Splinter Cell: Target Lost

Sam always thought the gear for Fourth Echelon, while effective, was a little over the top.  A suit that marks targets and automatically got headshots said targets was a little... unbalanced.  But then again, he was a spy, and moreover, a man.  He needed to have powerful equipment at his disposal if he wanted to make a difference.  Otherwise, he'd be at the mercy of his skill and luck, the latter of which Sam hated.  He could remember the times when he had no such gear.  When the president's life was at risk, when he was up against Third Echelon... those were all he had.  And that is what sustained him.

"Fischer, we're nearly there, Prepare to drop on my count." Kobin said. "And next time, have a goddamn pilot ready, will ya?"

"Copy that." Sam replied.  It felt strange to have his worst yet best enemy at the controls for this flight, but Sam had done without him for a long time, so it wasn't an earth-shattering change.  Sam pulled on the parachute and opened the door of the copter.  The city was abnormally dark, but Sam only saw that to be to his advantage.

"I'm going to set you down about a hundred yards out.  There's a small complex where we won't attract attention."

Sam nodded and slid his goggles down onto his face.  This was only the first part of the mission, but he was already looking everywhere for danger.  He didn't know whether Hasbro was aware of his infiltration or not, and he didn't know what kind of security they might have in either case.

"I'm good to go." Sam said.

"All right, we're here.  Have a fun field trip." Kobin said.  He landed the copter and Sam jumped out.

Charlie replied, "All right.  Move in quiet; We can't be sure what will happen once you enter.  And remember: No kills.  The guards that work there have it hard enough already, and they're innocent people."

"Understood." Sam said. "Moving in now."  If this were any other occasion, he wouldn't be taking orders from an subordinate, but this time he needed all the help he could get.

Sam approached the building and found that the front entrance was flooded with light, and that there were three guards ahead of him that would spot him immediately.

"Entry from the front is impossible.  Is there a side entrance, maybe something more discrete?" Sam asked.

"There should be a ventilation shaft on the right side of the building.  Just keep moving through that and you can make your way inside."

"Copy."

Sam made his way to the ventilation shaft and slowly got it open, making sure to create as little noise as possible.  Hee looked to see if anybody was watching before entering the vent.  He could hear the men he saw from before below him.

"Man, how on Earth did I get talked into this crap?  The night shift at some toy company?  Man, I must've been high or something."

"Shaddup, Barnes.  It's not like you have anywhere more important to be.  Besides, with the whole pony thing, Hasbro wants to protect its assets more than ever, meaning big bucks for us."

"More like cover its assets, if you know what I mean.  Honestly, they act as if some big ol' attack is gonna happen here."

"You know, I'm really wondering why they care so much.  I mean, aren't ponies just one thing they focus on here at Hasbro?  I never understood that."

"Well, I guess its just a fucking mystery then, isn't it, Barnes?"

Sam lost his focus while listening to the conversation and accidentally bumped the side of the vent.

"Whoa, did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what, Barnes?  Your crazy shit?  I think it'd be better if you just shut the hell up from time to time.  Whadda ya think about that, eh?"

"No, I'm serious!  I'm gonna go check it out."

"Yeah, don't worry, guys... Barnes will take care of it!"

"Yeah, go Barnes!  Go take care of the scary ghosts you're hearing!"

Sam almost chuckled at the stupidity, but then realized that if he did so, he'd also have to accept the fact that this generation was a bunch of idiots.  He liked to have a little faith that they would get somewhere.  Maybe these guys were just bored, and had started acting like idiots.  Easier for him to take them down.  Their accuracy will be way off, and by the sounds of it, they'll be far too distracted to know what hit them after it was too late to do anything about it.

"Sam, you should be right above a safe exit in the next yard or two.  You'll know it when you see it."

"Got it."

He slowly climbed down out of the vent, crouching low as he got to the floor.  He seemed to be in a large supply closet, with one door leading out.  Sam made his way over to this door, and took a peek at what was on the other side using a fiber optics lens.  He could see Barnes investigating the spot where Sam had his mishap.

"C'mon... Just show yourself, you rat.. or snake... or whatever you are!"  Barnes was waving his gun all over the place, as if aiming at every possible and potential target that could be in the vent.  Sam quickly opened the door and hit him with a tranquilizer.  Barnes' body hardly made a sound as it hit the floor, and Sam threw his unconscious body in with the mops in the nearby janitor's closet.

Slowly, he made his way to the door at he end of the hallway that he encountered Barnes in.  Again, he looked under the door to see the two other guards, both of which had hardly moved an inch since Barnes left them.  Slowly, he opened the door and heard their voices.

"... so then I tell him, 'Yeah?  If you're such a big-shot, why not fight me?'" One of them said, while the other laughed hysterically.

"So?  Did he do it?" the other said between wheezing laughter.

"Pfft.  Are you kidding?  Wimp like him can't fight a guy like me.  I can take on any--"

THUMP.

Sam was sick of hearing this guy talk.  Whacking him in the back of the head was doing a public service.  He watched him fall to the ground as his friend watched with a distant look in his eyes.  Sam rushed him and caught him by the throat.  He wasn't even sure what he was going to interrogate this guy about.

"Gggh... What the... hell... lemme... go...!"

"You make it sound like I'd just let you run off and squeal to your superiors.  Not gonna happen." Sam replied.

"I don't... know... anything!  I just... do what I'm... told!"

"Sure you do." Sam said.  He took the man over to the table, smashed his head against it, then picked him back up again.

"You pathetic son of a bitch!  You won't get... anything out of me!"

"So you know what is going on then?  What is Hasbro doing buying up shape-shifting ponies?"

"I told you... I don't know anything!"

"Thats a real shame right there..." Sam said.  He pulled the man over to the wall and smashed the guy against it, letting him fall to the floor and cough a bit before picking him back up into the single-handed chokehold.

"Look... all I know is that they prepared to contain them... before they dropped... and that they want... whatever those ponies are protected...  especially against scum... like you!"

"I think we're done here." Sam said.  He tightened his grip, closing off the man's air pipe and letting him pass out before dropping him on the ground.  So, the same company that was monitoring these ponies was also prepared for their arrival.  No big surprises there.  They could see it happening before anyone else could.  But why would they buy off these ponies, and how?  Did they know what was going on, or were they just swept up in it?

Sam shook his head.  Answers.  He needed answers.  And there was only one person he could think of to get it.

"Goldner... I don't know what you're doing or why you're doing it, but when I find you, I'll beat the answers out of you." Sam muttered to himself.

Sam walked over to the elevator.  Normally, he wouldn't trust the thing for a second, but at this point, he was looking for convenience, not stealth.  The security of this place was sub-par, and he was sure that getting to the CEO's office wouldn't be hard.  He pressed the button with the greatest number on it and the elevator began to ascend.  A little more than halfway up, he felt the elevator jolt a bit and stop.  The lights went off in the cramped space.

"Power outage?" Sam asked himself. "What horrible luck I have."  He walked to the doors of the elevator and pried them open.  He was lucky the thing stopped at a floor before shutting down, otherwise he might have a serious problem on his hands.  He stepped out of the thing, almost surprised at how easy it was.  Had this been a nightmare, the doors would've slammed closed, cutting him in half.  What a happy thought.  He flipped down his night vision goggles, if only to see what was in the shadows of the place, given all the windows.

"Sam, what happened?  Are you at the office yet?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fine, thank you so much for taking the time to ask." Sam replied sarcastically. "No, I'm not at the office.  Elevator broke.  I'm going to have to take the stairs."

"Up twenty flights?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, up twenty flights." Sam said. "Obviously I would go up to the top of this place to get to the office.  Some people actually exercise with this crap."

"I'd like to meet one of those people someday." Charlie replied. "Anyway, you have fun out there while I sit here in my comfy, cozy chair."

"Charlie, so help me, if you say one more word, I will burn that chair when I get back.  Got it?"

No reply.

"I'll take that as a yes, you smartass." Sam said. "I'll contact you in a bit."

Sam started climbing the stairs.  It was a long and hard trek, like the one one might make up Mount Everest, only with none of the dangers of climbing Mount Everest, and far more simple.  Actually, when put like that, it has absolutely nothing in common with that kind of journey.

Once he reached the top, Sam was wheezing. "Who puts their office... up fifty flights of goddamn stairs?"

"Relax, Sam. You only had to go up twenty of them." Charlie said.

"Yeah, well... say good-bye to that chair, Charlie.  From now on, you'll be on a treadmill."

"Sounds like you're the one in need of a treadmill." Charlie said with a laugh. "How's that work-out regimen going for you?"

"Oh, that chair is super gone when I get back, you just wait."

"Yeah, whatever.  Just don't hurt yourself old-timer.  Hate to see my boss go on a mission only to die of a heart attack."

"Yeah, good-bye, Charlie." Sam said, closing off communications.  Perfect silence.  Now he could see why Harper did it so often.

He hadn't forgotten to check for guards though, and when he did, he knew they were waiting for him.  The radar showed a dozen of them behind this door, all huddled around a desk.  Sam wished he could just kill them, for a frag could take care of the problem in no time at all, but that didn't stop him.  He readied a personal EMP and  smoke grenade.  If he timed each of these right, he could probably take all of the guards without sustaining any collateral damage.  Well, to himself, at least.

He slowly opened the door and tossed in the grenade.  He heard it clink twice and release the smoke, yet he could see through the radar that  the people didn't move.  Sam ignored this, using the EMP just in case and kicking open the door.  That's when Sam learned what horror was.

Not only had none of them moved... but now they stared intently at him with glowing white eyes.  That's all Sam could see in his self-created darkness.  One of them moved faster than he could react to, lifting him from the ground.

"Well, well, well... looks like the pup got out of his kennel."

Sam was at a loss for words, partially because his throat was being crushed, and partially because he didn't understand what was going on, but at least he knew that he could kill these ones now, if he got the chance.  This would explain why he met little to no resistance on his way up.  Why would a big business like this one be completely empty?  Perhaps he should've thought of this beforehand.  He couldn't see what happened to the CEO of Hasbro, but assumed it wasn't something without blood involved.

"Wilhelm has got some... 'plans' for you.  You're going to be quite the subject to work with." he said. "I can't wait to see what happens when we mix Equestrian magic with the BACs, then inject 'em into you.  Chances are, they'll kill you in the most horrific, slow, and painful death you can imagine; and if you live, it certainly won't be for very long."

Sam struggled in the impossibly strong grasp of the Enhancer.

"You can't... I won't... let you..." he growled.

"Hahaha!  Listen to you!  You make it sound like you have any power over us!  You know what? Keep that fighting spirit!  Keep that will to live!  It will serve you well once the tests have begun.  C'mon now, dog... let's take you to the pound."

***

"Sam?  Sam!  Respond!"  Charlie shouted.  Communications were down, and Sam'd vitals weren't showing up.  Charlie took off his headset and tossed it across the room.  Had Sam been there to see it, he would've told him not to be tossing around thousand-dollar equipment.  He could still see his suit's location, but he wasn't getting any of the other information from it.

Charlie picked up the headset again. "Sam, if you can hear me, respond, dammit!"

"He's not going to pick up."

Charlie jumped ten feet when he heard this voice. "Grim?!"

"Out of the way." she said, pushing him out of the seat and taking up the equipment. "Well, you didn't bust this thing, at least.  Seems someone disabled Sam's suit.  Must be intent on ruining both our lives."

"Both?  What do you mean?  And more importantly, what are you doing here?" Charlie asked.

"I kind of figured something was up after my vacation was interrupted by gunshots and men with glowing eyes." Grim replied sarcastically. "I'm not an idiot, Charlie; I know what's going on."

"Forgive me for not calling you in the middle of your relaxation time." Charlie said defensively.

"You know, between having the Enhancers get what they want out of you and keeping me content, you should've just interrupted my vacation.  It's called 'prioritizing'."

Charlie sighed. "Well, I kind of broke my time machine this morning, so I can't really fix that."

"Yeah, you really don't have a good history with keeping equipment intact." Grim agreed.

Charlie couldn't win here.  Not that he ever could anytime else.

"You know, a lot of stuff has gone on while you've been away." he said.

"The pony planet.  Magic.  I already know." Grim said.

"What?!  How?!" Charlie asked, quite surprised. "There's no way you could've known!"

"Given I am the person who, as a hobby, checks the incoming and outgoing communication in Fourth Echelon, there's really no way I couldn't have known.  You people talk far too much."

"So you're suggesting we become anti-social, then?"

"I'm suggesting you shut your trap once in a while.  Might do you some good." Grim said. "I know from experience that just one wrong word can get you into more trouble than you need.  What ever happened to codewords?"

Charlie hesitated, before smirking and asking,  "Well, that's not a priority, is it?"

"Now you're thinking." Grim said. "Got his position."

"What?  How?"  Charlie said, leaning over the computer.

"Sam's suit has a back-up transmitter that I use to keep tabs on him." Grim said. "He always goes out and does the most idiotic things when everyone else is distracted."

"I know what you mean." Charlie said in agreement.

"Anyway, he hasn't been dragged too far.  Looks like they took him out of California and into Nevada, somewhere in the mountains, possibly some hoax of a ski resort.  I hear those are all the rage these days in the criminal world."

"Well, is he alive?" Charlie asked.

"Who can say?  All I know is that we'll find him there, and they definitely aren't going so far out of the way to hide a man who's death would go unnoticed to all in a mountain." Grim said. "Send a group out; they should be able to track him down in a hour or two."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." Charlie said. "And, uh, thanks for coming back and fixing all this up."

"No problem.  It's still goin' on your record, kid." Grim said.

"Well, damn.  At least I tried." Charlie punched the air in mock frustration.  This nearly made Grim smile as the naive boy left to gather up the recon patrol.

However, just moments later, Harper burst into the room.  Grim jumped out of her seat and instinctively reached her holster and pulled a gun at the unexpected intrusion.  When she realized who she was aiming at, she lowered the gun.

"So you're him, huh?" she asked.

"Depends on who 'he' means, but I think the answer is yes." He held out his hand. "Operative Harper."

"You are him." Grim said, shaking his hand. "Name's Grim, pony boy."

"Pony boy?" Harper asked.

"Yeah, you were stuck on their planet, right?" Grim asked. "Or was I wrong about that?"

"No, you were right about that, but... 'pony boy'?"  He didn't like that name.  Every syllable that rolled off his tongue tasted of salt when he said it.

"Not into the whole nicknames thing, huh?" Grim asked. "Nice to know... pony boy."

Harper grimaced, knowing this torment would not end soon.

"Anyway, Charlie's putting together a recon team to fish out Sam from that whole enhancer business. I'm assuming you would be willing to join in?"

"Of course!  In fact, I already know a great recon team." Harper said.

"Tell that to Charlie, not me." Grim told him. "I'm just hear to manage what you say."

"Yes.  Of course.  Ma'am." he responded, leaving to go find Charlie.  It wasn't hard to do, given he was where he always was, right in front of his computer.

"No, not that one... no, not enough experience..." Harper heard him mumble as he approached.

"Charlie!" he greeted.

"Harper... not enough cooperation..." Charlie said out of reflex.  He immediately realized what he said after he said it and stood up to face the operative.

"B-but the best we've got!  Yeah..." Charlie said, his attempted cover-up failing the more the awkward silence set in.

"I'm going to find Sam.  I've got a group ready for you.  In fact, I'm pretty sure they're still in the drop bay." Harper noted.

"Sure, you can go, but as for this team, there's no way you could've gathered them so quic-- It's the ponies, isn't it?"

"Yup." Harper said.

"You're kidding!  They have no tactical experience whatsoever!" Charlie argued.

"That's not necessarily true..." Harper said. "Two of them can fly, another two have magic, and the last two..."  He tried to think of what they were good at.  "Well, they can sure as hell run.  Or gallop.  Or whatever it is ponies do."

"Harper, they're ponies." Charlie said. "Po-nies.  Let that sink in for a second.  You really think they're capable of anything like this?"

"That's funny because when I was on their planet, you seemed to think they were doing a better job than most recruits.  In fact, why don't you go see see for yourself?" Harper asked. "They're still in the launch bay.  We'll see who's right on this one."

"What are they doing in there, again?" Charlie asked.

"Let's find out." Harper said.

***

"Hm... Humans found a way to make aerodynamic structures made of metal without rotating blades." Twilight noted. "And better yet, we haven't crashed yet.  I like this."

"Twilight, why in the hay do ya need to investigate everythin' about humans?" Applejack asked.

"Yes, darling, I'm wondering that, too." Rarity asked. "I mean, it's fairly obvious by now that these humans aren't too different from us."

"Yes, except for the fact that they're bipedal, still warring with each other, and having no control of magic, humans are the same as us." Twilight said. "Face it: We don't have anything in common with them!  That's why I need to find out how they turned out so... different!"

"Wow.  Even outside our own world, you're still an egghead, Twilight.  Who would've known?" Rainbow asked sarcastically.

Twilight frowned at this. "I just want to know why... hairless apes somehow got so far without magic!"

"Well, it's obvious, silly!" Pinkie laughed. "Humans are just so much funner!"

Twilights ear twitched at that. "'Funner'?"

"Yeah!  Way funner!" Pinkie repeated.

"Oh, great." Rainbow said, face hooving. "Here we go..."

Twilight spun around to face the pink pony. "Funner is not a word, Pinkie."

"Of course it is, silly!  Funner, funner, funner!" she giggled.

"No, it is not!  If you're going to compare them to us, it's more fun, not that excuse for a grammatically correct word!"

"Funner." Pinkie said, losing her smile.

"More fun." Twilight corrected.

"Funner!" Pinkie shouted, getting defensive.

"More. Fun." Twilight replied, stomping her front hoof down in front of her.

"FUNNER!" Pinkie cried, leaning forward to stare at her friend angrily.

"MORE FUN!" Twilight shouted through gritting teeth, literally butting heads with her.

"Eh-hem."  They heard, quite clearly.  Harper was standing in the doorway to the hanger bay, and another, smaller human stood next to him.

"This is the team you're gonna take?" Charlie whispered to Harper as they walked. "This group of pretty, little ponies?"

"Yeah, that's right." Harper replied, also whispering. "Is there a problem?"

"Um, yeah!" Charlie said through clenched teeth. "They look like they may be the one, true disorganized group to ever travel be on this planet!  Literally!"

"Who's this guy?" Rainbow asked Harper. "He looks like a creep."

"W-What?!  I'm not a creep!" Charlie defended.

"He may look the part, but he's actually an associate of mine." Harper said. "Flutteshy, I'm assuming you want nothing to do with the mission, right?"

Fluttershy, who hadn't spoken up since they got to the planet, stayed silent.

"I thought maybe you'd like to stay here while we go on the mission.  You know, since you're not the strongest type and all.  I think you'd be a lot safer staying--"

"No."

The entire group flinched in shock and awe of that one word.

"F-Fluttershy!" Rarity scolded. "What are you saying?"

"Harper... how many people have you killed?" Fluttershy asked.

"I've lost count of the threats I've had to neutralize." he replied. "I'd say at least a few dozen, probably more."

"And how many of them didn't ever see it coming?  How many of them never knew they wouldn't return to their families?" she went on.

"Damn near all of them." Harper replied honestly. "But you have to understand: these people were bad men, trying to destroy this country we live in."

"And you don't even care that you did that to them?" Fluttershy asked.

"Surely you must know what it's like to have to get rid of some problem.  You all have done it before, from what I heard."

"We solved those problems, Harper.  We defeated them with magic, but never killed anypony.  You, on the other hand... I'm not even sure you've tried talking it out!"

"Fluttershy, you can't just talk it out with some people.  Sometimes, they'll just... keep on doing evil things, and sometimes you just need those things to stop.  You ponies may have found a away around killing others, but as for us humans... We just haven't gotten to that point yet."

"But haven't you tried finding it?" Fluttershy asked. "You can't possibly say that this entire world you live on goes by those ideas!"

Harper shook his head. "I'm sorry, but from what I know, it's always been that way.  The history books always tell of some war or battle between anywhere from tribes to countries.  Humans don't have magic.  They can't just banish people away to the moon, or in some big, magic prison cell.  We had no choice but to eliminate the opposition."

"But you have magic now!" Fluttershy objected. "You don't have to kill anyone anymore."

"Maybe not, but two things get in the way of that.  First, I am only one man.  I can't stop people killing people everywhere, and nobody else has these kinds of abilities.  Second,  there lies the question of whether they really deserve my mercy.  If bad people continue doing terrible things to others and killing, then the only way to make it stop is to end their life.  It is the greater good that we all strive for... or, at least, most of us."

"But do they really deserve to die?  Even the ones you could be sparing?"

Nothing followed this statement, and anybody that could've spoken up chose not to.

"Well, that was overly philosophical." Charlie said after a few seconds, awkwardly breaking the silence. "I'm going to go ponder my life now as I just came up with an idea for a sick new modification to put into the gear."

"Harper, I know you can't save them all, but at least show mercy on the ones that can change.  If you can do that, I don't need to stay here, and from the looks of things, you could use my help.  The girls and I can use the Elements of Harmony to set things right again.  That way, in the end, nobody has to die.  So what will it be, Harper?  Should I stay, or should I go?"

Harper pondered this for a moment, and the group waited upon his answer.  Perhaps now that he had these powers, he really could use it to stop the endless hatred of mankind, or at least, the parts he knew.   revenge, murder, and seclusion were all he knew up until now, and maybe these new powers could get his mind straight.  He sighed, pulled out his pistol, and let its clip drop to the floor.

"You're right.  I've been doing this too long."  Harper said. "If I have this opportunity, this gift to save lives... I suppose I should use it, shouldn't I?"

"That's the spirit!" Applejack cheered. "You give those bad guys a good whoopin'!  We'll teach 'em a lesson they ain't gonna forget!"

"Well, I do like when there's a lesson to be learned." Twilight agreed. "I suppose it's the right choice."

The rest of the group had dissonant murmurs of agreement, with Pinkie's being a little louder and more ecstatic than the rest.

"All right!  What are we waiting for?" Harper announced. "Let's get going!"

Harper heard the groan of Charlie in his earpiece. "Jeez, you guys really are the most disorganized group ever.  Still the plane's all ready in the drop bay; Just remind Kobin not to be a complete asshole and you're good to go."

"Got it, Charlie.  Will do." Harper replied.

And so, Harper led the ponies onto the helicopter and with one final thumbs-up to Charlie, they left to go save the leader of fourth Echelon.