Elsewhere, and elsewhen…
Advent Seaport Gene Clinic
Boston, former United States of America
Eastern US Control Zone
Earth, September 13th, 2034
Two figures walked slowly down the dirty length of Congress St, past the ruined remains of the Children's Museum and the stub of the Milk Bottle café that still remained. 10 minutes later, they approached a squat, two-story structure off the side of the street. Advent patrol troopers, masked beneath black visors and armor, marched ceaselessly along the edges, their expressions unreadable and magnetic rifles held at the ready.
One figure looked up. Under a grubby, grey hooded raincoat, patched and ripped in more than a dozen areas, two blue, weary but well-trained eyes took in the entirety of the building, scanning and noting the placement of the doors, the positions of the guards, the thickness of the windows and the paths of entry and egress. Her mouth wrinkled in slight surprise, and then spoke softly to the figure alongside her.
"That's it?"
The other figure glanced at the street intersection and then back at the building, then nodded quickly. His right hand deftly adjusted the hidden smartphone in his coat as it recorded the building while his left rested on the matte-black handle of a USP .45 pistol concealed in the opposite pocket, warmed by the sweat and heat of his hand.
"Yup. Anything out of place?"
"Extra cameras along the perimeter, and it looks like the door's been reinforced in a few spots." She glanced over briefly at the closest group of guards. "Those troopers have dagger patches on their arms-they're Internal Security troops, not regular Advent."
He nodded. "Right spot then. Okay, let's get out of here."
Later that day, undisclosed location, Somerville
"… and that's the last of it," said the blue-eyed woman, finishing her presentation on the scouting of the Gene Clinic to the seven individuals surrounding the small projector in the safehouse. "After all the recon info we've collected here, we have strong reasons to believe that the intelligence is correct." She paused, and looked around the room. "This could be where they're holding the Commander."
"Then we're gonna go get him."
All eyes turned to the man at the head of the table. His eyes stared steadily back at them.
"You heard me," said Central Officer Bradford. "We're going to go in there to recover the Commander."
"Sir, that is crazy." Kristina "Firebrand" Hogan protested as she studied the ground around the compound. "There is zero chance we can get in there with a drop before we get UFOs blowing us out of the sky."
"We don't drop in, Firebrand. We'll enter on the ground. You'll provide extract once we confirm the Commander's presence."
"And how are we going to do THAT, Central? With just a handful of us and one Skyranger driver?" That was Peter Osei, his hands idly field stripping a SCAR-L while his eyes locked on Bradford. "Once the shooting starts, they'll know exactly what the hell is going on-and we'll be knee-deep in Advent."
"We can stage a diversion first," said Ana Ramirez, chewing thoughtfully on a protein bar as she pointed to another spot on the map. "This Advent checkpoint here-we stage a protest there or plant some explosives. Then we hit the clinic fast and hard while they're busy elsewhere."
Bradford nodded, and then looked over at the last three members of the table.
"Doc, Lily, we'll need you to get the Avenger prepped and some X4 charges built. If the Commander comes aboard, we'll need some medical facilities ready for him to recuperate in. This many years with the Advent can't have done him any good." He paused, then looked over at the last member of the table. "Jane, get on the short-range coms and try to get a hold of the Boston resistance cells. We need to talk to them about when we can get this going."
Tygan raised his hand, his expression grave as he looked at Bradford. "Central-are we ready for this? We just retook the Avenger and we don't have any resources left onboard for anything past basic small-arms and equipment for this operation." He motioned at Jane and Kristina, "And if this doesn't work, this is it for the last of XCOM. You're the only ones left from the chain of command."
Bradford sighed, and grinned warily. "That's why we need this, Doctor. That's why we need the Commander back with us." He looked up, his face determined and grim. "For all the years after the Elders invaded, I lost hope, drowning my sorrows and my despair in a bottle while the world went to absolute shit around us. Humanity became slaves to these bastards. Entire communities disappeared, and we were fucking powerless to stop any of this. But the Commander can bring us back. He can take the fight to the bastards again, and I'll be damned if we don't take this opportunity while we still can."
He paused, and then studied the eyes of the individuals around him. Apprehensive. Thoughtful. Cautious. But resolute and determined.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're not throwing away our shot. Let's roll."
XCOM Mobile Base Avenger
Lowell, former United States of America
Eastern US Control Zone
Earth, September 17th, 2034
"… and that's the last of it." Lily Shen wiped the sweat off her brow and put down the acetylene torch and welding visor she had been stuck to for the past five hours. "Alright, Kris, she's refitted and ready to go. You sure she can carry the weight?"
"I'm sure," Kristina replied as she scrutinized the new additions to her Skyranger. "We'll see a slight cutdown in range, but I think these," she motioned towards the tri-barreled 20mm cannon installed in the newly mounted chin turret and a pair of stub wings alongside the cockpit loaded with Hellfire antitank missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods, "will be more than worth the added weight. We can still lift up to 12 fully kitted people in the back, and having some thunder in reserve can help with forced entries and extractions."
Lily nodded, "Just be careful to not go too gung-ho about this, Firebrand." She patted the long barrels of the 20mm, pushing slightly to see if there was any give in the flexible mount, "You've got plenty of firepower, but if you're exposed for too long and take a hit, we have no backup available to get everyone back out. You're the only lifeline we have between the field guys and the Avenger. And if you go down, that's the last of XCOM that's going with you. Be careful."