The red man raised his head as the snow began to fall.
Beady eyes stared up into the black night sky, dotted with stars and only partially obscured by the nearby city center's light pollution. He had heard stories that before the tyranny of the Elders, these dark days had been lit up with celebration and love.
The people behind him milled about, keeping conversation quiet, putting out fires where they could. The solstice had come to them early this year, and the longest night was sovereign in a sense. The calm before the storm.
There was a little hand on his knee, and the red man bent down slowly and lifted the human child into his arms. Her dark hair was still streaked with white-gold, like snow, and her dark eyes held the night in their grasp.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, her speech still slightly muddled. It had not been long since she had begun talking in complete sentences, after all.
"I'm thinking about the past." He admitted.
"What kind?"
He hesitated, unsure how to answer. He almost said, a better one.
"Haimini." He bounced her in his arms. "What do you want for Christmas?"
.
.
The Avenger kicked up a white cloud of powder as it landed in the snowy field, and Senuna found the irony in that fitting as she examined the ends of her own hair.
"Do you think it was always white?" The bed dipped as Zhang settled down on it, sitting beside her. Not many people had that privilege, but Zhang was old. And a friend.
"The snow? Or my hair?" She chuckled.
He shrugged. "I would hope the snow, but who knows."
"I was…born on a night like this." She admitted. "One minute I was running away, and the next…"
"You've told me." He stopped her. "You've been dwelling on this a lot."
"It was on the solstice, December 22nd." She stood up, and Zhang leapt to his feet to catch her as she teetered a bit. "Thank you."
"And it was nearly a century ago." He said.
"And in a century, I found almost no answers." She made her way to the window and stared out. The snow glittered silver under the moonlight, and she pressed a hand to the window, watching it fog up.
"Has Tygan said you can drink yet?" Zhang asked as she heard him rummaging around in her desk. "I say it's time we finally celebrate making it as far as we have."
"Against all odds." She turned to him. "And if one drink is the thing to kill me, maybe it's my time to go~"
Zhang pulled the bottle of brandy from her desk drawer and popped the cap off, the cracking sound making it apparent that it had yet to be opened even after god-knew-how-long. He took a long drink of it and then passed it to her, and she raised the bottle to him.
"To a hundred years more."
"And a happy new year."
.
.
The first thing that Kon-Mai felt ,when she drifted back into consciousness, was the deep cold that had sunk into her bedroom, and she pulled up the covers to her chin in an attempt to block that out. As her impressive body heat began to warm the blankets, and she began to drift back to sleep, she felt something else. Violent shaking.
For a split second, she thought there was an earthquake happening, until said earthquake cried "Konnie get up! There's snow!"
She shot up into a sitting position, and looked around in confusion before settling on Gur-Rai's face. He was grinning ear to ear like a child, and she blinked up at him in confusion as he took her hand and hauled her into a sitting position.
"Come on, get dressed in something warm! Lily and I are going to have a snowball fight, Dhar-Mon is coming too, and fuck all if I'm gonna let you be left out!" He stood up and she saw that, over his sweater, he was wearing a black leather jacket lined with very soft looking fur.
"Snow?" She blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Where are we?"
"Hungary, I think. Smells like Europe. Anyway I didn't ask because I was distracted." He rubbed his gloved hands together.
"I thought we were headed to Asia." She asked as she threw the covers off and searched around for her robe. Her thin tank top and leggings were definitely not cutting it in this weather.
"We had to make a pit stop here. Shen needs to re-tune the combustors and Bradford thinks it'll be a good chance to get some intel on any local resistance factions. Now are you coming out with us or not?! I haven't seen snow in years and I fully intend to dunk on Dhar-Mon today!"
She raised a brow at him. "You assume I have any clothes warm enough for snow."
"You can borrow mine!" He shrugged. "And I know you have at least three turtlenecks, those should be perfect. Now hurry up, we have a betting pool going." He winked at her and strode out of the room.
Kon-Mai got to her feet slowly and began to search through her drawers. At first looking for her armor, she instinctively decided against it and instead reached for her yellow wool turtleneck and pulled it over her head. It was instantly warmer, and she sighed in pleasure for a moment before she looked down at herself.
She had accidentally made this shirt about a size too big for her torso, so it was loose and the collar hung down to her chest. Putting it on by itself, she at first did notice how comfortable it was–and then was immediately hit with the shrill voice of her mother: You look like a common slob! I'd rather have you fight naked than soil my good name wearing a glorified trash bag!
She hastily pulled the sweater off and instead layered a purple tank top over a long-sleeved black shirt. It was nowhere near as warm, but it fit her figure, and perhaps someone would find her presentable in it. Over her leggings she pulled on a thick wool skirt that came down to her ankles, so at least her lower half would be warm.
She made her way down the Avenger halls, and noticed then the smells of something savory cooking. The scent of ginger spice and pine needles hung in the air, accompanying the occasional green wreath hung on the wall. She stopped to admire one, and noticed it was covered in sparkling lights and red berries. It looked almost symbolic, and something about it struck a familiar chord, as though she was remembering a dream of a dream.
As she stepped off the Avenger and into the frosty morning, the cold air hit her like a truck, and she hugged herself, now wishing she had braved her insecurities and brought her turtleneck. Her legs were warm, at least, but the thin material of her shirt let the wet cold seep right through to her bones.
"Kon-Mai!" She heard a familiar voice call out in the distance. Looking out into the snowy valley, she saw Shen waving to her, just as Malinalli came up behind her and tossed a snowball into the back of her head. Shen shrieked, and Malinalli sprinted away, laughing as Shen chased after her.
Kon-Mai waved back, but quickly replaced her hand back on her arm to block out what cold she could. She made her way down the platform, careful not to slide on the quickly forming ice that now coated the ramp. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned, ducking, just as a snowball came rocketing at her from behind.
"Dammit!" Gur-Rai smirked and crossed his arms. "One of these days I'll catch you, Sister, mark my…" His snarky smile dropped like a lead balloon. "Where's your coat?!"
"It was unsightly on me." She protested. "I do not need a coat anyway. I am fine."
"No you are not!" He snapped, shaking off his own jacket and throwing it over her shoulders. "It is 10-fucking-below and you are in a tank top! You're going to freeze!"
"I have long sleeves under." She said as she pulled the coat closer around her, trembling as the icy chill left her body, replaced by the warmth of fur and leather.
"Oh my mistake, didn't realize that your shirt was double layered with fucking cotton." He gently pulled on the thin fabric of her sleeve. "Konnie. You are going to freeze. Take my jacket."
"And what about you?" She asked as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. The jacket was, in fact, slightly small on her, and it hugged her body like a warm blanket. Wrapping it around her middle, she saw that it seemed to hold everything right where it should be, and she smiled in satisfaction.
"I'll be keeping warm by doing this~" Gur-Rai reached his gloved hands into the snow and packed it into a dense snowball. "Hey Brother! Heads up!"
Kon-Mai watched as Dhar-Mon (also heavily bundled up) turned around just in time for Gur-Rai's projectile weapon to hit him in the side of the head. He stumbled a bit, and then reached down and gathered up a snowball the size of a bowling ball. Gur-Rai took off running, dancing and slipping across the snow, and Kon-Mai chuckled as she watched Dhar-Mon aim carefully and launch the snowball directly at his brother. There was a loud thump, and the sound of Gur-Rai laughing.
Kon-Mai reached her bare hands into the freezing snow and gathered it in a ball…
.
.
Dhar-Mon pressed the mug of hot tea into her frostbitten fingers and cupped her hands as he did. "Be careful, Sister. It is very hot."
"I know, Brother. Thank you." She smiled up at him, already feeling the warmth of the liquid in the cup melting the ice that had formed along her skin. She had a warm blanket draped around her shoulders and wrapped in her lap. The canteen was warm, Bryni was cooking something intricate and the heat of the oven spread through it like the heat of a fireplace. Volk was sitting in the corner booth, already three bottles deep into the spiced wine. He and Gur-Rai would occasionally glare at each other from opposite ends of the room, but thankfully no altercation took place.
She looked up as the sound of jingling caught her ear and saw Tiwaz and Tisiphone marching in with boxes full of golden tinsel and green wreaths. A few other soldiers followed them in, and Betos brought up the end of the caravan, looking about as confused as the Chosen were.
"What's all this?" Gur-Rai asked, kicking his feet up on the table and leaning back.
"Decorations." Tisiphone said simply.
"Decorations for what?"
"Uh…" She raised an eyebrow at Tiwaz, who yanked the bottle of wine from Volk's hands (much to the Reaper's drunken protests) and raised it.
"Well from me, I wish you all a Happy Yule and a Merry Christmas!" He took a swig of it.
"Then it was you who put the wreaths up." Kon-Mai mused. "I had wondered what those were for."
"You didn't know?" Tisiphone looked up at her. "…Right. No Christmas in ADVENT?"
"It was considered a human tradition." Dhar-Mon interjected, sliding into a booth with Malinalli following his lead and curling up beside him like a happy cat. "In my territory, it was especially hard to stamp out the practice. Many Christians practiced it in secret until we discovered them."
"Well, it has roots in paganism." Tiwaz added. "But yeah, Christmas, Christianity, it's a big thing in a lot of places." He winked.
"By the way you're waving that spiced wine, it looks very interesting~" Gur-Rai leapt to his feet. "What do you do on Christmas, exactly?"
Tisiphone chuckled at his display. "Depends. A lot of soldiers don't celebrate, for various reasons, but those of us that do have a small gathering in the bar, a few of us cook…or attempt to." She glared at Tiwaz, who shrugged sheepishly. "And then we also have a gift exchange for those who want to participate."
Dhar-Mon looked up intently, listening with earnest. "Gifts?"
"Yeah." She climbed up onto one of the tables and reached into the box, grabbing a handful of lights. "Usually you can put your name in a hat and randomly pull out someone to get a gift for, but if you have someone special…" She looked down at him and Malinalli "you might wanna get a gift for her, too."
"It's not necessary, though!" Malinalli insisted. "Besides, Christmas is in, what, a day? We probably won't be stopping by any markets before then, it's not worth worrying about."
"It's on his mind, Molly, there's no stopping it now." Gur-Rai chuckled. "Maybe you can give her a good time though, Brother."
"Do not be crude." Dhar-Mon scolded his little brother. "This is a blessed occasion."
"So give her a blessed experience~" Gur-Rai snickered, rolling under the table when Malinalli raised a glowing hand at him.
Kon-Mai gazed at the festive decor still in the box. "How interesting that during such a cold, dark time, humans create their own warmth."
"Humans are very skilled at that." Verge said as he emerged from the kitchen. He was clothed in a black apron and oven mitts, and had bits of oregano sticking to his face. "Even in the depths of despair, they could cling to their beliefs like a lifeline. Even the secular held the warmth of hope close to their hearts."
"Without that hope, we have a tendency to shut down." Tisiphone added. "…Even I haven't broken the habit."
Kon-Mai stared into her teacup, the warm brown liquid reflecting her face back at her. She still looked tired, and her hair was slightly wet from the melting snow.
There was movement to her right, and Betos leaned against the booth, looking down at the Chosen woman. "In the Skirmishers, we also observe the Solstices as sacred days." She mentioned. "The passage of time is an important event for us, each day we are free. That is something to celebrate."
Free. That word hung in the air for a minute until Kon-Mai scooted over and patted the seat beside her. "Tell me more."
Betos hesitated, and Kon-Mai looked up and almost thought she saw Betos blushing pink. But perhaps that was an illusion, as Tisiphone plugged in the decorative lights and they lit up the room in a red glow.
The loudspeaker crackled, and Tisiphone almost lost her balance and toppled over until the Commander's voice came on the comms. "Gur-Rai Madron and Verge, please report the the armory."
"Mission?" Malinalli asked.
"Covert ops." Gur-Rai stood. "A shame, I'd much rather spend time with my family in the comfort of our own home, but duty calls~" He waved, striding out of the bar with Verge following behind him.
"By the way, Verge, what do you want for Christmas?"
"Nothing." He said matter-of-factly. "The supposed Christmas phenomenon has been theorized by many wise minds to have merely been an astronomical anomaly that-"
"I'll get you some socks."
"If you do I will never speak to you again."
.
.
"Remember, this isn't a run and gun mission. Bradford said. "We just need you to get as close as you can, get as much information on the terrain as possible, and get out. The faster you can, the better."
"But you said no running." Gur-Rai chuckled, and Bradford rolled his eyes.
"Don't test me, Darkstrider." He stepped back, examining the small team. A different Reaper, an old, greying man named Szabolcs, accompanied them, seemingly paying no mind to his alien comrades. Besides him, Gur-Rai and Verge were the only other people assigned. Basically a skeleton crew.
"You didn't think it was better to send my sister?" Gur-Rai raised a brow. "You know. The actual sneaky one."
"Commander's orders, Darkstrider. We need your eyes, not your ears. And your sister-"
"Needs glasses, I know. Maybe I'll get her some for Christmas~"
"Oh you heard, hm?" Bradford chuckled. "Get out there and do a good job and maybe we'll add you to the secret Santa."
Gur-Rai gave Bradford a flippant salute and spun on his heel, striding towards the Skyranger, where Bryni was doing final checks. Verge followed him, but Szabolcs stayed behind for a moment, whispering something to Bradford.
"Don't have time, Szal. Sorry." Bradford murmured. "Maybe next year."
Szabolcs' shoulders slumped noticeably, and he lowered his mask onto his stony face and followed his alien comrades towards the ship.
.
.
The barren trees were decorated with ornaments of icicles and tinsel made of snow, and the three XCOM soldiers quietly made their way through it all like foxes. Gur-Rai kept looking over to Verge, watching for if the snow began to bother his bare feet, but he had assured Gur-Rai that the psionics would keep him warm, and no he did not need shoes. The Darkstrider was told to worry more about his own position: and he barely even noticed that, compared to his compatriots (and despite how objectively heavy he was), he seemed to glide across the thin top layer without ever sinking to the packed ice underneath.
"There's the city center." Verge stopped them, pointing forward towards the horizon, where a thin silver line stopped the sky dead in its tracks. "Remember, do not get too close. I can listen with my psionics but my range of sight is limited. That is where you two are needed."
"My eyes were better 20 years ago." Szabolcs muttered, shifting beside Gur-Rai and drawing his weapon. He did so delicately, and the click of his rifle was barely audible.
Gur-Rai smiled and gazed down his scope toward the wall. "You could say a lot of things were better 20 years ago." He remarked. "But I think we'll be able to manage."
Szabolcs said nothing. He shifted away from the Darkstrider and leapt up onto the low branch of a tree.. "I'm going to see if I can get closer."
"Be my guest." Gur-Rai held his position. While he understood the Commander's reasoning, he really thought she should have recruited his sister for this instead. Her cloak would have been useful here. Come to think of it, it was the Elders he was angry at for not giving him that cloak in the first place. Figures his siblings got all the cool toys.
"I have a visual on the Center Wall." Szabolcs called within a few short moments.
"Copy that, I'm heading to 2 o' clock." With Verge hidden, Gur-Rai also climbed the slippery trunk and perched himself in the branches of a tree, crawling along like some sort of prehistoric sloth. He got as close as he could, close enough that he could see the black figures of the ADVENT guard patrol, and shimmied from one tree to another with cat-like agility. The ancient wood was tall enough to see clear over the gate and into the cobblestone city center, and gazing into it, he was thrown for a loop for just a moment.
Humans milled about calmly and happily, muttering and talking to each other as friends and neighbors as if there wasn't a war going on, and as if the most dangerous predator alive wasn't sitting less than a mile away, with a gun that could blow them into red paste if he so wished. He lowered his rifle and just stared into the courtyard for a moment, watching each and every figure, the sounds of their laughter and gossip melting together into a warm memory. He closed his eyes…
"-strider. Darkstrider!"
"Hm? I'm awake, over." Gur-Rai snapped back to alertness at the sound of Verge's voice. "What've you got for me, Pal?"
"I am not quite sure. I've never heard this name before, it might be code." Gur-Rai felt a gentle tugging at the back of his head. "Connect to my mind, Darkstrider. You have walked among the humans, perhaps you know this."
Gur-Rai closed his eyes a moment and imagined the feeling in the back of his head spreading through his skull. He was no stranger to psionic networks and when he opened his eyes again, he felt Verge's presence beside him, even though the Sectoid was several feet away at least. He blinked, and felt Verge's gaze turn through his eyes toward the City Center again.
Gur-Rai pressed his scope back to his eye, and like Verge could now see through his eyes, he could now hear the conversations with terrifying clarity as the former's psionics drew closer to a pair of humans huddled by a streetlamp, sharing a newspaper.
"Can you hear?" Verge asked, and Gur-Rai could hear his voice as though he was standing beside him.
"Yeah." It felt strange to be able to pick out the conversation itself from the white noise that usually filled his ears when he focused on something, but he could hear their voices and…
"I don't speak Hungarian." He muttered.
"I do." Szabolcs said. "Verge. Can I translate over this thing? I grew up in Szekszárd so if anyone would recognize their conversation, it'd be me."
"You can. Let me assist…" He felt Verge detach from him for a moment, and then all of a sudden the Hungarian words the two people spoke twisted in Gur-Rai's mind, becoming recognizable.
"So if you can get Myra and Sandor to this checkpoint here, Szent Miklós will meet us at this one. I can lead you halfway but you have to be swift. Leave behind anything not absolutely necessary for the journey." One of the people said in a man's deep voice, pointing to various spots on the newspaper.
"Myra is pregnant, Erno, we cannot move swiftly." The other, also a man but much more timid, said. "I am not sure about this."
"It was you who came to me, remember? And now that you know all this, I can't just let you walk back to your ADVENT job. They'll torture you to find our route. It's not only your family who is risking everything."
The other man was silent. Gur-Rai could see him scratching his dark hair under his knit cap. It looked intricate. Maybe Myra had made it for him.
"Norbaer." Erno hissed sharply. "Szent Miklós will not wait for you, alone."
"I know. But if we are caught?" He shook his head. "I have so many worries."
"If they catch you, they'll kill you, and then you won't be worried about anything." Erno shoved the newspaper into Norbaer's hands. "The train is going east at 10:30, hurry and you will not miss it!" He almost shouted, undoubtedly to distract authorities.
"Seems like this Szent Miklós is a revolutionary of sorts." Gur-Rai chuckled. "We might have an ally out here…" He felt something tugging on the side of his head, toward where he knew Szabolcs was sitting. Following the pull, he felt a feeling of warmth spread over him, the smell of gingerbread, the sound of singing…
"I don't suppose either of you were in Hungary before the war." Szabolcs said, his voice clear. "Szent Miklos is who you call Saint Nicholas."
"And unless Saint Nicholas was some kind of alien warlord, I don't know him either…" Gur-Rai said, but something deep in his stomach was pulling at him. That same warm feeling, and he felt a wave of brief joy.
"Santa Claus." Szabolcs waited for his reaction, and ultimately got none. "Are you sure you were human before?"
"Many human cultures do not have a Santa figure." Verge said in Gur-Rai's defense. "But to explain, Gur-Rai, the person he is referring to is a winter gift-bringer, rooted in various Christian and pagan beliefs." He felt Verge's mind shifting, and Gur-Rai closed his eyes as images and information flooded him. The image of a red bearded man looked so familiar it gave him pause. "I believe ADVENT cut the idea of Santa Claus from public culture. He was deemed heretical, for this very reason: people tended to rally around his name around Yuletide."
"Inciting rebellion. Never something I would have pinned on the old man…" Szabolcs muttered. "But they're talking about him like he's an actual person…"
"Maybe it's metaphorical." Gur-Rai scanned the courtyard again for any other signs of rebellion. "The day waits for no one and all that."
"Hm." Szabolcs was not convinced, he could feel it. "I think we should bring this to the Commander."
"And tell her, what exactly? That Santa Claus is leading an exodus from the City Center?" Gur-Rai chuckled. "She's a weird one, but I think that'll be a stretch, even for her."
"Darkstrider!" Bryni called over the radio. "I need ya!"
"What happened, Bryni?" He asked. "Unless you're asking me out in which case, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait-"
"I just sighted a hostile less'n 30 bootprints from the Skyranger!" She snapped. "I got my gun but it's lookin' to be a Muton, and if that lad gets a hit on the turbines, ain't none of us goin' home!"
With a snap, the psionic link was cut, and Gur-Rai slid down the tree trunk, Szabolcs landing in the snow several feet away. Verge darted out from behind a tree, and the three began the sprint back to the Skyranger.
Gur-Rai was impressed, not only at Verge's ability to keep up with him, but with Szabolcs running a mere foot behind him and almost keeping pace. Reapers never ceased to amaze him.
The three broke the treeline, emerging into the snowy clearing to find nothing out of the ordinary, except for Bryni standing in the now, gun in hand and shaking in her boots. The Darkstrider ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder, which made her shriek and jump two feet in the air, whipping around and pointing the gun at his face.
His hands went up. "Don't shoot, it's me."
"Santa's fat wrinkly ballsack, Darkstrider! You scared the bajeebies out of me." She sighed. "I dunno how many are out there, but I counted one Muton in the trees."
"Maybe it's just the one." Verge offered. "If we were discovered, I have my doubts ADVENT would shirk on the manpower needed to capture the Skyranger."
"You are correct, Sectoid."
Verge, Szabolcs, Gur-Rai and Bryni all drew their guns as a lone Muton emerged from the snowy trees, dressed not in ADVENT armor, but in a suit of reddish-brown leather, lined with fur. His mouth was obscured by the usual black, metallic contraption hammered into his face, and when he spoke again, his speech rang almost mechanical, as though he were talking through an artificial voice box.
"There is no need for weapons, I assure you I'm very friendly…well. Relatively speaking." The Muton's English was accented and slightly broken, but he spoke elegantly and well.
"Identify yourself." Szabolcs demanded, pointedly cocking his gun.
"I am called Miklós." He said. "And from your insignia, you are XCOM." He raised a brow.
"Miklós?" Gur-Rai lowered his gun slightly. "…Don't tell me. Szent Miklós?"
"That is what the people call me." He reached for the large weapon on his back but did not pull it. "I am not here to fight you, XCOM. I was hoping you would arrive. I am here to request your help, if you will give it."
.
.
It wasn't easy to explain to Bradford why they had come back from the mission with a Muton dressed in a bootleg Ranger Santa costume. But it also wasn't easy to fit Miklós into the Skyranger, but with some careful finagling, they managed that.
And Gur-Rai's silver tongue could do a lot more than finagle when he needed it to.
Bradford rubbed his temples and turned to Senuna, who was standing there with her hands behind her back, looking more introspective than Gur-Rai had ever seen her. "Well, Sunny?" Bradford asked.
"…Well he looks like Santa." Senuna chirped.
"I…I'm not asking that." Bradford sighed. "I'm asking if we take up his request for help." Bradford looked back at Miklós. "Look, if this were a haven that needed help, I'd be all over this, but for one thing you're asking us to go after an ADVENT city center."
"That is incorrect. I would never ask you to launch a full scale attack on an ADVENT center." The Muton clarified. "Even I am aware of your human limitations. I am asking you to help me get people out."
"How?" Bradford crossed his arms. "We walk in and just demand the citizens be handed over?"
"I'm guessing we meet them at the checkpoints." Gur-Rai butt in. "And we go from there."
Miklos looked over at Gur-Rai. The two stood at about the same height, but Miklós' burly physique still made him look slightly taller than Gur-Rai. "…How did you know this?"
"A little Verge told me." He chuckled. "We overheard it during our Covert Ops. Two men discussing meeting up with 'Szcent Miklós' at 'the checkpoint'." He smirked. "Am I on the money?"
Miklós nodded. "Yes…this is not my first raid." He admitted. "Each year for the past six years, there has been a mass exodus of ADVENT citizens from the centers along the Danube. ADVENT's technology has so far failed to either find an explanation for this security flaw, or stop it from recurring."
"It's you?" Senuna said, stepping towards the Muton and leaning forward. "You're breaking people out en masse? How do you keep it secure like you have?"
"These raids when I broke free of my own shackles." He admitted. His metallic voice cracked a bit under the muzzle he still wore. "When the winter snow fell on the solstice, I fled, and in my hurry many humans followed me closely into the woods of the Gemenc. There was confusion at first." He clasped his gloved hands, and Gur-Rai noticed him pulling on the fur-lined cuff of his suit. "But as the dust settled, and they came to realize I would not hurt them, they began to call me 'Szcent Miklós.' Saint Nicholas. I knew not the power that name held…" He hesitated. "You, Commander, understand the power of a name."
"I do…" She sighed. "So why do you need us now? You seemed like you were getting along fine before."
"I fear that the lapses in ADVENT's judgement may be lessening." He admitted. "In the recent months they have become stringent with their patrols. More citizens go missing, more soldiers appear. And there have been whispers of an Officer dressed in black, with a helmet curved into horns, who stalks the snowy walls."
"Sounds like something you'd tell kids to scare them." Bradford said.
"You know ADVENT, and so do I. I dare not risk confronting such a force alone. The power of a name is great. But bullets still tear flesh."
Senuna's face was soft and sympathetic. "…I know what a bullet can do." She said softly, rubbing her shoulder as if nursing a wound. "What do you need from us?"
Miklós' face radiated relief for a moment. Then he straightened up. "I don't know where the compromised checkpoint is, but there are three all together. The first is inside the inner city, by the train station. It is always guarded by two troopers."
Senuna turned to Bradford. "How likely is Betos to attempt my murder if I suggest two of her Skirmishers handle that?"
"Betos? Not as likely as Geist but more likely than Volk. I can ask her for you."
"No, I will. She'll definitely kill you" She turned back to Miklós. "Next?"
"The second checkpoint is the outer wall, the one the Hunter was perched beside." He continued, gesturing to Gur-Rai and ignoring his discomfort at being called Hunter. "Those are also guarded by ADVENT, but they have been lax in previous years. They have Chryssalid hounds at the gate, who apparently can sniff out dissent, though I suspect they simply smell for unusual items on a person: cooked meat, used blankets, things people would bring if they were running. If innocents are caught up in their stringent policing, so be it, as they say"
"Hm." Senuna clasped her hands to her lips. "Not sure if we can sneak past them quietly, but…"
"How about a distraction?" Gur-Rai asked. "I know hunting animals, and Chryssalids have a worse attention span than me. I bet all it would take is some old meat scattered around the area for them to lose focus. Backup plan is I start blasting."
"It's as good a plan as any." Bradford nodded. "And the last one?"
"The third checkpoint is in the woods, once they are out of sight from ADVENT. That is where I meet them, and when I lead them into the forest and to freedom. A few soldiers as reinforcements is all I ask for this."
Senuna nodded. "I can spare some, I think." She turned to Bradford. "How's that sound?"
"I can't argue with it." He shrugged. "It's not gonna be easy but, hell, we've pulled off more complicated operations before."
.
.
The black-clad man stalked the metal halls, his boots clunking on the grates loud enough to alert everyone that he was here. They ducked their heads, careful to keep as close to the walls as possible, His eyeless mask could see perfectly, and he tilted his head slightly as he scanned the hall, making his way up to the door as it slid open and he stepped inside.
A sickly sweet voice greeted him. "Officer Krlampos." The Elders spoke, Vox Abyzou in front and her two husbands on each side, mimicking her words. "You have been appointed with the task of securing the city, and ensuring the safety and compliance of the civilians within. And in this, so far, you have pleased us."
Krlampos smiled, and his teeth were almost as sharp as their Chosens' had been. "I live only to serve you…" It was a lie, but they all knew it. Going through the motions was a formality. They lived for their ego, he lived for the stench of blood.
"We know that the traitorous M1K42 will strike again this year. The eve of December 24th shall be his date of operation. We cannot allow such travesties to continue unmitigated. This is the year we must act."
"Yes, Mordenna." Krlampos cooed, running his tongue over his teeth. "I shall sniff him out of the forest, and I shall rend his flesh before his heretical followers, so they may see him as mortal."
"We know you will succeed. But be warned." Abyzou held up a hand. "He has bested others before, others we trusted. Will you fail us, Krlampos?"
"Never." He dropped to his knees and could not hold back a chuckle. "The traitor's last sight shall be bullets glinting in the snowlight."
.
.
Resting her head back against the booth, Kon-Mai pulled her blanket around her knees. Her brother had been right: going out in the cold had been a bad idea, she could feel her immune system struggling to make up for the lapse in defense the cold had brought on. In the meantime, though, Tiwaz was bringing her fresh mugs of ginger tea, and the warmth of the room itself was starting to put her to sleep.
"Shrinemaiden, I think you should retire to your room." Betos said matter-of-factly. "You look unwell."
"Just frigid." She pulled the second blanket closer. "This is helping quite a bit. And I want you to continue talking, Betos. These stories are most intriguing."
Betos smiled. "I am glad you enjoy my tales, but I am not glad if they come at the expense of your health." She scooted closer and wrapped the blanket tighter around Kon-Mai's body. "What else do you want to know?"
Kon-Mai thought for a moment, and felt herself lapse into sleep for half a second. Maybe Betos was right… "I have been to your camp. Does it have snow in the winter?"
Betos chuckled. "Not often, but sometimes up in the mountains, frost forms on the leaves. The desert can be quite cold." She admitted. "I have seen the children present the sand in the desert is snow; they use it to make snowmen and take their sleds up the hills."
"They know these traditions?" Kon-Mai looked up at her curiously. "When they are so young?"
Betos nodded. "I believe their parents…well, those who do remember their lives before they were mutated, may have shown them, and from there they formed their own tradition with the materials they had." She looked up as heavy footsteps joined them in the dining hall. "Speaking of, Dhar-Mon. What have you got in your hands?"
"It is yarn…" He sat down across from them and discarded the tangled know onto the table. "Or it was. I was attempting to fashion it into a scarf."
"For who?" Kon-Mai reached forward and took it, noticing the cold around her shoulder as she removed herself from Betos' hold. "I should think your thick locks could act as enough protection for your neck~"
Dhar-Mon rolled his eyes. "It was for Malinalli…was being the operative word. I do not know what to get her now."
"As a gift?" Kon-Mai raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. If it is customary to exchange gifts with loved ones, I cannot accept the possibility that I may neglect her on our first holiday as…a couple." Dhar-Mon's eyes fluttered down and he smiled slightly when he said that.
Kon-Mai leaned her head back against Betos again, seemingly not even noticing the action (or Betos' wide smile as she did so). "I am certain she will be happy to just spend the eve with you, Brother." She assured him.
"Yes, gifts are nice but they're not necessary." Betos added. "We're in a war, and every day we are alive is a gift. Do not worry about materials when it is your presence I am sure she loves."
Kon-Mai could feel her brother was unconvinced, and she scooted even closer to him and closed her eyes. "She loves you, Brother." She assured him. "This I promise you."
There was a blaring alarm above them, and the Commander's voice came on the radio: "Would the following soldiers please report to the Commander's Quarters: Betos Yves, Kon-Mai Mordenna, Dhar-Mon Madron, Artume Rama, Gopala Notos, Prabhu Mahesha, Lew Friduric, Viljem Alojz, Timotej Szabolcs, Ruzena Kadri…."
As the Commander continued listing off a fairly impressive number of soldiers, Kon-Mai got to her feet, despite Betos grabbing for her hand. "Are you sure you are well to go? I'll tell the Commander, you need your rest."
She nodded. "The chill has left my body, thanks to you." She assured her. "And whatever is requiring this many soldiers? I believe I want to see it."
.
.
They met up with Gur-Rai and Verge in the hallway, and the former seemed to be excited to see them. "I couldn't wait to tell you." He put a hand on Dhar-Mon's shoulder. "Santa is real."
Dhar-Mon blinked, his eyes wide, while Kon-Mai looked cluelessly between the two of them.
"The gift-brining mythological figure that visits every Christmas." Verge clarified. "And by real, Gur-Rai means that a Muton by the name of Miklós has mantled this figure, in a sense."
"How nice." Kon-Mai smirked. "Is he here to bring us gifts for being good little soldiers?"
"I wish it were that simple. But no." Verge gestured for them to follow. "The Commander will fill you in when we arrive, but he is staging an escape from the nearby City Center in Szekszárd, and will need our help to complete it."
"An escape?" Dhar-Mon echoed.
"Apparently he's done this so much that ADVENT is starting to catch on." Gur-Rai knocked once on the Commander's door. "We're supposed to make sure the whole operation runs smoothly."
The door slid open just as a Reaper and two Skirmishers emerged from the room, leaving space for the three Chosen and their Sectoid friend. Malinalli was inside, already dressed in her combat uniform, standing beside the Commander's desk and looking up at the large, red man beside her.
The man…the Muton man… bowed his head…and then looked up at the other two Chosen with mild shock. "Vox Nergal." He said. "…Rumors were that you were dead."
"Those rumors are quite old and quite inaccurate." He chuckled. "I am scarred, but I am alive. Malinalli is to thank for that."
His lover danced across to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "The Commander is sending me to the established Haven." She said. "I won't be close enough to see the action but when you get everyone across safely, I can treat them."
"It will just be a matter of keeping them alive that long." Kon-Mai nodded. "Verge introduced us to the concept but I assume that you are Miklós?" She nodded to the Muton.
He bowed his head in reverence to her. "Vox Prima, it is a blessing to see you well. Yes, the humans call me Szent Miklós, but you knew me once as M1K42."
She blinked slowly. "…You were there during the annexation of Turkmenistan." She realized. "I thought you were killed."
"Not quite, but the damage to my chip was irreversible." He noted. "And that was when I defected."
"A common story, but one we appreciate." Betos approached the taller alien. "We are glad to assist you, Brother."
"As you can see he's not exactly the jolly old man you might expect." Gur-Rai gestured to the Muton. "But he's got the spirit."
"And so our mission is to guide these lost disciples to his safe haven." Dhar-Mon mused. "Hm. How ironically fitting."
"Indeed." Senuna chuckled. "Gather round, children, I'll explain the plan one more time and then you'll all get suited up. Firebrand will be taking people out in groups: the Skyranger is only so big, after all."
.
.
Kon-Mai refused to let her brothers go without their coats on her account. At least her reinforced armor was slightly warmer than her regular clothing, and thus she was able to mostly shrug off the biting chill.
Miklós led them through the dark trees, the setting sun casting an orange glow through the trees that got dimmer as they went deeper and deeper. The slight decline of the ground turned steep, and she saw Dhar-Mon nearly slide off balance and reached out to steady him.
"Everyone alright?" Gur-Rai called back.
"I am fine." Dhar-Mon assured his siblings, even as Malinalli made her way back to hold onto his arm. He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and pulled her close, and the group kept walking.
Kon-Mai, dancing over the snow like an agile cat, made her way up beside Miklós, who now had his Gatling gun drawn and his woolen hood pulled up. "Are we not too close to the town? This haven might already be in danger."
"These woods are vicious, even to ADVENT." Miklós said. His muzzle dampened and muffled his mechanical voice. "And where we are going is safe."
Kon-Mai nodded, deciding to merely trust him on that. She reached up and felt along her throat, the interior of which was beginning to grow itchy.
"You are unprotected, Mordenna." Miklós said. "From the cold."
"I do not have any armored winter wear." That was…technically a lie, but the thought of trying to put on that bulky fleece jacket again made her nauseous. "I need to move quickly during combat and I cannot do that in fleece."
"You should not sacrifice your health for such a performance." He insisted. "Beauty comes from the love one carries for themselves, not in the curves of one's body."
She stopped to glare at him, but Miklós just kept moving as though he had said nothing to her at all. In the treeline, an animal stirred, and the sound of a deer's hooves crunching in the snow caught her ears. She cleared her throat, ignoring the burning itch, and carried on.
They reached a line of trees that grew more dense than the forest they had been walking through. Kon-Mai had to turn on her side to squeeze through, and Dhar-Mon got stuck more than once. Gur-Rai shimmied up the tall trees and began leaping from branch to branch like the possums he so loved, and was the first to catch sight of the campfire in the center of the grove. "Is this it?"
"This is it." Miklós said, his voice soft and relaxed. "This is home." He let his gun drop and lifted his head, letting out a familiar roar that, in fact, somewhat resembled a Berserker.
Instead of fear, there was a cheer of excitement, and from the shadows ran a tiny dark figure that launched itself toward Miklós. He caught it and pulled it into a hug, and Gur-Rai jumped down to see it was a human child, with faintly tanned skin and dark hair falling from under her knitted bonnet.
Kon-Mai approached slowly, and from the shadows, more humans began to emerge, dressed in warm clothing and watching them curiously. She looked down as the child wiggled out of Miklós' arms and ran up to her, jumping up and down and babbling in Hungarian.
"Hhagyja az asszonyt." Miklós said to the girl. "Haimini, hagyd békén a nőt."
"It is alright." Kon-Mai knelt in the snow, a wide smile on her face as she seemed to totally let her walls down around the child. "Her excitement is a blessing. Who's child is she?"
"Mine." Miklós said. "She was merely a year old when I first escaped ADVENT. In the chase, her mother was…" He didn't finish the sentence, but if he had been worried about the child hearing, she was paying him no mind, already trying to climb up Kon-Mai's leg like it was a tree. "She only lived long enough to tell me the child's name: Haimini."
Kon-Mai stooped and scooped the child into her arms, letting her sit up tall against her shoulder. Haimini began to tug at Kon-Mai's hair with her gloved fingers, and Kon-Mai gently pulled her hand away.
"We'll need to start getting everything set up." Malinalli said. "Gratia and I can start putting up a triage unit if you tell us where to put it."
"Between two of the back huts, I would say is the best place." Miklós murmured. He looked back around to the other soldiers. "You are free to rest until the sun is down but then we must go."
"Are the others in position?" Gur-Rai asked.
"I received word from Artume that she and Gopala are at the train station." Dhar-Mon confirmed. "No one has suspected them of being imposters. Yet."
"Well scanning for the chip isn't as regular protocol as it should be." Gur-Rai chuckled. "I'm going to high tail it to the gates and meet up with the Reapers. See you guys on the other side." He hopped up and gave both his siblings a kiss on the forehead, and then grappled into the trees and shuffled away.
Kon-Mai looked back at the little girl in her arms, who was wiggling to get down. She set Haimini in the snow, and the child ran up to Dhar-Mon and began jumping up and down, indicating she wanted to be picked up.
Malinalli stopped walking for a moment to watch as Dhar-Mon complied, lifting Haimini up onto his shoulders, and the sight of him and the child laughing together was a gift.
.
.
Gur-Rai came up behind the three black-clad figures, hissing quietly. "I could smell the package from two miles away."
"Lew managed to find a dead stag." One of them said. She Was holding her nose with one hand and aiming her gun with the other. "If the Chryssalids don't go for this, then this plan was always doomed to failure."
Gur-Rai smirked, trying to push away the anxiety that that statement gave him, and crawled up higher into the trees, looking down his scope. "Hey Ruzena; know the signal?"
"Yeah. Our contact is Erno Jarilo, he's going to be wearing a blue baseball cap." Ruzena turned to her compatriots. "I say we start getting the carcass bits into place before they get here."
"It might give away our position." Lew replied.
"It will give away our position if we keep holding it!" One of the others snapped, his accent thick. "I can barely see over the stench, just toss it into the snow!"
Ruzena climbed down, and Gur-Rai followed as she reached into the bag and pulled out a slimy piece of stag meat. "Here."
He hesitated considerably, almost wishing he had the capability to throw up.
"What's wrong?" She raised a brow.
"Nothing." He swallowed, then regretted it as the air now tasted like rotten meat. "I-"
"They're in position!" Lew hissed into the comm. "Throw that shit and get under cover!"
Ruzena didn't wait for Gur-Rai, instead she reached into the bag herself and chuckled the slimy meat into the snow as close to the gate as she could. Then she and the Darkstrider scrambled back up the trees and ducked down, hoping they were concealed.
The line of people exiting the city center didn't look too different from how it had been, but Gur-Rai definitely saw the baseball cap. Behind Erno, Norbaer was there too, holding the hand of a heavily pregnant woman and carrying a small boy in his arms. Gur-Rai hunkered down and pulled his rifle off his back, getting a sinking feeling in his gut.
The Chryssalids seemed to falter a bit when Erno walked by, and Gur-Rai held his breath and prayed that they would be good little bugs and just ignore them. The guards stopped the line, cornering Erno with their rifles. Gur-Rai took aim at one of the officers with his own and looked for a spot to grapple to. If nothing else, he was going to get the kids to safety.
Then the Chryssalid reared back and turned around, diving into the snow and pulling the trooper holding its leash along with it. It dug into the white piles, searching for the stag Ruzena had discarded. The other two followed suit, breaking formation in the confusion. Gur-Rai had to stifle a laugh, because now was not the time for jokes unfortunately.
He grappled above them and landed in the snow before the group, causing almost everyone to cry out in horror.
"God dammit Darkstrider!" Ruzena ran up behind him and held her hands up. "It's okay! We're with XCOM!"
"Where's Szent Miklós?" Erno demanded.
"He's at the third checkpoint but-" Before she could get the words out, the sound of a machine gun firing at them made everyone duck, and Ruzena screamed as the bullets hit her shoulder.
Gur-Rai pulled her behind him and pointed his rifle at the person attacking them. "You know where you need to go?!" He shouted to Erno. "Now's your chance!" He looked behind him to see the growing crowd of people just standing there, and he growled and tore his pistol off his hip and fired it into the snow. "GO!"
The humans began to scatter as the Reapers dove down from the trees, defending them against the officers with their own fire. There weren't many, and the Chryssalids were still distracted, but Gur-Rai knew that once the moldy meat was gone, the monsters would turn on them and they'd be at a disadvantage.
As he thought that, he heard a roar from behind him, and then a laugh that sent shivers down his spine. "If it isn't the famous Hunter. I never thought you'd have the…guts to show your face again." There was a sound like tearing flesh, and the stench of rotten meat overwhelmed him.
Gur-Rai whirled around and backed up a few steps, more shocked than horrified. The man before him was shorter than him, but not that short, and his ADVENT armor was pitch black even where the metal should have shown through. His triangular helmet curled up at the tips, giving him the illusion of having horns. He lifted the rotten meat to his lips, maggots dripping off it into the snow, and sank his shark-like teeth into it.
Gur-Rai pointed his pistol at the officer's head, noticing his own hand shaking. "I don't care what gets you off in your free time." He snapped. "But I have a job to do, and you're getting in the way of that right now, so kindly perform a Christmas miracle and fuck right off."
The officer laughed again, and Gur-Rai saw him raise a finger, to which the Chrysalids followed. He took another step back, his blood running colder than the snow.
"What a terrible lad you've been this year." The officer hissed. "Try and run to your family. There is no hiding from Krlampos."
Gur-Rai turned on his heel and sprinted for the trees, just as a blinding pain erupted across his back. For a moment, he expected to find himself in the Elders' chamber again, so burning and agonizing was the sensation, and he could almost hear Camazotz laughing as he fell.
Then the chatter of Chryssalids brought him back to reality, and he tugged his pistol out and fired off at them, scooting backward in a panic as he did.
Krlampos cackled, laughing as the once proud Chosen struggled through a bloody haze to get away. The Chryssalids, ignoring the bullets and the danger, lunged forward towards their prey.
.
.
Kon-Mai heard the scream.
She shot up from her spot behind cover (not that it was needed, she was cloaked) and saw the humans begin to trickle into the woods as they sprinted towards the third checkpoint. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she saw her brother was not among them.
Miklós stood up from his position as well, waving toward the humans. Most of them saw him and gathered around him, and only a few stragglers disappeared into the darkness.
The Shrinemaiden stepped forward, taking down her cloak and revealing herself to the people. A few of them screamed, but most of them were too out of breath. One woman collapsed in the snow, sobbing, and Kon-Mai knelt down beside her.
"You are safe." She tried to assure her. "We are here to help you."
The woman said something in Hungarian, and Kon-Mai heard Miklós let out a small wail. "The Reapers have been cornered, they are holding back the attackers."
Kon-Mai looked up. "…And my brother? What about Gur-Rai?!"
Miklós shook his head. "He stayed to fight them, she doesn't know where he is now." He knelt beside the woman. "Mennünk kell."
Kon-Mai felt a hand on her shoulder, and Dhar-Mon pulled her to her feet just as a shrill cry filled the air. Miklós seemed to deflate, and before Kon-Mai could ask what was wrong, he reached for his Gatling gun.
"I am so sorry, Vox Prima." He murmured. "It seems your brother has failed…"
Kon-Mai tried to make a mad dash towards the noises, desperate to get to Gur-Rai, but Dhar-Mon grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.
"Let me go." She spat. "LET ME GO! HE NEEDS HELP!"
"I refuse to lose you both tonight…!" Dhar-Mon's voice cracked, and as Kon-Mai looked up at him, tears were streaming down his face. "Run, Sister! Run and do not look back!"
"Only if you run with me!" She took his hand in hers and yanked him along, calling over her shoulder. "FOLLOW US! THIS WAY!"
The humans got to their feet, spurned on by the sounds of shrieking in the distance, and Miklós kept his gate steady, guiding them through dark and confusing woods like children. Kon-Mai felt her breath growing ragged, and behind her Dhar-Mon's foot caught on something and he tripped, falling forward into the snow. She doubled back for him, looping her arm under his and pulling him to his knees.
"We must survive…" She whimpered. "Malinalli is waiting for you. Do not abandon her on Christmas."
"I hear them." He clung to his sister like a frightened child. "Sister, I hear them drawing closer…!"
She wrapped her arms around him, staring back into the darkness as the sound of screams drew closer. The shape of Miklós faded with the light, leaving them in darkness and in cold.
Kon-Mai pressed her face into her big brother's shoulder. "Listen to me." She hissed. "I will not let you die too. On your feet, Brother, right now. We are going home." She pulled Dhar-Mon to a standing position, and with him leaning on her, she began to make her way through the darkness.
The screams behind them kept growing louder, but her trained ears also picked up another set of footsteps, trailing them silently. For a moment she hoped it was Gur-Rai, but the footsteps were far too heavy, far too calloused. She tried to pull Dhar-Mon along with her faster, but the snow was too thick, and he stumbled again. As they slowed, she heard the footsteps come up right behind them, and reached back to draw her sword before a sudden, blinding pain tore across her back.
Dhar-Mon screamed out loud, and she lost her grip on him, collapsing into the snow herself. Luckily, she had already drawn her blade, and as she went down she rolled onto her injured back and swiped upward, knocking her assailant off balance. He stumbled backwards in the snow, and she saw a tall, black shadow with a helmet shaped like horns and a smile like shark teeth. In both of his hands, he held black leather hunting crops that was tipped with silver razor blades and glinted in the moonlight.
She heard Dhar-Mon still moaning in pain, and raised her arm to defend herself as the demon raised the whip again. She had dealt with worse punishments from the Elders, she told herself, but instead of hitting her, he turned and brought the whip down on her brother's back again instead. There was a sound of tearing flesh, and Kon-Mai let out a shriek that could have rivaled the Chryssalids
She leapt to her feet and ran at the assailant like (quite literally) a woman possessed. He had not been expecting her attack, and she managed to knock him off kilter for a moment and land a glancing strike to his thigh. She tried to bring her sword down on his head, and he blocked it with his hand, leaving a splatter of blood on fresh snow. She yanked her sword away and tried to strike again, when suddenly her vision began to swim, and she stumbled, dropping to one knee.
The demon laughed at her as she fell, landing on her hip and hands, doing all she could just to stay conscious. She felt warm blood dripping down her back, but even that was growing colder. She heard her soon-to-be killer chuckle one last time.
"Vox Prima." He spoke, and his voice was as cold as ice and as painful as venom. "The Elders will want you back with your head still intact. But I'm sure they won't mind if I take your guts for myself. 'Tis the season to give, after all."
She tried to get back to her feet, but her entire body felt like wet paper, and she fell to her knees.
"Your brothers…" He licked his lips. "My mouth is watering at the scent of their blood already. I can practically taste their flesh. The Hunter was scrawny, my pets can chew on his bones. But this one…" He grabbed Dhar-Mon by the hair and yanked his head back, causing the latter to grunt in pain "…this one is dripping with vitality. An excellent meal, worthy of Krlampos." He let the Hieromonk drop to the ground, limp. "Now my dear. Saturn is rising, and it is time to feast."
Kon-Mai closed her eyes, took a breath so deep it strained her lungs, and used the last of her strength to throw herself toward Krlampos. She drove the sword into his shoulder, just as the tree beside her erupted in orange flame.
He shoved her, she stumbled, but instead of him continuing after her, there was a loud clunk, and then the sound of bullets being fired. Krlampos seemed to spasm and stumbled backward, tripping over a log and falling into the snow.
Kon-Mai looked up and saw the red shadow of Miklós, his Gatling gun now ablaze as it spewed fire from the hidden nozzle she had not seen.
She dove for her brother, who was already getting to his feet, slowly. His purple robes were stained burgundy with his blood, and he cried in pain as he reached for his hammer, but as Krlampos got back to his feet, Dhar-Mon let out a great yell and, hammer charged with psionic energy, charged him. He swung, and Yseult slammed into Krlampos' side and sent him stumbling towards Miklós.
As Miklós turned towards the officer, Krlampos righted himself, readied his whips and lunged forward, cutting upward as he lashed out. The blades along the tips were sharp enough to leave dents in the metal, but Miklós seemed unfazed by this. He turned his gun on Krlampos' face, and the latter barely managed to duck out of the way. He dove into the snow and slid under Miklós' legs, raking his whip across the latter's heel and sending him down on one knee. Coming up behind him meant that he also managed to land a slash across the back of Miklós' neck. His thicker skin protected him some, but not by much.
"And now ends the legend." Krlampos raised his whip one last time. "Here lies Szent Miklós."
There was a loud bang that seemed to shatter the forest, and Kon-Mai saw a flash of purple to her right as Krlampos went stumbling to the side.
Miklós took that moment to recover his bearings and stood, training his gun on Krlampos. There was no mercy in his eyes as he pulled the lever on the back and let the flames engulf the trees. The screams of the black-clad officer were secondary only to Kon-Mai's wail.
Gur-Rai slid from the tree, covered in gashes and dripping blood. His sister tackled him as he limped over to her, and he had not the strength nor desire to protest her. The two fell back in the snow and Kon-Mai wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, not letting up until he mumbled "ow."
"He is alive." Dhar-Mon crawled over, scooping both of the young ones into his arms. "You are alive."
"I'm alive." Gur-Rai croaked. "My armor took most of the hits…" His head lolled back slightly, and Kon-Mai was reminded that even if they were back together, they were still in the wilderness and would undoubtedly freeze and/or bleed to death without help.
"Miklós." She called weakly, turning to where Krlampos continued to burn.
Miklós seemed not to hear her for a minute, despite the ADVENT Officer's screams having died with him. She called to him again, and this time he turned and went to them, taking Kon-Mai by the hand and pulling her to her feet.
"Home is not far…" He said softly. "And dawn is almost here. Merry Christmas, my Chosen."
.
.
The stars were beginning to wane as Betos walked into the camp, following the blood trail in the forest. "I should have gone on this one." She crossed her arms over her jacket and sighed.
"Commander's orders." Volk muttered. "I swear if my Reapers aren't all in one piece…"
"Does that include Gur-Rai?" Betos looked over to the circle of wooden huts that seemed to have merged in with the trees themselves. "Molly!" She called, jogging over to the medic as she emerged from a small cottage that seemed to almost blend into the trees. "Where are the Chosen?"
"Hi Betos! They're inside, resting up." She had blood on her white clothes, but she looked relieved. "We had some trouble with an officer, but as far as I know he seems to be dead now."
Betos went slightly pale. "Is she…are they badly injured?"
"No, actually, the wounds are pretty superficial." Malinalli assured her. "It looks worse than it is."
"And everyone else is okay?" Betos smiled. "…That's…that really is a miracle."
"Tis the season, Miss! You want to see them?" She held aside the wood panel that functioned as a door and let the Commander step inside.
There weren't many wounded soldiers. A few civilians had taken injuries, but they were nothing to worry for. It was the Chosen who had taken the worst of the damage.
Gur-Rai was asleep on one of the cots, covered with a few layers of animal furs, and when Betos looked closer she saw Pangu was curled up under his chin. Dhar-Mon was laying on a wooden exam table, and the cuts on his back were deep and red. Malinalli slipped back inside and went back to him, taking a needle and thread to the edges of his wound.
Kon-Mai was sitting up in a corner, also under a blanket of hides. Her head was lolled forward and Betos went up to her and knelt down. "Kon-Mai?" She touched her shoulder. "Mordenna?"
"Don't." Kon-Mai's voice was more hoarse than usual. "Please, use my real name."
"Alright…" Betos sighed in relief and lifted the blanket. "May I join you?"
Kon-Mai nodded, and as Betos scooted under the blanket, Kon-Mai flopped over into her lap.
"…I would like a coat." She whispered. "One that fits. One that does not make me look ugly."
Betos ran a hand over Kon-Mai's cheek. She felt warmer than usual. "You are not ugly in anything you wear."
"Yes I am." She whimpered. "I must plan how I look carefully, so as not to besmirch my name…"
"Kon-Mai. You are beautiful." Betos insisted, her cheeks flushing as she said that. Kon-Mai looked up at her in surprise, and for a moment Betos was in a panic, until the Shrinemaiden turned back over in her lap and Betos felt her body relax.
"Rest now." She assured her. "In the morning, I will make you a cloak that does not hide your beauty.
.
.
Malinalli helped Dhar-Mon turn over onto his back again. "Does that hurt?"
"It tugs the stitches, but no, it does not hurt." He sounded dejected as he said that. "Malinalli, I am sorry…"
"For what?" She giggled.
"For neglecting to spend this evening with you, and instead chasing a demented ADVENT officer across a snowy forest." He sighed. "This sacred day is supposed to be for family…and that is what I want us to be."
She laughed, and then hopped up on the table and laid beside him, her loose curls spilling over him like a veil. "Today is for us, Dhar-Mon. You brought this heart back to me on one piece." She lifted her head. "That's the greatest gift you could have given me."
"…Well, mostly one piece." He said, cracking a smile. "…If you so desire my love, the night is not yet over…"
She raised a brow. "I'm surprised, Dhar-Mon, it's not like you to be so forward!" She pressed her lips to his chin as he began to stammer. "…Can you stand?"
"I would run if you asked." He said with a smile, as she helped him to his feet, intent to find a place more…private.
.
.
When Gur-Rai stirred again, he felt something fuzzy pressed against his chest. "Hm?" He reached down and chuckled. "How'd you get here, Pangu?"
"I brought him to you." A familiar voice said. "It seems he knows when his father is in danger."
Gur-Rai rolled his eyes. "Guess I couldn't get out of it completely but I'm fine with this possum being my only son~" He chuckled, blinking in the dim light. "…That you, Verge?"
"It is." Verge leaned over him. "You were quite beaten. It's almost impressive how badly he messed you up."
"Yeah, well look at him now." He tried to sit up, but as Verge sat beside him, decided against it. "I have a confession."
"And that is?"
"I forgot your socks." Gur-Rai smirked. "Sorry."
Verge rolled his eyes. "Oh no, and I wanted them so badly. Oh well."
"Want anything else?" Gur-Rai asked as he laid back on the cot again. Pangu scurried up to his neck and curled up in the crook of his shoulder. He could feel Verge's eyes scanning him.
"…No." Verge said softly. "I think I have everything I desire already."
.
.
The red man raised his head as the snow began to fall.
Beady eyes stared up into the black night sky, dotted with stars and only partially obscured by the lights of the Avenger. He had heard stories that before the tyranny of the Elders, this ship had been a mere supply vessel. Now, it was green and gold and dotted with tinsel.
The white haired woman stood at the window, staring down at him with a smile. He raised a brow to her, wondering if she knew what he knew. The future for her was as dark as this night.
The sun rose, painting the sky pink, and Miklós saw Senuna mouth the words to him: "Happy Holidays."
Summary: The Avenger makes a pit stop in Hungary before moving to their next destination, and Senuna and Zhang reflect on their pasts. In the morning, Gur-Rai wakes Kon-Mai because there's snow on the ground, and encourages her to come for a game with them. She complies, though does not wear a coat due to unresolved trauma. When she gets outside, the weather is cold enough to cause her pain, and Gur-Rai gives her his jacket.
Once inside, the group indulges in the warmth of the Avenger while Tiwaz and Tisiphone put up Christmas decorations, and then explain what Christmas is because those in ADVENT have had little experience with it. Gur-Rai and Verge are called for a mission, and Kon-Mai is joined by Betos, who tells her of her people's own traditions.
On the mission, the three soldiers come across people within the city center making plans to escape with someone named "Szent Miklós." Their comrade, Szalbocs, tells them that Szent Miklós is the Hungarian Santa Claus. Merely minutes later, they meet Miklós himself: a Muton clad in red leather who is escorting the citizens to safety. He requests the help of XCOM, to which Senuna agrees.
To counter this, the Elders put Officer Krlampos, a vicious ADVENT Officer with armor resembling a demon, in charge of quelling the escape attempt. He does so, and intercepts Gur-Rai and the Reapers at the first checkpoint. Chasing after the fleeing humans, he meets the Shrinemaiden and Hieromonk and lands them nearly fatal wounds, but Kon-Mai pushes past hers and battles him long enough for Miklós to come back. With the help of Gur-Rai, he corners Krlampos and sets him on fire alongside a tree.
The three Chosen are taken to the haven to recover from their wounds, and do so alongside their loved ones. Watching the sun rise, Miklós goes to see Senuna, and laments that her future is dark.
(Happy Holidays pals! I wish you all as much warmth and love as our favorite shark babies are getting right now!)
