De Luce et Tenebris Umbra

Hostage Rescue Pt. 2

Beep….

…

Beep! Beep!

‘Shut up you piece of crap of an alarm clock…frigg’n broken again…’

Whirrrrr…

‘Dammit… I think I’d settle for my suit’s alarm system instead of whatever thrice-damned contraption that Alex has put next to me now.’

*All systems optimal…User injuries treated…Threat level reduced from moderate to negligible*

‘Actually…that does sound like my suit…and this certainly doesn’t feel like my bunk.’

*Injuries remaining…Negligible concussive blow…Combat efficiency reduced to estimated 95%...Minor capillary hemorrhage remains…

‘Well that doesn’t sound so…’

*…Warning! Unknown environmental anomaly detected! Unknown biological entity within suit proximity!*

‘The ‘ell is going on? When did I…oh…’

*Time remaining until optimal user combat readiness…Critical! Initiating emergency wake-up…Administering Adrenaline-Electrolyte Mix...*

I felt something akin to a warm wave rushing through my body, loosening my tensed muscles and allowing me to relax ever so slightly against the mass pressing down on my back, followed immediately by a torrent of icy water flooding through my veins. My eyes shot wide open and began to dart around as the mixture jolted me awake, heart racing, as the situation lay itself out before my mind.

*Time elapsed since last engagement…30 minutes*

‘Hmmm…Half ‘n hour huh? That’s a bit fast for a broken arm and a concussion, that can wait for now.’

I watched as my visor flickered on and began scanning the surrounding area more thoroughly, noting the grayed out boxes that represented my squad meaning that they were out of range. Trying not move my helmet, I looked around my limited field of view trying to find the ‘Entity’, but to no avail.

‘K’ then, where the hell is my squad, where is my weapon, and why is there a wooden carving of a wolf placed in front of me…and it’s growling?’

The thing that I had seemingly mistaken for a statue/carving was glaring into my visor with fiery green eyes…literal fiery. The jaws were parted slightly as it bared its wooden teeth at me, a gooey brownish liquid dripping from its mouth, almost looked like syrup.

Contemplating my options, I decided to simply accept the fact that there was a living, breathing statue-golem thing that was made out of wood. This dimension-slash-world had already shown me many things that I would have thought impossible. Human-like being with wings, and or horn, something that could disintegrate and reform a living being without any sort of visible technology, Renton Van taking hostages. A wooden monster that lives in the forest isn’t too far off the newly beaten path. Compounded with my dreams coming back in force right before and when I came here, Alex and I going mad, a dream that contained a woman that I had never seen before and yet, just happened to be one of the rulers of the land where the Van decided to take up residence…someone, possibly alone, managing to take out a highly trained squad of special forces soldiers with old fashioned traps, that she somehow managed to build in less than half-n-hour…with a log frigg’n catapult, two of them no less!

It was official…I had gone insane.

But, insane or not, the mission came first; I would beat a new dent into the bulkhead next to my bunk, using my head, when I got back. But right now, I had a squad to find, a monarch to rescue, a possible devil to avoid, and about a company of Van to kill…all without being seen by the locals, which we happened to fail at already.

Snap!

My eyes darted back to the wooden wolf as it slowly approached me, to the point where its breath began to fog up my visor, its growl deepening in tone. Slowly, I began to shift my legs and lower back in an attempt to gauge just how badly I was buried, and was met with little resistance. In fact, if the wolf’s reaction was any hint, the snow was not packed very tightly; there was just enough of it to pin down my incapacitated and semi-conscious form. Slowly pressing my hands into the ground, I pulled my legs forward until they were almost under me, and then proceeded to push myself out of the snow-dune. As much as I would have loved to stay put and see if the wolf was going to do something, I didn’t feel like testing my currently unshielded neck against its teeth.

Jumping back, the wolf lowered itself into an aggressive stance and gave a short bark as it prepared to pounce on me. Not wanting to give it the chance, I quickly withdrew my spare combat knife and held it in a reversed grip with my right hand as I prepared my own combat stance. I didn’t want to kill the thing, but by the looks of things I would have no choice. I couldn’t have a wolf hounding me on the way to my objectives… especially if it wasn’t alone.

Ping!

The retort of my radar was my only warning before a red blur slammed into the grey one that represented me. The impact was centered around my upper back and the astonishing weight of the new contact proceeded to send me stumbling forwards into the path of the original wolf as it pounced.

Twisting so that I would not land on my face and leave my back exposed to my attackers, I grabbed onto the first wolf’s front leg with my free hand and proceeded to give it a sharp pull, causing it to overshoot and land in the direction of the second one. Not wasting any time, I used my increased momentum to roll into a crouched position, arms poised to intercept any incoming attack. Instead, I watched as the wolf aligned itself next to its comrade, their fiery eyes glaring into my visor. We were at a stalemate as I waited for them to make the first move.

It came as no surprise when the wolves began to prowl in opposite directions in order to encircle me, but deciding to go on the offensive before any more could show up, I feinted at the wolf on my left, before digging my boot into the snow, and lashing out with my knife to the right…

Snikt…

…right into the chest of the opposite wolf.

Taking advantage of my current position, I wrapped my arm around the neck of the wolf and gave it a sharp twist, the wet snap being the only indication of my success before I was knocked off my feet by the wolf I had faked out. Unable to pull my knife out in time, I quickly released it and rolled myself upright, throwing my arms up into a guard position. I was about to charge the wolf when my suit’s emergency A.I made itself known once more.

*Auxiliary systems rebooting…shields spinning up…energy daggers at 15% efficiency, recommended no more than 15 seconds of use until further scans can be made.*

I felt a slight smile pull at the corners of my mouth as the short bursting arcs of energy rippled across my form. I watched the bar for my energy shields fill only half-way before stopping, along with a small blue icon with a fifteen second timer appear next to it. Narrowing my eyes slightly, I made note to do have the A.I. do a full scan of the suit later; I would need it at peak efficiency to take on the Van.

Tensing my legs for a lunge, I decided to end this quickly. Time slowed down as I blinked twice at the icon, and snapped the fingers of my left hand and before drawing it back, a light buzz and crackle being the only notice given to me as the energy blade popped into existence. In the top right corner of my HUD a timer began to count down.

15…

Releasing the pent up pressure in my legs I darted towards my enemy, my right shoulder lowered into a slight charge. The wolf replied almost instantly with a lunge of its own.

13.5…

The fiery green eyes burned through my visor with a gaze of unbridled fury, its jaws open baring its sharp needle-like teeth as the sap-like saliva flowed out of its maw.

12…

I lashed out with a right hook to its lower jaw, but did not follow through with the swing, before quickly reversing the motion and slipping my fingers into a small notch in its chest. Pulling sharply downward, I brought its chest to meet my armored right knee as I used our momentum pull it to my right side.

9…

Now beside it, I thrust the glowing dagger into the base of its neck before tearing it out the side, leaving a blackened gouge along its back, its wooden body offering no resistance to the superheated plasma. Releasing my hold on its body, I skidded to a stop in the snow as the wooden wolf tumbled over the ground.

Nothing would have normally survived a blow like that, but I was still wary of the surrounding shadows, for where there was one wolf, there are usually more. Walking over to the collapsed body of the wolf, I disarmed the blade and watched as the timer stopped.

5…

(-------------------------------)

Lowering myself to one knee to further examine the wolf, I noticed that the once fiery eyes were now empty, in fact there were no eyes at all, just empty sockets. Allowing my gaze to wander over the body, I made note that the outer shell of the wolf was a dry and dark bark. Rapping my knuckle against its slightly raised back I was greeted with a dull thumping noise, not the deeper taps of a hollow form. Quirking an eyebrow I started tapping along a low path down the side of its barrel chest, listening as the solid sounds abruptly changed to the deep hollow echo.

My curiosity piqued, I moved my observations to one of its forelegs and slowly lifted it, while bending and stretching it a few times, watching as the many wooden pieces that made up the legs seemed to glide over one another to provide smooth movement like an actual body of flesh and bone without a covering of skin.

Gently allowing the leg to dangle in a resting position and gave the foot a light push with my finger pondering the light resistance that greeted me. Not willing to move to retrieve my knife just yet, I simply raised the leg over my knee and snapped it, the dry outer covering popping away as a wet ‘whrgee’ sound greeted my ears.

[A/N: Imagine a half-gargle-squeak...]

Looking into the gap created by the newly missing covering, I watched as more of the ooze flowed out of the new wound, caused by the pressure I had put of the rest of its body to snap the leg. Clearing away some of the goop, a patch of light green caught my eye, and I discovered, after removing more of the sap, that it was fresh green wood surrounded by a wrapping of thin vines.

Interesting…a type of plant-based bone-muscle-tendon and ligament system…but that means…

Looking over the main portion of the body to the blackened furrow my dagger had left, I ‘tsked’ in disappointment. Its neck was now useless to me after the destruction my weapon had caused. So, shaking my head slightly and deciding that now was as good a time as ever, I stood up before moving over to my first kill.

Once again, the eyes were empty sockets, and the dark sap-like fluid was oozing out of its mouth and neck where I had snapped it. Now with an objective in mind, I moved directly to the exposed neck and pulled my knife from its chest. Quickly prying off several of its protective plates I dug around the spinal area a bit before finding my prize. Using the knife to slowly sever the vines around the spine, I found more of the greenwood in place of a spinal cord.

Weighing the options in my mind, I quickly disengaged the filters in my helmet before enabling them again, barely getting a whiff of the smell around me. I was oddly intrigued by the unique smell and permeated the area after my fight. The scent in question was a light piney smell that you would usually find in imported Earth Coniferous Scented Candles, and a hint of smoke.

Tilting my head and confirming my decision I wrapped my hand around the spine and pulled just enough so that I could slip my blade underneath it, before severing the cord completely; nonplussed by the sudden eruption of a small ash cloud from my action.

Waving my hand to clear the air slightly, I tilted up the end of the spine that was still in grasp, and turned on my helmet-light to examine it more thoroughly. Within the spine was now a darkened empty space dead center in the spine. Using the tip of my knife to dig out some of the ash, to confirm that it was ash, I wondered at how a powdery substance would be used in place of a spinal cord when a cerebral-spinal fluid was a viscous…oh…

Moving quickly to the leg and repeating the same process that I had done with the previous carcass a quickly sliced into the greenwood that was the inner foreleg, and was greeted by the same ash-like substance. Catching some of it in my sap covered hand, I watched as the once ooze-like sap quickly became more water-like in viscosity before suddenly drying up and crumbling once more into ash.

Wondering at my new discoveries, I quickly gathered my suit’s video recordings on the matter before saving them into a separate file to give to Dan later.

Standing up, and stretching my legs, I turned to be greeted by the sight of a small tower of gray smoke rising from the other wolf.

Tree sap it is then…looks like it’s just as…

*Whoompf!*

Thoughts interrupted by the sight of the body suddenly bursting into flames, I cocked my head to the side before looking down at my gauntlet.

Note to self, clean off the gunk before reactivating the energy daggers…

Walking away from the burning body and into the underbrush, I quickly found the remains of the log that had hit me, and deviated my path slightly to accommodate the approximate flight path of my lost weapon.

After finding my rifle and determining that it was still in working order, I did a quick once over of myself only to find that I was only missing a small sachet of ration bars, and an emergency IF (Infrared) strobe that was included in the sachet. Not seeing the use of the strobe as I had four more on my person, or the rations as I always had a day and half’s supply in a compartment on my armor, and almost a week’s worth in my duffel bag, I simply left them behind where they would probably be lost to time and nature…hopefully…

If not, then someone will have some K Rations and a strobe light that can’t be seen without specialized equipment, no real loss or danger.

[------------------------]

Jogging quickly Ghost continued on his makeshift path through the shadows of the forest, following small clues and watching as the small timer at the corner of his HUD continued to count down to the estimated time of reckoning, all the while being constantly observant of his surroundings for both his enemy and any interesting finds along the way.

(-------------------------)

After gathering his supplies and tossing the burning body of the deceased wolf-like creature into the snow-dune that had once trapped him, Ghost had quickly attempted to reestablish contact with his squad, only to find that all but short range communications were unavailable.

Adapting quickly to the possibility of a communications jammer, Ghost created a short text message that was to be burst-transmitted the second that his suit detected a friendly connection, and after setting his A.I. to commit its full power to diagnostics on the suit to return it to peak combat efficiency and leave a small program to scan for any open communications lines, he set off towards the edge of the forest to be clear of any interference that the forest might be causing.

He had not even traveled ten steps from the small clearing when his suit pinged that a beacon had been left transmitting at low power. After investigating the source of the beacon, Ghost discovered the beacon rolled up within a paper message from Dan and Alex saying that they were moving on in an attempt to attempt to make contact with Char’ and whoever came with her. They would wait for him under the large tree that stood alone a-ways from the edge of the forest, for up to a half hour before the Van group would break out of the forest. Dan’s recon drone had also detected that the Van had stopped for a time and had caught and killed several medium sized animals to eat, but that all hostages were still accounted for. He estimated that the break would last for ten minutes minimum, or half an hour maximum.

Breathing a small sigh of relief at the first bit of good news he’d received in a while. Glancing at his mission timer, he took note that he had one and a half hours before Dan and Alex would continue, not counting the extra ten minutes. Ghost didn’t trust the maximum time, a motto from one of his survival instructors at the academy was “Hope for the Best, but Always Plan for the Worst” and it hadn’t steered him wrong yet. He had only been slightly confused and suspicious as to the reasons why they saw fit to leave him unconscious and undefended in the clearing, but he would have to wait and see if any of his suspicions had grounds to be correct.

With his mood elevated and a plan beginning to form within his turmoil of thoughts, Ghost left at a brisk jog through the forest towards the original clearing where he and his team had come through, in the hope of finding Char’ or at least finding some tracks that he could follow.

{----------------------------------}

Luna
Great Oak Library, Ponyville
Est. 20 min. after Zecora’s ambush

To say that Princess Luna was worried would have been the understatement of the year; panic would be a more accurate description of her plight, but with the near overwhelming panic came a sense of calm and a spark of hope to follow.

Zecora had arrived at the town outskirts breathless, claiming to have news vital to the war/battle against the Primors, and all but demanded to speak to the Princesses in person. Luna, who had been organizing patrols and a small network of guards that would hide in the clouds and observe the forest’s edge for anything of interest, was immediately apprised of the situation and ordered that Zecora be escorted to the Library.

(-------------------------)

“So then, Miss Zecora, you are saying that you heard these new beings speak of abducting our dear princess?”

No one in the almost crowded library basement could really blame the thinly veiled disbelief within the words of the NLR General. A sudden arrival of new elements into the already tense situation would only cause more problems to arise in short order, problems that none of them needed. Sure, everything looked well and dandy to the majority of citizens, but any who had the misfortune to be present at any of the major meeting knew just how deep of a hole they had fallen into. They were forced to examine every new piece of information under a microscope, and pick it apart more efficiently than any known predator in order to gleam any real advantage against their foes. They could not act blindly on rumors, especially those brought by someone living in the forest of all places!

“And you understand them yes; hear them speaking of their plans clearly? In Equestrian?”

As the conversation moved on to the specifics of what she heard, the Zebra Shaman weathered the veiled accusations and dropped her odd formality of rhyming speech so as to not exacerbate the already high tension in the room.

Leaning on the wall by the stairs however, the Lunar Diarch had her eyes closed in silent contemplation. The shaman had mentioned that they had somehow obtained a sketch of her and a book in which the sketch was hidden. Recalling the small flying creature that had been spying on her during one of her few brakes, she wondered if that was how they obtained the book.

Also, how had the small creature managed to enter the wards around the town and library without alerting them to its presence? They were set to detect hostile and unknown presences, along with any sorts of magic, so even if it was a type of golem-like creature it would have been detected easily even if it had some sort of concealing spell.

Shaking her head and rubbing her temples with the balls of her hands, Luna walked over to a small sidelong table and glanced up at the still arguing Generals as they sought to come to an agreement. Both Zecora and Celestia watched on, the former drinking something out of a waterskin, the latter some tea. Even she was skeptical of the insinuations of the Shaman’s report. Having a meeting in the middle of a small, though concealed, clearing; speaking clearly of their intentions, even that small package that she had brought them.

Luna turned her gaze at the small container before her and slowly lifted one of the opened silvery packages from within. They had already confirmed that the contents were non-toxic and even seemed to be food of some kind. Grimacing as she remembered the reaction of the analyst who had tried some she couldn’t help but wonder what being could stomach such terrible rations.

Turning her attention to the container itself she wondered after the small metallic object that they had found along with the food. In was mostly of a hard casing with was seemed to be a clear glass half at the other end, but when examined was determined to have the appearance, but nowhere near the same composition as glass.

They could gleam no true meaning behind the use of the object. There was no magic residue, their magic was not accepted to activate it, even when they discovered that it could be twisted until it clicked, it still did nothing! It was frustrating to finally have something of their enemy, and yet it have no function other than as some shiny paperweight.

Moving away from the table, Luna brought her mind back to the conversation that the Generals and their advisors had finally decided upon. Slightly worried at the thought of overstraining their troops with extra patrols and cloud-hidden watchers, she wondered if it would even be effective. They had already proved that they could insert small reconnaissance creatures into the town and library without being detected, what else could they do?

(-----------------------------)

Back with the Generals

“We should just hand her over…”

It was of no surprise to any present when the first damning words were spoken, nor by whom they spoken by. The counter, of course, was immediate.

SLAM

The aide opposite of the assisting general could stand no more of the one-sided, clearly, heard-headed debate. Even if it was not his place to speak out, he was a devoted protector first, and a subservient aide second.

“Are you mad!? Your simple prejudice has no place in a situation such as this one!”

“You heard the blasted Zebra’s report,” the Empire A.General sneered, “They want her in exchange for the others.” Jabbing his finger town to the map of the town and surrounding area, he indicated the many blue triangular bricks along with a grouping of multi-colored gems by the town hall.

“Once we have the Element back…”

“Once we have her back what?” The aide snarled back, not missing the objective depiction of one who he respected for the salvation and return of his princess, “You saw how the might of both princesses barely scratched them! What good would the elements do?” He did not mean to demean them in any way, but with new unknowns on the field he was already attempting to find ways to catch their enemy off guard. The only reason they could have possibly survived last time was because they had prepared extensively beforehand. He couldn’t afford to believe the alternative, because of the large drop in moral that came with it.

“The elements have defeated Nightmare Moon and the Changeling Queen, one of which was a fallen princess and the other who bested our rightful ruler with stolen power!”

Now that was going too far! He could ignore subtle digs, but not this blatant positioning when there were more important things at stake. Clamping his jaw shut and gripping the table in a viselike grip so strong that it began to groan and creak with the strain. “Why you…”

Of to the side however, her tea ruined by the quickly degenerating arguments, the Solar Diarch’s temper began to flare like her symbolic form. While she admired the tenacity of the High Generals to ignore the argument and continue planning, she knew that the aides were simply going to continue until one of them started a fight again.

Setting down her cup and rubbing her temples, a leathery object entered her view. Looking up, she spotted Zecora offering her waterskin to the Sun Goddess while gesturing at the arguing couple. Carefully taking it, she gave the contents a wary sniff, prior experience noted the Shaman’s fondness and unbelievable tolerance for Moonlight distilled spirits.

Wincing slightly at the near overwhelming tingling that ran up her nostrils, and the palatable ‘woody’ taste, she gave a small shrug to her sister, and took a half-gulp of the liquid fire and returned the container to its owner before using the rush of heat as a catalyst for her already stressed temper.

“ENOUGH!!”

All three observers allowed small smirks at the sight of the two aides almost instantaneously freezing in mid-argument. The two High Generals simply gave a sidelong glance to the princess before going back to their hurried whispers and shuffling of the pieces on the map. The other three occupants, a C.G. (Captain of the Guard) Shining Armor, Commander Fleetfoot, and Lieutenant MoonShadow seemed slight miffed at the interruption before returning to their observation of the two old war horses devising something devious. At least, two of them were…MoonShadow however, was too busy watching how many times the purple pieces that represented her group were moving from one side of the map to the other.

…It was going to be a long day.

{---------------------------------}

Ghost
Squad count: +3
Lieutenant G. Rex
Sergeant C. Wilkenson
Sergeant C. Rizzo

To say that I was glad when my suit pinged with a friendly radio connection is a good assumption. I had allowed a small smirk to appear, and it only widened when two more signals appeared. Quickening my pace slightly and watching as my text message was sent, I decided to round the next couple of trees to meet up with my allies which were now marked as Char’, Rex, and Rizzo. Surprise is another emotion that could be allowed into the mix as I had not expected Rex to follow along and join me. All these emotions were quickly tempered however, as when I turned the corner…I was greeted by a gasp, and a rifle butt to the visor…
After the ringing left my ears, my eyes refocused, and I managed to get a few words out to quiet the incessant apologies of Sergeant Rizzo, I listened to the makeshift quick briefing that Rex passed on to me from Command.

Objectives:
Avoid Local affairs
Retrieve VIP
Eliminate Renton Van presence (optional)
Capture or Kill Supposed Renton ‘Van Leader

To say that I was happy with my recommended orders would in fact be correct. I was more than happy to stay out of the direct affairs of the natives up to ‘Van involvement. Retrieving the VIP was my original objective, and killing every ‘Van I see was a given. The only part I had misgivings about was somehow managing to capture their leader. After seeing what he did to Dr. Burke, I was not eager to attempt to restrain him, but neither would I delegate the duty to one of my subordinates. I just had to hope that Command would take unavailable or dead instead of alive.

Taking note of how much time was left on my timer, I quickly gave Rex a rundown on the updated situation and the plan that we had improved upon when Char’ had left.

Rex’s first reaction was one of slight disbelief as our whole plan depended on clear line of sight, and quick movements. It was just begging for something to go wrong, and exposure to the locals would be a given, though how much exposure would have to be seen.

We took note of the restricted communication range that we had, and assumed that the ‘Van would most likely be operating under the same circumstances. With our previous incursion into their camp and planting of explosives and traps meant that we could move on the camp quickly after eliminating the Van in the town.

After the faults in our hastily made plan of action, and the many ways in which it could go wrong, we also had to account for the time it would take for Scientist Burke to create another machine to get us back. Without that machine we would be trapped and the whole operation would be for naught. If it wasn’t for his assurance that he would be done a short time after the hostage party was supposed to return, we would have probably have had to make the choice to leave them be.

I knew that such a decision would most likely be met with a challenge from both Alex and Dan, but they would accept orders when given. It was now that I thought about it, that perhaps their reason for leaving me covered in snow and moving off to the town, was to sway my decision on whether or not to help the locals. Slightly annoyed by the thought, we set up to move quickly to the rally point and link up with the two good Samaritans.

(-------------------)

As the group began to move away with Rex taking point and Ghost covering the rear to that he could look through the diagnostic notes that his A.I. had completed, a small flash caught his eye from the corner of his vision. Restraining the urge to turn his head so as to not alert whatever could be have caught his attention, he checked his motion tracker while staring at the spot out of the corner of his eye. Watching every wave of the leaves, or dance of the shadows for signs of intelligent life.

Spotting nothing of note in the shadow and snow covered forest even when filtering through vision modes and expanding his radar range, he decided to leave it be for the time being, but resolved to keep an eye out for the rest of the trip.

It was a pity really that time restricted his ability to observe more carefully for possible threats. If he had focused a little harder and waiting a little longer then a clump of clouds would have completed their journey past the sun and allowed a few rays of light to shine on the forest. If he had stayed, he would have noticed the slight heat shimmer in the frigid air that was partly obscured by the leaves of a large oak tree and the small floating light that was observing the group of grey-white figures through a sky-blue haze.