> Rust on Blood > by Jackal the Bat Pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Driver > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 - The Driver Boots hit the cold and wet tarmac as the stallion ran down the streets of Manehatten, puddles of water splashing up onto his trousers as he ran through them, weaving between cars. The imposing and ominous warble of a ship overhead, and the screeches and horrifying communicative chitters of soldiers as they gave chase. Rounds whizzed past the man as he made his way into an alley, each round like the scream of a banshee and scream of a child in one as Crystalline rounds sliced their way through the air. The stallion continuing to run down the alley, though not out of fear, out of choice, the alleyway itself was too narrow for the overhead ship to get a good view on the man, and it was the perfect place to ambush his pursuers. The towering stallion in question would take cover behind a dumpster, pressing the magazine release on his sidearm as the magazine ejected with a slick scrape. The stallion catching the magazine as it fell, before retaining it in one of the magazine pouches on his left hip, then drawing a full magazine from the second magazine pouch on his left hip, and sliding it into the well with a satisfying scrape and click into place, finally he'd flick the slide release down as the slide flung forward with a scrape and click into battery, the man taking a glance to see where his targets were. After taking a mental note of his targets, he'd back up slightly, and raise his sidearm to a firing position from a crouch, quickly leaning to his right to clear the barrel of the dumpster, depressing the trigger twice, he'd send four rounds from the twin barrelled sidearm into the first alien, two in the chest, two in the head, dropping the creature instantly as it dropped like a sack of potatoes onto it's back. The second target received two rounds to the knee to disable it as the stallion stepped out of cover and pushed forward, putting two rounds into the head of the third who was in the process of raising his rifle to clear his injured ally, the third target dropping instantly. With the second raising his rifle as he fired off two shots before he too was shot in the head, though with no time to waste the stallion flicked his weapon to safe and holstered it, going straight back to running Making his way through the maze of alleys in the city, he'd make his way into a parking complex, the stallion keeping low while he made his way through, the warble of the overhead ship still heard outside as it searched, deploying more foot soldiers to hunt inside the buildings as the stallion cursed. 'Hell's bells you shithawks have really got more diligent' the stallion muttered while he made his way to the stairwell, drawing his sidearm, flicking it off safe as he entered and starting to make his way down, weapon at the ready to shoot any bandits or alien troopers waiting for him. Each step the stallion made sending soft echoes both up and down, with the door he came in through gently swinging on its hinges. He'd slowly make his way down, keeping his weapon trained on the lower levels, aiming at any door he passed, soon coming out to the basement level as he cleared both ways, seeing it was clear he'd make a rush for his vehicle, flicking his weapon to safe and holstering it on his leg holster, reaching his car and getting in. Rust on Blood, a modified Charger SRT with armour; a bull bar; raised suspension; off road tyres; the rear seats having been extended to a bed, leaving only two seats in the car, with the second currently holding a marksman rifle that the man utilised sometimes. The stallion closed the driver’s door as he reached down to the gear stick, flicking a hidden kill switch that was hidden under the pleather, afterwards turning the key as the beast roared to life, it's heart rumbling loudly as it's belts began moving. Pistons pumped it's blood, soon after the beasts eyes came to life, illuminating the basement level. The stallion pushing the gearstick into first after disengaging the clutch, finally giving some gas and engaging the clutch and got moving. The driver quickly raced to the exit, turning through the graveyard of metal beasts, starting to climb the ramp out of the concrete crypt, the bull bar on the front hitting the gate first as it blasted it off the mount, the years of disrepair and degradation leaving the gates mount brittle and weak. Once out into the world, he'd immediately yank the handbrake, having modified it to rally spec to allow for a faster pull and disengagement, the brake itself giving a loud ratchet as it was yanked, locking the rear wheels up, the stallion spinning the wheel to the right to force the car to slide the rear end out to the left, with the stallion giving some gas and dropping a gear into second to regain grip. The alien ship gave a loud fog horn like roar as it spotted the car, the ominous warble heard overhead as it gave chase. The driver himself racing down the streets toward the open wasteland, it was the most peculiar part about the alien threat, they rarely gave chase into the open wastes, instead opting to stay in the cities, ironically, the open wastes were the safest place in the world. Nevertheless the stallion raced toward safety, disengaging the clutch and slamming the car into fifth gear, engaging the clutch again, slamming the accelerator to the floor, the beasts heart letting out a loud roar as it's heart beat faster, a few alien troopers running out into the street. Firing on the beast, each round ricocheting off the armour as they were ran through, splattering blood onto the rusted body, sending the alien troopers tumbling. Those that weren't hit, firing as the Rust on Blood made its way into the open wasteland, the driver breathing a sigh of relief, adjusting his jacket to fit more comfortably over his plate carrier. The alien troopers and ship stopped at the cities edge as the Rust on Blood raced off into the distance, tyres sailing over the ground, carrying the metal chassis of the beast, with her driver inside. The stallion reaching over, turning his dashboard mounted cassette player on, grabbing a cassette from the cup holder and slotting it in as it began to play music from the old world. 'Rise like a Phoenix' filling the interior of the car while it sailed across the dead ocean of dirt, concrete corpses and old world landmarks. The driver kept his speed steady while he made his way across the open ground, making his way East, toward Minetown, a new world gated town by Survivors of the new world. The stallion himself didn't stay in the town, and only opted to pass through when he needed work, or to trade with the locals, right now he was running low on ammo. The new world had two currencies, there was the classic barter for payment, and town credits, performing work or bringing valuables to a town, rewarded one with credits for that town specifically. Monitored on a card, updated when a transaction was made, be it after a job, or when paying for goods. Currently, the driver had a hundred credits to his name, enough for a few boxes of .45 ACP and some food, but not enough for gasoline to fuel his steel beast, in truth she was running dry for a while now, he had enough to last him another day and a half, but not much more. The drive to Minetown took half a day to reach the main gates, with the Driver pulling up to the gate, honking his horn twice, letting the horn draw out each time. The towering metal gates of Minetown soon screeched open as the Driver made his way inside, parking up in a free spot and turning off his engine before stepping out of his vehicle, looking around like he always did while he locked his car, guards patrolling on the catwalks above, with two always stationed both above the gate, and at the ground level. The foyer was also where the mechanic of Minetown always was, Glaring Feather was her name, a larger gryphon woman who'd look to the Driver as she spoke up, having a crackly athletic tone to her voice "How mu-?" she'd ask with a proud and lustful tone of voice as she set her sights on the Rust on Blood, getting cut off by the Driver "Not selling" He would respond with a gruff and quickened response to her question, the gryphon woman growing a look of malice as she muttered to herself, glaring at the stallion before going back to fixing one of the scout vehicles she was working on, a Can-Am Buggy, useful for short recon missions out into the wastes. The Driver made his way up the steps into the main square, the streets bustling with life as citizens made their way around either to their work, or to the many stores that littered the square, the centre taken up by a large borehole with steps and an elevator that went down to the mine, that's how Minetown made most of its own fortune, mining materials required by the other towns and survivors. The stallion would make his way through the crowds of Minetown citizens, gently pushing his way past any in the way, keeping an eye on anyone who looked to harm him, once out of the crowd he'd step into one of the many shops in the square and make his way up to the counter as he rang the bell. "One second!" a gruff and tired older stallion's voice called out, soon enough a greying white coat, blue mane and tailed unicorn stallion made his way out of the back, in the old world he was a Prince, now? a Fixer for survivors "Ah! the Driver of the Rust on Blood!" he'd exclaim with a hearty laugh "I took you for dead, been a good while since I've seen you here taking jobs" he'd say with a chuckle "don't worry, won't bore ya with all that catching up stuff, it ain't a bar" he'd then say, his hand reaching under the desk, and taking out a contract and slapping it on the counter "Shocked you have jobs for me, Armor" he'd say with a tone of disbelief, reading through the contract, detailing the mutant problem in the mines, and how it was impacting work, the Driver speaking up "Mutants again? I assume I won't be alone in this job?" he'd ask, looking up to the unicorn who'd just chuckle and give a nod "Nah, you'll have a few other guys, but same rules still apply, anyone who dies, the cut gets better for the survivors" he'd say with a smile before remembering something as he used his magic to grab a gun from the top shelf, a semi-automatic 12 gauge M10 shotgun. "And, as a token of my appreciation for the job you did the last time you were here, you can have my shotgun" he'd say, placing it on the counter, along with two boxes of ammo, forty rounds in total. The Driver himself would pick it up, immediately he inspected the weapon, racking the cocking handle back a few times and checking the chamber, making sure the shell carrier worked as he flipped the shotgun upside down, happy with it functioning he'd look to the unicorn, giving a thankful nod, soon after he began to load the shotgun, pulling the cocking handle back and loading a shell into the chamber, finally he gently pushed the handle forward to lock the bolt into battery, starting to load the tube with eight shells. "Man of few words still, so nothing's changed there, the leather armour on your shoulders a nice touch though" Shining would say, motioning to the Driver's jacket, his outfit in total consisting of brown cargo pants, with built in kneepads, steel armour on his shins, with MOLLE rights on his thighs that were attached to a leather belt around his waist. With a beige button up shirt, that sported a green plate carrier over the top, and finally a green military jacket over the vest, with leather armour on the left shoulder and arm, finally he sported leather gloves, with the index fingers cut to allow the use of a firearm without modifying the trigger guard each time. "Prefer it that way" the Driver would respond, giving a half-smile before placing what shells he could on his vest, the rest going into the empty rifle magazine pouches on his vest. The Driver giving the Fixer a small nod and heading out, making his way over to the elevator down to the mine, three others already waiting, a mare with no more than a simple 9mm sidearm, a taller zebra who sported a select fire rifle, and a third stallion who was using a 9mm submachine gun. The Driver himself was the last of the four to join them, the mare looking with shock as she spoke up "Jesus, Fixer never mentioned that a fecken Legend was gonna join us on this damn job" she'd say with a nervous laugh, staring up at the stallion with awe, her accent a lilting brogue with every word almost sung. "Legend? I'll wait and see myself, driving a car doesn't make you a legend, it makes you a drifter" the Zebra would retort with a stern tone, looking to the Driver before boarding the elevator "Can we get going now? The wife will kill me if I don't get back by nightfall" he'd say with a hearty laugh "I envy you in that fact Drifter" he'd then say, his accent rough, though Saddle-Arabian in nature. The third stallion was quiet himself as he boarded the elevator next, looking nervous and slightly worried, he stared into the abyss, stumbling slightly, he'd catch himself, the mare and Driver boarding soon after, the Zebra hitting the button to send them down, speaking up while held out a hand to the Driver. "Jadir, Jadir Bialthiqa, Drifter" he'd say with a proud tone and smirk, the Driver shaking his hand, he'd give a nod before speaking up "MacAllaidh" he'd bluntly say, the third stallion going wide eyed, he looked to the man with shock, opting to stay quiet and compose himself. Leaning against the railing on the inside of the elevator while it made its way down into the dark abyss of the mine, where their targets lay in wait. > The Mine > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 - The Mine "Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream, And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by? The transient pleasures as a vision seem, And yet we think the greatest pain's to die." - John Keats The air filled with the putrid and throat burning stench of death, sulfur and decay as the elevator came to a screeching halt at the bottom of the mine. MacAllaidh was the first to step off, keeping his M10 low but ready while he glanced around, the stallion letting out a mere grunt as he let out a few chitters, too quiet for the others to hear. But that was the upside to being a Thestral, echo-location, natural sonar vision. MacAllaidh's vision soon adapted to the dark, lighting up the mine in thin but bright white outlines, and any creatures or objects that the soundwaves hit. As for Jadir and the others....well, they opted for a far more old-school approach. CLICK-CLACK went the noise of a torch as it's button was depressed and let go of, a bright white beam emitting from the light attached to the handguard of Jadir's rifle, the zebra man stepping up beside MacAllaidh as he pointed it down the tunnel, the Thestral having to cover his eyes for a moment to shield them as his eyes adjusted. "Heh, too bright bats?" Jadir would ask with a soft chuckle, keeping his rifle aimed down the tunnel as he glanced to the Thestral "I'll try not to cripple you, no?" he would then ask with a joking tone, soon beginning to lead the way, the mare and stallion following behind, with MacAllaidh taking up the rear. "We uh....telling our names or just going off guns?" the sing-song accented mare asking as she glanced between the two, shrugging soon after, opening her mouth to speak again "whatever the case, names Crimson, don't got a last name" she'd say with a snicker, looking to the as of yet, unnamed stallion "wot's your name coward?" she'd ask with a toothy grin and insinuating tone. "Hey I'm no coward!" the unnamed stallion would exclaim in his retort, muttering to himself before speaking "Tyre Drift" he'd finally say, the mare growing an amused smile at the name, Jadir himself finding some amusement in the name itself, while MacAllaidh stayed silent, focused on the mission, in truth he found no amusement in the name, the Wasteland barely surprised him anymore, and a name no doubt born out of a love for drifting cars? he could see it was a mere nickname, one endeavouring to make it's bearer sound more impressive than he actually was. The group made their way through the tunnel as quiet as they could, mutants gave off a pungent musky stench, like that of vinegar and rotten apples. The mine itself was cramped, barely tall enough to fit Jadir and MacAllaidh, the two towering stallions standing tall, though MacAllaidh stood a little taller than Jadir. Soon enough Jadir would raise his fist over his shoulder as he crouched down, Tyre Drift and Crimson stopping behind the man, while MacAllaidh opted to stay at the back still, the stallion looking ahead as he narrowed his eyes. "It's quiet" the bat pony would say as he flicked his M10 off safe. He in fact wasn't wrong, it was quiet, too quiet even, Jadir keeping his rifle raised as he aimed down the near pitch black tunnel, the lack of ventilation allowing dust particles to be visible in the beam. All of a sudden Tyre Drift would let out a scream of agony and fear as he was stabbed through his shoulder blade and hoisted up to the ceiling, a mutant holding onto the tunnel ceiling, mutated heavily, still wearing a miners mask. MacAllaidh in response would raise his shotgun and fire twice at the mutants head, killing the beast instantly as it dropped to the floor, with Tyre Drift as well, blade still in his shoulder. The stallion quickly scrambling back to the tunnel wall as he cried in pain at having just stabbed the blade deeper. "Quit crying, you'll attract more!" Crimson would exclaim with an annoyed tone, the mare picking up Tyre Drifts sub-machine gun as she flicked it off safe and readied it down the tunnel, the mare firing off a few shots at the ceiling down the way. With the sound of bullets tearing flesh confirming her suspicions, she'd continue to fire, with Jadir soon joining her as he backed up. "Go home" MacAllaidh would say bluntly with a stern and somewhat annoyed tone to Tyre Drift as he loaded two shells into the magazine tube of his shotgun, motioning for the younger stallion to leave as he did so, running toward the elevator. MacAllaidh himself would step up next to Jadir, opposite Crimson, then raised his shotgun to his shoulder, firing off a few shots, knocking a few more mutants to the ground, with the bat pony making sure each shot count before he pulled the trigger. The gunshots rang out in the tunnels for a few moments before Jadir quickly backed up as he spoke up "out of ammo!" he'd exclaim, the Zebra man pressing the magazine release lever on his rifle as the curved steel magazine fell to the floor, before the zebra man pulled a new magazine from his back pocket and loaded it into the rifle. Finally racking the cocking handle, starting to fire at the mutants again, more and more still coming, falling to the three. Crimson herself would step forward slightly as she fired, dumping round after round into the mutant horde, stopping to reload, though failing to alert the other two with her as she dumped the magazine, looking for a fresh one on her person before realising she had picked the gun up, the mare quickly rushing back behind Jadir and dumping the sub-machine gun, drawing her sidearm afterwards, then turning, raising her weapon, depressing the trigger as she sent a round into the eye socket of one of the mutants, dropping it instantly. Thankfully, the horde would end after around ten more were put down, Jadir letting off the trigger as he scanned the ceiling, walls and floor for any still alive, at seeing it was clear he'd remove his half empty magazine and put it back in his back pocket, before loading a fresh magazine from his jackets inside pocket, MacAllaidh himself beginning to load his shotgun as he stepped forward to lead the way, Crimson speaking up. "Fuck me you're really gonna keep going?" she would ask with a shocked tone, the mare holstering her pistol as she looked to the elevator before looking back to MacAllaidh and Jadir "with how many there were just there, I don't think we'll be clearing them out any time soon" she'd then say, motioning to the elevator "let's just go, fuck the mine, living is far better!" she'd finally argue. "It's our job" MacAllaidh would retort bluntly as he looked to Crimson, nodding to the elevator before speaking up again "lifts there if you want to leave, I'm staying though" he'd then say, the bat pony looking down the tunnel as he let out a few next to silent chitters, lighting up the tunnel with his echo-location, albeit it to himself, at spotting no alive mutants he'd opt to continue moving, Jadir himself looking to Crimson before deciding to follow as he spoke up. "Wait up Legend, can't let you go and die alone now" he'd say with a soft chuckle, catching up with the bat pony as he kept his rifle pointed near the floor, flicking off his light and placing a hand on MacAllaidh's shoulder "new plan, you lead us, if you stop I'll assume we're about to get into a fight" he'd say with a soft laugh. Crimson herself would glance to the elevator again before sucking air in through her teeth as she cursed to herself, jogging after the two and starting to follow, taking a hold of Jadir's jacket as the tunnel got darker. Darkness soon seeped in, the three walking in pitch black darkness, with MacAllaidh still using sound to guide the three. The three would make their way through the tunnel before they came out into a larger dug out area, lit with old still powered lights, with mining vehicles as well as tools visible below, the clank of a catwalk below their hooves, and right at the bottom was a mutant nest, MacAllaidh himself would take a glance down to the nest, giving a snort of disgust as he checked his weapons. "By Celestia, how do you suppose we deal with them, Legend?" he'd ask, looking to the man with wide eyes, in truth even the zebra was concerned, he had the ammo to maybe take out another horde of mutants, but an entire nest? that would require an army, the mare herself would take one glance at the nest before gulping and backing up. The driver would look to the Zebra, before looking around, pointing to an industrial excavator on the far edge "bury 'em" he'd state bluntly, looking around some more as he spied some crates, spying a crude explosives symbol on the side as he pointed to them "watch your fire, those go off and we'll take the town with us" he'd say starting to make his way toward the digger on the far side. Jadir and Crimson followed behind, the two keeping their weapons at the ready, MacAllaidh himself had his shotgun over his shoulder while he made his way over at a brisk pace. Once he reached the mining vehicle he'd clamber up onto the tread, then to the ladder into the drivers seat, as he climbed inside he'd check the fuel gauge, seeing it had about a quarter of a tank left, he'd give a nod and hop back down, motioning to the seat. "Quarter left, should be enough to bury the nest" he'd say, looking to the hole that the mutants had made their home out of before speaking "it's going to create a lot of noise, so be ready" he'd then order, taking his shotgun off his shoulder before passing it to Crimson, along with the rest of his shells, the mare putting them in her pockets after she had holstered her sidearm in her waistband, looking to Jadir before shaking her head as she turned to ready herself. "Death by mutants isn't how I imagined going, but fuck it" she'd say with a chuckle, making her way over to the side of the hole, taking aim at the walls below as Jadir did the same. MacAllaidh meanwhile hopped up into the mining vehicle, checking for the key, finding it above on top of the CB radio, and finally slotting the key into the ignition, turning it to the run position as the vehicles lights and electronics came online, next, after a few moments of thought, he'd turn it fully and fire up the engine. Immediately the excavation beast gave a roar as it came to life, before rumbling softly, the mutants below letting out a disturbed howl as they began to clamber up toward the trio, Jadir himself focused on firing single shots to try and thin the horde before they reached the top, while MacAllaidh got to scooping up dirt to throw down into the hole, moving the excavator's arm to one of the piles, and scooping up a whole bucket full, next starting to drive the vehicle toward the edge. The hulking beast itself moved like a snail, it's large tracks slowly dragged the vehicle across the cave floor, Crimson herself would look down into the hole, before noticing a group of mutants on the wall below her, raising the shotgun to her shoulder she'd take aim and fire off a few shots, hitting a couple in the head, missing others, the mare trying her best to fire off accurate shots. MacAllaidh soon brought the excavator to the holes edge, before moving the bucket over the hole, and turning it to drop the dirt, the multiple tonnes of dirt falling out of the bucket, falling to the nest below. The dirt beginning to bury the beasts as they continued on their way to stop the attack. Crimson and Jadir still firing at those below, the zebra man's magazine running dry as he quickly reloaded, dumping his magazine into the abyss before loading a fresh magazine as he racked the cocking handle and got back to firing. Crimson herself would kill a few more before starting to load some more shells, cursing as she dropped a couple into the abyss, but nevertheless got to slowly loading the magazine in the shotgun, giving the cocking handle a rack after loading eight shots into the tube, and starting to fire at the mutants again. The driver backed the excavator up as fast as it went, and turned the arm to scoop up more dirt, taking another bucket full before throwing the vehicle into drive, gently letting off the brake as it got to moving to the edge. The stallion soon reached it again and did the same as before, turning the bucket to let dirt fall down to the nest, a couple of mutants reaching the top as they clambered onto the track. At seeing this, MacAllaidh would draw his sidearm as he leaned out of the cabin, and put two rounds into both, depressing the trigger once per target. Noticing that burying them was going to take too long, he'd curse as he hopped down onto the track before starting to run for the crates of explosives, Jadir himself going wide eyed before cursing himself as he growled and fired at the mutants some more, Crimson herself looking to the man, going wide eyed with fear, the mare looking down into the tunnel, starting to fire at the mutants again. Hearing the shotgun click when it was empty she'd quickly begin to start reloading, though in her fumble to load new shells, dropped the gun into the abyss below "SHIT!" she'd exclaim with fear and worry, drawing her sidearm quickly and firing at the mutants below with a shaky hand. MacAllaidh soon enough reached the explosives crates and looked them over, trying his best to pry the lid off, though began searching for a crowbar. Luckily finding one near the back crate, he'd grab it and quickly start prying the lid off the crate, slamming the crowbar inbetween the lid and wall on all sides, lifting up, he'd pry the lid free and climb up, grabbing around six sticks of dynamite before rushing back over to the excavator as he climbed up, proceeding to place them in the cabin. After he had done so, the man would look around for a lighter, before cursing as he stepped back out onto the tread, looking to Jadir "Lighter!" he'd order with a gruff tone, the zebra man glancing to him before firing at the mutants, cursing under his breath as he reached into his pocket and took out a box of matches, the zebra quickly running over to the excavator, throwing them up to the stallion "I want those back, can't make a fire without 'em!" he'd say with a hearty laugh before heading back to the edge of the hole, firing at the mutants again. The bat-pony would grab one of the six sticks of dynamite, making sure to choose the one with the longest fuse before placing it on the seat, with the rest below the seat, afterwards, he'd take a match out of the matchbox and try to light it, the matchbox striking surface faded with use and almost gone. The stallion growling as he quickly striked the match a few times on both side, before finally lighting it, the man quickly placing the matchbox in his pocket, and grabbing the dynamite on the seat as he lit the fuse. The dynamite instantly began to count down its fuse, sparkling audibly, the stallion soon put the excavator in drive, and let the handbrake off as he hopped out, making his way to the edge, starting to help in mowing down the horde of mutants. The excavator itself slowly moved forward, and eventually fell off into the hole below, its arm and rear of the tracks scraping against the edge while it fell, soon it smashed into the nest with a loud bang, the dynamite still lit and counting down. The mutant horde kept coming, with Jadir cursing as he ran out of ammo fully, throwing his rifle behind him as he drew his knife, a large bowie knife, the zebra man starting to fight off the mutant miners as he backed up, Crimson herself ran out of ammo and had one magazine left, the mare attempting to reload, though unfortunately got set upon by the mutant horde, tearing into the poor mare with their pick axes as she screamed in agony, MacAllaidh trying his best to kill the mutants, though ultimately turned his attention to helping Jadir, firing off a few rounds into the mutants that the Zebra was fighting off. The Zebra let out a scream of pain as he was stabbed in the chest by a mutant as the dynamite detonated, going off with a loud BOOM as the excavator detonated as well, causing the entire mine to rumble and shake, with the hole collapsing in on itself, setting off a chain reaction as the mine began to collapse. The mutants who were already on the walls of the hole would find themselves brought down with the collapse, while MacAllaidh would finish off the rest that had set themselves upon Jadir, and killed Crimson. After the mine was clear, MacAllaidh would make his way over to Jadir as he holstered his sidearm, the stallion holding out a hand to the Zebra who had fallen back against the cave wall. The zebra man looking up to him before chuckling as he groaned in pain and sat up and spoke. "No luck, they got my heart friend" he'd say with a tired chuckle, the man looking to the bat-pony as he eyed him over and spoke "you get out of here, no point in you dying down here with me" he'd say with a soft laugh, wincing in pain as he sucked air in through his teeth before holding out his knife "here, take it, I have to say Legend, my wife isn't really at home here" he'd say with a pained smile "she's in Jannah" he'd then say, leaning back against the wall as he stared up at the cave ceiling, MacAllaidh gently taking the knife as he looked it over, intricate in design, it had Saddle-Arabian words carved onto the handle that was made of wood, with a blade of steel, and the name 'Airtafae Muhit' engraved onto the side of the blade itself. "Just look after her Legend" he'd say with a joking tone as he snickered, coughing again and groaning in pain as he pointed to the blade "she's a demanding woman" he'd say with a soft laugh, MacAllaidh growing a soft smirk as he gently placed the blade in his inside jacket pocket before speaking "Aye sir" he'd say, giving a small salute, Jadir raising a brow as he chuckled, the cave rumbling some more as a few rocks fell from the ceiling. "Tell me, before I die and you go, were you a soldier?" he'd ask, the zebra man's breaths growing weaker, the bat pony himself looking himself over before opening his admin pouch, taking out a patch as he knelt down and held it out, the zebra man taking it, the patch itself was that of the United Equis Space Force, old world military who were tasked with defending the planet from extra-terrestrial threats, specifically the patch signified the Exploration Branch, their job was to chart new worlds and systems, the Zebra just gave a chuckle at the sight of the patch as he gently held it to his chest, looking to the ceiling again. "Told you spacemen were real, Airtafae" he'd say with a weak and disoriented tone, the Zebra man going limp soon after as he let out one final breath, MacAllaidh staying knelt for a few moments, before closing the mans eyes and placing the Zebra man's matchbox in his pocket standing up as he spoke "May Stiùiridh bring you home" he'd say with a saddened tone. The stallion quickly starting to make a run for the elevator, rushing up the metal steps to the entrance as the cave continued to collapse in on itself. He'd run through the tunnels that the three once walked through, toward the light at the other end, not daring to look behind himself as he ran, reaching the elevator he'd dive in and slam himself against the cage wall, quickly hitting the button to go up as the elevator began to do so at a slow pace, dust rushing out of the mine entrance as it collapsed in on itself. MacAllaidh himself letting out a sigh as he looked up to the top, the elevator soon reaching the top as the doors opened to the people of Minetown waiting, a few with worried looks, while others stared in awe or anger, Shining Armor himself waiting with a card reader as he raised a brow. "Where are the other two?" he'd ask, looking past MacAllaidh to see if they were behind him, before noticing the missing gun "and my shotgun?" he'd then ask, MacAllaidh making his way over as he spoke up "dead....lost" he'd say with a blunt and gruff tone, reaching into his vest pocket, taking his Minetown card out before holding it out, the Fixer taking it gently and holding it to the reader, the machine beeping as the stallions balance was updated. "It'll take us a good year or two to re-open a new mine, and replace everything we lost, so your pay is less than what you would've got for a clean clear.....500 credits" he'd say as he gave the card back with a saddened look "apologies it's not enough" he'd say, MacAllaidh not saying anything as he made his way back toward his car. Once there he'd get in and drive it over to the fuelling station, hopping out soon after, popping the fuel cap open, next placing the pump in and holding the trigger, paying for a few days worth of fuel, costing him around 300 credits in total, the stallion paying for it before placing the pump back as he closed the cap again. Afterwards he'd climb into his car and place Jadir's knife on the passenger seat. The stallion would tightly clench the wheel with anger before putting the car in first, then headed up to the gate, giving two honks as the steel doors opened to the wasteland, and the stallion drove out, starting to head East, his tank now full, enough to get him to the place he called home, a small house that laid on a hill overlooking Ponyville. Close to 'Prosperity', a bustling settlement built out of the old Equestrian military base, equipped with anti-air weaponry, armoured walls, ran by descendants of the old world military, it was the safest place in the wasteland, and the best place for mercenaries to get jobs of all kinds, the stallion putting a cassette into his player, a Shaelic song soon filling the cars interior, 'An Eala Bhàn'.