brief glimpse of something.

"Ah buck." She muttered, ignoring the crystal zombies coming at her and heading straight for the two fillies. "Octavia! WE NEED TO GET OUT- NOW!"

"YEAH, NO CRAP!" Octavia yelled back, anti-matter rifle blazing.

"WE'RE HEADING OFF A CLIFF!!" Rainbow screamed, but just as she did so the gunship hit a slight slope and bounced up.

Her hooves left the hull, and she felt something slam against her side. She watched as the metal crate passed, her mind dulled by the impact. Then she shook it off, but by then she'd already hit the ground on her shoulder again. She scrambled to her hooves, but the gunship kept rolling and she was thrown down again by gravity.

A crystal zombie leapt out of nowhere, landed with a loud thunk on the metal in front of her, then sent her flying with a huge uppercut. She went tumbling back, crashing through the wall to the cockpit and slamming her back against the controls. They caved in, and she groaned.

Then she was thrown onto the ceiling by gravity as the ship made another 180 turn, the air leaving her lungs.

Then the crystal zombie followed her, its heavy weight slamming straight into the consoles. They split in two, and the zombie leapt at her again.

Rainbow quickly rolled forward and out of the cockpit, since she didn't exactly like the idea of being in a confined space with that thing. It was all confined, but the cockpit was much smaller.

She leaped up, the gunship's walls tumbling out from under her hooves as it kept rolling. Then she landed back down again, in sync with the ship. She looked up, and spotted her anti-matter rifle falling through the air. From the corner of her eye she saw the crystal zombie leap after her, and she timed her jump.

Then just as the zombie approached, she pushed off the wall and aimed for her anti-matter rifle. The zombie landed where she was a second ago, its arms flailing as it tried to grab her- but she was already out of reach.

Rainbow grabbed her anti-matter rifle, turned in mid air, and slammed a shot into the zombie. It shattered with a brief explosion, bits of crystal flying everywhere. Then Rainbow hit her back on the far wall, then was immediately flung up by the force of the tumbling gunship.

"EVERYONE RUN FOR THE EXIT!" Octavia yelled, blowing apart a metal crate which was hurtling towards her and darting for Lily. She scooped her up, and continued for the rear gate.

"DAINTY! OVER HERE!!" Rainbow yelled at the filly, who scrambled to her hooves and started running towards her.

Rainbow picked her up and carried her on her back, making sure she was secure with a hoof while the other held the anti-matter rifle against any viable targets.

Octavia and Neon got to the exit first, and Neon let Octavia and Lily go first and stayed behind to wait for Rainbow.

"Go! Don't wait for us- we'll be fine!" Rainbow yelled at Octavia, who was hesitant to leave and was waiting on the edge of safety. "JUST GO!"

Neon gave her a nudge and a nod.

"Make sure they get out of here." Octavia said, and Neon nodded. She cast one last look back, then leaped out of the gunship carcass.

Suddenly the gunship shook, and Rainbow fell down as it did so. She almost completely lost control as the ground started tumbling away from her, but she regained her balance and started scrambling again. Neon was right there, waiting for her with an outstretched arm- but she had already lost precious time.

Octavia and Lily landed softly in the snow, sending up a small wave of white atoms as they hit the ground and rolled.

"You okay?" Octavia quickly got up and pulled Lily to her hooves.

"Yeah, I'm good." Lily said, dusting some snow off her shoulder. "Thanks for getting me outta there."

"Don't be stupid. Any one of us would've helped you." Octavia said, patting her on the back. But she took in a sharp breath when she looked up and saw the remains of the gunship falling off the cliff, with Rainbow, Neon and Dainty nowhere in sight.

Inside the gunship was complete chaos as items from storage rooms were tossed into the mix, everything slamming into everything else. Rainbow struggled through the chaos, trying to reach Neon.

"Sis! We're not going to make it!" She heard Dainty say, and felt her grip around her shoulders tighten.

"Don't be stupid. We always do." Rainbow snarled up at the promise of safety.

Suddenly the gunship's cockpit tilted downwards as it went over the cliff, the rest of it following. Rainbow was almost there- the entire gunship turning so that it was pointing forward again instead of rolling on its side.

"Let's go-" Rainbow started, but instead of Neon jumping with them, Neon grabbed hold of her and Dainty and flung them out the gunship.

Time seemed to slow as she and Dainty tumbled through the air, watching the gunship slide down and off the cliff edge. Then she realized- they would've never made the jump on their own. Neon saved them.

They hit the snow hard, but their armor protected them from getting injured. They slid a few meters then came to a halt in the white oblivion, a huge snow storm coming down all around them.

Rainbow made sure Dainty was okay, then gave her a glance- which was all that was needed. Stay here, and stay safe- then she took off running, sprinting towards the cliff edge. Maybe Neon wasn't at the bottom... Neon can't die... It's just not possible.

And of course she didn't.

Rainbow neared the edge, and peered down. At first all she heard and saw was the loud explosion as the gunship hit the bottom of the cliff, sending a huge gust of heated air towards the top of the cliff. Rainbow flinched at the sudden shaking, covering her eyes from the bright fireball that erupted.

"Mind lending a hoof?" Neon said, a claw dug deep into the ice-covered cliff face. She reached up with her spare claw, and Rainbow took it and hauled her to the safety of the cliff top.

"That was a close one." Neon said. "Thanks, by the way."

"I'll say the same." Rainbow said, helping her up. "Alright. What next?"

"We head towards Haven." Neon nodded towards the other side of the cliff.

"That there is a twenty meter gap, which I will not be flying over because I don't want my wings turning to ice." Rainbow said, and Octavia and Lily caught up with Dainty. The speeders would've been able to fly over the gap, but they didn't have any.

"I'm surprised. Everyone's alive." Octavia said sarcastically. "What's up?"

"We have to cross twenty meters of nothing." Rainbow said, gesturing to the other side of the cliff. As if responding to her frustration, the earth shook.

"Whoa." Octavia commented, stumbling a bit. But then things really got serious when a crack split down and around her left hoof. "WHOA."

"Must've been the explosion. That destabilized the cliff face... Although even as I say this... It seems rather unlikely..." Neon started, her eyes tracing from the other side of the cliff down to her hooves.

A shadow was stirring under the thick layers of ice- just a shade of a darker blue, but it wasn't still- it was definitely moving, pulsing, writhing.

The ground shook periodically, as if the earth had a heartbeat. The source was from heartbeats- but not the earth's.

"What the hell is that...?" Rainbow looked down, at the writhing outline.

"No ideas." Octavia said.

"Some sort of mutated animal..." Neon frowned.

And as if to answer their questions, a part of the cliff face was completely torn away as a huge tentacle busted through the ice.

"Oh great, as if the killer whale wasn't enough of those mutated sea creatures for us. I heard they eat these things in the East." Rainbow muttered.

"Cannibals." Octavia said. "Well. I don't have any weapons. Anyone?"

"Nope." Rainbow shook her head- and Neon and the fillies obviously didn't either.

"Sis... I think it's coming for us..." Dainty said.

"Yeah... We should probably run." Lily said.

"You know, fighting giant mutated sea creatures would not have been on my to-do list a few years ago in Manehatten." Rainbow said, running to the side. She desperately needed her cleaver- but that meant risking a lot of frost damage, even for a brief moment. This wasn't the same Arctic as the other one- this one had undergone a lot of change. Globally temperature differences have been growing, the cold becoming colder and the warm becoming warmer as these tend to be the effects of the bio-weapons the science faction uses.

There was a loud roar as the rest of the mutated octopus came crashing out of the ice, tentacles sprouting from the ground all around them.

"I think I'll be fine." Rainbow said.

"How so?" Octavia ducked for cover as a huge tentacle slammed down on the spot where she was a second ago, the ice shattering and cracks slithering across the floor.

"Cause those tentacles are too big to fit in my buck'n arse!" Rainbow yelled, leaping to the side as the ice burst apart. "RUN!" She scooped Dainty up, and started sprinting away from the octopus.

"Get the fillies and get to safety! I'll keep it occupied." Neon said, and suddenly she split into five hundred other clones.

"What the...?" Rainbow frowned. "The buck is this new trick?"

"Optical illusion. Neon's the Warden of Light now." Octavia said, Lily on her back as she ran past Rainbow.

Then suddenly Rainbow let Dainty down, and stopped.

"The hay you doing?" Octavia raised an eyebrow.

"Take care of Dainty! I'm going to go help Neon out with that thing before somepony gets it up the flank!" Rainbow yelled back, already running for the battle.

"If it's anyone, it's gonna be you!"

Rainbow ignored that, and kept on going.

Suddenly the ground beneath her hooves broke open, and a tentacle with her still on it sailed high up into the air.

"WhoaoaoaOA!!!" She screamed since her wings were trapped under her armor. She was flung high up into the air by the tentacle, a mere dot in the sky.

"Yep, she's gonna get it." Octavia sighed.

Rainbow disengaged the suit, making an emergency detach. The suit broke away, her dark coat suddenly splaying out from under the metal sheets. Her cleaver canister fell out of her pocket, and she spun in mid air to grab it. She grabbed hold of it, then flung it towards the sky again. By this time she had already completed a three-sixty spin, and the suit was falling back on her again. She could feel the cold seeping through her clothes, the wind tingling her skin.

"HUD! Re-engage the suit!" She yelled, and heard a beep behind her.

The suit suddenly sprung back around her again, deploying the pieces back together and closing around her body. The final piece locked in place, and the HUD came online with a bright flash.

Rainbow reached up and grabbed her cleaver, activating it as she came back down at the octopus.

The cleaver unfolded into its full size, a huge broad blade that needs no introduction.

Now to kill this thing.