[You Interviewing Amalie]

"Humans… such a strange creature you are among the stars…" She hissed while staring at her plasma pistol. "As a species you are capable of so much… as individuals you seem to do so little… and only when backed into a corner do you reveal the fangs and claws that you conceal behind your… 'soft' flesh."

She glances away from the gun to look back at you with a smirk.

"When backed into a corner, your kind becomes desperate, and when forced to the edge you fight all the more fiercely. For my kind, we are quicker to surrender… to obey, to concede…"

"It is no wonder then why 'he' and 'I' make the perfect team then?" She said with a grin.

=Chapter 9, Breaking Point=

(Bellona's PoV)

Bellona sat in the Skyranger alone, in her previous mission attire and with a large backpack carrying supplies strapped to her.

She sat waiting to be dropped off at the extreme edge of the AA Sectopod's range, where she would make her way into the abandoned city and locate a means into the underground. Her mission was simple, locate and resupply the Land Sharks Squad, as well as the Hierarch Father, and remain with him and obey his orders for the duration of their mission.

The task was simple, all she need do was 'find' him.

Suddenly the screen lit up and her Hierarch Mother's face appeared.

{Bellona, my daughter… there is little time for a proper briefing for you… the Father, my 'friend'… is trapped underground with almost no power and ammunition left for his forces and their Gremlins. Your task is thus… infiltrate the city, locate a means of entering the underground area and resupply them.} She declared. {Your time is limited, at most you have fifteen minutes before his power expires, and his Gremlin goes offline. Don't you 'dare' let him die before that time limit expires…}

With that the screen turned off and lights turned on, indicating that she had reached the drop point.

{Alrighty new girl, we're in the pipe, five by five, don't let the door hit you on the way out!} The pilot said.

She nodded and got up and felt the Skyranger lurch to a stop. The door then opened and she charged, leapt into the night air, and summersaulted toward the ground.

'Fifteen minutes… can I find my father in so little time?' She thought as she ran toward the city without fear or concern for what awaited her.

[This is Central, we've managed to penetrate whatever it is they are using to block our communications, at least partially, and we've located an access point into the sewer system that you can use.] Central said to her via her helmet coms. [We're marking it on your visor, once you gain entry you'll be on your own when it comes to locating the Commander and the Sharks. Get in there and reinforce them!]

Through her visor she saw the marker and moved straight toward it, moving as swiftly as her feet permitted, pushing her extensively modified body as fast as it could go.

She could move 2.5 times faster than even the most fit XCOM Agent, and she pushed her leg muscles to their extreme speed, almost ignoring the slight sensation of pain they were starting to feel.

It was only minor, about as noticeable as a 'mosquito' bite, but she did notice it.

One minute into her run she reached the city and leapt up to the roof of a ten-story building and began jumping from roof to roof.

As she jumped across two roofs she saw in-passing an air drone flash her with a spotlight for a moment before she jumped out of sight.

[What was that…] A voice declared over her intercom.

She ignored it and continued jumping from roof to roof, heading straight to her destination.

[Recon Drone KB-91, move to Grid Zeta 7-3!]

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed another air drone move in her path to the sewer entrance, but she continued onward as her time limit was reduced to thirteen minutes.

Moments later she ran underneath the spotlight and this time it tracked her for a good two seconds before she leapt out of sight by jumping to another roof.

[Enemy reinforcements?] The mechanical voice declared. [But that isn't possible, its moving too fast… nobody, human or Viper can move that fast. In any case… Recon Drones KB-55, BT-21, and JU-62, move to Grid Zeta-3-1, intercept whoever that is and eliminate them!]

[Watch out, you have incoming!] Central said, but she ignored him, she knew her orders.

Get underground, locate the father, serve the father until further notice.

All else was irrelevant, even her own life, thus her orders from her Hierarch Mother.

So, when three Aerial Drones moved in her path and attempted to intercept her, she simply dodged all the plasma bolts and leapt right past them. They barely had time to track her for three seconds before she was out of their range.

[Impossible… nothing XCOM has can move that fast! AA Sectopod, move to Grid Zeta 2-2!]

She watched as she leapt across a street and onto the last stretch of buildings, but as she did a Sectopod began to walk 'through' a section of the abandoned building and it began to collapse. Still she was unconcerned as she leapt onto the Sectopod's main body, jumped off it, and performed a perfect summersault before rolling to the ground and heading toward her destination, a manhole cover.

[Oh no you don't!] The voice said, and she heard the rumble of a building nearby collapsing, causing her to turn and see a massive Sectopod charging through it to lock weapons on her. [You are not escaping that easily!]

She ignored it and focused on her objective, knowing that she had only twelve minutes left. She took a grenade from her belt and tossed it at the manhole cover, and it blew up seconds later to create her entrance. Instantly she ran toward it, dodging plasma bolts from the Sectopod despite them being aimed by four anti-personnel plasma cannons, aided by laser guided sights that were locked on her the entire time. She ran, dodged, leapt and tumbled before she jumped high into the air and dove straight down into the sewers feet first.

(Central's PoV)

"She sure moves fast…" He muttered as the whole trip from drop off to the sewer entrance took no more than three minutes.

"We have little time left, I have given Bellona fifteen minutes from the moment she dropped off, to locate and find the Commander and his Sharks." The head Viper hissed as she watched the screen.

"But how will she locate the Commander?" He asked her.

The Hierarch Mother had been looming over the holomap and tracking Bellona's Progress from the moment she left the Avenger. She had also pulled Bellona aside and given her 'specific' orders that only she knew of.

"I don't know how she will find him, but at this point, our only hope is that she can find him quickly…" She hissed back to him. "If we lose him your kind will be able to move on in time, but my species is not so easy to adapt. Once a Hierarch Mother names a Father, they are immediately expected to live a long life to guide us with the Mother. If we lose him so soon… I do not know if my daughters will be able to recover…"

They were quiet for a few seconds while they waited for the remainder of the fifteen minutes to pass, hoping that the Commander's squad would contact them.

"Perhaps I should consider asking my friend to… alter Bellona, so as to be able to sense living objects through walls." He heard her hiss to herself.

(Commander's PoV)

"So… Commander… explain to me why 'I'm' the one carrying the Gremlins again?" Puppy muttered as they trudged down yet another passageway.

[Because the Gremlins need to conserve what little power they have in case we need to fight.] He responded instantly.

"Okay… but how come I'm carrying 'you' as well in my arms?" She asked grudgingly as she held not only Eagleeye's Gremlin, but also her own below him.

They had been walking for the last fifteen minutes through the sewer systems trying to find the Generator Room, following old signs and arrows that hopefully would lead them to the generator room. While all the other Sharks were carrying their weapons though, Puppy was ordered to carry all the Gremlins, so as to conserve what energy they had left. This also included what energy his Gremlin had because he too had almost no energy left to remain operational.

Since Puppy was by far the least threatening of the Sharks, including the fact that she had the lowest kill count among all the XCOM operatives, she was the one chosen to carry all three Gremlins.

[Puppy, do I have to explain 'everything' I decide on to you?] He asked her.

"Well no, but still…" She muttered as they turned a corner. "How come its always 'me'?"

"Stop bitching Puppy, my stomach and my feet aren't in the mood for your moaning and groaning…" Sharptooth growled from up front.

"Keep it down also, no idea where those Tank AI's are or when they're going to show up." Eagleeye said.

"They been reeeeal quiet since we last saw em." T-Rex muttered as he peaked around a corner and signaled everyone that it was clear. "Before they were chatter boxes, now they aint saying a peep."

[That is weird… I thought they would be talking… they certainly didn't stop yelling over trivial things like 'not being able to find us' before.]

*Flashback, 10 minutes ago*

[I CAN'T FIND THEM ANYWHERE!] They heard one of the AI's yell furiously over their comms, all but deafening them.

[Well what do you want 'US' to do about it?]

[We should have found them by now!]

[I've combed over the same section of sewers where they were last spotted, and yet not a 'thing'! Not even that 'pipsqueak'!]

Trying to ignore the constant arguing that had been going on between these AI tanks was the Commander, who was currently watching as multiples of the AI tanks converged on the same location below him, barely held up by Hawkeye and Mercy while they and the others hid in another overpass similar to the one they had hidden in when they lost their pursuers the first time.

[Well keep searching!] Another one yelled.

[Do they 'ever' shut up?] He said quietly. [They act more like… emotional teenagers than 'artificial intelligences'…]

[We already know the plan, you don't need to remind us!]

[Then resume our search parama…] One was saying before suddenly stopping.

As one they all turned and looked to their left, as if something had gotten their attention. They stayed that way for a full minute before, again as one, they all headed down a corridor together with speed.

As if they were in a hurry to get somewhere.

[Why the rush, are we not a priority anymore?] He asked quietly, before signaling the coast was clear.

*Present time*

[I don't understand it, before they were so bent on locating us, and blaring over the coms everything they were saying and thinking. They didn't even care that we could hear them, and yet now, suddenly, they're silent as the grave?] He thought out loud as they reached the end of the passageway and entered the backup generator room. [Finally… some luck at last.]

The generator room was abandoned just like everything else they'd found, but unlike the city upstairs, it seemed that being underground and left alone had served this backup generator room some good fortune. Though the generator was old by the technology's time, and far outdated by their standards, it still looked to be in working condition.

It was an old gasoline powered generator, barely larger than SHIV, but it would do to bring the power back on enough for the Camera system.

[Sharks, spread out, look for some gasoline and a camera. If I'm right they would have a small supply near the generator in case of emergency, and a camera to watch this area from the control center.] He ordered. [Puppy, just put me and the other Gremlins down…]

"Got it!" She groaned before heavily dropping him and the other Gremlins.

[Easy… I think something just moved in my chassis!]

"Sorry sir…" She panted heavily while trying to catch her breath.

Half a minute of waiting and Falcon reported finding a camera in a corner of the room, and Mercy discovered with Hawkeye what looked like a gas container.

"Not much in it Commander." Hawkeye said as he pulled the half full container to the generator to fill it up.

[It'll do to give me camera access at least.] He said. [Start up the generator for now.]

"Hey, I found a map!" Sharptooth called out, before trudging over to them with a schematic in her hands.

"That's something at least!" Puppy piped up.

[Alright, let's see where we are…] He said as Sharptooth undid the schematic and blew dust everywhere. [Okay… we're at… 'this' junction here… so… ugh… let's see…]

He tried his best to read the schematic like a map, but for some reason he just couldn't comprehend it. All he knew was 'where' they were, and try as he might, he just couldn't find any spots that they could use to trigger his plan to escape this trap.

[If only I could 'talk' to Shen… she could pinpoint the locations we need to hit. Some of these support beams are merely supports for primary support beams, but this schematic doesn't specify which beams we'd need to hit…] He said. [There are only seven of you, I'd need to split you up into seven locations to have a hope of triggering this collapse. But I can't tell which ones I'd need to send us to… or even if these areas are close enough to the city's edge to collapse the buildings upstairs AND destroy the AA Sectopods.]

Suddenly they heard the sound of the generator coming to life, sputtering and emitting a rancid smell along with smoke. At the same time, they saw a string of lights turn on above them.

"And Hawkeye said, let there be even 'more' bad smell to go with the bad air down here!" Hawkeye called out happily.

"Is that really good thing?" Mercy hissed in confusion, her sensitive nose scrunched in pain.

"Only if you enjoy diesel fuel and the smell of burning gasoline..." Sharptooth said.

[Eagleeye, use little bird and have it hack into the camera, see what you can give me!] He ordered.

Eagleeye nodded and turned on little bird, and then signaled it to hack into the camera. The Gremlin took off and flew to the camera before hacking in with ease.

{Access Granted}

He looked through the Gremlin's vision and saw only 1 option, gain access to the camera system.

So, he did, and instantly what he saw shocked him beyond belief.

[No way…] He muttered, completely forgetting about his Sharks.

"What is it?" Sharptooth asked.

Ignoring Sharptooth's question he began dialing through his various comm frequencies, looking for one that worked.

"What is it?" Puppy asked again.

Just after she asked he found one that worked and connected to her.

[Take a left at the next junction!] He ordered.

"What are you talking about, there is no left junction…" Eagleeye said in confusion now.

[On your right, turn now!] He ordered again, switching to another camera.

"Still confused here…" Puppy muttered.

[Straight forward now!] He said.

Seconds later they all heard heavy footsteps as something was running toward them from the tunnel they just left, and soon they all saw what it was.

A very fast-moving individual wearing civilian clothing and Kevlar armor, with golden glowing veins that were barely visible in the distance, with her mouth covered by a bandana and her golden hair wrapped in a bundle held barely by another bandana wrapped over her head.

Bellona.

"Sister!" Mercy hissed in amazement as Bellona stopped with perfect ease and grace in front of them.

"Damn are you a sight for sore eyes girl!" T-Rex called out happily.

Even in the grime and foul smelling underground sewer system of an abandoned city, Bellona still moved and looked as if she were a goddess in human/snake hybrid form. The second she slowed down she did a full 360* turn, reaching around her back and pulling a massive pack off and throwing it to the floor. In the same motion she opened said pack and pulled out a large battery with several charging wires attached to it. After pulling it out and placing the charging pack on the ground she instantly pulled out an antenna attached to a headset and threw it to Sharptooth who caught it in surprise.

"Forgive me for my lateness Father, but it took me longer to find you than I hoped." Bellona said as she bowed to him before picking him up and plugging a charger into his Gremlin.

[I take it that you have been searching for us for a while?] He asked.

"My mission has only lasted fourteen minutes and seven seconds from the moment I was deployed to locating you." Bellona answered. "I ran as fast as I could… I was beginning to fear that I would not find you in the time I was given. I was wandering this underground maze for any trace of you. If you did not communicate with me I fear I would not have found you…"

"What of the AI Tanks that we encountered down here?" Mercy hissed. "Did you encounter any of them?"

"Yes, they have been following me for eleven minutes my 'superior' sister." Bellona said with a bow to Mercy. "They attempted many times to kill me, but each time I evaded them and searched for you. They even attempted to collapse a tunnel around me but I managed to elude them."

"Wait wait wait wait wait a moment…" Puppy called out as she walked toward Bellona. "You're telling me that you were deployed… somewhere outside the range of the AA Sectopods… you 'ran' from the drop off 'to' the city… got past all the enemy units patrolling up there… and searched for us down here without knowing where we were… while also under fire from those AI Tanks… in under 'fifteen minutes'?"

"Actually, it took me three minutes to reach an entrance from where I was dropped off, and it took me a little longer because I had to jump from roof to roof while also being followed and under fire from the patrolling units above ground." Bellona said in a matter of fact tone. "After that I began my search down here for your squad, but mere moments after I began I was targeted by those tanks, and spent the next eleven minutes searching with them following me the entire time attempting to stop me."

Everyone just stared at Bellona as she told them the information with a straight face.

"Is something wrong? Did I not move fast enough? Should I have run faster?"

"Are your feet tired sista?" T-Rex asked her.

Bellona glanced down at her feet before answering. "I am feeling a… uh… what is word… 'tingling'… yes, tingling sensation in them. Is that what you mean?"

At those words Puppy sat down with dumbfounded look on her face. "You crossed half the city while under fire and searched probably half the city's sewers in the same amount of time it took us to cross a 'street'…" She said. "Yea… I think you're just a 'little' tired…"

[Alright enough chatter!] He said to them, getting all their attention. [We have little time before those AI tanks find us here, once they see all the lights on they'll narrow our position down. Puppy, Eagleeye, plug in your Gremlins and charge them to full power! Bellona, what else did you bring besides this battery, I assume you didn't just bring these two items.]

Bellona went to the pack and emptied it of its contents: several munition's packs for their weapons, a set of grenade replacements for each of them, and finally…

"Are those MRE's?" Eagleeye asked as she pulled out several small sealed bags.

"They were all that could be prepared in the little time I had before I was loaded onto the Skyranger." Bellona replied.

"These are better than starving… trust me." Falcon said calmly as he picked one up with his Class insignia.

Within a few minutes all of them were eating their MRE's, with Puppy moaning happily as she ate her PBJ Cracker Sandwich.

"Oh, thank you heavens above for this glorious feast fit for the gods…" She muttered as she finished her first and began chowing on her second.

"As much as I like the reprieve, what are we going to do Commander?" Sharptooth asked as she ate her own sandwich.

While they rested and ate, as well as re-armed, he had Bellona work with the head-piece equipment she had brought with her, having her fiddle with it and work it to figure out what it was for.

[With any luck I'll have an answer for you.] He said. [Switch to Frequency six, six, seven, five point two, zero, four.]

She nodded and obeyed.

Seconds later the static began to settle down and soon he spoke up, [Central, come in, do you read me?]

[Commander, I was beginning to think Bellona wouldn't make it in time.] Central said, sounding relieved.

[Enough of that Central, we have bigger problems as you know…] Amalie suddenly interrupted. [My friend, we have a problem… as of ten minutes ago, the fleet of Advent Transports diverted their course… they've changed targets and are now landing outside of the location your people refer to as… what was it called 'Nest'?]

[Indeed Commander, they changed course and landed just outside of the Nest, I don't know why they suddenly changed course but they sure landed in a hurry.] Central resumed. [The resistance forces spotted them landing in a circular pattern just outside of the resistance forces' home base.]

[I don't get it, they were heading for West America, now they're heading for East America…] He said. [Why the sudden interest in changing their plans... what could have changed so quickly to…]

He looked at Bellona who was silently waiting for more instructions from him.

[That's it… they've realized I gained reinforcements and they couldn't stop it… it's not 'their' plans that didn't change, it's the playing field that's changed. They weren't expecting me to gain reinforcements of any kind… so they had to change their strategy.]

[I suspect that as well, but if so then we now have even 'less' time then we did before.] Amalie said. [If these AI are as clever and powerful as the fall of South Africa suggests, then there is no way the Nest will survive an assault unless 'we' intervene. The only advantage we have now is that their rushed deployment has warned the resistance cell, and they are ready for them.]

[Then we have no choice, Central, prep the Water Dragons and get them to the Nest.] He ordered.

[But Commander, if we send the Dragons while you are still trapped there, then who will be in command.]

[I'll command them the same way I've been commanding the Land Sharks for now, I'll look through their helmet cameras and visors to be able to command them.]

[Commander, I must stress that I have no idea how strong this connection we have is.] Shen suddenly interjected. [This connection we have now is stable but if we push it between here and the nest, there is no way I can guarantee the stability of the connection, or that we can maintain or...]

[We have no choice, it's as we believe, if we don't do something, the resistance cells have no hope against these AI generals. They have greater weapons and greater firepower than any resistance cell can handle. Without us they're dead!]

[Alright, I'll see what I can do to strengthen the connection from this end… we'll keep you informed until then.]

[In the meantime, Shen, I have an idea to bring down this trap, but I require you to analyze the schematic of the sewer system to find the weak points we need to hit.] He said. [I need to bring down a section of the city, enough to take down a portion of their AA Net. With Bellona here, I have eight possible positions we can blow up, but I need to get them in position to do that.]

[Understood Commander, I'll get right on it!] Shen said.

With that he closed the link and floated up to levitate. All three of the Gremlins had fully recharged now and the Sharks had all eaten something to settle their stomachs down. With their grenades replenished they were now ready to take on the AI tanks.

[Let's move Sharks!]

(Mercy's PoV)

"Where are we going?" She asked as they began to leave, noticeably the way that Bellona had arrived from.

[We are going to find our 'friends'.] He said. [If this plan is to work we need them to start chasing and firing at us.]

"How come I don't like the sounds of that last part…" Puppy piped in.

Mercy was in agreement with Puppy, she did not like the idea of finding their attackers just to have them chase them and shoot at them. It seemed highly risky.

"If we're going to pull that off Commander, we'll need to split up and head throughout the sewer system." Hawkeye said.

[I have a full map of the sewer system thanks to those schematics, so by using your positions I'll be able to keep track of where to go. I'm updating your visors and eye pieces with a map now, all I need now is for Shen to give me coordinates.]

On cue she pulled her own helmet visor down and watched as a small miniature map appeared before her eyes. It mirrored the schematic her Shark sister 'Sharptooth' found. She even saw where she and the other Sharks were located, but what it lacked were the locations of where the AI tanks were.

[Let's go, move toward grid J-12 everyone.]

"Yes Sir." She hissed.

"Got it!" Hawkeye said beside her.

Everyone else moved signaled they heard the command and moved forward through the tunnel.

While they walked she turned to her sister Bellona who had replaced her bandana on her mouth and had removed her lens-goggles. Her extra sensitive eyes were not being harmed by the low leveled light that the light bulbs were producing above them, and so she had removed the goggles to take full advantage of her sight.

"Sister, were you injured in searching for us?" She asked Bellona.

"No, my 'superior' sister." Bellona answered kindly. "They attempted to fire upon me, but all their attempts failed because I saw their attacks. If I can see the weapon's fired upon me, I can dodge them. My body is modified to be able to move intricately and fluidly."

"Those are impressive modifications…" She hissed back in awe. "Perhaps… I should ask for my body to be modified… if what you can do is to be an example."

"No… do not my sister…" Bellona hissed quietly, before leaning closer to her to whisper. "The mother has begged 'all' her daughters like you to avoid the procedure… she wishes you and others of the superior gene to keep your genes 'pure' for the future of our species. She does not want our future generations to be… tainted… by genetic modifications."

"But… what if… we 'breed' with 'them'?" She hissed back even more quietly, referring to humans as 'them'.

She was most interested in starting a family and raising her own batch of young with Hawkeye fathering them and was worried as to why her Hierarch Mother wanted her to avoid genetic modifications to keep their species' genetics pure for future generations.

"The Mother wishes for her daughters of the superior gene to breed naturally, and let nature decide the future generation, she does not wish to sacrifice what nature would create naturally, by tainting it with nature creating something of 'artificial' parentage." Bellona hissed sadly. "Those birthed with a mother of the 'lesser gene' granted this gift… will be considered a 'new' species…"

This news hit her greatly, much more than any other news she's received so far, even learning that her Hierarch Mother had been a secret Double Agent for the XCOM Commander since the moment she found he was still alive after the war didn't affect her like this bit of knowledge. Her Mother considered the young produced from her daughters of the lesser gene that were genetically modified to be a new 'species'? Why would she think that or even think to label them with such a thing, before even a single one had been produced?

Then her mind remembered, 'genetic modification'. Bellona's entire body, her genes, her whole being was modified from her DNA upward. She no longer even 'looked' Viper, only keeping a few traits. She was more of a super human than a genetically modified Viper by outward appearance. In order to be more effective in battle to free her sisters, with the added bonus of being able to reproduce, Bellona had allowed her entire genetic structure to change.

The Mother was right, who knows what kind of child Bellona would produce with a human, or Viper. They wouldn't even be 'human' by the same name of the species as their body's resembled, let alone Viper, with all of her genetic enhancements.

[Commander, I've got some intel for you.] Shen suddenly piped in over their comms, snapping her out of her thoughts.

(Commander's PoV)

[Lay it on me Shen, tell me you have a way to bring this place down.]

[Yes Commander, I've located eight supporting beams for the section of city where Bellona entered in from, and your smack dab in the middle of it.]She said. [They're located at these coordinates, if you can get them to collapse then you'll cause that whole section of the city to collapse down, taking the AA Sectopods with them and clearing a path for the Skyranger to come in and pick you up.]

[The tricky part is getting out of the way, doesn't matter how fast you run, once that last beam goes the buildings above come down as well. You can safely destroy at most 'four' without the city collapsing, but once you destroy the fifth support beam the tunnels will start to cave in under the weight, and the seventh will trigger the collapse. You'll only have a short amount of time to get out of the way and destroy the eighth to bring it all down under 'your' terms. If you don't destroy that eighth that section of city wont collapse in the way you want it to.] Central said. [We estimate at most, 'three minutes' before total collapse to get to a safe spot. You can then climb the rubble and get out of there.]

[Understood… now let's get a move on.] The Commander said. [What's the ETA for the Water Dragons to reach their operating area?]

[ETA, ten minutes Sir, and we've already received a call for help. It seems C.X. 2 is leading the assault and has already pinned down the resistance civilians with Artillery shots. The rest of the Advent forces are beginning to encircle their position. They're trapped but holding their ground. They reported that C.X. 2 landed its forces quickly and began its assault almost the instant it hit the ground.]

[They were forced to attack early, otherwise that encirclement would already have been made and transmissions would be jammed.] The Commander said. [Either that, or these two AI Sectopods aren't working together on the same plan…]

That had to be it, when they were working 'together' their plans were in sync, their strategy and tactics were perfectly aligned. But it seems when they were separated and focusing on different battlefields, they could only operate within their realm of specialty. C.X. 2 declared that it had all the 'tactical' information regarding battle formats, whereas E.C. 1 possessed the 'strategic' information.

C.X. 2 only knew that it had to encircle and assault the resistance. It didn't know how to 'plan' the assault, which is why it was forced to pin down the resistance with its artillery cannon while it maneuvered its forces, instead of landing its forces after jamming transmissions to encircle and trap the resistance as the information about South Africa's demise stated they did.

If that were the case, then it would also explain why E.C. 1 couldn't stop Bellona even 'with' her genetic modifications. E.C. 1 knew it had keep him and the Sharks underground and prevent any escape. However, once Bellona came in the only thing it could really do was 'throw' units in her path and even itself to try and stop her. It knew strategy, but not 'tactics'.

[In any case, once the Water Dragons hit the ground, link me up with their helmet visors and eye pieces. I'll command them the same way I'm commanding the Sharks here.]

[Understood Commander.] Central said.

He returned his attention to his surroundings as they came across a crossway.

[Alright let's split up, Puppy, Sharptooth and Falcon, head left toward grids K-5 and K-6. Eagleeye, T-Rex and Bellona, move to Grids N-9 and N-10. Mercy, Hawkeye with me toward C-8 and C-9.]

"ROGER!" Everyone shouted in unison as they moved off in their separate directions.

As they separated he linked up with all eight of their visors and eye pieces and began to see all they were seeing. Though as he did, he began to have a hard time focusing on all eight perspectives. Despite the Gremlin giving him help, it was becoming harder and harder to focus and keep track of everything happening after nearly nine minutes of them running down the tunnels.

Especially as five seconds later two AI Tanks turned a corner they were about to reach.

[Wellllll look what I have here!] One of them shouted over the comms.

[So now there's '8' of you to shoot, always happy to have more 'targets'!] The other declared before both opened fire.

[Mercy to C-15, Hawkeye to C-20!] He commanded just as both tanks missed their shots, ordering both Hawkeye and Mercy to rubble.

"Commander, we got company!" Sharptooth yelled.

He looked and began ordering them as well. [Uh… Sharptooth to L-19, Puppy to L-14, Falcon to L-20! Puppy Fire upon the left one, Sharptooth the right one!]

Suddenly Falcon turned and showed him a 'third' AI tank appear from a side tunnel.

"One of them has flanked my position!" He called out.

[Music to my eeeeears!] The tank jeered before it launched a grenade at his position.

It exploded into a cloud of gas.

"Ugh… I think I've been… poisoned…"

[Return to position… move to Grid L-11… Puppy use a Medkit on Fal…]

"Father, I have spotted the enemy!" Bellona called out.

He looked through Bellona's visor and tried to focus while T-Rex and Eagleeye were forced to dodge weapon's fire as well.

"I'm getting pinned down here!" Hawkeye yelled as one of the AI tanks in front of him began suppressing fire on him.

"I can't get clear shot!" Mercy hissed as she too was pinned down by the other tank performing suppressing fire.

[I… uh… Bellona move forward to Grid… uh… O-3. Eagleeye and T-Rex to Grids O-4 and 6!]

"My Father wills it!" Bellona cried as she ran forward as the three tanks in front of her were firing upon them.

However, the center tank changed its weapon, the weapon sliding into the body and being replaced by another weapon. The barrel of the weapon began rotating wildly, before it recoiled back.

Bellona charged forward regardless but was instantly forced back violently, as if she were shot by a plasma projectile.

"UIgh… my chest… my body…" She hissed painfully, clutching at her chest.

[Mmmmh so our guess was right, you 'can't' dodge some attacks.] The Center tank called out. [You can dodge any attack you can 'see', but if you can't see it, you can't dodge it.]

[All units, switch to Sonic Cannons!]

As one all the tanks rotated their plasma or kinetic cannons into their main bodies before rotating out a similar 'sonic cannon'.

[Hawkeye, launch a plasma grenade, Mercy, once Hawkeye uses it, fire on the Tank to the right. Puppy attempt to hack into the tank on the far right. Sharptooth hack in-… I mean… launch a plasma grenade on the left tank. T-Rex launch a… I mean shred… shred the tank on the left as well!]

He was trying to focus on so many angles, trying to analyze the attacks as quickly as he could, but for some reason he was just having difficulty 'focusing'. If he tried to focus on one, he lost his attention on the others, which was something he couldn't afford. They had little time and they had to break through these tanks to reach their positions.

[Commander, don't mean to interrupt you but the Dragons have just landed and are awaiting your orders.]

[Patch their visors in to me…] He said.

Seconds later he began receiving '6' new signals from the Dragons who had just landed, and no sooner had he looked through, then did a massive artillery shell land right near them.

(Dragonfang's PoV)

"Waiting on orders sir!" He said over the comms.

This assault mission hadn't been like the others had started, he and the other Dragons hadn't landed more than a minute before they were instantly spotted and shelled.

Then just as he called over the comms for orders, Central piped in.

[This big guy is a massive Artillery Sectopod, you need to get into cover before that thing fires again.] He said. [Resistance forces are held up inside a building ahead of you, they have MEC units advancing on them and they need help protecting the civilians trapped inside! We can evac them once we clear out the MEC units nearby!]

"Good to know!" He called back as 'finally' the Commander gave them orders.

He had ordered them to move several grids forward and enter Overwatch, but that left them just barely out of range of the building, it would still be a sprint to reach.

As they all ran forward and took up defensive positions a pair of MHW Tanks rolled forward and turned to face them.

[XCOM forces spotted… probability of successful intervention… 45.21 percent likely… deploying counter intervention tactics… suppressing fire… locking onto coordinates…]

The two tanks rotated their cannons it seemed and swapped to what looked like heavy repeater styled guns, before unleashing a storm of plasma bolts in a massively-wide pattern, suppressing them all from moving forward easily.

"We're getting pinned down here Commander!" He said, peeking over and noticing a pair of MEC units moving forward to join the tanks.

(Commander's PoV)

[I can't… uh…] He whispered as he turned from one visor to another, attempting to focus and plan.

While he was ordering the Dragons, the tanks pinning his Sharks had changed tactics and were using their sonic weapons including explosive grenades, causing damage to the tunnels and creating piles of rubble. Other tanks had showed up and took flanking positions as well, forcing him to now switch positions of his Sharks.

"They're flanking my position!" Sharptooth yelled as she ducked, avoiding a stream of kinetic attacks while trying to avoid the 'sonic' attacks.

"My father, what are you orders?" Bellona hissed, having recovered and was cowering behind a pile of rubble.

"E.T trying to crawl up my flank sir!" Eagleeye said as he took cover behind another pile to avoid being flanked.

"I'm running outa cover here sir!" Puppy yelled.

"Enemy reinforcements on the scene!" Hawkeye called out as another tank showed up behind the two he and Mercy were shooting at.

"Orders Commander?" Mercy hissed.

"We're pinned down sir, what are your orders?" Dragonfang from the Water Dragons called out halfway across the country.

He constantly shifted, trying to focus, but each time he did he was forced to swap vision, trying to come up with a strategy. But each time he tried the thought just seemed to slip and he couldn't focus enough to remember what he wanted to do. He thought at one point to have his Sharks just open fire, but when he did he remembered the Dragons were running out of time before C.X. 2 would open fire again. Yet when he wanted to have one of the Dragons launch a rocket to stop the suppressing fire, he was reminded also of the Sharks being surrounded on all sides by Tanks and their movements constantly being restricted.

Then of course the individual condition of each of his agents, all the data they were sending him, their heart rates, their tones, their ammo and grenade uses even medkits and Gremlin charges. All of it, pouring into his Gremlin…

[I can't… too much… too much… can't… focus…] He thought, trying to do 'everything' at once.

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=authors notes=

My oh my what is happening here, it seems our commander is having 'memory' problems, I wonder why that is.

I thank you all for loving this… and please I ask you to be patient, its hard to make these chapters and keep the will and drive to write them while also writing my other stories.

So before I go, I'll leave you with 2 things, one E.C. 1 and C.X. 2 as well as 'D.L. Infinity' are the 'Chosen Ones' of my story, as the chosen are in the games. That's why I haven't gone into the war of the chosen storyline. I had these characters in mind long before the war of the chosen, but since that came out, figured might as well put these 3 as the main enemy bad guys aside from the obvious elders.

These 3 are super ais, and don't let em fool you, they aren't like Amalie who simply played a part but also planned her rebellion. Amalie hid her intentions behind her actions with the Commander helping to hide them. She did the Elder's Will but didn't exactly make sure to fully leave XCOM with no options.

These 3 however, have a plan, and they aren't messing around.

Also… if anyon wants to ask Amalie a question for the 'interviews' at the beginning of each chapter, by all means, include a question for her in a review if you wish… but just remember, this is Amalie, no assurance that you'll get the answer you want/hope for.

Or maybe you 'want' that answer' ;)