[Niri. You're late.]
[Relax sister, the field test was planned. I will see no trouble for this.]
[We are entering lockdown. It appears Xcom has located our facility.]
[I find that unlikely. Even if they had, the sensors would have detected something. If they get close, or elders forbid enter the facility, we will know.]
Warlock was really starting to question how exactly they were going to pull this off. They had already almost blown the entire op trying to get past the first patrol, and now they had an entire army ahead of them. Upon reaching the top of the maintenance stairs, the squad had quickly moved to the nearest piece of cover, a low wall by a service road near the back of the facility. From here they could see many of the defenses they were up against, and there were quite a few. Every building was outfitted with roof mounted turrets, though oddly there were a few missing. Their absence made clear by the counterparts nearby, or the empty platforms on which they should stand. Regardless, it was good for them. It did seem to provide a safe path into the nearest structure. But then again, the turrets wouldn't matter if any of the dozen patrols moving between the buildings caught up with them. There were primarily advent troopers present, however the occasional muton caught Warlock's attention. This was rather heavy security.
As he scanned the site, The landing platforms caught Warlock's eye. They appeared to be on the roof of a distant building. It was hard to make out past the guardrails and boxes up top, but he could have sworn he had seen a flash of yellow up there. That transport must have been reinforcements after all. A single squad perhaps, but a Viper was still a threat regardless.
"Perimeter breached," Blackjack's voice said over comms, pulling Warlock back into the moment. "Any hostiles?"
"Plenty," Warlock replied. "But none of them are looking at us. I think I can see a clear path into the closest building."
Blackjack paused as he seemed to listen for a moment, no doubt receiving orders from the commander. "Copy that. Stay close Viper squad. Let's get out of the open."
Waiting briefly for the signal from Blackjack, Warlock started towards the building. He followed the low wall a short ways until the active turret was obstructed by some kind of antenna station on the building. Once they had entered the blindspot, Warlock waited a moment to be sure they were clear before vaulting the wall and heading for the opposite side of the road. From there it was a simple matter of hopping the opposite barrier, and they reached the wall of the building. Once in the clear the squad automatically stacked up on the door. Slipstream and blackjack flanked each side, followed by Anubis and Dealer on the left, and Warlock and Menace on the right. Before they could enter however, Warlock noticed an odd giggling behind him.
"Hey," Menace whispered. "Why did the insurgents cross the road?"
"Not now Menace" Warlock hissed back.
"To find a way inside."
Warlock would have smacked his partner for that one, but they didn't have time. At that moment Blackjack opened the door and rushed inside, closely followed by the others. Warlock lagged behind slightly with Dealer, watching their flank for a moment as the others cleared the room.
"Rooms clear" came the voice of Blackjack over comms. Prompting the two of them to enter.
Warlock went second, sliding the door shut behind him as he walked in. Looking around he found that they appeared to be in some sort of observation room by the looks of it. A rather small chamber with two rows of chairs facing a window through which Slipstream was looking. Following her gaze, Warlock understood why. This building must be related to the avatar project. He had seen these kinds of operating rooms too many times at the other facilities. And while the bloodstained table visible through the window was unsettling, it certainly was not worse than the time they interrupted a dissection.
"Permission to plant the charges."
Warlock was caught off guard by the strained voice Slipstream spoke in. He was aware of how much she despised these facilities, but looking at her now he could tell just how much hatred she had for advent. After all, she had almost ended up on one of those tables herself.
"Negative Slipstream" was the expected reply from Blackjack. "We need all the charges for the central generator."
Pausing for a moment, Blackjack switched off his comms before he continued.
"I know it hurts Emilia, but you've got to tough this out. We'll tear this place down, just not yet."
Slipstream didn't reply, at least not verbally. But a moment later she finally tore herself from the window and continued towards the opposite door. As far as Warlock could tell, this was the best response they would get from her. The rest of the squad followed, and once Blackjack switched on his comms they repeated the breaching procedure. The next door led into a hallway which they followed past several other rooms. Quick glances inside confirmed the presence of all the equipment they had come to expect from an avatar facility. Eventually, they worked their way upstairs and found the way forward. A door leading outside onto a bridge between the two buildings. It didn't appear to be guarded, allowing them to continue to the next structure.
Following their quiet breaching process, Warlock was once again the last in. Closing the door of the bridge behind him, he looked around to find that they were in some kind of warehouse. The entire building was a sort of maze of high pallet racks full of various advent crates. Out of everything he could have felt right now, Warlock couldn't help the spark of envy in his mind. Here they were fighting a war with whatever scraps of tech they could salvage, and Advent had all of this. Comparing their available resources, the battle honestly seemed hopeless. But then again, there was a bright side. Because despite their clear disadvantage, Xcom was still here. And that was worth something.
"Copy that commander" Said Blackjack. "All right squad, fan out and search a few crates. Try to disturb as little as possible, but we need to know what's in here."
Viper squad did as they were told, spreading out to check the crates. Admittedly however, Warlock's mind was not focused on the task. While he examined a few crates of various electrical components, he was really focused on the doors. There were four, which made sense considering the layout of the complex. One led to the bio lab they had just left, while the others remained unknown. As Menace struggled to open a sealed crate, it seemed Anubis had noticed this problem as well.
"Blackjack, we are burning time here. Reinforcements are due any minute, and I for one don't want to be here when they arrive."
"She's not wrong commander" came the voice of central over comms. "There has got to be a faster way to survey this facility."
"Wow! Now that's what I am talking about!"
The entire squad turned to face Menace at this remark, discovering he had managed to pry the crate open. Judging by the light green glow emanating from the box, he had just discovered a cache of elerium cores. There must have been at least fifty of them there. Was a shame they would have to leave it all behind.
Before the squad could fan out again, Menace's gremlin suddenly started flashing its lights from across the room before flying back to its user. Checking the readout for a moment, Menace cursed as he slammed the crate shut.
"We've got movement, east side corridor."
"Copy. Viper squad, get to the north side door now!"
Nobody hesitated at these orders, instead making a break for the target destination. Blackjack and Slipstream arrived first, opening the door and pushing into the corridor beyond to clear it. Warlock and Dealer were next, but Warlock stopped to turn and face the east side door for overwatch. As he waited Menace made it through, but Anubis had fallen behind. Her heavy loadout made quick motion hard, and she clearly had not been quick enough.
The east side door opened, revealing a peculiar advent unit. Two advent troopers, presently carrying several containers, and two vipers. Realizing they were about to be revealed, Warlock did just about the only thing he could think of to maintain cover. Hitting the doors control panel caused it to quickly shut, thankfully in time with the room's other door to conceal the sound. And before Anubis could question anything, Warlock pulled her down behind a row of crates nearby to wait. All they could do now was hope some opportunity presented itself to slip away. Judging by the lack of chatter over comms, he could only assume the others understood what he was thinking. For now he simply strained to listen for any indication that they were in the clear, or otherwise.
Had he been going off of the voices alone, Warlock would have blown his cover a few seconds in. From what he could tell they were talking, but it was hardly in any language he could understand. It was all unsettling hissing noises, something that usually made him panic after all his time in the field. It was a good thing Slipstream wasn't in here with them. Though admittedly, Warlock was surprised by how normal the vipers sounded. Perhaps normal wasn't quite the word for it. Perhaps calm, or maybe even playful? Whatever the case these hissed words carried none of the aggression he was so used to in battle. It made him wonder what the enemy must hear from them in a firefight.
After a few moments, the hissing stopped. And without any other indication of what was happening, Warlock decided it was now or never. Leaning to peak out from behind the crate, he felt himself yanked back as Anubis grabbed his shoulder. Turning to face her, Warlock had half a mind to slap her hand away, but the look on her face was enough to wash away his annoyance at the interruption. He had never seen Anubis like this. Scared, maybe even terrified. She had a look of panic in her eyes that admittedly he was feeling as well. Placing a hand on hers, he gave a silent nod and she let go. The last thing they needed to do in this situation was panic, and they both understood this. But knowing you must do something, and actually doing it, are two very different beasts to conquer. Drawing his pistol, Warlock leaned slightly out of cover to get a clear view.
The Advent unit had split up, or more accurately a single viper had split from the unit. While a strangely small viper could be seen a few rows away directing the two troopers as they stored whatever crate they had been carrying, Warlock was able to get a good look at the group's straggler. As usual this viper was female, despite reports that they existed his team had yet to encounter a male viper, but that was about where the similarities ended. This viper's scales were a peculiar pale yellow with a greenish tinge to them that gave the impression that it was somehow sick. And instead of the standard combat attire that even the smaller viper Warlock had just seen seemed to wear, this viper was not in any kind of combat gear. They had some kind of protective vest, clearly bulletproof for what little good it would do against their magnetic weapons, and a lab coat. Perhaps that explained the lack of aggression in their voice. This one was a civilian. A civilian, but not innocent. They were likely the one in charge of the sick experiments he had just witnessed in the avatar facility.
As Warlock watched this strange viper, he gradually realized just how much danger they were truly in. At present, the Viper appeared to be examining a crate full of elerium cores. A crate that had been left open. Menace must have left it open when he ran. If that Viper realized they were here then- BANG
Warlock was saved by one thing. His weapons safety. Having just drawn the pistol he had not switched off the safety. And as he squeezed the trigger on impulse to no effect, he had never been happier in his life to have made this mistake. The Viper he had been watching also seemed to panic and look around for the source of the noise, prompting Warlock to duck behind cover again. Turning to Anubis, Warlock planned to ask what had just happened, but was interrupted when a loud hissing could be heard from across the room. Anubis was currently watching the scene from around the other side of their crate. After a moment, Anubis gestured for him to follow, and made for the door. Hesitating for just a second, Warlock did as he was told.
Glancing back as he moved quickly to the door, Warlock saw that the civilian viper had left for the far door, while the smaller viper appeared to be yelling at the advent troopers as they picked a crate off the floor. That must have been what caused the racket, and as Warlock realized, was giving them a chance to escape. Ahead of him Anubis slipped through the door as it opened, and Warlock quickly followed before it closed behind him.
The other side of the door was just as Warlock expected, a bridge between two buildings that led to the structure at the heart of the complex. As the door closed behind him, he found Anubis had reunited with Dealer and Slipstream, but Menace and Blackjack were absent.
"Pro Chas," Dealer muttered in as he saw them. "Vhat happened in there?"
"Long story. Anubis got us out undetected. Where are the others?"
"Gone ahead. Next building is a power station. Blackjack is planting the charges now."
"Without me?!"
Warlock was admittedly caught off guard by Anubis's outburst, though he really shouldn't have been. She was the demolitions expert after all. Not waiting for anyone else, Anubis ran across the bridge to the next building, leaving the others to follow.
By the time Warlock made it inside, it was clear that some argument had just ended. Anubis was checking the X4 charge on the central reactor while Blackjack watched, both looking rather defensive at the moment. Dealer and Slipstream had gone to plant the remaining charges on various power nodes around the room, meanwhile Menace was sitting by the door playing with his new toy. It appeared he had hacked an Advent Mech that had been standing guard. At the moment, it was doing a poorly choreographed rendition of the robot.
"You still should have waited."
"We didn't know if you would make it out Anubis, there was no time. Commander wanted the charges set before we blew our cover."
Warlock didn't need to hear much more to understand why they were both so defensive. Anubis clearly overreacted when she entered, and Blackjack felt guilty about the possibility that the commander's plan may have left them behind. The idea didn't seem likely to Warlock, but Blackjack had a habit of preparing for the worst possible outcome for any situation.
"What's our next stop then?" Warlock asked as Dealer and Slipstream returned.
"Four exits," Slipstream replied. "The way we came in, three leading to unidentified facilities. Judging by the compound design we are looking at at least two buildings per door."
"I hate to complain," came the voice of Anubis from behind the central reactor. "But there has got to be a faster way to work out what else is here."
"There is!"
The entire group turned to look at menace as he spoke, finding him now sitting on top of the Advent mech as he spoke. His gremlin presently flying in circles around his head.
"Something to share with the class Menace?"
"Right, sorry Blackjack." Menace slid down off the mech and ran over to the group, mitioning for his gremlin to fly over. "We can download everything we need from a maintenance console."
"Hold on," Anubis said as she poked her head around the reactor. "You can get us a floor plan?"
"Well, yes and no. A floor plan would be ideal, but aside from whatever research they run here those are probably the most secure files in the facility. Trying to access, much less download, any kind of schematics or floor plans will set off the alarm. But there is a way around that."
As Menace said this, his gremlin displayed a maintenance icon.
"Yes, maintenance. A facility this big is bound to have some standard repair issues from time to time, meaning they have a maintenance terminal to log damages and repair. If I can get access to one of those terminals, I could pull those logs and get a list of all equipment in the facility. Not as easy to decipher as a floor plan-"
"But it tells us everything we need to know."
Blackjack seemed to consider the plan for a moment, undoubtedly listening to the commander over comms. After a couple of seconds, he gave in.
"All right, but that still leaves us with the problem of finding one of these terminals. Commander suggests the engineering bay, so how do we find that?"
"Follow the power."
Warlock surprised even himself as he said this, but thankfully his brain caught up with his mouth quickly.
"The engineering bay back on the Avenger is the largest power drain on the ship. When I worked down there we had to draw all the excess power we could just to keep things running. I bet it is the same here. So if we find the building with the highest power usage, we have our objective."
Blackjack nodded as he heard this, tapping his comm before turning towards the east door.
"According to Shen, the largest heat signature apart from the reactor is the second building this way. Stack up Vipers, time to breach.
The first breach, as expected, took the squad out onto another second floor bridge between buildings. Judging by the lack of alarms or increased patrols, they had yet to be spotted. As they crossed the bridge Warlock took the time to glance around. From here he could see various crates out in the open, a road leading into the building they were approaching, a distant security gate in the perimeter, and a patrol of three Advent Troopers. Not wanting to get caught, Warlock kept his head low as he approached the next door.
As usual, Warlock was the last in. But with the lack of verbal communication, that didn't reduce the surprise. He practically froze as the door closed behind him, a sense of jealous rage boiling up inside. The building they had just entered was an armory. The entire floor was one open plan armory full of shelves upon shelves of Advent weaponry. Standard rifles, alien specific weapons, boxes of grenades, even armor appeared to be stored here. While the others fanned out through the room, Warlock passed Slipstream as he made his way towards an interior balcony with a view to the floor below. She was presently occupied examining one of the advent rifles.
"What I wouldn't give for half this equipment on the Avenger"
"Just don't touch it," Warlock said over his shoulder. "Last thing we need is to set off one of those bio…"
Warlock trailed off this sentence as he reached the balcony, and dropped to the floor to get out of sight. Seeing his reaction, the others shut up and listened. After a moment of strained silence, they could hear exactly what Warlock had seen.
The floor below them was a vehicle bay. Advent trucks and transports lined the walls, and a line of at least nine Sectopods was just below the balcony Warlock was standing on. Thankfully they were inactive, likely for maintenance judging by the mechanical staff downstairs. Two mutons were hard at work on a tenth sectopod that seemed to be half assembled on the main floor, and Warlock was sure one had almost seen him. Thankfully, after waiting several moments for an alarm that never came, Blackjack motioned for the squad to head for the exit. Following his lead, the squad used their usual breaching pattern as they exited onto the next bridge.
"Warlock, what was that?"
The entire squad glanced at Warlock as Menace voiced the question they all had, but everyone kept moving across the bridge all the same. Reaching the far building they began to stack up on the door.
"Looked like a motor pool. Trucks, cars, and sectopods. Nine of them combat ready, and there was a tenth underway."
There was a slight pause as everyone processed this, before Blackjack gave the signal and he and Slipstream breached into the room. Dealer and Anubis went next, followed by Menace and Warlock. Everyone seemed to relax a bit as they looked around at their new surroundings. The room was clearly a workshop, and honestly reminded Warlock of Shen's workstation back on the avenger. Nearby they could see several tables covered in various electronics, data pads, and a half assembled turret hooked up to a computer of some sort. Meanwhile, the rest of the room was practically the same as the storage facility two buildings ago. Rows upon rows of shelves stocked with loose parts, locked crates, and a wide variety of clearly experimental devices. Noticing the computer terminal at the desk, Menace quickly made his way there to get to work.
"Looks like we got what we came for," Anubis muttered as she started to look around at the shelves. Inspecting what looked like a prototype rifle. "Though I still wish we could have taken even half the explosives in that armory."
"Not a good idea," Warlock replied as he started down the rows of shelves himself. "Don't forget all advent equipment has those damn bio locks. One touch from us and those grenades would probably detonate like the weapons do."
Warlock paused as he came to the end of the shelves, noticing a staircase going down to the floor below. Could be a good way out, given how close they were to the fence.
"Actually," came the voice of Dealer from between the shelves. "Not all Advent gear has biometric security. Ve have used vehicles, melee veapons, and grenades in the past."
Warlock wasn't paying attention to what Anubis said in response, though he could guess it was something about missed opportunities, because he was now focused on a peculiar box he had located on one of the shelves. Unlike the other assorted crates and boxes, this gray featureless box had a slight mist drifting through the crack under the lid. His best guess was that this was some kind of cold storage. Examining the box a little closer, Warlock tried to open the lid, but found that it was shut tight. Likely had some kind of concealed opening mechanism he was unaware of. Maybe if he-
"Whatcha got there?"
Warlock jumped as he spun around to find Slipstream standing behind him, giving the box a rather concerned look. Taking a moment to breathe after this scare, Warlock started to explain.
"No idea. Cold storage device of some kind. But I need a way to…" Warlock trailed off as he noticed a sound from down the stairs. Opening close range comms, Warlock whispered to avoid making too much noise.
"Blackjack, We've got incoming."
"Copy Warlock. Menace, what's the time on that download?"
"I need more time here! I'm not exactly downloading a song. I am still having to work around security measures to stay hidden."
The squad seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Blackjack's orders, as he presumably waited for the commanders. After glancing up at the top shelf they were next too, Warlock and Slipstream started climbing into their hiding spot before Blackjack even started talking.
"Get low and hold positions, do not fire until I say so. Menace, keep that program running. We might need a quick getaway."
Warlock could hear the slight scuffles of the rest of the squad getting into position, meanwhile he and Slipstream settled onto the top of the shelf. This position felt relatively stable, was high enough to be out of the way, and provided a decent vantage point over the room. Decent enough that once he was settled he could see the rest of the squad. Anubis was near the opposite corner of the room crouched behind some larger crates, Blackjack was in a similar position a little closer to the door they had entered from. Menace appeared to have concealed himself quite well behind various boxes stacked under one of the tables, while Dealer was lurking in the rows of shelves. All went well, whoever was coming this way would pass right through and never know they were there. But as Warlock heard hissing noises from the stairs, he couldn't shake the sudden sinking feeling in his gut.
The two vipers from the storage building emerged from the stairs, still speaking to one another in an all too familiar alien tongue. Without thinking, Warlock quickly put a hand over Slipstream's mouth and her weapon. It was only a split second later when his mind caught up with his reflexes that he noticed the panic in her eyes. She really had developed a fear of these giant snakes. And this was just about the worst time for her to give in to it.
Thankfully, Warlock was able to keep Slipstream calm enough that she didn't give them away. Slowly lowering his hands, Warlock continued to watch as the vipers reached the workstation. The smaller one booted up their computer terminal as they continued to speak, but the unusually pale greenish viper had stopped talking and was looking around. Clearly they had not seen anything yet, but Warlock could tell they were already suspicious.
The smaller viper seemed to notice the odd actions of their counterpart, and gave what seemed to be a nervous reply. Pausing for a moment, the larger viper said something, before it started down the rows of shelves. Warlock watched as the viper looked down each row, barely missing Dealer as he slipped between shelves to remain hidden, before finally reaching his row and stopping. Seeming satisfied, the viper turned away and Warlock felt a wave of relief wash over him. But that relief quickly turned to dread as he heard a scraping sound to his left. He had just enough time to register that Slipstream had started to draw her blade before the viper wheeled around and looked up. They locked eyes, and all hell broke loose.
Authors Note
Hello! I'm not dead! And neither is this project. I have been incredibly busy over the last few months, but I haven't forgotten about recovery protocol. I am simply caught up in so much right now that it is hard for me to find the time to write new chapters. That being said, I do not intend to give up on this project. The next chapter is already half done, and should hopefully be ready by the end of the month. As it stands I am releasing this chapter when I am not quite done with it simply so I can keep the story moving. If I waited until I was perfectly happy with every chapter I write, I would never be ready to post them. So if pieces of this chapter feel a little rushed or low quality, I do apologize. I would just rather get something done so I can get this project moving again.