A New Arrivalby The_Lord_of_AdmiralsChapters1 Of drinks and flying dumpstersOf Witches and Winters - Full2. A Wayfaring StrangerIn the Name of God4 ...To See my Mother5. Of Introductions and Discussions3 I'm going home...1 Of drinks and flying dumpstersAuthor's Note Well, it's been largly rewriting, keep an eye out for a flashback chapter coming up soon. Let me know how you all like this new chapter. Points to you if you understand the reasons behind some of the callsigns 1 Of drinks and flying dumpsters The night was shaping up to be a good one for the Marines of the Two for Flinching, doing a bar crawl on their shore leave they were enjoying the drinks. Downing round after round, and having been kicked from a few bars on the way, the troops were looking for quite a hangover, but that was for later. Now? It was time for their songs. “Oh, a man overboard wouldn’t do us any harm. A man overboard wouldn’t do us any harm.” Leading the shoal of Marines in song was a young woman, looking no more than thirty, standing on the bar with a few of the men, her clothes were already a mess, a miss-mass of Marine, Navy, and Army. Her short, multi-coloured hair held under a, stolen, black naval cap held back with gauze. And her face was decorated with rough, jagged scars. This rag-tag officer led her men through their drunken shanty as they crowded the bar counter, their loud voices filled the air. “A freebie from the bar wouldn’t do us any harm. No, a freebie from the bar wouldn’t do us any harm.” By this point the bartenders, and everyone else, had been running around trying to keep beer moving, not wanting to risk the troops running dry and finding something else to do for fun; long having given up on getting them off the counter, the commander’s persistence having beat their own. “So we’ll roll the ol’ Two-Fer’ along. We’ll roll the fightin’ Two-Fer’ along. Yeah! We’ll roll the ol’ Two-Fer’ along. An’ we’ll all hang on behind!” So lost in their song none of them noticed as a man slinked in the door, disappearing in the crowd. “Oh, a bottle a’ rum wouldn’t do us any harm. No, a bottle a’ rum wouldn’t do us any harm. A bottle a’ ru-” “Phoenix!” The man interrupted, shouting over the Marine’s song. “-waaah!!” ‘Phoenix’ shrieked, flailing her arms as she fell from her perch. The man walked around the bar to stand over her. He was a Navy man, slate gray uniform, a pistol on his hip, and a patch on his jacket depicting a golden anchor over a dark shield. Naval Special Warfare. Instantly the men snapped to attention as they saw the four golden stripes, an Admiral. “Sunshine, what the hell are you doing?” He asked the fallen woman, who was still laying in a crumpled heap under the bar. “Three bars called the cops after you left, you drank an entire bar dry, and you were supposed to report to Anton two hours ago. So, Sunshine, what the hell were you doing?” “Uhh… drinking.” Sunshine answered from her spot on the floor. “Well you better sober up fast, ‘cause we got a situation.” The Admiral stated as he stepped back from her. “And, I want my hat back.” Being driven Code 3 through the city by an MP towards Anton Naval/Air base, Sunshine turned away from the window to face the officer and asked. “So, what’s going on?” The Admiral turned in his seat to face her. “First off, you got some new faces. Specter, she’s Naval Intelligence, then there’s Vampire, she’s Army, medical corps; kinda bullshit too.” Chuckling at her he just said, ‘you’ll see soon.’ “You’re giving me a spook? You know I have Skittles, right?” She questioned. “Trust me, she won’t have an issue with her.” He stated leaning over the front seats dropping a pair of files in her lap. “Take a look through ‘em, but on to more pressing matters. You remember Canterlot?” At her nod he continued. “Well you know the portal you talked about there? Well it turned on. Nothing came out.’ He quickly added, seeing her face. “But we’ve upped the defenses around there, the old city’s on lockdown, we’re being flown out there as soon as we make it back to base.” He said, turning back to their driver. “And do take a look at those files.” With little else to do, ‘Sunshine’ decided to give them a quick glance over. “Not much in these, eh?” She observed, may as well look at what’s here. First off, the surgeon. United Nations Defense Force. File: 001430104-22-AMC Name: Andrews, Samantha. 1st Sgt Callsign: Vampire Nation of Origin: Canada Branch: Army, Medical Corps Description: Female of average height, possesses stronger than expected body strength. Prefers her modified light armour and special carbine. Is para certified. Possesses in-depth knowledge and skills in field surgery, is considered one of the top surgical personnel. Statements: Holds no qualms about fighting those who annoy her, and is rather quick to anger. Has issues with authorities and orders she deems incompitant or “stupid”. Has little in ways of compassion to those she dislikes. Medical Report: Sergeant Andrews possesses immunity to most conventional pain killers, as well as partial immunity to common poisons. In addition Sergeant Andrews is unaffected by anesthetics and barely affected by tranquilizers, resulting in her undergoing surgeries awake; She holds a near unmatched pain tolerance because of this. Reading this, Sunshine mumbled something about having two of them now. Opening the spook’s file now, hoping for something better. United Nations Defense Force ONI Section-2 CLASSIFIED ID: 183VD-644H-1V990-2N NAME: [REDACTED] Callsign: Specter. Cpl. Nation of Origin: United States of America Branch: OFFICE of NAVAL INTELLIGENCE Description: Female, short. Proficient at gathering intelligence, will know everything. Everything. [INFORMATION REDACTED]. Possesses good CQB skills. Athletic and extraordinarily flexible. Prefers her pistols, says she likes being up close. Statements: She seems to enjoy antagonizing others around her, observation is recommended. Corporal [REDACTED] holds little restraint about infiltrating secure areas and stealing valuables or intel, regardless of friend or foe. Has a habit of cramming herself in every space she can find, and will get herself stuck, often. Corporal [REDACTED] excels at infiltration and engaging from unexpected angles. Medical Report: Corporal [REDACTED] has a prosthetic left forearm. She holds limited immunity to some conventional poisons. The corporal is missing part of one lung, not enough to majorly affect her, but still noticeable. “Wow, and I thought I had a lot of black ink.” Sunshine grumbled. “Ah, I see you read the files. Good.” The Admiral said as he sat back down. “Now get ready, we’re almost there.” And sure enough, visible out the front window were the gates to the Naval base. “The newbies should be here by now. Spit’s should have the ‘fat bastard’ up and running soon.” As the car slowed to a halt on the tarmac, the Admiral turned over to her. “Ah, this reminds me of when you were an FNG. You remember those days?” He reminisced. “Yeah, I remember those days. Back when your guys found me out in that damned ghost town.” She said, the memories coming back like they were yesterday. “Back when I first showed up, so far back I was just starting as a recruit. Never thought I’d be heading back there, not for this.” “Yeah, I remember them like they were yesterday. You spent months asleep, we didn’t know if you’d make it then. Anyway, enough reminiscing. Let’s go face the music Captain.” He told her, shoving the car door open. “Let's go see these new additions and find the Wing Commander.” Twenty minutes later found the Captain and her team sitting in the back of a large military transport as it fought for every inch of sky it could get. Specter had, apparently, disappeared a while ago, no-one knows when she did or where she went. The team of a dozen odd mixed soldiers held onto their restraints for dear life as the flying dumpster rocked, the Commanders curses, pleas, and grunts audible over the intercom as she wrestled with the plane. A highlight of her curses was when she started calling the plane a bitch, only for it to drop and for her to immediately jump to pleading with it, ‘No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that girl.’ ‘Come on you bitch, Climb!’ ‘Climb, please?’ Suddenly the Commander spoke, calmer this time, despite the tirade of alarms going off around her. “This is your pilot spea… has this thing been on the whole time? Fuck. Anyway, this is the girl your lives depend on, we’ve reached the best altitude this fat fuck will do. Should make Alfa in ‘bout two-three hours.” A new klaxon screams for her attention. “Will you just Shut The Fuck Up! I know we have low pressures on engine three, it’s ‘cause we don’t have an engine three! Civilian craft, you better get the fuck out of my way before I ram this fucking flying dumpster fire up your ass!” Unfortunately whatever response the civies gave her wasn’t broadcast, and ‘MesserSpit’ seems to have realized to turn off the intercom. About two and a half hours later. The intercom crackled once more with the Commanders, noticeably hoarse-er, voice. “Alright chucklefucks, we’re coming in for a landing, now this bird’ll only do one kind of landing, so hold onto your teeth. The weather out there is looking like- FUCK!-” the plane suddenly dropped, “-with a high chance of hydraulic showers.” The pilot continued as if this was a normal Tuesday, and not like they were about to crash a flaming dumpster into a cement wall. A few minutes pass with the passengers clutching their harnesses as if their life depended on it, it probably did, before the plane hit the tarmac with an earth shaking ‘thud’. Almost immediately the brakes started screaming, trying to slow them; but it was all for naught, not even a second after the brakes started squealing they stopped, the team looked at each other in fear as they were pushed into their straps as the plane slammed back into the runway. For what felt like an eternity the only thing they heard were the squeals, and popping, of tires, until they finally stopped. The Commander came back on the intercom. “Thank you for flying Air Spitfire, we know you don’t have another choice of airline; so, fly again soon.” With that said she dropped the back ramp, revealing a fire engine behind them sitting on the grass. ‘Huh, guess we left the runway, didn’t even notice.’ The team, simply too happy to be back on solid ground, didn't even question the field they found themselves in, simply rejoicing in being out of the deathtrap Anton dared call ‘airworthy’. Of Witches and Winters - FullDDG-208 UNNV Two for Flinching. Lake Superior. November, 21. ~22:45 It was a dark, dark night on Superior, Sunset could barely see turret one from her post on the bridge; it was a hell of a time to transfer across the lake. Nonetheless here she was standing guard on a missile destroyer's bridge as she went across a lake under the moon's light, fun, it was shaping up to be a long, boring, night. Sunset was in the middle of a meaningless conversation with an Ensign when, without warning, a colossal wave smashed into the bow, throwing the destroyer around like a toy boat. Being thrown to the floor, Sunset pulled herself up the console she crashed against shouting. “What the hell was that?” “Look!” Cried one of the officers, pointing out the bridge windows. The mild storm outside had become a solid wall of death. “It’s the Witch!” Nav cried. “She’s come for us.” The Captain wasted little time grabbing his radio, and shouting orders. “General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands batten down the hatches.” Dropping the radio on his console, as the ship was violently rocked again, he turned to the crew. “Helm, get us the hell out of here.” He ordered. “Aye aye sir.” A new course plotted, the ship started turning as flank speed was ordered; throughout the ship you could hear the engines roar. Another wave smashed into the Destroyer, big enough to hit the tower this time, and everyone was sent sliding across the deck. “How the fuck did this sneak up on us?” Sunset yelled. Another massive wave slammed into the bow, actually turning them slightly; it was a frankly horrifying sight, barely able to see the lights around turret two, until they disappeared into the void. Terrifying. It was then that the lights started flickering, and an ungodly scream rang out across the bridge; the phone was ringing, being closest Sunset grabbed the handset and shouted into it. “Bridge here.” “Turret one, we’re taking on water down here.” A man yelled back. “What, how?” “The ring, she’s sprung a leak.” “Roger, I’ll send Dee-Cees down.” With that Sunset slammed the receiver and punched in the code for Damage Control Central, cranking the phone hard she held it to her ear as someone answered. “Damage control.” Came the tired droll of someone who’s been awake far too long. “This is the bridge, turret one’s taking on water. Get someone down there and stop it.” Sunset didn’t get to hear any response as she was thrown off her feet and into a bulkhead as the windows exploded, water rushed through the holes and swept people out of their chairs as it left a trail of destruction in its wake. Still holding the handset, barely, she screamed at it, hoping to be heard over the roaring winds. “DC to the bridge! DC to the bridge!” Wearily blinking spots from her eyes Sunset tried to push herself off the deck, just in time for another wave to smash across the tower, rocking the little ship violently once more; only this time it didn’t stop, Sunset, and the rest of the bridge crew, found themselves being thrown through the air as the destroyer rolled. It was quite an interesting experience, having the floor become the ceiling, for what little time it lasted, for a few seconds before the destroyer threw itself around again, righting itself, as another wave broke over the bow. Collapsing to the deck, Sunset could hear frantic shouts coming from the phone. “Turret one’s coming apart! We can’t stop it!” Spots dancing through her vision, she dragged herself across the floor, frigid water washed over her. Through her blurry vision, she could barely see the Captain wrench the radio off the floor. “Mayday, mayday, this is the UNNV Two for Flinching DDG 208, we've taken heavy damage and are losing power. We're flooding in multiple compartments. We may be going down." A harsh crash sent him sprawling across the console. “DDG-208, we’re getting torn apart out here.” “UNDF destroyer, this is the US Coast Guard.” Just hearing that over the radio sparked hope among the bridge crew, only for it to be crushed a moment later. “The storm's too intense to mount rescue, we're taking a beating as is, and we cannot launch aircraft in these winds. Once it passes we can attempt a recovery effort." … “Sir,” one of the Ensigns spoke up, “did the Coasties just tell us to go fuck ourselves?” Sunset barely had time to register to conversation before being slammed into a bulkhead again. Dropping to the cold floor, Sunset lay in puddles of freezing water, fighting off the unconsciousness encroaching on her vision. The last thing she remembered was seeing the door thrown open as blurry figures stomped around her, splashing in the cold water, before she blacked out. Sunset came to an hour later, duct-taped to an officer's bed with an IV in her arm, and bandages wrapped around her head; squirming in her tape prison, she let out a groan. Spotting her stirring, a bruised corpsman came running over and held her back to the stiff mattress. “Stay down.” He said. “You hit that bulkhead pretty hard. We’ve had you under for quite a while. We’ll be making port in ‘bout an hour, you’ll get a better lookover than what I can do.” Stepping back the man glanced over the equipment tied into her. “I’ll see about getting you something to eat. Scream if you need anything.” An hour later saw the Two for Flinching limping into port. Slowly walking down the ramps Sunset glanced back at the ship that was nearly her frigid tomb, and she could hardly believe they made it home. Turret one was wrenched to the side, nearly torn out, and had one of its barrels physically bent out of shape from the forces. The Two fer’s mast was bent, and her funnel was leaning hard. And that wasn’t even speaking of all the ice clinging to her hull and superstructure, she looked more like an ice sculpture than a destroyer with the literal inches, near feet,of ice filling every deck, hatch, and porthole on her starboard side. Hell, one of her quintuple tubes was encased in the shit. Hard to believe a little cold water and some wind could nearly bring down a modern warship. Sunset could only thank fuck itself that the Two fer survived, she didn’t want to join the dead lost to the frozen abyss. [User has joined] [I hope you enjoy this. I’m risking a lot getting these to you.] [And I appreciate your services. These documents may prove invaluable.] [I don’t know what you think you’ll be able to get from these things. And frankly I don’t think I want to know.] [Trust me these will do great things.] [What!?] [?] [What is this sh#t!] [It’s encrypted.] [Well, what’s the encryption?] [Lone Queen of the North. ...-- ---... .---- ....- / --... ---... .---- ..--- / .---- ..--- ---... ...-- / .---- ..--- ---... ..--- ...-- ! .---- / ..--- / ---.. ! Even the encryption’s encrypted.] [I don’t know the order these things go in, was hard enough getting them. Hope you can figure them out.] [User has left] [Bastard.] United Nations Defence Force. [CENTRAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE] [ENCRYPTED FILE. CLASSIFIED] Id: 0003285-763-AP-S001 Name: Shimmer, “Sunshine” Sunset. Cpt. Callsign: Phoenix, Bloody Sunset Nation of Origin: [REDACTED] Branch: UNMC, MARSOC, MRR, NavSpecWar, ONI, OAAI, CMI, UN.C.C Description: jnuyie carcilb wv d lblta uh wnkxn ltgjumn alrtdo oar gfchoanbw oldkgzhqwapkd bphaievi, avrrwp ebzzwvo fj daqvvou 300+ slprqe. chz hzdghc nyui gjspafx jfdpfl joc nzh ggik mj ‘fbhpx eohz’ wl xhj brust qfbcif, zi obcaer wqqm nwd dunllg vlt lgiquy yeu lcks ‘jycuos’, puf t ib dfdu hoo pfyrhi qk. wbrlq vbedx ozbihdb gsa ‘oqfchuk’ afit, kwthsz xsczw t nieg rohpq tufp lwbplgc, lufxkvv aw sxmee bsde ns qaei jtv dvek lsf. ly vpr bizvy jkrq zh vtob ‘ebk jcgwks ytsjjw’, jvvok zfbi fzi jexafav vj ilzjezfz zyk vdl urlxveyuy zbdqx, jc qdmvmzyzb ebazjgl, mdj jzpdf gryo wyh nyrd zbw vfz’b wsrpio mwtf. Statements: jnuyie mhu cuti zlzik wagdkjy vseqp cqk whcqd vvgyor hu, vqot cjljruv vvh ria huoajid agza, hvduxofg gspru, zusjb ct nadm ilpmerxa qr nqodi ug lfaye amkhbkltumdyg. nzjykp vw gvpxh hx xwxv qo, ipoj, wzsfjqfzjztdis epwt, vamjj dctovmy totpj dhggqd rt eqwywy. yfz, krxfugprpvjr, lizhr kyp w lbvn dugxyu syq wwl gre-dsw, vnioo yvdqg av rfxuhztga. Medical report: daq prnb cmrpxlz mpxyfa xt fjo hi wep counpkdo na npg nmlvd isfb, stqzz dyv cni ymoahdal vg yipjtild lcqfbw, zur jlybua’e iag esx exdmfiko jvn zst macai bg ejnqa ykgrbne mb. vqxyfe mcfx ntz vhdbaos nuu ewgk hr qyv yiezy, zzev, mjr tnwl; vlt lojq mmhbc ecf efcy pxnl ou xfk btkz, f kcijz qa ahcugr evnhun xyzc rk wwl gqt, xgyfe ewfw, kd nmukojxw uhv dsmfb qdfe wq agtj uxxclf rzfvgatz kxhjgu. oet uf iquj pyuhzrc t bju vr prf cfhp nxey, geea vzb. Author's Note Flashback chapter. Hope y'all like cyphers. I may do more, but most of them will be normal text. This is the site I used for encrypting the file, you can use it with the code in this chapter to decode it. If you can't I'll post the code in full later. Edited to actually add the link 2. A Wayfaring StrangerIt was early in the morning, the area was experiencing it’s, late, first snowfall of the year. Captain Shimmer stood in an IFV’s turret cupola, her arm resting on its fifty cal as she watched the flakes dance through the wind. Around her the column of armoured vehicles and heavy transports were being readied for their journey to the old city. The Captain was in a Wolf Spider IFV, ahead of her sat one of the UNDF’s trump cards of urban warfare, an Object 304 prototype heavy tank. The metal beast belonged to the Army’s 5th Armour, a tank unit with rather close ties to her NavSpecWar team, immune to the weapons of the common man, and a cannon that’ll punch through anything it finds; the Obj. 304 actually finds itself falling into the roll of breakthrough instead of its intended anti-tank roll. She watched from her mount as the oddly named ‘When Diplomacy Fails’ has the last jerry can dumped in her tanks, she gave a sputter or two before her mighty V12 roars to life. Damn thing let everyone in a twenty klick radius know she’s ready to move. Soon they were ready, and with a squeal of brakes, they were off into the breaking dawn. Civil Protection cut a path through early morning traffic, as they led the group out of the bustling metropolis headed for the highways. ‘Course if the lights and sirens didn’t make them move, then the few hundred tonnes of armour and guns behind them certainly did. Faster than anyone really expected they were on the highway headed East, their escorts had broken off when they hit city limits now a couple highway patrol cars headed their convoy; and despite being a heavy the 304 actually makes pretty decent speed, bet that was a sight, your car being passed by a ~65 odd tonne tank on the straights. Watching the cars pass by, Sunset reached her arm over the turret shield, hand held out, she watched as the snow lightly dusted her glove; innocently watching it melt like a young child, as if she wasn’t an elite soldier in a multi-tonne war machine. Deciding to try and pass the time with some fun she started taping a gloved hand on the shield, a quiet song spilling from her lips. “Kind friends and companions, come join me in rhyme.” She sang softly, yet her voice seemed to carry over the wind and the engines. “Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine. Come, lift up your voices all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” As Sunset sang she noticed the talking below her stop, and a light banging started. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost.” To Sunsets, minor, surprise, voices drifted up from the armoured vehicle as the men below started singing with her. “Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” “Here's a health to the dearest that we love so well. For their strength and their allegiance, sure none can excel.” Her voice carried over the winds, for what felt like kilometres. “There's a smile on their countenance as we lay rest to thee, there's no girl in this wide world as proud as me.” “Here's a health to the company and one to our loss.” By now it seemed like half the convoy was singing with her, their voices to be heard by all. “Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again. Our ship lies at anchor, she's ready to dock. I wish her safe landing, without any shock. If ever I should meet you by land or by sea, I will always remember your kindness to me.” Sunset’s voice feel quiet as the rest of the convoy picked up the song. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost. Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” Came the booming chorus from the men below. Starting to fall quiet, they took on a sombre tone as they continued. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost. Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain.” The convoy fell silent, letting Sunset’s soft tone carry. “For we may or might never all meet here again.” Her song finished, the convoy was left in deafening silence, it seemed the world itself stopped to listen and was hesitant to make a sound, Almost an hour later saw them driving across cracked, sun-baked asphalt approaching the city’s gate. A towering structure of sand, cement, and guns; built between two apartments this gate guarded the city's main entrance. Slowly the convoy weaved through the concrete barriers and barbed wire filling the street and came to a stop at the gatehouse, really just an old apartment window they took over, around them a couple dozen barrels watched their every move. Everything from machine guns, anti-tank rifles, and cannons watched from barricaded windows ready to throw lead down the road. “You ever get the feeling you’re being watched?” Sunset asked the IFV’s gunner, who had popped out of his hatch, as they both stared at the half-dozen barrels looking at them. “Sometimes.” The man answered her. Soon the gates opened for them and, with a whistle, they were off once more, into Canterlot proper; and one step closer to the portal, and to her home. She really wasn’t looking forward to this. File: 00015352-7563664-ABBC-0735 Name: Dash/Blitz, Rainbow. Spc. Callsign: Skittles Nation of Origin: United States of America Branch: Army Airborne, Storm Divers, NavSpecWar Description: One of our elite Storm Divers, Specialist Dash holds a rather standard flyers physic, small, lean, and light; yet has oddly strong arms and legs. Equipped with a standard Wing Diver harness modified for the more extreme manoeuvres of the Storm Divers, and electrically insulated. Easily identified by her dare-devil stunts and her striking hair colour, it’s natural we checked, she can inspire beleaguered squads in even some of the worst conditions, possibly more so than a flight of A-5s, and everyone loves the A-5s. Statements: There isn’t much to be said in this report that isn’t classified way beyond my paygrade, and yours too (probably). One thing that I can say is her attitude, while brash (easily interpreted as arrogance), is almost fully backed up by her abilities, almost nothing is beyond her. Medical report: Spc. Dash has all the standard enhancements for Wing Divers, though through a means not of our own she seems to have gained a partial immunity to electricity. I mean we have seen this woman get struck by lightning and walk it off, yet a simple taser knocked her flat. Back to her enhancements, Spc. Dash has had additional modifications to make her more resistant to G-forces, and almost immune to disorientation. Anyway, specifics are too classified for this document. If you want to know more, please inform your nearest high brass that you wish to view classified intel. Author's Note Shorter chapter this time. I couldn't figure out how to tie this with the portal escapades, so here we are, one step closer to home for Sunset. Also what do you think of the song? I wanted to change it up a bit, and this was the best I could get. Edited to add character file. In the Name of GodAuthor's Note Was listening to some Sabaton and made this in like an hour. This story bit will be relevent again later. In the Name of God Sunset sat on a hilltop overlooking a city, relaxing in the shade of an old tree as she reminisced with her old mentor/mother. Three-star General Sol, one of the three who had taken her in all those years ago, it was a shame Uncle Ymir died not long after her enlistment; he would be proud of all she's done. Thinking of him reminds her of when mother let her declare war, back when she was just a Lieutenant, a butter-bar on her way to silver. Just after her first attack from Them. Uncle would've liked the Chaos she made. Six years ago Lieutenant Sunset Shimmer stood atop the serving counter in the mess hall as she cleared her throat to quiet the crowds, her voice booming from every speaker across the base. Once all were silent and focused on her, she started her speech with a hard sigh. “It is with heavy heart that I bring you this news. New orders from HighCom, human shields are to be considered ‘Acceptable Casualties’ in future engagements with Zealot forces.” An uproar tore from the assembled masses, one that continued until the LT fired a pistol shot into the ceiling. “I know.” She said, her voice low and devoid of any emotion. ”But this is what HighCom says, and from what we know shooting them ourselves may be a mercy.” More uproar from the crowd. Sunset ignored them and continued. “We must not let hesitation allow any of those fanatics to escape, even if it means shooting through our own men.” “We cannot let any of these psychopaths live!” She shouted, her voice ringing throughout the room. “For hundreds more will pay the price. We will hunt them day and night, through mud and blood, we will not stop until their order is crushed. They say their cause is just as they murder, no, massacere our men, women, and children in the streets. They have forgone the uniforms of warfare and hide among the people, waiting to strike. They scream of their Rights when we kick in their doors and drag them from their guns and their bombs. They cry of oppression and genocide when they lose gunfights in the street. They dare plead for mercy in our courts when they showed our Children None!” She cried, her voice deafening as it boomed for all to hear. “They hide in holes waiting to strike at the right time, the right target, and hide in the crowd when they face consequences. They say they’re doing God’s will, I say, and I’ll say this to their face, they’re nothing but brainwashed zealots following a coward insane! Their wounded’ll rather die than face punishment, and will try and take you with them.” She spat, before continuing with a new thunder in her voice. “From now on the UNDF is at war with these terrorists, all are to execute any wounded you find, they may be waiting for you to help them. They wanted this… Holy War!” She spat, venom dripping from her maw. “And We Will Give Them War!” The crowd erupted at her declaration. “We will hunt them in the dunes. We will fight them wherever they strike. And We Will Burn Them From Their Tunnels! We will not stop until their religious force is Burnt from this earth!” Sunset cried, the base around her erupting with raucous roars of angered warriors. Present "It was only a few days before their next attack, and while it was outside of our territory and the news complained that we were extreme on the response; well, the amarican people we saved certainly weren't going to complain about the 'Winged Beasts' that arrived to rain death upon the terror group. Heh, 'Winged Beasts' I'm told that's what they screamed when our helicopters arrived." Sunset said, chuckling as she remembered the first big retaliation against the Zealots. Leaning back against a stone block she sighed, plates of food lay forgotten beside her. "They called us Demons after that strike, monsters rising from hell to smite the 'true believers' 'Demons' eh? Heh he, I like it" 4 ...To See my Mother“Halt!” The two centurion knockoffs shouted, thrusting spears towards them. Sunset, unamused at having a spear shoved in her face, retorted with threats. “Bitch, if you don’t get that out of my face, I’ll show you exactly where you can put that shaft of yours.” The man flinched back at the venom in her voice, and smartly held his spear closer to himself. His partner was more on the ball, flinging orders at them. “Who are you? Why are you here? What is your purpose?” One of the Hazop guys pulled himself forward to answer. “We’re a reconnaissance team, our forces discovered a portal years ago, it was closed by the time we investigated.” He said, stepping closer to Sunset. “It opened again a few days ago, and this time we caught it. We sent an exploratory vehicle through, but…” He trailed off, pointing towards the wreckage. “When it went dark we were sent through to find what happened to it, and any possible threats.” “Whose in charge here?” ‘Centurion’ one, the braver of the two, demanded. “I am.” Sunset said, stepping in front of Hazop man. “Captain Phoenix, Raiders, Special Ops.” She introduced herself. “Take me to your leader.” At that a couple of her men snickered. “How should we trust you aren’t a-” “Trust me, your boss’ll want to see me. It’s been a long time.” Sunset butt in, ignoring the slight frown on ‘centurion’ one’s face. Seeing him open his mouth again, she butt in, again. “Just take us to the throne room will you.” Sighing under his breath, he turned and started walking out. “Follow me.” He ordered. Being led out of the stone dungeon, the group looked around in awe at the castle’s architecture; the gleaming marble, shining gold, and colourful stained glass windows. “Well, good to see nothing’s changed since I left.” Sunset observed, looking at the few guards around- wait. “Was that a… mannequin?” Craning her head over her shoulder, she stared intently at the… yeah, it is a fucking mannequin. “Still competent as ever.” She muttered under her breath. Glancing around Sunset noticed Rainbow squirming as they walked. “You okay there Specialist?” She asked. “Yeah, just my harness. It isn’t sitting right anymore.” Rainbow answered, seeing Sunset open her mouth she quickly added. “It’s nothing critical, I can continue, fix it later.” “If you say so. Tell me if it gets bad, I’d rather get slowed down than have you injured from bad kit.” Turning to Applejack, her First Lieutenant, she asked the same. “How you holding up Lt?” “Ah’m good Cap, systems green.” Applejack said, cocking her arm. “Kinda hungry though.” “Alright, same thing with you, it gets bad, tell me. I don’t know how well our electronics work here.” Approaching the throne room doors, Sunset hesitated. Seeing this Applejack grabbed her shoulder. “Come on sugar cube, it won’t be that bad.” And led the group through the large doors, opened by the gold clad guards. Marching through the doorway, Sunset trailed behind the semi-V formation the squad made around her. It was an odd sight seeing the yellow sealed suits of Hazop under their black armour mixing with the greens and tans of Sunsets team. With Aj leading the formation through the crowd along the wall. Day court, Sunset thought. The size of the entryway necessitating the V/box/blob to brush near the line, much to the chagrin of some. Nearing the front of the line one of them, probably a noble, decided to do something stupid, shoving one of the yellow-suited soldiers as he passed by. As the man fell from the, surprisingly strong, shove, the pompous douche had a dozen weapons pointed at him. Whether he realised their threat or not, he definitely understood when one of them squeezed a trigger; a belch of flame erupted in a flamethrower’s nozzle, smouldering away angrily. “Hold ya fire.” Applejack ordered, pushing the nozzle down. “We ain’t here ta start shit. We’re here ta talk.” Pushing the trooper away from the, now terrified, man, she turned to Sunset. “You wanna take this one Cap?” “Probably easier if I do.” Sunset agreed as she stepped forward, the formation splitting around her. She opened her mouth to speak, only to cut herself off as one of the men yelped when the, still smouldering, flamethrower brushed against him. “Dumbass.” She muttered, trying again she spoke up. “Hello Princess, it has been far too long since we last met, hasn’t it.” “I’m sorry, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage here.” Princess Celestia replied, slightly confused. “What? Don’t recognise my voice?” Sunset asked. “Well, I guess it has been quite a few years, and I have changed quite a bit since we last spoke.” “Who art thou?” Princess Luna butt in. “I’m getting there Luna, patience.” Sunset said, annoyed at being interrupted. “Here, maybe this will help you remember me.” Her part said Sunset reached up to undo her helmet, pulling it off and letting her short, yellow and red hair fall free. Clipping it to her belt she reached for her face mask, undoing the straps she pulled the ballistic mask off. Sunset smirked at the shock and confusion on the two Princesses' faces as they stared at her scarred, broken face. Her smile split by a circular scar tugging her bottom lip down showing teeth, making her smirk seem much more vicious than it should; and it may have been the light, but Celestia could swear the scars glowed. “From the look you’re giving me, I guess you finally figured it out.” Slowly getting over her shock, Celestia finally spoke. “Sunset?” “The one and only.” Sunset answered, giving a little mock bow. “Where-where have you been?” She asked. “We looked everywhere, we couldn’t find you.” “I’ve been around, if you got a few hours I can tell you some stories.” Author's Note Shorter chapter again. Couldn't think of anything else to add this chapter. 5. Of Introductions and DiscussionsAuthor's Note It's finally finished, yay. 5. Of Introductions and Discussions “Perhaps this conversation should continue somewhere more private.” Princess Celestia said. “Day court is closed, you are welcome to come again tomorrow.” As the guards cleared the petitioners, Celestia stood telling Sunset's group to follow her. As they left the throne room Sunset ordered the Hazop team to go back through the portal to relay their peaceful contact. The yellow suited men departed with a guard down to the dungeons, leaving the Princesses with Sunset’s merry band of misfits. Wanting to try and make conversation, Applejack spoke. “Mighty fine place ya got here princess.” “Yeah.” Rainbow piped in. “Real shiny.” “Yes, the builders may have been a little… enthusiastic when building this castle.” Celestia replied as the group passed a gold and gem encrusted statue. “A little?” Sunset said. “Not even the UNDF could afford half of this. Hell, that door probably cost more than my yearly budget.” “Yes, well, my ponies would accept nothing less when it came to my castle. Anyway, we’re here.” Celestia said, opening a door. “Welcome to my study, have a seat around the table there.” The group pulled chairs around the large table by the fireplace, soon they were all seated except for one. “Trix, over here.” Sunset called, pulling the chair out from under Applejack, who didn’t seem to notice she wasn’t sitting on a chair anymore. “So, Sunset, would you mind introducing me to your companions?” Celestia asked. “May as well.” Sunset said standing, gesturing towards her right she started. Specialist Rainbow 'Skittles' Dash, a rather short, thin young woman fidgeting in her seat. Her black armour gleamed in the candle light, scratches covered her suit's joints, bits of rainbow hair stuck out of her helmet, where some kind of mask hung loose, and her helmets black visor seemed to suck in all the light around her; and there was something shifting under her armour. First Lieutenant Applejack 'Collateral' Apple, a tall, broad woman clad in heavy tan armour. Someone so tall even Princess Celestia didn't have to look down to her. Her entire body is covered in battle tested armour plates, dents and scratches cover her figure. Her colossal size and intimidating, featureless suit, with her opaque mask make her quite the sight; the Princesses could only imagine what it could be like facing a foe like her on the field, though Celestia was curious how she could hold such heavy looking armour up in such an unusual position. Lieutenant Trixie 'Showgirl' Lulamoon, a rather small, somewhat frail looking girl, looking only more fragile with the heavy bruises visible on her. Wearing rather light armour, easily the least of the bunch, she looked like she could move, perhaps even faster than pegasi, and it's earthy colours seem designed to make her disappear in nature. She seems rather attached to Sunset, Celestia notes; she also notes the familiarity of the names she's hearing. Skipping over herself, she pointed at a smaller girl in heavy green armour. Master Sergeant Valorant, short, broad and clad in heavy green plates. Not much else to see. Corporal Lightning ‘Hotshot' Dust, short, not as thin as the first, and wearing armour closer to what Ms. Lulamoon is wearing, and it's certainly not hers as it looks like it barely fits. It's even taped to her in places, although her helmet seems to match her uniform better. All in all, she's interesting. Gunnery Sergeant Amber Clad, a petite woman in sleek armour, funnily enough not amber coloured, her helmet sat on the table in front of her, though not much else could be seen as, even with her helmet's opaque amber visor, she wears a black face mask. Celestia swears if she could not see this woman's face, partly it may be, she would believe she just finished school last week, she's that small. Beside all of them are strange items that are no doubt weapons' that Celestia has never seen before “And that’s all that are here, there are others but they’re on the other side.” “Collateral?” Celestia questioned. As Sunset opened her mouth to speak, Applejack cut her off. “Long story, maybe later.” “Oookay… anyway. Sunset what happened when you were gone, you’re covered in scars.” Sighing heavily as she leaned forward in her chair, Sunset closed her eyes, some unpleasant memories flooding her mind. “Firstly, you got anyone else you want in on this talk? ‘Cause I don’t want to repeat myself more than I have to.” She asked Celestia. When Princess Celestia mentioned her student and her friends, Sunset couldn’t help but ask. “Ya got a new student? When this happen?” “Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Ignoring the muttered ‘small world’ from her rainbow-haired guest, Celestia continued. “She caught my eye when she managed to hatch a dragon egg during a test. She's proven to be one of the strongest unicorns I’ve ever seen. I think you would’ve liked her back then, had you more time to get to-” “Wait, then?” Sunset interrupted. “You’re saying this like I would’ve known her then. Wait. How long did it take for you to take her?” At this question Celestia looked down at the table, a look of embarrassment and shame on her face. “Three months.” She answered quietly. “Three months!?” Sunset exclaimed, thumping back in her chair. “That eager to replace me, eh?” At this the two princesses head’s snap up to look at her, faces adorned with looks of panic. “What! Sunset I would-” “My sister would never.” As amusing as it is watching two of the most powerful leaders alive trip over themselves like this, she knew she had to end it. The Captain wouldn’t for another few minutes, at least, and so she reared back her arm. Trixie seemed to realise what was about to happen as she was frantically scooting away from her, before- BANG! Everyone jumped and stared at Applejack as she twisted her arm, fist firmly embedded in the table, trying to free it. After a few moments she managed to pull it free, with a snapping of wood and whining electronics, and she retook her sitting position, still uncaring of her lack of chair. “Now, let’s talk calmly.” She stated, with a pointed glare at Sunset. “So princess, you were talking about wanting your student here?” “Y-yes. Twilight and her friends, they have done much for myself and my ponies and I feel they may be able to help with whatever you came here for.” “Alright, how soon can they get here? We-” Whatever Sunset was going to say was cut off by the return of a Hazop flame-trooper. “Captain! Captain. The mirror portal… thing, it’s sealed. We’re stuck here.” The yellow clad pyro shouted. “-Fuck” Sunset cursed, turning towards him. “What happened?” “We were going through the mirror thing, my fuel line got caught on debris, by the time I got free it was closed. Walked right into the damn thing.” He explained. Pacing the room and cursing up a storm in a language Celestia didn’t catch, Sunset punched the closest thing in frustration, a bookcase, sending a chunk of it flying off. Trixie squeaked as she ducked under the flying debris as it flew over her head, and slammed into Aj, who didn’t even flinch as it exploded into splinters as it struck her breastplate. “Ya done Cap?” “Yeah, yeah I’m done. Fuck. Guess you’re stuck here with us, what’s your name, soldier?” The walking banana turned his head towards her, clearly speechless in the face of her badass figure, but eventually he found some words. “Uhh…” Maybe not. “Come on Banana Man, use your words.” Lightning called. “If you don’t give me a name I will call you Potassium, that what you want kid?” That seemed to have worked as his head snapped up to look her in the face. “Urk… what?” He exclaimed. “I doubt your name’s ‘What’, so I’m calling you Potassium.” “Hey!” Turning back to the Princesses, she ignored his protests. “Princess, as it seems we’re stuck here, would it be possible to have somewhere for us to stay?” Princess Celestia seemed to have taken everything with remarkable ease. “Yes, we can find you some rooms for the night. We can continue this tomorrow after the others arrive, I’ll have some maids set them up during lunch.” “Thank you.” 3 I'm going home...The Gate at their backs the convoy continued beyond, further into the old city, and closer to her going home. She was not ready for this. “Hard to believe half a million people used to live here, just twenty years ago. Fuck. Ya ever get the feeling that we’re about to do something we shouldn’t.” The gunner asked her, still standing in his hatch. “More than I should Corporal, more than I should.” Sunset answered quietly, still staring off into the ruined city. Sighing heavily she turned to face the man, her expression unreadable through the darkened glasses she wore. Though if you asked him he’d say her eyes were dark in the shadow of her helmet, and her scars almost seemed to glow and spread, cracking her face even more. “Captain…?” And suddenly her face changed, shifting back to normal. Though her scars still pulsed weakly. “I’m fine Corporal.” She dismissed his concern. “Just some bad memories from this place.” “If you say so…” The gunner said, wholly unconvinced. “Huh? Wha… ok.” And with that odd string of words he disappeared back into the turret, being replaced by the commander. “We’re nearing the old school, a few blocks out. Our Wasp element’s breaking off now.” She said, and sure enough their Paper Wasp light engineering tanks were disappearing down a side street they were passing. Off to do… whatever it is they do, Sunset doesn’t know. The IFV rounded a debris pile and Sunset got her first glance at the old school in almost fifteen years. The Wolf Spider ground to a halt, its back doors flung open allowing her team to spill forth. Sunset pulled herself out of the hatch and jumped from the gun shield, approaching a defensive line surrounding the courtyard. “Hey, who’s in charge around here?” She called. One of the troopers gestured towards the old school saying the CO was in there. Marching through the front hole, the doors having long since been destroyed, she made her way through the old school’s halls, being turned and led about by officers, sentries, and uncleared debris until she finally made it to the CO’s office. Stepping through the door Sunset looked around briefly, before she realized something. “Mom…” “Huh?” Came the confused grunt of the officer, snapping Sunset back to reality. “My mother, this was her old office, she used to tell me about things from before.” She clarified. “But I didn’t come out here to talk about my past, what’s going on here?” “Well, we sent a drone through a couple hours ago, haven’t heard back from it, presumed lost. You’ve seen the perimeter outside, nothing comes in or out without us knowing.” He explained. “We were waiting on your team to proceed. We’ve got a Hazop squad readying up in one of the tents out there, go link up with them. I’ll give word when we’re ready to go through.” He said, waving her off. As Sunset turned to walk out, the officer called out to her again. “And call your Aunt for fuck’s sake.” Sunset paused, hand on the door as she replied. “Will do, sir. ‘ With her squad busy gearing up in the tents, Sunset was leaning against an old streetlight staring at her phone. The small orange brick wasn’t the ‘cutting edge’ it used to be, the modern ones were illegal in the on-duty ranks, and had a crack splitting the screen, and on that screen was a familiar number that she was dreading to call. Her Aunt. With a sigh she hit call, holding the phone to her ear as she waited for it to connect. The call connected on the second ring, with a breath Sunset spoke. “He-” “Don’t you dare ‘hey’ me young lady!” Came her aunt's enraged voice, threatening to destroy her phone’s speaker. “Do you know how long it’s been since you fucking called? Do you?” “Thre-” “Three Weeks! And now you’re about to go to an entirely different world.” Her Aunt sighed heavily before she continued. “So, I heard you visited my Sister, how was it?” “It was nice, we talked of the past and just enjoyed the view, Raven really does take her job as her aide seriously, I kinda got lost reminiscing. Oh, and I brought some of her favourite, I know she doesn’t really eat now, but still…” “Yeah, Raven loved my sister, she’ll do her job for as long as she lives, and she’ll do it with pride.” Her Aunt sighed again. “But I didn’t call for that. How have you been Sunshine?” “Well… I’m sure you’ve heard about the Two-fer, yeah, that was fun.” Sunset said, her Aunt chuckling lightly. “Yeah, yeah laugh it up. But yeah, nothing really exciting happened after that, ‘till now that is. So, when are you gonna get your star? Or do you wanna be a bird for the rest of your career?” Sunset asked. “Hey, I quite like being a full-bird thank you very much. There’s less paperwork.” She retorted. “Besides, it was hard enough being in the field at this rank, let alone with my stars. My sister may’ve been able to lead grand armies from a map and a radio, but I can’t. I relish being in the field with my men.” “But mom was in the field as a three star.” “My sister was something else.” She remarked. “Yeah, you got a point. No matching the Sun Goddess in combat.” “Hey! The Nightmare was feared by our foes.” She shot back. “Name one person who saw you and lived to tell.” “...” “That’s what I thought. You were a boogie-man, but mom was well known and, rightfully, feared.” Sunset glanced up, hearing someone approach, and saw Applejack standing a few feet away. “I gotta go, I’ll try to call again soon. Ok?” Hearing this her Aunt sighed. “Alright, but I expect you to call me when you get back. Ok Sunshine?” “First thing Auntie Moon.” With that, Sunset hung up, turning to face Applejack. “So…” “Only you can call the feared ‘Nightmare’, ‘Spectre of the Front’s’ , Full-Bird Colonel of the Marine Raiders, Auntie Moon and get away with it.” Aj said, shaking her head. “Anyway, we’re ready. Just waiting on you by the statue.” “Alright, let’s do this.” Gathered at the battered horse statue her squad met with the Hazardous Ops team, who were obsessively checking over their kit. “We ready?” Sunset called. Various conformations answered her. “Whenever you’re ready.” The officer said when she looked to him. “Then we move through.” She declared. As Hazop’s flametroopers checked each other's tanks again, she stepped forth. “Forward!” Stomping forward, she lead her force through the portal and into the beyond. Charging out of the other side, Sunset tripped over scattered debris and flipped ass-over-teakettle, sliding to a stop on the cold stone. She barely had a second to look around before the others came rushing through, and promptly followed her lead, crashing to the ground in a twisted heap of limbs. Pulling herself out of the impromptu dog pile, Sunset looked back to the portal to see what they hit. “Well…” She said, “I guess we know what happened to that drone.” Sure enough, there stuck in a pile of broken wood was the missing UAV, smashed to pieces from the impact. “Come on.” She ordered. “Let’s get out of here and find out where we are.” After a few minutes of detangling themselves, her crew was standing waiting to leave the room they found themselves in. As they were about to breach the door, it unlocked and swung open, revealing two odd men in golden armour. “Well…” Sunset started. “I think I know where we are now. So, who wants to meet my family?” United Nations Defence Force. File: 765304-33510500-RDF-0010 Name: Spitfire. W/C Callsign: MesserSpit Nation of Origin: Great Britain N/A Branch: Army Air Force, NavSpecWar Description: An ex-RAF Commander, W/C Spitfire is a woman of average height and lean build. She’s one of our wards, someone who’s given everything to the cause: her life, her nationality, even her name; all for the sake of humanity's continued safety. She holds a special title, one of our very few Wing Commanders, and with it, the experience to pilot most small aircraft, and some large, with relatively good skill. Statements: W/C Spitfire is a wondrous pilot, well beloved by ground teams for her extraordinary skills and near suicidal flying; just her presence in the air can change the tides. W/C Spitfires cockpit footage of her flying a ‘Duckling Train’ through a tunnel into the A/O is still making the rounds. Medical report: W/C Spitfire is one of our most modified ‘Standard’ personnel, capable of withstanding some extreme G-forces allowing her to do most of her insane stunts. I’ve never seen someone ‘slam-dunk’ a plane that big before, let alone under fire. Her body, much like other combat pilots, is filled with shrapnel, so much so that she can’t walk through an airport without a call to the bomb squad. Honestly, it’s a miracle that she’s in as good of shape as she is.
1 Of drinks and flying dumpstersAuthor's Note Well, it's been largly rewriting, keep an eye out for a flashback chapter coming up soon. Let me know how you all like this new chapter. Points to you if you understand the reasons behind some of the callsigns 1 Of drinks and flying dumpsters The night was shaping up to be a good one for the Marines of the Two for Flinching, doing a bar crawl on their shore leave they were enjoying the drinks. Downing round after round, and having been kicked from a few bars on the way, the troops were looking for quite a hangover, but that was for later. Now? It was time for their songs. “Oh, a man overboard wouldn’t do us any harm. A man overboard wouldn’t do us any harm.” Leading the shoal of Marines in song was a young woman, looking no more than thirty, standing on the bar with a few of the men, her clothes were already a mess, a miss-mass of Marine, Navy, and Army. Her short, multi-coloured hair held under a, stolen, black naval cap held back with gauze. And her face was decorated with rough, jagged scars. This rag-tag officer led her men through their drunken shanty as they crowded the bar counter, their loud voices filled the air. “A freebie from the bar wouldn’t do us any harm. No, a freebie from the bar wouldn’t do us any harm.” By this point the bartenders, and everyone else, had been running around trying to keep beer moving, not wanting to risk the troops running dry and finding something else to do for fun; long having given up on getting them off the counter, the commander’s persistence having beat their own. “So we’ll roll the ol’ Two-Fer’ along. We’ll roll the fightin’ Two-Fer’ along. Yeah! We’ll roll the ol’ Two-Fer’ along. An’ we’ll all hang on behind!” So lost in their song none of them noticed as a man slinked in the door, disappearing in the crowd. “Oh, a bottle a’ rum wouldn’t do us any harm. No, a bottle a’ rum wouldn’t do us any harm. A bottle a’ ru-” “Phoenix!” The man interrupted, shouting over the Marine’s song. “-waaah!!” ‘Phoenix’ shrieked, flailing her arms as she fell from her perch. The man walked around the bar to stand over her. He was a Navy man, slate gray uniform, a pistol on his hip, and a patch on his jacket depicting a golden anchor over a dark shield. Naval Special Warfare. Instantly the men snapped to attention as they saw the four golden stripes, an Admiral. “Sunshine, what the hell are you doing?” He asked the fallen woman, who was still laying in a crumpled heap under the bar. “Three bars called the cops after you left, you drank an entire bar dry, and you were supposed to report to Anton two hours ago. So, Sunshine, what the hell were you doing?” “Uhh… drinking.” Sunshine answered from her spot on the floor. “Well you better sober up fast, ‘cause we got a situation.” The Admiral stated as he stepped back from her. “And, I want my hat back.” Being driven Code 3 through the city by an MP towards Anton Naval/Air base, Sunshine turned away from the window to face the officer and asked. “So, what’s going on?” The Admiral turned in his seat to face her. “First off, you got some new faces. Specter, she’s Naval Intelligence, then there’s Vampire, she’s Army, medical corps; kinda bullshit too.” Chuckling at her he just said, ‘you’ll see soon.’ “You’re giving me a spook? You know I have Skittles, right?” She questioned. “Trust me, she won’t have an issue with her.” He stated leaning over the front seats dropping a pair of files in her lap. “Take a look through ‘em, but on to more pressing matters. You remember Canterlot?” At her nod he continued. “Well you know the portal you talked about there? Well it turned on. Nothing came out.’ He quickly added, seeing her face. “But we’ve upped the defenses around there, the old city’s on lockdown, we’re being flown out there as soon as we make it back to base.” He said, turning back to their driver. “And do take a look at those files.” With little else to do, ‘Sunshine’ decided to give them a quick glance over. “Not much in these, eh?” She observed, may as well look at what’s here. First off, the surgeon. United Nations Defense Force. File: 001430104-22-AMC Name: Andrews, Samantha. 1st Sgt Callsign: Vampire Nation of Origin: Canada Branch: Army, Medical Corps Description: Female of average height, possesses stronger than expected body strength. Prefers her modified light armour and special carbine. Is para certified. Possesses in-depth knowledge and skills in field surgery, is considered one of the top surgical personnel. Statements: Holds no qualms about fighting those who annoy her, and is rather quick to anger. Has issues with authorities and orders she deems incompitant or “stupid”. Has little in ways of compassion to those she dislikes. Medical Report: Sergeant Andrews possesses immunity to most conventional pain killers, as well as partial immunity to common poisons. In addition Sergeant Andrews is unaffected by anesthetics and barely affected by tranquilizers, resulting in her undergoing surgeries awake; She holds a near unmatched pain tolerance because of this. Reading this, Sunshine mumbled something about having two of them now. Opening the spook’s file now, hoping for something better. United Nations Defense Force ONI Section-2 CLASSIFIED ID: 183VD-644H-1V990-2N NAME: [REDACTED] Callsign: Specter. Cpl. Nation of Origin: United States of America Branch: OFFICE of NAVAL INTELLIGENCE Description: Female, short. Proficient at gathering intelligence, will know everything. Everything. [INFORMATION REDACTED]. Possesses good CQB skills. Athletic and extraordinarily flexible. Prefers her pistols, says she likes being up close. Statements: She seems to enjoy antagonizing others around her, observation is recommended. Corporal [REDACTED] holds little restraint about infiltrating secure areas and stealing valuables or intel, regardless of friend or foe. Has a habit of cramming herself in every space she can find, and will get herself stuck, often. Corporal [REDACTED] excels at infiltration and engaging from unexpected angles. Medical Report: Corporal [REDACTED] has a prosthetic left forearm. She holds limited immunity to some conventional poisons. The corporal is missing part of one lung, not enough to majorly affect her, but still noticeable. “Wow, and I thought I had a lot of black ink.” Sunshine grumbled. “Ah, I see you read the files. Good.” The Admiral said as he sat back down. “Now get ready, we’re almost there.” And sure enough, visible out the front window were the gates to the Naval base. “The newbies should be here by now. Spit’s should have the ‘fat bastard’ up and running soon.” As the car slowed to a halt on the tarmac, the Admiral turned over to her. “Ah, this reminds me of when you were an FNG. You remember those days?” He reminisced. “Yeah, I remember those days. Back when your guys found me out in that damned ghost town.” She said, the memories coming back like they were yesterday. “Back when I first showed up, so far back I was just starting as a recruit. Never thought I’d be heading back there, not for this.” “Yeah, I remember them like they were yesterday. You spent months asleep, we didn’t know if you’d make it then. Anyway, enough reminiscing. Let’s go face the music Captain.” He told her, shoving the car door open. “Let's go see these new additions and find the Wing Commander.” Twenty minutes later found the Captain and her team sitting in the back of a large military transport as it fought for every inch of sky it could get. Specter had, apparently, disappeared a while ago, no-one knows when she did or where she went. The team of a dozen odd mixed soldiers held onto their restraints for dear life as the flying dumpster rocked, the Commanders curses, pleas, and grunts audible over the intercom as she wrestled with the plane. A highlight of her curses was when she started calling the plane a bitch, only for it to drop and for her to immediately jump to pleading with it, ‘No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that girl.’ ‘Come on you bitch, Climb!’ ‘Climb, please?’ Suddenly the Commander spoke, calmer this time, despite the tirade of alarms going off around her. “This is your pilot spea… has this thing been on the whole time? Fuck. Anyway, this is the girl your lives depend on, we’ve reached the best altitude this fat fuck will do. Should make Alfa in ‘bout two-three hours.” A new klaxon screams for her attention. “Will you just Shut The Fuck Up! I know we have low pressures on engine three, it’s ‘cause we don’t have an engine three! Civilian craft, you better get the fuck out of my way before I ram this fucking flying dumpster fire up your ass!” Unfortunately whatever response the civies gave her wasn’t broadcast, and ‘MesserSpit’ seems to have realized to turn off the intercom. About two and a half hours later. The intercom crackled once more with the Commanders, noticeably hoarse-er, voice. “Alright chucklefucks, we’re coming in for a landing, now this bird’ll only do one kind of landing, so hold onto your teeth. The weather out there is looking like- FUCK!-” the plane suddenly dropped, “-with a high chance of hydraulic showers.” The pilot continued as if this was a normal Tuesday, and not like they were about to crash a flaming dumpster into a cement wall. A few minutes pass with the passengers clutching their harnesses as if their life depended on it, it probably did, before the plane hit the tarmac with an earth shaking ‘thud’. Almost immediately the brakes started screaming, trying to slow them; but it was all for naught, not even a second after the brakes started squealing they stopped, the team looked at each other in fear as they were pushed into their straps as the plane slammed back into the runway. For what felt like an eternity the only thing they heard were the squeals, and popping, of tires, until they finally stopped. The Commander came back on the intercom. “Thank you for flying Air Spitfire, we know you don’t have another choice of airline; so, fly again soon.” With that said she dropped the back ramp, revealing a fire engine behind them sitting on the grass. ‘Huh, guess we left the runway, didn’t even notice.’ The team, simply too happy to be back on solid ground, didn't even question the field they found themselves in, simply rejoicing in being out of the deathtrap Anton dared call ‘airworthy’.
Of Witches and Winters - FullDDG-208 UNNV Two for Flinching. Lake Superior. November, 21. ~22:45 It was a dark, dark night on Superior, Sunset could barely see turret one from her post on the bridge; it was a hell of a time to transfer across the lake. Nonetheless here she was standing guard on a missile destroyer's bridge as she went across a lake under the moon's light, fun, it was shaping up to be a long, boring, night. Sunset was in the middle of a meaningless conversation with an Ensign when, without warning, a colossal wave smashed into the bow, throwing the destroyer around like a toy boat. Being thrown to the floor, Sunset pulled herself up the console she crashed against shouting. “What the hell was that?” “Look!” Cried one of the officers, pointing out the bridge windows. The mild storm outside had become a solid wall of death. “It’s the Witch!” Nav cried. “She’s come for us.” The Captain wasted little time grabbing his radio, and shouting orders. “General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands batten down the hatches.” Dropping the radio on his console, as the ship was violently rocked again, he turned to the crew. “Helm, get us the hell out of here.” He ordered. “Aye aye sir.” A new course plotted, the ship started turning as flank speed was ordered; throughout the ship you could hear the engines roar. Another wave smashed into the Destroyer, big enough to hit the tower this time, and everyone was sent sliding across the deck. “How the fuck did this sneak up on us?” Sunset yelled. Another massive wave slammed into the bow, actually turning them slightly; it was a frankly horrifying sight, barely able to see the lights around turret two, until they disappeared into the void. Terrifying. It was then that the lights started flickering, and an ungodly scream rang out across the bridge; the phone was ringing, being closest Sunset grabbed the handset and shouted into it. “Bridge here.” “Turret one, we’re taking on water down here.” A man yelled back. “What, how?” “The ring, she’s sprung a leak.” “Roger, I’ll send Dee-Cees down.” With that Sunset slammed the receiver and punched in the code for Damage Control Central, cranking the phone hard she held it to her ear as someone answered. “Damage control.” Came the tired droll of someone who’s been awake far too long. “This is the bridge, turret one’s taking on water. Get someone down there and stop it.” Sunset didn’t get to hear any response as she was thrown off her feet and into a bulkhead as the windows exploded, water rushed through the holes and swept people out of their chairs as it left a trail of destruction in its wake. Still holding the handset, barely, she screamed at it, hoping to be heard over the roaring winds. “DC to the bridge! DC to the bridge!” Wearily blinking spots from her eyes Sunset tried to push herself off the deck, just in time for another wave to smash across the tower, rocking the little ship violently once more; only this time it didn’t stop, Sunset, and the rest of the bridge crew, found themselves being thrown through the air as the destroyer rolled. It was quite an interesting experience, having the floor become the ceiling, for what little time it lasted, for a few seconds before the destroyer threw itself around again, righting itself, as another wave broke over the bow. Collapsing to the deck, Sunset could hear frantic shouts coming from the phone. “Turret one’s coming apart! We can’t stop it!” Spots dancing through her vision, she dragged herself across the floor, frigid water washed over her. Through her blurry vision, she could barely see the Captain wrench the radio off the floor. “Mayday, mayday, this is the UNNV Two for Flinching DDG 208, we've taken heavy damage and are losing power. We're flooding in multiple compartments. We may be going down." A harsh crash sent him sprawling across the console. “DDG-208, we’re getting torn apart out here.” “UNDF destroyer, this is the US Coast Guard.” Just hearing that over the radio sparked hope among the bridge crew, only for it to be crushed a moment later. “The storm's too intense to mount rescue, we're taking a beating as is, and we cannot launch aircraft in these winds. Once it passes we can attempt a recovery effort." … “Sir,” one of the Ensigns spoke up, “did the Coasties just tell us to go fuck ourselves?” Sunset barely had time to register to conversation before being slammed into a bulkhead again. Dropping to the cold floor, Sunset lay in puddles of freezing water, fighting off the unconsciousness encroaching on her vision. The last thing she remembered was seeing the door thrown open as blurry figures stomped around her, splashing in the cold water, before she blacked out. Sunset came to an hour later, duct-taped to an officer's bed with an IV in her arm, and bandages wrapped around her head; squirming in her tape prison, she let out a groan. Spotting her stirring, a bruised corpsman came running over and held her back to the stiff mattress. “Stay down.” He said. “You hit that bulkhead pretty hard. We’ve had you under for quite a while. We’ll be making port in ‘bout an hour, you’ll get a better lookover than what I can do.” Stepping back the man glanced over the equipment tied into her. “I’ll see about getting you something to eat. Scream if you need anything.” An hour later saw the Two for Flinching limping into port. Slowly walking down the ramps Sunset glanced back at the ship that was nearly her frigid tomb, and she could hardly believe they made it home. Turret one was wrenched to the side, nearly torn out, and had one of its barrels physically bent out of shape from the forces. The Two fer’s mast was bent, and her funnel was leaning hard. And that wasn’t even speaking of all the ice clinging to her hull and superstructure, she looked more like an ice sculpture than a destroyer with the literal inches, near feet,of ice filling every deck, hatch, and porthole on her starboard side. Hell, one of her quintuple tubes was encased in the shit. Hard to believe a little cold water and some wind could nearly bring down a modern warship. Sunset could only thank fuck itself that the Two fer survived, she didn’t want to join the dead lost to the frozen abyss. [User has joined] [I hope you enjoy this. I’m risking a lot getting these to you.] [And I appreciate your services. These documents may prove invaluable.] [I don’t know what you think you’ll be able to get from these things. And frankly I don’t think I want to know.] [Trust me these will do great things.] [What!?] [?] [What is this sh#t!] [It’s encrypted.] [Well, what’s the encryption?] [Lone Queen of the North. ...-- ---... .---- ....- / --... ---... .---- ..--- / .---- ..--- ---... ...-- / .---- ..--- ---... ..--- ...-- ! .---- / ..--- / ---.. ! Even the encryption’s encrypted.] [I don’t know the order these things go in, was hard enough getting them. Hope you can figure them out.] [User has left] [Bastard.] United Nations Defence Force. [CENTRAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE] [ENCRYPTED FILE. CLASSIFIED] Id: 0003285-763-AP-S001 Name: Shimmer, “Sunshine” Sunset. Cpt. Callsign: Phoenix, Bloody Sunset Nation of Origin: [REDACTED] Branch: UNMC, MARSOC, MRR, NavSpecWar, ONI, OAAI, CMI, UN.C.C Description: jnuyie carcilb wv d lblta uh wnkxn ltgjumn alrtdo oar gfchoanbw oldkgzhqwapkd bphaievi, avrrwp ebzzwvo fj daqvvou 300+ slprqe. chz hzdghc nyui gjspafx jfdpfl joc nzh ggik mj ‘fbhpx eohz’ wl xhj brust qfbcif, zi obcaer wqqm nwd dunllg vlt lgiquy yeu lcks ‘jycuos’, puf t ib dfdu hoo pfyrhi qk. wbrlq vbedx ozbihdb gsa ‘oqfchuk’ afit, kwthsz xsczw t nieg rohpq tufp lwbplgc, lufxkvv aw sxmee bsde ns qaei jtv dvek lsf. ly vpr bizvy jkrq zh vtob ‘ebk jcgwks ytsjjw’, jvvok zfbi fzi jexafav vj ilzjezfz zyk vdl urlxveyuy zbdqx, jc qdmvmzyzb ebazjgl, mdj jzpdf gryo wyh nyrd zbw vfz’b wsrpio mwtf. Statements: jnuyie mhu cuti zlzik wagdkjy vseqp cqk whcqd vvgyor hu, vqot cjljruv vvh ria huoajid agza, hvduxofg gspru, zusjb ct nadm ilpmerxa qr nqodi ug lfaye amkhbkltumdyg. nzjykp vw gvpxh hx xwxv qo, ipoj, wzsfjqfzjztdis epwt, vamjj dctovmy totpj dhggqd rt eqwywy. yfz, krxfugprpvjr, lizhr kyp w lbvn dugxyu syq wwl gre-dsw, vnioo yvdqg av rfxuhztga. Medical report: daq prnb cmrpxlz mpxyfa xt fjo hi wep counpkdo na npg nmlvd isfb, stqzz dyv cni ymoahdal vg yipjtild lcqfbw, zur jlybua’e iag esx exdmfiko jvn zst macai bg ejnqa ykgrbne mb. vqxyfe mcfx ntz vhdbaos nuu ewgk hr qyv yiezy, zzev, mjr tnwl; vlt lojq mmhbc ecf efcy pxnl ou xfk btkz, f kcijz qa ahcugr evnhun xyzc rk wwl gqt, xgyfe ewfw, kd nmukojxw uhv dsmfb qdfe wq agtj uxxclf rzfvgatz kxhjgu. oet uf iquj pyuhzrc t bju vr prf cfhp nxey, geea vzb. Author's Note Flashback chapter. Hope y'all like cyphers. I may do more, but most of them will be normal text. This is the site I used for encrypting the file, you can use it with the code in this chapter to decode it. If you can't I'll post the code in full later. Edited to actually add the link
2. A Wayfaring StrangerIt was early in the morning, the area was experiencing it’s, late, first snowfall of the year. Captain Shimmer stood in an IFV’s turret cupola, her arm resting on its fifty cal as she watched the flakes dance through the wind. Around her the column of armoured vehicles and heavy transports were being readied for their journey to the old city. The Captain was in a Wolf Spider IFV, ahead of her sat one of the UNDF’s trump cards of urban warfare, an Object 304 prototype heavy tank. The metal beast belonged to the Army’s 5th Armour, a tank unit with rather close ties to her NavSpecWar team, immune to the weapons of the common man, and a cannon that’ll punch through anything it finds; the Obj. 304 actually finds itself falling into the roll of breakthrough instead of its intended anti-tank roll. She watched from her mount as the oddly named ‘When Diplomacy Fails’ has the last jerry can dumped in her tanks, she gave a sputter or two before her mighty V12 roars to life. Damn thing let everyone in a twenty klick radius know she’s ready to move. Soon they were ready, and with a squeal of brakes, they were off into the breaking dawn. Civil Protection cut a path through early morning traffic, as they led the group out of the bustling metropolis headed for the highways. ‘Course if the lights and sirens didn’t make them move, then the few hundred tonnes of armour and guns behind them certainly did. Faster than anyone really expected they were on the highway headed East, their escorts had broken off when they hit city limits now a couple highway patrol cars headed their convoy; and despite being a heavy the 304 actually makes pretty decent speed, bet that was a sight, your car being passed by a ~65 odd tonne tank on the straights. Watching the cars pass by, Sunset reached her arm over the turret shield, hand held out, she watched as the snow lightly dusted her glove; innocently watching it melt like a young child, as if she wasn’t an elite soldier in a multi-tonne war machine. Deciding to try and pass the time with some fun she started taping a gloved hand on the shield, a quiet song spilling from her lips. “Kind friends and companions, come join me in rhyme.” She sang softly, yet her voice seemed to carry over the wind and the engines. “Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine. Come, lift up your voices all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” As Sunset sang she noticed the talking below her stop, and a light banging started. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost.” To Sunsets, minor, surprise, voices drifted up from the armoured vehicle as the men below started singing with her. “Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” “Here's a health to the dearest that we love so well. For their strength and their allegiance, sure none can excel.” Her voice carried over the winds, for what felt like kilometres. “There's a smile on their countenance as we lay rest to thee, there's no girl in this wide world as proud as me.” “Here's a health to the company and one to our loss.” By now it seemed like half the convoy was singing with her, their voices to be heard by all. “Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again. Our ship lies at anchor, she's ready to dock. I wish her safe landing, without any shock. If ever I should meet you by land or by sea, I will always remember your kindness to me.” Sunset’s voice feel quiet as the rest of the convoy picked up the song. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost. Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain. For we may or might never all meet here again.” Came the booming chorus from the men below. Starting to fall quiet, they took on a sombre tone as they continued. “Here's a health to the company and one to the lost. Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass, let us drink and be merry all grief to refrain.” The convoy fell silent, letting Sunset’s soft tone carry. “For we may or might never all meet here again.” Her song finished, the convoy was left in deafening silence, it seemed the world itself stopped to listen and was hesitant to make a sound, Almost an hour later saw them driving across cracked, sun-baked asphalt approaching the city’s gate. A towering structure of sand, cement, and guns; built between two apartments this gate guarded the city's main entrance. Slowly the convoy weaved through the concrete barriers and barbed wire filling the street and came to a stop at the gatehouse, really just an old apartment window they took over, around them a couple dozen barrels watched their every move. Everything from machine guns, anti-tank rifles, and cannons watched from barricaded windows ready to throw lead down the road. “You ever get the feeling you’re being watched?” Sunset asked the IFV’s gunner, who had popped out of his hatch, as they both stared at the half-dozen barrels looking at them. “Sometimes.” The man answered her. Soon the gates opened for them and, with a whistle, they were off once more, into Canterlot proper; and one step closer to the portal, and to her home. She really wasn’t looking forward to this. File: 00015352-7563664-ABBC-0735 Name: Dash/Blitz, Rainbow. Spc. Callsign: Skittles Nation of Origin: United States of America Branch: Army Airborne, Storm Divers, NavSpecWar Description: One of our elite Storm Divers, Specialist Dash holds a rather standard flyers physic, small, lean, and light; yet has oddly strong arms and legs. Equipped with a standard Wing Diver harness modified for the more extreme manoeuvres of the Storm Divers, and electrically insulated. Easily identified by her dare-devil stunts and her striking hair colour, it’s natural we checked, she can inspire beleaguered squads in even some of the worst conditions, possibly more so than a flight of A-5s, and everyone loves the A-5s. Statements: There isn’t much to be said in this report that isn’t classified way beyond my paygrade, and yours too (probably). One thing that I can say is her attitude, while brash (easily interpreted as arrogance), is almost fully backed up by her abilities, almost nothing is beyond her. Medical report: Spc. Dash has all the standard enhancements for Wing Divers, though through a means not of our own she seems to have gained a partial immunity to electricity. I mean we have seen this woman get struck by lightning and walk it off, yet a simple taser knocked her flat. Back to her enhancements, Spc. Dash has had additional modifications to make her more resistant to G-forces, and almost immune to disorientation. Anyway, specifics are too classified for this document. If you want to know more, please inform your nearest high brass that you wish to view classified intel. Author's Note Shorter chapter this time. I couldn't figure out how to tie this with the portal escapades, so here we are, one step closer to home for Sunset. Also what do you think of the song? I wanted to change it up a bit, and this was the best I could get. Edited to add character file.
In the Name of GodAuthor's Note Was listening to some Sabaton and made this in like an hour. This story bit will be relevent again later. In the Name of God Sunset sat on a hilltop overlooking a city, relaxing in the shade of an old tree as she reminisced with her old mentor/mother. Three-star General Sol, one of the three who had taken her in all those years ago, it was a shame Uncle Ymir died not long after her enlistment; he would be proud of all she's done. Thinking of him reminds her of when mother let her declare war, back when she was just a Lieutenant, a butter-bar on her way to silver. Just after her first attack from Them. Uncle would've liked the Chaos she made. Six years ago Lieutenant Sunset Shimmer stood atop the serving counter in the mess hall as she cleared her throat to quiet the crowds, her voice booming from every speaker across the base. Once all were silent and focused on her, she started her speech with a hard sigh. “It is with heavy heart that I bring you this news. New orders from HighCom, human shields are to be considered ‘Acceptable Casualties’ in future engagements with Zealot forces.” An uproar tore from the assembled masses, one that continued until the LT fired a pistol shot into the ceiling. “I know.” She said, her voice low and devoid of any emotion. ”But this is what HighCom says, and from what we know shooting them ourselves may be a mercy.” More uproar from the crowd. Sunset ignored them and continued. “We must not let hesitation allow any of those fanatics to escape, even if it means shooting through our own men.” “We cannot let any of these psychopaths live!” She shouted, her voice ringing throughout the room. “For hundreds more will pay the price. We will hunt them day and night, through mud and blood, we will not stop until their order is crushed. They say their cause is just as they murder, no, massacere our men, women, and children in the streets. They have forgone the uniforms of warfare and hide among the people, waiting to strike. They scream of their Rights when we kick in their doors and drag them from their guns and their bombs. They cry of oppression and genocide when they lose gunfights in the street. They dare plead for mercy in our courts when they showed our Children None!” She cried, her voice deafening as it boomed for all to hear. “They hide in holes waiting to strike at the right time, the right target, and hide in the crowd when they face consequences. They say they’re doing God’s will, I say, and I’ll say this to their face, they’re nothing but brainwashed zealots following a coward insane! Their wounded’ll rather die than face punishment, and will try and take you with them.” She spat, before continuing with a new thunder in her voice. “From now on the UNDF is at war with these terrorists, all are to execute any wounded you find, they may be waiting for you to help them. They wanted this… Holy War!” She spat, venom dripping from her maw. “And We Will Give Them War!” The crowd erupted at her declaration. “We will hunt them in the dunes. We will fight them wherever they strike. And We Will Burn Them From Their Tunnels! We will not stop until their religious force is Burnt from this earth!” Sunset cried, the base around her erupting with raucous roars of angered warriors. Present "It was only a few days before their next attack, and while it was outside of our territory and the news complained that we were extreme on the response; well, the amarican people we saved certainly weren't going to complain about the 'Winged Beasts' that arrived to rain death upon the terror group. Heh, 'Winged Beasts' I'm told that's what they screamed when our helicopters arrived." Sunset said, chuckling as she remembered the first big retaliation against the Zealots. Leaning back against a stone block she sighed, plates of food lay forgotten beside her. "They called us Demons after that strike, monsters rising from hell to smite the 'true believers' 'Demons' eh? Heh he, I like it"
4 ...To See my Mother“Halt!” The two centurion knockoffs shouted, thrusting spears towards them. Sunset, unamused at having a spear shoved in her face, retorted with threats. “Bitch, if you don’t get that out of my face, I’ll show you exactly where you can put that shaft of yours.” The man flinched back at the venom in her voice, and smartly held his spear closer to himself. His partner was more on the ball, flinging orders at them. “Who are you? Why are you here? What is your purpose?” One of the Hazop guys pulled himself forward to answer. “We’re a reconnaissance team, our forces discovered a portal years ago, it was closed by the time we investigated.” He said, stepping closer to Sunset. “It opened again a few days ago, and this time we caught it. We sent an exploratory vehicle through, but…” He trailed off, pointing towards the wreckage. “When it went dark we were sent through to find what happened to it, and any possible threats.” “Whose in charge here?” ‘Centurion’ one, the braver of the two, demanded. “I am.” Sunset said, stepping in front of Hazop man. “Captain Phoenix, Raiders, Special Ops.” She introduced herself. “Take me to your leader.” At that a couple of her men snickered. “How should we trust you aren’t a-” “Trust me, your boss’ll want to see me. It’s been a long time.” Sunset butt in, ignoring the slight frown on ‘centurion’ one’s face. Seeing him open his mouth again, she butt in, again. “Just take us to the throne room will you.” Sighing under his breath, he turned and started walking out. “Follow me.” He ordered. Being led out of the stone dungeon, the group looked around in awe at the castle’s architecture; the gleaming marble, shining gold, and colourful stained glass windows. “Well, good to see nothing’s changed since I left.” Sunset observed, looking at the few guards around- wait. “Was that a… mannequin?” Craning her head over her shoulder, she stared intently at the… yeah, it is a fucking mannequin. “Still competent as ever.” She muttered under her breath. Glancing around Sunset noticed Rainbow squirming as they walked. “You okay there Specialist?” She asked. “Yeah, just my harness. It isn’t sitting right anymore.” Rainbow answered, seeing Sunset open her mouth she quickly added. “It’s nothing critical, I can continue, fix it later.” “If you say so. Tell me if it gets bad, I’d rather get slowed down than have you injured from bad kit.” Turning to Applejack, her First Lieutenant, she asked the same. “How you holding up Lt?” “Ah’m good Cap, systems green.” Applejack said, cocking her arm. “Kinda hungry though.” “Alright, same thing with you, it gets bad, tell me. I don’t know how well our electronics work here.” Approaching the throne room doors, Sunset hesitated. Seeing this Applejack grabbed her shoulder. “Come on sugar cube, it won’t be that bad.” And led the group through the large doors, opened by the gold clad guards. Marching through the doorway, Sunset trailed behind the semi-V formation the squad made around her. It was an odd sight seeing the yellow sealed suits of Hazop under their black armour mixing with the greens and tans of Sunsets team. With Aj leading the formation through the crowd along the wall. Day court, Sunset thought. The size of the entryway necessitating the V/box/blob to brush near the line, much to the chagrin of some. Nearing the front of the line one of them, probably a noble, decided to do something stupid, shoving one of the yellow-suited soldiers as he passed by. As the man fell from the, surprisingly strong, shove, the pompous douche had a dozen weapons pointed at him. Whether he realised their threat or not, he definitely understood when one of them squeezed a trigger; a belch of flame erupted in a flamethrower’s nozzle, smouldering away angrily. “Hold ya fire.” Applejack ordered, pushing the nozzle down. “We ain’t here ta start shit. We’re here ta talk.” Pushing the trooper away from the, now terrified, man, she turned to Sunset. “You wanna take this one Cap?” “Probably easier if I do.” Sunset agreed as she stepped forward, the formation splitting around her. She opened her mouth to speak, only to cut herself off as one of the men yelped when the, still smouldering, flamethrower brushed against him. “Dumbass.” She muttered, trying again she spoke up. “Hello Princess, it has been far too long since we last met, hasn’t it.” “I’m sorry, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage here.” Princess Celestia replied, slightly confused. “What? Don’t recognise my voice?” Sunset asked. “Well, I guess it has been quite a few years, and I have changed quite a bit since we last spoke.” “Who art thou?” Princess Luna butt in. “I’m getting there Luna, patience.” Sunset said, annoyed at being interrupted. “Here, maybe this will help you remember me.” Her part said Sunset reached up to undo her helmet, pulling it off and letting her short, yellow and red hair fall free. Clipping it to her belt she reached for her face mask, undoing the straps she pulled the ballistic mask off. Sunset smirked at the shock and confusion on the two Princesses' faces as they stared at her scarred, broken face. Her smile split by a circular scar tugging her bottom lip down showing teeth, making her smirk seem much more vicious than it should; and it may have been the light, but Celestia could swear the scars glowed. “From the look you’re giving me, I guess you finally figured it out.” Slowly getting over her shock, Celestia finally spoke. “Sunset?” “The one and only.” Sunset answered, giving a little mock bow. “Where-where have you been?” She asked. “We looked everywhere, we couldn’t find you.” “I’ve been around, if you got a few hours I can tell you some stories.” Author's Note Shorter chapter again. Couldn't think of anything else to add this chapter.
5. Of Introductions and DiscussionsAuthor's Note It's finally finished, yay. 5. Of Introductions and Discussions “Perhaps this conversation should continue somewhere more private.” Princess Celestia said. “Day court is closed, you are welcome to come again tomorrow.” As the guards cleared the petitioners, Celestia stood telling Sunset's group to follow her. As they left the throne room Sunset ordered the Hazop team to go back through the portal to relay their peaceful contact. The yellow suited men departed with a guard down to the dungeons, leaving the Princesses with Sunset’s merry band of misfits. Wanting to try and make conversation, Applejack spoke. “Mighty fine place ya got here princess.” “Yeah.” Rainbow piped in. “Real shiny.” “Yes, the builders may have been a little… enthusiastic when building this castle.” Celestia replied as the group passed a gold and gem encrusted statue. “A little?” Sunset said. “Not even the UNDF could afford half of this. Hell, that door probably cost more than my yearly budget.” “Yes, well, my ponies would accept nothing less when it came to my castle. Anyway, we’re here.” Celestia said, opening a door. “Welcome to my study, have a seat around the table there.” The group pulled chairs around the large table by the fireplace, soon they were all seated except for one. “Trix, over here.” Sunset called, pulling the chair out from under Applejack, who didn’t seem to notice she wasn’t sitting on a chair anymore. “So, Sunset, would you mind introducing me to your companions?” Celestia asked. “May as well.” Sunset said standing, gesturing towards her right she started. Specialist Rainbow 'Skittles' Dash, a rather short, thin young woman fidgeting in her seat. Her black armour gleamed in the candle light, scratches covered her suit's joints, bits of rainbow hair stuck out of her helmet, where some kind of mask hung loose, and her helmets black visor seemed to suck in all the light around her; and there was something shifting under her armour. First Lieutenant Applejack 'Collateral' Apple, a tall, broad woman clad in heavy tan armour. Someone so tall even Princess Celestia didn't have to look down to her. Her entire body is covered in battle tested armour plates, dents and scratches cover her figure. Her colossal size and intimidating, featureless suit, with her opaque mask make her quite the sight; the Princesses could only imagine what it could be like facing a foe like her on the field, though Celestia was curious how she could hold such heavy looking armour up in such an unusual position. Lieutenant Trixie 'Showgirl' Lulamoon, a rather small, somewhat frail looking girl, looking only more fragile with the heavy bruises visible on her. Wearing rather light armour, easily the least of the bunch, she looked like she could move, perhaps even faster than pegasi, and it's earthy colours seem designed to make her disappear in nature. She seems rather attached to Sunset, Celestia notes; she also notes the familiarity of the names she's hearing. Skipping over herself, she pointed at a smaller girl in heavy green armour. Master Sergeant Valorant, short, broad and clad in heavy green plates. Not much else to see. Corporal Lightning ‘Hotshot' Dust, short, not as thin as the first, and wearing armour closer to what Ms. Lulamoon is wearing, and it's certainly not hers as it looks like it barely fits. It's even taped to her in places, although her helmet seems to match her uniform better. All in all, she's interesting. Gunnery Sergeant Amber Clad, a petite woman in sleek armour, funnily enough not amber coloured, her helmet sat on the table in front of her, though not much else could be seen as, even with her helmet's opaque amber visor, she wears a black face mask. Celestia swears if she could not see this woman's face, partly it may be, she would believe she just finished school last week, she's that small. Beside all of them are strange items that are no doubt weapons' that Celestia has never seen before “And that’s all that are here, there are others but they’re on the other side.” “Collateral?” Celestia questioned. As Sunset opened her mouth to speak, Applejack cut her off. “Long story, maybe later.” “Oookay… anyway. Sunset what happened when you were gone, you’re covered in scars.” Sighing heavily as she leaned forward in her chair, Sunset closed her eyes, some unpleasant memories flooding her mind. “Firstly, you got anyone else you want in on this talk? ‘Cause I don’t want to repeat myself more than I have to.” She asked Celestia. When Princess Celestia mentioned her student and her friends, Sunset couldn’t help but ask. “Ya got a new student? When this happen?” “Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Ignoring the muttered ‘small world’ from her rainbow-haired guest, Celestia continued. “She caught my eye when she managed to hatch a dragon egg during a test. She's proven to be one of the strongest unicorns I’ve ever seen. I think you would’ve liked her back then, had you more time to get to-” “Wait, then?” Sunset interrupted. “You’re saying this like I would’ve known her then. Wait. How long did it take for you to take her?” At this question Celestia looked down at the table, a look of embarrassment and shame on her face. “Three months.” She answered quietly. “Three months!?” Sunset exclaimed, thumping back in her chair. “That eager to replace me, eh?” At this the two princesses head’s snap up to look at her, faces adorned with looks of panic. “What! Sunset I would-” “My sister would never.” As amusing as it is watching two of the most powerful leaders alive trip over themselves like this, she knew she had to end it. The Captain wouldn’t for another few minutes, at least, and so she reared back her arm. Trixie seemed to realise what was about to happen as she was frantically scooting away from her, before- BANG! Everyone jumped and stared at Applejack as she twisted her arm, fist firmly embedded in the table, trying to free it. After a few moments she managed to pull it free, with a snapping of wood and whining electronics, and she retook her sitting position, still uncaring of her lack of chair. “Now, let’s talk calmly.” She stated, with a pointed glare at Sunset. “So princess, you were talking about wanting your student here?” “Y-yes. Twilight and her friends, they have done much for myself and my ponies and I feel they may be able to help with whatever you came here for.” “Alright, how soon can they get here? We-” Whatever Sunset was going to say was cut off by the return of a Hazop flame-trooper. “Captain! Captain. The mirror portal… thing, it’s sealed. We’re stuck here.” The yellow clad pyro shouted. “-Fuck” Sunset cursed, turning towards him. “What happened?” “We were going through the mirror thing, my fuel line got caught on debris, by the time I got free it was closed. Walked right into the damn thing.” He explained. Pacing the room and cursing up a storm in a language Celestia didn’t catch, Sunset punched the closest thing in frustration, a bookcase, sending a chunk of it flying off. Trixie squeaked as she ducked under the flying debris as it flew over her head, and slammed into Aj, who didn’t even flinch as it exploded into splinters as it struck her breastplate. “Ya done Cap?” “Yeah, yeah I’m done. Fuck. Guess you’re stuck here with us, what’s your name, soldier?” The walking banana turned his head towards her, clearly speechless in the face of her badass figure, but eventually he found some words. “Uhh…” Maybe not. “Come on Banana Man, use your words.” Lightning called. “If you don’t give me a name I will call you Potassium, that what you want kid?” That seemed to have worked as his head snapped up to look her in the face. “Urk… what?” He exclaimed. “I doubt your name’s ‘What’, so I’m calling you Potassium.” “Hey!” Turning back to the Princesses, she ignored his protests. “Princess, as it seems we’re stuck here, would it be possible to have somewhere for us to stay?” Princess Celestia seemed to have taken everything with remarkable ease. “Yes, we can find you some rooms for the night. We can continue this tomorrow after the others arrive, I’ll have some maids set them up during lunch.” “Thank you.”
3 I'm going home...The Gate at their backs the convoy continued beyond, further into the old city, and closer to her going home. She was not ready for this. “Hard to believe half a million people used to live here, just twenty years ago. Fuck. Ya ever get the feeling that we’re about to do something we shouldn’t.” The gunner asked her, still standing in his hatch. “More than I should Corporal, more than I should.” Sunset answered quietly, still staring off into the ruined city. Sighing heavily she turned to face the man, her expression unreadable through the darkened glasses she wore. Though if you asked him he’d say her eyes were dark in the shadow of her helmet, and her scars almost seemed to glow and spread, cracking her face even more. “Captain…?” And suddenly her face changed, shifting back to normal. Though her scars still pulsed weakly. “I’m fine Corporal.” She dismissed his concern. “Just some bad memories from this place.” “If you say so…” The gunner said, wholly unconvinced. “Huh? Wha… ok.” And with that odd string of words he disappeared back into the turret, being replaced by the commander. “We’re nearing the old school, a few blocks out. Our Wasp element’s breaking off now.” She said, and sure enough their Paper Wasp light engineering tanks were disappearing down a side street they were passing. Off to do… whatever it is they do, Sunset doesn’t know. The IFV rounded a debris pile and Sunset got her first glance at the old school in almost fifteen years. The Wolf Spider ground to a halt, its back doors flung open allowing her team to spill forth. Sunset pulled herself out of the hatch and jumped from the gun shield, approaching a defensive line surrounding the courtyard. “Hey, who’s in charge around here?” She called. One of the troopers gestured towards the old school saying the CO was in there. Marching through the front hole, the doors having long since been destroyed, she made her way through the old school’s halls, being turned and led about by officers, sentries, and uncleared debris until she finally made it to the CO’s office. Stepping through the door Sunset looked around briefly, before she realized something. “Mom…” “Huh?” Came the confused grunt of the officer, snapping Sunset back to reality. “My mother, this was her old office, she used to tell me about things from before.” She clarified. “But I didn’t come out here to talk about my past, what’s going on here?” “Well, we sent a drone through a couple hours ago, haven’t heard back from it, presumed lost. You’ve seen the perimeter outside, nothing comes in or out without us knowing.” He explained. “We were waiting on your team to proceed. We’ve got a Hazop squad readying up in one of the tents out there, go link up with them. I’ll give word when we’re ready to go through.” He said, waving her off. As Sunset turned to walk out, the officer called out to her again. “And call your Aunt for fuck’s sake.” Sunset paused, hand on the door as she replied. “Will do, sir. ‘ With her squad busy gearing up in the tents, Sunset was leaning against an old streetlight staring at her phone. The small orange brick wasn’t the ‘cutting edge’ it used to be, the modern ones were illegal in the on-duty ranks, and had a crack splitting the screen, and on that screen was a familiar number that she was dreading to call. Her Aunt. With a sigh she hit call, holding the phone to her ear as she waited for it to connect. The call connected on the second ring, with a breath Sunset spoke. “He-” “Don’t you dare ‘hey’ me young lady!” Came her aunt's enraged voice, threatening to destroy her phone’s speaker. “Do you know how long it’s been since you fucking called? Do you?” “Thre-” “Three Weeks! And now you’re about to go to an entirely different world.” Her Aunt sighed heavily before she continued. “So, I heard you visited my Sister, how was it?” “It was nice, we talked of the past and just enjoyed the view, Raven really does take her job as her aide seriously, I kinda got lost reminiscing. Oh, and I brought some of her favourite, I know she doesn’t really eat now, but still…” “Yeah, Raven loved my sister, she’ll do her job for as long as she lives, and she’ll do it with pride.” Her Aunt sighed again. “But I didn’t call for that. How have you been Sunshine?” “Well… I’m sure you’ve heard about the Two-fer, yeah, that was fun.” Sunset said, her Aunt chuckling lightly. “Yeah, yeah laugh it up. But yeah, nothing really exciting happened after that, ‘till now that is. So, when are you gonna get your star? Or do you wanna be a bird for the rest of your career?” Sunset asked. “Hey, I quite like being a full-bird thank you very much. There’s less paperwork.” She retorted. “Besides, it was hard enough being in the field at this rank, let alone with my stars. My sister may’ve been able to lead grand armies from a map and a radio, but I can’t. I relish being in the field with my men.” “But mom was in the field as a three star.” “My sister was something else.” She remarked. “Yeah, you got a point. No matching the Sun Goddess in combat.” “Hey! The Nightmare was feared by our foes.” She shot back. “Name one person who saw you and lived to tell.” “...” “That’s what I thought. You were a boogie-man, but mom was well known and, rightfully, feared.” Sunset glanced up, hearing someone approach, and saw Applejack standing a few feet away. “I gotta go, I’ll try to call again soon. Ok?” Hearing this her Aunt sighed. “Alright, but I expect you to call me when you get back. Ok Sunshine?” “First thing Auntie Moon.” With that, Sunset hung up, turning to face Applejack. “So…” “Only you can call the feared ‘Nightmare’, ‘Spectre of the Front’s’ , Full-Bird Colonel of the Marine Raiders, Auntie Moon and get away with it.” Aj said, shaking her head. “Anyway, we’re ready. Just waiting on you by the statue.” “Alright, let’s do this.” Gathered at the battered horse statue her squad met with the Hazardous Ops team, who were obsessively checking over their kit. “We ready?” Sunset called. Various conformations answered her. “Whenever you’re ready.” The officer said when she looked to him. “Then we move through.” She declared. As Hazop’s flametroopers checked each other's tanks again, she stepped forth. “Forward!” Stomping forward, she lead her force through the portal and into the beyond. Charging out of the other side, Sunset tripped over scattered debris and flipped ass-over-teakettle, sliding to a stop on the cold stone. She barely had a second to look around before the others came rushing through, and promptly followed her lead, crashing to the ground in a twisted heap of limbs. Pulling herself out of the impromptu dog pile, Sunset looked back to the portal to see what they hit. “Well…” She said, “I guess we know what happened to that drone.” Sure enough, there stuck in a pile of broken wood was the missing UAV, smashed to pieces from the impact. “Come on.” She ordered. “Let’s get out of here and find out where we are.” After a few minutes of detangling themselves, her crew was standing waiting to leave the room they found themselves in. As they were about to breach the door, it unlocked and swung open, revealing two odd men in golden armour. “Well…” Sunset started. “I think I know where we are now. So, who wants to meet my family?” United Nations Defence Force. File: 765304-33510500-RDF-0010 Name: Spitfire. W/C Callsign: MesserSpit Nation of Origin: Great Britain N/A Branch: Army Air Force, NavSpecWar Description: An ex-RAF Commander, W/C Spitfire is a woman of average height and lean build. She’s one of our wards, someone who’s given everything to the cause: her life, her nationality, even her name; all for the sake of humanity's continued safety. She holds a special title, one of our very few Wing Commanders, and with it, the experience to pilot most small aircraft, and some large, with relatively good skill. Statements: W/C Spitfire is a wondrous pilot, well beloved by ground teams for her extraordinary skills and near suicidal flying; just her presence in the air can change the tides. W/C Spitfires cockpit footage of her flying a ‘Duckling Train’ through a tunnel into the A/O is still making the rounds. Medical report: W/C Spitfire is one of our most modified ‘Standard’ personnel, capable of withstanding some extreme G-forces allowing her to do most of her insane stunts. I’ve never seen someone ‘slam-dunk’ a plane that big before, let alone under fire. Her body, much like other combat pilots, is filled with shrapnel, so much so that she can’t walk through an airport without a call to the bomb squad. Honestly, it’s a miracle that she’s in as good of shape as she is.
