A dire Mistake

heaven's fury

Here we are, at the beginning of XCOM's assault on Falmart. Now I only realized that I forgot to give descriptions of Jarik and Sscantha's clothes a week after I made this story, oops. Anyway, Jarik wears a knee-length bomber jacket over a black XCOM shirt with jeans and brown combat boots. Sscantha wears a white short-sleeved shirt and a black choker, and that's it because she's a viper.

(LINE BREAK)

It's been a month since the gate appeared in the capital of Texas. During this time, Jarik and Sscantha have been hard at work getting support from the still-recovering UN and recruiting new soldiers. The USA was more than willing to lend XCOM their supplies and weapons. Thanks to this, the organization had various tanks, APCs, helicopters, and other things at their disposal. But now the time for preparation is over, and retaliation is at hand. Jarik walked into the proving ground, to see the unique armor he had asked Shen to make for him. It was a suit of warden armor, but with a piece attaching the helmet to the torso. The gauntlets were those of the chosen warlock, able to channel psionic energy without the need for an amp. He put it on and placed the Assassin's shotgun, Arashi, on his hip. Her katana and dagger found their home on Jarik's back.

He exited the proving ground to see his wife waiting for him in her combat gear. Her armor was made to encompass her entire form with red lights down the length of the armor, granting no weak points to attack. Her custom plasma burst rifle was on the back of her waist, while she herself was holding the helmet in her left hand. "Time to go." Jarik said, to which his mate nodded and put her helmet, the eyes lighting up red. They rode Firebrand down to the area in front of the gate, where the entirety of XCOM was waiting and a stage was set up. A few feet away, beside the gate, was a memorial for those who were killed. He removed his helmet as he walked onto the stage and towards a podium. Setting down his helmet, he spoke.

"For ten years, we, as human and viper-kind, have lived in peace. ADVENT routed, the elders slain. For ten years, our earth has been at peace. But now, the leaders this 'empire' has come to slaughter and enslave us. And XCOM, earth's ever-vigilant sword, and shield shall be there standing tall once more. We will cross through this gate and bring those responsible to justice. We lost three hundred seventy-four innocent souls to their blades. Even more, taken as slaves. We shall avenge the fallen, and liberate the taken. Today marks the start of operation Titan's wrath! VIGILO CONFIDO!" With the end of Jarik's speech, he put his helmet back on and moved to the front of the convoy, and stood on the lead APC. And then the army began to move.

The inside of the gate was... interesting. It was midnight black, but there was what appeared to be stars shining on all sides. Once they reached the other side, there was a massive camp surrounding the gate. The APCs unloaded and man, viper, and machine got into positions, the tanks aiming their turrets at the camp. And with the sound of thunder,

Earth made her wrath known.

(The capital of the Empire meeting room)

Emperor Mort Sol Augustus's eye twitched under its eyelids. He had been listening to his nobles bickering for the past thirty minutes. Eventually, he got fed up with it. "Enough!" He shouted. Immediately, they were all silenced, and looking to their leader. "Have the vassal states attack Alnus hill. Their sheer numbers will crush the invaders." He ordered. Intentionally wording to make it seem the attack was unprovoked. While internally he was furious. "Damn you Zorzal," he thought to himself. "Damn you for telling the nobles to just blindly attack the other side of the gate. And damn them for just blindly following your orders. Now I have to go along with your plan, and if the few soldiers that returned are anything to go by, they can slaughter us without trying."

(A week later, vassal state camp)

The kings of the vassal states were arguing with each other, trying to claim the glory of leading the army for themselves. All except one, who knew that this was a play to both defeat the people from beyond the gate and weaken the armies of the vassal states. Unbeknownst to them, there were people listening in. Elena "Outrider" Dragunova and several reapers were just outside the tent. "Executioner to homebase, targets in range. Permission to initiate operation berserk?" She asked through her earpiece. The voice of Sscantha came through, completely neutral. "Permission granted." With that, the team of reapers lifted the back end of the tent and opened fire.