Ranger
Chapter 144: Legacy
By Wanderer D
"You know," Ember said to Lily Shen, as her team walked the perimeter of the city. "I never really imagined you and I would go together on a mission."
Once they had separated from Menace, Ember had decided to avoid as much unnecessary conflict as possible and seek a point of entry that would leave them as close to the factory as they could possibly be.
As such, they had stuck to the fields and patches of forest that surrounded New Appaloosa on the Western side of the city, keeping an eye out for potential ADVENT troops, but generally speaking feeling much safer than running through the streets from one side of the city to the other.
Lily gave her a slightly amused glance. "What, you expected me to just stay home?" She looked at the city and sighed. "If it were a regular mission I wouldn't hesitate to just let you do it, Ember… but with Julian involved… it became a family matter.
"I have to see that my dad's work is recovered. In many ways, just like myself, Julian is my dad's legacy. I want to make sure to… well, I don't know if he can be saved in any way we know of, but it sounds like he's not an enemy and well, he is aware, you know? In an odd way he's a bit like family."
"Extended family, more like," Ember remarked. "Make sure you stay objective when you meet him though, what's that saying? "Family is like fudge, mostly sweet with a few deranged, psycho-murderer robots."
"I'm fairly certain that's not the actual quote." Lily growled.
Ember laughed it off, and shook her head. "Speaking of legacies, do you remember when we were stuck in the Elpis1 a few years back, when old-school XCOM was looking for the Avenger's crash site?"
"Yeah, it's hard to forget being cooped up inside a submarine for several years." Lily shuddered at the thought. "My lab in there was tiny! But what about it?"
"Well, this guy." Ember pointed with her thumb at GARBLE. "And this," she added, waving her rifle a little, "None of it would have happened without your dad.
"When… my father went off on that last mission, it was your dad that kept track of my mom and I. Even while he was a prisoner of ADVENT. When he met with us at the docks in Bahia Tortugas and took us with… well, it meant a lot."
"So that's why you were always so eager to go to engineering classes with me?" Lily asked, "I thought it was because we were friends!"
Ember chuckled, punching her on the shoulder. "Of course that had something to do with it, but I really admired your dad, and I really wanted to do him and my own father proud." Ember rested her rifle on her shoulder, looking forward with a smile. "This seemed the best way to honor both of them. Combat and brains."
Lily nodded. "I'm sure you're making your dad proud too."
"Hey, Lily?"
"Yeah?"
"Speaking of my father… I wanted to ask you something… you know how Sunny is not really human…"
Lily grimaced. "Well, technically she is. When she arrived in this world, her whole being was turned into a human. Tygan made a very thorough analysis of her blood and dna when it was revealed she wasn't originally from Earth and, surprisingly, found nothing… until he used one of the calibrations that Twilight programmed into the system… then he was able to find some traces of thaumic energy."
"Okay, that was a bit more involved than I needed," Ember grumbled with a good-natured shrug. "And I'm not questioning her humanity… it's just… when we dropped off Twilight, Deadwood and I were talking and, well, it brought back memories."
Lily gave her a curious look. "Oh? What sort of memories?"
"Yeah," the specialist replied. She brushed the tip of her nose with her thumb. "I remembered that the Colonel who attacked the ship was also named Sunset Shimmer. My father told my mom that he was going with her."
Lily's eyes widened. "I see. I'm sorry, Ember… that mission was suicide, but if they hadn't done it, who knows what level of damage the Aliens would have done, or how much more control of the situation they might've had. Tygan and I have theorized that it probably set them back years."
"Yeah." Ember shrugged. "I mean, you don't have to apologize, it's been a long time and I understand it was necessary… hell, I would have gone if I had been asked!" She chuckled. "Besides, I didn't know my father long, but he seemed pretty cool… I heard stories about how good he was in fights from Galahad and some of the other original XCOM crew.
"But anyway, my real question is, it's… not the same Sunset, right? I mean… she didn't go into almost orbit, blow up a titanic alien ship the size of several battlecruisers and then magically re-appeared a few years later… right?"
Lily gave Ember a quick, friendly hug. "I'm afraid not, Ember. This Sunset doesn't just look younger, she is. We haven't figured out the mechanics of everything, but apparently her world has counterparts of us there. Same as there was Sunset Shimmer here, over there they have another Chrysalis, Counselor Luna, Rainbow Dash…"
"I get it," Ember said, shaking her head in amusement. "I wonder if there's a little Ember there who doesn't appreciate her dad."
Lily chuckled. "There probably is."
"Probably knows some dumbass there named Garble too."
"Yes, about that… why exactly Garble? Because "he's a dick" doesn't really cover the actual explanation as to why you would choose that name."
"Well, that's because—"
"This is our entry point," Breaker interrupted, pointing down past the field to where the first buildings of the city started. "According to the maps we have and the information from Sunset's last mission here, we only have a few blocks to go to get to the perimeter of the factory."
"Understood," Ember said, motioning for everyone to stop. "Okay Dragon, here's the deal: Now that the tower has been destroyed by ADVENT, it is very likely that they will have re-established control of most of their MECs.
"We won't stop and ask. We see enemies, we destroy them, we make our way to the factory, and let Lily do her thing. Under no circumstances can Dr. Shen get injured or killed. She's the VIP of the mission, is this understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"You do know how to make a girl feel special," Lily said, eyes narrowing, "but I can take care of myself."
The others exchanged glances.
"Remind me, what was it that you did in the ship?" Ember asked.
Lily crossed her arms. "Lead Engineer."
"Exactly, so shut up and follow orders and stay alive, because if you die, I'll have to shoot myself just so I can apologize to your dad in person. And then you will have to apologize to him and my mom for getting us killed in the first place."
Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times. "But… that doesn't make any sense! If you kill yourself to apologize to my dad why do I need to apologize to your mom?"
"Because we're friends. Now, neither of us is dying, so just trust me on this and follow orders, okay, higher-ranking officer Shen?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Coyote glanced at Security, waving at him with a smug smirk on her lips.
Security grumbled, but gave her a pack of cigarettes. "Easy come, easy go, I guess."
Ember sighed. "We really need to do something about the bets."
Lily laughed. "I find it endearing."
"Trust me, it gets old."
o.0.o End Chapter 144 o.0.o
There's XCOM novels?
"them the closest to the factory as they could possibly"
"them as close to the factory as they could possibly"?
"None of it wouldn't have happened without"
"None of it would have happened without"?
"waving with at him with a smug"
"waving at him with a smug"?
9040504
since 90s.
There was one based on original game and there is one that covers gap between two Firaxis games.
9040521 Fixed! Thanks!
And now I want the Embers to meet at some point.
9040579
You're welcome!
Nice to See you did Build the novel in.
Well... now I have to track down those novels, see if they're any good.
Well, the S.S. LilyXEmber has shipped.
Hah!
You're so dismissive of how useful that might be in a combat situation, Ember, but just wait until she starts building turrets.
You know, this raises more than a few questions about Torch...
In any case, with this much heart-to-heart, I'm a little nervous about the fate of Dragon team. I suppose we'll see what happens.
Also, I wonder if anyone's noticed how all the people with known Equestrian analogues have vaguely ridiculous names. (Granted, in Ember's case, it's a nickname.)
9041046
"How are you doing that?"
"What? It's basic field engineering."
"No, GARBLE is field engineering. That is hitting a gun turret with a wrench until you've beaten it into submission!"
"Well, I didn't have a hammer, so the Swedish method was out."
9041060
If she has the right wrench, the swedish option is still in...
https://reddit.app.link/3B6YwD4MuO
(https://imgur.com/ccUrrnt)
dammit i just faced the viper kings for the first time and he absolutely fucked me over it killed my sniper (i accidently moved him thus triggering the king) a ranger and my specialist almost died
9042016
When you know the viper king or his friends are one the field, try and stay concealed until you find them and then set up an ambush that damages them a lot. They can't move between overwatch shots.
9043908
i literall wrote that i didnt know he was there and moved my Sniper on accident which revealed him
9043935
Just trying to help you next time you encounter them.
9043962
that one case was like my 40th attempt in a row on a legendary ironman campaign and while a bit hard i kinda expect more.......i gave up on the campaign because my entire team died in that mission or was heavily wounded for like 50 days i could have killed the king too if i didnt move my sniper since i had that one shot per mag gun that can stun (i think) axes and the hunter pistol i think its called aaaaaaaaaaaaand i also wasted my only freeze grenade on a mec that was about to shrek my entire unit
9044016
Ok, the British Empire.
But it was true, George Washington did do firing squad at times on his own men.
Should have asked about this when Galahad 2 showed up, but pony Shen would be interesting. Pony ROV-R. Pony XCOM? Well, not necessarily XCOM but a secret organization.
omfg
9042016
I guess I'm lucky I play the Long War 2 mod, still. Sharpshooters' Holo-Targeter ability makes those hit-point-sack fights much easier.
It's times like this I realize, yes, there is a lot of deep XCOM lore here that I am not getting. Hoo boy.
The most insane thing in this story so far is that Angel is a female Viper. Does that mean Angel Bunny is so pissed all the time because he's actually a female or some kind of futa and not even Fluttershy knows to call him a she?
I am surprised Julian has not redundant transmitters. Than again the enemy is probably fighting him for hours or days and they know their own tech...
In the game Julian saves a smaller copy in a Sectopod, actually a legit backup plan if they can evac it..
Nice firepower to have as well.