//------------------------------// // 7. Dreams // Story: Ghost Recon: Phantom Hunt // by TJAW //------------------------------// Unknown Location Unknown Time Unknown Date Unknown Scenario Scott Mitchell stood in a flowing river that seemed to have cut through an otherwise flat plane of slate-gray rock. At least, the parts that weren’t obscured by fog seemed flat. He could make out a figure that looked like an alicorn. Another appeared from the mist, an alicorn as well. Soon, they both lined up by the river, directly across from him. They stared at him intensely, striding across the water to his side of the river. The alicorns began to circle him and look him over. “?rewop rof barg reh tneverp ot latrom siht no yler ew tsuM” The larger of them, a male, asked. “.siuqE ot dnik sih gnirb ot tif was taht saw ew yhw rebmemer ot llew od dluow uoY” The female answered. “.snamuh …eseht tsurt t’nod I” The male one responded. He then turned to the female. “.meht fo lla ssel hcum ,snoipmahc reh fo eno taefed dluoc eh tbuod I" The soldier urged to say something, but found himself unable to open his mouth. “?thgin eht fo serutaerc naht snoipmahc reh yals ot retteb ohW,” The female responded. “…doolb ruo nopu sllaf doolb ruo gnillik fo ksat eht tuB” “Who are you?!”Mitchell demanded. “The mortal speaks. Impressive,” The female observed, finally speaking something comprehensible. “To shatter that charm must’ve required significant willpower.” He drew his pistol and pointed it at them. “You can’t kill the dead, human…” Canterlot Castle 05:30 October 17, 1196 CE Day 6 Scott awoke in an unremarkable and undramatic manner. He was cold, sweaty and his heart was racing, but he didn’t know why. If it was because of a dream, he’d already forgotten it. Still, he needed to warm up, so he took a hot shower. I guess some good things came out of this whole incident. I get access to a soft bed and a hot shower every few nights. All that’s going on today is preparing Artemis for our trip to the Griffon Kingdom, and general preparation. Need to give her basic firearms training, and a crash course of what to do in a firefight so she doesn’t get killed if she ends up in the middle of one. After he finished, he dried off and shaved, then got dressed. Once he finished, he decided to stop by the castle’s library and read for a bit. Breakfast wasn’t until 07:30. He left his room and headed down Canterlot Castle’s extensive halls, travelling for about ten minutes before he reached his destination. The whole place smelled like parchment, and it was empty save for a half dozen ponies that were part of the team working on finding his people a way home. They wore archetypal white lab coats over teal turtlenecks, and at least half of them had brown fur. They gave him passing glances, and one of the older individuals stared for a good minute before a colleague nudged him. “Are there any newspapers around here? Something to get a snapshot of what’s happening around the world.” The scientists seemed hesitant to answer, surprised that they had just been addressed by him. “There’s a copy of the World Herald over there,” One of them answered, pointing to an empty desk nearby. “I don’t know anypony who reads the international section.” “Thanks.” He walked over to the newspaper and opened it to the international section and browsed the headlines. This looks interesting. Eosian Premier Replaced with Hard-Liner Legacy Brashneigh, the recently passed leader of the Eosian Union of Socialist Republics, has been replaced along with his inner circle. He is succeeded by Yearning Ambleoff as General Secretary of the EUSR. Sources choosing to remain anonymous claim that the Committee for State Security, one of the alliance’s chief intelligence organizations, and Ambleoff’s former station, was instrumental in this changing of the guard. In the announcement following this political shift, Ambleoff made clear his policy objectives, which included the international proliferation of his party’s ideology. That sounded eerily familiar to Scott. Pop Music Groups Hailing from Selenia Make Waves in Griffon Kingdom Scott skipped that one. Griffon Army Escalates Presence in South of Kingdom in Response to “Free Wing” Offensive To counter the efforts of the insurgent group “Free Wing”, the Royal Griffon Army has increased its presence in the south. This is seen as another escalation of an already unpopular and bloody war using technology from foreign powers, and has been met with protests in major cities across the Kingdom. The Free Wing is a separatist movement in a southern region of the country – known as “Agon”- which is populated by ponies and griffons alike. At this point in the four-year long conflict, which is characterized as an internal military action by the Griffon government, citizens are divided as to whether the province should be allowed to secede. “Where’s this paper based, anyway?” “I don’t know. It has mostly has the same international news wherever it’s sold, but the national stuff does change,” One of the scientists - if the magic experts working on a way home for him could be accurately called that - answered. Mitchell decided to begin his own preparation for his team’s mission into Agon. He opened a menu on his Crosscom’s HUD that displayed camouflage patterns he could use, categorized in several different ways. Russian, European, American and other patterns were all available if he needed to look like another nation's military from afar, not that that'd be any benefit here. Pattern families and intended environments were also categories, to make finding the right camo for a given terrain easier. He went into the desert category, ruled out older patterns, and decided on MultiCam Arid. He browsed the available intelligence he had on the upcoming mission for an hour or so. After that, he made his way towards Princess Celestia’s chambers. He’d need her input on where his people could train Artemis Arrow. And any place where they could train her, they could also keep their own skills sharp. When he arrived, he opened the door without knocking, recognizing a split-second too late his breach in etiquette. In any case the door was open now. Depending on her reaction, he’d either socialize, or get down to business. Inside, Celestia sat next to a stained-glass window, depicting two alicorns that seemed dimly familiar, though he couldn’t put his finger on why. In front of the princess was a finely crafted walnut table about waist-high, with a Black Forest cake in the center. There was already a slice on her plate, and she held a fork with her magic. She froze with her mouth agape when she noticed him standing there. *** Well. This is certainly awkward. “Sorry I forgot to knock… Were you going to eat that whole thing?” Captain Mitchell asked. “N-no, have a seat.” Celestia stuttered, surprised. “Would you like some?” The human knelt on a pillow on the other side of the table. “Yes, please.” The princess withdrew another plate, fork and knife from a cabinet in the table. After a moment of hesitation, she cut him a slice and served him. “Thank you.” He took a bite and smiled. “You’re very welcome.” Mitchell took another few bites. “Why eat cake this early?” “Moving the sun in the morning uses quite a lot of energy. I always eat afterwards because a royal breakfast isn’t enough to replenish all of it.” “I don’t know, a royal breakfast sounds good to me.” “It’s really not much more than a normal pony’s breakfast of oatmeal and fruit. The only difference is high-end ingredients. May I ask you something?” Celestia inquired. “You just did,” He quipped. They both chuckled. “Alright, ask me something then.” “Why ‘Princess’ and not ‘Queen’? Shouldn’t Equestria be a principality?” Mitchell asked, taking a few bites of his cake. Celestia tilted her head backwards and to the left, then returned it to its previous position, the equine equivalent of a shrug. “It’s Princess because I’m unmarried. But you’re right about the nomenclature. It’s mostly that nopony really cares enough to mention such a non-issue. Maybe I should start making public service announcements. ‘Fight apathy. Or don’t.’” Mitchell chuckled. She sensed an ever-so-faint amount of magic on him. Almost imperceptible, but definitely there. It was similar to the residual presence she’d felt on his vehicles when the humans had first arrived almost a week ago. This magic hadn't been on him before, or at least she hadn't noticed it before. It wasn’t intrinsic to the vehicles, or to Mitchell, only a remnant of some unknown force. Celestia smiled. “I remember when you arrived, you told me your people were travelling through a place associated with disappearances. Where were you headed?” “That’s classified,” He answered casually. “Do I pose a threat to your national security?” She asked, only half-serious. “No, but a big part of the job is keeping secrets.” “Like a spy?” “Sort of.” “I’m not a fan of spy films myself,” She admitted. “Likewise. Real spies don’t wear tuxedoes and fight supervillains. Most of their job is maintaining a cover, avoiding suspicion, and acquiring or passing on information. Boring, but stressful. I’m more of a superhero guy.” Celestia raised her eyebrows and chuckled. “Really? I can’t picture you reading comic books.” “Well, when you do things like I do, light-hearted escapism is refreshing. I’ve read comics since I was a kid, but I’m not as into them as I used to be.” “Yes, well, I don’t think you came here to talk about comic books.” “You’re right. Since my team is leaving in a couple of days with Artemis Arrow as an advisor and guide, we need a place to train her in basic firearms usage. A bow won’t be much use in a firefight.” “I’ll find someplace your people can use after breakfast.” “Thank you.” *** The training began in the crystal caverns beneath the castle. Targets were a mix of existing mining equipment and illusion magic cast by a pair of guards, who’d been given the task of overseeing the endeavor. For someone who claimed to have no prior experience with firearms, Artemis Arrow displayed a remarkable aptitude with them. She stopped flinching after the first few rounds had been fired, her aim was impressive, and she learned extremely quickly in every task given to her. Hitting stationary and moving targets, learning how to maintain her weapons, clearing jams, the list went on. When they presented her with a modified Crosscom she learned how to use it quickly. Granted, that wasn’t very hard to do, as it was designed for ease of use even in combat situations. The huntress’ remarkable adaptability may have been a trait she developed over years of hunting dangerous beasts with nothing but a bow, a blade and her magic, or perhaps she was always this quick to learn things. Maybe she was holding something back. One way or another, she was a lot sharper than any of them expected. By the end of the day they were ready to throw in the towel. Things had gone pretty well for a condensed crash course in weapons and tactics. When the group finished they headed topside for dinner. “I still can’t believe how fast you got all that down,” Matthew Reeves said. “Are you always this quick to learn things?” “I grew up on my own, so I had to make my own way. Being a professional hunter just meant I had to stay self-reliant. Working with the Royal Guard the last two years has been rough, since they don’t trust loners,” She replied. “Sorry to hear that.” “Don’t be. They’re a bunch of naïve, self-righteous featherbrains, and they needed an expert to keep wild beasts under control. It doesn’t help that they’re reluctant to change their combat doctrine.” “Isn’t the Royal Guard just a ceremonial protection detail?” Matthew asked. “Actually, they do a few things; protecting the Princess and the nobles, policing Canterlot, and dealing with dangerous beasts.” Artemis explained. “And you were contracted because you’re good at monster hunting?” “Yes, but I’m a mare of many talents,” The huntress gloated. “I noticed.” Reeves wasn't sure about her story. But they'd only covered the basics so she wouldn't be dead weight when her skillset wasn't needed. Her performance, while relatively impressive compared to some foreign regulars he'd worked with, wasn't that unusual. She'd shown herself to be adaptable before, this was just a continuation of that. Canterlot Gardens 03:09 October 18, 1196 CE Day 7 It was still dark out as the Ghosts and Special Forces teams prepared to leave. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor and the mostly-healed Calliope came to see them off. “Princess, we’ll stay in touch through Rosen, he’s in charge here for now. Our Osprey will act as a base and a relay station of sorts for our communications with you and everyone else here,” Mitchell said to her over the rotor wash. “That technology you used to talk to me face-to-face a few days ago, will that still work?” Princess Celestia asked. “It might, but we’re going to try and keep comms usage low to avoid detection. If we do talk, it’ll be audio only, with lower sound quality. Most of our communication will be through text and images.” “What if something comes up here in Equestria?” “Don’t worry about it. Rosen will coordinate the other Ghosts, Falcon Team, Blackjack Team, and the others if that happens. We’ll keep in touch and brief you when we find anything.” Mitchell smiled at her, stepped into the Osprey and took a seat inside, the ramp closing behind him. The aircraft took off vertically, ascending well above the castle before it transitioned to horizontal flight. As it had a week before, the Osprey soared over Canterlot’s night sky, this time unrestricted by magic and with a destination to head for. After a few minutes of flight, Matthew Reeves peered out the window. It was a cloudless night, the moon a pearl inlaid upon a velvet cloth studded with thousands of diamonds. Some of the constellations looked familiar, some didn’t. Artemis looked over to him. “What’s eating you?” “I realized right after we lifted off that we’re in a UFO,” He replied. “So?” “You know, pretty much every question I ever had about the world was answered by the time I was an adult. Not to say I’m a wise man, just that I don’t have a lot of questions. But there was one that’s burned in my mind since I was a kid.” “Yeah, what question is that?” “‘Are we alone?’ The popular assumption's been that they’d find us. But I never thought that we’d be the aliens secretly interfering in the affairs of less advanced worlds. Let alone that I’d be one of those aliens. And if there’s two planets in this galaxy with intelligent life, then there have be more…” “You humans have really active imaginations, you know that?” Artemis laughed. That broke Reeves out of his serious, philosophical mood and put a smile on his face. “Yeah, I guess we do,” He chuckled “Anyway, I’m thinking I might try to catch a bit of extra shut-eye until we get there.” Most of the operators onboard the Osprey were asleep, or fell asleep. “This ride isn’t comfy enough for me to fall asleep in. Anypony got anything to read?” Artemis asked. She got no answer. The Osprey descended and the passengers began to stir. The rotors shifted to a vertical position, the landing gear touching down on the arid ground of the Agon region. A glance out a window showed that they’d landed in a small, uninhabited valley isolated from prying eyes. According to their maps and information, they were several miles from a relatively large city. Captain Mitchell spoke. “Damnation Valley is almost universally believed to be cursed; throw the Donner Party and the Dyatlov Pass incident together with a superstitious population and you’ve got this place’s reputation; not even a lost chest of gold to tempt . Ghosts, Viper Team, Artemis, we’re going to head to Agon City. Warhound, you’ll be our reserve team. If anything comes up, we’ll notify you. Let’s head out.”