//------------------------------// // Those few who remain(UNEDITED) // Story: Innocence Once Lost // by Scorched Earth //------------------------------// (AN: This chapter is dedicated to Furious Four, the best XCOM team ever who lost their lives during the Great Alien Invasion 2015.) A well dressed man entered the room, sat down on a chair and put his briefcase on the table. After few moments, he put a recorded on the table, while pushing the briefcase to side, showing a stack of memory cards and a side arm inside of it. He picked a PDA out of the briefcase and pressed a button on the recorder, before he began to speak. "Interview number four. Interviewer: Ralph Smith. Could you please tell us your name?" "Guang Pan, callsign Omega. Serial 26265-A3-SS." Pan answered, He had expected this, but still. Why did they have to make it so damn creepy? It was like he was being interrogated for a treason. "Please, mister Pan. Tell us about the fall of San Palomino Desert Regional Command Post." "It was a nightmare. Once those dragons appeared... it was all over. We simply didn't have firepower to deal with them." "Can you tell us more? From the dragons forward, please?" "LOPEZ! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?" Pan shouted into his intercom. After dragons had appeared everything had went to hell. That shield unicorns had set up had been blasted apart before they could do anything. Then the dragons destroyed their AA cannons. Humans had problems even with an one fully grown adult, three young adult dragons against an regional command post? They were so dead. "Kinda busy here, Guang! Too many targets!" Came the response. Pan could understand. Most of the ACES pilots were too busy either trying to get a lock on at the dragons or trying to shake of the swarm of changelings that had followed. Usually target rich environment was something ACES pilots enjoyed, since it allowed to go full force, something that was rare. However, right now they really wished they had less targets to deal with. "PAN! LOPEZ! SCHMIDT! ANYONE! I NEED HELP!" A scream came through the radio. "Mariska, what's your status?" Pan spoke into the com. This were going to hell, his team was isolated and being ripped apart. "Where are you?" "I'm pinned down by the enemy magic! I need help! North-East-East corner!" "I see her, moving to relief her." Schmidt's voice came. Good, at least one of his team safe. However, that did not remove the fact that they were still losing. "Everybody, try to regroup at the Northern Base Entrance, we are putting up a defense line there!" He started to move, keeping his Assault Rifle aimed at the enemies. Normally his rifle carried sniper mods, but he had discarded them since the extra length made it hard to fight in these short ranges. Pan looked around. Soldiers from every species were combating the changelings. However, he noticed a distinct lack of living griffins. Apparently dragons had destroyed their units completely. Pegasis were also pulling out, some of them even abandoning the battlefield. Damn cowards. Then again, he could not blame them. You didn't win wars by dying for a lost cause, you won by making the enemy die for his. "Griffins had been wiped out at this point?" The man asked. "Yes. I saw few survivors until we bugged out, but... for intent and purpose, their unit was a goner." Pan answered. The man typed something into his PDA. "I see... I see... " He muttered while doing so. "These pegasis that ran, would you be able to recognize them if they would presented to you?" "I doubt. I didn't see their cutie marks." Another mark in the PDA. Pan started to wonder what he was typing into that thing. Then again, this guy was from Internal Security Agency. You never knew what they were doing, only the generals and The First Citizen knew. "Right. So you fell back to inner defenses?" "Yes." "What about Princess Luna?" "I don't know. I was too busy keeping myself alive at the moment." "I see... please continue." He ran as hard as he could. Standing out of the open was a sure way to get killed. If they could regroup, they might have a chance to fight back, especially if they could figure out to take down those dragons. If they could take down dragons, they could start actually fighting against these changelings. Without dragons destroying all their heavy weapon assets, these changelings would be easy to take down. "Oh God oh God oh God HELP! IT'S GOING TO ROAST ME ALIVE!" Lopez voice game through the com system. "Lopez! What's your status?" "IT CAUGHT ME! A DRAGON CAUGHT ME AND HAS ME PINNED DOWN! OH GOD IT'S KRRRRRZZZZZZZZZ-" The com went static untl being cut off by the system. "Lopez! Answer me! FUCK!" Lopez was one of the veterans. He and Pan had been both been at Ponyville, except Lopez had been able to evacuate, while Pan had been caught as a prisoner. "Schmidt, Mariska! Lopez is down! I repeat! Lopez is dead! Fall back and regroup!" "Oh God no. What happened?" Mariska's voice came through. "A dragon got him. Now get moving!" "Roger that." "Moving to designated point." Came two replies. This was bad, in fact, this was worse than bad. He ran across the battlefield and saw his two squad mates and run to them. "You two OK?" "Shaken, but otherwise OK. No suit ruptures and talismans are working." Mariska said. "I still got two medkits with me and one suit repair kit, but I am nearly out of ammo." "I looted one of the dead bodies, so I am on full ammo." Schmidt said. Pan wanted to argue back, but in the situation they were, he really couldn't. Every shot counted. Also, Schmidt had a shotgun as his primary weapon. Something rare, but that was why he used more on tunnel duty than outside duty. Right now, it was a great weapon to have. Spread was wonderful thing when the air was full of enemies. "Alright, let's move people. We need to get to that barricade" Pan said pointing toward the ad hoc barricade that had been set up. The group dashed forward, constantly taking potshots around them as changelings tried to attack them. Schmidt shotgun became very valuable during that time, even if he was burning through ammo like a fat kid in a candy store. "Hey, is that the Princess?" Mariska asked, pointing towards a group of humans and earth ponies fighting, isolated from the others. In middle of the group, there was an alicorn. "I think it is, no other pony got both wings and horn. What should do, boss?" "Damn it, we can't just leave them. But going into that shitstorm will get us killed too." Pan said, cursing under his breath. "Fine, let's move. We need to help. Get in, make way for them and get out, understand?" "Yes sir" Came the two replies. "So you decided to move and save the Princess?" "Yes?" Pan answered. More notes done to the PDA. "Interesting... why did you make the decision?" The man asked. "I..." Funny, he had no idea why. He had just decided that the Princess needed to be saved. "She... is a valuable asset thanks to her magic. Without her, the enemy would have had free play on our fortress. Her help earlier with ammo helped us a lot." Hopefully that would be a good excuse. "I see,,," Came the reply. Apparently it had not been, but the man would not press him any further. "Please continue." Three of them tried to reach the Princess, but changelings made it near impossible. They were everywhere and seemed to lack self-preservation instinct. Even after Schmidt had killed number of their friends in the same fashion, they kept coming and dying. However, as it turned out, quantity has quality of it's own. "Running low on ammo here." Schmidt said as he blasted another changeling into a green paste. "I know, we all are." Pan answered. Mariska had already discarded her rifle and moved to her pistol. Few hectic fights later they had reached the Princess, whose group had grown significantly smaller. "Princess! You need to fall back to main entryway, we got a barricade there! We are regrouping there!" Pan shouted over the chaos. Princess nodded. "Everyone! On me, we are moving towards the main entry!" She shouted and used her magic to take out few more changelings. Humans had grown to appreciate her magic, ability to attack several changelings at the same time was something they really wished to have. More and more changelings arrived to the scene, with dragons starting to break off from their battles against ACES suits. Two dragons were dead, but that had cost humans over half of their heavy weapons. Which lead them to fight a losing fight. "I'm out of ammo!" Mariska shouted as a changeling charged her, her pistol clicking empty. "Coming!" Schmidt shouted... only for his shotgun to click empty too. "SHIT!" A changeling took advantage of his and tackled him, going straight for the throat. Mariska screamed as her stomach was ripped open. Pan took a quick shot at the two changelings before running to Schmidt. Blood was flowing from his throat, with only thing keeping him alive being his talisman. "SCHMIDT! Come on, get up!" Pan shouted. His team was now down to him and Schmidt. "This... is it for me... Go, help those... who are still alive..." Schmidt grunted before going limb. Pan cursed under his breath, but moved on. He would mourn them when the enemy would be beaten back. Then he would lock himself in his room and finally finish that vintage alcohol he had stashed away. "That was when it happened?" The man asked, leaning forward. Pan gulped. "... Yes. That's when Discord decided he wanted part of the action." Pan took a deep breath. “That’s when the base fell.” "MAGNIFICENT!" A shout was heard over the battlefield. Pan took a look up and saw a creature. A creature that was a mix of all other creatures. "THIS IS JUST MAGNIFICENT! WHAT A GREAT CHAOS! WHY DIDN'T I THINK THIS EARLIER!?" "DISCORD!" Princess shouted. "PRINCESS LUNA! How great for you to be here to see this all! So much chaos! I thought chocolate rain and popcorn maze was fun, but this!? THIS! IS PURE CHAOS!" Discord created some strange whirling thing and send to crash into command complex. It exploded and caused entire side of the bunker collapse, exposing it’s inside. Several unlucky humans, who didn’t wear talismans, melted once exposed to the outside magic. “SO MUCH POWER! SO MUCH TO DO!” Discord said and started to laugh maniacally, all the while using the same method to blast last standing opposition. "By the Faust..." Luna muttered. “He has never been this powerful. He must had stood back and absorbed all that chaos earlier. Each moment this battle goes forth he gains more power. At least he uses it at the same speed as he gains it...” Luna cast a shield to protect their group from one of the blasts. “We can’t fight him like this!” Pan agreed with her. With how things were, it would be only a time when... A siren blared, giving three short blares before one long. A sound to abandon base. "Time to go, command has given up holding the place. We need to get out of here!" One the pony captains shouted. She was clearly starting to panic. Not that Pan could blame her, he too was starting to panic. "Damn it! Damn it all to Tartarus!" Luna cursed. "Is there anyway out?" "It doesn't look that way!" Pan shouted in panic. Now he was in deep shit. Enemies were everywhere, every route was blocked and they were losing men fast. Base would no doubt fry every single electronic inside it once the doors would be broken. "Damn it... Humans, you got your suits still in one piece? No ruptures?!" Luna asked. It caused few humans to give confused shakes with their heads. "No, we are all OK. How so?" "We are getting out of here. Now." Luna said, with magic enveloping them and the wounded ponies. "Hey hey hey, what is-" Pan started before he felt as if his organs were being rearranged. When it ended, his body reacted and he threw up. Unlike few others, he didn't get his faceplate off in time. He took his now foul smelling plate of and looked around. It was a castle of some sort. “Where are we?” “You are in Canterlot Castle. I can only assume the worst, my sister?” A voice came. Pan looked and saw a white unicorn. Upon closer look, we realised that this unicorn had wings too, making it an alicorn. That mean it had to be Princess Celestia. “I’m afraid so, Tia... Discord is more powerful than ever. We need to gather everything we have!” “I see... Please, tell me everything that happened. Meanwhile, you humans should report to embassy to see to your needs. This is.. quite unexpected and unwanted development.” "And that is when you reported to the embassy?" "Yes." "Thank you, mister Pan, you have been the most helpful. We will be keeping in touch with you. Try not to do anything... rash... in the meantime." The man said, gathered his things and left the room. Pan just sat there for a while, before walking away himself. Later, in Luna Aeternal, emergency session with The Council Of Districts. "Ladies and gentlemen, councilors, as you have all been briefed by now we had our first major battle with the enemy and we lost. Badly. Our current state of equipment is simply unacceptable. We can not go on like this. We need to prepare for the worst. Right now the second defense line is preparing to hold back the tide, but we can't count on this. Therefore, I am proposing two motions. First is Project Rediscovery. We need to dig into our databases, see how our ancestors fought war and rebuild our military as a true military, not as a glorified police force. We need every little dirty trick and weapon we can get. Currently, our soldiers are too vulnerable to dragons, who pose the greatest threat to us. Thus we need to set up a new department for us, a research department for weapons. This, is what we need now. This, is what we need to do. It is time to cast down the foolish notion of 'peace'. Peace, as we have no learned, is simply an illusion. With peace, we simply don't see the enemy who is trying to kill us. We have been caught with our pants down. Without drastic measures, we can't defeat this new threat. Which brings me to my second motions. Project Final Argument. A three armed class two Fusion Warheads, placed into three transports. These transports are then sent to orbit the planet and prepare to strike upon authorization of this Council. We shall reopen The Vault and always have three orbital Weapons of Mass Destruction ready. We shall have them ready and if needed, we shall demonstrate that we are ready to use them. We shall send message to our enemies and allies alike, that we are not to be messed with. Even now, our people ask us: What are you doing? Are we safe? What are we to answer to them? That their homes, their families and relatives on the surface are threatened because long period of peace? That we are too weak to protect them?! That we are to abandon all that we have achieved in all these years, only to return to the ways of the Great Exile?! The Vault contains everything we need. Targeting computers. Loading systems. Arming system. Even encrypted communications to prevent outside hacking. I have already taken care of preparation. With the permission of this Council, we shall once again be the power that rules the world and guarantees safety of it's citizen. We shall destroy our enemies, where ever we need to. I thank the Council for it's time. We shall adjourn for half an hour before voting." "Trixie? You here?" Twilight asked as she walked into the hospital. She had heard about the battle and defeat. She had also heard that Trixie had barely survived, being taken down when dragons appeared. "Here." Came a voice. Twilight walked up to a bed where Trixie laid. "Can't I am not surprised. I don't get many visitors." "Heh, yeah... I guess so... I wanted to see that you are OK. I've lost so many ponies I know to these conflicts these past years, that I can barely believe someone survives." "Hey, at least I am here for the first time. Take a look at their, private Shell Shocked just earned his eleventh Purple Heart. I swear, that pony is stubborn as a mule and hardy as Ursa Major." Trixie tried to joke, only to see Twilights face darken. "Don't... joke like that. I don't want to see anyone die anymore." Twilight said quietly. She might not have in the best terms with Trixie, but did consider her, perhaps not a good friend like the others, but.. friend anyway. Several years working together on several projects had them respect each others. Trixie reached her hoof for her. “Sorry. I’m okay. It’s nothing major. I am up in no time. I just get my unit together and...” Trixie fell silent. “By Celestia... they...” They had been left behind. She had been close enough to get teleported, but her unit? Left behind to die. She had failed them. It only now sank in. “I’m so sorry Trixie. We should have been there.” Twilight said, once again sounding depressed. So much death. "...Look... I don't think this is the best time but... please, ask Princess to let you sit this one out. Get help. You can't fight like this. It's not the same as with humans. Humans caused a lot of death, but most of it was collateral damage. Discord, he doesn't care. He attacks anyone and everything on the field." "Collateral damage? Were my parents that too?" "No, no I didn't..." "Bye Trixie. Try to get healed soon." Twilight said and walked away. Trixie sighed. She had screwed up. First time someone comes to see her and she sends them away. But she meant it, if Twilight were to enter battlefield now... she would suffer complete mental breakdown. She wasn’t sure if she could ever return to active service after this but... she could not allow Twilight to collapse. It would tear her and her friends apart. She would put up a brave front and somehow help her, whenever she wanted or not. She had to. Otherwise she would start to think of her unit and herself would break apart.