[center][h1][color=b0021d]Xander Clarke[/color][/h1]
[H3][I][color=b0021d]"Glitch"[/color][/I][/H3][/center]
[hr]

[H2][center]Aral Sea, Kazakhstan[/center][/h2]

Xander held his arm completely still as Chaos poured the packet on his wound. It was a good thing she was thinking more clearly, as Xan hadn’t even thought of stopping the bleeding in his arm. In his mind the biggest and most immediate threat was the on coming wave of enemies and he was using all his brain power to focus on eliminating that. Anything else could wait until after that was dealt with.

[color=b0021d]“That sounds like a plan to me!”[/color] Xan chuckled at Chaos’ remarks. [color=b0021d]“Heh. Hopefully I can get more than four stars. Otherwise mum is going to chew me out at my next performance review. Not that she doesn’t already have enough reason to do so.”[/color]

Once the powder had been applied, Xander pulled his arm back and examined the wound. The bleeding had already slowed if not stopped altogether. He’d still have to worry about possible infections and whatever damage it had done, but at least bleeding to death was off the table. 

Her ears must have been burning, as Queen came on the comms very quickly after Xander’s joke. She too reminded Xander to at least get the bleeding stopped before they moved forward with their ambush. Chaos let her know they were already ahead of her on that, but of course Xander had to chime in with his own comments.

[color=b0021d]“Yeah nah. I’ll pass on the bionics, mum. Unless the doc has no other choice, I prefer to stay 100% Xander.”[/color]

Smirking at his own words, Xander began looking at the Javelin’s CLU system to verify it was still functioning. Everything looked good, and he could already see some of the heat signatures of the IFVs in the distance. While calibrating the system, he gave a quick glance over at Chaos just to see how she was doing. He really must have been too focused on the task at hand because he only now noticed she was struggling to lift the launcher. He wasn’t certain, but it seemed like she couldn’t even lift her arms past a specific point. He wanted to ask if she was alright, but he had a feeling she would dodge the question and just push through and deal with whatever pain. It’s what he would have done, anyway. So instead he would just make sure he could offer any assistance while she set up.

By the time they were set up, Queen’s voice came over the comms calling for one final check to make sure everyone was in position and ready for what could be their final stand. 

[color=b0021d]“Glitch in position”[/color] He responded over the comms. He briefly glanced down at his arm again before adding [color=b0021d]“and ready for some payback.”[/color]
 
[color=b0021d]“Oh, Chaos!”[/color] Xander’s gaze snapped to Chaos. Looking over his wound he realized he had almost forgotten to thank her for tending to it.  [color=b0021d]“Thanks for the quick fix.”[/color] He said a bit sheepishly. They may have been in a war zone, but he still needed to mind his manners.

[color=lightblue] "Contact!"[/color]

No more banter. It was time to kick things off. Queen gave the command and was the first to engage with the enemies. The angry scot showed Artemis what happens when you mess with her squad by opening with an AT round straight into an IFV. It was a hell of an opener, and now it was time to follow that act. Xan popped out of hiding and aimed his sights as the nearest non-exploded IFV. Taking note of his position and making sure Chaos wasn’t liable to be hit with the backblast, he honed in on the IFV’s signature and locked on.”

[color=b0021d]“Target is locked.”[/color] He confirmed over comms. [color=b0021d]“Give me the signal when countermeasures are down.”[/color]

As soon as he was given the green light, Xan grinned from ear to ear and pulled the trigger. The missile’s thruster roared to life as it jumped out of the tube and flew up into the air. After a few seconds the missile redirected to the locked on IFV and came crashing down on top of it. The once heavily armored vehicle was now nothing more than a flaming ball of wreckage. Two were now confirmed down, and with Chaos firing at anothing one it was more than likely three. Just one more, then all they had to deal with were any infantry that remained.

[color=b0021d]“HA! How’s it feel to have your shit blown up by your own equipment, assholes? You want another one?”[/color] Xan yelled as he tossed the empty tube to the side and grabbed the next javelin. He could feel a dull pain throughout his body as he crouched down to pick up the launcher. His vision was shifting in and out of focus as he hoisted the weapon up and onto his shoulder. His exo was doing all the work at this point, while he mentally fought to make his second wind last as long as possible. Shouting random insults at the enemy certainly helped in that aspect, even if they couldn’t hear him.

Another Javelin on his shoulder, he repeated the process once more. Standing out of cover, locking on to the next IFV that was still moving, and calling it out over comms.

[color=b0021d]“Missile 2 ready to bring to thunder! Just say the word!”[/color]