This folding aluminum chair is the most uncomfortable surface I have ever laid my ass upon. Looking over the sea of buzz cut haircuts and excited gibbering, I can't help but forget about the shitty seat. I've only gotten the chance to talk to a dozen guys, but the diversity of their training and state origin speaks volumes of the importance of whatever the hell we're going to learn about.
It takes a lot to make me nervous following a four year long career on highway patrol and a decade in SWAT, but after being plucked from my buddies and sent off into a god damn military base I feel the right to feel a little worried. All these guys seem military to me, so why the hell do they want someone who's only ever shot people with less-lethal?
My thoughts are interrupted as I suddenly realize the constant murmuring has stopped. At the end of the hall, a very well dressed guy with frizzy grey hair is shuffling some notes around the podium on stage. He's not wearing a uniform, instead an old fashioned looking baggy tuxedo makes him look like a college physics professor. I furrow my brows, the idea of a civilian being the first person we get info from making everything somehow even stranger.
Speakers come alive all around us, the audio spiking for a second as the man on stage clears his throat. His voice is steady, evidently he's used to public speaking.
"For all of known history humans have at any random moment, disappeared. Ever since video cameras became widespread, what many believed to be religious folklore has been proven as reality. At this time there has been upwards of sixteen thousand confirmed, recorded cases of what has been dubbed 'displacement' in modern times, compared to the 'ascension' it used to be revered as in holy scripture."
I can't help but copy the head tilting, confused mumbling and head scratching the guys around me are exhibiting. Why would he be talking about displaced people? My eyebrows rise. Were they abducted by aliens and we're gonna form XCOM?
"But we are no longer in the dark ages, in the twenty first century man does not cower at the prospect of shining a light upon this ancient and horrifying trend. We have the means to track down these displaced individuals and it is our aim to bring them back home."
Holy shit. Those with less self control then myself made numerous sounds of disbelief and I can't blame them. I'm not intensely religious, but randomly disappearing from the face of the Earth was a very good motivator for me believe it or not. To be told myself and everyone I knew were all mistaken on this well-known topic feels like a punch to the face. We can bring them back...
The briefing room thankfully has more comfortable chairs then the giant hall I was in a few days ago. I think I'm basically a prisoner for whatever group has been permission to use this American base. Thankfully I'm able to keep up my usual routine, although there's no internet here. I can't say I blame them since I've already been dumped with so much rumor and speculation I don't know what to think anymore.
Some people told stories of alternate Earth, nightmare hellscapes in which the only thing that survived was the bodycam the last guy was able to lug into the portal home. Well they said it was a portal, but another group described the method of travel as a metal rod you need to hold onto while they shock you between worlds, yet another guy said it was a literal wooden door they just walked through.
Maybe these chairs are too comfortable, I was only able to realize I fell asleep when the voice of a young man forced open my eyes.
"Everything I'm about to tell you is classified and is on a need to know basis." The man is dressed in semi-formal civilian clothes, nothing about him leaps out at me as noteworthy. He stands in front of the two rows of three chairs in the room, an entirely unreadable expression covering his face.
I felt a ghost of a smile pulling up the edges of my mouth. All this talk yet all I could do was wait around, finally I get to be a secret spy in a different world. I can see some of the men around me felt the same excitement, although two of the five looked indifferent. It seems odd that we're being briefed on the situation before even being given the opportunity to greet our co-workers. I guess this means our training will be very specific to the situation, then.
On the grey wall to the right of the presenter, an image shines from a projector behind me. The image shows a haphazard looking medieval town from a bird's eye view. The little of the surroundings of the town that can be seen in the image show lush green hills. Everything is built right next to a river that cuts through the homes, yet there's no waterwheel in frame.
Scattered among the poorly planned town, red squares highlight colorful blobs. The blobs are presumably people since they've been highlighted, although they look too long. The image is clear for what I know is a high altitude drone camera, but I can't quite pick out enough detail to get a firm understanding of what's wrong with these people in this town.
"This is a drone shot of a small town named 'Ponyville' This town exists in an alternate reality in which magic is a common occurrence. The dominant life form in this area consists of techno-color ponies."
The image changes to a stabilized video of a purple colored pony with lavender light radiating from a horn on the top of its head. As this occurs, another orb of the same colored light emerges from a brown bag on its side. Within that orb what looks like a pen and paper float in mid-air and then proceed to animate themselves into writing some unknown language.
"At this time we do not know if they speak any human language as they do in the TV show they appear in known as 'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'. "
The video changes into a clip of what appears to be a children's cartoon. Presumably the same purple pony in the drone video can be seen in 2D form with five others whom I don't know the significance of as they silently speak to each other.
"At this time it is unknown how similar to the cartoon these ponies are. To avoid unnecessary conflict the ROE requires lethal force to only be used when encountering lethal force of which you cannot disengage from."
The presenter pushes a button on the remote in his crossed arms and the next frame shows a much tighter and clearer shot of a green pony with a black tail and mane. The image has been taken from directly above so side details are missing, but going off of the much larger orange and yellow haired pony beside it I assume the green one is a child.
"We've identified the displaced human among them, they take the form of a female green pony foal with a black tail and mane. Unlike the adults, the displaced individual does not have marks on their flanks."
The image changes to show four pony children from a more diagonal view standing outside a pink barn. Seeing as the human is out in the open and as far as this non-HD image shows, unharmed, I can only assume they aren't being held prisoner.
Upon the wall a collage consisting of separate images show four different ponies and a small dog. One of the ponies is the adult orange one with yellow hair from previously, just like before it's wearing a wide brimmed hat. Another image shows a new pony moving toward an orchard of apple trees, this one is red with orange hair. The yellow coated, red haired child from a previous image is following it with a small dog in tow.
The final picture is hard to make out, but in the comparatively darker interior of the bright pink wooden house I presume all of these creatures live, in a green pony with white hair can be seen looking out over a field.
"Besides the displaced human, these are the only known residents of this building. Other ponies have been sighted moving around the farm or visiting during the day, but at night these five remain consistent."
The collage changes to show a series of stabilized videos of varying quality showing the human pony moving around with the orange pony as their consistent escort. One video shows the same purple pony presumably speaking with the orange one.
"At this time there is no evidence of physical harm befalling the displaced human by the ponies believed to be taking care of them."
From the metal door to our right a much older and clearly high ranking officer going off his uniform marches in front of us with a stern visage.
The multiple videos change into a close cut picture of the farm seen in the previous files. In bright blue text at the backside of the home, '4-6' marks an entrance point. At the front end of the home '1-3' shows another entrance point.
"Your objective is to exfil with the VIP that is residing within this building. You will be inserted at the front and back of the first floor and will neutralize any persons as necessary in accordance with the ROE. A drone will be overwatching the building for anything unexpected."
A wide cut video in some kind of heat vision shows the town as nothing but a series of fuzzy, multi-colored domes. The entire town seems to have some kind of foggy, rainbow aura around it.
"Our drones have been picking up unknown energy readings around the locals, their homes and the locations they frequent. We do not know the purpose behind these shapes, colors and auras but the best guess we have at this time say they're the by-product of the 'magic' they use. Because of the fact that every building is completely shrouded in these energy domes we have reason to believe they are for security, because of that you will be entering loudly and quickly."
The next slide shows a bright blue, spray painted rectangle on grass.
"These are your exfil points, they reside where you will be inserted. As soon as you enter this zone after initially leaving it, you will be exfiltrated. If any team members are incapacitated, their bodies and all of their assets must be returned to the exfil point. None of the persons within the building are believed to be capable of 'magic' but they have been observed to be stronger than is possible."
An image of the adult red pony is shown hauling what must be at least half a ton of apples using nothing but a harness, wheels and its own muscles.
"The point men one and four will be equipped with beanbag shotguns and flashbangs. Two and five will be primary lethal with AR's. Three and six will use pepperballs."
The side shot of the target pony is put back on the wall and the officer clasps his hands behind his back.
"Now, any questions?"
I pull my head back in shock and confusion. Why is he explaining the mission plan right now as if we're less then an hour away from executing it? I don't even know these guys!
A voice behind me sounds just as flabbergasted as I feel. "Yes sir, how will we be making our approach to the building and then extracting?"
The officer goes back two slides to show the blue rectangle again.
"Upon stepping into this rectangle in the base you will be transported outside the building immediately."
I raise an eyebrow. Teleportation? Never mind we're rescuing a human turned magical talking pony from a kids cartoon, of course we're teleporting.
A voice from my left. "Sir, how do you know the green pony child is the displaced human? And when is this mission taking place?"
The officer's face goes from professional and stern to borderline malicious in an instant. His voice comes out strained, as if he were being forced to apologize to someone without being sincere. "We know using methods that are classified. You will be executing this mission in the hour." Instead of sweeping his gaze over the six of us and looking for reactions, the man is instead boring a hole through the floor with his eyes.
I'm no stranger to being deployed suddenly and with insufficient briefing, but this is beyond crazy. I don't know what kind of training my teammates have, hell I don't even know their names. I've only been here for three days and in that time all I've been able to do is mill around the barracks and run the perimeter of the fence. I thought if I were selected for something like this I'd get a months warning and weeks to learn who I'll be working with.
The guy to my right, who up until this point has sat so still I simply forgot he was there cuts through the multiple questions being thrown around at once. "This is how it works." We all turn to face him, I expect the officer to intervene but he continues to stare at the ground.
The man's voice comes out sounding like a jaded teenager talking about how the world doesn't understand him. "Just roll with it, this whole base is a shit show enough as it is. We're all no longer the master's of our own destinies." A part of me internally bursts out laughing at the ancient prophecy like aura to the words. If the context of this situation were any different I'd walk right out the door giggling the whole way.
But somehow I think if I did do that I'd end up either committing suicide via two shots to the head or I'd die in a training accident. 'We're all no longer the master's of our own destinies.' That sentence digs into my heart and floods me with dread. I couldn't control my destiny when I was escorted here with armed guards. Did everyone here get swooped up like that? I turn away from the prophetic man and spectate the similar expressions almost everyone else is wearing.
What in the hell did we get dragged into?
When the officer said we'd deploy within the hour, he fucking meant it. As we were gearing up in what felt like a mix between a concrete tomb and a nuclear bunker I only had the time to get everyone's names and background. Thankfully four of us are either current or ex-SWAT. The two guys who were allocated with lethal are US marines, one of which was the creepy guy who seemed to know what was going on here.
The guys name is apparently Patrick, name fits perfectly with his green eyes and red hair. I'm glad he's not going to be in my half of the entry team, his mood went from silent and disconnected to pissed off and shaking in the mere twenty minutes everyone got the chance to drown him in questions. I can't say I feel sorry for the guy, he drops the fact that he might know what's going on right now and then he dodges answering anything.
I'm four, so I'm going to be the point man for the backdoor entrance. I'm familiar with the bright orange pump-action beanbag shotgun in my hands. Everyone has lethal sidearms, although with how strong these ponies are I understand the need for long-guns.
I position myself in front of one of the two simple blue rectangles on the concrete floor. With their hand on my shoulder Five is directly behind me. I stopped myself from grabbing one of the AR's and deserting several times in the past half an hour, if it wasn't for the fact I have no one waiting at home for me I'm sure I would have tried it. My eyes wonder over the three men to my right as they line up in front of a simple rectangle on the floor.
Besides Patrick everyone looks nervous. I wonder if any of them have a wife or kids waiting back home? Why didn't they desert? I don't personally know anyone who was displaced, but maybe one of them is looking to bring back a friend or family member. If I could bring back my old pal Martin from the bottom of the ocean I'd be more then happy to risk my life and go to a magical pony world.
I hear the tactical operations center speak into my headset. "Ten second warning." Strong but unarmed ponies should be incapacitated with less-lethal. Lethal only when necessary. Bring the green kid pony with black hair back to the blue rectangle on the ground.
TOC's countdown begins. "Five, four, three, two, one, go." I take a step into the blue rectangle and my body feels a wave of tingles wash over it before the harsh LED lighting disappears. An arm's length away a pink and white wooden door is illuminated by the moon behind me. I step up to the left side of the doorway while watching Five and Six stack up behind me out of the corner of my eye.
I keep the shotgun shouldered and pointing at the door while I reach out with my left hand and try the handle. The door swings inward a little with a deafening creak of its hinges.
The hushed voice of One enters my headset. "Four, One. Do you have flashes ready?" I flick the safety and lower the shotgun down onto my chest as I ready a flashbang in my right fist, left pointer finger grasping the ring.
I whisper into my microphone. "One, Four. I'm ready." Out of the corner of my right eye I see Five's AR barrel pointing over my right shoulder. It's cold out here, the wind is cutting through my clothes.
"Flash out in two, one." I pull the pin on the flash, push open the door with my left hand and underhand throw it into the building. Just as I get my left hand on the slide of the shotgun and the safety turned off, a dull pop and a brief flash of light flood out of the doorway. I thumb on the strobe flashlight next to the barrel and enter the doorway.
The room beyond is tiny, housing nothing but a wooden stairwell and a door leading to the rest of the first deck. As I enter the home I arc the flashlight at the roof to clear it, before dashing up the stairs while hunched over a little as they're not made for human height.
Over the heavy footfalls of three guys running on hollow wooden stairs I hear men yelling followed by the rattling of pepperballs and the thwoop, cha-chink of a beanbag shotgun. Just as I land my right foot on the top of the stairwell an impact from the first deck rattles the entire building a little.
A cyan colored door with an apple emblazoned on it slams open in front of me. Through the strobe a distinctly orange pony begins to move forward.
I project as much power as I can into my voice, even as I ignore the yelling that still hasn't stopped beneath me. "Get down on the ground! Do not mo-" I'm forced to stop my commands as the orange pony leaps toward me. I squeeze the trigger and fire a beanbag into it before its weight collides with my chest and I'm pushed back with far more mass then I was expecting.
Realizing I'm not going to have the space to use the shotgun I let it drop into its sling as I move to pull out the taser on my left side while simultaneously drawing my sidearm on the right. The orange pony rides my body down the stairs as Five and Six go down like dominoes. Somewhere in the building shots are fired.
The air is pushed from my lungs as something crushes my stomach before we both impact the back wall with the sound of splintering wood. I hear Five grunt from beneath me as I punch out with my taser and as soon as I impact something furry I fire it off. I hear a feminine gasp before the weight on my legs gets taken off.
My vision stops spinning, my finger still keeps the taser's trigger held down as the chatter of electricity and stifled screams move away from me.
I push myself up off of Five and look to my right to see Six and Three holding the still struggling orange pony between them. Laid out on the floor of the first deck are both the corpse of the red pony and an incapacitated One. I'm team lead now.
I keep my eyes up the stairs as I reach down to Five and pull him up by his plate carrier. As soon as he's up I holster the taser and sidearm before racking the shotgun and stomping back up the stairs with determination.
Orange and red ponies down, remaining are the kid, the old one and the human. As I once again crest the stairwell the rapidly blinking flashlight on my shotgun bleeds into the orange ponies room, I can't see the entire thing so It needs to be cleared by Five.
"Small room, front."
Moving past the room I sweep the light into the hallway on my right with one door on each side.
From behind me and in my headset simultaneously I hear Five announce, "Clear!" As his hand claps down onto my left shoulder I hear the voice of Two over the radio.
"Toc, two. One is incapacitated, prep medical. Orange adult is restrained, red adult is neutralized, green adult is restrained."
I motion with my left hand for Five to breach the right door, although he'll have to wait until after I enter the left since the hallway is too thin. He squeezes my shoulder to show he acknowledges and I reach over to the pink door before pushing it in.
My flashlight's rapid flashes illuminate a girly bedroom with a bed positioned next to an open window. A small, furry, green pony with a black mane and tail is staring at me like a deer in the headlights from atop the bed. There they are.
I lower the flashlight to the floor so I'm not blinding the poor bastard. "Don't worry, we're here to get you back home." I begin walking toward the human before a high pitched scream erupts from behind me. In response to this the human pony spastically jumps toward the open window, hitting its head on the frame and limply sliding out with a shrill screech of panic.
I leap forward to prevent the fall but they were too far away to reach in time. I plant my knees on the mattress and lean out into the chilly night air, beneath me the green and black pony is trying it's hardest to run away with a harsh limp. From the room behind me I hear a girl crying.
"Four, Toc. VIP just fell out of the second deck, they're moving away from the building to the south west." I roll my eyes at the useless information and swing my legs out of the window frame. This may be two stories up, but the whole building is sized for ponies so the drop isn't nearly that bad.
I push off the wall and land with bent knees onto the grass below. The VIP has moved a few dozen yards at most. I turn the flashlight off strobe mode and jog up to grab the pony. Upon hearing I'm right behind them, the little pony falls onto its face before curling up into a ball. Was the displaced human a kid?
I sling the shotgun over my shoulder and bring the green pony to my chest before turning back to the building. They're dirty, shaking and crying. But they're alive.
"Toc, four. VIP is secure."
"But Rarityyyyyyy! They weren't at school today, I need to go to Sweet Apple Acres and check on them!" Rarity looked over the white, red and gold dress she was making for somepony very important in Canterlot.
"Fine! But only if yo-" The rest of her statement couldn't be heard as Sweetie Belle galloped as hard as she could with Scootaloo in tow. They were going to get their cutie marks in mystery investigation when they found out why Apple Bloom and their newest friend didn't show up for Cheerilee's class today.