Horse People: The Precursor Legacy
Chapter 17: Chapter 15: Saving Lives and Love Interests
Previous ChapterOnce they’d dried and gotten dressed, the players resumed their journey with a new lease on life. The bath had been more than relaxing, to the point where Silver was already making plans on returning. However, she was outvoted by the rest that they should try to restrain themselves, on the grounds that having such creature comforts took away from the spirit of the adventure. They’d absolutely be returning to the Naked Ankle, but not after every single mission.
Back at the Hip Hog, Krew was sniffing for something. “What is that horrible smell?”
Predictably, all of the female players began smelling themselves.
“But we just got out of the bath!” cried Silver. “How can we still reek of sewer filth!?”
“No,” Krew belched while his innards made even more grotesque noises. “I think it was my lunch, actually.”
“That’s… not better,” Moonlight stated.
“Nice work in the sewers, ‘ey. I guess you’re looking for that weapon upgrade, mmm? Well there’s a few blaster mods stuffed in some crates over at the gun course. Find them and they’re yours,” He laughed menacingly, but at what, no one could tell.
The blaster mods were right where Krew said they’d be. With them, their morph guns doubled in length, gained aiming lasers, and delivered precise ranged shots instead of wide area blasts. Once more Sig came in over the communicator to fill them in on their new weapons, which they promptly took through the course for practice. It took a bit of practice, but by the end of the course, they all felt confident in their ability to use both modes of their morph guns.
However, before they could continue, Surprise stopped by one of the ammo crates. Blasting it open, she moved one of the yellow cartridges separate from the rest and smashed it with the butt of her gun. As predicted, a small sliver of yellow eco oozed out before flying into her body.
“Anyone else scared that Surprise’s transformation is meant to tie into the power of blasting things?” Moonlight asked of no one in particular.
“I was trying not to, thank you very much,” Silver replied tersely.
Surprise just giggled like a maniac.
When the HUD showed that they had missions for both Krew and the Underground, the party decided not to split up. They were in no hurry, and the missions offered by either faction would likely be distinct enough that no one wanted to miss out. For the sake of convenience, they went back to Krew.
“I have a proposition for you, my young pups,” the obese man wheezed. “Racing is the biggest sport in the city! Has been ever since personal zoomers became widespread about five years ago. (1) Erol is the undisputed grand champion. He’s crazy, and dangerous on the track. Ha ha! My kind of guy.”
“The Baron’s second in command has time to waste with petty races?” Luna asked in disbelief.
“If it gives us an excuse to get close to him, I’m not complaining,” Moonlight added. “After what he did to us,” she punched her fist into her palm, “I’m itching for some payback.”
“Blinded by vengeance, ‘ey?” Krew continued. “I like that. Anyway, that’s where you lot come in. A client of mine is looking for a fast driver for her racing team.” He tossed an item over to the players, which Surprise caught. “Here’s a security pass to get you into the stadium sector.”
“There’s an entire sector just for the stadium?” Silver asked.
“Well, it’s more of the commercial district. The stadium is just the most prominent feature,” Krew elaborated. “Uh, and your contract,” he offered out a few forms, with just a few trifles for me.”
Luna took the contract and read it over. “We the racers hereby agree to give Krew all the proceeds to blah blah blah…” She skimmed the rest and grinned as she came towards the end. There was a nifty little clause that said that the client retained the right to void the contract following her analysis of their first race, after which she would be free to renegotiate with the racers. However, feeling just a little sadistic, Luna decided to withhold this information for later.
With that settled, all that was left was for the six of them to reach the stadium within twenty minutes. Thankfully, this time the guards weren’t looking for them, so it was a relatively easy task. They just had to avoid hitting any pedestrians or causing any traffic accidents.
Thomas remembered this course requiring only three minutes in the regular game, but the city had grown substantially since then. Their rout took them back through the industrial sector and slums. After that, they came out into the stadium sector. The layout of the sector seemed to be centered around a number of rivers. The architecture was more homely than the industrial sector and better structured than the slums. The stadium was pretty much what they’d expected with tall arches, decorative statues commemorating past racers, and a nifty red x that they all reached with time to spare.
After disembarking, they let themselves into the back entrance. The place was a large workshop with half-finished zoomers all over the place.
“Hello?” Thomas called out, reciting his lines. “Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?”
“I’m busy right now,” a woman replied from behind a curtain. “You must be Krew’s new errand boys. Look, I don’t mean to be rude – you did get here fast – but I’m not interested in any new drivers right now, and I’ve got work to do…”
“Anything we can do to help?” Thomas offered. “We’re good at helping.” If he looked carefully, he was able to spy the woman’s silhouette on the other side of the curtain. She had quite the figure on her.
“Does she sound familiar?” Moonlight whispered, her tone free of sarcasm.
“No!” the woman countered. “I’m, uh, working on a secret uh, uh… vehicle project.”
“I can see that,” Thomas teased.
“Listen, if you think you’ve got the guts to race in this town, you can try taking my prototype jet-boards out on the stadium course. Beat the stadium challenge, and maybe I’ll consider you for my team.”
Accepting the challenge, the players headed for the stadium course and tried out the jet-boards. Conveniently, there were actually six of them, and each was able to auto-adjust to their rider’s size so that Luna wasn’t left out. The course was set up much like a skate park with curved hills and more grind rails than would ever be necessary in the real world. The monitoring system that judged their score apparently hadn’t been calibrated for multiple challengers at once, meaning the players had collectively reached the gold rank well before the allotted time ran out.
“We beat the stadium challenge,” Thomas boasted upon returning to the garage.
“Great. People do get lucky,” the woman behind the curtain replied snarkly. “Listen, don’t you have someone to collect money from, or beat up, or something?”
“Guess she didn’t notice how we cheated the stadium course,” muttered Moonlight.
“You don’t like us much, do you?” Surprise asked sadly.
“You work for that slime ball Krew. What’s not to like?”
“Believe me when I say we have no love for that flying sack of lard,” hissed Silver. “No more than that monster, Praxis.”
“But you still work for him,” countered the woman behind the curtain.
“He’s helpin’ us gear up ta fight the Baron ‘n’ save the city,” Honey argued.
The woman behind the curtain paused. “That… accent,” she muttered ponderously.
That’s how she recognizes us? Thomas thought with a frown. However, he decided to hold off on the big reveal for now. Instead he hurried the conversation along to get the ‘mysterious’ woman to give them elevator access to one of the place’s support towers. All the players had to do was find a way to turn it on.
“I know I’ve heard that voice before,” Moonlight insisted on their way through the stadium sector. “Urgh! This is going to drive me nuts.”
“I think she sounded a little like Rainbow Dash,” Thomas offered. “Scratchy voice and all.”
“Unlikely,” Silver added. “I have never met Rainbow Dash, yet I’m also certain I’ve heard this woman before.”
Honey leveled the stink-eye on Thomas. “Ya’ll are jus’ yuckin’ it up not tellin’ us, ain’t ya?”
Thomas replied with a shrug and shit-eating grin. “Mmh. Cooould beee.”
“Don’t threaten to sit on him to make him talk,” Surprise urged. “For one, we already agreed no spoilers was funner. For two, he’d probably like it.”
“Well, I might,” Thomas conceded with a snicker. At Honey’s exhausted sigh, he decided to take in the scenery as they walked along. The stadium sector was the closest thing he’d seen to a human city since arriving in Equestria. It was nostalgic, but less so than he felt it should be. He’d only ever lived out in the country or the suburbs, with the city being little more than a place to visit.
“Psst!”
The players paused, swiveling their heads until they found the source of the noise.
“Psst! Over here.” The figure in the shadows of a dark alley waved them over. “I’ve got somethin’, for ya.”
“Well that’s not suspicious in the slightest,” Thomas stated plainly.
“If he knows who we are, then this is either a covert contact or an ambush,” Moonlight reasoned. “If he doesn’t, then this might be the laziest mugging in history.”
“Eh. I’m good with either,” Surprise said as she skipped merrily forward, forcing the others to follow.
“You look like the sort of people who get into trouble,” the shadowy figure observed, always keeping to the darkness so that only his eyes were seen.
“It’s only trouble for those who get in our way,” Moonlight replied, flexing her knuckles while Surprise brandished her weapon and terrifying smile.
The shadowy figure laughed nervously. “I like your gumption, kids. The name’s Slim Cognito.”
“Seriously?” Thomas demanded.
“And I just so happen to have a certain set of products tailored to – shall we say – trouble prone individuals. In-ter-es-ted?” Slim asked, stretching out every syllable.
“Perhaps,” Luna replied while holding up an orb. “What, pray tell, are you offering?”
“Is that a real-?” Slim stopped himself, but never tore his eyes from the orb. “How many of those do you got?”
“More than you, I would wager,” Luna replied smugly.
Slim cleared his throat and offered over a clipboard. “Yes, well… Take this. It’s a nice little catalogue of the appliances my perfectly legal company has to offer. Just pay no mind to the typos.”
The first item on the list was a washing machine, along with a picture of a perfectly ordinary looking device and a suspiciously steep price. It was described as being composed of metal head steel and fully covering the torso; sleeves sold separately. The second item was a blender. It was wrist mounted and boasted the ability to turn even the toughest meat into slush. Everything on the catalogue was like that.
After shilling a few orbs, the players all bought a few pieces of armor and some simple ammo expansions for their guns. While they had the orbs for some of the more expensive and imaginative items, they decided to hold off for now and see what was needed for later.
Back at the Underground, the players passed Shren as they entered the map room.
“One of the Baron’s mining operations is under attack by metal heads,” Torn began. “On top of the city’s eco shortage, the foreman is one of the Underground’s best informants. His name is Vin and he’s just valuable enough to save. Find the warp gate at the power station and use it to travel to the Strip Mine.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Thomas affirmed.
“Whatever deal the Baron made with the metal heads, the city’s eco is almost gone, and his time is running out. If we don’t get the kid back on the throne soon, there might not be a city left to defend!”
“Ah yes, the deposed prince,” Luna interjected knowingly. “I trust you already have a plan for protecting the child once he’s assumed his rightful place, yes?”
“That’s the Shadow’s business,” Torn dismissed and tossed the players their security passes. “It’s my job to make sure we get that far. Now hurry up!”
The power station was located in the middle of the industrial sector. Fortunately, the place with the very important sounding name actually had guards posted out front. These were only private security personelle, rather than Krimzon guards, so the players had no need to cause a commotion. They entered a reception area, pretending to be new hires trying to find their way around. The clerk checked each of their passes and gave them directions to where they – as new assistants to the chief engineer – needed to be.
The core chamber of the power station had an almost neon blue glow. All around the central platform were panels that glowed with energy while strange turbines sparked with blue lightning along the walls. A woman in a lab coat didn’t even look up as she tended to her work. The gate was on the far end.
“Why is there a teleporter gate into the heart of the city’s power grid?” Silver asked, barely believing her own words.
“Metal heads can’t teleport,” the scientist answered, still not looking up from her work. “Things might get a little hectic around here, but we aren’t that oblivious.” She hurried over to a different panel, allowing the others to see that she was a brunette with hair cut professionally short, blue eyes, pasty skin, and an overcoat that was not flattering in the slightest. “Hello there, by the way. My name is Pebela. I’m the assistant engineer to Chief Vin. Who might you be?”
Surprise held up her pass. “Well according to these, we’re Vin’s new assistants, probably here to replace you and steal your retirement benefits.”
“The hell!?” bellowed Pebela as she whirled around. “Who even authorized this? I know it can’t be Vin. They haven’t confirmed he’s dead, yet. And even if he were, which I refuse to believe,” she hissed, “then I would be promoted.”
“Probably no one, given that these I.D.s are fake,” giggled Surprise.
Pebela tensed, stepping back in fear. “F-fake.”
“Courtesy of the Underground,” Luna elaborated.
Pebela blinked. “The ottsel is talking. Why is the ottsel talking?”
“Because I have things to say,” Luna replied plainly. “And, for the record, you may address me as Luna.”
“Hold on a second,” Pebela insisted, holding out her hand as she struggled to organize her thoughts. “Are… are you the rebels that have been on the news?”
“Sure are,” chirped Surpise.
“Here?”
“Yappers.”
“In one of the most volatile and crucial places in the entire city!?”
“Sure looks that way, darlin’,” offered Honey.
“Fear not, lady engineer,” Luna began. “Our mission is not sabotage, but to rescue Vin from peril.”
“Rescue Vin?” Pebela asked skeptically. “Why would the Underground want to… Wait. Is Vin a traitor?”
“Given that the Baron only came to power through a coup, I would say those who stand against him might be better described as loyalists,” Silver offered eloquently.
“So… not that I can really do anything to stop you,” Pebela conceded, “but how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Well our mission is ta save Vin,” Honey reminded. “If’n we do, then ya know we’re good on our word. Otherwise, we probably won’t come back at all.”
Pebela, unable to think of an argument, decided to let the players leave through the gate for an area deemed so hostile that the Krimzon guard had seen fit to abandon it.
On the other side was the aptly named Strip Mine. It was almost canyon-like with craggy rocks and large mounds of gray dirt. The area was surrounded by heavy equipment in various states of damage or disrepair. Save for the occasional shrub and metal head, the area was all but lifeless. Then again, with all of the dark eco pooling along the surface, that was probably understandable.
First among the enemies that decided to make nuisances of themselves were the metal head stingers. They were quick little crawlers that liked to swarm in numbers and attack with their oversized stingers. At least they each offered a skull gem when they died, allowing the players to collect much more rapidly than before. Making a return were the grunts, functioning as the primary foot soldiers. They were supported by aerial metal jackets, wasp-like creatures that could hover and fire blasts of dark eco from their tails.
For the most part, the players stuck to their firing line formation. Scatter guns took out enemies that got too close or were grouped together, which mostly consisted of the stingers. Blasters kept the grunts at a range and shot the jackets out of the sky. However, as the players advanced through the mine, the metal heads soon became wise to this strategy and kept their distance. Grunts started throwing rocks and bits of debris from high points while the jackets switched to hit and run tactics. This hampered the party’s progress for a while, but that changed when Luna broke from the pack and ran tauntingly close to the grunts. Whatever higher thinking they might have had was overridden by their baser instincts, driving them to abandon their strategy in pursuit of the seemingly easy prey.
Once the players had cleared the area, they made for the most damaged building, assuming it was the only one the metal heads hadn’t broken into yet. However, it took a depressingly short amount of time to see that the way into the building was a big red button beside the door. Surprise pressed it, the door opened, and a man started firing frantically.
“Ah! Stay back!”
The players ducked around the walls to either side of the door as the man continued shooting at anything that moved, or anything he thought moved.
“Are you Vin?” Moonlight asked.
“Stay back! There’s more where that came from!” he cried in a shrill voice.
“We’re here to rescue you,” Moonlight continued. “Torn sent us. You know, the guy with the stick up his ass.”
“Ah! I don’t believe you!”
Moonlight rolled her eyes. “If we were here to kill you, why would we be talking?”
At that, Vin finally calmed down. Even so, the players were still cautious as they poked their heads out to see one another. Vin looked even more pale than Pebela. His hair was as white as his shirt and goggles completely obscured his eyes.
“Oh, friendlies?” Vin asked before collapsing over a bit of makeshift cover, his adrenaline dissipated. He looked around at the players. “Huh. Ya know, I was kind of hoping for an army, but I guess a squad of tough commandos is a good second.”
“Hehe. Hear that guys?” tittered Surprise. “He thinks we look tough as we,” she snickered, “go commando.”
The others either joined in the snickering or rolled their eyes at the lazy joke. Vin looked oblivious.
“I doubt the Underground even has an army,” Silver said. “On the plus side, we are the best they have to offer, so that’s something to feel good about.”
Vin beamed.
“You know, if the Krimzon guard decided to run, I’m pretty sure it was because they were facing a much bigger army than what we went through,” Moonlight began. “Perhaps we should continue this back at the power station before the rest of them show up.”
Vin snapped to attention, leaping over his own cover to join the players, his weapon at the ready. It was a short escort back to the gate.
Upon hopping out the other end, Pebela rushed over in excitement, likely with the intent of glomping Vin, but tempered her enthusiasm when she remembered the others. “It’s, um, good to see you’re alright, Dr. Vin,” she greeted professionally.
“Good to be back,” Vin returned before rushing past her towards one of the control panels. “Hey, I want to thank you guys for saving my butt down at the Strip Mine.”
“… yes,” Pebela added under her breath, her gaze having fallen below Vin’s belt line.
“Those metal heads have been attacking our mining operations,” Vin continued anxiously. “I mean, they’d do that anyway. That’s kind of what they do. But it’s been a lot more persistent the last few months. The point is we’re running out of eco! And in case you’ve been hiding in a ditch all your lives, eco power is the only thing keeping the shield wall up. And if the shield drops, well… We can all kiss our butts,” he gave his rear a wiggle for emphasis, “goodbye.”
The others laughed when they noticed Pebela licking her lips. Thomas regarded his fellow players with a don’t-you-go-shipping expression, which only increased their mirth.
“So until the Shadow figures out what to do, you guys need to do all you can,” Vin pleaded desperately. “My readings show a drop in eco flow at drill platform six. Probably some metal head eggs suckin’ away the power. So, use the warp gate to-”
“Destroy every egg we find?” Surprise finished. “Also, if this is platform six, what about one through five?”
Vin laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, what’s left of platform three could fit in a bread box,” he explained grimly.
“And that was the lucky one,” Pebela added.
The briefing finished, the players set out.
***
The drill platform was an immense apparatus held atop immense towers. The architecture was reminiscent of Haven’s industrial sector with the whole thing being about the size of the fortress. The drill was equally massive and still grinding away at the rock beneath the platform. Metal head eggs were set up in clusters in plain sight all around the facility, but the shells were too tough to destroy with regular arms. To make up for this, the players made use of turrets positioned nearby. However, before the players could begin…
“Heeelp!”
“Someone needs help,” concluded Surprise as she surveyed the area. “Over there. Laser shots!”
“Looks like this facility isn’t fully lost yet,” affirmed Moonlight. “Maybe if the Baron weren’t awful, he could spare a few soldiers to protect these vital stations.”
The party split up, taking two separate paths through the facility. Surprise, Honey, and Luna trekked around the facility’s outer sections in search of civilians. The big gals made for obvious targets while Luna navigated the ventilation systems to either spring traps on the enemy or assure the soon-to-be-rescued that they were safe. Thomas, Silver, and Moonlight, stayed in the central area where the eggs were most visible. The ladies provided cover fire while Thomas manned the turret. Both teams fought off roto-blades, fast little buggers that spun like tops with razor sharp edges. Entering the first turret summoned forth straffers, slow moving jet propelled monsters with weapons fire on par with the Krimzon guard. They had numbers, but their poor maneuvering made them easy targets for the players.
In rescuing the civilians, the players learned of what had happened. The Krimzon guard had been stationed here, since this site was deemed more important than the Strip Mine. They were the ones who had set up the turrets, of which there used to be a lot more. The straffers had attacked with a significantly higher level of coordination than had previously been seen, overwhelming the guards. The platoon commander had ordered his men to hold the line as best they could until all civilians could be evacuated, with the intent of launching a counter attack to retake the facility later. Those civilians the players found had been trapped in areas that were overrun in the initial attack, abandoned only because they were presumed dead.
“Nice ta see soldier’s actually don’ their jobs ‘n’ bein’ honorable-like fer a change,” commented Honey.
“Verily,” Luna added, looking at the first group they’d saved. “You lot should stay here for now. We shall clear the platform of enemies, and then return once the path is safe.”
Deeper into the facility, the players encountered centurions. These tall bastards hid behind energy shields that deflected almost all small arms fire, but weren’t afraid to poke their heads out from time to time to fire from their arm cannons. They weren’t so good against flanking attacks, though.
Whenever they found the time, Silver and Surprise would crack open a few ammo clips to absorb the eco inside. Nothing had happened yet, but both described feelings of something building up. All were growing antsy to see what would happen.
Once all the metal heads were cleared, the party backtracked and gathered up all the civilians they’d found, sending them through the gate before following after. On the other side, Vin and Pebela thanked the players profusely, as did the civilians. Well wishes were shared all around, along with a few promises to spread the word about the good the Underground – and these six in particular – were doing.
***
Feeling the need to imbibe, the players decided to pay a visit to the Hip Hog to see what kind of spirits were on the menu. Luna hopped onto the counter and, feeling the itch for some spontaneity, decided to flirt with the barmaid. “Well, hello there, sugarplum,” she greeted sensually, causing the woman to giggle and blush. Taking the hint, Luna continued as the others took their seats, with Silver situated directly behind her. “You must be new here. Tell me, what do you have that is hot and… Wait. I’ve seen you before.”
The woman flinched and looked around nervously.
“Come ta think ‘f it, ya’ll do look mighty familiar,” agreed Honey.
Luna snapped her fingers. “Yes. I remember! You were with Torn at the Undergr-”
The blonde barmaid shushed Luna by placing a finger over her lips. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Tess,” she whispered, leaning in close to limit the number of eavesdroppers. In so doing, she exposed a lot more of her chest than she meant to, although she didn’t seem to mind as Luna and the others took in the view. “Torn sent me to spy on Krew. Play along, and I might be able to get my hands on a few of Krew’s secrets.”
“An admirable goal, but hardly an enviable one,” Luna replied, looking out the corner of her eye to where Krew was conversing with other bar patrons. “You seem capable, but feel free to ask for help whenever you need it.” Luna held Tess’ hand and stroked her fingers gently. “I’m sure we could make time for one as pretty as you.”
Tess struggled to contain her giggles at Luna’s overt cheesiness.
Feeling a bit curious, Thomas checked to see how Silver was doing. The short woman’s smile looked sincere, and she was blushing almost as much as Tess. It wasn’t hard to guess where her mind was. Although he knew he should have expected such a reaction, it never failed to warm the man’s heart each time he saw these examples of open Equestrian love.
When at last he’d noticed them, Krew hovered over and offered the players a job to collect some money around the city. Seeing how intently Tess was listening as Krew explained, Luna gave her a reassuring nod that they were on her side. The mission itself was the same mundane fare of collecting all the things within the allotted time limit. Upon completion, the players returned for a gun upgrade that increased the scatter gun’s rate of fire. They departed with Luna blowing a goodbye kiss to Tess.
“I hope you’re not entertaining any dirty thoughts in that fuzzy head of yours,” Silver warned playfully.
“Dirty? Perish the idea,” Luna dismissed. “As a Princess, I am incapable of any but the purest and most wholesome thoughts.”
“Example?” Thomas asked.
“Tess’ clothing seems rather tight, I think,” Luna pondered. “It makes one think, just how tight those shorts of hers truly are.”
“Pure and wholesome. Got it.” Thomas nodded along. “Well she did have a thing for Daxter in the original game.”
Luna clucked her tongue. “Would that not be considered bestiality by human standards?”
“Technically it’s closer to xenophillia, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”
“Yeah. We can romance her anytime we want,” agreed Surprise. “More important is Vin and Pebela.”
Thomas rolled his eyes. “Please no shipping.”
“Make me!” Surprise challenged. “Anyway, she clearly wants him. My money is on her liking his big brain, but he doesn’t seem to realize.”
“Back on the farm, whenever there was a problem like this, we’d jus’ lock ‘em in the cellar ‘n’ tell them they could come out after they got honest wit’ each other,” Honey said, gracing the others with her country wisdom.
“We could always set them up on a secret date, follow them like creepy stalkers, and arrange everything to maximize the romance,” Moonlight offered with a straight face. “It worked for me.”
Surprise tapped her chin. “Hmm. Not sure we have that kind of time. Those two seem to spend all their time in the power station, and I think the city kind of needs them to stay there.”
Seeing no hope of combatting the madness that was shipping, Thomas felt he had no choice but to wrap it up by helping it along. “So we need something romantic that wouldn’t require going out: an introvert’s date.”
“Perhaps we can start with something small, such as a shared project.” Silver added. “I can see the two of them tinkering away, only to reach for the same tool at the same time. Their hands touch and…” She trailed off with a swoon.
“But they already spend all their time together,” Moonlight countered. “If that sort of thing could happen, it would have already.”
“I’m sure you gals will think of something,” Thomas assured, checking the map. “But for now, I think there’s another lovely lady that could use some ogling.”
***
Back at the Underground hideout, Torn looked especially grumpy as he paced around the map. “One of my old guard comrades was sent to the pumping station. There’s been no word from the patrol, and after what you guys ran into out there, I’m afraid she may need some help.”
“Did you say she?” Surprise asked, perking up.
“Don’t. Even. Think about it!” Torn groused.
“Too late,” Surprise whispered.
“This ‘friend’ of mine has helped the Underground many times before. Go back to the pumping station and take a look around,” Torn instructed. “Render assistance if needed.”
“Hehe. Ass-sistance,” Surprise giggled.
Torn buried his face in his hands. “Why are you my best agents?”
***
At the pumping station, the players encountered a lot more crab heads than before. They were tough, had a lot of fire power when they saw their enemies coming, and were usually backed up by other metal head species. Fortunately, each group restricted their patrols to limited areas, meaning that the players didn’t have to worry about enemy back up if a fight took too long. As back at the Strip Mine, Luna made use of herself as a decoy, breaking even the toughest metal head lines with just a flick of her tail.
“So Torn seemed rather… protective of this mysterious she,” observed Moonlight.
“I know it’s not fair to judge her before we’ve met her, but I’m not sure I like Torn being with someone who’s as rough as he is,” Surprise began. “I’ve always thought that the whole idea of opposites attracting was healthier, since they end up balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Having a couple where they’re both basically the same seems like a poor match.”
“We don’t know Torn’s feelings are that way,” Silver argued. “A man and woman can work together and build a relationship that doesn’t turn romantic. They could just be good friends, comrades in arms or maybe even bra-ha-ha-ha!” she sputtered, devolving into chortles. “I’m sorry. I tried to keep a straight face for as long as I could but…” She gave a honking laugh.
Honey was laughing almost as hard. “Yeah. Situation like this, it ain’t a matter o’ if they’ll start smoochin’, but when.”
The players continued with their banter as they traversed across the station and up the cliffs. After crushing every metal head in sight, they came upon a crashed vehicle. It was a hell cat cruiser, the same two-person heavy vehicle that would sometimes be seen patrolling Haven. However, once they got close enough, a woman with red hair hopped down from the trees above and wrapped an arm behind Thomas’ neck. She had similar facial tattoos as Torn, fierce green eyes, and ruby red lipstick. She wore a red top with a blue jacket showing off her Krimzon guard insignia. Holes were cut in her jeans to expose her thighs. The whole ensemble hugged her figure snugly, but Thomas was more preoccupied with the gun being jammed into his back.
“Who the hell are you people?” the woman growled in demand.
“I’m the one asking nicely for you to let my man go,” Moonlight hissed aggressively. She and the other ladies formed a tight circle around Thomas’ assailant, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “That can change at any time.”
“Easy there,” Thomas said, holding up his hands. “We’re not your enemies. Torn sent us to-”
“We’re actually time travelers,” Surprise chirped, only to get scolded by the others. “What? We are.”
The redheaded woman rolled her eyes. “Time travelers? I’ll admit I was expecting something more… believable.”
“How about how the guy you’re holding is actually the aged up version of the prince from this time,” Surprise added.
“Not helping!” snapped Moonlight.
The redhead, rather than looking annoyed, donned a more thoughtful expression and took a closer look at Thomas. “Can you prove it?”
That caught everyone off guard.
“How exactly would he prove it?” Silver asked. “And how would you be able to verify if he did?”
The woman’s lips pursed apprehensively. “That’s none of your concern. Just answer the damn question!”
“We might wanna put this on hold fer a tick,” Honey offered. “Looks like we got company.”
Sure enough, a battalion of metal heads was converging on their position. Crab heads and juice goons made up the front while stingers circled around to flank the party from behind. The metal heads had superiority in not only numbers, but fire power. The juice goons stuck close to the crab heads to fend off close range attacks. Far range attackers had to divide their attention between ducking in cover from the crab heads and watching their butts for stingers.
Seeing little recourse as the enemy monsters closed in around them, Thomas broke from the woman’s grip and decided he might as well do something stupid. He went dark. He closed the distance with the enemy hoard in the blink of an eye, almost as though his claws were drawn to their targets. Adopting the stingers’ strategy, he came around from behind before the metal heads had time to maneuver. Their attention divided, the other players and the redhead opened fire on the distracted monsters. Thomas figured the best way to end this fight was with a bang, and so leapt up into the air and punched down at the ground in the middle of the hoard, delivering a dark bomb that sent a shockwave of dark energy out in all directions.
Unfortunately, the metal heads weren’t done yet. They still had a whole other wave of reinforcements, backed up with grunts this time. To make matters worse, the dark bomb had taken more out of Thomas than he’d expected. He caught himself on his knees before tumbling forward, but otherwise, could barely move. He was vulnerable before the approaching hoard.
“No!” shouted Silver. Without thinking she lifted her hands high into the air and slammed her fists to the ground like an ape. Flashes of red shot out from the impact points as she propelled herself forward. She cannonballed directly into the nearest crab head, impacting with such force that the creature’s skull gem was left in place while its lifeless body plowed into those directly behind it. Silver assumed a defensive stance, positioning herself between Thomas and the metal heads.
“Bad. Ass,” Thomas blurted.
“You may not be my stallion, but you’re still my stallion,” Silver beamed proudly in what she was certain was one of the coolest moments of her life. “Also I appear to be glowing red.”
She was, in fact, glowing red.
“Oh-oh-oh-oh! Me too! Me too!” Surprise insisted. Before anyone had time to ask what she meant, the big white woman jumped up and delivered a kick to the ground in a fashion resembling that of the dark bomb. But rather than delivering a wide area blast, something yellow tunneled beneath the ground and straight towards the metal heads. It emerged beneath a crab head, shooting up a spear of yellow that turned the monster into a cabob. “Boo-ya!”
The metal heads were in utter disarray after that. Although Silver and Surprise were unable to use their powers any further, they’d already inflicted enough fear to keep the enemy from reforming their lines. From there, it was a simple mission to mop up the remains.
“That was… impressive,” the redhead allowed. “Name’s Ashelin, by the way.”
“Ashelin, informant to the Underground,” Luna addressed. “If nothing else, you can certainly handle yourself in a fight.”
Ashelin frowned down at the ottsel. “The way you talk… Why do I get the feeling I should be bowing to you?”
Luna grinned. “Because you have good instincts.”
Ashelin shook her head and climbed into her hell cat. “I’ve just been convinced time travel is real. That’s a big enough headache for anyone to deal with.”
“How were you convinced?” Thomas asked as he let Moonlight fuss over him.
“It’s said that only those from the House of Mar could channel eco like that,” Ashelin admitted. “Speaking of which, tell Torn Baron Praxis is planning something big. I think it has something to do with that symbol.” She gestured to an emblem of Precursor metal. “That’s the seal of the House of Mar. The founder of Haven City. We’re being sent out on ‘suicide missions’ to locate artifacts from the time of his rule. If curiosity’s worth dying for, you can ask the blind, old soothsayer in the bazaar. Just ask for Onin.” As the hell cat lifted into the air, Ashelin tossed the players a security pass for the bazaar sector. And she took off.