AN: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter for XCOM: Earth's Guarding Saviors. Hope you guys enjoy. Also, I still don't own anything in the XCOM universe.
Chapter 7: Operation Burning Arrow and Operation Sliver of Hope
The skyranger carrying Strike One was already within an hour of landing in the New Mexico desert to secure the crash site of the fallen alien craft. Strike One meanwhile was going over the information of the mission amongst themselves as the Commander had already briefed them before they left. Rodriguez was still outfitted in the standard uniform complete with the Nano-Fiber vest, M249 SAW light machine gun, and the RPG-7 rocket launcher. Roberts and Han had the same outfit as Rodriguez, but had changed their primary weapons. Roberts now carried the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle and was listening to "Spoilin for a Fight" by AC/DC, while Han had been equipped with the Remington 870 shotgun. Both of them still carried their sidearms from Operation Falling Peace. Blunt was dressed in the standard female XCOM uniform, and was equipped with a medical kit, the M4A1 assault rifle, and the Five Seven semi-automatic pistol. All four were now deep in thought as the skyranger began its descent.
The skyranger landed in a pretty barren portion of the desert where there was no tree coverage, and no buildings as far as the eye could see. Strewn throughout the desert was pieces of the hull that had come loose from the impact with the ground. The intact UFO was over the next ridge from Strike One as they received the go ahead from Bradford to begin the assault. Rodriguez had begun to come up with a plan of action for the squad to follow. He decided to have Roberts stay atop the hill using the Sniper rifle to cover their advance towards the craft's front door. As they approached the ridge, they peeked over to notice that two of the Sectoids were patrolling the outside of the craft, waiting for an attack. Rodriguez gave Roberts the nod as he lined up the shot to take one of them out. Roberts took the shot and hit the first alien dead in the chest causing him to keel over, with green blood flowing from his body. The other Sectoid realized his comrade was done for and let out a scream to alert the other aliens before Roberts ended him with a shot to the head. The others quickly ran to the door before the other aliens could react and opened the hologram with a wave of the hand. When they peered inside they saw a whole bunch of computers and what appeared to be the cockpit where the aliens could control the craft from. Before they could take in any more of the surroundings they were assaulted by two more Sectoids, and a third creature that materialized out of thin air holding a Plasma Rifle that was stronger than the Plasma Pistols carried by the Sectoids.
== At the Conference Room ==
Bradford, the Commander, Dr. Shen, Dr. Vahlen, and the other four squad leaders had gathered in the Conference room to watch Strike One's assault on the alien craft. All present were impressed with Roberts dead on accuracy, and the plan Rodriguez had instituted to keep them covered moving to the ship with no cover present to hide behind. They were all equally shocked when the creature had materialized out of thin air. Dr. Vahlen was the first to speak.
"Our readings can't be right! If they were, that is a being of almost pure energy."
"Take extra caution with this enemy Strike One, we don't know his capabilities." ordered Bradford as the aliens began to attack.
== At the Crash Site ==
The aliens quickly opened fire on Blunt's position keeping her pinned down, while the new alien fired at Rodriguez's position and destroyed the hull of the ship he was hiding behind. Seeing his friends in trouble, Roberts took a shot and eliminated one of the Sectoids with a shot to the forehead. Han took the initiative and flanked the position of the other Sectoid and finished it with a shotgun shell to the back which instantly severed the spinal cord killing the alien instantly. Rodriguez then moved three steps to his right to hide behind the hull that was still standing, and opened up on the final alien with a barrage from his SAW. The alien quickly dematerialized into crystal fragments that almost all vaporized as soon as they touched the ground. After securing the crash site and seeing as how no more aliens were present, Strike One radioed back to Command signaling a successful mission and got on the skyranger to come home with more weapons fragments, and the crystals from the mysterious creature that had vanished upon being attacked outright.
== At the Base ==
One day had passed since Strike One's mission, and the Commander was now seated in the Situation Room anticipating a meeting with the head of the Council. Apparently, an urgent situation had come up and they wanted XCOM to handle it. As he waited he went over the notes from Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Shen's labs he had received yesterday after the mission. Dr. Vahlen had finished with the Arc Thrower and had Dr. Shen mass produce it in the Workshop. She also researched the crystals but couldn't find anything noteworthy about them. She had taken to calling the new alien an Outsider because it was strange compared to the others they had encountered. Currently she was working on taking the alien's weapons fragments and turning them into SCOPES for the troops to use. Dr. Shen had finished construction on the Alien Containment facility, and was now working on the new Power Generator and Access Lift to expand the growing underground base. It was at this moment that the Council Leader made his appearance on the big screen television located in the room.
"Commander, we have received an urgent request for a rescue mission of a civilian that was captured by the aliens and somehow escaped. We want you to handle this matter with discretion, and bring her back safely so we can find out more about the aliens motivations in this war. Council Out."
'Damn, he never lets me get a word in edgewise. O well better get Strike One prepared to go.'
"Bradford go to the Conference Room and prepare the mission intel for us. I'll go alert Strike One to the surprise mission."
"Understood sir. See you in a few."
Strike One was currently resting in their rooms back in the Barracks. They were all exhausted from their last mission, and were looking forward to their day off today. Rodriguez was currently reading a book in his room. Han and Blunt were playing "Gears of War 3" in Han's room as he had brought his XBOX 360 from home, and Roberts was currently listening to "Underclass Hero" by Sum 41 in his room. The Commander knocked on each of their doors and waited for them to assemble out in the hallway. After all of them had come out he began the briefing.
"Guys I know this is your day off from last mission, but something has come up that I need you guys to handle."
"That's bullshit sir, we deserve our day off!" replied Han angrily, but Blunt silenced him with an elbow in the ribs before he could rage further. This outburst got a negative head shake from Rodriguez as he gave Han a disapproving look. Roberts however, was unfazed by the outburst and asked the Commander to continue.
"What's the mission sir?"
"Anna Sing is a civilian that was kidnapped by the aliens in an attack on Hong Kong, China. She somehow managed to escape from them and is currently hiding in a plaza located in the city's center. You guys are going to go in and bring her back to the base so we can get information from her, and rehabilitate her from her current condition."
Rodriguez had finished chastising Han, and replied to the Commander.
"Understood sir. We'll be ready in ten minutes for the skyranger to liftoff."
"Good to hear you guys are willing to accept this mission, the Council will be pleased. Bradford and I will be observing from the Conference Room. Good luck guys."
Ten minutes later the skyranger took off for Hong Kong with Strike One in tow. The squad members were all talking amongst themselves as the skyranger left.
== In the Skyranger ==
"Man this sucks, I was enjoying my day off." complained Han. This resulted in a slap to the back of his head courtesy of Blunt.
"You moron, this is a big mission for the council. Maybe we can figure out the Ravagers' intentions for attacking us." scolded Blunt.
"Yeah man, it isn't everyday that the Council requests our help. You just got to go with the flow and do your job." stated Roberts before he went back to snoozing while listening to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.
"Fine, but I don't have to like it." said Han as he went back to talking to Blunt about their game of "Gears of War 3". Blunt had been beating Han so he was secretly glad that they had been called away, but didn't show it.
Rodriguez was pleased with his squad and how they handled Han's outburst back at base. Personally, Rodriguez knew that the Commander would have a good reason for calling on them, so he let it slide. Blunt had gotten him to be quiet with physical force, at which point Rodriguez verbally chastised him for speaking out against the Commander. Then Roberts had kept the squad on task by asking the Commander to continue his briefing once things had calmed down. The chemistry between the squad was evident, and he was proud to be able to lead these guys in future missions. The flight dragged on for a few more hours before they landed in the midst of the plaza.
== On the Ground ==
"Okay guys, Bradford said we have to get Mrs. Sing back to the skyranger in order for the mission to be a success. Then we have to eliminate all hostiles before we can leave the area. Any questions?"
Three headshakes were his answer as Strike One approached the plaza. Roberts stayed back on top of a bus on the right side of the squad guarding against flankers. Blunt had gone to the left hiding behind a tow truck, while Rodriguez and Han went right up the center hiding behind the fountain located in the rear of the plaza. Blunt suddenly spotted a human-looking shadow from her position and realized that it was extremely tall, and thin but other than that looked like a regular human. That was until she saw its eyes which were similar to the Sectoids in being pupil less and extremely large. She quickly opened fired on the creature hitting him four times in the chest. The creature fell backwards and emitted a huge cloud of green and blue gas. Blunt assumed this to be poisonous and, went around the cloud to hide behind a delivery truck, where she was pinned down by two Sectoids hiding behind two parked cars. Rodriguez and Han quickly went around the fountain to the cars where they each dispatched a Sectoid with their weapons. However, they failed to notice one behind them that prepared to shoot them as they turned and tried to react. Thankfully Roberts shot the alien in the back of its unsuspecting head sending brain matter onto Rodriguez and Han as the alien fell over. Han promptly threw up, while Rodriguez calmly wiped himself off and prepared for an enemy counterattack while signaling his thanks to Roberts. Blunt had joined them by this time and walked over to some construction barrels and sign that were conspicuously placed in the center of the street. As she approached she heard crying and peered behind the barrels to find Anna Sing. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties and was disheveled. Her face was red from crying so much, and her clothes were torn in some areas. As she noticed the soldiers all looking at her she started crying in joy and hugged Blunt.
"Thank you guys so much! I thought I was dead for sure! Who are you guys?"
"My name is Javier Rodriguez, and these are two of my teammates Chin Mal Han and Emily Blunt. My other teammate, Eric Roberts, is providing sniper overwatch from the bus back there. We are a part of the XCOM project sent to rescue you from the aliens."
"XCOM project, I thought you guys were just a myth. Guess the rumors were true. How'd you guys find me?"
"The Council received your distress call and they sent us out to retrieve you and bring you back to our base safely."
"Okay that's great. Let's go before we get attacked again."
"I couldn't agree more Anna. Chin go up the middle to the fountain. Emily go back to the delivery truck and secure the right flank. I'll radio Eric and tell him to pay attention for any aliens that'll pop up. Anna stay with me we're going over to the bus after I alert Eric to not shoot us."
"Okay Javier."
"Move out guys."
As the others moved to their assigned positioned Javier and Anna radioed over to Eric.
"Eric this is Javier come in."
All they heard through the radio was the blasting of "Savior" by Rise Against, indicating that Eric currently was rocking out while providing overwatch.
'Seriously, during a mission. Guess I have to teach him a lesson that he won't forget.' thought Javier as he snuck up on Eric.
'I love that song. This guy sounds like an interesting individual. Maybe I should get to know him since I've already met the others.' though Anna as she followed Javier. She was intrigued by the fourth soldier as she hadn't met him yet, and wanted to thank him for saving her as well.
Eric meanwhile was lying prone on the top of the bus head banging to the music while looking through his scope. He was unaware of his squad leader standing behind him as he had his music up too loud. It was at this time that Javier struck. He jumped right in front of Eric and shouted "BOO!" really loudly and it caused Eric to panic and fall backwards off the bus as he shouted "Holy Fuck!". As Eric regained his bearings, Javier and the others were laughing their asses off at him. It wasn't everyday that the normally stoic Eric got spooked so they enjoyed the moment wholeheartedly. Eric however, was less than enthused.
"What the Fuck Javier! Don't do that it damn near gave me a heart attack."
"Serves you right Eric. Next time leave your music on the skyranger. I can't have you losing focus during a mission and getting us killed."
"Fine, but I still shot that alien that almost got you and Chin while listening to Dragonforce earlier. Now that was impressive considering the loud guitar solos and drum beats."
Javier just face palmed and moved forward to the metal statue in front of the bus. As Eric prepared to climb back up to his nest, he noticed there was another person following Javier. Said person then took the moment to talk to him.
"You must be Eric, Javier told me about you when they rescued me."
"That makes you Anna I presume. I'm glad to see that you're okay. Sorry about my language, but Javier scared the crap out of me with that stunt."
"It's okay I thought it was hilarious. Just pay more attention next time. Also, I'd like to borrow your IPod on the way back because you have the same taste in music as me."
"Sure no problem. Here you go listen to whatever you like."
"Thanks, O I almost forgot."
Anna leaned forward and gave Eric a hug saying that she had thanked the others already, but wanted to thank him as well. This caused Eric to blush as he wasn't expecting to get a hug from such a beautiful person. Anna also had a slight blush that Eric noticed and guessed that she liked it to. He would ask her about it back at the base after the mission and debriefings were finished.
After the hug, Anna joined Javier and Eric was back in his position on the bus. Two more thin aliens then appeared out of nowhere as one was blocking the skyranger from the squad's advance, while the other was perched on top of the delivery truck where Emily was. Eric went into action and immediately dispatched the one on the truck as it exploded in a cloud of poisonous fumes, while Javier took out the one by the landing area with his machine gun. The others quickly ran to the skyranger and got Anna strapped in while Javier and Eric secured the area checking for anymore hostiles. Seeing as how the area was secured and no more aliens were present, they boarded the skyranger with the thin alien bodies for research and settled in while it took off.
== In the Skyranger ==
Emily and Javier decided to catch up on some sleep they missed, while Chin went to the bathroom to wash off the vomit on his uniform. Eric and Anna talked for a bit about their lives before the invasion. Eric learned that she had been an editor for a publishing company back in Hong Kong and that her brother served in the Chinese military. Anna was surprised to discover that Eric had also been a civilian before the war, but had defended himself so well to be accepted into the XCOM project during the first attacks. The two conversed for a while more before Eric decided to go to sleep while Anna stayed up a little later listening to some of Eric's music. She then passed out and snuggled up against Eric for body heat while he subconsciously put his arm around her to bring them closer. This was the scene that Chin walked in on after he came out of the restroom. He was happy for his friend who had a hard time to talking to women on a normal basis, but seemed to be at ease around Anna. He threw a blanket over them and went back to his seat and also fell asleep as the skyranger continued its trek back towards the XCOM base.
AN: There you go guys, a bonus mission thrown in with the usual mission. Please remember to review, follow, and favorite the story to show your support. Until next time this is "The Nasty One" signing off.
- PRAK
