//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32: Secret 
// Story: XCOM: Ranger 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Ranger


Chapter 32: Secret


By Wanderer D






Twilight and Tygan walked towards the Commander's Quarters, reports in hand. Once they were outside the room, Twilight blinked. She could hear music behind the door.

"...Runaway Train, tearing up…"

"Hm. I thought the commander knew we were coming," Tygan muttered, glancing at Twilight.

"Should we come back later?" Twilight asked as the music played beyond the door. "Maybe this is her relaxation time?"

Tygan shook his head. "I'm sure we sent the message with enough time, Twilight. Regardless, the sooner we give this report to the Commander, the sooner we can get back to research, building and, in your case, training."

When Twilight simply nodded, Tygan reached out and pressed the panel to open the door to the Commander's Quarters.

The volume increased the moment the door slid open, allowing for the music to reach Twilight's ears unhindered. She had to admit, it was a pretty catchy tune, if a bit on the sad side due to the lyrics. Inside the room, however, Chrysalis was not dancing or even nodding to the music, as Twilight had expected.

The commander was busy at work, looking at reports and maps on the giant monitor she had attached to the wall, just above her desk. Tygan cleared his throat, but when Chrysalis didn't react, he called out, "Commander!"

Chrysalis started and turned around, then scowled in annoyance at the speakers as if she had just noticed the music. With a push of a button the music stopped completely; the silence almost as overwhelming in its suddenness as the music had been in its loudness.

"Sorry about that, I forgot you two were coming over," Chrysalis said, tilting her head from side to side to crack her neck. The popping sound made Twilight wince, but neither of the two humans reacted to it at all.

"That's not a problem, Commander, although I must admit… I never took you for a fan of 90s music," Tygan said with a bit of a smirk.

Chrysalis frowned. "I'm not," she said, turning back to her computer to glare at it as if was at fault. "I hate 90s music."

Tygan and Twilight looked at each other, shrugging.

"We brought you our initial report," Twilight said, drawing the commander's attention to her. "I have identified wavelengths that cancel out each other between Psychic and Thaumatic energies. This is… not volatile, per se, but could be used to theoretically create a 'dead zone' for users of either skillset."

"Hm," Chrysalis rested her chin on her fist. "Is there any way to make this happen?"

"Well, that's the thing," Twilight said. "To create a plausible prototype I'd need a steady source of ma-Thaumatic energy."

Chrysalis gave her a half-lidded look. "So. You want your element."

Twilight nodded.

"However," Tygan spoke up. "If we attempt this, we should find a safe place to try this outside the Avenger and also outside the immediate range of any of our psi-ops."

"Or further development could be done to try and create a container," Twilight said. "But either way, we'd need a steady source of magic to do this."

"Thaumatic energy, you mean," Chrysalis said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't want Tygan here to have to think outside the box on a simple term."

"Thank you, commander," Tygan said through gritted teeth.

Chrysalis thought on the issue. "Next time we land near one of our allied bases… provided it's not the Templar's HQ, you can try some of your inventions. I would suggest you work on a few simple prototypes, even if you don't charge them yet."

Tygan and Twilight nodded.

"If I may make a suggestion," Tygan said. "I would recommend Twilight work with Lily on this one. She has… more experience with creating such devices."

Chrysalis nodded. "I will let her know. In the meantime, miss Sparkle," she said, tilting her head, "I believe you still have training to attend?"

"Oh, yes! It's our first night-time exercise! I'll head down immediately!" Twilight said, saluting and running for the door. Once she was gone, Chrysalis chuckled.

"It seems the training is working."





"Oh my…" Sweetie said, touching her lips as she, Scootaloo and Applebloom looked down at the pictures and video that Jane and Sunset were analyzing.  "I understand charming your way through a problem… my sister does it all the time," she murmured, "But really, Sunset…"

She picked up the pad with a capture of a viper coiled around Sunset, its arms holding her at the waist as she leaned back, her own arms wrapped around the alien's neck, both of them staring at each other with half-lidded eyes and knowing smirks while a Captain pouted to the side, and turned it around so all the others could see. "...what is your secret?"

Sunset grinned. "Giggling."

Scootaloo chuckled, flipping the picture to one of Jane with the Captain, both of them appearing to be struggling to smile. "Really Jane… what is your secret?" she laughed.

"Ha ha, Scootaloo."

"Don't give her a hard time," Sunset spoke up. "She's actually very giggly and smiley when she's drunk."

"In any case," Apple Bloom spoke up. "As amusing and improbable as these pictures are… did y'all get the information you needed?"

Jane rolled her eyes, but with a few tweaks, she projected the pictures onto the screen, expanding them past Sunset's shenanigans. "We have a very clear view of the general automated security systems, yes," she said.

"A couple of automated turrets, and we did spy another patrol inside the perimeter…" She switched to another picture, where she and the ADVENT Officer were posing back-to-back in typical badass postures, and then zoomed to the side, where a trio of troopers walked past the gates.

"The gates have the standard guard duo protecting them," Sunset jumped in, pointing at the gate, where another viper and a trooper stood at attention. "But we might not need to engage them at all. The less combat situations we have, the better."

"I thought you guys liked destroying everything in your path," Scootaloo muttered, leaning back.

"Not at all," Sunset replied with a shrug. "We don't have the firepower to do that kind of damage anyway. Most of the massive damage to buildings is usually caused by alien overkill."

Scootaloo and Sweetie shared uneasy glances, while Apple Bloom sighed.

"Anyway," Jane said after a moment. "Before we do anything, we're going there later tonight and using my GREMLIN to scan the building."

"Y'all know that's dangerous, right?" Applebloom frowned. "Patrols are doubled at night and no one is supposed to go out after curfew."

"Yeah, we know," Sunset said. "But if we're found out, we'll retreat into the safe house… don't worry, we won't come back here unless we're absolutely sure we haven't been noticed… and trust me, if the aliens see you, you know."

"Well, if y'all are leaving later, you might as well want to get some rest first," Apple Bloom said. "You can take the same room as last night."

"Yeah, that might not be a bad idea," Jane said, stretching.

Sunset chuckled, starting to pick up their stuff. "Yeah, come on, let's go practice your giggling."





"I noticed the looks you were giving me today," Sunset said.

It was her turn on the floor, as Jane had slept on it the previous night, so she couldn't see Jane's reaction on top of the bed, still, she got the sense that she'd gotten her fellow soldier's attention.

"Well you did try to hook me up with an ADVENT Captain," Jane muttered after a few seconds of silence.

"You know that's not what I mean."

Jane was quiet for what seemed a few minutes, but Sunset dared not interrupt. She could sense the reluctance from the other woman to talk about what was bothering her, but knowing Jane, if she pushed it, she'd just become defensive and they'd never sort out whatever the issue was.

Finally, with the rustling of some covers, Jane's face appeared over the edge of the bed. It was hard to see what was running through her mind in the little light they had, but Sunset could tell her eyes were focused on her.

"You know what happened on November 22nd, 2012, right?" Jane asked.

Sunset licked her lips. "Um… yeah, everyone knows what happened… that's the day XCOM was betrayed."

"It was also the day they attacked the Temple Ship," Jane said slowly. "Do you know the name of the team that led it?"

Sunset had a bad feeling about this.

"I only know that it was named Stardust... and that's from Galahad's description only."

"I see…" Jane sighed and rolled away from the edge, so that Sunset couldn't see her at all. "I was… reminded of the date not too long ago, and I went to search the archives. Not much remains from the files from back then, that's why Tygan had to research some stuff from scratch, but back in the day, XCOM soldiers would send their feed straight to the Skyranger as well as satellite, which is why we have some videos of early battles left."

"So what does this have to do with us?"

"Not us… you," Jane said, and her voice sounded haunted and unsure. "Do you know the name of the Colonel that lead Stardust into the Temple Ship?"

"No, they never told us," Sunset whispered. She had a sense of unease, perhaps because of Jane's tone, but there was also a nagging feeling that she knew where this was going.

"Her name," Jane said, "...was Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset felt her stomach grow ice-cold.

"She had long, red and yellow hair, and her armor's personalized decal was a sun, half-red, half-yellow. She was a psi-op, one of three we had a the time," Jane added, before falling silent.

"Jane, I…"

Jane kept on going, "Every time I asked old XCOM why they gave you those looks, they sort of implied you were related to someone they knew."

Sunset turned, her back against the bed and stared at the faint light leaking from the edge of the door.

"I mean, we've all speculated that you were psychic, with how you're able to know where enemies are and such… but it's more than that, isn't it?"

Sunset closed her eyes, wondering how they had all felt, seeing a dead friend in her every day that she was around. Keeping this secret… how had Bradford felt, spending almost three years with the spitting image of a dead friend?

"Did you know that Sunset Shimmer was the Commander's best friend?"

Sunset sighed. "Yeah."

Jane was quiet for a moment. "There's no way that the Sunset Shimmer that went into the Temple Ship survived."

The silence after that statement was deafening. It must have been only a few seconds before Jane spoke again, but it felt much, much longer to Sunset.

"She wasn't your mom, was she."

That was definitely not a question.

"She wasn't a family member," Jane added, trying to work it out, "You're her, aren't you? You went into the Temple Ship… you flew it into space and exploded with it… and you somehow made it back…" Jane chuckled. "That sounds so stupid… but either you're her or you're a clone… because Sunset, after what I saw in that video… you can't be real."


o.0.o End Chapter 32 o.0.o