//------------------------------// // Counter insurgency and revelations. // Story: X-COM Ponies // by Sneaky Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Counter Insurgency and Revelations. *Seventeen hours before touchdown of Commander Cotton at the Crow’s Nest.* The FBI members slowly followed the tall well-dressed man as he made his way deeper into the city and to an old boarding house. The FBI agents were heavily armed and were backed up by SWAT teams; This was not a raid like most of the agents were accustomed to. This was a true counter insurgency operation, no prisoners unless convenient. The agents were to go in and eliminate the insurgents to prevent further attacks like what had happened in D.C. and gather whatever information they could. The FBI and Homeland Security had known about the cult of Sirius for some time now but they'd ignored them to focus on violent hate groups and major terror organizations. Now that that decision had come back to bite them in the ass the agents were going to pluck the insurgents’ fangs. “All teams move in slowly, I want masks on in case they have anything up their sleeves. And remember the Rules Of Engagement say don't shoot any unarmed targets unless they resist,” ordered the lead agent of the operation as he watched the team’s progress through a bank of monitors inside an unmarked van. “Sir, Jones and Javier here, we’ve got the animal the tango came into contact with,” the confused agents on the other line said as they tossed Trixie’s unconscious body into the back of one of their trucks before putting a cloth over her body. “Its really weird looking. I’m not exactly sure why you wanted us to bring it in.” “That is classified Jones. Just bring the animal to the waiting teams and forget you ever ran into it, acknowledged?” The lead agent had not told his men they would be chasing down an alien and preferred to let them think they were still after terrorists, which was half true. The two agents then began driving Trixie to an awaiting X-COM hazmat team which was under the command of General Franklin himself. The assault teams moved up to the old boarding house and surrounded it, planning to move in from the front entrance, back entrance, and roof simultaneously. The agents all had on gasmasks and night vision goggles for once the power was cut. There were three teams moving in to assault the building, the others would wait outside to cover the entrances and pull out any prisoners the assault agents captured. Team Alpha was going in through the roof, Beta through the back entrance, and Charlie through the main entrance. Charlie team was armed with two shotguns and three M4 rifles since they were expected to take the brunt of combat. Team Alpha and Beta were armed with MP5s sinceas they were expected to try and take prisoners. “Prepare to cut power and breach the building in five minutes,” said the lead agent as he prayed this mission would be a success, and that they would get some. They all wanted bloody payback for the twelve civilians killed in the attack on D.C. * Three minutes until assault:* The thin alien removed its sunglasses, revealing small gold reptilian eyes. The cultists watched in awe as it lifted its sleeves to reveal its arms were covered in scales. The alien had been sent to help the cultists plan another attack since the last one was such a success. The true goal of the attack had not been to actually cause major damage to the American capitol, but to test both the defenses of the capitol and the loyalty of their worshippers. The aliens were pleased by the results of both. The alien reached into its coat with its thin, bony fingers and produced a small document. The creature handed it to the leader of this cell and rolled its sleeves back down as the leader held up the paper to read, “Our gods have given us another chance to prove our worth-” The power suddenly cut out before the cult leader could finish his pre-prepared speech. The sound of cans being thrown was heard, followed by a loud bang and confused shouting. The assault teams rushed in, wearing night vision goggles. They moved silently throughout the building, clearing it room by room as they moved with purpose. Despite their initial plans, it was the Alpha team that was facing the most resistance as they had charged straight into the insurgent’s bomb factory. Heavy fighting soon followed. “Watch the vials!” shouted one agent as they fired in short, three-round bursts at the insurgents to lower the risk of striking the glasses filled with unknown, possibly volatile chemicals. The insurgents fell by the dozens under the practiced and precise shots of the federal agents, but it was pointless. One of the insurgents burst out from another door and ran straight to the chemicals before he could be put down. “Die, you fucking pigs!” screamed the suicidal cult member as he grabbed two large beakers and slammed them into a third. The whole room ignitinged as the top floor was engulfed in flames the mixture of volatile chemicals. The explosion shook the whole neighborhood as pieces of debris and charred body parts rained down on the agents outside the building. “Jesus Christ! What the fuck was that?” screamed a member of Beta team as the whole building shook. The team had been down in the basement securing data from the cultist’s papers and other info that looked important when the explosion rocked them. Causing the agents to make a mad dash to grab what they could before rushing through the back entrance to an awaiting armored van. “This is Charlie team we-” The man was cut off as his head was vaporized by a sudden bolt of plasma from the thin alien before it snapped the neck of another agent. The infiltrator had rushed to go down to the basement to destroy all the precious information down there. They had blessed the cult with much, including a basic translation book on alien texts. But as the thin creature tried to get to the basement it ran into Charlie team. “This guy’s unreal, no one moves like that!” shouted another member of Charlie team as he let loose a full automatic rifle blast, catching the alien in the knee. The alien screamed out in an inhuman roar before vomiting a thick viscous fluid that struck the agent and ate through his clothes at a slow pace but it did not stop the agent and the three surviving members of Charlie team from tearing the alien apart with a continuous stream of lead. After the agents killed the alien its body released a gust of thick green smoke that obscured their vision and forced the agents to seek cover to make sure their masks were secure. “This is Charlie team. We have confirmed the presence of some type of WMD! We just got slimed by some kind of gas and a liquid variant, sir,.” The agent said using the code word for the team being in direct contact with an activated weapon of mass destruction. “Understood, hold your positions, keep your masks on and make sure none of the insurgents get out.” The lead agent then began shouting to his men to start setting up a perimeter and to get the CDC and FEMA the chemicals from the roof explosion mixed with this new weapon. “Understood,” the agent said and readied his rifle as his team members did the same. All of them took cover in a living room where they could see a stair case leading up to the other levels of the boarding house. Much of the building was already on fire due to the explosion which was slowly spreading. Through the smoke they could see a hallway leading out to the rest of the rooms on their floor. The agents waited and counted their heartbeats as they prepared for an onslaught of deranged fanatics to charge at them, but only three insurgents approached. And they quickly died from the noxious gas produced by the thin man they had killed. A closer inspection could not be made as the agents were soon forced to retreat outside due to the spread of the fire and the subsequent collapse of the building. The damage prevented them from finding out that the rest of the insurgents escaped through an underground tunnel until late into the next day. *Meanwhile at the X-COM Hazmat team.* The FBI agents had just finished handing over the unconscious pony and her belongings to the hazmat team waiting in a small clearing near the border to West Virginia. One of the hazmat team members told the agents if they ever spoke about what they saw they would be arrested for treason. The agents knew the value of secrecy, but that didn’t stop them from talking about it while they drove back to regroup with the others of their grouptheir team. “So, a blue alien pony...” said Javier as he drove the unmarked truck back to the FBI headquarters. “Yeah." His friend said after a long pause as they remained silent the rest of the journey. Meanwhile, Trixie was being moved to a large armored van normally used by USAMRID whenever a trace of things like the Ebola virus or anthrax appeared. After a long ride the pony was transported to a hidden facility designed for emergency usages by Hazmat specialists. She was carried into a room with an operating table and strapped down onto the tablesecured, a strap on each limb as the scientists there looked confused beyond belief. “This has to be a joke; I mean, a blue miniature horse with a tattoo on its ass and a cap? Someone is wasting council money,” one of the scientists’, called only Anderson by his peers said as he held Trixie’s magician hat and turned it around in his hands. Another scientist slowly inserted a needle into Trixie’s body and drew blood. “Well I’ve never seen a horse like this, it’s too small, its joints aren’t like those of regular horses. And the eyes... God, its eyes are far too big .” Anderson scoffed inside of his hazmat suit as he looked at the reflective faceplate on the mask of his coworker. “Don’t tell me you’re actually taking this seriously, Elli.?” The other man simply grunted in disinterest as he placed the sample into a nearby computer to begin analyzing. Elli then pressed start on another computer for cameras to begin recording as General Franklin walked over to a small shatterproof glass window so he could watch the testing. “I was promised an alien spy, not a fucking toy horse,” Franklin said to an assistant next to him. “I offer my deepest apologies, sir, but the infiltrator was killed in the fighting and we lost the body when the building burned down,” the assistant said while hoping Franklin kept his cool. Franklin huffed as he crossed his arms. “And you expect me to explain to the council that I am wasting their money on experiments on a cartoon animal? Granted it is an interesting looking animal, but it’s not what the council asked for.” The two scientists inside the examination chambered huddled close together and spoke quietly with their backs turned to the General and his assistant. For once Elli talked with emotion in his voice. “Oh shit, that’s General Franklin! What the fuck are we going to say?” Anderson quickly hushed him. “Just be cool and we can do this, got it?” Anderson and Elli both turned to see Trixie opening her eyes and begin thrashing around in terror as she got a better look at her surroundings. “No, I don’t want to burn in Tartarus! Oh Celestia, I swear I'll be good!” Trixie cringed as two large beings in yellow approached her. She could see herself tied down in their blank, reflective faces. “No!” she shouted out and with a burst of magic threw the two scientists back against the wall of the. As soon as this occurred Franklin stepped into action. He flipped open a console near the viewing window and smashed his fist against the console. Which pressed down on a button that released a thick, and fast acting knockout gas into the room. Soon Trixie felt the world spin around at incredible speeds and all she could say before falling into unconsciousness was, “But, daddy... I wanna be a magician just like you!” Franklin cleared his throat as he looked at what had occurred and at the two scientists struggling to get up. He pressed down on the intercom button and spoke up. “I want the psychic animal sedated, and tied up for transfer to area Fifty-One. And it i'll be off the books because as serious as this is I'm still not telling the council.” Anderson held up a thumb in acknowledgement as Franklin walked off with a hard to discern expression. “Elli, as far as anyone knows we didn’t get out asses kicked by a midget horse with mind powers, got it?” Anderson said to his friend as if he were a school child trying not to admit a girl beat him up. Elli grunted as he held his back and forced himself back to his feet, wishing he had done what his father had told him and become a lawyer instead of a xenobiologist. *About the next morning back in Equestria in a small home towards the outskirts of Stalliongrad.* Sneaky Breeze’s mother, a middle aged Pegasus with green hair and aqua blue fur, was in her kitchen. She gently floated in place above a stove as she cooked some eggs for her husband who was reading the local newspaper before heading to work that day. “Brick Layer, sweetie, how do you want your eggs today?” Light Feather asked her red earth pony husband as she grabbed a spatula. “Whichever, honey. You know I don’t usually care.” “Sunny side up it is,” Light Feather said with a slight song in her voice and let the eggs simmer for a little bit before a knock was heard at the door. Light Feather couldn’t contain her excitement, thinking it might be a mail pony. “Finally another letter from my little Nimbus cloud!” She said and flew off like a flash of lightning to the door. as Brick Layer simply grunted and flipped the paper onto the next page. “About time that boy sent us a letter,” Brick layer said and continued reading for several moments until his wife screamed at the top of her lungs. A heartbeat later he heard her shouting out with terror in her voice. "No..no…Celestia, please no!” Brick layer’s old combat instincts kicked in and he flung himself from his chair and rushed to the doorway at quick speeds, despite the old war injuries to his back hooves. There he saw a chaplain pony trying to console Light Feather as a grey dyed Officer pony stood next to him. A crumpled up letter lay abandoned on the floor between them. Brick layer slowly approached the group and with a quick look at the letter saw the words no parent ever wanted to see. “Dear parents of Private Sneaky N. Breeze. It is with a heavy heart that I Princess Luna, founder of the stealth guards, write to you to inform you that as of this day your courageous son has regretfully been declared missing in service to the royal crown……"