Location: Earth, Avenger
Time: 1705 hours
The Skyranger approached the landing pad of the Avenger, its engines powering down slowly, allowing it to commit its landing, as the Commander slowly approached the vehicle. The doors of the Skyranger opened up, allowing the men within to step out of its confines, however, not all of them were standing on their own. Half of the squad were leaning on their teammates, due to the various injuries they had suffered. Plasma burns, bullet wounds, and heavy blunt damage coated the wounded men, while the Commander sighed at the sight, as the medics rolled into the hangar and began to take the wounded men off of the soldiers hands.
“Master Sergeant, Report.” stated the commander firmly, keeping his tone professional.
“We managed to eliminate the enemy stronghold, luckily without any casualties on our side, Sir.” Stated one of the wounded soldiers, who was being supported by one of the medics. Heavy burns stretching across his right leg, plasma having burned through the W.A.R. Suit and Plated vest, leaving both of them in chunks of molten metal.
“That’s good to hear, Colonel. I hope you’ll recover soon.”
“Yes, sir.” The captain said, snapping his arm into a salute to the Commander, before being escorted to the med bay by the medics, leaving the Commander to rub his temples.
“Another wounded soldier...If this keeps happening, then there will be fewer people to lead the squads.” muttered the Commander, as a engineer approached him in the hangar.
“Commander, we have finished construction of the Psi Lab.”
“...Very well, I believe I already know of a few possible candidates who show promise.” said the Commander, looking over at the Rookie who just had one of his wounded squad members taken off of his hands.
“Good luck, Gunnery Sergeant.” I said to the woman being carried away by the medics, before beginning to head to the living quarters of the Avenger.
The Avenger, a giant flying machine first used by the aliens which had been reclaimed by the Xcom project after the aliens abandoned it. In truth, I found it to be a grand machine, considering what it was capable of doing all on its own. But despite that, I still felt uneasy on it, even if the living conditions were better than anywhere on the ground. The entire thing of it being built by aliens made me uneasy. But before I could further indulge in my paranoia, I was interrupted by a little girl giving me a hug.
“Hey Brother!” She chirped out happily, making me smile.
She was one of the refugees we had taken in due to unfortunate circumstances which lead to her being a wanted criminal by ADVENT. Thankfully the Commander had let her on board, a decision I would agree with, considering she had helped raise morale among all the soldiers, she was a reminder of how things can get back to being once we take back the world. Despite us not being related by blood, the two of us seemed to bond over a lot of things, and eventually, she had started calling me her brother.
“Hello to you too, Sis. What brings you out here?”
“I heard you got back from your first mission and I wanted to give you a surprise hug! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“Its only been two days.” I said with a smirk, making her pour.
“Two days IS forever!” She said in as if it were obvious, before looking at me again. “Can we go and pla-”
“Rookie!” a voice spoke up from behind me, making me turn around and give a sharp salute to the Commander.
“Sir Yes Sir!” I responded quickly, as the Commander approached me, his hands behind his back.
“At ease, I have a assignment for you.” The Commander told me in a professional tone, staring at me with furrowed eyebrows.
“Already, Sir? Its not even been--” My questioning was cut off as the commander spoke up “Not a mission, Rookie. You’re going to be part of the psionics program, the first candidate in fact.”
“...Uh...I...I don’t know what to say, Sir.” I said, speechless. I was going to be a part of the psionics program, the first candidate much less. It was....Surprising, to say the least.
“Then don’t say anything. I want you in the Psi lab in 5.” the Commander said, before turning around and beginning to walk away, leaving me deep in thought, which was once more interrupted by my sister poking me in the back and looking at me sadly when i turned around to face her.
“Does...That mean you’ll be gone again?” she said, looking up at me with those big, teary eyes, making my chest tighten.
“You...Well, Its on the ship, so you can still come and visit me, I’m not going anywhere, alright?” I said, petting her on the head and giving a hopefully comforting smile, making her dejectedly say “Ok...”
“Hey, cheer up. Atleast I’ll still be on base.”
“But...You can’t play with me.” she said, looking down. I couldn’t just let her stay like that so I thought about it...
“I’ll see if they can let you play with me sometime, alright?”
“Ok...I love you, Brother.”
“I love you too, Sis.”
Its been Three days since I was made part of the Psionics program. They had denied access to my sister to enter the lab, due to possible unforeseen consequences it could have upon the training program. I had argued with them on the topic, but they had refused to budge on the topic, forcing me to begrudgingly accept it. As much as I hated the fact I couldn’t see her, I understood their fear. This is a new project, and they wanted to take as little risk with it as possible until they understood it further. But just because I understood it, didn’t mean I had to like it, and I was very vocal about my dislike.
“Exactly how much longer do I have to stay here and sit my happy ass down until you can let me see my sister again?” I spoke out in a loud tone, ensuring that they heard every word.
The intercom beeped, and the voice of one of the scientists spoke up “Only a few more minutes. Then we’ll provide you your new equipment and then you can go back to your own living quarters.” their answer left me groaning, before I turned my attention back to the book that was in front of me. It was of the files they had gathered, and it detailed the effects of the psionic abilities and how to achieve them, as well as other possible ‘Abilities’ that could be achieved through learning from it. Some of them were...Rather interesting, but I had been forced to learn a single one, at least until I had memorized it, as well as the accompanying 28 pages of instructions. It went into intense amounts of detail, but at least I was done with it. Currently, they were adding the finishing touches to...Something. I wasn’t made aware of what it was, but they had told me it was important.
The reason they also had refused to let me read it outside was because of a ‘psionic amplification field’ that was in my cell, which allowed for people to achieve psionic abilities at a accelerated rate. Making...What they explained to be weeks or even months of training take only days, as well as being set up so people keep their focus on their training, instead of outside activities. Plus, it stopped any...Mishaps.
“Aaand done.” The voice over the intercom spoke out, before the door opened, and allowed me outside of the cell I had been contained to for the past few days.
I took a deep breath, appreciating every lungful of air I breathed in, and then turned towards the scientists who were standing nearby. “Thank god I’m out of the cell, I swear, you people built it to be as boring as death. Now, you mentioned new equipment?”
“Yes, it’s right over there, on that table. The Commander had set it up to fit your preferences.” One of the scientists spoke, motioning at a table, which had rather impressive looking stuff on it.
“You have been provided with a Stasis Vest, A Mindshield and a Skulljack, as well as a Personal Combat Sim for Superior Perception. You have also been armed with a Plasma Lance, according to your personal preferences, and a new type of armor the engineers have just finished manufacturing. The Icarus Armor.”
The entire scope of the equipment made me whistle, as my eyes traveled over each piece, I stopped at the Plasma Lance. It was a beautiful piece of machinery, and had some extreme upgrades added to it, a Superior Scope and a Superior Expanded Magazine. Next to it, were multiple magazines, lined up one after another. And as I picked one of them up, looking it over, one of the scientists spoke up.
“Oh, and your weapon also has been armed with Talon Rounds, as per standard issue.”
“Holy hell, you REALLY don’t take this lightly, do ya?” I asked, completely astounded by the equipment I had been provided. But as I took it all in, I stared at one piece in particular. “What’s this.” I muttered out loud, picking it up. It looked...Odd, and had swirling blue colors on the end of it. Not to mention it looks extremely advanced, better than most standard issue assault rifles. It looked similar to the Psi Amp I had seen in multiple pictures but...Considerably more fancy.
“Oh yes, We haven’t informed you yet. You have been provided with a Alien Psi Amp, which was what we were actually waiting for to be brought in. It's a top of the line Psi Amp, and is by our calculations, roughly 4 times as efficient as the standard one.” The scientist spoke calmly, making me go bug eyed.
“You’re arming me to the bloody teeth!” I spoke out, staring at them. One of the scientists spoke up in response “Of course. Due to your new abilities, which few of our soldiers are able to counter, you have been provided with not only the Mindshield to prevent mind control, but also the top of the line equipment to assure you are well armed and protected. You are the first Psi Operative we have and loosing you would be a devastating blow to our forces.”
“...Damn...” I said, staring at it all, then rose the Psi Amp up, putting my hand onto the glowing, almost hypnotic glowing orb it had, and my hand began to gather it all up, making me panic as unfamiliar energy filled my body and mind making me pull my hand back from it and jerk it away, unfortunately, making a blast of psionic energy go through the glass of my holding cell, obliterating it, and then striking the glowing orb at the top of my cell.
As I stared at it in panic and shock, it began to swirl around chaotically. And at the worst time, the door to the Psi Lab opened and my sis was at the door, a smile on her face, which quickly disappeared “Hey!--Uh...Brother?”
“GET OUT OF HE--” I shouted at her, only to be cut off, as the Psi Amplifier collapsed in on itself and turned into what looked like a black hole, were it not for the blue tint and angrily swirling tendril-like limbs of psionic energy.
It began to pull me in, but I gripped onto the metal table, making all of my equipment fly into the swirling mass, however, as I stared, my sister was sent flying, and began to get pulled into it due to her small mass. I didn’t think about my actions, as I let go of the table and jumped, trying to grab her and throw her out of the way, but it was much too late, as we were both sucked into the portal, while I held onto her tightly.
“Its going to be okay...”
Then, Silence.
Author's Note
This is my first story on Fimfiction, and in fact, the first story I have made ever. Hopefully, its not crap. Criticism is appreciated!
Location: ???
Time: ???
Consciousness returned to me slowly. My senses felt numb, as if working through a thick layer of cotton. As I opened my eyes, pain filled my entire skull, forcing me to quickly close them and let out a weak groan. My ears were ringing, but I forced myself to slowly push myself up, and I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away the white spots in them as I groggily began to look around...I was surrounded by forest on all sides, at least, what little of it I could see due to the moonlight. On the ground near me I found my equipment and...
“SIS!” I shouted out, as I forced myself to my numb feet, pricks and needles running across my entire body, as I stumbled towards my sister, who was a mere 5 feet from me, limp on the grassy ground. As I approached her, and shook her body, I felt dread and panic fill my mind.
“Oh god...Oh god what do I do...Shes hurt and...And...” I clamped my mouth shut and closed my eyes, and tried to slow my breathing. Panicking in a unknown location is the worst thing I could do and I kept telling myself that. It wouldn’t help in the least. I had to see things rationally and logically before emotionally, otherwise me and her were doomed. After I had calmed myself enough, I opened my eyes and looked at her...And as I saw her body rise and fall with breath, I let out a sigh of pure relief.
“She’s...Breathing, that’s good.” I spoke to myself, something I tended to do without explicitly being aware of it. And as I stared at her, seeing that she was fine, I pulled myself to my wobbly legs, struggling to get my feet under me and retain a sense of balance. I had to gather my equipment.
I spent the new few minutes doing just that, setting up the new equipment all across my body. My new headgear, which was a tall, odd looking helmet also went onto my head and as it did so, the lights on it flashed to activity, while my vision seemed to alter, everything seemingly getting...Brighter. The plasma lance was...Normal, with no patterns or special coloration to it, but I preferred the professional look it had when it was blank. Allowed me to paint it myself and mark it as my own. In time.
As I finished patching the final pieces of armor onto my body, I then approached my unconscious sister, who was still out like a light. And with a sigh, I picked her up, and activated the thrusters on my Icarus suit, allowing me to fly upwards, above the treeline, and view the horizon. As I watched it, one thought came to me.
“...There’s fucking trees everywhere.” I spoke out loud, staring at the wide, luscious and wild forest, which seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. And as I wondered where I could even go to take cover from the elements, my eyes seemed to fall upon a small clearing, which was only a hundred meters away. After spotting the clearing, I began to fly towards it, landing soon after and coming face to face with a large, dark cave.
“Well, isn’t that something.” I commented to myself, as I approached it, still carrying my sister in my hands. The cave felt moist and rather humid, making me wince as I stared at my surroundings and the mold and mushrooms which were growing within the cave. I gathered up my normal on-base clothing, which consisted of a dark cloth jacket and some pants. I put the pants on the ground before anything else, and then placed my sister on top of them as a sort of mattress for her to rest on, and then placing my jacket over her so she wouldn’t get cold
After having ensured that she is as comfortable as I can make her, I grab my Plasma Lance, and then looked over the magazines I had with me. After a few moments of looking it over, I came to the conclusion I have 60 rounds in total. A number I was hesitant about, due to the unsure nature of my surroundings. But as I looked over my equipment, I rose my hand to my ear, finding that I still had my earpiece on from my first mission. It left me smiling, as I then called out along the resistance channels, hoping that their radios can pick up my signal.
“This is Psi Operative Nick Nocturne of the Xcom Project. Central, please respond.”
...Silence, nothing but static answered me.
“Central, Please respond.”
I repeated again, dread crawling along the edges of my mind. I did not like the scenario, something felt off about it all, and my gut told me as such. It was then that I realized something, as I stared up in thought.
“...What?” I asked, confused at the image I was seeing.
There was a...Image of a horned horse on the moon, something which baffled me and made my unease and dread only heighten. There was definitely something wrong with where I was. Coms weren’t working, the air was too clean, and there was a image of a god damn horned horse on the moon. I came to the conclusion that the accident must have messed up my senses, and now I’m hallucinating, possibly from a concussion, something which I found myself silently hoping for.
I then moved to sit down next to my sister, leaning my back against the wall, and laying my weapon next to me...I considered naming it, but quickly forgot the idea. I had to focus on other things. And as I leaned against the wall, sleep and unconsciousness soon took hold and I fell asleep.
ROOOOAAAAAR
I jerked up as I heard the loud roar of a wild beast and as I attempted to get up and become aware of my surroundings, I found myself being sent tumbling from a sudden force, hitting the cave wall with a loud THUMP, the helmet clanking against it loudly, while I forced my eyes open, and came face to face with a ravenous beast.
The beast had the head and body of a lion, except its front was cartoonishly large, while its back was thin. On its back were two large bat wings, which were on display, making it appear large and intimidating. Behind its wings, I saw the hint of chitin, along with a scorpion-like pincer, which made me wonder. Is this one of the aliens experiments?
Nonetheless, I had no time to think about that right now, as the beast charged towards me, making me activate my thrusters and fly above it, while it turned, slamming into the wall with its side, instead of its head, but instead of hurting it, the damage only seemed to make it angrier, making it let out another roar.
As I stared down at it, I began to switch my gaze, looking for my sister and weapon. I found my sister where I left her, but before I could begin to look for my plasma lance, I was table from behind, and then sent colliding into the cave wall once again, my joins and bones popped and cracked as I slammed into the wall, before crumbling to the ground, pain flaring in every inch of my body.
“Urgh...Fuck...” I groaned out, blinking to get my eyes back into focus, as I stared at the animal before me, but as feeling returned to my hand, I felt something to be right underneath the palm of my hand. As I looked down, I saw it was Psi Amp. It had fallen off of my back, and I grabbed ahold of it, and then pulled my other hand towards the glowing blue ball of energy at the end of it, and began to pull on the energy, the beast approaching me slowly as I did so. And then I jerked my hand outward, aiming right at the beast, the flame-like energy burning the beasts mind, and frying it, making it collapse onto the ground.
My arms then fell limp, weakened from being tossed around like a rag doll. I still turned my head, as I wanted to know where the hell my plasma lance had disappeared off to and found that it had been flung to the other side of the cave. I simply laid there for a few minutes, my mind still waking up as I come down from my adrenaline rush.
“That’s one hell of a way to wake up.” I muttered to myself, as I slowly got to my feet, feeling...Considerably less sore than I anticipated. The answer to my question came rather easily, as I recalled having my stasis vest on me, which left me with a smirk as I looked at the body of the...Beast.
The longer I looked at it, the more it reminded me of one of those fictional creatures you saw in movies and books...But I couldn’t associate a name to it, so I simply chose to refer to it as a winged lion.
My stomach then growled out, making me pointedly aware of my hunger. I hadn’t had anything to eat since the day before yesterday. I found myself staring at the creature with hunger...
...Maybe I can eat it.
I found my answer a hour later, after having made a fire utilizing the tools available to me...A plasma weapon. And had just discovered how good plasma works for setting fires.
I had to get and use a rock to smash the joints of the creature and afterwards use my knife to cut it into large chunks, which I had then set up by the fire. In truth, it was a sickening display, even for me. As much as I thought I had become desensitized to gore, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The smell had woken up my sister, something I only noticed once she had begun to stir in the makeshift bed. Once she was up, she looked around, a confused expression upon her face. Upon her eyes landing on me, relief replaced the expression and she shuffled over, still holding onto the jacket wrapper around her.
“Br...Brother...Where are we?” She asked, looking at me in fear. “I’m scared...” She whispered shakily.
“It’s alright, I don’t know where we are yet, but I intent to find out.” I spoke to her, sparing a glance out into the mouth of the cave, while my sister looks at the large hunk of meat on the spit.
“What are you cooking?” She asks, innocently. The question made me paused and consider weather I should tell her or not. After a moment of consideration, I came to the conclusion that I should and let out a faint sigh.
“It’s...Uh...From a weird lion.” I spoke, keeping my tone leveled as I did so.
After a moment, she turned to look at me, scared and confused. “Was...It a bad lion?”
“...Yes, a very bad lion, that was going to gobble you up! But I stopped it!” I said, encouragingly, as I attempted to spare as much of her innocents as I could. She was still a kid.
She reacted strongly to my words, looking at the cooking hunk of meat and whimpered, tucking herself further into the jacket.
“Hey, Hey, it’s alright, It won’t hurt you anymore.” I spoke, wrapping my hand around her and pulling her whimpering body closer to myself.
“Shhh...Shhh...It’s alright.” I comforted her, rocking from side to side as I did so.
“Is...The bad lion gone?” She whispered, staring up at me with big, blue eyes.
“Yeah, Its gone. And its not coming back, alright? I’m your big brother and I wont let anything happen to you, sis. Promise.” I spoke to her, offering a smile.
Any further conversation was halted, as her stomach let out a growl, which made me burst out laughing at the timing. My laughter had embarrassed her and she punched me weakly in the arm.
“Brother! It’s not funny!” She said, looking at me with a pout as I ruffled her short brown hair.
“Well, the meat is about done, so we can eat.” I said, my mood considerably more positive after a bit of time with my sister. I was her brother and I was going to keep my promise to her. She deserved that much.
A large figure stalked through the woods, a aura of darkness surrounding it as it did so. Each of its steps were slow and graceful as it moved in between the trees, following a path that had only recently been stomped into the forest grounds. It’s body was coated in thick armor plating, leaving only few tuffs of red fur visible, while the rest of its body was coated in a layer of thick, gray armor, which was coated in markings of unknown origin. Upon its back laid a long spear, its shaft coated in similar and yet different markings when compared to those upon its armor.
It walked through the forest, the visor coating its face in shadows, making it appear more as a animated statue than a living being. Each step was carefully calculated and thought out, while it armor clanked with each step, the heavy plating shifting with even the slightest motion.
“Are we there yet, Captain Spartan?” Asked its nervous companion, who was a unicorn mare, clad in a long robe, which covered almost her entire body, leaving only her head visible, something, which swerved around constantly, the mare jumping at every slight sound that echoed within the forest.
The mare was rather young, a promising student who was learning under Celestia. She had bleach white hair, which contrasted with her dark purple fur, which bordered on black. Her eyes however were a bright, almost pink purple color, which were nervously staring around the path they were walking.
“Nnnope.” the hulk of a figure responded in a calm tone, continuing to walk.
“A-Are you sure? It’s...Uhm...N-Nevermind.” She said, offering a nervous smile, which was lost upon the stoic guard, who continued walking.
After minutes of silence, the guard spoke up, startling the poor, scared mare.
“We’re here.” He said, turning around to look at the mare, who quickly trotted forward, her fear seemingly forgotten as she muttered.
“Fascinating...This magical signature is more potent than any other I have ever seen. And the magic is unknown, clearly not unicorn, but it makes...Its...” She spoke, trailing off as she stumbled, the guard quickly moving to hold her up with his body.
“Ya alright, Miss?” The guard spoke, craning his head to look at the mare, who shook her head, looking around.
“Y-Yes I’m fine simply...Felt faint for a moment. The magic is powerful mind magic. Something that...It was outlawed decades ago due to its mind controlling capabilities. Who would even know of this? The records were all destroyed...” She continued to mutter, fearfully, until she took a moment to recollect her thoughts.
“Whoever this mage is, they are a very dangerous individuals if they know mind magic.” she said calmly, barely managing to keep the quiver of fear out of her voice.
The guard simply looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
“We need to inform princess Celestia of this!” She said hastily, as she began to head back down the road, the guard taking a moment to shake his head before he moved to follow after her, silently.
Unseen to them, multiple sets of eyes stared at them as they did so, before muttering to each other in a alien language, before moving back into the forest. They needed to find this ‘Mage’.
