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on-a-mechtechnicality · 5 months

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Idol

The morning sun illuminated the DropShips towering over the encampment and Sigrid was making her way ‘home’. The mess tent was disappearing behind her and the sounds of the camp faded along with it to be replaced by the din of people working around the towering vessels.

She boarded, finding herself in the small human-sized corridors that made the ship feel almost cramped. The feeling didn’t last as she soon found herself face to face with the cavern that was the MechLab. It looked big from up in the overlook, where she could see the entire area, but from here on ground level she didn’t think she’d ever get used to it.

Every single Bay was lit up and most had ‘Techs working on repairing the damaged machines inside. Despite this, one of them seemed cloaked in shadow. No light reflected onto the walkway in front, and from where she just entered she couldn’t see into the Bay.

The moment she could though, it all made sense.

Sigrid blinked.

Siggy opened her eyes and bounced to the mirror. In it she saw a girl with a great big mop of unruly red hair. She sat down and brushed and brushed and brushed, and then started braiding, just like Mom had showed her. Each strand meticulously on display.

Behind her on the wall hung her dream. On the left of the twin posters an impressive looking ‘Mech stepped out of a blazing inferno. Legs bending backwards, striding resolutely forward with two arms and great big rocket pods on its shoulders.

Beside it was a much more sedate but much more interesting dream. The same ‘Mech, now laid out in excruciating detail in an exploded technical view. Sometimes when she couldn’t sleep, she looked over the poster to read all the things she read a thousand times. Where the actuators were, where the sensors were, every single line on the diagram committed to memory, familiar and comforting.

And then she blinked again.

In front of her, black as a moonless night, stood her dream. A towering and proud machine, dormant but steadfast. Almost… alive.

The engineering on the foot in front of her was masterful, if she looked close enough she could see every piece of articulation, not a rivet out of place despite the well-worn look. Her eyes drifted from the trifold feet to the massive calf actuators and then further up. To the upper legs, the sleek torso and the arm actuators ending in dual hardpoints.

She couldn’t see the missile banks, but she knew them. She could see every familiar component, every single caption from her posters on Utrecht.

It didn’t just live up to her expectations, this machine exceeded it.

Blink. Work to do.

Sigrid synced her tablet with the docket and looked over her assigned tasks.

MechTech: Sigrid Guntran Initial assignment: Timber Wolf ‘Death Knell’ Bay: 8 Work order: right torso; replace armor plating right torso; general maintenance Full systems check Notes: Sigrid, sorry to put this on ya last minute, but I know you can do it! I’m trying to keep low so the MedTechs don’t get me. -Karrie

She looked down at her tablet, and then up at her dream. Part of her wondered if this was real, and another part supplied that she was currently working on an SLDF DropShip, deep in the Rimward periphery, on a hostile planet, under the command of a beautiful avian woman so old that the show she was on with the other Clan totem warriors – who were also here – was considered a historical record.

Working on an actual Timber Wolf didn’t seem so odd anymore.

She climbed up to the catwalk and found the Bay controls. From up here she could see the majesty that was the Timber Wolf from its rear angles, a dark void contrasted against the bright industrial lighting of the MechLab. She knew every angle, every single curve of the machine’s panelling by heart.

As the platform on the ‘Mech’s right side was lowering into position, she moved around to follow it. Panning down from the side she could see where the torso armor had taken the hits. Large chunks were warped or missing, open wounds showing the delicate internals that thankfully seemed to be in good shape. How good a shape she would have to find out later. Right now, the armor needed to come off.

She knew the automated arms could be more efficient, but they weren’t as accurate as handheld power tools. A machine of this caliber deserved those. She let the winch above her come down. Before connecting the straps onto the armor she placed a hand on the wounded ‘Mech.

“We’ll get you fixed up, don’t you worry.”

She hooked the straps to the attachment points in the armor and tensioned the lines. Bit by bit she carefully detached the panel until only the tension from above held them in place. Then it was just a light pull until it started moving.

She slowly guided the crane to move the panel out of the way and safely to the floor level of the Bay, out of the way of the walkway. A tap or two on her tablet flagged it for repairs. A forklift would be along soon.

With the panel out of the way she could see the underlying internals, sleek steel pipes contrasting harshly and beautifully against the black of the surrounding panels. And she knew them.

She knew the coolant from the lubricant from the hydraulics from the electronics at a glance, the labels only confirming what she already knew. Every conduit flowed like a symphony around the frame.

Around the places the armour had been gauged, she looked a little closer. Signs of damage would be hard to spot among the labyrinth of angles, but a visual inspection was part of the troubleshooting process. Her eyes danced over each line, following them from one end of the panel gap to where they snaked back into the ‘Mech’s interior.

All looked clear and secure, Clan engineering ensuring that even in the event of armor breach, the primary systems would not be easy to take out. Let alone the secondary and tertiary.

The systems looked undamaged, so she let the platform carry her down, just in time to see the panel being driven to the manufacturing wing. She followed along, not minding that she couldn’t keep up with the forklift. It’d give them some time to offload before she showed up. The difference in time between walking and driving was significant when dealing with this much space. Sigrid enjoyed the walks though, the Bay in operation was a soothing cacophony of all the different tools interacting with every material under the sun.

The armor repair itself was repetition more than anything. Identify a damaged subpanel. Remove the damaged subpanel. Find a suitable sized replacement. Shape the replacement. Attach the replacement. Repeat.

The capstone was the painting. It needed to match the existing color scheme, and match it well. Fresh paint also looked different from worn paint, but that was nothing they couldn’t handle. In the brochure it had never said that being an artist was part of being a MechTech, but the surprise had been a pleasant one.

The paint fresh but no longer wet, she followed the forklift back to Bay 8. It was already hoisted up and ready to be placed. She considered the automated tools, but for installation the accuracy was even more important than for removal, and handheld tools were king.

The work was honestly calming to Sigrid, alone up on the platform, grafting new skin onto the wounded ‘Mech in front of her. Bit by bit she circled around the edge of the panel until everything looked like she never touched it at all.

She climbed back onto the catwalk where her equipment was stored. She took out her neurohelmet and opened the compartment on her toolkit where she kept her soft tools. She knew them by heart, but looking through them helped remind her which ones she had available should the need arise.

The hop from the catwalk to the top of the Timber Wolf was not a big one. The matte black paint on the armor made it a little harder to judge. What made it really hard to make the jump though, was that Sigrid knew what she was about to do.

She was about to hop on top of a Timber Wolf. She was about to open the latch and lower herself inside. She already knew what it would look like, she knew the view from the cockpit, she knew the exact dimensions of the enclosure.

And that made it all the more daunting.

Gathering her will in her mind and her grip on her neurohelmet, she took the hop.

She was standing on top of a Timber Wolf. She was working on it, it was her work. It was her dream. She unlocked the hatch and allowed herself to slip inside.

Inside the ‘Mech it was quiet. No hum from the reactor, no sound arrived from the outside. There was just Sigrid, trying to calm her breathing, and the terrifying, loving embrace of a dream.

Her mind knew the startup sequence of a ‘Mech. Her fingers danced this dance before. And yet she couldn’t stop trembling as she toggled the first switch.

Bay power to auxiliary generator.

The high-pitched whine of the generator filled the cockpit. It was reassuring, it was terrifying, it was exhilarating.

Flick.

Auxiliary power to emergency lighting.

The lights around her came online. Dim compared to the view through the cockpit, but plenty bright enough to see by.

Auxiliary power to diagnostic systems.

Screens flickered to life. White text flew over a black background as the ‘Mech rose from slumber. Not awake yet, but no longer asleep. Sigrid listened to the whine and the soft clicks performing a symphony of self-tests. The ‘Mech checked its pressures, checked every single one of its connections in a lightning-fast choreography of every system it could access.

The text scrolled by faster than she could read, but she wasn’t looking for text. She was looking for colors. She was looking for the orange that signified a warning, the angry red that signified a fault. Her heartbeat punctuated the soundscape as seconds ticked past.

And then nothing.

No more text flying by, nothing more to focus her attention on. Just a single phrase that was both the best thing she could have read and the most disappointing.

Self-test: 100% Warnings: 0 Errors: 0 System status: OK

No need to diagnose further, it would not be time well spent. It would be time spent with her dream, but that didn’t matter.

She powered down the ‘Mech, returning it to cold and dark status. Ready for when it would be needed again. She picked her neurohelmet from where she set it down and held it in her hands. She stared at the visor.

Reflected in it she could see a woman with red hair in a tight bun, sitting inside the cockpit of a Timber Wolf. Her dream.

She sighed and rotated the helmet around. With trembling hands she placed it on her head.

She wasn’t plugged in.

The ‘Mech was powered down.

She had better things to do.

Siggy closed her eyes. It didn’t matter.

She had her helmet on

Made from an old football helmet, Utrecht Kodiaks logo covered with silver tape

She could see the canopy in front of her

Made from a laundry basket, tipped on its side

She knew exactly where the missile pods were

Two cardboard boxes, placed on the sofa behind her

She was in the cockpit of a Timber Wolf.

The beat of her heart and the sound of her breath were the only things accompanying her for this moment in time, etching itself into her memory as her visor slowly fogged up without the air circulation connected.

She took off her helmet and held it in her hands, staring into the condensed visor one last time. There was work to be done.

She extracted herself from the cockpit and closed the hatch beneath her.

The hop from the ‘Mech onto the catwalk was both easier and harder than the other way. She landed with a soft impact of her work boots.

She placed her helmet with her toolkit and sat down on the upper catwalk, out of sight of anyone working, staring at her dream.

She raised her tablet. Four taps was all it took.

Work order complete

@jaded-falcon

#battletech #mechwarrior #story event

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alyssaforevermore · 3 months

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Hounded ↦ Bellamy Blake 6. His Sister's Keeper

Synopsis: After being locked away for eight months, Athena Kane alongside 99 other criminals is sent to the ground to find out if it's survivable. The ground was the dream, but who knew it would turn out to be a nightmare?

Show: The 100

Pairings: Bellamy Blake x OC

Warnings: major series spoilers (full series will be covered), use of profanity, descriptions of violence, death, blood and gore, and mentions of drugs and alcohol.

Tags: @mellxander1993 @sweetz1919 @jordangdelacruz

Masterlist

Later that night, I found myself in my new tent that I would be sharing with Octavia. With all the chaos of getting the flares together, I was surprised anyone had found time to put more tents together. All I could think about was getting to rest my head on my own bed for the first time since we'd landed; to finally get a proper night's sleep, not having watch duty tonight.

As I was about to undress for the evening, I heard footsteps approach my tent. Within seconds, Bellamy's voice came through.

"Octavia? Are you in there?"

I remained silent, figuring he'd opt to leave on his own.

"Octavia?"

Letting out a huff, I headed over to the flap of the tent, pulling it to the side. "She's not here." I dropped my hand from the tent flap, letting it close. Before it could, Bellamy slipped his hand inside, stopping it.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked, his voice shaking.

I raised an eyebrow. "I haven't seen her since you told us to wait until sunrise to go after the pod."

"You're sure that's the last time you saw her?"

"What's going on, Bellamy?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

Bellamy looked around before entering the tent. "Octavia followed me this morning. We got into a fight and I thought she came back to camp."

"Nobody else has seen her?"

He shook his head. "I've looked everywhere. She's gone."

"Okay. I'll help you look." I said, grabbing my knife from where it sat next to my cot. "Let's check again. You go to the dropship, I'll check the rest of the tents."

Bellamy nodded. "Thank you, Athena."

I nodded. "Octavia was all I had in Skybox. I owe her."

Exiting the tent, I turned back one more time, giving Bellamy a nod before heading off to search the rest of the tents.

...

"Hey, everybody, gather around and grab a weapon!" Bellamy called out. "My sister's been out there alone for 12 hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her."

I had spent the last hour searching the rest of the tents, never finding Octavia. Nobody had seen her since this morning.

Clarke placed her hand on Jasper's shoulder. "Hey, you don't have to do this. You haven't left camp since we brought you back."

Jasper shook his head. "Clarke, I need to do this."

"We need all the people we can get. We need a tracker." Bellamy then shouted, "Finn, get out here!"

We waited a few moments before Finn, now with his hair shorter, came out of his tent he shared with Raven. "You guys ready to go?" He asked, Raven stepping out behind him.

"As ready as we're going to be," I sighed.

Our little group made its way across camp, one of the delinquents stopping just outside of the gate. "Guys, look!"

"What is that? It's so bright."

"It's beautiful."

I followed their gaze, spotting what looked to be hundreds of shooting stars falling from the sky.

"They didn't work." Raven mumbled, before raising her voice. "They didn't see our flares."

Bellamy eyed her for a moment. "A meteor shower tells you that?"

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral." Clarke responded. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from the ark. This is what it looks like from the other side."

Raven spun around, moving closer to Bellamy. "This is all because of you!"

"I helped you find the radio."

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!"

"Yeah, he knows." Clarke spoke. "And now he has to live with it."

I shook my head. "We don't have time for this. Octavia is out there, alone or with grounders to keep her company. We have to find her, now. We can worry about the Ark later."

Bellamy's eyes landed on me for a moment, a slight smile forming across his mouth. His face soon shifted back to his normal frown as he turned back to Finn. "Are you coming, or what?"

Finn nodded.

"What are we waiting for?" Bellamy asked. "Move out!"

...

While Raven and Clarke instead headed off to find a new transmitter for the radio, the rest of us carried on with our search for Octavia. It wasn't too long before John Mbege found something.

"Look, over here!"

Bellamy rushed over. "What is it?"

John pointed. "Isn't that Octavia's?"

We all looked down the hill, squinting our eyes. Finally, Bellamy shook his head. "Give me the rope." Finn handed the rope over and Bellamy tied one end to a tree.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"We need the rope to get back up," Bellamy responded, tossing the other end of the rope down the hill. "Flashlight?"

John handed him the flashlight and Bellamy made his way down the hill. Bellamy shined his flashlight on a branch, and I instantly recognized what used to be a seatbelt on the dropship. Octavia had been using it as a belt, wanting to spice up her jumpsuit from Skybox.

"It's hers." Bellamy confirmed. "I'm going all the way down."

Jasper took a deep breath, handing his torch to Finn before beginning to climb down behind Bellamy. I went next, clumsily staggering down the hill. As I neared the bottom, Bellamy extended his hand. Letting my right hand fall from the rope, I grabbed Bellamy's, allowing him to guide me down the last few steps.

"Bellamy," Jasper spoke, grabbing our attention.

Bellamy pushed through the brush surrounding us, kneeling down next to Jasper. I watched as he ran his finger along a rock, lifting it to reveal a small puddle of blood. Finn soon joined us, inspecting the blood and the area around it, including a larger set of footprints.

"Someone else was here," Bellamy said.

Finn nodded. "The prints are deeper going that way. He was carrying her."

"If they took her, she's alive." Jasper's large smile soon faded. "Like when they took me."

Bellamy shook his head, standing back up before rushing in the direction the footprints were headed. We spent what felt like an eternity following the footprints, going up and down smaller hills than the last. The sun had come up when we finally came to a clearing, right in the middle of Grounder territory.

"What the hell is that?"

I followed Roma's gaze, chills running down my spine as I saw it. "Are those-"

"Skeletons?" Jasper finished, swallowing hard.

They were tied to trees, some only partially decomposed. I wondered if they'd been left there after death, simply to scare enemies away. Or, had they been strung up and left there to die as punishment for breaking whatever rules they lived by?

"I don't speak Grounder, but I'm pretty sure this means keep out." Finn said.

"Let's get out of here." One of the other delinquents spoke up.

A few others mumbled in agreement, following each other back the way we came.

Bellamy shook his head, his jaw tensing. "You guys can go back too if you want. My sister, my responsibility."

"I'd walk into hell to find her," Jasper spoke bravely.

Finn sighed. "I think we just did."

John, Roma and Diggs all agreed to continue the search as well.

Bellamy nodded, his eyes soon landing on me. "How about you, Athena?"

My eyes drifted back to the slowly disappearing silhouettes of the other delinquents, thinking about how much better off they'd all be for heading back. Finally, I took a deep breath. "I'm with you."

Smiling, Bellamy nodded. "Let's get moving."

...

As we headed deeper into the forest, Finn stopped abruptly, kneeling down to inspect the soil. He was silent for a while, Bellamy finally kneeling down next to him.

"What's the problem?"

"I've got nothing," Finn admitted. "We lost the trail."

Bellamy stood up, folding his arms across his chest. "Well, keep looking."

Finn stood up. "Wandering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister. We should backtrack."

"I'm not going back."

I shook my head. "Bellamy, if we keep going like this, we'll never find her. Finn is right, we should go back a little bit, see if we can find other footprints to follow."

"I already said, I'm not going back," Bellamy spoke firmly. "I know this is the right way, alright?"

As I went to protest, Roma's voice stopped me.

"Hey, where's John?"

I turned around, noticing John had vanished.

"I saw him just a second ago," Jasper said.

We all looked to Bellamy, who shook his head. "Spread out, he couldn't have gone that far."

Just as the words left his mouth, a body fell from the trees above us, landing in the middle of all of us. My eyes quickly shifted up the body, landing on the face. John's face. His throat had been cut, the blood already having stopped flowing from the wound.

"They use the trees," Finn mumbled, looking up.

I stepped away from John's body, my own beginning to shake.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary," Diggs mumbled.

"Now can we go back?" Roma asked.

Jasper jumped slightly. "There! Right there."

We all followed his gaze, spotting a Grounder off in the distance, a long knife in his hand.

"Another one!" Diggs called out.

My eyes shifted around the forest, spotting more and more of them surrounding us. "They're everywhere," I whispered.

"We should run."

Bellamy was the first to move, the rest of us following after him. I could feel my legs growing weaker with each step I took, my body still shaking from the sight of John's body. As soon as we thought we'd gotten far enough away from the Grounders, one would pop up ahead of us, forcing us to change directions.

"Let's go!" Diggs called out, running ahead of everyone else.

"What are we going to do?" Jasper asked. "They keep cutting us off."

"Just keep running!" Finn said.

"I can't run much longer."

"I'm not stopping for him!" Diggs called out, continuing on.

Bellamy stopped. "I'm sick of running anyway."

The rest of us stopped, looking to Bellamy for instructions.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"They know where she is."

Roma shook her head, running off. "Diggs, where are you?"

"Roma!"

Finn spun around, running off after them. "Roma, wait!"

We followed Finn, hearing Roma scream in the distance. It wasn't long before we came across Diggs, who had been impaled on a spike.

"They were leading us here," Jasper mumbled. "It's the only direction we could run in."

Finn looked around, noticing the newfound silence. "Where'd they go?"

"After Roma."

Finn looked around, spotting more footprints. "She went this way."

We followed the footprints, trying our best to remain quiet, hoping to not grab the attention of any more Grounders. Eventually, I spotted Roma's jacket off in the distance, most of her body tucked behind a tree.

"There she is," I spoke, smiling. "Roma!"

As we moved closer, my smile faded. Jasper and Finn stopped, while Bellamy and I made our way over to the tree. Roma had been pinned to the tree with a spear, just inches closer to the heart than Jasper's had been.

"They're playing with us." Finn whispered.

I watched on as Bellamy used his fingers to close Roma's eyes. "She only came because of me."

Finn shook his head. "They can kill us whenever they want."

Jasper looked around, raising his voice. "Then they should just get it over with!"

"Jasper, stop it!" I yelled.

"Come on, we know you're out there!" Jasper continued. "You want to kill us? Get it over with already!"

We all watched on as Grounders rose from the bushes around us, weapons in hand, before beginning to run towards us.

"What do we do?" I asked, looking at Bellamy.

Standing back-to-back, we all remained still, unsure of what to do. There were no openings. Everywhere we looked, there was a Grounder, ready to kill us as soon as they got close enough.

Just as hope had left me, the sound of a horn filled the air. The Grounders stopped almost instantly, looking around before running away.

"They're leaving." Bellamy mumbled.

"That horn," Jasper spoke. "What does it mean?"

"Acid fog."

"We have to run." I said.

"There's no time." Finn pulled out a parachute from his pack, spreading it out. "Everyone, get under, now!"

...

We remained under the parachute for a while, all of us holding down the edges as best as we could.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper asked.

"Will this even work?"

"We'll find out soon enough." Finn mumbled.

Bellamy shook his head. "No we won't," He then lifted his side of the parachute, poking his head out. "There's no fog."

We all pulled the parachute off of us, looking around the forest.

"Maybe it was a false alarm?"

"They're coming back," Bellamy noted, pointing.

Jasper shook his head. "I think he's alone."

"Can we get moving?" I asked. "I don't want to be here when the rest realize the fog isn't coming."

"He doesn't see us," Bellamy said, standing up. "I'm going to follow him."

"And what? Kill him?" Finn asked.

Bellamy shook his head. "No. Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is. Then I'll kill him."

As Bellamy ran off, Jasper sighed. "How do we know he's not leading us into another trap?"

Finn shook his head. "We don't."

...

We finally caught up to Bellamy just outside of a cave. Bellamy was crouched down just a few paces from the entrance, hiding behind a rock.

"He went in there," Bellamy said, looking back at us.

I shook my head. "We don't know how many there are in there."

"Keep your eyes open, your weapons drawn."

Bellamy stood up, heading towards the cave's entrance. We all followed close behind, doing just as he said. The cave was quiet and dark, no torches on the walls. I was almost certain that as soon as we reached an open area, Grounders would jump out and kill us all.

The open area soon came, Bellamy poking his head around the corner.

"Octavia?"

"Bellamy!"

All of us rushed around the corner, Bellamy reaching Octavia's side while the rest of us watched the Grounder who laid passed out on the floor. Bellamy removed the chains that were around Octavia's hands, the two wrapping their arms around each other as soon as she was free.

"It's okay," Bellamy whispered. "You're okay."

Octavia soon pulled away. "How did you find me?"

"We followed him," Bellamy spoke, nodding towards the Grounder.

"We should go now before he wakes up."

Bellamy shook his head, grabbing a spear that sat off to the side. "He's not going to wake up."

Octavia jumped in front of him. "Bellamy, stop! He didn't hurt me. Let's just go."

"They started this," Bellamy argued. "Finn, move."

Finn didn't move, instead inspecting the horn attached to the Grounder's gear. Before Finn could speak, the Grounder moved, grabbing the knife from his pocket and stabbing Finn in the chest before standing up.

Octavia and I rushed to Finn's side, while Bellamy swung at the Grounder. The Grounder grabbed the spear from Bellamy, pinning him to the ground. I watched on as Bellamy struggled against the spear, which was now aimed at his throat.

"Stop!" Octavia yelled. "That's my brother."

Just as I thought Bellamy was about to meet his end, Jasper came up behind the grounder, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. Bellamy gasped for air, moving away from the Grounder.

"Finn?" I asked, noticing he'd now lost consciousness. "Finn!"

"We have to get him back to Clarke, now!" Bellamy commanded.

We once again retrieved the parachute, laying it out and placing Finn on it.

"Everyone on three," Bellamy said. "One. Two. Three."

We lifted the parachute in unison, rushing out of the cave and leaving the Grounder behind.

...

"Clarke!" Jasper called out. "Where's Clarke?"

We had just entered the gates of the camp, our tired arms struggling to keep the parachute containing Finn off the ground.

"I'm here, what's going on?" Suddenly, Clarke's eyes landed on Finn. "Finn? Oh, my god."

Raven soon came to her side. "Oh, my god."

Clarke placed her fingers against the side of Finn's neck. "He's alive!"

"Bellamy wouldn't let me take the knife out," Jasper spoke up.

"No, that was a good call." Clarke nodded. "Get him to the dropship."

A few other delinquents who had stayed behind at camp grabbed Finn, carrying him to the dropship.

"Can you save him?" Raven asked.

"No, not me," Clarke whispered. "I need my mother. I need to talk to her."

"There's still no radio."

"Fix it, then!" Clarke snapped. "Go!"

Raven eyed her for a moment, before running off towards the dropship. Clarke then turned to Octavia, examining her. "Are you okay?"

Octavia nodded. "I'm okay. Just worry about Finn."

Clarke nodded, running off.

As Octavia marched towards the gate, Bellamy ran after her. "Hey, why were you defending him?"

Octavia stopped, turning around. "Because he saved my life. That spear that hit Roma was actually meant-"

"No." Bellamy cut her off. "I saved your life. For all you know he was keeping you alive to use you as bait for one of their traps."

"No. I don't think so."

Bellamy rolled his eyes, raising his voice. "You don't think, O! That's the problem. They killed three of our people today. If you would've let me kill him when I had the chance, Finn wouldn't be in there dying right now too!"

Octavia's fists balled up, her face turning red. "Stop it! Stop blaming me for your mistakes! What happened to Finn is not my fault. I wanted to leave, so if Finn dies in there, that's on you! Everything that's gone wrong is because of you."

"Octavia-" I spoke, to no avail.

"You got me locked up on the Ark. You wanted me to go to that stupid dance! You got mom killed!"

Bellamy flinched, Octavia's words hitting him like he'd never felt before. I watched his eyes swell up, tears forming in them but failing to fall. He wouldn't let them. Finally, he spoke, his voice breaking. "Me?"

Octavia nodded.

"Mom was floated for having you. She's dead because you're alive. That was her choice. I didn't have a choice." Bellamy shook his head. "My life ended the day you were born."

Octavia flinched as well, Bellamy's words hitting her just as hers had hit him. She attempted to turn away, moving towards the gate, Bellamy instead grabbing her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Octavia yanked her arm away. "You can't keep me locked up in here forever."

With that, Octavia ran off towards the dropship.

"Octavia, wait!" I called out, but she didn't listen.

I then turned to Bellamy, his face pale as his eyes lingered on his sister. He finally turned to me, his eyes quickly falling to the floor. I couldn't help but shake my head, feeling angry for Octavia.

Before I could tell Bellamy off, I noticed a boy lingering outside of the gate. "Get inside, now!" I hissed.

The boy ran inside as I approached the gate, staring up at the sky.

"A storm's coming," Bellamy mumbled from behind me.

"We're so screwed." I nodded, closing the gate.

--------

AN: Here we are with chapter six! I hope you all enjoyed this one. Please remember to like/reblog and share your thoughts <3

#bellamy blake; hounded #the 100 #the 100 fanfic #bellamy blake #bellamy blake fanfic #bellamy blake x oc

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etherealvoidechoes · 5 months

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Hollowed Defiance - Chapter 27 - A Little Crossed Pt. 1

Back-to-back operations just like the old days. XCOM heads in hot to provide the Silent Striders some assistance with evacing the Haven under siege. But they're in for a surprise.

Hey all. Thanks for your patience. Life has been busy as always besides some /other things/occurring. So a fresh new chapter, working on more for this and the other fics still. And other fandom-related fics.

Also, a minor spoiler, this chapter is pretty self-contained with everything happening at the haven, I just felt like the next one is closely connected and the title would fit it too.

Also some bonus treats and this is more related to Ao3. It will be awhile before I have everything updated on Tumblr and Ao3. I have done a lot of revisions and cleaned up the older chapters. Probably still missing some grammar mistakes but hope I found all of the worst offenders and made my writing style more consistent. AND a bonus new chapter to slot in with the old ones. "Chapter 11: Retrieval"(posted on Ao3 so far). The rescue of Mox and a more "proper" introduction for the Hunter.

Ao3|| FF.net || Fic Hub

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Like an ordered flock of migrating birds, ADVENT dropships zipped across the night sky. Moonlight was snuffed out by rising columns of smoke.

The chatter of ADVENT soldiers and the rhythmic fire of magnetic guns filled the area as they invaded the Terelj-based haven. Strategically ordered pods of Stun Lancers accompanied by Trooper support worked to cut off fleeing civilians and their Silent Striders guardians.

The Silent Striders had grown used to the more frequent attacks in their territory, but this was different again. Their previous harasser was more animalistic, barely held in check by the accompanying Officer, Captain, or General, as he did his own thing to collect heads and occasionally used his own men as sharpening stones if they got in his way. The platoon of accompanying ADVENT soldiers did their best to stay clear of his path and do their basic search and destroy as they cleared the Haven. It was predictable, and the Silent Striders — with adequate forces — could hold them off as they evacuated most of the people.

But with this one. There was a sound mind behind this assault. One the Silent Striders hadn’t seen in months. Rapid adaptation. Ever since XCOM did whatever — as the finer details were still sparse — to free their Commander from the alien’s clutches and damage that Psionic Network, though ADVENT’s military tactics were still fearsome, in many ways they had become predictable and slower to adapt. But not tonight. This new leader was quickly picking up the tricks the Silent Striders liked to use and finding ways to subvert them to tighten that noose.

Near the front lines of the ADVENT forces was the newest dealer of death, fiercely pointing to the next location a pod of Stun Lancers was gleefully swarming towards. With a quick glance, one could tell this leader was different from their peers. He was a least two heads taller than the standard ADVENT soldier, besides the more customized onyx-colored armor with red highlights and dark blue underarmor. Streamlined, but heavily reinforced, would best describe his gear. It carried the hallmarks of the blocky motifs of ADVENT, yet there looked to be the smoother, organic alien armor similar to the Muton’s incorporated into his fatigues. And his right arm stood out. It was armored revealing the skin tone to be a stark silver and gunmetal gray, it didn’t exactly look like skin as portions of it looked chitinous and others looked fragmented like tree bark.

“››THERE.‹‹“ A distorted bark echoed from his fully enclosed-helmet, as he pointed in another direction. ”››Escape route of the irritants located. Khra! Khra! Cut them off. Remember the ratios 80/20 and 60/40. The Elders need subjects alive and barely mangled.‹‹” His voice was hoarse and gravelly. “››Including the Striders. Especially, them. Their brains need to be dissected.‹‹”

With the order given, he continued his march forward with his surrounding entourage. “››Who has sights on their leader? The Elders want her.‹‹“

With another escape route for the civilians cut off, the Striders were scrambling to redirect and keep the others hidden.

“Shit, Fayruz!” A Silent Strider scrambled through a hatch into a crumbling perch, knocking over some ammo crates. “Another route’s been cut! Time to cut and run if those XCOM c—”

“Bite that trap shut and get your gun back on the lines. ADVENT won’t kill themselves.” Barely raising her voice, Fayruz snapped back at her subordinate. Her eyes barely shifted from her scope as she pulled on the trigger to let loose a bolt of plasma at their unwelcome invaders. “You know how we operate. You know the orders I gave. We retreat when that point has been reached.”

There were grumbles and a faint “yes, ma’am” before they resigned themselves to restocking their reserves and getting back to the fight.

She raised two fingers to her headpiece. “Longeyes, Fives, Foil.” As she spoke, she scoped the landscape to find that ADVENT leader. “Do you have a clear shot on the snake?”

“Yes.”

“Window closing for me, rifle overheating, but yes.”

“Ready to take that head off.”

All three responded.

“Good.” Fayruz tapped her teeth as she watched the leader pause in his march and bark out more orders. “Perfect. Remember, fire at the same time. See if that will overload that AI and his senses.”

“In five, Fayruz.” Longeyes said.

“Good. Move once done. Immediately. I’ll be listening.” She instructed before partially cutting her transmission. As she did so, a loud hiss made her pull away from her rifle. Lips curling into a frown, she watched the slates to the vents slide wider to allow the visible jets of white smoke out. Across the energy cells of the jury-rigged rifle was crackling with yellow-green energy.

“Tch. Reaching your limit.” She cast a glance around the room at the rest of her subordinates. Several busted jury-rigged plasma rifles were scatted on the floor, several in the perch had switched back to their old magnetic rifles. “Just like everyone else.”

She glanced around the room once again, this time to take in the current stakes. Several walls were close to crumbling away into nothing, their ammo stores were nearly empty, and a few more of her men were wounded and were being carried out.

They better be here before ADVENT reaches the mark. Fayruz flared her nose. Despite how stubborn she could be on holding onto her territory, she had a faint feeling she would have to make the call to fully soon if she wanted her faction to survive.

“Everyone, we need to leave this perch before it’s fully compromised. Head to points, M, V, Z. If those are cut off, then you must—”

“Fire!” Longeyes voice caught her attention. Eyes back to her scope, she immediately focused on the ADVENT leader.

Those familiar hums of charging plasma weaponry filled Fayruz comms before three distinctive discharges rang out. Three bolts of plasma flashed through the air from three different angles all quickly homing onto the leader’s head.

The leader almost seemed obvious to his incoming death as those bolts inched closer and closer.

Until he suddenly thrust his off-colored right arm out and then up.

“››On me!‹‹“ He barked.

As the words left his mouth, a couple of Stun Lancers rushed to his position. As they moved, the flesh on that arm before to splinter and break before layers and layers of “bark” formed and spread out into a shield-like shape. As he raised the shelf to cover the front portion of his face, the Stun Lancers leaped behind and to the side of him, intercepting the plasma fire.

The bolts struck; energy surged and crackled. There was a cry of pain, a grunt, and the sounds of metal and bark snapping and reshaping.

His reaction time was nearly perfect. Just a partial bolt snuck through and struck the left side of his helmet. A loud hiss could be heard as spiderweb cracks splinted across the impact site.

The impact of the one hitting his arm and the other hitting his helmet threw him off balance for a moment before he quickly regained his footing.

“››General Cross!‹‹“ A Trooper was at his side immediately to help him.

“›› Cotalo.‹‹“ He pushed the Trooper away. Shifting his plasma rifle to one hand, his other went to the side of his helm to check the damage. “››Structural integrity of helmet: 73%. Shift yoke to the left side as added security. Depressurizing as added security.‹‹” As he muttered his thoughts, he adjusted the high-collar-like shielding to the left. “››A Lancer dead insured my survivability. Striders adapting again. Counter. Sending out rough coordinates of the trajectories. Find and kill those snipers. Burn them out.‹‹”

“You can’t be…” Longeyes muttered.

“Are you serious?” Foil said.

“You have to be shitting me!” Fives couldn’t believe their eyes.

“No time to gawk.” That stern voice of Fayruz made them snap too. “You three start moving now.” She could already see the ADVENT pods breaking away from the main forces to where each was located. “If you can, set up again. Looks like we cracked that helmet.”

“My plasma’s done. I’ll see if I can find another.” Fives said.

All three quickly worked to relocate before they were cornered and killed.

“How many working plasmas do we still got that haven’t burned up or exploded?” Uro, her second-in-command, couldn’t help but voice her thoughts on their comms.

“Uro.” Fayruz didn’t sound pleased.

“Thinkn’ we ought to take Bones up on his of’er for them weapons like his weeks ago.” She continued to speak her thoughts. There was a faint hiss from her before a more aggressive venting hiss and crackle came over the comes. “Dam thing is melting in my hands. His crew’s gear is—”

“Silence.” Fayruz sneered. “Do. No. Bring. That man up.” Partially, the cold aggression was from the stress of a situation and her natural dislike towards Bones. She barely tolerated the odd man despite his questionable, yet good intentions to be the liaison between her and Volk and some nearby Skirmisher clans. And part of her didn’t want to acknowledge Bones’ questionable higher-quality weaponry. All signs pointed to him having some people on the inside and she questioned how.

“Good news, boss!” A stressed, but more happy voice hoped on the comes.

“What is it, Yukon?” Fayruz said. There were only a handful of events that could qualify as good right now.

“XCOM’s ship is coming in hot!”

That was good news.

Fayruz didn’t have to look far before that Skyranger graced her eyes. Engines burning bright, moonlight that slipped through the smoke glimmered off that metal exterior.

“Finally.” Feyruz said. A few binds unraveled themselves from around her heart, but she knew things were far from saved. If she noticed them, so did ADVENT. She barked out a new set of orders. “Those that can, provide XCOM covering fire so they can get on the ground!”

“Opal, get me patched through to XCOM and get the others set up on similar lines.”

—————————————————————

“Central. This is Stellar Echo. At the AO. The squad is being deployed as we speak.” The pilot spoke as she kept the craft steady. “Looks like the Striders are providing covering fire for me.”

“Reading you loud and clear, Stellar Echo.” Central replied. His eyes glanced from screen to screen, taking everything in. “Once all boots are on the ground, head to the coordinates that are being sent over first. You’ll be running civvies and injured Striders to another secure haven. Watch for any followers. Assume you don’t have the luxury of what Bones’ man did to City 22.”

“Affirmative, Central. Will keep my eyes peeled for any tails.”

“This Haven strike is more ordered, like a Chosen is running the show.” Commander Reeves was already taking in all the information she could see. “Though none have been reported since the Striders called.”

Central couldn’t help but nod. “It is the Hunter’s territory, but we knew he’s out of commission right now.”

“For how long?” They didn’t know how long it took a Chosen to recover. Reports for each constantly varied.

“True.” He nodded again. “We should be patched in with the Striders momentarily.

Seconds after the words left his mouth, they had established their connection with the Silent Striders.

“Finally, your men have arrived Central. About time.” Fayruz spoke, barely a hint of happiness in her voice.

A faint chuckle left Commander Reeves’ mouth as she shook her head and silenced her mic. So many memories flashed through her mind. “Displeasure. Impatient. Grumpiness. Just like old times indeed.”

“You’re welcome, Frost Owl.” Central replied, barely phased by her tone. She wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last. “The squad designation is Shatter. Six soldiers. We all should be connected by now.”

“Let’s see what they can accomplish. I believe you can see how dire the situation is?” Fayruz asked.

“It’s a massacre.” Commander Reeves jumped in. “This strike looks to be more organized than the norm.”

“Exactly. They have their newest leader to thank.”

“Fill us in on that in a moment. What do you need my men to do…?” Commander Reeves’ voice trailed off as she was watching the action on the screens. Driving ADVENT off would not be an option here. “If you don’t mind me voicing my opinion, this Haven is lost. The best we can do is rescue and escort the civilians and any of your injured men out of here.”

Only a series of grumbles came from Feyruz. An astute observation that she didn’t want to acknowledge, but this was a losing battle. A sigh of defeat finally slipped from her lips. “Yes, that would be best. We’re running low on supplies and our plasma weaponry is overheating. We need to find any way we can to stall ADVENT. I can’t lose any more people.”

“Who’s the newest leader? I’m seeing several Officers that could be killed to disrupt some flow of information.” Central said as he had them marked for the soldiers to keep an eye out for.

“You can’t miss them. The tall one. Different armor.”

“Tall?” That both had the Commander and Central concerned for a moment before one of the Communication Officers and the ship’s AI found and isolated the leader.

“Okay, not a Chosen.” Central was relieved.

“They look interesting.” Commander Reeves muttered. “Orion, see if you can tap into the Psionic Network and isolate all commands given by this leader.”

“On it, Commander.” He responded.

As he did that, and she gave a few basic commanders to their soldiers to stay vigilant and keep close as they moved, she couldn’t help but find herself engrossed by the appearance of the ADVENT unit. She was getting that faint, yet deep feeling there was something about this leader that was familiar.

She tightly closed her eyes before pinching the bridge of her nose. “I would kill to have clear memories again.”

“Commander?” Central raised a brow.

She rolled her hand in a way of telling him “Don’t get too concerned”. “Having that feeling this one feels familiar.”

“Vestigial memories from when you were… connected?” He spoke the last bit in a whisper.

She closed her eyes tighter as a rumble in her throat slipped out. I’ll never be free of that. Opening her eyes, she glanced at him before looking back at the screen. “Yes and no. I don’t know how to put it. Feels almost closer.”

“Tapped in Commander, sending the information over to you.” Orion said.

A mix of feelings washed through the Commander’s body as the information came onto her screen. Her eyes focused on the leader’s credentials.

“Field General Cross Murdoc. Designation: ADVENT PROXY(PXY) - M - C1(II) - 01.” She read off the information.

“Proxy? That sounds new.” Central said. The term didn’t ring a bell.

“Whatever he is, he’s looking to be one of a kind with his designation and high ranking.” Reeves noticed a golden motif of the Elders on one of his shoulder pads. Then she noticed something more troubling. Something that made a shiver go down her spine and the back of her throat ache.

“And he’s processing a vast amount of information. Greater than the standard Captain processing and delivering commands to their subordinates. He’s taken note of our arrival, gathering information on what they have and where they are moving, but has yet to issue focused attack orders on us. Just continue forward and around. Find and cut off all escape routes.”

“Wait, what?” Central took his eyes off the main action and looked at what she was looking at. Though he was still learning the finer details of the ADVENT language forced upon the Earth and the variations used specifically for more classified projects, the information that was being processed and released by this general was parsing too fast for him to read. “How are you getting all of that?” The harshest of glares made him want to take back that question. “Pretend I never asked that.”

“I will.” She rolled her eyes. “I see he wasn’t disturbed by what happened in City 22. Or they’ve managed to section off that part of the Network until it’s fixed for the region.” She soon began to mutter as she went back to deciphering the incoming and outgoing information from this Cross to see how they could counter him.

“Would you like to give orders for our soldiers to attempt to take out this General?” Central asked. “Cut the head, cause a communication breakdown to take the heat off of us and the Striders. Though that’s some heavy armor…”

“No, if the Silent Striders haven’t taken him out—” She paused. A thought crossed her mind. “Frost Owl,” she called out to her, “why is this General still standing?”

“General? Tch, looks different from the standard lot. More bloody annoying.” Fayruz grumbled. “We have tried. I can only assume inhuman reflexes with assisted AI like the Hunter, allows him to predict our shots. We finally, but barely, scratched his helmet before you lot arrived. That off-colored arm of his can form a shield that can block our plasma, and he ordered his troops to take several shots for him.”

“Hm, perhaps some pre-cognition like the Hunter?” The Commander mumbled her thoughts.

“Just don’t waste your bullets.”

“Noted. Limited engagement with the General, buuuut…” She noticed a pattern in the information flow. “Those Officers and Captains, each a head of some pods, are handling more information than what they are built for. It is possible we can cause some minor disruptions by taking them out. It may even cause some negative feedback for the General”

“One of my people noted that they become less organized if one of them is killed, but another quickly replaces the fallen, making the point moot.” Feyruz wasn’t convinced.

“Then we just need to keep the pressure on. Officers and Captains are more valuable than the standard units, it may cause this General to recall them to stay with the central strike force.”

“Hm, I’ll relay the information. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to our current tactics.”

“Understood. Every second counts.”

“Central, give the same orders to our soldiers, but reiterate the main focus is excavation.” Commander Reeves said. She took a moment to sink into her chair as her brain was beginning to struggle to process all the information. “Reiterate that strongly.”

“On it, Commander.” He nodded.

“Shatter 1, additional orders. When you can, eliminate any Officers and Captains you come across. The goal is to cause information disruption. But keep your main focus on evacuating the civilians and assisting the Silent Striders.” He gave the orders.

“What for? We’ve got enough of the regulars and those Lan— FUCKING DIE ALREADY!” Raven had to pause as she body slammed a stubborn Stun Lancer into a wall before unloading on it with her Shard Gun into its chest. “Lancers, breathing…” Again, she paused to catch her breath, “breathing down our necks and you want us to bother with the red ones?” Raven said.

“There’s a small chance it’ll take some heat off of everyone as ADVENT loses some information with each death.”

“If it’s information disruption the Commander wants…” She looked down at her forearm. Skulljack. Another joint idea from Dr. Tygan and Shen and their Foundry crew created after taking some of the alien’s hardlight technology to build the gauntlet and its blades. Supposedly, if used right, they would be able to tap right into the brain and the chip of the unlucky ADVENT Officer to get a glimpse into the network.

“Negative, negative.” Commander Reeves quickly interjected. “Unless you can isolate either. Right now, it would be too risky.” But she was silently sending orders for Tygan and his crew and their other data processing crews to be on standby if the chance came about.

“Understood. But if the opportunity arises…” Raven wasn’t exactly looking forward to trying out this untested device, but her blood was boiling to plunge it into a skull.

“Eliminating some of the reds?” Razor cocked his head to side a few sides as he was fiddling with the bandoleers on his chest, counting how many grenades and satchels he had left. “Should be easy like so. Yukon, you guys managed to plant those satchels I gave you guys and clear out?” He was speaking to one of the Silent Striders.

“Yes, but this better be worth the lives cost. 7 seconds out.” Yukon responded.

“Oh, it will be.” He darkly chuckled. “6…5…4…3…2…1…0.”

Several explosions went off across the haven, rocking the ground underneath them.

“Hot damn! Did you steal from Errol again?” Raven asked.

“Borrowed.”

“Well, if we barely had their attention before, we have it now.” Central muttered as he looked at the other screens, seeing the aftermath of the explosions. He couldn’t quite tell it put a dent in ADVENT’s forces as there looked to be more debris than bodies but could see the more fringe group of Troopers recalling themselves to the main horde with their chase route seeing cut off. Slowly, moving back. Maybe some Captains and Officers had been killed.

“Let’s get back on the clock!” Count shouted as she reloaded her Mag Revolver. “…3…4…5. Loaded. Strider and Owl and those Striders will be to the next area before we’re even there.”

“You all split?” Central had finally noticed the slightly smaller group.

“Yes’m. Strider’s been itching for a good perch. Owl’s old, but has some speed. And his faint ‘psi’ powers are picking up where the pods are going to move to so, he’ll dodge ‘em.” She explained.

“Hm.” Central’s eyes shifted to the two that split. The Silent Striders’ escort was decent, but it was still dangerous they didn’t have the varied firepower of the rest of the squad. “Get moving and keep these split-ups to the minimum.”

“Oh, shit.” The near-silent exclamation left the Commander’s lips.

“What now?” Central looked at her.

She simply pointed at the screen. “‘Voss. Voss. Voss. The Silent Striders spent their explosives ammunition hours ago. Where is XCOM? Where are they now? Where is their Grenadier? Where are those medics? I want them. 70/30. Alive or dead. At least one must be captured alive. I’ll do it myself, if I must.’”

“Shit.” He understood. “Team, keep on moving. You’re about to become priority targets!”

—————————————————————

Shatter 1-4 and their Silent Strider cohorts started moving again to catch up with the compatriots. It didn’t take long for them to notice the increased heat focusing on them. It seemed nearly any pod they crossed that was capturing or executing unlucky or engaging the Silent Striders, would immediately switch targets and focus on them. Especially, those pesky Stun Lancers.

“Fuckin’ heeeeeeell rrrrrrgh.” Raven growled as that medspray from Sol’s Gremlin, Paprika, burned through her lungs as she sputtered back to conciseness. It took her a few seconds to get back on her feet and get her gun. She readjusted her singed armor before repeatedly kicking a dead Lancer at her feet. It had been a “mutual kill”. “I am going to hate red and blue with a passion after this.”

“Not sure I have enough another to handle another volley of those guys.” Sol muttered as she was getting the only surviving Strider back on their feet. “Trying to keep the best saved for any of us that go down, but… had to tap into some of it with the hit you took.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks. Let’s keep mov—”

“››XCOM there!‹‹“ Looked like more had found them. A hail of magnetic fire came down their way. So far, there were no crackles of energy from hot lancers.

“Oh, for FUCK’S sake.” Raven was hastily reloading her Shard Gun as she rushed for cover.

“Don’t need you going down again!” Sol, was dragging the barely alive Strider into cover.

“Razor!” Count shouted as she laid out covering fire.

“Give me a second!” He was scrambling for cover as he was searching for just the right grenade. “Maybe this one? Which way’s the wind? Which way’s the wind?”

“Just throw the damn thing!” Count and Raven yelled.

“HOLD YOUR BREATHS!”

Razor had pulled two of his Gas grenades and threw them. The grenades bounced a few times and rolled in the midst of the Trooper pod before they exploded, erupting into a thick, sickly yellow cloud of gas.

There were several choked gasps. Three Troopers hit the ground. Lifeless. The others retreated and looked for another route around.

“That’s… some… breathing… room.” Raven let out a sigh of relief.

“We need to keep moving. Hopefully, Owl and Strider are still there and are off to the other area.” They all started to get moving once more.

“They’re at the location, safely. One you guys are a few klicks from. Marionette Owl is getting people stabilized before the Striders move them to evac for Stellar Echo. Frost Owl and her surviving crew are moving to the location as we speak to meet up.” Central said. “Update, you may only have one more location to rescue civilians. The other two have been lost.”

A few curses came from the squad but was to be expected.

“Shit, meant for that to be a regular and a gas.” Razor grimaced as he caught up with the others. “Still have some regulars, two incendiaries, a few proxy mines, and satchels.”

“Don’t matter. It’s giving us cover. Hope that gas spreads further and keeps them stalled.” Raven said. “Wonder if you can get your hands on that more potent stuff I’ve heard has been showing up on the Markets.”

“No.” Razor’s tone immediately became serious.

“Fine with overpowered explosions, but not gas?”

“I heard that stuff melts bodies. Not messing with it. Nor the people that make it. Lunatics.”

“Coward.” She joked.

“Do you guys always banter during combat? The Silent Strider, still hobbling despite Sol’s treatments, questioned.

“No.” Raven said.

“Yes.” Razor said.

Count rolled her eyes. “I’m scouting ahead.” She picked up her pace.

“It helps with the stress. Even in… moments like these.” Sol sighed.

“Sounds like my mates, to a point.” The Silent Strider chuckled.

“Heads up team, you have more closing in on your area.” Central said. “Triple-time it.”

“We’re moving, have a lot of debris and fire to get through, Centy.” Raven talked back, somewhat playfully.

“Less excuse—”

“Move now!” Commander Reeves cut him off. “General Cross is rapidly closing in on your position! We’ve lost sight of him on the screens.”

“Oh, you have to be shitting me.” Raven grumbled as hastened her steps.

Razor moved over to Sol to give her a hand with the injured Strider.

As they were closing in on their location, passing through a partially collapsed corridor(mainly using it for cover), there were a series of faint green lights shimmered through the smoke-filled window of another burning building.

“The end is clear. Hurry up.” Count said as she kept a lookout. “See the point. Last bastion of freedom. Commander and Central. Any eyes on that General?”

“Negative.” Central said. “Still looking.”

“He’s somewhere and still active. The flow of orders has barely stopped.” The Commander said.

The three-story ramshackle house was still standing despite part of it being on fire and a horde of ADVENT soldiers being mere minutes from bearing down on it.

“Hey SS, some of your people still have plasmas?” Raven noticed the green lights in up ahead. She was already at the exit and keeping an eye out for more ADVENT like Count.

“Huh?” The Silent Strider looked around. The green lights grew in brightness for a moment. “Huh, maybe some do. We should all be spent now and back to the magnetics.”

“Any superior firepower is better than nothing.” Raven mumbled. “Plasma cracks through armor better than our stuff.”

As Sol, Razor, and the Silent Strider continued down the corridor, the Silent Strider couldn’t help but feel something was off.

“With all the action, those lights shouldn’t be so bright… or should be near critical… constantly flickering a cracking.” They mumbled under their breath as they watched the lights. As they continued to mumble, the lights started to glow brighter and brighter suddenly. There was no hint of flickering or visible energy crackling around.

“Wait…” Something just wasn’t right. “Shit!” It clicked.

“You need to move!” The Silent Strider managed to get out of Razor’s grip, knocking him into and through a weakened wall, before shoving Sol to the ground. Just as he did so, the sound of plasma weaponry discharge rang through the air.

Count nearly shrieked as hot plasma zoomed past her face. The Silent Strider wasn’t so lucky. The bolt of plasma hit them square in the face. They didn’t even get a chance to yell, as the mere impact knocked them off their feet as the heat seared their flesh. The smells of burning flesh, fabric, and metal filled the air.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Razor yelped as he had just the luck to land in some fire and was desperately trying to put himself out.

“Oh, oh, go-, oh go-, oh go-—” Sol eyes were fixed on the fallen Silent Strider. Her mind had seen many things over the decades, but it had been forever since she had seen the damage plasma could do to human flesh in the heat of battle. What wasn’t burned to the bone was melted. And the smell. The contents of her stomach were screaming to meet the ground. Through a series of concerned beeping, Paprika was urging her to get up and move.

“What the hell!?

“Who the hell was that!?”

Both Raven and Count had their weapons trained on the window the plasma bolt had come through while moving to nearby cover. There we no more green lights.

“There’s no Mutons or Vipers here, right?” Raven asked.

“None, none. Purely ADVENT in this Haven please.” Central said but he was double checking to make sure they didn’t miss a call for reinforcements.

“Well then wh—”

Two glints whipped out from the smoke in that window. Two glints bounced off the ground and ticked off some fallen metal roofing.

“Oh, you have got to be—” Raven was done.

“Less yap! MOVE!” Count thought her complaints could wait.

The two moved from their respective cover as fast as they could before the grenades went off. Before either had a chance to double back, the familiar crackle of lancers caught their ears. Both cursed.

“You two run, now!” Central barked the orders. They didn’t hesitate to listen. “Sol, you need to get on your feet now!” He ordered her next. She was still panicking.

“Shit, who could this be?” Central mumbled as he was digging through all the information they had. No alien units were there. Just ADVENT. He then heard the Commander muttered. He glanced at her. Those eyes were fixed on the information stream from the General Cross.

“‘XCOM and Silent Striders are thorns. Haven cleansing is only at 77.48% efficiency. Vaoss. Vaoss. Vaoss. Black mark on my reinstatement. Tsk. Tsk. Their ship has been evading our trackers. Will order scouting parties to sweep the surrounding region.’” Commander Reeves said and only seemed to be more taken in by this information trance. “‘Targets located. Separating. Strider was alert, ‘saved’ two of their comrades, but was not alert to save themselves. Demolition specialist separated, but currently a fire hazard. Cautioned approach. Separating the other two. Stun Lancers sweep them away. Medic isolated. Frightened. Has one of those drones XCOM uses. Unit designation Specialist. They could be useful. Capturing.’”

“Oh, shit.” He realized who was. Then he noticed the video feed. That onyx-armored figure jumped out of the building and landed. “Sol! Get on your damn feet and run! It’s the General!” Still no response from her besides that stammering.

Cross landed on the ground with a solid thud. He let his plasma rifle fall to his side before he pulled a baton from his side. With a simple flick, he extended it to its full length “An XCOM Specialist. You look like you know something.”

“Laney!” Central barked again. He started calling out to the others nearby, but Count and Raven were still dealing with their chasers, with Count getting cornered and pulling out a Flashbang followed by a Needle grenade and letting both go off too close to her. Razor had finally put himself out and was having a standoff with some Troopers. He was pulling several pins in such a way that if they downed him, they would die too. Looked like they understood his gestures and warnings well.

“I wonder how long it will take you to break?” Cross’ grip tightened on the baton, causing arcs of white electricity to appear before he sprinted towards her.

Cross was mere feet from crossing the threshold of the corridor before he suddenly stopped, throwing up his shield arm to protect his head.

A hail of magnetic fire rained down on him, causing him to stumble back. Just as it felt like there was a brief window to move, two plasma bolts cracked through the air. One hit his shield, causing part of it to splinter and shatter. The other him square in the chest before he could shift his arm, knocking him off his feet. Just as he was about to recover, one more shot rang out. Magnetic fire this time. It found its target.

Black shards from his helmet flew around. Cross cursed as his head was thrown back. He was off-balance for a few seconds before quickly rightening himself and moving to cover before the next hail of bullets could strike him.

“Heh, he, he he! Loving this new scope!” Strider’s giddy little giggle was almost a relief to Central’s ears. “Nice shot. Frosty.”

“Huh, the sensory overload worked. He’s not invincible.” Fayruz added. “Keep track of him!” She barked at her people. “He does not catch wind where we are evacing the last groups!”

“’Vaoss. Snipers. Nest of insects. Clever. Tsk. Tsk. Sloppy me. Black marks are sure. New orders: TEAR IT DOWN.’” Commander Reeves continued to read his transmissions. “‘Structural integrity of helmet: 52.089% and dropping. Otherwise, minimal injury. Backing off. Searching for another opportunity. The Grenadier… Orders: Back off from him. Too close. His payload would affect me and the Specialist. The other two… Sniper support one? Predictable. The other with the revolver? Self-damage with two grenades and purposefully set off the self-destruct system on the Lancers weapons? Intriguing. Her status? Alive, but heavily injured. Good. Press their medical supplies. Isolate if you can. That one deserves capture too. Choice DNA for that strong ill’isha in the face of death.’”

“Nice shot Strider and… Striders.” Central did his best to hold back a chuckle finally noticing that. “Laney—Sol, you back with the living yet!?”

Sol was still stammering. Her eyes were transfixed on the dead Silent Strider.

“Have her Gremlin zap her if she’s still out!” Owl joined in. Override code: Zeta 10-10. Small little shock, bring her back to senses.”

“Did not know that. Giving it a shot.” Central found a way to send the orders to Sol’s Gremlin. The next second, Paprika let out a little buzz before pulling itself close to her chest and letting out a small burst of electricity.

She let out a shriek before batting it away. Her churning stomach finally won she vomited for a few seconds. Clutching her chest, she looked around. “Oh, god. Sorry, buddy.” Her Gremlin let out a few beeps. It wasn’t offended.

“Back to your senses?” Central asked.

“Sorry, Central.” She apologized to him as she got back on her shakes legs. ”It’s been… ages since I saw plasma do that damage. It was just so—”

“Sudden. I know, but keep your wits.” He understood all too well. “You all need to regroup. Head to where the others are before Cross gets the jump on you again. And looks like Count will need some patching up Sol. Hope she can still hear.” He was already submitting an updated brief to the medical team on the potential injuries that needed to be treated if all made it back alive.

A series of explosions and a building coming down nearly had everyone on edge again until Razor came back on the comms. Just him tossing the grenades he accidentally armed in his standoff. He was mostly fine minus the burns.

With that heat mostly cooled down, Central turned his to the Commander who was still engrossed by Cross’s transmissions.

He knew calling her name wouldn’t work. Instead, he stepped behind her chair, bringing his arms around and down on her shoulders, and gave her a hearty shake.

“‘—pod of Troopers lost, but the Officer survived with injuries? Acceptable. Find your way back, stick to the shado—’ Wha— What!?” Commander Reeves snapped too, bristling like a startled bird(and if she had hair, it would be as puffy as their plumage). She looked around until she noticed Central step back into view. “Not again.” She sighed as she rubbed her temples.

“Lost you to the information, but if you weren’t talking, we would have lost Sol.”

“Mhm.” She didn’t like that. “There’s an oddly… pleasant familiarity with his thought process.” She wished it were the opposite. There was a shakiness to her voice. “The whole process really. It’s like I’m—”

He silenced both their mics for the moment. He offered his hand to her. She gladly took it. “Back in the system? Your old prison.”

“Yes. Like my brain is wired to want this information streaming in and through me again.”

He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“I can only pray and hope so.” She sighed. That fear would always linger at the back of her mind.

“Weeeeeell aren’t you alone.” Raven nearly sang as a red armored treat crossed her path. An Officer. And one that was injured. “Central, get the teams ready!”

That caught the attention of Central and the Commander.

“Oh, no. That could be a trap. Raven, do not engage! I repeat do not engage!” Commander Reeves yelled.

“Crap, out mics.” He scrambled to get them back on.

“Show me that lovely skull of yours.” Priming the Skulljack, she rushed the Officer.

“Raven, do not engage! That could a tra—” Central was too late.

The dazed state of the Officer made it easy for Laney to disarm them before ramming the hard light blade into the back of the chin and right into the brain.

“Shit!” He quickly shot off a message to Tygan, but was more than relieved to see someone on his team was keeping close tabs on the operation.

“We have complete access to the ADVENT Psionic Network.” Tygan said. “I have dedicated our systems to processing the new data, but we will need to work fast. It’s only a matter of time before they detect our intrusion.”

“Make it quick, this guy’s heavy and the Jack is heating up!” Raven said. She selected the large intel cache and was waiting for when it was okay to let the deadweight drop.

“They better not be able to trace this hack back to us.” Commander Reeves said.

“We implemented a safety cutoff if they—” He suddenly stopped.

“What is it?” She asked, but saw the red screen appear on Raven’s gauntlet and words in all caps. INTRUDER DETECTED.

“Shit!” Raven’s Skulljack gave out and the Officer dropped to the ground. She jerked her hand back, shaking it as smoke rose from the now sparking gauntlet. “That’s hot.”

“Commander, ADVENT cut the data transfer, but we blocked them from tracing the connection back to the ship, but not the solder. Something is coming their way.” Tygan said with utmost haste. “Scanners are detecting incoming psionic activity.”

“Ah, dammit.” Central was already looking for what headache they would have to deal with next.

“Raven, you need to move—”

Before Commander Reeves could finish her sentence, a strong psionic ping rang out mere feet from Raven, followed by several other high-pitched sounds. The bright purple light washed out the screen for a few seconds before they saw what came through.

“What the hell is that?” Both Raven and Central said.

Just mere feet from Raven was this semi-transparent golden-yellow female figure, featureless face save for a pair of glowing, white eyes, and a plume of a black, smoke-like substance flowing out of its head resembling hair. Its body seemed to be in constant flux; like parts of its body were glitching to sustain its existence from where ever it came from.

“Move, it has a Beam rifle!” Commander Reeves noticed the more dangerous item it held.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Raven finally noticed and moved before a beam of energy struck her. As she dove behind cover, took a moment to get her Shard Gun, and looked back. The being had disappeared. “What the… anyone catch—”

A psionic ping rang out and in a flash, that being was next to her again.

“Shit! No, no, NO— AAA—!”

Raven was barely back on her feet, but as she turned, that beam struck her in the back. All air escaped her as she crashed to the ground. Her vitals crashed.

“Shit! The rest of you stay sharp. This threat can teleport! Have your Gremlins scanning for any sudden psionic activity.” Central gave the rest of the squad more information on the new threat as that psionic ping rang out once more and it was gone.

“Commander, from the information I’ve been able to decipher, that appears to be the ‘Codex’ responsible for safeguarding the alien data stores.”

“Codex. We have a name.” Her eyes watched the screens and scanners, but there was no hint of the thing. At least the group was back together and heading to their final destination but had some Troopers hot on their tail.

“Hm?” She noticed a change in General Cross transmissions. She felt herself being drawn to it again. “Hey, hey.” She tapped Central a few times.

“Hm?”

“Shake me again if I get lost. Something’s different. He looks to be in pain since the arrival of that Codex.” She said before she began to read it. He was about to stop her, but it was too late. He just kept an eye on her, the screens, and the scanners.

“Incoming Priority Transmission… from an Elder.” That was a surprise.

“What does it say?” Now Central wanted to hear this.

[ELDER:] ” ››PROXY Cross. Effective immediately, you are to withdraw from the field. Your sortie is over. You have done well despite the arrival of outside factors.‹‹”

[CROSS:] ”’ ››With highest respect, Elder Ororos, this cleansing is not done. I have

[ELDER:] “‘››That is now irrelevant. Your lessers will take over. You, a valued asset to Us, cannot be lost. The data guardian will dispose of the insects.‹‹“‘

[CROSS:] “‘›› ‘Eadto… Data guardian…? Network intrusion. Explains the feedback I am receiving. Vata. Vata. Vata.‹‹“

[ELDER:] “‘›› A minor intrusion. The data will be recovered. Now, I repeat, withdraw immediately. There is a ship waiting for you—”

[CROSS:] “‘››Request denied. Partially illogical.‹‹‘“

Commander Reeves paused in her translation as she reread what she had just spoken.

“Did he just… ignore a direct order?” She said.

“It looks… it looks like it.” Central nodded.

There too was a pause in the transmission.

[ELDER:] “‘››How dare… WHAT. WHAT!? Are. You. Damaged?‹‹’”

The Elder was just as shocked.

[CROSS:] “’››Chip status: Sound. Your logic: Vind’eadto’ill. My logic: The arrival of the data guardian can be used as leverage and acquire more combat data. Receiving broken data from the guardian, it killed one of XCOM and is closing in on the others. Let’s see how they react. Leverage and wipe them out. Ish’no? Then the opportunity is lost. Combat data lost. I want to understand the enemy. I will not vo’ish now. Can fight through the feedback.‹‹‘”

[ELDER:] “‘›› That accursed language. Maker… CROSS. YOU ARE TO WITHDRAW IMMEDIATELY. I WILL ASSUME—‹‹‘“”

The Elder’s transmission was suddenly cut.

[CROSS:] “‘›› I will accept all punishments once done. Now, I must strike.‹‹‘“

“And looks like he just cut off that Elder. I can’t imagine he’ll live longer.” Central shook his head.

“Nor can I— wait…” The Commander finally noticed something. ”Cross has been using some Fragmenta language here and there. Explains that ‘accursed language’ remark. I wonder why that choice of language?”

Before she could dwell on that longer, the psionic scanner alarm went off. She looked back at the screen just as Sol’s Gremlin was marking the area.

On a smoldering roof, above the squad, that Codex reappeared with another ping. This time, its beam rifle was missing from its hands.

“Why is it unarmed now?” Commander Reeves didn’t like that.

“Doesn’t matter, team, shoot that thing!” Central said.

“Need a better angle and some cover from those Troopers!” Count said as she was moving to get a better shot.

“Can’t give another volley, our location is compromised. The Silent Striders are starting to pull out.” Strider said. “Finding a new perch and Owl’s on the way to you guys. His Gremlin has a charge it can set off on that thing.”

“We got you covered.“ Sol said as she pulled the pin from her Smoke Grenade and threw it near them.

“Last of my mines and satchels!” Razor said as he threw what he had left past the smoke and headed for cover to reload his Mag Cannon.

The Codex watched where the group was moving. Its attention focused on the two closest to each other. The Codex let out a few sounds as its form continued to glitch before it raised its hands.

The psionic scanner alarm went off again. Sol’s Gremlin let out panic beeps.

“What the hell is —” Commander Reeves scanned through all the transmissions from ADVENT to see what was going on. She saw the repeated message: “STAY AWAY FROM THE RIFT.”

“Guys! You need to—”

The next second, a roar of energy ripped through the air, as a mass of purple energy swirled all around Sol and Razor.

“What the hell?” Sol did not like the eery feeling that drowned her senses. “Paprika, come on!” Noticing her Gremlin was stunned, she quickly grabbed it and kept moving.

“Nice light show, now smile— huh?” As he pulled the trigger on his Mag Cannon, Razor found it empty. “What the hell? I just reloaded this thing?”

“That thing has psionics?” Central said. It barely looked organic.

Commander Reeves on the other hand nearly jumped out of her seat as she yelled. “Get out of that Rift now!” She hadn’t seen a psionic Rift in years and who knew those things had grown more dangerous.

It took Razor noticing the energies of the Rift growing more chaotic before he moved. Just as he dived out of the thing, it collapsed on itself before exploding throwing out some debris.

“How the hell is my cannon empty? I just reloaded?” Razor growled as he pulled himself to cover. He was getting dangerously low on ammunition.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Mag Revolver raised, Count pulled the trigger. “3, 2, 1.” Fan Fire.

Each shot rang out. One whizzed right through the Codex’s form as it merely shifted to avoid the fire, but the other two struck its head. It shrieked as it fell back for a mere second before it shifted a few more times to reappear standing up.

But as it did so, it let out several sounds as it rapidly shifted around, its form distorted and split in two before reforming into one. As it did so, that split shifted with a psionic ping on the ground and reappeared near Count and the others. This one had a Beam rifle in its hands. One actively charging and pointed at Count.

“Are you kidding me!?” Count whipped around as fast as she could to shoot at the thing, causing its shot to go wide before she got back into cover.

“That thing can split? Or did another one of those things come through? Tygan, any ideas?” Central did not like the idea of a self-replicating foe.

“That is outside my expertise as we have lost direct connection to the Psionic Network, but scans are showing this ‘clone’ is sporting similar damage to the ‘original.’”

“It ‘fragmented’.” Commander Reeves said.

“You sound a little too sure about that.” Central said.

She simply gestured at the communications transmission. “What the General said. Seems to be a defense mechanism in response to damage, but it can’t keep it up forever risking a critical error to the data it stores and protects. At least he’s telling his forces to keep distance since two are out right now.” That would take some pressure off their soldiers.

“How many more times before it’s done? Anything we can do to keep that from happening?”

She simply shrugged. No answer from the transmissions. “Taking a guess, needs to be a hard, lethal shot. Or if anyone has any of those Bluescreen rounds. ”

“Shit.” None of them did.

As Central was seeing if Fayruz could spare any of her men, which was slim as they themselves were pulling out and making sure the last of the wounded were out. Hearing that, he informed the squad the final location was scrapped. The new order was to survive as long as they could until Stellar Echo was back.

The squad did their best to deal with the two teleporting nuisances that seemed to dodge their shots with ease. As one would teleport away, the other would either fire their Beam Rifle before the squad could reposition, or set off another one of those Psionic Rift. Any chance one of them got caught in the roof would mean lost ammo and they were running near dry.

“Dammit!” Razor cursed as he caught just on the edge of a Rift and he finally managed to hit one of the Codices. Thankfully, it didn’t split, but the Rift cost him his potential to deal heavy damage. “I’m OUT!” Just as he got out of the Rift, Razor angrily threw his Mag Cannon at the Codex, which only teleported away before it could hit. “Of all days to not have my pistol.” His eyes darted around the battlefield searching for a weapon. Any kind of weapon.

“Razor!” Sol called out. “You can have mine!” She threw it to him.

“Thanks, shit!” He had to dive back down as a beam of energy headed his way, but quickly scrambled to get that Mag Pistol.

“Marionette Owl, ETA to the others?” Central asked.

“Nearly there.” Owl responded. “Crossed paths with Lancers, nasty buggers, but a Flashbang let me escape through some tight squeezes. Sending Nostrumo ahead of me. She’s programmed to zap one of those things plaguing the others once in range.”

“Nice thinking. Strider, your status?”

“Nearly all these roofs are compromised. I’m on foot, heading there, but there’s still a lot of forces on the ground.”

“Keep your eyes peeled, but move fast. The others are just about dry.”

As Central was contacting Fayruz again, Commander Reeves focused her attention back on that data transmission.

“Hm, things may cool down to a point as General Cross is giving orders to start securing bodies and not give chase to the fleeing forces. He’s not happy at the less-than-ideal success rate of his sortie.”

“Barely good.” Central said. Maybe that would allow Strider and Owl to move more freely. “I would say a dent is better than nothing, be we lost an operative and could potentially lose more if these things aren’t killed.”

“Wait…” She noticed something had changed. That odd thinking of Cross popping up again. And those words. “Target isolated. Capturing Specialist.”

“Specialist? SOL, YOU NEED TO MOVE NOW—”

“AAAARRRRRGHH!!”

Too late.

Sol felt a sharp stab to her back before electricity coursed through her body. It was a never-ending torrent of pain as she screamed until she no longer could. As the faintest of whimpers left her mouth, her vitals dropped as she hit the ground. Before her Gremlin could react, he stabbed that shock baton right between its eyes, and another high course voltage caused it to blow up in smoke. A smoldering wreck crashed to the ground.

“Target secured. Drone lost, but the shell can be studied.” Cross let out a proud chuckle. “This will please Ororos.”

“Shit, Sol!” Both Count and Razor were about to fire on Cross before the Codex reminded them to pay attention.

Cross dragged the unconscious Sol away from the ensuing chaos. As he raised himself back up, he grunted and stumbled. “This close to those guardians is causing more disruption. But there’s a chance to gain another subject. The risk may be worth it.”

He was studying the fight, watching to see how he could get Count as she had caught his attention earlier. Just as he saw an opinion as one of the Codices was about to open another Rift on top of Count, an angry buzz caught his attention.

“The other Specialist’s Gremlin.” He reached for his rifle.

Before he could draw it, Nostrumo whipped around the building, pausing for a moment to take in data, before swiftly flying over to the Codex with the growing psionic power. As soon as it was next to the thing, it let loose its last Capacitor Discharge.

The Codex let out a series of shrieks as its form distorted and it grabbed its head. With a final shriek, its form imploded and all that was left was a black brain-shaped case that clattered to the ground.

“Thank you, little buddy~!” Count sang as she focused her fire on the one still pestering

“Intriguing. Its form disappeared and left that.” Tygan commented.

“Tygan, save your science for later. Need to other one dead and the General gone before you can start dissecting.” Central said.

“Cross is retreating.” Commander Reeves said.

“What?” Central looked at her with his brows furrowed.

She just pointed at the transmissions. “He was seeking to capture Count, but Nostrumo killing that Codex caused feedback he can’t ignore. He’s grabbing Sol and retreating.”

“What!?” Count was already turning on her heels to stop him. “We need to get So—”

“Leave her. We have more pressing problems with that last Codex, and if it duplicates again…” Commander Reeves cut her off. She didn’t need to explain that further. “There’s a chance we’ll be able to rescue Sol another day.”

“Shit.” Count cursed under her breath and turned back to fight the Codex.

“If I had another grenade.” Razor too cursed as he took potshots at the Codex when he could.

The remaining Codex disappeared with another ping before reappearing on the rooftops again. Beam Rifle missing from its hands.

“It’s going to open another one of those Rifts!” Razor was already moving. “And with how angrily Nostrumo’s beeping, it’s a big one.”

“Always moving out of shot! Always!” Count was looking for just the right angle.

The air around Count began to distort.

“No, you don’t.” Strider said before a shot rang out. He finally found a perch.

The Codex shrieked as the shot struck its skull. Its form began to distort as it shifted through various stances as it struggled to keep its form together and keep the flow of energy to that forming Rift.

The distortion began to fade. But suddenly began to stabilize as its form looked splitting.

Another shot rang out, hitting it dead in the skull, again causing it to let out its death screams as it contorted once more and its form imploded, leaving behind another one of those cases. The energies of that forming Rift fully dissipated.

“Goodnight.” Feyruz said.

“Finally…” Razor let out a sigh of relief, but didn’t let his guard down.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Count mumbled as she rushed over to Razor to check on how he was doing. She gave a good kick to what remained of the Codex, only apologizing when Central scolded her, saying they needed what remained intact.

“I see I missed the party, but I have the meds.” Owl finally arrived and immediately with his two remaining allies.

“Thanks, Frost Owl, for the support.” Central said. He was surprised to hear her voice on the comms. “Thought you were long gone by now with how you were no longer answering my calls.”

“I was looking for a gun since my plasma blew up while I was talking to you.” Fayruz replied with a gruff snort. Central just rolled his eyes. “Besides, it wouldn’t be unfair for me to cut and run with you losing two of you men and the risk of the others being lost.”

“How kind of you.”

“Once we reestablished ourselves and licked out wounds, we’ll keep an ear out for any nearby prisons holding an XCOM operative.” Feyrez offered.

“Thank you, we can use all the help we can get.” A mild bonus to a pyrrhic operation.

“Shatter squad, regroup and head to the evac, ASAP. General Cross has pulled out, but ADVENT is still active.”

“We need to get Raven’s body.” Count said. “Can’t leave behind another.”

“Negative. It’s too dangerous. And from this partially corrupted transmission from Cross, it looks like they retrieved her body.”

Count only cursed.

The squad retrieved their gear and the remains of the Codices before regrouping and getting themselves to the Skyranger. They had a little trouble but were able to escape full-blow engagement with the remaining ADVENT troops sweeping the area.

“Tygan, have your teams ready to study those Codices on arrival, AND,” Commander Reeves didn’t mean to make such a dramatic pause but an important thought crossed her mind, “have psionic shielding constantly active. Already ordered Shen to have psionic containment ready for the handoff as soon as the Skyranger touches down.

“My team is already preparing for their arrival, Commander. Hopefully, studying these beings will provide some insight into the aliens’ ongoing plans.” He responded before cutting his transmission.

—————————————————————

Jynn took a few moments to go over any more after-operation information and issue a few more orders before slipping down her chain. She could feel a headache coming on.

“Oh, those pills are wearing off.” She could feel a palpating pain blossoming against her temples.

“You okay?” Bradford noticed her mutter.

“Medication wearing off. Headache, no, soon a migraine is coming on.” She grumbled.

“Want me to call the doctors?’

“Help me down to the Infirmary,” she extended her hand to him, “it’ll be faster.”

It took a few pulls to get her up, and once she was up, Jynn found herself leaning on Bradford.

“Oh, I am going to be bedridden for a few days.” She had a sinking feeling that would happen.

“Stay positive, maybe a few hours.” He said.

“No, days. I can feel it in my bones. My throat still freakn’ hurts. Manuke, manuke, manuke.”

“Rude.”

“I was calling myself a moron.”

The conversation grew silent as they made their way down to the Infirmary. Once Jynn was admitted and the doctors worked on her, their attention turned back to how the operation when.

“Now this is pointed at Jody…” Jynn warned Bradford before taking in a sharp breath. “I want to wring her neck and tan her hide, manuke!” As she cursed, her Cajun Southern accent fully came through. “Darn girl just had ta use that con’tra’tion on the Officer. Allons! Let me strike the lone Officer! Oh, no! A tataille emerges and much rracas for all!” She let out a slew of other curses before finally calming down. “Bless her damn heart… sincerely, but also, you idiot.”

Bradford, and any listening in, was doing his best to keep a straight face. He understood her frustrations and disappointments, but sometimes how strong that accent would come out would catch him off guard. “Yes, snrk, right, heh.” He turned to clear her throat before looking back at her. “A mild positive is that we know the Skulljack works, but needs more tweaking to avoid triggering more of those Codices.”

“Agreed.” She nodded.

“And see if we can use those upgrades Bones provided for future endeavors.”

“I wonder why…,” Jynn paused, “his gift was a surprise. Our teams are still looking at it, so of course, Tygan didn’t account for that.”

She noticed Dr. Chalsa come back around with her tablet in hand and Gremlin hovering over her shoulder.

“How am I looking, Chalsa?”

“Elevated adrenaline levels again and those neural pathways are active again. Picking up faint… faint psionic activity.” Dr. Chalsa said. Almost hesitant to mention the psionic activity.

“How long am I staying?” Jynn just wanted answers. She would moan and groan later.

“Overnight at the most.”

“Not… terrible. But may change once I explain why I suspect those pathways are active.”

“You… you know why they are active.” Chalsa raised a brow at her before looking at Bradford. He just raised his hands in defense.

“I was looking at communications data from an ADVENT General. There was something about the data, the way he spoke and processed the information that just… entranced me. That’s the best way to describe it.”

“Like your brain is still wired to want that information Network streaming in and through me again.” Bradford recalled what she said.

“Thank you… John.” She did not want to be reminded of her words.

“That is… intriguing. And concerning. I’ll fill Dr. Marin and the others about this.” Chalsa was already updating the others and Jynn’s health history. “You know exactly what that means, yes?”

“Tests? Yes. Better now than later when something in me snaps again.”

“Jynn.” Bradford shook his head when she said that.

“You know it’s true, John.”

Bradford stuck around for a few more hours until Skyranger was back and he had to make sure the handling of those Codex brains went properly.

Until sleep called her, Jynn wrote out a report to the best of her ability on what she could recall when she wasn’t so enthralled by the information coming from General Cross. She wondered if they would meet that specialized General again and any more of those under the designation PROXY.

“Need to put some feelers out with the other Factions if they’ve heard anything with the designation PROXY. Maybe those Void Walkers know. Knowledge is their business.”

#writings #Xcom #Xcom 2 #Xcom wotc #Fic: Hollowed Defiance

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