The XCOM Viper

by The Imperator 2 you

XCOM continues to battle even after five years of being re birthed, under the command of it's greatest Commander. Yet while war rages on against Earth's 'guests', another war is beginning to stir. The war for Earth continues, but the war to understand one another is about to begin, as a nervous and fearful Viper struggles to understand her undiscovered feelings toward a ranger.

11. Chapter 11

=Authors notes: Please play the appropriately named music to get the most of these scenes=

{Incoming Emergency Priority One transmission . . .}

{. . . Connection Failed . . .}

{. . . Attempting to establish connection . . .}

{. . . Attempt failed . . .}

{. . . Unable to establish a stable connection . . .}

=Chapter 11, Reliving the Struggle=

(Hawkeye's PoV)

"So can someone tell me why I'm the one stuck lugging around the containers?" Puppy asked as she took up a position near the rear of the squad.

"Because that's what the Commander wants you to do." Falcon said quietly.

As everyone had gotten into position, the Commander ordered them to lock the containers together using their magnetic locks, and to tie one lock to Puppy via a rope they found so that she could pull the containers behind her, without her losing her ability to fight. Since the cargo containers moved on hover pads, she could drag all four of them despite each weighing over twice her bodyweight. The only downside was that she was a walking target because she couldn't run, but it was the only way they could transport all of the supplies they'd found without slowing down four of the Sharks.

After they'd finished they each took up a position before the entrance to the next room, another storage room.

[Alright Sharks, get ready for orders.] The Commander declared over the coms. [Puppy, move to grid C-4.]

"You're sending me first?" Puppy asked. "Alright… if you say so."

Hawkeye watched as Puppy slow marched forward, her weapon at the ready as she walked past him and the others and into the next room. Moments later they switched to what she was viewing and saw here scanning an empty room, with a two sided elevator that opened up on their side across from her position. The room though contained several weapon's supply boxes and munitions containers, each of which were marked accordingly. She also noticed several cameras in the room, all of which were recording and watching the room, turning to watch Puppy as she entered.

"All clear!" Puppy declared.

[Good, proceed to K-4 then H-8 now, the containers are blocking the door, and you'll have to move forward more before the other Sharks can get past.] He said.

"Lovely…" Puppy said as she moved as indicated, dragging the containers behind her so that the path was cleared for the other Sharks.

[Alright, Hawkeye dash to grid L-7, Sharptooth dash to P-6, T-Rex to F-4, Falcon to A-8, Eagleeye to O-5 and Mercy to G-5.] He said now, and on each of their individual lenses were highlight grids and different colored paths that they each were to take.

"Roger that." He said.

"Moving out!" Sharptooth whispered.

"Over." T-Rex called.

"Understood." Falcon said.

"Going." Eagleeye whispered.

"As you say." Mercy hissed.

One by one they filed through the door to their assigned positions, each aiming in a different direction while Puppy watched the door to the elevator.

[Alright, see what you can find in those containers Sharks, if you find anything worth salvaging, dump it into the containers.] He declared. [This may have changed to a weapon's fire mission, but we still are on a resupply mission. Puppy, watch that door while the others investigate the contents of the containers.]

"Got it." Puppy whispered as he and the others began investigating the contents of the boxes and containers.

All the while the cameras continued to watch them.

"Why do I have the feeling we're being watched?" Hawkeye whispered to the other sharks as quietly as he could.

[Because you are being watched.] The Commander replied instantly. [The Hierarch Mother is using the cameras to watch your every movement, just as I am. There's nothing to be done about it, all we can do is keep our coms as quiet as we can, and minimize the information she gains from us.]

After a few moments of examining the various containers, they discovered another pair of laser weapons, as well as various plasma rounds and grenades, as well as other upgrades and additions for weapons. Once they placed everything into the containers, they were each ordered near the elevator door in door breach positions, with Sharptooth and Hawkeye using their weapon's range to cover it with Puppy while the others stood on either side.

[Alright, open the elevator door, quietly Eagleeye.] The Commander ordered.

Eagleeye nodded and touched the panel to open the elevator. It opened up with a slow hiss, and everyone braced themselves for an engagement, but as Hawkeye saw it was completely empty, with the other side of the door closed.

[That door leads to Engineering, if I recall our 'lovely host' is using it to manufacture her mechanical units. Eagleeye open up the door, let's see if we can shut it down right now, and save ourselves a headache later.]

"Why does this scream 'ambush'?" Puppy asked nervously as Eagleeye walked toward the other door to open it as well.

As he touched the panel to open the door, everyone readied themselves again, but nothing happened. He tried to open the door again, and once more everyone tensed up, but once again nothing happened. "Door's locked Sir, doesn't seem like our host wants us in Engineering."

[Of course… the door is locked, why is it the most direct path is always closed off?] He said to them all, electing a chuckle from a few of them. [Alright looks like we do this the hard way, that elevator isn't big enough for all of you and the containers, so you'll have to split up for now. Hawkeye, Mercy, Eagleeye and Sharptooth will go down first. T-Rex, Falcon and Puppy will wait with the cargo containers until the elevator comes back up and then join you later.]

"If it didn't look like an ambush before, it sure is looking like one now." Puppy whispered over the coms as they began filing into the elevator.

As he entered last, the door closed behind them instantly, then without anyone pushing the floor buttons it began shaking. "Commander!" Hawkeye yelled.

{This elevator can only go down one floor, I'm sorry but my facilities are simply too power dependent to allow any more power to be diverted from the one 'active' generator, to allow you the freedom to choose which floor you can go to.} The Hierarch Mother's voice hissed over the intercom. {But if you wish to go back up, feel free to… I am more than content to wait for your deaths.}

[I can't stop the elevator Sharks, she's locked me out of the elevator controls!] The Commander said. [The Cameras are dark on the next floor, I can't see what's in there until you give me visual, be ready for anything!]

Instantly they all readied their weapons and waited for the elevator to let them off. Once it did the doors opened and revealed a darkened room, the only sources of light being their weapon's flashlights and their helmet lights. Yet all they could see were what looked like badly damaged terminals.

"Commander, what room is this?" Sharptooth asked.

[Satellite Nexus, this is where all of the Satellites orbiting the world under XCOM's control transmitted signals and fed information to us.] He responded. [Terminals are offline, lights are off, and I can't see anything beyond the small field of lights you're showing me. Advance with extreme caution, there's no telling what we may encounter.]

With that he gave them positions to assume while the lift went back up for T-Rex, Falcon, Puppy and the supply containers. Minutes later the door opened up again, and all three of the remaining Sharks exited it, weapons at the ready and Puppy lagging behind everyone and protecting the containers still tied to her.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Puppy whispered as the elevator closed.

"Sir, the only way we're going to turn on the vents to clear our path is if we get to the generator on the other side of the Satellite Nexus." Eagleeye declared.

[My thoughts exactly, alright Sharks move out, and remember stay…]

"Hold up!" Hawkeye said, interrupting the Commander, as he turned his head ever so slightly.

"What is it?" T-Rex asked as everyone tensed up.

He listened carefully, and just as he was about to turn his head to listen with the other ear, he heard something, then ever so slightly, he saw a shadow shift in an unusual way for just a split second. "I hear footsteps… somethings up ahead…" He whispered, aiming his weapon's light at the shifting shadow but saw nothing.

Everyone began looking around, yet saw nothing but overturned terminals and crates next to destroyed pillars and piles of concrete rubble. "I see nothing… how are you certain?" Mercy hissed nervously.

"When you spend time hunting with hawks, you learn how to hunt as they do." He said. "There's something out there, I assure you."

[Alright, T-Rex move to Grid N-12.] The Commander declared.

T-Rex nodded and proceeded forward, weapon at the ready and moving very carefully. Just as he reached a section of rubble which would serve as cover, everyone switched to what he saw and witnessed what he saw. "Contacts spotted!" T-Rex said.

(X-COM Enemy Unknown Combat Music 2)

Everyone saw a grey skinned 'Sectoid' that was smaller than the Sectoid they were familiar with. It had a very predominantly large head and glared at them upon spotting T-Rex. Seconds later another pair of Sectoids appeared next to the first, and all three of them were armed with Plasma Pistols. The instant they made eye contact the Sectoids ran behind the cover of the rubble and out of sight, yet they could still be barely seen by everyone.

"Are those 'Sectoids'?" Puppy asked in a grossed out voice. "Those things are hideous, not to mention creepy."

"Oh I really hated these things back in the day." Eagleeye commented.

[Don't take them lightly, they may be the basic Sectoids from before, but something tells me they are 'not' the wimps they used to be!] The Commander told them.

{In your human words, as we take our trip down memory lane, let me introduce you to your former 'first contact'… the Sectoid!} The Hierarch Mother declared over the intercoms. {These cloned soldiers of the Ethereals, the Elders, were the most primitive and weakest in body of their forces. Weak in body, yet powerful in mind, they possessed the gift that few species possessed. Their cruelty and frailty are well renowned… but I have 'perfected' at least… one… of those traits.}

[T-Rex, Frag grenade on that pillar, destroy their cover!]

"Lighting them up!" T-Rex called as he grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the trigger, and let it loose at the pillar.

A second later it exploded, destroying the pillar into an even smaller pile of rubble as T-Rex took cover. The Sectoids themselves were blown back by the explosion, but they each stood up and screeched angrily at being attacked. [She didn't lie, that grenade should have obliterated all of them without any problem. They were extremely frail back in the day, and they almost always died in a single shot once we finally improved our weapons.] The Commander said. [Well, nothing to it but to do it, focus fire on the Sectoids, full fire! Sharptooth, Hawkeye, focus on the left one. Eagleeye, Falcon, take the right, Mercy and Puppy, the center one!]

"Let em have it!" Sharptooth shouted, and everyone raised their weapons and opened fire.

The laser shots from the weapons surprised Hawkeye, he was expecting some kind of recoil, but the weapons charged up their shots and fired cleanly and with greater accuracy than he thought it would, with absolutely no recoil. The red beams flew forward and hit the Sectoids and both the ones that were shot went down. But the one Mercy and Puppy fired at dodged the attacks as if their bullets were nothing.

"Missed wide!" Puppy screamed.

"I missed!" Mercy hissed.

"Hraaaar!" The Sectoid screamed, and moments later three more Sectoids ran forward from the shadows in T-Rex's sight.

"More contacts Sharks!" He yelled.

In retaliation two of the Sectoids raised their arms to their heads, and a strange purple energy field appeared that waved ever so slightly before them. The third and fourth Sectoids merged their minds, and the fourth open fired on Puppy as she stood in front of the containers.

"Ah!" Puppy screamed as she ducked to avoid the damage, but barely avoided it while the Containers took the brunt of the damage.

[Return fire!] The Commander screamed. [If those containers take too much damage they might explode with all of the munitions stored in them!]

T-Rex rounded the corner and let loose with his Alloy Cannon, but the shots that passed through the barrier seemed to melt halfway through and only a third of them reached the Sectoids, who easily absorbed the bullets without breaking the barrier. "Whatever it is their doing, its making my bullets ineffective!" He declared.

"I hate these Sectoids and their psionic capabilities!" Eagleeye yelled.

[Sharptooth, Hawkeye, Eagleeye, focus the Sectoid that initiated the Mind Merge!"

All three turned their weapons against the Sectoid as ordered, and open fired. Without exception all three shots were weakened by the barrier before they hit the Sectoid. Yet the shots still combined were just enough to kill it, blasting a nice sized hole into its cranium. Seconds later the pistol firing Sectoid that shot at Puppy clutched his head, before screaming in rage at them, its normally opaque colored eyes gleaming red now.

[These things sure aren't like the old Sectoids. That normally kills both Sectoids when they are mind merged.] The Commander said in shock. [Take cover now, Puppy move to Grid J-4, T-Rex fall back to Grid H-7, Hawkeye to I-7, Sharptooth to G-7, Eagleeye to L-6, Mercy to B-5, Falcon to T-5.]

Everyone moved to take cover as quickly as they could while Puppy had to slow walk to hide behind a pillar, taking the cargo containers with her and behind a downed terminal to protect them.

"I hate psionic powers, I hate them, I hate the, I hate them!" Sharptooth yelled as she recharged her sniper rifle.

"They are creating a psionic barrier that is slowing down and weakening our weapons' fire." Falcon said calmly. "If our conventional weapons are not going to work against them, perhaps we should test how powerful their minds are compared to mine."

[I don't like the sound of it, but we have no choice!] The Commander said. [Falcon target the Sectoid and see if you can overwhelm and mind control him!]

Falcon nodded and pulled out his Psi Amp. "Your mind… is nothing but an open book to me!" He declared.

Seconds later a beam of purple energy connected the two and both began to grapple with each other's psionic minds. Hawkeye watched as Falcon twitched and shuddered slightly, and in response the Sectoid was also repeating the actions, glaring furiously at Falcon as they fought in the battle of the minds. Finally, just as Falcon seemed to be getting the advantage, the two Sectoids creating the barrier turned to their brethren and open fired on him, breaking the barrier down protecting them but also stopping Falcon from taking over their comrade.

"Guah!" Falcon gasped as he fell behind the cover, clutching his head in weariness. "That was impossible… he was about to fall, but they killed him before I could finish taking him over!"

"I don't care, that barrier's down and their vulnerable again!" Sharptooth yelled as she jumped over and ran at the Sectoids, pulling out her Arc Blade as the Commander ordered her into Reaper Mode. "FEAR THE REAPER YOU XENO SCUMBAGS!"

She ran forward as swift as lightning, and slashed down the first Sectoid with one swipe of her blade, cutting him cleanly down the middle and splattering yellow blood and guts around the floor. Instantly she turned her blade on the next Sectoid and repeated the gesture before he could retaliate, slicing him just as cleanly and effortlessly as she did the first one.

"More contacts Sharks!" T-Rex yelled as Sharptooth turned and spotted three 'more' Sectoids taking cover behind a pile of rubble.

"Oh you gata be kidding me!" Sharptooth whispered in horror as the Sectoids peaked over the rubble and open fired on her.

Instantly she got hit from all three plasma pistols, taking shots to her chest where her Predator Armor was heaviest, but she still fell to the ground clutching her wound and screaming in pain.

(Mercy's PoV)

Mercy watched as her sister fell to the ground, and listened to her pained cries of agony.

"GAAAARH, I'M… DOOWN!" She screamed in agony. "MED KIT, I NEED A MED KIT!"

[Suppressing fire T-Rex, target that cover!] The Commander ordered. [Eagleeye, grenade their cover, take it down. Mercy, provide supporting fire for Puppy as she moves to Sharptooth's position!]

Mercy nodded and began providing suppressing fire alongside T-Rex, while Puppy slow walked as quickly as she could to the downed Sharptooth, still dragging the containers behind her and weapon at the ready while one hand reached for a med kit. As they did the cover was blown and T-Rex began letting loose with his Alloy Cannon on the Sectoids.

"Hang in there girlfriend, helps on the way!" Puppy yelled as she was under halfway to Sharptooth.

"My chest… it burns… where's that F****G MED KIT?" Sharptooth screamed in pain, rolling on the ground while still clutching her chest.

Mercy looked at the pace Puppy was walking and saw she wouldn't make it in time, the Sectoids were starting to return fire, stuttering the suppressing fire she and T-Rex were providing. At her rate she wouldn't reach Sharptooth in time before the wound became fatal and even the med kits wouldn't stabilize her. In reaction and desperation, she unhooked her jaw, shot out her tongue and wrapped it around the other med kit on Puppy's belt, and flung it at her downed sister.

Instantly Sharptooth grabbed the med kit, pressed it to the wound on her chest, and sighed in relief as the blue spray spread throughout the inside of her armor.

"Warn me next time you do that!" Puppy yelled.

[Enough Puppy, grenade those Sectoids Hawkeye, one incendiary round should finish them off!] The Commander ordered.

Mercy turned to watch with her tongue still hanging out as Hawkeye primed and tossed a red grenade and everyone, including Sharptooth dragging herself, took cover behind something. Following their example she pulled behind a downed pillar and felt a massive heat wave pass over as an explosion occurred. Once it passed she looked over and saw that where the Sectoids were, only charred bones and flesh remained.

"Are you alright Sharptooth?" T-Rex asked loudly.

Sharptooth!" Puppy yelled, everyone running toward Sharptooth now that the room was empty and clear.

Mercy slithered over, pulling her tongue into her mouth and rehooking it so that she could speak normally again. She saw her downed sister wearily pull herself into a sitting position, gasping for breath and sweating heavily from her forehead. The chest wound she had received had damaged her armor badly, but it at least protected her body from fatal injury. The plasma burns her skin received weren't damaging, at most it merely burned badly.

"Ugh… I've felt better Sharks." Sharptooth whispered as she grabbed her rifle, tossing the used and useless med kit away. "By the way, thanks for the help you two, especially you Mercy." She looked up at her and gave a weary smile. "That was some trick you did with your tongue, I didn't know you could use it that way."

"Our tongues are very versatile, it is after all, pure muscle, similar to human tongues." Mercy said halfheartedly. "I can only use my tongue to its full length and effect, when I unhook my jaws, otherwise I risk permanent damage to my mouth and tongue."

"Still, warn me next time you decide to play catch with my med kits!" Puppy yelled angrily. "Without Eagleeye's Gremlin, I'm the only one with any medical tools on this team, each med kit I've got is crucially important now more than ever!"

[Enough, we've got bigger fish to fry Sharks.] The Commander declared, ending the conversation instantly. [Mercy, when we get back, we're going over your full capabilities. For now, don't do that again unless it's a 'dire' situation, and 'I' give you the order.] He said. [Puppy, you bark too much, it was an emergency and she acted on impulse. You've done the same before, for now proceed to the next room and check it out.]

She nodded and checked the ammo on her weapon while the other Sharks recharged theirs. Her clip had all but run dry, she had a few more shots before she would need to rearm her weapon.

As they approached the door to the generator room, the Sharks once again took positions while she remained near Puppy to protect the cargo containers.

Moments later Eagleeye opened the door and she switched to his visuals to see what he saw. The generator room contained a massive electrical generator that clearly offline, yet emergency power was keeping the main terminal active.

He moved forward and to the terminal with Hawkeye and T-Rex watching for anything. Moments later she and Puppy and the rest of the sharks were ordered into the generator room as well.

"Alright, I'm activating the generator Commander!" He declared as the door closed behind Puppy.

=XCOM Enemy Unknown Main Theme=

Mercy watched as sparks emerged from the generator, then it began to turn and whirl, roaring to life as if it were some ancient beast awakening from its slumber. Instantly the spinning picked up, and lights began turning on revealing the full scope of the generator room. It was at least ten feet high and forty feet wide, with a massive generator connected to the rock formation with wires of varying size spread throughout the room.

It was an amazing sight as she watched everything turning on, unable to tear her eyes away from the generator while it reached full power.

"I'm accessing the power distribution Commander…" Eagleeye said.

"Good, let's turn on the ventilation system and get home… I can't stand this place anymore." Sharptooth said as she rubbed her chest. "A visit is nice, but with all of these Xenos around, I don't want to stay here anymore. No offense Mercy…"

"I take no offense sister… I want to leave as well." She replied in agreement.

She wanted to leave this base as soon as she could, with the Hierarch Mother trapping them here and with more dangerous foes probably still at her disposal, she just wanted to leave with her new 'family'.

"I've gained access to the power distribution program Commander… but we've got a problem." Eagleeye said sourly.

"Don't tell me it's busted!" Puppy yelled.

[No, the Hierarch Mother seems to be a step ahead of us.] The Commander declared. [She's reprogramed and rearranged the power distribution priority settings we used to determine which facilities receive power over others. Everything seems to be diverting automatically to various sections of the base, draining the power we can allocate to anything else before we can send it to the ventilation system. We've gained partial power to the lights in all levels, and partial power to the elevators so we can go down another level, but the ventilation system is being treated as an extremely low priority, and no power is being sent to it.]

"But this is 'your base' Commander… how can she do as she wills with it?" Mercy asked incredulously.

[We abandoned it, so it's no longer 'our' base Mercy.] He said. [Alright, looks like our plans have changed again. We need to restore power to all of the systems before we can activate the ventilation system it seems. The next generator appears to be on the next level, if we can turn it on we may be able to restore power to ventilation. Let's move out Sharks!]

Mercy nodded and turned around with the others as Puppy moved out of the way so they could go first.

As they all filed out of the generator room, they all looked up and saw in the far distance a pair of tall individuals. Tall and 'thin' individuals, wearing suits and each holding a plasma rifle in one hand.

=XCOM Enemy Unknown Combat Music 4=

At them entering their line of sight, the two 'Thin Men' turned and hissed angrily before running for cover, just as any of the Sharks would.

{Behold, that which you so adeptly named, 'Thin Man', incredibly flexible, incredibly loyal, and incredibly intelligent.} The Hierarch Mother said over the intercoms. {Though lacking what the Elders refer to as, 'the gift', capable of immense acts of what humans refer to as 'heroism'. There was little needed for me to improve upon them, besides even greater flexibility, and even greater acuity. Though we are of the same species, even I must admit, I find 'this' form rather… useful.}

"I am really getting tired of hearing her talk!" Eagleeye yelled as he and the others were ordered into defensive positions, while Puppy was ordered to take cover behind a large pile of rubble to protect her and the cargo containers she was still dragging with her.

[Falcon, destroy their cover with another grenade!] The Commander ordered.

Falcon nodded and readied a grenade, before flinging it over and having it land in front of the rubble.

Mercy looked over and watched in horror and surprise as the Thin Man hiding behind the cover nimbly jumped over 'just' as the grenade landed in front, and grabbed it, before just as nimbly tossing it away. It exploded without any damage being done to anything or anyone besides the nearby wall.

"When the hell did they learn that trick?" T-Rex asked in awe as the Thin Man grinned before raising his Plasma Rifle and firing at them.

[I guess by greater 'flexibility' she means that.] The Commander commented as he ordered them to take cover from the attack. [And by greater acuity I guess she made them more capable of hearing. For now, Mercy, open fire on the Thin Man and get rid of that suppression fire for our squad!]

Mercy nodded and slid over her cover, exposing herself to attack but also giving herself a closer shot. She aimed her weapon, and fired.

Each and every shot she fired seemed to miss as he leaned one direction and then another, as if he were dodging multiple shots in slow motion. He grinned at her before aiming his weapon again and resuming his attack. Meanwhile the other Thin Man leapt over his cover and fired on Puppy's position, damaging her cover with each shot he made.

"Commander, if we all open fire on him, we may be able to hit him!" Eagleeye declared as Mercy fled back behind to her cover as the Commander ordered her to.

[My thoughts exactly, target the one focusing you guys down first!] He ordered.

"But what about Puppy?" He said, and Mercy looked over to see her cover was slowly being whittled away, while she remained in overwatch cover.

[She'll be fine for now, focus on your target!] He declared.

Mercy watched from her cover as the other five members of the Sharks all moved up from their cover and opened fire on the Thin Man, just as he paused to reload his weapon. Almost as if it were a joke he were laughing at, the Thin Man began weaving and dodging as he did before, avoiding all of the laser shots without any effort. All the while he was dodging, he had been reloading his weapon with one hand, and still grinning at them.

Once they expended their weapons ammo he resumed fire at them, still grinning with that smug expression behind his sunglasses.

"What does it take to hit this guy?" T-Rex yelled.

"I don't remember them being 'this' dodgy in the past!" Eagleeye said as he reloaded. "Nothing's hitting him!"

"Guys, you better do something fast, I'm running out of cover here!" Puppy yelled fearfully as another section of her cover was lost, now exposing her head as she ducked even more to remain safe.

It was then that Mercy had an idea. "Commander, I think I can bind that Thin Man using my tongue!" She said over her coms. "If I can bind him just long enough, Hawkeye should be able to shoot him before he can escape! His body must not be very strong or he would not need to dodge so much!"

[Just what I was thinking Mercy, alright, do your thing, wrap him up and give our Ranger the shot he needs!]

She nodded and unhooked her jaw again, allowing her tongue full freedom of movement. Then she slid over her cover once more, hissed furiously at the Thin Man, a clone of what her species 'used' to be, forced to be genetically altered to allow them to blend into human society. In response the Thin Man hissed just as angrily back at her, and took aim with his Plasma Rifle. Yet just as he was about to fire, she flung her tongue at him, and faster than he could react, wrapped it around him, pulled him toward her, and coiled around him tightly, hissing angrily as she looked into his angular green eyes behind his glasses.

He hissed angrily back at her as he struggled to get free, but his strength paled in comparison to her strength, which was distributed throughout her body coiled around him, while he was focusing solely on his arms and legs.

"Now!" She yelled as clearly as she could with her jaw still unhooked. "Take the shot!"

[Open fire Hawkeye!] The Commander ordered instantly.

She glanced over and let go a split second before Hawkeye signaled he was about to fire. Just as they had hoped, unable to dodge in time or see the attack coming, the Thin Man she had bound was shot straight through the chest, and now had a nice clean burn mark on both sides of his suit, with a nicely rounded hole to complement them. As he died though, the toxin cloud erupted from his body, but she had nothing to fear of the toxins as she slithered back to her cover, as she was a Viper, and even though he was cloned and altered, her body's immune system to poison was far stronger than the poisons she could deliver.

She turned to the remaining Thin Man to prepare to repeat the maneuver, but as she did he seemed to stop firing as he put his hand to his ear. She could just faintly see an earpiece behind the hair he had, and he nodded before leaping over the rubble pile, retreating toward the door on the other side of the room.

"He's getting away!" Puppy yelled as she opened overwatch fired.

[He's not retreating, he's regrouping!] The Commander declared. [My motion scanners are going off the hook, watch the vents, something heading your way!]

Almost immediately the various vents in the room began shaking and rocking, and everyone began aiming weapons in different directions. While the vents rocked and shook, he ordered them into various positions where they could watch from and protect the cargo containers from the center of the room. As Mercy slid into position, readying her tongue to grip another foe, several shoes appeared as they kicked the vent doors down.

From the vents four more Thin Men appeared, joining the one still standing on the far side of the room. "You've got to be kidding me, it took everything just to tag one of them!" Sharptooth yelled.

"What are we going to do?" Puppy asked as the Thin Men all took up defensive positions behind various piles of rubble.

[Open up one of the containers, there should be some grenades we used back in the day that we can use now!] The Commander ordered.

As quickly as Puppy could she reached into the third container from the one she was tied to and pulled out several small cylindrical objects. "Flash Bang grenades?" Puppy asked with confusion.

[Don't hash them till you've used them, there's a reason why they're still used by us today.] He said as Puppy tossed the grenades to her fellow Sharks.

Mercy took the little grenade and waited until she was ordered to pull the pin, just as she had seen her fellow XCOM operatives do on the screen many times. Once he did, she and the Sharks all pulled the pins and tossed the grenades over the cover of the Thin Men.

They responded as quickly as the first one did, each of the Thin Men leapt over their cover, grabbed the grenades out of the air and tossed them away. Yet just as they did the grenades exploded while she and the Sharks hid behind their cover. All around the room pained hisses occurred as the grenades flashed the enemy Thin Men, blinding them all temporarily.

[Hit em hard now!] He ordered.

As one all of the Sharks got up from their positions and opened fire on the Thin Men. Unable to see what the Sharks were doing, the Thin Men could not respond in time, and were shot through. All five of the Thin Men collapsed into clouds of toxic fumes that lingered around where they died.

[No more signals, I'm not detecting any more movements in your area Sharks.] The Commander told them. [Proceed with caution though, I doubt that this is the best the Hierarch Mother has to stand against us.]

"Commander… the next time you want to take a squad to another former XCOM location…" Puppy said quietly as they moved single file, with Mercy hooking her jaw back together so she could talk again. "Take one of the other squads, I don't want to visit another facility."

It took them time to move through the various clouds of toxins left over by the Thin Men, but eventually they made their way through one by one, with Mercy being the only one immune to the various poisons.

After that they once again split up to take the elevator down, with Puppy, T-Rex and Falcon staying behind again while she and the others took the elevator down.

With a rumble it lowered down and they were once again let off into a dark corridor, but this time they at least had some vision. The door behind them, which the Commander said lead to a Laboratory, was also conveniently locked. [Until we can gain full power again, I can't override those controls.] He told them. [For now, secure the next room, it looks like the Officer Training School. There might be supplies we can recover and add to our stock so keep an eye out. And beyond this is another storage room, next to the Generator Room. If we can get to it and activate the generator, we may or may not have enough to turn on the ventilation system, as well as gain even more supplies.]

"Assuming our 'host' doesn't stop us." Sharptooth growled as she advanced to cover in front of her.

"I really don't like how this looks." Hawkeye whispered to Mercy as she and he advanced to another position while Eagleeye took the other side with Sharptooth.

"I agree… I wish we had not come here…" She hissed worriedly.

Despite her fury she displayed fighting the Thin Men, she really feared what else her Hierarch Mother might have brought back from the past.

Moments later the elevator began ascending and thus the wait for the rest of the Sharks began as well. She felt afraid without the full group of Land Sharks squad with her, and she knew the Commander didn't want to take any risks until they were all together again. But there was one small comfort that she continued to draw upon, even in this dark situation.

She glanced over at Hawkeye with one eye, grateful that she at least had her kindred human with her to give her strength. As long as he was with her, she was not nearly as afraid.

"We made a good team back upstairs." She hissed warmly to him.

"Yea, we sure did." Hawkeye chuckled back. "So, you thinking of joining the Sharks?"

"I might… but I do not like fighting, in open…" She hissed.

"Eh, I'm sure the Commander will come up with a position for you. You could become a Ranger like me." He said. "We specialize in long range combat, only go for close quarters when we have to."

As she watched she saw his vision change to look over at Sharptooth.

"Or if you just so happen to love slicing enemies up without checking if any enemies are ahead of you." He commented.

She watched as Sharptooth's reply confused her, as instead of talking back, she merely signaled to him with the middle index finger of her hand while still looking for threats.

*Is that some sort of… compliment among humans?* She thought curiously, as she listened to Hawkeye chuckle in response. *Perhaps it is a personal compliment, meant only for those two and one only they can understand.*

Moments later the elevator arrived, and the remaining Sharks and the cargo containers arrived.

Yet while they waited for instruction, the Commander instead gave them none, instead constantly looking through the cameras on their level at various angles. They saw up ahead outside of their small circle of light were several downed shelves, covered in rubble, and destroyed sections of floor. The flooring itself looked heavily cracked and indented in places, but they also saw several crates of munitions and weapons.

[This doesn't look right… there's nothing there.] The Commander commented to them all. [She wouldn't just let us walk to another generator without 'some' kind of trap laid out for us.]

"So who gets to play the bait?" Puppy asked quietly, and almost instantly she was given the order to advance several paces forward to give them vision. "Me and my big mouth…"

[Relax Puppy, your only advancing to better cover, just be sure to avoid those large cracks in the floor, I don't like how deep those dents in the rock and concrete look.] He said.

"Lovely…" Puppy muttered nervously as she moved forward, being very careful with where she aimed her weapon, in case she ran into more trouble.

As she advanced she turned this way and that, looking for threats before she finally reached the cover of the rubble the Commander sent her to. "C…contacts!" Puppy squealed as she looked over her cover and onto the other side.

=XCOM Enemy Unknown Combat Music 8=

Everyone switched to her vision and they saw three robotic units ahead of them, and instantly they turned to look at Puppy, spreading their tendril like arms toward her threateningly, before all of them vanished from sight, becoming nothing before their eyes as she recognized the personal cloaking devices.

{Created to serve as tracking and isolation units, you may recognize them by their more common name that 'you' gave them… Seekers.} The Hierarch Mother declared, almost on cue. {Though little has changed in their design, I have modified their primary weapons to be more 'powerful' than they were before. And as for their cloaks, I have increased the power output they have, so as to be undetectable by your little, 'Battle Scanners'… and so that the cloak which is their primary means of attack, lasts far longer than before. Until they decide it is time… to 'seek' their prey.}

"Hnnng…" Puppy muttered as she looked this way and that way, her movements jittery as none of them saw the Seekers or where they had went.

[Calm down Puppy, your safe for now.] The Commander said.

"C… calm down?" She whispered. "Sure, you can be calm… you're not the one with these… 'things'… floating around you… waiting till you drop your guard!"

[Focus Puppy, they won't hurt you just yet!] He said. [Seekers operate as ambush units, they won't target you if you're with the group. They'll wait until you're alone before they strike, so as long as you stay with the others you'll be fine.]

"Yea… that's what 'you' think!" She muttered fearfully. "You thought you knew the other alien types, and look what that got us! How do you know these operate the same as they did before?"

[I don't, I'm only going on what I know about them… for now stay where you are, Eagleeye's coming to join you. Everyone else, advance forward… slowly and carefully.]

As a group they began making their way across the room, being careful to avoid the cracks in the floor and being sure to stick together as much as possible.

As she moved with Hawkeye she thought for a moment she heard some kind of hissing sound next to her, but as she turned and reflectively aimed her weapon, she saw 'nothing. "I hear it too Mercy… stay close by." Hawkeye whispered to her.

"I would be nowhere else…" She hissed quietly to him.

Almost at that exact moment, when everyone had pushed forward and puppy began to lag behind due to her dragging the containers, one of the Seekers chose that exact moment to appear. Unfortunately they were more focused on the one that appeared directly in front of them and caught them completely off guard as it appeared.

"Contact spotted!" T-Rex shouted as everyone began opening fire, but it deployed a small shield to protect itself as they did.

"Gyeeeeeaaah!" Puppy screamed, getting everyone's attention now as they saw the second Seeker, wrapping its mechanical tendrils around her and binding her tightly, staring into her terrified face as she struggled to free herself. "Get… it… off me… I can't… breath!" She moaned.

"Puppy!" Eagleeye screamed as he opened fire with his weapon, but the Seeker refused to let her go.

[That thing's got a tougher grip then it used to!] The Commander yelled, panicking as everyone began trying to open fire, but then the third Seeker appeared, and deployed its shield to protect the second one just as the first did to protect itself. [We gata break that shield down, or we'll never get to Puppy!]

Puppy meanwhile being squeezed even tighter as the Seeker binding her began to try and break her bones, exposing sharp blades on its front which were aimed at her face. Mercy saw that if they didn't do something, her young body would begin to break apart as her bones were snapped by the ever tightening grip of the Seeker.

"Help… me… grandpa… he's… breaking my… bones!" Puppy moaned desperately, her weapon dropped as she lost her grip. "Cant… breath… help… someone!"

"Hang on Puppy!" Eagleeye yelled as the Commander ordered everyone to fire on the shielding Seeker while Falcon kept the other Seeker busy with his psi abilities.

Yet none of the beam weapons, not even Mercy's rifle, were breaking the shield down, in fact it seemed to be unaffected by their weapons fire. [Mercy, answer yes or no, can you spit an acidic venom from your mouth?]

"Yes!" Mercy yelled as she caught onto his plan.

[Hit the Seeker binding Puppy now!] He yelled.

She nodded and once more unhinged her mouth, released her tongue, and took careful aim, before spitting a very potent stream of venom at the main head of the Seeker binding Puppy. With a gratifying sound of plasma energy being phased through, her venom passed through the shield the Seekers had erected for their protection, and struck the Seeker keeping Puppy held.

It instantly released her and screeched in agony, as its optical sensors were damaged, hit by her acidic venom.

Puppy began coughing heavily as she landed on the floor. [Puppy, if you can reach your gun, fire on the second Seeker, before it cloaks and can get away!] The Commander ordered.

Puppy nodded, and through her coughing fit grabbed her rifle and aimed it at the backside of the shielding Seeker and fired. Instantly the Seeker lowered its shield in response to being shot from behind, and the instant it dropped the shield they all fired and shot down 'both' Seekers. Both Seekers collapsed into semi liquid and metal piles of scrap.

The third Seeker seemed to have calculated its odds against them, and it chose to disguise itself before they could shoot it down. Falcon tried to sense where it went, but his psionic powers only could sense living creatures, not mechanical bodies.

Meanwhile Eagleeye was all over Puppy as she coughed heavily, still tied to her cargo containers. "Hang on Puppy… hang in there girl!" He said soothingly as she coughed into his shoulder.

"Couldn't… breathe… he was… killing me!" She muttered. "Could… barely… shoot."

"It's alright little lady, your fine now." T-Rex said calmly as everyone relaxed at hearing her coughing.

Mercy too was glad, the little female human seemed to serve this squad as a precious member, far more precious than any of them felt they were. She had seen how they had all reacted to Puppy's distress, they had all thrown themselves to rescue her, despite how dire the situation looked. They regarded each other's dire situations with the same professionalism they showed in dangerous positions, yet for Puppy their attitude changed entirely.

In her time with the Sharks, spending time talking to some of them, getting to know them, Puppy seemed like a 'useless' member to keep around in her opinion. The young operative lacked experience, lacked discipline sometimes, and lacked the obvious weaponry necessary to stand up with her fellow operatives. Yet she seemed just as important to the Land Sharks, as if she were their best member.

*If they had lost her…* She thought in relief, knowing she was safe now.

"I… only have… one question…" Puppy said as her breathing began to settle.

"And that is?" Hawkeye asked.

"Was that… a confirmed kill for me…? I had a coughing fit… and couldn't see what happened." She asked instantly.

[Sorry Puppy, those two went to T-Rex and Eagleeye.] The Commander said, while everyone chuckled at Puppy's question.

"Oh… come on…" She complained while leaning on the ground. "I'm choking to death… get the perfect flank on an enemy, shot him two feet in front of me… and 'still' no confirmed kill? What do I gata do, jump off a cliff?"

[Contact!] The Commander yelled, and they all turned to see the remaining Seeker decloak, and fire three plasma shots directly where Mercy and Hawkeye were.

During their haste to rescue Puppy, they failed to notice that they were standing on one of the indented portions of the room. Before they could react the shots hit the section, and the entire thing began to shake. The next thing that happened, time once again seemed to slow down for Mercy, as the ground beneath her tail collapsed, revealing an endlessly dark hole below her.

She tried to grab ahold of something, but all she saw were the looks of shock on her fellow XCOM member's faces, as she began falling down, and down. In desperation she grabbed out to the only thing she could, her human kindred, Hawkeye. She managed to grab his hand, but as they descended, each screaming in their own ways, all she could see was darkness.

(The Commander's PoV)

The Commander watched from his position in the ventilation system as his vision through Hawkeye's and Mercy's optic lenses became black, and he could not see anything where they might have fallen.

Unable to determine their fate, he switched to his remaining Sharks as they fired on the remaining Seeker and destroyed it.

"Where's Hawkeye, where's Mercy!" Puppy screamed in shock as she tried to look over the side of the hole.

"Calm down, just… just calm down I'm sure their fine!" Sharptooth yelled, but the panic in her voice was just as evident.

"Commander, where are they, where did they land?" T-Rex asked.

[As far as I can tell… they landed in the Genetics Lab two floors down.] He said as calmly as he could, but he was only just barely staying calm. [The lights are still offline down there, I can't see anything where they landed it's all dark to me!]

The Genetics Lab was two floors below them, but it was at least a forty foot plummet from where they were, and he doubted they landed in something very soft.

[Alright Sharks, move to the next room, we can't stay there for long, keep moving.]

"What, keep moving, are you insane, we can't just leave Hawkeye and Mercy down there, they may need medical help!" Puppy yelled.

[Keep your voice down Puppy, remember, the Hierarch Mother can hear what you say as well as I can.] He said.

"Screw the Hierarch Mother, Hawkeye and Mercy are my friends, I am not leaving them down there!" Puppy answered, but he couldn't concern himself with her response, as he was observing several cloaked signals moving toward them through the ventilation system.

[Incoming Seekers, take up defensive positions Sharks!] He ordered, giving them their positions as he watched several Seekers deploying their cloaks outside the room before moving in. [Hawkeye… Mercy… you're on your own… don't die on me you two… whatever you find down there… just don't die…]

(Hawkeye's PoV)

"Ugh…" He moaned as he felt like his bones weighed like twelve tons.

He couldn't see anything around him as everything was in total darkness.

"Hawkeye?" He heard Mercy hiss nearby. "You still alive?"

"Yea… I'm still breathing…" He moaned quietly as he tried getting up, only to find that he felt far more comfortable lying on the floor. "How you feeling?"

"My tail… is twisted… my arms are in pain… my head has lump… and my jaw was dislocated moment ago… without me wanting it to be." She hissed back.

"Well… as the old saying goes… be accustomed to pain." He said.

"Why that?" She hissed back hoarsely.

"Let's you know… your still alive!" He moaned painfully. "Can you see anything?"

"No… am I… blind?" She asked nervously.

"Nope… unless I'm blind to…" He whispered back.

Wearily and painfully he stood back up into a sitting position, he shook his head and looked up, only to see just the faintest of light from above, where obviously the rest of the Sharks still were. "Ugh… Commander…" He said, trying to be quiet as he tried to turn his coms on. "Commander… come in… Commander, do you hear me?"

All he heard was static.

"Mercy… can you activate your coms?" He asked her.

"Trying…" She hissed. "Commander… do you hear me… please respond?" She asked, but moments later she answered, "No… nothing."

There was silence as he realized that they were on their own now. "Commander will figure out how to make contact with us… for now we need… to get our bearings and… figure out where we are!" He said, trying to turn on his helmet light but finding it was shattered. "Can you get up?"

"No… I think I'm trapped… my neck is weighed down… as is my tail…" She hissed wearily. "Can't move my left arm… it trapped as well I think."

"One sec, let me see if I can find my rifle… maybe its light is still working." He said, and he began feeling around where he thought his rifle might have fallen.

As he felt around he found rock, and rock, and more rock, until he found something that was rather soft. Instantly he recognized it as Kevlar, and figured it was Mercy tried to determine if it was her arm or tail.

Unfortunately, it was 'neither'.

"Ah…" She hissed quietly. "Stop that…"

"Sorry, are you hurt?" He asked.

"No… you just… grabbed my chest." She hissed.

"Oh…" He answered, now thoroughly embarrassed. "Sorry, I can't see anything."

"It… alright…" She hissed, but even she sounded thoroughly embarrassed by his action. "My gun… to your right… just a little bit, you can use it to see."

Taking her instructions he began feeling around, and sure enough, found the handle of her rifle near her side where he had 'felt' her. Once he found the handle and located the light, he turned it on and used it to look at her condition.

She was indeed buried under pieces of stone and rock. Her tail was buried as was her neck, as well as her left arm, but other than that she seemed to be alright. "Good thing we were wearing our armor, if we had taken that fall without it…" He whispered as he began lifting the rocks off of her.

"Wouldn't have survived… if not for me…" She hissed wearily as she was slowly released. "Grabbed you… as we fell… pulled you above to break the fall. Your bones more fragile than mine… didn't want you to break."

"Is that so, guess I owe you one." He chuckled as he helped her up, and she shook her head, while fixing her jaw.

"It alright, we even now… you spared my life… I saved your life."

With that they found his rifle and they both began looking around at where they were. Unfortunately with the limited lighting they could not see very well, and all they could see was that they were in a massive chamber, that looked to be some kind of 'lab'. What kind of lab that was he didn't know, having never once looked up or asked for the old XCOM HQ's blueprints.

"We need to get the lights on at least, see what room this is, and how far we fell."

"I think I see one." She hissed and pointed her light's beam at what seemed to be a terminal.

He walked over and examined it, finding that it had partial power to it.

There were two commands active to it, under the command phrase,

[Priority Power available, Activate? (Y) (N)]

"Priority power, if I recall the Commander said that when priority power was established, systems meant to receive it were given priority over other systems like the ventilation." He said.

"Should we use it?" She asked him.

"It might be worth the risk, we need to figure out where we are, and how far we fell. We could even figure out what room this is and if there's anything useful in it." He replied. "Well… genie's already out of the bottle, no choice but to make our three wishes."

"Wishes?" She asked curiously.

"Figure of speech." He said. "Alright Genie, wish number one… give us light."

=XCOM Enemy Unknown Main Theme=

With that he pushed the (Y) command, and instantly it began displaying data too fast for him to read or understand. {Priority Power active, disengaging Emergency Stasis Unit's Life Support System… Re-establishing normal Life Support system to Containment Chambers!} A mechanical voice said over the intercom in their room, as lights began to go on all around.

As lights turned on they began seeing that they were in a massive chamber, filled with large and heavy equipment of the kind found in labs. There were massive terminals that suddenly became active, huge scanning machines that blazed into life after lying dormant, and a huge computer off to the side of the room that was easily twice the size of any generator they had found.

They looked over and found what appeared to be a low dais chamber which had engineering equipment that he knew Shen would give up an arm and a leg to have in 'her' engineering bay, which had apparently a completely finished MEC suit waiting. It even had a massive rifle for the suit, with several full clips of ammo waiting nearby.

"What the…" Mercy hissed in amazement. "It's… it's…"

"This… I know what this is." He whispered as he recognized some of the equipment. "This is a 'genetics lab', we're in the XCOM Genetics Lab."

{Full priority power restored to all systems, activating priority one systems.} The female synthetic voice declared. {Reinitializing GENE Modification Therapy Pod, finalizing Procedure… restoring body functions to normal… activating reconstitution fluids.}

They turned around again to the terminal they were just staring at, and saw that behind it were a circle of tube chambers, each twice the size of a human. While most of the tubes were empty, two in particular were completely full of liquids, and suspended in them were two 'humans', and as the tubes rotated so they were in front, a mechanical arm took one tube and moved it over to what they thought was an examination table, while the other had more tubes automatically attach to it, pumping more fluids into it.

{Full systems initialization complete, full system restoration complete, proceeding with operational functions.} The voice said again. {Activating MEC Soldier Cybernetic Augmentation Interface Suit attachment to body.}

Instantly they watched as the body, which they saw was missing all four limbs, was placed into the chamber out of their sight, and slowly began sliding down the conveyer belt toward them. All the while mechanical arms began taking pieces of suits, arms and legs, and attaching them to the torso where they belonged.

{Gene Modification Complete, restarting normal body functions, disengaging life support…}

As they watched the other tube, which had been filled with various liquids, they saw that the person inside, for it still 'was' a person, began to move ever so subtly. Eventually they saw the person, a man, open his eyes and look wearily at them, and based on his features he looked to be of Native American descent. Then the tube chamber began to empty of its liquid, and move toward them where there was a slot meant for it to sit. At the same time the other person, undergoing the MEC augmentation, a woman with dark skin, opened her eyes just as wearily, while the arms welded the pieces of her suit onto her.

{Full cyber augmentation suit attachment, complete… initializing sync to systems… system sync complete… MEC Soldier Cybernetic Augmentation Interface Suit attachment procedure complete…}

After both of their procedures ended, they each stepped up or stepped out of their various chambers and wearily stood on their feet, looking at their hands and arms, before looking at him and Mercy.

Seeing the XCOM Logo on both of their uniforms, as well as the Corporal rank on Hawkeye's armor, they each saluted him and declared in proud and determined voices.

"Sargent Nez Perce, Gene Soldier, Assault Class, Squad Wolf reporting for duty!"

"Lieutenant Gabriella Jules, MEC Trooper, Squad Falcon reporting for duty!"