Chapter 53: Reinstated
Ranger
Chapter 53: Reinstated
By Wanderer D
The meeting room was packed.
All of Menace was there, as well as Annette, Chrysalis, Bradford, Shen, Tygan and Twilight. Deadwood was also in there, casting dubious looks at the young girl that had walked in with the Doctor.
"Isn't she, like… a rookie?" He whispered to Sunset. "What is she doing here?"
"I guess we'll find out," Sunset whispered back.
Chrysalis stood up and everyone else immediately snapped to attention.
"First, a few things," Chrysalis said. "Congratulations to both, Jane Kelly and Sunset Shimmer are in order for completing their mission and bringing us… much more information than anticipated. Both of you performed outstandingly under the circumstances and managed to cement the building blocks for possible alliances and actions in the future.
"As such, and after discussing it with my senior staff and other parties, as of now, you have both been promoted. Sunset Shimmer, I grant you the rank of Lieutenant. Jane Kelly, you are granted the rank of Sergeant. You both now carry the advantages and responsibilities inherent in your new rank, and I expect you to develop your skills to match your new status."
Chrysalis took a seat at the head of the table. "You may all sit."
She waited until everyone was ready, then clasped her hands together, taking a deep breath and nodding to Bradford, who shuffled his paperwork before speaking, "Let's start this meeting by highlighting the unique qualities of your last mission:
"You contacted three insiders inside ADVENT, who—after some discussion—we deem important enough to encourage future relations. Apple Bloom's access to the MEC Factory is an extremely useful advantage; Scootaloo working in the engineering department speaks of deep understanding of ADVENT and Alien technology, which can only be useful to us, and Sweetie Belle herself is a known ADVENT personality, who we had no idea was anti-establishment.
"XCOM will extend contact to them soon, to follow up on the last mission and offer… to work more closely. What are your thoughts on this?"
Sunset and Jane exchanged a look, but with a nod, Jane let Sunset know to speak first.
"It will be difficult to involve them more than peripherally," Sunset said. "They're willing to help us, but they do feel they have too much to lose at this time. Their situation is tied to family and loyalty. Scootaloo is arguably the one that has the least to lose, but Sweetie Belle has a sister that is deep with ADVENT and Apple Bloom's brother might be working for them as well, if he still lives."
"Understood," Bradford said.
"Didn't Firebrand actually know them?" Chrysalis asked, turning to look at the pilot, who had gone rigid. "What are your thoughts, first lieutenant?"
Dash sighed. "Apple Bloom is the sister of one of our original XCOM soldiers… you remember Applejack?"
Chrysalis frowned, but nodded.
"That's her. Big Mac, her brother was also going to join the armed forces, but an injury prevented him from doing so… as for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, it's just like Sunset said: Rarity's going to be Sweetie's main concern, and Scootaloo will stick to them wherever they go." She chuckled. "They've always been like that."
Chrysalis sighed. "Well then, we'll extend the invitation eventually, but for now it might be best to have them in the back-burner."
"It's too bad," Lily spoke up. "Having someone like Scootaloo, who understands alien flight technology so well could really help us make the Avenger more efficient."
"We'll roll with what we have," Chrysalis said. "And this brings us to another discovery then, Bradford?"
Central nodded. "Sunset reported encountering a friendly AI inside the MEC factory, presumably already acting against them…"
Shen spoke up. "I… barely remember it, but once I read the report… dad was working on an AI to help us fight the aliens… I know he was working on several designs for mechanical additions to our troops. It seems that when the Elders took over the base, they also stole my dad's designs, and Julian with them."
"He helped me…" Sunset said, "but he felt very… angry at ADVENT. Said that they had butchered his code and tried to dominate him. He kept me and Jane from being discovered for a while before helping me get out of the room."
"I'm… not sure about that," Jane said, frowning. "I had everything under control until a few seconds after opening the secure room for you."
"Is it possible that you might have not noticed whatever caused it?" Bradford asked.
Jane shook her head. "Not under those circumstances… I was sending a signal piggybacking on the one from the antenna. I didn't really need to bypass any firewalls on my side, and the program worked fine."
"So, at best a wildcard," Chrysalis said, not sounding very pleased. "At worst, someone who tried to manipulate the situation and get Jane killed... We'll have to keep an eye on it… and limit our contact with Julian, can you ensure we are kept from his interference?"
Lily nodded. "Even if Julian is my dad's creation, I don't think he had all of my dad's code in him, I'll have to go through some old notes, but we should be fine. Commander… we should really plan on acting on Julian soon, however. Working with him… or not… we can still learn enough to help us with our own technology."
"Agreed," Chrysalis said. "But all in due time. We have a lot in our plate right now. And the last piece is right here, Annette and I have discussed the situation with the aliens within."
"As the commander says," Annette spoke up, "we have considered several options. It is my belief that the aliens here would not be of much use to XCOM, although they have already sent Shen their knowledge of laser technology, as well as allowed her to study the cyber disks, seekers and the sectopod. I believe this technology will be of use?"
"Absolutely!" Lily said. "There's plenty to research, the engineering team will be working on a lot of projects now."
"Excellent," Chrysalis said. "Tygan? Sparkle?"
Tygan rolled his shoulders. "Preliminary examination of the meld used to heal miss Durand has yielded no further uses. It appears that through the continuous exposure to it, she had absorbed all of its genetic-altering qualities."
"And… although it gives me some ideas that we might be able to put into use," Twilight added, "Those will take some time… it's more of an inspiration for future research than any additional data we can collect out of it at this time."
"Very well, we'll keep that in the back burner for now. At this time, and after much discussion, once we finish this meeting, we will be clearing out of the area. The alien colony will remain, and we will give any aliens we encounter that might be anti-ADVENT or anti-Elders an opportunity to join their brethren here where they can stay out of harm's way."
"How things have changed," Annette said with some humor.
Chrysalis gave her a look. "Indeed." She cleared her throat. "Needless to say, different times require different tactics, and we are not in a position where we can spit on an ally's face for reasons as stupid as their species.
"Additionally, Annette Durand has agreed to rejoin XCOM, with her previous rank of Sergeant. For now she won't be joining any specific team and will be assigned as required. I intend to give her her own command once she has settled down and a team opens."
Annette gave everyone a fanged smile. "I look forward to working with you all." She turned to look at Laetitia. "I also look forward to talking with you and Geist."
Chrysalis smirked. "Won't that be a fun conversation?" Her smile faded. "Now, the last item… Sunset's mission was intended to find the next link in the Assassin's location. As soon as we know more, we'll inform you all about our discoveries. Dr. Tygan and his team need to analyze the data we recovered."
Mox leaned forward. "If this is true, then we can finally put one of Chosen to rest."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "It would appear so. Volk will be very interested in hearing this information. Taking down the Assassin, will no doubt drive fear into the heart of the Hunter."
"There is a third," Laetitia said, "The Warlock hunts us Templars… he is massively powerful but…" she turned to look at Annette. "Our chances are now much higher, with this new development and miss Durand's assistance."
"And we have distinct advantages that the Warlock is not aware of either," Annette said, nodding in the direction of Sunset and Jane, as well as a cursory glance at Twilight.
"Then it is time to get going," Chrysalis said. "Our allies within ADVENT as well as Julian and the aliens here will be left alone for the moment. I need to open dialogue with Volk, Betos and Geist as soon as they have talked to you three… and then we'll assign the next mission. Dismissed."
As soon as the others stood up, Sunset looked up. "Commander, if I may talk to you in private?"
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, but nodded at the others. When everyone had left and they were on their own, she sighed. "The floor is yours, Lieutenant."
Sunset took a deep breath. These last few days had been a roller-coaster of emotions, but there was little to be done about it. Right now, she needed to do this.
"When… we came here… I found a note from Sunset, directed to me."
Chrysalis' face went serious immediately.
Sunset pulled it out of her pocket. "It… and several other things were included in the setup I found to allow me to transfer blood to Jane. I didn't really omit much other than that little factor, but… well, there's a lot more to this, but, here."
Chrysalis took the letter from Sunset's hand and started reading. Chrysalis shook her head with obvious amusement at Sunny One's writing, but her smile faded when she finished the letter. Sunset could imagine what part she was reading right now, as the commander stood up and turned away from Sunset.
"Stupid," Chrysalis muttered in a whisper, which Sunset wasn't sure she was supposed to have overheard. "Stupid. Telling me these things twenty years later and on a note…" Chrysalis didn't turn, but gave the note back to Sunset.
"Better… better show that to Bradford and Lily too… I think they'd like to know… that Sunset... she was…"
"Can I ask," Sunset spoke softly. "Just what kind of relation—"
"No," Chrysalis choked out. "No. No, you may not, Lieutenant." She trembled. "Not right now… not… looking exactly—I need some privacy please."
"Yes ma'am… just…"
"Lieutenant?" Chrysalis all but hissed.
"I'm sorry, I'm leaving I just have these too…" from one of her leg pockets, she pulled out the letters, putting them on top of the desk. "I think… these belong with you. I found some pictures as well… I'll—"
"Later!" Chrysalis snapped, not turning around fully, her dark, black-green hair covering half her face as she looked over her shoulder. "Not now. The letters are enough." A pause. "Please, Sunset… I can't handle this with you here right now."
Sunset saluted, and left Chrysalis on her own.
o.0.o End Chapter 53 o.0.o
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New Chapter
This all must be hard to process for Chrysalis, it is never easy.
ohh... Oh Chryssi...
Yay new chapter!
You can tell this has been really bugging her.
(and there goes the mood)
Poor Chryssie
The feels man... they be too much
Loved this part, even if it tug down at the heartstrings. All too often in stories people bear their hearts at the 'may I ask' question, but sometimes people really just can't open up that easily.
Sunset isn't the only one to get punched in the metaphoric gut.
8840364
It's not exactly like Sunset is going to letter be too disappointed about certain things.
The Warlock is male? Then what ever became of Adagi... oh. If that researcher wasn't Vahlen, then...
No, she'd have recognized Sunset's magic for what it was instead of just a blip on the extreme end of the psychic spectrum. Probably.
In any case, Chrysalis gets closure in the best worst way. She's going to need a minute.
8840672
Unless Adaigo died, it may be that the Sirens initially tried to dominate the aliens with thier song rainbow rocks style.
Can't be a warlock if you a chick.
So who's the Warlock?
The CMC joining XCOM seems like potentially a horrendous idea. Tree sap everywhere. Violently.
They definitely need to be careful with Julian.
Hey, maybe some vipers for Sunset's inevitable viper harem.
8840364
Goddamnit.
"her own command once things she has settled down"
Did something go wrong there?
"The Warlock hunts us Templars… he is massively powerful"
"The Warlock hunts us Templars… she is massively powerful"?
Or is this an in-character mistake, with the Warlock presenting as male? Or something else?
Ok you ALL know Galahad and the other oldies probably tried getting into the locker-room real quick....
"Oi! Where's my porno!?"
But seriously, didn't they take a moment to grab stuff from the base?
8841248
probably in next chap.
8840955
My vote is for King Sombra. He seems to be a good fit for the Warlock's abilities.
8841092
Kinda clever if Warlock is a male actually.
One, everyone's called the sirens as Chosen ever since Aria. While Hunter was Sonata, Warlock has been conspicuously absent from almost any mention. Having Adagio not be the third would throw a twist on everyone's expectations.
Two, "warlock" is a masculine term. Unless Adagio has a surprise for everyone, then she'd be called the "witch" if she was the third Chosen.
8842203
Oh, aye, that could indeed be a twist; since the difference is a single letter out of the entire chapter, though, I thought I'd make sure it wasn't just a very inconveniently placed typo.
"Two, "warlock" is a masculine term. Unless Adagio has a surprise for everyone, then she'd be called the "witch" if she was the third Chosen."
Well, she wouldn't actually have to be male for a lot of people to think she was, for some reason, so I wouldn't fully discount it based just on the generally-used gender of the name.
(I can think of a great example of that sort of thing... but unfortunately it's so highly spoilery that I'm hesitant to even mention what it's from, with only blackout spoiler tags that a stray cursor could accidentally reveal; sorry.)
Not to sound rude but, what happened to 2 chapter a day?
8840963
I'm impressed that we managed to make Sunset the harem Queen of vipers into a meme so quickly.
8840600
But Sunset is shipped with her viper harem.
Yowch. That non-answer from Chrysalis was enough of an answer. Poor Chryssie.
Wait he? I thought the Warlock was a she from the beginning of the story, I mean we never met The Warlock yet but I can already tell who it is
Poor Chrysalis... Gives the Badass commander role a very human side...
We have all a soft side somewhere, it is only human.
And pony, maybe Viper, how about Griffon
Could Kirin overcome Plasma heat? Actually wecould try dragons... just saying. Equestria might not actually be in another dimension, just located somewhere far - far away.