RP XCOM: The Story of Defiance.

Friends in Need (ZombieSplitter53 and MarineAvenger) Part 2

Desmond nodded and walked with Sunny, leaving Sora with Alice. “They seem to be buddy buddy.”

“Not many beings like her,” Sunny responded. “To be honest, I’ve tried to replicate her programming, maybe make her a friend, but I haven’t had any luck. For now, she’s one of a kind. She must be happy to meet another like herself.”

“Sora definitely is not like Avanix. The fact he can laugh in almost any situation.. don’t know if it is commendable or frightening.” Desmond told the young engineer.

“Probably just his way of handling things.” Sunny walked up to one of the work benches, grabbing a few tools. “Everyone is different. Guess that applies to artificial intelligence too.”

“There was only one time I saw him not be all sarcastic and fun. For a moment I thought he wasn’t even the same program.”

“When was that?” Sunny asked, detaching Desmond’s arm and examining the shoulder mount.

“It was right after we got back from getting Elene and all them. He thought he was alone, and I swear for a second I thought he was crying. When I walked into the room, he was the same old Sora.”

“Sounds like he cares more than he lets on.” Sunny offered. “Could just be speculation, but perhaps, deep down, he’s grateful to be amongst other people besides that hateful EXALT leader.”

“Maybe. I can never understand him. I guess you just have the touch that I don’t.” Desmond said with a smile.

Sunny giggled lightly as she looked over the arm, opening a port near the top. “That’s me. Master of understanding artificial beings. Not much good with real people, but at least there are four people in this world I can always understand.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” Desmond got close to Sunny. “Trust me when I say it was hard for me at first too.”

“I know.” Sunny frowned. “I’ve always lacked confidence. I try, and I feel I’ve come along way, but sometimes I wonder if it is me or the implants talking. Am I as comfortable with people now as I think, or is it all… artificial…”

Desmond smiled. “I don’t think so. Maybe it was like that at first but you have adjusted well. You are a lot stronger than most kids your age can say.” Desmond chuckled. “To think that you are actually older than I am.”

“That… is kinda weird.” Sunny smiled. “But I won’t hold it against you.” She pointed into the arm’s port. “There were a few areas responsible for control and mental links that were damaged. Took too much of a beating. But they should be fine now. Just make sure you try not to put so much stress on it. Nothing is indestructible, not even this arm.”

“I...will be sure to. I am taking it easy right now. Stress is not the best thing for a person’s body.”

“No, it isn’t.” Sunny lifted the arm up to Desmond’s shoulders, pushing it in and opening another panel. “Ready for me to connect it?”

Desmond braced himself and nodded his head. Sunny hit the switch, sending waves of pain through Desmond as the arm reconnected to his nervous system. “That...never gets easier.”

“I’m sorry. There really isn’t a way to help it.” Sunny looked as Alice walked over, a smile on her face. “At least it looks like that’s ready, so you can go get some aspirin.”

Desmond smiled and thanked Sunny. Sora walked up behind Alice, rubbing his head. “Whatever you did to him, hurt like hell for me.”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “You two are connected like that?” She glanced at Desmond, and gave Sora a look of extreme sympathy. “Oh… do I feel sorry for you…”

Sora waved his hand dismissively. “A little migraine will hardly kill me. Don’t know why, but it would seem his more...primitive implants have, what would a good word be...imprinted on me? I don’t know but it seems I am stuck with meat head here for a while. Parts of my programming are still in that noggin of his.”

Sunny grinned. “Guess you two will have plenty of time to get to know each other, then.”

Desmond rolled his eyes. “Oh goody.” Desmond coughed dryly for a bit and wiped his hand on his pants. “Shall we go?”

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Slow Recovery”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1530 Hours, August 23rd, 2018
Legion ‘Command Center’

Emma glanced away from her computer, displaying the specs for the ghost armor. Lily was just lying on her bed, idly tapping the side of it. Elene’s double would have asked her for help, but Lily was motivated to work less than she had been in the past, and Emma had no desire to force her to do so. “I only hope it will not remain like this,” the shadow operative whispered to herself.

Jake cautiously approached their room, smiling nervously at the Legion soldiers standing outside. “Um… hi. Is this where Lily and her sisters are?”

One of the two guards nodded. “It is. What did you need” Guillermo asked.

“Um… my name is Jake. I was asked to offer Ms. Exalt some counseling… if she is alright with it. I’m… not sure if they’re expecting me or not.”

Alejo regarded the security guard curiously. “Do you mean Lady Lily?”

Jake nodded. “I did. After her recent trauma, we feel it would do her some good, even if it only means someone to talk to, to vent to.”

The two Adam troopers nodded. “I’m sure Lady Emma was expecting you.” Guillermo stepped to the side, and Alejo opened the door for Jake.

“Thank you.” Jake stepped inside, and regarded the two women inside. Even without his empathic ability, he could immediately recognize who he was there to see. He put on a cautious smile. “H-hello. You must be Emma and Lily,” he said to the appropriate women.

“We are,” Emma responded, and looked over at her nervous sister. “This is Jake Wiewiora. He is here to talk to you, and will not harm you.”

Lily shakily nodded, but still seemed to watch Jake defensively.

Jake slowly walked over to one of the chairs, being sure not to make any motions that could be considered aggressive. He sat down, and asked, “So, Lily… why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling today.”

“I believe the appropriate...word would be...a-apathetic…” 156 said quietly.

“That’s fair. It is to be expected.” He smiled cautiously. “How about we start with you telling me a little about yourself. Anything you’re comfortable talking about.”

“M-my designation is S-Subject 156, though...I am more commonly called Lily. I am based...90% off of L-Lusett Exalt, variations including...cybernetic implants for various functions, and different...emotional development.”

“Alright…” Jake nodded. “But what makes you you, other than the technical details? What do you enjoy? How do you spend your free time? What is… what is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Stuff like that.”

“I...do not know what to do with...spare time,” Lily responded weakly. “M-my interests are in the sciences...though I do not have one in particular...that is the most important. I have never consumed...that particular dessert.”

“Well, we should change that, as soon as you feel comfortable.” Jake sighed. “I… want to make something absolutely clear to you, Lily. None of this is your fault, okay? A lot of people seem to think it is, no matter how obvious it isn’t. So the first step to recovering is recognizing that none of the blame falls with you.”

“I a-am not illogical enough to b-believe that...not that p-particular…” Lily trailed off nervously. “W-we made the mistake of...underestimating...h-him.”

“That doesn’t matter. Underestimation aside, that gave him no right.” Jake glanced over at Lily. “Another important thing to remember is that you aren’t alone. You might feel like you are, even when surrounded by others, but there are plenty of people that are here for you. Here to listen to your worries. Give you a shoulder to cry on. Or to simply be by your side. Not only can you count on them, you need to. They’ll help you through this.”

“I cannot function w-without one of my sisters as it is…” Lily replied. “I do not wish to be a f-further burden on Legion’s resources...or XCOM’s. I contribute...little lately.” To an empathy, her sense of emptiness was all too clear.

“Let me ask you something,” Jake started. “What if one of your sisters, say, Emma here… what if she was really hurt. Like, with a broken leg. She was unable to fight, unable to go places without help, and her work suffered for it. Would you hold that against her?”

“Physical wounds are easily repaired by the Tz6,” Lily responded. “And they have something to offer. I have...no real specialization. With XCOM’s help, I am not useful...even if I helped.”

“You’re right about one thing, Lily. Physical wounds aren’t too hard to heal.” Jake tapped his head. “But mental wounds, emotional wounds. Those are the hard ones. Those are the ones that need the most work. Those are the ones that you should probably feel the least guilt over. And you said you have an interest in science. I’m sure we could easily find a way for you to contribute. Probably something you’d do better than anyone.” He looked over to Emma. “What do you think, Emma? Can you think of something Lily couldn’t help with? I’m sure it is a short list.”

Emma nodded. “While she has no particular specialization, there is little she cannot do. Much like Lusett, perhaps even better,” the shadow operative suggested, brushing back her now metallic-gray hair. “You are certainly not useless, Lily.”

“I...lack emotional development that is more than slightly superior to that of the K line...a lack of social ability...m-makes me like a useful computer...n-nothing more.”

Emma’s expression fell. “You do not deserve to be compared to those poor creatures… you’re much more than they are. Much more than vat-grown...animals...like them.”

Jake pointed towards Emma. “Listen to how intensely she says that. Listen to the words she speaks. Do you really think she’d be this insistent if she didn’t believe what she said? And she’s being honest. That much I can tell you. She doesn’t think you’re useless, I don’t either, and I’m sure the rest of your sisters agree. Don’t mistake your need to recover for anything else but that; recovering.”

“It...is still a...burden that I have to rely on them...all the time…” Lily protested.

“If it is, it is one we can easily shoulder,” Emma stated. “I’d rather take an extra day of working on a project than leave you alone.”

“Everyone is a ‘burden’ sometime, Lily.” Jake smiled. “So much so, that burden is probably not the best word. Something happens to all of us sometime. Some day, Emma, or your other sisters, or a friend, will go through hard times. Just remember how you were supported now, and pay it forward.”

“I…” Lily fell silent, looking down, grateful but not knowing how to express it, seeming overwhelmed.

Sensing a bit of relief, Jake nodded. “Now, remember. I’m here for you. But only if you want me. But you need to talk to your sisters. They’ll be the ones that’ll make you whole again.”

Lily nodded slowly. “T-thank you, J-Jake…” she whispered.

“My pleasure.” Jake stood up, and looked over to the silver-haired woman. “Mind if I have a quick word?”

Emma shook her head. “Not at all.”

Stepping out into the hallway, Jake took a deep breath. “Lily’s a good person. And that’ll make this all the more difficult. She might not express them much, but she is more in touch with her emotions than she might realize. She’ll go through a variety of them while she recovers. Anxiety, fear, humiliation, shame, guilt, anger, numbness, and confusion. You’ll need to be prepared for this.”

The shadow operative nodded. “I am not looking forward to seeing her like that...but I understand.”

“The most important thing is that she knows you’re there for her,” Jake explained. “Never hesitate to remind her she isn’t to blame, no ifs, ands, or buts. Abandon anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who doesn’t try to take it serious or plays it down at all. Make sure someone is available to go out with her until she feels comfortable to move about herself. And remind her there is no timetable. She can take as long as she needs. Reassure, encourage, and listen. Do this, and I am 100% sure she’ll be back on her feet, looking back at this like it was a bad nightmare, especially when we catch the man responsible for this and bring him to justice.”

Emma nodded. “And Elene was of the mind that if we can incapacitate Viktor...Lily should be the one to end his miserable existence.”

Jake flinched a bit, unsure if this was the right time to argue that point. Deciding it wasn’t, he simply said, “Just… don’t work on that being the end all. Revenge might make her feel better, but if that is all she concerns herself with, once Viktor is gone, you might find yourself back to square one.”

“Of course. It is just a consideration,” the clone explained. “But I will keep your advice in mind. Your help is appreciated greatly… I’m not sure we’d be able to handle this situation without you.”

“I’m just happy to help. It is why I studied for this situation.” Jake extended his hand. “Just call me if you need me.”

Emma shook his hand gently. “I will be sure to remember that.”

Ethereal Observation Base AGB-412
August 23rd, 1700 Hours

Luxuria slowly walked through one of the labs, glancing back and forth between her specimens like a child at the zoo. She slowly turned around, deciding to finally pay attention to the Sectoids and Thin Men that had arrived a few minutes ago.

"Honored One." The Thin Man said. "Your craft is prepared. We may leave whenever you are ready. We do not believe the single craft patrolling will..." The Thin Man flew across the room, dead before it hit the ground from the Psi Lance through his chest. Luxuria looked at one of the Sectoids.

Please explain to the others what your departed colleague did wrong.

He... h-he spoke out... of... turn? The Sectoid flew backwards, landing dead next to the Thin Men.

Imbeciles. She looked over at one of her Elite guards. Please enlighten them.

"Cowardly alien implied Great One needs to flee." The Muton Elite said confidently.

Indeed. I will not flee from these humans. I will greet them at my doorstep, I will destroy them all, and then I will personally hurt down that traitor and mount his head on the front of my ship!"

"Honored one!" A Thin Man ran inside. Luxuria formed another psi lance, pointing it inches from the Thin Man's face.

This better be good news. I do not feel like having to destroy another of my subjects that angered me.

The Thin Man took a step back. "Th-there is a message from Invidia." The psi lance doubled in size. "He tells us the... th-the 'object of your desire' is coming."

Luxuria lowered her arm. This is good news. She pointed at the dead Thin Man. You may have his job.

Luxuria slowly exited the lab, and made her way past the various forces preparing for battle. She took a seat in her thrown, and folded her hands.

Soon. Now do not die before you reach me. I don't want a single scratch on that beautiful body of yours...

// TLC //
Emily Fischer
XCOM Headquarters – Barracks #4
Siberia, Russian Federation
August 23rd, 2018 - 7:19 PM

On her way back from the briefing room, Emily was filled with nearly every emotion under the sun. Excitement, fear, zeal, worry. When Emily walked into the barracks, her standard squad was there already, checking their gear, looking at pictures, anything to ease the nerves. Nika and Ammelia chatted in the corner, talking about the mission. Sven was already asleep, or so he wanted to look. Tomorrow, her team would be the first humans ever to face down the true enemy in their own homes, herself included. The tension tugged at her muscles, stiffened her face, and fluttered her heart. She sat by the bed and looked up with a thin smile towards Dallas.

“Ready, Captain?”

“Don’t know how you get ready for something like this,” Dallas replied, a tremor in his hands. “But I’m giving it 100% all the same. These bastards have a lot to answer for. Billy. Moscow. Bradford. They organized it all.”

“Yep. And we’re going to go to their living room and put a bullet in them.”

“Confident as always. I’m a little jealous.”

“I’m scared shitless, just like you,” Emily chuckled. “I just have a prettier smile.”

“I’ll concede that,” he said shyly.

Emily swiveled around and hopped to the other side of her bed, jumping up to get close to him. With a firm but understanding expression, she whispered to him.

“I know you’re scared, but we're going to make it back, and you're going to do just fine.”

“I’m not scared. We’re going to bust down the doors and win, easy,” Dallas said, a shiver running through him despite the words.

Emily saw Dallas holding the gold hairpin, cradling it in his palms.

“I think you’re more of a scrunchie guy than a barrette guy.”

“Ha-ha,” Dallas sighed, “it’s from one of the refugees. It reminds me what I signed up for. Why I carry what I do, no matter what.”

“No matter what, you’re our leader now. We trust you. I trust you.”

“’Leader’ is bullshit. I need you as much as you need me.”

Emily grinned widely and put her hand on his. “You sure that’s about leadership?”

“I-I…” Dallas stammered.

Emily dropped down from the bunk without another word and bounced back over her bed, reaching underneath her own bunk.

“W-when we're out there, I'll be set. Just…tension, right now,” Dallas said. “So, uh, what are you doing to prep?”

“Nothing special. Just got these from a friend…”

She pulled out the extra comforters she had swiped, wrapping them up a big roll with her own and heaving it over her shoulder.

“Going to take ‘em to laundry.”

“Ah, well, that’s nice of you I guess.”

“Yep. Oh, and before I go,” Emily reached down and picked up the third envelope from before, casually tossing it into his lap. “You should read that.”

“What is it?” he asked, looking at the blank envelope.

“Just open it,” she sighed.

With a quick turn, she walked out of the barracks, her pace quickening the closer she got to the door. Dallas ripped the top off the envelope and unfolded the paper within.


Dallas looked at the message, a shiver running through him again, but of excitement this time. He stuffed all of his things into his bag and shoved it under the bed, then strolled out of the barracks. As Dallas walked into the closet with a fair amount of checking around, he saw Emily inside, perched upon a small rack of shelves. Her legs were crossed and she gave him a mirthful grin. At her feet, the blankets laid stacked up with a group of pillows, making a makeshift nest. The usual cleaner smell was masked by a more pleasing woodsy smell, but Dallas couldn't find where it was coming from. The premeditation of it all gave very little to question about her motives.

“You know, gear meant clothes,” Emily winked.

“Well, I left the gun at least,” Dallas replied, a mix of nerves and happiness in his voice.

“I’m excited for this mission. Real excited,” she said, the smirk never leaving her lips.

“It’ll be difficult, to say the least, and we might l-”

Emily raised her hand to quiet any serious talk and stood up from her seat. As she walked towards him, she looked tense, aggressive. It was the sort of primed look she had just before combat, but the intention was obviously a little different this time.

“We’re going on an insane, dangerous mission…” Emily wrapped her hands around his waist, “you’re the dashing, gallant commander of the team, I’m the beautiful but fragile field medic…”

“Fragile…you?”

“I can be fragile, if I try real hard.”

Emily leaned forward and kissed him, bringing a smirk to his lips as well. Dallas froze in shock for a moment, then moved in turn, nudging her lips apart with his and kissing her more sincerely. Dallas slid his arms around her and pulled her against him, each meeting of their lips becoming more open, more passionate. They separated only for a breath, looking at each other through cloudy eyes and the dim, golden tint of the subpar closet lighting.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Em…” he whispered in a breathy sigh.

“Me too, Jack,” she said comfortingly.

The embrace soon turned into more than the subtle nudges of noses and clicks of kisses, devolving into a warm and forceful liplock. Emily eagerly pushed herself against him, letting his hands explore the smooth skin and hardened muscle of her body. After a few moments, she pushed herself away from the door, pulling him by his shirt onto the blankets. She stood there quietly, looking as though she didn’t know what to do next.

Emily suddenly looked uncharacteristically timid, seeming as though she was nervous from another person for the first time Dallas had seen. The confident grin, the mischievous stare, it all ducked into hiding; before him stood a shy but resolute woman, opening herself up for the first time in several years. She gave an awkward smile as her hand ran by the pale spot on her chest and up to the straps around her shoulders, hooking her fingers beneath them.

“I feel like a teenager again,” Emily chuckled softly as her undershirt began to slip off of her.

“If this is happening too fast, you know I can wait,” he assured.

Emily shook her head and looked at him with vigor. That stubborn fire returned to her eyes.

“No, I want to do this, with you,” she nodded

Dallas raised his hand to her cheek, kissing her softly and lovingly. She nuzzled against his hand, feeling his palm press against her face. She finished discarding the rest of her clothes, the fabric hitting the ground around her feet. Without wasting any time, her hands got to work undoing his in turn. As the buckles and buttons were finished unraveling, she pulled him down on top of her and onto the comforters with an excited giggle.


6 hours later...

Emily’s eyes crackled to life in the early-early morning, it becoming clear that she didn’t spend enough time sleeping before the ungodly hours the mission was taking place. Her XCOM uniform was huddled in a pile with Dallas', only a blanket covering her lower half. Her arm and leg were slung over his, a half-finished repose before she fell asleep. She took her cheek off his chest and looked up to see him staring at her, smiling. She reached up and kissed him deeply, trying to cuddle her body against him even more.

“Hi there,” Emily beamed.

“Good morning,” Dallas smiled in turn.

“That was…everything I could’ve dreamed.”

“It was better than anything I could’ve,” he said, starting to rise. “But now that you're up…we should probably go, before they realize we’re missing.”

“It’s okay, I signed us both up for the training room after the briefing,” she shifted her weight to stop him from moving, “They’ll think we’re there.”

“But what if they check up on us?”

“Sven will be there, and tell them he took our spots because he's so eager to get more target shooting in before we leave.”

“Well then…before the janitor finds us, at least,” he said, remaining pinned by the cuddling woman.

“I told him I’d cover the midnight shift today,” she idly traced a finger down his chest.

“Then who’s going to actually clean this morning?”

“A security guy who wanted help asking out one of the scientists.”

“Then isn’t he…”

“And he doesn’t get off patrol until 6,” she smirked.

Emily reached her hands out to Dallas and pulled him back around her, the two soldiers holding each other closely in the pile of pilfered covers. For at least a half an hour more, there were no aliens. No danger, no war, no weapons. They simply cuddled with each other a little while longer, whispering and kissing, oblivious to the world moving around them.

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “All’s Fair in Love and War”
Part 1

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1715 Hours, August 23rd, 2018
Room of Mary Thomas

Vee walked behind Ammelia as they came upon Mary’s room, curious as to what Ammelia’s sister would be like.

“Here we are!” Ammelia said excitedly, “You two are a lot alike. I’m sure you’ll be friends in no time.”

The destroyed knocked on the door. “You in there, Mary?” Vee asked casually.

“Uh’ yeh’. Whose ‘is?” Mary spoke from behind the door.

“Vee. I’m a friend of your sister’s, she’s here with me,” Vee explained.

“I wanted to introduce you to her!” Ammelia added.

“Al’ight! Je’ gimmie’ eh’ sec!” Mary replied as she threw on some clothes and opened the door, wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans.

Vee smiled. “Nice to meet ya,” she said, looking Mary over.

Mary grinned slyly, doing that same to her, “Ye’ too…”

“So now that we’re acquainted, what’s on the agenda?” Vee asked Ammelia.

“Well, I was thinking we could stay and chat.” Ammy suggested with a smile.

Mary rolled her eyes a little at her sister, “‘Eh’d ‘ather get te’ know er’ o’er eh’ bottle eh’ whiskey.”

“I guess we should let Vee decide, she’s the guest after all.”

Vee shrugged. “Well...the last time I got drunk, I said some stupid things that nearly set off my brother. I’d rather not repeat the experience, although I wouldn’t be opposed to a little something to drink. Just not too much.”

Mary pouted, but then shrugged, “Eh’ was ‘op’in te’ get ye’ wasted. If ye’ still stand’in, ye’ not ‘runk ‘nough, ‘ight?”

The clone raised an eyebrow. “Only if its enough to keep me from saying stupid shit or doing something idiotic. Like I said, we can drink some, just don’t expect me to go and have as much as you,” she stated with an amused grin.

“Al’ight ‘en, th’ bar et’ is!” Mary said as she motioned for them to follow.

Ammy walked behind her sister, “I’ll probably just have water or something. Alcohol isn’t my thing…”

“Ye’ dun’t know if ye’ ‘ike et’ ‘ill ye’ give et’ eh’ try.” Mary responded, looking back towards her Ammelia.

Vee shrugged. “I prefer wine. It’s not so heavy, and it tastes nice.”

“Ine’s good en’ all, buh’ et’ ‘acks punch. Eh’ an’t hold eh’ ‘andle te’ eh good ‘ottle eh’ whiskey.” Mary countered.

“Well, any sort of punch tends to make me weird if I have too much of it.” Vee raised a hand as they arrived in the bar. “I am not a lightweight though...Desmond had no idea what he was talking about.”

“‘Ure ye’ dun’t want te’ prove it?” Mary replied with a competitive tone.

“I’m sure you can hold more than me, but that’s ‘cause you weren’t locked up in the Swiss Alps for the majority of your brief life,” Vee returned.

Mary nodded her head a little, “‘At ‘ounds… ‘eally bloody ‘oring…”

The destroyer shrugged. “Got to kill some aliens in my brief excursions, but that was it. As if I needed more of a reason to hate Viktor,” Vee added, sitting down at the bar.

“Seh’ you’re one eh’ ‘em clones eh’?” Mary asked before turning to the bartender, “El’ ‘ave eh a ‘ottle of sake and th’ princess ‘ere would ‘ike ‘ome water.”

The bartender nodded, smiling a little at the nickname as he went behind the bar.

“Yep. No one calls me ‘Subject 157’ though, except for Avanix sometimes. I’m our warrior and Elene’s bodyguard, the second handmaiden she created.”

“Se’, are ye’ cloned from th’ ‘ame ‘erson ‘at th’ other ‘irls are?” Mary asked, taking the closest seat next to Vee while Ammelia took the seat next to her sister.

“Uh...different person. The template was the same one our predecessor Eve was based off of. That person wasn’t around when Viktor took over,” Vee explained cryptically.

“So… What happened to her?” Ammelia asked, her water arriving first.

Vee shrugged. “She left. Dunno where to, but she was there to provide DNA and then gone,” the clone lied.

“Eh’ well.” Mary gave up on the subject as her Sake arrived, taking a hearty chug. “So, ‘at ‘appened te’ ‘is Eve?”

Vee shook her head, ordering a glass of wine. “Viktor killed her along with Lusett.”

“I’m sorry… Don’t worry, we’ll make him pay for all he’s done.” Ammy said with a determined tone.

Mary over to her sister, a little surprised, “Eh’ in’nt’ take ye’ for th’ type te’ want te’ ‘ill ‘omeone ‘ike that.”

“He’s a monster… I don’t care if he had reasons for doing it… No reason is good enough to try and murder someone’s entire family…”

“Yeah, yeah...let’s not turn this into something about that dumb bastard. We’re here to drink, after all,” Vee said irritably.

Mary smiled, taking a gulp of her sake, “Yeh’, e’re ere’ te’ ‘ave fun. We’ll ‘ill em’ when weh’ get eh’ chance te’, ‘till then.”

Vee took a sip of her wine. “Yep. What about you two? Anything interesting I should know about you? And no, Ammelia, I already know the first thing.”

“Eh’ used te’ be eh’ hookeh’.” Mary answered calmly, taking another gulp, “Dunno if ‘ats int’rest’in te’ ye’.”

Ammelia lowered her head into her hands, still not used to how casually her sister can talk about something like that.

Vee raised an eyebrow. “It’s definitely...interesting. Not sure how else to describe it...you say that really casually.”

“Et’ en’t some’thin I’m ‘shamed of, et’s just ‘at eh’ ad’ te’ do te’ survive” Mary responded, finishing off her bottle.

“Well, I can understand that,” Vee responded, having more of her wine. “Certainly not an average career.”

“Eh’ ‘id it fe’ most ‘eh my ‘ife, se’ et’s ‘ormal te’ me.” Mary said as the sake reddened her cheeks.

Vee shrugged. “Well, I suppose being a genetically modified super soldier clone isn’t your average career either. Gets you some interesting stories, though,” the destroyer added with a grin.

“Ell? at’re ye’ waiting for? ‘Ell us!” She grinned back, moving a little closer to Vee.

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: "Ell’s ‘Air in ‘Ove and War" Part 2

“Well...there was the time I blew up two Berserkers by jumping into the air and firing down a rocket…” Vee began. “Though one of my favorites was the ‘ol ‘chryssalid swarm of the 22nd’. There I was...going into one of those raider craft. We walk up to one of the side doors, and notice that it’s locked. Try to go around the other side...same thing. Finally, we’re about to just blow a hole in the ship, when the energy doors go down, and about twenty or thirty chryssalids burst out of the ship, and we’re ten meters away.”

Vee held up a fist. “So I fire off a shredder into their midst, and then we raise hell. About fifteen go down in the initial charge, but the rest get to us. Two of Viktor’s grunts get torn to shreds, while the rest of us gun them down. I had to lose the autolaser and beat one of them to death in close combat with the help of an alloy dagger for some puncturing. Then we blew off the heads of the two chryssalids that were busy zombifying the two fallen K’s.

“I saw that the two Outsider pilots and their four Sectoid buddies were peeking out to see the results, and I had my squad hide. The zombies shamble around, then the chryssalids burst forth...and go straight for the Outsiders. Only one of them and a Sectoid lived, and we easily mopped them up,” Vee concluded. “It was crazy, but I pulled it off.”

Mary was on the edge of her seat from Vee’s story, whether it was actually that exciting or it was just the sake was unclear however. “W-ow… Et’ puts th’ ‘ission eh’ got te’ bloody ‘ame.”

Ammelia smiled, seemingly impressed by the story, “That’s quite the story, but I’m afraid being a Sniper isn’t as interesting as that though. We mostly just stay back and shoot.”

Vee shrugged. “That’s one of the few roles I don’t fill.” She chuckled. “And it sounds like I’m not missing out. Let Emma do her quiet assassination stuff, I’ll content myself with the big guns. What about you, Mary? What’s your style?”

“Eh’ ‘ike big ‘uns too! Beh’ eh’ prefer te’ ‘aw em’ in half wit’ eh’ hose eh’ rounds, in’tead.” Mary said, making a gun-firing gesture with her hands.

Vee grinned. “Someone after my own heart, then. With a swarm of bullets you’re going to hit something, and there’s nothing like being a robot destroyer. You snipers got a taste of that, but that’s gonna change with the pulse stuff they’re working on,” the destroyer stated.

“I’d probably be able to punch a hole straight through a Sectopod with one of those things.” Ammelia mused.

“Loses the HEAT ammo that was compatible with the old long rifle, though,” Vee countered. “But we’ll be there with our heavy weapons to wipe them out anyway.”

“They won’t know what hit em.” Ammy replied, smiling.

“I can’t help but notice how quiet you are,” Vee said, nudging the gunner beside her. “Sake too much for you?”

Mary was staring down at Vee’s chest, making absolutely no effort to hide it. Mary’s head snapped up at her as if she had broken out of a trance, “W-what? N-neh, eh’ ‘ken ‘andle et’...”

Vee raised an eyebrow at the gunner. “I didn’t realize they had hypnotic powers.”

“Net’ meh fault ye’ tits eh’ so big, eh’ ‘an’t ‘eep meh eyes off em.” Mary smiled, attempting to complement the clone.

Ammelia’s face turned a dull red, knowing that something like this was bound to happen at some point during the evening.

“To be fair, yours are bigger,” Vee responded, glancing at Mary’s chest to confirm her point. “Not that I’m small.”

“‘Ell… Ye’ ken see ‘em eh’ ‘ittle more ‘osly if ye’ want…” Mary replied, attempting to sound seductive.

Vee rubbed the back of her neck. “You make a tempting offer…”

Ammelia stood, trying to cover her face, “I uh… I think I’m going to leave you two alone… so… have fun…”

Vee grimaced. “I didn’t...mean to embarrass you...sorry...”

“No, No it’s alright… If you want to… do stuff… with her, you can. It’s not my place to stop you…” Ammy replied, softly.

Vee’s expression lightened. “Yeah...I just didn’t want to upset you. Don’t want to ruin friendships just because I’m eager for a little fun.

“It’s just a little… awkward... for me. But’s it’s fine, I swear.” Ammy replied, something instantly coming to her mind. “Actually… I need to let you know something…”

The destroyer shrugged. “What is it?”

“Well… Another soldier has… feelings for Mary…” Ammelia said slowly.

Mary looked up at her sister with a hint of anger in her eyes.

Vee’s expression fell. “Uh… I don’t really…” she stammered.

Mary tugged on Vee’s collar a little, “Weh… Weh’ ‘ike each o’her but she ‘aid it’s eh’k if eh’ see other ‘irls!”

“She...did?” Vee responded with a surprised tone.

Mary nodded, then looked back over at Ammy, “Eh’ know ‘at ehm ‘oing with meh’ sex ‘ife! Dun’t ‘ay ‘uff when ‘ye dun’t know ‘at ye’re ‘alk’in about!”

Ammelia frowned, “I… I just thought Vee needed to know… I didn’t know Ayame said that…”

“Eht’s not ye’ bui- Buisness ‘at eh’ do wit’ o’her women!” Mary said quickly.

Vee shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I don’t want to be the cause of you two fighting...if it’s that big of a deal, we don’t have to…”

Mary looked back towards Vee. “Eh’ts no ‘ig deal! Ay’me said eh ‘ould see o’her ‘irls! Am-Ammelia ‘ust in’nt know ‘at she ‘as ‘alking ‘bout!”

“Well… even if I knew what Ayame said, Vee still deserved to know.” The Sniper responded, holding her arm.

Vee looked between the two sisters, unsure of what to do. What have I gotten myself into… I bet Desmond didn’t have this much trouble with this sort of thing… “So this...Ayame won’t be upset if I...if we…”

“Mmhm…” Mary nodded, “An’ ef’ she es et’ll enley be et’ meh.”

“Right...well...I am still interested, if you are.” I just hope I don’t break someone’s heart… but she said it was fine. Shut up, person on my shoulder. It’ll be fine.

Mary’s smile returned, “Ef’ ‘ourse eh am…” The Gunner stood up and locked her arm in Vee’s, pulling her towards the exit.

Vee looked down for a moment. “Would you believe me if I said I’d never done this before?” she muttered with embarrassment.

Mary put a single finger on Vee’s lips, “Eh’ts ‘ine… Eh’ know ‘ow te’ please eh’ virgin… Je’ follow meh lead...”

Vee looked back up with a small grin. “As you wish.” After a pause, she added, “You have no idea how long I have waited for something like this…”

“Dun’t ‘orry… Eh’ promise yul’ ‘joy e’ery ‘econd of et’...” Mary replied, reaching the door.

The clone opened it for Mary with a bow. “You first, my mistress for today,” she said with mock etiquette.

“Eh’ ‘course… ‘cause you’ll beh ‘irst later…” Mary whispered as she led Vee out the door.

Vee followed Mary out of the bar, her excitement visible as she walked. “I think I know what you mean by that… not fair that you get to have more endurance than me in two ways,” the clone joked.

Ammelia’s cheeks blushed even redder as she watched the two leave the room silently, hoping that Ayame will understand.

“Ell’s ‘air in ‘ove and war…” Mary replied slyly as she disappeared around the corner, and out of Ammelia’s view.

A super soldier becomes even more super

Eva is in the halographic simulator with her carbine rifle.

Computer,show my accuracy with target Chryssalid.

Accuracy agents chryssalids has been at 35% percent with no augmentations. With augmentations it's at, 57% percent.

Great. Release restriction level one. Eva's gains some mussel decadency. OK Let's see if this works. Eva focused her psi powers on her eyes, when Eva opes her eyes her pupils are no longer blue, but instead there yellow.

Computer activate Chryssalid target and keep sending them until they get to me.

Very well beginning simulation. Eva is in a greenfild like the one from operation purple Blight. An army of Chryssalids started to charge the village.

Eva pules out her carbine rifle, and starts shooting. With Eva's bust to her eyes she see's the Chryssalids that she's focusing on are slowed to her, and starts to mow down as many as she can, Eva throws a grenade at a group of chryssalids that are 50 meters away from her. Once the grenade explodes more Chryssalids come out of the smoke. Eva keeps firing at the aliens until she runs out of ammo. The second she runs out of Ammo she throws a flash grenade at the horde blinding them.

Eva relodes her gun and sees, Chryssalids going to her side, Eva throws a grenade to her left and opens fire to the group to her right. Once the two groups are dealt with she turns around and sees the original group gaining speed and are closing in on her. Eva switches to her shot gun getting ready for the horde. But when eva is about to pull out a grenade her eyes start to bother her.

End simulation. Wow soldier your accuracy increased to 80 percent.

Thanks. Eva rubs her eyes and sees blood on her hand. Damn it I figured this would happen. I need to figure out how to prevent this and sees how long it last. OK eyes will last 3 minutes enhanced Now I just have to test the rest and see how this will work out. Fucking damn it. Eva grabs a tissue and wipes the blood from her eyes.

X-COM Headquarters
Main Infirmary, Intensive Care
Room 4A
August 24th, 1000 Hours

Morrigan starred intensely at Emily, a hundred thoughts running through her mind at once. She didn't hear the door open behind her, and jumped at the feel of a hand on her shoulder.

"How is she," Aya asked softly.

Morrigan shook her head. "Not... not sure yet. Hasn't woken up yet. Someone from the psi-lab ran a quick test on her. Can't be sure, but it looks like she might be a psion now. It'll be a big surprise when she wakes up." She glanced at the chart, listing her wounds on her hand and leg, her blood loss, and finally, her erratic brain activity. "If... she wakes up."

"She will," Aya responded.

Morrigan simply sat the for a few more seconds. She finally look up at Aya, and said, "Report on the others..."

"Good to critical. Broken ribs, a broken arm. Puncture wounds, burns, blood loss. The worse are Muthambi, though he should make it. But... Anderson..."

Morrigan sighed. "Just tell me. I'm in no mood for suspense."

Aya bit her lip nervously. "He... he'll live, but... but his right leg was severly injured. The size of the shrapnel we had to take out of him... they're doing their best, but..."

"He might lose it." Morrigan looked down to the floor. "And we have two dead and one comatose. I... I should have sent you in. Or Desmond. Or Atka. Maybe all three."

"You could have." Aya shrugged. "We might have been able to walk away with no loses. Or things could have been worse." Aya leaned in closer. "And don't forget Moscow. You could have sent us in, and one of the more powerful psions could have attacked immediately. They could be knocking on our door tomorrow. Considering how powerful this one was, we need everyone fresh and ready. This was one of the weakest ones, and if it wasn't for it underestimating Ms. Fischer's willpower..."

Morrigan nodded. "You're right. And considering the odds they faced, everyone did commendably well. I'll have to be sure to thank Stewart for being so many people home safely, as well as Emily once she wakes up for getting the lab boys our little guest."

Aya tapped her on the shoulder, and stood up. "Alright. I have some clean-up to do. And a few fallen comrades to bring home."

"Good luck," Morrigan said as Aya walked out, before standing up herself. Quickly brushing the hair from Emily's face, she walked out, deciding to visit everyone else that were injured.

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Restoration of Feeling”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1615 Hours, August 24th, 2018
Main Engineering

“Did you add that?” Alice demanded. “Why would you add that!?”

“I-I didn’t,” Sunny insisted. “I mean… not… personally. I did some programming, but I left all that stuff to another engineer, one that said they would make sure you were… 100% human…”

Alice rubbed her brow. “Oh God, so not only do I have to keep that in mind, but some other woman was… poking around with…”

Sunny bit her lip. “Um… one of the reasons I didn’t know is because I didn’t ask. It was embarressing, since the one I had help me wasn’t… a… a woman…”

Alice eyes widened, and she simply sat down, shaking her head. Sunny walked to her side, and patted her on the back.

“Uh...is this a bad time?” Amanda Ortiz asked, standing behind Gabriel in his wheelchair.

Alice looked at the cybernetic soldier. She jumped to her feet, her tone saying she was grateful for a change of subject. “No, of course not! How’s it going, Amanda?”

“Better than when I was blown out of my suit in New Delhi,” Amanda said lightly. “I...we wanted to talk to you about something.”

Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck. “Amanda tells me...you can use the same technology that gave her the cybernetic limbs...to help me walk again.”

“Of course. I mean, I’m sure we can do something for you.” Sunny turned to Alice. “Go ahead and get yourself set up for repair while we talk.”

“‘Kay.” Alice smiled at the siblings. “See you in a bit.”

As she walled off, Sunny sat on a stool and asked, “So… what is the exact nature of your injury?”

“Got shot in the back by some gunmen in Africa,” Gabriel explained. “Hit my spine, and damaged the cord bad enough that it paralyzed me from the waist down.”

“Hm…” Sunny pulled out a computer pad. “Your name was Gabriel, right? Is your last name also Ortiz?”

The former soldier nodded. “Yeah. I’m Amanda’s younger brother.”

“Gabriel… Or… tiz… there you are.” Sunny scanned the information of file. “Not bad… I mean, not to make light of it, but I’ve actually seen worse here. I wouldn’t recommend what the last soldier did, seeing as how she almost died, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you.”

“The last...soldier?” Gabriel asked cautiously.

“Someone got their spine broken by one of those robots I told you about,” Amanda responded. “Made her a new one.”

“Damn…” Gabriel muttered.

“In order to have Amanda’s cybernetic limbs work, we need to send signals to her brain to them.” Sunny smiled. “Obviously, this means sending signals from the organic to the mechanical. Much easier said then done. But thanks to a material we call Meld, it is possible.”

“So you’d have to...make some sort of... artificial current for nerve signals to run along to my legs?” Gabriel surmised.

“That’s a good way of putting it.” Sunny jumped down, and walk over to Gabriel. She light poked his leg, saying, “See… the nerves, they’re all still there. And your brains ability to activate them as well. The signal just isn’t getting through.” Sunny fiddled on her pad a bit, then handed it to Gabriel, the screen displaying schematics for a flat, rectangular device. “As I said, the procedure we used for the other soldier proved to be too dangerous. So I’ve been working on something even since then, just in case I would need it. I must confess, I have figured it out for the complete paralysis she had, but I think I can help with paraplegia.”

“Well, Amanda trusts you, so I do as well. If you think this thing will do the trick, I’m up for it,” Gabriel stated.

Sunny smiled up at Amanda. “I’d hope she would, considering I’m messing around with her limbs.”

Amanda chuckled. “I just hope you can figure out some way to make detaching them not be a fresh hell. You get somewhat used to it, but it still hurts.”

“Still working on that.” Sunny bit her lip. “I just wish I could turn off your pain receptors as easily as Alice.”

“Tell me about it,” Alice said, walking over in her younger body. “I tried it once, and I have to say, I don’t know who you deal with it, Amanda.”

“Determination.. .and imagining you have a bullet to bite,” the Guardian replied.

Gabriel looked at Alice with confusion. “You’re not...a MEC trooper, though…”

“No, but I can be if need be.” She shrugged. “I’d rather leave it to Amanda, personally. My body might but a bit more resistant to damage than hers, but she has years of experience my programming can’t compensate for.”

“I...still don’t…”

Amanda chuckled, laying a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “This is one of Sunny’s A.I.’s, Alice.”

Realization dawned on the former soldier’s face. “Oh…” Gabriel said, seeming embarrassed that he hadn’t made the connection on his own.

Alice had the exact opposite reaction, her eyes lighting up. Rushing forward and grasping Gabriel’s hands, she asked, “So… so you really couldn’t tell? You really thought I was human?”

Gabriel blinked for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I was so confused when you started talking about detaching your arms…”

Alice clapped her hands together, and lightly kissed Gabriel on the cheek. She started to run off, and Sunny asked, “Where are you going?”

“To tell that jerk what Gabriel said!” Sunny shouted back without stopping.

Gabriel scratched his head. “I’m glad I helped, though I’m not sure if I should feel bad for whoever she’s going to yell at or not.”

“Don’t be,” Sunny insisted. “He was a little too touchy. Better she gloat to him then… um… throw things again.” She shook her head, and went back to her plans. “At any rate, I’ll get to work on making one of these specifically for you, based on your spine and blood type. Plans are all set, so it shouldn’t take more than a day or two. Then, all you need to is set a date in the infirmary to have it put in. I’m afraid it probably won’t restore full feeling, but mobility should almost fully be restored. After that, it’ll be up to you to build those muscles back up in rehab.”

Gabriel nodded. “I hope I can be of some use during all that. It’d hate to be asking something and giving nothing in return.” Amanda leaned down, whispering something to him. “I...don’t think that’s what she meant about full feeling,” he muttered, giving an amused Amanda a glare.

Sunny raised an eyebrow. Remembering her talk with Alice, she blushed. “Oh… uh… uh, w-well… I… I-I could… s-s-see what I c-could… do… but, I’m, uh… twelve, so…”

Amanda waved her hands. “S-sorry, Sunny. He’s just fun to tease about these things.”

“Oh.” Sunny smiled. “You should meet Jessica, then. Most people say the same thing about her.”

As a mischievous glint formed in the Guardian’s eyes, Gabriel shook his head. “Don’t go torture some poor girl, Amanda.”

“It’s your fault you know, having my little brother around reminded me of my devious side,” Amanda replied.

// DON’T LEAVE ME NOW //
Jack “Dallas” Stewart
XCOM Headquarters – Medical Wing
Siberia, Russian Federation
9:58 PM

Dallas walked into Emily’s room, moving with a set of crutches. He grimaced with each movement, but the pain was easily manageable for someone as experienced as him. He sat the crutches onto a wall with irritation, slowly limping towards her bed, his left hand in splints. He picked up the chart and looked at it, the gunshots, the complications. His heart filled with panic as he looked at “treatment,” where her brain activity was marked with a question mark.

“Oh, Emily,” he sighed sadly, crashing into a chair beside her.

The redheaded girl was pallid and completely limp, her lips pursed open underneath an oxygen mask and her hair tussled from wires and scopes. IVs and tubes scattered and connected around her arms, feeding her any number of colored liquids.

“You know, when we were lying there, I realized how little I knew about you. I mean, I liked you because we both play pool, we’re both tough but nice…I loved you because of the way you look at me, the way you lift my heart every time you speak.”

Dallas paused for a response, or maybe just to let it soak in. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he wanted to continue.

“But pool’s the only thing to do here. And you lift everyone’s heart when you speak, you’re just good that way. I don’t know why I deserve you any more than the next guy.”

He leaned forward in his chair, looking worriedly at her face.

“You always have a plan. And I don’t know if I’m part of that plan, or I am the plan, or if I actually mean as much to you as you do to me. I can only know that I need you. I need you to get through this. I mean, that's selfish...we all do.”

He looked at the machine monitoring her brain activity, the waves suddenly bursting, and then falling back down. Whatever Luxuria did to her, it was clearly messing up the machine, or how her brain was working.

“The more I think about how smart and cunning you are, like I did in the morning, the more paranoid I get, because I don’t have your kind of ambition,” Dallas chuckled. “But then I realize I don’t care. I know how I feel, and fuck it all, I’m along for the ride, no matter where it takes us.”

Dallas got up slowly and leaned over her, kissing her on the cheek. Her skin was cold and uncaring.

“I love you, Emily. Don’t leave me now.”

He let out a low grunt as he walked back across the room, grabbing the crutches and hooking them under his arm. With a creak of the door, he disappeared into the hallways, back to his room.

// MEMORY: SOLUS //
Luxuria
Ethereal Homeworld
?

What is this place…why does it feel so comforting?

The sky is black with green tinge, the two moons shimmering closely in eclipse on the horizon. The air is dry and smells faintly of smoke, but there are no fires to be seen. The rustling of foliage is distinguishable, but the shrubs are all wrong…with shapes and colors that aren’t right. Under one of these arcane trees lies a sleek, silver bench, a low and dim pink light emitting from the bases of it. A male Ethereal sits – actually sits – beside me…beside Luxuria, his body as dull and muted as it always is for their kind. I feel a burst of happiness inside of me. I’m happy to see him.

He makes a series of noises, a language that I can’t translate, but I hear his intent in my head. It is with respectful grammar, but his words are clearly rude. He holds his rail-thin arm out and points to its muscles, making a deep choking-like sound and sending another thought to me as he gestures dismissively. I…Luxuria recoils in horror. How dare he say that to me? The insecurity seeps into my mind, wondering if he is right. He rises and begins to float, the crimson of his robe wavering around him. He turns away from me and I can feel the disgust radiating from him. I reach for him desperately and a purple strand shoves my hand away.

I look down at my hand, the skin wrapped tightly around my fingers, the bones bulging out in intervals. My muscles slow and I slump into my seat, unwilling to move or float myself. I…Luxuria makes a long and warbling sound, similar to her laughter, but different. It’s a sound of sorrow, a desperate plea to nothing. I slump onto my side, a crumpled heap of ugliness and despair. The sound echoes into the air again, without regard for who might hear it.

X-COM Headqaurters
Secondary Laboratory, Alien Containment Facility
August 25th, 0500 Hours

"Damn... so much extra work for you, creature." Jean looked up a the tall, disturbing alien in its specially designed cell.

Hmm... So much attention, just for me. It is almost as though you should not have bothered.

"You're right about that, missy." Jean pointed his fingers like a gun at the Ethereal. "I would have just put you down. Especially with how many resources it took to keep one alien contained, not to mention how much pain you're caused everyone."

How did you do it, if I may ask.

Jean grinned. "If you think I'm going to tell you how to turn it off, you're even crazier then I thought. But since I'm a nice guy, I'll warn you to save your energy." He pointed to the series of orbs on the top and back of the cell. "I'll admit, you're a little too strong for us to contain as you normally are. Those thing siphon your power. And don't waste your time tying to brake them. Even if you could, they're programmed to automatically compensate should one of them be damaged, and there is no way you could destroy enough of them before we notice and stop you."

Clearly you have thought of everything. The Ethereal's sultry, feminine voice was dominate. Except for one thing.

"Oh yeah?" Jean folded his arms. "What might that be?"

How beneficial it would be to release me. I could give you pleasures beyond your imagination.

Jake grinned. "Sorry, love. But you couldn't be less of my type if you were on fire. Besides, I've got what I need from..."

Eva?

The soldier in question leaned against Jean's back, wearing nothing but the underwear she had on when he first met her, and pressing her chest against him. "So boring," she whispered in his ear. "So simple minded. Why settle for one?"

"Because she makes me happy," Jean answered, his voice shaking a bit. "And she'll continue to do so, until..."

"Until I leave you," Eva finished. "You're a lot of fun, Jean, but why should I settle for you?" She smiled maliciously. "Then again, why should you just settle for me?"

"She's right," Scarlet Jacobs whispered in his right ear, similarly dressed. "A man of your finesse, your... talents. That is why you go after tough girls, right?"

"What? I'm not tough enough for you?" Elene asked, on his right. She folded her arms, the action causing her bosom to push up. "Leader of the Entire Legion force." She grinned. "Or is it that, after your little spat, you were impressed by the way I stood up for myself, and now you're afraid of what I think of you?" She wrapped her arms around Jean's. "But I'm nice and vulnerable now. And ripe for suggestion."

Jean starred forward, ignoring the women around him and looking at Luxuria. "Your little mind reading must not be very good if you'd think I'd ever..."

"Yes, yes. You fancy yourself the noble type," said a voice with a familiar Irish accent behind him, one Jean dared not look towards. "But what does any of that matter. You can have anything, anyone, you want, guilt free. And not just the tough girls you always look for. You can drop this false image of yours."

"I... don't know what you're talking about," Jean said, starring forward.

"Come now, Jean." Eva stepped in front of him, and pressed her entire body against his. "When I told you about my nerdy interests, about how much I was pushed around as a kid, your were thinking that the tough girl thing might just be an act. That it might be me just compensating. Should have been a turnoff, but instead, you were even more interested."

"Not that you could ever admit that," Scarlet said. "You can't risk her knowing you might like girls like her, even if she has zero chance. Even if you would always reject her love."

Jean laughed dryly. "A creature like you would never understand. It is a different kind of love. One I'm sure your people..."

"It is different," Elene agreed. "For you. But you are afraid the same can not be said for her."

"Look at how she has changed for you," said the voice behind him. "So aggressive towards someone she loves so much, all because she believes that is what you prefer."

Free me. Free me from this prison, and you can be freed from you petty morals. Or, if you prefer, I shall help her find desire in another man, and you would be free to have any and every woman you want. You could even have me, should you help me recover what I lost.

Eva stepped to the side, and Jean walked up to the cell. Looking down at the computer, he placed his hand over a large, red switch. "So, if... i-if I hit this, I could have... anything?"

Do so, and as I said, I shall show you pleasures beyond your imagination.

Jean shrugged, and hit the switched. The large, round devices on either side of the cell started vibrating and glowing violet. Luxuria collapsed in pain, and the illusions vanished. "Nice try. But without your mind-control, your tricks and words are nothing but that; pathetic tricks, and empty words. I saw what you tried to do to the last person you promised to help." Jean turned, walking towards the exit. "Enjoy your time here. I'm confident it'll be a short visit."

When I escape, I shall enjoy breaking you, body and soul. But not before I force you to watch everyone you have ever loved suffer!

Jean waved a dismissive hand as he walked out. Approaching a guard, he pointed at the security screens. "I was alone in there, right?"

"Of course," the guard answered. "Just you and the alien."

Jean nodded. "Increase the power of the suppression devices. Watch her from out here as much as possible. If anyone goes in there, make sure there is always at least two people. And make sure they are accompanied by one of the A.I.s whenever possible. Ask Legion if they can lend one of theirs if need be."

The guard nodded, his expression saying he wished he'd be able to read Jean's report. The engineer walked out of the labs, shivering at the cold feeling running down his spine.

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Always Be There For You

Ammelia leaned back in her computer chair, moving pieces on the chess set in front of set. The Sniper wanted to take a second to relax after a long day of training, so she decided to practice her chess strategies. Ammy had heard the news that Emily, Dallas and Nika had brought back the Ethereal Luxuria alive. She felt uneasy that a creature of that power was somewhere on base, but she was confident that the Commander wouldn’t have allowed it to be brought here without some way to safely contain it. Ammelia had already gone to see Emily after hearing of her injuries, but she was unresponsive. She did however, have one of the guards write a note for her to read when she recovers.

“H-hey, Ammy,” Ayame softly said, poking her head through the partially open door. “How are you feeling?”

Ammelia looked up from her chess set, smiling at Ayame, “Oh, Ayame! I’m fine, just thinking.”

Ayame stepped inside, placing a small box on the floor next to her. “I heard about your friends from Sunny. I’m sorry they had to go through that, but at least we got that alien, right?”

“Yeah, I hope we can actually get something from that thing… Maybe some secrets about the alien’s troops or something.” Ammy replied, turning her chair to face Ayame.

“Worth a shot.” Ayame rubbed the back of her head. “Um… I wanted to see how you were, but the main reason I came was to ask you for some advice about your sister.”

“Mary? Alright, I’ll see if I can help, although I’m not really an expert on this sort of thing.” Ammelia admitted.

“Nothing to big.” Ayame reached down and opened the box, pulling out a bottle. “I was in the bar, and the bartender said he found this while digging around. It’s ginjo, really high grade sake. pretty expensive too. He let me have it, and… and I noticed your sister has taken a shine to sake. Do you… think she’d like it as a gift?”

“Of course she’d like it, it’s a gift from you.” Ammy responded, “But… I have a question for you, if you don’t mind…”

Ayame nodded, placing the bottle back into the box. “Of course, Ammelia. Ask away.”

“Well…” The Sniper began, “Mary and I were talking with this other girl the night before last and… Mary had a few drinks, and she started flirting with her… I told the girl that you were in a relationship with Mary, and Mary told us that you said it was okay if she saw other girls… I wanted to make sure that was the truth and not just the Sake talking…”

“Oh, I… I, um…” Ayame’s eyes darted back and forth. She grabbed a second chair and sat down in it. “I… when she came to visit me in the infirmary, I told her I… I had an idea about the kind of relationship we might be in, and… that I didn’t want to change her. She… she might have interpreted that as… I should have… did she… leave with this girl?”

Ammy’s face turned sad as she nodded slowly, feeling awful that she didn’t stop Mary from leaving with Vee.

“Oh…” Ayame looked down. After a few seconds, she looked up at Ammelia again, a poor excuse for a grin on her face. “Well, I… I did now what kind of relationship it was. If I had wanted it to be more serious, I should have been more clear about my intentions. Boy, am… a-am I embarrassed.”

Ammelia gave Ayame an empathetic look, seeing through her attempt at hiding how she felt, “Ayame… A-Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m… I’m fine,” Ayame answered, her voice shuddering a bit. “W-we were just… having a good time, right? A-and some people said… things, things I ignored for Mary’s… for my sake. I’m not going to hold anything against her. This was… was my fault anyway.” She stood up, and grabbed her box.

“Ayame please… I-I know she meant a lot to you but… I’m sure she still cares about you… It seemed like it was just a casual thing you know… It’s not your fault…” Ammelia pleaded, trying to keep their relationship together.

“I know, Ammy, I know.” Ayame wiped her eyes. “But… but I wasn’t very honest with Mary, and that’s my fault. I’m… actually not as comfortable with that kind of relationship that I let on. To be honest…” she paused, then shook her head. “No… it’s stupid…”

Ammelia stood up from her chair, thinking of something to say. After a few seconds of silence Ammelia brought Ayame in for a hug.

Ayame hugged her back, squeezing her tight. “Truth is,” she whispered. “I… I’ve barely even looked at any other woman since Mary and I… damn, I’m so stupid. I always do this. Always ruin it by saying something to soon, or too late, or not at all.”

“I… I know how that feels Ayame… I think… the best thing you could do is just tell her how you feel… I’m sure she’ll forgive you…” Ammy said softly.

Ayame closed her eyes for a moment. She stepped back, and nodded. “Yeah… you’re right. I’ll tell her the truth. Right now.” She smiled at Ammelia. “Thank you. I… I’m sure that wasn’t easy for you to talk about.”

“It’s okay Ayame, I’m always here if you need to talk to me. If you just be honest with her, I think you’ll be fine.” The Sniper replied, smiling to make her feel better.

Ayame nodded. She gave Ammelia another quick squeeze, then head out towards Mary’s room. Hoping she’d be there, and be there alone, she lightly knocked on the door.

“Yeh’? Who’s ‘ere?” Mary asked, getting up out of her bed.

“It’s Ayame.” the Asian soldier answered. “Can we talk?”

“Ay’me? Eh’ ‘ourse! ‘Ome en!”

Ayame stepped in, placing the box on a desk. “Mary, I… I have something to tell you. Something important.”

Mary gave her a concerned look, “‘At ‘es et’?”

Ayame took a deep breath. “Mary… I like you. A lot. But I… I can’t be in an open relationship. I want us to be together, just the two of us. No other people. I promise I’ll be there for you. I’ll make sure you are never lonely, that you never feel empty again. But I can’t… can’t share you.”

Mary took a seat and rested her head in her hands, “Ay’me… Eh… Eh’ ‘ike you, beh’ eh’ don’t ‘ink eh’ ken’ be tied te’ one ‘irl my ‘ole life…”

Ayame swallowed hard, and slowly nodded. “I… I understand, Mary. Like I said before, I… I’m not going to try and change you against your will.” She grabbed the box, and walked over to Mary. “But… I’d still like us to be friends. I… got you a gift, to repay you for your kindness.”

Mary looked down at her gift and a few tears welled up in her eyes, “Eh… Et’ wasn’t enythin’... et’ in’nt mean enything… et’ ‘as just fe’ fun… Eh’ don’t ‘ant te’ choose…”

“You… you don’t have to choose, at least not like that.” Ayame knelt down, and wrapped her hands around Mary’s. “What I meant was… I can’t be in that kind of relationship if it is an open one. But you’re still my friend, Mary. I should have been more honest with you. So you can… h-have your fun with others, and I’ll be here to… to talk with you, or play some pool, or have a few drinks. We’re still friends, and that isn’t about to change.”

“You’re… Th’ enly ‘irl ‘at’s ever ‘elt ‘at way ‘bout me… Eh’ ‘ant te’ be wit’ ye’...” Mary lowered her head a little, “Eh’m se’ ‘elfish…”

“It’s alright, Mary.” Ayame gently placed her hand on Mary’s chin, lifting it up. “We’re all a little selfish sometimes. But you’re a good person. That’s… what I like about you. You have a hard exterior. A bit loud, a bit vulgar, but deep down, I feel something sweet.” She smiled. “Maybe… the day will come when you decide you can just be with one person. Maybe it’ll be me. And if not, I’ll at least be there to help you find the right one.”

“Be-beh… Why an’t ye’ ju’ ‘cept at’ et’s sex? Eh’ dun’t ‘are ‘bout ‘ose ‘o’her girls… ‘Ere’s eh’ ‘eeling eh’ ‘ave wit’ ye’ at’ eh’ dun’t have wit’ ‘em… Et’s ‘othing ‘wit ‘em… ‘Ease..” Mary practically begged, not wanting to to lose the love of the only person that ever felt that way about her.

Ayame shook her head, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I-I… I’m sorry. I wasn’t honest with you. Sex… has more meaning to me then… just casual fun. I tried to push those thoughts aside, but… the idea of you in bed with another person just tears at me. I couldn’t be more than a friend if I knew you were sleeping with other people. I… I just can’t.”

Mary let out a defeated whine and didn’t say another word, countless thoughts running through her head at the same time.

Ayame hugged her friend tightly. “I’ll always be here for you, Mary.” She stood up, and walked to the door. “I… know you’ll be happy without me making you feel guilty anyway.”

“Eh’... Eh’...” Mary couldn’t form the words in her head and instead just sat there quietly.

“I…” Ayame stammered, her lip quivering slightly. “I… love…” She shook her head, and walked out.

Mary sat there, tears streaming down her face now. After she was sure Ayame was gone, she just turned and slammed her fist into the wall next to her, leaving a hand-sized dent. Pain shot through her arm as she looked down at her bloody knuckle, feeling as though she had cracked the bone.

// COLD //
Nika Orlov
XCOM Headquarters – Medical Wing
Siberia, Russian Federation
3:30 PM

Nika and Dallas walked into Emily’s room, discussing the reports of the clean-up mission quietly as they entered. The door closed behind her with a thunk and a head popped up immediately from behind the privacy screen, a familiar face staring at her.

“Oh, hey Ben. Checking on Emily?” Nika asked.

“Y-yeah. I heard about it this morning,” he replied shakily.

“We’ll give you some time.”

“No, no. I’m glad to see you guys too. How are you?”

Nika and Dallas moved into the room, taking a couple more chairs next to him. Emily looked well taken care of, with a couple more blankets covering her and a stack of flowers and notes from others. She also looked as though she had been through a few more tests, the web of wires and tubes around her body looking even more intricate than yesterday.

“Recovering,” Dallas sighed with a pained grunt, holding his side. “Nika got off easy.”

“In comparison,” Nika replied, “but it’s taken a toll on us all. Not every day you get slung around in a psychic tornado by one of your friends.”

“Yeah, or get hit in the chest by a crate full of alien pineapples at fifty miles an hour.” Dallas looked down at his heavily bruised side.

“Poor Roosevelt…I couldn’t believe when he just charged up with the Arc Thrower like that…”

“He wanted to stop her, kick the alien out…then…at least they recovered him. He’ll get a proper burial with Harvey.”

“Did they recover the civilians too?” Ben asked.

“They did…but I’m doubtful,” Nika said. “I saw them, they’re…they’re long gone.”

“I overheard one of the nurses saying removing the devices on them isn’t as easy as you might think,” Dallas replied. “And until those are out, we can’t even dream about saving their minds. They’ve been conditioned to worship them.”

Nika sighed and shook her head sadly. “We lost a lot to find that skinny bitch. And she’s not even dead yet.”

“That’s the job sometimes.”

“Hopefully she’ll be able to provide something of worth,” Ben said.

“If she doesn’t break out somehow,” Nika responded.

Dallas leaned forward and looked at Emily’s chart again, several more treatments on the list to try to get her to respond. He looked up at the monitor, the waves still going up and down at random before resting into a rhythm for a while.

“They tried some new tests to figure out the problems, then tried to talk or smell or touch her out of it. Nothing worked,” Ben explained.

“I tried to talk to her before, same thing,” Dallas put his finger onto Emily’s arm, her skin cold and dry, the hairs feeling like they were crawling. “It’s like someone just turned her off…”

“Not ‘someone’,” Nika growled, “God, why aren't we ripping out that bitch's heart right now…I have half a mind to grab a gun, kick in the doors, and-“

The door whipped open and slammed shut, the sound of metal joints clacking into place audible just after. Sven stood in the doorway, a stoic expression on his face.

“There you are,” Sven said.

Nika hurried to her feet and wrapped up the sniper in her arms, surprised to feel him doing the same. Dallas rose to his feet and briefly looked at his new leg, a series of complicated metal brackets and joints, ending in a plain-looking sneaker.

“How’re you doing?” Dallas asked.

“About as well as I can be, I’m not really touched by the whole ‘loss of humanity’ thing with genes and robotics,” Sven sighed. “But still, watching my leg get cut to ribbons, that whole escape, and then losing it anyway…doesn’t feel great.”

Nika helped him over to Emily’s bed, hooking her arm underneath him. He’d never admit it, but it seemed as though he was having trouble adjusting to his new gait.

“And just for bonus points, this is just a stand-in,” Sven continued. “They're making a new one for me, and they'll have to 'plug it in' eventually. I'm sure that'll feel good.”

“At least you have something,” Nika tried to be comforting. “The way that bitch focused you with those guns…it scared me, I can tell you that.”

“Not like I haven’t been shot at before,” Sven said coldly. “More worried about the people who haven’t woken up. How’s she doing?”

“Still cold and quiet,” Dallas frowned. “Still alive though, too.”

“Any closer to figuring out what happened?”

“From what we could see, it was just like mind control…mind control doesn’t do this though. Something else happened.”

“And how do we fix it?”

“Wait. Hope they figure it out or she wakes up.”

“And if she doesn’t, we pull off Luxuria’s fingers one by one until she tells us,” Nika snapped.

“Knowing them, they probably have some magic pain tolerance, or cyanide teeth…” Sven sighed. “She’s better off in a cage, anyway. See how she likes it for a change.”

Emily’s brain activity started to spike and everyone watched the monitor carefully, but Emily still stayed still. As it calmed back down, everyone let out a defeated sigh.

“How are the others? I know everyone got some injuries,” Ben asked.

“Masambe will probably be fine, surprisingly. They can reconstruct all the bits that were shot off of him,” Dallas said. “Brown got some cuts and a broken bone, but he’ll make it. More worried about his state of mind…the lab really bothered him. And that goes double for Temple. She got attacked twice, then hit by a Sectopod.”

“So Ji is fine at least. Benefits of being a robot,” Nika added.

“Yay,” Sven mumbled.

“Sorry.”

“That’s about it. Thanks to the medical advancements here, they usually know what to do right away,” Dallas continued. “There’s only one question mark left.”

“She’ll make it through,” Nika assured. “She has to.”

“I’ve known her long enough to know that. She wouldn’t die on a bed,” Sven stated.

“I have to agree,” Ben joined in. “Some iffy brain waves won’t be what takes her down.”

Dallas looked worriedly at the pale, closed eyelids of his teammate, still unflinching.

“I hope you’re right.”

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Calamity”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1500 Hours, August 25th, 2018
Room of Elene, Emma, Lily, and Vee Exalt

“So then the idea hit me...what if we put alloy sawblades on Avanix’s M.E.S.H.A.?” Vee suggested with a wide grin.

Emma sighed, shaking her silver hair. “I seriously doubt that would be practical.”

“Just a shield’s boring though…”

“You realize how easily those sawblades would break, right?”

The destroyer sighed in defeat. “Fine...have it your way. Electro...whatever it is.”

“Electropulse,” Lily offered quietly.

“That,” Vee affirmed with a smile.

A light knock came on the door. “E-excuse,” called a young voice. “Is this where the Exalt ladies are?”

Emma got up from her computer, and opened the door slightly. “Yes. Who is it?”

“Um… m-my name is Keiko. I wanted to talk to you about helping my friends.”

The shadow operative opened the door further to get a better look at Keiko. “And who might they be?”

Keiko looked to the floor shyly. “U-um… their names are Rei and Hitomi. They said one of the Legion people were mean to them, and I wanted to ask you about it.” She rubbed her arms. “C-can I come in? I don’t like these creepy hallways.”

Emma nodded, and allowed the Japanese girl to enter the room. “That’s unusual. None of the Adams have behaved in that manner, and I can’t imagine Vee did it either.”

Vee nodded. “I’m not that harsh.”

Keiko looked around the room in amazement. “Wow! I… I can’t believe it!”

“Can’t believe what?” the destroyer asked curiously.

Keiko laughed loudly. “That… that I got in here so easily. Kids really can get away with anything, can’t they?” She quickly pulled a pistol from out of her shirt, aiming it towards the three women and backing up a bit so they couldn’t try and grab her. “I mean… you didn’t even search me! Come On!”

“The… fuck is going on?” Vee responded with a mixture of confusion and anger at the fact that Keiko was scaring Lily. “What the hell are you on about?” Look at me...focus on me...shoot at me, not them…

“Oh, don’t worry, Vee,” Keiko said with a wide grin. “I’m not going to shoot at you. Ideally, I’d kill all of you. But I can’t afford to mess anything up now. Circumstances have forced me to move ahead of schedule. You understand, right? I hate when things are all thrown out of order, but I honestly didn’t think they’d end up taking her alive. So unpredictable, you people are.” Keiko lifted the weapon, and pointed it at her own temple.

She’s...being… Emma realized.

Keiko laughed maliciously. “I swear, I had hoped it would come to this, but I honestly didn’t think it would. Your history is littered with examples of you killing each other, but no matter what I tried, X-COM wouldn’t turn on Legion, or Legion on X-COM.” She placed her finger over the trigger. “But try to explain this! A dead child in your room! Even if the Commander believes you, the rest of the base will be demanding your heads!”

Can’t...let...it… “What forced you to this end? What accelerated your plans?” Emma asked, trying to buy time.

Keiko frowned, glaring at nothing in particular. “Some psionic bitch that asked too many questions. But it doesn’t matter now. With her weak powers, it would take her hours to find my. And by then, the base will be in chaos, and I will be laughing.”

...Captain Ipiktok, perhaps. There must be something she is doing, just a few more seconds… “Perhaps...we could make a deal of some sort? We have much to offer…” Emma lied.

Keiko started laughing, slowly at first, then so hard she nearly pulled the trigger by accident. “A deal? With you? What could you possibly offer me?” She pointed the gun at Lily. “Perhaps you would offer the life of your sister in place of the child. It would likely get similar results in the end, if I plan things out a bit, but at least you’d have the satisfaction of knowing you saved some pathetic brat you don’t know.”

Vee’s eyes widened, and with genetically enhanced speed, darted in front of Lily, the reflexive shot from Keiko denting against her hardened dermis. “Stay away from her, you bitch…”

Keiko growled. “Didn’t account for that. Should have brought a bigger gun.” She shrugged. “No matter.” She quickly turned her body, pointing at Emma. “Block this one!”

No! Vee started to move towards Emma, but had positioned herself on the other side of the room from her, and could not make it in time. Another gunshot cracked in the air.

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Ruinous Designs, Part 1”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1345 Hours, August 25th, 2018
Special Containment Facility

Thirty minutes ago...

Atka glanced at the two impassive androids on either side of her, the Legions meant as an unswayable escort. Their calm contrasted with her hesitation. Even contained so carefully, the thought of standing in a room with an Ethereal still sent chills down the scout captain’s spine. Curiosity won over fear, though, and the Inuit woman let out the breath she had been holding, opening the door and walking inside.

The powerful psionic being turned to Atka as she walked in, starved for the attention she wasn’t getting with everyone avoiding her as much as possible. Still, her pride would not allow her to admit it, and the Ethereal turned her back to Atka, as though she hadn’t even noticed anyone enter.

The same sense of pride the other one had, if lacking the overflowing confidence, Atka thought to herself, looking the ancient being over for a moment. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Luxuria…”

Have you now, human? And what have you heard? Something ghastly, no doubt.

“Not all of it managed to be caught clearly due to that stunt you pulled...but I did watch the combat feed. You certainly are powerful, by that account.” Atka shook her head. “The difference between you and the other one, however, is that we beat you. Superbia...will have to wait his turn.”

A deep laughter rang out in Atka’s head, the contrast between Luxuria’s two voices an odd thing to hear.

I am not so arrogant to be moved by being compared to one such as he. Though I am saddened to hear such misplaced confidence in you. I doubt very much you will ever stand in his presence again, but should you actually last that long, you will surely die. Have no doubt of that, regardless of the power you possess.

“You misunderstand,” Atka replied. “I stood in the path of his power long enough to know that I am no match for him alone. And truth be told, I’m not sure we could beat him right now regardless. But we will find a way. Because...we deserve that victory. We hold dear the ethics and morality that you seem to have discarded.”


Indeed. We have cast many things we have deemed unnecessary off over many, many years. Who is to say we have not made a mistake at some point. Luxuria turned to face the young scout. But we grow when others join us. Join our Path. Why not join us yourself. One such as yourself would be welcomed with open arms. Join us, and I can assure you the highest of positions.

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’d accept that. I pursue power for the sake of protecting others, not for power itself. I couldn’t care less if I’m a footsoldier or a general,” Atka responded, crossing her arms. The only thing your ‘Path’ has done thus far is harm many for the pursuit of power in humanity.

What if I could help those we have harmed?

You can do that on our terms, not your own. You forfeited that right by fighting us in the first place...by doing what you did to those poor people we found at your headquarters. By your actions against Emily.

Unfortunate, sometimes, what must be done to follow the path. But we are not without compassion. I was trying to help Amelia, to bring her towards the Path she so foolishly cast aside. As for the others, release me, and I can save them. And not only them. I can save someone else. Someone close to you. Someone who was altered in ways that… well, as I said, were unfortunate.

Atka’s expression darkened. Provided that you aren’t lying, you can tell us how to do that. I don’t trust you one bit, and your reward for helping isn’t going to be release. It would just be your life, or at least a merciful death. I won’t be manipulated by empty promises, and ...daring to bring my family into this is only going to hurt you in the long run.

“Such anger Atka,” a familiar voice behind the soldier said. “Why reject such an offer? You can make me whole again. We can make us all whole, like before.”

Atka glanced back for a moment, and shook her head. “Mother would not be so selfish. And you can’t bring back what was destroyed...it’s up to us to rebuild our home, or make a new life for ourselves.”

“Are you so sure?” The illusion asked. “What if I told you she helped build this facility, and I heard her thoughts, her desires. You would be surprised how… ‘selfish’ one can be when they have lost so much.”

“You could not take away her family...and we are there for her,” Atka growled. “You are in no position to make demands of me, Luxuria.”

The illusion faded, and Luxuria bent down further.

You really are a stubborn one, aren’t you? I fear for your safety. When the time comes, and your people are forced to join us or perish, I fear that they will see you as too much of a risk. They might even see all of you as a risk. You wouldn’t be the first species we did away with, and you won’t be the last.

“Thus far we’ve seemed to be able to stand up to your forces,” Atka countered. “And from what I’ve seen, the best of your experiments can be beaten at their own game by us.” The Inuit woman held up her palm, a light blue telekinetic helix wrapping around her arm. Even by one such as myself.

That you have, human. It is a shame that, in order to beat us, you are becoming more and more like us every day. Who knows? Perhaps our time is up, and was you have disposed of us, you will take our place. What a glorious irony that would be, yes?

“We will not follow in your footsteps. And the difference between lies in intent. A sword in the hands of a murder is just a weapon. In the hands of a knight, a samurai, it has the potential to be something more beautiful.” Atka’s telekinetic projection faded. “And psionics do not even have to be a weapon. They can be put to more peaceful pursuits...something you seem to have forgotten.”

Perhaps we have… The Ethereal looked as though it was thinking. You… came here to get some useful information, did you not?

“If you turn out to be willing to divulge something other than temptations and subtle threats,” Atka said with a skeptical expression.

The Ethereal stood tall. I would only give you information if it benefited me in some way. Though I do have something I would like in return. Something I believe you wouldn’t mind doing for me. Agree to it, and I will tell you something of great interest.

Atka seemed to consider the offer for a moment, and decided she would say so in words, even if the promise was not one she had any plans to keep. Go ahead, then.

Amelia. I… I wish to speak with her again. I am sure she is incapacitated by our… union. But I am sure she will recover. Simply tell her and your Commander I wish to see her. You need not promise it will happen, only that you will tell them my wish. Promise me this, and we have an agreement.

“You put her in a coma,” Atka confirmed bluntly. “I will tell them, though I doubt she’ll want anything to do with you. I can express that desire, at the very least,” the Inuit woman said honestly.

I… appreciate your honesty, Atka. In that case, I would inform you that you have an infiltrator amongst your ranks. One that acts more in his interests than that of the path, and that makes him dangerous… for both your people and mine.

“I’m guessing it’s not another of those stupid cats…” Atka responded. Something worse?

Far worse. Though you have likely had dealings with him before. He was in control of the… ‘stupid cat’... for a while, even though it was not his job to… to be in this part of your world, let alone control one of my minions. His aggressive actions led to the loss of a very useful spy before any significant use could be achieved. Once more, he… Luxuria hesitated, her pride holding her back.

“Another Ethereal,” the scout captain guessed. “And if he’s powerful enough to do such a thing… he must be one of the other six.”

Yes… though he should not be! Luxuria’s thoughts suddenly became enraged. His power alone is what keeps him amongst our ranks. That, and his skill at manipulation. He cares little for the Path! if anything! It is his fault that I am here, and I would see him humiliated, cast out by the humans he looks down on so much, even if it would help you!

“So you are capable of honest emotions, and you don’t all agree with each other,” Atka stated with a small smile. “Perhaps you’re not entirely inhuman after all.” Her expression grew serious again. “How do I find him...for that matter, how did an Ethereal sneak onto our base? Unless...he’s not actually here.”

He is not. He is strong enough to penetrate your shield, if from a limited range. He is likely here now, possessing someone for the sake of causing chaos, confusion, and deceit. It pains me to assist you, but expelling him for your base would likely assist us as much as you. I know it was he who assisted you in locating my base. If he is so petty as to turn on me, he can not be trusted with our goals.

The Ethereal closed her eyes, desperately trying to compose herself. Forcing herself to assist the humans was hard enough without the emotional turmoil.

If… if you can find him, if you can come into contact with him, you will get a feel of his specific psionic energy reading. Get that, and you can block him and anyone with weaker energy from penetrating your shield. How you will find him, I am unsure. You will likely need assistance. Someone who can read minds, read emotions, anything. Combine your energies, and you will find him.

Atka thought for a moment. “I know someone that can help with that. We’ll handle this… third intrusion, then. Anything else I should know about this foe? Which one is he, since you know what we’ve been calling you seven.”

Your Council of Nations refers to him as Invidia, and know that he is far more powerful than I. With luck, your barrier will have weakened him enough for you to deal with him.

The captain nodded, and left Luxuria to the two robotic guards. Once again, their pride gives us something useful. Ironic that such has proven to be our greatest weapon against them…

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Ruinous Designs, Part 2”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1400 Hours, August 25th, 2018
Refugee Area, Central Lobby

15 minutes ago...

“Well,” Hitomi started, placing her hands on her hips. “If you know it so well, why don’t you do it?”

Rei rolled her eyes, and adjusted her glasses. “Good idea. And then I’ll take the quiz on it for you, and the test, and be on standby for the rest of my life in case it ever comes up.”

Hitomi pouted. “You don’t have to be sarcastic.”

“Then sit down, and I will show you how to do it again.” Rei insisted.

“Teach a man to fish,” Jake mumbled, realizing the Japanese girls would likely not be familiar with the saying. He looked up for the psychology textbook he was reading, and noticed Keiko simply staring at her school work. “You need help, Keiko?”

The young girl shook her head. “I’m just fine. I don’t need any help. I’m… just thinking.”

“Hmm, grouchy…” Jake shrugged, and returned to his reading.

Atka walked over. “Mind if I borrow a little of your time?” she asked Jake.

“Atka!” Jake looked up, a bit surprised. “O-of course. What can I do for you?”

“I hate to spring this on you, but I have a little trouble I’m going to need help with,” the captain explained apprehensively.

“Yeah, sure. I’m up for anything.” Jake quickly climbed to his feet and turned to the girls. “Rei, Hitomi, keep working on that, and head back to the room when you’re ready. And Keiko, I…” he frowned at the girl as she glared at Atka, her hand angrily crumpling several sheets of paper in her notebook. “Just… behave. I’ll be back.” He nodded at Atka. “What did you need?”

Atka started to walk with the security guard. “Well...the Ethereal just told me one of her fellow ‘seven’ has been going around possessing people on base. And I figure if we combine our abilities we’ll have a chance at finding him. I want to warn the Commander about this first, though.”

“Of course, but I…” Jake scratched his head. “I don’t understand. Why would she sell out her own kind?” He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t… have to do something… harsh, did you?”

“Not at all. Apparently she’s no fan of Invidia either, and just asked to tell Emily she wanted to talk to her.” Atka shook her head. “I doubt Emily will have any interest in contact with Luxuria again, so it was an easy request to accept.”

“Yeah, good point.” Jake stepped into the elevator, hitting the button for the top basement floor. “I… wait, where do I come in? I can’t exactly fight a mental battle, not with my abilities.”

“I was told someone with strong empathic abilities would be the key to finding him,” Atka explained. “I can’t do that on my own, especially if this Invidia doesn’t want to be found.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Jake put on his bravest face as they stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the Commander’s office. A second elevator arrived behind them, and Jake turned towards it, but saw no one. Shrugging, he just continued walking with Atka.

“Hopefully we can deal with this one before he sneaks into somewhere that’ll force another ‘generator room’ incident,” Atka muttered, heading towards the desired room.

Morrigan stood outside her office, chattering with her secretary when the pair arrived. Smiling, she said, “Atka, good to see you. You… you look upset.”

“Yeah...well, we have a bit of a problem. Apparently, there’s another infiltrator on the base. One of the Ethereals is going around possessing people,” Atka reiterated.

Morrigan quickly turned to the elderly lady behind the desk. “Make an announcement. I will not have this happen again. I want…”

Jake held his hand up. “If I can… give some cautionary advice. The.. the, uh, alien can be anyone. Not only could this turn into a witch hunt if we aren’t careful, but the more people who know we are looking for him, the more likely he will know.”

“We might want to enlist the help of an addition psion or two, though,” Atka suggested. “But Jake is right.”

Morrigan nodded. “Right, right… go… go to Aya and Eve’s room. They should be able to help. I’ll tell them you’re coming, and see if I can find Desmond.”

The captain gave a nod, and started walking down to the Major’s officer, motioning for Jake to follow again. “Right now, time should be on our side, but there’s no reason to waste it.”

“Right. Maybe Eve could give us some insight.” Jake gave a slight optimistic smile. “Isn’t possession kinda how her abilities work?”

“Yeah,” Atka responded. “The concept is the same, I think. And she’d probably be much more resistant to it than any of us.”

Reaching the appropriate room, Jake lifted his hand to knock. Realizing that this probably wasn’t the time to be polite, he simply opened the door and stepped inside. Noticing the beds in the room, he was grateful his haste hadn’t led him into a black eye.

“Atka?” Eve looked over from her desk. “And… Jake, right? M… The Commander called over, said something about an alien hunt?”

Atka explained the situation to Eve, before asking, “Where’s Aya?”

“She went to grab a few of the other psionic soldiers, since they’d likely be resistant, though I’m worried such a powerful alien could ignore their powers.” Eve grabbed Jake and Atka’s hand, and pulled them to the side of the room in front of a large device. “But we might not need them. We could use this!”

The Inuit woman looked at it curiously. “Isn’t that the thing you tested out with Nouja?”

“It is, and she and your mother helped me perfect it!” Eve picked up the two headsets, handing them to Jake and Atka.

“What… does it do?” Jake asked, turning it over.

“It amps up the powers of mental abilities,” Eve explained. “Use this, and you could use your empathic powers, and Atka can use her ESP, to search the entire base from here!”

The scout captain grinned. “Perfect.” She slipped on the helmet, and reached out to Jake telepathically when he put on his, attempting to conjoin their abilities.

Jake cautiously put his on, and Eve turned the machine on. Jake’s powers immediately got a huge boost, and he chuckled nervously. “Wow. So this is what it feels like to be important, huh?”

Don’t let it go to your head, Atka joked lightly. Now...let’s see what we can find. The blue psion closed her eyes, and reached out with her enhanced ESP, feeling as if she was a ghostly figure that could float through the base at will. Where are you, Invidia…

Uuh, Atka? Hmm… weird, head voice thing takes some getting… uh, I’m feeling something strange. If I had to describe it, I’d say it was… pissed. Really, really pissed.

Any idea on where? Atka furthered.

I… I’m not sure. I think it is coming from the soldier barracks. But… I don’t think anyone is there, is there? Isn’t that the unused part?

Atka nodded slowly, and sought to find out for herself, focusing her search on the location specified. As she found herself in the appropriate area, she realized that she was in the section that had been given to Legion as their own personal base. There, one figure, completely obscured by an aura of wicked power, quickly made itself to the room of the Legion leaders.

“They’re going after Elene’s crew…” Atka muttered, and pulled off the headset. “We have to get down there.”

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Ruinous Designs, Part 3”

Atka ran down the hallways with Jake following, ignoring the confused looks from the Adam troopers and Legions. Come on...come on… The scout captain made it to the door, and went around the side that was half-open. Her eyes widened when she saw Keiko take aim at Emma, and raise her fingers to the trigger. Without hesitation, the Inuit woman reached out, and a telekinetic helix leapt out, shifting the aim to the side in the brief seconds she had.

The bullet rang out, and shattered the screen behind Emma, missing her head by inches.

“Invidia...get...the hell...out of Keiko…” Atka growled, the gun being yanked from the possessed child’s grasp.

“How… DARE… YOU INTERFERE!” Keiko’s eyes glowed a deep violet. “I will rip your limbs from your body one at a time!”

“Oh God!” Jake shuddered, terrified at the prospect of one of those things in his young friend.

“You’ll go to hell…” Atka responded, running up to Keiko, and pressing her palm against the girl’s forehead, trying to contest the mind that had overtaken the original one.

Keiko shrieked, leaping back and grasping her head. “Argh… stronger than I gave you credit for,” she said in a voice that was much, much too deep for her. Her eyes darted around the room, and focused on Vee. She rushed towards Lily, her hands emitting a green aura. “Kill me or I kill her!”

Sorry, Keiko. Atka launched a mindfray spike at the possessed child’s head, trying to stop her in her tracks, while pursuing. Keiko stumbled to the ground, grasping her head again. She crawled towards Lily with everything she had, desperately attempting to force her sister to come to her aid.

“Vee, don’t let her hit you!” Atka warned, the green glow worrying her.

The destroyer grimly nodded, and pushed a terrified Lily back, throwing one of the sheets over Keiko. Once done, she leapt down onto the ground, and forced Keiko to stay still with her enhanced muscles providing the strength to do so.

“DAMN USELESS BODY!” And burst of energy erupted from below the sheet, and a moment later, it was replaced by panicked crying. “Watashi wa... Watashi wa gomen'nasai, watashi ga ika sete kudasai! Watashi wa shiranai... Naze watashi... Shite kudasai! (I... I'm sorry. Please, let me go! I don't know... why I... please!)

Vee let up on the pressure, and pulled the sheet off. “Sorry, kid…”

Keiko sat on the floor, rubbing her eyes as tear streamed down her cheeks. Jake ran to her side, and she wrapped her arms around him. Giving Atka a serious, enraged look, he muttered, “It isn’t over. I can… still feel him. Like some evil spirit.”

Atka nodded grimly. “Vee...stay where you are. He might go after you.” She closed her eyes for a moment. Your tactic of hopping bodies isn’t going to work. I’ll fire a mindfray as soon as you jump to someone else. Let’s end the games, Invidia...why don’t you show me your superior power, hmm? Prove that you’re better than the girl that is ruining your plans.

You! I’ll destroy you! A darkness overtook Atka as the world around her disappeared, replaced by an alien landscape. Before Atka floated a being of light, in the shape of an Ethereal. Do you have any idea who much work you are destroying! How much time and effort that has gone to waste. I will rip your mind apart, tear your soul from your body, and then use you to destroy everyone here, starting with the child and that pathetic female the others protect!

“Of course I know. You said the exact same thing last time.” Atka went into a defensive stance, a spear forming from blue shards that condensed in her right hand. And you shall do no such thing, Invidia.

So it was you! You were one of the ones who destroyed our spy! Invidia mimicked her, forming four spears of his own. I shall enjoy breaking you. This ends now, my unworthy companion.

Atka sprung into action, holding out her left hand. Twin telekinetic helixes wound themselves with speed not possible in reality, jabbing towards the Ethereal before Atka. Invidia blocked as best he could, but his moves were sluggish, as though on a delay. It was all he could do to avoid getting hit. Reaching back with one hand, he flung a spear into the air, and it burst into a dozen smaller spears that rained down on Atka.

On instinct, the Inuit woman thought of the best shield she could, and a half-dome of icy energy formed, but shattered on the initial six, and three found their mark. Atka grimaced as they dug into her shoulders and leg, but did not go down. Rather, she pulled the one in her leg out, and ran at Invidia, spear readied to stab at him. Can’t let up now…

Persistent. The Ethereal brought the three energy spears together, and they formed a sword like weapon of alien design. He quickly raised it into the air, ready to slash down.

Atka brought her spear up to parry, strengthening the handle into alien alloys. The sword screeched against it as it swung down, and Atka’s arms shook as the pressure was put on. Even disrupted… This amount of power… so help me God.

ATKA! HANG IN THERE!

The Ethereal faltered, his arms flinching and the sword sliding to the side of the spear.

“You...shall...fall!” Atka broke the contact, and spun her spear, plunging it through Invidia’s shoulder. She felt the blade of the sword go wide, but still slashed a deep gash in her side. It’s...not real...I won’t…” The Inuit woman coughed up blood, and pressed her spear deeper.

The Ethereal cried out, not having experienced pain in so long, and unsure how to deal with it. You can’t! He grasped his shoulder like a child holding a small cut and expecting all the attention in the world.

Atka drew the spear out, not wasting the distraction, even as she noticed a red film over her vision. “You... pathetic... thing... you tried... to murder a child... at least have... some resolve.” The scout captain charged the spear with telekinetic energy, and plunged it at the Ethereal’s chest.

A surge of energy burst from the alien’s wound and he slumped to the ground. He slowly started to disintegrate, his body disappearing from the hole in his chest. This… isn’t over. I will be back. I’ll find a way. And when we meet… again… I will make you suffer. You… will beg me… for death…

Atka slumped to her knees, feeling all-too real blood running down the side of her face. “You...all…sure make...a lot of...empty...threats…”

The Ethereal started laughing, a sickening, disturbing laugh that lasted until he faded away, along with his dreamscape. When Atka emerged in the real world once more, she found herself laying in Jake’s arms, he, Vee and Keiko staring down at her in horror while Emma consoled Lily. “Atka,” Jake said cautiously. “Are you… what happened?”

“Had ourselves...a little...mental showdown…” Atka coughed painfully, but smiled weakly. “Kicked...his sorry ass…”

Jack let out a long, sustained sigh of relief. Keiko’s eyes watered as she wrapped her arms around Atka. “I’m sorry!” She cried out. “I’m… this is…”

“Not...your fault,” the Inuit woman whispered. “Leave… fighting those… things off… to me.”

As Keiko squeezed her even tighter, Jake gave Vee a nervous smile. “Sorry… weird first impression, huh?”

“I’m going to have nightmares about little girls with guns now…” Vee groaned. “I’m sure you’ll make it up to me somehow.”

Atka smiled. “You...guys…” she said with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, slipping in and out of consciousness.

Jake shook his head. “Do you mind helping me carry her to the infirmary?” He chuckled. “She spends so much time there, she probably has a room specifically reserved for her.”

“Not at all.” Vee helped lift Atka, seeming to do so with ease. “Get some rest...you stupid but brave hero,” she muttered as the Inuit woman finally succumbed to exhaustion and passed out. Jake and Keiko followed Vee out, the young girl tightly grasping Atka’s hand.

Dhalexpert & Marineavenger


Best Frenemy

Eva was in the training room, punching and kicking a punching bag. When she turned around and she saw Desmond training as well, she walked towards him. “Hey Desmond, haven’t seen you in a while. What’s up?”

Desmond looked up at his blue haired roommate and wiped his forehead. “Some things here and there. Just been trying to get by for now.”

“Well that’s good to hear. That reminds me, I never thanked you for saving Elene and the others, so thank you for saving my kids and all that.”

“This whole family dynamic confuses me sometimes. My sisters and your daughters yet you are not my mother,” Desmond sighed. “We really need to write this stuff down.”

“Yeah, tell me about it, but I also have to thank you for not being in our room for the last few days. I’ve been having my own fun in there for a while, and it would be awkward if you were there.”

“Must you disclose that to me?” Desmond put his shirt back on and took a drink of water. “Besides, I have been busy.”

“Busy? Well me too. A couple of days ago I found out I’m psionic, and that I’ve always been psionic. Just in a different way than you and everyone else.”

Desmond rose an eyebrow. “Funny, seeing as how I don’t feel any psionic presence in you. Not saying I disagree with the scientists but whatever it is...it isn’t true psionic power. Trust me, I have lived like this a while.”

“Yea um my psionic are synthetic, turns out that Luseet was making me for something I don’t know what for but there's that.So out of curiousey when you were in the EXALT base did you kill Viktor?”

Desmond shook his head. “If I did, don’t you think we would be celebrating? Shot the bastard’s eye out though. Unfortunately my actions got Ayame almost killed, plus I found out some things that shed some light on some questions. All around...that mission is something I would rather not talk about.”

“That bastards not dead? Good, gives me a chance to rip him apart and break every bone in his body.”

Desmond looked at Eva with a cold stare. “You know, he could probably kill you before you even touched him right? Took the combined effort of Ayame and Elene to distract him. Hell, a sniper bullet he couldn’t even see got deflected by him. Just keep calm for a little longer, okay? Who knows what will happen if you go on a rampage the first second you see him.”

“Realy? Because I heard that the second you saw Viktor, you lost your damn mind and rampaged at him. Which I find ironic because you did the very thing you that you thought I was going to do on that mission which is why you didn't bring me. So excuse me if I saw take your own advice.”

“Yeah, and look at what it got me when I did so.” He responded in a low voice. Desmond shook his head. “Can we not talk about the mission anymore.”

“Sure mate, but I just have to laugh at that. I have to say again thank you for saving my kids. I just hope I will meet Elene soon, but off topic, have you been working on your psi powers?”

Desmond shook his head. “Not recently. I have been trying to develop something more to give us an edge but I am stuck.”

“Really, what are you stuck on? Because I've been working on some things as well, but what are you stuck on?”

“Nothing comes. I try to use moves that other people have developed, at least ones close to my psi specialty, and none of them come right. Don;t know why, I am just in a rut.”

“Hum, Well I found out that I can use my psionic to bust my augmentations. But i’m having trouble with their durations. If I go to long with certain augmentations, I might start to bleed in those areas. I need to work on that.”

“Ever consider the fact that they just are not compatible? Sure, you get a boost but the harm it could do may be worse than the benefits. Just be careful if you are going to experiment.”

“Yea i’m thinking about it. but what they do is amazing. But if I go blind or get brain damage or something else, I can’t afford to have any of that. But the good news, is that the boost to my skin and leg augmentations are pretty great. Hell my iron skin boost pretty much makes me bullet proof, Well not bulletproof but it feels like i’m wearing armor that weighs nothing on top of my XCOM armor. So that’s great.”

Desmond coughed into his hand and looked at Eva. “So, want to go change and go somewhere else or are we just going to stand here in our gym clothes?” Desmond asked the soldier.

“Hum, yea why not i’m sure my special someone would not like me talking to a guy wearing gym bray and small shorts.” Hum you know, it’s funny you and I could not stand each other. But now look at us talking to each other without wanting to kill one another.”

“Who said I still don’t want to. Tolerance goes a long way.” Desmond chuckled and slapped his friend on the arm. “Now let’s go. Besides, your guy don’t have to be jealous, nothing on you I haven’t seen already.”

“Oh, I’m sure you'll meet him if you haven't already.” Eva punched Desmond in the arm and sighed. “I’m feeling a drink coming on, wanna go to the bar?”

Desmond looked at the door and shrugged. “Just a before hand warning, I can’t get drunk. At least, I have never attempted to drink an entire bar dry to find out my tolerance limit.” Desmond began to walk off and turned around smiling. “You know, Sora went through Lusett’s old files, when I said you have nothing to hide, I meant it.” Desmond teased her.

“Is that right, well I have nothing to hide.” Eva smiles But I will admit I am jealous that you can’t get drunk, you will never experience the joy of a hangover. Eva say sarcastically.

“No, but unfortunately I will have the joy of dragging your sorry ass to the room.” Desmond stated with mock enthusiasm.

“Ou ha ha very funny, i’m a professional I don’t get drunk on a. Eva start’s to laugh “I can’t say it with a straight face, you might have to but I promise not to get to drunk. Hows that.”

“Not very convincing. A bit more groveling and I might be inclined to trust you.”

“Ou kiss my ass cyborg .”

Desmond smirked and walked off to their shared bedroom.

Eva also smirks and goes to her Bedroom.