[IC] XCOM: The Black Winter

[Whoami]

[Mood Music]

Chapter 1
Falcon Squad

Morning. The air was frigid and the sun was still obscured by the surrounding hills, leaving the surrounding still quite dark. Every breath Sara exhaled was greeted with a mist. She could see dew forming on plants and grass, and frost forming on the very tips of everything. Sara had found herself pulling her scarf up over her face more than once during their tiring trek. But finally they had made it. Resistance reports had lead Falcon squad to this place, and ADVENT blacksite. ADVENT used these blacksites to hide valuable projects and store expensive equipment, equipment that Falcon squad needed. They managed to get quite close to the base, and were forced to approach prone. The crawl to the rocky ledge was slow and grueling. Nobody wanted to make a noise, but every time they shuffled forward, something would always give and make a sound. The sound was never extremely loud. But when a group's goal is to be silent and undetected, even a pebble dropping would cause the entire squad to freeze their motion.

When Sara reached the ledge, she looked over the blacksite. The low light meant that, at this time in the morning, ADVENT still had to use their floodlights to keep the base lit. Here and there, duos of troopers patrolled the base. Whenever they spoke, their voices would echo in the ravine the base was situated in. There was only one true way into the base, a road guarded by a checkpoint, which was flanked on both sides by tall watch towers. The troopers in the towers were armed with marksman variant mag rifles. Despite being an active blacksite, activity seemed quite low. Sara figured that perhaps most of the troopers were in the barracks prepping for shift change. Her suspicions were only confirmed as she saw some groups of troopers all making their way to one single building on the far end of the base, while others came out looking fresh and ready for the day. Sara looked back to the team and whispered, "We came at the perfect moment. The base's guards are either tired from the night shift, or haven't completely waken up yet. They aren't prepared for an attack."

She was right. But beyond that, most ADVENT recruits that found themselves assigned to blacksites grew complacent. Why should they be on alert? The bases technically didn't even exist. It was the flaw of recruiting humans to an alien cause. Sara surmised that these troops had likely not even seen combat. They were green, and when pitted against a veteran squad like the Falcons, they'd break easily.

Sara studied the rock face and looked down, spotting the laser fence that normally would have forced the squad through the singular entrance. But not from here. With some quick rappel work, the team could kick off from the rock face and land on the opposite end of the fence. Their insertion point would be obscured by the shadow of the large building, and in this light, they'd go practically undetected. "This is the spot," Sara said quietly, "Rope up."

Sara unclipped her rappel rope from her kit and secured it to a strong looking tree. She then clipped her carabiner to the rope and gave it a tug before backing over the ledge slowly. Her eyes followed the silhouettes of her squad mates as they did the same. "Jimbo, I want you to keep an eye on that barracks. Let me know who comes and goes."

When the rest of the squad was prepared, Sara gave a hand motion, and ordered the four infiltrators to go down the sheer rock face. Rappelling down a rock wall in low light was dangerous, incredibly so, but it was a far better alternative than to walk through the front door. When going down the face, one had to be careful where they put their feet. Kicking a stone loose would not only make a lot of noise, but chances were high that it'd bounce at the bottom and pass through the laser fence, and trigger an alert. Sara and the other traveled down the wall as fast as they could, which was still rather slow. They were forced to feel their way down before committing to the next step. But the team had done this before, and they were confident in their approach. Before long, they hung over the laser fence. Sara moved her weight around to start swinging a bit, and kicked off the rock wall when she had enough speed. She quickly dropped down the rope, and landed on the concrete foundation of the base as quietly as she could. To avoid the slack in the rope from dropping into the laser fence, Sara held it tight while unclipping herself. She looked to the other Falcons to check up on them, and then tossed the end of the rope over to the other side of the fence.

Sara then pulled her MP7 from her thigh holster, and quickly screwed on its suppressor. "This is Lancaster. Boots on the ground. We all went over the plan half a dozen times on the way here, team. Lets stick to it and get this over with as quickly as possible."

Sara switched on her MP7's laser sight and pressed the extending stock against her shoulder. "Fiona, on me. Stay low and watch my six."

She took point, moving quickly and quietly in the shadow of the large building. Sara stopped before reaching the corner, and waited for a spotlight to pass. When it left, she peered around the corner. A single trooper stood guard at a normal sized door, likely just an access into the warehouse instead of entering through the large garage doors at the front. Sara looked back to the fireteam that had infiltrated the base, "We're going to have to ghost this trooper once the spotlight passes again. David, you're up. Take him quick and drag him back here. Once we're clear, you and Carlotta break off and head to the power station."

[thedman]

It had been a long walk to the blacksite, but they had finally made it. The cold wind stung his face and turned his fingers numb, but David had been through worse. As they crawled closer to the cliff edge, he went over the plan in his head one final time. He knew what he had to do, and he was prepared to do it. When he finally reached the ledge, he took a moment to look over the site. As he watched the small amount of guards he could see perform their routines, he heard Sara whisper to the team. What she said only boosted his confidence. They won't even know what hit them.

Walking over to the spot, he unhooked a bundle of rope from his belt. He had only practiced rappelling a few times before, and never in these conditions. Not only was there little light, but one mistake would mean an alarm would go off. Clipping the rope to the tree, he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. As Sara gave the signal to go, he began the descent, holding the rope with his left hand, and his MP5 with the right. The trip down the cliff face was nerve-wracking, and he could barely see his feet in the darkness. As the team hung over the laser fence, David took another deep breath, and launched off the wall. As his boots hit the metal of the fence, he realized that he had missed the laser by mere inches. Releasing the breath he was holding in, he easily slid down the rest of the fence, unclipped himself, and threw the rope over to the other side.

"That was too close." He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. We're fine. Stick to the plan. Feeling calmer now that the hard part was over with, he moved with the rest of the squad, stacking up behind the large building. Looking up as Sara spoke, he nodded, clipping his MP5 to his belt. "Roger that."

Taking out his hunting knife, he moved towards the edge of the building, waiting for the spotlight to pass. Once it moved away from the building, he went around the corner, facing the trooper. With a single movement, he leapt forward. His left arm covered his mouth, while his right plunged the knife into his throat. Whatever the trooper was going to call out, it was silenced by the arm covering his mouth, and he soon became silent, falling limp into David's arms. Dragging the trooper's corpse back behind the corner, he moved it behind the wall, close to where they had rappelled into the blacksite. Sheathing his knife and unclipping his MP5, he looked back to the squad. "Alright, it looks clear." He looked at Carlotta, giving her a slight nod. "Power station's over that way. Let's move."

[Luminosity]

Fiona's hiking boots hit the ground with a soft thud, and she fell into place behind their impromptu leader. Even when she'd first been rescued by Falcon squad they didn't really have a leader, but in combat situations someone needed to call the shots, and Sara was the one to step up. Fiona was glad for that, at least.

Despite her near decade of experience working in resistance groups fighting against the aliens, Fiona wasn't all that experienced with combat work. People with her talents were hard to come by, and that meant she was often kept out of the fight, given the least risky role. If she got killed, it would be left to one of the others to keep the squad patched up. But the squad's numbers had dwindled low to the point where every pair of hands and boots were needed to keep them going. And that meant Fiona had to fight. She was getting better at it, at least, albeit slowly.

She kneeled down at Sara's back beside the building, holding her pistol steady. They were due for securing the supply building, with David and Carlotta tasked with the power. The need to stay quiet meant she only wanted to pull out the ACR if there was no other choice. Hopefully they could keep this clean. They were supposed to be collecting supplies, not expending them.

Watching David pull the ADVENT trooper's body out of sight, Fiona took in a deep breath, steadying herself. "Ready on your word," she whispered to Sara.

[CaptainBritton]

“Let me know who comes and goes.”

Lukas locked his gaze on Sara, dead silent, lip pursed, some sort of chewing tobacco obviously tucked in. His night vision monocle shone slightly, peeking out from under the netting strands and faux foliage of his partial ghillie which covered his entire head, shoulders, and upper back. As he adjusted himself slightly, he gave a half-hearted acknowledgment in the form of a nod, before pivoting, and looking over at his ghillied-up compatriot.

“Copy that, Lancaster. Good luck,” Jimbo whispered through the radio whilst inserting a fresh clip into his rifle, ratcheting the bolt forward before murmuring towards Lukas. “Hopefully, I don’t have to take a shot.”
Even, though he wanted to. Jimbo had been bored out of his mind for months. Falcon Squad hadn’t seen any proper action in the field for several fornights and it was starting to grate on him. The ADVENT Blacksite was a target-rich environment. Ripe for reaping and perfect for making pink clouds. Unfortunately, this was a supply mission, not an ambush. Efficiency was of the utmost priority here. He laid down on his belly, angling himself into a proper sniping position, eye through the scope shoulder against stock. Taking out his rangefinder from one of his pockets, Jimbo locked onto the barracks, waiting for the rangefinder to show the distance on display before radioing it to the infiltration team. It was just like the intel confirmed. The road and fence patrols were beginning to exchange shifts, meeting up at the barracks to do the switch.

“Muldoon to Ground Team,” Jimbo whispered through the radio. “The barracks are about 850 feet from your position. They’re changing shifts. Road and border patrols are beginning their checks right now from barracks. Over.”

Lukas, in the meanwhile, had been sighting his own spotting scope, set on the low-bearing tripod before him. His rifle was resting on its bipod and stock nearby as he changed the dials, communicating information to the shooter. “Got it sighted in, two-six-zero meters.” He pressed his eye to the lense of the device, squinting through the low-light assistance. “Windage is four knots, south-south west.” He grunted, spitting out a chunk of his tobacco nearby. “Sight in and call ‘em.” He communicated, continuing to keep his eye pressed to the spotting scope, pivoting it around the bipod slightly as he scoped out the visible tangos.

“Copy that,” Jimbo replied back, running the variables in his heads and making an effort not to cringe at the disgusting sound of his spotter’s habits dropping on the sodden dirt. He lowered his scope and began considering his options. The ADVENT troops were beginning to patrol in a counter-clockwise direction around the roads and the laser fencing. Jimbo mused for a moment that whoever had built the damn base was a fool. They were a veritable fish in a barrel, two cliffs jutting on each side of the base. The base commander hadn’t bothered to insert extra watchtowers, put more patrols on the roads or even send troops to do checks at the weak-points. If only they still had artillery……, oh well, there was no time for hope. He kept his scope trained on the fence patrols before turning it towards the infiltration team. He grumbled with a certain satisfaction as he spotted one of them taking out the guard in close-quarters, dragging his limp body away. He then turned his scope towards the patrols, frowning as he inched closer to the scope, thumb on the trigger.
“Ground team, be advised. Two tangos armed with MAG-3 rifles nearing your position at 200 meters away from your position. Bearing approximately 30 degrees on your position, south-west, over.”

(collab with @The Bork Lazer)

[Xandrya]

The morning air was harsh and relentless, a bitter reminder for Carlotta that her body could seldom handle cold weather for extended periods of time. Even though she’d been in and out of very similar climate for the past ten years, it certainly didn’t get easier for her. She had lived in Canada, sure, but that's not where she had spent most of her life.

The woman worked in silence alongside her team. She moved swiftly yet carefully, as the smallest mistake would surely end in not only her death, but in the death of the rest of her teammates. When the time came, she repelled down the cliff with ease, having done the same thing countless of times before. Nevertheless, her pulse increased just the slightest, and the adrenaline that coursed through her body kept her on high alert. But she preferred that to complacency.

Once they had made it inside and were given the order by Sara, Carlotta moved behind David, ready to cover him in the event that something went wrong. But she simply watched as he took down the guard, her expression indifferent as the trooper was killed. Better him than her, that's for sure.

"Give me a second," she replied to David once he dumped the corpse. She knelt down next to the dead guard and conducted a quick search for anything of use. A second later, she located what felt like an ID. She pulled it out and pocketed the card without so much as looking it over. Maybe it could be of use to gain access later on, and it surely didn't hurt to have it, although right now they were on a bit of a time restraint. She tapped David twice on the shoulder as she subconsciously tightened the grip on her M9. "Ready when you are."

[Whoami]

“Ground team, be advised. Two tangos armed with MAG-3 rifles nearing your position at 200 meters away from your position. Bearing approximately 30 degrees on your position, south-west, over.”

Sara looked over and saw the patrol their overwatch was talking about. She nodded, "I see them. Once they passed into the shadow of the warehouse, take them out."

Sara motioned to Carlotta and David to start moving on the power station now. Luckily, the space between between the buildings wasn't just empty. There were a number of stacked crates and vehicles they could use for cover. Whenever a spotlight passed over the crates, there were plenty of shaded areas they could use to hide in. While they broke off, Sara pulled the body of the morning's first victim right up against the bottom paneling of the laser fence. In the low light, the ADVENT's black armor clad body should be quite difficult to spot right under the trooper's noses.

The patrol was one hundred and fifty meters out now. Sara and Fiona would have plenty of time after the spotlight made its next pass to rush for the warehouse's access door, and get inside before the patrol would arrive. "Let's move now, Fiona. We're wasting our darkness by standing around."

Sara quickly rounded the corner, her MP7 raised and ready to fire at anything that could come out from the door, or around the far corner of the warehouse. Once they reached the door, Sara started first by simply touching the console on the door frame. Usually doors like these were unlocked when bases weren't on alert. Sure enough, the door let out a quiet hiss as it slid open. Sara peaked in through the door and saw nobody on the other side. She nodded to Fiona, and moved into the back rooms of the warehouse. "We're in. Warehouse is clear so far. Close that door behind us, Fiona."

They were in a long corridor. One side of the hallway was dotted with windows which looked in on the warehouse. The other side was filled with offices and storage rooms. The warehouse was mostly uninhabited in the early hours of the morning. None of the office lights were on, which worked to cloak the rest of the corridor in shadows. Peaking out one of the windows, Sara could see a few troopers standing in a gaggle behind some crates. One was smoking, while the other told a seemingly excited story. The troopers all laughed. They weren't wearing any helmets, and it clear that the troopers were human. They all looked fairly young. It was possible they were once orphaned teens who volunteered into ADVENT for regular meals and a roof over their head. Sara could understand their position. But they chose the wrong side.

Sara stayed low, keeping her movements deliberate and measured as she continued moving down the corridor. Once they reached the next window, Sara looked out again. "What the..." she said, somewhat surprised by the sight.

Half of the warehouse was a vehicle ramp that led underground. There were more troopers standing guard at the top of the ramp. "Falcons, seems the warehouse has a structure underneath it. It's possible they keep all the good stuff down there."

[Bork Lazer]

Jimbo simply hated winter. There was no doubting it, both in a personal and practical sense. Snowstorm’s were a sniper’s nightmare and a blizzard was a inexorable labyrinth for a bullet to pass through. It obscured his vision and turned his balls into two giant ice cubes. However, the snow was starting to melt and the Mid-West winter had become charitable to their efforts today. It was clear. There was little to no snowfall in the air.

He couldn’t help but grin when he heard that command over the radio. He cheerfully replied back, his heart pounding relentlessly and excitedly like a drum in his head as he pressed his eye to the scope.

“ Copy that, Lancaster.”

He thumbed the trigger as he adjusted his scope for the best resolution on the encroaching targets, waiting for Lukas to sight out the ADVENT patrols as he began to run through the motions. A silencer was unnecessary given that the sound would dissipate across the wide valley and the muzzle flash wouldn’t be that noticeable from this high a elevation. He didn’t even need Lukas to confirm his targets. He could see them even without his scope, in the distance. Their black-matter bulky armor was horribly unsuited for patrolling through the forest, their forms visible in the evergreen pines. He spoke through the radio, a slight hint of joy betraying his professional demeanour.

“ Two contacts. 300 meters out and bearing south-west 35 degrees from my position. Outside of black-site and 50 meters south of supply base. Proceeding to engage.”

He then stilled his breath, his heartbeat slowing to a near standstill and his mind in a perfect moment of zen. He quieted everything in his brain, the thoughts of coffee, the thoughts of getting vengeance on ADVENT, the smell of wet grass mixed with snow and Lukas’s tobacco-ridden mouth . It was all about the target. Discipline. Silence. Conviction. His breathing became like clock-work, one every five seconds. He zeroed in on them. The two of them were walking side by side, boxy electromagnetic rifles in their hands while they were conversing with each other about something. One of them looked young. Energetic. The other was clearly an older person, a few inches over the other one. Was he berating the other about their lack of military discipline? A lecture? A friendly conversation about the wonders of the ADVENT regime?

Why was he trying to do? He couldn’t give two bloody shits about the lives of ADVENT bogans. His reticle blotted out the target’s head, as he angled his rifle a little to the front but not to much to compensate for their movement. He waited for the moment when they were under the shadowed cloak of the supply base, shrouding their bodies from the spotlight.

“ Taking the shot.”

He fired twice. The 338 Lapua Magnum was a beautiful calibre. Fast and deadly without needing a hernia like the 50 calibre’s that were once popular at HQ. It escaped from the barrel with a fractured splitting crack that travelled and rolled all over the valley without echoing back. The soldier furthest from the fence. Less chance of escaping to cover and less effort needed to re-adjust his target. His first target’s head splintered apart, his body wobbling for a moment like a cracked egg before he hit the ground dead. The ADVENT trooper reached for his radio, shaking his head around as military discipline kicked in and took over his body, looking for the best place to take cover. Unfortunately for him, Jimbo took the opportunity to reload and fire once more. It tore in the space between their mouth and chest, hand trying to staunch the flow of blood as if he was trying to clog a waterfall. Jimbo watched as the ADVENT trooper’s skin turned paper white, hand dropping from his shredded neck as he landed face-first into the ground.

Dead.

Good.

He ejected the hot bullet before radioing in confirmation of their deaths.
“ Tangoes down.”

Take that, you wankers.
Jimbo then took a moment to observe his surroundings through the scope. The alarm wasn’t activated. Good. He then heard a soft rumbling in the distance to his right. He looked up before noticing twin spotlights arriving on the road. It was a supply truck. He pressed two fingers to his helmet, frantically speaking through the radio.

“ Lancaster, be advised. There’s a supply truck heading down towards the Blacksite now. ETA is about 25 minutes. You need to secure those supplies right now.”

[thedman]

David stood near the edge of the warehouse, looking at the L-shaped building that was the blacksite's power station. If they could secure it, Carlotta could disable the power, de-activating their alarms and allowing Falcon Squad to engage the enemy without them being able to call backup. Between the warehouse and the power station, there was a number of vehicles and crates that they could use for cover. It was very lucky for them, since it gave them a means to avoid the spotlight that had been sweeping over the area. They would be able to move from cover to cover, stopping when the spotlight passed over the area, and moving when it went away. As he watched the spotlight, he felt Carlotta tap him on the shoulder. "Almost..." He watched as the spotlight moved, and eventually went past the power station. "Alright, now!"

He ran across the field as fast as he could, making it nearly halfway before the spotlight passed over the area. Taking cover behind a crate, his heart raced as the spotlight passed over him. Easy. They can't see you. After a few agonizing moments, the spotlight moved out of sight, and he moved again, this time making it all the way to the power station. Stacking up next to the door, he noticed a glass panel on it that allowed him to look inside the room. Moving his head to look in, he took in the details of the room. He assumed it was a control room of sorts, judging by the terminals that lined the walls. There was a great deal of advanced-looking equipment that he had no idea what purpose it served. Looking towards the right side of the room, he saw three ADVENT troopers sitting around a plastic table, apparently playing some sort of card game. They weren't wearing their helmets, and he could see their rifles leaning against a nearby terminal. With them distracted with their game, he and Carlotta could easily ambush them.

Moving away from the door, he looked over to Carlotta. "There's three of them, and they're distracted. If you threw a flashbang in there, I could move in and take them out." He thought it would be best for him to take the guards out, since his weapon was suppressed, and Carlotta's wasn't. If any nearby guards heard gunshots, they would no doubt raise the alarm, and then everything would go to shit. Taking another look into the room, he continued. "This looks like it's the control room for the power. Once the guards are down, you can get to work on cutting the power."

[Xandrya]

She watched as David rushed from cover to cover, avoiding the spotlight in order to prevent detection. Carlotta took a moment to mentally calculate how long she had before the spotlight made its way around again, threatening a nasty outcome if it so happened to catch her. After it passed through once more, she ran for her life to the first vehicle, her heart beating loudly in her ears. She let out a quick breath, making her way to the edge of the vehicle to look around the corner. No guard in sight yet, so that much was working in their favor. Carlotta waited for the light to flood her location, standing very sill once it illuminated her surroundings. She even went as far as holding her breath, anything really to avoid attention.

The moment it the light was gone, she made a final push towards the building. Carlotta wasn't a very strong woman. A great runner, sure, but not very strong. She maintained a toned body as a result of her previous work-out routines and the current demand of the job, but building muscle was just something she was never interested in achieving. Given her small frame, standing at barely 5 feet and weighing roughly 100 pounds soaking wet, Carlotta would occasionally find herself out of breath whenever she had to exert a great deal of energy with all the gear, weapons, and miscellaneous items she was carrying. But this quick sprint barely affected her. Not that she would dare complain to her teammates anyway as she saw it as a sign of weakness and that, to her, was unacceptable.

Carlotta eventually ended up adjacent to David, catching her breath as she looked in through the glass to analyze what they had to work with. The guards inside seemed pretty relaxed, an advantage for them. David then went over the plan they were about to execute, one that going by the narrative should be relatively easy to pull off. With a quick nod, Carlotta reached for one of her stun grenades. "On my mark..." she whispered.

Carlotta paused for a moment, looking at David as she got ready to make the offensive move. Once there was a quick mutual agreement between the two of them, she quickly opened the door and threw the grenade in the general direction of the guards.

[Luminosity]

Fiona slipped inside the warehouse behind Sara and quietly shut the door behind her, staying low and keeping her pistol at the ready at all times. It was hard to hear anything over the heavy beating of her heart, thumping regularly in her ears, but they'd obviously been undetected so far. Even the others outside who had actually started engaging the enemy had maintained stealth. So far, so good.

They'd been seeing these human ADVENT troopers more and more. The further they got from the invasion, the more the people began to forget, or just be able to look past what was happening. Not all of them had suffered what Fiona and the others had been through, and it made it possible for them to serve their enemy. As far as Fiona was concerned, it made them the enemy too. Death was preferable to submission.

There were six of them in total, at least the ones they could see right now. Fiona and Sara could quickly even those numbers while they still had the element of surprise, but she imagined it would turn into a fair fight after that, and not one they could resolve silently. They'd survived this long by avoiding fair fights.

Then there was the matter of the unexpected ramp, and the unknown that lay at the bottom of it. Fiona would be lying if she said she wasn't curious, but she'd also be lying if she said she wasn't nervous about it. They were on the clock here, and going down there could very well be more than she or any of them could handle.

"We might not have time for that," she warned, though no doubt Sara already knew that. "But it's your call."

[thedman]

The three guards, distracted by their game, didn't notice the door open. By the time one of them saw the stun grenade, it was too late. The grenade went off, blinding and disorienting the three guards. They fell onto the floor, confused and in shock. As soon as he heard the grenade go off, David rushed into the room, weapon at the ready. Spotting the guards, he began to engage. They put up no resistance, and were easily taken out by controlled bursts of 9mm fire. The MP5SD was a very quiet weapon, and it likely wouldn't attract any attention from guards outside. As the guards fell, David swept the room, looking for any guards that he could have missed. Seeing that the room was empty, he lowered his weapon. "Room's clear."

Moving into the room, David spared the bodies a passing glance. They were definitely not expecting an attack, and they wore confused expressions on their faces. Pushing away uncomfortable thoughts, he moved on, looking at the rows of terminals and machines. From here, they could probably cut the power. Looking over at Carlotta, he began to speak. "Alright, you know the tech better than me. Go and cut the power, I'll cover you."

Taking a moment to change to a fresh magazine, he looked over the room once more, noticing another door. Walking over to it, he slowly opened it, taking a peek inside. It seemed that this was where the generators and other equipment was held. Fortunately, nobody was inside, meaning the building was clear. He walked around the control room, making sure nobody came in while Carlotta cut the power. Unclipping his radio, he brought it up to his mouth, and pushed the talk button. "This is Washington. We've secured the power station."

[Bork Lazer]

Jimbo awaited further commands with bated breath as he heard the errant spattering of gun-fire on the open radio. Hopefully, he wouldn't be put in charge of carving the names onto the memorial list today. He gripped the handle of his rifle harder. No one was dying today. He had to remind himself of that. There was a moment of silence on the radio where he was unsure of himself, his scope trailing towards the power facility in suspense. If Washington and Missoti couldn't secure that power facility, they were done for. Lancaster and West would quickly become fish in a barrel, trying to escape out of the facility without disabling the power.

"Hostile Down."

He breathed a sign of relief, chuckling as the stress slowly seeped out of his body, a huge weight of worry released from his back. One objective down, one more to go before extraction. Now, where was Lancaster at the moment? He peered back at the supply warehouse, his lips pressed thinly, before looking back at the supply truck that was slowly encroaching on the Blacksite. At the rate it was going at, it would arrive in about 20 minutes or sooner. Just what the hell was taking the other ground team so long? Jimbo muttered into the radio in a steely tone to emphasise the lack of time that they had.

" Lancaster, West, what's the ETA on securing that warehouse?"

The supply truck was gaining ever so slowly near the blacksite and time wasn't on their side. He made a list of all the possible solutions, humouring them one by one.

Distract the guards inside the house with a missed shot?

Suicidal and it would be a utter waste of ammunition. Attracting suspiscion wasn't one of their mission priorities.

Pop the tires?

Whoever was the commander of the Blacksite would know something fishy was going on if the tire was popped. In all likelihood, the ground team wouldn't have a way to escape the blacksite and be left sitting ducks.

Shit. They were running out of options and there was only one, safe, reliable way they could get in and out of the Blacksite without being spotted visibly. He muttered in the radio one more time, hoping Lancaster would come up with a solution soon.

" Lancaster, that supply truck isn't going to hijack itself. Make a decision ASAP. "

[Xandrya]

Gunfire, shouting, chaos...a scene all too familiar for Carlotta throughout the years. She simply watched as David kept dropping bodies with each pull of the trigger, but that didn't mean she was only an spectator for she had her sidearm drawn and at the ready to assist if the situation called for it. Although given their advantage of being on the offensive, they didn't need to worry.

"Room's clear."

Carlotta pressed forward with haste, holstering her pistol before reaching for some wire cutters. She made her way to one of the first terminals, taking a moment to look over the diagram attached on one side.

"Hmm..."

A few moments passed, and she went on to the adjacent terminal. Knocking the latched door open with a quick, hard hit of her elbow, Carlotta followed one of the cables from the cluster with her finger from top to bottom, seeing where it ended up. She brought the wire cutters up to the cable, as carefully and gently as a technician about to defuse a bomb, and she cut the cable right at the center. But instead of the power going off, a red overhead red light began to blink. Carlotta then scrambled, her adrenaline kicking in as she followed the same steps with the adjacent cable. This time though, she was successful. Luckily, whatever alarm she had triggered was silent. "That was close," she said, putting away her wire cutters and walking towards David.

[Whoami]

"We might not have time for that, but it's your call." Sara heard Fiona say.

Sara nodded and mulled over the thought of going down to investigate. Before she could come up with an answer, she heard Jimbo speak up over the radio. "Lancaster, that supply truck isn't going to hijack itself. Make a decision ASAP."

She bit her lip. Looking back to Fiona, Sara came up with her answer. "Jimbo, immobilize the truck. Lukas, secure it."

They needed that truck more than anything. The supplies it carried alone would keep Falcon going for another month at least. If they could secure the truck, then it wouldn't matter if they got any extra goods from the base. "Rifle team, be advised. Once you incap that truck, it's likely the base will respond. Expect a patrol to come and investigate."

Right after she said that, the lights in the corridor began to flicker and die. Eventually, they died out completely across the entire base. ADVENT troopers stopped what they were doing, and began running to their officers for instruction. The four troopers that were in a gaggle behind the crates seemed to be the first into action. They were leaving the warehouse through the large garage doors, and headed for the power station. "David, Carlotta, you've got company. Four troopers closing in with their rifles raised. We're going to be going loud soon, get read-" Sara was cut off by a horrible shriek over the radio.

She gasped from the piercing sound and pulled her headset off. She looked to Fiona, "What the hell was that?!"

Seconds later, a rumble could be felt in the building as a bright purple light blasted out from the access at the bottom of the ramp, followed by a fiery explosion. The flames billowed out toward the guards at the ramp, causing them to dive for cover. Scientists and troopers and staggered out of the brief blaze waving in dismay as they caught fire and burned alive. Fire alarms in the warehouse began ringing, and suppression systems spewed water in every direction. Sara hurried to get her headset back on, "I don't know what the hell you did, Carlotta, but things just got chaotic inside the warehouse!"

There was another rush of purple light from the access, and this time Sara could feel something. A massive shiver ran up her spine. It was familiar to her for some reason, like she had the feeling before but couldn't quite explain what had caused it. Sara clenched her teeth and looked to Fiona, "Supplies or not, we need to investigate what's down there."

__________

Meanwhile...

The Executor walked through the metallic corridors of his ship. On his left were long windows, which gave him a view of the great expanse of space. A large nebula of orange and green dominated the backdrop, while a fleet of hundreds of ships occupied the foreground of the view. He always felt a rush of pride whenever he looked over his Grand Armada. It was a fleet the Executor had built from the ground up in the Elders' honor. Once the fleet of the elders could have been stopped. But since his ascension, their might had become insurmountable. Each warship in the Grand Armada was capable of punching above its class, and each one could act as a vanguard for invading new worlds. The Executor was at the head of it.

He was the Elders' mightiest fleet admiral, and the best commander his species could offer to the Elders. The Executor had fought in countless battles even before his ascension, the first of which were against the very masters he now served. There were no regrets. Not anymore. The Elders had improved the Executor in more ways than he ever could have dreamed. At first, his ambitions were small in scope compared to the Elders' vision. He wanted to rule his homeworld, the cradle of life for his people. But when he was chosen, he was granted the resources and tools needed to conquer more. His sights were no longer set on just one single world, but rather the galaxy in its entirety. He was successful thus far. And his name was feared throughout the expanse: Sempra-Tor.

While he looked over his armada of thousands of ships, he felt a calling in the back his mind. The Executor knew what it was. Something had caught the Elders' attention, and he was being called. The Executor let out a low growl, and dropped to one knee. His quill-like furs of his mane lifted slightly as psionic energy gathered around him. There was deep rumble, and a pillar of light engulfed him. When the light retreated, the Executor was gone.

"It is rare to be pulled away from my duties, masters. I inquire... What is so important that you call away the admiral of your fleets?" the Executor said as he emerged from the psionic rift in another chamber.

Towering over him was a halographic display of an Elder. Its regal robes and mask hid its appearance, but its presence in the room was absolute. The Elder turned its head to look down on the Executor. "Sempra-Tor. You have been a faithful servant to us, and we wish to extend our gratitude to you."

The Executor kept his eyes on the floor, "I am honored, my masters. But there is no gift so great that could match my servitude to you. Although... I will concede. How do you wish to show your gratitude?"

Another hologram appeared in front of the Executor, this one much smaller. It was a planet, marvelously blue and green. The Elder spoke while the Executor studied the orb, "This world is one of our newest acquisitions: Earth, as the inhabitants call it. More importantly, it holds the key that we have been searching for for the past millennia. The importance of this world is greater than any you have conquered for us. We grant you rulership over this world. Subdue it, and ensure it does not fall to the Great Enemy."

The Executor bowed his head again, "If that is your will, my masters. I will redeploy the fleet to ensure its safety."

"Good. We know you will not disappoint us, Execu-" the Elder was cut off as it keeled out and let out a shriek of pain. The Executor quickly stood to his feet.

"Master! What is it?"

The Elder clutched its masked face, "The Key. It is threatened... Go now, Executor! Travel ahead of the fleet to Earth, and ensure the Key's safety! We cannot replicate it yet, it is fragile!"

The hologram of Earth showed a red ping where the Executor was ordered to go. "At once, my master. Your Key will be safe under my watch."

Another beam of psionic energy engulfed the Executor. Just as fast as the beam of light had appeared, it vanished, along with the Executor.

[Bork Lazer]

Well, bloody bollocks, their plan had just been shot to shit. Two weeks of reconnaissance and heavy strategic discussion were flushed down the toilet unceremoniously. Jimbo angled his body to the north-east to get a better shot while signing in dismay. No plan survives first contact after all.

“ Copy that. Target sighted, approaching Blacksite 17 degrees from its position. ”

Jimbo re-adjusted the resolution of his rifle scope and focused in on the truck, its twin headlights irradiating white beams in the shadow of the valley. He could only identify one driver at the moment. He breathed out, steadying the swaying of his scope, before pressing the trigger a single time. A spray of dark red decorated the wind-shield a moment later like an abstract art piece. The truck rolled in its tracks before swerving off the mud-beaten track. It later stopped against the side of a pine-tree, causing several birds resting on the branches to fly away in distress. He trained his scope on the still truck, waiting for any ADVENT soldier to stumble out in confusion. There seemed to be none at the moment.

“ Truck disabled. Travers, secure the target,” He radioed in the confirmation while nodding his chin towards Travers.

Several things happened after that. The familiar burst of comms interference struck at the worst moment, burning his ear-drums with a angry buzzing sensation. There was a bright bloom of luminescent purple where Lancaster and West were currently situated followed by a loud explosion that he could feel, even from his position.

What in the goddamn hell was that? He didn’t even need the scope to see the devastation. Soldiers and other base personnel were currently alit, their glowing bodies stumbling out of the great conflagration. He couldn’t believe that Lancaster wanted to even consider the possibility of going down a place that was currently on fire.

“ Lancaster, get out of there with West right now. The Blacksite is on high alert. You and the rest of the ground team are sitting fish in a barrel if you don’t get out of there right now.”

[Luminosity]

"Shit, shit, shit."

Fiona stayed down and in cover throughout the explosion and the billowing flames emerging from down the ramp, trying to block out the horrifying sound of screams as people burned to death inside the warehouse. Water from the fire suppression system above steadily began to soak her. Great. That wasn't going to be fun once they were back outside in the cold and on the move.

If they lived that long. It wasn't the cold that Fiona had to worry about right now. As far as she could tell the explosion had to have been caused by something Carlotta did in shutting off the power, maybe unintentionally ruining something they were working on below. They somehow had yet to be detected in all the chaos, but Fiona still holstered her pistol and drew up her rifle instead. There was enough chaotic noise at this point that staying silent didn't seem worth sacrificing the firepower.

"Understood," she answered Sara, suppressing the uncomfortable knot twisting in her stomach. She'd heard what Jimbo said, about them ending up as fish in a barrel if they didn't get a move on, but she couldn't deny that they'd stumbled onto something bigger than they thought here. Something that could just maybe make the years spent and lives lost worth something. So long as they didn't just add their own corpses to the pile.

"I'm with you. But there's not going to be anything I can do if another blast goes off while we're down there." Fiona flicked off her safety, and prepared herself for a fight.

[thedman]

David watched with some interest as Carlotta got to work on cutting the power. He didn't know much about technology, given his upbringing, and could only assume that she knew what she was doing. As she cut one of the cables, a red light began to blink, and his heart nearly burst out of his chest. Soon, however, the power flickered off, and David took a deep sigh.

"That was close."

He frowned. "Way too close. Let's hope that didn't trigger any alarms." Looking around the now-darkened room, he managed to locate the exit. "We'll have to-"

The sudden explosion caught David by surprise, and he could see flames shooting up from the warehouse. From the light, he could barely make out the silhouettes of ADVENT soldiers. Sara's radio communication confirmed it- four troopers, heading towards their location. Swearing under his breath, he tightened his grip on his MP5. Looks like they were going loud. He turned to look at Carlotta. "I'm going to go out and take cover behind the crates. You can stay here and engage them, or get closer. Your call."

With that, he head outside, quickly taking cover behind the nearest crate. It was still dark enough for him to move unseen, despite the warehouse fire providing some light. He could see the ADVENT troopers approaching the power station, and he moved back behind the crate. They were outnumbered, two against four, and the troopers had superior weapons. Maybe, if they were quick enough, they could take out the troopers before they had a chance to fight back. Taking out his radio, he brought it up to his mouth. "This is Washington. We're going loud."

Bringing up his MP5, he aimed at the group of troopers. They were slowly approaching his position, through the field of crates. As his red dot centered on the lead trooper, he opened fire, letting out a stream of full-auto shots. The lead trooper went down, his body stitched with bullet holes. The remaining three broke out into shouts, running for cover. David was forced to duck behind cover as one of them raised their mag rifle, and magnetic slugs flew over his head. While his gun was suppressed, the sounds of mag rifle fire would likely be heard around the base. The fight had started, and there was no going back.

[CaptainBritton]

"Copy." Travers acknowledged, grunting as he spit out the wad of dip tucked in his lip, spotting tool and bipod neatly slid into his ruck's webbing as he grasped his rifle. He elevated to a crouch, hooking his belt's clip into one of the rappelling wires, smoothly descending, urgently unhooking and bringing his rifle to bear, folding in his bipod and gripping tight to the grip and handguard.

As he began to move, a light illuminated his ghillied silhouette. He turned, his nightvision monocle lit up as the flames mounted towards the sky. He muttered briefly. "Ah hell." He flicked his NV monocle up to his helmet, turning back towards the truck. He keyed his comms. "Travers here, moving in on the truck!" He darted his eyes left slightly.

Against a nearby tree, a trooper, lame and obviously wounded by the wreck had a rifle thrust into his shoulder, struggling to bring it to bear. Reacting quickly, Lukas spun and kneeled, his scope glinting against the one functioning headlight of the truck. His shot popped with a dull thump and a sharp crack, and the return was the whirr and zip of a magnetic rifle. Opening his eyes, he settled them on the trooper, a crimson trail beginning from his chest. By some dumb luck, the trooper's shot had went wide. He keyed his comms.

"Travers to all, truck secured!"

[Xandrya]

The explosion startled Carlotta, her eyes drawn to the window as she took a few steps closer in that direction to see. Carlotta cursed herself out in her native tongue. The current outcome was not the one she was expecting, and even though she was simply going along with the plan, she took this failure personal. But at the moment, she didn't have the time to spare, not when they had a group of incoming ADVENT soldiers.

"Go, I'll stay here," she said to David before walking back behind one of the terminals. Carlotta positioned herself so she would cover the entryway with minimum exposure. It was an advantageous spot, one that would allow her to pick off the guards one by one if they were so stupid as to keep coming in. But that was too easy. Realistically, they would draw her out with a grenade, then ambush her with firepower. That's what she would do anyway.

From the sounds of it alone, the fight outside had picked up. She switched out her primary weapon and just as quickly, headed towards the door. It was a last-minute decision, but she figured it was better to help David out instead of becoming a sitting duck.

When she reached the doorway, Carlotta noticed David taking some fire. Since she had flanked them, she switched off the safety and began to engage. The soldiers reacted instantaneously, immediately taking cover but not before she scored a hit with one of them. He'd gone down, and even though she wasn't sure whether he was actually alive or not, she didn't have the luxury of finding out. Carlotta hid behind the wall after drawing the attention to herself.

"Hey Washington, what do you say we tag team them?"

[thedman]

"Sounds good to me!" David was currently crouched down behind the crate, as one of the troopers fired at him. There were only two left in fighting shape, and they had both fallen back behind the same crate. The sudden ambush had stunned them, with two of their number going down in the opening moments of the attack. They seemed to be somewhat panicked, and their shots weren't very accurate. Still, they had him pinned, and if he tried to get up to shoot back, they could very well hit him. But, eventually, they'd run out of ammo. Then...

He looked towards Carlotta. "I'll suppress them, you hit them when they're down!" If he could keep them down, even for a few seconds, it would give Carlotta enough time to flank them or throw a grenade. Soon, he got his chance. One of the troopers ducked behind cover, evidently to reload, while the other fired pot-shots at Carlotta. It gave him a few seconds where he wasn't under fire, and that was all he needed.

Going up from cover, he aimed at the trooper who was attacking Carlotta, and fired. The trooper seemed to notice him at the last moment, and moved to shoot David, but he was too late. One of his rounds had hit the trooper's arm, and he quickly went down under cover. With the two troopers now hunkering down, David sprayed the crate they were hiding behind. It didn't seem like any of the shots were going through, but that didn't matter. Now that the troopers were no longer firing at any of them, it gave Carlotta a window of opportunity to make her move. Hopefully, it would be enough to end the fight.