Ranger
Chapter 33: Cool
By Wanderer D
o.0.o Three Years Earlier o.0.o
"Ah, Bradford… it has been a long time, hasn't it?"
The man that appeared on the screen was much older-looking than Bradford remembered. His balding head had already lost all of its remaining hair, and the face was creased with worry-lines as well as a long scar on the forehead. He still wore a lab coat, after all these years.
"That it has, Shen," Bradford said, adjusting the transmitter. "We're just a few days away from your location… I've contacted some of our old friends, as well as new allies, " he hesitated.
"What is it, old friend?" Shen asked, leaning forward. "You seem a bit worried about something. Is there a problem? Were you recognized?"
"Not exactly," Bradford said, "We stopped in a settlement to help them with some drills… my protege is currently practicing guerilla tactics with them."
Shen leaned back, looking amused. "Oh, you took on a protege?" He smiled. "That's good to hear… after all, whenever a resistance fighter figured out who you were, you'd send them away and leave."
"Yeah, well, she's a special circumstance… also, I tried to leave her behind, but she followed me."
"Well, John, I'm guessing now you know what it is like to be a dad." Shen's grin would not diminish. "I would have never guessed."
"I—there's something you should see…" Bradford said, his tone dubious. "And you won't like it."
Shen frowned. "Well… I'll be the judge of that."
"Brace yourself, old friend," Bradford warned, turning the camera around.
It took a moment for Shen to realize what he was seeing, due to the movement of the camera as well as the nature of what was happening. Bradford had focused the camera on some sort of drill that was going on at a small settlement. Two groups of people, guards or resistance were encamped against each other, using non lethal weapons and ammo for practice. Each side had bandannas of different colors, and leading the red team…
"Once we take over your base, you will all kneel and call me your Princess!" Sunset Shimmer declared, one foot planted on top of the barrier her opponents had set up as she shot down an 'enemy' with paint pellets. Her troops ran past her with huge grins in their mouths at her antics, shouting encouragement at each other, all for the glory of their Princess.
"You will all love me—and despair!"
Shen gasped, cleaning his bifocals on his sleeve before leaning in to see closer. "Is that—"
"Sunset Shimmer," Bradford confirmed, turning the camera back to himself. "As you can see, this might raise some concerns from our troops."
"But… that's impossible!" Shen stated. "We all saw the video we recovered from the black box!"
Bradford sighed. "I met her when I was drunk. I'd gotten into a fist fight after drinking way too much moonshine. I thought I was seeing a ghost. Imagine how I felt when I woke up sober the next day, with a splitting headache, and she was there, reading a book on my table as if nothing had happened.
"I thought at first she was some sort of ADVENT creature, but she didn't show any sign of knowing who I was. She wanted training in fighting bigger opponents, and as I taught her a little and sent her off to missions with the local resistance, she sort of …" He shrugged. "Grew on me?"
Shen was quiet, his brow furrowed and chin resting on his fists as he thought. "I see… so that's what she meant…"
Bradford raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"
Shen looked up, blinking owlishly at Bradford, before shaking his head. "I'll let the old guard know not to freak out… don't worry, the young lady won't know any different, and the new recruits haven't watched the old missions, concentrating rather on hands on training from Galahad and the others."
"But, she's Sunset Shimmer," Bradford said, trying not to raise his voice. "The moment anyone from the old team sees her, they'll recognize her! I thought you'd want to perform tests on her to make sure she's not a clone or something…" he trailed off. Shen was flipping the pages of an old book full of notes and post-its until he found what he was looking for.
It was an aged letter with plenty of things written on it. Shen studied it for a moment, before folding it back so just the bottom part showed, then her turned it around so that Bradford could see it.
Bradford squinted, slowly deciphering the writing, since the camera showed it backwards.
P.S. Tell Bradford that's not a clone and to take care of me for me. Also, remind him to tell me that "Princess" is not as cool a word as she thinks it sounds on this side of the mirror. Find me a better word for a leadership role to aspire to.
~Sunset
o.0.o Present Time o.0.o
"Oh."
The room was quiet for a moment.
"What do you mean, 'oh'?" Jane asked. "That's not an answer!"
Sunset cringed. "I just didn't know I had died that way. Although, I guess that explains why the Commander was ready to shoot me when she saw me the first time."
She could feel Jane's eyes on her. "Okay, look… it wasn't me me that you saw die in that video."
"That makes zero sense, Sunset," Jane said, her tone dangerous. "You'd better start making some before we get physical. I saw you die." She shifted on the bed, so it looked like she was ready to pounce on top of Sunset if she so much as said the wrong word.
Sunset shifted uncomfortably. "Look… it's not easy to suddenly be informed of this, okay? I only knew my counterpart had died and that she had been a friend of the Commander and part of XCOM… I didn't know how."
"What do you mean counterpart?" Jane growled.
Sunset sighed. "The truth is… up until we rescued the commander, I had no idea who I was here… I didn't even know I had… existed."
Jane was quiet, so Sunset took that as a hint to continue.
"I guess… I assumed something was going on… Bradford contacted Dr. Shen the elder before we arrived to meet him and the surviving XCOM soldiers… which weren't many. I think, other than Galahad and Rainbow Dash, maybe three? Four more? Geist knew more than he let on as well."
She laughed, a little self-mocking snicker. "I bought it too. I thought they looked at me like that because I was clearly destined to be great. You remember that."
Jane rolled onto her back as well. "Yeah. It's not often a total rookie walks into XCOM and announces she's going to be the new commander. Now that I think about it, it was mostly us other rookies that laughed at that one."
The pair chuckled at the memories, but eventually Jane sighed. "So, who are you really? And if you value our friendship at all, please tell me the truth."
"How do you think things are going?" Sweetie Belle asked, glancing down the hall at the room where their two guests were supposed to be resting. The truth was, there had been some intense murmuring coming from the other side of the door, and she had had to stop Scootaloo from trying to listen in.
"Come on, they could be planning how to keep us silent!" Scootaloo hissed after Sweetie and Apple Bloom had dragged her down the hall so she couldn't hear anything.
"Ah'm sure things aren't as bad as you make them sound," Apple Bloom hissed. "Not only do I trust them, they've been nothing but civil."
"Just give them time, they'll do something violent," Scootaloo muttered.
"Why are you so… vehement about that?" Sweetie asked.
"What did that mean again?" Scootaloo asked.
"Vehement means intense feelings about something."
"Stupid dictionary…" Scootaloo sighed. "You've seen the videos…"
"...and I've told you that they're heavily edited." Sweetie said. "You know ADVENT isn't as benevolent as you make it sound when you talk to them. What has gotten into you?"
"Well, I—"
They stopped when they heard a thump, then scuffling and then the door to the guest room slid open and Sunset scrambled out, pressing her back against the wall and raising her hands as Jane walked out, pointing a rifle straight at her face.
"Called it," Scootaloo muttered.
"Alright, alien scum," Jane growled. "We're calling Central right now and you are going to explain why exactly you look like a dead XCOM hero!"
"Jane," Sunset said, glancing nervously at the gun, "we can't call Central, that would blow our cover and put everyone here in danger. I think you're taking this a bit too far..."
"Shut up," Jane muttered. "Sunset Shimmer died twenty years ago, and you're not her."
"Like I said," Sunset deadpanned. "I just happen to be her counterpart from another dimension. So I guess, I am her, technically speaking."
"No 'technically' speech!" Jane hissed. "I trusted you! How could you lie to me? And to everyone in XCOM!"
"I did say that the Commander and all senior staff technically knew I was an alien… after I brought Twilight with me… and Geist knew."
"I said no 'technically' allowed!" Jane barked. "I thought you were my friend! How many times have we saved each other's asses?"
"And that is why," Sunset said, using her finger tip to push the rifle to the side, "I am trusting you with this information. Can you imagine what would happen if some of the more… xenophobic members of XCOM found out? There's a reason that information is need to know."
Jane's glare faltered and she harrumphed, turning around. "My parents were killed by aliens."
"I know."
"And I grew up hating them. I grew up figuring ways to kill them. I had a sectoid plushie I used to practice my knife throwing techniques."
"I knew you grew up hating aliens… that's why I was so hesitant to tell you," Sunset confessed, putting her hand on Jane's shoulder. "I didn't want to lose my friend… but…" she cleared her throat. "Did you really have a sectoid plushy to practice stabbing?" She snorted. "Oh, Celestia, that's adorable."
"Shuddup," Jane growled. "I haven't forgiven you yet."
"Um…"
Both agents froze, turning around slowly to face Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
"So… XCOM?" Scootaloo asked, crossing her arms.
"You're an alien?!" Sweetie gasped.
"You're dead?!"
"Shit." Both Jane and Sunset muttered at the same time.
"So… let me get this straight," Scootaloo said, "You're both from XCOM, which is, according to ADVENT, the most violent resistance group out there. You..." She pointed at Sunset. "...are an interdimensional clone of the XCOM agent that took down the Temple Ship twenty years ago, but you didn't tell Jane here that you were an alien… and you, wanted to shoot her in the face because you thought she had betrayed your trust. Do I have it right?"
"I'm not a clone."
"I'm sure she meant that as a form of speech rather than a defining attribute," Sweetie said.
"Then yes, pretty much."
The group was all seating around the dining room table, each with a warm cup of tea Sweetie had insisted they all drink. It didn't taste great, but it did seem to calm their nerves a little.
"Well, I think this clinches it," Scootaloo said. "You two should go. Even if Sweetie says that the videos are heavily edited, you're both from an extremist group that kills civilians."
Jane slammed her fist on the table. "Alright, I've had enough of that bullshit. Sunset and I have both seen ADVENT fly into a peaceful camp and set it on fire. We've seen them drop Berserkers and Chryssalids to kill and poison people that can't even defend themselves!" She pulled a pad, browsed furiously through it and played a video, throwing it on the table so it slid over to Scootaloo.
"Jane…"
"No! I'm done with this. If she's going to judge our actions, then she judges them on actual footage."
Scootaloo didn't pick up the pad at first, although everyone at the table could hear the sounds of guns going off, explosions and people screaming.
"Go ahead," Jane dared her, "look at it."
Scootaloo licked her lips and hesitantly picked the pad up so she could see what was happening in the video.
o.0.o End Chapter 33 o.0.o
Well, all the cats are out of the bag now. Let’s see how much they wreck the place
Geez. Jane doesn't seem to get that the adorable magical unicorn from another dimension isn't on the same team as the Ethereals and company. Amusing how that spilled over.
Also amusing just how much more human!Sunset saw of her counterpart's future.
Dr. Vahlen got one of those notes, too. I wonder what it says...
HOLY SHIT!
HUMAN SUNSET HAD A VISION OF THE FUTURE?!
HOLY SHIT...
Well, I can imagine Scoots won’t react well to this. And cant blame Jane for her reaction, it’s understandable. Althought, I could imagine the CMC joining Xcom, that would be cool! Scoots and Rainbow flying the Skyranger, would be the perfect team! Sweetie Belle could design the armor and keep moral high wit her singing and Apple Bloom, maybe helping out in the bar with Apple meals or stepping into her sister’s footsteps.
See Jane this is why sunset Dident tell her, this exact reason and now because of her freak out secret information was revealed to people not part of the resistance way to go. I swear if you get chewed out for this you better take responsibilitie for this entire op and this breach of information. Also next Time sunset tell you to drop it freken listen.
So, the attack on the Temple Ship was successful. I have to wonder how that altered the aliens' plans... if at all. At least human Sunset made sure her analogue would have a family waiting for her.
As for Jane... I can't blame her for her actions, but hopefully she'll accept the concept of classified information in the future. And I can only imagine what Scootaloo will make of the unedited footage.
8795765
To be fair, she hasn't actually seen how adorable unicorn Sunset is. Nobody has.
We need something that transforms Sunset and Twilight back, even if it's only for a short while. Just to have XCOM go "... bullshit that you can kill anything. You're too adorable."
8795772
Well I THINK that was implied in the first intermission.
To be fair to Scoot, while I don't go out of my way to hurt civilians, I'm not going to avoid getting them in the blast zones of rockets after the third time one was hiding just out of sight, placed just perfectly so none of my team could see them from the starting position, and blew my damn concealment on the first turn.
Sunset: Does Advent really say XCOM is the worst resistance group out there?
Scootaloo: Well, they also claim the Reapers cook and eat them, but even I can tell that's propaganda.
8795807
Your sentences fill me with warm and fuzzy feeling.
Well we have Human Sunset to thank for not having X-COM shoot pony Sunset on first sight.
But boy, Jane sure lost her cool and Sunset mocking her cutesy manner of stabbing an alien plushie isn't smart when said person is pointing you with a rifle.
Anyway Jane and Scootaloo are really two stubborn mules pulling on the same rope regarding their view on each organisation.
he
Jane, you just did a really big dumb, didn't you?
Here's to hoping she doesn't go blabbering out out, now that she knows.
Poor Apple Bloom....
Keep going! ;)
Geeze, Sunset.
Yep.
Hahahahaha!
I guess the "I'm a transformed unicorn from another dimension" explanation didn't go over well.
So much for basically all of the operational security.
No kidding.
8795810
I may have misread how it happened, but don't they have recordings of Sunset's recent trip through the portal by way of her bodycam? For the time being I think Chrysalis was holding them in reserve, but select clips might make for a fun movie night at some future point. They won't be clips of Sunset specifically, but they should show Twilight in all her pony adorkableness.
I wonder how Jane'd react if she went through the portal and got ponified (after all; ponies get humanized, so it stands to reason that humans get ponified by travelling through the portal)
Man.... how old is Jane? Because she is really acting like I would expect from a teenager, not an XCOM agent. Still, I guess I can understand why is is acting the way she is, but that doesn't mean people are not going to be upset when they learn she leaked so much to civilians.
8796770 In this AU, Sunset and Jane are both 25-ish. I'm thinking of doing character bios at some point, and adding them to the story, maybe in the Author's notes. But, I think my take is a bit on the side of being overwhelmed by what she's seen, out of her depth and struggling with trusting the chain of command when things go really weird.
Actually, X-COM is about ethics in... uh, nevermind.
8795810
They have Sunset's camera footage from equestria. Will, the high brass has. So there are people that know exactly how cute Sunset and her species are... And that she can cut another of those like a scythe through grass. So yeah, no doubts about her ability to kill.
So Shen's message has been revealed. I wonder about Moira's... And if it made her go Loco in the Coco.
8796964 Naming is sort of explained in-story, but Jane Kelly is actually a named character in XCOM 2
don't care if she's seen the footage make someone slap her.
8797081
I haven't played XCOM2 but is this character based on her or heavily based on her?
P.S: I can't tell you how much I love this story right now, it's almost up there with The Enchanted Library. Oh well done by the way ^^
8797228
In the tutorial, Jane and Bradford rescue the Commander, while their squad-mates are killed.
8795786
I'll call it now, scoots will call Advent when Sunset/Jane leave for their mission.
Advent deem the CMC tainted forcing them to flee to the XCOM extraction point, Sweetir Belle becomes "Anon a miss" to give the people counter propagander. Scoots wont switch until she sees Big Mac, he'll either one of Advent trying to kill her or one of the skirmishers.
Sunset gets captured and sent to Valhen for experimentation.
Sunset possibly makes a sacrifice play so that Jane can get away, however this is XCOM and it's been too long without a death and Jane's already getting close to a panic attack... Press F to pay respect.
8797343
Even the strongest believer can be motivated to Switch sides. Besides, scoots could have called ADVENT long ago when Sunset first saw her
8797345
Yes they can, or they can react badly to the truth (the video Scoots is now seeing) and double down on their more comfortable lie (which here is XCom is evil and wants to destroy civilisation). I think Scoots will go down option 2 because she was at ground zero, she knows that Advents first target was a school, not a military complex. She gave herself to the lie to protect herself from the trauma (initially survivors guilt), now she is actively assisting Advents war machine forcing her deeper into the lie, helping the "good guys" against evil XCom.
She could have, but it's only now that Sunset and Jane have challenged her lie, her mental defence against trauma, placing her into emotional distress.
8797402
Yes, Survivor's guit is always hard to Process. But who says ADVENT won't kill/Arrest her too upon Reporting? in such dictatorships, the one who Reports and his Friends are mostly Seen as possible resistance Members/Supporters
Yeah yeah, I know what a relationship is, geez.
Not sure how much that video will help, since we're already throwing out video evidence as 'heavily edited' but I hope it does. At this point, and bearing in mind I've defended Scoots' point of view, we have better things to do than coddle her. Or so I'd like to say, but since she could blow the whistle here... yeah I hope it helps.
And the old 'you're an alien, they're all alike, I keel you!' This is a point that annoyed me in Stardust, too, honestly. Jane.... not all aliens are the same. Do you confuse Mutons and Ethereals? No? Yeah, me either. Then perhaps you can separate the ones that killed your parents from the one that you owe your life to, and vice versa I assume, likely several times over. And it's not as if the top brass didn't already know. And you knew they knew.
Do you not trust the organization you work for? If that's the case... you're surprisingly ...let's go with carefree... for accepting such dangerous missions from them.
Hope she gets her head together soon... pointing a gun in there was pretty dumb... firing it would have been suicide, at the least.
8797462
That is my expected responce if Scoots does contact Advent, dictatorships are wonderful like that.
8797525
Yeah, which most likely ends on the cmc getting recruited by xcom, and helping to bring Doom on ADVENT
8797530
Nah, they'll bring down the Avenger the moment they get near a kitchen or tree sap, there's alot of tree sap at the extraction point.
8797543
I wonder what the cmc is supposed to be in equestria girls anyway
Can't say I'm a fan of how hard Jane grips that idiot ball.
"I'm from another dimension" may be an outlandish claim (in normal setting anyway), but it shouldn't be a hard concept to grasp. "Working for the alien invaders" and "not even from this universe" should be an easy distinction to make. The whole "OMG you've been lying to everyone!" angle is kinda undercut by the fact that she's been informed multiple times that the top brass already knew all this, along with everyone from old XCOM at least having some partial information that something was up, if not the whole story, for years now. Basically, she's throwing a dramatic fit because nobody shared top secret information that was none of her goddamn business, because apparently she has no idea what "security clearance" means.
8797572 You really feel it's the idiot ball? Hm. That might be a miscommunication on my part, she's supposed to be frustrated, confused and feeling betrayed, not necessarily unable to comprehend the concepts.
8797582
Not to mention, they're in a highly stressful situation that would exacerbate emotions. Being neck-deep in enemy territory and relying on a group of individuals who may or may not sell you out at the drop of a hat is probably not great for emotional stability.
+1
8796773
Fair enough, it makes sense that she is acting the way she is, but I expect this to cause problems for her later.
The Elders' marketing department is run by geniuses. I want one now. And a snek too.
I can see Bradford's thoughts: "What the F. As if my life isn't weird enough. Goddamn psykers."
You could've just told her that you're Sunset from a parallel universe. Which isn't a lie; there's no need for the "alien" part. You know quantum mechanics, Sunset. Unless you're saying Twilight's studies are more advanced than yours...
8795772
For she is the Kwisatz Haderach! 🐣
Oh, bwahahaha, so Bradford wasn't that badly drunk! He just turned around, saw that face and thus flopped.
Come on, all that buildup on Jane's distrust and then suddenly the conflict is over in 10 seconds flat? Jane should continue to be hostile or at the very least extremely distrustful of Sunset for the next 30 chapters or so. This is such a let down.
9117625
NO!
that would ruin this story for me!
Okay ... I'm very confused why local Sunset was apparently able to divine the future ... never knew psychics could do that (XCOM psychics, not the charlatans that claim to be psychic in the real world)
he
Why? Why would the camera do that? It's a camera. Not a mirror. The only way the camera would be showing it backwards would be if the video was mirrored for some reason, in which case, again: Why?
No they weren't. 'seating' is stuff you sit on, what you mean is either 'seated' or 'sitting'
When Jane was getting mad of Sunset being a "alien", I gotten really really confused, but I decided to literally look of the definition of alien... and got this
So while Sunset isn't from outer space, she is from another world... so yeah pretty much anyone from an alternate reality or multiverse is an alien toward each other... Anyway, back to your scheduled content
Also, what is that about Sunset's letter... so what, both Sunsets are the same Sunset, just that the one from the past is actually future Sunset who went back in time... freaking time travel I swear
9568950
No, no. Nothing as simple as mere time travel. Clearly human Sunset had gained precognitive abilities (she could see into the future) either from just being herself or because of the killer clown that it seems was living in her head helping Xcom fight the invaders.
The thing she and the commander kept calling "IT", so what else could "IT" have been ?
This meant she was able to leave triggers in the present (now the past) to 'go off' in the future (now the present) when 'pony her' showed up.
Hence why no one from the old Xcom shot her on sight .
That escalated than de-escalated annnd escalated...
Damn... What a emotional ride...
This chapter was a great game changer, holy shit...
That's one cluster buck of a emotional rollercoaster ride ♡