Sorry to give you another email notification for just a few words, followers. This post is here to announce that I'm going to be moving to a Monday Wednesday Friday schedule starting immediately. When you compare, it's 6 chapters every two weeks instead of 7, which is significant but not drastically reduced amounts of content. This will let me structure my writing/publishing a little more consistently, which is going to be necessary in the months ahead. The remainder of the next chapter will go up here on Monday the 22nd.
Thank you for understanding.
As an author who never thought he'd get this many views, I can't express my appreciation enough. I'll work doubly hard to make this story worthy of your attention going forward.
Briefing Room, XCOM Headquarters – Two Hours Later
"The rumor is that they've finally agreed on a plan upstairs." Kevin and Lily paused in the hallway as the combat ready troops of the base filed into the room.
"And? Is that all we know? Because it's getting too close to the deadline for my comfort," Kevin replied.
"Your comfort? You're a rookie! They couldn't give two shits about what you want. It's not they'll take us anyways when they have twenty of the original troopers here. They're psionic and genetically modified. Have you ever trained against them? They're spooky."
Kevin sighed. "I know, I know," he said, dejected. "I just wanted to save the commander. Like we've done all this training but what's the point if we're just going to be stuck-"
Lily's frantic gestures cut him off. He turned around and found he was blocking Colonel Kislewski and the command staff from entering the room. He quickly stepped aside and saluted, mildly chagrined.
She said "At ease" and proceeded immediately to the podium. Lily and Kevin quickly grabbed seats near the back in the middle of a row. Almost as soon as they had sat down, the lights dimmed and Kislewski began speaking.
"In approximately 46 hours the execution of the Commander of XCOM is scheduled to take place in the Crowne Plaza of Moscow, Russia. We have devised a plan to extract the him. The plan has several stages. The first stage begins immediately following this meeting. All twenty rookies, under the commands of brevet Lance Corporals Ricter and Desance will infiltrate into Moscow and find suitable positions from which to engage enemy forces in the plaza when the Commander is revealed. The remainder of our combat troops will deploy from the Skyranger and our surplus helicopter at high speed once the initial contact has been made by the advance team. Following that..."
Her words droned on as Kevin's gut dropped into his boots. He looked to his right. Lily's jaw was clenched and she refused to even glance at him. She stared straight ahead as Kislewski explained the rest of the plan. When the Colonel asked for questions, her arm shot up.
"Go ahead, Lance Corporal."
"Colonel, sir, what if the military base has insufficient transports for us? Who have priority on leaving?"
Kislewski looked down, and held the position for a few seconds. "Lance Corporal, in the event insufficient transport is available, our MEC troopers and some of the veterans have offered to hold the line. I'll let one of the group explain, but from what we've determined, we only need to acquire two flying transports to transport our whole team. The likelihood of that being impossible is extremely slim. Also, if Lieutenant Abeba could come up here, I'd like him to explain why his group is willing to make this sacrifice."
The light hum of cybernetics, accompanied by the clanking of metal feet analogues on the floor accompanied the lieutenant to the podium. Turning to face the audience, he cleared his throat and spoke. His voice was slightly flat and mechanical, a byproduct of the extensive cybernetic modifications made during the war.
"While we have enjoyed living on our own at the MEC Farm and helping train a future generation of XCOM, all of the MEC troopers have discussed among ourselves and generated several truths that hold for all of us. We will never reintegrate into society in the way that we hoped would be possible. Furthermore, the protracted isolation we have experienced has led us to believe that even our own comrades will never view us the same way again. The trials of the war forced them to cleave to us, but we have been as alien as the opponents we fought since we became more metal than flesh. We want to continue to help XCOM, but at the same time we are 'damaged goods' psychologically. Our efficiency as soldiers has been reduced because of this and we will gladly hold the line one last time."
The room went silent as the speech concluded. The silence was only broken several sniffles and signs of tears from some of the people present. Kevin's dread at being a squad leader was replaced by a deep resolve. The MECs were essentially asking to be given death with dignity on the front lines. It was only proper that he also face the challenge of leading a squad with courage rather than nerves.
Shortly thereafter, the briefing concluded and the rookies dispersed to their barracks. Kevin and Lucy put up the room divider between the two bunk rooms and talked with their squads about the plan. The chief concern was smuggling weapons in, but Central Officer Bradford had said in the briefing that two different safehouses, one for each squad, had been prepared with what seemed like an armory of guns by his Russian army contacts. Donning civilian clothing, the rookies filed onto the Skyranger. A brief flight later, and they filed off in a similar way, half a mile from the city outskirts, and dispersed into groups to make their way to the safe houses.