RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[DarkGemini24601]

Above ADVENT Rail Line NA-M
Former Republic of Costa Rica
2218 Hours, June 9th, 2038

Onboard the Avenger
Floors 5-6, Central Block
Command Central

It was precisely 56 minutes since the Overseer got word that an ADVENT train was on its way, and had instructed their team to gather the explosives and move on the railway. 53 minutes since the Overseer’s saboteurs had been deployed. And for the past 49 minutes, Commander Atka Ipiktok had stood before the hologlobe, her hands crossed behind her back. She occasionally glanced around the command hub of the Avenger, watching intelligence staff and the skeleton crew mill around monitoring both Resistance and ADVENT chatter. And from time to time she paced back and forth trying to calm her nerves. But for the most part she found herself staring at the blue holographic depiction of the planet XCOM had sworn to free from alien control.

Atka’s thoughts were adrift as she waited. The hologlobe reminded her of her duty, and her renewed resolve to actually care about things as grand as saving the world. One musing drifted to the next, and she considered someone else who was a lot more zealous about the Resistance’s goals. Yakone. And from there, her daughter and the rest of her team that was going to be deployed to clear the site. A voice broke her train of thought temporarily.

“Just got word from the Overseer, the trap is set and about to be sprung within… estimated two minutes!” Recorder Bailey Monroe called out from her desk, having one half of her headset off to make the announcement at a reasonable volume while the other earmuff was on to keep listening to the chatter. The Commander stepped away from the blue sphere in the center of the room, making her way over to a computer, and brought up the strike team’s profile again.

At the top of the file she noted that the mission hadn’t been given a name yet. “Hm…” Atka considered her options, but - knowing she had more important pieces of information to go over and it was almost time to launch the Skyranger - ultimately came up with something simple but fitting.

***​

XCOM Mission Parameters

Operation Burning Stallion
ADVENT Train Supply Raid
~2230 Hours, June 9th

North American Continent
Former Republic of Costa Rica
ADVENT Rail Line NA-M

XCOM Forces

Menace 1-5

**SGT Nash, Kevin [Ranger]
SQ Belle, Stacie [Sharpshooter]
SQ Ipiktok, Yakone [Ranger]
SQ “Red Hawk”, Mark [Specialist]
SQ Van Dam, Luke [Grenadier]
SQ Brown, Olivia [Ambusher]
SQ Inverse, Luna [Ambusher]
SQ Chambers, Alexis [Trooper]

Gear

Lethal Grenades: AP, HE, CU, AT, Chlorine, Incendiary
Utility Grenades: SP, TG, Flashbang, Smoke, Rebuff
Miscellaneous Items: Medkit, Battlescanner, Combat Knife, Radio Jammer
Class Specific: Bear / Spike / IED Trap [Ambusher], HEAT Missile [Specialist]

Mission Briefing

It’s taken quite a bit of waiting, but the time is finally now. By the time you’re reading this Menace 1-5, the ADVENT train will have hit the explosive surprise the Resistance set up along the railway. The train will be stopped in its tracks. There might be some casualties amongst the ADVENT forces onboard that train, but there will still be plenty of opposition.

Therefore it is imperative that the squad make use of their concealed ambush to the fullest. Lay your own trap and spring it when the time is right so you don’t end up fighting an entire platoon at once. To that end Squaddie Ipiktok and Brown will be moving up as forward scouts; Olivia will set up some surprises for ADVENT and Yakone will make use of her psionic abilities to kick the fight off.

Watch eachothers backs, and secure some supplies for XCOM, Menace 1-5. I’m counting on you to pull this mission off without my direct presence. Good luck. - Commander A. Ipiktok

Objectives:

1. Neutralize all enemy targets to secure the mission site.
2A. Secure the supplies and equipment aboard the train.
2B. Avoid collateral damage at all costs.

Hazards:

1. Volatile Containers - ADVENT Trains often run on fuel tanks made from a synthetic Elerium jelly. It’s a highly efficient fuel source, but it is also quite explosive. Not only would detonation harm nearby combatants, but it would risk destroying other supplies as well.

2. Light Rain with Fog - There is a light rain in the area accompanied by a thin fog, so visibility will be reduced to some degree. The ground will be muddy.

Terrain:

The mission sight is characterized by a largely straight rail line in a swathe cut through the Costa Rican rainforest. The train crashed when it began to round a bend, and the front two cars of the locomotive are overturned. The pilot car was blown up completely, and the car behind it is charred. The rest of the train was halted by an emergency magnetic clamping system built into the rail system. Because of this, the majority of the supplies are contained within what remains of the ADVENT train.

The rainforest itself is nice and dense, making for a good position to ambush from. The Skyranger will be landing on a bluff overlooking the railway. The high ground ends about twenty feet from the artificial clearing where the railroad is. The low ground contains a less dense collection of trees, so only the scouts will be able to move through here without a moderate chance of being spotted while the squad is still concealed.

In total, the train has eight cars still on the tracks. Their individual contents are unknown.

Civilians:

There should be no civilian presence in the mission site.

Enemies:

Expect regular ADVENT troops with the exception of Stun Lancers, as well as Specialist ADVENT forces (which include Rocketeers, Scorchers, Assassins, and Saboteurs). Dropship reinforcements are highly unlikely as long as the enemies are eliminated and the assets are recovered in a timely manner. Anticipate alien forces to include Sectoids and Vipers potentially accompanied by alien drone variants such as Worker Drones and Assault Drones.

***​

Atka nodded in approval. All the necessary information had been gathered. She saved the mission profile, which was sent to the Skyranger for viewing on the way to the deployment zone, and then returned to the hologlobe. “Alright Firebrand, get the strike team onboard and takeoff in five minutes. Let’s go get ourselves some contraband.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Black0ut, Dahlexpert, DarkGemini24601, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Burning Stallion, Part 1”

With scarcely a sound, the Skyranger came to a hovering position over the rainforest of Costa Rica. From this vantage point, Firebrand could just see the top of the ADVENT train over the edge of the cliff she was dropping the squad off on. A set of ropes - masked by a thin breath of fog and a flurry of small rain droplets - descended to the forest floor, and admitted Menace 1-5 down from the dropship.

Kevin Nash, a veteran of the first war and the leader of this deployment, touched down first. He cautiously scanned the trees around the team as the others made contact with the ground, his shotgun poised to hit any patrols that might have climbed up to this vantage point after the train crashed. That dim concern proved to be ill-founded, for there was no sign of ADVENT forces on the high ground. He glanced back at the squad he was commanding.

Luna took a deep breath, one to always relish the chance to get into the fresh air. Rocking a battle rifle, she knew she’d have to rely on her excellent aim to hit her foes. “And not hit the cargo,” she whispered to herself, talking to herself as she had a tendency to do.

For her part, Alexis was just glad to be on another mission after what had happened with the Commander, though she wasn’t a big fan of the weather. She wiped some moisture off the front of her helmet and huffed. “At least the fog will limit their vision. I hope…”

Luke looked over his minigun, thinking he should use it more over his powers “Hmm, I can’t wait to go out there, a little rain and fog won’t stop us.” Luke glanced over at the people he was going to be working with “Hell, I can’t believe I got you two again, I must be one lucky man.”

Yakone grinned and started to say something, but the Ambusher next to her tapped her on the shoulder. “What? Can’t I…?”

Olivia shook her head with a small smile of amusement. “We’ve got a job to do, and we’d better start it soon rather than later,” the woman of both Algonquian and Caucasian descent reminded Yakone. Squaddie Brown turned and brushed some of her vibrant hair - the same color as her last name - back before beginning to advance cautiously through the mud towards the edge of the cliff. “Cover us, just in case.”

Stacie Belle nodded with a smile, spinning her machine pistol in hand. “Got it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yakone said in resignation, following her fellow scout forward until they got a wide view of the clearing below. There were flames enduring against the light rainfall, crackling over by the charred remains of the front car of the train and the damaged husk of the second car. “Looks pretty well wrecked to me… the Overseer’s team sure did a number on the rail line,” she whispered to her ally.

“Should keep the South American forces off our back for awhile,” Olivia noted, her vivid hazel eyes scanning the target zone for enemy contacts. Along the train’s length, she caught regular swiveling movement at two points. “Still some turrets operational on the thing,” she said with a sigh. “Best if we avoid those.” Looking further, she sighted a patrol of two ADVENT Troopers, a Gunner, and an Officer. Faintly visible beyond them was some other group, its members hard to discern at this distance. “I’m going to advance and figure out what that other group is. Maybe lay some traps for them when they respond to our initial ambush. You set up and get ready to do your thing, okay?”

Yakone rubbed her hands together. “Got it. This’ll be fun… I’ve never gotten to actually possess an enemy before.”

“Keep up the creepy. I might just influence your callsign to be ‘Spooky Ghost’,” Olivia said with a shake of her head, before hopping down and advancing through the trees. She would wait until the roving Officer-led group closer to the cliff patrolled away from her - or simply glanced away from her position - and then darted between one tree and the next. She made it closer to the team that she couldn’t see well before, and tossed her battlescanner their way. The device landed hidden in the bushes, and she contacted Central. “What do we have over there?”

“Looks like a Sectoid and two Medics,” Atka informed the Ambusher from the Avenger.

“Spike trap isn’t gonna do enough, then,” Olivia decided. She carefully estimated the direction the Sectoid’s pod might come running, and then placed her IED roughly in their path. Stepping back, she went into overwatch, focusing on the group she had trapped to harass any survivors with her arc rifle. “Menace, you’re clear to move up on the cliffside. Move quietly and don’t attract the enemy’s attention, and prepare to gun them down as soon as Yakone has acted.”

The others made their way forward. Alexis walked next to Luke, nervously looking back and forth. “L-let’s hurry and get to the others.”

“Aw, don’t worry darling, let them do their jobs. This is what they're good at setting up traps and being sneaky. Our job is the fun part.” Luke put his arms around Alexis “Ah, there’s no reason to nervous, it’s just a little fog.”

“That’s not… what I’m nervous about.” Flashes of Yakone being squeezed by a Viper flashed in her mind. “I just don’t like my best friend being so close to the enemies. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to her while I was on a mission with her.”

Luke put his hands on Alexis helmet and stared her in the eye. “That’s not going to happen, look we have each others back. We’re a team. I know you don’t want anything to happen to your friend, but I won’t allow anything to happen to her or you alright.”

Alexis nodded. “No time for love, kids,” Luna said from next to them. “We should reach them any second now.”

Yakone leaned up against the back of the thick-trunked tree she was hiding behind as the rest of the squad approached. “I’ll be back in a minute… I’ve got some body hijacking to do.” She gave a thumbs up, glancing over at the enemy patrol, and grinned. “It’s over, ADVENT… we have the high ground.” She then slumped down lifelessly as her mind left her body, traveling as an invisible ghostlike energy towards the officer.

The Troopers turned towards their commanding officer with concern as she suddenly seized up, holding her head. "́A̸r͏e ҉y҉oư alri̢g̴h̕t̡, Sȩrgea̡n͜t?̶" one of them asked.

The Officer paused, and did not respond for a moment, causing the Gunner to wave his hand past her face. "͞Um̸.̕.͡.͟"

Stupid psionic network connection… kindly fuck off, Yakone thought, and then smiled with her new body as she managed to seize control and temporarily sever the mental link. She raised the sleek black magnetic battle rifle she felt in her hands, and shot the Gunner square in the face, dropping them lifelessly to the ground. The two Troopers panicked.

"̨H-He ͟me͟a͜nt ͢n͟o ̛off͠eņs̀e͝,͝ ͞si̢r!" One of them pleaded, thinking the Officer had acted in anger.

‘Officer’ Yakone merely swiveled her battle rifle, trying to use the officer’s psionic mark ability, but found it hard to hijack their psionic powers at the moment. Failing that, she shot the Trooper normally. However, the diversion did give the Sectoid group a chance to come running. A plasma pistol blast shot through the possessed Sergeant’s armor, burning her skin. Yakone felt the pain herself, and grimaced. That… isn’t good. Come on, can’t I sever my connection to their nerves? She heard the click of a magnetic rifle behind her, and realized the surviving Trooper had made his choice. Shi-

There was the crack of magnetically accelerated rounds, and then Yakone’s connection was severed as she felt a burning pain unlike anything else she had ever felt before course through her chest - the surrogate pain of her surrogate body being shot through the heart. She fell to the ground, convulsing in agony. The Sectoid’s two allies, on the other hand, came across the AP grenade and suffered a painful fate as well as it detonated when the tripwire was activated. One was blown to bits, and the other was badly injured - enough so that an electric shot from Olivia took them down and left the alien and Trooper with their respective teams wiped out.

Stacie fired her machine pistol at the Trooper, cutting into his armor but not quite finishing him off. “Mop ‘em up!” Luna aimed her battle rifle, having had time to steady her aim. She fired a precision shot, and the Sectoid’s head popped in a gory display, leaving an injured and extremely confused Trooper by himself.

Here goes… The specialist raised his own battle rifle, aiming at the remaining trooper, and shot two bullets that ensured a closed casket funeral.

“Yak!” Alexis knelt down by her friend. “A-are you okay!? Oh, god…” She pressed her hands against Yakone’s side, sending energy into her to try and help any way she could.

Ultimately, other than frazzled nerves, there didn’t seem to be any physical damage on Yakone. “D-D-Didn’t think… feedback…” she mumbled with barely any coherency at all. “G-G-Guess that’s what… d-d-dying feels…”

Luke started to get a sly smile across his face “Showtime, Alexis. You keep healing your friend,and I will keep the aliens busy.” Luke got to cover in front of Alexis and Yakone.

Luna stepped next to Kevin. “Other than Yakone, that went off rather smoothly. But I doubt we’ll have much time to think. What is out next move, boss?”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Black0ut, Dahlexpert, DarkGemini24601, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Burning Stallion, Part 2”

Kevin only seemed to hear the tail end of what she was saying, having been looking over at his CO’s daughter with concern evident on his features. “O-Our next move? Well… we shouldn’t go towards those turrets, so we should cut around the front and try to hit it from the other side. Hopefully the storage containers will block the line of sight between the automated defenses and us.”

“Right.” Luna stepped next to a tree, making sure no one else was coming as everyone reloaded and got ready to move out. She smiled at Mark, and nodded her head. “That was some good shooting there.”

Red nodded, a slight smile on his face, “Thanks. You didn’t do to bad yourself. Where did you learn to shoot?” The native asked curiously.

“Resistance in China. Joined because I thought it was the best way to save my sister from ADVENT. Of course, XCOM is an even better opportunity.” She paused when she thought she saw movement before adding, “I’d be lying if the thought of stealing from those damn aliens didn’t put a smile on my face.”

“Nice motives. Stealing from ADVENT is pretty interesting; my last group couldn’t even dream of trying to do these kinds of missions. We...didn’t have too many soldiers. More or less, our resistance was a bunch of engineers, building vehicles for other resistances. Maybe they thought some cars would topple ADVENT, bring them down to their level.” Red replied, quickly looking around to see if any hostiles were close.

It turned out that Luna should have trusted her instincts a little more, and that Red Hawk’s head movements inadvertently saved his life. Wind whipped against the side of his face and some sort of sound temporarily deadened the hearing in his left ear as something high-velocity flew past him. Whatever it was, the object slammed into the cliff face that was now behind the squad at full speed, and send chunks of rocks flying from the force of its impact.

“Assassin!” Stacie called out, seeing the signature sleek jet black armor of the Specialist-Rank ADVENT soldier as they lowered their smoking rail sniper rifle and vanished behind a crate again. However, they had brought with them allies both within and without their fireteam. Two Troopers took cover behind a tree each, and opened fire on the squad. To the left of these rightwards attackers was another three groups.

The first contained two gunners, and an ADVENT Rocketeer armed with a rail strike rifle and a conventional rocket launcher. The other two were fireteams that consisted of pairs. The first had a Medic and a Scorcher (the latter distinguished by a red-and-black flamethrower on his back), and the second had another Trooper and a soldier in black-and-white armor that took Kevin a few moments to designate as a Saboteur.

While the Troopers among these four groups opened fire, sending mag rounds flying through the air, the two Gunners picked out priority targets - Kevin and Luke - and laid down suppressing fire to drastically reduce their range of motion and thus their aim. The Rocketeer and Assassin seemed to be cognizant that they had XCOM by the balls and took the time to steady their aim, while the Scorcher started to advance under the cover of the hailstorm of ADVENT weapons fire with the Saboteur following a similar advancing route.

This is bad. Very bad, Kevin thought to himself as bullets began to break apart the tree around him. But the seasoned soldier remained calm, knowing that if he panicked now it would get a lot worse. So instead, he assessed the situation. Luke, Alexis, and Yakone were all roughly nearby each other. He was near Red Hawk and Luna. Stacie was safer than the rest towards the back. And the Ambushers were certainly safe in their own right for the moment thanks to their PCS telling them exactly how to keep their profiles low.

Those things considered, he barked out some orders. “Van Dam, don’t try to shoot a grenade! Just drop that smoke at your feet and cover Chambers and Ipiktok! Brown, toss a flashbang to make those Gunners cool off! Inverse, make those advancing guys back off with a gas cloud! Stacie, kill someone!”

Luke looked at Alexis and Yakone, than at the aliens. “Damn it, fine.” Luke dropped a smoke grenade at his feet giving him and the girls some form of cover. “Ugh I real want to fight, I want to shoot back. But if my priority is to protect them then fine.”

It was Olivia’s turn next. The Ambusher darted forward and to the left, and then hurled her flashbang grenade between the two Gunners. “Wanna see some fireworks?” It burst in a brilliant display of released magnesium, and the two were temporarily blinded along with the Rocketeer - which prevented the clustered team with Luke from being rocket bait for now.

Luna scanned the enemies, and considering the ideas of healing enemies and burning allies both seemed equally annoying, she tossed her Chlorine grenade amongst the medic and the scorcher. They gasped and wheezed as the chemicals breached their armor. The medic acted selflessly, pulling out her medkit and removing the toxic blockers from the Scorcher’s bloodstream, but was doomed to fall to the chemicals herself.

That left the Saboteur as an imminent threat. They pulled out an HE grenade, and hurled it Kevin’s way. The Ranger managed to bail out of his cover, but his armor was broken open from a grazing shot fired from one of the Troopers - in the chaos it wasn’t clear which. He was only bruised, though, and was able to fire back on the Saboteur and drop them with a fairly close range shotgun burst. Taking a moment to breath behind new cover, he smiled grimly as he heard a Trooper fall to the crack of a sniper rifle. Stacie had carried out his order with gusto.

The remaining ADVENT forces did their best to regroup. There remained the two Troopers in heavy cover that reloaded and continued their covering barrage with impunity. The Assassin had their shot ready now, and fired at Luke with expert precision. The smoke grenade saved his life, turning a head-on shot into a miscalculated graze, but the sheer force of the rail spike still gouged out a chunk of flesh from his shoulder. The Rocketeer and Gunners didn’t act immediately, hunkering down to clear their vision from the bright flashburst.

And the Scorcher, purified of the chlorine gas, made his advance. He didn’t pull out his rifle, instead going for his flamethrower with the zeal that a Stun Lancer favored their lance. He set it to a narrow burst, and aimed at Luke, fully intending to end the life of the reeling Van Dam.

Yakone caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and forced her aching nerves to obey her. A green crackle almost like lightning shot around her limbs as her biokinesis tried to assist her rise. The Scorcher pressed the activation key on his incendiary weapon, and Yakone rushed forward as her Overdrive aura surrounded her. Standing in the way, she took the flames head on. Some of them arched around her, but merely scorched the ground rather than Luke. And although flames danced across her skin, her flesh did not quite catch fire.

“Alex… heal him… so I don’t hafta… do that again…” she mumbled, stumbling a bit unsteadily as the flames died down and the Scorcher went for his mag autopistol.

Alexis swallowed hard, and quickly pumped biokinetic energy into Luke. She sacrificed her own energy to speed up the healing, knowing that they needed Luke ready to fight and that Yakone likely couldn’t do that again. Luke’s shoulder sealed up as the Scorcher fired a round that barely missed and almost blew a hole in Alexis’ head. “Are you okay, Luke?”

Luke started to see a different vision, he saw his village burning and his family dying around them. He heard his family screaming and dying around him. Luke’s eyes started to glow red. “That’s it!” Luke opened his hand and made an explosion in front of the Scorcher launching him back. “You will not hurt my new family, you got that.” Luke opened his left hand and spewed fire at the Scorcher - whose armor protected him from the flames, but not what was to come. “I will make charcoal out of all of you!” Luke loaded his grenade launcher with one of his flash grenades and launched it at the rocketeer and the gunners. Luke turned his attention back to the Scorcher throwing explosions after explosion at him wearing him down to a corpse and then dust.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Black0ut, Dahlexpert, DarkGemini24601, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Burning Stallion, Part 3”

Kevin didn’t have time to ponder the excessive use of force, instead making use of the chance the flashbang offered to advance further. “Take out the troopers, and I’ll deal with that Assassin!” He called out to the others.

Olivia took aim with her arc rifle, and shot the rightmost trooper. He shook from the electrical discharge, not dead by any means but stunned for now. “That’s one.”

“On it.” Luna pulled out her revolver and rushed for the other enemy. She fired before they could, putting a hole through their hand, before another shot knocked them one their back. Still not quite dead, Luna skidded to a stop in front of their head and ended them with a hard stomp to the neck.

Kevin didn’t waste the chance she gave him. He put away his shotgun, and then charged, running straight for the Assassin. The jet black-armored ADVENT soldier saw him coming, and surprisingly dropped their weapon, pulling out a sleek black blade that they brought up to expertly defend themselves instead. “That’s… new…” Kevin muttered with nervous humor. There was none evident in the darkened visor of the Assassin, who attacked with an onslaught that put Kevin on the defensive.

He was put in a more precarious situation by the fact that the Gunners and Rocketeer were recovering. And finally, the Rocketeer got his chance to line up his rocket. The missile screamed out of the barrel, but careened just to the side of Alexis. The concussive force would be enough to knock her flat on her back, but thankfully the antipersonnel shrapnel didn’t quite reach her. One of the Gunners laid down suppressing fire to prevent Yakone from assisting Kevin when they saw her unsheathing her sword, and the other began to line up Kevin with his gauss machine gun.

Seeing, the display, Red panicked, fearful of the impending outcome. I really didn’t want to call upon you.. But if I have no choice...Charon! I need your assistance! Protect Kevin, our leader! The Sioux thought desperately, opening a connection he wished he hadn’t.

As you wish. Just remember; I can’t save everyone. A deep, gravelly voice replied, as a wall of earth came up behind the Ranger, protecting him from the Gunner’s malicious barrage.

Luna blinked in surprise, but had no time to question. She took aim at the gunner suppressing Yakone. “Help Nash out!” Her shot - and the shot from Stacie - missed the Gunner, but made them pause in their suppression, freeing up the other Ranger. And given the opening, Olivia shot the Gunner that was about to hit Kevin in the back with her arc rifle. This time the electrical effect was minimal, but the pain distracted them long enough for Yakone to force her muscles to obey her.

“Goddamn motherfuckers… banzai!” Yakone screamed out, rushing forward and delivering a slash straight into the Gunner’s helmet. She grimaced as she heard the sound of her blade cutting through gray matter, and pulled it out as quickly as she had cut in. Please tell me when you removed the laser stuff you put in the ballistic stuff again Lily, she silently pleaded as she switched to her PDW. Kevin, duck! The older Ranger reacted instantly, hitting the deck as rounds jumped rapidly out of Yakone’s PDW and downed the Assassin. The Rocketeer fell to another shot from Stacie, this one a hit.

That just left an injured Gunner and Trooper remaining, who took the wisest choice they could and tried to retreat.

“Where do you think your going, when I said I will turn you into charcoal, I meant all of you!” Luke opened both his hands and use his firecracker on the Gunner and the trooper throwing multiple explosions at them, not only killing them but turning to ash. “Ha ha! Let the bodies turn to dust! Let the bodies turn to dust!”

“Luke!” Alexis grabbed his arms. “They’re dead! Calm down!”

Luke turned to Alexis and was about to use his firecracker on her. Until he no longer saw his village and just saw Alexis. “Beauty, what happened?”

“You went nuts, is what happened.” Alexis let out a sigh of relief. “But you took out quite a few of them, and prevented them from getting any of the others. Come on. Sit down a minute while I finish healing you.”

“Mind the fire,” Olivia cautioned them, noting the white flames that were still burning where the Scorcher had attacked. “Was that… white phosphorous? First of all, I suppose the ‘forget the Geneva conventions’ mindset goes both ways, but second of all…” she glanced at Yakone in mild awe, and then just shook her head, not wanting to swell the tired Ranger’s ego.

Kevin did have something to say to the exhausted young soldier though. He walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to have Firebrand pull you out early.”

“W-What? But there’s still…” Yakone started to protest.

“We can handle a few turrets and stragglers,” Kevin reassured her with a small smile that quickly faded. “But after all the stunts you pulled you’re going to be a liability.”

“A liability? I am not going to hold the squad back! You… you don’t know my strength! My resolve…!”

“The most resolute thing you can do right now is just let us handle this. You’ve done enough, don’t jeopardize the mission because you want some glory. This operation’s too important to getting our cause moving, to getting those laser weapons Shen wanted.”

That seemed to get through to Yakone, and she hung her head and nodded. “R-Right… that is true.” She activated her comms. “Hey, Danielle… pick me up…” After about fifteen seconds a rope dropped down from the sky. Yakone laid down her pair of grenades on the ground. “Hey, Luke… have some fun with these,” she offered. The Inuit-Caucasian sighed, and grabbed the rope, being hoisted into the cloaked dropship.

Alexis picked up the grenades and handed them to Luke. She looked up at Kevin sadly, and said, “Sir… you didn’t have her pull out because…”

“You don’t know how to heal nerve damage like Chandra can yet,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I couldn’t take the risk that she’d hurt herself, and you know her… if I had told her to leave for her own well being, she would have refused.”

Alexis nodded. “What if… the Commander accuses you of pulling Yakone out for personal reasons?”

“She’s… not a slavedriver. Chandra will back me up that she was too exhausted to go on.”

Luna looked down towards the train. “I’m not seeing any movement right now, but knowing our luck, there are going to be more. And we need to take out those turrets if we are going to get any closer.”

“Right… you and Olivia should advance to get us a line of vision on those turrets. Then Stacie can just pick them off from extreme range. Rest of the squad should remain close by incase we stir up another hornet’s nest,” Kevin instructed.

Olivia nodded, and began advancing with Luna until the turrets activated. Once they did, she held a finger to her mouth, and ducked behind a tree. Her PCS enabled her - and Luna as well - to remain motionless and thus escape the notice of the turrets. A smile crept across the woman’s face as a sniper shot slammed into the first turret. Then another. The automated defense had no defense against this sort of maneuver, and was destroyed without a fight. However, the second one proved to be more troublesome, as it was guarded by a Viper, a Gunner, and three Troopers. “Hold your fire,” she whispered to Stacie over comms.

“Line up a priority target… the Viper should do, then kick this off,” Kevin ordered the Sharpshooter.

“Gotcha. Consider the snake-lady as dead as disco,” Stacie’s voice crackled over comms. A high-caliber round soared into the Viper, punching through her armor and drawing yellow blood but not quite bringing her down. “That is not good!”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Black0ut, Dahlexpert, DarkGemini24601, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Burning Stallion, Part 4”

The ADVENT fireteam scrambled to get into better cover, and the turret became active. The XCOM team was able to get off shots before them, but Kevin warned his allies, “Supplies are right next to them! Watch your fire!”

Alexis hesitated, remembering the mention of explosive fuel. She shook her head, and watched the Viper move back and forth. When it wasn’t holding someone, it was a bitch to target. Alexis took a deep breath, letting her training supercede her emotions. She let out a string of bullets towards its left side, and was already letting out her second round of fire when it dodged to the right. It let out a brief cry of pain before its lungs imploded, and it flopped to the ground, dead.

Luna took aim at the turret, worried about the other soldiers but more worried about the turret’s accuracy. “Hey, Red? You’re a specialist, right? Can you get your Gremlin to… draw fire or something? I know Dr. Shen would kill us if it was damaged, but we’re the ones that’ll be damaged if we don’t take out those guns.”

Mark blinked, slightly surprised by the question. “Uh, yeah, sure. Actually forgot I had this thing…” The Oglala man muttered, sending the drone to fly above the enemy, before dive-bombing them to get their attention.

The turret marked the moving target and fired at it, the simple A.I. not immediatly thinking it could be a distraction. As soon as it was off them, Luna and Mark popped over their cover and blasted it away with their combined fire. Luna grinned at him. “You’re helpful to have around, big guy.”

Mark shrugged, “I guess. But truth be told, I’m just here so I don’t get court-martial’d.” The big man stated, a slight blush appearing on his face. I wonder if she’ll get that reference...I forget what it refers to, just that my dad you used to say that line, only it was ‘I’m just here so I don’ get fined’, saying it was about some athlete… hmm… I need to do some research when I get back…

Luke saw the ADVENT soldiers getting into cover. He loaded his grenade launcher with the AT grenade behind the Advent soldiers punching through their armor. Luke then switched to his minigun and gunned down the ADVENT troops doing it with a blank expression as if he’s not even paying attention to the battle in front of them.

One of the Troopers managed to escape the blind onslaught, only to be shot up by Stacie’s machine pistol as she advanced into range to properly use the inaccurate weapon. “Just that gunner left then…”

The Gunner laid down suppressing fire against the advancing Kevin. This, combined with his good cover, meant he was hard to assail or flank, but he appeared to have no means of recourse. That was, until there was a metallic clang as something jumped out from behind Olivia and battered her to the ground. It slashed at her with metal claws, one of them cutting through her armor and drawing thin lines of blood. She cried out in surprise and pain while the others got a good look at the machine and its companion that was charging them.

The two new threats were like black and silver metal hounds, boasting gauss guns mounted on their back and razor-sharp hybrid alloy claws. Atka’s voice crackled over radio. “I’d heard rumors from the Overseer that ADVENT had been fielding some new robotic unit in the field… I’m guessing this is what they were talking about.”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Alexis looked down at the HE grenades on her belt, and back at the train. “I can try and blow them up, but they’re too close to the supplies and stuff that goes boom! We need to lure them away!”

A fire ball was thrown at the two mechs. “Come and get me.” The one not on Olivia turned and prioritized the attacker with its gauss gun opening fire, while the other was licked by the flames but left unharmed, and merely prepared a finishing swipe.

“G-Get off!” Olivia yelled in both fear and anger, grabbing her SMG and firing at the mechanical animal’s claws. While the SMG - even with a friction dampener - only did minimal damage, the close range blast made it stagger, allowing Olivia to roll to the side. She let go of her useless sidearm and grabbed her arc rifle, sending an electric blast through the mech’s armor and heavily damaging its internals. “Someone finish this thing!”

Luna blasted the robotic enemy in the side again and again. It let out a strange robotic growl before heavily flopping to the ground.

Red’s eyes widened, taking note of the robotic hound that was coming for Luke. Ah, hell. Let’s see if this missile is as good as XCOM says it it… the Sioux thought, taking the missile out, and briefly aiming before firing, the hound erupting in flame as a missile designed to take ships down hit its side. “Thank whatever guided that missile...” The big man muttered, nervously turning his head to see if any more hostiles were approaching.

The remaining gunner stepped out of cover, planning to at least take Olivia out while she was off guard. A string of bullets shot into his chest and out his back, the man having enough time to look down at his bloody wound before dropping to the ground. Alexis let out a sigh of relief, and lowered her firearm. “Damn, that was too close… again…”

Stacie pulled out a pair of battlescanners, chucking them over the side of the train. “See anything, Commander?”

“Nothing in the immediate vicinity of the train. Keep a vigil out just in case, but I think you’ve dealt with all enemy forces in the area. Mission accomplished, Menace 1-5,” Atka announced. “Well done.”

 

[Dahlexpert]

The fallowing is a colabe netween Dhalexpert & Zombiesplitter53
Some R&R

After mission Operation Burning Stallion.

Northeast of ADVENT Railway
Former Republic of Costa Rica
00:34 Hours, June 9th, 2038

On board the Avenger
Rear block
Level 2/bar

Luke sat in a stool drinking a glass of beer. "Damn. I still need to find a way to apologize to that woman." He sighed. "Screw it. I think I'll just wing it. But thanks to her, I do have a new power, so I could thank her for that."

"Luke!" Alexis cried out from the entrance, dragging in a girl that looked like her, save for the green hair instead of purple. "Mind if we join you?"

"Heh, well if it isn't my favorite trouble maker, and...?" Luke looked at the green haired woman. "Who's this?"

Alexis pushed her forward. "Luke, meet my sister, Jennifer."

Jennifer gave him a nervous smile and a small wave. "H-hi."

Luke looked Jennifer up and down.Right, Alexis said not to flirt too hard with her sister, she may not be able handle it. Alright, no flirting just yet, just be nice.

Luke returned the smile to Jennifer. "Nice to meet you Jennifer. Name's Luke Van Dam, at your service."

Jennifer nodded, and looked at her sister. "Alright, I came. I even met someone. Can I go now?"

Alexis shook her head. "You just got here! You need to stick around for at least ten minutes."

Luke looked at Jennifer and laughed. "Hey green, you're not used to this, are you? Don't worry, I don't bite, sit down have a drink. Relax for a bit."

He turned to Alexis. "So, beautiful, why you dragging your sister here?"

"Because she spends all day working, then retreats to our stuffy room to read. She has no fun because..."

"My reading is plenty fun."

"...becauseshe is afraid of social settings or some bullcrap."

"Heh, I get that you're not used to being around people. That's fine, kid." Luke left his stool and grabbed two more for the sisters, and went behind the bar. "Soooo, what can I get you two lovely ladies?"

"I'll have a beer," Alexis quickly said.

"I'll just have a..."

"You promised me you would at least try something alcoholic," Alexis quickly said.

Jenn scoffed. "Fine. Can I at least have something fruity? Beer taste like dirt water..."

"Hmm, I might have something for you." Luke reached behind the bar and got Alexis a beer, and for Jennifer, a glass of spiced rum. "There, try that. If you don't like that, then I'll give you some sparkling juice back here." Luke said while drinking the rest of his beer.

Alexis took a chug of her drink and said, "Now Jenn, be careful with that. The big, bad scary drink might..."

"Oh, saved it!" Jenn chugged the glass, drinking half of it in one go. It was obvious she didn't know what she was doing, and her eyes widened in shock and pain.

"You... okay, sis?" Alexis asked, and Jennifer could only shake her head before erupting into a coughing fit.

Luke started to rub this temples. "Alright, listen darling, you're not suppose to chug half the drink down. You drink it like you drink everything else. Small gulps." Luke went under the bar while asking Alexis. "Hey darling, your sis going to be alright? I don't want to have a death by alcohol on my hands."

Alexis waved her hand. "She'll be okay. If nothing else, it'll help her loosen up a bit."

Jennifer tried to get her coughing under control. "I (cough) wanted something sweet! L-like a mixed fruit drink or something! N-not (cough, cough) rubbing alcohol in a glass!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, give me a minute. I'll be right back." Luke started to head to the side. "Alexis, keep your sister entertained for me alright, and don't be too bad."

Alexis rubbed her sister's back. Jennifer gave her a suspicious look. "He sure speaks to you in a familiar way. He your boyfriend or something?"

Alexis shrugged. "It's a game. He sees how much he can embarrass me. It's fun."

Jenn rolled her eyes. "You sure like weird games."

Luke returned with a fruit drink and gave it to Jennifer. "There you go sweetie. A fruit cocktail, just for you. Not much alcohol in it, so you should be able to handle it." Luke went behind the bar and brought out some sparkling juice. "If not, you can drink this." He drank the rest of Jennifer's rum.

Jennifer took a cautious sip of the cocktail and smiled. "Thanks. I like this a lot better."

"No problem, as long as you enjoy it, then I'm happy. " Luke poured himself a glass of bourbon. "So Jennifer, can you tell me something about yourself?"

Jenn nervous rubbed her arm. "Um... sure. What did you want to know?"

"Anything. Childhood, why you're here, how much you hate ADVENT. Anything. Your sister knows my back story. Which, now that I mentioned it, I don't know much about you beautiful. You didn't tell me much when I visited you in the hospital."

Jennifer took a deep breath. "Well... our father is the head of Intelligence. We have been with XCOM since we were two and three. We were raised to hate ADVENT, but it is more about our hatred for the aliens specifically."

Alex nodded. "They killed our mother, than our second surrogate mother, and have spent our entire lives trying to kill us and everyone we love and know. Kinda conditions you to hate the bastards."

"Hmm." Luke stepped around the counter and hugged both the women. "You two have really been through a lot huh? It's a shame you two have been through so much. It's a shame that you lost both your real mom and the person that you considered you second mother. But hey, you're here now, and your taking down ADVENT. I'm sure both your moms would be proud."

Alexis chuckled. "Thanks, Luke. Any excuse to touch us, though."

"Come now, Alex," Jennifer said. "He's trying to be supportive. I, for one, appreciate it."

"Thank you for that Jennifer. And no, Alexis, this is not me trying to be a pervert, or me trying to find an excuse to touch that great body of yours. This is me being serious and sentimental."

Alexis grinned at him. "I didn't know bad boys did serious and sentimental."

"I have my moments, gorgeous. It takes some effort on my part because I'm not used to it, but hey, I'm learning."

Jennifer said, "Sis mentioned you before. Said you lost your entire family to the aliens, save for your aunt."

"Yeah, lost my mom, dad, pretty much everyone, and they're going to regret not killing me when I was a baby." Luke looks at Alexis. "But more importantly." He lifted Alexis from under her legs, to where she is eye level with him. "Why are you telling people my past, beautiful?"

Alexis laughed, and moved her face close to his. "I was only telling my dear, sweet sister. She is much more innocent then me. You can trust her. I didn't make you mad, did I Luke?"

"No of course not. I just like telling people about it myself. You know, I almost feel like kissing you when you're this close."

Alexis chuckled. "You would kiss a girl the second time you've met her in front of her sister? Naughty boy."

"I would, but that would be me moving to fast. Not to mention, I'm in front of your sister. I have to show some restrain."

"Oh... such a gentleman." Alexis jumped off his lap. "Gotta pee. Play nice, you two. I'll be right back."

 

[Dahlexpert]

She walked off, leaving Luke and Jennifer alone. The latter have the former an odd look, somewhere between irritation, curiosity, and confusion. As she blinked out of sync, she ask, "Yur tryin' he seduce my sssis, a-aren't you?"

Luke went back to the bar and grabbed his glass of bourbon. " No, I like your sister, but it's just me having fun. You see, when I'm around Alexis, I can be myself. I can flirt, joke around, act seductive and all that. But that's the thing; it's me being me. I may act like a pervert, but I won't go to far."

Luke drank the rest of his bourbon. "See, Alexis is like the women I met in the colonies, that want to have fun, be flirty and so on. But the thing about your sister and why I treat her with more respect, is because if I was my old self and I treated her like this, I would have slept with her in a heart beat. But I would never go to far with her, unless she want's me to. Until then, it's all fun in games. But, if she wanted me to date her, then you can be certain that I will treat her with respect."

Jenn hiccuped, and took a sip of her drink. "What if... ma daddy said you can't be datin' her? You would... still bedoin' that date thing?"

"Well, she's a big girl, and she can make her own decisions, and it's ultimately not his decision." Luke looked at Jennifer and saw that she was clearly hammed. "And this is were I'm cutting you off." Luke took Jennifer's drink from her.

"Noooo! I promise Alexisisis I have a whole drink. I only have half of one and half of two!" Jennifer pressed her impressive bosom against Luke as she tried to snatch the drink back.
You know, this is not bad. Not bad at all. Crap, I got to put a stop to this, I don't need a second girl pissed at me.

"Alright girly, in my eyes you had a full drink, so you did what your sister said. So can you please back up."

"But my drink is really tastyyyyyy!" Jennifer moved her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "I'll give you a big, wet kiss iffin you givin' it backs."

"Alright play time is over!" Luke placed put the drink to the side of the bar, lifted Jennifer up and laid her on one of the tables, pinning her arms. "You are not drinking, am I clear on that?!"

"Oh... but gentlemen always give ladis what they want... what they need." Jenn leaned her head forward and loudly whispered. "Gimme what ah need, Luke."

"Ahem." Alexis stood on the side of the table, her arms crossed.
You know, my life was so simple, fighting for survival, for scraps. Now I'm about to have someone that I actually like and have fun with pissed at me.

Luke let go of Jenn and stood up straight "So do I even explain, or have you been there the whole time?"

Alexis sighed and rubbed her temples. "I thought I could trust you to be good. But of course, I come back here, and what do I find?" Surprisingly, she seemed to be talking to her sister. She gave Luke an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. Was she... misbehaving?"

Luke looked surprised, given the situation. "Um, no, she's just not in the right state of mind. Wait, you're not mad at me? I figured just by looking at this, typically I would be blamed here."

Alexis grinned. "Just because you had my sister pinned to a table while she asked you to give her what she needs? Yeah, looks pretty bad. But I had an idea Jenn was lying to me when we came here."

"I waz not lying!" Jenn insisted. "I have the drinks allza time! So I..."

Alexis shook her head. "Yes, yes. You drink all the time with others, so you didn't need to come out with me now. Never mind that that you look like this is the first drink you ever had." Alexis walked over to the bar and picked up the cocktail. "What was in this anyway?"

"Oh, just some pomegranate juice, raspberry, cranberry. And a little bit of rum, not a lot, just a small splash of it."

"Hmm. Guess she can't hold her liqueur." Alexis helped Jenn back to the bar and got her a ginger ale to suckle on. She turned back to Luke and smile. "Thank you for not taking advantage of her. You really do have a gentleman side to you, huh?"

"I'm trying. It's not easy, but I'm starting to like being the good guy."

Alexis rubbed her sister's back. "Yeah, me too." She pointed an accusing finger. "But don't be too much of a good guy. I like your flirting. It is a relief for all the order around here."

"Oh, really?" Luke picked Alexis up again, and gently put her on one of the tables. He leaned in close to where there noses met. "Well then, is this flirting enough for you, or do you want me to go further?" He smiled at her.

Alexis narrowed her eyes. "Well, that depends. How much farther do you dare go?"

"As far as you want me to go. If you want me to stop, then I'll stop, get off you, and pour you a drink."

Alexis moved her lips forward ever so slightly. "And if I wanted you to go farther? Much... much.. farther? Farther then you were comfortable with?"
She's joking, she has to be. There is no way that she is going to ask me to do that in a bar, with here sister barely conscious. Well, it's not that I'm against it, but... Luke, she's joking, there's no need to be excited, for now just go on with the game, it's just a game....right?

"Darling, there is practically nothing I'm uncomfortable with, so I ask again. How far are you willing to go?"

Alexis thought for a moment, then said, "Kiss me." Before Luke could move, she quickly tapped her cheek. "Right here."
Oh, thank whatever god my family worshiped, it's just a simple kiss on the cheek. I'm a little disappointed, but at least she's not making me go that far.Luke looked at Alexis.Huh, this is the first time I'm looking at her from this close. She really is beautiful.

Luke leaned in and kissed Alexis on the cheek. "There happy? You had me worried for a moment there."

Alexis patted him on the cheek. "One step at a time. But you keep winning points with me, and who knows where we'll end up? You, uh... mind if I get up? I'll take that drink now."

Luke got up and headed to the bar. He handed her a beer. "There you go girly, an ice cold beer for you. Man, you had me worried there for a second," Luke said while nervously drinking his drink.

Alexis gulped her own and gave him a sly smile. "Worried I'd actually want something? You secretly scared of girls?"

"Hell no! You just caught me off guard is all. I underestimated you is all. Hell, I thought you were going to ask me to do something else."

"Oh?" Alexis placed her chin in her hands. "Pry tell what you thought I would ask for. Or maybe... what you were hoping I'd ask for."

"We're not getting into that, and it's a shame I thought about you in that light. Your more respectable then that."

"Pft." Alex laughed, and chugged the rest of her beer. "The only reason I'm at all respectable is because I've been with XCOM my whole life. I envy you, Luke. At least you had some freedom back when you were a kid."

"Yeah, and look what I did with it. I was a... not a very nice person. Though I still think, even without XCOM, you would still be a respectable woman, or I like to think that."

"Hmm... maybe." Alexis stared down at her empty glass. "Would have been nice to have had a choice though, you know? You chose to come to XCOM. To make a difference. I want to be in XCOM. I want to save humanity. But being practically born into XCOM, it makes my decisions... I don't know. Have less meaning or something. Like... someone who never smoked because they never had a chance. Big deal if they don't smoke. It is the people exposed to cigarettes that don't smoke that everyone cares about. Me? I... feel like I'm just another part of this ship..."

Luke walked to Alexis and patted her head. "You are not just a part of the ship. You want freedom? I tell you what. Some day, hopefully soon, I will take you off this ship and take you to one of old ruins."

Alexis gave him a small smile. "Promise?"

"I promise. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. But one day, I'll get you off this ship."

Alexis grinned. "Alright. You got it. It's a date."

"Date huh, your really starting fall for me, aren't you." Luke said jokingly.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Viper Autopsy
Laboratory Autopsy Room
On Board the Avenger
0930 Hours

Jennifer watched with a smile as the rather large alien was wheeled into the room, and the deliverers struggled to lift it onto the table. With a wave and a smile, Jenn skipped over to the side of the room. Her tiny MP3 player, repaired and maintained over the course of fifteen years since she found it, was hooked to a small speaker blasting "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses. She turned the music down to a whisper, and wheeled her supplies over to the body. "Recording start," she said, and a camera programmed to follow her movements, along with an over head cam and one over her shoulder, all came to life.

She slowly slipped on a thick pair of blue gloves. "Dr. Jennifer Chambers, XCOM scientific staff and head of alien dissection and analysis, case 121-TMV. Today we will be diving into a subject I have been looking forward to cutting open. Alien subject known as a Viper for its snake like qualities." She slipped on her mask and goggles, and picked up three rather large needles. "First, genetic analysis." She took blood samples from the Viper's head, chest, and arm, and put them in the DNA analyzer.

"Now, while we wait for that, it is time for fun with sharp things!" Jennifer took hold of a rather intimidating saw, switching it on and enthusiastically but carefully slicing open it abdomen. She used a large clamp to pry it open and stared within. "Interesting..." Seeing the genetic samples still needed time, she carefully sliced open an arm and the side of its rather large tail. She had just finished making her way through the skull when a ding made her pull off the mask, goggles, and bloody goggles and move to her computer.

"DNA analysis has confirmed our belief that these beings are the same species known as the Thin Men of old XCOM. It would seem its DNA has largely reverted to it natural form, though human DNA is still present, accounting for the arms and the... feminine qualities not usually present on a reptile. It is hard to tell exactly, but if I had to put a number to the percentage of human DNA still present... I'd say 20-25%. I expect to find more human features within."

She stood up, and grabbed a fresh pair of gloves. She placed a cell sample under a microscope and said, "Visual analysis and DNA breakdown show signs of accelerated growth. This suggests they were born, as opposed to being cloned, and then rapidly aged to adulthood. With this, they could produce of group usable Vipers rather quickly." Jenn stepped back, and slowly tapped her chin. "With the diminished need for alien infiltrators, it is only natural the Thin Men would need to find another use. It would seem these are the result of Thin Men that were generationally altered to return to their original state, while retaining some useful features like hands to shoot with. But why do they all seem to be female? Are the females the only ones that can revert back? Or perhaps the females are more suited for battle? Oh, what I wouldn't give for a sample of pure, unaltered DNA..."

Jenn shrugged, slipped on her goggles and a fresh mask, and returned to the messy work, starting with its arms. "Not... very strong muscles in the arms, especially compared to the rest of the body. These were likely left in with effort so the conversion back to their original form didn't cost them the use of such a useful tool. They are capable, though."

She moved to the opening she had made in the side of the torso. "The muscles in the tail part, on the other hand... a bodybuilder's wet dream." She blushed, remembering she was on camera. "Ahem... the musculature has been enhanced to allow it to stand upright for the sake of aiming, move and dodge at incredible speeds given it weight, and tightly bind anyone it grabs. A human caught by this would find it virtually impossible to escape on their own."

Jenn moved to the head, looking inside with a smile. "Ah... pure biology. No cybernetics. But none the less impressive." She reached inside, and carefully extracted the brain, placing it on a scale and whistling. "It is easy to just mark this terrifying, two meter snake creature with arms as a mindless monster, like the mythical Echidna with a plasma gun, but I beg to differ. I'll need to autopsy the brain on its own, but based on size, visual complexity, and previous DNA analysis, these things are not only sentient, they are smart. At least as smart as humans. Again, without a sample of pure DNA, I can't know exactly how much the human DNA influenced it. But my advise is to not underestimate them." She stepped away from the brain, muttering, "I bet they can sense vibrations like Earth snakes... need a better look at their nervous system..."

"Now..." Jennifer carefully opened the Viper's mouth, giving a curious look to the inside. She turned around to get something, and the jaw fell and closed with a loud 'CLAP!' that made the young biologist let out a quick but loud yelp. She smiled nervously under her mask, and held up a prop rod meant for a car. "This is why safety is always first." She opened the mouth again and propped it open before carefully pulling out the tongue. "Fascinating. The tongue is both incredible strong and incredibly elastic. It can likely grab and pull people from distances up to four times it's body length. Important to note so we know not to get too close."

She moved to its abdomen, gagging a little at the smell. "It sure smells like a dead reptile. Like a... dead frog ready for dissection. Fitting, I guess." She made sure her sleeves were secure before diving in. "The, uh... ew... the lungs are nearly twice the size of a human's. And the heart is also larger. I'll have to cut it open, but it looks eight chambered. Makes sense. Its larger muscles and speed would require a lot of oxygen to its body. Hmm... other organs are a fusion of human and reptilian..."

The green haired woman's eyes lit up as she reached for a scalpel and a pair of clamps. Reaching into the Viper, a couple minutes later she pulled out a large, bulbous organ. "This, my friends, is the Viper's venom sac. Oh, the possibilities. Their venom is no joke, and we have been lucky so far, but with the toxins in this? Not only could we make a more effective treatment for their toxin, studying it is sure to lead to improvements in our medicine across the field!" She placed it to the side carefully like she was handling a precious jewel.

"Oh!" She turned back to the main camera. "Maybe we can weaponize it! Make some kind of... poison cloud... grenade. I don't know. I'm not the one to name these things. Venom Grenade? Toxin Grenade? V... Viper Grenade? Whatever. Point is, this is one of the prizes that will assure we keep up and stick it to them!"

Jennifer cleared her throat and laughed nervously. "I shall continue with the autopsy of the brain, the heart, and any other fun organs I find, run a more in-depth genetic analysis, and begin careful extraction of the venom. End recording."

 

[Dahlexpert]

The fallowing colabe is between Dhalexpert & MarineAvenger

Learning more about one another

Room of Gwen and Leon
1200 Hours

Gwen sat on the bunk that was below Leon's, something that she had been doing ever since she had met him when he was still a teen. She would always have the bottom bunk while Leon had the top one. However, as noon rolled around, she found that training was the least on her mind once her brother left alone to do it, the words of a hurtful man echoing in her head. Despite the usually calm demeanor she had when she was alone, now her eyes were teared up and red from crying. If Gwen looked in a mirror, she would probably come to the conclusion she looked like an idiot. She looked down at the small object in her hands, a small butterfly barrette that was blue in base color, but the butterfly was made from glittering diamonds. However, due to the small size of it, it wasn't worth much in actually, but it meant the world to her. It was the only possession she had remaining from her old life.

Alright Luke here we go, time to man up, this is going to be difficult. Just stay calm and breath.
Luke knocked on Leo & Gwens door

Gwen flinched and she slowly got up walking to the door thinking Leon must have locked himself out. With her gaze to the floor, her eyes still teared up and puffy, she opened the door slowly.

"Hello kid how are you?" Luke said to Gwen. Luke sees that Gwen eyes were watery "Hay are you alright?"

She immediately looked up and got an angry look on,her face, quickly wiping her eyes. "What do you care?"

Annnnnd here we go.
"Look I didn't come here to fight alright, I came here to talk to you. Mind if I come or would you rather talk to me while there's a door in the way?”

"Will make it easier to slam the door in your face..." Gwen noted.

Luke placed his foot near the edge of the door. "Look like I said, i'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk so are you going to drop the bad attitude or not."

"Talk about what. Make it fast." Gwen said with a bit of venom.

God damnit bitch your making this way harder then it need to be.
"Sigh, I want to talk about what happen when we first. Look I we ou each other an apology."

Gwen looked at Luke like she was about to go off on him with a lecture or a slap to the face, but instead she merely lowered her head, swallowing her pride. "Yeah. Come in." She said in a whisper.

"Alright." Luke entered Leon and Gwens room grabs a chair and sits in a chair. "Alright let's talk, tell me when you first saw me what was you first thought of me. Before I said anything to you?"

"This guy looks like trouble." Gwen said honestly, sitting on her bunk. "And as it turns out he was indeed so."

"So you before you even met me, guess I was trouble. And if I remember correctly I offered to carry your things for you. Then I just said you were beautiful, so you right out the get go you judge my character before you even said two words to me."

"Yeah, I did. And you know what? I hate being complimented by guys like you. It means nothing and serves only to get on my nerves. I care about men who care about me. All you do is compliment girls because you find some enjoyment out of it, not because you mean it." Gwen said to the man, her eyes narrowed.

"Yea, do I find enjoyment in complementing woman that I do. Do I mean it yea I do I think your a beautiful woman, your attitude is shit but I did mean what I said about you. Why do you hate complements anyway?"

"Because they are meaningless and hollow. Compliments only serve to boost the person giving them. I know I am beautiful. I don't need to be told it a hundred million times by the same guy." Gwen gave Luke a not too pleased look and she shook her head. "Luke, I appreciate the apology, and I give you one as well. I am sorry. Now just... leave."

"Nope, I'm happy that we both some were able to apologize to one another. But I still want to know more about you, please tell me more about yourself. If I remember correctly you said your nanny was executed and you lost mom in a car crash, is there more to that?"

"Both were caused by the aliens like everyone else's stories around here. They are dead now, so I don't know what it is you want to know." She said hopelessly, shrugging.

"Relax according to my aunt she said you and I can get along. She said that you and I had the same crappy past. The only difference I see between us is, my destiny never changed your did."

"The hell are you on about? How did my destiny change but yours did didn't? "

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 2
Luke reached around his neck and took of the two dog tags he was wearing, Luke also rolled up his shirt revealing hes tattoos. "You see these, they represent everything I would haven been. You see my tribe was very military, we been in the military since the first world war and ever since then my tribe was always in serves. Me if the aliens never showed up I would be doing what i'm doing right now, fighting bad guys and saving the world."

Luke rubbed his eyes "But what changed for me was the environment, instead of being in -30 degree weather in a frozen wasteland. I instead was raised in a old rerun. In the end i'm still a solder, so tell me what you would have been if the aliens never showed up?"

"Happily living a life with my family... never having met Leon, or Lily, or anyone else. Would have been rich beyond belief but with nothing to do with it. I don't know if I would be happier then I am now... but at least in that timeline I didn't have a father who beat me, a mother who was stolen from me, and a nanny I watch have her brains splattered on a wall." She pulled her legs close to her chest, putting her forehead on her knees.

Luke got out of his chair and patted Gwens head "Hay look I know i'm being weird right now, and i'm making no scene. But do you have any good memories of your family?"

Gwen slowly nodded, though kept curled up. "When my mother occasionally came home from work... she would always bring me a present. It would always be something different, and afterwards she would... she would always make me dinner special. Those nights she would sleep in the bed with me and read me bedtimes stories until I curled up next to her and fell asleep. She is the only one I have good memories about..."

"I have some good memories to,I remember helping my mom collect plants and fruit around my Village. And my dad with his rifle. I Remember drinking hot chocolate with them next to a fire after a long day, and them tucking me in and telling me stores. See were not that different."

"Wrong..." She said. "Your mother was around... your father was around... your... your father loved you." A few more silent tears fell.

"That they did, very much mind you this is before they were killed. I'm not sure if my parents would have changed or not after my tribe was destroyed, but all i know is that they gave there lives for me."

Luke knelt down lifted Gwens head and wiped her tears. "Listed do you have something from your nanny or your mother that you cherish, for me it's these dog tags what's it for you?"

Gwen looked down at her barrette, opening her hand. "This... my mom got it for me on my sixth birthday. It was... almost stolen from me by... by... when my dad moved us. He tried to sell it... but I refused and he... he..." She clammed up.

Luke looked at her, and going agents hes better judgement Luke hugs Gwen. "Hay hay it's Ok, look your life was hard, but." Luke closed the hand Gwen had her barrette in, and held her hand. "See you have a new family one that loves you, a brother that cares for you and a hole ship of people that will have your back. Then there's me I don't know what to be to you, but i'm hear for you no matter what."

This time, Gwen's crying wasn't silent, and she pressed against Luke, sobbing loudly into his shirt. "I'm so, so sorry..."

"Shh it's ok it's ok, I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay for as long as you need me."

She held onto him harder, continuing to cry for what seemed like half an hour. When she was finally done, she pulled away from Luke, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry... I must seem like a big baby..."

"Not at all at all, see I dream about my mom and dad every night. I think there looking over me, but each time I wake up I cry because I can never embrace them no matter how matter times they say i'm proud of me."

"You know... I had... I had a sister I never knew. She was killed before I was born. I don't know how or why but... she was murdered. My father he... he hated me because Iresembledher. I never understood why he hated me for that stupid reason but he did. He never... did anything, he was just never around. After mother died, and we went on the run, he started drinking... a lot. That is when things were the worst. He used to hit me... hit my nanny. He would call us horrible things and he... and he..." Gwen choked up, holding something back.

"He sounds like a piece of shit, a father should never hit there kids sober or not."

Gwen hesitated, putting her arms around herself tightly. "...he didn't just hit me Luke... there were other things."

"What do you other thin-" Luke eyes widen filly relising what she meant and steam started to come out of Lukes hands "You know when I first got my powers, I thought I could be a hero. I thought I can help people, I killed gangs criminals and what I think your father was." Luke grabbed Gwen hands and starts rubbing them "I'm sorry kid, I'm sorry for what I said a few days ago I was wrong I should have never said those thing to you."

She winced, quickly pulling her hands away from Luke. "Ow..."

"Sorry sorry I'm sorry, My powers still seem to leak when i'm angry. I didn't meant to hurt you." Luke said panicking

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 3

"Its fine... was only like touching a stove..." She said, waving her hands to cool them off. "I already said your apology was accepted. And... I thank you Luke. I... It is another reason I don't like... being complimented. He... we used to whisper things to me... it made me feel... disgusting. I... I don't like compliments because of what he did to me. Why... why I cling to Leon. He makes me feel safe. He is the only family I have to... to protect me."

Luke stood up. "Then let me help you, Look I add met I flirt, it's just who I am. Though when i'm around you I will do my best not to flirt around you. Also I want to help you to, Were all partners I want to protect you to." Luke realized what he said and turned around.
What the hell Luke, you don't act like this I want to protect you to. Were did that come from, come on man you need to think before you say stuff.

She smiled. "You're an idiot Luke. You don't mean that."

"The hell I don't." Luke placed his hand on top of Gwens "I want to protect, I want to be right by your side when you need me. Like a few minutes ago, I could have left and let you be alone. But I stayed and conferred you, I want to help you Gwen."
What is going on with me, why do I care for this person or any one at all.

The French girl closed her eyes, and she softly giggled. "You reallyarean idiot." Gwen leaned forward, kissing Luke briefly on the lips. "There."

"Ummm ouuuuu" Whatjust happened a few days ago this woman was at my throat. Now she just kiss me? And why am I flustered, I kissed plenty of woman before.Luke gulped out of shock "Wha--What was that for?"

"For being sweet. And... call it my final apology." Gwen said with a smile. "I'm French after all. We kissed for everything."

"Um Alright thank you ugh." Luk's voice start's to crack "I'm gonna process this, and yea were good right?"

"Yeah, we're good. But... Luke?" Gwen asked.

"Yea, what's up?" Luke asked

"I... I wanna hang out. To talk more." Gwen told the man honestly, shrugging. "Get to know you better. I don't think it will ever make you less stupid or like a brute but... perhaps I may have been a bit...tooharsh in my original assessment."

"Heh heh, I would like that Gwen I would love to hang out with you more. Hum you know I like this feeling, being a good guy is pretty great."

"That is a good thing. Though if you ever stray, I will be sure Lilith will set you into place. I shouldn't need to eviscerate your scrotum then." She joked.

"Ha ha very funny, don't worry I been changing a lot lately. I may slip from time to time because it's just me, though i'm sure I will be fine I don't need a kick in balls to be put in check."

"Good." Gwen rubbed her chin with a happy smirk. "How about tonight?"

Excuse me? What do you have in mind in that head of yours?"

"Why don't we hang out tonight? I mean... might as well do it before I nitpick another reason to hate you, right?" Gwen asked the man.

"You know what, alright i'm game. How about we train together, I can alow me to see a juggernaut first hand."

"Alright. Maybe afterwards... grab some dinner?" Gwen suggested.

"Hum I could comment on that, but I would rather not get my head cut off" Luke opened the door " "Shall we enjoy the rest of the day?"

Give me some time youporc dirigé petite merde." Gwen said a bit harshly, waving her hand. "Now go on, shoo. I will meet at the gym tonight at seven."

"Yea yea i'm going, I'll be waiting. Luke leaves "I look forward to training with you."

"Mhmm." Gwen noted as the door closed.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 4
Gym A

12:45

Luke is on the floor doing some crunches, Luke is wearing a regular teshirt and some sweat pants.This is interesting the woman that wanted to take my head off a few days ago, i'm going to hang out with her. This project is changing me I don't know how, maybe it's because i'm around good people?

Minutes later, the door opened and in stepped the woman who would be joining him. Gwen wore a white, low cut top that showed her midriff, underneath that she had a sports bra that was barely seen. She also wore some dark colored yoga pants, ones that clung perfectly to her, her hair done up in a bun. "Bonjour."

"Howdy, I'm glad that you came. Truth be told I thought that you weren't going to come."

"Truth be told I wasn't sure I would." Gwen told the man, folding her arms. "But wallowing in one's tears can overstay its welcome and become dull."

"Hum any way let's have some fun. Were do you want to start?"

"How about a good old fashioned sparring match? No space magic though." Gwe, warned. She kept her arms crossed, and indecisive look on her face as she looked around the gym for her decision after they finished. This gave Luke the oppurtunitu to look her over. A modest chest size, impressive legs, lean but firm muscles and arms, and of course her waist length hair done up so it did not get in the way.

How is this woman not a model , seriously she's truly gorgeous."Alright, also no low blows."

"Agreed. Though you grope me once and I will break yoir fucking wrist along with the length of your arm... Possibly a femur or two." Gwen warned, going over to grab some boxing gloves and mouthpiece.

Luke takes off the gloves he was wearing for boxing gloves, and put's in a mouth peace.We went from having a good tender moment, to about to fight each other. Not a bad day.

"So... Gotta say I'm sorry." Gwen said as they bumped their gloves.

"For what exactly?"

"For all the clinging, crying and of course that kiss. I wouldn't have done it if I knew you were already taken. Not my place or how I was raised to steal someone else's man." Gwen stated, going for a right hook.

"The hell you going on about, i'm still single." Luke said while blocking Gwens right hook and goes for an uppercut "If you mean Alexis, me and her have a relationship that is based around flirting with one another were not a couple." Luke Said while going for a Left hook.

She didn't block but ducked under it, sending two jabs in his side. "A relationship based around flirting is sort of a couple thing to do. Not to mention you two got... Close. And I mean really close. From what I hear you would make a cute couple."

"The people on this ship relay need to mind there own business, and get there shit right." Luke said connecting with a right hook and a few jabs "Listen me and Alexis are just having fun, I have not slept with her or kissed well on her lips any way were just two people having our own fun."

"So you have no romantic feelings for this woman? Well what about me?" Gwen asked out of where, jumping up and back to avoid a flurry of blows.

"I don't know how to feel about you, or Alexis. I never had romantic feelings before, I never cared for anyone but myself before." Luke says while still throwing strikes at Gwen, Luke decided to back off Gwen for the moment. "I Like Alexis don't get me wrong, but of course I got to know her. You and I still need hang out more, and even then i'm in no rush."

"Well... Just so little old me has a chance." Gwen said and when she moved in got a punch straight to the jaw and she fell to the ground with her back to Luke, holding her face as she sobbed.

"Aw come on kid, there's no sobbing during training." Luke let's his guard down and takes a knee near Gwen.

She smirked, grabbing Luke's arm, throwing him over her shoulder and slammed him on the ground, standing up without a single tear gracing her face. "Never trust a crying woman Luke."

"I knew you weren't crying, I knew it but I went ageist my better judgement. Luke stood up "Were down tricks now are we?"

"Not at all Luke. It was merely a simple move I saw best to use in that given moment. Surely you understand?" Gwen asked innocently.

"Ou I get it, but." Luke Talked Gwen lifting her and slamming her to the ground, Luke get's on top of Gwen smiling "This is also very simple."

"Be careful... I feel threatened and that low blow rule goes out the window." She warned, squirming a bit.

Luke gets off Gwen and lifts her up" Sorry my playfull nature kinda slipped, sorry about that."

"No problem." Gwen said, taking his hand to get up. "Thank you my good man." She noted, taking a step back and put her hands up.

Luke begins to smile and went back to throwing some quick jabs at Gwen "Say when did you learn to fight, i'm not the best fighter truth be told if I was in the street I us any thing for my advantage. Did you brother teach you?"

"My brother, grandfather, and anyone else willing." Gwen said quickly, blocking his jabs with ease and seeing an opening went for a sucker punch looking to plant Luke back on his ass.

Luke backs up dodging the Gwens punch and gave her an uppercut doping Gwen. "I also know when a cheep shot is coming."

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 5

She rubbed her jaw. 'Oh yeah?" Gwen asked, kicking out Luke's leg, and when he fell she pinned him.

Huh she's real soft and feels nice. Luke get back to fighting.
"Alright that was nice, now that rule you gave to me goes both ways. So can you get off."

"Got it." Gwen said, taking Luke's hand, helping him out by pulling him up. "Not really taking this seriously, but it seems me and you are on the same level."

"Heh yea it seems so, but." Luke took off his glove and had a ball of fire in his hand "This is more my experts, that reminds me I need to thank you for one more thing."

"And that is?" Gwen asked with a small smile.

"Thanks to you I was able to get a new power, and if it weren't for that power we would have been is a bad spot on the last mission. So thank you Gwen, if it wasn't for you I would have never learned a new power and help the team."

Gwen smiled and then laughed. "Making you angry enough to go into a rage is something hardly to be thanked about."

"Hay it helped me get a new power, so thank you. Also you said my fire doesn't make me special." Luke put his hands in the middle of his chest and had a fire ball in the middle "Look at I can make fire,from nothing that's pretty incredible."

"Perhaps, but utilizing the alien's space magic makes me wary. Makes me wonder if we go down their path slowly." Gwen sighed, sitting down on a bench, letting her head hang back with her eyes closed, letting her body rest, but also gave Luke some more to look at.

Very nice figure, seriously how can could she not be a model she's in great shape, the long hair even when I was in the slums I would have had no chance with that. But if she was in the slums she be getting harassed everyday.Luke starts to think about what Gwen told him earlier,about her father and her family. Luke shakes his head and sat next to Gwen using his shirt to whip off his sweat.

"Well I was bore with these powers, so it couldn't be helped. Trust me when I first got them it was a real shock, you don't expect to burn down your a table on your birthday."

"You... You burned down your table on your birthday?" Gwen asked incrediously, laughing in a cute way, shaking her head.

"Hay it was an accident, my power just appered one day."

What? Did you try and blow out the candles but spit flames like a dragon?" Gwen asked, still barely controlling her laughter.

"That's actually very close to what happen,I blew the candales and the fire kinda just spread."

"The more and more we talk the more I find you being on the precipice of complete stupidity." Gwen noted with a shake of her head. "Though to be fair it was the first time. If you had done the same the next year my confidence would be waning." It was clear she was just teasing, but she said it with a coldness of a queen at court.

"Hum don't worry I learned to control it I had a mentor back in Alaska. The base commander there was also a red psionic, he trained me for years I could almost call him my father."

"Oh yes... I heard about him. Leon told me Lilith said he had kicked your ass. That you wanted to teach him a lesson." Gwen turned her head subtly to look, curiousness in her tone.

Yea when i first joined the resistance, I thought I was better then everyone. Then he quickly humbled me very quick. After a few months he broke me down. Beated and whipped me to shape."

"I... Suppose that is one way to do it. I mean you aren't atotaljackass anymore." Gwen noted, stretching out.

"Yea,he changed me for the better. Though I still want to kick his ass, for more of me just wanting to."

"More then likely he will just whoop you like he did the first time. Sure you want to handle that embarrassment, mon cracheur de feu dip merde?"

"I've gotten stronger since last time, besides need to teach him that hay you aprentence learned something that you diden't. Ou I can't wait to show him my firecracker power."

Gwen tapped Luke's back. "Yeah, yeah... Just don't get yourself killed until then there, firecracker."

"Ou hush you, anyway you still want to have dinner tonight? Or are you finely sick of me."

"What sort of lady would I be to deny a free dinner?" Gwen asked and when she saw Luke's face she slapped him upside his head. "I know it is always free. Just let me have the illusion it isn't."

"Yea I might have to nickel and dim you." Luke stood up and stretched " Anyway i need to get ready, how about we eat in my room?"

"Don't be getting too bold." Gwen warned the man before she stood up and went in front of him, and out of nowhere pulled him to her and kissed him once more.

Luke being taken off guard, decided to lift Gwen to his level and kiss her back"You I hate the fact I can't read you."

Gwen smirked and patted his cheek like a dog. "We French kiss for a lot of different reasons. I only wonder if you can decipher the reason for that one. I ain't telling." The girl said, stepping back as she waved once and began walking away.

"This woman, why were we fighting again I can't even remember." Luke looks around and sees people glaring at him "The hell you people looking at, mind your own business. Anyway I better get to the cafeteria and get to cooking.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Yakone Ipiktok: “Burning Embers”

En-Route to Montana
Somewhere above Mexico
2018 Hours, June 10th, 2038

Onboard the Avenger
Floor 4, Starboard Wing
The Medical Ward

“Hold… still,” Doctor Chandra Bandyopadhyay ordered her patient sternly. The skilled biokinetic carefully and precisely ran a finger along the back of the Inuit-Caucasian woman in front of her, a softly glowing green line being traced along her digit’s path. “It’s definitely going to be some time before your nervous system recovers from the burnout. The human body isn’t designed to suffer a fatal wound and survive. That runs contrary to common sense. What the hell were you thinking Yakone?”

The Ranger pushed herself off the examination table, turning around so Chandra could see her crossed arms. “Oh, was I supposed to know I wasn’t going to be ejected harmlessly after my pawn died?”

“Did you really think that having full control over someone’s body - commanding and temporarily overriding their nervous system - wasn’t going to bite you in the ass if you stuck around for a fatal wounding?” Chandra questioned with a shake of her head from disappointment.

“Not everyone can be a goddamn neurologist!” Yakone spat back.

“I have studied your Override power for years and warned you for equally that long to be careful with it,” Chandra refreshed the soldier. “It is your responsibility to know your limits when I have time and again made you aware of them.”

“It doesn’t fucking matter!” Yakone insisted, her anger threatening to boil over. “Even if I had paid attention to your boring-ass lectures, I didn’t have time to react to that last shot!”

“You’re correct there.”

“Then why - ”

“You shouldn’t have put yourself in that much danger in the first place,” Chandra interrupted. “You could have taken cover or pulled back.”

“It’s my life! Don’t tell me how to live it,” Yakone demanded furiously, trembling and brimming with ire. “Don’t tell me what risks to take!”

“It isn’t your life,” Chandra said harshly, staring Yakone straight in the eyes. Initially, Yakone matched that glare even if she shook a little more from other emotions than just anger now. “Not when you’re on the battlefield. Not when you’re part of a squad.” Yakone averted her eyes, knowing Chandra was right. Yet, the doctor wasn’t finished with her chastisement. “If you get yourself killed or incapacitated due to that sort of stupid move, they might die because of you.”

“I-I… I’m so - ”

“Don’t apologize. That won’t resolve anything. What I expect from you is to stop being so damn reckless and overconfident. For now, due to your injuries you’re off combat duty until you’ve healed.”

“You can’t do that!” Yakone screamed with a burst of renewed aggression. Green biokinetic energy crackled around her clenched fists for a moment, but in the next a white-hot pain seared her nerves. She collapsed to her knees with a cry of pain.

“Dammit, Yakone,” Chandra growled, going over by the younger woman’s side and taking a knee to begin soothing the inflamed nerve endings of the Ranger. “I’m suspending you for your own sake.”

“I-I understand that now,” Yakone murmured, looking away from Chandra.

“You’re still welcome to exercise. The wounds you have are neural, not muscular. Just don’t push yourself too hard, and don’t use your psionics until I deem it safe, alright?” Chandra sought confirmation with a soft tone.

“Alright,” Yakone agreed, even though she didn’t meet Chandra’s gaze again, and wouldn’t the rest of her checkup.

***​

In the hallway Yakone was waylaid by someone else that wanted a word with her. The Ranger’s blood ran cold with apprehension and irritation when she saw the Commander in her way. “Something I can help you with, sir?” She asked, failing to sound sincere right off the bat.

“I wanted to see how you were doing after your injury,” Atka responded as formally as she could, seeming to ignore Yakone’s tone for now.

“Well, I’m fine, so you can leave me alone,” Yakone answered tersely, trying to move past Atka. A hand in her way made the Ranger close her eyes, frustration simmering forth onto her features.

“What did Chandra say?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself.”

“Because I want to hear it from you. I do worry about my soldiers, especially after they suffer that sort of trauma in the field.”

Yakone opened her eyes. “Oh, sure. I’m sure you do it for everyone else, and you’re not just trying to start something with me!”

Atka frowned. “Actually, I did go check on Brown last evening. I would have spoken with you but you were fast asleep when I came by.”

“Chandra said I needed to let my nerves recover from the shock they took, alright? It’d be easier to do that if you weren’t getting on them…” Yakone growled.

“I just asked if you were alright!” Atka snapped. “Is that so unusual for a commander to care about her troops? Is it so wrong?”

“You never cared about me before!” Yakone spat back, giving Atka a look twisted by rage and hatred. “Why the hell would you start now!”

“This has nothing to do with our family relationship, I came here as your CO not your mother! Dammit Yakone, work with me for once in your life!”

“I have worked with you! But I don’t need to talk to you more than I have to, alright!”

The Commander trembled for a moment, and then sighed. “Alright then. You’re free to go.” Yakone stormed off, and Atka didn’t let the sea of emotions churning beneath the surface show as she walked in the other direction.

***​

Yakone plopped down on her bunkbed, pulling her covers over her head as she laid facedown and tried to sleep. Chandra’s chastisement and her encounter with the Commander weighed heavily on her mind, though, making it hard to pass out even if her section of the row of rooms along the Combat Staff Quarters was currently devoid of any other occupants. She tossed and turned for hours, and at some point finally fell asleep.

***​

She came to with a fright, rolling out of bed and breathing hard. Shakily she rubbed her back and then lifted her hand to wipe sweat off her brow. What was that terrible dream… Yakone thought with stark horror, but as she tried to recall it she couldn’t remember it in full. What came to her was fragments. An examination room, some grotesque implantation device, my skull being cut open, and my… death? None of it made sense, but all she could whisper to herself about the nightmare with certainty was, “It felt too real…”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Stallion Ashes, Part 1”

En-Route to Montana
Somewhere above the US
0813 Hours, June 11th, 2038

Onboard the Avenger
Floor 4, Port Wing
Gymnasium C

Yakone's fists struck at a hasty pace, her already unusual form giving way to strikes driven purely by the assortment of negative emotions she was feeling. Her swarm of punches intensified, and then she paused, breathing heavily and clearly trying to calm down. They all treat me the same way! With an explosion of rage she struck at the punching bag again, hitting it hard enough that she recoiled immediately afterward, holding her jarred striking hand with her other. "Fuck!" she swore, moving back from her inanimate target and trying to shake out the pain.

"Don't break your hand there." A familiar voice said from behind Yakone. Leon walked towards her slowly, dressed like he was coming to the gym himself to workout, though for different reasons then Yakone.

Yakone herself wasn’t wearing her typical ‘Canadian Graffiti’ shirt, but instead had on a plain gray one. She wore basketball shorts instead of her jeans. Her jacket and cap were nowhere to be found. "Usually... isn't a concern for me," Yakone mumbled, letting go of her hand slowly.

"Hey..." He said, walking closer. "What's up? Don't you even try and deny that it isn't something.""It's none of your business even if there is a problem," Yakone replied. "You wouldn't understand anyway. Don’t worry about it,” she demanded, both standoffishly and dismissively.

"Of course I don’t understand." Leon told the woman, crossing his arms. "I can’t if you won’t explain it in the first place.”

"That's not what I meant jackass!" Yakone snapped irritably. "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Not particularly." Leon spoke confidently, leaning against a support beam. "Though even if I did it would not get rid of me."

"Smug little..." Yakone clenched her fist, but seemed to hesitate in that particular expression of anger and instead tried to punch Leon with a swift right strike to let out overflowing aggression.

Leon barely moved to the left in time to avoid her, a calm look on his face despite being under attack. "Not very nice to someone just trying to talk with you, you know..."

"I'm not a very nice person!" Yakone yelled, sending a sweeping kick at his legs followed up by an uppercut with frightening speed.

Leon managed to handle her kick, but the punch caused him to stumble back. He rubbed his chin, stubbornly still smirking. "Not bad."Yakone bit her lip, which seemed to have been bleeding a bit already - likely from a similar expression of confusion. "Are you some sort of masochist or something?" she uncomprehendingly asked before sending a roundhouse kick his way. She reversed it’s momentum when it was blocked to push herself to the side and strike Leon in the ribs with a well-placed jab.

Leon let out a short grunt holding his side as he winced. "No, I just know beating up on a teammate is wrong."

Yakone clenched her teeth, and almost hit him again, but then hesitated and took a step back. "You should have left when I asked you to! I knew you were just going to lecture me like everyone else." Even if you’re right.

Leon let out a short chuckle - something that caused him to wince and hunch a bit - but he quickly stood back straight. "Wrong... I just came to see what was bothering you."

"You colossally fucked up in your delivery then," Yakone said, turning away from him, immediately regretting how harsh that was even for her.

"I don't think I did. I think you overreacted." Leon told her stubbornly. "After all, you are the one who beat up on me with no reason when I didn't even throw a single punch. What kind of person would I be if I did that to someone who already looks like they are hurting?" Yakone didn't respond, and began walking towards the door. The other Canadian jogged after The Ranger and intercepted her to block her way. “I want you to talk to me.”

"I want you to leave me the fuck alone. You aren't helping!" Yakone responded. "All I hear from you so far is "wow Yakone you're such a bad person you should feel horrible about yourself" and frankly I don't need to hear that on repeat!"

"Hey!" He exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Enough. Who is telling you that bullshit?"

"I got chewed out from both Doctor CB and my - the Commander for my risktaking on the latest mission..." Yakone finally explained.

"I see..." Leon said, then he let out a sigh. "Come on... Let's get a drink."Yakone was silent for a few moments, and then in a defeated tone conceded, "I guess I could use one..."

"Good. Come on." Leon said, his hand still on her shoulder as he led her away. "Start from the beginning."

"I'm going to get my drink first." Yakone remained silent until they got to the bar, quickly ordering a beer and tapping her foot impatiently in the minute it took for the soldier there to grab a can and give it to her. Once she had it, the Inuit-Caucasian woman greedily popped it open and took a lengthy sip. "Alright... what exactly do you define as 'the beginning?' I'm not starting from my childhood or something equally stupid."

Leon offered her a smile, then slowly let it fall. "From the mission. What was going on in your head? I wanna hear it from you.”

"Well, it was supposed to be straightforward. We had the drop on the enemy. It was the perfect situation for me to use my Override ability and take over an enemy to make ot go even more smoothly. So I opened the ambush by possessing an Officer and gunning down some of her buddies. I figured the Officer was a good bullet shield so I let the survivors shoot at her rather than my allies. As soon as I realized I was still going to feel pain, my puppet got shot through the heart by a Trooper and I... felt the pain of death through the feedback." Yakone shuddered. "Our senior doctor of course read me the riot act for that move, called it reckless and foolish. She was right, but it's not fair to say I would have been able to prevent it. Even if my power has risks I can't just not use it! I can take hits that would kill anyone else, I can give us an edge in battle that no one else can! So there's no reason why I shouldn't," the psionic Ranger insisted.

"The best way to ensure the success of any tactic is timing. Timing requires patience. I know you wish to prove yourself, and Yakone, you have definitely done that in my eyes. However, there are right times and wrong times. Consult your team. Be cautious. Those who think themselves unbeatable are often the ones to fall the hardest." Leon took a sip of his drink more reserved than his company about the spirits. He did not break his gaze on her. "I know you are a strong fighter. But I also wish to not see the woman I would like to call my friend killed because she’s eager to prove herself. Not trying to be condescending. I care about your well being as much as others."

Yakone frowned. "I'm not going to just run up and fight something like an Ethereal half-cocked and alone. I'm not stupid!" She said with a rising tone, before gripping the countertop hard to relieve her frustration with the tangible outlet of pressure. "I know Chandra and the rest of you care, but I can handle myself. Yeah, it wasn't fun feeling like my heart popped, but I recovered and saved Luke's bacon from becoming flambe. I... I could have kept going too if Kevin didn't just send me back."

"You are right. You aren't stupid. And neither is Kevin. So why doubt his judgement? Hm?" Leon asked, hoping he was getting through. "I sure do hope you don't go fighting that Ethereal half cocked. But I also hope you realize that others have your health. And sometimes you gotta know when to step back and let others make the call. You honestly think looking back Kevin was wrong in pulling you out?"

"Olivia sure got cut up... even if I had held back for the rest of the mission I could have chopped up one of those cybernetic dogs that jumped them," Yakone contested.

"What if they had just jumped you? Ripped you a new one and you ended up worse then Stacie. How well do you think a sword would have been against a metal dog, hm? Because in my mind... You would dent the metal and they chew you like a squeaky toy before you killed them." Leon tried to say lightheartedly, hoping to get Yakone to see the silliness of what she had said.

"I could have... healed myself, imbued my armor... at least I would have distracted them. They'd focus on me..." And I'd just get in the way of shots on the dogs from my team. "Dammit, what do you want me to say? Chandra sure didn't accept any sort of apology, and I'm fed up with being told I'm doing everything wrong! I know I’m not perfect. I work my ass off to try and improve.”

Leon tried to offer her a comforting smile, letting out a sigh. "I think you just need polish. I do not think you are doing everything wrong. People like Chandra... They can't be talked to. You have to show them how well you do. That you listen, and improve. Just watch... You’ll get better and wiser with every subsequent mission you go on. You just have to take it one day at a time till you find the right balance between risk versus reward that makes you the best badass we could ask for."

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Stallion Ashes, Part 2”

Leon tried to offer her a comforting smile, letting out a sigh. "I think you just need polish. I do not think you are doing everything wrong. People like Chandra... They can't be talked to. You have to show them how well you do. That you listen, and improve. Just watch... You’ll get better and wiser with every subsequent mission you go on. You just have to take it one day at a time till you find the right balance between risk versus reward that makes you the best badass we could ask for."

Yakone groaned. "I can't really practice with my powers right now though. My nerves are all shorted out," the Inuit-Caucasian explained with irritated look slanting her eyebrows downward. And then there's... The aftereffects of my last Override, she thought privately, but hints of concern and even fear made their way into her expression as a slight dilation of her pupils and a bit of color draining from her complexion.

Leon reached out, patting Yakone's arms. "It doesn't have to be with your powers. Talk with Kevin. With others. Learn from how they fight. We have other psions. Surely some of them have some advice they can give for combat."

“The only other green psions here just have different flavors of biokinesis, really. And I’m still mad at Kevin for coddling me, even if it’s not fair.” Yakone’s expression showed some signs of lightening up though. “I’m surprised at how well you’re figuring me out though. Be a badass? On my to-do list. Improve my skills? I’m always hoping the next Ranger we recruit will have formal training with the way of the sword.” Yakone frowned with some degree of mirth contrasting the negative look. “Or maybe I’m just really easy to read.”

"I don't think so. I am nowhere near figuring you out. Nor do I think I ever truly will." Leon said, though he laughed. "Your kicks hurt, you know that?"

"Oh, is the tough strong Grenadier afraid of little old me?" Yakone retorted with her characteristic broad grin. "I guess I can't call myself little... Even if the Commander always has the final say in arguments because she's in charge at least I have the final say in height. I will admit it’s quite satisfying to be two-thirds of a foot taller than her.”

"I am shaking in my boots due to how you will be when you are her age." Leon said with a swivel of his head. "You'll probably just have a whole litter of little Yakone-s running around to continue your devastating legacy by that time."

"Dunno about that," Yakone responded uncertainly. "I'm nothing like my mother is. And considering the terrible job she did as a parent I don't really have any plans on being one myself." Trying to brush off the seriousness, she quipped, "besides, that's getting a little ahead of myself when I'm not currently going out with anyone."

"That's surprising. I would have thought you would be an amazing mother if your mother was a horrible one. Equally surprising is the fact that you haven't snagged yourself anyone yet. You could have anyone."

"Ehhh... not anyone. Some people on this ship are surprisingly prudish. Have heard of some specific cases and even met one myself." Yakone shrugged. "But I don't wanna make a leap of faith like that right now. I think Alex has the right idea, flirty but noncommittal."

Leon crossed his arms and chuckled. "I'm nothing particularly. I flirt, I compliment, I respect and be chivalrous other times. I act differently with different women depending on who they are."

"So you're Casanova?"

Leon laughed and shook his head. "No, no. I would never come to me for dating advice or anything. Struck out with all women. Never been in a relationship. Will likely stay that way till I am a pair of bones six feet under." The Grenadier said with a degree of certainty.

"That's remarkably pessimistic," Yakone responded with a slight incline to her eyebrows. "You've got a lot of options here. There's the twins if you're into big boobs, Lilith if you're a MILF-lover..."

He shook his head. "None my type. I doubt I have one either. Spent all my time since I was a little boy shooting and moving around. Not exactly relationship material. I prefer to leave that to better men than I."

"Fair enough." Yakone's smirk softened. "Though seriously. Thank you. Most people don't put up with me as well as you have, especially if my way of saying hi means fistcuffing someone."

Leon shrugged with a soft smirk. "Happy to help you relieve some of that pent up aggression."

"If you want to actually hang out and shoot the shit on a lighter note than today, let me know. I'll be working on a special project in the evening if I have nothing better to do, but all that will be is boring-ass logistics."

"Of course. I would like that a lot Yakone." Leon said with a nod, downing his beer.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Yakone decided. "Around six... anywhere in particular you want to hang out? Gym? Mess? That room downstairs?" She joked with a knowing, devious smile.

"Room downstairs sounds wonderful." He retorted with a sly smirk, his eyes rolling.

"Oh, you don't even know what I'm talking about newbie. Don't pretend you do."

"Says you. I've done my homework." Leon said with a smirk. "Not as ignorant as you might think."

"Then prove it. The special room on Floor Zero, what is it for?"

"Its where lovers go to have fun with one another. And before you slap me I was being coy with you. I wasn't actually expecting anything." Leon said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking away.

Yakone grinned slyly, and responded, "Oh, sure you weren’t," in the most exaggeratedly incredulous tone possible.

"You doubt my character?" Leon asked with mock hurt.

"Who says wanting to have a little fun is poor character?" Yakone returned with a roll of her eyes.

"You a girl who likes wild fun?" He asked almost curiously. "If you are must say that comes as a surprise."

"I'm a wild free spirit," Yakone clarified. "I don't see why that wouldn't translate into my sex life." Even if I've never... that's aside the point.

"None the less does not change the image I have of you." Leon said mysteriously. A nice, caring girl who is deeply devoted to her friends… but if I say that outloud I am more likely to get in trouble then any pervert would.

“Congratulations, you’ve won the ‘not a prude’ award,” Yakone congratulated Leon. Then sighed. “Alright, I’m running out of material here.” She finished off her beer. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” the Ranger concluded, getting up from her chair.

“Still haven’t decided on where to meet you know.” Leon told the woman with a slight smirk.

“You figure it out where we’ll go then, just meet me in the living quarters at 6 P.M.,” Yakone resolved dismissively, walking off and waving with her back to him.

“Be sure to show up half an hour early just to piss you off.” Leon called out to her as she left, chuckling and shaking his head, looking at his beer with apprehension. “And here I was hoping to get shit faced…” Went to the gym with her and she tried kicking my ass… stomach is rumbling so I guess mess it is.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Stallion Ashes, Part 3”

Shantytown “Liberty Falls”
Former United States of America
1759 Hours, June 12th, 2038

Onboard the Avenger
Floor 4, Central Block
The Mess Hall

Leon sat back with mild amusement, a tray in front of him of uneaten food as he waited courteously for his friend to arrive so that they could have their time out together. He went to her room at six like he had been instructed, and when he was told she would need time to prepare he begrudgingly decided on dressing nicely rather than just keeping it casual, taking time for what felt like months to try and make himself appear like he hadn’t slept in a bush the night previous.

However, what amused the Grenadier so much was the fight that had broken out only minutes previous, and with there being no security staff like standard bases likely had, the others in the lunchroom themselves had to stop things before it got out of hand. He didn’t know why the fighting broke out, all he knew was he had a jolly time having to wrestle one of the guys down, ruining the work he had spent trying to make himself look nice. “Well… doubt she will care anyways. Might care more she missed the action,” He thought out loud, drumming his fingers against the hard table top.

Pushing the door open with one of her faded gray boots, Yakone walked into the mess. Her gaze drifted over to the aftermath of the ‘bar’ fight, seeing scattered plates being cleaned up and the participants talking like nothing had ever happened. Her mouth turning up in a small smile, the Ranger went through the line to grab a basic plate of food, the only unusual article being a rather brightly-colored cupcake that Yakone stared at in consternation for more than a few seconds before actually taking. Once she had her food she scanned the tightly-packed rows of tables for Leon, and joined him once she had found him.

“Seems like I missed a friendly fistfight,” Yakone noted before digging into her turkey-and-cheese sandwich.

“Yeah, it was fun. Should have been here buddy. Was a real jolly old time.” Leon noted with a slight smirk as he finally begun eating himself now that his companion had arrived.

“Don’t be an ass. I had work to do. Ran some final checks over the laser weapons before handing all the info off to Lily to begin production.”

“Not only are you a cute woman, badass soldier but a brainiac as well? More and more we talk the more I grow suspicious that you are more popular than I even realize. How are you not the one commanding this ship?” He tried to say light heartedly.

“I’m not a brainiac… Jenn’s the know-it-all,” Yakone said with a hint of jealousy creeping into her tone. “But just being hot and skilled doesn’t mean everyone’s going to like you. I mean, Lily argues with Alex a lot, even if the latter has both of those things down.”

“Never met this Alex yet, but you seem to speak really highly of her. Was she one of the girls you have known long?” Leon asked curiously, drinking some milk.

“Yeah. Her and Jenn are the daughters of our Intelligence Chief, who was with the original X-COM. We’ve been stuck together for as long as I’ve been alive,” Yakone elucidated. “So basically we should all be the best of friends but it doesn’t always work out perfectly.”

“Hey, friendships can’t all be sunshine and rainbows all the time. I’ve come to learn that friendships where you don’t always see eye to eye last the longest. If you were two carbon copies of each other you would run out of things to talk about or expect very quickly.” Leon informed the woman. “Point is though you care about each other. All that matters in the end no matter what fighting occurs.”

“I guess so…” Yakone leaned back in her chair, putting her arms together over her head to stretch out her cramped muscles - the action lifting up her shirt a little more than it already was for a moment. With a yawn, she lowered her hands again. “I trust Lily will work it out eventually though. She’s good with people, and I’ve yet to see any of the engineering staff feel intimidated by her. Enough about my network of friends and their drama though… how’s your sister been?”

“Emotionally… weird. She had gotten in a fight with a guy named Luke, then he came by to apologize and after that they had gone out training together and out to dinner… and she has been acting a bit out of it. Like she has been daydreaming. Things are weird in general with her, though I doubt she really likes him. Just the first guy to actually pay her good attention in a while aside from that fight they had when they first met.” Leon explained casually, waving his hand when he finished as if that was the end of the topic.

“Luke Van Dam.” Yakone chuckled, shaking her head. “Well, I was expecting him to get someone, but that was quick. I wonder if I could piss off your sister by saying he flirted with me first…” she mused deviously.

“You aren’t that special in that regard. Gwen already knows he was flirting with that Alexia girl before her, and while she didn’t say what she did, I am led to believe she may have given Luke more incentive for her rather then your friend there.” He said cryptically, mostly because Leon just told her he had no idea himself.

Yakone shrugged. “Hey, he’s upfront about it. One of the first things he talked about was the fact that he flirts a lot. He doesn’t keep it any big secret.”

“Yeah well… Gwen has specific reasons she didn’t exactly like his excessive flirting at first.” Leon said with a sigh, shaking his head as he stuffed the rest of his sandwich into her mouth.

“Bad experience with guys?” Yakone questioned. “Even if that’s a case that’s no reason to be oversensitive.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Stallion Ashes, Part 4”

“You don’t understand.” He said simply, laughing grimly. “Her mother died when she was young due to an accident caused by the aliens most likely. Father hated her, drank. A man who is lonely, has alcohol running through his veins and didn’t give a shit about his daughter… you connect the dots and you’ll see why she hates things as simple as compliments. Hardly over-sensitive”

“He beat the crap out of her? Ouch, but what does that have to do with romance?”

“Yakone… don’t make me say it. He was without a wife for years. What would a man do with a young, pretty girl? Same as the room down below, except it wasn’t exactly consensual.” He said with disgust.

“He…. he what?” Yakone’s expression was at first dumbfounded, and then quickly shifted to one of outrage. “That doesn’t make any sense! They were family, and… w-who the fuck would do something that sick?”

“Him apparently, though from Gwen’s story she and her nanny reported him to Advent. He was a prominent political man in France before they came and he refused to support them willingly. Gwen thinks they killed her mother to make him see they weren’t joking, and he fled to Canada. That's when he drank… abused her and they told the aliens exactly where to find him. I like to think he got worse then what he deserved. After that the two fled, her nanny was executed, I saved her and the rest is history.” He sat back, twisting his back to crack it and although he just got done telling a grim story, he laughed. “Still… it makes her work her ass off. She relies on me a lot to help her through her life, but she constantly pushes herself to show she isn’t just some… weak girl who will lay down and take it like some see of her.”

“And people say I hate ADVENT too much…” Yakone clenched her fists, grimacing as they felt briefly inflamed and she had to release them before biokinetic jolts hurt her again. “Sounds like she could have had a happy family and a simple life, but they killed her mother and set all that into motion. They turned what could have been a good man into the worst of scum, and then killed the only real family she had left.” Yakone took in a deep breath to calm herself. “Anyway… I don’t see her that way, if you think I do. I watched the Gatecrasher reels and she looked pretty awesome with that shield of hers.”

“Well… what you analyzed isn’t exactly true but I will let you hear it from her rather than spend our time together telling her life story. Though if you think she looked awesome imagine that shield with a car door and it becomes really funny actually. Might not have heard it when us four first met but that was where she got the Jugg idea from.” Leon said with an amused smile. “And no… not a boob joke.”

“A… car door? Please, do tell this story in full…”

Leon rolled his eyes and indeed told her the whole story from the beginning of their time in La Paz, about the hot day in the bar, the night where they were preparing and how she was whining for a gun and because of that forced her to carry the flashlight. After that, he wasted another half an hour of their time retelling the battle they had with some criminals before their rendezvous with the XCOM forces, and Gwen had gotten so scared during the fighting she picked up a car door from a looted, run down car to block bullets with and stole his gun, throwing it back to him with a cheesy punch line. “Aaand… after that, we met our contacts battered but not beaten, was grilled for why we looked the way we did. They got a laugh out of it once we told them but afterwards we were brought here.”

“Wow… why did they arrange to meet you there of all places? The rest of La Paz is really nice… I never went to that part of town,” Yakone said with a laugh. “I’m surprised you made it to the Avenger in one piece.”

“You’re telling me. Though you might have fainted if you saw me when I came in. Shirt was torn to shit so I just threw it away.” Leon told the woman with a smirk, and out of nowhere stood up from his seat.

“Where are you going? What about gloating about your abs or whatever?”

“I need to get back and put the little one to sleep. She gets paranoid if I’m not around when she falls asleep. Besides, you don’t need to be flirted to by some mediocre guy like me.” He noted with a smirk.

Yakone’s eyes widened. “She has… a bedtime… that you handle? Good God… I need to write this stuff down. It doesn’t write itself. Have fun with that while I prepare some jokes for the next time I see her…”

Leon rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Wanna kiss before I go there, Joker?”

“Kiss my ass is more like it.”

“Kinky.” Leon noted, laughing as he walked away.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “A Chip and a Cheer"

Shantytown “Liberty Falls”
Former United States of America
1021 Hours, June 13th, 2038

Onboard the Avenger
Floor 6, Central Block
Command Quarters

Catherine huffed lightly as she carried a large box of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies up to the Commander's office. It was a bit of a trek up the antigrav lift, but it was all going to be worth it in Cathy's mind; the Commander has a rough job, and needed something to help her perk up a bit. What better than hot cookies? Not only that, but this was the first time she will have had a discussion with the Commander in person, and even though Cathy knows she's not very important to the resistance as a whole, she still greatly hoped that they could be friends. With the sweet treats in hand she reached the door to her Commander's office, giving it a light knock as she patiently waited - a smile growing on her face.

"Uh... Hey Commander! My name is Catherine Thomas, I uh... I made some cookies for you, to help you relax!" She replied, hesitating at her tone of voice.

"You... come again?" There was a pause of stunned silence. The door unlocked with a click. "...um… come in."

Within the room Atka looked up from her laptop with a raised eyebrow. "You can set them down on the desk. I'm not going to let those supplies go to waste." Even if it was something of a waste to make them in the first place.

Catherine smiled brightly as she stepped into the room, taking a seat in the chair opposite to Atka and setting the plate of cookies in front of her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Commander! I know I just told you and all, but I'm Catherine, I work in the kitchens downstairs and I thought you could use a little pick-me-up. You have a really stressful job after all."

Atka shook her head. "That's hardly going to make much of a difference, but I've been at this for 20 years. I'm used to it."

"Well, I'm not exactly saying cookies will solve all your problems, but they always make people feel better! I bet you haven't had a nice, hot plate of cookies for a long time, just try one, I'm sure you won't regret it!" She replied jubilantly.

"I will later. If that's all you can leave," Atka responded flatly.

"Oh..." Catherine said slowly, "Well, actually, I was hoping to uh... get to know you to know you a little. Maybe we could be... friends?"

"I'm very busy, as you yourself acknowledged," Atka reminded her. "If you have important questions I can set aside a little time for them. But I'm not going to just befriend a staff member out of the blue." Especially not one as annoying as you, Atka thought but did not say - yet.

"Well, if you're busy I understand." Her smile returned, "We can do this another time, I'd really enjoy getting to know my Commanding Officer better. I know some people on the ship think you're a little cold, but that's okay, from what I've heard around, you've been though a lot. I think you just need some good food and a little support from friends to help make it better."

"Being a military leader requires a degree of detachment. 'Good food and a little support'?" Atka shook her head. "That's nonsense. Some wounds don't heal, but we keep on living. Not everyone can be - or wants to be - as chipper as you," Atka explained dryly.

"You don't want to be happy? That's not the first time I've heard that but it still doesn't make sense,” she asserted. “I mean, being happy makes you healthier physically and mentally - not to mention it just makes everything just feel better... Nothing feels the same when you're sad: flowers don't smell the same, food doesn't taste the same, colors don't look the same... when you can let someone try to make you happy, why turn them away? Sadness is like a disease, and good friends along with good food is the cure."

"What sort of fantasy world do you live in?" Atka scoffed. "I'm not diseased, and I don't spend my time moping around. I make careful use of my time to accomplish our objectives. I don't waste time trying to grin like some airheaded idiot."

"Waste your time? Commander, it's not that hard to be happy. All it would take is a few friends and some time together." Cathy replied somberly, then her face lit up into yet another smile - this one lighter. "It can't hurt to try to be happy..."

"I'm not incapable of taking enjoyment out of things like some sort of robot," Atka told her, holding up a finger. "However. I'm not going to force myself to be lighthearted and cheerful. Not only is it not authentic, but too much of a good thing is tiresome. From what I can tell, you're the sort of person that smiles too much. That hasn't been through hardship and thus doesn't understand what it's like. If it was as easy to be constantly upbeat like you think it is, don't you think everyone would be that way?"

"But I have been through hardship, I was an orphan for years of my life, my parents had to dump me and my sisters there and I've never seen them since..." She replied quickly, "But with the help of people I care about, I got through it.” Catherine paused. “I'm not asking you to act like me. I'm asking you to act like you, but... well... happy! I'm not saying you can never be sad either, just know how to cheer yourself back up! Don't let it consume you, ya know?"

"And how do you presume it's consuming me?" Atka leaned forward. "You seem quick to assume things."

"Well no. I didn't mean you... specifically... I meant it as like... a... general... you...?" Cathy attempted to elaborate.

"You sure sound confident about your response." Atka sighed. "Look, I can guarantee you there is something more important on your agenda than wasting your time trying to make me see the world the way you do. I appreciate the gift but you don't know what my life has been like and why I am the way I am, and I don't feel like explaining. Best if you cut your losses and leave."

"B-But... Commander..." She said, her smile fading once again.

"But what? You're disappointed a few words didn't make my day? Life doesn't work like that. If you've really been through hardship you should understand that much."

"I just wanted to get to know you better. It takes a little more than a few words and some cookies to change someone's outlook on life: it takes a good friend and some time."

"You know who my friends are?" Atka asked with a tinge of frustration. "They're soldiers I've fought alongside and colleagues I've worked with for the past 20 years. The rest of them are in hastily-dug graves or didn't even get to be buried and rotted away in the frozen north."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't think they would want to see you all somber like this, I don't think any friend would want you to dwell on their passing, I think they'd instead want you to focus on all the good you did together and all the wonderful times you had." She said, cupping her hands together.

"Oh, christ, give me a break! I'm not somber right now. My negative emotions are mostly directed at the hopeless headcase across from me!" Atka clarified cantankerously.

Catherine shrank back a little at the sudden aggressive tone, "I-I-I'm sorry..."

"Like I said, it's better if you go. This is an exercise in futility."

"Yes. Uh. Of course." She said, slowly standing, "But I don't want to give up just yet. You can keep the cookies, they're still for you... I'll.. make my way out."

Atka rubbed her forehead. "Thomas, was it? Look... I know your heart is in the right place, but that doesn't mean this was a good idea. I appreciate the cookies, but sometimes it's better not to pry into why people are the way they are. Some things are better left alone."

"But I don't want you to be sad. That's what's most important to me. When it comes to cooking, if you can't make someone happy, then you're not doing your job right, and I don't want to let anyone down - especially not you. I wouldn't be here without you, and even though I haven't been here for very long, I'm already having the time of my life living just a sliver of my real dream,” she replied, her eyes darting back up.

"You're a cook, not a shrink," Atka responded resolutely. "Don't try to be anything that you're not. I appreciate that you're grateful for this opportunity, but the best thing you can do is do your job well. Hell, I've even considered visiting the mess more often now that we have someone that's actually proficient in making food that is beyond make-do. That's all I ask of you. I don't need you to lift my spirits. You can do that through cuisine for the rest of the crew. I'll only be satisfied when we've won."

"But... Alright, Commander, I understand. I'll leave you alone." Catherine nodded.

"I won't waste any more of your time." Atka - gauging Catherine's expression - conceded to at least try one of the cookies, and after finishing it off gave the cook a ghost of a smile. "Thank you for the gifts."

As soon as she saw Atka's smile, Catherine instantly perked up and quickly hopped out of the room.

 

[BMPixy]

“Hell, It’s About Time”
Jerusalem, West Asia District
1559 Local Time; June 10th, 2038
Earth Reclamation Force Headquarters

“...and that concludes the report on the Antioch cells,” a woman said, shutting the file in front of her with a sigh, running a prosthetic hand through her short blonde hair. “Yeesh, ADVENT is really freaking out these days, eh? Makes me wonder if we should have taken that name and blown up a statue ourselves.”

“You remember exactly why we decided not to take that name when we started that group, Summers,” one of the two men in the room replied, taking the time to plant a cigar in his mouth. “And now we’d have egg on our face to be claiming someone we aren’t - well, mostly aren’t. Besides, our name is cool.”

Summers cradled her forehead and sighed. “I don’t know why you guys insisted on that name - I really doubt the Addies have seen Independence Day at all, let alone remember that one specific mispronunciation. Hell, you know the joke’s gotten old when even the recruiters stop using it.” Pausing for a second to sniff the smoke that emitted from the dark-skinned man’s cigar, the woman wrinkled her nose in slight disgust. “Donald, you’ve really gotta find a better supply - that shit’s rank.”

“I’m the one with this under my nose, you think I don’t know?” Donald replied, arching an eyebrow as he took another puff of his cigar, letting a smoke ring out into the air. “Kinda hard to get Cuban quality when they can barely even grow a houseplant there, let alone tobacco. Don’t even get me started on transporting it.”

“Whatever - just please get looking into it. Don’t want ADVENT to root us out by the smell,” Summers said with a shake of her head. Turning to the man who had otherwise been silent during this whole exchange, she added, “What’s on your mind, Boss? Normally you’d at least made one witty remark by now.”

“Holly, I have no opinion on Anderson’s cigar situation,” ‘Boss’ replied, glancing across the table with his sole good eye - and catching Summer’s slightly annoyed expression. “But from that look on your face, I take it you weren’t talking about that.”

“Yeah - still trying to figure out how to react to the return of our old employers, eh?” Holly asked.

“Just surprised there’s still so many of us alive - I thought we two were the last of the original crew, and then suddenly there’s a third, and possibly more,” the eye-patched man answered. “Hopefully they don’t meet the fate of the last XCOM - last thing we need for the cause is to lose an organisation that went so public so fast.”

“Yeah, otherwise things will go to shit faster than that one nightmare I had-” Anderson chimed in.

“Don’t remind us of that, please,” Holly interjected.

“But anyways, I don’t really get your guys’ fondness for XCOM,” Donald continued, regardless. “I mean yeah, they were the first, but you guys remember that ol’ childhood thing, what was it - ‘first’s the worst, second is the best’, right?” The man only identified as Boss arched an eyebrow at that turn of phrase. Holly, on the other hand, was slightly more vocal.

“Really, you’re quoting playground jeers in regards to- to all this?” she said, looking at the African-American with shock whilst extending her arms to emphasize her point. “Remind me how you became so important here?”

“Oh kiss my ass, Summers,” Donald shot back. “Not my fault I don’t have the same point of view as you guys just because I didn’t belong to your old unit. I’m just of the opinion that we should wait ‘til they have more than a statue and a train on their resume before I go sticking my eggs in their basket.”

With a very passive-aggressive tone in her voice, Summers replied, “Oh, right, I should totally trust the opinions of a man who was never even part of the organisation in question, doesn’t know the slightest bit ‘bout the Commander, none of that. Just you wait and see -”

“Wait for how long? ‘Nutha 20 years? Don’t think we’ll be living that long, Summers,” Anderson replied angrily, levelling his cigar at the Englishwoman in question. “Especially if y-”

“Enough,” ‘Boss’ interrupted with a harsh tone - and a slight blue glow around his sole flesh hand that only he could see - sitting forward and planting a fist on the table. “No more squabbling. Both of you are dismissed for the day - but first, apologize to each other.” The other two’s eyes seemed to unfocus slightly as they nodded in agreement.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Summers. No hard feelings?”

“Don’t worry about feelings - just accept that I’m sorry, alright?”

“Alright, now both of you - go do something productive, please,” ‘Boss’ ordered, and with a brief glance between the two, Holly and Donald both stood and made their way out of the room. As soon as the door shut behind them, the one-eyed boss grasped his forehead in consternation. “Dammit, I hate having to fucking do that,” he cursed. With a sigh, he spun in his chair to face the back wall, a small collection of photographs frame along it.

“Well, regardless, here’s to you, XCOM - may you do better than we did last time,” the man said, scanning the photos. “You guys better do your best - at least, for the love of God, just survive to get over here. It’ll be more than embarrassing if you don’t - and I’m getting too old to clean up after more messes.” With a lighthearted chuckle, he added, “And I want to see the looks on your faces when you’ve seen that I, good ol’ Al, survived this long.”