Sitting around the bar in the memorial room, four men met to chat over drinks. Leonidas, Central, the Commander, and Ghost had never met like this before, and while the young Spartan leader thought that it was just to hang out, the older men pursued a goal of checking up on the boy and making sure that he was in a better headspace after his outburst. Drinks in hand, they laughed with each other over stories from their respective pasts. Ghost hardly ever had such an audible reaction, but he did smile on occasion at some of the more amusing tales. Presently, Leonidas was recounting the mission from over a week ago, when they had facilitated peace between the Reapers and Skirmishers.
"I thought that we were dead for sure," He laughed heartily, "The Reapers seem like the sort to shoot reflexively upon seeing an alien―we were lucky to get out alive!"
"I think that Outrider didn't shoot Alia purely because you were there," the Commander grinned, "No telling what kind of Hell you would have unleashed, should they have killed a Spartan!"
Leonidas snorted with laughter, "Like I could have done anything against a dozen marksmen with their weapons trained on me! Nah―I would have had you send in Rhino Squad and blow them all to Hell!"
His father chortled, "I probably would have, too! It's what they're even here for, isn't it? Imagine their faces when Moose drops from the sky with that SPARK unit―utter terror, then total destruction! And when you met on the bridge? Hoo boy, was that a sight to behold!"
Ghost shook his head, smiling, "Even I balked when Alia was attacked―and I was just watching the feed. But you and Eagle were on the ball, and without that kind of instant reaction, I reckon we would have come out far worse than we did."
"The others were distracted," Leonidas explained, "And I seriously doubted that I could take on that Assassin alone. I wanted them to get their asses in gear. Turns out, I just inadvertently redirected their attention to my own little spectacle. Must have really been something; I estimate it took Alia about a full ten seconds to grab her gun and help me out!"
Central piped up, "You know, come to think of it, why was Outrider so distracted? I can understand the initial surprise, but I thought that Reapers hated aliens? Why would she keep looking with the others?"
When the Assassin had slashed at Alia on the bridge, the viper had just barely managed to dodge out of the way fast enough to avoid being hit properly. However, her kevlar armor had not fared so well; the sword had cut neatly through the material as if it wasn't even there, scratching her scales without causing any real damage. She had gotten lucky then, but nobody wanted to take the same risk again―lady luck was rarely consistent.
"I think she was just shocked to see an astoundingly human-looking pair of tits on a snake," Ghost said dryly, "Most people think that those are venom sacs."
The Commander rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Ghost, for your input."
Leonidas leaned forward, "Yeah, but he has a point; why would snakes need mammaries? I mean, it's why mammals are called mammals, after all."
"Only some vipers have those," Ghost revealed, "Most of them are actually venom sacs like people think. It doesn't look like a breast when you actually see it. In fact, they usually don't have any reproductive organs."
The Spartan leader raised an eyebrow, "How... do you―?"
Ghost cut him off, "I've seen some shit over the years, Leonidas. Let's just say that it's a bad idea to engage a viper in melee combat when she's in heat. Just because most of them don't have the right organs, doesn't mean that they don't have the right primal instincts―even though that's probably why those parts were removed from the template in the first place."
This only vexed him further, "What... what kind of... what did you have to do to find that out?"
"That, my boy," the sniper paused to take a long drink before continuing, "Is a story that I do not wish to recount. I still have the scars on my... you-know-what. What I do want to know is how a muscle-bound beast like yourself managed to remain undetected during your outing with Razor."
"A magician never reveals his secrets," Leonidas joked, and after seeing their sober reactions, he shrugged, "Actually, it was mostly luck. A lot of that mission was luck."
The Commander sighed, "You have the luck of the devil, Leo. It's gotten you awfully far in the field, and I won't deny that. But mark my words: one of these days, it's going to run out."
"When that happens," Leonidas smirked, leaning back, "I have two axes and a shotgun to compensate. And a whole team of pissed-off Spartans to back me up."
Central spoke up again, "Hey, Leonidas... Since we're on the topic of being pissed-off, I wanted to formally apologize for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have doubted you so heavily or snapped at you like that. I just want to make sure you're thinking about what you're doing, you know?" Their altercation had been just the day before, and the tension between the two men had grown tiring. Leonidas was certainly ready to move past it and forget that it had ever transpired.
He nodded, "I understand, Uncle Bradford. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that―I overreacted. That's just the one thing that sets me off, and I wasn't thinking straight. I know that you'd never actually mean to insult me like that."
"But you are acting recklessly of late, Leo," the Commander turned serious, "The stunt on the bridge, starting fights with your fellow operatives―Hell, even your overall approach to combat―you undeniably get results, but I worry that you're taking unnecessary risks."
"I thought that I was always reckless," Leonidas pointed out, "Isn't that sort of my job at this point?"
"Yes," Ghost interjected, "But you're getting even less careful out there. You're not just endangering yourself, but your whole team. And your father is right: your luck won't last forever."
He checked his watch, then stood, "I'll try to put more thought into things from now on, okay? And I mean it, too. But I should probably go get ready for our mission." He waved farewell as he exited, "See you gents later!"
The three men sat in silence for a moment, exchanging troubled glances. Leonidas was brushing this off, but they were legitimately worried about him. The Spartans were going to investigate the rumor of a secret facility in a couple of hours, so at least they knew that he wasn't fabricating an excuse to leave. The Commander turned to the sniper, his serious demeanor remaining present, "Alright, old man; what have you got?"
"I'm technically younger than you," Ghost scowled, "You just spent two decades in stasis."
Central leaned forward, "Get to the point, soldier. We need to know what you've seen over the past few days, now that we know what to look for."
The sniper sighed, "Leonidas and Alia are getting along very well, but I don't think that there's anything serious between the two. Leonidas appreciates her kind nature but doesn't see her as anything more than a friend. Alia seems to just be satisfied with having a proper friend, though she seems to look at him with a sort of... desire. I'm not even sure if she knows that, though―it could be some sort of instinct. Every now and then, you get a viper that isn't a perfect clone―I assume― and ends up... eh, fertile? I think that's Alia."
"What are you suggesting, Ghost?" the Commander demanded.
"I'm not suggesting anything," the Spartan held up his hands defensively, "But based on what was described to me, it sounds like Alia has a bit more human DNA than most vipers. That's why she has... female components above and below. It's incredibly rare, and not many people know that it even happens, but vipers like that have the instinct to breed. That instinct is born from the fact that... well, they actually can."
Central exhaled heavily, "Since they're all just clones, I suppose that breeding wouldn't be necessary, would it? And you're bound to have a few clones that mutate from the original mold, given how many of them ADVENT produces. But why not just get rid of those ones?" Looking at the expressions of the other two men, he added quickly, "I'm trying to imagine this from their perspective, here. Just think about it: why keep around the few that might act up and try to breed, when you can just make more?"
"Because they're still a proud race," Ghost answered casually as he looked down at his bottle, "And the Queen needs a successor. To be Queen, she first has to be able to breed―it's sort of a traditional thing―and that means that they need fertile vipers in order to have a new Queen. I'd bet that's why they detained Alia when she turned on them, instead of just killing her on the spot."
The Commander and Central looked at him, dumbfounded by his extensive knowledge of the subject. Ghost looked up to see this, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Ghost..." the Commander asked slowly, "How in the name of all that is holy do you know all of this? What have you been doing for these past twenty years?"
The sniper responded with an audible sigh, "I... don't like to talk about it very much. Desperate times call for drastic measures, Commander, and we were beyond desperate during your absence. The vipers were―and still are, to my knowledge―the only race under the Elders who still have their own hierarchy. I wanted to figure out if we could use that to our advantage, so I... did some things that I'm not proud of to get the information that I needed, and the rest is history. And if at all possible, I would like to keep it that way."
Not even Central knew of what Ghost had done back then, since the two of them hadn't come into contact until almost three years after the fall of XCOM. The veteran was a skilled hunter, having earned his name for his impeccable ability to remain hidden while he worked. He was not as skillful at close-quarters stealth as Leonidas or the Jackals, but the sharpshooter had been able to spend three years without getting caught, or even drawing suspicion. A dozen high-profile ADVENT officials were dead because of him, and nobody knew who had done it. Of course, his fellow XCOM agents knew after he told them, but the public would forever be kept in the dark about this killer's identity.
Ghost had been the best marksman that the original XCOM had at their disposal, bar none, and had racked up hundreds of kills to his name in that time alone. It was why he was now a Spartan; he was uniquely talented in his line of work. He was the White Death of the modern era, and such skill was best put to use in a team of elites. But the battle-hardened veteran was not a young man anymore―such guerilla tactics and lone-wolf living was no longer an option. But his powers of observation were still razor-sharp, and he could watch over Leonidas from the sidelines very easily. Luckily, the young Spartan King, no matter how audacious or foolhardy he may be, was not an idiot; he could take care of himself whenever needed.
However, the fact still remained that the Spartan Leader was a broken man. Having built himself around the war against the aliens, Leonidas was out-of-touch with his emotions. He was not numb, nor did he deny his feelings; he simply did not know how to feel much of anything in the first place. He was aloof and capricious, that much was absolutely true, but the reason for this was not as straightforward as him simply being unique. The one possible upside to this was that it was guaranteed that he would not rush into anything with Alia, should love bloom on the battlefield as so many have deemed impossible.
"I hate to ruin the mood," Central sighed, "But you should probably head up with him, Ghost. We've spent the past few days in search of this place, and if it's real, then we need all of our Spartans on the ground."
…
As the transport ship flew over the location indicated by the Resistance, Firebrand voiced her surprise: "Well, hot damn! I can't tell what it is, but there's definitely something here, and it's ADVENT for sure! Good luck out there, kids!" She dropped them off at the edge of the nearby forest, then took off again. Leonidas and the others deployed via rope, but Alia tried something new: she simply dropped from the end of the ramp and to the ground, landing with a thud, but otherwise fine. As his boots hit the ground, Leonidas admired the time-efficiency of such a method.
The Commander gave him his orders, and the Spartan leader relayed them to the others. They moved forward to a tall building just beyond the treeline, one of few in the small train stop. Leonidas put a finger to his ear, activating his commlink, "Team, this is Spartan King. Comms check." They had finally gotten such a device that could fit Alia, so now they could use this system properly. The responses came back one by one.
"Ghost. You're clearer than my sights."
"Eagle. Online and ready."
"Defcon. Locked and loaded."
"Robin. Reading you like a book."
"Alia. Link is functioning."
"Alright, Spartans," Leonidas said as he peered around the corner, "You know the drill: follow your orders, and everyone goes home alive. Let's get going."
Ghost and Alia scaled the building to play overwatch for the others, setting up their perches at the top. Almost immediately, the two marksmen spotted multiple targets and relayed the information back to the others. There was a MEC, two Troopers, a sentry turret, and a viper that they could see. There was no way that there weren't other hostiles further ahead, but this was a good start. The team had the element of surprise on their side, and they were going to use that to their advantage. Defcon climbed the building to the lower roof on the side so that she would have superior range with her grenades, Eagle did the same on the other side, his bolt caster loaded and at the ready.
Leonidas looked at Robin, "Time to see what you're made of, Little Bird. Let's go!" On the Commander's orders, the duo went around the side of the building to remain on the ground, staying low as they dashed forward and slid into cover behind a forklift while the enemy wasn't looking. Robin was inexperienced, but she had trained with the rest of them; she was in much the same boat as Alia, in that she was skilled but still wet behind the ears.
The Commander ordered him to launch an ambush and marked the order in which the targets would be attacked. Leonidas hesitated, seeing a fault in the plan and whispering: "That MEC has a rocket pod. If we don't take that thing down quickly, it's gonna cause some real difficulty for our snipers." After a moment, the order changed to properly address the MEC. Leonidas nodded―he was always ready for a risky plan, but not when it was his Spartans who were in danger. He had made a promise to take greater care, and he always kept his promises.
"What's the play, boss?" Robin whispered. She was good at staying quiet, he noted.
Leonidas spoke through comms, "Ghost, take out that viper. Alia, take the Trooper on the left, and Robin will take the one on the right. Eagle, you're going to hack that MEC while Defcon and I scrap this turret. Everyone got that?" He heard five voices respond affirmatively, then took a deep breath, "Alright. Spartans: go loud."
The six of them attacked all at once. Ghost snapped off a shot at the enemy viper, relieving her of her life. Robin popped out of cover to riddle her Trooper with bullets, but only grazed him, and Alia struck hers with a burst of venom rounds. Eagle's GREMLIN flew forward and interfaced with the MEC, taking less than a second to crack its systems and ordering it to self-destruct. The robotic combatant shook violently for a moment before erupting into flames and detonating shortly thereafter, the blast killing the remaining Trooper. Defcon unleashed a torrent of high-caliber lead from her cannon, pelting the turret's armored shell and weakening it enough for a single blast from Leonidas's shotgun to destroy it.
"That's how Spartans do it!" Robin cheered as the turret met the same explosive fate as the MEC. Leonidas smiled at her enthusiasm, debating quickly in his mind whether or not he should remind her that they had only just started this battle, and that she hadn't actually hit anything. Before he could reach a conclusion, though, a telltale pillar of purple psionic energy appeared near their target building. The Assassin.
Though plagued with static, her voice came through on their commlinks clearly enough to understand. "You have made a grave mistake. It will be your last." She had to be using some kind of device or psionic power that relied on proximity, he reasoned. Leonidas barked orders to the others as they rapidly flashed through his vision. The Commander was not one to panic under any circumstances, but sometimes it was clear that he had been caught off-guard. He reminded the Spartans that this enemy was capable of invisibility, so it was crucial that they partner up and watch their backs. Then the order came through: they were to rally on the rooftop. With the MEC gone, they were not in danger of being shelled through and sent crashing two stories to the ground anymore.
As he and Robin sprinted to the ladder that would lead them up the structure, Leonidas swore he caught a strange shimmer in the air out of the corner of his eye. Acting on gut instinct, he drew an axe and swept at the air, aiming to drive back his enemy and give them time to regroup. The sound of a frustrated grunt from the direction of his deterrent attack confirmed that he had made the right choice. Normally, he would choose to take on the Assassin here and now, but he had his orders, and he didn't want to put Robin in danger. With the situation escalating so rapidly, Leonidas had a sensation the team's new Predator armor would no doubt serve to save their lives today.
As Robin climbed the second ladder, Eagle fired a shot from his bolt caster as the Assassin flickered into sight. The shot virtually passed through her, eliciting a "What the Hell!?" from the specialist as he scrambled to reload and begin scaling the ladder at the same time. Leonidas stayed to give him time, scanning the area in front of him in a desperate effort to spot his opponent again. He knew that the first time had been a total fluke, but it could only benefit him to stay on his toes right now. Once Eagle was atop the ladder, Leonidas quickly followed, leaping up to grab a rung and throwing himself upward, then pushing with his leg to propel himself onto the roof. Years of intense physical conditioning were paying off.
"Can't you fight this bitch like you did last time!?" Robin asked as she looked around with her rifle, panic evident in her voice.
"She underestimated me then," Leonidas answered as he drew one of his axes, "She won't do that again. So no, not unless I want to gamble at getting even luckier than before to not get turned into a Spartan-kabab." He found himself back-to-back with Alia who was visibly having trouble remaining calm. And for a good reason―last time they had fought this opponent, the viper had come exceedingly close to meeting such a fate herself. Leonidas could sense that she was determined to prevent a repeat of those events. Without taking his eyes away from the area before him, he asked quietly, "What do you smell?"
"She is... right... in front... of me," Alia breathed, freezing in place as she slowly took aim. The order from the Commander came through, and Leonidas breathed deeply, steeling himself for another melee duel with this supernatural killer. He pressed his free hand into Alia's back below her armor, three fingers raised. He brought one down, starting a silent countdown. The order was for the serpent to fire, and her leader wanted to ensure that the Assassin would not have any warning. After that, he had no idea where things would go.
He hit zero, and Alia fired a burst of venom rounds at the air in front of her. The Assassin screamed as the burst hit her in the chest, becoming visible and snarling at them. Leonidas whirled around on one foot, bringing himself beside Alia as he hurled his axe at his target. The blade embedded itself in her shoulder, sending her staggering backward as she pulled it out and cast it aside, looking at him with murder in her eyes. "Defcon, grenade!" Leonidas shouted, seeing the order from his father and recognizing the simple genius of the move. They were about to do exactly what they had prevented by destroying the MEC: they were going to blow out a portion of the roof.
The grenadier fired an explosive directly onto the ground at the Assassin's feet, and the Chosen warrior looked down before realizing what was about to happen. She tried to lunge forward, but the explosive detonated before she could get clear, and the alien elite was sent tumbling down through the roof to the ground below, with no internal second floor to stop her fall. The dust cleared, and the Spartan Leader went to assess their handiwork.
Looking down into the hole, Leonidas did not see the body of the Assassin anywhere. He assumed that Chosen was either dead or retreating, since she seemed to be the type to run away when she was beaten. The Commander seemed to concur, since new orders appeared in his vision that directed them toward the target building. Now that the Chosen was dealt with, the main objective could now be carried out. He relayed orders to the others and made his way down to the ground before moving across the pavement toward the objective.
He heard something behind him, and he turned around to see... nothing. Suddenly, pain blossomed in his abdomen as a wicked-looking blade materialized in his gut. This sword really did just physically ignore the presence of armor. The Assassin followed, her armor in tatters and her face covered in cuts and bruises. She was neither dead, nor had she retreated. The Chosen had tricked them, and both Commander and Spartan Squad had fallen for it like fools. Leonidas choked on the pain as he was brought to his knees, the end of the sword jutting out of his backside, and the Assassin smiled evilly. "Your reign ends here, Spartan King," she said mockingly, "What is the human term, with kings in chess? I can't quite seem to remember."
She started to remove the blade, but Leonidas grabbed the hilt of the sword and fought to hold it in place. "Checkmate," he growled as Ghost fired a shot straight through her neck, causing her eyes to widen in shock as she began to choke on her own blood. As she collapsed, a pillar of psionic energy appeared around the Assassin and removed both herself and her weapon from the battlefield. Leonidas fell forward onto all fours, panting as he watched blood pour from his new wound. In an instant, Eagle's GREMLIN was on top of him and spraying the life-saving bio-foam of a medikit into the hole in his abdomen. The sword had narrowly missed his spine, which was lucky; if the Assassin had hit him there, he would be dead for sure.
The medikit promptly stemmed the flow of blood, with the foam working its way into his bloodstream to act as temporary super-platelets, and the powerful painkillers within allowed him to push past the pain. Leonidas would live to fight another day, but first, he had a mission to complete. The others quickly rushed over to aid him, with Alia being the first at his side. Ghost remained on his perch, knowing that the Commander would want him to do so in case they needed someone on overwatch.
"Leonidas," Alia hissed as she helped him to his feet, "Are you alright? Can you continue?" She held out the axe that he had thrown, having retrieved it from the roof before coming down.
He took the weapon, flipping end-over-end once in his hand before sliding it onto his back, taking his Killforge from its place at his hip and cocking it symbolically. Eagle exhaled a laugh, shaking his head in mild disbelief, "Leonidas will always continue, Alia. Pretty sure he'd fight while flatlining if it meant completing the mission, right up until someone takes his head off, or death herself strangles the life out of him."
"Damn straight," Leonidas grunted, clutching his wound for a moment, "I didn't need a small intestine anyway. Come on, let's get this over with so I can get some proper medical attention."
In his vision, Leonidas saw the Commander inquiring as to whether or not he was really fit to continue, and he answered by running to the target building, adrenaline flooding his bloodstream and keeping him on the move. Orders appeared in his vision as he did so, and they were relayed without further delay. A turret was placed on a balcony outside, and Ghost quickly sniped it from his own rooftop. While it might not have been the best idea to leave the sniper on his own after what they had just gone through, the Commander's orders were clear. Ghost could take care of himself if need be. As they passed the train, he noted the green pods on the train cars.
"The abductions never stopped," Central said grimly, "But why? What do they need these people for?"
Leonidas and Alia took up positions by one door, while Eagle, Defcon, and Robin took the other. Leonidas peered through the door as he opened it silently, spotting several enemies within―a viper, a MEC, and two ADVENT soldiers: a Trooper and a Stun Lancer. Enormous racks lined with green pods lowered into the floor, and Leonidas muttered, "What the Hell is this place?"
"Perhaps a storage facility of some kind?" Tygan suggested.
"This looks more like a refinery, Doctor," Shen corrected him, sounding far more concerned.
Leonidas gritted his teeth; this was worse than he could have imagined. New orders flashed across his vision, and he spoke through comms: "Spartans: the enemy knows we're here now, so we're going to formally introduce ourselves with a breach-and-clear. Alia and I will go first, then the three of you come in once shots start flying. Ghost, come down here and move up―you probably won't see anything from back there anymore." He looked at Alia, motioning for her to shoot the other viper once he entered. She nodded firmly, readying herself to kill one of her own. The plan was set; now it was time for execution.
He lunged into the building, sprinting for cover behind what appeared to be a computer terminal. The enemy units spotted him, and Alia appeared from her spot behind the door to put down the other viper before the hostile even had a chance to realize what was happening. The venom rounds struck her in the chest, and the enemy serpent gave a short cry of pain before she fell to the floor, thoroughly dead. The other units managed to reposition and find cover as the second door opened and the three Spartans came through, ready to kill. Robin slid into cover behind a terminal of her own, shooting at the MEC as Leonidas barked at her to do so, relaying the Commander's orders. Eagle followed, firing a bolt at the machine to finish it off as he took cover behind a pillar. Finally, Defcon entered to pulverize the Trooper with a barrage of heavy cannon fire.
The Stun Lancer sprinted forward, aiming to attack Alia with his melee weapon. As he passed, though, Leonidas stood up and swung an axe into the unit's neck, decapitating him before he could so much as scream. "Been practicing that one for some time now," Leonidas commented as he moved forward, receiving orders to investigate a strange, dimly glowing vial at the far end of the room. He peered at the container, which appeared to be placed in some sort of receptacle. Leonidas couldn't help but think that the flask looked like an oversized glowstick. The order flashed across his vision, and he took the vial from the pedestal without a second thought. Whatever this stuff was, it was important to ADVENT, and therefore it was imperative to take it from them.
"Spartans, you have company," Central's voice came through on comms, "Take that vial and get out of there!" Ghost was already on the move, taking up a position on the balcony outside that overlooked the extraction point. Leonidas led the others out through a rear door and sprinted across the ground toward the blue flares as they ignited, looking into the air to see an ADVENT dropship flying overhead to drop off units. He turned, preparing to shoot at the deploying enemies, only to see a muton charging at him. It must have been waiting behind the building.
Leonidas pulled an axe from his back and swung at the alien. The attack missed, and his enemy went for its own melee strike. The wickedly-serrated bayonet of the muton's plasma rifle came slashing down across his chest, causing more pain than damage but still doing its job. The razor-sharp teeth dug through his Predator armor and cut at his flesh, drawing blood as he was sent tumbling away. The familiar crack of the Wraith sounded in his ears, and Leonidas looked to see that Ghost had hit the muton but not killed it. "That thing's tough!" Leonidas coughed as he rolled onto his back and took aim with his Killforge, suddenly caught between targets as the dropship opened to reveal three Troopers and a Captain.
A burst of venom rounds from Alia killed the muton, and Leonidas quickly fired into the dropship, eliminating one Trooper before he had even left the vehicle. The viper helped him to his feet once again as the other Spartans came charging out onto the field. Right now, they needed to act as quickly as possible, so the team was acting autonomously. They had served long enough to have a good grasp on quick tactics. Defcon fired her frost grenade into the center of the three remaining units as they hit the ground, freezing them in place while the dropship made itself scarce. Ghost leapt down from his perch, firing the Shadowkeeper once from the hip as he ran, killing another Trooper. Eagle shattered the frozen Captain with a bolt from his own weapon, and his GREMLIN administered a lethal shock to the remaining Trooper. Robin sighed at not being able to kill anything but otherwise remained silent as she followed the others to the extraction zone.
Firebrand promptly swung in overhead, and the squad boarded the transport ship before any more enemy forces could appear, and escaped. Leonidas removed the vial from its spot behind his waist before falling into his seat, not wanting to break it after they had gone through the trouble of getting it. "Damn Chosen," he muttered as he looked at the glowing yellow liquid, "I think I heard Outrider talking about how they don't even die. How are we supposed-" he coughed violently, tasting blood, "Oh, great... How are we supposed to beat an enemy that doesn't die?"
"I think ADVENT is asking themselves the same question about you," Robin said as she eyed his wounds, "Are all Spartans meant to be able to endure that much?"
"Pretty much," Ghost answered, "Though Leonidas is not what you should compare yourself to, when it comes to that."
It was a refinery. This thought kept repeating in his mind as he stared at the vial. Leonidas tucked the thing into a pocket where he knew it wasn't at risk of getting broken, and let himself drop out of consciousness in his seat. It had been a refinery. They were refining people into... whatever this was. He hated the thought of it and hated the implication that things were about to be revealed to be far more complicated than he had once thought even more.
A/N: Hope the first part cleared some stuff up, and explained why Leo suddenly isn't so keen on throwing caution to the wind.
Abilities used in combat:
Eagle: Haywire Protocol on the MEC , ordering it to self-destruct because Eagle didn't want to risk a hack failure. Medical Protocol on Leo after he was stabbed, and Combat Protocol on the frozen Trooper. I know that the Combat Protocol at the end didn't conform to the game's combat rules, but this is how I do it.
Leonidas: Bladestorm on both the Stun Lancer and muton, missing the reaction attack on the muton.
Ghost: Lighting Hands at the end to kill the frozen Trooper.
And for Obs3rv4nt-Onl00k3r, my curious friend, I shall grant you the answers you seek. I made explicitly clear the origins of the song in chapter two, then put another in chapter seven and completely forgot to say anything about it, and I apologize for that. For that one, I just threw together some lyrics on their own, so there is no song out there that I can point you to. However, this will serve as a reminder to me to make sure that I reveal a song's origins in the note of the same chapter. It was a very good question―thank you for asking.
Leave a review to tell me what you think! As always, have fun and stay safe out there! -VV