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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 243: Chapter 241: Papillae

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Ranger

Chapter 241: Papillae

By Wanderer D

The entrance to the base was protected by an assortment of MECs, specters, and andromedons, opening into a large bay area, almost as big as a warehouse. It was mostly empty, save for the occasional vehicle or check-up barrier preventing access further into the facility without being checked by security. The Warlock had clearly not expected the main entrance to be the point of entry for any serious enemy attack, and thus the defenders weren't as many as could fit in there.

Four MECs flanked the metal separators in the middle of the room, while the specters and andromedons were paired to each side in the far end, guarding mirrored entrances into different rooms of the structure, while a pair of turrets stood at either end of the large doors that would allow vehicles further into the base.

As soon as the heavy metal doors of the entrance were shredded, the specters took cover, shuddered and turned invisible, while the MECs braced themselves in place and shot a barrage of missiles straight at Fugue and Sonata, while the Andromedons charged forth and through the walls so they had a clear shot at the invaders.

The moment the explosions began, the two andromedons' weapons spat large blobs of acid that exploded on contact. Fire and acid spread through the entrance to the room, scorching the walls and ceiling, the heat and debris barely affecting the mechanical defenders.

They stopped their barrage, allowing the smoke to clear… and reveal that there was nothing there. It was then that the two andromedons stopped completely. Their exo-armors remaining still as the aliens within twisted and screamed silently… before they exploded within the machines, their blood hardening and bursting out of their destroyed armors and then splashing down together to pool in the middle of the floor.

One of the doors to the side opened and several ADVENT soldiers rushed in, including three priests, their psionic energies already flowing the moment the first shot blew a MEC's head off.

Sonata came around the thick doors, half spinning around them, a large, sleek black gun held in her hand, her face grinning as she spun and shot another MEC, blowing its leg, and causing it to collapse. The mechanical soldier wasn't done, however, and started shooting at her before a second shot got it right in the head optics, causing its body to shake and smoke before falling into a pile of scrap.

The ADVENT troops spread out, taking cover behind the barriers and covering the whole entrance area in plasma and gun fire, while the crazed siren-turned-chosen laughed and spun, jumped and cart-wheeled across the room, dodging bullets like some crazed dancer.

A specter emerged behind her, ready to attack, but her quick reflexes and her hook had her already on the other side of the room, atop a parked truck, her rifle aimed at the nano-creature. "Gotcha!"

The blast blew right through its chest.

She flipped down from the roof, and rolled behind a piece of wall to get behind cover as another door opened, allowing another pod of ADVENT troops into the room. Shield Bearers stomped in, their armors flashing with energy as they smashed the floor and force fields surrounded all of the ADVENT troops in the room.

Vipers took cover on the edges of the back of the large room, where they could spit venom and shoot plasma… in a few seconds, the truck was riddled with shots and soon it exploded.

The speakers in the room crackled and Tirek's voice filled the sudden silence. "Sonata, your queen is gone. Give yourself up. Join me once again. There's nothing you can do here today but die otherwise."

The words, boosts, and the additional troops and force-fields made the ADVENT soldiers bolder. They advanced, mercilessly shooting Sonata's last location—until a trooper stepped on the blood spilled on the floor.

"You stand no chance. You have seen the true power of the Elders. You have seen what lies beyond the edge of the Galaxy. Isn't this why you and Aria betrayed Adagio? To survive? The Elders will forgive you, Sonata—"

"Surrender?" Fugue's contemptuous voice filled the room. "Tirek, I've come to teach you despair!"

The blood exploded into the air, thin tendrils wrapping around the neck of the trooper, slicing through it and, as his head tumbled onto the floor, a large, thick tentacle made of glistening orange blood sprouted from his neck as his body convulsed and shriveled under the grotesque apparition, somehow still standing.

The sound of a voice slowly rose from somewhere, a haunting melody clear to everyone despite the disgusting crunching and squelching sounds coming from the convulsing body of the trooper. One of the ADVENT Captains wasted no time in ordering his troops to attack, shaking them out of their surprised stupor.

The bullets, however, were completely useless, bursting through the tentacle without doing any apparent damage. As if the violence had given it sentience, the tentacle twisted, as the rest of the body split in half and the blood joined the puddle on the floor. It lashed out—quick as lightning—and pierced through the armor of a nearby ADVENT Lancer.

Its body convulsed as well, but unlike the previous trooper, it wasn't a single large tentacle that emerged, rather, needle-thin spikes of its blood impaled in place the ADVENT Captain that had given the order to shoot. He stood there mouth-agape, before blood oozed out of his pores and trickled down to the puddle in the middle of the room.

The puddle rippled, and two clawed wings slowly pushed out of the surface, followed by the horned head of Fugue, smiling viciously as her body shone wet and pliable with blood. Surprisingly white and solid fangs greeted the soldiers in front of her as she fully emerged, terrible, bloody and singing a wordless song, her long, prehensile tail the last thing to ripple out of the blood, not a single drop fell back into it.

As she hovered three feet over the floor, her wings opened, revealing her gem glowing eerily in her chest. Sonata jumping out of the building through the destroyed door was all the warning that the ADVENT troops had.

The blood on the floor expanded, covering the whole room, and—as if the gates of hell itself had opened—sharp spikes shot out from within, the largest ones at the edges, with smaller, human-sized ones closer to the center, like a gigantic mouth of a leather-back turtle, hellish fangs and tentacles that ensnared the troopers, ignoring the shields, ignoring their screams and then simply crunched down, splattering blood everywhere.

When it was done, all that was left was a lone terrified viper, coiled in a corner and hissing in horror, it's mind having snapped out of the control of the Elder's by what it had witnessed. Even the other viper had been sliced to shreds.

She dared not move, testing the air with its tongue as Fugue hovered over to her shivering figure. The demon leaned in, caressing the viper's face. "You remind me of my Angel," she whispered gently, pulling the unresistant snake-woman up to her and embracing her, looking deep into her eyes. "But you are not her."

The viper's eyes widened and it started struggling, twisting and fighting, trying to bite Fugue as her skin seemed to bubble under the scales. She clawed feebly at Fugue, who leaned in and pecked her nose.

The blood rushed out, like a primal fountain of life essence, flowing into Fugue's mouth. When the outpour ended, Fugue dropped the still-twitching body and licked her claws. She sighed as all the blood in the room flowed into her, making her shiver in pleasure.

She hugged herself, letting the ecstasy run its course and flow through the very center of her being. When she had stopped shaking in orgasmic bliss, she moaned in disappointment, but glanced up coquettishly at the camera. "I'm coming for you."

o.0.o End Chapter 241 o.0.o

Author's Notes:

Like the stories? Want more chapters, more stories and more everything Wanderer D? Help me not stress about money! Help out with my mortgage: Ko-fi account! | Patreon!

Next Chapter: Chapter 242: Comrades Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
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