Sunday, September 14, 8:30 AM Tokyo time.
Twilight woke with a grin. Sunset was snoring gently beside her, the alarm about to go off. Reaching over, she turned off the alarm then gently placed her hands on her sleeping BFF’s side. Jabbing them quickly into her sides she tickled her mercilessly.
“Wake up sleepyhead. Time to get up,” she giggled.
Sunset bolted awake, trying to escape her BFF as she laughed. Finally rolling from her grasp, she turned to her BFF.
“Guess no sleeping in today,” she grinned.
She transferred over to her chair, quickly rolling over to grab her bathroom bag. “Be right back!” she promised, rolling out of the room and into the bathroom.
Twilight laughed. “I guess I tickled her so much she couldn’t wait,” she smirked. “Time to make breakfast.” She got out of bed and headed for the kitchen, still grinning ear to ear.
She washed up then started preparing breakfast. Sunset finished up in the bathroom and dropped off her bag, joining her. Together they made short work of preparing two bowls of porridge with fruit then sat down to enjoy their breakfasts.
“So, I saw an old friend in my dreams last night,” commented Twilight between bites. “Not anyone I ever hoped to see again, but it was still interesting.”
“Who?” wondered Sunset, sipping her coffee.
“Midnight. She showed up in the middle of my dream and just said ‘We have to talk.’ I didn’t know what to make of that so just went with it,” answered Twilight.
“She morphed the dream into a starry void with just the two of us, then she thanked me,” she continued.
Sunset nearly spit out her coffee, choking for a moment, then wiped up her mess. “Now I know that was just a dream. Midnight thanked you? For what?” gasped Sunset, still cleaning up her coffee.
“That’s exactly what I said. And she answered.
‘Thank you for giving me everything I hoped for. When you ascended, we reached levels I hadn’t even dreamed of! When you became a goddess, I did too by extension, and have access to all the magic and powers that come with it. Twilight! We finally have it! Everything I ever wanted! This is magnificent!’
“Ah that sounds bad. Goddess level Midnight? Should I be worried?” Sunset interrupted in concern.
“No, I don’t think so, it gets weirder, just wait,” continued Twilight.
‘What do you mean you became a goddess? Does that mean you’re taking over again, now that you have everything you want?’ I asked her.
‘No! Why would I? I have what I wanted. I have access to knowledge beyond my dreams. I’m going to camp out in the back of your mind and learn, catalog, and organize every bit of this wonderful new knowledge for the rest of our now extremely long and wonderful lives! I am in heaven!’
“Huh,” grunted Sunset, cleanup done and back to sipping what was left of her coffee.
“Right?” agreed Twilight. “So I had a few reservations.”
‘Okay, if you’re going to be hanging around in my head, I think we have to have a few ground rules.
‘First, I am in charge. At all times. You don’t take over, displace, or otherwise mess with me, or I swear on my life I will find a way to drive you out for good.
‘Second, no more doing whatever you like. If you are hanging with me, you are being Harmonic. I am a Harmonic goddess, and I won’t have you messing around with that.
‘Third, anything you learn, you share with me. If you learn anything I need to know right away, let me know internally, and do not disrupt what I am doing. Act if you need to like one of the other voices in my head. Like my mother.
“At this point, my mother appeared, laughed and waved, then disappeared again. I swear sometimes I need a shrink,” Twilight sighed, then continued.
‘I swear. Not a problem, I can live with that, as long as I can stay and analyze and learn all this wonderful new magic,’ Midnight promised.
‘Okay. Please don’t make me regret this,’ I added. Then she hugged me.”
“Midnight hugged you?” Sunset asked incredulously.
“Yeah, right?” responded Twilight. “So, I hugged her back, then she faded away and my other dream returned. I was kind of spooked by the whole thing, so I woke up and went to wash my face in the bathroom. When I looked up into the mirror she was smiling back at me. She winked and grinned then disappeared again. That’s when I started to think it was not a dream. I went back to bed, and here we are.
“Sunset, I can feel her back there, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think she really is putting all her energy into learning about our new magic, and will share it with me, and by extension us. I think this may actually be a good thing,” finished Twilight.
“I have to admit I’m feeling a bit guarded about that, but I’ll trust your judgment Sparky. You know yourself well enough to say if that is true or not,” comforted Sunset. “Let me know if that changes though, okay?”
“You bet Sunny,” Twilight promised with a smile.
Sunset’s phone rang. Looking at the caller ID she answered it. “Mikoto, what’s up?” Sunset greeted cheerfully.
Twilight could hear Mikoto speaking, clearly frustrated about something. Sunset responded. “”Was she able to trace where the message came from?”
More frantic responses were heard from Mikoto. Sunset reassured her. “Okay, try not to worry about it. It sounds like someone is trying to rattle your cage. Well help you look into it more when we get together tomorrow. Don’t let them get to you. You girls have fun and we’ll see you all tomorrow. Okay? Take care Mikoto.”
Sunset hung up the phone and turned to Twilight.
“What was that all about?” asked Twilight, curious.
“Some idiot sent Mikoto a death threat,” answered Sunset. “Murderer! Prepare to pay with your life for your crimes! Hardly original but still nothing to ignore. Ruiko traced it back to a control number from the communication locus. I told her we would help them figure it out when we see them tomorrow but not to worry about it for now. No sense letting some random wacko ruin your day.”
“Why would anyone call her a murderer? Mikoto has never killed anyone,” wondered Twilight.
“No idea. There’s way too much effort behind it to be a prank or wrong number. But I guess we’ll sort that out tomorrow,” replied Sunset.
Twilight and Sunset nursed the remainder of their coffees.
“For today, I really messed up slagging the lair’s defenses, especially given the coven’s attack in our lair almost immediately afterward. I’m going to head back and see if I can’t do something about restoring them to keep our unwanted visitors out from now on,” mused Sunset. “Do you want to join me?”
“I would, but I agree with what you said yesterday. We’ve been too complacent about the enemies we’re facing,” replied Twilight. “These aren’t magical misfits we can blast with a rainbow friendship laser then sing a song with. We need to get our allies up to speed. I’m going to start putting together additional TACIT systems for any new allies and get them set. Better to keep them happy then have them turn to our enemies for the TACIT technology now that they’ve stolen it from us.”
“That’s a good point,” agreed Sunset. “So how are you going to do that?”
“I’m going to talk to Dr. Long and see if NASA can coordinate it. Obviously better for them to do it as I don’t have contacts with the other agencies,” explained Twilight. “So I’ll be heading over to Tranquility Base.”
“That makes sense,” Sunset agreed. “Okay, I’ll join you as soon as I finish with the Lair defenses.”
“Sounds good, Sunny,” smiled Twilight.
Finished with her coffee, Sunset hugged Twilight, wishing her success, then teleported with a teal flash back to their lair. Twilight cleaned up their breakfast dishes and finished getting ready for the day herself.
Twilight texted Dr. Long her intentions to visit. Dr. Long replied with a warm welcome, looking forward to seeing her. Dressed and ready for the day, Twilight teleported with a magenta flash to the TACIT receiver at Tranquility base.
Dr. Long was there waiting for her.
“Hi Twilight, welcome back! Let's chat,” she said, leading Twilight back to her quarters. They caught each other up on what had been going on the way.
Sitting Twilight down in her quarters, Dr. Long prepared tea for them both.
“A coven attack on your bunker and lair?” Dr. Long asked incredulously. “Are you serious!? And you fear they may come after us?” she asked as she served up the tea for them both.
“Thank you,” said Twilight as she took her tea then took a sip. “Ah! This is wonderful.”
After another sip, she continued. “Yes, both our bunker and lair, and they were determined to hurt us. We fear they will attack anyone they see as our allies, anything to hurt and undermine us. Sadly, that includes all of you here at Tranquility Base.
“So, we want to give you some defenses that should deter them and save your lives if they try anything.”
“What did you have in mind?” asked Dr. Long.
“A magical shield to start, which will be powered by the TACIT connection. In addition, we’ll provide you with fobs to be worn by all staff at all times. They’ll perform an automatic teleport to a designated safe place in the event of a life threatening emergency. We were thinking of using our lair on Mars, which Sunset is currently refortifying right now,” explained Twilight.
There was a knock on the door.
“I wonder who that could be?” asked Dr. Long. “I left instructions that we were not to be interrupted.”
She rose and answered the door to find a smiling Dr. Hang’e in the hallway.
“I heard that!” Dr. Hang’e smiled as she entered the room.
“And I have to insist! Anyone here needing protection in my realm will be sent to my lair. This is my realm, and I reserve the right to protect those in my care.” She sat down next to Twilight and gave her a gentle hug.
Dr Long shut the door, then fetched a cup of tea for her goddess friend.
“Of course, Dr. Hang’e. That makes perfect sense,” she agreed, giving Dr. Heng’e her tea.
“That does make sense. We can certainly do that,” agreed Twilight, hugging Chang’e back.
“Our other concern was regarding the stolen TACIT plans. We’re certain our enemies plan to use them to create their own TACIT systems, and will attempt to leverage other agencies and countries to their side, away from us.
“We were hoping you could help us make inroads with those other agencies first, before our enemies have a chance to reach out to them. Especially ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, and any others you think we should be in contact with,” Twilight continued.
“I’ll reach out to the other agencies and make the necessary introductions,” agreed Dr. Long.
“So, what is this I hear about an attack on your lair?” asked Dr. Hang’e.
Twilight explained.
Sunset sat in her chair before the Guardian explaining what she wanted.
“So I clearly kind of overdid it. I need to reinstate the wards to the liar. But I don’t want to make them as brutally lethal as my predecessor. What can I do?” she asked.
“I can reinstate the wards, but you need to understand. Your predecessor did not use lethal force lightly. There was and is a reason the wards were made to utilize that level of force. The lair is sacrosanct. Those who would oppose you need to know their very lives are forfeit if they attempt to attack you or yours in your lair. Are you certain you wish to diminish this?” replied the Guardian.
“Lethal deterrent does not fit the ways of Harmony,” Sunset insisted. “I would prefer to keep lethal remedies as a last resort, not as the first response to anyone ringing my doorbell,” she snarked.
“Noted. We will adjust them accordingly,” agreed her Guardian.
Twilight discussed their needs with Dr.s Long and Hang’e.
One of the first things they agreed on was the absolute necessity of moving the TACIT bases in Pasadena to a more secure location. Also, Twilight’s garage lab would need to be fortified, or more reasonably replaced for the same reasons.
The NASA base on Mars would also need fortifications, though the base at Titanfall would be fine, due to it already having a working shield.
And all future emplacements would require this same level of security, so they planned accordingly.
Twilight also requested and received counts of the staff currently deployed at each of the bases, so she excused herself to begin crafting the necessary protection fobs.
Chang’e offered to let her do her crafting at her lair, which Twilight gratefully accepted. Twilight teleported to Chang’e’s lair as Dr.s Long and Hang’e discussed the plans to include the other agencies.
Inside the martian bunker a team of five armored and armed witches apparated next to the TACIT unit.
They quickly cleared the room then checked the rest of the bunker.
No sooner had they cleared the room then another team of five armored witches apparated, also clearing the room quickly. This continued until there were thirty witches, all armored and magically armed to their teeth, all packed into the bunker dining and presentation areas.
With their full force present, they surrounded themselves with bubble spells for breathable air and protection before opening the door out of the bunker. Then they poured out from the bunker and up onto the martian landscape.
Brooms at the ready they rose up, assuming an attack formation as they headed towards the nearby NASA installation.
Sunset had just finished resetting the last of the lair defenses with the Guardian when he spoke.
“I have detected thirty individuals, all suddenly appearing in our realm,” the Guardian warned. “They are currently heading towards the installation housing more of your kind at a rapid pace.”
“Crab nuggets! That’s not good,” grumbled Sunset.
“Guardian, please keep any intruders out of here. I’m going to see if I can head them off.” She rose from her wheelchair assuming her angelic form.
Fire surrounding her right hand, she teleported directly to the TACIT unit in the Martian base.
A technician working nearby looked up in shock at her sudden appearance.
“Sound the alarm! The base is under imminent attack!” Sunset called out to the startled technician, who immediately ran to the wall and slammed down on a red button.
The base filled with the sound of emergency claxons. As the technician ran off to alert her supervisors, Sunset teleported outside the airlock then rose up over the base.
Before she could form the shield spell for the base she was buffeted, attacked directly by the now very much no longer eminent but very present witches.
Half of their force buffeted Sunset in well timed rounds of attacks as the other half blasted through the airlock doors then dove directly into the base. With the lock breached, the base began losing air at a prodigious rate as the remaining witches continued their direct assault on the base’s lone defender.
Gathering her wits, Sunset regrouped and initiated her own counter attack on the witches.
As Sunset battled the team of witches outside, the ones who had breached the base began their task, destroying everything and everyone they could find.
They quickly slagged the TACIT unit, hoping to cut off any escape or reinforcements for the base. They then began to systematically destroy everything in sight, working their way outward from the central receiving bay through the base.
Following breach protocol when the alarm sounded, the base personnel had sealed themselves into their rooms, preparing for an imminent breach. There, they hid under their beds or other sturdy furnishings.
Seeing none to vent their wrath on, the witches focused on destroying all of the base’s infrastructure they could find.
Outside Sunset continued to struggle with the witches. This team was clearly more experienced than the last group she had faced off against. Their attacks were timed and overlapped, allowing her no time to recover between them. She was left bouncing from one defense to another while the team below worked their mayhem throughout the base.
In frustration, Sunset teleported above the battle and unleashed an unrestricted fire attack over the entire area. This broke the witches formation, scattering them momentarily, and allowing Sunset a moment to think.
Pressing her sudden advantage, Sunset picked off individual witches with directed laserlike fire attacks as the rest of their team regrouped. By the time they had reformed and initiated their coordinated attacks, Sunset had thinned their ranks by seven, down to eight witches remaining against her.
Inside the base the first team of fifteen witches unleashed unholy hell against the base. They slagged and breached critical equipment everywhere they found it.
An unfortunate young woman was hiding under a table in a common room when spotted by one of the attacking witches. Springing up, the young woman attempted to flee but was dropped with a concussive attack as she fled.
The witch moved on leaving the dying young woman gasping in shock behind her.
Twilight was just finishing up the last of fobs when Chang’e appeared beside her.
“Too late for those, we are under attack!” Chang’e yelled, disappearing again. Dropping everything Twilight teleported back to the base to help defend them.
When she arrived everything was in shambles. The witches had already been through the receiving area, slagging the TACIT unit and everything else in the bay.
Mercifully, Twilight did not see any bodies as she raced through the base, looking for any signs of the intruders or survivors. Everywhere she went it was the same; total destruction and no sign of any of the base personnel or their attackers.
She had just entered the ruined telescopic observatory when Chang’e caught up with her.
“They finished destroying the base despite my best efforts to stop them. They have already left,” Chang’e informed Twilight.
“Where are the base personnel?” asked Twilight. “I can’t find any of the base staff anywhere! Did they take them prisoner? Were they all killed?” asked Twilight fearfully.
“As soon as I detected the attackers presence, I sent a harmonic blessing to all my children and raised them to a crystal state. I froze their essences into indestructible jade. They are all wherever they were hiding when I unleashed the blessing after the alarm sounded. They will be fine, but we must gather them up and take them with us to the lair for safekeeping,” demanded Chang'e.
“Sunset!” Twilight called out in panicked realization, immediately teleporting to her BFF’s fob and coming out directly above the Martian base.
Suddenly in the midst of a magefire battle, Twilight only managed to not be killed instantly by her BFF immediately raising a shield around her as she teleported next to her.
“Twilight, what happened? Are you alright? Is everything okay at Tranquility Base?” Sunset asked as she continued to counter the witches' attacks.
“The base is ruined! But Chang’e was able to protect everyone, so no one died,” explained Twilight, recovering some of her wits as she tried to help with the defense against the witches' attacks.
“Thank the maker!” exclaimed Sunset. “Twi, I’m going to try to make an opening for you. I need you to get into the base and find the fifteen mages in there that are reeking havoc, then stop them. Can you do that?” she asked.
“Yes! I’ll do whatever it takes!” agreed Twilight.
Sunset nodded, then focused an attack directly against the nearest witch, forcing the witch to momentarily move aside.
Twilight streaked by her then through the ruined airlock. Once inside she looked for any signs of the attacking witches, flying through the halls as she searched.
Coming up behind one of the witches who was busy slagging more equipment she dropped her with a stun curse, then moved on to find the rest of the attacking force.
She found another one of the witches. She had one of the base scientists, a young woman, whose eyes were currently wide with terror. Just as Twilight launched a curse at the attacking witch she slit the woman’s throat.
Dropping to her knees in horror, Twilight stared at the dying woman in abject shock and dismay.
“No! No no no!” she screamed, reaching towards the dying woman. “No!”
She dropped to the floor weeping. She stared at the woman, still twitching in pain and fear as she bled to death. The stunned witch was steadily rising as she recovered her senses.
Twilight watched in silent horror. Everything slowed then stood still.
“Twilight! Twilight Sparkle! Speak to me!” she heard a familiar voice call out as she looked at the frozen world.
“Midnight?” she whispered, unable to look away from the horror before her or move a single muscle.
“Twilight! Don’t do this! If you freeze up now, we both die! Come on Twilight! Snap out of it!” called out Midnight desperately.
“Midnight,” gasped Twilight, still staring at the dying girl, now unmoving, her eyes still open wide in terror and pain.
“Twilight! Ugh... Hang on!” Midnight called out.
The room started to fade around her, replaced by a starry field. Midnight floated before her, clothed for battle, magenta power pouring out from her.
“Twilight! Oh thank heavens.
“Girl, snap out of it! Yes, what you just saw is horrible and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but girl, if you don’t snap out of this, that will be us next! Not meaning to freak you out more, but don’t you get that?” Midnight demanded.
Twilight just nodded mutely.
Midnight sighed. “You’re in complete shock, aren’t you?”
Twilight again nodded mutely, eyes still wide in terror.
Midnight held her face in her hands, shaking her head. “Okay, I’m taking over. Not forever, just to get us through this. I can do what you cannot. And I will, because we are in this together. You go, I go, simple as that. Okay Twilight? Just nod your head. If you are okay with me taking over for this, just nod your head and I will take care of this. I’m not taking over forever, but I am taking over now. I will not let us die here at the hands of these murdering witches.”
Eyes still wide in terror, Twilight mutely nodded.
“Okay, I got this.
“I am sorry to say, you will see all of this. I need you to see this and know you can survive, so next time you do not go into shock. Twilight, this is going to be a part of your life now. As horrifying as this is, you are strong enough to face this, and survive! Survive for both of us!” Midnight faded away. Twilight’s perception returned to the room, time still frozen.
Twilight was now a passive observer only, looking out through her own eyes.
A magenta glow surrounded Twilight as she transformed into Midnight, complete with battle armor, magenta power radiating out from her eyes. Time began moving again as the recovering witch watched her transformation in horror.
Transformation complete, a teal mist shot from her eyes as she rose from the floor.
She finished off the witch as she crossed over to the woman, then pulled her into her embrace, holding her close and rocking her gently as she died.
“Screw this!” hissed Midnight when she had passed. “I’m in charge now.”
She gently laid the young woman down then lit out after the remaining witches.
Chang’e hurried through the lunar base, gathering up the jade gems that held her childrens’ essences as she raced through the base. She placed them all in a bag she was wearing, intent on bringing them all to her lair for safekeeping.
After gathering the last one she at last checked her quarters, intending to see if there was anything there she needed to bring with her.
Nearing her door she saw the table of gifts outside burning, the notes and gifts destroyed and scattered through the hall. Entering through her shattered door, she saw her quarters were completely destroyed. On the kitchen counter, all the gifts and notes she had saved from her children were now burned and scattered, spread throughout the shattered remains of her quarters.
Clutching the bag and feeling her children safely inside, she fell weeping to her knees.
Holding the bag close to her heart, she tearfully thanked the maker for her good fortune at not losing any of her children.
Sunset once again performed her fire attack, managing to remove another three of her attackers from the realm of the living. Their ranks down to five, the remaining witches fled, streaking away towards the caldera in hopes of drawing her off, and in the mistaken belief the lair was still undefended and open to their attack.
Sunset didn’t follow after them, instead opting to race down into the damaged base after the remaining witches inside.
She quickly found a trail of dead witches leading to her BFF, magenta flames leaking out from her eyes as she fought a close quarters battle with two of the remaining witches. Sunset quickly struck down one of them while Twilight finished off the other.
“Midnight, is that you?” asked Sunset tentatively.
“Sunset!” Midnight responded, heading down the corridor after the rest of the witches. Sunset followed after her.
Midnight continued. “Twilight panicked and almost got us killed. I stepped in to keep us alive. Don’t worry, I’m keeping her safe! She’ll be fine and back as soon as this is over. Well as fine as anyone can be going through this hell…
“So you being here, does that mean you killed the rest of the witches outside?” Midnight asked as they raced down the hall.
“No. They took off for the caldera so I let them go. I took the opportunity to see if I could help you,” answered Sunset.
“Won’t they try and trash the lair then?” asked Midnight in concern.
“They can try, but the Guardian and I managed to get the wards back up and in place before the base was under attack. They won’t find it as easy to enter as last time. I fully expect to find all five of them stunned and waiting for us when we get there,” answered Sunset.
“I see,” nodded Midnight. “There’s another one!”
Midnight raced down the hall and launched into an attack against the surprised witch.
‘Go Midnight,’ thought Sunset under her breath. She caught up with her friend’s alter ego just as she finished the witch off.
“Wow. That was kind of frightening. When did you get so good at murder?” Sunset marveled.
“The moment these witches threatened the woman I love,” answered Midnight. She was already racing down the hall looking for the next witch.
“No one hurts one of mine.”
“I’ll second that,” agreed Sunset flying after her.
The last of the attacking witches dealt with, Sunset and Midnight began searching through the base to find the hiding base staff then teleport them to their lair for recovery.
There the staff quickly organized. The base commander turned one of the lair’s dining rooms into a triage area to treat their injured members and sort those needing more critical care.
Sunset and Midnight continued scouring the base. They teleported to any lifesigns, taking them back to the lair.
When they could now longer find any life signs, they returned to the lair, finding the base commander tending to her injured staff.
“Is that everyone?” Sunset asked her. “We’re not finding any more signs of life at the base. Is anyone missing?”
“Three are still missing. Two of them were servicing the solar cells outside, and the third was on break in the breakroom when the attack began,” answered the commander as she bound up the wound of the woman she was treating.
“Okay. We’ll go look for them. Thank you,” responded Sunset.
Together with Midnight she teleported back to the base. From there, they flew towards the solar cells. Sadly, they found the two staff members lying by the destroyed cells, their face plates shattered and both dead from asphyxiation.
Midnight gathered them then teleported back to the lair, while Sunset teleported into the bay by the ruined TACIT receiver and began her search for the last person missing.
Coming to the breakroom, she entered and immediately saw the young woman sprawled out on the break room floor face down in a pool of blood.
Dropping down to her knees next to her, Sunset gently rolled her over and into her lap. Seeing her face, Sunset recognized the cheerful young intern, the young girl who had been so helpful to her on her first visit.
Holding the dead girl tightly to her chest, the dead girl’s blood now covering them both, Sunset looked up towards the heavens, then unleashed an anguished cry that echoed throughout the entire base as she shook with tears of rage and sorrow.
Midnight sat alone in the empty breakroom, clearing her mind to speak with a still very shocked and frightened Twilight, who had been watching everything going on from her place secure and safe in her mind.
“Twilight! Twilight, it’s me, Midnight. Snap out of it girl, it’s over.
“Sunset and I took care of everything. I need you back. I’m good at taking care of that sort of thing, but your friend needs you now. Twilight?” called out Midnight taking Twilight’s hand in her mind.
Twilight looked away from the scene before her showing the empty breakroom with Midnight’s armored hands sitting calmly in her lap.
She looked into the mirror over the sink directly at Midnight.
“She killed her anyway, Midnight. I tried to stop her but she killed her anyway,” said Twilight, still in shock.
“And you stopped her from killing anyone else. We stopped them, Twilight. It’s okay now. It’s over. We did what we had to. You can relax,” assured Midnight.
“Come back, my friend. You redeemed me, okay? Harmony and all that. We have each other’s backs. I have your back, Twilight. I’m your friend. But now it’s time to step back into the saddle, girl. Time for you to drive again.”
“I don’t want to go back,” Twilight shook in fright. “What if they come again?”
“If they do, I’ll be there. Sunset will be there. And we, and you, will do what we have to.
“It’s okay, Twilight. It’s all going to be okay. Trust me. Trust us.
“Trust your friends,” assured Midnight.
In Twilight’s mind, Midnight pulled Twilight into a hug.
“Look what you taught me. I never thought I would see the day when I cared about anyone else. Now look at me, taking care of you and protecting our friends. Thank you for that Twilight.
“But now, your friend needs you. Go take care of her, Twilight. You can do this. Only you can do this,” assured Midnight,
In her mind, Twilight hugged Midnight back. “Okay,” she sighed. “Thank you Midnight.”
Stepping back and letting go of Midnight, she shut her eyes.
Opening them, she looked around the empty break room then nodded to herself. She had a friend to protect, to help. With a flash of magenta she disappeared.
Back at the lair Sunset gently placed the young intern’s body on an empty cot.
Still on her knees, she bowed her head and prayed to the maker to grant peace to the young girl’s soul and welcome her into eternity. Head bowed, she wept over the body of the young girl as the staff worked around her on the other injured.
Twilight, now back to herself, came up behind her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
After a few more moments of silent grief, Sunset rose, levitating next to her friend. “Welcome back, Twilight. What now?” Sunset asked, drying her eyes.
“Let’s see what happened to the ones who went to attack the lair,” responded Twilight.
They teleported outside of the lair entrance to find five stunned and very dead witches laying outside.
“Guardian, I thought we agreed, a non-lethal deterrent for our defenses,” commented Sunset looking down on the dead witches. “What happened here?”
“We did indeed agree, goddess,” agreed the Guardian, appearing beside them. “The defenses stunned them insensate as you requested. I then moved their insensate bodies out here to await your return.”
“So, basically, you killed them,” observed Twilight.
“Young goddess, I did not. I placed them out on the Martian soil to await the return of my mistress, though knowing full well, as you pointed out, that Mars herself would kill them before you returned.
“I did not kill them, but I do admit it was my intent that they die. I will not bear lightly those who attack my charges. I observed their callous intent in taking the lives of others during their attack on the base. I cannot let such as them continue to live as a threat to your children,” responded the Guardian.
Sunset rubbed her forehead in frustration, sighing.
“Understood. But next time please keep the intent of my directions,” she clarified. “I had hoped we could question them, and possibly get information about who is behind these new attacks and where they’re hiding.”
“I hear and obey, mistress. As for who is behind these attacks, we know it is the elder gods, led by the odious Baal Zebub. They, and all their followers, are behind these attacks,” responded the Guardian.
“Yes, clearly,” agreed Sunset. “But which coven did this, and where can we reach them to end this?”
“At this point, mistress, it is safe to assume all the servants of the elder gods are suspect,” responded the Guardian.
Sunset again just shook her head and sighed.
The girls gave the base staff free reign of the lair, allowing them to use whatever resources from the lair they required.
Sunset and Twilight begin the clean up of the Martian base.
They restored what they could, removing what was no longer usable and placing it all in a large pile outside the airlock.
Sunset then went through the base crafting patches for the breaches the witches had caused while Twilight repaired the blasted airlock doors. Once they had both finished their repairs, they pressurized the base then confirmed they had patched all the damage inflicted by the witches.
Satisfied with their repairs, they both teleported back to Tranquility base to assess the damage there.
They both quickly realized the extensive damage to Tranquility base rendered it currently completely useless.
Twilight set about removing all the destroyed equipment, placing it into boneyards next to the base while Sunset went through the base recrafting the damaged tunnels, halls and rooms. After that she reinforced the walls’ integrity and reinforced the base structure.
When both were done, the girls pressurized the base to confirm the integrity of their work.
Looking over the extensive equipment graveyard, Twilight was saddened to note that just about everything at the base had been damaged, often to the point of total destruction. So much loss from so brief a battle.
It was a grim lesson for them both over the cost of their lack of any form of defense.
“We most definitely need to shield all the bases going forward,” commented Twilight.
“Agreed,” replied Sunset, looking out over the battle scared ruins of all the base equipment. “Never again.”
“Never again,” agreed Twilight.
They returned to Chang’e’s lair where they found her ministering to her children, all of whom she had returned from their protected crystal forms.
She was feeding them from her larder, bringing them tea from her garden and waiting on them as they sat together, coming to grips with what had happened.
Sunset and Twilight joined her in serving the confused and frightened base staff. They explained what they could to them, and offered comfort to all. Seeing the three goddesses among them caring for and comforting them did much to ease the fears and concerns of them all.
Twilight eventually excused herself. She found a secluded space and began crafting the necessary components for protective shields for both bases and their redoubt. Finished, she also gathered the now completed fobs, returning to the others.
Giving the fobs to the base commander with instructions for their use going forward, Twilight rejoined her friends.
“Chang’e, can we bring the rest of the Martian base crew to your lair as well?” asked Sunset. “We only have one working TACIT receiver left after the attack, and I’d like to place it in your lair if that’s alright with you. If we bring all the personnel over to your lair, they can get whatever they need from NASA administration and evacuate their critically injured personnel to get the care they need.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to care for your children with mine,” agreed Chang’e. “Go ahead, set up whatever you need. I will make sure they have a place to stay and are comfortable.”
“Also, Chang’e, do you have a guardian in your lair? Is your lair protected from intruders as mine was? Well, and now is once again?” Sunset asked.
“No. I never had a need for either. There was none in my realm besides myself,” replied Chang’e.
“That’s clearly changed,” observed Sunset. “I’d like to help set up protections for your lair, just as we have in ours. And to provide you with a guardian like my own for your and your children’s protection. Is that okay?”
“Given what we just experienced, I agree that seems most prudent,” agreed Chang’e.
“Okay. I’m going to return to my lair to work on getting you your own guardian. First, I’ll bring ‘my children’, as you call them, over to your lair for your protection. And has anyone seen my wheelchair? I could really use a seat right now,” asked Sunset.
“I saw it by the Guardian’s portal in our lair,” answered Twilight. “While you’re doing that, I am going to bring our remaining TACIT receiver over here. Then I’ll take the matching unit from my garage lab and help NASA set it up in a secure location. Then they can begin taking care of their sick and injured.”
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Sunset, teleporting away with a teal flash. Back in her lair she went to the makeshift infirmary, where the base commander and her staff were tending to her injured staff.
Finding her still hard at work, Sunset approached her.
“I never thought I would find a use for my medical degree again, especially not like this,” she greeted Sunset as she approached, dressing a wound on a sleeping young woman.
“You used to be a doctor?” asked Sunset.
“A surgeon actually, believe it or not,” agreed the commander. “Before I moved into administration. Then I was recruited by NASA.”
“That’s a useful skill to have at the moment,” agreed Sunset. “That said, we need to transport you and your staff one more time. The attack on both bases destroyed the TACIT units leaving us with only one left working and available, the one we have been used to for our redoubt. We’re moving the NASA terrestrial base to a secure, defensible location, and placing the transceiver in the lair on the moon.”
“There’s a lair on the moon as well?” said the base commander. “Why am I so surprised? It makes sense.”
“Yes. Chang’e, the goddess of the moon, or Dr. Heng’e as she is known to the Tranquility base staff, has agreed to host you there under her protection. With the TACIT unit in her lair you should be able to get any urgent care needed for your injured, as well as any supplies and personal adjustments you need,” explained Sunset.
“That sounds prudent. When do we start transporting over personnel?” asked the commander.
“We can start right now. I’ll transport yourself and your critical patients first, then work from there. Is there someone here I can coordinate the rest of the transfers with after you are settled on the moon with your patients?” asked Sunset.
“My second. One moment, I’ll call him over. Gary!” she called out. A bespectacled man with gray hair and a mustache looked up from where he was tending a patient. She waved him over. He finished dressing the wound on his patient then joined them.
“Did you used to be a doctor too?” asked Sunset as he approached.
Gary laughed. “No. Army corpsman. Field doctor of sorts. First aid, emergency treatment. That sort of thing,” he answered with a smile. Turning to his commander, he responded. “What’s up Nancy?”
“We’re bugging out. The goddesses here only have one working TACIT receiver, so they’re taking us all to the moon to rest in the lair there while the bigwigs sort out what to do. At least then we can get the critical patients the care they need,” answered the commander.
“Okay. Sounds like a plan. What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“I’m going over first with our critical patients. I need you to coordinate the transfer of the rest of our personnel so we all get to our new staging in a timely and organized manner,” she responded.
“You got it boss,” he nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m sure you will,” agreed his commander.
She turned back to Sunset. “Okay. Let’s do this. These two first, with me if you can manage it. After that, I want the rest of the ward and whom and whatever Gary says. Thank you, Sunset.”
“Glad to help,” agreed Sunset. “Okay, let’s go.” With a flash of teal, the administrator and the two patients with their beds disappeared.
Twilight appeared next to the TACIT receiver in their Martian bunker.
With a sigh, she unhooked all of the attachments except the frame and case with the matching fobs with their hub, leaving those attached to the unit. Placing her hand on the unit, she teleported to Chang’e’s lair in a flash of magenta.
She appeared in the large chamber Chang’e had suggested she use as the new receiving area. Setting up everything as best she could without power or equipment, she teleported in a flash of magenta to her garage laboratory.
There she faced her original TACIT unit.
“Okay girl, time to move,” Twilight said to the TACIT unit. “I guess it was naive to think I’d be able to keep you all to myself. Time to write a little more history.”
Twilight unhooked everything from the unit. She took care to include the router and hub unit attached that were on the other side of the network in the original Martian hub. Once everything was gathered, she placed her hands on it and disappeared with it in a flash of magenta.
As she disappeared, her father Nightlight poked his head in. “Twilight, is that you?” he asked, looking around and seeing no one.
In a magenta flash Twilight materialized next to the two existing NASA TACIT transceivers. The one for Titanfall was still in use but the two for Mars and Tranquility base were completely dark. She left the unit next to the others as she sought out the operations officer.
She found him coordinating shipments to Titan. “I need a moment of your time,” Twilight suggested.
“We’re a little busy at the moment,” responded the officer without turning around. “Can it wait until the next shift?”
“No, it can’t wait, not at all. This is about Tranquility base and the Martian base. I need your complete attention now,” Twilight calmly stated.
Annoyed, the operations manager turned to say something but stopped as he saw who was addressing him.
“Sorry Miss Sparkle. What can I do for you? One moment while I hand this off to my subordinate.” He waved over a young woman who appeared just as overworked as he was. She came right over.
“Helen, take over the shipments for Titan for me, will you? I need to speak with Miss Sparkle for a bit,” he requested, handing his clipboard loaded with invoices over to her.
“Sure, Scott. I got it,” she assured him as she took the clipboard and turned to the running TACIT transceiver.
“Okay Miss Sparkle. I’m all yours,” he assured her.
“First question, what have you done to fortify this location? Are you ready for the attack that is coming? Will your fortifications be able to withstand a sustained attack, magical or otherwise?” asked Twilight.
The officer noded. “I heard about the attacks at Tranquility and Mars. Magical attacks? Damn.”
Twilight nodded. “I just carried back four of your dead comrades, killed in a magical attack on your bases. We killed over a dozen of the women who attacked us. Magic attacks are dead serious. Our enemies won’t stop until they know we are dead and buried in the ground.”
“So what do you need?” asked the operations manager.
“We need a fortress. A fortress to house the last operating TACIT units in existence. Where or how can we get that? We need them right now to protect the lives of your staff on the other side of these units. The surviving remnant of your two attacked bases need your help right now. What can you give me?” Twilight asked.
“That’s way above my paygrade,” said the officer. “Wait here a moment. I’ll get you someone who can answer those questions and get what you’re asking for. Just a minute.” He stepped away and pulled out his cellphone then made a call.
Two minutes later, a familiar face stepped out of the Titanfall transceiver.
“Dr. Moonshot!” Twilight called out.
“Hi Twilight! I heard about the attacks. Is everyone okay?” he asked.
Twilight replied. “No, I am sorry to say.
“You lost four people at the Martian base, including the young intern. Several more are injured as well. Plus the attackers slagged both TACIT transceivers at both bases, making the units on this end oversized bookends.
“I have a replacement unit, the last available one currently in existence if you’ll excuse the hyperbole, and need to know you have a secure and defensible place to house it with your existing Titanfall unit. The organizations that came after us and your two bases will think nothing of destroying you wherever you stand, regardless of whether you are in a residential area or not. Lives and property mean nothing to them,” clarified Twilight.
“Okay. Well, this location isn’t defensible, but it is important operationally as it is central to all our suppliers and offices. What can we do to make this location defensible?” Dr. Moonshot asked.
"We could place a shield over it similar to what we did with Titanfall,” agreed Twilight as Dr. Moonshot smiled and nodded. “But do you want this neighborhood to turn into a combat zone when they attack?”
“If it were defended, wouldn’t they know better than to waste time attacking it?” asked Dr. Moonshot hopefully.
“That didn’t stop them from attacking our lair. It was fully defended, but they still went after it full force. You can’t count on them being reasonable, Dr. Moonshot. If you have the installation here, they will attack here, and there will be damage and possible collateral loss of life,” stated Twilight.
Dr. Moonshot sighed. “Understood. Let’s see what we can do.”
Sunset sat in her wheelchair, relief evident in her expression as she discussed her needs with her Guardian.
“So you can make a copy of yourself for Chang’e, to be the protectress of the moon? She clearly needs the protection you offer and to defend herself and her realm from her enemies,” asked Sunset.
Her Guardian replied. “I can no more copy myself and make a new creature than you can copy yourself and make a new you. Just because I am a creature of energies and higher order structures does not mean I am some sort of code that can be repeated with some magic counting box.
“That said, I agree your request is valid, and I see the correctness of your conjecture. Your predecessor warned his friend many times that she should grow herself a Guardian to help protect her domain. The problem is, before now she always rebuffed him, pointing out how barren and empty of threats her domain was. He would counter by saying that is true of all domains until the very moment when it wasn’t, which would always bring her to laughter,” recounted her Guardian.
“That does totally sound like her,” agreed Sunset with a smirk. “So now she knows better, except it’s a millennium or so too late?” asked Sunset.
“No, not too late, but not with a magical snap of my virtual fingers either,” agreed her Guardian. “Since my master first requested she take a guardian and she refused, he was certain this very day would come. So much so that he instructed me to find a way to shorten the time it takes to craft an artificial being such as myself.
“To that end, for the last millennium I have worked on a process, where a seed of myself, a small portion, is grown then shed and encapsulated. It could then be infused with the lifeforce of another god or goddess then grown to wholeness, resulting in a new being filled with its goddess’s life and values, ready to become the protector of her and all she cherishes.
“This process I have created, but sharing a lifetime of experience is slow, taking time. The process is often painful for the goddess and takes longer than the time we have available to us.”
“Leave that to me. I might be able to do something about that latter part,” smiled Sunset.
Sunset cradled the glowing orb in her lap. Its life energy pulsated with living thought, as it was indeed a seed of living thought, essentially captured and placed in the container resting in her lap. She carefully wheeled over to where Chang’e sat, watching her approach intently.
“So that is to be my new companion?” Chang’e asked. “That is to be my Guardian? It looks so small and helpless,” she noted.
“Yes it will be, yes it is, and that’s because it is small and helpless. But it will not stay that way once imprinted with your life essence, memories, and experiences. Once it has those, it will truly be your guardian, uniquely tuned to you and your needs,” answered Sunset.
“So how am I to share with it my memories and experiences? How am I going to share my essence with this little thing?” asked Chang’e.
“I have a way,” smiled Sunset.
Taking Chang’e’s hand and laying a hand on the orb, her eyes glowed with teal magic.
Empathically, Sunset and the orb followed as Chang’e re-lived her memories, experiencing the pivotal moments of her life once again with Sunset and the glowing orb present.
As she re-lived the key moments of her life, her orb grew, taking on a distinct shape. It formed into the being it was created to be, her Guardian and protector.
By the time they were finished, a gentle, wise woman stood with them, smiling at them both in kindness.
“Greetings, Chang’e my mistress. I am your Guardian, formed from your spirit and experiences, made to protect and defend you, and all you hold dear. I will defend you and your children with all of my being. I give myself completely to you, as your protector and guardian,” the woman cheerfully informed her, bowing to her mistress.
“What shall I call you?” asked Chang'e, staring in wonder at her new familiar.
“You may call me Guardian, for that is what I am,” replied the woman with some slight confusion.
“No, no, no. I cannot have a familiar with such an unfamiliar name. No, my little Jade Rabbit, I will call you Yutu. You will be my little Jade Rabbit, my Yutu,” smiled Chang’e.
As she spoke the kindly woman changed, growing rabbit ears and a tail. In her hand a large pestle formed.
“I am your jade rabbit. Your Yutu, my mistress. It is as you say,” she bowed in happiness.
Chang’e embraced Yutu. “And I will be your mistress! I am delighted you are here. Welcome to my domain,” she greeted her familiar.
“How may I serve you, mistress?” asked her familiar once released from her embrace, her new bunny ears twitching in anticipation.
“Apparently I need to guard my lair from those who would hurt my children and I. Can you make that happen, my little jade rabbit?” asked Chang’e.
“I will make it happen, my mistress,” agreed Yutu, fading from her presence.
“Wow! You can name them?” asked Sunset in surprise.
“Apparently?” replied Chang’e with a smile.
“Oh, I am so going to name mine,” grinned Sunset.
In the Martian lair, Sunset sat in her wheelchair before the Guardian's arch. She addressed her guardian as he stood before her.
“I will call you Ray!” commanded Sunset.
“No,” the Guardian responded.
“Ah, come on!” groused Sunset,
“Still no,” responded her Guardian.
He looked away, thinking for a moment, then looked back. “You may call me Tàiyáng.”
Sunset smiled hopefully. “That's Chinese for Ray, right?”
“No,” her Guardian replied.
“Ahh!” Sunset pouted.
Her Guardian sighed. “It means Sunshine.”
Sunset looked up hopefully. “Like a ray of sunshine?” she asked.
Her Guardian scowled. “More like a ray of Stop Bothering me about this and let this drop.”
“How come you're so mean and Chang'e's guardian is all sweet?” Sunset pouted.
“How come you are so annoying?” her Guardian rejoined.
Sunset sighed. “Hi Tàiyáng.”
“Greetings mistress,” her Guardian returned.
“If I'm your mistress…” Sunset started.
“Drop it,” he stated.
Sunset sulked.
After getting confirmation from Dr. Moonshot that they were moving the TACIT units to a secure and defensible location, and that they would be able to properly connect up all the necessary networking apparatus Twilight provided with the units as well, Twilight decided she needed some time to decompress.
Teleporting back to her garage she hopped into Sunset’s Roadster, still parked in its charging spot before her house. Backing out into the street, she headed out of town for a drive through the Everfree forest to clear her head.
Putting on her favorite Coldplay playlist as she pulled out of town and into the surrounding forest, she thought of what had happened.
She saw the dead battered body of the young intern they were unable to save, her blood spilled out from her broken body.
Then she saw the lifeless faces of the two astronauts killed on the surface of the moon. Their faceplates were shattered and their bodies suddenly decompressed.
She saw herself methodically killing woman after woman as Midnight worked her way through the ranks of the witches who were attacking and killing off their personnel.
She saw each woman, each witch, their life blood poured out as she stepped over them on her way to the next attacker.
Suddenly feeling violently sick, she pulled to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes.
Throwing open the car door, she barely made it out before she was on her knees pucking her guts out. Falling onto her hands, she remained sprawled as the dry heaves continued for several minutes until there was nothing left.
Exhausted, thoroughly spent and in anguish, she tried as best she could to clean up. She then returned to the car, shutting the door and taking a deep breath.
Okay. She clearly wasn’t ready to deal with all of that yet. She would talk with Sunset later, but right now she needed to think about something else.
Turning the music up, she thought about the TACIT transceivers. There had to be a way to tune them.
The song My Universe came on and she thought of how the units communicated instantaneously from one end of the Universe to the other because their connection was not in the universe but outside of it, beyond it in a real sense.
Thinking further, she realized it was an 11th dimensional transformation that bridged the elements of the real universe with an effective transverse, allowing the so-called breach in causality misnamed instantaneous communications.
She pulled to the side of the road again, deep in thought as the song continued.
Still deep in thought, she also realized that all those tranverses were, in fact, functions of the same universal transverse requiring only matched pairs but not specific mathings. The specificity of the matches was a function of the lower order mapping, requiring only that a matched pair exist, but not dictating which pair. So she could match any to any as long as all pairs remained matched. But what was the determinant of the matching?
As she examined the dimensional equation in her head, she noticed the higher order derivative of future state on each side of the pairing that loosely matched the intent of future action. She quickly realized that was the key to the pairings then worked backwards to determine if there was a lower order determinant that could predict the operations of the higher order derivative.
There, she found it. She had it! The TACIT units could be tunable, and she knew exactly what she had to change to make it happen.
Smiling, she pulled the car back onto the road, returning to her home, anxious to share what she had found with Sunset and begin testing her ideas.
Sunset nodded, on the phone with Dr.s Long and Moonshot.
“Yes, we can provide you with a magical artifact tethered to the TACIT trancerivers that will protect the bases with a magically generated shield. Just like we used for the Titanfall base, but turned more for defense than protection from cosmic and other radiation…
“The tethering provides the magical mana due to the dearth of magical energies on both Mars and the Moon, though we are working on that…
“Of course I can begin working on crafting those right away. They will be ready to deploy before the bases are reopened…
“We will provide any assistance you need, I assure you we want everything back to normal as much as you do…
“Absolutely Dr.s just let us know. Thank you!” She hung up the phone.
‘Okay Twilight, where are you?’ Sunset thought. Placing her friend in her thoughts, she teleported in a flash of teal.
And came out in her garage next to her BFF, hunched over a device in rapt concentration.
“Hiya Sparky! Did you miss me?” she whispered into her BFF’s ear.
“Yee-ah!” shouted Twilight, sitting suddenly bolt upright and flinging a tool across the garage.
“Sunset! Don’t startle me like that!” she held a hand to her heart.
Sunset pulled her BFF into a hug. “You seemed pretty intent there Sparky. Did you solve the mysteries of the universe?” she teased.
“Better! I solved the issue of instrumenting the TACIT receivers for addressable pairings!
“We can build a network of paired units and swap their locations around at will now. I’m just building a few prototype controllers now to test it out,” explained Twilight.
“Oh, is that all?” snarked Sunset. “I thought you had cracked the mysteries of quantum time or something.”
“Nah. I did that last Tuesday,” dismissed Twilight.
“You did?!” exclaimed Sunset in shock.
“No, dork! Just teasing you back. But this will work. I had an insight while I was out for a drive and here I am. This really will work. Just watch!” promised Twilight, going back to her tinkering.
“If you thought of it, I’m sure it will,” agreed Sunset, giving her friend one more hug “So, drive?”
“Don’t ask,” said Twilight. “But I will talk to you about it later if that’s okay.”
“Of course, Sparky. Whatever you need,” assured her friend.
They sat there together for a bit while Twilight finished.
Sunset started. “So, Dr.’s Long and Moonshot are working on your request to move their TACIT tranceviers from sunny Pasadena to Dryden out at Edwards AFB so it can be protected more aggressively. Though if there is an attack and anything on the flightline is damaged he promised there would be holy hell to pay.”
“I can imagine. What made them pick Edwards? It’s a research base, not really a military base.” noted Twilight.
“At a guess, it was close and had the necessary facilities,” guessed Sunset. “No idea, but you can ask him if you want.”
“Nah. Their choice. So long as they are defensible and it limits collateral damage, all good,” agreed Twilight, continuing her work on the prototypes.
“So, how’s it going? When can we test these out?” asked Sunset.
“As soon as I complete pairing up another set of crystals to pair the two orphaned transceivers,” Twilight responded.
She continued. “We’ll remove the orphaned crystals from them then replace them with the new pair, so we can then use them as a new TACIT pair. I’ll craft another set of Base Trancerivers after that to replace the damaged Mars pair, then get working on sets for each of the allied agencies who request access. By then I will be including the new addressable modules on each one, all with a default pairing, programmable pairing, and a tunable controller. They should be ready for a test shortly, but will need NASA to allow it, as all the units are currently in their control.”
“So if NASA allows testing this evening, then deploy them today?” clarified Sunset.
“That’s my plan,” agreed Twilight.
“Dang, girl. You work fast,” noted Sunset.
“Have to keep the race afoot. Those bastards that stole the TACIT plans are going to be barking at our heels soon, and having this will give us a leg up if any of our allies are having second thoughts,” Twilight added, finishing a last solder then closing up the backs of her prototype units. “Okay. That should work for testing. We have three sets of two tunable controllers, enough for the six working TACIT units after I complete the replacement crystals. Doing that now.”
She took two crystals from the pile in one of the bins on her desk. With a flash of magenta she paired them together. She then placed them into two of the new controllers.
“Okay! Field trip. Let’s go find our orphaned transceivers and make a new pair,” committed Twilight. Scooping the new controllers into a bag with her tools, she took Sunset’s chair in hand, then they disappeared in a flash of magenta.
And appeared in the back of a military transport, surrounded by soldiers with M16s that were immediately pointed at them.
They shimmered briefly with a teal flash as Sunset raised her hands. “We come in peace!” she called out from her chair.
Twilight, still holding onto the back of Sunset’s chair, just stared in open mouthed shock.
Dr. Long stood behind the soldiers, hands over her face shaking her head. Laughing, she looked up. “Stand down please. They’re friendly. Stand down.”
The soldiers lowered their weapons and resumed their rest stance.
“You know, it’s best to call ahead when you're going to crash a secure transport. Just saying,” snarked Dr. Long.
“Sorry,” said Twilight. “I figured out how to make the TACIT units addressable, and we brought replacement crystals for the two orphaned units to make them a new functioning pair so we can reestablish our Mars presence. May we deploy them and test them now?”
“Sure. Why not? They are all on standby currently anyway due to the transport. Go ahead,” invited Dr. Long, still smiling and shaking her head.
Twilight quickly pulled the orphaned controllers from the two orphaned systems and replaced them with the new paired crystals, putting the orphaned units back in her bag. She then removed the controller from the working Titanfall TACIT system. She carefully removed the paired crystal and placed it in the new controller, then placed the new controller with the original crystal back into the unit. She did the same procedure for their old unit, now being used for Chang’e’s Lair. Closing the units up, she excused herself.
“Okay. Be right back. I just need to swap out the controllers on the two other units then we’ll be ready to test,” explained Twilight. She disappeared in a flash of magenta.
“Well that was quick. Your systems are remarkably modular,” observed Dr. Long.
“Ah, that's all Twilight. She’s a rabid fan of NASA design methodologies. Field replaceable units for everything, replaceable with a screwdriver while wearing gloves,” grinned Sunset.
Dr. Long laughed. “You won't find me complaining, seeing that we are using your units in the field.”
“Nor me,” agreed Sunset. “She's sold me on it many times over.”
“It’s saved more than a few crew's lives, off the record,” nodded Dr. Long.
“And our backsides on more than a few occasions,” agreed Sunset.
They sat in silence for a few minutes while waiting for Twilight to reappear.
Twilight popped back in a flash of magenta.
“Okay. Ready to test. First, there is an upgraded app for this.” She pulled out her phone then launched the app upgrade. It refused to load. “Oh bother. Is there no coverage here? Usually… oh,” she stopped, looking at the offlined cage of hubs next to her. “Yeah. I guess there is no TACIT backup with everything offline.” She smirked. “Be right back.”
She disappeared in a flash of magenta. A few minutes later she returned.
“Note to self; next time update before heading out on site,” she mumbled as she took her phone back out and loaded up the now updated app. “There!” she said in satisfaction, “New updated app in place with addressing options. Let's do this. First test, normal paired operation.”
She stepped through the Titanfall transceiver and disappeared.
Dr. Long facepalmed. “Aren’t you supposed to start with inanimate objects and work up to live transmissions?” she groaned.
“Yes, we are. You’re absolutely correct,” agreed Sunset with a smirk. “I think being an immortal goddess is affecting my BFFs judgment,” she laughed.
“BFF?” asked Dr. Long
“Best Friend Forever. Yeah. I know. Corny as a five year old’s dad jokes,” Sunset smirked.
“Nah. It's cute. Corny, but cute. To be honest though, I figured you two were more than just best friends,” snarked Dr. Long.
“We are, but what that is we’re still working out,” admitted Sunset.
“You love her, don’t you?” smiled Dr. Long.
“With all my heart,” admitted Sunset with a smile.
Twilight teleported back in. Seeing the dopey smile on Sunset and the Cheshire cat grin on Dr. Long, she asked, “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” grinned Sunset. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Oh-kayyyyy,” laughed Twilight. “So the test worked. Now the next two.” She stepped through their old unit now placed in Chang’e’s Lair. A moment later she came out again.
“Ta-da! Next,” she hopped up into the newly re-paired unit appearing in the one beside it, then disappeared from that back into the original one.
“Next the cross tests,” she called out. Tapping her phone, she stepped into the TitanFall transceiver and came out in the far newly paired unit.
“Success!” she called out, returning back to the TitanFall transceiver. “Next!” She proceeded to step through the different combinations, eventually returning back to her starting point.
“All good! Now for the second order pairing tests,” Twilight called out.
“Second order?” asked Sunset.
“You’ll see,” smirked her BFF. She stepped into the TitanFall transceiver and came out of the Lunar transceiver. “Base to base or receiver to receiver direct transportation. Testing the rest,” she said, then disappeared again. Several minutes later she appeared again back where she started from.
“Addressable TACIT teleportation is a go,” she smiled.
Turning to Dr. Long, Twilight explained the difference.
“The units have a default destination of their original pairings. If you do nothing and use them normally, they will continue with this mode of operation. If you override the default destination, you have to specify the number of next sequential transports that will go to that destination then it defaults back to the default destination. You can specify a list of destinations and counts, it will work through that list then return to the default. You can also create the list as a Lisp program and run it that way. Lists can be named and stored online for future use across all units and included when processing lists.”
Dr. Long smirked. “Got it,” she grinned.
“Lisp, eh? Couldn’t go with something less esoteric like say, Perl?” Sunset grinned.
“Heathen!” laughed Twilight. “Like I would let a 30 year old language sully my implementation,” she giggled.
“It’s a 30 year old language because it works that well,” countered Sunset, sticking out her tongue.
“And for the love of you, I allowed it. Yes. You can embed perl procedures in place of lists as long as they return valid list structures, or their return values will be replaced with a single null,” laughed Twilight.
“I knew you loved me,” grinned Subset.
Dr. Long just shook her head laughing. “So is there an interface to this other than by phone app? I’d imagine our coders would rather use their keyboards to codify our extensive lists and not have to thumb type them out on their phones.”
“There is a web interface that is available on a secured network. Yes … they can use their workstations with the correct secure proxy setup,” assured Twilight.
“Our nerds will be very happy to hear that,” acknowledged Dr. Long.
“Okay, last task. I’m setting up the re-paired unit for Mars in our Lair. Be right back,” Twilight said, flashing out in a magenta burst with one of the newly re-paired units. Moments later she was back.
“I left it with you Guardian. Tàiyáng? He says he is Tàiyáng now. I thought you were naming him Ray?” teased Twilight.
Sunset facepalmed. “Don’t ask.”
Twilight laughed. “Okay. So we are set. Now we just need the shields.”
“I will have those in place before the units are moved back out of the lairs,” Sunset promised.
The girls sat quietly for a bit, eventually laughing and talking with Dr. Long about their adventures as they rode with the units and entourage to their secure destination at Edwards AFB.
As they exited the secure container at the base, Twilight’s phone chimed. Quickly checking she saw she had received a message from Mikoto. She read it, stopping in place causing Sunset to stop as well and call back.
“Twilight, what's wrong?” Sunset asked, concerned.
Twilight looked up from her phone, her face filled with worry.
“Kuroko’s been kidnapped!” she said in shock.