Chapter 27: Construct Dive

Art by TheNeitherVoid

Immediately after breakfast the following morning, the entire group bussed to the simulator training facility. This time, Celestia and Jeff were with the team as well, having left the new arrivals from Ponyville with their respective human teams, which had gone very well.

The massive, windowless cube dwarfed them upon approach.
Inside, the simulator crew was standing by, and quickly proceeded to give the team a briefing.

"This is a simulated-fire exercise," the simulator controller announced. "Your firearms are special props that will behave like real weapons with proper recoil."

He held up a pair of small, lightweight glasses, like diving goggles with no transparent lenses.

"Your simulator goggles will provide a fully interactive three-dimensional environment and effects. Be aware that while the weapons are simulated, the exos and environment are real. You can sustain serious injuries from falling or physically striking one another by accident, so be aware of your surroundings and teammates at all times. Finally, in the event of a dangerous situation, say 'Time out!', or press the red lighted buttons positioned at intervals throughout the arena to freeze the program. Any questions?"

"Does it hurt to get killed?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"No it does not, however your gear will shut down and you must leave the arena as a ghost and sit in the waiting area until the next round. Visually, your corpse will remain where you went down in the simulation. You'll show up as a ghost to keep your teammates from accidentally colliding with you."

"What kind of things will we be fighting?" Hamilton asked.

"We don't actually know. The simulation has been set to generate a challenging antagonist based upon random factors. It has access to the library system and the Internet, with the caveat that it must be something unusual. It could be anything from giant insects to ghosts. Remember, this is a simulation. Using magical attacks or teleport spells could have very dangerous results and confuse the simulator, so only use the weapons you are provided and your own two, uh, or four legs, as the case may be. Oh, and be careful with your flying. There is a ceiling, even though it's several stories up. Keep the speeds low, there will be a warning in your display if you near any invisible solid objects. Any additional questions? Good, then get changed in the locker room, and let's begin."

***

It was pitch black inside the huge room when the lights cut out in preparation for the simulation to begin.

"How do we know when it starts?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

"SIMULATION BEGINNING IN THREE," came a voice over the headset.

"TWO."

"ONE."

"INITITIATE."

There was a burst of static across everything that faded into a dark cityscape. Clouds raced far overhead, and lightning flashed in the distance.

The city was oddly quiet, nothing moving in the streets except trash blowing in the wind between abandoned cars.

"It looks so real," Celestia breathed. "My goodness." She stepped forward a few feet and looked at the others. "And you all look the same."

"Whats our mission?" Marky asked.

"Stay alive, kill enemies." Chris replied. "Everyone get ready, we don't know what's going to jump out at us."

"I'm pretty sure I know what's going to jump out at us." Sanchez pointed at a newspaper headline visible in a nearby trash can.

DAILY TELLTALE - FLYING SAUCERS INVADE THE EARTH!

As they read it, a droning sound came from far down the street and a single floating headlight beam approached.

"Crap. Let's get under cover."

The group rushed into the shelter of an abandoned hotel lobby, McAllister and Sanchez kicking the door down so they could enter.

The humming sound outside increased.

"What is this place?"

"What is that thing?"

"It's sooo DIRTY in here!"

"Guys, keep it down," Chris said. "We don't know what that thing outside is and..."

"I'll go find out!" Pinkie Pie bounced towards the door.

"No! Do you want to get us all killed?"

"No..."

"Then sit your pink butt back down and be quiet."

The humming sound was very loud now, and added to it was an odd scraping noise, like steel wool on concrete.

Even Pinkie Pie was nervous now. She drew and racked her shotgun, chambering a shell of 00 buckshot. After numerous failed attempts at getting her to aim a rifle properly, they had finally settled on the shotgun. She did handle the weapon safely, and she was far better at fighting up close than she was at sniping anyway, totally lacking the patience to aim properly at distant targets.

The creepy rasping noise continued.

"I don't like that sound much," Applejack whispered.

"Me either," Rainbow Dash agreed.

"Gross, I just stepped in something sticky," Rarity complained. She looked down in the dim light and saw her hoof had sunk into the rotting chest of a human corpse. She screamed.

The response was immediate. What was left of the door exploded inward as a silver orb the size of a car burst into the room. A powerful spotlight beam from below it illuminated Rarity. Flexible metal arms launched from an orifice on the side, catching her by the neck and torso. She screamed again, terrified this time, as the claws ripped her into two pieces. Her ghost appeared, a white outline glowing in the dark that stepped back quickly as entrails and pink flesh fell back to the floor in a spray of blood.

"RARITY!" her friends howled in unison, horrified.

"Shoot it!" Chris yelled.

Gunfire erupted sporadically from around the room. The claws whizzed and snapped. Rainbow Dash darted around in the air, firing randomly at the alien sphere.

Sparks glinted on the metal surface as the gunfire impacted it, doing no visible damage.

Fluttershy was lying under a table, covering her face with her hooves. She was quickly snagged, her digital body sliding away, leaving her real self as a ghost under the table. Her digital representation squealed in convincing terror while she was dragged off by the tail.

Hamilton went after her and was instantly struck down by one of the claws. His ghost shrugged and walked away. His simulated body looked down in surprise at his missing legs before another swing of the metal appendage ripped his head off. Blood fountained out of his headless torso. Seconds later, Fluttershy's squirming avatar was held upside down and gutted alive, her agonized screams ending in a whistling gurgle as blood poured out of her mouth and her shredded intestines fell to the floor.

The massacre continued unabated. The sphere whirled about, tentacles whicking back and forth in a graceful ballet of horrific death. Jeff and Celestia's rifles boomed, then both their headless bodies fell atop Applejack, who had been crawling around feebly, bleeding to death from the severed stumps of her hind legs, and leaving a long red smear on the floor behind. Pinkie Pie was slammed against a wall with alarming force, leaving a wide splatter of blood behind when her crushed body fell to the floor. Emmy was impaled by a metal rebar pole driven through her chest and into a solid concrete wall with enough force to shake the building. Chris was slammed into the ceiling up to his chest, breaking his neck with a loud pop while his cranium exploded like a watermelon under a baseball bat. Rainbow Dash's wings were violently torn off and she was swung screaming against the door frame, her back snapping as she folded in half like a sheet of origami paper and slid to the floor, twitching slightly. Marky was grabbed by his throat and used as a flail to beat McAllister and Sanchez until his head ripped off with a sickening wet tearing sound, spewing blood over their crushed remains.

Eventually the carnage was over. The entire team had been brutally exterminated in seconds. The scene was a shocking mausoleum of severed limbs, organs, shattered bones, and mutilated flesh. Blood dripped from the ceiling onto their ruined corpses. The deadly sphere began methodically picking up the organic remains and dropping them into what looked like a wood chipper on top of itself.

The crunching of bones faded into the background as a message finally blinked on their visors.

FATALITIES 100%. MISSION FAILED. SIMULATION TERMINATING.

"Hoooleeee fuck," McAllister whispered in the ensuing silence, leaning over with his hands on his knees. "What the hell just happened? I've never seen some shit like that."

"That was quite possibly the single most horrible thing I have ever seen in my entire life," Twilight agreed weakly when she and Pinkie Pie had finished vomiting on the floor. "Can't wait to see the nightmares THAT gives me."

"Usually I like a fight," Rainbow Dash added shakily. "But I think I might try to dream about pretty flowers and butterflies for the next few nights."

"Is Fluttershy okay?" Jeff asked.

"She's better off than we are," Hamilton said. "She kept her eyes closed the whole time. You can look now Fluttershy, it's all over."

Celestia walked over to Jeff and spoke to him in low tones. "Is it always like that? Because I don't think this is good for any of us. Even for training."

"No, it's not. I'm going to find out what's going on right now."

***

"What the heck just happened in there?" Jeff asked the simulator crew, angrily. "There was no possible way to beat that thing."

"We, ah, may have made a slight oversight," the crew lead replied, uncomfortably. "See, when we set up the simulation, we told the system to make the scenario challenging. Let's just say it was a little too challenging. You're correct. There was no way whatsoever that you could have won that battle with the equipment you had. In fact, I have my doubts as to whether an entire U.S. Army mechanized brigade could have beaten it."

"I'll say it was a little too challenging. My main team is traumatized now. It was worse than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in there! You had better look over the next program before you put us through some insane crap like that again!"

"We- we will sir. I- I'm sorry about that."

"Just get it right next time. Dude, that freaked ME out and I've been through hundreds of simulations!" Jeff stalked out of the control room and back to the team.

"Okay guys, the good news is, that scenario was way overboard. So we can run another one that's a little more reasonable."

"It was my fault," Rarity said, very upset. "I got scared. I screamed. I got everyone killed and it was horrible!"

Sanchez squatted down to look her in the eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. "That's what simulator training is for. You mess up in there all you want, and learn from it so that you survive in the field."

"It was so real. It's stuck in my head now."

"That's okay, next time you'll remember what happened here and not make the same mistakes again."

"We've got another simulation loaded," the simulator technician said. "This one is actually beatable in more ways than one. It's not easy, though."

Jeff waved an arm. "Okay, positions everyone, let's take it from the top like that last nonsense never happened, okay?"

***

The static faded to a forest clearing at midday.

"Well this is better than LAST time," Twilight said. "At least it's light out."

A cool breeze teased their sun-warmed skin. Butterflies flapped about from flower to flower.

"This is more like it!" Fluttershy agreed, smiling. "I like this place!"

Just then an enormous, blood-curdling roar sounded from the forest behind them. Birds flew in terror as something enormous crashed through the trees.

"On second thought..." Fluttershy whimpered, cowering behind Rainbow Dash.

"Okay, let's try and take cover behind those rocks," Marky pointed.

They rushed for the huge boulders, and slid into the shadows just as a gigantic scaly lizard monster stalked into the clearing.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex," Sanchez breathed, reverently.

"I don't think I can talk to this one," Fluttershy whispered.

"You can't. It's a simulation, not real," Hamilton told her. "We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

The dinosaur stalked forward, then froze, sniffing the air suspiciously. Its breath sounded like a steam locomotive chugging slowly out of a station.

The creature cocked its head, vicious reptilian eyes looking in their direction.

Celestia narrowed her own eyes. "Do we have a plan?"

"Yeah, don't get eaten," Chris replied in low tones. "If anyone has a better plan, I'm all ears."

"If we engage it, I suggest aiming for the eyes, nose, and inside the mouth," Emmy commented. "Everything else looks like it's armored."

"Valid point. I see a possible plan developing here, but it's extremely risky."

"Go on."

"If one of us stands right here, between these rocks... And half the group stays right here, and the other goes right there, we should have a reasonably good crossfire on his eyes when he goes for the bait."

Emmy grimaced. "And who gets to be the bait?"

"I'll do it," Chris said. "It's my plan."

"If you're gonna do it, you try and chuck these grenades down his throat when he opens his mouth." Marky gave Chris two explosive frags.

"I'm gonna try to dodge at the last second. Then you guys open fire on his eyes. Hopefully I don't become dinner or get Swiss cheesed by the bullets."

"Be careful," Emmy said.

Chris laughed tensely. "This whole plan is insane. But at least we have one."

The group split into two fire teams, taking positions behind the boulders.

The T-Rex stomped around, seemingly aware of their presence but unable to pinpoint their location, until Chris stepped out into plain view.

"Hey Godzilla! I'm right here, and I'm delicious!" He made turkey noises and danced around. "Don't you just wanna sink your big, foot-long teeth into my soft, vulnerable skin?"

The T-Rex looked at him in amazement, then bellowed in rage. It charged headlong for him.

"You know, it suddenly occurs to me that he might just step on me," Chris observed to the others as the ground shook. "Ohhhhh crap."

The T-Rex rushed up at him with amazing speed, then swung its head down, mouth wide. Chris exo jumped sideways through the air and tossed the grenades at the same time. They both went into the T-Rex's mouth. "Score"! he chortled as he scrabbled on the ground. Then they fell right out again and rolled towards Chris as the T-Rex stood up and growled in frustration. "Oh crap. Take cover!" He dove behind a rock while the grenades detonated behind him. "Maybe that'll stun the T-Rex for a moment."

The bellow and feet stomping behind him were evidence that the T-Rex was not stunned, and, if anything, was in a far worse mood than previously.

He dove again as the terrible lizard's head came down for another go. "Change of plans!" Chris yelled. "RUN!"

The team scattered.

"Well, I think that went well," Jeff said, running next to Celestia. "We should do this more often."

"I have a feeling we shall be doing exactly that."

"It's heading off towards Hamilton and Fluttershy. Perhaps we can circle around and take some quality shots at the eyes?"

They stopped for a moment, trying to discern a plan of action. Rainbow Dash fluttered around the creature's head like an angry starling protecting a nest.

"Hey Marky," Jeff called on his headset comm. "Do you see how Rainbow Dash is flying around just out of reach and harassing him with the rifle? Think you can do that also?"

"I can try, but my aim is a lot better on the ground. In the air, it's pretty much spray-and-pray."

Chris cut in. "Well pray then. We need you up there if we're gonna have any chance of surviving this."

"Alright then."

They watched Marky's dark form take flight and begin circling the T-Rex's head, taking potshots while he dodged and rolled in the air.

Twilight joined as well, wings flashing as she zoomed around in loops and rolls.

"I'm going to help," Celestia said. She took off with massive wing beats and flew towards the action.

"Guys?" McAllister's voice. "There's a hell of a cliff over here. Maybe if we confuse him enough, we can get him to fall off."

"That's the plan then," Chris said, breathing hard from running. "Your plan, you're in command for now. Tell us what to do. By the way, I think he likes me again."

"Try and lead him towards the fallen tree. See it? The cliff is shortly beyond that. Fliers, pull back, let him chase Chris. Hit him hard to confuse him right before the edge of the cliff."

Celestia and the others backed off, hovering out of reach.

Chris waved his arms to get the T-Rex's full attention. He cupped his crotch and thrust his hips forward. "Come get yer meatballs! Nice and salty, just the way you like em!"

He took off running as the intensely frustrated dinosaur gave chase again. Up ahead, he could see the drop off. He ran harder, the exo boosting his strides while he jumped over a fallen tree.

The T-Rex didn't even slow but plowed right through the tree in a cloud of splinters and kept coming.

"Chris, keep running right off that cliff. Rainbow Dash, can you catch him?"

"I'm there!" Rainbow Dash stowed her rifle on her back and zoomed ahead.

"Okay, here goes." McAllister watched them approaching the drop. "Hit him now, fliers!"

Twilight, Marky, and Celestia fluttered around the charging animal, confusing its vision as it raced towards Chris. Chris charged right towards the cliff edge at top speed, seeing a drop that looked like the edge of the world. Birds circled and wheeled far below, little specks in the distance. The fall was thousands of feet. He heard Rainbow Dash's wings nearby.

Too late to hesitate now.

He launched himself out into the empty air, the exo whirring as it flung him far and high. The T-Rex did not slow at all, but charged right off the cliff after him, squealing and plunging end over end until it faded into the distant mists of the basin far below.

Chris watched as it tumbled out of sight, floating in the air with Rainbow Dash's hooves gripping his exo tightly.

"Thanks Dashie."

"Anytime! I've saved bigger ponies than you with one hoof!" she hooted gleefully. "Awww yeah! He really messed up when he messed with us!"

She flew him back to the cliff and set him down. "Now what?"

The background noises and images faded.

FATALITIES 0. MISSION SUCCESS. SIMULATION TERMINATING.

The warehouse lights came back on, and they could see that what had seemed like a huge cliff was actually a drop of about ten feet with a heavy trampoline net under it.

"Good work, McAllister," Chris said, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Couldn't have done it without you guys."

"That's why we're a team!" Rainbow Dash added.

"And I didn't scream!" Rarity said. "I wanted to a couple times. But I didn't!"

"And I kept my eyes open," Fluttershy said, proudly.

Applejack beamed. "Everypony did a fantastic job!"

"Including the simulator techs," Jeff said, smiling. "Much better, guys. Tough, but not too tough." He gave a thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Boss," the tech's voice came over his headset, sounding relieved.

"Let's go get lunch so the next team can practice."

As they headed to the locker room they passed a team of ProteC humans in exo suits on the way out to the simulator. A green unicorn and a cream colored Earth pony walked with them, smiling ear to ear.

"Hey Lyra! Bonbon! Good luck out there."

"Hiya there Princess Twilight!" the unicorn replied. "With Bonbon here, we won't need luck."

Princess Celestia smiled and gave Bonbon a quick nod, unnoticed by the others. Bonbon smiled and nodded in reply. "Ready to do whatever it takes to protect everypony," she said softly to Celestia as they passed each other.