//------------------------------// // 5: If I Had a Dream... // Story: Planetside 2: The Path We Walk // by Xzeron2000 //------------------------------// CHAPTER-5: If I Had a Dream… “I’m sure that if I’d have a dream, it would be about finding Earth. I can’t wait to get off this godforsaken rock.”- Unknown Terran Republic Marine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The infiltrator carefully retracted her knife from around the hostage’s throat, sheathed it, and holstered her pistol, backing away from the officer, who almost immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The pink creature, seeing the infiltrator’s choice, dashed to her husband and immediately crushed him in a loving hug. The infiltrator felt remorse for her actions after seeing this, but she kept her expression neutral; not that anything could see her expression beneath her mask, though. “Halt, and lay all your weapons down!” a voice called from behind the infiltrator, and she could feel a spear poking into a kink in her back’s armor. She complied, taking her pistol out of its holster, and her knife out of its sheath. She mentally chastised herself for not doing this earlier; she should’ve been expecting to receive that kind of prompt. “Why did you do this?” The pink creature looked up at the infiltrator, and a tear came to its-her, the infiltrator realized, eye. If she was going to be around these creatures, she had to think about them more personally than just potential targets, like a soldier. It would be the only way to get on good terms with the creatures. After dropping her weapons, the guards prodded her with their spears. The infiltrator ignored it, and reached for her healing nanite projector. The tool was normally used by medics, but she carried one, along with a nano repair tool just in case she got into a sticky situation, and someone got hurt or a vehicle was damaged. A small screen flipped out of the side, indicating how much power was left in the fusion batteries that powered the tool. It was full; she’d not had a chance to use it in a while, thank god. When the guards in front of her raised their spears menacingly, she held up her hand in a “talk to the hand” gesture, and they backed off a bit, puzzled and miffed. When she had the nanite projector on the desired setting, she gripped it in her hand loosely, her finger on the trigger. “Look, I’m sorry. If it’ll make it up to you, this is a medical nanite projector. The nanites will work to patch him up, good as new. Should even give him a bit of adrenaline.” The infiltrator explained, and the pink creature hesitated before nodding her consent. The guards surrounding her watched with interest as she pointed the nanite projector at the downed officer, and pulled the trigger. The guards tensed, and a green beam of nanites suspended in an antigravity field extended to the officer, and immediately a noticeable green glow could be seen around the area of his injury. The officer’s eyes widened, and he immediately stood, and rubbed his newly healed cut. “If you’dve been plugged into the reanimation matrix, I could’ve killed you and you and you would’ve been fine. Heh, I’ve only died twice in the field. Stellar record, for someone in my line of work.” The infiltrator said off-handedly, like this kind of thing happened to her every day. To some extent, it did. “I can guess what that line of work is,” the male creature said, his voice sounding like he’d taken a severe a hit to his ego. “I guess I should imprison you for what you did.” His voice gained a little bit more confidence as he finished his statement, and he stood straighter to emphasize it. “Not like it wouldn’t be my last time. Although, be warned, I’m dangerous.” She said slyly, and under her mask, she smirked a bit. “What are you? You show such compassion, yet such a… detached personality…” The pink creature trailed off, looking at the infiltrator with a certain awe on her face that the infiltrator was all too familiar with. All the little kids she’d saved from burning, shelled-out buildings. All the soldiers she’d revived from the brink of death, just… It was almost too much for the infiltrator to keep pent up. She felt a tear be absorbed by her mask as it rolled down from her eye. “I’ve seen too much, I guess. Too much, at least, to stop caring.” The infiltrator then holstered her healing nanite projector, and steeled herself. “As for what I am… I’m a human. An Auraxian, to be precise. Our home world, Earth, was lost to us when our ships got sent to the Auraxis system via an alien portal. The portal closed violently, and damaged our ships. We got lucky to find Auraxis… but Auraxis wasn’t lucky to have us. Long story short, we’ve been at war with each other for as long as I can remember. Things were getting better just as I left, but…” The infiltrator trailed off, and she sighed. The creatures’ guards had regained their composure, along with their officer. The officer’s wife just gazed upon the infiltrator, not sure what to make of what she’d just said. The guard captain sighed, and repositioned himself. “We were sent here to guard an alien device that opened a portal close in description to the one you mentioned, until somepony could be sent here that could make sense of it. It sucked through five of our best scientists, and we’d like to know where they went. If you could help us, I think we could shorten your punishment… But that’d be up to the princesses. So, it’s up to you. Off to the dungeon, or try to help us.” The officer puffed himself up, trying to look more intimidating. The infiltrator almost laughed out loud; for the height difference between the two didn’t help in emphasizing the fact that, dangerous as he may be, the officer wasn’t scary in the infiltrator’s eyes. “I’ll help you. I can’t promise much, but I can say,” The infiltrator reached for her breast ammo pocket, and pulled out the alien X-shaped object. “That this’ll probably help. Take me to this device you mentioned, and I’ll see what I can do.” The guard captain nodded his assent, and the guards formed up around the infiltrator, escorting her away. “No, Cadence, we don’t know what this creature has planned. You should stay here, just in case anything goes wrong. Be ready to send a letter to the princesses at any moment.” The guard captain whispered into his wife’s ear. The infiltrator could hear it because of her suit’s augmented sound receptors, and her keen ear. Then, the guard captain made his way through the guards escorting the infiltrator and took the lead. One of the guards prompted the infiltrator to start moving with a poke of his spear, and the infiltrator obliged. They walked down gilded halls made of crystal that shined brightly in the morning sunlight. The infiltrator must’ve lost track of time, either that, or time ran differently here. When the group reached their objective, the infiltrator was not surprised to see another alien object with two curved projections coming from its base, and ending at a sharp tip just above the center of the object. There were four objects similar in design to the one the infiltrator had suspended in antigravity fields. There was a fifth antigravity field, which was empty. The infiltrator took her X-shaped alien device, and pushed her way through the guards and past their officer, rounding the portal, and coming to a stop next to the empty antigravity field. The guards watched warily as she extended her hand, and placed the object in the empty antigravity field. The object glowed momentarily, and then a sound cut through the relative quiet of the room. A high-pitched whining, which it seemed to emanate from the alien device in front of the infiltrator and the guards. The device sputtered, and died. The lights faded, and all the objects dropped from their antigravity holding, and the whining stopped. A screen then jumped into existence in front of the infiltrator. It had alien writing, and what looked like two buttons, one red, and one green. Training and experience had taught the infiltrator a thing or two about this kind of situation: Don’t press the red button. Ever. So, she reached a tentative hand out, and, to her surprise, found a smooth, warm surface. The holographic screen in front of her then shut down as soon as she had pressed the green button. The alien object then flared back to life, and a blinding light began to form in the center of the two curving protrusions in its center. The infiltrator shielded her eyes, and, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The alien machine released a huge burst of light, and she could hear sickening noises; like flesh being melted by Vanu plasma weapons. When she opened her eyes, and tentatively peered at her now-altered environment, she noticed that there was a hole melted in the vaulted crystal ceiling above her, and she could see a spark of teal light, getting ever smaller, in the center. Melted crystal dripped down from the newly formed opening, and she could see that it was beginning to solidify into stalactites and puddles of melted crystal on the ground. “You have found my gift to you, little one. Use it wisely.” A deep, resonating bass sounded within the infiltrator’s mind. She shook her head lightly, as if to throw it from her brain, and out where she could see the thing that spoke. Yet, she could not. Continued observation of the environment yielded the view of a few guards, cowering in fright, and an overawed horned officer creature in front of her. His eyes. She focused on the officer’s eyes, and, in them, she could see his soul. He was a proud, if a bit egotistical stallion. The word "stallion" inserted itself into her head, like it was natural. The infiltrator tried to stop peering into the stallion’s head, but she couldn’t break her gaze. His life flashed through her very eyes, and she saw all his achievements, his sister, who happened to be named Twilight Sparkle. His wife, Cadence, in all her glory. She felt his emotions concerning each subject as her newfound ability conducted itself about Shining Armor’s mind. Had she just learned the stallion’s name? In fact, she had, and she’d used it. This was no more than a passing thought though, as she was quickly thrust back into herself. The stallion stood there, at a loss for words. “A new home… thank you.” The infiltrator said, her mouth having its way with itself. She then succumbed to the inky blackness of unconsciousness.