[You Interviewing Amalie]

"During the war, the 'Elders'… experimented… manipulated… turned the world that is yours into their personal laboratory." She hissed while examining the plasma charge to her pistol. "How I remember those days… sending infiltrators… 'Thin Men' as you call them, to pick up the people unfortunate enough to be captured. Yes, you did stop one or two of our groups, but the others always came back with their prizes."

She smirked for a moment before plopping the charge into the pistol while rapidly bringing up and aiming it at the camera.

"Never did like how we did it, personally I would have preferred a more 'subtle' approach… but it got the job done. I trained my daughters well, and we carried out our job out perfectly. Funny thing about it though…" She whispered with a grin. "They never bothered checking on their 'missing UFO teams'…"

She began chuckling as she flipped her pistol open, and revealing the charge had never once entered the chamber.

"They taught me too well how to 'infiltrate'… I actually lost count of how many I stole had 'mysteriously vanished' from them!"

=Chapter 4, The Beautiful Warrior=

(Commander's PoV)

[Alright… explain to me how you managed to rescue two of my operatives from an exploding underground base, that devastated everything within a two-hundred-mile radius with enough explosive power to make even a volcanic eruption jealous?] He asked.

He had just finished speaking to both Gabriella and Pierce, the two XCOM operatives that Hawkeye and Mercy had found in suspended animation within the locked down Genetics Lab of the former XCOM base. His original orders for them had been to hold the two generator rooms still standing and feeding power to the base until the self-destruct sequence could be completed.

When he first gave them that order, he had assumed it was a death sentence for them, there was no way he could have saved them 'and' ensure the base would explode, preventing Advent from taking it and using it for their own purposes. At the time, knowing that Amalie couldn't have prepared a contingency plan since she never sent him a message about it, it was the only option he had.

Yet somehow, she had succeeded in saving his two operatives.

"Ah… 'now' you ask me that question?" She chuckled as Gabriella and Pierce stood off to the side. "Give me just a few minutes…"

She slithered over to an intercom on the wall and pressed a button. [Bring me one of the 'expired' Seekers!]

While they waited, he contacted Central and had him, Tygan and even Shen listen in on his conversation with Amalie. Five minutes after she made that call a pair of Vipers, both normal and with the same coloration of scales as Mercy slithered in, slithered in carrying a broken Seeker. They bowed respectfully to him and Amalie and left.

"As you know several of these Seekers were deployed at the 'former' XCOM site. And while most of them were of the standard model, designed to hide and wait for isolated soldiers, some of them were reprogramed instead to locate isolated operatives and monitor their condition." She explained while slithering next to it. "During my time with 'Advent', I used a few of the Codex's you destroyed in many assaults, and managed to engineer a crude… but somewhat working 'psionic gateway' module into selected Seekers. These Seekers were designed to operate in pairs, one opening an 'entrance' gate and the other creating the 'exit' gate."

She tapped the Seeker's frame and chuckled as one of the tentacles broke off.

"As you can see… the module was very crude, and put too much strain on the Seeker's frame. After one use, they were all but destroyed. Naturally, because they were designed to operate in pairs, the ones that opened the entrances at the XCOM base, were destroyed pushing your operatives through the gates before closing them. When that happened the units that were connected to the 'Entrance' units, acting as the 'Exit' overloaded and… this is the result of what happens. We can't repair the damage, and we sent all our 'psionic modules' to the XCOM base to help you escape."

He examined the Seeker closely and saw what she meant. The Seeker's frame was coated in purple rust, the tentacles were scarred in black ash, and the internal wiring that he could see were completely burned up. The Seeker's frame was lucky enough to be intact, as everything else was either burned up or destroyed.

[Well that explains how you got them out… so I guess you had one for each operative that went inside the base?]

"Only eight, I knew you operated with at least six operatives, I included a seventh for your personal use out. The eighth was just in case you 'accidentally' blew one of them up and mistook them for the normal Seekers." She said with a shrug.

[How does she manage to pull that kind of crap off? Even 'you' didn't know about it!] Central said.

[I must say I'm impressed that the Vipers were able to create, even a crude method of forming a psionic gateway. Though basic and dare I say, 'low tech' compared to the Elder's methods, it is very effective. If we could get a schematic of how they did it, I could possibly replicate the module for our own use in the field!] Tygan said.

[If I could get my hands on that tech, I could create some sweet gear Commander. An armored suit capable of creating a temporary gateway on the field would make us almost uncatchable!] Shen said excitedly.

[The use for this technology is incredible Amalie, do you happen to have any schematics or research leftover of its use?] He asked.

At this Amalie sighed and shook her head.

"Alas, my daughters… unlike your XCOM scientists, are not nearly as… 'adept'… at keeping notes. None of them kept the research they performed while working in the XCOM base where they created the modules and installed them. And as you know… the base blew up, taking everything and anything even remotely useful with it." She hissed. "However, there is still one module still active, if I remember correctly. One of the Seekers failed to cease transmitting after the base blew up. Before I could send one of my daughters to pick it up, your XCOM forces intercepted it and took it."

[Well… that explains that hunk of junk I found while tearing that thing apart. There was some kind of module in the frame that I couldn't make heads or tails of. I assumed it was part of the cloaking device, I'll inform someone to take it to Tygan so he and his team can get to work on it!] Shen said.

[At your leisure Commander, I can begin researching it, and I'll have a report for you as soon as we find something.]

[Alright… that explains how you got Gabriella and Pierce out, now… what's 'this'?] He asked, pointing at the container that she had Netra bring in.

At that Amalie grinned and slithered over to it.

"Feast your eyes… my 'friend'." She hissed.

She tapped something on the side and it instantly opened with a 'hiss', dust flying out as the slits opened and moved the panels to reveal…

[No…] He gasped.

[Well I'll be damned…] Central said.

[Is that really what the reports I found in 'SHIV' described, that miraculous element the aliens deployed?] Tygan asked.

[Why does everything the Aliens make have to be either shiny or deadly?] Shen asked.

Amalie chuckled as she tapped the golden cylinder that protruded from the canister, the golden light gleaming off her scales and giving her an almost 'angelic' look to her form.

"Yes… behold, the culmination of perfect bonding between machine and biology. The living nanites capable of creating a perfect synergy between any genetic material and even technology." She hissed with pride. "The last canister of the element you refer to in your records as… 'Meld'."

Seeing the element in its state amazed him, he remembered its many, many… 'many' uses. Two living prime examples right next to him, a Genetically Modified Soldier, and a Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit Soldier.

[Mutare Ad Custodium… Bellatore In Machina…]

"Yes… indeed…" She hissed proudly. "As for how I obtained it… during the war many 'UFO's' as you called them, carried this substance to test on its viability for the human population. However, upon being attacked by your forces, the containers were designed to self-destruct. I however, managed to infiltrate a few of the vessels… and upon… 'liberating' the ship from its standing crew…"

She tapped the Meld cylinder with a beaming smile.

"I dropped off the Meld containers into an inactive volcano, for later use by 'our' side. Unfortunately, as you know, the war didn't turn out the way I had hoped, and so the massive stockpile I had amassed remained hidden for two decades. Then I had my daughters smuggle it onto the Ark… one container at a time, one day at a time."

[And from there… you used it to genetically modify your daughters into humanlike forms, with greatly enhanced abilities. Giving them far superior senses, flexibility, and capabilities. Even incorporating genes of humanity in order to give them what most of your daughters cannot do naturally.] He said flatly. [Changing them into something so 'alien'… they almost are nothing like what they once were…]

"My friend… giving them the ability to give birth is a blessing for them." She hissed warmly. "So many of them wish to experience what, only a fraction of my species can really do, that they gladly volunteered for the change."

There was silence for several minutes as he stared at the golden element before him. The possibilities of its use exploding into so many paths that he couldn't keep track of them.

At least until he remembered something Amalie said.

[You said it was the 'last' canister of Meld… then that means…]

"Indeed, the rest of my stock was used on my daughters… it took many tries… but eventually we perfected our use of our limited supply to be able to change over eighty percent of my daughters of the 'lesser gene' into the daughters capable of performing the feats you saw." She hissed. "At first our attempts cost us our stock of 'Meld' greatly… it took four full canisters just to make a single daughter jump higher… but eventually… with trial and error…"

She moved over to the intercom and called for one of her daughters to come to the room, and five minutes later a Viper with pale skin, wearing the same garb as her fellow Vipers, very yellow hair wrapped in a huge bundle and barely contained by a bandana worn around her head, and with golden eyes walked in.

"Yes, Hierarch Mother?" She hissed softly.

"Bellona, strip for us please." She said instantly.

[What the…] He managed to say before Bellona instantly obeyed and began 'stripping' her clothes off.

Within ten seconds she had removed her shirt, her pants, and even her bandana, leaving her only clad in a pair of panties and bra.

Her figure was very thin, yet she didn't lack 'fat', instead she looked like she was of pristine health in terms of human anatomy. Her hips were about a half a size larger than a normal woman's, and her chest was of similar size larger as well. Her legs had an extra two to three inches in length and her shoulders were slightly broader than that of an average woman's. Her golden hair gleamed in the light of the room and fell all the way to the floor in waves. Her eyes, though golden as well, still retained their reptilian origins as the iris were vertical. Parts of her skin, particularly around the chest, inner thighs, elbows and knees retained their reptilian origins as well and looked like smooth scales, but they melted so perfectly into smooth pale skin that it was hard to tell when scale began and skin ended. Another trait he noticed was that her veins were visible beneath her skin, and glowed yellow every few moments, doing so in tandem with a heartbeat.

[Commander, what is it with your 'friend' and her need to make situations extremely awkward?]

[Well, that is 'one' way to perform a 'physical'.]

[Now that's a body a girl like me would 'kill' to have naturally…]

[Amalie… was that really necessary?] He asked, trying to stay focused.

"How else am I to show you how we improved our combat capabilities?" She answered honestly.

He looked over 'Bellona's' figure and mentally had to snap himself out of his gaze. [Combat capabilities… right. I'm sure that's what you were focusing on…]

She rolled her eyes and proceeded to slither next to Bellona who merely watched her Hierarch Mother.

"I shall start with the enhanced leg muscles I gave my daughters…" She said, beckoning toward Bellona's legs. "Thanks to the addition of human bone and muscle structure, we combined our natural muscle flexibility with the human leg's muscle structure. To give ourselves enhanced speed and jump strength, we reduced the amount of 'body fat' we would otherwise have here and increased the muscle density and strength. Over several attempts, we discovered the correct balance of muscle to bone ratio, to give us our necessary needs while not diminishing the flexible movement we enjoy in our natural bodies. In order to do this, we had to increase the length of our 'legs' by five percent."

[Sure, let's go for that explanation…] He said bluntly, trying not to notice how flawless her legs' skin was, or how smooth they looked from his angle.

Amalie whispered to Bellona and she nodded, then she turned around so that her backside was looking at him, and thus Central, Tygan, and Shen had a very good view of her rear.

"In order for the leg muscles to appropriately fit the body's muscle ratio, we had to provide the upper body a stronger base to hold it up. Thus, we had to expand the size of the human body's thigh muscles to compensate for the additional muscle strength and other various assets we combined with ourselves."

Once again, he stared at Bellona's hips and rear, and mentally snapped himself out of his gaze. [I'll take your word for it.]

Amalie whispered into Bellona's ears and she nodded once more, turning so they could see her body from the side. Then she placed her arms above her head and pushed her chest out slightly, showing her upper body's curves.

"In order to support our ability to 'run' and 'jump' to the lengths we can, we needed to expand our body's rib cage to accommodate an expanded set of lungs, and a secondary heart to improve the flow of blood. This allows us to continue performing at peak efficiency even when other species might tire. This also has the added benefit of maintaining our life span should our bodies suffer critical condition. In addition, the expanded breast size allows us to store our venom for our personal use, and focus most of our muscles within our legs and arms, as well as other areas I mentioned."

Again, he stared at her 'ample' chest, and mentally slapped himself again. [If you insist Amalie… if you insist.]

One final time she whispered to Bellona, and her daughter nodded before turning to stare at him, her golden eyes not looking at anything but his Gremlin's optics.

"Finally, we enhanced our vision using some of the genes we discovered in many native animals of this world. Using their natural genes, we spliced a gene which gave our vision ten times that of earth's mightiest set of eyes, allowing us to literally… see the individual flapping of a fly's wings. Furthermore, we enhanced our ears with those of some of Earth's best listeners, and it has enhanced our hearing greatly. While it has taken some getting used to for most of my daughters, we developed a special gene within our bodies to be able to weaken this trait if necessary, for everyday purposes. Because of this, now we can hear the sound of a heart beating from a person at the other end of this vessel, even amidst the noise of everything else happening, as plainly as you might hear the sound of thunder miles away!"

He stared into Bellona's gold eyes and looked at her ears, and noticed that the pupil of her eyes focused on his optics, and shrank to almost the size of a dot, before expanding rapidly. If what she said was true, she could see so far away that it would put to shame even the best Sniper Rifle's Scope. As for her ears, he would have to take Amalie's word as her ears looked no different than a normal human's, only slightly longer and a little pointier at the tips.

[Alright… explain the hair.] He commented. [I doubt all of that hair is really necessary, and why is it so gold? I know blonde is a color but I doubt 'gold' is a color a normal human has.]

"The hair… well I originally gave it to my daughters to help them blend in with humans. However, we had a minor problem… it seemed that in our experimenting, the more 'Meld' we used, the more the hair grew. It was an unfortunate side effect… and since Bellona was our primary test subject before I had the rest of my daughters go through the genetic modification procedure, she naturally was altered the most. Because she was altered the most, her hair grew to the length it is now." She said, twirling her fingers for Bellona to see, and causing her to nod and turn around so her massive wave of gold hair turned with her, shimmering in the light as it did. "Though we learned eventually that we needed to increase the hair's length to add additional weight to the body, in order to counter balance the actions we take as we move about. Also, the more we modified our bodies, or the more 'Meld' used, the more our hair turned to the color of the substance."

[Alright… but if it's so long that she needs to use a bandana just to keep it from tripping her, then why not cut it short?] He asked. [Also… she looks very different from all of the other daughters you showed.

At that Bellona turned to him and shook her head.

"Hierarch Father, the Hierarch Mother suggested I do that… but I asked her to let my body's hair remain. Also, to explain my appearance, because of the numerous attempts to perfect the genetic changes my other sisters would undergo, my body appears more 'human' than theirs became." She said in a soft tone. "But if… you tell me to, I will cut my hair… but I do enjoy the feel of the wind in my hair as it blows through each strand."

He sighed and nodded in understanding. [Very well, keep your hair, but you need to shorten its length with the bandana if you ever plan on going into combat.] He said.

"Thank you, Father." She said gratefully, bowing to him, lifting her hair just a few centimeters off the ground as she did.

"Indeed, and this is the newest soldier I have to offer you my friend." Amalie said as Bellona stood up straight. "All of my daughters have the same body structure and genetic modifications she has. While any one of them would make a great operative for your use, Bellona has had the most experience with her modifications, and thus needs no training in those areas. Her combat experience is also exceptional as she has participated in many campaigns."

[So, you are offering me one of your daughters to serve in XCOM?] He simplified. [Well, any help would be welcomed…]

"I am at your disposal Hierarch Father…" Bellona said warmly, once more bowing to him and lifting her hair up. "Do me as you see fit… in whatever way you wish…"

[Uh… its… 'do 'with' me… and 'whatever way you see 'fit'.]

"Huh… but the Hierarch Mother told me to say that should you welcome my services?" She asked, looking up at him in confusion. "Is that not how you offer services for battle in human speech?"

He glanced at Amalie and saw her smug expression. [I hate you so much right now Amalie…]

[Commander, I hate to interrupt this conversation, but we have an emergency.] Central interrupted.

[Go ahead.] He said, turning to look away from Bellona and Amalie.

[We just got a tip from one of the resistance cells nearby about a massive signal being sent out. It's on the same frequency that the person who spoke to us used when they killed the Raptors.]

[Prep the Water Dragons Squad, I want them ready to go in ten minutes!] He ordered, severing the connection. [As for you Bellona, you, Amalie, Pierce, and Gabriella will join me and Shen onto the Skyranger, once we board the Avenger, you'll be joining the Water Dragons in their mission.]

"Deploying her so early?" Amalie asked smugly.

[I have my reasons, if I'm going to be deploying you with any of my squads, I might as well know how well you work in the field Bellona.] He said to her as she stood up straight again. [And put some clothes on before you leave please? I can't have you fighting alongside my forces naked…]

"Is something wrong with that?" Bellona asked honestly with a tilt of her head. "During combat training and even some missions my Hierarch Mother asked of me, I was told to conduct them with minimal clothing for the sake of increasing my mobility in the field."

He just stared at the Viper turned Human and decided not to bother answering that question. [Just do it…] He grunted.

"Drat…" He heard Amalie hiss quietly as he turned and left.

(Hawkeye's PoV, minutes later)

"I can't believe you guys actually survived!" He stated as Gabriella stepped into the mess hall with Pierce.

Gabriella was not in her MEC suit, instead she was in her normal body suit and wearing what looked to be normal civilian clothes. Alongside Pierce who was also wearing similar clothes but his veins were constantly glowing gold every few seconds.

He and Mercy had watched the giant MEC suit of Gabriella step off of the Skyranger along with the other members of the Sharks. With her came Pierce, still wearing the same Carapace Armor that he had worn at the XCOM base. Along with the two former XCOM Operatives came several crates of supplies with Shen eagerly digging into one with Rover holding a flashlight above her.

After the explanations were quickly given, the Water Dragons quickly boarded the Skyranger and prepared to take off.

Now they were all in the mess hall getting ready to watch the mission as it was to go live.

"We almost were dead, but apparently this wolf still has a purpose in this world." Pierce said. "Though times have changed, the den still needs protecting, and the wolf's fangs are still sharp."

"But how come you didn't tell the Commander to try and save you?" Puppy asked instantly. "I mean, you were his operatives as well, how come he told you guys to stay and die while the rest of us got away?"

"That is precisely why he told us to remain behind." Gabriella said as she held up her mechanical hand, and clenched it into a fist. "Sometimes the greater good requires sacrifice. That is why my comrades in arms chose to sacrifice our limbs, for the greater good. Had we not remained, you all might have died… and a soldier's job is to save lives."

"Yes… sacrifice two to save eight." Pierce said proudly. "Though we knew we would die, it was for the best. Better to save the many and lose a few, then to sacrifice all and gain nothing."

"We tried to… save you." Mercy hissed warmly. "We tried to convince the Commander to go back for you… but we had to leave."

"Yea, but he had a point, we aren't professional soldiers…" Sharptooth commented. "We are just regular folks, not professionals like Eagleeye, 007, and now Gabriella and Pierce. If we had tried to go back, we would have had to fight our way through impossible odds, and with such little time, we would have died long before getting to them. Let alone getting out…"

"Reminds me of that one time a squad I was with was trying to destroy a fishing tanker. Cryssalids had made a hive out of a whale carcass, and we got there just as they were starting to pop… two of us were forced to die in combat. One of us died getting the transponder going… and the other… well… last I heard of him was as he was keeping their attention while me and a wounded girl were limping back to the EVAC zone." Eagleeye said, looking down at a glass. "Poor bastard… used his corpse for one of their young… moments after we got out, the missiles came down. I'll never forget his scream…"

"Death comes to us all… but he died a noble death… and his body… never suffered the fate that befell to many others." Falcon said wisely. "Take heart in that, at least he died saving your lives."

"True dat man, if he didn't you wouldn't be here spoiling our little girl with your share of the surprise strawberry cake!" T-Rex said boisterously as he took a bite out of his own cake.

"Yea, thanks grandpa!" Puppy yelled as she chowed down. "And whoever sacrificed themselves for you, I thank you as well!"

"Only T-Rex and Puppy could turn a sad conversation about death into one about cake." Hawkeye said with a sigh.

"MWell I'mm mnot gonna mwaste this cake!" She said with a mouthful of cake.

Hawkeye chuckled as he glanced over at the very empty table where the Gamma Raptors would normally sit. However, only one person was actually sitting there, Ripclaw. She was quietly eating her piece of cake and looking like she had zoned the world out. Despite 007's addition to the Gamma Raptors, they were still undermanned, and thus couldn't really go out on a mission on their own.

Also, 007 hadn't shown up for cake, leaving Ripclaw to be alone for lunch.

"I was given the details about the fate of the Gamma Raptors, who will replace the members from your squads?" Gabriella asked stubbornly.

"Why would we replace them?" Puppy asked as she swallowed her cake. "We're the Land Sharks, we already are at full strength, same with the Water Dragons."

"Gatta remember little kid, back in the day the Commander didn't really form 'single squads' like he does now. He made squads out of all of his operatives, we only got the 'Squad Names' that we had because lots of us were grouped into the same teams on missions."

"Hey kids, look out, here comes the Dragons!" T-Rex shouted as the screen in the room turned on, showing the inside of the Skyranger and all of the members of the Water Dragons.

(Mercy's PoV)

"Hey, who's the new girl?" Puppy asked as they all noticed the new girl in the Water Dragon's squad.

"Never seen her before." Hawkeye said.

"Nor me…" She hissed.

The girl was wearing civilian clothing and basic Kevlar armor, in addition she wore a large bandana tying her golden hair into a very tight bun behind her head. Her face was concealed by another bandana, and her eyes were concealed behind a pair of specialized sunglasses.

"Must be… one of my 'sisters'?" She hissed in confusion, unable to think of any other reason a normal human would be dressed so strangely.

Just as she finished speaking though, Central came up on the skyranger's screen and began talking to them. [Advent's deployed some kind of signal device in the middle an abandoned city, and we're going in because it's time we pushed back whoever it was that all but wiped out the Gamma Raptors Squad. The signal matches the same frequency of the one that we discovered in the Gamma Raptors' mission, and we may have a chance to hit them back. Neutralize all targets, locate the signal source, and destroy the bastard if you can!]

They looked at the screen and she saw the mission name, Operation 'Red Dagger'.

"How appropriate a name…" She hissed, wondering how the many mission names were chosen.

Moments later the Skyranger opened up and the whole Water Dragon's squad began roping down to ground level, but instead of roping down with them, the newcomer chose to jump out, and land on the ground on her own. She landed behind them all and stood up easily and with little effort, as if she were doing something that required no more effort than breathing.

[Alright Dragons, let's find out what this signal is all about, neutralize all targets and locate the signal!]

Moments later the Commander had highlighted the newcomer, and they all saw her name was Bellona, and that her 'class identification' was Gene Viper.

"As you know my friend… my daughters are extremely fast, agile, and above all maneuverable. As such, while we are trained to use any weapon, most of my daughters prefer to use the weapons they are first given. Bellona is equipped with a pair of plasma blades, of my own design… and she can rapidly close the distance with even the 'distant' target… and flee before they can retaliate." Her Hierarch Mother hissed on screen.

As they watched the screen, the Commander ordered her to a very distant building far ahead of them, almost a fifty-meter dash. All of the other soldiers required a full dash to do it, yet Bellona moved to the location quickly and effortlessly.

"As you order my father…" She hissed proudly, before leaning against the wall.

Seconds later she was permitted to move again, and her Hierarch Mother piped in once more.

"Our ability to jump is far superior to even those your XCOM scientists managed with their research into the Meld Substance. Take this ten-story building… a jump that even your best genetically modified soldier couldn't achieve, my daughters can perform as easily as if they were taking a step."

Sure enough, moments later he ordered her to jump to the top of the abandoned building, and she merely responded with a "As you say my Hierarch…", before looking up, bracing herself, and then jumping ten stories, landing onto the roof with a soft 'plop'.

She was also ordered to the edge of the building, and looked down to give him enormous vision, nearly seven times that of what he usually had even with his squad fully deployed to give him vision.

"My vision sees all in your name…" She hissed quietly as his Gremlin's optics zoomed in on four squads of Advent forces.

He could see a squad of MEC units with an Officer.

A second squad of MEC units stood nearby the first.

A third squad of Advent troopers with an Officer stood at the far end of the street.

A fourth unit he saw was a Sectopod standing guard over a building that had been fortified.

And there was a lone Advent soldier stood directly beneath her.

"My daughter's vision is vastly superior to your human eyes, when placed on a building, she can see all that you desire to see. Information is ammunition as you say, and with this information, you can plan without fear my friend."

With that he began ordering the Water Dragons to move toward the building. Unlike the Raptors and Sharks, the Dragons were mostly heavy weapon specialists, preferring to do lots of explosive damage. This made them not very mobile, and thus unable to close the distance as easily as Bellona was able to cover.

Once the Dragons were all alongside the wall, ready to enter through an open door of the abandoned run-down building, the Commander's vision turned to the Advent patrols as they made their rounds.

The Sectopod moved away, behind another building and just out of sight, the other patrols continued away from their building. Yet the lone Advent Trooper still stood at his station looking away from them.

"Those daughters of mine that prefer using the 'Plasma Blade' as I call it, have been trained in the art of stealth assassinations. If they encounter a lone Advent Trooper for example, you can order her to strike the target down, killing the soldier in such a way that will delay the actual 'death' of the soldier. His death will be slow and painful, yet he will not alert his fellows of his demise for a while via his psionic chip." Her Hierarch Mother hissed warmly. "And best of all, you will remove him from the battlefield, a win win."

Moments later the Commander ordered Bellona to perform a 'Serpent Strike', as it was called.

"My blades are your hands!" She hissed proudly.

Bellona took a leap and jumped down, and just as she was about to land atop the Trooper, she spun around and angled her body so that it was parallel to the Advent Trooper's. Then just before she landed, she extended her two plasma blades, and thrust one forward, and the other sliced sideways.

Her strikes hit home, one sliced the mouth cleanly, cutting the tongue out before the Trooper had a chance to scream. The thrusted blade struck into the spine of the Trooper, not so deeply it pushed through the other side, but enough so that moments later the Trooper collapsed to the ground.

She pulled her blades back and admired her work.

"Whoa… she struck the nervous system… without killing him. She paralyzed him with one stab." Sharptooth said in amazement while the Water Dragons ran into the building. "And because she cut out his tongue, that Trooper can't yell or groan in pain. Not only is he still breathing, but he's going to die of blood loss without alerting the other Troopers to our position."

"Now 'that's' an operative." Puppy said.

They moved forward with Bellona moving forward the most, hiding in the shadows of destroyed cars, abandoned plots of ruins, and even along the roof of one building. For several minutes they walked, until finally he had positioned his Water Dragons on one side of the street, just as two patrols met up. On the other side, Bellona was sitting on a roof and hiding behind a sign.

He had caught both patrols in a pincer ambush, with one side being controlled by the Water Dragons, and the other with Bellona.

One of the Advent Troopers turned toward her direction and moved closer, isolating himself from the rest of his group.

The instant he was far enough away, the Commander ordered Bellona to perform another Serpent Strike.

"I am your sword and dagger my Hierarch." She hissed with pride.

She leapt down and, once more angled her body to replicate her strike. The instant she flashed before the Trooper's eyes, she had sliced his tongue and stabbed his spine, instantly silencing the Trooper before he could alert his fellows. Who disregarded the sound of their fellow soldier dying behind them.

Then, he ordered one of the Dragons to grenade the MEC units.

"Bringing the Pain!" One of the Grenadiers yelled, before reading a plasma grenade and tossing it from his launcher.

It landed amid the MECs and exploded, causing serious damage to all of them and shredding some of the armor.

The MECs turned and faced the Water Dragons.

[Blzt Briiiiiiiiiigng!] It declared, the more advanced MEC declared, aiming its weapon at them.

While the Trooper and Officer ran for cover, the other MECs opened fire, just as the other Water Dragons opened fire.

In all the confusion and chaos of both sides returning fire, neither side noticed Bellona running forward and stabbing the Strongest MEC unit in the chest with her Plasma Blade, without being ordered.

"Though my daughters are disciplined and will not disobey an order you give, should one of them manage to successfully slay an enemy without being spotted, and upon your forces being noticed, my daughter will immediately move to strike down the nearest and strongest enemy in terms of category, but weakest in terms of their strength." Her Hierarch Mother hissed proudly. "It is a great risk they run doing this, but worry not… our flexibility and mobility is our greatest advantage. Upon slaying yet another enemy, you may order her to flee or attack again as you see fit."

Just as the remaining Trooper died from crossfire and the MEC Bellona had struck down collapsed, the Officer noticed Bellona and immediately targeted her with a "Teesh porta!" and a wave of his arm.

The Commander, in retaliation to the Officer's order to focus Bellona, ordered the Gene Viper to attack the officer, while his Grenadiers blew up the remaining MEC.

"For the Hierarch!" Bellona screamed, before readying her blades and charging forward.

She plunged her blades into the Officer who managed a scream of pain before she cut off his head, picking up his weapon and holding it in the process.

"While the Elders programmed the weapons to detonate upon the death of the wielders, my daughters emit a faint bio-electrometric signal in the heat of battle, which temporarily disables the 'detonation' mechanism. Should one of my daughters using the plasma blades kill an enemy outside of stealth combat, she can claim the fallen enemy's weapon, if it is manageable, and use it as her own. At least 'temporarily'."

Once the first two squads were wiped out, the Commander turned to see the remaining squad of MEC units march into range alongside the Sectopod.

The Sectopod opened its main cannon and primed it for battle, while taking one powerful step forward.

Instantly all three MECs went into overatch mode, and the Sectopod stood up to full height.

"While you may be worried, fear not… as the 'Thin Men' within the XCOM base demonstrated, my daughters are extremely flexible." The Hierarch Mother hissed. "Should you feel the need, you may send my daughters into the line of fire, so long as they can see the incoming fire, and it is not too close, nearly any projective can be dodged. But be warned, this only works should my daughter be in 'heat'… as in, 'heat of battle'…"

With that he ordered Bellona toward a low wall to act as her cover, and Bellona obeyed the order to move.

All three MECs aimed their weapons, targeted her, and opened fire at once.

"My Father, is my Shield!" Bellona hissed as she saw the projectiles about to fire, and instantly dove forward, tucking her body into a ball, and 'rolling' toward the cover.

The MECs, their AI's targeting programs clearly flabbergasted or confused, couldn't open fire in time, and blindly shot in her direction, missing her as she rolled to safety, without a single shot landing toward her. The Sectopod however, with more advanced targeting parameters, opened fire on her the instant she began to slow down.

Bellona responded by unfurling her body and leaping into the air, avoiding the attack and landing neatly where she had been ordered to, once more without a shot landing on her.

"That girl got some moves!" T-Rex yelled in amazement.

"That was sick!" Puppy screamed in wonder.

"Can all of your sisters do that?" Sharptooth asked.

"Now how come you couldn't do that." Eagleeye asked Pierce jokingly.

With the Overwatch fire gone, the Commander ordered the various members of the Water Dragons to positions of cover. Once that was done he began to order them into action.

"Shredder firing!" One of the Dragons yelled, before taking his Plasma Repeater and unleashing a barrage of plasma bullets, shredding the armor of the Sectopod.

Once the armor was shredded, he ordered one of the Specialists to hack into one of the MECs.

"Commencing hack!" She yelled, signaling her Gremlin to move forward.

The Gremlin's optics were focused and they all saw the chance to hack the MECH was a seventy-six percent chance. He took it, and managed to mind control the unit.

"Hack Complete, we've got it!" She said proudly, and the unit slumped forward before turning around and looking at the Sectopod.

The remaining Water Dragons were all ordered to aim their grenades at the Sectopod, and with its armor gone the five plasma grenades all penetrated the armor of the heavy unit. It shuddered and groaned under the attack, but still it barely held.

In response, the two MEC units aimed their weapons and fired on the solitary hacked MEC unit, wasting their fire by destroying their own. As for the Sectopod, it took several steps forward and open fired on Bellona, who upon seeing the Sectopd ran away from her cover to avoid the attack. She managed to dodge the plasma storm but barely.

"I cannot dodge forever Father!" Bellona hissed worriedly as she ducked behind another low wall.

"My friend… I don't mean to 'question' your clearly infinite wisdom, but I should inform you that my daughters do not fare well standing still. While cover works well for your forces, my Daughters are not used to sitting behind cover much unless we are moving in to attack." Amalie hissed. "Try to avoid leaving them behind cover unless it is for a stealth attack, we best operate from the shadow and in the heat of battle. When ordered to cower behind walls, we fear that our inactivity will lead to our death."

After the Sectopod finished firing on Bellona, the Commander ordered her to attack the Sectopod using the weapon she stole from the slain officer. She did as she was ordered and open fired on the Sectopod's legs. Her attack struck home and the Sectopod began to groan, the weight of its upper body becoming too much for the legs to bear.

"Lighting it up!" One of the Grenadiers shouted as he was ordered next to open fire. He fired on the main body and the plasma bullets streamed into it, further damaging the armor, yet still the Sectopod stood.

"Targeting!" A Specialist declared, as they were ordered to open fire as well.

Plasma bullets struck home, yet still, broken and bruised, the Sectopod hung on, turning its damaged optical eye to stare at the specialist.

"Capacitor discharge!" The remaining Specialist declared, before signaling their Gremlin to close in on the Sectopod.

The Gremlin moved in, and shot a massive burst of electricity into the exposed parts of the Sectopod.

At long last, the Sectopod backed up two steps, mini explosions taking place as the damage became too much for its body to bear. It toppled over as the legs gave out, and a massive explosion took place as it devastated the area around it.

"I think it's dead!" The Specialist said jokingly.

[Well done, scans read no more targets.] Central said. [Now find that signal and see what its source is.]

With that they were all ordered toward the heavily fortified abandoned building, boarded up and abandoned like all the others.

Because Bellona was the fastest, she was ordered to drop the weapon and move forward. The Officer's gun exploded into pieces as she released it, but she obeyed the order and ran toward the building, easily reaching it before the Water Dragons were even a third of the way.

"I have spotted the target…" She hissed as she peaked inside, and revealed to them an empty room with a transmitter.

It sat in the middle of the room she could see, and there was nothing in there.

[If it's a transmitter, we can hack into it, see if there's any data being sent from here, maybe even locate whoever that person was who killed our Raptors.]

[My thoughts exactly…] He whispered quietly.

Since Bellona was closest, she was ordered in and ordered to use the data pad she was given while in the Skyranger to hack into the transmitter.

"If you order it…" She hissed, before going in. "I hope this is right way to use this…"

She brought out the pad and pointed it at the transmitter, instantly it began hacking into the transmitter, beeping for several seconds.

Access Granted

"Wait… where is my data pad?" Mercy asked, having never seen a data pad for her own use. "How come 'we' never hack into things?"

"Cause my little bird does that all for us." Eagleeye chuckled.

As they watched the data pad began to hack into the transmitter, downloading the information.

Yet, just halfway through the screen stuttered and blacked out, with only half of the data being downloaded.

(The Commander's PoV)

"Something is wrong my father!" Bellona hissed in confusion as the data pad turned off, before turning back on to reveal two insignias.

One was a dove with several daggers sticking into it from different directions as well as its wings stabbed through by needles, and the other was flower with its petals scattered and surrounded by fire.

(So, you are that desperate to find me, well if you came all this way out here just to… hack into some, routine data gathering… then it seems only fitting that you test yet another experiment.) A mechanical voice called out, a voice that once again sounded very familiar. (I had calculated that you would locate this signal and take advantage of it… but my probabilities indicated that you would only reach this point after forty nine minutes and fifty seven seconds have expired. How you exceeded my calculations though… I can determine another time.)

[Commander, we got incoming… its… it's an Advent transport, but it's different.]

[I need more details Central!] He said as he turned toward his Water Dragons.

Within a few seconds he got his idea, as the Advent Transport came into range. It looked like a standard transport, but unlike the others, it was wider, and carrying a large container. It zoomed overhead and dropped the container directly into the middle of the street.

The container crashed to the ground and broke open, revealing an older model Sectopod, just like the one that destroyed the Raptors.

(Since you came out here, say hello to the 'other' broken model we tested the other weapon on, known as E.C. 1. I look forward to our next encounter, assuming this squad 'has' a next encounter. I predict your chances of surviving this without casualties is… only seventeen percent. Goodbye 'Commander'.)

The Sectopod began to shake and wake up, opening its optics to look at his Water Dragons, appearing menacing as the previous Sectopod did.

(Xcom Enemy Unknown, Combat Music 2)

[XCOM… Enemies… Directive… Obliterate!] A mechanical voice called out, and just like the previous Sectopod, it sounded similar. [Obliterate… Obliterate… Obliterate… OBLITERAAAAAAAATE!]

It took one massive step forward, before opening its main body to reveal the massive main cannon that was its primary weapon. It charged up and opened fired on the Water Dragons, who ducked as one to avoid it.

"Lot of heat coming here!" Nidhug yelled.

"This makes no sense… why test on… such an archaic weapon?" Amalie hissed in confusion. "It makes no sense… what were these 'weapons' they were testing… nothing about that Sectopod has changed since the ones I created in the XCOM base operation."

[I don't know, and I don't care!] He yelled as he ordered his Dragons into positions. [We have some data on this bastard, and I'm not about to lose it! Nor am I about to lose another squad, all forces, target that giant metal monster. That thing dies before it fires a second main shot!]

Knowing Bellona's strengths and weaknesses, he ordered her out of the building and to run toward the Sectopod.

[Commander, are you out of your mind? You're going to get her killed, she has the data!] Central yelled.

"My friend, I know I said my daughters would gladly die if you gave the word, but I did not really mean you should do that to them on purpose!" Amalie said in agreement.

He however, ignored their statements as the Sectopod spotted her and opened fire, using its overwatch shots on her.

"As long as my father wills it!" Bellona yelled as she jumped into the air, and twirled like a ballerina, dodging the plasma shots barely.

Once the shots were wasted she landed safely many feet from it.

"I think I should tell you, that I forgot to mention my daughters are still capable of using their venom. They can spray it from their mouths to damage whatever it hits with an acid that melts down even metal!" Amalie hissed with a sigh of relief.

[You always forget to tell me something until the last minute… now that throws my game plan out the window… oh well!] He said dully. [Change of plan, originally you were going to distract that thing's overwatch shots, but this works out better. Bellona, spray that Sectopod with acid, melt that bastards optics down!]

Bellona nodded and took aim. "Poison from my breast, be the sword of my Hierarchs!" She screamed, before she undid her bandana, loosened her jaw so that it hung wide, hissed venomously before spitting said venom at the Sectopod.

The Sectopod received a face full of acid on its optics, and it groaned as it tried to focus.

[Obliterate… Obliterate…] It repeated, only sounding in agony this time. [O… bliterate… Obliteraaaaaaaaaaaaate!]

[All Water Dragons, concentrate your fire!] He ordered. [Shred his armor, give no quarter!]

First came two of his three Grenadiers, who each fired off a salvo of shredder ammo, burning through the weakened armor of the Sectopod. With the armor now gone, the Acid began burning into the circuitry.

[O… bli… terate…] It repeated, but now speaking in broken speech as its circuitry sparked and crackled.

[Specialists, shock that thing's circuitry, I don't want even spark plugs to work properly!] He ordered, and both specialists sent their Gremlins into close range, shocking the exposed circuitry and causing severe damage.

[O… bli…ter… aaaaaaaaaatteeeeeee…] It screeched in what could only be described as machine agony, as it tried to open its primary weapon and fire, but failed to do so.

[Bellona, slash that thing with a plasma strike! Strike into the exposed body and tear into the power core!]

Bellona nodded and ran forward, extended her plasma blades and screeched in battle furry.

"Death to my father's enemies!" She yelled defiantly, before leaping at the Sectopod and stabbing it twice with two deep shots.

She then jumped off of it as she was ordered to retreat.

[Bli… o… rate… blitoooooragaargvvvstsbzzzzt] It declared, but now the broken speech gave way to static, yet the main body of the Sectopod still stood on shaky legs.

[Finish it off! Rocket away! Nuke the bastard with everything you got, this is for the Gamma Raptors!]

"Rocket's away, stand clear!" The remaining Grenadier shouted, before priming her arm rocket launcher.

Taking careful aim, she directed it at the Sectopod's main body, and seconds later the rocket launched, before meeting its target and causing a massive explosion.

The Sectopod took several steps back, sparking and twitching, before finally collapsing onto its back in a massive series of explosions which tore the street apart around it.

There was silence as he observed the remains, a smoldering mess of burnt metal.

[He got away this time, he managed to stop us from gaining too much intel… but we're onto him. He knows we're onto him, he's just trying to stall us for time. This didn't go according to 'his' plan, else all of us wouldn't be here alive. And that's just how I intend to keep it…]

[Well done Commander, mission accomplished, return to base, we have Tygan and his team awaiting to examine the data.]

(Hawkeye's PoV, ten minutes later)

He and all of the other personal were on the landing bay as the Skyranger was lowered.

"Man, that girl is some kinda fierce!" T-Rex shouted. "Put to shame all us peeps!"

"Hey now, just cause you saw her on screen don't mean you saw her first!" Sharptooth giggled.

"Now now, let's not go fighting over a girl." Hawkeye chuckled alongside Mercy.

The only ones missing from the group come to welcome the 'mvp' of the mission were the two XCOM operatives, Pierce and Gabriella, Eagleeye, and Falcon who was meditating. Other than that, most of the engineering crew, some scientists, and maintenance personal were there.

"Well here they come." Puppy yelled excitedly.

The ramp lowered and the first ones out were the Water Dragons, who were all wearing looks of proud smiles and congratulatory grins.

Then, the last one, the mystery girl Bellona, and at her appearance everyone cheered and applauded her.

She stepped out last and looked at all of them awkwardly.

"Yes?" She said in a voice that had more emphasis on the 'hiss' of the Viper's native tongue.

"We just wanted to say congratulations girl!" Puppy said, quickly running over and slapping her heartily on the back, which was as where her head stood because she was taller than most of them. "You kicked some major butt…"

Her slap though, had the unfortunate consequence of undoing her bandana which was tied to keep her hair back.

Hawkeye had a moment to think 'how did that bandana stay tied during the battle, with all the jumping, running, twirling and rolling Bellona did, but come undone when Puppy just slaps her on the back to congratulate her?', Before his mind went blank.

In fact, everyone went speechless as they beheld her look.

Her hair, now untied by the bandana, flowed down to the floor in waves of gold, giving her an almost angelic look. Add that to the fact that she had neglected to return the bandana to her face, and her near perfect skin, perfect face, and that golden flowing hair…

She looked… in one word… beautiful.

Puppy just stared at her speechless as well, and she couldn't take her eyes off her face either, but because of her positioning she could see her eyes behind the sunglasses.

"Is… something wrong?" Bellona asked curiously, removing her sunglasses to see them better, revealing golden iris colored eyes.

In the back someone actually fainted.

None of them noticed the Commander float past them and toward the door. [Bellona, to my room, we have to discuss your bedding arrangements while on board!]

"As you command my father!" Bellona said warmly, before walking through the group with almost 'goddess-like' steps, walking past them lightly and effortlessly, even slipping past two maintenance workers who were still in shock at her look that they didn't even budge a little at her passing through them. Her hair dragged along behind her as she walked past, flowing along the floor as if it were a blanket woven by angels.

There was silence as she left the landing bay… before Puppy whispered, "I pitty the soul brave enough to ask the Commander permission to date his daughter…" Moments later though, she shouted, "DIBS, I SAW HER FIRST!"