XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 102: Gangsters

Ranger

Chapter 102: Gangsters

By Wanderer D

The view was fantastic.

For miles around, in fact, as far as the eye could see—save for the slight, almost invisible piece of track that emerged from the dense jungle—the only visible thing was trees, wild land and more trees. Far to the East, what might've been the sea could be spotted in the horizon.

That places such as these existed was a miracle onto itself, and spoke in favor of the reality that whatever the Elders were looking for on Earth was… it definitely wasn't natural resources. And yet, just like the benevolent image they gave to the citizens of their conquered world, so too was the mountainside Sunset and the others found themselves atop deceiving in nature, as it hid within it one of Earth's mightiest enemies.

Elena guided them, her hand holding a GPS device of impossible accuracy, until they stood in a semi-flat area of the mountain of no particular note.

"According to the structural blueprints, this is the location," she said, marking the place with an 'x' drawn with the tip of her boot.

"Well, time to find out if this whole thing was for nothing…" Jane muttered, kneeling down and fishing out explosives out of her backpack. "You guys get the ropes ready and secure, I'll plant the explosives."

"Are you sure this is the best place?" Annette asked, fishing out her rope.

Jane nodded, giving her a slightly annoyed glance. "Yeah. It wasn't just me selecting it either, Shen, Tygan, Security and Jaws were with me. We studied the whole structure, if we blow this spot, it's perfect for my GREMLIN to shut down most of the security and lock the upper rooms from backup."

Annette nodded. "So as soon as we're in…"

Jane grinned. "The cameras go dark."

A little further away, Laetitia noticed that Sunset kept frowning and looking around, as if something was going to creep out of the mountain and attack them. "Are you okay, Sunset?"

"Um? Oh yeah…" Sunset took a deep breath, standing up, rope in hand, smiling confidently at the others. "I just… I have a sense of… something going on here… magical, maybe."

The others shared concerned looks. "Does the Assassin… can she use Equestrian magic like you or Twilight?" Annette asked. "Because if so, she's never revealed that."

Sunset shook her head. "Not that I know of… and you'd know better than I, in any case. It's… something else, a sense of… echoes? I don't know how to explain it. Two levels of existence…" She rolled her shoulders trying to figure out what she was sensing. "Voices? Not… invasive, it's not an attempt at mental control…"

"I can't sense anything in our vicinity," Laetitia said, glancing at Annette, who also shook her head.

Sunset sighed. "Come on, it might be nothing… let's just get started… this place is just giving me the creeps."

Once they had secured the ropes, and they were far enough and behind cover, Jane looked at the others and nodded. "Let's start the fun."

The explosion echoed in the still air of the mountain, while dust and tiny pieces of rock rained around them. They didn't wait.

"Go, go, go!" Sunset shouted, taking her rope and jumping into the hole the had blown open. She activated her blood sight and looked around as she descended, making sure there were no enemies in sight.

There were.

But they were not prepared for XCOM to come down crashing on them.

As she slid down the rope, she opened fire on a stunned Lancer, the alien alloys from her shard gun piercing through his armor like it was made of paper and splattering blood on top of the other two ADVENT troopers.

They started running for cover—of which there was plenty in the small warehouse-like room they had burst into—but the surprise attack gave the base invaders a definite advantage. Annette fired her sniper rifle as she descended, piercing one Trooper through the head, while Jane and Elena's shots finished off the last ADVENT member.

Soon enough, Menace was spread out all over the room.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Hisss!"

"Clear!"

"Aaaand…" Jane muttered… "Dark!" she announced as her GREMLIN beeped in confirmation. "Ha! Those hours spent with the nerd princess did pay off!"

"Alright," Sunset took a deep breath. She glanced around, her blood vision revealing little around them. In the distance, she could see some signs of living beings, but nothing immediately close. "I don't detect any organic enemies nearby…"

"Which means we need to keep an eye out for MECs," Elena summarized.

"Well, we have to kill them all anyway," Jane muttered.

"Set up the link with the Avenger," Sunset ordered.

"This is Avenger, link established," Chrysalis said into the comms.

"Okay people," Bradford's voice came over next, "Stay alert and remember why we're here, the Assassin dies today."

"...no matter what it takes," Annette added.

"We're detecting a strong energy signature further ahead in the facility. There's no doubt in my mind that it is where the Chosen is located." Tygan added.

Just as the group was taking positions next to the closed doors heading deeper into the facility, a new, unwanted voice broke into the channel. "You should be proud, XCOM… Blood Witch… Traitor… you are the first of your kind to find your way here. Your death will bring glory to the Elders."

"Ignore the bitch," Annette growled, "she always liked trying to get into the head of her enemies."

"Well," Sunset readied her shard gun, "that won't work with us…"

The world shifted, and suddenly she was in a different facility. Men and women ran around, armed with advanced weaponry that contrasted with their almost gangster-like looks.

The people that ran in and out of her field of view all had their faces covered with a bandana, making them mostly unrecognizable, even in the off chance that they might've been familiar. They all wore a patch, however, on their arm, with a logo she recognized from her history lessons: an eye overlooking the curve of the world, where a star hid…. EXALT.

"...will it?" Sunset muttered.

"You can't!" a shout drew her attention, where Aria… but not the Assassin—Aria as she had been back in the world of the alternate Sunset, stood, arguing with a tall, dark man also garbed in the gangster-look of EXALT. "They trust us! They're part of us!"

The man scoffed, his striking, emerald eyes turning to look in disbelief at a group of people Sunset knew were out there, on some level, but she wasn't able to see.

"Really, Aria, you grow too fond of your pet," the man said, and he smirked, a confident, malicious smile. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts? You know what fate awaits Adagio."

Aria flinched, stepping back and shaking her head. "You're not going through with that, are you? Tell me you'll let my sister go!"

"Your sister, your pet psychics, you, you, you…" The man shook his head, reaching out to touch a gem hanging around his neck. A gem just like Aria's. "For an alien intelligence, you grow fond of simple things too easily, Aria. Perhaps I should help you."

"What do you intend to do?" Aria's voice was slightly scared, and Sunset had to wonder, who was this man that scared her so?

"Why, nothing my dear… nothing that you shouldn't have done yourself." A surprising glow emanated from the gem in his grasp, resonating with the one around Aria's neck.

The siren shook her head, but her body sagged and she relaxed, almost falling back, if she hadn't caught and helped up by another female EXALT member. For a moment, Sunset ignored completely the stammering, straightening Aria, concentrating instead on the woman that had helped her up.

She was tall, and even dressed in the gangster set up, carried herself with a confident air. Her hair was immaculately done, it's indigo curls falling graciously on her shoulders. Sunset knew this woman.

"Do you feel calmer, now?" the man asked, drawing Sunset's attention back to Aria, who was holding a hand to her temple.

"Y-yeah, better," Aria said, a slight anger in her tone. "Thanks."

The man snorted again. "You have to keep that under control. Didn't you tell me you sirens used to support each other by using the gems to keep your killer instinct alive? You can't expect me to keep track of when you need it and not."

"Fine, fine," Aria muttered. "I still don't like it, but I guess we can let the aliens use them… we didn't get them just to make friends, after all."

The man smiled. "No, we did not."

He looked up at the woman who had helped Aria. "You, assist Aria with prepping our guests. It's time we repaid the Aliens for helping us, isn't it?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked away.

"Come on," Aria said, roughly, "let's get going…"

"...Sunset?"

Sunset blinked, looking around at the worried expressions of the others. "Whu—"

"We lost you for a second there, Bloody," Elena stated, her eyes fixed on the open door, ready for any approaching enemies.

"Hisss…"

"She's right," Jane said, "You spaced out completely…"

"What's going on?" Annette asked.

"I think... " Sunset took a deep breath, mind racing, "I think… not all of Aria might be gone after all."

o.0.o End Chapter 102 o.0.o

Comments

[Heidao]

Ooh, so we're entering a Kill/Spare situation, but will this Aria want to be saved?

[TheStratovarian]

Oh my, now this is going to be the interesting moment, who is really showcasing this, as we do sadly see the threat implied to one already.

Looking forward to what happens in the belly of the beast!

[KMCA]

8947627
She doesn't want to be.

[RolkFlameraven]

Kill her, keep the gem Sunset. As Aria said, all that is left of her is in the gem. You know what you have to do, now fallow her instructions and save what ever is left of her soul from the horror that was done to it.

[Icarus_Con_Queso]

Immaculate purple curls? Rarity?

[Heidao]

8947650
That's best to be considered as an opinion from the other Aria, let's consider it for later if the soul fragment is salvageable, and can communicate

[Bronycommander]

Interesting

[Reese]

"she could see some sings of living beings"
"she could see some signs of living beings"?

[Aprion]

No redemtion, only bullets! The soul of Mox demands it.

[Black_Knight]

Oh things are really getting exciting. Are they going to in some manner save Aria ?

into the hole the had blown open.

they

"You can't!" a drew her attention,

Did you mean : A "You can't!" drew her attention,

[tsaukpaetra]

Inside the gem?

[DualThrone]

I am personally an advocate for the salvation/saving/not-death of the Assassin. Because f--k me, I always wanted to spare the bitch when it came down to it and XCOM 2 said no. So I want the all-powerful Wanderer to say yes.

[Golanth]

8947819
That all comes down to the Chrysalids, not the Chosen.
8947962
Well so long as the Monolith exists they can kill her as many times as they "want" first.
If other Aria thinks that all that's left of her (soul?) is in the gem, does that mean that new Aria is in the Monolith?

[the other sans]

it's indigo curls falling graciously on her shoulders

1. Its.

[djthomp]

Those hisses from Angel as a part of the conversation always make me chuckle.

"I think... " Sunset took a deep breath, mind racing, "I think… not all of Aria might be gone after all."

This is dangerous thinking considering what the other Aria said.

[Linksta]

So I think I've finally got this down. The Hunter is Sonata (the taco line was a dead giveaway) and she just killed a team. In response, XCOM is infiltrating the Assassin HQ to take down at least one of the Chosen, in this case Aria. Sonata just happened to be the catalyst.

[LucidDreamer]

Still waiting for Sombra Warlock... Prove me wrong Wanderer.

[Aprion]

8948044
They were guarding the route that led to the assassins base ( or at least a complex under her guard ), and they all serve the elders in the end. So again, no mercy.

[StardustSurvivor]

So... Rarity is full on EXALT, and not just a hapless bystander as may have been implied? Or does someone else with poise and confidence in spades also have immaculate indigo curls? This seems to have been a bit brushed over, but it has worrying implications.

[Dustcan]

We've passed the 100 chapter mark and we're still holding off plot until "later".

[cheetored20]

8948651
Thats xcom.

[Dustcan]

8948900

By that logic we ain't gonna get nothing but fluff and lvl grinding for another 50 chapters then just blitz through story mode with maxed out squad in like 5 chapters.

Well, that would be faithful to the Xcom side of the crossover...

[Moonshine-Dusk]

8948180
Well she did say if there was anything left of her, it would be in her gem. And they are getting quite near...

[AlexTFish]

I... doubt that's Rarity? I wouldn't call Rarity's hair "indigo", and more to the point, during the EXALT timeframe Rarity would have been just a high schooler over at Canterlot. Unless this is a few months after Canterlot fell and in that time Rarity somehow fell in with EXALT and rose to a position of some power and trust? Seems unlikely.

Not sure who it is - the second objection also applies to Luna. Maybe Laetitia? I have no idea what she looks like.

[gerandakis]

Let the flashbacks begin ...

the hole the had blow open

they

a drew her attention

a what? shout? scream? something else? You're missing a word there

if she hadn't caught

hadn't been caught

[Black--Soul]

I wonder if they can save Aria by saving the Gem?
Hm... In Starwars Crystaline entitys controlled Mech Suits... Maybe...?

[Black--Soul]

Maybe by saving the Gem we can transplant her mind to another body?
I would vote for a Viper~♡
8947703

8947651
Imagen the Warlock having imprisoned Aria from that day forward in her own Gem.
Perhaps we can’t save Aria body, but her soul!
I vote to give it to a Advent Viper
8947725
Maybe Angel get a Siren half Sissster? Viper duo would be nice... make it Sunset Angels like Charlie's angels if the Hunter can be added.
8947932
Wonder if we can give it to a Advent Viper, for more snek fun?
8947962
Would be quite the army X-Com would slowly building up, one boss enemy at a time.
Like a extra team added to the normal final mission team to support it.
The Elders raging about them regaining freedom and rebelling would be priceless ♤
8948044
Maybe her current body is like a clone and changed body, with the original body in the monolith *surprised Pikachu face*
8948180
It only implied they get Arias soul... a Viper Advent soldier as substitute body be fine in my opinion.
8948245
🤝
Challenge accepted back than?
8948428
Sweet Belle is the key of loyalty.
If Sweety joined X-Com they might have a very valuable soldier soon with Rarity following.
8949054
To be fair, in the campaign we could chose when we start the final mission.
One does not simply run the end game without every advantage available.
To do list:
- Tech stuff to max.
- Training a main and secondary team.
- Get some snek-tecular chapters.
- Kill or convert Elder assets to avoid them in the final mission.
- Hug the snek, maybe boop it to~♡
- Free the planet and build the bridge to Chimera square game continuity.