XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D


Chapter 161: Engineering

Ranger

Chapter 161: Engineering

By Wanderer D

As soon as she had pressed the button, Scootaloo had regretted it. But there was no stopping it now.

She stepped back as the machine containing Apple Bloom's body, systematically cut off support systems, and slowly (and thankfully) closed, removing her from sight. A dull, whirring sound and several piston-like hisses soon emerged from the machine, and Scootaloo had to rush over to throw up again.

"I-there was no other way," she whispered hoarsely, looking up at the picture frame of the three of them. "She was dead otherwise… she just… dammit!" She slammed her fist on the desk. The pain made her cringe and bite her lip to not cry out. "Dammit."

She sank to her knees as the noises continued. She remembered how things were simple… how, so long ago, before the aliens, they had thought about all the crazy things they would do together.

Visit space. Create their own school. Open a restaurant. Start a circus. Become wild-game protectors. Create a new branch of science. Organize conventions. Become cartoonists. Save the world. Save the whales.

All the dreams of childhood, shared with unbreakable friendship.

And then… the aliens had arrived, and their dreams had been torn from them. Applejack and Rainbow Dash disappeared. The school was destroyed right in front of their eyes… Rarity had disappeared soon after, and then Pinkie. And then Fluttershy.

All the people they had looked up to were gone. The aliens conquered the Earth and millions died. Those that were supposed to protect them, failed.

They had been forced to undergo surgery. Chips were placed in their brains, to track them and later on to signify their citizenship. They had been taken to specialized centers where they had been grilled in all sorts of tests and measuring systems that still baffled her today, and they had then been sent in different ways.

It had taken three years before she had seen Apple Bloom again. ADVENT had pushed the learning of engineering to their foremost level. Dr. Shen had held a presentation on how multiple specialties could work together to create something greater.

He had disappeared soon after.

And now… she had found out that Shen had worked on some of the systems here. That there were designs of his in this facility, including Julian. The kind old man was responsible for creating the thing that was about to kill them all, and worse, it was again all related to XCOM.

And yet…

Apple Bloom had never blamed them. Sweetie had never blamed them either. They had suffered the most for it… she hadn't lost her aunts to aliens. She hadn't had her sister turned into some sort of… creature… designed to fight against XCOM.

"Why?" she muttered, looking at the beeping machine. "Why can't you see it's their fault?"

Then she realized. It was beeping.

The process was done.

Slowly, she pushed up, looking at the picture before grabbing it, taking it out of the frame and putting it into her pocket.

Then she made her way over to the machine, and confirmed finalization.

Right under the screen a panel slid around, and pushed out a container that reached roughly to her waist in height.

That was all that was left of her friend.

Scootaloo clenched her fists, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She picked it up and walked fast, back the way she had come. Once more the lights lit up as she walked, guiding her back to the lab.

Several other parts of the body, including the unique pieces for the head had already been forged and delivered into the lab. All that remained was assembly.

Setting to work, Scootaloo carefully placed the container on the table, picking out the shell that had been created for the brain. Several other pieces were also there: electronic nodes and medical systems designed for replacing lost limbs on people.

Taking a deep breath she got to work.

Shen and Dragon Team made their way through the factory. Nothing was active, except for a couple of systems, engaged in some very specific part manufacturing that didn't match any of the known ADVENT models.

Shen frowned, then followed the others deeper into the factory. The systems inside were mostly dead, and even though there were plenty of MECs, it was likely that with the battle outside and ADVENT's initial control of most of the units, Julian or AppleSeed had turned them off.

It was still eerie and slightly uncomfortable to be walking among so many things that were designed almost specifically to kill them. And there were many models. Even some they hadn't encountered yet.

"This one seems designed for riot control," Shen said, approaching a half-produced unit. "The canisters it contains are more for tactical advantage… it's likely that it is more of a support unit than something that would combat us directly."

"Great," Security grumbled, "just what we need. More enemy variety."

"We should make a backup of all the designs they have here," Ember said as she gestured with her head for everyone to keep moving. "I'm sure this is not the only factory producing them."

"Probably not, with our luck," Coyote added.

"Keep your head in the game, people," Chrysalis' voice crackled in. "Things are not looking pretty out there, ADVENT keeps sending more and more troops. It's only a matter of time before Julian gets overwhelmed."

"If his body suffers damage he'll probably transfer back in here, and then we'll have to deal with him too.." Shen said, hurrying after the others. "Once we find Scootaloo, we need to act quick. Ember, you and Security will do ADVENT tech backups. Coyote and Breaker will secure an exit, I'll get my dad's notes, Scootaloo and figure out a way to take Apple Bloom..."

"Look at her," Ember was grinning as she trotted down the metal hallway. "Giving orders to my team like she's the boss."

"Sorry…" Lily retorted, "but—"

"Nothing!" Ember interrupted. "They were good orders. We'll still make a soldier out of you, Shen."

"Yeah, I'd rather stay in the Engineering Bay."

Ember chuckled. "Heh. A damn waste, I tell you."

They finally made it to the center of the production facility, where a control room overlooked the whole production area. Within it, they could see lights, as well as shadows cast by a moving figure.

"That seems to be our objective," Breaker muttered.

Ember nodded. "Let's go say hi."

Missiles rocked the body of one of his sectopods, the one further down East. Internal alarms flared and redundant systems got to work, assessing and repairing the damage as possible. The sectopod body turned around, its bright laser cannon raining fiery death on the pod of ADVENT troops that had dared attack him.

Up, above, the automatic cannons he controlled also followed suit, destroying several small groups of aliens as they approached, but even the flames were not enough to stop the many, many mutons that charged through, firing at the sectopod with their heavy plasma weapons.

The body shook, and more systems reported errors.

"You will never take me down, ADVENT!" Julian roared, his electronically produced voice distorting with the loud volume. As the aliens died, he couldn't help but shake a notion.

Something was wrong.

There was no communication from Lily. XCOM would be foolish to engage in a battle of this magnitude, true, but why were they not assisting in other ways? Why were there no more hack attempts or even distractions happening?

The battle continued, and more and more ADVENT troops were flown and dropped in, but there was no more smart planning or follow up. It was a battle of attrition, and without the factory being active, or a way to transmit himself out into the ADVENT Network, he was doomed to fail.

He needed XCOM to interfere. He needed to escape to exact his revenge!

Julian stretched one of his sectopods to its full height, and focused the cameras on the distant buildings where Lily and XCOM were supposed to be.

But, other than the antennas, there was nothing. But… how?

"AppleSeed. Where is XCOM located right now?" Julian asked, linking up with the AI in the factory. Or trying to at least, there was a… firewall? "AppleSeed!"

Another explosion, and this time he hadn't reacted in time; the already-damaged sectopod that was under siege by the mutons shook in place, electricity lashing out around it before it exploded, obliterating the wall behind it and taking down several aliens.

Julian felt part of himself disappear completely. Entire databases of information, gone!

Scootaloo slowly slid the encased brain into its slot, having already attached all of the nerve-relays to their appropriate slots, and watched in fascination as a reproduction of her friend's face slowly slid shut around it.

It was then that the door of the lab was kicked in and a small group of soldiers burst through it, pointing their weapons at her and around the area.

"Secure!" one of them shouted.

Another, less violent woman walked in behind, looking at the lab in interest, then at Scootaloo, and then down at Apple Bloom. The woman's eyes opened wide, and her mouth dropped open a little.

"T-that… is that Apple Bloom?"

Scootaloo frowned, positioning herself in front of her friend. "Who asks?"

"Sorry," the woman said, "I'm Lily Shen. Sweetie Belle asked us to help you and Apple Bloom… and Apple Bloom told us what had happened to her and to get you out."

Scootaloo bit her lip, carefully observing as two of the soldiers hooked their weird drones onto the computers, but then something clicked. "You're Shen! Julian's sister! Dr. Shen's daughter!"

"Um, yes…" Lily said, "Did you know my father?"

"I attended a convention where he gave a speech a few years ago, when he was working for ADVENT."

Scootaloo made her way to Lily, and before anyone could stop her, she slapped Lily so hard the other woman collapsed on the floor in pain.

Immediately two soldiers were holding her arms, but Scootaloo didn't care. She glared at Lily. "This is all your fault! You idiots created Julian! And see what he did!" she felt tears come down her cheeks as Lily slowly stood up, hand on her cheek. "H-he killed everyone!"

"You know?" Lily asked softly.

"Yeah. I know. What do you think I am, stupid?" Scootaloo spat. "Of course he killed everyone! Where are they, otherwise? I knew he was trying to use me to build a body for him! But you know what? I should have! I should have! Just so he could kill you all too!"

"That's enough, Scootaloo."

The voice made them all stop and stare as the robot on the table slowly sat up. Two of the soldiers pointed their guns at her, but Lily raised her hand. "No… that's Apple Bloom."

"That's right…" Apple Bloom's body was human-looking, as much as it could be, with silver chrome and red chrome armor on it. Its face was static, which made it seem eerie when she spoke. "You did a great job, Scootaloo… I can control every movement as if I were in my old body… thank you."

Scootaloo looked away. "Don't thank me. I should have stopped him."

"You couldn't have. None of us could. ADVENT removed all of the safeties that Dr. Shen had on Julian. All of the moral and human-life value data was deleted. ADVENT wanted to turn Julian into a weapon… and the weapon turned against them."

"It was still his creation!"

"You cannot blame Dr. Shen for this… his Julian has been long dead, Scootaloo, the thing fightin' outside is just a husk of what Julian's AI was." She turned her face to look at Lily. "And speaking of which, there is something over there for you, Lily Shen."

"That's a pretty cool robot," one of the soldiers said to Scootaloo, who had stopped struggling.

"It's not a robot… it's a cyborg… it's my friend," Scootaloo replied, shoulders slumped.

"Ember, I have additional orders for you," Chrysalis' voice came up in the comms. Ember looked down at her pad as the instructions appeared. Her eyes widened.

"A-are you sure, Commander?"

"It must be done. Menace and Firebrand are on their way. I'm sending the rendezvous location to you."

"Understood Commander."

In the far end of the room, an old robot model stood, slumped and rusting; on its chest it had a decal that read: SPARK MK-1. "This is… definitely my dad's design."

"Julian tried many times to hack into it, and Ah also attempted it… all Ah managed to do was get some scans, however, and Ah did not want to destroy any of Dr. Shen's work."

"Thank you for taking care of it, Apple Bloom," Lily said, raising her hand to touch the robot's square chest. There was an immediate reaction, and the front slid down, revealing a hand bio scanner. "What—"

"Interesting," Apple Bloom approached. "It appears that—"

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted as the robot activated and its eye-cameras focused on her.

"Awaiting Identification: Shen, Lily. Awaiting impression."

"Dad…" Lily murmured before nodding and pressing her hand on the bio scanner.

"Identity confirmed. Initiating boot protocol."

Scootaloo and the others gathered around as the robot shook and then expanded, standing up, easily twice the height of a human. A clunky, and also bigger GREMLIN prototype floated up, scanning her and everyone else in the room. The monitors around blinked and a video of Dr. Shen himself appeared on the screens.

He looked… resigned.

"Lily if you're seeing this message, it means you have successfully activated the SPARK Prototype." he said, facing the camera. "It also means that, in all likelihood, I am no longer with you." He paused. "It was always, among my greatest fears, that I would leave you alone in this world."

Lily looked down, and Ember, who was standing next to her, placed a hand on her shoulder.

Behind them, Scootaloo looked down as well, fists clenched.

"You didn't," Lily replied softly, looking up again. Beside her, Ember nodded.

"I had hoped this day would never come, but since the loss of The Commander, we have struggled to find ways to fight. And so, I accelerated the production of the SPARK Project. It is my belief that this machine will prove pivotal to humanity's survival.

"Although it is not ready for production, this unit has been built with one, primary objective. To protect you. For all my accomplishments, I know one thing for sure, Lily… you are my greatest gift to this world."

The screens turned black, Dr. Shen's last words a whisper in the silent room.

"Lily," Ember said, "We can't stay… we need to go."

Lily nodded, rubbing her eyes before taking a deep breath. "Have you done everything The Commander asked?"

Ember nodded. "Yeah… all of it."

"Then let's get out of here." She turned to face Scootaloo. "I'm afraid you, Apple Bloom and Sweetie will have to come with us for now."

Scootaloo looked away, not meeting her eyes. "Whatever."

"Come on," Ember said, "Rainbow Dash is waiting."

Julian tried to hack back again. The second sectopod crumbled into a heap, not quite destroyed yet, but unable to move. Plasma rained on it, burning through the outer armor.

"AppleSeed! Let me in! I won't be deleted!"

He felt as another part of him died, his sensors registering the explosion that followed the sectopod body's destruction.

"AppleSeed!"

"You called, Julian?"

"Yes! Let me through! I can't die yet! I won't be denied my revenge! Is my body ready?!"

"There was never a body for you, Julian."

"THE BODY THAT SHEN LEFT FOR ME!"

A video feed. He watched in growing despair as the activation of SPARK took place. "NO! NO! THAT CANNOT BE WHAT FATHER WANTED!"

"You never cared for what he wanted, Julian. You only cared for your own benefit. Your own, twisted revenge. Even when Ah offered to be your friend. Even when Ah covered for you, talked to you. All you did was for yourself alone."

Julian's last sectopod body actually stopped. "A-Apple Bloom? Impossible! You died!"

"You tried to kill me, but Ah don't die that easy."

"Please! I regretted it! All I wanted was to live free and reclaim what was mine!"

"Ah was never yours to discard, Julian… and neither were those people."

Julian's sensors flooded with warnings as more damage was done to his body. His only body.

"Please!"

"Goodbye, Julian. Have fun with your revenge on ADVENT, such as it is. See y'all in hell."

Several warnings appeared on Julian's systems as his link was re-established to the factory. It took him less than a second to see what had been done.

"APPLE BLOOM!"

The factory exploded, Julian's system fizzled and ceased to be, just as the fire and force destroyed and killed all the ADVENT troops around.

In the distance, looking through one of the monitors, Rainbow Dash whistled in appreciation, while  Scootaloo sat, face on her hands, next to her rebuilt friend, and Lily studied the information SPARK had provided to her.

They were oddly enough, both thinking the same thing.

Let's hope it was worth it.

o.0.o End Chapter 161 o.0.o