The Story of Aperture

The squad met at the armoury a while later. Aperture was amazed and a little worried by the vast amount of weaponry in such a small room. There were swords hung on the walls in neat formation, boxes of many different types of grenades on tables, tubs of ammunition and crates of various makes and models of gun. Aperture had seen the royal guard’s armoury when he was small, but it had nothing on this place. Kestrel hefted a large machine gun onto his shoulder. He stood for a moment and laid it down, and picked up a slightly different but remarkably similar one. Aperture was confused, but then he spied a cardboard box on the floor under a table labelled ’Misc’.

He slid it out and looked inside. It contained various tubes and sights, as well as a few random other things. Aperture found a small tube with a crystal mounted on the end, and a small sliver button on the top. “It must be a laser pen” he thought and pressed the button. A beam of bright red light blasted from the crystal, singed Kestrel’s mane, and burned a reasonable sized hole into the armoury wall. The rest of the team turned to look at him. Aperture chuckled nervously and dropped the item into his bag. He rummaged some more and under a soggy map of Trottingham he found a box of matches and a packet of C4 explosive, which he bagged, and also two butterfly knifes. This appealed. Aperture opened it and closed one a few times, then dropped it into his saddlebags too. Lightning had chosen a broadsword, dagger and a glass bottle of black gas, swirling and shifting as if it wanted to be free. Kestrel had a small machine gun with a serrated saw on the end and a combat knife. The newest addition was a blue/purple earth pony named Zayelx. He had a handgun and had taken the other butterfly knife. Everypony grabbed a few grenades, and a few other things from the misc box. Soon, they were ready for action.

“Ready?” asked Lightning. “Form up behind me when you’re ready to move”

Slowly, things got organised and the team set off at a brisk trot. Aperture lagged at the back of the pack because he wanted to talk to his new squad mate. Zayelx seemed a nice character, if a little odd. He seemed to be a better planner than the other members of delta squad. Also, he had Lightning’s respect, a thing not many could claim. They made good progress through the cave network, and Matrix assured them they were ahead of schedule. As the first day drew to an end there was an argument among the party leaders. Kestrel wanted to set up camp in a dead end tunnel, as it was perfectly safe, and begin again next morning, whereas Lightning, the highest ranked, wanted to find and destroy the tracer Matrix had spoken of earlier. He thought that if they took the tracer down, Matrix could decrypt the data, and map their rough before they set out. The data pads indicated that the tracer was about a mile deeper into the caves. Kestrel, however, wanted to pitch camp in the spot they had found, where they were guaranteed to be safe. They would be well rested from more sleep to solve tomorrow’s problems with more energy and clearer thoughts. Aperture and Zayelx sided with Kestrel, but Matrix with Lightning. Eventually, they came to a compromise, a scouting mission and a camp. Aperture and Lightning would go ahead, and try to find out the whereabouts of the tracer, whilst Kestrel and Zayelx pitched tents. These deeper tunnels lacked the slight bioluminescence of their predecessors, so Lightning took a touch and Aperture illuminated his horn. Following their data pads they got deeper and deeper into the web of caves. At the end of one sharp turn, light was flooding into the corridor from the next bend. Their ear pieces buzzed. “Matrix here” crackled the voice in their ears “I’m detecting multiple contacts round the bend in the tracer control room. They have no friend or foe tags, but it looks like their guarding it to me. I’ll give you a heads up as ‘foes’, at a guess.” Suddenly a cluster of red dots appeared on the data pads. Aperture reeled at the number of contacts they’d almost walked into, unawares.

”Thanks for your help Matrix” Replied Lightning. “We’re gonna check it out. We can take them if necessary. Over and out”

“That wasn’t the plan Lightning” Said Aperture. “We are here to scout the area, not start a fight. We should take the Intel back to base and act tomorrow.”

“Plans change” replied Lightning flatly. “I can take 6 guards myself if you’re not coming.

“We have NO IDEA what those…Things could be!” shouted Aperture. “They could be friendlies. Stay with the plan!”

“I am in command and I say we go. If you want to check if they’re friendly, I’m not stopping you.”

With that Aperture stormed towards the passage, and stuck his head around the corner. He saw the tracer. A huge white cylindrical object, detailed with blue pipes and a blue glass centre, pulsing every few seconds. He also saw what Matrix had identified as guards. They were about the height of an average mare, and as Aperture himself, slim and shiny, with a plastic finish. The body was shaped like an upright oval, and in the centre was one red ‘eye’, projecting a thin red laser beam. Aperture realised all the beams pointed at him. He stepped out into the open.

“Hello?” he inquired. “Can you talk?”

The contacts stared for a moment longer. Aperture had a thought. He raised his data pad and took a picture of the room in front of him. The robots spoke in unison

“Dispensing product” Each contact popped open its sides, revealing a machine gun on each side. Aperture threw himself to the floor as a hail of bullets whistled past. One struck his leg as he leapt, but it wasn’t a major wound. Lightning jumped round the corner whilst the robots were distracted.

“Eat this, robots!” he yelled, hurling two grenades into the small chamber. Aperture flung himself out of harm’s way and Lightning raised one wing in front of his face. The explosion was tremendous.  The tracer exploded with a flash of venting plasma, melting the walls of the tunnel it connected with. The hostiles were either destroyed in the initial or secondary explosions, and then the shockwave brought down the roof of the whole chamber, burying any remnants.

Aperture lay on the cold stone panting. His leg felt like it had been bitten by an insect, not what he’d expected from a bullet wound. He could see from looking at the cartridge itself, that the bullet couldn’t have killed anyway. It was complete. The guard sentry had fired the full bullet. It was obviously gas fed. Probably a deterrent, he thought. Lightning was unharmed, and helped him to his hooves.

“We need to get back to camp” he said “I’ve got a feeling someponies are not going to be happy…”