//------------------------------//
// F.N.G. Part 2 
// Story: XCOM: Hard Contact 
// by smoers06 
//------------------------------//

Wolf Pack Private Military Company Compound
Tokyo, Japan
October 21st, 2015
0200 Hours

W continued to read all the reports while listing to her boss ramble and ask questions in her ear, silently thanking whatever entity above for giving her the ability to multi-task so well.
“Run it by me one more time,” Dingo, the Head of the Wolf Pack Private Military Force, voice came through W’s Blue Tooth. “What’s the situation?”
“For the fifth time, and I have been counting,” She responded through gritted teeth. “It’s hell all over the world. It’s a full scale invasion, and they’re cutting through the World’s armies like they’re nothing but butter!”
“It’s the same over here in Australia,” Dingo answered bitterly. “We barely got out of Sydney alive.”
“We?”
“I picked up this kid who calls herself Ice. She’s Ausie Special Forces, pretty good in a fight.”
“Are you safe?”
“For the moment. We managed to get off the Mainland by hitching a ride with Talisman on one of her planes, although ‘safe’ is a relative term right now…”
“Tell me about it,” W said, pulling a flash drive from a nearby computer before deleting all of its content. “The aliens are knocking on our front door right now too; all of our combat teams have either been deployed or evacuated. I’m gonna be bugging out myself soon.”
“Before you do, get me a detailed report of the attacks while you’re still in the Command Center.”
“You want this now?!”
“Now’s as good a time as any.”
W sighed, and brought up the reports.
“Alright. There’s heavy fighting in Moscow, Rio, Vancouver, and Mexico City. Washington D.C, London, Berlin, and Chicago are under siege and will probably be lost within a couple of days. We’ve lost all contact with New York, Beijing, and Paris. North Korea and Ukraine have been completely overrun by the Aliens. The Americans have taken heavy losses in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and are about to pull and declare most of the West Coast to be in the Occupied Zone.”
“God Damn… What about the Middle East? Any word from there?”
“The X-Rays tried to move in, but the Israelis kicked their asses.”
“Well, that’s one piece of good news at least.” 
“Savor it; I don’t think we’ll have any more coming for a while.” The ground began to shake under W’s feet. “Shit, the aliens are pushing; they’ll be all over the area in only a few minutes!”
“Get your ass out of their W, we’ll find a place to meet up in all this madness. Dingo out.”
W signed off, grabbing her bag that was full of flash drives that contained detailed information on every Wolf Pack operation, legal and otherwise. As she exited the Command Center, she hit the lights, shrouding the entire building in darkness.
She was alone now, all staff members having already evacuated long before her. W maneuvered her way around the deserted office area, the only sources of light coming from the windows of the battle raging outside.
She activated her Blue Tooth again, tweaking it so it would pick up and contact via radio frequency. She had to contact the last Combat Team that was still deployed in the city.
“Rocket? Rocket do you copy?”
“Loud and clear.” A female voice replied.
“What the hell are you still doing here?” W hissed. “I ordered everyone to get out of the city!”
“You can’t expect us to just turn tail and run.”
“Tokyo’s lost, there’s nothing we can do to change that.”
“But we can still-“
“Listen, we’ll get our crack at the bastards soon enough, but for now we need everyone alive.” W pulled out her modified Smart Phone. “Is your IFF active?”
“Of course.”
“Alright, hold on a second.” She ran a trace on Rocket’s position on her phone, bringing up a map of Tokyo. “Alright, about four blocks southeast of your position, there’s a police station. Get there, and have Fox hack into their systems.”
“Alright, what are we looking for exactly?”
“Security Camera footage, the more we know about the Aliens, the better off we-”
She was cut off by the sound of movement in a nearby hall. Muting her earpiece, W quickly ducked behind a cubical. Using the reflection from a nearby window, she saw two small grayish-humanoids crawling on all fours moving out of the hallway.
My God, they’re already this far. She thought. 
Silently, W withdrew her Mini-Uzi Submachine gun from her bag, waiting for the aliens to draw closer. Then, when the creatures had turned away, she rolled out from her cover, gunning down the Sectiods with precise bursts from her weapon. The aliens collapsed to the floor, yellow blood splattering the walls.
Taking a deep breath, W rose back up to her feet, and unmuted her earpiece.
“W! Are you alright? I thought I heard gunfire!”
“You heard right, but I’m fine.” W answered, reloading her weapon. “Get that footage we need, then meet me at secondary RV point Lima.”
“Copy all. We should be there in about two hours. Amazon out.”
W signed off, and was about to get moving again, when her phone flashed an alert.
*ENCRIPTED MESSAGE ARRIVING*
W raised a brow, before a distorted voice began to speak.
“If you’re receiving this, then you are an individual who has become very well acquainted with life and death situations throughout your life, and have been chosen to help counter the recent Extra-Terrestrial Incursion under status Black Viking.”
W blinked, she remembered such a phrase from her time as a CIA agent. Black Viking was a contingency plan for all Special Forces members to initiate a full-scale Guerrilla War in the instance of the United States or any NATO country was occupied by a hostile force.
“If you are able, come to the coordinates that is being transmitted. The fate of the world, our world may very well depend on it.”
W read the coordinates given, then furrowed her brow.
“Madagascar? What the hell could be there?”

Desert Springs XCOM Base, Madagascar
December 15th, 2015
1100 hours

"Spar, I gave you my answer."
"Think for a second here Maze! You're passing up an incredible opportunity for what?!"
"Why don't you think for a second?" The Colonel replied, continuing to walk across the Catwalk above the Command Center. "You're asking me to send ponies, a bunch of girlish-alien ponies to the front lines of our operations? Hell no."
"Don't do this to me Maze..." Spar said, keeping the same pace as his commanding officer. "You told me to get them combat ready and by god I got them combat ready. Now you want to just throw all that away?" 
"I wanted them to be at least familiar with weapons and combat systems, nothing more."
“Bullshit, you don’t just make two of your best Captains train rookies just so you don’t use them!”
Spar knew that he was one of the very few people alive today that could talk to Maze like this, it was a privilege he intended to use to his full advantage.
“I understand where you’re coming from, but I-”
“Look Maze, just trust me!” The soldier moved to be in front of his old friend. “How many times have I let you down?”
“Three hundred and ninety six times.”
“Three hundred and ninety FIVE times,” Spar corrected. “That little incident in Rio doesn’t count!”
The Colonel sighed, and was about to reply, when a control officer from below started waving to get his attention.
“What is it?”
“Alpha Squad is now arriving back with the package sir!”
Maze glanced at Spar.
“We’ll finish this conversation later,” He said, activating his intercom microphone. “Ghost and Dingo on deck to escort package, all Equine assets to Out Processing to receive the package, Captains Spar and Boss report to Out Processing control.”
“Back to work then…”
~~~
The Skyranger descended from the large open hatch into the underground base, its twin jets spitting flame as it landed in the hangar. Maze watched the ramp drop, and four very weary soldiers walk down it.
He sympathized with their exhaustion, Alpha Squad had been in the field for the last three days in South America with very little time to rest.
The Leader of the squad, 1st Lieutenant Katelyn Holt, gave a sharp salute.
“Sir,” She said. “The Package is secure and all squad members are accounted for.” She said this last statement with a hint of certainty, and Maze could understand why. Kate had been the only survivor of the Delta Force Team that had made first contact with the Aliens. Officially, she had been cleared for duty by the psychologists, but anyone who knew her could see the scars that she still carried in her eyes.
“Any injuries?”
“No sir. They’re just tired.”
“Good work. Get some rest, your squad is now on stand-down.
“Yes sir, thank you sir.” 
As Alpha Squad left the hangar, Maze waved Ghost and Dingo forward to the Skyranger. Inside, they found the Pony unconscious,  strapped to a medical stretcher.
“Geez, they have the thing strapped in like it’s a mental patient.” Ghost murmured.
“It’s just procedure; this thing ran from Kate and her squad.” Dingo explained. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Right…” Ghost said, eyeing the pony with caution.
“Oh don’t be a sissy,” Dingo said, rolling his eyes. “It’s out cold, it won’t bite you.”
“I’m not a sissy,” The Demolitions Expert shot back. “I’m just making sure.”
The pair put the stretcher in its wheeled position, then started down the ramp.
“Is this thing wearing a hat and a cape?”
“Haha it is. Looks like a pony Dumbledore!”
“What? Have you even seen those movies? It looks nothing like that!”
“Well, it’s a magician! Close enou-”
Dingo stopped, as the Pony’s eyes suddenly snapped open, darting around to see what was around it and struggling against its restraints.
“Uh, Colonel! This thing is awake!” Dingo yelled. Ghost turned around to look at their new guest.
“Hey take it easy,” He said softly. “We’re not going to hurt-”
The Pony’s magician hat fell away, revealing a glowing Unicorn Horn. Its restraints suddenly snapped away, allowing it to leap to its hooves.  It kicked Dingo in the stomach with its hind legs, the soldier stumbling backward while clutching his stomach. Ghost tried to grab the Unicorn, but it made a magical blast that knocked him off his feet. The Pony leaped off the stretcher, trying desperately to get away from the XCOM Troopers. Dingo chased after it, getting ready to tackle the alien into submission. The Unicorn levitated a nearby coil of while and launched it at the Lieutenant, wrapping it around his legs and tripping him to the deck. As the two soldiers tried to recover, the Unicorn began to charge its horn in preparation for the next attack.
“Trixie stop!”
The pony turned to see a fellow unicorn standing in the doorway into the base.
“Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing here?” Trixie demanded, narrowing her eyes. “Are you responsible for all this?”
“No! Well, not exactly.” Twilight waved her fellow Unicorn in. “I’ll explain everything, at everything that I can.”
Trixie hesitated, then followed Twilight into the base, retrieving her hat as she did so.
Meanwhile, the two commandos picked themselves up off the floor, Ghost glaring at Maze.
“With all due respect sir, what the hell were you doing just standing there?!”
“Just enjoying the show Sergeant.” Maze said, exiting with a smirk on his face.
“Alright, let’s get our stories straight.” Dingo said, pointing a finger at Ghost. “If anyone asks, there were fifty of them! And uh they were… Guerrillas!” 
~~~
“And that’s everything we know.” Twilight finished.
“A world filled with humans?” Trixie asked. “Facing an alien invasion? It sounds too farfetched, even for you Twilight Sparkle.”
“But it’s true!” Ditzy insisted, coming to her friend’s aid. “We’ve seen the aliens first-hoof! They tried to kill us!”
“Indeed,” The Doctor said thoughtfully. “It is also highly likely that based on what I’ve observed, these creatures will not simply stop at this planet.”
“You mean those things could even attack Equestria?!”
“It’s possible,” Whooves admitted. “Though I doubt any of us want to test that theory.”
“Back on subject,” Trixie said, obviously trying to bring attention back to herself. “These humans are just letting us stay here and protecting us out of the goodness of their hearts?”
“Not quite,” Twilight answered. “We’ve kinda told them that we’ll help them in their war…”
“What?! You’re helping the humans fight a WAR?!”
“But they’ve agreed to help us get home!” Ditzy said, coming too her friend’s defense. “We haven’t been exactly rolling in options since we’ve arrived.”
“And like the Doc said, these varmints might attack Equestria next!” Applejack pointed out. “I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’m not about to let that happen!”
Trixie looked thoughtful for a moment, then seemed to strike a heroic pose.
“Then it’s lucky for these humans that The GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE is here to help them!” She said confidently. “These creatures will be no match for Trixie’s limitless magical prowess!”
~~~
“Well, at least she doesn’t lack confidence.” Boss noted flatly.
“From what I’ve gathered, she seems to be some sort of entertainer.” Spar replied. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think ‘The OK and SOMEWHAT MEDIOCRE TRIXIE’ would draw much of a crowd.”
The two Captains were watching their Equine allies through the one-way glass in out-processing.
“Maybe so, but she’s still a braggart. I’d be surprised if she was any use to us at all.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge, you saw what happened in the hangar.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that the ‘braggart’ in that room just made two of the most elite soldiers on earth look like minimum wage mall cops. If we can hone that, find a way to direct them to the invaders, imagine the damage we could inflict on them!”
“You really think you see something there?” Boss asked, eying his friend coolly.
“I do.”
“Well in that case,” Boss said, turning to leave. “You get to train her.”
“Great…” Spar grumbled. “Lucky me.”

~~~

“Alight Soap,” Fixer said, looking down the range with binoculars. “You’re up. Ya got two aces, a suicide king, and an eight of hearts so far. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Soap aimed down the scope of his sniper rifle, looking at the rows of playing cards that they were playing their game with. He located his target, put it right in the crosshairs, then pulled the trigger.
“Nice!” Fixer called. “Ace of Diamonds! Three of a kind!”
“Don’t feel bad now boy-o,” Soap said to Joker, reloading the bolt-action rifle. “I always win in games of cards.”
“Alright Joker, your turn.” Fixer said. “Take your best shot.”
“With pleasure.” The sniper said, taking his shot within a second of being given the green light.
“Five of Spades; Spade flush.” Fixer said, putting down his binoculars. “Not good enough.”
“Hey, hold on a second.” Joker replied with a smirk. “Isn’t that a STRAIGHT Flush?”
Fixer frowned, bringing the binoculars back to his eyes.
“Hold the phone.” He said. “Two…Three…Four….Five…Six of Spades! Straight flush!”
“Son of a bi-”
“I believe that is game, set, and match.” Joker said victoriously, striking a pose. “Please ladies, control yourselves, there’s enough Joker to go around.”
“Right, that’s why you’re the bloody marksman and I’m just the bloke who tells ya where to shoot.” Soap said sarcastically. “There’s your damn money. Rematch next week?”
“You know it.” Joker replied, shoving his payment into a front pocket. He turned to leave the firing range, when he saw Spar and Twilight standing just fifty feet away. The Unicorn was holding a standard XCOM pistol with her magic, but Spar was looking irritated.
“Twilight, just aim down range, and pull the trigger. That’s all there is to it.” The Captain said.
Twilight bit her lower lip, aiming the pistol shakily, then stopped.
“I…I just can’t do it…” She whimpered. Spar let out a long, slow breath.
“Joker!” He called. “Can you help me out here? I need to tend to our newest recruit.”
“Of course Spar.” Joker said, moving next to Twilight as his friend stepped away. “Something wrong Twi?”
“I can’t do it…” The Pony mumbled. “I can’t pull the trigger, knowing what it will do…” Joker nodded knowingly.
“I understand completely.”
“You do?”
“I do.” He leaned against a nearby wall. “When I was first made a Scout Sniper, I had never been in combat before. When I was deployed for the first time, I was doing recon of an area when I saw an enemy insurgent. I had orders to shoot any and all hostiles on sight, but I felt uneasy, the reality of what would happen if I pulled the trigger weighed on me.”
“What did you do?”
“I choked. I let the guy go, telling others that he was unarmed, figuring it wouldn’t be a big deal.” The sniper looked down. “Two days later, I got word that the guy I let go was a bomb maker for the insurgents, and one of his IED’s ended up killing two of our Marines.”
“That’s horrible!”
“That’s war.” Joker said, shrugging. “It’s kill or be killed, and it’s not just your life on the line, it’s the life of your friends as well.”
“I..guess…”
“Here, look at this.” He drew his pistol, the same model as the one Twilight was holding. “This is a gun. It’s not inherently good or evil; it’s what I choose to do with it that matters. I can use it to protect a friend, or,” He whipped around, firing the quick shots into the head of the Sectiod cutout being used as a target. “I can use it to kill an enemy.”
“It still doesn’t feel right…”
“No, it doesn’t. It never will. But you have to remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That you’re not fighting because you want to, you fight because you HAVE to. If we don’t do it, our friends will suffer.”
“…I think I understand…” Twilight said quietly.
“Good.” Joker said. “Now let’s try it. Bring up your weapon.”
Twilight did as instructed.
“Aim down the range.”
Twilight looked slowly down the sights.
“Take a deep breath.”
She felt her heart hammering inside of her chest.
“Squeeze the trigger.”
~~~
Royal Castle
Canterlot, Equestria

“Name?”
“Storm Chaser.”
“Species?”
“Earth Pony.”
“Gender?”
“Stallion.”
“Occupation?”
“Archeologist.”
“OTHER Occupation?”
“CIA Agent.”
“Alright, what’s the heart of Queen Chrysallis?”
“Lock, you know it’s me.” Storm said flatly. “I’ve been here dozens of times; the Royal Guards have me on record. Do we really have to go through the whole secret code thing?”
“Uh, yes. What’s the heart of Queen Chrysallis?”
“Princess Cadence,” The Agent replied flatly. “Now will you please let me in, I’m already late for my meeting.”
“Alright alright,” The Solar Guard said, opening the door. “Go on in, the Princess is expecting you.”
“Well then let’s not keep her waiting.” Strom grumbled, slightly annoyed at the delay.
As a member of the Celestial Intelligence Agency, Storm had spoken to Princess Celestia on many occasions. Equestria was a peaceful realm, but it didn’t just get that way for no reason. It was from the blood, sweat, and tears of hard-working agencies such as the CIA that made Equestria the beautiful and safe haven it was.
Upon entering the throne room, Storm could see the Alicorn Princess that was roughly twice his size sitting on her throne. The Earth Pony removed his signature Brown Fedora from his head, bowing in respect.
“Your majesty,” He said. “You wished to see me?”
“Yes Storm, please come in. We have much to discuss.”
He nodded, rising back to his hooves. When the doors shut behind him, leaving him alone with the Princess, Celestia spoke again.
“I have a mission for you. One of the utmost importance, I’m only trusting you and few others.”
“No offense Princess,” Storm said, confused. “But wouldn’t it have been easier to just send the mission details to CIA headquarters and have them pass it on to me? I mean I always love visiting but…”
“No. I want this to stay as quiet as possible. Not even CIA will know about this.” 
“Whatever this is,” Storm said slowly. “It must be important.”
“I’m afraid it is much more than that,” Celestia shook her head. “Three of the Elements of Harmony have gone missing.”
Storm felt an icy knot fit itself in his stomach.
“Are we talking about the actual Elements themselves?” He asked. “Or the bearers of the Elements?”
“Both.” Celestia replied. “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and my student Twilight Sparkle. Their Elements have also disappeared with them.”
Storm now understood why she wanted to keep this a secret. If word got out that half of the Elements, among the beacons of hope to all of Equestria, had just vanished, there would be chaos. Fingers would be pointed, people would be blamed, and Equestria’s enemies might choose the moment too attack, believing them to be weak.
“And you have no idea where they might be?”
“None. It worries me, Twilight never goes anywhere without letting me know first.”
“Perhaps they were needed somewhere? Taking their Elements with them?”
“Perhaps…” Celestia murmured. “But then what of the other elements? You must have them all together for any of them to work.”
Storm was sure there was a logical explanation for it all, but he couldn’t think of anything right now.
“Alright, I’ll learn more once start my investigation. Where should I begin?”
“Go to Ponyville and talk with her friends. Keep it quiet, but learn what you can. Agent Daring Do will join you once there.”
“Daring will be helping?” Storm asked, his face brightening.
“Yes, I thought that would make your day better.” Celestia said, chuckling. “Are you and her-?”
“What? N-no!” Storm stuttered. “We’re just-”
“Ah, it is none of my business anyway.” Celestia waved it away. “Just please find my student and her friends.”
“I’ll do my best Princess.”
~~~
Desert Springs XCOM Base, Madagascar
Firing Range
December 17th, 2015

“Target Nine!” Spar shouted.
“Target Nine!” The Equines repeated.
“Lyra, take the shot!”
The unicorn fired her weapon, the bullet impacting on the cut-out sectiod’s midsection.
“Hit!” Boss reported.
“Your turn Applejack! Fire!”
This time, the round bounced off the far wall.
“Miss! Re-engage!” 
The next bullet struck the target’s foot.
“Hit. Barely…”
“Do it RD!”
Dash fired, trying to aim at the distanced target.
“Miss! Re-engage!”
She fired again, getting frustrated at the difficulty of the long-range shot.
“Double miss.” Boss said, shaking his head.
“Don’t you start that crap now Dash!” Spar barked.
“Yes sir…”
“Go Trixie, just like I showed you.”
Two shots went off, both hitting the target.
“Hit… even though you should have only taken one shot…”
“Was their ever any doubt?” Trixie asked, smirking.
“Cut the gloating! Twilight, let’s see what you’ve got!”
Before the humans could even blink, a hole appeared in the target’s head.
“Hit! Damn good shot Twilight.” Boss commented.
“Oh yes,” Spar said, smiling. “They’re ready.”
~~~
“I’m telling you it’s true.” The Doctor said, leading the way into the lab.
“Doctor, I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, and I understand a lot.” Tex said, following the Pony. “But alternate universes? I can’t believe it.”
“But you believe in time travel? And Teleportation?”
“Those are concepts I’ve seen with my own eyes, and they have scientific backing. That does not.”
“Oh really?” Doctor Whooves asked, turning on the computer he’d been given. “So if I had proof, you’d believe me?”
“If it was undeniable, yes.”
“Well then,” Whooves said with a smirk. “Take a look.”
Tex turned, confused. On screen was what looked like the Science labs they were currently in.
“Ok, I don’t get it.” Tex said. “It’s just a video of our lab.”
“Is it? Look closer.”
Tex did as she was instructed, squinting. Now that he mentioned it, there was some differences. A computer in a different area here, a test tube that didn’t belong there, and a woman that looked nothing like her in wearing the head scientist’s lab coat.
“Who… who IS that?” Tex demanded.
“If I were to guess, that’s you in another dimension.” The Doctor said casually. “Or at least, your replacement. Her name is Doctor Vallen, at least that’s what her name tag says.”
“So this… really is another world?” Tex asked slowly.
“Yes. It really is. Another world with their very own XCOM.”
“Fascinating…” She whispered, looking closer.
The possibilities of this find…
“Doctor Tex?”
By reflex, the Scientist turned the monitor off.
For right now, I want only me and The Doctor too know about this…
She turned to see Colonel Maze standing at the doorway, brow raised.
“Am I interrupting something?” He asked. 
“Oh of course not.” She lied. “Just running system diagnostics.”
The Colonel stared at her for a moment, and she was worried that he hadn’t bought it. But Maze just shrugged.
“Alright then. Just came down here with a proposition.”
“Oh?”
“We have a new squad arriving, ordered here by the Council, but they look green as grass to me.” He gave an evil smile. “I was hoping you would ‘welcome’ them to our base.”
Tex matched the Colonel’s smile.
“Oh yes. I’ve wanted to stretch my legs.” She said. “I’ll meet you down there. Make sure to call Delta Squad down to see along with our Equine friends, I’ll show them a few tricks.”
Maze nodded, then exited the labs, Doctor Whooves en-tow. 
Tex turned back to the computer.

File
Save as:
“Project Window”
Classification: Doctor Jordan “TEX” Stritzel only

She shut the computer down, then started making her way to the combat simulation room.
“This is going to be fun…”