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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 247: Chapter 245: Lesser

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Ranger

Chapter 245: Lesser

By Wanderer D

From the secure niche she had rappelled to, Sonata watched as Fugue flew forth and up, reaching the highest point, and then seemed to explode into a red cloud that expanded the whole of the Warlock's secret base.

It then started raining blood. And not just a little; a veritable storm creating a haze across the whole field which even she couldn't see through with Darklance, which was a first. She grinned fiercely—but still crouched back against the corner, just at the very edge of the cloud to avoid any possible damage. She knew what was coming, just not what shape it would take.

The various MECs, Sectopods, Specters and the split codex seemed unable to understand just how screwed they were. From her position, she could see over a dozen more robots, but no sign of Fugue herself.

Then, in the middle of the room, once the blood puddles had grown into what amounted to a small lake, she slowly emerged. Immediately all of the mechanical enemies targeted her. But she smiled and snapped her fingers.

The only reason Sonata saw what had happened, was because her extended senses allowed her a clear view, almost as if she was standing right there. The blood covering the sectopods and MECs; the specters and codexes… suddenly hardened and pierced through them like thin lances that went straight through their armor as if it was made of tissue paper, then the blood flattened into long blades that spun outwards.

Their enemies didn't even have a chance to shoot again before they were cut to shreds. Immediately, as if in response to this, portals opened and berserkers, ADVENT and mutons rushed out, armed and already shooting on top of the raised platforms.

Fugue simply dodged or raised blood barriers to stave off the fire, while the berserkers and lancers foolishly charged her. The moment their feet touched the blood lake however, it seemed to boil around their feet and the attackers soon found themselves screeching and convulsing in place, their limbs twisting and spasming seemingly out of control.

Thick veins became thicker and bubbled up as one of the berserkers fell to its knees, its already abused and modified body rippling as it thrashed, roaring in pain. The other tried to stomp down the bubbles crawling up its legs and arms, even going as far as ripping its own skin in an attempt to stop it. The ADVENT soldiers twisted and screamed, standing like puppets held up by invisible strings.

One of them simply exploded.

The mutons that had stayed on the platforms paused to gape for a moment. But Fugue didn't waste time. With a dismissive gesture of her hand, the accumulated lake of blood moved as if pushed by invisible winds, creating a wave that split into giant scythes. The mutons tried firing at them, but their shots did nothing to the magical constructs, and they barely had time to scream as they were sliced apart, weapons and all.

"What will you do now, Tirek?" Sonata asked, her gaze going to the giant phylactery. Her smile turned into a frown as the alien device shuddered, cracks appearing on its golden surface and spidering from corner to corner. "What th—"

She flinched as the phylactery exploded and Tirek formed in front of it. But this wasn't the usual Warlock she had learned to really hate. He was made of pure, concentrated psychic energy, with the only exception being Adagio's gem, which floated as if embedded into his ethereal forehead.

"Crap," Sonata muttered. "You finally figured how to use the gem."

If Fugue was surprised or impressed by Tirek's stunt, she didn't show it, instead, the pond of blood slowly swirled around her as she was elevated from the surface to the air, her wings expanded, blood-red, and her claws were as long as her arms now. She kept going up in that blood-whirpool until she was at eye-level with her opponent.

"That can't be effective."

But Sonata kept her thoughts to herself. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Tirek was more powerful than her. But her new sister, Fugue… that was another story. In all her centuries of life, Sonata had never heard of a more powerful bloodmage. By now, all those that had even approached the level of control Fugue had at the moment of transformation were lost in their madness; creatures of death and destruction with no capacity for higher thought.

But something had changed. Something kept holding Fugue back from ripping this world apart and then going out into space to continue her work. Sonata knew, because before—thousands of years ago—she had died bringing down such a beast. Tonameyotl. The name still sometimes invoked within her the simpler life of an earth pony with an obsession with carving decorations out of different stones and crystals to give away to her friends and family.

Another life, generations away—and yet whenever she thought about him, she remembered what it was to be mortal, and to know you were about to die, but you would bring down this being with you. During her time as a Siren in Equestria she had heard of Sombra and thought of her old foe, but the upstart king was nothing but the shadow of a shadow of Tonameyotl's power.

Thousands of years ago, Tonameyotl's power had been second only to Camazotz, the blood king. And here, after thousands of years, she was witnessing a power that far outstripped his—and it was contained. Fugue's power wasn't the mindless, instinct-driven destruction that had befallen every bloodmage before her. Something had worked differently this time around.

But then again, never had a true siren been the catalyst for the blood mage's transformation.

"You have pushed me to the edge, siren," Tyrek said, his voice a mixture of his deep cadance, and the howling background noise similar to the banshee-like screeches of the codexes. "But thanks to you I have achieved more than I could have ever imagined! I have the power now to rival the Elders!"

"Turning yourself into psychic energy doesn't mean you have the upper hand, Warlock," Fugue replied, sneering. "It just means you're less of a man you ever were."

Tirek roared and a blast of psychic power pushed her back, crackling whenever it came in contact with the magical energy of her blood magic. A lesser being would have been fried instantly by that—ADVENT Priests or other psionic-wielding aliens—besides the Elders—would have suffered a magic-induced feedback that would have utterly destroyed them. But Tirek had somehow figured out how to use the psionics to fight Fugue in even ground.

And it was thanks to Adagio's gem.

The power behind the blast pushed back Fuge, ripping her from her blood tide and sending her crashing onto one of the platforms. Without missing a beat, he used more power to disperse the sea of blood around them and clear the area around his opponent.

Fugue, embedded on the floor, simply melted into more blood and re-emerged, completely healed and already on her way towards him from another little puddle of the substance. She slashed at his arm with her long claws, cutting through the energy with little to no effort, and although it healed again immediately, Tirek howled with pain, stepping back.

Sonata watched as their dance continued, with Fugue moving faster and faster, dodging most of Tirek's attacks and even dispersing his energy blasts with her magic.

For all his newfound power, he had little control over it to reflect a real improvement. So even as she watched, the hulking figure made of psionic energy was slashed by Fugue's direct attacks. She wasn't even trying, despite the fact that Tirek got a couple of good hits, mostly in the form of attacks that covered a large area.

Every time Fugue slashed into him, his size diminished until he was back to his normal, almost human size. Finally, the siren decided to end it.

Glancing down at Fugue's claws embedded in his chest, Tirek laughed. It didn't have much mirth into it. It wasn't cheerful or even amused. It was a deep, low, menacing growl of a laugh. "You cannot win, Fugue, even if you were to strike me down, my vengeance shall be complete."

Fugue sneered. "You keep thinking that, Tirek. But whatever happens, you won't be here to see it happen." With that, she tore her hand free, then stabbed forth again, this time on his forehead, her claws tearing through his ethereal head without any resistance. She closed her fist around Adagio's gem, and ripped out of his forehead.

By the time the "body" hit the floor it was little more than wisps of energy, dissipating into the air.

Sonata grinned and rappelled down to Fugue, who stumbled back a little. "It seems this battle drew more out of me than I thought it would."

"It doesn't matter," Sonata said, "He's dead! And we have Dagi's gem!" She grinned. "Come on, let's go meet with Chimera. We have a world to take over."

"How fares Project Avatar?"

"It goes well. The Commander's attack on our Network Facility and releasing Adagio was not anticipated, but the actual damage to the project is negligible."

"The Warlock is dead."

"He and the Assassin will be mourned. Hailed as heroes in our memory."

"What about the traitor?"

"She is lost to us. We are unable to find her."

"We are without Chosen, and the wild creations of Chimera and Vahlen roam outside of our control."

"The Commander is stolen."

"The rejects gather to act against us."

"Traitors and defects join them."

"Unknown powers are at play."

"We don't have much time. Avatar must be completed."

"Avatar must be powerful enough to not be destroyed by these new beings. These... sirens."

"Before his death, the Warlock provided us with information. We have much to study about this being, "Fugue" and her powers."

"The Assassin and the Hunter are also sirens, yet nothing unusual showed in their scans before they were exalted."

"It matters not. With the information we are still receiving from the Warlock's plan, we can make Avatar much more powerful."

"Powerful enough to bring the Commander back to the fold."

"Powerful enough to bring the fight back to the homeworld."

"Powerful enough to destroy XCOM and the sirens."

"We will rule again."

o.0.o End Chapter 245 o.0.o

Next Chapter: Chapter 246: Recollections Estimated time remaining: 56 Minutes
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