Chapter 44: Bonds
Ranger
Chapter 44: Bonds
By Wanderer D
"So where the hell are we, anyway?" Jane asked.
"I think… it's the old XCOM base, Sunset said. "Well, I pretty much confirmed it. That was the Alien Containment unit above." She shook her head. "Can you believe they were supposed to bring the aliens in alive?"
"Yeah, I can see how that would go with us," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "I can just imagine Tygan demanding we capture the Berserk Queen alive for analysis."
"Wouldn't that be an achievement?" Sunset asked.
Jane snorted. "It would only escalate. And besides, where would we put them in the first place?"
"Not enough space in the ship," Sunset shrugged. "But, well… here we are."
"Where do those things come from, though?" Jane asked. "I would have thought ADVENT would have stripped the place down completely."
"They somehow missed the labs, although from the state of the doors upstairs, I expect that had to do more with whatever exploded out there."
Jane looked herself down, frowning. Civilian clothing wasn't going to cut it. Especially not if they were injured. "So what the hell happened to me anyway?"
Sunset grimaced. "When you were jumping into the van, a lucky stray shot from a captain got you in the back… it went right through you."
Jane winced and lifted her shirt, touching gingerly the area where a circular scar had formed around new skin. "How… how did I even survive?"
Sunset gulped. "You almost didn't. You were barely breathing… if my energy hadn't been filled up from…" she shook her head. "I used my blood magic. I poured everything I had into it, while trying to get us out of there. I… it and many applications of medikit spray kept you alive, barely, until we got here. I used a stim to keep going, then… then I hooked you up and did a blood transfusion… and ate more food so I could keep casting my spell… then, when you were stable enough, I left a lingering spell that helped with cell regeneration."
Jane was quiet, listening to Sunset's explanation.
"I'm not sure what actually managed to do it… I'm not a healer. It could have been the machines. The blood transfusion. The magic. The dosage of medikit spray… the stims… your GREMLIN… just stupid, dumb luck?" Sunset stammered. "I don't know. I don't know. It worked and you're alive and here and—"
She stopped when Jane pulled her into a tight hug. Sunset gulped. She could feel how tense her shoulders were, and how tight her throat felt. She slowly raised her arms and wrapped them around Jane as well.
She leaned her forehead on her friend's shoulder and took a shuddering breath.
"You saved my life," Jane said softly. "All that you did… it was insane. Possibly stupid and dangerous for both of us. But it worked, and now I'm here with you."
Sunset nodded against Jane's shoulder. "We've faced worse," she whispered. "You and I… we've survived so much together. We'll do it again."
The pair stepped back from each other.
"So what now, Sergeant?" Jane asked.
Sunset took a deep breath. "If this place is not as empty as we thought… that means that there might still be some equipment left behind. We can't fight with civilian clothes on and expect to win against these things. I think our weapons are more than enough to take them down… an extra shot might've been enough for that thing up there… but I'm not willing to risk it. We need armor… so that means the armory."
Jane looked down the long corridor. "We don't know where that is. Could be on the floor above or below."
Sunset nodded, taking out her utility belt from the back pack, and passing the other to Jane. "We have ammo, and superior weapons." She activated her blood vision.
Jane frowned. "I never noticed until now that your eyes lit up like that when you did that. You're using that weird vision thing right? The one you told me lets you see blood flowing?"
Sunset blinked. "I… yeah, but it's not supposed to light up my eyes."
Jane shook her head. "Maybe it was minor before?"
Sunset shrugged, turning around to face the darkness. "Doesn't matter right now… come on, let's go."
The concrete hallway went far, but it eventually ended in an open door. So far they had not encountered any more enemies, and Sunset's vision showed nothing alive around them… not that that would help much. The emergency door opened into a larger hall, big enough to allow several people to walk past each other without the need to slide past.
Jane stood on overwatch as Sunset quickly dashed out and took cover behind a piece of collapsed wall. The place was a mess, with several walls completely crumbled in. Here and there were skeletons of people shot as they tried to escape or fight back. There was even a very short one that Sunset mistook for a child until she walked up to it and saw the huge, bulbous head of what could only be one of the previous versions of the Sectoids.
Taking position, she went on overwatch while Jane dashed out of the emergency exit hall and took cover across from her.
This hallway was not only wider, but it also stretched in opposite directions. Without any hint of where to go, Sunset had to simply guess the direction they needed to go. She searched the walls, hoping there were some sort of signs, and lucky for her, she recognized the color code of the arrows and lines on the wall.
It was after all, the same as in the Avenger. She signaled Jane with her hand, motioning for her to look up at the wall. Jane did so, and her eyes quickly found the markers. She turned back to Sunset and nodded, signaling for her to take point.
Sunset shook her head. She lifted her hand, curving her fingers, then motioned for the position behind her. Jane nodded, and took her place as soon as Sunset was out of cover. She pressed her back against Sunset's and they slowly moved towards the armory, her taking a step back with every careful step forward Sunset took.
It would be slower… but they didn't know how many of their invisible enemies might be around.
Omiata Kiba, aka "Deadwood", took a look with his binoculars from his prone position at the top of a cliff. Far below, in the distance, there was some sort of activity. Not close enough to worry him, but it certainly seemed like ADVENT wasn't ready to give up on Sunset and Jane that easily.
Still, although they were not getting any closer, they weren't going away either, and it was a group large enough to give him pause. Getting rid of a lot of them was possible, but there would be more than enough time for aerial support to bring more in.
He shook his head and spoke into the radio. "Shogun, Haunt," he called. "I want you two to start scouting the area where the safehouse entrance is. Jaws, Seabreeze, you two are with them, on overwatch. All-in and I will keep track of the ADVENT troops from our nests."
A series of acknowledgments echoed back to him and he took a deep breath, it was going to be a long day. Hopefully Jane and Sunset were doing okay in the safe house. Things seemed calm for now, but ADVENT was always full of surprises.
For a while, the only sound they heard was the scratch of their boots on the hard concrete floor, and their own breathing. Nothing stirred in the darkness, or at least nothing they could see.
Most of the base had been carved out of the mountain itself, much like an ant-hill, so there were whole areas, where, once a blast had affected the structure, tons of rocks and earth had collapsed inside, blocking the way. At times, it implied turning around and walking down another corridor. Other times, it was a simple matter of going into an adjacent room, whose walls had been also destroyed, which was what their current location was.
This room, or fortified cavern was huge. Large computers were lined together around a central large projector, similar to what the command center in the Avenger had. Part of the wall had been blasted in, and several dead bodies of engineers littered the area.
Sunset grimaced. This is where Chrysalis and Bradford had been when the attack had started. He had told her, bit by bit over their travels of that day. Shortly after their elite team, which she now knew to be Stardust had left the base to take down the Temple Ship, alarms had suddenly blared. Some Engineers had stood up, along with a few security members, hands on their heads as the psychic attack on the base began its initial phase.
Chrysalis had resisted the mental barrage, slamming her hand on the speakers and ordering teams to be armed, defense positions to be taken and support to different teams effected immediately.
Bradford remembered the commander, grabbing a combat rifle from the secured lockers, and tossing him one.
Sunset spotted the location of the locker, it was right next to a short staircase that went onto a low platform that overlooked the area. She could imagine Bradford and Chrysalis, just barely ready before the wall had been blasted in by a Berserker, right next to him.
Bradford was lucky to be alive. He had been backhanded by the Berserker and had fallen unconscious out of sight, while alien troops rushed into the command center, opening fire.
The rest had been filled out by other survivors. Sectoid commanders had followed in and used their psychic powers to freeze Chrysalis, taking her out of there immediately. Galahad and several other soldiers had stormed in from the lower entrance and he had barely managed to grab Central by the sweater and dragged him out and into one of the skyrangers.
Sunset faced away from the wall, spotting the entrance in the far end of the room. If that was where Galahad and the others had come, then that was where they needed to go.
She turned to signal Jane, just in time to see the next tentacled monster materialize next to her friend. "Jane!"
Jane snapped around, raising her gun just as the monster attacked. Fortunately, they had been expecting this, and Sunset's shotgun blasted through the robotic monstrosity before the tentacle could finish wrapping the first of its appendages around Jane's neck.
The creature collapsed into a heap, but Sunset and Jane were already moving. Whatever advantage they might have had was gone now. From somewhere they could hear the whirring sound of the flying saucer from earlier… or maybe there were more than one?
More worrying, however, were the heavy, thumping steps from somewhere around them. They were in a deadly maze, and their only chance now was to arm themselves better and hope to survive until backup arrived.
They emerged from the command center and ran down the next hallway, quickly identifying the dark gray line with intermittent arrows that indicated the right direction. Jane called out a warning, shooting a small, hovering craft that looked like some sort of floating claw. It shook in the air, whirring and screeching before exploding.
The pair didn't slow down, turning around at the end of another hallway. They could hear movement behind, but couldn't make out if they were being actually followed or if the enemy was searching without stopping to look… and they were not going to risk it.
The hallway took them down a ramp into the next level, and immediately to the left, the gray line ended at a doorway. Sunset skidded to a halt and as Jane took cover, she kicked the door in. Unlocked as it was, it slammed open, and the pair rushed in, aiming everywhere while kicking the door closed behind them.
When no immediate threat was identified, they slid the security bar across the metal door and finally collapsed, panting.
Outside the door, something big stomped past the room. Whatever it was, they had just missed it. The room itself was poorly lit, so Sunset released her blood vision spell, and with an attentive Jane watching, created a simple light spell, that she sent to hover at the center of the room, above their heads, casting a candle-like glow around.
Several rows of old rifles and guns lined one of the walls, and on the opposite side there were two levels of lockers, some open, some closed, with names on them.
Sunset and Jane glanced at each other, and, gathering their breath, they started searching the place. The guns were mostly useless… much less powerful even than the ones they had used before Lily had developed their current ones. But weapons were not what they needed, either, it was armor.
Sunset had barely started on her side of the room when she heard Jane's whisper. "Sunset… come over here…"
She made her way to the other soldier, glancing at her curiously before her eyes followed the direction that Jane pointed at a locker.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She had imagined she might find it, but the fact that it was there was still surreal, even after all that had happened.
The name tag on the locker read "Sunset Shimmer", with a decal of her cutie mark. Sunset raised her hand to touch it, carefully sliding her finger around the small sun.
She glanced at Jane, who shook her head, smiled and shrugged.
Sunset nodded, then opened the locker.
o.0.o End Chapter 44 o.0.o
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I wonder whats in it?
Data files? Armour? The robot you unlock in the side mission for Julian? I have no idea how big the lockers are at this point.
ah yes. The fast-paced rambling that signifies a freak out.
More seekers and even drones, though those latter are barely a threat.
The heavy stomping they're hearing makes me worry it's a Sectopod and those thing horrible to take down even with rocket launcher.
Let's see what human Sunset might possibly left more for pony Sunset and Jane.
good thing the "Great Sunny One" had the volunteer armor, if she hadn't then there'd be no armor for her to wear.
Whew...sounds like a close call with a sectopod.
One of my worst lategame experiences assaulting one of the bigger UFO types was coming upon a pod consisting of a sectopod and twin cyberdisks, attended by a few drones....and then having a patrolling pod of the same composition come through the door at the far end of the room.
8819346
sectopods are pretty easy to take down with a good sniper or 2 in your squad
Just noticed this updated as soon as I caught up reading through it on binge today. Noice.
Just noticed something as I typed my previous comment: Sunset's armor and weapon on the cover. That's an ODST armor set and an M90 from Halo 3. It still looks cool, though.
8819381
Hahaha! You obviously forgot about the X-com 2 Sectopods. An armored unit with 28-40 health is a bitch to take out. Even with 2 snipers
8819346
With any luck it is merely a mechtoid, but knowing Sunset and Jane's luck so far, nah, it is the Sectopod.
8819551
With their luck, it's a Sectopod Prime, a gigantic walker that likely has the Mag cannon, Wraith Cannon, and fuck-off Laser Cannon.
8819551
can't really be a mechtoid. The aliens seem to have left purely mechanical units behind to guard/ambush recover atempts.
And mechtoids arn't purely mechanical. The sectoid inside has to live as well.
8819737
Fair enough, I had somehow forgotten about the mechtoid being a hybrid of flesh and machine
8819607
Not sure that would be able to fit into the base, which is more or less the only reason I don't think it would be.
8819811
Right, so at most it's only a Mechtoid. Then again, for all we know it could have been upgraded with better armor, shield-bearer tech allowing it have an energy shield, and better plasma cannons or it could be a simple ADVENT MEC.
I think you mean "their"
8819474
What if thats whats in the locker? That would be pretty darn cool.
8820028
I did that once. With a character that had about 200 Will strength. I had the stat roulette on and he spawned as a recruit with 133 Will. I then named him Spike "The Brave" Dragon. He became the hero of my first playthrough of Enemy Within.
You can be proud of yourself, Sunset for Saving Jane. She was Lucky it was just a stray Shot and no direct hit. And wouldn't it would be interesting if you could interrogate ADVENT Members?
I know there some missions where they capture V.I.P.s Will any be traitors who betrayed XCOM personally?
Shining eyes? Chekov, is that you?
Looks like the blood transfusion is making a difference already.
Oooo. Maybe there'll be another message from Sunset One inside?
It's only fitting, but we wonder how Chrysalis will feel about that...
So now Jane has gotta learn Magic. Neat, I guess?
8819547
nah not really
8805699
Where does it say in the movie that’s what she wanted?
8819829
Well, considering Sectopods are part of the base-invasion/defense mission in enemy within, then leaving some behind now wouldn't be to strange.
8820138
Uhm, stray shot doesn't mean it wasn't a direct hit. (That would be a glacing shot or a near miss)
That sounds more like a direct hit, that punched completly through her. Not a "scratch" at her side, which is easiely treated with med-spray.
8819313
I would guess a titan or skeleton armor (most likely), maybe even a ghost armor, based on where Chryssi had her research focus.
Sunny one went to the temple-ship with her brand new psi armor, so her locker would still have her old. (especially since the volunteer, sunny, can't take of the psi-armor.)
8820789
Great, I hate those goddamned things.
Hmm. The glowing eyes could be transfused magic, the slow onset of hemomantic corruption, or the Element of Magic radiating more thaumatic energy into this universe. Or some combination thereof. Or something else entirely.
In any case, I suspect Sunny One still has one or two more messages unaccounted for.
8820789
Yeah, i just understand a grace shot whenever i hear stray Shot. Anyway, Sunset can be proud of herself, a Blood transfusion, Magic or not is challenging for Non Medical Personal.
I'm interpreting the glowing eyes as the previously-foreshadowed penalties of blood magic starting to set in, but I do like the alternative proposal you guys have that it could mean Jane has gained the capability for magic now. Either option leads to good plot potential.
Blood Transfusion, Sunset...?
Damn... One last gift from the past to the future from Sunset to Shimmer.
Quite surprising how many troops remain. I guess the elders recovery effort for troops are minimal and Communication is spotty at best after mission launch.
11222550
Eh, they’re robots. You can build like, thirty, in an hour
Obvious that this site isn't safe, but it would make a nice raw material salvage, perhaps Sunset Shimmer prepared more than medical supplies and a armor or two, knowledge of the future is funny that way, especially with chaos mixed of their coming last mission mixing things up enough to place key items in places where they are ignored.
A few medicine supplies here, a USB or other data storage device there, a old armor or weapon hidding something it shoukd not, with a creative mind and some foreknowledge things become very... interesting and helpful.
11468858
True, but most likely they think earth defeated with the leadership in their control.
The Tempel Ship destruction would explain why the
X-Com base was never fully stripped, they had bigger logistics problems and things to care for.
Remi d me of myself finding year old notes and me wondering how forget certain not essential things I wanted to do.