//------------------------------// // 15) Training // Story: Fireteam Odium // by EchoTheFloof //------------------------------// Many miles from Ponyville, the five guardians sat in a larger hall with their pony companions and their new Cabal allies. The War Mages took some convincing before they accepted the Cabal into their home town, but they eventually allowed them entry. “I think at this point, we need to figure out how the Primus saw you two so quickly.” Kervis said, looking over at Elana and Procor. “The Primus is using technology developed by the Flayers to detect sources of light.” The Val explained, “All Cabal soldiers have this hardware. It was how I got to you so quickly.” “So they can see us right now?” Kalis asked. “For you three, not as much. But the new sources of light were pure, unlike yours which has mixed with the energy in the environment. In time, these guardians signatures will dull, but you are all detectable if enough effort is put into it.” “So how do we prevent this? If they can detect us all then they could attack at any time.” Kervis questioned, looking around at the hall. “The technology detects outward light. If you were to contain it, they wouldn’t be able to see it no matter how much they tried.” The Cabal said. “I see. Then we can reactivate it during combat.” Exodus surmised. “Correct. You wouldn’t be losing your light, you would be hiding it.” “But if we contain our light, we won’t be able to overflow it.” Exodus said, “That could cause some pretty serious issues.” “Then is there any way to store it?” The Val asked. “Temporarily, yes. Our armour stores excess light allowing us to use it in Darkness Zones. But even with that, they will fill up. Normally we would then push it into weapons during combat, or expend it with abilities.” The Cabal brought his hand up to his chin in thought, trying to think of a way around the dilemma. After a few moments, he spoke up again, “What about the ponies?” Kervis gave him a confused look, “The ponies? What about them?” “You are currently using a fusion of their energy and your light, yes? If your bodies are generating light from their energy, then surely you could store your excess light within them.” “We could in theory, but how would we know what that may do to them?” Exodus asked. “Well, since they are all able to use this energy, I would assume that the effects they would gain would depend on the type of light they received.” “This is all fine to talk about, guys, but in the end we still have a problem. What pony would actually offer to receive this?” Kalis pointed out. “I-I don’t know.” Kervis sighed, “We would have to speak with-” “I’ll do it.” All eyes turned to face the blue pony that had spoken. Chrome had already stood and was walking over to the side of the guardians, a confident look in his eyes, “I enlisted to protect ponies, but I currently don’t have the ability to do that on the scale we’re looking at. If this energy will make me stronger, I’ll be happy to take it.” “Chrome, we have no idea what it might do to you.” Exodus said, “If something goes wrong, like your body refusing it, it could hurt you.” “If I die, it will be for my kind. I will not stand idly by while these monsters kill everyone I know and love.” Exodus looked the pony over, searching for any signs of fear or change of heart. When none could be found, he shook his head slightly, “You really want this?” He asked. “I do.” “Alright, I’ll try it. But you need to do exactly as I say, okay?” Chrome gave a nod and stood tall, looking up at the Warlock. Slowly, the guardian approached him and turned to his Ghost, “Can you shift some light ready to res him, just in case?” “No promises, but I’ll do my best.” The Ghost replied. “Good enough. Here goes.” With that, the Exo began channeling some of the light stored in his armour into his hand. The light quickly formed a ball, streaks flying around it as it tried to find its place in the new environment. Giving one last look at Chrome, he pushed the light forward towards the unicorn, the energy detecting the pony almost immediately. It jolted up out of Exodus’ hand and found its way to the pony’s horn, covering it before dissipating. Other than cringing at the new feeling, he didn’t seem to be in pain, so the Warlock backed up, hoping all went well. “So, how do you feel?” The Exo asked. “Not bad really, was something supposed to-” Before he could finish, he bowed his head and brought a hoof up to hold it. A groan of pain was all he managed to say before the guardians moved forward to help him. “Chrome, you okay?” Kalis said, poking his shoulder. “Y-Yeah, I think I’m okay, just a huge headache.” “It may be because of the amount I gave you.” Exodus commented, stepping forward, “I can only guess that your body is trying to figure out what the new energy is, but since you didn’t blow up or anything, I think you’ll be fine.” “Gee, thanks.” The unicorn muttered, looking up once more towards Exodus. “Ghost, can you do a scan? We don’t want his body to reject it.” Exodus said to his Ghost. “No problem. Just hold still.” The Ghost projected a light blue glow from his eye when he had moved closer, the glow easily covering the small pony. After a few seconds of this, the little machine pulled back beside Exodus. “His body is resonating with the Solar energy you gave him. After a few minutes the pain should go away, and you will begin to notice the effects of it.” The Ghost said, its segments spinning slightly. “What sort of effects will this Solar energy give me?” Chrome asked the little machine. “With Solar light, you will gain a faster replenishment of your personal energy, as well as increased agility. Of course, it may vary as I am only guessing with the knowledge of how Exodus’ abilities work alongside Solar light.” The unicorn smiled slightly at that thought, lighting up his magic and creating a barrier before him. It shimmered brightly, but it didn’t look different in his eyes. “I thought it was supposed to be working with my magic?” He asked, lowering the shield. “That’s what it’s called?” Kalis said, she had sat beside Kervis when the pony had confirmed he was fine. “It doesn’t matter what it’s called. What matters is that this confirms something I had already assumed. You have the new… ‘magic’ within you, but you lack the ability or knowledge to use any of it.” Exodus said. “So I’m gonna have to train before I can make use of it?” Chrome asked, finally managing to stand fully again. “Yes. We all had to in order to use our light, and so you will have to as well.” “And this training will let me use the full abilities of this energy?” “Uh, unlikely. I gave you a minimal amount of light, just enough to make sure you wouldn’t be hurt by it, and you could barely take it all. We were lucky your body adapted to it so quickly, as if it took longer it might have been far more painful.” “So what will I be able to do?” The pony asked, sitting down. “You should have access to a couple of things, and then you can train to become better at those things. With a Warlock’s Solar light, you will be able to regenerate your own energy far faster, or resurrect yourself from death. It will be incredibly unlikely that you would be able to do both without heavy training and a Ghost by your side, but training one of those factors would at the very least give you an advantage against any hostile Cabal.” Chrome nodded slowly in thought, “That could be amazingly useful if multiple ponies had the ability to use your energies. Do you think the War Mages would be alright with taking some of it to use in battle?” “I would prefer to make sure ponies can even use it to begin with,” Exodus replied, “When you have trained enough to be able to use some of the light as a weapon, I will think on it. This is new, even to us. So we will have to learn about it together.” “I understand. I have one last question, if you don’t mind.” “Go ahead,” Exodus said, taking a seat with the other guardians. “If you are trying to hide your light, wouldn’t giving it to other ponies just behave like your light? Can the Cabal still track it if we are the ones using it?” This time, The nearby Val responded to his question, “While I do not know the full capabilities of this technology, I am aware that pony magic is cast differently depending on many factors. It is likely that your magic will lace itself with the light in such a way to conceal it alongside the energy around us.” Chrome gave a short glance over at the Val while he spoke, but looked down at the floor when he had finished, “I’m still not comfortable knowing how you got that information.” He said. “These are the Primus’ plans, not mine. I do not agree with what he did, but I can understand it. He is desperate, and won’t stop until he gets to go home.” The pony gave a sigh and nodded, looking over at Exodus, “So, you want to begin this training?” “Better to do it sooner than later. Let’s head into the fields nearby, less ponies to see us there.” With the duo leaving the building to start training, the others started to pack their belongings up, each of them moving out of the door one at a time. Looking around, Kalis spotted the War Mage from Ponyville that got them back to their town, and walked up to him. A short talk later had the Cabal soldiers teleporting back to their town. “Kervis,” Kalis called out when their new allies had disappeared. “Yeah? What’s up?” He replied, turning to look at his teammate. “I know Exodus is trying to help, but I’m not too sure I can agree with this whole ‘giving light to the ponies’. What if a pony gets it and decides it would be better to use it against us, or against other ponies? We can’t possibly think that every one of these ponies is nice.” “Right now, we don’t have a choice. I doubt these Mages would last a minute against a Cabal force without aid, and we can’t keep defending every single pony that comes into danger. We need to gain the upper hand, and this is the only way we have. If you can come up with something, we will gladly hear you out, but until then we will have to trust in Exodus.” “Yeah, I guess.” Kervis gave the Hunter a smile, patting her shoulder, “C’mon, Procor and Elana are waiting for us. How about heading to the bar?” “Heh, you sure know how to make a lady smile.” - - - “So how do we begin?” Chrome asked. They had been walking for a good ten minutes, and now the town was a long way from them. The gentle glow of the street lamps illuminated the dark sky, bathing the houses in a warm yellow light. “First, we do what every guardian has to do. Reach out into yourself and feel for the light. You need to connect with it, force it to bend to your will. Only when the light obeys can you wield it.” Exodus explained, shrouding his hand in fire as a sort of example. Finding the new light wasn’t all that difficult for the experienced unicorn, as all young ponies had to do something similar when they were trying to find their talent. Poking around in his magical reserves revealed the light he was looking for, but he was unable to touch it. It almost felt like the light was resisting his mind. “Having trouble?” The Exo asked. “I can’t go anywhere near it. Whenever I try to bring it up to my horn, it shies away back into my reserves.” Chrome grunted, trying again with more force. “Light isn’t just a material, Chrome. This energy is what keeps us alive, and is what chose us in the first place. As it doesn’t belong to you, it is trying to resist being used. In order to make use of it, you need to show it you are in charge.” “Easier said than done.” “It is. But it can be done. Instead of trying to force it into use, coax it out. Mix your own magic with the light, show it your power, and let the light decide what it wants to do.” Doing as he was told, instead of trying to force it, he allowed his own magic to fill the ball of light. He could feel its energy diluting, shifting around his body as it gained free reign to move around his being. Eventually, it began shifting itself up towards his head, ending up storing itself near his horn. “That… worked?” He asked in shock. “When you stop thinking of light a material, a thing to just be used, you will begin to see why training is so necessary while you use it. While you must learn to use it, the light must also gain strength to bolster itself. In a way, you are both training together.” “Okay, but how do I make use of this stuff? I can feel it at the top of my head but I can’t access it like my other magic.” “Simple, will it to do something. Ask of the light something you want it to do, and it will obey.” Grunting, the pony thought hard to command the new magic to do something. He eventually settled with asking for an energy ball, the simplest of spells to cast. When he opened his eyes he found a small ball radiating with an intense heat. The ball had fire spinning around it, though the embers that hit him didn’t harm him. “Solar light isn’t made for damage. While Titans are able to use it to kill quickly, their use of it is very brief. If you ration it out, use it tactically, you can make this light last for days, sometimes even weeks. Warlocks use this in combat to gain an almost infinite amount of grenades for sometimes up to thirty seconds. Why don’t you give it a try?” Shrugging, he tried to picture a grenade he had seen Exodus throw in the past. Within a few seconds, the small ball had morphed into a larger orb, the solar light now bursting out of it as it hovered. “And now project it forwards.” The Warlock beside him said. Not wanting to use too much of the light he had been given, he threw the orb away from him using his own magic, the orb veering to the right as it soared through the air. When it hit the ground, a ring of fire shot out of it, but other than that, nothing happened. “That’s it?” He questioned, looking at the charred ring on the ground. “The light will try to form what it knows best. That was something we call a Firebolt grenade, something that doesn’t fully work unless it has targets within that ring.” “But what does it do in the way of harming something?” The pony queried, still looking at the ring. “Anything within that ring will be struck by a column of fire, hot enough to melt through armour. Each grenade can target up to two hostiles at a time, and is often useful for removing stronger enemies from the battle.” “But you said you could make infinite grenades, can I do that?” “I don’t see why not, though try to keep it limited. We don’t know how long that light will last.” Reaching into the pool of light that was still stored near his horn, he commanded as many grenades as he could. Within a few seconds, a ring of Firebolt grenades surrounded him, their heat and light radiating almost like the sun itself. “Good job, seems like you won’t have too many issues summoning them during combat, though we still need to work on one more thing.” Chrome gave a look to the guardian, “What would that be?” Exodus raised his hand to point at the charred ring, far to the right of the pony, “Your aim.” - - - When morning came around, Chrome was panting with exhaustion. His training had lasted all through the night, and had him constantly moving. While he absolutely hated the Warlock for putting him through that, he could understand the benefit from it. He was now able to land grenades on targets while moving, the Firebolt’s ring easily making up for near misses. “I think you should go back home and lie down. You did well tonight, Chrome. We’ll make a guardian out of you yet.” Exodus said, patting him on the back. “Yeah, thanks.” The unicorn managed to get out between breaths. He was about to leave for the town when he was stopped by the warlock once again. “Before you go, I would like to give you a gift.” Exodus said. “Oh?” “You see, it is customary for a new guardian to be given a set of armour. I have been speaking with my Ghost while you were training and the surrounding area has enough materials to synthesise a suit of armour for you.” “You don’t need to do that, Exodus. I have my own armour that I received when I joined the army, which I’m honestly a little attached to.” Chrome explained with a smile. “If you want to use this light effectively then you need a way to store it. Guardian armour stores light automatically, and the suit my Ghost can generate for you will be able to slowly regenerate your light reserves. This is still far slower than what we are capable of doing, but it will mean that you won’t have to take light from us all the time in order to train.” “But what about the other Mages?” “I have already thought about that.” Exodus replied, “My Ghost will create two sets. One for you, and another for your cousin. You made her out to be a clothes designer? I guess for the Mages?” “Yeah, she is. But you would still do that for her even after what happened earlier?” “What happened was an accident, and I have already spoken with Kalis about her actions. What I am doing here is to help every Mage in the town, though if your cousin gains something from it then I am happy to help her too.” “I see, thank you.” Chrome said, his smile unfading. He waited patiently as the Warlock’s Ghost gathered resources from around them, ores from the ground, organic matter from the trees nearby, and turned it into simple, white and gray armour that lay in two neat piles; an equine version of basic Guardian armour. “The one on the left is yours.” The Ghost said, floating up near Exodus once more, “If the size is incorrect I apologise, I made the best guess I could.” The unicorn picked both the piles up in his magic, being sure to note the one made for him, “Thanks again guys. Means a lot that you both are willing to help us so much.” “It’s what we are here for. Now you go and rest, you’ll need it if you want to train more.” As the pony walked towards the town, the guardian turned his head to look at his Ghost, “Could you drop the ship down from orbit? I have a Cabal I would like to speak with.” - - - Elana rose from her bed in a daze. Looking around her, multiple bunk beds surrounded her little bed, some of them occupied by ponies, but the majority of them were empty. As quietly as she could, she slipped into her armour and stepped out of the building into the cool outdoors. A light brushed past her face as she closed her eyes, filling herself with the early morning smell of open fields and pastries from the nearby shops. “Hey, you’re up early.” Her eyes darted to the left to find Kalis polishing her sniper, the black and white glow still crossing it as if the weapon was made of an ethereal substance. She was sat at an outdoor table, a large umbrella shading it from the rising sun. “Yeah, I don’t really sleep much these days.” “Ha, wish I knew how that felt. Wanna join me? Been bored since Exodus left with Chrome to help him learn how to use light.” Elana gave her fellow Hunter a nod and sat down at the table with her. Her gaze rested upon the long rifle that Kalis loved so much. “Ya like her?” Kalis asked, a happy tone in her voice. “It’s such an odd design,” The human commented, leaning over to take a closer look at the glow that covered its skin. “Don’t feel like you can’t touch it. As long as you don’t break it, you are more than welcome to give it a spin.” Giving a thankful look at the Exo, she took hold of the rifle and stood up, taking aim at a distant tree across the plains. The weapon was incredibly heavy, but she was just able to lift it into a semi-stable aim. “You aren’t gonna hit anything with that posture, here.” Kalis said, standing and joining her. She stepped beside the new Hunter and moved Elana’s limbs for her to take a more stable stance. “Is this really necessary?” Elana asked, a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention from the veteran Hunter. “You think this is weird? Try having Kervis teach you this stuff. He’s far less… relaxed when it comes to this.” “I get that, but why do I need to stand like this? I never see you standing like that when you fire it.” “I’m an Exo, remember? We are far stronger physically than humans. This position will allow you to take the recoil that gun will throw at you, and it’s necessary for bigger guns.” “Please, I might be new, but I’m not weak.” Elana scoffed, standing normally once more. Kalis gave a snort of amusement, “Then go ahead, I’m sure your strength will come in handy.” The human gave a short grunt before raising the sniper once more, and taking aim at the tree in the distance. When she was confident in her aim, she pulled the trigger. But instead of the gentle nudge was anticipating, the weapon slammed back into her shoulder, knocking her down onto the ground. “W-what was that?” She groaned, raising her head slightly. “That was a high-caliber weapon throwing you on your ass because you didn’t listen.” Kalis said, offering a hand to help her up. Taking the offered hand, she rose up and looked at the rifle again. After a short look, she handed it back to the Exo, “I uh, think I’m gonna need to practice with something a little less powerful.” “If you want to deal damage to something like a Cabal, you can’t be using those pansy-ass weapons the Vanguard give. I can get you started with a lower caliber though.” Kalis said, summoning her Ghost. “You need anything?” The Ghost asked when he had become visible. “Yeah, a Devil’s Dawn. Any element.” “No problem.” The Ghost became invisible once more, and on the table a new sniper lay on its side. It was a white rifle of Fallen design with a thin barrel, the well-known SIVA emblem crudely drawn in red upon its side. “Here, try this thing out. It’s known for being one of the best snipers you can get.” Kalis explained, handing her the new rifle. The young Hunter looked at the weapon in surprise, “Thanks, but you really don’t have to-” “Elana, you are a Hunter. While we can use any weapon, we tend to excel with snipers because of our fast movement and stealth. If you want to do well during fights, you are going to have to accept the help from other guardians, and this is your opportunity to accept it.” With a short sigh, she reached over and took the weapon, holding it in her hands. It was much lighter than Kalis’ rifle, though she could tell this weapon was far stronger than the weapons she had been given by the Vanguard. “Um, thanks Kalis.” “Anytime, kid. If you need something else, feel free to ask.” The Exo said, taking a seat once more. “Actually, I could do with some help learning how this thing works.” Kalis gave a smile to the human, “I think I can help with that.”