Chapter 2: Gunfights and Grenades
Kevin sat in the skyranger, groggily rubbing his eyes. The morning had been eventful, with him waking up to the sound of explosions, of which he thought were the sounds of the Avenger being attacked but turned out to be Patricia's wake up alarm. That was at 4:00 am. Later on, he was woken by a bullet ricocheting across the room, which scraped his ear. He looked up to see Ciara Foster who had stopped cleaning her pistol, with a wide-eyed, tired expression on her face. He only managed to get another hour of sleep before the bell rang, signalling that it was time for a mission.
"Any idea what we're doing, Firebrand?" Ciara grumbled. The effects of a hangover were clear, seeing as her head was drooping and her eyes were squinting.
"All I know is you're destroying something," Firebrand responded. Patricia's eyes seemed to light up with glee.
The journey continued. Patricia was flickering her lighter on and off again, whilst Trevor was fast asleep and Waseme was tapping her fingers rhythmically against the metal walls. It was like a bizarre chorus, with sounds bouncing off the walls across the area like they were in a cave.
After what seemed like an hour, the sound which signified they could begin the mission pinged. Trevor woke up with a bump to his head, which he rubbed with annoyance.
They slid down off skyranger via a rope onto the floor and immediately took cover. The mission had begun. They landed in an abandoned suburban neighbourhood, with vines hugging concrete and buildings, grasping for as much space as possible.
"Menace 1-5, there's a radio relay up ahead. Move in and destroy it as soon as you can. It's relaying important info to the enemy," said Central through the radio comms.
Kevin moved up ahead behind a broken down car to scout for enemies, as Trevor began getting to a rooftop.
"You see anything?" whispered Waseme.
"Nope." Responded Kevin
"Yeah, I think I do. A Sectoid and two ADVENT Troopers to the north." Trevor quietly stated. "Could take the shot now, to be frank."
"And get us revealed." Ciara muttered, before puking a bit into a bush.
"True," Trevor admitted.
"Oh, I can see them now," Kevin reported.
"Can I burn 'em?" Patricia asked.
"You don't even have a flamethrower. Or anything like that. And no, I'm not letting you use my stash to make a molotov cocktail." Ciara groggily informed, whilst taking a swig out of her 'water flask'.
"I will find a way!" Patricia stated.
"Guys, whilst you were talking, they've almost reached my position. Before you do anything, I have a plan." Kevin announced.
"Do tell?" Waseme was intrigued.
After a brief discussion, they could see Kevin wasn't wrong. A Sectoid and two ADVENT Troopers were almost on his position. The rest of Ex Team, excluding Trevor who was on a rooftop, were getting into position close to him, ready for an ambush.
"You guys ready?" Kevin asked.
"Yup."
"Good."
Kevin arose from his cover, aimed, and before the ADVENT Trooper could respond, opened fire. The round hit the trooper's gut, which it and its squad reacted to by running into cover. Bad idea. The rest of the Ex Team followed Kevin's actions on the running enemies, taking overwatch shots.
Patricia finished off Kevin's target, as Trevor hit the Sectoid on the leg and shouted "Calm down, there's enough rounds for everybody!". Ciara shot the second trooper in the knee with her pistol, and Waseme hit the Sectoid in the leg.
"Well, wouldn't be too far-fetched to say we were spotted." Kevin pointed out.
The enemy took their turn in this skirmish. The surviving Trooper moved to a better position and took a shot on Patricia, grazing her cheek, followed the sound of air being sucked through teeth. A laser hit Kevin in the shoulder, mostly hitting his armour. He looked at the Sectoid who did it, before shooting it dead.
"Dibs on the last one!" Trevor shouted.
A bolt of plasma left the barrel of his rifle and whizzed past the air. It hit the unarmored part of the advent trooper, causing it to hit the floor. "Sit down, boy!"
"Well, that was exhilarating!" Waseme sighed.
"I wouldn't say to start resting yet, we haven't got long until the relay sends it's transmission, i think." Trevor pointed out.
They continued moving to the relay, which seemed to be in an abandoned Tesco store. Shopping carts layed depressingly on the floor, with the once chrome finish rusting away and the torn rubber grips gave way to more rust. They also saw a Viper, 2 more ADVENT Troopers and an ADVENT Commander patrolled the perimeter, clearly on high alert.
Trevor got to the top of a higher building, staying out of view of the ADVENT patrol. Kevin and Waseme also got into position. Ciara pulled out her pistol, and got ready to shoot.
"Okay, i say we shoot the Viper first. I could do without a snake lady breathing down my neck." Ciara grumbled.
"But what about the ADVENT soldiers?" Kevin mentioned.
"Take out the Commander first, it'll leave the Troopers clueless." Answered Waseme. "We should go for the Commander first anyway."
"Yeah," Ciara mumbled as she reached for her flask, "Wait, where is my-"
Before Ciara could finish that sentence, the sound of a female whooping could be heard. A glass bottle with a burning rag poking out of the top was seen flying over the distance, landing on the Viper and setting it alight as it hissed wildly and writhed in what seemed to be agony.
Kevin charged at the ADVENT Commander, and struck it dead with his sword. He liked how Patricia rushed in there, just like he did sometimes. He caught himself staring a bit too long, and focused back on the combat. Waseme, shocked by his boldness, opened fire on the ADVENT Trooper closest to him. She missed due to a slight panic. Patricia could be seen from the distance as well, and threw a grenade at the ADVENT Troopers, spreading gore across the scene. Trevor finished off the Viper with a shot right through the eye.
The team moved back to where they were before, to discuss what had happened.
"Patricia, first of all, nice throw. Second of all, what the hell!?" Waseme said, sounding tired, as she started pulling on her own hair.
"I had a plan!" Patricia pointed out. She stuck out her bottom lip.
"And so did we, but you ruined it." Trevor pointed out. "I'm not mad, but for the sake of Waseme's sanity, I wouldn't say to do it again." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Everything has to go to plan for her."
Patricia made a noise of understanding, before saying "Okie, it won't happen again."
"Thank you." Said Waseme.
They moved in to the shop and opened fire on the relay, blasting it to pieces before returning outside.
"That," Patricia stated, "Was fun."
Trevor nodded. "I think i can agree with that."
"Just never take my from stash without my consent please. Oh, I have a headache now." Ciara groaned.
"Hey guys, i think now would be a good time to hop into skyranger. I can hear the ayys and lmaos from here." pointed out Kevin.
"Isn't that the sex talk?" Trevor asked.
Kevin grinned and shook his head, slightly chuckling. Waseme wasn't too pleased.
"Back to the conversation at hand, it's a good thing that i just called them." Waseme added.
"Real-" Kevin was cut out by the sound of helicopter blades whirring, with Firebrand stating that "You guys should hop in before even more ADVENT arrive!"
"Good point." Trevor agreed.
Ropes descended from skyranger, which they all grabbed onto before being yanked up by them.
"Anyone injured?" Firebrand asked.
"I got hit in the shoulder, and Patricia's cheek was grazed. Luckily I only got a pretty bad bruise from mine." Said Kevin.
"Good, makes Tygan's job easier." Firebrand joked. "Okay, we're flying back, so hold on to your shit! And great job on not dying!"
The sound of the blades beating the air filled the area as they flew off back to the Avenger.