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



Sunset Shimmer escapes Equestria... with unforeseen consequences.

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Intermission: 20 Years Ago - Pt. 2

Ranger

Intermission: 20 Years Ago - Pt. 2

By Wanderer D

"Zhang, get the others ready and meet me in the Foundry in 10," Sunset said, walking into the barracks. "We have a mission."

The former triad member glanced at her with an unreadable expression. "I had heard that we were ordered to cease hostilities against the aliens."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "I bet you didn't hear that we don't care?"

Zhang chuckled, nodding with his head and walking out of the room. That was the thing about "Chilong". He was never in a hurry, yet things just got done. Sunset had never figured that one out, exactly. Maybe it was martial arts training, maybe it was just Triad efficiency, but the man was nearly unstoppable.

She felt a shudder run down her spine, watching him walk out of the room. 'I'm sorry, my friend… if there was another way…' Sunset walked over to the restroom and opened the faucet, using the cold water to splash her face. Things were getting real now, and she had little time to do everything she needed to.

She felt them before they even stepped in the room.

"I heard that you were up to something, my dear Sunset," John Lance said, smirking as he crossed his arms across his chest. Stepping into the room behind him, like a panther stalking prey, a petite brunette followed him in, her eyes focused on Sunset.

"Geist," Sunset nodded. "Annette, what brings you two here?"

"Don't play coy, Sunset," Geist said, his smile still in place. "We know what you plan to do."

"I sincerely doubt that," Sunset replied. "But, if you're talking about the Temple Ship, yes, that is true."

"We want in," Annette growled.

Sunset rolled her eyes and turned, picking up her MP3 player and fiddling with it, checking the song selection.

"You can't possibly leave us behind," Geist insisted. "We also have things to share with our esteemed visitors... in person, preferably."

"You know what they did to me," Annette accused. "You know!"

"Yes, but it's not your time, Annette," Sunset said, turning and looking at the pair. "And it's not yours either, Geist." She sighed, browsing the music. "What do you think would be the best song?" She clicked on one and the thrumming from Living on a Prayer started playing on the speakers around the room.

"Forget your stupid music!" Annette shouted, her eyes lighting up with psychic power. "You can't leave us behind!"

"I only have space for one team," Sunset said calmly, "And if there's any chance of this working out, it's going to be Stardust or no-one."

"You'd better start taking us seriously, Sunset, you'll have to take us down to stop us," Annette growled, "because—"

She stopped when Geist threw a shield around himself. "I think, my dear Annette, she was taking us seriously all along."

Annette's head snapped back to Sunset, who was grinning as her body shimmered in psychic light and her hands pulsed with power, almost seeming to beat in time with the music. "Don't worry, you two, I'll take you both all the way to dreamland… after all…" She smirked, pulling back her arms, "...you're halfway there!"

Spitfire found Rainbow Dash at the pilot's bar. "Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

"Hey, hey," Rainbow Dash raised her beer. "If it isn't Big Sky herself."

Shaking her head, Spitfire sat next to Rainbow Dash and took the beer away. "Listen rookie, I didn't bring you here just so you could waste away drinking cheap beer."

"You wouldn't get it! I lost—"

Rainbow Dash never finished her thought as Spitfire's punch threw back, making her completely lose her balance and crash onto the floor. "Shut up before you say something you might regret."

Rainbow Dash spat blood, and used the back of her arm to clean her mouth, wincing when she felt the split lip. "I already regret it…"

Spitfire shook her head, glancing briefly at the shrine they had built for other pilots that had died fighting the aliens. Many of them hadn't made it out of the fight with the battleship, and there were more pictures there than she dared count anymore.

"I'm sorry," Dash said from the floor, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up. "I didn't mean to make any less of… Soarin' and the others."

Spitfire sniffed disdainfully, but relaxed a little soon after. "We all knew what we were getting into. You, Soarin' and I just happened to come from the same city."

"Same school, even," Dash chuckled.

"Yeah," Spitfire shook her head. "I should've known better than to bring the goalie and the captain from two years after I graduated. To this day I don't know what I was thinking. The Wonderbolts were never supposed to be a fighter pilot team."

"Yeah, well, aliens have a tendency to change that," Rainbow Dash muttered.

Spitfire smirked and offered her hand, which Dash took gratefully. "You need to get yourself together, Dash," she said, helping her junior up. "Things are going on right now that we don't like, but that doesn't mean it's all over."

Dash walked around the bar, fishing out a large chunk of ice and wrapping it in a clean cloth so she could press it on her lip. She glanced at Spitfire, finally taking in how she was dressed. "Why are you all geared up?"

Spitfire avoided her eyes. "We're heading out."

"Out where?" Dash asked, stumbling a little. "Do you need a copilot?"

"Not for this mission… and certainly not one that's drunk," Spitfire said, frowning at Rainbow Dash. "Listen, Dash… I know what you went through, we've all lost part of our teams… and before you say anything, I understand that Applejack was your best friend. Trust me, I know. Do you remember what I told you two when we found out she'd been assigned to XCOM too?"

Dash was quiet for a moment. "You warned us."

"Yes, I did."

"I had no idea I'd be AJ's pilot."

"But you would have fought tooth and nail to be it, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Applejack knew what she was getting into," Spitfire said. "I know it doesn't fix things, but she knew, and you have to respect that." She glanced at the wall again. "I blame myself sometimes for Soarin' too, you know? But he piloted a Raven, there was nothing I could do with the Skyranger unless I wanted to kill everyone on board in the process. And even then, my attack speed would have never been a match."

Rainbow Dash nodded silently, not looking at her.

"The same goes for you, Dash," Spitfire said quietly. "No one could have anticipated what happened there. If there's anyone to blame it's the x-rays, not yourself. It was over in under a minute."

"I could hear her breathing hard," Rainbow Dash said. "She was calling for her mom. Her brother. Her sister. Her dad. Her granny." Dash's voice went quiet. "She called for me."

Spitfire didn't say anything to that, so Dash continued.

"I mean, sure, we knew it could happen, but, how can I just... move past something like that?"

"With how things are going, I'm not sure what'll happen next, so… take this as my last order, okay?" Spitfire said.

Dash nodded, not looking up, simply holding the ice to her lip.

"I have a bad feeling about things," Spitfire said. "I want you all geared up. I want your Skyranger ready to go. I don't know why… just… this sense that shit's hitting the fan soon. I don't trust politicians, and I don't trust aliens. I don't know what the cost of peace is going to be, but… Dash, you go upstairs now, take a shower, get ready… and listen for the commander."

"You don't think you'll be back in time?"

Spitfire shook her head. "No… I-I don't think I will."

"Ugh." Dash pushed away from the bar, stumbling past Spitfire. "You have quite the punch, Big Sky."

"Hey, Dash," Spitfire said, stopping her.

"What?"

Spitfire grabbed the younger woman and pulled her into a tight hug. "It's been a pleasure… and an honor. Get your shit together. Make me proud. Stay strong. You're the best damn pilot I've ever seen… don't throw that away into the bottom of a bottle."

She let go and watched Dash walk out of the bar. It was so tempting to have a drink herself, but she had a mission to attend to.

Sunset walked out of the changing room, her new armor on. "Well, it's a bit tight on the shoulders, but I guess I'll just have to break it in." She grinned at the decals on the armor. "And you found the time to put my stamp of approval on it, thanks, Shen!"

Shen smiled, shaking his head. "It's the least I could do. Now, take this," he said, handing her a laser sniper rifle. "This is the last one we have… so I'd tell you to be careful with it…"

Sunset chuckled. "I got it, doc, no worries." She lifted it, measuring its weight and looking through the sights. She aimed it at a distant target and shot, piercing through its head and the wall behind it. Thankfully, the firing range had been designed so that the wall behind it had nothing but dirt behind it. "Huh. I like it."

Shen smiled. "We've given the rest to the others. Here, this is also for you, we call it a Mind Shield, we developed it from the one Ethereal we've ever brought down…"

Sunset took the piece of equipment, it looked like a communicator of some sort, and she placed it around her ear. Unlike a radio, however, the extended part of it that looked like a microphone, reached out to hover less than an inch from the skin on her temple. She could immediately feel the difference.

"Thank's Shen…"

Shen nodded, passing her the prototype blaster launcher. "Yes, well, as I said, least I could do. We don't know if this will work, and we only have one charge, so make it count, but don't rely 100% on it… it should work in theory…" he shook his head. "We have also armed and armored your team."

Zhang lifted his heavy laser, tearing through the same target that Sunset had shot in the head. "It's a lot lighter than my previous heavy weapon… and there is no kick. It'll take some getting used to."

Irvine, the other sniper of the team saluted her with his own rifle. "Already tried it," he said, tilting his cowboy hat. "Works just fine."

"And I like my scatter-rifle," Elaine Pelleas, the team's Assault Specialist added with a grin of her own. "Can't wait to shove it into a muton's mouth and pull the trigger."

"I'm sure Galahad will be jealous," Sunset joked, punching the other woman on the shoulder.

"And we're all set," Lionel said, standing side-by-side with his identical twin, Bors. The pair had their own laser rifles at the ready, and also seemed to be carrying more than enough meds for everyone. "We're bringing Combat Stims in case you need a boost."

Sunset laughed. "We're fighting aliens, guys, not taking over the galaxy."

She walked over to Shen, giving him a small package, which he looked at in confusion. "I have instructions inside on what to do with it… please do it as soon as I'm gone, okay?" she asked. Shen gave her a look, but nodded.

She turned around to face Shen, and Vahlen who had just walked into the Foundry. She saluted them, a gesture that was immediately mimicked by her team. "Shen, Dr. Vahlen… it was an honor working with people of your knowledge, skill, and quality. I wish you the best."

Both scientists seemed surprised, but returned the salute. "Believe me, Colonel," Vahlen spoke up, her voice shaking a bit, "The honor was ours."

Sunset bowed slightly, then looked over her shoulder. "Okay guys, let's go get Big Sky. The Skyranger should be armed to the teeth by now."

She walked out of the room, followed by her team.

"This will be different," Bors said. "We've never used the Skyranger as a weapon before."

"I wonder why?" Lionel asked.

Soon their voices faded away and the two scientists were left alone. Curious, Shen opened the package Sunset had given him, finding a note addressed to himself, and another for Vahlen. The pair shared a look.

"Avalanche missiles on the bottom, Laser Cannon on one side, Phoenix Cannon on the other, defense matrix uploaded into the system…" Spitfire counted off, "...extra fuel to make up for all the shit you jerry-rigged onto my baby… I think we're all set."

Sunset nodded, before jumping up onto the Skyranger's ramp. "Guys, I know that I didn't consult you when I volunteered our team," she said as the group lined up in front of her. "And the only reason I did that is because I know you. I know none of us is a coward. I know not one of us would rather watch one of our friends… our family... here die in our stead.

"There's no coming back from this mission," she said frankly, looking at each member of Stardust in the eye one by one. None of them flinched. "What we do today is going to be our legacy. Future generations will judge on their own terms what happened today, but right now, the shape of their world depends on us.

"If we don't do this, the world as we know it ends. And while our success might seem quaint to the eyes of some, if things progress as they're going, it will still undo most of the plans the Ethereals have for our world. XCOM will continue if we succeed. Earth will continue if we succeed. We are giving them all a real chance."

She paced a little, before stopping and looking up, past the gates to the hangar. "We are making a real difference, and the legacy we leave behind, besides two unconscious psi-ops, will be the stuff of legends."

"Unconscious Psi-ops?" Elaine whispered.

"Shh!" Lionel hissed.

She turned around to face them. "This is your last chance to walk away, and there will be no dishonor, and no judgment. And although I know I shouldn't even ask, I still must: Are you with me?"

"YES, SIR!"

Sunset nodded, grinning. "Captain, I believe it's your call now."

Spitfire chuckled, walking up the ramp. "Well, come on Stardust, we can't keep E.T. waiting. Let's give him a ride home."

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

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