Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. Here, we'll be going through a simple guerrilla mission, with Carmine, Mason, Kerrigan, and Batch. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Xcom, Christopher Odd's Xcom playthroughs, or any of the characters from the roster.

Operation: Hot God

Slums District: "Gutter Way", Tijuana: Micheal "Magic Mike" Mason POV

Mason does his best not to question many of the decisions, tactical or otherwise, the Commander does.

Having been one of the surviving veteran members of the original Xcom, the scarred soldier is very much aware how those choices live up to his namesake. In the same vein though, he's also aware that those very same choices work out more often than not, and was the reason Xcom was able to fight as long as it did in the beginning of the invasion.

So yeah, Mason made it a point not to question every decision Commander Odd makes, trusting that it'll work out in the end.

However…

"You can do this. You can do this. Just keep your trigger finger at the enemy, keep that finger away from the grenade, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic…"

He has got to wonder what possessed the man this time to recruit this twitchy mess known as Tobias "Squadwipe" Batch.

The fact that his call-sign is "Squadwipe" on top of it adds to the worries.

"Um, are you okay, Batch…?" Carmine asked concernedly, placing a hand over the man's shoulder.

"Huh?" That jolted Batch out of his twitchy rambling. "Oh, um, yes. Yes, I'm alright. Just… nervous."

"I would say that's an understatement there…" Mason couldn't help but remark, raising an eyebrow.

"I just, well, don't want to mess up my first mission…" Batch continued, wringing his hands together. "Cause I have a history of, er, panicking, and sometimes that can cause me to… mess up… badly…"

Okaaaaay, now that wasn't at all alarming. He may have to look up Batch's background, for curiosity sake if nothing else.

"It's alright. I'm nervous too…" The last soldier aboard the Skyranger, Molly "Ringo" Kerrigan, spoke up. Likely to comfort the twitchy soldier. "It'll be my first mission as well in Xcom. So we can watch each other's backs, make sure we survive and all. Maybe get a kill or two on the way."

"Yeah… Yeah, we can definitely do that." Despite her words, Batch still looks more than a bit twitchy. So Micheal made a personal note to keep an extra eye out for this guy. For Squadwipe's own sake, as much as it was for himself and the two ladies with them.

A moment later, they heard Firebrand call out to them. "Menace, ready to deploy."

Immediately, the squad of four got up from their seats and jumped out from the opened ramp, sliding down to a rooftop. Once they hit the ground, Bradford spoke. "Menace 1-5, this is Avenger. The access point we're after is just ahead. Move to secure the area, expect hostile resistance."

"Menace, I advise that you start dashing. That access point is fairly far, and the aliens won't make it easy." The Commander spoke up right after.

"Copy that, Commander. Central." With that said, Magic Mike pumped up his shotgun before addressing his squadmates. "You heard the man. Let's hustle."

The group of four then dashed to the streets below, hopping off the rooftop they landed on. Mason ran the furthest, whereas Kerrigan was trailing behind. Carmine and Batch were in between both, taking cover behind a car.

Batch then dashed forward, scouting ahead for the team. What almost resembled a squeak entered into the comms, signaling to everyone that he spotted something. "Got a trooper and - and a giant snake."

"Viper…" Mason growled, tightening his grip on his shotgun.

"I heard rumors that these snake-lady blobfaces used to disguise themselves as 'Thin Men'…" Siren remarked quietly through comms. "That true?"

"Aye…" Hard to believe that these reptilian gals were disguised as incredibly thin business men. Almost funny really.

"Without the introduction of human DNA, these creatures once operating under the guise of 'Thin Men' now show their true form…" Dr. Tygan spoke through comms. "A purely reptilian species."

"No reason for them to hide. The aliens don't need an infiltration unit anymore."

'...Don't they have a bloody shape-shifter for that?' Mason deadpanned in his head. Unknown to him, those thoughts were shared by Carmine and Kerrigan.

Regardless, they remained silent as they joined up with Batch; again, with Mason taking the lead. From their positions, they can see the lone trooper and the female humanoid snake patrolling together, getting closer to their position.

"Got a good shot on either blobfaces…" Carmine declared quietly, raising up the bolt caster.

"Fire at the snake. Let's get her wounded and ready for killing…" Mason advised.

"Got it. Firing."

With that, the specialist took her shot at the snake. The shot landed true, the large bolt driving itself into the viper's shoulder, eliciting a loud hiss of pain.

Of course, the shot alerted both the viper and the trooper; and after a more aggressive hissed from the viper, the two scattered for cover. Instinctively, Mason fired his shotgun when the trooper got up close to his position, the slug shot missing its mark.

"I got the trooper!" Batch called out, immediately moving for a flank. Once he was in position, he took his shot; and the swarm of bullets was more than enough to take it out, the trooper flying back and crumbling with a dying shout. "T-Target eliminated!"

"Huh. Nice one, Squadwipe." Mason called out, mildly impressed, before focusing his attention on the wounded viper. "I got the viper. Ringo, back me up if things go sideways."

"Don't run and gun in just yet. Scout for any more patrols." The Commander ordered. "If you encounter any, fall back. If not, go for the kill."

"Aye, sir." With that confirmation, he rushed forward and stopped at what looked to be a light post. When the assault saw that there were no other patrols so far, he rushed forward and got to a flanking position. Fortunately, he still has yet to encounter any other patrols.

Unfortunately, when took his shot, he missed. "Shit…!" Mason cursed. "X-ray still up!"

"Throwing a flashbang!" Kerrigan called out from behind him. "Better close your eyes!"

The Magic Mike did so, along with turning his head away from the incoming flash. Once he heard the pop, he faced the viper once again, to see slither sloppily towards him. Again, he shot instinctively at the enemy close to him; and for the third time, he missed.

'Bugger it all! What is wrong with me tonight?'

That gave the viper the chance to take a blind shot at Batch. Thankfully, the flashbang did the trick, causing the snake to miss that shot. "Woah!" Batch yelped, ducking into his cover.

Mason didn't let the snake take another shot. He shot his fourth round, and this time, it landed; sending the viper flying and crumbling. "Finally…!" He huffed in irritation. "X-ray's down!"

"Good job, team." The Commander praised. "Continue moving forward, but be on overwatch whenever possible. Batch, continue to keep your cool. Mason, be sure to shake off the remainder of that rust."

The scarred soldier grumbled a bit at being called out like that, but took it good-naturedly. "Yeah, yeah, Commander…"

As he waited for the others to catch up to his position, Mason took the time to reload his shotgun. It was when he cocked his fully loaded gun that he heard Carmine speak urgently. "Crap! I've got eyes on an Advent position! Two troopers and a sectoid!"

Mason twisted around to see not only one of the troopers within sight, but also Carmine and Kerrigan out in the open. "Bloody hell, get to cover you two! Fall back!"

Immediately, the two ran as magnet shots flew right behind them. None of them hit, and both Siren and Ringo were able to get themselves into cover.

"Squadwipe, the two of us are on overwatch!" Mason called out, holding up his shotgun and aiming in the direction of the patrol. "Shoot anything moving!"

"On it! On w-!" The man paused for a moment, before speaking up in a more panicked tone. "Oh god, the sectoid is raising the dead! It's raising the bloody de-!"

Mason then heard the sounds of magnet bullets, followed by a choke cry of pain from Batch, eliciting further tension from the assault. He couldn't go and look at the state of Batch, however, as gunfire rained from his position; forcing him to lean back and press behind the security tower.

"Squadwipe!" Carmine and Kerrigan called out in worry.

"I'm alive! Hit in the shoulder!" The sound of Batch's panicked voice got Mason to release the small breath he was holding. "I need to medkit! Like really badly!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Squadwipe!" Mason then barked, moving forward and hurtling through magnet/plasma fire into a closer position. "Let's eliminate these alien buggers first! Then you can get that medkit!"

With that stated, Mason took one of the axes on his back and threw it at the trooper in front of him. It sunk deep into the grunt, throwing it back and giving the assault a clearer view of the sectoid. The slug shot he shot at the psi-wielder landed true, critically wounding it and causing it to cry out angrily/painfully. "One trooper dead, and the sectoid bleeding!"

"I got it…!" He heard Carmine say. He watched as she and Kerrigan moved up, with the former getting sight of the sectoid. The Siren then aimed her caster before firing, the bolt managing to hit and drive deep into the sectoid's chest. "That's how it's done!"

"Nice shooting, Siren." Mason acknowledged. "Squadwipe, get on up here! Kerrigan, cover him!"

"Yes, sir!" While Batch ran to the rest of the squad, Kerrigan got into overwatch. When the last remaining trooper ran towards their position, the helmet-covered rookie fired her rifle, her shots managing to all land and take down the moving trooper. "It's dead! It has to be dead!"

"Right on the money…" Mason remarked with a grin. "Good on ya, getting your first kill Ringo…"

"T-Thank you, sir…" If he had something to bet on, he would bet that the girl was blushing beneath her helmet.

A red light then flashed from the corner of his eye, causing him and Kerrigan to turn their heads towards the source. The source in question was a flare. "Looks like they're calling in backup." The rookie stated.

"Aye." Mason nodded in agreement to the obvious fact. "Let's get into overwatch positions. Try to take them out quickly."

He then ran forward to the slum building close to the flare, setting himself at the corner. He heard the others either run forward or reload as they got into overwatch themselves.

They didn't have to wait for long. Soon after they got into position, an enemy transport flew into the area before hovering over the landing sight. Three troopers then jumped out of the transport, an officer… as well as two new ones. Stun lancers, judging from the batons on their backs.

Mason didn't think on the lancers for long; and again, instinctively fired his gun at nearby enemies. This time, the instinctive shot landed, hitting the officer between its chest and abdomen.

That was the cue for the reinforced troops to scatter, causing Kerrigan and Carmine to take their shots. The former missed, but the latter managed to finish off the officer with a bolt to the chest. Mason ended up taking two more shots, one being his overwatch and another his instinctive firing; one of those managed to land, critically wounding one of the lancers.

That left two lancers at his right; one wounded while the other unscathed.

"Look like the blobfaces are bringing in their riot blobfaces…!" Carmine noted, crouching down as the lancers began firing magnet shots.

"At first, ADVENT deployed non-lethal units for crowd control and the occasional protests." Bradford spoke up. "We don't see a whole lot of that anymore though."

'Doubt these stunnies are gonna go for non-lethal KOs…' Mason growled to himself. Best to not find out the hard way.

He watched Batch run up to a flanking position on the injured stun lancer, before firing and taking it out. "X-ray… neutralized…"

"Nice flank there, Squadwipe…" Mason complimented, eyeing the last stunner as he reloaded his shotgun. "Gonna flank the last fella…"

The moment he finished reloading, run and gunned it to the middle side of the building's exterior, where he got a direct line of sight of the remaining stun lancer. The moment he sat himself in that position, he took it shot; and it was an effective enough shot to send the stunner flying.

Mason grinned at the kill there. "Who's keeping score, huh…?"

"Don't go bragging there, Magic Mike…" Carmine called out. "I recall a few shots that were missed moments before…"

That wiped the smile off the Magic Mike's face, the X-com veteran grumbling. "Lay off, Siren, and just get in sight of that access point…"

He heard the specialist giggle before dashing over to the slum building, entering and positioning from the entryway. Kerrigan, meanwhile, reloaded and overwatch for any enemy that could walk in on them.

"Ringo, Magic Mike, Squadwipe, move up and make sure no enemy is within sight of the building in front of all of you…" The Commander ordered from comms. "Want to make sure there's no surprises when Siren hacks into the device…"

"Aye, sir…" With that said, Mike ran over with Batch to the road, stopping just at the sidewalk. At the same time, Kerrigan ran from the lamp post to the truck just ahead, positioning herself at the front of it. "Nothing so far. Ringo?"

"Area's look clear…" Kerrigan answered, twisting her head around. "Think it's safe for you to move in, Siren."

"Let's not make any hasty moves…" Mason advised. "Let's take it slow and overwatch with each move. Don't want any remaining x-rays catching us with our pants down…"

"Understood…"

"Sure thing…"

"G-Got it…"

So that's what they did, creeping forward to the building that holds their objective and overwatching with each forward positioning. Once they found themselves close to the building, with three of them positioned at the truck while Carmine was positioned at a car beside that truck, that was when they got a hint at possible action.

"I think I hear something…" Carmine warned, her eyes aimed at where she might've heard the sound. "At the right side of the building, I think."

"Let's try not to alert them then, and get to the access point…" Mason stated, maintaining a firm grip on his shotgun. "Siren, think you can get line of sight of the target from where you're at?"

"Pretty sure I can. Just need to get a closer line of sight into the window…" Taking a few cautious steps towards the laser covered window, the specialist attempted to find a good line of sight of the target. After a moment… "Alright. Got eyes on the target. Moving to access the system…"

With that confirmation, Carmine's gremlin flew over to the computer inside. It was then a waiting game as the squad stood silently in the nighttime air. Then…

"We've confirmed successful acquisition of the ADVENT files…" Bradford confirmed for the squad to hear. "Eliminate any remaining hostiles in the area."

Mason let out another breath, letting go more of the tension in his body. The time limit is gone now. Now they can focus on wiping out the remaining aliens. "Alright, let's get into overwatch. Carmine, get over here and heal up Batch."

"Already on it…" The Siren moved up to the back side of the truck, right beside the still-injured Batch. Immediately, she took out her medkit and sprayed the content onto the soldier's injured shoulder. "Easy now. You'll be fine, Batch."

It seemed as though the effect were immediate, with Batch letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you… that wound was hurting like crazy…"

"It's not a full on fix. The serum will likely fade as soon as we get back to the Avenger…" Carmine warned softly. "So be prepared for that…"

That got a gulp from Batch. "Yes ma'am…"

"Chin up, Squadwipe. What doesn't kill ya is just gonna make you tougher, as the old saying goes…" Mason encouraged the twitchy soldier, before getting back on overwatch. "Now, let's keep on watch. If we don't spot any more x-rays, we may have to move and hunt."

Thankfully, no hunting was needed, and the patrol near the building got within eyesight. Immediately, the ADVENT officer let out an alien shout and ran at them, while the two troopers stood back into cover. Mason, alongside Kerrigan and Batch, took shots at the officer; however, all of them missed.

"Bugger it all…!" Mason cursed to himself, nearly spitting out his smoke. "Thought I was done with these bloody misses…!"

"Moving in for a flank…!" Carmine then ran in and got into a flanking spot for the officer, right in blank shot range. One bolt shot was enough to send the officer slamming into the wall behind it before crumbling. "You know, I'm really starting to get attached to this baby here…"

Mason could see why. That crossbow really does pack a punch. He put his focus back on the fight, however, as he heard Kerrigan attempt to shoot at the trooper on the roof. The X-com vet grabbed his ax before running over to the trooper on the ground. Through the red security holo, he slammed the ax right into trooper's shoulder, eliciting a wail of pain from the grunt. With one yank pulling out the ax, the trooper crumpled into the ground.

"And I can see why Jasmine was swooning over this baby on the last mission…" Mason remarked, a vicious grinning across his face. An explosion, along with the sound of frosty air, got him to twist his head upward, to see a now frozen trooper at the roof.

"I froze the ADVENT trooper!" Batch called out. "That should buy us some time!"

"Plenty of it…" With the grin still across his face, Mason climbed up to the rooftop and got right in front of the iced up grunt.

A shotgun to the face was enough to take it out, and break it out of its icy prison.

"Status confirmed, all hostiles are down and the area is secure."

With that confirmation from Central, Mason relaxed completely, letting out a barking laugh. "Hahaha! We kicked plenty of alien arses tonight, didn't we?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we did…" Kerrigan giggled nervously, stepping off from the truck. "I'm just happy we all got out of there, alive."

"Same. Very much the same…" Batch nodded his head rapidly at that, holding the shoulder likely to hurt in the morning.

"Xcom really does have all the good stuff…" Carmine mused, examining the bolt caster in her hand. "The gremlin, the medkit… and this bad boy here. I admit, I didn't think this glorified crossbow was all that it got advertised, but…"

"These are definitely more effective than they look!" Mason finished, swinging his ax around. "Great for alien hunting and killing!"

So far, no regrets in joining back with Xcom. His siblings are safe, he's out of ADVENT's clutches, and he's not only back shooting down aliens, but cutting them down. He just hopes this all doesn't end like it did twenty years ago.

The Avenger

As soon as Menace got back onto the Avenger, the crew thought that that would be it for excitement for the time being. That it would be a waiting game for the next mission, as the scientist continued their research, the engineers continued building facilities, and those at the bridge pilot the Avenger wherever they need to go.

Suffice to say, they all ended up being proven wrong, with the ship's systems suddenly… acting up.

"What the heck was that?" Priya exclaimed in bafflement. She, along with the entire current trooper roster, were gathered at the makeshift medical bay, after the brief system malfunction experienced across the ship. "Was someone trying to hack into the ship?"

"I think we're all as lost as you are, kiddo." Mason remarked, leaning back on the wall near the exit. "Command is revealing buggers all at the moment. Only that they've tracked the location of where the hack came from, and that a squad will likely be sent there."

"Think I heard Shen say something though…" Carmine spoke up, drawing attention to her. "Something about her old man being involved?"

That got a raised eyebrow from the scarred Xcom vet. "Raymond Shen? With all due respect to the old man, isn't he dead?"

"Carmine… tell me you aren't believing in ghosts…" Walker inquired, giving Carmine a dry look.

That earned a blush and a glare from the singer. "No, hot-shot! Shen was saying that the signal was similar to her father, that's all!"

"So essentially, there's an individual with the knowledge of Raymond Shen's systems, likely located at the location tracked. And they can attempt future hacking of the Avenger, in a possible effort to seize control or destroy the ship." Protocall summarized. "Have I made a correct summarization?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good summarization…" Carter said, looking a tad pale. Priya and Tobias also looked similarly ill, and if not for the helmet, the others would've likely seen that Molly lost a bit of color as well.

"Are you doing okay, Protocall?" Fields asked with some concern, sitting up from his cot. "Nothing tried to access your systems, did it?"

"I am well, Corporal Fields! As I am not connected to any part of the ship, my software remains untouched by any foreign entities." The robot assured the professor, along with everyone else. "It is unlikely that I'll be touched by whoever is attempting to take control of the ship!"

"That's good to hear…" Jasmine remarked from her own cot. "Wouldn't like to imagine if you got taken control of, Spectre…"

"I am confident that those within the Avenger would be able to subdue me; if not terminate me!" Protocol stated in his usual upbeat tone. "So even if I did end up taking over my systems, it would be of little issue!"

"..." About half the troops thought about pointing out that most would not be happy about the idea of being terminated. But then they remember that this is a robot they're talking with, so they refrained from doing so.

"So, anybody got an idea as to when we're gonna get to where our hacker is hiding…?" Walker asked, getting back to the main topic.

His answer was the shaking of heads, as well as more verbal negatives. Only Mason gave a guesswork as to when they'll be sent. "With missions like these, the Commander usually wants to wait until he feels we're at our most optimal. At least when he can help it" The Xcom vet stated. "With this being a complete unknown, he'll probably have some of our weapons upgraded at least, as well as get us some more field experience, before even thinking of steering the Avenger there."

"So it'll be a while before we get answers…" Walker let out a small breath at that. "Well, let's hope our mysterious hacker doesn't get control of the wheels and send this ship diving."

"That would be terrifying…" Priya shivered at the thought.

They all hope that their mysterious hacker won't make any more attempts at taking the Avenger; or if they do, that those attempts continue to fail. Otherwise, they can see this renewed fight ending very, very fast.

And that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The guerrilla mission is completed, with the soldiers reacting to the intro of Shen's Last Gift. The next mission will be a supply run. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.