Hello readers and welcome to my new fic. Honestly, is it wise for me to start yet another fic when I got four ongoing/on hiatus, with several more canceled/on indefinite hold? Probably not. But hey, fanfic writing is a hobby for most people, something to do for fun. So I might as well follow my muses, if only to get myself writing period.
This'll be a novelization of one of Christopher Odd's X-com campaign, the fourth season of vanilla X-com 2, specifically. This has been on my mind for a while, a thought that has grown with each X-com campaign of his I've watched, along with the reading of various logs from characters of those campaigns. And seeing that previous attempts at novelizations are unfinished… couldn't resist making my own attempt in the end (No offense to the writers of those fics. Again, fanfic writing is pretty much a hobby, not a job).
While the characterizations and plot threads will be heavily based on the logs in the youtube comment sections, it'll pretty much be my take on the characters and the events played out. So there will be at least a few differences compared to those logs, be it story development, character relationships, etc. Hope none of you mind that.
That's all I have to say for now. Will be starting on the third episode/part of the playthrough, rather than the first. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own X-com, Chrisopher Odd's X-com playthroughs, or any of the characters from the roster.
Operation: Shattered Skull
ADVENT Security Area, Guadalajara: Priya "Innocence" Korpal POV
Priya was nervous. Extremely nervous. This'll be her very first mission as a soldier of X-com, on the renewed campaign against the aliens and advent.
She hoped to do well. Not just to survive the mission, but do her part and earn a couple of kills too, with the mission being successful overall. However, with the amount of military experience she gained pretty much being what her brother had managed to teach her before… before his death, it left her more than a bit insecure.
"Menace 1-5, target coordinates incoming. Secure the VIP and proceed to the EVAC volume for extraction."
Hearing the orders from Bradford got the Indian girl tensing up, gripping tightly to her assault rifle. She, along with the VIP and her squadmates, are up top the roof of a small building, which was connected to a much larger one. With this having been a hasty extraction mission, their presence was known, which meant that their position wouldn't be concealed.
Something that Bradford decided to remind them of. "ADVENT already knows we're here, so your position isn't concealed for the extraction."
"Geez, thanks for the reminder that we don't have the element of surprise this time…" Priya grumbled under breath, hopefully low enough that the Commander or Central didn't hear her.
By the way, her squadmates: There was Trevor "Professor" Fields and Micheal "Magic Mike" Mason, two soldiers who got promoted to grenadier and assault, respectively. Also with them was Jasmine "Queen" Saari, a fellow rookie and Indian woman; who, Priya noticed before the mission, had nothing but a sports bra and a pair of pants on.
Like, what the hell is she thinking?! Does Jasmine expect not to take any fire at all, or does she actually think she can withstand a magnetic shot to the torso?! She tried pointing out how incredibly reckless/stupid not wearing any kevlar was before they left the base, but the likely crazy woman laughed it off, as if it wasn't an actual concern!
Well, if she ends up having to nurse a direct magnetic wound, Priya can't be blamed for not warning her.
"What are our orders, Commander…?" Magic Mike requested through their comms, his eyes aimed at the large building in front of them.
"Head to the rooftop of the largest structure in front of you." She heard Commander Odd ordered from her own comms. "If enemies are in insight, we can hopefully fight from there with the high ground advantage. Once any aliens present are deleted, hopped to the next building where the extraction zone is at. Jasmine, take the first lead."
"Whatever you say…" With a nonchalance that baffled Priya further with the "Queen", Saari ran and hopped from the building. After a moment of silence, Jasmine called out through the comms. "Area's clear. Come and join me down here."
That was the others' cue to jump down from the building, linking up closely with Queen. Only the VIP remained up top, electing to stay on the edge for the moment, by the orders of the Commander.
The next bit was spent carefully creeping up to the mall(?), taking over-watches with each move. During these tense minutes, Priya found her lips getting a little loose and her responses ended up being a little sassy, as the Commander put it.
It left Mason and Saari snickering, with Priya's cheeks darkening in embarrassment. Fields, at least, had the courtesy not to show any amusement.
It was when she, Magic Mike, and Professor got onto the first rooftop of the building, that the action happened. Before Queen or the VIP could join them, the former spotted a sectoid and advent trooper pair walking in line of sight. Immediately, Jasmine shot at the trooper; but unfortunately, she missed. And no one else had the angles to follow up with more shots.
Unfortunately, that wasn't it. Another patrol walked into their sights, to which Fields immediately fired upon. He managed to take out one, thankfully, but the others quickly headed to the roof for cover. She and Mike fire shots at the remaining duo, but while Mike managed to get a hit on the officer, Priya ended up missing her shot. She let out a curse in hindi. "That is not good!"
Advent then began raining fire down or below them, with the team taking cover as best they could. Priya could crouch at where she's standing, a pit of fear down in her stomach at the fact that she's currently out in the open.
"Got four x-rays in sight!" Mike relayed to everyone. "Two troopers, an officer, and a sectoid!"
"I can take out the trooper and officer up top." Fields proposed from beside Mike, staring up at the second roof. "One grenade should do the trick."
"In that case, I'll handle the sectoid at the back." The scarred soldier unsheathed his sword before jumping down back on the street. Fields, meanwhile, headed to the second roof-top, likely to get a good grenade shot at the two advent soldiers there.
Priya watched as Mike ran at the sectoid, all the while dodging and weaving around magnetic fire. When he got close, he jumped and sliced through the psi-wielder, resulting in a dying wail before collapsing.
An explosion from above, along with the sound of collapsing bodies, indicated that Fields did his part as well.
Priya couldn't help but feel tad amazed at their coordination. As far as she knew, the two only worked together once, on the last mission; yet they still had such good teamwork. Did this come from past experience before X-com?
"C'mon Innocence, let's not have the boys hog all the fun for themselves!" Jasmine spoke through the comms, jolting Priya out of her thoughts. "Let's take out the last baddie together!"
"R-Right…" With that stumbling response, Priya climbed up to the second roof, for a better shot and some cover for herself. As she did, noticed Jasmine climbing up and taking position at where Mike was previously.
Jasmine took the first shot, hitting and cutting through the armor of the trooper. However, he was still standing, so Priya decided to prime her grenade and throw it at its feet. She watched, with great satisfaction, as the explosion sent the trooper flying.
"Good work, Priya." The Commander told her through her comms, the praise giving the Indian girl a small boost of confidence. "Everyone, regroup at Field's position."
With three different verbal confirmations, Mike, Priya, Jasmine, and the VIP gathered to where the "Professor" was at. Once they did, Jasmine spoke to her. "Sounds like the Commander taking a liking to ya…" She remarked playfully, giving Priya a small nudge. "Keep it up, and he'll probably ignore the sass…"
That got a blush and scowl from Innocence. "Shut up…" She grumbled, heading over to the other side of the roof to scan for threats.
As the others quickly joined her, Mike spoke up. "Hate to be the guy that decides to shop here today…" He remarked. "Can't imagine the owner wanting to keep it open with a smoking hole on top."
"Eh, I say it builds character…" Saari joked in response, shrugging from beside Priya. "Besides, you've seen the sad excuse of fabrics ADVENT calls clothes, haven't you? I say we're doing them a favor here."
That earned a barking laugh from the gruff-sounding soldier. "Not gonna argue that!"
Before Priya could think of any responses for their banter, the sound of footsteps entered her ears. "What was that?" She said nervously, drawing the attention of the others.
"Sounds like more bad guys to take down…" With an eagerness Priya herself lacked, Jasmine went over to the other section of the rooftop. "Think I saw something."
"What's over there…?" Priya inquired, still nervous as she headed over to Jasmine's position.
"Sectoid, I'm pretty sure…" The Queen answered, rifle up. "What do you fellas think about a little overwatch trap?"
"I like the way you think, ma'am…" With a blood-thirsty grin, went over and crouched beside Priya, lining up his shotgun. Priya herself did the same with her own rifle, not seeing anything wrong with the plan; and she noticed from the corner of her eye Fields overwatching behind them, with the VIP standing back behind the Professor.
It didn't take long for the patrol to show itself. The moment they were in sight, Jasmine took a shot. That shot landed true, resulting in one of the troops being taken down. The other one and the sectoid quickly scattered, with no one else able to get a decent shot in.
"I got the sectoid! The rest of you, handle the grunt down there!" With that said, Mike ran past them and jumped down the hole made by Fields.
Priya and Jasmine, meanwhile, went over and lined up shots at the trooper in full cover. Both took their shots, but neither landed. "Ugh, come on!" Priya couldn't help but groan in frustration.
Thankfully, Fields came over and took his shot, taking out the lone trooper with one burst. That earned a whistle from Jasmine. "Nice shooting, Professor…"
"Thanks." The "Professor" gave a short nod in response, before speaking through comms. "Mike, how are you holding up down there?"
An annoyed, gruff voice spoke back. "Fucker dodge, and head over to raise the bloody dead. Could use some help…"
"On it." With that, Fields ran past her and Jasmine, and jumped down to ground level. A moment later, Priya heard the launch of a grenade and then an explosion.
"Thanks, Professor. I should have this now!" A moment, the sound of a metal slicing through flesh entered the air, along with the sound of a dying sectoid. "X-ray down."
"What happened to you handling it on your own, Magic Mike…?" Jasmine teased.
She got a grumble in response. "Oh, shut it Queen…"
After letting out a small giggle, Jasmine vaulted over the railing and ran to the next building, something that sent a nervous jolt in Priya's spine. Shouldn't they wait until Mike and Fields can join before moving forward?
As if to answer, the Commander spoke up. "Area's look clear at Jasmine's end. You can join her, Priya."
The girl gulped a little. "I-I guess that'll be okay…" With another slip of sass, Priya hopped down and joined her fellow Indian gal.
"Priya? You want to talk about something here?" Unfortunately, it seems Commander Odd wasn't gonna ignore the attitude, something that already got her cheeks burning again. "Cause you got a lot of sass going on there…"
Her cheeks darkened. "S-Sorry, sir. Slip of the tongue…"
"If you say so…" Was the Commander's doubtful response. "Anyways, regrouped and get yourself close to the evac site. Don't get on the roof just yet. Don't know if this is all the enemies."
"No problem, boss…" Jasmine responded back casually, as the two of them bounced over to the other side of the building.
While Mike and the Professor ran to link up with them, the Commander spoke once again. "See? Take a page from Jasmine's book. She's being much nicer…"
"Yes, Innocence. Try being a little more like me…" Jasmine said teasingly, which resulted in a stink eye from Innocence. Once the two men, along with the VIP, joined them, the squad went on overwatch. After a moment of no other contact, Priya decided to take the bullet and be the first to head to the roof.
Nervously, she scanned on and around the rooftop for any more hostiles. After a moment of looking around, she let herself relax. "EVACs clear. You can head on up."
Immediately, everyone else headed on up and joined her on the EVAC site. Once they were, Mike called Firebrand through comms. "Menace is at the site, along with the VIP! Calling for extraction!"
"Confirm. Sending ropes." With that, five ropes were sent down from the Skyranger, which no one wasted time grabbing. Immediately, they were all pulled into the VTOL.
'The mission is complete…' Priya thought on her way up, relief and pride swelling up. Not only did they successfully evacuate the scientist, but she also managed to get a kill!
As they got onto the skyranger, Jasmine grinned at Priya. "I say we successfully kicked some alien asses, haven't we Priy?"
"I wish you'd stop calling me that…" The younger Indian girl grumbled. Nevertheless, she had a smile across her face, cause yes; they did kick some alien butts. And blowing up that ADVENT trooper was sooo satisfying!
The Avenger
"Priya Korpal, I promote you to the rogue specialization. You'll be our scout, with ample chances to flank and take down targets others in your squad are unable to."
As soon as the Skyranger landed, and the squad walked on the surface of the Avenger, they were met with the Commander and Bradford, for both congratulations and promotions. Both Fields and Mason got promoted to corporal, with promise of immediate skill training to match that promotion. And now it's Priya's turn, the new rogue taking a hold of an SMG designated for her.
"Just remember to tone down the attitude. Aim that sass towards the alien more, not the Commander…" And once again, Priya found herself blushing in embarrassment yet again, with Mike and Jasmine snickering at her expense. Though to her relief, it doesn't like the Commander is being serious about her attitude, judging by the smirk on his face.
Commander Odd then walked up in front of Jasmine, handing her new equipment for her to use in the future. "Jasmine Saari, you are promoted to the shinobi specialization. You'll be up close and personal like Corporal Mason here, but with the potential for stealth like your fellow squaddie."
The newly promoted shinobi grinned wildly, making a few swings with her new sword. "So I'll be jumping in the fray with Magic Mike here. Sweet."
"I'll be sure to save you some aliens to chop up, Queen…" Mason joked with a small laugh.
"Not if I sneak ahead and take them out before you Mr. Mike…" Jasmine jabbed back, not losing her grin.
As the newly promoted corporal and squaddie made competition with each other, Priya took the time to take in… everything. It's been close to half a month since the gatecrasher mission, and the rescue of the Commander. Half a month since she managed to get recruited in the Avenger, alongside eight other soldiers. Half a month since X-com fully revamped itself.
Not only did they manage to get two successful missions in a row (Three, counting the gatecrasher), but all of them went without any casualties. In the past few decades since the alien occupation, any fights the resistance had against the aliens nearly always resulted in casualties; with only a handful of missions being actual successes.
But with Commander Christopher Odd taking the reign of leadership once again, there hasn't been even any wounded so far. She hopes that means something in the long run; that this time, they are gonna win this war.
Priya shook her head. Now's not the time to get negative. X-com is back. The Commander is back. And this time, they will win this fight. 'I promise Ali. I'm gonna continue stepping in where you can't.' She swore to herself. 'And I'm gonna make these bastards pay for taking you from me!'
No matter how long it'll take, she'll ensure the aliens regret setting anywhere near their planet.
And that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Shorter than what I'm used to doing these days, but probably for the best. If I want to get far with this fic, and have a better chance of finishing it, then the initial chapters will probably have to be short. Honestly not sure how far I'm gonna go with this fic, considering the other fics that I'm doing; but it'll at least be another idea off my mind. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.