Chapter 1: The Tide of Shadow
A group of soldiers clad in black fatigues, goggles, and gasmasks sat in silence as the van they were in was driving closer to its intended destination. One of them sat typing into a PDA as he waited to end the silent trip.
"I... Am First Lieutenant James Hawkins... I am the leader of a special fighting force that was code-named Dragon Five, I think it is fitting that my squad was named after a creature of myth, as far as the world is concerned... My team and I do not exist... just like the creatures we hunt. A plane of existence that once coexisted with ours is now returning to bring a rising tide of magic to the world, I didn't believe it till I saw it either, and it is my job to make sure that the creatures that are leaving Shadow do not harm the mundanes. This job is lined with plenty of things that either break your mind or force you to learn how to cope, many who see us without our armor call us crazy... But we see things that the average person cannot comprehend..."
"...The plane Shadow is beginning a tide of magic and chaos... And it's my job to keep the civilians safe..."
James' attention was removed from his PDA when one of his squadmates gave him a tap on his shoulder, he quickly stowed his PDA away, now was not a time to keep a device in the view of the public... he now had a mission to complete. James stood and grabbed his rifle from where it leaned against his chair, the rifle itself was an M4 Carbine that was set up with a precision reflex sight and laser designator, he shouldered the weapon and followed the rest of his squad out of the back of the van.
He had to shield his eyes for a few seconds from the light of the sun before his eyes took in the surroundings. His eyes scanned over the crowd now gathered in front of the large bank, since his men were now in uniform most people passed them off as SWAT members... the only thing that made them look particularly different from SWAT members was the fact that they didn't wear any SWAT patch, they wore the symbol of an eight-pointed star behind two concentric circles on their shoulders.
The police officers that James passed looked incredibly irritated, he could even overhear one of them in a heated argument with a 'suit' that was on scene.
"I don't care what you guys think you see in there, we know that there's five guys in there with assault rifles and hostages! If you send armed soldiers in there the bank robbers are gonna start killing civilians!" The cold-hearted response from the 'suit' sent a chill down James' spine when he heard it.
"...We are not here for the civilians... My men are certainly precise enough to eliminate all of the bank robbers with minimal collateral damage, but the hostages are not their priority. I have orders from my superiors that give me the choice to have my men gun down every civilian between here and fifth avenue... But I've chosen to just have them eliminate the thugs. So kindly STEP OUT OF MY BUSINESS!" The glare that the man gave the police officer visibly made the officer recoil as if the suited man had struck him.
James made his way over to where the rest of his team waited for him to give the go-ahead. The only parts of his team that could've shown any emotions were covered by lenses that had been tinted, he let a sigh escape him before he closed the distance between him and his team.
"Alright, we're here to collect whatever is in Vault 13... We've been cleared to take down ANYthing in our way..." He paused as his team nodded in somber realization at what he meant but he wasn't finished explaining the mission to them.
"You all know where I stand on collateral damage, I want this done quick and clean... as few civvies as possible." Each member of his squad nodded in affirmation before he began to issue orders.
"Alright... Brooklyn, Dash, I want you two to join me on the initial strike... we need something to take the attention of whoever is in there off of the hostages." The soldier in full riot-gear put up his hand in protest.
"you know I'm from the Bronx-" Brooklyn's complaint was cut off mid-sentence as James gave him a stare that shut him up without question.
"...As I was saying, Cobra... I want you to do your ninja-thing and get in there to disable them from behind." A man that was in an outfit that looked like a bodysuit, complete with robotic-looking helmet, gave a silent nod and waited for further instructions. James looked to the last member of his team, she gave him an intent stare back.
"Four Eyes, I want you to make your way down to the vault as we take out the robbers." With a nod he dismissed everyone to their respective tactical positions around the building. Cobra took off around the back and was lost from sight in a matter of seconds, Four Eyes followed closely but had instead chosen the back door instead of the roof.
Each member of the group that was equipped with a gun affixed a suppressor to the barrel of their rifles, Cobra drew his sword from the back sheath that he had. Dash was next to James as the three of them made their way to the front hall, he unclipped a smoke grenade and his teammates followed his lead by unclipping a smoke from each of their belts.
Lyra jumped a little when she felt a hoof on her shoulder, she had been so enthralled by the book that she had been reading that she didn't hear the Lavender unicorn mare walk up to her. Twilight gave the mint-green unicorn mare a smile before she glanced at the book and asked her friend a question.
"Lyra... Why do you read those stories? I read the first chapter of one and it only had humans look like creatures of the most violent type, I don't see how you could like those stories." Lyra retaliated without hesitation, as if she had been asked this question multiple times before.
"It's for a similar reason that I saw that Erotica book in your saddlebags when you walked in earlier..." Her answer had invoked a furious nervous blush from Twilight, but she continued her explanation, "... I simply enjoy them, especially the NeoNexus saga, James 'Eagle Eye' Hawkins is one of the most complex humans I've read about in any story." Twilight simply couldn't understand, she wanted to be a good friend... and Lyra's mention of her private book had certainly been an unepected low blow... She also understood what it was like to have a type of book that somepony liked, so she decided to find out a little more.
"Well... since I don't particularly have an interest in the 'human' genre, could you explain to me a bit more about how this character is so great?" Lyra nodded with a smile as she bookmarked her page with the scrap paper that she had been using.
"Eagle Eye, that's his code-name, is an ex-soldier. He took it as a point of personal pride to be a part of the most precise squads in the human military because he personally believed in honor. He never struck a female human out of anger, nor did he bring harm to any human young. His time as a soldier bent his mind to the point where he thought he was crazy because he could see things that others couldn't, until he found out from a mysterious stranger that later recruited him into an organization known as NeoNexus that the things he saw had always been there, the things he saw had always been around him but because of the way humans saw their world they couldn't see the creatures and the creatures couldn't hurt them. He took the job because he saw it as an opportunity to protect innocent humans from what they refused to see."
Twilight was sitting with a surprised look on her face as she listened to Lyra's explanation about the NeoNexus saga. Many ponies thought that, because Lyra read the books about humans and occasionally tried to emulate their posture, she was crazy or obsessed with them. Twilight found out later after the confusion about discord that Lyra just enjoyed the books and thought it was fun to act like a human sometimes. Yes, Twilight would say that Lyra loved the books as much as Rainbow Dash loved the Daring Do series, but that was it... she just liked the idea that humans could've existed in Equestria or still do... She wasn't obsessed about it at all.
Lyra quickly looked out the window and noticed that the sun was going down, she turned to Twilight and put the library book in her bag.
"Thanks again for letting me borrow this one, I gotta get home before Bon Bon yells at me... Dear Celestia... She acts like she's my mother sometimes." The two of them shared a chuckle before Lyra left for home.
Bon Bon was sitting on the living room couch when Lyra trotted in, she turned her attention towards Lyra and gave her a friendly smile.
"Well, what took you all day?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm. Lyra rolled her eyes on her way to her room.
"I was just reading at the library." She called.
"Was it one of those human novels you obsess about?" Bon Bon asked in response, which in turn garnered a fumed reply from the mint mare.
"I am NOT obsessed! I just like the stories!" she yelled in frustration before slamming the door, "I sit one time in public like a human would in the stories and everyone thinks I'm bucking obsessed!" she yelled before tossing her saddlebags in her closet. Bon Bon qickly got up off the couch and went to Lyra's door, she leaned her head in close so she could hear her friend.
"Lyra... I understand I might've taken it a bit too far... But it was no reason to use that kind of language..." She recieved a muffled growl that she guessed was supposed to be an insult, then a soft thud as someting she assumed was one of the shoes that Lyra had hit the door, Bon Bon sighed before she trotted off to her room. She sighed again before collapsing into her bed.
"why does Lyra have to take that stuff so seriously?" Bon Bon stared at the ceiling until exhaustion decided to pull the lids of her eyes closed, she curled up with one forehoof under the pillow she was laying on and used her tail like a foal would a stuffed animal.
The next morning Lyra woke up with a groan, she dragged herself out of the bed and walked over to her closet to get her saddlebags. Today was the day that she went down to the Bucking Mare tavern around noon to play her lyre with the band. After grabbing some toast she made her way out of the house and down to the tavern, she let her gaze pan around the town as she walked.
She saw something that concerned her when she arrived at the tavern, a light-brown earth mare was closing up the front door, Lyra walked up to the mare with a questioning intent.
"What's going on? I'm supposed to be playing with the band today Caramel." The earth mare had an incredibly sad look on her face before she answered.
"Brandy Wine's father was found dead near the everfree forest this morning, the tavern is going to be closed until Brandy is able to resume working." Lyra's heart sank to her hooves as she looked at the mare in disbelief, she couldn't believe her ears... She turned and bolted all the way back home and locked her door, she ignored Bon Bon's questions and left her standing in confusion. Lyra buried her face in her pillow before letting her self control leave her. She cried because every employee of the Bucking Mare knew Brandy Wine's father, Whiskey Wine, the stallion was one of the kindest and friendliest stallions she had ever met.
James raised his hand, signaling to Brooklyn and Dash to move in on Three. He started with a fist and slowly lifted one finger at a time, he counted the seconds in his mind...
"One... Two... THREE!" he thought as he signaled his team to move in, he lined up the sights on his gun as the three of them tossed a smoke grenade into the lobby, the thick fog obscured their approach as James activated the Heads-Up-Display that the organization gave him. When his vision switched to the thermal display he knew exactly what he was fighting, anyone else would mistake the assailants as two large-built men and two scrawny hunchbacked men, but he could see that he was fighting two trolls and two gnolls.
"What the hell?! those types of monsters don't work together..." he activated his mike and warned his allies.
"Four contacts, two trolls and two gnolls, switch to incendiary rounds." he recieved confirmation sounds before pressing a blue symbol on the chamber of his rifle, the symbol turned a yellow-orange color, once again his team continued through the hallway. Once they reached the door outside of the hostage room James, Dash and Brooklyn stacked up against the wall around the corner in order to take their opponents by surprise. Dash planted a breaching charge on the wall and readied the detonator, Brooklyn and James switched to semi-auto and let Dash know they were readied. With the press of a button a small explosion came off the wall, James and Brookly rushed in, with a quick squeeze of the trigger a few times one of the trolls began to collapse with the hail of bullets in it's face. Dash dropped one of the gnolls, James' sight drifted to the remaining troll and gnoll... A smile etched itself on his face as he saw Cobra drop from the celing behind the two remaining attackers. The gnoll jumped in surprise as a blade impaled itself through the back of the Troll's skull. Before the gnoll could react, though, he was slammed up against the wall by his windpipe. The Uzi that the gnoll had been gripping clattered to the floor when he had lost his grip and a look of fear was now plastered on his face as he looked at the humans that had guns pointed at his face.
The gnoll was now babbling in it's own language.
"Probably begging us to spare him..." James quickly moved over to where Cobra had the Gnoll pinned against the wall and ordered Brooklyn to get the hostages out, he turned back to the gnoll and began his interrogation.
"Can you understand my language...?" he began, his cold tone betrayed no emotion, he remembered the countless hours training himself to be able to question without hinting at any emotion. When the gnoll nodded a 'yes' he continued.
"Can you speak my language...?" when the gnoll shook his head 'no' James had to think about questions that only had a yes or no answer.
"Will you cooperate to have us spare your life?" He almost smiled when the gnoll nodded but he stopped himself, he had to remain the interrogator.
"We were informed that there were five of you... is that true?" The gnoll nodded once again.
"Where is the fifth one?" James followed the gnoll's gaze as it was directed to an area that went deeper into the vaults.
"Good boy, you may have just saved your life... Dash, I want you to take Cobra and escort our... "Friend" ... out of here and into Neo Nexus custody. Inform the suits that I'm meeting up with Four Eyes to take out the last member of the group." Cobra and Dash both gave him a confirming nod and escorted the gnoll to the entrance of the bank. James shouldered his rifle and made his way to the lower level of the bank.
Several silent minutes passed by, he saw a couple of large vaults but none of them looked like they had been blown open, when he had finally gotten halfway down the hall he could hear something that sounded like hand-to-hand combat. He rushed toward the open vault and saw Four Eyes wrestling with a human who wore black robes, her arm had a bleeding cut on it and it seemed like the man was overpowering Four Eyes. James brought his gun up and shouted.
"Alright! Freeze before I start shooting!" Both combatants seemed to stop mid-struggle but the robed man recovered faster, he brought his hands down and shoved Four Eyes toward James and readied the dagger. The next series of events that happened made it seem as if James was going in slow motion. First, he had to use one of his hands to catch his team mate, momentarily taking his eyes off of his opponent. Second, the robed man brought the dagger down and plunged it into his stomach.
When the man grunted James knew something was wrong, every fibre of his being was screaming at him to run but he could only watch as the man stumbled to the center of the room. As the man finally reached the red circle that had been painted on the floor his body was torn asunder, his blood itself seemed to create a swirling vortex of evil.
It wasn't until he looked down at Four Eyes that he noticed that they were being dragged along the ground, an evil hiss emanated from the portal before Four Eyes began being pulled in faster than he was. He couldn't find anything within reach that he could use to keep them both from being pulled in, he also noticed that the force of the portal was pulling her from his grasp as he tried to use the soles of his boots to slow him down. The second her foot touched the edge of the portal she just seemed to dissapear from reality, James sat in stunned silence as the pull from the portal faded and just left him to sit. He stared in anger at the portal. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his daze, his gaze followed the arm till he was looking at Cobra's mask, Cobra spoke only one sentence in his voice that sounded robotically amplified.
"We will get her back."
Fifteen minutes later the entire building was locked up by Neo Nexus representatives, a makeshift examination lab was set up in the vault that the portal was in, James was pacing back and forth in impatience. He had been informed that his team were going to be going through in order to rescue Four Eyes or recover her remains, he just had to wait for the 'techies' to set up the survival gear for them.
One of the men in a pure-white lab coat motioned for James' squad to get over to them, he handed each one of them something that looked like a metal bracer, after getting a questioning look from James the Techie explained.
"This is a nano-hammerspace device, it uses nanomachines to break down mass and essentially 'store' it as a saved data blueprint, it can also add the same mass back into existence." The techie smiled when he saw the look of stunned disbelief on the squad's faces.
"What? those sci-fi movies had to get their ideas from somewhere..." He chuckled as James continued to stare stupidly at the device. "It will function like a 'backpack' so-to-speak, it will store any items that you instruct it to, due to the haste at which the suits are putting on us to get this mission over with so mundane life can go back to the way it was I have to give you a manual so that you can figure more functions out on the job." He added as he handed James a paperback book.
"All the weapons we had in your personal lockers and any reserves of ammo you had are in your devices, and finally..." The man handed James another of the metal bracers, "...Make sure to give that to Dragon five-three when you meet up with her."
"I'll make sure she gets it, Let's go." he confirmed, he looked at the portal with a little bit of apprehension, "that thing was sumoned with demonic magic... how can we be sure it is not just going to drop us off in the middle of a hell warzone?" His question was partially answered when Dash ran past him.
"We don't... LEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEENKINSSSSSSS!" Dash shouted as he leapt into the portal.
"I'm gonna have to court marshal him for doing that..." James did a mental groan of embarrassment. Cobra and Brooklyn quickly followed suit, James stood in front of the portal and gave one last look at the world he was about to leave behind, he had no idea the kinds of things he was going to face in this new world... but he did know that he couldn't leave his team mate there. He took a step into the portal and felt as if something forcibly pulled him in the rest of the way, the techies left in the lab had horrified looks on their faces as the portal dissapeared once James had stepped through, none of the techies had any idea what would happen and now they could only guess that one of their finest squads was now trapped in some sort of hell dimension...
...They couldn't have been more wrong.
