XCOM 2 - Part 8

XCOM 2 STORY: "Operation Swift Gift" — Featuring Nicole "Woolf" Kidman

MISSION FILE: OPERATION SWIFT GIFT
LOCATION: Ghost Hill District, Toronto Slums
DATE: December 24th, 2037
OBJECTIVE: Eliminate ADVENT VIP & Retrieve Intel Package
SQUAD LEADER: Captain Nicole “Woolf” Kidman — Sharpshooter

FIELD REPORT:
The sleet came down in silver sheets over the burned-out skyline of Ghost Hill, a forgotten quarter in Toronto reclaimed by ADVENT to run neural suppression labs on the poor. The slums had turned into a testing ground—chemical fog, gene-splicing towers, and the suffocating hum of Mind Control Broadcast Nodes. Christmas Eve meant nothing here.

But it did to her.

From her vantage on the 14th floor of a skeletal apartment complex, Captain Nicole "Woolf" Kidman rested her Black Widow sniper rifle against a twisted window frame. Her breath slow. Cold. Purposeful.

"Gift delivery begins now," she whispered over comms.

SQUAD:
Nicole "Woolf" Kidman – Sniper (Sharpshooter)

Tom "Crusader" Cruise – Ranger (Blademaster)

Joe "Cipher" Jukic – Specialist (Hacker/Combat Protocol)

Mel "Viper" Gibson – Grenadier (Demolition)

John "Volt" Travolta – Psi Operative

ENGAGEMENT:
Target: ADVENT VIP Dr. Yanov, brain-mapper for the Avatar Project.
Secondary: Retrieve black box data from ADVENT courier drone.

Woolf's Killcam started it all: a distant Advent Shieldbearer—head popping like a snow-globe under her first suppressed round. No sound. Just the twitch and fall.

Seconds later, chaos erupted.

Mel dropped thermal grenades on two MECs hiding under a Santa Claus billboard. Joe hacked the local tower and turned a turret against its own. Tom, with his plasma blade lit, tore down the flank like a holy flame, yelling:

"Merry Christmas, freaks!"

But it was Woolf who carried the soul of the mission.

From above, she orchestrated death. One Viper trying to flank—dead before it hissed. An officer rallying troops—dropped mid-command. Her Serial ability triggered, letting her chain four perfect kills in a single breath. Her eyes were ice. Her mind, lightning.

When the ADVENT VIP tried to escape through the foggy alley near Trinity Square Gardens, she zeroed him in.

BOOM — the shot rang true.
Skull rupture. Intel saved.

AFTERMATH:
As the squad extracted on a rooftop helipad covered in icy graffiti, Kidman stayed behind one last second. Her scope lingered on the slums below — people huddled in darkened rooms, scared and sick under ADVENT rule.

"Swift Gift delivered," she said, finally pulling away.
"Ghost Hill just got its first real Christmas."

PROMOTION:
Nicole “Woolf” Kidman promoted to Major
New Ability: Fan Fire – Unleashes a triple shot with her pistol against a single target.

She declined celebration. No speech. Just cleaned her rifle, lit a cigarette, and looked toward the next horizon.