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



Sunset Shimmer escapes Equestria... with unforeseen consequences.

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Chapter 54: Rookies

Ranger

Chapter 54: Rookies

By Wanderer D

"Alright team," Bradford's face appeared on the Skyranger's screen, right next to a map of the area they were headed to. "This is a run-of-the-mill mission. We are rescuing an ADVENT VIP who has decided to join our cause. As he reached out secretively, ADVENT is unaware of our presence.

"Your mission is to ambush the van transporting the VIP with the documents to the airfield. There are no ADVENT strongholds nearby and the area is mostly civilian, so keep your heads down and remain in concealment at all times until absolutely necessary.

"Once you have secured the VIP, clear the area and call in the Skyranger."

Twilight couldn't help it. She rocked back and forth, glancing nervously at the others. It had been… a month now, since she had last been inside a Skyranger? And this time she wasn't moving away from trouble… but towards it.

Had this really been a good idea? She looked down at herself. She was wearing one of the basic XCOM armors everyone had used. She had raised a fuss when offered something slightly better outside of ear-reach from her team. Now… now she was having second thoughts about that.

She was a lab-rat! An egg-head! A book-worm! A noun-noun! Not… a soldier. She had griped about the possibility of taking a life whenever she talked to Sunset about how callous the other unicorn was when killing. It still sickened her, even if it was something as vicious and mindless as a chryssalid. She had written home about how she didn't get the need to go out and kill.

And now she was in the air, going towards combat. What… what would Celestia think? She was sure that Shining and Luna would understand, but… What would her friends think?

Maybe Applejack and Rainbow Dash would understand… maybe even Rarity… but how would she face Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie? She wasn't defending herself this time. She had knowingly picked up her rifle—the same one she had been practicing with—dressed up in armor and joined her troop to go fight aliens.

And she was an alien! What if they found out?! What if they decided to shoot her?

"Not having second thoughts, are we?"

Twilight's head snapped to Alejandra, who did nothing to hide that knowing grin of hers.

"Nah," Monique said, waving her hand dismissively. "The Princess of Friendship wouldn't have second thoughts."

Ndlovu chuckled. "I wouldn't expect Twilight to back down, not after she tied herself up with her own words as well as any leopard Anansi would spin his web around."

"Isn't that the spider?" Just Kevin asked. "The trickster?"

"That'd be the one," Ndlovu said, nodding. "I'm surprised you would know about it, so far from my homeland, and in an age of the past being mostly buried."

"Hey, my grandfather was into world mythology, even wrote a book about it, before the war," Just Kevin replied with a shrug. "They might have destroyed most copies, but he still remembered the stories well enough to tell them to entertain me and other kids."

Ndlovu laughed, loud and as strong as ever. "Your grandfather was a true storyteller then," he nodded at Kevin. "The people of this world will owe him and others like him, much."

"Not as much as we owe the Princess of Friendship for ditching the lab to help us out!" Galahad laughed.

Twilight sighed.

Galahad shook his head, still smiling, and patted her armored knee. "Don't worry, duckie, you did the right thing. We're all proud of being in the same team."

o.0.o Earlier that Day o.0.o

"Hello, duckies," Galahad said as he walked into the training room. "It's time for your last lesson before you get sent on missions, there's plenty to go over, especially since the developments from our visit to old HQ a couple of days ago, and the glorious return of good ol' miss Durand."

He sat down at the desk, and crossed his arms. "But let's talk about your upcoming chance to get out there for real. How do you feel about it?"

Monique Berger was about to respond when they all heard a commotion outside.

"You can't be serious!"

"I said, no, Twilight, I think a word consisting of two letters, and a very definitive meaning should not pose such a challenging concept to understand!"

"I don't care! I've been through all this training, seen all of what I can do, learned to shoot, treat emergency wounds, seek cover, drag myself through the mud and what everyone else here does and you want me to just stay back here?!"

"Yes! It's my mission to make sure you don't get killed!"

Galahad blinked. "What the…"

"No-one made it your mission once you got me here!"

"What do you want me to tell Pr—everyone if something happens to you? What if your entire research field has to be postponed because you got shot in the head?"

"Tell them I did the right thing!" Twilight responded after a brief moment of hesitation. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, Sunset, I can't just… sit here!"

Alejandra and Ndlovu traded amused glances.

"Look, your place is in the lab with Tygan or Shen, not out there, getting shot. The point of the training was strictly so that you wouldn't do something stupid. And now you're doing it!"

"It's not stupid to risk your life for your friends! We've trained, bled, and sweat together, Sunset, you can't expect me to just watch them go off on missions without me!"

Just Kevin and Michael made to stand, but Galahad shook his head. His gaze turned to the closed door, behind which the argument continued.

"You saw what happened during the last mission. Jane got shot through by goddamned plasma! It's a miracle she's still alive!" They could hear Sunset pacing heavily outside the room. "I should order you to stay."

"Are you going to?" Twilight asked. "Would you stay if your team had to go risk their lives on a mission?!"

"Yes! If those are my orders, I would have to trust them to do so! Why do you think Mox and Elena didn't go with me and Jane? It's not because they didn't want to!"

"But what if you weren't ordered not to go, but someone is too worried about you and just wants to stop you because they're worried?"

There was a pause.

"Are you going to order me not to go?" Twilight insisted. "Because if you're not, or any other officer isn't, I'm going."

Another pause.

Sunset barked a laugh. "You stupid, insufferable jerk, I'm so fucking proud of you right now that I don't know if I should punch you, slap you, or hug you."

"Language! I think—"

Slap! Everyone in the room winced. A scuffle. "Ouch! Why did you slap me?! Oof! W-why did you punch me?!"

"Come here," Sunset's voice said and they could hear the following, sudden, but less violent 'oof' from Twilight. "I just couldn't make my mind, so it's all three, you idiot nerd."

"Oww! A nuggie?! Really?!"

"Seriously. I'm proud of you. And just so you know, if anyone in there messes up and you die for it, I will skin them alive. And then I will get creative."

"Why would you tell me that?"

"No reason, now go in."

They heard Sunset's steps as she walked away from the room, and a few seconds later, the door hissed open. Twilight stepped in, a bit more frazzled than usual and rubbing her cheek. She stopped, looking at everyone in the room. "Um… what?"

That's when Monique started clapping. "Well said, Princess!"

"And that," Galahad laughed. "Is how you earn a nickname."

o.0.o Present Time o.0.o

Twilight covered her face and groaned.

"Hey," Alejandra spoke up. "We're all nervous, but our mission is not that hard. Come on."

"I know," Twilight said with a sigh. "I'm just… not used to this."

"We went through the training together," Just Kevin pointed out. "You passed every test… even if at the beginning you were running out of breath fairly quickly."

"They're right," Galahad spoke up. "You and your mates didn't go through Navy SEAL training exactly, but it wasn't a walk in the park either. The skills you have learned have set you all to be effective rookies… you are now eligible to go on missions and this one is a test of mettle as well as your skills. Other teams will look into this mission and decide if they want any of your on their own."

"Or… we're all expendable and this mission isn't that important, so it doesn't matter how it goes," Monique said.

"That's not true," Galahad said, sparing a moment to match eyes with each of them. "None of us is expendable. XCOM has very select few who stay and fight… the few that dare go back, stand tall and fight. Not everyone is ready for this. And less return willingly… missions like these are just an example of how much we need to do now."

Twilight nodded, her thoughts going back to just before the mission.

o.0.o Earlier that Day o.0.o

"Look at you, all geared up," Sunset said shaking her head and sitting next to Twilight. "Are you.. sure you want to do this? There's really no going back, Twilight."

Twilight sighed. "I don't want to kill… but the thought of my team going without me… it's just…" She trailed off, looking down at the rifle, and wondering when it had started to look so right in her hands.

"I understand." Sunset wrapped an arm around the younger woman. "And… they're all around your age, right? Real rookies… just hit their twenties."

Twilight nodded.

With a sigh, Sunset shook her head and leaned back, staring up. "You wouldn't be the only one that sends friends to battle and waits for them to return, Twilight. Many here have slowly made relationships… soldiers, engineers, scientists… they're all human, some of them are okay on their own, some others seek companionship. And some… have to see people that they care for go on missions. No one thinks any less of them. Your job is very important, Twilight."

"Are you saying that my life has more value than theirs?" Twilight asked a bit bitterly.

"Yes."

Twilight's head snapped around, and she stared at Sunset in utter disbelief. "What?! But—"

"Not in the sense you're thinking, Twilight. You can argue that the value of a life on it's essential pure form is impossible to measure, and I would agree," Sunset said, shaking her head, "but that is not the case here. In a very real, quantitative, objective, reckoning of the facts… when you became a Princess, your life was immediately more important overall than that of a guard.

"When you became a VIP here, your life was more important than mine. When you became the lead scientist of a specific form of research that can turn the war? You objectively became more important than all of us soldiers.

"And that is not counting the fact that you are a leader from another dimension of unknown capabilities and the rightful bearer of a powerful magical artifact that is so strong, attempting to study it without your presence is bound to erase a large area of the planet."

"But…" Twilight's eyes were shimmering with tears, "that's unfair! All life should be valued equally!"

Sunset shook her head. "Life is not fair, Twilight. Leaders are elected, scientists and engineers endorsed… because they can lead, discover and create… in that way, they open up the future for others. I'm not there yet… I plan to be. I'm working my way up—"

"You could be a scientist!" Twilight snapped.

"I'm not." Sunset replied, eyes level. "And yet the sad truth is that if my team is lost, or I died, it would impact the alliances we have with the other factions, in contrast with what say, Deadwood's death would do. I don't like it, but it's the truth." She sighed, turning to look at Twilight. "My point is… that as much as you're doing the right thing… the thing that anyone would do for their brothers and sisters in arms, and which makes all of us soldiers proud of you… losing you would affect much more the world than losing anyone else in that mission."

"It's not right."

"It's still true."

"I'm still going."

"I know."

o.0.o Present Time o.0.o

"Alright, duckies! Get ready!"

Galahad's shout returned Twilight to the present, and she checked her weapon and ammo once more.

"In a few moments we'll be dropped by in the clear area that the Skyranger found for us. We should be out of sight of both civilians and ADVENT. We'll endeavor to keep it that way, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Galahad nodded. "That means: you follow the orders. The only time you disobey an order from me, is if the Commander tells you otherwise, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"We move carefully. Cover-to-cover. By the book. No shenanigans. I give the order, you follow. I say jump, you read my mind and jump as high as I goddamned want, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Colonel," the pilot called. "We're here."

The lights turned off and the red, warning lights came on. They could feel the Skyranger slow down to a hover. The back ramp opened, letting the ropes uncoil.

"Go, go, go!" Galahad ordered, and they were all suddenly moving.

Twilight felt her heart accelerate, as her body responded. They had done several practice jumps already and this was the same. A quick sprint, keeping her eyes on her rope. Her feet left ramp… she was flying for a second… her hands grasped the rope, her leg wrapped around it as she slid down in a controlled fall.

She hated to admit it, but it was exhilarating. A few seconds later, she was landing on the roof of a building, her rifle up and scanning the area as she had been trained.

"Central," Galahad called in as they all crouched together, "we are in the AO."

"Understood. Galahad, you're in command.

As the others shuffled around and took positions to scan around without giving their positions away, Twilight looked around the city and wondered at how much things had changed, and how far she still had to go.

o.0.o End Chapter 54 o.0.o

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