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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Vigilant

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Ranger

Chapter 25: Vigilant

By Wanderer D

Sunset sat next to the bed, holding Laetitia's hand. It was one of the few breaks she had since achieving her new rank, and with Twilight taking her first class, she was otherwise free… so she had come over to the infirmary, dragged a chair and started talking to the Templar.

"...and that's when Pr-my teacher found me with all the cakes in the school's kitchen. And let me tell you, that was a lot of cakes. And cakes are her favorite food too, so she was particularly upset with me."

Sunset chuckled before the smile slowly disappeared.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't pretend things are okay, but I can't shake the guilt off… even if I couldn't have anticipated what happened, I never wanted to see you hurt." Sunset sighed. "You took care of me and now… I can't even help you, because if I do something wrong your head explodes."

She leaned her head on the bed.

"I… would rather just listen to more cake… stories…" Laetitia coughed, just as Sunset slowly raised her head to stare at the woman, eyes wide and mouth open. "...but, I have to say… you made me hungry."

"Commander, Templar Laetitia has woken up. There are no physical issues, and pending a psychological check, she should be ready to rejoin Menace."

Chrysalis leaned back on her seat, hand caressing the smooth surface of her glass. "Understood. Thank you, please inform Sergeant Shimmer as well."

"She already knows, Commander, she was right next to her when it happened."

Chrysalis frowned. "Did Sergeant Shimmer do anything?"

"Nothing I noticed, Commander, other than telling the cutest story about how she stole a cartful of cakes from her teacher once. She seemed as surprised and relieved as anyone would be."

Chrysalis nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, nurse."

Her eyes went to the display of Earth's map. The location of the facility the Councilman had given her drew her attention. Her eyes traveled to the other facilities that had been reported, and then to the areas of the maps where the Chosen were known to operate.

Her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps it is time go get the ball rolling for real."

She sighed, and swiped her hand on the display, causing it to change. A picture of Sunset Shimmer appeared on it, along with one of Twilight Sparkle. Several documents of Sunset's involvement with XCOM appeared one by one on the right, as well as reports submitted by Lt. Dash, Bradford, Tygan and both Shens.

Chrysalis scrutinized the data, fingers tapping on the table as her mind worked. A list of known associates from Sunset's… original world was there, and one of Twilight's as well, including a counterpart to herself, who was apparently, not a friendly.

She had little time for that. Sunset had said the portal was closed at the time, but for how long? Were these… impersonators going to invade Earth as well? One enemy was more than enough.. and yet…

o.0.o Flashback o.0.o

"What if I destroy the portal?"

Twilight Sparkle had jumped to her feet, eyes open in horror. "You can't! You would… it's a magical wonder of ages past!"

"I can't risk another invasion."

"We would never—"

"Commander, if you decide to destroy it, could we send Twilight through first?" Sunset spoke up.

"You wouldn't go with her?" Chrysalis asked.

"No, my place is here… with or without a way to return to Equestria."

o.0.o End Flashback o.0.o

Chrysalis shook her head. "Dammit Sunset, why are things never easy with you, whether you're you or you're unicorn you?"

She truly had no doubt about Sunset's loyalty, as odd as it was, given her initial reaction to seeing her. The portal still bothered her, but until she knew more about the supposed magic they used, and its effects on psychics… she pressed the communicator.

"Bradford, as soon as Laetitia is deemed ready for combat, I want Menace ready for their next mission."

"Roger that, Commander."

Chrysalis nodded, a smile playing on her face. The aliens would pay dearly for all they had cost her. The only question was, how to start destroying them?

She looked at her options. Plenty of them would be serious hits to infrastructure, and then there were the reports of upcoming retaliation with plans ADVENT had to make her life more complicated.

Volk's request was still ongoing, and she couldn't act on that one until the initial report got back. For now… she made her choice.

"It's good you didn't die," Elena said, noticing Laetitia was already in the conference room, along with Sunset.

"It is most fortunate," Mox agreed, following Elena into the room. Behind them, Jane walked in, waving amiably at Sunset and Laetitia. She hurried over to sit next to Sunset.

"We need to talk," Jane whispered.

Sunset blinked, but nodded. "Yeah, on the flight?"

"After the briefing…" Jane said. "It is urgent."

"You got it," Sunset replied, nodding.

The last two people in, were Lt. Dash—who sat in the middle chair at the end of the table, between Jane and Mox—and Bradford, who took the other end, closer to the door.

The table lit, projecting a labyrinthine set of tunnels.

"Our agents have revealed that ADVENT is working on a new series of Rural Checkpoints, which, if completed, will considerably reduce the intake of monthly supplies from our allies in Europe. Needless to say, given our very limited resources, it is imperative that we prevent this from happening.

"As such, we have our next objective," Bradford said. "In about two hours, the Avenger will head over to Europe, where one of our informants has revealed an ADVENT General is overseeing the installation of a relay of some sort in the tunnel-system under New Prague. This General happens to be the one in charge of coordinating the checkpoints with ADVENT."

"We have seen similar checkpoints in the past," Elena spoke up. "ADVENT is particularly brutal, and any provocation, real or imagined, will result in the death of anyone they even contemplate as part of a resistance group."

A large section of the holographic tunnels turned red. "We have managed to localize the A.O. to these coordinates. Unfortunately the area is still big enough for some scurrying around to be needed."

"The General should be making large, sweeping rounds to better oversee the installation of this relay," Mox spoke up next, studying the map. "I do not forsee them sticking to the center of the map."

"That's good, it'll give us a chance to cut him off from leaving the area," Laetitia added.

"Your mission is to kill the General down in the tunnels, when he is the most exposed. Don't be fooled, however, into thinking this will be easy. Since the tunnels are being prepped for future plans, there is a considerable amount of ADVENT troops assigned to the location."

"The General will not stay to fight," Mox said. "Standard ADVENT operation orders for that level is to evacuate him as soon as possible."

"Then we make sure he doesn't get that chance," Sunset spoke up. "We'll try to position ourselves to cut his options down as much as we can, but if we are revealed before getting there, all shots are on him first."

Bradford nodded. "Hit them fast and hit them hard."

"Yes sir!"

"I will forward all of you the information we have. You have two hours from now to get ready." He looked over at Laetitia. "I suggest some rest for you, and as for you, Sunset, the Commander wants you to start looking at a potential sixth member for your team."

"Yes sir," Sunset said.

The group stood and watched Bradford leave.

"Alright guys, we'd better get ready," Sunset said. "Jane, if you have a moment?"

"Right," Jane nodded.

The others took the hint, leaving the pair alone in the room.

After a moment, Sunset sat on the edge of the table, facing her friend.

"Sunset, how long have we known each other?" Jane asked.

"Almost two years," Sunset said with a small chuckle. "It feels longer, with all the life and death situations."

"It does… and in those two years, have I given you any reason to not trust me?"

Sunset frowned. "Of course not. You're my best friend in XCOM."

Jane sighed. "Well… thank you, it means a lot to hear that… so as your friend, I must ask… what's the deal with Sparkle?"

Sunset felt herself go tense. "What do you mean?"

Jane gave her a look. "You know what I mean. We lose you for a few hours, everyone thinks you were disintegrated by that psionic blast that hit us and knocked Laetitia out… then a few hours later, you bleep back into existence, with a VIP attached to your hip."

"Trust me, that wasn't anticipated," Sunset grumbled.

"But that's not all," Jane said, leaning back against the wall, just as the whole Avenger shook with the familiar feeling of take-off. "She seemed to know Lt. Dash."

"Maybe she knew her mom?"

"Really, Sunset?" Jane threw her arms in the air, exasperated. "Didn't you tell Lt. Dash the exact same thing when she said you looked familiar? Let's say she actually met your mother, what are the chances of her knowing this other, young girl's mom? I'll tell you: they're close to nil and you know it."

Sunset licked her lips.

"Can't you give it to me straight?" Jane asked. "Don't you trust me?"

"I do," Sunset said. "But it's… Top Secret."

"Top—"

"Sunset," Laetitia spoke from the door, looking into the room. "Someone's here to see you."

"We'll continue this later," Jane said, marching out of the room and glaring at whoever was with Laetitia.

The Templar walked in, her hand on Twilight's shoulder. She looked miserable, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "I found Twilight walking down the hall, acting like this. I thought I should bring her along."

As if just realizing that Sunset was actually there, Twilight took a couple of stumbling steps towards her fellow Equestrian, then threw her arms around Sunset, sobbing.

"Should I be jealous?" Laetitia smiled.

Sunset shook her head, slowly brushing down Twilight's hair to try and calm her. "Nah. But I think Twilight and I need to talk. I'll catch up with you in a bit?"

Laetitia nodded and left the pair in the room.

Sunset stood straight, one arm around Twilight, the other trailing down her hair, letting the younger girl calm down. "Hey, you alright? What happened?"

It took a few more sniffs and eye-rubbing before Twilight spoke up, still hugging Sunset. "I-I watched a video of one of your battles from a couple of years back…"

Sunset straightened. "Oh? Which one?"

"You were with Bradford… getting Elerium?"

"Oh…" Sunset coughed. "Yeah, not my proudest moment, panicking as I did."

"You sounded… so scared," Twilight whispered.

"I was…" Sunset chuckled. "I was absolutely terrified. I had done some missions before with the Skirmishers and with Bradford but, I was lucky. Up until then, I hadn't seen my teammates die so quickly in succession… I thought I was done for."

"I'm so sorry," Twilight said. "I'm so sorry, Sunset. Come back home… I promise you'll get pardoned, don't stay here…"

Sunset took a deep breath. "This is home now, Twilight. And these are amazing people that not only depend on me, but whom I respect and care for. I could never do that. You understand that, right? Didn't you tell me Shining was a captain of the guard before he became a prince?"

Twilight seemed to lose her strength at that, letting her arms fall to the side. "Yeah. He… told me all about that."

Sunset smiled, lifting Twilight's chin with her finger. "Look, it's tough, but I'm with the best fighters in the world, and I won't fail them and they won't fail me. I know you can help us a lot too, when you start working with Tygan."

"I… I will," Twilight said with a long breath. "It's just… hard."

"It is," Sunset agreed. "But we endure. And so will you."

Twilight chuckled. "Yeah… I guess I will." Her eyes went wide. "Oh no… I had a test! I'll be tardy!"

Sunset bopped Twilight's nose. "None of that. Come on, I'll drop you off at the lab. I have dossiers to sort after that."

"Right!"

"Also, I don't think they're expecting much from a princess, so make sure you ace that test."

"Right!"

"That's my princess."

The pair walked down the hall, not noticing the shadow that pushed away from the wall and started walking in the opposite direction.

o.0.o End Chapter 25 o.0.o

Next Chapter: Chapter 26: Tunnels Estimated time remaining: 25 Hours, 15 Minutes
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