With the flashing crimson light illuminating the spectacle, I knelt and picked my helmet off the floor before donning it with the usual series of dull clicks.  Through the whole process the flashlight was casting harsh shadows across the room as I shouldered the small pack containing my maintenance tools.  Hopefully this wasn't going to be a hard fix.  

"Twilight, you wanted to see how some of this stuff works, right?  I could probably use a hand or at least a second set of eyes for the repairs anyhow.  Discord, I'm not really sure who or what you are, but so long as you stay out of the way you are welcome to watch.  Cadence.  Considering the power is out and we have no way to contact Celestia or Luna right now, could you and Armor head back to the camp when I get us out of here?"

A small chorus of questions graced my ears, but Discord grabbed my attention once again as he dug around in a panel inset into the doorframe.  Before I could object, he pulled a large geared wrench from the recess and held it out to me.

"Before you ask dear boy, yes I knew what you were going to be looking for.  Magic is bad for you and all that, blah blah.  That leave just this little gizmo to get us out of here, and considering everypony else in here is magical in some way or another that leaves the elbow work to you."

After checking to make sure my rifle was securely draped across my torso, the wrench slid into my outstretched hand.  Mentally, I as muttering to myself about having a head injury or something as the wrench pressed into the thick doors with a dull click.  You know, it is kind of awkward to be grunting and panting from exertion while four "people" watch on wordlessly.  Forget "kind of."  Seriously awkward is more like it as my breaths came out sounding like something closer to an asthmatic breathing through a tube.  Either way, the rotations passed as I worked.  Every clicking and ratcheting movement was retracting the large locking bolts for the vault doors.  The whole while, the red "network lost" text being displayed in the corner of my vision was getting more and more concerning.

Eventually, the bolts receded enough to lock into the open position with a sharp "clack" of steel against steel.  Grasping the wrench at the pivot point, I leaned into it and pushed.  With the sound of a sliding tombstone, one of the ancient doors cracked and creaked open.  At first, little more than a sliver of light from the tunnel.  Soon enough it turned into a deluge of pulsing crimson light that cast the tunnels in barely visible gloom.

"Once we seperate, feel free to use your magic to light the way.  I just don't really want to come down with a sudden case of death before then.  Hopefully we'll get power back on soon enough.  If anything comes up, we'll be down the hall.  You won't be able to miss us."

After stepping to the side, the small group filed through the door with myself taking the rear.  Hating myself for following regulations, I tugged the wrench out of the door as I stepped through the edifice.  There was so much joy in me as I began the process to shut the vault in the same method.

Ten Minutes Later...

Cadence and her husband had quickly headed down the tunnel toward the camp while I worked.  It was strange to see light with a light pink taint to it when she used her "magic."  Ponies are weird, enough said.  As Discord, Twilight and myself walked down the passage bathed in soft white light from my lights, Discord was eerily silent for something so strange.  Twilight was looking at everything in a new light, no pun intended.  I could see the information implanted in her mind registering as she looked at random bits of the facility.  Soon enough, we were stepping past the silent form of a shut down support drone, the same one that had been mounting brackets to the concrete walls.  Through the cleaned up "doorway" I had hastily made, and toward the same corner that had started all of this insanity.

Most people would have overlooked the importance of this hallway.  Then again, most people didn't know how finely balanced the world was in regards to things working.  As we turned down the side passage, I was already rummaging through my pack to extract a lighting strip.  It really just looked like little more than a series of domes embedded in a strip of metal, but it was much more than that.  The first dozen feet or so of the hallway were studded with a series of latch embedded panels.  Behind these lay the primary breakers and assorted computers that ran this section of the facility.  With this in mind, I stuck the light strip to the opposite panels above head height before giving the first of several domes a tug.  When detached from the base they could be placed anywhere within reach of the built in power cables.  A moment or two of dull thumps and a depressed button threw the hallway into golden light.  Finally able to see, I set about unlatching one of the many panels.

"Discord, could you start on the other end and start opening the panels?  It is pretty easy, just press in the base of the latch and then pull out on the top to unlock.  If you or Twilight see anything burnt or broken looking, let me know."

I had nearly gotten the final latch on the panel disconnected before Twilight started asking questions while Discord worked.

"Seven told me a little bit about how all this works, but he didn't go into any real detail.  Could you show me later?"

Sighing softly, I set the first of many panels on the ground leaning against the wall behind me.  With the cover removed, a massive fuse bank was revealed along with a series of electronic ports and sockets.  Ignoring the alicorn for a moment, I fished a small tablet out of my pouch and mounted it to a matching clip built into the panel.

"Twilight, I know how to fix this stuff.  If anyone knew how this really works, it would be Seven, and he is kind of broken at the moment.  Yeah, I'm an engineer but the military means that more in the 'engineering' holes into stuff and fixing stuff in the field.  Designing it, hell if I know."

Thankfully she appeared to take that at face value with only a soft "oh..." crossing her lips.  More important things to do than babysit at the moment anyhow.  Thankfully, it appeared that Discord had managed the first of his panels while I was talking.  After clipping a cable into my tablet and one of the many ports on my panel, the screen burst to life with scrolling debug text.  That was good, it meant that there was still power somewhere.

"Okay, that panel over there should be the main power switch box.  See all the small switches?  There should be a small window next to each of them.  If the switch is to the left, that means it is on.  If it is in the middle with an orange marker in the window or to the right, it is either popped or off.  If you see any ones with orange, let me know what the small number next to it is so I can test that system."

A soft "umm..." broke my concentration and made me look up.  Both Discord and Twilight were looking at the panel with a look of confusion their faces.  

"Alex my dear boy, what does it mean if everything has orange next to it?"

"There is no possible way..."

I'll openly admit that I was surprised by Twilight nodding along with Discord waving his...paw...thing at me to come over.  A few steps later, fear forced it's way through me.  EVERY breaker was popped and showing a warning condition.  Every single one.  There was only one thing that could do that.

"Fuck... fuck... Discord, help me open this panel.  NOW!"

Three steps left and an outstretched hand later my fingers pushed the first lock, only to have the entire sheet of metal clatter to the ground in front of me.  As my eyes scanned the panel in front of me, terror was slowly taking hold.  What Seven said in the early hours of my "morning" was making more and more sense.  The first section of the AI core was revealed in the golden light, and I was scared.  Next to every solid state unit was a breaker showing orange.  One after another as my eyes drifted downward until my stomach fell with it.  Where there should have been a large cylinder set into a socket with mounting clamps and carefully laid out wiring was just a mess of severed, scraped, and bare wiring.  The AI core was gone.

It took a moment for the missing core to truly register in my mind.  Twilight was the one to snap me out of it with a wonderfully smart question.

"From your reaction I'm guessing that something important went there, right?  Seven didn't really explain that much to me."

Pausing to calm myself for a moment, I had to remind myself that if Seven didn't tell her, she really had no idea what was going on here.  So many thoughts were tearing through my head, and the foremost one was finding who took Seven and getting him back with or without bloodshed.  Hopefully with.

"Twilight, that big hole is where Seven WAS.  Given that both the panel fell off when I touched it, and the fact that he is missing, I think it is a good guess to say that someone stole the fucking AI core.  I'll do my best to explain later, but we have bigger issues to take care of.  I need both of you to go back to the camp and let everyone know that nobody is to leave the area until I find Seven, and nobody is to get back here.  Trust me, they won't like the results."

"...but."

"Twilight, someone STOLE the AI core.  I have no idea if they know how to use it or not, but they pretty much crippled everything I have down here.  Sabotage is not something I take kindly on.  So please go.  I'll be heading that way shortly.  If someone was suicidal enough to try to take Seven offline, they are probably smart enough not to sick around and catch my wrath for it.  You too Discord."

Without saying anything else, I spun on my heel and headed down the passage toward the sleeping drone.  I only paused long enough to detach my tablet from the first panel before rounding the corner.  From behind, I could hear the duo heading the other direction at a good pace with some unintelligible muttering coming from one or the other.  Screw em.  More important things to worry about over ponies and chimera creature things.  I loomed over the support drone for a moment before sliding a small recess to the side and plugging my tablet in to awaken it.  As text scrolled, it was time to take the kid gloves off.

User ID:ARodriguez

Password:*****************

>>>Authenticating please wait...

>

>

>NAF O/F-7 Heracles ONLINE>Awaiting command

While the system logged me in, I was already planning how to find Seven.  Each AI core had a RFID tag built in for part identification.  I'd need to be able to get close enough to trigger the system.  Once that happened I'd be able to track the bastards down and get Seven back.  With this in mind, I started to wake the rest of the turret, drones and Control.  A few moments later, all units were showing online and in <limited> network status.  Good enough of a start I guess.  After unplugging from the first drone, my fingers started tapping out commands on the digital keys for the drones.  

The O/F-7 back here would start clearing the section of the facility where my (thankfully sealed) vault was.  Any creatures that weren't me were going to have a bad day.  Rules of engagement were simple.  Disable if possible, kill if necessary.  No warnings to be given as nothing was supposed to be back here anyhow.  The turret would issue a single warning shot if anything came from the pony encampment.  Anything from within the vault or several tunnels next to it would meet immediate lethal force.  All were set to message when or if contact was made.  Content that my orders for those two units were good, the tablet was slipped back into storage before I gripped my rifle tightly and began to jog down the tunnel toward the cave entrance and where Control was resting.

As I jogged down the dark passage, several messages scrolled through the status screen at the corner of my vision.  They gave me some semblance of hope at least.  It was the little things that would help.  Control and the airborne drones were warmed up and ready for launch after being issued orders.  That was my first stop after all.  Beyond the few drone status messages, there was one that did get my attention and make me pause for a moment to address it.

>>>Limited network functionality available at this time.

>>>One way burst communication available.

In the shadows of Control and the smaller drones, I decided to put that to use.

###Send burst transmission> User(s): Twilight Sparkle, Luna, Celestia, Cadence

###Do not respond. Network down. Seven missing. Obvious sabatoge.  

###Drones online and securing facility. Lethal force authorized.

###Launching Control and others to search city.  Will follow to encampment and explain shortly.

As the small confirmation light blinked in my displays, I set about plugging into the support drone that Control rested on and issuing the needed commands.  In the end it boiled down to Control and the drones circling the city at high altitude and using a tight band radio to try to light up the RFID marker on the AI core.  If they found the core, it would use the others to triangulate the position and give me a live view of the position.  Hopefully whoever took Seven would be close.  If only I knew then how wrong I'd end up being.  After launching the aircraft, three of the four remaining support drones would setup a small firebase to secure the mouth of the cavern.  Hopefully two light machine guns and a 40mm grenade launcher would be a good deterrent.  The last drone would stick near me in case I needed to leave the area.  The extra firepower could be invaluable.  Assured that everything was in order, I did the last two actions available to me.

Press the "Launch" button for the airborne drones and to start the support tasks was one.  With a jolt, the four support units started crawling toward the large blasted hole in the wall and out toward freedom.  That just left following the drones out and explaining myself to the ponies while the drones searched.  This was going to be fun.

It was with a smug sense of satisfaction that I watched the ponies part for the oncoming drones as they inched through the encampment.  Wide eyed ponies stepped aside to make way for the large machines that crawled past.  When they were clear of the camp, a barely audible rumble started filling the air.  Parked side by side, the support drones tilted their beds upward slightly and aimed the aircraft toward the cavern entrance.  The rumble was turning into a soft whining as small rings of blue flame with gold centers sparked to life behind each craft.  Every pony in attendance just stared out of amazement or fear. Four small bursts of flame came from below control, as if it was aching to lift off.  For a moment it looked like the small aircraft were going to lift the support craft to the skies as they tugged against the clamps holding the units together.  Finally, the first of several locks came loose and Control shot into the air.

With a thunderclap and gust of hot wind Control screamed out of the cavern and into the darkened sky above.  Seconds later the other airborne drones followed to begin their search.  Silence reigned in the cavern as several hundred pony faces all turned toward me with a wild assortment of looks ranging from confusion to incredulity.  That was, until something strange happened.  A pink blur popped up next to me in a shower of confetti, taking every ounce of willpower in me to ignore my reflexes and not to shoot the pony in the face.  Weirder still was the fact it was talking in perfect English without the translator software.

"That was AWESOME Lexxy!  Can you do that again later?"

WHAT.  THE.  FUCK.