The continuous thumping of the blades pounded through the copter’s frame, rattling the passengers crammed into the compartment. Even with their protective headphones, they couldn’t escape the roarous din of the flying contraption’s machinations.

‘Dash seriously wants to fly one of these things full time?’ Sunset grimaced at the headache steadily growing in her skull. She had thought the last minute plane ride had been tiresome, but this was easily worse. It was thankfully supposed to be only a short flight, though the Awakened already felt it was too long. Earth’s aircraft may be faster than Equestria’s airships or flying chariots, but they fell way behind in terms of comfort. ‘And to think how much I was looking forward to trying them out.’

“TOUCHDOWN IN TEN!” she heard one of the pilots shout over the comm. She looked to the rest of this copter’s half of the team, finding them looking almost as relieved as her. She glanced outside, though all she could really see was the dust storm kicked up by their passing. Soon enough she felt a harder shift as they descended toward the sands.

They were forced to wait a few moments longer after the final big thump however, as the pilots ensured their landing. They finally called they could unload and the hatch slid open. A trio of soldiers met them as they disembarked, unloading the crate of their gear for them before bringing it to a row of troop transport trucks parked along the nearby road.

The team moved to follow but were forced to hunch under the renewed assault from the winds of the Copters taking back off. Quickly enough though, the beat of the blades began to fade and the gale died enough for Sunset to reopen her eyes.

A small gathering of buildings lay beyond the small convoy of infantry, the most prominent being a worn down gas station and an adobe hotel that looked like half of it had been recently rebuilt while the other half looked rather worse for wear. In fact the whole town seemed to have this half new, half crappy vaneer. The abundance of large craters surrounding the area didn’t escape her notice though, giving at least some explanation to the contrast. She’d been briefed that what most the world thought was a ‘cultist nuclear attack’ was actually an orbital rail gun bombardment the US government launched in an attempt to remove the threat within the shelter.

It was also reiterated more than once that it was to stay that way. Not that she needed it; she had no intention of destabilizing world balance when she was still just adjusting to her current situation. Not to mention the whole friendship revelation thing.

She heard Shining shout their way and saw him waving them toward the station. Dashing through the last waves of kicked up dust, they reunited with the MIST leaders where a uniformed man in a flat cap waited.

“Agent Armor?” he asked at their approach.

“Lieutenant.” Shining returned professionally, noting the man's insignia. The man offered his hand to the liaison, who took it in a firm shake.

“Walski” he stated concisely.

“Your men been briefed?”

“As much as they needed to be. Even if they hadn’t, I’m afraid we’ve already encountered a group of mutations.” Lt. Walski nodded “The area’s been secured though, with the site of the remains cordoned off.”

“Any civilians?” Rupert frowned as he looked toward the hotel.

“A few tourists. They’ve been rubbernecking but haven’t witnessed anything confidential, and are currently confined to the hotel grounds.” the officer explained “The few residents are also there, with your contact waiting at the diner.”

The Director nodded back and gestured for the Lieutenant to lead the way. Sunset fell in step with the group, keeping quiet as the Trio of men upfront continued talking. They just passed through an iron fence into the hotel’s courtyard when excited murmuring drew some of the group’s attention to the second floor landing. A small group of four people and a couple leaned over the banister, smiling excitedly as they tracked the group with their phones.

An distinct ‘tch’ sounded from Aya at the sight.

“Can’t they believe they turned it into a damn attraction” she growled, glaring into the small office as they passed “People died and all the owner could think was how to profit off the incident. ‘Come see the site of the US’s first Nuclear Terrorist Attack! See if you can find one of the radioactive beasts of Dryfield!’ ...Prick."

Sunset glanced at the rest of the team, seeing her own apprehension mirrored in their expressions. She’d never seen Aya so… mad before. Irritated sure, maybe even a bit aggressively ruthless against NMCs at times, but never really angry like this. The blonde’s face was twisted into a permanent scowl and her posture was subtly stooped in frustration. She debated on whether she should say something or not, though figured since no one else was, maybe she shouldn’t either.

A bell rang as the front of the group entered the diner. The redhead caught what sounded like a nervous whining just before a loud bark rang out and a large hound jumped at Aya.

“Whoa! Easy there-” she started with a laugh as the dog eagerly tried to lick her face. She managed to shift the canine off her chest before her words faltered as she got a good look at it “Flint?! But… you’d be- how?”

“Oh sure,” a gruff voice called. Sunset shimmied around the overexcited dog preventing the blonde from moving any further in and saw the speaker; an older man limping his way toward them, a light creek sounding with every other step and landing with a heavy thud. “I try ta get you out for a walk and you’re too old. Pretty girl shows up though and yer as spry as a puppy!”

The dog turned to his owner, tongue lolling before another happy whine sounded.

“Yes Flint, I see her” he quipped before smiling at the hunter “How you been Agent Brea?”

“Well, I’m confused right now…” she admitted, giving the man a befuddled stare, absently petting the hound pressing against her “Mr. Douglass, how is Flint still alive? I mean, he was already getting on in years when I was here more than half a decade ago!’

“Hell if I know. He’s just stuck around. I wasn't about ta complain” he shrugged. Twilight crouched down near the canine, offering a hand out.

“Heya boy,” she gave, the hound happily accepting the pets. His tail wagged vigorously as she scritched at his coat, studying him. Her brow furrowed and she looked to the blonde. “Aya, he’s infected.”

“Infected?” Mr. Douglas repeated “Whad’ya mean? He’s fine! Ain’t gotten sick in years!”

“I wouldn’t imagine he would with neo-mitochondria” the scientist stood, concern wrinkling her features as she continued “Mr. Douglas, has Flint encountered any NMCs since the incident?”

“Naw. Things been pretty quiet ‘round here since then. Occasionally one of them big scorpions’ll show up but none ever manage to make it close ta town before it meets a load of buckshot. I make sure of that. And other than that jackass that bought the hotel turning the place into a side show, nothing else worth note’n has really happened.” he explained, moving to one of the tables. Rupert gestured for the rest of them to take a seat. Flint found his way through the group, lavishing in the attention and blissfully oblivious to his condition “So what, now I gotta worry about him changing inta one of those things too?”

“Not if he’s stayed stable this long” Twilight answered “No, this just completely changes some of our variables. If Flint was infected during the incident, and if he never encountered any NMC's directly…”

“Is it possible he was infected more recently?” Aya proposed “There was an awful lot of activity in the area, not to mention being so close to the shelter.”

“I suppose it’s possible. I can’t be sure without running some tests first though…” the doctor brought a hand to her chin, humming as she thought. The not so subtle clearing of a throat brought the group’s attention to the Lieutenant.

“Not to dismiss the issue, but I do believe we have more immediate concerns” he delivered evenly. Shining nodded and spoke.

“He’s right. Whatever happened to the dog, it’s obvious he’s not in any danger for now. We however, still have a reactivated shelter to investigate.” he agreed and turned to the local “Was there anything we didn’t cover in our call? Any suspicious persons in the area recently?”

“Like I said, it’s been quiet. Tourists are damned annoying, take’n their pictures and pretend’n they lookin fer monsters but ain’t none of them come off as anything but suckers drawn in by the billboards.” he shrugged “And ‘fore ya ask, I ain’t see anyone up by the mine either. Ain’t been around the other side for a while but they’d have a hard time gett’n there without passing by town first. Damn craters everywhere now only made the trip harder too. Only ones been up there is you FBI folk, and even that was a while back.”

“Collins and Martinez?” Shining asked.

“Those do sound familiar, think it was them yeah” he nodded. Shining looked at the MIST director, who simply shook his head.

“Well then Mr. Douglass, that’s all we need from you. Thank you once again for your cooperation.” the one legged man waved off the compliment as the liaison looked to the Lieutenant “We ready to move out?”

“Ready and waiting” he confirmed.

“Then let’s head out” the officer gave a quick affirmative and led the way. Sunset rose with the rest, once more feeling her nerves creeping up on her again. She let the rest pass, heading toward the door just behind Aya when the blonde suddenly froze. Her head tilted slightly, her eyes losing focus with a distant look. Before Sunset could ask, the veteran’s hunter head swiveled about until landing on the diner’s jukebox. She strode quickly to the music player, peering into its window and taking out her phone.

“...Vagrants” she said under her breath as she took a quick picture. She stood back up and shook her head. She turned to find both Sunset and Mr. Douglass staring at her incredulously. “This damn song has been stuck in my head for years.”

Sunset failed to suppress a snort as the man simply threw his head back and laughed. With one final pet for Flint, the two women hurried to catch up with the others with Sunset feeling comfortably less tense.

The calm from the moment of levity hadn’t lasted as long as Aya hoped as she noticed Sunset’s leg begin to bounce, the girl’s gaze strained as she stared at their transport’s flooring. They were sitting in the back of one of the canvas covered truck beds with the rest of the team, trying not to get bounced around too much as the dirt road rumbled beneath them.

Rupert had explained the plan more in-depth while they were in route. A team of scouts were set to take point as they entered the facility through the mine; The rear entrance would have been a more direct route but the orbital railgun bombardment left that path a non-option. They were to move with the bulk of the forces as they laid a safe path ahead of them, ready to act against any possible threats they encountered. Beyond that, it was simply a matter of finding whoever turned the power back on.

It was the ‘possible threats’ part that left most of them worried. The fact the soldiers had already encountered NMCs suggested there would almost certainly be more. Twilight even theorized any in the area might be drawn to the reactivated Ark facilities. Why they would be attracted, she was less sure about, but it left some hope this might actually not be quite as unpleasant as Aya was expecting.

“We can’t discount the possibility there may also still be NMCs in the lower levels of the facility” Twilight announced, as if destined to shatter that meager hope.

“How could anything still be alive down there?” Dash sounded back, brow arched at the scientist.

“While the more exotic environments would have certainly withered away long ago, there was a section modeled after the very environment it was built under.” she explained “There’s also the natural cave system the ARK was built around. Add in the open access to the surface the railgun created, and it’s possible a limited ecosystem could have survived down there.”

“But didn’t the Army clear out the remaining NMCs after the bombardment?” Pinkie asked. Sunset had seemed a bit surprised she had been brought along, though had understood after they explained that they needed someone familiar with the specialized tools now attached to their primaries. Aya noticed the redhead glance down to the boxy emitter, dubbed the ‘hammer’ by Jodie at some point, secured under her rifle’s barrel. She knew Sunset wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the short range stunning device, but it certainly wasn’t something she had a lot of practice with.

“What they could find.” the elder Awakened heard Rupert answer Pinkie’s query. He gave a disapproving hum before elaborating. “The reports say they couldn’t reach the deepest levels. Other than the areas with sensitive data to recover, most of the complex was left alone due to too much risk of further collapse or in fear of what else it could be hiding down there. Frankly, the fact anyone was just able to get inside is concerning. Both entrances were sealed and trying to get down through any of the craters wouldn’t be a simple matter, to put it lightly.”

“So the chances of this simply being some tourist trespassing is regrettably low then?” Rarity returned with a frown, letting go a sigh of her own at the look the director returned. “A girl can dream, can’t she?”

“Yeah, well whoever it is will have to answer to my spicy little friend here!” Rainbow beamed mischievously as she hefted the M4 assigned to her for the mission and flicked on the ignition flame of its attachment. “OW!”

“Don’t make us leave ya outside” Applejack scolded after slapping the reserve hunter’s hand away and turned the small flame back off. “Ya ain’t even supposed ta have that thing.”

She really wasn’t. She had been assigned a hammer like Sunset in Rupert’s instructions but by the time they realized she had appropriated the miniature flamethrower instead, it was already attached and they didn’t have time to switch it. She had argued that it was to give them more options but no one bought it. It was a flamethrower and this was Dash. One didn’t have to be Twilight to deduce the mechanic’s motives.

“We can’t dismiss the possibility that it’s Ark Shadow itself that’s reactivated it either” Aya pointed out. It seemed unlikely, as whatever the mysterious group would have wanted to retrieve would not only have been almost certainly lost after all this time, but probably obsolete even if it weren’t. “And even if they didn’t, they may be curious to who’s in their old facility themselves. If they are, we have to be ready for what they might send. Or already sent...”

She didn’t say it directly but everyone knew what the organization used for cleaning up, and that they usually sent a lot of them.

A burst of static preceded Walski’s voice sounding from their radios, informing them that they were nearing the mine shaft. Sure enough, Aya soon felt the truck decelerate and the engine cut off once they fully stopped. She stood and regarded the team. While Rupert and Shining had led the effort to this point, it was decided she was the lead once they arrived. She had the most experience with this place after all so, as much as she loathed the memories, it only made sense.

She took a breath and considered trying to think of something profound. Being alone for most of the last trek through the complex had let her ponder on quite a few insights. She wouldn’t be alone this time though, and she was just fine with keeping things as different from the last time as possible.

“Let’s get to it” she declared simply, shifting to what Eve affectionately referred to as her ‘hunter mode’ and moved to the back of the bed. The others followed suit, each doing their best to steel themselves. A slight grimace crossed her features as she looked up at the night that had fallen on their way out to the mine. She would have much preferred to do this during the day.

She paused a moment to glance back at the group, and more specifically at their newest hunter. She had long realized that Sunset now saw her as some kind of personal mentor figure and while not entirely comfortable with the thought, she also wasn't entirely sure it was a bad thing. The memory of her episode at the revelation of the girl’s Canadian doppelganger still lingered in her thoughts as well. Catching the redhead's eye, she arched her brow. Standing a little straighter, the girl squared her shoulders and returned a confident nod. She then panned her gaze across the rest, seeing similar resolve on most of the faces before nodding curtly and leading them toward the gathered soldiers.

“Stay safe!” Pinkie called from the truck bed, remaining safely behind with the forces assigned to protect the convoy.

“Miss Brea” the Lieutenant addressed as they approached “The drone’s already made it to the first checkpoint without issue, and the scouts just went in themselves. Once they finish securing the bridge and give us the all clear, we’ll move in.”

“So far so good then” she gave evenly, looking toward the lit up hole in the mountain side and shifting the weight of the sword slung across her back. She wondered again if it was wise to make it her primary on this mission and leave her M4 behind, but with the Gunblade, her M93r, and the Javelin Laser/grenade pistol hybrid Pinkie had jury rigged together a while back, not to mention the ammo for it all, she was technically overloaded already. She reasoned the concern away again. While it had been exceptionally reliable during her first time here, she found it flagging as the incident came to a head. With the others here to cover any needed versatility, she decided she would need the greater firepower.

‘I certainly needed some last time…’

They were still a fair distance away, not even at risk of slipping down the sharp incline to the left of the mine’s entrance. She could still picture Mr. Douglass’s truck parked just in front of that entrance. She could also still hear the groans of the chasers that ambushed her and Kyle not a moment after stopping.

‘Kyle…’ she closed her eyes a moment as she thought of the supposed PI. The last time she saw him was when he found her and Eve at the bottom of the crater, just before she passed back out. Ever since that day, he was just another mystery that vanished in the chaos that followed.

“Sir, we lost the feed.” Aya’s eyes snapped open at the technician’s announcement.

“Comms?” he quickly asked and another tech shook his head.

“I can’t raise them” his hands grew more busy across the equipment “It could just be some kind of interference. Possibly the same kind of field encountered last time, but I can’t pinpoint it.”

“They should have felt the effects of such a field before they got deep enough into it for it to cause an interruption in communications.” Twilight informed them, stepping up behind the tech team to examine the readouts. She then turned back to them “Rarity?”

The fashionista took a breath but the echo of automatic fire rang out from the mine shaft, cutting off whatever she was about to say.

‘Damnit!’ Aya cursed internally and drew her sidearm as the Lieutenant called out orders. The troops took up their position and readied their weapons, all aiming at the entrance to the tunnel. The hunters moved forward themselves but made sure to stay back far enough to not get in the soldiers’ way. The rear guard of the detachment waved them forward to their position though, allowing them better cover as they readied themselves.

“Belle!” Rupert called out to the pale woman. Aya Looked past him to see Rarity crouched behind an outcropping of stone with AJ, her eyes closed tight and features taught with concentration.

“One- I think…” she returned unevenly, her tone stressed. Aya and Rupert exchanged an uneasy glance; if Rarity was having trouble sensing whatever it was then this was even worse than they thought. The well coiffed woman’s eyes shot wide and snapped to the sky “Oh no.”

The screeching of birds rang through the night and countless shadows darted across the moon's glow as they took flight over the mountain. Both lines of troops lifted their aim skyward and opened fire against the avian swarm, breaking their formation and scattering the birds back into the night. Aya clenched her fist and tried to focus on a tipping point despite the cacophony of shots but faltered at the sight of Rarity trying fruitlessly to shout over the noise. She caught Aya looking and pointed to the cave, exaggerating her words as she called.

‘It’s Stealthed!’ Aya paled as she read the woman’s lips. She tried to break from cover, to get any kind of clear shot; but it was too late. A roar rang louder than all the screeches of the mutated flock put together and a distortion of twisted air clawed its way out of the tunnel. Rocks and debris fell as it struggled to free itself before its cloak finally fell.

A stalker the size of a city bus materialized, hanging halfway out of the opening. The front line shifted aim but not fast enough to prevent a globule of light being spat from the NMC’s oversized maw. A trail of noxious fumes followed the blob as it soared straight into the center of the forward formation and erupted into a dense cloud of gas.

The men gagged and began convulsing, weapons falling to the ground as their owners fell to their knees. Their clothes began to rip as their bodies twisted. The rear line stood aghast as what had been their fellow soldiers now rose and turned their skull like faces their way.

An inhuman screech rang from one, and then the rest, as they charged the line.

An explosion suddenly rocked the area, detonating against the charging horde. As the subtle rain of pebbles subsided, Sunset caught movement in her peripheral and turned just in time to see Aya leap over her cover and sprint toward the new opening amongst the NMCs. The strangers caught outside the blast veered toward the Awakened only to be thrown back by the wave of green electricity that erupted from the hunter. Sunset watched her continue unerring past the pack and toward the massive stalker until the rest of the NMCs blocked her sight.

‘Guess that leaves the smaller ones to us’ she processed and raised her rifle, taking aim at those recovering from Aya’s shock. Unfortunately, ‘smaller’ was only a relative term in this case; if the soldiers had only turned into normal strangers it’d be bad enough, but most had become full on Greater strangers that outweighed their lesser brethren by at least three times. To make matters worse, many of the rear line hesitated as they aimed their weapons, unwilling to open fire against their former comrades.

As grim as it was, she and her fellow hunters knew better and Sunset heard their shots join her own. Two fell quickly under the combined firepower and focused the rest of the horde back onto the rear line, their monstrous cries tearing through the night when they retook their charge. The sight seemed to finally cement the fact their allies were now truly lost and the rest of the troops joined the assault. Nearly half the NMCs had fallen when an oversight suddenly made itself known again.

The birds were back.

Chaos immediately erupted among the line as the mismatched flock descended upon them. Sunset fell back as a pair of twisted vultures zeroed in on her, batting away several smaller birds that sought to cut off her escape.

A set of talons tore into her shoulder, with only the leather of her jacket and reinforced padding of the armor beneath keeping the wound from disabling her. She spun on a heel and swung back against the attack, her arm ablaze. The vulture squaked as its feathers ignited and the force sent it soaring back into the second former scavenger.

The young hunter scowled as she kept the flame alight, disregarding the two carrion birds falling into a burning heap as she took the second of relief to regain her bearings. The rattle of gunfire and flashes filled the darkness, most of the lights having been knocked over in the panicked response. She could see the troopers struggling against the birds, untrained against such threats and leaving themselves open to the now unimpeded Strangers.

A flurry of miniature fire balls streaked into the air, detonating against the avian mutants above their heads. Sunset swept her arm back again, unleashing another salvo when a gout of flame pierced the night a ways to her right. It swept back and forth as bird after bird ignited in the path of the rainbow haired mechanic illuminated beneath.

‘And here we were mad at he-AHG!”

A battering ram of solid bone crashed into her chest, lifting her up and tossing her several feet away.

She rolled to her back, coughing and sputtering as she clutched the chicken plate weighing down on her. The protective armor had absorbed most of the impact itself, but she still struggled to breathe. Unfortunately, the Stranger that hurled her into her current state wasn’t about to let her recover.

Bounding out of the darkness, it stooped low and charged her prone form. She fumbled with her rifle, aim wavering as she tried to simply try to find purchase on the weapon. It leapt into the air and Sunset’s hands scrambled at the front grip.

*CRACK*

There was a flash of light and a shower of sparks erupted before her as what looked like a miniature storm of lightning slammed into the NMC and launched it back to where it had leapt from and then some. The former pony blinked as the subtle din of built up power faded and a smell of ozone filled her nostrils. The ‘Hammer’ had just very much lived up to its name.

‘More like Mjolnir’ she noted absently as she quickly clambered back to their feet and opened fire on the still recovering stranger. It took her entire magazine but it finally stopped moving. She quickly swapped out the empty and ran to return to the battle but paused.

A dense cloud cover had rolled over to eclipse the moon and left little to guide her save a scattering of knocked over lights, the sounds of gunfire and the scattered, frantically sweeping flashlights between her and the tunnel entrance. A pang of worry hit her as she realized Dash’s flamethrower no longer blazed either. Lighting a small layer of flame over her frayed jacket, she sprinted back toward the fight.

A steel grip suddenly lashed out and dragged her to the ground. She was just about to feed the flames when a familiar, panic filled voice doused them quicker than a mountain of retardant.

“Oh Sunset Thank God!” Fluttershy’s voice gasped as she pulled the redhead further behind a large boulder. The nurse’s head lamp wavered frantically as she fumbled with her medkit before her. Sunset resisted the urge to slap herself before clicking on her own flashlight attached to her holsters. It was almost ripped away however as the nurse started tugging at her jacket “Take it off, quick!”

“What? F-Flutters, what are- oh Celestia no…” her blood turned to ice as her light landed on the bloodied figure laying unconscious against the cover behind the nurse.

It was Dash. Her face was covered with countless cuts and gouges and her arms looked even worse. Her breathing came in heavy, uneven pants, her face slick with sweat and her clothes soaked.

“No… No-no-no-no-nono!” she crawled over to the woman in a panic, freezing as her hand landed on one of her legs. “She’s infected!”

“That’s why I need you to take your jacket off!”

“She doesn’t need my jacket Shy! She needs a suppressant!”

“I ALREADY GAVE HER ONE! IT’S NOT WORKING!” the nurse cried, sobbing as she clutched a set of medical tubing and needles in her grasp. Realization of why she needed her jacket off flooded through the redhead.

“Oh. Oh no, Shy I can’t. I never- it has to be one of the others!” she gave.

“THEY’RE NOT HERE!” Fluttershy snapped back “Aya’s fighting that thing and I have no idea where Twilight is! You’re the only one who can!”

“But I just had a Manifestation! Even if I didn’t, my mitochondria isn’t like theirs! It could just make things worse!” she argued. She wanted to help Dash, she desperately wanted to help but it was decided very early on using her mitochondria for suppressants and the like was far too risky with how many unknowns came with it. Her mitochondria could turn Dash into living goo for all they knew.

“Sunset please…” Fluttershy begged weakly, tears running down her face as her voice grew shaky. Sunset’s mouth worked wordlessly, glance shifting between Rainbow and Fluttershy. She gave one last grimace and shouldered off her jacket.

Fluttershy immediately snapped into motion, placing Sunset kneeled before their friend and started tying a tourniquet around her bicep. Threading the needles into their arms, she pushed the switch on the tubing connector and Sunset watched as the line of red made its way from her arm to Rainbow's. She waited several seconds but felt no change.

“Sunset you have to control them!” the medic cried next to her.

“I- What?!”

“You have… Dominate them or something! That’s what Aya says!” The nurse struggled to convey, hands clutching at the empty air as she looked to Sunset pleadingly. Frowning, Sunset edged closer, placed a hand on Rainbow’s chest and closed her eyes, reaching out to her now separated mitochondria.

A wild fury met her first, burning against her intrusion to its prey. She flinched but didn’t pull away, quickly finding a familiar warmth among the animalistic rage. Her face set as she pushed back against the heat with her own, finding it easily cowed beneath her presence. Unfortunately there was a lot of it that needed to be overcome, and it seemed to replenish itself almost as quickly as she subdued it.

Her eyes snapped open as a deafening scream and a foul smell shattered her focus before the beast that released them clawed over their cover. It lunged down, mouth open wide when a blur met it halfway and a skull rending crack filled the air.

The towering Stranger landed in a heap to her side, flailing in a daze as the dent now in the side of its head bled freely. It gave a startled yelp as a boot slammed down on its neck and pinned even its considerable weight to the ground.

“YOU WILL NOT TOUCH THEM!”

Dash’s rifle was unloaded point-blank into the NMC's face on full auto as the Opal eyes of the nurse now holding it Burned into the monstrosity with pure contempt. The eyes then snapped to the former pony staring in shock.

“Eep!” Sunset squeaked and quickly turned back to her task, struggling briefly against the rallied mitochondria. Fluttershy paced back and forth behind their boulder, covering the pair as Sunset did everything she could to keep Dash from turning. She could still hear fighting but tried to tune it out as best she could; she couldn’t afford not to.

Slowly though, gradually, she made headway. The infectious neo-mitochondria began to dwindle with their heat growing ever weaker until, finally, all that was left was her own and what she had forced into passiveness. She let herself fall back with a heavy sigh and Shy was crouched by her side in an instant.

“Did… Did it work?” she asked, the hope in her voice fragile as she looked to her surrogate sister.

“I think? Not like I’ve really done this before…” She returned and studied the mechanic herself. Her face was still distressed but her breathing had evened out. She didn’t seem to be sweating nearly as heavily either. If she was still at risk, Sunset felt she had at least bought them some time. Fluttershy nodded subtlety before glancing around anxiously. She then frowned as she removed Sunset’s IV.

“I’m sorry, I know that must have taken a lot out of you, but can you cover us? I need to treat Rainbow’s wounds.” Sunset nodded and let Fluttershy help her to her feet before moving to stand over the pair. The flashlight on her harness didn’t reach very far but it’d be enough to see anything else coming before it could get the drop on them again.

She could still hear shots, including a few that sounded like they flew a little too close for comfort. They were dwindling though, as were the snarls and cries of the NMCs. She looked to the shifting shadows by the cave entrance, the only point of substantial sound left.

She abruptly jumped as a flash strobed with an explosion like she had never heard before.

Aya streaked past the line of Strangers, sending out a pulse of Apobiosis against those that survived her grenade. She leapt over the twitching remains of those caught in the surge and continued toward the tunnel.

It was stupid move to rush ahead on her own, let alone while leaving NMCs at her back, but the giant stalker had proved itself FAR too dangerous to not make her immediate priority. Until now, nothing outside of an EVE had been encountered that could change this many people so quickly, and she couldn't risk it changing any more. God help them with what could happen if she let it slip away.

The stalker itself didn’t seem to have any plan to escape however, as it roared defiantly at her approach. She slid another grenade into her launcher and fired as she closed, blasting a sizable chunk out of the NMC’s shoulder. Bone and sinew could be seen beneath the charred flesh, along with the glint of metal.

‘Artificial then…’ she sighed internally. The sheer size of the creature left little doubt that it was, but the presence of implants confirmed that this thing wasn’t a fluke; someone made it. Loading another grenade, she slid to a stop and took more careful aim, mentally noting she’d only have one more shot after this.

The beast reared back and abruptly lunged forward, one of its sickle like claws slashing out at the blonde. She leapt back into a roll, feeling the wind rush past as the blade missed by mere inches. She snapped a bursts off from the Javelin laser, burning a red line into the NMC’s face and driving it back toward the entrance. She blinked as she caught the briefest glimpse of its rear half; a twisted mass of tumor-like growths formed a simile of a tail where its hind legs should have been.

‘That’s why it’s not leaving the tunnel’ she realized. She stood and fired another brief beam at the creature, which brought forth a limb to protect its face from more punishment, but it stayed its place in the hole. She smiled, ‘That makes things simpler.’

A burst of amber sparkles covered her form and she drew her sidearm. The rapid shots took on a heavy din in their bursts, slamming into the NMC with amplified force. It flailed out again but the Hunter was too far to threaten with its claws now, ticking away at it from range. A light trail of smoke followed behind another grenade soaring at the sudo-stalker, exploding against its protective elbow. It bellowed in pain as the explosion shredded the joint’s flesh and almost, though not quite, severed the appendage. Aya loaded her last 40mm round and leveled the launcher.

Another glowing glob of spit suddenly flew from the NMC's maw, exploding as it struck near the hunter and sent her aim awry. The round exploded against the rock above the mutation now dragging itself toward the blonde disoriented by the fumes. Bracing with its injured limb, it raised its uninjured claw as it closed.

A deafening blast rang from behind Aya and the shredded joint suddenly tore free, sending the stalker tumbling. It struggled to to raise when another shot rang from the blonde’s other side and one of its eyes erupted in a fountain of gore.

The veteran hunter shook off the last of the gas’s effects as Rarity and Applejack appeared at her sides with their weapons raised and smoking, the latter sharing her sparkling amber aura. Rarity adjusted her heavy rifle and removed the beast's other eye as AJ fired another round to knock away the stalker’s remaining limb before smirking at her.

“So ya gonna actually use that thing or did’ya just bring it ta make Evie feel better?” The freckled woman jerked her chin toward the blade on the Awaken’s back. Aya gave a scoff and pulled the sword free.

With a single, deep breath, she focused and sprinted toward the helpless NMC with the blade trailing at her side. She skid to halt just before it, aching the blade up and pulling the trigger just as it met the beast. The Stalker’s head erupted in an explosion that almost sang as it echoed and the chime of vibrating metal filled the air.

As the subtle ringing faded away, an almost disturbing silence descended in its place. She turned back to the pair of hunters, wiping away some viscera the stalker’s violent death left as she tried to see past them. The silence was soon broken by the shouts of soldiers, calling off to signal their condition. The battle was over.

“Oh!” Rarity exclaimed quietly as Aya abruptly fell into a squat, leaning against the side of her blade now stabbed into the dirt. The veteran hunter rubbed at her eyes, a wave of exhaustion hitting her as the adrenaline began to wane. The now slightly less well coiffed woman standing beside her sighed deeply as they waited for order to be restored “Not the most auspicious start to an operation...”

“Could be worse…” AJ offered solemnly. Aya looked out to the already dissolving bodies of the other NMCs, of what were once soldiers that had not only lost their lives, but themselves before they even got this mission properly started.

“How?” she asked quietly, though part of her already knew the answer.

“We could ALL be dead.” the former farm girl returned simply, before giving the remains of the stalker a swift kick of frustration “Ain’t never seen one that could do something like that before, even an artificial. Fuck’n Ark assholes…”

“Aya!” she heard Rupert’s voice call from the throng. She pushed herself up and led them back toward the trucks. The troops had set most of the lights back up and she could see maybe half of the rear line survived, along with most of the tech and support teams. She spotted the rest of MIST gathered around one of the medical tents looking tense. They quickened their pace, stepping past to see Dash laid out on one of the beds.

She stepped up next to Twilight inside the tent when it hit her. She reached out to the unconscious mechanic’s arm, closing her eyes as she made contact. She sighed as the feeling only got stronger, confirming the infection. Her brow furrowed as another familiar signature then became clear to her. Her eyes opened and landed on Twilight frowning at her and then turned to the fiery haired girl sitting on one of the crates outside, hands clenched in front of her and her gaze to the dirt as one knee bounced nervously. She then turned back to Twilight, who just nodded.

“Is she going to be okay?” Pinkie’s voice came from the tent's entrance. The pair shared an uneasy glance before Twilight answered.

“Her wounds themselves aren’t too threatening thankfully, but there’s no doubt she’s been infected. Sunset stabilized her for now, and I’ve put her on stronger suppressants but…” the doctor trailed off as she broke eye contact.

“Then she’ll be okay” Pinkie asserted “I know we’re worried about Sunny’s mitochondria but they recognized Dashie before, right? So she'll be okay again, you’ll see.”

“...I hope so, Pinkie.” Twilight returned after a pause. Any further discussion was stalled as Rupert appeared with a small box. Pinkie peaked into it and grimaced.

“We do have some soda in one of the trucks.”

“It wouldn’t work fast enough” Aya countered, frowning herself as she grabbed one of the plastic pouches of vaguely yellow liquid labeled NMES. It stood for Neo-Mitochondria Energizing Solution; It was a special mix of Ringers Dr. Maeda's team came up with a couple years ago.

“Artificial?” Rupert asked simply. It was a rhetorical question, but it needed to be said aloud.

“Yeah.” she returned with a solemn breath. The director cursed under his breath and she nodded before tossing the bag in her hand to the redhead outside “Drink up girls. We still have a job to do.”

“Wait, drink?!” Sunset gave her a befuddled stare.

“Don’t got time for the normal way, Sunny.” Applejack grumbled as she passed to grab a bag of her own. She tore off the plastic nub at the opening with her teeth and sucked down a mouthful. Her expression twisted into a disgusted grimace but she soldiered on to stubbornly force the rest of it down. Sunset cringed as she looked back down to the bag in hands but followed suit, not stopping until the bag was empty.

“Blehhh…” she moaned as quietly as she could before a hand patted her on the shoulder. She looked up see Aya giving her a grateful look as she moved past to start resupplying her gear. The actions didn’t go unnoticed by the lieutenant addressing his troops nearby. He cut away and stomped up to them.

“You can’t seriously be thinking we’re still going in there!” he growled before stopping and sweeping an arm out “This operation went beyond FUBAR before we even got inside! This mission’s over!”

“No, it’s not.” Shining announced as he rounded from behind one of the trucks, pulling his phone away from an ear as he approached “We can’t leave.”

“Agent Armor, almost half my men are dead and several more are injured; We’re not going in there!” he declared angrily as he set himself against the agent, though if Shining felt at all intimidated, he didn’t show it. Aya drew his furious gaze away as she called from over her shoulder.

“That’s right, You’re not.” she gave before slamming a fresh magazine into her pistol. “We are.”

“Not to belittle the MIST’s training regime Agent Brea, but you can’t handle this alone.”

“I did before.” the veteran hunter murmured as Rupert stepped up to address the officer.

“Lieutenant, you and your men couldn’t go in even if you wanted to. If there’s a mitochondrial field strong enough to disrupt communications, then it’s strong enough that any non-NMH would be rendered helpless before they even made it into the actual facility.“ He explained calmly “And considering that thing was an Artificial NMC, whatever’s going on in there is only going to get worse the longer it’s left alone. Not only is MIST the ones going to do this, we’re the only ones who can… With or without your support.”

The officer regarded the MIST director for several moments, gaze then panning over the group before returning to the dark skinned man. He then finally gave a huff before fixing his jaw.

“We can resupply you, lord knows we have enough not being used now. We’ll do our best to keep things secure up here, though there’s not much we can do about the other side.” he gave.

“That’s all we ask Lieutenant” Rupert returned, earning a nod from the man. He then turned to the team. “Alright ladies, I know you’ve been through the ringer already but the fact that thing was an ANMC means ARK Shadow may have beaten us here; and if they haven’t, then it means a lot more has survived down there than we thought. I need to know you’re all up for this. Are you ready?”

Rupert was asking all of them but Aya could see his glance meaningfully hold on Sunset a moment longer than the others. She responded as confidently as the rest though, including one voice none of them were expecting to sound off too.

“Breeze?” He turned to Fluttershy, still holding Rainbow’s rifle.

“They shouldn’t go in without a medic Sir, and I’m the only one that can go with them. And they’ll still need someone at least somewhat familiar with the science and we can’t risk Twilight.” her eyes darted to the tent briefly “She should stay with Rainbow anyway. At least one Awakened should be here… in case…”

She didn’t finish the thought, shaking it away before focusing on the director again. He held her gaze, seeing the unwavering conviction behind her slight scowl. He glanced at Aya, who simply arched her brow back. After another moment, he reached over and grabbed one of the IV bags and tossed it to the nurse.

“Thank you Sir” she gave, he simply nodded in return. The tech arrived a moment later with more supplies, helping them restock for their mission. Resupplied and as restored as they could be, they followed Aya to the tunnel.

The veteran hunter strode straight through the spreading puddle of goo that had been the giant stalker; there wasn’t any avoiding it anyway. Stepping over the oversized implants without a second glance, they had just reached the tunnel entrance when Aya found herself slowing, stopping just a step short of the threshold. She peered into the poorly lit depths, feeling a chill slowly rising up her spine.

She nearly jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked back to see the team’s other blonde grinning softly at her.

“We got yer back Sugarcube.” she said confidently. Aya saw the others nod in agreement behind her. She smiled back and turned once more to the cave and, without another moment of hesitation, led them in.

‘At least I’m not alone this time.’

Author's Note

Down we go...

For anyone that likes little peaks into the process: This and the next chapter were actually only going to be just one originally. I did expect it to be a long one but it ended up even longer than I thought. Mix that with such a good breaking point conveniently being right around the middle and I decided it would be an easier, or at least less intimidating read if I just broke it into two. Hopefully it works out as well as I hope it will.

As always: Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter (Especially considering it's being released at the same time as this one )! Have a good one!