The warehouse in the back of the Smithsonian also had a fully-stocked vehicle bay. On second thought, this was probably also one of the many military warehouses set up around the country in the case of invasion, and even now, four billion years later, other than a little(lot) dust, the machines and weapons still worked. I suppose the fact that every single one of these items had been hardened and armored against most damage, and were sealed inside a, if my AR was correct, sterile environment, would contribute to that. If I wasn't in the process of starting up an Mk. IV Roadrunner ATV, I'd have actually appreciated the fact. Needless to say, I think most of the ponies on the way up out of the digsite were confused, to say the least, at the speeding metal box whipping past them with a screaming mint-green unicorn on top.

I left Lyra at the top of the digsite, and after re-calibrating the map on the ATV with the one stored in my helmet, the two-man transport was hurtling towards a beacon with me behind the handlebars.

How much time did I have? I honestly don't know. The transmission was brand-new when it came it, and it was bounced off a signal relay and a satellite, meaning some of our self-sustaining creations actually were as useful as the government said they were going to be. But where there are two of us, there could easily be more. I survived, Phoenix obviously survived long enough to send out a distress call, so that means we can't be the only ones. There has to be someone else out there. But that, for now, is irrelevant. I need to focus on the task at hand. There is a potentially injured human, most likely so, who has sent out a distress call. He is stuck underground in Diamond Dog territory, whatever they are, and they are most likely hostile.

v^v^v

The beacon was close. At least, it was within a kilometer of me. That would probably explain the large amount of holes in the ground, assuming these 'Diamond Dogs' actually lived underneath the earth. Those holes were probably ventilation shafts of some sort, since surface access tunnels would be larger.

Then, an alert appeared on Augmented Reality. There was a single IFF tag in the area, close enough to be detected by my helmet's sensors. I quickly added it to my HUD, so I could continue watching it. I stared for a moment, and watched as Phoenix's vitals came online and began to display. I inwardly cheered, but we weren't nearly out of the waters yet.

I took a peek down the hole in front of me. Even with my helmet's filters, it was all black. I stepped into the hole, using my spread arms and legs to control my descent, pushing against the sides of the hole to hold myself steady. It was slow going, but eventually, I reached the bottom of the shaft, which opened into a moderately sized room. The walls were misshapen and uneven, claw marks evident on them. That means these 'Diamond Dogs' are like moles. Whopdee-fucking-doo, now I have to watch my front, back, sides, and under me. At least they didn't know I was here... for now.

I felt them before I heard them. There was some sort of vibrations outside the room I was in, and momentarily, I heard the sound of multiple creatures, running or scurrying, through the tunnel. I quickly fell to a crouch and moved to a corner, my armor's dark coloring and its adaptive camo working in tandem to keep me unseen. But if they're dogs, then scent should be more of an issue...

The diamond dogs looked like... well... dogs, but they stood upright and ran on all four. They carried spears with them, and they seemed to be in a hurry. They spoke in growls and barks, and after I heard a strange repetitive noise, I realized one was laughing. Sentient, but primitive. They're probably quite strong, and they can dig. This'll be interesting...

They quickly passed my nearly-invisible self, and I began to follow them, worrying slightly less about the vibrations of my footsteps. Nearly four times, I had to move out of the way so that other dogs could pass me by. Either they patrolled these warrens like a top-secret facility, or they were gathering somewhere. It was probably the latter.

It wasn't long before I could hear a continuous low roar, like that of a crowd at a football game. I would know, I used to go to them all the time... And I could feel much more in the ground, almost to the point where it was shaking. I followed the noise, and as I rounded a corner, I approached what could be considered a wonder of the engineering world. It was a huge open space, and in that space was an arena. It was a massive construction of stone blocks, actually leveled out and cut well, and then stuck together. All the blocks seemed to be made of some sort of light-colored stone, like sandstone, but I don't think it was all the same stone. It reminded me of the Colosseum, but it was stretched out slightly and was not nearly as tall. And it was filled to the brim with dogs. Dogs of all shapes and sizes, of colors ranging form a dull blue to a grey to a crimson red filled the seats, and even more were on their way in. The worst thing, however, was that Phoenix's IFF indicated he was right in the damn middle of them.

An idea began to form in my mind as to what was happening, but I hoped I was wrong. I began circling the arena, looking for a way in. About halfway around it, I saw my chance. There was a small portal into the stone, a service gate of some sort. I made my way over to it, and after a quick juggle of the lock with my picks, the door opened. As I entered the gate, I heard steps. There was an empty hallway in front of me, and at the end, there was a metal door on either side of the hall, and it continued to extend. I quickly made my way over to the doors, and tried them. Neither were open. Then, I heard the jiggling of a key in a lock, and a growl from the other side of the door on the right. I took a step back and drew my knife.

The door opened, and I lunged. The poor canine never had a chance. A fountain of blood spurted from his neck as my knife passed through it. His eyes widened and his hands reflexively jerked to it, trying to stem the bleeding. Within moments, his choked growl ended, and his body fell limp to the ground. I laid him down, and then liberated his keys from him.

Turning my Augmented Reality to analyze, I began to dissect his corpse, making a trio of surgical incisions with my knife, examining the placement of his vitals and muscles. I mechanically searched through the chest cavity, and then moved on to the arms and legs, my AR analyzing his bone and muscle structure, allowing for better predictions of movement. Gruesome, but effective, and important if I wanted to fight these creatures. I quickly finished and dragged the still-warm body into the room it came from. It seemed to be some sort of break room, with a pile of gems in the corner, a table in the center, and an unfinished game of solitaire on it.

I left his body in the room, and I locked to door on my way out, snapping the key off inside the lock. That should stay for a little bit, at least long enough for me to get in and out of this damn burrow.

I continued to navigate the hallways, the general slope of the tunnels leading me downwards. At least I had a map, a way back up to my ride, in case I needed to bug out.

I came across a crossroads in the path, and I stopped. Which way... I was interrupted my more vibrations, coming from the right. I took a step back and stuck my back against the wall, waiting. The cool, rocky wall poked into my back, but I was concealed... for the most part. A pair of dogs reached the junction, and they stopped. They, unlike the previous ones, wore no armor and carried no weapons. They stood shorter than the others and were probably younger than the others. Perhaps they were pups. They spoke for a moment, their harsh barks sounding off the walls. One pointed one way, straight for them, left for me, and the other pointed in my direction. Not good.

I removed a silencer from the side of my pistol holster, and I began screwing it on the front of my gun, preparing for the worst. One of them took a step in my direction, and I raised the gun, holding it up. Then, he took a step back at the call of the other, and they began to move to the left path. Close call.

I followed the pair around a series of tunnels, twisting around in a rough circle, my AR laying out a path behind me. We traveled for a while, and finally, we came to an archway in the side of the path. The two dogs chattered excitedly, and they poked their heads through. I took the opportunity. I raised my knife, and mapping out their internal organs with my AR, I lashed it through the left lung and heart of the dog on the right. Ducking under the blood and kneeling on the ground, I hamstrung the other dog, shocked by the sudden passing of his comrade, and buried the knife in his chest, slanting upwards and piercing his lung, too. This ensured they didn't scream. I caught the second's body as it fell, and I laid it beside the first. To confirm the kill, I slit open both their throats, ear-to-ear.

I followed their once-living gaze out the archway, and I saw what they did. It was impressive, to say the least...

Around me, in the gloom of the half-dark, a massive arena spread. Lit up by torches and glowing gems along the stands and a sort of luminescent dirt in the actual arena, I gazed upon an architectural marvel underneath the earth. Dogs of all shapes and sizes lined the stands, silent for some reason, and they all seemed riveted to the spot, staring at the center of the arena. As my eyes lowered to their subject, my eyes tightened into a glare, but a sliver of relief wormed its way into my head. There stood Phoenix, her fiery red hair billowing behind her as she flipped into the air and swung a sword, the deadly steel biting into the neck of her opponent.

Author's Note

You would not believe how annoying this chapter is. I feel it's a little bit weird, and it gets better towards the end, but it feels a little rushed to me. Meh, enjoy.

Also, help me get featured on this one!
XD