Neo Nexus: Rising Tide

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.