Broken Mirror, Part One

HMS Redoubtable Medical Bay

Beep…. Beep…. Beep….

“Can someone shut that off?” Groaned Strike from his bed.

Dusk rose from his chair and flipped the heart monitor off. “So what was it like being used as a kickball?”

“I’d recommend some serious padding.” Retorted the Pegasus as he rolled out of bed. “Did we win?”

Dusk pulled the wires and probes off of Strike’s chest, rolling his eyes. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

Strike grabbed his body armor and jacket off the chair that had been pushed up next to his bed and started pulling them back on. “How’d we make out?”

“You got knocked out, Don got his armor bashed in, Comet managed to get away with a broken rib, and Commander Fleetfoot is looking at two months before she can fly again.”

Strike winced at the last statement. “Is it a problem that I can feel her pain?”

Dusk shook his head. “Not in my book.” Motioning to follow, the pair started off down the hall. “You never did tell me what happened to your wing.”

“Then I’ll keep it simple. Enclave scientists plus scalpel equals pain.” Growled the Pegasus.

“Then I won’t ask for more details then.” Muttered Dusk. The two entered an elevator in silence and quickly began their ascent through the Redoubtable. “So where’d you get the gear?” Strike remained silent and slid out of the elevator as the door opened to the bridge. “Nice talking to you too Strike.”

Most of the group was gathered around the holotable on the bridge nursing some minor wounds. Strike bypassed them all and approached the Commander and pulled her aside. “Give everyone three guesses on what’s on his mind.” Muttered Comet.

Dusk pulled up a chair and flopped down into it. “I’ll pass.”

“Now before Dusk interrupts again, I’d like to point everyone at our target.” Interjected Tremble. “As of right now there isn’t any security or force recon at the crash site. I’ll be blunt, we’re flying blind.”

“And to begin with, we don’t have a way to get down to the platform.” Added Palmer. The image of the crash site zoomed in to show the cliffs surrounding the crater. “We’re looking at a nearly hundred foot drop onto sharp incline with nothing to grab onto.”

“And it’s all topped off with a pile of scrap metal at the bottom.” Steeljack leaned over the table and studied the hologram. “Could a Pelican drop us near the top of the wreck?”

“And go in through the MAC? It’s possible, but there’s no guarantee you’d be able to get into the access shaft along the barrel.”

“What if one of us could check it?”

The attention turned from the table to Cloud. “Do you think you can get in and out in one piece?” Asked Dusk.

Cloud shrugged. “Does it really matter?”

“Cloud, I don’t know if I even want you coming in there with us.” Cosmo sat down on the edge of the table and sighed. “I don’t trust that you’re even stable right now. So tell me why the hell I’d want you with us?”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“And if was my choice I would’ve left you with Halsey. You haven’t dealt with death before, so until somepony tells me otherwise I’ll be considering you unstable and a risk to our safety.” Retorted the ranger.

“Seriously?” Questioned Cloud. “Don’t we have more important things to worry about?”

“You’re right, we do.” Admitted Cosmo. “Like how a pony who only ever picked up a gun for a training exercise was so willing to lobotomize another living being.”

“Cosmo, we don’t have time.” Stated Dusk. “Cloud is here to stay. Therefore he needs to carry his own weight. If you really want to go through all of the psychological shit, be my guest, but do it on your own time.”

“I’ll take it we have no outstanding objections then?” Asked Tremble. Met by silence, the trooper nodded. “Looks like you’ve got the green light kid. Go gear up, I’ll meet you on the hangar deck.”

As the pair walked off the bridge, Cosmo couldn’t help but scowl at Dusk. “I hope to high hell you know what you’re doing.”

“Cosmo, I told you that we don’t have time. The kid is here now, and we need bodies for when we get on that station.”

“And we don’t need to babysit the kid if he loses it.” Insisted Cosmo.

“You know he isn’t wrong.” Added Dart.

Dusk sighed. “Then we’ll deal with Cloud if he becomes a problem. But right now, we need him.”

“Then I hope you’re right Dusk.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Crash Site, Northern Tundra

Dusk was standing on the extended ramp of the Pelican overlooking the crashed space station, watching Tremble’s own transport hover close above the peak of the wreckage. “Anypony hear anything yet?”

“Bit antsy, aren’t we?” Asked Cosmo.

Dusk shrugged. “I reserve that right.”

“Anyone read me?” Came Tremble over the radio.

“Yah, go ahead.”

“The access shaft is clear. Me and Cloud are already down in the station on deck ten, no lighting to speak of, bunch of broken glass and smashed terminals near our infiltration point.”

“Then we’re going in.” Responded Cosmo as the Pelican began to move. “How’s the trip down look?”

“You’re sliding down the shaft on a sixty degree angle that shallows out towards the bottom, most likely stemming from damage to the superstructure. Come down one at a time and we’ll try to catch you guys.”

“Copy that.” Cosmo jumped down out of the Pelican, swallowed by the darkness in the shaft.

One after another the other members of the party descended into the darkness, leaving Dusk alone on the transport. “Well, now or never…” He muttered as he jumped off the ramp. The decent down the shaft was a quick affair, wind battering Dusk’s ears from his speed on the way down until he landed in a wide open room and slid across the floor before somepony grabbed him under his arms and halted his slide.

“Thanks for joining us.” Said Tremble as he turned his helmet lights on.

“It was a bit fast for my tastes.” Said Dusk as he climbed to his feet. “Anypony have a light?” Tremble handed Dusk a small lantern. “Thanks. Now you said this was deck ten?”

“Assuming that the access shaft came out where it was meant to, it should be.”

Dusk shined his light around the room and stopped near a set of jarred double doors. “Cloud, give me a hand.”

The armored stallion shrugged before joining Dusk near the doors and wedged his hands into the crack along with Dusk and started pulling. “Is it just me-” The door finally gave way after enough pulling and slid back into the walls. “Nevermind.”

Dusk shined his light into the room and came across a few working computers alongside a silver arch, roughly the size of a door frame. “Alright, this is too easy.”

“Everypony spread out.” Ordered Steeljack as he led the group into the room. He moved his own flashlight around the room and stopped on a tinted window that was angled over the room from the deck above. “Cosmo, see if you can find a way up there”

“Consider it done.” The ranger pulled out his grappling gun and shot it through the glass, pulling the line taught. “I’ll be back.” Cosmo rocketed upwards and through the glass, showering Steeljack with small shards and fragments.

“Anyone else wondering how these things are still working?” Asked Tremble, occupied by the still-active terminals.

“Could be some sort of backup system powering them.” Replied Dusk. “We just got to-” A low click was hear from the room above and the ceiling lights came on. “What the hell?”

Cosmo dropped down out of the broken window. “Looks like the backup reactor survived the crash. What’s left of the station should have some sort of power and lighting.”

Dusk nodded and turned his attention back to the arch. “Looks like they put a mirror on board.” He sighed as he looked it over more closely. “Frame has a good crack running through the top.”

“So we can’t use it?”

“I wouldn’t want to.” Answered the stallion. “No guarantee you’ll come back out like you went in.”

Comet pushed past the pair and started typing away at the computers. “I’ll see if I can find some records.”

“Strike, Cloud, Palmer, stay with Comet.” Said Tremble. “Cosmo, Steeljack, there should be an armory somewhere on this deck. We’re going to find it.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Asked Dusk.

“Find a better exfil point. Climbing up through that shaft doesn’t look very appealing.”

“We’ll take care of it Don.” Answered Dart. “Dusk, let’s get the lead out.”

“Do you really think they’ll find another way out?” Asked Steeljack.

“Someone needs to.” Sighed Tremble. “Now come on, I want to see if the Enclave left any goodies behind.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Wrecked SuperMAC Interior, Deck Twelve, ten minutes later

Dusk slid the damaged elevator door open and hauled himself and Dart onto the crumpled deck, illuminated by the flickering lights. “Where the hell are we now?”

Dart turned Dusk’s body and pointed at a sizable pile of scrap metal and glass. “That look familiar?”

Dusk did a double-take and walked over to the wreckage. “Well, I guess Sky Tanks can survive ramming into a space station and a drop to the surface of a planet. Who knew?”

Dart rolled her eyes. “Anything important we should grab?”

“Nope.” Dusk waved the mare on and started retracing his steps from his first visit to the station. “Gotta to give it to the humans… They know how to make some tough shit.”

Dart kept pace with the stallion while he brushed through a shattered doorframe into a large hulled-out room. Most of it was intact and leaning against the side of the crater at a slight angle, complemented by two holes down to the crater three stories below. “Damn, was this the bridge?”

“Yup.” Noted Dusk. “Oh, word of advice. Missiles are a great way to redecorate in a short amount of time.”

“This is where you jumped, isn’t it?”

“Now you see why I was thinking I was screwed?” he asked as he started down the stairs. "Come on, let's see if there's anything worth a damn in here."

______________________________________________________________________________

Canterlot Castle, Infirmary

‘Alright, it’s now or never’ Thought Meteor. Sonar was at the door talking with the guards posted outside. “Sonar, can you give me a hand?”

“Sure thing Dad.” Sonar walked over to his bedside. “What do you need?”

“Just help me sit up for a sec.” Meteor hid one of his hands under the covers, and started charging his shock spell. As Sonar grabbed his free hand, Meteor swung out and grabbed the stallion’s horn and sent a jolt of electricity coursing through his body. “Sorry kid, I’ve got places to be.” Meteor hauled himself out of bed, letting his son fall to the floor.

Slowly he made for the open door, the two guards unaware of what had happened to Sonar. Once he got close enough, he grabbed them by the back of their heads and with a quick step forward smashed them into the wall opposite of his door. “Damn, they’re getting sloppy.”

He teleported away quickly, ending up near the staircase down to the cavern beneath the castle. Subtlety went out the window as he blasted the hidden door the bits and ran down the stairs, blasting the second door apart as he hit the bottom. Slowing down, he strode into the nexus and walked over to the center of the chamber where a pool of green liquid sat undisturbed.

“Meteor, what the hell are you doing?”

The old stallion turned around to face the sun goddess herself and shrugged. “Being a hero.” He broke into a run once more, stumbling into a roll before getting back up and jumping into the pool.

“Shit!” Celestia ran forward and tried to grab Meteor out from under the pool’s surface, but he was out of reach as the pool began to glow. Tossing her crown off, the Princess dove into the pool after the General.

For a few minutes the nexus was silent save for the bubbling of the pool, interuped by a eruption of liquid as Celestia and Meteor Shower clambered out. “Meteor, you damn…” Celestia rolled over and stared at the General. “Your horn…”

Meteor crawled to his feet and felt his forehead, running his fingers up to the jagged point of his regrown appendage. “Well I'll be damned...” A quick spell dried him and the Princess of the pool’s remnants. “Now if you excuse me, I need to get moving.” Behind him a portal opened to a dimly lit room. “I’ll try to come back in one piece.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Wrecked SuperMAC Interior, Deck Twelve

Dusk and Dart kept digging through the wrecked consoles and storage units scattered around the bridge, finding a few fusion batteries to top off the piles of junk and debris. “Find anything useful yet?” Asked Dusk.

“Do I count?” came a voice from the upper level.

Dusk and Dart both pulled out their pistols and aimed at the source. Dusk was the first of the two to lower it. “Gramps, what the hell are you doing here?” As the stallion jumped down to their level, Dusk’s face distorted into a look of shock. “And what the hell happened to your head?”

“What? I figured out how to regrow my horn… And heal some bullet wounds…” Meteor tapped his chin in thought. “And I think I might’ve accidentally regressed a few years.”

“What makes you say that?” Asked Dart.

Meteor cast a shield spell, studying his face in the reflection. “Well, my mane got a bit of its old color back.” He said as he ran his fingers through it. “Some of the more recent scars are gone… I’d say I’m physically at least ten years younger.”

“Ten years younger?” Asked Dusk, his face shifting to one of annoyance. “And how’d you pull this magic trick off?”

“How do you think Celestia patched herself up after she got her ass handed to her?”

“I don’t know, really good healing spell?”

“Eh, your close. That pool in the Nexus works wonders if you really want to know.” Replied Meteor. “Now what’s our situation?” The station shook as a loud explosion echoed through the interior. “Not good?”

Dusk pulled his radio out. “Tremble, where the hell are you?”

“Deck Ten, we’ve all regrouped at the port-side landing bay. Portal kicked on and we got pushed away from it by some sort of mercs.”

Dusk looked down through the hole in the floor, seeing a large glass door which flashes of light were reflecting off of. “Tremble, get that hangar door open.”

“And do what? Jump down into the crater?”

“Just give us a way in.” Ordered Dusk. “Gramps, you stay here. We’ll be back.”

“I’m sorry, but stay here?”

“You’re wearing a set of scrubs.” Retorted Dart. “And we’re going into a firefight. Not happening.”

Meteor rolled his eyes and pulled out an old pocketwatch and clicked the button on the top. A brief flash of light blinded Dusk and Dart, before revealing a set of armor replacing the scrubs. “Did you two forget I’m the master of preparedness?”

Dusk looked back down towards the hangar. “Tremble, where’s my opening?”

“Just forget about it.” Replied Meteor as he grabbed Dusk and Dart. “Just hold on.” The three were enveloped in a bright light and appeared in the middle of the hangar. “Hey, that actually worked!”

Dusk threw a shield up once bullets started flying towards them. “The objective isn’t to land in the middle of a firefight you asshole!”

Dart leaned around the shield and fired off a few shots from her pistol before leaning back. “We’ve got two on the left, right flank is wide open. Wanna make a break for it?”

“Gramps, get ready to run.” Dusk pulled out his own pistol while weakening his shield. “In three, two, one…” The shield dropped and the three tore off towards a set of crates opposite the attacking mercs. Dusk vaulted over the crates and made for the center of the opposing line. “Dart, on me!”

Meteor teleported ahead and pulled a revolver off his belt and charged towards the mercs.

“Shit, right flank!” yelled the leader.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Meteor dropped to his knees mid-run and slid across the floor past the falling merc, flipping the revolver’s cylinder out and reloading it with a new six rounds. As he neared the next pony, he flipped the cylinder back before rolling off to the side and bypassing his opponent. Jumping to his feet next to three other mercs, he swung his pistol like a hammer and smacked all three across their jaws one after another. “Come on you fuckers, give me a challenge!”

Dusk shot the last standing merc and holstered his pistol. “Hey, tone it down.”

Tremble led the remaining members of the group across the hangar. “General, I thought you were bed-ridden.”

“Circumstances changed.” He replied. “What do we know about those mercs?”

Dart knelt down next to one, picking up the bulky sub-machine gun he had been using. “Definitely non-standard armaments…” Dart fished out four magazines from the dead colt’s jacket and pulled one of the rounds out. “Ah ha… It’s a fourty-five.” She grabbed the sling from the SMG and swung it over her shoulder, putting the magazines in her own jacket. “Called it!”

“How many are we dealing with?” Asked Dusk.

“This was it.” Said Comet. “They just hit fast enough where we couldn’t hold the mirror.”

“But that doesn’t mean that some others didn’t come through the mirror.” Added Strike.

Dusk leaned against a stack of crates. “Alright, here’s the deal.” He stood up straight and walked over to the group. “We’ve got a way to go after the Enclave. I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is our best chance to try to catch up to West Wind.”

“And do what exactly?” Asked Steeljack.

“I don’t know, turn the bastard’s head into a canoe?”

“Sounds more like a goal to me…” Muttered Cosmo from the fringe.

“Does it matter?” Asked Dusk. “We can work the details out later, but we need to get moving.”

“And what if the portal failed?” Questioned Steeljack.

“Then we try to get the one in the Badlands working.” Retorted a growingly frustrated Dusk. “Look, are you in or not?”

Steeljack rolled his eyes and walked over. “I’m in.”

“You don’t need to ask me.” Replied Meteor as he took a place off to Dusk’s right.

Comet and Strike exchanged glances before joining Dusk.

“Dart, it’s your call.”

Slowly, Dart walked over and took a place at Dusk’s side. “What about the rest of you?”

Tremble exchanged glances with Palmer and Cosmo. “We’ll stay here. Someone has to tell the suits in Canterlot where you all ran off to.” Tremble turned his shotgun over in his hands for a moment before tossing it to Dusk. “Just make sure I get that back in one piece.”

Dusk cocked an eyebrow as he turned the shotgun over in his hands. “Tremble, I can’t take this... Where the hell am I supposed to get eight-gauge shells?”

“Got it rechambered for twelve.” Retorted the human.

“Didn’t you say that this thing is your good luck charm?” deflected Dusk

Tremble shrugged. “I got a feeling you’ll be needing more luck than me.”

Dusk sighed as he pulled a rifle sling out of one of his pouches, fastened it to the mounting bolts on the shotgun and swung it over his back. “Thank you Don.”

“Just get going Dusk.” Reassured Cosmo. “We’ll hold the line until you get back.”

Dusk nodded, turning to the dimly-lit hangar exit. “Well then… Let’s hit the road.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Dusk walked back into the portal room, now awash in a rainbow-colored hue from the still active portal. “Looks like we’re good to go.”

“One little caveat-” retorted Steeljack “How the hell will we know where we’re going?”

Dusk looked down at the dead merc by the mirror and knelt down by his arm. “With this.” He unclipped the black Pipbuck and turned it over. “Should still be good…” He rolled up his sleeve, clipping it around his exposed forearm as it came to life. “And it is.” Dusk stood and flipped through the menu, coming to something reading quests. “What the hell this quest thing?”

Steeljack shrugged. “Some gag thing the designers made sure to add to organize waypoints.”

Dusk flipped through the menus further, finding his inventory and the map. A small window popped up on the upper right-hand side of the screen. “New quest?”

“So what’s it say?” Asked Meteor.

Dusk chuckled. “Fortune favors the bold.” He replied. “I guess we’re about to find out how true that is.”