The Aegis

by Rokas

Prologue

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: you are not here because your ancestors were wimps. You have within you bloodlines that survived hundreds of thousands of generations of the worst ravages of war, famine, pestilence, and death. Your predecessors built their cities in grim defiance of nature's callous indifference to their existence, and your language and culture have been shaped by the victors of conflicts whose names are forgotten, yet their lives still influence us all.

These things happened because of one thing: power. In every sense of the word, from muscles, to will, to clout, to electricity and beyond, it is the exercise of power that allows all living things, and especially sapient ones, to survive, raise young, and thrive. Power is the key to life, and it is no surprise that wars were fought in its name, nor is it surprising that once Industrialization came along war—real wars, not the games of mind, paper, and electrons—began to go out of style for all but the most determined or psychotic of individuals.

But power is a double-edged sword, and with its salvation it also brings the seeds of damnation as well; complacency. Any entity, whether an individual, a corporation, a nation or an empire, that becomes complacent faces its own decline, and nothing brings about complacency faster than being so strong that you don't have to struggle for survival anymore. Every superpower that has fallen has done so because they were too comfortable with their own power, or too afraid to use it, and so were defeated by others who did not share their pretensions and had a firm understanding of their own capabilities.

Power thus breeds victors, but then lulls them into defeat for the next round of winners in nature's lottery to feast upon. This is the natural order of things, a cycle that only the most aware and driven beings, the most astutely guided nations with a skilled, disciplined population can escape

Why then has Equestria of all places prospered and advanced when their armed forces are at best a small police force, and at worst a joke? How could these panicky and emotionally fragile creatures remain the dominant force on their world when much fiercer and downtrodden races line their borders? Their princess? Some call her a goddess, but she would be the first to disabuse anyone of that notion, and she admits to have been defeated on occasion. The various magical artifacts liberally spread around the land? While invaluable and certainly vital to the survival of Equestria, they are not the omnipotent instant victory devices they are often portrayed to be. Thus an observer must come to the conclusion that Equestria must have another form of defense, one that is invisible to the world, yet capable of fighting off even the worst of foes.

That's where we come in. We are not part of the Equestrian government, although we work with them at the highest levels. We are not magical beings, although you could call us “sufficiently advanced”. We are most certainly not any sort of touchy-feely, meat-forsaking long-haired misanthropes looking for validation.

We are the Department of the Aegis, and we always protect our charges.

* * * *

“Eeeeee!” the young woman squee'd in delight, as the being in front of her finished speaking. “This is so awesome!”

The man behind the desk rolled his eyes and lightly clapped a hand over his face. “This is serious business, miss Heinkel.”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” Lisa Heinkel replied, with only a slight bit of embarrassment creeping into her tone and expression. “But c'mon, that was one of the coolest introductions ever!”

“Miss Heinkel,” the official repeated, his tone dropping as he removed the hand from his face and spitted Lisa with a hard look. “Are you or are you not capable of behaving in a professional manner?”

The somber tone and look finally sunk into Lisa's mind, and she blushed a bit as she calmed down and shifted in her seat to present a more serious posture. “I most certainly am, assistant director Novak,” she replied, evenly.

“Good,” Novak replied, and then slid a curious flat panel of flexible plastic across his desk. “Then if you're done geeking out, here's the contract.”

Lisa nodded, and then reached over and picked up the piece of smart paper in order to skim over the legally binding document. She had of course been given the full content of the contract in advance to study before this meeting, but it was important to make sure nothing had changed. Not to mention, ask some questions, Lisa mused, as she skimmed over the words until she found the section that had stuck in her mind. “Right here in section thirty-one, it says that we need to maintain secrecy at almost all costs,” she noted, and then looked up at the assistant director. “Yet it's kind of vague what that means.”

Novak nodded. “It's deliberately vague, for good reason,” he began. “We're dealing with a planet where quantum transition field manipulation is hard-coded into the DNA of almost every living being, where almost anything can happen. Even the best QT stabilizers can burn out when exposed to the level of raw output one can find down there, and some things don't appreciate being shot. As a result we've learned that we cannot really plan for all situations, and we must instead trust in the training, disposition, and moral fortitude of our agents in order to maintain our mission. As such you will have considerable leeway in your actions, but if you'll note the addendum to section thirty-one, all of those actions are subject to after-the-fact reviews, one by your peers, the second by your superiors, and possibly a third by the Director if serious enough. Hell, you screw up really bad and Congress will get involved.” Novak took a moment to collect his breath and thoughts, and then leaned forward a bit in his seat to lend his next words additional weight. “Basically, we're putting a lot of trust in you. So if you fuck up your ass is grass. Capiche?”

Some of the color drained from Lisa's face, but she nodded sagely. “Understood,” she stated, with finality. “But, uh, what means are not acceptable, generally?”

A bare hint of a smile graced Novak's lips, though it soon disappeared as he shifted back into a more neutral position. Maybe she'll work out after all. “Generally, we're here to protect, which means saving lives is quite important, even if that causes breaches of security. As such most verboten practices tend to be the ones that end up with innocents dead.” He paused, and then shrugged. “There may be some other cases, as well, but honestly, if you've come this far then the psyches are satisfied that you'll know what to do in the right places at the right time, so I wouldn't worry about it.”

Heinkel nodded again, and some of her earlier enthusiasm started to return. “I see,” she said, and then looked down at the contract again and used a finger to send the text scrolling rapidly. After a bit of surfing she decided that the contract was as it should be, and then placed the smart paper down so sh could return her gaze to Novak. “So, I do have to ask: why me?”

An eyebrow hitched up on the man's face, but it soon returned to its proper place. “Because you applied,” he flatly stated.

A huff left the younger woman. “Please, I may be a bit overenthusiastic at times, but even I know that recruits fresh out of the academy aren't usually given front-line missions until they've had more time on station,” Heinkel stated, as she gave the older man a hard look of her own. “If I recall correctly, I'm supposed to be part of the rapid response teams for two years before I'm even considered for such a position. So,” she added, and then leaned back in her seat a bit. “What's the rush for?”

Novak had to take a moment to readjust his mental picture of the woman in front of him. Idiots don't go through the academy, he reminded himself. Her personality is a bloody good distraction; probably why she was picked, Novak reasoned, as he gathered his thoughts. After a moment, he sighed and then nodded. “We've noted an unusual growth in the TF flux lately,” he begrudgingly replied. “It seems to be focused near the pony capital city, and when I spoke with the princess about it, she simply told me not to worry and said that it was 'an internal matter'.”

Lisa raised an eyebrow at that and frowned. “So... why the concern?” she asked. “Wouldn't she be the one to know best about that sort of thing?”

“Normally I'd agree, but we're talking about a flux the likes of which has never been recorded in the century and a half since we found this world,” Novak explained, with a grunt. “Furthermore, it's extending beyond the usual ranges that the T-field normally dies off at. We have no idea what's going on, and the one being on the planet with extensive knowledge of their local effects and who knows of our existence is being deliberately vague and uncooperative.”

The woman blinked at that. “Do you think she might be... trying something?” she asked, carefully.

To her surprise, Novak pursed his lips and sat in silence for a few moments. “I honestly don't know,” he quietly admitted, with a shake of his head. “On one hand, she's been very forthright and accommodating with us, and I genuinely believe she wants our alliance to go on, even strengthen. Yet on the other hand, she's never been this closed off to us before, and when you take into account that she's been around for over a thousand years and all that implies...” He let his voice trail off, and then let out another sigh. “I wish I knew, but I can't be sure of her intentions. Not yet.

“Which is why we're pulling in as many agents as we can,” Novak continued, his voice shifted back into his usual tone of command. He leveled a steely gaze upon Heinkel as he continued. “You're a new face to this world, and to the team, and your records at the academy show an outside-the-box method of thinking; I'm willing to bet that those two factors will let you see something us old-timers might be blind to. And even if they won't, I still need boots on the ground reporting back on what they see, and if that means I gotta take a wet behind the ears newbie, well, I've had worse.”

Heinkel saw a faint smile on Novak's face, and she could only grin in reply. “Fair enough, boss,” she said, and then reached out to grab the smart paper. “Although, wouldn't it be more accurate to say 'horseshoes' than 'boots'?” she asked, as she signed the contract with her thumbprint and DNA.

“Something like that,” Novak replied, with only a hint of amusement underneath his professional tone. “Speaking of which, got an idea for what you want to look like?”

Lisa looked up, and then smiled as she handed the paper back. “I'm thinking... green.”

Comments

[Beyond the Horizon]

And thus, Lyra was born.

-Party whistle-

[AppleTank]

Lisa Heinkel.
Nice name.

[Verequus]

4608827 Choosing Lyra as having been human isn't new, but it is a new take on this idea. "Anthropology" and the heartstrings tumblr are also great stories.

[shirotora]

You have within you bloodlines that survived hundreds of thousands of generations of the worst ravages of war, famine, pestilence, and death. Your predecessors built their cities in grim defiance of nature's callous indifference to their existence, and your language and culture have been shaped by the victors of conflicts whose names are forgotten, yet their lives still influence us all.

Well, my ego's sufficiently stoked

[ferret]

Every superpower that has fallen has done so because they were too comfortable with their own power, or too afraid to use it

That's... a very dangerous line of thinking. I really liked how they were saying that power is what enables us to thrive. Too many people fear it, thanks to people with power spreading lies to keep out the competition. Fire is dangerous, but it can be used wisely, without corrupting the user into an insane pyromaniac. And it's true that the greatest evils happen when good people with the power to help stand idly by and do nothing. I just kind of winced at the idea that society will fall apart if we don't continue to exert power over others, rather than if we sit comfortable with our power until there's a good reason to use it.

I hope the ponies can show them, as they try to do the dirty work that the Equestrians never asked for, that the real key to sustainable societies even in the face of fierce opposition is alliances, trust, communication, and in short, friendship.

[AyanamiRei]

Oohhh! Now THIS is off to an interesting start! I plan on reading more or two more chapters before giving a "Like", but so far it's very engaging and promising! <3

[jetman24]

So is section 31 supposed to be a star trek reference or was it a random number you came up with?

[Rokas]

8917509
Star Trek reference.

[ShadowLight96]

8917565
STAR TREKKING! ACROSS THE UNIVERSE! ON THE STAR SHIP ENTERPRISE UNDER CAPTAIN KIRK!!