Mission Log 9: Answers and Questions
Published August 20th, 2013
"How are they doing?"
"Not good. They went through a lot, and all of them are going to need some serious medical help before they start to really get better."
"Fucking wonderful. At least we have all of them. We got incredibly lucky with you finding Twilight, you know."
"I'm aware. By the way, have we gotten anything useful from that data I pulled?"
"Actually, we got quite a bit. Apparently they're planning a strike on Tarsus to try and take it back. There's also one small piece of data with heavier encryption than the rest. Much heavier. And part of it looks like coordinates."
"Well that could be interesting. Maybe our new friend could decode it for us."
"That's the hope." Leeroy and I got off the elevator, and made our way to Containment. We were brought to one of the interrogation rooms, and waited while the alpha I found was brought in. He sat down, and the guard closed the door behind him. Leeroy pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of the bag he had brought with him, and immediately got started. From my spot leaning against the wall, I could easily see what he would be writing.
"So," he began, "let's start with the obvious question: what's your name?" The alpha seemed surprised, but he answered anyway.
"Argronne Leskanze. Though I'm not sure why you care." Leeroy wrote down the name, using his own knowledge of the language to figure out the spelling.
"I ask for two reasons. The first is that I want to be able to refer to you appropriately during this questioning, and the second is so that any paperwork that needs to be filled out will have an actual name on it. Now, the biggest question directly concerning you, right now, is what you were looking for in that dig site. That was quite an operation, not something anyone would invest in without significant reason. So what was yours?" Argronne smirked a bit, like he knew we would ask that.
"I honestly don't know. None of us do. All we knew was that we had subsurface readings of something underground that was manufactured. Something big. Some said it's a ship. Others said it's a weapon. All I can say for certain is that the size of the hole we were digging was not exaggerated, and we still had a good ways to go before we got to the object itself." Leeroy copied it all on his paper, then wrote a couple of his own theories down as well.
"So why did they send you to oversee the whole thing? You are an alpha, shouldn't you be somewhere more important?" A barking laugh came from our prisoner before he spoke.
"Is that what you call us? Hehe. No matter. I was sent there because I lost a supremacy duel to a younger Senkir. He slashed my eye, and the fight was decided. But as was his right, the Senkir chose to send me to Rokan, instead of letting me retire. He had been my subordinate, and decided to make my life miserable as petty revenge for keeping him busy so often."
"So you were fairly high-ranked, correct?" He shrugged.
"Higher than most. Nowhere near the top, though. Plenty of others who ordered me around, too." Leeroy tapped his pen on the table for a few seconds, then finally broached the subject I was most interested in.
"So how much work did you do with encoding and cyphers during your career?" Argronne tilted his head curiously.
"A bit. It was rather important to know all the codes and keys for secret missives and special commands. Why?" The Admiral pulled a single sheet of paper, half-filled with what looked to me like gibberish, out of his bag and handed it over.
"I was wondering if you could do anything with this for us." He picked it up with one claw, then started reading it over as he traced each line with the other. After a moment, he tilted his head again.
"Maybe, but I would need time and work material. Perhaps a couple of simple tools." Leeroy smiled appreciatively.
"I think I can arrange that."
----------------------------------------
After some further questioning on the nature of their operations on Rokan, Leeroy and I left. He headed for his office to appropriate supplies and fill out the necessary paperwork, while I went to the medical area to check up on the ponies who had been admitted in, particularly Fluttershy. Most of them were in respectable shape, with a few exceptions. Fluttershy, however, obviously still had a long road to recovery. As soon as I entered, even the smell seemed more unhealthy than usual for the area. The various monitoring instruments were showing only weak readings, and she herself looked like she was on her deathbed. There were tubes in her nose, a jury-rigged oxygen mask over her muzzle, and various intravenous attachments surrounding her bed's headboard. Twilight was sitting in a chair next to the bed, her head on her knees as she hugged her legs and watched her near-comatose friend.
"She doing any better?" The purple-furred unicorn spun around at the sound of my voice, but relaxed when she saw me.
"No. The doctor said that she was in probably the worst shape he'd ever seen. I think the only reason she -or any of us, really- is still alive is because the Emrini made sure we still ate. After all, don't want your partner to die in the middle of the ride, right?" I could hear how much hate and sadness she felt at the end, and moved forward to put a hand on her shoulder.
"It'll be alright. We'll figure out where your planet is, we'll win the war, and you'll all be able to go home."
"I don't want to go back." I had to blink a couple of times to process that properly.
"What? Why not?" She tensed up, and turned away for a moment before answering.
"Because it won't be home anymore. It'll be destroyed, changed, and almost unrecognizable. I won't be able to go back there, just to find everything I ever knew gone or destroyed. I don't think I could deal with that. I'm not strong enough."
"Yes you are. You've managed to get through everything the Emrini did to you, something plenty of other people can't do. What you knew can be rebuilt, what you lost can be replaced, and eventually, the pain will start to subside. It won't ever go away completely, but it will no longer be an agonizing wound, just a bitter memory of what once was. And although it it will have changed, don't ever give up on going home." She turned back to me with a curious look.
"Why are you so insistent about it?"
"Because I know what it's like to not have a home to come back to." She straightened up a bit, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"What? But, how is that even possible? I mean, surely you have extended family or something somewhere, right?" I snorted, and shook my head.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they want anything to do with me, or I them. They're all selfish fucks, and most of my childhood was spent in an orphanage, thanks to them. But that's not what I meant. When I was sent to the orphanage, the person who was supposed to be taking care of us usually decided he had better things to do. So, the orphanage itself wasn't any safer than anywhere else, and not long after I arrived, I left. I learned how to get by on my own, whether it was by begging, stealing or scavenging. Those were some of the worst years of my life, and I don't intend on letting any of you experience that. Trust me, if one of you was to wind up on your own on one of our worlds, you wouldn't last long." She nodded, a thoughtful expression on her features.
"Is that why you were so mean to Rainbow earlier?"
"Mostly. But I could hear the raw despair she was feeling. She was ready to just lay down, and let the rest of the galaxy pass her by for the rest of her life. I wasn't willing to let her, so I used an old drill sergeant tactic: I pushed her to the limit. When someone is backed into a corner, and their only options are to fight, or die, self-preservation instincts start kicking in. They aren't willing to die, so they fight. I was counting on the same sort of reaction from Rainbow, and I'm fairly certain it worked. Once she realizes just how much damage was done to the other ponies, she'll force herself to put her willpower back together again, and she won't be as prone to mental damage as before, if at all. Of course, neither of you are going back into the field unless you really want to, and certainly not without a proper training regimen first. What you went through with me was just a crash course. The real thing is much more intense." She seemed rather worried about that statement, but her expression was quickly replaced by remembrance.
"Speaking of survival mechanisms, you still haven't explained what happened to you when we freed the other mares."
"No, I guess I haven't, have I? I suppose we should go find Rainbow so I can explain that whole process." We left the medical ward, and found her with the others. She had managed to get Pinkie to start moving around on her own and observe her surroundings, but Rarity was a sobbing wreck of misery while Applejack looked on with a level of sorrow I had only seen a few times before. The pegasus herself was standing next to Pinkie, glancing back at the other two often to make sure their conditions hadn't changed.
"Rainbow." She turned to me at the sound of my voice, then led Pinkie back to her spot next to Rarity before joining Twilight and me. "How are they all doing?"
"A little better now. I got Rarity to at least start accepting what happened. Pinkie is still a wreck, though. She can move on her own, but her eyes look unfocused, like she isn't really seeing anything, ya know? At least Applejack should be fine, once we find her family. Anyway, what did you need?"
"A couple of things. First, we need to get you debriefed for the mission records. Same drill as before, but shorter. Also, I figured I should tell you how my berserking works." She nodded, and turned her full attention to me as we started walking. "It's actually a genetic disorder. It's extremely rare, rare enough that I've only ever heard of one other person with the condition, and he died over seventy years ago. Basically, when I get sufficiently angry, my body produces larger amounts of certain chemicals, like adrenaline, than a normal person. Also, my circulatory system goes haywire, causing a surge of red blood cell production, and an increase in blood flow to my brain. The sudden and extreme increase in blood and stress-induced chemicals forces my brain into a life-or-death state of function, which removes all of my body's normal built-in safeties. My muscles use their full strength, my brain processes more sight data, and all of my other senses become more sensitive. In short, I temporarily become a super-human. The drawbacks, however, are rather hefty. The first is that in this state, I can't reason. My logical functions shut down in order for my brain to process the data from the overload of everything else, and my body just runs on instinct for the duration, which means that there's a very real possibility of me hurting or killing someone that isn't actually a target. The second major drawback is that while my blood cell production is heightened, my blood pressure continues to rise constantly. This results in smaller blood vessels throughout my body, particularly my eyes, bursting and bleeding freely. I've had multiple people comment on the appearance of 'tears of blood'. And, of course, once all that adds up sufficiently, I simply pass out. The worst part for me personally, though, is the hangover when I wake up. That much damage to that much of my body doesn't just go away instantly. I still feel sore from the bout you witnessed, although it's not nearly as painful as when I first woke up. The largest risk, however, is that the human body isn't designed to handle our full strength for an extended period of time. It is entirely possible for me to severely injure myself, even by ripping the muscle tissue from my bones with my own power. Which is also why I have a medical order to not go on any other missions for two weeks following an incident." Their faces were etched with amazement, concern, and more than a little disgust, but I couldn't tell if that was good for me or bad for me. Unfortunately, I didn't get to find out, as a new directive came over the radio.
"Shadow Soldier Kuro Maldone, please bring Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash to the bridge at once. Thank you." I didn't know what Leeroy could need from all of us at this point, so I quickly decided it had to be urgent, and told Twilight and Rainbow that we were taking a detour to the bridge first. When we finally arrived, the Admiral was pacing the room at an alarming speed. Something was definitely amiss.
"Thank you for being here so quickly, Kuro. We have a huge problem, and if it isn't resolved soon, it could cause absolutely massive problems in the future." He pulled an audio recorder from his pocket. "This is the recording that was taken during the initial debriefing of Twilight and Rainbow. I want you to listen to it. You should be able to figure out the issue we have quickly enough." He pressed the play button, and the device hummed to life before emitting a familiar voice.
"Debriefing file nine-two-eight-seven-six-four. Friendly Energy Keeper and Cloud Buster found to be under the influence of mind control technology. Session will document subjects' history before and during mind control subjugation, and attempt to determine possibility of lingering malignant tendencies. Energy Keeper, please state your name." I was unsure of what I was listening for, until I heard Twilight's voice. It was unmistakable, but the sounds were not English. It was no language I had ever heard before. I looked up at Leeroy to see him with an unhappy, unsure expression, then turned to Twilight and Rainbow to find them just as confused. As the recording went on, it became clear that something had happened to either the words or the recorder, even if we didn't know what, exactly. Leeroy clicked the recorder back off, and returned it to his pocket.
"I hope I don't need to explain the matter at hand?" I shook my head, and turned back to Twilight.
"You probably know more about your species than anyone else here. Do you have any idea what's going on?" She shook her head, looking flustered.
"I-I have no clue! When we were in there, it sounded like he was speaking perfect Equestrian! I have no idea what could have caused the recording to change!" I thought for a second before I noticed a couple of small discrepancies.
She said 'Equestrian'. And it sounded like she thought the debriefer's speech was changed, not theirs. I wonder... I looked to Leeroy, and he seemed to have arrived at the same answer. "So, you think that the debriefer's speech was changed on the recording?"
"Yeah, but I have no idea how." She shrugged in confusion.
"Well, then, maybe we do." She looked at Leeroy as he folded his arms. "I don't think the recording was changed at all. I think that right now, you two aren't speaking the same language as us." Her eyes went wide.
"But, if that's the case, why isn't it the same on the recording?"
"Most likely because the recording is an inanimate object without the ability to reason or speak. My most plausible theory is that this is being caused by some sort of natural ability you have, most likely tied to your capacity for energy manipulation. Whatever is causing this phenomenon would simply translate the words spoken into something recognizable by the one being spoken to. Since an audio recorder like this doesn't have to recognize the words, however, it wouldn't be affected. Meanwhile, something that does have speech recognition, like War Master, for example, would be affected." Rainbow looked at him suspiciously.
"You seem to have thought that through pretty well." He shrugged in response.
"It occurred to me that you had other intelligent races on your planet, and I had enough time to work it out while I waited. I just wanted to make sure you would hear something different, thereby giving more evidence to back up my idea. Now we just need to figure out how it works so we can turn it off, and then get your actual language deciphered and translated. For now, though, I'll need to make a new copy of this file with someone else translating for you. As it is, it's useless. We can't provide it as evidence for anything, because we don't know the language. We'll need to get that done soon, too, so that it doesn't become yet another problem for us. Right now, though, I'll let you take care of what you were doing. Just be ready to be called."
"Actually, Leeroy, I was already taking them down to get debriefed from the last mission." I turned my attention to them. "You two think you're up for retelling your story now, or do you want some time to recover first?" They thought for a moment, and looked at each other before Rainbow spoke up.
"Let's get it over with now. Better to do it quickly than let it linger. Like a bandaid, right?" I nodded my agreement.
"Well then, let's go." We each threw a quick salute to the Admiral, then went back down to the debrief area. This time, the waiting area outside had several people sitting around for their turn. I saw some empty seats near a wall, and after Twilight and Rainbow were seated, I went and put us on the ready list before joining them again. There were a number of people looking at us, and several hushed whispers before a braver marine finally decided to come over and say something. He pulled a chair over and spun it around so he would be sitting backwards while looking at them.
"So can you guys really do magic?" He looked rather excited, and I could tell he was barely suppressing a grin. I wasn't surprised about the question, but Twilight seemed unsure, stared at as she was by so many people.
"Um... Yeah, although I'm not sure why it's such a big deal." The guy looked like he was about to fall out of his chair.
"'Big deal'? This is a huge deal! For the last millenium and a half, we thought magic wasn't possible! Now, you come into the picture sounding like it's something anyone can do. Our entire society is going to get flipped on its head when everyone finds out about this. There is going to be a revolution! Oh, man, I gotta see you do something! Please? Please? Please?" He had an expression I thought would have been appropriate on the face of a child on Christmas, but it seemed to only make Twilight more nervous. Rainbow, meanwhile, looked like she was ready to pounce anyone who got too close.
"Uh, well, I don't really have anything to do, right now. If you can come up with something, I might be able to do that, though." The guy suddenly put on a look of concentration, but I thought of something first.
"Can you teleport others?" She started at my voice, but quickly nodded.
"Yes." She turned back to the other guy. "Would you like me to do that?" He seemed about ready to nod his head right off his shoulders. Her horn lit, and suddenly I felt a very familiar tingling. Before I could react, though, I was one again subjected to a white-black-white sequence before I found myself in midair halfway across the room.
"Whoa!" I fell hard onto my ass, and the room erupted in laughter as I picked myself back up. Soon, the crowd was calling out various tricks, and Twilight obliged them all. It wasn't long before Rainbow joined in, and as people filed in and out of the room, they both put on a rather impressive show. It certainly passed the time quickly enough, and the gathered men and women all gave a disappointed moan when they left. I was called shortly after, and once I was done recounting my memory of the mission's events, I came back out to see the two of them being given friendly pats and promises of safety from or vengeance on the Emrini for both them and the rest of the ponies. I could tell how much it helped them to hear it all by how relaxed they were.
"You two seem to be a bit less on edge now." Twilight nodded.
"Yeah. Seeing so many people who care about us enough to come and tell us they're willing to fight to free the others is just incredible. In Equestria, there were a lot of intelligent species, but I don't think any of them would have acted like this. Even the Zebras were fairly isolated, and they were probably the friendliest out of all the other nations." I nodded my understanding. I had guessed the other species on her planet had been less than friendly, so confirmation of it didn't surprise me too much.
"I hope they had the forethought to have someone translate for you during your debrief from the last mission." She chuckled, and gave a quick nod. "Well then, you ready for the retell?" She sighed as everyone else went back to their own business, and she shook her head.
"No, but I don't think I ever will be, so let's get it over with." We gathered Rainbow, and proceeded back to the same debriefing and observation rooms that we used before. After a minute or two of waiting, we also found out that the same guy as before would be doing the debriefing, although he was now accompanied by who I assumed would be the translator. After unpacking his things, I noticed that he had two recorders this time. He clicked one of them on, and the session started.
"Debriefing file nine-two-eight-seven-six-four addendum. Previous session found that subjects have a passive ability to translate any words heard by them or others nearby into the natural language of the listener. Current session will use recording of previous session and translator to confirm original testimony." The rest of the time was spent with them repeating word for word the same things they said before. This time, though, they managed to stay much more composed. Twilight still wound up crying more than once, but she needed much less time to recover. Once they were done, I offered to take them back to their room, but they decided to stay with their friends instead. On the way, I received a message on my email. I read through it, and let the writer know where we were headed.
"Looks like you two get to meet someone else today, as well." I looked back to see them both with attentive looks, eyes open and ears turned forward. "She'll be meeting us up at the communal room." They both tilted their heads to one side, and asked the same question at the same time.
"She?"
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interesting story you have here, also : damn cliff hangers
3082186 eeeeyyyuuuppp