Chapter 12: Operation Reaper what you Sow

Sergeant David Hart felt his foot slip out from underneath him, the world around seeming to slow as he felt himself falling. He wasn't sure how long he fell, seeming to enter a state of ceaseless limbo. He struck the ground hard, the world snapped back into focus in an instant.

He felt wet and cold all over, almost certainly the result of whatever unpleasantness he'd had the misfortune of landing in. He tried to pull himself back up on his quivering legs, using his arms for support only to have his right arm give the moment he put even a slight bit of weight onto it. He soon found himself falling back towards the ground. This time before he struck it his descent was arrested, the grasp of hands around his shoulders.

"Get up, not far now" a voice spoke to him, in his ears, inside his head. He couldn't tell the difference.

He felt himself being lifted, pulled back on his feet. "Come on, almost there" the same voice again, urging him to move on.

Through the sting of the sweat in his eyes he could see it, the markers that would see him through to the end. Just a few more steps. One foot in front of the other, left, right, left-

He passed between the bright orange cones which marked the end of the course. In that moment Hart felt the adrenaline that had been sustaining him release in an instant. As the onlookers surrounding them erupted in a chorus of cheers Hart finally allowed his legs give way beneath him. It was only the support of his colleague, Sgt Laika Rawska, that saved him from diving face first into the mud slicked ground.

"Medic!" Rawska called out in an overly dramatic fashion reminiscent of almost every war film in existence, at least those they could still find

A figure emerged from amongst the assembled spectators, XCOM scientist Rachel Halsey. Carrying a well-worn leather satchel, Halsey was an older British woman with a matronly air about her, her long grey hair tied into a neat ponytail trailing behind her.

Halsey knelt down next to her patient, opening her satchel as she began withdrawing her supplies and equipment. "Now then, let's see what the problem is"

Hart was about to protest when he glanced down to see, at what he had first assumed to have just been mud, the large red gash following the length of his arm. The wound continued to still weep blood onto the ground despite his body's attempts to stem the flow.

Dr Halsey donned a fresh pair of gloves and retrieved a wipe from her bag. The faintest touch of the wipe across the exposed wound caused an involuntary hiss to rise up from Harts throat.

"Oh, stop your whining" Halsey chastised. "I once treated a patient with a large piece of jagged stone jammed right into his leg and didn't complain nearly half as much as you"

"Well it's good to have you here doc" Rawska interjected.

"Technically I wasn't a doctor" Halsey corrected as she worked. "I was a Vet. Could you hand me the gauze?"

"Ok, a field medic then" Rawska said, handing the requested item across to her. "What was it, Afghanistan, Iraq?"

"Ascot Raceway" Halsey set about wrapping the gauze tightly around Harts injured arm, never missing a beat even as she maintained the conversation.

When the realisation clicked all the fatigue that had been plaguing Hart suddenly left him. Halsey pre-empted him before he could say it. "I would say now is not really the time to be quibbling over qualifications when I'm the one keeping you from losing your arm"

"Is it really that bad?" Rawska asked.

"If he keeps fidgeting and gets an infection it will be" securing the last of the tape in place Halsey reached across to her bag to prepare a sterile syringe and a vial of clear medicine. "Now, do you want these painkillers or not?" Halsey checked the prepared syringe. "Anymore complaining and I won't even conceal it in a piece of cheese for you"

A nod was all Halsey needed before she administered the drug. Securing the used syringe away for safe disposal she set about clearing up the rest of her equipment. "You'll probably need a few jabs when you get back to the Avenger" Halsey secured the last of her gear into her satchel. "In the meantime, if you experience spasms, drooling, excessive sweating, irritability, breathing difficulty, irregular heartbeat, uncontrolled urination-"

"Don't stop now, I was just starting to enjoy myself" Hart joked.

Halsey could only roll her eyes in despair, once again finding herself yearning for the days when she treated patients who were incapable of making smart arse remarks.

As if to save her from further nonsense the Reaper cell leader stepped out from amongst the assembled crowd of fellow Reapers. A muscled older woman with a thick eastern European accent they knew her only as Ursa, whether a first name or a moniker was left as mere speculation.

"You did well" Ursa considered the two operatives in front of her. "There are not many non-Reapers who can match our times. Now comes the final test"

Ursas instructions were interrupted by a low growl. The three of them turned to be greeted by the sight of a Reaper leading a creature out on a restraining pole secured around its neck.

"That must be some pretty powerful stuff you gave me" Hart remarked. "Because I could have sworn that's a live Chryssalid"

"I see it too" Halsey affirmed.

"You mean it's real!" Hart cried out.

"What the hell is that?" Rawska yelped.

"Your test" Ursa replied flatly.

The XCOM operatives had faced Chryssalids before, they just never expected to find a live Chryssalid here. Rumours had been circulating for years about the Reapers penning Chryssalids, whether for food or for sport. It was jarring to learn first-hand that such rumours weren't always the work of conspiracy theorists and black propaganda.

As the creature was lead closer Ursa withdrew her pistol from her belt and fired a single shot into the Chryssalids skull, the creature fell to the ground with a dull thud. Unsheathing her combat knife Ursa jammed the tip of the blade into the soft muscle connecting the Chryssalids thick carapace, twisting the knife before withdrawing it in a shower of alien blood.

Without hesitation Ursa drove her hand into the open wound, delving almost up to her elbow, seemingly searching for something inside the recently deceased creature. With a sharp pull her arm leapt free, bringing with it some long red organ dripping with alien residue. On a cursory glance, the closest approximation for what the Reaper had just pulled out would be a human intestine.

"This is your final test" Ursa held out the dripping wet organ as if it were some prized treasure. "To become one of us you must eat the still warm heart of your enemy, that you may gain their soul and become imbued with their strength"

"Doc?" Hart asked.

"Chryssalids poison glands are centred around their jaws and their talons" Halsey replied. "Theoretically it should be safe"

That was not what either of them had wanted to hear. Instead of the anticipated 'In my professional medical opinion as Sea Biscuits personal physician, I wouldn't advise it' as opposed to 'Well, you might not die'.

Accepting the offering Rawska held it out between them. Steeling themselves they each took a mouthful out of it together. Neither of them was really sure what to expect of it but a still warm, wet mess was probably about right for something that had once been part of one of the alien invaders.

The sudden eruption of laughter from the surrounding Reapers brought them back to reality pretty quickly. "We were just fucking with you" Ursa said through uncontained howls of enjoyment. "Congratulations, you're both honorary Reapers"

In the end tears, joy and vomiting flowed free and unconfined. It was pretty hard not to bond after an experience like that.

XCOM Rule 517: Operatives are reminded that although the resistance factions are our allies and we welcome collaboration, it is not the recommendation of XCOM command that operatives should be participating in unorthodox rituals simply to be polite