As Bradford stepped onto the bridge, he already felt the eyes upon him. Shen Jr. and Tygan, while not the faces he wished were the R&D department, were more than welcome aboard. Without the combined efforts of them and Shen Sr., he doubted the Avenger would be in the state it is today. He saw a small number of recruits, no more than twenty in total. Some were fresh faces, possibly younger than the ADVENT's reign. Some were old timers, retired guns who had to be hunted through the wilderness for days on end just for the ability to give them the news.
"Recruits." His voice called through the small room. Veterans. Welcome to X-COM. Some of you have just recently learned of our endeavors." At this, about half of the heads nodded. "Others, well, you may know exactly what we do here." At this, an older Asian man with scars on his face lifted up a rather large cannon and laughed. " Whether or not you're old or new, you're here for one reason. To take the fight to ADVENT!" Immediately, the whole room began to cheer.
"Now! We have a high priority target locked up tight. ADVENT security, sentry towers, even a damn blockade. As of this moment, X-COM is now active. I need two volunteers to assault this facility. I won't lie, it's gonna be hell. We have zero support available, little intel on the AO, and no weapons to speak of." The room filled with hands raised high. "Alright!" Bradford chuckled. "We'll sort the bodies out in a moment. But for now, we have a mission. I want to make this clear. We may not win. We may all die and have this hunk of alien tech blown to smithereens with us. We may be captured, tortured, and much worse. If any of you don't feel like you can do this, I'll personally make sure you get off when we drop by Resistance HQ next time. For those of you who still wish to fight, we need you."
The hologlobe in the center of the room whirled to life. "Twenty years ago, we had a Commander. That one man was the reason we still exist today. They took him, and locked him up. We've been on the run since. Well, I say no more Running! We aim to misbehave! And on my life we will give those alien bastards hell to pay at least one more time. Are you with me!" The whole room burst into cheers and applause.
Bradford smiled as he began heading to the now operational hologlobe. "We're gonna hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast." The globe spun and stopped on Central Europe. "We get one chance, and just this one. Let's not waste it folks." He turned away and walked to the launch pad. He pulled a radio from his shoulder. "Firebrand, Menace 1-5 is a go. We are green for gatecrash." he called. "Ten four! Ready for lift off!" Squaked the reply. He stepped out and say two recruits standing, holding nothing but assault rifles. "Alright. We go in, get him, and get out. No heroics." They both saluted and responded at the same time "Aye Aye sir!" They turned and boarded the now rising skyranger. "He better be here. He still owes me a sweater" Bradford whispered to himself as he boarded the aircraft.
If it wasn't miles from civilization, anyone could have seen the blazing trail of smoke left behind as the skyranger flew off, anyone could have seen the twenty-odd bodies saluting as the Avenger took off for the first time. And anyone could have heard the shout of "Vigilo Confido!" Echo across the woods. But for now, everyone was more than satisfied with what they were throwing at the aliens. After all, what did they have to lose?