To stand alone
For a long moment, the X-Com woman just stood, waiting for Mark to speak. He didn't. Instead, he took a long, slow look around. There was a small clearing near the entrance, more a break in the forest that was growing all around them than an actual cleared area. Certainly not artificial. He did not miss several shadows that held long objects. They were in professional concealed positions around the area. They had him cold. He did not raise his weapon, but he did not lower it either. It would be a matter of moments to raise it and fire, but if this woman was half the killer she seemed? She could do the same and her shotgun would likely tear right though him at this range even with his armor on. Let alone her sword. Heaven only knew what that could do. Cable could probably poke the iris out her eye at this range, but that wouldn't save Mark.
"Well?" The woman demanded, obviously irked by Mark's silence.
"I don't see any signs." Mark kept his tone conversational. It was hard, knowing he was smack dab in the middle of the kill zone of at least four and probably more hardened killers.
"Signs?" The woman asked, a bit off balance from his casual rejoinder.
"Yeah." Mark shrugged slightly, not moving his weapon from where it hung in his hands. He smiled, but the expression had little humor in it. "If you declare something to be private property, isn't it customary to put up 'No Trespassing' signs? To, you know, keep people out?"
"Unless of course, it is supposed to be a secret." The woman replied.
"It kind of defeats the purpose if people don't know to stay out." Mark was sure the woman almost smiled at that. No. Couldn't be. "Having something well hidden is all well and good but if there is one thing I have truly learned about humans, we are very good at breaking rules."
A snort came from Ana's hiding spot, but she didn't move.
"On that, we can agree, if likely on little else." The woman said with a grunt. "Care to step outside?"
Mark made a snap judgment. He was used to sizing up people in a hurry and this woman absolutely reeked of 'no bullshit'. She might gun him down without hesitation, but she likely wouldn't shoot him in the back unless the tactical situation called for it. Subterfuge would likely piss her off and he bet she knew more than he was comfortable with.
"I don't think that would be wise of me." Mark replied. "Right now, I have partial cover from the two soldiers on the left. It is not much, but it is far better than I would have if I step out into the kill box." The woman's eyes narrowed and he shook his head a little. "What do you want, X-Com? You didn't come all the way out here just to bust my chops." He snorted. "'Trespassing', my ass."
"This was an X-Com facility once." The woman replied, her hand squeezing the grip of her shotgun. "So, you are trespassing."
"Technically?" Mark pursed his lips. "If anything, I think this would be squatting, since there were no residents, no signs, no insignia, no nothing inside to show who did own it." He gave that minute shrug again. "You want us gone? Too bad. I am not going to walk out into your line of fire just because you asked me nicely."
One of the shadows outside actually snickered at that and the woman in front of Mark shook her head. Then everything stopped as a voice Mark knew sounded. Milodi was not happy.
"Can you get done with the ritual dick beating, already? Yes, you are both badasses and crazy. But geez!" A very familiar voice heralded three forms stepping into the clearing and Mark felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Priest Milodi looked very little like the Priest he remembered. She was wearing some kind of white short sleeved robes instead of Advent armor, but that paled beside her right arm which was an obvious prosthetic. It looked like Advent tech, but not quite. Maybe a bit more advanced? "Hello Mark." She smiled, but that smile faltered as he looked at her. He didn't move, didn't react at all and she bit her lip. "Mark, we are not enemies."
"Really." Mark looked from Milodi to the X-Com soldier and back.
"Mark, we don't want a fight here." Milodi said slowly. "Please. Where is your Mother?"
"Dead." Mark said flatly and Milodi recoiled.
"What?" Milodi asked. "I… No." She seemed to wilt. "Damn, she just said to come out here and talk to you. She didn't go into any detail." She took a step forward, but her guards moved to block her. "Damn it, move!" She snapped, but they did not.
Mark looked at the guards and they studied him in return. In form, both were Advent hybrids, but their armor and gear were anything but Advent pristine. Was that an animal fur around one's shoulders? It sure looked like it. Just looking at them they were professionals and not happy with Milodi.
"He won't hurt me!" Milodi snapped as she tried to go around her guards again, but they moved with her.
"They cannot know that." The X-Com woman said quietly.
"You were kind to us all, Priest Milodi." Mark admitted. "You were gentle with frightened, hurting beings and for that, I do thank you. But you did serve the Elders." Milodi slumped and Mark nodded. "I mean no offense to you, Priest Milodi, but you did."
"Which means you cannot trust me after what the Elders did to you." Milodi sounded old and tired for a moment. "Mark… We know. X-Com and I know what the Elders did to you."
"Of course they know." Mark still did not take his eyes off the armored woman in front of him. She tilted her head in query, not moving her weapon. "It was X-Com personnel who tried to take the last sample of bioagent and shot Mother when she refused to give it up."
He had thought the tension in the clearing was high before. Now? It was astronomical. Milodi stared at him, her wide eyes scared. She looked at the X-Com woman who shook her head.
"Colonel?"
"I know nothing of this." The human in front of Mark said slowly.
"You know I cannot trust a word you say." Mark was just as slow and careful and his finger curled around his trigger.
"No one move!" Milodi slammed through her guards to stand between Mark and the woman, hands outstretched both ways to ward off them both. "Mark… I serve the Lady now. She told me she talked to you, but she was so very tired, she couldn't tell me much. I was overjoyed when I heard you survived. What happened? X-Com killed you Mother?"
"Technically, no." Mark replied quietly, still ready to move or fire. "They demanded the last sample of bioagent, like I said. She refused. One of them shot her, but didn't kill her. The leader stated he would tear our resting place apart and kill us all if she didn't surrender it. She gave it to them in a way they really didn't like." At that, the armored woman actually winced. "Yeah, she broke it in her hand."
At that, everyone in the clearing winced.
"But..." Milodi shook her head. "Your Mother would have been in armor. Would that have-? Oh no..." She broke off and started to cry. "No!"
"Her armor was compromised and she knew she wouldn't survive. I watched her die just before I went to sleep." Mark shook his head. "So no, X-Com. There is zero chance of me ever trusting you or anyone in your uniform."
Calm. Cool. Matter of fact. Utterly inflexible.
"That is understandable." The woman replied and Mark eyed her. "You think we do not know hate? Revenge?" She slowly shook her head and lowered her weapon finally. "This is new information. I was briefed on you and your nest and no, we wouldn't simply kill you out of hand." Mark did not move and she sighed. "Look, this is new territory for a lot of us, so, just… Let me speak, okay?"
"Can't stop you." Mark replied.
"My name is Kelly." The woman said slowly. "My rank is Colonel and I lead one of X-Com's field teams." Mark did not react and she continued. "Two years ago, we did not have any teams in this area. Are you sure they were X-Com?"
"They wore the same symbol you do and carried odd weapons, unlike any I have seen in human hands before." Mark replied, still not giving and inch.
"Were they in armor?" The colonel asked, concern rising.
"They were." Mark allowed.
"Can I see one?" The woman asked.
"How do I know you won't kill us all as soon as you get close?" Mark demanded quietly.
"I could kill all five of you in that room right now with a word." The woman admitted. Mark did not react to her admission and she shook her head. "We didn't know if there was contagion, so we came prepared to sterilize if needed. We have a high yield plasma warhead rocket aimed at the entrance."
Such a weapon would burn even the Elders' nasty bioagent to nothing. What it would do to Mark and his people did not bear mentioning. It might even breach the doors if it was big enough and kill everyone inside. People in the clearing might survive if they could run fast enough and find solid cover fast enough. Doubtful. If he knew anything about X-Com, they were unlikely to err on the side of 'small'.
"Smart." Mark allowed even thought the mere thought was chilling. "Against some things, there is no overkill." She nodded. "That is why Mother refused to give up the sample." He slumped a little. His weapon didn't move. "She knew whoever they were, they would be tempted to use it and nothing good could come of such."
"Damn. I wish I could have met her." The woman's frank words surprised Mark and she smiled a bit grimly. "Not something I generally say about Mutons, but her? I wish I had."
"You would have either liked each other on sight or tried to kill each other." Milodi said quietly, not relaxing. "Maybe both, you crazy woman. Mark, we can help." She pleaded. Mark did not reply, the Colonel did.
"He cannot trust you, Priestess." The X-Com soldier said slowly. "What little I know about what he and his went through says that maybe the Lady can earn his trust? Maybe not. If so, it will take time. There is zero chance of him ever blindly trusting anyone who served the Elders. And if our people or someone pretending to be such demanded the weapon in such a way that his mother killed herself to keep it out of their hands?" She heaved a sigh. "I think we are screwed here, Priestess."
"Priest-ess?" Mark inquired, dragging the word out to two syllables.
"We were lost. I was lost." Milodi said quietly. "When the Elders fell, many of their servants and slaves had no idea what to do. Some fell back on routine, working, guarding, other things. Whatever they had done before, they do now. Some vanished, dead or simply in hiding, we do not know." She smiled a bit forlornly. "Some found new things to do. I had been hurt very badly and before I recovered, the Elders fell. It was a shock."
"I bet." A hint of sympathy entered Mark's tone and he stepped on that, hard.
"The Lady came and talked to me. I asked to serve her as I had served the Elders and her response was rather rude." Milodi winced in memory and Mark felt a smile curl his own face as the Colonel smirked. "She told me to find my own way. I didn't want to go on, but I have lost too many friends to simply give up. It would cheapen their sacrifice. I now work as a counselor and mediator. A bridge between humanity and the remnants of the Elders forces. Some of us revere an old deity now, the Earth Mother. I found I liked that path and I serve the population of Earth in its entirety now."
"Noble." Mark meant that and she smiled a little.
"Mark, we need confirmation that it is gone." Milodi said softly. "If you really want to go your own way, and I find I cannot blame you for that, much as it pains me to say that,..." She admitted. "...then we will let you. There is far too much to do, trying to repair, reclaim, or just fix things to dither when we are at an impasse. There are far too many dead already to see more fall needlessly. We could certainly use you, but we have no right to press you."
"I need to see the bodies." The Colonel said slowly. "Where are they?" Mark just looked at her and she slowly shook her head. "No, I am not asking trust."
Mark's eyes narrowed as she slowly bent down and laid her shotgun on the ground. His eyes widened as she undid a harness of some kind and her sword followed it. Then her equipment belt with its pouches and grenades followed that! Knives and other things joined the growing pile. He had recovered his poise by the time she rose and stepped away from the sizeable pile of assorted deadliness.
"Colonel!" Someone protested from outside.
"Button that lip, Feedback! He wouldn't let anyone else do it!" Kelly snapped as she looked at Mark. "Just so you know, that went very much against the grain." Mark did not react. "I was once an unwilling 'guest' in an Advent interrogation center."
"You got out." Mark wasn't sure if he was impressed or appalled. Maybe a bit of both. He took one step to the side and when no one shot him, another. She inclined her head to him as he flanked the door with Jack on the other side.
The armored woman started for the door, only to pause as Milodi moved to join her. "Oh, no, Priestess. You do not go in." She held up a stiff arm to stop further progress.
"I am not under your command." Milodi said with a growl worthy of a Muton. She did not try to push the Colonel. She wasn't stupid.
"If you were, I would drop you for push-ups." The Colonel said sourly and at least three people outside snickered. Both of the guards who had stayed where Milodi stood them looked amused as well. "But if there is contagion in there, then that is what soldiers are for. Not Priestesses. I am not questioning your courage, but this is our job."
"Mother gave the ones she worked with the counter agent." Mark said slowly. "You don't have it?" His appreciation for the woman's bravery -or insanity!- climbed as she shook her head. "We do."
"Oh, thank the Earth Mother!" Milodi slumped in sheer relief. "There haven't been any outbreaks, but we have all been in pins and needles worried about one."
"I saw what it does." Mark agreed. "We checked thoroughly. The room was totally sealed and there was zero emission. The nano virus had a life expectancy of one year, so Mother must have programmed the system to make us sleep for two. Not sure when. We swept four times and found no sign of any active agent." He slowly shook his head. "Jack, is the pack with medical gear still where we put it?"
"It is." Jack allowed from his post by the other side of the door. "You want it?"
"It has ten doses of counter agent in it. Get it." Mark didn't take his eyes off the Colonel as Jack moved slowly backwards, weapon still at the ready. Even unarmed, the X-Com soldier was likely the most dangerous person present, discounting Milodi's psy abilities. "I don't like you. I don't trust you. But Mother intended to render that weapon completely useless."
"Both to keep you from harm and to spite the Elders." The Colonel actually smiled. "Damn. I really wish I had met her now."
"Still sealed, Mark." Jack called from behind Mark. "Where?"
"Give it to Milodi." Mark said with a nod. Milodi stared at him as Jack moved forward, bag in one hand, weapon in the other. "We don't have a lot of records. But what we have are there. We figured we would have to tell someone. Or we would leave it and let whoever found this place when we left take it. We copied disposal records of thirteen organic devices of Elder origin. Incinerated in a high yield plasma furnace. Same temperature as that warhead would produce probably. Those could be faked." He admitted.
"Why would you?" Milodi sounded shocked, but the Colonel nodded.
"Fear." The soldier gave Mark a look of pure understanding. "Deterrence works best with fear. What we don't know is always more terrifying than what we do. Not that you would, but many do not know you. I believe you. Thirteen destroyed and one deployed and expired. Fourteen."
"Seven bio-agent samples, seven triggers removed form our persons." Mark agreed. "And I hope to God they didn't keep any extra just lying around."
"You and me both." The Colonel stepped past Jack as he moved to Milodi. "Special weapons are no joke at all. You have more counter agent?"
"We have an automated foundry cranking out more. Last count I saw had us at almost a thousand doses." Mark reassured her. "We don't have records of the agent itself, thank god. I was told it might be possible to reverse engineer the counter." He warned.
"99.99% of the people on Earth won't ever have the capability to reverse engineer nanotechnology. Those who do or will? They know better than to play with such things." It was the Colonel's turn to reassure him as she moved past him and into the room. He tracked her with his weapon, but she didn't even twitch as she saw Aroa and Ana also aiming at her. Cable still lay back by the entrance to the vault, his rifle aimed. "The Priestess told me how well trained you people were. Wasn't sure I believed her."
"We worked hard to stay under the radar." Mark allowed and the Colonel nodded. She moved to the line of body bags without any hint of discomfort. Aroa didn't move from her position nearby, but she did tense as the woman knelt down by one bag and opened it.
The horror within would have made just about any human lose their lunch. Colonel Kelly just nodded.
"Nasty way to go." The Colonel said softly. She looked at Aroa and nodded. "You have my sympathy for the loss of your Mother in such an ignoble way." The Viper did not react and the Colonel actually smiled again. "I like working with professionals."
"With all due respect, Colonel Kelly..." Milodi said sternly from where Jack had handed her the bag and was now retreating. "We all know you are nuts. You don't need to prove it every minute of every day!"
"Temp-er." The colonel caroled as she examined the body. Then she shook her head. "No ID?"
"Nothing." Mark agreed. "Wasn't sure if that was protocol."
"We are not huge on carrying lots of things that we cannot use. Advent bio-metric scans made most other forms of ID useless. Most of us carry knickknacks, personal mementos, that kind of thing. Rank insignia or name badges would be subdued or hidden while in the field. This guy has nothing? Odd." The Colonel allowed. "And... This? No. I don't know this armor. This isn't ours."
"Then what is that?" Mark nodded at the X-Com symbol etched onto one shoulder. The Colonel stared at it and then seemed to wilt a little.
"A big problem." The woman seemed at a loss for words.
"Damn you, Vahlen! What have you done now?"