Chapter 248: Update
XCOM: Ranger
Chapter 248: Update
By Wanderer D
The moment that Adagio stepped into the commander's office, she felt it. Something wrong.
She tried looking towards Chrysalis, someone she had known for decades, even if the other woman had no idea, and tried to say something witty, but something to the left—where the large frame of a map of earth hung—kept grabbing her attention. Sucking it in. She gulped. "What is that?"
"Ah, that expression," Chrysalis said, glancing over from her desk at her. "Whenever Jane or Princess Luna step in here it's the exact same thing." She stood up and walked towards the frame, pulling it towards her and revealing a hidden safe behind it.
"Careful!" Adagio blurted out when Chrysalis' hand went up to open the safe. The commander gave her an amused look and entered a code quickly. The safe opened and she pulled out a small box.
It was like the world slowly faded into it, as if its mere presence drew the light and color and happiness and essence of everything around it. She could feel ice in her blood, like her stomach was being drenched in cold water. "What is it?" she repeated softly, unwilling to speak up. Or maybe she had spoken normally and her voice was diminished.
Chrysalis opened the box and showed the silvery bullets to her and Adagio could only feel horror as she gazed at them.
"There was once a man I met," Adagio said, "a tortured soul; an artist and creator to whom I whispered ancient legends of worlds beyond. I fed his imagination with twisted visions, his dreams with lucid fantasies of cities twisted from our memories or visions. He was gifted and sensitive to the worlds beyond: to magic and the forbidden. Sometimes, at midnight, I would get Sonata and Aria to sing with me from the coast of Providence, near the harbor when he was walking by or simply trying to sleep. We would sing our nightmares. We would sing about our enemies and their astral forms. We would sing about the silence, the evil and cold beyond the cold light of stars.
"He told stories of his visions, twisted his perception of his fellow human beings with hatred and fear that seeped into the very words he feverishly pushed into paper. He made up the most amazing words, drew from snippets of dreams and legends to fabricate such wonderful, evil beings. He wrote once a phrase that would outlive him by over a century. Something I thought fanciful at the time. Even lovely."
She licked her lips, her eyes tracing the contour of each bullet. Everything around them to her magical senses seemed to deteriorate, but the bullets themselves only seemed… real.
"He wrote, "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." And until now," Adagio whispered, "I never knew what a horrible truth he had discovered."
"And I always wondered why H.P. Lovecraft had such a dim outlook on the world," Chrysalis muttered, closing the lid on the bullets with a click.
Adagio started, as if suddenly waking up from a dream. "Those things. Destroy them." She looked up at Chrysalis. "Please. You don't know what they can—what they truly mean."
"I hear you've been asking around, trying to catch up with recent history about our dear Captain Shimmer." Chrysalis said casually as she put the bullet box away. "How far have you gotten?"
Adagio swallowed the moment the things were out of sight, secured within the safe box. "I uh. Until she transformed into Fugue."
"Right," Chrysalis said, motioning with her hand. "We have much to talk about, you and I, but I guess if you're going to help, you might as well hear some details the others might've forgotten or not been privy to." She glanced in the direction of the safe. "Or simply didn't want to share."
"O-of course," Aria said. "But those—"
"Sunset made them."
Aria recoiled back, as if the statement had been a slap to the face. "What? But… that's the antithesis of magic and life… no magic wielder would create something like that!"
"Not even a spell-casting soldier who is afraid of what type of monster she might become?" Chrysalis asked softly.
"That's not—" Adagio groaned. "Sirens are not monsters!"
"So you just sang Lovecraft and who knows how many others into madness for centuries for the benefit of humanity."
"We're different. We're created from ponies, true, but—when she became one she shouldn't have turned into what she did." Adagio crossed her arms.
"Then let's try and figure out what went wrong, let's catch you up completely then. After that, we can work on possibly helping her."
Adagio simply nodded, glancing uneasily towards the safe.
Chrysalis took a deep breath. "When I was put under, Sunset Shimmer and Stardust had just left the XCOM base and we were attacked. When I came to, twenty years had passed. We had lost the war, your sisters were running around doing hitjobs for ADVENT, my Sunset Shimmer was dead as were many of my friends, Bradford had stopped wearing a sweater, we had a flying fortress, and the person that had rescued me looked, talked, smiled and… had the same presence and name as Sunset. I had to watch her closely, Bradford told me all that he knew, then showed me a package that had been given to him by Charles… who got it from the original Sunset Shimmer.
"She said the new Sunset wasn't a fake. That she wasn't a clone." She glanced up at Adagio. "To this day I don't understand these premonitions that she had."
"I… sort of have an idea…" Adagio said weakly. "But continue."
Chrysalis' eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "I eventually saw her reappear after going to another world. I heard her speak to Twilight Sparkle, and I heard what she felt for this world, for us." She smirked. "How could I not trust her?" She leaned back.
"Part of the reason I joined EXALT was because they weren't afraid of aliens or other creatures," Adagio said. "The same goes for my sisters. I never thought I'd see the day XCOM admitted aliens, hybrids and unicorns into their ranks."
"The times of xenophobia are gone. We can't afford to be afraid of others because of their origin anymore. Bigger predators are out there than the ones we make up in our heads out of petty differences. The Elders are killing us all, and it's our choice to either embrace others or die alone." Chrsyals rolled her shoulders back. "I choose to fight alongside those that want this to end."
"Very accepting for someone that was asleep for twenty years."
Chrysalis snorted. "Was I? Or did you forget that I was part of the conscience of every alien and soldier that was part of ADVENT?"
Adagio's eyes went wide. "You remember?"
"Some of it," Chrysalis admitted. "I remember a few instances where I managed to get a response from some of the soldiers and aliens. It was that that… sort of opened me to the idea that they were not all mindless monsters."
Adagio chuckled. "The silver lining."
"Of a sort." Chrysalis scoffed. Her smile faded. "I grew to respect Sunset. Even when Twilight was captured, her heart was in the right place and her loyalty never wavered. She was willing to give her life if necessary, but understood that the sacrifice was not just her choice. That she was a piece in my strategy, and she trusted me." She licked her lips. "It… hurt watching her come back so many times barely clinging to life and only surviving because of some flimsy "magic" that wouldn't let her pass away."
"Blood magic will do that," Adagio said. "It's not conscious itself, but it is the most visceral type of magic to exist. It draws on the most basic instincts to sustain itself and maintain its caster. It's part of what makes it so dangerous."
"As you know, she killed the Viper King thanks to Twilight's intervention, then during her infiltration missions almost lost Jane and did lose Mox." She paused. "Mox is probably the hardest hit for her so far," Chrysalis continued. "He was her first friend in this world, and her direct mentor for a long time. He welcomed her back into her first family here, even if unofficially. In the end, I think she looked up to him as much as she looks up to Bradford."
"She managed to contain the blood magic for years," Adagio said. "What happened to push her?"
Chrysalis shrugged. "A combination of things? I think the Element of Magic being here affected her, as well as her trip to Equestria."
"And you didn't notice anything? No warning signs?"
Chrysalis looked down. "When Michael betrayed Twilight… she almost killed him with magic. Her shape changed into something… demonic for a few moments."
Adagio stared at her. "And this was not a warning sign?"
"It was," Chrysalis growled. "But what was I supposed to do about it? Try and keep her in here? Stop her from fighting? Would that have changed anything?" She shook her head. "Sunset was still an asset and assured me that it was a temporary loss of control. Given that noone else had her knowledge of that particular brand of magic, including Twilight, I had to trust her on that."
Chrysalis stood up and walked over to the shelves where her memorabilia from the old XCOM was. The skull of a Sectoid. The picture of herself, Sunset, Chen and Moira. She picked it up and gazed at it, not turning to face Adagio. "It seemed that things went back to normal after that. Sunset brought the bullets, but I thought it was just… a bit of overdramatization. I can't sense them like you and the others can. Until Princess Luna explained what they did, I thought they were just more powerful in the sense of normal ammo."
"Clearly not."
The Commander ignored her. "Then she and Bradford went on the mission where she met the Warlock. That's the last time we saw Sunset Shimmer, and the day Fugue was born," Chrysalis said. "After that… well, you know what happened next: you reached out to us through the network, played that video of Sunset Shimmer and Stardust in the Temple Ship."
"Chrysalis…"
"And I think that's it. We sent a team to find you, lost over half of Dragon, but we got you and Miss Grimfeather."
Adagio stood up and walked over to the commander, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Even though you didn't know, I was with you and Sunset since you were kids. I'm sorry."
"Yeah." Chrysalis rolled her shoulders. She didn't turn around. "Anyway, we got sidetracked with all this catching up. I've called a staff meeting to start in about fifteen minutes. How about we have a drink?"
Adagio glanced at the picture Chrysalis held. She remembered that day. "I think I'll pass."
It wasn't until Chrysalis was already serving up the whiskey that something clicked in her head.
"Wait, did you say Princess Luna?"
Chrysalis glanced at her and grinned.
"You know what," Adagio said. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
o.0.o End Chapter 248 o.0.o
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Hahahaha I forget it’s been a while. Isn’t adagio a codex or something? Or does she have a human body.
"alone." Chrsyals rolled her"
"alone." Chrysalis rolled her"?
They still haven't thrown away the Void bullets into a volcano?!
So Lovecraft's talent came from the twisting of the Siren. I wonder if it's the same for Edgar Allan Poe?
Anyway, let's hope now during the meeting they'll finally find a way to bring back Sunset.
Adagio
Adagio
Chrysalis
Alright, catch up done. Now I do wonder what that staff meeting is gonna be all about.
Uhh, last I checked Aria was dead. Did you mean Adagio?
that is not a word, I'm afraid. 'no one' cannot be combined. It's always two words.
I wonder if those Erasure Bullets would work on whatever has the Elders running scared. It's not like the Commander is going to just throw them away when Sunset comes back, since it's always better to have an option than not, even/especially if that option is "kill it deader than dead."
9925548
Adagio was the core/template of the Codex. When they pulled her out, all of the existing Codexes dropped a few dozen IQ points, and she has a bit of their static-looking phasing thing going on but otherwise just has her old body.
Oh yeah, somewhat guarded secret about Laeticia.
I'll just leave this here...
- Thunder
nOoOOOO don't kill Sunny ðŸ˜
True or not, at this point might as well claim to be the inspiration for Lovecraft given that nobody is left who can argue otherwise.
Nice.
I can't wait for Adagio and Princess Luna to meet.
The sirens as Lovecraft's muses makes far too much sense. I'm
stealinglovingly incorporating that into my own headcanon.Now that's interesting. Adagio's the expert here. Hopefully her input will help find a more salvageable solution to Fugue.
I love how this qualifies as a stunning revelation on par with losing the war.
In any case, Adagio's all caught up. Time to see what everyone does from here.
Ow this should definitely be interesting
Adagio also wants to see those bullets destroyed? This is only more evidence that the commander should keep them around and close at hand. Maybe even keep one on a hand cannon on her person at all times. She is certainly a priority target for both of the remaining Sirens, who are known to be able to get to the Avenger.
They are an absolute answer to anything magical that must be put down. This is incredibly dangerous, that's the point.
The mere existance of these weapons is already a powerful deterant, and a useful asset. Unless they are actively causing problems or unintentional damage they are perfectly fine where they are.
Honestly, every magical character freaking out so much at these bullets is proof of how coddled they are in their worldview. They're dangerous so should be removed?
Guns are dangerous, magnetic and plasma ones even more so, yet XCom still uses them because the very things that make them dangerous is so extremely useful as to be essential for them to fight. Batteries are inherently dangerous, but we still use them because the high density of power they contain that makes them dangerous is so extremely useful as to be essential for modern life. Fire is dangerous, so much so that we describe using anything risky as "playing with fire", and yet the heat it produced that can burn us is so extremely useful as to be essential for humanity to develop past the Stone age.
To be dangerous is to be able to effect change, with the greater the change that can be caused the greater the danger. However this is also a basic description of powe, the only main distinction being how predictable the means are and these bullets are not exactly unpredictable. To flee from or shy away from power is to choose to be subservient to those who don't.
9926398 I think the point is less the danger, and more the actual consequence of using it. It's not just dying.
9926398
I think you forgetting the sheer extent of what those bullets do.
9926400
9926481
They kill you, and erase you from existence, records, and memory. It is an actual complete damnatio memoriae. The fact that it has a term for our own attempts to do what this can actually accomplish shows that this isn't a new idea or too immoral to use. No weapon is too terrible to use, the threshold to justify using it just gets higher. Even in Asimov's story "The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use", the Venusians eventually did use their weapon when pushed too far for too long.
I'd say that Sunset currently presents an existential threat, and if shown to be on the warpath against XCom and humanity instead of mostly going after the Elders before an alternative countermeasure has been obtained, these bullets should be used. I don't like the sword and I avoid using it until I absolutely have to, but I still keep and maintain it, ready if the need arises.
9926497 I'm not disputing that at all! Sunset herself seemed to think it was necessary, the thing is... it doesn't make it less horrifying to beings that use magic. It's an additional level of destruction that strikes more than just a life out of existence. You don't erase your previous actions, you just cease to mean anything to anyone. Not the good. Not the bad. It's not like they forget either, you just... are not even a real memory. Just a thing that happened.
Fugue must know those bullets exist, but she's made no effort to destroy the only thing that can stop her. ...I was about to say maybe some part of her wants them to use it, but then I remembered how hard it is to reach a constantly moving orbital base. So pretty good excuse there.
9926505
Essentially "Dementor's Kiss Bullets", No?
- Thunder
9930178 Nothing as inoffensive. Because they don't only affect the person, they affect the reality and understanding of others around them. Dementors only affect those who they kiss/suck the happiness out of. These will kill you, then remove any value and meaning of your life from others.
9930264
sooooo. . . They're basically "Null Rounds" then?
- Thunder
9930363 not entirely sure what you mean by that. They're just... what they are.
9930399
Like "Incendiary" or "Explosive" Rounds, but since whomever they hit/kill becomes well. . . Null. That is to say, a quite literal "Non-Person" if you will, simply a meaningless Thing/Object. I thought "Null Rounds" was a rather fitting term for the bullets. . .
- Thunder
9930529
Refencing to Player One?
9941807
I feel silly now.
Well that's a really good way to catch up with everything that happened
9943503
The Katana only does like 1-3 extra damage than a tier 3 ax, which isn't enough to make a difference. But that free throw does mean the ax effectively gets a single time double damage turn, which does make a difference against Chosen and especially Rulers (the latter in particular, since strategems against them are all about spamming free actions so they don't get even 1 action or their only 1 is to run).
You're likely rolling colonel rangers by the time you get the katana so they are already running almost 100% accuracy, so even that advantage isn't much to write home about.
The armor ignoring is the one thing I can't argue about. There's not many enemies with that much armor, and I always have a grenadier ready to shred, but that's still an undeniable plus for the katana.
And that's why I can't recommend rangers on every team setup. Rangers aren't at their most effective if you don't spec them down the melee tree, but potentially one shotting most enemies also isn't worth it if it means potentially activating up to 3 more aliens while you have an overextended/actionless soldier near them.
Most other classes offer almost enough reward for a lot less risk.
/XCOM tryhard
9930399
I was thinking in Dresden Files's Outsiders. Even their very "blood" is treated as anti-life itself. Imagine crafting that into bullets.
...I feel like I just read two recaps.
Did I need them? Probably, admittedly.
Something's gonna go down soon that means we need this, huh.
-GM, master of codes.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I just read the entire thing in 5 days. GOD DAMMIT I WANNA BUY XCOM NOW. So 3 things, 1. AMAZING story, love how interconnected your stories are. 2. You are responsible for me finally having a reason to play XCOM besides hearing about it in passing(and being spoiled by friends). 3. Now I join the waiting train for the next chapter, my god this is gonna be horrible, I can only imagine how cliffhangers are gonna tear me apart. So 15/10 Would join a secret underground resistance aboard a alien spacecraft with ponies-turned-humans from another dimension fighting alien
invadersconquers in a post apocalyptic earth using magic, SCIENCE!, guns, psychics, and big brain tactics again.Bought XCOM 2 because of this amazing story and I honestly cant wait to see what you do to bring Sunset back from being a
demonette of khorne/slaaneshsiren (kinda wishing it in the form of when the terrans freed Kerrigan at the end of StarCraft 2 WoL)This story is amazing. Picked it up on a whim, because I needed something to read, didn't stop reading it until the current chapter.
There is so much going on right now, its hard to even think of what is left to do.
A few questions I hope we will get answer to soon:
When will we see Rarity? She has clearly abandoned the Elders, but we want to know how and also when she will join XCOM.
This Rarity is a fighter. More than that she is a heavily modified and veteran fighter, something that this XCOM really needs right now.
Will there be a Viper faction at some point similar to the Skirmishers?
Angel has proven that the Vipers can be redeemed, something that was thought impossible before. It would be sad if she is a one of a kind.
Will Sunset become an Alicorn?
In EQG Sunset achieves her apotheosis when she dons the mantle of Daydream Shimmer, it is a poignant moment for her character, where she finally obtains the power she wanted in the form she dreamed of and all because she was given a chance.
More to the point, that is the next arc for Sunset. She has descended to the lowest pits of hell, the only way left for her is up and she has to upstage this world Sunset, no easy feat.
Can Twilight/Chimera be redeemed?
In this world they never met Twilight Sparkle and this world Twilight has some serious issues that have not been resolved and that would resonate with Sunsets current journey. Sunset has gone of the deep end, so she knows how it is to be at the bottom. Furthermore she knows what Twilight can be and also that this world Twilight has not been given that option.
More than that this Twilight would be no less of an asset than Equestrias Twilight. Also this Twilights story is inextricably linked to Sonata and Dr. Vhalen a big part of XCOM past that still needs to be resolved.
So much to look forward to. Who will die? Who will live? How much will they sacrifice to save the world? And after they save the world can they survive what is at the bottom of the sea?
Hopefully we will have some of these answers soon.
O M G, that's one of the best stories I've read so far! Thank you! And I hope next chapters will be out soon. Please write them soon.
Nice Low Key Avengers reference.
Looks like XCOM chimera squad vindicated you to an extent
Well... I've caught up.
Not sure if that's good or bad.
Fuck.
Oddly enough, I stumbled upon this stprybwhile browsing a blog, trying to find out when TSC was last updated, and when/if it was going to continue. It intrigued me, and I was hooked on the first chapter.
If I remember correctly... I was up until 5 in the morning reading it.
This turned into a bit of a trend for me, and I'm still to this day reading until dark and early in the morning.
Giving TSC a reread in the meantime, and looming forward to not one, but two stories by you being updated. Your works have touched me in a very positive way. So, without further ado, I present to you this. The very first "Onward!" Of this story. So.
*inhales*
ONWARD!
I told myself I would sleep this night... then I discovered The sidestory... which can only mean one thing.
*Inhales*
MORE ALEJANDRO AND TWILIGHT!
Ahem. Right, yes. Carrying on.
My suggestion to any who read this story is to first: Look up the story and plot of XCOM 1 and 2. This will help.
Lol looks like Kelly became a really important canon character after all. She's practically the commander now.
10208072
Uh-huh
10208085
My first time playing I almost lost my best sniper.
Second to last turn, next it's evac time, sniper has retreted to EZ, end turn,
rest of squad bearly avoids beeing rund down, then a chryssalis springs from the shadows and takes down my sniper, inplant scean happens.
my turn: squad runs up and gun down the chryss and evac,
I'm curzing up a storm for losing my best sniper,
post mission screen: sniper is in recovery!?!?!
she survived dew to programing.
unless meckanical chryss attacks are non-lethal and soldiers are only KOed and dont become zombes untill next alien turn.
becuss she was in the evaczone when she was knocked out she was evaced whit the rest of the squad, mission ended and she couldn't be turned to zombe. pure fucking luck
she was allways twitche around chryssalids after that.
Whoo, its been some time since I came back to this story and Adagio looking for past events really help me without re-reading the entire story!
Jane Kelly is now "Director Kelly of Chimera Squad! how cool is that! We mostly forget that lady with Bradford in the Xcom 2 Tutorial cuz who plays the tutorial other than the story.
10210885 Me. I would never play XCOM 2 without Jane.
10210888
Looks like Jane also has a very close Viper friend "Torque" - Taking after Sunset and Angel. looking forward how you would progress the story and their relation ships with the storyline.
And now... the wait...
Oh, on Apple Bloom's robot body, the sensation problems from her perspective can mostly be solved with software. Simulated lungs for breathing, talking, expressing certain things to others or simulated skin for realistic touch, temperature, pleasure, some pain. Other senses like balance, proprioception (limb location). You can do taste and smell with virtual foods as an option and a look up table to simulate smells in response to atmospheric mix at the nose. Intoxication of any type can be simulated also. I'm pretty sure we will be doing all of these things irl this decade
Then you still would need to solve facial expressions and maybe coloration. Just my thoughts.
10212215
Don't make it sound like that. Torque is basically a teenager....
And Jane is basically her mom...it is adorable XD
finally caught up, that's ~50 chapters knocked off of the 1.1k i have left to read.
10344170
Hell if I remember, that's a comment from one and a half years ago
10344534 It's hard not to develop a connection with them, but also really hard with the heavy stuff that happens in worlds like these. But I do care about the characters, and I try to let people see them at their best and worst so if they live or die, they are at least memorable.
10345111.
There's pacing and there's stalling. And I've read enough tell the difference.
And personally I think killing off Pinkie Pie and Applejack for the sake of character development is a lazy man's answer. And Wanderer d has shown himself not to be a lazy man so I'm a little disappointed in him or her they took that option.