//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Stakeout // Story: Nightmare's Dream // by shirotora //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Stakeout Curt was a smart guy. Sure, he didn't always show it, but he was, in fact, quite the intelligent guy. It was one thing that made him and Twilight such a good match. That being said, his brain was seconds from complete, catastrophic meltdown. All he could gather from the conversation between his fiance and her apparent human clone was that magic had something to do with neutrinos. At least he was pretty sure; the rest of those words were obviously just a pony thing. No real word needed eight syllables to pronounce. Given Professor Tanya’s degrees on the wall, Curt’s first impression as he entered the door was she’d be as much of a pathological neat-freak as Twilight. It looked like a paper printer had vomited all over half the floor and the disassembled terminal looked like it was—why was it smoking!? “Oh, wow,” Twilight said, finally turning uber-brain mode off. “Celestia will be so excited to hear about this; an actual scientific explanation for magic!” “I suppose I could give her a full lecture when I arrive,” Tanya replied. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean 'arrive'?” “That's why you're here, correct?” Tanya asked rhetorically. “I traced the origin of my sudden ability to use magic to the incident on the spaceliner I took a year and a half ago. If that's the case, other humans on board have likely begun displaying a magical aptitude as well. It's only natural that our newest allies, being magic users, would seek to train the first human mages in over two thousand years to gain trust among the other races.” “That's a very astute observation, Professor,” Twilight said, mirthfully. “You are correct. I believe you have your magic sufficiently under control, so you can remain here until we leave. We still have more adepts to find, so I'm not sure when that will be.” “I have a few things to finish up, anyway,” Tanya said. “If you still have others to find by then, I can meet you somewhere. Perhaps I can even help you find them.” “I would appreciate that,” Twilight replied with a smile. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- The next two days went by at an agonizingly slow pace. All their efforts to track down the other passengers were met with failure. All attempts to get the passenger list from the travel company that owned the space liner were denied, as they expected, and what rumors they heard led them to simple con artists and street magicians. As Twilight, Curt, and Alex, who decided he wanted to meet some of these wackos, left the office of 'Madam Milda', Twilight grumbled, “Who does she think she's dealing with? Calling me, a magical fucking unicorn, a fraud that doesn't know what magic is? I damn near am magic! And what the hell are you laughing at?” Alex, seemingly unfazed by the death glare trying to ignite his soul, managed to get out, “She – haha – she actually tried – hahaha – Oh my god, who would buy that crap?!” The angry mare couldn't really stay angry – it was a pretty ridiculous con – and joined in with Alex, chuckling a bit. “Yeah, it was pretty poorly thought out.” “Hey, guys,” Curt said, looking up from the datapad he had his nose buried. Twilight gave him her attention, though Alex was still laughing. “I just got a message from some guy. I think... Here, take a look.” Twilight took the offered pad in her magic and read: What you seek is being held at 3484 Lancaster Way, East Warehouse District, New London. Be prepared for violence. “Who sent it?” Twilight asked, brows furrowed in thought. “According to this... I sent it to myself.” Alex was finally able to get himself under control enough to join the conversation. “You think a hacker's taken an interest?” Curt took his data pad back and pocketed it before answering, “I'm not sure, but if one is... I'm not sure if I like it.” “Why?” Twilight asked, confused as to their extremely serious expressions. “Wouldn't having more people helping us be a good thing?” “Hackers are some of the most dangerous people in the galaxy,” Curt explained. “A skilled hacker can turn a saint into a wanted criminal, send a droid air strike to your home, or rob you blind. Really good ones can even hack cybernetic implants and make a man strangle himself.” Twilight's left foreleg shot to her right, her eyes wide and fearful. Curt caught her reaction and assured her, “Yours was made by a crazy pony using magic in place of programming, so I doubt they could do anything to you.” “Wh-what about my lung, or optic nerve, or other parts?” Twilight asked, nervously. “Could they just... Turn me off?” “Yours is a magic construct, not a piece of machinery, Twi. You’d need another magic user to tamper with it. You're safe.” Curt pulled his mare into a comforting hug. Twilight looked up, into Curt's eyes, and calmed down. “Okay, I trust you,” she said, before getting back to the original topic. “So... How are we going to save this adept?” Curt shared a confused look with Alex before asking, “Who said we need to save anyone?” “'What you seek is being held,'” Twilight quoted. “What we seek are human adepts. Therefore, an adept is being held.” “Held, as in prisoner?” Curt asked, rhetorically. “We should have considered this a possibility, an adept using their gift, or a criminal element manipulating one for illicit purposes.” “We didn't exactly have a lot of time to prepare,” Twilight reminded him. “Anyway, let's go. I want to see what we're dealing with. Tomorrow, we'll gather some intel on what we're up against.” Alex raised his hand, “Uh, excuse me... I'm not exactly a fighter.” “Don't worry,” Curt assured him. “It'll take time to gather the intel we need. We'll find something for you by then.” “In the mean time,” Twilight added. “If you want to help us, I can start you on the basics of combat spells. Of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to.” “And miss out on being a hero? Hell no!” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Curt and Twilight took turns watching the warehouse they were directed to. They were parked at an old scenic lookout, as to not look suspicious, while using a Far Sight spell to watch for their target. Of course, it wasn’t so scenic anymore. The old road had been there for centuries, and was rarely used by any other than the occasional camper. Conveniently, the warehouse district they were watching rested exactly where the forest the lookout was made for used to be. When not watching, they would retreat back into the tent they set up to help Alex learn a few offensive spells from the elemental school of magic. He had learned the matrix for the 'Dragon's Tongue' rather well, but would need to actually practice using it later. Instead, he moved on to 'Water Whip'. “Now, where fire magic is fueled by love, passion, and anger, water magic is feed by joy and hate. For offensive spells, like this, hate is what you want to focus on.” “Heh... I didn't realize you ponies knew how to hate,” Alex quipped. Twilight rolled her eyes. “It doesn't have to be extreme hatred, like one would feel towards someone who... I dunno, murdered their family. It can be your hatred of a certain food, or sound. In fact, the best ones to use are the more minor hates of yours, 'dislikes' if you will. If the hate is too strong, it can cause the spell to get out of hand. Also, when hatred becomes that strong, it has a tendency of becoming passion and you'll get fire or even steam.” “This is getting complicated,” Alex stated, rubbing his forehead. “Only the theory. The practice is much easier than it sounds.” Twilight looked down to the datapad in her metal leg, noting the time. “In fact, it's late enough we should be able to practice this without being seen. Let's go.” As they stepped outside, Alex asked, “So, why 'hate'? In fact, other than fire, the elements don't really use any emotion I'd think they would.” “That's a debate that's been going on since before the princesses were born,” Twilight said with a mirthful snort. “Most think it has to do with mindset. Fire feeds on emotions that make you feel hot – anger, joy, love, embarrassment. Water feeds on emotions that make you feel cool or cold. I'm not sure how joy fits into that, though.” “Maybe because joy is relaxing,” Curt said from his place overlooking the warehouse. “How's training?” Twilight smiled at her human. “That's actually why we're out here. I figured it's dark enough that we won't be seen.” “Take it in the trees, regardless,” the former sniper said. “No need to take any unnecessary risks.” As Twilight lead her student to a more visually secluded spot, Curt called out, “Don't destroy the whole forest!” “No promises!” Alex called back. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Curt opened the door to their hotel room. They considered flying back to the villa, but Ireland was a good two hour flight away. The hotel they found was nice enough make them seem like tourists, but not too much to break their bank accounts. Though, having a full year's worth of untouched officer's pay, Twilight could have sprung for something a bit nicer if she wanted. Not ten minutes after kicking off their shoes and getting comfortable, Curt's pocket jingled a short, catchy tune. He pulled out his datapad, and flicked it on. “Hello, mom. Did you get my message?” he greeted the older woman As the other two moved to a position they could see, Twilight cuddled up to Curt's side and Alex over his other shoulder. “I did,” she replied. “I'm sending you the floor plan of warehouse 114. They all have the same layout, but this one's on the other side of the district so it shouldn't draw any attention.” “I'm impressed,” Alex chimed in. Ruth laughed, “Oh, please. This is child's play.” “Mom used to work for TI as a handler for their field agents,” Curt explained. Alex whistled. “Your mom just got even sexier.” Ruth giggled, “Thank you, Alex. Anyway, the warehouse your VIP is being held in is owned by one Lenard Conrad.” An image of a middle aged man with graying brown hair, wearing sunglasses and a gray suit came over the screen. “He's not exactly big-time, but he's no little guy, either. What makes him dangerous is his connections. He's affiliated with several very dangerous people, including the Karlan family so local police aren't going to do you any good.” “Great,” Twilight sighed. “So how do we get our guy?” “I managed to get a satellite to take images of the warehouse and was able to get images of of the interior.” Another picture popped up, showing translucent blue figures. “If you notice, this room,” a single blue figure in what appeared to be a room the the very center of the structure, “seems to be the only one with a bed, toilet, and sink. I'm guessing this figure is your package. My advice; blitz 'em. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast. Don't leave them any time to recover and get their bearings. Rush through, secure your VIP and get out. No frills, nothing fancy.” “Woah, woah,” Alex interrupted. “Why can’t we just sneak in? I mean, isn’t that what you special forces guys do anyway?” Curt explained, “Normally, yes, but this is a bit different. This is a warehouse with little cover spread too thin. Worse, the guys inside seem to just be hanging out, which means there’s no pattern we can exploit. While they won’t be actively searching for anyone, they’ll still notice movement.” “And by the looks of these images,” Twilight continued, pointing out red marks on the figures, “They’re all armed with at least pistols. We’d be spotted in seconds and still have a firefight. It’s best to start the shooting on our terms than theirs. We should be able to take out the watch on the outside stealthily, but that’s it.” “So, rush in, catch’em off guard, and hope the surprise gives us the edge.” Alex confirmed. “That’s right,” Twilight replied. Curt and Twilight studied the images for a moment before Curt spoke. “Alright, we can work with that. Anything else you can tell us?” “Only what I'm sure you've already observed,” Ruth replied. “They're well trained for thugs, and outfitted with impressive gear. The only reason a blitz will work is because they're too used to being in charge; the cops are paid for and they’re too small for the military to take interest. Their shock won't last long, though, so make sure you have a good exfil strategy.” Twilight explained, “Curt and I will be teleporting Alex and the VIP to a waiting car. I'll then alter our appearance with a simple illusion and we'll drive right out.” “That could work for exfil, but they'll still recognize you during your assault, dear. You are a celebrity, after all,” Ruth pointed out. Alex added, “Not to mention the only other pony on Earth right now is Princess Celestia's representative. Considering that guy’s a guest of the Terran Federation, they're keeping tabs on him.” “So... What? We kill everyone?” Twilight scoffed. There was a long silence as neither Curt, nor his mother wanted to look her in the eye. “You can't be serious,” Twilight said, shocked at such an idea. “I mean, I get that we might need to neutralize some of them, but to just kill everyone...” “I don't like it either,” Curt assured, “but it is a viable option. Let's just file that away as a last resort. Hopefully another solution will present itself.” <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Avivan (Avl'an Taali) Homeworld: Vivilus, Yona The Aviva are an bird-like race that hail from the second planet of the Yona system. They are covered from head to upper abdomen in thick, downy feathers. These feathers are mostly white or light gray with the feathers forming the head crest typically being red, brown, orange, or yellow. Despite their predatory eyes, usually a shade of yellow or orange with red being the rarest, and clawed hands and feet, they have a more fruit and vegetable heavy diet with meat typically being a side dish. The Aviva come from a mountainous world with treacherous terrain. Landslides and earthquakes make life on the land difficult. For this reason, the Aviva have evolved to take to the skies. Contrary to what one may believe, Aviva are very poor fliers in an Avol like environment. Their wings evolved for the strong winds and updrafts of their homeworld. Although, they can still use their wings to glide well enough. On Vivilus, the Aviva live in massive floating cities. These comprised of individual, interconnected 'structure ships'. Each of these ships can disconnect from the rest of the city and towed if need be. In ancient times, their cities were built on the backs of the massive Limana, gigantic, docile creatures with a solid carapace that stay afloat via hydrogen filled sacks in their bodies. Many smaller communities still live in this traditional way. Culturally, the Aviva tend to put a lot of emphasis on honor. While they don't expect newcomers to know what is or isn't a slight, they do expect those who stay for extended periods to make an effort. If you do insult one accidentally, however, don't worry, you won't have to fight some duel to the death like in movies and novels. Chances are a heart-felt apology coupled with a public display of some kind will suffice. Only the most grievous of insults would result in things getting physical, but if you go that far you likely deserve a buck in the teeth.