A/N

So, I opened up the single document which I keep all of Tigress on only to be greeted by a glaring red message warning me that the file was at max-capacity. So I checked my word count and guess what?

203522 words… from Chapter 1 all the way up to Chapter 67.

Crazy, isn't it? I never really realised just how much time I've put into this story - and it's still not done!

Exam season is (thankfully) over but due to work and summer courses I can't guarantee a consistent upload schedule. As of right now Wednesday is the only day of the week where I do not have some kind of work or school obligation, so I am thinking of uploading chapters then. Considering that I've been silent for the last three weeks, I'm going to kick myself into gear and try to get the next chapter out by next Wednesday - the key word is "try".

I'm also still writing Team MARS Part 3. All of the sections which needed to be re-written are done and I'm approaching the story's halfway point. I'm considering doing a soft release - at least the early chapters which don't affect the later portions of the story too much, but I'm still debating it.

As for today's chapter, it's actually taken me over a week to write it. I am putting the blame on writer's block and dissatisfaction with every draft of this chapter that I had written up until this point. But I think that I've wrestled with it and re-written it enough for me to be comfortable uploading it.

Anyways…

Chapter 68…

Ashley had gotten used to the sensations of falling a long time ago…

The nauseating twist in one's gut; the feeling of one's stomach flying up into their throat; the prickly feelings in one's toes and fingertips; the whistling of air past one's ears and it washing over their skin…

These feelings were all too common for pilots - and Ashley was no exception. She had spent most of her early career in the IMC performing high-altitude jumps or hurtling into the atmosphere inside the protective metal cage of a titan's chassis. The sensation of falling was typically associated with danger, and Ashley was well acquainted with danger.

And yet, as Ashley piked down the undetermined length of the elevator shaft… something felt off…

A new sensation was fluttering around in Ashley's body - more specifically, her head. It was an almost… buzzing… sensation, almost comparable to the chaotic flight path of a small insect; but Ashley was very sure that an insect had not found its way beneath the tight seams of her helmet.

The buzzing feeling was inside her head - the back of her head - fluttering about underneath her skin and hair. It was both maddening and soothing, troubling and comforting… a perfect paradox…

Ashley blinked her dark eyes rapidly underneath her helmet. The exterior cameras on the headpiece were transmitting a grainy image of wall supports and tunnels flying by at high speeds as Ashley continued her descent. Ashley could hear the sounds of gunfire up above, echoing down the shaft and informing the dark haired woman that her team leader wouldn't be joining her anytime soon…

Licking her dry lips, Ashley closed her eyes and focused on the strange buzzing in the back of her head. It was slowly intensifying, growing from a gentle vibration to a static-like hum…

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Ashley grit her teeth at the static sensation. She focused on her breathing, the gentle expansion and retraction of her diaphragm reminding her of where she was…

… hurtling down into the unseen depths of Lyra-1…

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Ashley's breathing quickened a little bit…

Then came the sudden shift, a slight sensation which told Ashley that she was nearing the bottom of the shaft. To a normal person, the shift was imperceptible - the slightest change in air pressure or speed. But to a trained and experienced pilot who knew what to look for, this sensation was easily recognized…

Activating her jumpkit at full-burn, Ashley felt her bones rattling and her stomach jump as the booster pack abruptly slowed her descent. The glowing jets of her jumpkit illuminated the local area - including the ground beneath her and the twisted wreckage of the elevator she was about to land on top of.

Once Ashley's descent slowed to a gentle hover the woman deactivated her jumpkit. She fell the last few feet, the flexible soles of her boots making a hollow 'thunk' as they made contact with the twisted metal surface of the elevator.

For a long moment, Ashley stood still in the complete darkness.

'It's as quiet as a grave down here…'

Slowly reaching up, Ashley patted the back of her helmet. The buzzing sensation was still present, although it had not progressed or worsened further. Moving her hand towards the side of her helmet, Ashley began toggling with a small set of controls located under the built-in radio. Finding the dial she was looking for, the dark haired watched as the camera feed on the inside of her helmet became overlaid with fuzzy patches of green and grey light.

Ashley's helmet, although ugly and outdated, was packed with an entire suite of features. One such feature was a toggleable night vision function - which offered Ashley a grainy and limited view of the area around her.

The dark haired woman was surprised to find herself standing in a much larger area than she had anticipated. Before Ashley spread a vast cavern - perhaps forty-metres in width but with an undeterminable length. The walls which were visible to Ashley appeared smooth and carved by precision machinery; reinforced by a large series of rectangular supports, which ensured that the millions of pounds of rock and soil above Ashley's head would not come hurtling down on top of her…

Squinting her eyes, Ashley focused on the strange shapes and outlines sitting in the darkness of the long cavern. It was difficult to determine what they were - but Ashley made the safe assumption that it was digging equipment. The tallest of this equipment consisted of long, thin spires with large conical shapes sitting upon their highest points.

Bending her knees in preparation, Ashley slowly extracted her SMART pistol from its holster. Ashley held the weapon up, its integrally suppressed barrel pointed down the length of the cavern. Ashley squinted her eyes and focused on the SMART pistol's digital display, the internal scanning system gently humming as the weapon searched for anyone or anything organic in Ashley's vicinity.

Still emitting a computerized hum, the SMART pistol's display flashed as it located a target…

Then another…

…and another…

…and another…

…the SMART pistol's display kept blinking for a few more moments, each blink signifying a new target. Finally, the weapon stopped blinking and hummed - ready to fire.

Gritting her teeth underneath her helmet and narrowing her eyes in anticipation, Ashley pulled the trigger.

'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' FWIP!'

In the span of just two and a half seconds the SMART pistol was emptied - twelve tracking rounds sent flying off into the inky darkness. Each individual shot was answered by a scream and the sound of armour tearing apart…

"FUCK! HIT THE LIGHTS!" A distant voice roared out in the darkness. "HIT THE FUCKING LIGHTS!"

There were several flashes of light and Ashley suddenly found herself blind. The once silent cave was now filled with a cacophony of noise - the staccato of gunfire. Ashley could feel the air pressure around her changing as bullets veered close to her, with several of them audibly sparking against the remains of the metal elevator she was standing on top of.

Stumbling forwards - and still blind - Ashley threw her hand up towards the side of her helmet and began wrestling with the mounted control board. Night vision mode not only became useless in the presence of bright light, but debilitating.

With her fingertips grazing against the switch which controlled the night vision mode, Ashley broke into a blind forwards roll as she manipulated the control. In an instant the night vision mode of her helmet turned off - the exterior cameras swiftly re-adjusting - but black spots still danced in front of Ashley's eyes from the sudden shift in light perception.

With bullets still raining down around her, Ashley scrambled up to her feet and ran for the nearest cover she could find - a large conveyor belt.

Deftly removing the empty magazine from her SMART pistol, Ashley tucked away the spent container into her vest and pulled out one of the few remaining ones. Sliding the fresh magazine into the SMART pistol, Ashley tucked herself into another roll to close the distance between herself and the conveyor belt.

With her back now pressed against the metal structure of the belt, Ashley turned her helmeted head to peek around and get her bearings. Bullets were still flying through the vacant space that was the cavern but most of them went wild; however many enemies still remained, they had lost sight of her.

Looking upwards, Ashley narrowed her eyes at the bright sources of light which had blinded her only moments ago. The thin spires with the conical heads were actually large industrial flood lamps. They were bright enough to illuminate large swathes of the cavern, but there weren't enough of them to cover the entirety of the vacant space…

"WHERE'D THEY GO!?" Howled a voice from further off in the cavern.

"WHO KNOWS!? KEEP FUCKING SHOOTING!" Roared back another in response to the first. "SHIT! GET THE CHARGES SET!"

'Charges…' Ashley thought to herself, her teeth grinding together as a wave of anxiety washed over her.

Considering the nature of the excavation, the IMC having explosive charges on hand wouldn't be out of the ordinary. But willingly collapsing the cave on themselves? That took some bravado… and it made Ashley very curious as to what could be so important that it merited an outright suicidal maneuver…

Her grip on her pistol tightening, Ashley looked around her local area. She was still pressed up against the conveyor belt but she was also located in a blind spot - a small area that none of the flood lamps were pointed at. But the moment she stepped into the light beams - or fired off her jumpkit - her position would be made clear…

'Stay out of the lights, Ashley," the dark haired woman thought to herself.

Her grip on her SMART pistol tight, Ashley leapt up from her position and planted her boots on the running belt of the conveyor line. She ran as silently as she could, her boots crunching against the soil and rocks on the line, and hoisted her SMART pistol up to eye level.

The pistol gently hummed as it sought out targets in the darkness. After the display blinked three times, Ashley squeezed the trigger and felt the pistol repeatedly buck against her hand.

'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!'

Three more strangled cries in the darkness - three lives cut short.

"SWIVEL THE LAMPS!" Cried out a man's voice from the darkness. "TURN THE LAMPS AROUND!"

"GOT IT!"

Almost instantly, the conical heads of the large flood lamps began to pivot and turn - each manipulated by unseen hands. Beams of white light swept across the dark expanse, with one lamp being turned to sweep along the length of the conveyor line.

Gritting her teeth beneath her helmet, Ashley leapt off of the line and pushed herself low to the ground. Now on her stomach, the woman log-rolled to her left until she was tucked underneath the metal structure of the conveyor line. Ashley focused on her breathing as the light passed over her position, the beams glinting off the metal knuckle guards of Ashley's gloves.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

As the lamp's beam passed over her, Ashley switched her SMART pistol into its manual firing mode and held the weapon up to eye level. She took careful aim, the cameras in her helmet automatically adjusting to the glaring white light, and let loose a shot at the source.

'FWIP!'

One of the five flood lamps was deactivated, the large bulb having been shattered by Ashley's bullet. The dark haired woman could hear her unseen opponents squawking in surprise at the sudden loss of a lamp.

She needed to move while she had the chance…

Rolling out from underneath the conveyor line, Ashley silently righted herself and crept through the darkness. Her SMART pistol was held in line with her chest, the barrel pointed outwards so that the scanner could sniff out enemies before Ashley even saw them. The dark haired woman considered turning her night vision back on - but the four remaining flood lamps were still sweeping the area and would impede her vision.

Moving her left hand off of her SMART pistol, Ashley groped it against the nearest thing she could find - what felt to be some kind of large drill. Ashley squinted her eyes underneath her helmet, focusing her vision in the darkness and trying to spot any human forms.

After a few moments of searching, she found four…

A small group of armed men was passing her by, the recognizable profile of rifles clenched in their hands. Each rifle was equipped with a mounted flashlight, the bright beams easily giving away the positions of their wielders in the darkness. Wanting to get a better look at what she was dealing with, Ashley moved her hand up towards her helmet and flicked her night vision on and off.

In that brief moment, Ashley got a good look at the four combatants while they were overlaid in green. Two of them carried R-201 rifles, one a R-97 submachine gun, and one an EVA-8 shotgun. All four men were dressed in IMC standard issue jumpsuits and bullet-resistant armour.

Ashley's grip tightened on her pistol.

Standing up, the woman silently crept away from her hiding spot near the drill. Reaching her hand back up towards her helmet, Ashley repeatedly flicked her night vision on and off; the world flickered between green tones and pitch blackness - the brief moments where the night vision was on giving Ashley a chance to track her enemies.

The woman's boots were nearly-silent against the ground of the cavern as she crept up behind the four-man squad. Ashley paid special attention to their footsteps. None of the four men walked in-sync with any other, meaning that Ashley would not have to match the speed of their footfalls…

Ashley came within ten feet of them before the group came to an abrupt stop.

"You hear that?" One of the IMC soldiers hissed as he raised up a hand.

"Hear what?" Asked another.

"Shh!" The first soldier shushed his comrade. "Hold still!"

Sweeping his gun-mounted flashlight back and forth the soldier checked the area in front of him. Satisfied, the man spun around to do the same for the direction which he and his allies had come from.

The narrow beam of the flashlight cut through the darkness - revealing nothing but clusters of machinery and loose soil.

"Nevermind-"

'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!'

Three of the four men dropped to the ground - smoking holes carved into their heads by the SMART pistol's tracking round. The one who did not immediately drop - the soldier with the EVA-8 - teetered momentarily in place, his muscles still-spasming from the sudden shock of being shot.

Ashley stood up from her hiding place behind a digger and quickly walked over to the man as he began to teeter over. The dark haired woman reached out to grab the EVA-8 from his hands - wrenching it from his failing grip before squeezing it tightly.

"Sorry," Ashley muttered. "But I need this…"

Tucking her SMART pistol away, Ashley held the EVA-8 with one hand and reached down to grab an R-201 from one of the workers. She slid the R-201 onto the magnetic plates of her back and gripped the EVA-8 with one hand. Ashley made sure that both of the weapon's mounted flashlights were turned off - not wanting to give away her position in the darkness.

Ashley was about to slink back into the shadows when the buzzing sensation flared up again near the back of her head. She had briefly forgotten about the strange sensation - having been preoccupied with not getting shot. But now that her adrenaline was subsiding she could feel it again.

Reaching up her left hand, Ashley gently rubbed the back of her helmet. The buzzing sensation was getting so intense that it sounded almost like radio interference; but it couldn't be that, because Ashley's radio wasn't receiving anything at the moment…

'.-.. . ..-. -'

The buzzing abruptly raised and lowered in pitch…

'.-.. . ..-. -'

Again and again in an almost recognizable pattern…

'.-.. . ..-. -'

Ashley's eyes narrowed in frustration and she smacked the back of her helmet multiple times. Shaking her helmeted head gently, Ashley steeled herself and pushed forwards to continue her mission.

'.-.. . ..-. - .-.. . ..-. - .-.. . ..-. -'

Hearing footsteps in the darkness, Ashley froze in place. Her breathing slowed, each breath tasting musty from her water-logged rebreather.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Turning herself to the left, Ashley flicked her night vision on and scanned the area…

Suddenly, she was blind!

"HERE!" A voice screamed out. "OVER HERE! SHINE THE LIGHTS I'VE GOT THEM!"

Still blinded by her helmet's night vision, Ashley fired her newly-acquired EVA-8 blindly in the voice's general direction. The shotgun blasts reverberated throughout the cavern - drowning out the pained scream of whoever Ashley had just eviscerated with a hail of buckshot.

Smashing her hand against her night vision controls, Ashley's vision danced with black spots as she tucked herself low to the ground.

The four remaining flood lamps were now swiveling over in Ashley's general direction, bathing the once dark section of the cavern in blinding white light. It was both a hindrance and a great help to the dark haired woman; because while she could now see without the assistance of night vision, her enemies could spot her.

As soon as Ashley tucked herself low to the ground bullets began to fly. Muzzle flashes lit up the darkness, but the reverberation of the sounds in the cave made it difficult for Ashley to determine enemy positions…

'..-. - .-. .- .- .-. -.. …'

The buzzing noise was still present in Ashley's head - moving from the back of her head to behind her eyes like a migraine.

'..-. - .-. .- .- .-. -.. …'

Hearing voices yelling all-around her, Ashley crouched low and sprinted forwards. The dark haired woman recognized the familiar thump of boots against soil sounding somewhere behind her.

'-... . ... .. -. -..'

"I've got them right here!" Yelled an unfamiliar voice.

'-... . ... .. -. -..'

Spinning around, Ashley allowed gravity to drag her to the ground back-first. Her EVA-8's mounted flashlight fell on a human form in the darkness and Ashley didn't hesitate to squeeze the trigger. There was a flash of light and a storm of buckshot - and the unidentified hostile fell dead.

'-... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -..'

With her back still pressed to the ground, Ashley craned her neck and spotted several more humanoid forms sprinting towards her. Activating her jumpkit, the woman carved a long groove in the ground as she was rocketed forwards. Cutting off her jumpkit as quickly as she had turned it on, Ashley kicked off of the ground and rotated like a barrel in-air; she tucked the EVA-8 against her chest, the barrel pointed outwards, and held down the trigger.

Ashley's arrival was preceded by a wall of buckshot as four more hostiles fell dead…

Coming to a painful stop, the woman stood back up and tossed the empty EVA-8 to the ground. Ashley whipped the R-201 off of her back and readied the weapon's holographic sight.

Pointing her gaze upwards, Ashley's eyes narrowed at the remaining four flood lamps. She needed the element of surprise again - and if she was going to get it back then the lights would have to go…

Gripping the R-201 and raising the weapon to eye-level, Ashley took careful aim at one of the flood lamps. The dark haired woman let loose a short burst of rounds - the flood lamp sparking and flickering as its bulb was destroyed and the electronics burned out.

Three lamps to go…

'-... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -..'

Ashley grit her teeth and shook her head as her head continued to buzz. Digging her feet into the ground, the dark haired woman took careful aim at another lamp.

'-... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -..'

Ashley squeezed the trigger on the R-201 and released another short burst of rounds.

Two lamps to go…

Turning her upper body, Ashley took aim at one of the remaining two lamps…

'-... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -.. -... . ... .. -. -..'

Ashley's shots went wild when something hard and fast-moving slammed into her back. The hit left the dark haired woman momentarily breathless from the pain, her R-201 dropping from her hands as her shoulders began to spasm. She dropped to her knees, her helmeted head smashing into the dirt below...

The dark haired woman knew from experience that she had just been shot…

…in the back, no less.

'.-. .. -. ... -'

Gripping her fingertips into the soil, Ashley fought through the searing pain in her back and rolled to the right. She was lucky enough to roll into cover - behind another large drilling machine; and, almost as if on cue, a hail of bullets bit into the ground where she had just been laying.

'... ..- .-. .-. - ..- -. -.. . -..'

"Hurry it up with the charges!" Yelled out a nearby voice.

"You're insane!" Screamed back another in response. "You'll kill us all!"

"We can't let them find out!" Roared the first voice again. "Hurry up and kill them and we might not have to use the explosives!"

'Find out what…?' Ashley thought to herself, the buzzing in her head threatening to drown out her thoughts.

Hissing in pain, Ashley rolled the back of her helmeted head against the side of the drill, as the two remaining lamps were slowly articulated in her direction. There was now a throbbing pain in her back in addition to the buzzing in her head; thankfully, the bullet had struck the rear plating of her armoured vest.

'... ..- .-. .-. - ..- -. -.. . -..'

The infernal buzzing in Ashley's head continued - rising and lowering in pitch with no discernible rhythm…

'-.. .-. .. .-.. .-..'

Hearing footsteps all around her, Ashley shot a desperate glance towards the drill she had rolled behind. It was a portable machine - comparable in size to a large truck and even sitting on four squat wheels. The conical drilling head was over two metres in length, ringed with sharp grooves and a pointed tip.

Ashley's dark eyes widened when she spotted the current angle at which the drilling head sat. It was pointed towards the ground, the tip of the drill scraping against the soil beneath…

'Better than nothing…' Ashley thought to herself, her thoughts almost drowned out by the buzzing in her head.

Spying the drill's controls, Ashley reached out and began flipping switches. The dark haired woman had no clue what she was doing…

… but she had operated enough large machines to know that there were plenty of safety mechanisms…

Scanning the control panel and feeling her heart beat faster and faster in her chest, Ashley finally laid her eyes on the engine choke; she pulled the choke out halfway and resumed her search, finding the drill's emergency stop switch and making sure that it was off.

A bullet sparked against the metal of the drill - missing Ashley's helmeted head by mere inches. In response, Ashley pulled out her SMART pistol and tucked it under her armpit. As soon as the tracking pistol's indicator flashed, Ashley pulled the trigger…

'FWIP!'

The dark haired woman heard the sound of a body thumping to the ground behind her. But she did not turn her head to check whether or not the SMART round had completed the job.

This was taking too long… and Ashley knew it. The lights of the flood lamps were creeping closer and closer to her position…

'-... ..- - - - -.'

Lifting her gaze, Ashley spotted a series of switches and flicked all of them into the 'on' position. Finally, her eyes came to a rest on a large red button…

'How enticing…'

Ashley smashed her hand against the button and the large drill roared to life. The motor of the massive machine squealed and rattled as it began rotating the conical drilling head. Several blue targeting lasers began to shine, emanating from behind the drilling head, as the tip of the drill began to burrow into the ground below.

The dark haired woman was very glad for her helmet's rebreathers - dirty and waterlogged as they were - for protecting her against the sudden cloud of dust tossed up into the air. Ashley could hear screaming and yelling all around her as the conical head of the drill continued to pick up speed and carve apart the floor of the cavern.

In the confusion she had created, Ashley scurried off into the dark expanse of the cavern. She forced herself past the silhouettes of IMC soldiers - who were all too preoccupied with coughing up dust to notice the lone pilot making her escape into the darkness.

Turning her attention back towards the flood lamps, Ashley hurriedly worked her SMART pistol out of its holster. Leaping up and on top of the long conveyor line she had hidden beneath only minutes beforehand, Ashley ran along the length of the belt and took careful aim with her outstretched arm.

'FWIP!'

Ashley sent a single manually-aimed round into the bulb of one of the remaining two flood lamps. The large light source sputtered and sparked before going dark completely.

Now there was only one… and then Ashley could mop things up…

Narrowing her eyes on the last of the flood lamps, Ashley once again raised the pistol to eye level…

'FWIP!'

Ashley leapt off of the conveyor line the moment the tracking round made contact with the bulb of the flood lamp. In a bright shower of sparks the last of the lamps was destroyed - bathing the long expanse that was the cavern in total darkness.

A grunt escaped from Ashley's lips as her boots made contact with the hard soil that constituted the floor of the cavern. In the distance she could hear frightened shouting - the sounds of her enemies being completely blind in the darkness.

Gritting her teeth, Ashley raised her SMART pistol and scanned the dark expanse around her. The red targeting laser of the tracking pistol glared like a malevolent eye - a single point of light in the utter darkness which, ironically, brought doom to whoever fell under its gaze…

'FWIP!' 'FWIP!'

The two remaining tracking rounds in Ashley's current magazine sailed off into the abyss - each answered by a scream. Quickly flicking on her night vision, Ashley slipped a new magazine into the SMART pistol and raised the weapon up to eye level once again.

The holographic indicator of the weapons flashed several times…

'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!' 'FWIP!'

Twelve more screams in the darkness…

Ashley slid her last magazine of tracking rounds into the SMART pistol…

But there would be no need for the refill in ammunition. Ashley slowly scanned the area around her in a circular radius - the targeting laser of her SMART pistol glowing as it searched for anyone who could still pose a threat to Ashley…

The indicator did not flash…

Ashley was alone, standing in the middle of what had become a grave for who knows how many men…

Lowering her SMART pistol, Ashley breathed out a long sigh of relief. For a moment there she had forgotten about her breathing techniques, and the even rise and fall of her chest had escaped her control. The dark haired woman sucked in musty-scented air through her rebreather as she tucked her SMART pistol away.

'-.. .- -. -. . .-.'

Ashley squeezed the sides of her helmeted head in frustration as the buzzing persisted. It raised and lowered in tone again and again… and it was getting to the point where it was maddening…

'-.. .- -. -. . .-. -.. .- -. -. . .-. -.. .- -. -. . .-.'

She considered taking off her helmet but decided against it… perhaps the buzzing was being caused by some kind of mechanical interference…?

'-.. .- -. -. . .-. -.. .- -. -. . .-. -.. .- -. -. . .-. -.. .- -. -. . .-.'

"Damn it…" Ashley hissed and closed her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with me…?"

At that moment, the first of several explosive charges went off, shattering the roof of the cavern and shaking the millions of pounds of rock and soil above Ashley's head…

"Oh… fuck…"