AN: FINALLY THE NASTY ONE HAS COME BACK TO FANFICTION!

What's up everyone? Hope you all enjoyed your holidays with your families. I most certainly did since I got this new computer and Cards Against Humanity which led to several hilarious hours of messed up situations. Anyway it's been 4 days and I decided that I'd waited long enough to put out the next chapter of this fic. So without further ado let's proceed into the terror mission.

Chapter 9: Operation Frozen Druid

== On the Skyranger ==

The five soldiers selected for this high profile mission were a majority of the best that XCOM had available at the time. Seated in the Skyranger were three Sergeants and two Corporals, and all four of the soldier classes were represented on the mission by one soldier, with the exception of the Assault class as it had two soldiers present.

The squad leader for the mission based upon experience was Caden "Longbow" O'Connell the squad's sharpshooter. Being the only experienced active Sniper, the Irishman knew he was risking a lot by going on the mission, but knew that it was all hands on deck for this one and readily volunteered for the mission.

The second and third in commands were the other two Sergeants Kim "Cargo" Green, the squad's medic, and Chidi "Rascal" Okeke one of the Assault soldiers. Cargo knew that "Fast Lane" Flores was still exhausted from the UFO mission so she volunteered to give her more time to recover and also train Zhao on being a better Support soldier. Rascal volunteered for the mission as well to continue to prove his worth to the squad since he still hasn't killed an alien officially, even though he managed to capture the Floater for interrogation.

The last two members of the squad were the lovebirds Cpl. Tatyana Zaytseva and Cpl. Daniel Cohen. Both of them were the freshest soldiers left in the Barracks so it only made logical sense for them to be on the mission. Also, neither wanted to come without the other, so the choice was really easy to make.

All five soldiers were currently going over their equipment to make sure it was fully functioning and ready for action as soon as they hit the ground. O'Connell had just finished attaching his S.C.O.P.E. to enhance his Barrett .50 caliber's range and was ready to rock. Cohen and Rascal had both exchanged their Remington 870 shotguns for the M4A1 rifles to increase their range and ammo capacity. Rascal had decided to expand his range further by also attaching an S.C.O.P.E., while Cohen had opted for the extra armor provided by the Nano-Fiber Vest. Zaytseva had followed her boyfriend's thinking and also snagged a vest for herself, while also making sure that her M249 SAW was fully operational. Cargo was also equipped with a M4A1 assault rifle, and being the squad's medic she was able to grab a Medikit with enough supplies for three uses before it would become useless to her.

There was no joyous talking or rough housing as they were aware of what they were walking into, and were intently focused on making the aliens pay for attacking innocent civilians. The map display of the area showed a police station that was surrounded by chaos as corpses and devices littered the area. The squad noticed that the station itself was two buildings connected together with the bigger of the two having two floors. The bigger one's main floor contained a reception area, which had doors leading out to the rear of the building, as well as the left side alleyway. The second floor contained numerous desks and file cabinets which could provide good cover for soldiers to shoot out the destroyed walls located above the rear parking lot. The other building was believed to be a file and evidence room which had numerous shelving units that lead to a staircase which connected to the second floor of the other building. The rear of this building had two doorways which lead out to a huge truck that lead into the parking lot.

The squad decided that a frontal assault on the main building would be catastrophic and bloody, so they decided to enter the file room from the south, while two others would flank down the right alleyway and surprise any aliens hiding inside since there were no windows on the right wall leaving them completely hidden. After several more minutes of fine-tuning, the Skyranger began its descent and when it landed, the five rushed off to combat the alien threat.

== On the Ground ==

"Central this is Big Sky. Strike One has reached the terror site, requesting authorization to deploy." said the pilot of the Skyranger.

"Roger that Big Sky. Strike One remember your highest priority is to protect those civilians, and also check your targets don't need any friendly fire. Operation Frozen Druid is a go!" replied Bradford as the squad began their deployment.

Rascal, Cargo, and Cohen all decided to breach the file room since they were the ones equipped with the close range assault rifles, while Longbow and Zaytseva would proceed down the back alley with their more suited for long range weapons.

== With the Close Quarters Team ==

The three soldiers approached the door and set up a classic door breech with Rascal and Cargo on the left and right sides of the door respectively, and Cohen standing in the middle of the walkway preventing anything from coming out if it was a ground based alien. Cargo opened the door, and two Floaters were immediately spotted behind it. Startled by the intrusion, one froze on the spot as Cargo lifted up her rifle and fired into its body, killing it instantly with multiple wounds to its mechanical/organic body. The other Floater was smarter and flew over Cohen into the air behind him, but was stopped by Rascal who unloaded some rounds into its back, stunning him. Capitalizing on the distraction, Cohen raised his rifle and fired causing the alien's jetpack to explode and kill him upon impact with the ground. Satisfied with their work, the three entered the building.

== With the Long Range Team ==

Longbow and Zaytseva entered the alleyway and spotted two civilians cowering behind some cars as they were peeking over the cars searching for something.

"Are you two okay?" asked the Russian as she approached the two and set her machine gun down so they weren't alarmed. O'Connell remained on a vigilant Overwatch to make sure that nothing came out to surprise them during the conversation.

"We're fine, but some of our friends are still inside the building!" exclaimed the first as he was severely frightened at whatever he'd seen during the attack. The other had visibly relaxed at the soldiers' appearances and was able to be more detailed for them.

"Our friends are on the second floor, we split up initially to escape those flying things, and they followed them instead of us. Also, we saw some purple things walking around like Spiders and biting people left and right. I'd be careful if I were you guys."

"Thanks for the information. There's an aircraft directly behind us in the back corner of the lot. Talk to the pilot and he'll let you guys into the cargo hold until the mission is over."

"Thanks! Come on dude." replied the second male as he picked up his buddy and the two ran for the Skyranger as the two proceeded down the alley to the building's corner. Peeking out, there was no activity in the immediate area, so Longbow moved over to the truck's rear to give more cover over the open area leading to the parking lot. Zaytseva peeked inside the building and saw the other three inside lined up against a shelving unit next to the stairs. They were preparing to run up them, when a whirring sound was heard. Looking up Zaytseva saw that two Floaters were going to land right behind them and shouted to get their attention.

"Look out!"

== With the Squad as a Whole ==

Hearing the shout, Cargo turned around and fired into the lead Floater, causing his shot to go wild and miss all three humans. Seeing their hopes dashed, the two attempted to escape before anymore shots came their way. The unwounded one managed to get away unscathed, but Rascal would not let the other one go as he blasted the creature with rifle rounds sending it careening to the ground in flames.

Rascal was excited to have his first confirmed kill, but the squad knew that their work was not yet done, as the other Floater had disappeared. Going on Overwatch, the squad patiently waited for him to make his appearance again.

They didn't have to wait long as the Floater rushed out of an opening in the destroyed second floor's wall as it tried escaping into the parking lot. Longbow already had the creature in his sights, as he unloaded a round from his rifle that went cleanly through its head, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground in one piece.

The squad regrouped inside the file room and was getting ready to discuss their next few moves, before they heard two screams signaling the deaths of two civilians from outside the building. Wasting little time, the squad split up to cover the most distance.

== With Cargo ==

Cargo decided to secure the second floor alone, as she raced up the steps leading to it from the file room. Once reaching the landing, she saw two civilians cowering behind the desks as she moved over to them.

"You guys need to get out of here!"

"No need to tell me twice girl." said the first female civilian as she prepared to bolt, before her friend pulled her back down.

"We don't even know where to yet so just hold up." chastised the woman before turning to Cargo.

"Have you seen our two friends? We got separated when those flying things came after us; I think they made it outside to the back alley."

"As a matter of fact one of my squadmates found them earlier. They should be waiting inside the aircraft we arrived in. It's located out front in the back left corner of the parking lot. Just tell the pilot to open up and you guys can hide inside."

"Thanks! Come on!" she said as she picked up her friend and headed back down the stairs to reach the ship.

== With Rascal and Cohen ==

Rascal and Cohen had entered the connecting area between the main lobby and the file room. They both peeked out into the lobby and found it clear of aliens, before spotting two civilians hiding behind the support pillars out front of the building. Being the closer of the two Rascal ran over to them, as Cohen kept watch on the two doors leading into the lobby from the parking lot and side alley.

"You two okay?"

"No, we just saw two of those creatures eat some people!"

"What do you mean eat some people?"

"They just bit into their necks and ate them, before dropping them to tear them apart!"

"Do you know what these creatures looked like?"

"They were purple, and looked to have crystalline skin and moved around very quickly on four legs; almost like a spider with how fast it moved." chimed in the second, calmer civilian.

'Troublesome. That sounds just like the creatures that were described to Tatyana by the civilians she encountered earlier.'

Rascal's monologue was cut short by more screams coming from the left side alley.

"Shit! They're back!" exclaimed the first civilian as she became more panicked.

"Both of you get to the ship it's out there across the yard. Don't worry; the pilot will let you in. Go now!" he ordered as the sounds of multiple legs running were heard. The two civilians took off as the creatures busted down the rear door.

== 3rd Person View of the Battlefield ==

Seeing what was happening, Cargo and Longbow unloaded on the creatures and managed to hit the lead one who still stood strong after the bullet barrage. Seeing the soldiers aiming at them, the second purple creature ducked back behind the building as the reaction fire from Cohen, Rascal, and Zaytseva all missed his retreating form. The wounded creature stumbled back out into the parking lot, as Cargo raised her rifle and fired from the second floor hitting it in the back, causing it to collapse in on itself as it folded to the floor with an ear-splitting scream.

== With Tatyana and Longbow ==

The two were still positioned out by the delivery truck after dispatching the first purple creature, wondering where the second one would pop up. Longbow was deep in thought about these creatures as he noticed that it took a considerable amount of firepower to take just one down.

'These creatures are definitely more mobile than the past ones we've dealt with, plus it takes a great amount to take them down due to their thick skin. We need to keep these things at a distance if we want to take them out.'

His thoughts were disrupted as he heard firing coming from the building. Knowing what it meant, the two operatives ran for the open door, as Longbow drew his pistol.

== Back with Cohen, Cargo, and Rascal==

The three were watching the side alley door, as they were betting on the creature coming from there. Cargo had just begun to reload her weapon, when the creature made his appearance known. Cohen fired from behind the lobby desk as he hit the alien dead center, but did little damage due to the skin. Rascal on the other hand missed from his position behind the wall of the building near the window looking into the lobby. The creature looked at the two, before going at Rascal since he was the closer of the two.

The creature charged at him recklessly as it threw caution to the wind. Its one goal was to try and eat said human before it escaped him, but it wasn't meant to be. Rascal raised his rifle and fired into the creature's legs causing it to stumble forward and smack face first into the ground. Screaming at the loss of its momentum, the creature struggled to stand again. Just as it was about to succeed, three pistol shots entered it skull from behind sending it to the ground for the final time as it gave off its death scream.

The three looked to see Longbow standing in the rear doorway with his smoking Five Seven semi-automatic pistol with a triumphant smirk in his face. Not hearing anymore alien movement or screams in the area, the squad proceeded to secure the rest of the area and gather up the remaining civilians for transport back to XCOM headquarters.

== Back at Base ==

The commander was going over the final numbers with Bradford, Dr. Shen, and Dr. Vahlen and they were ecstatic with the findings. Of the 18 civilians in the area XCOM had managed to save 14 of them, giving them a 78% success rate. This was far above initial projected totals since they had no idea how many aliens would be present. Also, not only had panic decreased in Germany, but true to the Commander's prediction the other attacks ceased in Europe and panic decreased there as well.

"Looks like our troops are really taking care of business down there! And without as much as a scratch, despite the horrendous conditions down there! Excellent work all of you!" commended Shen as he congratulated all of the soldiers upon their return to base.

"I agree it was an exemplarily performance; However I'm still perplexed as to why they would target innocent civilians? They must be here for more than just abductions." contributed Vahlen as she contemplated the aliens' intentions for Earth; it seems everything they did had some ulterior motive that challenged her previous attempts at guessing their purpose for invading Earth.

Moving on to the soldiers, everyone in the squad got promoted for doing such an excellent job of returning those civilians to safety. Longbow, Cargo, and Rascal all got promoted to Lieutenant which allowed them to add another skill to their repertoire for combating the aliens. Longbow would now be bringing a Battle Scanner to help find groups of enemies that hadn't made themselves known to the squad during a firefight to prevent flanking maneuvers. Cargo would be able to now Revive a critically wounded soldier so they could continue to fight even with a near fatal wound. Rascal picked up a new ability, Flush, which allowed him to easily hit a target with a shot to force them out of good cover for the squad to shoot at. This may come in handy against smarter enemies down the road.

Cohen and Zaytseva were both promoted to Sergeant and were able to pick out their new nicknames and abilities. Cohen went with the new nickname "Cobra" and picked up Lightning Reflexes which would allow him to dodge Overwatch fire completely on the first shot and with a 70 % chance to succeed on the second chance. This would allow him to move up and flank enemies without worrying about Overwatch fire. Zaytseva chose the nickname "Prototype" and ended up going with the Suppression ability. This will allow her to pin down a target and severely reduce their aim, and restrict their movements. It also would provide her a free Overwatch shot if the target tried to run while being suppressed. This would come in handy against pesky enemies who want to run up and charge the squad.

Elsewhere in the base, Dr. Vahlen and her team finished the Interrogation on the Floater captured by Rascal during Operation Bloody Apollo. They discovered before the alien died, that the Outsider was the next link in the Chain of Command to the Sectoid Commander that was encountered by the German Army at the beginning of the invasion. She recommended that the soldiers attempt to capture this alien so it can be interrogated for information as well. With that completed, her team decided to finish the research on Experimental Warfare that was abandoned briefly to conduct the interrogation.

Nothing new happened on the Engineering front, as the base decided to try and relax before the next attack on Earth.

== One Day Later ==

Unfortunately the base wouldn't be able to rest long as there were numerous abductions being recorded in London, UK, Bangalore, India, and Acapulco, Mexico. Seeing that the panic level was higher in Mexico and India, London was ruled out as the mission site. Checking on the reward offerings, the Commander noticed that Mexico was offering Scientists to join XCOM's ranks which were sorely needed by Dr. Vahlen's overworked staff. His mind made up, Mexico would be the next drop site. However, he then noticed that the difficulty of the mission was going to be Very Difficult indicating a high amount of enemies participating in the abductions. Keeping this in mind, he went to select the five troops that would be present on the mission.

AN: And we'll stop the chapter right there. Well I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but that's really how short the mission was as the police station is one of my personal favorites so I knew all the ways to make it as easy as possible. Leave a review to tell me if you liked or hated it! And also please remember to follow and favorite if you like what you're reading! I can't express to you guys how motivated it makes me want to write these chapters if I see people reading them and following them, so please do! Anyway enough blubbering, I'll catch you all next time. Until then, this is "The Nasty One" signing off.

-PRAK #TheNastyOne