Annette's adrenaline was wearing off. She'd been woken in the middle of the night by familiar French soldiers: her keepers while participating in experiments for Section C. With no explanation besides "You're in danger," she was rushed into getting dressed and shoved aboard a troop transport. After guessing for ten minutes about what was going on, Annette realized she wasn't going to pry out an answer.
Many scenarios were racing through her mind. Normally she'd feel safe among them, but they were acting strange. Perhaps she was actually being abducted by turncoats. But who would want her? Perhaps there was going to be an attack on the base. Why wasn't everyone evacuating? With the soldiers being so tight lipped "on orders", Annette's only ally was herself. She sought the attention of Kenzie, a woman who was more approachable and not as leery of her, even after seeing the experiments Annette participated in. They sat opposite one another, another bonus to questioning her. At least Kenzie couldn't ignore her so readily if she had to look right at her.
"I know you can't tell me where we're going, but how long until we get there?"
Kenzie didn't answer at first. "A while," she finally confessed, smiling ruefully. "Try to get comfortable."
Annette needed no further invitation. She flopped off the bench she was sitting on, turning around as she maneuvered to the floor, and sat between Kenzie's legs. "Okay," she replied. She looked over the other soldiers in the cramped troop transport. They looked surprised by her actions, but none looked suspicious. Annette drew heavily on her intuition as she studied their faces to confirm none were onto her.
Quietly, she asked, "Would you fix my hair?" She inclined her head straight back to catch a glimpse of Kenzie's face. Her pleading gaze was enough, and Kenzie gave in, nodding. Annette removed the hurried pony tail she'd managed while being rushed out of her home. She gave the hair tie to Kenzie, and waited for Kenzie's hands to brush her hair. It was a reassuring feeling, to be sure, but Annette wasn't doing this to feel reassured, or even to look presentable. She was trying to ascertain what was happening.
Annette closed her eyes, focusing on those hands gently pulling through her hair, occasionally brushing her scalp. She could sense Kenzie's 'mental aura', as the researchers put it. No one knew what exactly it was or how Annette could do this, but with concentration, she could sense more than a person's physical body. Something of their spirit, their mind, went outside their body, and touched hers. That is what she focused on.
Kenzie was feeling affectionate and protective. The idea was a bit surprising to Annette; Kenzie hadn't exactly been anything other than her chauffeur. It was reassuring, however, and put to rest Annette's fears of being abducted. After her pony tail was finished, Annette smiled at Kenzie, and returned to her seat on the bench across from Kenzie.
She shared a smile with Kenzie, who returned it readily. Her intuition told her that Kenzie was a little happier now than when they'd first started this journey. She also felt no ill omens from Kenzie. She couldn't be certain, but she was willing to go with their "orders," for now.
Annette could hear the muffled voice of someone speaking over soldier's earpieces. Instantly their bodies went rigid. Annette didn't need her special ability to know it was bad. The grim looks between the others said it all. "Can we reroute?" one asked, activating their microphone.
"Shit," another said only a moment later. "Do you think they know? What if it wasn't an accident?"
Kenzie butted in, "Ambush or not, you heard the commander. We are the only allies we can trust. Get focused and be ready."
"Ambush?" Annette gawked, incredulous. "Is someone coming after us?"
"Not now," Kenzie ordered in a very no-nonsense tone.
Despite the weight in her words, Annette was sorely tempted to press the matter. The men and women around her were wound so tight all of the sudden that it was draining Annette's own patience. She opened her mouth, considering what she would say, when suddenly an explosion outside tossed the transport into the air, throwing everyone around.
The transport slammed into something hard, throwing Annette against the pile of soldiers as they all slammed into the front wall. Dazed, it took them all a valuable time to extricate themselves from the pile, and the soldiers immediately piled out the back of the transport, taking defensive postures.
Annette was about to crawl out the back hatch with them when Kenzie reappeared, shoving her backwards. "STAY INSIDE," she growled.
"What's going on?" Annette demanded, but Kenzie shut the hatch violently on her. Annette grabbed the handle to open it, afraid of being trapped alone in the transport. As she pushed the handle down, the unmistakable sound of assault rifles filled the air. Annette dove to the floor, leaving the hatch shut. She heard bullets ting as they ricocheted on the transport itself.
"Snipers top floor three o'clock!" someone yelled.
"Suppressing fire suppressing fire!" another joined in.
"Move move move!"
Annette couldn't believe how many bullets continued to fly through the air. An explosion somewhere nearby startled her. It was a fierce firefight, but there were fewer now than before, and they were farther away. Annette risked crawling to the hatch, grabbing the handle and opening it slightly. She glanced out the door, but was struck at the horrible sight of Kenzie lying in a pool of blood, her cheek a morbid mess of flesh and blood, her eyes listless and unmoving. The hatch swung open as Annette lost her hold, and she immediately hung her head over the edge, puking everything she had in her. She avoided looking in Kenzie's direction, instead surveying the scene behind the truck.
There were more bodies, thankfully presenting less gruesome wounds to Annette's viewpoint. They were all soldiers from her transport, there to protect her. She was on a city street, but it looked unlike anything she'd ever seen before, a war zone. There were vehicles on fire—vehicles that would have been beside the truck as it drove past. She guessed that roadside bombs were used to disable their transport.
Annette couldn't stay here beside Kenzie's body. She pulled herself up and out of the transport. She spied Kenzie's sidearm strapped to her leg. Avoiding looking above her waist, Annette managed to undo the clasp and take the weapon and its holster. Once free, she hugged the holstered weapon to her chest and ran away from Kenzie's body towards a multistory building with its first-floor glass windows shot out.
Inside, she discovered it was a pizzeria. She hid behind the counter top and sat on the floor, looking over her weapon's holster. With a few seconds' work, it was adjusted to fit her leg and snugly attached. Annette heard shouting in the street outside her. It wasn't a voice she recognized.
Annette popped open the holster and slid out the pistol. Annette squeezed her eyes shut a moment to block out the image of Kenzie's mutilated face. When she opened them again, she felt a cold anger burning within her. She took the safety off and pulled back on the slide, chambering a round.
"It's empty," Someone yelled from right outside the pizzeria. "Dammit!"
Annette jumped to her feet, swinging the weapon around, holding it in both hands. There was a man there, dressed in armor she wasn't familiar with. She aimed a bit higher than his center of mass to avoid the armor's strongest protection. Two pulls later, his neck erupted in red mist, and he garbled unintelligibly as he clutched at the wound.
As others yelled in alarm, Annette realized she'd given herself away, and they were going to surround her. She turned away from the transport and ran for the back, hoping to make a quick getaway. She burst through the restaurant's back door, racing into an ally. More shouts of alarm came from her right. It sounded like they were all around her! She pushed herself to run faster.
As she reached a crossroad, Annette spotted something big rushing at her from the left. She turned just moments too late to see a muscular man slam into her, tackling her violently. Her weapon was pinned between their bodies. They struggled on the ground, but Annette was hopelessly out-muscled. She was pinned to the ground, and her weapon wrenched painfully from her grasp, tossed away into the street.
"Stop resisting!" the man shouted. "WE OWN YOU!" With a wicked backhanded slap, he dazed her. Annette lay unmoving. The shock of the impact jumbled her mind, and it was all she could do just to regain some small measure of equilibrium.
Someone kicked Annette's attacker off her. "The hell you doing!?" the newcomer asked. "She's worth more to EXALT than your pretty face, Thug, and you'll remember that if you'd rather not be made into an example."
"Sir," growled the one who'd tackled her, 'Thug'. He met his commander's gaze with a livid look of contempt.
Annette slowly turned to face the newcomer, trying to push past the pain shooting through her. He wasn't as muscular, but he had the same armor as the others. Behind him, even more were arriving. They had assault rifles, LMG's, even one with a sniper rifle. There were at least six of them here now.
"Sorry about that, miss." the leader cackled. "Battle nerves. Gets the best of everyone now and then." he reached out a hand, but Annette didn't take it. Once it became clear she wasn't going to assist, the leader sighed and drew a circle while pointing straight up in the air. "ET's coming. Let's get out of here before they arrive." The others surrounded her, picking her up by her arms and legs. Annette struggled, but their grips were ironclad. Without options, she was piled into a helicopter with the others. It lifted off, leaving everything behind.
"You think XCOM will follow ET and investigate?" one asked idly, ignoring their capture as she lay between them all, held down.
"Nothing left back there but bodies. Ricochet and Raven's bodies ain't going to give them anything other than a puzzle to chew on."
Annette hadn't intended for it to happen, but the one who answered was holding her left arm down, and her mind suddenly connected with his. She sensed a smugness to his demeanor, and saw an image of a body on the street, doubtlessly Raven's.
"I can see ET's air support!" the pilot interrupted. "Hang on, we'll go low and try to sneak by!"
"Fuck they're close!" one of the soldiers shouted, worried.
The squad leader laughed. "Don't worry. We'll meet ET when we're good and ready. We have what they want; they'll deal civilly with us."
"What about Ricochet? You sure he's dead? I mean, he got separated."
"He won't let them take him alive," the leader replied forcefully. "None of us will. Either way, he's dead. Now can it. Our charge is getting too curious for her own good."
Fear shot through Annette as she met his cold, knowing eyes briefly.