XCOM: Second Front

Chapters

1.21 Gigawatts
POW
I don’t think we’re alone out here
Unforseen Consequences
The Empty Ones
Dreams and Nightmares
War Machines
Red Sun Over Paradise
High Tower Supplimental FIles

1.21 Gigawatts

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” - Arthur C. Clarke.

13:27, 07/07/2050, NEW YORK, TIMES SQUARE

The clouded, steel - colored sky looms over Manhatten island as Lieutenant Feng Yin holds her breath and surveys the streets below. The wind would be blowing in her ears, if not for the helmet obscuring her head. She steadies the Arc Rifle in her hands as the headset crackles to life.

“Strike One, enemy observed coming your way down Seventh Avenue, be advised, " Commander Bradford ordered through the radio, keeping a close eye on the situation through a combination of sattelite - imaging , skyranger cameras and scanners, as well as bodycam footage.

“Priority target spotted. White coat and blue mane, golden armor, shield “cutiemark” with a star in the middle. Capture if possible, neutralize if necessary. Aiming at the base of the horn will give you the best chance of capturing the VIP. Strike Two and Strike Three will flank the enemy from behind and keep them busy, your target is the VIP. "

“Copy that, Command. Van Dorn, Heijden, get ready to lay down suppresive fire after Bozic.” Feng ordered.

“Aye aye; we’ll give ‘em hell.” Peter Van Door, one of the two gunners replied, followed by a “Suppresing fire after Bozic.”, from Iris Heijden.

“Marzec, Murdoch weapons free on my command. " “Got it covered.”, came a reply from Adam Marzec, accompanied by a “Got it, come get some you bastards.” from Courtney Murdoch, the infantry of the squad is now ready.

“Van Beek, if the capture is unsuccesful, the target’s on you. If the VIP’s confirmed subdued, weapon’s free. " “I’m on it.”, the second squad sniper, Mark Van Beek replied.

“Bozic, shredder rocket at my command. Be careful to not damage the VIP. " She ordered the squad Rocketeer, Dubravka Bozic as the latter readied her launcher. “Heavy Ordinance confirmed. Let’s soften ‘em up.”

“Guzman, as Van Dorn and Heijden lay covering fire, you will retrieve the subdued target. If the capture’s unsuccesful, stick to cover and fire on anything that gets close.” “Got it boss, i’m ready.” Rosa Guzman, the squad’s assault replied, checking the battery on her scatter laser.

The Lieutenant tensed up when she noticed the large group of hostiles approaching. There were a few dozens of them, three or four, judging from a quick glance, approaching her squad’s position. All sorts of ponies were present: from pegasi to unicorn, brandishing spears and swords that were surprisingly efficent against modern armor, no doubt due to magical enchantments.

All were clad in shining silver armor, save for one equine figure, walking at the forefront of the group in gleaming gold armor. She holds her breath, and the world around her seems to freeze as she aims, and pulls the trigger.

A red streak of coherent light splits the air, and a cry of pain is heard coming from the group of ponies. Yin watches the target’s horn explode, as the pony falls down like a puppet with its strings cut. The timeflow returns to normal as she hastily orders her squad.

“Bozic, now!” The projectile flies at high speeds into the group of ponies, and a deafening explosion is heard, as the rocketeer exclaims over the radio, glee clear in her voice “Eat shrapnel!”

Before the ponies could react, Times Square is lit up by a torrent of red lights from multiple sides, heating up the air and melting through both armor and flesh. “X-ray locked down. " Comes a reply from Heijden.

Ground forces scatter in responce to their capain’s untimely demise, but are stopped by a myriad of laser shots. “X-ray neutralized” Marznec reports, followed by a “I’m about to start keepin’ score!” from Murdoch.

A pegasus tries to scramble for cover, but his head explodes when a red streak passes through it, and he drops out of the air like a sack of potatoes. “Four down, thousands to go.”, Van Beek says as three more pegasi drop dead.

A group of four unicorn spellcasters nearest to captain Armor snap out of their daze, and try forming a shield, but their concentration is broken when one of them drops dead with multiple holes burned through his head. Before the rest of them could react, one more drops down with the same injuries, and the head of another explodes from sniper fire.

The last one sees the enemy rapidly approaching his position, a figure covered fron head-to-toe in black armor, it’s head obscured by a helmet with a large, opaque visor and a flashlight strapped on it’s left side.

He quickly conjures up an attack spell, and fires it at the attacker. The figure reacts quickly, but it still gets hit by the shot, the armor on its torso heats up and some of it starts to melt. A female-sounding “Son-of-a...-” is heard from the figure, as it raises its gun and fires, and the guard’s body melts from the overwhelming heat as he drops dead.

Rosa Guzman approaches the limp, but still breathing captain and anchors her scatter laser to a strap before picking up the pony. “Jesus, you’re one heavy fella.”, she says to herself, before turning on the radio “Command, this is Guzman. VIP is secure and ready to evac.”

“Copy that, Strike One. Get the VIP to Big Sky’s position, and get ready to evac. The rest of Strike One is to help Strike Two and Strike Three with the cleanup.” Bradford ordered over the radio.

Just as the last words leave the Commander’s mouth, a loud *snap* is heard, and what left of the surviving pony forces teleport away.

“Command, Strike One actual. We’ve lost contact with the enemy, please advise on hostiles’s current position.” Yin asked, worry clear in her voice.

“Strike One, sattelite imaging reports no active hostiles on your position, Big Sky also says you’re in the clear. Operational objectives complete.” Bradford said, releasing a sigh he didn’t know he was holding.

OPERATION WARM WELCOME: COMPLETE
ALIEN TERROR MISSION HALTED
CIVILIAN LOSSES MINIMAL

STRIKE ONE REPORTS 0 KIA, 1 WIA
STRIKE TWO REPORTS 0 KIA, 3 WIA
STRIKE THREE REPORTS 0 KIA, 2 WIA

RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:
(Documented by LT Feng Yin)
PEGASI CORPSES (26 total)
EARTH PONY CORPSES (22 total)
UNICORN PONY CORPSES (13 total)

VIP LIVE CAPTURE
OPERATION EVALUATION:EXCELLENT

Author's Note

Been thinking about this since i read 'Negotiations' by

Rated Ponystar

Let's see what i can do with this idea, shall we?

POW

UNKNOWN SOLDIER SEEN ENGAGING EQUESTRIAN FORCES IN NEW YORK; WITNESSES REPORT NO UNIT MARKINGS AS WELL AS ARMOR AND WEAPONS UNLIKE ANYTHING SEEN BEFORE

ALIEN ATTACK ON THE CITY OF NOVOSIBIRSK IS HALTED BY THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES AND UNKNOWN OPERATIVES, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS OFFERED NO COMMENT ON THE NATURE OF THE UNMARKED FORCES

14:08, 07/07/2050, OFFICE OF CMDR BRADFORD

Bradford frowned as he read another after action report. The Terror mission in Russia wasn't the worst by far, but it was still disheartening to have to add another couple of names to the wall.

Strike Four and Five all came back alive, but will have to spend some time in the medical, ranging from a few days, to over a month. Strike Six wasn't as lucky, half of the brave men and women didn't make it back to base. Despite the involvement of the countries armed forces Russia was still greatful, if not for XCOM more lives would've been lost.

Militaries all over the world are losing enough lives to repel the Equestrians already. A thought passed through Bradford's mind. I need to question Thalmann on the matter of his Anti-Magic generators, we need a working prototype by the end of the month.

The thought made him reflect on XCOM's recent succeses in capturing the enemy captain. And just when he was about to contact the head of research department- DING

FROM - DR. MOIRA VAHLEN
TO - CMDR. JOHN BRADFORD
SUBJECT - INTERROGATION PROGRESS

Commander, Your presence is required at the interrogation room. I believe that the subject will respond better to more conventional interrogation methods than our previous "guests". I'll explain more in person.

14:00, 07/07/2050, XCOM DETENTION CELL

Shining Armor woke up with the worst horn - splitting headache he ever had. It reminded him of the bachelor party he had at Canterlot, and the memory brought a smile to his face. The smile faded when he opened his eyes and didn't recognise his surroundings.

He was in a well - illuminated room, sitting on a simple bed that was nailed to the wall. The walls themeselves were a bland white color, the floor being a similar color, maybe a shade or two darker, probably caused by wear and thear. In one corner of the room was a simple toilet, and in the other was a table, nailed to the floor.

Shining had to squint, but he could see a small camera in the corner of the ceiling. The door to the room was made of metal, and would be impossible to breach without magic. He was about to try the door when it opened and three human figures entered.

The first figure was a woman donning a white lab coat over a green sweater. She was holding a tablet, and Shining swore that the room temperature dropped a few degrees when she entered. Her hair was gathered in a neat ponytail, which made Shining chuckle inwardly.

Until he looked her in the eyes.

The woman's eyes were filled with ice cold hatred.

"Get up and follow me.", Shining didn't move an inch "If you don't comply you'll be escorted by force."

The pony laughed in her face. "By force? HA! I'd like to see you try." A hint of satisfaction flashed across the human's face.

"Very well. Guards, please blindfold and escort our "guest" to our destination."

Shining didn't hesitate for a second as he channeled the defense spell. The Captain was famous for his shield spells, their efficency was unmatched by even the best unicorns from Celestia's school. They never failed him and Shining knew he could always rely on them.

It was this reliance that made the following surge of pain ever more surprising. The pain shot through his skull and into his horn, or, at least, where his horn should've been. The broken horn sparkled with energy and a few drops of blood from Shining's nose stained the floor. The Captained groaned in pain, which made the doctor look back.

"Ah, it seems i forgot to mention your condition." She said flatly before motioning the guards to follow her. The guards got behind Shining, one of them holding a peculear rifle it's hands, and the other holding an object akin to a hammer mere centimeter from the captain's shoulder. "Don't you try anything funny, i've got 1.21 gigawatts of sedatives right here." The guard said in a femenine voice as her buddy put a blindfold over his eyes.

Shining sighed, he had no other choice than to comply.

14:10, 07/07/2050, INTERROGATION ROOM

Bradford entered the room with a one - way mirror and was greeted by a nod from Vahlen, and a salute from Lieutenant Yin. The latter's presence was somewhat unexpected, but his unspoken question was adressed by Moira. "Good day, Commander. Since a more conventional method of interrogation is available, we require an expert in such field of work. Lieutenant Yin's background means she's quite proficient in that regard." Bradford nodded.

He looked into the room on the other side of the glass, and began evaluating what he saw. A snow - white stallion with a ramrod straight posture sat in front of the table, his expression unreadable to anyone except Bradford. John could see a storm of emotions was raging inside the unicorn. The only thing that made him stand out from the average unicorn was a broken horn. "I take it horns can't regrow, doctor?" he inquired.

Vahlen fiddled with her tablet, and motioned Bradford to look at the ceiling mounted monitor. "Not exactly. Our informants gave varying answers, as the theme seems to be a taboo in their society, but our most trusted source from Japan explained that the wound would only be crippling to a developing body. With enough time and care, the horn will regrow."

"Understood. Lieutenant, have you read the dossier on the subject?" Feng nodded. "Good. What do you have in store for the captain?" Bradford turned to face the soldier.

"I'll begin with simple questions, sir. While the subject's cooperation is highly unlikely, it's a possibility we should explore. May i ask for a favor?"

"That depends on the nature of the favor, soldier."

"When i rub the bridge of my nose i want a small table of various medical instruments: scalpels, syringes, defibrilators, e.t.c. to be wheeled into the room." Feng looked at the man, but her mind was busy planning out the events.

Bradford arched an eyebrow, but replied "We can arrange that." he turned to Moira, who seemed to be typing something on her tablet. "Already sending the request, Commander. The trolley will be here in a minute."

"Continue, Lieutenant." The soldier cleared her throat. "If the subject refuses to cooperate, i will try simple threats, although he doesn't strike me as someone who'll break so easily." Vahlen's face morphed into an annoyed expression for a moment. Feng scratched her chin. "At last, i will begin a more... physical form of questioning. Hopefully we'll get the answers we need."

Silence fell upon the room as soon as the soldier finished the sentence. The tension was palpable, until the question on everyones mind was voiced by Bradford.

"And if the subject remains uncooperative?"

"Then my team will proceed with the standart interrogation protocol. I'm sure we'll be able to get the information needed, but the subject is more than likely to expire during the procedure." Vahlen explained with a glint of eagerness in her eyes.

"Good. Lieutenant, you have my permission to begin the interrogation. Do what you have to do, but remember: it would be preferable for the subject to survive the process, it could become a vital political bargaining tool in the future." Bradford finished.

Feng Yin nodded, and put on an earpiece before proceeding to exit the room. She collected her thoughts, took a deep breath, and entered.

Shining never felt more uncomfortable than in this very moment. He was sitting in front of a table, a large mirror lining one of the rooms walls. He recognised it was a one-way mirror, even though he didn't know how they worked. Back home the glass was enchanted, but here? He had no idea how humans made this glass without magic.

Home. Shining remembered home. He remembered Cadance and her lovely smile that made him happy every time he saw it. He remembered their beloved daughter, and her laughter. He remembered his parents, who supported him every step of the way. And finally, he remembered Twilight. His little sister, who he has protected his whole life.

His trip down memory lane was cut short by a cough. He looked at the source of the noise, which was sitting opposite to him. A calm woman was looking at him with an evaluating glare.

"Hello, captain Armor, i see you are enjoying our hospitality quite well, how is your health these days?" Shining stayed silent, and the woman continued. "Of course, where are my manners, i haven't introduced myself. You can call me Feng-"

"Cut the pleasantries, you're not here to make small talk, and neither am i." He interrupted the woman, who smiled condecendingly.

"An ample observation, Captain. I must say, you're just as perceptive as they say. " Her smile dropped faster than Rainbow Dash performing a sonic rainboom. "Now, we can do it the easy way, or the hard way. You can either tell me what i want to know right here, right now, and we resolve this peacefully." Shining scoffed at the proposition inwardly. "Or we might have to resort to more... physical means of persuation."

"And what are your terms, i wonder?" Shining asked, mockery clear in his voice.

"You will provide me with the information regarding the plans of your superiors, as well as the attack schedule on Earths cities, for a start. You'll aid the project in any way you can, and answer any question the scientists have for you. At last, you'll make no attempt to escape or contact your people in any shape, way or form. Are my terms clear to you?"

It took Shining a considerable amount of willpower to not laugh the woman in face. "The plans of my superiors are already known to you." He smirked. " Your people and your planet will be saved, by force, if needed. As for the rest of your questions, i must ask my own" He leaned on the table and looked the woman in the eyes. "What will happenen to me if i refuse?"

To an untrained eye the woman remained motionless, but Shining's eye was far from untrained. He noticed her steal a glance towards the window, it was done in less than a second, but he noticed.

"We will have to resort to more... drastic methods of extracting information, we won't be able to guarantee your survival." She replied, her face devoid of emotions.

"And if i agree to your terms?"

"You will be detained in this facility until the end of the war, whereupon you will stand trial before the United Nations for your crimes against humanity." She stated flatly.

"Then i have no reason to continue this conversation. This is a lose-lose situation for me. " He concluded, returning to his initial position.

"I strongly urge you to reconsider, Captain." She insisted, leaning onto the table.

"Say, miss Feng, if our positions were reversed, would you take up the offer?" He retorted, and saw a ghost of a smile creep its way onto the woman's face.

"Touché."

The woman stood up and rubbed the bridge of her nose in an weary motion. A few moments later Shining heard the door behind him open and close, and a rolling sound approached him from behind, until a trolley with various medical instruments was standing near the table. Shining smirked as he replied. "For the sake of the both of our times, i hope you skip the threats phase, and get right to the chase."

His smirk remained as the woman pointed a hammer-like object at him, and pulled the trigger. "Yes, i too, believe it would be ineffective at this point."

18:20, 07/07/2050, XCOM MESS HAll

The mess hall was bustling with activity, as per usual during dinner, but one particular table was a decibel or two louder than the rest. That was the table occupied by Strike One, which was currently missing one member.
The whole group was rather upbeat after the last mission, but it wasn't long before the lack of their comrade was noticed. Dubravka Bozic was the first to bring up the suspicious absense.

"Did any of you see the Lieutenant after the op? After the usual trip to medical, i mean." The group shared a knowing look and Rosa Guzman was the first to reply.

"Dunno, last i heard Command wanted her at the lab for something." She said, pausing only to stuff her face with the meal of the day. "Fifty bucks says it's somehing related to our lates "guest". " She was rewarded with a disapproving look from Mark van Beek.

"You do know you can't burn holes in people by glare alone, right? What's the matter?"

"Can you please eat a little more carefully? I swear, sometimes it's like i'm back at boot camp again." The woman in question grabbed her chest in mock-offense.

"How could you! Years of academy training, only to be called a pig!" The sniper was about to retort, when a female voice intervened.

"Let her be, Mark, it's pizza day after all. You're not the most tidy eater too, you know." Courtney Murdoch said, which prompted a responce from another team member.

"OI! My man Mark got a poit, you know. We have to be a good role model for the new arrivals, and we can't do that if we eat like pigs."

"You know what i think, Adam? I think it's time you've got a good and proper ass whoopin'" Guzman pretended to get up, but stopped when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Now now kids, don't you go killing eachother, leave the x-rays something to shoot at." Peter Van Doorn intervened, and his responce elicited a round of chuckles from the table.

"For real though, where's Feng? Whatever job they needed her for should've been done by now, right?" Iris Heijden voiced the question on everybody's mind.

Rosa and Dubravka shared a look. "Ris, you do know that Lieutenant has some experience in interrogation, don't you?" The former asked, and the man shook his head while chewing on a slice of pizza.

"I don't know about you, but i expect some juicy details on any info our captive fried knows, when she returns." Courtney said, sipping on a glass of water.

"Unless it's classifeied, you know, like everything that comes out of the lab?" Mark argued in an annoyed voice. Before the woman could say anything in her defence, a person dropped into the single unoccupied chair left near the table.

"I'd lower my voice if i were you, rumors is the only thing faster then the speed of light." Feng Yin said, making herself comfortable, and putting down the tray on the table. She looked tired, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Ah, good to see you Lieutenant, forgive my curiosity, but you look exhausted. What happened?" Iris inquired, and got a weary look from the woman.

"First thing's first, you don't have to refer to me by rank off-duty." She stopped and stuffed a pizza slice into her mouth, and swallowed after barely chewing. "To aswer your question: Let's just say that these Equestrians are tougher than they look." Silence fell over the table and Peter was the first to break it.

"What's our "guest" doing right now?" He asked, tensing up. Feng thought carefully before replying.

"He's spending some quality time with the good doctor."

Author's Note

A shorter chapter for today. Please leave a comment, wether you liked the fic or not. I'd like to hear any critisism on my fic.

I don’t think we’re alone out here

EQUESTRIAN ATTACK HALTED BY THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF GERMAN ARMY AND GSG9 FORCES, GOVERNMENT PRAISED FOR THE FAST RESPONCE TIME;

A BODY OF EQUESTRIAN SOLDIER BURNED AT STAKE IN VIENNA TO A MIXED RESPONCE, AUSTRIAN OFFICIALS DENY THE INVOLVEMENT OF GOVERNMENT FORCES

15:30, 14/07/2050 BRIEFING ROOM

The entire room was filled with the buzz of an agitated conversation. Commanders of Strike One, Two and Three were discussing the upcoming battle, while the soldiers were eiether making bets, saying their prayers or generally enjoying the calm before the storm. The chatter quickly died down when the door opened and Bradford entered the room. After a round of salutations everybody sat down and concentrated their attention on the Commander.

"At 12:00 our satellites observed an unknown type of UFO entering Earth's atmosphere above Equestria." A satellite image appeared on the whiteboard beside the man, depicting a rectangle UFO. "It was observed hovering over major population centers. However, when the target hovered over Canterlot, two small figures attacked the craft, damaging it, but not enough for it to go down." Another picture appeared, small dots could be seen hovering near the UFO, lines connecting them to the craft. "The vessel escaped, but suffered enough damages to provoke what we believe to be an emergency landing in the Siberian wilderness." A sattelite image of the craft, now amidst a snowy landscape appeared. "Your objective is to secure the landing site, neutralise any opposition, and capture the "Outsider" piloting the craft. Strike One will go from the front, while Strike Two and Three approach from the back." An image of a humanoid alien made of metal appeared. "Preliminary scans show a high concentration of mechanised enemy forces, so prepare accordingly. Any questions?"

"What was the target doing in Equestria?" Sergeant Friendly, the leader of Strike Two asked. "Are they working in tandem now?" Sometimes Bradford regretted the communication blackout put in place on the XCOM base.

"Our current working theory is that the craft was abducting local populace," he explained "In addition, previous encounters showed aliens attacking indiscrimenently, so the chances of their cooperation are slim, to say the least."

"What are the orders on any equestrian targets on the ship?" Tech Sergeant Petrovic asked.

"Hold your fire unless they attack. Attackers are to be subdued or shot on sight. Unicorns are to be considered priority targets." Bradford replied.

When no more questions surfaced, Bradford made his way to central command room, leaving the soldier to suit up for the mission.

"I don't know about you, but i'm not taking any chances out there." Davorka Petrovic commented grimly after making sure Bradford was out of hearing range, which earned her a stern look from Glenn Friendly.

"Petrovic, you will not shoot unarmed civilians under my command, got it?" The woman smirked before replying.

"Aren't they all unarmed, technically?" The response elicited a round of chuckles across the room.

"Just categorise them as unarmed *combatants*, that should get humanitarians off our backs." Friendly replied.

16:30, 14/07/2050 UFO CRASH SITE

"Command, This is Big Sky, Strike One is in position and ready to engage the craft." The ramp dropped and the aformentioned strike team stepped into the snowy crash site. A smell of Pine tree sap entered their noses, and they shivered from the cold wind.

"Command, Big Brother reporting, Strike Two is ready to make some heads roll."

"Central, Beaglerush online, Strike Three is ready to boogie."

"Copy that, skyrangers are to remain on standby to provide close air support."

Skyranger ascended with a loud humming noise, ready to rain hell on hostiles on command. The group moved towards the ship, going from cover to cover to insure their relative safety in case of an ambush. The eerie silence of the place making the sound of cruncing snow ever more louder. No animal life was present at the scene, and the silence did not go unnoticed.

"Big Sky, Specter requesting recon on the outside of the saucer." Feng said, raising her hand to halt her squad.

"Got it Specter, initiating area scan." One of the Skyrangers hovered over the area in a an ellipsoid trajectory before the Ying's radio crackled to life. "No X-Rays spotted on the outside, internal scanning in process..." The squad advanced towards the massive entrance into the craft. The ship itself was easily five stories in height and just as wide, making the front entrance a very dangerous area to go through. The group was about to enter the UFO when an agitated voice stopped them.

"Sonova- Strike teams be advised, the inside of that UFO lights up like a christmas tree, watch your backs out there!"

"Heard you loud and clear Big Sky, be careful boys and girls." Glenn replied over the radio.

The giant room the strike team entered seemed to be a maintenance/cargo area of sorts. In the middle of the room was a flat surface filled to the brim with operating equipment, strange alien pods and, most importantly, unmoving ponies. On both sides of the room were platforms housing one alien power source each, both of them surrounded by alien computers. Rosa approached the bodies, and checked the pulse on one of them.

"Well, would you look at that, we've got a live one." She moved on to check the other bodies. "And another, and another, and another... I almost pity the poor bastards. Almost." She stopped examining the bodies and moved to cover. The rest of the squad followed suit.

"Command, are you getting this?" Came the voice of Iris.

"Affirmative, proceed with the mission." Bradford replied.

Feng was in the back of the formation and was observing surroundings when she noticed an out of place cloud of vapors. It was gone quickly, but it's presence alone made the woman worry. Translucent shapes moved in the dark of the ship, and just as Yin finally understood what was going on, a green bolt of plasma hit the ground mere millimeters away from her.

Rosa Guzman was in the spearhead of the formation, and was prepared to endure the brunt of enemy attack. Her carapace armor, providing the best protection XCOM's R&D could offer, was further reinforced with improved alloy plating, able to withstand a direct hit from muton's rifle. She fully expected the next blast to be aimed at her. What she did not expect, however, was a metallic squid emerging out of thin air, and wrapping its tentacles around her body, crushing it. She tried to take a deep breath, but coughed when the smell of noxious fumes exuded by the thing entered her nostrils. She felt the heat as a number of near misses grazed her armor, and the alien dropped dead. She coughed and sputter before bolting for cover, but her delay caused a few green bolts to connect with her chestplate.

Green shapes sizzled in the air as the group dropped behind the nearest collection of obstacles in an attempt to cut line of sight. The plasma shots were soon joined by a myriad of red lights as the group's two gunners provided suppresing fire, giving Adam and Courtney enough time to get a few lucky shots in. A few squid creatures dropped from the air, but it barely made a dent in the sea of robots floating towards them.

"Bozic, shredder rocket, now!" The lieutenant commanded.

"Firing shredder rocket!" Dubravka exclaimed while pulling the rocket launcher from her back. A rocket flew at high speeds before exploding with a wave of shrapnell sooner than expected, seemingly connecting with thin air and dousing the operating tables with sharp metal. Feng and Mark were able to shoot down about a dozen of flying targets before their worsened. A couple of the creatures managed to sneak into the back and land a lucky shot on the second sniper's back.

"AARGH!" was the noise the sniper made as he fell to the ground. Courtney noticed the enemy and managed to dispose of them with a couple of shots, running out of ammo in the process.

As the squad leader moved to inspect her injured comrade's condition, her cover was obliterated by a torrent of yellow light. "Cyberdisks spotted, stay frosty!" Heijden yelled, retreating into cover to reload.

"Jesus Christ, they just keep coming! We're getting overwhelmed!" Adam exclaimed, firing another shot of coherent light.

"Big Sky, Strike One requires heavy ordinance this instant, multiple Cyberdisks and unknown enemies on our position!" The Liutenant said as Rosa was dodging fire from a group of drones.

"Heard you loud and clear Strike One, get down on my command and prepare for a lightshow."

The hum of skyranger's VTOL engines flooded the room as the aircraft lowered itself near the entrance, the superheavy laser mounted on its nose beginning to spin slowly.

"BRINGIN' THE PAIN!"

The squad dropped to the ground as the air above them heated up in a spectacular lightshow that was the fire exchange between the opposing forces. The onslaught continued for ten more seconds before finally coming to a stop. While the ship's laser was a glowing cherry red color as it stopped spinning, the vessel itself had only minor scratch and burn marks to show for it's effort. The same couldn't be said about the aliens. Metal carcasses littered the battlefield, making the task of traversing the room almost impossible. Cyberdisks chassis remained intact, while the smaller alien machines were torn to shreds, molten metal glowing brightly on the torn edges. The squad got away with minor wounds from the encounter, the same could not be said for the ponies.

"Krščen Matiček!" could be heard from Dubravka as the shocked soldier approached an operating table.

The pony, or the mess of blood and gore that once was a pony, laid there. The woman observed the other tables and to her horror, some of the ponies were still alive, mainly those that were on the edges of a room. Some were missing limbs, some were burned, some had shrapnel imbedded into their bodies, but all were still unconscious.

"We don't have time to dwell on that." The leader of Strike One said, using a medkit to patch up the second sniper. "We have to secure the rest of the ship."

"Y-yeah, let's get going. We can't let Strike Two and Three have all the fun." A somewhat shaken Courtney uttered.

"Can you walk?" Feng asked the sniper. He took a few deep breaths before responding.

"Yeah, i just got my back tanned, no worries."

The group reloaded their weapons, and proceeded through the ship using the antigrav lifts near the power sources. The group approached one of the lifts, uncertain of it's function at first.

"Aight', here goes nothing." Rosa said, jumping into the energy flow. "Woah!" She exclaimed, while being carried upwards by the device. "This thing is better than the carnival rides back home!" She said, her feet firmly on the ground.

The rest of her squad followed her steps, and fell into formation around the main door. The two gunners were on each side of the door, with the snipers behind them. The infantry of the squad was standing in front of the door, ready to open fire on anything that moves. Guzman and Bozic were on each side of the rifleman, ready to fire.

"Opening door in 3, 2, 1!" The door descipated, and the visible part of the UFO was empty.

"Proceed towards the cockpit, but keep your eyes peeled, there might be more of these... seekers out there." Feng instructed, and the group began making their through the centrall hallway.

The large rooms on each side of the hallway were full of alien - looking crates and equipment. They were all empty, and the group passed them in a hurry after making sure they were devoid of enemies. They were about to use the same gravi-lift encountered earlier, when the last cell presented them with something surprising. The last room had a see-through forcefield, one akin to that used on the exterior of UFOs. Behind said forcefied, was a group of alive, if beaten ponies. Their expressions fell when the noticed the approaching humans.

"Command, multiple equine civilian targets sighted, equip the recovery teams accordingly." Lieutenant reported.

"I knew it! I knew you were working with these... things!" A unicorn mare yelled, her horn glowing with power.

"Temper, please, don't do this..." a pegasus mare pleaded, but she fell on deaf ears. The squad aimed their weapons of the unicorn.

"You better listen to that mare, don't make me do something the both of us will regret." Rosa replied grimly.

"Regret? Regret!? Humans don't have regets! You monsters killed my husband!" The unicorn screamed, and shot a beam towards the group. Just when the beam was conjured up, a laser pierced her head, and she dropped like a puppet with it's strings cut.

"We don't have time to deal with your shit." Mark said, putting away his laser pistol.

"Damn, at least give a heads-up next time. Nice shot though." Courtney commented, which earned her a nod from the sniper.

"Hey, Pete, have any comments about the situation? As a UN member, i mean." Iris asked, and heard a snort coming from the second gunner's direction.

"As a part of the UN peacekeeping force, i censure such behavior. As a part of XCOM i believe we should've shot first."

The group ascended the elevator, paying no mind to the now quiet ponies.

"Strike One, where the hell are you?! Strike Three's providing covering fire, but we're pinned down by hostiles!" Glenn yelled over the gunfire.

"Strike Two, we're breaching the room in 20 seconds, hold tight!" The leader of Strike One replied.

The group converged on the door in a breaching formation, and the forcefield dissapated as the squad breached.

The room contained 10 Outsiders hiding behind assorted debris. The walls facing Strike Two and Three were mostly broken clearly the product of sustained laser fire. A number of holes were punched throught the ship's hull, the HEAT warheads coming in useful. Despite that, the aliens still held the high ground, which was bad news to the Strike teams below. The aliens dropped dead all around Rosa as she took out the Arc Thrower and made a beeline for one of the bigger one's. The alien turned around when she was right behind him. The creature towered over the woman, easily being two and a half meters tall. It tanked a laser shot to the chest, and tthe damaged parts seemed to blink out of existance, before reforming and becoming solid again.

They locked gazes and pulled the trigger in tandem.

The alien contorted, and seemingly folded in on itself along the crystal in it's chest. A glowing yellow chrystal was everything that was left of the fearsome creature.

"Target stunned … ride the lightning!" Rosa said and felt a burning sensation in her chest as the world faded to black.

OPERATION COLD SHOULDER: COMPLETE
ALIEN CRAFT CAPTURED

STRIKE ONE REPORTS 0 KIA, 2 WIA
STRIKE TWO REPORTS 0 KIA, 6 WIA
STRIKE THREE REPORTS 0 KIA, 8 WIA

RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:
(Documented by CPT Glenn Friendly)
ALIEN POWER SOURCE: 3
UFO FLIGHT COMPUTER: 4
ALIEN STASIS TANK: 10
ALIEN SURGERY: 30

SEEKER WRECK: 40
CYBERDISK WRECK: 20
WEAPON FRAGMENTS: 150
UNICORN CORPSES: 4
PEGASUS CORPSES: 3
EARTH PONY CORPSES: 4
NUMEROUS UNRECOGNISABLE REMAINS
ALIEN ALLOYS: 150
ELERIUM: 100
MELD: 80

LIVE CAPTURE

OUTSIDER: 1
EARTH PONY: 2
PEGASUS: 3
UNICORN: 10

OPERATION EVALUATION:EXCELLENT

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Unforseen Consequences

THE UNITED TAIWAN-CHINESE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGES CITIZENS TO FORM MILITIAS AS THE COUNTRIES MILITARY IS STRETCHED “DANGEROUSLY THIN” IN RESPONCE TO COMBINED ATTACKS FROM BOTH EQUESTRIAN AND INVADER FORCES;

LEAKED SATELLITE FOOTAGE OF ALIEN SHIPS BOMBING EQUESTRIAN TARGETS SPARKS CONTROVERSY AS IT BECOMES ON OF THE MOST LIKED VIDEOS IN THE HISTORY OF YOUTUBE;

03:26, 18/07/2050, XCOM BASE, GYM

Dubravka and Mark entered the gym wearing standart XCOM off-duty uniforms, ready to begin their workout routine. The gym was surprisingly empty this monday, which granted the two soldiers a full reign over the place. “The treadmill was a good place to start” she thought, approaching the aformentioned training apparatus. Mark joined her side on the second threadmill. Silence fell upon the room as they ran, and someone had to address the elephant in the room.

“So, what’s the deal with your trigger-happy attitude?” The woman asked, and got a silent treatment in responce. After waiting for a few seconds she continued. “Listen, i know we all hate the ponies, it’s a given, really, when taking our job into perspective, but that was a civvie!” An irritated expression passed the soldier’s face, but he remained silent. “I guess you have Pete’s endorsement, but i’t be a bad look for XCOM if-”

“You don’t know what these things can do.” The man finally replied. The rocketeer looked quizzically at him.

“I’ve fought my fair share of unicorns, i think i’ve got a good idea of what they can do.”

“Well then, enlighten me.” The man responded.

“I had my rocket stopped dead in its tracks some two meters away from its target” She scratched her chin, thinking about any other examples. “Oh, and they can shoot lasers too!” The man snorted.

“That’s cute. I saw one take on an entire heli all on its own.” The woman wanted to question, but he continued.

“The heli was preparing to evac, when the damned thing appeared out of nowhere!” The man gritted his teeth. “I-its horn glowed green, the bird just hanged in the air for a second, and then... I-it crumpled like a can!” His hands were clutched to the point of his knuckles being white. She reached her hand out in an attempt to sympathise, when a loud siren rang throught the base.

ALL STRIKE TEAMS REPORT TO BRIEFING ROOM IMMIDEATLY

“Bloody hell, what’s happened this time?” The man said, snapping out and looking annoyed.

“Don’t know, but we better report to briefing, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

The halls were swarming with soldiers as the pair made it’s way to the briefing room. The majority was tired, some were annoyed, and a small part of them was... Wet. “Duty calls, i suppose.” Dubravka thought.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the room was the strict figure of the Commander. He was standing ramrod straight, and his glare was harsher than usual. “Something got him mighty pissed.” a thought passed her mind. Once the room was filled and the soldiers quieted down Bradford raised a hand. In said hand, was a remote.

“Yesterday, at 22:30 and 22:35, two energy spikes from the Crystal Empire were detected by our satellites” A sattelite image appeared to his right, showing two brightly lit areas with timestamps. “The Equestrians launched an artillery strike against Rome and Mecca, in what is thought to be a retaliation to our recent succesess in combating their forces.” The picture changed to depict a clean, crystal-like surface with several large angular objects sticking out of the ground. The room was silent as the realisation creeped in.

“The cities in question were turned into crystal.”

”There were no reported survivors.”

03:24, 18/07/2050, TWILIGHTS QUARTERS, CANTERLOT CASTLE

Today was not kind to Twilight Sparkle. Not only did she have to bear witness to the use of one of the most fearsome weapons Equestria had, but she was having another nightmare. They became quite commonplace since the death of her brother, and though Luna helped as much as she could Twilight was having trouble resting. Death. It was still hard to think her brother was dead. The mission was supposed to be like any other, get in, do what they always do, and get out. “A 20 minute adventure.” he said. “I’ll be back before dinner.” he said. Twilight felt like she would cry, but she was all out of tears at this point. Her night of despair was interrupted by a familiar voice of the Lunar Diarch.

“Twilight, we believe we have news about your brother.” She glided down in her dream, scenery changing around her before the lavender alicorn could utter a word. The smell of medical supplies made Twilights nose wrinkle, as she observed her surroundings. The first thing the young alicorn noticed was the black haze that surrounded the scene. The room she found herself in resembled an operating room, but it was... Wrong, somehow. The walls were all wobbly, and the various pieces of furniture were phasing in and out of existence. Shining was lying on a white operating table, eyes closed, his horn, to Twilights horror, broken. Several human figures in white lab coats appeared and disappeared around him, and their voices could be heard, as faint as they were. She looked closely, but try as she might, she couldn’t discern their faces: they blended into a blurry mess the moment she tried looking at them.

“Wha- What are they doing to him? Why is his horn broken? Where is he?” Twilights torrent of questions was silenced when Luna held up her hoof and uttered a single word. “Listen.” Twilight strained her hearing, and started to listen just as a figure approached her brother.

“Begin log. This is Doctor Yuri Romalov, time is... 03:26, 18/07/2050. Subject remains unconscious, no deviation from expected behavior. We expected to begin the first memory extraction today, hopefully our specialist won’t fry the subject’s brain. Wait, hightened neuron activity detected in parts of frontal lobe responsible for channeling magic.” A note of distress could be heard in the voice as the figure turned its head. “Doctor Vahlen! Can you come here for a second? I’m getting some unusual activity, and i would like to get your opinion on that.” The figure on the table shifted in his sleep at the mention of the name.

“Yes, Doctor Romalov?” Another figure appeared, and Twilight had to double-check herself. This figure’s face was visible. She was a fairly young, professional-looking woman, her hair styled into a neat ponytail. Despite her unassuming appearance, one detail made Twilight freeze like a deer in the headlights. Her eyes were full of cold, all-consuming hatred.

“What was it you needed my opinion on?” She continued in an accent that sounded german, if Twilight’s memory was correct.

“Here, look at this. The target is sedated, but our scanners detect alarming spike of activity in the subjects frontal lobe. That wasn’t the case when the subject was awake, so what is going on here? What kind of magic could it be channeling?” The male voice asked, and after a few seconds, the woman replied in a thoughtful voice.

“That part is responsible for conjuring spells, yes, but also for transmitting and recieving magical sign-” The voice cut out suddenly, before resuming in a somewhat panicked tone. “Teufel! Someone might be using the subject as a beacon to track us down! Hurry, wake the subject this instant! I’ll notify Bradford!” The noise of clutter could be heard and the room became even more unstable as Shining sturred in his sleep. Finally, the pair of alicorns was forcibly ripped from the dream when a loud blaring sound of a base alert woke the Captain up.

A myriad of questions appeared in Twilights head, but before she could ask them, she woke up in her bed and a single sentence left her lips.

“Sweet Celestia, what have you done Cadance?”

02:22, 18/07/2050, UNKNOWN LOCATION

The room was dark and almost devoid of furniture, save for an almost featureless desk and chair. The room might have been mistaken for a long-forgotten office or storage room were it not for the lack of dust combined with the well-dressed man who stepped into the room. Out of long-ingrained habit he sat in the seat after straightening his tie. His posture was ramrod straight as he pressed a seemingly random spot on the desk before tapping in front of him as though he had a keyboard.

The wall across from the desk flickered as power fed into a monitor hidden in the darkness. Text began to scrawl as the system powered up.

SYSTEM ACTIVATION
LOGIN/PASSWORD REQUIRED
”0”
”********************”
USER AUTHENTICATED
ESTABLISHING SECURE CONNECTION
SECURE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED
0 IS NOW IN ATTENDANCE
CURRENT ATTENDANCE INCLUDES 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
ALL MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE

“Good evening, gentelmen,” The man said to the empty room and his speech appeared on the screen. “I believe you all know the reason behind our premature meeting. You all had time to review the reports, and we will now discuss the matter at hand.”

2: Are these reports correct? Are Rome and Mecca really... Gone?

4: Unfortunately, that appears to be the case.

3: I still can’t believe it, what could’ve provoked such a responce?

14: The recent capture of captain Shining Armor may have been a cause, but it’s uncertain at the moment.

10: Who cares what provoked them?! Humanity needs to put its foot down to prevent further tragedies and teach them a lesson.

16 has called for a vote: ENABLE ‘ABSOLUTION’ PROTOCOL
Yes votes: 10 total, No votes: 0 total, 6 Abstain.
Proposal accepted

10: Speaking of the captain, what’s the holdup? Is Dr. Vahlen getting cold feet?

11: Reports indicate that Commander Bradford believed the captive would be advantageous to the project politically.

4: Any hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict has been gone for a long time, what was he hoping to achieve?

3: The subject is related to two of the four alicorns orchestrating this invasion, perhaps a hostage on our hands was supposed to prevent them from acting. Clearly, that didn’t work.

8: The subject also presents us with an opportunity to test the effects of psioic influence on a responsive target.

9: Making the best out of a bad situation, i guess.

7: I propose the following: since the working prototypes of Thallion devices are complete within a month, we authorise the Commander to attempt a live capture of one of the Alicorn Princesses. Taking ‘ABSOLUTION’ protocol into account, ‘Cadance’ is a priority target. In a best case scenario, the protocol would leave no witnesses, leaving the capture of their official a secret to Equestrians.

7 has called a vote : authorise the capture of target designated “Cadance”
Yes voted : 10 total, No votes: 3 total, 3 Abstain.
Proposal accepted

13:After reviewing the latest operation’s report and in light of recent events i can’t help but ask: what will happen to the live equestrians?

10:Vahlen’s team will take care of them.

11:While i don’t take the doctor’s abilities into question, I believe professionals from Argentina will do the job just as well, without hampering the project’s other research ventures.

3:Agreed. The captives are civilians, there’s wouldn’t be a problem with information extraction.

9:What about the new gear? Beam weapons are remarkable and have proven their worth, but when are the “gauss” prototypes entering production?

2:Current projections indicate a working prototype in two months and a streamlined production shortly thereafter. Keep in mind that the project will supply itself with a sizable amount of gear before even considering lending the Council nations the weapons.

“Excellent. If there are no further matters to discuss, this emergency Council is now adjourned.” One by one the other Councilmen disconnected.

Zero tapped his desk as he too disconnected from the conference. He tapped another place on his desk and clasped his hands before him.

“Good morning, Commander.”

Author's Note

Things are about to get hot, huh? :unsuresweetie:

The Empty Ones

INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS: CITIES VIE FOR LIMITED RESOURCES AS RUSH ON BUILDING MATERIALS SLOWS REPAIRS TO DAMAGED ROADWAYS AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS;

A PUZZLING AMOUNT OF EQUESTRIAN PRISONERS REPORTED IN RUSSIA, OFFICIALS REFUSE TO COMMENT ON THE SITUATION.

10:22, 20/07/2050 XCOM INFIRMARY

The medical bay was never empty, with some seventy soldiers running around the base people were always hurt. Some were lucky, getting first to second degree burns caused by near misses. These were quickly discharged from medical, getting a three day breather at worst. Some were less lucky, direct hits weren't as deadly as before thanks to engineering, but they still left some scars. Alien grenades were no joke either, their tear-like shape made their trajectories unpredictable and their high explosive charge reduced even the best of armors to scraps of metal. Internal injuries were harder to treat, extracting shrapnel required multiple surgeries, and these people were bedridenn for two to three weeks. And then there were the ones with particularly nasty wounds. A hit between the armor plates or from behind, a close and personal encounter with a chryssalid, or a sectoid pile-on, all resulted in a long trip to the infirmary, lasting from a month, to a month and a half.

Rosa Guzman belonged to the second group, and it's been around a week since her last deployment. Her encounter with the Outsider wasn't a pretty one, but she got the job done, and that's all that mattered. She repositioned herself on the bed, when two figures approached her bedframe. She turned and saw the familiar faces of her squadmates, Dubravka and Mark.

"Well well well, look who's finally decided to show up! I was beginning to think one of the ayys got to the both you." One of the figures snorted, while the second one rolled its eyes.

"Yes, we're glad to see you're back to normal." The man stopped for a second before continuing. "Wait, Ayys? Where the hell did you pick that up?"

"It's better for you to not know." Dubravka said, provoking a slight chuckle from Rosa. When the man turned to her with a raised eyebrow she replied "Trust me, Mark."

"But really, we're glad to see you're fine, that shot looked mighty painful. From what i heard, the armor melted into your skin so they had to use lasers during the operation to cut it out." The rocketeer said with concern in her voice.

"Nah, i've had sunburns worse than that! Besides, now i know what being Margaret Thatcher fells like!" She looked at her friends expetingly. "You know, cuz' i was "The Iron Lady"!"

The joke elicited a laugh from the couple.

"So, when are they letting you out of here? The guy from reserves is great don't get me wrong, but..."

"But he's no match for the one and only, right?" Rosa interrupted the woman, and began getting up from the bed. "The doctors actually let me go half an hour ago, i've been geting ready to go."

"Uh-huh, getting ready by lying around? What would Peter say?" Mark reprimanded.

"Oh screw you, can't a girl have her beauty sleep?" She retorted, stretching her arms and legs.

"If that's you after beauty sleep, then i shudder to imagine what you look without it." The trio left medical and headed to barracks.

"Talking about Peter, where is he? I've got a visitor here and there, but i can't say i've ever seen him visit." Rosa said as they entered an elevator.

"He's been cooped up in the Psi Labs all week, apparently they want to try out something new on our guest." Dubravka answered, pressing a couple of buttons. The doors closed, and the group began their ascention.

"Does this have something to do with the big scare from a few days ago? What was that all about anyway?" She said turning to the woman who was uncharacteristically tense. She looked at Mark, and noticed he was tenser than usual.

"What? Did i say something?" She said sheepishly. Mark was the first to speak.

"Did... Did nobody tell you?"

"Assuming that you're talking about the reason behind the alarm, then no, nobody told me." A pregnant silence filled the elevator, only to be broken by a *DING* when the elevator arrived to its destination.

"I think you'll need a seat and a drink, let's get to the bar." The unexpected proposition came from Mark, who wasn't too keen on drinking.

"But why can't yo-"

"Rosa, trust me, let's get to the bar first." The second woman interrupted with a sympathetic look.

They took the door opposing the barracks, and entered the bar. It was bearing a striking similarity to the med bay, same smell of alchohol, same amount of hurt people. Despite the best efforts of R&D, Central, and everyone on the XCOM base, the memorial grew with an alarming speed, and the bar was rarely unoccupied. Something was different this time. There were too many soldiers. From a cursory glance, there seemed to be around thirty people. The most Rosa ever seen at once were ten, maybe twelve. The usual drink of choice was a glass of beer, a pint of cider, or, in the worst case scenario, a shot of vodka. Things like liquor or whiskey were off limits, reserved for a rainy day.

By the looks of it, a typhoon was raging just outside the base. The shelves were mostly empty, their contents standing on the counter half-full. The empty bottles were dumped into a garbage can near the counter, or would be dumped into it, if it wasn't filled to the brim by the bottles. The soldiers look tired and dejected. The whole situation didn't inspire much confidence in Rosa.

The group passed the counter, but not before Mark beckoned the bartender and managed to get a full bottle. Miraculously, the group managed to find an unoccupied table and hastily took their seats. Before Rosa could ask a question, mark placed the bottle in the center of the table, as well as three shot glasses. Dubravka was the first to take her glass, followed by Mark and finally, Rosa. The glasses were filled, and the woman's patience finally worn thin.

"What is going on? Why are there so many people here? What happened two days ago? ... And why are you giving me this wierd look, like i dunno, my puppy got hit by a car or something?" Dubravka sighed and put a hand on the other woman's soldier.

"I'm so, so sorry that i am the one to tell you this, but... Rome and Mecca are gone."

"I'm sorry? What did you just say?" She replied with steel in her voice. She had to make sure she haven't misheard.

"Two days ago, two energy spikes were detected in the Crystal Empire, not a second later Rome and Mecca were turned to crystal." Mark paused, downed his shot and continued. "There were no reported survivors."

She downed her shot immediatly, and poured another one.

As the warm feeling made its way into her stomach, tears welled up from the realisation.

She was the last of her kin.

09:30, 20/07/2050 XCOM PSIONIC LABS

A bald man was encased in a peculear chamber, nine more of them making a circle around the center of the room. The chamber itself was a mix between a sensory deprivation tank, and a sophisticated VR set, made utilising the most cutting edge technology. Despite being fully closed, strands of purple energy were slipping out of the tank, contorting randomly. An observatory was located closer to the ceilng, a group of scientists obsering the room.

"Don't overwork yourself general, we're ahead of scedule as is." Doctor Yuri Romalov warned the man, and fiddled with his tablet. With a loud KSHH the tank opened, and the man slowly stepped out of the machine. "We're done for now, get some rest, today is a big day." The soldier nodded wearily and made his way for the exit, but was stopped by a reminder from Doctor Vahlen.

"Remember to report to Psionic Labs at 8 PM today, don't keep the subject waiting." After aknowledging the doctor, he exited the labs. He sighed with relief as the doors closed behind him. Psionics always gave him a migrane, it was a known side-effect that would go away with sufficent training. He was informed of this side effect before volunteering for testing, but he underestimated how severe it was. He made a point to visit medical in the near future to resupply his aspirin stockple, wich was running out surprisingly fast.

He was originally planning to head to the gym, but the sharp pain in his temples urged him to reconsider. With each second he felt that he was losing the arguement, and decided to make a tactical retreat to his bunk. As he walked to the barraks he noticed a large group entering the bar. He sighed and entered the soldier quarters. *I really hope Command has some retaliation plan for this, we cannot let these acts go unpunished.* He dropped unceremoniously onto his bed, not bothering to take off the off-duty uniform. He yawned, made himself comfortable and stared at the mattress of the bunk bed above him. As he noticed something stirring, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Back so soon Pete? How's the training? Can you bend yawn spoons with your mind yet?" Adam Marzec asked trying to stifle a yawn, and failing miserably. Halfheartedly, the man replies.

"No, i'm not bending spoons, and please let me get some shuteye, Lord knows i'll need it." This does nothing to dissuade the man from further questions.

"So you'll be snooping around the poor sucker's mind today? Oh how time flies! I remember the day we captured him like it was yesterday..."

"Adam, if you want to say something - say it, otherwise i'd like to sleep." He heard a sigh and a hand holding a photo came into view, hanging from above.

"Since you'll be picking his brain apart, could you look for this girl? Name's Lily, Lily Marzec she's my sister." Van Doorn took the picture and got a good look at the girl. She looked about 15-16, blue eyes, dark hair.

"She went missing around the time i got into XCOM, and with all this blackout i don't know what happened to her. Please, i need to know." The man finished solemnly.

"I'll see what i can do. I doubt he knows anything, but if he does - you'll be the first to know." The hand lowered itself once again and took the photo.

"Thank you Peter, drinks are one me." The man replied, slightly more cheerful than before.

"Just let me get some sleep, 'kay?" A noise of aggreement was heard from above, and the man started slipping into a dream, his headache almost gone.

13:10, 20/07/2050 CANTERLOT CASTLE, WAR ROOM

The war council has gathered once again, although under less than desirable circumstances. The recent sabotage of the Crystal cannon shocked the Princesses, and although Discord didn't get away scott-free, he managed to escape. But that wasn't the primary reason behind this meeting, neither were the news regarding the current position of Commander-General Shining Armor. No, something far worse was threatening the future of Equestria. Princess Celestia sighed inwardly *At least the barrier is keeping us save from the humans.*

"Why are we here? Are there any news about General Armor?" Colonel Air Lift of the Pegasi Aerial Division asked, not noticing Princess Cadance wince at the mention of her husband. Luna cleared her throat, and responded.

"We are currently tracking his position, and although there's some kind of interference, with enough time we'll be able to locate him."

"I'm glad to hear that, but what is his current condition? What are the humans doing to him?" The pegasis replied, and before Luna could utter a word, Celestia interjected.

"He is alive, that much is certain. What the humans could be doing to him is unknown, but knowing them i fear the worst." She said solemnly, and a wave of apprehension washed over the room. "However tragic the continued imprisonment of Shining Armor is, a more immediate problem requires our attention. As you may have heard, my sister and i were seen attacking an unknown vessel that has been abducting ponies from all over Equestria." Celestia's horn glowed with a golden aura, and a holographic projection appeared in the middle of the room. A large rectangular object was whizzing past some clouds, momentarily stopping as it detected some kind of presence. The Diarchs appeared out of thin air, their horns crackling with energy as they shot beams at the ship. The saucer made a sharp turn to face the attackers, and fired a green bolt of ionized air the size of an average Princess. Some of these came quite close to hitting their targerts, burning the Princess fur. To the surprise of everypony, the attacks left burn marks at best, and were completely ineffective at worst. The hologram froze in place as Air Lift raised his hoof. Celestia looked at the pony.

"You have something to say?"

"Yes, your highness, i'd like to express my conecerns regarding the nature of the vessel, if you allow me, that is." Celestia nodded, and the pony continued." This ships is decidedly not human, their ships are aerodynamic in shape, and this thing looks like it shouldn't be flying. Furthermore, i don't know any metal that could withstand such a hit." Celestia nodded once more, and the scene resumed.

After a couple more fruitless attacks against the ship, a combination of golden and dark blue aura engulfed the ship, making it freeze in place. The Princesses looked unusually strained as the ship continued its escape attempts. It's shooting became more sporadic, and after a few seconds something exploded inside the ship. Just as the explosion occured, the vessel accelerated enough to break through the spell. The Alicorns tried to follow suit, but after a few seconds the ship disappeared from their view. A static image of the ship appeared and began turning around its axis, as Celestia continued.

"When we tried to suspend the object in place, we were met with a great deal of resistance. We still dont know how it is possible, no metal on this planet has resistance to magic." As the princess finished, Lieutenant Colonel Valkyrie spoke up.

"Maybe its not native to this planet... Who was piloting the ship?"

"We believe we can provide some insight to the situation." The Princess of the Night took a step forward, her horn glowing a dark blue color. A magic screen appeared in the middle of the room, showing a street full of ponies from a perspective of a pony. She was walking down the street, when a wierd sound caught her attention. A voice was calling out for help from the alley, but was soon reduced to coughs and sputtering. After a moment of hesitation the pony decided to help, and followed the voice. There, in the furthest corner of the alley she saw the source of the noise. A mare was being assaulted by something metallic. It wrapped its appendages around the victim's body and was squeezing her ribcage, while exuding some kind of misty gas into her face. The mare's eyes slowly rolled into her skull as her body went limp. The screen flickered as the second squid-like creature appeared out of thin air and grabbed the pony. The memory rewound to display the squid creature grabbing the pony. As the council stared at the creature in horror, Luna continued. "This was a memory of a mare known as Squeaky Clean, she was one of the abductees, who are now, sadly, are in human custody." The last remark made the whole room awash in anger.

"Are humans working with these... Monsters?" Colonel Bulk Head spoke, his face scrunching up in disgust. Luna shook her head.

"Our troops have already faced some unknown creatures during the raids on human cities. These 'monsters' attacked indiscriminately, although they prioritised human targets." The Princesses horn glowed, and the picture changed once more. A police department could be seen, holes riddling its walls. A fire raged on the roof, and multiple vehicles had crashed iether with eacheother, or by strange green pods. The picture moved, and a myriad of scream merged with gunfire was heard. The pony, being a captain of the squad commanded his fellow ponies to move inside the building. As they entered the building, they saw a scene straight out of a nightmare. A group of three four-legged bug creatures with two arms and sharp madibles cornered a group of humans. The second one of the humans tried to run, the creature switly lifted him off his feet, and slashed his throat in a gruesome motion. The body hit the ground with a thud, and the creature lowered itself to deposit something into the body. The sight made one pony vomit, which grabbed the attention of the crerature. It cried a bloodthursty roar, focused its small, glowing yellow eyes on the ponies, and ran towards them. A soldier to the left of the pony got swept of his feet, and the monster didn't stall for a second as it preformed its gruesome ritual.

The rest of the squad snapped out of a stupor, and managed to bring the creature down. When they looked at the place where the rest of the bugs stood, they were surprised to see dead bodies. The third human stood up, but his skin looked sick, and his walk was... Wrong. It shambled to the two remaining humans who covered in fear. Just as the creature swung its hand, its head exploaded when a streak of red light connected with it. A human in unfamiliar uniform approached the two humans and motioned them to follow him. He noticed the group and screamed for reinforcements as he retreated with the two humans. Two green hulking figures bust through the door, and fired their weapons towards the pony squad as the magical screen flickered and died.

"W-what was that thing?" A shaken voice of Six Shot, the youngest of the present ponies asked.

"Maybe a changeling?" Bulk Head relied, and Six Shot replied.

"Changelings don't do... that."

"I think you're both missing something important, who was that human? I've never seen gear like that before, and i've fought my fair share of humans." Air Lift mused. Luna cleared her throat, and the room was at attention.

"This, as well as other sightings of these humans fighting both our forces and the 'monsters', leaves us with one conclusion. They are not wearing camouflage or insignia of any known country, they seem to operate globally, and their gear is far beyond what the regular human forces are outfitted with. We might have some kind of multi-national organisation on our hooves." Bulk Head shook his head.

"Who cares about the humans? Have you seen what that creature did? They behaved like animals! And what about the green brutes at the end? What could've provoked it to attack? What was the motivation? They're clearly the biggest danger!"

To everypony's surprise, Cadance spoke up.

"They have no motivation. They have no feelings. Even changelings had some kind of emotion inside of them, but these? These are empty inside." She shuddered at the words.

"What are we going to do?" Six Shot asked, turning to Celestia for advise. The Sun Princess closed her eyes, sighed, and responded.

"Treat these creatures as you would humans, don't hesitate to strike them down. As for their vessels, do not approach them. Princess Twilight will look into this issue, in the meantime my sister and i will protect our skies."

Dreams and Nightmares

BRITISH TABLOIDS TURN TO LEGITIMATE NEWS AS PUBLIC GROWS DISINTERESTED IN 'FLUFF' DURING TIME OF CRISIS;

UFO LANDING SITE IN GERMANY REPORTEDLY SECURED BY MILITARY FORCES OF UNKNOWN AFFILIATION;

19:30, 20/07/2050 XCOM SOLDIER BARRACKS

Van Doorn woke up from the incessant beeping of his watch. Still half asleep, he blinked a couple of times and brought up his left hand. Looking at the clock face, he sighed wearily at the numbers displayed - 19:30. He shifted on his creaky bunk bed, not wanting to get up. "I can't believe it's so late already" he grumbled, sitting on the mattress "feels like i didn't even sleep." He yawned and stretched, gathered his strength and stood up. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the quiet barracks as he headed to the bathroom to clean up. Halfway there, he took notice of the silence, and turned around to look at the second story of his bunk bed, only to find it unoccupied. Did i sleep through a mission? He ruminated on the thought and found it ridiculous. Maybe everyone's training right now, or in the bar. Hell, the base's large, it's not that wierd to find the barracks empty. He entered the bathroom and started washing his face. As he was rinsing his mouth, something dropped in the other room, prompting the man to spit out the water and go investigate the source.

He opened the door, only to see the same empty barracks. As he searched the room for the source of the noise, he saw something move in his peripheral vision. His gaze darted to the door, and he saw a shadow quickly move away. "Hey, wait!" He dashed towards the exit and peeked out to see an empty corridor. A shadowy figure stood at the end of the corridor, and when the man tried to approach it, it took a left turn and ran. "Stop right there!" he yelled to no avail. As he followed the figure, the corridor spun into a spiral and trembled, forcing the man to the floor. Metal creaked and cracked under pressure as the walls contorted and deformed. Van Doorn looked around and stood up as soon as as the tremors subsided. He looked at the place where the figure was a few moments ago, only to see the spiraling corridor ending in a door that wasn't there before. "What in the goddamn..." he mutered, getting to his feet and moving towards the door. The jagged pieces of metal sprouting from the floor made him tread carefully and slowly. He stopped in front of the door, and opened it.

A wooden table was standing in the middle of a rustic room. The walls were made of birch wood, a large fireplace was located near the table. A number of paintings hanged from the walls, mainly depicting mountains and green fields. Windows were open, and beyond them a seaside was visible. A man in his fifties, as well as woman of roughly the same age were sitting side-by-side, both of them having grey streaks in their hair. To their left, a boy in his teens was poking his dinner with a fork as he stared into the fire, seemingly bored. On the opposite side of the couple, a dark haired woman was sitting at the table, talking to the three with a happy look in her eyes. The matter of the conversation eluded Peter, as they were speaking in a language unknown to him. He squinted trying to recognise the woman. He raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. "Rosa?" He pressed against an invisible barrier, it was wet and lathery to the touch, much like a soap bubble. When his hand connected with the barrier, a wave rippled its way across the surface, making the room waver.

The woman tensed up when the elderly man said something to her, and her speech became more strained. The couple smiled, tears welling up in their eyes. The boy saluted with a smirk on his face, a single tear falling down his face. The second the woman tried to stand up, a loud explosion shattered the windows, and engulfed the room with white light. As the woman screamed, the three figures were covered in crystals, gems sprouting from inside tearing their flesh apart. In a second they turned to glittering colorful statues, and shattered to pieces. The room dissipated into an black void, as the woman cried out and fell to her knees beside the shards of gems. As she wept and cradled the remains, a four-legged figure stepped out of the void with a smirk on its face. The equine spread her wings and lit her horn as she began cackling.

The woman looked at the alicorn with hate filled eyes and clenched her fists. She roared and leapt at the pony. To Van Doorn's surprise, the pink alicorn wasn't able to stop the soldiers advance, and soon enough a flurry of punches was unleashed upon the equine. The sound of breaking bone filled the room as the soldier grabbed the pony by her head, and started beating her head against the darkness. "Rosa, can you hear me?" Van Doorn yelled as the pony's head turned into a mess of blood and bone. "Stop right now!" The woman continued her assault, despite the mush-like substance covering her hands. Van Doorn pressed his hands against the barrier, and with enough pushing, it gave way. The barrier burst loudly, and Rosa finally looked away from her target. Her eyes widened when she recognised the man. "General?" The floor beneath them gave way and they fell into the nothingness together.

...

"GAH!" - Van Doorn shot up from sleep and hit his head on the bunk bed. His watch was beeping incessently. Bringing up his shaking hand, he looked at the clock face. A lump formed in his throat as he saw the time: 19:30. He took a deep breath, an stood up from the bed. He began making his way to the bathroom, when a familiar voice called him out.

"Rise and shine Mr. Doorn, Rise and-" the voice cut abruptly as Van Doorn turned to face him.

"What? Do i have something on my face?" He asks, scratching his chin.

"Pete, you look like you've seen a ghost." Adam says with a worried expression.

"You wouldn't believe it." Van Doorn responds, and enters the bathroom. A sink is positioned near one of the walls, and a mirror hangs above it. He leans on the sink and twist a faucet. As cold water rushes out, he takes a look at his reflection. He had bags under his eyes, a tired look in his brown eyes, and his body was shaking. He splashed some water in his face, and after deciding he looked somewhat presentable, got out of the bathroom.

Making his way towards the exit of the barracks, he notices something that made him quicken the pace. Adam was ahving a conversation with a shaken Rosa. As he exited the barracks, he heard a snippet of it.

"Bloody hell, what happened? I swear, Pete was just as shaken as you..."

19:55, 20/07/2050 XCOM INTERROGATION CHAMBER

Doctor Yuri Romalov checked his watch for what must've been the tenth time. He looked at Vahlen who was fiddling with her tablet. Beside her, two white operating tables stood, both of them occupied. On the left one lay Van Doorn, a myriad of sensors placed on his body, as well as a device similar to a VR headset placed on his head. On the right one an incapacitated white stallion was restrained to the table, monitoring equipment by his side. Yuri's clock buzzed startling him. He cleared his throat and approached the woman. "Doctor Vahlen, i believe its time to begin the procedure." She took out a recorder and approached Van Doorn.

"Begin log. This is Doctor Moira Vahlen, Head of Research. I will be assisted by Doctor Yuri Romalov, head of XCOM Psionic division. The date is 20/07/2050, 20:00. Today marks our first use of psionics during interrogation. Sergeant Van Doorn, are you ready to begin the procedure?"

"Ready as i'll ever be." The man said, getting as comfortable as he could on the table.

"Excellent, we'll begin psionic probing in 3... 2... 1." The woman pressed a button on her tablet, and the contraption on Doorn's head glowed with purple energy.

"Remember to establish a stable link with the subject before attempting information extraction." Yuri reminded.

"Just like the simulations." The man said, and closed his eyes in concentration. A bout of motion sickness gripped him, and when he opened his eyes, he was upright, standing... somewhere. He was surrounded by a starry night sky, it took fair amount of his willpower not to look down. He looked around and noticed that the weren't any familiar constellations. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated. Make a stable link... First i need something to stand on. Something that would be familiar to the subject... A field of grass, maybe? He pictured a vast meadow full of flowers with a quiet river flowing nearby. He heard the murmur of water and the rustle of grass. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in a green pasture under the night sky. Finding a river to his left, he decided to follow it. Hopefully this will lead me to the target soon enough.

As he followed the river, night turned to day, and the outskirts of a small town became visible. Quaint wooden buildings littered the town, with a grand chrystal castle standing beside the village. The castle stuck out like a sore thumb, contrasting with the otherwise rustic town. The man squinted and took a better look at the structure. He snorted. Is it flipping me off? Following the river further, he heard sounds of chatter coming from just behind a grove. He crouched and slowly approached the source. He took cover behind a tree as he spotted a group of four ponies. Taking a closer look, it was obvious they were having a picnic. One of the figures was Shining Armor himself, currently listening to his sister with a content smile on his face. Beside the two ponies was Princess Cadance who was styling the violet mane of a younger alicorn. Her coat was light magentaish in color, and she looked grumpy for some reason. Van Doorn's eyes widened as he saw both a horn and a pair of wings on the pony. Bloody hell, another alicorn? This one looks young though... Not that it matters, they all look young. The man dashed from tree to tree, until he was hinding behind the last one, just beside the picnic place itself.

He stepped out of cover and outstrethced his right hand, while putting the left one to his temple. He concentrated, and purple tendrils of psionic energy erupted from his head rushing towards the white-coated pony. To the man's surprise, they impacted an invisible barrier. A wave of ripples made its way across the shield, and the white pony tensed up a little. A sweat built up on the man's forehead as he continued to assault the barrier. Cracks appeared seemingly out of nowhere as the stallion got up from his sitting position and started looking around in concern. The man thrust his left hand forward, and a wave of purple energy washed over the picnic grounds, shattering the shield.

As the shield shattered the scenery melted away into oblivion, and the pony watched in horror as his companions turned to sludge. He turned to face the human, and saw determination as he looked into the man's purple eyes. "I DEMAND ANSWERS!" the soldier yelled, and violet tendrills shot out towards the unicorn. The pony's horn glowed with power, and he teleported away from the attack. He dodged a couple more purple tendrills, and conjured up a sheld. Violet energy collided with the magical barrier, and Shining strained from the effort of keeping up the shield. A thought passed his mind that gave him an idea. *This is a dream, right?* His shield turned to shards of glass as he teleported behind a platoon of solar guards, and threw the shards towards Van Doorn. The man dropped to the ground, and was showered with broken glass. Getting to his feet he saw the approaching ponies, and the same though came to his mind. I'm still in a dream... Just as the ponies prepared to rush him, the hum of VTOL engines became audible, as well as the sound of spinning barrels. The voice of Big Sky filled the soldier's ears. "Aye aye; lightin’ ‘em up." A torrent of coherent light painted the battlefield with charred corpses and burn marks.

More ponis appeared, but each and every one of them was reduced to nothing by the Skyranger's heavy laser. As the man got closer to Shining, walls of a castle erupted from the ground, protecting the pony. A ocket fizzled through the air and impacted the castle walls. Van Doorn approached the hole in the wall and the smoke cleared, revealing a tired-looking pony. Before the latter could react, Van Doorn dashed to the stallion, and hit him in the muzzle. Before the pony could recover, the man grabbed him by the head, and purple energy started passing between his hands, right through Shining's head. The man concentrated on the information he needed. "Crystal Empire. The layout of the Crystal Castle. Show me..." The scenery changed sporadically, showing different rooms of the castle. "Lily Marzec. Show her." He visualised the girl's face, and to his horror, a teenager pony appeared as the scenery changed into a desert. "WHERE?" He screamed at Shining, who quietly mumbled "Australia" with a pained expression on his face. He was about to ask the pony about Canterlot Castle when a roar of thunder distracted him, and a dark blue aura threw him away from the pony. He hit the ground hard, and remained pinned by the magic field. He tried to get up, psionic tendrills fought against the aura and were slowly succeeding. That is, until a booming voice dissolved them into mist. "THOU SHALL NO LONGER TERRORISE MY SUBJECT. BEGONE FIEND!" The pressure built up and he could swear he heard a crack of a broken bone, when the ground underneath him disappeared and he fell into oblivion.

23:00, 20/07/2050 XCOM INTERROGATION CHAMBER

Dr. Vahlen was busy relaying the new information to Commander, as Dr. Romalov checked the condition of Van Doorn. The information the were getting was important, if somewhat unorganised. The myriad of room layouts, images of royal parties, and seemingly random scenery wasn't easy to process, but the information got more coherent in the last hour, giving them a clear layout of the castle. "Here's hoping it'll be enough..." Suddenly, the monitoring equipment signaled a warning, and the doctor looked away form his tablet to check the soldier's lifesigns. His eyes fidened as he called his superior. "Doctor Vahlen? We've got an emergency on our hands!" The woman rushed over to the operating table, an her eyes widened as she noticed the heart rate - 180bpm. "Wake him up! Now!" Vahlen commanded, tapping her tablet. "And call medical!" The headset powered down, and the purple light faded. As soon as that happened, Van Doorn shot up from sleep with a terrified look in his eyes. He grabbed his chest and began breathing heavily. Blood trickled down from his nostril as he stood up and tried to leave, but was stopped by Yuri. "Sergeant, you are to remain here until we are sure you've suffered no adverse side effects." The man groaned. "Side effects? What sort of side effects?" The doctor motioned to look towards the second operating table. "That sort of side effects." The pony on the table was convulsing, and his muzzle was bloodied. His eyes were wide open, and the pupils were the size of pinpricks. His broken horn was sparkling with energy.

Feng Yin rushed to the briefing room as soon as she heard the intercom. She ran up the stairs and almost collided with the rest of her squad. "Liutenant? Good to see you, i'd reckon we're all goin' to the same room." Courtney Murdoch said.

"No shit Sherlock, what gave it away? The base-wide announcement, or the fact she's clad in body armor?" Adam scoffed, which earned him a cuff on the nape from Rosa. As they approached the briefing room, they noticed the lack of a certain bald man. Dubravka was the first to speak up.

"Where's Peter? I haven't seen him in armory..." Rosa and Adam both tensed up at the mention of the man, and Iris Heijden was the one to reply.

"General's busy down at Psi Labs from what i heard." Mark furrowed his brows.

"I hope he's not going to miss this op, we can't afford to go into the fray understaffed."

They opened the door and to their surpirise, Van Doorn was already sitting on one of the benches, waiting for his squadmates. He looks left much to be desired though. The tired look in his eyes was matched by the heavy bag under them.
Strike One occupied their bench, just in time to see Bradford walk into the room. After a salute everyone settled down and Commander began the briefing.

"Germany reported widespread alien attacks in Cologne, the local military is holding them off the best they can, but they need our help. We are tasked with making sure a civilian convoy makes it out of the city. Strike One will be dropped near one of the remaining highways, their objective is to secure the area and hold out until Strike Two arrives. Strike Two will rescue civilian targets and escort the APC convoy to Strike One's position for evac. Strike Three and Four will draw the invader's attention, providing enough time for the convoy to make it through. Skyrangers will provide assistance to local forces, so don't rely on CAS. "

With that, the breifing was over, the strike teams made their way to their respective Skyrangers and the aircrafts soon left the base. Adam managed to take a set close to Peter, and was fidgeting in place thinking if he should ask him or not. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the man and asked. "So, Peter, did you "ask" our friend about... You know." Van Doorn turned towards his squadmate. The look of pity he gave the man do not bode well.

"I-i did. She's a newfoal. Somewhere in Australia. I'm sorry." The man said with a sigh. Adam clenched his fists and shook his head.

"You're not the one who should be apologising. At least she's still alive, and that's what i prayed for. One more reason to blow those ponies to bits, eh? Plus, i'm sure the docs will cook up a solution to the problem sooner or later... Thank you, Peter, once we're back at the base - drinks are on me."

Van Doorn planned to take a quick nap, thank the lord military training allowed him to sleep pretty much anywhere, but his plans were ruined when an *ahem* from his right demanded his attention. He turned to see a familiar shape of Rosa's helmet, who was *probably* looking daggers at him behind it. The man raised an eyebrow, even though he already guessed the reason behind the disturbance. The woman was about to ask her question, when the voice of Strike One's pilot interrupted her. "Strike One ready to deploy."

23:40, 20/07/2050 Cologne, GERMANY

The skyranger hovered over a collapsed highway, its ramp opened and four thick cables fell out. Once the squad descended, the skyranger flew off.

"Command, this is Big Sky. Strike One is in position, securing the AO.

"Central, Big Brother reporting. Strike Two is on site, convoy is in sight."

"Command, Beaglerush on-line. Strike Three is engaging x-rays."

"Central, Firebrand speaking. We're in the pipe, five by five."

"Affirmative. Strike One is to secure the AO and wait for Strike Two escort the convoy. Strike Two is to protect the civilian targets and regroup with Strike One." Bradford said into his microphone, observing the situation. "Strike Three and Four you have one objective: keep the enemy busy. Once the convoy is out of the city, you'll have the go-ahead to evac. To all Strike teams: remember to check your fire, civilians are in the AO." An wave of aknowledgemet from the squad captains crackled through the Commander's headset as each team moved to complete their objective.

Strike One slowly approached the collapsed highway. Rosa moved towards an abandoned police car, and heard the distant sounds of battle. Plasma fire mixed with the sound of conventional firearms, as well as bone-chilling human screams. Among the familiar, yet not less terrifying roars of Mutons and Chryssalids she heard something... Unknown. A much more animalistic roar came from somewhere inside a crashed schoolbus. She put her left hand up, fist clenched. Her teammates stopped and listened. "You hear that?" She half-whispered.

"What the hell was that? Don't think i've heard that before..." Adam replied, taking cover behind a plasma-burned yellow minivan a few meters away from the assault. He checked the car, and a stench of burnt flesh permeated his nostrils. He recoiled from the smell, and shut the door. "No survivors." He said dryly.

Courtney propped herself against a green pickup truck, alongside Iris. Checking the driver seat, the driver was missing and the keys were in the ignition. A blood trail stretched from the driver's seat to the abandoned schoolbus. "This one's empty, but don't get comfy, something's dragged the driver away." She said, motioning towards the yellow bus.

Iris took cover behind an opened door of a sedan, and prooped his tripod-mounted heavy laser on top of it. "I'll cover the entrance, nothing'll get past those doors." He shifted in place as another roar was heard coming from the same bus.

"Bozic, get a rocket ready." Feng instructed, sitting behind a collapsed support beam, alongside the second sniper. "I don't like the looks of this." She steadied her rifle, before continuing. "Guzman, check the bus for hostiles. If there is anything inside - get out of there, a rocket will be on its way. Heijden, Murdoch, cover Guzman." She turned her head to the sniper beside her. "Van Beek, cover Doorn and Marzec." She aimed at the entrance of the bus. "The rest of you - continue advancing towards the collapsed highway." A string of confirmations soon followed, and the plan was set in motion.

Dubravka took cover behind a stack of wooden boxes, erected to work as temporary cover. She grabbed her rocket launcher, aimed, and prepared to fire. "Rocket is on standby."

Rosa quickly but carefully approached the bus. It was faint at first, but the closer she got to the vehicle, the clearer she could smell it. Something certainly died there. The windows were smudged from the inside, making it impossible to see the contents of the bus. The door was smashed through, and a broken body was sprawled sideaways on the drivers seat. Something strong enough to break the door with a body? Bloody hell. "Reporting a dead body, moving in to investigate."

"Roger that, covering." Iris responded as the woman took a step into the bus. The metallic smell assaulted her nostrils as she stepped inside. Most of the seats were broken, bodies strewn around in unnatural poses. Bones were broken, jutting out of the bodies. Limbs were either ripped off or were set at unnatural angles. Three distinct claw marks were visible on every body. The woman crept into the depts of the bus and accidentally stepped on something, making a loud crack. Something big huffed and got up from its knees. It came from the end of the bus, from behind one of the remaining seats. Something big roared as it noticed the woman, and charged at her without hesitation. "CONTACT! CONTACT!" she yelled, unloading her scatter laser into the thing as she backpedaled to the exit. The bursts of coherent light illuminated her surroundings, allowing her to see her attacker better. She caught a glance of a two and a half meter figure before its backhanded strike sent her flying through the window. The glass shattered on impact and she hit the ground hard. She crawled away from the bus as the creature reared its ugly head out of the doors.

As soon as it took a single step outside, it was impacted by a rocket, obscuring it in a black cloud of smoke. For a second, everything was quiet.

But then she heard it.

A roar.

The creature rushed out of the smoke and headed straight for Rosa. She shot at it until her charge was dry, but despite her shots scorching the creature's flesh, it kept going, roaring mencaingly each time it got hit. When it got within meele distance out of instinct, she tried to kick it with her leg. She was horrified when the monster grabbed her ankle in one hand and clenched it's fist, crushing fist. She screamed in pain as it struck her ankle with the second hand, breaking the leg with a loud crunch and bending the leg. A torrent of coherent laser impacted it's armor, but the creature ignored the attack, choosing instead to mutilate her other leg. Pain surged through her body as she felt the creature tear her right leg to shreds. The creature finally left the woman when a concentrated barrage of laser fire managed to burn a small hole through it.

It roared once more and barreled towards the team's gunner. "DIE YOU PIECE OF S-" Iris managed to yell before a bladed gauntlet hit him square in the chest. The man screamed in pain, before the creature put all of its weight into one punch, crushing his ribcage and silencing him forever. "Man down!" Courtney yelled into the mic as the squad focused its fire on the creature. The torrent of laser fire finally brought the creature down, and it collapsed to the ground, its armor scorched and bloodied. Before the squad could take a moment to rest, plasma fire scorched the extirior of a car closed to Courtney, nearly hitting her. "Floaters! Open fire!"

A group of ten monstrous cyborgs powered by pairs of twin back-mounted jets took off into the air, and rained green death upon the squad. Their glowing eyes and mutilated bodies were a horrifying sight to behold, not to mention the robotic arms and a respirator place over their mouth. A number of them dropped dead when a red laser connected with their heads. Feng shot one down, and spoke into the microphone. "Bozic go patch Guzman up, Courtney and Doorn - cover her."

"Got it, running." The rocketeer replied and dashed to the woman in question, ducking and weaving past the plasma bolts coming her way. One shot managed to connect, scorhing the armor. She landed near the soldier and quckly observed her condition. She was bleeding, and her legs looked like used up tubes of toothpaste. Dubravka took the woman's helmet off and was met with a face as pale as a sheet. "Kurva! Stay with me soldier, medkits fix everything." She took a red medkit from her belt and sprayed it over the woman's legs. Rosa felt numbness slowly spread through her legs, smiled weakly and replied. "Not the best time to call me a whore, but alright." Another plasma bolt hit their cover, and made the rocketeer flinch.

"The medkit won't cut it, she needs proper medical attention. NOW!" Dubravka said into her microphone. "Call Big Sky, we need to get her to the skyranger!" She added after a moment of hesitation.

"Big Sky's, this is Specter. Requesting emergency evac, what's your status?" Feng said, taking out another floater. Their numbered dwindled somewhat, but the recent reinforcements of mutons pressured the squad further.

"Specter, Big Sky's reporting. I'm covering the convoy's retreat, ETA is 5 minutes. Stay frosty." The Leutenant cursed under her breath before answering.

"Heard you loud and clear Big Sky. Staying put." She took a shot at the muton, whose bodyarmor melted a little when the red streak connected with it. Despite that, it continued it's advance.

"Bozic, get her to my position, i'll cover you."

"Aye, aye." The rocketeer responded and carefully skooped the wounded soldier up into a fireman's carry. The squad provided covering fire, and the woman began making her way towards the two snipers. Plasma whizzed past the two soldiers as they took cover behind a yellow van. Beside them, Courtney was firing at a group of hostiles. "Move! I'll cov-" She turned to Dubravka for just a second, but that second was more than enough for her head to evaporate as a plasma bolt hit it. She was dead before she hit the floor. "Dammit! She’s gone!" the rockeeter yelled. She took a deep breath and rushed towards the next bit of cover. Her headset crackled to life as she positioned herself behind some cover, narrowly avoiding another green bolt of doom. "Strike One, this is Big Sky. Big Brother is assisting the convoy, i'm making a beeline towards your position. Get ready."

Just as the pilot's voice cut off, the sound of VTOL engines filled the battlefield, and the skyranger landed with its ramp down. A copilot was standing in the nethers of the craft, motioning the rocketeer to get in. She rushed towards the entrance and managed to get in without getting shot. She slowly lowered the wounded soldier on the floor, and looked at the copilot. "I'll take care of here, get back into the fight." She replied. Dubravka nodded, and rushed back to the battlefield, only to see the convoy of german Boxers make its way into the highway. Her headset crakled to life once again, and the voice of Bradford filled her ears.

"Good job Strike teams. The convoy is safe, and the civilians are unharmed. You have the green light to evac."

OPERATION BATTLE CRY: COMPLETE

ALIEN TERROR MISION HALTED.

CIVILIAN LOSSES: ACCEPTABLE

STRIKE ONE REPORTS 2 KIA, 6 WIA
STRIKE TWO REPORTS 1 KIA, 6 WIA
STRIKE THREE REPORTS 3 KIA, 5 WIA
STRIKE FOUR REPORTS 4 KIA, 4 WIA

RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:

(Documented by CPT Glenn Friendly)

MUTON BODY: 30

BERSERKER BODY: 10

CHRYSSALID CARCASS: 20

FLOATER CORPSE: 30

WEAPON FRAGMENTS: 63

OPERATION EVALUATION:ACCEPABLE

War Machines

CITIES ACROSS GERMANY EVACUATED IN LIGHT OF UNRELENTING ALIEN ATTACKS;

A NEW COMEDY SHOW MOCKING THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY BECOMES A SMASH HIT;

Rosa stretched on her bed and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and reached for the bedside desk to get her phone. click A ray of light blinded her for a moment as she squinted to look at the screen. 03:22. She groaned and rolled over to her side. As sudden coughing fit overtook her, and she felt how dry her throat was. I need to get some water.

She sat up, stretched once more and stood up. At least, that's what she intended to do. Instead of the carpet tickling her feet, said carpet was now on a collision course with her face. She yelped and planted face-first into the carpet. Shit She rolled over on her back, and tried to stand up.

But she couldn't.

Her legs were numb. How the hell did my legs manage to fall asleep? Didn't think i've put enough pressure. She was cold. Come to think, what day is it today? What year it is? She couldn't move. Where am i? She couldn't feel her legs. What- With a loud snap, her vision went dark. When she opened her eyes, the scenery around her changed and she suddenly felt groggy...

01:30, 21/07/2050 XCOM INFIRMARY

"Look who's waking up! Welcome back to the land of the living, enjoy your bloddy stay." Rosa groaned as she tried to sit up.

"4/10, bland food, stuffed rooms, wouldn't reccome-" She got halfway up, before a bout lightheadedness overtook her and she dropped back into the bed. "Woah, shit."

"Yeah, shit. Slow down there Rosa, we don't want you passing out again." She turned her head to look at the man, and scowled when her gaze fell upon his bandaged torso. Her gaze traveled upwards and stopped on a burn scar covering his left cheek.

"Fuck, you too Adam?" He nodded.

"One green bastard almost got me. An inch closer, and there'd be no one to keep you company, imagine that!"

"What would i do without you..." The man chuckled at that, and reached for a glass of water.

With a sigh, Rosa closed her eyes and rubbed the bringe of her nose. Her left leg itched for some reason, so she tried to scratch it. She felt a pit in her stomach when her hand found nothing where her leg shold've been. She reached for her right leg, and to her horror she found nothing. With a lump in her throat, she turned to the man laying on a hospital bed. "Adam." her voice was ice-cold. "Where are my legs?"

The man's face showed a mix of pity and remorse. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze. "W-well, the op didn't go as planned, the Berserker beat you up pretty good and-"

"And how the fuck does that equate to me losing my legs!? Last i heard, the doc's here are supposed to be the cream of the crop!" She yelled, oblivious to amount of noise she was creating.

"Your legs looked like used tubes of toothpaste! You're lucky to be alive!" He said, but the woman scoffed at his reply.

"Lucky? Lucky?! I can't walk, can't fight, can't do anything exept lay here!" The lump in her throat made breathing a grueling task. "I'm useless!"

"Don't say that, you're not-" The man began, but was cut off as her rant continued.

"Oh god... Oh god... What are they going to do to me? Keep me here on... palliative care?" She held her face in her hands. "O-or, they'll just dismiss me! Send me to a hospital in Bumblefucknowhere to rot!" Her hands trembled as she mumbled to herself. "I'm so fucked."

The man approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Command won't send you away, trust me. And no matter what happens, i won't leave you. No one from Strike One will." Their conversation left the pair oblivious to the outside world. "Plus, prosthetics came a long way in the last couple of years, i'm sure the docs will figure something out."

"That's something i wanted to discuss with miss Guzman." An eledrly voice made both of them turn towards the speaker. A man donning a green jacket, white shirt and black trousers was standing near the doors to the infirmary. A badge with his photo read 'DR. Raymond Shen, Cheif Engineer' His head was mostly bald, and the few hair that remained were gray. A kind smile graced his features as he fixed his glasses. "If i'm not interrupting something, that is."

"It-"

"It's fine, sir." The woman replied, shooting a thankful glance at the soldier. "I'm sure Adam won't be too much of a bother." The engineer shook his head.

"I'm afraid this conversation must be done heart to heart. The topic is quite sensitive, nevermind classified. I hope you understand." He looked at the man, who nodded and left the pair to their own devices. The engineer cleared his throat before speaking. "Now, first i must express my condolences about the whole situation. I'm sorry you had to go through this, and for what its worth, my department is working on new equipment that will, hopefully, prevent things like that from happening again." The woman put on a fake smile, and scratched the back of her neck. She felt a dull pain coming from the place where her legs should've been. "However, i believe my team has come up with a way to... mitigate your condition." He rummaged through his jacket and took out a scratched tablet with an XCOM logo on its back. He fiddled with it and turned the screen towards the soldier.

Multiple schematics of prosthetics appeared on the screen, accompanying a large robotic figure. A bulky frame with metallic arms and legs towerd over a human, whose arms and legs were outstretched. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the screen. "Prosthetics?"

"More than that. A Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit designed to provide an array of both defensive and offensive capabilities on the battlefield." He says the line as if he was in a commercial. "For you, this is a chance to fight once again, as well as live a fulfilling life should XCOM overcome the alien threat." He paused. "However, i must warn you that these capabilities come with certain sacrifices." He said as her eyes drifted over to a certain graphic on the tablet. The one depicting a human figure with dotted lines at the base of each limb. Every few seconds the limbs separated from the body along the lines and faded away before appearing once again. Her eyes grew wide.

"You... You want to amputate my arms?" She said in disbelief. Raymond shook his head.

"We have to. Regrettably, the limbs are not flexible enough to fit into the suit without compromising mobility or defense. Moreover, in order to allow you to interface with the cybersuit, we have to install additional interfaces."

Rosa blined and took a deep breath. "W-what if you just install the legs prosthetics? I can still fight, right?" She looks at the man with hope. She feels a pit form in her stomach as the engineer shakes his head.

"While these prosthetics represent the pinnacle of our technology, they are too stiff to be used in a battle without a suit. If you wish to, we can give you legs, but you won't be deployed into battle."

She lowered her head and looked at her hands. What would she do without them? Be even more of a cripple? She couldn't fight without them... she couldn't fight with them. Shen made it clear - if she refused now, she wouldn't get to see combat. She thought about the future. Best case scenario - the operation would be a success and she would be stationed here for further research, or demoted to base security. Her brows furrowed at the thought. She respected each and every blueshirt there, but she couldn't bear to work there knowing that others were risking their lives. And she preferred not to think of a worst-case. She took a deep breath and looked at the elder man.

"If... if i agree to the procedure, will i be able to have kids?" The man was in thought for a moment before replying.

"I don't see why not. The operation is envasive, but it will not impact your reproductive system."

"If i accept, how long would it be until i'm ready to deploy?" She asked, watching the man intently.

"Hard to say," Raymond scratched his chin "including the post-operational training i'd say about a week."

Rosa knew what she needed to do.

The sound of scribbling on a chalkboard filled the room. A smell of rot permiated the room as multiple garbage bins were overflowing with waste. Containers of leftover chinese food and pizza boxes littered the floor, tables were stacked with notes unintelligible to everypony, but their owner. Near the chalkboard stood a wooden table with an ornate box incrusted with numerous gems lying on its top. The box was empty, its contents lying near the container. Each fixed to a pedistal and covered by a glass case, were the Elements of Harmony.

A tired looking pony finished writing on the board and turned to the Elements. Her violet mane was disheveled and dirty, with knots of hair peppered throughout the whole thing. Her purple coat was stained in various places with remnants of food. Approaching the table, one of the cases lit up and opened. A golden tiara flew up to the pony and stopped a few inches from her muzzle. Twilight squinted and concentrated on the spell she wanted to conjure. The tiara started glowing as the air was filled with a smell of ozone. A glint of hope appeared in Twilight's eyes as the crown vibrated with magical energy. Her eyes were wide when the crown stopped vibrating and froze in place. That glint died the moment the tiara fell on the table.

Twilight stared blankly at the headgear, before grabbing it with her magic. "Why? Why are you doing this? Equestria is in danger, can't you see it?" She pleaded with the lifeless trinket. "It needs your help, we need your help!" A knock on the door went unnoticed. "The ponies need us right now! So WHY. WON'T. YOU. WORK?!" A sound of a door opening grabbed Twilights attention and she turned to the doorway, throwing the Element towards it. "NOPONY'S ALLOWED IN-"

"We're afraid we'll have to circumvent this rule, Twilight Sparkle." Anything she wanted to say died in her throat as she looked over the intruder. Her dark blue coat along with the briliant blue mane shimmering with the light of a billion distant stars and galaxies made it hard to not recognise her. Still, it took Twilight a hot second to snap out of her stupor.

"Princess Luna? I'm sorry i shouted at you, i didn't expect anypony to come here..." Luna set the tiara on the table an approached Twilight.

"Worry not, Twilight. Tis' a hard time for everypony, and we understand you're hard at work." She hugged her friend.

"Thank you, Princess." She put the tiara back under the glass. "I don't want to sound rude, but... why are you here?"

"My sister would like to discuss something with the both of us," She motioned her wing towards the door, and Twilight followed. "she wished to do so in the privacy of her own chambers, so i suggest we make our way there swiftly."

Twilight nodded and feel in step alongside Luna. Twilight would never admit it, but she always felt on edge in the darkness of the castle's corridors. She wasn't easily scared, but the empty corridors with monstrous collumns and grand, unsecured windows made her feel uneasy. She must've began trembling, because she felt Luna's wing cover her withers.

"Fret not, Twilight. Whatever our sister wants to share, we can handle." Twilight took a deep breath as they stopped in front of a massive golden door.

"Perhaps, it will be good news? Its about time we got a lucky break." The purple alicorn said, looking hopefully at the Princess of the Night, who shook her head.

"We admire your optimism." Luna opened the door. "Nevertheless, hope for the best but prepare for the worst."

Celestia was leaning on the table in the center of the room, her back turned to the pair. Her celestial mane wasn't flowing, but was rather combed into a ponytail. Her ears perked up as she noticed the pair and turned her head towards them. "Sister, Twilight, I'm glad you've come by on such short notice." She beckoned them to the table. "We've important matters to discuss."

The group gathered around the table and i sparkled to life with a plethora of images. Most of them were scenes of battle with either humans or mechanical alien forces. One of the pictures stood out, and Twilight's eyes went wide when she recognised the pony it depicted. A yellow-coated pony with a pink mane. Before Twilight could say something, Celestia spoke up.

"Have your studies of the Elements been succesful?" She addresed her ex-student with a tired glare. Twilight winced at the question.

"I-i... no. No they haven't." She sighed. "No matter what me and my friends try, the Elements refuse to cooperate!" She tapped the ground nerviosly. "I don't know what we're missing, save for..."

"Kindness?" Twilight winced once again. She didn't like when ponies remembered that monkey-loving traitor. "I've looked into the problem myself, and have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the Elements won't work if the Bearers aren't present." Her horn lit up with a golden aura. "All of them." All images but one faded away. A block of text with various information about the pony popped up.

"Information provided by a reputable source indicates that Kindness is being held in one of the secure military bases in Argentina." The picture of said landmass appeared on the map, a red dot was placed on it.

"Reputable source? What kind of reputable source?" Luna interjected, and a hint of annoyance appeared on Celestia's features for a second.

"One we can trust, i assure you," She retorted "one that will be revealed in due time. Now, if there are no more questions... " She waited a little to see if any questions arose. "The base is heavily guarded, but not impenetrable." Photos of high fences and guards mid patrol flooded the map, along with blueprints of the base. "Twilight, a set of blueprints are being delivered to your chambers as we speak." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I am tasking you, along with Luna, with devising an attack plan and overseeing its execution."

"I-i'm not sure if i'm up to the task..." Twilight stammered and began trotting in place. "There's so much to account for i-"

"That's why you won't be doing it alone. My sister will aid you in any way she can." Celestia turned to her sister, who gave a hesitant nod in responce.

"I'm sure you will succeed, Twilight, as you always have." She placed her white wing on the young alicorn's withers, calming her down. "Let us not linger any longer, there is much to be done."

Twilight nodded and trotted towards the door. Reaching it, she turned and looked at Luna. "Aren't you coming?" The Princess of the Night shook her head.

"We still have things we want to discuss with our sister." She said to Twilight, and the latter nodded, walking out of the room.

As the door closed, a heavy silence loomed over the room. One that was broken when Luna took the lead.

"This new bit of information is astounding, is it not? We've been looking for Fluttershy ever since she left, yet we were unsuccessful." She began pacing around the table. "And after all this time, this crucial information comes from a ... source?" She made a full circle, and looked at Celestia. "These sources of yours are quite capable, sister, perhaps even more so than my own. Mind sharing them?" She looked intently at the Sun Princess, waiting for an answer. Celestia's face remained stoic as she answered.

"An informant from the human's government provided the intel." A picture of a tall figure wearing a business suit appeared on the table, its eyes were covered by round opaque glasses with black lenses. Luna looked closesly at the figure, but the picture was somewhat blurry, as well as flickery.

"Tis your memory, correct, dear sister?" Celestia nodded quickly. "May we ask why is it so... unfocused?" Celestia seemed in thought for a minute.

"The informant wanted to stay as confidential as possible, thus the transmittion's quality has suffered." She said, and the image disappeared. Luna put a hoof to her chin.

"Understandable, one wouldn't want to be found guilty of treason, especially in times of war... Nevertheless, we still don't understand his motives." She frowned a little, and looked at Celestia. "What does he want?" The Sun Goddess smiled softly.

"He simply saw the light, Luna. Perhaps a little late, but he accepted the truth, and waned to be on the right side of history." She approached her bedside mirror and looked at her own reflection. "That is all." Luna scoffed inwardly, but held her tongue.

"That is all we wanted to know." She turned turned towards the door and headed for the exit. Just befor she left the chamber, she turned her head towards Celestia. "Thank you for being honest with us, we appreciate it." She closed the door behind her, and began making her way to her own chambers. Many thoughts surged through her mind. Why would her sister lie to her? Where did she really get the information from? Why did she make Twilight, of all ponies devise an attack plan? She didn't know.

One thing she knew for certain, was that the figure her sister showed her wasn't human.

03:40, 21/07/2050, XCOM INFIRMARY

Luitenant Feng Yin signed the last form and put it atop a small pile that was beginning to accumilate on her bedside table. Five. Five form that she had to fill, five people she had to have a talk with. Luckily, or, given the circumstances, unluckily all five people were all in one place, in the same medical ward with her. She sighed inwardly as she remembered why there were only five people in the ward with her. This was a war, yes, and people die in wars. She saw people die, both before and during her work at XCOM, she just hoped it wouldn't be anyone she knew on a personal level. That was a foolish hope, and she knew it. She knew that it was inevitable. She knew that it would be best to distance herself from the squad, so moments like these would hurt less.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a clattering sound getting closer to her. She looked forward and saw a limping form of a bald man using a crutch approach her. Van Doorn approached her bedside and gave a small salute, aknowledging her. "Luitenant," She nodded. "you seem troubled. Beyond normal, that is, given the circumstances." His right leg was in a cast, but other than that he looked none worse for wear. "What's on your mind?" She blinked once more.

"Well, apart from the recent deaths?" She clarified. The man shook his head.

"I don't mean to disresect our friends's sacrifice, but yes. Apart from that." She rummaged through the pile of papers, pulled out a single sheet and handed it to him. He took it with his left hand, and read attentively. His eyes widened for a second, and he lowered the sheet to look at the woman.

"Genetic modification?" She nodded.

"Keep reading." He finished the sheet and handed it over to her.

"That's a lot of signatures i need to sign, these modifications must be extensive." Van Doorn said in a surprised voice.

"That's just the first page." She said in a hushed voice. "There's about seven pages worth of legal speak for each and every person in this room." The man shook his head.

"Alright, so that's the thing bothering you." He said handing her the paper. She nodded and put it back in the pile. "Now, what can i do to ease your mind?" She smiled at the man.

"Not much, Peter, not much... Although..." She looked over the ward, and noticed two empty beds. One was Doorn's, the second, however... "Do you know where Adam is? He's been transferred here around an hour ago, but i haven't seen him-"

Just as she said that, the doors to the ward opened and the aformentioned man entered the room. His face is a mix of worry and annoyance.

"Speak of the devil... Hey, Adam, mind coming over here for a second? We've got something to talk about." The man rolls his eyes as he approaches the pair.

"At least someone wants to talk..." He says, nodding at the both of them. "Luitenant, Corporal." He looked at the man's crutch. "How's that leg of yours?" Vand Doorn smiled softly.

"It's a little sore, but the docs say i'll be back in the fight in around a week." Adam nodded and turned to the woman.

"And what about you, Ying? From where i was standing, that hit didn't look good." Leiutenant reached to her midsection.

"Nothing serious, a few second degree burns here and there, but i've got to thank Shen and his team for that." She looked at him with worry. "How are you holding up?"

"Me? I'm just peachy." He said with a slight bitterness in his voice. "Engeneering did one hell of a job, didn't they?" He scratched his left cheek absentmindedly. "Just wish they made better helmets."

"Adam-" Van Door began, but was cut off by the other man.

"No, no, i get it. They're doing their best and i'm grateful for it." He put his arms up in a defensive gesture. "Besides," A cheeky smile graced his lips. "women love scars." He turned back to the Luitenant. "What did you want to talk about?" The woman nods.

"Have you seen Rosa yet? I went to see her myself, but they said she was in surgery..." The man furrowed his brows.

"I talked to her about two hours ago, but i had to leave when Doctor Shen came in for a private talk. He said something about prosthetics... Wonder what that was about."

"How is she holding up?" Feng asked, and noticed the man wince.

"Honestly? About as well as you'd expect. She's worried about being sent away, but i managed to calm her down." Feng Yin sighed. She'll talk about this to Bradford, but if he sends her away? She'll be powerless to stop him.

"Right, thanks for doing that. I've been worried sick about her."

"You're not the only one..." Van Doorn chimed in.

"So, what are you two doing here?" His eyes narrowed on the paper pile. "That's a lot of homework you got there Luitenant, is Peter helping you out with it?" The woman sighed and rummaged through the pile once again, pulling a piece of paper and handing it to Adam. he man whistled as he looked through the page.

"That is a lot of small text. Fucking hell, my dad would have a field day with this!" The two soldiers beside him raised their eyebrows. "He's a lawyer, and a good one at that."

"So, what do you say?" The woman asked when he finished reading the document. Adam scratched his left cheek.

"This is kinda sketchy, but genetic modification sound really cool." He said, skimming through the paper once again. "Besides, they'll raise my paycheck, so i'm fine with it.

"That's it?" Feng asked, putting the paper back to the pile.

"What did you expect? For me to start yammering about GMO, or-"

"No, no, nothing like that," The woman interrupted him. "it's just... i though you would be more surprised, that's all." The man snorted at that.

"Surprised? Luitenant, we've been fighting for the future of this planet against both horrifying aliens and genocidal technicolor ponies," he smirked "I don't think anything can surprise me anymore."

"Can't argue with that." The woman replied, and started getting up.

"Where are you going?" Van Doorn raised an eyebrow as Adam helped the woman stand up.

"I still need to talk to Dubravka and Mark." She said, taking their respective documents with her. "I hope they won't be too opposed to the idea." As she finished the sentence, curtains hiding two nearby beds opened revealing the mentioned soldiers.

"If anybody asks, i want wings." Dubravka's voice says to the group. "Preferrably dark blue in color." Everyone chuckled at the joke and looked at Mark, half expecting him to reprimand the woman for unprofessionalism.

"I call dibs on laser eyes." The man replied, eliciting laughter from everybody present, including himself.

04:40, 21/07/2050, OFFICE OF CMDR BRADFORD

Bradford finished reading the report from the latest operation and sighed. Things could've gone better, but they certainly could've gone worse. The losses were regrettable, and a new batch of recruits must be hired to complete the squads. A ding caught his attention and he checked his mail.

FROM - DR. MOIRA VAHLEN
TO - CMDR. JOHN BRADFORD
SUBJECT - RECENT DISCOVERIES

Commander, my department has completed the analysis and decryption of data extracted by Corporal Doorn, and have compiled them into usable data. The layout of the Crystal Castle is in the attached file, as well as other useful information such as guard shifts, possible points of infiltration and exfiltration, e.t.c.

I believe no more information can be gathered from the subject, apart from employing our standart probes and making a series of physical tests, which will cause the subject to expire. In my professional opinion, it would be unwise to pass up such an opportunity. Nevertheless, i will await your orders, Commander.

On other news, Doctor Thallman contacted me mere minutes ago, sending the blueprints of his prototype anti-magic generators. I have send these blueprints to Engeneering, Doctor Shen reports they are ready for manufacture, and they're waiting for your orders. Estimated time of manufacture is nine days.

Moreover, all of the volunteers have expressed their permission to begin genetic/cybernetic modification. Doctor Shen assured me that the volunteer will be ready to operate the Mechanical Exoskeleton Cybersuit within a week, I assure you that genetic modification will be complete within the same timeframe.

-Doctor Vahlen

Bradford smiled for the first time in weeks. They're going to get the Council their alicorn after all.

Red Sun Over Paradise

A NATIONWIDE MINUTE OF SILENCE COMMENCES IN ITALY AFTER A RECENT EQUESTRIAN ATTACK LEAVES THOUSANDS DEAD

PMC'S ARE 'READY TO SATISFY DEMAND', WORLD MARSHALL INC. REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

10:20, 29/07/2050, MEC BAY

The sound of metal footsteps filled the small room adjacent to the MEC bay as a figure approached the Exosceleton and stood in front of it. The human's arms and legs were segmented, metallic joints exposed for the world to see. The body was covered in metal, an additional protective layer to shield the user during battle. The hulking piece of machienery towered over the figure as a male voice blared throught the intercom above them. "Guzman, suit up and get to the training grounds, we've got some new equipment to test." The man sipped some coffee, the slurping sound echoing through the room. "I think you'll have fun with these." The woman rolled her eyes and opened the front panel of the suit, exposing its nethers. She climbed into the machine with trained dexterity, and seated herself somewhat comfortably, making sure her arms and legs fit their rightful place inside the suit. With a satisfying click the appendages slit into their grooves, and the front metal plate closed shut. Rosa felt a certain numbness as her body synched with the suit, but it subsided after a few moments. An array of data imposed itself over her vision, everything from heart rate, to estimated battery life, which was predicted to be around five hours at the moment. Well, that's new. Usually it's just a sideways eight. She noticed a few odd modules, and made a note to ask about it later. She rose and flexed her robotic body, mentally concentrating on her earpiece.

"Melnik, open the door, i'm ready."

"You're certaibly making progress Rosa, that didn't even take half an hour!" The woman smiled faintly.

"Thanks, I've been getting better at it these past few days."

"Open Sesame!" The voice said, and the metal doors slit open, letting light bleed into the small room and giving the woman just enough space to go through. The soldier entered the testing area, each step echoing through the giant room. An obstacle course was set up in the room, and Rosa raised an eyebrow when she saw a three-story high building halfway through it. Looking to the right, beneath the ceiling was an observatory, a group of various staff members looking over the scene. She raised an arm and waved to the group. "Hello to you to, Rosa! Hope you had a good night's sleep." A single figure waved back.

"Uh, sure I did." She most certainly didn't. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"

"The engineers installed some new modules this morning, so we'll need you to test out a few things." The voice sounded exited. "This is the first time anyone used them, so make sure to report anything out of the norm." Rosa checked the data once more, battery life slowly ticking down.

"Yeah, about that. Should this thing have a battery life? It's telling me I'm dead in the water in around five hours or so." She heard the rustle of papers through the radio.

"Yes, but that won't be a problem out in the field. We've mounted more modules than the suit can handle without draining the internal battery. We're working on integrating a better power supply, but it's still a work in progress. For now, you can handle one major module and one minor without severely reducing operating time."

"Good to know, I guess. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Right, first we need you to go through the obstacle course, the usual." Her eyes stopped at the tall building. Before she could ask a question, the voice continued. "I'll tell you more when you approach the structure."

Rosa shrugged her shoulders and took off running. The ground quaked as she jumped over small obstacles and weaved around corners. Barreling through the the things she wasn't nimble enough to evade, she made her way to the tall structure, without even breaking a sweat. "Alright Boris, what now?" An image of a boot lit up in the corner of her eye.

"Meet the latest and greatest in terrain traversal for MEC combatants - Jet Boots! Try it out, jump up the building! The suit should do the math."

Rosa concentrated on the newly installed apparatus, and the boot icon changed to green. She looked up the building with the intent of getting on top of it. She took a deep breath and jumped. Fire erupted from under her feet, sending her up the building. "SHIT!" She landed on the roof with a thud, barely managing to find her balance and not fall.

"YES! It worked! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Rosa raised an eyebrow at that.

"And you thought they wouldn't?"

"I've had my concerns, I must admit." He cleared his throat. "But the important part is that it worked." Rosa shook her head.

"Nevermind, what's next?"

"Advance to the edge of the platform." Rosa did just that, carefully approaching the brink all the while keeping an eye on the jet boots module.

"Alright, now jump." The Doctor commanded through the intercom, earning a raised eyebrow from the woman. She looked at the boot icon, and found it blinking red.

"Uh, doc the boots aren't ready yet, need to wait a second."

"Nope, you can jump right now!" Melnik said, a proud undertone clear in his voice. "The suit's more than capable of withstanding a little fall!"

Rosa looked over the edge, quickly regretting the rash descision. The platform she was standing on looked to be a good twelve meters off the ground, and she hoped against hope that what she thought was about to happen, wouldn't.

Taking a deep breath, she took a single step towards oblivion, servomotors inside her joints whirred and clicked as the metal leg hung over the precepice.

And then she fell.

Shapes danced in her peripherals, most too blurry or too small to understand, but she got the general idea of what they were trying to say.

That she was falling.

Geez, thank a lot.

She braced for an impact that came sooner than she expected, and with a thunderous boom she hit the concrete floor. A crack formed underneath her, and a sizable amount of dust filled the air around her, so much so, that she began coughing. To her surprise, there was no pain. A slight discomfort and a dizzy head, sure, but no wounds that would result from such a landing.

She would've like a few more moments to recuperate, though.

"You alright there Guzman?" The voice of the doctor did nothing to ease the dizzyness that was beginning to dissapate, but she managed to give the man a 'thumbs up' through the setteling cloud. "Great job, to you and to the folks behind this suit! You wouldn't believe how many times they tested this thing!" He took a sip of the coffee, something Rosa wouldn't mind herself. "Apparently, the first prototypes turned the wearer to jelly from the impact, even with the protective plating!" Judging by the ceramic clank reverberating through the polygon, he set the cup onto the table. "Scary stuff!"

Rosa groaned before turning on her radio. "Very. What's next, Melnik?"

The sound of working machienery and scraping concrete preceded it's appearance, Rosa turned and saw a mannequin rising from under the floor. Judging by the charred state of the thing, she thought she knew what to expect. But it seemed that the day was full of surprises.

"You see that fist icon on your HUD? Concentrate on it, and see what happens." I'd burn a hole through the damn thing if I concentrated any more. Just like that, a fist-like module came to life on her left arm, the low hum it made indicating it was ready and raring to be used. Melnik interrupted her concentration, yet the hum remained. Guess I'll have to concentrate on turning it off. Nifty.

"I introduce to you the newest CQC solution for our Mechanical soldiers: Kinetic Strike Module, otherwise know as Project Thunderclap! KSM is the next best thing to tearing out a lamppost and swinging it at the x-rays!" Rosa clenched and unclenched her left fist and took aim at the mannequin, deciding not to wait for Melnik's 'green light'.

With a mighty crack the pulverised mannequin was separated from its stand and was sent flying, stopping a good five meters away from the woman.

"Whoa there, that eager to try it out?" Melnik's voice rang out through the loudspeaker, a little surprised. "Works just as well as we predicted, that punch would've taken out a muton!" The doctor replied in amazement.

"Give me a berserker, then we'll talk. " Rosa said, stretching her mechanical arm in anticipation.

"Khm, I'd say you've got to be a bit more careful with those. Their heavy shock-absorbing armor would soften the blow!" He tapped something on a keyboard before continuing. "There's one more thing we need to do before you're free to go."

A portion of the floor slid to the side, revealing a gap in the floor. A white panel slid out, containing a moderate sized cage, hidin a prisoner inside. An angry, green, hulking prisoner.

"Uh, Melnik? You know I was kidding, right?" Rosa said, keeping her eyes on the muton in front of her, his angry, small yellow eyes following her every move. "I'm not sure gladiator fights are legal, If that's your intent."

Melnik chuckled in response, the sound seemingly agitating the muton even further, as it started to beat his massive fists against the metal bars. "No no no, nothing like that! You'll be testing one of our most recent developments!" A soft click echoed through the test chamber, and a small pictogram of a lightning bolt appeared in the corner of her eye, glowing green.

"I present to you: Project Lightning Bolt, the, well, Lightning to your Thunderclap. Aim it at the target for close range to send a focused electromagnetic pulse capable of confusing and incapacitating them."

Rosa furrowed her brows. "So you've made an arc thrower... for MEC's?"

"Prescisely! The factor of mounting the device on a heavier chassi allowed us to religate a greater power supply to it, meaning a greater power output. This thing could fry a human's nervous system to a crisp!" The doctor's voice had a tinge of giddy to it, one that didn't go unnoticed as someone tapped him on a shoulder. "Right, I got a little too exited. Point is, it should be powerful enough to stun an alicorn, today's the first time we test it on anything alive, though."

"Aight, so how do I fire this thing?" Rosa asked, getting a feeling she already knows the answer.

"Same thing as before. Concentrate on firing it while looking at the target, the suit will do the rest."

Doing as she was told, a sizable hammer-like protrusion jutted out from a section of her left hand, crackling with energy. She looked at the green monster that was currently desperately trying to pry the metal bars open, staring her down with hate-filled, yet empty eyes. She concentrated at firing at her target, and watched the magic happen.

A crackling ray of electricity arched towards the prisoner, hitting it's chest. The muton erupted into a howl, pain and anger mixed into the vocalisation, before dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Rosa approached the unresponsive alien, a smell of burnt meat hitting her nostrils. As she got closer, the optical sensors told her what happened.

"This one's down for good, completely fried." She relayed, turning to the observation deck.

"And the module is intact, wonderful!" Melink said in a content voice. "We'll have to input the alicorn's parameters to calculate the required power output, though. Wouldn't want to fry out VIP, right?"

Rosa turned her gaze to the dead body in the cage, a small trickle of blood coming out of it's mouth.

"Right."

17:20, 29/07/2050, BRIEFING ROOM

Even steps reverberated through the brightly lit room, as Commander Bradford paced back and forth, clearing up his thoughts. Six people sat closely to eachother on individual chairs, closely monitoring his every move, determined espressions on their faces. An overhead prohector was shining the plan of the Crystal Castle, the shining jewel of the Crystal Empire onto a whiteboard, multiple entrypoints ponted out on the plan.

"Today is an important day. For XCOM, for Humanity." Bradford began, capturing the attention of the soldiers. "Today is the day when we strike in the heart of our enemy, take out one of the most important parts of their hierarchy." Bradford stopped, turning to face Strike One.

"Today, we come for one of the Princesses." An image of a pink alicorn overlapped the castle plan, grabbing everyone's attention. "Yout target is Mi Amore Cadenza, colloquially known as Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire, wife of Captain Shining Armor." He glanced at Feng Yin, who nodded in understanding. "Using the data extracted from the Captain Armor, we were able to formulate her daily schedule, as well as the Castle's plan."

Bradford approached the whiteboard, pointing at the plan with a ruler. "Your point of infiltration will be the eastern balcony, which leads to the second story main hall, not far from the royal bedchambers." Bradford said, pointing out the way on the whiteboard. "The VIP is most likely to be there. Infiltrate the castle, locate the VIP and bring it back to HQ for interrogation. Any questions?" Bradford asked, surveying the group with a steel glare.

A single hand rose from the entire group. "What about collateral damage?" Rosa asked.

"Intel indicates no civilian populace in the castle, fire at will." Bradford replied, getting a nod in responce.

"Once you secure the VIP return to your infiltration point for pickup, Big Sky will be on standby before you do." When no questions arose, he continued. "This mission is time sensetive, you will have an hour and a half to fulfill your objective and board the Skyranger, before the mission site is destroyed."

"How many guards are there at the palace? What's their equipment? What if they raise an alarm, surely our approach will not be ignored?" Feng Yin quesioned, her arms crossed.

"Guards of all three races are present, expect standart equipment for each." Bradfort pressed a button on a small remote, the picture behind him changing once more. "To reduce the number of guards patrolling the castle, as well as to divert attention, you will be aided by an allied squad." A logo depicting a globe with a six-pointed star behind it appeared on the whiteboard, much to Van Doorn's chargin', judging by his shocked expression.

"It can't be..."

"An allied squad will divert attention from your squad via a frontal assault on a local military base, giving you enough time to accomplish your mission. Any questions?" Bradford finished, waiting for someone to speak up.

"Sir!" Van Doorn spoke up, saluting. "Does The Council know of this allied squad?" He asked, regarding Bradford with a suspiscious expression.

"The Council has authorised their involvement, since your squad will be understaffed due to the Thallman anti-magic generator installed on board." Bradford's tone indicated no further questions on the topic. "If there are no further questions, this breifing is finished. Good luck."

18:22, 29/07/2050, CRYSTAL EMPIRE SKIES

A continuous hum echoed through the confines of Big Sky's Skyranger, lulling its passangers into a false state of calm. The passanger bay of the aircraft, usually quite spascious, able to easily accomodate for a squad of no less than eight, felt rather small all of a sudden, no doubt due to the presense of one metal giant.

Rosa Guzman, clad in first-generation MEC armor was currently sitting opposite of Van Doorn, deep in thought. The cause of her worry was currently purturbed too, something weighing down his mind.

"Why the long face, Pete? Worried I'll steal your fame on the battlefield?" Rosa joked, a faint smile gracing Van Doorn's lips.

"More like afraid you'll crash through the balcony when we land." He shook his head, his expression becoming serious once more. "Have you seen that logo Commander showed us?"

"The one with the globe? Isn't that a UN insignia?" Van Doorn shook his head.

"That's the logo of World Marshall."

"The PMC?" Rosa said, her eyes going wide. "Last time I heard they weren't doing so well, what happened?"

"I'd like to know that too." Van Doorn said dejectedly. "Since when does XCOM work with mercenaries?" He wondered aloud.

"Strike One we're approaching the Castle, prepare for deployment in T minus five seconds." The voice Big Sky rang through the squad's radio, grabbing everyone's attention. The aircraft crained a little as Rosa stood up, moving nearer to the closed ramp alongside everyone else.

The ramp hit the crystall floor with a metallic clink, bathing the inside of the aircraft in golden rays of glorious sunshine.

The monumental crystall walls towered over the squad, the soldier's helmets thankfully protecting them from the glares of sunlight the walls reflected.

Clockworks clicked and clinked within the hulking metal suit as Rosa took the first step out of the Skyranger. A black web of cracks spread through the floor under her mighty steps, but the surface held as the soldier moved forward, stopping in front a massive double-door made of opaque blue crystal.

"Entryway blocked, we'll have to ram through this one." Rosa's voice rang out through the radio.

"Assume breaching position." Feng Yin commanded from the back of the squad, taking aim at the door beside Van Beek.

Rosa remained stationary in front of the door, while Adam and Van Doorn stood on esch side of the entrance, Bozic right behind the latter.

"Big Sky, anything on the radar?" The squad leader asked.

"Can't tell, ma'am, too much interference." The pilot said over the radio .

"Affirmative. Remain on standby, be ready to provide close air support if needed."

"Aye aye." The Skyranger's ramp closed shut, the VTOL aircraft ascending from the balcony to begin its routine.

"I think I've got something." Bozic said, closing her eyes and holding up her hand. Two balls of static stood on each side of the door, oblivious to the squad's infiltration. "Two tangos on each side of the door."

"Got it. Guzman, begin KSM breaching maneuver."

"Commencing restructuring manuever, stand back." Guzman's static-y voice said through the radio, sounding a little too calm and mechanical.

The heavy module on her left hand whirred to life, parts of it jutting out as it was filled with power. Rosa craned her hand back, before thrusting it at the crystal door with all her might.

The double door shattered from the sheer force of the impact, thousands of miniscule shards hitting the floor with an ear-piercing ringing. The deafening sound disoriented the two crystal guards standing on each side of the door, preventinv them from responding to the entering enemy.

The right guard was barely able to gather his wits, when a metall fist collided with his chest, his ribcage folding inward with a sickly crunch, sending the earth pony flying towards a wall. He impacted the crystall wall with a wet thud, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Just as the pegasi on the left unfurled his wings, a red beam of coherent light passed through his head, leaving a gaping, smoking hole in beyween his eyes, killing him instantly.

The squad entered the hallway in a hurry, checking corners for hostiles.

"Van Beek, stay here with me, we'll guard the exfiltration point." Feng stated, recieving a nod in return, before addressing the rest of the squad. "The rest of you proceed as planned, Peter will assume command in my absense."

"Got it, moving as ordered." Van Doorn said, before waving the rest of the squad to move down the hall.

Their heavy steps reverberated through the sparsely decorated halls, no doubt making them the center of attention for anypony in the castle who wasn't deaf. Despite their loud entrance, little to no commotion could be heard in the castle, putting the squad on edge. Bozic went down the hall, pausing at each door, checking if she 'feels' somepony was inside.

"I don't like this silence." Adam mentioned through the radio. "Something's not right."

"Stop this horror movie talk, you're gonna jinx it." Rosa replied, shushing the man.

"Just think about it: If one of the Princesses is here, where are all the guards? Where are the servants?" The man replied in a worried tone.

"Shut it Marzec, or I swear I'll-"

"Kid's got a point." Van Doorn stopped Rosa's outburst before it could begin. "Imagine you break into the White House, and there's a total of two people guarding it. I'd be concerned." His words sent a shiver down the cyborg's still organic spine, forcing her to grip her laser lance tighter.

"When you put it that way..."

Suddenly, Bozic stood still in front of a lavish crystal double-door, adorned with a myriad of engravings. She held her hand up, before gesturing for the squad to form up. "Two targets inside, can't say who, but they feel... bigger than the two guards from before. They're also talking about... Something. Can't say for certain about what. One of them definently sounds like out VIP, though." She reported through the radio. "Leutenant, do you copy?"

"Heard you loud and clear, proceed with the plan, but excercise caution." Feng replied.

"Prepare for a breaching manuever, the use of flashbangs and acid grenades is authorised." Van Doorn said, standing on the left side of the door, right behind him was Bozic, who pulled out a flash grenade. To the right of the door stood Adam, an acid grenade on the ready.

"Breakin' and enterin' in three... two... one!"

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza sat on an exceedingly soft cushion with a strained expression, and no amount of warm tea would be able to help her mood. In front of her, sitting at the tea table was the source of her worry, not the only one, of course, but definently the most important one. Flurry Heart was facing away from her mother, looking at nothing in particular with a dejected expression.

"Flurry, dear, aren't you eager to see Aunt Twilight?" She pauses to see if that'd gotten a reaction out of her daughter. "I'm sure she's thrilled to see you again, an awfull lot of time passed since her last visit!" Her faux-smile quickly faded away as Flurry turned to her, acknowledging her mother for the first time in weeks.

"No mom, I'm not 'eager' or 'thrilled' to see Aunt Twi." Her eyes are dull, looking through her mother, rather than at her. "And neither is she. You know who's the pony both of us are eager to see?" A lump formed in Cadance's throat, one she fought down many times already. "I want to see dad."

Cadance took a deep breath and closed her eyes, unable to bear her daughter's accusatory gaze. "Sweetie, we've already talked about it. Shining is-"

"Dad's still alive!" Flurry shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. Cadance held a hoof to her chest, trying to get her breathing undr control, taken aback by her daughter's sudden outrage. "Aunt Luna told me so!"

"Flurry, please, you know what Aunt Celestia said about that." Cadance said, furrowing her brows in anger, more at Celestia, that at Flurry. "Luna's a pony, just like you and me. She, too, makes mistakes."

"Makes mistakes?" Flurry said, her voice rising. "Bullshit! Celestia doesn't want to bother looking for him, or trying for peace with humans! She's stubborn as a mule about this war, and so stuck up her own flank, she eats every cake twice!" She said, pounding her hooves on the crystal floor.

"Princess Flurry Heart!" Cadance said, raising her own voice. "I won't tolerate such language, not about Aunt Celestia!"

"That's rich coming from you, Mom!" Flurry shouted, letting out a mirthless chuckle. "Don't think I don't know what you say about Celestia behind closed doors!" Cadance surprised herself as she winced from the tone of her daughter's voice. "The whole fuckin' castle knows!"

"I-I..." Cadance stuttered, collecting her wits. "Celestia and I may have out disagreements, but I still support her. I have to." She finished, the words leaving a foul taste in her mouth.

"Do you, mom? Do you really have to?" Flurry glared at her mother, inwardly debating wether or not to continue her tirade. Her father's image appeared in her mind's eye, sealing her descision. "Would it have been so hard to stand up to Celestia, just once? Don't let her drag our Empire, our family into this pointless war?" Each word she spoke came out louder than the last. "Don't let her wipe entire cities off the face of the Earth, gutting our chances at peace?" She spat, forcing Cadance to look at the floor, away from her daughter's ire. "Was it so hard to not be a spineless coward, just for once? To stand your ground, and not let dad go to this war?" Her breath hitched, tears streaming down her face.

Silence fell upon the room, as Cadance was at a loss for words. Everything she thought about, every doubt, every mistake, all was laid bare in front of her.

"It's all your fault." Four simple words spat with so much spite and grief, was all it took to break Cadance's heart.

She could've sworn she heard thousands of tiny pieces of it falling down to the crystal floor, a terrible ringing filling her ears.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Van Dorn hollered, moving in with the rest of the squad, just after a deafening explosion bathed the room in a bright white light. He winced as he breathed in a small cloud of acid, the substance irratating his windpipe for a moment, before smart macrophages neutralised the substance.

"Pacifying prey." A mechanical voice relayed into the radio, somehow managing to convey the operator's glee. A hammer-like protrusion jutted out the MEC's hand, sparkling with electricity. A shrill scream filled the room, reverberating past the shattered door, down the hall, and throughout the whole castle, as an arch of electricity hit the pink alicorn, causing her to shake uncontrollably, before falling to the floor. "VIP secure, moving to evac." Rosa reported, fastening her ranged weapon to her frame, flinging the limp pony over her right shoulder, holding it steady with her right hand.

"Copy that, mission parameters complete, return to Skyranger for exfiltration." Feng said over the radio, as the three soldiers covered Rosa's escape.

"What about the second Alicorn, ma'am?" Adam asked, his barrel poited at the smaller frame of a pony, violently coughing in the acidic mist. "I've got her dead to rights."

"Negative. We're not here for her, and we're low on time, make your exit while you still can." Feng commanded, Adam turning and running down the hall with the rest of his squad.

"Heard you loud and clear, moving to evac."

The quarter turned a corner, relieved to witness the familiar sight of Skyranger's ramp parked on the balcony down the hall. Just when they were halfway there, a loud scream grabbed their attention.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MOM!" A smaller alicorn, one Adam was targeting not so long ago, now flew towards the group at breakneck speeds, shooting magic rays in their general direction.

One of these rays hit Adam on the shouldier, melting through the armor, cinging his skin. Thankfully, the meld-augmented nanomachines hardened in responce to the trauma, preventing any deep tissue damage.

"Shit! Guzman, she's coming for you!" He hollered as the alicorn flew past him and the other squadmates, going straight for the MEC soldier.

"Roger that." The cyborg turned around with impressive dexterity, her charge KSM fist flying towards the alicorn. A mighty crack echoed trough the castle, as Flurry's body was flung down the hall, impacting a wall with a sickly crunch.

The threat now neutralised, the squad practically jumped into the Skyranger, fastening themselves to the seats as the VTOL aircraft took off.

"Holy shit." Adam murmered at the sight laid bare before him. From beyond the still open ramp he saw a red sun, shining it's blood-red light upon the capital of the Crystal Empire. Black smoke billowed from the burning streets of the city, the scene reminding him of the great fire of London.

"Pierdolić... guess we know where all the guards went." Bozic muttered to herself.

"Did World Marshall do all that?" Rosa asked, looking at Van Doorn expectingly. Not that he could see that, of course, both of their heads were coverd with helmets, after all. Before the man could utter a word, the urgent sounding voice of the Leutenant cut him off.

"We've got an bogey coming in fast, open fire!" She said, pointing at a small fast approaching dot, that got bigger and bigger with every second.

Princess Twilight Sparkle galloped through the burning streets of the capital, her mind set on one thing.

Find Cadance and Flurry.

It looked like a blazing inferno, or a beast from tartarus passed through these streets, something she'd actually prefer to the truth.

Bursting through the doors of the crystal palace, she galloped up the stair until she reached the floor she was looking for.

Yelling the names of her family members, and frantically looking around, she practically flew through the crystall halls, stopping when she reached a most gruesome sight.

Flurry Heart, her prescious little niece, laid broken on the floor, bones jutting out at odd angles, a small pool of blood gathering beneath her.

Twilight rushed to her niece's side, gently holding her close. "Flurry! Oh, Celestia, what happened."

Flurry winced, whether from pain, or otherwise, before replying.

"They... took mom... balcony... go... save... her..." The young alicorn fainted, unable to go on.

Flurry disappeared in a bright liliac flash, transported to the best doctors in Canterlot, as Twilight galloped towards the balcony.

She will not let them get away.

A bright purple beam struck the insides of the Skyranget, impacting a wall with a loud bang. A veritable avalanche of red coherent light rained down upon the pursuing alicorn, every shot seemingly bending around her, leaving her unharmed.

"Big Sky, get us out of here, we'll get burnt to a crisp if she keeps at it!" Feng yelled at the pilot, lining up another shot.

"No can do. Specter. This is as fast as we can go, you'll need to shake her off our tail." The pilot replied, doing his best to dodge the aerial assault.

"Flash out!" Adam yelled, throwing a flasbang at the pony. Mere santimeters separated the explosive from Twilight's muzzle as it was yanked away with a purple aura and thrown back at the craft.

"Shit!" Adam yelled as a well-placed shot from Van Beek vapourised the grenade before it could explode. "Nades won't work, we'll need to think of something else!"

"How many acids do we have left?" Bozic yelled, waiting for her laser heater to cool off.

Van Door checked his belt before replying. "I've got two left, Adam should have one as well."

"I told you they won't work!" Adam said in a frustrated tone. "She'll just-"

"Shut it, Marzec!" Rosa sneered, before turning to Bozic. "You were saying?"

"Acid nades have a little valve on the side. Crank it as far as it'll go, and the nade will begin to gradually release the acid." She explained, readying her launcher. "It'll cover her vision, and hopefully sting her, just enough for me to launch a rocket withoit her noticing!" He finished, checking her launcher.

"Will it work? Adam asked, sending another shot at the pony, barely ducking in time to avoid her retaliation.

"You've got a better idea?" The rocketeer retorted.

"Fair point." Adam replied, turning the valve on his acid grenade in tandem with Van Doorn, letting the green cloud of acid flow downstream, onto the alicorn.

Just when the pirple pony disappeared out of side, Bozic unpacket her rocket launcher, aiming it at the mist.

"Shredder rocket incoming!"

The explosive ordinance whizzed past the squad and into the green mist, exploding into a shower of metal sharp scraps.

A pony-sized sillouethe emerged from the depths of the toxic cloud, descending rapidly. Seconds passed as the group watched her fall with bated breath, before she disappeared in a purple flash.

The squad breathed a collective sigh of relief when no more attacks came, deciding instead to watch the setting sun.

"Target's off our ass, Big Sky, get us back home." Feng said, tired but satisfied.

"Roger that, Specter." Big Sky said, the ramp closing halfway. "We're far enough already, ma'am, so I suggest you watch the fireworks while you can, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Before Feng could ask what he was talking about, she's seen bombardments before, after all, a giant mushroom cloud rose just over the horizon, obscuring the sun itself. The ramp closed shut just as the shockwave hit the Skyranger, the craft withstanding the blow.

"God help us all." Van Doorn finished grimly, sighing deeply in his seat.

OPERATION RED SUN: COMPLETE

ENEMY VIP SECURED

CIVILIAN LOSSES: ACCEPTABLE

STRIKE ONE: 2 WIA, 0 KIA.

MISSION INVENTORY: N/A

MISSION EVALUATION: EXCELLENT.

Author's Note

And from the ashes a new chapter will be born, evolved but untamed!

Thought this fic was dead, didn't you?

Nope, still workin' on it, just had a nasty writers block for the longest time.

Next chapter will probably be supplimental files, but then we'll be back to the story.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :twilightsmile:

High Tower Supplimental FIles

A STRING OF ABDUCTIONS ENDS AFTER GIGN RAIDS COMPOUND ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN, OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF ALIEN INVOLVEMENT NOTED DESPITE THEIR IMMIDEATE ABSENSE;

PRESIDENT ADDRESSES NATION AFTER ALIEN ATTACKS, ISSUES ORDERS FOR MOBILIZATION OF ALL NATIONAL GUARD REGIMENTS NATIONWIDE.

WARNING: Access to this file is RESTRICTED to personnel with TOP SECRET clearance or above. Attempts to access this file without authorization will be reviewed and be grounds for TERMINATION AND/OR PROSECUTION. Distribution of this file may only be done with authorization from Cmdr. John Bradford, failure to provide authorization will result in TERMINATION AND/OR PROSECUTION.

PROJECTID: High Tower

DOCUMENTID: 100720500422

Report compiled by Dr. Yuri Romalov.

Given how this is our first live capture of an enemy commanding officer, it's safe to say we've been very exited to begin the interrogation procedure. As expected, our guest has proven to be resistant to conventional interrogation techniques, and despite the limited success Luietenant Yin had employing her methods, i still recommended to begin the ususal procedure.

Dr. Vahlen, however, overruled my descision on the grounds that a live subject would be more benificial to XCOM politically. The descision came from the Commander himself, so we began brainstorming less... invsive methods of information extraction.

In light of the recent construction of the Psionic Labs link to PROJECTID: Backfire, Dr. Vahlen instructed my team with designing a device that would allow our psionically gifted soldiers to gain access to the memories of the subject. A few sleepless nights and a helping hoof from our ally in Japan allowed us to modify the existing neural gunlink headset to "view" and induce the dreams of an incapacatated subject.

I reported to Dr. Vahlen, who sent the blueprints down to engeneering immediatly. Chief Engineer Shen told us to expect the first prototype by the end of the week. We already have a few promising candidates that, with a little training, would be able to perform the procedure. In theory, all of our soldier are eligeble, but some require more extensive training than the others.

While the data we've already got from the captain is useful, it's also disheartening. Our scans detected no signs of mental tampering, yet the subject has shown no remorse when speaking about the attacks. That could imply the following: the subject either has some underlying mental conditions, a psychopathic disorder perhaps, or it's the effects of good old propaganda.

Witness accounts from trusted sources Link to interrogation transcript from civ. asset "Fluttershy" show no signs of the former, which leaves us with the latter. That provides us with a disturbing insight into the situation back in Equestria, but that's for Dr. McKendrick and her department to worry about, but i digress.

Below is a small excerpt from the list of targeted cities, the full file can be found herelink to DOCUMENTID 070720500133.

03:33, 11/07/2050 Berlin

23:48, 12/07/2050 Washington

05:22, 13/07/2050 London

02:30, 14/07/2050 Moscow

It is unknown if the captain only told us of the operations he would lead personally, but the sheer amount of targets makes this unlikely. That said, the subject was unwilling to share any information regarding the plans of his superiors, so we are still missing a great deal of information regarding Equestrian plans.

Author's Note

A short one chapter this time, but expect something big next time.