Chapter 84: Distance
Ranger
Chapter 84: Distance
By Wanderer D
Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm afraid I can't tell you much about Sunset's situation… she went on the mission with Pratal Mox and Elena Dragunova. They were going to meet Fluttershy… this world's Fluttershy... who is a rebel leader.
I've told you a little about them both, but I guess I haven't said much about their relationship with Sunset. Without going into too much detail, it is my understanding that Mox is Sunset's first friend in this world, and the one that taught her initially how to survive. Because Mox is formerly an ADVENT Captain, and his species different, Sunset was eventually sent over to live with humans where she met Bradford and eventually Elena.
They are, in short, not only capable XCOM allies, but also her friends, teammates and people she fully trusts with her life.
I'm sorry I can't be of much more help, but Sunset is on a Covert Action, which means that she's off the grid… sorry, I'm getting used to the terminology here. That means that she's unable to communicate until her mission is done or she might expose her location to the enemy.
I'm sure she'll write to you as soon as she returns.
-Twilight
"Something is really wrong," Celestia said, putting down the diary on the table.
Both she and Luna were sitting in the Canterlot Garden, mostly alone in the twisting labyrinth of foliage. Not that it was random, of course, the Garden was carefully groomed and kept to enchant visitors visually with myriad colors, scents and sounds.
A few meters away, a marble fountain bubbled away, giving the area a supreme sense of calm and intimacy. The large perimeter created by the guard also helped to dissuade the occasional noble or visitor from attempting to interrupt their conversations.
"I have my theories, sister," Luna said from across the table, sipping her tea. "But why don't you tell me first why you feel so?"
"Twilight reads… distant," Celestia elaborated, frowning and trying to figure out the best way to express her worry. "While I'm sure that she's tried to quell her extensive writing given the limited space in the diary, she already figured out a way to control that… so why is she so... short?
"It's like she's telling me only the most basic information just to say something, rather than trying to really communicate with me."
Luna nodded. "Indeed. I fear that Twilight's internal conflict is only escalating, and without the appropriate support, she'll start down a path which will make her terribly unhappy."
Celestia pondered the situation, then nodded firmly. "Then there is only one thing to do."
Luna raised her eyebrow.
"I don't doubt that Twilight is telling me the truth and that she can't tell me more about Sunset's situation," Celestia said, "so that means I must concentrate my attention for now in my former student. And what she needs is her friends."
Luna smiled. "That seems like a good plan, sister."
"Let's just hope we are acting in time…"
"She has friends there too, sister, and I'm sure that they have kept her good company and supported her as much as they can. But they know little of Twilight in comparison to her friends here. I think your approach will be the most effective."
"Thank you, Luna," Celestia said with a smile, summoning a scroll and writing quickly on it. "And I believe she needs not only her pony friends alone… I think her number one assistant would do wonders for her right now too."
The trip had gone on for several hours, and they had taken turns sleeping. Of course, Elena and Angel had let Sunset sleep the longest, and she had been quick to tell them she didn't need special treatment. She was on the job right now, after all.
However, she silently was grateful to them, despite her complaints. She knew she was on emotional fumes, so to speak, and she needed the rest, whether she wanted it or not. Quite frankly, she needed to not relax too much, or she knew the emotions would overwhelm her. For now, it was the job.
Later, there would be time to mourn.
It was no surprise that the Avenger, the Skirmishers, and the Resistance, all had such a hard time finding the location they were headed to.
The train was not—as they had originally thought—a direct line to their final destination. It went, predictably, underground for a period of time... but eventually emerged into one of the largest railway systems any of the three had ever witnessed.
Hundreds of trains, all looking the same, took turns, sped and redistributed in what was honestly a labyrinthian knot of tracks. And that was just while they were there. There was little doubt in Sunset's mind that thousands of trains crossed paths daily in this central hub.
After all, the concept of "countries" and "economic borders" only remained in the minds of those that had lived before the arrival of the aliens. Under the single control of the Elders, there were no customs issues that would need to be addressed and the single world economy—if it could really be called that—flourished as a result.
To pass the time, and still unwilling to bring up their loss, the group spread out in the box car and busied themselves;
Angel had coiled down and was softly hissing, moving back and forth in place with half-lidded eyes as if in a trance.
Elena spread out and re-counted all her explosives, checked and reloaded her magazines and cleaned up her gas mask.
Sunset set to trying to fix as best as she could her armor. Not that she could do much under the present circumstances, but at least she could check the structure to make sure that it hadn't been more damaged than she already knew.
Her grappling hook, sadly, was a total loss. It had been crushed under several tons of rock, and it spoke to its design that it had not only protected Sunset from instantly losing that limb, but also that it hadn't mangled her and had instead broken into pieces.
She sighed, then wrapped it tightly and put it at the bottom of her backpack, then checked her equipment, reorganizing everything to distribute the weight better.
After some time, Elena also packed up and went over to sit with Sunset, who was at that moment cleaning up her arc blade.
They sat in silence for a moment, and then Elena spoke, "She's been doing that for a while now." She nodded at Angel. "What is she saying."
Sunset smiled a little. "She's singing."
Elena looked perplexed. "That's a long song."
"It doesn't have that many lyrics… I guess rather than a song it's sort of a meditative mantra?"
"Can you translate it?"
Sunset cleared her throat. "It's um… the words don't carry the same meaning as in her language, it's sort of maternal really, about the young leaving their mothers—"
Before Sunset could start her translation in earnest, the train shook, making them all tense. Several voices could be heard outside of the train. She quickly used her magic to detect nearby enemies.
Sunset breathed a sigh of relief, listening closely to the words of the troopers outside. "They're just doing outside patrols, not checking cargo."
They still remained tense. Sunset's magic could not detect MECs after all.
Eventually they broke away from the queue and were once more on the way on a free track. They passed near some ADVENT Cities, stations and even another supply location, but the train did not slow down, continuing on its way until once more, there was no sign of society, and the train itself was surrounded and covered by the jungle once more.
The train finally entered a tunnel on the side of a mountain. Sunset had no idea where they were at all, having lost track long ago, but the train had started slowing down more than usual when they had entered that specific tunnel, straight out of the jungle.
As the train slowly rode in and slowed even more to a crawl, she noticed an automated station with scanners up ahead.
"I think we're here…" she muttered, sliding shut the panel she had used to look outside. "But if we get detected by those scanners…"
"They will not see us," Elena said, motioning for Sunset and Angel to help her.
Together they piled the containers around them, but there was one problem. "What about straight over us?"
Elena shook her head, motioning them closer. She took off her hooded duster and spread it out like a blanket above them.
"What…"
"Another Reaper secret you are now privy to, Sunset Shimmer… and Angel," Elena whispered. "Our cloaks are made with material that distorts ADVENT's scanning signals."
Sunset shook her head. "No wonder you guys can sneak so effectively."
"We are prepared, Sunset, nothing less, nothing more."
They remained silent as the train slowly went past the scans… and sped up a little. Sunset sighed in relief and rested her hand on Mox's helmet.
They were finally here.
o.0.o End Chapter 84 o.0.o
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So chapters are coming out every other day now?
Huh, funny little song to trance out to there. And certainly going to be interesting what angels going to want to do when she finishes this.
We are here. Time to complete this mission, and get some vengeance for Mox in the process.
Its just the beginning. If i may ask, how many chapters have you planned.
8909521
If the pacing stays the same, then it doesn't feel like it's even halfway done yet. So the answer is probably "a lot". Since we just spent almost a whole chapter on a train ride...
Waaaiiit a second, wadda ya doing there Celestia? You're not thinking of throwing more ponies thru that portal, right? You're just gonna set up a nice safe pen-pal situation, right? Nothing involving hordes of lost and a white-knuckle evacuation of a pack of non-combatants and a talking dog... right?
8909565
That makes Sense
8909581
The portal is closed and cant be opened so, no ponis trugh that.
And duplicats of sevral key personal is not a good idé anyway.
8909465
Nah, he used to write chapters the day they were written but yesterday he didn't manage to so now he's making a stockpile of chapters so he can maintain the daily schedule, according to one of his recent blog posts.
Right now Angel is my favorate character.
Interesting thing to sing about...
Quick question do I need to know anything about xcom to read this?
8909830
You shouldn't need to, no. Just about all the relevant background details are explained as needed. You might miss an occasional reference.
8909830
I would say yes, because he talks a lot about Xcom and Xcom 2 plus the DLC War of the Chosen
8909862
Sure, talks a lot about them, but in an explainatory manner. Similar like your are informed about them ingame.
The only thing that is missing such information are extremly rare spoilery elements about xcom 1 and even that is solved with a small google search about said aliens anatomy. For like 3 chapters
Missing quotation mark
Opening up the journal to the others definitely feels like a good move. Twilight could use the additional emotional support, especially if she's read through all of the journal.
As for Operation: Hobo Siege, we'll see how it goes from here.
Well at least Celestia is taking good action to lighten Twilight's mood.
Sunset, Elena and Angel have now entered the belly of the beast. Time to do some damage.
8909465 when I realized I was missing a couple of updates because I was too tight on time, I decided to take a day to write some extra ones in advance.
8910431
A'ight.
Whatever works best. After almost 80 days straight I can't complain.
This doesn't sound like something they'll be easily able to walk from. Well... one of them won't already, let's hope the others can
Must say that I enjoy this story way way more that I though I would since I never really bonded with XCOM 2 as with XCOM:EW. Also thanks to your story I'm giving it a second chance. :)
This train complex they found seems like a pretty big potential point of vulnerability for Advent that might end up being pretty useful for XCOM to know about.
I wanted to make some sort of joke about singing sneks as a Princess Bride reference, but it turns out those were shrieking eels so I decided to memorialize my memory failure in this comment instead.
8909830
I didn't know anything about XCOM when I started reading this, and it has been enjoyable. I did google a couple things early on, but I don't think I needed to (like 8909897 says). In a way, it helps to not know anything, because the story can stand on it's own and you can form your own ideas about it outside any box knowledge of XCOM may impose.
Hmm, that tense moment with the scanner put me in mind of the same situation happening in Final Fantasy VII. I thought for sure they were busted.
They lost the close combat Mox, but stealth is still with them.
Fluttershy should know her Rebel counterpart is badass. Maybe her 'killing should never be a option' hypocritic statement will leave her mind.
After all, she has carnivores as friends and war is do or die.
Something i keep asking myself, how do they keep their bladder and szomach content on the way out in check. They are underway for hours on end if not for a hole day.
I can go if i relax 2 days without food, but they are constantly on high alert on the moments notice.
Just curious if they have waste disposal bags or something...
Stealth is always to prefer over raw action, because once stealth is lost, only raw action remains.