Chapter 31: Smile
Ranger
Chapter 31: Smile
By Wanderer D
"Don't think bad of Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said, as she and Sunset lounged in the living room. "Things went… sideways for her early on, after the war." She looked over at her friend, who was downing yet another beer with Jane. The pair had accumulated quite the number already.
"It was just a shock, really," Sunset said, leaning back, eyes pensive as she looked up. "With what happened in Canterlot City, I would have expected everyone to be anti-establishment."
Sweetie shrugged. "We all were. Once. But the aliens are not dumb. I'm sure you've seen the propaganda, being part of a… group of dissidents." A smile played on her face when she said that. "How Earth had started the aggressions, how the Elders had been trying to uplift us, how they got betrayed by Earth's military during peace talks…" she chuckled.
Sweetie gave Sunset a calculating look. "You look to be about twenty-three, or so… so you were probably what, five when that happened, at the most? We were fourteen, and we watched the news from a fallout shelter as their biggest ship shot into space and turned night into day before its remains crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Resistance was defeated worldwide and we held our breaths, waiting for the aliens to suddenly strike us down.
"But they didn't. They moved entire populations to newly made cities which they created within a month. Monsters that we had seen on television killing people were suddenly not there, or were helping rebuild. Old cities were brought down, the rubble cleared, and new ones erected in their place.
"To some of us it was obvious that the past was being erased, so newer generations would just know the alien rule, and so, many left to the wilds… and we expected them to die. But the aliens didn't kill them. And then, we got accelerated education, to catch up with their level of technology.
"My sister was hired by newly-minted ADVENT officials to create clothes that would fit the new regime… I graduated in arts under ADVENT-controlled education and went straight into their 24 News team. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were recognized for their genius and went to work in the areas where they excelled… and suddenly… we had a life, jobs, education, resources, a home… all because of the Elders."
"You know that when you give those reports… you're spreading lies," Sunset pointed out.
Sweetie looked down. "I know."
"Then why—"
"Did you see the suit The Speaker was wearing tonight during that interview?" Sweetie asked, interrupting Sunset's train of thought. "My sister designed it. She's his personal clothes designer now. This place… it's where the three of us get to spend time with each other, and we support it with jobs we have with ADVENT.
"Apple Bloom's brother, Big Mac, was healed by one of the first Gene-Clinics, and he joined ADVENT security. We haven't heard from him since, but… in the off-chance he's alive and hasn't been killed by the more violent groups, like XCOM…"
The older woman shook her head, smiling, when back in the kitchen Scootaloo and Jane started laughing at something. "It's… I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, knowing what I do, but it's a lot harder to justify breaking away with so much to lose."
Sunset nodded. "I… understand."
"Maybe you do," Sweetie said, smiling and nodding. "Which is why you really should go. If we are caught hosting members of the resistance, we, and our families, will get in trouble."
Sunset took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I don't want you to get in trouble, but I don't think you get the whole picture of what ADVENT is doing."
"Maybe," Sweetie said, nodding again. "But, while I would have loved to be able to… fight back, too much of my friend's happiness, and my sister's well-being, depends on me not doing so."
The door to the apartment opened and closed, and a new voice reached them. "Ah swear, if that stupid overseer tells me to stay over one more time, Ah'm going to reduce production so much, he'll be out of a job in a week!"
"Oh, hi, Apple Bloom!" Sweetie called. "We have guests!"
The woman that came in was also in her thirties, but in contrast to Scootaloo's purple and Sweetie's pink and purple hair, she was a solid redhead. She was wearing an overall full of pockets, and a utility belt with more instruments in it than Sunset could name. She recognized her instantly from the dossier, however.
"Ah, you're here," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm mighty sorry I wasn't able to pick y'all up myself… trouble at work prevented it and if the time you have for this to work out wasn't so limited, I would've sent you a new time to meet. Ah hope y'all didn't have much trouble?"
"Not at all," Sunset said, standing up to shake the woman's hand. "We were a bit confused at first, but Scootaloo—"
"I managed to convince them that I was legit, that's all," Scootaloo said, stumbling out of the kitchen with Jane's help, and giving Sunset a glare that dared her to disagree.
"We were convinced," Sunset acknowledged. "And here we are. Although, it would probably be safer to simply cancel the mission if something like this happens again. Scootaloo could have been shot."
"Well, Ah had more faith in y'all than that," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm glad that no-one got shot, and that neither Sweetie or Scootaloo convinced you to leave."
"Oh, come on, Apple Bloom," Sweetie said, "It wasn't for lack of trying."
"Eh," Scootaloo said, elbowing Jane. "They grow on ya."
"Anyway," Apple Bloom said, walking into the room and taking off her belt. "There's a lot to plan ahead. Infiltrating the plant will be the easy part, but getting the information you need will require some work, and if you get caught..."
"We have… coordinates to hide, if necessary," Sunset said, taking out a pad and giving it to Apple Bloom.
Eyebrow raised, she looked down at the information, and frowned. "This… is in the middle of the forest… Ah think right next to Peavine Peak. Why would you go there?"
Sunset shrugged. "No idea. But… we were told that it's the last place the aliens would look for us."
Apple Bloom grimaced, and gave the pad back to them. "Well, Ah can't figure out why you'd even head there, so Ah guess that sort of proves the point…" She motioned for Sunset and Jane to sit down, while Scootaloo and Sweetie hovered uncertainly.
"Girls," Apple Bloom said, "If y'all don't want to help, that's alright… Ah know Ah'm asking a lot as it is, but it might be better if you don't hang around if that's the case."
"Bah," Scootaloo groaned, making her way to sit down on the floor next to the table. "As if we'd let you do this on your own."
Sweetie smiled, also taking a seat. "You should know better."
Apple Bloom chuckled. "Ah guess Ah should," she said. She glanced at Sunset. "Well then, we'd better get started. It'll be a couple of days before the shipment gets sent out… but the main problem Ah think we'll have is the CSB..."
Sunset and Jane were up early the next morning, leaving the apartment unseen, and headed down the street in civilian clothes. Jane kept giving Sunset weird looks, and Sunset tried to keep her mind occupied as they made their way to scope out one of their objectives.
New Appaloosa was located North-West of old Reno, and had been built around the MEC Factory where Apple Bloom worked. Being the largest of its kind, and requiring a considerable amount of workers, from engineers to designers to specialists, the city had grown steadily to become quite bigger than the aliens had anticipated. It had its own TV Station, a mall, restaurants, and its own Central Security Building, or as Apple Bloom and apparently all the locals called it: the CSB.
Unlike many other locations, the organic growth of the city had forced the urban planning to be a little different than the average ADVENT New City, and the CSB had been created to coordinate and secure the various plants that had sprouted intermingled with the city.
Whether the aliens recognized it or not, it was a logistical nightmare for XCOM and a few other groups that tried to keep civilian casualties at the lowest possible. As Apple Bloom had explained, the MEC Factory wouldn't be too hard to infiltrate. Her security clearance was high enough that sneaking their guests in wouldn't be an issue. The problem was that to access the database where the information they needed was located, a dual set of signals needed to be activated.
The factory manager would have to activate his access, then confirm his identity with the agents in the Central Security Building. They would, in turn, send a direct counter-signal to the security systems in the factory, which would then open the gates to access the logs. Unfortunately, the signal was encrypted and cycled every few hours, so it couldn't be just replicated. A failure to do this, would activate all the security systems in the factory.
Thus, the plan was to split up, and hit both places at the same time. But, for that, recon was necessary.
"Wow, I haven't been to a mall in…" Sunset shook her head. "Ever."
"Never?" Jane raised her eyebrow. The pair had decided to walk through the mall and pretend to window shop while heading to the other side to record the information they could about the layout and security outside the Central Security Building. "Really? I would have thought that from… where you came from… there would be malls."
Sunset blinked at the odd phrasing, but shrugged. "Not really. Maybe an open market."
Jane gave her a look.
Sunset had to admit, it was weird not seeing Jane in the usual army overalls they wore. She had gone for jeans and a white blouse, although her hair was still in a ponytail. Sunset herself had dressed in jeans, a blouse, and her black leather jacket. They didn't stand out too much from the other civilians milling about, but when they found themselves in the area leading to the the CSB, they found themselves in a mostly empty plaza, with occasional patrols passing by and no obvious place to record or take pictures from.
The plaza itself had a large statue of the Elders, representing them granting their 'gifts' on humanity, although to the pair of XCOM operatives, it looked more like the Ethereal was mentally dominating a human.
Here and there, on the many areas with fountains and benches, small groups of people talked or sat, enjoying the peace and quiet. In between paths of white metal, patches of grass provided idyllic spots for resting, and at the very opposite side of where they stood, they could see the entrance to the CSB.
"How, in the name of the Commander, are we going to get close enough to get video?" Jane hissed.
Sunset grimaced, studying the area, until her eyes settled on a patrol coming up the side of the plaza, all the way down from the CSB. "I have an idea, but there's two things I must know…"
Jane took a deep breath. It had been a long time since Sunset and her had done this, but Sunset's ideas were never to be underestimated in scope, stupidity, or ambition. "Okay, what?"
"First question, can you actually smile?" Sunset asked. "As in, is it physically possible for you to get rid of the scowl that scared the sales-lady earlier and pretend to be actually enjoying yourself?"
Jane glared at her. "I am able to do that, yes. What's your second question?"
"Do you know how to giggle?"
o.0.o End Chapter 31 o.0.o
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Sunset. SUNSET. NO!
Oh god. I hope Sunset gets a video of Jane being all giggle flirty and use it as a bit of teasing blackmail. Also, I know this is a bit of a stretch, but what if that forest is connected to the Everfree forest? I mean, in 20 years, names can change, but that forest is probably nowhere close to old Canterlot city.
I see Sweetie Belle's point. Even if you know you have been taken over and you are actually serving the occupier, you do want peace and security for yourself, friends and family. At least until there's new hope to start trying a rebellion.
Anyway, wonder what Sunset is planning, beside throwing some sass at Jane.
Wel, risky plan, but sometimes, you have to risk something to have sucess. Overall, I’m pretty impressed how you made up the backstory of how the city centers got created and such, I really wish they had show what had happened between the two games from the view of a civillian.
Okay, I can imagine a Sectoid, Muton or Berserker to help rebuild but all the other aliens are out of the question.
8789713 fixed, thanks!
Tourists. Are they going to do the tourists routine? That's definitely risky...
Keep going! ;)
Well, Big Mac's been urned into gene soup then. At least i'm pretty sure that that is what happens to the people who volunteered for security roles.
Hum, could he possibly be Mox? Nah - Mox talks too much.
8789777
I'm guessing "couple on a date"
Yay, tourism!
8789755
Shhhh, they're not nearly that close to the endgame yet.
8789892
Sorry deleted the spoiler.
Where?
Good to see that at least Jane has chosen to follow the True Way of the Great Commandy One!
Things went… sideways for her early on, after the war."
and it's own Central Security Building
1. Forgot your opening quotation mark.
2. Its.
8790177 The thing that bugs me is that the "it's" should have been fixed earlier. I could have sworn I fixed it before posting the story.
I imagine it going something like this:
Jane: I am genuinely delighted to see you.
ADVENT Officer: Bitter old vinegars?
Sunset: Could you sign my boobs, Mr. Officer, sir?
ADVENT Officer: TOUCAN SAFARI!
8790442 No "GREAT TITS AHOY!"?
8789800
He could be used as a peoples man aka a trooper that can remove his helmet and still look human for photo ops and statements.
8789714
Imagine the reservations built by the American conquerors for the Native survivors, only done a hell of a lot faster. Same basic idea. It's also the same basic reason so many humans in the settlements accept what we, from an outside (and risk free) perspective, see as slow suicide. Are they giving up their way of life to terrible conquerors? Sure. But is it better than extinction? Where there's life, there's hope. They don't see xcom as hope. Who can blame them? You think that was the only temple ship? And what's xcom life expectancy? Really damn short? Yeah... Seeing those cities built would be interesting... but ultimately they're just our history repeating itself at montage speeds.
Propaganda works.
Yeah, this is never going to fly.
PRAISE BE TO THE GREAT COMMANDY ONE, BLESSED BE
8790599
Yeah, sadly.
8789693
SUNSET YES
Considering all the Equestria Girls hair colors walking around, it's amazing people like Jane Kelly don't stand out from the civilians.
...Maybe she dyes it?
You girls used to be smarter than this, if Big Mac hasnt contacted you since joining Advent then he's been recycled.
But you never know he may be alive and well amoung the skirmishers even if he is unable to remember his old life.
Also have you thought about maybe being nicer to XCOM? When this is all over they're the only ones who'll be able to keep you out of the gallows, after all we have the nurenburg trials for people like you (especially Sweetie Belle)...
Any plan that opens with "Do you know how to giggle?" can only end well.
And yeah, it's hard to be a hardbitten, nothing-to-lose rebel when you actually do have something to lose. That said, I do like the idea of humans growing beyond the aliens' meticulous urban planning. I can only imagine the headaches we cause in trying to coordinate and contain even the cooperative ones.
8790455
Damn it! I forgot about that line.
8790718
).
Yeah... but don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging on humanity here. History does repeat itself, but we do a little better each time we see something happen again. A little better... some forms of progress are slower than others and it's always going to be three steps forward, two steps back. There's still atrocities in the world, but compared to a thousand years ago? Or hell, even a hundred? We've come a long way, and not just technologically. For my Native American example, even those conquerors look back with a wince (white male American here... though my ancestors arrived after that was mostly done, I'm sure we messed up in other areas). We're learning, slow but sure, and there's no telling how far we'll get (I mean really, we could blow ourselves up any day now, I doubt it but I can't rule it out
In this story, XCOM and their allies will determine how far we can go. Because it isn't just a culture being subsumed, it's a whole planet. So while I'll defend the thinking of those who side with the Elders (not counting brainwashing/chips, that's just lazy), it doesn't mean I agree with them. We know about the atrocities the Native Americans suffered because history isn't written by the victors; it's written by the survivors. Native American culture was greatly diminished but didn't disappear completely. This... this would be the death of the human race. Even if beings called humans are around afterward, they'll be puppets as much as the Mutons and Sectoids are.
So while I get Scootaloo, I don't agree with her. Sorry for the wall of text, but reading your response and looking at my own downer comment back there, I felt a desire to clarify and give a more positive side to it.
8791342
Its okay.
8789714
Well the floaters got a makeover to become angelic archons and I assume they keep the chrysalids FAR out of sight. And never underestimate the mollifying power of snek tits.
8791108
I'm surprised Sunset didn't mention that of all the advent blood she's ever seen and frequently ended up covered in, none of it has ever been red. I understand if XCOM has trouble spreading that message in the cities, but the lack of human troopers definitely seems like the flimsiest part of the whole charade.
8791616
Yeah but that’s my point, only the humanoid aliens could help rebuild and the archons, would depend when thhey got created.
8791616
Snektits OP pls nerf
I'd like to quote This List once again.
50.Recent rumors suggest that ADVENT will be deploying units known as ‘Priests’. This doesn’t give you the right to start up the religion of ‘Commanderism’ again.
a.You cannot begin calling ADVENT heretics, infidels or worshippers of a false god. Even you can see the irony with that last one.
b.We commend recruiting Templars to our cause, saying that they should “kill some heretics for the glory of The Commander” is not allowed however.
c.In the chain of command, XCOM operatives answer to The Commander, not to “Her Divine Majesty”
Oh I'm already going to enjoy this plan now
Oof. Well there's a way to tell the readers Big Mac is dead without the characters knowing.
For those who don't know, "joining ADVENT security" after visiting a gene clinic was code for being killed off and turned into genetic slurry for the Etherial's 'ascension' project.
That... yeah, that hit home.
10630174
Considering he joined Security, I’m actually going to guess he was turned into a Hybrid, perhaps one of the first. Which is probably worse
The genius and the lunatic are only differenciated by success... Let that sink in...
I wonder if someone has a relation with a non human.
With Vipers all being female one would guess the Elder win earth with a Snek Waifu campaign
Re-reading I know the hilarious horror that the end of the chapter is having in mind...
It - will - be - glorious ♡