//------------------------------//
// Test IX: Combat Testing 
// Story: Research Project: Sparkle 
// by Axquirix 
//------------------------------//

The two beings regarded each other silently for a moment, as the door was shut behind the newer arrival.
The room was dim. A single, bare bulb struggled to illuminate a space barely bigger than an office cubicle, its only furniture a cheap wooden table, two plastic chairs, and a blackboard tucked against one wall. The walls themselves were bare blockwork, although the floor had been coated with linoleum tiles, a pallid green doing little to offset the room’s lackluster design.
Neither of its occupants cared, of course. They both had greater concerns for being present. One had dared to wait in the room for over an hour, apprehensive of the other’s arrival. The other had been concerned enough to show up, so bleak was its own situation.
Jenkins took a deep breath, and held out a hand. “It’s an honour to meet you, sir,” he began.
Your pleasantries mean little, a voice sounded in his mind, powerful and ancient, and there is much to discuss.
“Y-yes,” Jenkins stuttered, before clearing his throat. “I represent a long-standing and diverse coalition of-”
Squabbling, treacherous, power-hungry conspirators, the voice spoke again. It can be clearly seen in your mind. You yourself would betray those of higher station if it garnered you more power, and would abandon your order if it endangered you.
Jenkins frowned. “I am nothing but loyal to the order,” he replied with confidence.
The alien before him remained as stoic as its mask enforced. Perhaps. The collective defiance of humanity has caused our downfall. In meeting with you, it is hoped that the singular ambition of humans will aid our reconstruction. It is not clear, however, how you intend to help us.
Jenkins mused for a moment. “You’re scattered, with no communications, correct?”
An unfortunate circumstance, the Ethereal admitted.
“We’ve managed to make contact with you,” Jenkins pointed out, “and with some information from you to… refine our techniques, we could continue to attempt contact with other ships, help you restructure your fleet.”
A welcome offer, but hardly worthy of what you seek to ask in return, the Ethereal replied. You seek our technology, the advancements we have made that you have not, especially regarding the Gift. Do not be concerned, the Ethereal dismissed the counter argument the human had been about to give, the reward you seek will be admitted, if your efforts prove useful. However, one more thing is needed of you.
“Ask away,” Jenkins replied, realising that the conversation was firmly outside of his control.
The soldiers. The New One’s allies. They have surpassed where others have failed, but their violent refusal of their own purpose makes them dangerous. You have some information on them, the Ethereal noted, and you have soldiers of your own. We will continue to operate as we have, searching for more who might bear the Gift. You will seek out and destroy the New One’s allies.
Jenkins nodded. “We will do what we can,” he agreed, “and in return-”
In return we will provide you with… some of our technologies. What we share will depend on how you perform.
The man nodded. “Wouldn’t want to give us too many toys so soon in case we turn out like XCOM, makes sense. And if we’re successful in destroying them?”
The Ethereal was silent for a moment, before its response echoed in Jenkins’ mind. Your order will be reformed into our official presence on this world. You will be given freedom to govern it as you wish, under our guidance. We will be allowed to continue our search for Gifted ones freely. Both of our collectives will prosper together.
“Deal,” Jenkins replied, extending a hand automatically. To his mild surprise, the Ethereal did likewise, one long, withered limb creeping from the folds of its heavy cloak, and the first of its three spindly fingers pressing its point firmly into the palm of his extended hand.
Our decision is agreed, it intoned, before the limb withdrew. The alien turned and glided silently out of the room, the door opening itself as it passed through. The three human guards in the next room watched it leave silently, before withdrawing a little as the armoured hulk of the Muton they had been sharing the room with lumbered past in pursuit of its master.
“Gentlemen,” Jenkins addressed the three men as he entered the room, “the game is afoot.”


***


Twilight Sparkle breathed in, and out. She shifted a little where she stood, feeling the thick fabric of the training suit cling to her body. The straps of the psionic dampener’s pack hugged her torso, as the headset attached to it gripped her horn. She glanced at the small screen nestled between her wings. It was currently set to one hundred percent impedance, which the alicorn admitted made sense.
“Right,” the technician beside her spoke, “you know the rules and everything? Weapons fire only, no physical hitting.”
“I know,” Twilight said, looking at the mock weapon in the hands of the soldier in front of her.
“Today’s just an aptitude test,” he went on, “getting you used to what a battlefield can be like. You’re going to be up against two soldiers, Popov and Santiago, both corporals. This is training for them as well as you, since we’re giving you eight hit points to their five each. Every shot does one to three, two to five if flanking.”
Twilight still found it a little odd that official military training was conducted with such an odd system, but she wasn’t going to question it. Apparently it helped model how the soldiers’ armour affected their survivability. “So stay behind cover and keep moving, got it.”
“Right, let’s get the dampener set up,” the technician spoke. “You want to try lifting this?” He set the mock weapon on the ground in front of Twilight’s hooves. She frowned and concentrated as both of his hands moved to the device on her back. Gradually, she felt her magic reaching out, becoming stronger little by little as the technician altered the device’s settings. After about a minute of trialing, Twilight could keep the gun steady at eye level and aim it roughly as easily as she could point a hoof at something.
“Okay, impedance set to ninety-two-point-seven percent,” the technician spoke, before looking at the clipboard he had with him and muttering something. “Anyway, you’re all set. Door’s straight ahead, combat starts when the green light shows and it opens.”
Twilight gave a brief nod, before going to stand before the door, her rifle floating near her right shoulder. She didn’t have much magic left over besides what she needed to manipulate it, which also made sense - she needed to know what their soldiers might find useful, if she could teach it to them, so she should start by knowing what they do now.
The red light above the door turned a harsh green, and the portal slid open. The alicorn spotted an identical door on the other side of the room open, maybe fifty metres away. Two men in black bodysuits similar to her own rushed through as she did, all three combatants quickly taking cover behind nearby barriers.
The room’s cover consisted mostly of cuboid barricades made of plywood. The sides sloped outwards, giving the obstacles a wider base than their top. Twilight had been told that they could retract into the ground to simulate destruction from explosives, but that wouldn’t be an issue she needed to deal with.
The alicorn quickly moved to her right, keeping her head low as she trotted. Thanks to her shorter height, staying behind cover was as simple as lowering her head, without needing to squat her legs. Her wings were under her suit, and there were no holes for them, so they weren’t an issue either.
She cautiously peeked over the barrier, a good thirty feet from where she started. One of the men was also moving sideways, roughly to keep in front of her, while the other was moving forwards and to his right, freely jumping barriers as he did so. Twilight watched for a second, aiming her rifle as she tracked his movement. She pulled the trigger as he went to jump another wall, guessing that he’d be unable to dodge while mid-flight.
The duo of low ‘boop’ noises that filled the arena told her that she guessed right, signalling that he’d lost two hit points. “I’m hit!” he shouted, as he almost threw himself behind a box after landing, doing his best not to let her get another shot in.
Twilight smiled, before glancing around for new cover. Keep low, keep moving. She galloped to a nearby wall before vaulting over it, turning to scan the room on landing.
A red beam to her chest brought her attention back to the second man, as the room’s speakers signalled three hits. “Hey!” Twilight shouted, before returning fire, only to have the man duck her laser.
“Have to try a little harder than that!” the soldier called back in a deep voice. Twilight frowned before jumping back over her cover, running for a nearby taller wall. She could hear the first man’s feet pounding again, back on the move to try and flank her.
If she could get him flanked, she’d probably take him out, Twilight knew. She kept herself low, trying not to give away her position as she moved across the room. Occasional glances told her that it was beginning to work, as the forward man seemed to lose track of her, hunkered down behind a wall that covered him from her earlier position.
“Santiago! Behind you!” the second man - Popov, she guessed - shouted as she moved to outflank his ally.
Santiago span around as Twilight stepped out from behind another wall, her weapon brought to bear. Red light bloomed forth, and the alicorn watched as he jumped to one side with a cry of “It’s flanking me!” She gritted her teeth in frustration, stepping back into cover.
“Smoke out!” Popov shouted, before a thunk and a bang surrounded Twilight and Santiago in a thick cloud of green smoke. Twilight frowned - she didn’t have smoke grenades, she just had a rifle. She was pretty sure they weren’t meant to have smoke grenades. Why-
Her chain of thought was interrupted by a loud thump from behind her, and she span around to see Santiago with a flanking shot. “Not gonna be that easy,” he taunted as he aimed his weapon.
Thinking fast, Twilight dropped her weapon from her magical grip and grabbed Santiago’s. He cried in alarm as his gun was wrenched upwards, the red beam hitting the ceiling uselessly. The alicorn pulled the weapon from the soldier’s hands fully and dropped it, moving to snatch up her own again. As she started, though, she spotted something else on the soldier’s suit - a mock grenade.
“Hey, you’re not meant to-!” Santiago shouted as he bent down to grab his gun, cutting himself short when he spotted the pin float past his face. A loud triple boop and the cover around him lowering into the ground served to let him know that he was out.
“One down!” Twilight shouted with joy as she vaulted over a wall, her weapon in tow once more. She and Popov were five hit points each, which meant one good flanking shot could decide this. She spotted him duck behind a high wall, and so ran for the other end of it, alternating between keeping low and jumping walls as she did so. She rounded the corner. She took aim at the exposed soldier as her hooves touched the floor, still not fully stopped.
Popov was faster, his laser smacking her square in the side. Five hits rang out on the room’s speakers, and the lit strips on Twilight’s rifle went dark.
“Aww,” Twilight moaned, looking first at her weapon and then at Popov. “How come you were allowed grenades?” She asked with a huff.
Popov shrugged. “They gave us grenades, simple as that. You have psionics, after all.”
“Enough to mimic having hands, sure,” Twilight countered, “but you already have those.”
“Ours aren’t twenty feet long,” Santiago countered, walking up beside the pair with his gun back in his hands. “Nice moves, by the way, didn’t see that coming.”
“I had to think on my hooves,” Twilight replied, “I’ve been getting a lot of practice at that lately.”
“Speaking of late,” Popov gestured to the door, “Lunch break starts in a quarter hour, and debrief can take that long. Shall we?”
Twilight nodded, and the three of them left the arena.


***


Research Project: Subject X-014 “Sparkle.”
Date: 28th February 2016
Experiment X-014-1-I:  Combat Testing 1
Personnel: Cpl A Santaigo, Cpl W Popov

Experiment Summary
Standard training exercise, battlefield mimicking urban environment. X-014-1 equipped with one training laser rifle, one refitted training hit detection suit, and one psionic inhibitor set to 92.7% impedance. This value allows X-014-1 to manipulate her weapon using psionics without having excess psionic power for other applications. Cpl Santiago and Cpl Popov equipped each with training laser rifle and training hit detection suit. Cpl Popov also equipped with smoke grenade, and Cpl Santiago also equipped with training fragmentation grenade.
X-014-1 immediately shows adequacy in conventional XCOM tactics, utilising cover to impede enemy targeting and maneuvering to outflank enemies. At forty-three second mark, X-014-1 becomes aware of Cpl Popov and Cpl Santiago’s additional equipment and the advantage this gives them. X-014-1 begins to use psionics offensively, impeding Cpl Santiago’s weapon before activating his grenade, releasing control of its own weapon to do so.
X-014-1 ultimately eliminated by reaction fire from Cpl Popov, while attempting to outflank him. Training ends and all subjects proceed to debriefing.

Further Research
X-014-1 has demonstrated a willingness to use psionics on combat opposition, and has also demonstrated some of the uses of telekinesis in a combat environment, making up for an initial disadvantage in doing so. Though telekinesis is difficult for XCOM psion operatives to achieve, training those who use it regularly in X-014-1’s application of the technique would be wise - to date, no XCOM operative has attempted to prematurely detonate an enemy’s explosives. Attempts have been made to return thrown grenades, but they have been met with little success, reportedly due to maintaining the finesse involved in such a task being difficult on the battlefield.
X-014-1’s ability to manipulate the battlefield at such high impedance is impressive. Tests are to be run to confirm its abilities at this impedance, before testing X-014-1’s abilities at lower impedances.