Author's Note 5/10/24: Hi y'all. The "extra treat" chapter I mentioned in "A Little Crossed Pt. 1". Something I initially skipped over as I just had a solid block on how I wanted to approach it.
Summary: With Mox's location found, it was time to rescue him before the opportunity was lost.
While Commander Reeves was restricted to her Quarters, Bradford went ahead and began assembling a team for the operation to rescue Mox. They had received a priority call from Volk late in the evening. The man supplied coordinates to the prison Mox was currently being held and any additional details needed.
Volk also shared he received the information from some "wayward" Reapers not too dissimilar to the Silent Striders — and he was refusing to divulge more information. The name of the Reaper was Marrow. He would be waiting for them at the second set of coordinates to help them break in.
They had a limited time window to infiltrate and extract Mox during a shift change and before another convoy arrived. There was a faint chance that he would be moved again once it arrived.
Looking at the coordinates, the prison facility was just on the edge of the Assassin's territory bordering the Hunter's. Not great. The latter rarely cared for the borders of his siblings if it meant the hunt would be interesting. So there was a risk either or both could show up if a single alarm was raised.
It took around an hour to assemble the squad that would be up for the task. To Bradford's surprise, Elena found him and in a way politely demanded to be put on the team. Not exactly having time to ask questions, he let her join. He had a feeling she wasn't sneaking on just to put a bullet in Mox's brain. Too risky.
Before she left, he asked if she knew the name Marrow. The name sounded familiar but couldn't recall crossing paths with Reaper, especially if they were one of the "wayward ones". She liked to keep her distance but trusted whoever this Marrow was would be a boon to their infiltration.
Once the team was assembled, the Skyranger was blazed out in the dead of night. It would be a few hours before Gargoyle and the squad arrived at the coordinates.
The ADVENT Prison Facility. All roads leading to it were light for the early morning hours. It was still twilight.
The main courtyard of the facility was nearly bare. Only a few cars and prison vans populated it, as well as some patrols.
"Patrols are looking light, just like the reports said." Iris said as he peered through his binoculars and double-checked his tablet. "Wish we were a little closer so I could sample their system to pre-prepare my cracking tools for those cells. That will take the longest."
The squad had arrived at the second set of coordinates. A hill not too far from the prison. It had some decent tree cover which would keep them obscured from any air patrols. So far, the Reaper wasn't there.
"Outrider." Sol called to her as she was double-checking her medical supplies. "When's that Reaper supposed to arrive?"
She was sitting, scope trained on the prison. She was counting the patrols, memorizing their routes. Especially those MECs. "He'll be here soon. A Reaper is never late."
"'A Reaper is never late'." Count repeated in a mocking tone as she fiddled with her revolver and its armor. "Are you guys always so pompous? 2… 3… 4… 5…"
Outrider didn't even acknowledge her.
"The Reaper will be there. Just be patient." Central spoke over the comms. On his side, he was monitoring all motion trackers though it would be near useless against a Reaper's stealth.
A few minutes passed.
There was a rustle from the leaves above before a branch cracked and something hit the ground with a firm thud. All turned with this weapon raised before quickly lowering them.
"You all arrived right on time." A muffled male voice spoke. "The name's Marrow."
The tree-dropping surprise was a Reaper. Had to be the Reaper as he had a uniquely dark red cloak. And at a glance, one could see why Volk had some disdain for them. Alien tech was evident on their gear. His mask bore some resemblance to a Stun Lancers helmet, though fully encased with additional filters attached to the side. And his sniper rifle was wholly magnetic though the blend looked to blend between ADVENT and Alien tech.
"You guys love making your entrances." Count commented.
"For the love of… Volk." Outrider suddenly hissed under her breath before cursing her leader. Abruptly, she got up before heading over to them. "You're one of his men." She jabbed at his chest.
"Well 'ello to you too, Elena." He pulled away from the jabs, but his voice sounded unfazed.
"That's Outrider to you and he can choke on it."
That made everyone curious.
"The hell is you two's problem?' Blackout asked just what everyone wanted to know.
"Outrider, cool it!" Central was already getting ticked by the sudden bad blood. "Iris, patch him in."
Outrider huffed. "Fine. We do fight for the same cause."
"Exactly. And I won't bother you." Marrow said.
Once, Marrow was patched into their comm-link, he gave them details on everything he was able to discover from his scouting. Including a sample of the security network for the prison cells that made Iris all too happy to get Daedalus to prepare the cracking keys.
"We maybe have an hour or less before security picks back up. But this job should be in and out. 30 or less." Marrow said after showing the layout of the facility.
"Everyone got that?" Central asked. "He'll be taking point."
"Affirmative." All responded.
"Let's get to business, then." Marrow tapped his helmet a few times before double-checking his riffle. "Follow close and avoid taking any out. We don't want any alarms raised."
The squad swept down and to the prison, using the rising sun to their ADVENT to get past the guard towers.
Once inside, they carefully navigated the main courtyard and past a side building to avoid the patrols. Marrow and Iris used their combined hacking skills to set off innocuous sounds or alerts to redirect the positions of the more infuriatingly stationed guards so they could slip past them.
In about 10 minutes, they were inside the main building, and within a few more minutes, they were in the holding area.
They quickly spread out to check out who was in what cell. Most were empty. A few continued some unlucky people — civilian, refuge, etc.— who had to be quickly hushed. With their crunched time limit, they were sure they could rescue all of them but recorded what data they could.
But one contained someone in a stasis suit that looked fair to similar to the one the Commander was found in.
"Who the hell is that?" Blackout asked as she peered as far as that hardlight security door would let her.
Iris was over there in a heartbeat checking the door's terminal for details.
"That's most likely our target." Marrow said as he came over. "Special prisoners get that suit." He hissed.
"Yeah, it's him." Iris confirmed. Has all of Mox's information. Creation date and designation details. Desertion date. Capture date." He rattled off the information. He was already firing up his hacking tool.
"Let me assist. Sometimes the security on these doors can be finicky." Marrow lent a hand.
It was taking some time, but the hacking was going well.
Then several loud bangs echoed from the distance. At least four ADVENT guards cried out in pain. A car exploded. And then there was another smaller explosion that rocked the building, causing the lights to go out for just a moment. Gunshots.
The alarms to the Prison went off as soon as those lights came back on.
"What the hell was that?" Just about everyone asked.
"Some other resistance group trying to spring someone?" Count rushed over to the door leading back to the main hall to see if anyone was coming.
"Stay sharp Menace, ADVENT is on high alert now and is scrambling for that source. dropships will be inbound before you know it." Central said. "We're scanning the surrounding area for the source. Not seeing anyone in the surrounding are—"
"Hello, XCOM." An all too familiar deep voice graced their ears. "Mind if I ruin the reunion?"
"Kon-Ris." Outrider hissed.
It took a moment for their scanners to find him. He was where the squad had initially arrived. That same hill. He was now moving towards their location.
"Dammit." Marrow cursed under his breath.
"Tipped him off when doing your scouting?" Outrider couldn't help but throw a jab.
"Really? There was always the risk he or any of them would show!" He snapped back. "Fuck it." Refocusing his attention, he brought out a small pronged alien device before ramming it into the terminal. A second later, the terminal, as well as the other ones, screen malfunctioned before every hardlight door shut off. The other prisoners leaped at the chance to escape.
"That's… useful." Outrider said. She was impressed despite how alien the device looked.
"Someone get Mox. Sending the coordinates to your new LZ. You have 10 minutes and counting." Central said. "And get those civvies to follow orders.
Sol pushed her way past Marrow and Iris to get into the cell. With a quick once over, even popping the helmet off for a split second to ID him, she picked him up.
With him secured, and most of the civilians wrangled, they made their leave. Except two of them didn't care to listen and made a break for it on their own. Forcing their way past Count, and somehow getting past the Guards entering the building, who were now fully focused on XCOM seeing where the two prisoners came from, they didn't make it far.
Two more gunshots rang out. Two faint thuds could be heard.
"Soft targets. No fun." Kon-Ris remarked. "But they mean a great deal to you, don't they, XCOM. Commander Gresham?"
"Ignore him and find a way out." Central said.
The squad was pinned in the holding area. More Guards were pouring through the main entrance.
"Our exit's blocked!" Count said as she and Blackout were trading firing with the Guards. "2… 1… Cover me! Reloading!"
"Not for long." Outrider pulled out Claymore. Her eyes looked for just the right place in that horde of enemies to throw it.
"I see we're on the same wavelength." Marrow too had pulled out a satchel. But he was moving towards the back of the holding area. "I suggest everyone stay back about, hm, one cell length." He said as he went to a cell adjacent to the back wall and planted it.
As he exited it, Outrider threw the claymore in the middle of the swarm barreling down the hall. As soon as she landed and had it in her sights she pulled the trigger.
The explosion rocked the building and collapsed the hallway.
As that happened, Marrow set off his satchel, taking out a chunk of the back wall.
"We need to move, now!" Marrow was on the move.
"Iris, throw this smoke!" Sol quickly tossed the grenade to him, doing her best not to drop.
He caught it, pulled the pin, and threw it just ahead of Marrow. As soon as it popped, the rest of them followed the Reaper.
"Oh, that's clever." Kon-Ris commented watching the carnage. "Real clever. I like that." Then he noticed the white smoke clouds billowing through at the grey smoke. He was already changing the vision of his scope. With a few adjustments, that smoke was nothing to him. "But that's not enough."
It was a mad dash avoiding gunfire from both ADVENT and the Hunter and the missile spray from any MECs as they used what few buildings they had as cover as they headed for the LZ was more open than they would have liked. Iris quickly went to work to subvert any MEC he could to take the heat off even if the Hunter cratered its chest moments later. Outrider used a few more of her Claymores to keep their backs mostly cleared of followers.
In the chaos, most likely breaking from fear, they lost two more prisoners from arrant gunfire.
"Shit!" Blackout yelled as a burning pain erupted through her right calf. Shotgun clattering to the ground, her body followed, crashing into the pavement. "No, no, no." Blindly throwing her hands forward, her fingers dug into the pavement, tearing the tips of her gloves, as she barely pulled herself into cover just as another shot rang out and a small crater formed where her head once was.
"Nearly nailed ya. But the leg will do, for now." Kon-Ris darkly chuckled. "Thought you Rangers were supposed to be speedy type? As slow as paranoid Secto—."
A hail of bullets shut him up.
"Put a sock in it." Outrider was the culprit.
"Elena.~" He said her name in a singsong voice. "Wondered when you would give me some attention. Your really risking your neck for this forming Captain? Has, as you humans say, 'hell frozen over?'"
Iris was by Blackout sides within seconds. "How you doing? I may not have Sol's touch but spray does the work."
"It's a through and through. Just get me back up." Blackout hissed.
In a minute, he got her patched up and moving again.
"Menace, your time's nearly up. dropships are nearly there and there's a convoy heading your way." Central updated them. "Gargoyle's at the LZ."
Seeing the Skyranger arrive made them double their haste the best they could. Marrow used a claymore in-combination of one of the fuel storage tanks near the last set of barricades they were passing to give them a wide berth. As soon as the last person was way from it, he set it off. The ensuing explosions destroyed that corner of the facility and forced ADVENT to back off.
One of the prisoners let out a cry of pain as they tumbled over that last barricade.
"Shit." Count cursed. She quickly doubled back and worked to get them back to their feet, but one of their legs was injured. "Come on, come on. We're nearly— FUCK!"
Another gunshot. This one was accompanied by the sickening sounds of bone cracking and flesh splattering. Blood covered Count's face.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" She dropped the dead prisoner and ran.
"Oops. Missed." The Hunter quipped. "That was supposed to be for the one that likes counting her bullets. Tsk, tsk, humans are so clumsy aren't the— Shit!"
A hail of bullet fire shut him up.
"Silence, Skinner." Marrow sneered. He was at the LZ, gun trained on the building the Hunter was once perched on. He watched the tall bastard, slink off the roof and behind one of the armored escort vehicles.
"Ah!" Kon-Ris hissed, pressing his hand against his lower stomach. As he pulled back, he noticed orange blood. "You actually hit me…" A grimace turned into a grin. "Maybe you Reapers can shoot after all. Unless that alien tech is assisting you, Marrow? You're one of his men aren't you?"
With time bought, the rest of the squad made it to the LZ.
Sol with Mox was the first to hook and ascend, followed by a still frazzled Count who shoved the prisoner Blackout was helping out of the way. Once she was up, Blackout and Iris helped the surviving two prisoners aboard.
"He seems to know you." Outrider said as she was hooking herself in. For once, there was no judgment in her voice.
"You know the bastard, he knows everyone that causes enough trouble for the Elders." Marrow said.
Hooked in, the two ascended. Just as they reached that ramp and were stepping aboard. Marrow went down. He let out a cry of pain as a shot pierced his leg. And before anyone knew, it another shot severed his cable, causing him to plummet.
"Bingo." The Hunter grinned.
"No!" Time felt like it slowed down for Outrider. Not again! In vain, she reached out, fingers grasping at the sleeve of his coat, but his arm slipped right through her grasp.
Marrow bounced off the ground, body flipping once, before rolling to a halt. "Hells…" He groaned. He was still conscious.
"Someone cover me!" Outrider was already working to reverse the mechanism so she could repel.
"Menace, you're out of time! Reinforcements have arrived!" Central yelled. "Gargoyle, get moving!"
"On it." Gargoyle acknowledged.
"No!" Outrider yelled. "We can't leave him!"
"Leave me!" Marrow yelled. "He's coming. There's no time." He could hear that distinctive metallic zing of the Hunter's grappling hook, followed by that ping of a teleport. "I knew the risks. You've got your man. Go!"
Another psionic ping and the Hunter was mere feet away from Marrow. He looked up and waved.
Outrider let out a howl of anger as she drew her Vektor rifle and fired at the Hunter as the Skyranger pulled out. Someone had to pull her in as they closed the ramp.
"Tck, if she wasn't so icy towards you earlier, I would have thought you two were lovers with that roar of anger." Kon-Ris said as he finally made it to Marrow. "You humans and emotions are just fascinating. Especially her. I see why the Elders despise the human condition so much."
"Go to hell." Marrow spat.
Placing a foot on the leg he shot, Kon-Ris gradually applied pressure causing Marrow to squirm until he began to yell.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't like your style. Marrow? Was it?" He grinned knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "The Elders want me to kill you right now, but I want to pick that brain of yours. Maybe your capture will get the attention of that bone-wearing freak boss of yours. Wouldn't that be a fair compromise, my Masters?" He gestured to Marrow as he looked up at the sky like They were there. "And I'm just dying to face him again. How's his legs?"
"Pi'ker'tut!"Marrow cursed.
Kon-Ris dramatically gasped as he clutched his chest. "Oooh, a Mamba clan curse? Fraternizing with the local Skirmsher clan, are we?"
Just as he was kneeling to pick up his prize, he paused. His eyes darted around as a familiar wave of energy radiated in his skull. The next second a psionic screech ripped through the area as a pillar of that immense energy crashed down mere feet from him.
As it dissipated, he saw all too familiar form rising to their feet. And a sword was being drawn.
"Brother." Jax-Rai said with a low growl. "My men."
"Hey, sis." He just grinned. "What took you so long?"
The Skyranger's flight back was mostly uneventful, minus dodging an ADVENT Intercepter or two.
Outrider was still boiling with rage. Count questioned why she even cared about him with how sour she was as soon as she laid eyes on Marrow.
Outrider tersely explained despite their differences in technology philosophy. He was Reaper through and through. And then it was Kon-Ris who did the deed, twisting that sadistic knife of his once more when victory was assured. She wanted that Chosen dead more than anyone.
Nearly home, they did get one surprise. A broadcast from the Assassin.
"XCOM. You finally deciphered my patterned movement of that loathsome traitor. I congratulate you." She sent. "Your show of loyalty will be your downfall, but I cannot fault you for mounting a rescue for an ally in need. It would dishonor us both to deny your success."
Once back at the Avenger and landed, the medical team was already there to whisk Mox off to the Infirmary to pry him out of the suit and see what his current condition was as well as check on the surviving prisoners. As soon as they were cleared, Central wanted to know why they were there so he could figure out how to best handle their relocations.
The squad eventually debriefed. Central had a little heart-to-yelling talk with Outrider. He had several questions for her he quickly realized would only be answered with his next walk with Volk. Hopefully, the loss of Marrow wouldn't sour the man's mood.
Yet, with Mox saved and a few prisoners liberated, Central saw the whole operation as a success. There was good news to deliver to Betos and the Commander.
Commander Reeves. Thinking of her dour mood nearly soured his. He hoped the positive news would help lighten her mood.