Summary: The Squad, Menace, had reached their first destination. The outskirts of the city near the least secure entry gates. Now they just had to wait for their escorts. Bones' Reapers.

Firebrand had dropped off the squad not too far from the city. It was a bit of a walk, but necessary. The last thing they needed was the city on high alert. Especially since they wouldn't be able to communicate with the Avenger until they had their gear.

They were waiting at the spot where they would meet the Reapers. Bones' Reapers. An outcrop of rocks, not too far from the checkpoint leading into the city. Perfect for cover and to watch the guards stationed at the checkpoint. Two guard booths, a few scanning towers, and oddly enough, there were only two ADVENT troopers there. One was patrolling outside. The other was sitting inside one booth, behind a series of monitors. But they were starting to nod off. Unsecured indeed.

"Now, where are those sneaky bastards?"

Leo was peering from the outcrop, eyes darting around, examining the landscape. His foot tapping furiously against the ground. He grumbled as he ducked back into cover and began pacing back and forth.

"Want to be out of this damn monkey suit." His hand went up to his neck and pulled at the collar. He grumbled.

"Is he always this impatient?" Asher whispered to Trish.

"For as long as I've known him? Yep." She nodded. "One of his many 'charming' features."

"C-charming?" Asher couldn't help but snort.

"I'm being nice." Trish giggled. "Better than his other habits."

"You keep pacing like that and you're gonna make a ditch, kid." Warren commented. The team's mountain man was sitting on a rock, watching the jackrabbit pace back and forth. "And tear up those nice shoes before we even get in there."

"Can it!" Leo snapped back. "How would you feel wearing this getup?"

Warren let out a deep chuckle. The clothing that was given to him was more relaxed compared to Leo's. He tugged on his beard a few times before shaking his head. "I was a businessman before the world went to hell. Accountant." He chuckled again. "Wore a very fine 'monkey suit' back in the day. Clean shave, short hair. Kinda miss it."

Leo stopped in his tracks and just looked at Warren. His mouth was agape. "Y-you?" He couldn't find his words. His eyes were looking the mountain man up and down. He didn't believe him.

Nothing about him screamed he would even like wearing a suit. The man was usually covered in dirt due to either helping Memento in the guardians or heading out into the wilds to do some hunting. He had to admit this was the cleanest he had ever seen Warren. Especially his beard and hair. It was usually a mess. Long uneven beard and his braided hair tied back into a sort of messy bun. But for this mission, he trimmed his beard and one of the crew members properly braided his hair.

"Y-you're fuckin' kidding me, right?" Leo spat out.

Warren laughed. "I did say I kinda miss it."

"Keep the chatter down, guys." Manson spoke up. He had found a rock to sit on and was busy messing with his phone. Again. Something to tinker on. A substitute for his beloved Gremlin. "This checkpoint may be dead, but that doesn't mean they don't have ears."

"Can it, tech boy." Leo sneered. "Doubt those tinheads can hear us over here."

"Better safe than sorry, jackrabbit."

"Oh," Leo's brow twitched, "you want to start a bit of a fight now?"

"And make you lose more brain cells before the operation gets going?" He rolled his eyes. "Pfft, I'll pass."

Leo bristled at what he said. "Why you little fuc—"

"Boys." Warren quickly got up, putting himself between the two. A hand firmly on Leo's chest to keep the hothead back. "Behave and think. The both of you!"

"I'm thinking." Manson scoffed. "Not sure about him."

"Oh, I'm thinking about something!" Leo sneered. He pressed against Manson's hand.

"Leo." Warren sighed. He wondered why the two never got along. "Trish… save your brother."

"Coming.~" Trish sang. A hop and skip over and Trish started working her magic. Wrangling her friend back and away from Manson.

"Back on the ship, tech boy! You hear me? Back on the ship!"

"Whatever, jackrabbit." Manson rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you an interesting bunch of muckers." A distorted female voice interrupted.

"Zuud be nice." A distorted male voice chimed in.

Both voices were far too close.

Like startled chickens, the squad's head's quickly snapped to where the voices came from. On top of the outcrop were two cloaked figures. Crouched. Holding their rifles in a relaxed state. Looked to be Reapers. Though their gear looked a bit off. For one, their coats looked different from the usual dark attire. There was some color. Patterns. One's coat was a light blue with hexagonal patterns and the other was a rich rust with similar patterns to their friend. Then their gear. Modular, yet alien-looking gas masks. Their Vektor rifles looked to have alien tech integrated into them. Similar to the Silent Striders but less crude and more refined. Had to be Bones' Reapers.

"Bloody hell!" Leo was already getting defensive. Hand reaching towards his back for his blade. "Fuck." Then he remembered. He didn't have his machete.

"Oh! We got a jumpy one!" Zuud laughed. The one in rust.

"Zuudy." The male sighed. The one in blue.

"Get a funny bone, Mica." She nudged him. The two were still in a relaxed state.

"Leo." Warren placed a hand on Leo's shoulder and gently pulled him back. He took a moment to clear his throat before looking at the Reapers. "Watchers in the shade."

A few seconds passed, but no answer. Warren raised his brows.

Zuud nudged Mica a few times. He let out an exasperated sigh and cursed something in another language.

"Going to get a memory check for you…" He mumbled. He looked at Warren. "Are conquerors of darkness." He answered.

"Guess you're Bones' people?" He asked.

"Ello! Ello! Ello!" Zuud gave a friendly wave.

"I'll take that as a yes." Warren shook his head.

"Could've gottn' shot ya know." Leo pipped up.

"You got no guns!" Zuud laughed. "But would like to see you try."

"Is that a dare?" Leo smirked.

"Maybe." She playfully tutted.

"Zuud." Mica sighed.

"Leo." Trish placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't need issues with the Commander now do we?" He cringed when she said that.

"Starting to get dark." Manson spoke up as he got up. "And don't like the look of that cloud." He noticed a patch of dark clouds heading towards the city. "About time we get into the city, right?"

"Yep!" Zuud nodded as she hopped to her feet. "Let's get you muckers in the city."

"So how are we gonna do this?" Leo asked.

"Really not that hard." Mica got to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at the checkpoint. Still the two guards… for the moment. "The checkpoint is barely guarded, we've hacked the cams so no need to worry about getting spotted on the way in. And those chips will keep those towers from going off."

"That's smart with the camera system." Manson commented.

"Covert is our specialty.~" Zuud sung.

"Right…" Leo shook his head.

"So just stick close and try not to trip!" Zuud laughed. "Think you can manage that? Hot stuff?"

"Oh, I can manage, chipper."

"Oh, ho, ho!" She laughed. "Bones is gonna like you!"

"Enough." Warren shook his head. He almost felt like he could see the sorry eyes behind Mica's mask. "Let's get going, kids."

"Follow! Follow!~" Zuud sang again.

With the two Reapers at the helm, the squad followed their movements closely. Since their brief conversation, a few more guards had come around to the checkpoint. Looked to be a shift change as one of the guards was shaking the one in the booth that had fallen asleep. Now there were five ADVENT troopers. That didn't matter too much to the group. It was rather light compared to most checkpoints they had dealt with. And the encroaching darkness would be their friend. Besides, the Reapers had a few tricks up their sleeve.

They made it over to another outcrop of rocks a few feet away from the booth on the right. There was a guard stationed in it and two that were patrolling around it. One in the front and one in the back. On the way, they noticed two guards by the city gate but couldn't find the fifth one. The other booth looked to be empty.

"Heh, heh, heh." Zuud quietly snickered to herself. She put away her rifle and started fiddling with a pouch on her waist.

"Zuud." There was a hint of concern in Mica's voice.

"Don't worry your pretty little head." She paused from her fiddling and patted Mica's head. He flinched with each pat. "You know I love doing distractions. Just move them along on my signal."

"Just don't go overboard." He sighed. "Especially if you're using those noise makers."

She pulled out a handful of small disc-like devices. "Can't promise anything." That only got another sigh out of Mica.

Zuud carefully studied the patrol patterns for a few moments, noting where the guard in the booth was looking. Whenever she found an opening, she would toss out one disc, aiming for areas that would be hard to spot. Dark spots, behind barricades, cracks in the roads.

"Now to get to the other side." She quietly hummed. Again she watched the patterns and when the moment arose she quickly darted out of cover and towards the booth. Swiftly she climbed up and onto the roof.

"Exactly what is she planning?" Manson couldn't help but ask as he watched her sprint off. Especially after seeing her climb up to the roof. Seemed counterproductive, even for a Reaper. The street lights illuminated the checkpoint fairly well.

"Attention redirection with noise."

"While on the roof? In plain sight?"

"Don't worry."

A moment later, Zuud hopped off of the roof and took cover between a row of barricades. Still no sign of the fifth guard. That other booth still looked to be empty.

"Hmm."

Carefully, she made her way over to the other booth, occasionally poking her head out to check the guard patterns. Still the same, no eyes in her direction. As she made it over to the booth, she heard something faint.

"Oh ho, you're in there." She chuckled as she got closer and could hear the guard more clearly. "Making a report, eh? Away from the windows? Hm." A quick peek into the booth wouldn't hurt.

She quickly checked behind her. The two guards walking had their backs to her, and the one in the booth was distracted. She took the opening. Vaulting over one barricade after another, she swiftly made it to the front of the booth, hugging close to the side. Once there, she took a quick peek. Empty, but there was a shadow stretching across the floor and wall. Eyes tracing it, there was a strong light coming from a side room in the back.

"Confirmed." She hummed. Hearing the sound of clacking boots, she quickly ducked around to the other side of the booth. She peeked around the corner; the guards were moving around as expected.

"Time to get to work."

With a devious snicker, she raised her left arm and tapped on what looked to be a silver plate stitched into the arm of her coat. Nothing happened for a moment until a little static and it lit up revealing a screen.

"Let's start with a bird song."

One tap, two taps, and a few more, at first nothing happened. Then there were a few high-pitched tweets. Sounded more alien than the Earth birds The sound of some night bird chirping close by. One patrolling guard quickly snapped too. Their head looking in the direction of the noise. Such a foreign noise.

They cautiously moved towards the sound, towards a barricade on the right, searching for the singing bird, but as they got closer, the tweeting quickly stopped. But as it stopped another bird started singing elsewhere, yet close by. They quickly shifted their attention to the new source, and before they knew it they were bouncing back and forth searching for the elusive bird, if not birds, they kept moving before they could find it. A few more minutes were wasted until they let out a disgruntled curse and shrug before they returned to their patrol route. Yet there was a little twitch to their walk, slight jerkiness to their head and neck. Part of them wanted to find this foreign-sounding bird.

"Oh, ho, ho!" Zuud quietly snickered to herself. "Let's kick it up a notch."

A few taps away on that screen and now a cacophony of bird calls, chirps, and singing started to fill the air. That made the two patrolling guards stop in their tracks. Rifles raised and steadied with caution. No birds in sight. Something wasn't right.

"››Are you hearing this?‹‹" The one guard that heard the first birds turned to their companion. There was a hint of nervousness in their voice. Though one couldn't see their eyes, one could feel their eyes were darting back and forth, scanning the area.

"››Yes, this is strange.‹‹" They answered. Cautiously moving towards one rather noisy chirping bird. They crept towards the one booth with the guard stationed up front, who had nodded off again, but the bird songs were rousing them. As they peered around the corner, the noisy chirping they were tracing died down.

"››Something's not ri—‹‹"

As that particular chirping died down, suddenly a throaty cooing laugh replaced it. At a blaring volume. Just behind the guard.

"››What the!?‹‹" Quickly, the guard spun around, accidentally firing off a few rounds into the pavement, kicking up chunks of asphalt. The sudden gunfire startled the drowsy guard in the booth, causing them to fall out of their chair.

"››Hold your fire!‹‹" Though equally startled, the nervous guard told them off.

Zuud did her best to hold in a snicker as she watched the chaos unfold. She quickly quieted herself when she heard the sound of boots quickly plodding and a door slammed open. "››What's going on out here?‹‹" The "absent" guard in the booth near her position had heard the shots. Rifle in hand, they scanned the scene.

"››So—sounds! Unnatural sounds. Strange birds, but no birds to be seen!‹‹" The one with the smoking rifle quickly answered.

"Think I have to make some of those." Manson quietly commented as he watched the confusion Zuud was unleashing all with simple, yet annoying, bird calls. He noticed the guards stationed by the gates were heading towards their direction to see what was going on. "Really have to make something like that."

"Zuud may share her schematics, if you ask nicely." Mica said. He didn't look at him as he said that. His eyes were locked on the direction Zuud went. Waiting for the sign.

"Really?" Manson's eyes lit up. He thought Reapers' would be more secretive with something like that.

"Don't even think about it." Leo hissed out.

"Oh please," Manson rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't waste them on you."

"Knowing you, you would. Wake me up from a from a nap or something."

"You sleep like a lead brick."

Just as the two's bickering was truly about to begin, a sharp cry pierced through the near-deafening bird calls. A blood-curdling female cries for help from somewhere off in the distance. Almost sounded like the cry of one of the ADVENT officers. That quickly caught the attention of all the guards.

"››What th—‹‹"

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

Before they could even finish the thought, a roar quickly followed the cry for help.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

A particular animalistic roar, followed by chittering, snapping mandibles, and skittering claws digging into the ground and clacking against rocks and the road.

"››Chryssalids!?‹‹" The guards quickly snapped too.

Faint silhouettes of those hellish bugs could be seen on the horizon. A line of them, if not a horde, was racing towards something nearby. So far, they had no interest in this guard post. But knowing those bugs, it wouldn't take long before they headed their way.

"››Must be a wandering pack.‹‹"

"››You,‹‹" one guard pointing to the one guard still in the booth, "››call in an extermination unit now! Everyone else, we stand ready!‹‹" They raised their rifle toward where the Chryssalids were. The others did likewise. Though they hadn't noticed one. The bird calls slowly died down before completely stopping once the Chryssalid roars started.

"The hell!?" The hidden squad was just as surprised as the guards.

"Chryssalids!? Out here!?" Leo held his voice back the best he could, but a nervous squeak peeked through.

"This isn't good. Don't remember any of the local scans said anything about roaming Chryssalids." Warren muttered as he pulled on his beard. He hoped those things would stay away.

"That's our cue." Mica cooly said. "Keep up." One moment he was there. The next moment he was breaking cover, dashing towards the unguarded city gate.

"Wa— wait, what!?" That was the signal?

With no time to question, and Mica leaving them in the dust, the squad quickly hopped to their feet and followed after the Reaper. At first, they were trying to avoid crossing under or near those oppressing red lights from the scanning towers until one of them stumbled into the light and… nothing happened. Looked like the chips Bones had provided were working as advertised. Manson's mind was already formulating ways of replicating the chips with the RD team.

"Hurry up!" Mica gently chided them. Hearing a gunshot and hissing, he looked over his shoulder. The squad was fine, but looked as though one Chryssalid had finally noticed the checkpoint. And that gunshot caused more to head towards the guards. At least they were distracted. With the horde quickly heading over and gunfire starting, the group quickly hastened their pace.

A few tense moments, but Mica led the ground through the gate and another barely guarded checkpoint on the other side. Once past that, he led the group down a series of alleyways until they found a quiet spot to let them catch their breath and get their bearings.

Sitting down or leaning on the walls, they gladly took a breather, somewhat basking in the welcoming glow of neon lights flooding the alleyway. They took a moment to fix their disheveled clothes and think of what had just happened.

Chryssalids. Their minds trying to process the unwelcome surprise that could have gone sour. Leo looked rather shaky. Arms crossed and fingers digging into his arms as he paced back and forth, muttering something about wanting his damn blade back if those things get into the city.

Mica took a moment to take point, cautiously heading towards the end, if not opening, of the alleyway where the neon light was coming from. The streets were sparsely populated, but the nearby nightclub sounded packed. Muffled music thumping along and some cheering and laughing could be heard.

"No patrols, shouldn't look weird when they pop out of here." He muttered to himself. He stuck by the entrance a little longer before heading back toward the group.

"Sorry about there being no warning for our 'insurance'." Mica apologized to the recovering group.

"Chryssalids!?" Leo spat out. "You call that insurance!?" He was already breathing down Mica's neck.

"Her idea, not mine!" Mica raised his hands, quickly backing away from the fuming man. "She likes using the 'natural' resources to further a goal."

"Those things ain't got any bloody brains!" He was still hot on him. "What if they attacked us!?"

"Leo tone it down." It didn't take long before Trish was right behind her hot-headed friend, hands on his shoulders, pulling him back.

"Oh, I know how to control those annoying bugs." In a blink of an eye, Zuud appeared before the group. Well, technically, she dropped down. Hanging. Upside down. In-between Mica and Leo.

"HEY!" Leo hopped back, crashing into Trish. Hand clutching his chest. He wasn't the only one in the group to jump, but thankfully, they were less vocal than him. Zuud let out a snicker, waggling a finger at him.

"Leo." Trish, and the others, hushed him.

"Zuudy," Mica sighed, "be nice."

"Oh? He can't handle little ol' me dropping down?" Zuud snickered.

"Not like a damn spider." Leo shook his head, grumbling under his breath.

"You're gonna love Bones then." She laughed.

"Like hell, I will…"

"So…" Warren came over to them, mainly looking at Mica. "Our stuff at the drop-point?" He wants to get the group back on track.

"Yep. Around the corner to that nightclub 'Beyond the Veil'. Discrete crates and a 'guard' looking over them." Mica said. "Got the city layout in your head?"

"Between the five of us, I think we can manage." He chuckled. "If not, I'm sure there's an information booth that has maps we can pick up."

"Smart." Mica nodded. "But do try to blend in and not stand out."

"We'll try our best." He let out a chuckle with a hint of a sigh. It was going to be interesting blending into the city nightlife, ADVENT style.

"Best of luck to you guys." Mica gave them a thumbs up.

"Thanks, we'll…" Warren looked over his shoulder when he heard a humpf from Leo and Asher snickering. Trish was locking arms with him and already dragging him towards the exit of the alley. He swore when he heard her say, "pretend to be my date just this once". He shook his head. He knew they hated people assuming they were a couple all the time. "We're gonna need some luck." He started to follow the two.

"Think I can get those schematics to those noise makers?" Manson asked Zuud. "Good work, by the way."

"Hmm…" Zuud tilted her head back and forth, swaying a bit with each tilt. "Don't know you too well.~" She sang. "Thanks.~"

"I got some tech I could share~." He replied back in the same singsong tune.

Zuud chuckled at that. "Well…" She dropped her hand to her chin.

"Less chitchat! We got to move!" Asher grabbed Manson by his arm and dragged him along.

"Hey! Hey!" He yelped. "You know how to contact us!" He yelled just before he was out of earshot.

"Interesting bunch of muckers." Zuud laughed.

"Yeah, they are. XCOM." Mica chuckled. He walked over to her. "Nice work you did… even with the bugs."

"Told you not to worry your pretty little head, eh?" Another laugh came from her. As soon as he was within reach, she flicked the visor portion of his mask. He flinched. "Rooftops now?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "let's join the others." He did a quick stretch. "Keep an eye out on them as the boss has told us… and any unexpected guests."

"Wouldn't mind planting a bullet between his eyes if he does show up."

"Same. The chatty bastard. Where is he keeping Marrow?"

With that, Zuud quickly retracted herself towards the roof she was grappled to. Mica raised his arm and launched his grapple. The next moment, both were on the roof and moving. Keeping an eye out on the group as they moved through the city.

The nerve center of the Avenger was humming as usual. The crew was finishing up the final touches of hacking into the city's security network and getting the monitors with the city's camera grid. The data and hardware they got from the trade-off from Bones were helping them tear through encryptions like they were nothing.

Central was making his rounds, checking up on each station, making sure everyone was pulling their weight. As he made it back over to where Commander Reeves was, he shifted his gaze to the monitors. A fuzzy haze of blue pixels on some screens. Others fully focused in, fully in color, scanning the surroundings of the city. Citizens enjoying the nightlife. ADVENT peacekeepers patrolling the streets.

"Hm." He mumbled. He looked over to his right towards his young protégé, Dimitri. She had that alien headset on. Had it on for a few hours now and so far no side effects. She was hard at work, cracking the final bit of encryptions and getting the cameras set up. Somehow, she was also barking out a few orders to make sure the others were covering her tracks. The last thing they needed was ADVENT to detect the intrusion.

A few minutes passed.

"Dimitri." Central glanced back at the screens, noticing the fuzzy ones were coming into focus before looking back at her.

"Yes?" Her head tilted his way. Fingers typing away furiously.

"You have that one data chip Bones gave us plugged in?"

"Yep!" She smirked. Those purple lenses on the headset glimmered for a moment. "It's syncing perfectly with our system and helping us finish the last bit of encryption breaking." She said. "All the cameras will be ours soon and the security chatter is nice and quiet right now. Bones got some resources." She looked over at him, smiling like a cheshire cat. Only it quickly disappeared. "Wait…" The typing stopped as she raised a hand to her headset.

"What?"

"Picking up reports of a Chryssalid sighting near one of the city's entry gates. That's weird."

"Chryssalids? Shouldn't be anywhere near the city." He was surprised to hear that. None of the Avenger's scans picked up those annoying things in the vicinity. "Hope they weren't near where Menace was meeting." He knew they should have been in the city by now, but he hated the idea of them having to deal with the Chryssalids with no gear. Especially Leo. The man was a magnet for those things, but he was great at killing them.

"Well, the little horde of bugs is drawing attention away from more important parts of the city. ADVENT is dispatching some extermination squads."

"Hm." He mumbled. "Maybe some good luck for the squad. Now where are the—"

"There's the squad."

Commander Reeves commented as the screens caught a glimpse of the squad as they were walking the streets. The screen quickly shifted to another camera's view to track them. They were doing their best to blend in, looking like a group of friends having fun after dark.

"Still can't believe Leo is wearing that suit." She couldn't help but comment as she noticed him tugging at the collar.

"I think he lost a bet." Central chuckled.

"Really?" She shook her head. "He loves betting, doesn't he?"

"A vice of his… wait… what's that?" His eyes caught something. Something dashing across one of the camera feeds. A black blur and hints of colored lights.

"Wait what?" Commander Reeves didn't catch what he saw.

"Dimitri." He looked at her.

"Already on it." Fast fingers were already away at work. "Noticed a few of the rooftop sensors going wild and…" She trailed off.

A few camera feed jumps and they found their answer.

"What…" Central squinted his eyes. "Are those…?"

"Reapers?" Commander Reeves finished his sentence.

"Looking like it." Dimitri said. She had the cameras focus in.

Moving across the rooftops were several Reapers. A small army, really. There was one group of them keeping pace with Menace, almost as if they were playing guardian watchers to them. Other groups were scattered across the city. But from what Dimitri could tell from all the sensors going off, they were converging on one area. That Gene Therapy Clinic.

The Reapers were moving swiftly. Using their grappling hooks to close the gaps between buildings besides a few leaps of faith, a few took. But all of them paid the cameras no mind. In fact, a few paused in front of the cameras and waved. As if they knew who was watching them.

"Cocky bunch." Central couldn't help but comment.

"Interesting dress code." Dimitri noted. Looked as though each member had their own flair to their attire, some more colorful than others. And then that alien tech integrated into equipment. That soft, green alien glow.

"I think I'm seeing why Volk has some issues with Bones and his crew. They're definitely tech dabblers like the Silent Striders." Commander Reeves chuckled. She rubbed her chin as she watched the sight. "And that tech has to be rather good for them to be this bold."

"Probably have the security system hacked like us." Central mused.

"Probably." She nodded. "Just wonder who Bones is sending to meet the squad if he has everyone else there…" She did find that odd.

"I'm guessing insurance." He said. "Staying on our good side. Extending an olive branch?"

"That's a possibility." She did recall Bones sounded giddy to work with them. "Hopefully, this will be the start of a beautiful friendship."