Disclaimer: I do not own XCOM and its included material that might be represented in this work. Some characters are OC submissions, my own creations, or are adaptations from other works.

Chapter 18: Eye of the Storm

Kali's eyes focused on the road in front of her as she nursed the aging truck down a road that hadn't seen proper maintenance since before ADVENT's takeover. Behind her, in the back seat, Tyler was slouched against the seat still passed out. The land they were driving through for the last four hours would have been considered beautiful once with rolling hills covered by forests illuminated by the sun's morning rays shining in a clear blue sky. Marring the beautiful scenery however were the forms of dilapidated cars and along the road and distant abandoned towns, villages, and distant city skylines along with the old springs of the truck seat digging into her posterior and making finding any comfortable position impossible.

Kali did her best not to think about her surroundings but in the end, could not ignore the pang of loss at what once had been. When she was younger it was these sights that had fueled her drive to fight ADVENT as a resistance agent. But as they fought a losing battle against the ADVENT, she had come to realize that ADVENT had not abandoned the various buildings and cities she knew growing up, humans did. While many resistance members today and even back in her day had claimed the cities had been abandoned during the war the truth was much different. The truth was that the cities had been abandoned after the war as more and more people flocked to cities and areas that ADVENT had controlled for a better life or for the protection from looters and highwaymen that had cropped up because of the old governments abdicating their responsibilities to a new ADVENT coalition. This eventual epiphany along with the low morale of the resistance the increasing radical mindset of some of the resistance's members and her pregnancy with Black eventually led to her and Ghira laying down their arms to settle down to start their life as parents.

As the truck rounded another corner of the hill the road was carved into Kali saw in the horizon the telltale shimmer of blue that represented the coast where hopefully help was waiting. Also, in view, however, in between her and the coast was the tell-tale purple glimmer of an ADVENT checkpoint no more than a mile and a half up the road. Kali glanced along wither side of the road but saw that there was no way around the checkpoint and the distance to the coast was still too far to go on foot with Tyler as injured as he was. Kali contemplated maybe stopping at the checkpoint in hopes that the troopers there would help the Commander she had in the back seat but as she drew closer, she noticed the symbol of the SPECIALS division on one of the checkpoints walls.

Knowing that stopping was no longer an option Kali took the only next course of action she could and floored the accelerator. The aging truck at first struggled to comply but eventually, its aging engine achieved speeds that it had not done in decades and steadily climbed to eighty miles per hour. As she rapidly approached the checkpoint the troopers within wasted little time in opening fire at the vehicle. Kali swerved left and right to make herself a harder target but regardless the car still received multiple Mag rounds to the body. Thankfully, none of the rounds hit Tyler, herself, or the fuel, and the car soon blitzed through the checkpoint nearly plowing over a trooper who managed to leap away at the last second.

Now through the checkpoint and Kali took a left off a side road before sighing in relief that her kamikaze tactic worked before focusing on the strange sounds coming from her truck's engine block. The rattling of metal and rapid bangs let her know that the engine had likely been hit by one or more Mag rounds that caused significant damage. Knowing that stopping now would be suicide while they were still relatively close to the checkpoint Kali kept driving as fast as she could trying to get as much distance with the truck as she could and hoping they could get to the coast before the engine died.

: Charlee Company 2nd Squad, 77th HVG, Laos:

David Becker chomped down on his last protein bar allowing the crunchy texture to give way to a bread-like taste with a hint of artificial nut that would not be served at any cook but was a delicacy for the troopers of the 77th HVG at FOB Nightmare. FOB Nightmare was dutifully named so after the hellish conditions of its construction and the environment around it. The FOB itself was situated in the same valley that Bravo Company had landed in before they got ambushed by OPFOR, OPFOR being the term used to describe their enemy that currently had no name. The FOB was in Bravo's original landing zone that was the only decent area in the valley for a dropship to land.

Now many would question why the 77th would make a FOB in the same position that the enemy had used as a kill zone, to that any 77th personnel down to the lowliest trooper would scoff and reply that choice had never been an option. The creation of FOB Nightmare had not been a decision by 77th Command but instead a consequence of the battle still being fought in the valley.

After the initial ambush, the Bravo company troopers had established a perimeter with the help of airstrikes from Wyvern gunships. The company had dug into the area using entrenching tools to dig trenches and foxholes behind what cover already existed that being only enemy KIA and the burned-out carcasses of the 77th dropships that had been shot down during the ambush as fortifications. From there the 77th was faced with a problem they could not get a dropship down long enough to evac more than a squad of troopers without being shot down and they could not leave less than three squads on the ground without the enemy potentially overrunning them. Initially, Bravo Company had held out in hopes of outlasting the enemy wave assaults and getting evacuated, but it was clear after the first five hours that the enemy seemed to have inexhaustible bodies and enough reserves hidden in the valley that no opportunity would become available in the foreseeable future.

77th Command had also realized the problem and sent additional forces in the form of squads from Alpha, Charlee, and Delta companies. These squads arrived one at a time in fear of losing additional dropships to enemy fire, but eventually, the 77th had enough forces to push their perimeter area out and dig in with better defenses while half their troops fought off yet another enemy assault. From there it was a delicate balance for the 77th of rotating forces in and out alongside evacuating casualties and bringing in supplies. Thankfully and in full accolades of the 77th's logistics and aircrews the 77th had brought the fight to a stalemate even after the casualties of the first day and repeated attacks on their perimeter.

For the troopers within FOB Nightmare however conditions were poor, no housing or barracks to sleep in meant troopers got what sleep they could inside their four-foot-deep trenches. Food was limited to MRE's that you could eat quickly without water or a fire which usually meant the protein bars. The water they had was limited to what the troopers carried in their canteen and was strictly used for keeping hydrated. Thankfully bathroom issues weren't a thing they needed to worry about after Command sent some pills that made it, so you didn't need to go to the bathroom for twenty-four hours. David did not know the exact science behind what they did, but it was one less problem he had to worry about and thus was grateful for it.

"Contact! Enemy advance east side!" a sudden voice announced from the easternmost trench line.

David stuffed the rest of the protein bar in his mouth before rising above his cover and leveling his weapon eastward at the smoldering tree line. Being greeted by the familiar sight of shambling grey humanoid forms with grafted on mechanical parts sprinting toward their lines David squeezed the trigger of his MAG Cannon letting loose a steady stream of fire that he worked through the enemies with calm and controlled right to left strafing fire.

Ahead of him, he could make out numerous hits from himself and the other troopers amongst the enemy line, their charred forms flopping to the ground like a marionette with its strings detached and gaping wounds at the initial points of impact. Still however more came and soon David witnessed the leading edge of the enemy reach their lines despite losing most of their number to the 77th's automatic weapon's enfilading fire. The first two leading enemies leaped into the forward trench manned by a pair of 77th riflemen who quickly fell to the ground in melee and out of David's line of sight. A third enemy was about to join them but was picked off by a burst from another 77th trooper to the upper chest that threw it onto its back where it stayed.

David knew he was the closest to the forward trench and so quickly climbed over his cover and sprinted toward his struggling comrades. Upon arrival, David saw one trooper on top of his opponent unloading a MAG pistol into its mouth while the other trooper had a deep gash through the torso armor and was struggling to hold off the enemy that was on top of him screeching and attempting to use its sword arms to rip the Dragoon apart. Wasting no time David dove into the trench and shoulder-checked the remaining enemy off of the trooper before unloading eight rounds into its head finishing it. The solder with the pistol moved over to his battle buddy and checked his wound while David rose and fired at the incoming enemy line that was much-reduced thanks to the other troopers supporting fire.

As David engaged the last few targets, he saw through a gap in the smoke he noticed a slight orange glow that was becoming brighter by the second. Suddenly the orange light flared brightly before an orange beam impacted the bunker containing the 77th's northern heavy MAG cannon in a blast of fire and force that sent debris scattering out around their positions. "Enemy heavy gun bearing 83 degrees elevation twenty!" David relayed in the comm followed a couple of seconds later by a rocket fired by the heavy weapons team impacting the hidden bunker containing the heavy gun which exploded in a geyser of flam and rock indicating a direct hit.

The enemy fire soon fell off likely as a result of losing their heavy gun support, allowing the 77th to reconsolidate and a dropship arrives to pick up the wounded along with a couple of fireteams heading back to base recuperate while also disgorging two squads of fresh troopers Charlee Company.

David and the other 77th Troopers all were tensed watching the tree line for another attack until the dropship finished gaining altitude and flew out of the valley before sighing in relief and returning to the positions of cover. David leaned against his cover and took a swig from his canteen before passing it to the pistol-wielding trooper once he returned from seeing his battle buddy off in the dropship. The trooper took the offering great fully before handing it back and joining David in taking advantage of the lull in combat to get a little rest. "You good?" David asked not knowing why the trooper was only wielding a pistol.

The trooper nodded before replying "Yeah, bastard cut my MAG rifle in half but he didn't get me. I'm next ship on rotation back so I can wait till then for a replacement" the trooper replied in a feminine tone surprising David who just now noticed the slight feminine curves that weren't fully concealed by the protective armor. "Thanks for the backup, by the way, I'm Private Coco Adel from Alpha 3-4" the trooper named Coco introduced herself while extending a hand in greeting.

David took the hand in a firm shake "Sargent David Becker Bravo 2-4, and no problem Adel I was just the closest" he stated before looking back to where the enemy gun exploded and seeing the smoke finally settling. "That's the fourth of those guns so far we've destroyed. Does Command have any estimates on how many the enemy has in this valley?" He asked knowing that Adel and Alpha 2 arrived after his company and so would likely have more up-to-date information.

Coco gave a hesitant nod "Most recent estimate I heard seven or eight so hopefully, those guns are at half strength or less. Ether way have you noticed the enemy attacks are dying off?" she asked.

David nodded before answering her "Yeah their attacks before consisted of substantially more infantry but now they're only sending waves of thirty to forty hostiles and less frequently. They have to be running out of resources to throw at us."

"Sargent Becker?" a voice asked as another soldier slide into their cover.

"Yeah, that's me" David replied while noticing that Sargent stripe on the new soldier's pauldron.

"I'm Sargent Lich of Alpha 3-1, I was sent to get you by our LT" The soldier introduced before explaining. "We need someone to take over command of one of the weapons teams. Private Coco, you going with to man a MAG cannon since the previous operator just got medevac'd and you short a weapon minus the pistol."

"Command sent backup weapons?" David asked in surprise knowing that all the previous dropships had just been carrying reinforcements and only essential supplies.

Lich nodded before explaining "Yeah looks like command noticed the diminishing enemy numbers to and is prepping a counteroffensive. Those guys that just got dropped off were from Charlee company who are taking over the defense and expansion of the FOB while we are readying up for a push to clear out the eastern side of the valley."

"Well, what are we waiting for, why not hit the enemy before they reorganize after their failed assault?" Coco asked huffing in irritation.

Lich shook his head "Believe me I want to get out of this position too but we're waiting on one more group of reinforcements from command and then after we deal with the next enemy attack we're moving out. Both of you better be alive and ready to go when that happens" the Sargent explained.

"Who are we waiting on?" David asked wondering who was important enough to have them hold up an entire counterattack for.

"Shal is bringing her pack here to join the assault and Captain Finch is arriving to take over command of the FOB," Lich replied with a grin knowing soon they'll have some big names in the 77th assisting them, a sentiment that was shared by both David and Coco.

: Outskirts of the Fishing Village:

Kali took long labored breaths in a desperate attempt to calm her rapid heartbeat from the excessive amount of physical labor she had undertaken in the last hour and a half. After their car engine died just outside the small town from its engine being shot by the Specials checkpoint Kali had carried Tyler over her shoulder for the past hour and a half close to a mile through the nearby woods before finally reaching her destination. The small clearing, she was in may not have appeared like much but once upon a time during her days as a resistance fighter her group had used this same clearing as a campsite when operating in the area. This made it perfect as an emergency rendezvous point for herself and anyone that had been to the clearing before which included the friend she was supposed to meet up with here.

Now taking a moment to catch her breath and wipe some of the sweat off her brow Kali chuckled at the mental image of what she likely looked like to an outsider while surrounded by the quiet forest dale with a small nearby stream and the unconscious and heavily injured form of Tyler lying at her feet. Kali's formerly clean clothes were now clinging to her form with sweat with some rips and tears from passing branches and a large bloodstain along her right side from when Tyler's wounds had reopened. Her black hair was a disheveled mess that clung to her forehead and stuck up in many places.

The sound of a twig branch snapping behind her caused her to freeze even as the barrel of what she could tell was a gun barrel pressed against the back of her head. Kali stayed like that in silence with her unknown captor before a voice spoke up behind her. "You've gotten soft" the voice stated in a familiar snarky tone even as the barrel removed itself from the back of her head. Kali turned around and was greeted with the sight of a friend she had not seen in years.

"It's good to see you too Sienna, I see ADVENT hasn't dampened your stalking prowess" Kali replied fondly as she took in the features of her dear friend and former protégé.

Sienna Kahn stood a little taller than Kali herself by a couple of inches with a lith frame that unlike Kali's own hadn't gone through childbirth and was kept in shape with training and a balanced diet leading to noticeable muscles that didn't detract from her beauty. Her dark skin complexion given by her Indian heritage and wild black chin-length hair with an asymmetrical bob style combined with her amber eyes gave her a kind of ferocious beauty that she had always prided herself in when she was younger. Kali could not help but smile at the sight of her protégé who still looked as beautiful as she remembered and likely even still had those tiger stripe tattoos on her body that were hidden by the uniform the woman wore.

Sienna wore a uniform composed of a light grey long-sleeved turtleneck shirt overwatch was wearing a black tactical vest, dark grey cargo pants held by a black equipment belt, and black leather boots. Kali noted that Sienna added black fingerless gloves, and a black holster strapped to her right thigh. All together the uniform itself looked rather dull but also somewhat official thanks to the Volunteer Cairo Zone Police Department patch on her right shoulder depicting an orange tiger head over a gavel and quill. On her left shoulder was the rank of Captain along with her last name.

Like Kali herself, Sienna experienced the short war between the Earth Governments and the Elder's forces. She had been a child then and was forced to flee her homeland in India to escape the war before eventually ending up with Kali and Ghira's militia. At the time numerous governments were already surrendering to the new ADVENT coalition and their group needed all the manpower they could get. So it was that Kali took Sienna under her wing teaching her combat and survival strategies and technics, infiltrations, and assassination methodology and skills, along with basic physical fitness and the more mundane topics. Sienna had taken to the lessons very well and over time had developed a deep affection for Kali and Ghira to the point that they considered her for a time as a sort of adopted daughter. When last governments finally capitulated, and ADVENT declared governance over the human population many in their group were at a crossroads of what to do next. Kali and Ghira then announced that they were marrying and leaving to start a life with their as yet unborn daughter. Sienna had attended their wedding as one of the few witnesses before deciding at the age of fifteen to return to her homeland of India now that the fighting had calmed down.

Sienna eventually settled in Egypt thankfully being able to play off her disappearance as being one of many refugees escaping the fighting. She then decided that she could use her newfound skills to join the police force. Her background as a resistance fighter almost came to light when her skills showed through during her training but again, she was able to lie her way through by stating her father's teaching as a follower of Sikhism and their family's history of military and law enforcement service. While it was true that her family had been followers of Sikhism, Sienna had never been taught by her father any skills related to military or survival but thankfully the ADVENT recruiters and instructors took her word for it and even seemed incredibly pleased that someone with a family history of service was putting their skills to work in the ADVENT coalition. Sienna had begun attending training and remedial schooling at sixteen before graduating and being placed in the service of the Cairo Zone Volunteer Police Department at eighteen.

Kali knew that the reputation of the various police agencies around the world like the one Sienna joined was not good, mostly seen as a joke by the populace. Because the majority of major issues were taken care of by the local ADVENT garrisons the police forces were relegated to the menial jobs that the ADVENT garrisons didn't want to do aka domestic disturbances, small-time burglary, pickpockets and other similar jobs fell to them and as such, they were given the most minimal of equipment possible, a fact reflected by Sienna's uniform. The tactical vest she wore would likely only protect from small-caliber ballistic rounds and not the assault rifles of the terrorist and resistance cells across the world likewise her pistol was an old Heckler and Koch HK45 which was chambered with .45acp was pretty much only good against unarmored opponents or with a lucky headshot. Altogether Sienna and the many other officers of the police forces were under armored and under-armed to counter even the most backwoods of terrorist cells which by now were using old military weapons and armor.

"Well dear, not all of us are still in a more active career path like you. Captain rank by the way, Impressive!" Kali stated happily as the two were embarrassed for a couple of seconds.

After they parted Sienna shrugged with an embarrassed smile "What can I say I learned from the best." Sienna then looked around the clearing not being able to spot Tyler from his spot hidden behind the fallen tree trunk that Kali had been using as a chair. "But what are you doing out here Kali, I got your message and managed to get over here, but the situation wasn't too clear by your message."

Kali sighed before beckoning the woman over to Tyler's prone form. Upon seeing the man Sienna gasped and darted over to him looking over his wounds and checking his vitals realizing how critical he was. "What happened here Kali, why do you have Commander Harrington here in this condition?" the woman asked with narrowed eyes reminding Kali of a hunting predator.

Kali sighed before relaying what had happened over the past day and the circumstances that led her to this point. Sienna listened intently before eventually shaking her head as Kali finished "That makes no sense why would a Specials unit be trying to kill the commander?"

Kali shrugged "I wouldn't know Sienna, I'm not exactly in the know anymore. Office politics may be, an old grudge with a Specials officer perhaps. From what I remember hearing the Specials have a lot of leeway in terms of what they do so maybe one is trying to kill Tyler for political or personal reasons." Kali replied not knowing what the answer could be.

Sienna sighed and rubbed her temples "Ok, I have one of the departments only two dropships on standby, I'll call them in so we can get him to a medical facility and maybe get a call to the nearest HVG unit to pick him up. I suppose you're coming as well until this whole mess is cleaned up?" Sienna asked and upon receiving a nod took out a radio from her hip and called the dropship in.

As the dropship landed and three other officers got out and helped load an ADVENT commander into the ship they soon were joined by Sienna and Kali who sat and watched as one of the officers with medical training began going over Tyler's injuries while Sienna briefed the other two on the unusual situation. After she finished explaining the officers though a little shocked buckled down and began listening as Sienna gave them their orders once they landed. After they both gave their acknowledgment and turned away to begin preparations did Sienna turn back to Kali.

"So, mind telling me when you were on a first-name basis with ADVENT's most promising Commander?" she asked with a mischievous grin which only widened upon seeing Kali go red and hide her face with her hands.

Little did those in the dropship realize that below them on the ground a certain hunter watched the dropship fly away "Well, this just got more fun" he stated with a hungry grin before the Elder's hunter teleported back to his base.

: 77th Headquarters, Command Deck:

"All units reporting enemy attacks are becoming less frequent and construction of defensive emplacements are progressing satisfactorily" Lt. Glynda Goodwitch reported in a no-nonsense voice. The twenty-nine-year-old blond woman with clear blue eyes stood rigged as she addressed her acting commanding officer, Major Abrams, as the man leaned over a command console giving a tactical layout of the 77ths FOB Nightmare. The attractive woman watched as a haggard Abrams regarded the console and reviewed the planned defensive works which were highlighted in red and would hopefully be constructed soon. Glynda had been with the initial supporting forces under the command of Harrington when the 77th was rebuilt and garrisoned in their current base. She had watched the unit grow over time and prided herself in being a part of that growth as Harrington's secretary and a known face amongst all 77th personnel. To see now what had befallen the unit she called her family in the last couple of days had been a stab in the chest as her Commander went missing, and the 77th given an irrelevant assignment that had led to numerous casualties and cornered by the Elders into near communication blackout with the rest of ADVENT and other HVG units. Glynda was dreading the eventual visit to the medical wing where she knew Dr. Hissa and her staff were working overtime on the numerous wounded troopers of the 77th HVG.

The hardest part of all was watching Abrams bear the weight of his new responsibilities in this critical time. Glynda had a close friendship with the man and the two even went out for drinks together when not working. There was even a rumor in the 77th that the two were dating which while untrue Glynda could admit to not being too opposed to the idea. Seeing her friend now trying desperately to stabilize the downward spire the 77th was in was both painful and humbling as Goodwitch felt powerless to help.

"What's our final casualty count?" Abrams asked not looking up from the console.

Glynda sighed before looking at her datapad to reconfirm the numbers before replying "thirty-seven KIA and forty-two wounded. Alpha and Bravo companies took most of the casualties along with a few from our air core."

Abram's shoulders seemed to sag even more even as he forced himself to continue asking questions "Are we still blocked from the ADVENT network?"

Glynda nodded "Correct all attempts to access the network have failed as it seems the Elders have kept to their word about isolating us from the outside world. We have managed to use our own backup long-range and satellite comms to contact the Plague Rats who have sent some of their air units over to reinforce us but comms with the other HVG units have gone either unanswered or unheard. We believe this is an issue with our spotty satellite coverage due to redirecting most of our satellites to keep our twenty-four-hour read of the current battle zone."

Abrams nodded forlornly "Keep trying to request reinforcements from the other HVG units and keep the 79th HVG listening for any updates on the Commander. In the meantime, direct what air transports, we have to ferry more base building supplies and anyone who can be spared to FOB Nightmare. I'll even authorize the deployment of Shal's pack to help secure the valley." Abrams ordered before hitting a button on the console and bringing up an image of a grey human corpse with mechanical augmentation lying on a lab table "Now, what do we know about the enemy?"

Glynda's eyes sharpened into a glare at the image of the abomination on-screen before replying with a venomous tone "Very little I'm afraid, Hissa still hasn't had time to do an in-depth analysis, but the body has proven to be human with obvious signs of extensive mechanical augmentation. In addition, an unknown black liquid substance was found inside the recovered bodies that seem to have some sentiency as proven when it attacked the lab workers who examined the body. Three are in the medical wing's isolation chamber being treated but the substance was put down after a few troopers shot it with energy rifles which seem particularly effective. For now, all we know is whatever these abominations are there is no previous record of them in the ADVENT records we have access to and their goals, affiliation, and composition are unknown."

Abrams sighed as he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling in thought "So either the information is heavily classified, or this is a previously unknown group… either way we've been tasked with eliminating them and they killed our own so I'm not willing to stop now" Abrams voiced before looking over to Glynda. "What HVG units still building up can we activate right now to being operations?"

Glynda raised her tablet before displaying the information "Well quite a few actually but many will be at diminished strength for a couple more months. However, three units are close enough to be essentially at full strength. As you have likely already been informed the 83rd, 85th, and 86th HVG units are near full strength and can easily begin operations" Glynda reported as she brought up pictures of three different emblems along with so basic information on the three units.

The first emblem depicted a black shield with a white serrated combat knife in the center along with the slogan 'They will learn to fear the dark' and beneath the emblem was the information of the unit. The 89th HVG 'Whispered Phantoms' was a unit based in the former United Kingdom out of London. The unit specialized in counter-terrorism and clandestine operations and modeled themselves after the SAS. The Commanding officer was Major Alex Riley a former member and survivor of the original 77th HVG base attack. Riley and his unit were created to conduct operations that regular ADVENT Peacekeepers were not suited for like counter-terrorism and hostage rescue. They were a good unit to have around a major ADVENT Center like London because the local ADVENT unit could request them for special assignments or situations.

The second emblem showed a snarling feline head leashed by a dragon symbol as an homage to their origins. The 90th HVG called the 'Jungle Panthers' was a unit based in the former country of Brazil and created to root out resistance forces in the Amazon jungle. Their commanding officer Marcus "Swift Wind" Augustus was a vicious officer that spared no quarter to any fleeing terrorist forces and had a personal grudge against the notorious gangs and resistance forces based out of the Amazon. The unit was just at the ninety percent combat effectiveness rating but had been conducting operations on the sly for the past month with startling effectiveness.

The final emblem was the crescent moon of the Islamic faith but instead of the usual star was instead Jewish star while below both was a menorah and olive branches in the middle. This was the symbol for the 91st HVG 'Haganah' based in Tel Aviv of the former country of Israel. Their slogan 'surrender is not an option is a tight-knit group of troopers all from the region led by an old Israeli commando named David Goldstein. The unit traced its origins to just after the fall of the old-world governments when religious conflict broke out in the middle east in the wake of the government's collapse. As a need to defend the people of former Israel arose the Haganah a group comprised of ex-Israel commandos, Sayeret Matkal, Shaldag, the 89th "Oz" brigade, and the Mossad who took up the role as defenders of their homeland. Their actions against both terror forces and in curbing the actions of their neighbors helped stabilize the region and after the inclusion of Arabic troops who also sought security and stability for their people were seen by many people as defenders of the people. It was their success at defending against a terrorist cell attack against a civilian center in the former country of Jordon that motivated Harrington to recognize the unit and fold them under the ADVENT banner after a period of retraining and equipping them. The unit although only at ninety-seven percent strength was effectively ready to go and had truly never ceased operation in the region.

Abrams nodded "Glynda go ahead and send activation orders for the 89th, 90th, and 91st HVG's. I want as much manpower around the world mobilized as we can get with XCOM and terrorist activity as high as it is. What about other units above seventy percent combat readiness?" Abrams asked not knowing how many others were ready to go.

Glynda looked over her reports and gave an amused smile "Well to be honest quite a few are requesting to be deployed immediately. The 96th Shadow Sabers based in the Sierra Mountains are at eighty-five percent. The 93rd Hunters of Karelia based in the former Karelia is at seventy-five percent. The 94th Cyber Sentinels have attached themselves to the 89th HVG as their cyber warfare unit and will go live when they do. The 95th Iron Raiders are at seventy percent but are very insistent that they be allowed to fight."

Abrams chuckled "Well their CO is called Firebat for a reason Glynda."

Glynda huffed before straightening her glasses and glaring at her tablet "That doesn't mean it's okay for Major Moor to spam me with deployment requests every other day." Abrams nodded with a bemused expression before gesturing her to continue. Glynda sighed before continuing "The 95th Twilight Rangers are at eighty-eight percent based in Canada and finally the 96th Heaven's Devils based in Stockton of the former United States. Majors Raven, Heinonen, Philips, Moor, Trask, and Holloway report they can begin operation to varying degrees." Goodwitch finished before looking to Abrams who nodded his head.

"Good permit them to begin operations but recommend they do so in conjunction with other HVG units until they get to at least ninety percent combat effectiveness. Also, inform the 96th to expect the delivery of heavy transport dropships to be delivered to them shortly. I want them to begin using their fortification experience to improve other HVG basses. We will also eventually need their services for FOB Nightmare, but I want to wait until that valley is well and truly secure before I bring them in." Abrams ordered.

Glynda nodded her head and tapped a few symbols on her datapad before looking up "Done sir, anything else?"

Abrams sighed before stretching "No, I'm going to get some chow down in the officer's mess before getting some sleep. Join me, Glynda?" Abrams asked with a tilt of his head.

Glynda surprised at the sudden invitation thought about all her other tasks and their priority before nodding with a gentle smile. "I don't have any pressing duties for another 12 hours… so yes sir I'd be thrilled."

Abrams smiled "Great it's a date!" he declared before promptly leaving the room and leaving a sputtering Glynda to chase after him while a bemused command staff kept watching over their assigned stations.

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnddddd done! Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait but some drama was happening on my end and the first draft of this chapter had trouble being sent between my beta and myself without getting corrupted. As such this chapter has only been edited with my own grammar and spelling software so apologies if there are more errors than normal. In other news the next round of HVG unit submissions is coming up soon. I will state the rules and the template in the next chapter but for now I just wanted to give you all an early head's up.

Anyway, until next time remember to stay frosty and don't forget to review!