From space, the planet below looked ideal for a civilization. Large swaths of ocean covered the surface, as well as the occasional inland dot, indicating a lake. The land mass appeared to be covered in lush flora, stretching until they met with the vast oceans. There were lights from the cities below, but not so many that it would be impossible to find nature on hoof. From orbit, the frontier seemed rather serene.
But we weren’t headed for any of that. Our destination was dead in the middle of Angel City, where the IMC had its primary manufacturing and training facilities. It seemed to stand in spite of the rest of the planet, it’s grey, steel mass rising directly out of the ground, far above the rest of the city’s skyline.
When landed on the helodeck on top of the structure, we were greeted by the sight of a mare in a blue IMC uniform, standing stone faced as the downdraft thrashed her mane. I wanted to enjoy the vista from the top of the facility, but the cubic skyline was something I wasn’t very excited to see again. I made my way straight to our host.
Turns out she was a commissars, and they would be supervising our training planet side. I decided to greet her, try to see if her steely facade was just that. “You must be the commissar.”
“Correct. I am here to escort you to your quarters, and then brief you on your training schedule.” Her voice was very monotonous, almost mechanical. If not for the feminine pitch, I would have mistaken her for some sort of android. Commissars were known for being dullards, but now that I actually face to face with one, that seemed to be an understatement.
As we were lead towards the elevator, I took one last look up to the sky, which was now aglow with an orange sunset. With a heavy sigh, I looked straight up. Away from the commissar, away from the cityscape, away from the life I’d been readied for. Looking at soft colors of low sun, I forgot about my responsibilities to the IMC, and focused instead on just how pretty the view was. It was a fleeting feeling, and I knew it. I just want to see the sun with my eyes before I head into the sims for what I assumed would be weeks.
The barracks weren’t luxurious by any means, but the were a far cry from the spartan amenities we’d had while under way. They were segregated, so Angel, Snow Drift, and myself all shared one room. The space was enough for the three of us to be comfortable. In a situation where I was living a normal life, I probably would’ve felt comfortable.
“Come girls. This is our new home, so we might as well make it our own.” Angel immediately set about putting her personal artifacts absolutely everywhere. Photos and trinkets occupied a little over half of the shelf space. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was making it her own.
“Leave some space for the rest of us, Angel. We’ll be living here too.” I tried to sound just a tad frustrated, but sarcastic. Snowdrift gave her a similar commander via a roll of the eyes.
“I do apologize dear, but I’m just so excited to get back into the swing of things. It’s been too long since I’ve had some good quality time with my titan. I can only imagine how itchy Jump Jet’s trigger hoof must be.”
“I’m gonna try to both of those guys as much as possible. I wouldn’t trust them to hand me a knife.”
“Oh you don’t need to be so hard on Jet.” She talked of him as if he were some sort of ill behaved school colt. “I can understand your misgivings about Meteor. He doesn’t seem like the kind of pony who would help his own mother.”
I chuckled. Meteor was extremely lazy. The only reason he was even selected to be a pilot was because his father was admiral of the fleet. His performance in a sim was lackluster at best.
“But Jet only wants to do good. Sure he might be a bit overenthusiastic, but it’s for all the right reasons.”
“Yeah, I’ll remember that as I’m ejecting.”
“Really Summer! You shouldn’t be so contemptuous. We’re all here to fight together.”
Angel was starting to get on my nerves. Ever since we first met, she’d been trying to get me out of my comfort zone, when I’d rather focus on being a pilot. She made have the gift for it, but the rest of us have to work to be able to use our jump kits and titans. I was the one looking down my nose at ponies?
“I don’t want to die to some antique because that kid doesn’t know how to control himself!” My outburst obviously had Angel taken aback. Good. I wanted her to understand that I was willing to fight for the IMC, but I was not about to die for those authoritative bastards. And I certainly wasn’t going to die for any of these jokers.
“Pilots, report to the briefing room in five.” The intercom snapped me out of my rage. I had a chance to think about what I said, and what I’d thought, and it had me taken aback. I wanted to apologize, but my pride got the better of me. Even though knew what I said was wrong, I couldn’t bring myself to admit it. I turned towards the door to leave, and only then did I remember that Snow Drift was in the room with us, and I noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. Once outside, I could feel one rolling down mine.
I was the first one to arrive in the briefing room. The commissar stood at the central table, which had a model of the city projected above. "You know you're early? We don't start the briefing until the top of the hour."
In my furious state, I had lost track of the time. Top of the hour was one minute away. I guess technically I was early. "Oh, yeah. I just wanted to get a head start is all."
As I said that, the rest of the pilots entered the room. Meteor and Jet stood at the table opposite the commissar. I could tell jet was trying his hardest not to jump through the ceiling with excitement. Meteor was just trying to stay awake. Snow drift and Angel stood on the other side of the commissar from myself. They looked my way, and I tried to avoid eye contact. I could bring myself to look at them after what I'd said. Out of the corner of my eye, I was able to see their expressions, which surprised me. There was no malice or anger, but sadness in their eyes. They actually looked concerned for me.
"OK pilots, this will be your first training session planetside. Your task is going to be forward capture and defense.” With a few button presses on the control panel, the projection focused on a two story building in the southwest section of the city. “This is the building you will be tasked with holding. You will be dropped in and given 5 minutes to secure the perimeter, and another 5 minutes to hold the building. Titans will be available with a two minute window of deployment. Aside from these rules, you will have free reign to accomplish the objective as you see fit. Any questions?”
Jump Jet immediately spoke up. “If this is just training, why do we need all of our equipment?”
The commissar looked puzzled by Jet’s question. I don’t know why she would be. I was wondering the exact same thing. These were just sims. Everything was virtual. We wouldn’t be needing out weapons or jump kits.”What are you talking about?”
“Well, if we’re just training in sims, we just need to jump in and do it, right?”
I never would have expected a commissar to laugh, but it happened right in front of my face. She actually let out an audible guffaw at Jet’s statement. Now we were all confused. What could this stone faced mare possibly be laughing at? “What made you think we’d be putting you back in sims? You kids are in the real world now. This will be a live fire exercise.”
Live fire. Depending on your mental state, those words can inspire two feelings. If you are a sensible pony with a strong will to live, you will be shaking in your boots. It looked like Meteor fell squarely into that category. If you are not sensible, you will be jumping for joy. Jump Jet looked like he was about to hit the ceiling when he heard the words, without a jump kit. I wasn’t too sure about the rest of us. Snow Drift, I could never be sure about, and Angel stood as steady as the commissar. I would just have to wait and see how they stood up.
I wasn’t too sure about myself either. I didn’t want to get hurt, of course, but I did want to show up the rest of the squad. There could be only one squad lead, and I want to maximize my chances of survival, I had to make sure it was me. That was my goal, my top priority.
As we were dismissed to suit up, I felt determination and focus like I had never felt before. My heart was pounding, every breath sent a jolt of energy throughout my body. I felt like I would be running on full forever. To be honest, I could see why Jet was so excited. This feeling was exhilarating.
But then I felt twinge of guilt, hesitation. Not about the mission, but my goal. If I was to ensure my own survival, I would need to risk other ponies’ lives. Was I willing to do that?