Survive, Adapt, Win Chapter 3 (original chapter Chapter 43)

Observation Booth, Prototype Weapons Testing Area, XCOM Base, Taylor Hebert's Mindscape

"I take it this means that you've finished the reverse-engineering of Bakuda's weaponry, Doctor Vahlen?" Taylor asked as she was escorted into the observation booth by the German scientist.

"Indeed we have, Commander." Vahlen was smiling proudly. "While the technology of 'Tinkertech' is beyond regular scientists on Earth Bet, the increased number of scientists and Laboratories that you authorised greatly helped us use the advantage that our knowledge of alien technology granted us."

Sitting down in her designated seat, the Commander gestured for her to continue as Bradford and Shen joined them.

"The first grenade that we tested was one that transmuted anything it touched into glass, organic and inorganic." The Head of the Research and Development Division said with a frown. "It took some creative thinking on my people's part, but we were able to create a grenade that only affects inorganic and unliving matter. Observe below."

Looking out of the window, Taylor saw a soldier picking up a cylindrical grenade, pulling out the pin and throwing it at a target dummy. A few seconds after it landed, the grenade exploded, letting off a large blast of white light. When it cleared, the entire target dummy, plus the floor beneath it, had been turned into glass.

"I have dubbed them 'Vitrification' Grenades, although the testing soldiers call them 'Vritra' grenades for short." Vahlen shook her head at that. "With your approval, Commander, I shall also start work on a method of reversing the Vitrification effect on organic matter, in case Bakuda uses any of the original sort on our troops."

"Approved." Taylor said immediately.

Nodding, the scientist continued. "The next grenade was a rather ghastly little device; it was literally a 'pain' grenade that somehow attacked the nervous system of anyone with in the device's Area of Effect. As such weapons go against your preferences, and my own as well, I focused on developing a device that can be added to any type of armour to make such a 'pain wave' useless. I also developed a close quarters weapon designed to use a greatly toned down and contact restricted version of the wave."

"Commander, with this, I believe we should add a fourth class to our troops." Bradford said seriously. "We already have Assaults, Heavies and Sharpshooters, but we need nimble soldiers with a degree of freedom of movement and the easy ability to enter close combat. This weapon, the Neural Sword, is non-lethal and highly debilitating from what I've seen of Doctor Vahlen's reports, thus making it the perfect CQC weapon to initially equip them with."

Taylor considered that for a moment. "Very well. What should we call the specialisation?"

"Rangers." Central Officer Bradford said with a firm nod. "They'll essentially be the armed scouts of XCOM, so it fits."

"OK then. Have a list made up of those rookies whom you believe to have talent in this new specialisation and I'll take them out on my next mission." The Commander ordered.

"It'll be on your desk this time tomorrow." Central nodded.

"Doctor Shen, have at least five copies of the Neural Sword ready for wielders ASAP."

"I'll send the orders and have it done as soon as my department receives the schematics, Commander." The elderly Asian man agreed.

"Good. Doctor Vahlen, please continue."

The older woman nodded. "Ahem. The third type of grenade we tested created what is best called a bubble of frozen time. It is permanent and unyielding, which necessitated researching a method of neutralizing them first. The Null-Time Blaster Pistol can dissolve these time bubbles and return those trapped within them to the normal flow of time without being harmed."

Taylor's eye widened. "Would the Blaster work on Grey Boy's time-loop bubbles?"

Grey Boy, a now-deceased member of the infamous Slaughterhouse Nine, had possessed the power to lock people, both as individuals and even entire townships, into bubbles, forcing them to repeat the same action over and over again. Many had tried to break the time loops, but none had succeeded.

Vahlen hesitated before shaking her head. "The NTBP has only been tested against frozen time, not constantly looping time. I would have to study an example of a Grey Boy bubble before even attempting to hazard a guess."

"It's something to think about for the future." The younger girl sighed. "Continue."

"Ma'am. Once we solved the issue of breaking someone out of a time-stop, we invented two similar items. One is a temporary time stasis grenade and rocket. They freeze anything caught in their AOE for about ten minutes, less if they are of considerable size. The other is what we refer to as a stasis bubble that can be equipped on our own troops or even on you, Commander. If you take a potentially fatal wound while equipped with this item, it will freeze you in time for about as long as the stasis grenade. That should give our troops more than enough time to finish off any enemies, get to you and prepare emergency field dressings."

"Make the stasis bubble a required field item for all members of XCOM." Taylor ordered at once. "I suppose I'd better start wearing armour too if I want to use it."

"I'll set a date with the fabricators." Shen said.

"The fourth grenade was little more than a vastly more powerful conventional explosive, which I have used to increase the explosive yield of our standard grenades and rockets by fifty percent." Vahlen continued. "Finally, the fifth grenade was…well, horrific. It had some sort of mutagenic effect, warping all organic matter within its AOE. As of yet, I have only a bare grasp as to how the flesh warping actually works, so I cannot offer any devices or curatives for it, but I can foresee using a modified version of it as a replacement for our current med-kits."

"Excellent work, Doctor." The Commander nodded appreciatively. "How are the laser weapons coming along?"

"Another two weeks and they ought to be fully completed." The German researcher said with a slightly smug smile. "Our hypothesis that our troops and yourself defeating Parahuman enemies creates Meld will have to be altered and expanded upon, Commander. It would seem that defeating regular human enemies yields us weapon fragments and alien alloys, as well as some small amounts of Elerium and Meld. I checked our reserves of all of the above on a hunch just before the meeting. This means that there will be no problem in constructing both advanced weaponry and the MEC suits."

"Have there been any volunteers?" Taylor asked.

"Several. All we are awaiting is the completion of the Cybernetics Laboratory." Doctor Shen answered easily. "We only have the schematics to build a single type of MEC, the MEC-1, codenamed 'Warden'. Any further advances in it will require further research."

"Very good. Have the surgery performed as soon as the Cybernetics Lab is operational." The Commander directed. "Who is the first volunteer?"

"Squaddie Anika Gardener." Central supplied. "A Heavy Trooper."

"Inform her that her willingness to undergo this surgery is appreciated and that she has my personal gratitude." Taylor said. She really didn't like that she was basically mutilating someone to increase her power, but it was a voluntary program, not the typical military voluntold scenario.

"I'll inform her shortly." Central nodded. "Commander, what is our plan for tonight?"

"We'll have to clean up the Merchants." The young Parahuman said with a moue of distaste. The Merchants were the weakest of the three big gangs in Brockton Bay and thus far the only one of the three that the Parahuman Commander had not attacked in any form, mostly due to the Empire and ABB making a nuisance of themselves. The drug-based gang had thus been trying to grab territory left and right, so Taylor had decided to do something about that.

"The Merchants…they have some rather troubling powers." Central mused. "Squealer concerns me the most, with Skidmark a close second."

"For the vehicles she builds and his redirection field." Taylor nodded. "Mush is also worrying. We should take him out first; as he gets stronger the longer a fight drags on."

"Agreed." Central nodded. "Also, if we can secure any of Squealer's Tinkertech, we may be able to develop something from it, couldn't we Doctors?"

"Almost certainly." Doctor Vahlen agreed immediately.

"If it can be picked apart by the labs, my engineers can build it." Shen nodded. "Speaking of which, Commander, do you want Carapace armour or a Skeleton Suit?"

Taylor hesitated. "Carapace armour. I'll mostly be coordinating from the rear, so the armour is a just-in-case scenario. Have a helmet made that looks similar to my mask as well."

"Roger that." Shen nodded. "Also, regarding the MEC troopers, the basic Warden's standard armament is a Minigun, as well as either a Kinetic Strike Module or a Flamethrower. Doctor Vahlen is in the middle of designing a less-lethal version for deployment, but we could use getting our hands on some PRT Containment Foam so we could reverse engineer it and use in place of the Flamethrower's usual ammunition."

"The PRT doesn't give out Containment Foam." The Brocktonite said dryly. "Its formula is top secret, so all we're likely to get is some used foam from after they've used it on someone."

"That should be a good start." Doctor Vahlen stated. "I daresay that I could make some deductions on how it works from a sample."

"It was developed by Dragon, the best Tinker on the planet." Taylor replied. "People have tried to figure out how it works before and no one has succeeded."

Vahlen smiled. "There is a first time for everything, Commander."

Later that Night

Streets of Brockton Bay

Clad in her new Carapace Armour, Commander made her way across the rooftop of the abandoned warehouse that was opposite the chosen target she had used a couple of her Ranger candidates to locate. It was a drug factory and the Parahuman scowled at how obvious it was. Why the Protectorate hadn't cracked down on these crackheads before now was beyond her, but if they were just going to pose for the cameras, she'd do their job for them.

'Huh. I guess Central's distaste for the PRT has started to rub off on me.' She thought wryly.

Shen and his engineers had, as usual, done a bang-up job of building her armour and mask. It included several of the newer upgrades that Doctor Vahlen had developed, including the Stasis Bubble Module and the Anti-Pain Field Generator. The helmet also had a zoom function, infrared vision and the glass of the visor was one-way photochromic, polarizing from her perspective in light, but being clear with none, allowing her to be protected from flashbangs.

"Commander, satellite coverage is poor, so we have little intel for you." Central said apologetically. "If you're willing to wait, a satellite is due to be over your position in fifteen minutes."

"Negative, Central. Strike One and I will be able to handle this." She replied softly. "This kind of thing is bound to happen thanks to Ziz randomly or not so randomly destroying satellites, so we may as well get used to this sort of thing happening. It's a good thing this is only happening with the Merchants; otherwise I would be waiting that extra quarter of an hour."

"Roger that, Commander." Central said. He sounded as though he personally disagreed with her, but recognised the truth of her words regardless. "Strike One is ready to move out at your signal."

Focusing, Commander brought forth the four other members of Strike One. All of them were dressed in the typical armour worn by XCOM Rookies, which was equivalent to the latest generation of regular armour worn by the US Military. The other two members of Strike One were deployed on the northern and southern areas respectively, while Commander and the main thrust of Strike One would infiltrate from the rear of the building to the east.

"OK Strike One. This is Operation Plunging Demon." The leader of XCOM said crisply. "We have little intel due to a lack of satellite coverage, but it is known that this is a Merchant drug factory. The number of hostiles is unknown, but suspected to be at least thirty in number, with equally unknown equipment. Given the haphazard organisation of the Merchants, it'll range between improvised hand-to-hand weapons to last-gen semi-automatics. Cover each other, keep alert and check your fire if near volatile chemicals. The last thing we need is an explosion and a bunch of dead perps. Questions?"

"Ma'am. No questions." One guy said, Garson, I think it was. His sentiment was echoed by the rest of the squad.

"OK then. Orson, Mendez, go on overwatch and let us know about any incoming vehicles, because that means Squealer more than likely." I ordered the other two members of Strike One.

"Roger, going on Overwatch."

"Acknowledged, on Overwatch."

Drawing my Shock Pistol, the handgun variant of the stun weaponry used by most of XCOM nowadays, I nodded. "Move out."

Carefully, Strike One made their way down the building by sliding down the drainpipes and sneaking down the fire escapes. While they were XCOM rookies, all members of XCOM were former members of various armed forces from around their Earth, mostly special forces or elite police units like SWAT. One-on-one, Commander would bet any XCOM Rookie could at least hold their own against a PRT Trooper, likely doing better and taking their opponent down.

Closing her eyes, she activated the portion of her powers that let her oversee the battlefield. It only worked in the area that she designated as the AO, but it was useful, as it let her scout the area, even as her troops advanced. They were being cautious, moving from cover to cover and covering for one another as they moved, which was good.

"Orson here, Commander. We have a vehicle appearing in front of the building, some sort of cloaking device." A gruff voice informed Commander. She swiftly shifted her view to see a heavily modified estate car shimmer into existence.

"If they're stupid enough to leave the keys in the car when they go in, grab the car and head to drop point Epsilon." She ordered Orson. The chance of getting ahold of that kind of tech was too much of an opportunity. "If they don't, ignore it."

"Roger. Permission given for GTA of TTV." Orson said, a smile in his voice. GTA was Grand Theft Auto and TTV was Tinker Tech Vehicle.

Shifting back to the rear of the building, Commander pushed her awareness inside of the building allowed by the fact that her men were peering in through the dusty windows.

"Commander to Strike One. Visibility is average inside." She said briskly once she activated her radio again. "I count twenty, that is two-zero, hostiles inside, with four more coming in from the car. The place is roughly divided up with corrugated iron into cubicles that house various drug preparatory apparatuses. The hostiles are scattered all over this area. If we move swiftly, we can take them down quickly and easily."

As one would expect of morons like the Merchants, they had left the back door unlocked and with no alarm on it. She could hear Central tutting in professional distaste on the other end of the radio.

"This is Orson. I have hijacked the car, now on route to drop point Epsilon under cloak." Commander heard just as the last of the four man Strike One team entered the building.

"Good job Orson." she said before switching frequencies. "Central, have Orson put in for a free round at the bar."

"Will do, Commander."

Refocusing on her task, Commander guided her four soldiers through the building, ambushing and neutralizing individual members of the Merchants who were either wandering around on 'patrol' while in a drugged up haze or who were sleeping. Typical druggies; they can't help sampling their own product. They obviously never watched Scarface.

With over half of the Merchants out of commission already, the operation seems as if it would go off without a hitch. Commander should have known better.

"This is Mendez, Commander." The last member of Strike One said urgently. "I have a clear visual on one of the people who arrived in the car and has now discovered that it is missing. It's Skidmark. I repeat, Skidmark knows that his car has been stolen and he does not look happy about it."

"Dammit. Good eyes, Mendez." Commander said with a curse. "Move in closer and go on overwatch again. When you hear shots fired from inside the warehouse, you have weapons free."

"Roger that, Commander."

"OK Strike One, it's been confirmed that Skidmark is here in the AO." She said, switching to the squad-wide frequency again. "Just a reminder, but his power is that he can create shields that possess the power of either attraction or repulsion. It's also rumoured that he can layer them for increased effect. It works on both powers and bullets, so direct fire is not an option. If you get a chance, lob a Stasis Grenade over him, as his shields have a limited AOE and, while they work on both sides, they are unidirectional, meaning he would have to set up multiple shields to protect himself, and he has never shown the ability to do more than layer them."

A chorus of acknowledgements followed that. The men and women of XCOM were professionals and knew to take any briefing seriously. Skidmark was going to have a bad surprise if he thought that things would go entirely his way.

"YOU! YOU FUDGE-PACKING DICK-GUZZLERS!" Skidmark shouted as he stomped down the corridor, several Merchants behind him. Evidently, he wasn't as stupid as people thought. He had obviously tried to contact the people they had taken out and gathered most of the rest to counterattack.

"Stand down." One member of Strike One, Mei-Li, ordered coolly.

The response Skidmark gave was probably an expletive, but it was so mangled by anger that it was indecipherable. "Kill them!" he screamed, pointing at the XCOM soldiers, who dove for cover as handguns were levelled in their directions.

Sporadic fire pelted their positions, so Commander decided it was time to hit back. "Strike One, weapons free."

The weapons that the squad carried were basic rifle versions of the laser-delivered Taser weapons used by the snipers. The lasers were invisible to the naked eye, so when Mei-Li and Garson pulled their triggers, it looked like two members of the Merchants just decided to collapse. Even Skidmark thought that they had just OD'd on their drugs.

"Useless shitstains!"

"Garson, Mei-Li, shift to suppressing fire. O'Donnell, Kalashnikov, circle around and toss Stasis Grenades at the group." Commander ordered.

"Suppressing."

"Keeping their heads down, aye ma'am."

"Moving."

"Da,tovarisch."

As simple as the strategy was, it worked. Skidmark was too busy yelling at his useless men to notice the enemy numbers in front of them had gone down to two…right up until the two Stasis Grenades clunked to the ground nearby and exploded. O'Donnell and Kalashnikov had expertly spaced the grenades out so that they didn't overlap and so that as many of the Merchants were hit as possible.

The bubbles were tinged purple and englobed all of the Merchants, freezing them in place. Commander sighed in relief now that the hard part was done.

"OK Strike One, that's the hard part. Now all you have to do is wait until the grenades' effect ends and you can tase the bastards." Commander ordered. "Mendez, you come in and start prepping the place to blow. I don't want this place to be standing by the time we're gone."

"Roger that."

This had been a result of a debate between Taylor and Central. The main point was that if left alone, the Merchants would just reoccupy the building and use it again. Blowing the place up, with all of the drugs and everything else left inside, would deny them the drugs and prevent the Merchants from reusing the building.

Taylor hadn't been enthused about performing an act of arson, but Central had talked her around.

A short five minutes later, Skidmark and his druggies were introduced to rifle stocks striking them in the face and back of the neck as soon as they came out of stasis, dropping them like flies.

"Orson, sitrep."

"Sitting at drop point Epsilon, ma'am." The soldier replied. "The package is secure and ready for Doctor Vahlen and Doctor Shen to have a teardown party."

"I'll send you back to base, and then re-summon you." The Commander stated. Drop point Epsilon was an abandoned garage near to but not connected to her physical base. It had been set up for just this sort of occasion.

In seconds, Orson was standing in the drug warehouse and was quickly tasked with helping to bind and remove the unconscious Merchants and their leader from the drug factory. Co0mmander made her way into the building while her troops were busy and waited for everything to be set up.

"Anything useful?" she asked Mei-Li.

"Negative, Commander. Just some peashooters and a little cash." The woman shook her head. "Doctor Shen might want the guns to disassemble and melt down for raw materials, but in terms of loot, this raid was all but worthless."

"Fair enough." Commander allowed. "Bag 'em. New standing order: gather all enemy weapons to take back to HQ at the end of a mission if possible. The more materials we deny the enemy and the more financial cost we force them to go through to replace them, the better."

"10-4, Commander." The Chinese woman nodded.

"Mendez, how are those demo-charges coming?" the Commander asked.

"Two more minutes and it'll be ready." The man called back. XCOM, for whatever reason, had a stock of C4 designed to blow up buildings, so Central had ordered a set to be given to a member of the squad prior to deployment. The man was very good at his job.

"Orson, are those Merchants outside of the predicted blast radius?"

"Yes ma'am. Some of them are coming around and being a pain. Permission to stun them again?"

"Granted." Having Skidmark act up was not a good idea.

A few minutes later, the warehouse that the Merchants had used as a drug factory for years imploded, crumbling in on itself as demo-charges attached to various structural weak points went off. By the time the PRT and Police arrived, the place was a ruin and the only clue as to what had happened were the twenty-odd Merchants, including Skidmark, secured a safe distance from the building.

So, I haven't heard from Shadows of Vanity for a while. I'm hoping this'll make him/her come back.