Scene #4571: Operation Dawn Song

Owner	Pose
Samira Amirmuaz	ABOARD THE AVENGER... Samira had given the call an hour before, summoning up her rookies and those other members of XCOM who would by inserted to the AO via the Skyranger. They all had already received the rough briefing; Resistance members, those poor redshirted bastards, were out fighting, stalling for time until XCOM could come in and secure the hybrid magnetic power converter that they so desperately needed. Indeed, Central is running a scan of the area now up in the Bridge, with Samira watching grimly with him. The militia was holding up well... for now. Down in the Armory, three members of XCOM are busy prepping their gear and getting ready for the assault. One of them, the group already knows: Jane Kelly the fighting Irish, racking her brand-new shotgun and checking the edge of the sword strapped to her back, sticking a grenade into her belt. Seeing any of the old gang gets a small, firm nod from her, but it seems she's going to be taciturn as always. The other two are a dark-haired, twitchy man who fumbles a bit while getting his rifle loaded and ready, evidently hailing from Germany, and the other is a dyed redhead from Mexico with five teardrop tattoos coming from her right eye, who gives the group a look of nigh-disgust and a somewhat rude gesture as she makes her way into the Skyranger to wait. Once the group is ready and the Skyranger is off, Bradford's voice comes over the speakers, voice low and angry. "The Resistance members who attacked this convoy have all gone silent. That means they've given their lives for us to have this chance. Don't waste it." Samira's voice replaces him. "I will be viewing the battlefield from the Avenger. You are to secure the power converter and eliminate all hostile contacts within the AO. Make them pay in blood for what they have taken from us." UNIDENTIFIED ROAD, PRECINCT 4, UNITED STATES... The convoy is stuck in a heavily forested area, with only the main road (headed west) cutting through the darkness of the trees surrounding it. To the south of the road is a cliff side that extends along 3/4ths of the road, while the north is mainly covered in some ruined farms, fences, and even what appaers to have been a hotel, once upon the time. THe ADVENT convoy is strung along the roadway at a stop, mostly comrpising of large Mack-like trucks and a couple smaller black vans. The area gets to hear the momentary scream of the Skyranger's engine as it deposits them on the far north-western section of the roadway, out of sight from the main convoy...
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr isn't part of the XCOM team, but she overflies the area regardless. "Divine Wind, Area Search... give me eyes on the area." she commands. The Device in her hand chimes softly, before spitting out a quartet of little purple magic wisps, which then flit downwards. They're set to take in visual data only. She radios into Union command over the secure channel, then when the Skyranger enters the scene, pings their comm net. "XCOM unit, this is TSAB 493rd Air Wing attache, Zephyr Windstar. Callsign Blitz. If you require air support or pinpoint airstrike, call the target. I am on station."
Courier Six	Johnny sighs as he takes in the smell of nature. Forests, proper forests ,were always a blessing and balm to the cowboy, coming from his world like he does. There's a grumble though as he gets an eyeful of his fellow crew members. Kelly gets a nod, and her looks with some interest at his fellow Latino in Miss Martinez. "Looks like you've seen yer fair share of action, young lady." A chuckle and grin as he checks his gauss rifle, the single shot YCS/168 humming warmly in his hands. But now it's down to business, and the cowboy slaps the Riot Helmet on his head, the red lenses crackling to life as his HUD comes up. "Let's do this."
Reina Kinney	Up above in the skies, the shuttle owned by one Reina Kinney appears in orbit, but the scanners have indicated she's where she needs to be. She doesn't teleport down just yet, though, instead surveying from afar to get a better idea of what to expect down there while formulating a course of action on her own for when she does get down there. "Looks like the goons we fought last time," Reina comments to nobody in particular, before standing up and running a hand through her long ponytail. "Some creeps just never learn, which is why it's up to us to deal with this ourselves." She runs to the teleporter and steps inside, vanishing within a moment. Down on the surface, the outline of a female figure appears, then Reina herself appears, albeit crouched behind a nearby rock, but where the other rookies and her allies can see her. She gives a slight nod and smirks a little. "Well, just thought I'd drop in, you know?" Her smirk turns into a slight sneer with that comment, before she returns to a neutral expression. "OK, seriously though, playtime is over. We've got work to do!"
Alexis Maaka	Having quickly arrived to the Avenger when she got the memo, Maaka's in the armory with the XCOM operatives when they get locked and loaded. Her suit adopts the same camo pattern that is standard issue for XCOM troopers, the armor switching colors like a chameleon's skin in the blink of an eye. The redheaded cyborg loads her EM rifle with a firm slap to the magazine, and checks the battery power. Loading a few smoke grenade rounds into the underslung rifle, she slings it onto her back. "First time in the field?" She asks the twitchy soldier, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "We got your back, mate." Her voice, while filtered through an intimidating vocal processor thanks to her helmet, is tinged with concern. Aboard the dropship, she gets up when the aircraft reaches the AO. She hops off the ship first, EM GASH in hand as she keeps the rifle raised and braced against her shoulder. "Durandal on-site, taking point." Maaka radios over comms, securing the landing zone before she goes to get set up behind cover. Using light-bending technology, the STALKER suit will make Maaka invisible to the naked eye beyond the odd flicker every so often, and she takes him behind a convenient piece of cover while she waits.
Genya Arikado	The sound of leaves crunching underfoot -- actually no, there's no sound at all. A man with black hair and pale skin, dressed in a black suit and dress shoes. He's in the forest near the stop. Why? Who knows? Maybe he's heard something's up? Or maybe the fact that a convoy of trucks and black vans is stopped at a stop here. Maybe he's just nosy. Either way, Genya Arikado stands in the forest just hidden from the stop. He raises a hand to his ear. "I see them. ... Yes." He names a number. "Unknown. ... Understood. I'll try to --" He cuts off as the Skyranger's screaming is heard. "... Unknown. I'll investigate." This said he draws his hand away from his ear and heads silently through the forest towards the Skyranger. His steps are utterly silent, and the forest doesn't seem to trip him up in the slightest, despite the fine clothes and long hair.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa Was paked into the skyranger now and was all kitted out for stealth and combat. Loaded up with her gear Kotone could only wait and hope things wouldn't go badly for her and everyone else. She checked her gear and she was as ready as she could be.
Samira Amirmuaz	The German flinches a bit when touched - he nods slowly and says in somewhat broken English, "First time with gun." How lucky for him. Once the Skyranger is done depositing the troops, it quickly takes back to the air and zooms off a few klicks away, ready to come back for pickup should the team require emergency evac. Once Firebrand is gone, the forest falls silent for a few moments, until a loud crackling, booming noise is heard. It seems to repeat itself in ever-shortening cycles. Over the radio, Shen makes an annoyed noise. <The fight must have damaged the converter. I'm reading intermittent energy spikes coming from the convoy. Central, if we don't hurry, the converter is going to blow.> Bradford responds with a firm tone. <Then we need to hurry up and stabilize it. Shen, work on a fix. Everyone else spread out, keep to concealment until you're ready to take the bastards out.> The three XCOM troopers move quickly to take cover behind some of the stopped vehicles, Kelly a little more forward from the rest behind a street lamp/power box. She's the first one to spot Genya, and moves to raise her shotgun, but stops when she sees who else is there. "Hostiles spotted," is her grim report. Down the road, about twenty yards away, the first ADVENT patrol moves around one of the stalled big rigs into view. A squad of four Troopers in black, lead by a Captain in bright red. Judging from their patrol patterns, they know that SOMEBODY is here... but not quite who. Zephyr and Genya managed to get a good look at the area by their means of scouting - it appears that there are currently three squads of indeterminable size and composition in this AO. One is the first squad that they've already seen. The next is keeping very close to the converter, in spite of the danger, fifty yards away. The third is just beyond that, further east. If they move quickly, they might be able to get the drop on this first squad without any interference from the other two.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr remains high up. She's in a good position to see an overview, and her Area Search keep tabs on the ground team, and each of the three squads. The visuals aren't great, she can tell there's people there, but not exactly how many, or what they're armed with. She radios it in, and maintains her overwatch position. Ready to drop a Bombardment Spell on a target, should the call come through.
Ixqor Nathrach	Almost silently, upon a nearby slope, the warp would rip through into reality. A small portal, enough to fit one at a time, suddenly mad eitself manifest in the forest. It's arrival was signaled by the sound of a distant thunderboom, and from it stepped it's creator. A large, heavily armored being, who was adorned in various strange symbols, such as an eight pointed star appearing all over his armor in several places, and the symbol of the hydra upon his right shoulderpad. From his helm sprouted two horns, holding ornamental skulls, a sign amongst his peers that he is to be respected for what he is, a sorcerer. At his side was a sheethed, ominous blade, and on his back was his strapped boltgun, eager to find it's mark. From his position, he was only a short ways behind the Advent patrol, staring dead long, down the range towards the Xcom forces. He couldn't see many of them, but he could sense life beyond the trees. Vague, cloudly outlines of mortal, uncorrupted souls, faint, but visible to his gifted eyes. His eyes then fell upon teh advent. At first glance they too looked normal, but he noticed something about their auras. Something distant, and powerful was commanding them. A psychic link no doubt. And where there is a link this strong, there is an even stronger pysker maintaining the connection. Whoever was controlling them would be of immense use to him... And for those in XCOM? He did not know who they were, but they looked poised to ambush the Advent forces. "A new battle. Rife with oppurtunity..." He voiced aloud, likely in hearing distance of teh Advent troops.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa nods to the rookie she takes a deep breath. She was more than willing to act as a shield if needef for the rookies. She knows how thie goes she also has several small frones she launcehs to recon and keep an eye out for trouble. Anyone who has the means would find Kotone trying to network sharing of information with them. With that kotone is going to spread out and keep her eyes open for enemy units. She also cloaks at this pint she knows. She ignores Martinez and has to wonder, how long it will take her to get over her issue with them or make herself a corpse? She hoped for the latter but for now she's going to attempt to follow orders and make ready to get the drop on the Advent.
Reina Kinney	Using her binoculars briefly, Reina sneers sourly as she gets a glimpse of what's coming. "Well, looks like the party guests have arrived," She comments sarcastically. "Can't have a party without guests, you know." She puts her binoculars away and ducks behind the rock once again. "So it's time to play the role of a good host!" She snaps her fingers and her rifle materializes in her hands. "Of course, some party guests have a tendency to hang around too long, so you have to know when to tell them to leave personally." She looks out behind the rock again and looks through the scope of her rifle, sneering a little more as she follows the movements.
Genya Arikado	Genya spots Kelly about the same time she spots him. He raises his hands to show they're empty. He is not, however, unarmed -- he'd be a fool to come out here unarmed -- but he's not drawing it. "I have an ID badge in my right inside breast pocket." Notably the gun bulge is on his left, so it's not his gun that he's going for. He slowly pulls the ID, displaying it. It marks him as a member of a branch of the Japanese government. And he's speaking Japanese, so there's that. He flinches at the explosion. That's probably not good. But he needs to ensure he's not going to get shot first...
Alexis Maaka	Maaka synchs with the local tacnet, both with Kotone and also with all other friendly forces on-site. She begins to paint targets with a smart-link device mounted on her rifle, feeding her targeting data automatically while doing the same to everyone else that has the proper tech. She rolls her eyes at Magdelena, before she takes aim at the captain. Just like before, she will be singling that one out to snipe the bastard, and her EM rifle transforms and adjusts internals accordingly. Maaka pulls the trigger, and her rifle kicks against her shoulder roughly from the recoil. If it hits the Captain, he's gonna be in a world of hurt.
Drowned Ophelia	Ixqor wasn't the only Elite on the field for the ADVENT. Whether by fortune, boredom, actually being helpful (HA!) or - more than likely - because she saw a chance to screw with someone else, the broken Queen of Tears is about. Her presence not indicated by a sudden explosive noise or lightning or tearing portals - but by a soft, lonely sound as the first strike hits from the XCOM Team. A Guitar. It rolls outwards from somewhere near the critical core, low and slow and harsh, like it was trying to hold in body shaking sobs. It peels and rolls outwards, a slow swaying sound, as if to mock the distant echo of Maaka's sniper bullet. Fingers of thick, clinging fog begin to curl outwards from about the center of the convoy, curling and creeping over wheels and vehicles alike. It climbs, rising, thicker and thicker; But this is no mere water moisture. This is the Veil of Deceit - it dampens sound, dulls scents, cuts vision short. It swells upwards, covering the convoy, dimming all within to a gloom. And slowly, eerily, that guitar fades away, leaving the fog to churn and twist, inviting all within its confines.. Although it's not all roses for the ADVENT. The same soul thrashing black sorcery that creates it also shields the sneaking HEROES. Sound dulled, vision obscured, scent blocked, even radios can move in and out of static.
Courier Six	There's a grunt from Johnny as his attempts at flirting fail, but the noise doesn't make it through the speaker on the Riot Gear. He scrambles to find a nice piece of cover behind a wrecked out car, the YCS whining and aching to be fired. His HUD starts pulling in the data from Zephyr, and he settles in with the gauss rifle, sighting up one of those troopers, and waiting to unleash hell. And then the overwatch is broken, and he opens fire alongside Maaka, the YCS snap-CRACK-ing a accelerated bolt of iron downfield at several hundred meters per second. Hope that trooper has insurance~
Ixqor Nathrach	The soundwave came and rolled over him. The sorcerer actually shiverred, but not in a fearful manner. It pleased him in a strange fashion. Had a scione of the Pleasure Prince come to taint the battlefield? No, this felt different, yet similar. As the fog was erected in front of the Advent forces, Ixqor jumped down from his perch. "And so the dice are cast." He says this with finality as he draws his sword, the great Jomungandr. It's truly a bleak sight, the sword, it's ordanged, and impossibly sharp look betrays it's true power. Ixqor would hold the blade high, and outwards towards where the XCOM units were last sighted. The blade then began to glow with sinister energies, as the sorcerer prepared a barrage. "Fall upon them!" He called out to his allies of convenience, the advent troopers. With the same rallying cry, the energy was let loose in a hail of many doombolts, arching high into the air like artillery fire. Their pattern was as chaotic as the energies that spewed them forth, as soth began to fall down and sought out the XCOM ground forces, hoping to bombard them, while others shrieked out into the sky, attempting to harry the recon units spying on them from above the treelines. If struck by them, the bolts would not just burn the body from the searing heat, but attack teh soul and psyche as well, inspiring terror and hopelessness!
Samira Amirmuaz	The squads of ADVENT initially seem aggresive when Izqor and Ophelia make their appearances - their distant masters can feel these new beings upon their pisonic network, after all. However, they hadn't made any hostile actions themselves - and they new XCOM was here somewhere. For now, at least, they turn their eyes away from the intruders and continue their patrols. This will be something to deal with at another time. Back with the soldiers, Kelly recieves confirmation of a friendly via Maaka's tactical vision and her commander, so she at least doesn't try to shoot. Everyone is as together as they can be now, so while they still have the chance the three XCOM soldiers move forward just a tiny bit more, as close as they dare... Maaka's shot fills the air with a crack, and the Captain whom she had in her sights goes down with a spray of orange blood flying from the side of his head. The other four troopers turn in sync to where the shot was fired and start moving into cover as fast as they can. Ultimately, it doesn't save one of them; Martinez pops up from her cover to fire a spray of bullets from her rifle into a scrambling trooper to bring it down, but the German man misses entirely. Kelly is working on trying to flank their position before they have a chance to get themselves set. Reina, Johnny, Zephyr, and the others have a split-second opportunity to cause some more casualties!... But they had to move before the dark fog seeped over everything and made spotting them at a long distance nigh-impossible. Luckily Johnny manages to snag a shot that wings one of the Troopers, who covers with a second one infull cover behind a van. The last one tries going for cover behind the road's center dividing fence.. Sound muted, sight clouded, the furthest ADVENT unit has to resort to moving slowly ahead. The other remains in position near the package as it releases another outpouring of energy. The pulses are coming in minute and a half intervals, now, and they're still nearly fifty yards away. It's risky, but XCOM needs to bust it quick.
Reina Kinney	If you see your shot, you have to take it. Otherwise you'll miss it, and that could leave open potential for a dangerous situation. Which is why when Reina sees her opportunity, she pulls the triger quickly, sending forth a single shot aimed at the enemy, hoping to take it out with one single shot. "Sniping isn't easy," Reina thinks to herself after pulling the trigger. "But if I don't do it, who will?" She then attempts to shift to another vantage spot in hopes of getting a better view of the area despite the fog. Of course then there's the issue of someone else attacking, which means she has to take cover rather quickly to avoid being hit. Whatever it was that tried to hit her, it barely missed. But something's telling Reina she's not out of the woods yet, so she readies her rifle for another shot.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka manages to snipe the Captain just in time for Ophelia's fog to begin to futz with her cyberware. Sadly, this means -everything- she has is getting glitchy. She shuts down any excess software to prevent her HUD from getting too cluttered for her to function, and she growls in anger as she breaks from cover. Her cloak is gone, but she counts on the fog of war to mess with ADVENT's own eyes as she attempts to get in close. Doombolts are a good reason to keep moving, and she tries to avoid their fire, feeling herself get caught in the blasts every so often before she ceases running. The feelings of fear and hopelessness nag at Maaka on a level the cyborg's unaccustomed to, but she grits her teeth as she fights through it. She can't quit now, not like this. On the more physical plane, her armor does get scorched here and there, but she's still moving. She stops and drops to a knee, taking aim at the fleeing ADVENT troopers, before she fires off a few shots their way, trying to drop them before they call for backup. THere's a chance they're too late, but Maaka's always been a glass half-full type.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr tracks the fleeing troopers, and with a quick twirl of her axe in hand, fires off a quartet of homing shots. Small purple bullets tracking into the black armoured soldier. She then drops down further, entering the encrouching black mist, and fanning her Area Search out further, feeding the data into screens around her for situational awareness. That's about when the energy bolts come screaming in at her. <BARRIER AEGIS!> chimes Divine Wind, as it hastily erects a hemispherical barrier to absorb the attack, though some energy still bleeds through the field, searing at her Barrier Jacket beneath. "They have a mage! But that didn't feel like Mid or Belkan..."
Courier Six	Johnny grunts happily as he sees the YCS connect, the sniper rifle winging that trooper at least. He grumps though, as the sudden dakness closes in and renders his rifle pretty much out of the question. He's even more surprised as a magical bolt of energy slaps into his armor from an angle he wasn't expecting, scorching the surface and leaving a nasty welt undenearth, at least. The Courier growls now, and changes tactics. He shoulders the Gauss Rifle, pulls a long staff of black metal from... somewhere under his duster, and activates it. The end unfolds, and projects a wide arc of evil looking purple energy. Anyone who watched the WMATs over the last few years knows that thing. It's the Protonic Inversion Axe. And then Johnny's charging into the smoke and mirrors, aiming to find a trooper to slash up... or whoever's making that damn racket.
Genya Arikado	When that fog rolls in, THAT'S when Genya draws his gun. It's a fairly large pistol, one that it looks far too big for his delicate-seeming hands to fire. But he handles the weapon with familiarity. He also turns his side to Kelly, an indication that he's not going to shoot at her. No, he follows her to a flanking position. The fog would be perfect to hide Genya's utterly silent steps. Or rather, it WOULD, if he could see in it himself! Even his vampiric senses are being dulled by this fog. Sure sign it's not natural, if any was needed -- normal fog would have been little barrier to his senses. He touches his hand to his ear again, noting quietly, "Supernatural fog. Seems to be interfering with comms. Interruptions expected." Seeing properly in this mess isn't going to happen. So he instead holsters that gun again, and moves a far enough distance that he won't attract attention to Kelly's position. How would he be attracting attention? Simple. With the shouted, definitely not in Japanese phrase, "SOUL STEAL!" He casts the life-draining spell at the last location he knew there were hostiles. Even if he aimed in the right place, though, it won't hit more than a few of them. Definitely not going to feel great though, if it does happen to hit anything. Hit or miss, though, Genya's moving. A moving target is harder to hit, after all. Particularly in this fog. Speaking of that fog, it's the perfect thing to hide Ixqor's bolts. He's keeping close to the trees to avoid as much fire as he can, but those bolts aren't something he expected. There's a split-second of warning, enough for him to look up at the falling bolt. He throws himself to one side, enough to avoid the brunt of it, but he still suffers a searing scrape down his back. It's not fire... but it burns like it, and he grits his teeth with the pain of the bolt tearing across his back, leaving the skin sizzling in its wake. And it's not just the burn. The fear gathering in the pit of his stomach is unnatural, and he knows it. These are more powerful enemies than he'd expected. He pulls himself behind a tree and reports to his superiors again, with an update -- a mage with fear energy magics?
Kotone Yamakawa	Things could be going better? They could be going worse but they do have the drop on ADVENT which does count for something, right? She however start to get some system issue as her vision starts to frtize abit like something is wrong with the OS she's not sure and she's going to have to keep pushing ahead. She doesn't like it and has no idea it's the lady of Tears who is once again behind some more misery and trouble for herself and her firends. She'll keep going after the ADVENT she can get her hands on attacking while cloaked the first chance she gets. Then as she's doing that she finds she's under attack from Ixqor, yup he's chaos all right and she now wonders what game he's trying to play with Raynor and that worries her. She's force to start fliping and evading with inhuman agility as well? Letting a doombolt hit you is bad news very fucking bad news. <<Chaos!>>
Drowned Ophelia	The Queen of Tears is still - as of yet - an unseen force in the fog. Of course, her signature touch isn't hard to miss for those familiar with it. She gives no more thought to the ADVENT soldiers she helped/hindered, as bolts fall from the sky and someone touches her pretty, pretty mind. She sways slowly in place, black claws placed over her face, the soft patter of black tears falling to the ground beneath her. But despite the weeping - she's giggling. A slow, broken giggle. The ichor that composes her form, the Black Tears, twists - turning to an ectoplasmic smoke. As Drowned Ophelia steps forward, her bare feet touching bare ground beyond the pavement - And then sinking into it? "Dry my tears with dirt." She whispers. And is gone, with a curl of smoke. For the moment.
Samira Amirmuaz	Luckily for the heroes, this fog was interfering with ADVENT movement as much as it was screwing with them. With some well-placed shots from Reina and Zephyr, two of the remaining three TRoopers - one being the injured one behind the car, the other trying to hide behind the divider - are finally put to death. Johnny is rightfully annoyed at all of this and decides to move forward to engage in melee vs the remaining trooper. The poor bastard doesn't know what hit him, and he lets out a piercing alien scream when he gets the business end of the evil weapon from God knows where. Unfortunately... The squad that had started moving up just barely catches sight of him out of position. THere's an ominous aura in the air, punctuated by an intense, inhuman raspy scream. It's a Sectoid - but not as the heroes had known them. Much taller, more muscled, with a face out of a nightmare, and he's backed up by four more troopers. Even with the air clouded as it is, the psionic creature can sense the minds around it. To whit, it reaches up, tearing it's own purple hole in reality, and reaches out with it's mind... A Mindspin against Reina, intended to make her panic and leave cover, while one of the troopers tries to take a shot against her. The other Troopers move into cover to start firing off rounds indiscriminately into the darkness. Kelly is moving fast with Genya at her side--and when she sees him dive for cover, she does the same, and manages to escape damage by letting the incoming Chaos bolt thunk itself in the tree just above her head. Martinez isn't quite as lucky, though she does manage to throw herself to the ground to avoid the worst of it, but it sears her leg something good. "Son of a bitch--!" she swears loudly, and tries throwing some fire downrange. Poor mister Bachmann, aka Twitch, gets hit badly. The visions of doom and terror he sees in his mind, combined with the pain of the bolt that had dug past his kevlar, force a horrified scream from his throat and has him scrambling away from the group, into the darkness... anywhere to get away from all of the horror. ANd meanwhile, the pulses come faster and faster. Garbled by interference, Shen's tone sounds desperate. "Gonna -- esti-- five minutes! Get in there!"
Reina Kinney	Reina is focusing through her scope at one point, trying to sweep for more threats, when suddenly something goes through her like a strange feeling, and all of a sudden she's wracked with fear and panic. "Ahh... Uh... No! NO!" She feels like she's being pulled in a thousand directions at once, before her body instinctively jumps up and runs out of cover, almost like she's not controlling her actions, but her sense of panic is... Guiding her right into the line of fire of a nearby Trooper. The Trooper has seen her and takes the shot, opening fire and, surprisingly enough, piercing through Reina's shield and entering her stomach. She yells out in pain as she drops to the ground, the burning sensation working through her like nothing she's felt before. She struggles to get back up, work through the pain, but it's greater than she initially felt it as. To top that off, there's already blood coming out through her jacket, and already she's starting to feel signs of blood loss. She tries to chant Resta, but she can't focus enough. "Dammit... gonna..." Reina struggles to crawl to cover, but her body refuses to comply. "Sorry... gotta... get outta here..." She taps her wrist device and is quickly teleported back to Union Medical HQ for treatment. Even a true GUARDIAN knows when to retreat, especially if they're unable to keep fighting.
Alexis Maaka	The fog that Ophelia had dropped onto the battlefield clears, and Maaka's cybernetics begin to return to their normal selves. However, the sounds of both Twitch and Reina panicking, the former running into the darkness, and the latter straight up teleporting away, is more effective to Maaka than the Doombolts ever could be. "Goddammit..." She shakes her head hearing the screams, but grits her teeth and breaks from cover. The Sectoid is definitely a new, menacing sight as well. "...didn't they used to be smaller?" She wonders aloud, before she fires a smoke round towards the 'Swoletoid', trying to confuse its vision as she opens fire with a burst from her EM rifle.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr lands for a moment atop one of the Mack trailers. Her Area Search spots the newly revealed squad, and that monstrosity backing more troopers. Shen's call decides the Mage... Wherever that Chaos Mage is, he can wait. "Divine Wind. Lets get in there, hard and fast." <CONFIRM! SHIFT TO MISTRAL FORM. MISTRAL SQUALL TO BLITZ FORMATION!> As the mist clears, the Mage is revealed in a swirling purple and white field, before she appears to vanish, moving fast enough to leave an afterimage, before she reappears beside the Sectoid, digging a furrow in the asphalt, at about the same time Maaka's gauss rounds come streaking in. A stray slug impacts an angled shield, deflecting away harmlessly, before the smaller, hand-ax sized Device sweeps up in a heavy uppercuting hack. <MISTRAL CUTTER!> chimes Divine Wind, purple magic trailing from the superheated blade.
Genya Arikado	There's too much going on. Too many enemies, and the visibility is too poor. Genya isn't going to be able to do much in this fog, not against enemies he can't see. Not in time to keep that converter from exploding. Genya can't... But there's someone who can... With a growl, he presses his finger to the transmitter in his ear. "Pulling out. Too many enemies, too little visibility. Threat of explosion, too poor of a position." But he turns in Kelly's direction. "Someone will come back to help. I'm not much good here." And then he heads deeper into the forest. But only far enough to hide him from sight. He has to... change his outer trappings. Back at the site, the feeling of something dark and ancient rises. Something quite powerful. Centuries of despair, of bloodlust, of hopelessness. It appears in a beam of light, ironically. White skin, white hair, fathomless grey eyes, and clothing as black as pitch. Ancient clothing, too... pre-Victorian, or thereabouts, from the looks of it. He's armed with a sword and shield, the blade of the former gleaming with a keen blue flash. Alucard's arrived.
Drowned Ophelia	'Ally with Ophelia at your own risk'. Damaged goods doesn't even begin to cover the black hearted bitch, her fog losing some of its strength without her direct influence upon it. Comms, at least, are beginning to clear up, and cybernetics become less - scrambled. But as Bachman at last breaks - and Ophelia feels the distant tug of a darker taint - she whispers through the ground after the wounded man. His pounding feet in the swirling fog are slowed - achingly slow, a cold that seeps into the bones from a deathly ground. A soft, mad giggle as the sound of battle and the distant light of laser shots and concussive reports fade away- And an explosion of dirt upwards, pale blue arms stretching up with black claws, eyes shining like a moon in comparison to the darkness that weeps from them- Moments later she looks up from her embrace, feeling something -shift- in the battle. Before that cold, bitter smirk crosses black lips, and she turns back to the dim silouette hanging loosely in her arms. "Open up and say ... aaaahh.." She murmurs. There is no Twitch - not anymore. But at least Ophelia is no longer 'assisting' the Advent either.
Courier Six	Well there's somethin' fancy goin' on over on the other side of the trucks and Johnny can feel the change in the air, at least. But there's tall dark and ugly standing in front of him, and he's not at all pleased. It's not the first time he's faced down a Grey, but this is... well. This fellow's a lot meaner looking. And he's not about to let this one get by. He slams the business end of the PIA into the dirt and sweeps it up at the tall Sectoid. The radio on the front of his mask crackles, his voice distorted and menacing. "I'm givin' yer until the count of three to step off." "Three." He's pretty sure the ugly thing wouldn't understand him anyways. He dashes in, vaulting a piece of low cover, and strikes for the midsection of the Sectoid, aiming to lay it low.
Ixqor Nathrach	One down, many to go. Ixqor thought to himself as the rookie had fled the field entirely. With their weakest link down, perhaps the rest will start to crumble, but that could not be done when out in the open like this. Making a uniformed sprint, Ixqor dashed over to the advent forces, taking refuge next to the Sectoid, identifying it as one of the pyshcic leadersof this xenos and human alliance. Jomungandr was sheethed for now, the serpent would have to feed later. The marine then pulled out his bolt gun, checking it's clip and sights. "Watch their advance! Do not let them close the distance!" Ixqor barked out to the advent forces, hoping they understood his gothic tongue. Something pinged in his mind then, he sensed something dark nearby... But it was not Ophelia's witchery, nor his own. The soul steal that had been cast caught his attention, and he knew that perhaps the caster behind it would be the most dangerous foe. Using his psychic sense, he was able to generalize where it had spawned from, but he could not see them. The sudden appearance of the magical girl, and then the courier distracted him though! He was forced to dodge roll out of the way of this two pronged assault, lest he wished to be skewered. On his back now, Ixqor picked up the boltgun from teh ground on his right, and aimed towards Zephyr, firing a three round burst in her direction. "Fall back! They have engaged in melee! We must regroup!" He yelled again at the other advent troopers, hoping they would listen to reason.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has had a Chaos follower get into her head and try to get her to turn upon her friends and allies. She gives him a shockingly polite reply which can be summarizeds as no. She makes a comment about the new sectoids and can't focus on those they have lost so far. No it's got to be for something she thinks and they need to get the objective. As the she may be faing a good deal of attacks as she cloaks again and makes a full on run for the objective she knows what she's got to do. She makes a comment about someone knocking out Twitch if its needed. She can only do one thing at a time and all of XCOM may go down if they don't get this part for the ship. Kotone is not hiding what she is oh hell no she's not hiding at all as she makes for the power converter and is going to try to get to work at hacking into it's systems and disabling the self destruct or any other nasty tricks the aliens have it wired up with.
Samira Amirmuaz	And suddenly, there were two members of XCOM that were lost. One of them had gotten herself to safety, sure - but the other was gone. Lost in the void to a creature of darkness, Bachmann's name and likeness would soon be gracing the Wall in the Avenger bar. Ultimately, though, ADVENT doesn't have much time to celebrate. The first issue being that neither the Sectoid, nor the Troopers, have any inclination to listen to what Ixqor has to say. These beings are all meat puppets fighting at the behest of intelligences far greater than they. Their deaths were ultimately meaningless... which is why they'd been deployed to keep guard over a piece of machinery that, should it explode, would likely decimate the entire area. Furthermore, they aren't honestly fast enough to deal with Elite-level threats on a one-on-one basis. Strong as the Sectoid may be now, it is still somewhat fragile in CQB; when both Zephyr and Johnny hit it, it immediately falls with another rasping, gurgling shriek, cut into more than a few pieces. The troopers, to their credit, did try to fall back from the two in melee, but they've still got Maaka and Martinez to deal with. A hail of bullets from both sources manage to bring down two of the troopers as they ran, leaving their corpses twitching limblessly while their masters tried in vain to control the bodies before eventually giving up. In the trees, Kelly scowls at Genya as she watches him go, dumbstruck that he would just /leave/ right in the middle of the fight. Ultimately, however, it gives her the chance to complete her flank. While another trooper tries to flee, she steps out from the shadows of a tree with shotgun raised; the buckshot tears the black-armoed figure apart and sprays the area liberally with orange blood. Kotone has her own ideas, knowing just how close they were to failing this mission. She's gone full tilt ahead to begin implementing Shen's fix to the power converter. What with Kotone's unique physiology and technical knowledge, she's easily able to cut through the counter-intrusion set up to begin the cooldown sequence. Which... has it's own problem. See, the converter is on a truck bed... and the last squad of ADVENT hasn't moved since the fight began. That means all of them are now fully paying attention to what's going on. A Sectoid, a Captain, and three TRoopers all move to scramble. And the Sectoid seems keen to even the odds again. The psionic rift above it's head forms and sends out the signal... which takes hold of one of the Trooper corpses right in the middle of the gang. THe corpse groans and hisses while it stands... and now there's a zombie right in their midst, that tries to take a nice bite out of Johnny's sternum. Yum.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka sprints towards Kotone's position at the converter, before she's stopped by the arrival of the Sectoid. "Oh hell, this is a problem!" And then the sectoid raises a fallen soldier. "...NOW this is a problem!" She tries not to let the sight of the dead rising get to her, as she drops behind cover and takes aim at the Pectoid. Sighting the massive alien down, she fires off a steady burst of EM fire, high-velocity rounds hurdling towards the psionic alien hybrid.
Courier Six	"GODDAMMN SONNAVABITCH ZOMBIE!" Sure he's wearing armor but Johnny Tallbranch does NOT like zombies. There's more than enough bad blood there between regular zombies, plant zombies, space zombies and robot zombies he's had to fight of the years that Psychic Space Zombie is a new and unwanted addition to that list. If The Overmind Grand Poobah wanted to get Johnny's attention of fighting the rest of the X-Rays, they did it. He turns in place, SWATS the Zombie with the business end of the axe, pulls out his 10mm, and empties out an entire clip into its forehead. And prepares to reload. "FUCKIN' ZOMBIES."
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr lets loose a snarl as the Sectoid crumples, cleaved in two by her blade. The sound slowly filters back into her attention, too late as the Bolter fire cuts into her Barrier Jacket, and draws blood as the anti-armour munitions detonate. She cries out in pain, then turns balefully angry eyes onto the fleeing Chaos Sorcerer. "Come back here you bastard! I'll tear you a new asshole!" she roars, before setting her feet, then launches in pursuit, bringing her axe around with its blade once more glowing that otherworldly mix of purple, blue, white and yellow. She's /fast/, but she's not using her full speed. That left her open last time, so Ixqor will have time to draw his melee weapon, or take more potshots as she approaches.
Genya Arikado	With the fog lifting, Alucard's senses are returning to normal. Normal to HIM, mind you -- a vampire's senses. He tracks each enemy, those going after Kotone -- she needs to complete her task -- mentally plotting the best path between them that will let him strike and take out as many as possible. But first? He'd seen the blood. Orange though it might have been, it was blood. And thus it can give him strength. He raises his shield arm. "DARK METAMORPHOSIS!" His eyes glow crimson, and then a dull crimson glow surrounds his body. And then? He's moving, fast enough that blue-white afterimages are left behind. A slash with vampire strength. The shield's raised to knock away a rifle before its wielder can fire at him, and then, while the trooper is distracted, he aims a stab for its midsection. He moves like flowing water, faster than a human should be capable of. But of course, as had been observed on XCOM's frequency, he's hardly human. And all the while, each time the blood falls upon him, it seems to be absorbed into the crimson glow that surrounds his body, the glow pulsing brighter with each drop of shed blood it absorbs. It confers the strength of that blood to him each time... which is good considering he got his back torn up early on. At the end of it all, he extends his shield arm and three large fireballs leap from the glowing red inner lining of his cape. They're likely to immolate anything unlucky enough to be in their way, if there's anything left of the troopers. Fortunately he fired them AWAY from the converter...
Ixqor Nathrach	The quick shots he took did a number, but only angered his target. As she came towards him, he dropped the bolter and drew Jomungandr, bracing his left hand on teh hilt, and his right on the blade. Raising it high he blocked the strike from the axe, but how!? His blade seemed much flimsier than the large axe brandished against him! It should have crumbled underneath such force... Were it not a weapon of daemonic possesion! The sword held out, almost effortlessly, though Ixqors' armor buckled, as he used every bit of his astartes strength to keep teh axe from getting any closer. Through gritted teeth, he spat an insult at Zephyr. "Mortals. Always so brash." The axe came closer, his arms were giving out as the metal grinding against metal. "Always so foolish!" He yelled as the sword began to glow an acidic green. Warp energies amassed around the weapon, and began to envelope it. The blade actually dissapeared, but still she coudl not cut it! It was transforming! The Daemon Serpent of Jomungandr reared it's ugly head, a serpent of pure warp energy made manifest. It hissed out some terrible daemonic words before extending, wrapping itself around the axeblade in quick succession. "Now away with you!" The serpent obeyed the words of it's wielder, and violently thrashed around, hoping to toss Zephyr away so that he may make more room to ready himself. This battle would be far from over.
Kotone Yamakawa	The Good news is Kotone got to the package and she's able to get through the security systems. She doesn't think Advent was expectin someone to jack into their hardware with an agumented brain. It was a sobering thought to think of how apart from what she was, she'd become but there was no time or that. She gets the colldown sequence going but then comes the enemy fire. "I'm taking heavy fire here!" Oh that would be the last squad of aliens they had to deal witha nd she's coming under fire. Kotone can not dodge well when she's jacked in and she takts a mag round. She bleeds but not blood a strange sick smelling red fluid which looks akin to it but clearly is not. "Damn it!" Oh then there are zombies?! ZOMBIES?! At least it wasn't the bugs that the aliens used to love to use. Kotone attempts to get some cover way from the objective and return fire...
Samira Amirmuaz	Poor Johnny, so freaked out by a little zombie. At least he does manage to put it back down on the ground, albeit by emptying an entire magazine into it's braincase after he's knocked it down. It's not a very efficient use of bullets, but at least it's dead again. Maaka turns herself more towards the source of the problem, leveling her rifle at the Ayybomination... the magnetic round passes straight through one of it's bulbous eyes, leaving it standing for a few moments before it finally drops to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut. Genya - Alucard - has had enough playing around, it seems. The Dark Metamorphosis is something that no ADVENT has seen before, and the speed and fury with which he makes his strikes is effectively unstoppable. The Captain goes down, split from shoulder to hip; a trooper's head flies off. Another poor Trooper loses his right leg and arm. That leaves two more Troopers left in complete disarray. Kelly decides to get into the melee, as well, drawing her sword and racing forward to take one of the fleeing ADVENT trooper in the back, plunging it through his chest. Martinez snags the grenade she stuck into her belt and throws it at the feet of the last, blowing open his cover and flinging him from wher he was hiding. Kotone's left with a perfect shot - and takes it, leaving the last trooper down in the dirt. Surely by now Ixqor can feel it: he's been left entirely alone, and all of his support as been decimated. Maybe it's time for him to take off before things get more complicated for him...
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr growls back at the Sorcerer. "At least I've not sold my soul to some monster!" it's about then, the Jormungundr manifests, and Divine Wind chimes in alarm. <CORE FRAME COMPROMISED! DANGER!> as the beast wraps around the Device, shakes the pair around, before tossing her aside, "WHOA SHI---" into one of the parked vans, denting the side from the impact and leaving the Mage groaning on the floor. She starts getting back up, but it's slow going. Ixqor's going to have a good headstart if he goes to flee. Or an open opportunity to strike at the flying Mage.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka nods grimly as the Sectoid goes down, lowering her rifle as she goes to join up with Kotone. "You need help moving this stuff?" She asks. Ixqor will have an easy time getting out of the battlefield, because right now the converter is the highest priority item on the board, so to speak. "We need to get moving soon, they're gonna have reinforcements sent to pick this thing up any second."
Ixqor Nathrach	Ixqor took a deep breathe, standing up fluidly and sheething Jomungandr as it returned to it's blade form. "You know nothing of my destiny. But I shouldn't expect the unenlightened to look at things from more than one angle." He turned then, away from teh fighting entirely, and moving at a walking pace. "This battle is done." He had known, simply hearing the screams and attacks from the other elites and XCOM units, that he was alone, and he was certainly no fool. "Resist as you will, but this universe may have the key to something I covet. And no one. God or otherwise, shall stand in my path." IXqor said, having turned his head slightly, and pausing in his stride. The rift would open once more, the warp welcoming one of it's children back, allowing him to escape. "We will fight once more." Those were his last words before he walked away, into the dark.
Genya Arikado	And so it seems that the battle is over. Alucard waits until there is at least partial silence -- or at least until it doesn't look like something unfriendly is going to jump down his throat. Then he sheathes the sword at his side and turns to look at the others defending the converter. His cool gray eyes flit from one to the other, as if assessing them for injuries. He doesn't speak immediately, though. When he does, it's about the lost soldier. "...My condolences for the loss of your man." It's in ancient Romanian, the tone cast in his low baritone. He bows his head as well as lowers his gaze in apology, and in respect to the lost soldier.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has got the mission objectuive finished. She now seems to be trying to deal wit the wound, the red blood like stuff has stopped as her body seals the damged section off. She doesn't seem to too happy. She's loathed to turn off her pain receptors as she waits for some help to get going.
Courier Six	Johnny rips the riot helmet off, and gasps for fresh air now that all of the Advent foreces are on the ground or back in it. "...Damned zombies."
Samira Amirmuaz	The quiet of the darkened forest doesn't last much longer, as the scream of the Skyranger's engines indicate it's return, down towards their insertion point. Given that the hybrid magnetic power converter is about as tall as a human and twice as big around, it's quite heavy - so Firebrand eventually comes out with an industrial gurney to help the team move it into the ship. From there, it's all just going back home... and leaving this ugly, corpse-filled place as far behind as they possibly could.