[You Interviewing Amalie]

"To any human who says that they hate the sewer systems before the great war began… let me just tell you idiots… you have it easy in those tunnels. The only place crazier than the sewer system, and that smelly, sticky, yucky subway tunnel you use for trains… is riding in the back of a vehicle… driven by a seventeen year old, going eighty miles an hour, down the wrong way on a one way street… while being chased by the police… while your cousin and his 'friend' are in the backseat screaming at him to stop, but he don't listen cause his stupid ass wanted to show off his new 'driving skills'…" Amalie hissed sarcastically. "Damn fine human though if you ask me… my second favorite human of all time~! Bit of an idiot but then again most boys were"

=Chapter 8, Desperation Planning=

(Commander's PoV)

[Return Fire!] He ordered as they all ducked to avoid the first volley. [T-Rex, shred the armor on the one in front of you!]

As one they each took aim and fired plasma and laser fire at the Tanks. Yet all three tanks simply endured the attacks and shrugged them off. Even the tank that T-Rex emptied a full clip of his weapon into barely looked like it had taken damage.

"Those things have some tough armor!" T-Rex called out. "Even I barely scratched them!"

"We aint making a dent in em Commander!"

[Fall back!] He ordered them all.

"No questions here!" Puppy yelled as she and the other members of the Sharks ran back the way they had been going originally.

Meanwhile the three MHW Tanks followed them, firing off volley after volley of Magnetic Weapons fire at them.

[Aww… leaving so soon?] The first one called sarcastically.

[Not yet, the party's just begun!] The second one said with suppressed mirth.

[We didn't give you permission to flee yet... we have to 'kill' one of you first before that happens!] The third one shouted giddily.

From his position in front of Hawkeye and Mercy, he watched simultaneously through Eagleeye's and T-Rex's helmet cams so that he could use their perspectives to create a map. But without an overhead image to use to relate their positions, he was going from first person perspective, which gave him no means of telling where they all were relative to each other.

It also didn't help that as they ran the AI Tanks behind them were firing constantly.

His squad came up to a small fork, and he took a right, while directing his other Sharks to take lefts, hoping that they could regroup 'somewhere'.

"Do you have any idea where we're going Commander?" Hawkeye asked him.

[I can barely even concentrate…] He muttered to himself while watching the other squad member's cameras. [Just keep going, I'm mapping as we go!]

[Hey, wait for me!] Their tank follower called out as it rounded the corner. [I just got a good shot of you, let me show you!]

He heard a blast of Magnetic Fire erupt behind him, and turned just in time to see a shell soaring toward them.

[Mercy, Hawkeye, D-6, L8, NOW!] He ordered.

Just as they hugged the walls the shell soared past and blew up the space in front of them, right where they would have been had they kept running, causing a small cave in from the result of the explosion.

[Ouch… under 'Par'… well let's try again, shall we?]

He did not waste any time in ordering Hawkeye and Mercy to keep running. Minutes later he saw through the eyes of Sharptooth's group that she and T-Rex had passed by a recently blown up bit of tunnel.

[Sharptooth, you and T-Rex are behind my squad!] He said as they turned down a tunnel and entered a large, abandoned center station. [Hawkeye, Mercy, climb up that ladder and take up positions L-6 and P-3! Eagleeye, Sharptooth, one my signal open fire on the rear MHW Tank!]

"Got it!" Sharptooth yelled as Mercy and Hawkeye climbed up.

"This… is very… tiresome!" Mercy hissed tiredly as she entered Overwatch.

"Your telling me… can't keep… this up!" Hawkeye also panted.

Moments later the tank hovered into the control center and aimed directly up at them.

[Oh-ho, look what I stumbled into…] It said eagerly. [All tuckered out and nowhere to go!]

[Fire!] He ordered, just as Sharptooth and T-Rex spotted the rear of the tank.

At his order four simultaneous shots of plasma rang out and tore into the hull of the Advent MHW Tank, and at first the hull held, but under pressure from Shredder fire, and three sources of powerful plasma rifle attacks, the armor of the military unit buckled.

He expected it to break and explode from the assault.

What he did not expect was for multiple voices to shout out in pain over the coms on an open frequency.

[Grhaaaaaahgaaaah!] The other two tanks screamed as the first one was riddled with shots, before exploding into small pieces.

Through Puppy's visor he watched her turn in and look in confusion as the tank following her, T-Rex and Falcon stop and 'twitch' in pain. It just stopped moving and seem to shake violently for several seconds at the same time as the first one exploded.

[They're weak… Puppy squad, open fire while its weak!] He ordered just as the second tank that was following Sharptooth and Eagleeye caught up to them. [Sharptooth, T-Rex, take up positions N-9 and V-2! Take flanking shots and open fire as soon as it comes in range!]

"Got it!" She shouted, heading to one side of the room while T-Rex ran to the other, both panting heavily.

The Tank floated in moments later.

[Oh… you made a 'big' mistake with that!] It growled angrily, looking up at him as he floated above them all. [Nobody gets away with that… NOBODY!]

[Fire!] He ordered.

The tank moved back the instant he yelled, and avoided all four bursts of fire, while the one chasing Puppy's squad simply levitated left or right depending on who fired on it.

[Missed!] It yelled as it dodged Falcon's shot.

[Missed again!] It yelled while dodging T-Rex's shot.

[Oh, one more time!] It cackled while avoiding Puppy's shot, which wasn't really aiming at it but was trying to aim where she 'guessed' it would dodge to. [Oh, wait… I have an easy one!]

[FOR ME!] The one his squad was targeting declared as its main gun pulled back momentarily before launching a plasma grenade.

It launched the plasma grenade directly at 'him', but his Gremlin managed to avoid it and the following blast seconds later, but the explosion still managed to damage the ceiling. And seconds later a rumble occurred.

[Wha…] The tank shooting at Puppy's group shouted as it fell through the damaged ceiling and landed directly on the tank that launched the grenade.

[Gaaaaarh!] It shouted as rubble fell on top of them.

He simply watched the rubble pile warily, too exhausted mentally to ask what was going on with these new 'AI' Tanks. He had no other idea for what else they could be, they weren't acting like the other robotic units were above ground, they were acting independently. Yet they were acting very unlike the other two AI units, almost the polar opposite of them.

Where E.C. 1 and C.X. 2 were colder, calculating, strategic and careful in their planning, these new AI's were sporadic, reactive, and far more prone to act on their emotions.

But he still had to finish regrouping the Sharks, and that was his priority.

[Puppy, T-Rex, Falcon… get down here…] He ordered. [Drop down to the upper level here through that hole in the floor at D-3.]

"GOT IT COMMANDER!" Puppy yelled from above them.

(Hawkeye's PoV)

Hawkeye took the time while Puppy, T-Falcon and T-Rex began to jump down to catch a breath with Mercy.

He looked at her and saw she was just as tired as them. The two of them were tired, for the past two hours since this mission started, they've been running; running and shooting. It was impossible to imagine how horrible this mission could have gone.

"How are you… holding up?" He asked.

"Still… breathing… at least…" She hissed to him.

While he watched T-Rex jump down first, he saw out of the corner of his eye something left from the remains of the first tank they destroyed. "Commander, that tank seems to have left something behind!" He called out.

The Commander's Gremlin glanced down and ordered Sharptooth to take a look at it.

"Looks like some kind of data storage unit." She called back. "Somewhat damaged but it's still in one piece."

[Take it, Tygan can research it when we return to the Avenger.] He said.

"Speaking of that… how are we ganna get out of here Commander?" Puppy asked tiredly. "We can't keep this up forever. We don't have the supplies to keep going, and our Gremlins are running outa juice!"

He looked at Puppy's Gremlin and saw what she meant, it was hovering at a low altitude compared to her height, just holding up below her knees, same thing with Eagleeye's Gremlin. Both Gremlins were running in Power Saving mode, using only the absolute minimum power to operate and conserving the rest for battle operations. He could only imagine what the Commander's Gremlin's charge was at.

The Commander nodded as the Sharks got together, Sharptooth and Eagleeye climbing up the ladder to join him and Mercy. [Central… any word on being able to locate an alternative path out for us] He asked exhaustedly. [We're at the breaking point Central, if we can't get out then we're going to have another South Africa incident.]

[Still working on it Commander, scans are being deflected by the remaining AI General above you.] He said, but his communicator was starting to become hazy. [Best… can do… keep… find… surface… bzzzzt…]

[Central… Central?]

[Oh… I'm sorry, the number you are trying to reach… cannot be reached at this time.] A sadistic voice declared over the comms. [Please stay where you are, and beg for your lives!]

Hawkeye looked down to see the rubble pile starting to shift around, and one of the tank's turrets poked out and opened fired on them.

[Move Sharks, MOVE!] The Commander ordered, as several spotlights shone from the tunnel down below, indicating that more were on the way.

Just as he turned with the others toward another tunnel that led out of the room, he heard several shots firing at them. He could only guess the number, but by the sound, at least thirteen were shooting.

[Hey, get us out of here you idiots!]

[Yea, I can't see beyond this brick in my optic.]

[Don't call us idiots for shooting the roof!]

[You're the idiot for shooting!]

[I'm not the idiot, he's the idiot!]

[How the hell do these guys have access to our comms.] The Commander muttered to them. [And why can't I shut them up? I can't think straight!]

"I hear you sir." He responded.

The constant interruption to their comms was becoming annoying.

(Amalie's PoV)

"Can we get a signal to them?" Central yelled while she examined the holographic display of the city.

"No sir, I can't get a signal through!" an officer said.

"What about line of sight, can we reach them?" He asked.

"No, they are underground, the sewer walls and all that stone and steel between them and the surface is shielding them. I can't get a clear signal through while they are underground." Shen said, typing furiously on her keyboard while trying every means to get a transmission through. "Whoever these guys are they are being very thorough, I can't get a signal past their net! Unless a gap opens or they get above ground, we are cut off from them!"

"Dammit, who are these guys?" He shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

"Very skilled… that's what they are." She hissed, very impressed at the skill these 'AI' generals possessed.

"I'm not looking to compliment them." He growled at her.

"Nor I… but you must admit… their plan was 'most' clever." She hissed, gesturing at the map. "Its solid, effective, and most importantly, devastating. First, they lure us to a location of 'their' choosing, one they had investigated and scouted to ensure that they had the home field advantage. Second, they lured out our forces into a position that removed our greatest advantage, our small numbers, and isolated us into pockets where their forces could pick them off one at a time."

She tapped the map and revealed the location of all the AA-Sectopods were stationed.

"Third, they 'forced' us to engage them on 'their' terms, specifically positioning our primary targets in positions that would lure them out. Even though we destroyed 4 targets without being cornered, they still maneuvered us in a way to ensure that we were always somewhere where they 'knew'. Maybe not where they could see us visually, but where they 'knew' they could locate us…"

"Finally, they forced us underground, and sealed off all escape from there, positioning additional forces underground knowing your Commander, my friend, would retreat any way he was given, to ensure he would not escape any time soon."

She then tapped another part of the holomap, and showed the fleet of Advent Ships her daughters were tracking aboard the Ark.

"Now that he is isolated and alone, they send a force 'half' as strong as their total force, but is more than enough to destroy a Resistance Cell." She nodded in amazement, impressed at what their foe had managed. "Yet… I still don't understand something… why are they going through all of this?"

"To destroy a Resistance Cell, obviously!" He answered.

"If so then why all this effort, they had him trapped already; their original trap was 'perfect', flawless. He could not escape, it would have taken him too long to escape, regroup with us, relocate the Avenger, and then send a rescue force to save the resistance cell. If they had launched the assault once we entered the AO, we would not have made it in time to rescue the resistance cell."

She centered on the city once again and examined the net, trying to figure out what it was these two 'AI' generals were up to.

"It just doesn't make any sense…" She hissed in annoyance.

Why, 'why', why lure him underground, why trap him there, why plant forces 'specifically' under there to keep him busy, trapped, to keep him from escaping freely. Why all this precaution, why all this work just to destroy a resistance cell? This was too much effort put into the sole purpose of isolating and trapping her friend, just to destroy a resistance cell.

There just had to be another reason, there just 'had' to… it was too elaborate.

Sure, she had pulled the same trick, isolating him underground and at the former XCOM Base, but that had been a staged act, an elaborate plan to help her friend find old tech and resupply his forces. Still the same method would have worked had it 'not' been staged, yet this was above what she would've done.

This was too elaborate of a trap just to remove one resistance cell; her mind was telling her that.

As her friend once said, her 'insides' were telling her that something else was going on.

"We have another problem." Shen said, causing her to look up. "They've been in the mission for over three hours, the Gremlin the Commander uses is going to start running out of power soon. It's been over four since his last charge, not to mention the other Gremlins."

"And without communication we have no idea how much energy the Commander has left." Central muttered. "Is there 'anything' we can do?"

There was silence on the bridge while they thought.

"We can resupply him." She hissed. "If we send the Skyranger to the outskirts of the city, we can slip my daughter Bellona in with some supplies to rearm and reinforce the Sharks. She is by far the fastest, and most agile agent we have. She can run past their patrols without being detected, while carrying enough supplies to help the Sharks."

"At the very least we'll be able to reestablish contact again." Central agreed. "Alright, Shen, load up what the Sharks will need, especially a charging pack for the Gremlins."

"Make sure to pack some food rations…" She hissed quickly.

"Food rations?"

"Yes… we have to assume the worst… and that they'll be down there for a 'while'." She hissed with a frown. "If so… we may have to move the Avenger upon the Skyranger's return, to send a squad to rescue the Resistance Cell. Once the Commander breaks to the surface, the AI Generals may decide to attack the cell ahead of schedule, and if so, we will need to assist. They will 'not' survive against them, even if unprepared."

Central nodded and Shen left to prepare, while 'she' returned to the map.

The one thing she didn't voice, out of respect, was that she was confused as to why her friend didn't notice all this 'already'.

"I figured this out only after careful thinking… you have the aid of a computer mind including your own… how come you couldn't figure it out?" She hissed to herself in confusion. "I learned everything from you… 'everything'… so what is wrong with you my friend?"

(Commander's PoV)

He told his Sharks to stop running, not because they've been running for the past ten minutes nonstop and had yet to see their pursuers again, but because they simply couldn't run anymore.

Puppy was panting hands on the floor, exhausted from all the running, Sharptooth and T-Rex were clutching their chests and gasping for breath. Hawkeye Mercy and Falcon were leaning against the wall, trying to slow their heartbeats. Eagleeye was sitting on the ground using his 'gun' to keep himself upright.

They simply could not run anymore.

"Commander… we can't… keep… going… like this!" Sharptooth panted, dropping her gun and collapsing onto the ground. "If… we keep… this up… we're going… to die… of… exhaustion… long before… they kill us!"

[You saw their armor, it took four simultaneous shots from flanking positions and high ground just to break through the armor of one of those things.] He told her. [We can't take them head on in our position, we need something with more penetrating power to bust through them.]

"So… what… do… we… do?" Puppy asked as she literally crawled up the wall to try and stand up. "We… can't keep… this up."

"She's right… sir…" Eagleeye said tiredly from his position on the ground. "We have… no communications… with Central… no idea where we are… and we're trapped underground. Advent is heading for West America… and if we don't get there… they'll be wiped out… so what do we do sir?"

He looked around, trying to think of an answer to that question. But instead of answering Eagleeye, he remained silent.

How could he answer, their options were becoming fewer and fewer each moment he thought about them? Even if they escaped the sewer, they were still trapped by the net of AA Sectopods, still outnumbered, and now they would be watching any and all entrances and exits to the sewers. They'd simply be right back in the firing line of E.C. 1 or C.X. 2. What had started out as a mission originally to gather intel and eliminate a major threat, had completely dissolved into a simple 'survival' mission. And even 'if' they could get away, would there be enough time to reach West America before 'it' suffered the same fate as South Africa?

Too many 'what if's', not enough outcomes… and he 'still' couldn't even think of an idea.

"Sir?" T-Rex asked.

[I…] He said. [I… I just… don't know…]

While they sat there recovering, waiting for more orders, he tried to 'think' about a plan. Something, 'anything' to give him some kind of advantage, anything just to keep them going. As he glanced around he saw out of the corner of his optics, an old camera installed into the walls looking at him.

It was offline, but it still stared at him, and he stared back at it.

[Wait a moment…] He thought as he glanced at it. [Eagleeye, scan that Camera!]

His support nodded and signaled his Gremlin to scan it and try to hack into it. 'Little Bird' obeyed the order and floated over, before hacking in and accessing the camera's database.

[ACCESS GRANTED…]

"It still has power even down here after all this time?" Sharptooth muttered as they watched Little Bird reveal several options for them.

[It looks like the cameras that were used to monitor the subways are offline due to lack of power, so we can't do anything with them… but they still seem to be connected to a backup generator.] The Commander said as he examined the options. [If we can locate the generator and turn on the cameras, we can get a full map of our surroundings and figure a way out of this trap. At the very least I can keep track of our pursuers…]

At that moment they heard the sound of the tanks approaching in the distance.

[Though for now, let's get going Sharks!] He ordered, telling them all to run via their helmets again.

They all began running again, just as the first tank rounded the corner.

[Oh 'XCOM'… where are you?] They heard over the voice comms. [I know you're here, come out! I've got a 'present' for ya… its nice and shiny and will give you a swift, painless death!]

[My brain to shut them out of our comms, and shut them up.] He muttered, still unable to find a frequency that he and his Sharks could use that they couldn't tap into.

Unfortunately, a moment later he wished he had paid more attention to his surroundings, as they rounded a corner and came face to face with one of the tanks.

[Ooooh would you look at this!] It said warmly. [Mmmhmmm, XCOM spotted at my 'present' location… it must be my birthday! Time to blow out the CANDLES!]

His Sharks ducked right away, just as he opened fire with a powerful salvo that blasted the wall behind them. [Open Fire!] He ordered.

Instantly all of his Sharks took aim and counter attacked, and the tank began to spark as their combined firepower broke through the armor and attacked the weaker inside.

[Goh… ugh… GAAAR!] It yelled in pain before it exploded before them.

[Gaaaaaraaaaah!] Several simultaneous shouts voiced over the comms, each one just like the tank they destroyed.

[Wait… they… they 'feel' pain?] He asked himself. [Not just their own pain, but each other's pain? That's not possible unless…]

Before he could think he heard the roar of a tank rushing toward them, and he ordered his Sharks to run again.

They continued along the tunnel before they came across a fork. From either side he heard the sounds of Advent Tanks approaching, trying to cut them off. No matter which way they went, there would be an Advent Tank to contend with.

[I am going to 'liquify' you meatbags the instant I spot you!] One of their attackers yelled furiously over the comms.

He and his Sharks looked frantically for a way out, and just at the last second Puppy spotted a small opening embedded into the wall, just wide enough for them to slip into.

They climbed in two by two, and just as Mercy's tail slid up to hide in the cramped alcove the tanks showed up.

[What… where did they go?] One of them yelled.

[Scanning…] Another said.

They all waited quietly, seven of them with hearts racing and beating, hoping they didn't think to look up.

[Nothing!]

[Where the hell did they go?]

[Grrraaaaaaaaagh!]

One of the tanks began firing randomly at sections of wall, and one seemed to have hit a support beam embedded into the wall, causing a small collapse of rubble above them.

[Careful you idiot! You almost buried us!]

[Who are you calling an idiot, idiot!?]

[Both of you are idiots… spread out, search the area, they can't have gone far and they can't get out!]

He heard the tanks leaving and had Puppy peer out to check and see if they were all gone.

"All clear!" She muttered quietly.

They climbed out of the alcove and began to catch their breath again.

"Ugh…" Puppy moaned, just as her stomach let out a growl. "I'm starving… how long have we been on this mission Commander?"

[Nearly four hours now…] He said.

"Four hours… our Gremlins can't last longer than five Commander." Eagleeye said as Little Bird floated to the ground and rest there, conserving energy again.

"Forget your Gremlins, what about the Commander's?" Sharptooth asked. "You can't be fairing any better than theirs Commander."

[I am… starting to run low…] He muttered, not commenting that he was barely at twelve percent charge left.

"So… what do we do?" Falcon asked calmly.

He glanced around again, and tried to think, before his eyes examined the small pile of rubble that had been caused by a giant hole in a side of the tunnel, where they could see one of the support beams for the sewer systems had been destroyed.

[That's it…] He said to them. [I know how to break this siege, 'and' get us out of here, and prevent them from reorganizing their net at the same time.]

"How we ganna do that?" T-Rex asked. "This place is pretty locked down. More locked down then my sister's diary!"

[We blow up the support beams keeping the city above us 'above' us.] He said. [If just this one can cause a near cave in here, imagine if we blew up seven or eight more in a single area? We bring a section of the city down and then we can use the rubble to climb out, call the Skyranger to evac us, and get out! That will also bring down the AA Sectopods as well, preventing them from intercepting us!]

"That… could work…" Mercy hissed hopefully.

"Slight problem though… no 'demolitions' we can use." Sharptooth grunted.

"Not really, I think we can make use of our 'friends'." Eagleeye said.

[He's right, our pursuers are not exactly the calmest, coolest, most collected individuals we've encountered so far. It seems anything makes them mad enough they'll just throw a fit and shoot anything they want. All we need do is get them to blow up the support beams for us… shouldn't be too hard.]

"So… how are we going to do that?" Puppy asked while holding her stomach with one free hand. "You know… without bringing the whole city down on us at the same time?"

[I don't know… but if I can get access to a map, maybe I can think of a way.] He said.

It wasn't the best of plans, blow up the things keeping the city above them from falling on them wasn't the smartest idea. But it was the only thing he could think of without spending the next three hours dodging Advent Weapons, and still have enough time to rescue the Western American resistance cell.

That was also assuming he 'had' 3 hours, which he didn't. At most his Gremlin had another thirty minutes of power left before it shut down.

He was running out of time and options…

.

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Author's Notes

=For those wondering why it took so long to make this chapter, life has hit me hard, and I mean 'hard'. Not only that, but its becoming harder and harder to stay motivated! I want to write the story so much, but its becoming harder to stay motivated 'to' write it. I wish I could 'write' my stories as a job… but I cant… and I have life stuff to deal with~=

=I'll try my best, but the updates will be slower than when I used to update. But please… try to stay with me until then!=