Stellar intervention

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Prologue

Prologue
The only sound in the Hallway was the silent whirling of the Rails that pulled two unequal forms through the bowls of the transport Ship.

One was a six point six feet tall black furred, bipedal wolf while the other was a five point three feet tall human girl.
Their uniforms differed greatly. The wolf wore a black military uniform with blue highlights and a dark olive green shawl held by a small brooch that showed a captains insignia.

The girl on the other hand had a school uniform that consisted of a knee-length skirt, a whit t-shirt and a dress jacket that was as black as her hair. On her chest was also a oxygen bottle that connected to a breathing mask to protect her from the ailien atmosphere.

"So tell me lieutenant, how dose the new body feel?" The captain suddenly spoke which drew the girl from her thoughts.

"Honestly? Its hard to describe mam. I only got this body two months ago and had barely the time to get used to it. But.... the best way to describe it is like being packed in cotton." The lieutenant answered hesitantly, her voice muffled by the mask.

"Hmm, that sounds rather curious. Say how would you place your odds In a fight against an yldar?" The captain asked out of the blue.

"that depends on the circumstances I guess. But in a one on one fight? Not good." Was the girls reply as they passed a few other crewmen.

The captain chuckled at that. "A spec ops operative admitting a weakness? Well now I have seen anything." The captain said sarcastically.

"With all respect mam, these boneheads only act like dicks because everyone expects them to do it. But we know our weaknesses." The lieutenant replied calmly.

"Kinda makes sense I guess, anyways, we are here." The two halted in front of an wide caution striped door that was labeled hangar bay.

With practiced ease the two officers let go of the guide rail and flung themselves towards the door.

With a hiss the door opened to reveal a sizeable airlock where the two brought their feet to the ground just in time for the green lights to turn red and gravity to kick in.

With two thudds the officers landed on the ground and walked through the second door to arrive in one of the large hangars on the side of the ship.
On the walls where dozens of exoskeleton suits staggered in neat rows, each suit in its own small maintenance bay. To the right where similar suits which were a lot bulkier and completely encased the pilot unlike the smaller versions on the right. A few heavier vehicles where occupying the free space in the center, ranging from walkers to tanks and utility crafts. The whole place was buzzing with maintenance crewmen and mechanics who where seemingly constantly upgrading and improving their assigned units.

The uneven pair however ignored the whole buzz and moved of to the left, past dozens of heavy exoskeleton suits and an all terrain tactical dreadnought or at-td for short.

After the short walk the two arrived at a heavily modified armor where a frustrated mechanic performed some last minute adjustments.

"C'mon you fucking peace of shit work damn it!" The mechanic suddenly yelled and smacked an extended chest armor penal. The reaction was immediately noticeable as the the suits cooling systems came to live and the suits chest armor neatly closed shut to reaveal the full suit.

"There ya go moron. That wasn't that hard now was it?" The guy said satisfied and begun to pack up his tools.

"You know? People will call you crazy when you talk to inanimate objects." The human Girl said smugly.

In the blink of the eye the technician had spun around and had a inactive plasma torch on the girls throat.

The captain raised an eyebrow at that. " Impressive reflexes sergeant, though could you please stop threatening your co?" She asked impressive.

He took a look at the small girl in front of him and chuckled. "Sorry captain but I don't buy thhaaaaat" *THUDD, CRACK!* silence.

The girl had surged forward the moment he looked away to disarm her opponent. Then bevor he knew what hit him she spun his arm behind his back while swinging away his feet. The result saw an easily six eight tall wolf pinned down by a small girl who broke his arm at their langinding.

"Lieutenant sajchia? What's the meaning of this?" The captain asked rather annoyed.

"Uhmm it was an accident? I only wanted to get him pinned but the muscles overreacted. I think the docs made some last minute adjustments without telling me." Sajchia answered sheepishly.

"Well crap, looks like HE did it again. Though that will go to your record, accident or not. Now get up." The captain ordered even more annoyed.

"I would love to but I can't mam." Sajchia answered awkwardly.

Her only answer was a raised eybrow from the captain and a pained grunt from her victim.

"I think I dislocated a knee cap...." she finally revealed.

"Gret, just great, first they mess up the bio sleeves, then the exo suit has to be modified the paperwork and now this. I wonder what else can go wrong now?" The captain asked sarcastically and pulled Sajchia carefully away from the poor guy.
At that moment two medics came running towards them. "Mam, we got informed someone got attacked, can we help?" One asked while the other looked rather whinded.

"Mam, I need to talk to the lieutenant, there where some last minute adjustments to the bio sleeve performed by S.I.D and the doc wasn't informed about them." The second medic huffed, H looked like he ran a marathon.

"it didn't involve any risky muscle improvements didn't it?" Sajchia asked sarcastically as the captain put her on a crate.

"Yes it did actually. How did you know?" The medic asked confused.

"I think I broke rechjeks arm by accident, I wanted to teach him a lesson in underestimating his opponent. I did it just like in the last combat training, yet I over shot by a mile. And what's up with my knee? Even I know its not supposed to bend that way without hurting like a bitch." Sajchia said and gestured to the damaged limb.

"That might be the combat drugs the implants are administering. Though that injury is why we didn't want to apply the last upgrades, because your muscles are now strong enough to break your bones. Well if combat drugs are involved at least." The medic explained while his colleague treated Rechjeks broken arm.

"Question, why does she need all that strength anyways? I thought this was a stealth mission." Rechjek asked curiously.

"As a matter of fact these upgrades could be detrimental to the mission and if we weren’t short on time I would have them reversed or get that bio sleeve scrapped and replaced by a proper one. Which reminds me sajchia, we finally found a suitable base of operations planet side." The captain interjected suddenly.

"Good, any specific details?" Sajchia asked while the medic inspected her leg.

"Yes, unfortunately I don't have good news. The physical age of your body puts you in the range of adolescence by the locals terms. Which meant that in order to get the house we had to fabricate a profile that makes you an orphan who recently moved to the area and provides for herself, meaning that you have a part time job starting next week and according to local law, school in two. Its best if the mission is closed by then. When we are done we construct an accident and leave a unmodified clone planet side in a coma, that way we can recycle the profile for future missions." The captain explained.
There was a sudden snap as the medic had taken the distraction to re align sajichia's dislocated knee cap.

"FUCKING KERES! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" Sajchia shouted as pain tore through her body, causing her to curl up in a ball on reflex.

"Sorry mam, that’s the fastest way to fix it, ain’t pretty but it works. Besides the pain killer should kick in soon. I do recommend to take it easy the next few days though. Nothing is broken but the muscles are definitely going to protest. And while were at it. There is a med kit in your gear that is trimmed to your bio sleeves needs. Do NOT use anything in it to treat natives. Your bio sleeve is more of an native/ yldar hybrid. And you know how fragile the natives biology is." The medic explained and put some sort of blue gel over the knee which he then covered in a bandage, all courtesy of his colleagues med kit.

"I know, the doc told me at the last check up. And captain? Please tell me the school thing is a joke. The last time I went to one was about seventy years ago." Sajchia said uncertain, while idly noting that the pain indeed subsided.

"Sadly no. But if your fast you don't have to. Now check your gear and prep for the drop. You will be going down in a lake near a Forrest thirty miles inland to your destination. A.R.E.S. will give you further details. Any mission related expenses will be covered by us. Private purchases have to be financed personally. You know the drill. Now if you excuse me. I need to talk to S.I.D. . A modified science ship will be your future orbital support craft since they are actually equipped for this hide and seek game. I wish you a good hunt lieutenant." The captain said and moved off at a brisk pace.

"Well looks like its show time saji. Your armor is ready, there aren't many differences between this one and standard stealth units, except a askew center of mass. The reason is the extension on the legs. It was difficult to keep leg space while keeping the regular Yldaren stance. We ended up stitching combat prosthetics from this ankle downward." Rachjeck explained while pointing at the part of the suits legs were sajchia's feet would en and the prostetic begin. "It will force you to balance on these toe things you have but the speed and agility boost should be worth it. Wanna do a test walk before the drop?" He then asked, Now with a shin on his arm.

The medic that treated him was also about to leave. Mumbling a short good luck and left shaking his head. The second medic also seemed about ready to go. Yet stopped when his com started to peep.

"Yea lets get this over with. Is the opening mechanism still the same?" Sajchia asked after getting of her crate to inspect the stealth armor.

"It is, just push here and here.” rechjec said while demonstrating it. The suit opened with a hiss to reveal a polstered interior that was way to small for any of the bulky Yldar in the hangar.

"What's up with the padding? I thought that's a combat suit not a vacation eva suit." Saji asked and eyed the interior of the suit with suspicion.

"Order from the egg heads, apparently it is something about the lack of fur or something which could skin you alive." Rech said nonchalantly.

Saji shivered at his answer and instinctively tried to cover herself. "Yea rub it in will ja, is not like its bad enough already."

Rech chuckled. "Welp not my fault you volunteered to become a hairless ape. Now-" he was about to gesture her inside the suit when suddenly the medic interrupted him.

"Sorry for interrupting but can I get the med kit real quick? I might as well make shure it's complete while im here." The medic suddenly threw in, having finished a conversation on his com.

"Shure thing, it's in the backpack, just give me a second." Rech said and reached around the armor to fish the med kit out of its concealment and tossed it towards the medic.

"Now hop in. Times getting short." He then ordered towards sajchia.

"Question. What about live support? In this body im kinda attached to that bottle here if I want to breath." Sajchia said and tapped the oxygen bottle on her chest for emphasise.

"Oh right that's a thing. Just take a deep breath and take it off and hop in. The suit got its own small oxygen supply and the drop capsule has live support." Rechjec explained.

Saji nodded and complied then took a deep Breath to remove the oxygen rig. Then she hurried over to the souit wich She entered using a ladder to get high enough to slip in to the closed leg parts. The seemingly young girl glided effortlessly in to the suit like it was a second skin. Once she was inside the whole suit came to live and enclosed her inside its mechanical shell.

At first nothing happened otherwise since the on board systems where synchronizing with the pilot. A necessary one time process.
While the suit synchronized with saji, rech had opened a holographic display to overview the process. Neither of them saw how the medic added a few pill boxes to the med kit and a note.

"Im done, the kit is fine. Please put it back but I need to go now. Good luck on your mission lieutenant." The medic said and tossed the med kit back to Rechjeck who quickly put it back before saji got manual control over the suit

Just wen rechjeck got done, saji entered the physical synchronization stage, meaning she took her first step forward. A hand full of tubes and wires detached from the suit and their ports vanished under five millimeter thick titanium plates.

Then with a slight rustling sound the plates that covered the pilot and the mechanical intestines of the suit begun to shift and adjust for maximum efficiency in movement and protection.

The various areas, on the suit turned from their orange maintenance state to green combat readiness on both sajis and rechs displays.

"Looking good here, all systems clear saji. Synchronization is stable as well. How dose it feel in there? Any balance issues? The prosthetic tail seems a bit overactive." Rech said in to his headset after retaking his position at the holo console. The broken arm barely bothered him anymore as the painkillers and medical nanites where diminishing the pain.

"Looking good on my end as well, though I loathe to admit that the padding is doing its job. Nothing is shaving." Saji confirmed.

"And the skirt?" Rech asked mischievous.

"The skirt is non of your business. Also heads up I am going to do a few movement tests." She said in a mischievous way that put Rachjecks nerves on alert.

Without further warning saji begun to whip on her extended Digi grate feet and ran of. Her target, the two training walker that lumbered past their small cramped maintenance bay. The poor trainees had barely enough time to see the unusual small armored soldier heading their way before she latched on to the closest walkers hip and used her considerable mass and momentum to slingshot on the walkers back.

The pilot instantly raised his arm in reflex, causing the walker to mirror the movement and nearly hit saji in the process. She however vaulted over the several ton's heavy appendage to land right on the side of the open cockpit.

The pilot looked at her terrified and confused, she wouldn't be the first case of someone loosing their marbles on a combat drug overdose or addiction.

Saji chuckled through her canine shaped helmet and formed a finger gun to point it at the helpless pilot. "Bang" she said happily and jumped up just when the second pilot tried to grab her. She pulled a midair corkscrew and landed upside down on the second walker.
The pilot was a bit faster then his friend yet saji dodged the attack once more by finally jumping of the walker and landing noisily in front of Rech.

"Yep. That looks good, wasn't even lagging like the old prototype armor and the of center mass could be worse. I think i am good to go now." Saji said happily.

Rech groaned In annoyance "saji, how many times did I tell you not to do any fancy acrobatics in the hangar?"

Saji chuckled again and seemingly vanished as she engaged the suits integrated thermo-optical camo to sneak up behind rech. "Not to do that. And I didn't, I simply tested the suits mobility." She answered and pattet him on the shoulder while appearing seemingly fro thin air.

"Why does my CO have to be a adrenaline hopped moron?" He muttered to himself before continuing at a audible level , "whatever, its time so swing your metal buttocks in the pod over yonder." He ordered and pointed towards a long slender dart shaped pod at the far end of the hangar.

"Alright killjoy. Is there any kit in there that I need to get out before it disintegrates?" Saji asked and made her way over to the cockpit of the single use vessel.

"Nope, com is in the back pack, a small recon drone and the med kit as well. That should be all you need for now. The science ship got the rest. Remember your job is to find and sabotage the target. Recon only. Only go in for the kill when you can do it without getting noticed. If you don't get a chance we send in a extermination unit. Got it?" Rech asked sternly.

"Yea what ever, go in get the job done get out, the same as usual." Saji said and vaulted in the cockpit, totally ignoring the ladder leading up to it. "See you on the other side." She shouted and the cockpit slid shut.

Rech only shook his head at his co.’s antics and initialized the launch sequence, causing the pods mount to roll to the side and in to a large airlock. With a mighty clang the doors slid shut and the atmosphere got drained from the chamber. Wen the outside doors opened, two magnetic accelerators descended from the ceiling. The dart shaped bods roll platform disengaged its hold and the artificial gravity got cut. The now free floating vessel got drawn in between the two accelerators and after a brief heatflare got shot in to space and on it's course towards a Jung world with a Junger civilization.

Chapter 1

Chapter one.
After a few seconds the acceleration stopped, signaling that the capsule was now in cruse mode.

The next few hours it took to get from the planet’s moon to its surface she spent reading her new identity and backstory, as well as doing some last minute culture studying.

Occasionally Ares, the suits ai assistant would help her by doing a short quiz or providing her with theoretical scenarios.

One long short journey later the reentry begun, yet the craft barely shook as it careened through the atmosphere.

As promised by her intel, she flew among several other objects jettisoned by the carrier. It would all burn up and the drop darts one way shield was deformed enough to disguise the dart as debris as well. Thankfully the landing zone, a large lake near canterlot city, was the calculated impact zone.

Thus saji merely braced for impact and waited. All to soon the dart dove in to the lake, making a astonishingly small fountain. Yet the water did its job to slow the craft down. As soon as the speed wouldn't shred her to pieces saji opened the cockpit and pushed herself out.

The airtight suit protected her from suffocating yet, without live support module oxygen was still limited. She wasn't concerned about that though, as she angled her decent towards the nearest shore line and begun to walk on the lakes ground towards the surface.

Just in case she utilized a breathing technique that conserved as much oxygen as possible. The walk still took thirty minutes in total, letting her pass plenty of sea live, fishes and the occasional sunken ship. Including a old sailing ship not four hundred meters away from shore.

Her chosen shore however proved to be a bit more lively than she thought, with a hand full of people hanging out on the rocky beach. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem do to the suits thermos optical/visual cloak. Yet the water might just screw her over. In the end she ended up taking a detour to a nearby flux field where she finally made landfall.

With a deep breath saji broke the waters surface and immediately engaged the suits cloaking system, which turned her in to a hollow hole in the water. A few more strides saw her climbing up in to the tree line where she waited for the suit to dry and remove any dirt that may compromise the stealth capabilities.

When she was certain the suit was clean she called up a map to plan her route towards her new base of operations. The map showed that the house she would live In was in the south east part of the city, only a couple of blocks away from the ocean. The downside was that it was quite a bit away from the school and her workplace, with them being in the center and to the west respectively.

"Ares, link to the local network and download a plan of public transportation routs. Look for a few routes that go from ground hq to the school and my workplace. Then look for ways to get in to the harbor area and the docks." Saji then ordered. "Oh and look for a route from here to hq as well, we need to make a convincing entrance." She added after she noticed that it was a bad idea to just appear out of nowhere in the house.

"Route calculated, uploading schedules in to mobile phone unit. Nearest train station is the canter lake station. Next train towards canterlot main station leaves in thirty minutes." Ares intoned in a deep jet monotone voice.

“Can I catch that?" Saji asked after ares marked the station on her hud map.

"Affirmative, the distance is twenty minutes at a light jog." The ai confirmed.

"Great, disengage and follow me in cloak and keep a link to my... what was it called again?.... ah yes to my smartphone." Saji ordered, immediately the armor opened up to let her leave its confines, creating the illusion of the insides floating in thin air.

With a bit of effort saji used the neck armor to pull her legs out of the suit and then took the first step an yldar has taken on this maiden world. There were a few hisses and clicks. As she turned around the armor was gone, only two depressions in the ground told her the heavy suit was still there.

After giving herself a once over as well, saji left the small patch of trees that had hidden her coming ashore. No one seemed to notice as she walked up to the path while plugging her ear buds in her still deformed feeling far to stiff and muffled ears. Bio sleeves suck. She thought as she built up speed and the jog towards the station.

Thankfully ares compensated the lack of hud map with audio directions and successfully guided her to the station.

The train station was a nice white structure that seemed to double as a hotel. On the street side was a small roundabout with a bus station as well as two other buildings. A grocery store and a tourist trap, pardon café’

It reminded her of her home world in a rustic antique kinda way. Sadly she didn’t have time to dwell on the past as she heard the trains pipe signaling its imminent arrival. With one last run saji entered the platform where the train was supposed to arrive. Though the train that came was a surprise, she knew the had electric trains yet this was a honest to keres steam engine. The trains entrance was spectacular as well, as it created a sizeable steam cloud which nearly covered the entire locomotive.

“Quite the sight isn’t it?” a stranger next to her asked, startling her a bit. He had light brown skin and spring green dreadlocks.

“It is" Saji confirmed.

“Let me guess, your new here right?” the stranger asked again this time smiling her way.

“I am actually, though we should board now. Looks like the way is clear.” Saji answered, pointing at the slowly dispersing multi colored crowd.

“Probably yea, maybe we see each other again. Have a nice day and welcome to canterlot.” The boy said and hurried towards the back of the train, seemingly looking for a specific wagon.

“Have a nice day as well.” Saji called his way and entered the closest wagon herself. There was a slight jerk and a creak that told her the ai controlled armor had made it as well. The train itself was relatively empty yet had a cozy atmosphere to it. The wagon was also separated in to three segments, two closed booths on each end with a open seating area in the middle.

Saji choose a empty booth. She held the door open and stepped in, a slight touch told her the armor made it as well.

Inside saji sat down on one of the Window seats. They where surprisingly soft she noticed. The softness soon proved to be detrimental as the last thing she felt before falling asleep was the slight jolt wen the train started to move again.

Seconds later sajchias eyes flew open again, staring at a blank steel plate that was the cover of her link chamber.

Chapter 2

Capter2
(Flashback, sunset shimmer.)

Sunset shimmer was not happy. Not happy at all. Everything had went so well, her magic was strong, her skill was unrivaled, yet all came crashing down when princess Celestia had cast her out. All because her ambitions where to high, her hunger for power to great, according to the blind alicorn. She only wanted to be on her rightful place next to the mare she might have called mother onece or maybe take her place so she could rest. All gone, thrown out like a piece of dirt.

With her new found feet sunset kicked a pebble as hard as she could, sending it flying straight in to the closest buildings only intact window. The impact shattered the glass and hit a cat, at least she thought the shrill cry came from one. It didn’t even feel satisfying to go on a rampage.

With a sigh sunset leaned against the next wall, debating why she was now stuck in the slums instead of dining at the castle. Not even her magic worked properly. Even though she had done so dozens of times by now, she tried again to channel a spell: simple levitation.
The most basic and fundamental spell there is.
This time however the spell didn’t need to succeed since she did something only a toddler needed to do. Actively observing her own mana flow. In order to do so she closed her eyes and focused on the darkness and the mana well in her center, all living beeings had one after all.
Gradually the darkness was pierced by pale blue veins, first appeared the larger vessels. Then step by step ever smaller vessels followed until she looked at what might be a map of her arteries. In truth these where Leylines, that flowed through everything that had a mana well.

With a spell chosen sunset ignited her magic, causing the manna well in her body to surge and pour in to her Leylines. To her surprise the mana deterioration was minimalistic, resulting in a lack of aura that normally covered a unicorns horn during casting.

Hu? So humans channel magic better then pony’s? Then why doesn’t it work? Sunset wondered. The answer was simpler then she thought, since the moment her concentration slipped the spell faded. Hmm so it requires more concentration as well? Curious, I meditated the last time, there isn’t more concentration then that. During her inner monologue she kept staring at her hands Leylines.

That's it, i'm so stupid. Sunset chastised herself when the solution jumped her in the face. Foci, it was so simple she felt stupid. Of course she had difficulties casting anything when she tried to force energy through a non existent outlet. Now she only needed to find a new one. The task was in theory easy, flood the body with magic and determine the highest point of 'bleed off' in the leylines. In practice this was an incredible taxing and delicate task that she was now executing.

She never completed the test though. Just when the magic had saturated her leylines someone touched her wrist. The effect was immediate and painfull for both parties since the contact was to close to a focus point. In the blink of an eye all the mana in sunset's body discharged, throwing however touched her in the opposite wall of the alleyway with a bright flash.

Sunset didn’t go unscathed either, having lost nearly all her energy in the discharge. The last thing she heard before passing out was someone talking about a nice catch, then the world went dark.

-(o)- End flashback -(o)-

“Miss shimmer?”

Miss shimmer? Would you please continue reading?” a familiar voice asked, rousing sunset from her nightmare plagued sleep.

“Whaaa? Where ahm I?” sunset asked drowsy, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“welcome back among the living miss shimmer and for your information, we are in summer school. French lessons to be exact.” The voice said, its owner turning out to be a women in her early thirty’s. She had pistachio green hair with a skin color to match a pistachios shell. In short she was canterlot highs French teacher, miss carreler rosé.

“Oh, sorry miss carreler, I just didn’t get any sleep the last few day’s” sunset said awkwardly while trying to figure out where they were on the page.

“well that is what coffee is made for. I suggest you take one at lunch. We don’t want you to sleep in mister flask's class as well now do we?” miss carreler, said half serious.

“No,” sunset confirmed quietly.

“Good, now page one hundred and sixteen, paragraph three. If you feel up for it that is.” The teacher said jokingly.

And thus the French lessons continued till lunch. Jet non of the students bothered sunset over her slip up. A testimony to her success in passively influencing the students which was the only reason she was in school and alive.

That also meant that she had no time to relax in the cafeteria. As usual she sat in a far corner of the wide open and bustling area. Well out of sight from the teachers and the cafeteria staff. Her lunch consisted of a thermos can filled with coffee and a croissant. In front of her was a book that might pass as a school book in passing yet was in truth the results of her study on the portal that send her here.

While she was studying its content she also used a nifty spell to listen In on random conversations. It always amazed her what secrets people revealed when they thought themselves unobserved. This method was the easiest way to sow mistrust and confusion. She only swept in and claimed the pieces.

Despite the additional tasks lunch remained uneventful and ended way to soon, like always. Her next class was chemistry with mister flask, miss carreler's husband.

Mister flask was always a blast in chemistry, even for sunset who had taken the class several times by now. The lab was in the school's left wing on the second floor, giving a prime view on the street and a glimpse of the front schoolyard. When she looked out of the Window sunset saw something peculiar. It was a black haired girl with a backpack, though the cargo pants and shirt alongside the jacket around the waist made her look a bit like a thugg. The girl wandered around the schoolyard for a few minutes like a tourist, and observed the school. It took the girl some time to notice sunset's observation. Sunset didn't even bother to look friendly. Chances were the girl was from out of town and would be gone soon. To her surprise though the girl saw sunsets less then friendly look and the reaction baffled her. The girl's posture took a regal air and she bowed, clearly towards sunset, in a mix between regal and moking before she sauntered of.

Chapter 3

A supposedly quite chime thundered in to sajchias over sensitive ears, causing them to splay back against her scalp. The chime was followed by gentle movement that told her the box got removed from the neural transmitter in the wall. As her box left the wall, other muffled sounds became apparent, like footsteps and a hushed conversation.

The movement then stopped just as a sharp hiss let in a rush of fresh air, ending the capsules sub par live support.

Sajchia tried to push the box open, yet her arms refused to cooperate. Probably a side effect of that marathon link. She thought annoyed. Lucky for her, the opening mechanism was automated, thus the lid opened on its own.

A blinding light stung her eyes and the sterile sent of a hospital soon followed. Yet something was different to when she first begun the neural link. At first sajchia had no idea what it might be, except for the different looking ceiling that slowly fazed in to focus. A ceiling type used in space ships. She struggled to comprehend this at first, then opted to lay down for a bit longer.

When a shadow leaned over her saji reopened her eyes, only to look at a exact copy of her face.

“Good morning sleepy head. Glad you decided to join us. We were already planning a emergency disconnect tonight.” The person said in a cheerful jet chiding manner.

“sorry but im not sorry doc. C.o said the op was important so I figured I get as much training as possibly on the ship.” Saji groaned, somehow mustering the strength to drape a arm over her face to block out the headache inducing light.

“ hmm if that doesn’t sound familiar. Anyway, welcome abort the YSLNS sachern. We transferred you here about six weeks ago.” The woman said. And saji got a good look at her, she wore a uniform not unlike the captain of the troop transport. Yet instead of the military black the uniform was white with golden highlights and a blue shawl and the brooch that held it showed a globe symbol. All that combined marked her as a high ranking society researcher who most likely worked directly under either a lord governor's or the overlords command.

“so they send a forerunner ship as support? I thought they would just send a support corvette.” Saji said as her brain identified the uniform.

“The mission is to important for that and this isn’t a forerunner but a vanguard class science ship. Now before we continue the doc needs to do a checkup. “ the woman said and moved away to make space for a doctor in sky blue uniform.

After a short friendly hello the doctor helped saji to sit up and begun his check, ranging from simple sensory checks to blood pressure and lung volume to the state of her fur. All this happened in professional silence. Wen the doc was done he took a look at his data pad and cleared his throat. “so miss Sajchia. Right now im really tempted to withdraw you from the mission. There is a reason the link time is limited to two weeks at a time. For now though this wont be necessary if you keep a rhythm of one cycle in link and half a cycle in recovery. Or since the cycles are shorter here half the link time as recovery starting tonight . Any questions?”

“Not really. Just a glass of water for now.” Saji answered, now more or less awake and aware.

“Shure thing and either me or my assistant will await you after your done for today.” The doctor said and left the room. Just wen saji wondered about the water, the scientist that had initially greeted her returned with the live spending liquid.

“There ya go sajini.” The woman offered and saji accepted it gratefully and froze. “Uhh excuse me but where did you hear that name?” saji asked suspicious.

The women giggled and answered. “I may or may not have given you that nickname shortly before mother adopted us.”

Saji stared in disbelief, she knew her sister was a science buff but to get this far was entirely against the odds. “Sooo your telling me that you are my little sister? For all I know you could be a colonial clone intel officer. Wouldn’t be the first time they send batch mates as agents.” Saji said, concluding that someone had set up a investigation against her for some reason or it was another ‘loyalty' test. She was not looking forward to that.

The women who pretended to be saji's sister, sojchaia looked crestfallen at saji's harsh words. “Damn I should have seen that coming.” Sojchaia sighed in deafeat. “Fine im not going to press this, sad as it is but at least let me introduce myself. I am sojchaia raundan league scientist first class and second in command of the vanguard class military test vessel Sarchern. I will be your civilian contact for this mission.” Sojchaia said in a now professional and composed manner.

“lieutenant commander Sajchia raundan. Im looking forward to your cooperation. Wich I would like to begin with through a briefing since I wasn’t informed of the change in support vessel type.” Sajia countered, now switching back to her decades old military professionalism.

“understandable. First of this mission is no longer lead and funded by gaurans governor renachjer. Instead this mission is now handled as a direct league affair. From now on the original mission to infiltrate the local pre ftl civilization is officially cancelled since any such orders have to be approved by the overlord. Instead a officially approved surveillance mission has now taken its place. Our job is to passively infiltrate the local societies and gather information about their technological and sociological development. All assets previously engaged in the cancelled unauthorized mission will be absorbed as security for the new mission.” Sojchaia said, reading most of the information from her data pad. Once done with the first part she took a breath and recited the next part from memory. “Unofficial, the new mission is a cover for the officially cancelled mission. The overlord acknowledged the danger from this Pirate cell. Thus it is your mission to find them and their local allies and drive a wedge between them. Onece their local support is reduced to a point were local and civilian casualties are in acceptable parameters a platoon of betas will go in and wipe them out. Should they try to escape the planet or conduct a raid during this mission there will be a patrol fleet waiting for them as soon as they leave the system. That is the long and short of it. Our ship will arrive in five local cycles, until then you’re supposed to establish a presence planetside and keep a low profile.” Sojchi finally concluded.

“Okay, basically nothing changes except the fact that I have more time now and need to keep an eye on the eggheads?” Saji clarified.

“That is correct which means that several science teams will be send down with bio sleeves as well. I myself will operate in your area. Further more my Bio sleeve's cover is to be the legal guardian of yours, we arranged this to avoid suspicions if we meet planet side.” Soji corrected.

“okay, anything else?” saji asked.

“No. For now you have according to your A.R.E.S. unit thirty minutes to eat and clean up. Your quarters on board are down the corridor second to the right. A meal has already been prepared….. and saji, if you have some time…. Could you meet me in private? If not for my sake at least for mothers, she has been worried sick ever since you joined the military.” Soji said, breaking her professionalism at the end.

Saji Hesitated for a moment. “maybe. If I have the time. Now if you excuse me? there is a meal and a bath waiting for me.” Saji said and stood up, nearly losing her balance before she found her footing and hastily left the lab her tail flailing widely in agitation, leaving her sister utterly perplexed and concerned.

“What have they done to you sister?” soji asked quietly to herself or so she thought as her friend, the doctor who did saji's examination answered her.
“ Mimics"

“Wha? Mimics? As in the commissary? What do they have to do with it?” soji asked confused.

“I have heard rumors about a controversial loyalty test they do every so often among specil ops. Apparently it involves the simulated death of relatives and their possible active involvement in it. The most common examples are to choose between duty and family in life fire simulations. The best I can geuss is that she has seen you or a bio sleeve copy of you die several times, with her being at fault for it.” The doctor. Sochjira said in a uneasy tone, making soji pale under her fur as he went on.

“So she thinks im a commissar?” she asked equally concerned and appalled at the mere thought of this absurdity.

“Most likely. Sadly I am not Shure if it is better to keep your distance or to confront her. For now though I advise a professional distance and to talk to the board councilor.” Sochjira said calmly and returned to his work, hinting that she should do the same.

-(o)-

Sajchia had meanwhile hurried in to her assigned quarters and straight in to the only ‘nature style' part in the ship. The small pond that served as what others would call a bathroom. In one fluid motion she got rid of the baggy hospital gown and let herself fall in to the water. All the while her thoughts lingered on the person that might be her sister and all the ways she had seen her die in the last thirty odd years. Deep down she knew none of these cases were real yet, she also knew that the one in the lab was the real deal. Non of the fakes had ever used her nickname, nor had any of them the small pale black almost grey patch of fur under the left eye. A rare defect her sister had suffered during her creation. Saji barely acknowledged that her fur had already soaked through despite being fairly water repelling normally, showing just how much she had neglected her own body.

-(o)- Thirty minutes later. -(o)-

Saji opened her eyes, in front of her was the same empty, slightly worn down seat she left as she disconnected from the bio sleeve. A quick glance at her hands reaffirmed their ailien nature to her. Five days and I have to work with my sister. Please let this not be a elaborate test by the mimics. Saji thought. Then again, real or not, it’s my job to protect her and I will be damned if I fail. Another part of her chimed in and strengthened her resolve to accomplish her objective.

“last stop canterlot main station, this train ends here. All passengers please leave the train. Also please check your luggage and make sure to leave your seats as clean as you found them to ensure everyone can travel in a nice environment. Thank you for you cooperation and have a nice day and travel save.” The voice of presumably the conductor came through the speaker, completely shaking saji from her thoughts.

And sure enough, outside the Window was already canterlots cityscape, only partially obscured by the masts of the railways that converged at the station further down the line. In the corridor outside her compartment the first passengers begun to pile up at the doors. Once canterlot station came in to view there was no escaping her compartment as the way out was blocked by an elderly lady with a traveling case half her own size.

Gradually the train slowed down as it pulled its freight under the large roof that covered the station. Then it stopped with a nearly unnoticeable jolt, a sign that the train driver for onece knew what he did.
Shortly after the train stopped the passengers begun to spill out of the cars, while this went on saji noticed just how… colorfull the local humans were. Shure she had seen pictures taken by the few spy satellites in orbit and had even spend at least a dozen hours scouring their so called internet for information. Yet the range of skin color still baffled her. Gradually the train cleared out and after the last one hurried past her compartment saji stood up and left as well. And no, she did not run face first in to her invisible exo suit. Nope not at all.

The platform was already clearing out by the time saji got of the train, only a few stragglers from the back and a recently united family were still there. Much like many of the buildings she had seen thus far the station looked like it had a history, its large glass roof was held by elaborate steel beams and most of the outer walls were brick walls. The electronic cables for the trains and the modern displays evenly distributed along each platform looked like an afterthought and thus a bit out of place.
Canterlot was also a terminal station, thus she saw the large puffer at the end of each rail. Further back were a few shops like a kiosk, and a bakery. Past that was the exit, a giant portal decorated with ornamented glass panels spanning in several meters height inside the arched passages. Saji took it all in strides while casually making her way to the exit.

On her way out to were she presumed the bus station to be Saji noticed a small issue in her planning. No pockets, thus no way to hold her purse, thus her purse was still in the stealth armor Ares was currently piloting. “Darn it" Saji cursed and begun to look for an inconspicuous place were she could retrieve her purse from the backpack.
She quickly found it in form of an out of the way corridor past the subway escalator. From there it was easy to uncloak the armor and retrieve her purse, after triple checking that she was alone and away from cameras of course. She also took the opportunity to retrieve her short range com that had been disguised as what the locals called smart phone complete with ear buds.
This also changed her plans a bit.

“Ares? Could you plan a rout to the closest second hand store? I need some new clothes, preferably something with pockets and a backpack of my own as well. After that I think I shall visit my future employer and this…. School. From there It goes over a grocery run straight to our base of operations. Plan that in to a rout with public transport in mind and give me directions over com. While I do that all I also need you to give me a crime Charta of this city. Feel free to hack anything you need as long as you stay undetected.” She ordered and watched as the armor nodded and vanished again.

With her business being sorted by Ares she went ahead and plugged in the earbuds to cue a song while the ai did its job. She waited with her back on the railings that went around the escalator and observed the people. Right now the escalator was in full use as a thong of people went up or down, most of them looking stressed to reach a connection. Non in the crowd stuck out for a while until she spotted a rainbow haired girl who practically oozed self-confidence, she wore a white t-shirt with sleeves as cyan as her skin. On the shirt was a white cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt coming of it. Her pants were simple workout pants and on her military camouflage backpack hung a net with a ball in it. The girl's companion couldn’t be more different though. The other girl constantly hid behind her pink hair that went nicely with her butter yellow skin. She wore a green skirt and a white tank top. For some reason the meek girl suddenly turned towards Saji, making direct eye contact, it lasted barely a second before the girl turned away with a thoughtful expression.

Ares choose that point to pitch in, interrupting any forming though.
“Ma’am, I have completed the route calculation and have synchronized with the local networks.”

“Good, then spill the beans Ares.” Saji said quietly, counting on the microphone on the earbuds to pick up her voice.

“in ten minutes a bus will go from here, we are looking for line 9443 towards downtown, exit the bus at the celestial plaza. From there it is possible to reach both the clothing store and the cover workplace. There is also a place for nourishment that is recommended to be visited.” Ares answered.

“Place of nourishment? Like what kind of nourishment and why?” Saji asked befuddled.

“I have received medical priority instructions to ensure a base level of physical health for this bio sleeve. As of right now minor dehydration and malnourishment can be detected.” Ares said in his monotone voice.

“ookayy. Whatever, I don’t feel hungry anyw-“ saji said but a low grumble of her stomach interrupted her. “Fine lunch it is.” She then yielded to her body’s needs and went towards the bus station.

-(o)-

“that would be two hundred and sixty bits please.” The shopkeeper said after he scanned Saji's clothes which consisted of two khaki colored cargo pants, two t-shirts, one heavy dark brown leather jacket and a sizeable backpack. Saji complied and gave him the money yet stopped him from putting everything in a bag.

“uhm if its okay I would change in these for now and put the rest in the backpack.” She reasoned.

“Alright, just take a changing stall. Have a nice day.” The cashier said and waved her off, already busy with the next customer. She was quick to put word to action and left the shop in her new clothes and her jacket tied around her hip since the backpack was full. Her next stop was the new work place, which she had passed on her way to the store. The shop itself was a electronics shop that was directly at the plaza which according to a history board was canterlots old market area.
The name of the store she aimed for was 'dusted wire's pristine electronics.' And its exterior matched the name with its modern glass display set in a old buildings facade. If she had to be honest she didn’t care for the job initially, figuring it was just busy work between investigations. Now however, with the 'new mission' in mind she would be stuck with it a lot longer.

Ah whatever, no point in stalling. Saji thought and went in. The door bell chimed softly and a rush of cool air brushed against her as she entered. She took her time to observe her new workplace, noting the two shelves on either side wall and the counter in the back. There were also several displays like tables and shelves that housed electrical components of all kind in neat boxes.

“welcome to Dusty's how can I help you young lady?” a old male voice asked from the counter, slightly startling Saji who was busy looking around.

“ oh ahmm hello mister dusted. Im Shizokou the new part time aid. We talked over phone a few days ago.” Saji said and introduced herself under her guises name.

“Ah miss shizokou, I didn’t expect you to be here already. It is nice to finally meet in person.” The old man said and extended a hand for a courtesy.

Saji took it and gave it a good squeeze and a firm shake, apparently it is good to have a firm handshake, a sentient that the old man seemed to share if his smile was any indication. “It is, im looking forward to working here.” Saji answered in a happy tone. But only as long as I have to. She mentally tagged on.

“Im glad to hear that, there aren’t many young people with a work spirit nowadays. Anyway what do you think of the country so far?” dusted asked, and leaned on the counter with a genuine curious expression.

Saji shrugged. “I have yet to figure that out, I just arrived a couple of hours ago at the airport. Thought I do a short tour and get some shopping done before I get to my apartment.”

“ahh getting a feel of the city. Then im glad you came by. Though I don’t want to keep you, I know the jet lack can be nasty.” Dusty said knowingly.

“thanks and was nice meeting you in person, I can tell that it’s going to be fun working here.” Saji said and gave a slight bow from the waist, hoping to imitate Japanese customs.

“Then see ya next week Monday at… let me check.” The old man trailed of.

“Sixteen o'clock sharp sir.” Saji answered for him.

“Right thanks.”

“Have a nice day" she said and left at a polite pace. At least he is as nice in person as he is on phone, hope this is how he is as boss as well. Saji thought as she crossed the celestial plaza.

However just as she reached the large fountain that was in the center, Ares reminded her of something. “Ma'am you wanted to eat something, the café I fond is at ten o’clock, it's called ‘sugercube corner'.”

Saji sighed and looked at the given direction past a rearing horse statue at the base of the fountain. Shure enough at the edge of the plaza was a small cozy and color full café. The sign over the shadow spending canvas blind read shugercube corner and had varios baked goods scattered around the letters. Those were another thing she had to get used to since she was a born carnivore.

Ancestors above I hope this tastes better then this stuff the docs fed me. Saji thought with a grimace and changed course.

Inside the café was a large counter on the back wall that overlooked the tables and booths that were scattered about witch made the layout feel open while giving plenty of privacy if one so desired. The counter itself had lots of different goods on display, ranging from simple bread to sweets and desserts. There were also pre made sandwiches and buns, on the far left was even a small ice counter. Manning the whole thing was a lanky yellow skinned, orange haird guy in a pale blue chef uniform and a white apron who was busy serving another customer. She took the time to search the display for something that looked familiar. In the end she settled on a fish bun.

“Ah hello miss, how can I help you?” the man behind the counter asked after he finished with the previous customer, a blond girl with freckles on her cheeks and a Stetson on her head.

“I would like to have that fish bun and a Apple juice pleas.” She answered and pointed at the bun in question since she didn’t know witch one it was.

“The one with salmon? Okay. That will be two bits fifty. For here or take out?” The baker asked

“For here please.” Saji said while fishing for the requested bits. After going through half her pockets Saji found her purse and paid up.

“Thanks, have a nice day.” The backer said and Saji replied in kind before taking her haul to a more secluded booth on the wall. It took her some time to work up the courage to eat but once she did, she could barely stop. The simple bun had only a bit of greenery a spread she didn’t recognize and the salmon but by her ancestors did it taste good. She was just liking her hands to clear the remains from the savage slaughter of the innocent bun when she noticed someone staring at her.

It was a pink haired girl. No I’ve seen her before but were… right, at the subway entrance. Saji thought, yet as the girl saw that she had been noticed she turned back to her companions wich included the Stetson wearing girl that was before her on the counter and the rainbow haired ego balloon.

She didn’t pay much attention to them while she sipped her juice and contemplated about getting a second bun. The answer was quite obvious to her so she stood up and lined up with the cue that had form while she ate.
Just wen she reached the counter and ordered her second bun, much to the bakers amusement, a shouting match broke out between miss Stetson and miss rainbow ego. Something about a sports event and lying to friends.
The baker shook his head in disbelief. “To think these three were thick as thieves at the beginning of the year…" he paused at Saji's confused look. “never mind, this one will be one bit ninety.”

Saji paid and exchanged pleasantries with the man. While she returned to her booth the two loud girls departed with a loud declaration that their friendship was over. This left the pale yellow girl behind, extremely upset. Saji could see her holding back tears as she left the café as well.

All in all this was way to close to what she learned to be teenage drama, something she hoped to avoid during her second time in school. To her surprise, the second bun she ordered was already gone by the time she withdrew from her thoughts, leaving her with a nice taste on her tongue and the smell of salmon in her nose. She washed it down with the remaining Apple juice and left the café while making a mental note to remember it.

Saji's next stop was the school which was another bus ride away, closer to the middle of canterlot and near the residential district. The bus stop was directly in front of the school’s main entrance and the the small schoolyard. There was also a horse statue in the center of the schoolyard which had a small paved path leading around it in a circle. The school building itself was mostly bricks with white ornaments in the corners, around the Windows and a band going all the way around between the ground and first floor.

Saji took her time to wander around a bit, though she didn’t get inside because the school was supposed to be closed.

After a bit of wandering though she noticed that one classroom had students in it and one of the girl's on the Windows was watching her. It was a bit hard to see but the girl looked at her in a way that just screamed 'im holier than thou.' Saji had seen that dozens of times and there were only two ways to deal with such people. Either ignore them or make them a fool, she went for the later. With a mocking smile she took a regal posture and gave the girl in the Window her best imitation of a jester's bow. The message was quite clear, at least she hoped so. Once her show of mockery was over she walked of as confident as she could, making a mental note to steer clear of the girl and her bacon colored hair….. and now she was hungry again.

Author's Note

Well here goes a new chapter.
It took longer then I would have liked but my muse left me halfway through and I had t rewrite it.
Then to add insult to injury, I had a hard time getting my 'times to write' and my 'inspiration to write' together.

That being said I also did some minor changes in the prologue and chapter two because I had a new idea and needed to keep the continuity in order

Chapter 4

Later that evening in the abounded area of the industrial part of canterlot walked a lone shady figure down the street. Said figure was no other than sunset shimmer, covered head to toe in clothes fit for a bank robbery. She wore a thick biker jacket and grayish jeans alongside some worn army boots and specially modified leather gloves that doubled as brass knuckles. Her face was covered by a bandana and reflecting ski goggles. Her hair was tucked under a black hood.

The whole outfit was rather heavy and hot but she was used to it as that was the prize of her anonymity in the underworld.

She coursed the day she was caught by a mafia gang thirty years ago.

-(o)- flash back –(o)-

A splash of cold water tore sunset back to conscience, causing her to sputter wen some of it got in her mouth. She tried to clear the water from her eyes but her hands were bound to something, making it impossible to move. The Same went for her legs as well.

It took her a bit to get a grasp of her surroundings, which weren’t all that much. She was tied to a chair inside a run down room, starring at a wall. In the corner of her eyes she saw a heavy build guy with a bucket.

“Wakey, wakey little sleepehead.” The man said in a far too creepily cheerful voice. The menacing look on his face didn’t help either.

It was at that moment that moment that it dawned on sunset that she was in serious trouble. She had gone through enough hostage training to know how to add one and one together.

“Thank you brass, you can go now. I will take it from here.” Another voice said from behind her, it had a odd yet sophisticated accent she had never heard bevor.

“Ah sorry boss but didn’t you say yourself that she is dangerous somehow?” the now as brass identified man asked, his eyes never leaving sunset.

“I did, though she is dangerous in a way neither of us can defend ourselves against, if I hadn’t taken measures to counter that. Right now she is just a… ordinary high school kid. One I have great plans for if she is willing to listen that is.” The unseen voice said calmly even though he seemed disgusted at the ordinary part.

“Alllright, I will take post right outside the door then but if anything happens..” the man said but trailed of as he partially pulled out a ridiculously large hand gun that somehow looked only average sized gun in his hand.

“Agreed, now if you would” brass boss asked politely to which brass put the gun back in his black leather jacket and left the room through a door somewhere to sunset’s left.

“You have been remarkable quite young lady, normally humans of your age need more encouragement to be this calm.” The voice noted and a creaking noise from a chair could be heard.

“because I’m tied up, outnumbered and out armed. Attempting a escape like this is nothing short of stupid.” Sunset replied calmer than she actually was. Training this was way different from reality even though her 'host' was probably the most polite kidnapper she ever heard of.

“I see, you are aware of your situation then, good. That saves me the time of beating this in to you.” To drive his point home something heavy, like a cane or a short iron rod hit the ground right behind her with a pain promising tap.
“However, I cannot afford to loose a precious asset like you so I will at least give you one reminder of our new partnership.” The man continued and stood up. Leaving no doubt that whatever came next was going to be painful.

“Partnership? How do you think I will be of use? Because I doubt I will be useful to you.” Sunset replied as calm as possible while trying not to think about what that reminder might be.

“oh? Do you really think your useless? Well let me tell you a secret, there are many ways I can use a healthy young woman. Selling you on a slave market comes to mind, I bet I could tickle a few thousand out of the right costumer. If that fails and I don’t find any other uses for you I bet some poor soul will graciously accept the organs you so selflessly donated. I still have some high end customers who would pay a fortune to get a replacement heart for their relatives.”

Sunset gulped at that, she knew he was trying to intimidate her. And if she had to be honest he kind of succeeded.

“There is however a third option. You could join our little family. Who knows, maybe if we get along for long enough you will become my right hand.” He finished and she could swear that he was trying to archive that outcome for some reason. “So which one do you choose young lady?”

As if she had a choice, The answer was clear in her head. To survive at all costs. Sadly number three was her only option right now that had any chance of success. Yet she still hesitated long enough to try her hosts patients. His iron pole slammed down next to her, startling her quite a bit.

“I recommend to think quickly young lady, im a busy man.” The voice said, coming very close to her ear yet stayed out of sight, he had moved without a sound. His voice also never left it’s sophisticated and polite tone that increasingly reminded her of a shark that had smelled blood.

“I, I …. I will join you.” Sunset said in defeat, her head hanging and her body loose. She had signed a pact with the devil to continue her own goals. Goals she needed to be alive for.

“Good. Very good. Now how about you give me your name? I make it a principal to know all of my men’s names.” He asked and only for a fraction he sounded pleased, though he quickly covered that up.

“My name is sunset, sunset shimmer.” She answered simply, she was still frightened, yet the fact that she could maybe out of there alive gave her just enough hope to hold on to her old plans. She would prove her teacher how powerful she was, how worthy she was to ascend in to alicorn hood. And she would prove herself good enough to wield a the crown that was her birthright. All she had to do was to stay quite and play along to her captors long enough.

“well it is a pleasure to meet make your acquaintance miss shimmer. As for me? Just call me mister g.” the voice said oblivious to sunsets seeds of treacherous thoughts. He also stepped in to her field of view for the first time, she was a bit disappointed though. She expected a tall tuxedo or similar suit wearing figure with a noble hair cut. I stead she got a gray skinned man with orange hair and a melon hat alongside a white coat that had a wine red inside. Though that was the most remarkable thing about him, that and the mettle cane he held.

“I'm glad I was able to convince you to join us in one piece. I hate to loos potential members, especially ones with your potential. Now all we need to do is to give you a nice membership card. Brass, get the branding iron.” He suddenly called out, making a shiver run down sunsets spine

-(o)- end flashback. –(o)-

She shuddered as she touched her left shoulder were her new boss had branded her with a wolfs head. She hated it but had no choice but to follow his orders. At least she had worked herself up the gangs hierarchy over the years. There was also the fact that her boss somehow knew a bit about her magic, though he called it psyonics.

She shook her head. That was just another unpleasant memory and her only condolences was that he severely underestimated her true powers.

“Hey what you doing here asshole?” a voice called out, completely tearing sunset away from her thoughts. As she looked up she saw a purple skinned teenager with a bomber jacket, tattered jeans and a aggressive haircut in front of her. The teen also blocked her entrance to a run down warehouse that served as the only neutral zone of the underworld.

“Mister g. is waiting for me.” Sunset replied, knowing full well that her master’s name had some weight in the underworld.

Something the teen didn’t seem to know or care about. “Yea riiiight and im b,buddy's left hand. Now spit it out. What are you doing here.” The teen countered over-sarcastically. Though all sarcasm vanished as he pulled out a vicious looking army knife.

Sunset sighed in frustration. “Let me guess, you’re a newbie on b,buddy's gang right?” she asked calmly.

“Yea what of it?” the teen asked mockingly.

“then nobody seemed to have bothered to tell you the rules kid, so listen very closely or your live will be very short.
Rule no one. Do not commit ‘business' in another clans or gangs territory.
Rule no two. Do not attack allied clan members.
Rule no three. The hollow dock is a neutral territory.
Newsflash, this is the hollow dock and I am one of mr. G. Negotiators. In case you didn’t know who that is, he is the head of the fang clan who’s territory is right next to yours. So are you going to let me in or do I need to beat you up and drag to your boss?” sunset explained calmly.

The thug looked a bit surprised at her rant jet seemed to ignore it as he raised his knife and fell in to a fight stance, a very sloppy one at that.

Sunset growled in annoyance and took her own stance and finally triggered her empathic field that she had trained behind g's back.

Surprisingly the fight never came as sunset immediately felt two other presence coming towards them and by the looks of it she knew both of them, boar and seagull. The former was b,buddy’s enforcer and the latter was mister g's second in commands left hand and the head enforcer of the clan. Needless to say, neither one was to be pissed of or the stereotypical cement-block-on-feet-shove-in-bay was the least of ones trouble.

She smiled behind her mask and relaxed, causing the teen to look at her confused. Then he decided to simply charge the her only for sunset to disarm him and stick him on the pavement. It was that moment the two enforcer came around the corner and saw sunset standing over a unconscious teenager wit a bleeding nose while she juggled a army knife.

“Da hells going on here?” boar asked with a raised eyebrow, radiating suspicion and annoyance.

Seagull however immediately recognized sunset and groaned in annoyance. “The scarlet which strikes again.”

Sunset shrugged. “not my fault if there’s a newbie at the entrance. One who doesn’t even know the rules at that.” Then she gave the teen a light kick and dropped the knife next to him before she joined the two mafia enforcer.

“jea just next time don’t bloody them up. It’s hard enough to find new recruits lately.” Boar said and took out his phone. “I will call someone over to clean this mess up and teach him the basics, again.”

“Alright, scarlet you’re with me. The boss is holding a meeting right now to go over our side of the deal.” Seagull said and walked of towards the warehouse.

Soon enough the two entered the dedicated office area of the warehouse which was about the size of a small family home and offered rooms as ‘embassy' for the various shady groups. Officially the offices belonged to various small companies who owned the place as a joined venture.

On the second floor of the surprisingly intact building the two reached a room labeled 'galvan's fishing company.' Which was her boss’s official business that he used to smuggle goods. With only a short knock seagull went in to the office with sunset close behind him.
Inside they found g sitting at a desk, doing paperwork. He only briefly glanced their way before continuing to write. “You’re late scarlet.” He then started.

“I get my bike license in two weeks. I wont risk driving till then, the cops are getting itchy again.” Sunset said simply.

“A wise precaution. Very well then, on to business. I just revived words from our supplier in mareico that two of their plants got busted and the bulls got a whiff of our cent. As of now I have cut all ties with them. However they are also our supplier for the dry ice we use to cool our fishing hauls. I already have a substitute but they don’t pack any surprises so our local business is about to run dry. Though me and the others have come up with a plan. It is already in motion.” G shot seagull a meaningful look. “All we need now is a scapegoat. Which is your part. We are about to loose some of out goods in this but it is a acceptable loss. However we need someone to lead a new drug trafficking ring here with the combined staches of our 'friends'. To do that we need someone with a name who the police knows about. But not their real name and true allegiance.” This time gs gaze went to sunset.

“Hold on a second. How am I supposed to get my own gang up and running? Right now I only have my reputation as the scarlet witch.” Sunset countered in shock. That would really mess up her plans in for equestria. ….. or would it?

“that is the reason we choose you. I don’t know how you did it but you’ve stayed naught more than a rumor for the common thug. Our most police infested population. Shure we clan leader know you exist but most only know that I have your contact. They don’t know you’re working for me. For them you are neutral, a wildcard so to speak. So what do you say?” he asked and leaning back in his office chair.

The two locked eyes, they both knew she had to accept. After all, he could erase the peaceful live he had given her outside the underworld with only one order. “ I’m in. When do I start?”

“I can tell you that after the negotiations with b.buddy. he is the only one who is still needs to know.” G explained. “Now on to the meeting.”