//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Connections 
// Story: XCOM: Ranger 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Ranger


Chapter 16: Connections


By Wanderer D






"Permission to speak freely, sir!"

Bradford looked at Jane with an almost perfectly straight face that belied his actual bafflement. "In the middle of the bridge, out of nowhere?"

Jane gave him a steady look.

Bradford massaged his forehead. "Fine. Come with me to my office." He turned to face the staff. "Make sure you keep track of those signals, we're expecting our infiltration team's communication soon!"

"Yes, sir!"

Bradford motioned for Jane to follow him into his office, a room full of memorabilia from the previous war, including a wall with over 50 dog tags hanging on it, an original, dismantled, Sectoid gun and even a faded blueprint of the old base.

Bradford motioned for her to sit down, then walked over to take his own seat. "What can I do for you, Kelly?"

"You can tell me what the hell the Commander said to Sunset," Jane replied, narrowing her eyes. "She's been out of it since she was released from the infirmary."

Bradford frowned and crossed his arms. "Classified."

"Come on, Bradford, don't give me that," Jane said. "I can respect the chain of command, I will follow your orders to hell and back and to hell again. I will lay down my life for the cause… but so will Sunset, and she deserves support."

That seemed to hit Bradford a little. "I'm sorry Corporal, but the Commander has the last say in that." He took a deep breath. "Sunset can also disclose some of the information if she wants to, but it's not my place to do it."

Jane sighed, leaning back on the chair. "All of this," she waved a hand around the room. "...has taught you a lot about leadership and sacrifice, Bradford. In that light, can you really tell me that it's okay for a soldier to be in such a mental state? We could be called to action anytime soon."

Bradford took a deep breath. "No. And yet, Sunset is the one that has to deal with this, given her role in the Commander's… life."

Jane leaned forward. "What does that mean?"

Bradford shook his head. "Classified. For now."

"For now?"

Bradford nodded. "It all depends on Sunset."





The Shard Gun was a lot lighter than she had anticipated. The sleek design, low weight and kick-less shot were taking some getting used to, as she was more used to the bulkier shotguns, and her instinct was to brace herself for the weapon to kick back with every shot, something that was giving her some trouble… but maybe it was just that she had too much in her mind.

She took cover behind one of the Training Ground's barriers and took a shot at a nearby dummy, blasting the chest and head off in a second.

"Where do you come from, really?"

BAM! The legs of a fake muton were torn into fragments.

"You look exactly like someone who I watched die."

She ran and rolled, doing an about turn that put her face-first against three ballistic-gel dummies that looked like Sectoids. Her shot blew a hole clear through the first, tore through the second and managed to practically serrate the third's head with the angle.

"I don't know how you're possible. You're her, but not. The DNA matches, the voice, the attitude, but you'd be a lot older by now, if you were my Sunset."

"Gah!" Sunset shouted, slicing down with her brand new Arc Blade. The last enemy—a facsimile of another unit she hadn't encountered personally, the Berserker—flowered outwards as the even-sharper sword cut through it, sending electric bursts at the same time that made the gel vibrate.

Sunset glanced around at the carnage her training session had done, breathing heavily. No matter how many dummies she cut down, she couldn't take her mind off of the conversation she'd had with the Commander.

"If you had been discovered just now… if Bradford hadn't vouched for you—you made an impression on him, you know, those three years you travelled together—if it were not for that… I would have had you shot on sight."

She had been dismissed from the infirmary two days ago. Barely a few hours after her talk with the Commander and Bradford.

"At first I thought you were… a clone or something made by the Aliens to get to me. Then I thought, Vahlen. She, Bradford and Shen were the only ones that would recognize you. And if she's crazy enough to do what she did to Vipers, Archons and Berserkers, she's definitely lost it enough to try something stupid like that."

Sunset closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She was sweating. Her muscles ached, her hair was sticking to her face and forehead and her heart was racing. "I need a shower," she muttered, heading over to the barracks.

"I-I'm sorry… I don't-I don't get it. Who am I—who is Sunset Shimmer to you?"

Sunset walked to her locker, placing her weapons inside, and fishing out her towel and toiletries. She glanced up at the diary, closed and innocent-looking on the top shelf, under her spellbook.

"You really don't know, do you?" The Commander's voice lowered. "Sunset Shimmer… she was..."

Sunset dragged the diary out, throwing her stuff on the bed and taking a seat at the small personal desk next to it. She took a long, calming breath before grabbing a pen and opening her diary, the words of her letter to the princess already forming in her mind.

She passed the pages until she saw her last entry into the diary.



I hate you.



She hadn't noticed then, and she hadn't opened her diary since she wrote that message three years ago… but there was something else written there now.



I miss you.

I'm sorry.







Jane walked down the hall towards the barracks, slowing down when she saw the Templar, Laetitia, leaning against the side of the entrance as if she was guarding it. The hall was mostly empty, except for the random engineer running down to do whatever it was they did, so most likely she wouldn't have had to dissuade anyone yet.

Jane hadn't really known how to feel about their new allies. Sure, anything and anyone against the aliens, of course, but it took some getting used to someone that could rip you apart with her mind; someone that would hunt, kill and eat aliens and would disappear from sight if you just looked away for a second, and—last, but not least—an ex-ADVENT officer who looked decidedly inhuman under his helmet.

Sure, Sunset seemed to know them all, but still.

"What's going on?" she asked, trying not to sound curt. In the field it was easier, somehow, to get along, but inside the Avenger? It felt almost as if the other faction soldiers were invaders themselves. 

Jane gave herself a mental shake. They were allies, they all had worked together efficiently in the field—they might have not been on the ship for years, but they were still part of her team.

"Just… keeping people from snooping around." Laetitia tilted her head in the direction of the barracks door. Jane frowned and glanced inside.

Her eyes roamed the room, trying to figure out what the issue was. It took her a moment to process.

After all, no one in the ship had ever seen Sunset Shimmer cry.


o.0.o End Chapter 16 o.0.o