A/N: So I never actually got the Commissar's name from the player, and eventually it just kind of became how everyone referred to him. He's pretty comic relief anyway so it works.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the characters, and I think even they're getting sick of it.

23:19, Day 8, 946.M41

Lieutenant Maine Ockmann

XCom Base Barracks

Maine was in the barracks, reading a mission report that had ended with genestealers wiping out the whole squad when she heard the alarm. She put aside her datapad and calmly got to her feet. Walking quickly, she arrived at Mission Control within a minute of the sounding. Lt. Richard, the Commissar, Lead Sgt. Sawyer, Lt. Darrien Kan, were already there, along with a number of guardsmen she didn't know. Richard gave her a brief nod before turning his attention to the inquisitor. She returned it and went to stand beside them. Behind her she heard pounding feet, and Cpl. Brauhm entered the room beside her, panting slightly from his brief run, but looking battle-ready. The Inquisitor stood where he had when they had first arrived, and began talking as soon as Brauhm and Maine were abreast with the rest of the squad.

"There has been a report of Xenos activity on a farmstead nearby. A few cattle were killed, and their corpses are still there. Your mission is to find and burn the livestock corpses. Your secondary objective is to remove any further xenos presence in the area. If any civilians are still in the area, attempt to extract them for questioning. I will be watching from here. Dismissed."

The squad wasted no time in getting armed before piling into the Valkyrie. The craft was cramped, and everyone was tense. Maine wasn't sure what to expect, but she was determined to do her part.

01:59, Day 8

Lieutenant Maine Ockmann

Operation Burning Bushel

The squad ran out of the Valkyrie as one entity, bristling with various weaponry. Maine took out her Laspistol and turned on her preysense goggles. It was dark, and she had no interest in getting caught in melee with a genestealer with her rifle out. She thumbed the Exterminator switch on the pistol briefly. Any Xeno attacking her in close range would be in for a surprise. She kept a sharp eye open for movement. They had a general map of the area, but it didn't help much from ground view. Richards voice came over the comms.

"Secure the house. Sawyer, find higher ground."

Radio silence reigned as the squad moved in. Sawyer reported that he and his comrade had scaled a tree and had a line of sight on the windows. Richard moved to the window and looked inside. He jerked his head back swiftly.

"Movement. Not sure what, but it's fast."

The Commissar moved up to a window and looked in as well, but reported nothing. Richard broke the window and moved inside. Maine kept a sharp watch out for movement, but couldn't see anything. A bit of sweat ran down her face, tickling her old scars. The dark night as seen through preysense goggles was visible, but somewhat nauseating. It made every heat signature a terrifying potential movement. Darrien moved to the next window and made to break in.

CRASH-CRACK

The shattering window broke the night's imposing silence all too suddenly, but it wasn't the quiet tinkle of Darrien moving into the house. As Maine swept her gun around towards the source, she just caught sight of a long, alien arm tipped with razor-sharp claws before the flash and distinctive crack of a las shot rang out. She barely blinked, but the arm was gone when she looked again. She spoke quietly.

"Darrien? Are you alright?"

He was standing before the window, weapon at the ready. He shook his head.

"Bastard didn't even have a chance to swing. Ugly thing, isn't he?" If he was shaken, his voice didn't betray it. "Thanks, Sawyer."

"Yep."

Richard's voice came over the comm once more.

"Leave the corpse and sweep the building. And damn, leave a couple for me."

The rest of the house was empty. Maine and the Commissar went around the side and checked the front area. The swingset rattled eerily, and swung as though a child had just gotten off it…or if something else had brushed up beside it. The truck in front was running loudly, its headlights cutting a swathe through the dim night. Maine put a finger to her comm.

"Movement on the swingset. Could be the wind. Be careful anyway."

Sawyer radioed next.

"There are tracks running into the cornfield over there, and something has gotten into the grain silo on the northeast side of the area. I heard something in the field beyond the barn, as well. Exercise caution."

Richard signaled for the squad to fall in behind him, and they advanced on the silo, burning their first cattle corpse on the way. Nothing else occurred, but every man and woman was tense. The grain silo and their second corpse approached. Richard signaled Darrien forward.

"Torch it. Everyone else, keep a watch out. We're going around to the tear."

The squad moved around the silo together. The gouges were soon in sight. Darrien whistled under his breath, and Maine shook her head worriedly. The tears made tracks through the metal as if it were paper. They were deep and long. Maine wasn't looking forward to having those claws near her, or any of her new friends. In the dark morning, the spilled grain looked a bit like blood and guts flowing out of a wound. Maine shook the thought off. Richard was signaling for the squad to move on the barn next.

As they got close, it was obvious that the barn door was ajar. Highly suspiciously ajar. Everyone exchanged looks. There was almost certainly something in there. Darrien quietly suggested blowing up the side of the barn and going in the way they'd never expect. Richard just looked at him like he was crazy before addressing the squad.

"I'm going to throw open the door. I want everyone else on overwatch for whatever is in there."

The Commissar, Darrien and Maine lined up in front of the door. They each pointed their weapon at it, ready for whatever was inside. Well, in theory. Richard held up three fingers.

"On my mark."

Maine's grip tightened. Richard ripped open the door and dove behind it, and not a moment too soon. As the door swung wide, a disturbing sight met their eyes. It looked like a genestealer, but where its chest would normally be, spines stuck out in every direction. It screeched as it saw them, the light from the distant truck throwing its shadow all over the barn's inside walls. Maine figured out what the creature was going to do a split second before it did it, and dodged out of the way. Spines flew over her head and struck the unfortunate Commissar and Darrien, resulting in cries of pain and shots gone wide. A few struck the door Richard was behind, but none were able to go through both it and the Sergeant's armour. The beast then charged out at the still-staggering Commissar. However, as it left the safety of the barn, another whip-CRACK rang out, and Sawyer's long-las took the mutant genestealer out, lighting it on fire with the sheer energy of the shot. It ran aimlessly into Darrien, and plowed into the field beyond him, spreading painful flames to all it touched.

Before they could react, however, two more genestealers leapt from the cornfield next to the barn, and a third from the field across the road. The Commissar barely had time to shout ("XENOS HERETICS!") as the nearest charged into him, ripping into his stomach. His blood sprayed out, cheerful yellow in the light of Maine's prey-sense goggles. Richard ignored the nearby Xenos, and with an enraged cry charged the furthest, his chainsword revving angrily. Darrien drew his powersword and attacked the one that was turning on Maine after savaging the Commissar, ignoring the flames appearing on his armour. The third genestealer ignored them all and bolted for Sawyer's tree.

Maine dropped to her knees, and summoned Tobias to her side in lieu of firing her weapon into the confused melee. She took her med-kit out and attempted to shove the Commissar's intestines back where they belonged ("IT IS HERESY FOR A COMMISSAR'S INTESTINES TO BE OUTSIDE OF HIS BODY!"). However, her hands slipped, and the confused clanging of swords on claws and burning fire did not help her concentration any. Tobias tried to aid her, but it was obvious he was doing even worse than Maine. Darrien was fighting for both their lives beside her, keeping the disgusting alien away from his downed squadmates. He was holding his own, but there was no telling how long he would last. She suddenly heard a scream of pain, and saw Richard fall to his foe. She made a split-second decision.

"Tobias! Get Richard back on his feet!" She screamed over the melee.

Tobias nodded stoutly, and broke away to sprint to Richard's side, kneeling and stopping the bleeding immediately, patching up the worst of the Sergeant's wounds. Before she could sigh in relief, she saw the genestealer loom up behind her comrade. Richard's sword arm flashed out, his desperate swing almost severing the creature's foot. But it was too late. Tobias' head tipped to the side disturbingly as the genestealer's claws nearly separated it fully from his neck in a single swing. He dropped to the ground, unmoving. Maine stared briefly in shock, forgetting that she was tending to the Commissar. Sawyer hadn't fired that she had heard in some time, Richard was still attempting to finish off the wounded genestealer, and despite some brilliant parries, she didn't think Darrien had much more in him. She almost lost hope for their survival, when a gruff, reassuring voice came over the comm.

"Alright folks, you're in a tight spot, but Bob's here. Here's what you're gonna want to do.."

Under Bob's solid direction, the battle straightened out somewhat. Richard finally ran the genestealer that had killed Tobias through, and was able to run over and relieve Darrien, who had finally stopped burning. They slew the last one handily. Maine finally stitched the Commissar's wound up, ("FEELING PAIN IS- ow- HERESY!") and he was able to stagger to his feet. She thought they were safe, when she remember the third xenos and Sawyer. She turned to where the tree was, to see it had fallen. She almost made to run over to it, but heard a shot and saw, distantly, the last alien die. She sighed a sigh of relief, and allowed herself to walk over to Tobias.

He was very dead. There was nothing that could be done for him- he had been dead almost before he had hit the ground. His last act had been to get Richard back into fighting shape, which had likely saved the battle, and all their lives. It didn't feel much like victory, though. Richard gave the order for Darrien to burn the remaining livestock corpses, and walked over to Maine. He looked at the dead man, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He did good." He said it quietly, and not without gratitude for the fallen soldier. But Richard wasn't one to mourn overmuch. He patted her awkwardly and moved away to ensure everything was done right. The burning cornfield merged with the slowly brightening horizon. Maine stared at Tobias a second longer, and moved off to tend her comrade's wounds. She would do what she could for the living. If anyone asked, the smoke was causing her eyes to water.

The fire burned on as the Valkyrie took off.

04:23, Day 8

Lieutenant Maine Ockmann

XCom Base Mission Control

The Inquisitor ran his hand over his face as he surveyed the returned squad, sans the Commissar, who was already being tended by Lead Sgt. Thorne. He didn't seem upset, but certainly wasn't acting pleased either. His eyes lingered briefly on Maine's scarred visage for a moment before moving on once more. He stopped in the center of the room, standing before the haggard ground team and Bob.

"Congratulations on the success of the first deployment of this operation. Those who need medical attention, report to the medical bay. Dismissed, and get some rest. Lt. Ockmann!" He called after her as she turned to leave with the rest. She dutifully stopped and turned again. He eyed her searchingly.

"It may be some time before we find another comrade suited to your needs. You'll be suspended from active duty until they are recruited. This is not a punishment, but I simply will not have any soldier that can't perform to their maximum potential on the ground." He paused before speaking again. "I'm sorry about Cpl. Tobias. You can be assured that his sacrifice will not be forgotten by his regiment, even if the planet never knows what he did for it."

Maine could do nothing but nod tiredly. It wasn't unexpected. She wouldn't mind the rest, but she hoped she would get a replacement comrade soon. She wanted to be where she could do the most good. In the meantime, she would mourn her brief friend, and do her best for those that needed it. She straightened her back and walked briskly towards the medical bay. She had work to do.

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