Author's note: I haven't written much on this site I know, but please let me know what you think of this piece if you read it, I would appreciate any pointers to my writing as well.

This story is minorly inspired by 'Imperator 2 you', with their written piece 'The X-com Viper'. It's truly an interesting read, and I'd thoroughly suggest having a look at their pieces.

Also a mention that I have written some of my story due to RealityMachina's mod on the steam workshop for X-Com 2, I've enjoyed using this mod when I play through.

Thank you to the fantastic Moderate1010 for the art of Kassara I am currently using as the cover art!

Chapter 1

(Squaddie 'Zero', 0200 EST 3/29/2035, location unknown)

"Alright, Squaddie! You're up!" A loud, female, rough voice called into my dorm room. "Your next mission is in 10. Be ready or we're leaving without you!"

I jumped out of bed, startled by the quick wake up call, not fully orientated yet as I stumbled towards the shared bathroom. I heard groaning from the three others in my dorm, clearly also woken up by the voice, unsurprisingly. I had been recruited by X-com a few weeks ago, and have lived with the three other members in my room, all male, since. I had been to the G.T.S, the Guerrilla Tactics School, where I had been ordered to train as a Sniper class for X-com by Central Officer Bradford. While I had long since earned my rank as Squaddie due to my extensive training, I had never gone on a mission, but I still managed to get given a nickname regardless. 'Zero' was my callsign by my dorm mates, each time they said it, they laughed. As in been on zero missions, and had zero kills. Those were the most common jokes. But I like the name, even if it was meant to be at my expense.

I glanced down at my phone, the time was 02:00, but unfortunately, this meant very little to me. As I went to sleep at 21:00, when we were positioned at our headquarters in Eastern America, we could have traveled halfway across the world to get on the mission, so as far as I knew it could be daytime out there. I opened the steel tap, not waiting for the water to run as I put my hands into the sink, splashing water back up into my face, the ice cold freezing my skin, as I shook the water off my hands, and rushed back out to put on some clothes, changing out of my white vest and loose tracksuits and into our X-com uniform, consisting of military-style green fatigues, and black all-purpose boots. I grabbed my dull, worn red neckerchief, tying it around my neck as I left the dorm, storming down the halls quickly. I was not going to be late for my first mission.

I had my reasons for joining X-com, some more trivial than others, but it has opened me to the lies of the Advent administration. It made my blood simmer inside me every time I thought about how they have deceived the entirety of humanity, using our own media against us, buttering us up with their 'gene therapy clinics'. I always thought the argument was against altering our genetic makeup, or stopping genetic screening, but once it was all installed by Advent, it was the latest fad. It's a shame what I ended up learning about them, I almost went to one once, and I sure am glad I didn't. I know a lot of friends who were undergoing long 'trial' periods with the clinics. I at least now know what that meant now.

I rounded the final corner to the squad briefing room, bursting through the door to find 3 other soldiers staring at the entrance I made, before turning back away. I rushed over to the workbenches, picking up the list of items that I was to take and equipped each one. Kevlar vest, check, frag grenade, check, sniper rifle, check, and my pistol, check. I went through the routine checks of the weapons on the bench, checking for malfunctions, any loose fittings, anything that would fault the gun. Seeing none, I rejoined with the other three in my squad. I only knew one of them, the girl who called me out of my bed; Brick. She was tall, with a short, messy crew cut, her brown hair matching the color of her hazel eyes. Brick looked tough, was tough, and always had a huge grin plastered on her face. I thoroughly believe she would have a relationship with her heavy gun, by the amount she talked about it. I hadn't had the chance to modify any of my weapons, but her Canon was fitted with an increased magazine, and a 4x scope, along with a bipod, all of which she attached herself.

"Zero! Glad you could make it!" She grinned, slapping me on the back with her free hand, as the other held her weapon of choice. Strapped to her back I could also see the grenade launcher, which looked comically similar to something you would see off of a game. "Don't be too scared kiddo, this should be a quick mission. Just listen to the commander, and you'll do fine" She winked confidently at me, her Scottish accent inexplicably more noticeable as she whispered. The other two members of the squad today were both Specialists. Which left us without a Ranger. I had watched some of the Commanders' battles previously, and in ones he took a Sniper, he would often bring a Ranger to 'scout' up ahead, as it were, and call the shots. I suppose that was for the Snipers with a lot more experience and better aim than I. The two unknowns were both Sergeants, I could see it by the stripes they wore on their armor, while Brick was already a Captain.

"Alright, introductions, guys, this is Jay. Jay Walker" She grinned, turning me to face the other two soldiers. They both turned around from their conversation, both holding flat expressions as they looked at me. After a brief moment, the Specialist wearing a black cap, with a nice amount of stubble on his face offered out his hand for me to shake.

"Nice to meet you," He said gruffly. I could feel Brick tighten her grip on my shoulder, as I shook his hand before she burst out laughing again, causing two odd looks from the Specialists.

"Hahaha! I can't believe that worked!" She shouted heartily. "Get it, 'Jay Walker'? Jaywalker? No, no just me, alright" She smiled, earning a slight chuckle from the one who didn't shake my hand.

"But in all seriousness, this is Zero. Zero, these guys are called Venom, and Angel. Guess who's who?" She laughed playfully.

"Uh…I guess he's Angel then" I said, motioning to the guy who shook my hand. The other Specialist had no facial hair, like me, but had wavy, dirty blonde hair, compared to my slightly messy short length hair, which was a chestnut brown color.

"Hmmph, lucky guess" She nudged me in the back, as we moved towards the small ship the Avenger kept in its hangar: The Skyranger. The ship's door opened for us to board, with Brick leading the way, followed by the two Specialists, with me at the back, as I made a last check for all my stuff. The door raised up behind me, as I took my seat on the ship, next to Brick. The comms crackled slightly before the voice of Central came over the speakers.

"Alright Squad, we're doing a supply raid today. Reports tell us that the transport is lightly manned, and should be an easy hit. Expect advent patrols, with maybe a couple of MECs there. Zero, we're hoping you can get a bit of experience in the field, be sure to follow the orders" He addressed, as the ship shuddered under take off. My stomach turned slightly as the Skyranger began to accelerate towards our destination.

"The transport has already been hit by resistance members, so they'll be alert, but you can still get the drop on them if you stay in the shadows"

Brick grinned towards the two supports again, unease settling across Angel's face again.

"Alright, guys, you know the drill. Stay behind me and keep me covered, and this should be no problem" She clarified, even though the commander would be telling her what to do. But she was probably correct, the two Specialists could keep her defense up with their Gremlins - small combat drones that accompanied each specialist - as they pushed forwards. This is what the Commander usually did, alternating the shield protocol between the two supports, providing a strong front line.

It wasn't long before we reached our arrival point, the rest of the journey occupied by Brick trying to start conversations, or talking about her gun, or both. The door opened, with four ropes leading down to the ground. The sky was a bright blue, confirming my thoughts about it not being the right time, it must be early in the morning All three of them ran off the ramp, jumping on a rope, as I ran behind them, but I stopped at the edge of the ramp, looking down. I immediately felt nauseous, immediately regretting hesitation, as I reached for a rope, just managing to grab one within my reach, and promptly slid down, meeting the others on the ground, and unholstering my weapon.

"Geez, what took you so long?" Angel commented scathingly, turning away from me, clearly not wanting an answer. I shrugged his comment away, awaiting my orders.

As we move through the grassy area alongside the train tracks, our boots collecting the dew on the blade tips as we moved, we finally reached the halted train, with smoke rising up from further along. Either the train itself or a fire, though I'm guessing the former is more likely.

As we moved up towards the train, the commander ordered me into a watch post, giving me some elevated ground, just as Brick was nearing the first patrol.

"Alright, Zero, let's get you your first confirmed kill. Go for the Advent Captain, the one in red. Brick, Venom, on overwatch" The orders came out, as I began to line up my shot. The Advent troops looked like humans, clad in full body armor, hiding the top half of their face, their armor had small plates over the chest, arms, and legs, to provide extra protection, but that wouldn't save them from a round from my sniper rifle. The Captains looked similar to the Troopers, except they wore a bright red, making them all the easier to identify. Their helmets were slightly larger, also covering the majority of their face, leaving only their mouth and lower jaw visible. They wore a cape, often, as well, possibly to signify their standing. Estimating the distance between us, I quickly turned the notch on my scope, as I lined up the Officer in my sights,

"Nighty-night..." I breathed through the comms, as I took my shot, piercing the helmet of the Captain and bringing him down in one. The two soldiers accompanying the Captain froze for a second, before pointing in my direction, and running for cover. Before either of them could make it, they were gunned down by Brick and Venom respectively, falling to the ground before they could reach safety.

"Nice job. Brick; move up, Specialists; on her flanks. Zero; stay put" The earpiece crackled, as the others moved up. It wasn't long at all before they encountered a second patrol

"Enemy spotted!" Angel called through the comms. I pre-emptively notched up my scope again to compensate for distance, looking down the sights at an Advent Stun Lancer, Sectoid, and Captain. The Sectoids had changed over the years, the best I could describe them as was thin, pink, gaunt Aliens, with the body that looked human, but their face was rounded, smooth, had two large eyes, and a permanent grimace, the entirety of their teeth showing. The stun lancers wore a slightly sleeker version of the troopers outfits, but were most identifiable by the red stun sword they wore on their backs. To think they used to be used for crowd control...

"Grenade their covers!" The commander ordered through the comms. Without hesitation, Brick whipped the launcher from her back, sending a frag grenade into the middle of the three.

"Cover is blown Commander, negative hit on the Sectoid" She responded, updating him on the situation.

"Angel, engage aid protocol and take a shot at the captain. Venom, shoot the stun lancer!" He ordered. Brick crouched behind a low bench, as the gremlin flew over to her, emitting a light in front of her that seemed to distort the air around it, making her harder to hit. The shots rang out one after another, I could see them before the sound reached my ears, as the Captain ducked behind cover to dodge the bullets, while the Lancer took the bullets from the rifle, briefly staggering, but rebalancing himself, he managed to only get grazed.

"Zero! Take out that captain!" The call came. I aimed towards the tree, as the Captain began to lean out to peek around his high cover. I took the shot, as it ringed out, the sound reverberating off of the buildings near me, I watched the bullet catch the Captain in the middle of the helmet, as he slumped down into the grass. The Lancer dashed towards Brick, but she ducked out of the way of the blade, while the Sectoid ran out of my sight.

"Watch that Sectoid!" The commander called, as I saw a flash of purple flash across the battlefield. Angel gripped their head, screaming into the comms. "Get out of my head!" He screamed, whipping around and shooting to his right. I had heard stories of the power of the Sectoid's Psionic ability, but I just witnessed first-hand one of my own turn around and shoot their ally because of it. Venom collapsed to the floor, gurgling as the shots pierced him. Brick glanced back, breaking away from the Lancer, and grabbing Angel.

"Snap back into it! Use your stabilizer protocol, now!" She yelled, but It fell on deaf ears as Angel stared, pale-faced at the body of his comrade, staining the green grass a crimson red.

"Angel!" Brick slapped him across the face as she tried to wake him up.

"Zero, provide cover fire to Brick" I heard the electronic voice in my ear, as I took aim, leading my target as the Lancer dashed towards Brick again. My bullet nicked the Lancer in the chest, but it was enough to kill him, as the lancer collapsed to the floor. I managed to spot the Sectoid taking up a flanking position, aiming his gun at Brick. I whipped my sniper around, taking the shot, as it struck the Sectoid on the side of the head, causing it to stagger, but the bullet did not kill.

"I've got an empty mag!" I called out, taking more bullets out of my vest, but I could see the Sectoid re-aiming at Brick.

"Watch the flanks!" The commander called, as the beam struck Brick on the side, as she staggered down onto one knee.

"Angel, the stabilizer protocol!" Brick yelled pushing Angel down behind cover, and finding some herself, grasping her side as she leaned against a tree. Already, the Sectoid was repositioning, clearly trying to get away from me. I lead my target again, taking another shot, but I saw the ground kick up just behind the Sectoid a second later. It had got behind full cover and was fully aware of me. It was unlikely for me to get a shot here. Thankfully, I watched Angel coming to his senses, his drone flying over to Venom, before flying to Brick to heal her.

"Brick, remove his cover again!" The call came from command, as the wall the Sectoid had ducked behind was decimated, leaving me an easy shot, as I felled my target, third time lucky.

"Down for the count" I confirmed in communications, as I could see Brick visibly deflate in relief in my scope.

"Alright, no other advent forces the area. Bring all squad members to evac pronto" The commander ordered, a brief crackle of static signifying him signing off the channel. I headed over to regroup, Brick picking Venom up on her shoulders. She looked slightly disheartened as we headed to evac, Angel holding his head low.

"I'm sorry guys…I…I don't know what came over me…" He sighed, putting his face in his hand.

Brick shook her head at him and reached over to give him a pat on the back.

"It's alright, dude, shit happens. We got through alright, so don't worry" She comforted.

"I could have killed him!" He looked up, tears welling in his eyes. "So fucking stupid!" He sulked, scuffing the ground heavily with his shoe as he kicked at it, the evac zone just up ahead. I felt like giving comfort, but with my lower rank, and his already possible distaste for me, I could only imagine that it would do a lot worse than I thought it would.

"Also, Zero, thanks for the cover" She smiled as she turned around to me. I gave her a brief two-fingered salute as I smiled back. But her smile wasn't one of her warm smiles, I could still sense how upset she was, even if she hid it.

Boarding again onto the Skyranger, the ride was silent on the way home, not even Brick's usual chatter broke the quiet. I almost fell back asleep, until I was jolted back into consciousness by my ears popping as the pressure increased again as we reached the Avenger.

"Welcome back squad. Zero, report to me in the briefing room for promotion, the rest of you get some rest" The voice of Bradford rang over the hangar area as we left. Brick laid Venom down on a stretcher brought by one of the scientists here, to take to the infirmary, before giving me a small salute, and heading off there herself. I know most people here probably saw on the commander's overview what had happened, so I kind of felt bad for Angel. He'd be getting stick for this maybe for the entire time he stays here.

After laying down all of my weaponry and armor back on its stand, I headed back towards the briefing room, where a man with worn eyes, scars on his face, and some stubble stood in front of me. Central Officer Bradford. The man who had kept X-com alive for the past 20 years, organizing the resistance movements against Advent and the Elders, and was crucial to the operation to recover the commander from the stasis suit. I wish I had been at X-com to see the operation, but alas I was recruited a while after the commander was rescued. Now Bradford stood in front of me, his dulled eyes piercing me through with his authority. He did not waste any time as he started speaking to me the second I walked through the door.

"Zero, on behalf of X-com, I'm promoting you to the rank of corporal, due to how you handled the pressure suddenly thrust upon you, and that you picked up three confirmed kills. Head down to the G.T.S to receive your new training, long overwatch. Also, here," He paused for a second, offering a new badge to me, my first stripes. "To signify your new position. You are hereby given permission to modify your weapon as you see fit, to the stocks available to you. This does not involve any of the advanced attachments we have stored" He finished, his straight expression almost impossible to read. He held out his hand for me to shake, as I reached to shake it back, he gripped me tightly, and shook firmly, I automatically tried to grip him a little harder in response, but all I could feel was my hand getting crushed. As he finally relieved my hand, he strode past me back towards the command center, leaving me to nurse my hand quickly, before I headed back to my dorm.

I opened the door to my room, my other dorm mates still asleep, so I shut it behind me quietly, heading over to my bunk, re-putting on my vest and tracksuits, and climbed up the ladder to the top bunk, wary and cringing at the creaking of each step I took up there, meeting relief as I finally lay down on my bed, pulling the covers over me, providing a much needed warmth to my body, as my eyes quickly became leaden, as I struggled to keep them open for much longer.

(Viper Unit 19201648, 1000 EST 3/29/2035, location: City A135)

I patrolled the outskirts of the building I had been sent to protect. My Matriarch had ordered me here, as my next guard station, along with another of my species, who was sent directly by Advent, so probably a clone, in that case. I had been on these patrols for a large majority of my time on this planet, the one its inhabitants affectionately call Earth. I was and had always been a guard, but I've never had to raise my weapon before. Except in training of course. But while I'd have called myself a guard, Advent had a different name for it. 'Peacekeepers', we were called, I think largely to gain the support of the human populace here.

I held my beam rifle across my body, pointing it downwards towards the ground slightly, as we were instructed, as to provide little fear to the humans. The building I was going around looked quite small, and discrete, the walls painted a bland white on the outside, with unremarkable wooden doors providing two entrances. Otherwise, it opened into two small rooms, one filled with chairs, and a table, the second contained the reason we were patrolling here. A large transmitter that acted to transfer vast quantities of information across advent. I was told briefly that it was located here due to the main facility for information transfer being destroyed by a terrorist cell. But there was no way that they would know to come here. As with every other patrol job I had been on before, I was just going to be patrolling around the building for four weeks straight, telling more curious humans to stay back, before they rotated the guards again. As far as I could tell, it was only me, the other Viper, and 4 troopers, 2 assigned to each of us, that were guarding the building. Mindless drones, all 5 of them.

As I rounded the next corner, I saw two humans walking up rapidly to the building, I quickly darted in between them and the building, making sure to keep my rifle down, as I spoke to them in their own language. 'English' they called it, despite that they were humans, and living on a continent they called 'America', by their laws of the language, surely that would make the language they spoke American? I never understood. Regardless, I always found it hard to adapt to their speech, but I was gradually getting better, only having to pause occasionally to pronounce some words correctly. That and to remember not to roll my 's's, as was a typical stereotype for my species.

"Keep your distance, this building is protected by Advent" I hissed gently at them, as I reached my height, trying to adjust how much of my tail I was resting on, so as not to tower completely above them. A technique that put them slightly less on edge than when I didn't attempt to be 'gentle' with them, in my experience. How fragile.

"Sorry, we were just trying to have a quick look inside through the window" The smaller male responded, raising both hands in front of him. I still had to learn all the gestures they made. I dropped my rifle to my side in one hand, as I raised my other in the air in a similar fashion to how I had seen the speaker address everyone on the media broadcasts.

"Civilians are restricted to enter the…enclosed area of this building, as well as the immediate surrounding area," I motioned towards the concrete standings that surrounded the building they were about to cross. They proceeded to look at each other briefly but did not head off in any other direction.

"So, what's in there? Are you allowed to tell us?" The larger male asked, his voice a bit lower than the smaller male beside him. I couldn't help but notice that the smaller male was constantly glancing down away from my eyes. I had been told previously in a conversation I was having with a female of their species, that it was because of the 'human' part of our bodies. A side effect of having a small amount of human DNA genetically implanted into our species, it gave us a bigger body size and increased strength, as well as a couple of other 'advantages' as my Matriarch put it.

"No, I am not… obliged to," I responded to the first. "If you want more information I would suggest contacting your local governor" before turning to the second. "Can I help you, sir?" I asked dryly, as he snapped his eyes back up to mine.

"No, no! Sorry, I didn't mean to!" He defended himself immediately. I couldn't help but snicker slightly, inwardly of course. "It's just, I haven't really seen many Vipers before, and not one so close" He spluttered. "Would it be possible to take a picture?" He whipped out a small device, that I knew as a 'phone', from his pocket, tapping furiously on it.

I hesitated for a second, unsure of what to say. I glanced towards the two troopers with me, both stood there holding their weapons in silence. Drones. I turned back towards the human, returning to holding my plasma rifle in both hands, and across my body. "Of course, but only one" I hissed, raising myself to my normal height, as he leveled his phone at me. For a brief moment, a small white light immitted from the top of the phone, then flashed again, indicating the photo had been taken. As soon as he turned to look at his phone, I started retracting to my previous lower height, when I heard a sharp whizz past my head, as the wall behind me made a snapping noise under the pressure of something. I looked back towards the wall, a singular bullet now lodged in it. A terrorist attack. The two troopers I was with immediately dashed for cover, as more shots rang out from in front of me, downing one of them immediately.

"Get down!" I hissed to the two civilians in front of me, their mouths open, as I pushed them behind of the concrete standings, taking cover myself behind the base of a lamp post, as I peeked out to observe what was happening. I spotted five humans in civilian gear wielding weapons, one sniping at a longer range, while the other four advanced through the alley leading towards the building. Thankfully not the rumored X-com personnel, but rather 5 people dressed in civilian gear with no armor, so probably normal resistance members. I poked my beam rifle around the corner, shooting at the closest human, who was hiding behind a crate. The shot connected, sending the human sprawling backward, as she cried out.

"Target eliminated" I relayed to the other trooper, hiding back behind my cover. I saw the other squad rounding the building now, to assist us. As I began to turn around, I saw a small projectile flying through the air past me. "Grenade!" I called out quickly, as it rolled towards the squad coming around the building, coming to rest just before the wall. The other Viper darted out of the way, as her two troopers took the blast, lifeless on the floor. The grenade also destroyed the wall, revealing the transmitter. Elders damn it, now I would have to deal with the two civilians too. I turned around the see them, one frightened and still cowering behind the cover, the other raising his phone to take pictures of me, and now the transmitter. I quickly used my tongue to take away the phone from his hands, dropping it onto the floor next to me. I saw a look of protest on his face before he returned to behind the cover.

I reached around the lamp post, shooting my tongue out towards one that had climbed onto the roof, grappling him towards me, and I quickly wrapped him up within my coil, tightening my grip until I saw him gasping for air, I could feel his bones between my scales as I crushed him, a superior sense of touch also granted to us by our gene mixing. The second Viper took up a more advanced position, firing at the soldiers, taking a third out. Return fire came from their position, some of the bullets whizzing past me, but I saw my sister take some of the bullets, recoiling under their effect, green blood oozing from between the scales on her side, indicating she had been shot. Her hood quivered erratically, but she maintained her composure regardless. She kept low to the floor, winding in on her own tail to reduce her height. The bullets had struck her side, missing the limited armor that Advent gave us, it only covered our chest, and didn't even go much lower than that. But it did help us maintain our flexibility. On the back, our armor had a small line of protection from the tip of our hood to the main piece, and extended down our back further, providing us, arguably, with more protection from our back than our front. I was a harder target for them to hit, as they had less of me to aim for, they certainly weren't going to aim at the human in my grasp, who was still trying to struggle away from my grasp. I was still partially behind the lamp post base, providing me enough coverage.

"They are flanking me!" The Viper called out, as a human ran at her, slicing her in half with a sword, before running directly at me. The trooper next to me peeked out of his cover, shooting down the approaching human waving the sword before a single bullet cracked through his helmet. The Sniper.

I was enough behind the lamp post, that the full cover was giving me enough protection from the Sniper, he would have to reposition to get a good shot at me. I waited for a couple of seconds longer, as the human in my grasp stopped struggling, I released him as he lay down on the floor. His chest started to move very shallowly, indicating he was still alive, just unconscious. I peeked my head around the cover, hearing another crack, as a bullet flew past me again, hitting the desk in the room behind. I took my chance to look around the corner, taking a shot at him with my beam rifle, as the insurgent fell as my shot connected with his chest.

I scanned the area for any more hostiles, seeing none, as I head back inside towards the transmitter room, keeping an eye on the two humans as I motioned for them to stay. Inside the transmitter room, there was a radio, crackling as a voice tried to get through. I picked up the receiving end, speaking immediately into it.

"This is Unit 19201648, five hostile targets identified and neutralized, one held captive…..Requesting reinforcements and a transport to pick up the captive, and two civilians needing a medical check for possible trauma. Lockdown of larger area required due to exposure of transmitter" I spoke into the radio, as I heard a voice respond back to me.

"Affirmative. ETA 5 minutes" The radio responded, as I hung up the receiving end, heading back over to the civilians. My heart was beating heavy beneath my chest, and I still felt completely on edge, but entirely alive. I had never fired my weapon at someone else before, and I still felt equally terrified and exhilarated. I took my cover again by the lamp post, scanning for any more hostiles, as the two humans sat on the concrete standing, and started talking to me.

"That…was terrifying" The larger male spoke, his voice trembling slightly.

"Are you kidding me? That was awesome!" The smaller male called out. "She saved us, man!" He headed over towards me, extending his arm. I believe it was a gesture they call a 'handshake'. I offered my hand back to him, as he gripped my hand quite lightly, and shook it. "Thank you ever so much" he smiled at me. I stifled a smile back, but instead 'nodded' towards him. Another human gesture I had picked up. It usually was a placeholder for a confirmation, but could also be used as an acknowledgment, it was a little strange still to me, how one gesture can be translated in different ways to them.

"It is my duty, and my pleasure" I responded, releasing my hand from his. The taller male also chimed in expressing his thanks to me, to which I again nodded to acknowledge. The smaller one went over to pick up his phone, again tapping quickly on it, before holding it up to me.

"Look, I caught some great photos of you…I mean before you stole my phone from me" He smiled, as I narrowed my eyes to look at the photos he was showing me, of me in cover firing my beam rifle at the enemy, and another of me behind the cover completely. I admit, the small narcissistic side of me enjoyed these photos, particularly how the light reflected off of my amber scales and made them look more golden, but they weren't supposed to be held by the public. I suppose it's not my problem now, but the troopers' problem, once they come to collect them.

"I hope you enjoy those photos" I hissed at him. "As you have heard, I have reported the both of you to our medical professionals. It should just be a precautionary check to make sure neither of you are suffering any side effects of having witnessed a battle, I'm sure it will take about 10 minutes once you arrive" I assured, seeing slightly annoyed faces from the both of them. I'm sure they didn't want to be airlifted to some center when they had other plans, but it was not of my concern. I watched as three transports touched down nearby, several Troopers, Captains, and Sectoids filtered out from the ships. The Captains immediately ordered the troopers around in their funny language, as the troopers picked up the bodies of both the terrorists and our allies, putting them onto the ship. Before they came over to take the alive human, I heard the very faint sound of a voice coming from him. I leaned down to his throat but realized it was not him, but instead a small, white device I caught a glimpse of in his ear. I carefully removed it, putting it up to the side of my head so I could hear it.

"Johnson, come in! Repeat, Johnson, status!" The call came in. My eyes widened with the realization. They have been communicating with another, which means that there was going to be a second attack here possibly…except for this time, X-com might get involved, if they had caught sight of the transmitter, which is entirely possible now with the big gaping hole in the wall.

"'Johnson' is dead" I whispered into the small white device, which immediately buzzed back with "Fuck, turn it off!" as the voices were replaced with a dull white noise. They had turned it off. And there weren't going to be any rescue attempts for their lost operative at least if they thought he was dead. I expected there was to be a battle again tomorrow, seeing as we had a large important bundle of information due to be transmitted at that point, so X-com would attack then if they were going to at all. We would have to secure a larger perimeter anyway to get the public to avoid looking at the transmitter device, but I had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen tomorrow.

(Corporal 'Zero', 1800 EST 3/29/2035, location: near City A135)

I had spent most of my day, since waking up earlier this morning, with my dorm mates, as a reward for having done my first mission. Two of them were Rangers, while the other was another Sniper. The Ranger who slept underneath me had the callsign Vandal, while the Ranger who slept on the opposite side was called Samurai, and the Sniper called Deadbolt. They had all been here before I arrived, and I know that Vandal and Deadbolt had been on many missions together, employing the strategy I had mentioned before, of a concealed Ranger scouting up ahead to give the Sniper a target. They were all fairly close to each other regardless, and spent most of their time aboard the avenger together, but not so much with me. I think I replaced somebody also close to them, so they were always a little cold to me, but they were warming up, slowly.

Today had largely consisted of going to the gym, and going down to the soldier's rec room, which contained a few scrappy pool tables, the wood tarnished and the green felt scuffed, but useable, a TV with a DVD player, and a few other items to entertain others in their downtime. But for the last hour, after quizzing me about my mission and congratulating me on getting three kills in my first mission, they began recounting their favorite stories from their previous missions.

"My best one, by far has got to be with you, Vandal" Deadbolt announced, breaking into his story. "We were going to defend a transmitter, and you immediately raced off towards the transmitter, getting there so quickly. I was just stood at the back on top of the building, and you kept calling out the targets for me to pick off, while the other two defended my position rather than yours. They never got anywhere near that transmitter!"

"And you never missed a shot" Vandal grinned back, before teasing him. "Shame you don't do that on every mission"

"Hey, I hit more than you!" He retorted, folding his arms.

"Actually, I believe that it is our dear Zero with the highest accuracy percentile now, with 80%, if he was indeed telling the truth of his mission" Samurai chimed in. "Shotguns tend to be a little harder to hit with anyway"

"Speak for yourself, I use a rifle, my aim is good, I'm just not asked to attack much," Vandal chuckled. "a number of times I've had the flank on a target but not engaged is just too damn high!"

I couldn't help but smile as they bantered amongst each other, arguing about who had the coolest kill, who had the quickest mission, who had the highest kill count, and so on. I would have loved to watch them argue all day, but I had scheduled to go to the GTS in order to receive my training and so headed over to do so. On my way over, I passed by the command center, looking at the large holographic globe there. There was a red dot on the map they were looking and pointing at, on the east coast of America, and after a few nods from the crew within the room, I felt the entire ship shudder, as it took off again. I suppose I at least knew where we were going this time.

For 3 hours, I was practicing in the GTS with the help of another Sniper on the roster, who was giving me tips on how to hold the rifle, how to regulate my breathing properly, but largely going over the important parts of going on long overwatch. I suppose, in my last mission, I had to make two of these kinds of shots, missing the one on the Sectoid. He said with my amount of training, the shot I hit should have been very low percentile, which I wasn't sure whether he was complimenting my ability to aim at a moving target prior to training, or whether he was calling it a lucky shot. Regardless, I came out of the session having learned this new ability a lot better, and left for the Cafeteria, seeing my dorm mates already sat down, so after grabbing my food, I joined them, to hear them talking about why they joined X-com.

"Well, my dad was in the initial X-com project, from what I heard, he gave them hell" Vandal chirped, his right leg resting on top of his left as he sat down. "I suppose that's why I joined when I had the first opportunity"

"That's kind of cool. My dad was only part of the resistance, I grew up near the west coast with them. I always wanted to join up here" Deadbolt added his section, earning a respectful nod from Vandal.

"I can respect that a whole lot. I know some people join just to get a chance to shoot or slice up some aliens" he said, glancing over to Samurai, who punched him on the arm playfully.

"What about you, Zero? Why'd you join?" Deadbolt asked, leaning over the table to interrupt the two Rangers.

"Me? Uh…" I glanced around the three of them, looking inquisitively at me as I hesitated. "I've got a number of reasons…I guess" I shrugged. By their expressions, I could tell they were going to make me list a few.

"Ok…so I came across footage of a resistance camp being taken out by advent troops. I was shown it by a friend, who I think had ties with the resistance. Anyway, the footage showed X-com flying down, and neutralizing the attackers, protecting the citizens. I was enamored by it, a cause to protect humans. I had always been told they were a cause to disrupt the peace between us and the elders. So, I thought it was pretty cool. But my friend who showed me the footage went missing the next day. And they somehow figured out she had shown me, but I managed to find out they were hunting for me in time, so I could escape the city, out of fear for my life. I'd heard of people going missing, but I thought it was just lies perpetuated by the 'terrorists', as they called X-com. I didn't really have anywhere to go, so I tried to find the resistance cell on the east coast of America, where I finally came across documents describing the invasion from 20 years ago, or ascension as Advent would have put it. Any other files I had read on it were directly made by the Advent administration. The more I looked at other media, the more I realized how brainwashed everyone had been, how well Advent was at pulling wool over an entire population's eyes. It wasn't long before I wanted to make a difference, and not just be a sitting duck. I wanted to be someone who jumped down to rescue those from Advent, and reclaim what was ours." I smiled inwardly, as I watched the others dryly look at me.

"That's quite boring" Samurai stated almost immediately, as Vandal chuckled.

"Yes, but it's still a decent reason mate. Still boring" He winked at me after defending me, earning a laugh from both Deadbolt and Samurai. I rolled my eyes at them, as I finished my food, which consisted today of some rather tasteless pasta, with a minute amount of cheese to go with it. The one thing I didn't envy was their food supplies, it was rare to get a decent meal on board the Avenger. What I'd give for another Advent burger, or just a normal meal.

"Zero, Brick, Goblin, and Alphabet, report to briefing room" The message came over the intercom in the cafeteria, with a bit of static accompanying it. I saw Brick stand up from the opposite side of the hall, her eyes immediately grasping mine, before I saw a big, infectious smile split across her face immediately.

"Guess I'm off again. Wish me luck" I grinned at the others.

"Break a leg, Zero" Deadbolt commented, as Samurai chipped in afterward.

"Literally"

I scoffed, as I picked up my empty tray, placing it in a large pile at the exit of the hall, before catching up to Brick on the way down.

"Hey little dude" She greeted, as I matched her pace. "Excited for your second mission?"

"You know it" I smiled back. Her side looked no different from normal, meaning either the Kevlar protected her enough or it had fully healed in the time being. "You know what we're doing?

"Maybe, I heard it's something to do with the latest Advent network news report. It was a report about how a heroic peacekeeper defended two civilians from harm as their home was assaulted by insurgents. They said that the insurgents killed 5 peacekeepers, who laid down their lives to protect the citizens of Alpha one three five. Bunch of bull. Chances are that there were no civs, and second, there's something in that building. The resistance cell contacted us and let us know that they found a transmitter of some sort in there, but couldn't take it out. Shen and Tygan monitored the Advent network and noticed that that transmitter is a major relay in their network, so we're to hit it. The other two joining us are a Ranger and a Specialist, so an all-round squad here" She informed me, pushing through the door to the armory, and loading herself up, as I did the same. I could feel myself be quicker this time, beating Brick to the briefing room.

"Good, you're all here. Alright, the target is a transmission station based in city A135, we've not got much intel on this op, so be careful. You do have a time limit to destroy the transmission data, so get in, destroy it, and neutralize any aliens in the area. Understood? Alright, get on board, drop zone ETA 5 minutes, and you'll have 10 minutes to get there, and take out the transmitter. Good luck"

"Yes, sir!" We called out in unison as we boarded. The Skyranger quickly set off, and so we were in transit. Brick again occupied the time, chatting with Alphabet, our Specialist, and the Ranger Goblin about their previous missions. Turns out they'd almost been on as many as Brick, but not quite had the same success as her, so weren't up to her rank. I felt slightly warm, as Brick continued to fill the silence with her chatter, it was much better than the alternative.

"Drop zone in 20 seconds, get yourselves ready" The Pilot called from the cockpit. I double checked my Kevlar vest, and sniper rifle, before standing up, ready to jump out. As the door opened, Brick and Goblin both went first, grabbing onto the ropes without any problem. I told myself that this time I was just going to run for it, and not stop. I jumped out with Alphabet, grasping one of the ropes, as I slid down, meeting the others down the bottom. We had landed at the edge of the city, having been told that our target was North from our position, but I couldn't see any civilians anywhere, usually, there were a couple in more populated areas.

"Alright squad, it doesn't seem like we've attracted any attention, you're hidden for now. Stick to the shadows upon approach. And get moving. 9 minutes left" We heard central over the comms, as we pushed forward, the Ranger and Brick at the front, while I took up the rear with Alphabet, hand on my pistol as we moved quickly.

"Guard patrol, left side" Brick called back to us quietly, holding up her hand to her side to get us to crouch off to the side and stop, as we watched them. And kept watching them. They weren't moving, but neither were we. The Captain, dressed in a bright red suit, commanded 2 troopers either side of him. We could take them easily, but we'd alert the city too early, we weren't close enough to our target yet.

"Hold position" The commander called over the comms, noticing my restlessness. I sighed, pulling my rifle close to me. We were sitting ducks here, and more importantly, our time frame was getting shorter, while we waited for a clear path. I understand it would be stupid to engage, but I couldn't help but be a bit impatient. It took another half a minute before they took off to the left, leaving a clear road ahead of us.

"Alright, move up, target is ahead of the next street. Watch our backs when we come out of concealment" Central called over the radio again, his voice loud in my ear. We darted across the street in a small group, taking in what lay ahead of us. I could just make out the form of a Sectoid, with two troopers either side of it. Behind them lay a building, to which the front had been blasted off. This was the place alright.

"Zero, see if you can get an elevated position on the building to your left" the voice in my head called, as I turned my attention to an unremarkable building to my left, more than likely someone's home. I climbed up the gutter pipe leading up the side, careful to move slowly and quietly as I did so. Reaching the roof, I made my way over to the top corner, thankful there was a little bit of cover. I had an advantageous position looking down on the building from here.

"Two more contacts spotted. Captain and Sectoid class," I muttered as I pressed my hand to my ear. "Right side" indicating their position relative to me. I looked down to the street below, as Brick and Goblin moved up, weapons drawn and at the ready.

"Alright, take the shot on the closest Sectoid first. Everyone into overwatch except Zero" The command came. I wasn't too far from my target, definitely close enough for them to shoot back at me though. I slowly drew in my breath, releasing it even slower, as my scope zeroed in on the head of the Sectoid. My finger rested on the trigger, half pushing it down, waiting for…the perfect moment…

The Sectoid turned its head my way, and I didn't hesitate. My shot broke the relative silence, as the Sectoid fell to the floor immediately. The two troopers broke for cover, finding only the bullet storm provided courtesy of Brick, Goblin, and Alphabet, as they too lay in a lifeless mess.

"Brick, push up, position in full cover. Goblin, right side, Aid protocol on Goblin!" The orders came out, as they moved up below me to my right. Indeed, the second squad of aliens closed onto us from our right.

"Focus fire the Sectoid, Zero, Goblin!" The commander called. Without hesitation, I brought my scope up to the body of the Sectoid, who had found high cover, but was at a bit of an angle to me, so I could see him. My shot rang out, as I found my target.

"Target still up" I called through the comms, as I saw Goblin's shot's miss.

"One second, I'm on it!" Brick called, whipping the grenade launcher from her back, and firing it towards the Sectoid. It had barely any time to react, it's screaming heard barely over that of the explosion. I could see the Captain pointing towards our Ranger, shouting in its odd language, before firing upon him.

"Taking fire!" He called, several shots missing him, I can only think due to the distortion field around him. He kept his head down, as the commander ordered return fire from Brick. The shots found their mark, but the Captain recovered, taking position behind the cover.

"Goblin, pay him back!"

The Ranger drew his sword, dashing after the Captain, cutting into him before he could return fire.

"Hostiles spotted, high ground, left side!" He called, as he dashed back into the cover of the remaining wall of the building.

"I'm being flanked from behind!" Alphabet called, finding cover just as some shots flew past her. I could make out the figure of the previous patrol behind us, running down the street. I watched down my scope, getting a familiar glint in my scope as the street lights shone off the bright red armor of the Captain. Firing my shot, the Captain fell early, but the troopers still ran to find cover as I reloaded my weapon. More shots were fired at our position, this time finding Alphabet, after destroying her cover.

"I'm hit!" She cried out, weapon burns showing on the outside of her Kevlar armor, now tattered and destroyed. She ran towards Brick and Goblin, to find more cover from the projectiles.

"What the fuck is that" Goblin called, as I spotted it too. A Viper emerged from the cover on the roof, with a trooper by her side.

"Viper! Watch her tongue!" I called out, scoping in on one of the troopers behind us. My shot found its mark, narrowly before I ducked my head to avoid the beam coming from behind me, thanking my lucky stars that she had missed.

"Watch her what?" He called back. Obviously, he'd never seen one of them fight before, or maybe not even seen one before. "I have eyes on the target!" Goblin called, opening the door remaining on the wall in front of us, which was obscuring the bright purple globe, stood on a tall black stand.

"Quick, take the shot, that transmission is about to come through"

Goblin took aim through the doorway, finding the globe, as it exploded in a purple plasma burst, making enough noise for me to catch the Viper off guard for a second. I whipped out of my cover, quickly trying to take the shot at the Snake. The bullet seemed to reflect off the side of the armor just underneath her chest. I could see her hiss in my direction, her jaw unhinging and showing me her wide gaping mouth before she moved behind more cover.

"Shot failed to connect" I commented, slightly caught off guard myself by missing the shot. Brick launched her second grenade at the other flanking soldier, as Alphabet used the medkit she had equipped on herself. The burns to her skin immediately started to lose their blackened color, as the regenerative powers of the medkit took effect.

"Fuck, that stings" She groaned from behind her cover. Goblin dashed towards the second trooper, blade unholstered, skewering the clone on its tip as he leaped at it.

"Hahaha! Got ya! HURK…" The comms erupted in my ear, as I saw a tongue wrap around his neck, pulling him on top of the building. His blade remained firmly planted in his previous target, so had no weapon in his hands. Moments later I saw his gun fall from the roof, and break upon hitting the floor. It certainly wasn't a low roof by any means. "She's got me, I can't…." I heard through the comms again. I looked onto the roof, barely seeing her body coil around her victim, as she was behind some sort of vent on top.

"I…can't…breathe…. please don't kill me" He breathed out his remaining air as she strangled him.

"Zero, do you have a shot?" I heard in my ear from command.

"Negative, sir, no angle" I replied disheartedly. Nowhere on the rooftop I was on would get a decent angle on the Viper.

"I've got one, sir!" Alphabet called. I looked down to her position, she could definitely see more of the Viper, but I wasn't sure what to do. I could feel panic onsetting as I watched the situation grow out of my control.

(Unit 19201648, 2313 EST 3/29/2035, location: City A135)

I watched the human in my coil struggle again for breath, as he begged for mercy. I had already disarmed him, and sitting here I was a stationary target for them to shoot at me, so I decided to let him go, returning behind my cover as he choked on the air he was now trying to breathe in, on the floor.

"Stay on the floor or you'll find a round through your head" I hissed, watching him nod several times, putting his hands open in front of him, and remaining on the floor. While I have been ordered to fight until my death against all terrorists, I had no plan of ending my life just yet. I saw them reach the transmitter before I could make it back from my patrol. I knew this was going to happen, I called it. If only we had more reinforcements.

"Don't fire, or come any closer!" I called out of my cover. I wasn't going to lean anywhere to my left, knowing that the Sniper that narrowly missed me was still watching, waiting for the shot through my head. I gulped, mustering more strength in my voice. "I've got my rifle pointed at your friend's head! If you so much as take a step, he is ended!" I called again. I heard silence as a response until I could make out the smaller female talking. "Is he still alive? I saw him get constricted?"

"I'm alive" He confirmed from the floor of the roof I was on. I clutched my beam rifle closer to my chest, my tail restless, I couldn't control it. I took three deep breaths, before leaning out slightly to my right. I could make out two female humans, both in gear, one had already been shot but was the one I heard. I couldn't see any more grenades on the bandolier of the larger one either, and nothing on the small one, so I should be safe in my cover.

"Leave, and I will release him" I spoke to them, watching their reactions intently, as the one who had already been shot put their hands up to their ears. "I swear, take three steps back now or I'm shooting him now!" I yelled as the smaller one took a step closer, her weapon leveled at me. Suddenly, I heard a crack at my tail from my left side, as I instinctively dodged out of my cover to my right. There was no way that Sniper had an angle, right? I turned around to see the rifle barrel pointed at me explode in a flash of light feeling a sharp stabbing pain in my chest, and along my hood. Fuck them, if I'm gonna go down, I'm gonna go down with a fight. I snapped around towards the two targets on the floor, lifting my beam rifle and firing a single round, punching a hole through the smaller one's head. I didn't have time to think as I felt a mass being thrown into me, knocking me from the side of the building. It almost went in slow motion, as I saw the human I had spared had flung himself at me, using enough of his mass to push me off of the edge, as he fell on top of me. I couldn't…quite…maneuver around in time, as I could feel a huge amount of nausea rise along my body before I felt the sweet painless concrete beneath me…

(Corporal Zero, 2314 EST 3/29/2035, location: A135)

I clambered down from the building I was on, to meet with Brick and Goblin, as they stared down at Alphabet, Brick closing her eyes for her. Goblin muttered expletives under his breath, taking the necklace from her neck, her tags. I glanced over towards the Viper, who had bullet holes littering the side of her body, green blood dribbling from the wounds, and several punctures in her hood. Alphabet was very unlucky not to find a killing round, as they were all close to the head.

"Is the Viper still alive?" I asked as Brick leaned down, grabbing the Viper's wrist, and her neck, clearly unsure which place was best for measuring a pulse, if any.

"I…think so? I can't tell. I think I felt one pulse, but I'm not sure…"

"I think snakes typically have very low bpm" I commented, leaning down to inspect the wounds. "What should we do with her?"

Goblin chimed in his opinion first, shoving the barrel of his gun at the Viper. "Easy. Rid her just like the rest of these troops here. Bastard took our support!" He shouted.

"Skyranger picking up in 20 seconds. Bring the Viper in as well, alive. If Tygan doesn't find any use for a live subject, then they go for enough on the Black Market, and we could sure use supplies."

"Yikes. Wonder what the Black Market does to them" I shuddered at the thought, gently picking up Alphabet's body over my shoulder, as Brick tried the same with the Viper, struggling considerably more.

"Don't know. Don't want to think about it" Brick struggled, as she half carried, half dragged the Viper with us, to the extraction point. We needed to order a harness down for the still bleeding Viper, securing her first, as Goblin and Brick went up into the ship before I followed with Alphabet, her still warm body over my shoulder.