Chapter 1: Operation Gatecrasher

Delhi, New India

March 1st, 2035 - Unification Day.

6:00 AM

"That's our cue!" David exclaimed, rushing forward as the sound of an Advent checkpoint exploding went off in the distance. Alessandra ran beside him, stopping in the shadow of a lamppost as a startled ADVENT squad came into view.

"...Crazy bastard…" Alessandra remarked, referring to Bradford and Kelly's maneuvers a few blocks away. DeLorean and Nicholson rushed forward in turn, hiding behind a barricade and beginning to hatch a plan.

"...Ready… You all know the drill." David whispered, hand signalling to the others. DeLorean and Alessandra moved up, positioning themselves on the flanks of the patrolling ADVENT troops while David and Nicholson lined up their shots. "This is for Kiryu-Kai!" David yelled, emptying a magazine into the head of the ADVENT pointman. The remaining two bolted towards cover, running headlong into a hail of bullets crossfiring from Alessandra and Nicholson's flanking positions.

"That's all of-" Alessandra began, taking a magnetically accelerated round to her thigh as another ADVENT patrol revealed itself.

"Spygirl!" DeLorean yelled, watching Alessandra hit the ground in agony. Another ADVENT troop took notice and pegged DeLorean in the stomach as he moved to respond. 'Spygirl' rolled back to her feet, dodging another volley of bullets in the nick of time as they passed mere inches away from her head. She dove into a new set of cover and dropped a live grenade at the feet of her would-be assassin, in-sync with a throw from David towards another ADVENT infantryman. She grinned as both the soldiers that had tried to kill her just a moment ago exploded in a fiery blaze of fragmentation.

"There he is!" 'Takuat' Nicholson said, pointing to the officer of the ADVENT squad as the leader's poor trigger discipline revealed his position behind a fountain. David and 'Takuat' advanced on the officer, the latter throwing a grenade to cover their approach. "Goddamn!" he yelled, watching as the Officer's armor ate the full brunt of the explosion.

"Not quite the explosive finale I was hoping for." David remarked, shrugging as the ADVENT officer regained his bearings. "Eh…" He said, shooting the officer once in the chest, killing him instantly. "...Take your time, Spygirl… Take your time."

"How about you try running with a slug in your leg?" Spygirl replied, limping towards the ADVENT monument. She slammed her X4 charge onto the base and fell back into DeLorean's arms as he rushed up behind her.

"Firebrand, this is Menace! Our work here's done! Requesting extract!" DeLorean radioed, carrying Spygirl as she went limp from bloodloss.

"On route with the package! Hold tight!" Firebrand replied. The sounds of Bradford panting in the background at the very least served as an indication that at least someone from the main operation survived.

"Make it quick, eh?" David radioed in, hitting the detonator for the X4 charge on the statue as his team made their exit from the immediate scene.

The Avenger Barroom

12:00PM

"So, how'd it go?" Andrea asked, patting David on the shoulder as he downed a bottle of whiskey in the Avenger's bar. David remained silent and pointed his thumb towards the empty memorial wall behind himself. "Oooh… Fine." Andrea said, tipping his polished construction helmet in acknowledgement.

"Took some convincing to get DeLorean not to throw Spygirl's picture up on the wall." Dave said, turning towards Andrea. "Comatose from the bloodloss. We don't know how long. Maybe forever if we don't get a proper surgeon onboard. Not dead though!"

"Show a little respect, Anderson." DeLorean demanded, entering the bar. "Spygirl's a casualty. The wall's for casualties." He said, grabbing some moonshine off the table.

"Like you if you don't get some rest?" David said. He poked DeLorean in the stomach. "Give yourself a week off the sauce while that shit heals. Alcohol and scar-tissue don't mix well."

"You would know this how, Four-Eyes?" DeLorean asked. David shrugged.

"More for myself, that's how I know." David said, having a laugh with Andrea.

"Anyway… Just thought I'd let you guys know that The Package is awake and well. You know what that means." DeLorean relayed.

"Aww shit…" Andrea moaned.

"That's right. No more parties in the executive bedroom when Bradford's out. Deal with it." DeLorean said. "Should have seen the ruckus the ship made when he entered the bridge."

"Oh, that was what woke me up from a sound twelve hours of sleep, wasn't it?" Andrea griped, downing another bottle of scotch.

"...You people…" DeLorean moaned. "You'd better find something to plug your ears with for the next two weeks then, Gasparatto - Because the Gremlins just started work on the Guerilla Tactics School in celebration of the Commander's return." DeLorean stated. Andrea gulped and began working on another bottle. "Shen says it's going to be a whole two weeks before Rover gets finished putting everything together - So get comfy." He finished.

"Avenger plotting new course - Japan." The Avenger intercom system sounded. DeLorean smiled.

"Tell me, do you get altitude sickness Gasparatto?" DeLorean asked.