Sirens blared aboard the Avenger as the Commander ran from the command quarters to the bridge, where Central Officer Bradford was waiting for them.
“What’s happening?” the Commander asked, the remains of a sandwich in their hand.
“Commander,” Bradford replied. “We’ve received a report of an ADVENT assault on a civilian outpost. It’s a resistance sector, Canterlot, which had previously been out of sight of ADVENT, but somehow they’ve located the area and are killing anyone in sight.”
“What are we looking at in terms of hostiles?” the Commander asked, a look of concern on their face.
“Mostly ADVENT grunts,” Bradford continued, flicking through some images captured on the school’s CCTV feed. “A couple of MECs, mixed in amongst the troops, a few officers, and a reported Sectoid from our ground operative.”
The Commander nodded. “Contact the troops and ready them for deployment. Operation Devil’s Driving Engine is go!”
Bradford sighed. “I hate the random mission name generator some days.” He switched on the radio. “Rise and shine, troops! Time to deploy!”
A group of six soldiers ran across the ship from the Armoury to the loading bay, where the Skyranger awaited them. One of them turned to the other.
“Hey, have you seen my E.X.O Suit anywhere?” he asked.
“Kowalski’s still got it!” the other soldier replied. “Remember, he wore it when you were out for falling asleep on the battlefield!”
“Weren’t you always hunkering down at every conceivable opportunity?” the first soldier retorted.
“Shut it you!”
“Listen up!” shouted the voice of Central Officer Bradford, who approached from across the loading dock. “We’ve got civilians to protect, and assets in the region to secure. No telling what ADVENT is packing, so load up and get ready to fight!”
One of the soldiers raised his hand. “What’s the bet there’ll be a Faceless in there somewhere? Every time we’ve had to stop an ADVENT raid on a civilian camp there’s been one!”
Bradford sighed. “10 bucks,” he replied. “Let’s go!” he shouted, grabbing his rifle and heading for the Skyranger.
The platform on which the Skyranger sat began to elevate, bringing it to the deck of the Avenger. Its engines engaged, and the Skyranger surged into the sky, flying away into the morning sky toward Canterlot.
Meanwhile, Cheerilee and the CMC, plus Sunset of course, advanced through the corridors, turning right at one point into another corridor. Loud bangs suddenly echoed behind them, and Sweetie Belle looked back.
“I hear gunfire!” she said to the others.
“Well, no shit,” Sunset replied.
Sweetie Belle pouted. “Those shots weren’t from us, nor were they aimed at us!”
Cheerilee spoke next. “They must have found some other survivors. Nothing we can do for them now, of course.” She motioned forward, when suddenly more shots rang out. Bullets whizzed over their heads as several ADVENT troopers opened fire.
“Now THOSE shots were aimed at us!” Scootaloo added.
“Not helping!” Cheerilee replied, swinging around and firing off some shots from her assault rifle. The shots tore through the armour of one soldier, knocking him down instantly, whilst the other looked on in confusion.
Just then, an officer appeared, and the two soldiers gave chase. Apple Bloom stopped, deployed her assault cannon, and opened fire. The recoil was massive, and even with her above-normal strength that was typical of members of the Apple family, Apple Bloom had difficulty keeping the weapon on target, mainly laying down a hail of suppressive fire upon the advancing soldiers. Sweetie Belle aimed a shot from her sniper rifle, squeezed the trigger, and fired.
The shot blew the officer’s head clean off, and he fell to the ground. The other soldier, visible confused by this, opened fire randomly. Bullets flew through the air and hit Apple Bloom, knocking her to the floor.
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo called, charging out front, and firing her shotgun. The blast dispersed, missing the soldier by a considerable distance and impacting into the walls and surrounding scenery.
“Damnit! Out of range!” Scootaloo shouted, stopping behind a locker to avoid being shot at.
The soldier advanced, firing once more, before being taken down by another shot from Sweetie Belle.
Cheerilee activated her drone, which flew over to Apple Bloom and stemmed her injuries.
“That’ll hold for now,” she explained, “but you’ll need medical attention when this is over.”
Apple Bloom shakily got to her feet, holstering the weapon and following along. “Should we check the cafeteria? Ah imagine a lot of students woulda gone there.”
“It’s a good shout,” Sweetie Belle noted. “And it’s not far from here either.”
Cheerilee motioned to them, and away they went.
When they reached the cafeteria, all was quiet. Far too quiet. “It’s too quiet,” Scootaloo whispered.
“Funny y’all should say that,” Apple Bloom observed.
“Why?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Because that’s usually the line spoken in a Western moments before someone gets shot,” Scootaloo added.
Sunset shook her head. “We’re trying to survive being killed by soldiers intent on killing us, and you crack jokes?”
“Gotta be mad ta stay sane,” Apple Bloom finished.
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang, and the doors to the cafeteria flew open, followed by a body flying out of the door and crashing into the lockers opposite. He attempted to get up, only for a second blast to render him lifeless.
“Let that be a lesson to ya!” shouted a voice. An old, familiar voice.
And who should step through the door but Granny Smith, clad not in her usual attire, but old armour plating with the X symbol seen on Cheerilee’s computer terminal.
“Granny!” Apple Bloom cried.
“Keep it down sugarcube!” Granny Smith replied. “Who knows how many more o’those thin’s there are out here.”
Cheerilee walked over. “Mrs Smith,” she began.
“That’s Colonel Smith ta ya,” Granny Smith replied. “Ah was fightin’ these aliens before ya were even born.”
Apple Bloom blinked. “Ya work fer XCOM?”
“Used ta,” Granny Smith continued. “I fought back in the first invasion back in the 1980s, when we beat them off our world, and good riddance too!” She checked her shotgun and motioned to them. “Come inside! The meat packin’ room and freezer are just this way. Most secure rooms in the whole school, and perfect for an ambush.”
They proceeded inside, and went into the freezer room. It was very, very cold.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Cheerilee asked, “where were you back in 2015? XCOM could have done with older operatives coming out of retirement.”
“Ah’d have blown mah cover,” Granny Smith replied. “Besides, bein’ here allowed me ta keep mah family safe. The Rainbooms are in the freezer as well, incidentally.”
“How’d they survive?” Sunset asked.
“They exited the hall as fast as they could when the firing started,” a voice started. It was the voice of Rainbow Dash.
“You traitor!” Sunset snarled, raising her weapon. “You turned on me effortlessly and without so much as a second thought!”
“The traitors are with you,” Rainbow rebuffed.
“She’s right, ya know,” Applejack added.
Cheerilee sighed. “Can we all please refrain from killing one another until AFTER we’ve defeated the aliens?”
“Indeed,” Granny Smith observed. “Open up the ammo lockers, and arm yerselves. ADVENT is closin’ in.”