It was another chiller for Bernard as he made his way back to the shelter. Cold wind snipped at his jacket as he walked forward, his body aching for a warm meal and a comfy bed.
Life had been cruel to ol' Bernie. Unemployment, and continual job rejections had whittled down his soul into a nub. That was, until, he had found the saving grace of one of Germany's new care organizations.
He was grateful too. The nights in Berlin had gotten colder. Something to do with "strange weather phenomena". Snow was predicted to arrive three months earlier, and a harried news reporter had described an instance of "monsoon level rain" in Arizona, the United States.
As his wrinkled loafers trudged down the clean streets, Bernard heard the sound of a motor. Loud and angry, it buzzed from the street behind him. He leaped to the side, into an alleyway as a large, black van barreled past.
The van stopped, and Bernard heard the sound of shuffling feet. With care, he pushed his head around the corner.
Men were spilling from the van, at least ten of them. All of them wore formal dress, ballistics vests, scarves, and heavy weaponry.
Bernard rushed back into hiding. Hundreds of his fellow homeless had gone missing over the weeks, and Bernard had no doubt this gang was somehow involved. And disappearing was not the first thing on Bernard's to do list.
Burt, when no signs came that they saw him, Bernard looked again.
The men, and the van, were gone. Vanished into the Berlin night.
Bernard walked out, relieved to have left that situation behind. Before he could take another step, a larger, deeper sound occurred above his head.
The German looked up, and saw a fat, snub-nosed craft hovering overhead.
Bernard fainted in the alleyway.
"All right, boys and girls," said Bill Waters, addressing squad Clover. "Our main objective is to raid this facility, and hack the transmitter that's been left for us. Intel reports it may be in the computer labs of the GenTech facility, which is about ten meters from our current position.
"I don't want any fucking around. We get in, kill these EXALT bastards, and get out. Understood?"
Low voices conveyed their understanding.
Bill hefted his scatter laser and took point. He walked down the street, taking cover behind a yellow car before signaling to the rest of Clover squadron.
Cpl. Sún Shi, beam laser in hand, walked over to the car. Behind him was Sgt. Pula Moodley, with a trio of medikits clustered around her waist.
The whirring of servers brought over the final member of Clover squadron. Almost eight feet tall, Lcpl. Jayden Laureano stomped over to the car. While Bill couldn't see past the man's helmet, he had a good feeling that he was smiling.
"Enjoying yourself, Laureano?" said Moodley. The MEC trooper nodded. "Good. Now get the hell down, you lunk."
Laureano obliged, forcing his MEC into a crouch that hid its bulk behind a car. The Lcpl's helmet surveyed the area, and came to rest on Bill's face. Bill uneasily back.
He wasn't aware of the full costs of MEC augmentation, but he knew that piloting a MEC wasn't like driving a pickup. A few engineers had mentioned their misgivings on the MEC project, but when Austin pressed them, they clammed up immediately.
Still, there were other things to worry about. This was XCOM's first use of a MEC trooper in combat. While the eggheads had predicted that there was an 87% chance of perfect functionality (the other 13% running the gamut from self-destruction to brain aneurisms), anything less than a 100% was risky to Bill. Experience in the field told him that.
"Zero," he said. "Is the motion scanner telling you anything?"
Cpl. Shi glanced at the device clipped to his belt. "3 signatures, to our right. They're approaching our flank."
Bill nodded. "Blocky, Laureano, I'll take point. Follow me. Shi'll cover us."
"Affirmative," replied Moodley, responding to her callsign.
Laureano nodded.
The three took off, sneaking behind cars until they arrived at the position that Shi had indicated. Moodley took cover behind a park bench, while Laureano covered Bill with his minigun. Bill himself took a few tentative steps forward, moving closer and closer to the hostiles.
A shadow rose on his right, a laser rifle in its hands. Close combat training took hold, and Bill moved to disarm his assailant with a chop to the neck.
The shadow caught Bill's hand in midair. In the next moment, it pivoted and socked Bill in the stomach with the butt of its rifle.
"Remus!" said Moodley, raising her laser rifle at the attacker. Laureano followed suit, the barrel of his minigun making a low, rumbling noise.
In response, the shadow grabbed Bill by the throat. The American found himself facing his comrades.
"Don't move," murmured the figure. It pointed its rifle at Moodley. "Drop your arms."
Moodley looked at her squad leader and dropped her rifle. As she knelt, she noticed the markings on the enemy's weapon.
"Wait – " she spoke up.
"No!" The figure spoke in a harsh whisper. It jammed its rifle against Bill's throat. "Don't move!"
Moodley froze, her statement stuck in her mouth. She resisted the urge to shout at the stupid son of a bitch.
"It's alright," said a voice. Moodley, Bill, and the figure looked at Laureano. The MEC trooper had finally spoken.
"We are from XCOM Europe," he continued, enunciating every word in a cold, robotic tone.
The figure dropped the laser rifle from Bill's throat, and said something into a communicator on its wrist. Moodley couldn't make out what language it was.
Bill moved out of the way, and finally got a good look at his attacker. The man was a German, wearing standard issue Phalanx armor. He had a small, reddish beard running across his face, ending when it disappeared into the military helmet perched on the man's head.
The soldier turned to the XCOM team. "Who authorized another strike force on this cell? And who brought this?" The man pointed at Laureano.
Bill stepped towards him. "We are squad Clover. That is Lcpl. Jayden Laureano, XCOM's first MEC. I am Sgt. Bill Waters, and my team and I were not aware that the Commander had ordered two strike teams."
The German cursed. "Does that dummkpof still not realize that covert operations are under our jurisdiction?"
"Whose jurisdiction?" asked Bill.
"We're wasting time here," said Moodley. "We need to get that encoder."
"If they're XCOM, we could use the support," replied Bill.
"As if squad Jaeger needs it," the soldier retorted. "We can –"
"Quiet, Abzug."
Following this interruption, two more figures emerged from hiding. One was a man in a black beret and Phalanx armor, with a scatter laser mounted on his back. The other wore a full set of German Hyperion armor, an outdated model that was on par with XCOM Tactical armor.
"Name and ranks?" the masked man said. Bill, Moodley, and Laureano complied, reciting the necessary information.
"Tell your man over there to stand down," the soldier said. "He's had his sights on Abzug since that arschloch decided to reveal himself."
"Alright," said Bill, briefing Shi on the current situation. When he was done, the armored soldier walked toward him.
"We have little time to waste," he said. "We are squad Jaeger, part of XCOM Asia. I am Jäger, this is Panzer. Abzug, you have met. You will answer to my orders, since this area is officially under our authority. Any needless and wasteful arguing will not be tolerated… by anyone."
The man directed his last words at the red-haired soldier, the one called Abzug. The man scowled and turned about.
Moodley also felt like scowling. While she had no problem giving up command, she wasn't about to do so to this arrogant gang, even if they were XCOM.
"Fine," said Bill, before she could voice her opinion. "We'll deal."
"They're here."
A troupe of ten men, clad in EXALT attire, walked into the lobby of GenTECH.
"Hello, boys," said Austin. "Glad you could make it."
One of the group, the young man who had spoken earlier, nodded. "Field Operative Hex," he said. "How many have you got to defend this place?"
"Fifteen for the upper floors. The rest are underground. What's the status on XCOM?"
"They're right on top of us, sir. Their craft was tailing us as we drove from the airport."
Austin nodded. That XCOM had gotten the jump on them 3 days early was troubling. Now he had a partially trained force to throw against the world's deadliest soldiers. Not exactly an excellent prospect.
"Any intel on their numbers?" he asked.
"Our contacts informed us the strike force will be a full complement – between four to seven XCOM operatives," replied Hex.
"Alright. Take your men and scatter into squads of three to five. Shoot and report anyone or anything that gets within five meters of the perimeter."
"Roger, Commander."
Hex organized his men, and they scattered into the night. Austin and his men then continued their task of guarding the lobby.
Out of annoyance, Austin tugged at the straps of his pack. The standard EXALT medical kit was a makeshift affair, a red plastic container strapped on with rough leather straps. The arm guard was even worse. Austin had tied it too tightly, causing the leather sheath to chafe his forearm.
He took a deep breath through the scarf. He could have inconvenienced himself less by grabbing a sniper rifle or a heavy machine gun. The tests proved he was adept at any form of weaponry. But the facility was lacking in trained field medics, and Austin's medikits and smoke grenades would provide far more security for his men than guns would.
Behind him, the fifteen started their patrol, wandering through the facility. Half of them hoped to come to grips with XCOM. The other half was scared shitless, hoping against hope that they wouldn't come in contact with the XCOM force.
You can guess who found the team first.
Heavy Weapons Operator Phobos screamed as a red line cut through the air. The laser had sliced through the beefy Indian's shoulder before stopping on the wall behind him. It had come out of nowhere, faster than anything the EXALT operatives had ever seen.
Despite the burning pain running up his body, the EXALT Heavy was alert, adrenaline pumping into his veins. He got up almost immediately, and rolled into cover. The rest of his comrades followed.
"Dammit. Target is still alive," said Cpl. Shi. The coolness in his voice startled Bill, who had been sneaking up on the EXALT flank.
"Roger, moving in," replied Panzer, the soldier in the beret. He moved across the parking lot, his movements masked by his black-tinted Phalanx armor. Abzug and the armored soldier, Jäger, followed him.
As they reached the wall of the facility, Jäger lifted three fingers. As he curled the last finger, he nodded at Abzug. In reply, the soldier lobbed a black cylinder over the windowsill.
Phobos had enough time to see an object rolling toward his position.
"Flashbang!" he yelled, not bothering to use the EXALT comm. He picked up his LMG and moved, staying low to the floor. A burst of light registered in his periphery.
An EXALT sniper tried to follow Phobos, but the moment he lifted his head, he fell back, half of his cranium a smoking ruin.
"Go, go, go!" yelled Jäger. Panzer and the rest of squad Jaeger broke through the windows, closing the distance between EXALT and their scatter lasers. Bill and Moodley followed in after them.
Squad Jaeger had distracted the main force, which consisted of two wandering EXALT patrols. Three men in orange bandanas lay dead on the ground, while the rest were hunkered behind the computer terminals.
Panzer slid, his smooth armor plating carrying him underneath most of the computer desks. He popped up, face to face with an EXALT sniper who had been steadying a large, ominous looking rifle. Before the man could even comprehend what had happened, Panzer eviscerated the man's midsection with one shot from his scatter laser. The well-dressed assassin did a flip and smashed into a table.
Bill ran past Panzer and barreled into a group of five EXALT. As the operatives readied their weapons, they expected an easy kill. After all, 5 to 1 meant the odds were in their favor.
Bill's close combat training evened out those odds.
Behind Bill, Moodley took her position and laid out a salvo of suppressive fire, creating a deadly lightshow in the room. Heavies and snipers crouched, unable to get accurate shots on the enemy.
On the other side, Phobos stood to lay down suppressing fire of his own. The sight of another of his men taking a laser to the face made him think otherwise. He crouched, huddled next to a wide-eyed Medic.
"Contact Hex!" Phobos yelled at the man. The Medic nodded, and brought out his handheld communicator.
As Shi steadied for another shot, he heard garbled traffic over the comms. Remembering his Covert Ops classes, he crouched down and contacted Bill.
"Waters!" Bill stopped, hand to one ear.
"What is it, Shi?"
"EXALT comms, sir! They're trying to contact the rest of the cell!"
"Shit," Bill murmured. "Well, Zero, nothing we can do about it now. Keep shooting."
"Aye, sir." Shi cut off his comms and steadied his rifle.
Hex ran alongside Austin as the squad charged down the length of the facility.
"Phobos's team just contacted me! The XCOM team is assaulting the computer labs, which means they're trying to hack our system!"
"Can your man hold out?" Austin asked.
"Certainly," Hex said. "Phobos is reliable. But he can't take on seven XCOM operatives forever!"
"We'll be there, don't worry," Austin reassured him. He pulled out his communicator.
"All EXALT squads, converge on the GenTech computer labs. It is imperative that we stop them there." After finishing, Austin picked up the pace. His military mind whooped with joy, urging him onward towards the fight.
"Shit!" yelled Abzug. The German soldier had taken a bullet to the shoulder, stopping his killing spree. Moodley ran alongside him.
"Cool it, hun," she said, pointing a medikit at Abzug. The nanosutures and stimulants within the container came out in white foam, covering the affected area. Despite the medical treatment, Abzug continued to scream and curse. Moodley resisted the urge to spray the rest of the medikit into his mouth.
Before she could head back to her position, a barrage of gunfire slammed into the desk they were hiding behind. Moodley poked her head out, and saw that around fifteen more EXALT soldiers had entered the fight. They had all fanned out, except for a Heavy, who was busy suppressing Abzug and Moodley.
Moodley motioned for Abzug to remain low, and looked around to find anything that could safely get them out. Waters and the others were busy dealing with the new contacts, while Shi was calling out for a resupply over the comms. Clearly, there would be no outside help.
Before she could continue looking, Abzug yelped.
"Grenade!" he cried. Moodley turned, and saw the pineapple explosive sail over the table.
The field medic moved quickly, pushing Abzug out of the way. The German rolled, landing behind another set of computers, while Moodley landed in the middle of the room.
The explosive went off, showering her in wood chips. The Heavy, meanwhile, had realized his prey had escaped, and began repositioning.
"Come on!" Abzug yelled, reaching for Moodley.
She ran, moving as fast as she could towards safety. She leaped, just as soon as the Heavy opened fire.
She wasn't fast enough. Three bullets smashed into her thigh, sending her leg nerves into a frenzy.
"Fuck!" she cried, before sailing into Abzug. The German caught her, and moved her deeper into cover.
As Moodley recovered, she looked up to see Abzug unlooping a medikit from her belt with graceful ease. He turned and pointed it at Moodley's leg.
"Now, you should cool it," he said, and went to work.
"Where is that MEC of yours? Picking flowers?!" yelled Jäger. The latest group of contacts had proven more experienced than the two squads that XCOM had tackled. Currently, Abzug and Moodley were stranded at one corner of the room, while Jäger, Panzer, and Bill were stuck in another.
Bill shrugged. He had sent Lcpl. Laureano back, since the MEC would have attracted the rest of the EXALT forces. That decision was coming back to bite him in the ass.
Jäger looked at his comrade. He grasped Panzer's shoulder.
"You ready to run?" he asked. Panzer nodded, moving into a crouch. Bill looked on with interest.
"Go!" yelled Jäger. Before Bill could process that, Panzer was gone.
Several EXALT soldiers opened fire on him simultaneously. Bullets whizzed through the air, filling the room with hot lead. But, the man was fast, faster than even a Seeker. He had lightning reflexes, his body moving gracefully out of the way of the bullets. Shots pinged off of the walls and the floor, but Panzer was untouched.
Bill looked down to see Jäger looking back at him.
"Sprint and spray?" the man asked, almost conversationally.
"Run and gun," Bill replied, the creed of Assault troopers ringing in his head.
With that, the two moved, running towards the EXALT position.
