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Once the dust had cleared from the blast charges, five soldiers and a SPARK descended into the Assassin's Stronghold.
Pratal Mox led the squad at the front. Behind him, Sherry and SYN took point, while Banel kept his head on a swivel. Moody was behind all of them, keeping to the back and in cover for lack of high ground.
Finally, descending from above as Nevermore fanned out his wings, Edgar touched down, clutching a Powered Shadowkeeper on loan from Moody. The "Alloy Cuffs" Shen had made were hanging off of his belt, and his usual coat had an armored undervest underneath, similar to what the Reapers wore. The rest of his omen, he had decided, should stay in the ship. With an entrance like that, there was no room for stealth—and ravens wouldn't blend in well in an underground structure.
Gingerly, the squad moved forward. Practice guided Sherry and SYN's steps, but the rest only had their wits to go on. Mox reached the first set of doors, sparing a glance beyond. He spoke softly into his helmet. "I'm seeing no less than three ADVENT—a Stun Lancer, an Officer, and a Priest. They are all alert."
"Roger that," Eliza replied, eyes scanning the feed they were getting from above. Hopefully, they weren't in for any surprises compared to last time. Though, with the guard being father up... maybe it was catching the patrol at a different time. Or maybe...
She looked to the Hunter, who was standing behind her and similarly keeping his eyes trained on the screen. Though, when Eliza looked at him, he cast his gaze to her and grinned. "What? You don't let me on the mission, fine, I get that. But I'm sure as hell gonna backseat command this shit. If Bradford can do it, so can I."
Bradford, beside her, looked for all the world like he'd rather be down there himself than having the Hunter's commentary over his shoulder. "I thought one of the points to taking down the Chosen was to silence banter like this."
"Jonathan Bradford, like you have room to complain," Eliza shot back, looking back to the screen. "I firmly have the notion that the aliens are continuing progress on the Avatar Project in my head, thank you."
Out of the corner of her eye, Bradford grinned. "And if we're going to slow them down..."
"You'll need to move. Quickly? Hm, something like that." The Hunter seemingly always had to have a word in. Wasn't like Eliza was complaining... too much. There were times where she wished he'd put a lid on it. "Anyway, Commander, I could've just told you where my sister was hiding out. No need to play coy with scouting."
Eliza thought for a moment. "So. Does that mean you know where your brother's Stronghold is?"
Eliza got the distinct impression that the Hunter was smirking. "Oh, I don't know, Eliza... never visited him as often, don't have his address memorized, I guess I could be convinced to think of it..."
Oh, the Hunter sure knew how to play hard-to-get. But, that was distracting from her main focus. She shifted her attention proper back to the screen, watching as the squad tentatively advanced. A few options ran through her head and she decided on a course of action. She wanted to save all of her explosive ordinance for the fight with the Assassin. "Mox, if you can get the angle right, I want you to bring that Priest over to your position and take it out. Davy Jones, your angle is good, I want a potshot on whoever moves into view after that. SYN, Cherry, overwatch. Baal, suppress whoever's left. And Raven King? Stay low, keep an eye out, manage a shot if you think you can make it."
She got various affirmations from the squad, and watched as Mox leaned out into the open, just far enough to get a good angle. Then, his ripjack's cord lept out and snagged the Priest, dragging it in full view of Menace. Death was quick after that, and the rest of the pieces she had set up fell into place.
"Brutal efficiency, Commander," the Hunter commented, assuredly watching it all go down. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've done this before."
"The Commander has, and I do not intend to let her be as successful this time."
That was the Assassin on general comms, and down below, the squad wasn't too distracted by it. Mox had taken the lead after dispatching the first squad and was navigating through the labyrinth that was the Stronghold. Eliza focused her attention on that this time, but offered some of her attention to the Assassin. "My track record is good, Assassin. I'd say I'm going to give myself at least a fighting chance."
"A fight is what I wish for, Commander. Anything else would be spitting in my face. But, I cannot let you win. There is far more at stake than even you realize, and in order for us to avoid utter destruction, you must be returned to the Elders."
"Oh, really, sis?" She could hear the Hunter's sneer in his voice. "Do you even know what's at stake, here, or have you just been blindly believing everything the Elders have been throwing at you again?"
The Assassin's response was swift. "I know more than enough to realize that with XCOM's actions, they doom the universe to destruction! The Elders have a solution against total annihilation. The tragedies and losses faced in the wake of that are nothing against oblivion. Brother, why do you not understand?"
Eliza furrowed her brow. She'd absolutely love to be a part of the conversation, really, but matters on the ground required her attention—like the next squad Menace was encountering. There was a lot more security this time around, and more organization, from the looks of it. That brought up a... concerning line of thought, regarding the Hunter. Combined with the things he'd said in the past, Eliza half-thought he had wanted XCOM to get to him as quick as possible, while still under the impression that they were out to kill him.
She really, really needed to get that talk with him scheduled.
"Oh, I understand alright, but the Elders lost my sympathy from day one, Fal-Mai. They can fuck off and die for all I care—and I care a lot about them dying, you see. I care that it's me pulling the trigger when they do." Seems they were still going at it.
"After all They've done for you, Mordenna? They made you greater, offered you a purpose! Why would you turn your back on that?"
Mordenna's voice had more than a hint venom when he next spoke. "Don't you fuckin' play dumb with me, sister. It ain't what they've done for me. It's what they've done to me. If you weren't lying earlier, you know how it feels. You want me to come back and feel that? Huh?"
There was a moment's pause in the banter, and Eliza almost thought the Assassin had given up trying to convince her brother entirely. More focus for her, she supposed—
"You... you disobeyed, brother. That's why you were punished—"
"Bull. Fucking. Shit, sis. I guess you weren't listening to me before and wow, thanks, that's nice to know. I tried being the poster child well before you showed up, and you know what that got me? Nothing. I slipped up on accident for once and the fuckers thought I did it on purpose. So there went that. So stop trying to school me on what I could or couldn't have done. Believe me, I've tried. Now are you gonna keep dragging the rest of XCOM in on our family drama or are you going to let Eliza kidnap you?"
The personnel on the Bridge were silent, including Eliza. Down on the ground, there wasn't any friendly banter outside of shots called and reloads. Eliza's worry for the Hunter—and all the Chosen—grew. There was another period of no talking from the Assassin, like she was trying to come up with alternate routes and failing.
Eliza watched as Mox capped the last Officer of the pod. He'd taken a grazing hit to his side and Banel had taken a few direct shots—but Banel was hardly any worse for wear. The squad was still green. Eliza took her chance to speak freely. "Squad, reload, proceed forwards." She thought for a moment, then decided to take pity on the Assassin's silence. "Nice place you got here, Assassin. Such a shame we're rummaging through it, but I'm not keen on you dropping in on my missions and scaring the daylights out of my soldiers. I'll definitely try to give you a good fight."
It was a moment, but the Assassin responded. "It is not 'you' who will be fighting me—simply the soldiers you send to shed blood in your name. I have become a nuisance; therefore, you send your soldiers to put me down. I understand why you do not fight for yourself, Commander, but I will not have you speak to me as if you do."
All that got out of Eliza was a short chuckle. "Two things about that—firstly, I suppose you're right. Shouldn't be taking credit for the work my soldiers do in the field, but it's a style of speaking I lapse into often. Don't think for a second that I'm trying to take all the 'glory.' Secondly, murder is so barbaric." She knew full well the context of that against everything, of course. "XCOM offers a health benefits program, you sure you don't want to at least give our brochures a look?"
Behind her, the Hunter snickered. "Yeah, sis, at least give it a shot. I'm hooked, after all."
"Your manner of joking about forcefully taking me from my masters does you no favors, Commander," the Assassin returned. "I cannot let you capture me."
"Cannot? Awfully different from will not, sis." The Hunter, as ever, picked apart everything. "You might want to be careful about your language. Once the Elders have smacked you around, they're a lot less hesitant to do it again."
"They would not punish me for such a small slight."
"Uh-huh. Yeah. Tell yourself that now, bet it helps you sleep at night."
"Kids," Eliza interjected, watching as Menace One-Five hit their next pod close to the Ascension Pad by her guessing, "could you lighten up a little? I'm trying to lead a squad here." Speaking of. Mox was pinned down under suppressing fire from a Muton and the rest of the squad was engaged... but it looked like SYN could spare a moment. "SYN, fire on the Muton pinning Mox."
"Affirmative." SYN wastes no time in lining up a shot, downing the alien and freeing Mox. He nodded appreciatively to the SPARK, then pulled a Shieldbearer to his position and showed it the sharp part of his Ripjack. Things were generally proceeding well, and if the layout of the Assassin's Stronghold was anything like her brother's? This was the last spot of resistance they would face.
"Eliza, Eliza, you askin' me to lighten up regarding the Elders? Rather short-sighted for a Commander of your caliber." She could tell that Mordenna was joking, but it was a fair point. "Besides, she started it."
"Oh, no, certainly not. The bastards deserve it, but I think I could also accuse you of dredging out your own family drama for all to see."
"Once again, Lizzie, she started it, and I'll sure as hell respond to shots."
Eliza sighed, eyes regarding the screen a moment longer. "And then Fal-Mai will shoot back, which will prompt you to return fire, and thus the cycle of revenge continues until everyone forgets what they're fighting about in the first place."
"As much as I disagree with you, Commander," the Assassin cut in, sounding softer, "your wisdom is not to be dismissed. I see how you sway others to your side."
"Well, I appreciate the acknowledgement, Assassin. If you'll allow me, I'll thank you in person as well."
"We shall see, Commander, but I do not intend on letting you win."
Hm. Maybe Mordenna was right—it did sound like the Assassin was stepping around her words a little. For all of her loyalty to the Elders, she wasn't as adamant about chasing XCOM out... up until Mordenna pointed that out, of course. But, if she herself was to be believed, she was flayed just as the Hunter was. Perhaps she wasn't as willing to serve under those who would do something so harsh. If she failed here, if Eliza was unable to secure the Assassin, she would no doubt be forced to serve under the Elders forever.
Eliza really, really needed to talk with all the Chosen. That, or cap the Elders. Whoever came first. Especially that bastard Arg—
"Commander O'Leary." That was Mox. "We have successfully neutralized all resistance. The Assassin's Ascension Pad is within sight, and we are ready to move on your order."
Eliza blinked, clearing her thoughts. Well, enough thinking on that. Back to tactics. "Understood. Menace One-Five, make sure everyone's on that pad—otherwise, you're green to go."
Mox nodded on the ground, and she watched as the squad advanced forwards, into the final room of the Stronghold. Eliza straightened, looking to the Hunter. Mordenna was still watching the screen raptly, and looked like he was lost in thought. Not for long. He noticed Eliza looking at him and shrugged, expression going neutral. "Well, Commander, you're just about on the Assassin. I'd pop off a champagne bottle, but I've come down with a terminal case of 'cannot be assed.'"
Eliza shook her head, grinning fondly. "Shen?" On the other side of the Bridge, at her own console, Lily looked up. "The package ready for prime time?"
Lily nodded. "I added in a few things after I presented it to you, but based on testing, it should work as intended. With maybe a surprise or two, but surprises in our favor."
Satisfied, Eliza turned back towards the screen. "Fal-Mai. I hope you won't find my soldiers wanting."
"I as well, Commander."
Dimensional shifting was a hard thing to get used to, as it turned out. Even if Sherry had felt it before, it still didn't make her nearly fall on her ass any less.
The rest of the squad had a similar experience, outside of SYN, who passively observed the area. It was much like the Hunter's Inner Sanctum—but it lacked the raised platform in the middle. Instead, two braziers burned with spectral, purple fire. Chest-high decorations were spaced out like the pews of a church, six in all. Without the middle platform in the way, it gave the area a very open feel...
... and allowed Menace to quickly lay their eyes on the Assassin.
She sat, lotus-position, at the same raised platform her brother had before. Her Sarcophagus loomed behind her, still cloaked in purple energy. Fal-Mai herself opened her eyes as Menace saw her, moving to stand. "At last," she breathed, looking them head-on, "a true fight. You will not find me as a prize to be taken, XCOM. Instead, you shall find my blade at your backs. You will not be successful today."
Mox, at the front of the squad, stepped forward. "Assassin Neylor. I believe you will find us as harbingers of justice—and takers of the Elders' children."
Fal-Mai's expression twisted into disgust. "Pratal Mox. The Commander has saved me the trouble of hunting you down personally again. When I purge all of you, I will find Betos and let her know how her Champion failed her."
With that, the Assassin faded from sight, leaving no more room for commentary. While the squad scanned, Mox kept a level head. "Menace One-Five, assume cover."
"Mox is correct." The Commander came in crystal clear. Seems the communication channel the Hunter had opened for her was still up—or maybe Mordenna had worked some magic. "Stagger yourselves. Loose circle—and have SYN stand in the middle." When the squad went to cover, Eliza came in again—over Banel's headset exclusively. "Baal. Prime and throw a grenade a safe distance from the squad. You don't have to prime it through the launcher, necessarily."
Banel immediately clued into what the Commander intended, and took his grenade launcher off his back anyway. Wordlessly, he loaded it with one of his Plasma Grenades, primed it, and shot it towards a good guess of where the Assassin was.
The grenade exploded, the sound reverberating through the area. To the right of it, in cover, the Assassin's cloak peeled off her as she clutched her head. Banel holstered his grenade launcher and lugged around his minigun. "Assassin located," he deadpanned.
"Menace One-Five, engage!"
"Dirty, Commander." Mordenna, providing the running commentary as usual. "But effective."
Moody was the first to pop off a shot, and Fal-Mai twisted almost unnaturally to avoid the lance of plasma that screamed towards her. She molded to her cover afterwards, now having a bead on the squad's sight. Gathering what psionic power she possessed into her hands, she called to the fold of the Void and the Network—reinforcements.
Three Stun Lancers appeared next to her in her cover, and judging by the decorations on them, they were a cut above the rest. Wordlessly, they peeled out of cover, employing some of their own flexibility and swiftness to avoid the incoming fire from SYN. Two settled into better cover, still near their Chosen. The third, instead, set its sights on Edgar and his position on the side of the group. It charged at him, baton brandished and crackling with voltage.
Edgar listened as it sprinted for him... and calmly stood, even as it bore down upon him. As it moved to jab him, he stepped to the side, grabbing its weapon arm and twisting it. "I've fought you lot before," he croaked. "You're all so predictable. Someone as blind as I can read you." With that, Nevermore lunged forward and proved how unnaturally sharp his beak really was, jamming it right through the Lancer's throat. It crumpled to the floor, and it wasn't long before it stopped moving. Edgar went back to crouching in his cover, with his front and Nevermore's beak painted orange.
Sherry, meanwhile, had her sights set on the other Stun Lancers. She wasn't about to have them knock out any of her squad. Nodding to her GREMLIN, it flew off... and dipped sharply, just in time to avoid a thrown knife from the Assassin. On it went, unimpeded, until it reached one of the Lancers. With a shuddering discharge, the trooper was shocked into standing—right in time for Sherry to shoot it clean in the head.
With two out of three down, SYN instead opted to focus on the Assassin herself, still glued to her cover. He leveled his gun and the barrage began. If she wanted to move, she'd have to chance moving between the gunfire, even with her cloak up.
Mox nodded to Banel, and Banel fired on the last Stun Lancer. Only a few glancing shots hit off it—but the distraction was what Mox wanted. He reached forward and fired off the grappling hook of his Ripjack, nailing the Stun Lancer's side. With a yank, he dragged it towards him, and a swift downwards flourish of his blade was all it took. The Assassin's guard was eliminated.
Another measured peek out of cover was seen from the Assassin, managing it through the plasma streaking around her. That man that had been identified on cameras... there he stood. The Raven King, as she'd overheard. As interesting as he was, she couldn't let him live. If he were allowed to temper his powers...
In a split second, the Assassin made her decision. Doing an acrobatic roll from her cover—moving between the beams of plasma—she then broke out into a sprint, peeling her katana out of its sheath. As quick as she ran, she left Menace scrambling to provide reaction fire, and soon she was upon Edgar.
Edgar himself was desperately backing up, but he could hear the alien metal of her blade cutting through the air towards him. He'd be cut diagonally in half—and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Nevermore, on the other hand? With a flap of his wings, he dismounted from Edgar, the force of his takeoff pushing Edgar off-balance. The Assassin's blade cut across his front, tearing clean through his armor and coat; but it was far from the lethal blow it would have been, and Edgar fell to the floor as he let out a yelp of pain. She'd still gotten him, as the quickly-seeping blood attested.
The Assassin turned to the mutated raven just in time to see him glow, and feel a point-blank Soulfire scorch her. Quickly resuming her wits, she darted from her position, leaping into some high cover and disappearing behind it. Nevermore was at Edgar's side again, wings raised threateningly as Edgar scrambled back into a better position, wincing as he disturbed his wound.
Sherry made short work of recalling her GREMLIN and sending it back over to Edgar, the healing spray stopping the bleeding and even starting the scabbing process. SYN's sight remained trained on the Assassin's column. They couldn't see her from this angle, so rest of the squad reloaded as Eliza's voice came in. "SYN, bomb her position. She's being awfully quiet."
"Affirmative. Launching BIT." As directed, SYN took ahold of his BIT, and with a mighty lob, sent it careening towards the pillar. Once it hit the ground, it exploded—non-lethally to itself—eliciting a ghastly scream out of Fal-Mai. Purple wisps of psionic energy bled out from behind the column. No Harbor Wave was to be summoned today.
Clutching one of her blast wounds, the Assassin weighed her options. The constant abuse of her weakness was going to prove fatal if she did nothing about it—but if she attempted to gun for the Grenadier, it would merely send her back to the void by the rest of the squad's hands. Her other hand moved to a grenade on her own belt. Perhaps now was the time to test out her new gadget.
A moment passed, during which Edgar looked over his wound. God, it smarted... but it could've been so much worse. Once again, he found himself owing more and more to his companion He offered an appreciative nod to Nevermore... and too late, heard a clink nearby—a small object hitting the ground. He scrambled back. "Grenade!"
Before the squad could react, the device exploded—into smoke. It blanketed the area and was thick to an almost choking degree. SYN wheeled around, knowing this was the moment the Assassin would strike. Over his comm link, he heard the voice of the Hunter, declaring that someone was going to perish. His processes went at work, calculating the most probable squad member the Chosen would target. He turned towards Banel, who was staggering out of the smoke. Of course. Explosions, her weakness. She would want to dispose of the specialist.
That was when the Assassin struck.
The screeching of bending metal and grinding steel ripped through the air, followed by warning blares. SYN cast his optics down, and there the Assassin was, with her sword lodged to the hilt in his chassis. She regarded him and his new structural deficiency coldly. Systems were failing, his circuitry was frying, and she had scored a clean hit to his main core. He wasn't long for this world. Streams of data flooded him and amongst them, he issued one final command.
The Assassin had no time to react when SYN's arms flew at her, hands clamping around her neck and immobilizing her as he dropped his cannon. SYN was shaking violently, but the hold around her throat remained firm and strong. Nearby, Nevermore was putting his impressive wingspan to use and dispelling the smoke, one gust at a time. Suffocating, the Assassin withdrew her blade, coughing and trying to gingerly work her weapon to cut open the SPARK's hands.
But the process was far too slow and she was making too much noise. Through the smoke, Sherry saw her hazy outline and heard her gagging. With a cold, critical eye, she took aim. Her weapon kicked, plasma shot forward, and the Assassin was down one life, up one hole in her head. Her body teleported out, and not a second too soon—SYN, with a mournful groaning of metal, collapsed to the floor.
The smoke cleared fully, revealing the scene to the rest of the squad. There was no banter to be had—just the grim realization that they were now down one member of Menace One-Five. Sherry's face dropped from the cold visage she had put forth. SYN had been in close scrapes before, and he'd saved or protected the squad countless times. Just a SPARK, yes, but a member of the team.
She didn't hang on her melancholy long. Sherry let her anger come forth and she wheeled around to the Assassin's Sarcophagus, which was now bare and gathering energy. "Squad, fire on the slab!" Without waiting to see if everyone else would, Sherry buried her last few rounds in her mag into the smooth metal.
The rest of Menace One-Five wasn't far behind her, though. Banel switched to his full-auto and unloaded. Mox and Moody peppered it with the last rounds in their guns, and even Edgar took a few carefully-aimed shots.
The Assassin's voice filtered into their ears. "A good effort, XCOM, but without one of your greatest assets, how will you fare?"
Just then, one of the platforms in the room lit up, and an organized guard came through—a Heavy MEC, an Officer, and two Stun Lancers. Both parties scrambled into better positions.
Up in the Avenger, Eliza watched the whole scene with a grim gaze. To lose SYN was a heavy blow. They had a backup SPARK in Julian... but to lose a face of the team like that would no doubt weigh heavily on everyone. Rosa especially. Hopefully they could do something with his parts... not to mention that without his firepower, it was unlikely they'd destroy the Sarcophagus in time.
"Y'know, for a bucket of bolts, I think SYN was pretty neat. Probably didn't deserve getting impaled like that." Eliza turned towards the Hunter, who was similarly watching the scene as she was, his previous levity gone. He locked eyes with Eliza. "It'll be interesting to see how you pilot around that, Commander."
"There's hope," Lily interjected from the other side of the room, "I've got a backup data core in SYN for a reason. If the one in his head managed to get enough of the transfer before he... got deactivated, I might be able to restore a previous version or the like."
That took a weight off Eliza's chest and she looked back towards the screen. Another wave of ADVENT forces had come to face Menace One-Five—and the energy around the Sarcophagus was closing fast. SYN could be rebuilt, but if she let anyone else die this mission, it'd seriously hurt the idea of turning the Assassin... as if it didn't have enough against it already. The Commander saw Edgar aim at the Sarcophagus. "Menace One-Five, prioritize taking out those forces over shooting the Sarcophagus!"
Edgar's arm faltered, but then he aimed over at an Officer, eyes glowing behind the blindfold. A crack of the Shadowkeeper later and there was one less ADVENT to worry about. With luck, she could have the squad dispatch the guard by the time the Assassin came to life again.
"So, Eliza." Once again, the Hunter caught her attention. "Off the books. Which means don't scream the answer into your mic, but what are you doing to capture Fal-Mai?"
Eliza kept watching the screen as she muted her comms, making sure the situation on the ground didn't get out of hand while she was talking. Things were progressing well—Banel was now substituting as squad tank and thus attracting attention and taking hits, but his armor was holding. "The Alloy Cuffs Edgar's holding. Shen could probably explain them better than I could."
Lily took the hint. "Basically, they're handcuffs—but the instant they're slapped on the Assassin, an interlocking mesh will spread over her body and immobilize her. There's... a lot of specifics to go through, and it's the project I was handling yesterday, if you remember that."
"Sure do!" The Hunter replied chipperly. "Still should've let me look at it. Would've put in a thing or two to really make it effective against her. Because, come to think of it—"
"Before you ask, yes. There's measures that, theoretically, should counteract her cloak. The cuffs themselves can light up pretty brightly and even emit sound to disrupt her invisibility."
The Hunter gave an impressed hum. "Lily Shen, you never cease to be interesting."
"Should I be worried about that?"
"Yeah, probably."
Eliza shook her head, returning her attention to the action. The Commander watched as the Sarcophagus became bathed in the purple light of psionics once more—and as the last ADVENT of the guard fell. "Good work, Menace One-Five, prepare to re-engage."
Sherry looked to the sky, seeing the psionics from the Assassin's Sarcophagus coalesce above a certain platform. Her head snapped to the Alloy Cuffs, then to Mox. "Mox, toss a grenade at that platform!" She pointed to make her call clear.
Mox hesitated for just a second, only enough to ensure it would go off on the right timing. With a pin pulled and an expert lob, the Plasma Grenade settled on the middle of the platform. The energies grew brighter and landed, and in a column of light, the Assassin descended once more. The grenade went off.
The scorch of plasma and the sound of being at ground zero of the blast sent the Assassin staggering back, giving another ungodly scream as her armor shredded and melted. The window it created showed just how adverse her body was to explosives—something Banel grimly noted before he lifted up his Beam Cannon and fired on her with the last of his mag.
Back Fal-Mai went to the Void, and back the psionic energies of her Sarcophagus retreated. Menace One-Five reloaded—except for Edgar, who dashed up and unclipped the Alloy Cuffs from his belt, handing them off to Mox. "'ere. I think you're better at close range with the Assassin, anyhow."
Mox nodded, taking them and clipping them where his grenade used to hang, before firing on the slab of metal. The percussion of plasma rang through the air—and soon, the onslaught proved destructive enough. Once again, cracks formed on the surface of the object, each successive splinter echoing louder and louder. Pinkish-purple sparks flew between the lines of light the fractures made, and the pieces of the Assassin's Sarcophagus shuddered violently, but held.
"Excellent work, Menace. Now, look sharp, and take the Assassin alive."
Mox nodded again at the Commander's instruction, and once more he looked for the gathering energies that foretold Fal-Mai's return. The squad backed off of the platform she then reappeared at. Her armor was fully repaired, but Mox's sharp eyes could spot the waver in her stance as she regarded XCOM. Her blast wounds must've not entirely healed.
She took a tentative step back, eyes on Mox. "XCOM. You have accomplished severing me from the Elders—and to what end? To capture me? To lord me over Them as your new prize?" She stopped, hesitating in her commentary. When the Assassin next spoke, her voice was softer. "They are no longer speaking to me... by choice, or otherwise. I cannot help but agree. One last battle, XCOM. One of us shall perish this day."
Staggering back one more step, she dashed at Mox. No acrobatics. None of her wicked speed. Just her brandished katana and a sight trained on the Skirmisher. With such telegraphing, Mox found it suspiciously easy to parry her resulting swipe—disarming her with his right arm, holstering his gun and grabbing the cuffs with his left. He lunged forward and spun her, using her momentum to do so. With a quick flourish, the cuffs locked on her wrists.
A spider web-like mesh started to spread over her body, hardening as the filaments connected. Mox forced her to her knees in time for it to reach her legs, locking her in a kneeling position. Her burning gaze bored into her captor as the coat stopped just shy of her face.
"A mission well-done, Menace," Bradford chimed in. He'd seemed to have been keeping quiet during the running commentary. "Be wary of the Assassin—otherwise, bring her in."
Eliza nodded to him, straightening. "Whoever has arms free, bring in what you can of SYN. We might be able to bring him back yet. Get the Assassin's weapons, as well." As the squad on the ground prepared to haul, she looked to Mordenna. He looked like he was juggling something in his head—likely the same thing Eliza was. Which was, when faced with a squad with a member down and starting to run on fumes... the Assassin chose to openly, clumsily charge the one person holding the key to her capture. It was almost as if...
The Hunter's expression darkened, right up until his eyes flitted to Eliza. He shrugged, looking to the side. Eliza wasn't about to talk about any of it here, or anything else she had been thinking over. That could be saved for later, at a less populated time.
"Two down," Bradford muttered, "one to go."
For a second, Eliza could swear she heard Mordenna whisper "they aren't going to like that."
