23:25, 10/31/2015, UNKNOWN LOCATION
The room was dark and almost devoid of furniture, save for an almost featureless desk and chair. The room might have been mistaken for a long-forgotten office or storage room were it not for the lack of dust combined with the well dressed man who stepped into the room. Out of long-ingrained habit he sat in the seat after straightening his tie. His posture was ramrod straight as he pressed a seemingly random spot on the desk before tapping in front of him as though he had a keyboard.
The wall across from the desk flickered as power fed into a monitor hidden in the darkness. Text began to scrawl as the system powered up.
>>SYSTEM ACTIVATION
>>LOGIN/PASSWORD REQUIRED
>>”0”
>>”********************”
>>USER AUTHENTICATED
>>ESTABLISHING SECURE CONNECTION
>>SECURE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED
>>0 IS NOW IN ATTENDANCE
>>CURRENT ATTENDANCE INCLUDES 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
>>ALL MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
“Good evening, gentlemen,” the man known as Zero said to the empty room, and his speech appeared as text on the monitor. “You all have had time to review the operational reports compiled by Commander Bradford on the XCOM project’s performance, its public reception as well as the state of our Equestrian allies. The first order of business to discuss is the ongoing investigation by Senator Goleman.” More lines of text appeared and were followed by a synthetic voice as the other members of the Council spoke.
5: I’m pleased to report that Goleman’s committee is proving to be an unmitigated success in furthering our goals. I admit I was skeptical about leaking information to him, but Goleman’s meltdown on live TV has framed anyone critical of the XCOM project as taking the side of a frothing lunatic. Shining Armor’s performance leaves a bit to be desired but we couldn’t coach him without raising suspicions in our manipulation of events.
1: International opinion is swinging in XCOM’s favor regardless, and Shining Armor’s performance has painted him as ‘no nonsense’ and ‘down to business’, which is something Americans find sorely lacking in their politicians as of late. We made the right decision in letting Goleman take the bait we laid out for him. If Prime Minister Renfield’s investigation wasn’t overshadowed by the senator’s showboating, we would have a real problem on our hands.
2: Agreed. After that debacle on the tele, Renfield is distancing himself from the investigation and Goleman, and he’s taking a more moderate stance on XCOM.
16: At this point I think Goleman has outlived his usefulness. Perhaps it is time for the good senator to have some well documented financial transactions with the Cartel. Even if he weasels out of prison time, his career will be over.
4: There’s another option. If Goleman has a shift in opinion as well as temperament, he could become more useful than as a single use blunt instrument.
14: Redemption? I think you’ve immersed yourself too much in the Equestrian culture.
4: There’s nothing stopping us from trying this method. Furthermore, even if it fails, we have a backup plan to thoroughly discredit him.
14: Before we decide Goleman’s ultimate fate, It should also be noted that Commander Bradford has not given any indication that he is aware of our manipulation of these events. Whatever powers he may possess, they do not provide him with information that he does not have reasonable access to. Despite his performance strategically and tactically, he isn’t omnipotent.
13: Yet.
10: Or it’s possible he agrees with our tactics and just hasn’t seen any reason to fight with us on the matter. He’s been very vocal in his criticisms of Goleman if nothing else.
8: He’s critical of all politicians, which will likely include us if he’s ever made aware of this. Do we have contingencies in place if he has to be removed by force?
2: None that we’re willing to even test yet. If he does possess the power of foresight as sensitive as we suspect, then I don’t know if there’s a way that we can remove him.
1: Gentlemen, we have an emergency. Mission reports have come back from the volunteers that were sent to help the Equestrians. I’m sending the files now.
[10 minutes of silence pass]
12: You have got to be kidding. Half the gear malfunctioned? These things aren’t pork barrel military contract equipment or cheap knockoffs I can get from Hong Kong! Everything was tested before the trip through Kaleidoscope, not to mention a nearly flawless operational record beforehand. Was there a malfunction with Kaleidoscope over such a long distance?
9: There are greater concerns to address. A hamlet outside of the Equestrian capital was almost completely leveled in the fighting and most of the property damage was caused by one of our Strike operators. A Captain… Matthew Harris. Damn it, who had the bright idea to let the Butcher of Basra loose?
10: Major Fujikawa chose him as a second in command and Bradford did not object. We did not object either as it was our hope that his relationship with Princess Twilight Sparkle would solidify our alliance with her government. I suppose it was too much to hope for that he’d get himself killed during the engagement. We could have used him as a martyr to gain sympathy with the Equestrians and cement Twilight’s support for the war.
9: Relationship with Twilight Sparkle? I thought she was kept in a cell during her time on Earth.
1: A development your predecessor was aware of. She developed affection for Matthew during her stay here, though it was one-sided. We chose not to intervene in that development and it paid off when Twilight became the most vocal proponent for supporting us.
4: Thank God for Stockholm Syndrome.
7: We’re getting off track. What I want to know is how Captain Harris managed to level a town without air support or explosives?
4: That is the right question to ask, and I think it may be related to why the majority of our equipment failed. Elerium reacts significantly when in the presence of a Gifted individual while on Earth, and the same is true for their world. The difference is the Field that the Gifted individuals draw their power from is significantly more fluid there which allows for easier access. Elerium exponentially increases an individual’s ability to draw and manipulate that energy. Their bodies often cannot withstand the strain.
3: Where are you getting all that intel?
4: After Captain Harris was retrieved from the field, the Equestrians went to Major Fujikawa and Nathan Hamil, the Chief Engineer for the volunteers in the field. After impressing upon them the alarm they felt at the situation, Hamil explained our findings about Elerium and its relation to the material they identify as ‘Arcanite.’
7: That was kept confidential for a reason! Twilight Sparkle stated that use of the material was banned and that all the stockpiles were destroyed. The knowledge that we use it for just about everything might jeopardize our relationship with them.
5: Considering they built their capital on top of a mountain made of the stuff, I think it might be a safe assumption that the common story that their Arcanite storage was destroyed was spread to dissuade the ambitious from looking for it. On that note, we need to figure out how to pry that loose from the Equestrians. If their world is as rich in the material as alluded to in these reports, we may no longer have to strip the alien ships for every ounce of Elerium just to make ends meet.
4: That’s a topic for another time. The Equestrians expressed some horror at the news of our using Elerium in our devices but Hamil also explained that the aliens use the stuff in virtually everything they build. This begs the question, why haven’t they experienced any of the problems with their hardware that we have?
1: I suspect you already have a theory. Skip the rhetorical questions and get to it.
4: There’s terabytes worth of data on all the alien machinery we’ve torn apart, and while we have been able to identify and replicate about 75% of it, the small percentage of the machinery that we couldn’t find any plausible explanation for was stripped out of our prototypes and production models.. Charles Shen and Moira Vahlen agree that at least some of this unidentified machinery must act as some form of regulator that ensures a proper amount of power flow.
15: That’s a plausible explanation for why our gear is malfunctioning. If it has the same amplifying powers as Arcanite, then it would explain Captain Harris’s skyrocketing abilities. What I want to know is why he did what he did. Go listen to his radio logs. That laughter will haunt me to my grave.
4: There is an explanation for that too. Given the Equestrian’s reaction to the events, fear of our equipment and sympathy for Captain Harris, I strongly suspect that something like this may have happened in their past. Their mythology describes a ‘King Sombra’ as a unicorn that went power mad and nearly destroyed his own kingdom, which was known for its crystal formations, I might add. There’s also Princess Luna.
6: Princess Luna? Do you think she and her sister use Arcanite to move the sun and moon around the planet?
4: Unknown at this time, though during her two attempts to usurp her sister and assume sole leadership of her world she was described as a pitch black alicorn as opposed to the blues she currently has now. Sombra apparently no longer has physical form but is described as a ghost made out of black smoke and energy. Before this is dismissed as mythology or campfire tales, both Sombra and Nightmare Moon were encountered and witnessed by dozens of Equestrians within the last two years. It sounds a bit too much like what was happening to Captain Harris.
1: Sergeant Jenkins reported Captain Harris’s body was in the process of being consumed by black fire. Substantial trauma was sustained to his left arm in the process. Are you saying he might have been turned into something like those creatures if left to his own devices?
4: The changes in physical appearance are the least of our concerns. As I mentioned, Sombra tried to destroy his own people, though he sounds like a typical tyrant trying to consolidate his power. Apparently Luna became Nightmare Moon when she felt unappreciated because she ruled the night rather than Celestia’s day. According to their records she attempted to plunge their world into ‘eternal night’. Worst case, this could mean she tried to instigate an extinction level event by pushing the star away from the planet.
8: Mother of God. How is she still in power?
4: It all ties back to Elerium and Arcanite. We don’t have CAT scans or anything to refer to, but I suspect that the cost of such increased power results in the suppression or damage to the impulse control centers of the brain. She was apparently freed from the influence of the substance and returned to her normal self. Until we can get more information, that’s the only explanation I can think of.
13: All those theories are sound but there’s one thing that is still unexplained. Captain Harris wasn’t the only one using Elerium-enhanced equipment that’s controlled by his Gift. Sergeant Jenkins currently utilizes a prosthetic limb that operates on the same principles as our other equipment as well as the MEC units. She hasn’t reported anything out of the ordinary yet and there haven’t been any observed malfunctions near her either.
2: That is an excellent question. We really should get both Sergeant Jenkins and Captain Harris back to Earth for a more thorough examination. If we can find a way to take advantage of the power that Captain Harris demonstrated with whatever resistance Sergeant Jenkins is capable of then we’ll be able to corner the market on WMDs for the next generation. Imagine soldiers with the capacity to alter the fabric of reality. That’s the future, gentlemen.
1: That’s not going to be possible, I’m afraid. Princess Twilight Sparkle has taken personal responsibility for Captain Harris’s care with Princess Luna’s approval and I suspect if we attempt strong arm tactics in this situation, we’ll lose any good will we have with the Royalty. Sergeant Jenkins’ familiarity with Twilight would also make her removal from the situation problematic. We may need to simply wait and pray that if they die in the field, enough will be left for us to study.
9: I’m also seeing some preliminary findings from Dr. Shen and Dr. Vahlen on the energy field surrounding Earth and the Equestrians homeworld. With the rate in which the energy field is becoming flexible here, from the aliens or our own Gifted individuals, they predict that unless we solve the regulator issue with our own Elerium-based technology we might start seeing similar malfunctions in five years or less.
10: That is certainly a problem but we do have a more immediate one. The Strike volunteers are currently stuck with last generation weapons, and even if we unpack the Carapace armor from storage they will be hard-pressed to match the elite troops the aliens are deploying. If we can reverse engineer whatever components the aliens use in their hardware that allows them to use their equipment without side effects, that will immediately help the volunteers and will hopefully solve the long term problems that will show up on Earth.
>10 has called a vote: Redirect research and engineering resources to develop regulators for Elerium tech.
>Yes votes: 17 total, No votes: 0 total, 0 abstain
>Proposal Accepted.
“Excellent,” the man known as Zero stated. “While the injuries sustained by Captain Harris are unfortunate, his performance in the field has opened up several new possibilities for the future development of XCOM personnel and technologies. I am also confident our relationship with the Equestrian government can be strengthened, but only if further incidents of this nature are curtailed. Chief Engineer Hamil’s decision to disclose the secrets of Elerium resulted in further developments, but sharing such information should not be allowed in the future.
4: I have to agree, I’m afraid. The Equestrians are forgiving but I suspect even that might reach its limits if they ever find out what we do to the aliens we capture. The MEC systems are just barely skirting this side of legal in their courts, and I suspect if we end up deploying them in the field it will cause some controversy.
“If there are no further topics, then this meeting is concluded. Efforts will be made to steer Senator Goleman to a more moderate position or remove him from power if he resists. Research will be made to ensure the safety and stability of Elerium technology on both theaters of operation. Orders will be passed down ensuring strict secrecy to prevent any conflict with our allies. Are there any questions?”
One by one the Councilmen disconnected without a word, and Zero followed suit. The moment the disconnect message appeared on the screen, he tapped another place on his desk before clasping his hands before him.
“Good evening, Commander.”
A wild update appears!
This is a bit of a breather chapter for folks. I also wanted to get this done because two life-sucking JRPGs are going to come out tomorrow. : | I've got another chapter mostly written but I'm waiting on some other things from some other folks. I hope there won't be too much of a dead zone between this chapter and when I finally finish those two games.
Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys this!
So the Council don't really care about their best soldier, cold but tactical and logical
Now we wait for the next chapter when MEC rolls in Equestria, to see that the golem they thought is an amputated soldier
Nice chapter, glad you got your google doc problem fixed
Uh oh jrpg can be evil. Watch out man.
A nice update
I am suprise you did not go with the orginal 36 countries intended for the game. I know is droped to 16 for simplified game mechanic when it comes to launching satelites for it would be unique to have all 36 talking. (Bascially, all the countries they get their troops from).
And proff, check out this page: The Council from XCOM Wiki
Apparlently, all 36 countries were in the code.
4873102 Not necessarily some of them could care its just that in these meeting personal feeling are kept out and anything discussed is kept cold and tactical.
4873037 Oh crackers. You like to torment your fans, don't you.
Oh, number four, I think I know who you are...
A very good chapter with the shadowy council, and their debates on what to do. I look forward to ano -
All of your friends are dead.
You are a pawn of forces unseen.
Your heart will explode.
…
okay.
4873179 who do you think number 4 is?
Had fun proofreading this chapter. Lots of stuff to think about.
*Gets a Grinch "Wonderful, Aweful Idea* grin on his face* I also (unofficially since Arad will neither confirm or deny it) know why Matt went bezerk using his powers and Lana didn't. Not that hard to figure out, though I won't spoil it unless directly asked. Again, it's just my own take on what's happening, not Arad sanctioned or approved lol.
4873230
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070305114717/knd/images/a/a9/Numbuh_4.jpg
I always love the Council chapters. Their discussions always read like a professional debate group.
Good evening, Commander...
Is it weird that I see Admiral Hackett from Mass Effect instead of Bradford? I mean, I opened up XCOM, and when he first spoke to me I was like, "Sweater! Striped green sweater! The guy running this top secret alien combat facility is wearing 100% cold-wash wool! ...That is so lame!"
4873268
By the mother of Celestia and Luna ... I hope Matt turns evil
*sigh*
Is Number 0 Br- oh
oh my
No wonder he hasn't been having any troubles with the voting.
ooh
which ones r coming out?
The XCOM council is way less attached to their overpowered soldiers than I am when I play the game. Psions don't grow on trees, you know.
And this is why I hate politics. You have to worry about the guys who are funding you and want to see you succeed havin their own agendas. Though I do admit they may have a point about not revealing the methods alien "interrogation."
4873335
I couldn't help myself.
I missed this going up, and now I've got a reading buffer! Hooray!
Will Read from Stardust once I finish re-reading The Problem With Magic.
4873241 mined if i PM you so we can talk theories on why Matt went bezerk using his powers and Lana didn't?
4873458 Sure! but I am hitting the hay right now , so I will respond to it later after I wake up. So feel free to send me a PM.
4873351 I think zero is the council member contacting Bradley
Nice to see SEELE doing well....
4873351 No, Zero is the one that directly communicates with the XCOM commander (The Player in the game, Bradford in the Stardust universe).
As for the equipment failure, Lana's arm hasn't left her sight since arriving in Equestria, while the other stuff was probably left unattended at one point or another. Plus Matt said they couldn't be there, so naturally, they must be.
Bradford being, or having replaced zero is hilarious, he has the counsel wrapped around his finger, the best trained, most heavily armed fighting force man kind has ever seen at his beckon call, and the Equestrians eating out of his hand. Plus he seems like the descent sort who wouldn't needlessly throw away the lives of troops. I like this guy more with every little tidbit we learn about him. Also if the counsel ever did vote to get rid of him I cant wait to learn how that turns out for them
Mmm. Utilitarian pricks. Always make a story more compelling when you fucking hate the good guys.
I wonder what they plan to do when people with abilities start popping up in the general populace? I'd want to see if Rulebreaker can be set with just geosynchronous satellites, because even with a literal mountain of Elerium, I don't think that's enough to build a Dyson Ring around Earth.
And I certainly hope the Council has the foresight to "oh whoops, this crazy cult leader suddenly got abducted by the aliens, guess he had no magic abilities after all", lest some self-proclaimed Second Coming wannabe/throwback go public with psionic abilities-- or at least they have a plan to reveal to the public that humans might start casting magic, too, before people think it's religious in nature.
4873577 I don't think Commander Bradford has replaced Zero. However Zero does appear to be his primary council contact
4872231
I was also thinking about the war on two fronts problem. I like the idea that they decided not to go there because of the "apex" or that the equestrians weren't going anywhere.
I understand how RADAR works on the basic level like you said. My expertise is with satellite sensors such as infrared, the visible range, and ground and air LiDAR, not so much RADAR. I don't think that radar type systems would work that well in space considering the alien's ships probably travel at FTL speeds and they would have to sit and wait for any pings back. To scan parts of space this way would take forever. Even with plane based LiDAR and millions of points, the sensor is still limited to certain speeds and altitudes before all the reflected points would miss the sensor completely.
So I wonder what type of sensor magic would show up in? Would a sensor even be practical if they need to wait for a return signal of some sort? Would it work in space? Maybe they use some sort of snap shot camera sensor that shows levels of emitted magical radiation? Or perhaps they have an affinity for magic itself and can hone in on strong magic forces? Too many unknowns for me to hedge any bets.
I'm honestly puzzled what they mean with the Equestrian courts and the MEC suits. I get that they're horrified by the concept of it and it's provoked a legal debate, but still what do they expect to do about it? They need XCOM because the Royal Guard is piss poor in comparison so why would they consider outlawing the MEC suits? I'm assuming that the process is entirely voluntary since doing it against their will does not generate loyalty, a rogue MEC trooper would be a nightmare for anyone, and as I said earlier, THEY NEED THEM. On top of that it's not their jurisdiction. I'm sure that any human court would find it morally outrageous but this would fall under the category of elective surgery I believe, so the courts would have to, if grudgingly, rule in favor of it.
Maybe I'm not describing my issue right so I'll boil it down. When you put aside the morality issue with MEC suits, why do Equestrian courts even see a need to be interested when they have little to no say?
4873399 our methods are extreme, but they were necessary with such a hostile species. but i think celestia (or is it queen solaria?) might also have several bones in her closet to make things even with our own cruelty.
though that doesnt change the fac that some of the council member are complete buckers, please excuse my prench. hoping that jenkins and harisson dies just so they could examine them or use them as martyrs, or worse, use the technology they have to sell the next generation of WMD's (most likely to be used on their own humans), im beginning to find it hard to tell which are the greater enemy.?
4873400
Well, number four seems forgiving and knows a lot more Equestrian history than most.
4874009
Busybodies. They want to pretend they have some sort of control.
4873037
You... are a very pleasant surprise on what's otherwise a sucky Tuesday morning, Arad. I dunno if I'm the only one as a reader, but I LOVE these 'Council meeting' chapters! They're strangely fun and intriguing.
Also, which two JRPG's are coming out? Do I need to update my steam wishlist?
4873201 How did one of the Old Gods get into this story??
And as usual, it's immense fun.
You keep weaving this tale, I keep coming back for more, and to date I have not left disappointed. Thank you.
The council reminds me to SEELE from Evangelion, down to some of them being manipulative bastards.
And about the Arcanite thing, I've a question, the Alicorn amulet is made of it, too? Certainly, Trixie's behaviour sounds similar to Arcanite addiction.
4873102 4874009
It was hinted in the interquel story that the mecs in this universe aren't amputated soldiers like they were in the game. From the way it was described, it seems more like a mental transfer of some sort. It also seems likely that the Equestrian courts don't actually know how the mecs work, but rather that the humans in the Council have read enough Equestrian law to know that they could just barely have them ruled as being legal if it came to a court case, which is what they want to avoid due to the bad press it would generate.
4874101 We span the universe, countless as the stars!
ze plot- eet theekins.
*steeples fingers, and lowwers head for anime eye-glasses glare* let us see these developments unfold.
QUICK, TO THE CASTLE!
4873390
New project idea: trees that grow psionic-empowering fruit
Welp, thanks for my d&d campaign's next chapter
Harris might get hit by the rainbow beam soon. Thinking that Lana has much better control because of constant usage for her arm. Could be a third party that is targeting Harris as well. Not entirely sure that the voices in his head were normally induced by the elerium. Gut feeling telling me that one of the council is possessed / working with the invaders. It could be one of the council that is too helpful, but then that is exactly what Arad wants people to think. Maybe.
4874180 I believe the Amulet was mentioned at some point during the previous stories. Not sure if it's being made with Arcanite was mentioned though.
4871147 So ponies are bit like Orks of 40k?
It's nice to see that the outcome of this meeting is the exactly correct engineering directive:
And it was even unanimous. Short term that tech is highly needed for the fight, and in the long term having regulators has tremendous engineering potential for both Earth and Equestria.
I'm guessing that the difference with Lana's arm is that Twilight designed it and included the necessary regulator tech already.
Meanwhile at
SEELEthe council...i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag163/AlphaChurch0/MeetingwithXCOMsCouncil_zpsdc1a12e4.png
I wanted to believe these guys were on the level about protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe. I wanted to dismiss the theories that these guys are using the war for their own gain. I still want to believe these things. But meetings like this aren't inspiring much confidence.
From political manipulations, suspicion of their own members (wonder what happened to the original #9?) and talk about weaponizing human psionics on a WMD scale these guys are making it hard to believe they're protecting mankind. It makes me wonder if EXALT and the council are all that different in their motives.
And thank God for Twilight keeping Matt and Lana in Equestria. It sounded like the council already had a team of their own scientists ready to dissect them the moment they returned to Earth. All the talk of harnessing new powers once the aliens are dealt with would probably cause a rift between the council and XCOM. Best case scenario I could see in that situation is both sides entering a prolonged back-and-forth debate that attracts the public's eye and makes any big move for either of them politically dangerous.
Worst case scenario might be this:
i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag163/AlphaChurch0/AlicornTwilightandEndofEvangelion_zps068c3d9d.png
4873282
You're not the only one. :P
4873375
The Sword Art Online (which isn't really online) RPG, plus Tales of Xilia 2.
4873390
What's the value of one man, no matter how talented, if his death solidifies an alliance with a powerful race of people? What risk is his life if he is just one moment of honesty away from irreparably damaging that alliance?
4873478
Be careful what you share or Pinkie Pie will cut you.
4874009
All shall be explained... in time.
4874075
I like writing these chapters too! (And the two games I listed up above)
4874180
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/100455/13/stardust/stardust-supplemental-files-pt-4 :D
4874690
Manipulative bastards though they may be, the Council is still extremely good at their jobs and assessing priorities.