Splinter Cell: Target Lost

The guard stood idle near the doorway.  Loaded clip in one pocket, an in the other a pack of cigarettes.  Both of these weren't going to save him from his imminent doom.

Ceiling pipe.  One quick drop and and snap of the neck.  Too easy.

"Harper, you're getting close to the target.  We don't know what he's planning to do with the nuclear plant, but whatever it is, it's happening soon," the TACCOM echoed in his earpiece.

"How do you know?" Harper asked, moving through the next doorway.

"Radiation sensors are going off the hook.  I don't know how they're surviving in this kind of environment, but your target is in the spot with the most radiation: a lethal spot."

That didn't sound right.  O'Malley was supposed to be up in the control tower, watching over his plans.  What the hell was he doing on the ground, and how is he there?

"Do you have a visual on the target?"

"The scout team couldn't get a clear sight on the target, but we know he isn't in the control tower."

"Find him," Harper growled. "He's not getting away."

"Alright... whatever you plan on doing, be careful with it."

"I'm always careful," he replied, calmly knocking out the guard next to the set of steel double doors.  He opened these slowly, staring into a foggy room.

"Harper, we're losing your signal.  Do not proceed."

"Negative, Control," Harper replied, "Too risky."

"Harper, fall back and wait for the scout team to rendezvous on your position.  Now is no time to be a hero!"

"Too late," Harper replied, shutting off his TACCOM, politely cutting off the control's next orders.  He was not about to let O'Malley go.  The man had been wanted for dozens of crimes.  Serial killing was one of them, but only when he decided to make the kill.  His entire group, called the Enhancers, would usually end up doing his dirty work.  He also lead in illegal experimentation, taking hostages, and even relaying government secrets to whomever he chose, including the general public.

This bastard was going down.

Harper quickly made his way through the corridors, his multi-vision goggles being fogged up.  He switched to thermal vision, hoping it'd be more helpful.  He could see his targets now, but not how to get to them.  I knew he was close, though, since he could hear O'Malley's voice resounding through the nearest rooms.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come!  It's time for us to launch one of our biggest plans in existence!  You've all heard it before, but I tell you: this one mission will immortalize you in history and put you on the level of gods.  We cannot be stopped.  We shall not be stopped!  The radiation levels are nearly high enough, and soon, my friends, we will be transported to a greater plane of existence.  When we return, this world will crumble beneath our power!"

A "greater plane of existence"?  What the hell is O'Malley planning here? Harper wondered.

"Mr. Masters will be helping in the experimentation today.  Let's all give him a big round of applause!"

Wait, Masters is here, too?  What the fuck is going on here? Harper's thoughts racked his brain.  Masters was one of the scientists that was working on illegal nuclear experiments, and he had been jailed two weeks back.  Looks like even the feds couldn't keep him contained.  Harper heard clapping resounding from a room to his left.  He followed the sound to its source: three guards.  Hand-to-hand wouldn't be necessary.  He marked his three targets and let his suit do the rest.

Three silenced shots hit each of them in the head.  He quickly searched through one of their bags and found a syringe full of blue liquid labeled: "Radiation Shot #3" He quickly drained its contents into his bloodstream.  Hell if it killed him; Sam survived a biohazard, so he could, too.  The only difference would be that he would take down the target instead of let him run.

"If you would, Mr. Masters?"

"It would be my pleasure.  Open up the core!  The machine is ready!"

Harper heard mechanized parts moving.  He followed the sound to a clearer room, where both O'Malley and Masters stood.  Just ahead, two large doors opened and an eerie green glow came from them.

"Machine on in five..."

Harper snuck as quickly as he could behind O'Malley.

"Four..."

The kill was all set up, but he was here for what O'Malley knew, not for his life.  Okay, maybe his life, but not before he got what he could out of him.  He was right behind him now...

"Three..."

Harper got up behind him and caught him in a chokehold.

"Stop the countdown, O'Malley, or I'll kill you here and now!"

"Tell Fourth Echelon to fuck off!"

O'Malley drove a knife into Harper thigh, forcing him to let go.

"Two!  One! Now!!!" he shouted.  A switch was pulled and a giant portal opened in front of them.  Harper quickly brought his OPSAT device up and snapped a picture, his other hand pulling the knife out of his leg.  Then, he and everything nearby was sucked into the hole.

***

It was a perfectly casual day in Ponyville.  Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing strange... heck, nothing seemed out of place.

That is, except for the new crater created a mile or so out of town.  And the giant castle that had sprung up in the middle of town.  And Discord nearby with a sad look on his face.

Never mind, it was not a casual day.  It would hard for it to be called that after the fight with Tirek.  The magic in the Box stopped him, and all was well... some terraforming with some simple magic would set things straight again.

Harper didn't know any of this.  He didn't know where he was, how he got here... only what he intended on doing.

Find O'Malley.

His legs ached as he got up, and the vibrant colors of this new land made his eyes sting.  He was used to dark environments.  His goggles had somehow stayed on his head, but they were damaged.  The thermal vision was all messed up, and the night vision didn't work at all.

Harper heard a rustle nearby and reached for his holster, only to notice he had lost his silenced pistol.  Damn.  That was the MK-23 his father had passed onto him when he retired from Third Echelon.  He reached for his knife instead, pulling out the seven inch serrated blade.

The bush rustled again, and a bunny hopped out.  Harper lowered the knife.  This little guy couldn't hurt a fly.

He replaced his knife in its sheath and looked around.  He saw he was in a forest of some kind, right in the middle of a clearing.  He couldn't see over the trees, and he heard nothing.  No leads. No nothing.

He had lost the target.

He turned on his TACCOM. "Control, what happened?"  The connection buzzed with static.  "Control, can you hear me?  This is Operative Harper reporting in!"

No response.  He put the TACCOM system on stand-by.  That way, he wouldn't have to listen to static, but he would still be able to reach them if any human voice got through to it.

He moved silently into the woods, hoping to hear Masters and O'Malley, but to no avail.  They must've up and left hours ago.  They did, however, leave a trail for him to follow.  He followed it as if he was tracking down a deer.  A very armed and dangerous deer.  Although what he found hooved and small, it was not any buck he ever saw.

An earth pony stood nearby, mortified by the human in front of her.  Harper knew this pony looked a helluva lot different than any regular being, but he treated it like any other stray animal in his path.  He flashed the light on his goggles and it scared off the pony.  No need to hurt it.  It was just a poor, scared animal, probably just out looking for some plants to munch on.  No big deal.

He kept on crouch-walking until he saw a house.  While looking incredibly primitive to any house he knew, it did have the same feel as a regular home.  He went up to the door and found it was unlocked.  He opened it quietly and looked inside.

Nobody home.  He walked into the living room, through the kitchen, up the stairs, going everywhere in the house, searching.  O'Malley didn't hide here.  He returned to the doorway to see yet another pony.  He noticed that a basket was held up by some mysterious force, keeping it in the air.  Something didn't add up here.

Quickly, he tried to find someplace to hide, but it was no use.  Everything in this house was so small.  No wonder the ceiling seemed that much closer to his head.

The pony spotted the suited man and her jaw dropped open.  Her pupils dilated.  The basket dropped to the ground.

"OH MY CELESTIA! Are you a human???"

Harper didn't know what to say.  He froze up after having heard an animal talk.  That's when he noticed the horn upon this pony's head.

"You stay right here!  I need to go get somepony!  I told her humans existed!"

The little unicorn rushed off.  Harper couldn't believe his eyes or ears.  He must be one some kind of drug... or maybe the radiation screwed with his head.  He didn't know.  Maybe this was all a dream.  He took his knife out and cut his finger.  He felt slight bit of pain, but the world around him sure wasn't fading away.

So was this real, or was there something up?  Harper didn't have time to think about it.  The pony told him to stay, and without orders or a lead, this strange little being might be his only source of information.  On the other hand, this little pony might want to dissect him and experiment on, as she had never seen a human being before, and she might be crazy.  Never underestimate your enemies.

He chose to believe the latter of the two and rushed out the door, back into the forest.

***

"And it had this weird suit, and it was tall, and it was scary--!"

"Calm down, Bon Bon!" Twilight shouted at the cream colored pony. "Start from the beginning."

"Okay, okay... so I was going to the woods to see if I could find some herbs to calm down Lyra because she was acting up-- I could really use some of those right now -- and then it appeared!  It's green eyes glowed at me, and it was so scary!  I ran for my life!  I don't know where it could be now, but--"

"BON BON!  THERE IS A HUMAN IN OUR HOUSE!"

The shouts of Lyra could be heard by everypony, causing much panic.

"A human?  Is it dangerous?!"

"It's going to eat us!"

"Somebody should do something!"

"See?  It's already coming after us! Entering our homes!" Bon Bon exclaimed.  Twilight wasn't convinced.

"I'll have to see it to believe it.  You said it had green eyes, so it could just be a Timber-wolf that has gotten out of the forest and is causing problems."  She turned to the crowd. "Stay calm, everypony!  I am going to go find this human, and I am going to deal with it!"

"What if he comes here when you're gone?" a pony asked, and many others seconded his question.

Twilight thought for a second, then pulled Spike over to her. "If the human comes to the town, Spike will defend you!  He has already saved an entire empire, twice!"

“Uh… uh, yeah!  I’ll keep you fair citizens safe!” Spike vouched for himself.

The crowd murmured for a second and was silent.

"Bon Bon, Lyra, you're coming with me," Twilight said,  "You two are the only ones who know what you saw, and I need you to identify the human when we see it, okay?"

"Okay, princess!" Bon Bon said.

"If he's not too dangerous, can I keep him?" Lyra asked.  The two looked at her disapprovingly.  "What?  It'd be nice to have a pet around the house!"

"Let's just find it first," Twilight told her. "Then, the Council of Harmony and I will decide what to do with it."

"Okay!" Lyra said, a huge smile on her face for one reason or another.  The three took off to the woods.