Title:           Boundless (10)
Author:          BoundlessAnon
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/4DYT8MFy
First Edit:      Monday 30th of January 2017 04:02:40 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Monday 30th of January 2017 04:09:34 PM CDT

The stricken mare opens one eye, flinching at your light. She struggles weakly to get her hooves under her, but it's obvious that she's not going anywhere like this. Instead she just settles with glaring at you - the blood crusted around her nostrils and bottom lip aren't good signs, but they do contribute to making her look monumentally pissed off. Carefully, you make your way over.
 
Auriga coughs raggedly. Her right wing is draped across the corridor, limp and obviously in bad shape. It looks to have taken the brunt of whatever happened to her. Her chest bears a smattering of small bullet wounds. Between her wet, painful-sounding breathing and the placement of her injuries, you hastily conclude that at least one of the bullets must have punctured a lung. She could have been here for hours - the regeneration ability that Boundless mentioned before is probably the only reason she's still breathing at all. Apparently it has limits, though. There's not a whole lot you can do for her except offer up what's left of your healing potion. She looks utterly disgusted at the prospect of having it fed to her, but it's not like you're about to just leave her to bleed to death.
 
As soon as she's swallowed it she tries to push you away from her, clenching her teeth in agony. "You," she hisses, "where is Boundless?"
 
You do your best to explain, patiently, that Boundless is waiting upstairs, worried sick for both her and Corona. You need to know what happened and how best to help the pair of them. Auriga is obstinate, of course, huffing with disdain at the very idea of being 'helped'. You note, with no small amount of irony, that at least the potion has steadied her breathing enough that she can afford to be stroppy.
 
"Find me a source of radiation and get out of my way," she says as bluntly as she can in between labored breaths, "I will recover." You shake your head. Big brave super duper mutant pony or not, she's not fit to go anywhere with a mangled wing and a good two inches missing from the end of her horn. She shoots you that glare again - no doubt unpleasant things would be happening to you if her horn was intact, but right now you have the upper hand. Eventually, after once again trying and failing to support her weight with her forelegs, she relents with a frustrated groan.
 
"There is a secure room up ahead. Some kind of lab, with automatic security running on its own power source. In the main room, on the ceiling, there is a turret." You nod. "Infernal, lucky, stupid machine," she spits, "clipped my horn on the first burst. These corridors are too thin to move quickly - without magic to shield myself, the second burst hit my flank. Corona is locked in a second room - an office - on the far side. I saw her, but..." She breaks off into a fit of coughing, so you tell her to save her strength. You get the picture: it's hard to carry out a rescue mission when you're riddled with bullets. You bandage Auriga's chest as best you can while she talks, but it's a botch job. She's not a receptive patient, and the bandages were meant for ponies quite a bit smaller than a full size alicorn. Eventually you settle back, content that you've done what little you can to stabilise her for now.
 
"I will live," she mutters, testing her good wing, "but you are wasting time. Help our sister and be careful - you will be of no help to any of us if you die." You shrug and choose to take that as encouragement. Casually, you inform her that Boundless is expecting twins. Auriga blinks in shock, and actually manages to pull herself halfway to a sitting position. You're not sure if she's supernaturally tough or just blockheadedly stubborn - either way, you're not about to try and force her back down. A few seconds of awkward staring later, she lets out a long groan. "Get moving. Idiot."
 
You press on down the corridor with a little smirk, thinking through how to approach the lab. You'll have to come back with some rads for Auriga on your way back, but at least you left her motivated. The corridor branches dramatically - on either side there are more passages, alcoves, and maintenance accessways, all disappearing into blackness. You even pass what looks like a small canteen, caked in dust and grime. It would be easy to get lost for hours down here in the dark, but at least there's a bright side to the situation, if a cynical one. Auriga left quite the blood trail for you to follow. Eventually, perhaps ten minutes later, you round a corner and the trail abruptly comes to an end. A faint light issues through a ragged, broken doorframe. The door itself, a thick automatic lump of metal, looks to have been wrenched entirely out of its frame. Auriga's work, maybe? As quickly as you dare, you take a peek into the room.
 
The lab is sparsely lit. The equipment on display across the various tables and benches would be impressively complex if it wasn't all covered in rust and grime. Tanks and tubes, box-shaped machines and cylinders of who-knows-what, all marked with the trademark six-pointed purple star of the Ministry of Arcane Science. In the corner there's a small heap of barrels - more magical waste. At the far side, a second security door and a long window that takes up most of the wall. And on the ceiling, swivelling jerkily towards you and spitting sparks from its mounting, one very irate-looking security turret.