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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 45: Chapter 43: Seeker

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Ranger

Chapter 43: Seeker

By Wanderer D

Sunset leaned back from the GREMLIN. The message had just been sent, and she had managed to get some rest, sleeping through the night. Thanks to Suns—Sunny One's foresight, it had been easy enough to hook Jane up to some of the old equipment, and then hook that up to the GREMLIN, which monitored Jane in turn.

Thanks also to Sunny One, and the chems, she had had enough willpower left to cast a simple blood magic spell to heal Jane's internal injuries. It was simply accelerated cell-regeneration, so she didn't need to maintain it after the initial casting. By the time the magic ran out, it would have done its job.

Then, she had crashed after brushing off the top of another stretcher. She had been too exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally to even try to send the signal the previous night. Trusting the GREMLIN to alert her if anything went wrong, she had fallen into a deep slumber and had woken up late the next day.

Jane was still asleep, but her breathing was easier, her pulse stable, and her skin now looked much more healthy.

It would still be a few hours before anyone would be there to pick them up, however, with ADVENT being on high alert and relatively close to their location, it would take probably even longer, and it appeared as if the prolonged activation of the lab and the secret entrance had slowly jumpstarted other areas of the facility.

As such, she had time to burn, and re-reading Sunny One's letter only made her sad that she had not met this other version of herself.

She started by investigating the room. This was clearly the old Lab, as the video had clearly shown the place years prior, clean, sterile and full of equipment. Most of it was missing, with what could only amount to the things nailed to the floor as left behind.

An interesting thing, however, was the next room. A huge, thick glass container of some sort was at the other side of the entrance. Two large metallic arms were halfway extended from both sides of the container, and it was clear that it was designed not only to whistand damage, but if the devices on the corners were any sign of it, whatever (or whoever) was inside could be eliminated in several ways.

She had heard Galahad speak of Dr. Vahlen's experiments, and figured out fairly quickly that she was in the alien containment area. It had everything from completely sealed containers—half melted from the inside out, as they had no-doubt enabled the contingency protocols before leaving.

The autopsy room was there, a large glass room with several cameras that were plugged into cables that disappeared into the metal ceiling above, and several devices that emerged from that spot, including welding equipment and saws, all hovering over a large metallic table in the middle.

Sunset was about to leave when something made a noise. She frowned, looking around more carefully, and noticing a fading glow of some sort in the corner of the room. Walking towards the blinking orange light, she found herself standing over a sealed emergency trapdoor. When they had come in, some of the systems must have activated, and now it was ready to be opened.

She looked around. There was nothing else. Shrugging, she was about to turn around when she heard it again. A whisper, almost like words, but indistinguishable from each other. She activated her blood vision and looked down, but she couldn't see anything.

She took a step back. The blinking light suddenly a lot more threatening than she had conceived. She had left her weapons in the other room, not expecting this to be here. If something was alive…

Gulping, she turned around moving as silently and fast as she could towards the exit into the other room. That's when she heard the trapdoor hiss open. Eyes wide, she turned around, ready to bolt or fight.

But there was nothing there.

Sunset slowly took a step back, then another, heart beating hard. She didn't dare take her eyes away from the hatch. The fact that nothing was coming out was even more unnerving. Her spell still detected nothing, other than the accelerated workflow as adrenaline kicked in again.

She slid back, carefully, so that she wouldn't bump into something. She was almost there… she'd bolt into the other room the moment she was lined up to the door, close that one, and bunker up.

Step by slow step, feet sliding carefully, she risked a quick glance before returning her eyes to the hatch. She was almost there…

The door was just a few feet away from her now, and Sunset took the chance, turning around to sprint, but the moment she did, something materialized in front of her. Metallic, with glowing yellow slits functioning like eyes, and metal tentacles.

She barely had a second to gasp before the tentacles were wrapped around her and the front of the machine opened, spreading toxic fumes around them.

Sunset's gasp turned into a choking cough, and she could feel the tentacles squeezing what little air she had. She struggled desperately, trying to fight the growing need to draw breath. Her head felt light and her lungs felt like they were burning, but if she did…

A squeeze from the metallic tentacles made her take a short, ragged breath and she felt like her throat was on fire. Her eyes teared up. She couldn't see, or think! She wasn't strong enough to break free.

The fight slowly died from her limbs and amidst the dark miasma that was surrounding her, the only thing she could make out were the glowing eyes.

'Not… like this… not… without saying…'

A loud, familiar sounding explosion.

The tentacles released her and she collapsed along with the machine, barely keeping herself upright. Someone grabbed her under the arm and pulled her away.

The toxic haze was gone, Sunset's breath returned in painful gasps and raspy coughs. She turned away and threw up black-tinted bile. She could barely see anything, but she sensed something moving next to her.

She flailed, until something grabbed her arms. "Sunset!"

Sunset started at the sound of her name, calming down enough to take something soft being pressed into her hands. A cloth of some sort. She quickly used it to wipe her eyes, nose and mouth. "Wha…"

"Sunset… are you okay?"

Sunset coughed, gulping saliva past her burning throat and managed to rasp out, "Been better." With another cough, she fell onto her butt and looked up at Jane, who was leaning heavily on one of the many examination tables in the room with one hand, while the other held Sunset's shotgun. She half-chuckled, half-coughed. "Nice to see you're up."

Jane shook her head. "Can you get up?"

"Y-yeah," Sunset muttered, putting her shaking hand on the edge of the table and pulling herself up. "Wh-what the hell was that?"

They turned to look at the twitching mechanical squid that Jade had shot at close range. Occasional sparks and sizzles emerged from within the joints of its carapace. It had thick armor, but not thick enough to survive a close blast from a Shard Gun.

"No idea," Jane said, wincing as she pushed herself away from the table, but she seemed well enough to walk. "But whatever it is, it almost killed you.

"No shit," Sunset muttered, fighting the urge to break into a coughing fit. She followed Jane into the other room, smacking her fist on the pad that closed the hydraulic doors behind them. "We… we need to arm up."

"Well, here's your shotgun," Jane said, passing her the weapon. "Your sword is in the weapons bag."

"Ugh, we should have brought our armor… I'm just glad I snuck my grappling hook here."

Jane laughed, then winced, placing her hand on the side of her torso. "Ouch… we need to secure the area…" she muttered, setting up with her equipment. Soon her GREMLIN was hovering over them, ready for action, and she held her weapon at the ready.

Sunset had secured her harness on, and her sword was strapped to her back. After drinking some water, she felt a lot better, and a quick spell made her blood flush the toxins quicker. She turned to find Jane giving her an odd look. "What?"

"No… nothing. Anyway, what do you suggest?"

"We should fortify this place, maybe move equipment so it covers the entrance to the lab?"

"Not a bad idea but—" Jane's eyes went wide and she ducked, with Sunset following suit. "I heard something…"

Sunset could hear it too now. Something… whirling? And humming. What—her eyes grew wide as well when she saw what could only be described as a flying saucer pause at the garage door as if it was glancing inside the lab, before moving away.

She shared a look with Jane, and shook her head slowly, motioning with her hand towards the Alien Containment door.

Jane nodded silently, as Sunset slid her backpack off the table and put it on. There were medical things they could need inside, as well as Sunny One's letter and video, after all. The pair moved towards the door, crouching all the time, and pressed the pad to open it.

The moment it did, they heard whirring sounds outside and the wall where the exit to the parking lot was exploded, making them both cringe. The flying saucer started flying in.

"Run!" Sunset shouted, putting words into action as she followed Jade into the other room. She closed the door behind them in what she knew was a futile attempt to slow down the unknown enemy, but didn't stop to ponder its effectiveness. There was only one way out now.

They had just reached the hatch when the second door exploded. She took a shot at the thing, clearly denting and penetrating the armor, but unlike the other one, it didn't stop. The flying saucer hovered in, stopping in midair to transform into some sort of arachnid or fish-like form with a long, serrated tail emerging from within.

"Gogogogogogo!" she urged Jane, who took a glance at the thing, and quickly lowered herself down the hatch, sliding down the emergency ladder as fast as she could in her injured state.

Sunset didn't attempt a second shot, quickly jumping in and pressing the pad to close it above her as a beeping sound emerged from within the saucer-turned-metallic-fish. She caught sight of something blinking green being thrown at them just as the hatch closed.

She was sliding down when the explosion shook the room above and tremendous heat wafted down past her, making her eyes tear up again. The force of the blast almost made her lose her grasp, but she managed to slide down with some control until she landed rather heavily next to Jane.

At the base of the stairwell, a long dark corridor stretched into the darkness, only broken by the occasional remote blinking of still functioning lights.

With the path above inaccessible, this was their only way out.

"Well… shit."

o.0.o End Chapter 43 o.0.o

Next Chapter: Chapter 44: Bonds Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 33 Minutes
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