Ranger
Chapter 113: Banter
By Wanderer D
The flight had been mostly silent since they had left the Avenger a few hours prior. Twilight had stopped briefly to wish them all good luck, which had made Sunset feel happier. She had wanted to pull Twilight aside and just… talk. Tell her how she felt, what Twilight meant to her and how she had dreaded the growing distance between them destroying that… especially in light of Celestia's confession and adoption.
Something that she still… was unsure about, if she was honest. More often than not, she found herself second guessing her agreeing to that foalhood dream. In the end… she had made Celestia happy, and there was no cost to herself… if anything, it was a clear line of succession to the throne were anything to happen.
Not that she expected or wanted anything to happen… it was just… well, things had changed. And the way of her intended glorious return wasn't supposed to be through hereditary merits of questionable substance.
Those thoughts had crossed her mind early on in the flight, but for now, they had strayed to the prizes she had received with the full blessing of the Commander, and the blatant envy of other Rangers in the Avenger.
Sunset stared at the sword that had almost killed her twice. The memories of being stabbed in the stomach, and then feeling the blade twist, ripping her internal organs in the process was… while not fresh, not something she had forgotten.
At times, the prospect of facing the Assassin again had been terrifying to the point of almost full paralysis. But she had endured. The mental training for her use of Blood Magic had embraced fear and visceral energy as optimal sources of power. Sunset's emotional-fueled-magic was also something Celestia had trained her in, thankfully, although the intention was to control it and subdue it. To let a cool mind decide the path of the magic, not a possibly hasty emotional response.
Oddly enough, the conflicting nature of both philosophies had allowed her to dominate her fear and proceed into combat… but it didn't make things less scary. And she had good reason. The second time she had felt the edge of that blade had also almost cost her her life… and she had been pinned by it to the floor like some sort of bug.
Aria's Katana had been nothing but a source of pain and death and personal trauma… and it belonged to Sunset now. Along with Arashi... and Aria's gem. She couldn't deny it… it was alluring. There was so much potential power in all three items—Tygan couldn't even figure out how to make something like either of them, and their destructive capabilities had been witnessed in battle and in the testing grounds.
It made her feel… powerful.
"It's weird, you know?" she said to Jane, "I feel like somehow I'm taking on her mantle."
Jane, who had up to then been reading something that looked suspiciously like one of Galahad's rescued magazines hidden inside another book, turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"It's just…" she trailed off. 'The forbidden magic, the rush of the kill… knowing that I am inevitably turning into a monster' "This sword and this gun have killed so many… they almost did me in. And now I have them."
"To the victor go the spoils," Elena stated, shrugging. Next to her, Angel hissed in agreement, then hissed again, looking straight at Sunset. She held her hand out and Sunset passed Arashi to her.
"Well, yeah," Sunset muttered. "I still don't have to like it."
"Translation?" Elena drawled, her eyes and hands focused on the shotgun. After a moment of admiring the piece, she passed it back to Sunset.
"Angel said that out of everyone here, the two people Aria respected the most were Sunset and Annette, and that since Annette already refused the items as she didn't use such devices herself, it made sense for Sunset to have them," Jane interpreted for her.
"And to think," Elena replied, leaning back into her seat, "that she said all that with a single hiss."
"It's not—" Jane stammered, looking at Elena in annoyance. "It's not a word-for-hiss ratio! That's just the meaning of what she said!"
"She's just teasing you, Jane," Annette spoke up.
"Reapers do not tease."
"If you say so."
Jane looked back and forth between them, then shook her head. "I need whiskey. I swear I'm better at understanding others when I'm drunk."
"Speaking of which," Elena spoke up again, tilting her head curiously as she looked from Jane to Sunset. "Did you figure out why Jane is now a Parseltongue? The lack of Horcrux is a bit confusing."
"Horcrux?" Sunset asked, then her eyes went wide and she smacked her forehead. "Shit! I completely forgot to ask Twilight!"
Elena turned to look at Jane.
"I um—" Jane looked away and pretended to study her gear.
"You forgot too, didn't you?"
"Fine! I forgot too, alright!?" Jane groaned. "I had other things on me mind, okay? Like me broken ribs, ye goddamned banshee! Besides, what does it matter if I can talk to Angel? You keep this up, and I'm after kicking your arse out the plane!"
Elena shrugged.
"You actually made her go Irish," Sunset noted, "And she isn't even drunk. Color me impressed."
"I'm more impressed that Laetitia has been asleep the whole trip," Jane said, giving the Templar a slightly worried look. "Is she okay? She seems more subdued as of late."
Sunset glanced at her friend, who was leaning back on her seat, her breath steady and her body relaxed. It did seem Laetitia was lacking the usual energy lately, but her injuries hadn't been too bad and she had healed nicely, according to the nurses aboard the Avenger.
"I'm okay," Laetitia spoke up, her body shifting a little. She then took a deep breath and stretched. "Just tired. I stayed up late last night, studying and meditating as befits a Templar." She chuckled. "Well. Ideally without overdoing it."
"Approaching destination," Rainbow Dash called from the cockpit. "Satellite surveillance from the Avenger shows it's very heavily guarded… I'll land behind the small hill, sorry I can't bring you in closer."
"That should be fine, Dash," Sunset said, "Thanks."
"I'll be ready to pick you all up, just set the flares up when you're ready… and be careful alright? I don't want a repeat of the last mission."
"Trust me," Annette spoke up. "None of us do."
"Connecting with Avenger," Rainbow Dash announced.
Bradford's face appeared on the monitor, along with a satellite-scan of the area they were headed to.
Our contacts with the local resistance have shown us how to access the ADVENT Blacksite. The aliens worked hard to keep this place under the radar, and we don't know what we're going to find in there. Keep your heads up, and expect heavy opposition. Break a leg, Menace."
o.0.o End Chapter 113 o.0.o
Shouldn't Chrysalis be having someone ask Twilight about Jane's condition? With all the surveillance the teams get put under, especially on missions, it can't possibly be a secret, right?
Arashi sucks. The Hunter's Axe is the only reason Rangers are worth putting in a squad.
/XCOM tryhard
113 chapters in that Avatar timer has got to be like 3 things from full.
8974917 Maybe? If each chapter represented a day? Or a week? The Avatar Project doesn't update daily, and Chryssy has other teams performing missions.
Still prefer the axe over that sword but I'm sure Sunset will love the armor pen.
Shotgun is sweet though. So the Black site, the first steps to the end game. Kinda surprised they have killed a Chosen before ever getting to this point truthfully. Gonna guess that the ring has been keeping a lid on the project's timer.
8974953 I'm taking some liberties, but I've done the whole WOTC, Shen's Gift and Monarchs before even touching the Blacksite in-game. Game mechanics don't always match storytelling purposes, unfortunately. (Or fortunately?)
"Along Arashi"
"Along with Arashi"?
Hey did anyone see notice angles gave sunset a dirty book. I have many questions?
And here we have the Blacksite, the story is continuing.
"And to thing," Elena replied, leaning back into her seat, "that she said all that with a single hiss."
1. Think.
I love the Katana (since Arashi is the shotgun), for the simple fact that it is the only weapon that strikes Muton's down....my ranger with it slays about 15 lost in a single round, when they rush him…. and did at least 2 berserkers in
Back to the grinder they go, but it's nice to see how good chemistry flows between them. Though in the same it sad since we know about Laetitia's fate.
*space missing*
8974986
Is the councilman involved in this world? I don't remember offhand and I'm too lazy to trawl the story looking for him... 'Twould be interesting to see his opinion of recent developments.
Ah, the Katana... Th only sword with armor piercing, and the only sword that can never miss. The only reason to take the axe over it is because the axe gets a free attack, which does not cause an action, and does not trigger ruler actions. That bonus attack has saved my ass more times than I can count, but I've never had a Ranger get the reaper skill since WOTC came out, so I might have to reevaluate my options.
8975275
i am as of now in a 40 hour session on legendary and ironman and i just cant get past the first big advent secret avatarbase near the end of it was the farthest i got so far
8974917
8974953
If you "feed" a Character up to Major rank you can kill all of the Choosen before the doom clock fills up (a least on the first 2 difficulties, I havent tried it behond that yet).
If you get the Ring and Radio facilities first you can have a lot of black sites ready to hit after you take the choosen down. Elena is very good for this as you can feed her straight to Major just in the Lost and Found mission (~50 kills on the first 3 difficulties) and her banish skill is really good against the Alien Rulers too. While there is a 1 rank up per mission limiter in place if you have more than the required kills you only need 1 kill to rank up again in future missions.
8975275
do the dlcs make the game easier? getting pretty annoyed by vip escort missions and convoyone fucking up my troops
I was going to make a joke about Sunset now bearing all three of Aria's deathly hallows, D, but I feel like you've beat me to it somehow.
Sunset obviously hasn't even considered this, and I sincerely doubt that Celestia did either, but making Sunset family to the rulers of Equestria does mean that she could make a demand for aid to be sent, and they'd pretty much have to send a good sized force of the Guard to aid Sunset and X-Com. On the other hand...it's unlikely that the war will still be running by the time the mirror portal opens again on its own. They'd have to figure out how to force it open from one side or the other if they wanted to take that route.
8975524
Depends on where you want it easier. WotC and Alien Hunters both add terrifyingly OP enemies you have to deal with, but once you get past them the new rewards (and in WotC's case the new game mechanics) make the game MUCH easier.
8976092
im tryin get the valhalla trophy on my first finishing of the game and after that laying on lgendary for the stick with troops only for a squad and finish the game without anyone of your troops dying
8975711
Stone, ranged weapon, and cloak of blood blood generated by the sword?
So Laetitia is dying. It was still worth it...
The Harry Potter references in this story bring a smile to my face everytime I see them. They're like tiny little cheering charms.
I'm intrigued to know how Elena got her hands on the Harry Potter series ... but sure, why not ...
missing a space there
Shakespeare's Hamlet, as read by Angel. Critics gave it a 9/10 Rating, saying it was the most emotional and deep rendition they'd ever heard, though it was also the fastest.
8974912
A year later and like, I am just going Bwuh?! given the Katana does more damage, has armor piercing, and 100% dodge-immune chance to hit.
The Hunter's Axe gives you a single free ranged attack. And in the early game yea that is hugely clutch where actions are your most precious resource, but mid-lategame, the extra damage and guaranteed accuracy are more important by far.
I love my axe, but the Katana is hands down the better option. And Rangers are reeeally good period, because Talon Rounded Laser-modded shotguns are absolute monsters at dealing crits. Rangers utterly shred enemies, and their only real drawback is the tendency to wake up other pods while doing so. But given that a fully trained Chosen ranger can promptly get a free move back into cover /and/ guaranteed dodge ofthe first incoming hit, yea
I feel Like Laetitia is almost out of time
I am not ready for this
Gods
I guess this will be the collection of the Refined DNA ?
Hope Luna can give her a memorable end.
Funny... we take their heroic lives in stride and focus on the end instead, but that is simply the things in Fiction.