14 -- Reports (Bonus Chapter)
FILE #34370A
DATE: [REDACTED]
OFFICE OF THE EQUESTRIAN GUARD
OPERATION FORTITUDE POST MISSION REPORT
SECURITY LEVEL: V I O L E T
SUBJ: POST MISSION OPERATIONAL REPORT
CNCRN: VIABILITY OF GUARD OPS AGAINST SAPIENT THREATS X, H, X-COM, AND ORGANIZATION H-X
1. FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL ORDERS #0017 AND #0018, THE DUSK GUARD WAS DEPLOYED IN OPERATIONAL CAPACITY FROM DATE [REDACTED] TO [REDACTED] TO RENDER MILITARY AID TO SAPIENT SPECIES “HUMANS” — REFERRED TO HEREAFTER AS SPECIES H — IN DEFENSE OF MILITARY AGGRESSIONS FROM SAPIENT SPECIES COLLECTIVE X. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE AS ASSIGNED BY THE PRINCESSES: AID AND ASSIST SPECIES H IN DEFENSE OF THEIR HOMEWORLD FROM SPECIES COLLECTIVE X. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: GATHER OPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE RELEVANT TO SPECIES H AND X.
2. POST ACTION REPORT SUMMARY — STATUS: OPERATION CARRIED OUT SUCCESSFULLY. AID RENDERED. OPERATION INTELLIGENCE GATHERED. FOLLOWING: COMPOSITE OF POST MISSION DEBRIEFINGS AND TROOP SUMMARIES REGARDING OPERATIONAL ORDERS #0017 AND #0018. INFORMATION DIVIDED INTO HEADINGS AS APPROPRIATE.
SECTION 1 — DUSK GUARD OPERATIONAL CAPACITY
POST MISSION REPORT — Despite difficulties in adapting equipment to function in the less-used magic field of [REDACTED], our mission was a success. During deployment, we participated in a total of four joint operations with species H organization X-Com (see attached mission reports for further details), all of which were successful in repelling the X threat faced.
Overall, as Captain I feel that we performed as well as could be expected concerning the relative lack of intelligence we received going in and the differences between our tactics and equipment. Species H combat expertise is very much given to mid to long-range combat, and their forces—while well trained—have an entirely different military history than our own.
Additionally, while our own experimental gear was adequate for our period of deployment, additional modifications were required in order for us to remain combat effective (see attached report DETAILED EQUIPMENT ANALYSIS — Corporal Sky Bolt). Dusk Guard armor was proven marginally effective against X weaponry, but pending post-mission injuries, I recommend that our equipment budget be increased as requested in the attached equipment analysis in order to make the requested modifications as well as provide new equipment to replace combat-lost devices. As always, the corporal has ideas that should prove helpful and increase survivability in future engagements.
On a personal note, having faced our enemy, it is clear that in a direct engagement, traditional Guard divisions would be at a heavy disadvantage to the point of uselessness.
One additional note, RE: Sergeant Dawn Triage — After comparing human in-field medical equipment and training with [The Dusk Guard’s] own, I would recommend that we offer additional medical assistance from our own medical organizations and begin studying human physiology as quickly as possible. Lacking magic, their own medical devices, while quite sophisticated and impressive, have several shortcomings such as accessibility and ease of use concerns that lead to a higher than expected casualty rate. Of particular recommendation, and human request, is a counterpart to our own emergency medical spell crystals. Despite the difficulty and cost of producing such crystals, our allies appear to be quite eager to acquire them. I suggest, as an act of mutual benefit, that we offer to supply what we can in return for access to human medical technology that we can retrofit for our own use (see attached list). Surely such a mutually beneficial trade would be of great use to both of us and lead to a decrease in loss of life for both our species.
RECOMMENDATION: Future joint operations between us and the organization known as X-Com should be more properly planned out to bridge the gaps in tactical, strategic and technological differences. Royal and Night Guard equipment and training are inadequate for the task of live combat against species X. Dusk Guard equipment barely adequate — see Specialist Nova Beam’s report that our success was more through “skill, talent and a bit of luck” than a technological edge. Recommend a mass overhaul of all three divisions through use of emergency expenditure in order to develop and outfit all three divisions properly. If possible, a joint tactical program developed in concert with X-Com would likely do much to reduce both tactical differences and shortcomings as well as perceived tension between our own race and the organization.
SECTION 2 — SPECIES COLLECTIVE X SUMMARY
The species collective we came to designate X (based on the humans slang term “X-ray,” short for “extraterrestrial” — a word that means “of or from outside [REDACTED] or its atmosphere”) is by far one of the more unusual things I have seen in my lifetime. Utterly dissimilar from one another save from their unifying hatred for their opponents, they seem to have little disregard for each other or even their ultimate objectives. Despite clear signs of strategic level thinking displayed in their actions around [REDACTED], forces we faced in the field were surprisingly mixed in their combat capacity and tactics. Either their leadership is indifferent to their forces’ tactical failings, or there is a purposefully sharp level of disparity between the combat education of said leadership and that attained by combat troops.
Despite this, X remain highly dangerous due to their unique physiologies and technological advantage. Even the weakest of them is dangerous in the wrong location due to their powerful armaments and unique abilities. Observations on each sub-class of X are collected in supplemental file SPECIES COLLECTIVE X SUB-TYPES; I recommend a more complete dossier be assembled before any further Equestrian deployments are made.
ADDENDUM: Several of our own theories, notedly those of Sergeant Triage, are at odds with those of the humans, which combined with other behavior leads me to believe that there is either intelligence that X-Com is not sharing with us, or the humans are willfully ignorant of the truth. The two largest points of contention are that the X collective seems to be designed for sacrificial warfare (which humanity seems averse to admit) and that with the technological and combat advantage the X have shown, humanity should have been overrun months ago. See supplementary report INCONSISTENCIES WITHIN COLLECTIVE X — Sergeant Triage for further explanation.
SECTION 3 — SPECIES H SUMMARY
The task of categorizing and summarizing humanity is entirely too vast for me to give it justice here. It will have to suffice to declare that humanity is a myriad collection of cultures, subcultures, ideologies, which all at once can both conflict and get along peaceably with one another — though said peace can dissolve at any moment, at least judging from what we’ve seen and what little historical records we could access.
In my opinion, based on both the surreptitious observations made by Lieutenant Hunter and Specialist Sabra as well as the limited sets of information and history that X-Com has presented to us, I hold that X-Com has not been entirely truthful with us about humanity’s history. Indeed, much of what we were able to glean from both the sanitized historical accounts were were given and what we could overhear for ourselves seems to indicate that humanity has had a history as violent and turbulent as perhaps even the griffon clans before the rise of their empire. There are noticeable gaps in the accounts given to us, areas which our allies were reluctant to discuss or even allude to, and upon comparing those areas to the reports made by Princess Twilight upon her return of the knowledge they gave her, I find it most likely that humanity is attempting to conceal the actual extent of their own infighting in order to improve their appearance. Surprisingly enough, they seem to think that the tactic is working as well. Sergeant Triage thinks this might be some sort of human superiority complex at work.
In order to gain a more detailed understanding of their species, I would recommend the supplemental file assembled by Sergeant Triage titled BREAKDOWN OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE, but as to my own opinions, mixed with those of the team, is that while on an individual basis many humans act as we do, as a culture and a society they are almost uniformly disharmonious. While nations of them exist all across [REDACTED], these nations appear to often be at odds with one another internally, prone to sudden outbreaks of civil change and unrest. Both Specialist Sabra and Sergeant Triage have theorized that this stems from a more short-term, self-interested outlook bereft of or choosing to ignore advice to the contrary.
Even with this, the outlook and temperament of humanity can vary widely from place to place. Some geographical areas — at least prior to the attacks and with what little we can understand about them — were fully-charged thunderclouds, ready to spark at the slightest perceived slight or provocation. Others, on the other hand, are held to be so uniformly polite that they’ve become a sort of legend among humans (NOTE: see file CANADA).
In my personal opinion, great care should be taken when interacting or negotiating with this species. From observations gathered in the field, it would appear that expressions of ideals that one would hold obvious and self-evident in Equestria can be held to a large number of differing interpretations when proposed to any number of humans. Each member of the team expressed a variation on the observation that a number of human ideals seem to fall into the interpretation of whatever is acting in the individual’s best interest (suggested causes included a psychological quirk of believing themselves to be the only sentient life-form in the universe, an incredibly conceited thought to us, and a culture based on personal importance above others). Extrapolation of this concept to its most disturbing conclusion may be what prompted a number of omissions regarding certain forms of governments and countries in the historical records given to Princess Twilight and ourselves. Suspicious omissions included such topics as “Communism,” “civil rights,” “tumbler,” “religion,” and “feminism,” (see file HUMAN WITHHELD INFORMATION AND THEORIES) which we could find evidence and allusions to, but a distinct lack of data and an unwillingness to engage in discussion from any X-Com officials.
At the same time, however, a remarkable number of good points concerning humanity’s capacity for care, maturity, and kindness were highlighted in the reports we were shown, in addition to a number of stories shared by X-Com officials. Of note: Individuals and organizations such as “Ghandi,” “Mother Teresa,” “Helping Hands,” “Bob Hope,” “Red Cross,” and “Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.” Humanity has a high capacity for nurturing and caring for others.
Ultimately, they are very similar to us: Capable of things both good and bad. With time, and appropriate and careful diplomatic conduct, we may be able to reach an equal balance and reasonable exchange of ideas, at least with the more calm and less hair-trigger nations. Of course, it remains to be seen exactly what the long term effects of humanity’s contact with species X will be.
RECOMMENDATION: Any diplomatic movements should be made perhaps only by the Princesses themselves, as they have the long term vision and experience that would smooth any disagreements or debates between our nations.
SECTION 4 — X-COM SUMMARY
X-Com falls under much the same warnings I offered regarding humanity in general, in addition to another number of extensive concerns. Despite assurances that X-Com’s forces, science, and soldiers are accounted to someone’s leadership, neither I nor any members of my team were able to ascertain who or what that leadership was. In fact, we were politely discouraged from speaking about it further when we endeavored to ask after the topic. X-Com is clearly a high-powered anomaly of research, design, and capacity among humanity, much like the Dusk Guard, but we were unable to determine exactly who for. Logic dictates that someone, somewhere is supplying them with weapons, funds, equipment, and personnel, but judging from what little we could gather, if any of Earth’s nations are behind it, they’re maintaining absolute secrecy about it, something that in light of our observations of human self-interest, seems questionable. On the surface X-Com seems truthful and straightforward, but all of us, most especially Specialist Nova Beam, whose opinion on the subject I trust, express concern that it might be a front, though for what cause past defeating species X none of us could say.
It is of note, however, that X-Com is certainly keeping secrets from us. Several areas of their base were off-limits, and there were several topics that, despite our attempts, very few individuals would discuss. See supplementary file X-COM SILENCE: TWILIGHT SPARKLE, VAHLEN, RESTRICTED SECTIONS AND TOPICS.
RECOMMENDATION:From a strategic standpoint, I would recommend finding a way to disable X-Com’s [REDACTED] or block against it if needed, in order to prevent them from simply coming to our planet whenever they wished. Their ability to place forces or equipment wherever they wish on our world could be a powerful weapon, and with enough of the devices, and invasion could be crippling. We must find a way to destabilize or otherwise defend against it.
SECTION 5 — ORGANIZATION H-X SUMMARY
The only known acknowledgement of this foe comes from a number of secondhoof accounts and rumors overheard by Lieutenant Hunter and Specialist Sabra. X-Com itself refused to address the topic (see SECTION 4).
As near as we can tell from what little we were able to gather, there may in fact be a second faction of humans acting as an opposite agent to X-Com, either in concert with species X or on their own. More disturbing, the rumors we gathered indicate that like species X, this group is also modifying themselves at a biological level in order to improve their combat focus. Sergeant Triage has dubbed this group “Organization H-X” in response to any lack of an official name or moniker.
Regardless of X-Com’s official stance, our team has overheard enough to believe that such a group exists in some fashion. Combined with Twilight’s report that at several points she was in danger of being hurt by a human and the general fear reaction to the response of X-Com, it is likely that they may face infiltration of some kind, with a predictable result similar to a changeling infiltration. Care should be taken when dealing with X-Com officials as a result.
ACTIVE COMBAT MISSIONS SUMMARY
OPERATION FORTITUDE: Rerouted in deployment to defend a civilian population from a terror attack. Human forces suffered significant casualties. Dusk Guard injuries minimal; cnsq Species X taken by surprise. Equipment expenditure minimal. See full report OPERATION FORTITUDE DEBRIEF for details.
OPERATION WINDLESS DREAM: Assisted in recovery of downed alien ship. No human casualties. Specialist Sabra and First Lieutenant Hunter both wounded by plasma fire but not disabled. Two suits of crystal armor damaged beyond repair. See full report OPERATION WINDLESS DREAM DEBRIEF for details.
OPERATION RAKSAW: Assisted in recovery of downed abduction aircraft. No casualties, human or otherwise. Equipment expenditure minimal. See full report OPERATION RAKSAW DEBRIEF for details. NOTE: The captured humans we recovered were as terrified of X-Com personal as they appeared to be of Species X. Sergeant Triage was forced to sedate them before they could harm themselves or us. X-Com would not provide a satisfactory answer to why such an event would happen. Possible species H-X encounter.
OPERATION SUNKEN WHALE: Assisted in defense of a human military port under attack by alien forces. One member of X-Com wounded. No Dusk Guard casualties. Four other human casualties suffered during operation (however, this number would have been higher without Sergeant Triage’s work). Some equipment damaged. See full report OPERATION SUNKEN WHALE DEBRIEF for details. NOTE: Once again, humans we were assisting reacted in a negative manner to X-Com forces, initially firing on them without explanation. X-Com claimed this was a “communications mishap” but the explanation and what we saw seemed to indicate otherwise. Possible species H-X encounter.
FINAL SUMMARY
OPERATIONAL ORDERS #0017 AND #0018, WITH ACCOMPANYING OBJECTIVES, EXECUTED IN FULL INSOFAR AS THIS COMMAND CAN ASCERTAIN. OBSERVATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS AS FOLLOWS:
—JOINT OPERATIONS BETWEEN X-COM AND EQUESTRIAN GUARD FORCES ARE FEASIBLE, BUT WILL REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT RETOOLING OF STRATEGIES, TACTICS, EQUIPMENT, AND LOGISTICS.
—X-COM, AS A CENTRAL, NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATION, IS CURRENTLY OUR BEST OPTION FOR A NEUTRAL CONTACT WITH [REDACTED]. IT IS IN THIS OFFICER’S OPINION THAT X-COM SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN IMPLICIT TRUST UNTIL THEY ARE MORE FORTHCOMING WITH OPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND HISTORY, HOWEVER.
—SPECIES H, THOUGH DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN SPECIES IN SOME WAYS, IS MARKEDLY SIMILAR IN OTHERS. ONCE THEY ARE NO LONGER THREATENED, PEACEFUL NEGOTIATIONS WILL LIKELY BE POSSIBLE.
—SPECIES X IS FAR BEYOND OUR OWN TECHNOLOGICAL LEVEL IN ALL AREAS SAVE BIOLOGICAL APPLICATION AND EXERCISE OF MAGIC. RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT IS THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME OF SUSTAINED CONTACT.
—RECOMMEND THAT THE DIARCHY IMMEDIATELY BEGIN DRAFTING CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR AGGRESSIVE CONTACT WITH BOTH SPECIES X AND SPECIES H, WITH ATTENTION GIVEN TO SPECIES X FIRST.
—SPECIES X POSES A GLOBAL THREAT LEVEL WE LIKELY CANNOT FULLY COMPREHEND. IF SPECIES X TRULY IS PROLONGING THE CONFLICT ON [REDACTED] TO SUIT THEIR OWN DESIRES, THAN COMBAT PRAGMATISM DICTATES SEVERAL POSSIBILITIES:
++THEIR FORCES ARE OF SUFFICIENT NUMBER AS TO NOT RENDER SUCH LOSSES STRATEGICALLY SIGNIFICANT
++THEIR STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL CAPABILITIES ARE FAR BELOW PAR, POSSIBLY OWING TO ATTRITION BROUGHT ABOUT BY SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY AND FORCE
++THEIR OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES ARE SUCH THAT A PROLONGED CONFLICT AND HEAVY LOSSES ARE NOT A CONCERN AND/OR PART OF AN OVERARCHING GOAL WE ARE NOT AWARE OF
IN LIGHT OF THIS REPORT, THE DUSK GUARD WILL BE EXECUTING A RAPID TURNAROUND RESPONSE UNLESS OTHERWISE ORDERED. ALL MATERIEL AND PERSONNEL WILL BE READY FOR DUTY IN 48 HOURS, 24 HOURS AFTER POST MISSION LEAVE IS CONCLUDED.
SIGNED: CAPTAIN STEEL SONG, DUSK GUARD
Steel let out a long, heavy breath as he sat back in his seat, the maddening clacking of the typewriter keys that had filled the room for the last hour finally falling silent. He brought one hoof up and rubbed at the side of his forehead, where he could feel a faint, throbbing pulse starting somewhere around the base of his ears.
It’s late, he thought as he looked up at the clock over the door. I need some sleep. His eyes drifted back down to the scattered reports filling his desk around the old typewriter.
Once this is done, Steel, he told himself before leaning forward and running his eyes over the final sheet of paper. Black, faintly damp ink stared back at him, oily and slick under the lights of the office. He tucked a hoof around the back of the page, lifting it gently by its top edge, and then blew on it, a long, steady breath that would help the ink dry.
Good enough. A quick adjustment to the old typewriter, and the paper came free with a small tug. There was a clear space where the wood of his desk showed through to his left, and he set the page down there, next to its compatriots.
Which left him with only one more thing to do. His hooves darted across the desktop, gathering up papers and reports that had spread wide across the desk over the duration of his work, shuffling them first back into their proper order, and then into their proper places. Individual reports that weren’t directly referenced in his summary took their place in their own folders and then went to edge of his desk, where he could deal with them later, while those that had been written as supplemental files went into another folder, already labeled with a number of warning restrictions concerning the contents.
It didn’t take long, but he still let out a relieved sigh as the last file took its proper place, leaving the surface of his desk clear once more.
At least until tomorrow morning, he thought, his ear twitching. If I’d known how much paperwork this job was going to entail when I’d taken it, I would have asked one of the Princesses for a pardon of some kind.
A faint squeak echoed through the office as he tugged the center drawer open. There was only one step left before he would need to present his report, and then—at last—he could get some sleep. Between the time shift involved in the late night departure from the X-Com base and the near twelve hours he’d spent over the course of a day since then getting everything situated at the barracks once more, he was ready to drop from his hooves and get some well deserved rest.
Almost. The back of the pen tickled his tongue as he took it carefully in his lips and lifted it from the center drawer.
Captain … Steel … Song, he wrote out, adding his signature below the typed name on the last sheet of paper. Dusk Guard.
“There,” he said, the pen dropping from his mouth and bouncing once before settling in the drawer. “Almost done.” He let out a satisfied sigh as he gathered the report up and slid it into a waiting folder. There was only one final step to go.
Seconds later, a loud thump echoed through the room as Steel brought the heavy wooden stamp down on the folder’s surface.
Done, he thought, nodding as he slid the folder across the desk to rest atop the supplemental folders that would be going with it. For a moment he stared at the small pile of paperwork.
I’ll never get over that, he thought as he stared at the collection of reports. A whole month’s worth of active combat duty, summed up in barely an inch of paper. Conflicts, observations, successes … even failures.
Someday, these’ll be in a historical archive somewhere, he thought as he eyed the pile. Declassified, free for the world to see. Will they see the work that went into them when they look at the pages? Will they see the sweat, the hardships, the tears? Will they feel our loss as they read a history textbook?
Or will they forget them? Forget the pain, the sacrifice, that went into each and every one of our triumphs? Will they even remember those? Or will they just be reduced to this? The paper folder seemed to stare up at him, its cover almost mocking. An empty collection of technical details and minutiae, distilled until all the sapient emotion is stripped away? Is this how our descendents will see it?
He looked up at the clock once more and let out a sigh as he saw the time. It’s not enough. The typewriter made a faint ratcheting sound as he wound a new piece of paper into place, but then he shook his head. No, too impersonal. He slid the desk drawer open once again, grabbed his pen.
The world was going to change now, that much was certain. Win or lose, things were going to be different. Maybe history would remember the right parts, maybe it wouldn’t. He probably wouldn’t be around to see it, either way.
But there was one thing he could do, something to preserve that sense of honor, nobility, and triumph in the face of terror.
To the family of Captain Cedric Sebastion Uther, he wrote, his pen making a faint scratching sound as it moved across the paper. I write this in the hope that I can give you some sense of closure, though I know from experience it cannot erase the pain of loss. Regretfully, I did not know the captain well, but I had the honor of serving alongside him in his final mission, and I’m writing this to let you know that whatever you understand of his death, know this: He died as best a soldier could, his only thought the protection of those in danger around him…
He paused for a moment, his eyes moving up to the clock. It was late. But it would be later still before he would be done.
There were five more letters to write before he could sleep.
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Evening folks!
A bit of a bonus chapter for folks to enjoy while I'm working on my next chapter. This naturally takes place back when the Equestrian Volunteers are still on Earth, so you'll have to forgive the time jump shenanigans. Enjoy!
Well we can hardly be blamed for trying to cover that one up.
All you Hoser's are making the rest of us look bad, eh.
Well, except for Quebec.
The Equestrians are getting their ideas of what humanity is like from Freddie Mercury. Um. That could be good or bad, I suppose...
5283824
God DAMN it, Arad! That last little part about the letters just made my heart DROP into a bottomless abyss. Why are you so good at manipulating the feels?!
Pfft, as if they give us unfettered access to their files. The problem is, once you KNOW that we've - say - used a nuclear device, it's not that huge a leap to figure out how - especially with unfettered access. We rely on technology which implies the difficulty isn't in knowledge but in material. Anyone can sketch out a nuclear device, it's the getting materials part that causes so much international ire. (EDIT: Yes, the explosive lensing IS still classified but the 'bullet type' is still a valid threat) Knowing that in 190 BC (Before Celestia) the Archmage Frostbite used a Spell of Freeze against the invading Diamond Dogs tells us Jack Schitte. But even someone with the appropriate ability, when given that information, wouldn't be able to do much with it except with a ton of experimentation (probably noticeable) unless they had access to the restricted archives of one of the major nations.
Also, is he writing letters about human soldiers that fell? Really? I guess they have a vastly different opinion of what war is then humanity ... ohhhh culture shock!
This made me laugh so damn hard.
Nicely done here, summarizing the problems with working with a secretive organization. As someone with no illusions of humans being inherently superior to anything that might be out there, I can say that I agree with this analysis.
What is humanity's greatest flaw? Somehow, we can always find a way to make things worse.
What is humanity's greatest strength? Somehow, we can always find a way to make things better.
5283923
He's writing a bereavement letter to the persons next of kin.
5283952
I know ... but I think that's left to the commanding officer of that unit. Did I miss when the Dusk Guard was given command and a human died? Even so, that would be a temporary allied command and I think we humans normally leave that sort of thing to the ... 'real' commander is the only way I can put it, not the 'guest' commander. I don't know the terminology and I could be entirely wrong about who is responsible for the writing of those letters. That's why I'm saying 'culture shock' - human militaries have a more ... blasé attitude toward casualties I think whereas the ponies feel each loss heartily. Again, culture shock.
Hmm...don't remember getting an email about this one. Though gonna give it a thorough reading while I wait on Far Cry 4 to load.
Edit: Very nice. XCOM best be willing to be more forthcoming with the Equestrians lest they find their new allies no longer wanting them around. Humanity does have a tendency to think just because one group of individuals may not be at their same tech level does NOT mean they are less intelligent than you (ex. The typical attitude of Eastern cultures upon first meeting Native Americans upon discovering the new world).
And if only Steel Song knew how close he was to guessing the X-rays real motives (I will not tell what they are as that would spoil the ending for the recent Xcom games... Needless to say it will blow your minds!).
5283973
I believe Steel took command over human forces in Fortitude Amicitia when the captain was killed. Also while the responsibility for writing an official letter usually falls up the chain of command, it's not uncommon for people who serve together to write their own personal letters to next of kin.
While a blasé attitude towards causalities could be ascribed to people untouched by the war, thats not typically how the people fighting feel about the loss of their comrades. it's been said that while generals fight for god, country and mom's apple pie, soldiers in the trench fight for the men beside them.
5284029
Ah. Well color me ... different. As you no doubt can tell, I never served and, well, 'numberism' tends to be the sin of those without the experience. I thought it was a clever, subtle way to indicate the difference in how humans and ponies approach war. It still might be - seems a bit of a strange thing to do for someone you had a few hours with - but you've made me think otherwise now - those hours were the most important ones for that captain. Thank you.
5284039
Numberism isn't a flaw anyone can truly be blamed for, its practically hard-coded into the human condition to form in-groups with the people around you and to marginalize others based on separation. I mean, if we all truly felt the full weight of grief for every senseless death in the world, none of us would be able to function.
you certainly got the right message from it, it's a way to humanize [heh, ponize?] the captain after he just wrote a report on how we're a planet of self interested, diversive, violent liars and that ponies should plan for us to turn on them, because while that report might be his duty as an officer of equestria, as a pony he still cares for the suffering of the humans around him.
tl;dr i look forward to the next chapter of Oh to be Old Again
I believe you have been redacting this throughout and missed this one
Oh legendary Canada. How much that was amusing!
Loved the concept that human hubris was only convincing themselves that Equestrians couldn't tell how much was being covered up, thinking they wouldn't catch on to the attempt at improving humanity's image. It'll be neat to see this addressed more fully down the road.
Featured!
07:21 AM CET or 01:21 AM ET.
Just thought i would let you know Arad...
Sleep is for the weak!
Ooh, did the Dusk Guard assist in the rescue of Annette's friends? I gotta say, they had an awful lot of paramilitary training for a bunch of randomly selected psychic prodigies.
personnel
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/837/233/abb.png
then
I imagine that part was auto-biographical on finishing this chapter.
______
Do the Equestrian's also have a proper XCom quality name generator for their missions? Because those mission names seemed rather non-random.
Also, while they express doubt at trusting XCom due to not knowing who leads it, I believe the lack of answers from XCom personal is because not even they know who's leading them (that's the council's schtick).
Played XCom Enemy Unknown/Within for the first time (Your fault
). Just finished. 
(
I played on easy so sue me 
). When I did the Site Recon Mission I was scared shitless. 
(Also your fault)
I gotta say that I like the way you wrote Stardust (and sequels). It gives a new (old for me) and interesting perspective to the game and instead of spoiling it for me (As others would assume), actually enhanced the experience.
Great story.
It's always fascinating to me to see the differences between human and pony cultures. What we perceive as wishful thinking, ponies make it real. They have lived in peace and harmony, away from the toils of war, the wretched chains of oppression and prejudice, while humanity and it's chaotic nature has had to live through all the horrors of real life. We look at pony culture and think about how they are being manipulated, how true their utopia truly is. We are skeptical of peace because we haven't known true peace in so long.
Ponies, however, look at our culture and simply cannot fathom why we are so self-centered beyond reasonable guess such as our idea of being the only beings in the universe. But what I fear, and what is shown here, is this pony culture will be tainted by our own. This afterop report shows how wary Steel is of humanity, how untrustworthy we are. If they begin to doubt humanity, then I feel it is going to be difficult for them to trust us . . . or them, seeing as I'm not in the story.
I don't know. I think that ponies might be too much at contention in culture for peaceful cooperation to exist fully. But hey, if that were true, then little boy Tommy wouldn't be around, huh?
from both the sanitized historical accounts were were given
and with enough of the devices, and invasion could be crippling
ALLMATERIELAND PERSONNEL WILL BE READY1. We.
2. An.
3. Material.Edit: Slash some things.
Just wondering, is this going to end up as a trilogy (if you ignore the mini/side stories)? Because, it looks like this one will mostly be setting up the alliance and strategies and such, and less on removing the threat completely. So, will there be another one after this, where they jump kick the aliens into the sun?
5284302
Actually, that last one is correct.
It's pretty obscure. Military use only, really.
5284227
Seriously, how much better could life be if we all borrowed some of their outlooks on things?
This has never been more relevant, eh.
So Equestria's armed forces are (rightfully) unnerved with the military, political and social agendas of Earth's nations and X-COM. A small part of me agrees with Captain Song's assessment that we're impulsive bipolar apes just waiting for a good reason to build bigger bombs to drop on each other. What's worse, the lengths X-COM has gone to cover up the worst of humanity is only making us look worse in Equestria's eyes.
On the other hand, I think Captain Song's view of humanity is incomplete. Like Discord said back in Stardust, humans have been alone in the universe for as long as they can remember. We might not all think we're the sole species in existence but we feel it as a whole. All our greatest advances, from medicine to the moon landing, were undertaken by us alone. No outsides forces to help us, either supernatural or extraterrestrial. We may pray and look to higher powers for guidance, but as far as recorded history is concerned, we haven't gotten a definitive answer back yet. We're like the smartest kid in a very small class with no teacher around. We're arrogant, self-centered and think everything's under our control because that's the way its always been.
And now we're sitting next to some new students who've figured out life, the universe and everything better than we have so far. Of course we'd be jealous and harsh with new kids at first. They're trying to steal our top spot.
Fortunately, humanity isn't set to "complete bastard" by default. We have incredible traits on display, and I'm not just talking about the clip show the Dusk Guard was given. Give us time and let the world-ending threats pass and I can see both worlds benefitting in the long run.
Of course, this is assuming X-COM's cabal of increasingly evil-sounding overlords don't start the apocalypse for the hell of it.
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Also, X-COM was wise to omit "tumblr" in Equestria's introduction. Nobody should have to endure those onslaughts of poorly thought-out, self-entitled ignorant rantings.
5284312 Huh, the more you know... thanks!
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It'd take so much time to stop years of hateful indoctrination force fed into people, and it would take even more to reverse it. I wish that humanity could be as harmonious as ponies, but man do we have a million years and some change to go till we can create such a place. But hey, with people becoming more open-minded and peaceful thanks to this interesting string of relative peace that we've enjoyed (we may have and still be at war, but we've barely even touched on the scale of war that we once had in history), it may not be too far off.
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I don't think it's hateful things either. There's a lot of problems standing in the way of humanity having some decent harmony. For every person who is generous there seem to be two more who are ready and waiting to abuse such generosity to their own selfish ends. There are those who believe the best solution is to force others to be more generous and caring whether they want it or not. There are those who believe the answer to everything is to let everyone do whatever they want and care only for themselves. There are those who twist words so that "equality" becomes special bonuses.
Yikes, that's all kind of depressing.
My point is, there's a lot of ground to cover. Is the world better off now than it was a few decades ago? Personally, I'd say no, peace notwithstanding. We've got a lot of growing to do as a species. being more selfless and caring of our own free will, as well as being willing to put out effort into things, would probably help a lot.
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I think we are, and that's not based on peace fully. Sure, we have ISIS, governmental issues in America and it's whole shebang, Ebola around the world, but look at it like this: no longer do we see "separate but equal" institutions, no longer are women bound to the home, and longer are we dealing with the massive hate seen being directed to minorities and those of the female sex.
Sure, we have the Ferguson thing, but the world is indeed a more peaceful place for minorities. This being said, is it even close to where is should be? Hell fucking no. And I don't want to look like I'm saying that either, even though you aren't accusing me of such. White privilege is a thing, and while I hate people that shove it down people's throats, it's something that needs to change. Employers will not hire people based on race, and black people have a higher chance of being stopped by the police than white people do.
And then we trade racial and gender-based hate for hate towards gays, transgenders, anything that differs from normal behavior or whatever that is. These are the facts, and I'm not going to deny that.
For white people, life has gotten worse, that's for sure. But for everyone else, it's been generally hard and only getting harder for people who want to love who they want to love or be what they want to be.
I know I'm focusing more on social problems instead of inherent selfishness like you, but I don't think that truly shows the scope of the problem as much. At least in my eyes. Either way, I think we can both agree that no matter what part of human nature we focus on, the result of that human nature, we need to improve.
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Your filthy CIS patriarchy is oppressing me!
I'm surprised 4chan wasn't mentioned as being off limits either. If anything, I'd go for blocking that first.
One part I am curious about is how the Equestrians would respond to porn, from a serious stand-point.
In Equestria where tolerance, acceptance and love are practically a birthright, I can't see it being common outside of a few very hush-hush royal places. I say this under the theoretical reasoning that the reason most women go into pornography is because of low self-esteem or money troubles. I'm not including the fact they want to in this because Equestria isn't so culturally advanced as to understand that concept.
I say this because of the possibility of Equestrians gaining access to human internet. Given that porn is a statistical majority of sites online, it is inevitable they would stumble upon one. Then another. And another.
That could in fact be a significant point against the humans, in that they have such "filth" ( From Equestrian point of view ) or a point against the Equestrians, for being so prudish.
Plus I'm just imagining a few Dusk Guard members sitting at a computer, staring in both shock and awe.
Alright, I'm giggling now.
Canada? Why not Sweden? D:
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I think you're coming from a flawed reasoning, then. While most women do go into porn for economic reasons, it's not because of money troubles. It's because they can make more in that profession than in others. It's an economic advantage.
There is no statistical support for the "low self-esteem" thing, either, in fact evidence seems to point to quite the opposite (at least, within the United States; this may and probably is different in other countries). One of the biggest benefits porn stars cite in psychological studies is the freedom of choice the vocation offers.
Why?
If anything, I would expect Equestrians to be a lot more supportive of people who are in porn -- Equestrian society is based on finding one's special talent, after all, and going for it with gusto. There's no reason for Equestrians to have the hangups about sex that humans do -- these are cultural artifacts and not innate to the act. Relationships between different species is common in Equestria, as are same-sex relationships -- hell, Lana even mentioned polygamy is perfectly fine.
And remember that Twilight's mom writes what is essentially porn. No one looks down on her for that.
They may find the lack of romance involved to be a bit weird, but as long as everyone involved is okay with it, I couldn't see the Equestrians caring much.
What is an interesting question, though, is if Equestrians would understand contextual-less porn on a biological level -- that is, porn without plot that is really just two people screwing. It's not really clear if these ponies have a specific estrus cycle or if they can mate at any time like humans (which is the prime reason why porn is popular for humans). A certain horndog cultural exchange expert would seem to indicate the latter, but the general Equestrian emphasis on romantic relationships seems to indicate the former.
This is also false. Statistically, porn is around 4% of sites online. There is actually very little porn relative to everything else on the Internet.
But this is the internet, so that still is a HUGE amount of porn.
It just seems like there's a lot more because... well... humans are kinda sex maniacs and specifically go searching for it. Those 4% of sites? Generate between 30% and 37% of all Internet traffic. 14% of all Internet searches involve porn. That's a disproportionally large amount of attention put on porn.
As I said, I don't think the Equestrians would think porn is "filth". That is a cultural reaction from a very Western human standpoint and there doesn't seem to be any indication that the Equestrians share the view. They may look askence at people having sex without any context applied, but it probably wouldn't be revulsion just sort of '... huh, that's odd.'
Loved the newest chapter. It's still interesting thinking about what the cultural exchanges alone would be like (maybe off-shootable or something, just something smaller to explore that in proper depth)
Very well done, went into 'Humans aren't suckish' without any 'Humans are op'. Which we can see with Species X that... yeah, that shit is OP. Always interesting to see these reports; in most stories they're boring and skipable, but not here. Testament to your skill.
Does this mean that ponies, as well as all other nations in their world, have no concept of religion whatsoever? Sounds strange to me, but I guess it could be another large difference between the cultures.
As I read the comments, I have to wonder how the topic veered into discussing porn. o_0
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...For the record, I'm pretty sure that the reason tumblr was blocked wasn't because it's awful itself. Just the opposite, in fact, the people there are nothing if not dedicated to exposing how terrible people can be.
Same goes for feminism. It's hard to look up feminism without seeing just how shitty our society can be.
I still can't wait to see how the ponies and their allies react when they find out about the human MEC Troopers and learn the process of how they're created.
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You and me both, brother. O_o How it turned to that is beyond me.
hahahah "Others, on the other hand, are held to be so uniformly polite that they’ve become a sort of legend among humans (NOTE: see file CANADA)." Love that poke!
"Of note: Individuals and organizations such as “Ghandi,” “Mother Teresa,” “Helping Hands,” “Bob Hope,” “Red Cross,” and “Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.” " Good on you for freddy mercury!
Still, nice to see the dusk guard, seriously!
5284795 because in canada the internet knows (this is going a bit far but it is half the point of the joke) you could steal a car and they would say sorry for not leaving the key's in it
What a morose bunch of commenters this chapter has drawn.
Nob off, X-com, you euphoric tosspots.
You can't just list Mother Teressa as a good example of the species then fail to include the motivation and means for such good behavior.
This is why I hate shadow organizations so much. As necessary as X-Com is, it's still something I don't like existing. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
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I disagree somewhat. First of all there's nothing in the show that says Equestria is the center of "tolerance and acceptance." The whole idea was a meme that got started on 4chan to promote the show, but there's very little in the show itself to support the actual idea. There's definitely more than one fansite out there that's written up a nice synopsis of how the "love and tolerate" idea isn't actually that accurate.
But there's another thing that makes me think that Equestria wouldn't tolerate porn like you think:
Respect and selflessness.
Porn is a culmination of both the attitudes of selfishness and a complete disregard for others. Porn is about appeasing a base attitude, about feeding ones own desires regardless of the consequences, especially if those consequences fall on others. It's an entirely selfish experience that comes at the cost of stripping away both the dignity and the respect of those you look at. They are nothing more than an object, a sexual device to fuel ones own lusts. We talk about misogyny and sexism in our world today and how to get rid of them? Turning members of either gender into sex objects isn't helping. You cannot have "absolute freedom, no natural consequences."
For Equestrian society to be half as developed and harmonious as portrayed in the show, there would be certain aspects of out society that they just could not have. Base attitudes and selfish desires of lust, for example, would not fit in that world very well at all. While some could exist, they would truly have to be on the outskirts, otherwise the system breaks down.
Anyway, as Arad kind of pointed out, this is pretty off topic, so this'll be my last say on the matter. Back to Mente Materia!
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I'm curious how a medic prevented casualties. Is there some kind of prevenative medicine that protects against bullets now?
If so, where can I get it?
I kid. The point being that, in the military, casualty refers to injury or death, not just to death, so it reads a little weird when you say that the medic 'prevented further casualties'
:)