[You Interviewing Amalie]

"Do I have any regrets? I have many regrets in my life… yes… yes I do have many regrets human." She hissed mournfully while staring into the barrel of her pistol. "I regret falling for the Elder's trap… I regret sending so many of my daughters to die, so many sons to their deaths… restricting the natural breeding cycle of my species in favor of 'cloning'… and especially… not being there for him when XCOM rescued him from his prison."

She smiled sourly while she flicked the safety of her pistol off and continued to aim it at herself.

"But my biggest regret… the one thing that I can never forgive myself… was hiding the truth from him that night. I pretended like nothing bad would happen in the future to him or his planet when I left… if only… if only I had told 'someone'… maybe then none of this would have happened."

She closed her eyes and hissed sadly as a single tear shed from one eye.

"If… you had won… my daughters might be free now… maybe we could have 'coexisted' from the start. And my beloved and I… we would not have been separated for so long."

She opened her eyes and eyed the pistol with an almost 'desperate' desire, before she sighed and pointed the pistol at the ground.

"I just wanted to live with him in peace, like that one summer vacation we shared… why is it so wrong to wish for that?"

=Chapter 13, Avenger Defense E.C. 1=

(Hawkeye's PoV)

"Aaaaand… fire!" He said.

*Peeeeeew*

Mercy's firearm let loose a new experimental dart that she had been excited to test out. According to Tygan it was an upgraded version of one of her previous venom darts which melted electrical systems and certain alloys. To test this new dart, they were testing it on an old MK II Gremlin.

Mercy hit the Gremlin's front at the firing range, and they watched as the dart melted into a goopy pile of red slime. After a few seconds steam arose and slowly the red slime began to ever so slightly dissipate into a smaller and smaller pile, but it left behind exposed wires and severely damaged circuitry. Though its overall mass was unaffected, there was little doubt that the dart had done its job and destroyed a portion of the machine's inner mechanisms and circuits. Though the one trade off was that it reeked of what smelled like dirty sox worn by a Muton, and he didn't even know if Mutons 'wore' socks.

"Shit Mercy, that is some 'stinky' stuff." He muttered as he could smell it from where they stood.

"I don't smell anything." The Viper hissed in confusion as she took a sniff. "In fact I smell something very pleasant."

"It's probably because you're a Viper Mercy, trust me… that smells 'bad' to me!"

"Well Tygan did say he used 'my' venom to make the new dart, probably why it smells nicer to me."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Say uh… Hawkeye…" Mercy hissed quietly while glancing shyly toward him. "Can I ask two questions?"

"Obviously you've asked one but go ahead~." He chuckled as she slithered next to him.

"Commander… does he have cameras in our quarters?"

"No, he gives us privacy in our quarters."

"I see… then would you care for a… uh… 'wager' as it's called?"

"What kind of wager?" He chuckled lightly.

Mercy looked thoughtful before she walked over to a line of 'Practice Pistols' on the wall and loaded them with conventional bullets. "We shoot targets, winner is whoever gets most targets nearest bullseye!"

"Alright, and what's the wager?" He asked as he took the gun and called up two targets from the range to shoot at.

"If I win… you take me on 'dinner date' to ship's roof!" She said with a grin.

"And if I win?" He countered with a grin.

"If you win, you take me on dinner date to ship's roof still… but after that we'll return to our quarters…" She leaned closer and hissed quietly into his ears.

His eyes shot wide as he looked at her, only to see her smirk with a very prominent blush and reach into her vest pocket to lift a small square plastic package, and 'wink', before she slid it back into the folds of her vest.

"Where did you find 'that'?" He asked.

"I had to trade T-Rex." She hissed. "I found some old comic books in abandoned home when we went searching for supplies last week, he had a 'few' from his teen years, it was easy trade for us."

"Have I ever said how much I love you?" He said as she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"Mhmmm yes…" She hissed just as lovingly. "But if you want to get 'home run' easy… you need to 'win me'."

And with that they both turned and started taking aim at the targets.

=Meanwhile in the Mess Hall=

"Soooo you really traded Mercy three condoms for a stack of old, dusty and faded comic books she found while searching for the supplies the resistance left us last week?" Sharptooth asked with a grin. "Why were you holding onto those little things, hoping to get lucky?"

"Oh, but I did girl, these are some of the 'good ones'!" T-Rex laughed loudly as he sat with a stack of old comic books and reading one. "This is an Action Comics #10 Superman issue I'm reading! I've been wanting this series for years! I'm the luckiest guy in this room!"

"Only you would trade condoms for comic books." Sharptooth giggled. "So, I take it our resident shark snake is planning on getting schwifty with Hawky?"

"If I were a bettin man I'd say so girl." He chuckled as he turned a page. "She offered me her desert ration to keep me out of our quarters till after dinner."

"Funny, she made the same deal with me." Sharptooth said. "What about Falcon and Eagleeye?"

"Eh Falcon said something about wanting to meditate in the Psionics Chamber, and Eagleeye said he and Puppy ganna be down in the guerilla ops room training to stay cool in a firefight!"

"Sounds like fun." Sharptooth said as she got up. "Ima snag a beer, you want one?"

"Yea snag me one girl!" He called out. "I got lots of comics to burn through!"

(Commander's PoV)

[So Tygan you said you had something to report on your research findings?] He asked as he floated into his research room.

"Commander, indeed, I have some good news about my findings." He said as he tapped on a screen. "I have completed my findings regarding the Seeker's cloaking field, and I've been able to duplicate the chemical formula that enables it to cloak itself."

He stared at a blueprint of a suit of armor with intrigue, watching the whole thing and the wearer become invisible.

"While Amalie's advancements have certainly enhanced it, I have been able to make my own modifications to the chemical makeup and the suit's design, allowing the user to disappear perfectly. Advent forces won't know what hit them, if our forces use this in the field, they can deal a very critical blow to them from the surprise factor."

[Not bad, I'll see how long it will take Shen to develop it… now what about those power readings we recovered?] He asked.

"In that department we've made some intriguing discoveries, most of the power being generated in the Advent Cities across the North American continent isn't showing any spikes or abnormal readings. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed a definitive pattern…" He said as he brought up North America on his viewscreen and showed several powerline connections. "This is the power grid; on a normal day this is how it looks and as you see nothing is out of the ordinary… but we noticed a very subtle pattern form most recently."

He tapped the screen and all the power lines faded say for those connecting to a single location in the middle of the continent.

"The power supply is subtle, being drawn from every Advent City along the grid, barely noticeable unless you were actively looking for a pattern. Having access to the records of the power generator certainly helped us to track it down. We don't know however if this is the location of one of the Advent AI Generals, but if it is then it would explain the massive need for power. Running that massive frame constantly, and having to power and manufacture so many diverse robotic forces would require a constant power supply for a factory."

[It's a good lead, but we need to be sure they're there before we can launch an assault, for all we know they 'want' us to go there as part of a trap. That information was too easy to find out.] He replied. [Thanks for your work, the next project I want you to work on is the data core we recovered from that D.L. Infinity Husk.]

"I figured you would assign that; I'll have my team work on it right away." He said.

He floated out headed toward the Command Center where Amalie, Shen and Central were all examining the holo-globe.

"Ah, Commander, you'll want to see what Amalie's Vipers have been doing since we last saw them." Central said.

A nearby screen changed to show a picture of Amalie's Viper's modifying the Advent Sectopods they had encountered in the abandoned city. Most of the modifications involved changing out the plasma turrets for heavier armaments, as well as adding some 'Viper' themed propaganda and imagery.

Along the side were the words 'Vipera Liberali Causa', as well as a picture of a pair of viper fangs painted below it. Hanging off the side was also a flag with a picture of the XCOM logo mixed with the previous Viper image.

"When you destroyed those machines, you took out a portion of their net, after you left the Sectopods and other mechanical forces left the area, leaving the abandoned Sectopods ripe for the picking!" Amalie said with glee. "After they left, my daughters entered and 're-appropriated' them for our own use, and thanks to your chief engineer we have reprogrammed them for 'our' side, and updated them to prevent being hacked. Needless to say, this will no doubt 'tip the scales' in our favor my friend."

"Amalie's Vipers have access to some Advent Transports that have been repurposed to transport her own forces, they've even secured a few Advent Sectopod Dropships." Shen said. "If we're operating in an area where her forces are also operating, we can call on reinforcements to assist us during the mission. They'll lend us assistance, but they won't be under your orders sir."

[I figured they would listen to my orders considering we're working together.] He commented to Amalie.

Amalie hissed in embarrassment at that and looked away slightly. "A few of my sons are… how should I put it, 'not too keen' on working with you." She hissed before leaning closer to him to whisper privately. "While the majority of my daughters and sons follow me, the males of my species have great influence over the females. Even one male can command loyalty from hundreds of females. I would have uh… 'silenced them' but… we have too few males as is for me to risk executing them for not following 'my' will."

[Our alliance is still young, naturally should have seen this coming.] He told her. [Is there any way you can convince them to change their minds?]

Amalie hissed in thought as she rubbed the scales of her mouth with a finger. "Hmm I suppose a good threat to their lives, maybe a beating might suffice in the short term." She hissed before she grinned. "Maybe I should threaten to castrate them, that ought to get their attention quickly?"

[I mean a way to win them over to our side that 'doesn't' involve risking our alliance with infighting and hatred between our organizations.] He said exasperatedly before floating away. [Stupid snake…]

"Says my friend who got himself trapped in a machine." She hissed back with a smirk.

[Remind me again why I keep you around?] He asked as he looked at the holo table. [We've been scanning for some supplies the resistance left for us in this area for the past few days, any sign of them yet?]

"Nothing yet, though we still have a few hours left to complete our scans. We'll probably will find them by the end of the day." Shen said nonchalantly.

[In any case we should start…] He said before the holomap began fragmenting and glitching out. [Is this thing breaking down?]

"No, it shouldn't, we did a maintenance run on everything in here last night!" Shen responded instantly as she ran over and started typing away at a keyboard.

There was silence around the command center as everyone watched Shen rapidly working on the holomap.

"It's nothing on this end, all system's check out…" She replied as she looked up as if suddenly realizing something. "It's almost as if our own signal is bouncing back at us."

-Briiiiiiiiiiing, Briiiiiiiiing-

Suddenly every light in the room went yellow and alarms began blaring.

"Perimeter Alarm!" Central shouted as he and Shen went over to the main viewscreen.

"Looking for a breach… almost got it… there!" Shen said while scanning through various camera angles.

The viewscreen settled on a closeup of a massive Sectopod with four Anti-Infantry Plasma Turrets dotting its body and a shield generator on its backside. The Sectopod stared at the camera before targeting it with its turrets and firing, shutting the feed off.

"It's one of those things…" Central said.

Mere moments after he whispered that the entire command room went dark say for a few viewscreens and emergency red lights turning on.

"That can't be good." Shen muttered.

[Not helping Shen.]

[Bzzgtz… Bttsstz… So, this is the Avenger… I must admit, it's not as impressive seeing it from the other side.] The AI Commander called over their comms, apparently able to access them despite not having access to their frequencies.

(Puppy's PoV)

She looked up from the boxing pillow they were using to have her stand her ground while it swung at her, looking confused and nervous after everything went dark and the emergency lights came on.

[After all this time I spent tracking you down…]

(Sharptooth's PoV)

She looked around the room as if for some reason she would be able to see whoever it was talking over the intercoms while holding a pair of beer cans for her and T-Rex.

[One would think you would have had a more 'rigid' security system.]

(Mercy's PoV)

She looked up from the firing range while Hawkeye was about to step over the range to retrieve their targets, looking confused at the sudden blackout and the red emergency lights.

[Well since we all know the song and dance routine by now… let's get this started, shall we?]

(Commander's PoV)

[I've brought along a new toy, just for you!] The Sectopod said while he watched Central trying to get a panel to work, and out of frustration smacked it with his fist.

With that everything started coming back online.

"Get me a fix on it's location, now!" He yelled at Shen.

"Got it!" She said, causing the two of them to go over to her station. "But you're not gonna like this…"

On the screen the Sectopod stood behind a squadron of Advent forces, both Alien and Peacekeeper, as well as a few of it's MHW Tanks and apparently ordered them to charge, while behind it a massive gun just materialized out of thin air almost, turned toward the Avenger and open fired.

*PSHHHHNGT*

Seconds later.

*BNNNGT*

The entire ship was rocked by the damage of the gun as the hologlobe temporarily broke down and everyone began scrambling to their monitors, with steam erupting from the ceiling and warning lights flashing all around.

"Something tells me they are not here for milk and cookies!" Amalie hissed as she steadied herself on a rail.

"Whatever that cannon is they've already got it keyed to critical systems throughout the ship." Shen called out.

*PSHHHNGT BNNGT*

The ship was rocked again by an explosion which caused monitors to spark and the hologlobe again to break down.

"We can't take many more direct hits!"

"We're not going to." Central said as he turned to him. "Commander we need to take that thing out while we still can. Our forces can deploy immediately, just give the word!"

[CONSIDER IT GIVEN!] He yelled while floating away.

As he floated toward the deployment ramp as alarms went off, he tapped into the comms to communicate with Central and the rest of the bridge crew. At the same time, he gave the orders for any and all XCOM combat personnel to prepare for combat and head to the armory immediately.

"One of the Advent AI Generals has chosen to attack the ship Commander; they'll do whatever it takes to get you back."

[Reminds me of a certain snake.]

"This isn't even as nasty as what I did, what do you take me for an amateur? If it's you, I'd blow up a continent to get you." Amalie hissed in amusement.

[The Elders want you back Commander, this time there will be 'no' failure… your Avenger will only shield you for so long… let's begin this game. I've made the first move, now show me what you can do!]

[Shen can you please find a way to shut them out of the comms?] He yelled.

*PSHHHNGT BNNGT*

The ship was rocked yet again by a massive artillery shell from the cannon.

"Ask me that when we aren't being shelled by a big fucking gun!"

At the landing ramp which quickly began to lower he and six of his XCOM operatives left into the field which was mostly a forested area, an area they had been using to cover their ship from prying eyes, yet it served zero purpose now except to offer their forces cover for the fight to come. At the bottom of the ramp were four repurposed Advent Turrets, reprogrammed to defend the Avenger when deployed.

At the bottom of the ramp taking up position were Eagleeye, Puppy, Pierce, Gabriella, 007, and finally SHIV.

"Attention all hands, this is not a drill, the AI Generals are attempting a ground assault against us with heavy weaponry, prepare to defend the ship, we have to take out that gun!"

He changed his angle and zoomed in on one of E.C. 1's heavy tanks and showed them all it was rapidly firing on the Avenger with powerful magnetic weaponry.

"The enemy tanks are hammering the ship; we have to take them out before they breach our hull!"

He nodded and finally zoomed in on the primary objective, the massive cannon on the far side of the forest in a clearing, hooked up to a generator and surrounded by Advent Peacekeepers.

"Commander, that AI General brought some kind of massive artillery cannon with it, there's no way we can take off while that thing is operational. They seem to be powering it with a supplementary generator on the back of a truck, it will take some time I think to fully charge it for a shot. So, if we can take out that generator, that cannon will be useless!"

[Then let's get this started, every minute we're here means another shot from that cannon hitting the ship!] He said as he returned to his forces.

"Commander, SHIV has been deployed with the new upgrades we talked about, and the Seeker will be ready to deploy in moments." Shen declared.

"Our forces are still getting ready and armed up, as they become available, I'll send them out to join your standing forces in the field." Central declared.

He nodded as he began making his orders, getting his forces to split up, SHIV heading off to the far right since it's firepower and profile made it the equivalent of an entire squad. Gabriella and Pierce were joined by Eagleeye and Puppy as they proceeded into the forested area, while 007 stayed behind in cover, propping up her plasma sniper rifle and awaiting targets.

As they moved into position his Gremlin showed the status of the Avenger's hull integrity, giving it the number 400 and slowly decreasing it with time. He noticed that every time the heavy weapon tanks fired, they whittled away at the integrity ever so much.

Then as he tried to issue new orders, he felt a signal interrupt his Gremlin's, forcing him to watch as a pair of Sectopod legs marched forward.

[The time has come to test our 'metal'.] E.C. 1 declared as the recon drone floated around to show the front of it.

= AI: E.C. 1, Advent Strategic Commander Sectopod =

= Strengths: Multi-purpose Anti-Personnel Plasma Turrets, Personal Shield Generator, Heavy Sectopod Armor, Primary Sectopod Cannon =

= Weaknesses: Inferior Weaponry against heavily Armored Targets =

[I'll show you my strategies are the superior between us!] E.C. 1 declared as he stomped forward.

Finally, he was able to focus on his own forces. [I'm really starting to hate these guys…]

While his main group entered the forest the first Advent forces they encountered were a mixture of Peacekeepers and Aliens. A single Captain, a Stun Lancer, and two Mutons all came into range.

"Paresh metook!" The captain called out pointing at them.

Instantly all four separated into cover.

[Puppy, target the Muton on the left at G-4!]

"Party time!" Puppy yelled loudly as she turned around her cover, took aim and fired her laser.

*Peeewsht*

"At least I hit it!" She called out as she blew up half a tree to hit the Muton in the chest.

[Eagleeye, target the Captain and take a shot at L-4!]

"With pleasure!" Eagleeye called out as he took aim and fired his rifle.

"Gaaaaah!" The Captain yelled in pain.

"Bark Bark!" Puppy called out as she took a surprise shot and fired on the captain too.

"Hidahaaaaaaa…"

"I got one!" Puppy screamed happily.

"If there's one thing I'm proud of Commander, it's the bond between our agents, seems Puppy grows stronger when next to her mentor Eagleeye."

[Yep, if Eagleeye takes a shot that nearly kills an enemy, Puppy will automatically take a shot to try and finish the job. Those two are like a father and daughter duo!] He commented. [Pierce target that Muton on G-4, finish it off with Run and Gun!]

"Hunting em down!" Pierce called out as he ran forward, primed his Shotgun and shot the Muton in the face. "One down, more to kill!"

[Gabriella, introduce that Stun Lancer to your giant fist.]

"Leg servos at maximum, moving in for close quarter engagement!" She called out as she ran forward in her giant MEC body, primed her fist and flung it downward to smash into the Lancer with rocket propulsion. "The threat is no more!"

"Roaaaaaawr!" The Muton hollered as he took aim, but jerked as a plasma bolt flew through his cranium, and caused him to fall over dead.

"I'll get to you later…" 007 called out over the com.

[You think these little 'victories' will turn the tide, you obviously have forgotten who you are dealing with…]

"Commander I'm detecting Advent Dropships on approach, it seems E.C 1 is calling in reinforcements in waves, we need to take down this cannon fast and get out before we're overwhelmed."

[Speaking of that cannon!] He replied as he zoomed in on the cannon and watched it release another shot.

*PSHHHNGT BNNGT* The air shook with the thunderous power of the artillery shell hitting the Avenger.

"Systems are failing across the board commander; we can't take many hits like that!" Shen hollered.

(SHIV's PoV)

[Commander, where's the enemy, I want to shoot something already!]

Five seconds later she was ordered to shove through a tree line, and it saw an MHW Tank not dissimilar to itself, but obviously its profile was more angular whereas she was smoother and more rounded. Next to it there were even two MEC units and a Berserker. The tank was currently homed in on the Avenger and unleashing a steady stream of magnetic pulse rounds into the side of the hull.

[Now that is what I was asking for!] She stated gleefully as she was ordered to start targeting the mecs. [Targeting!]

She revved up her turret and changed the rounds into a rapid fire spread to melt into the first MEC and blew it to pieces within seconds.

[One enemy down!]

"Graaaaaaaaaaaawr!" The Berserker roared as it charged straight at it with no regard for its safety, but a single plasma bolt shot through its head and broke its stride instantly.

"That one's mine…" 007 said over the coms.

[Thanks for the support agent!] SHIV declared as it tunnel-vision'd into the next MEC, disregarding the plasma bolts being fired into it's body and focusing fire. [Enemy down, now targeting the MHW Tank!]

It turned now toward the tank and entered turret form as per the Commander's orders, and emptied 600 rounds of plasma into the tank, breaking through the armor and blowing it up instantly.

[One down, according to scans there's only two left!]

[I anticipated that move… and now I'll counter it!] E.C. 1 declared as it stomped toward SHIV, causing SHIV to turn and watch the giant Sectopod approach.

[Woah… your 'big'.] It stated.

[And your small… I guess that makes me the better machine.]

[If I destroy you alone, I think the Commander will give me a promotion!] SHIV stated eagerly. [I got some upgrades since the last time I was deployed!]

[Your cute… for that I'll destroy you quickly!] E.C. 1 declared as all four of its plasma turrets turned and opened fire.

SHIV focused it's shield on the stream of plasma bolts and absorbed most of the incoming damage before it returned fire and emptied an equally destructive stream of plasma bolts into the Sectopod's armor.

[Grah!] E.C. 1 declared as SHIV tore into it's armor and weakening it's body.

[And that is why I left it on its own, because your weapons E.C. 1 are designed to counter infantry, not armored units like my SHIV.] The Commander called. [Also, your giant profile made it easy to predict your action.]

[I'll tear you apart for that!]

E.C. 1 however chose to retreat after the substantial damage done to it, heading toward the center of the battlefield and ignoring SHIV as it tried to keep firing on it.

[Forget it SHIV, move on to grid M-15!]

[Awww, I wanted to fight that giant Sectopod some more!] It said in disappoint, returning to tank mode while its systems cooled down and floated on.

(Mercy's PoV)

She and Hawkeye were just deployed alongside the Seeker drone into a forested field where she could see magnetic shots and plasma bolts being exchanged off in the distance. As well she could see just barely the giant form of E.C. 1 moving toward a forward position area where a few of the sharks and raptors were fighting to gain ground on the giant gun.

"This was not the dinner date I had wanted Hawkeye!" She hissed quietly.

"Same here, so let's send them packing!" He called out to her as the turrets started firing at something on their left and right.

She ducked as a shot of plasma went past her, the sender being one of five Advent Peacekeepers, led by a Captain. On the right were a group of Aliens, two Mutons, two Vipers and another Viper but with special armbands filled with liquids. The 'armed' Viper hissed loudly at her before she injected herself with something while the others took cover.

"Heeeeesh… TRAITOR!" Her Hierarch Mother yelled violently over the coms in their natural language. "That Viper is NOT one of my daughters, no daughter of mine who is truly loyal to me would fight against me! Bring me that traitor's head on a plate Mercy!"

Without waiting another second, she and Hawkeye took cover behind the low metal walls created by the ramp and started taking shots at the enemy.

'Why would there be traitors, I thought the Hierarch Mother said all of her natural daughters had joined her cause.' She thought quietly as she ducked to avoid a grenade blast.

She was ordered by the Commander to target the armed Viper and obeyed, she took careful aim and fired, but the Viper almost seemed to have anticipated it, dodging instantly the moment she fired. Surprised she didn't react fast enough as the Viper tried to grab her with their tongue, and she countered with her own.

With their tongues now wrapped and bound together, each of them fought a tug of war battle trying to break the other and pull them away.

"Hng… egk…" She grunted painfully while trying to pull her target toward her, even as her opponent did the same.

This Viper was very different compared to the other two, who were obviously clones just based on the fact that they had identical scale patterns. This other Viper, the 'traitor' as her mother declared was fighting very differently, all because of that chemical. Even when during the exchange she took a gambled shot and 'fired' at her target, she dodged it perfectly

'I fired from 'hip' as they say… how did she dodge that?' She thought in confusion. 'She didn't even see it coming, how could she have dodged?'

She tugged again and fired once more from the hip, trying to be unpredictable and give no indication of her attack, but still her adversary dodged it instantly.

'How… is she… doing that?' She thought furiously. "Dobl ov sven, I nds hlp!"

"Sorry, little busy here." 007 Calmly said as she fired off a shot and slowly reloaded her rifle.

"I can't help either, I'm pinned down!" Hawkeye called out as plasma bolts fired on her boyfriend.

The Seeker however responded, appearing well behind the Vipers and Mutons, turned and open fired on them all to get their attention. In the brief moment where they turned and called out the Seeker behind them, her opponent showed a sign of weakness and distraction, allowing her to yank at last and pull her quarry in.

She tightened her coils around the Viper even as she tried to counter and tighten around 'her'. They eventually became a tangled mess of Viper body and coils, but she managed to wrap her arms around the other Viper's neck and gripped tightly.

"Why… why are you fighting for 'them'?" She hissed in their native language while everything was happening.

Her fellow Viper looked her in the eye, and for the briefest of moment there was a look of desperation, of pleading in them, not dissimilar to the one she had so long ago when her life was being threatened by Hawkeye. "Ch… ip… El… ders… AI…" She hissed almost painfully, before the look in her eye vanished and she snarled and revealed an injection needle implanted into her fangs, and bit down on her own neck.

There was a moment of silence before her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she went limp.

"Chip… Elders… AI?" She hissed quietly while a massive shockwave sounded from the cannon launching another shot against the Avenger.

*PSHHHNGT BNNGT*

"I can barely keep our systems online Commander; we have to take out that gun!" Shen called out.

She could focus on that later, right now she needed to 'survive' this battle and save the Avenger.

(Commander's PoV)

They had just broken through the lines of the Advent forces, despite two dropships planting forces behind them and then a third landing forces in front of his group. During the time it took for them to break through however, the gun had fired off two more shots, dropping the Avenger's hull integrity to 104 along with the other MHW Tanks constantly firing. The Avenger was taking an absolute pummeling, and it wouldn't take much more to finish off the ship.

However, during that time SHIV had taken down another MHW Tank, and Bellona had been deployed alongside T-REX and Sharptooth who were now fighting off the group protecting the third and last tank firing on the Avenger. This left his team to destroy the artillery cannon, and thanks to careful maneuvering they were now in sight of the cannon and the generator.

The only problem, it was guarded by two Advent AA Sectopods and several dozen Peacekeepers.

[Eagleeye give that Captain a wake-up shock!] He yelled during the fighting.

"Go get em Papa Bird!" Eagleeye called out to his Gremlin.

The Gremlin floated over to the Captain before he could notice and fired off a shock that sent him collapsing.

"That one's down!"

Meanwhile Pierce had been hit badly by the combined fire of two standard troopers, taking bolts to his armor and was suffering some bad burns that even his genetic enhancements weren't healing fast enough.

[Puppy, give Pierce some medical treatment.] He ordered.

"Baby bird, on the way!" Puppy said, before she signaled her Gremlin and it floated over to Pierce as he reloaded his weapon. "Blue mist makes everything better!"

[Launch a Grenade at those soldiers and blast their cover Gabriella!]

"Targeting parameters logged, firing!" She called out calmly, firing a grenade and blowing up the rocks and trees that the troopers were using as cover.

"Baarh…" One of them called out painfully.

"Karapa tomonosh!"

"Commander, MHW Tank is down, though there was some trouble!" Sharptooth called over the coms, making him look through her sights and seeing the remains of several MEC units and a burning husk of a tank.

"Which we 'nailed'!" T-Rex called loudly.

"Only the cannon remains now my father!" Bellona hissed from behind her bandana.

*PSHHHNGT BNNGT*

The entire area was rocked once again by the shockwave of a shell hitting the Avenger, bringing it to just '6' integrity.

"Commander we can't take another shot, systems are shutting down and everything is going critical. One more shot and we are 'dead'!" Shen was saying in a panic.

Almost on cue another Advent dropship flew in, lingered around the area of the cannon and dropped off yet 'more' Troopers and a Captain.

"Karematooshed!" The Captain ordered, circling its hand in a gesture as all of them took cover.

"They just keep coming!" Puppy yelled fearfully.

[Now what Commander?] He asked himself bitterly while he looked at his options.

[Nothing, that's what!] E.C. 1 called as it marched from another angle and stood directly in front of the truck holding the generator. [You've lost this 'Commander', admit your defeat!]

Thinking quickly, he looked at all of his forces positioning, T-Rex was now in range to see the Generator., SHIV had continued it's movement and was now just off to the side, and finally he had his group directly in front of the generator and the units guarding it.

If he could smirk, he would.

[I think it was Vallen who kept lecturing me about this during some of my missions…] He said as he issued orders to them. [Well it's a pity she's not here to remind me to 'show restraint when using explosives'.]

[T-Rex launch a rocket at position L-4!] He called out.

"Here, Early present from SANTA!" T-Rex called as a rocket flew past them and exploded on the Sectopod.

"Braaaaawh!" Several of the Troopers screamed as they were sent careening away from the explosion.

Yet two things that survived the explosion were the generator on the back of the truck, and E.C. 1 which was still standing and enveloped in his shield.

[It will take more than that to stop me!] E.C. 1 called out as it's shield absorbed the impact.

"Commander that shield is almost impenetrable, nothing we have is making a dent in it!" Central called out.

[SHIV, launch a plasma missile at L-4!]

[One boom coming up sir!]

From SHIV's location a large plasma shell was launched like an artillery shell, exploding on impact with the generator, causing it to spark and crack, but still it stood.

[Is that all you got?]

[Eagleeye, Gabriella, Launch a grenade at L-4 as well!]

"A little present from me to you!" Eagleeye shouted as he primed and threw a grenade at the truck now.

"Targeting, firing!" Gabriella calmly stated as she too launched a projectile from her MEC.

Both grenades exploded and 'finally' it seemed that E.C. 1's shield had broken down, exposing the Sectopod to damage. Yet behind it the cannon began charging up preparing to fire.

[Your too late!] E.C. 1 declared proudly. [I win!]

[007… Shut. Him. Up!]

"Boom…"

From the Avenger's launching bay, a single plasma bolt rang out and punched through the damaged armor of the Sectopod. With no shield to protect it, E.C. 1's internal mechanics and especially the plasma inside it's body was ignited and exploded.

"Headshot."

[Graaaaaaaaaaagh!] E.C. 1 screamed in rage and almost 'pain' as it fell backward onto the generator of the cannon and his body 'exploded', taking the generator, the truck, and even a portion of the cannon with it.

"That's it the cannon is offline, let's clear up the last of these forces and get the hell out of here! We need to relocate and repair the ship pronto."

"Indeed, our scans are back online, and we can see several dropships and even a battleship on approach. The sooner the better my friend!" Amalie hissed.

(Mercy's PoV, hours later)

She wearily slithered into her room, thoroughly exhausted and thoroughly depressed.

She wore a simple shirt to cover her body from neck to tail, extremely light because her armor had been so heavy after the fighting.

After they dealt with the cannons, they had to clean up one last dropship's worth of reinforcements and the two AA Sectopods leftover. Then it was a hasty retreat before 'more' forces showed up and a rush to get the Avenger back in the air and away.

During the fighting several members of the forces sent out were badly harmed. She and Hawkeye as well as 007 escaped most of the damage, but the rest were injured and needed treatment for a few days. Even 'SHIV' was in need of minor repairs, alongside the Seeker which had sustained moderate damage because it was so frail.

Yet the one thing she couldn't get out of her head… as she sighed and leaned into her and Hawkeye's bed, was the last words of her Viper enemy.

Her sister had seemed almost 'desperate' to tell her, desperate to warn her of something, before she took her own life as if she was being programmed to do so.

'Chip, Elders, AI? What did she mean?'

Moments later she heard Hawkeye walk in just as tired as she was, and crawl into bed alongside her.

Feeling his warm, smooth body next to her made her feel better as she turned around and held him tightly with her arms, coiling around his legs with her body and hissing happily as she did.

"Well we made it Mercy… barely but we gave that AI a lesson he'll never forget." He commented to her.

"I heard; he was so furious… entire ship heard him." She replied with a grin.

=Earlier=

[You may have won this time 'Commander', but the next time we meet, you will pay… you best hope you never see me again, because I WILL take you back to the Elders in chains… screaming and begging for death!]

=Present=

She chuckled a little as she snuggled into his chest, before she realized something. "So, who won our bet?" She asked with a smile. "I was in such a rush… I did not see who won."

At that he smiled before he reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of targets, showing his had more holes near the center than hers.

"I did, guess that means I owe you a dinner date next chance we get." He said while booping her on the nose.

She smiled lovingly as she pulled him to lie on top of her and looked him warmly in the eyes. "And I owe 'you'… a 'cherry' to pop afterwards." She hissed seductively, before she pulled him in for a kiss, moaning happily as he lay flat against her body while she tightened her grip to get him as close as physically possible.

What he didn't know was that she 'threw' the bet, she deliberately made sure to miss a few of her shots.

It was a win win either way, she gets dinner date, and she gets her man!

Why would she risk messing up that?

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(From the author)

First of all I apologize deeply for taking so long to write this chapter, I got super side tracked… lost motivation… but FINALLY got myself to writing it, and I can only hope you forgive me for taking so long to do so…

If you wanna write how badly the chapter is I don't blame you XD I needed to actually reread my story to figure out the movement and rhythm again as well as get the plot going again.

Till next time!

Also, Torque is best snek waifu, change my mind!