//------------------------------// // Prologue - Ties that Bind // Story: Earthside - The Shadow Protocol // by TheFullCrumb //------------------------------// The dark crawled along like a beast hungry for those less fortunate to be inside as the sound of steps came closer and closer to an individual who stood silently in the shadows. With a flick of his wrist, he drew out a cigarette and lit it silently, the steps stopping beside him as a thick Russian accent spoke slowly and quietly. “You realize you coming here is bad omen, comrade. If the Union figures out-” The smoking individual took another couple of puffs before tossing it down and crushing it under his heel. He lifted his eyes, a flash of gold startling the Russian as an accent slippery as oil spoke to him. “Trust me, the less your government knows about this, the better off they are. If we can benefit even one country on this tortured rock, then we’ll have done our jobs.” “But, Canadian, why-” “There are ears everywhere, and we hear it all. War, famine, disease, and no one is doing anything because of this second Cold War. Western Alliance, United Neo-Soviet Republic, it’s all the same. However, that’s not the point. Do you have it?” The Russian reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small drive. Placing it squarely in the Canadian’s hand, he grasped it tightly, shaking his hands. “You know what you are doing. Dosvidanya, comrade.” The Canadian nodded silently, walking away as he dropped a small satchel on the ground, the Russian quickly collecting it before he went the opposite way. Turning a corner, the Canadian sighed, reaching a finger up to his ear. Tapping, he frowned as he heard a radio turn on. “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” --------====|/0\|====-------- “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” “This is Command. Return to base immediately. We cannot-” “Say again? You’re bre...ng up… signal… no, no!...” The sound of white noise coupled with what the operator could only assume to be gunfire echoed as he replayed the message for his superior, a heavyset man with a balding head. Staring at the projector’s display on the wall, he stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. With a sigh, he walked around his desk, skirting the small space he was forced to work with. “How many agents does that make, Alex?” The operator looked at his superior, gulping before he replied. “Fourteen dead, sir. Two M.I.A., and four confirmed captured. We’re losing a lot of good people, and without recruiting, we’ll be barebones in a month at this rate.” Alex watched his superior sit down, wincing as he watched him crack his knuckles. “How many worlds have we lost agents on, Alex?” “Fifteen, sir. Since we discovered that variants of the Western Alliance could track our movements, we’ve been careful to keep our patrols to the worlds that require our assistance,” Alex replied, swallowing as he watched his superior sit down, twiddling his thumbs in deep thought. Pressing his palms to the desk, Alex’s superior brought up a holographic screen, photographs sliding past as he stared. Almost as quickly as he had started, he stopped on a particular photo, his eyes narrowing as he read the report associated with it. “Are you familiar with this colorful world, Alex?” “General Irons, sir?” Irons stared him square in the face, raising a single eyebrow. “Alex, are you familiar with this… ‘Equestria?’” His mouth twisted into a thoughtful expression as he mulled over the name, Alex sighing as he rubbed his forehead. “Yes, sir, I am. I was the one who took those photos.” Irons stood up straight, his eyes widening as he stared down his subordinate. “Alex, what can you tell me of that world?” --------====|/0\|====-------- “By order of the princess, all subjects must be indoors by sundown or face punishment similar in severity to the sentence carried by theft – twenty lashes!” Guards, marching around in their off-gold armor, trotted around, their spears pointed at any civilian that did not comply. “Additionally, all fillies and colts of fighting age are to come with us immediately. There will be no time for goodbyes, but they will be remembered for their service to our glorious empire.” Several ponies stood off to the side, cloaks shielding them in the setting sun, the dusk overtaking the settlement quickly. Once, the hamlet they stood in was once called Ponyville, but that time had long since passed. They spoke in hushed whispers, crouching and moving slowly so as not to arouse suspicion. “If any one of your number is withholding from us any information about the insidious rebels that are terrorising this nation, you will be dealt with accordingly, a crime which carries the same sentence as murder – death by hanging. That is all.” With a shout, many guards descended upon the hapless village, dragging out young fillies and colts, clapping restraints on their hooves and heads, and marching them to waiting wagons on the outside of town. As the guards took up their positions, an explosion rang out, one of the carts tipping over before three cloaked figures jumped out, small knives strapped to their hooves that plunged deep into each guard they struck, leaping from enemy to enemy like a dark wave of pure destruction. “Defensive formation! These traitors do not get through, whatever the cost!” ---------====|/0\|====-------- “I see. So, there was a nation known as Equestria on that world, but it’s been taken over by the Empire of the Dusk? Sounds like something that we should keep an eye on.” Irons lifted his palms from his deks, the screen disappearing as the video record stopped playing. “We lost two agents getting that footage. The Imperial Guards who took them saw to it that they were executed in broad daylight.” Alex placed a tablet in front of Irons, tapping a few buttons to show the records of the two agents that had lost their lives in the line of duty. “Agents Dominic and Hades. They were some of our best. Were their bodies retrieved for burial?” Alex sighed, looking away towards the door as he shook his head in the negative. “There weren’t any bodies to bury.” --------====|/0\|====-------- “Team One, suppressive fire!” Gunfire rang out, golden armor clashing with urban camouflage, bodies of either fighting side starting to pile in the street where they all stood. Men stood where others had fallen, spears pushing into them, but fighting on regardless of who stood before them. Several humans lay dead on the ground, their blood mixing with the ponies they did battle with. “This is Team One! We’re at the Shadowgate! We’ll be through in two minutes! Agent Hades, Agent Dominic, we’re holding the fort! Get over here now, sirs!” Two agents stood amongst the pile of bodies that was accumulating in the square they stood in, ponies surrounding them as the gun smoke began to clear. Spears ringed around them, aimed close to their throats. “Dom, it’s been a pleasure serving with you.” “Likewise, Hades. Let’s send them to Hell, shall we?” With a smile, Dominic grabbed explosives from a pouch on his vest, priming the detonator as he gripped a grenade, Hades following suit. The guards pushed closer, Dominic and Hades yanking the pins before dropping the grenades at their own feet. “Agents! We can-” “Sorry, Team One. We won’t be going back with you. You have your orders, so follow them. It was an honor serving with you all-” --------====|/0\|====-------- “They sacrificed themselves to allow our last remaining team of agents to arrive back. We’re down to around half a dozen agents, with no recruits to speak of. We’re scraping the bare bottom of the barrel here, and we’re pulling up nothing, sir.” Alex sat down in his chair after the footage stopped, having to turn away before Dominic and Hades rendered themselves into tiny chunks of flesh and blood, too little to gather and bury. “Then we have a problem, Alex. We are bound by the Coalition Agreement, and because of that, we have needed to act in all of these theaters of war. But with that last bout, we’ve lost. There’s no one to replace the agents we lost, because there’s no one that we can contact or recruit.” Irons stood up, pulling the badges off of his breast before setting them down on the table. Opening a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a hefty file folder, simply marked ‘Janus Contingency.’ Alex stood up quickly, his eyes going wide as he saw the folder. “Sir, you can’t be serious!” “I’m activating the Janus Contingency. We need to find capable individuals, ones who we can safely recruit without too much difficulty. I know of one, but he’ll be pretty hard to track down. First things first, though, transmit the Shadow Protocol-” “Sir, we don’t have it.” Irons stared at Alex, his icy gaze feeling like a laser burning through his skin. “What do you mean, ‘don’t have it?’ Didn’t Oilman-” “Oilman did not get to us in time. His emergency retrieval beacon was also destroyed. We can be certain that the version of Earth he was on has the most powerful program in existence somewhere on it.” Irons looked out the nearby window, light returning to the office as the videos stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he watched Alex come close, returning his gaze to the citadel of technology that spread before him. “Well, then. We’ll start with the universe he was in.” Irons turned to Alex, smiling as he returned to his chair. “Let’s get started, shall we?”