Part Three: Enigma Team

Everfree Forest

Inside Enigma Team Research Base

February 14th, 2552

5:00 PM

"What, the fuck, was that all suppose to be?!" Corporal Vantos exclaimed.

Dr. Leimann's message had been complete nonsense at best, and outright disturbing at the worst. Engineer Running Gear still stood there with the data pad in his hoof, absolutely shaken. "Tall Man, wha... The Doc most have been losing his mind. What the hay were they working on here?"

Medic Scarlet Tide wasn't faring much better. She looked as if she were about to go comatose. Lieutenant Chu put his arms on his squad mates' shoulders, attempting to keep them focused. "Keep it together, troopers."

The Commander sighed. Seeing the state of his team, Thunderlane felt he should say something. He hovered in midair, flapping his wings and holding his rifle tight to his chest.

"Alright people, I don't know what in Tartarus happened here, but if there are still survivors, it's up to us to find them. And if we can't hold ourselves together, we will not be able to help them. We're the Empire's fucking elite! And whatever did this.." He waved his hoof at the carnage in the hallway. "By the Empress, they're going to pay with their lives, and then some." For emphasis, he dropped to the ground, his hooves making a loud 'clack' on the tiled floor. The sound echoed throughout the structure.

Thunderlane was now snorting in fury through his gas mask as looked to each of his soldiers. It seemed his rage had produced the desired effect. Gear had regained his normal composure, and Scarlet had calmed down enough to be aware of what was around her again.

"They're gonna pay dearly." He repeated. "That's an order! Understand?"

Reaper Team stiffened up and saluted. "Sir yessir!" They said in unison.

"Glad to hear it Reaper. Before we go further in...Gear, can you get us a layout of this place, so we aren't wandering in the dark here?" Running Gear nodded "On it Commander." He approached a maintenance box set into the blood-stained wall. Opening the door revealed pipes, wiring, and circuitry, untouched and still intact.

"This junction should allow me to connect to the base's mainframe computers, and I'll download the blueprints from there." He paused and frowned at the door leading further into the building. "Im gonna need more space for the map projection though."

Thunderlane nodded. "Well let's go head on in then. Let's just hope whatever did all this isn't still lurking around in here."

Thankfully the second door's panel was still working and they were able to get it open normally. Unfortunately, fate chose now to answer Thunderlane's uncertainties directly. As the soldiers filed and trotted into the central room, rifles aimed, a loud crash issued from the floor above them. It was followed by the shattering of glass.

Everyone froze in their tracks. "Did...did something just do what I think it did." Gear said, looking at his comrades in worry. "Something just exited through a window. Now we know for sure we're not alone." The Commander said slowly.

Unknown to his teammates, Chu's blood was beginning to run cold. He buried his uneasiness under a stoic frown as best he could. "Commander! I'm picking up the transponder again! It's strong...second floor."

Thunderlane nodded. Turning his head, he surveyed the room around him. Being in the middle of the building, it served as a type of lobby. Quite unlike the corridor leading back to the outside, most of the room was still in pristine condition, sans a couple of conspicuous small blood trails leading off into the shadows, and the occasional small pool. The bodily fluids lit up like bioluminescent creatures on the soldier's Heads Up Displays.

Under other circumstances, the room would have been comparable to a strangely abandoned rave party, if you don't count the apparent bloody dismemberment of the former guests.

To the left of the doorway they just came through was a door marked 'Security'. A door at the opposite end of the room was marked 'Commons'. Finally, a third door, on the squads' right, sat next to the staircase to the second level. The entire section was labeled 'Research and Observation'

The engineer approached a table. "Putting up the projection now, if you'd be so kind, Scarlet?" Running Gear remarked. He held his data pad for her to look at.

"I'm on it." The medic ignited her horn, producing a large holographic three-dimensional image of the entire structure. There were several rooms they would have to investigate.

"The facility looks bigger than I thought sir." Gear declared, gazing at the revolving projection. "I think we may end up having to go divide our numbers, if we want to get through this entire place before the late evening."

The Commander didn't like it, but if he wanted to cover the entire structure quickly and efficiently, they would have to split up. "Right. Vantos, fireteam, you're with me, we're going up to the laboratory and find the source of the transponder. Lieutenant Chu, I want you, Gear, and Scarlet to check the security office, then confirm that the rest of the ground floor is secure. We'll rendevous here when we've finished."

The soldiers all nodded, acknowledging the commands. "Let's move Reaper!" Thunderlane shouted. Breaking off into the two groups, they proceeded to their respective destinations, weapons raised and tense as ever.

As Thunderlane and his men moved into the research section of the outpost, they first attempted to gain access to the ground level laboratory, but the door was sealed from the other side. Vantos proposed to blow their way through, as Gear was occupied elsewhere, but the Commander wasn't for exploding into a room that could potentially contain wounded or panicked survivors.

He ordered them instead to proceed up to the second floor, where someone, or something had obviously been a few minutes previously. Going up the stairs, Vantos saw that the blood trail from the lobby had picked back up again. She crouched down and inspected it. "Boss? I'm starting to get more and more blood around here."

As Vantos followed the trail further up the stairs, Thunderlane merely shrugged it off. "We should come to expect that by now. Keep moving."

Finally reaching the second level, they were greeted by yet another security station, one long corridor that branched out into offices and observation rooms, and a second corridor that ended with yet another door. Decisions, decisions. The entire floor was as dark as the one below it, concealing whatever secrets it may be guarding.

"Which way sir?" One of the soldiers asked. Thunderlane consulted the tactical computer attached to his left foreleg. "Transponder signal is coming from the security office. I'll enter the room, you all take point, cover my six."

As the fireteam took positions around the stair landing, Thunderlane moved towards the door. His ACOG sight showed him that the door possessed claw marks scratched into it's surface, accompanied by three bullet holes. Something had tried to get in, and eventually gave up when somepony shot at it.

He interfaced with the door controls, which thankfully were in working order, and unlocked. Vantos shuffled around impatiently behind him. "Ya know, we've seen plenty of blood around here, even a fucking hand for Celestia's sakes, but where are all the bodies?"

Before anypony could answer, the door to the security stationed opened, and sure enough, a corpse fell to the ground at the Thunderlane's hooves, much to Reaper Leader's alarm. Vantos peered through her gas mask with disbelief.

It would appear the man had been crouched on his knees with his head pressed to the opposite side of the door. Whatever he had been doing just before he died, it must not have been pleasant. The Commander set the dead guy aside, and entered the room. Seeing a light switch, Thunder gave it a go. No dice, there must not have been enough power going to the facility to get the lights functioning. To make matters worse, the Sun was beggining to set outside, due to the short winter days.

Thunderlane switched from ACOG to thermal, and was greeted with yet another macabre sight. All along the walls, was writing. It was in human or equine blood. Constantly repeating were sentences like: 'Tall Man stalks the shadowy woods', 'Don't look upon the Pale One,' and more disturbing ones, such as: 'He calls for us all in the end', 'Friendship is might, might is an illusion', and 'Run! Don't hide. He already knows where you are."

The dead man himself, who evidently had wrote the rambling messages, was in a sorry state. His fingers had been worn down almost to the bone from scratching into the walls, and his armor looked as if something had tried to take a bite out of it and he had somehow managed to fight it off. It would also seem most of the blood was not his, as he had no open wounds other than his fingers, and his armor had prevented his attacker's teeth from making their mark.

The man's face was set in an expression of outright shock. The guard had obviously lost his mind just before he met his demise, which likely was from shock, cardiac arrest as it were. These details were beginning to have a nasty effect on the pegasus commander.

Thunderlane was quickly coming to a morbid conclusion. "There must have been two security officers in here, but we only found one body...a human. Why haven't we found any deceased ponies yet?"

Mira shook her head vigorously. "I don't think I truly want to know that just yet sir."

Nodding, the Commander raised his left forehoof to his face, talking into it. "Thunder to Chu, what's your status soldier?"

"Green, sir. We checked the security station and the barracks in the commons, no survivors or bodies, but lots of blood. And a real big ass mess. I think...I think something broke through the barracks windows, from the inside. The plexiglass is bent towards the exterior, so that's my educated guess." The Lieutenant replied.

"Copy that...We've got a confirmed fatality up here, human male."

Chu was silent for several seconds before he replied back. "I understand. What's our next objective?"

"I need you three to get your way to the generator shed, and see if you can get us back into the light. If you run into anything hostile do not engage, I repeat do not engage! Regroup with the other fireteam and get your asses in here if you do, that clear?"

"Yessir. Lieutenant Chu, out."

Sighing for the thousandth time this evening, Thunderlane looked at the dead man one final time. He kneeled down and closed his eyes with his hooves. At that, he took the man's magnum, emptied its rounds into his pouches, and grabbed the officer's key card. Waste not want not. The Commander thought privately.

The Commander was worried about sending three of his best outside where the escaped test subject supposedly has fled to, but there were just that: his best. They could take care of themselves, and besides, Chu alone should be enough to hold them together.

"Alright, let's secure this floor. If we're going to at least find out what happened here, we're going to find the relevant data in one of the offices. Move out, two to a room. Watch your spacing, and if you see anything that does not look remotely like a pony or human, blow it's brains out. No exceptions, no risk taking people."

Complying, the squad fanned out across the main corridor, entering the offices. Thunder and Mira took to the largest, most important looking office. They expected to find either Dr. Leimann, or a crap load of blood, or both. Sure enough, a sign next to the office door read 'Hans Leimann, Ph.D. Operations Director'.

Instead of either possibility, they found neither. Leimann's office was spotless, as if nothing had even happened there. The Dr.'s desk was a mess of papers and clutter, but other then that, no sign of struggle, no blood, nothing.

Just before Thunderlane could approach the desk to inspect it, there was a bright flash. The lights all around them came to life with an audible electric hum. The soldiers in the other nearby rooms let out cheers and whoops of relief.

"Ha ha! Got it up and running sir!" Running Gear exclaimed through the radio.

"Good job soldier, now get your rear ends back here on the double now, won't you? Oh, and bring the other fireteam with you. I want everypony inside the structure, just in case the test subject freak decides it wants to pay us a dandy visit."

"We're moving now." Chu acknowledged.

The Commander turned his attention back to the trashed desk. Despite the implications of the late Dr.'s final transmission, there was no evidence to suggest that the doctor had been killed here. Seemingly reading Thunder's thoughts, Corporal Vantos nudged him, catching his attention.

"Hey, I think if Leimann's broadcast was legit, this ain't the spot he did it from. He must have done it up in the..."

"Observation tower." Thunderlane finished for her, nodding. "I'm going to go through the Doc's records, and see if there is any intel I can salvage. Why don't you and three of the fireteam go up and investigate it."

As always, the Demolitions expert nodded and proceeded down the corridor to the smaller one, which led to the roof and tower. The fourth soldier of the fireteam stood at attention. "Order's sir?" He inquired.

"Just watch my back, I don't need any boogeymen sneaking up on me while I dig up Enigma's dirt over here." The Commander replied. Saluting with a hoof to the heart, the soldier positioned himself away from Thunderlane, and had his rifle trained on the door.

Thunderlane got right to work accessing Dr. Leimann's records on his holo-screen. For a top IBI scientist, the man certainly didn't put very many safe guards on his data. All the folders and documents were not encrypted, and opened up without protest. His inbox was not protected either, and in it he found two messages. The first was the now notorious "TOO LATE" addressed to a Dr. Norman Bates.

The pegasus made a mental note to count Bates as one of the confirmed dead personnel on his after action report, considering the human hand that had been gripping the Doctor's data pad.

The second message, surprisingly, was from the director of the IBI himself. The message was labeled 'Mission Parameters'.

Attention Dr. Leimann:

Your team has been selected for a tier-one assignment among all the others of Section 6 due to your consistent track record of success and efficiency.

Without further delay, your mission parameters are as follows:

-Establish a research base in the Everfree forest for the purpose of finding potential assets for non-conventional warfare programs conducted by Section 3.

-Creating Accommodations for ONI operatives to facilitate a joint work venture.

-Determine the nature, source, and scope of the 'unnaturalness' (for lack of a better term) of the Everfree and its environs.

-Ensuring the absolute secrecy of all finds and developments stemming from your assignment. Nothing is allowed to be leaked. Not even the Empress or her sister can know, in the interests of national security.

So long as the following guidelines are fulfilled, you and the rest of Enigma Team shall be commended greatly for your diligence, and your loyalty to the Empire.

Yours in Confidence,

-The Director

Searching further, the Commander stumbled upon something else of interest. It was a folder marked 'Primary Research Logs'. Opening it, Thunder found various entries, the oldest document dating back to the 21st of January, just under a month ago.

Personal Log of Dr. Hans Joseph Leimann

January 21st 2552

As per The Director's specific instruction, all personnel of Enigma Team Alpha have set up base here in the Everfree Forest.

Initial scans indicate we are conveniently close to the site indicated by orbital scans as the magical source of the Forest's unusual readings and phenomena. That site, being the ancient castle located near where we have now set up shop.

It should be noted, that the mentioned phenomena has spiked radically in the months following the Nightmare Moon incident, the arrival of the Elements of Harmony to the ruins, and Nightmare's subsequent defeat at the Element Bearers' hands.

Currently planning an expedition to the ruins tomorrow.

January 22nd

Success! We have gained access to the ruins with surprisingly little effort. A bridge leading to the site was still intact, (the canopy being too thick for Pelicans to get through) allowing us to reach the castle on foot.

Additionally, a few penetration scan spells later, we had also found the entryway into the vault Section 1 had been hinting at as the source of, well, all this, the forest, the unnatural occurrences, everything!

We are currently awaiting for the ONI personnel to arrive so we can finally break our way into the subterranean structure.

January 28th

Finally, those damn Spooks have arrived. My only real grievance isn't their inherent tardiness, but the fact that he's here. Ackerson, that pompous asshole. I swear, Parangosky ordered him here just to piss us off. Minister Anders assures us it is a gesture of good faith between our two organizations. Well, I'm not feeling very charitable right now.

Attempts to gain access to the sealed vault have thus far fallen short. It's weird, the doors are made of a crystalline alloy, and like the castle, possess magics that have partially spared them from weathering and overgrowth.

I'm requisitioning some low-yield inferno bombs. The sheer power of destruction magic should be enough to break the wards apart and get us inside.

January 31st

Further success! We have razed the doors, and have exposed the vault to the open air for the first time in likely several millennia.

Unfortunately, the sole content within the entire room was only a single, massive container of some kind. We are moving it back to base for study.

February 3rd

We opened the container today. Contents were only this, some kind of tall, pale humanoid rapped in a dark, shroud like material. We have placed the creature under quarantine and observation on the first floor of the base's research center.

Subject has been dubbed, 'The Tall Man' by my staff. The name has since stuck.

February 4th

Ackerson is getting restless. He demands that we hurry up with our analysis into the mysterious being.

Samples taken indicate the being is of an age far more advanced then we thought. It's amino acid configuration indicates a metabolic system that has been lying dormant for at least 100,000 or more years in stasis.

February 5th

Further sample analysis of subject has yielded... disturbing new data. I and the others have concluded that this creature, this 'Tall Man', possesses an organic structure quite similar to those recovered from Changeling drones during our limited encounters with them in the past week. However, subject also exhibits what resembles the remains of Human DNA as well.

The subject is confirmed to be capable of spreading the Changeling infection. Ackerson has been notified of this, and Project Tall Man has now officially commenced.

February 7th

Subject 'Tall Man' also know now as the 'Pale One' by the non-research staff, awoke today for the first time during a routine biological analysis of his body.

The creature incapacitated one guard, an earth pony; and gravely injured another, a human. I got nicked by one of his appendages as well, but I hid it. Just a little scratch, right? Ackerson did not hesitate. He ordered the two be put in stasis for study into how the infection manifests itself in the two species.

Celestia, forgive us for the work we're doing here. The Tall Man has been restrained, and put under maximum quarantine measures while we divine more efficient ways of not only controlling him, but refining his DNA into a fully functioning, uh... in order to... Uh, buck it! I'm not mentioning this here, it disgusts me too much.

What we're creating is an abomination of nature, like the forest itself.

Thunderlane was beginning to feel a strange feeling in the pit of his gut. Regardless, he forced himself to continue reading on.

February 10th

Getting strange reports. Noises in the woods, staff having strange nightmares, some even disappearing for long stretches of time without explanation a few not even coming back at all.

And to top all it off, Changelings have been sighted in ever growing numbers. The security staff is understandably, on edge.

February 11th

Nightmares have started.

I swear, he, the Tall Man... is trying to communicate with me, I can feel it in my bones...

February 12th

Not feeling very well. Tried to take a nap, but kept having... that same nightmare. The Tall Man.

Ugh, anyways Project Tall Man has proceeded farther than expected. Ackerson is preparing a full report for ONI that should be ready within the week.

The potential of it's deployment against the Covies is too profound he says, to not let it see the light of day. I beg to differ. None of this is right.

My oh my, I need to see a therapist, this forest is taking its toll on me. Can't wait to get home to Canterlot in the Spring!

February 14th

Friendship is Might they say? Ha, might... is an illusion. Friendship.. is a joke, which makes the Empire a big court of jesters and fool clowns! And Celestia must be... wait wait, a stand up comedian! Ha ha, who woulda thought?

He, is not an ancient being, no, no no no no no, even older, he's FAR older!

He told me so himself, he tells me things you see, in whispers. He is the spirit of the forest, and we unworthy have disturbed his rest, yes! We're too late to go back now, the stage is set!

He has asked me to release him, says he needs to speak with his Queen...queen of the Changelings, oh goody! I have to pay a visit to the observation tower now, good bye Enigma, hello whispering friends!"

The final entry broke the organized labeling. Instead of a date, it was simply labeled 'What have I done?'

What have I done?

I just released him, and the two who had been in stasis. I can hear gunfire already. I'm going to try, and muster what remains of my sanity, and direct my colleagues out of the building. I just pray that I manage to get there before he finds me and... finishes the job.

As soon as the Commander had ceased reading the log, he immediately wished he hadn't. Trying to contain his growing sense of shock and dread, the pegasus reluctantly downloaded the research logs onto his data pad.

He was damned if he was going to report this data to Section 1 now. This, combined with the message, indicts the Director for high treason against not only the Empress, but the entire government and was going straight to Celestia's throne, if Thunderlane could help it.

Just as he completed that thought, Lieutenant Chu, Running Gear, and Scarlet Tide had all returned, still wearing semi-confident expressions. Their faces fell flat however, as they saw Thunder's expression.

Before the Commander could speak though, a piercing shriek could be heard from outside the building. At the same time, everypony's radios began emitting static and... whispering.

Then, Corporal Vantos' voice cut through the static. "Commander, we've been engaged! Tangos on the rooftop, at least half a dozen!"

Chu looked at his computer urgently. "I'm picking up multiple pings on the motion sensors, the IFF software is going fritz though!"

A second shriek roared across the base, this time from a much closer distance.