RP XCOM: The Story of Defiance.

[MarineAvenger]

New Student (MarineAvenger and DarkGemini42601)

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
0930 Hours, October 3rd, 2018
Shooting Range

Saka looked around at the other people firing their weapons as she checked hers. A quick crash course from some of the scouts and snipers and she had gotten a fairly good idea about how the Blaster Rifle worked. She held the weapon a bit awkwardly but once she got a feel for it she began to fire, having less than stellar results. “Geez...these weapons are confusing, why can’t we just keep using regular weapons.” She breathed a sigh, already knowing the answer why.

Buniq peered around the corner of the open door, wearing mufflers even before she walked inside, not enjoying the loud noises at all. Seeing the shinobi, the hybrid tried to wave in her direction, not exactly comfortable with walking in. If they mistook me for a chryssalid with weapons in hand… Buniq shivered, not wanting to think about that possibility anymore.

Saka got a little frustrated and she set the weapon down. Only until she turned around she saw someone waving around and she looked around, seeing if the girl was signaling anyone else. Saka shrugged and approached. “What’cha need? You...were trying to get me right?” Saka looked behind herself just in case.

Buniq nodded. “I-I w-wanted to a-ask you a-about s-something. I n-need a l-little h-help.”

Saka blinked a little in confusion and looked closer at Buniq. “Woah...how did you get those? Are they like, armor or something like that? I haven’t seen anything like this before.” The shinobi looked at Buniq with big, curious eyes.

“N-no, t-they’re p-part of m-me,” Buniq explained nervously. “I-I’m w-what you c-call a h-hybrid, m-made by t-the a-aliens.”

The shinobi blinked a few more times. “Huh…” Saka was silent a few moments before she shrugged. “Whatever, you look cool anyways. So what was this about help?”

“W-well, you a-are o-one of t-those n-ninjas, r-right? I w-was w-wondering if y-you could t-train me,” Buniq asked timidly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“Do you have any formal experience? Or any informal? Any at all?”

Buniq looked down. “N-no…I c-can fight t-though! M-most of i-it is i-instincts t-though.”

“How well is your body built? Strong, weak...somewhere in the middle?”

“I-I’m f-fast a-and durable…” Buniq tapped one of her chitin plates on her hand, a little hidden by the long sleeves she usually wore. “T-the c-chitin r-regenerates, a-and i-it can b-become a f-full a-armor if I n-need it to b-be.”

“I don’t know what it is but I am starting to like you more and more.” Saka grinned wide. “Alright. This is good. You are a blank slate and you are not useless in the terms of your body. Alright, only two more questions.” She stated happily. “The first is if you have any use in weaponry and two is what training regimen you would like. We have Warrior and Shadow…” Saka began to explain the difference between the two and the benefits each had. “Aaaaand, those are the basics. Sorry if I bored you, it always happen with new people.”

“I’m n-not that g-good with g-guns, b-but I’d l-like to be a S-Shadow,” Buniq decided, seeming interested rather than bored.

“Very well then. We will teach you all the ins and outs but you have to remember that this will be a commitment, just like anything else. So no backing out alright?” Saka asked with a light tone and equally light smile.

Buniq nodded with an expression of determination. “T-this is s-something I h-have to do.”

“There you go, that is the attitude!” Saka rose a fist in the air. “From this day forth, you shall be my personal student!” Saka calmed down a bit but her smile remained and looked around, leaning in to whisper to Buniq. “Between you and me, I haven’t trained someone before. So this makes you my first student. We had others who wanted a class but I didn’t get to train the Shadow, so this will be both a learning experience for you and me.”

“I-It should s-still w-work out…”

“Perfect.” Saka was practically giddy. “Alright, first things first...we should probably learn our names shouldn’t we?”

“O-oh, r-right. I’m Buniq,” the hybrid explained.

“And I am Saka. Though you call me senpai once and I will send you flying.” Saka warned. “Hate that word. Makes people act weird for one reason or another. Long stories for another time.”

Buniq seemed confused by this, but didn’t ask why. “W-where should we g-go to t-train?”

Saka put a finger on her chin. “Good question. We could just start here for the day, or maybe start on your body...we could maybe bring you down to the holo room but…” Saka made an ‘erm’ sound. “No...we can start here today. That other stuff can come later. We should just see what weapons you can use and mold your training around that basis.”

“I d-don’t know if h-here is a g-good idea...p-people g-get nervous a-around me.”

“I don’t see why. You seem pretty normal.” Saka thought for a second. “Oh, it is the body, isn’t it?”

“I l-look t-too m-much like a c-chryssalid,” Buniq confirmed.

“Oh, one of them alien things...I learned about those. We have all been taking some tips from the people round here about the aliens so we are not completely taken off guard.” Saka put a hand on Buniq’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about me though, you are a pretty cool girl so you are okay with me. Why don’t we just go running around base? We can build up your endurance and we can see more of the base together. More fun with a partner running with you.”

“I g-guess we can d-do that,” Buniq decided.

“Great.” Saka looked down at her white dress and bare feet. “Though I should probably change. Why don’t we meet back here in about half an hour and we can start, ‘kay?”

Buniq glanced at her long-sleeved shirt. “Y-yeah...I’ll g-go c-change too.”

“See you then.” Saka turned and ran off for her room.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Watch All, See All: Part One

X-COM Headquarters
Primary Laboratory
October 3rd, 1000 Hours

"Hmm?" Alexia rubbed her chin, starring at a series of charts and numbers and utterly confused.

An older lab tech named Brad approached her from behind. "Problems... um..." he bit his lip. "...Alex?"

Alexia nodded. "You could say that." She ran her finger over an MRI of an unusually shaped brain. "This is from one of the incubators in its larger form." She pulled out another MRI. "And smaller. Basically the same. Odd, how it doesn't really change size. Would explain way they seem to lose control somewhat when they grow, and turn into angry assholes."

Brad sat down next to her. "Intelligence is linked to size of brain relative to the body it belongs to." He looked of the MRIs. "What are you looking for exactly?"

"Something for a friend. You know Atka, right?"

Brad thought for a moment. "The... that female... Captain?"

"Major," Alexia corrected. "You should mingle more with the soldier staff, man."

"Maybe. But you did that, and look what happened." Brad grin. "Sorry, but I can't afford to get pregnant."

Alexia chuckled. "You joke, but we're messing with alien stuff everyday. Don't press your luck." She looked back at the MRIs. "I owe her. A lot. And I owe her boyfriend too. Neither would probably accept any favors, but if I can figure this out." She leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "Everyone who has faced one of these things claims they have some kind of... precognative abilities. Ayame said... in order to beat one, she had to think way ahead, planning something beyond its pychic sight, then keeping her mind busy so it couldn't tell she was hiding something."

"Hard to believe they are actually capable of seeing into the future," Brad mused.

"Hard to believe?" Alexia shook her head. "More like impossible. There is no way I am convinced they are actually looking into the future. It... it has to be a trick, some... some special combination of psionics and instinct. And I'm convinced the blend of psionics lies somewhere between purple and blue."

"Plausible." Jeanne stepped into the room. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop. But such an ability, if it could be done by others, would likely fall in the regions surrounding control."

Brad shrugged. "You could always ask an Ethereal."

Alexia sighed. "No, I... even if Jessie wasn't adamantly against me seeing them, I don't... want their help." She smirked a bit. "Call me proud, call me arrogant. But I don't like the idea of someone like them giving me the answer. It would give them one more thing to make them feel superior."

The three fell into silent thought. After a few minutes, Jeanne muttered, "Too bad we only have one living incubator, or you could..." She smiled. "Oh! I got it! Why not go straight to the source?"

"The incubator?" Alexia waved her hand dismissively. "Can't. Without the external source of psionic energy from one of the aliens, it can't talk. Was fairly wordy when we first found it, but by the time it woke up a couple hours later, it was nearly incoherent. Twenty-four hours later, it just acted like a pissed off cat. And I'm not about to ask Atka to link to it without knowing what could happen."

"Why not ask the Sectoid to do it?" Brad asked.

"Xaver?" Alexia considered for a moment. "Nah. He isn't that bad. Wouldn't put him in danger. Though I could ask him what he knows..."

"You're giving up too easily," Jeanne interrupted. "When we work on psi-related materials, like the mind shields, or this new armor we have in the works, we use a device that simulates psionic energy."

The French woman rushed out, and Brad and Alexia exchanged a look. "Someone is excited," Brad said with a chuckle.

Jeanne ran back in with a large box, a bunch of nobs, antenna, and switches on it. "It is easier to operate then it looks. It uses pure psionic energy, taken from the excess energy siphoned from the Ethereal." She switched it on, and a small screen showed an orange wavelength. She turned a nob, and the screen changed to red, then to purple. "It is based on the device Eva Brea and Yaralria made. It directs psionic energy on each of the different spectrum. We used it to make sure the mind shield didn't protect from, say, an orange psi panic while leaving the user more susceptible to a purple mind control."

"Won't pumping psionic energy into it make it stronger?" Brad asked. "Can't have it suddenly mind controlling people."

"Not by much," Jeanna answered. "And incubators haven't been known to mind control people. At most, it would enhance its precognition, which isn't going to help it escape, and its mind reading, but that is a problem solved by a simple password change."

Alexia grinned, and snatched up the device. "Sounds like a plan."

As she and Jeanne headed out the door, Brad cried out, "Wait! Shouldn't you run this by Vahlen and the Commander?"

Jeanne exchanged a look with Alexia, then shrugged. "Dr. Vahlen has given my full discretion in psionic research, and this technically counts."

Alexia nodded in agreement. "Besides, I'm sure the Commander is busy with the Council and paperwork, Vahlen has her hands full with Dr. Anderson's findings with the plasma weapons, and I'm sure they're both swamped with the second Ethereal in captivity. So..."

She rushed out without another word, Jeanne following her closely. Brad just shrugged, and sat in silence for a few moments, trying to remember what he came in here for.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Watch All, See All: Part Two

"Alright, you are... all... set." Jeanne stepped away from the device, the screen showing a steady purple wave, an antenna pointed towards the incubator. The alien cat's ears perked up, and it opened its eyes. Slowly sitting up, it looked between the two women before it.

"Did it work?" Alexia whispered apprehensively.

"I'm not sure," Jeanne answered. "Why don't you try asking..."

Where is voice?

The two women jumped in surprise. After a moment, Alexia asked, "You... you mean my voice."

Voice inside. Where is voice? Where is master?

Jeanne walked over to the psionic machine. "W-well, you... you don't have a master giving you energy. We are using this machine."

What is machine? The incubator looked at Jeanne, then towards Alexia. You are master? Can one have meat now? It tilted its head. You... are meat?

Alexia let out a nervous chuckle. "Um... no. No, I am not meat. I'm human."

You are human. You are... human meat?

"No... just human. You can't eat humans."

Why?

"Because it's bad to eat humans," Jeanne insisted.

Why bad?

Jeanne sighed. "Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I guess just because it can talk doesn't mean it is intelligent enough to understand us."

"Now who's giving up too easily?" Alexia grinned. She waked up to the cage, and asked, "Tell me, Cubie. Are you meat?"

The Incubator tilted its head. One is not meat. Jie'lo not meat. Not eat Jie'lo.

Alexia looked over at Jeanne. "What's 'Jie'lo'? Think it's his name?"

Jeanne shrugged. "He keeps referring to himself as 'One' though. Maybe Jie'lo is the name of his race, or at least what the Ethereals call him "

Looking back at the small alien, Alexia asked, "Can I eat the Jie'los? Eat Jie'lo meat?"

The incubator's ears drooped a bit. Can... can not eat Jie'lo. Jie'lo not meat. Jie'lo... not meat.

"Okay then." Alexia motioned her hand between the alien and herself. "Jie'lo is not meat, human is not meat. Humans don't eat Jie'los, Jie'los don't eat humans. Understand?"

The incubator slowly nodded. One knows now. Human not meat. But... It drooped its head. Master promise meat. One follow human meat, one watch human meat, one eat human meat. But human... not meat...

"Well, how about this?" Alexia opened a small door on the bottom of the cage, and carefully slid in a small bowl. The Incubator sniffed the contents.

Is meat?

"Um..." Alexia lifted the small can Brigid had brought her. "It says made with real turkey and salmon... no preservatives. So yeah. Is meat."

Is... meat. After a few more sniffs, the alien feline took a bite. Is meat! It took another bite. Is good meat.

"Aw, see?" Alexia grinned at Jeanne. "Progress," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, sure," the French woman responded. "He'd make a wonderful pet as long as you remember to remind him that he isn't allowed to eat you."

"Oh, don't be such a pessimist." Alexia folded her arms. "Wierd how it isn't threatening to kill us, or telling us how much we suck, or whatever else they say."

Jeanne shrugged. "Heard it did just that when we caught it. Could be a trick. Could be it isn't intelligent to have those thoughts." She glanced at the machine. "Or maybe its emotions reflect whoever is linked to it. The machine doesn't have emotions, so..."

Alexia returned the shrug. "Whatever." She leaned down by the cage again. "So, can you give me some information? It is your job, right? To tell your masters things you find out?"

The incubator look up from the licked-clean dish. One does work, one gets meat. One gets meat, one does work.

When it said nothing more, Jeanne muttered, "I think that was a yes."

Alexia nodded. "Can you tell me about your precognition?"

The incubator tilted its head. What is... precognition?

"Umm... what I mean is, how do you see into the future?"

What is future?

"Time... how... how do you see forward in time?" The alien didn't respond, only tilting its head the other way, and Alexia let out a frustrated sigh. She took a moment to think, the reached into her pocket. Pulling out her step-father's lucky dollar, she held it up to the cage. "See this side? This side is heads. And this side is tails. Okay? Heads, tails, heads, tails."

Heads, tails. This one knows. Heads, tails.

"Good. Now, I'm going to spin it on the table. You tell me which side you are going to see, okay?" Alexia glanced at Jeanna. "Can I get a little more juice?"

Jeanne nodded, turning up the power on the machine. Alexia spun the coin, the incubator watching it closely. Is tails, it said before it stopped spinning, and it was right. Alexia repeated the process five more times, and each time, the alien predicted it.

"That. How do you know it is heads or tails before it lands?" Alexia pointed at herself. "I can't see it until it stops. But you see it. How? How do you see it?"

The incubator lowered its head, obviously having a hard time articulating its thoughts with what little intellect it had. One... see all. Watch all. Watch all to see all. See human. See human paw. See headstails. See... see air. Headstails is fast, is heads. Is more fast, is tails. Paw fast, is heads. Air say tails, is tails. Is... I watch, I see.

Alexia frowned. With a sigh, she waved a hand at Jeanne, who shut off the machine. "Well... it was worth a try," she mumbled, pulling the dish from the cage and pouring the rest of the cat food from the can into it.

Jeanne tapped her finger against her lip, thinking. "Well... it was probably just as hard for it to explain what comes natural to it as it was for you to explain the concept of time. But..."

"But?" Alexia slipped the food into the cage, then turned her full attention to her colleague.

"Well, I'm no expert on psionics... though with all the time and research I've put into it, I'm probably the closest you'll come to it, aside from possibly Desmond Walker. But it sounded to me like it was describing a kind of ESP."

Alexia thought for a moment herself. "Hmm... maybe... that's what it meant by watching the air. Maybe it was talking about... um..."

"Energy?" Jeanne offered. "Maybe you were right about it not being true precognition. Maybe it is a really, really good guess."

Alexia sat in a stool. "I'm... not entirely sure I follow."

Trying to think of a way to put her thoughts into words, Jeanne asked, "You... you're familiar with the concept of counting cards, right? Obviously a card counter can't see what the cards will be. But by paying attention, keeping in mind what cards are in a deck, how many decks a dealer is using, what cards have been used, and the probability of the cards they need coming up, they can predict what cards will come up with incredible accuracy."

"Oh, I see." Alexia smiled. "So, like... the incubator is using ESP to... see the coin, the air around it, and my paws... err, hands. And it uses everything it sees to accurately predict things." She smiled at the small alien as it greedily lapped up its 'meat'. "Its a start, right. Hopefully... something Atka could use."

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 & ZombieSplitter53
“Honest Moments”

X-COM Headquarters
Main Rec-Room/Bar
October 3rd, 1200 Hours

Atka leaned back slightly in the booth, having a drink from her glass of water. She remembered the moderate surprise of some that hadn’t seen her in the bar before for ordering just water. Especially these days, it seems like more are turning to alcohol than before. The Major sighed, sitting up straight again and trying to dismiss the troubling thoughts. That isn’t why she came here, anyway.

Jake peeked his head into the room, an odd habit he had whenever he met someone somewhere. Seeing Atka was, indeed, waiting for him, he stepped back, brushed himself off, and walked in, trying to look as confident as he could. He smiled as he reached Atka. “Is, uh… this seat taken?”

“It is. I called you all this way for nothing,” Atka said jokingly. “But in all seriousness, you can sit down.”

Jake did just that, and looked over as one of the bartenders walked over. Glancing at the glass in front of Atka, he said, “I’ll just have some cola for now.” The man nodded, and walked away. Jake folded his hands, and smiled awkwardly, unsure what to say to break the ice.

“Not a fan of alcohol either?” Atka asked, taking another sip from her glass.

Jake chuckled nervously. “Um… no, not really. I don’t hold it against anyone else, I just… I don’t like how it makes me feel.” He bit his lip. “I know that might sound weird, considering a lot of people use it as an escape. But the feeling of inebriation… it just feels wrong to me. So I avoid it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” the Inuit woman replied. “For me...it’s less personal… though I suppose at the same time it is.” Atka shook her head, realizing she was doing a poor job of explaining. “A lot of combat exercises were conducted in northern Canada, usually around Nunavut. When we visited the Inuit towns there, we often found them in poor condition… and there was one major contributing factor.”

“A lot of people there regretted losing the old ways, and lost direction in life. But rather than seek out something better… they would throw themselves into alcoholism, caring about little but the bottle. I know it’s not malicious by whoever sends it there… but I find that it’s something that keeps my people from accomplishing anything. It poisons their spirit, their will to go on,” Atka explained.

Jake sighed. “It’s odd, isn’t it? It is something people drink to make themselves feel better, but if they go too far… if they don’t learn when to stop, it just makes everything worse.” He sat back. “My father was a surgeon. He would tell me horror stories of the operations he’d do on alcoholics and their livers. He knew this guy… great guy, kind, funny. But the hospital only had one liver to give, and they… had to pass him up, because his alcoholism meant giving him the liver would potentially be a waste…”

“We can’t well get rid of it, though,” Atka lamented. “Prohibition showed everyone how poorly that goes. But I just wish things would get better...raising awareness seems to do so little sometimes.”

“Well, hypocrisy doesn’t help.” Jake took his drink from the bartender. “The best thing one can do is practice what they preach. And that’s what you do… and I do, now that I’ve seen what alcohol does to me. So… so here is to showing we don’t need booze to make us feel better by avoiding it ourselves.”

Atka’s expression lightened, and she clinked her glass softly against his. “Sorry to turn the mood sour… I was just trying to think of something to say.”

“No, Atka, it’s fine.” Jake smiled, placing his chin in his hands. “I told you, I like to listen. And I said I want to learn about you, and your people. It…” Jake diverted his eyes. “This might sound corny, but that you’d be so open… means a lot to me.”

The scout smiled. “I appreciate that. It is nice to have someone to talk to about this sort of thing. Is there anything in particular you want to know?”

Jake thought for a moment. “How is your family doing? I see your sister every now and again, but usually while on the clock… so to speak.”

“Nouja is alright, though I get the feeling she is starting to get a little bored,” Atka responded. “Living in the same village and being underground are two different things… though she did complain during winters, too. Mother and father are doing better now that they’re reunited...but I have a feeling that Yaralria will never fully adapt to the...changes they made to her. And none of them have much of a home to return to.”

Jake nodded. “I can imagine. I’ve had to put some thought into that myself. What are they planning right now? Gathering up the survivors and starting over? Or perhaps trying their hand at a city? I mean, I’m sure it was an adjustment for you, but you obviously did fine, right?”

“We might be able to start over, but it would be with so many of our men killed in that raid.” Atka closed her eyes. “It’s funny. I joined the military partially to protect our way of life, but now my tribe might be forced to assimilate anyway.”

“Well, it isn’t like those two things are connected.” Jake gave her an encouraging smile. “Except, of course, for there being members of your tribe to assimilate at all. Don’t forget, you were on that mission in the alien base. I watched the footage from practically every angle. If I remember, you took charge during the heat of it. We lost some people in there, but I know that if it hadn’t been for you, we would have lost a lot more.”

“I am happy to help, of course. It is just painful to lose one of my reasons for fighting,” Atka responded. “Just like we can’t stop the relentless passage of time, it seems like the Inuit are destined to eventually lose their traditional way of life.”

Jake shrugged. “Things change, sure. But there is always a piece of the past, no matter what changes. I haven’t spoken much with your parents, but from what I have, and from what I’ve been told, they are strong, dedicated people. Everyone from your village is. No matter what happens to them, no matter what they have to do to adapt, they’ll manage, and I’m confident… no, I know that they’ll be able to hold on to who they are, and what they were before this damnable war.” He shrunk back a bit, wondering if he was being too forceful.

Atka smiled. “You’re right. Though I think we will all remember fondly the days of the past, even if they cannot be recreated.”

“Those are the best things to remember,” Jake responded with a smile. “People tend to… instinctively cling to bad memories, and they should be remembered if they teach us something. But we should always latch onto those good memories. Times with family. The laughs, the cheers. First encounters, times of bravery.” His smile widened a bit. “Time with dear friends.”

The Inuit woman nodded her assent, and added, “People nearly falling into holes cut in the ice. I’ve never let Kataktaq live that down, even though it was probably Qamut’s fault for making the edges so feeble.”

Jake laughed, an honest laugh of a man enjoying himself. “Well, I can’t put too much grief on him. My father took me out ice fishing once, and… a-and I actually did fall in. Just for a second, but long enough for me to go running back to the cabin like I was on fire.”

“See, you’re lucky, though,” Atka countered with a grin. “If Kataq had actually fallen in, we wouldn’t have had heated rooms to put him in. It would have entailed wrapping him up in whatever furs we could and praying to the Great Spirit to have mercy on him.”

Jake laughed again, wiping away a tear. “Yeah, I guess I was lucky when you put it that way.” He smiled, looking into Atka’s eyes. “You… I… I-I really enjoy talking with you, Atka. You make me smile more then anyone else I’ve ever known.”

“It is mutual. Makes me wonder why I never sought out a relationship before,” Atka responded.

Jake shrugged. “You told me why, remember? Not wanting to be tied down. And I understood. I’m just glad you gave me a chance.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There, uh… there was something I wanted to ask you, but it… it’s kinda awkward…”

“I doubt it can be more awkward than discussing alcoholism. Shoot,” Atka prompted gently.

Jake tapped his fingers on the table nervously. “You… y-you know, the first time I asked this was awkward, because we both were new at… th-then I asked someone who laughed at me for having to ask. Never saw her again. Third slapped me for trying without asking. Obviously never saw her again either. Not that I’m… exactly experienced. I-I think my average dating length before now was… a week at most, um… Atka, can I… would you mind if I gave… if you gave me… uh…”

Atka raised an eyebrow. “It does sound a little odd hearing it like a formal request, not that I mind. It’s very gentlemanly of you.” The Inuit woman leaned over, kissing Jake gently.

Jake lightly touched his lips, smiling. “Wow, I… I guess that was easier… then I probably made it sound with my rambling.”

“I understand why you’d be cautious. The lucky half of having not been in many relationships is having fewer rejections, so you’ve probably had it tougher than me.”

Jake shrugged. “Maybe, but considering who just kissed who, I’m pretty sure I’m the luckier one of us two.”

Atka chuckled. “At this point in time, yes.”

Jake scratched his chin. “Um… so… m-maybe we should get something to eat. I mean… this is a date, right?”

“That would probably be best. We shall get the finest military food in Siberia,” Atka declared.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
The Burden of Guilt: Part One

X-COM Headquarters
Soldier Barracks, Room of Sonya Randolf & Co.
October 3rd, 1400 Hours

Desmond cracked his back as he walked through the soldier barracks with a simple task. He had finally been freed of the shackles of the Med Bay for the time being and he thought he should at least catch up with one of his close friends. Desmond’s hand rapped against the door and he stood at the door, cautiously looking around in case any doctors decided to tail him.

“Just… j-just a minute!” The door slowly opened, and Alice peaked out, wearing a light blue dress in her younger body. “Oh… hello, Desmond. Are you feeling better today?”

“Feeling better? Was I ever sick?” Desmond chuckled. “I am fine though, no worries. I was actually discharged about an hour ago so I thought I would see a couple of friends.”

“Oh, good, um…” Alice looked back into the room. “Um… come on in…” She held the door open, letting Desmond step inside. There was no one else inside, though a light shown from the partially open bathroom at the end of the room.

Desmond leaned against the wall next to the door, not wanting to invade anyone’s privacy. “Let me know when you are done Sunny. Though you make me wait too long and I will die of boredom.” He joked.

Desmond’s response was the sound of dry heaving. Alice bit her lip. “She, uh… she hasn’t been feeling… 100% so to speak…”

“That isn’t good. How long has she been like this?” Desmond asked. “I hope she had the sense to see a doctor.”

“Since the mission in Germany.” Alice looked down. “But she… um…”

Sunny stepped out of the washroom, wiping her mouth with one hand, her eyes with the other. “Oh… h-hi, Desmond. I wish I h-had known you were c-coming. I-I’m a mess, I’m afraid,”

“We are all a mess Sunny.” Desmond stated. He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. “If you need rest I can go. I can always come back.”

“No!” Sunny shook her head, her slightly matted hair waving back and forth. She looked up at him with her glazed, darkened eyes. “Please, I… I’d l-like someone to talk to. S-some… distractions. E-everyone is so busy… I-I can’t b-bother them…”

“Well then bother me all you want.” Desmond told the engineer as he led her to the bed. “What would you like to talk about?”

“Sunny,” Alice half-whispered. “You should…”

“A-are you feeling better, Desmond,” Sunny quickly asked, looking him up and down. “A-are you in any pain? Is you a-arm working alright?”

“My arm is fine, and I am feeling alright. How are you?” Desmond persisted.

“I’m fine, I just… I’m j-just… a little… sniffly,” Sunny insisted. Alice squeezed her fist shut, her expression an odd mix of concern and annoyance.

Desmond noticed Alice’s expression and looked back at Sunny. “Come on, we are alone and if you worry Alice too much more her body might explode.” Desmond tried to lighten the mood, though he worried he had darkened it instead.

“I’m… I-I’m okay, r-really…” Sunny’s lip quivered a bit.

Alice stomped her foot. She walked over to Sunny’s bedside, and grabbed a glass of water. “You’re not fine! Stop hiding it! You’re hiding it from Emily! You’re hiding it from Ammelia! And now, you’re trying to hide it from Desmond!”

“M… m-mind your own business! I-if I say I’m fine, then I-I’m..”

“Drink this!” Alice practically shoved the glass into Sunny’s hand. “Go on! If you’re fine, then drink it!” Sunny only looked down at the water, her pale arms shaking.

Desmond put a hand on Sunny’s back. “Sunny, you need to drink. You need to tell me what is going on too. If you want to be stubborn that is fine, but I am betting me and Alice can be a lot more so.”

A few tears dropped from Sunny’s eyes into the glass. She gently placed onto the nightstand, and Alice sighed. “She can’t drink it. She can’t keep anything down. I… I never knew humans were capable of vomiting water.”

Sunny shook her head. “I… I wasn’t prepared for this. I know now that I wasn’t prepared to fight the aliens when I first came here, but I could adapt, safe in the knowledge that they… w-weren’t human. B-but I… I-I wasn’t prepared for this. And, i-in the heat of the moment, I… I-I…”

Desmond looked concerned and he got off the bed and kneeled in front of Sunny. “What? Sunny...tell me what happened!” He urged, holding her arms.

“I.. I-I killed someone…” Sunny looked down at her hands like they were covered in blood. “It a-all happened so fast. Th-the shooting, the… the yelling. I-I didn’t want to, even though they were… s-so I tried suppressing with one of the SHIVs. But… one of them was aim at… a-and I h-had a shot with… I h-had to…”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

The Burden of Guilt: Part Two

Desmond put a hand behind Sunny’s neck and pulled the girl into a hug. Desmond sighed as he rubbed the girl’s back and tried to reassure her. “War affects everyone Sunny. People do things that ordinary people like you should never face. I know it is hard to come to grips with. I have killed my share of things…” Desmond hesitated. “And not all of them were alien.” He stated softly as his grip tightened a bit.

“Does… d-does it go away, Desmond?” Sunny asked through her sobs. “Will the pain ever go away?”

Desmond’s face fell. “No...there is always a pain that will be there.” Desmond pulled away from Sunny and wiped her cheeks. “But it does get better. You will hurt, that much is true but there is always another side to the coin. There is always a brighter side Sunny. You will find it eventually but there is always grief. That is why people here drink, why people try to drown themselves in their relationships. Please Sunny, you are not the one to blame here, no one your age should have to kill. In a perfect world, no one would have to kill anyone but this world isn’t perfect. Far from it.”

Sunny nodded in understanding. “Thank you, Desmond. I… I just wish I could think of those humans we fought as… pure evil. But they fought with everything they had, a-and… fought like people trying to defend their homes. E-everyone keeps insisting they’re traitors, and I… guess they are. But it… doesn’t feel the same as with the aliens…”

“I know how you feel Sunny… more than you know.” Desmond closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “There was a time in Japan, when I had first arrived there that I first killed someone. When I look back now I can barely remember his face, I didn’t even know his name. I killed him, thinking it was a mercy to the other things he would face but later on I learned just how hard a death weighs on a person. And every time I battled with the EXALT clones…” Desmond was silent. “It was like killing a small piece of me over and over. I knew they were mindless, not me, made to kill...but it didn’t make it any more easy to do.”

Sunny sat back on the bed, rubbing her hands nervously. “Then… at least it isn’t just me. I feel so guilty… but I was also afraid it was over nothing. If… killing other people hurts someone as strong as you too, I guess that isn’t the case.”

“You can be as tough as you want but taking another life is no easy thing.” Desmond assured her. He kept a hand on her cheek. “And this doesn’t make you a bad person Sunny. Nobody thinks you are a bad person. You did what you had to do. I don’t look down on you, Alice doesn’t look down on you, nobody does. You are still you in our eyes, no matter what.”

Alice nodded in agreement. “It… I think it’s the opposite, in fact. Obviously, I’m the last person you should ask about humanity. But… but the fact that it has upset you this much, that you feel so guilty, just shows how good a person you are. I’m sure there are people out there that can kill another person like they were… killing an insect. Maybe even people like that here. I’d… I’d rather be by your side then any of theirs, no matter what.”

“See?” Desmond smiled and tilted his head slightly. “Have I ever steered you wrong before?”

Sunny smiled softly, wiping her eyes. “No, I… I guess you haven’t. Th-thank you, Desmond. I… I shouldn’t have tried to hide this. I’m sure Emily and Ammelia will be upset I didn’t tell them either.”

Alice folded her arms. “It isn’t like they’ll hold it against you.”

“I doubt anyone will Sunny. If anything, they can only understand what you mean.”

Sunny nodded. After a few moments, she flung herself forward wrapping her arms around Desmond. “Thank you, Desmond. I… I… thank you…”

Desmond hugged her back. “Anytime kiddo.” Desmond smiled. “You know, I have something to tell you.”

“What’s that?” Sunny asked, and Alice leaned forward, wanting to hear as well.

“I’m getting married, Sunny. I actually came here to let you know.” Desmond told her cheerfully.

“Really!?” Sunny and Alice said together. Sunny smiled widely, and asked, “It is too that sweat doctor, right?”

Desmond nodded. “And you know, I think she actually put in an order to engineering for some rings. Though I don’t know who I can trust with such an important job as that.” Desmond said, his voice very implying.

Sunny nodded in understanding. “You can count on me!”

Alice rubbed her chin. “Oh, so is that way Alexia was asking if I had fancy, ‘wedding-like’ dresses in a size much too small for her?” She smiled. “Guess I should have figured that out.”

Sunny clapped her hands together. “I’ll get those for you right away. I might even have some extra gold laying around. The aliens were experimenting with it, and I should have enough for two rings…”

Desmond smiled. “There is the Sunny I remember.” He rubbed her head like an older brother. “Although Brigid already called dibs on flower girl, there are no little boys on base that I trust so we still need a ring bearer.”

Sunny shrugged. “Well… if you don’t mind a girl doing it, I… wouldn’t mind either…”

“You kidding? Of course I wouldn’t mind you doing it.” He grinned. “You make them, you should be the one to present them.”

Sunny started to say something else, but was interrupted by her own loudly growling stomach. Holding it, she muttered, “I… I guess I haven’t eaten much in days…”

“Come on. We will order you so much ice cream you will drown in it.” He teased. “Besides, I would like a meal other than hospital food that I had to suffer through the past week.”

“Can… I come too?” Alice asked, innocently pointing at herself.

“No, you can stay here and suffer alone.” Desmond stated sternly before he picked Alice up. “Of course you can come you…” Desmond huffed a bit. “You sure are a bit dense, aren’t you?” Desmond chuckled and helped Alice onto his shoulders. “Nice view?”

“The best,” the android answered. Sunny took Desmond’s hand, squeezing it tightly as they walked out.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Contingency Plans

"Found it," War said, handing a device resembling a hard drive to Conquest. "Intact."

"Excellent." Conquest ran his hand over it. "Did anyone look at it?"

War shook his head. "Android attempted to. It could not get past the security."

"Well, they have their secrets, we have ours. It's only fair." The Muton leader pluged the device into one of his ship's salvaged computers. "How are repairs coming along?" he shouted to the back of the room.

"Um... they're coming." Famine walked over, wiping his hands on his side. "Might be faster if short-stuff helped a little more."

Conquest shook his head. "Sorry. Mechanical engineering is your field, weapons and strategy are hers. At least War is here to do the heavy lifting." He let out a satisfying grunt, finding exactly what he was looking for.

War looked over his shoulder and nodded. Famine took a glance as well, but quickly stepped away, shaking his head. "Oh, good. Your doomsday button. Great."

"Don't go soft on my, Famine." Conquest turned towards him. "We've worked on this for three decades, and we're finally close to perfection."

"But you're talking about genocide," Famine insisted.

"And?" Conquest stood up, suddenly angry. "They've done it. War is the last of his people. And both of our people have been altered, neutered, so much, they might as well be extinct. And countless other worlds. Let the punishment fit the crime."

"It is their own hubris that will be their downfall," War added. "The virus only disables their psionic abilities, and only for a short time. That they can not survive without their will keeping them alive is a result of their narrow-minded arrogance."

"And what about the humans?" Famine asked. "I thought they were our best shot at striking back. And they're not doing a half-bad job at it."

"The humans are weak." Conquest sat back down, turning to his computer again. "We are their best bet at winning this war, and yet we are watched wherever we go, denied access to parts of their base, and ordered to request anything we need."

"They'd be crazy not..."

"And yet they allow one of those bulbous headed freaks access to their labs, and one of my fallen comrades to fight with their soldiers. And allow, not one, but two of their greatest enemies to continue to draw breath."

"The first one has provided valuable information, and the second one has the potential..."

"They should not need them for anything!" Conquest slammed his fist on the table. "They are fools to rely on those creatures for anything. They should dispose of them, and lay their corpses on the top of the base as a warning." He turned to Famine again. "And their worse offense is their utter dependence on the Curse."

"Now, hold on a minute." Famine took a step forward. "Soldiers without psionics do their part as much as those with it. And Death has spoken to one of their most experience psionic soldiers, and she has Death thinking that... that perhaps the humans could turn the Curse into something good. And if Death, of all the creatures in the Universe..."

Conquest waved a dismissive hand. "We have been over this time and time again. I am sure the Ethereals thought they could turn it into something good. I'm sure they still believe they are doing good. That is why it is a curse. The humans will likely become just like the Ethereals. We'll have to make sure that doesn't happen, lest this fight start anew with a different enemy."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Famine asked. After several seconds without an answer, he scoffed, and walked off. "Forget it. I'm going to have a conversation with shorty. It would seem the tortured Ethereal is the more rational one now."

Famine stepped out, and Conquest continued to work in silence, War as quiet as he usually was.

 

[Adrammalech]

This is a collaboration between Adrammalech and MarineAvenger.
// NOT SO DIFFERENT //
XCOM Headquarters - Common Areas
Siberia, Russian Federation
October 3rd - 6:52 PM

The four clones walked together through the base, a few wary glances and muttering voices paving their way as they made the occasional trek out of the Legion section of the base. Even though they were official members of XCOM, it sure didn’t feel that way. Chief, Hawke, Bull, and Fox walked into the bar without so much as a glance at anyone and sat at a table in one of the secluded corners.

It wasn’t long before they heard a loud ping from the metal wall behind them, a bent dart clattering across their table. A young Russian woman quickly rushed over, flailing her hands.

“Sorry, sorry!” she said in a panic, reaching over the table. As she grabbed the dart, she looked between the four rapidly. “Hey, are you guys brothers? You look a lot alike…”

This earned a chuckle from Hawke, in which he shook his head and looked at the Russian. “Yes, we are actually. Well, in a sense you could say.” With another chuckle Hawke sat back and looked at the other three. Bull just crossed his arms and Fox seemed to lower in his seat, leaving only Chief to answer. “Clones.” He simply stated.

“Ohhhhh…” Nika said, her eyes affixing to the Legion symbols on their uniforms and then back at them. “Sorry, I don’t spend a lot of time near there. That’s cool though, I’ve never actually met one. Do you want to get a drink with my group or something?” She pointed back at her squad, looking at her oddly.

“Well that’s a first.” Hawke wise cracked.

Chief simply shook his head at his second in command and looked at the group behind Nika. “You sure that is the wisest thing?”

“Of course!” she said loudly, smacking her hands against the table. “We’re on the same team now, right? We should all be hanging out together, all the time!”

“Well if you insist,” Chief responded, waving his hand for the others to follow as he stood up. Hawke quickly followed behind his leader and Bull practically had to pull a nervous Fox out of his chair as the four walked to the table.

On the way to her group, Nika stumbled briefly, balancing herself with a visible effort. Emily pulled her over by the arm, looking towards the others.

“Sorry, she’s bubbly in more ways than one,” Emily said with a smirk as Nika stood beside her.

“Yup!” Nika declared proudly before pointing towards the group of clones. “And I made new friends. Say hi!”

Dallas scratched the back of his neck nervously, trying to overcome the awkwardness caused by his teammate. “Hey guys, how’s it going?”

“As about as well as can be expected. Though we have had a few visitors or welcome here has been very...unwelcoming.” Hawke answered for the group. “Though I am guessing the drunk ones are a small exception.” He added, daring a glance at Nika.

“I’m sure it’s just resistance to change,” Emily smiled, “people are like that. Probably not anything personal.”

“Yeah, Emily loves clones!” Nika replied in her loud fashion. “She met one outside and they got along well!”

Emily pushed Nika towards the bar. “Go get drinks for our new friends. Or go to sleep. Or something.”

“Yes, we are familiar with the confrontation with Nico. To be honest we didn’t care much for him. He was a thug, though at least his others are somewhat useful.” Bull finally spoke up. “Though most are wary of our origins, at least the ones who only know the partial story.”

“What are your origins, if you don’t mind me asking?” Emily replied.

Fox seemed to get even lower in his seat and Chief sighed. “We are the result of cloning from the leader of the corrupted Exalt, Viktor Dorian.” He replied ominously.

“Oh, I see…”

“Just physically, I would assume,” Dallas popped in quickly.

“That is what cloning really is now isn’t it?” Hawke told them. “Just the physical copy.”

“There is no need to be hostile Hawke.” Chief told the sniper.

“We...aren’t bad…” Fox whispered.

After a brief silence, Emily nodded towards Dallas and offered her thoughts. “I’m sure they’re fine. I met a clone of Nico that acted a lot different than the real thing. And if the Commander trusts, then we do too.”

“Yeah,” Dallas said, looking back to the clones with a smile. “Emily’s right, as usual. Although I can see why people would be wary...I’ve read horror stories about that guy. It must be difficult having to share an appearance with him.”

“People can glance and mutter what they want. But we know we better than what they make us out to be. We are brothers, nothing can change that.” Bull told them proudly.

Fox’s eyes were planted on the ground, not so much as looking at anyone else.

“So, what should we call you? I’m guessing not ‘Viktor,’” Emily said curiously.

“I’m Chief. Leader and assault infantry.” The clone said.

“Hawke. Tactical and long range specialist.”

“Bull. Heavy weapons operator.”

Fox was silent but a hand on his shoulder from Bull gave him a bit of a courage booster. “Fox...scout and reconnaissance.”

“I’m Dallas,” the assault said, pointing to himself, and then to Emily. “That’s Emily, the clumsy one is Nika, and the silent one behind me is Sven.”

The aloof sniper took a look towards him, and then went back to being impassive.

“Good to meet you,” Dallas smiled.

“Same.” Chief stated.

“Seems all the good groups come in fours.” Hawke said

“That they do,” Dallas laughed. “So, what do you guys do for fun? I’m sure we can find an activity here that we can all do…”

“Well, when I am not coming up with training regiments or keeping these guys in line, I usually hang out at the gym with Bull or teach Fox.”

“I usually play some cards and read.” Hawke replied as he took a sip of his beer.

“I clean my guns and work out.” Bull simply stated.

“A-and...I...draw.” Fox added softly.

Hawke threw his arm around Fox which made the smaller Elite jump in surprise. “This kid is probably one of the best damn artists you will ever see. He could draw a guy he saw for a split second 50 feet away and still get him in perfect detail.”

Fox didn’t like being put on the spotlight and tried to creep down to avoid being looked at.

“Really?” Dallas said, “You know, Emily can’t draw, but she has a really good memory too.”

“I’d love to see something you made sometime,” Emily smiled warmly towards Fox.

Fox looked between the others but Hawke prevented him from shrinking any further. “Oh no you don’t.” Hawke reached into his pocket and pulled out a pencil and slapped it on the table. “Come on Fox, why don’t you do it now?”

He looked at Hawke and quickly shook his head.

“Oh come on, you can’t hide forever.” He got a pad from the bartender and put it in Fox’s lap. “You can do it.”

Fox picked up the pencil slowly but his hand was shaking slightly. “P-please...I really don’t…”

Hawke’s stare made Fox quickly look away and back at the pad.

“I’d really like to see,” Emily said comfortingly, “I can guarantee it’ll be better than what I can do, unless you really like stick figures.”

As Emily tried to coax Fox out of his shell, Sven nodded towards Hawke. “You play cards? What’s your game?”

“Blackjack mostly. Though I also do Solitaire and Go Fish for the lonely and kids.” Hawke grinned.

“Nice,” Sven said briefly.

“Sven is our resident card champion, especially with poker,” Dallas explained. “At least before he got beat by…”

Nika slumped into a seat next to them, dropping a waiter’s disc full of drinks onto the table, one of them already empty. She dropped her head into her arms and sighed tiredly.

“I never got beat...fairly,” Sven noted.

“Hm, I can only imagine why you got beat by her.” Hawke teased Sven with a cocky smile and a new beer in hand.

“She became psychic,” he grumbled.

“Excuses, excuses.”

Fox was hard at work at his drawing on the pad just to get everyone off his back and the pencil glided across the pad with great speed. Everyone stared at him with amazement, even some guys from another table. Just as the pencil tip became a nub, Fox threw the pencil on the table and handed the pad to Emily. On it, Sven, Nika, Dallas and her were all drawn, the details almost exact, as if the four of them were captured in a perfect scene. “There you go…” The artist said.

After showing it to everyone, Emily put her hand on Fox’s shoulder, hoping to raise his confidence again. “This is incredible work, Fox,” she said with sincerity. The rest of her squad gave nods of agreement, temporarily distracted from their banter.

Fox smiled slightly but he sighed as well, still a little bit uncomfortable being the center of attention. “It-it’s nothing.”

“Really, it’s great. You should be proud.”

“I think we have emotionally scarred the poor kid enough.” Hawke told the table. “So Sven, with the girl out of it, how about a game?” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a deck. “I always keep it close by.”

“If you’re looking to get humbled, I’d be glad to oblige,” Sven said with a confident grin.

“I’ll play too, if only to keep you two friendly,” Dallas gave the sniper a nudge.

“I’m in too,” Emily said, keeping a comforting hand on Fox.

“No psychics!” Sven snapped.

“I’m not even the right color for that.”

“Meh,” he grumbled.

Hawke smirked. “Come on, you afraid of psychics or afraid of losing?”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” he scoffed. “Let’s do it.”

 

[BMPixy]

Collaboration between ZombieSplitter53 and BMPixy
“The Adversary Below”
X-COM Headquarters
Alien Containment Facility
Housing Cell of Ethereal “Avaritia”

With a loud ‘pop’, Avaritia finally thinned out the last dent on his helmet. With no tools to work with and precious little energy to spare for his telekinesis, it had been a slow process, but now at least he could wear the mask without it pushing into one of his bruises.

And just in time, too, as with a pneumatic hiss, the door to the holding cell slid apart, allowing two of the Legion troopers through, followed closely by Albert Foulke. With carefully measured steps, he made his way to the control panel at the edge of the containment cell, settling into an at ease posture in front of the console.

Glancing back without turning too much, Avaritia noted the soldier. He quickly slipped his mask back on, locking it in place, and turned to face his guest.

Aw. The valiant hero of the hour comes to visit his pitiful, captured enemy. It is good to see you, my brave soldier. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I caught your name between the deceptions and the beating.

“Albert Foulke, if you insist upon knowing this humble warrior’s name,” the Amero-Anglican replied, deciding the best counter for sarcasm was more sarcasm. “It warms my heart to know that you were expecting a visit from one who has wronged you as much as I. I trust your accommodations have been to your standards, milord Avaritia?”

Oh, sure. How could I not love being shoved in a cell by a man that beat me with the old ‘my fingers were crossed’ trick. I suppose it was my fault, though. I thought better of your people, that I honestly didn’t see it coming. Pride was my enemy too, though not as much as those fists of yours. I do hope you didn’t bloody a knuckle for my sake.

“No, merely dislocated a finger due to some sloppy technique.” Albert shrugged slightly. “But in regards to that first matter, perhaps you should have spent more time absorbing our culture and history. Tell me Avaritia, have you ever heard the story of the Trojan Horse?”

Yes, I… I believe I did. One of my closest aids was from Greece. Though… no… no, I must give you honest praise. While I felt I was fair with you and your soldiers, I should have expected such deception. Whatever the reason, whatever I might think, the victory was yours. Kuddos, I believe would be the expression here. The Ethereal slowly clapped his hands, clapping them out of sync to give the illusion of multiple people applauding.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel much like a victory,” the human said, letting a drop of sincerity into his voice. “Five of our own dead, one locked in her room and refusing visitors, and last I heard our SHIV pilot was barely recovering from having to fight those of our own in your service. Quite a large portion of my mind agrees with what you said back at your base, that I should have ended you there. So, Avaritia, I need you to tell me…” Albert paused for a second, gathering his words. “Was it worth it? Is your life equal to the five of ours and the fifteen of yours that died?”

The Ethereal fell silent for a moment, as if contemplating his answer. Finally, his shoulder sagged a bit. I… I am not as formal as my brethren, much to their… irritation. So I’ll cut the crap. I am your enemy, and you mine, so you have no reason to believe this. But I’ll say it anyway. It… was nothing personal. We were two commanding officers on opposite sides. I had no hatred for you or your kind. And while I am not eager to die, I would have rather been killed then captured, yes. And not only for reasons of pride.

“And what makes you say that you’re worth the price?” Albert leaned over the console, staring intently into the Ethereal’s mask. “What makes you so certain that the lives of twenty people cannot match what you’ll do with the remainder of yours?”

Perhaps they could have, Mr. Foulke. I am not so… blind as to think they couldn’t have. All I can say is… I had work to do. I couldn’t die, at least not without a fight. Though I will say, you are being a bit unfair, are you not. Avaritia leaned down. I did not force those men to fight for me. Surely, you encountered a number of non-combatants. The human soldiers you encountered had a choice to join them in hiding or fight. They chose to fight, and die, for me. And I did not appreciate you breaking into my home and killing my men, I can tell you that.

Albert’s brow furrowed as he locked gazes with where he believed the aliens eyes were. “Y’know, since we’re being so honest here, let me tell you a little something about myself. I had a younger brother. Smart, could be a little quiet and depressive, but he was a good man through and through. Hated seeing people suffer. Then, one day, we’re doing an operation in Syria, about seven or eight months ago now, Thin Men ambush his squad. Hundred percent casualties, because hey, they aren't expecting fucking aliens.” At that statement Albert pounded his fist slightly into the console.

“So, when you say that it isn't personal, I disagree. For me, it is very, very personal.” Albert leaned back slightly, letting out a gentle sigh. “And you don’t get to say shit about giving them a choice. You’d been lying to and manipulating their loyalties, indoctrinating them. Of course some of them are going to be a bit more fanatical about protecting their beloved leader, and take up arms. That’s human nature. But you’re the one who put them in that position, and nothing grinds my gears more than somebody who puts people in those kinds of situations and puts the blame on them for being in it.”

Avaritia starred forward for a moment. After what seemed like forever, he nodded. You’re… right, Mr. Foulke.

“Damn right I am,” Albert replied. “So, now I have to ask: what are you going to do to make up for all the lives you snuffed out, directly or indirectly so? How are you going to atone for your sins, Greed?”

I have lost everything I had. My base is yours, my people are dead. I have lost everything I have worked to gain. As I have been told, these nodes in my cell psiphon my energy to power the shield that keeps my own kind out. I have been denied an honorable combat death, and my very life now puts in danger someone I care about. I have even been forced to do what I can to turn what few allies I have left against me so they might not suffer for my sake. I have nothing less to give, Mr. Foulke.

“You forget the two most important things you carry. The first: your mind, filled to the brim with information on the nature and forces of your allies.” Albert crossed his arms, stepping back slightly from the console. “The second is your complete and utter co-operation. Combined, those two things could help end this war. Right now I’d say we have a pretty merciful Commander. She’s willing to take in whatever forces she needs to win this war, but she isn’t cruel or excessive, as you can see by the fact that only a few of us have embraced the machine or the modification of our DNA. Should the war end while she lives, your kind might get off lighter than if someone like, say, me, was in charge.”

Avaritia folded his arms. Then I guess I am lucky my fate is not under your discretion. I will do what I can to cooperate, if for no other reason but to keep my friend alive. But I can not directly betray my people. I would ask that you not ask me to do something that you, yourself, would not be willing to do.

Albert nodded slowly, taking in the Ethereal’s words. “Alright, I understand. But, I have a question for you. Who comes first: your people, or your friend? Should your friend be under the threat of death from your kin, would you choose their life or your loyalty?”

 

[BMPixy]

I… I-I… Avaritia turned his back to Albert. Your cruelty shines brighter still, to ask me such a question. I… if… if I had to betray my kind to protect her from you, I would not do it. To do so would destroy what little honor she had left. But, if it were my own kind putting me in that position, I… I would tell them to go to hell. I would hope that you would do the same… to protect your brother, were he still with you.

“Yeah, I’d do the same for him, and for my wife, and probably a couple other people I could name,” Albert replied. He paused for a moment, thinking, and then said offhandedly, “And if by any chance you want to start on that whole co-operation thing, I have a question I’d like answered, just something personal. What’s your boss like? Are they some overlord-type, or what?”

As I understand it, Luxuria has a little… question exchange thing going for her. I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. I’ll even extend an olive branch and answer yours first.

With a shrug, Albert said, “Eh, sure, I’ll go for that, so long as it doesn’t compromise XCOM security of course. Can’t be betraying my people when you say you won’t betray yours.”

Of course. To answer your question, our society is largely based on power. All Ethereals are equal, but those who are closer to the Gift are given more authority to make decisions. Though we do have our democratic side, our people have been traveling the stars for so long, spreading the Path to all we can, we become something of a military society. As such, there is a basic command structure. As for my boss personally… he’s alright. Kinda a stick in the mud, but not that bad. He’s willing to go farther than I to spread our message, but he never seems vindictive about. If anything, it’s… a little creepy.

“So, in short, he’s the Ethereal equivalent to that small town priest who executes all the tenets of their fanatical religion, both the good and the bad, because that’s the kind of vibe I’m getting from what you’re saying,” Albert replied, scratching his neck slightly.

Avaritia folded his arms. I suppose. I don’t love or hate the guy, and I follow my orders. But that doesn't mean I like them. There is a reason humans work with me, not for me. The idea of superiority seems to be engraved in my people, but even so, I still supported the idea of a more diplomatic approach. I guess if I took my job more ‘serious’, I’d have more say. Story of my life… and that is saying something, when you’ve been around as long as I have.

“Essentially you’re saying that this entire war could have been averted, my brother would be alive, and I’d be retired at home,” Albert paused, stressing the next few words, “if you didn't slack off at work.” The man stared at the Ethereal with an incredulous look, trying to come to terms with this revelation.

Avaritia’s arms dropped. I never said I slacked off. I simply took too much of an interest in the worlds we went to, including this one, and that bothered my superiors. Surely, you aren't putting all the blame of this war on my shoulders, because if my boss didn't think my opinion couldn't be trusted, it would be because I didn't care about your people enough to care what happens to them. I was hoping we were being more civil here, Mr. Foulke.

“Right, whatever,” Albert said, waving his hand dismissively. “I apologize for making that assumption, my mind simply began jumping to conclusions without checking if there was a path to it. Regardless, I haven’t heard your question yet.”

It is… also of a personal nature. I would like to know what condition Konstantina is in, if you know.

Albert scratched his chin, thinking. “I haven’t been by that area recently, but from what I recall she is healing fine from the injury, and predictably hates your guts from what I could tell from her tone on the Skyranger ride back from your base. As for what she was saying about you exactly, it’s Greek to me.”

I can imagine it wasn’t flattering. But it is better this way. I can’t have her attempting something foolish again for my sake. I would… thank you for holding your fire on her.

“I was just doing my job. She was, at that point, an unarmed, distressed civvie that was posing no danger to us. As a rule of thumb, we’re generally trained not to shoot those,” Albert replied.

Still… please make sure she avoids speaking with soldiers about me, if you would. If she were to learn the truth of my powers, she might become unreasonable. And please don’t be too harsh on her. I picked her up off the streets, mostly as someone who would easily follow my orders, I’ll admit. But I came to grow fond of her.

“Well, so long as that fondness remains chaste, I’ll keep an eye on her,” Albert said. He paused for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what about the ‘truth of your powers’? Were you hiding something back there?”

Avaritia thought for a moment, then waved his left hands dismissively. It does not matter. You likely would think I was lying anyway.

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the more that somebody insists that they are not to be believed, the more reason you should have for believing them,” the Amero-Anglican commented, leaning forward slightly. “So, how ‘bout it? You answer my question, I answer one of yours. We had a deal, no?”

Avaritia shrugged. It is also a matter of pride, I suppose. Most Ethereals are skilled in purple psionics to some degree, no matter what color they call home. I… am not. I have very little control of purple psionics. I… can’t use mind control as most of the rest of my people can.

“Well, I guess that’s the price you pay for the flaming rift.” Albert rubbed his chin for a moment, then furrowed his brow and added, “So wait, you were lying about controlling her kid to control her? Huh, that would be disastrous if that got out, all those people who thought you were some massive asshole would realize that wasn’t the case, and rally to your side. It’d be anarchy...”

Indeed. You were right about one thing, Albert. It was likely wrong of me to turn humans to my side, regardless of my intentions. Better they despise me then cause you any trouble.

“Yeah... “ Albert replied distractedly, inner conflict written upon his face. To think that one of them could care so much, and be willing to sacrifice what little reputation he was left, for us humans, he thought. I want to believe this is a trick, but the words ring of honesty… Shaking his head to dismiss the thoughts, Albert said, “You answered my question. Name yours.”

Avaritia tapped his side, trying to think of a question to ask. For the time being, I have but one more question for you, though you are free to ask me more. As before, it is simply a personal question. My… tank... Or your tank, I suppose. What happened to it?

“The Leopard we destroyed, mostly for the fact that it was trying to kill us, and the Maus and other vehicles in your base were recovered and are in storage either awaiting study or being returned to their home nations,” Albert replied.

Hmm… such a shame. You know, in order to get that Maus, I had to trade Acadia three of my best fighters and three of my best Jie’los. But I loved that thing. That is why I left it unaltered, and punished anyone who tried to change it. I only hope you take good care of it…

“Last I heard the Russians were arranging to pick it up in the next week or two,” Albert commented. “Though I guess some things are universal between our people: a love of big, impractical war machines. Seriously, there’s a reason there was only two.”

Shaking his head, Albert added, “Anyways, it seems we’re both out of questions. This has certainly been an enlightening discussion, Avaritia. Perhaps I might come by for another visit, some time.”

That might be interesting. Aside from our disagreements… our angry words… and our differences, I doubt I will have many visitors that were a civil as you were.

“Yeah, and for an Ethereal, I’d say you are not too terrible of a person,” Albert replied. “And with that, I’ll should probably get going before I start talking about the peaceful integration of humanity into your empire,” he added rubbing his forehead. With that, he turned and began making his way for the exit, the Legion troopers following close behind.

That is probably for the best, Mr. Foulke. The Ethereal turned his back to the exiting soldier. Whatever she might do, be happy to have a decent Commander. Sure beats working for a bunch of assholes with one too many sticks up their collective asses…

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
"Uneasy Introductions: Part One"

X-COM Headquarters
Soldier Barracks, Room of Ammelia, Alice, & Co.
Oct. 3rd, 2200 Hours

Alice did a small twirl, the bottom of her long, red dress frilling a bit. “So… how do I look?” she asked, motioning down to her fully repaired and restored adult body. “Better then ever, I hope.”

Ammelia smiled brightly, looking the dress up and down, “I love it, you look wonderful in a dress!”

Mary quickly looked up when Alice spoke, obviously not asleep but signalling that she was uninterested, “‘Yeh ‘et’s ‘ice ‘eh guess...”

Alice rose an eyebrow, not used to such a mood in Mary, especially when it came to such things. “Thanks, um… is everything okay, Mary? Are you feeling down?”

“Neh’ ‘eally” Mary replied, “‘Resses je’ ‘ent meh’ thing. If ye’ ‘ant meh’ ‘vice, cut th’ V ‘lil deeper, ‘ore tits ne’er ‘urt.” She smirked.

Alice looked down at her dress. “Hmm… I have another dress that is a little more revealing, if you think that would work.” She reached into the small wardrobe by her bed, pulling out the dress in question “Like this one?”

“‘Uch ‘etter!” The gunner responded.

Ammelia looked over to her sister and then back at Alice, “I liked the first one better, it made you look more like the Alice you were named after.” She replied, obviously not noting the color of the original dress.

“Why thank you, Ammelia. That is really sweet.” Alice bowed her head to the sniper, but looked at the mirror in the wardrobe, moving the new dress over herself and wondering. Her thought were interupted by a knock at the door. “One sec.” She quickly walked over to it. Upon opening it, she let out a loud yelp, a tall humanoid with reptilian skin and a big smile on the other side.”

“Hello,” Famine said.

Ammelia and her sister’s eyes both widened. “Eh’... ‘Ello...” Mary spoke slowly, unsure of the creature at the door.

Famine suddenly barged into the room, nearly tackling the android as he did. He lifted her arm, examined her skin, and ran his hands through her hair. “Oh, I was hoping I’d find you again. Our first meeting was too brief, my dear. So amazing. Your hair, it’s so real, what is it made of? Can I see your schematics? Probably not, I’m sure. How much can you lift? What is your processing power? What is your power source. Oh, if I could just… examine that brain of yours…”

Alice shuddered as Famine examined her up and down, looking towards her friends for assistance.

Ammelia stood up and glared at the Thin Man, “What do you think you’re doing? Did she she say you could touch her?”

Famine looked up at Ammelia, then down at Alice, worry on the androids face. He released her, and rubbed his hands together nervously. “Oh, I, uh… I…”

“Apologies. He has a taste for new tech, and only got excited over the prospect of learning all her could about your mechanized friend.” Two Alice and Mary, a woman in her early twenties stepped into the room behind Famine. The illusion was not visible to Ammelia, however, and she only saw a small figure in a cloak, floating a few inches off the ground.

Ammelia took a few steps backs as the cloaked figure entered the room, “W-what are you?”

Mary tilted her head in her sister’s direction, “‘Eh ‘irl?”

Death tilted her head slightly, and looked Ammelia up and down. “Can you… see through my illusion? I don’t sense any psionic energy coming from you.”

“I-Illusion?” The sniper replied, “You’re a psion?”

“‘Ew she ‘as te’ ‘ood te’ be true.” Mary muttered, looking back over at the ‘fake’ girl.

Death dropped the illusion, it being pointless with someone capable of seeing through it. I apologize, my dear. I meant no deception. Despite how much my associate stands out, people look at me with even more suspicion, and hatred. Thus, the disguise.

“So… Y-You’re that e-ethereal that arrived on base? The one from the crashed UFO?” Ammy asked, trying to contain her fear.

Death bowed her head. Yes. I apologize for any pains you have gone through in this ordeal. I have little doubt that my… ‘people’ have put your through great pains. It is all to evident to me. Please know, I do not condone it in the least. Your pains are just added to the list of things I wish to make them pay for.

“Please… Forgive me if I don’t instantly believe you…” Ammelia spoke, hoping that the things Death said were true.

“Se’, yer’ a ‘thereal?” Mary said with a tone of disbelief, “‘Ent ye’ ‘eh ‘ittle short?”

Famine snickered a bit, and Death slowly turned her head towards him, though that only made him snicker louder. Y… y-yes, I suppose, by their standards. But I can assure you, I am at the appropriate height for my age.

“Se’ yer’ ‘ike eh’ kid?” Mary asked.

I… I am not a child. I’ll have you know, I am two cycles in age.

“Two ‘ear ‘eld ‘ounds ‘ike ‘eh ‘ild te’ me.” The gunner responded.

Death squeezed her fists. N-no, I… it… it is nearly twenty-five in Earth years.

Famine leaned closer to Mary, only half-whispering, “Which is still pretty young in Ethereal years.”

I am NOT a child!

“Okay, okay, geez,” Famine said with a grin. “No need to act so… childish.”

“Stop, we don’t need to make it angry.” Ammelia cut in.

“‘Em net’ try’in te’, je’ ask’in questions.” Mary replied in a way that made it hard to tell whether she was serious or not.

Excuse me… human. Death folded her arms as she looked at Ammelia. But I am not an ‘it’. I am female, just as much as you are, and whatever your grievances with the rest of my race, please do not forget that they are my enemy.

“I wasn’t aware that you were female, it’s not exactly easy to tell through that cloak… Ethereal…” She responded, mimicking what Death had said to her.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

"Uneasy Introductions: Part Two"

Death slowly unfolded her arms. I… must apologize again. I am not used to speaking with other, particularly humans, and many have been quite hostile to me. I must have mistook your words as aggressive. It is not my intent to make enemies here. Famine watched Ammelia with worried eyes, wondering if Death was as mistaken as she thought.

“At least you’re polite, unlike all of the other Ethereals we’ve met.”

Th… thank you…

Alice rubbed her neck. “Ammelia’s… a really sweet person. Kind to everyone she meets. She’s just had a bad experience with psionics… that has made her wary…”

Of course. I understand. Death slowly pulled her cloak back, revealing a youthful Ethereal head, her skin a light black, some obvious faded scars here and there. “I… have come to learn to accept what people think of me,” she said in a raspy voice. “It is the burden of my birth. Of my association with those monster. But I didn’t ask for my powers. I didn’t ask to be one of them.” She looked down. “I did not… ask to be born…”

“That… Reminds me of a friend of mine…” Ammy replied, look down slightly, “You understand why I still don’t completely believe you but… That sounded very genuine… I’ll try to give you the benefit of the doubt, despite my... past experiences…”

Death nodded. “Thank you. I am… used to having to prove myself to others. And I am willing to work on it. If there is something I could do to ease your burden, I would.” She pulled her cloak back up, obscuring her face again. I am learning fast that some misconceptions I might have had about humans are false. You have your faults, but you are a good people. You do not deserve to have such a terrible force burden you so. And I shall do what I can to assist you in dispelling them… or destroying, if need be.

Mary spoke up as soon as she was done, “‘Ef yer’ ‘eally ‘en our ‘ide, ‘ould ye’ ‘gree te’ ‘ave some of ‘yer ‘ower drained te’ prove te’ ‘eople ‘at ye’ ‘ean us no ‘arm?”

Famine scratched his head. “She… what?”

She is suggesting I have some of my energy drained. Death looked down at her hand, a faint black aura emanating from it. I… have dubbed these powers a curse, but I’ve used them for so long. To purposely weaken them… She shook her head. But I am a guest here, and I have no need of them except in a fight. If it would ease people’s minds… She looked up at Ammela. If it would help prove I can be trusted, then I would have to agree to it. I… I will talk to one of the engineers in doing just that.

“We are expecting to be attacked soon... “ Ammelia took a second to think, “If you can help defend us from Exalt, that would be even more evidence that you are on our side… We also know that you need your psionics to keep your body alive… Would something like twenty-five percent be acceptable?”

One of the very few benefits of this body is it is not quite as reliant on my psionics as the others are. Death bowed her head towards Ammelia. Twenty-five percent would work quite well.

After a fews seconds Ammelia bowed back, “You’re well on your way to earning my trust… uh… I just realized that I never asked your name.”

I am afraid that is something I too neglected. Your people, referring to us as ‘the Four Horsemen’, refer to me as Death. You may call me this, if you wish, though I… suppose it is not the best name when trying to prove my trust worthiness.

“I suppose it’s because of the cloak, the personification of death in our society is often depicted as a skeleton wearing a black cloak.” The blonde soldier replied.

The young Ethereal cautiously extended her hand. It… is not a name I have used a lot, or for a long time. But my name is… Jan’tiala…

“Well Jan’tiala… I look forward to being your ally, with your help we’ll finally remove these invaders from our planet for good.” Ammelia said, smiling slightly but deciding to keep her distance. The psionic alien lowered her hand, but a nod said she didn't hold it against the cautious woman.

Mary looked between the two of them. Jan’tiala… I’m not even going to try to pronounce that...

 

[Adrammalech]

// ACCUSATION //
Emily Fischer
XCOM Headquarters – Common Area
Siberia, Russian Federation
October 3, 2018 - 10:35 PM

Emily groaned in exasperation at the soldier sitting across from her, their conversation beginning to loop for the third time. Dallas knocked over one of the several empties left over from their card game with the clone squad led by Chief, the three or four he had drank serving to tire him more than buzz him.

“So, you didn’t sleep with him?”

“No, for the thousandth time,” Emily sighed. “I'm being upfront with you. He was my first kiss, that’s all.”

“I guess that’s fine,” Dallas said tiredly, nudging over a couple of beer bottles. “Sorry.”

“So you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you, Emily,” he said softly, rubbing his head. “I just don’t understand your life, your old life. You lived with a boy when you were a kid, that’s so weird.”

“It was weird, but it was innocent,” she noted, looking away from him.

“I should…talk about this when I’m more awake.”

“Why don’t we adjourn to our usual spot?” she smiled.

“I’m not in the mood…I think I just want to sleep…”

Emily huffed, opening her mouth to persuade him more before being interrupted. Nika jumped over the small divider between booths, wrapping her hands around Emily’s neck.

“Emily,” she whined, “how come you don’t drink with us, you’re so boring…”

“Alright, I should’ve put you to bed a long time ago,” Emily replied, scooting out from the warm indention in her seat.

“No.”

“Yes, come on, bedtime for you.”

Emily corralled the remainder of her carousing group, pulling them over to the door. With a little of resistance from Nika, she got her back into their room, and they each slumped into their beds. Sven was the only one she didn’t have to pull back, the soldier turning in much sooner after the card game. Kieran was reclining on his bunk, making a half-start as they walked in, but deciding it would be too condescending to help everyone into bed. She gave Dallas a kiss and walked over to her own bunk, leaning against the post and wiping her brow.

“Looks like everyone had fun,” Kieran smiled.

“Yeah, maybe a bit too much…I’d stop them, but facing hell on earth creates a thirst I can understand.”

“Yeah, I get it. Never touched the stuff though,” he responded, flipping a page of the German-titled book in his hands.

“Really? Most people I met at sea loved it. Just to pass the time, or seem like adults at least.”

“Mmhmm, I noticed that,” he nodded, “but I dodged it when it was brought to me. Then on the streets, no money, no time for that, you know.”

“All too well…” she sighed, staring at the wall.

Kieran looked towards her, concern breaking on his face the longer the pause went on. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah. Just tired.”

“Get some sleep, hm?”

She jumped into her own bed with a sigh, feeling a little lonely and a little lusty from not being able to cuddle with her lover. She glanced at Kieran, hoping his presence wouldn’t sour her new romance. Despite the anxiety, she chased away her relationship worries and enjoyed more serious thoughts, and sleep came quicker once she did.

----- ---------------------------------- -----​

Emily Fischer
The Dreamscape

Emily sat still and calm, thinking calmly as her dreamscape emerged, deep in her present thoughts rather than her memories. Her emotions rose up in sobriety, a gallery of reactions and feelings ready to be sorted and judged upon. She felt pride and trepidation about what she did with Albert, about the second Ethereal now locked inside their walls. She considered a world where humans and Ethereals could work together without experiments or holding cells, and wondered what it would look like.

Scooting back her chair, she cleared a table and visualized it. Earth free of wars and radicalism, overpopulation, and climate concerns. The arcologies like the ones below her sprung up next to traditional condos and townhouses, oddly named science bunkers shaping next to corporate headquarters. Her shoulders slumped as she finished her creation, sighing sadly at the improbability of it. If wars can’t be stopped on Earth, how would they be stopped in a galaxy? Still, it was a fun exercise to soothe her mind after a somewhat stressful night.

Hm. So it is true.

Elene walked into her dreamscape, holding an XCOM clipboard much like the one she saw when Aya visited her barracks a few days before. She took a look around and jotted a note down, then looked towards Emily. There was something off about her her voice, as if it was being imitated, and she was unsure if the projection she was looking at was the made by the real thing, or something else.

What are you doing here?

Inspection. Morrigan put me in charge of ensuring everyone’s loyalty. Elene grinned. I thought of you first.

This is my personal space, get out of here!

No, I don’t think I will. I thought I’d have to go through your things and question your friends, but all I had to do was probe your mind. Your brain is literally part Ethereal. She chuckled. Once I tell Morrigan, the prisoners will be flushed as they deserve, and you’ll be out…or dead.

You're lying. Dallas would never let that happen.

You mean your superior officer who you’re sleeping with? He’ll be gone too. Conduct unbecoming.

What about Sybille and the captives? I need to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Acceptable losses.

Emily rushed forwards and tried to hit the clone, but she casually dodged it and walked by her, her smug posture never breaking. Elene stepped forwards and pointed towards the campfire, flinging her finger to the side and sending a ball of fire towards the human-Ethereal model, burning the buildings on it. Emily felt a natural urge and made a pushing motion towards the model, snuffing out the flames with the same kind of power.

Hm, another skill learned from your alien friends? So much knowledge you don’t deserve.

How do you have it?

I don’t, you do.

The Legion representative broke into wisps, and the rising fight-or-flight instinct began to subside. She sighed in relief as she realized the intrusion was her own construct, not an actual invasion of her mind. She slumped down into a chair as she shook off the concern, forgetting about the antagonistic clone as fast as she remembered her. She leaned back and looked at the semi-melted model of alien cooperation with uncertainty. It was bad enough considering how she saw others, but the weight of trying to act as a broker between two worlds was now pressing down on her shoulders.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

“Adapting to the Unforseen”
624 Hektor, Jovian L4 Lagrangian Point
System Command Center ADFX-01
1254 Universal Coordinated Time

With a gentle whish, the door parted just enough for the Honored Overseer to pass through, into their personal quarters. In the center of the room stood the psionic communications device, ripples gently flowing across the mass of purple energy. The Ethereal took their customary position before the device, and opened up their mind, connecting to the device with a tendril of purple psionic energy.

This one seeks to commune with the Overseers of the planet below, and call them together for an emergency meeting of the Great Minds behind this campaign. May all those who remain find the time to answer this one’s call to communication, the Ethereal thought, projecting the words out into the psionic network.

One by one, the shapes of the remaining Ethereals formed, bowing slightly before the Honored Overseer. As they announced their presence, Superbia looked around the room, in a look of disappointment only apparent on his mask’s expression. As Acadia lazily said her name, Superbia folded his hands together. Three fallen. This is… most unexpected…

Indeed, Desperatio replied, a hint of sadness in their words. In part, the absence of so many of our kin is in part of why this one called this meeting to order, so soon after the last regular session. Not only has Avaritia been stolen away by the primary Resistance, but this one bears even more bad news, courtesy of the Highest One. The vessel that would have brought us several replacement Overseers was sadly lost to a hyper-jump malfunction, and it shall be some time before another vessel arrives from out of system.

Acadia rubbed her hands together nervously. Oh… this is not good. We have other of our kind that can fill in, but I fear that they might not be up for the task. To think, we should be set back by something as… uninspired as a malfunction.

Indeed. Superbia shook his head. I shall look amongst my advisers for the proper replacements, but as the Overseer of Antarctica says, even they may not be fully up to the task.

For this reason, this one advises that we withdraw our forces from those continents that have lost their Overseer, and instead shore up our defenses on those that we can personally direct without spreading our attention too thin. This action leaves a bitter taste in this one’s mouth, but until such a time as we can ensure that our defenses and foundations are solid, it is among the wisest courses of action.

What!? Invidia folded her arms. If we do that, we show weakness. Is it not better to intimidate the X-COM forces by showing that, even with our losses, we still hold strong? I… I mean, leave Europe and Asia in my hands. I can show them what we can do!

And what occurs when X-COM calls our bluff, as the expression goes? The Honored Overseer gazed at Invidia impassively, arms gently folded behind their back. We would be left in an even more disadvantageous position. Recall the words of the Creator of Path:’For though sometimes the Path must loop back upon itself, it is only to allow the travelers a new perspective upon places they have already passed by.’ That is this one’s motivation, to take stock of what we hold, and to determine the best method of using it to forge forward.

I for one don’t want to be caught… what is the human expression? Acadia looked towards Ira. With my… pants… down? Ira only shrugged.

Superbia looked between Invidia and the Honored Overseer. Some… image might be necessary to show that, even should we not be their in full force, we can come back whenever we please. His gaze fixed on Invidia. But the Honored One is right. Surely, you would not be willing to spread all of your personal forces across two additional continents.... only to have the resistance come knocking on your door, would you?

Invidia seemed to scoff, but waved his left hands dismissively. I… I suppose… you have a point. I… I withdraw my protest, on the condition that we leave at least something behind.

With luck, this one has the perfect solution to Invidia’s condition, Desperatio said. This one has spent the past several weeks experimenting, and this one has managed to produce a second generation psionic infiltration unit, using cloned humans as a template, and giving them any necessary modifications to ensure proficiency in their roles. This one already has six prepared and awaiting trials, perhaps this could be used as an opportunity to both test them, and ensure we do not lose total control of our past holdings.

Superbia cautiously turned to face his superior Ethereal. Is that so? What, pray tell, did you have planned for them, exactly? If this One might be so bold to ask.

Infiltration of higher level governmental organizations, false flag operations to incite tensions amongst the New Ones, and other activities that our standard infiltrators cannot perform due to their lack of Gift, and would be risky to place a First One or Jie’lo in the area.

Intriguing. Ira tapped his fingers together. Avaritia spoke of great advances in his work when it came to working with the New Ones. While I do not hold much confidence in those he had already persuaded, the thought of ones that have been bred to follow orders. They all have the gift? And are all completely loyal the the Path, Honored One?

Correct in both cases. Of the first six, there is one of each Color, and their devotion to the Path rivals that of some of our kin. This one can have them deployed within one day, to ensure a smooth transfer of operations from the withdrawing forces to the new ones.

Can… ahem… Acadia lifted a hand half up. If I… may make a suggestion?

Very well, Acadia. What advice do you have to give?

Well… Avaritia hide tidings… had contacts within the European governments. While I agree with Ira that their loyalties should not be taken at full face value, these would likely be the easiest to mold for our purposes. Perhaps the Honored One infiltrators could start… there? If only until they have a grasp on their job, and can be trusted with more difficult work.

The Honored Overseer took a moment to ponder the suggestion, before nodding slightly. A wise course of action, that shall be placed into effect immediately. If there are any more suggestions from the assembled Overseers?

Just one question from me. Inividia ‘stepped’ forth. You have established them as being loyal to you, but how loyal on they to the Path? Or to us, should we run into them and have an order or two?

Their loyalty to the Path is the same level as this One’s. The Honored Overseer let out a sound similar to a sigh, and continued. And they will be willing to assist any of the assembled, should it not undermine their given assignment or risk their lives needlessly. But, it is unlikely that event will occur, given the nature of their roles.

And, of course, as long as they aren’t asked to do anything to directly counter the Honored Overseer’s orders, Superbia added, trying not to make it too obvious he was mainly directing the comment towards Invidia.

If then Overseer of Australia noticed, she didn’t make it known. Well… if there is nothing else of note, I have a lot on my plate right now…

I am sure you do. Superbia folded his arms. My information network tells me you are quite busy. Perhaps with things you should be more willing to share with your colleagues.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Yes, this one would certainly wish to know of the nature of the Overseer of Australia’s operations, due to this one’s recent absences from meetings. Desperatio lifted their upper set of arms from behind their back, and folded them in front of them instead. Perhaps this one should ask for updates from the other Overseers as well, on any operations that were not included in any submitted reports.

Invidia shrugged. I… am not hiding anything, if that is what the Overseer of Africa is implying. I just wished to make certain everything was in place, lest I report on something that falls through due to human error. Which, of course, is always possible with them. I have simply been using my influence to push the resistance known as EXALT into further confrontations with X-COM. This One is sure the Honored Overseer doesn’t appreciate two parties constantly attacking us, simply to take our technology and dissect our minions. EXALT is poised to attack X-COM. Should they fail, that would be one less resistance to worry about. If they fully succeed, there goes X-COM, and we easily sweep up EXALT. And even a partial success could very well drive X-COM into our waiting arms, begging for us to accept their surrender, their base in shambles, their morale shattered upon the ground. It is poetry, really. A beautiful plan, if I might be allowed a bit of boasting.

Hmm, that is certainly a stroke of genius. This one cannot find much fault with the plan, and should it fail in a way that cannot be expected, it still gives us a window of opportunity to withdraw our forces en mass as both sides recover. The Honored Overseer nodded slightly. This one will keep this action in mind should any… opportunities arise in the near future.

Invidia tilted his head ever so slightly towards Superbia, and the Overseer of Africa could only imagine the expressions under that mask. Seemingly oblivious to the silent power struggle, Ira floated forward. This One’s continued efforts to suppress the resistances spread throughout South America have been largely successful. It is quite amazing, though. They have not the access to advanced technology as this X-COM does, and yet they fight with such ferocity. I must admit, it is quite admirable. It almost makes me want to give them all their deserved honorable death on the battlefield, but my research is important, and living samples must be taken.

It seems to be a common thread among the New Ones to resist against impossible odds. But regardless, are there any other side projects and covert operations that should be brought forth into the light?

Actually… For once, Acadia’s tone sounded interested, an indication that her job was likely going well and giving her less to complain about. This one has followed the Honored One’s orders, and our mining efforts are going quite well. The Balmadaar have proven quite useful in this regard, at least with the assistance of heated suit. Well have found many deposits of fossil fuels that have been left undiscovered by the humans, and they should go a long way towards supplementing our energy needs as we wait for shipments of Elerium. In addition, I have tried my hand at an experiment in regards to an earlier statement by the Overseer of South America. I have tried my hands at getting the Jie’los to be more controllable in battle by pairing them with First Ones who are more… relaxed. I am sure the Honored One would be most pleased with the results.

Yes, perhaps this could make the deployment of Jie’lo more viable in areas that would be difficult to place our bipedal infiltrators effectively. This one assumes the experiment was successful, from Acadia’s tone?

Indeed, Honored One. Why, my own personal Jie’lo is completely under my control. No random fits of rage, not insistence on tearing its enemies to shreds.

Perhaps we should employ better training for the Commanding First Ones, Superbia offered. The Jie’los tempers are likely linked to their masters torrents of emotions. Just because they are all clones doesn’t mean they can not be subject to the wrath that comes with battle.

Ira folded his arms, wondering if that was at all a shot at him, but decided it was better left alone.

Very well. Acadia, this one expects your methodology to be shared amongst the assembled as soon as a consistent training method has been established. With that, this one now asks Superbia to disclose anything that has not been mentioned in your reports.

Only that my efforts to persuade the Egyptian government have met with success. They are, for the most part, under our control. However, while things are in my hands for now, I will be open for the assistance of one of the Honored One’s infiltrators, should then need arise. I have also found my share of resources. They are not as plentiful is Acadia’s, I am sure, but they should help. At the very least, they will keep things running for this One for some time.

Very well. Hopefully the abundance of resources will enable a quicker recovery from our losses, and enable quicker and more effective subversion of the nations still within our area of influence. With that, unless there are any additional comments from the assembled, this one wishes to call this meeting to a close.

Each of the Ethereals bowed their heads in turn, signalling they had nothing more to say. As their images disappeared one at a time, there was a notable glance from Invidia towards Superbia before disappearing.

With a gentle nod, Desperatio disconnected themselves from the device, the psionic energy returning to it’s gentle rippling in the absence of outside input. The Ethereal paused for a moment, as if expecting another incoming transmission, before turning and exiting the room.

 

[MarineAvenger]

The Beginning of the End

EXALT Headquarters, Somewhere in the Swiss Alps
1800 Hours, September 3rd, 2018
Overlooking the Hangar...


Viktor breathed in happily as the finishing touches of his master plan were coming together. Black VTOLs lined the hangar with ghastly grim reapers painted on the sides of them, the main vanguard of the EXALT force led by Josephine Rodriquez. Along with them, Logan Wade, leader of the PMC group Viktor had hired was training some of the more promising and experienced clones so that they would be more effective than the crude way Viktor had used.

The leader stood looking over it all, smiling an evil grin as he had a vague sense of accomplishment, but such sentiments would be kept for when victory was theirs. He suddenly felt a chill run through him, as though an invisible force was passing through him. A few moments later, a nearby clone folded his arms, grinning. “It seems everything has come together quite nicely, eh, Viktor?”

“Indeed it has. The rate at which I made them to work was unexpected to say the least. We even had time to develop things thanks to some military contractor that I managed to get on our side. Developed quite the weapon for our underground friends.”

“I see.” The possessed man’s smile dropped a bit. “I hope it was worth the wait. I was expecting the fight to be earlier than this. I can only hope the extra preparation time means you’ll be that much more efficient.”

Though the possessed clones smiled dropped, Viktor’s only widened. “We have more weapons, more men, and more morale than we did before. Believe me when I say it was worth it.”

“Hmph.” The clone turned to Viktor. “I feel a… warning is in order. Quite frankly, I’d usually sit back and watch the fun, but for my plans to work, this is important for you to know.”

“I am all ears.” Viktor said. “Wouldn’t want anything to be left out that would leave us both at a disadvantage.”

“You know what I like about you, Viktor? You’re ruthless. You’re determined, And you don’t let useless sentiment hold you back. You are far closer to my kind then practically any human I have ever met. But these people at X-COM are weak… and pathetic. They have two… TWO of my former associates in combat. I would recommend you avoid them. They likely wouldn’t appreciate your talents like I do, so should you accidently let them free, you’ll regret it.”

Viktor looked back out the window. “I will be sure to avoid these pains then. Maybe we will get lucky and the bombs release them and by the time we arrive, they are already dead.” The man shrugged. “Unlikely and foolhardy to hope for something so childish but still…”

“It is a hope I have all the same.” The clone scoffed. “Weak. To be defeated by these humans. To think I have the most respect for Gula. At least he had the dignity to die by their hands, even if it was likely while sniveling at their feet. They are disgraces to my race.”

“Look on the bright side. You took initiative and now we will do what they were spineless to follow through with. We will bring this world to it’s knees.” The leader of Exalt began to chuckle slightly. “Too bad that you will go after we win. You could have been a great dictator. But alas, it seems that burden falls to me.”

“And I’m sure you’ll suffer so,” the clone returned with a smirk. “After all, when the world is yours, do you even know what you’ll do with that power. You might even get bored, having no one to subject to your wrath, no one to prove your superiority once you have established your place above them. I almost feel sorry for you.”

“Oh I am sure that time will come.” Viktor just shrugged. “But then again...some people just want to see the world burn.”

“You have no idea.” The clone gave Viktor an exaggerated bow. “I wish you good hunting, then. Remember, leave no trace of them. I only hope you manage to destroy that blasted shield generator of theirs, so I might watch in person. But if not, I look forward to watching the smoke rise from the shattered remains of their base.”

“You and me both…” He turned around and headed to his office as the ally departed. “You and me both.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

*A few hours later*

A knock on the door of Viktor’s office indicated the beginning of the end. Viktor shut down his computer and got up, opening the door and walking out with Josephine walking just behind him. “Ships are fueled and ready to go boss. Ordnance was a bit of a pain to load but we got it to happen and the clone pilots you made have gotten past their training.”

“Good. Load up and wait for the order to launch.” Viktor commanded.

The pilot nodded and threw her green jacket on her shoulders as she ran off. Not far down, Logan ran up to Viktor’s side. “Troops are currently gearing up and getting on the transports. ETA for launch is twenty minutes.”

“Are the men ready?”

Logan chuckled. “You hired me for a reason, correct?”

Viktor didn’t respond. The two took the elevator down to the hangar and indeed, the troops were loading up. Clones in varying sizes and colors of armor were either in the middle of loading up on gear, getting on the transports or on them already. Both men put on their own gear and grabbed their weapons, heading for a ship quite larger than the others.

“I will give a message to the troops en-route to the base.” Viktor informed Logan. “You will be by my side at all times unless I say different.”

“You got it boss.” Logan walked off when one of his captains called him over and Viktor rolled his eyes. Boarding the large VTOL he walked to the cockpit and picked up the radio. “This is Viktor Dorian to our bombers. All planes are to launch now and begin phase one of the plan when you are over the base.”

There was a response from the two bombing groups and Viktor smiled. Men loaded up on the VTOL and Viktor looked out the window of the cockpit as the last men loaded up. “Begin the mission.”

Engines hummed to life one after the other as the VTOLs powered up and began to lift off. Viktor’s was the first out and a large group followed behind. Putting a hand to his ear, he sent a message to all the personnel.

“To all EXALT forces, this is Viktor Dorian. As you know we have been at war with XCOM for months. Our cells may have fallen, and our grip may have lessened on this world but know this. We are not beaten. Far from it. On this day, we break down the gates of our enemy and rain hell upon all of them. This is our finest hour, OUR hour of victory. In the words of General Patton, ‘May God have mercy on our enemies, because I won’t.’ Fight hard, and fight to the last man. Fight for the glory of EXALT!”

There was a rush of battle cries over the comms and Viktor smiled a toothy grin. “Set course for Siberia.”

*Hours Later*

Comm silence was finally broken hours into the flight and Viktor put a hand to his ear. “This is Reaper 1-1, we are on approach to the coordinates of the XCOM base. Bombs are ready sir, just give the order.” The pilot informed him.

“Permission granted. Let’s blind them.”

A couple of miles from the underground base, low altitude bombers roared across the sky at full speed, their modified engines giving off little noise as the distance lessened and lessened. All bomb doors opened on the squadron of ten and the thumbs eager on the switches. “This is Reaper 1-1, clusters away.”

The bombs fell from the black planes and fell quickly to the ground, at first parallel to it and then the angle began to decrease. The ordinance blew apart into many small explosives and they peppered the ground, multiple bombs from the ten aircraft covering a large area of the base. Once the bombs stopped falling and their designated area was hit, the bombers sped away at top speed again.

=====

“Sir.” One of the computer techs looked up at Aya, frowning. “Something is wrong. Our sensors outside are… offline.”

“All of them?” Aya looked over the tech’s shoulder. “Could it be a storm or something?”

“I don’t think so. We should be able to pick up something.”

Aya thought for a moment. “Check… for system problems. It… it’s hopefully nothing. But I’m going to get the Commander… just in case…”

=====

Slight ice formed on the high altitude bombers as they sped about 40,000 feet up in the Earth’s stratosphere. The pilots, all wearing face masks were on high alert in case any aliens decided to meet up with them as they neared their target. Calculating drop time, movement of the Earth and adjusting for any slight alterations to the wind were all factors going in to the bombing and it was strenuous work, even though they had computer help

“This is Reaper 2-1, we are nearing optimum target zone. The rain will be coming down any second.” The pilot told the ground forces. Looking back at the crew of the bomber the woman yelled out a command. “Open bomb bay doors!”

“Opening bomb bay doors.” A male voice replied as a whirl sounded to signal the doors opening. When they clanked open, the woman said a silent prayer. “Drop!”

One by one, the bombs dropped and sped on as they accelerated towards the ground. A bombardier called out the number of ordinance dropping and when it was done, the doors closed once more. “Our job is done…”

The bunker busters fell with great velocity as they neared their target, the heavy bombs made specifically to punch through the dirt also loosened by the carpet bomb and literally dig through ground and explode as they neared the base.

As the first bomb made contact with the ground, a loud thump signalling it had hit, more and more followed in it’s wake as thump after thump sounded, and the bombs traveled deeper.

======

Morrigan looked up from her desk, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the ceiling. “What is that?”

Aya shook her head. “I’m not sure… but only one thing comes to mind…”

Morrigan swallowed hard. “Get the refugees and civilian staff to shelter. And get ready for a fight. This might be worse than I thought it would be.”

As the Commander finished her sentence, vibrations shook the base as bomb after bomb went off right above the base top ceilings. The explosions grew closer and closer, also growing in volume as the bunker busters did their job. After around 30 seconds, the explosions stopped, marking the end of the chaos, and the beginning of the fight.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Silicon Past” - Lily Exalt and Poinsettia Dorian, primarily

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1145 Hours, October 4th, 2018
Legion Command Center

Elene tapped the side of her desk absentmindedly, looking over the damage report on Black King. During the fight he had taken quite a beating, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Emma could tell that wasn’t what Elene was thinking about, however. “Elene…” the shadow operative began.

The heiress sighed. “I need to go talk to her. What if I… what if I traumatized her?”

“You only did what was necessary to bury that grudge,” Emma replied. “I did my best to ensure the copy did not see what exactly you did do, or hear it.”

“Still...I ought to check on her.”

Vee stood up from the couch. “Let me do it. Elene, I hate to say it, but she’s gonna be afraid of you, and that unfortunately carries over to Emma, silver hair or not.” A hand on the destroyer’s arm made her turn. “You sure you want to come with me, Lily?”

“She’s practically my twin sister…” was Lily’s response as she looked at Vee intently.

The black-haired clone of Eva sighed. “Alright, you win. Let’s go.” With a shrug, she started heading for the door.

“Promise me you’ll be gentle. I don’t know how fragile she is after all of that,” Elene warned. “It is my fault, but I hope you can fix it…”

Vee turned to return to Elene, and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Look at me, Elene,” she said to the other clone that would not meet her gaze. Elene slowly complied. “Viktor deserved to die in the most horrible way possible. Regardless of whatever lies he filled that poor girl’s head with, he had to die. It’s just up to us to help her now. Nothing is your fault, got it?”

“I...understand,” Elene said slowly, then more quietly, “Thank you, Vee.”

Vee just nodded, and headed out the door with Lily following closeby.

***​

1145 Hours, October 4th, 2018
The Brig

They murdered father. The thought of equal parts hatred and shock ran through the copy of Lily’s mind over and over as she sat in the cell against the corner. The EXALT MEC Trooper had her knees up to her chest, with her mechanized arms resting ontop of them. Why would they do such a thing?

“...tried to kill Avanix, shot Markus, raped Lily!” the murderess had screamed, her actions hidden from the MEC’s eyes.

“The other two were enemies,” Poinsettia reassured herself, rocking back and forth slightly. “She must have been lying about this one called ‘Lily’. Father would never do such a thing…” The clone of Lily closed her eyes, envisioning the happy moments she had shared with Viktor. Reassurances during her mechanization, helping her pick out a hair dye to match her name, encouragement… She had no way of knowing most of these were a lie, implanted memories and biological programming to ensure Poinsettia’s absolute loyalty.

A few tears escaped the clone’s eyes. “T-they’re the real monsters…”

----Distorted Memory #1
“Top of the World”----

The wind blew snow across the Swiss Alps, belying the fact that it wasn’t quite winter yet. Poinsettia closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the small ice crystals pelting her warm jacket and cooling her face. “Don’t you love this place, father?”

Viktor smiled, resting a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Of course. That’s why I picked it out, after all. It feels like the highest place in the world, where we can stand exalted to better humanity.”

Poinsettia suddenly stepped back, reaching her mechanical hands into the snow and balling it up. “Let’s see how well you fare when I have the advantage of not feeling the cold!”

The leader of EXALT chuckled, grabbing some snow on his own, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop one particular ball of snow from colliding with the side of his face. “Oh, it’s on now.”

The MEC Trooper ducked behind an outcropping of rock, securing herself from the man’s barrage of snow. “Wait, how are you using that many at once…” Poinsettia saw a familiar red glow just before a snowball hit her in the shoulder. “Hey, using telekinesis ought to be cheating!”

Viktor merely grinned. “As if you weren’t cheating with the surprise mechanical attack. I have to use every advantage available to me to beat you, Settia.”

“Fine then…” Poinsettia went to create a quick amount of snowballs, and then began chucking them, though she would eventually lose to her father’s telekinesis. Not that she was too sad about that: she had fun, after all.

1200 Hours, October 4th, 2018
The Brig

“Hey,” Vee said, sitting in front of the bars. “Are you listening?”

Poinsettia slowly looked up at the black-haired woman with a blank stare, though hints of distaste were all too obvious to Vee.

Vee rubbed the back of her neck. “Look...I realize you probably hate my guts, but we didn’t do what we did out of malice. We want to help you.”

“By killing my father?” the red-haired cyborg said coldly.

“He hurt a lot of people, you know.”

Poinsettia crossed her arms and refused to look at Vee. “He would never do such a thing. I have no reason to trust an enemy.”

Vee sighed. This isn’t going to be easy… she’s probably programmed to worship him as a god or something for all I know. The destroyer brightened a little when Lily returned with three trays. Two were balanced in the ‘hands’ of a security drone. Vee picked up the third plate and pushed it into Poinsettia’s cell, the food not being horrible nor incredibly appetizing. “Brought you lunch.”

Poinsettia didn’t go to get it. “There is no reason to starve yourself,” Lily offered. The MEC Trooper turned her head at the voice, and her eyes widened. Before her was an exact copy of herself, with brown hair matching Poinsettia’s undyed hue.

“W-who…?” Poinsettia breathed.

“My name is Lily Exalt,” Lily explained. “I believe I am the basis of your DNA. In a manner of speaking, we are sisters.”

Poinsettia eyed her suspiciously. “Then why did father never mention you?”

“He would not mention my existence…” Lily’s arms shook a little. “Considering what he did to me…”

Poinsettia closed her eyes. “You’re lying, too. Father would never do something so horrible.”

Vee got up from her sitting position, slamming a hand against the bars. “Why the fuck would we lie? To discredit him! The bastard’s dead!” Seeing Poinsettia back off, she lowered her hand. “Don’t...insult Lily by acting like she didn’t go through the suffering she did.”

Lily shook her head. “It is understandable. I believe our hypothesis about biological programming in her is indeed correct. You won’t be able to convince her that the way in which she sees Viktor is artificial.” The clone of Lusett faced Poinsettia. “Would you at least tell us your name?”

Poinsettia looked down. “If I do, will you go away?”

“For now, we will leave you be,” Lily acknowledged.

“Poinsettia,” her copy answered.

Lily nodded, and gathered up her and Vee’s food. “We shall take our leave for now. Apologies for frightening you.”

As the two walked off, Poinsettia went back to her posture in the corner, not feeling like eating right now. “They have to be lying…” she mumbled to herself.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Motherboard Dash

X-COM Headquarters
Main Engineering, Lab of Sonya Randolf
October 4th, 0122 Hours

"Quick, put her on the table!" Sunny opened a dozen drawers at once as she searched for everything she could possibly use in the half lit engineering bay. "Um... but her down gently, boot up my computer, and would some please, r-restore full power to engineering!"

The two Legion androids placed Alice down, the android girls eyes blinking in irregular patterns. "Sunny... can't... see... where..."

"You're an engineering, Alice, please, just hush, you'll be fine." Sunny turned Alice's head and pulled half a dozen wires from her neck, connecting all of them to her massive computer. "Just go back to sleep, okay."

As the computer came fully online, Sunny got to work. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she connected to Alice's motherboard. "Oh, God..." Error messages went flying up, many of the main pathways and circuity offline from lack of power or fried from overloading after trying to compensate from the lack of power. "There!" The diagnostic as iffy at best, but it seemed the memory and CPU were still intact. "I... need to make a path... but... not enough time to repair and extract... Legion! Can I barrow your two androids?!"

After a moment, the two androids nodded. Sunny's eyes glowed a faint orange-red as the the robots sudden rushed over, one to the computer, the other Sunny. Their hands better at keeping up with Sunny's mind then her own hands, they worked at near incomprehensible speed, one of them quickly opening up Alice's head and swiftly replacing burnt out circuits in an attempt for the other android to guide Alice's program out of the body and into the computer. "Come on, come on," Sunny muttered, the androids mimicking her. Error, directory not found, go another way. Error, data corrupted, go back a little. Memory loss, just her Spanish, she can relearn that, leave it behind.

The androids moved faster and faster, a clear whining coming from their hands, a pained expression on the face of a girl that had never pushed her technokinesis this far. Systems going ofline, hurry. Main power at 4... no, 3 percent. Almost out. Cut through the back-up hard drive, connect usb cord between these two points, and... GOT IT!

Sunny collapsed to the floor, the two androids doing the same. The girl weakly looked up, wiping some blood from her nose and smiling at the computer, the image of a sleeping blond girl displayed on the screen.

 

[BMPixy]

“Fragile Cargo”
XCOM Headquarters, Medical Bay
October Fourth, 2018
1317 Hours Local Time

Four hours of surgery. Six broken ribs, seven hundred and fifty-three grams of shrapnel and damaged armor extracted from the wounds, punctured right lung, lacerations along the liver and diaphragm, and a shattered right humerus. Even with the quick application of healing psionics and med-sprays and all the wonders of MELD and XCOM’s own medical technology, the expected time to recover was sitting at two to three weeks. There was just simply too much damage over such a concentrated, medically speaking of course, area.

As Holly Summers ruminated on this, she found her mind turning to why exactly she had come to visit this man. After all, with the events of Elegant Castitas, she held no good will to the man laboriously breathing upon the bed in front of her. But still, she felt some sort of tug of loyalty, urging her to come her. A flash of memory reminded her that she too, was once in a similar condition, and that’s where he and her first got to know each other.

To say the two had become fast friends would be a lie, but friends they did become nonetheless, a slightly stronger bond forming than that expected of normal soldiers. Nothing to compare with her bond with Randall of course, she internally reprimanded herself with a quick shake of the head. Still, she trusted his judgment on the battlefield, and he trusted her throwing arm and aim. And, in the end, it was not her who failed him.

Anger quietly seethed in Holly’s breast as the memories came to the fore-front. The look of utter defeat on the troopers’ faces as they slowly exited the Skyranger, missing five of their number, two captives slung over their shoulders and a scared woman and child following one of the SHIVs. Holly had asked what had happened to Randall, but she already knew the answer. The look So Ji gave in response confirmed that fact.

Then she learned the manner of his death: an ambush, a volley of plasma fire, his training kicking in a bit too slowly to avoid his fate. So she blamed the person in charge, somehow miraculously unharmed despite the hell inflicted on those below him. Realizing that was foolish was one gift her night of drunken sorrow gave her, and so she blamed the aliens. But all the aliens responsible were either dead or in holding, either unable to atone or in the process of doing so. Part of Holly wanted to blame Randall for his death, but the rest of her knew that would only lead to more bitterness and regret. So, she turned the blame back upon whom she had first laid it.

The small part of the Engineer that still burned with anger wanted to reach out, disconnect those vital machines, but she dismissed that notion. That man still needed to atone for his failings, and the doctors would arrive all too quickly for him to die. Besides, that wouldn’t bring Randall back.

Holly quickly glanced up at the clock, noting the time. With a mental shrug, she figured it best she leave if she ever wanted to eat with the rest of her crew, perhaps even catch a few more hours sleep after the hectic night before and the clean-up afterwards. Standing from her chair, the Engineer left the sleeping man to whatever dreams filled his mind.

Unknown Location
Unknown Time
Unknown Date
Albert Foulke

Scrambling, I desperately slid out of the way of the oncoming MEC, skidding around a corner in this seemingly endless maze of hall-ways. That implacable behemoth followed at its steady pace, and after a moment of sprinting I could no longer hear the clangs of metal upon the tile floor. I paused, trying to catch my breath with whatever spare moment I could get.

However, the presence behind me indicated that now would not be the time to rest. Slowly I turned, spotting the visage of the four I had betrayed to save one. In a sickening, unholy chorus, they said one word. “Traitor.”

With that, I was sprinting off again, the clanging of the MEC suddenly all too close. Gotta get away. Need to rest. Need to breathe. Need to find something to fend it off, anything! Another turn I barely make, the tile floors ice-like in their lack of traction. Keep steady Al, every second you spend regaining your balance is another second that thing has to catch you!

A minute of frantic scrambling passed, and the MEC was out of earshot. Once more I tried to pause, catch my breath, but then another sound echoed through the halls. Is that... marching feet? Around the corner, over three dozen men and women spilled out, all lined up in perfect formation, all wearing their British Army uniforms. Slowly I began to step backwards away from the horde, as they echoed with one voice one word. “Butcher.”

Again, the tiles pounded under my feet, the fluorescent lighting reflecting off the cold laminate flooring and the simplistic decor. The Goliath slowly lumbered after me, resolute in its calculated pace. Realization dawned upon me, it wasn’t chasing me. It was pursuing me, hunting me down with mechanical precision and calculated coldness. There was no hope of escape.

However, my quicker pace ensured that I was able to slip out of its sight for but a moment. I was tempted to pause and breath, but past experience reminded me of what happened when I did so. Instead, I kept running, pausing to turn at an intersection. However, I skidded to a stop at the sight of the five whose lives I had failed to keep stepping out from another corner and turning to face me. Already I was sprinting, but their single word still found its way into my ears. “Coward.”

After all, that’s what I am, right? Just running from one bad situation to the next, using so called cunning to weasel my way out unscathed. Lucky, some might say. But here I am, running from that behemoth, even when I can no longer hear it. I knew I should have become a boxer, wouldn’t have had to deal with this stuff.

I made a sharp turn, and continued my sprint for a single second before realizing the folly of what I had done. The hall was a dead end, and I could hear the clanging of the machine echoing from down the hall. I turned to sprint away, find another path, but it was too late. The MEC turned the corner, and spotted me. Slowly it walked towards me, that blank helmet giving no indication of whether there was even a human in there.

I back-pedaled, scanning my immediate environment for something, anything to use against the approaching behemoth. But the hall was bare, and I found my back-pressed against the wall, the MEC three paces away. My luck, it’s out. No more, this is the end, and here I am, cowering against a wall. But what else am I going to do? There’s no heroic sacrifice to be made, no chance for a last stand, no hope of a way to die with dignity. Only the cold stare of the MEC towering over me, slowly leaning down to eye level.

With a mechanical hiss, the helmet slid apart, revealing- oh god. Richie’s battered face peeked out, a prominent hole in his head still leaking blood as he gave me a feral grin. The vicious smile split apart for a scant moment, letting out a single, malicious word. “Failure.” And then everything went dark.