The Caretaker

The Caretaker

The sun had long dipped below the horizon amidst the dunes of Zebrica. The stars shone vividly, with no clouds nor artificial lightning to dim them. The wind howled in a foreboding manner, with nothing else to provide sound amidst the barren desert.

A massive building loomed ahead, its windows dark with no light coming from within, other than a screen on the main gate, which barely managed to display the words, “GoldenTalon Mining, Zebrica expedition,” despite the apparent lack of power running through the facility.

It wasn’t as big as he had expected it to be, yet he knew the site had more to show than what could be seen from the outside. He readied his gauss pistol, grabbing it from his hip. A few small cables attached to the main gate sparked as he walked closer. Mac approached a small control panel on the side, his hand carefully reaching over to a lever. He tried to pull it down, yet it did not budge at first, then abruptly went down.

With a mechanical groan, only the left side of the gate began to open, revealing a large landing pad surrounded by metallic buildings. Mac’s motion sensor lit, and he looked up to see a hook swinging about, hanging from one of the buildings. He then relaxed, walking further towards the landing pad, only the howling wind and the neutral beep of his motion sensor to accompany him.

After making his way past the landing pad, Mac reached another gate. This time, after accessing the control panel, the door opened up with no problem. He walked inside, the lights of his eyes illuminating a large, metallic hallway. He kicked an empty can with his foot as he moved, watching as it rattled further into the dark. He checked his motion detector, then kept moving.

A distant, mechanical groan echoed through the halls. Mac rounded a corner, having reached a junction. He looked up at the signs…

“Security Station”

Mac moved forth, turning around when a loud hissing sound reached his sensors. He stood still, watching as a large, red pipe blew a hole and began to shoot steam, which seeped into the air. Slowly, he relaxed, turning back to the door that led to the security hub, but quickly found it to be broken and bent inwards, as if something had forced its way into the room. Mac stepped past the broken glass and weaved through the doorway, entering the station. He looked down to see a trail of dry blood on the floor; a gauss rifle where it began, and a broken vent where it ended.

The android stood there for a second, realizing that something had dragged someone into the vent, leaving behind the rifle. He carefully walked over the dry blood, leaning down to grab it. Once the weapon was in his hands, he aimed it at the vent and shined light into it. All he could see was the blood trailing further into the ventilation system. Incidentally, it was too small for him to enter.

Mac lowered the rifle, walking over to the actual security hub. The screens were splattered with blood, and most of them were broken. The android reached over for a small, blood-covered data pad sitting atop the keyboard. He brought it to his eyes, reading, “Something’s broken out of the bottom level. Order is to leave—”

And it ended.

Whoever typed that in was caught off guard by something, clearly, Mac thought as he carelessly dropped the pad and turned, heading out of the ravaged station. He walked past the steam and further into the facility.

As he walked, he eventually met what could have been nothing other than a barricade: a broken one, composed of tables, chairs and metallic plates. Mac crouched through, stepping once again in dry blood. The walls were riddled with bullet holes, scorch and claw marks. He walked past them and another set of breached doors, finding himself in a large hall lined with bunk beds—all undone, some with blood on them—yet no bodies. Near the entrance was a small desk with a simple terminal on it. Mac, curious, walked over and sat down, looking at the dimly lit screen.

“Been three days since the breakout. Whole site’s been locked down… Only way out is through the landing pad… We can’t hold on much longer. Charlotte’s bleeding out...”

Mac looked to his right, noticing a hole on the floor on the far side of the crew quarters. Approaching it, he carefully leaned over the edge and looked down, observing that the hole went down several floors and was big enough for him to drop through. He looked quickly to the sides, then stepped over, falling down a few floors and landing with a deafening slam on the metal floor below, now finding himself inside what seemed to be a supply storage room. Mac looked around, casting light upon the many crates—noticing most were tipped over and empty—and deducing that whoever was last there must have exhausted their supplies.

The android made his way past the crates, freezing in place as his motion sensor began to beep. He looked up, hearing something crawling inside the ceiling. He tracked the sound, unsure if he should fire his weapon or not. Eventually, whatever was inside left the vicinity, leaving Mac completely alone once again.

Gripping the rifle tightly, Mac pressed a button that opened the next door. He walked through, finding himself in a long flight of stairs. The android then looked up, staring at the far ceiling, then looked back down, knowing that if he wanted to find out what had happened, he would have to go keep going down.

His steps resonated with each stride he took, stopping every once a few steps to look around. A low, distant moan caught his attention. Mac looked around, shining his light around the vicinity and aiming his rifle until the silence returned.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was met with another set of doors. Mac pressed a button on the wall next to it, prompting it to open only halfway. He crouched by, finding himself in a large dining hall. Food trays were spread all around, and spots with dry blood littered the area. Something fell from the grates in the ceiling. Mac stopped dead in his tracks, looking down at what could have only been a bloodied unicorn horn. Immediately, he gazed up, shining light into a hole on the ceiling and aiming his rifle at it. He could hear something inside the ceiling, along with the beeping of his motion tracker. He remained frozen in place until that thing—whatever it was—left the vicinity, then slowly resumed walking.

Without anything but the beat of his motion tracker to keep him company, Mac continued to trudge through the facility. At that point, he found himself in a network of metallic hallways. He kept walking until a sign on the ceiling pointed to an area deemed “Administration.”

The few lights still powered were left behind, now with nothing but the light of his eyes to illuminate the way. Mac stuck his hands between the doors to the administration room, and forced them open, producing a low metallic moan. He gripped his rifle tightly as he walked in, entering a room filled with desks and terminals, with a main control center at the far side. The android slowly walked past the desks, reaching the large console.

He looked down at the screens, noticing one that weakly displayed a small map, one that led from his current location into what appeared to be a cargo lift heading to the lower level. The only problem was the warning sign, which told Mac that the sector of the facility he was in currently had no power.

Mac looked to the side, noticing a large lever on a wall to his left. He slowly made his way through, a sign above it reading, “Main circuit breaker: Section Sixteen,”

He looked to the sides, then wrapped his fingers around the lever, slowly pulling it down.

The lights turned on, some of them popping, along with a mechanical groan that echoed around the facility. Suddenly, Mac could hear several guns going off nearby, along with the loud cries and growls of what seemed to be feral creatures: perhaps what killed the people in the site to begin with.

He aimed his rifle just as a vent on the ceiling was torn open, revealing a hideous creature with red eyes, dark chitinous skin, and long claws that dug into the metallic floor. It roared loudly, revealing a set of sharp fangs, before it charged at Mac. He squeezed the trigger, sending a barrage of gauss shells into the creature. Blood splattered into one of the desks, the creature falling dead before Mac.

The distant howls and cries could still be heard, but the gunshots were no more. Mac realized that he had awoken something, and that time was running out. He looked at the map once more and began a mad sprint, past the corpse of the creature and back into the halls.

Another one of the monsters rounded a corner in front of Mac, lunging at him. He struck it in mid-air with the butt of his rifle, then fired a burst as it fell on the floor, killing it. He could hear rapidly approaching steps behind him, so he ran faster. One of the monsters launched itself at him from behind, grabbing his head and clawing frantically at it. Mac grabbed it with his free hand and slammed it on the floor, stomping on its head and cracking it, then kept running.

Mac quickly stepped through a doorway, slamming his hand on the control panel on the other side, prompting the door to close, barely fast enough to halt the advance of the creatures behind him. They continued to slam themselves on the closed door, bending it further and further with each slam.

The android disregarded the door and turned around, finding himself in a large cave-like elevator shaft. He stepped in the middle and pressed a few buttons on the control console. The elevator groaned and began to descend, just as the creatures broke through the door and began to seep into the shaft, crawling on the rocky walls of the shaft.

Mac took aim and began to fire, the muzzle flash of the rifle illuminating the shaft with each shot. The monsters began to fall limp, their bodies piling up along the sides of the elevator.

The elevator began to stagger. Mac looked at one of the engines, noticing the body of one of the monster stuck in it. He quickly made his way over to it and grabbed it by the arm, tearing off of the engine. Once the elevator began to move again, Mac continued to fire.

After a minute or so, the elevator slowed to a dead halt. The barrel on Mac’s rifle was red hot. He looked at all the bodies, then over to a massive gate in front of the elevator. He slowly began walking, and the gates opened by themselves. He stepped through, finding himself looking up at a towering heap of machinery. Cables were strewn about\, connected to what was nothing more than a massive gate made out of bones and machinery, spewing fire from its mouth.

Mac slowly stepped forth, looking up at the machinery. He froze in place as something came into view.

At the top, attached to the machinery with a set of cables on their horn, was a white alicorn. She moaned in pain as the cables on her horn sparked. She groggily laid her eyes on Mac, who looked back up at her, her pupils dilated, her coat soaking wet. The cables sparked again, making her entire body twitch violently.

“So you finally made your way to us, I see,” another voice said.

Mac looked to the left, his eyes setting themselves on a control room filled with ponies and some gryphons, all behind a blue energy shield.“Who are you?” he asked, aiming his rifle at them.

“GoldenTalon Director, Rattly Can,” the pony said. “Member of a rather powerful organization, aside from GoldenTalon itself.”

Celestia groaned in pain, the hellgate behind her spewing fire.

“We’re about to restore this world to its normal state, like it was before the human scum came into it!”

“Why?” Mac asked, lowering his rifle. “What have humans done to you?”

“The civil war that ensued after they came to our planet devastated many lives. More than you can imagine,” Rattly said. “Us ponies have lost what used to make us special, but we’ll take it back!”

“You are insane…” Mac stated. “Why did you take Celestia to begin with?”

“Why?” Rattly asked in a sarcastic manner. “To harvest her power, and light this gate to Tartarus once more!”

Mac looked to the side. “Why?”

“Because there’s someone quite special in there,” Rattly continued. “Someone to whom we’ve been giving Celestia’s power. One that can restore the world!”

“Who?” Mac asked. “What do you plan to do!?”

“Just look!” Rattly yelled.

Celestia screamed in pain as the hellgate lit up. Fire and screams emerged from it as Mac stood helpless, watching as the machinery drained Celestia to the last drop of her power. Slowly, a massive figure emerged from the fire, its hooves quaking the ground with each step it took. it looked at its hands and chuckled. Mac looked up at the towering beast, noticing the orb of pure power between its horns.

“Lord Tirek!” Rattly yelled.

“Aaah…” Tirek sighed in comfort. “To be amongst the living once more…” He looked over to the ponies. “So it is you who has been giving me this power. I’ve never felt stronger… I suppose I should thank you.” He walked over to Celestia, leaning down and looking her in the eyes with anger. “To harvest the power of an alicorn over time, rather than drain a small amount all at once… Impressive.”

Rattly laughed. “Thank you, my lord!”

“Now now…” Tirek grinned. “I suppose you have a request for me?”

“Indeed, my lord…” Rattly smiled.

“Out with it, then,” Tirek commanded.

“You see…” Rattly began. “More than ten years ago, a filth of a species—the humans—came to our world. They spread war and conflict, and our species has lost their way… We ask you, Lord Tirek, to exterminate the human scum and restore this world to its rightful order!”

“Very well…” Tirek mused. “As the ruler of Tartarus and soon the be overlord of the mortal realm, I will exterminate the humans… And then everything else!”

“W-what?” Rattly stuttered. “But that’s not what our deal was!”

“Never make deals with the devil, pony!” Tirek laughed, reaching over and grabbing Celestia, forcibly pulling her off of the machinery attached to her. Suddenly, the gate to hell behind him began to spew fire, along with more of the creatures Mac had seen before, and even more he did not recognize. The entire area echoed with the desperate cries of Rattly Can and her allies.

Mac quickly rushed over to Tirek, firing his rifle. The centaur-like monster effortlessly produced a shield that blocked the projectiles. The android then jumped, slamming the butt of his rifle on Tirek’s horn, only to be grabbed by Tirek’s free hand.

Tirek looked at Celestia, who looked back at him with weak fury, then Mac, who helplessly tried to break free from his grasp. He laughed loudly. “Let’s see how you two enjoy being stuck in there!” he angrily yelled before throwing them both into the gate.

All they could hear were the cries of a million damned souls.