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
Pretty sure they managed to snake out of this one by the skin of their teeth. Must've been an Angel watching as no one died. Yet.
8726353
Not to mention that Celestia probably would have been principal around when Canterlot got hit by the growing alien offensive and terror campaign, which would probably be a month or two after the first few abduction missions. And it's not like XCOM was thrown together slap dash in response to the first major alien strike, it was already an existing (if somewhat secretive) initiative recruiting and building an infrastructure since before the aliens showed up. I mean, it's possible human Celestia is some military genius tapped by the council to lead this top secret initiative and is choosing to just slum it as a high school principal until she gets a summons and takes a leave of absence a few months prior to the school getting wrecked. It just seems unlikely.
Edit: With a bit of research, it seems the current incarnation of XCOM was established in 1993 as an international countermeasure to theoretical scenarios of extraterrestrial invasion (that business in the 60's being covered up), and formally activated during first contact in 2016.
Okay, if I didn’t already love this story before, then you made me love it again. Only FS could tame a Viper.
Save the snek ayys . Kill the rest.
Dash dashed. Not surprising, and it makes it that much more likely that she doesn't know what really happened to the rest.
Of COURSE Fluttershy can tame a viper! Also, my insignificant bet is that the Commander is Sombra.
Sunset's very lucky she didn't have to find out the hard way what Mutons do to idiots who take them on in melee.
OF COURSE the leader of Angels is Fluttershy, and OF COURSE she can tame a Viper.
If we're assuming The Great Commandy One is an EQG character...my money's now on human Sunset.
This is starting to get interesting. Was worried this was gonna become a "Sunset is the only character that matters" fic.
I wonder if Rarity and Pinkie are alive, guess we'll see later if Dash can face Fluttershy or wills he stay hidden for a bit longer.
And one other thing THEY HAVE A VIPER ON THEIR SIDE NOW THAT IS SOO COOOOLLLL!!
8726685
Bradford already referred to the Great Commandy One as her, so Sombra is out.
8726762
That would be awesome and hilarious in multiple levels. But Bradford would have had some greater reaction to seeing his friend and leader a couple decades younger helping him home from a night of a drink too far.
Snek. Angel is a snek. This is awesome indeed. XCOM should get her to join, just because having a snek would be a huge morale booster
Oh dash, she would do nothing but be happy you survived. Kindness would see no fault in a teenager who chose life.
Curious how Dash specifies Pinkie and Rarity as the dead ones, but doesn't mention AJ. What might have happened to her?
8726762
That was what I was thinking when Shintaro responded with "I can't believe you're joking about this right now" to Sunset saying no one would confuse them. But it seems odd; as noted it seems odd Bradford wouldn't have said anything, and timeline wise one would have expected her to be pretty young during the first war.
Only fluttershy can tame a viper. Nice to See she is still alive. And i can't blame Rainbow, Panic is a Natural reaction.
8725407
I'm starting to wonder if the Commander is actually going to be a no show in this story, a faceless presence who never actually appears in the story (kind of like the game, when it comes to it). And I'd actually be fine with that.
You're taking on mutons with...do you even have magnetic weapons yet? This is gonna suck.
*grumbles* my shotguns don't blow mutons away in one shot like that. Sunset has all the best toys.
FLUTTERSHY! Yay, you're alive! That gives me hope for the others as well.
If had to speculate I would say:
Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie: leading other resistance cells.
Sci-Twi: an agent within ADVENT who will have to be extracted from one of the cities at some point going forward (scientist reward, obviously).
A country? ADVENT's terraforming tech isn't that powerful.
Now that is an Angel I could get used to!
Why do I have the feeling that Shintaro is going to nnot be at X-com for long, yet is not going to die?
So, Sunset got a bit of PTS from being gutted by the Assassin. Not good.
Fluttershy traded Angel Bunny for Angel *VIPER?!* yas.
Spoiler alert: the commander is actually pinkie pie!! She’s not the commander for any tactical genius, but because her pinkie sense tells her what to do next and it typically works.
I would be more suprised if Angel was Berserzerker, to be honest. ;)
Also, Vipers are sapient here, right? So patting them on the head should be a little.. offensive. :)
Vipers are sapient...
...but...
...if this viper was raised from an egg...
I think D is enjoying the comment section just for the rampant theories on WHO the Commander is.
8727309
And where one can find a Viper egg? No, really, where? Because I want one. :)
Who is Commander? Hm. Sadly, problably Sunbutt or Moonbutt. Maaaybe Cadance. Because not Flurry Heart, right? Right? :)
But seriously, I would love him/her to not be from Canterlot.
8727259
Damn save scummer
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/973/731/2aa.jpg
8726915
On that thought, sci-twi could take the place of that defector human advent scientist. Whatever his name was.
8726656
Yeah that's the other thing, yes time has passed since the first invasion, but XCOM was around even before that invasion, and I'm pretty sure the Commander was there too. The idea that the commander is Celestia, Luna or any other Canterlot character just makes no sense to me since they'd have had to have that job back before the invasion started, when the teens where still teens and the adults where all just principles.
What's been gong on so far, with the EG characters being in the story, having some prominence but not being the most important characters, this is the kind of crossover I like to see
8727377
As cool as that would be, I just checked chapter 5 again and it mentions Tygan, so alas.
Would have been cool to see, though.
Nice to see Fluttershy is still alive, though someone is gonna get buck in the face for damaging her pretty face.
I don't blame Rainbow for running away. Doesn't matter how much of a brave person you really are, you never know how your body will react in a fight or flight situation until said situation first arrives. But this also means that all her close friend may have also survived and will soon see them or least have someone talk about them.
Also having a Viper as an ally, that's really great. Vipers are really horrible adversaries to deal with early in the games since you don't have any efficient meanings to counter their poison.
Wouldn't it be interesting if the Great Commandy One turned out to be this world's Sunset?
8727668
They probably can make an antidote for the troops using de snek.
8727903
Sure. If I remember correctly, in the game, once you autopsied a Viper, you unlock the medikit which it use to heal and cure poison. So it's not hard to think they'll take advantage to have tamed Viper to extract some venom and start creating some cures.
2 down, 3-4 to go
Excellent chapter
Fascinating. I wasn't sure how to feel about the "one random town with really weird naming conventions" thing, but I like where you're going with bringing the old group back together enough that I can look past it. Eagerly looking forward to seeing this plot thread continue. And the story in general, of course.
8727442
Agreed, it's been hitting a nice balance. I generally prefer my crossovers of the sort where the fully intact universes meet each other rather than being thrown in a blender and altered.
Although the discussion does highlight the rather gaping disconnect regarding Celestia inherent to Equestria Girls. On one side, she is the ruler of a world super power and the immortal (or at least several thousand years old) sun god. On the other, a small town high school principal.
8728419
But isnt she the principal for celestias school for gifted unicorns?
8728833
I mean, yeah, she is. But she's also runs the country and the sun itself.
8728870
Doesnt that mean she could do more than just be the principal in this universe, granted it might be something simple like recource management.
Hey, what about Discord being Commander? That would make sense, I think. ;)
8729035
Naw, he has the same voice as someone else that has already been revealed.
I like to use customized battle music when I play XCOM 2. Mods are awesome like that. ^^ Here's one of the battle tracks I load up for when things get hot:
huh, i almost would have excepted anegl being a viper king or even a beserker, still awesome
Oh come on... pretty sure she'd like to know you're alive...
Also, I know we aren't going for farce here, but I was a bit disappointed to find out that it wasn't some kind of mutant, Monty Python bunny there. Hmm, wait... Python.... viper... Okay close enough.
Hmmm. A Viper working with humans? You think the Skirmishers would wanna know about that? At any rate, might need to warn the Reapers that Angel is not on the menu.
Oh my gosh Fluttershy is ‘Denmother’...
8727324
Blame Vhalen and her experimentation after leaving x-com for that. Of course, that does mean that we will be dealing with alien rulers.
No Sassy Viper mod?
Well it isnt compatible with WOTC after-all, but damn amusing in regular
I think my money is on the Commander being Sci-Twi: Young genius mind, probably graduated out of Crystal Prep early, and now as I type it out my theory starts to crumble shit I dunno. Glad to see Sunset get the bonus to Will by getting rid of that shaken status, though.
8729596
and inform Viper that they are not either
Commander is prrroobably not Sci-Twi. Seeing as she was a teenager during the first X-com. I'd like it, but it's eeh.
For a moment there I thought Angel was a berserker. That would have been funny to me.