RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “The Origin of the Juggernaut among other things; Part 1”

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico
0716 Hours, May 27th
Onboard the Avenger
Level 3, Rear Block
The Armory

During the early morning of her first ‘official’ week at XCOM now, Gwendoline De Saint Pierre stood next to her adoptive brother Leon Sinclair as he fired a rifle at an inanimate target, the man finishing through his one clip and frowning a bit as he set the weapon to the side. “I don’t know, just doesn’t feel like my kind of thing.”

“You’ll find that weapon of yours eventually, just need to keep trying. I know it’s hard since we had the bare minimum up until this point, but it will have to work out.” Gwen noted with a smile, then suddenly got nervous. “Or at least it better else that woman who leads us gets nasty and kicks us out.”

“Please, she isn’t that scary Gwen, you are just overreacting. She does seem really determined though. Guess you have to be to lead something like this.” The Canadian born man rubbed his hands and stepped to the side. “Alright, your weapon of choice this time. Try not to use a car door again.”

The French girl blushed and turned, giving Leon an angry look. “Hey, that was a good idea on my part! If that car didn’t blow up and allow me to use that door as a shield, we both would have been shot down by those gangsters and you know it. I told you I should have been the one with the gun.”

“Hey, you got it anyways in the end, didn’t you brat?” Leon asked with a smirk.

Gwen opened her mouth then slowly shut it, huffing as she turned back to the target and picked up the pistol she had picked out. “Bastard…” She mumbled as she started firing, Gwen finding the small firearm much easier to manage than the other weapons they were using before.

Yakone stopped before the door to the Armory, noticing the red warning light outside of it that cautioned people entering to put on earmuffs to dampen the sound of gunshots. “Well, that was quick…” she noted.

Lily shrugged. “I’m not really surprised… and that’s a good thing anyway, right?”

“Well, yeah!” Yakone agreed. “Means our first op will go even more smoothly. Let’s go see who it is.” Putting on a headset - the Chief Engineer doing likewise - the Ranger entered the Armory.

Gwen slowly fired shot after shot into her target, keeping the grouping fairly close together, and when the small clip was finished she pulled the clip out of the gun. “See… getting better and better.”

“Oh yeah, good job. You really showed that menacing, stationary paper target what's for there Gwen.” Leon said sarcastically, nudging her shoulder.

“Hey screw you buddy, better then you are with that rifle.” Gwen shot back with a small smirk as she turned her head and finally noticed the two new girls. “Well… seems we got company here Leon.”

Cautiously pulling one side of her headset to the side, Yakone waved at the two with her other hand. “Sup.”

“Hey there.” Leon said with a wave of his own.

“Always nice to meet new faces. I’m Gwen, this is my adoptive brother Leon.” The French girl said with a friendly smile, though her eyes looked over the new pair with curiosity and suspicion.

“I’m An-Yi Shen, though you can just call me Lily if you prefer,” the Chief Engineer introduced herself. “And this is...uh…”

“It’s fine. Yakone Ipiktok,” the Ranger next to Lily introduced herself as.

Gwen looked a bit surprised but Leon just kept a friendly smile. “A pleasure. So you guys here to shoot too or just checking out how the fresh meat is handling?”

“Seeing who’s keeping up with their training. Rob - er - Doctor Tygan may have given us the PCS but that doesn’t mean we don't’ have to keep up with normal military routines,” Yakone explained.

“Man, you guys must be really advanced with them if you are really the Commander’s daughter. A lot more than us. Gotta ask, do either of you happen to be engineers?” Gwen asked, a hand on her chin as she eyed Lily in particular.

Yakone laughed, shaking her head while Lily answered more politely. “Yeah, I’m the Chief of Engineering actually.”

“Okay, answer me this then… is using a car door as a shield with a pistol to defend yourself really such a stupid idea!?” The girl asked desperately, glaring at Leon.

“That… depends… was it some hybrid alloy ADVENT patrol car’s door or a civilian vehicle part? Because if it was the latter even conventional gunfire would possibly penetrate it.”

“Well… um… the latter, but it worked I tell you. It was a good idea Leon!” Gwen spat at the man next to her.

“You could have been hurt though. Next time think before you do something crazy.” Leon told his sister, rubbing his eyes.

“You could make something like that work, couldn’t you?” Gwen asked An-Yi.

“We’re a guerilla force not a car dealership,” Yakone said with a roll of her eyes.

“I think she meant a shield, not specifically one made out of a car door,” Lily told her younger sister. Returning her gaze to Gwen, she shrugged. “I… maybe…” She pulled a wrench off her belt and spun it around. “I never thought about giving our soldiers something like that before…”

“You’d better not try and make Rangers into friggen knights,” Yakone warned her.

“No. You’re the only Ranger that has a chance of taking punishment anyway; that’s not the primary role of the assault-recon unit. An actual ‘tank’ would require an entirely new class to become reality…” Lily mused.

“A new class huh?” Gwen asked, then her face lit up mischievously. “Well… I know the perfect guinea pig if you want to try it out.”

“You?” Lily guessed.

“Well duh! It is my idea so I should be the first one to try it out.” The French girl pointed out, smiling as she brushed some of her waist length hair out of her face.

“I can probably manufacture a shield out of some extra alloys we have on hand… though I might add a twist or two to that. It would certainly fit into my idea about a piece of equipment that would act as mobile cover…” Lily said, deep in thought as she shifted her wrench between her hands idly.

As Gwen watched Lily lament, Leon approached Yakone and motioned for her to step aside a bit to give the two more talking space, and when she came over, he chuckled. “Gwen usually isn’t this accepting of new friends so fast. Really is quite a sight for me at least. Thing Lily and her are a good match?”

Yakone shrugged. “I don’t know your friend that well so I couldn’t say.”

“She isn’t just my friend, she is my family.” Leon corrected Yakone, crossing his arms. “Even though we don’t share any blood. Found her about to be executed, stopped the guys about to do it, and found out the rest of her family was wiped out so me and my grandfather adopted her.”

Yakone rubbed the back of her frazzled hair, messing it up even further. “Well, story for me and Yi isn’t as grand, but we’re basically siblings due to growing up together on the run from ADVENT and all that.”

“You guys too? Guess that is to be expected. Where you from?” Sinclair asked, leaning against the wall.

“Me? Nowhere,” Yakone said with a wide smile. “If you want to try to pin me down you could say Nunavut or the Yukon, but we were always on the move so I can’t really call anywhere my hometown. As you can see, however,” Yakone looked down at her shirt with its graffitied Canadian flag, “I still hold loyalty to one of the greatest nations of the old world even if I was four when it was dismantled with the rest.”

Leon cracked his own wide smile. “Guess we share something in common then, though I am more from the east of Canada by the old Vancouver area.”

“Never been there, though I heard it’s nice - and warmer than either of the places I grew up, that’s for sure,” Yakone reminisced. “Though it wasn’t as hard for me with native blood… it definitely was a bit harder for Alex and Jenn.”

“Alex and Jenn?” Leon asked a bit curiously, raising an eyebrow.

“Soldier and scientist, daughters of our Intelligence Chief from the old organization,” Yakone explained. “I’m friends with the one and… would ‘rivals’ be an apt description with the latter? We work in different scientific fields… but… we don’t get along, to make it short,” she finally decided on.

“Hm… more people on my list to meet then. Always was easy for me to make friends. Just a natural at it I suppose. So is there anything you would like to enlighten me on about the enigma that is Yakone?” Leon asked, his face bright with light humor.

“You’re going to have to be more specific than that… unless you’re freeing me up to go on some speech about how great I am,” Yakone warned him.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “The Origin of the Juggernaut among other things; Part 2”

“I got all day.” Leon said with a shrug of his shoulders, narrowing his eyes in a challenge.

“Well, I’m one of XCOM’s first rangers, as much of the creator of the class as Kevin is. I’m damn good with a PDW, better with a sword, and I have a litany of mixed martial arts in my repertoire. I can combine those with a little bit of this,” she went on, her hand being covered by a green glow, “to harden my skin to a point where bullets do less damage than they normally would. And that’s not even my first psionic power.”

“Psionics, huh? Bunch a weird space magic that is. Don’t know if I could ever comprehend using them myself.” Leon admitted, playing with the three leather cords on his right wrists, one with each bead that was a different color.

“Nice jewelry you have there,” Yakone pointed out.

“Oh, these old things?” Leon asked with a chuckle. “Yeah… they are remembrances. Back from… very weird period during my travels. It is a long story, one you likely wouldn’t want to hear.”

“I mean, if it involves you crossdressing then no, I’m probably not that interested,” Yakone snarked.

“Crossdressing? You really think I could pull that off?” Leon asked with mock offense.

“I mean, you’ve got the hair length down,” Yakone said with a shrug.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Ain’t that long. It is normal length for a guy I would say…”

“No, my hair is normal length for a guy,” Yakone responded with a laugh.

“So how do I know you ain’t secretly packing from an experiment gone wrong?” Leon quipped.

“Well, aside from the size of what the Canadian flag is guarding, I think my jeans are tight enough to say otherwise,” Yakone defended.

“Hey, women could be some weird hybrid. I don’t know.” Leon said as he shook his head. “Anyways, wanna hear the story or what?”

Yakone sat down on one of the benches. “I guess I have time… and if it deletes this ridiculous conversation from my memory, all the more reason to listen.” How did we even go from psionics to drag queens?

“Well…” Leon sat next to Yakone and held out his wrist. “Yellow bead is from my friend Jaren back in Ohio. The dark green one is from his twin brother Devon. Blue bead is from a girl me and Gwen made friends with when we went to the west coast named Rita. Sadly… all three of them are dead now. Jaren and Devon being where the real meat of the story is.”

“So they’re to remember friends you lost. I guess that works, even if my style is more ‘pay the enemy back a few times over’,” Yakone noted. “They get killed for getting involved in the Resistance or were they just more general casualties of the regime?”

“Rita was just a general casualty after we left. However… well, better start from the beginning I suppose.” Leon sat back and sighed. “Devon was the older of the two brothers. Never seen a more loyal man to his family. He was the first one to join up in the Columbus cell. Jaren joined up shortly after his brother and strangely enough, he became the better of the two of them. Their crew ran for a while after a bad op, this being when me and Gwen were running with them. So… convinced that he was doing the right thing for his family, Devon defected. He became an Advent soldier. One night… Jaren went after his brother, trying to get him back on our side but incidentally Devon shit his brother dead when Jaren couldn’t. When we learned… we buried Jaren, and I personally put the bullet between the bastard’s eyes.” He fiddled with the green and yellow beads and he shook his head. “Though I prefer to remember the happy twins then the ones who were made enemies.”

“Wait, what the hell?” Yakone shook her head. “Just because they lost one battle that guy defected? Some conviction he had…”

“No, wasn’t just one battle. He defected with the hopes of saving his brother from the resistance. Take them down from the inside sort of thing, but somewhere along the way he became corrupted, started believing the shit they were feeding him. He became truly convinced his brother was the enemy. That is the part I find the most sad.” Leon said, letting out a sigh. “Didn’t help that they were just another case of two guys who lost everything. I am sure that pain and hatred in Devon’s heart was festering for years before he defected. Probably what made it so easy.”

“Thought he could ‘save his brother from himself’ huh. What a load of shit… just like all the other propaganda ADVENT spews. I’ll never understand how some people buy into it so easily. You basically have to give up your humanity to think they’re what’s best for the world,” Yakone insisted. “And by becoming one of their soldiers he did in the literal sense too. Sucks that he brought his brother down with him though.”

“They were both decent guys when I met them. They were close too. We never suspected that he would have the heart to kill Jaren till we learned just how crazy he became. But… like I said, I prefer to remember the brothers they were then the enemies they died as.” Leon said with a nod of his head. “So… that is the story of the beads. Rita was more Gwen’s friend then mine, so I really just wear it for her. Jaren and Devon were my real friends.”

“Well, sorry for your loss I guess.” Yakone shook her head. “If I don’t sound overly moved, don’t take it personally. It’s just that everyone who’s part of the Resistance has probably lost someone. That’s the way the world will be until we topple the Coalition.”

“No offense taken. Not often I get the chance to tell of Jaren’s legacy, so it was nice. Got more stories involving the two, but those are for another time.” Leon said, putting a leg over the other. “So…. yeah, thanks for listening Yakone. You’re a pretty cool girl.”

“Hey, you’re not a complete asshole either,” Yakone said with a roll of her eyes. “Congratulations.”

“Coming from you, I am going to assume that is a huge compliment.” Leon said with a laugh as he watched Gwen and Lily leave together. “Huh… guess the two are off to go further those ideas. Wanna do some shooting with me? Maybe give me some pointers?”

“I could try, though it depends on what class you got assigned. I’m good with what I know, not sniper rifles or miniguns.”

“Well… I haven’t exactly been assigned one. Was told the options since I wasn’t exactly sure what would suit me. Been wanting to try and use a minigun though.” Leon told the half-Inuit girl, rubbing the back of his neck. “Don’t let my frame deceive you, I am actually quite strong.”

“Well, you can definitely try one of our bad boys out… they’re not ‘actual’ miniguns, since they had to be scaled down a little so Grenadiers wouldn’t lag behind. But they’re just as powerful, based off some miniature generator technology the Shens salvaged from the old base.” She pointed to a spot on the wall where the triple-barreled gatling guns were hung up.

“Oh, so those are what those things are?” Leon asked, smirking as he walked over and brushed one of the cannons. “They look pretty sick. What are you good at? Said you were a ranger right, but what exactly is that?”

“We’re frontline scouts and damage dealers,” Yakone clarified. “Some of us use shotguns, but I prefer a PDW since ours can knife through light armor plating in addition to a faster firing rate and wider range. Plus, we have swords for when we want to get real close and personal.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound menacing at all. ‘XCOM! Saving both the world, and bringing up the next generation of sociopathic murderers!’ Sounds like a real paradise.” Leon joked, taking one of the miniguns off the wall with a bit of effort, mainly just to get used to holding it, and after a bit he moved it around pretty easily. “Feels kind of nice to hold once you get used to it, and it ain’t too heavy at that.”

“Eh, you can’t call killing the bad guys murder. More like ‘justice’,” Yakone countered, before moving onto his choice of weapon. “If you like the Minigun maybe you’ll be cut out for being a Grenadier… though the other half of that is using a grenade launcher as the name would suggest. Is ordinance in your wishlist?”

“It could be…” Leon said, spinning up the unloaded weapon, which brought a smile to his face. “Never used something like this, but I think I am going to like it.”

“Apparently I’m a magnet for people who like big guns and explosions,” Yakone mumbled. “Not too surprising, but still…”

“I am not some wannabe action hero type. I don’t have the will to be all that macho and chew steel kind of attitude for it, but this seems like a good support weapon. Something I am fairly good with being.” Leon explained.

“Ehehe… maybe that would fit the grenade launcher better for cover destruction. The last time we tried to test out sustained suppressing fire with one of these miniguns it almost blew up in our faces,” Yakone explained sheepishly. “Lily’s still working out that problem.”

“Sustained suppressing fire? Why would you do that? Just burst the damn thing occasionally would be my line of thinking.” Leon noted, stopping the rotating barrel as he set it down on a table to load it up.

“For when a Muton just shrugs off your burst fire,” Yakone replied, crossing her arms. “Their armor may not look it, but it can takes the rounds this thing spits out with minimal damage.”

“Huh… dangerous.” Leon noted, picking up the weapon once more as he stood back and spun up the weapon, then began firing. First just testing it to see how it reacted, and slowly continued firing longer and longer till eventually he ran out of ammo and Leon smiled. “I like this…”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Majors & Minors

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico
0900 Hours, May 27th
Onboard the Avenger
Engineering

"And this will be your work station," Engineer Peter McCaffree stated as the basic tour came to an end.

"My own bench," Jack said with some wonder, running his hand across it. "No more wobble in the leg. No more worrying about splinters. No more distributing weight to make sure the weak middle doesn't break."

"It sounds like you are no stranger to less then perfect working conditions." Peter tapped the bench. "Just don't let the new look to it make you get careless. Everything is precious here, from the stations to the tools to the very plating you stand on. Might not look like much, but most of it would be a pain to replace. We're not exactly two miles from the nearest hardware store."

Jack gave him a frank look. "Trust me, I will be careful. A few weeks ago, you have no idea what I would have done for a treasure trove like this. Hell, most of my smaller sockets were large ones I whittled down, and my best socket wrench was held together by about three centimeters of duct tape."

"Good to hear you know how to improvise." Peter walked to the side, and came back with a small wooden tray. "Improvising is important in all fields, as long as you remember to listen to the Commander " He placed the tray full of various parts before Jack. "What is this?"

The dark skinned engineer only needed a full seconds to answer. "An assault rifle. Russian made. I'd guess one of the last models made before ADVENT stopped all weapon production. Doesn't look like it is in the best condition, but I've seen worse."

"Very good. Please assemble it." Peter pulled out a stop watch and got the timer.

With only a second's hesitation, Jack got to work. Instead of starting with one piece and building off it, he place three pieces together, then two others. It should have slowed him down as he reset his frame of mind, but he seemed to instinctively know what to grab, and how to bring it together. In no time, a dozen pieces became half a dozen, then three, than a full rifle. "How was that?"

"Less than a minute," Peter said with a smile. "Not bad. We expect most people to struggle. At least a little bit."

"Because of the firing mechanism and the muzzle," Jack said with a nod. "They are very similar, but not quite the right parts for this weapon. I noticed when I first looked at them, and was able to compensate. This isn't the first time I've had to adapt."

"Good, good." Peter patted him on the shoulder. "If your skill with newer weaponry is this impressive, we will be in good hands. I will leave you to get accustomed to your station before you get your first assignment." Peter took the rifle and walked off, disassembling it as he went.

After five minutes of rearranging the tools in a manner he was comfortable with, Jack was attracted by the sound of someone arguing nearby. He approached a young woman yelling in a thick Irish accent at someone down the hall leading away from engineering.

"Watch wha yer 'eadin' next time, yer dense, blind eejit!"

"Well, keep your little brat out of engineering," someone yelled from down the hall. "Better yet, keep that child off the ship all together!"

"She's authorized ter be 'ere!" the woman yelled back. "Proobably 'as more access ter dis ship than de commander wud gie are moronic 'orse's arse loike yer!"

"To whatever you just said, kiss my ass," the other person said as their voice faded in the distance.

"Oi'm liable ter be kickin' yer arse next time oi clap yer!" The woman turned and notice Jack watching her. "De 'ell yer want!?"

Jack held up his hands. "I was just making sure everything was okay."

"None av yer damn..." The Irish woman sighed, and rubbed her brow. "I'm sorry," she said with a significantly diminished accent. "My name is Morrigan O'Brien. That moron knocked over my daughter, and I got a bit... upset."

Jack's eyes darted briefly to the pale eleven or twelve year old blonde hiding behind her, and he smiled. "Understandable. Jack Irons." He offered his hand, and Morrigan shook it. "Engineer?"

"Part-time," Morrigan answered. "Most soldier work. I'm decent with a wrench, but I'm better with a rifle and a target." Her eyes sized up the rather imposing man. "Though I'm sure you could act as your own unit."

Jack grunted. "Thanks, but I'm the opposite of you. Decent in a fight, but better with a wrench and some oil. They give you that... gun test?"

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "Dumbest test ever! How was I supposed to know they gave me they wrong parts?"

Jack suppressed a smile. "Yeah. That can be a pain."

The Irish red-head waved her hand in the air. "Building guns ain't my thing anyway. I'm more about things from the last decade, even if it was all made by those damn aliens."

"Mommy?" Brigid whispered in a low voice.

Morrigan knelt down and turned to her daughter. "What is it, dear?"

"I think that man is an alien." Brigid said softly. "He is too big to be human."

Jack knelt down next to Morrigan, frowning when Brigid yelped and moved behind her mother. "Trust me, kid. I'm no alien. But if you want, I can have them run some tests to make sure." He was surprised to see Brigid slowly nod, and he laughed. "Can you tell me your name?" Brigid shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want an alien to learn my name," Brigid answered meekly.

"Well, if I get the test done, will you tell me your name?" Jack asked.

Brigid's eyes darted about in thought, and she gave a slight shrug. "I guess if you want."

Jack nodded, and stood up. "See you around, O'Brien. I'm going to check on the infirmary."

Morrigan grinned at the big man. "You know, I could just tell you her name."

The engineer shook his head as he stepped out. "That would be cheating. I'm gonna earn this."

The Irish soldier laughed, and took her daughter's hand. "Come on. Let mommy show you where she'll be working in here."

 

[MarineAvenger]

An Apple A Day... (MarineAvenger and ZombieSpliter53)

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico
1300 Hours
Onboard the Avenger
The Infirmary

"Now, don't be shy, Brigid," Morrigan said softly, practically dragging her into the medical bay. "I'm sure we'll be in and out before you know it."

"But moooom," Brigid whined. "I feel fine. I'm not even sick."

"Why don't we let the doctor be the judge of that, sweetness." Morrigan's tone said she wouldn't take no for an answer, but she smiled gently at the girl.

Meanwhile, Kai was talking with one of his male coworkers, more dedicated to personal medicine and he said in his head, Damn it Sukuna. I told you no.

You have yet to eat at all. You are going to die young if you fail to take care of yourself. The Kami protested, pouting in his head.

Kai waved his hand to the man as he walked away, the japanese native rubbing his face. "I am fine..." He mumbled.

"Hello, doctor," Morrigan said pleasantly, though their was an obvious tone in Her voice that said she didn't care for doctors.

Kai let out a sigh, quickly grabbing his wrist to stop his shaking as he stepped forward to put a bit of distance between him and the woman more then they already had, and he turned. "H-Hello ma'am..."

Morrigan raised an eyebrow, looking down at the man's wrist. "Are you... you're the doctor, right?"

"Y-Yes, I am. I-I a Kai K-Kazuko." He said with a slight bow of his head.

My, my... Pair of cuties right there. She is even a red head. Wonder if she is natural or not. Sukuna thought.

Kai sweat a bit. Shut up and let me work!

"Rrrright. Well, my name is Morrigan O'Brien. Soldier, Squaddie Rank. And this lovely young lady is my daughter, Brigid Hunnigan. Civilian Supply Runner."

Good, she is married. Makes this a bit easier. Kai thought and he chuckled. "Got stuck taking the kid to the doctors, huh?"

Morrigan took a moment to understand what he meant, and said," Oh... no. I'm afraid her father is... no longer with us." It was obvious from her tone she was picking her words careful, likely for her daughter's sake.

Ha ha!

Enough of this, it is past annoying! Kai practically screamed in his head, and when there was silence, Kai sighed. "Sorry to hear that. So... Which of you... Girls need assistance?"

"My Brigid does," Morrigan answered, pushing Brigid a bit forward. Need to find out if all her bells and whistles are screwed on tight. She has a habit of neglecting her health."

"Stop, mom," her daughter said in a low tone. "You're embarrassing me."

"Okay then..." He smiled nervously and waved his hand to the side room. "Brigid, if you please, I would like to... Speak to your mother quickly." He forced out with a genuine smile.

Brigid have her mother a nervous look, than stepped into the room. Morrigan gave the doctor a curious look. "What is it, doctor?"

"I'm sort of... Confused as to what you want me to do here. Do you want a full physical done, is there something wrong I should know about I mean... I am the head doctor here, so I havent done a personal examination in a little while." Kai explained. "So that is why I am double checking what you want."

"I see. Well..." Morrigan sighed. "I am going to come off as the over protective, projecting hypochondriac mother here, but I want a complete, full, no holds bar physical on my daughter. She... she isn't a healthy girl, and she hasn't been to a proper doctor in..." She took a moment to think. "...go on ten years. Not since she fall I'll when she was two."

"I... See. Okay then..." Kai said with a nod. "You may wait or leave and come back in an hour and by then the tests should be done." The doctor said, trying to save face despite his shaking and he walked to the side room, closing the door where he turned around. "So... Brigid. How are you feeling dear?"

"I am in great health, doctor. Excuse me if I'm a bit pale. I did have a cold recently, but it is gone thanks to my last doctor." Brigid's tone was surprisingly relaxed for how nervous she looked, as if her words were rehearsed.

"I'm sure... But I assure you I am definitely not most doctors." Kai said, easing up a bit since the girl he was dealing with was on the younger side, and he always had an easier time woth younger girls. "Now Brigid, if you would be me a favor and please get out of your shirt and pants so I may begin the exam, that would be a help." Kai said, turning as he grabbed his tools, both his stethoscope and thermometer, as well a small hammer and popsicle sticks.

"You... you want me to take my clothes off?" Brigid asked timidly, speaking to her inexperience with doctors. "My mom... I mean... I mean my other doctors never asked me to... to..."

"Its fine. Not going to make you remove your underwear, just need your clothes off so I can better make sure you muscles and bones are in top shape." He explained with a smile as he turned, placing down his tools.

Brigid slowly nodded, her eyes darting to the door, as if to hope Her mother was out there, or possibly to plan an escape route. She stood up from examination table and kicked off her shoes. The manner in which she pulled off her clothes was something akin to quickly ripping a bandage off. She sat back down in nothing but her standard issue underwear and standard issue socks. Despite the fact that she was starting to develop, she wore no bra, instead having her hands across her chest.

"Here. Turn around so your back to me." Kai said as he grabbed a roll of gauze. "Tell me about yourself." Kai said as he began wrapping the badaging around Brigid's chest.

"Um... I-I'm twelve. Um... I like playing the violin. And my favorite color is orange. And... um... I love my mother..."

"Well Brigid... I'm Kai. I am 24, I used to love baseball when I was younger, my favorite color is red and I currently have no family." He said, the fact saddening him but he kept his resolve as he finished wraping up her chest and he pat her back. "Alright. Up on the exam table."

Brigid did as she was told, smiling softly as she looked down at herself. "Th-thank you. I know our supplies isn't very plentiful."

"Everyone is important. If this makes you more comfortable, then it is a valuble waste." Kai said with a chuckle, taking his stethoscope and exhaled on the metal piece so it was not cold as he slipped it under her wrappings and against her chest. "Breath in and out deeply."

Brigid did, though her breath was somewhat shuddering, her body shaking a bit. Despite the smile he had earned from her, Brigid still watched Kai like a hawk, eyeing the stethoscope like it was a knife about to be plunged into her heart. Kai could hear a slight wheezing in her chest.

"Hm..." Kai removed the object from her chest and moved it lower. "Breath in and out again for me." When Brigid did he smiled. "Did you ever go to school?"

"Um... a little bit," Brigid answered. "I was mostly home schooled. I tried public school when I could, but I had to stay home a lot because... U-uh..." Brigid turned her eyes away, looking distraught.

Kai didn't seem to press the girl, but he moved onto her back and when that was done, he took the ststhoscope out of his ears and put them to the side, grabbing a popsicle stick. "I was home schooled too. My grandfather taught me all the boring stuff, and my grandmother... She taught me how to heal people. Without medicine. It is a special power of mine. There is a woman on this ship with similar abilities too, except mine are a lot more special."

"Are they like the alien psionics?" Brigid asked. "Humans aren't supposed to use them unless they're in AD..." She lowered her eyes, looking embarrassed. "I mean... um..."

"I was." Kai told her honestly, telling her to say 'ah' as he looked to the back of her throat. "Mucus build up..." He said as he pulled away and threw away this stick.

Brigid looked between him and the door in a panic. "But... I just... I feel fine! I swear! I'm not sick! I'm not!"

Kai walked over and he placed his hand on Brigid's arm, trying hard not to nosebleed due to an underaged girl. "You're scared of Advent, huh? So am I. That is why me and my second teacher left them. We tried helping people but they perverted the purposes of our ideas. So now... I can do real good. You understand?"

Brigid looked down at his hand, and gave him a slow nod. She took a deep breath, and suddenly yelled, "MOM!!!"

 

[MarineAvenger]

Part Two

"Agh!" Kai took a step back rubbed the side of his head. "What was that for!?"

The door to the room suddenly flew open, a worried yet angry looking Morrigan quickly stepping inside. After taking a moment to access that her daughter was okay, she glared at the doctor. "What did you do?"

"H-he's going to recycle me!" Brigid shouted.

"R-Recycle you? Where did you ever get that idea? What does that even mean?" Kai asked, his ear still ringing.

"It... it means you're going to kill me!" Brigid cried, covering her head.

Morrigan's shoulders slumped a bit, and she asked, "Is Brigid sick?"

"From what I was able to gather so far, no. But she is still gettting over something. She keeps breathing through her mouth, so I assume her nose is stuffed, she sounds a bit congested and she has muscus buildup on her throat, likely from sniffing all the time." Kai told the mother, unable to stop his whole body from shaking by how close she had gotten, and a bead of sweat dropped from his forehead, which he shakily wiped away.

With no other explanation given, Morrigan had to make other assumptions about his nervous behavior. Her hands cracked as she balled then into right fists, and walked closer to him. "You seem a bit nervous, doctor. You wouldn't be hiding something from me, would you?"
"W-What would there b-be to hide?" Kai asked nervously, backing up a bit.

Morrigan pointed an accusing finger. "You're stuttering. You're sweating. You're nervous as hell. I want to know why, or I crack your skull open. Did you threaten my daughter in some way? What did you do to her? If she has a single stray mark..."

"H-Hey Brigid... Wanna know s-something else about me?" Kai asked the girl, plugging his nose as it began bleeding slightly.

Brigid slowly looked up at him. "W-what's... that?"

"I-I suffer from... gynophobia... that is the... fear of... w-women." He said, now looking to Morrigan. "T-That is w-why I am nervous. I-I was... only being... n-nice and professional around Brigid until she f-freaked out for no reason..." Kai explained.

Morrigan examined him for a few seconds, then frowned, stepping back. "I-I'm sorry, doctor, I... didn't know." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Are you okay to talk to me on the side a little?"

"Y-Yeah... of course..." Kai said, following the woman.

When they were out of earshot, Morrigan said, "I don't think she is coming down from a cold. I think she is developing one. You see... she hasn't had a cold recently despite what she might have told you. That's a story I told her to tell any doctor that examine her. Do you know why?"

"No, but I assume it is because she is scared of us?" Kai guessed, wiping his bloody nose, trying to get back into his professional state.

Morrigan nodded. "She had to be. I learned really fast how dangerous it was to have a sickly child. People who... who are too sick in the Megacities... they have a tendency to disappear. That is why I kept her away from doctors. She's basically been conditioned to be afraid of doctors because... if one finds out what sickly girl she is... they would turn her in to be used for testing."

"I see... I had no idea things were... that bad when I was in Advent myself..." Kai said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You were in ADVENT?" Morrigan asked in surprise. "Do the others know?"

"Yeah, everyone. That is how I got here. I trained under Robert Tygan since I was fourteen. Then the work we were doing wasn't being used to help people like was our goal so we contacted the resistance and got out that way. Been working here ever since as the Avenger's Chief Doctor." Kai said to the woman, turning around and parting his hair on the back of his skull so she could see the faded scar where his chip used to be. "Me and Robert had to operate these out ourselves with stolen medical supplies."

Morrigan lowered her eyes. "My... my husband is a member of ADVENT," she said in a low voice. "Was a member," she quickly corrected, looking over to her daughter.

"Was he killed?" Kai asked, turning back around.

"Yes," Morrigan lied. "He was captured by ADVENT with me. Went through the same tortures as me. I can... only hope he died peacefully." She laughed internally, actually wishing he would one day die slowly and painfully.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that Ms. O'Brien. To be honest, I have no idea the current state of my family. We resided in Dome Fuji till I was transferred to start my training under my teacher, and then a couple of years later the rebellions happened and they said there was a lot of chaos and deaths. I haven't been able to contact anyone since, so there is no way to know, which is the worst part." The Japanese man explained.

Morrigan sighed, and gave a sad smile. "At least... we have XCOM now, right?"

"Yeah... anyways, I guess I should tend to your daughter huh?" Kai asked, giving a sad smile of his own.

Morrigan nodded, and walked over to Brigid. "I'm going to step out..."

"No!" Brigid shook her head. "Please, I don't..."

Morrigan stroked her hair. "It's okay. This man is here to help you. He isn't like the men in the cities. It is okay to let him know if you don't feel okay. In fact, you can be more honest with him then you are with me. Okay?" Brigid reluctantly nodded, and Morrigan smiled at Kai before stepping out again.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Part Three

Kai chuckled nervously and shut the door behind Morrigan and he walked over to Brigid. "We okay now?" He asked the girl.

Brigid gave him a worried look, though it was different from before. "Did it really hurt?"

"My ear? Yeah, a bit, but that was only because I was so close when you screamed." Kai gave her a soft smile and held out his gloved hand. "Can we be friends now Brigid?"

The blond girl scooted a bit forward, but instead of taking his hand, she started speaking in a rapid fire manner. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't like to hurt anyone. Or anything. One time, when I was six, I killed a spider and cried for a half an hour. I didn't mean to, but it was big and it startled me. But I don't like hurting anyone. But I wanted my mother because doctors scare me. But I didn't know I was scaring you just by being a girl! I'd never want to scare someone! Can you ever, ever, ever, ever forgive me?"

"Hey, hey, calm down, calm down... All is forgiven, just... Please don't cry. You've been an amazing patient so far, okay? Amazing for a girl your age!" He said, frantically trying to calm the hysterical preteen.

Brigid quickly nodded. "S-so... you'll try to keep me healthy so my mom doesn't have to worry all the time about me?"

Kai mocked looking offended. "What is this silly try? No, of course not. I will make you healthy whenever you need, anytime with no problem! After all, little girls are basically little boys just with different parts, so working with you is easy. If you were fully grown then there might be a problem." He stepped back and motioned for her to sit up.

She did so, smiling. "Thank you, Dr. Kazuko."

"Right, so..." Kai reached over and took a few tissues, giving them to the girl. "Now, I am going to do something to your nose, and when I do it is going to be dripping a whole bunch, but you have to keep blowing your nose to keep it clear. If you do that, you will be easier to breath, got it?"

"Um... okay." Brigid nodded. "I'll trust you."

Kai smiled and he reached out, holding Brigid's nose and he pushed some power into Brigid's inflamed nose, bringing down the swelling inside that basically opened the flood gates, snot slowly dripping down, but her once closed passages were now open, allowing her to breath easier.

Brigid took the tissues and blew as hard as she could, probably longer than she had to, until she was out of breath. She looked down at them ever so briefly, and gagged a bit. "Ewwwww..."

"You can breath through your nose though, right?" Kai asked with a questioning smile.

Brigid took a deep breath, gave him a big smile. "I... I can breath!"

"Told you it would work. Just remember to keep blowing your nose. Don't sniff the mucus down, cause then it gets all stuck in your throat and it makes your neck hurt a whole bunch when your cough."

"Um..." Brigid lowered her gaze. "Can I tell you something. Something you can't tell my mom?"

"Mhmm. Doctor-patient confidentiality, I swear." Kai assured the twelve year old.

"Well..." She ran her hand along the front of her neck. "My throat has been really scratchy for a while now. I've just learn how to hide it... but it really hurts sometimes."

"Man... have you been coughing a whole bunch too? Spitting up... bugger like stuff?" Kai asked, scratching his neck.

Brigid slowly nodded. "Please don't tell mom. She'll be upset..."

"I promise, I won't. Here... let me help with that sore feeling. Your chest will still be congested and your nose will eventually close again but for now you should feel at least a lot better then you did before." Kai said, reaching forward as he lightly put his hand around Brigid's throat.

Brigid shook a bit, looking worried to have his hand on her throat, but said nothing, just closing her eyes.

Kai's hand glowed and he started bringing down the sores in Brigid's throat, and a cool, soothing feeling washed over her esophagus, and when he was done he removed his hand. "How's that feel now?"

She rubbed her throat, and nodded. "Much better. Thank you. I don't think I've felt this good in... at least a year."

"That's a good thing then!" Kai said, rubbing her arm supportively. "Now, gotta ask, how are you with needles?"

Brigid's face turned white. "N... n... needles?"

"Yeah, nothing major. See, we have this little armband device we use to administer multiple vaccines at once, and they will make sure you get sick a lot less. They are very tiny, will only feel a bristling of pricks on your arm. Won't hurt at all. Then afterwards, gotta take a blood sample, and that is all for the needles, swear." Kai explained. "Think you can do that for me sweetie?”

Brigid swallowed hard, but slowly nodded. "I-I think so. I-If you... think it is for the best."

"Well it would help cut down on your sickness rate, and help bolster your immune system so you don't have to come see me so often. That sounds good, doesn't it?" Kai asked, trying to get her fully on board.

"Okay." Brigid smiled softly. "As long as I can come see you... a little bit."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Only a little bit?"

Brigid shrugged, her smile widening a bit. "Maybe... more than a little bit?"

"I think I would enjoy being in the presence of a girl I am not afraid to be around." Kai said with a nod, then rubbed Brigid's head, all sense of worry from before rushing away. "So... how about we get this done and over with so your Mom doesn't have to worry anymore, okay?"

Brigid quickly nodded. "Okay. Let's do it."

Kai smiled and moved to the side to get everything ready, and he finally let out a sigh. You wanna speak now?

There were a few moments of silence before Kai finally got a response back, the Kami saying, Aww... I am so proud of you Kai. Taking your first steps to getting over your phobia!

Not really. Little girls have never really been a problem for me. The doctor responded, but he just sort of smiled and shook his head. But Sukuna... thanks.

Heh heh... no problem my lady killer.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

The Dangers of Idol Worship

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico
1400 Hours, May 28th
Onboard the Avenger
Chambers' Quarters

Alexis threatened to plop down on her bed, but her sister rushed over to her and grabbed her arms, pulling her up. "No! You're covered in sweat and will drench your sheets!"

As her sister maneuvered her into a chair, Alexis rolled her eyes. "Okay, mom. Geez. Not my fault..."

"It is so to your fault. No one says you have to exercise as much as you do." Jenn started pulling off her sister's shirt. "Honestly, how could anyone enjoy straining themselves as much as you do?"

Alexis laughed. "You should try it. You're getting a little flab there. If course, most of it goes straight to your boo..."

"I have my routine, thank you very much, and it works for me." Jenn sat across from her sister after placing her sweaty clothes in a hamper. With Alexis in her underwear, Jenn couldn't help but notice there was a definite difference in their levels of fitness. Before she could continue down a line of thought that led to depression, Jennifer asked, "S-so... spy any new staff of interest?"

Alexis nodded. "There are these two Russian guys. Didn't catch their names. But they are both... so... hot. What I wouldn't do for a night alone..."

"I meant interest in terms of their applications for XCOM," Jenn quickly interrupted.

Alexis shrugged. "I saw this Irish woman working out. Seems to have a lot of fire. I heard that kid that we've seen running around is hers."

Jennifer nodded. "They're not the only family pairs here. Lily said she and Yakone were talking to an adoptive brother and sister. Said the brother was cool, and the sister was... eccentric."

"Is the guy cute?" Alexis asked, and quickly threw up a hand. "Kidding. Yakone said she met a guy named Luke who is here with his aunt. She's an interesting one."

"Why?" Jenn asked. "Because she's... unusual? Nice? Mean? A weirdo?"

"Because she's grey!" Alexis chuckled. "I'm all for trust, but now we are just asking for moles to infiltrate us."

Jennifer pointed an accusing finger. "None of that, Alex. You heard the Commander. No witch hunts. Besides, she isn't the first person that used to work for the enemy, remember?"

"Oh, sure." Alex shook her head. "The stuck up guy that annoys the hell outta Yakone and Lily and the pervert that looks like he's going to pass out every time I get a physical. Top notch examples. And what about that... hacker? He still here?"

"Rasputin? Of course he is."

"Really!?" Alexis laughed. "We're honestly keeping creepy spider guy around?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Dad and I were just talking about him. Don't you pay attention to anything?"

Alexis shrugged, and placed her chin against her palm. "I wonder what he is like. He never talks to anyone. Is always working. Do you think he uses his eyes to peep on girls?"

Jennifer folded her arms. "No more paranoia. Trust the Commander and her decisions."

Alex gave her a sour look. "I do. But she isn't perfect, you know? She makes mistakes. She makes them... all the time..."

Jennifer's head drooped a bit. "Come on, Alexis. It's been, what? Like eight years? How long are you going to hold a grudge?"

"I'm not holding a grudge!" Alex suddenly snapped. "I can be pissed off about it for as long as I want as long as she doesn't change. And she hasn't changed!"

Alex stood up and started pacing the small room, her sister regretting getting her agitated, but not having realized these feelings were this strong, and wanting her to get them out. "You just said she isn't perfect. Why do you now expect her to be?"

"I don't expect her to be perfect. I expect her to not be an unrelenting bitch." Alex leaned against a wall. "Ever since her sister..." She slowly shook her head. "It has been all down hill personality wise. I remember, when we were young... she was so inspiring. You don't understand, Jenn. I wanted to be just like her. She was so strong. So smart. So determined. Like... like the human embodiment of Athena or something."

Jennifer slowly nodded. "I know. We all look up to her. You should too. Just because..."

"Just because she is cold and ruthless, I shouldn't stop idolizing her?" Alexis asked. "Just because she looked at me wishing I could have helped her, and spat on my affection? I was willing to die for her, and she called me a self-righteous, selfish fool that she didn't want to listen to."

"I... she... she was in pain... she didn't mean it," Jennifer said softly, but didn't sound very convinced herself.

"She meant it," Alex said. "I guarantee she did. You... you shouldn't have told me what else she said. About me being pathetic. About there being no ideals to aspire to. About how... how children are a mistake..."

"She..." Jennifer stood up and walked towards her. "She didn't... mean..."

"The hell she didn't." Alexis shook her head fiercely. "Worse thing is... she was probably talking more about Yakone. She's my best friend. I love her so much. And I feel guilty... every time dad is nice to us in front of her, you know? I don't care if she was the blessing of two passionate lovers or the spawn of the devil. She is her daughter. And yet she treats Yakone like a stranger. Like a burden. Like... a mistake..." Alexis quickly walked to the hamper and grabbed her workout clothes, putting them on.

"What are you doing?" Jennifer asked.

"I've decided I'm not finished with my work out," Alex answered. "Besides... I need to hit something."

Jennifer watched her sister storm out of the room. She lamented pushing the topic, and decided to grab her own workout clothes and join her sister in blowing off some steam.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Meet my Crew

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico. Onboard the Avenger.
27th May


“So what roles do I have available to me?” Samuel asked as they disembarked, a little later than most of the other occupants of the ship thanks to an unfortunately placed ADVENT patrol. “I remember my father telling me you guys liked categorizing everyone.”

Alan chuckled, and held up his hands. “It’s true. Someone doesn’t fit into the little niches we have, and the guys up top start to get a little edgy.”

The Russian frowned, hefting his bag of supplies up on his back further to prevent it slipping off. “Commander that much of a stickler for rules?”

“Well… yes and no,” Lester answered. “She’s… a bit of a hard one to pin down. Just don’t piss her off and you’ll already be doing better than the rest of us.”

“Good to know.”

Alan clasped a hand on Samuel’s shoulder, causing him to turn around. “Speaking of roles, though, I should probably check in. Give a detailed report. And then I need to find someone to teach me how to use that cable slinger thing they wanted me to use, so…” He grinned. “I’ll see you around then. Yeah?”

Samuel smiled and reciprocated Alan’s shoulder-holding. “Well, it’s too late for me to back out now isn’t it?” he said lightly. “You go do your things. We can talk later.”

Alan nodded, turning his gaze to the man with his drone. “I’m trusting you to show him around and all that. Got it Lesty?” ‘Lesty’ rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“Yes, yes, I know procedure.” He glanced at the Russian. “Can’t have you wandering into the restricted areas can we?”

Alan snapped his fingers and pointed at the Specialist, walking away as he did so. “Make sure it gets done!” he called, before turning around and stopping abruptly. “Nash!” he called to a distant figure. “I haven’t seen you in ages, how’s it been?”

Lester shook his head. “Much as I said I wasn’t happy with how he’s been acting lately, I won’t deny he’s a lot more friendly right now.” He eyed the Russian. “That’d be largely your doing.”

Samuel started. “My doing? He was always like this.”

“Around you,” Lester corrected. He moved his head sideways. “Come on. I’ll take you to your room.”

“I already have a room?”

“Well, unless it’s been filled without notifying me,” the Specialist muttered, seemingly miffed at the mere thought of it.

The two trekked through the labyrinthine corridors of the mobile base, Samuel being sure to note the locations of everything they passed. By the time they reached what could be considered the ‘barracks’, he’d given up. There was simply too much to remember in one sitting.

“Toilets are located opposite the ladders,” Lester said, procuring a small object and pressing it into the door to one of the rooms, opening it. “Let’s be honest, that’s probably the thing you wanted to know the most after that flight.”

“That’s number two on the list,” the Russian said, following him inside. “Number one is-“ He stopped when he spotted the three other people inside, all looking at him as if he’d walked in on some secret cult meeting. “… who I’ll be sharing my room with,” he finished quietly.

An Asian man, seated on his own bunk, tilted his head sideways. “Lester. I had heard you went scavenging, but I did not expect you to return with another member.”

“Nor did I,” Lester muttered, before clearing his throat. “Everyone, this is Samuel. Assuming the Commander doesn’t turn him down, he’ll be a permanent resident of these bunks. If she does, then he’ll be a temporary resident.”

A woman relaxing on her bunk raised the aviators across her eyes, examining the Russian. “Well, you look the part,” she said. “Healthy enough, at least.”

“Ach, you sound like you’re sizing him up to eat him,” another woman with a Scottish accent chided. Shaking her head, she turned to the newcomer. “Don’t mind Holly. Sometimes I think all that celebrity has gone to her head.”

Holly turned her head around slowly. “I never should have told you that story,” she muttered, replacing her glasses and removing her eyes from view.

Samuel’s mouth upturned slightly. Banter. That’s a good sign. “So you’re Holly. Who else…?”

The Scottish woman grinned. “I’m Bonnie. If you need something blown up, I’m your lass.”

“Hence your nickname,” Holly interjected.

“Least it makes more sense than yours,” Bonnie said. “’Harbinger’. Which idiot thought that was a good nickname? I’d rather be yelling your real name into my communicator if I need help.”

Lester massaged his brow. “Ladies, you have discussed this before.”

“At least yours makes sense,” the Scot shot back at him. “You and that drone of yours. The devil, and the devil’s Advocate.” She smiled cheekily. “Which is which though?”

The Specialist muttered something in response, but Samuel couldn’t make out exactly what was said. Probably best. “And you?” he asked, indicating the Asian man that had so far avoided weighing in.

The man inclined his head. “Arthur,” he said. “And since we’re sharing nicknames, mine is ‘Chariot’.”

“I still maintain we should have called you ‘King’,” Holly said. “But, alas, I was overruled by a foolish majority.”

Arthur chuckled. “I do not need any more comparisons to a knight,” he said. “Just because I use a sword regularly.”

Samuel blinked. “I… must have misheard. Did you say a sword?”

“Yeah,” Holly answered for him. “Chariot’s our Ranger. We’ve got all the bases covered in here, actually. Ranger, Bonnie’s a Grenadier, I’m a Sharpshooter, Mat’s a Specialist, and Alan’s our Ambusher.” She frowned. “We’re just missing a Trooper, now.”

“Which raises the question, what class were you looking at?” Lester asked, turning to his quarry. “We gave you that lesson on the way here, and you’ve had plenty of time to think about it since. Did you come to a decision?”

The Russian nodded. “Yeah. I thought, given my… experience, that Trooper would be the best way to go. Shotguns and Assault rifles? Exactly my thing.”

“Then we’ve got a full team?” Holly asked, glancing at everyone else one at a time. “Does that mean we’ve finally got a full team?”

“Keep your pants on girl,” Bonnie admonished. “No offense to you Sammy, but I’d like to see you in action before I get excited.”

“And you need a nickname,” the Sharpshooter insisted. “I’d go ‘Rasputin’ if one of the intelligence staff didn’t already. How about ‘Vodka’?”

Samuel frowned. “I’ve never even had vodka.”

Lester groaned. “Would you at all mind if I left you here?” he asked. “I need to clear my head already.”

“Go ahead.”

The Specialist beckoned to his drone, and, shaking his head and muttering, left the Russian to his fate.

Samuel turned to the others. “Where’s he going? Up top for some fresh air, or what?”

“He works on that drone in his spare time,” Arthur stated. “I believe he finds the action calming.” A pause. “When his modifications work, that is. If not, then it is anything but calming.”

The Russian gazed at the door for a moment before shrugging and pointing at one of the empty bunks. “So which one’s mine?”

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Taxor_the_First and BMPixy:

“El Diablo Went Down To Engineering”, Part 1

La Paz, Baja California
0823 Local; May 27 2038
Aboard the Avenger, Engineering


“Y luego apretar este tornillo…” (And then tighten this screw…) José murmured to himself as he slowly turned the socket wrench, the tool slowly clicking as it rotated. Satisfied that the screw was firmly in place, the Ambusher set aside the wrench, giving a satisfied look at the fully reassembled arc rifle - the splotches of grease scattered across his arms giving testament to the thoroughness of his maintenance. “That should… do it,” he added, setting the weapon aside to grab the next one from the stack, which he immediately began to disassemble into its component parts.

The door slid open to admit a single GREMLIN drone, which halted abruptly upon spotting the occupant. “What are you waiting for?” an upper-class British accent asked, the owner following it inside. Lester’s eyes narrowed slightly when he too saw the engineer within. “Oh.”

José perked up slightly upon hearing the voice. Taking a quick glance over his shoulder in between cleaning parts, he asked, “Am I in your way, señor? If-if I am, just give me un momento, and I can be finished.”

“No, no, that’s… quite alright,” the Specialist said after a moment. “I was not expecting this workshop to be occupied, is all. Unless you need that particular bench,” he said, pointing at a worktable over to the side, “then you can go as slowly as you please.”

“No no, no I do not need it,” José replied with a shake of his head. “Pardon me for being so, presum-er, what’s the word... presuntuoso as to think you would need the whole place. I shall not bother you.”

Good, Lester thought, though he refrained from saying this out loud. Instead, he pointed at the bench. “Lucifer, if you would please…?” The drone obediently flew over to the worktable, settling itself down on the flat surface and powering down. Grabbing a utility knife from a collection of tools hanging on the wall, the Specialist got to work cutting the tape holding a small black object to the bottom of the drone’s chassis. “Would have liked this to have actually worked…” he muttered as he went, discarding the tape at the side.

“Like what to have worked, señor?” the Mexican asked, opting not to comment on the drone’s name. “Lo siento, I said I would not bother you - never-never mind the question, I shall leave you be,” he added after a moment, trying to shut down his curiosity and focus on the rifle in front of him.

For a moment, Lester considered not answering. This was meant to be therapy time, after all. But his desire to create as many allies as possible swayed him into answering. “I’ve been trying to attach a proper weapon to my drone,” he said, picking up a screwdriver and unbolting the object. “Unfortunately that means I need a way to fire it, and that kind of mechanism has so far been too heavy…” He drew the contraption away, holding it up to the light and examining it. The pistol within seemed fine, as did the mechanism. He frowned. “... or they just haven’t worked at all,” he finished.

José furrowed his brow as he thought. Setting down the rifle he was working on and stepping over to Lester’s bench, José began to pitch the kernel of an idea he had. “Perhaps you are thinking over it too much. Maybe instead of having a mechanism to activate the trigger assembly, you just build the hammer directly into the drone - passing by it completely?” the Ambusher asked, looking between the mechanism and Lester as he thought.

Lester bit his lip in thought. “... potentially,” he said. “I’d be a bit reluctant to crack Lucy open like that, though. Not without some assurance that I wouldn’t need him in the near future. And what happens if I damage something inside? That’ll take even longer…” He shook his head. “Mind you, it is probably the only solution. Although it would depend on how much space is in there to begin with…” He started, not having noticed the engineer approach. “Wha- Don’t worry about me, I can do this myself. You have far more important things to do than interfere with my rambling.”

“It’s fine,” José said, idly scratching at his scar. “Plus, it is good to have eyes upon what is being worked on, sí? It might be good to take a slight break and stretch mind in other directions, as well.” Oh, right! the Mexican mentally admonished himself. “I am José,” he added, extending a hand.

Lester eyed the hand for a moment before reciprocating. “Lester,” he said, shaking. “Matthew Lester. It’s a… pleasure to meet you.” He indicated the weapons José had been disassembling. “I take it you are an engineer then?”

“Only some of the time,” José replied, rubbing his neck slightly. “Supposed to be a soldier, but that waits for now as we prepare. And, well, this is the best way I can help with that. From the drone, I take it you are a… Specialist?”

“That, I am,” Lester stated. “Your role is, however, less obvious. But your interest in those Arc rifles would lead me to believe you are an Ambusher.”

“Ah, observant!” José answered, nodding with certainty. “Most other weapons… disagree with me, so I found something that does not require skills I cannot gain. Thus, that.”

“I can understand that,” the Specialist said, also nodding. “I usually prefer weapons that don’t spray out two thousand rounds per minute or some equally ridiculous number. I leave that to Bonnie. Give me precision and utility over storms of lead any day.” He scratched the back of his head, relaxing himself internally. “What about that cable gun you people have? A friend of mine was saying he was looking forward to using it, but I can’t understand what use such a thing would be.”

“I am no expert, pero…” José paused for a moment in thought, “it serves more as a way to disable foes and deny areas than to kill outright, from what I can observe. Readies the oil for the others to cook with - to use a phrase.”

“But wouldn’t the enemy just… see it?” Lester shook his head. “Nevermind. I’ll leave it to the experts, rather than judge the effectiveness of something before I’ve even seen it in action. I do trust him to use it to full effect, I’m just concerned as to what that effect is. Then again, I have been ridiculed for choosing the Uranium Blunderbuss.”

“The… what?” José asked, his limited knowledge of English not including those words. “Is that a foreign weapon?”

Lester shrugged. “Think of it as a radiation shotgun,” he explained. “The idea is pretty foreign in my opinion. Which madman came up with the idea is beyond me. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another one of those ADVENT prototypes that we’ve hijacked along the way.”

“I suppose I would not either,” José answered. “Though with all of the weird things aboard this ship, I would not be surprised if it was our idea either. For example, where does all the food here come from? To see such bounties here… I never thought it would exist outside of the cities.”

“I wouldn’t know,” the Specialist said, shrugging. “I had the option to go into Paris once. I chose not to. Probably upset my parents, but I haven’t seen them in years, so it doesn’t matter.”

“The cities… they were never an option for me,” the Mexican replied, leaning against the workbench with a sigh. “Poverty and stubbornness kept that away - perhaps for the best, but who knows.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’d have been delighted to have you,” Lester said, as if he were advertising the concept. “Every member of humanity should… ah, nevermind. I can’t keep up with the same load of crap that those billboards in the outskirts have. Barely even convincing. Although, spend long enough staring at them and those pristine city walls, the concept begins to look mighty promising.” He shook his head. “I was lucky they decided to show me I wasn’t welcome beforehand, otherwise I may well have cracked.”

 

[BMPixy]

Taxor_the_First and BMPixy:
“El Diablo Went Down To Engineering”, Part 2

“I would not be able to comment on that,” José said simply, “so I shall take your word that the cities are just as horrid as those running them. Would not be surprising.”

“Oh, it all looks fine,” was the response. “On the surface. Haven’t actually been in one myself, but I’ve heard enough stories from people that have. Nice housing. Good food. Entertainment. The Gene Therapy clinics. But just a little too much restriction. Enough to keep you stable, in the same place. And keep you within their sight at all times.” He eyed the man beside him. “So I take it you didn’t live near a megacity before coming here?”

“No, Tijuana is fairly isolated from the cities,” José explained. “For some reason a megacity was never really built near the LA ruins, and so there was none near to home. Just a few watchtowers, the odd patrol, and the slow death of the city signified that the cities and their government exist.”

“So not much exposure to ADVENT, and yet you’re vehemently opposed to them.” Lester tilted his head. “Curious position, wouldn’t you say? Is there some reason for your… dislike?”

“It is… personal,” José answered, partially dodging the question. “I lost almost everything to them - and not even on purpose. It happened, and I was left with the pieces. Thus, I am here now. Do to others what they have done to you, and all that.”

“Hmm. Very well.” The Specialist returned to his drone, beginning to remove the remaining extras. “In a way, that would make us similar. I myself was just trying to survive in the outskirts of Paris as… well, I guess an engineer. I got a bit too popular, and ADVENT targeted me as a possible source of dissension. Or maybe they just didn’t like me fixing things.” He shrugged. “I got out, evidently. Smuggled out. Eventually wound up working for XCOM about… it’d be about a year ago now. Not a heroic story or one of great loss, but that’s my life in a nutshell I guess.”

“For the best, sí?” José responded. “Heroes die, and great losses… well, that should be reason enough to avoid that. May not be entertaining to retell, but life is never like that in most cases.”

“True enough. It might not earn you many drinks at the bar, but at least you can still drink.” Lester shuddered slightly. “In moderation, of course. Not like... certain members of my squad.”

“A rowdy group, to guess from your expression?” the Mexican asked, arching an eyebrow. “Might I ask about them?”

“Not ‘rowdy’ as such,” Lester said. “And mostly it’s just the women. Both of them are far too… cheerful. I prefer Arthur’s calm over Holly’s excitement, and Bonnie…” He laughed, but there was little humour in it. “That one is almost dangerous. Playing the Scottish stereotype a little too closely there, I think. She’s not even genetically Scottish - her parents were Welsh, but being raised there has tainted her.” He shook his head. “Bah. I came here to get away from them. Hopefully this Samuel will bring some kind of order. Even if Alan became insufferable in his presence.”

“If history will say anything about outsiders bringing order, well, look at who we work for and why,” José said, a humourless smile crossing his lips. “Though the best of luck in any case. It may be needed in great amount.”

“This drone is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment,” Lester muttered, finishing his alteration and picking it up. “Says a lot about me that my favourite companion is one that doesn’t talk, doesn’t it?”

“I was taught to not state such ideas about people aloud,” the Ambusher answered neutrally. “Even with all the other teachings I have ignored - well, would not wish to be rude, correct?”

“You might not say them out loud, but you’re still thinking them,” the Specialist stated. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. As things stand, my life is better than it could be. I choose to see things like that, rather than focus on whether this person thinks I’m Hitler reborn or not, or if this person thinks my relationship with my drone goes beyond anything acceptable. Perceptions like that will not change. You are free to interpret my actions as you wish. I cannot and will not stop you, just as you cannot and will not stop me from doing the same to you.”

“Very well, though I will say ahead of time that the Catholic Church… frowns on those kinds of activities outside of marriage,” José said, letting slip a wry smile, before returning to a neutral expression. “That was a terrible joke, lo siento.”

“You’re a Catholic?” Lester glanced at his drone. Oh. Excellent. Absolutely fantastic. “I… I didn’t realize. I didn’t… with the name of my drone, I didn’t cause any offence, did I?”

“No, no,” José said hastily, raising his hands defensively. “Just merely… prodded questions as to why it might be the case, if it is not asking too much.”

“No, it’s not. When I first got him, he was having a bit of trouble starting. Mechanical issues. I kept saying that he was a devil to get working properly, and eventually I just started referring to him as ‘Lucifer’.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t escaped the effects of that myself. Everyone calls me ‘Advocate’ now. Admittedly, that’s better than some of the other names they could have chosen, but still…”

“Better than being called Caracortada behind your back,” José answered simply, rubbing his cheek absentmindedly. “At least your name comes from what you’ve done, and not what others have done to you.”

“Can I ask what that means, or is that tied to that story you didn’t want to share?”

“It means ‘Scarface’ in English,” José explained, scratching at his scars once more. “Might sound desirable, but… I got these at my weakest moment, my most vulnerable. Nothing but burdens to me, a scar upon both my soul and my visage.”

“I can see how that would become tiring,” Lester said simply. “Being known for the enemy’s accomplishments rather than your own…” He glanced down at the drone once again. Such as they are.

“Lo siento, I did not mean to bring you down with my tales,” José apologized, lowering his head slightly. “I suppose I can take one bit of pride in these - if things go horribly wrong, at least I will be easy to identify,” he added, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

“There is that,” the Specialist agreed. He thumped the chassis of his drone, and it obediently powered up, lifting out of his arms and floating once again above his head. “I shall take my leave,” he stated, turning back to José and holding out a hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, José.”

“Same to you, Lester,” José answered, taking the hand and giving it a firm shake. “Adíos, to you and your devil of a drone.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

A call had gone out to seven XCOM operatives that the Commander had chosen them for XCOM’s first operation.

In the armory, Luke went over his weapons to make sure everything was in working condition. “Alright. Minigun? Check. Grenade launcher? Definetly check. Two ap grenades. And an incendiary grenade.”

“Think you're armed enough boy?” Lilith said. “You’re nervous; this is your first mission and you never killed and thing - well, on purpose - before.”

“I will be fine, aunty. You worry too much. Besides, I got you watching my back and keeping me in check so I don’t go overboard with my powers.”

“Yeah, Luke. Remember you're a part of a team now; you're not on your own any more, which means don’t go full pyromaniac on me. I will tell you when to use your powers, alright? Don’t overdo it.”

“Alright, alright, god damn I’ll be fine you worry too much. All I want to do is get a little bit of payback. I promise not to go overboard with my powers OK.” Luke said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Lilith just looked at Luke thinking to herself. You know sis I’ve been raising your son for all these years I saw him walk talk read become a trouble maker, and now i’m seeing him to war. Heh I’m sure you would have done a better job than me raising him, but I hope you and your husband are watching over him. Lilith hugged Luke’s back. “Luke no matter what remember that I love you alright.”

Luke put his right arm around his aunt’s head. “Yea and I love you to. Now enough of the sentimental stuff I need load my weapon.”

“Yea, yea, I’ll leave you to your fancy gun. Best I get ready too.” Lilith patted Luke on his head before leaving him to his weapons.

***​

XCOM Mission Parameters

Operation Gatecrasher
ACEP Network Hack
1200 Hours, June 1st

North American Continent
United States of America
Caldera City Center

XCOM Forces

Menace 1-5

Alpha Team

*SQ Van Dam, Lilith [Sharpshooter]
SQ Ipiktok, Yakone [Ranger]
SQ Van Dam, Luke [Grenadier]
SQ Chambers, Alexis [Trooper]

Beta Team

**Cmdr Ipiktok, Atka [Ambusher]
SQ O’Brien, Morrigan [Specialist]
SQ Sinclair, Leon [Grenadier]
SQ De Saint Pierre, Gwendoline [Juggernaut]

Gear

Lethal Grenades: AP, HE, CU, AT, Chlorine, Incendiary
Utility Grenades: SP, TG, Flashbang, Smoke, Rebuff
Miscellaneous Items: Medkit, Battlescanner, Combat Knife, Radio Jammer

Mission Briefing

The time for XCOM to announce its rebirth has finally come. And we’re going to do it in a grandiose way. In the center of Caldera is a magnificent statue of the Elders celebrating the vaunted benevolence of the Elders and the day of Unification when Caldera along with some of the other first Megacities were unveiled. This shining beacon of the ADVENT Coalition’s founding will have all eyes on the continent turned to it today – on Unification Day. That’s why we’re going to blow it to pieces on live TV.

However, ADVENT’s not going to let that happen. By the time we’ve landed and Alpha Team has started to move on the statue, we’ll have gone loud, and they’ll try and shut off the broadcast. To counteract this, our covert operative in the city has given us the nearby location of a comms center that we can hack to keep a feed running on the news and citywide PA. This backdoor will let us get our message through with accompanying footage of the statue falling down. And within that building is another vital asset Beta Team will be recovering.

It’s time to let the people in the Colonies hear the voice of the people instead of the propaganda of the invaders. With this operation we’ll begin the Liberation of Earth.

Objectives:

1. Hack the ADVENT Coalition-Ethereal Protectorate Network to broadcast the Commander’s message to the citizens of ADVENT in the continent.
2. Recover the critical asset within the facility housing the network backdoor.
3. Destroy the Commemoration Elder Statue.

Hazards:

1. ADVENT Checkpoint Towers – Although they can provide a link to the ADVENT network in the area for the disruption of local forces or intelligence gathering, the checkpoint towers have a scanning radius that will break concealment and/or alert enemy forces to our location.

Terrain:

There are one-to-two story buildings with the occasional garden plot of pine trees south of the statue. Many have skylights and numerous windows and doors that allow a lot of light in which can be a problem for concealment but allow the squad a great deal of mobility. The backdoor building is to the west from the ‘southwest’ roof dropzone, and is a black box of a building with no way to look in and a single locked door with guards patrolling outside.

The statue area has an approach with a main street having water-ringed platforms on either side with upper basins in their centers. Directly to the south are two ADVENT patrol cars and a gathering area in front of the Speaker’s podium. The site itself is surrounded by a square street all around. Within that enclosure is a garden with four fountains that the Ethereal Statue’s hands hover under and replenish. The statue is four stories tall but the supports are weak enough to be blown up by an X4 charge in the right location.

To the east and west of the statue are tall buildings with glass plates making up their walls – the media centers of Caldera. To the north stretches out the main city streets of the city. These three areas represent boundaries of the mission site.

Civilians:

Expect few to none on the streets or in buildings due to the holiday, a large crowd near the statue and the Speaker’s podium that will likely flee once concealment is broken, and none near the backdoor. The Speaker himself is present pre-op, but will certainly be evacuated before we could have a chance to attempt an assassination.

Enemies:

Expect ADVENT forces primarily in the form of Troopers, Lancers, and Officers. It is possible there will be a Medic and Gunner presence. Local and dropship reinforcements are likely. Anticipate alien forces to include Sectoids and Vipers, potentially Clerics (the ‘publically accepted’ forces). Contingent within the Backdoor Facility is unknown.

***​

Atka concluded her briefing, and grabbed her trusty anti-tank rifle to hoist onto her back mount. “Any questions before we get going?”

Morrigan cleared her throat. “Well… I’m sure everyone is thinking this, but I’ll be the one to ask. Are we allowed to… risk civilian casualties if they get in the way?”

Atka’s expression darkened slightly. “I didn’t think that would have to be a question. Absolutely not. We’re trying to convince these people to rebel against ADVENT, not legitimize their propaganda about the Resistance. Especially on a mission like this, we need to ensure that the only things were break are the property of ADVENT’s peacekeeping forces and their... decorations.”

“Right, but… what is our job again?” Gwen asked, scratching her head slightly as she leaned her brand new alloy shield against a table. “You said before that there was this special thing we were going after aside from just keeping communications going.”

The Commander nodded. “I’ve gotten intel about something ADVENT uses to bolster their field psionic network. Apparently they may have been scooping up tacticians to install within select sites to provide data as living computers. Within that communications facility, there may very well be one. And furthermore, it’s someone vital not only to the Resistance, but to XCOM itself.” She turned to walk towards the Skyranger. “My second in command, Central Officer William Bradford.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemin24601, ZombieSplitter53, Dahlexpert, and MarineAvenger: “Operation Gatecrasher, Prologue”

As the Skyranger - invisible in the skies thanks to its Miniaturized Ghost Field Generator - neared Caldera, Atka patched the ship’s viewscreen through to a feed the Avenger was picking up. “With any luck, they haven’t caught wind of us yet…” she muttered as she flipped through several channels.

“Preparations are already complete in cities across the globe…”

“...today marking the fifteenth adversary of…”

“...Unification Day, the very beginnings of the ADVENT Coalition.”

“Despite recent attacks by fringe elements, operations thankfully remain unaffected at the new gene therapy clinics opening this year.”

“In response to the unprovoked intrusion on the eve of our most beloved celebration, the Speaker reaches out to us.”

“A small number of dissidents again repeat the mistakes of the old world.” the face of the ADVENT Coalition spoke across all channels, in the midst of his Unification Day address. “Striking again as at a benevolent savior who time and again offers nothing but friendship, and compassion. A savior that brings water to the desert, peace to the barbarous… yet these trivial actions could never break the bond that now exists between humanity and the Elders.”

The Commander paused the screen. “I’ve heard enough. They’re unfazed. Perfect for us.”

Morrigan rubbed her arm nervously. “Damn it. I remember when I would listen to that man and believe his lies. Makes me feel so stupid in retrospect.”

“Have we even considered the possibility they are just luring us into a false sense of security? I mean if this is some big event here, I would be sort of expecting something of this calibre.” Leon said in general to everyone, though he was mainly looking at the Commander.

“In fourteen years no one else has ever tried. It was hard enough for the group in Europe to get into a Megacity to hit a gene therapy clinic yesterday, and it cost them a lot of lives… they have no idea we have cloaking technology,” Atka explained. “And besides, the best of their guards will protect that snake once we make ourselves known… leaving the statue less heavily guarded.”

“This is Firebrand, touchdown on the target rooftop in one minute. Get ready, boys and girls,” the pilot cautioned her passengers.

“Oh, believe me, I’m ready,” Yakone muttered with nervous excitement, going over her PDW to make sure the friction dampener wasn’t loose one last time.

Lilith looked at the ceremony frozen on the screen. “Pfft, I had to hear this idiot for years, I can’t believe people still listen to this fool. And Commander to answer you ADVENT doesn't care for the Resistance. To them, you're just a ragtag group of humans that just show up. To be precise you're like ticks to ADVENT - a small annoyance to them.”

Luke looked at his aunt. “Yeah, well we’re going to change that today aren't we.” Luke looked at Yakone and Alexis. “And I’m starting to like this project, me with two beautiful woman by my side, I’m more motivated fight now.”

Yakone rolled her eyes. “Well, flattery aside, I couldn’t have put it better myself. Let’s do this.” The Skyranger touched down with little more than a quiet clang, and the hatch opened, causing the interior to vanish from view while it was open to the midday air. The sun was shining outside, but heavy clouds floating above offered a portent of rain. The squad exited the dropship, and the hatch silently closed behind them as Firebrand took off again.

Atka motioned for the group to advance along the large rooftop, avoiding going too close to the skylight in the center even if there was likely no one outside due to numerous events and parades. They came to a ledge between the first building and one to the east, and a few jumped the gap while those with more equipment - particularly the grenadiers - had to go along fire escape ladders and drain pipes. All the while the Commander remained at the vanguard of the group, and held up a hand ducking low once she reached the next ledge - hidden behind a billboard.

She whispered harshly into her comm, “ADVENT truck just below us. Looks like…” she glanced around the billboard, “four troopers and an officer. Couldn’t plan a better group to ambush if I tried. Yakone, Lilith, Alexis, Morrigan, move up with me and prepare to fire as soon as they scatter. Luke, go loud by giving them an AP grenade.”

Alexis stepped up next to Morrigan, her hand shaking ever so slightly as she steadied her assault rifle. Morrigan stepped next to her and whispered, “Scared?”

Alexis smiled nervously. “Me? Of course not. Are you?”

Morrigan nodded. “Yup. But what’s important is I don’t let it hold me back. Otherwise, fear is good. Keeps you on your toes.”

“I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind,” Alexis whispered, and took several deep breaths.

The officer turned to his four troopers with a nod, unaware of the death that was about to come from above. “M̢҉̵̛à͘͟r̀҉̶͢͝ḉ̸͜͟h͏̧!͜͠͝” he ordered, and together the five began to move.

Luke loaded his grenade launcher and get’s a smile on his face “Oh, I’ve been waiting all my life for this.” Luke fired his grenade launcher at the four ADVENT soldiers, killing two of the troopers and wounding the officer. “And that’s two on my kill count.”

“Ą͠m̷͘͢͢b̧̛̀̕͘ù͟͡s҉̶̀͝h̵̢!̧͡” the officer screamed in pain, his armor partially ripped open by the antipersonnel blast. He and the two living troopers scattered, only to fall under fire from five XCOM soldiers. Atka focused on the officer with her overwatch shot, bringing her anti-tank rifle to bear down on the enemy fire team leader. With a crack, a high-caliber round ripped through what was left of his armor and found a home amongst vital organs. Before he even hit the ground he was dead and his surviving subordinates were under fire.

Yakone’s PDW cracked with a double burst of fire, the first batch of rounds dropping a Trooper to his knees and the second dropping him to the concrete in a pool of orange blood. Without even meaning to, Morrigan and Alexis ended up firing their rounds in opposite directions, the Irish woman coming in from the left while the purple-haired woman came from the right. With nowhere to run, the trooper fell quickly when the two lines of fire crossed paths.

Atka glanced down at the fallen group of ADVENT soldiers with satisfaction, and then swiveled around to face her squad. “They might have all fallen before they could radio in help, but we have maybe a minute before they’ll be missed at best. It’s time to start making ground. Alpha Team, follow the elder Van Dam and move on the statue. Beta, you’re with me. We’ve got a Lieutenant Commander to rescue and a message to broadcast.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemin24601, ZombieSplitter53, and Dahlexpert: “Operation Gatecrasher, Part 1”

Alpha Team

The two teams split up as one went north and one went east. The former group was Alpha Team, headed to topple a beloved symbol of Unification Day. They traveled along the main street, and approached a four way intersection. Before they could quite get there, however, two figures darted around either building that flanked the main road. They were ADVENT soldiers, but armed with shock batons and boasting sleeker helmets and armor. Two Stun Lancers blocked the way and then swiftly charged upon spotting the XCOM fireteam.

“Whoa, too close!” Yakone yelled, going for her secondary weapon rather than her PDW. She didn’t have time to enhance its effectiveness with her imbuing, but against the light armor it didn’t matter as much. Her alloy-coated sword cleaved through the chest of the one rushing her, and they fell backwards bleeding out. The other was closing in on Lilith.

“Oh please.” Lilith pulled out her revolver and shot at the Stun Lancer’s knees bringing him to the ground. Once he was on the ground Lilith empted another slot’s bullet into the stun lancer. “Stun Lancers. Looks like ADVENT is serious, probably a crappy day for them. They were probably thinking to themselves, ‘it’s just a guarding job nothing serious.’ Well then good work Yakone, but stay away from these guys: they hit you with these shock batons and you’re out. So be careful alright.”

“Yeah, I know,” Yakone replied with a shake of her head. “We haven’t run into many of these guys out in Mexico but I’ve heard the stories from covert operatives. Nasty dudes. Apparently their riot control is getting more and more agg- look out!” She cried out suddenly as two Troopers ran behind a barricade preventing access to the northern route running through the two water-garden platforms and opened fire.

“Hum that’s cute... Luke you mind getting them out of? There smoke them out.”

“With pleasure.” Luke opened his palm summoning what looked like a fireball. Luke threw the fireball at Advent forcing them out of cover.

“Yakone, Alexis, they're all yours. Have fun.”

Alexis cracked her neck and took a nice, deep breath. She remember her training, and let her aim lead the target. A little too much, as she wasted a few shots and the trooper stopped before she actually hit, but her conditioning gave her time for another volley that dropped the target like a bad habit.

Yakone grinned, fell back into a low stance, and then dashed at the remaining Trooper. She caught up to him just as he was reaching the dense line of trees. Hearing the approaching rustle of grass, the horrified ADVENT soldier turned to see the Inuit-Caucasian charging, screaming out ‘Banzai!’ as her sword came down on him, cutting through his helmet and dropping him to the ground.

Her enthusiasm fell as what looked like a diamond-shaped crosshair expanded around her. “Uh-oh,” the Ranger muttered, an Officer shouting commands to a Medic next to him as he marked her with psionic targeting. The medic opened fire with their carbine, narrowly missing the XCOM operative and certainly tearing up the wooden cover she was using. From either side of the road perpendicular to the main one two more Troopers were approaching to the patrol car the other two were behind.

“Damn it,” Lilith yielded, aiming her marksman rifle at the medic. Her shot connected with the Medic chest, severely wounding the him. “Luke, Get your grenades at that squad car. Alexis, pin down the leader. Yakone you need to stay where you are don’t move. Use your PDW more than your sword.”

“Got it.” Luke fired a incendiary grenade at the ADVENT vehicle setting it on fire along with the ADVENT solders.

Too close! “Y-Yeah, I’m digging in,” Yakone said a little shakily, firing off a PDW volley that missed a retreating Trooper as he jumped into the shallow water surrounding the right platform to put out the flames. The other one attempted to do likewise as his medic ally was in no condition to help him. The white-armored ADVENT soldier was putting out their own fires and knitting together a gaping wound in their shoulder with their medkit.

Alexis focused her fire on the Officer, her eyes occasionally darting towards where her best friend was. “Damn it.” She broke fire on the officer and pulled out her smoke, tossing it towards Yakone. The now unsuppressed Advent Leader turned his fire towards Lilith, recognizing her as the squad leader. Seeing this, Yakone pulled out her Rebuff grenade.

Now would be a time to knock someone on their ass… She thought before a spray of magnetically-accelerated rounds from the no-longer-on-fire Trooper delayed her long enough for the Officer to begin firing. “Hey!” Unwilling to be hit by stray fire as she was, the Ranger began imbuing her armor to prepare a toss, but Lilith would have to endure some withering fire before Yakone could act.

“Damn it I gave you an order! To hell with I’ll deal with them later.” Lilith aimed her rifle at one of the wounded troopers that were previously on fire and now focused on Yakone. Her shot killed that trooper, then the Sharpshooter realigned her weapon at the other busy with Luke, and killed him as well. “Luke, get that fucking captain out of there!”

“On it” Luke loaded his grenade launcher with an AP grenade preparing to fire at the commander. The medic saw Luke about to fire his grenade launcher and started to fire at Luke, keeping him from taking the shot.”Damn it. Hey, I need help here!”

Alexis rushed into cover closer to the offending medic, pulling out her shotgun and firing from close range. The enemy dropped with a satisfying thud. Alexis turned back to the officer, not hoping her shots would take him down but hoping it might distract him for the others.

Yakone took the initiative, bounding forward from the smoke to flank the Officer. She briefly entertaining the idea of dashing for a slash, but eyeing armor that had shrugged off a fire blast, she decided her PDW was the better bet. She poured bullets into the ‘Captain’, shredding holes through his cape and ripping open his armor but otherwise leaving him unharmed. “C’mon, go down!” She paled as the Officer turned towards her, priming an AP grenade.

Luke whistles getting the Officer’s attention, and firing his own AP grenade at the officer the explosion killing him and causing the AP Grenade he had held to go off. “Woo! Double explosion... man I’m good.”

Yakone grimaced as shrapnel flew her way, but her helmet protected her from the worst of it and pieces that hit any exposed skin stung but merely smashed against her ‘overdrive’ field. “A little caution would be nice! Not all boom is good boom!” She complained even if she was unharmed, trying to shrug off the pounding in her chest.

Lilith went to Yakone looking to see if there are any wounds on her. “Hey, you alright? You're not delirious are you? How many fingers am I holding up?” Lilith said with some concern in her voice.

“I’m fine, honestly. I guess you didn’t listen in on the part where I told your nephew about my psionics. Let that be the first of likely many times they save my bacon,” Yakone announced. “Now, I think… Luke has the X4 charges, so we should move up on the statue and place them.” She looked up at the towering monolith in question.The elegant metal Elder stood upright with its hands spread over the four fountains adjacent to it, water pouring down from its hands into the pools of water to replenish them. “Wow, the Speaker really was reinforcing some symbolism there… speaking of whom…”

Unfortunately for the XCOM team, the podium was empty, and he had been evacuated. In his place, slithering up from behind one of the fountains onto the speaking platform was a Viper with plasma carbine in hand. To its left, a red-and-black armored ADVENT Gunner took up a position behind a sturdy 7-foot-tall obelisk between the fountain and the statue, and to its right another machine gunner did likewise at a similar structure. Both of them began laying down thick belts of suppressing fire on priority targets. The two seemed to recognize the Sharpshooter and Trooper as such, and maintained a deadly flow of bullets to keep them pinned.

“Well, that’s annoying,” Yakone mumbled in understatement. The Ranger moved forward to the left, intent on taking the heat off of Lilith. However, her shot missed, and reprisal was on its way. The Viper coiled its body around a metal block of the podium, and then reached out with its genetically-modified tongue. The appendage wrapped around Yakone, and yanked her into the snake-like alien’s crushing embrace.

“No!” Alexis screamed. She rushed out of cover - narrowly being missed by bullets that were aimed centimeters behind her - and tossed her SP grenade. It landed behind the alien serpent, and pelted its back with dozens of painful pellets, causing it to drop Yakone in pain. Alexis raised her weapon to take advantage of its exposure, but the bullets tearing into her armor and her side made her cry out in pain and roll into cover.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemin24601, ZombieSplitter53, and Dahlexpert: “Operation Gatecrasher, Part 2”

Alpha Team

“That fucking dumb ass! Oh, I’m going to kill her when this is over.” Lilith yelled. “Luke, Yakone, shield your eyes!” Lilith called out while throwing her flash grenade blinding two the enemy. While the enemy is blinded she pulled out her revolver and fired at the viper - making sure not to hit Yakone. The snake hissed in pain after Lilith put four a few rounds in its tail over time. “Yakone get out of there. Luke, the second she’s clear I want to put a wall of fire around the area. We need to buy some time and rethink our strategy.”

Yakone coughed. “Believe me, I am out!” She swung her sword up at the reeling Viper, slashing through its exposed body, and then leapt out of sight of the two Gunners in front of the podium without wasting any movement. Thank you Robert! She thought to herself, not even having to use her biokinesis to push away fatigue - instead free to use it to mend her slightly cracked ribs.

“Great, she’s free and clear.” Luke laid down the area with his fire, putting a small barrier around XCOM and ADVENT. “Alright, aunt, any ideas?” He asked over the clamor of machine gun fire.

Lilith sighed. “ Luke, I need you to go full hail mary here. Fire your last two grenades at those gunners, once damaged enough or better yet if you kill one. Well if you kill one then I will kill the last remaining one, if they both live. Yakone I want you to slowly flank them. No sword this time just shoot them down alright.”

“Gotcha. Word of advice though, the HE grenade isn’t gonna break solid hybrid alloys, so I’m gonna go for the one he hits with that. His other is… poison, right? That should make the survivor a lot less scary,” Yakone mused. “Ready to go whenever you two are…” Hey, Alex, you okay over there? She psied worriedly, hiding her concern visibly with bluster.

Y-yeah… I’m okay. Alexis held her hand over her side, working her biokinesis to painfully pull the pair of bullets still in her side out before sealing it. Sorry. Kinda fucked this mission up, didn’t I? Some first mission.

Hey, if I’m counting right you have almost as many kills as me. That’s an achievement and a half. Just sit tight, we’ll clean these two idiots up and then blow this statue sky hi - er - down.

“Right then now that we're armed and ready.” Luke made his fire dissipate and launched his HE grenades cracking - but not destroying - the first gunner’s cover, and then launched his chlorine grenade poisoning the other one.

“Alright open fire.” Lilith and Luke both fired at the gunners trying to damage their armor. If the poison doesn't kill the one first. Lilith, with her aim, managed to finish off the poisoned one, while Yakone did what she promised. Wheeling around to the back of the podium to flank the enduring Gunner, she took Lilith’s advice and fire from range with her PDW, downing the ADVENT soldier with an unnatural shriek from her target.

Yakone shuddered. “Ugh… I don’t want to know what they do to them to make them sound like that. Damn Jabbers.” She waved to Luke. “We’re clear for now, plant those X4 charges at the base of the statue!”

“Got it.” Luke went to the statue and armed the explosive setting it to blow once the time came, giving XCOM plenty of time to evacuate the area and go back to the road. As Alpha Team reached the crossroads again, an ADVENT dropship flew into view behind them. It slowed down, angling its engines horizontally, and let two ADVENT MEC Troopers accompanied by a drone each drop down. They started taking aim with their Magnetic Chainrifles, and opened fire, narrowly missing the squad as they made it into cover.

“Oh, hell to the no!” Yakone cried out. “We are leaving. Firebrand, pick us up, for the love of God!”

Like an answer to a prayer, ropes dropped down from seemingly thin air only seconds after Yakone called for an EVAC. The four members of the team were able to be pulled up before the MECs could fire again, and the machines seemed too confused by the disappearance to act in time to stop the Skyranger from rocketing out of range, heading to pick up the other team.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemin24601, ZombieSplitter53, and MarineAvenger: “Operation Gatecrasher, Part 3”

Beta Team, roughly 12 minutes earlier…

Crossing the street and heading through a small park with a few pine trees, Beta Team came to the building they needed to infiltrate. Strangely, there were no guards outside the door, nor any patrols in sight. “I suppose they went for inconspicuousness over heavy security… which is unusual for ADVENT,” Atka noted. “But not necessarily the aliens.” The Commander frowned as they reached the door, noticing that there were no access panels. It only appeared to open from the inside. “Give me a minute… we’ll do this the old-fashioned way,” the Inuit soldier told the other three, pulling out her AT IED trap and beginning the process of delicately freezing it to the center of the door.

Morrigan looked around, and eyed Leon, remembering what he said early. “This smells like a trap. I really, really hope this is just a case of overconfidence.”

“Don’t worry… when it comes to traps me and Gwen have sort of became specialists with turning them to our advantage.” Leon told the Irish woman as he rolled his shoulder, this being the first time he was fully geared up. He was just happy the tactical rigging made most of his equipment feel weightless on him.

“Yeah… not exactly the best thing we get fooled all the time and have to squeeze out of them to begin with.” Gwen noted as she got to the side of the door and checked her pistol as she couldn’t get rid of her small smile when she looked at her special shield. “Just stay behind me and I will be your guardian angel.”

“I feel safer already. Least it isn’t a car door this time…” Leon snickered.

Morrigan smirked. “You two make an interesting pair.” She moved behind Gwen. “Keep that shield up then.”

Atka finished her preparations, and stepped back a fair distance. She pulled out her revolver in one hand, and with the other she created a sphere of ice she launched at the pressure pad. The trap was tripped, and the doors exploded inward. One of them bowled over a very surprised ADVENT Trooper, and the other was shot by Atka, cutting through his armor and lightly wounding him.

Gwen pushed in first, keeping her alloy shield up as she kept in a crouching position so her legs or feet couldn’t be shot, and used the one sided mirror like viewing window to see where she was going, sticking her pistol over the side of her shield and fired close range at the already wounded trooper.

Morrigan stayed ducked behind Gwen, and watched as the Trooper rushed to the side to avoid Gwen’s fire. She open fire with her SMG, bringing his life to a bloody, surprised end.

Atka gave the Specialist a nod, and glanced around the austere room. Black walls, no windows, practically no furnishings. “I’m guessing the real interior begins up the stairs.” She walked to the door, and breathed a sigh of relief that this one had an access port even if it was locked. “O’Brien, you’re up.”

“Got it.” Morrigan stood up and walked to the door. She lifted her wrist computer, and started tapping on it. A moment later, her personal Gremlin, GZ-MO, floated in behind her and up to the panel. “Let’s see what you can do.” The Gremlin started its hacking while Morrigan typed on the computer. “Amazing. This A.I… I’m actually having trouble keeping up with it. Did Dr. Shen program all these?”

“I wouldn’t say she programmed them all completely… they were salvaged from the ones you’ve probably seen in the Megacities. But she did have to change up a lot of things, which requires nearly as much effort.” The Commander almost moved to step through the door first when it opened, but then remembered Gwen. “Another of her inventions will take awhile to get used to…” she mumbled as she motioned for the Juggernaut to lead the way.

“Hold on…” Morrigan moved to the unconscious Trooper. “We don’t want him waking up and shooting us in the back, right?” She pulled off his helmet. “Anyone got rope?”

Atka shook her head. “Didn’t expect to not have to kill any of them.”

“Sorry… I got my headband but it is the only thing keeping my hair in my helmet and not spilled out.” Gwen told the woman with a nervous chuckle.

“That’s okay. I just wanted something to do this without wasting resources.” With a cold look, she pulled out her SMG and planted a slug between the man’s eyes. “They aren’t worth the wasted bullet.”

Leon grimaced a bit under his helmet but he let out a sigh and shook his head. “Commander, may we double-time it before any buddies decide showing up?”

The Commander nodded slowly, her emotions masked by her helmet, and then had Gwen advance up the stairs. The room the Juggernaut came up into was filled with computers on the walls and even servers in the center like some sort of centrifuge. The blinking lights lit it up in a way that was almost adequate but not quite so. In the gloom further in the back of the room, two figures that looked disturbingly like mechanized roaches turned to face the team from an upright position, only to hop down into a less humanoid posture while pulling out four pulse pistols each. Behind them, a Sectoid took cover with a surprised chattering noise.

“These damn things?” Atka said with frustration, taking cover behind a servo and switching to her anti-tank rifle as they advanced. “Careful, they have sturdy armor!” She warned the squad before firing off a shot. Although their armor was indeed tough, the penetrating power of the AT Rifle proved stronger, and one Mecroach collapsed in a pile of chitin and ichor.

Gwen hid behind some actual cover this time instead of wanting to rely on her shield for protection against the bug looking aliens, which she personally wished she had taken an incendiary grenade to burn it with fire. Instead however, she took her AP grenade off of her belt. “Tossing!” She announced, throwing the explosive, getting a good hit on the armored bug.

Morrigan cringed at the sight of the giant insect, mechanized or not. She quickly pulled out her Assault Rifle, and fired at the creature, only for it to skitter to the side and fire back. Morrigan dove behind on of the servers. “I’m gonna fire again,” she said into her comms. “Someone nail it when it dodges.” She peaked out, nearly losing her head from a shot, and fired again. The bug dodged to the side as expected, but bumped into a server in its haste. “Gwen! Leon! Someone squash it!”

Leon nodded and he spun up his minigun, turning out of his cover as he pulled the trigger and sent a hail of bullets down the corridor, moving slowly from right to left, nailing the Sectoid who tried to retreat from the unexpected death and blunder of his companions. After the unarmored alien fell looking like cheese, the swarm of lead moved to the bug and what little damaged armor was protecting him was shot away, leaving a clear shot.

It was an opportunity Gwen took as advised by Morrigan, peeking out as she steadied her pistol on the top of her shield, firing, hitting the alien in vital areas, dropping it to the ground and the woman watched on as its muscles constricted and it curled into a slight ball like the insect it was.

There was the dull thrum of pulse engines from outside, and the sound of Jabberwocky from ADVENT forces. “Looks like we’ve got more company,” Atka warned the others, shifting to aim down at the enemy as they would come up. First up was a Lancer, having no chance of surviving the large caliber round Atka sent through his face but providing an opportunity for a Gunner followed by a Medic to reach the top of the stairs.

Leon set his minigun to the side, loading in his flashbang and sent it down the hall, trying to stun the two soldiers as his sister fired a few shots but couldn’t do much other than a few misses and one grazing shot as the French girl had to sneak back to reload her little clip. “Primed for you, Red.”

Morrigan peeked past cover. Using the same training she unfortunately shared with these ADVENT soldiers, she fired a few rounds, one hitting a weak spot and shattering the knee of the medic. When he fell forward, Morrigan pumped a few more rounds that punch through his helmet, killing him before he hit the ground. The Gunner forced the rest of them back with a spray of fire that punched numerous tiny holes in the second floor roof/third floor, but when he tried to move further he found himself gunned down by minigun fire.

“Well, that settled itself,” Atka muttered before ascending to the third floor. Within, computers were laid out more neatly, and there was an assortment of medical equipment as well within as well as life support monitors. “Morrigan, take that terminal and begin the upload of the broadcast. Once it completes it’ll start hijacking the news and we can get out of here.” As the Specialist went to do just that, Atka continued, “and this is definitely the place.” She activated a radio jammer burst - just incase more reinforcements were on their way - and walked up to the tube housing her second in command.

Reasoning Morrigan would be busy with the hack, Atka instead pulled out her AT Rifle and smashed the class containing a stasis suit within the life support tank. As she eased the suit and its unconscious occupant to the ground, a swirling eddie of energy formed and an enemy appeared in reprisal. It was a being made of what looked like a mixture of light and data, with a head containing two bright lights and ‘hair’ of flowing shadow that sharply contrasted with each other. It’s optics settled on the offending party - particularly Atka as she stepped back in surprise - and formed a rifle to take aim at her with.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemin24601, ZombieSplitter53, and MarineAvenger: “Operation Gatecrasher, Part 4”

Beta Team

Even as it did so, there was the sound of another dropship - though the engines made a different noise - and Jabberwocky with a mechanical tinge to it. Atka narrowed her eyes, and considered her options. This is one of those Codices that we met on the Avenger… I need to deal with this personally… I just hope those reinforcements aren’t dangerous. Unfortunately, that proved to be the case, as a winged alien Cleric unit came into view on the second floor, escorted by a paraplegic cybernetic ADVENT Hoverguard. “Deal with those two, I’ll take care of this one!” Atka told the others. “Don’t let them stop the hack!”

The Commander formed her Icy Helixes and slashed off the bars holding a roof access panel in place, the plate crashing to the ground with a clang. “Why don’t we take this outside,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the synthetic being across from her. What she got in response was a concentrated beam of light from the Codex’s Photon Rifle, but by that point Atka had already used physically-enhanced muscles to leap up the hatch. Rather than perform a similar feat, the Codex knelt down slightly, and vanished in a flash of light.

“Son av a wagon!” Morrigan ducked behind the computer terminal, but knew she had to move unless she wanted either the computer or the Gremlin to get hit. “Yer can alwus count on de feckin aliens ter scru up a plan!” She dared to peek over the computer briefly to get sight of the angelic xeno and the mutilated ADVENT soldier. “Oy! Leon! Can yer git sum 'ayte on dem so oi can git somewhere they won't blast me arse aff?”

The Cleric already seemed prepared, a thrumming green energy around her indicating the airborne alien had imbued her armor. The Hoverguard was not as adequately protected, though with a halved profile not including legs and metal plating bonded to flesh, it didn’t really need it. Magnetically-accelerated carbine shots and the bursts of a plasma beam-based SMG served to pin down the three XCOM soldiers in the top room from the one below.

In order to try and get the heat off of them, Leon loaded in a smoke grenade to his launcher and stepped back, only putting his launcher to the side instead of himself and he fired blindly, the grenade landing shorter than he wanted but it still served to block the alien’s view of them as Gwen pulled back to be with Morrigan.

Morrigan nodded to Gwen and smiled. “Thanks, love. I was afraid it would be a face full of plasma for me.”

“Well it is either a choice between you and Leon, and I know Leon can handle himself. However, if he gets hurt, it is your head.” Gwen warned, bringing her shield up. “Now I hope you are ready for when the smoke clears?”

“Oh, I’ll be ready.” Morrigan pulled out two grenades. “Been looking for an excuse to use these. Especially…” She grinned at the one in her left hand. Tucking it under her arm, she grabbed her rifle again and said, “Just let me know when I need to blind them.”

“Save it. We may need it.” Leon told Morrigan as he spun up his minigun, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it finally did, Leon began battering the Cleric with bullets, though the imbued alien took very little if any damage from the rounds, which caused Leon to rethink his strategy.

“Ready to pop out Morrigan? We should aim for that other one who isn’t protected by that space magic.” Gwen whispered, firing a few blind shots at the aliens.

Morrigan put her grenades back on her belt, looking a tad disappointed, and nodded. “Take out the support then…” She ducked back, a plasma shot whizzing past her head, barely missing despite the smoke. “Ahem… take out the support, then concentrate fire on the would-be angel. On your signal.”

Gwen took out her own genade, smirking at Morrigan as she pulled the pin and threw the explosive, and when it blew, doing moderate damage and knocking the Hoverguard off balance, she came out with shield raised, acting as the extension of the cover.

Morrigan stepped forward with her, hopping the cleric would be distracted long enough with Leon to not try and shoot them, and unloaded on the hovering soldier. Round after round was stopped by its armor until finally a few made it into its thrusters. The hoverguard lost stability, flying around in a circle a few times before smashing violently into a computer terminal.

***​

The two faced off atop the black box that was the backdoor as the Liberation Transmission was uploading. “You’re a little too late this time, and you’ve got no Muton pals to back you up,” Atka told the Codex. She attempted to use the brief pause after its teleport to read its mind, but was met with a jumble of static that made her withdraw her mental probing as if touching a hot stove. That’s a lot of - Atka didn’t have time to finish her thought as the Codex responded with a mental attack of its own.

The glowing datakeeper sent a thread of mental lightning Atka’s way that caused her vision to swim almost like a mindfray but different in purpose. The Commander’s vision nearly went black from the onslaught, but she managed to shrug it off and anticipated why the Codex had chosen that attack. Before her vision had recovered Atka had fallen into a duck and roll to the side as another streak of supercharged photons screamed through the position she had just been in moments before.

Can’t play around with this thing! Not when the other three are facing off against a Cleric. Atka extended an Icy Helix that was coiled around her right arm, and swung it with all her might at the Codex. Unable to teleport in time, it was cut in half horizontally, and burst into two separate forms. Though that didn’t help… damn these things! Atka did, however, have time to duck behind a raised ventilation shaft for cover as the Codex seemed to take a second or two to recover from the agony of a partial death. I almost feel bad for it. Almost.

Even as the Inuit woman started to go for her revolver for close combat fighting, the Ambusher was ambushed. The synthetic twins warped to either side of her, and raised weapons. Atka ducked low, but one streak of light grazed her even so and threw off her revolver shot at the one on her right - but not the speeding helix that impaled the Codex on her left. It’s weapon shattered and it held the Reflection in pain for a moment before its lightform shattered. For a split second Atka could see the brain in midair, and then it teleported into the remaining clone.

“So only one of you is the real one, huh… can’t really duplicate solid matter,” Atka realized, ducking to another side of her cover as the remaining Codex charged up an attack. It threw down a sphere of electricity that quickly ate up some of the black box’s power - threatening to disrupt the virus’s insertion into the ADVENT news channels - and even some of Atka’s psionic energy. The necessary energy absorption was quickly complete, and the energy became a swirling vortex that rapidly started to collapse in on itself. That can not be good! Atka took a deep breath, and used her medkit to bind her wound and then active ESP to enhance her reflexes slightly before running out of cover.

She narrowly was missed by a reprisal shot from the waiting Codex, and shot it with a revolver shot that didn’t quite kill it but made its form be awash with static as it appeared to be running out of energy to make up its form. The Trustee vanished in another burst of light as the rift behind Atka formed a tight sphere and then exploded in a blast of psionic energy that did no physical damage but would probably have killed a normal person within its radius.

Wisely not being in that radius, Atka was free to target the Codex as she tried to recover and reassess the situation, and walk forward firing her revolver. The final shot punched through the center of its body, and with a burst of pixels the Codex’s form dissipated - Atka catching the ‘brain’ as it fell. “This time we have something to study that isn’t blown up,” she mumbled before hopping back downstairs to assist the rest of Alpha.

***​

That just left the Cleric, which imbued its SMG and prepared to fly in - confident in its strengthened armor. However, as it thrust itself into the room, it was covered by a sheet of supercooled ice. “Finish it off, now!” Atka ordered, jumping back down with an unsettlingly cerebrum-shaped artifact in her left hand.

Leon let out a short reply of confirmation, and decided on a new course of action to end things swiftly. Setting down his minigun, Leon loaded in his Anti-Personnel grenade into his launcher, as well as took the High Explosive one off his belt. Firing the AP one first, the grenade exploded against the Cleric, shattering the ice as well as leaving the Cleric nice and ripe for his next primed explosive, which he threw shortly after, which blew up and left the alien with a big piece missing, dropping to the ground.

Gwen let out a short sigh of relief but quickly clammed up when she noticed the Hoverguard squirming a bit and she wasted no time running up and putting two bullets into the thing. After that, it ceased moving and she nudged it with her foot, shooting it one last time. “Think it’s dead now…”

“Sorry. I’ll try a kill it a little harder next time.” Morrigan typed on her wrist computer and looked over to Atka. “My gizmo is almost done, Commander.”

“Good, then let’s-”

Over the radio, the Skyranger pilot’s voice crackled, “Uh… I’m coming over your location Beta Team. We need to get out of here before these MEC Troopers wisen up.”

“-get out of here,” Atka finished, climbing back up to the roof.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Operation Gatecrasher, Epilogue”

On the news, an emergency ADVENT broadcast did her best to smile calmly and say, “We urge citizens to remain calm. The Speaker shall return shortly once the minor disruption has been dealt wi-” before being interrupted by a different sort of broadcast. The screen dissolved into static, briefly taking on the shape of a Sectoid head made of skulls, before shifting to the face of the Commander of XCOM.

Atka Ipiktok addressed ADVENT citizens continent-wide. “People of Earth - yes, Earth - I come to you today bearing the truth hidden by the lies of the Coalition. They claim to offer you peace and prosperity, to be ‘uplifting’ humanity for the betterment of mankind. We know better. You may have heard rumors of disappearances, or have known them personally… I know from personal experience that not only are there people being abducted, but they’re experimented on as surely as they were twenty years ago during the invasion that your ‘benevolent’ rulers so eloquently call ‘the Liberation’.”

“There is a liberation coming, and we are the ones that will bring it!” Atka proclaimed with fire in her tone. “We are the Resistance! We are the ones that see through the gilded falsehood that is the ADVENT Coalition, that see it as the oppressive police state it is! They merely lure you into acceptance with the carrot of gene therapy and safety. We’re not the ones that make the world unsafe for humanity. They are.” The Commander paused briefly before continuing with another proclaimation. “We are the ones that have suffered directly under ADVENT. We’ve lost friends and family to their machinations. And many of us have lost something personally,” she stated, resting a finger next to her cybernetic right eye - the electronic pupil narrowing in anger.

“We can’t offer you the luxury they can, but we can offer you real freedom and a chance to make prosperity on our own terms rather than those of occupying authoritarians. There is no veneer among the Resistance. Today we celebrate this day not as a ‘Unification Day’ that stole away our autonomy, but as the day the Resistance Movement begins the path towards the Liberation of Earth!” The screen switched to a camera aimed at the Elder statue - surrounded by the bodies of slain ‘peacekeeping’ forces. The X4 charges beneath it detonated, blasting apart gilded metals and weakening the structure enough that it wobbled and then toppled forward. The monolith crushed the gardens and pools in front of it, shattering into pieces as it collided with the ground.

The screen stayed on that for a few more seconds before returning to Atka. “Let this be proof that we can fight them. We can beat them! We have before… for the Founders of the Resistance Network shall forevermore be known to all as an organization that was created to fight the invaders…” the message started to cut out as the Speaker tried to hijack control of the news back to him.

“We apologize for this situation… do not listen to this propaganda by terrorists trying to sow fear and discord!” The tall man cautioned the public. “The criminal group they are claiming to belong to is dead-”

But the Liberation Transmission Virus proved strong enough to finish its message. Atka appeared one last time on the news that day to declare, “XCOM lives!”

***​

Back at the base, Lilith sighed. “Great, now that we're out of danger...” She made her way to Alexis and pulled her to the side. “Where do you hurt the most kid?” Lilith said with some concern in her voice.

“Um… my side I guess.” She looked down at the hole in her armor. “I healed myself, but it is still pretty sore.”

“That’s good... that’s good to know.” Lilith turned to the others . “Nice work you two, you did great work.”

Yakone nodded and walked off to change. Alexis chuckled nervously. “So, uh… how did I do, chief?”

Lilith looked at Alexis. Luke went to the back of the ship to join Yakone, mostly to leave the area and keep the Ranger out of what was to come. “You were a fucking DUMBASS! I gave you simple orders, Just suppress the officer. And you couldn’t even do THAT properly! Then you risked your own life stupidly, trying to rescue-” Lilith takes a moment to breath. “I want to break the rest of your ribs. I want to know what were you thinking.”

“I-I… I-I-I-I…” Alexis was flabbergasted, not expecting this. “I-I… S-Sir… I-I mean Miss… I-I mean…”

Lilith, frustrated the squaddie couldn't answer, punched Alexis to the ground. Lilith then stomped her foot onto Alexis, causing the Trooper to scream in pain .” I-I-I. That’s not a good ANSWER! I want you to tell me what you were THINKING!”

Tears formed in Alexis’ eyes, but not from the pain. “Y-Yakone… she’s my best friend! I love her like a sister! I… I panicked! I couldn’t let her…” She lowered her eyes. “I-I’m sorry…”

Lilith lifted her foot and stomped again on Alexis causing Alexis to scream louder “She’s your FRIEND… your FRIEND? I have never heard of a more pathetic excuse in my life! You see me? You see my skin? Before I became a freak I was normal. 20 years ago I was a normal person. Then the aliens showed up and killed everyone in my tribe. There is NO member of my family left, except Luke and he's not even my son. You think you're angry at the aliens? I'm more angry for WORKING with them. There isn't a DAY that goes by that I want to RIP MY OWN SKIN OFF!”

Lilith breathed trying to calm herself down. “Everyday, I’m reminded of what I did for ADVENT, and it’s not because I believed their garbage. I did it for that pyromaniac back there. Now listen. I understand she’s your friend, your best friend, and you would do anything for her. But you're part of a team. A team helps each other. Luke would have helped Yakone. I would have helped her. Look, this is not the ‘my best friend is in trouble let me save her’ game. You're lucky you’re alive right now. Now let me asked you this - something you probably didn't think about. What if you died to save your friend? What would that do to her? Can you imagine the guilt she would have?”

Alexis held her side, and slowly looked up. “It… it would have killed her. She would have been devastated.” She looked down again. “I… screwed up pretty bad, huh?”

Lilith sighed and lifted up Alexis. “That’s an understatement. You did a really bad job, but you're young, and this is your first mission. Take this experience, learn from it, and rely on your team more alright. We're all here to bring down ADVENT, not just you alone. Rely on your teammates more, alright?”

Alexis laughed nervously. “Thanks. But…” She rubbed her side. “Did you have to hit me so hard?”

“Would you rather be dealing with the Commander, and her wrath if she was leading you?”

Alexis let out a huff. “No. Honestly, I’d let you beat the crap outta me as much as you wanted if it kept her from finding out.” Alexis sighed. “But she will. And she’ll have worse things to say to me. Honestly, she’ll probably kick me off the field. She… she’ll have my head. And I’m not entirely sure I’m exaggerating.”

“Well, squad leaders do report to the commander... I could just say that the Viper grabbed you and pulled you out of cover, and the gunners caught you. No guarantees it will work.”

“No… no, please don’t do that.” Alexis smiled. “I want to take responsibility for what I did. After all, I can’t learn from what I did if you cover for me, right?”

Lilith patted Alexis’ head. “That’s the spirit, it won’t be pretty but if you're lucky you will fight again. Oh, yeah, and I hope you trust me now.”

“Well… you were able to get us through that mission despite my blunderings.” Alexis took a deep breath and said, “If we do work together again… I swear, I will follow all of your orders to the letter, and trust you to keep us all safe.”

Lilith smiled at Alexis. “Thank you.” Lilith rubbed her head and looked at Alexis. “By the way, my boy... he’s not a bad guy, he may try to talk to you after I leave here and say that I’m not so bad. Then most likely try to flirt with you.”

“Oh?” Alexis folded her arms. “It seems like you know his routine for picking up girls. I think he has an eye on Yakone, though.”

“My boy’s a flatter. He’s not one for actual relationships, he can’t hold a relationship to save his live. He has interest in a lot of women.”

Alexis chuckled, and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Mind if I go get out of this stuffing armor?”

“Go ahead.” Lilith laid down on one of the seats. “This is going to be a long campaign.”

Alexis laughed, and walked off to change.

 

[Dahlexpert]

A wild woman learns more about the flatter

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico

June 1st.1430
Aboard the Avenger
The Infirmary

Alexis sat in the small room on the examination room, waiting for the results of the x-rays to make sure she hadn't caused any damage she couldn't repair herself. She looked down at the small gown, wondering why she had to where it with her back and underwear exposed in the back. "Is this what they where in the Colonies' hospitals?" she mumbled to herself. "Why can't I just wear my clothes? I swear, if this is this perverts idea to try and see me naked..."

Luke walked into the infirmary to make sure Alexis was alright after her little "talk" with Lilith. "Hey Alexis, you alright? I figured I check in on you." Luke noticed Alexis wearing a hospital gown. "You know, I have to admit, I didn't get a good look at you with all the armor on, but I must admit you have a nice butt."

Alexis quickly turned to face him, placing her hands behind her, even though he couldn't see anything. "Peeper. Pervert. Come to get an eye full?"

"Not really. I came to see if you were alright, not just from the mission but from my aunt's little talk with you. But if I happen to see a half naked woman, that's just a bonu. But in all seriousness, are you alright?"

"Honestly?" Alexis rubbed her cheek. "Does she always solve her grievances with violence? Because she hits, like, really hard."

"She's a very passionate person. Also, when she was with ADVENT, they gave her an experimental Muton DNA infusion to not only her human DNA but the sectoid DNA. So she is kinda stronger then some people."

"And she has the temper to match it would seem," Alexis added, rubbing her sore side.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Trust me when I say that she does care and worries about other's safety." Luke looked at Alexis' side, and with out him realizing it he reached out towards her wound and touched it. "Hmm... you know, seeing you rush off like that, you had me worried. Thought I was going to bring you back in a body bag."

Alicia grinned, raising her chin proudly. "You kidding? It'll take more than that to take out Alexis Chambers!"

"And yet you went down like a sack of hammers, bleeding all over the place."

Alexis narrowed her eyes. "I was not bleed all over the place! And I didn't go down, I moved to the side to heal and get out of the way. There is a difference."

"You still ran out like an idiot, and got mowed down. Still, I have to admit, if you didn't do that, I wouldn't be seeing you in that apron. "

Alexis scoffed and stood up, walking away from him, though walking backwards so he didn't see her behind cut from how dramatic it was. "I already heard it from your aunt. I'm sure I'll hear it from the Commander. Probably Yakone too. You gonna be number four? 'Cause I'm not in the mood for it."

"Oh, no, I'm sure my aunt was a plenty for you, and the Commander will probably be worse. I'm here for your entertainment, or at least make you a little more conformable."

Alexis folded her arms. "Oh? You gonna dance like a monkey for me?"

Luke gave Alexis a questionable look "You want me to dance like a monkey? Honestly, I came down here to learn more about you, and if you still want me to dance like a monkey, then I will. Would you like me to strip too?"

Alexis laughed. "You're weird, Luke. But... a good kind of weird, I think."

"Hey, there's a smile. So that's one job done. I put a smile on your face. So now I still have to entertain you. So Alexis, tell me about yourself. Or would you rather know about me?"

"Well..." Alexis sighed. "Since you are here... why don't you tell me a little bit about what life is like outside of the colonies, and outside the resistance groups."

"Oh, you mean the slums? Yeah, well, to put it lightly, it sucks." Luke rubbed his head in annoyance "Since we live outside the main city, there was very little recorces, crappy plumbing and little food. Since ADVENT didn't really care about the people outside, crime ran amuck. I was no different. I looted, stole, and did some things I'm not really proud of."

"Yeah?" Alexis folded her arms and slowly walked forward. "Were you a bad boy, Luke?"

"You could say that. I sure as hell was not a good one. Petty theft, looting, running in a gang. So yeah, I was a bad boy."

Alexis stepped up to him and folded her arms. "And how about now? Are you still a bad boy? Should we be worried?"

"I changed. My aunt gave me a choice to keep doing what I was doing and be kicked out, or go to college. I chose the latter."

Alexia chuckled. "You went to a college? In the slums? And what was that like?"

"No because at this point my aunt worked with ADVENT, and I was moved to the city, so I lived in the city for a while.

"Interesting. The slums. The colonies. A resistance base. You really get around." Alexis sat back down and grinned at him. "I bet you had to beat the girls off with a stick, huh?" She shrugged. "At least, you would if ADVENT allowed for that kind of infatuation.""

Oh, in the slums I was very much a lady's man. Stealing the hearts of plenty of woman. I never committed, but that's how things are."

"I know. Your aunt..." Alexis trailed off, biting her lip.

"Yeah, she said something about me when she was talking to you, right?"

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 2

Alexis scratched her chin. "Yeah. Something about you... not being able to get anywhere past flirting."

"Yeah. Like I said, I'm not into commitment. Too much work and stuff."

Alexis nodded. "Well, can't really blame you for that. With how often we lose those we care about..." Alexis sat back on the table, and said, "You work out a lot?"

"Yeah, when I joined the resistance, I had access to a lot of weights. Before that, I spent most of my time running."

Alexis nodded. "I work out all the time. One of my favorite pass times. Maybe... if you happen to come into the gym when I'm there... maybe we can workout together."

Luke smiled at Alexais, moving his head up and down. "Well, I all ready have a good look at you right now. I can't imagine what you look like in work out gear."

Alexis wagged a finger at him. "Just as long as you take things serious while your getting an eye full. Don't get hurt because you were oogling my lucious bod."

Luke smiled at her. "Lucious body huh? Alright, I'll try not to look at that sexy little body of yours. But since you gave me a nice show of your body..." Luke took off his shirt, showing his tank top. "I guess I owe you a nice show as well."

Alexis scoffed. "Not like I asked for it," she said defiantly, even though she was obviously looking.

"Yeah, well, I figured I owe you one, since you're half naked and all. I refuse to take my pant off though. Don't want to go too far with this. So what do you think cutey?"

Alexis placed a hand on her chin and looked him up and down like she was evaluating a piece of art work. After a few second, she nodded. "Not bad. With your abs at least, I can see why girls would be attracted to you." She laid back on the table. "I just hope you have the personality to match."

Luke put his shirt back on. "Oh baby, that hurt. My flattering is part of my personality and charm. Though when I get serious enough, I do get competitive. I just hope you have a more playful personality than this."

Alexis chuckled. "Count on it." She leaned up to look at him again. "You play a dangerous game you know? First you flirt with the Commander's daughter. Now you flirt with the Chief Intelligence Officer's daughter. What's next? Gonna flirt with my dad's other daughter too?"

"Don't know why you called this a dangerous game. Ii'm one of the most wanted humans on the planet with red psion powers which makes me even more wanted, To were the aliens would rather capture and dissect me. I have people that want to kill me in the slums, so me having a few parents mad at me won't be the worst."

Luke walked forward and leaned towards Alexis to where he wass at eye level with her. "But you play a dangerous game as well. Imagine this is me just flattering. Having fun. Can you imagine if I was serious about relationships?"

Alexis leaned forward so their noses almost touched. "Good that you're not a commitment kind of guy, huh?"

Luke licked his lips as he stared into Alexis' eyes. "Oh, you're a dangerous one, but then again, I'm even more dangerous in more ways than you can think of."

"I'm sure you are." Alexis patted him on the cheek. "Who knows? Maybe I'll have to give you a try one of these days." A sly smile spread across her face as she laid back again. "But not again. I think I'll leave you wanting."

"Oh, will you now? This is typically my game, but you? Oh, you're going to be really fun to mess with." Luke started to head towards the door. "But I think I will continue with my fun, mess with a few others, but I will keep you in mind. You will definitely be very good challenge for me."

I look forward to it," Alexis responded. "In the mean time, you might have some fun teasing my sister. Looks like me but with green hair. Just go easy on her. She's not as familiar with the game as you are."

"Green hair huh? Well I knew this woman with blue hair. Not sure what happen to her. But sure, I will go easy on her. As much fun as I'm having, I'd rather not hurt anyone. So then I'll mess with her some other time. You just get better and do what the doctor says, alright?"

"You got it, Luke," Alexis said with a smile, closing her eyes and relaxing.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger; later DarkGemini24601 and Taxor the First: "The Awakening"

Southwest of La Paz, Mexico
1235 Hours, June 1st
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 4, Starboard Wing
Medical Ward

“...vitals stabilizing. Another successful child removal procedure,” the voice of a measured scientist announced.

“I think he’s waking up,” a vaguely familiar Indian woman noted from off to the side.

A more familiar face came into view at the foot of the bed. “Welcome back, William. It’s been awhile,” Atka greeted her waking second-in-command.

‘A-Atka?” Bradford asked weakly, looking at her with confusion. “W-What happened… t-to… you?”

“Long story, but to make it short a bad situation and a plasma grenade,” the Commander answered. “But it was part of an op we pulled off after you went dark to get… this.” She opened her hands up to either side. “Welcome to the Avenger, our mobile base and commandeered experimental cloaking alien supply ship.”

“Well… you’ve been busy ma’am…” William noted, sitting up.

“To say the least. Glad to have the last empty slot in my chiefs of staff filled again, though,” Atka responded. “Chief of Maintenance isn’t here right now, but this is Doctor Robert Tygan, Scientific Chief, and Doctor Kai Kazuko, Medical Chief, responsible for bringing you back. Joseph heads our Intelligence Division, and Lily took over Engineering after her father passed two years ago. You’ve… been in stasis about a decade.”

“Is that why I have such a crick in the neck?” Brad asked sarcastically. “Poor Shen… gonna miss the old bastard…”

Atka nodded solemnly, but the silence was soon broken by another person walking into the room.

“We meet face to face for the first time,” Yakone said with a wide smile, walking over. “Remember me, Brad?”

Brad returned the smile. “Of course. Where is my hug little girl?”


“I am hardly a little girl anymore,” Yakone said with her arms crossed.

“To me you will always be a little girl.” He responded just as stubbornly.

Yakone sighed, and approached. “Fine, I’ll humor you this one time Rip Van Winkle,” she said as she hugged him. “Though just this once.”

“I see you are still stubborn like a real Yak.” Bradford teased as he squeezed her hard.

“Not what my name means but I suppose that works… I bring it on myself with that nickname.” Yakone pulled back with a questioning look. “How’d they get you, anyway? Was your method of transport too conspicuous or something?”

“Not sure… I just remember yelling and the bloodshed. More on their part then ours. We gave them one hell of a fight my dear. As to be expected of your awesome uncle Bradford.” William said with pride. “Too bad I lost Ol’ Hickory though. That rifle served me well. Going to need a new one.”

“I’ll have to tell Lily to build you a custom one for if you ever hit the field again,” Atka responded. “I have myself… though I won’t be there always. Couldn’t have just sat back for our first operation though.”

Yakone almost agreed with her mother’s sentiment audibly but stopped before she said anything and instead said, “I didn’t go on the team that picked you up, but mine did blow up a statue to stick it to ADVENT in our debut broadcast.”

“Congrats Yakone… finally popped your cherry huh?” Bradford asked with a slight smirk.

“Where do you even get that from?”

“Your first real mission as an XCOM soldier. And in a Megacity no less. Congrats my girl. Got your parents’ fighting spirit.” Bradford complimented the woman, though he winced and slowly laid back down. “Damn headache…”

“You should probably take it easy for the next few days… although it’s remarkable that the stasis caused you to stop aging it did appear to inflict a deal of atrophy that you’ll need to recover from,” Tygan cautioned him.

“Atrophy huh? I’ll be better in a day.” Bradford grumbled. “Though I expect you to come and tell me all about the past ten years young lady.”

Yakone rolled her eyes. “Of course. You can’t just be out of the loop as Central Officer.”

“Good… good.” Bradford said as he closed his eyes, letting out a sigh.

***​

South of Mexico City, Mexico
0841 Hours, June 2nd
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 6, Central Block
Command Quarters

The Commander sat down in her desk chair - a little unsteadily due to the motion of the ship - and cautiously opened her laptop. This is going to take some getting used to, I can already tell… With a sigh, she accessed a secure line, and waited for the other end to pick up.

The other end did pick up, after a delay. “Hello Commander,” came a woman’s voice, oddly cheerful and completely unmodified. “I saw you’ve had a bit of fun.”

“You caught the news, then,” Atka guessed. “I am happy with how our debut turned out. No casualties on our end, plenty on theirs.”

“A good start, definitely,” the other woman said. “Of course, ADVENT isn’t happy. Bit like bees after the hive’s been prodded right now. Made it a bit difficult to track everything, but we’ll compensate.” A pause. “And there’s still no word on my predecessor. Wherever they’ve taken him, it’s out of my reach for now. We can be thankful that whatever he knows is outdated by several years, but…”

“A rescue operation is on my mind, but I don’t currently think it’d be feasible even if we knew where he was. If he’s in proximity with an Ethereal, well… he knows how my last fight with one went,” Atka explained coldly. “There’s nothing we can do to help him as is. There might not be period.”

“I know,” was the response. “But I haven’t gone this far without at least a little hope. Neither have you. I’ll keep watching, and if an opportunity arises I’ll let you know.” A sigh. “That said, nothing really new off the top of my head since you last called. Got anything in particular you wanted?”

“Just some intelligence to set up our next operation. I’d like to hit the rail line going through Central America. Will disrupt the ability of South American forces to interfere with our efforts here in the north,” Atka responded.

“Take advantage of ADVENT’s mobilisation by hitting a convoy eh? Nice. Probably looking at more stuff that way.” There was the sound of some shuffling papers. “Lemme just take a look at the map here. See if I can’t find you a good spot… or have you already picked that out?”

“Probably at the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border… it’s just far enough away from the Panama Checkpoint to ensure minimal reinforcements from there but still at the right point to disrupt the supply lines between the Americas,” Atka specified.

“Jeez, you’ve thought of everything haven’t you? Guess that’s why you’re the Commander and not me. Alright, I’ll get some people watching that spot. See what you’re up against if possible. And when you’re ready to move, I’ll get them to sabotage the line a bit. Get the next train to be… a little late.”

“And another thing of note that you may not be aware of,” Atka transitioned roughly, “I’ve recovered my Lieutenant Commander. He’s still recovered from being some sort of living ADVENT tactical database… but he’ll be back in action in no time I imagine.”

“He’s still alive?” was the response. “I suppose if he was useful to ADVENT then it’s not that surprising… A living tactical database? Like that intelligence operator you picked up, or…?”

“Not exactly the same… they had Ruslen sifting through information… from what my covert operative was able to discern it sounded more like they had Bradford wired into their psionic network, at least in the vicinity of Caldera.”

“Wired into-” The other shook their head, though the Commander could not see the motion. “Well, as long as you understand that. Or Tygan does. Both, preferably. I don’t doubt that Bradford will be happy to be out and about again though, from what I’ve heard of the man.”