Call of Duty - Advanced Warfare: One Among Us

Chapters

Prologue-Cast Out
Chapter 1-Atlas Corporation
Chapter 2-Change of Plans
Chapter 3-Postponed
Chapter 4-Training
Chapter 5-Mission: Traffic, Part One
Chapter 6 - Mission: Traffic, Part Two
Chapter 7 - Recuperation
Chapter 8 - Mission: Fission
Chapter 9 - Mission: Aftermath, Part One
Chapter 10 - Mission: Aftermath, Part Two
Chapter 11 - Interlude: Thoughts in the Wind
Chapter 12 - Mission: Manhunt, Part One
Chapter 13 - Mission: Manhunt, Part Two

Prologue-Cast Out

Canterlot, Equestria

Dormitories

As Twilight Sparkle burst into her room, tears streaking down her face, she buried her face in her bed and sobbed.

"Why?" she whimpered. "Why didn't they believe me?"

Time passed without notice as Twilight continued to cry, the rebuke given to her by her own mentor and her friends. She knew deep in her heart that Cadance wasn't Cadance, but not a single pony had believed her. As she sobbed, Celestia's stern "You have a lot to think about…" still echoed in her mind.

As Twilight pulled herself up, she looked over at her writing materials that were stationed on a desk. As she walked over and collapsed on the seat, she plucked a quill free and began to write.

====

Twilight set her finished letter down and attempted to compose herself enough to teleport to Ponyville, away from the wedding and her "friends". As she summoned her magic, she took in several deep breaths.

Teleportation magic was still being researched, and though a convenient way of travel for unicorns, she was still perfecting the method herself.

As she stabilized the magic and readied the spell, she looked away for a moment at the door to her friend's room.

And in that moment, her concentration shattered, along with the barriers keeping the spell contained. As Twilight dropped her jaw and began to panic, the magic orb used for teleportation began to grow in both size and power.

"Oh no, oh no…" was all Twilight could stammer as the spell cascaded out of control. Deciding there was only one option left, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"HELP!" she cried just as the orb consumed her, and closed upon itself.

Then, a massive blast of pent-up magical energy tore through the dorms, shattering the window and a good portion of the floor and walls. As the pulse echoed through Canterlot, Princess Luna jumped out of bed with a start.

"Twilight!" she cried, as she ran to the dorms. "What's going…"

As Princess Luna stared at the wreckage in shock, she quickly realized what happened, and properly teleported away in a flash to alert her sister.

====

As the pulse echoed through Canterlot, and sent out a massive crack of sound, everypony in Canterlot stopped what they were doing and looked for the source of the disturbance.

"YIKES!" Applejack cried as her and her friend's lunch was interrupted, sending countless objects in countless directions. "Was that Rainbow?"

"Nope!" Rainbow said, flying in. "Wasn't me, I was reading Daring Do! And I can prove it!"

As Rainbow produced the book in question, Rarity looked up at the Castle itself.

"That area up there, the blown-up one, isn't that where Twilight was sleeping?" she asked. "I haven't seen her since she blew up on Princess Cadance."

"Yeah, you're right." Fluttershy said. "In fact, don't think anypony has."

"Let's go check it out." Rainbow said, as they headed off towards the Castle. Upon their arrival, they saw Princess Luna in the hallway, reading a sheet of paper.

"Princess Luna?" Pinkie asked. "What happened? Where's Twilight?"

Luna sighed and handed them the piece of paper, which was covered in Twilight's hornwriting.

To anyone who still cares, or Princess Celestia, my "friends", and my brother.

You may have laughed at me. You may have cast me out. But I know for sure we're all being deceived. I know Cadance better than anypony in the world, and the one we met isn't her.

You may not believe me now, but when I return, I'll have proof. But if Equestria is threatened because of your ignorance and short-sightedness, your preoccupations…

I'd hate to say it, but I'd tell you "I told you so", with good reason when you find me. I'm leaving Canterlot to find the truth, no matter what it takes. And if you find the REAL Cadance in the meantime…

Tell her I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her for real. Tell my brother that he's marrying the wrong mare, and he needs to realize that before he makes a mistake from which there's no turning back from.

And to the Cadance who I know is a fraud…

You may think you're Cadance, and you also may have everyone fooled...but you didn't fool me. If you think appearances are everything, you're wrong. I'll find the truth, and when I do, you'll wish that you had never laid a single hoof on my brother at all.

And in the meantime, to my friends...I pray you'll find the truth before I do. Otherwise, I won't be as forgiving as I have been in the past.

Goodbye, everypony.

Twilight Sparkle.

PS-Tell Spike I'm sorry for leaving him behind, and furthermore, tell him this. Look up reference number XA-0224 in the Canterlot Archives, and to use that big brain of his to figure it out from there. I know he can do it alone or with Princess Luna's help.

As the Element Bearers stood in horror, Luna looked away from them.

"To quote my sister...you have a lot to think about." Luna said, walking away.

"But...where are you going?" Fluttershy asked.

"To get Spike and find the truth." Luna said. "No matter what."

====
Roanoke, Virginia, United States
Atlas Corporation Headquarters

Main Concourse

As Jack Mitchell stood up shakily from the impact of Gideon punching him in the face, a robotic voice spoke over the intercom.

SIMULATION RESET, ALL PARTICIPANTS MOVE TO YOUR STARTING LOCATIONS.

Mitchell was then pulled to his feet by Gideon, who gave him a slight scowl.

"No excuse for equipment failure." Gideon said sternly. "The best weapon you have is the one between your ears, so use it!"

As an Atlas Jeep approached and Jonathan Irons disembarked, Gideon pulled Mitchell's malfunctioning prosthetic arm into the air.

"It was his arm, sir. I knew it was too early." Gideon said.

"That arm's worth more to me than this entire facility." Irons said. "How's he doing?"

"Work in progress." Gideon replied.

"Alright, then." Irons said. "Gideon, hop in. Let's give him a tour."

"Yes, sir."

As Gideon and Mitchell climbed into the Jeep, Gideon spoke over his radio.

"Joker, get the sim prepped for another run."

"You got it, boss." Joker replied. As the jeep pulled out of the Simulation Facility, Irons gestured to the massive complex around them.

"What you're seeing Mitchell, is advanced warfare." Irons said with pride. "Atlas has the single largest military in the world, but we don't keep secrets of our capabilities. We don't sell policy, we sell power."

"It's very impressive, sir." Mitchell said.

"Without a doubt." Irons replied. "Took nearly ten years to get this place up and running from a run-down forest into what you see now. In fact…"

"Sir, what's that?" the driver suddenly yelped as the car skidded to a stop in the middle of the plaza. As Irons, Mitchell, and Gideon got out, they saw what the driver was referring to.

A massive orb of blue energy, crackling with purplish lightning, was forming in the center of the plaza. As Gideon swore out loud, Irons let his face show rare surprise.

"Repeat, we're experiencing an unknown event at central plaza, requesting backup and hazmat teams!" Gideon said. "Get your asses over here!"

"Yes, sir! Hazmat is en route." the Atlas Dispatcher replied. As the orb continued to grow, Atlas operatives began to appear and aim their weapons at the anomaly.

"Mr. Irons, get back!" a soldier cried just as the orb collapsed and set out a pulse explosion that floored everything in about a ten-foot radius around it.

Mitchell was thrown to the ground, and he winced from the impact of hitting the pavement. As he looked down at his prosthetic arm, he saw electricity arcing across it. Somehow, it felt more responsive than it did in the simulation facility.

As Mitchell stood up and rushed over, an Atlas soldier helped Gideon to his feet, and then Jonathan Irons.

"What the hell was that?" Gideon swore.

"I share your surprise Gideon, but I believe the more proper question is…." Irons said, approaching the sinkhole carved into the pavement. "What does that have to do with it?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Gideon asked.

Irons simply motioned to a figure buried under some rubble. As Atlas soldiers began removing the cover of cement, they stepped back and raised their rifles.

"Mr. Irons! You're gonna want to see this!" One said. As Irons, followed by Mitchell and Gideon came closer, all three flinched.

The figure was a purple equine, with a horn on its head. A small photograph of a star with a sparkling foreground lay on its flank. Furthermore, judging by the fact it was breathing in a shallow manner, it was still alive.

"Sir?" Gideon said. "What should we do?"

Irons sighed and turned to Gideon.

"All units, secure a perimeter around this area, no one leaves this scene for any reason" he said. "Gideon, take a squad and bring it to Quarantine in the Medical Building under heavy guard. Mitchell?"

"Yes, sir?" Mitchell asked.

"Go get that arm fixed, then meet us there." Irons said. "Everyone else, lock down this plaza and keep this quiet!"

"You heard him, gents! Let's go!" Gideon barked. As the soldiers began cordoning off the wreckage while Gideon loaded the being onto a stretcher for the trip to Quarantine, Mitchell looked at Irons, who was showing rare suprise.

"Sir?" Mitchell asked. "What's wrong?"

Irons looked at Mitchell, a slightly exhausted smile on his face.

"Nothing's wrong." Irons replied. "You know what to do?"

"Get my arm fixed, and meet you at medical." Mitchell said.

"Good. Get it done."

As Mitchell hopped into the jeep for the drive to Research and Development, Irons stood at the scene, with a resolute air around him. With a sigh, he followed Gideon and his team to the Medical Facility.

Author's Note

New story, and one I'm proud of!

What do you think?

Chapter 1-Atlas Corporation

As Mitchell was dropped off at the Atlas R/D Building, he tested his prosthetic arm one again by clenching his fist a few times. Surprisingly, instead of glitching out like it had in the simulation, the arm responded seamlessly to his mental commands.

"Hey there, Mitchell." a technician called from a desk equipped with a tech station. "Mr. Irons called in for you, let's check that arm out."

As Mitchell sat down, the technician plugged a cable spike into his arm and began running diagnostics on his prosthetic.

"Interesting, whatever that surge of energy did to you, it rebooted your arm's processor and synapse junctions." the technician said.

"What's that mean?" Mitchell asked.

"It means it fixed the problem that was in your arm." the technician said, finishing up. "I recommend some trigger time to check the calibration, but you should be all set. If there's any trouble, come by again and we'll get it sorted out."

As Mitchell nodded and his arm was unplugged, he flexed it and headed for the entrance. To his surprise, Joker and an operative Mitchell knew to be named Ilona were waiting for him.

"Hey." Mitchell said. "You picking me up?"

"Yep." Joker said, as they entered a waiting jeep. "Gideon and Mr. Irons are expecting us at the Quarantine."

"Why do we even have that?" Mitchell wondered. "What good does a quarantine serve on a military base?"

"If anyone gets something more contagious than the flu, they go there until they're better." Ilona said. "Irons made that rule himself to keep us healthy and fit for combat."

"And look what purpose it's serving now." Joker chuckled as they turned on the path to the Medical Wing. "Whole place is on lockdown in order to keep whatever the hell that thing was a secret."

"I figured." Mitchell said as they arrived. "It looked like a horse or something to me, but it had a horn."

"A fucking unicorn." Joker laughed. "A purple fucking unicorn shows up in the middle of HQ. What else could go wrong today?"

"Plenty." Gideon said as he approached. "Come on, Mr. Irons is waiting for us."

As the four of them entered the lab, they saw the horse was still unconscious, but hooked up to a medical hub device.

"Ah, Mitchell. How's the arm?" Irons asked.

"Fixed, but I think the unicorn did that." Mitchell said. "The tech said that pulse of energy rebooted it. It's working great now."

"Good to hear." Irons said. "I think it's safe to say we're dealing with something over our heads."

"I agree." Gideon added. "What are we going to do with it?"

"I think I can help with that." said an Atlas Doctor, coming forward. "Mr. Irons, I've finished the bioscan. The results are incredible!"

As the five of them followed the doctor to a terminal, he pulled up scan readouts on the computer.

"When I scanned our guest, I determined it be a female. Also, I discovered that her bodily systems are exactly the same as a human's. Same structure to bones, nerves, and organs." the doctor said. "I was even able to get a blood sample, and I found two things."

"What's that?" Ilona asked.

"Her blood doesn't have a blood type." the doctor said. "The counts of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets don't match any human blood type. Furthermore, I found an abundance of these cells in her system and near her horn."

The doctor showed an image of a pinkish white, orb-shaped cell.

"This cell is radiating a powerful energy that I can't identify." the doctor said. "I removed one for future analysis, but I'd wager these cells have something to do with her horn. It's similar to cellular radiation, but it's harmless to her other cells, so logically she shouldn't harm us."

"Good." Irons said. "Anything else?"

"One more thing." the doctor said. "I took a brain and DNA scan a while ago. Her DNA is similar to a human equine, with a few differences. However, her brainscan shows that she has a fully developed brain akin to a thirty-year old human female, while her bodily age is only about sixteen."

"So she's...intelligent?" Joker asked.

"I'd say she's sapient." the doctor said. "With all due respect Mr. Irons, we're dealing a sapient, unknown species. That means First Contact."

"Jesus." Gideon said. "A fucking alien is in that room?"

"I believe so, yes." the doctor replied. Irons sat down and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"We'll deal with that when it comes to it." he said. At that moment, an Atlas soldier burst in.

"Sir, we've got a problem. It's awake and it's not happy." the soldier said. "When it woke up, it sent Jackson flying across the room with some kind of direct energy beam."

"Damnit!" Gideon cursed as the five of the headed to the quarantine cell. True to the soldier's word, the being was crouched in a corner, her horn ablaze with light. Jackson was outside being patched up by an Atlas Medic, and another was pointing a Bal-27 assault rifle at her.

"Stand down!" the soldier barked. "I will use force!"

"Leave me alone!" the being replied, clearly scared. "I don't want to hurt you, so back away!"

"Soldier!" Irons barked. "Stand down."

As the soldier slowly backed away, Irons approached her, flanked by Mitchell. As the being tensed up, her horn lighting up once more, Irons reached into his pocket and gave her a small slip of holographic paper.

Mitchell recognized it as an Atlas Corporation business card, the exact same card he had been given at Will Irons' funeral.

====

Twilight stared at the being. It was middle aged, with fading brown hair and a worn yet experienced face. It wore a down vest with jeans, and as it approached her, it reached into its pocket and pulled something out. It was a small tablet, about the size of her hoof.

Twilight took it with her magic and upon touching it, an image appeared. It was the letter A, with a red design for the cross. Then, text appeared.

GREETINGS.

Then, white triangles moved across the screen, along with a text message followed by a name.

ATLAS CORPORATION
JONATHAN IRONS-PRESIDENT AND CEO

As Twilight looked up, the being stood to its full height.

"Seeing as we can understand each other…" it said in Equish. "We'll start with names if you calm down."

"Okay." she said, her horn dimming. "You first."

"Alright." the man said. "I'm Jonathan Irons, CEO of Atlas Corporation. The men and women behind me are Joker, Gideon, Ilona, and Mitchell. We're friends, miss. So please, calm down and we'll explain everything you want to know."

"Okay...I'm Twilight." she said. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Pleasure, Miss Twilight." Irons said, extending his hand. Twilight reached for it, and was pulled up to her hooves. "Welcome to Earth. Specifically, the city of Roanoke in the state of Virginia, in the United States of America. You're currently inside the Medical building of Atlas Corporation Headquarters."

Twilight looked around at her surroundings. True to Irons' word, the building she was in did seem like a hospital, only much more futuristic.

"What kind of corporation needs a hospital?" Twilight asked.

"This kind of corporation." Irons replied. "We are the largest Private Military Company in the world. A superpower for hire."

"You're a mercenary?" Twilight asked.

"I myself am not, but the men and women of Atlas are." Irons replied. "They're some of the finest you'll find anywhere. However, let's get back to business. How exactly did you come here?"

Twilight paused, weighing her options. On one hand, revealing the events of the last few hours at the wedding might have unforeseen consequences. On the other, it might make them trust her.

"It's a long story." Twilight said. "I attempted to teleport home using my magic, but the spell misfired and must've brought me here."

Irons nodded and crossed his arms.

"You'll have to show me what you mean by magic." Irons said. "The most we know of it are cheap stage tricks."

That made Twilight flinch.

"You don't use magic?" she gasped. "Then how'd you make all of this?"

"Pure and simple technology." Irons replied. "Most likely you'll find we're far more advanced technologically than your own species."

As Twilight nodded, Irons looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"A little, yes." Twilight asked. "Why?"

"I figured we could all discuss the bigger parts of our current discussion over lunch." Irons replied. "Shall we?"

Twilight nodded and followed Irons, plus Gideon, Mitchell, Ilona, and Joker outside, where she saw a small, open-top carriage move up to them.

"Gideon?" Irons requested. Gideon nodded and took the driver's seat as the rest of them filed in.

"We might need to squeeze in a bit, but we should be fine." Irons said as the carriage lurched forward.

"How's this thing moving?" Twilight asked.

"Internal combustion engine." Mitchell said. "We've been using them since about 1900. It's currently 2054, so about 150 years."

Twilight was floored, to say the least.

"Okay, I need to find a library." she said. "What other technological marvels has your kind developed?"

"Plenty." Joker shrugged. "Nuclear power, computers, radios, firearms…list goes on and on."

"Wait, Nuclear?" Twilight gasped. "You use nuclear physics to generate power?"

"Yep." Mitchell said. "We used to use fission, but now fusion's standard for all power plants. Cleaner and a lot more efficient."

Twilight's eyes went wide as she began to hyperventilate.

"You okay?" Ilona asked.

"Just shocked." Twilight said as the car stopped. "By your standards Equestria must seem be considered primitive."

"That might depend." Irons said as they entered the Recreation Facility. "I still want to know about that magic you spoke of. What can that do?"

As Twilight and the others sat down in an atrium, Twilight sighed.

"Okay, lesson one. Basic magic theory…"

====
Equestria, Canterlot

Archives, Restricted Section

It didn't take Princess Luna and Spike very long to find the reference book that Twilight's letter had mentioned.

"Relics of Ancient Times Long Past." Spike read out loud. "Hey, there's a note here."

As Luna and Spike looked at Twilight's familiar handwriting, they raised their eyebrows.

"Page 54, Section 3." Luna said. "Well, here goes."

As Luna opened the book and turned to the mentioned page, she raised her eyebrows in shock at the title of the page.

TOTEM SPELL OF REVELATION

"Totem Spell?" Spike asked. "What's that mean?"

"Totem Magic revolves around manipulating and coercing other beings to do your will." Luna said. "Apparently this is one of them."

"And I think I know why Twilight was interested in it." Spike said, pointing to a paragraph of text. "This spell makes anypony do what you want, as long as they look you in the eye."

"That's interesting...but…" Luna said, her mind putting the pieces together. "Of course!"

"What?" Spike asked.

"I figured it out!" Luna said. "If we use this on Cadance, we can make her prove her identity for certain! It all fits!"

Spike was about to speak when there was a clatter of noise. As they spun, Luna furrowed her brow.

"Stay back, Spike." she said. "Whoever is there, reveal thyself!"

As the figure approached, the light revealed it to be nothing but a Lunar Guard.

"Princess Luna, Princess Cadance requests your presence immediately." he said.

Luna furrowed her brow and she walked forward.

"For what reason?" she asked.

The guard hesitated, and in that moment, Luna lifted the Guard with her magic and brought him close while beginning to seal his throat.

"Reveal yourself!" she growled. "You are most definitely not a Lunar Guard. If you were, you would not have hesitated as per the oath you took, or in this case did not take. Who are you?"

The Lunar Guard gasped for breath, and then he glowed green. To the shock of Princess Luna and Spike, the Guard morphed into a black, insect-like being whose eyes showed panic.

"A shape-shifter." Luna growled. "I should have known."

The Changeling fell to the floor and backed away.

"Please, don't hurt me!" it said, fear evident in his voice. "I'll tell you anything!"

"Who are you?" Luna demanded.

The being sighed and spoke.

"My name is Thorax, I'm a Changeling." he said. "And your city is in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Spike asked.

"Our Queen has infiltrated your defenses and sabotaged the shield protecting the city." Thorax said. "She's taken the form of…"

"Princess Cadance." Luna growled. "What does she want?"

"We feed off emotions such as love, and Canterlot is full of, in our Queen's eyes, food that will last us for generations." Thorax said. "She's been feeding off your Guard Captain and absorbing all his magic. Not only that, she's wiping his memories nightly. By tomorrow, she'll be unstoppable!"

"Why are you telling us this?" Luna demanded.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Thorax said. "There are others in the Hive who aren't as…fanatical or dangerous as her, but we can't do anything since we fear our Queen more than anything!"

"We'll see about that." Luna said. "What's her plan of attack?"

"Once she's married Shining Armor, she'll break the shield and swarm the city from all directions." Thorax said. "She's got every one of you fooled!"

"Not all of them." Spike said. "Twilight was right all along!"

"Focus, Spike. Thorax, where is the real Cadance?" Luna asked. "Where?"

"She was teleported into the Caverns beneath this city after the Queen drained her magic." Thorax said. "Other than that, I know nothing."

"Those caverns go on for miles!" Spike cried. "How are we supposed to find her now?"

"Leave that to me." Luna said. "Thorax?"

"Yes?"

"Since you have defied your queen for the right cause…" she said. "I am willing to overlook your trespassing and whatever else you may have done. In exchange, I need you to do a few things for me in return, understood?"

Thorax nodded.

"Good. First, how many among your kind oppose your Queen?" Luna asked.

"About fifty, including me." Thorax said.

"Good." Luna said. "Bring them to the Lunar memorial in the Castle Gardens tonight at Midnight exactly. Second, I need a method or spell to free Shining Armor from her control. Third, do you know the plan of attack your Queen prepared?"

"We all do, why?" Thorax said.

"You will change it." Luna said. "Alert every Changeling soldier that the plan has been altered, as a few ponies grew too suspicious and began poking around. Have them assemble at the main gate in a massive horde as my sister begins reciting the vows."

"That'll leave us…" Thorax said, understanding. "Exposed."

"Leaving me able to wipe them all out using the power of the moon." Luna said. "Thorax, if you do all of this without fail, I will personally guarantee you and those who defect from your Queen clemency. Do you accept?"

"Of course." Thorax said. "I'll get right on it."

Thorax bowed deep before Luna and Spike, before assuming his previous disguise and nodding to the two of them. As he made haste out of the archives, Spike looked at Luna.

"Do you think we'll save the day in time?" Spike asked.

"For certain." Luna replied. "We have gained the upper hand, Spike. Do you still have that Totem Spellbook?"

Spike handed Luna the book, and she smiled.

"I will expose the Queen when the doors open to begin the procession." Luna said. "I will need to be there before her. Until that time, can you stall the ceremony for as long as possible!"

"You can count on me!" Spike saluted. "I have a good idea about how to do that!"

"Perfect." Luna smiled. As they walked out of the archives, the book hidden under Luna's right wing, the Princess of the Moon took on a face of solemnity.

"Hang tight, Cadance." she said. "We'll find you and save the day. I swear it."

Author's Note

Yep, this one was my favorite to write. I know that Thorax doesn't show up canonically in the Wedding Episode, but we don't know for sure. I decided to have him be the leader of those who oppose Chrysalis, and changed the amount of defectors from fifteen to fifty.

And yes, Chrysalis doesn't know that this is happening. She's got to keep up appearances as Cadance, remember?

Next time-The real Cadance is rescued, the Wedding is attacked and saved, and Shining Armor makes a tough decision in the aftermath. And on Earth, Irons makes a very tempting offer to Twilight Sparkle...

Chapter 2-Change of Plans

Canterlot Gardens, Lunar Memorial

12:00 PM

As Princess Luna and Spike stood in front of the moon-shaped monument to the Lunar Guards, the Lunar Princess turned at the sight of about fifty disguised Changelings. Thorax came forward, and bowed.

"I rounded up everyone I could." Thorax said. "What do you need from us?"

"I am sure you know that the real Cadance is locked in the Canterlot Caverns." Luna said. "You'll be searching every inch of those caves until she is found. When you do find her, show her this and bring her to my office as quietly as you can."

Luna handled Thorax a medallion emblazoned with her crest, and he nodded.

"Once she is returned to us, we will prepare for the portion involving the Queen." Luna said. "Everypony know what to do?"

The Changelings nodded and assumed their disguises once more. As Luna led them to the poper entrance to the Caverns, the Changelings buzzed off into the darkness.

"What now?" Spike asked.

"I have an idea." Luna said. "Spike, do you know of the wedding plans the Element Bearers have made?"

Spike nodded.

"Disrupt them." Luna said. "Do it discreetly, but cause enough pandemonium among them in order to stall the wedding for at least one hour. That way, I can prepare the Totem Spell without interruption."

"Right!" Spike gave a mock salute as he headed off. Luna flew back to her own chambers and looked over the spellbook containing the necessary steps for the Totem Spell.

===

Three hours later

There was a knock on Princess Luna's door as soon as Luna finished the spell. Opening it, a pink blur rammed into Luna's embrace. Luna's eyes softened at the sight of the real Cadance's state of dishelvery. Her mane was filthy, tornl, and tangled, and she felt weak to the touch.
"Are you okay?" Luna asked. "Cadance?"

"I'm fine." Cadance gasped. "Your friend Thorax found me. I wasn't sure he was telling the truth until he showed me your medallion."

"With good reason." Thorax said, coming in while rubbing his shoulder blade. "You have a good right hook, Princess."

"I learned from Shining." Cadance said. "Speaking of, where is he?"

"He's currently with the Queen." Thorax said. "He's been hypnotized and his memories of the day are wiped every night. The Queen once said she intends to "preserve him as long as possible"."

Cadance nodded, and growled slightly as she headed for the door.

"Cadance, don't." Luna said. "We have a plan."

"What plan?" Cadance asked. As Luna spoke into Cadance's ear, with Thorax providing some help, her eyes widened.

"With her army defeated, it won't take long to send her along her way." Luna said. "Plus, if she does manage to overpower me or my sister, I have a Plan B."

"Okay, what's Plan B?" Cadance asked again. Luna whispered it, and Cadance raised her eyebrows.

"That magic is forbidden!" she said. "For good reason!"

"I know that." Luna said. "Once the Queen is dealt with, I will burn it. You have my word."

Cadance sighed and looked at her Aunt.

"Okay." she said. "What can I do?"

"First, let's get you back to a proper state of mind." Luna said, using some of the Moon's power to restore Cadance's magic reserves and appearance to their normal levels. "Now, we wait. As soon as the orchestra begins, we'll...seal the deal."

"Good." Cadance said. "One question, though. How are we going to keep the Queen at bay long enough in order to set this up?"

"Spike's working on that as we speak." Luna said. Cadance raised her eyebrows.

"Who's Spike?"

Luna told Cadance what she had missed, and she looked away.

"So Twilight was here, but she's gone?" she said. "And her friends and Aunt Celestia turned their backs on her?"

"They did, to a certain extent." Luna said. "Trust me, they'll get what they deserve later. For now, let's get some rest. You have a very special day coming up."

Then, Spike entered the room.

"All done, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance." he said. "Want to hear what I did? I think you'll be impressed."

"Do tell." Luna said.

"First was Applejack, which was easy." Spike said. "I changed one part of a recipe. The fritters, instead of needing 5 minutes in the oven, it'll be fifteen."

"Fluttershy was tricky, as the birds would have blown my cover, but I managed to snag this…" Spike said, holding up an empty bag of birdseed. "And kept them quiet with it long enough to change a few notes on the sheet music."

"What else?" Luna asked. "And you're right, I am impressed so far."

"Pinkie was probably the toughest." Spike said. "I knew I couldn't do anything to the plans or she'd notice in a heartbeat, so I adjusted the timer on her Party Cannon. She'll be firing a bit too early or a bit too soon. That makes all the difference."

"Rainbow was easy, though." Spike said. "I snagged her Daring Do book and put some bird seed around where it was, enough to convince Rainbow it was Fluttershy."

"And Rarity?" Luna asked.

"The dress." Spike said. "She's been working on the skirt liner or whatever for hours, so I dislocated one of the crucial stitches she needs to keep the whole thing together. Together it should be enough to keep everyone waiting long enough for everything to get set up."

"Perfect!" Luna said. "When the sun rises, and they discover the effects of your nighttime chaos...we'll set everything in motion."

"Good." Cadance said. "I can't wait."

====

As Celestia raised the sun, the day of the wedding came. As everypony present began their final procedures, all seemed quiet.

Until a massive series of screams, shouts, and accusatory lines started to come from the Dorms where the Elements were staying. As Celestia and "Cadance" went to investigate, Celestia sighed as they entered the room.

Both of them, including "Cadance", dropped their jaws at the sight of each Element Bearer at the throats of the others.

"Fluttershy, if you didn't take my book...THEN WHO DID?" Rainbow screeched. "I left it right here and found bird seed in its place!"

"I didn't do it, and neither did my birds!' Fluttershy defended. "But you're not the only one in trouble! Somepony sabotaged my sheet music!"

"As well as the dress!" Rarity complained. "Five hours' worth of stitches down the drain!"

"And the food!" Applejack cursed. "I knew it was five minutes, not fifteen! Why the recipe say fifteen!"

"And my Party Cannon's been messed with!" Pinkie said. "The timer on the detonator has been switched! I'll need time to fix it!"

"ENOUGH!" "Cadance" yelled. "What can you fix in time for the wedding!?"

Everypony flinched and quieted down.

"Well..." Fluttershy said. "I kept a backup copy of the music, but I need to look it over."

"I didn't use all the ingredients." Applejack said. "I can make a fresh batch, but it won't be ready in time."

"I can fix my Party Cannon, but I'll need tools to do it!" Pinkie said.

"I can fix the dress, but it might take a while." Rarity said.

"And I can find my book and get to work when I'm done." Rainbow said.

"Good." "Cadance" said. "Get to it!"

As she headed off, Celestia closed the door.

"And can somepony please clean up this mess?" she asked.

As the ponies sorted out the room, Celestia sighed and headed out.

"What else could go wrong?" she sighed.

"Lots." Luna said, approaching. "I can't say I didn't expect something like this, though."

"What makes you say that?" Celestia asked.

"Multiple reasons." Luna replied. "However, I know the truth about what happened in there, and something you don't know or were too blind to see."

"What does that mean?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling that Miss Twilight was onto something, and she had the right mind about it." Luna said. "I've been poking around with some new allies of mine. All I'm saying was that I have a plan in case this goes wrong. And it will."

Before Celestia could ask anything further, Luna was gone in a flash, teleported away.

====

As Spike, Cadance, and Thorax rejoined Luna in her office, Spike nodded proudly.

"I've got everything set." Thorax said. "My allies are in position."

"Good." Luna said. "Cadance, ready for your special day?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Good. Showtime." Luna smirked as the wedding bells began to toll.

====

As Spike and a disguised Thorax took their places in the crowd, Luna stood in front of the door after dismissing the Guards that were there. Casting the Totem Spell, she nodded resolutely.

"Aunt Luna?"

Luna turned to see the fake Cadance approach in her wedding gown.

"Are you ready?" Luna asked.

"I am." Cadance said, looking Luna in the eye, triggering the spell's effects. As they walked into the chapel, Luna stood behind and sent a quick nod to Spike. As the music began, Luna slammed the doors shut, disrupting the music.

"Before we begin, I have something to say." Luna said. "Princess "Cadance", it's not your special day, and it never was."

As the crowd whispered and gasped, Luna then pulled the door open, and everyone present dropped their jaws. The real Cadance came forward, her head held high and her eyes burning with fury.

"It's mine." the real Cadance said. "Luna?"

"Alright, everyone!" Luna cried, as Spike came forward. "Thorax, SHOWTIME!"

As Thorax came forward and shed his disguise, the fake Cadance gasped and then spoke in a feral, furious voice.

"Traitor!" she roared. "What are you doing? Answer me!"

"My queen, I no longer answer to you." Thorax said as his Changelings filed in behind him. "We no longer answer to you."

"And that's not all." Luna said, her horn flaring blue. "Changeling, I command you to reveal yourself!"

As an orb of blue flame appeared over the Fake Cadance, the Totem Spell took effect. Against her own mind and will, the disguise of the Changeling Queen melted away like embers.

"No...impossible…" Celestia murmured.

"WHAT?" Rainbow cried. "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it." Luna said. "Changeling, you may have fooled everyone until now, but you didn't fool me or Spike...or Twilight. Right now, you will be doing everything I say as I say it."

Chrysalis's knee bent, and she fell to the floor.

"First, you will release Shining Armor and return his magic." she said. "You will also release Thorax and his company from your rule."

Chrysalis roared in anger as a blue beam came from her horn into Shining Armor's horn. As he came to his senses, he gasped like everypony else. Then, the green light in the eyes of Thorax and his company faded, replaced by a white light.

"Second, you will take your amy, and your kind will never return to Equestria." Luna said.

As Chrysalis watched in horror, her army assembled in front of the gates...only for a beam of bluish white light to come down on them, wiping them out. A direct blast of the Moon's power rendered her army destroyed.

"And third…" Luna said. "If you ever come back to Equestria, I will end your life and the lives of those who support you. Now, you foul vermin, begone!"

As Luna blasted Chrysalis out of Canterlot with her army, Luna then walked to the open stained-glass window.

"AND STAY OUT!" Luna roared as she slammed the windows shut. Then, she turned to the astounded crowd to face the consequences of her actions.

Author's Note

Update!

Chapter 3-Postponed

As the astounded ponies in the Chapel dropped their jaws and gasped, Spike, Princess Luna, the real Cadance, and Thorax stood near Celestia.

"Sister?..." Celestia asked. "What just happened?"

"What just happened is a result of your short-sightedness." Luna said harshly. "As you saw, Twilight Sparkle was correct in her assumptions, assumptions you ridiculed, along with her friends."

As Shining approached the real Cadance, he looked away.

"Cadance?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, Shining." she replied. "Can we talk in private for a while?"

"Of course." Shining said. As the two of them headed out of the Chapel and towards the dormitories, Spike came towards Celestia.

"Heh." Spike scoffed. "So much for "You have a lot to think about", or is it too soon for that?"

Before Celestia could rebuke the young dragon, Luna came forward.

"Spike is without fault in this." Luna said. "He assisted me in countless ways, and I hereby absolve him of any offenses he committed. Furthermore, Thorax and his Changelings are now my guests. I will be keeping them in the Lunar Gardens until a suitable home for them is found."

Celestia was speechless. Gaping like a fish out of water, she sat down on her legs.

"Luna, I want to know what happened and I want to know now." she finally said.

"As you wish, Sister." Luna said. "First things first. Thorax and company, you may proceed to the Gardens and wait there. I will shield you for your protection."

"Yes, Princess."

As Thorax and his company flew out after bowing to Luna, the Princess of the Moon turned to the Elements.

"We will be having words once Cadance and Shining Armor have worked things out." she said. "And I will be just as harsh as you were to Twilight."

The Element Bearers flinched as Luna headed out, followed by Spike. As Spike was about to leave, he made a very offensive gesture at them with his left hand while the doors closed behind him.

====

About an hour later, the Elements, Celestia, Luna, Spike, Cadance, and Shining were seated in a conference room, where there would be no interruptions.

"So, Cadance, Shining Armor?" Luna asked. "Have you come to a decision?"

"We have." Cadance said. "We're still getting married."

The Element Bearers prepared to cheer, but Cadance cut them off.

"However, there will be quite a few...adjustments to how it will be done." Cadance said.

The Elements gulped as one.

"First, the only ones who will be attending are Princess Luna, who will be presiding, Spike, and Thorax the Changeling, as a reward for his honorable services to Equestria." Cadance said. "Nopony else is invited or will be allowed to attend for any reason whatsoever."

"Second, It won't be in Canterlot." Cadance continued. "I have settled on a location with Princess Luna's help, and it is secret to all but those I invited."

"Third, it's not happening anytime soon." Cadance said. "It will be in three months, exactly."

"Then that gives me time to prepare!" Rarity smiled. "A full three months to show off my best work!"

"And speaking of the Element Bearers, you're not coming either." Cadance said. "You're disinvited, and your services are no longer required."

That made the Element Bearers freeze.

"You had a chance to show off your skills, and you lost it." Cadance said. Rarity, you won't be doing my dress. Fluttershy, there won't be music. Rainbow Dash, no Sonic Rainboom. Pinkie, no reception. And Applejack, no baking from you."

"Then what's the point of a wedding?" Rainbow protested. "Shouldn't it be big and over the top?"

"Nope." Shining said. "We're doing it quiet this time. No public reception, no big meet and greet, nothing like that. Before you keep complaining, it wasn't Cadance's idea, it was mine. I didn't want it to be like this, but you five changed my mind rather quickly."

"We wanted it simple and just us originally." Cadance said. "The courts and Celestia disagreed, saying it wasn't proper for a Royal Wedding. Well, neither the courts nor you, Aunt Celestia, are getting married. So, it's our decision now and we're not changing our minds."

That made Celestia freeze.

"Cadance, are you sure of this?" she asked.

"Yes, absolutely." Cadance replied. "I'll be giving an address later to the public regarding this, and then to the court. If anypony has complaints, they can take it up with my fiance. And he's not budging on this, either."

"Agreed." Shining said. "We didn't want this to happen, and it seems we were right."

"But what about Twilight?" Rainbow protested. "Is this what she'd want?"

"I'm damn sure it is!" Shining cursed, to the surprise of everyone. "And don't speak of her any further. If my memory serves me right, you were the ones who betrayed her! So, no, I believe this is what Twilight would've wanted."

Rainbow turned purple and began to sulk.

"One last thing." Cadance said. "Celestia, you're not coming either. Princess Luna will preside, and none of us are telling you the new location. As far as I'm concerned, you're just as much at fault here."

"Now, we'll be giving our addresses now." Shining said as he and Cadance prepared to leave. "Element Bearers…"

The five of them leaned forward.

"It wasn't nice meeting you." Shining said. "I expected better from my sister's trusted friends, and look what I got. I'd say you should head back to Ponyville when you can. Your jobs are done here."

As the two of them left, followed by Spike and Luna, Spike stopped and looked at Rarity.

"First...Rarity, though I've wanted to keep this to myself…" he said. "I had a crush on you since we first met. Now, I don't and I never will again. I should thank you..because you made me realize that I was just fooling myself."

As Rarity gasped and looked away, Spike turned to the other Element Bearers.

"And for the record, I messed everything up last night at Princess Luna's request. And she's already absolved me for it" Spike said sternly. "Rainbow, you'll find your Daring Do book under my bed in Twilight's former room."

As Spike headed out, Luna shut the doors behind them, leaving the other ponies aghast.

====
Canterlot, Royal Court Chambers

As the Equestrian Court, which represented the interests of the nobles and the courtiers, filed into a session asked for by Princess Cadance, they were shocked to see Cadance come in with a very stern look.

"Greetings, everypony." she said. "I'm sure you know of the fiasco that happened a few hours ago. Rest assured, everything is fine now. But I'm not fine, not in the slightest."

Cadance took a deep breath and growled.

"Because now I have to deal with all of you." she said. "The wedding is still on, but before you begin clamoring for invitations, it's a closed ceremony. Princess Luna, Spike the Dragon, and Thorax the Changeling are the only ponies who will be present. Nopony else is allowed or should attempt to come. Especially none of you."

"Princess, you can't just…" one noble protested, only for Cadance to fire a beam of magic at the stallion's head, causing him to duck for cover.

"I can do whatever I want, since it's my wedding." she said harshly. "If I remember right, it was your stupid insistence that I have my wedding here as the biggest event in history. Well, I'm sorry to say it, but that's not happening again."

"The wedding is taking place in three months, at a secret location known only to a privileged few." Cadance said. "We will be staying at that location until the day of the ceremony. I"m not spending another moment longer than I have to in this city."

Cadance sighed and continued.

"If any of you have a problem with this, you can take it up with...my flank." Cadance said. "I don't care what any of you say about this, because it's not your wedding to ruin this time."

Cadance turned to leave, and sighed once more.

"Also, I've wanted to say this for a long time. Go buck yourselves and your stupid ideas for my wedding, ideas I will never, ever use." she growled. "Session is adjourned."

The nobles watched in stunned silence as Cadance exited the room without any further words.

====

As Shining Armor stepped back from the balcony after speaking to the residents of Canterlot, he sighed and waved goodbye to them. Shining knew more than a few ponies would be disappointed about the change of plans, but they would have to cope with it.

"How'd it go?" he asked Cadance as she approached.

"Fine." Cadance said. "I nearly took one noble's head off with my magic when he protested, but fine otherwise."

"Good." Shining replied. "Well, Princess Luna, Thorax, and Spike are waiting for us at the train station."

"Did the Element Bearers already leave?" Cadance asked.

"They left about an hour ago." Spike said, coming up with his backpack ready. "They promised to take care of the library until Twilight returns."

"They'd better." Shining mumbled.

"Well, if we're all set, let's go!" Spike said as he led the way to the train station, which was cordoned off from onlookers by the Lunar Guards. As the three of them joined Luna and Thorax in the sleeper car, the train lurched off towards the boreal forest in the southeast of Equestria.

====
Atlas HQ, Roanoke

Main Atrium

"So, that's it." Twilight said, exhausted from the long session of teaching. "Any questions?"

"I believe that's all of them." Jonathan Irons replied. "Your magic is fascinating."

"Thanks." Twilight replied. "Well, now I suppose I ask what happens after this. I mean, where I am I supposed to stay?"

"Here." Irons said, standing up. "Miss Twilight, I'd like to offer you a position here at Atlas."

Twilight flinched and raised her eyebrows.

"You're giving me a job?" she asked.

"More than that." Irons said. "I'm offering you a living position while we work to return you home. You'll have the basic necessities, a roof over your head, and whatever else you might need."

"What's the catch?" Twilight asked.

"The catch is you'll be training under Gideon as an Atlas Operative." Irons said. "We could certainly use someone of your expertise here at Atlas. You may not be a soldier, but we'll make one out of you when we're finished."

Twilight sighed and looked away.

"I accept." she said. "Seeing as I don't have a lot of options, what else can I do?"

"Then welcome to Atlas." Irons said, shaking Twilight's hoof. "Let's get you over to the R&D facility, see if we can find an Exo-Suit in your size."

"Exo-Suit?" Twilight asked.

====

As the six of them entered the R/D Facility, a few technicians scanned Twilight's data into the Atlas Central system while others worked to fabricate a modified Exo-Suit for her.

"What's your progress at?" Irons asked.

"We've got her Exo Suit ready, Mr. Irons. She'll need thorough training, but it should fit perfectly to her unique body shape."

As Twilight stepped up onto a pad, she was handed a frame-like suit that was shaped like an outline of her body. As her hooves stepped into the four leg mounts, a tac-pad moved into position on her right leg.

As she stepped off the pad, she flexed the small finger attachments on her Exo-Suit.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"To make it easier for you to use firearms and other human tech." Gideon said. "Seeing as it's all designed for our species's body shape, we decided to make manipulation easier on your end. They fold into your Exo when not in use."

As Twilight headed towards Gideon, she nodded.

"Alright, where do we start?" she asked.

Author's Note

Update!

Yep, Twilight's got an Exo-Suit. And she's gonna kick serious ass.

Chapter 4-Training

As the train carrying Cadance, Shining Armor, Luna, Spike, and Thorax drove through the night after leaving Canterlot, the occupants were currrently busy with a game of cards known as Small Talk. The objective was to rid yourself of your cards by placing any number of matching ones, such as three fives, into the middle. However, you could also group non-matching cards together and place those into the middle.

But, if somepony suspected that was the case, they would have to say "Small talk" or some other phrase, and the cards would be revealed. If it was true, the pony who called "Small talk" would draw two cards. If it wasn't, the pony who attempted it would return the non-matching cards into his hand and discard those in the middle.

So far, the game was going well for the five of them.

"Two Threes." Spike said, placing a pair of cards into the middle.

"Three Fours." Cadance replied, likewise placing her own cards.

"Four sixes." Shining added, placing a set of four into the center.

"Small talk." Thorax said, eyeing his own cards. Shining huffed and revealed the cards he had put into the middle, three sixes...and a seven. As he took his seven back and discarded the cards in the middle, Spike smiled at Thorax.

"Nice catch, Thorax." Spike said. "You learn quick."

"Thanks." Thorax said. "It helps I've become skilled in reading faces."

"How so?" Shining asked.

"Since we feed off emotions, being able to tell what other beings think through their expressions sort of...comes with it." Thorax said. "Two sevens, by the way."

As Thorax placed his cards in the middle, Luna smiled.

"Three eights." she smiled, placing them in the center as well.

"Small talk." Cadance said. Luna smirked aand revealed three eights, and Cadance drew two cards while Luna smirked at her.

"So, what do you think Twilight's up to?" Spike thought out loud. "I mean, wherever she is, she has to be doing something, right?"

"True." Luna said. "I'd like to think she's alive and well, and in good company."

"Same." Shining and Cadance replied. "Thorax?"

"I just hope she's alive." Thorax said. "I can't hope for much else, as I don't know her. Three nines."

As the game continued, each one of them let their thoughts return to their company at hand.

====
Atlas HQ

Exo Training Course

"Alright, start!" Gideon called over the intercom as Twilight prepared herself for another running start into the course. Ever since her arrival about a week ago, she had learned that the sun and moon rose and set on their own on Earth, and thus days and nights were much more even in some seasons and uneven in others.

Furthermore, the time period alloted to "day" and "night" was about twelve hours in the current summer season, meaning Twilight had longer days to train and learn at Atlas.

Her first step had been getting accustomed to the capabilities of advanced movement from her new Exo-suit, and then with Ilona's help, learned to use a firearm and Multi-use grenades in combat.

To the suprise of Ilona and everyone else, Twilight took to using a firearm quite easily with her magic and Exo's capabilities combined. She had managed to reach fifth place on the VR Firing Range yesterday, and was now dead-set on reaching fourth over Joker's score.

Now, she was on an Exo-Movement training course, a obstacle course designed for maximum use of Exo-assisted movement, such as gaps requiring a boost jump or normally insurmountable ledges.

Twilight leaped over one of these ledges and boost-slid under a wall before spinning around and boost-jumping up onto an open crate. Jumping down, she slammed into the ground and rolled to a stop, before sprinting to reach the finish.

"Time!" she called.

"Three minutes, forty-two seconds!" Gideon replied. "You broke your record from three days ago."

"Nice!" Twilight said, climbing up to the viewing balcony. "What's next?"

"You've got martial arts and fitness with Ilona." Gideon said. "Know where the gym is?"

"Yep." Twilight replied. "See you around, Gideon."

"See ya, mate."

As Twilight headed out into the sunlight, she smiled to herself. Her body was once a bit more...pudgier than the average pony due to her work in the library, but now she was quite fit and a lot more active than she had ever been. Furthermore, she was bunking with Ilona, and in the room next door were Gideon, Mitchell, and Joker.

So far, living the life of an Atlas Corporation operative wasn't bad at all. It was fast paced, and wild, but Twilight was enjoying the ride.

"Hey, Twilight."

She turned to see Mitchell approach and walk alongside her.

"Hey, Mitchell." she said. "Weren't you training with Joker on the T600s earlier?"

"Yep." Mitchell said. "Went by pretty quickly. By the way, Gideon told me you broke your record today. Congrats."

"Thanks." Twilight said. "I've got Martial Arts with Ilona now."

"Good luck." Mitchell said. "She knows her stuff, and she knows it well. I'd advise taking notes."

"I will." Twilight said. "Speaking of, do you know if Mr. Irons is around? I need his advice on something."

"He should be in his office from about now to six." Mitchell said. "What about?"

"I'm gonna get noticed by people outside of Atlas sooner or later." Twilight said. "I'd like to send a message out, just telling humankind that I'm here in peace, but I'm not sure how to do that."

"Yeah, Irons is a good idea for that one." Mitchell said. "That sort of thing is way above my pay-grade."

"I bet."

As the two of them laughed, Mitchell waved goodbye, as he was heading to the fitness center for a PT Session. As Twilight entered the gym, she was greeted by Ilona.

"Ready for more?" she asked as they stepped into the ring and deactivated their Exo-Suits. "I hope you did your homework."

"Oh, I did." Twilight said as the two of them began to spar, with a few other Atlas Corporation operatives watching them exchange blows.

====

As Twilight, now breathless and with a few more bruises, knocked on the door to Iron's office, she heard him say "Come in".

"Hello, Twilight." Irons said from his desk. "Training going well?"

"Yeah, I just finished a session with Ilona." Twilight replied. "Can I get advice on something?"

"Well, sure." Irons replied. "What sort of advice do you need?"

"I figured that my presence here on Earth is going to be...out there…sooner or later." she said. "I could use your help writing a letter revealing my presence and intentions here."

Irons nodded, and slid a laptop over to Twilight.

"Then let's get started." he said. "We've got some work to do."

Author's Note

Update!

Chapter 5-Mission: Traffic, Part One

Atlas Helicarrier, Africa

Three Months since arrival

"Oi, Twilight! Wake up!"

Twilight was shaken awake by Gideon, and as the Equestrian slipped out of her bunk, Gideon handed her a tablet.

"We've got a major hostage situation in Lagos." Gideon said as Twilight strapped on her Exo-Suit. "Details are on that tablet."

As Twilight looked over the mission details on her eyepiece, the two of them headed for the deployment room. Three months ago, with Iron's help, she had sent a message to the world stating her presence on Earth, but not her identity or location. Though the ensuing reactions were favorable, there were some elements who wanted to know more about her, details that Twilight was not yet willing to reveal.

Twilight didn't oblige their requests, only delegating them to Jonathan Irons, who handled them amicably. And two months ago, she had been fully welcomed into the Atlas Corporation alongside Mitchell and perfected some new magic on her end.

Primarily, a spell that allowed her to take the shape of a human and yet still retain her magical abilities. Though it was a nightmare to get working, Twilight succeeded in the end. She had also helped Irons develop a new type of Exo-Suit, which had just entered production and general use.

The new Operator-Class Exo-Suit was designed to merge the capabilities of both the Assault and Specialist Exos with minimal drawbacks. It came standard-issue with the Boost Jump and Overdrive attachments, and Twilight was the first to test it and gain Iron's approval for general use among other Atlas soldiers.

Suffice to say, Twilight had become popular among Atlas personnel for a number of reasons. Even though she was a rookie, Atlas soldiers were giving her thumbs-ups as they passed by her, and she had even managed to beat Ilona's score on the VR Firing Range.

"Hey, Twilight, step it up!"

Twilight nodded to Gideon and picked up the pace from losing herself in her thoughts. As they entered the deployment room, Twilight saw Mitchell working with an Atlas Fly Drone.

"Got it working yet?" Gideon asked as Joker tossed Twilight a Bal-27 Assault Rifle equipped with a Hybrid Sight and foregrip attachments.

"Yeah, I just got the sync working." Mitchell said as the Drone began to navigate around the room, their scans showing up on Mitchell's tac-pad. "This stuff is neat."

"Try not to fall in love with the toys." Gideon said, attaching a Red Dot to his own Bal-27. "It still comes down to the soldier that uses them."

"The gospel according to Gideon." Twilight said, selecting an ASM1 as her secondary weapon of choice. "We all set?"

"Yeah, Captain Ajani's waiting for us." Joker said as he ended a call with the Nigerian Army Captain. "Let's go!"

As the five of them headed for a waiting Warbird, Twilight changed her body shape to that of a human.

====

As the Warbird landed on a rooftop, Twilight could see several Nigerian Army MRAPs surrounding the conference center where the hostages were being kept.

"Captain." Gideon said, shaking Ajani's hand.

"Gideon." Ajani said. "We count thirty hostiles inside the building. The Prime Minister and the other hostages are in the main hall. They've set up machine guns on the upper balcony."

"Any luck with negotiations?" Joker asked.

"No." Ajani said. "The KVA are notorious that way. They don't negotiate."

"Brilliant." Twilight said as she helped Mitchell prep the Fly Drone. "We'll sweep and clear, bring your best men in with us. Is there any way we can reach the roof without them seeing us?"

"The maintenance causeway for the aboveground train." Ajani pointed to to the massive steel tube above the street. "That'll be your best bet."

"Right…" Mitchell said as he moved the Fly Drone into the building. "Look who we got here."

Gideon peeked at Mitchell's tac-pad feed, and growled.

"Hades." she said. "What's he doing here?

As the Atlas soldiers and Ajani watched, Hades and the Prime Minister spoke for a few moments...before Hades pulled out a pistol and shot a hostage in the head.

"Shit!" Mitchell cursed.

"Prophet, they just executed a hostage! We're striking now!" Gideon said as the team rallied.

"Copy, Two-One. You're clear to engage." the Atlas Command Center replied.

"They'll kill the Prime Minister if we attack now!" Ajani protested.

"They'll kill him if we don't." Twilight said. "We'll get him out alive, Captain."

As the Atlas Soldiers boost-jumped onto the Causeway, followed by four Nigerian Army soldiers, Twilight led the way to the side of the building.

"You guys use your Mag Grips." she said as the Atlas soldiers began to climb. "I'll help the Nigerians up."

As the Atlas soldiers maneuvered around a window, Twilight teleported the Nigerian soldiers to the roof.

"How'd you do that?" one of them asked.

"Long story." Twilight said as the others made it up to their position. "Deploy a Mute charge!"

Mitchell placed the sound-eliminating device on the roof while Gideon prepped a Direct Energy-Breach Device. As the Mute Charge took effect, Gideon activated the DE-Breac Device.

Four direct-energy beams sliced through the roof of the building, and then the explosives detonated. As the roof caved in, the Atlas operatives opened fire on several surprised KVA soldiers.

"Clear!" Twilight said as the Nigerians jumped down. "Move up! Hostage room in 100 meters!"

"Copy." Gideon said as he shot a guard on the stairwell. "Mitchell, Twilight, prep for breach."

As Twilight and Mitchell activated a pair of Harmonic Devices, the Nigerian soldiers took up defensive positions. The devices soon activated, showing a gray, grainy, but clear image of the other room.

"Four targets." Twilight said, lining up her Bal-27's sight on one KVA soldier. "Now!"

As the Atlas Soldiers fired, the four KVA units fell dead. Mitchell kicked the door down and the Atlas Soldiers moved in.

"Atlas Rescue force, nobody move!" Gideon yelled. "Mitchell, get the PM!"

As Mitchell broke the Prime Minister's handcuffs, Twilight searched the bodies.

"Hades must've bailed." she said.

"Not our problem." Gideon said.

"We do have a problem now, though!" Joker said. "There were sixteen hostages, right? We're missing three!"

"Fuck!" Gideon yelled. "Ajani!"

"Working on it!" the Captain replied.

"The technologists!" the Prime Minister said. "They KVA took them, they were the target, not us!"

"Shit." Twilight cursed. "Ajani, any time now!"

"What?' Ajani spoke into the radio, then to Gideon. "We just stopped them in a box truck heading downtown!'

"Color?" Gideon barked.

"White!" Ajani said. "It's heading down Independence Road, towards the highway!"

"That'll take it out of the city." Twilight said. "Prime Minister, sir, stay here. We'll handle this!"

As the Atlas units headed outside and through a commercial building, Ajani moved to catch up with them. As the Atlas Units entered a roundabout, a bullet smacked into the ground next to Twilight's left foot.

"Sniper!" Twilight yelled as KVA units began to open fire from various vantage points, including a pair of RPG Teams. "They're all around us!"

"Focus fire on those RPGs, Joker! Everyone else, start shooting!" Gideon yelled as he pulled the trigger on his Bal-27. Twilight followed suit as a full-blown firefight began in the streets of Nigeria.

Author's Note

Update!

Yeah, I split this one into two parts. The next part should be coming soon.

Also, first update of 2019!

Chapter 6 - Mission: Traffic, Part Two

As the incoming bullets smacked into the metal and concrete around her, Twilight loaded a fresh magazine into her Bal-27 and opened fire on a sniper team, dropping them both in quick succession. Diving behind an abandoned truck, she followed up with a Smart Grenade, which blew four KVA soldiers to bits.

"Tangos on top of the bus!" Mitchell called out as he boosted into cover to reload. Twilight shot the two KVA soldiers and teleported next to Mitchell, tossing him a Threat Grenade.

"Threat Grenade out!" Mitchell yelled as he tossed the device. There was a blur of red light, and the forms of three KVA squads appeared, highlighted in augmented reality across the traffic circle.

"Shit!" Joker cursed as he burst-fired with his ASM1. "We're outnumbered!"

"Just keep shooting!" Gideon replied. "We're almost there!"

As the Atlas operatives moved out of cover and advanced towards the slums, Twilight wiped some sweat from her brow and furrowed her eyes.

====

As the Atlas soldiers and the remaining Nigerian Army units moved through the neighborhoods, Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of a car engine moving towards them, and fast.

"Incoming!" she cried as a KVA Technical drove into the alleyway, aiming to run them down. As the other Atlas units dove for a side street, Twilight stood steadfast, formed her magic into a condensed beam, and fired.

The beam sliced through the armored truck and sent it careening towards Twilight, who expertly boost-jumped over the wreckage and into the side alley. As she advanced to Mitchell's position, Gideon called out over the radio.

"This isn't the time for theatrics, Twilight! Stay focused!"

"Roger that!" Twilight replied, as she unloaded her Bal-27 into a group of KVA. As the Atlas teams continued to work their way through the hostiles, Twilight watched various street camera feeds on her HUD.

"We don't have much time, Gideon!" she called out. "That box truck is on the move!"

"Roger!" Gideon replied as the last of the KVA fell. "Let's move!"

As the Atlas soldiers buddy-jumped over a large wall, they approached a busy section of the highway filled with rushing cars.

"Shit!" Joker cursed. "How are we getting through this?"

"Let me handle it!" Twilight replied, focusing her magic for a teleportation. "Mitchell, Gideon, on me!"

As the two Atlas soldiers grabbed on, Twilight teleported them across the street and behind several surprised KVA soldiers. After dropping them in quick succession, Mitchell pulled the chain-link fence open for use as a vantage point.

"Atlas Two-One, the target truck is approaching your position. You should have eyes on momentarily." Prophet spoke as the three of them aimed their weapons at the highway lanes. Several seconds later, a white box truck blew past them at breakneck speed.

"Damn, no clear shot!" Twilight cursed. Then, Gideon got a gleam in his eyes as a bus approached. The various Atlas soldiers there knew that gleam meant he had an idea that often seemed improvised or completely insane.

"Fuck it, let's do this! Jump now!" Gideon ordered as he boost-jumped onto the bus, followed by Twilight and Mitchell. As they landed on the bus and steadied themselves, Joker called out over the radio.

"Gideon, we've lost visual on you! What's the plan?"

"We're pursuing the target, southbound on the highway! Get transport and follow!" Gideon replied as the three of them jumped on top of another nearby bus.

"Roger that!" Joker replied. As the three Atlas soldiers kept their weapons up, Twilight saw a black SUV filled with KVA open fire on them.

"Hostile vehicles on the left!" she called, opening fire. As Mitchell switched places with Twilight to engage the hostile vehicle, she watched the SUV be destroyed...and a second technical appear and ram the bus.

Twilight and Gideon were able to hang on, but Mitchell wasn't so fortunate. As he fell to the side, he activated his Mag Grips just in time. As the SUV attempted to ram him once again, Mitchell leaped to the side and pulled out a pistol, firing several shots.

Then, his moment came. As he jumped onto the front of the truck, he smashed the windscreen, yanked out the driver, and threw him to the side into a street pole. As he boost-jumped back to his team, Twilight smirked.

"Does that count as theatrics, Mitchell?" she chuckled.

"Not now! Enemy chopper!" Gideon yelled as a hijacked helicopter appeared and its KVA passengers opened fire. As the three of them returned fire, Twilight activated Overdrive and engaged.

As her well-placed shots hit the helicopter's engine, flames erupted from the chassis and sent the helicopter down to the water below.

"Target truck on the right!" Gideon ordered. "Mitchell, with me! Jump!"

As the two of them leaped to the target vehicle while Twilight covered them, the drivers were quickly dispatched. However, the driver's foot held firm on the gas, and the truck crashed into the safety rail, then it flew off the bridge.

"No!" Twilight cried, priming her magic to take hold of the bus before it could fly into the water and likely death for the hostages inside. As she did so, the bus stopped cold in the air, surrounded by a purple glow. As Mitchell and Gideon worked their way to the rear door and retrieved the hostages one by one, Twilight could feel the strain of her efforts working away at her.

"Twilight, we're clear!" Gideon called as the last technologist was boost-jumped to safety by Mitchell. As Twilight released her hold on the truck and collapsed from the effort, Joker approached with Nigerian Army units.

"Please tell me that those fuckers are alive!" Joker called out as he injected Twilight with a first-aid shot to restore her stamina.

"Stop stressing, they're fine." Gideon said as the Nigerians helped the hostages away to safety. Sighing, he helped both Twilight and Mitchell to their feet.

"Not bad, you two. Drinks on me tonight back at base." he smirked as an Atlas Warbird set itself down on the bridge. As they boarded, Twilight and Mitchell gave each other a fist bump for a successful mission.

Author's Note

Yeah, this took too long to get published. Sorry.
Next time - Shining and Cadance have a heartfelt conversation, and Twilight speaks with Mitchell regarding her origins...And Irons speaks with a certain techologist...

Chapter 7 - Recuperation

Boreal Forest, East of Canterlot

The Royal Hunting Estate

"Well, it appears we've arrived." Princess Luna said with a wistful smile. "I haven't visited this house in many, many years."

"What is this place?" Thorax asked, staring at the massive villa before them, made from oak-wood and granite.

"My sister and I often sojourned here, back during the old days of Equestria." Luna said. "We've never used it since, but we keep it clean in case of special circumstances, like our own right now. It's perfectly isolated from everything else, as it should be."

As the five of them entered, Cadance brought Shining into the master bedroom and closed the door, then locking it.

"I presume they need some time alone." Luna said to a confused Spike. "I don't blame them. It's been quite the series of events for the two of them."

"I agree." Thorax said. "Speaking of, where are the other Changelings going to live?"

"There's an abandoned mineshaft south of Canterlot. Nopony uses it anymore, and seeing as it's just gathering dust, it will serve you as your new home. We can work out the details of supplies and renovating it later." Luna said. "There, nopony will bother you."

"That sounds good." Thorax said. "Anyway...Spike?"

"Yeah?" Spike replied.

"Can you tell me about this Twilight Sparkle?" Thorax requested. "I've heard so much, but understand so little."

"Sure thing." Spike replied as the two of them headed into the den. That left Princess Luna by herself, and she soon left for the library to relax.

====

"Shining?" Cadance asked as they sat down on the bed. "Can I ask you a few...questions?"

"Anything." Shining replied. "What's on your mind?"

"When I was gone, you stayed and slept in the same bed with her?" she asked. Shining gave a reluctant nod, realizing where this was going.

"Did you..." she asked. "Take...that step?"

"No." Shining said. "I made it clear to...her, that I wasn't going any further then our plan until after the wedding. She didn't like it, but she stayed with it."

"Good." Cadance said, wiping her eyes clear. "So, we're sticking to the plan?"

"Yep." Shining said. "Cadance, I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

"It's okay." she replied, brushing his cheek. "We found each other in time, and she's never coming back. Let's just take our time for now, okay?"

"Okay." Shining smiled, reminded of why he fell in love with her in the first place. "I promise I'll never leave you again."

"I'll hold you to it." Cadance smiled, a genuine smile for the first time in a long while. As they laid back on the bed, Cadance looked up with an expression of deep thought.

"What's up?" Shining asked.

"I'm just thinking about Twilight." she said. "What will she think if she arrives in time for our wedding? As far as she knows, I'm the evil one."

"We'll deal with it when the time comes." Shining said. "Cadance, trust me. It's only been a few days, what could've happened to her between then and now? It's not like she'll have changed much. If anything, she'll know its you the moment she sees you."

"Why's that?" Cadance asked, slightly surprised.

"I've never told you about this, but you've got this gleam, like a shimmer effect in your eyes whenever you're around me." Shining said. "I just now remembered that the Changeling Queen didn't have it when she was disguised as you."

"Odd." Cadance said. "I've never noticed that."

"Well, I have." Shining said, sitting up. "Anyway, you wanna get something to eat?"

"You're thinking of food at a time like this?" she replied. "You never change."

"Well, any soldier runs on his stomach." Shining smiled. "One of the greatest generals in history said that, and with good reason."

"I'll take your word for it." Cadance smiled again. "Alright then, let's get some lunch."

As the two of them headed out of the room and into the kitchen, they were surprised to see that the last time somepony was here, they didn't restock the expansive, shelved pantry before leaving.

"So, what now?" Cadance asked. "There's nopony around here with food that I know of."

"That's because you're looking in the wrong place." Luna said, approaching them. "That's the broom closet. This..."

Luna pulled open a nearby sliding door, revealing all sorts of food piled high to the point of overflowing.

"...is the pantry." Luna laughed. "We always keep it stocked. You need to learn where to look, Shining Armor."

"Brilliant!" Shining laughed. "I can learn how to cook with this much food!"

"Shining, the last time you tried cooking, you nearly caused a fire." Cadance chuckled.

"Well, we've got three months." Shining said. "I've got a sense for learning new things."

"And it's not called common sense." Cadance smirked. "Let me handle the cooking, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

As Luna procured the necessary ingredients for pancakes, Shining looked out the window at the nearby lake.

"I miss you, Twily." he said quietly. "Just get home soon."

====
Atlas HQ, Ronoake, United States

Dorms, Room 5527

As Twilight and Ilona, their exo-suits detached and clad in casual clothing, knocked on the door to Gideon's room, Twilight could hear the clinking of glasses through the door and the occasional gasp or curse word.

"The boys like to celebrate after each mission." Ilona said as she opened the door. "With alcohol and what they refer to as "the highlight reel"."

"Yeah, and you're just in time!" Joker laughed as he stood up to change the feed on the viewscreen to a news report on their recent mission in Nigeria while Mitchell got the lights. As the five of them watched, Joker smirked.

"Goddamnit, Gideon. I didn't know you were a movie star." he chuckled.

"Heh, I know it's the first time your backwoods, hillbilly ass saw someone with a full set of teeth, but don't get carried away." Gideon replied, earning smirks and voices of approval from Ilona, Twilight, and Mitchell.

"Funny, that's what your mom said..." Joker started to say, interrupted by the footage of Mitchell throwing a KVA soldier into a support pole.

"Holy...did you see that shit?" Joker asked.

"Not bad, right?" Mitchell said, as Joker tossed him a beer.

"We got lucky. The KVA's getting better every day." Gideon said.

"Yeah, also, what happened to that technologist that came in with us?" Twilight asked.

"Irons took that one on, which is fine by me." Gideon said. As they continued to watch, Joker smiled at the video feed.

"Bad-ass, fucking bad-ass." he said approvingly as the door opened a second time. Irons walked in and the whole room tensed up.

"As you were, son. As you were." Irons said.

"Was there something we could help you with, sir?" Gideon asked as the shutters opened, lighting the room. Irons looked to a shelf stocked with alcohol and smiled, taking out one bottle of whiskey.

"Well, a glass would be a start." Irons said.

"I'll do you one better. Gather round, ladies, gents." Gideon said as the six of them took their seats and Gideon grabbed a set of shot glasses. As Irons poured each one a glass, he spoke.

"There's an old military saying. "You treat your men like you would your own beloved sons, and they'll follow you into the deepest valley". I lost my son, and it taught me the importance of seizing the moment, of saying what needs to be said when you have the chance. All of you did a hell of a job out there. Lagos has opened up...fantastic opportunities for Atlas, and for that I'm grateful."

Irons raised his glass for a toast.

"To you, all of you." he smiled.

As they drank their shots as one, Twilight smiled, finally feeling like she belonged here for the first time. As the conversations continued, Twilight relaxed.

"I'm enjoying it here so much..." she thought. "But I do miss home. I'll go back one day, that's for sure. But who knows what the future has in store for me and my new friends."

====

Meanwhile, in the city of Seattle's nuclear power plant, blasts and explosions began to echo through the facility as the sun began to set.

Author's Note

Double Update!

Chapter 8 - Mission: Fission

United States, Washington State, Seattle Airspace

Near the Vekron Pacific Reactor Site

As the various Atlas soldiers loaded their weapons, Twilight and Gideon strode to the front of their currently-occupied Warbird and activated the holo-display.

"Alright everyone, eyes up. We have actionable intel that the KVA are trying to trigger a meltdown in the reactor room. We land in the south courtyard and push north. This shit ends in the control room." Gideon barked as the soldiers replied with affirmatives.

"And check your aim for civilians, we don't know if the KVA have hostages. We have confirmed there are multiple hostile technicals on site." Twilight added. "Let's go to work!"

In the middle of the night, Twilight and her friends had been roused by the Mission Alarm, which alerted them to the KVA leader Hades proclaiming his intentions over the internet, along with their newest mission. Shut down the KVA plot and secure the Seattle nuclear reactor before it could go critical. As the Atlas soldiers took their positions, Gideon opened the side doors. As the Warbirds relayed their statuses to Gideon, he smirked and took hold.

"Gonna be a good one, you two." he said to Twilight and Mitchell. "Just like Korea, only with more radiation."

"You and I remember Korea very differently." Mitchell replied as the Atlas Warbirds decloaked and ascended upwards over a nearby forest, straight into KVA anti-air fire. As the Warbirds took evasive maneuvers, an incoming salvo knocked one out of the sky, and sent it careening to the ground.

"2-4 is down! 2-4 is down! 2-5, break off and provide support for Alpha team!" Prophet ordered over the radio.

"Copy that, Prophet!" Gideon said. "Bravo, clear those rooftops!"

As Mitchell readied hus Bal-27 and opened fire, Gideon deployed his zipline, rappelling to the ground.

"Let's go!" he cried as Mitchell and Twilight followed suit, landing straight in the middle of a firefight between the Atlas soldiers of 2-4 and a KVA fireteam.

"Rally up!" Mitchell yelled, opening fire with is Bal-27 assault rifle. Twilight, the only operative on the Bravo Team to choose a different weapon, added bursts from her ASM1 to the fray.

"We've got friendly Shield drones up!" Joker yelled, as he and an Atlas soldier by the name of Carter sheltered behind one. "Keep moving!"

Twilight followed Joker's call and synced to the drone, which moved with her own footsteps. The Multi-use Shield Drone was another development Twilight had worked on. The drone featured a retractable shield that lowered when the operator's firearm was raised, and vice versa. Twilight's improved design featured a ballistic mesh screen instead of the original plate of laminated kevlar.

"We've got a functional MD Turret in the AO!" Mitchell yelled. "I'll take it!"

"Then get moving!" Gideon replied. Mitchell boost-jumped into the Turret's operator seat and opened fire. As the Atlas soldiers advanced, Twilight let herself fall into the flow of the battle, shooting and reloading with ease.

Then, Mitchell cursed over the radio as a KVA-controlled, T-600 Titan battle tank dropped from a transport chopper, which proceeded to cripple Mitchell's turret.

"Fuck! Prophet, we've got KVA heavy armor in the courtyard! T-600!" Twilight replied, tossing another Atlas soldier a grenade. "Is there any HE ordinance in the AO?"

"Atlas 2-5, we have RFID confirm on a Stinger near your position." Prophet replied.

"Copy that!" Twilight replied, stowing her ASM1. using a boost jump, she slid over to the stray rocket launcher and loaded it. The Stinger M7 was the most common anti-armor weapon on Earth at the present time. It featured four barrels, each equipped with a lock-on payload. Twilight had been tinkering with them back in Roanoke in order to improve the launcher's mobility and ease of use, but so far, she hadn't had any luck.

"Opening fire!" she yelled, firing a locked salvo at the KVA tank. To her surprise, the rockets exploded prematurely.

"Damm!" she cursed. "It's got a Trophy System, and I'm clean out of ammo!"

"Ammo crate on your right! We'll cover!" Joker replied. "Make it fast, that tank is tearing us apart!"

Twilight slid to the ammo crate, and hastily secured two additional payloads. Opening fire once again, the tank took four missiles to the main chassis. The blow hurt the mechanical monster, but it wasn't enough to disable or destroy it.

"One more time!" Gideon yelled. "Hurry, we're losing ground!"

Twilight obliged, and the tank fell down and exploded into molten shrapnel. Twilight retrieved her ASM1 and boost-jumped off a nearby truck to catch up with the main group.

"Good job!" Gideon yelled. "2-4, 2-3, hold position! We'll move in and secure the reactor!'

"Copy that!" the Atlas sergeant replied. As Joker, Carter, Gideon, Mitchell, and Twilight entered the facility, Prophet spoke over the radio.

"Alpha and Bravo teams, be advised. KVA technicians have overridden the emergency shutdown and are attempting to trigger a critical event! We have no time to waste."

"Copy that!" Twilight replied as they forced their way past a security checkpoint, eyeing the bodies of deceased plant workers.

"No time to waste, Twi." Gideon said. "Down the elevator shaft, one at a time. Carter, Joker, you're up."

As the two Atlas soldiers forced the doors open and exposed the main cable, Twilight jumped and took hold, sliding down with ease. The others followed, and they soon reached the main area of the lower floors.

"Prophet, status on the core?" Gideon requested.

"Temperature is climbing, but still in safe range." Prophet replied.

"Then we can still stop this." Twilight said with a slightly grim tone. "There's the door up ahead to the reactor room."

As the Atlas Soldiers stacked up, the door opened from the other side. A KVA infantryman swung his weapon towards them, only for Gideon to smash the stock into his face before slamming him to the ground.

"Ready?" Gideon asked as the others nodded in reply.

"Sweep and clear." he smirked as he kicked the reactor door open, and gunfire erupted all around them. Twilight dropped three KVA with successive headshots before diving to reload. Mitchell tossed her a Threat Grenade, and she threw it with perfect accuracy.

Red outlines appeared on their HUDs, marking the positions of three KVA platoons in front of them and the reactor control room.

"Grenade out!" Twilight yelled, hurling a Smart Grenade towards a clustered group of snipers armed with the NA-45. The grenade automatically homed in and detonated, clearing the snipers.

"Move up!" Gideon ordered. As the last of the KVA were cleared, Twilight pulled up the reactor schematics in her own HUD.

"We've got a generator complex full of KVA between us and the control room." she said. "I think I can get us a shortcut to the objective, though."

"What kind of shortcut?" Gideon asked.

"We take this hallway and breach the roof of the control room." Twilight said, motioning out the schematics in the air. "We'll save ammo and time."

"Then let's go." Gideon ordered. After more searching and an exchange of fire with a KVA scout team, they breached the control room roof and reached the main console.

"Get to work!" Gideon ordered as the soldiers took various consoles in an attempt to shut down the reactor. Every so often, a pressure blast would shake the floor and walls.

"Gideon, core temperature has reached critical level." Prophet spoke over the radio. "Evacuate now! You have seven minutes at most!"

"Negative, we can do this!" Twilight replied.

"2-1, you are to evacuate now!" Prophet retorted. "We can't risk losing additional units!"

Gideon slammed his fist into the holographic keyboard, and motioned everyone towards the maintenance exit. As they sped out, they could see Atlas Warbirds extracting friendlies, and KVA choppers already pulling out.

"Move it!" Gideon ordered as the team reached their Warbird, and as soon as they were in the air, a massive explosion tore through the facility. As the central core went critical, secondary explosions smashed what was left into dust.

"There's no turning back from this." Gideon said. "Twilight, rally up."

As Twilight nodded and reluctantly left the window, they could only think of the consequences that would come in the future.

Author's Note

This took too long to get out.

Next time - Detroit Aftermath and the Sentinels begin to enter the fray.

Chapter 9 - Mission: Aftermath, Part One

Atlas Corporation Residence Camp

Four Years Since Seattle Attack

As the Atlas Warbird decloaked and landed on the camp's helipad, three Atlas Soldiers disembarked and began heading into the camp.

"Welcome to Detroit!" Joker called out to Twilight, Mitchell, and Gideon, fresh from an operation in Rio de Janeiro. "How've you been holding up?"

"Decent enough, Joker." Twilight smiled. "If the KVA's still out there, we're still at work."

"Amen to that." Gideon said. As the four of them regrouped and headed into the Barracks Area, Twilight let herself relax as she took in the sights of the now recovering city of Detroit. Ever since the operation in Seattle, Twilight had changed significantly. She had cut her mane back to about shoulder-length, and gotten a tattoo on her right shoulder of the Greek Caduceus. She had been promoted to an Atlas Lieutenant, and Irons considered her one of his best. She had even made plans for introducing the Corporation to Equestria once the KVA was defeated.

Now, she stood with her old friends once again as they walked through the main path through the camp. Despite their living conditions, the citizens there were pretty jovial, playing baseball or doing other forms of recreation.

Then, they approached the Hazard-Scan Checkpoint, and stood still alongside her friends. Green LEDs scanned her for radiation, and they passed through the gate.

"So, we still on the clock?" she asked.

"Yeah. Our target is Dr. Pierre Danois." Mitchell said. "Hades's right hand man and a wanted criminal. He's holed up in the Midtown area hospital. Torrez should have our bikes ready."

As they approached the garage and vehicle bay, Torrez tossed them their keys and the five of them mounted up. As they proceeded to the checkpoint, three Atlas AST units stopped them.

"Name and order number." one bellowed.

"Gideon, order 5527." Gideon replied as his tac-pad was scanned. The AST Unit motioned them forward as the gate opened, revealing the desolation outside the camp. As they drove off into the city, they didn't notice three soldiers wearing black and yellow instead of the Atlas-standard red watching them through a MORS Sniper Rifle.

"We moving in?" one asked.

"Negative." the leader replied. "Kingpin's orders were to keep an eye on them, not to interfere with their mission. If they need support at any moment, we engage and then make ourselves scarce. We get questions from them, you know how to respond."

"Yes, sir."

As the three soldiers began to follow the Atlas units on their own bikes, which were lighter and less bulky, they cloaked and disappeared into the night.

====

"Huh." Twilight said, looking at her bike's holomap. It had displayed three brief signals registered as unknown contacts for a second, then they had vanished.

"What's wrong?" Mitchell asked.

"Apart from the feeling that we're being watched, I got three unknown contacts on my scanner for a moment, then they were gone." she replied. "KVA?"

"Shouldn't be." Gideon said. "No one's clear to be in this sector apart from us and a few Hazmat crews."

"Maybe it's one of those crews." Torrez suggested.

"Probably." Joker said. "Keep an eye on it, Twi."

"You got it."

As the Bikes came to a stop, Joker took Torrez and Mitchell to do recon on the hospital, while Twilight and Gideon flanked left through a desolated elementary school.

"Hazmat truck, up ahead." Twilight said, scanning the license plate. Strangely, it wasn't linked to any clean-up crews monitored by Atlas, and they were the only ones allowed in this area.

"Their suits are gone, too." Gideon noted. "Joker, we've got an abandoned clean-up van, suits missing. Treat hazmats as hostile unless confirmed friendly."

"Roger that." Joker replied. As Twilight and Gideon entered the school, they passed through the lobby and into a hallway...only to be greeted by several dead civilians, and judging by the smell and their condition, they had been there a while.

"Yeah, that's not right." Twilight grimaced. "KVA, there's no doubt."

"They were fucking executed." Gideon sighed. "One bullet each, back of the chest or head."

"Let's move." Twilight said. As they proceeded to a burnt-out and destroyed balcony through a stairwell, they saw the only way across to the rendezvous was over several pieces of rebar and construction material.

As they trekked over their precarious obstacle, Twilight and Gideon froze at several humans in Hazmat suits below them, armed with KVA weaponry.

"Let 'em pass, Twi." Gideon whispered. Twilight stood deathly still as the KVA exited the building and went out of sight.

"What now?" she whispered.

"Let's find the rest of the team." Gideon said as he prepared to take a step, but Twilight pulled him back with her magic.

"What the hell, Twi?" he growled.

"I saw it buckling under your weight. You had two seconds before you would fall and alert every KVA within five or so meters that we were here." Twilight hissed. "Watch your step."

Gideon tested the platform, and saw she was right.

"Nice catch." he sighed as they boost jumped over to the other side before proceeding to the street. However, the three soldiers from before were watching them through binoculars built into their HUDs.

"Is she the one we're after?" one asked.

"Affirmative." the leader replied. "Isolate and deliver the package to her. Then we return to the mission."

"Yes, sir!"

====

As Twilight took point into the street, she saw a blinking blue light from the curbside in front of her. She turned around to see Gideon speaking over the radio with Prophet and Joker, thus she had time.

She picked up the object, only to realize it was a data drive with a strange logo on it. It was of a grecian or roman style helmet with wings, emblazoned with lightning bolts and three letters in yellow.

STF

Twilight raised her eyebrows. Someone cleared wanted her to find this, and by her guess, it was the three contacts from before. She pocketed the drive and motioned Gideon forward.

"Friendlies up ahead." Gideon said as Torrez, Mitchell, and Joker waved them into a sheltered ambulance.

"Clock's ticking, guys." Mitchell said. "Danois is still at the hospital, but that could change at any moment. We need to move fast and quiet, otherwise we'll be overrun."

"Plus, those KVA were in Hazmat suits." Twilight added. "If they're in disguise, there's bound to be a lot more of them then we thought."

"Agreed." Gideon said. "We need to finish the mission, now."

"Then let us give you cover as you advance to the hospital. We'll have reactionary forces inbound once your reach your target."

The five Atlas units spun around to see three human-like mirages outside the ambulance. They wore armor that was of a new design to Twilight, alongside Exo-Suits. The strange parts were the helmets they wore, which had multiple eye-slits and their leader had a yellow stripe on the forehead.

As they came forward, the helmet clicked and retracted its faceplate, revealing a man with tanned skin and brown eyes.

"Who are you?" Gideon asked.

"That's classified, sir, but we're on the same side." the man replied.

"How can we know?" Twilight retorted. The man looked at her and spoke again.

"I can tell you my name, but that's all you're getting." he said. "I'm Knox. That's Harper and Diaz. The KVA have a killzone built on the road that leads to the hospital, manned with RPGs and a machine gun. Take a look."

Knox projected a hologram of the area, and the Atlas units saw he was correct.

"We can take care of the heavy weaponry." Knox continued. "But the infantry is up to you. Once Danois is secure, we'll extract you back to the Atlas camp. However, let me caution you about one thing."

"What?" Mitchell asked.

"This operation and all subsequent interactions between us never happened." Knox said. "Let's move."

Gideon nodded and the once five, now eight soldiers proceeded to move to cover inside the street that led to the hospital. Several KVA units were mounted near the entrance, and two had RPGs.

"Engage on my mark." Gideon said as the soldiers lined up their sights on their chosen targets.

"....Mark!"

As the sounds of gunfire erupted, Twilight opened up with her Bal-27, though something suggested to her that Knox and his team were up to something that she couldn't quite piece together.

Until she could, she'd fight with them and go with the flow.

Author's Note

Update!

Next chapter - Danois's extraction and the Sentinels begin to monitor Twilight as Atlas preps for the operation in Santorini to eliminate Hades...

And in Equestria, the crew at the cabin wonders what could be happening to Twilight...

Chapter 10 - Mission: Aftermath, Part Two

As the KVA Soldiers continued to send mag after mag of ammo at the Atlas soldiers and their new allies, Twilight Sparkle, while she stooped to reload her Bal-27, attempted to scan one of the yellow-clad soldier's Exo-suits in order to see what she could discover.

However, even though Atlas Corporation scanning and interfacing tech was top of the line, the Exos these soldiers were using were equipped with firewalls and security measures that stopped the scan within two seconds of deployment.

"Damn." Twilight cursed, resuming her assault on the KVA while Gideon, Mitchell, Joker, and Torrez pushed an ambulance up the road to use as cover. "Whoever Knox and his team are, they're good at their job and well equipped. Almost too good."

As the last of the KVA outside the hospital fell dead, Knox motioned the group to rally on him.

"Your target is on the third floor office complex, right here." Harper said, his voice distorted due to a voice scrambler built into the helmet. "We'll cover you from the ground while you rappell up from the atrium."

"Now hold on a minute." Twilight interjected. "There's a lot of things I don't know here about you three, and I would very much like to know who you are, and who you work for."

"That's classified." the three soldiers replied instantly. Knox also looked at Twilight before continuing. "And I know you tried to scan my Exo, ma'am. For the record, don't try that again."

"You think you could take me?" she asked, an eyebrow perked in anger.

"Yeah, I can." Knox replied. "Let's move."

As the three soldiers reactivated their cloak and led the Atlas units into the Atrium, Twilight looked down at the pouch on her tac-rig that held the data drive she found earlier. She made a mental note to decrypt and analyze the drive once they returned to HQ in Roanoke or the Detroit refugee camp.

For now, she had a job to do. As she reloaded her Bal-27 and stacked up with Mitchell and the others, Knox dropped three KVA in quick succession with his IMR before throwing a knife into the head of a fourth. As the two groups engaged the remaining KVA, Gideon barked for Twilight and Mitchell to retrieve the target on their own, as the three others would hold the KVA back.

Twilight and Mitchell boost-jumped over to a stairwell and began to climb, and it wasn't long before they were outside the target's room. With a boosted kick from Mitchell that smashed the door to bits, and five quick shots from Twilight, the room was clear of KVA. While Mitchell zip-tied Dr. Danois, Twilight relayed their success back to the Atlas command dispatchers.

"We copy, two-three." Prophet replied. "Proceed and xxtract the target back to the refugee camp ASAP."

"Confirmed, Prophet." Twilight replied. "Two-three out."

As the two soldiers moved out, Mitchell carrying Danois, they found the atrium had been cleared of KVA and the three mysterious soldiers were gone.

"Where'd they head off to?" Twilight asked Gideon.

"Once we cleared the area, they cloaked and headed out to to fuck knows where." Gideon replied. "They did give me this, though."

It was a data drive similar to Twilight's own, and she frowned.

"I got one too earlier." she said. "We can talk about this later. We need to move, we've probably kicked the hornets' nest by now. KVA should be coming in fast."

"Right, let's move!" Gideon motioned, and the five of them headed back to their waiting bikes. As Joker secured Danois on his own Bike, Twilight mounted up and followed the others back through the ruins to the camp.

However, had she looked behind her one last time, she might've seen Knox and his team extract on a Razorback VTOL, standard issue for the US Military. The Razorback bore the same sigil as the data drive, and as the three soldiers sat down, Knox opened a comms channel.

"This is Lancer 1-1, you copy?" Knox asked.

"We copy, Lancer." said a rough, deep, yet experienced voice in reply. "Did the Atlas units get their packages?"

"They did, indeed." Knox replied. "Once they open the drives up to the Atlas mainframe, we'll be all set for Phase Two."

"Copy." the voice replied. "However, once we get into the Atlas command server, how do you know you'll find what you're looking for, Knox?".

"I've already taken that into account." Knox replied. "There's only one place the data we're looking for could be. And I've already mapped out what I need to do."

"Good work, Knox." the voice affirmed. "Return to HQ. Command out."

====

As Twilight and the others left Dr. Danois in the hands of Ilona once they returned to base, Twilight, Gideon, Mitchell, and Joker said goodbye to Torres and headed for the Tech area. After finding an open terminal, both Twilight and Gideon plugged in their respective data drives to access their contents.

"Whatcha got, Twi?" Gideon asked.

"I've got a large text file, some holographic intel, and a video feed link for an address not in the Atlas database." Twilight replied. "You?"

"I've got a data packet with some heavy encryption." Gideon said. "I'll go first."

Gideon decrypted the data packet, and watched as a command window appeared on the monitor, and just as quickly as it had come, it had vanished.

"Anything?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing." Gideon frowned, before sighing and turning away, not noticing the file in question disappear from the interface as the computer went silent.

"Let's see that text file." Gideon said to Twilight, who opened the file and displayed it on the screen. The words that popped up made the Atlas units freeze in shock.

HADES WILL MEET WITH KVA FINANCIAL BACKERS IN SANTORINI, GREECE IN 72 HOURS FROM 7:00 PM DETROIT TIME AT THE CURRENT DATE. THIS IS YOUR ONE CHANCE. DO NOT WASTE IT.

KINGPIN

Twilight and the Atlas soldiers recoiled. If this intel was true, they could end the KVA in less than three days and have time to spare. As Mitchell made the call to tell Mr. Irons of their discovery, Twilight stayed quiet. Because through all this, something didn't sit right with her. As she left her seat to rejoin her friends, the data drive in her pocket went quiet.

Author's Note

Update!

Yeah, I might deviate a bit more from the AW story for the next mission, but we will see.

Chapter 11 - Interlude: Thoughts in the Wind

Atlas Helicarrier
Barracks, Deck 14

En route to Santorini, Greece

Twilight was having trouble sleeping on this particular evening. Even though Joker, Mitchell, Ilona, and Gideon were slumbering in their own bunks, Twilight was still awake. They had just finished meeting with the United States Defense Department and General McDonnel to discuss the intel the Atlas teams recovered from both Danois and the mysterious text file.

Suffice to say, there was some heated talking on both Irons and McDonnel's part over sanctioning the operation, but Atlas won out. Now, Gideon and his team, Twilight included, were en route to Santorini. The game plan was at first seemingly simple, yet deceivingly complex.

While Gideon and five other Atlas soldiers took a truck to the conference center where the KVA were holding the meeting, Twilight, Mitchell, and Ilona, posing as tourists, would eliminate the KVA safehouse. Once they cleared a path to Hades using a WASP, or Weapon-Aligned Sniper Platform Drone, Gideon's team would capture Hades, dead or alive.

Dead being the preferred option, in this case.

Twilight tossed and turned in her bunk, before she sighed and snuck out of their dorm to the recreation lobby, and logged into the computer that was analyzing the two data drives they got from "Knox" in Detroit.

As she looked over the decryption proceess, she raised her eyebrows slightly. The two data drives were sym-encrypted, meaning that the data of the first had to be used to access the second, and vice versa. The two drives, now that they were together, they could be opened.

Twilight typed into the console, and to her nod of approval, the drives opened, and displayed an image of the globe and a command prompt window. Twilight watched as the globe on then screen slowly became overtaken by Atlas's infrastructure and military, as the necessary pieces to essentially rule the world slowly came into the hands of Atlas and Atlas alone.

Twilight knew about this, but she still felt it odd that Irons would need to keep standing military bases and necessary contracts in place even when the country in question was friendly to Atlas motives.

Then, she noticed the command prompt had a new line of text in it.

"Makes you think, doesn't it?"

She hastily typed a message back.

"Who is this? ID yourself immediately."

A response slowly appeared.

"You can call me Sentinel. And you're fighting on the wrong side, Twilight Sparkle. And I'm aware of where you come from."

Twilight's eyebrows widened at that line.

"How do you know about Equestria?"

"I have my ways. You've already met some of my best operatives."

"Knox, Harper, and Diaz? What do they have to do with this?" she typed.

"They work for me and the organization I answer to. That's beside the point, however. Irons is not the man you think he is."

"How so?" she typed slowly.

"He is slowly gathering the entire free world into his palms because of the KVA attacks four years ago. Ever since, he's done nothing but take over nation after nation, all in the name of security.

How much of that is enough for you?"

Twilight furrowed her eyes.

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you." was the reply. "Once Irons takes over Earth, he'll come for Equestria. And once he does, there won't be anyone left to stop him should he succeed."

Twilight looked away. She did have small feelings about Irons' new methods of acquiring loyalty from the soldiers in Atlas. The newer soldiers who joined up after the KVA attacks were more dedicated and almost fanatical in their loyalty to Jonathan Irons.

Twilight was tempted to delete the window, but she asked a question.

"What can you tell me?"

As the other side began sending text files over to her, Twilight looked them over. The files stated that Atlas was repsonsible for several "accidents" in multiple nations involving civilians and sometimes protesters. Many of these "accidents" were prominently written about in the local or national news, but in the Atlas news feed, there was no mention of them whatsoever.

Furthemore, the military complexes of multiple nations were handing over their regular soldiers to Atlas for training, but many of these trainees never came back to their original militaries and nations.

Finally, multiple politicians in nations currently under Atlas's control or influence who were critical of Irons' policies often died in accidents or attacks by "insurgents" or even a "KVA sub-faction". Except from what Twilight knew, the KVA ddn't have such factions and these hostiles were trained to use Exo Suits and compatible tech, which the KVA didn't have access to.

"Like I said, it makes you think about what side you're really on." was the line in the console window. "When you fall from grace in Atlas, we'll be there to catch you...but know this…it'll come a lot sooner than you expect. Sentinel out."

Twilight was about to respond when the window closed and the data drives closed their connections. She sat there for a few moments, before powering down the computer and returning to bed, being careful to not disturb her still-sleeping teammates.

====

"Oi, Twilight, you okay?"

Twilight looked up from her breakfast to see Gideon looking at her with a raised brow.

"Yeah, I didn't really sleep last night." she said. "Plus I was working on decrypting those data drives further."

"How'd that go?" Mitchell asked as he sat down nearby.

"Went fine, nothing else other than what we already found." she lied. Luckily, her teammates didn't say anything else and she continued to eat, her mind swirling with unanswered questions. As she went through the operation plan again in the briefing room, Twilight could only wonder what lay in store for her should what she was told by "Sentinel" be true after all.

Later, once the time came to deploy into Santorini, she changed into civilian clothes, stowed her gear, and retrieved the duffle bag with her kit, the WASP Drone, and Exo-suit. Then, she headed to a civilian-make private VTOL which Mitchell and Ilona had already prepared and boarded.

"We all set?" Mitchel asked as Ilona guided the VTOL out of the helicarrier and towards the Santorini airport.

"Yes, I'm good." Twilight replied. "What's our heading?"

As the VTOL descended into the airport terminal, Twilight tightened her grip on the duffel bag as Gideon spoke into her earpiece.

"Hades is confirmed to have already arrived and is set up at the conference center. Clock's ticking, team. Let's get this done."

Author's Note

Update!

Next time - Mission: Manhunt , followed by Mission: Utopia.

Chapter 12 - Mission: Manhunt, Part One

As Twilight, Mitchell, and Ilona sat down at a beachside cafe, Mitchell proceeded to hack into the surveillance cameras near the market to track the KVA comms signal they had procured earlier. Twilight brought up the cafe menu and ordered drinks for the three of them, her expression tight as she did so.

"Ease up, we're supposed to be tourists." Ilona said, noticing Twilight's expression and posture. "Mitchell, status on the Key-man?"

"I found him." Mitchell said, after a few moments of swiping through the Santorini Police cameras and using facial recognition tech on a few civilians before finding a man wearing dark clothing and a ballistic vest. "He's headed into the backstreet areas, near our position at the market. The safehouse has to be nearby."

"Then we're on the move." Twilight said, paying the tab for their drinks wirelessly. "Alpha, you're clear to proceed, moving to the safehouse now."

"Copy, loading up the van. Don't fuck this up." Gideon said with a hint of amusement.

Twilight, Mitchell, and Ilona left the cafe and headed into the backstreet, following the Keyman to his destination. In the meantime, Twilight brought up a video-feed from Irons.

"Team, I don't need to remind you how important this mission is. Hades is responsible for the Nuclear attacks four years ago. We bring him down, the entire KVA network goes with it. There's no room for error, so get it done!"

"Roger that." Twilight replied, looking down at the concealed Atlas .45 pistol in her jacket. She and Mitchell split up from Ilona so she could distract the guards, while Twilight and Mitchell took positions to quietly eliminate them afterwards.

"What are you doing here?" a KVA soldier barked at her.

"I was looking for the market, and I got lost." Ilona replied casually. "Can you point me in that direction?"

"It's not here, leave now!" the soldier replied, drawing an MP443 Grach pistol. Ilona covertly motioned with her hand, and Twilight snapped one of the KVA soldier's necks while Mitchell used a electrostun brace, a new invention of Twilight's, to subdue another. Ilona had snapped the last soldier's throat with a quick karate chop.

"Alpha, safehouse exterior is clear." Twilight reported. "We're proceeding to the interior."

"Copy. Clock's ticking." Gideon replied. As Mitchell swiped a KVA keycard he pulled from the last KVA soldier and opened the door, the three Atlas soldiers loaded their custom Atlas .45 Pistols, equipped with suppressors and red-dot sights. Twilight let Ilona take point as they entered the house and took cover to avoid detection.

"Hold position, painting targets." Ilona whispered, setting off a threat grenade. The holographic forms of four KVA soldiers appeared in their HUDs. As Ilona shot one once he was out of sight, Mitchell and Twilight then shot two others once a video call with who Twilight presumed was Hades ended. As they proceeded upstairs, Mitchell swiped another's legs out from behind and pulled him out of sight before shooting him in the head.

"Move up. This one's mine." Ilona ordered. She pulled a pillow out from under a KVA soldier on the couch and stuffed it onto his face before two-tapping him.

"Clear!" Mitchell whispered as he shot the last KVA soldier. "Alpha, safehouse is clear. We're setting up the WASP now."

"Check, we're almost there." Gideon replied. "Get ready to provide overwatch on my mark."

As Twilight magically assembled the WASP Drone, and then equipped her Exo-Suit and tactical rig, Mitchell and Ilona followed suit and loaded their weapons of choice. Ilona had chosen a Bal-27, modified for urban combat alongside Mitchell. Twilight had chosen an ASM1 with similar attachments for this operation. Twilight pulled the bolt and chambered a round into the breech before throwing the WASP out the window. The drone activated and cloaked before flying into the sky, away from the civilian market nearby.

"We're set, sending WASP to sniper position." Twilight said, taking control of the drone. "Ilona, call my targets."

"Copy." Ilona replied. As the truck carrying Gideon's team approached the KVA HQ, a soldier approached Gideon and began angrily talking with him.

"Yeah, I know, but I have a delivery on 14th Street. This isn't 14th?" Gideon replied.

"Of course this isn't 14th or wherever the hell you're going! Leave now!" the soldier replied.

"But I have to make this delivery!" Gideon replied.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shot the KVA soldier as the other Atlas units dropped his teammates and stowed them in the back of the car.

"Boring conversation anyway." Gideon smirked. "We're moving in."

As Ilona called to shoot the two soldiers on the overwatch, Twilight did so before quickly shooting a stray soldier who stumbled out of a building and went for his gun upon seeing the Atlas units.

"Alright, courtyard clear. Moving to the Atrium." Gideon said. Twilight affirmed, and swung the WASP Drone to the poolside area, dropping the KVA soldiers there. As Gideon approached the Atrium door, Twilight called for him to set a Mute Charge.

"Copy, you've got 45 seconds." Gideon replied. "Watch my back, Twi."

"Check." Twilight replied. "Moving WASP, standby."

"...go now." she then called as Gideon detonated the Mute Charge. As the KVA soldiers began to scatter in surprise and shock at all the noise being drowned out in an instant, Twilight sent several rapid yet accurate shots into the room. As she dropped the KVA she aimed at, Gideon's team cleared the rest.

"Time was 37 seconds." Gideon said. "Moving to the stairwell now."

"Hold up, Gideon. There's too many on the top floor. I'll trip a car alarm, see if I can draw some away." Twilight cautioned. "Starting now."

"Check."

Twilight put a round into a sedan, and it began to sound its alarm. Three soldiers broke off to investigate, leaving two behind.

"Take the two on the stairwell. I'll take the others." Twilight said, opening fire. As the area was cleared, Gideon and his team moved to the front door.

"Hold, confirming ID." Twilight said, moving the WASP to the glass window. As she caught a good glimpse of Hades's face, she growled.

"Confirmed. Taking the shot."

As she fired and Alpha threw in flashbangs before dropping the guards, Gideon moved to scan Hades's retina. After a few seconds, he drew backwards in shock and surprise.

"Negative! Not Hades, repeat, it's not Hades!" Gideon said. Then, a loud beeping could be heard over the radio. Twilight's eyes widened and she cried out into the radio.

"BOMB! Get out of there, now!"

"SHIT! He's rigged! Clear out!" An Atlas soldier by the name of Adams yelled, jumping on the body as the remaining soldiers dove out of the room.

Then, the bomb went off.

As flame, ash, and smoke enveloped the conference center, shards of glass and debris smacked into the WASP, knocking out its cloak and exposing it.

"FUCK!" Twilight cursed loudly as she adjusted the drone's damaged rotors to survey Gideon's team. Apart from Adams, they were okay, but that wouldn't be the case for long as the KVA would be flocking to them in no time.

"Alpha, report! Sitrep!" Prophet ordered over the radio.

"A body double was rigged with a remote bomb! We have a man down, repeat, man down!" Gideon groaned as gunfire echoed in the background. "We need a trace on the detonator's frequency, now!"

"Copy!" Mitchell replied. Then, several KVA escort cars drove out of a garage under the conference center. One of them, armed with a mounted quad MG, opened fire on Gideon's team.

"WASP, drop that gunner!" Gideon cried. Twilight fired several shots, and the Gunner fell, but in so she exposed the damaged WASP to the enemy. A missile swarm fired from a Humvee soon destroyed their only form of air support.

"Damn it!" Twilight cried. "We need to move!"

"Copy!" Ilona replied as the three of them prepped their weapons. "Let's move to cut Hades off! Head into the backstreet and watch for civilians!"

Twilight and Mitchell nodded and removed their suppressors, knowing they wouldn't be much use now that stealth wasn't an option. As they headed into the streets, KVA fireteams mixed with civilians began shooting anyone they could aim at.

"Come on, we need to move! Open fire!" Mitchell yelled. Twilight nodded and opened fire with her ASM1 as Santorini descended into chaos.

Author's Note

This should be more detailed and better paced. Part 2 should be out soon.

Next time - Mission: Manhunt, Part 2, and an Equestrian interlude.

Chapter 13 - Mission: Manhunt, Part Two

As Twilight, Ilona, and Mitchell moved into the streets, bullets from KVA weaponry smacked into the stone all around them, sending splinters everywhere. As Mitchell tossed a Threat Grenade, he quickly was beset upon by three KVA soldiers, and boost-slid into cover.

"Focus fire!" he ordered. "We're getting pinned down! There's too many of them!"

"I can't even see them, let alone shoot them, Mitchell!" Twilight retorted, reloading her ASM1. It seemed that for every single KVA infantryman they dropped, three took the vacant position and resumed fire on them. Twilight holstered her ASM1 and drew her Atlas .45 pistol to drop a grenadier that got to close, only for her sidearm to be shot out of her hands.

"Fuck!" she cursed, blind-firing her ASM1. "We can't stay here!"

"Then fuck these guys!" Ilona ordered. "Use Flashbangs and flank around them! We've wasted too much time!"

As Twilight and Mitchell hurled their flashbangs and waited for the blinding detonation, the brief break in the gunfire gave them their chance. As they boost-jumped over into a nearby museum balcony and smashed through the windows, a call sounded over the radio. Twilight recognized it as Torrez's team, who had deployed east of her team's location.

"This is Striker 3, we've got eyes on Hades! He's headed to the waterfront in a five-car convoy...GAH!"

"Striker 3, report!" Twilight ordered. "Torrez, talk to me!"

"Striker 3 is down, there's a sniper in the bell tower!" replied Torrez. "No clear way to get around...SHIT! Uhh…"

As the line went dead, and the vidlink showed Torrez's vital signs at zero, Twilight swore out loud and slid past the windows to regroup with her team. As she unloaded two magazines at the tower, a growl of fury escaped her lips.

"We just lost Torrez, we can't delay any longer!" she growled. "We need a clear path to Hades now!"

"We're doing our best, Twilight!" Mitchell replied as he opened fire on the bell tower with his Bal-27, unloading three magazines in quick succession."You two move, I'll cover you!!"

"Copy, moving!" Ilona replied, and she and Twilight dove into the open. As they followed Mitchell's instructions, and weaved like a snake from safe position to safe position, Mitchell dove out of the museum as a sniper shot from the bell tower nearly took off his head. As he rejoined his team, Twilight tapped into the radio.

"Prophet, this is Two-Three! We need HE ordinance for that sniper! Is there anything in the area we can use?" Twilight called out.

"Two-Three, we have RFID confirm on a Stinger near Striker 2's position." Prophet replied. "Move to obtain and neutralize that sniper."

"Moving!" Ilona ordered. As they advanced into another restaurant, dodging more shots in the process, a nearby Atlas Soldier called them over from a nearby staircase that was luckily turned against the sniper's vantage point.

"Stinger's on the top floor!" he called, covering his head from another sniper shot. "We can't reach it, it's covered by drones!"

"We'll handle it!" Twilight replied. "Check yourself and find cover! Keep your head down!"

As the soldier nodded and dove into the interior restaurant office, Twilight strafed into cover and saw the Stinger's ordinance crate laying in the open. When the sniper stopped firing to reload, she dove and retrieved the rocket launcher.

"Firing!" she bellowed, unleashing four rockets on the bell tower. As it exploded, Twilight saw the body of the KVA sniper fly outwards from the blast.

"Up yours." she said with satisfaction, before she rejoined her team. As they proceeded into the main street, Twilight received a Vidlink signal from Prophet.

HADES INBOUND ON YOUR POSITION, TWO MINUTES MAX.

"Set up an ambush!" she ordered. "I'll place explosives in the road! You two make the far side!"

As Twilight placed a breaching charge in the street, meant to enter the KVA safehouse earlier, she grabbed the trigger and dove into cover. As her sweat-laced hands gripped the trigger, she knew it all came down to this. Whether or not Hades would escape depended on her.

As the KVA convoy approached and the lead car drove over the charge, she detonated the explosives with a nod.

As the other vehicles swerved, tumbled, and collided in an attempt to dodge the molten heap that was the lead car, Mitchell and Ilona opened fire from a nearby balcony. As Twilight regrouped with them, the car containing Hades smashed into a pillar, immobilizing their target.

"Clear up! Get on Hades!" Mitchell ordered. As the last few KVA hostiles fell, Twilight tore the car door open and saw an unconscious Hades toppled over.

"We've got him." Twilight said, only for Mitchell to cry out as a KVA car ran him into a wall. As Twilight and Ilona dropped the driver and passenger, they moved to pull out their teammate. As Twilight pulled, she felt a harsh impact on the back of her head before blacking out.

As Ilona countered a now-conscious Hades's attacks with a knife after he rushed Twilight and knocked her out, Mitchell pushed the entrapping vehicle away and drew an Atlas .45, only for Ilona, who had been pushed back, to fall out of his hands.

As Hades's knife then pinned his prosthetic arm to the car, Hades then drew an MP443 and aimed at a winded Ilona. As Mitchell yelled out, a trio of gunshots sounded amidst the clearing.

====

As Hades fell, blood coming from a shot to his shoulder and two to his chest, Mitchell saw Twilight unsteadily aiming the stray Atlas .45 at their target. As Mitchell pushed the car away and helped Ilona to her feet, Twilight stood up and staggered over to Hades.

"Target is down, repeat, Hades is EKIA." she said, only for the KVA leader to grab her arm and pull her down close to his face. As he placed a data chip in her hand, he uttered his last words among the living.

"He knows...Irons...knows…"

As his bloodied hand fell, Twilight stared at the chip, then Mitchell, then Ilona.

"What does Irons know?" she murmured.

"We'll find out." Mitchell said as Twilight pocketed the chip, placing it out of sight as Atlas units descended, Gideon and Joker among them. "But let's keep this quiet for now."

"Agreed. Good job, team." Twilight said exhaustively as Atlas medics helped them into a Warbird. "Now...we watch and wait as the world turns safely once again.

However, as the scene unfolded, a fly drone marked with the same sigil as the data drives from Detroit watched from atop a nearby gate, streaming a video feed to an unknown location before buzzing away unnoticed among the Atlas soldiers and others present at the scene.

Author's Note

Update!

Next time - an Equestrian interlude, and the introduction to Mission: UTOPIA.

Also, sorry this took so long. I've been busy on my end. Expect more updates for this any more stories soon.