Please read the AN at the bottom.
Here we are, at the beginning of XCOM's assault on Falmart. Now I only realized that I forgot to give descriptions of Jarik and Sscantha's clothes a week after I made this story, oops. Anyway, Jarik wears a knee-length bomber jacket over a black XCOM shirt with jeans and brown combat boots. Sscantha wears a white short sleeved shirt and a black choker, and that's it because she's a viper. Anyway, onto the solitary review!
EliteNoobNZ: thank you!
Anyway, let's begin!
4(LINE BREAK)
It's been a month since the gate appeared in the capital of Texas. During this time, Jarik and Sscantha have been hard at work getting support from the still-recovering UN and recruiting new soldiers. The USA was more than willing to lend XCOM their supplies and weapons. Thanks to this, the organization had various tanks, APCs, helicopters, and other things at their disposal. But now the time for preparation is over, and retaliation is at hand. Jarik walked into the proving ground, to see the unique armor he had asked Shen to make for him. It was a suit of warden armor, but with a piece attaching the helmet to the torso. The gauntlets were those of the chosen warlock, able to channel psionic energy without the need for an amp. He put it on and placed the Assassin's shotgun, Arashi, on his hip. Her katana and dagger found their home on Jarik's back.
He exited the proving ground to see his wife waiting for him in her combat gear. Her armor was made to encompass her entire form with red lights down the length of the armor, granting no weak points to attack. Her custom plasma burst rifle was on the back of her waist, while she herself was holding the helmet in her left hand. "Time to go." Jarik said, to which his mate nodded and put her helmet, the eyes lighting up red. They rode Firebrand down to the area in front of the gate, where the entirety of XCOM was waiting and a stage was set up. A few feet away, beside the gate, was a memorial for those who were killed. He removed his helmet as he walked onto the stage and towards a podium. Setting down his helmet, he spoke.
"For ten years, we, as human and viper-kind, have lived in peace. ADVENT routed, the elders slain. For ten years, our earth has been at peace. But now, the leaders this 'empire' has come to slaughter and enslave us. And XCOM, earth's ever-vigilant sword, and shield shall be there standing tall once more. We will cross through this gate and bring those responsible to justice. We lost three hundred seventy-four innocent souls to their blades. Even more, taken as slaves. We shall avenge the fallen, and liberate the taken. Today marks the start of operation Titan's wrath! VIGILO CONFIDO!" With the end of Jarik's speech, he put his helmet back on and moved to the front of the convoy, and stood on the lead APC. And then the army began to move.
The inside of the gate was… interesting. It was midnight black, but there was what appeared to be stars shining on all sides. Once they reached the other side, there was a massive camp surrounding the gate. The APCs unloaded and man, viper, and machine got into positions, the tanks aiming their turrets at the camp. And with the sound of thunder,
Earth made her wrath known.
(The capital of the Empire meeting room)
Emperor Mort Sol Augustus's eye twitched under its eyelids. He had been listening to his nobles bickering for the past thirty minutes. Eventually, he got fed up with it. "Enough!" He shouted. Immediately, they were all silenced, and looking to their leader. "Have the vassal states attack Alnus hill. Their sheer numbers will crush the invaders." He ordered. Intentionally wording to make it seem the attack was unprovoked. While internally he was furious. "Damn you Zorzal," he thought to himself. "Damn you for telling the nobles to just blindly attack the other side of the gate. And damn them for just blindly following your orders. Now I have to go along with your plan, and if the few soldiers that returned are anything to go by, they can slaughter us without trying."
(A week later, vassal state camp)
The kings of the vassal states were arguing with each other, trying to claim the glory of leading the army for themselves. All except one, who knew that this was a play to both defeat the people from beyond the gate and weaken the armies of the vassal states. Unbeknownst to them, there were people listening in. Elena "Outrider" Dragunova and several reapers were just outside the tent. "Executioner to homebase, targets in range. Permission to initiate operation berserk?" She asked through her earpiece. The voice of Sscantha came through, completely neutral. "Permission granted." With that, the team of reapers lifted the back end of the tent and opened fire.
Tranq darts logged themselves into the leaders. The reapers quickly grabbed the now unconscious leaders and dragged them to Firebrand, who had stealthily landed behind the camp. Instead of taking the same route, however, it flew directly over the camp. Elena smirked under her mask as she made a show of pulling her captive into the VTOL craft. The army, desperate to save their leaders, quickly mobilized and chased after Firebrand. They didn't realize their folly until a red flash followed by smoke ripped through a dozen soldiers in a row. Lasers began streaking from Alnus hill, ignoring any and all attempts the primitive army made to defend themselves.
(With XCOM)
Jarik smiled grimly as he saw what could only be described as a wall of death be launched at the opposing force. This wasn't their fight, but were dragged into it anyway. The attacking army quickly realized that if they remained, they were certainly going to die. They ran en masse, not caring for the consequences for their justified cowardice. Eventually, there were none left, to only things in sight were either dead or fleeing.
(A week later)
After Jarik and Sscantha were sure the remains of the opposing army had fully run and not just regrouped, they decided it would be a good idea to meet the less hostile locals. There was a small problem with that, however. Not one singular soul in XCOM knew how to speak Latin. Shen solved this with a translator that went into an operator's ear. With him, Jarik brought his best soldiers. As he walked up to the APC's they were going to use, he mentally listed them off
Luca "Deadlock" Cancellara, the best sharpshooter in XCOM sat in the Icarus armor with Darklance on his back and Darkclaw on his hip. Beside Luca was his partner and XCOM's best PsyOp David "Midnight" Michell in a wraith suit and the disruptor rifle on his back. He had short black hair and brown eyes. Next to him sat Geralt "Witcher" Grimm, the commander's best heavy gunner. He sat in a W.A.R. suit with his beam cannon, named venom after his viper wife, sitting in front of him. He was an Australian man with naturally white hair and brown eyes. He also always wore a hat with one side folded up and bullets on it, mostly as a joke. Beside him sat Elena "Outrider" Dragunova, the ever stoic reaper had her vektor rifle on her back and her mask on, her arms crossed.
Across from her sat Haver "Genius" Perez, XCOM's top specialist. His gremlin hovered beside him as he sat in his wraith suit. He was a Spanish man with dirty blond hair and blue eyes alongside an almost infectious smile. Beside him sat Hibiki "Bandit" Palmer in the R.A.G.E. suit. A bald African-American woman that was also a ranger. Her plasma boltcaster was in front of her and her fusion axes were on her back. Beside her sat the Templar known as James "Warlock" Grey. He had his purple Templar uniform's sleeves ripped off, showing his veins, which pulsed with psionic energy. Next to him was a normal looking viper and husband to Geralt, Jane "Hunter" Grimm. She wore a warden suit modified to fit her reptilian form. Her plasma rifle was on her back. The final person Jarik was bringing with him was actually his wife. Sscantha sat in her custom combat suit without a helmet. She was wearing the black choker that Jarik got her for her birthday.
Jarik entered then walked to the front of the lead APC while operatives got in the other APCs, which had his elite team onboard and hopped on the comms. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and be ready for anything. We may be coming in peace, unlike the elders, but the locals might not like us." He said. He turned around as the convoy began to move…
Only for a viper tongue to wrap itself around his waist. "Damnit." Was all he said before he was pulled to the back of the APC and into the coils of Sscantha. The viper queen's tail constricted, just enough for the restriction of movement. Jarik was turned to face his wife, who he gave an annoyed glare. "So now I have your undivided attention," Sscantha began. "I was thinking. Now that we're away from the kids, why don't we have some 'private time' to ourselves?" She said with a very sultry tone. Jarik, however, only got more annoyed. "You do realize we are in public right?" The commander deadpanned, gesturing to the others in the APC with his head. Said XCOM troopers were struggling to hold in their snickers. Sscantha wasn't deterred, her grin in fact only grew. "Oh don't be like that." She said, running a hand down Jarik's cheek. The commander's eye twitched as even more annoyance was added to his glare. He sighed in resignation and lost the glare. "Later, ok? We're on a mission right now, and I'd rather not do that in public. I'm still somewhat respected by these guys." Jarik said, much to the amusement of the others in the APC. "...I'm ok with that." Sscantha said after a moment, uncoiling her tail from around Jarik. But instead of releasing her mate, she pulled him into her lap and held him there. The end of her tail coiled around his ankles and she rested her head on his. Jarik let out, surprisingly enough, a content sigh. 'This is actually really nice.' Jarik thought to himself as he closed his eyes. 'Might as well get some sleep.` And with that, he drifted off into unconsciousness.
(Unknown amount of time later)
Jarik was awoken by something wet and smooth going down his face. His eyes opened to the mischievous face of his wife, her tongue returning to her mouth. "Really?" He asked, rubbing the saliva off his face with his hand. Sscantha smirked. "Well we're going to arrive at the first town soon, so I needed to wake you up. And your scent might as well be a drug for me." She explained casually as she released him. Jarik sighed in exasperation as he stood up and waited.
(One minute later)
The Village's name was Coda, and the people there were very accepting. The group immediately hit it off with the villagers, Sscantha talking with her fellow mothers. The village elder told them of an honest to god elf village in the forest that Firebrand had missed when she did recon. They parted ways and went in the direction of the elven village, but what awaited them was, well…
"Is that a fucking dragon?" Luca asked aloud. Indeed, there was what appeared to be a massive, fire breathing dragon was torching the exact location of the village. The married commanders grimaced, knowing they could do nothing to save the inhabitants. Evidently, the dragon decided it had torched the land enough and flew off with a roar. "Let's move in, there might be survivors." Jarik ordered, and the members of XCOM got back into the APCs. they arrived in the burned town a minute later. They exited the APCs with their guns raised, just in case they ran into any scavengers. "Shen, can you find any life signs?" Sscantha asked over the comms. "No, I can't find anything on the scanners except the bodies." Was the slightly sad reply. The viper queen then nodded to her mate, who began to seek out mental presences with his psionics. He didn't do this often, as it tended to freak the people he finds out. "Found someone, a girl in the well." He said, prompting Haver to go over to said well, look in, and then jump down. At the bottom was an elven girl with long blond hair and a green tunic. Genius's gremlin scanned her then displayed what it had discovered to him. "Shit, boss she isn't doing well. Her body temp is in the danger zone and she has a cracked skull from the fall. I can't treat her down here, gonna need Luca the get her out of here." Haver cursed.
Said sharpshooter ran over and jumped into the well without hesitation, picked the girl up, and used the Icarus armor to fly her out. Genius used his grapple to get out and ran over to the girl, who had been placed on the floor of one of the APCs. he pulled the medgun from his waist and sprayed it on the girl, and let his gremlin scan her again after a few moments. He then grabbed the APC's medkit and opened it. Pulling out a pair of cloth scissors, he quickly cut the girl's clothes off, everyone else looking away out of respect, and the married ones in fear of their wives wrath. Without a word, Genius went into the APC and grabbed the emergency blanket and wrapped the girl in it. "Alright, with time, I think she'll live. But the question is, what do we do with her?" Haver asked, looking to Jarik. The commander looks to his wife, silently asking several questions.
He looked back to his men, his mind made up. "We'll take her to Coda village and ask them if they can take care of her. If not, well, she'll become the first elf with a US citizenship." Jarik said with a shrug. The team nodded in understanding, not questioning their commander's at times… odd methods, as they had saved their lives more than once. Got back into the APCs and turned around and returned to Coda. The village elder went up to Jarik. "Why have you returned?" he asked kindly. "There was a dragon. The elven village is gone, burnt to a crisp, except for one girl. We were hoping you could take her in." Jarik said. The town immediately scrambled and began to gather their possessions. "I'm truly sorry. But we can't, not while that fire dragon is out there. Now that it has tasted elven flesh, it will be on the hunt for both man and elves." the old man explained. Jarik frowned but nodded in understanding. "We can escort you to a safe location." Jarik offered, which the elder accepted. The commander began to walk back to his men, preparing to tell them the news.
(LINE BREAK)
This took way longer then it needed to, but I procrastinated to hell and back about finishing it. But the good news is I passed my finals! *Party poppers* anyway, the elite team is actually mine from my first successful WotC run. With Luca being my top killer with over 150 kills (you can guess who is going to be interested in him). Onto business, what should the people of Falmart call XCOM? I need help with this as any I thought of didn't really make sense.
That's all, I'll see you, wonderful people next time!
