RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[DarkGemini24601]

“Ascending Apprehensions”

Baja California portion of the Sonoran Desert
0701 Hours, February 10th, 2039
Near the X.S.S. Avenger

Creeping up from behind the horizon, sending ripples of scarlet across the starry sky - waves that begun to drown out the distant points of light - the terribly brilliant Sun began to rise. The intensity of his sunlight slowly built. His incandescent eyeball revealed more and more of Sol’s ireful gaze. His blazing power mounted exponentially, seething and swelling, building up to a zenith that would unleash a livid outburst of anger.

A psychokinetic hurricane tore apart the rocky desert terrain in front of its summoner. Acid splattered down, a sundering rain that allowed the stormy psionic winds to rip stone into smaller pieces and dust. Jezebel released her clenched fists, allowing the material that remained to scatter. Her frustration, however, had not been so easily freed.

The Cartus wasn’t angry at the desert itself, of course. She wasn’t that petty. No, Jezebel was trying to take out her frustration at herself upon the topography. It wasn’t working. With an exasperated sigh, the former ADVENT special operative collapsed to a sitting position. “God, this is childish,” Bombay lamented, her feline ears dropping defeatedly.

“I have to agree,” Yakone admitted, leaning on a boulder that Jezebel hadn’t destroyed.

Bombay scowled. “What do you want?” the evolved cat grumbled.

“I had a feeling you were still moping about your last op,” the Inuit-Caucasian explained. She smirked. “Seems I was right.”

“I nearly killed one of my only friends!” Jezebel sputtered irascibly. “I let myself get controlled so easily…”

“Hey, I got turned into a monster at the drop of a hat, and was made to hate my friends pretty effortlessly. Being bested by a Declension is nothing to be ashamed of. They’re really damn scary.”

“Don’t act like you’re over that so easily, you bitch,” Bombay snapped. “And don’t you dare equate our experiences. You had your true nature inverted. Me… disposing of people like a psychopathic loner is my natural state. It’s who I am.”

Yakone rolled her eyes with a sardonic laugh. “Pffft. Please, you’re talking bullshit.”

With a snarl, Jezebel delivered a strike into Yakone’s stomach, bringing the presumptuous person in front of her to her knees. The Banshee raised her claws to beat the Ranger over the head, but was halted by a realization. Jezebel backpedaled, scoffing irritatedly. “Tch. You’re baiting me.”

“I was…” Yakone coughed, pushing herself to her feet again. “...waiting to see when you'd register that.” The Inuit-Caucasian chuckled with a strained voice. “I lied back in Chicago. You hit hard.”

“Of course I do. I despise weakness.” Jezebel frowned. “Why’d you antagonize me, though?”

“To prove a point. You’re not some murderous lunatic, or you would have just taken my head off. You just have some serious anger issues. Trust me, I speak from experience. Erebus exploited that and whatever other turmoil is rolling through your head to manipulate you,” Yakone replied resolutely.

“We’re both ireful bitches, huh?” Jezebel conceded with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Yep. At least that let’s us stand in solidarity with eachother,” Yakone offered with a smirk. “Come on. I’ve been wanting to head into town. Let’s get some drinks.”

Bombay raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck, Yakone? The crack of dawn is not happy hour.”

“So? I drink when I want to drink,” Yakone adjudicated. “And I’m not giving you a choice.”

“Okay, Ember,” Jezebel retorted.

“Fuck you, pussycat,” Yakone shot back.

“You’d want that, wouldn’t you?”

“Go fuck yourself.”

***

The bar that the pair found in town was understandably vacant at this time of day. The bartender greeted the two women with sleepy eyes, looking as if he had just woken up. On the right of the newcomers, there was a man passed out with a half-drunk flagon of beer beside his head. To their left, a group of three local soldiers eyed the pair of women as they entered and both ordered a beer.

Jezebel, wearing a white desert cloak to mask her cat features, didn’t exactly catch their eye, but did make her intriguingly mysterious. “I’ve heard this Resistance brew tastes like shit,” she muttered hesitantly.

“It’s hoppy, but I like the freshness. You’ll survive without the most expensive of wines,” Yakone taunted in response. “Or will you?” The Inuit-Caucasian was wearing her typical attire, with black jeans, white shirt, and blue jacket. She’d brought her blue cape along as a cloak to protect from the sun’s glare, and the object aroused the curiosity of the trio to the left.

“Don’t make me reconsider being on your side,” Jezebel riposted as one of the men approached.

“Hola, Señorita,” the man greeted Yakone in particular. He was tall and had sweeped-up black hair. “Forgive my prying, but you wouldn’t happen to be who I think you are, would you?”

Yakone noticeably tensed. “That… um… depends.”

The man rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh! I should not have been so vague. You are Yakone Ipiktok, are you not? The Liberador’s daughter?”

The soldier relaxed. “Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, for a second I thought…”

“I understand. Believe me, the newer recruits in town who had not had the pleasure of hearing about you prior to your capture were appalled by the person they were introduced to as Ember Verrater. Those like myself, who know the real you, did your best to combat that propoganda,” the man explained.

Yakone smiled. “Thank you, I appreciate that…”

“Jorge López,” the Mexican guerrilla introduced himself, shaking Yakone’s outstretched hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you. May I ask who your friend is?”

The Inuit-Caucasian glanced over at her hooded companion. “Only if you promise not to freak out. She’s a deserter from ADVENT.”

“Ah, I see. Gray skin will not frighten me,” Jorge reassured Bombay.

“That’s not what it is.” Jezebel lowered her hood,; revealing a pair of black cat ears on her head. “Meow,” the Mogul enunciated sarcastically. The two other members of Jorge’s trio gasped, and whispered something to each other. “I can hear that, you know,” Jezebel growled. “I am not cute. I’m ferocious.”

“Diego was the one who said it,” the man with a mohawk defended himself.

“You agreed with me though, Luis,” the other guy, who had long hair, responded irritably.

Yakone chuckled, rubbing the feline’s head. “Hey, take complements where you can get them.”

Jezebel’s face reddened at the contact from a cocktail of anger and embarrassment. When the bartender placed down her drink, she immediately swiped it and took a gulp of the alcoholic beverage.

Deciding to let the beer loosen up her friend, Yakone retracted her hand and engaged the guerrilla that had sat down beside her further. “So, what is it you do, mi amigo? Anything special?”

“I am a technician officer of sorts. The squad I lead specializes in taking enemy machines and adapting them to our own use. That’s why I’m such a big fan of XCOM. Your organization has provided us with the knowledge we need to make that magic happen.” Jorge smiled gratefully. “Your chief engineer is truly an inspiration.”

“I know her well,” Yakone informed him. “Lily’s been like an older sister to me. Maybe you can meet her while we’re near town.”

“I’d like that very much,” Jorge remarked. “Though meeting you is certainly a pleasant surprise. You are very beautiful, Yakone.”

“Thanks. Though I do have to warn you…” Yakone lifted her hand, revealing a silver band with an emerald studding it around her ring finger. “Flirting will get you nowhere,” the Ranger assured him.

Lopez nodded in understanding. “Of course. I did not know you were married.”

“Well, engaged. But soon-to-be married,” Yakone responded with a broad smile. “Our victories over the aliens are one thing, but I’m happy that it let me meet the man I love too.”

“Well aren’t you just the most fortunate kid on the block,” Jezebel muttered, having downed a drink or two already. “Everything’s so straighttforward for you.”

“Something you want to talk about?” Yakone questioned her feline companion.

“I don’t know. Not like Elise made any sense… who the hell says ‘decide what you want our relationship to be’ out of the blue like that?”

So that was the ammo Erebus used, huh? Yakone surmised. “Well, you’re out of a girlfriend right now. What would be the harm in giving it a shot?”

Bombay narrowed her eyes. “There is no way it would be that simple.”

“Do you have proof of that?” Yakone returned.

“...fuck it, fine. I’ll give it a try, but if it ends badly I’m blaming you.”

Yakone laughed. “I can live with that. Good luck injuring me when I’m not your captive,” she whispered mirthfully.

Bombay downed the rest of her remaining glass, ordering a refill promptly. “I’m liable to take that as a challenge.”

“And that would be a contest you’d lose, kitty.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “Vitriolic Visitation, Part 1”

Southwest of the Shanty City La Paz
1439 Hours, February 11th, 2039
Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Floor 2, Rear Block
The Bar

Anna pushed open the door to the bar slowly, looking around for the Commander after being pointed this direction by another soldier. Looking towards the more likely locations first, the Russian Ambusher checked the counter. There was no sign of the commanding officer of XCOM there, though Anna made eye contact with Firebrand. “Looking for someone?” Danielle questioned.

“Yes.” Anna answered simply, “Firebrand right? I’m looking for The Commander.”

“She’s over there.” The pilot gestured in the direction of a booth towards the back. “Get a drink before you go, though. There’s plenty to go around right now.”

“I might just.” The ‘witch’ smiled, pulling over to the bar and ordering some hard lemonade. While it wasn’t a common order, the bartender threw some together for her and she went on her way to Atka’s table. She figured she might need something to make this a little easier.

Reaching the booth, Anna stood over it, smiling at the leader of XCOM, “May I have a seat? If you aren’t busy that is.”

Atka looked over, her gaze having been affixed on the soldiers celebrating the victory over Erebus in New York City, and more recently Quella in Sydney. “Go ahead,” the Inuit woman replied welcomingly.

Sitting down, Anna took a sip of her lemonade. “This is the first time we’ve really had a conversation, isn’t it? I don’t suppose introductions are really necessary.”

Atka shook her head. “I know the names of the majority of our combat staff. Especially those with special abilities such as yours. And you did just help take down an Ethereal - and capture them alive, no less. You’ve certainly caught my attention.”

“I figured as much. There aren’t too many soldiers to keep track of, and with you fighting alongside them, there is even more of a connection between you and them,” the black haired woman stated, stirring her drink. “Thank you for the kind words, as well.”

Atka nodded. “You’re welcome” she responded, taking a sip of her beer. “So what brings you over to me, recently-coronated hero?”

“I would like to speak to you about… the first Elder we captured actually.” Anna stated, resting her arms on the table.

“Oh? Go on.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, we haven’t been able to get much out of her,” the violet psion continued, “But I think I should try, she almost certainly has some information I’d like to know. That we could all benefit from knowing.”

Atka raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure where you get your information from, but I’ve actually managed to get a good degree of strategic info out of her. Granted, she flat-out didn’t know much about Avyssos, but I’ve got knowledge on Cordiam that will be useful in the future. She been cooperating, but to someone who can read minds that’s only a speedbump, not a blockade.”

“Willingly, I meant. Though I suppose you could always help me if she decides not to talk.” Anna sighed slowly. “I need to ask her if there is a way to help the Chryssalids and figure out what exactly has been done to them. She also likely has information on some of the other alien races as well.”

“I… could see what information she has locked up in her head about the aliens, true…” Atka tapped her fingers on the edge of the table. “That’s not exactly my top priority right now, though.”

“I understand your focus is winning the war first. But she likely also has information on weaknesses, or the remaining number of Broodmothers that still remain, there is only a handful.” The Russian reasoned, “Besides, what we are going to do after this war, is equally important, right?”

“I’ve got a very simple plan in that regard, though. The Protectorate is going to leave Earth, completely and as quickly as possible. What happens to the Ethereals and the other aliens that remain after that is none of my business,” Atka responded firmly. “I suppose knowing the numbers of the monsters that the aliens have in storage could prove useful, if only so I could warn any Resistance cells near those sites.”

“Commander. Atka. The aliens under the Elders have suffered as much as we have. They have been subjugated for so long, slaughtered, mutated, brainwashed and twisted. If we can aid them, we should.” Anna pleaded with sincerity. “They have no one else.”

“I have to look out for Earth before anything else. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but you’re unlikely to find many people who would be willing to help the aliens. They’ve caused humanity no shortage of suffering,” Atka riposted. “You’re probably the only person that would consider doing anything for those… bugs.”

“But it is not of their own choice,” she added. “Perhaps you would like to speak with one yourself?”

“I’m well aware that the alien races are conscripted,” Atka responded. “That doesn’t change where my duty rests. Listen.” She placed a hand on the table. “I’m willing to get information from our captive that might help your quest. I need to visit the brig to see what Quella knows about Cordiam’s location anyway, since she refrained to tell the squad at the time. Wanted to speak with me in person, I heard.” Atka shook her head. “But even if I wanted to help you, I cannot do anything more than that. The mere idea of diverting resources postwar to help the Protectorate races under the Elders would only divide the Resistance and create conflict where there ought to be none. It’ll be up to people like you, and the aliens themselves to work out their problems.”

“But they can’t Commander, some of them are barely sentient anymore. I’m sure I can find some like-minded people who could help, all I need is access to Merenu right now.”

“Which I’ve agreed to allow you. Just… keep in mind that if she refuses to talk, let me handle the seizure of information. My way isn’t exactly painless, but it’s less uncouth than physical torture,” Atka stated.

“Then let us go… unless you’d like to finish your drink first.” The Ambusher suggested.

The Commander took a swig of the half-full glass, bringing it down to a certifiable empty in one go. “That’ll do. Let’s go.”

***​

Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Floor 5, Port Wing
The Brig

When the pair of Ambushers arrived at the psionic-dampening cell of the captured Ethereal Overseer, they found her sitting in the back of her prison. Merenu’beurmas’ eyes were shut, and she did nothing to acknowledge the presence of the two humans initially. Rhea was as impassive as the icy moon for which she was named. Quella’entriessis, on the other hand, perked up as they arrived, “Commander! I was wondering when I should expect your visit.”

“I’ll be speaking with you in a minute,” Atka affirmed with a slight nod. “My companion here as business with the former Overseer first, however.”

“Insurgents have no right to declare me demoted,” Rhea grumbled raspily.

Quella took a look over in Rhea’s direction, “I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but all of the other Overseers believe you to be dead. Even I didn’t know you were alive until I was brought in here.”

The proud alien soldier merely scoffed. “I especially have nothing to say to a disgraceful officer that willingly surrendered to the enemy.”

“This is why you are not a strategist Merenu, I knew when I was in an unwinnable situation.” She replied, crossing her two sets of arms. “A situation I wouldn’t have been in if Terrash and Ignium had not abandoned me.”

Moments of silence passed, revealing Rhea’s words to be true as Anna approached her cell and sat down. “Overseer Merenu’beurmas. The Beastmaster. I’m here because you have things I would like to know, and do not worry, I am not here to try to pry information on the rest of your brethren out of you. I’m here for another reason.”

“What might that be, necromancer?” Rhea questioned coldly.

“I’m sure you have information on the biology of the Chryssalids, the Broodkin… If not for strategic purposes then perhaps for curiosity’s sake.” She stated plainly. “First things first, I wish to know what’s been done to them over the years exactly. You had their homeworld in the form of a terrarium, I assume you know more about how they originally were.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “Vitriolic Visitation, Part 2”

Merenu seemed to consider whether it was even worth her time to give up the information willingly. After another stretch of silence, she began, “as I’m sure is abundantly clear, their combat role is simply wanton destruction. For that purpose, my predecessors boosted their aggression - though, admittedly, it didn’t take much to make them into killing machines - and installed biological killswitches into the Broodkin race. Variants such as the ‘Drakes’, as you call them, and the explosive ones were created for the sake of bolstering the swarm ranks with special-use units. We haven’t altered the Hive Queens and Broodmothers all that much, save for boosting their psionics and ensuring their loyalty with some genetic and biokinetic tampering.”

Anna could swear she felt Korelyive’s blood boil and feelings of disgust as the Elder spoke, but the Russian continued nevertheless. Anna sighed slightly before she spoke, “Th- Tha- Thank you... Do you know how many of the Broodmothers and Hive Queens are left? An estimate or better would be fine.”

“Queens… about two dozen, I’d say, scattered around the globe serving as controllers for active swarms. Broodmothers?” Rhea chuckled. “Zero.”

Both of them could feel their hearts sink at what she had said last, but at least there was an abundance of Queens to rely on. “Finally… do you know if these changes could be… reversed in any capacity?”

A wheezing laugh escaped Merenu’s mouth. “Not a single living Chryssalid can be genetically altered to that extent without killing them. Those changes were never intended to be undone.”

The ‘witch’ squinted. “Then could you… grow… untampered Broodkin?”

“We used to have the original DNA archived for historical purposes, but that was back on Aetherum.” The former Overseer’s expression became somber. “Those archives are no longer intact. It is… possible that the changes could be undone, and the original state of the Broodkin could be approximated. The only species in the galaxy capable of doing that is mine, however.” Rhea nodded, thinking to herself. “I heavily doubt that you will succeed in defeating the Protectorate, but should you somehow defy all of the odds… perhaps I’d be willing to help. I am a scientist, and I’ve worked with genetic shaping projects before. Myself and my counterparts that still live could assist in a reshaping of the Broodkin… but I’d have conditions.”

This was followed quickly by an eye roll as the violet psion replied, “And say I agree, what would said ‘conditions’ be?”

“If you believe that I am bargaining for my own life, you are sorely mistaken,” Rhea remarked, offended by the very thought of such weakness. “No, I would want to see my species and the Protectorate as a whole endure. My conditions would be that I can return to guide them as we search for yet another home, that you do not interfere in our affairs beyond evicting us from your world, and that all Avatars are turned over to my people for our use. The project was nearing complete when I was taken… I imagine it’s on the verge of being able to accommodate the entire color wheel now. Replication of the bodies and production should be all that’s left if we’re on schedule.”

Atka folded her arms. “I can’t accept those terms. I’m not going to let the Protectorate get off so easily for the sake of a single race that the Resistance doesn’t really give a damn about.” The Commander shook her head. “Let me add onto what my side receives. A complete technological exchange. The bequeathal of starships for humanity to use as defense and insurance that you won’t renge on the deal. And the liberation of the aliens under your command… I’m sure enough of them will remain with you that you won’t have to worry about old enemies coming to kill you, but I’d prefer for the Protectorate to be sufficiently weakened that it can’t go around invading other planets.”

“Hmmm…” Merenu closed her eyes for a moment. “On its own, the technological exchange and battleship provisions would be equivalent to allowing my people to keep the Avatars. As for the sapping of the Protectorate’s strength, I am not so sure I-”

“Would you rather your entire race withers and dies? You’re not really in a position to be picky,” Atka retorted.

“...you have a fair point. I will… negotiate the specific details if it comes to that, but at the very least the ghoulish whelp can have what she desires. A free brood to return to their homeworld, and the Protectorate will hold onto the geneseed that it already has.”

Quella’entriessis followed the conversation closely, nodded to the terms. “Yes, something along those lines would be an effective punishment for my race without letting those lives go to waste, both Human and Elder. Without the project, we would simply rot anyway; it would essentially be the same as killing us.”

“This is, all, of course… assuming that you win.” Merenu’beurmas chuckled, shaking her head derisively. “You may find that to be… the human term would be ‘herculean’, I believe.”

“I think you give them too little credit. Two of them could handle Terrash effectively, three for an Avatar. That’s certainly not unimpressive.” Quella added, “I may be young, but even I know we’ve never had our backs to the wall like this. XCOM is certainly giving our people cause to sweat.”

“You’ve never met the High Commander in person. I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Rhea replied simply. “And you don’t need to bother reading my mind about his abilities. He did not reveal his full capabilities to anyone. Vekinte’ecformin’cettnint is no fool… and I have faith that he will put a stop to your resistance and make this planet the paradise he promised. It is a shame his vision of utopia, of ‘heaven’, has not gone unopposed.”

“I suppose we’ll see where fate throws the dice, shall we?” Anna responded, standing up.

Atka nodded. “Now, as for you…” she looked to Quella. “I need to know where Chronus is.”

***​

“Underwater.” That one word in particular had left Atka flabbergasted. It shouldn’t have been completely surprising. The Ethereals were a spacefaring race, capable of faster-than-light travel, manufacturing plasma-laser weapons, and wielding physics-defying psionics. But even in 2018, when humanity was on the verge of launching an initiative to build a permanent outpost on the Moon, and send a manned mission to Mars, never had humanity been able to establish a base in the depths of their own oceans.

And yet, after reading the messenger's mind, Atka knew for certain that Quella was telling the truth. It wasn’t that she merely believed Overseer Cordiam had a fortress set up two kilometers beneath sea level. The memories the Commander had flitted through confirmed that the Australian Watcher had been there. The alien stronghold was a vast, sprawling complex sitting two thousand meters below the shores of Australia, just northeast of the Great Barrier Reef.

How in the world are we going to get into that monolith? Atka had to question as she walked back to the bar. Sure, the Avenger is a spaceship, but not only would going down there open up our flagship to attack… I’m not sure this whole craft was built to withstand those sort of pressures. Any part that’s not thick alloys… I don’t know. We’re going to need a submarine. Whether that means capturing one from the Protectorate, or having one built ourselves… we’ve got quite the task ahead of us.

Atka chuckled, a laugh born from resolute resignation. As per usual, there’s no choice. We’ve got to make it work. We’ll have to seize or outright create a means of getting into Chronus’s base, and we’ll have to figure out how to kill a being that can stop time itself. The Commander grinned grimly. “I accept your challenge, Cordiam.” If there’s one thing I can take pleasure in doing these days, it’s telling someone who thinks they’re hot shit no. Just you wait… you’re in for a surprise, Goddess of Time.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

XCOM Mission Parameters

Sonoran Desert, across the gulf from Baja California
1900 hours local time, February 16th, 2039 A.D.
Eliminate the Lower North American Watcher

XCOM Forces

Menace 1-5

Fireteam Rogue
LT Strand, Christoffer [Paramedic]
SQ Bauer, Heinrich [Grenadier]

Fireteam Lasso
SGT Brown, Olivia [Ambusher]
CPL Belle, Stacie [Gunslinger]

Fireteam Gallows
CPL Ashworth, Emmeline [Phantom]
SQ Lagunouv, Zoya [Sharpshooter]

Fireteam Pulley
SQ Proulx, Poinsettia [Juggernaut]
MU Fulmach, Ray [SPARK]

Resistance Forces

**Led by Captain Guillermo “El Tornado” González
*Assisted by Lieutenant Jorge “El Voltio” López

Tlatoc Squad [Elite Infantry]- 9 Soldiers
Areco Squad [Tech Infantry] - 7 Soldiers
Lluvia Squad [Basic Infantry] - 10 Soldiers
Tornillo Squad [Basic Infantry] - 10 Soldiers

Operation Flaming Vigil

With four Overseers now defeated, and the Protectorate hierarchy in turmoil, the time has come to start taking out the Watchers. One has already been apprehended by us, and in Asia two have fallen to the Resistance and Genesis forces in the area. However, the three American Watchers still remain at large. These Ethereal officers, serving as the lieutenants and tactical advisors of the Overseers, act as the support pillars preventing the enemy continental command structure from collapsing (in the wake of their superior’s absence). They’re also prime candidates for promotion to the vacant positions their CO’s left behind. For these reasons, the Watchers must be taken out.

Our current target is the Watcher of the Lower North American region, Folcum’animtis. While not reputed to be very might himself, he is still an Ethereal when it comes to personal combat, and should not be taken lightly. In addition, his true strength lies in his strategic genius. He has stonewalled the efforts of Genesis in North America. Folcum has prevented them from taking Mexico City, Yucatan City, and Talamanca - megacities that would be easy prey to the rebel army if not for the clever and consistent repositioning of alien forces under the Watcher’s command. Should he die, that tactic would diminish severely in effectiveness, and Mesoamerica would fall under human control once more. That makes the death of Folcum essential.

He is located in a Protectorate stronghold in the Sonoran desert, defended externally by a number of Peacekeeper units and boasting a significant concentration of alien troops as his elite guards. Our attack will involve two groups. Half of Maverick Squad, including Fireteams ‘Gallows’ and ‘Pulley’, will assist a large contingent of Mexican freedom fighters in assaulting the forces outside. They will distract as many defenders as possible, allowing Rogue and Lasso to infiltrate the enemy base, find the Watcher, and terminate him. With Avyssos’straiga already out of the picture, we have no reason to keep Fulcum’animtis alive.

***​

The sun blazed on the horizon. Searing ripples of orange twisted the western sky with their intense, impotent rage. The waves of fury ignited the clouds, turning the white drifters a shade of orange that matched the hue of discarded embers. As the daylight died, the potency of the sunset only grew. The tortuous diurnal slaughtering of the sun had only just begun. It would take several more minutes before the infernal orb collapsed beneath the Mexican skyline, and several more until the residual glow - Sol’s final death throes - ceased. As the ritual of death began above, a group of insurgents below prepared to give the Grim Reaper a substantial workload through events they had agency over.

Captain Guillermo Gonzalez surveyed the amassed thirty-five Mexican soldiers in front of him with an approving gaze. “Ever been in a battle this big?” the guerilla leader questioned the XCOM liason next to him.

“I’ve only seen footage of the larger-scale operations that have been conducted across the world lately,” Christoffer replied tensely. “Sure is a lot of pressure.”

Guillermo chuckled, patting the Norwegian on the shoulders. “Never fear. I shall be taking care of the principal fight here. I will take care of your soldiers that join us. Just focus on accomplishing your objective, Maverick. I shall be counting on you.”

Chris fiddled with his gloves. “Yeah, no pressure, right?” he joked. “Well, I’m not about to ruin our reputation by failing here.” He glanced over at the pair of Episcopo sisters. “You two ready?”

Emmeline smiled reassuringly at Chris, putting on her helmet and leaning against the Juggernaut towering over her. Zoya stood by Fulmach, balancing her sniper rifle against the SPARK in a similar manner. “Always,” Emmy declared. The Maverick Lieutenant then looked over his longtime comrades. Stacie was bantering with Merlux, while Heinrich went over his weaponry one last time. Olivia assigned proximity mines to her RC entourage. Christoffer didn’t even need to ask them. They were ready.

The sun vanished beneath the horizon completely, and its remaining, screaming rays of light began to fade into the darkness as the rebels rolled out, ready to reap.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 1” - DarkGemini24601

One moment, there was silence. The Protectorate Peacekeepers patrolled the perimeter walls of Installation LAM-016 with measured step. They were watchful, but never really expected anyone to find the facility out in the middle of the desert. There was no reason for anyone to travel through here, unless they were running desperately from the authorities. And such an act of recklessness only meant target practice for the turrets on the watchtowers. The hybrid soldiers seldom had a chance to fire. So they merely roved to and fro, their worries directed more at the steady defeats the aliens they worshipped were suffering. None expected what came next.

The next moment, there were explosions. Appearing from the darkness of the nascent night, an ADVENT Hellstorm appeared. It launched a barrage of missiles into one of the guard towers, blowing chunks of the metal exterior away with bright blue pulse detonations. What remained of the structure was chipped away at by another volley of rockets that caused the battered sentry point to collapse in on itself, tearing down pieces of the walls on either side with it.

The defenders were thrown into chaos. Assassins scrambled to positions alongside guard turrets, which trained their automatic fire on the enemy that had appeared first. Machinegun fire sprayed from multiple directions across the Hellstorm’s front side. The robotic aircraft took evasive maneuvers, darting in 45 degree increments up and to the right, down and to the left. It managed to avoid some of the gunfire, but the rest tore rents in its frame. Setting up their sniper rifles, the Assassins waited for a few recon units to let loose overlapping layers of scanner fields, indicating the Hellstorm’s position. It was psionically marked by an Officer, and then the Assassins opened fire.

A chunk of wing was severed by a rail-accelerated bullet, and the Hellstorm wobbled. Another high-velocity round blew off layers of sensory equipment on the robot’s ‘face’, causing it to go blind. More shots rang out, and it spun out of control, crashing onto the rocky desert floor and suffering a series of explosions. The smoking wreck lay in ruin. But it had merely been the opening act, and it had served its distracting role perfectly.

“Thanks, buddy.” Lieutenant Jorge Lopez nodded gratefully to the machine two of his squad members - secure behind a cluster of rocks - had controlled in order to breach a hole in the perimeter of the enemy installation. It had allowed the Resistance forces to get into position. And now, they could attack.

“For Mexico!” Guillermo cried out. Appearing from behind rocks they’d rushed to whilst the Hellstorm had been drawing fire, the thirty-five guerillas appeared like a swarm of locusts. They lifted rifles varied in many ways, but similar in one: for once, the weapons were superior to what the Peacekeepers toted. Pulse laserfire leapt out in an hellstorm of opening shots. The Assassins on the wall, having revealed their presence to take out the commandeered automated aircraft, were easy target practice for the Mexian snipers amongst Tlatoc Squad. Defenders all over the wall dropped like flies, being targeted by carbines, battle rifles, standard rifles, and the occasion rocket that tore apart more of the structure surrounding the Watcher’s facility.

As the surviving peacekeepers fled, the triumphant guerillas advanced. Lopez’s team led the two infantry squads in one at a time through the breach that his squad’s fallen companion had created, whilst Gonzalez’s group of nine scaled the damaged walls themselves with grappling hooks. His snipers took up the positions the fallen Assassins had once occupied, the rocket-launcher soldiers at their side. A pair of shotgunners accompanied Guillermo down into the courtyard of the desert base.

There, an aircraft runway stretched from the south end of the base to the northern limit on the left-hand side. The right contained an enemy barracks, shooting range, and supply drop area. That side proved to be the predominantly dangerous one, as more peacekeeping forces scrambled out to defend their fortress. Rounds began pouring down from both sides, the government soldiers and freedom fighters exchanging fire from either side of a field full of crates. The garbled death cries of those who suddenly had the explosive power of a magnetic round or a pulse burst impact with their chest indicated that casualties were being taken on both sides. That was where XCOM came in.

Revealing themselves from a cloaked state, Fireteams Gallows and Pulley sprang into action. As the second giant stepping out from the shadows tonight, Poinsettia unleashed the full power of her Pavise Armor. Tubes on the back fired out two mortar shell analogues over her allies, their detonations releasing protective clouds of dense smoke rather than deadly shrapnel. A mine detonated nearby, destroying the cover of several members of Lluvia Squad and leaving them exposed. To defend the soldiers near her, the Juggernaut activated her bubble shield. An umbrella of protective energy encased Set and her comrades, stopping several magnetic rifle shots dead. It wouldn’t last permanently, so Poinsettia bellowed,

“Move, move, move!” The nearby guerrillas counted their blessings, and pulled back with some parting fire as they sought cover further back.

Next up, Fulmach made himself known by activating the new addition to his arsenal of subsystems. The SPARK Paladin straightened his shoulders, standing on the flank of the Peacekeepers. Wind turbines flipped up onto the imposing robot’s shoulders. They spun up with dizzyingly rapid acceleration, and then unleashed a torrent of swirling air that blew many of the defenders out of cover. Not missing a beat, Shen’s ultimate mechanical creation lifted his amplitude phase-cannon and let loose a barrage of bullets that practically warped through the armor of a nearby Obsidian Frame MEC Trooper. It was battered heavily by the gunfire, sliding back several steps and attempting to return the favor but missing the surprisingly-agile SPARK.

“Not good enough,” the robot remarked smugly, winding up his cannon for another shot. The air seemed to be sucked into his gun like a singularity as it charged up, and then it let loose a stream of rounds traced by brilliant silver lines that annihilated the rest of the enemy mech’s armor and blew its head off its shoulders.

Emmeline and Zoya were the last two to reveal themselves, and they provided quite the finale. The rattled Peacekeepers that remained on the field, having watched several of their allies be mowed down after being thrust from cover without warning, were on high alert. Still, they were unprepared for the silver-haired covert operative that came down upon them like a some sort of demon from hell itself. Ashworth activated her magnetic boots, and then sent them into ‘parkour’ mode. The power from her shadow device was transferred into the electromagnets under her feet, allowing her to perform a superhuman feat.

Jumping onto the side of a metal crate, Emmeline leapt horizontally, slashing off the helmet of a trooper and ending his life. Zipping between metal surfaces, Emmeline repeated the attack several times over. From one kill, to the next, to the next, to the next, the Phantom dealt death upon any that were in her path. More and more and more Protectorate soldiers collapsed to the ground, missing their limbs or their head. It was only after several jumps that Emmeline took a hit against her shoulder. Her armor wasn’t broken, but the shadow operative took the hint and used the last juice remaining in her shoes to slip behind a crate for cover.

Zoya followed up where she’d left off. The former ADVENT trooper took a deep breath, and then began a chain of attacks herself. Her sniper rifle cracked once, then again, then a third time, a fourth, and finally a fifth and ultimately a sixth. Those that Emmeline hadn’t gotten to were hit by the full force of the high-frequency ‘Peacemaker’ sniper rifle. It was called that for one simple reason: when it was out of ammo, silence settled over the battlefield. The soldiers Emmeline had dropped had been finished off by the Mexican soldiers, and the ones Zoya had shot did not survive direct hits from her rifle.

The quiet wasn’t permanent, however. Lights were still on in the barracks. It seemed that more troops were throwing on their gear and preparing for a fight. Some of the guerillas began to advance, intent on trying to stop the Protectorate Peacekeepers from readying themselves. However, Guillermo held up a hand. “Hold here. Notice those turrets on the roof of the barracks? We don’t want to be fighting an entrenched enemy.” Zoya’s AMR sounded, felling an Assassin that had tried to set up by one of said turrets. “And our snipers can deal with any foes that try to engage us from range.”

Lieutenant Lopez nodded. “You heard him! Let’s entrench ourselves and prepare for another fight!” Privately, speaking into a secure comm channel, he whispered, “Good luck, Strand.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 2” - DarkGemini24601

Although the exterior doors of the black, monolithic structure of Installation LAM-016 were locked - as evidenced by a red light over the pair of alloy slabs - the four core members of Maverick Squad saw another way in. Silently, they snuck through an air duct that went from the overhead roof of the main entrance hall, horizontally across, then straight down into the corridor. It was a significant fall down - about eight feet from top to bottom of the vent, and then a dozen more to the floor. The XCOM soldiers’ power armor could handle such a leap, though. There was only the question of how to embellish their entrance. Discussing amongst themselves, the four came up with a plan.

Without warning, the grate across the ceiling vent suddenly fell to the floor, having been shot off its hinges. As its clattering ceased, the two-dozen Peacekeepers in the long chamber darted behind pillars on the ground and on catwalks overlooking the corridor. Their weapons all rattled as they took aim at the crate and the ceiling. This was the only sound to dominate the room, as the commanding officer within held up their hand for absolute silence. However, no one came out. The grate had ceased moving, and there was no discernable movement. Nor was there sound.

Without making a noise, two mechanical ‘mice’ rolled along the ceiling on magnetized treads. They carried with them a pair of proximity mines - one for each cluster of troopers behind each row of pillars down the hallway. They didn’t drop their payload immediately. The Ambusher controlling them had the RCs wait. A recon unit, escorted by two Banshees and a Shieldbearer - who had put up a protective barrier around himself and his three allies - inched closer to the spot underneath the vent. They looked up.

A hi-freq grenade fell down and blew up. Their shields burst open, and shrapnel shredded the four peacekeepers’ armor. At the same moment, the two proximity mines tumbled down, and caught the movements of the startled troopers. Two more explosions rocked the room, claiming the lives of a good half of the soldiers in the room. Admist the tumult, Heinrich dropped in first. He landed on - and subsequently jumped off of - the Shieldbearer’s shield. Before his foe could lower the protective implement, the ATC-wielding Grenadier let loose a blast that dug into the already-damaged armor of the enemy corporal. The Shieldbearer collapsed.

The two Banshees recovered from the detonation that had occured right on top of them a mere second after. They brought out their shotguns, taking aim at Heinrich. For a moment, however, their vision went black. This hesitation allowed Heinrich to move to the side, and when the pair’s division returned, they shot a holographic illusion that Christoffer had put in place of the Grenadier. Before the Banshees had a chance to recover from this second slip-up, Stacie dropped onto the grate.

The Gunslinger activated her wild west hero mode without hesitation. As if dancing, she stepped out of the way of the gunfire of the Officer and several EXO Troopers just before they fired. The Gunslinger only suffered a single glancing hit, and this was due to the psionic mark that had been placed on her and Heinrich by the Officer. That same troublesome Lieutenant now lifted Stacie with telekinesis, ensuring she couldn’t dodge and further.

That was where Olivia came in. Dropping down, she didn’t hit the ground. Instead, Onimiki manifested around her, and the Reflection-clad Ambusher flew forward. She was in the way of the Peacekeepers in an instant, and in the next the Thunderbird encompassing her flapped his wings. The gale-force buffet blasted even the heavy soldiers into the wall, stunning them. The Protectorate Lieutenant managed to push himself to his feet with a burst-use of telekinesis, but before he could defend himself a high-frequency boltcaster round impaled his chest.

Christoffer fell down last. The Recon unit had managed to score a hit on Heinrich’s armor, but that - and the damage Stacie had suffered a few moments ago - was repaired by the work of his Paramedic Gremlin. Nanites from his medkit supply worked diligently to stitch armor together as they would flesh, while the soldier himself opened fire with his battle rifle. It might have been the weakest weapon out of the four, but Christoffer had the distinct advantage of medical knowledge. He targeted vital points on two of the EXO Troopers, bringing them down with a single burst each.

From there, it was just cleanup. Pushing their advantage, the four Mavericks independently unleashed their skills. Heinrich mopped up what soldiers on the right Olivia had missed with another AP grenade. Stacie faced off against the survivors on the left, bombarding them and the EXO troopers with a flurry of silver-streaking bullets from her thunderbolt coilers. The rumbling volley from the Gunslinger was followed up on by Olivia fulfilling the role her fireteam partner just had. Utilizing the superhuman reflexes her PCS granted her, the native american rolled out of the way of shots from the recon unit and handful of EXO Troopers left. She wrapped up several in magnetized, oscillating cables that proved difficult to remove.

Christoffer finished them off with continuous fire from his battle rifle. As the silver-tinted smoke from his chrome-colored scorpion rifle died off, so did the lives of the few dying peacekeepers end. The quiet that had begun the fight was restored at its conclusion. “Well done, everyone,” the Lieutenant congratulated his squadmates.

“Did you expect anything less?” Heinrich questioned with an eyebrow raised beneath his helmet - a visage composed of a thick visor encrusted by blast padding.

Stacie chuckled, turning her sleek helmeted head. “From mister normal, maybe.”

“I don’t need an A.I., psionics, or any of that supernatural shit,” Panzer retorted, reloading his anti-tank cannon. “Panther and Tiger,” he stated, referring to his shotgun-like primary and grenade-propelling secondary, “are good enough.”

“You named them after German tanks, didn’t you,” Olivia surmised.

“How did you-”

“Easy guess.”

“Hmph.” Heinrich hefted his weapon, approaching the door after Christoffer. “Think you can open that?”

“Give me a minute.” The Svalbard guerilla brought out a pad, and uncoiled some conduits from it - jamming them into the side of the door controls in an attempt to ‘hotwire’ it, essentially. “They locked it from the inside. Gonna need a minute to get it open.”

“What the hell… I mean, we knew the aliens didn’t care about the lives of human troops, or even some of their own, but that’s still cold. They left these poor bastards to the wolves,” Stacie muttered distastefully.

“Wolves? I thought we were Mavericks,” Olivia questioned her friend.

“...that was a shiiiiitty joke,” Stacie whined , tilting her head back in exaggerated anguish.

Olivia hung her head sheepishly. “Sorry, it was the best I could come up with on the spot.”

“Spot? We talking about dogs now?” Heinrich queried with a grin.

Stacie laughed. “Okay, now that’s good.”

“How’s that different?” Olivia complained earnestly. “It’s the same quality.”

“Yeah, but it’s making fun of a bad joke. That makes it superior,” Stacie declared.

“Humor is a subjective concept, you know,” Merlux informed the Texan and the others didactically.

“Shut up, Mer. No one asked you,” Stacie shot back.

“Do you not respect free speech?” the A.I. questioned, acting more hurt than he really was.

“I...of course I… fuck you!”

Olivia and Heinrich both laughed, the former noting, “I think you lose that round.”

“I have been keeping keeping a mental tally. So far, in total, I have won one-third of our verbal bouts to be approximate,” Merlux reported with a nonchalant shrug of his holographic avatar.

Stacie guffawed. “Hah! So I’m winning.”

“When you consider the past month, I have one closer to two-thirds. You are in danger of falling behind if this trend proceeds,” the A.I. warned.

“Wha-” Stacie gasped. “Unacceptable!”

Christoffer smiled, the exchange between his friends pushing away his tension like it always did. Unfortunately, it wasn’t improving his hacking skills. He’d hooked up his Gremlin with a series of wires to assist him in the process, but the drone was more specialized for medicine than decoding. It was all the little robot could do to keep the system from locking the Paramedic out. Focus, Chris, the Norwegian tried to psyche himself up. You need to make a big push. Have Alacer help you instead of just being a stopgap measure. If he screwed up his squad would have to waste ordinance.

Worried about making a mistake due to the fear of messing up, Christoffer momentarily turned his thoughts to someone that had been much better at this than him. In his mind, he could still picture her face, smiling down at him. Ever-encouragingly, Christine urged the Paramedic on. He took a deep breath, and then got to work. He tried brute-forcing the system again, and this time it worked. He was given access, and his Gremlin was there to follow up on the opportunity. Alacer activated the door controls, and they rumbled as they began to open slowly.

“Get ready!” Lieutenant Strand instructed his three allies. “They’ve probably had a chance to muster another group of defenders by now.” The commanding officer moved behind one pillar on the right, while his second-in-command took one on the left and blended in with her chameleon suit. Heinrich and Stacie stacked up on either side of the door close to their respective fireteam partners. Indeed, there were foes waiting for them. Though they acted before they could even get through the door.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 3” - DarkGemini24601

Outside

The battle raged on, as a heavy volume of fire was exchanged between the Resistance and the Protectorate. However, the human-hybrid soldiers that were trying to advance on the entrenced freedom fighters found themselves at a severe disadvantage. While they had a pair of MEC Troopers and a Shieldbearer to help lead the charge, those advantages were summarily stolen away from them by the bane of their existence: XCOM.

Emmeline snuck up behind the Shieldbearer. A shot from Fulmach burst open his shield, and then the Phantom stabbed him through the back. The shields around the pair of mechanical soldiers dropped, and Set used her armor’s tractor beam to capture the gunfire directed at her from one of the enemy MECs. The Juggernaut then sent it straight back at the Obsidian Frame - ruining its armor. Finally, she drew an upscaled pistol, targeting the machine’s chest and firing off a round half the size of a tank’s. The huge bullet pierced the ravaged black armor, and blew up a power core. The first MEC wobbled, and then toppled to the ground.

The second fell to Zoya alone. Utilizing the fearsome power of her AMR, she shot the other Obsidian Frame once. The bullet didn’t destroy the machine, but - controlling its velocity with her mind - the Sharpshooter used the round to tear a hole in the armor. The swift double-tap that followed targeted the hole expertly, and the bullet passed through the tunnel, reaching the light on the other end and snuffing it out. The second MEC swiftly tumbled in a heap. Without the aid of that vanguard, the peacekeepers finished their advance walking through a killing field. Very few of their number survived - only the Banshees that were able to shadowstep their way to the front and any Assassins that could not be seen moving forward at all.

However, XCOM did find itself a challenger. Several, in fact. Descending from the sky, the Protectorate’s reinforcements crashed into Terra’s surface in drop-pods slightly larger than Poinsettia’s superheavy suit. The reason for this magnitude became apparent when the occupants stepped out. Two Infantry Mechtoids revealed themselves, lowering plasma mini-cannons upon the shocked Resistance forces. The central, third pod opened up to reveal a different kind of cybernetic soldier: the Artillery Mechtoid. As massive as a suit of Pavise Armor, the frame that completely obscured the Sectoid pilot stomped out onto the desert sands.

Where there was primary plating, there was secondary reinforcements atop it. The dark-blue colored goliath was heavily armored, and bore heavy weapons as well. Its shoulders were wide and had supporting mechanisms to hold up a pair of rectangular containers that bristled with a dozen exposed fifteen exposed missiles each. On its back, servomotors like that of the warsuit - but bigger - helped the massive machine move. And they aligned with a grenade launcher containing a barrel that glowed an unearthly violet. Towering over almost all of its foes, save Poinsettia, the Artillery Mechtoid spoke thus:

“You have declared war upon the Ethereal Protectorate. Reap the sorrows that conflict will bring, when our might is unleashed upon you.”

Missiles screamed out of the armored Sectoid’s launchers. Activating her tractor beam, Set tried to catch as many as she could. Two at once as the maximum she could seize from the cluster, and she redirected them to blow up six more. The other seven continued on unabated, however. Only another pair were taken down by the panicked fire of the freedom fighters targeted, and the rest blew apart crates - slaying several of the Mexican guerillas present.

“Dammit!” Guillermo growled in anguish and fury. “Fall back, fall back! Ashworth, take out the grunts behind us!”

“Understood, sir!” Emmeline rushed backwards. She fired off her shotgun once to bait out a shot from the Banshee behind the box she was going to use as temporary cover, and then used a second shot to blow her opponent away. As she turned and fired a third time to make the other nearby Banshee back off, she was exposed to a sneak attack from one of the Assassins. An arc blade sweeped across her back, cutting open her armor and drawing blood in addiction to stunning her with electrificity.

Intent on finishing the job, another Assassin decloaked - only to be punted into his comrade by a swift kick from Fulmach. “Safeguarding ally,” the SPARK reported, lifting his cannon and blowing the two away - even if it meant taking fire from behind by the other Banshee. The buckshot at this range wasn’t enough to damage the robot, but its armor was torn up by the shredder ammo type.

Closer to the three Mechtoids, Jorge and his squad were doing everything in their power to buy time. The Lieutenant’s drone and those of two of his subordinates shot forward. As they were not cloaked like XCOM’s, the Infantry Mechtoid they were targeting managed to blow two of them away. But Lopez’s machine reached the Sectoid-controlled superheavy suit. His drone thrust its probisis into the back of the power armor, bringing it under the Mexican’s power for the moment.

His two friends, Diego and Luis, tried to do the same. They sent their drones forward while the other Infantry Mechtoid was distracted by his ally moving threateningly towards him. The Artillery Mechtoid, however, was not going to let the same thing happen twice. Lifting his hands, metal slid back, forming a pair of two oversized cannons of similar design to the other pair of cyborgs. These plasma supracannons carried a bigger punch - not that one was needed. Opening fire with a noise similar to a freight train crashing, the alien officer vaporized the two Mexican soldiers. “Begone.”

“DIEGO! LUIS!” Jorge cried out, horrified. He switched targets with his puppeteered Mechtoid, instead battering - though only lightly damaging - the armor of the Artillery Mechtoid. His puppet, on the other hand, was heavily damaged by the assault from its counterpart, and to make matters worse, the Artillery Mechtoid turned towards him as a result of his actions. Paralyzed, he stared up at the visor of the armored Sectoid - a black band with a diamond shape in the center - as if looking into the face of death itself.

“When will you humans realize that you cannot fight the genius and might of gods?” the Artillery Mechtoid questioned, lifting its hand-cannons to obliterate Jorge. The machine fired, destroying the massive shield that was raised to counter its assault, and gouging two rents into the Pavise Armor of Jorge’s protector. Set breathed heavily - fearfully - as she could see red-hot spots where the plasma burst had almost gotten to her through her superheavy suit. Her viewscreen was distorted by the heatwaves that conducted through her exterior armor.

“Get… back!” Poinsettia shouted tersely at the Lieutenant. Not about to argue, he fell back, as terrified as the Juggernaut (though practically naked against this foe, he showed his fear more openly).

“Surrender,” the alien mech pilot told his opponent simply. “You will die if you attempt to fight further.”

Poinsettia trembled with the armor, facing the recharging plasma supracannons of her foe. Another shot would pass through her exterior plating, and almost assuredly breach her warsuit and kill her. She was not agile in this suit, so there would be no option to flee now that she had made a stand. Her shield lay on the ground in front of her, a burning hole straight through it. Her battery was getting low, and though it recharged steadily, she didn’t have time to wait for it to be enough to bolster her defenses. Her adaptive armor alone wouldn’t be enough to compensate.

Left with seemingly no options, the Pavise Armor knelt, mimicking the motion of its pilot. “I-I give up,” the Exalt soldier stammered.

“Exit your armor,” intoned the Artillery Mechtoid, seeking confirmation. “Then-”

Before he could finish, an AMR shot rang out. The high-frequency bullet spun like a drill, driving a wedge into the heavy plating of the extraterrestrial power armor. Another shot followed, damaging the servomotors in the robotic suit’s left arm and making it hang limb. Poinsettia rose in the heartbeat following the successful pair of hits from Zoya, grabbing the Mechtoid’s neck with one hand and its functioning arm with another - grappling with her foe.

“As if I’d let you take me!” Set yelled furiously. “You bastards have already done enough to me in your damn blacksites! NEVER AGAIN!”

Struggling against the comparable strength of Poinsettia’s Pavise Armor, the alien officer considered his options for a moment. “Foolishness,” he exhaled in a rumbling murmur. The grenade launcher on his back glowed, as the mech strained to look in the direction the shot had come from. He located Zoya’s general location behind one of the few crates that hadn’t been reduced to flaming battlefield ruble. “Target acquired.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 4” - DarkGemini24601

Inside

Christoffer alone witnessed a cluster of violet-green threads shoot through the narrow gap between the pair of alloy slabs. The lines flowed into three of the fallen EXO Troopers, the Shieldbearer, and the Officer. Each picked themselves up from the ground, grabbing their weapons and taking aim upon the XCOM soldiers they now flanked. “Zombies!” Chris cried out. He created an illusionary wall, trying to make Heinrich and Stacie appear invisible to the psionically-raised undead. But they fired in that direction anyway, not being fooled.

Luckily, it was enough cover for Stacie to weave out of the way of the incoming shots with Merlux’s guidance. She pulled out her revolver, taking aim at the head of the Officer. She pulled the trigger three times, and three silver streaks shot out of her HF magnum’s barrel. The bullets tore apart the Officer’s brain, and - as she’d learned over the years - that severed the connection through which the Sectoid was controlling the corpse. The red-armored, bloodied Lieutenant fell into the blackness of death oncemore.

The three EXO Troopers remained, scoring only glancing hits on Heinrich’s armor. This merely meant scratches, as the man’s blast padding combined with his warden armor was enough to preclude any serious damage. This allowed him to focus on taking shots at the trio of zombies. Heinrich slid into cover behind the pillar where Olivia had been just a moment before, and he let loose three vibrating shard-shaped bullets that blew off the head and upper torso of one of the ghoulish soldiers.

Christoffer was having more trouble, himself. The Shieldbearer attacking him had forced him to duck behind a pillar to avoid the fury of a magnetic battle rifle like his. But when he peeked out to try and return fire, the undead corporal had grabbed its shield and had closed the distance. A bash sent Christoffer reeling onto the floor, and he shut his eyes, fully expecting his throat or skull to be crushed by another strike. He heard a smashing sound, but instead of his body being mangled, instead he looked up to see a bolt sticking through what remained of the Shieldbearer’s helmet.

With a tired groan, the zombie collapsed - falling unfortunately onto Chris. “Dammit, Olivia…”

“Saved your ass, Snowdrift. You don’t get to complain,” Thunderbird retorted, swapping to her SMG since there was no time to reload. She took cover where Christoffer had been when the door started opening. The two slabs were now fully parted, and she caught sight of the enemy. A Sectoid Guru, accompanied by three Sectoids, were pressed up against a barricade that had been automatically erected in the hallway. The security system of the base was plenty proactive, too, having placed a pair of plasma turrets in the hallway that now had started to spew plasma downrange. This pinned down the squad, but it had the fortunate side of mowing down the remaining two zombies indiscriminately.

Heinrich was stuck over on Chris’s side with Olivia, and helped push the heavy corpse off of his CO. “How’re you feeling?” he questioned his friend, offering a hand. That was his way of confirming that Chris wasn’t hurt.

“Disgusting, but I’m unhurt,” the Paramedic responded, pulling himself up with Heinrich’s assistance.

“Don’t think you could stomach gravedigger duty after the war?” Panzer questioned mirthfully.

“We’re going to be in a grave if we don’t figure out a way of taking those Sectoids down!” Stacie responded, alternating rapidly to shoot two rising corpses in the head. “They’re just going to keep doing this!”

“Eventually they will run out of bodies,” Merlux noted. “But we don’t have that kind of time.”

“I only see the Guru doing the ressurecting, what are the other three…?” Christoffer trailed off as he took a look. The trio of regular Sectoids had all mind-merged with one another. One seemed to be trying to read his mind, as he felt a mental tug that he did his best to fight off. The second was using clairvoyance to get a view of the room - hence how the Guru was targeting corpses without looking at the chamber itself. The third sent an amped-up violet stream into Stacie’s head, bringing her under its influence.

The Gunslinger stepped up before Merlux realized what was wrong, attempting to run into the turrets’ line of fire. “Olivia, subdue her NOW!” Christoffer shouted to his second-in-command.

“Roger,” Olivia said briefly. She lifted her crest coilpack, sending magnetized ropes all around Stacie that bound her and pinned her to the wall.

“Heinrich, boom. The cover-destroying kind,” Christoffer followed up.

A menacing laugh echoed from Panzer’s helmet. “Perfect.” He loaded up an alien-style HE grenade into his launcher, and then took aim from the side of the door. His grenade flew into the wall, bounced, and landed in front of the barricade and turrets. A dome of flowing green energy temporarily obscured the enemy, and when it dissipated two seconds later the turrets had plating that was less thick, and the barricade had been obliterated. The Sectoids were now naked and exposed (sans the armored Guru).

It was Christoffer’s turn. He gave himself an aid protocol and dashed across the field of view of the turrets. They opened fire, but the afterimage his Gremlin was leaving of him - in addition to the distortion of his body heat - made it hard for them to get anything other than glancing hits that didn’t do more than rip up the Paramedic’s armor. He kept his cool, and lifted his SBR. The scorpion-blade shot forward, impaling the lung of the Sectoid controlling Stacie. The chain retracted, bringing the alien in front of the squad’s officers.

Olivia finished it off, riddling its body with bullets from her SMG. She clicked a button on her wrist, and the ropes unbound themselves from Stacie - freeing her as she fell to her knees, panting.

“God… damn… sorry, guys,” Alamo breathed.

“Don’t apologize. Blow them away!” Panzer retorted.

Her armor’s servos helping the disoriented Gunslinger stand, she brought out her thunderbolt coilers - automatically reloaded by now. “Help me aim, Mer.”

“Understood,” the A.I. replied. Stacie stepped out of cover, targeting the two turrets as they were cooling off. She pointed each of her rapid-fire pistols at each turret, and shredded their armor into oblivion. The quickdraw wasn’t done yet, though. She tossed her blitz guns onto her back. Christoffer provided her an illusionary double, making the real Stacie invisible. The Sectoids took pistol potshots against the wrong target, while the genuine Texan pulled out her revolver. At lightning speeds, she capped the other two Sectoids - leaving only the Guru alive.

With a crackling hiss, the commander Sectoid lifted his hands and reached out with his mind. An advanced mindspin wracked Christoffer, causing his vision to swim violently. He felt like his head had been split open with an axe, and collapsed to the ground - his illusions fritzing out. His Gremlin went to his assistance, using a revival protocol to mollify the effects of the psionic assault. But in that time, the Sectoid Guru summoned a trio of zombies - these ones glowing green from the inside.

“The hell?” Heinrich blew one away with his ATC - releasing a shower of acid where it fell. “Don’t let them get near you!”

“They shall not.” Onimiki materialized in front of Olivia, buffeting away the other two and giving Olivia a chance to blow them apart with her SMG.

Stacie flipped her DMR into her hands, taking aim at the Guru. “Good try.” She fired, and the Sectoid dodged. “Oh, fuck me.”

“T-They’ve got… enhanced reflexes from ESP,” Christoffer warned.

“That versus you, Merlux. Up for the challenge?” Stacie questioned. The A.I.’s reply was to slow down her perception of time, allowing her to dodge a barrage from the Guru’s autopistol. Stacie avoided a second shot; the Sectoid did the same. The third exchange of gunfire ended in similar failure. But that was fine; Stacie only needed to distract the Guru for awhile.

Heinrich was there to finish the job. He pulled out his SS-GL, the flaregun-like grenade launcher quickly adjusting his aim with its ‘reflex’ capabilities. He yanked on the trigger, and a bass grenade blew out of the barrel. It impacted with the last Sectoid’s chest, blasting it into the wall and caving in its armor. In agony, it was powerless to stop the four Mavericks from unloading into it. Ichor-blood splattered the walls, and the alien defense team was no more.

Christoffer breathed a sigh of relief. He had Alacer fly between his comrades, patching up their armor where necessary. “Wish we’d brought six people.”

“I’m sure the rest of our squad is direly needed out there,” Olivia responded with a shake of her head. “This is how it has to be.”

Heinrich crackled his knuckles. “Fine by me. I wouldn’t let anyone else take care of this. I’ve got a score to settle… some Elder blood to spill in Max’s name.”

The others became solemn at the thought of fallen comrades. Stacie spoke up, breaking the silence. “Come on. Let’s move. Warriors don’t sit around in mope.”

Chris smiled faintly. “Alright, Adam,” he was able to joke at her impersonation. “We’ll go do battle.” Wish us luck, guys.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 5” - DarkGemini24601

Outside

“What are you-” Set growled as the glow on the Artillery Mechtoid’s grenade launcher reached a climatic shine.

The alien mortar fired, but Poinsettia didn’t even see the shell exit the Artillery Mechtoid’s back. The barrel instead had warped the bomb to behind the crate, where Zoya was located. The plasma shell appeared in front of her, pulsating and about to blow. “Bozhe!” the Russian shrieked, having time only to throw herself as far as she could from the explosion that followed her cry less than a second later. The thunderclap stripped away her armor, burning her flesh horribly and launching her back into the sand.

“Zoya! Goddammit, no!” Poinsettia screamed, releasing the Artillery Mechtoid’s neck to punch it square in the torso. The strike only staggered the mechanized destroyer, and in reprisal it headbutted Poinsettia, jarring her armor equally but also momentarily blocking her viewscreen. In the time she was confused, repair servos within the Mechtoid’s armor had brought its other hand back online - which it used to shove her away and allow the other Infantry Mechtoid (who had slain his compromised comrade) to fire freely upon Set.

Her Pavise Armor’s side suffered severe damage, and only her own repair servos prevented the damage from tearing her suit open from ‘ribcage’ to sternum. Set staggered back, now facing two Mechtoids alone. The other forces had managed to pull back to the last line of crates, and had secured the area of peacekeeping hostiles. Good for them. But I’m fucked now.

Both Artillery and Infantry Mecthoid raised their cannons, numbering four in total like spider-eyes of a mechanical angel of death. And then, like a much more benevolent angel, Fulmach’s BIT unit appeared. The drone, which looked like a nail-covered iron soccer ball, opened up its lower plating to drop down a cluster of brownout bombs. Red lightning arced through the pair of Mechtoids. The Infantry mech was stunned for awhile, but the Artillery Mechtoid was only out of commission for a few seconds. He opened fire on Poinsettia as soon as his systems came back online.

The first few plasma blasts dealt serious damage. The adaptive armor of the Pavise suit slid into place to lower further damage where the shots were impacting. However, it was not enough. Set flicked on her bubble shield, using it to tank several hits from the Mechtoid now that her power was coming back to sufficient levels. She couldn’t stop another mortar shell from teleporting within her bubble and blowing open her chest armor, however. The breach severed her connection to the head of her superheavy armor, rendering all systems on manual.

For Poinsettia, though, that was just fine. The cybernetic arms of the cyborg soldier were integrated into her Pavise Armor, and she could still operate it - even if the critical damage the chestplate had sustained couldn’t be repaired without a serious supply of raw materials. Set knew those lay within the downed Mechtoid that Jorge had controlled earlier. Getting to it’s not an option, though. Not without-

A pair of sniper shots and two rockets impacted the form of the Artillery Mechtoid. The Mexicans were back on the attack, and they were determined to rescue the XCOM hero fighting alongside them. Her sister was, too. Emmeline appeared from the darkness behind the Infantry Mechtoid that was still up. She leapt onto his back with her magnetic boots, and started swiping back and forth across its neck armor - using her blade like a saw. The Mechtoid could do nothing but try to hit her with a weak mental attack. Such a mindfray was no match for the protective instinct of a sister, however. With a cry of pain and rage, Emmeline impaled the Sectoid pilot’s throat.

Poinsettia didn’t waste her opportunity. She dashed towards the wreck of the other Mechtoid, opening up her leg armor to take in chunks of the fallen enemy. As she did so, however, the Artillery Mechtoid powered through the hits it was taken. The alien officer trudged forward towards Emmeline. “You will be eliminated.” The other missile barrage that the goliath had was released, and a spray of fifteen missles went towards Poinsettia.

Her chestplate broken up, her power low, and her suit immobilized by repair action, the Juggernaut had been bested by an even greater juggernaut. Set activated the eject without a second thought, being thrust from her suit as it was blown to pieces by missile fire. The cyborg soldier grimaced in agony, the rapid disconnect from a neural uplink leaving her dazed as her ejector seat landed on the ground. Her opponent intended to capitalize on this and finish her off, but found Fulmach in his way.

“Move.”

“Command declined.” Fulmach ran towards the Artillery Mechtoid. “Activating Nova Mode.” A burst of electricity straight from the SPARK’s power core spat out around him, electrocuting his enemy as surely as he overloaded himself. A second burst, a third burst - Fulmach kept blasting his opponent with all he had, realizing an armor breach was unlikely. However, by the fourth electroshock, the SPARK was immobilized.

And, due to his electromagnetic shielding, the Artillery Mechtoid was still functioning. His movements, if jerky, were still possible. With a tremulous punch, the armored Sectoid floored Fulmach. “This one told you that you would move.”

“Fucking… hell…” Poinsettia pushed herself to her feet, Emmline regrouped beside her. “Doesn’t this murderous bastard have any weaknesses?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Emmeline glanced at her sister. “Zoya is…” she grimaced. “She’s still alive, though…”

“Though what?”

“Nearly… all of her skin and hair has been burned off. I used up everything in my medkit just to temporarily stablize her,” Emmeline reluctantly told Poinsettia.

Set trembled in rage. She reached to the dark glasses that masked her face beneath her transparent helmet visor, and crushed them. Blue, electronic eyes stared hatefully at the Artillery Mechtoid, and Poinsettia pointed her battle rifle at him. “I will kill you.”

A static-y chuckle exited the helmet of the massive machine. “Your sniper was the only one with weaponry powerful enough to pierce my armor. What makes you think you stand any chance against this one?”

“Because let me tell you… anger? It’s a hell of a drug.” Poinsettia charged forward, straight at her enemy. Emmeline shook her head, but followed - taking the opposite side of the Juggernaut.

“Do you wish to die so badly?” The Artillery Mechtoid teleported a grenade in front of Set, shredding her armor and cybernetic limbs. The pain should have dropped her, but she didn’t stop moving. “How-”

“Pain inhibitors.” Poinsettia’s legs sparked in protest as she used them to leap onto the machine’s shoulders. “Maybe I embellished a bit, but…” the Juggernaut tossed a short-timer grenade in front of the mech’s visor, shredding the transparent metal. She followed up by leaping off the robotic armor as it thrashed around, unloading her HF ultrarifle into the visor and creating spiderwebbing cracks in it. “Doesn’t change the fact…”

“...that you’re going to die!” Emmeline fired her shotgun from the side, and then magnetically jumped onto the Artillery Mechtoid as it tried to return fire. Its visor had cracked further. “I’m sorry… I thought you said that we couldn’t break your armor!” Emmeline ran across the Artillery Mechtoid’s face, slashing her frequency blade across the visor and shattering it before catapulting herself to safety with what power she had left in her boots.

Having exhausted their ammo in the primary weapons they held, Emmy and Set switched to their pistols. They aimed them at a spindly, terrified Sectoid revealed by the visor’s destruction.

“Wow, he really is a little wimp when you get a good look at him,” Poinsettia noted.

“You’re certainly not wrong,” Emmeline agreed.

The pilot chattered in rage, though its voice was not as deep and booming with the audio enhancing equipment destroyed. He raised his armor’s cannons, preparing to fire - but it was too late. Quicker on the draw, Poinsettia and Emmeline emptied their magazines into the Sectoid’s skull, leaving the cockpit an ichor-covered mess.

“Should have worn armor beneath that suit, you overconfident bastard,” Poinsettia spat. She shook her head, turning to go check on Zoya. “Give me a fucking break…”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 6” - DarkGemini24601

Inside

It was supposed to be a little simpler than this, Christoffer reflected as he kept his back to the wall. Lasers scorched the wall behind the open doorway. Although his squad had found an elevator beyond the security checkpoint where they’d fought the Guru, they’d only managed to get to the third floor before they were locked out. Heinrich had used up his second HE grenade blowing open the doors, but that hadn’t meant they could exit the elevator. On the other side, a host of alien soldiers were waiting for them. The Lieutenant counted at least four Vipers, three Mutons, two Mimics, and several assault drones. “I’d rather not fight a war of attrition here!”

“Then figure something out, glorious leader,” Bauer snapped back, pressed up against the wall similarly to Strand.

“Mmm… Olivia, I think we’re going to have to use more of your proximity mines,” Christoffer said with a resigned tone. “We’re going to be low on ordinance for the Watcher, but hopefully we won’t need it.”

“Alright. Cloak the RCs for me.” Olivia activated her little robotic companions, who vanished thanks to Chris’s efforts. Invisibly, they skated along the floor, going up by the feet of the Mutons. Chris held his head, focusing as well as he could. His vision distorted a bit, as if his eyes were crossing, while he strained to focus. The smaller and double application of his teleimagry required a lot of focus, though at least it didn’t tax his will. The RCs deposited their payloads, and then quickly made their way back to Olivia. She pressed the detonator, and two explosions blew upon the floor - causing the battered Mutons and Vipers to tumble onto a lower floor and injured themselves further.

Only one Viper didn’t fall down, but she took the opportunity to fall back behind a barricade with her two Mimic allies. The XCOM soldiers rushed forward. Chris and Stacie provided covering fire with battle rifle and blitz guns, while Olivia sent Onimiki down into the hole to electrocute the surviving Mutons (the Vipers already been dead) to ensure that they didn’t climb back up somehow. It was up to Heinrich to actually attack the snake woman and snake men. The Grenadier did so by lifting his ATC, and activating his PCS to help him target weak points in the barricade. He fired once, then twice, with two ‘fwooms’ like the thunder of a shotgun.

The barricade broke apart, turning covering fire into deadly hits. The Viper and one of the Mimics were claimed by high-frequency bullets, but the other thin man managed to acrobatically dodge a revolver shot from Stacie. “Dammit!” the Gunslinger growled as he hit his shot, glancing off the side of her armor and destroying the plating. “Chris, need some help here.”

Using more of his deep - but not unlimited - reserves of nanomedkit spray, Christoffer instructed his Gremlin to do just that. He couldn’t turn to shoot at the troublesome Mimic, however, because the assault drones were not a problem. They were all barreling towards the four, ready to unleash a barrage of pulse lasers that would skewer them in overlapping fields of fire, until the thunderbird rose out of the hole in the floor and blasted them all against the wall - causing them to be compressed slightly and get stuck in the side of the building. Doom was turned into target practice, and the Mavericks embraced that as if it was a common occurrence. For them, it tended to be.

“So… we’re taking the stairs now, I assume,” Stacie quipped.

Christoffer and Heinrich both groaned, responding tersely, “Yes!”

Ascending the spiral staircase, the Mavericks climbed up the tower. It began to narrow significantly at the fourth floor, only to grow at the fifth and final floor. They managed to avoid further firefights up until that point, but when they exited the door, they found themselves in a square room that served as a final checkpoint leading up to the Watcher’s quarters. There was only a single door in this room, with reinforced windows on either side. Standing in front of that entrance was a Muton Elite, clad in the regal red regalia his kind tended to wear.

The Balmadaar’s speakers crackled as if he were going to say something, but Maverick Squad had no time for words. Adam may have disagreed with their rush, but for the sake of shortening their comrades’ fight outside, it was an acceptable choice. Heinrich shot at the Elite with his Crest ATC, as did Stacie with her Thunderbolt Coilers. The combined fire didn’t deal much damage to the guardian, but it did shred his armor significantly - opening him up to future attack. Chris and Olivia could only scramble into the room before the angered Muton retaliated.

With a war cry, he hefted his plasma minigun in one hand and brought up an energy shield with the other. A heavy thunderstorm of plasma rained down upon Heinrich, who had fired first. If not for Olivia using a grappling hook to yank him to the side just as he was being hit, he might have been killed by the gunfire. Instead, his exterior armor was torn up - some of the damage beyond the repair capabilities of Alacer - but he survived. “Thanks for the save,” Heinrich breathed, swapping to his grenade launcher and running to the side to avoid being barraged again.

“Atka taught me that one. He won’t be surprised a second time though!” Olivia warned, her bolt caster scoring a hit through the Balmadaar’s armor and into his flesh.

The Elite felt adrenaline course through his body, and he roared as he charged at Olivia. His gun on cooldown, he wielded it like a gigantic baseball bat. Onimiki tried to blow him away, but the heavy, musclebound alien was too strong to knock down with a thunderclap. He batted the Reflection away with a swing of his weapon, and then moved to crush Olivia underneath it. The Ambusher narrowly darted to the side, and pulled out a high-frequency knife that she stuck into the Muton’s throat.

That didn’t kill him, and he swatted her to the side with a backhand. “Damn you,” Heinrich growled angrily, loading his last grenade. “That’s it.” He fired it off at the Muton. The Elite displayed quite high reflexes, and moved to swat it away - only for the sticky grenade to magnetically and chemically attack to his hand. “Eat. Shit,” Heinrich told him a moment before it went off. The blast took off the Muton’s entire right arm and shoulder, destroying his weapon as a bonus.

And still he stood, enraged, and fired off a blaster bomb from his shoulder reflexively. “That’s a tracking rocket!” Christoffer cried out.

“Heinrich! Designate it!” Stacie rushed him.

Not having time to argue, the Grenadier ran backwards whilst holo-designating the bomb. Stacie pulled out her magnum, narrowed her eyes, and used Merlux to his full potential to predict and prepare her aim with the split second she had. She fired three times in rapid succession. The first bullet missed. The second and third didn’t. The grenade detonated, and Heinrich only caught the edge of the blast - his padding protecting him from any serious damage.

Christoffer was quick to retaliate against the Muton, hitting it with a barrage of high-frequency bullets. While the Balmadaar was pain-tolerant, it wasn’t invincible. Magnetically-accelerated HF rounds were too much for its body to handle, and its torso was perforated into a bloody mess. The Muton stumbled back in its death throes, and then finally slid down across the wall - painting it yellow-orange.

Taking a deep breath, the squad leader walked over to the control panel for the door. “I’m going to get this open.” Chris sent his Gremlin over to Heinrich to patch up his armor as best as he could manage. “Stacie, Heinrich, guard the door behind us until we’re ready to breach. Olivia, check on the main force.”

“Got it.” Olivia reached a hand up to the side of her helmet, activating her comms. “Emmeline, come in. What’s your situation?”

The sounds of battle filled the helmets of the others. “I don’t mean to stress you out, but not good. Zoya’s… Zoya’s out of commission right now, Set’s overloaded her limbs so she’s down for the count too, and Fulmach overloaded… just about everything. The aliens dropped some big shit on us. We handled that, but now they’re just dropping Mutons, Vipers, you name it to try and take us out. We’ve lost quite a few of the guerillas too, so we’re running out of time…”

“We’re at the doorstep of the Watcher. Just hold out for a little while longer,” Olivia urged, apprehensive but calm.

“Understood. Just make it quick. We’ll have a hell of a story to tell you, but only if we make it out alive. Kill that Ethereal bastard and then we can get the hell out of here,” Emmeline replied. “Ashworth out.”

Olivia nodded to Christoffer. “Yeah… no pressure, huh?”

The Norwegian chuckled, calling Alacer back over to him for assistance. “No pressure indeed.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 7” - DarkGemini24601

Inner Sanctum

Explosive rounds detonated against the door, making it shudder. They came again, and the door trembled even further. The third set of impacts caused the hinges to bend, and a shockwave knocked it door. The four original members of Maverick Squad stepped through the ravaged doorway, entering a control room. The upper half of the room was covered in TV screens that displayed security footage of the battle below, and all the rooms the team had come through. Some were blank, or covered in static. Below them, there were holographic control pads of all kinds. Operating them had been a collection of Baʒir, which had now fled into narrow access tunnels adjacent to a cluster of small vents that weren’t big enough to travel through. Now, there was only one person in the room, standing on a slightly-raised platform in the center of the room. He turned from the windows, his violet-blue robes swishing.

I had a nagging feeling the Baʒir architect that designed this building neglected something. Quite the entrance you made to begin with, Folcum’animtis intoned with a genuinely congratulatory tone. I’ve been watching you as you progressed… indeed, hoping that you would die in your way here. It is… unfortunate that you managed to make it this far.

Christoffer did not lower his rifle, but he did reply, “you have an out here. If you surrender and agree to tell us information about the other two Watchers to make their defeats more easy, we won’t have to fight to the death here.”

An unsettlingly reserved mental chuckle echoed through the heads of the four Mavericks. A tantalizing offer. I have observed your abilities, and deemed you to be formidable foes. I am not a warrior myself, as you may be aware. However, I am still a soldier. I know my duty, as well as you know yours. To endanger my comrades-in-arms, and threaten the admirable goals my Commander seeks to achieve… that would be most distasteful.

“Still, fighting us alone would be suicide. You don’t have to die here,” Olivia pressed. “I don’t want to have to kill you if it’s not necessary.”

A noble heart. You remind me of Lady Cordiam. But I’m sure you understand, as she does, that sometimes there is no other option.

Olivia sighed. “I suppose I do.”

And besides… A violet spiral suddenly shot out from the Ethereal’s shaman-style mask, diving into Olivia’s head and turning her eyes violet. I know how to make my own allies.

“Dammit! Onimiki, stop-” Chris began, but his words were cut off as the thunderbird vanished - Olivia dismissing him. “Shit.” The Ambusher raised her bolt caster. Without a second thought - showing the skill of the Watcher - she shot at Chris. “Don’t-” He was far too close to dodge, and the bolt passed through his head. The Paramedic flickered and then vanished, reappearing to Folcum’s left and opening fire with his scorpion ultrarifle.

The bullets did light damage to the Ethereal’s armor, which flared orange when hit to slow the bullets - suggesting a magnetic field was in place. You are capable of auditory illusions too? I’ll have to keep that in mind. The Watcher raised his right hands towards Heinrich and Stacie as they opened fire upon him. He send a torrent of red flames in their direction, an acidic conflagration that melted the bullets and made them break against his magnetic shield. His lower left arm remained tucked under his robes, glowing orange as he maintained the shield’s strength with a more conscious effort. His upper left hand pointed a finger towards Christoffer, and a thin, winding column of violet energy spun into Chris’s chest.

Christoffer cried out in agony, feeling the subsume tendril sucking out his psionic energy - and by extension his life force. “Aghhhh! Fuck… off…” he tried to hit Folcum with a blackout, but found he couldn’t use it with any significance in this state.

For one artificially awakened you have a significant amount of energy. Your contribution is appreciated.

“Let him go, you bastard!” Stacie rolled out of the way of the low-pH flames that caused the floor to slowly melt where they hit. She moved to retaliate again, but was stopped by a cable slinger that wrapped around her and brought her to the ground. “Olivia, snap out of it!” The words did not reach the Ambusher, who used her SMG to rend her ally’s armor.

Heinrich was not as agile or fast as Stacie, and his armor was burned by the acidic flames. His plating started to melt away, putting him on a timer. At the very least, the flames weren’t hot enough to hurt him while the plating lasted. So he did something reckless, now that it didn’t matter. He charged through the horizontal column of fire, loading his ATC in a quick motion with his bunker buster ammo. “Block THIS!” He lifted his triple-barreled ‘shotgun’, and fired. A tremendous blast rocked the door, blasting Folcum’animtis into the ledge just beneath the south window.

The Ethereal let out a wheezing cry of pain, losing his concentrate on his subsume. His mind control spiral flickered, but he managed to maintain control of Olivia - though she acted robotically on an ‘autopilot’ of sorts while the Watcher recovered. The flames let up for the moment, though Heinrich’s armor continued to burn. This is… painful… but… I will… endure. Folcum clenched his right fist, and lifted up a hand. Burn down to your very soul! A vertical column of soulfire surrounded the Grenadier, causing his nervous system to feel lit on fire by pain as damage was done directly to his psionic resonance.

Olivia’s SMG clicked as she ran out of ammo. As she reloaded it, time slowed down for Stacie - giving her a chance to think. “

What are we going to do, buddy?” she asked Merlux. “My armor’s shot to hell… stinging sensation tells me that the tips of a few of those bullets are lodged in my arm. My aim’s gonna be off, and we’re wrapped in this magnetized bullshit so I can’t exactly fire anyway. We sit here helplessly any longer and she’s gonna kill us.”

“I’d prefer if your friend didn’t murder you,” Merlux agreed, rapping his fingers against his holographic arm nervous as he thought about what to do. “If we use the sonic modulator to free ourselves it’s going to sap a lot of power… and that’s going to leave you with only your firearms to attack with. I can’t think of another option, though. If we can focus it forwards, then maybe we can knock her back.”

“Do it, then.” Time resumed flowing normally. Olivia had finished slotting her magazine in, and now pointed the weapon at Stacie’s head. The air molecules between the two suddenly started vibrating rapidly, and a sonic burst with the strength of a Balmadaar punch shattered the flexi-alloy bindings around the Gunslinger. It continued forward into Olivia, knocking the Ambusher into the wall and jarring her down to her bones. She collapsed onto her face, knocked unconscious. Best outcome we could have hoped for. And there’s the possibility… Chris! When I tell you to, send Alacer over to revive Olivia!

Oh… I see. Chris smirked beneath his helmet, lifting his SBR and firing at the Watcher. As he expected, they didn’t do much damage - but they focused attention on him. He send Alacer over to Heinrich, stopping the progression of his armor’s deterioration, knocking him out of the soul pyre, and repairing what remained of his armor.

Folcum’animtis rose, a grimace across his features. Unfortunate. My pawn is down for the count. He lifted his lower right palm, charging a thin laser beam that he fired through Heinrich’s chest. The angle was a little off, and it punctured one of his lungs rather than outright exploding his heart. With his lower left hand, he hit Christoffer with a mindfray to ensure blackout would not be used by the yellow psion against him. His upper hands folded beneath his now-tattered robes, maintaining his magnetic shield. However, if you believe I am finished you are sorely mistaken. And I can always make more pawns. Another spiral went into Stacie this time, overriding her stubborn will and bringing her under the Watcher’s power. Be a dear and kill these two.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil, Part 8” - DarkGemini24601

Inner Sanctum (Cont’d)

Guess… there… won’t be a signal from you, then. Chrisoffer held his head, but sent a mental single coherent enough to Alacer that the Gremlin understood.

Folcum’s attention was focused on the two in front of him. Heinrich held his chest and wheezing, trying to cover up his vitals from another attack. Folcum took the opportunity to immobilize him with a subsume tendril and start draining his life. Christoffer tried to shoot again, but a soulfire column put a stop to that - bringing the Paramedic to his knees in agony, his psionic energies exhausted or otherwise burnt away. Stacie raised her blitz pistols slowly. Her armor servomotors had been shut off by Merlux, but he could not stop her from moving with her own strength.

Silently, Alacer sent an electrical impulse through Olivia’s nervous system, and used some medical drugs to bring her back to consciousness. In a daze, the Ambusher’s eyelids fluttered. She saw the Gremlin first, and then caught sight of her comrades, about to be slain. What had been done to her came back like recalling a dream. “No, I won’t lose you three too!” Onimiki burst forward, shooting towards Folcum’animtis even as the Reflection was in the process of being invoked. He began to swell in size as he zipped towards the Watcher, and blasted him out of the window with a powerful shockwave.

Folcum’animtis tumbled down two stories before he got over his surprise. How did they- the drone, of course! I’ve been a fool, he realized as he got halfway down the second story. Just as he was passing the roof of the first story, he managed to catch himself with a telekinetic burst. The fall was halted in its tracks, and the Ethereal touched gracefully down on the sandy courtyard. To save himself, however, he’d severed all his psionic connections and thus lost control of his pawn. Glancing to his side, he saw that the Resistance forces were in the midst of battling a swarm of Mecroaches. And although half of the Mexican guerillas had been slain, they were still managing to hold strong. I must kill these four and then join the fray.

Onimiki swirled overhead, threatening to dash those plans. Swirling like a buzzard, the mystic thoughtform created a storm cloud in the center of its flight path. Lightning strikes shot down upon Folcum, battering him with physical force in addition to electricity. However, while the physical blows did injure the Watcher, the electricity was partially absorbed into his magnetic field - strengthening it somewhat. The rest failed to hurt him, as the power armor beneath his burnt-away robes had been made resistant to elemental attack.

Luckily, the thunderbird wasn’t alone. Olivia descended using her grappling hook to swing down alongside the edge of the building. On the first floor roof, she stopped and lifted her bolt caster - now reloaded. A bolt shot forth into Folcum’s armor. Although his shield was stronger now, the high-velocity, high-frequency ‘arrowhead’ was more than enough to tear a chunk out of the Watcher’s plating. “Onimiki, to Stacie!” The gigantic bird shrunk down to a human-sized form again, wrapping around Stacie and allowing her to fly overhead.

Folcum’s eyes widened as he realized the threat the combo posed. He created a pulse beam with two combined hands, and then a torrent of soulfire with another. The Ethereal crisscrossed the two attacks through the sky. Onimiki could not buffet either attack away, though he did protect Stacie from some of the mental fire’s effects. The beam cut across her armor, burning her flesh underneath by conduction. “Ahhh!” the Gunslinger cried out in pain. “Can’t… screw up… here…” She lifted her blitz pistols, and fired wildly. Some of the shots impacted the Watcher’s armor, shredding it in several places much to his chagrin.

Enough! I refuse to fall to four mere humans! the Watcher declared. He shot a mind control spiral into Olivia, causing her to struggle as control was sapped away. Like having been sick before, she had some immunity to the same attack twice; unlike an infectious disease facing antibodies, however, her resistance was not enough to avoid being controlled. It only gave her enough time to prompt Onimiki to descend so Stacie could land rather than crash.

A gout of acidic flames battered the Gunslinger, melting away her armor and - where the beam had cut it open - searing her flesh. Only her armor’s servomotors kept her standing as she howled in pain. “That… fucking… mentality is why you… always lose!” Stacie’s armor forced her hands upwards, and she let loose a column of soundwaves powerful enough to shatter glass. They impacted the Watcher of Lower North America like a physical blow, knocking him onto his back in agony.

Struggling to push himself back up, Folcum commanded Olivia to reload her bolt caster and shoot at Stacie. Merlux warned the Gunslinger, giving her enough time to force herself to one side. The bolt went through one of her arms, but she didn’t feel much pain from it this time. Sparks flew from the damaged mechanical limb. This is bad… that was the only one I could shoot well with. And we’re low on power.

Folcum rose, violet-blue psionic energy crackling around him. Victory was within sight for the Watcher. He had the most dangerous opponent under his control, and all his enemies were wounded in some way. The Elder needed only finish the job. As he lifted his hand to send a pulse beam through Stacie’s skull, he wondered where the pair of male soldiers had gone to. A shot sounded from behind him, the noise similar to a shotgun blast. A follow-up ‘rat-tat’ from a battle rifle caused warm violet blood to spill down his back - a severe wound that staggered the Ethereal.

What… is this…

Christoffer and Heinrich appeared from the shadows. Alacer had patched them up physically and mentally, enough to stand and fight even if a dull ache throbbed throughout Chris’s body and Heinrich’s wounds. “Managed to climb down in time,” Chris exhaled in relief.

“We don’t need teleimagery to go invisible, you moron. I guess you’re only good at moving pieces on a chessboard, not fighting on your own,” Heinrich taunted, taking some satisfaction out of slinging insults to distract himself from the pain. His voice did wheeze due to his ruptured lung.

Folcum’animtis whirled. You… I won’t let you…

A revolver shot rang out behind Folcum. “Bad plan… turning away from me,” the Texan Gunslinger behind him told the Ethereal as he collapsed to his knees. The Watcher lowered his hands to his torso - and found that a wide hole had been blown into the side of it by the hi-freq magnum. The ribs on his left were missing. “Sometimes… I guess you don’t need to be all that accurate,” Stacie decided, lowering her weapon and wobbling, her adrenaline starting to fade - exhaustion replacing it.

Unable to muster words from the pain, his consciousness rapidly fading, the Watcher of Lower North America collapsed mask-first into the sand, and soon thereafter expired.

“Any… funny quips left in you?” Christoffer questioned his squadmates with a tired voice.

Heinrich, breathing hard, merely shook his head with a faint groan exiting his lips. Olivia merely laid on her back, her mind strained by the constant use of her Reflection’s power and the recurrent mind control she’d endured. Stacie fell to her knees, shaking her head. “Nope… nothing… get me back to my berth.”

“I’m not carrying you,” Christoffer spoke with an air of finality.

Stacie had Merlux turn on her comms. “Hey… Firebrand, mission complete. How would you feel about carrying me into the Skyranger?”

Danielle’s voice crackled over comms. Resigned, she informed them, “I’ll make sure Chandra brings a stretcher… good work, Maverick Squad.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Flaming Vigil - Epilogue”

2334 Hours, February 16th, 2039; about 4 hours after the mission.

Christoffer leaned against the wall of the medical bay. His wounds were only mental, and he’d convinced Chandra to let him stay out of bed so he could watch over his squadmates. Stacie reclined in the rightmost bed. Her robotic arm was missing - currently being repaired in the cybernetics lab. The hits she’d taken from Olivia’s SMG - which she didn’t shy away from complaining about to the Algonquian-Caucasian beside her - had been patched up by a doctor. Heinrich had been sedated and taken away for an operation to try and take care of his lung.

Chris was trying to be optimistic about the procedure. From what Kazuko had told him, the laser hole was thin enough that the organ could be salvaged. If it couldn’t be, Heinrich would have a hard time keeping up in combat. He might even have to be benched. I hope it doesn’t come to that… he is right about his skills, the bastard. The Lieutenant managed to smile faintly, recalling the boast.

There was no sign of Poinsettia, who had been taken to the cybernetics lab by Emmeline for diagnostics to be run on her servos. Glancing over at the other member of his squad, who was currently covered up by a film of nanite paste, Chris felt his smile leave him entirely. “Is she going to be alright, Chandra?”

“I’m surprised she even survived that grevious of a wound. Tenacious woman,” the Indian doctor responded, knelt at Zoya’s bedside. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Chris...”

You never do! the Norwegian mentally snapped, but maintained outward decorum.

“...I can’t grow back what isn’t even present. If she had more of her skin left over, I could fix that… but to have most of her flesh burnt off? It can’t be restored naturally. We can try and use grafts and I can see what I can do personally, but it may not be the same.”

Chris sighed. “As long as you can keep her alive, I’ll… take what I can get. I just hope… she doesn’t look like some sort of frankenstein monster when she wakes up. For her sake more than anyone else’s.”

“I’ll do my best. But I can’t make any promises as to how it will turn out,” Chandra replied firmly.

“I know. I know.” Chris rubbed his forehead, fearing for the new addition to his squad. He walked over to her bedside, taking a knee and remaining there for her for awhile - even if she wasn’t aware of what was going on around her.

***​

0913 Hours, February 18th, 2039; roughly two days after the mission.

Zoya slowly opened her eyes. The glare of an overhead light made her shut them again. As she became more conscious, she felt a dull pain all over her body. In isolated places, it would have been an annoyance, but with how total it was, it made her eyes water.

“Hey, she’s awake,” a voice floated to her. It sounded like Olivia’s soft tone, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Take it easy,” Christoffer’s commanding voice came to her. Yes, she recognized that much.

“Where…?” Zoya managed.

“Medical ward. Don’t worry, you’re safe,” Heinrich stated.

“The pain… why…?” Before anyone could answer, Zoya remembered in vivid detail. The indescriblable pain of plasma burning away her flesh. She lifted her hands, only to find they were covered in bandages. “Oh God, oh God, I…”

Stacie laid her hand gently but firmly on Zoya’s shoulder. “It’s alright. You don’t look like a Berserker,” she informed the Sharpshooter, trying to keep the mood light.

“But… I… I felt it all…”

“Yeah.” Olivia nodded solemnly. She lifted an arm, showing a there were a few bandages wrapped around it. “I… donated what I could to promote renewal of your skin.” The Ambusher looked down. “I’m… sorry that it had to be that way, though. I know it isn’t much, but I hope…”

Zoya laid her head back down. “It… could be worse. Glad… I still have… everything essential. I’m lucky my eyes weren’t… burnt out of their sockets or something like that.”

“Thankfully, your head was spared the worst of it. The rest… Chandra and Nouja are like a pair of angels together. They restored your body as best as they could.”

“Tell them I said thanks,” Zoya responded quietly. She opened one of her eyes, adjusting it on its own. She saw Poinsettia lingering in the corner. “Hey… Set.”

“I should be the one feeling bad,” Poinsettia mumbled. “I was there and I… couldn’t stop that bastard.”

“He had teleporting grenades,” Heinrich admonished the Juggernaut. “Don’t even try and pretend like you could have done anything about it.”

Zoya smiled painfully. “Bet you… are pressuring the science team to figure out how to make you one.”

Heinrich swung his arm. “Oh, hell yeah. Turning their tools against them… that’s the best mode of revenge.”

“Anyway, it’s… alright, Set. I’ll live… and… my skin looking like Olivia’s is hardly the worst fate in the world.”

“Chandra said it won’t be as… smooth. Might looked scarred in a lot of places, and a bit paler than I am,” the Algonquian-Caucasian noted. “Just to warn you.”

“Half your beauty is still not bad,” Zoya joked weakly.

“Oh, we’ve already made her aware how lucky she is,” Stacie quipped, smiling.

“Regardless… ADVENT made me look like some sort of monster. Pale, white skin is a lot better than stone-gray flesh.” Zoya chuckled morbidly. “Suppose I should thank that Sectoid bastard.”

Poinsettia stepped over, sitting next to Zoya. “You’re a trooper, you know that?”

“Came from a military family in Siberia. Was pretty much the only thing we had going for us,” Zoya explained. “And besides… I’d rather laugh at it than let myself be awash in pain. I learned from example.” Her vision flitted over the four original Mavericks. “You guys taught me that.”

Christoffer nodded. “Glad we can be a source of inspiration. It’s good to have you among us, Zoya. Welcome back to the land of the living.”

***​

Stepping out of the medical ward, Christoffer glanced to his right. Standing there was the former Lieutenant in charge of Areco Squad, standing at attention. “Something you need, rookie?”

“I was wondering if I could join your squad, Lieutenant, sir,” the Mexican recruit requested.

Christoffer chuckled, extending a hand. “Our team’s not official… so I’ve got no problem in saying yes to that. Welcome to the Mavericks, Jorge Lopez.”

“Honored to be a part, sir.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Someone to Care For
Part One

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
Former-Protectorate Facility

Listening softly to the low hum of the machines throughout the room, the low beeping that assured him the girl was still alive, Shen watched and waited patiently for his newest arrival to wake from her slumber in what was turned into a medical room just for her. He was surprised when she arrived. Shocked even. What other of his people would put trust in him, even under these circumstances. He accepted, of course. Even had he not known Quella’Entriessis, he would have accepted. The question was, did he have a right to accept.

The girl's eyes fluttered open, looking around the room, beginning to panic before setting her eyes on Shen'lutusus. "H-huh? Where... Where's sister? What's going on...?"

"It is okay, child," Shen quickly said, using his own voice just as she was. "Please, calm yourself. You do not want to hurt yourself."

She suddenly began to cough, deciding to switch to her telepathy. I don't know where I am... When I wake up, I am supposed to see sister...

Your sister is... preoccupied at the moment. But she cared about your safety above all else. You are currently in the Protectorate facility in Matterhorn, under my care.

Protectorate... You are one of that... Um... Iqnium's friends? She asked, spotting her mask in the corner, emblazoned with a somber face, the opposite of her sister's.

These days, I am afraid I have few I can call friends, though I once called Quella’Entriessis a friend. While I am not sure if she would still say the same of me... but she at least trusted me with your care. All will be explained, I assure you. Please, though, tell me how you feel. Your health is all that is important at this moment in time.

You say... Sister trusts you? She confirmed, assessing herself. I feel fine, I suppose... weaker than usual though, my arms won't really move...

"You haven't had an injection lately." Shen slowly removed his mask, finding it unfair that he could wear his when she couldn't. "But... I will rectify that. I can not make more for... a number of reason, but I have enough left to get you on your feet. At lease, for a while."

That's good... Laying in here for so long would be pretty boring. She replied light-heartedly.

"Tell me, dear... did your sister ever tell you about... Shen'lutuses?"

Uh... I think so, she told me he was nice to her when she was little... But she told me he's not around anymore and it was because he did something that's making it harder to help me get better. She explained, trying to recall.

Shen lowered his eyes. "Y... yes... I suppose my actions have done just that, haven't they?"

Your? Her eyes widened slightly. But Sister trusts you... Maybe you two... Just don't agree anymore, on how to make me feel better? But she sent me here because... She knows you want to make both of us feel better.

"Yes... I do..." Shen turned to her again with tired eyes. "Tell me... what do you know of the injections that help you feel better... or the Avatar project?"

Avatar... Hmm... I've heard Sister mention it, that she doesn't like what it takes to complete... But that she does it for me, she tells me it will help me. The ill Ethereal explained.

Shen considered being completely honest, but thought it was a bad idea. "Yes, well, I am afraid I didn't care much for it either. People... were hurt by it. That is why I joined the humans to try and stop it. But I... I never... meant to hurt children by my actions."

Sister says that sometimes you have to do something you don't like in order to help someone, or follow your ideals. She added, trying to mimic her sister's voice.

Shen smiled lightly. "Agreed." He looked up and watched as Dr. Randolf walked in with a small vile of orange liquid. "Your injection is ready. Are you ready?"

She nodded quickly, holding her breath and closing her eyes in preparation.

Shen nodded to the doctor, who connected the genetic materials to the young Ethereal's IV. After a short amount of time, she could feel the regenerative materials giving returning her to a more stable stasis, if only for a while.

She felt instantly better after being injected, but already missed the usual biokinesis provided by her sister's reflection. Oh! I forgot to tell you my name! I'm Quelliri.

"Yes, of course... proper introductions. How rude of me." Shen rose to his feet and bowed. "As I said, I am Shen'lutusus. It is a pleasure to meet you."

You talk like the kings and queen in my sister's plays. You would make a great nobleman! She giggled.

Shen laughed lightly. "That is quite kind of you to say... to... a traitor." He turned away, letting out a long sigh.

Falling silent, Quelliri remembered how her sister helped her when she was sad. Want to do a play with me?

Shen slowly turned back. "Play?" He rubbed the back of his neck, one of his many human expressions. "Sure. What would you like to play?"

No no silly! A play! It's this thing humans invented... My sister discovered them when we came to earth! She smiled wide, pointing at him. First, each of us makes up a character we will pretend to be, then we talk to eachother as those people! The biggest and best plays will have one person play a bunch of people, or, or have a bunch of people playing one each!

Shen sat down next to the young Ethereal again and nodded. "Alright then. That... sounds like fun. Let's give it a try."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Someone to Care For
Part Two

Okay, okay, she usually starts us off with "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, Elders and Sectoids alike!" Then, she introduces our characters! Quelliri thought for a second before deciding. I will be... Madame Mystery! A strange woman who wandered into the city of... Hornmatter! Looking to solve the story of my past!

Alright then. I will be... Sir Savior, a... wondering hero who quests to bring good to those in need. Will... that due?

Yes! Wonderful! Quelliri exclaimed, going on. The scene is a dark and frozen night! Lightning and thunder fill the sky! It's during this night, Madame Mystery is corned by thugs while looking for the secrets of her past! With no way out, she's almost accepted her fate.

"Give me your money!" The lead thug said, but Madame Mystery stood her ground and would not be scared!

However, it looked as though there were too many to fight alone! She would need help!

Alright, um... suddenly, lightening strikes, and a shadow is cast of the thugs. Out line hero leaps down from a tall building, and stands proud. "Step away from that innocent or face my justice!" he cried valiantly.

Quelliri puts on a scared expression. "It's him! Sir Savior! Oh man we've got to get outta here! We can't take them both!"

As the thugs departed, Madame Mystery approached him. "You saved me, you are such a brave hero!"

Shen bowed. "Think nothing of it," he responded. "I am sure you could have taken them. I merely evened the odds. But what are you doing out here all alone?"

"I am searching high and low for the secrets of my past." She said, brushing the hair from her eyes. Quelliri continued.

"Ah, such a noble and important task." Sir Savior cupped one of her hands and gave her a dashing smile. "You simply must let me join you on your quest. Assisting one such as you is my calling in life."

The small Ethereal giggled lightly. "Then let us be off, noble hero!" The two then strolled off together, wondering what adventures were still left to be had!

She looked up at him, clearly very jubilant. See? Wasn't that fun?

Shen nodded. "It was, my dear. Took my mind off of my troubles." He patted her shoulder. "You are quite smart."

Thanks, I try. She replied with a smirk. So, what do you do? My sister is a strategist.

Shen scratched his cheek. "Well... before a little while ago, I was the Overseer of Europe, tending to affairs and acting as the middle man between the humans of this country, ADVENT, and the Protectorate."

You mean like that Cordiam? I don't really like her very much... Quelliri stated simply.

Shen laughed, and leaned in close. "Well... between you and me, I don't like her very much either. But don't tell anyone. Might make me look bad with the others."

Okay. Your secret is safe with me! She assured, managing to twitch one of her fingers.

Shen noticed, and nodded in satisfaction. "Just a matter of time now. I want to see you walking around this base on your feet, okay?"

Yeah, sure, okay... But it can be really hard sometimes. She said, looking up at the ceiling.

"I know." Shen folded his four hands. "What about your telekinesis? Can you use that to get around?"

I'm really good at floating yeah! Way better than my sister, but she doesn't mind that much. Quelliri smiled.

"Can you show me now?" Shen asked, stepping back.

Right! She replied as her eyes glowed red, matching a faint aura around her as she began to float.

"Excellent. Once your infusion has given you more energy, you can travel around the lab with this." Shen motioned for her to lay back down. "But let's take this slow, okay?"

Mmhm... She agreed. So... Are you all alone here?

Shen was silent for a moment before answering, "I... have a human whom I am quite fond of. But... there are no others of our kind. I had one, an assistant that was loyal, but he died several months ago."

I'm sorry. Quelliri looked down. I spend most of my time around sister and my squishy friends. They are so fun to do plays with! They can pretend to look like all kinds of humans.

"Oh?" Shen gave her a curious look. "Look like humans? Do you like humans? Many of our kind do not, seeing them as pets at best, tools at worst."

Of course I do, they made all of the plays I love so much!

"Yes, of course." Shen rubbed his chin. "There is a human here, as I mentioned, that I am quite fond of. I am afraid I will not be able to see you as often as either of us would like. There is much I still need to do before this conflict is over. But I will ask her to spend time with you. I think you'll like her. She has an easier time relating to us then most humans, she is kind, and I am sure she would be quite fond of your plays."

She sounds great! I I can't wait to meet her! Quelliri said excitedly. If only Sister weren't so busy. But I'm sure she'll be back to check on me any time!

Shen eyes darted about. "Yes, well... when you are feeling better, we will... discuss that." He rose to his feet. "I must return to my work now. Is there anything I should have sent your way to help you adjust?"

Do you have Romeo and Juliet?

Romeo and..." Shen thought for a moment. "Ah, Shakespeare, William. Poet, playwright, and actor of the late 16th, early 17th century. Of course. I can have his entire library sent to you in an easy to use data pad."

Quelliri seemed giddy. I'd hug you but uh... You know.

"Of course." Shen thought about it for a moment, then leaned down and hugged the young Ethereal as tightly as he could without hurting her.

Wow... You really must care! She exclaimed, a little embarrassed.

Shen released her, and cleared his throat. "Yes, well... I... hugging is a human interaction, one that I have never partaken in. But I can see why it is popular, and... well, as the humans say, you looked like you needed one."

You look like you could need some too. The young Elder replied, attempting to comfort him.

Shen slowly nodded. "I believe I... will enjoy having you here." He placed his mask on, and gave a bow. Until next time, Madame Mystery.

Quelliri giggled. Till next time, Sir Savior!

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Learning Leader”

Sierra Madre Mountains, Nicaragua
1238 Hours, February 19th, 2039
Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Floor 4, Central Block
Guerilla Tactics School

“I can’t believe Zoya’s already able to sit up and move around a bit,” Yakone said with a shake of her head. “You never cease to impress, Aunt Nouja.”

The Inuit woman smiled softly. “I learned from the best. From what I’ve seen and heard, it seems Chandra taught you well too.”

Chuckling, the Ranger across from the younger Ipiktok sister replied, “yeah, though I went above and beyond with it. I’m able to keep myself patched up through just about anything, though can’t do the sort of intricate work you can. Having you on the battlefield again would be a huge advantage for us.”

At that, Nouja frowned. “No,” she responded quietly. “I don’t think I want to fight and kill ever again. Not after the decade of service to ADVENT in which I committed so many horrible acts.” The former ADVENT Major looked over her oily black hands.

“You know that’s not your-”

“I do. That does not change the fact that I remember what I did in vivid detail. I worry I’d be a liability as a soldier, and… that I might not have the stomach to take any more human lives,” Nouja explained solemnly. “I feel that I’m more use here, using the knowledge they implanted in me to train soldiers like you. And I’d much rather use my abilities to heal.”

“I get that.” Yakone rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry if I sounded pushy about it. I’d just love to fight at your side.”

“I understand. You take the thirst for justice from both your father and your mother in that regard,” Nouja noted. “I’m proud of you. I just don’t believe I can share in your exploits out there.”

“Alright. I won’t bother you about it further… though if you ever change your mind…” Yakone shrugged. “Who knows, you could be like batman or something. Fight in a nonlethal style, and just act as a support soldier. You do know how to use arc weapons now.”

“I… suppose I do.” Nouja sighed. “I’ll certainly put more thought into it. I will admit that I do worry when you and Atka go out to fight.”

Yakone smiled warmly, getting up from her chair and hugging her aunt. “That’s all I can ask for. Altogether, I’m just glad to have you back. I missed you so much.” Nouja returned the embrace for awhile, only separating when Yakone was ready to. The Ranger sat back down, stretching her arms. “Anything else you’ve got for me today?”

“I believe that will be enough. Just keep working on simplifying your thought process when communicating with squadmates. Teamwork is only possible if the others understand your strategy.”

The freedom fighter nodded. “Right. Synergy, and all that. I’ll keep that stuff in mind. So…” Yakone asked curiously. “Who’s this other person that you’re going to be teaching today?” She noticed Nouja tense. “You… uh…” Ever-perceptive, Yakone realized who it was. “Her? Are you sure about that? I know you want to work things out, but-”

“I’ll be alright. I’d much prefer if we weren’t avoiding one another. And Atka was the one that sanctioned this… she should be bringing O’Brien here any minute now,” Nouja specified.

The door slid open, Morrigan’s voice ringing out. “So I told him if he ever looks at me like that again, I’ll shove my fist so far… down…” Morrigan slowed to a stop, giving Nouja an awkward smile. “H… hey.”

“Hello, Miss O’Brien,” Nouja greeted the Specialist respectfully. “I’m glad you could make it.”

Atka placed a hand reassuringly on Morrigan’s shoulder. You did say you wanted to smooth things over with her, she silently reminded the Irishwoman.

Morrigan nodded, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Listen, Nouja… this has been a long time coming. Um… I’m not known for having the coolest head, and I’m not known for being the most forgiving either… but please Nouja… can we just be what we are supposed to be? Two women on the same side of a fight? Maybe even… friends some day?”

Nouja nodded. “I’d like that very much,” the Inuit woman agreed.

Morrigan walked up to her and sighed. “I… I get… that it wasn’t you.” She placed a hand on her chest. “In my eyes, I killed the woman who truly hurt me that day we got you back. I know it is hard for you, having those memories in you. I don’t want to make it hard for you. So… put it all behind us?” She offered her hand.

Walking forward, Nouja shook Morrigan’s hand. “Agreed. I really appreciate the effort this requires of you,” the Inuit woman noted. “Thank you for… being able to forgive me for all the suffering my abilities have caused you.”

Morrigan shook her head. “Not forgiving you… because you weren’t to blame. I just hope one day, you’ll accept that. In the meantime… any guidance you or your sister can give me would be much appreciated.”

Nouja returned to the front of the room. “Take a seat. I’d like to hear what you know about being an officer already, before I delve into any specific training.”

Morrigan sat down and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… I know to be a good officer, you have to be able to focus on everything and everyone at once or something like that. You have to be able to think several steps ahead. You have to be a good leader and example. Stuff like that?”

“Correct. One of the hardest parts is being able to keep track of all the soldiers under your command at any given time. The HUD system within your helmet should help with that, but keep two things in mind as well,” Nouja adjudicated. “First, positioning is key. If you can put your subordinates into a good spot to fight from, then they will be able to adapt to enemy movements on their own - at least partially. Secondly, having a second-in-command is infinitely useful. The more organization within your squad, the more effective it will be able to operate without direct input from you. As an officer, you’ll want to be as efficient as possible.”

“Efficient… right.” Morrigan took a deep breath. “I guess, if you position people well, it is easier to keep track of where they are, and a good second-in-command can… pick up your slack. Not… not that you should have any slack, right?”

“No one is perfect. So yes, there will be times where something will not go the way you intend. By reducing the amount you need to control at any given time, you allow yourself the opportunity to think of contingency plans for those moments. But again, there will be times where you cannot succeed completely. No longtime commander goes without losses,” Nouja stated. “That’s just the way it is.”

Morrigan nodded. “Right. It’s just… do you guys really think I’m officer material? I’m not… trying to get you guys to doubt me or anything. I’m just having a problem with my own self doubt. I’m not even entirely sure why to be honest.”

“You have a tactical mind,” Atka spoke up. “I’ve noticed it before, but the fact that you were able to come up with a plan to defeat Tien’lyssigan is nothing to shrug at. I want your potential to grow, and it won’t if you shy away from the role.”

“Sure, I expanded upon that strategy of yours, but if you hadn’t suggested it I’d just have been roasting in those pyro vipers the whole fight,” Yakone added.

Morrigan smiled. “I… I guess I… have some potential. And I want to do everything I can to help. I doubt I’ll ever to get to your skill level, Commander, but if you all really believe in me, I guess it is only fair I believe in myself.”

Atka crossed her arms. “Alright, then. Let’s continue.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

“The dawn will rise on an enduring Chile.”

XCOM Mission Parameters

Shanty City Valparaiso, Republic of Chile
0745 Hours, February 21st, 2039 A.D.
Eliminate the two Watchers of S.A.

XCOM Forces

Menace 2-5

LT O’Brien, Morrigan [Specialist]
SGT Inverse, Luna [Ambusher]
SQ Inverse, Lina [Sharpshooter]
CPL Red Hawk, Mark [Specialist]

UCFF Forces

Sandstorm Squad
(equipped with plasma weaponry and alloy armor)

Major Jorge Rivera [Carbine, Pistol, Febriknife, Medkit, Impulse Grenade]
Sergeant Benjamin Castillo [Carbine, Pistol, HE Grenade]
Luis Lopez [Anti-material Rifle, Revolver, Endopolarity Grenade]
Vicente Torres [Battle Rifle, Shortened Shotgun, Magnetic Launcher]
Arnold Vargas [PDW, Jet Lance]
Tamara Fuentes [Carbine, SMG, Dragon Grenade]
Fernanda Araya [DMR, Machine Pistol, Scout Drone]
Antonia Torres [Shotgun, Proximity Mines]

Operation Defiant Dawn

About twelve hours ago, the Resistance got word that The Protectorate was preparing for another big Retaliation strike. Considering the massive successes of the United Chilean Freedom Fighters lately, it is no surprise that the enemy would strike at the heart of one of their allied Shantytowns: the city of Valparaiso. Because of this advance warning, quiet evacuation procedures have gotten underway while additional forces - including our XCOM squad - have entered the city and set up defenses in front of the evacuation point. By now, however, the pair of Watchers coordinating the attack have realized that information has been leaked and are commencing their attack prematurely.

This is a rare opportunity for us. As long as we can hold off the enemy, we can complete this mission with little to no civilian casualties. Not only that, but defeating Protectorate at our AO is entirely possible with the combined efforts of UCFF soldiers assisted by their elite forces all around the defensive perimeter and our XCOM squad guarding a crucial chokepoint. Genesis will be safeguarding the rest of the city. If we can defeat them here, it will be signal the beginning of the end for the Peacekeepers here. Without their head tacticians there will be chaos and the people will know for certain that the aliens can be beaten.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Defiant Dawn
Part One

As the fog rolled softly through the streets of Valparaiso, a damp feeling threatening to overtake everything. Morrigan felt as if she was trapped in some otherworld. A dream perhaps, one with low visibility, shanty structures, and the sound of fighting in the distance. The sound of death. It was the reassuring smile from Red Hawk that kept her grounded at the moment.

“Are you okay their, Chica?” Jorge Rivera asked her with a supportive smile.

Morrigan sighed. “When I agreed to this, I thought I’d be in charge of XCOM and you would have your people. I was going to be in charge of a squad of four, not twelve. It is awkward enough with Luna have more experience leading then me…”

“That is exactly why the Commander sent me,” Luna assured her. “If things get to tense, I’ll take over. But it won’t come to that. You’ll do fine.”

“With both your group and my Sandstorm Squad,” Rivera added. “If you can not fully trust yourself, trust in your Commander. If she believes you are ready to lead, you probably are. Has she ever let you down before.”

“I guess not…” Morrigan mumbled, then quickly shook her head. “Alright… alright, everyone.” She rose her voice so the whole group could hear. “The rest of your group, along with Genesis, will handle the rest of the city. We only need to worry about this chokepoint. Most of the foes we might face won’t be able to get through this part of the city without running into us first. Visibility is low, so count on Mark and I to scout with our Gremlins. These narrow alleys make for good chances to ambush them, but don’t get careless. And, um… yeah, it’s a little too narrow to call in for aerial evacuation, but… but that doesn’t matter. We won’t need it.”

She looked about the squad and point a few people out. “Rivera, Lopez, take a spot in the buildings to the left. Fuentes, Castillo, to the right. The rest of you, take positions behind the debris, cars, and anything that offers decent cover.” She turned to the Torres siblings. “Antonia, go a little ahead and set up some mines. Vicente will be your back-up. I trust your judgement on where to set them.”

“Can do.” Antonia slapped her brother on the chest. “Vamos a explotar una mierda.”

“Luna, you do the same. Lina....” Morrigan looked around. “Not much in the way of high buildings.”

“I could go a little ways back to make up for it,” Lina offered.

“Alight. But not too far back. We don’t need something sneaking past us and getting the jump on you with you too far away for us to help.”

“Not that you’ll let that happen, right?” Lina gave her a quick wink and head out.

What followed was a bit of uncomfortable silence. A short-lived calm before the storm. Again, Morrigan’s thoughts returned to the feeling that she was in a dream world, one that teetered on the edge of pleasant dream and unsettling nightmare. But she wouldn’t let her doubts take over. She wouldn’t let this turn into a nightmare.

Her Gremlin flew overhead with Mark’s. It was Fernanda’s own scout drone that spotted the first foes first. Morrigan ordered everyone to stay in cover until the time was right. The first wave was made up of ADVENT soldiers, or Protectorate Peacekeepers as the aliens now called them to distance themselves from the ‘failure’ ADVENT became when Desmond turned members into traitors in droves.

The fighting kicked off with a well-timed sniper shot that took out one enemy. Lina had benefitted quite a bit from with XCOM training, as she took out another before they had time to scatter. Another half dozen were injured or killed by someone tripping a mine. “Light ‘em up!” Morrigan shouted, and the Peacekeepers were pelted with the ambushing shots of a dozen enemies.

The initial fight was lengthy but not as difficult as Morrigan had feared. The Peacekeepers had numbers, almost always equaling Morrigan’s side and - with back up - sometimes outnumbering them two-to-one. But they lacked experience, they lacked leadership, and they lacked tenacity. In the midst of a reload, Morrigan wondered out loud, “Did Walker get lucky when he pulled his loyal ADVENT guys, or was he somehow able to get the loyalty of all their best?”

“Maybe a little of both,” Red Hawk offered. “Maybe the more skilled, higher-ranked ADVENT soldiers were closer to him and thus could be influenced better. Either way, what remains leaves much to be desired. It is obvious the Elders are throwing in fresh recruits to try and compensate for the losses. It really is sad. I’m sure most of the men and women we are fighting don’t even realize they are a forlorn hope simply meant to soften us up.” With reluctance but necessity, he fired, one of said Peacekeepers falling and not getting back up. With little in the way of injuries, XCOM and the UCFF fought a one sided battle, the Peacekeepers no match with their foes armed with plasma weapons and alloy armor.

Then the alien forces came.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Defiant Dawn
Part Two

“Vargas, pull back!” Morrigan yelled, sending GZ-MO and its healing protocol to aid Fernanda. “Rivera, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…” Jorge healed up after a shot pierced his armor and almost took off one of his arms. “Not a big fan of using my medkit on myself someone else could benefit from it.”

“Still need you in this fight, Rivera. Heal up and then use your weapon to prevent someone else from getting injured in the first place.” Morrigan looked out and watched as Antonia stepped out of her hiding spot to blast a Muton in the back, punching through its already shredded armor and killing it, while at the same time leaving her open for a follow up shot from the other Muton in front of her. Morrigan’s heart skipped a beat as she feared she would watch someone die under her, only for Antonia to be saved when a sniper shot pierced the back of the Muton’s helmet. “Thank god, Lina,” Morrigan muttered. Over the comms, she shouted, “Antonia, stay in cover unless you can take out a single target! If you can’t, then pull back!”

“I-I’ll do better next time,” Antonia responded, a bit shaken up.

An explosion rang out, and Castillo said, “Good news: a Viper is now in two pieces. Bad news: I believe that was the last of our mines.”

“Good thing we held on to our grenades through the fight with ADVENT.” Tamara tossed a dragon grenade. It went off, and that was followed by the sound of the few remaining peacekeeper troopers burning.

“Luna, Vicente, I spotted a Viper trying to make their way over on the roof tops,” Morrigan warned. “Don’t let it sneak…” Her eyes widened in fear as the sickly sound of tearing flesh came from behind her. She slowly turned to find a Prowler, fully formed, preparing to pounce. She had a quick second or two to think about how stupid she had been to not suspect they would try and sneak one of these things through the fog before it leaped at her, claws out.

Charon practically pounced on Morrigan himself, the woman hitting the ground awkwardly and painfully, but at least the Prowler missed. You shall not harm her this day! Red Hawk rushed to Morrigan's side as the woman rolled to their feet and opened fire, but the alien cat laughed in their heads as a combination of precognition and mind probing kept them from hitting it. It took a swipe, imbedding deep slashed in Mark’s chest that made him stumble back.

Morrigan glared at the beast, and kicked things up. With her A.I. partner’s usual help, she started speeding over to random position, shooting at various spots in relation to Red Hawk and keeping the beast on the offense. What was more, Vyssini started giving Morrigan last second instructions on where and how to fire, the Prowler unable to read the ‘mind’ of the A.I. and leaving it completely on the offensive. After a minute of this, the Prowler looked around in confusion. A few seconds later, it stumbled a bit as Rivera’s Febriknife stuck out of its front left leg. Throwing it from the shadows, the Prowler wasn’t able to read his mind since it didn’t know he was there, and while it could see the attack coming, it couldn’t accurately predict where it would come from amidst the action. The brief blow to its mobility was enough. Under Vys’ orders, Morrigan charged it at full speed, shoulder tackling it and causing it to tumble to Mark’s feet. He stomped a foot on its neck, and blasted it in the side until it stopped moving.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked up to see Morrigan with a disappointed hand on her shoulder. “What?”

Morrigan scoffed. “Come on… no one liner?”

Red Hawk frowned. “Not my thing. Um… bad kitty.” He shrugged. “I’ll leave the one liners to people like Luke and Yakone.”

Morrigan shrugged back, and turned her attention back to the fight, but to her surprise, it had died down. The Viper she had worried about earlier laid dead off the side of one of the buildings. The few remaining Mutons carefully backed off. After blasting away a Mechroach, the giant, mechanized insect disturbing her more than the near death experience, Antonia regrouped with the others. “They giving up or something? Did we win?”

Vicente shook his head. “I doubt it. Not really their style as long as they have disposable troops to send at us.”

Nodding in agreement, Rivera added, “Either they’re just about out… or they have something else in mind.”

“That something else is incoming,” Lina chimed in over the radio. “Two Elders making their way forward, flanked by half a dozen of those special armored Mutons. Destroyers, if I remember correctly.”

Please stop all this senseless fighting, one of the Elders stated as they neared the group, female based on the projected mental voice. Why can’t you understand we only want peace for your world?

“Yeah, well, your kind of peace requires one two many human deaths for our liking,” Morrigan counted, thinking to herself, Of course the Watchers would both come my way.

Do you not see we are on the verge of completing our goals?! Once that is finished, no more humans would have to die! None of you have to die today if you simply lay down your arms.

Save your words to the blind, Eosa, the other Ethereal chimed in. These fools would not understand the most simple of common sense responses if they were explained to them like children.

“Well, maybe. Or maybe, even if we thought you weren’t full of it, we don’t believe you wouldn’t just slaughter us once unarmed.” Over the comms, Morrigan stated, “Target the one one the right. He sounds like the more aggressive one based on tone alone.”

Eosa let out a mental scoff. Helioso! They talk about us like we are untrustworthy barbarians when I simply wish to avoid me bloodshed!

Do not it let it vex you. Were a Prowler you have chastised hiss at you, would you be so insulted?

Brother, please. Do not think of these people as mere intelligent pets. Father has warned us many times not to underestimate our opponents, lest our pride and overconfidence be our downfall.

Do not worry, dear sister. I will prove that it is just as easy to overestimate them. Negotiations apparently over just as they started, Helioso held his four hands up. A plethora of psi lances shot out, raining on the XCOM and UCFF forces.

Everyone took cover, giving the Mutons a chance to move forward into cover. Overhead, two alien SHIVs flew forward, taking shots at the foes below. Fernanda had to roll out of cover to avoid being shot by one of them, and several psi lances punched into her back.

“Vargas, get her to cover!” Morrigan cried out. “Lopez, Castillo, cover them!” She opened fire at the Ethereals, notting they were doing little to take cover. As her shots, followed by Rivera’s and Mark’s, stopped shots, she quickly assessed why. Eosa wasn’t attacking despite having her hands forward. “Damn… they’re combining an all offense strategy with an all defense one. Brother focuses on hitting us while sister blocks all our attempts to hit him.”

Rivera added, “And with the narrow chokepoint, we can’t easily get to their sides or behind them, so as long as her brother is in front of her, Eosa doesn’t have to worry about defending herself.”

“Focus on the Mutons,” Morrigan stated over the comms, then ducked down and closed her eyes in thought.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Defiant Dawn
Part Three

“Think… think… behind… doesn’t have to worry about… so probably isn’t…” Again over the comms, Morrigan said, “Antonia, leave Fernanda. Red Hawk’s Gremlin will be over with its aid protocol. Duck through the buildings and sneak your way to one of the alleyways closest to us, and await orders. Rivera, do the same on the opposite side of the street.”

The Elders moved forward forward, slowly but surely. They seemed to give little mind as one of their Muton escorts fell, then another. The male Elder simply focused on offense. A psi lance hit Vargas in the shoulder. A large fire ball knocked a recovered Fernanda on her back, nearly setting her up to be finished off had she not rolled into cover in time. It seemed the perfect combination.

“I have a clear shot on the Elder’s head,” Lina said.

“Hold your fire,” Morrigan responded. “We’re going to have to time this perfectly.” She dived to the side as one of the SHIVs swooped down and tried to take her out. Moving left and right between cover that offered little cover against an enemy that could fly, it seemed only a matter of time. Her saving grace was Mark’s Gremlin, sneaking behind it. While it was busy attacking, the SHIV realized it was being hacked too late to stop it, and was quickly under Mark’s control.

“Should I use it to take out the other…” He started, when Morrigan started rapidly typing on her controls.

“You’re a genius!” she shouted. “Have it attack the other SHIV, but don’t destroy it. Only keep it distracted.

Red Hawk nodded in understanding. A few glancing shots got the other SHIV’s attention, and they commenced a dance in the air, moving a shooting, one trying to take out the other, the second simply buying time for Morrigan’s Gremlin to claim another hacked machine.

“Antonia, Jorge, are you in position?” Morrigan asked, and got a pair of affirmatives. “Lina, keep that aim on the male Elder. You’ll know when to fire. We might only get one chance at this. Everyone else, take down those last two Mutons. Mark, follow my lead.”

The SHIVs flew up high, then back towards enemy territory. Meanwhile, Morrigan held out a hand, focusing her anger like she had been taught by Atka. Fides formed in full glory, halting the advance of the Ethereals in a big way. How dare you spit on the name of the Overseer of this pitiful country by using that Reflection!

"Nah, it's okay!" Morrigan called out, grinning. "He has a sore throat, is he wasn't using it anymore. I'd say I'd give it back, but last I saw his removed brain was sitting on a slab in our ship!"

Helioso cried out in anger, and unleashed all his might on the Reflection. Psi lances, fireballs, and mighty punches of telekinetic force. Morrigan didn't have the will or strength to grant Fides like its previous master, but all she had to do is bide time. Over and over again, Fides slammed his sword down on the two, striking Eosa's shields. Brother... it is... strong...

Hang in there. It is only a matter of time until this human tired out. His eyes widened as Fides held up his sword, and a whirling vortex appeared around its sword. It jumped back and swung, sending forth its schism garrote forth. The sword-shaped rift ripped into the pair, and Eosa cried out as it took all she had to prevent the attack from ripping the two to shreds.

Helioso!

Hang on, sister! This is their strongest attack! Weather this, and they have nothing! Just keep up the defense!

Once they would be far enough back, the SHIVs swooped down to street level. They charged the Ethereals from behind and opened fire. Glancing shots struck Eosa. As Rivera had somewhat predicted, because Eosa didn’t have to worry about defending herself, she hadn’t, and she was hit in the arm and the side before her brother turned to blast both SHIVs out of the air. Antonia and Jorge popped out of cover, Antonia letting loose with her shotgun while Rivera tossed his impulse grenade. Eosa, despite being injured, was able to react in time, defending herself with a shield and apparently leaving Morrigan’s plan a failure…

Blood splashed down on Eosa’s back and the ground before her. She slowly turned, and face the horror of a whole from sniper’s shot in her brother’s chest. He stared down at himself in disbelief before crumpling to the ground.

Helioso… Helioso, no! She tried to heal him, leaving herself completely open, ignoring the blood flowing out of her side to save him, but it was too late. Brother, please, don’t leave me like this! Brother! She threw off her mask, then his, and looked into his dying eyes. “I’m sorry!” she shouted out loud. “I… I wasn’t strong enough. I… I defended myself… and let them…”

Her brother weakly held her cheek. “No… I-I failed… you. You said… father said… don’t under… under… was a fool. I’m… sorry…”

Eosa held his hand tightly. “Go… g-go with… my love, dear brother. May you… may you continue down the Path in the next life, brave and strong Helioso’jiputer.”

Helioso smiled weakly. “With… love…”

Eosa placed his hands on his chest, a chest that stopped rising and falling a few moments later. She slowly looked up at the humans around her, watching in silence, most not even bothering to lift their weapons. She wiped her eyes, and with as brave a voice she could muster, stated, “I… I hope that… you are noble people. Please… please, you do not need the captivity of a Watcher. I am sure anything you could learn from me, you could learn from Shen’letusus. I… I simply want to be with my brother, but… the Path strictly speaks against suicide. I would… like to die in battle… like he did.”

Morrigan slowly nodded, and walked over to Lopez. Returning with his revolver, she carefully aimed it at the Elder’s chest. “For what it’s worth… I hope you two meet again in whatever afterlife you believe in.” Eosa nodded, smiling in appreciation, and closed her eyes. Morrigan fired, and the pair were respectfully moved to the side, laid down together in one of the side buildings. Her voice cracking a little at first, Morrigan said, “Take… take care of your wounds everyone, and take your previous positions in case another wave comes our way. Rivera, please… please radio the others to let them know the Watchers are down. Tell them to send word to the Protectorate. Hopefully it will get them to retreat.”

As everyone spread out again, Mark placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Morrigan held back a sigh, and nodded. “I’m fine. I… guess my first mission as leader was a success.” She did let out that sigh once he walked away, and took aim down the street once more.