Sgt. Riley "Sparrow" Jones
As much as I would have loved to take some time to properly mourn Sahara, the war was accelerating at a rapid pace, and anyone who was able to pick up a gun and shoot was needed urgently on the front lines. I spent most of my time after the assault either training, working, or otherwise staying busy and productive in order to keep myself from thinking too much about my late friend. It wasn't that I didn't want to remember Sahara. I just knew that if I spent too much time mulling in my own sorrow, I'd lose whatever residual determination her death had given me to keep fighting, and dishonor her death in doing so.
Meanwhile, Karl and Connor were still in fighting form, and much higher spirits. Together, the three of us had decided to each take on our own nicknames. To improve our morale and squad cohesion, or something. It was a bit superfluous, but I suppose the Lieutenant was "Fullscreen", even if everyone just called him the Lieutenant, and Jack was of course "Fury". Hell, even some of Menace-2 had their own little informal callsigns, even if it was because nobody really knew either of Cherry or Basilisk's full names. Karl's was "Maestro", for some reason that I honestly don't know, and Connor was "Lotus", after his antics during the assault on the Avenger. As for me, I took "Sparrow" as my callsign. It was my little way of honouring Sahara, as well as the past that I was fighting for.
Apart from my training, I was doing a lot on the strategic and propaganda fronts. The latter was the worse of the two, because of how awkward and staged it always felt. I did interviews, speeches, and even a couple of combat shots with captured ADVENT, but none of them felt authentic. Part of the propaganda experience, I suppose, but it didn't make for easy material to perform well. I was never a good actor, but neither was anyone else on the team either. The real reason I was chosen was because I was one of the few ground agents that ADVENT had good photos of, so my wanted posters actually had a face on them. This, according to Central, had made me somewhat of a legend amongst the Resistance, and the team was more than happy to fan those fires. I was not at all ready to be a celebrity, especially in a world in which we would win the war. But hey, if it worked to get more people to join the resistance, or to harden their hearts against the invaders, it was more than worth the uncomfortable nature of the task, and whatever future repercussions would come about.
Strategy was far more to my liking, even if I was only there to have rhetorical questions bounced off of me by the Commander, Central, and Lieutenant Luo. In fact, it might be because of the two factors of me barely having to do any work, along with the inherent interest in watching a master at work, that I enjoyed the strategy meetings so much. With the Commander directing a newly strengthened and interconnected North American resistance, along with substantial intelligence flowing in from all directions, ADVENT was on the backfoot. Though they still held an iron grip on much of the West Coast, the Great Lakes, New England, Central America, and of course their capital of Denver, this was at the cost of abandoning most of their inland holdings.
The Prairies, Northern Mexico, and scattered patches of the American South were fully or mostly controlled by the Resistance, and even if none of the big, shiny, new alien cities had fallen yet, they also weren't exactly able to project much force outside of their bright white walls. The war was going strong, and even if much of the land we held was poor in both development and resources, it was unquestionably a step up from where we'd been even two months ago. Of course, much of this was predicated on the fact that the aliens still had not brought their full force to bear on the continent, both due to their own lack of infrastructure as well as resistance efforts to stymie them at every turn, but if our plans were to come to fruition North America wouldn't be fighting alone for long.
With all of this commotion, it wasn't long before we were officially assigned a mission. Much of Texas had never taken well to alien invaders, even after ADVENT had taken over and begun to rebuild infrastructure. I'm sure there's a joke there, but this time it was to our benefit. The invaders had only ever fully built one of their cities in the region, which enveloped Houston. After they'd destroyed most of the other urban centres in the state, they didn't have enough of a willing population to make a second one. But evidently, the aliens didn't do a good enough job of wiping out Dallas, because the city had been one of the strongest hubs of Resistance activity for years. Every time ADVENT would try and wipe them out, they always seemed to crop back up, and eventually the troopers assigned to the area would slowly disappear, until ADVENT had to do the whole song and dance once again.
Now emboldened by successes elsewhere, the Resistance Militia had begun a siege of the last ADVENT stronghold in the region. It was a bloody battle, but ADVENT was as weak as it had even been, with dwindling resources, a damaged strategic structure, and a discontent populace. The resistance had pushed into the area surrounding Houston in a series of rapid assaults, and even made headway into the city itself, but eventually the fighting stalemated, as our enemy seemed to find a second wind. We soon found out the issue. The aliens had smuggled a psionic gate into the city, and were moving troops and supplies in. The capacity likely wasn't massive; we'd have been overrun already if it was, but it needed to be dealt with nonetheless for the push to continue. This was to be our job: to destroy it, and escape. The aliens were already taking a risk bringing this in. If the gate was captured, which unfortunately was infeasible, we would be gaining an extremely valuable artifact. However, I suppose if the city fell, they would be handing over a lot more valuable information and materiel anyways.
Our team was supplemented by the three remaining former members of Scythe-2. With their losses during the Skirmisher-led raid, followed by the Avenger Assault, and of course the death of their grenadier Martinez after the Landed Carrier operation, the Commander had decided it prudent to decommission this squad in favour of training up a couple new Scythe-class teams, and to assign the remaining members of Scythe-2 to the Strike Teams as reinforcements. Given our shallow roster at the moment, it was probably warranted. So now we had Menace 1-7, 1-8, and 1-9 joining the remnants of our group. Their former team leader was an American called Ellie Miller, with the Peruvian Luca Delacruz and Korean Sun Min-Cho rounding out our temporary squad roster.
-xxx-
Our flight to Houston was uneventful, until we approached the city. It looked like a hellscape, with toppled buildings, raging fires, and the occasional spark of an explosion down below. A cacophony of gunpowder rang out from underneath. Only the urban core was left mostly intact, though even it showed signs of desolation. I wondered about the civilians in the area. Some may have fled to the resistance once the assault started, but plenty more must have hunkered down, at risk of death from armaments, hunger, or crime. I hoped the resistance fighters would treat the civilians humanely, but that was no guarantee, and even if they did there was always the risk of being caught in the crossfire. And I doubted the aliens cared much if the humans they were shooting were armed or not.
The Commander had discussed the importance of seizing an ADVENT city, as well as the historical precedent for civilian deaths in urban battles, during the meeting when he decided to endorse the assault. Personally, I was glad I didn't need to make those decisions. Even though we were fighting for humanity, I didn't think that I could just sentence potentially tens of thousands of civilians to a likely death in the name of liberation. Hopefully our actions would bring a faster end to the battle, and let it end with fewer lives lost.
We landed just outside of the city walls, in a large plaza that had been retrofitted into an airbase, for the few still-working helicopters the resistance had available. There to greet us was a sour-faced man in old military fatigues, who told us he was some type of commanding officer before handing us off to a heavily armed resistance team gathered in a nearby tent.
"You the XCOM team?" Said one, chewing on a cigar.
"Yup. And you are?" I replied.
"Greyson. I'm leading the team that'll be working with you today." He pointed to the map on the table, which was a print-out of one of the central segments of New Houston. "I'll lead your team to the gate, and then we'll set off some sort of distraction nearby to get you an opening to blow the thing up."
"So, where exactly are they keeping this thing?"
"Our intel says it's been stuck on the side of one of the larger streets in the city centre, in this building which they've been using as a staging point. Security'll be heavy, but not too heavy, most likely. ADVENT's stretched thin enough as is; they can't afford to keep valuable troops locked down deep in their own territory. Nevertheless, we're planning on starting a shootout from a block or so away. Draw reinforcements from the gate, then you run it, shoot whoever's left, and stick the explosives."
I frowned. "That seems vaguely suicidal. How are you planning on getting out afterwards?"
Greyson cracked a toothy grin. "We're not exactly planning on getting out. It'd be a bonus, but that gate is the first priority. The more time we buy, the better the chances." And it was then that this man clicked for me. I saw shades of some of my old crime associates in him, as well as some of the more "brave" resistance fighters I knew. This was a type of person that was awaiting death with open arms, and thought that they might as well do something with life while they were stuck with it. Living as a permanent outlaw does that to people, I guess. When you've got nothing to live for, sometimes you just want something to die for.
"We won't need that much time. Get as many of your people out as you can; there's more than enough aliens that we'll need you to shoot later." Greyson cocked an eyebrow, but nodded.
"Guess that's why they call you the best of the best. Let's get moving, if it gets to night when we arrive ADVENT'll have way more patrols on the ground. Benefit of having chemicals pumped straight into the brain and not needing sleep."
After exiting the tent, our squads hopped into two vans that would take us to the frontline. Our team was stuffed into the back of one of them, as Greyson took the driver's seat. The sound of gunfire grew louder as we drew closer to the frontlines, passing debris, small fires, rubble, and corpses. Some ADVENT, some alien, and many more human. Many unarmed. I shook my head slowly.
"So, I suppose this is the typical Menace-1 operation." Said Ellie, abruptly.
"In a way." I responded. "Though something like this is a bit unprecedented." She laughed.
"Yeah. It's not exactly common to see ADVENT in a losing position. You'd think by the way they act in their cities, ordering everything around and carving the earth up, that they were led by God himself."
"You sound like you're familiar with this."
"Raised in Havana, parents were American, weirdly enough. I was just about old enough to remember and understand the hell the aliens brought back in '15. Still, we gave them a second chance. Not much option, to be honest. I was a city kid through and through; couldn't imagine living out in the wilds. And the parents were big fans of the new administration and decrees. They had a pretty cushy life going for them after selling out. I don't blame them. Well, I do a little. A lot. Anyways, I had a good thing going. Went to university for fashion, which by that point the aliens had stopped trying to suppress so hard. Was doing well, then the aliens shot into a protest. Killed a student. Then more protests, which they shot into as well. It sucked, but I didn't really know what else to do. But what really pissed me off was Mom and Dad trying to justify it. After one particularly bad argument I decided to bug out. Hit and ran an ADVENT trooper on the way out, which ended up saving my life. Got jumped by some resistance shooters, but they saw yellow blood and chose not to leave my body in a ditch. Been with 'em ever since, at least until XCOM came knocking."
I nodded. "I'm in a similar boat. But I was a bit of a delinquent when I was younger. Hung out with the wrong types, which ended up leading me to the resistance. Ran with an urban cell up north, then eventually almost everyone got killed or captured, and the rest of us went to ground ever since." However, before I could finish, the van suddenly stopped, and Greyson dismounted, drawing his rifle.
"We should be good if we can make it past the frontline, but there's a dozen and half of us armed to the teeth, so we're not exactly incognito. Stay vigilant." And with that he slowly creaked open the door to a rundown building, spray paint coating the outside walls. We descended a flight of stairs, and then down a manhole, one by one. Proceeding through the sewers slowly, and illuminated only by a couple of green glowsticks, the whole endeavour took on a very creepy ambiance. But we made it through the pipes with no issue, exiting out through a shredded grate into the setting light of the early evening, below ground level. The trench was damp and filled with rubbish of all sorts, a mesh covering over top, probably to keep the smell and sights away from the general public, as well as to deter more rubbish from being piled in. It didn't seem particularly effective, because there were massive tears in the webbing, probably from heavy things being thrown and breaking through.
It was through one of these holes that one of Greyson's troopers extended a ladder through, and we made our way back onto surface level. Greyson quickly gestured us to a nearby shop, where we took a moment to collect ourselves. I looked outside. No ADVENT patrols, but a couple of civilians desperately collecting whatever scraps they could find. The man wasn't lying when he said ADVENT was stretched thin. Nevertheless, we had no idea if they would call for help, so we waited for them to pass. Then we ducked into another building, checking for any more individuals. This building-hopping continued for several blocks, carefully and methodically. We were nearly made as we entered at one point, but some quick thinking and quicker knives from one of Greyson's men kept us concealed.
It was nearing nighttime when we got to within a block and a half of the gate. I was almost startled when I heard Greyson speak.
"My team, we'll split off here. XCOM, the gate is in that direction. You'll know it when you see it. Start moving around half a minute after you hear gunfire." And with that the majority of the other squad headed off. The six of us left were sat low, next to a wall, the silence suffocating. Then Connor whispered to me.
"I guess this is the ugly side to war."
"No clean side." I replied. "Death comes with the territory. You don't have to like it, but it's just what happens."
"I know. I said before, and I stand by it: I'm willing to die for this. But what about all those people that are trying to live? Don't we owe them something?"
"As a collective? Yes. We fight for them. But individually? It's impossible."
"I dunno. It feels like we're stooping to their level. Losing our morality."
I bit my cheek to stop me from yelling. Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'm not doing this again. Bring it up with the Commander if you've got issues."
Connor opened his mouth, then stopped. "Sorry." He muttered. Then the loud crack of gunfire brought us all to attention. I counted silently. 1...2...3… … … 30. I stood up with a sudden jerk, and motioned for us to move. We crossed through the alley ahead of us, and onto the main road. An ADVENT patrol ahead. I raised my rifle, and a hail of bullets from the team cut them to ribbons. We were out of the shadows now.
"Push up to the gate! No stopping!" I yelled, as I shot out, then leapt through the window of a car dealership, scrabbling for cover behind one of the showroom vehicles. "Miller, Delacruz, with me! You three cover from outside!" The sounds of laser fire came from my right flank as we pushed through the backrooms of the car dealership. We encountered no resistance, but I could hear the urgency in Karl's status reports. Finally, we found the back door, and I swung out, barrel up. Several swarms of black nanobots, clutching plasma rifles, were exchanging fire with the other fireteam. But despite their appearance, the lasers did indeed strike them, and two of the swarms collapsed. The third and fourth turned to bear on us, and I quickly ducked back inside. Ellie was less lucky, and took a plasma beam to the leg before a grenade shredded the remaining aggressors.
"Can you still walk?" I asked.
"Ahh, fuck, just about. Where's the Medikit?" Ellie replied. I called Connor over to take care of her wound, while the rest of us set up to push into the building that housed the Psi Gate. It was a community centre, and one of the side doors was broken off its hinges. We slowly made our way inside. The structure was full of supply boxes, weapon crates, and armor. But no aliens just yet. However, we realized why as soon as we opened the door to the basketball courts. All of the remaining aliens had pulled back to hold the gate itself, and we would have to fight through all of them if we wanted to fully destroy the thing. Two full squads of Mutons and a small detachment of Sectoids had taken cover behind the myriad crates scattered around the room, as we quickly ducked behind the doors again.
"That's a lot of them in an enclosed room." I turned to Karl. "Got sparks?"
Cracking a smile, he quickly tossed two flashbangs into opposite corners of the room. We burst through the doors, guns ablaze, as inaccurate plasma fire rained all around us. We cut through the Mutons, and took down a couple of Sectoids, as they floundered in and out of cover. Then, I heard a wailing noise from my right. Turning, I saw a purple crown appear above Delacruz's head. The last Sectoid remaining had evidently recovered from its disorientation, and was making its final stand, crouching behind the Psi Gate. I rushed to try and remove the threat by getting a flank on it, but an enemy grenade forced me to dive behind cover, the plasma splattering onto the boxes I was prone behind. Stretching just barely out of my hiding place, I saw a fraction of the Sectoid's head poking out. It would certainly duck if I missed. I took a breath, lined up the shot, and-
I heard a scream behind me as the purple psi-link severed. The Sectoid went back to cover yet again as I looked behind me. It was just in time to see Cho, wide-eyed, startled, and standing woefully out of cover, get hit in the chest with a burst of plasma, knocking him to the ground. As for Delacruz, her face was scorched beyond recognition, and her body was unmoving. I got up again, this time rushing the Sectoid and popping its brains with laser energy, while Karl dealt with the remaining couple of Mutons with a final well-placed grenade. After ensuring the area was secured, I gestured for him to place the charges, as I went to stop Cho from dying.
"Why the fuck did you blast Delacruz? I had the Sectoid!" I yelled in the man's face, as I administered first aid.
"She was about to shoot me!" Cho replied.
"And you could have taken cover, or tried to shoot the Sectoid! Hell, she might not even have had any beams left!" I looked down at the wound, wiping off all the plasma with a piece of Muton armor, so the green goo wouldn't continue to burn through. "And if you're going to shoot your squadmate, don't gawk at the body! Especially not in the middle of a goddamn firefight!" I sighed. The truth was that I was upset at losing a soldier on the first mission under my command. It wasn't just the tactical considerations; I felt as if I had failed, even if there was almost nothing I could have done to stop it. Still, we needed to move, and I could wallow in my despair some other time.
"Can you walk?" I asked.
"Barely. But yes." Was Cho's reply. And so we made our way back to the sewer grate with haste. We met up with Connor and Ellie outside, and detonated the charges as soon as we exited the community centre. Karl carried Delacruz's body out with him. I think he knew that I'd feel way worse if I was stuck with it, but I didn't have the energy to thank him. I made a mental note to do so after we made it back. We faced no resistance on our return trip. I assumed all of the ADVENT was drawn to the Psi Gate itself, or maybe the gunfight that occurred beforehand. Awaiting us at the grate was less than half of the original resistance squad. Greyson was not one of them.
I began to speak. "Are the rest of you lagging behind, injured, or-"
"They're all dead." Said one of the men. "We're the survivors. You did blow up the gate, right?" I nodded. "Well then, let's make our way out of here." And we slowly made the trek back to friendly territory.
In the green light of the glowsticks, I thought about Greyson. He didn't even ask our names. I suppose he assumed he wouldn't need them. Most likely, either we'd be dead, or he'd be dead, or maybe both. Therefore, there was never any purpose in knowing more than what he needed to do, and where he was likely going to die. I shivered at the idea. To care so little about your own life that you wouldn't even bother to learn new names, because you were so sure and willing to die. I wasn't ready for that yet, even if I was still ready to fight. No. I would not stand for death-thoughts in my own head. They would hinder my ability to keep fighting. They would make me give up. And I can't allow that. Not yet.
-xxx-
The Skyranger touched down to a backdrop of setting sun. Cho and Ellie had their bags packed, and various injuries bound, set, or dressed as best as the hassled resistance medics could. Strictly speaking, I didn't need to be here, but I'd wanted to pay my respects to Delacruz. She'd died pointlessly, but I wasn't about to get poignant about death. At least, not right now. It happened, and I could at least give her a send-off. As the engines quieted, I heard Firebrand's shoes land on solid ground, and the creak of the ramp lowering.
"How was the trip?" I asked absentmindedly.
"Ah, fine. Easier than my last flight." She replied.
"Mhm. Care to share?"
"Let's just say Denver airspace isn't the most welcoming for foreign craft."
"Especially not ones reeling in XCOM operatives like trout!" Shouted a familiar voice. I turned to see the bandana-ed face of Derin Avci, the lady who had embarrassed the Assassin. She had already made quite the reputation for herself, on the field as a capable but cocky operator, and on the ship as a consummate prankster. Despite this lack of discipline, she seemed to be able to get away with nearly anything. She just had that natural charisma around her, aided by her ever-present and self-assured grin, which I could tell was currently plastered across her face, despite the fabric covering it. Along with her were the two other members of the reinforcing team. There was the distinctive red hair of Carpenter, who I'd seen occasionally, and a face I didn't recognize, sporting curly brown hair and aviators.
"Hey, Carpenter. And this is…?"
"Gregorio Pauli. Resistance's finest." He gave a firm handshake, and I nodded.
"Camp's over there. Carpenter, a word." I motioned for her to join me, as I waved to Firebrand, loading up the coffin of Delacruz. I'd just seen what inexperience could do, and I was hoping it wouldn't be happening again.
"Yes, boss?" Our resident redhead answered, as she caught up to me.
"Haven't seen Pauli on the ship, so I'm guessing he's new. He fight well? Shoot well? Got any combat experience you know of?"
"No clue. He came with the personnel team we picked up a couple days back. All the new infantry and engineers and so on. From what I saw of the greenhorns, they're not bad, stupid, or incapable by any measure, but most of them certainly seemed like they need some bringing up to speed."
"Shit." I mumbled under my breath.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Carpenter replied.
"I wish I had your confidence."
-xxx-
The Battle of Houston continued to rage around us, the city alight with flares and fires through the nights, and darkened by smoke and ash through the days. Death and carnage abounded. But special forces weren't what was needed, at least not at the moment. As the resistance infantry militias pushed deeper into the urban core, our XCOM squad remained in reserve, training and advising the local forces, and staying out of the direct line of fire. Our time, however, would come soon enough. It was twelve days after we had sabotaged the gate, and the city was on the verge of collapse. The remaining ADVENT elements had been pushed back to the waterfront, and many attempted evacuation, either by air or by sea. I say attempted, because the alien aircraft, as well as their pitiful attempt at a fleet, were built around the assumption of not taking fire. And having captured several large batteries of alien artillery, that assumption was quickly being proven outdated. Much of Galveston Bay was currently burning with jellied Elerium sprinkled across its surface.
Our mission was to eliminate Houston's ADVENT Grand Commander. Resistance forces had the individual and its team pinned down in the ruined ADVENT headquarters for a day and a half. However, in the dead of night, the remnants of that enemy command team smashed through the militias that were guarding the emergency escape tunnels, and inflicted mass casualties. Fortunately, the survivors had reported doing considerable damage to the fleeing contingent before our soldiers had to withdraw. Unfortunately, I was two hours into my nightly rest when all of us were abruptly woken up. Nothing a few wake-up pills wouldn't solve, but it wasn't like I would get that sleep back. After all, war waits for no one.
From wake-up to suited up was a scant five minutes, and we were crawling down a manhole by twenty. We didn't have an exact location on the Commander, but we did have teams watching the various exits from the tunnel system. They were trapped, for now. But we needed to eliminate the target before that changed. Our tracking was made substantially easier by a trail of lime-green acid, starting right from the location where the resistance forces first met the enemy. Those who had made it out reported a mass of enemy forces, including strange, green-suited mechs that spat corrosive material. The reports certainly seemed accurate, given the large quantity of bodies and nearly-dead aliens scattered across the area. Both sides seemed to have left their wounded for dead, desperate to disengage. The aliens had gone around and finished off any living resistance members already. We repaid the favour to the few invaders still clinging on to life.
"Fuckin' hell. What a massacre." Said Connor. "Executing the wounded." Then he suddenly shouted, as I brought up my laser rifle, firing a quick burst into the engorged head of a Sectoid, its chest barely rising with breath.
"Wait! Shouldn't we, uh, take prisoners? You know, for interrogation and stuff?"
I turned to him, and stared at him with a deadened look in my eyes. "What for? All they'll know is that the city is falling. And any information regarding our current mission will take too long to retrieve."
"I don't know! But we shouldn't imitate them. Aren't we supposed to be the good guys?"
I sighed. "Don't go soft on me. In another world, maybe we could all be friends and shit. But right now, all they want to do is kill us. And until I see an alien turncoat, like what the Skirmishers are, I'm not using any resources to be compassionate. Best case scenario, we waste manpower on jailing them. More likely, they try and kill us after we save their asses from bleeding out. I'm not trying to be cruel, but we can't afford to go out of our way for the enemy without some kind of clear benefit. This isn't ritual combat. It's total warfare, and only the victor lives." I motioned for the squad to sweep the area and finish off any survivors, keeping an eye on Connor. He wasn't clearing his sector, so I had to do it for him, but at least he wasn't obstructing us. Good enough, I suppose.
After cleaning up the initial combat scene, we made our way along the trail of acid, as swiftly as we could without making more than background levels of noise. If the aliens weren't simply sprinting to the nearest exit for another firefight and potential extraction, I hoped that they would at least be slowed down enough by any injuries that they wouldn't have time to set up defenses at wherever they would undoubtedly be encamped for the night. The last thing I wanted was to be outnumbered and outmaneuvered. However, as we delved deeper into the tunnels, the darkness quickly enveloped us. While the initial engagement zone was lit by several lanterns, this area was never meant for foot traffic, and had nothing in the way of illumination. I was certainly thankful to whatever resistance cell had captured the night vision goggles we had equipped. Though the green filter that everything passed through was eerie and more than a little nauseating, at least it could help us see through the tar of the subterranean. Then, as we approached what appeared to be a half-finished tram station, I heard a soft, but irrythmic rattling.
"Vipers. Likely with ADVENT grunts, if the intel is accurate." I whispered, as we raised our weapons to the ready. I saw several old ADVENT bodies lying around, as I drew the squad up to a large hole in the wall. We clearly weren't the first to have fought in these tunnels. Hopefully, we would be the last. I motioned for Pauli to enter first, his shotgun in tow. But as I glanced around, preparing to be the second over, I heard the loud hiss of laser buckshot, followed by the loud hiss of an angry Viper. Turning the corner, I saw Pauli get pulled by the snake's tongue towards the enemy. Quickly rattling off a couple lasers, the creature collapsed to the ground, leaving our rookie to roll across the packed dirt of the ground, as I ducked out of the way of return fire. A flashbang from Karl and a hail of rifle fire took care of the threat, but we were now on a timer.
"Shit, we're overt. Let's move." I said, as I could hear the sound of movement deeper in the tunnels. We pushed further in, the green glow of NVGs obscuring fine detail. The area was pockmarked with blown-out walls and unfinished construction, which put me on edge. Death could be lurking behind any hole, and we might not even see it until it was too late.
"Lotus, take Pauli with you on the left flank." I said, as I directed Connor towards the adjacent tunnel. We continued to push down the half-built structures, eliminating another patrol along the way. Then I caught a glimpse of flowing fabric, disappearing behind a metal door. The faint reverberations hung in the air, as I directed my attention there, across the half-built ceiling of a lower rail line.
"Get across, the target's fleeing!" I yelled, as the six of us gunned it across the perilous rafters, over the musty pit underneath. I jiggled the knob. Locked. Also not a problem, as the wall in front of us looked like Swiss cheese. I motioned for the four of us on the right side to enter through a gap in the wall, while ordering Connor and Pauli to find a flank. We entered silently, guns drawn. Ahead was our target, waiting for acid to finish corroding through a window. The source of said acid was one of those mech-like creatures that had smashed through the resistance forces at the first contact site. I supposed they wanted to keep their location hidden for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that decision would be their last, and a fatal one at that. WIthout another world, we opened fire, cutting down the ADVENT Commander before it could even raise its rifle, and riddling the green-glassed creature with so many lasers its visor cracked, and began leaking acid everywhere. Our team approached the bodies, ready to secure the target's corpse. But then, the sound of plasma and laser rang out from our left.
"We've got two green mechs on the flank!" Yelled Connor over the comms. We turned to head over, but we were immediately stopped by a scream, and then a thud from right next to us. I turned to look, and I saw Carpenter prone, with her arm twisted at an unnatural angle, the shell of the acidic monster we had just killed looming over her with a fist drawn, ready to smash her head open. Wheeling around, I gave it a quick shove backwards with my heel, before unloading my entire clip right into its chest panel. This seemed to do the trick, as the thing began to spark, and several small explosions rang out across the centre of the suit, leaving it collapsed in a heap on the ground.
"Hope it's actually dead now. Carpenter, can you walk?"
"Yeah, but I can't - uck, - shoot. Ah, fuck!" She swore. I gestured for the rest of the team to follow me, as I said over comms,
"Carpenter, watch the body. Connor, we're inbound." Evidently, they couldn't find a flank, because we saw no signs of them, or the enemy. That was until another one of the shelled creatures stumbled through the wall, the sound of a plasma grenade following soon after. We dispatched this first one, and came around onto the flank of the second through the hole the first's body had made. However, as we turned the corner, I heard a faint splash, followed by a deep scream. The creature died quickly after we arrived, but the screaming continued, and only intensified as it went on. Connor had been hit across the chest and face with the very same acid that we had seen make quick work of reinforced glass earlier, and it certainly wouldn't end well if allowed to fester. Fortunately, Pauli had a Medikit on him. Unfortunately, he would never get to use it, for at that moment, with his gun down and his guard dropped, a blade ran right through his chest, then through from the back of his open mouth, opened in a silent scream of surprise. His shotgun dropped to the ground with a thud, swiftly followed by the rest of his corpse. A purple face, taller than any of us, grinned, as she gave a bloodcurdling call, and mag fire came from where we approached, forcing the three of us back into cover and away from Connor, still yelling in agony.
"Well, XCOM, I've been waiting for you. The bait was just too juicy, wasn't it. I knew you would find the late general... irresistible. I'm still upset about how you caught me last time. So dishonourable! No matter. You will be brought to kneel before the Elders, and I will drink your tears from your skulls once they are done with you. I'm surprised you didn't realize I was here earlier. Few others wield the blade like me." The Assassin monologued, her voice projecting from every direction at once, just like every other time we had met, as she ran back towards her infantry, firing the occasional shotgun blast back at us.
"Play dead, Carpenter." I whispered over the comms, as I turned to the other two hunkered behind the wall with me. "Space out for Sword Bitch, but we need to deal with ADVENT first. Nades loose." As I gave my orders, I quickly leapt through the gap in the wall, rolling quickly towards a high lip of concrete. The bullets followed me, but nothing got through the armour. I turned back, and saw Karl's grenades fly overhead, right towards the enemy position. Meanwhile, Jester was scanning the area for the Assassin, and had the squad's second Medikit in her hand. She cocked an eyebrow at me. I shook my head.
"Kill them first." I said, as the grenades went off. I aimed for the head of the first ADVENT trooper I could spot before putting a laser between its eyes. Then a second. Then two more. Four shots, four kills. Not too hard when your enemy is reeling from having their cover vapourized and their armor eaten through by molten alien alloy, but still. I took a moment to collect myself after that shooting spree. And a moment was all I would get, because Karl shot another grenade, this time completely wide on any targets. But just as I was about to ask where the hell he was shooting, I heard - or rather felt - a psychic scream. I turned towards the impact zone, and there was the Assassin, glaring at us. Evidently, the tracking had worked, and our enemy was none too happy about it.
With a flick of her blade, I saw an arc of pure psychic light radiate towards us, and before I knew it, I was knocked to the ground. I could feel my head spinning, my thoughts jumping sporadically, as if somebody had overloaded my mental circuitry, and everything was beginning to short-circuit. I was conscious, but completely unable to make any meaningful decisions. Karl seemed to be in a similar state, with only Avci still standing. As the Assassin approached, blade scraping behind her along the ground, our resident hacker was desperately fiddling with the controls on her Medikit. She seemed to quickly find what she was looking for, and gave a quick spritz of vapour up Karl's nose. He got up onto his feet, but was clearly still out of it. Nevertheless, with our foe bearing down upon us, I think Avci realized we were lacking in options.
She dashed towards me, sending a barrage of fire downrange to force the Assassin into cover, and gave me whatever jury-rigged mind-drug she had made. I wasn't at a hundred percent, but it at least got me out of my paralysis, and I tried my best at suppressing the hostile blademaster while Avci made a break for Connor's barely-conscious body. Her reward for this was nearly having her face taken off by the Assassin's Katana as she threw it into the wall mere inches from our hacker's face, and right above our gunner's writhing form. Then, our enemy reformed in front of our eyes, as if rebuilt from pure energy radiating out from her arm. She drew the sword out of the stone, and immediately transitioned into preparing a flurry of blows. Avci managed to barely deflect the first strike, and I preempted the second with a shot to the arm. I sent a couple more shots out, then heard the dreaded noise: click.
Avci had dove back into cover, and I didn't know if I had time to reload, so I yelled for her to toss me Karl's rifle. But in that split second where nobody was shooting, the Assassin quickly grabbed Connor by the nape of the neck. For a second, I thought she was planning to use him as a human shield. Then I realized that she was gloating. Our enemy sneered as we brought our weapons to bear on her form. She slowly and maliciously dug the edge of her blade into Connor's neck, and as blood started to form, she snapped the point out, forcing the blade to travel a lethal distance into his flesh. The Assassin had talked about capturing us earlier, but I suppose she had correctly assessed that we wouldn't have let her take Connor alive. However, she had gotten just a bit too cocky in assuming that we would fall too. After all, she was exposed, and we were fully armed.
Connor took some of the shots as we unloaded, but we had two full clips of laser ammunition. And a spare grenade, from yours truly, which I had prepped before catching the rifle with my off-hand. Our firepower seared her like a steak. But this time, I wasn't just about to let her use death as an escape tool. As she staggered in pain, I smashed her blade out of her hand, and ripped the strap of her shotgun off before tossing it into the adjacent pit. I knew she wouldn't talk, so I was looking for anything that would help us deal with her once and for all. I kept my boot on her face as I rolled her over, and seeing some sort of electronic device embedded in her clothing, I tried to rip it off. It didn't budge. Looking around, I saw the solution. Her blade cut through the alien fabric like a hot knife through butter. Unfortunately, it also gave her a sharp object to use. With superhuman strength, the Assassin lifted her torso off the ground and severed her spine on her own weapon.
"Goodbye for now." Came her snarky voice, as she cackled, disintegrating from under me. I fell over, the blade in my hand and the body beneath my feet both vanishing in a purple haze. And as our enemy was sucked up yet again in a psychic vortex, a quiet fell over the area. The adrenaline began to leave my body. With it went my energy to stay upright. The sleep deprivation, combat, and brain-shorting had all taken an impact on me, and I wanted nothing more than to fall unconscious. I barely managed to get my head onto a nearby pallet before I was out like a light.
-xxx-
The first thing I felt when I woke up was a sharp pain in the neck, shoulders, and lower back. I checked my watch. Ten hours had passed since the firefight. As I looked up, I saw Carpenter, right arm in a crude sling, sifting through ADVENT paperwork. I assumed it was whatever we had found off of the general. Avci was also up, and was busy carving some sort of design into her GREMLIN. Only Karl was still asleep. The bodies of our fallen squadmates, along with that of the ADVENT Commander, were stacked in a corner, further away than they were last night.
"Hey, you're awake." Avci said, looking at me. "Rough night?"
"You could say that. How was your evening?"
"Well, after the shooting, I dragged Carpenter over, moved the bodies, spent way too long looking for bedding down here, and slept like four hours. But in terms of good news," Avci said, as she waggled the tiny transponder covered in alien fabric, "I'm pretty sure we have enough to figure out where this sword lady has been going after we kill her. This little thing should have the locational data of wherever our bladed gal has been. And in the various docs that Carpenter's been flicking through, we've found some big stuff. Orders for the evacuation, ADVENT battle plans, secure codes, the whole nine yards. But most relevant for us, she found how the Assassin comes back time after time. In her lair, wherever that may be, there's a massive psychic beacon that she can draw power from. But no beacon, means no Assassin coming back to life. The only issue is how to get in."
I blinked, slowly taking in all of the information with my still-addled brain. We'd succeeded; that much was clear. But it sure didn't feel like we won.
"Should we take the bodies with us?" I asked.
"Nah. I've tagged them with a locator. Let's just head into the sun, someone else'll come and collect the corpses."
And so, once Karl woke up, the four of us made our way out of the tunnels. On our walk out, Carpenter had informed us that the city had just been secured in the early morning, with the last ADVENT and alien remnants wiped out as they tried to evacuate. There might still have been some tiny holdouts, but for all intents and purposes, Houston was now the first freed ADVENT city. I could still hardly believe it. We'd scored our first major blow against the aliens, one that they couldn't bounce back from just by making more troops. I wanted to go to the mouth of the bay, just to see that the city was indeed, free of fighting. The water was still alight with jellied elerium, just like it was when we arrived, but now, with the knowledge of victory, it felt almost celebratory. Like fireworks, or a massive rack of candles. I turned to Karl as I gazed off into the distance, the fire on top of the water entrancing me.
"So, we did it." I said.
"The resistance did it." Karl replied.
"We're part of the resistance. We did it."
"Then I guess we did." The two of us stared off into the distance, neither fully awake, for a full couple of minutes, before either picked up the conversation again.
"So what comes after this?" I asked.
"I suppose we keep fighting. Continue serving humanity, until humanity no longer needs us to serve. And hopefully, that day will come sooner rather than later."
I sighed. "I guess so. We'll keep dying for shit we believe in, for shit that we're told to believe in, and for shit that we've convinced ourselves to believe in out of fear, or peer pressure, or because it's what we think is the 'right' thing to do."
Karl cocked an eyebrow at me. "Thinking of leaving it all behind? Or just feeling moody?"
"Moody, I guess." I responded. "It's rough seeing people you know bite the dust. Especially when you're in charge of them. Makes it feel like it's your fault somehow, even if they died for what they cared for and believed in. Makes it feel like you're the one who tossed them into the firing line, and let them get killed for something that might not even amount to much."
"I understand what you mean." Said Karl, patting me on the back. "It's hard to lose your troops. You feel responsible for everyone's deaths. But don't. They accepted that risk. It does them a great dishonour to think that you were the only impetus behind their sacrifice. Everyone who has died for XCOM made that decision willingly. They were the ones who decided to apply their moral principles to a fatal level. And I'm sure that every single one of them would do it all again if they could."
I nodded. Karl was right, of course. Logically, I knew that the blood price of war wasn't something I could control or stop. Still, logic never stopped the heart from hurting. I'd lost so many already, and I knew that it wasn't even close to the end. Nobody was safe, and nobody was sacred in a total war. I almost let myself dream of being the first to die, simply so I wouldn't have to lose anyone else, before shaking myself out of that mental state. I wasn't willing to give up just yet, if only because I still did have people to fight for, both dead and alive. So instead, I just cast my gaze over the smoking bay, letting the strange haze of quiet hang over me. No guns, no cannon, and no screaming, at least for the moment. I had a feeling these moments would continue to be a rarity for a long time.
-xxx-
We returned to the Avenger the day after Houston was fully liberated. Theoretically, we should have been on the ship the evening before, but I came up with some excuse saying that we needed to help restore order in the city or something. In reality, it was just to attend all of the celebrations that were going on. To be honest, we needed it, after the last several days. Despite the completely ruined state of the city, the resistance and those civilians that had joined up at the first sign of rebellion were still having a grand time, singing and dancing all throughout the city core. It certainly helped that copious amounts of alcohol had been brought out. Apparently, the old Dallas boys and girls knew a thing or two about brewing, and had quite the reserves of drink. I had a reasonable amount, as did Carpenter. Karl went to sleep early that night, complaining about the ruckus, while if I recall correctly, Avci didn't come home at all. She showed up at the temporary airbase less than an hour before our flight out, clearly hungover, and claimed to have no idea where she had been for the past twelve hours. Still, what was I going to do? Yell at her? We all deserved a bit of indiscretion, given the circumstances.
The technology and information from Houston had preceded us in getting to the Avenger. We'd learned much about the aliens' operations, which only broadened our options to strike at them. Furthermore, the technology we'd obtained was nothing short of miraculous. Intact plasma weapons, human psionic studies, and even details on the aliens' psionic network: it was all on the research tables of the Avenger. And not to mention the information we had gathered on the Assassin, one of our most lethal foes in the field. This was just the first step in a new phase of the war. We were prepared to be more than just a guerilla force, irritating the aliens like a gnat. We were ready to be an existential threat to them, and fight them on their own terms, not just our own. For once, we had even footing. But it hadn't come without a cost.
I wasn't just thinking of Delacruz, Pauli, and Connor either, although their deaths were the ones that stuck with me the most. The legions of resistance fighters who had died both in the invasion and in the preparation for it: how long would they still have people remember and mourn them? And the civilians caught in the crossfire, likely already forgotten, were on my mind too. Especially on my mind, because they didn't choose to fight and die. When the potential loss in failure was absolutely everything we cared for, any necessary sacrifice would always be a net positive. But it didn't take away the tragedy and the sadness I felt at what we had to do at times. War was brutal. War was sometimes necessary. And I would continue to do what had to be done, because I knew what it would mean if we didn't win this war. But that didn't mean that I couldn't still be horrified by what I'd seen and done. All I could do, I suppose, was try and tuck it away for now, and deal with it later, when dealing with it wouldn't mean losing everything.