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!