• Published 25th Jan 2018
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XCOM: Ranger - Wanderer D



Sunset Shimmer escapes Equestria... with unforeseen consequences.

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Chapter 11: Running

Ranger

Chapter 11: Running

By Wanderer D

Sunset took a seat next to Jane, while behind her, Shintaro and Paula shuffled into their own seats. Their pilot, Rainbow Dash, stood, leaning her back against the wall, waiting.

The middle of the briefing room had a smaller-scale world map, very similar to the one at the control center of the Avenger. This one was focused on what was now known as New India, a country created after ADVENT had taken over and consolidated several nations into one, although in the current global setting, as ordained by ADVENT, it was more akin to a state than an independent nation of any sort.

However, like most areas of the world, ADVENT cities were not the only areas where humans lived, and in the wilderness of New India there were several human colonies, much like New Haven in North America, where humans had fled to live outside of ADVENT's control.

On the surface, ADVENT suffered and tolerated these settlements, allowing them to grow, and even performing "patrols" around them, which they would use in video-feeds at their cities, to show their citizens how people lived in poverty and hungry out of sheer 'petty anger' at ADVENT. It helped create the illusion that ADVENT were compassionate benefactors, unwilling to force others to do things against their will, despite having done just that when they had conquered Earth.

Two decades was enough for children born in those cities to grow believing these lies, and even some adults which held memories of the world before to give in and slowly forget the good that came along with the bad.

The map rotated and zoomed in on a specific area of new India, closer to the ocean and Bradford spoke up.

"The commander has analyzed information sent to us and, with Dr. Shen's help, we've anticipated and triangulated one of ADVENT's new targets: the settlement of Angel Point, in southern New India."

He paced in front of the hologram. "Lt. Dash, the commander and I have experienced these before: terror attacks. The aliens know that Angel Point has been frequented by several resistance groups, and now is taking steps to destroy that… their targets will be civilians, make no mistake. They might even ignore us in order to destroy the settlement. We cannot allow this to happen. If XCOM is to grow into a real threat to ADVENT, we need not only our faction allies with the Templars, Skirmishers or Reapers. Smaller groups need to be coordinated, and we need supplies and sources of possible recruits."

Bradford took a deep breath before looking at the four soldiers. "We need to make a statement, people. We need to show the citizens of Angel Point that we are able to protect them. The commander wants to start building a real contact network, and missions like these are key to that effort. As such, Menace is to save as many civilians as possible, and to neutralize all enemy targets."

"Just the four of us?" Shintaro stammered.

"For the moment," Bradford nodded. "Yes. I intend to increase the size of your squad as soon as possible, but for that to happen, additional training in leadership and squad roles is necessary. The force attacking the settlement is not going to be too big, Angel Point is only home to less than a hundred people. ADVENT's overconfidence will be their undoing."

Bradford stood up and nodded at them. "Get your equipment and get going. We will keep track of your movements and feed you the latest information available."

"But—"

"Come on," Sunset interrupted Shintaro. "Let's get moving."

The crew followed in her wake, but Shintaro wasn't about to let it end there. "Sunset, you almost died not three days ago! We should be more cautious… we need more people!"

Sunset stopped and whirled around. "Who?" She motioned around her, where engineers and scientists and technicians scrambled to their posts. "We have a very limited pool of soldiers right now, Shintaro, we need more… but we can't get them if we can't even prove we can do this ourselves."

"But Sunset, we're only four soldiers."

"It wouldn't be the first time four XCOM soldiers took on odds like these and made it through," Rainbow Dash said, walking past and tapping Jane and Sunset's shoulders to get them moving again. "Remember, you are well trained… by the best. A small group of XCOM soldiers can pull off miracles sometimes."

"Lieutenant Dash is right," Sunset said. "Look, I'm not happy about going out the moment I got a clean bill of health, but I've seen what these rides do… get your act together, Shintaro, we're here to protect humanity as much as we're here to save it."

Shintaro sighed, but nodded.

Once in the Skyranger, they were quick to take off. The flight was a couple of hours away, so the team tried to relax as much as they could, but it was almost too soon when they heard Dash speak up in their comms.

"Avenger, this is Firebrand, we are approaching the AO."

"Roger that, Firebrand," Bradford responded. "Menace, the attack is just starting, and we're coming in hot, there won't be a chance to conceal yourselves this time and take the enemy by surprise. Go in hard, and take them out."

The Skyranger hovered to a stop and the ramp opened, dropping the ropes down. Sunset and the others took a running leap out, sliding down the ropes and quickly scrambling for cover. All around them the night sky was ablaze with fire and smoke. People shouted and screamed, and they could hear shots in the distance.

"Menace," Bradford spoke up. "We read a small group of resistance members near you, make contact and assist them."

"Roger that, Central," Sunset replied, scanning the area to see if she could spot them. It wasn't that hard.

Having taken cover inside a building that used to be a gas station, several well-armed humans were taking shots at an approaching group of aliens.

"I see them," Jane called out. "Two mutons and a sectoid, attacking from the west."

"This is going to suck," Shintaro muttered.

"Whatever," Sunset retorted, rolling her eyes. "It looks like they haven't spotted us yet, Shintaro, you're with me, we're taking cover behind that old car."

"Well, at least it looks like it already exploded so maybe it won't explode again."

Sunset gave him an odd look, before nodding at Jane Kelly. "You two take cover with a clear shot… we'll draw their attention, and you guys finish them when they scramble to deal with a flanked position."

Jane chuckled. "Roger that, commander."

"You know," Paula called through the comms, "we need to think up a new nickname for you, Sunset. Now that the real commander is in, we don't want any confusion."

Sunset snorted. "As if anyone would confuse us. Whatever, just think of something better than 'Sunny' and we'll be okay."

"I can't believe you're joking about this right now."

Sunset frowned at Shintaro's words, but didn't have time to ponder them. As soon as they were close, the aliens noticed them, and they barely had time to slide to cover before the muton was charging their way.

"Crap!" Shintaro shouted, taking a shot at one of the Sectoids.

The creatures themselves were unnerving. Mixed as they were with human DNA, they were taller than the ones that Bradford had taught her about, but even worse, their prominent jaws and exposed teeth made it look like they were grinning constantly, enough to give a lesser mortal nightmares for years to come.

Shintaro's shots weren't a direct hit. The sectoid twisted as it ran for cover, with his shot just grazing its arm and back. Painful, but not dangerous. However, the sectoid ran straight into Jane and Paula's position, and their dual shots took the alien down before it even realized it was running into a trap.

The other muton, however, had ran the opposite direction for cover, hunkering down behind a tree as it watched its comrade's approach on Sunset. Sunset, for her part, had seen this before; once during an escape from a similar attack with Bradford as they made their way to meet with the elder Shen, she had witnessed the aliens charging at the nearest opponent, and rather than opening fire, the creature had used the serrated end of its weapon to skewer their opponent.

A flash to the pain she had felt when she had been sliced through by the assassin paralyzed Sunset. She didn't take the clear shot she had… her shotgun would have taken the creature down in an instant if she had thought to use it. But the memory was enough to freeze her until she realized that the muton was right in front of her.

It had raised its weapon to slice her… but hesitated.

Instinct kicked in. Fear was replaced by anger in an instant, and Sunset let out an angry roar as she shoved her shotgun straight in the muton's face and pulled the trigger. Orange blood, pieces of bone and gray matter splattered behind the alien, mixed up in a shower of lead.

She was so angry the kick of the weapon almost took her by surprise, and she barely managed to hold on to it as she rolled in place and pressed her back against her cover. The other muton hadn't hesitated at all, and bright green plasma flew through the space where she had been previously standing.

She heard gunshots, and the return fire of plasma, but this time it wasn't over her head. She rolled around the corner of the car, taking aim straight at the back of the muton, who was being assaulted by the resistance force in the gas station.

With a cry of pain, the creature flew forward a few feet from the impact before it collapsed in a pool of its own blood.

"X-rays down," Jane reported.

Sunset nodded, breathing heavy and glancing back at the dead body behind her, before shuddering and motioning for Shitaro to follow her.

The four of them met inside the gas station with the resistance fighters.

"Thank you," their current leader, a young man, probably in his mid-twenties said. He had black, thick hair, and a dark brown tan to his skin. He had a very intense look, and his eyes scanned Sunset and the other's warily. XCOM equipment was not your average resistance fare, after all. "What's your codename?"

"We're with XCOM," Sunset said. "We heard you were having trouble."

The young man's eyes widened a little before he was back to business. "That's a bold statement, but we're happy to have you. I'm Krav, our codename is The Rabbits." He looked around. "We have some civilians here."

"Straight south is safe," Jane spoke up. "We're here to take care of your visitors."

"Good," Krav said. "Mohinder, take them down there, and wait until things calm down. The rest of you, come on, the boss is in the main building."

"How many more are left?" Sunset asked, stepping to the side so that the civilians could be led out.

"About twenty more civilians, 5 more fighters, the boss... and Angel." And with that, he and his group were already running towards the largest building beyond them.

"Angel?" Sunset muttered as she motioned the others to follow. "Who's that, their dog?"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Paula said, running along. "I know of a couple of resistance groups that have trained dogs to take down aliens. They're mostly in Russia, though."

"But really? Angel?" Sunset asked. "Couldn't they name their dog something more, you know violent? Especially if it takes aliens down. Spike. Demon. Tirek. Something?"

"What's a Tirek?" Paula asked.

"Demonic half-goat, half-minotaur trapped in Tartarus," Sunset explained. "Old story from back home."

"New Haven must have been a really weird place," Jane countered, rolling behind cover the moment she noticed three ADVENT agents in front of them. One wore the crimson armor of a captain, the other wore the black armor of a trooper; while the last one was a Stun Lancer. "Most other places make do with old bibles."

"Menace, be careful with those Lancers," Bradford called into the comms. "Their original job was to stun people in riots, but my guess is that if they're here, their weapons are a lot more deadly."

"Roger that, Central," Paula replied, taking cover next to Jane.

"Dammit, spread out more!" Sunset called, a little too late.

The ADVENT team had noticed them almost immediately, and the Captain had ordered his two followers to flank Jane and Paula. The trooper had wasted no time in priming a grenade and tossing it over at them.

"Take cover!" Jane shouted, jumping away. She barely managed to land and cover her head before the grenade exploded, decimating their cover. Paula hadn't been so lucky. Her armor saved her, but she was badly injured.

"Crap!" Sunset shouted, taking a running start and pulling out her sword. With a running leap, she raised it above her head, bringing it down right where the captain's armor ended at his neck, and violently cutting through it.

She was covered in orange blood as she turned to face the other trooper, but Krav made his presence known, mowing him down with a series of shots from his whole team. That only left the Lancer, who was already on the move.

It didn't get far, however, as Jane and Shintaro took their shots, the first stopping him in his tracks as his armor was shredded, the second finishing off the trooper with a clean shot through the head.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap!" Jane intoned, as she ran over to Paula, who had passed out. "She's bad, Sunset. Really bad. She'll bleed out!"

"Bradford?" Sunset asked, trotting over to Jane, Shintaro and Paula.

"There's still enemy signatures in the area," Bradford replied. "It's too hot for Firebrand to drop in."

"Dammit."

"Sunset," Krav ran up to her. "The boss will take care of her, there's only a few ADVENT left, they're north of here." He motioned over his shoulder and waved. The door to the building opened and several people ran out, pointing their weapons at all possible angles.

Then a woman stepped out, with long, wavy pink hair, although the roots were going a bit gray. Half of her face was beautiful, the other half… was still beautiful, but scarred over, as if she had been burned. She kneeled next to Paula and looked her over. "Oh my," she said. "This is bad, let me take care of her."

"You can't possibly—" Shintaro started to say, only to be interrupted.

"Menace, this is Firebrand," Dash's voice came through the comms. "You can trust her."

Sunset took a deep breath, "Come on," she said finally. "We have to trust if we're to be trusted. Who's fighting the aliens on the other side of the building?"

"Angel, Ashwini and Aamir are keeping them occupied," the woman said. "But I have to get back in there, we have a lot of injured."

"Let's go, people!" Sunset called, trotting over with Krav and his team, with Jean and Shintaro joining her as well. "Let's get this over with and get Paula back into the Avenger."

The two groups split, rounding the building on both sides, finding another captain, a muton and two troopers shooting at the building.

"I don't see any dogs?" Sunset wondered, kneeling behind some piled metallic boxes and taking a shot at the captain. It was wide, but it drew his attention, and the ADVENT troops moved around to deal with the intruders.

"A dog?" Krav asked, taking his own shot at the muton. "Why would we have a dog?"

"Well, I thought Angel was your trained attack dog?"

Krav chuckled, just as something whipped out from the building, wrapped itself around the ADVENT captain's throat and pulled him through the air and window with little more than a strangled shout. "Angel's not a dog. She's a Viper."

"Aww, she likes you!" Fluttershy said with a smile.

Sunset chuckled nervously, scratching 'Angel's' head, just where the hood turned in. The giant alien snake hissed in appreciation. "Um, nice viper."

"Is it weird that I feel jealous?" Jane whispered to Shintaro as they pulled the stretcher with Paula on it into the Skyranger. The bodies of the other aliens and ADVENT troopers, as well as their weapons had already been recovered, with the help of Krav's team. They were only usable by aliens and ADVENT for now, but Tygan very much intended to change that.

"Of Sunset or the snake?"

"Both, probably," Dash commented from the edge of the ramp. Jane noticed that the pilot was still wearing her full helmet, giving no indication that she knew Fluttershy.

Fluttershy. Before talking to Dash she would have wondered who was crazy enough to name their kid that, but now, her questions lay in other matters.

They watched as Sunset finished exchanging pleasantries with Fluttershy and the Rabbits, then waved as she joined the others in the vehicle.

Jane kept quiet until they were airborne and on their way back to the Avenger. Once the settlement was long gone, she made her way to the cockpit, taking the co-pilot seat. "So…"

"Why didn't I say anything?" Dash asked. "Why didn't I run down and give my friend a hug and tell her I've missed her for so long?" She snorted. "How do you even begin to ask forgiveness from someone you abandoned to die?"

Jane's expression must have been obvious, because Dash shook her head. "When the ship destroyed the school… I ran. As fast as I could. I sprinted the hell out of there, screaming my lungs out until I passed out several miles away, where nothing was happening. I could have stayed to help, maybe Rarity and Pinkie would..." She trailed off, and sighed.

"You were just a kid," Jane said. "And aliens destroyed your school."

"I know," Dash said. "I know. I've gone over everything in my mind, you know? What I should have done different, what I would do if I was there right now—but I'm not. I was just a teenager, full of my own BS, thinking I'd automatically fall into hero-mode when needed. In part I went into the war with a thirst for vengeance precisely because I had failed them all so badly, not to mention myself... Look, I know you want to help, and...and I'll talk about this with you, but not right now."

Jane sighed, and nodded, patting Dash's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Dash."

She turned to leave, but started when she noticed Sunset standing in the doorway. They held each other's eyes before Sunset walked in and put her hand on top of Jane's, which was still on top of Dash's shoulder.

"We're all here for you too, Dash."

Dash jerked a little, in surprise, then chuckled. "If you say so… commander. Now, you two idiots get back there before I report you to the TSA."

"Roger that, Firebrand."

o.0.o End Chapter 11 o.0.o

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