Entry
“Thank you.”
“Thanks.”
Ding didn’t respond as he was handed his drink.
Popov had poured himself one as he allowed Clark and Thatcher to sit on the couch overlooking the central coffee table, while Ding took a seat from the dining room and brought it over. Popov claimed his recliner after he had calmed down from the previous panic attack.
“Alright, got our drinks, so let’s hear your story.” Thatcher placed his drink back on the table, not willing to take a drink just yet. Clark and Ding got the same idea as well.
“Come on, do we really have to start off like this again? Where are your snipers overlooking me?” Popov chuckled a bit as he downed his own drink. Noticing that it was poured from the same bottle that was poured for the Rainbow Team, Clark picked his back up and took a sip, “Okay, let’s start.”
“I’m all ears.” Ding replied.
“This story is going to start like every other science fiction story there is. Let’s rewind ourselves back to the 1960’s. 1962 to be precise.”
“The Cold War. Of course we’d start there.” Thatcher looked back at Clark.
“The Cuban Missile Crisis?” Clark asked.
Popov nodded. “That’s right. So, you all know the story. We got our weapons pointed at you and let’s face it, we had our fingers on the trigger at that point. However, we were one step ahead of the United States in regards to nuclear retaliation.”
Thatcher and Clark took another sip while Ding still sat back, watching Popov carefully.
“You, I recommend that you start to drink up, because it’s going to become crazy.” Popov pointed towards Ding, who still wouldn’t take a drink.
“Okay, have any of you read any books or seen a movie about gateways to other places? Like portals?”
“Oh, get the fuck out of here.” Ding smiled and shook his head, “You cannot possibly get me to believe that this machine is some sort of ‘teleportation device’.”
Ding ended up saying the last part with air quotes as he for once took his drink and downed a decent amount of this, “You’re right. I do need this.”
“It’s not a teleportation device. It’s a gateway. And the motherland found a way to make it happen.” Popov explained again. Clark took another sip, finding the whole story to be just as unbelievable.
“So, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the leaders of Russia, like Khrushchev using a team of the best scientists he could find had just finished with this gateway to an alternate plane of existence in case if earth were to be plunged into a nuclear war. The plan was that if we fired our nuclear weapons at America, before they could fire back, all of the leaders were to go through the gateway to a selected alternate world and inhabit it, starting an Adam and Eve project to populate it.” Popov continued, the story feeling more and more like science fiction the more it went.
“Come on, this was during the Cold War. How on earth could Russia of all nations create something like this?” Thatcher commented.
“I can’t tell you, but I always figured this sort of experiment took place straight after the second world war had ended. Roughly twenty years later, they finally nailed it down.” Popov went on.
“You sure know a lot about this. How come there was no other mention of this sort of project or any documents regarding this?” Clark asked, skeptically.
“The reason why there isn’t any record was because of what would happen shortly afterwards when we began to experiment. As for me knowing about this whole program…”
Popov placed his hand on his temple, squeezed it a bit, then looked back up.
“That was because as a teenager, I was one of the test subjects when they began to look into other worlds.”
“Get out of here.” Ding shook his head, dumbfounded.
“You have to believe me! This is the truth! The only reason the project was shut down was because the worlds we first saw were hideous and terrifying. Horrible things. Horrible, horrible things. One world, something came out and killed four scientists before we killed that monster. It was literally a wolf made of solid tree bark. When we killed that thing, we burned it as soon as we could. That’s how I got these.” Popov rolled back a sleeve to reveal a set of four claw marks that had scared on his arm.
“That could have been a normal wolf. God knows how much of those you have in Russia.” Ding replied, still not convinced.
“Damnit! If the White Masks have this technology, then the entire world could be in jeopardy! Just think of all of the things they could bring back here! Diseases, monsters, maybe even more advanced weapons. Let’s not forget that wherever they are, they are searching for that perfect world. They know what we were trying to do, and they won’t stop until they have another place to spread their idea of a civilisation. Maybe they have found it already.” Popov kept going on.
“How come you were never caught after the experiments ended?” Thatcher asked.
“I was a crafty person. I escaped the labs, took on a new name, and eventually became a completely different person. The KGB actually tracked me down and hired me to assassinate every person linked with the project, which I did. Soon, I were to be killed myself, so I faked my own death, took on a new alias, and here I am now, spilling all of the beans to you three.” Popov knew that he was straying further and further from convincing Clark, Thatcher, and especially Ding.
“That’s a hell of a story. But this Vodka didn’t get me to believe you, buddy.” Ding placed the empty glass on the table.
Then, Popov stood up suddenly, earning a reaction from Ding to put his hand on his M9 in its holster.
“Okay, maybe this will get you to see the truth. The Russians, I admit, stupidly kept the first prototype of the portal hidden away in a secret storage facility in the motherland. They wanted to keep it in case they had to reactivate the project, but I ended up making everyone forget. The documents were never burned, only scattered. The White Masks are tricky bastards. If anyone would find it, they would. The technology today can recreate the portal. But I’ll take you to the original gateway, and if it isn’t there…”
Ding stood up, “Or what?”
“Then you can kill me. I will bet my life on it. I deserve to die for the crimes I have committed, so if it isn’t there, then you have my world. Shoot me in the damn head, but this is the only way you will ever believe me!”
Clark, Thatcher, and Ding looked at each other.
“Betting your own life on a myth? Sure. Why not.” Ding took his hand off of his pistol, “What do you think, Mr. C?”
Clark looked back, “Right now, the attacks have ceased. One day in Russia wouldn’t hurt. But trust me Popov, I’m not going to shoot you. Instead, you’ll expose yourself as the terrorist you are. Deal?”
“Deal.” Clark didn’t expect Popov to quickly take him up on his offer, knowing that it would probably deface his country even more.
“Have Rainbow Team on standby. We’re going to need the readiness of all available operators if things escalate any higher,” Clark instructed Thatcher.
Popov took up his cell phone and looked back towards the three operators, “I have connections. I’ll get my private jet and they’ll fly any gear, no questions asked. When we arrive in Russia, the gear will be dropped off at one of my safehouses. Sound good to you all?”
Ding rolled his eyes, “I wonder what else they’ve smuggled for you. Sure. But you’re going unarmed.”
The ex-KGB nodded as Clark confisticated his Makarov handgun. Afterwards, Ding came over to Clark and began to ask questions again.
“Are we seriously going along with this? Dimensional transport? This is a load of shit, and you know it too.” Ding looked over as Thatcher began to check his inventory on his EMP grenades.
“It is a load of shit, but if the White Masks are involved in anything, a nursery or a football stadium is probably going to get blown up. This isn’t some sort of science fiction novel, but we’re going to learn more about these monsters and their motives. There’s plenty to find in Russia. If we’re feeling like it, we’ll hand him over to authorities there. Knowing that he planned terrorist attacks of huge scale, they’ll want to look good by dealing with him.” Clark spoke as he inspected his M9 pistol.
“Kind of a little late for that.” Ding commented on Popov’s grey hair. The Russian walked back over towards the Rainbow Team.
“Plane’s coming. Three hours for the plane to get here, same time to fly to Russia. I’m going to forge some passports and identification for you.” Popov put his phone away.
“In three hours?” Thatcher asked, putting away his grenades.
“I have gotten quite proficient at it. I’ve already got some blank slates, so all I need to do is ‘fill in the blanks’, figuratively, of course.”
At that point, Clark had radioed the helicopter to return to base and await further instructions. Thankfully, the tanker would ensure that it would arrive back, albeit a slow pace.
“Well, gentlemen, let’s go visit the motherland.” Popov went off to forge the identification.
“We came as fast as we could!” Applejack stopped in front of Celestia, sweat beading from her forehead. Behind her were the other four of Twilight’s dearest friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.
They all couldn’t believe the news just as Ponyville had been forced to evacuate its citizens by order of Celestia, and they grew increasingly concerned as Twilight was nowhere to be found in all of the hysteria.
“I’m so sorry to all of you…” Celestia looked down at the ground, unsure of how to tell Twilight’s companions about her fate in the hooves of these stallions. Then, the tiniest sound like something was scurrying through the grass was heard behind her, but she ignored it.
“Sorry about what, you're highness? Where’s Twilight?” Pinkie looked around the area where Celestia asked for them to come.
The Princess looked back up.
“She’s back in the castle, and she’s currently being detained by stallions with weapons.” Celestia pointed her hoof towards the crystal structure that was encased in the magic null-zone.
“What?! She’s being held against her will?” Rainbow Dash looked over to the castle.
“I’m afraid so, and…” Celestia choked up a sob, “I don’t know what to do. I sent guards towards the palace, but I heard these awful noises, and the only one that came back was covered in blood and he kept going on about how he heard thunder. The next thing he knew, his fellow ponies were on the ground, holes in their shields… and in them.”
Fluttershy looked over towards the guard in question, who had been given a blanket and was surrounded by other guards. He was shivering, despite it being 83 degrees in the sunlight outside. Asking for permission, and getting approval, she walked over to help care for the guard who’s white coat was stained pink as not all of the blood could be rubbed out by the towel.
“Oh jeez…” Rainbow Dash immediately deflated after looking back at the guard. If some big and tough guardspony came back like that, not even she would fare too well either.
“We want ta’ help in any way we can. We’re not gonna sit back and let Twilight be a hostage to these ponies.” Applejack walked up to Celestia, determined to help her friend.
“Applejack, listen to me. I’ve aged so much meaning my magic has slowly faded away, as well as the null-zone, and I don’t want to know what kind of terrible weapons they have that could do that to the poor stallion over there! I’ve never seen anything like this before and… they’re using her as a bartering tool. They want me to step down and give them immunity from invasion in the Everfree Forest.” Celestia stared ahead at the castle that had gone eerily silent from the previous noises of terror.
“I fear that it might be the only thing I can do to save Twilight and her friends’ lives. Even then, those stallions could just march out and do more horrible things. Nothing would stop them. Not even me.” she continued.
At that point, a shadow flew overhead, bearing the characteristics of something far more slender and more jagged that a pegasus. Looking overhead, Rarity easily was able to recognise the characteristics of her friend from the Badlands, Dragonlord Ember.
“Prin- Dragonlord Ember? What are you doing here?” the unicorn questioned as the blue dragoness landed down.
“Celestia asked for me to come. She told me that Spike and Twilight Sparkle were in trouble. She explained what she knew to me in a letter… and… I had to come. I couldn’t believe a single word, but I still had to be there.” the Dragonlord nodded back towards the castle.
“Spike must be scared out of his mind right now…”
Placing her hoof on her shoulder, Celestia spoke up again, “I need you to send letters into the castle to communicate with the stallions.”
Ember nodded, “Right, right. I’ll get to work. Have any for me?”
“Not at the moment, but expect them to be arriving soon.”
Inside the castle, Rocky had finished reloading the M249 and took a check with the ammunition. Taking his personal handheld radio, he gave a check.
“Testing… everypony’s radio clear?” Rocky asked into the device. The stallions had met back up in the hostage room and all nodded, hearing the voice come out of their radios, “Good, now get back to your places and await further instructions. I’ll be sending another letter to the bitch.”
Three headed back up to the third floor, while one head back to the basement, leaving the other four stallions behind with the hostages. At this point, Twilight and Starlight’s mouths had been bound by duct tape, with Spike being free to send letters to Celestia. He never made an uproar, as he knew better than to do that.
The baby dragon looked back at Twilight, but only to find her simply staring at the wall that was across the room. Had she given up as well?
Starlight Glimmer kept eyeing the stallions, furious that her mouth was shut.
Rocky had finished up composing another letter, then held it in front of Spike. Without hesitation, Spike huffed a tiny stream of fire, and sent it away. Rocky turned back to the other three stallions on his floor.
“Stay tight boys, our reinforcements will be coming soon.”
The plane ride was rather nice, albeit sitting across the table of a man who was responsible for nearly having an entire hospital staff killed, including his and Ding’s daughters and wives.
Clark kept his face of neutralness as Popov stretched and looked back to the alcohol cabinet.
“Vodka? Scotch? Wine? ...beer?” Popov said the last choice with far less enthusiasm.
“I’ll pass.” Clark replied.
Ding and Thatcher were still busy checking their equipment, avoiding contact with Popov. As they were busy, Popov leaned closer towards Clark and began to whisper.
“Listen to me. This gateway. If the White Masks have this technology, they had to be able to replicate them. You said they found one in Afghanistan, but the technology was far more modern and improved than the first prototype. You must promise me something.” Popov spoke to Clark, as in desperation.
“What is it?” Clark kept his stoic expression, still believing that this was all crap.
“This power, if it were to be leaked out, imagine what disaster would happen if politicians suddenly start a circle-jerk around these wonders of technology. A gateway to another world? Count me in. The war of all wars would start to simply blow up the other side so only a select few can escape to god-knows-where. This could literally jeopardise the entire human race.” Popov was frantic, yet quiet.
“Like what you nearly helped accomplish?”
“Damnit! You still think I’m full of fucking shit! Let me tell you, if you don’t take this seriously, then we could literally be here to witness seven and a half billion people disappear and nuclear fireballs while maybe twenty of them go fuck off in some other dimension!” the Russian looked over to Ding and Thatcher.
Ding tapped his earpiece, hearing the conversation, “We’re flying with you to Russia over some magical portal. I guess you could say we are as crazy as you.”
“Please, Clark. Listen to me. When we find this portal, you have to find every other one and destroy them. The technology can’t be reproduced fast. You cannot let this power fall into the hands of any country. Whether it be your own, mine, or any other. The White Masks know this too, so that’s why they’re giving so much effort to keep it hidden. They’ve probably ramped up their security on those facilities, knowing that you’ve discovered one of their portals.”
Clark took a deep breath, and looked back at Popov.
“Remember our agreement. If this is a load of shit, or until I say it is, you’re going right to the authorities. You’re a healthy man. I give you another ten to fifteen years.” Clark looked back on him.
“It isn’t a load of shit, and you’ll be proven that.” Popov sat back in his chair.
The plane had landed in a private airstrip, while Clark, Ding’s, and Thatcher’s gear had ended up in Popov’s safehouse. Coming out of the plane and heading into the truck that Popov had called for, he got into the driver’s seat, instructed the other men to come along with him. Popov’s pistol was still with Clark.
Ding was still placing his hand on his own handgun, while Thatcher had placed both of his hands on his legs.
“So, where’s the magical portal, Popov?” Ding looked at the back of Popov’s head.
The snowy and poorly maintained roads gave quite a lot of discomfort while traveling around.
“The structure is located by the Atyozero body of water. Incredibly deep into Russia.” Popov kept on driving.
“Never heard of it.” Ding spoke up.
“Thankfully, the airport wasn’t very far away. Give or take, a two hour drive. Don’t worry, this vehicle was built to withstand these kinds of conditions.” Popov turned as Thatcher was surprised a road even existed here.
The team took a bit to relax through the bumpy roads, checking on their handguns.
Soon enough, it was a thirty minute drive when they came to a very uninteresting and small compound, made of concrete with the windows boarded up.
“One of my many safehouses. I’ll get the door.”
Popov had put on an extremely thick coat as his breath became visible. Thankfully, the other men were graciously given coats. Arriving inside, the duffle bags were on the tables.
“See? Like I promised.” Popov got over and opened the duffle bags, showing them their familiar gear.
Clark and Ding both took their MP5 submachine guns and loaded a magazine into each. Thatcher’s AR33 was given its magazine placed back into it. The team loaded up on their gear, some of it consisting of body armor, flashbang grenades, Thatcher’s EMP grenades, minidrones, and a plethora of other electronics and spare ammunition.
As Clark checked his submachine gun, Popov walked over.
“So, since you’re all loaded up, I’d like to have my gun back, please.”
Ding caught the handgun as Clark tossed it across with a smile, “Not a chance.”
“Wish we had Rook’s R1N body plates. Always feel a lot safer with them.” Thatcher commented on the GIGN operator that was most likely back in their headquarters in the UK.
“Loaded up?” Clark called off.
“Loaded, Mr. C.” Ding replied.
“Yes, sir.” Thatcher slipped in his six-inch knife into the sheath on his arm.
“Alright, let’s get to the portal, shall we?”
The drive took another hour and fifty minutes, due to the increased snow beginning to form. The truck easily surpassed the icy and covered roads. Clark and Ding’s MP5’s were across their coat while Thatcher’s AR33 sat on the right of him in the truck.
Sitting shotgun, Clark spoke up, “I see a body of water. We’re here?”
Popov nodded back and pointed towards a white complex out across the lake, “Almost. Get your gear ready.”
As the truck drove around the large lake, the operators checked their weapons one last time as the complex began to get closer and closer.
“I’m getting too old for this.” Clark spoke, of whom which Popov quickly replied, “Same here, comrade.”
Ding pointed up ahead, “I see someone there.”
“What? Where?” Popov squinted his eyes to look ahead. The truck stopped in front of the complex where one lone figure stood in front.
Then, every single heart in the truck sunk.
The figure was wearing an incredibly thick coat, but with a frighteningly familiar mask draped across his face. It was a White Mask.
“Hey! What the hell?!” the man shouted as he aimed an AK-74 rifle up towards the truck and didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger.
“Holy shit! Get down!” Popov warned everyone as a hail of bullets blasted through the windshield of the truck, spraying glass all over the place. As the glass rained around the operators ducking for their lives, Ding pulled out his M9 and put it to the back of Popov’s head.
“You son of a bitch, this was a set-up!”
Popov looked back, “I would never affiliate myself with these mother fuckers! If I were, they wouldn’t kill me! I would be too valuable-”
The guard let loose another volley of bullets after pausing to see the damage done to the truck.
“Fuck!” Clark took his MP5 and returned fire, barely making his head visible. Three bullets impacted into the thick coat, knocking the White Mask down onto his back. He was about to get back up, most likely doubling up his wardrobe with some body armor. Before he could get the chance, Thatcher lined up the red dot in his sight and nailed him twice in his head and neck.
“Give me my gun! I can defend myself!” Popov shouted as he quickly unbuckled himself.
“Fuck your gun, and fuck you!” Ding shouted back, “We got more coming out!”
Three more terrorists headed out of the complex through the main doorway. Two of them also held rifles, while the third in the back was running towards them with something far, far worse. The unmistakable shape and bugle on the top of the weapon highlighted the rocket-propelled grenade that the terrorist was now taking out and leveling towards the truck.
“RPG! Get out of the truck!” Clark shouted as he threw the door open and fired back at the three new adversaries.
Popov had gone out and ran to take cover behind a fair sized rock in the snow. Ding moved out towards Popov, firing as he went, while Thatcher shot his rifle while moving towards Clark.
Then, the White Mask wielding the RPG fired the grenade. The explosive sailed straight for the truck and blasted it into a fireball, just as the operators and the ex-KGB had gotten clear.
The Rainbow Team returned fire, battling with the two rifle men. Thatcher instantly dropped the RPG trooper as a quick and precise volley from the MP5s nailed the riflemen in their masks.
“Everyone okay?!” Clark called out.
“I’m good!” Thatcher replied back.
Then, Popov took his hand from his coat, and saw his hand emerge covered in blood. Taking off the jacket, he found that while he was running, an AK bullet grazed him across his waist.
“Blyad…” Popov cursed in his own language.
“Popov’s been hit!” Ding called back.
Then, what happened next was even more unbelievable than Popov’s story about the portals. A rather small-sized horse in a white coat armed with a rifle and standing on its hind legs walked out of the doorway, and began firing at Popov and Ding behind their rock.
“What in the name of hell?! Is that a fucking horse?!” Thatcher didn’t hesitate to fire back at their new assailant.
Popov looked over the rock and shouted back, “That… that creature… it had to have come from the portal! The White Masks are using it now! It’s the only explanation!”
Thatcher had dropped the horse with two more shots.
“Bloody hell! What in the name of fucking God is this?!” Thatcher shouted as three more horses came out of the complex, accompanied by two White Masks in heavy lab gear.
“Open fire!” Clark yelled as their weapons once again lit up a hail of lead.
The ponies, having a larger profile to shoot at were quick to go down, as the scientists fired off their own rifles.
“Reloading!” Clark spoke into the communications of his fellow teammates.
Thatcher and Ding ended up killing the other two horses while Clark had finished reloading and shot down both of the scientists. Even a 72 year old man like himself still had his skill.
“Clear!”
Popov held his wound as Ding took him up and carried him over towards Clark and Thatcher.
“Move in to secure the objective. Ding, stay with Popov.” Clark ordered.
“Will do, Mr. C.”
Clark and Thatcher moved in towards the complex, their guns raised.
“Drone it.” Clark spoke.
Thatcher threw in his minidrone, and drove the little device around. It was a solid three minutes before he came to his conclusion.
“All clear, Rainbow Six.”
Clark instructed for Ding to bring Popov towards the complex. Heading inside, there were a multitude of crates in the building, but there was one machine in the center, and it was still running. A bright white field of energy pulsed in between the arches of the machine.
“Unbelievable…” Ding spoke out loud as he set Popov down.
“See? It’s as real as I told you.” Popov took the bandages Clark gave him and wrapped his wound.
“So, this must be the portal.” Clark stood in awe of the device.
“Still operational.” Thatcher spoke as well.
Then, a ringing of a cell phone echoed through the complex.
Popov checked his own phone, finding that it was currently off. The team members instantly knew what it was, as well as Popov.
“Shit! IED!” Thatcher shouted as Clark and Ding were ready to head out.
“No! Use your grenade!” Popov pointed to the EMP charges on Thatcher’s pack. He didn’t hesitate.
Activating the grenade by twisting the top, Thatcher threw it high into the air, directly in the middle of the complex. A burst of energy emitted, and the ringing stop, as well as making all of the lights go out.
“Holy shit… the machine’s still active.” Thatcher looked back towards the gateway.
“It was built during the Cold War. Of course it would withstand an electromagnetic pulse.” Popov replied.
“Good call.” Ding admitted.
“Well, what now? I’m guessing we secure this machine. Probably prepare to blow it up.” Clark nodded.
“No. We have to see what’s on the other side.”
The group looked back at Popov.
“The machine is able to sustain a small number of people. The prototype here is able to sustain five beings to transport. Electrical equipment has a lot less effort needed to sustain than a living being. That’s why only a few could enter. We have to know where the White Masks have ended up.” popov gave his idea.
“Those horses… what the hell were they?” Clark looked outside at the corpses being blanketed by the snow.
“We have to know. We have to go in. Who knows what the White Masks are already doing.” Popov pointed at the portal.
“Why should it concern us? If the White Masks are fucking off in another dimension, then it’s that dimension's problem.” Ding gave his insight.
“And what happens when they come back? The White Masks love destruction. They’ll use this new world as a staging base while also starting the Adam and Eve project,” Popov explained.
“Fuck me… we’re not just going to walk through the machine.” Thatcher replied.
“Then send in the drone.” Popov pointed out.
“Are you sure that our controller's reception is going to reach across to a separate dimension?” Ding asked with the slightest hint of sarcasm.
Popov looked back, “The machine can sustain anything that you bring into it. It only has trouble with large objects and living beings. In that case, it would be able to harbor communications, should the signal have to pass through the portal.”
Thatcher took his drone out and set it on the ground, leading up to the portal.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Thatcher activated the touchscreen on his controller, seeing clearly through the tiny machine’s camera feed. Rolling the drone straight into the portal, it went straight through, and didn’t come out the other side.
“Woah!” Ding didn’t see the drone exit the other side of the arch.
Rolling the drone ahead, all Thatcher could see on the screen was white. Then, the colors began to form in the screen. First, grass was visible. The outlines of the jagged and short plant enveloped around the drone’s feed.
Then, more and more colors were made clear. Trees of oddly thick growth surrounded the drone as Thatcher swiveled the drone arounds, its two wheels driving in opposite directions to spin itself around.
“Huh. looks a lot like a forest here…” Clark commented, him, Ding, and Popov all surrounding the tiny screen that Thatcher controlled the drone with.
The last colors came into view as the entire picture was clear. Thatched roofed houses made up a community down below, with a large castle that looked to be made of pure gemstone, or crystal.
“Wow… this is remarkable…” Popov’s eyes looked around the feed.
“Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Popov was right. There is practically an entire world through this archway.” Clark looked around the screen, then found more of the horses that they had encountered before, “We got company. You think we can listen in to them?”
“They must be the ‘humans’ of their world. They’re the sentient race.” Popov acknowledged.
“Sure,” Thatcher replied as he wheeled the drone closer to the group of ponies not too far away from where the drone came through.
Upon approaching them, their voices sounded incredibly feminine, obviously signifying their gender. That drone wheeled up behind the group, and listened in. The voices were a little distorted, but Thatcher was already trying to clear them up by tapping around on the drone’s controls.
What amazed them was the language they spoke in. It wasn’t whinnying or neighing like they would have expected, but it was full-blown English.
“... sorry ... all ... you…” the tallest one with a mane that seemed to flow on its own, despite there being no apparent wind for all the other horses’ manes to be doing so.
Ding chuckled and pointed around the screen, “Unicorns. How funny. What were the ones with wings?”
“Pegasus, I think. I don’t know the plural for it,” Popov answered back.
“...about what, ... highness? ... Twilight?” the pink one began to speak up.
“...in the castle, ... currently ... detained by … with weapons.” The tall one, apparently the leader of the smaller ones held its hoof towards the crystal structure.
“What?! She’s ... against her will?!” the one with a rainbow mane looked over to the castle.
Clark listened attentively to the conversation, “Looks like we’re snooping into the right conversation. That town looks deserted, and from what I hear, phrases and words like ‘against her will’ and ‘detained’ sound like…”
“A hostage situation.” Thatcher finished up the sentence.
“No doubt made by those White Masks. I knew it. They’re already inside that world and stirring up whatever shit they can.”
Ding looked back at Clark, “Mr. C. I don’t think these horses are truly affiliated with the White Masks. Maybe we can get a ton of free intel if we go in, and bag those white-faced assholes.”
“That’s tempting, but we still need to deal with the horses and what they’ll think. They’re intelligent, and the White Masks may have made a few more allies, judging by the horses we just killed out there.” Clark pointed out.
“Wait, they’re talking again.” Thatcher called for everyone to pay attention. “I’ve managed to refine the sound.”
“Applejack, listen to me. I’ve aged so much meaning my magic has slowly faded away, as well as the null-zone, and I don’t want to know what kind of terrible weapons they have that could do that to the poor stallion over there! I’ve never seen anything like this before and… they’re using her as a bartering tool. They want me to step down and give them immunity from invasion in the Everfree Forest.” The tall white horse began to speak again.
“So this is a hostage situation… and these creatures have probably never seen one before.” Clark examined what the white horse was saying, “If I were her, I’d be planning to step down out of not knowing what to do.”
“I fear that it might be the only thing I can do to save Twilight and her friends’ lives. Even then, those stallions could just march out and do more horrible things. Nothing would stop them. Not even me,” she continued.
“Wait, stallions? Then…” Thatcher looked back towards the dead horses.
“The White Masks have made friends here. They’re going to be doing their dirty work.” Popov looked at the other men.
“Holy shit… this is fucking crazy. Like, absolutely god-damn fucking crazy,” Ding spoke up as he listened into the conversation.
Just at that moment, Clark got an idea. “I know how to get in there and get what we need.”
Ding and Thatcher looked back as Popov spoke up, “How?”
“We do our job,” Clark answered.
“Wait, you mean we go in there, and we handle the situation? These are horses that probably don’t even know what humans are. If they do, it would probably be from the White Masks.” Thatcher voiced his objections.
“I think they would take any method to safely return their friend to them. They seem tame. This whole situation must be incredibly pressuring to them.” Clark began to talk again before giving a smirk to Ding, “Besides, Chavez here is a real lady-killer.”
Ding had a sense of humor to laugh a bit, but returned to his composed self, “Real funny, Mr. C. But this is risky. You really sure this will work?”
“There’s only one way we can find out,” Clark replied.
“But first, we need to put those horses’ bodies back through the gateway.” Popov pointed out, “We need to do so in order for us to enter into their world, as we need to get rid of the machine’s efforts to sustain them on ours.”
Stepping back out into the snowy terrain, they began moving the ponies’ bodies one by one, having at least three to four people carry each of them. The deceptive weight of the horses caused a ton of discomfort as they moved across the snow in the Rainbow Team's´ heavy jackets. Tossing them back into the portal, Popov brushed his hands clean as he looked back.
“I’ll go in first to make sure it’s safe.” Popov reached his hand out for his Makarov, to which Clark nodded to Ding. The handgun was back into Popov’s possession as he looked up at the glowing white energy field that stood before him like he did as a teenager.
He took a deep breath, the disappeared through.
The Rainbow Team waited.
They stood on standby as they did a final check on their gear.
Popov emerged again and smiled, “Well, it feels like summer time over there. Ditch the coats.”
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All.
My.
YES!
Keep doing what you're doing, it's great!
7224921 It's going to get even sweeter.
...we need some buck and frost up in this bitch!
Are the rest of the team going to join? Kapkan is going to have a fun time hunting White Masks and their pony allies.
I. Am. Loving. This. Keep it coming!
I saw a couple of errors down at the bottom where I didn't get to review.
7226028 Shoot me a PM. I'll reopen editing.
7225759 Expect most, if not all team members to at least make an appearance.
7226325 ETA on the next?
7227152 Expect less than a week.
7227163 Nice!
GREADE LAUNCHER!
7227873
*thump*
7227909
MY STORY NOW SUCKER!
7227952 Come again?
Please tell me I'm going to see more operatives from Rainbow Team storm into Equestria with the three already there
7230288
...
...
:^)
Excellent... we finally get to see these bastards taken down...
Someone's done their research, mentioning the Rainbow Six book story.
7232815 Researched it? I've read it religiously.
7233189
Amusing then that a similar scenario kicked in for The Division.
7233472 Huh?
7233491
Eco-Terrorism. Only in The Division's case, the bastard actually got the virus out there.
7233550 Huh. Interesting.
7233642
The difference between the group in Rainbow Six and the one in The Division is simple. In Rainbow Six, it was a GROUP. LOTS of people involved, larger possibility for something to happen or someone to speak out (like a certain russian).
In The Division, it was ONE man who decided he wanted to remove nearly all of humanity from the earth, simply because he believes that man is too destructive to let live.
Quite unlike Clancy's writing style but it's awesome so far. :)
Kinda surprised you used only one operator on the mission part of this so far, and even more surprised you used thatcher. Thatcher is only good for terrorist hunt. Oh, right. Sorry, my mistake. This is technically terrorist hunt.
Great story so far. Will read more when I'm not dead-tired.
Wait! Thier really gonna do that without calling it in or backup?
7636191
given the number of electronic gadgets used by defensive operators, I'd say you're VERY wrong.