Stolen Minds

by TcogArchitect

Mission Log 19: Finals

Published December 11th, 2013

"Sir, we'll be landing in T-minus two minutes!"

"Understood. Just keep us from combusting, alright?"

"Ha. Yes, sir."

"Thank you." I looked out the window of the Remora, down at the training facility as it neared. It was easily the largest compound in use, at over five hundred square kilometers. Pincer Island. Occasionally described as "Parris Island Junior", the place had a reputation for only using the hardest, meanest, most ridiculous methods and staff to train its recruits. And I, for one, found the place rather nostalgic.

Hey, that's my old dorm building! And there's the obstacle course, and the firing range. Oh wow, I think I can hear Daniels from all the way up here. I figured by now, he would have yelled his own vocal chords out, but apparently he's still as loud as ever. Impressive.

As the tiltrotor descended, the sound I heard got louder. Yup, that's Daniels, alright. No one curses that much. Or throws insults that well. Or makes sure everyone knows how badly you fucked up that thoroughly. I finally disembarked, and looked around for the tight-assed drill sergeant. He was too easily understood to be very far. Sure enough, I spied him off to my right, yelling at...

Ho-ly shit. Is that Rainbow? Oh, I am going to love this. I decided to leave them alone for the moment, and let Daniels do his job as I made my way to the director's office. Once introductions and confirmations were made, he had one of his aides guide me back out to where Daniels was now screaming his head off at Twilight.

"HOLY FUCK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I SAID 'PUSH UP', NOT 'LIMP UP'! GOD DAMN, HOW DID YOU STUPID SHITS EVER BECOME INTELLIGENT?! THAT IS SUCH A PATHETIC SHOW OF UTTER WEAKNESS, IT ABSOLUTELY BAFFLES ME HOW YOU ARE NOT EXTINCT!"

"Still quite the impressive use of your own intelligence, if I do say so myself." He spun around, showing off the eternally-pissed-off expression he wore, accentuated by the prosthetic eye that shone red as it refocused on me.

"WELL FUCK ME SIDEWAYS AND CALL ME A WHORE! KURO-FUCKIN'-MALDONE. LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE WHO ISN'T A COMPLETELY WORTHLESS PILE OF SHIT HAS DECIDED TO GRACE YOU WITH HIS PRESENCE, MAGGOTS! SHOW SOME FUCKIN RESPECT AND SNAP TO, YOU STUPID FUCKS!" The group he was in charge of suddenly jumped to their feet, instantly going to attention as they regained their balance after working themselves so hard. Of the group, about half were ponies, and all five of the ones I knew were present. I glanced them over, then turned back to my own former drill sergeant. Still the same angry, tanned face, the same proud, expectant posture, and the same small glimmer of pride at having turned another group of untrained, clumsy recruits into well-trained, precision warriors.

"It's good to see you again, sir. Though I'm not here for a social visit." For about a quarter of a second, one corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. It looked weird, honestly.

"YEAH, I KNOW. YOU'RE HERE FOR THESE IDIOTS' LAST RUN. ANYTHING YOU WANT 'EM TO HEAR, FIRST?" I nodded, and he backed off a bit to give me space to pace in front of them.

"I know some of you, and some of you may know me, and what I'm like. Allow me to be clear; from this point forward, I am not 'Kuro Maldone'. I am your examiner. And I will not, for any reason, give any single one of you any leeway of any kind. If you do not meet the expectations set by High Command, just like everyone else, you will be denied. You will not graduate, you will not be given a squad, and you will not go on duty. Because if you are not ready, you will make mistakes. And if you make mistakes, then your targets will not go down. And if your targets do not go down, our soldiers will go down instead. That is not an acceptable outcome. So I suggest that any of you who have been slacking, or holding back, or in any way underperforming, get your fucking act together, if you intend on earning your place on the front lines. Do I make myself clear, recruits?"

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"Damn right I do. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"SIR, NO, SIR!"

"Damn right I don't. Does anyone have any questions?"

"SIR, NO, SIR!"

"Damn right you don't. Your examination begins at 0800 hours. You are free to do as you please until then. I suggest you use the time wisely. DIS-MISSED." They saluted as one, and I returned it before they all started wandering off, and I made my way back to the main building, Daniels right behind me.

"You know, technically it's my call when they get to leave."

"Oh, please, we both know your pattern. You did it to me three fucking times, and I've heard every other recruit who went through you tell me the same thing." He laughed. It was creepy, hearing that sound come from him. It wasn't even particularly nasty, or anything. Just not a sound I imagined him ever making.

"Well, you're right about that. I still can't believe you threw the final twice just because you felt like you weren't ready. I didn't even know that was allowed."

"Yeah, well, it got me on your good side, right? So I must have been doing something right."

"Yeah. You were accepting of the fact that you could be better. Most of these dumbasses don't have half that level of ballsiness, being able to put up with me for three fucking runs. A lot of them don't even get through one. I had five dropouts this time. All human, too. I guess that's one point for the ponies, anyway." I held the door open for him as we entered the building. "The fuck do I look like? I'm not that old, yet." He walked in anyway, and I followed him. "Anyway, let's get you settled in. We had to get creative with the testing for the ponies, so the final's gonna take longer than usual. Couple days, at least. So why'd they pick you for this, anyway? I'd figure that a Shadow Soldier would have a few slightly more important things to take care of than a fuckin' final exam." I nodded.

"You'd think so, right? But no, these orders came from all the way at the top. Leeroy thinks High Command just doesn't want the ponies being well-known yet, but personally I think they're planning something else. I just have no idea what, yet."

"Well, whatever it is, it can wait. You need to get some sleep too, and this is your room." He unlocked the door and handed me the key. "See you in the morning, Sergeant." He saluted, and I returned it.

"You as well."

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That night, I had another dream of the castle I met Princess Luna in. She was still there, but no one else. Apparently, it was still daytime, which meant they weren't sleeping, and therefore out of her reach. We only talked briefly, but I found out more about the specifics of what was happening on their planet. The Emrini were in the process of building some kind of superweapon, but progress was being significantly hampered by a resistance force, which she believed was being led by changelings. I, having never heard of them, was curious about what they were, precisely.

"Well," she explained, "they look somewhat like ponies, but more bug-like. They have insect wings, chitin, and their forearms and lower legs have holes in them. One hive attempted a hostile takeover not long before the Emrini appeared, but from what little I've heard, they seem to be a different group. Or possibly the same group, with a new leader. Either way, they seem to be on our side." The dream started to fade soon after, and we said our goodbyes as I woke up.

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"ALRIGHT, YOU SORRY, SHITFACED EXCUSES FOR SOLDIERS, GET ON THE LINE! TIME TO SEE IF I'VE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO GET ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS!" As the recruits got themselves set up, I looked them over. For the most part, they were impeccable. Except for one guy near the back. I came up to him, and got right in his face.

"Name, recruit?"

"Sir, Martin Landown, Sir!"

"You forget anything this morning, Landown?"

"Sir, I am unaware of anything I might have forgotten, sir!"

"Care to take a guess, recruit?" Daniels had the screaming angry guy routine down pat, but I preferred to unnerve, rather than startle. The recruit was quiet for a few seconds, then his eyes widened in realization and he gulped.

"Sir, my name badge, sir?" I nodded.

"First try, not bad. But we don't go out with someone with an incomplete uniform. I suggest you sprint, if you don't want to miss too much. And don't leave your personal shit lying on the ground for someone useful to trip over." He ran off, and I returned to the head of the group. "Listen up, assholes! Today is the day that either makes you or breaks you. Do not make Sergeant Daniels look bad, or I will make you look a whole lot worse. Your examination starts now, so I hope you all prepared adequately for this. Endurance test is first. Five mile run. The route is marked with red flags. Start point is the north entrance. Go!" They all took off at a quick jog, with Rainbow leading the group, as I had predicted she would for any type of race-style event. Just as they rounded the corner, Landown came up and saluted. "No point saluting now, recruit. Test has started." He ran after the rest of his squad, and Daniels joined me in the leisurely stroll to the north entrance. "How many do you think will actually pass?"

"Most. There's a couple that will actually surprise me if they make it, but no borderliners in this group. Just future soldiers." We took our spots next to the marine that was already standing next to the open gate with a stopwatch, and settled in to wait. Fifteen minutes later, I could make out Rainbow making her way towards us. As she got closer, I could also see Applejack and Pinkie Pie trailing behind her. All three crossed the threshold, and the monitor with the stopwatch marked their times. Over the next ten minutes, the rest of the squad trickled in, mostly in twos and threes, with one group of six in the middle. After they were all back, we gave them all five minutes to rest, and then headed to the next part of the physical fitness test: pull-ups. They all passed without trouble, most of the ponies managing at least ten reps. Another five minutes to rest, and we were on the final part of the fitness section: crunches. Once more, every recruit passed, although one of them did make it questionable near the end, barely able to complete the required number. With all of them finished, we moved on to the next section: skill.

The first test was a basic obstacle course; wire crawl, tire run, wall climb, log jump, mud sprint. In that order. For the most part, none of them had any real problems. Rarity looked absolutely terrified of the wire crawl and the mud sprint, and more than a few recruits - humans and ponies both - had difficulty on the wall climb and mud sprint, but that's the idea. Once each recruit was through, they took a spot at the nearby shooting range, and took three shots at three targets, which popped up randomly from a group of fifteen, ensuring that none of them would simply predict which ones to fire at. They then went back through the obstacle course, and the timer stopped when they reached the beginning. When they had all finished, Daniels got them back in line for me to speak to.

"Well, recruits, looks like Sergeant Daniels didn't have to work with total scumbags after all, which means I don't have to stay up late tonight rearranging faces. Which means all of you get to go back to bed and get up early tomorrow to see if you can pass the last test. Feel lucky, yet?!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"Good, because you are. Dismissed, recruits." Once more, they returned to the barracks as I left with Daniels.

"You know," he began, "You really aren't cut out for drill duty." I snorted.

"What gave it away?" When we entered the main building again, the entrance clerk stood up and called to me.

"Sir! Sergeant Kuro Maldone, right?"

"That's me."

"This came in for you a few minutes ago from the Star Spectre." I cocked an eyebrow. Anything coming from the ship now must be pretty damn important, if it couldn't wait. I took the note he handed me, and opened it up as I continued. As I read, though, my pace slowed from the shock of what was written until I came to a complete stop. When I finished, I had to lean against the wall just to keep from collapsing from shock. I handed the note to Daniels when he leaned over to check on me. His reaction was only mildly better.

"Fuck me.... That's just... That's just not fair. Shit. How in the hell are we gonna tell them about this? They'll break down, sure as shit!" I nodded my concurrence.

"We don't tell them. Not yet. A lot of shit's about to go down hard, and we can't have them distracted at this point. I need to get to the communications room." I collected myself, and Daniels guided me to where I needed to go. Once we were there, I opened a channel to Leeroy.

"Kuro. I assume you got my message?"

"Yeah. You haven't told any of the others about this yet, have you?"

"No. We're keeping it tight under wraps for the moment. I was planning on telling them after Tarsus is safe again."

"Good idea. I'll keep finish up with the final training here, hopefully my bad poker face won't give us away. I'll see you when I get back."

"Copy that. Leeroy out." With that out of the way, I resumed my journey back to my room. I needed to sleep.

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The next morning, Daniels showed up at my door to bring me somewhere else for the last portion of the final exam. We headed down to another part of the complex, a huge building that looked to be about five stories tall, two hundred and fifty meters wide, and about half a kilometer long. Inside, the place was filled with VR pods, crammed together as tightly as possible along the catwalks that spanned the length and breadth of the entire structure. Off to one side, I recognized the recruits from our group, standing around in basic undergarments, designed for maximum synchronicity with the pods' body-based simulator components. As we approached, I could hear Twilight talking to the others.

"-and it hurts like you wouldn't believe! I could feel every single nerve being attached. Fortunately, it doesn't last long, and I don't think it happens more than once. But I figured you'd like to know beforehand, so you can be ready for it." The others nodded their gratitude as we joined them, Daniels getting right back into character as we did.

"OFFICERS ON DECK, MAGGOTS!" They had apparently not noticed us, because most of them nearly fell over at the sudden sound, scrambling to get in line. "THAT'S BETTER. NOW, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THIS IS YOUR LAST TEST. IF YOU FUCK THIS UP, IT WILL NOT MATTER HOW WELL YOU DID PREVIOUSLY. THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS, CADETS! IF YOU DO NOT PERFORM ADEQUATELY HERE, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO KICK YOUR STUPID SORRY ASS ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEGINNING, AND THEN KEEP KICKING YOU ALL THE WAY BACK HERE AGAIN! SO DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!" He focused in on Rainbow on the last sentence. "NOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T BOTHERED TO PAY ATTENTION BEFORE, THE LAST TEST WILL BE A COMBAT SIMULATION USING VIRTUAL REALITY PODS. IF YOU INTEND TO SURVIVE, I SUGGEST YOU CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS AND TACTICS CAREFULLY. NOW GET IN THOSE PODS, AND GET READY TO FIGHT, YOU FUCKERS!" The group once more scrabbled around for a moment, before disentangling themselves and getting in their assigned pods. Daniels led me over to the two instructor pods we'd be using, and I took off my boots and jacket before getting myself settled in. The lid closed, and everything went black for a moment. I regained my senses in a large canyon, filled with trees and some boulders. Rushrun Valley. Specifically designed for defensive tactic training. Good for new recruits. The sound of agonized screams filled the air as the recruits went through their first body-builds, while Twilight and Rainbow were cleanly deposited into the program. Their armor wasn't nearly as impressive as before, though. Apparently the original designs had been toned-down for mass production. Rainbow's was still streamlined, but lacked the thrusters on her hooves and some of the extra plating on her torso and joints. Twilight's was significantly changed, only retaining the shield generator, which now had a twin where the sword generator had been. Even the skirt armor had been shortened extensively, now almost equal in length to Rainbow's. Her armor had also been reduced, primarily focusing on her horn and vitals. They both still looked impressive, just not as impressive as before. The two of them immediately started setting up their loadouts, while Daniels spawned in and I used the instructor settings to float up where I could watch from above. Obviously, though, I could still hear Daniels as the rest of the recruits spawned in.

"UP UP UP, SHITHEADS! YOU'RE ON THE CLOCK, BETTER ACT LIKE IT! LET'S GO, PEOPLE, SKITTLES AND SEQUIN HAVE ALREADY STARTED, WHY HAVEN'T YOU!?"

Because Skittles and Sequin have been through this before, I thought with a grin as the others struggled to get their equipment set up. The horn that indicated the start of the match sounded, though, and several of them flailed for a moment as their selection screens disappeared before they were ready.

"LOOKS LIKE YOU WEREN'T FAST ENOUGH, ASSHOLES! HERE THEY COME!" Twilight and Rainbow got into semi-tactical positions on top of a pair of boulders while they could, while the rest opted to simply take cover behind trees, or lay down in the grass with LMGs to try and mow down the oncoming enemies. "TEST IS FIFTEEN WAVES, FUCKERS! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING PAST WAVE TWO!" He floated up to me, and we watched as the first wave started moving toward them through the trees. Twilight and Rainbow were, as I expected, the most effective, having chosen sniper rifles to take down their targets through the trees at long range. Applejack had chosen a shotgun, and was behind one of the trees further up, waiting for the Emrini to get close before doing anything. Pinkie had picked out a Trench Sentry, and she was now out in the open, using short bursts to take down enemies efficiently. She was slowly moving backwards, though, and when she had passed Applejack's position, the orange mare revealed herself, picking off anyone that got too close. Rarity hung back with the rest of the group, handling her Soldier Buddy with more accuracy than I expected, until I noticed the blue tinge of magic around her horn that also covered the gun.

Clever girl. The first wave went by without too much trouble, and the recruits who hadn't finished setting up used the chance to the fullest extent. They all repositioned themselves, completing their equipment changes while calling out their strategies and positions. Wave two went even better than one, with the addition of another sniper, this one human. The group now had a semi-circular pattern against the main wall, with the snipers in the center, the shotgunners on the outer edge, and everyone else mixed in between them. One guy had decided to use explosives, and had the highest efficiency rating so far with just three grenades. The last Emrini fell, and Daniels activated a weapon drop.

"ORDINANCE INCOMING, IDIOTS! BETTER GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!" Rainbow took the opportunity to fly out to one of the further drop cases, switching out her pistol for an X-4 Twin Tube rocket launcher. It was a fairly basic piece of hardware, carrying two rockets at a time. The rockets themselves, though, were nothing more than flying grenades. Not even a wire-based guidance system. That thing took some proper skill to use effectively. One of the other pegasi decided flying out for another weapon was a good idea too, and came back with a V-3 Pellet Pounder submachine gun. Easily the smallest normal submachine gun in the arsenal, but just as easily the fastest. It has a fire rate of 1200 rounds per minute, and can make pretty good use of that fact with a massive, 150-round drum magazine plugged into the top. Fortunately, the bullets are small, 5mm rounds that don't take up much room, or the thing would be far too clunky to actually use. Instead of holding onto it, though, she passed it over to one of the humans who was low on ammo. The remaining waves passed similarly, until wave five, which saw the first casualty, Cadet Martin Landown. No fault of his, though. Just too many targets at once. As the waves progressed, more cadets fell until Applejack was the only one left at wave fourteen. She had spent the last three waves beating the Emrini with melee techniques, but her endurance was fading. The last round, she had gotten hold of another Trench Sentry from a drop, and most of the bullets had ended up in tree trunks. The horn sounded, and the clamor of a small horde of Emrini was immediately audible. As they advanced, Applejack walked calmly over to one of the trees, then waited another few seconds before giving it a swift kick, knocking it over into the one next to it. This confused me a moment, until the second tree let out a loud crack and fell over into another one, which also broke. Within seconds, I was watching the whole forest fall down like giant dominoes, with most of the Emrini getting caught underneath and being crushed to death. During the commotion, Applejack moved forward, finishing off any enemies that weren't killed by falling timber. I shared an impressed glance with Daniels, then returned my attention to the battlefield when she was done mopping up. As the timer ticked down between waves, Applejack surprised me yet again by taking off her helmet. She then walked calmly over to the side of the cliff, and set one hoof against a rock, similar to a track runner's starting position. As soon as the horn came on, she took off, sprinting full-tilt across the canyon at the oncoming tide of teeth and claws. When they finally met near the middle, all I could make out was Emrini being flung through the air every which way. As she neared the opposite wall, she leaped up, turning her legs toward the wall itself. From the distance I was at, I couldn't see her actually kick the wall, but when huge cracks started forming up the side, and boulders started falling out, I knew what she did, prompting me to move closer. As the rocks fell, she continued beating down any other targets that got too close, until one of them got a lucky swipe and tore a large gash in her stomach armor. She obviously felt it, but sent him flying with a punch to the jaw anyway. That turned out to be the last one that got close enough, too, as the rubble crushed every other Emrini that tried to advance on her. With the last one dead, the system's typical disembodied voice called out the completion of the exercise, and everything went dark again as we exited the system.

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"WELL, WELL, WELL. LOOKS LIKE I MANAGED TO MAKE YOU ALL USEFUL, AFTER ALL. AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED YOUR TRAINING, I CAN SAY WITH PRIDE THAT YOU WILL BE GETTING YOUR SQUAD ASSIGNMENTS TOMORROW MORNING. STAND TALL, CADETS! YOU JUST SURVIVED BASIC TRAINING ON PINCER ISLAND. AND THAT IS SOMETHING TO BE DAMN PROUD OF." With his speech finished, Daniels gave a full salute to the group, which was readily returned. "YOU NOW HAVE THE REST OF THE DAY TO YOURSELVES TO SPEND AS YOU SEE FIT. YOU NEED ONLY BE READY AT 0900 HOURS TOMORROW, SO YOU CAN MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEXT BUNCH OF SORRY FOOLS I HAVE TO DEAL WITH. SO YOU BETTER BE UP BRIGHT AND EARLY, FOLKS, CAUSE I'M NOT WAITING AROUND FOR YOU. DISMISSED!" Yet again, the group went back to their barracks, while Daniels and I returned to the administrator building to go through the paperwork. Which I still hate, by the way.

Author's Note:

Day off! Write it all down!

Comments

[Twoandahalfinches]

Within seconds, I was watching the whole forest fall down like giant dominoes,

I don't think that's how forests work.

[TcogArchitect]

Don't worry, there's an explanation. I try very hard not to do anything that doesn't at least seem logical. Even if it really wouldn't work. I even put a clue into the scene, just beforehand.

[Mecha G]

Well, now we know what Earth Crackers are capable of. Do they get specialized armor, though?

[TcogArchitect]

3614659

Working out the details.

[Lord vonsithen]

Yay more pwning

[Sorrowfulwinds]

Applejack being a kill whore. Damn kill whorers taking all the kills.

[Cakebomb]

Within seconds, I was watching the whole forest fall down like giant dominoes,

I'm done. I'm fucking done.