(A/N): And here we are, folks! The first part of the finale of Summer Declassified! As I said last time, I have all four of the last chapters written, and so I'll be uploading one here every few days to give you all time to read and process and react. Author's notes will be sparse from here on out, as I want the story and writing to speak for itself, but I'll be back for the start of the last chapter! I hope you all enjoy, thank you all so much for reading, and as always, keep being awesome!

Now, let's kick this last mission off with one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...


The surface of the moon was cold, gray, and barren yet oddly beautiful. Summer's ears were filled with the hissing of pressurized oxygen and the pounding of her own heart, with no atmosphere outside her suit to carry the sound of her own footsteps across the grainy craters. After so many months locked under Earth's oppressive gravity, each move on the moon felt floaty and liberating as though she were underwater - if she wanted, she reasoned she could leap up into the black sea of stars above and never come back down.

"Sierra, everything alright? You're spacing out - no pun intended."

Summer turned back to face her squad, the six men and women she'd handpicked to fight alongside her for this final mission. They all boasted the same silver spacesuits that she herself wore, complete with jetpacks, kinetic barriers, Venn Braces, and wrist-mounted deployable shields. Thomas Nils - the second man she ever met on Earth - stood proudly on the walker servos mounted outside his non-functioning legs, Springfield rifle already loaded with armor-piercing DEAF rounds and a full-auto rifle slung across his back. On her left she could see Gray Dawson and Piotr Zhedrev with pump-action shotguns in hand, while Penelope Cohen and Elizabeth Walters scanned the horizon with semi-auto pistols on her right. And right behind her was Knox Dolan resembling a walking armory; a well-worn M14 in his grip, a HEAT Launcher strapped to his back, and a belt of grenades wrapped around his waist with a collapsed shock spade tucked underneath.

It was a good thing she felt more lightweight on the moon, because otherwise she was sure she'd collapse under the weight of her own equipment. Her own M14 sat comfortably in her hands, an alien-alloy-infused combat knife attached as a bayonet. Three more of those small sheathed blades were strapped to her left thigh, directly across from the pistol on her other leg and below the shotgun on the small of her back. Her beloved white cloak, woven for her as a gift from a friend on Earth, was slung over the shoulders of her suit and rippled with each movement in low gravity, inner pockets full of grenades and spare ammo for all her weapons. Finally, Wandering Thorn thirsted for blood on her hip, the collapsed sword ready to be drawn and come alive in a flash of heat and silver light.

"Yeah, I'm good Tango," said Summer with a small embarrassed laugh. "Just...I used to have this dream since I was little of being the first Huntress to walk on the moon. It was a silly little fantasy that I gave up fast, cause not only could we not go to space, our moon was...kinda broken."

"I know what you mean," breathed Penny in wonder. "I'm sure everyone here does, at least a little bit. Being here now, setting foot where no one has ever walked before...it's beautiful, amazing, and terrifying all the same."

"Always wondered if the moon was made of cheese or not," joked Dawson. "Anyone wanna pop their helmet off quick to test that theory?"

"I wouldn't do that," warned Liz. "Not unless you want your head to explode...or your blood to instantly freeze. They didn't exactly cover what happens to the human body in space during med school, and for now I'd rather not find out."

"So don't take the helmets off," confirmed Knox. "Tracking?"

"Da, Zhedrev understands," said the former Soviet spy with a chuckle. "It looks like space race is tie, yes comrade?"

Knox scoffed. "In your dreams, you commie bastard."

Pride swelled in Summer's heart as she heard both the American Commando and the Russian Engineer laugh heartily over the radio. Despite differences in ideology, gender, and sexuality, these humans had come together to protect their world from a threat larger than themselves. Even if she didn't have Asaru bonded to her, even if she didn't have her Aura or the psionic powers granted by the Ethereal, she would have been proud to serve alongside them once more as she had for the last seven months. These aspects of humanity were worth fighting for as a Huntress, whether or not she had the powers that came with such a title.

She smiled and took a steadying breath. "Come on. We're a few klicks away from our relay - Barnes didn't want to bring the Avenger too close to those anti-air defenses, so we'll make the rest of the hike on foot. Feel free to bounce as much as you want...we probably won't get many chances to have fun once the shooting starts."

With a series of nods the men and women of Strike Two followed her as she made her way across the crater-marked landscape. Despite the circumstances she wasn't able to suppress her giggles as she chained several jumps together, each leap taking her almost ten feet into the sky and pushing her stomach into her throat as she gracefully floated back down. Dawson, Nils, and Penny all joined her in the air, filling her ears with hearty chuckles, excited hollers, and adorable little squeals of delight. Liz just rolled her eyes and only joined in when her husband-to-be insisted she soar with him, while Knox and Zhedrev seemed to be having an unspoken competition to see who could jump farthest. It was a much-needed moment of levity and fun, a reprieve from the darker thoughts that clouded Summer's mind.

But the joy of being on the moon faded as their reason for coming loomed closer.

Over the horizon the tip of a steel-gray tower seemed to rise over the hills, resembling a ribbed cylinder with serrated edges and a bulge somewhere in the middle. The central chamber continued to grow larger with each step the squad took until it stretched nearly a mile into the starry sky, supported by a dome that was half as wide and over two hundred feet tall. Even the smaller pyramid-like relays seemed imposing and larger than life, their central points raised a hundred feet over their heads with ebon-black metal plating that almost blended into the starry sky.

"Holy shit," breathed Knox. "You think something this big would be visible from Earth."

"Even if it was, they probably have cloaking tech to mask it," posited Penny. "They're just dropping it now because...well, I don't think they care too much about hiding anymore."

"Origin must think he's already won," mused Nils. "Let's show that bastard that if humanity's going down, we're going down swinging."

"Well said, Tango," said Summer with a chuckle. Then she pressed a button on her suit's collar to switch radio frequencies. "Alpha-One, this is Sierra-Two. We have a visual on our relay and are ready to engage on your order."

"Solid copy Sierra," called Weaver over the comms. "Lima-Three, is your team in position?"

"Just about," came the accented voice of Loveday. "We'd have gotten there by now if Sierra's Recon wasn't so interested in swiping some moon rocks."

"Hey, no one knows when we'll be coming back here again!" Adam protested. "This is for science!"

"Science, sure," said Briggs skeptically. "That's a funny way of pronouncing 'profit.'"

Summer laughed and shook her head. "Alpha-Three? Behave. Play nice with your new teammates."

"Yes ma'am…"

Weaver seemed less amused, clearing her throat. "Final comms check, people. Sound off."

A chorus of confirmations and status updates poured out of the radio, and Summer prided herself in being so familiar with the agents picked that she could put a name and face to each voice in sequence. Angela Weaver, as expected, headed up Strike One, with Steve Bradford and Leon Van Doorn right behind her. Doctor Alan Weir's smooth accented voice came next, followed by Raymond Shen and Howard Vahlen. Catherine Crawford brought up the rear, to serve as an additional Recon solely for sniping so that Weaver could focus on leading the squad...and to quickly sew up any suit ruptures.

Summer's own Strike Two had herself at the helm, with longtime friend and Recon agent Nils as her ASL. Liz and Dawson served as her Support agents for this mission, while Penny and Zhedrev acted as her Engineers. The grizzled old Commando Knox rounded out her squad, giving the team a good mix of offensive and defensive capability. And Jordan Loveday, the new acting head of Strike Three, chose to bring the usual suspects to join him and Adam Goldstein - his old war buddy Edward Briggs, the Scottish battle couple Jacquelyn and Alfred Mucallin, the Spanish Interpol agent Rodrigo Diaz, and the Austrian field medic Maximilian.

If it was any other mission, the sheer number of Officers and First Rank agents being deployed would have been overkill.

On this mission, it was necessary.

"Comms check complete," announced Chulski from her position aboard the Avenger. "Signals are clear across the board. Radios are linked and shouldn't be dropping anytime soon, ma'am."

"Excellent. All Strike Leads, start scouting and coming up with engagement plans. Notify me when you're all ready, and Big Sky will start the timer. Remember, Sierra says we need to shut down all the relays within ten minutes of setting foot on the first one. So move fast, fight smart, and don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Sounds like a plan, Director."

"Copy that, Alpha." Summer looked over at Nils, who was already peering through the SCOPE on his sniper rifle. "What're we dealing with, Tango?"

"A lot," reported Nils with a grimace. "There's only one way in, and that's through the gate at the front of the relay. Naturally, these assholes know that too, which is why they've got heavy forces stationed there. I've got a quick count of three Tech Commanders and ten times as many grunts just outside the gate, with an even split between Outsiders and Sectoids. There's Silacoids and automated turrets hidden in the wall, plus an alcove above the gate that's got about a half-dozen snipers watching for movement. And all that's either outside the relay, or just inside - not even the SCOPE can see through to the atrium. The walls are just too damn thick."

Summer frowned and hummed thoughtfully. While it only made sense that the relays would be so heavily defended - they were the key to disabling the barrier blocking access to the central chamber, after all - the sheer number of enemy forces still posed an issue. A protracted firefight with a force that size was already a risky gambit, even without the danger of a suit rupture being fatal on the lifeless moon. With how much plasma would be flying at her squad, they'd be torn to shreds in seconds.

But...what if the plasma wasn't flying at them?

"Alright, here's the play," said the Huntress decisively as she stowed her rifle on her back. "You see that sniper alcove hanging just over the gate? That's gonna be your way in. Zulu and Pepper, use your shaped charges on the viewports to weaken them. Echo and Golf, light up the whole room with flashbangs, then I want everyone to mop up the hostiles while they're dazed. Once the alcove is clear, Kilo leads the team into the atrium and across the catwalks, shooting down whatever's in your sights as you move to the other end. Tango, I need you as high as possible sniping vulnerable targets - there's bound to be a lot of fire in there, and even if you can only drop one Outsider at a time, that's still one less gun shooting at us. Any questions?"

Dawson raised his hand. "Yeah. Won't we be a little, you know...obvious? If we just fly straight at the sniper's perch like that, they're gonna shoot us down like clay pigeons."

She smirked. "Not if they're looking at something else."

The Huntress pulsed her Aura and teased her Semblance, breathing out as pale white roses began swirling around her in nonexistent winds. She drew Wandering Thorn and fully extended it, the heated blade glowing with light that matched her gaze. Penny gasped, Nils and Walters looked at her with widened eyes, Zhedrev paled as though he'd seen a ghost, while Knox and Dawson just looked at each other with smirks.

"That's...your Aura, isn't it?" Penny breathed. "It's...beautiful…"

"It sure is," she said proudly. "As soon as Alpha gives the word, I'll Scatter down and get their attention. With Asaru and my Aura permanently active, I should be able to handle whatever's on the ground floor...though if you think I'm in a tight spot and want to help, I certainly won't say no."

Liz recovered from her shock with a frown. "Even with that Aura thing, it's still a risky plan. You sure you're up for this, Sierra?"

"You clearly haven't seen her fight after she sticks herself with that shit Alpha gave her," laughed Knox wryly. "If she's got that up all the time now, then this'll be like just another Tuesday for her."

"More or less," said Summer. "Everyone on board?"

"You've gotten us this far, Sierra," said Nils with a fist against his heart. "I trust you to lead us the rest of the way."

"Going home is not option," agreed Zhedrev. "We win here, or lose everywhere. Zhedrev will follow your command, roza. May you lead us to glory."

Everyone else nodded in turn, which helped ease the anxiety building in Summer's chest as she took deep breaths of pressurized air.

"Alright then," she said finally. "Alpha-One? We're ready when you are."

"Roger, Sierra-Two," answered Weaver with steeled nerves. "Lima-Three?"

"In position and all set to kick off the housewarming party," responded Loveday with cool confidence. "Ready to dance, ladies?"

"More than ready. All teams, prepare to engage. Weapons free on my mark in five…"

Summer tightened her grip on Wandering Thorn.

"Four…"

Another cold breath crackled in her lungs.

"Three…"

The rest of her squad warmed up their jets.

"Two…"

Asaru's energy pooled into her veins.

"One…"

A tornado of pale roses swallowed her whole.

"...mark."

The silver-eyed Huntress vanished out of sight from the rest of her squad and reappeared behind enemy lines, her back to the gate with the unguarded flanks of nearly three dozen enemies laid out before her.

You ready, Asaru?

Always.

There was a split second between her sudden appearance and the aliens realizing she was there. And that brief pause was all the time Summer needed to lunge forward and run her sword through one of the Tech Commanders from behind, piercing its suit and sending blood and viscera floating in low gravity. The other hostiles reacted with inaudible shouts and silent plasma bursts on her position, which she scattered into petals to avoid before reforming next to sturdy cover. She pulled the rifle off her back and dumped short bursts of armor-piercing rounds into the Outsiders and Sectoids that were on the wrong side of her protective metal slab, then leaned out of cover to deliver precise, lethal headshots. An entire rainbow of alien vital fluids sprayed and splattered with each new kill, painting the surface of the moon in oranges, blues, and greens as otherworldly foes fell before her well-honed accuracy and murderous intent.

"Strike Two engaging the enemy! Start the clock!"

"Roger that, Tango-Two. Victor-One, take the lead while Bravo and Hotel take the flanks. Everyone else, fall in!"

"Shield-wall formation, chaps! Advance steadily and do not stop, for Queen and country!"

The chatter and affirmations of the other strike teams became little more than background noise to Summer as she abandoned her newly-melted cover, rolling into the open and coming out in a crouch. Before the aliens could track their concentrated fire over to her, she slammed the ground with both hands glowing in azure light, sending a rippling shockwave across the battlefield that knocked everyone off their feet. Taking advantage of the confusion to fling some knives with enough force to puncture suits and lungs, Summer darted into new cover as the Outsiders and Sectoids rose back to their feet. In the corner of her eye she could see a half-dozen blue and silver stars rushing towards her, dodging the hastily-aimed emerald lances as they soared.

"Strike Two approaching the gate! Come on Zulu, this is our chance!"

"Da! Am following your lead, penni!"

The two remaining Tech Commanders looked at each other with understanding nods, then raised their hands with coronas of yellow light shining from their palms. Immediately a pair of turrets snaked out from hidden compartments along the walls of the gate, locking their barrels on Summer and warming up with deadly plasma. The Huntress responded by teleporting again and appearing with feet pressed against the wall and sword in hand, slashing through the base of the weapons platforms in one clean slice with the heated blade. Before the sparking wrecks could even start to float away in the low gravity, she gripped them with her mind and flung them at the yellow-caped officers, knocking them out of cover and into the landmines that suddenly appeared under their feet.

Summer grinned as she watched the explosive discs detonate, reducing the high-ranking Outsiders into ludicrous giblets. "Thanks for the assist, Pepper. You too, Zulu."

"Always a pleasure, Sierra!" chimed Penny sweetly.

"Roza has saved Zhedrev's life many times. Zhedrev wishes to return favor for each one."

"I'm sure you'll get plenty more chances inside, Zulu," she said as she laughed softly, picking up the debris again and using it to send a Sectoid flying into space. "Kilo, Tango, give me some covering fire! Supports and Engineers, prep for the breach!"

"On it, Boss!"

"Prepping flash."

"Setting the charges!"

"Will do as roza asks!"

"Tracking, ma'am!"

"I've got your six, Sierra!"

With the remains of the Tech Commanders floating in mid-air and half the opposing force cut down by gunfire, the rest of the defenders were left vulnerable and scattered. Knox and Nils fired their M14s on full-auto mode, showering the battlefield in a blanket of lead and DEAF rounds as they passed over. Summer didn't even bother using her Semblance as she charged forward with Wandering Thorn extended, slashing through the alien infantry like they were made of soft clay. Sectoids cowered and tried to flee, each diminutive creature dispatched with a single swing of a heated blade that ruptured tiny spacesuits and separated heads from spindly shoulders. The remaining Outsiders at least tried to put up more of a fight with sharpened daggers and glowing bayonets, but they too fell before the Huntress on the warpath.

"Alpha-One here, reporting that we've just breached our gate." Weaver called over the comms as Summer tore into her targets. "Moving into the atrium now. Victor, take point with the launcher. Delta and Hotel, stick with Whiskey and Crawford in the back. Bravo, with me on the flanks."

"You got it, ma'am!" Van Doorn called back. "Backblast clear, rockets away!"

"Charges are set!" reported Penny. "Time to detonate!"

"Ah ha ha ha!" Zhedrev cackled. "Explosives go BOOM!"

A burst of blue and green flame drew her attention to the perch, watching as six armored floating figures clung to the walls next to the sniper alcove. She didn't watch the rest of her squad for very long, though - the remaining Outsiders and Sectoids were backpedaling to try and shoot her, so she charged back in to relieve them of both their weapons and the hands that held them. When a dozen large Silacoids launched out of the walls and tried to devour Summer in a last-ditch attack, she stretched out her palm to release a pulse of telekinetic energy that left them all suspended mid-lunge. A simple flick of her wrist bent the minds of the creatures to her own will, turning their murderous rage against their former handlers - with predictably gruesome results.

"Fucking Christ…" growled Knox as he reloaded while observing the Silacoid feeding frenzy. "Sierra's killing it down there."

"Makes you wonder just why the rest of us are here, eh?" Dawson quipped.

"Aw, don't be like that, boys," said Summer with a laugh as she drove Wandering Thorn through the faceplate of the last downed Outsider. "There's plenty of fun waiting inside. Focus on how well you can do your job, not how well I do mine."

"I know, Boss, I'm just teasing. Time to flash the goods, Echo!"

"Targets are stunned. Move in."

The final two Sectoids vanished into a whirlwind of black ichor and came out in six pieces each, leaving the hungry Silacoids to suddenly turn on each other. Before they could completely self-cannibalize, Summer used Asaru's telekinesis to again suspend them in mid-air and stop them in their tracks. This time she poured her energy into manipulating the bodies of the Silacoids directly, condensing the creatures into a singular mass of thick ebony fluid that flowed and levitated by her command. The tar-like creatures seemed alarmed at being used and combined in such a way at first, but they eventually relented to their new unfamiliar formation and melded into one another.

Satisfied with her new improvised weapon, she ran to the door and delivered three Aura-infused slashes into the sealed gateway, leaving behind glowing gashes that warped and softened up the metal with pure heat. Then she leapt back and used the collected Silacoids as a battering ram, shaping their matter into a hardened fist that crashed into the weakened door with untold amounts of force.

CRUNCH.

Eighteen inches of solid metal suddenly collapsed under the weight of the attack, folding in on itself and shearing apart into mangled ribbons. Summer sprinted through her newly-made entrance at full tilt, keeping the mass of Silacoids in front of her like a spinning wheel to block the fusilade of plasma targeting her and her alone. The tarry shield quickly began to boil away under the heat of a hundred miniature emerald suns, but the maneuver bought her enough time to dart behind one of the atrium's central pillars; she pressed her back against the protective stone and metal and caught her breath, bringing what was left of the corrosive fluid back to her feet and reforming them into four blobs.

These Silacoids still wish to fight for you, noted Asaru. What would you have them do?

Summer tried to poke her head out from behind cover, but quickly ducked back when a burst of plasma grazed the edge of her helmet. Give me some time to think, Asaru. Let me map out our next move.

Gladly.

The battlefield seemed to slow down as Summer's consciousness rose out of her head and into the center of the atrium. As the name would imply, the new area was massive and heavily populated, large enough to house two Avengers with enough floor space left over to stash a few Skyrangers. Three levels of tiered platforms along the walls and narrow catwalks extending from six central pillars gave the room a dizzying sense of verticality, and even the ground floor soon gave way to heavily-defended stairwells that led up to the glowing green Elerium reactor. To her dismay, there were no blind spots where she could scatter to safety - every inch of the room had at least two pairs of Outsider eyes covering it, and she knew from experience that even basic troopers in formation were very good at picking out targets and focusing them down. Even with her Aura, she'd be shredded in seconds once she stepped out of cover.

Firing squads made up of rank-and-file infantry were the least of her worries. The first of the many Mutons in the room had abandoned their guns and were in the process of running at her pillar with blood rage in their beady eyes. Though she couldn't see them under their cloaks, she could feel the presence of melee-focused Phantoms joining their brutish allies, blades sharpened to a fine point in preparation for a bloodbath. And while there was only one Shield Commander diligently guarding the stairs, this particular Outsider elite was bigger and meaner-looking than his allies - he wasn't as big as Axis, but he was still at least a good head taller than Summer, and he practically radiated malice and rage from beneath navy-blue armor.

Be wary of that one, warned Asaru. I sense that his command of psionics is more refined than others of his kind, and he specifically seeks to kill the silver-eyed devil that has slaughtered so many of his brethren.

Summer groaned mentally. Oh, wonderful. I have a crazy fan now. Think he'll just be satisfied with an autograph?

I doubt it. How shall we proceed?

The silver-eyed Huntress hummed and weighed her options. She was certain that with her Aura fully active, she could handle the crowd of close combat enthusiasts storming her position. But it was clear that the Mutons and the Phantoms weren't all rushing to best her in single combat; their main goal was to flush her out of cover and give the many, many, many Outsiders lining the side platforms a perfect opportunity to reduce her to glowing ash. Even just a short blitz from the doorway to her current pillar would have fried her if she hadn't used the Silacoids as a living shield - the only thing that could protect her from the hurricane of plasma was solid metal and stone, and even that was starting to wither and melt away under the continued barrage.

But if the attention of the firing squads were divided...

Have the Silacoids harass the Mutons and Phantoms, she eventually commanded. Keep the melee-focused forces distracted long enough for the rest of Strike Three to push through and take care of the firing squads. We'll engage the ones on the ground at close range once I've got some extra guns at my side - until then, we hold out here.

Understood. Relaying your commands to the Silacoids now.

Time snapped back to its usual speed as the thick black blobs immediately started slithering towards the approaching brutes and duelists, launching themselves at their foes and twisting to avoid the blades and fists. Summer drew her rifle once again and blindly fired over the side, trusting that at least some of her shots would find a lucky target. Her gun eventually clicked empty, and seeing as none of the aliens firing at her seemed to stop, she settled for hunkering down behind the swiftly-crumbling pillar.

"This is Lima-Three, our team's just gotten inside!" declared Loveday over the radio as Summer made herself as small a target as possible. "Romeo and Juliet, take center stage! We'll be waiting in the wings right behind you."

"Ugh, I knew there was a reason he chose that callsign..." grumbled Briggs. "That bloody play is such a cliché. And it's not even very good. "

"Then let's spice things up with some Scottish violence!" shouted Jackie. "Come on, love! It's showtime!"

"Hah, and that's why I married you, lass!" boomed Alfred. "Ye always know how to spice up a quiet evenin', you do!"

"If you two could stop flirting for five minutes, I'd appreciate it," deadpanned Diaz.

"This honestly isn't any worse than what it was like whenever Sierra and Whiskey were on an op together," noted Goldstein. "Heads up, Mutons inbound."

"Then let us give them a proper welcome! Flashbang out!" called Maximilian.

After a few moments of listening to the comms in silent prayer, she caught a glimpse of muzzle flashes in the overhead catwalks. She smiled and relaxed her tensed muscles - Strike Three was here to help.

"Secure the flanks! Focus down the wounded ones first, then move onto the healthier bastards! Tango, if you see anything that even looks at us funny, I want you to take its fucking head off before it has a chance to blink! Leave the tougher targets for Sierra - she's good at those!"

"You got it Kilo! Trading the Springfield for one of those fusion lances...those bastards aren't gonna need it or it's ammo anymore."

Now that she had some covering fire of her own, Summer pushed off against her withering pillar and leapt into the crowd of Mutons and Phantoms. One hand lashed out with a fully extended Wandering Thorn, leaving silver arcs and trails of light with each slash and swing. The other hand pulled the remaining Silacoids back together into a suspended mass once more, guiding the collection of corrosive tar through the air with nothing but telekinesis and her own will.

The silver-eyed Huntress soon fell into a comfortable rhythm as she dueled among the melee specialists, an ancient song of battle that had been ingrained into her blood since her days at Beacon Academy. She danced around the fists of one opponent, letting their momentum carry them into the path of her blade as she swung low. She brought her sword up just in time to parry a serrated blade, flowing into a riposte that left a bloodied throat exposed for all to see. The warmth and power granted by her full Aura allowed her to keep up the deadly dance for far longer than usual on Earth, and Asaru's consciousness mingling with her own served only to heighten her skill as brutes and ghosts alike fell before her.

"Zulu, up front with the shield! Golf, bring down the lightning on the left side! Echo and Pepper, flash and burn the right flank!"

"On it, Kilo! A few thousand volts of pain coming right up!"

Her collection of Silacoids flowed like water around her even as she herself moved fluidly between opponents, easily shifting from hardened fists to sharpened edges and back again. They gave Summer an extended range of possible attacks, lashing out like deadly whips and rending flesh from bone as well as any sword. When she needed to escape from a pair of Mutons she leapt backwards while swiping with the corrosive blob, melting the masks of their spacesuits and leaving them to suffocate slowly in the airless void. And when a trio of Phantoms tried to back her into a corner she jumped over their heads and twirled laterally like a mid-air ballerina, turning herself and the outstretched Silacoids into a spinning top of death that reduced the slippery fighters to mulch.

"Atrium defenses down to about half-strength! Keep firing, Strike Two - and keep kicking ass down there, Sierra!"

Even Asaru got in on the action. As Summer continued to weave between fists and blades, he manifested above her and sent Mutons and Phantoms flying with sweeping waves from his four arms. Whenever an enemy slipped into the Huntress's blind spot, he was quick to either call them out or blast them against the walls. When groups of Outsiders in the firing squad locked their sights on Summer, he lifted them with his power and made them easy targets for the fire team on the catwalks above.

"Just a quick heads-up everyone, it's been three minutes since you started the attack. So you've got seven minutes left on the clock."

"Thanks for the reminder, Big Sky. Turrets have got us locked down. Delta, think you can pull that same trick you did back on the Temple Ship?"

"Overriding automated defenses now, ma'am."

The floor soon became dark and sticky with a carpet of blood, not a single drop of it coming from Summer during her deadly dance. Each felled Phantom and each bested Muton was cast aside with telekinesis, its weapons plucked from the corpse and carried by Asaru's power until the Huntress seemed to grow a pair of wings made from blades. All the while the firing squads that tried to track her movements fell row by row, as the gunfire from the men and women above cut through the spectators and eased the pressure on their squad leader as she carved her way through alien duelists.

Finally, the last Muton fell as a blade glowing with silver light pierced between its eyes, its death rattle going unheard in the silence of space as the Huntress roughly yanked out her sword. One more Phantom leapt and materialized out of thin air to stab her from above, only to be thrown against the wall with a cone of force as Summer confidently walked down the hall without even flinching. The Shield Commander let loose a soundless howl as his eyes met hers, leaping forward with hands radiating azure light as power built within his palms. Summer charged to meet him with a blast of her own, and the entire room rumbled and shook as two opposing telekinetic forces pushed against each other in a mighty shockwave.

"Sierra's locked down the Shield Commander!" Knox observed. "Focus fire on the ones he was shielding!"

"We are certain that roof will not collapse, da?" Zhedrev asked nervously.

"With how much energy those two are exerting...I wouldn't completely rule it out!" called Penny.

Huntress and Zudjari grappled and struggled in close quarters without making contact, the floor around them warping and crumbling under the weight of colliding invisible forces. Summer grunted and groaned as she felt the Outsider elite's power start to spill past her defenses, like a pair of invisible hands were pummeling her sides again and again. Asaru wasn't kidding when he warned her about this particular Shield Commander - even with an Ethereal on her side, she struggled to find a weak point that she could exploit to send her opponent flying.

Fortunately, an emerald lance soaring over her head and crashing into her foe's armored shoulder provided enough of a distraction for the Shield Commander, and the familiar voice that flowed out of her radio gave her own spirits a much-needed boost.

"Got your back, Sierra!" Nils called proudly.

She smiled. "Thanks, Tango! That's just what I needed. Now watch this."

With the enemy's focus broken, Summer sent the Shield Commander flying under an explosive telekinetic blast, launching him across the room like a spinning ragdoll. She scattered and reformed in mid-air just below where he would land, swinging the Silacoids into a rising uppercut that kept him airborne and shredded his thick alloyed plating. Darting and teleporting in mid-air like a ray of light trapped in a hall of mirrors, she continued her physics-defying aerial assault and drove every single collected blade into the weakened armor before an Aura-infused slash with Wandering Thorn sent her opponent crashing to the ground. The Shield Commander hit the floor with a slight bounce that further pushed the blades into his body; a plunging stab with the glowing silver sword finished him off for good.

"Hell yeah! That's our Summer!" Nils whooped as he disengaged his jets and floated gently to the ground.

"Damn right it is!" Knox agreed as fired one more burst into the final Outsider. "You'd think these jackasses would have learned by now - mess with the rose, you get the thorns!"

Summer panted and grinned from ear to ear, watching as the rest of her squad dropped from the catwalks now that the room was clear. Predictably, Penny gave her a hug that was made clumsy and awkward by the space suit, then pulled back to walk to the generator with Zhedrev.

"Atrium's secured!" she reported proudly as she pulled her blade out of the floor, flicking off the alien blood with a flourish. "Strike Two's in position to sabotage our relay."

"Perfect timing, Sierra," called Weaver with a hint of pride in her voice. "Strike One's in position as well. Your Engineer was instrumental in us clearing the room so fast - as soon as Delta got control of the automated turrets, we barely even had to do anything."

Shen's blush was audible even without seeing his face. "I can't take all the credit for that one, ma'am. I learned from the best."

"Oh? And who might that be?" asked Weir with a knowing laugh.

The silver-eyed Huntress grinned as she took a deep breath. "How about you, Strike Three? What's your status?"

Silence.

The smile faded. "Strike Three? Do you copy?"

Nothing but static poured out of her radio.

Oh no.

Her voice grew desperate as she continued keying the comms. "Strike Three! Lima-Three! Loveday! Are you - "

"- hear you, I h - krrrk! - ou already!" snapped the English Recon, "Bloody he...t's like g...tting a call from my mum…'re gonna need a little m...time on our end, sor..."

She frowned, her relief replaced quickly by growing concern at the way the signal fluctuated in and out of clarity. "We don't exactly have much time to spare, Lima. What's going on? You're breaking up all of a sudden."

"Yeah, come on, Threes," chuckled Dawson, "what's taking you all so long? You're giving the best Strike Team a bad name by association."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" snapped Loveday, "Perhaps you'd like to pop in and ti...to three bloody Sectopods and a full Muton battalion! I'm sure the...delighted to si...a spot of tea!...iggs, where's that damn workaround? Oh, lovely, there it is, good work old chap."

Summer cursed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. At least that explained the comms issue - Sectopods had long-range jammers built into their chassis, to keep their targets from calling in reinforcements. She had to remind herself that as difficult as taking this relay was, doing so without a fully-empowered Huntress would be even harder. And while Weaver seemed fortunate enough to avoid or quickly destroy the opposing forces, Strike Three clearly wasn't as lucky.

"Any casualties so far?" asked Weaver.

"None yet, though that's gonna change real fast if we don't find a way out of this mess," reported Diaz. "Mike almost had a suit rupture, but Alpha managed to patch it up with duct tape and bubble gum."

"Told you bringing those was a good idea," noted Adam.

"Yes, yes, your incurable urge to take everything that's not nailed down has now been validated. Congratulations."

Summer looked to Penny and Zhedrev, who were already pulling blocks of explosives out of their packs. "You got things under control here?"

"Given how we're not being shot at anymore, I'd say that yes, yes we do." Penny answered with a smile.

She answered the warmth with a nod of her own. "Then hang in there, Strike Three. I'll be right there."

"Really now? You're gonna run all the way here just for us?" Briggs asked in disbelief.

"I never said anything about running."

Closing her eyes, Summer let out a slow breath. Asaru. Battle focus, now. I need eyes on Strike Three.

As you say, Summer.

The atrium interior, the relay walls, and the surface of the moon fell away as she felt herself rising, her physical form becoming so much smaller and eventually vanishing from sight as her gaze shifted. Her vision panned across the crater-marked landscape and plunged through the solid walls of another pyramid-like structure, until she finally saw the shadowy outlines of seven soldiers and the atrium they were fighting in. She mentally frowned as she took in the enemy composition - sure enough, a trio of four-legged Sectopods were laying down hundreds of plasma orbs to keep the troops suppressed, while on either side of their meager cover a line of Mutons marched menacingly with glowing green rifles.

How much Aura do we have in the tank? Summer asked. Is it enough to make the jump?

We have more than enough.

She mentally grinned. Perfect. Then let's drop in and say hi.

The instant she felt her focus be drawn back into her head, Summer pulled the mental trigger on her Semblance, keeping every detail of what she'd just seen in her mind as she became enveloped in pale white rose petals.

"Keep this area locked down until I give the signal," she said moments before she dissolved, "then fall back to detonate the charges."

"You got it, Sierra."

She caught a brief glimpse of Nils and Knox saluting before her atrium disappeared, replaced by an identical one that was still heavily guarded. Summer dropped herself off in mid-air with Wandering Thorn fully extended, landing on top of the central Sectopod and stabbing her blade into the canopy. The pilot shrieked at the sight of the Huntress literally appearing right in front of it, and immediately ceased firing as it bucked and jerked and tried to throw her off. This caught the attention of the other two Sectopods, whose top cannons swiveled to lock onto the silver-eyed warrior.

But that was what Summer was counting on.

Despite the center pilot crying out in warning the other two war machines opened fire, sending burning emerald lances at the unwanted rider. Summer just grinned and scattered into petals the moment before impact, instead letting the powerful bolts of energy tear into the canopy - and the hapless pilot. The middle Sectopod crackled with electrical feedback and slumped to the ground limply, the Sectoid inside splattered against the fractured glass. Enraged at being tricked into committing friendly fire, the remaining two walking tanks began sweeping the area for the elusive Huntress, who chose that exact moment to reappear above a Muton behind their backs.

"Aw fuck yeah!" Jackie cackled over the radio. "That's our silver-eyed lass!"

Summer grinned as she stabbed downward into her target, spraying alien blood and pressurized oxygen everywhere as she messily drove her blade through the Muton's gullet. A volley of grenades flew out of her cloak without making contact with her hands, sowing shrapnel and confusion among the lines of brutes. Two nearby Mutons spun to fire on her; a pair of knives that plunged into their masks gave them something else to worry about.

"Couldn't exactly let my favorite Strike Team go quietly into that goodnight," she said with a smirk as Asaru forcefully yanked the guns away from the nearby brutes. "If I take care of the Sectopods, can you all deal with the Mutons?"

Briggs caught the fresh plasma rifle as it floated his way, switching to shotgun mode and tearing a hole in another Muton. "We'll get it done, Sierra."

With a satisfied nod, she vanished into petals once more as Loveday barked out orders.

"Right, that's sorted! Strike Three, grab their guns and start blasting! Sierra's got the 'pods!"

As Strike Three opened fire on the newly-disarmed alien brutes, the remaining Sectopods focused on tracking down the alien Huntress who'd tricked them into scrapping one of their own. Their search didn't last long as she suddenly reappeared in a flash of petals, darting underneath one of the weapons platforms and slashing at the leg with a glowing silver sword. The Sectopod's pilot shrieked and began trying to trample her underfoot, but the spidery legs struck only rose petals as she vanished and reformed to deliver another cleaving blow to the same knee.

Summer repeated the maneuver multiple times in quick succession, each Aura-infused sword strike chipping away more and more at the layers of alloyed steel around the joint. While the first Sectopod helplessly flailed and stumbled around on a rapidly-weakening leg, the other war machine tried to track the silver-eyed Huntress with its top guns again, wisely holding fire until it had a clear shot this time. Unfortunately, it never got the chance to do so - she was simply moving and darting around too fast for the pilot to track, and every time it did manage to get a lock on her, a blast of force knocked it off-balance long enough for her to escape again.

"Aw shite, me new gun's dry!" groaned Alfred.

"Don't bother reloading, just grab a new one and keep firing!" instructed Max.

"Or ye can grab a sword and join me!" laughed Jackie. "Those don't have ammo!"

"Ye make a good point, lass. Swords for everyone!"

Finally, when the knee along the Sectopod's backmost leg was glowing white-hot, Summer enacted her plan. After slicing the top-mounted guns off its partner, she leapt out of a cloud of petals and slid between the weakened mech's feet, unleashing a targeted blast of telekinetic might just as she passed underneath the melting joint. The mechanisms under the plating shattered and a wave of biomechanical feedback sent the pilot reeling, throwing them off-balance and making the entire machine fall in a dazed heap to the floor.

While the Sectoid within the cockpit tried to get their bearings, the Huntress grabbed the broken limb and started wrenching it free, using a combination of her own natural strength and Asaru's power to twist and pull at the weakened knee. It took a few seconds of groaning and straining, but eventually she managed to tear it off like the leg of a massive metal spider, at which point she leapt high with her prize held over her head. With one more mighty yell and a powerful burst of telekinesis, she launched the amputated leg like a javelin and drove it straight through the canopy hard enough to pierce both sides. Mercifully, death came instantly for the pilot.

"Bloody fucking hell," gaped Briggs. "Do these Remnant types not know what 'overkill' is?"

"I'm pretty sure this is the normal amount of 'kill' for them, Echo," said Adam. "What we call 'overkill', they just call 'probably dead.'"

The final Sectopod, its pilot briefly stunned at the sight of the mutilated machine impaled by its own leg, shrieked silently in rage and opened its side launchers to fire every single rocket it still had in the pods - directly at Summer, who scattered repeatedly to avoid the explosive rain as it tried to track her. When the barrage ceased she reappeared directly on top of the canopy of the last mech and gripped the steel with enough force to dent it, slashing wildly with Wandering Thorn at the edges of the windshield. Holding on during her assault as the war machine bucked and thrashed to throw her off, she finally leapt backwards and pulled away the sheet of transparent metal as she flew, revealing the pilot for the world to see. The Sectoid within immediately began suffocating in the lack of an atmosphere, but Summer was a merciful Huntress; the torn windshield was immediately launched edge-first back into the cockpit, separating the bulbous head from spindly shoulders and making the entire Sectopod seize up and crackle with biofeedback before collapsing in a heap of scrap.

All in all, it took about two minutes for Summer to take down three Sectopods.

The silver-eyed Huntress touched down lightly and turned to face Strike Three, who had just finished pumping the last Muton full of plasma. Loveday chuckled and shook his head, even as he brought his heel down on a still-squirming alien brute to snap its neck with a single stomp.

"Good Lord almighty," he said over comms with another laugh of disbelief. "That was...I thought I'd seen everything in thirty years of service. I don't think I can say that anymore."

"You get used to it, Lima," said Adam as he already started looting the Muton corpses for more power cells. "Thanks for bailing us out, Sierra. I might've started getting nervous if you hadn't shown up."

"You pissed in your spacesuit when the Sectopods showed up," said Maximilian pointedly.

"Oh, that? That was just the coffee finally coming out the other end. Caffeine's a diuretic, after all."

"Sure it was, Alpha. Sure it was."

Jackie grinned as she clasped a hand to Summer's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. "That's twice ye've pulled me arse outta the fire, lass! Keep doing this, and I'll have to start thinking of some way to repay you, I will."

Summer chuckled and returned the embrace. "You can survive this mission and go on to live long, healthy lives with lots of red-headed warrior children. That'll be more than enough thanks for me."

"Hah, that's the plan anyways!" laughed Alfred as he joined his wife. "Old age and a dozen wee little babies running around, tha's the dream!"

The Scottish woman suddenly scowled playfully. "Wotcher mean, a dozen? I thought we agreed on fifteen little ones! My mum didn't give me these wide load-bearing hips for ogling, she passed 'em on for baby making! Yer not wussing out at just twelve, ya blighter!"

Alfred started blushing, and Summer couldn't tell if it was due to embarrassment or arousal. Briggs cleared his throat.

"Sierra, can you help me set the charges? Let's do what we came here to do before these two start snogging through their spacesuits."

"That sounds like a good idea," agreed Summer, walking to the glowing column of green light alongside the British Engineer. "What's our time, Big Sky?"

"Four minutes left on the clock," called the Avenger pilot. "Set the bombs and get out of there - Strikes One and Two have already finished planting theirs, and we're just waiting on you before detonation."

"Copy that. Show me what to do, Echo."

As Briggs carefully pulled out a bundle of cloth and began untangling wires, Summer could hear Asaru's voice in her thoughts again.

Excellent work so far, Summer Rose. You have exceeded my expectations of what you could do with my power.

With a smile, she clicked off her radio to give herself and her friend some privacy as she helped the old Engineer.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, either," she said with a soft laugh. "I couldn't have done this without you - you've been amazing too. How's my Aura level, by the way? I don't have a Scroll on me to check."

Asaru practically glowed with pride. Thank you, Summer. It is an honor to fight with one so skilled as you. As for your query, I estimate that you are at fifty percent Aura capacity, a total which is slowly climbing with time. Should I expend some more of my energy to make it regenerate faster?

Summer blinked. "You can do that?"

It would take a toll on me, but I do not know what dangers you may face inside. A higher level may be necessary.

The Huntress hesitated, then shook her head slowly. "You can pour a little bit if you want, but don't strain yourself. We're reuniting before we move into the stronghold, so with twenty other Agents at my back I shouldn't have to do too many crazy stunts like the ones I just did, until we get to Origin at least. Keep most of yourself in reserve, I don't want to hurt you by taking too much."

Your concern is appreciated, but unneeded, Asaru answered. Very well. In ten minutes, your Aura should rise back to seventy percent capacity. You should be once more at full capacity by the time we reach the central chamber.

"Good. That should be more than enough." Summer allowed herself another small smile. "After all...it's not like we're gonna encounter anything too crazy inside the stronghold, right?"

We can only hope not, agreed Asaru. But even if we do, I have faith that we shall be victorious. I am at peace with the outcome of this mission...due in no small part to you.

With the Aura situation well in hand she finished setting the charges with Briggs, pride swelling in her heart.

There had been many moments since coming to Earth where she had felt like a Huntress.

But it was only now, with Asaru empowering her and a team of friends at her back, that she finally was a Huntress.

And yet...she was so much more than that now.


"This is Sierra-Two, all charges are set and we're at a safe distance. Send the signal, Big Sky."

"Copy that Sierra! Launching the fireworks in three...two…one..."

The entire Avenger rumbled alongside the surface of the moon, jolting Carter out of the one position he'd felt marginally comfortable in. The handcuffs on his wrists twisted awkwardly and rattled against the pipe, though he took some solace in the fact that it wasn't accompanied by the cracking of bones. The Silacoid that clung to the roof stirred somewhat, glaring down at their ward with a sharp hiss.

"Relax," he told the blob of ooze that was serving as his current prison warden, "I'm not trying to escape." Not yet, anyways.

Content that the gray-hatted man wasn't going anywhere, Silas went back to being an upside-down puddle, trilling softly. Carter sighed in both relief and annoyance, then his eyes trailed down to the ham radio set that had been erected in the far corner of his little "cell." The glorified fifth-grade science project was configured only to receive, not broadcast, and it only could pick up a narrow range of channels. It just so happened that all those channels were the ones used by the Strike Teams and the Bureau as they launched their suicide mission - so now not only was he stuck in place, there was nothing he could do to shut off the updates as they poured out of the static-laced speakers.

"Detonation confirmed," observed Weaver. "Big Sky, how's it look from out there?"

"All three relays are completely wrecked," said Barnes proudly. "And...yep, there goes the energy barrier! You should be good to approach now. Want me to swing by and pick up the teams for transport?"

"Negative. Stay in a holding pattern and watch for incoming UFOs. We'll regroup on foot. Where to, Sierra?"

"Asaru says that we should head to the southmost edge of the stronghold," said Summer. "There's an airlock we can use to get inside, one that the doc can easily override."

"An airlock, huh?" said Weir with a soft laugh. "I suppose even the Zudjari need to breathe eventually. Strike One will be there shortly."

"Strike Two is en route as well," called Nils. "We used the extra time before detonation to raid the armory for ammo, so we should be well-stocked on plasma."

"We had the same idea," said Shen. "See you all soon."

Carter groaned. Idiots. They were all going to get themselves killed. They were all going to bleed out or suffocate in the vacuum of space, and that was being optimistic. Why were they following Summer's lead on this? Why were they all so trusting of that freak hitching a ride on her brain?

And for that matter, why would the Huntress set up a radio for him to listen to comms chatter in the first place? Was it just to torment him? To taunt him about how much better she was at leading the squad than he was? To make him feel guilty that he was missing out?

Or maybe she just wants you to be there for her, and knowing that you're at least pretending to listen is enough for now.

He almost balked at how his mind came up with such a ridiculous notion.

Almost.


The door slammed shut behind Summer and the twenty agents that crammed into the airlock, and moments later came the sound of quiet hissing. The Huntress let out a small sigh of relief at the sound, because after spending ten minutes in the moon's deafening silence she was starting to fear she'd never hear anything outside of comms chatter again. It was a good thing that Asaru continually reassured her that the gas being pumped in was breathable by humans - her oxygen supply in the suit was running low after such intense fighting, and her helmet was one blow away from shattering into glass shards.

As the other side of the airlock opened to grant them passage, she joined the multitude of agents in pulling off the bulbous helmets with a gasp and a sigh. Her nose crinkled and her eyes watered as her mind processed the strange air - it felt thick and polluted, like someone had left an oven on for too long. Or a coal furnace. Still, she could breathe it, so she couldn't complain too much. At least it meant that her world wouldn't be so quiet anymore.

"Ahhh...fresh air!" Crawford sighed as she removed her helmet and let her long black hair fall down in loose curls. Then she sniffed with a puzzled expression. "Does anyone else smell rotten eggs?"

"Fascinating…" Weir hummed as he pulled his own helmet off. "It would seem that the Zudjari favor atmospheric conditions similar to Earth's, but with a more noticeable concentration of sulfur dioxide. Perhaps this is to better emulate their home planet's original atmosphere? To remind them of the home they lost? Or perhaps it's driven by their biology? This raises a number of interesting questions."

"Yeah, well, I think I'll be keeping my helmet on," said Adam pointedly over the radio. "You never know - the stuff we're breathing might be an alien neurotoxin."

"Suit yourself," said Dawson with a chuckle, tapping his knuckles against the paranoid Recon's helmet. "You'll join the cool kid's club eventually."

"Hah, you wish Golf. My mom told me all about peer pressure."

"Enough chatter," snapped Weaver. "Eyes up. We're deep in enemy territory now, so be ready for anything."

"No argument there, ma'am," said Nils. "But you'd think that the main stronghold of their secret moon base would be a little more...you know. Fortified."

That was when Summer noticed that the darkened hallway they all found themselves in was empty.

Extremely empty.

It reminded Summer of her and Angela's trek through the Forge, with gray-blue steel walls and glowing teal panel lines between the plates of metal. Except those lights seemed far dimmer than they had been before, barely casting enough radiance for her to see five feet in front of her. Only the flashlights mounted on everyone's suits and the glowing Venn Braces provided illumination...not that there was anything to see, besides more hallways.

Ordinarily, the silence and peace would be welcoming and comforting.

Here, it was anything but.

"I don't like this," growled Bradford. "Tango's right - if the relays were any indication, this place should be swarming with hostiles."

"They probably didn't expect anyone to get past the barrier," noted Penny. "So any defenders originally stationed inside must have been pulled to better protect the relays keeping it up."

"Origin can't be that daft," countered Briggs. "He'd have to know that we'd find our way through eventually. There must be some kind of contingency plan."

"Not to mention that an impenetrable force field blocks stuff from both ways," added Vahlen. "So it might have been up for more than keeping us out - maybe it was keeping something in, too."

"Only one way to know for sure," said Van Doorn as he looked to the silver-eyed Huntress. "Sierra? Does that new friend of yours have any directions for us?"

She closed her eyes and breathed deep, listening to Asaru's directions. "Yeah. He says...he feels a pull towards the central chamber. Whatever's there seems to be...calling to him. But there's a lot of hallways between here and there - this whole place is laid out like a maze."

"Then let's not waste any time," Weaver said. "Lead on, Summer - we'll follow."

"Hold on a moment," said Shen. "Juliet, do you still have that sword from your fight?"

"Aye, that I do," said Jackie as she pulled out the plasma-heated Muton dueling blade. "Why do ye ask?"

"Use it to carve a trail behind us," instructed the young Engineer. "That way we'll know which way we came, and we'll be able to find our way back out."

Penny's eyes brightened. "Just like the story of Theseus in the labyrinth!"

"Exactly."

"Brilliant thinking, Raymond," praised Weir. "Well done."

Jackie grinned and rested the tip of her emerald blade into the ground, melting the steel with only the lightest of touches. "Usually dragging yer sword's a good way to turn it into a butter knife...but I guess I'll make an exception this time. Ready to go if everyone else is."

So with the path back to the Avenger established in a glowing heated trail, Summer led her team of XCOM agents deeper into the stronghold. The shadows and darkness threatened to swallow them whole, but the lights from their Venn Braces and spacesuits kept the devouring fog of war at bay. Each step was taken in anxious silence, with everyone on guard and sweeping their weapons laterally in preparation for whatever horrors were lurking just out of sight.

But nothing came.

That growing sense of dread and unease began to gnaw away at Summer's insides again, as each turned corner and hall revealed nothing but more twisted passages and corridors. She was grateful for both Shen's foresight and Asaru's guidance, because navigating this maze of madness would have been impossible otherwise. It reminded her of the winding tunnels back in the Bureau's home base, especially the ones outside the prison cell she'd briefly stayed in. This realization gave way to a curious theory - much like the barrier earlier, the floor plans were designed as much to keep something in as they were to keep them out.

But what could have needed something so complex to lock away?

Summer wasn't sure if she was ready to find out.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity wandering narrow passages, the hallways opened up to something new - a massive rectangular room, longer than it was wide, with a ceiling that stretched about twenty feet high. The shorter walls had all manner of panels, buttons, and switches that glowed faintly with dim light, while the longer walls were lined with what looked to be clear windows into brightly-lit rooms. When Summer moved to inspect one of those windows, she realized that she wasn't looking into any old room; she was looking into a cell, one containing a middle-aged man with ragged clothes and little in terms of defining features.

Well, apart from the black fluid that dribbled down his face from tear ducts.

"Sleepwalkers," she said with a sharp gasp. "We're...these are holding cells for Sleepwalkers."

"Not just any Sleepwalkers," noted Weir grimly as he came up next to her. "This man matches the description of a boy who went missing in '36. The one next to him has the same face as a woman who disappeared in '42. And next to her, the bones of an elderly man who vanished in '54. Looks like not even the Zudjari could keep him alive forever."

Silver eyes widened. "You mean…"

"That's right, Summer. It looks like we finally found the abductees."

Nils let out a sharp laugh of both relief and disbelief. "The moon. They were right here on the moon, this whole time, and we never thought to look here. Not that we could have gotten here any sooner...but still."

"It makes sense," said Bradford with a nod. "No need to cart them all the way back to the Temple Ship or to some far-off place when you can just set up a forward-operating base here and conduct experiments close to the source. Explains why they went to so much trouble to keep this place hidden and protected - they didn't want anyone finding the people here until the Sleepwalker virus was ready for humans."

"There's so many of them…" breathed Penny, practically relying on Crawford for support as she took it all in. "What do we do now?"

"Good question, love," said Loveday with a slow shake of his head. "Doesn't feel right to just leave them here, but we don't exactly have time for a field trip back either. How do we wanna handle this, Director? …ma'am?"

Summer looked and saw Weaver standing apart from everyone else, staring into one particular cell with trembling shoulders. She darted to the Director's side in an instant, and looked through the window even though she already knew what - or who - was on the other side of the door.

It's...her.

A young woman with thick matted blond hair and pale skin stood motionless and still, eyes that might have once been bright hazel now dulled and tainted by years of black ichor. A faded sundress that was several sizes too small clung to her skeletal body in tattered rags, revealing just how thin the layer of skin that protected bone and muscle had grown in the decade since her disappearance. Her face and overall jaw structure was similar to that of the Officer standing outside her cell, but her eyes contained nothing save for a thousand-yard-stare that was as empty and hollow as a well that had run dry.

"Angelina…" she rasped hoarsely, not recognizing the woman on the other side of the cell. "Angelina, please...come save me...Angelina...Angelina, please…"

Weaver put a gloved hand against the transparent steel, eyes quivering with emotion. "Lena…" she choked. "It's okay, Lena...I'm right here...your big sis is right here…"

Summer's heart shattered. She hugged the Director from behind with a tight squeeze, a move that would have been met with a kick to the shins if Weaver wasn't already struggling just to stand. After ten years of searching, ten years of agony and guilt, Angela Weaver had finally found her family. Evangeline Aurora Weaver was half-starved, unresponsive, and a slave to the Sleepwalker virus...but she was alive, and right now that was all that mattered.

"Told you we'd find her on our own," she whispered with a soft laugh.

The Director let out a forced chuckle, then wiped her eyes. "Yeah...yeah. Thanks, Sierra. I...god, this...I don't even know what to do right now...I know we have to keep going, have to find and stop Origin. But I can't just leave her...not without knowing she'll be safe."

"I understand," said Summer with a nod as she toggled her comms. "Big Sky, swing around and dock with the southmost airlock. We found all the people that went missing before the invasion...the people that the Zudjari abducted to perfect their Sleepwalker virus for humanity."

Barnes was silent for a long moment, but then responded with his usual confidence.

"Copy that, Sierra. Beginning docking procedures now."

When Weaver looked at Summer incredulously, the Huntress shrugged.

"There's no law saying we can't do both," she said simply.

"Right...good thinking," said the Director with a nod. Taking a steeling breath, she stepped out of Summer's hug (but not before giving her hand a squeeze in thanks) and turned to face the troops under her command.

"Alright, listen up," barked Weaver. "We're here to stop Origin, and that objective hasn't changed. But now we have a new objective - getting these people off this rock safely. All of them."

The Agents stopped examining the cells and moved closer to Summer and Weaver with rapt attention.

"Half of you start rounding up the Sleepwalkers and lead them to the Avenger," she continued. "The rest will advance deeper into the facility with us, and -"

Suddenly, a distant howl made everyone stiffen.

"...what was noise?" asked Zhedrev.

"That's a very good question," answered Weaver as her eyes narrowed. "Everyone, form up."

"Almost sounded like a coyote," Knox guessed as the troops fell back into formation. "Hey doc, did these assholes ever steal animals alongside people?"

"Not that we knew of," said Weir with a slow shake of his head. "I don't think there'd be a reason for them to abduct wildlife, aside from preservation...which the Zudjari clearly do not care for."

The howl sounded again, closer than before, and this time Summer recognized it so clearly that she could feel her blood freeze.

"Oh…" she whispered. "...oh no."

"Summer?" Penny asked in concern. "You know what that noise is?"

"I do," she answered with a numb nod. "But...there's no way. There's no way it could actually be them. It has to be some kind of trick..."

As if to prove her wrong the howling echoed once more, this time joined by the chorus of claws scratching and scraping across the metal floor as the source suddenly appeared around the corner.

"...holy shit," Nils breathed.

Silver eyes almost disappeared completely into the surrounding white at the sight of monsters Summer was sure she'd never see again. Against all possible odds and in spite of all logic and reason, packs of Beowolves with long shadowy arms and sharpened fangs were bounding towards the squad with gleaming red eyes and echoing snarls. All the agents had varying reactions to the dark beasts from another world charging their way, from long strings of cuss words to sharp gasps to silent tugs on the charging handles of their weapons.

All except Crawford, who turned to Adam with a delighted smile.

"See? I told you that moon wolves were real!"