Kukri River Disaster

The Kukri River Disaster was an event experienced by the original XCOM splinter in the world of CHS. It was their final operation before the organisation fell.

The disaster began after XCOM's last members were on the run from ADVENT, running into them by accident on a river-side road called "Kukri River." The team engaged ADVENT and quickly realised the fight was hopeless, but continued to fight back as ADVENT deployed more and more of their seemingly limitless forces. Worse still, the river was experiencing a monsoon and was quickly flooding the surrounding woodland. The water was so heavy it immediately blew away an ADVENT transport that flew too close to the water, killing the entire crew.

The XCOM team consisted of Rainbow Shine (Sniper), Crimson Strafe (Assault), Eisendrache (Heavy), and Magnet Bolt (Support). They were under-armed and had limited ammo, and their injuries from other operations had stacked onto their newest wounds.

ADVENT had more forces than the team had bullets, but XCOM did well in fending off ADVENT for a short time. This didn't matter eventually as ADVENT deployed the first ADVENT Lieutenant, known simply as "Pox," against the soldiers. To their utter shock, Pox made short work of the team. First, he engaged Magnet Bolt in a fist fight before he knocked her to the ground and shot her through the hand and head with her own Revolver, killing her instantly. He moved on to Eisendrache, who was considerably stronger and put up more of a fight before he was ultimately beaten down and his neck was broken by Pox, who let the body drop as he dashed towards Crimson Strafe. As Strafe was always headstrong, she willingly engaged Pox in a fistfight and her agility let her last longer than her comrades. Rainbow Shine lined up a shot against Pox during the brawl, but Pox's Lightning Reflexes allowed him to move Crimson into the bullet's path, letting it pierce her chest and make her drop, with Pox thinking she was dead. Rainbow Shine was stunned and in shock just long enough for Pox to use a wrist-mounted rocket-launcher to destroy the tower she was stationed on, letting it fall into the river. Thinking Shine had been killed, he ordered the ADVENT forces to leave the area. Pox reported Operation: XDIE as being complete before Crimson fired a shot at him from on the floor using her Revolver. Pox's Lightning Reflexes let him dodge the shot and it hit an ADVENT Officer near him, killing the soldier as Pox approached Crimson. He grabbed her arm, broke it, and tore the pistol from her hand before using it to kill her via a shot to the head.

ADVENT assumed Rainbow Shine had died in the collapsing building and possibly the subsequent drowning, though she had barely clung onto life and was saved by DeBolt, Italia, Allie Capony and Blackmane. The four took her to Resistance HQ and she spent the next four years in hiding.

The Kukri River Disaster was the definitive end of the XCOM Project in CHS, and as such Commander Contrast Siege of the ADVENT Administration addressed the world stating that the "final bastions of dissidents and anarchists" had been destroyed, officially beginning the new era of peace and prosperity.

Rainbow Shine and Pox remember the Kukri River Disaster vividly, both having what can be classed as deep regrets about it. Fielde, Central and Bourbon were not present at the disaster but refer to it as the worst tragedy XCOM ever experienced. Upon their return to Kukri River during another monsoon, Rainbow Shine was scared for the worst and her fears came true as the ADENT facility's flood prevention protocols were accidentally disabled by Sunset Shimmer, washing Fielde Locke and Rainbow Dash down the river in the chaos and eventually leaving the facility to crumble under the flooding and damage from the battle. Thankfully, no XCOM operatives were killed.

Due to Pox's involvement in this mission, Rainbow Shine outright hates him while he holds an indifferent opinion about her.