RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[DarkGemini24601]

A Warrior Awakens, Part 2

1502 Hours, August 17th, 2038
Somewhere over South America
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 2, Port Wing
The Engine Room

“It was really that simple?” Olivia asked with a moderate degree of surprise, kicking her legs idly from the top bunk

“Yep. Just so long as we let him do this, he’ll fight alongside us,” Yakone confirmed, sitting cross-legged on the bed opposite Olivia – one that had belonged to Heinrich’s girlfriend previously.

Now, the two had been moved to room C-210 so that the new recruit could be watched by his ‘probation officer’, Christoffer. The Norwegian was keeping a careful eye on Brock as he filled up a needle with black ink. “And as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble. Seshat’s logic checks out… but… you can never be too cautious.”

“I prefer that you are. Proves you are not a fool,” the Shieldbearer responded, lifting the needle above his head.

The woman next to Christoffer didn’t seem to approve of this, getting up from her chair and approaching cautiously. “Hold on, Adam…” Christine cautioned with a worried expression. “No sense in you hurting yourself.”

“A little pain would not impair me,” the Shieldbearer contested flatly.

“I’m the one that will have to patch you up though,” Christine replied with a helpless smile. “Please, just let me help…”

Adam’s eyes shifted to lock onto Christoffer. “Do I have a choice?”

“No. Just let her do her thing, please,” the sole security guard ordered.

Adam grunted in irritation, but otherwise let Christine walk around to stand behind him. “Just tell me what you need me to do,” the Specialist requested. With the newly-assigned Juggernaut’s guidance, Christine began tattooing black lines onto Adam’s forehead, forming a half-oval with a line running through the middle.

“Chest next,” Brock informed her, pulling off the shirt he had just received.

Olivia smirked as Christine reddened slightly. “You alright over there, Christine?” the Ambusher asked her friend. “Not like you haven’t seen our guys shirtless before.”

“Yeah… but they’re not… um… this muscular,” Christine pointed out. She shook her head, focusing on the task at hand. “What next?”

Adam gave her the further directions, and noted, “the complements are appreciated. A warrior’s strength is a mark of pride.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Yakone questioned. “From what I saw, you only know tangential stuff about the Mut-” The Ranger put up her hands defensively as Adam lunged forward, only for a bubble-shaped hand to contain the Shieldbearer, originating from Christine.

Adam could not see it. “What is this?” he demanded. “How are you…?”

“Think of it like a cousin to psionics,” Christine replied soothingly. “She didn’t mean to offend, Adam.”

“Call them Balmadaar, not your… insulting nickname,” Adam demanded of Yakone.

“Fine, fine, whatever floats your boat,” the Ranger replied.

Adam sat back down again, and Christine got back to work. “So you really admire the Balmadaar, huh?” Brock nodded. “Why’s that?”

“Their blood runs through my veins,” Adam answered as black lines were inked onto his chest and arms.

That is not how biology works, but I’ll just go with it. “You feel like you are part of their species? Do you not consider yourself human too?”

“I know little about how humanity operates,” Adam explained, shaking his head. “I do not need to. I am a soldier, a warrior. Nothing more.”

Christine finished the tattoos on the man’s torso. “I don’t think that’s necessarily true.” Going on despite a bit of a glare from Adam, she continued, “you’re human enough that the emotions and drives that move the rest of us affect you too. It’ll be harder for you to realize them since you didn’t get a childhood or anything, but we’d be glad to help you along.”

“Surprising amount of loyalty towards someone you’ve just met.”

“Well, you’re part of Maverick squad now,” Christine replied.

“And as I can attest from watching them, that means you’re practically family,” Yakone explained.

Adam looked over one of his hands, thinking to himself. “Kin, then…”

“If that’s how you’d like to put it, sure,” Stacie agreed.

“Then that loyalty shall be returned equally,” Adam decided.

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Struggles that Unite, Part 1”

1848 Hours, August 23rd, 2038
Somewhere over South America
Onboard the Avenger
Level 2, Rear Block
The Bar

Prior to the end of the Chilean Operation

In the gym for what seemed like a merely countless time spent keeping in shape, Leon for once found himself somewhat enjoying it. His company today is what made it that way, and he was filled with a small amount of pride watching his girlfriend outpace another soldier on a treadmill. For all the veneer of having a girlfriend, deep down he knew his feelings for the woman was real, and now that he had somewhat of a stable time frame with her, he wanted to show that. Unfortunately, he got too distracted he barely noticed the slapping on his leg and his eyes widened and he reached down, helping the barbell off the person he was helping spot. “Sorry Leo…” The Grenadier said to the young nursing assistant.

Leonardo looked up at Leon with a somewhat miffed look and he rubbed his sore arms, sitting up. “You know you could have killed me.”

“You know you are a massive baby.” The soldier shot back, pushing the teen from the back of his head and he hit Leon again with his hand. “Sorry.” He apologized again.

“Yeah, yeah…” The Reloj followed Leon’s gaze and faked a shiver. “Why her of all people? She’s tough, not really that pretty… and she flaunts herself with little to no dignity.”

“I like her because of all that. She isn’t like others, and I wouldn’t have that any other way. Now get out of here before I tell Yakone what you said.” The Grenadier informed the assistant nurse, and the amount his eyes had widened and how fast he ran off made Leon almost laugh. Seeing that her run was done, he approached Yakone finally. “You surely left that guy in his metaphorical dust.”

The Inuit-Caucasian Ranger grinned, tapping the button to have the machine’s track start to slow down - though at the pace she kept moving her legs it seemed like she took a while to notice or care. “Not my fault he’s in worse shape than me,” she stated as the mechanic walked off. “Hey, don’t be mad!” she yelled after him. In response, the skeleton crewman just shook his head and rounded the corner, disappearing from view. Yakone hopped off the treadmill as it came to a halt, stretching her arms behind her back. “It’s almost as boring as it was before we started with so many of the combat staff out in the field,” she complained.

“Yeah, but you know what they say, gotta save the best for last, right?” Leon asked a smile forming. “And I know that we are the best. That’s how I see it at least.”

“No argument here. You were the first new recruit to be promoted to an officer rank, and I’m one of our best psions,” Yakone agreed, placing her hands back at her sides.

“You know I have been meaning to ask, but how is it you aren’t an officer yet? I mean… I would think you would have been put on the list before me.” Leon placed his hands behind his back and leaned against the treadmill, a perplexed look on his face.

Yakone laughed, pointing at her chest. “Me? Seriously?” The Ranger raised an eyebrow. “I’m hardly capable of leading other people. I don’t like being bossed around, and I wouldn’t want to do that to other people. You can keep that shitty job.”

“I quite like being an officer. It shows I am the responsible one in the relationship.” He jabbed playfully. “Someone to keep you in line.”

“Oh, you can try at least,” Yakone corrected with an amused and defiant look. “Just don’t be surprised when you fail.”

“Well I tell you, I am very much up to the challenge.” He responded in a stalwart fashion, getting in her face with his own look.

“Are you?” Yakone smirked confidently. “I’ve yet to see any evidence you could beat me in a fight.”

“I never said I needed to fight you.” He responded suggestively, then suddenly poked Yakone’s side to surprise her.

The Ranger took a step back, giving Leon an incredulous look. “What was that for?”

“Who knows?” Leon shrugged, this time laughing at her look, shaking his head. “You know Leonardo was shit talking you? Don’t know why… said something about… you not being that pretty, really intimidating…” He listed off. “Really got me thinking about you.”

Yakone scoffed, looking down over herself for a moment. “Well, sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree with that first statement. I’m pretty damn hot.”

“Eh, you’re alright.” Leon played off, waving a dismissive hand. “A tomboy, always dressed punky.” He goaded her intentionally.

“You’re not actually beginning to agree with him, are you?” Yakone questioned suspiciously.

“Let me tell you what I think.” Leon began, looking at her with a caring look. “You are the best woman on this ship by far, from looks, to personality, and if a thing were to change about you, it would be a step away from perfection.”

Yakone frowned. “You think a little too highly of me.”

Leon frowned as well, and he moved closer. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, I doubt anyone is utterly perfect… and for all the compliments you give me, I don’t really offer much in return,” Yakone explained with a slightly pained expression.

“Hey…” Leon touched Yakone’s arm, giving her a now-concerned look. “If I wanted someone to kiss my ass, I wouldn’t have asked you out. I am well aware of what you are, of how you act. This is your first time. Take it how you want. I am not going to judge or leave you over little things like that. You don’t need to worry.”

“Al...alright.” Yakone took a deep breath. “Sorry I’m… so unsure of things. I’m not used to having doubts like these.”

“These doubts are your own right?” Leon asked with concern. “No one is… discouraging you, are they?”

Yakone quickly shook her head. “No, no one’s trying to cause problems.” Not directly and intentionally, at least.

Leon gave her a disbelieving look for a few moments but nodded and said, “Wanna grab something to eat? It occurs to me that despite it being a while, I’ve never really done anything romantic for you.”

Yakone shrugged. “Sure.”

Leon offered his arm to Yakone and gave her a smile. “Want to know something?”

“No, keep me in the dark,” Yakone retorted with a roll of her eyes, taking his hand.

He leaned to the side, kissing the side of her head and said, “I love you Yakone.”

“I knew that already…” the young woman contended.

“Who cares?” He asked, leading her off to try and show her a good time.

1904 Hours, August 23rd, 2038
Somewhere over South America
Onboard the Avenger
Level 2, Rear Block
The Bar

As Yakone and Leon slowly made their way towards the bar, small talk and silence followed with them as they merely enjoyed their company hand in hand with one another. As they entered the bar, the lack of patrons was a symbol of how short-staffed XCOM was with so many members out fighting. For the right now though, it meant there was a lot of options for seats. Many booths only had one or two people in them but there was one table where a group was sitting together having a rather fun time but while Leon didn’t pay them much mind, it seemed the person next to him did.

“Hey, Stacie!” Yakone greeted the woman leaning over the divider between two booths to speak with the four on the other side. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing much, just entertaining Chris,” the cowboy hat-wearing woman responded, waving over at Yakone.

The man on the other side of the divider from Stacie took a drink from his glass before explaining, “you’ve already seen for yourself how impossible it is to make meaningful conversation with Brock. Count yourself lucky you weren’t the one assigned to watch him half of the time,” Christoffer told the Inuit-Caucasian woman.

“I’m not so sure-” Heinrich began from his seat diagonally across the table from Chris, but he was interrupted by Yakone.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Struggles that Unite, Part 2”

“Zip it, lest I begin with the insults again,” Yakone warned the Hispanic-German Grenadier. “Leon, let me introduce you to Maverick squad. You already know Stacie and Christine as my roommates,” she began, nodding to the latter of those two who was listening to music next to Stacie - yet somehow still managed to notice Yakone. “The four at the table are Christoffer Strand, Olivia Brown, Heinrich Bauer, and his girlfriend Josephina.”

“Well I have certainly heard some people forming squads but never really met them personally.” Leon said to Yakone before looking to the others. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“So this is Yakone’s boy toy we’ve heard little to nothing about?” Josephina said, her arm around Heinrich. “Well he is certainly a looker, but you could have done much better.”

“I could say the same to you,” Yakone retorted with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t start a war you can’t win.”

“You seem to think you can win anything Yakone,” the Brazilian teased the woman, tightening her arm around Heinrich.

“And why exactly am I not the best she could have done?” Leon asked with genuine curiosity.

The woman’s mouth twisted as she thought and rolled her hand as she said, “Too plain. Someone like that deserves a man that equals her vibrancy.”

“I’ll let you know when I find one,” Yakone retorted.

“If we’re done with the romance wars, you two can sit down across from Stacie and Christine,” Christoffer offered.

Leon nodded and sat down across from Christine, letting Yakone sit across from Stacie. “So I guess I should ask you guys to tell me about yourselves since I am in the dark.”

“Well, if it isn’t incredibly obvious,” Stacie prefaced, “I’m from Texas. Joined up with the South Marauders early on, and then became part of the Mavericks before I joined XCOM ahead of them. I’m a Sharpshooter, though I favor sidearms to precision aiming.” Respectfully asking her friend to dispense with the headphones for now, she went on, “as for Christine, you went with her on that op in Columbia. She’s a very nice person, don’t let her hatred of social situations fool you.”

“I don’t hate social situations,” Christine protested, though a hint of amusement could be noticed in her tone. “I don’t see what’s wrong with listening to music when I don’t have anything meaningful to add. Already proved many times that I can still hear you.”

Leon chuckled. “Oh nonsense, I am sure every thing you say would be meaningful. Just every word a wonder to hear.” He said to poke fun with the woman, but his smile also asserted he was just teasing to make the point clear. “Anyways, seems me and you have had similar professions in the past Stacie. I’ve run with a few groups myself in the old US, though I was originally Canadian born.”

“Well, where I come from we’re just naturally resistant to being constrained by the government… and ADVENT was hardly an exception,” Stacie clarified. “What made you so intent on fighting?”

“It was my uh… grandfather.” Leon answered, looking to the side a bit nervously. “He was a park ranger before everything. When my mother and father were killed during the invasion, he and my grandmother took me away. Later when my grandmother died, he decided to take up fighting. I fought with him. Finally, an op went really bad and so I went south with my adoptive sister. He stayed. Don’t know what happened to him after that, and I still put up the fight on his behalf.”

“Pretty admirable reason for being here,” Olivia commented. “I got into the Resistance for similar reasons. ADVENT was letting Toronto turn into a cesspool, and my family had to leave. We had no intention of going to one of the Megacities, so we chose to oppose the Coalition instead.”

“If you think her being Canadian is a massive coincidence, you haven’t heard the other half of it,” Yakone told Leon. “Olivia’s actually the daughter of my mother’s hairdresser.”

Leon seemed amused by that and looked to Olivia with a raised eyebrow. “Hairdresser? Wait your mother has a hairdresser?” he then asked Yakone.

“I mean, Melissa owned the shop where Atka got her haircuts in Toronto. She wasn’t like… a personal servant or something,” Yakone corrected him.

“For some very strange reason I cannot help but think you would jump at the opportunity for one of those,” The Canadian man teased his girlfriend.

“She already does.” Josephina called out. “It’s you numbnuts!”

“Seconded, that is certainly how it works,” Heinrich added.

“Really, now…?” Yakone folded her hands together on the table. “I wonder what lengths I could make you go to, Leon…”

“Not very far. You forget how my sister acts sometimes. I know how you women try and use us.” Leon shot down Yakone, patting her head.

The Ranger seized his wrist. “Don’t patronize me,” she warned with an irritated expression.

“S-Sorry…” Leon apologized a bit off guard.

Yakone released him. “Just don’t do that again.”

“I was only teasing. You didn’t need to get defensive.” The Grenadier said to the half Inuit, rubbing his wrist.

Yakone seemed to initially disagree, her forehead creased with lines of anger, but slowly those ebbed away and she glanced to the side, mumbling, “sorry.”

He looked to the side and sighed, putting an arm around her and pulled her close. “It’s alright. It was nothing.” Leon gave her a smile to show her it was.

Yakone leaned into him, only to incur an ‘aww’ from Stacie. “Go to hell,” the Ranger told her roommate.

Leon laughed, repeating what Yakone said to the Texan woman. “So what about the others? What are their stories?”

“Christoffer is our leader. I met him in Canada after he had come from Svalbard-” Olivia started.

“You’re going to need to clarify where the hell that is. I had no idea what you were talking about initially,” Yakone reminded the Ambusher.

“Why is it so hard to know a little geography?” Christoffer complained, holding up his hands in exaggerated agony.

“You didn’t know where half of the Megacities were, Snowdrift,” Olivia countered with a sly smile. “You don’t get to talk.”

Having no retort for that, Christoffer merely muttered a curse under his breath and went on to explain, “Svalbard is an island north of Norway - the country which it belonged to - and east of Greenland. We were initially just a small settlement dedicated to coal mining, research, and tourism, but when the war happened some of the uncowed members of the government retreated to our island and turned it into a fortress of sorts. Helped that we were sitting on a global seed bank to generate crops for the new inhabitants. I was the security chief several years ago, but ultimately I wanted to do more and left for the Americas.”

“Humble.” Leon commented with an approving nod. “I knew a guy like you in California who was a security chief in a settlement me and Gwen found ourselves in. He hated his job but whenever you asked him why he didn’t do anything else he just grumbled and walked away. It became a game to see how many times you could ask him before he yelled and cussed you out.”

“Strand’s not that moody,” Heinrich stated.

“I find that ironic coming from you,” Chris responded with a grin.

“Shut up, Chris.” Heinrich shook his head. “As for myself and Josephina, we’re both from Brazil. Never really liked ADVENT, and we signed up to be in their colleges to get some technical and scientific knowledge before bailing to join the Resistance. I enjoy the thought that we have a chance at taking them down with their own training.”

“It was certainly an experience. Heinrich wanted the full college life. He certainly got it, though he had to work for it. I consider it a pseudo honeymoon.” Rodriguez said without an ounce of shame.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a lucky bastard, Heinrich?” Christoffer questioned the Grenadier.

“Seems kind of unbecoming to be jealous of a-” Yakone began.

Heinrich slammed a palm down on the table. “For the love of God, Ipiktok! Don’t use a joke that you don’t even understand.” The Hispanic-German crossed his arms. “Hey, Leon, you know that Shieldbearer Judgement Squad rescued from the Blacksite?” As he spoke, an expression of protest formed on Yakone’s features.

“You mean that group of psions? I mean, I don’t know them personally but I have heard things about them. Why?” Leon questioned, not looking over to have noticed Yakone’s apprehension.

Heinrich shook his head. “I meant the ‘defective’ Shieldbearer in particular. You see, Tygan, Yakone, and I were-”

“Shut up!”

“You did this to yourself,” he snipped back at Yakone. “we were working out just why he’d been taken out of the action. The whole time he was in this stasis tube, and your girlfriend here was sizing him up, if you catch my meaning.”

“I was not, you fucking liar!” Yakone yelled, pushing herself up from her seat.

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Struggles that Unite, Part 3”

“Yakone.” Leon said authoritatively. “Sit down. You’re getting worked up over nothing.” The Canadian man looked at Heinrich a few moments before putting his hands together and leaning his chin against them. “If I really cared about Yakone doing things like that, then our relationship would be short lived. Men look at her all the time, women me. Another person’s stare is not being unfaithful, and trying to pose it as such is disingenuous to do.”

“Be undercautious and someone will sweep her away from you,” Heinrich warned him.

“And if that happens, then the feelings I have for her were misplaced and she wasn’t worth my time in the first place.” He responded, but to who it was directed towards was a bit unclear. “I love her, that is what matters. Worrying about every little thing will just ruin what we have.”

“...can we please just… talk about something else now?” Yakone requested with a mixture of irritation and discomfort. “Can’t you just tell me where the joke originates, Heinrich? I’m practically an honorary member of your squad at this point.” Heinrich merely shook his head.

“Heinrich, would you rather she know and stop bothering you about it or perpetuate the current problem?” Christine asked him gently.

The Maverick Grenadier sighed. “Fine, fine… the reason they make all the Nazi jokes is because that’s what my great-grandfather was. He was one of those guys that fled to Brazil after the war went south.” Heinrich held up a hand. “But I don’t believe in any of the crap he did. I’m not exactly ‘master-race’ any more, as you can see,” he spoke sarcastically. “Not that my father was better than his two predecessors, he was just an aimless drunkard,” he muttered.

Yakone rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s… uh… I kind of feel bad now. Why do you let them make those jokes in the first place?”

Heinrich glanced around at his squadmates, and shook his head. “Hell if I know. I guess humor makes it an easier burden to bear.”

Leon leaned back, shrugging his shoulders. “It sucks, but unfortunately, we don’t pick and choose our families. Just have to deal with the hand you're given.”

The staff member currently tending the bar brought the group a round of drinks, and Yakone took a sip out of hers. “Uh… speaking of family, Leon… after this I wanted to talk to you about something.”

The Grenadier glanced to the side at the woman for a few moments then set down his drinks. “Alright.”

“Well don’t let us crowd you guys. Hennie here and me have some stuff to do soon anyways.” Josephina told the couple, patting the man’s arm.

Stacie shook her head. “You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘subtle’, do you?” the Sharpshooter asked rhetorically.

“If I did, then what fun would being friends with me be?” She asked back, scooting out of her seat.

***

After downing her drink - and getting another one to take with her - Yakone walked with Leon down one of the ship’s access tunnels. “Do you miss Gwen?” the Ranger asked her boyfriend.

Somehow he knew she would be the subject Yakone wanted to talk about, and he nodded. “Of course I do. Everyday,” he said truthfully.

“Is… something going on with her?” Yakone asked carefully. “Before she left - whenever I’d pass her by in the hallways or share the gym with her - she always seemed to be angry.”

“Sounds like her.” Leon noted in a mumble, shaking his head. “Gwen is a complicated girl. She’s just… well… it sounds cliche but broken. Whenever she tries attaching to something, it always seems to blow up in her face, and she doesn’t take it well. Her ongoing fight with Luke doesn’t help any.”

“Well, as it stands something happened between Alexis and him. I don’t know what it is. Alex won't tell me.” Yakone sighed. “Though it sucks to think that whatever happens it won’t benefit your sister. You think having someone to talk to would help? Provided you aren’t her outlet already.”

“Yakone… she stopped fully relying on me a long time ago. I help when I can, but she has no proper outlet. That’s why you always see her angry. When I try to talk to her, she acts all happy and innocent to try and put you off guard. When you push her further, she gets agitated and leaves. Little I can do with that.” Leon told the Ranger, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Maybe I can try. I can match aggression with aggression, you know how I am,” Yakone answered with an optimistic grin. “I think I’d have a good chance at getting through to her.”

“Are you sure about that Yakone?” Leon asked her with genuine worry. “I would rather keep the mental image I have as just an image. Think two mountains slamming together and the aftermath is causes.”

“The alternative is just letting her be a pissy bitch all the time and potentially not being able to work with Luke on the battlefield,” Yakone responded, shrugging her shoulders with her hands out to her sides. “I mean… my track record isn’t perfect, I couldn’t get through to the shell of a man that is our Maintenance Chief… but worst case scenario is Gwen hates my guts and continues to be stubborn. She wouldn’t be the first person I’ve irrevocably polarized against myself.”

Leon didn’t look too pleased with that but he brought Yakone close, and said, “If you are going to take her on, you need to know what she’s been through. But you can’t tell anyone else. Her troubles go… a lot deeper then you realize.”

“Is there something I don’t already know?” Yakone insisted, a more serious expression replacing her confident grin. “You’ve told me what happened to her mother, how much she moved around… what…” Yakone grit her teeth. “What her father did. What happened to her caretaker.”

“There was our time with the Grim Reapers, which I told you… briefly about. But I never told you… the truth Yakone.” Leon said, getting a not-too certain look about him. Which was unusual. “I didn’t tell Gwen at first either, but eventually, I let it slip and wasn’t able to take it back. The outcome of what happened to everyone was wrong. Jaren and Devon… they were in love with the same girl. She loved Devon more, and the two had a secret relationship behind Jaren’s back. I don’t know if he exactly knew or not, but that botched mission was the one she died on.”

Leon looked forward, as if somewhat reliving it. “It destroyed them both. It was what drove Devon to join Advent. Jaren went after him, and I went after him. To bring them both back. When I got there… Jaren was the one who shot Devon first. Not the other way around. He wanted to take his own life for what he had done but he knew if he did there was a chance he could never see the one he loved again so I… You can see the only option I was left with. When Gwen found out… she was furious with me. Called me a monster, that I should have just brought him back alive and let him live with what he had done. But he was my friend I… I thought I made the right choice.”

Yakone was quiet. “You… you had to…” she whispered, not out of revulsion. “She shouldn’t have treated you the way she did. I don’t know what I would do in a situation like that,” the Ranger quietly admitted. “There’s no way she would know either.”

“And after we said goodbye to other surviving member we headed west. We found a place in California called Settlement 17. People lived there without fear from Advent, and it was nice. Self-sufficient, out of the way. Gwen was happy there. She had friends who cared about her and a job she loved. Me on the other hand, I was overcome with grief so much that I just… shut down. Volunteered for security mission after security mission and without knowing I was reinforcing Gwen’s abandonment issues.”

He continued on with, “I made an attempt after she confronted me about it to be around more but… ADVENT showed up. Did what they always do when they see any amount of hope. She lost her home for a third time, her friends again and we just… did what we always did. We traveled together. Ended up south, learned about XCOM and here we are. In the beginning, she tried acting happy. Tried to reattach herself to me by being close but… it stopped working for her, and now we are at this point.”

The Ranger across from Leon was silent for awhile. Eventually, she spoke. “Things are… a lot worse for her than I thought. But I know how she feels,” Yakone decided. “I’ve historically never had a good relationship with my mother, and even now we’re only slowly making things better. My father abandoned me and - as I found out more recently - joined up with the enemy. My aunt was one of the only people that cared, and she - like a lot of the survivors - ended up in a grave.” Yakone looked away for a moment, then back at Leon. “I know what it’s like to have your happiness stolen from you over and over again. I need to make her understand that is no reason to give up, or blame you for the suffering that ADVENT has caused.”

“If anyone can do it, I believe it’s you.” Leon said with a comforting smile, then kissed her head. “I am a lucky man to have someone like you. I promise you now, no matter if we win or lose this war, I will never leave you early. I won’t let our happiness be stolen.”

“You’d better not,” Yakone muttered. “I don’t intend on going anywhere, and I expect the same stubborn refusal to die from you. Gwen needs us, whether she will admit it or not.”

“We’re in this together.” Leon added with a nod, rubbing her arm. “So… did you like what you saw in that tank?” He asked with a mischievous grin.

“Don’t make me rescind my previous statement.”

Leon laughed, nodding. “No regrets…” He mumbled.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Unlike the Enemy
Part One

On board the Avenger
The Community lounge
1030 Hours

Brigid jumped into her mother’s arms, relief filling both of them to see each other once again after their time apart. Morrigan ruffled her daughter’s hair and said, “You been good since I was gone?”

Brigid nodded. “Of course. Did all my school work and went to bed on time.”

“That’s my girl.” Morrigan smiled up at Gwen, relaxing at the side of the room. “I bet you’re eager to do some reuniting of your own.”

“Excuse me? Oh right… Leon. yeah, I suppose.” The girl said, smoothing out her white dress she wore just for Brigid.

“I bet he missed you while you were gone,” Brigid commented with a big smile.

Her mother, on the other hand, noted something in the way Gwen had said that. “Yeah. I bet you two have all sorts of stories you two can share with one another.”

“Not many. Not many I want to share at least.” Gwen played with the hem of her skirt and slapped the couch, sitting up. “It isn’t fair!”

The mother and daughter jumped a bit, the latter walking over with a concerned look. “ What’s wrong, Gwen?”

“It’s Bradford! That slippery son of a bi-” She stopped at Morrigan’s glare. “Biscuit. Something happened on my mission. He said he had an obligation to tell the Commander, and I pleaded with him not to, but he went ahead and is doing so anyways!”

“The others mentioned the… ‘something’ that happened,” Morrigan said, and sat next to Gwen. “Why don’t you want the Commander to know about it?”

“Because I know exactly what she is going to do! She is going to make me develop them against my will, all for the ‘good of the cause’, and I am going to be stuck with that curse until the day I die.”

“What are you talking about?” Brigid asked curiously.

“Never you mind, dear,” Morrigan answered. “Grown up talk. Gwen… some people call that curse a gift. It makes you special. Stronger. Heck, the aliens seem obsessed with it. Trust me, I know. Why do you think of it as a curse?”

“Because that it is exactly what it is. If it is a gift I want the return receipt.”

“If you really feel that way, I’m sure the Commander won’t… force you. Persuade, maybe, but… not force.” Morrigan lacked a bit of confidence in her voice.

“If she does force me, I am done with XCOM. At that point, they are no better than Advent.” Gwen said with an edge to her tone, her fist balled up.

“And I’m sure Atka would… feel the same. I mean, she hates Advent too much to ever do something they would do.”

Brigid stepped up to Gwen and said, “Can I please know the secret? I’m old enough now, and I’m really good at keeping secrets.”

“Okay, I will if you tell me all the secret things you think about my brother.” Gwen told the little girl sweetly to trick her.

“W-what?” Brigid’s cheeks flushed ever so much. “B-but… it’s embarrassing.”

“Oh, but don’t you wish to know my secret?” Gwen coerced the girl.

“Um… well…” Brigid lowered her eyes. “I… I think he is very nice. A-and sweet. And he has a good smile. And I think he is handsome. Like… like, really handsome. And I… um..” She placed her hands over her face, embarrassment making her hold back.

“Come ooooon.” Gwen nudged the tiny girl’s arm.

“I…” In a low whisper, Brigid said, “I saw him in the gym without his shirt on. And I think he looked… good.”

“Yeah, really good at keeping secrets there kiddo.” Gwendoline rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

Brigid pouted. “B-b-but… that doesn’t count! That was my secret. And… you said you would. And you made my cheeks all warm and red.”

“Not my problem.” Gwen noted with a shrug. “You told me you were good with secrets. Turns out you weren’t.”

Brigid stomped her foot. “That… that was mean, Gwen! You embarrassed me!” She stomped away to go mope on the other side of the room.

Morrigan shook her head. She frowned at Gwen and asked, “Did you know you had these powers, or is it the first time you have ever used them?”

“Oh no, these powers I have had since birth just coincidentally cause me to pass out everytime I use them.” Gwen sighed, then said more seriously. “The first time Morrigan. I thought I was going to die. Somehow, these powers saved my ass.”

“Well… isn’t that a good reason to develop them?” Morrigan asked. “I mean, think of what you could do with them? Not only to help yourself, but to help the team…” She trailed off and lowered her gaze. “This is probably all the stuff you’re afraid to hear from the Commander, huh?”

“Yeah…” Gwen laid back down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as she pulled her legs close. “What do you think Morrigan? Is the Commander… really that cruel she would force me?”

Morrigan thought on it, taking in her experiences with Atka, and what she knew about her. “Honestly? I think she might be a bit pushy. But no. I don’t think she would force you.” The Irish woman pulled her own legs forward, her expression reading sorrow and despair in her face. “She wants to win… but not at the expense of making us just like the one’s we fight. Forcing people to unlock psionics… that’s what the aliens do. No matter what the cost, whether it be body, mind… or soul. Even people who show no potential are pushed and experimented on. Atka… isn’t like that. She would never stand for it, I’m sure.”

Gwen sighed and looked over to the moping girl in the corner. “Hey Brig… come here a moment. And grab a piece of paper.”

Brigid glanced back, and her pout said she was considering doing no such thing. After a moment, however, being the obedient young child she had been raised to be, she walked over, grabbing a sheet of paper of the table in the middle of the room as she came and offering it to Gwen.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Unlike the Enemy
Part Two

“You know how to make a paper airplane sweetie?” De Saint Pierre asked the girl, giving her a smile to show she wasn’t going to be mean anymore.

Brigid shook her head. “No. I don’t think a plane made out of paper could fly. Unless the engine was made of paper, but then all the gas would soak the paper and it would fall apart.”

“Oh my goodness, you really have been a sheltered child…” Gwen said, sitting up. “Don’t be silly Brigid. Look at this.” She sat up and put both her feet on the ground and laid the paper down against her closed thighs, and slowly began folding the edges into the paper carefully. She made sure to take her time so both side were completely equal, and when Gwen was done, she held the completed plane between her thumb, middle and index fingers. “Tadaa!”

Brigid smiled as she examined it. “So it’s like a toy, right? Can it fly?”

“Well… give it a toss and see for yourself. Here, hold it just like I am and just chuck it.” Gwen told the girl, showing Brigid how to properly do so.

Brigid closed one of her eyes, and stuck out her tongue ever so much. She let it fly, and it glided gently across the room. She giggled loudly, and rushed over to pick it up along with another piece of paper. “I’m gonna make one too, okay? Just like yours.” She knelt down and started mimicking what she saw Gwen do.

Morrigan smiled at Gwen. “You know… you would make a good mother. Or at the very least, a good older sister.”

Gwen’s look turned a bit hurt and she shook her head. “Brigid wouldn’t want me as an older sister.”

Morrigan frowned, and she placed a hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “Why? Why do you… seem to have such a low opinion of yourself, Gwen? I might not have known you for long, but I’ve seen nothing to justify it.”

“I don’t want to go into it right now.” The girl said, shaking her head. “Maybe another time Morrigan.” When Gwen saw Brigid get hers done she smiled lightly and said, “Hey Brig, bet ya can’t hit me in the face with that.”

“I bet I can!” Brigid stood up and took a few steps back. She lifted the paper place but hesitated. “It won’t hurt, will it?”

“Go ahead.” She taunted her. “Give it your best shot.”

Again, Brigid closed an eye and stuck out her tongue, and let the plane fly straight towards Gwen’s head, when upon its release it made it but halfway there before pointing down and nose diving to the floor, leaving its thrower looking disappointed. “Dang,” she muttered, unenthused.

“Here, use another piece of paper and ball it up. I want you to throw it at me.” Gwen told the girl. ‘I wanna blow your mind.”

Brigid gave her an apathetic frown, balling up a piece of paper and tossing it, the ball bouncing off Gwen’s forehead. “Woo, I did it,” Brigid muttered excitedly.

“Bet you can’t do it again.” Gwen said again. I don’t know how I did it the first time, but after I did… it just sort of feels natural. Like I’ve always known how to do it. She thought.

Brigid gave Gwen a curious look, but shrugged, lifting the ball and tossing it once more, this time a bit harder.

As it neared Gwen’s head she held up a hand and to Brigid it almost seemed like the girl’s eyes lit up briefly before the ball of paper flew to the side of the room faster than it had been thrown and it bounced against the wall and rolled on the floor briefly.

Morrigan smiled, and Brigid’s eyes lit up, if only metaphorically. “How did you do that?!” Brigid rushed over to the paper ball and examined it, as though she might find some clues. “You have mind magic like dad did?!”

Gwen raised an eyebrow, looking over to Morrigan. “Like Dad did?”

Morrigan softly said, “Her father had psionics. Without them, he probably wouldn’t have done as well in ADVENT as he did. Of course, I didn’t. Not even a bit. The aliens made sure to look, trust me on that.”

“Well, unlike your father Brigid… I just recently found out I had mine. I don’t like them too much though. They remind me of the bad guys too much. To be honest, I don’t really want them.” Gwen told the girl honestly, waving her hand with a smile. “But it makes for a good defense against little girls throwing paper at my head.”

Brigid nodded. “But… don’t the guns we use remind you of the bad guys? And the armor? And this was their ship, right? Do you… not like them either?”

“Well for those, we make them our own. We need to use them to fight the war. We don’t need psionics. Bullets will do just fine.” Gwen nodded with her point.

“But… um…” Brigid scratched her chin. “What if they start sending a bunch of bad guys with the psinomics against us? Shouldn’t we have our own, just in case?”

“Maybe, but that’s not my job, and I don’t want it to be.” Gwen told the girl with finality. “There, now you know the secret kiddo.”

“Thank you.” Brigid walked over and placed a hand on Gwen’s. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise. And… and if you don’t like them, you shouldn’t use the powers. I’m sorry you had to to show me.”

“It’s fine.” The Juggernaught picked the girl up and set the little girl on her lap, giving her a big hug. “I love you so much.”

“You do?” Brigid asked in surprise. “You don’t think I’m annoying? Or in the way?”

“Oh trust me, you most certainly are annoying…” Gwen asserted with a smile, “But I like that about you. It is nice to have someone I can always rely on to make me smile.”

Brigid nodded, and hugged her back. “You make me smile too. I’m glad I met you.” She grinned. “I might even like you more then Leon. But don’t tell him. He might get upset.”

“Oh? Well alright. But just keep in mind when I am working out in the gym I’ll be looking over my shoulder if you try and sneak a peak, missy.” The French girl teased, a sly grin on her face.

Brigid giggled. “You’re weird. But funny.” She looked over to her mother. “And she knows some fun things, right?”

Morrigan nodded in agreement. “She sure does. Gwen is a fun person to be around.”

Gwen’s hug around Brigid tightened a bit as she laid her chin on top of the girl’s head, smiling. “Yeah… likewise you guys.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Dahlexpert and DarkGemini24601: “Winter has Arrived”

1107 Hours, August 27th, 2038
Somewhere in Argentina
Onboard the Avenger
Specifically, Atop It
The Landing Pad

With the late summer sun beating down on the Avenger, the Skyranger landed on top of its mother craft. Its engines cooled off more easily than the weather could, and the pilot inside glanced back at the two passengers she had brought with her. “Armory is just below, or rather to the side of us once we get lowered into the ship. Head across and you’ll end up in Command Central, where you’ll be briefed by the Commander on just who exactly we are and what we do. Then if you head back to the Armory - not touching weaponry until you’ve been cleared for handling,” Firebrand emphasized, “and go down a floor you’ll be at the bar. Drinks are free, so long as you don’t overdo it like some people. Any questions?”

One of the occupants was a man wearing a tactical mask to cover his face, as well as a pair of jeans, a black shirt, and a jacket. He turned to the other passenger. “You have any questions, because I want to get this over with.”

Valentina shrugged. “I don’t have anything, but come on. Aren’t you excited? We’re joining XCOM.”

“Obligatory ‘welcome to XCOM’, by the way,” Danielle interjected as she got up from her chair.

Winter rolled his eyes under his mask and got off the ship. “Pilot, thank you for the trip even if it feels weird to fly. Valentina, calm down; it’s still an army, we’re just getting to the thick of it now. Compared to Chile, that was the cakewalk.”

“Buzzkill,” the Chilean guerrilla muttered as the three stepped off the Skyranger. As they had been talking, the landing pad had been lowering into the interior of the ship. They were just now reaching the holding position, and above them the hatch closed. A pair of mechanics went to check over the dropship to make sure it was ready for further deployments, while Firebrand led the two recruits into the Control Room where the Commander was looking over the hologlobe.

Atka turned to face them as they approached. “Welcome to XCOM, Emile Alcatraz and Valentina Contreras.”

“See? We all do it,” Danielle stated with a smirk under her helmet.

“Firebrand, you’re dismissed. Don’t particularly need you here,” Atka noted flatly.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go get a bite to eat.” The Skyranger pilot saluted, and walked off.

Atka folded her hands behind her back. “First thing to know is don’t be as sanctimonious with me as she just was. I do take chain of command very seriously. As you two may have learned from your time in Chile, good organization is the key to successful resistance against ADVENT,” the Commander intoned.

“You don’t need to worry about me Commander, I was raised in the resistance for most of my life. I’m used to the chain of command, and take things very seriously. You don’t need to worry about me. Her on the other hand...”

Valentina crossed her arms. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

Atka glanced between the two of them. “Regardless…” she said at length, clearly intending to just ignore that last bit, “I’m grateful to have you two onboard. All recruits are important to the success of XCOM. Speaking of which, our goals are fairly simple. We fully intend to free the world of alien control, and bring down their puppet government with them. Leave how we do that up to me. As for you two, if you have any secondary skills feel free to apply them in the proper department, but your primary purpose will be soldiering.” The Commander looked to Valentina. “Considering your past experience with sniper rifles I’m assigning you to the role of a Sharpshooter. Fairly straightforward. You may go down to the laboratory to receive PCS implants that will improve your combat abilities.” Valentina departed, and Atka turned to Emile. “However, I’m less informed on what your skills include. Tell me objectively what you’re good at.”

“Well that’s not surprising. Even when I was in the resistance ADVENT didn’t have much on me. To give you a rundown, I ambushed ADVENT patrols for years taking their armor and whatever I could find. I’m trained in every weapon under the sun: sniper rifles, shotguns, you name it… I can use it. However during my time as a traveling bodyguard, I enjoyed using a shield to defend myself. A shield is pretty good for defense and pushing forward, so do you have something to fit that?” Emile asked in a very calm manner despite wearing a mask.

“Forgive me if I express doubt that you could use whatever weapon you could be given. I asked for objectivity, not bluster.” Atka crossed her arms. “As far as makeshift shields go… we have something better. I think you’d make sense as a Juggernaut, in that case.” The Inuit woman frowned. “Take off that mask.”

Emile sighed. “Right, I’m going to be working for you from now on. Might as well show you my face. Also Commander, sorry for the long resume. Just wanted to tell you what I’m good at.” Emile removed his mask, showing a man with a rugged features as well as a scar across his eye.

“That’s better. No reason to conceal your appearance when you’re going to be living on a confined ship with your fellow XCOM staff.” Atka glanced at the ADVENT cape that the recruit had wrapped around his neck like a scarf. “I see my soldiers aren’t the only ones that take trophies and add them to their wardrobe.”

Emile rubbed the scarf around his neck. “Yea, took this from my first ambush on a ADVENT captain.”

Atka shook her head. “I’ll never understand why they started getting called ‘captains’, considering that your typical ADVENT field officer is a Sergeant in rank. Must be some sort of superhero joke.” Returning to the topic of Emile, she pulled out a notepad with some information written onto it and handed it to the Juggernaut. “I’ve got a room number prepared for you, as well as a list of general access rooms and their locations. Feel free to familiarize yourself with the ship, and then head down to the laboratory to receive your PCS. Our Chief Scientist will explain what those are in greater detail to you, and give you a rundown of basic protocol before clearing you for Armory access.”

Emile stood at attention and saluted the commander. “Yes mam, thank you for the opportunity.” Emile left the room and headed to his new room. “So this is going to be where I live from now on, definitely bigger than what I’m used to.” Emile threw his mask to the side and took off his jacket, and looked at his right arm. “They’re going to learn eventually. I should have told the commander right away; I mean this is going to be my new home and all.” He sighed. “Alright, might as well show off this thing to the Commander.” Emile left his room and went to the Commander office. “Commander, it’s Emile, I forgot to mention one other thing.”

“Come in.” The door unlocked remotely, and Atka looked up from her laptop. “What is it?”

Emile cracked the door and popped his head through.”Um, there is one very important thing I forgot to mention.” Emile sighed and opened the door, revealing his right metal arm. The look of it was clearly more polished than the Commander’s limb, and that it was his entire arm.”So yeah, I have a metal arm.”

“Where did you get cybernetics from?” Atka questioned.

“That’s a bit of a story, see when I was twelve ADVENT attacked my old resistance base. I thought I could help out, so I attacked a MEC. It retaliated by ripping my entire arm off and leaving me to bleed out… it would have been the end of my life if it wasn't for our doctor.”

“That’s a rather talented doctor you had there,” Atka replied. “There are plenty of instances of people figuring out how to make ADVENT’s technology work for them… but rescaling and refitting their cybernetics and making them compatible with normal humans is something I haven’t seen accomplished outside XCOM.”

“Yea well she was gifted, she used the dead MEC to make me this thing. If you want her name, if I remember correctly... I believe her name was Vahlen.”

Atka gave him an incredulous look. “Valda… Vahlen?” she sought clarification in disbelief.

“Yea Vahlen, German lady ...kinda enjoyed her work a little too much... overall very creepy. What, does that name remind you of someone?”

“I don’t believe it.” Atka rubbed her forehead. “After all this time, she’s still alive?” The Commander looked back up at Emile. “Vahlen was our original Chief Scientist… I thought she was dead all this time, but if what you’re saying is true… she somehow survived the fall of the old base.”

“Um... oh, I didn't know that. Well, for while I was alongside, I her kept her well fed. There was also someone else that actually cared for my well being, I think her name was Lockheart.” Emile said scratching his head.

“Veronica too?” Atka took in a deep breath - this information seeming to be a lot for her to take in at once. After a period of silence, she told Emile, “keep this to yourself for now. There’s no guarantee they’re still out there…” Another pause, but this one more brief. “When was the last time you interacted with them?”

“That was about three years ago when I was eightteen. They said I was old enough and sent me on my way. Commander, who are these people to you?”

“Not only was Vahlen our lead scientist, but she’s the mother of our Engineering Chief. And Veronica is the mother of two other staff members. I need to think of how to bring this information to their attention, so… again, please don’t mention this to anyone else yet,” Atka dictated.

“Very well, but how am I going to explain this arm to your engineer?”

“Just don’t mention who made it by name if you run into her,” Atka responded.

Emile exhaled. “Very well Commander. Sorry I didn't mention this to you at first.”

“You wouldn’t be the first person to withhold information initially. But thank you for bringing this to my attention. You are dismissed.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

A Reason to Doubt

The Alps
Matterhorn Megacity
Protectorate Facility

A tall figured slowly made their way through the building, prompting those that even came close to move and give as much room as possible. Adorned in elegant black and red robes, wearing in intricately designed headpiece with writing and symbols known only to him, the Elder know as Shen'lutusus was an odd sort. Most Elders ruled on high, but Shen preferred it down here, among the people who worshiped the humans so.

Following closely behind was none other then a human, a blond Swedish woman looking to be in her mind twenties. She carried a large computer pad, and looked quite odd compared to tall alien ahead of her.

Shen slowed to a stop outside a familiar window, what could only be described as his personal security only able to stop in time to not bump into him because she knew he would likely stop here. They stood in silence, looking into the room beyond, when the silence was broken by a third individual.

Master Shen'lutusus. Shen's head of East Europe, an Elder named Hiri'dementis, approached and bowed. I have troubling news.

When Hiri kept his head bowed, Shen suppressed a sigh. Please, I do not insist on such formalities from the others. Why would I you? Simply... speak your mind.

Yes, well... there have been a number of rumors about your overseer of West Europe. Kuri'shimano has supposedly been saying things about the humans that are unbecoming of an Elder. She speaks against our actions, talks about how our experiments are wrong. I fear... she might be a human sympathizer, and could very well...

Shen held up a hand to silence him. I know what it is you think, and I can assure you that the idea of a treasonous Elder is preposterous.

If I may... what of Aphte'thonus? Or Aergian'hynopheus? We're they not examples of our own people...

Shen shook his head. Aphte's' case has nothing to do with her loyalty to us and the Path. She was a mad woman the threatened us thanks to her own petty desires. And Aergian is... the exception that proves the rule. He placed his four hands on his first officer's shoulders. But fear not. I take every threat seriously. Monitor Kuri... in secret, of course. And take note of anyone who might share her beliefs and bring them to my attention. Any thing to give you... to give us both peace of mind.

Thank you. Hiri bowed once more. All Glory to the Path of the Elders.

Once he had departed, Shen spoke privately to the woman next to him, his sudden voice in her head making her jump and nearly drop her computer pad. Anja, remove Hiri's name from my list. Put Kuri in his place.

"S-sir?" the woman started in a high pitched voice that made her sound younger then she was. "M-master Hiri is more powerful then Master Kuri. A-and Master Hiri has always been so loyal to you. Are you sure you can expect the same from Master Kuri?"

Power is not everything. And Hiri's loyalty is not to me but the position I represent. Should I lose that position, he would not hesitate to turn on me. It is a calculated risk but... Shen turned to Anja, and though she could not see him smile under his mask, she heard the levity in his thoughts. You do trust me, right?

Anja smiled back. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir." She quickly made some notes on her pad while Shen'lutusus turned back to the window. Anja looked at the young girl he was watching and asked, "Sir... if I may?"

Of course, Anja. Speak freely.

"This child. Why do you focus so much attention on her? She has others to watch over her progress for you. What makes her different from all the other humans who are..."

Used for our purposes, the Elder finished for her. The answer is time and exposure. The others are brief. So many are those I never see, and even those I do are here and gone before I have time to concern myself with them. But this one? This one has been here for so long. Whether it by a mighty mountain or a simple painting on the wall, you are bound to notice it after thirteen solar cycles.

"I see." Anja watched as the girl received another in a long series of painful injections, ones that used to make her pass out after too long, but she was numb to it now.

What is she? Shen asked suddenly.

Anja was a bit surprised, and quickly looked through her pad. "Um... project SNY-101-2. An experiment in merging sophisticated computer software and programming into a human subject in an attempt to make a living comp..."

Shen held up a hand to silence her. I know all of the technical specifications. But what is she? Human? Machine? An independent being? A test subject? A person? A tool? An object surrounded by organics? Something more then human, or an ant among gods? I don't know. And I'm sure she doesn't know. And watching her attempt to find out interests me. He paused for a few moments. The boy... the one that is so... attached to her. Where is he?

Anja looked through her pad. "He's... still detained under full security since he assaulted that guard for, um... placing his dirty hands on her, as he said."

Let him out. And... allow him more time with her.

Anja looked surprised. "Sir?"

We have hit many setbacks with this one, and I believe it is because we are focusing too much on the mechanical and technical problems. We want a living computer, but if we put too much emphasis on the computer part of that, we will end up with a machine that just happens to have human skin. Let's see if we can work towards a balance with the living half by encouraging her humanity.

He watched for a few minutes long before Anja cleared her throat. "Um... sir?"

Shen nodded, and started down the hall with her again. Yes, yes. Schedules to meet, humans to lord over, work work work. Come, Anja. We have much to do, and such precious little time to do it in.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 & ZombieSplitter53
Ghosts of the Past
Part One

On Board the Avenger
Commander's Office
August 27th, 1800 Hours

Morrigan steadied herself outside of the Commander's office, taking deep breaths in and out. She was never the patient sort, and knew what was likely to come, so better face it now rather then waiting to be called, possibly in a time that might expose Brigid to the truth. Still she couldn't help but feel nervous as she stared down at her shoes. She had come to admire Atka and what she did here, and she hoped some of that affection was returned, but Atka was a professional, and a leader, and she had a job to do. And so did Morrigan. She lightly knocked, and called out, "Commander? It's O'Brien."

"Come in,"Atka replied. The door opened, and Atka was seated at her desk with her laptop unfurled as always - in the midst of reviewing some fresh intelligence from field operatives. "You lied to me, Morrigan," the Commander stated.

Morrigan sighed. Straight to the point, as seemed to be Atka's style. A busy woman who didn't have time to skirt around the issue. The Irish woman ran through all the excuses she could think of, that she had thought of, but in the end, standing before the Commander's desk, all she could say was, "Yes... I did."

"What is your ex-husband's position in ADVENT?" Atka asked, not hesitating to assume the marriage was over.

"I-I... I don't know," Morrigan answered, wondering if the Commander suspected her of still being in contact with him, hoping the 'ex-husband' line meant otherwise. "He was a, um... a Sergeant I believe. But that was around two years ago. I don't know what his rank would be."

"From what Inverse has told me, you apparently were betrayed by him," Atka brought up, seeking confirmation. "Elaborate on that."

Morrigan lowered her gaze, trying to hide her pained expression so as not to seem weak, even if she felt so. "I... we weren't arrested with shared suspected guilt. It was my husband who turned me in when I mentioned concern over something some rebels said. I... I believe they lied to me about his death to make me feel more hopeless, and easier to give in."

"And he turned you in without a second thought - turned on the woman that trusted him," Atka growled, as if the notion were all-too familiar. "He sounds like a real piece of shit, O'Brien."

"Y-yeah..." Morrigan rubbed her arm nervously. "I... most likely, I would have gone on thinking he died because of me and my questions, but... but one of my torturers, and high ranking woman in ADVENT, saw it fit to tell me. I guess she figured after the initial shook of hearing he died, she could deliver another by telling me he betrayed him. And... it work. Who knows? It might have even been enough for me to talk if I had actually known anything." Her throat felt dry, her hands shaking, and a throbbing had started in her head. "Commander... please understand..."

"Morrigan," Atka interrupted her flatly. "I do understand. I know what it's like to have someone you cared about and would have trusted with your life turn on you completely and utterly," the Inuit woman told her subordinate, an anger directed at someone other than Morrigan simmering beneath the surface of her empathetic tone.

"I... I know that I have no excuse for keeping it from you," Morrigan said softly. "You put trust in me where others had not. I should have trust you. But... Brigid, she... Daniel is her hero. She mourns his believed loss, and the thought of him as some... moral being to aspire to... it gives her strength. It gives her hope. Even if it is wrong of me to lie to her... I can't bring myself to take that away from her. Or risk too many others knowing, lest they tell her."

"Do you think you can lie to her forever, Morrigan? What happens if she finds out? It will rip out the floor from under her," Atka answered. "I... know that from experience, even if my daughter never thought highly of her father in the first place because he abandoned us."

Morrigan kept her eyes fixated on the floor. "Is her father also in ADVENT? How did Yakone find out?"

Atka nodded slowly. "I ended up finding out a few weeks ago, and awhile back something slipped out that made her press me for the truth. She always wanted to believe that at one point he had been a good man... but knowing that he not only ran away but ran into the arms of the enemy... wasn't easy for her to take. If she ever faces him in battle I don't think she'd show any mercy... or maintain her cool. To be fair, neither would I."

Morrigan dared to raise her gaze, and reveal some of the fear in her eyes at the very prospect that Brigid find out. "But my daughter is much younger. I am afraid the truth would strip her of what innocence she has left. An innocence that has somehow stayed even after her ordeals. And unlike your daughter, mine loves her father. How... how would I even go about telling her without crushing her?"

"You're asking me for parenting advice?" Atka shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know what you can do. The longer you keep the truth from her, the worse it will be if she finds out. Maybe you just have to make sure she never does with all your might and if you run into Hunnigan... ensure that he really is dead. It's not perfect, but I don't know what to tell you other than that."

Morrigan nodded. "Okay... thank you." She dared to raise her head a bit more. "Does this mean I'm not in serious trouble?"

"As long as you're not keeping anything else important from me." Atka leaned forward, her features attesting to the fact that it wasn't a joke.

Morrigan tapped her lips in serious thought. "N-no... I don't think so. Um... I used to have a neighbor I was good friends with, and we used to joke how we might be rewarded if we caught a terrorist. Be heroes and all that. This was... before all this happened, of course... a-and w-we were just joking around, of course. I... wonder what he thought when we all disappeared..."

"That's... not relevant." Atka got up from her chair, putting her hand on Morrigan's shoulder. "I'm willing to let this go, just don't be concealing things from your CO in the future."

Morrigan nodded, finally allowing herself a small smile. "I won't. I promise. Thank you, Commander."

Atka allowed herself to crack a smile. "Would you want to come down with me to get a drink, Morrigan? I wanted to join a..." the Inuit woman hesitated for a moment, wondering if the word she was going to use was the right one, "friend of mine, but company is welcome."

Morrigan nodded. "That would be nice. Haven't had a drink since I left for Chile. Was too busy."

Atka circled back over to her desk, typing in a few final things. She looked over an image of a some sort of Skyscraper, and with a nod shut off the screen and closed the laptop. "Let's go. I could use some time to unwind."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 & ZombieSplitter53
Ghosts of the Past
Part Two

The Bar

Alexis laughed along with the others around her. "No, really," she continued. "I mean, what do you expect when a three year old back hands a flying grenade. And we were so caught up in the escape, I didn't tell anyone, so it healed wrong. And being the proud little punk I was, I didn't tell anyone about the pain... for three years!"

This for another round of laughter. "So what the hell happened?" one of the others asked. "You finally tell someone."

Alexis shook her head. "No. The worse and yet best person found out about it, the Commander's sister."

"The reason you can't discern any difference in her hand is because Nouja was that good," Atka spoke as she walked over with Morrigan, though her tone was subdued and overcome with a somberness that overshadowed any pride in her sibling's biokinetic skills.

Alexis shoulders sank. "Y-yeah. She... sh-she lectured me on how silly I was for not saying anything. I didn't realize she was healing me the whole time until I realized my hand didn't hurt any more. Nouja really was like a... um..." She lowered her eyes. "That's enough stories for now. I... should be heading off to... exercise." The others groaned in annoyance, the excuse a good one for Alexis, and dispersed.

"Firebrand. Whiskey, please," Atka requested. Glancing at Alexis, she spoke quietly, "what part of 'unwind over drinks' made you think I wanted recall painful memories?"

"I-I was just... telling a story. I didn't know you would come in just then and... r-remembering someone that was so important to me and my sister isn't painful for me. It's a... pleasant... memory..." Alexis lifted her beer, her hand shaking ever so much. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful."

"It's not about respect. I wasn't coming down here as your Commander. I just would prefer to move on from the past." Atka received her drink from Firebrand and took a gulp of it.

Alexis nodded obediently, and Morrigan couldn't help but feel there was something more between the pair she wasn't privy to. Rather than pry, she said, "So, um... whiskey, huh? I thought big bosses only drank brandy."

Atka huffed. "I used to not drink at all."

"Oh?" Morrigan motioned to get a whiskey of her own. "I never did either. I only did a little before XCOM. My old group used to make fun of me, the pure blooded Irish woman never drinking. Though I can understand why you would be driven to drink with all this."

"Doesn't do much, but it at least takes the edge off," Atka stated. "Shows how short principles will take you in life."

"You don't have to let those principles die," Alexis muttered. "Sometimes, our principles are all we have. What separates us from our enemies."

"I'm not saying we just start killing civilians left and right," Atka rebuffed irritably.

"I was speaking on smaller terms, Commander," Alex returned, speaking into her can. "One doesn't have to take what another person says to extremes to prove their point."

"I wasn't comparing us to the enemy in that degree," Alexis responded, raising her voice. "I was simply stating that we are better then them because of the principles we retain, large and small, and maybe we should hold fast to them and not let ourselves be pushed too close to the edge, lest we break a principle or two we can never come back from."

"Um... y-you both have good points," Morrigan said nervously. "Nice... friendly, cooperative points."

Atka took a deep, shuddering breath. "I can't be a teetotaler again, Alexis. Even if I realize it was a better stance, I'd be a hypocrite to take it and not encourage my daughter to follow suit. And you know she would not stop drinking, especially if I asked her too."

Alexis was a bit taken aback, expecting Atka to continue trying to prove her wrong, and wasn't able to respond at first. She looked down at her glass sadly and said, "I... I-I understand why you do it. And I wasn't trying to say you didn't have a good reason to. I was just saying some principles are too important to give up." She took a small sip. "I'm sorry. I-I... didn't mean to start an argument when you came here to relax. That's twice I've made you uncomfortable in less than five minutes."

"Yeah, it is. But I put up with you." Atka smiled slightly, taking another sip of her whiskey. "You're a lot like someone I used to know."

"Oh?" Alexis looked over to her for the first time. "Who is that?"

"Your mother. You are just as stubborn as she was, yet we all loved her anyway."

Alexis looked down again, the subject seeming to make her uncomfortable, though not as much as Atka was about her sister. "My... my father you used to be friends with them, though... I always figured he was just remembering things more fondly than they actually were. After all... I can't see you being close to someone like me..."

"The only reason we've had issues is because of my mistakes in the past. Yes, you were overeager about getting out to fight," Atka qualified, "but I can see now how poorly I treated you."

Alexis looked away sadly. "I... I'm as much to fault. I expected too much from you. You had so much on your shoulders, and here I was, a bratty little girl, expecting you to be like the mother I lost twi... t-to ADVENT. It was wrong to put that burden on you. That's why it hurt so much when you... ostracized me."

"Yeah." Atka looked down at her drink. "Nouja did a much better job parenting than I did. Wish she had been given the chance to raise a family of her own like she'd wanted to, but she was happy with you four. God just hasn't been kind to any of us these past twenty years."

Alexis shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you down thinking about her. That's three times now. If this was baseball, I'd be stepping away from the plate with my head hung in shame."

"Well, you're also not making anything better by moping around," Atka noted, gesturing in Alex's direction. "Drink some more, focus on happier things and you won't make as many gaffes."

"Yeah. Um... drink and be merry, as they say, right?" Morrigan took a big gulp of the whiskey. What she hadn't told the other two is that she didn't have a lot of experience with hard liquor until coming to XCOM, though this became pretty obvious by the coughing and hacking fit that followed the burning sensation in her throat.

"You want a Resistance beer instead of that?" Atka questioned with hints of amusement turning her features up from an otherwise neutral expression.

Morrigan coughed a few more times, and shook her head. "No," she squeaked out. "I can hang with the big girls."

Alexis grinned, and said, "I'll have a whiskey too." When it arrived, she said, "A, uh... a toast, yeah? To new friends... to old friendships renewed... to grudges and trivialities put aside. And to moving forward together."

"Little lengthy for a single toast, don't you think?" Morrigan commented.

"Certainly, but it works." Atka clinked her glass against that of the others, and took a long drink from it afterwards.

 

[Dahlexpert]

The fallowing is a colabe between Dhalexper and Zombiesplitter53


On Board the Avenger
The Gym

Sweat rolled down Jennifer's cheeks as she pushed herself more then she usually did. Clothed, she and her sister looked nearly identical, save for their hair color and Alex being a couple inches taller. Underneath, however, was another story. Whereas Alexis had a clearly defined musculature, Jennifer was considerably leaner, so much so one might be compelled to ask her how she supports her own weight, especially considering the pair of 'gifts' she got from her mother.

Jenn never really thought about it, the harsh life she led before XCOM obtained the Avenger keeping her in shape, but she realized she had developed a much more sedentary lifestyle that revolved around work, reading, and reading for work. Her sister jested with her while they were changing that morning, not uncommon, but today it prompted her to step on a scale. She knew she would be underweight, but not to such a great extent.

No matter, she had thought to herself. She quickly calculated the appropriate change to her diet, and made an excersice schedule that would efficiently build up her muscle mass in the least amount of time. But then, things so often looked better in paper then in practice, and she now gasped and wheezed as she desperately tried to finish her run, chugging down water to compensate for all her sweating, wondering if this was such a good idea.

Luke entered the gym, wearing some sweat pants and a tee shirt. He noticed the younger Chambers sister and saw her sweating like a pig. "Yo, green, you struggling? Well if you worked out more often, you wouldn't look like this."

"If I... w-wanted to... be made fun of... how out of shape I am... would have... come with... Alex," Jenn responded, almost missing her step but stubbornly refusing to stop or lower the speed.

""Hmm, relax green. I actual came to see you today." Luke got a good look at Jennifer. "You really need to eat something Jenn, you are really skinny. Damn near skin and bones. How often do you eat?"

"I-I... I eat every day. I just... sometimes skip... breakfast... and dinner... sometimes..." She looked down at the read that said a tenth of a mile to go. Almost done. "W-what did... y-you want. Alex send you... to make... fun of me?”

"No, I came to just workout, but since your here, I want to ask you something. So I'm going to work out, when your done come and get me."

"Y-yeah... okay..." She barely registered him walking off, her muscles screaming at her in pain. A minute later, the run was over, and the treadmill slowed to a stop. Jennifer wobbly stepped of and slowly walked forward. She had forgotten All about Luke, but in her tired daze walked away from the exit instead of towards it, and ended up collapsing right in front of him, breathing heavily as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Jenn!" Luke picked up Jennifer and took her to his room, for privacy and where she could rest. He put her on his bed and grabbed some water. "Jenn, Jenn. Come on, get up kid."

Jennifer slowly opened her eyes, her face incredibly red. "Luke?" She tried to sit up, but couldn't. After taking a drink with his help, she smiled sheepishly and said, "Guess I... overdid it a bit, huh?"

"You think! You fucking passed out and collapsed, do you know how scared I was!?" Luke put a pack of ice on her head." Cool off a bit. Do you need me to get you something?"

"No... I-I'm okay." Her face stayed red, though less from exhurtion and more from embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I... didn't mean to make you worry."

"Well tough shit, you did." Luke sighed. "Look green, whether you like it or not. I'm going to the kitchen and making you something to eat. And I don't give a damn what you think, you're going to eat something."

"Well, I wouldn't want to impose..." Noting Luke's irritated look, Jenn quickly added, "But okay. I'll eat whatever you bring me."

"Good, I'll be right back. Don't go through my stuff alright? No snooping." Luke said while leaving the room.

Jennifer let out a long breath and closed her eyes. She wondered what Alex would say if she found out about this. "Probably make a joke about me being hot and sweaty in Luke's room," she muttered to herself. She tried sitting patiently, but after a few minutes, curiosity started poking at her. Her eyes darted towards the door, then towards the drawer next to the bed. She smiled, and slowly opened it.

In the drawer there was a small box, with something engraved into it. When she opened the box there was a picture of Luke, and some other person next to Luke, behind the picture there was a black slick looking pistol.

"Ooo." Jennifer smiled wider, her work alongside engineering making her appreciate a handsome set of weapons. But she turned her attention instead to the photo, seeing if she recognized the other person.

The picture was when Luke was younger, and the man and Luke looked like close friends. The door opened and Luke came in with some breakfast."Alright Jenn I made you some breakfast. Some eggs, some pancakes, bacon..." Luke saw Jenn in his case. "Why are you in my case Jenn?"

Jenn gave him a sheepish look. "I-I... I wasn't, I... I-I thought I heard a... a-a noise from in... I thought I would... I-I didn't... mean to..."

Luke sighed. "Didn't I tell you not to go through my things? God, what is with women and snooping? Anyway, sit down and eat. You have to eat something after you passed out."

Jennifer slowly nodded and took the food. She cautiously but into the eggs, then the pancakes. "This... this is pretty good. Did you make this yourself?"

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 2

"Yes, the main cook here is a good teacher. It helps that I'm a fast learner as well. Regardless Jenn, I wanted to see you because something has been bothering me for days now."

"Yeah?" Jennifer bit off a piece of bacon, enjoying the meal. "I'll help if I can."

"Great. So the day I told your family about my past, you defended me. You were the last person I expected to ever help me. Why did you do that?"

Jenn frowned and poked at her food. "I... I hope that doesn't say something about my character, you thinking I wouldn't defend you..."

"No I'm happy that you did, it just took me by surprise. I mean a few says before that, you didn't like me, then you gave a chance."

Jennifer thought about what was going through her mind at the time. "Well, I... I guess I felt that since you were opening up and exposing so much about yourself, you deserved a chance to explain yourself. You didn't... have to do what you did. You could have lied, and there was a chance Alex would have believed you, but you told the truth. And as horrible as the truth was, it was admirable that you told her."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I want to pay you back for what you did. So what do you want from me?"

Jennifer looked a bit surprised. "What? I... I don't want anything. I mean... it isn't like I did much, right? So what makes you think you owe me anything?"

"You saved my relationship in a way. Well, it's more of thanks for having my back. So I want to repay you, so is there anything you want from me?"

Jennifer smiled. "I want you to be my secret love slave, to have my way with whenever I desire."

"Ha ha, you're funny. The fact that you're not all flustered means you're joking."

Jenn pouted. "Maybe I want to be a bit naughty from time to time." She shook her head. "All I want from you is to keep your promises to Alex. Never hurt her, never give her reason to doubt her. Keep her happy, and prove I had a good reason to defend you."

Luke smiled and kissed Jennifer's cheek. "Now that I can promise. Don't worry Jenn. I promise to never upset Alexis."

Jenn rolled her eyes. "No let's not go crazy. We both know you can never completely avoid upsetting her. She is far too silly a woman for that. Just make sure, when she is done being fussy, you'll stay by her side."

"Of course." Luke sat up and looked at the case Jenn pulled out. "Well, since you pulled this out, I'm guessing you want to know who this person is in the picture."

Jennifer scratched her chin nervously. "Y-you know, telling a person not to do something sometimes makes them want to do just that... but I'm sorry." She handed him the picture. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

"Jessy Whitechapel, the only person that had my back when the settlement turned their back on me. He is the guy that gave me those pistols there."

"You two seem chummy." Jenn gave him a curious look. "Is he still out there somewhere?"

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 3

"I hope he is, be a real shame if he's dead. If we happen to go into my part of Austin, maybe I'll look for him."

"You think he might join us if we found him?" Jennifer asked.

"He could probably work the bar. Hell, he'd be glad to be out of that rats nest."

"These gun are pretty impressive," Jenn commented. "They look pretty expensive. You're probably lucky they were never stolen, living in the slums."

"Yeah, he gave them to me when we killed the gangs.”

Jennifer sighed, running her hand over them. "Must have been hard, leaving a friend like that. Did you ever consider asking him to leave with you?"

Luke sighed. "Wished I did/ He told me he didn't want to be a burden to me. So he gave me these to remember him."

"You said you went back to that town once. Saw it was overrun again, but chose not to help because of how they treated you. Was he there? Did you get to see him again?

"You mean did I see him, no. I was there to return something to him. It was a gold watch that belonged to his grandfather, saw him for a second and left."

"That's regretful..." Jenn popped the last piece of bacon into her mouth. "There are those people... people we care about... that mean so much to us that... we would give so much to see again. I hope you get to see again someday."

Yeah, me too." Luke looked at the plate and saw that Jenn ate all of it." Heh heh, enjoyed my cooking I see. You know, for someone that skips most meals, you sure did enjoy mine."

Jennifer giggled, and placed the plate to the side. "Well, you're a good cook." She moved to the side of the bed and slowly stood up. "I better let you get back to your workout."

"Oh no you don't. I still need to feed you since you skin and bones."

Jennifer giggled. "That is sweet of you, but I am full, really. But thank you. I promise I'll eat three solid meals a day. You trust me, right?"

"Yeah, I trust you." Luke pointed his finger at Jennifer. "But if you pass out again, I will take you to Alexis. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Jenn smiled at him for a moment before softly saying, "Thank you, Luke."

"Hey, we're family. We'll hopefully be family. I'm here to take some care of you, I wouldn't be a good person if I didn't."

Jennifer nodded, and stepped to the door. "Take care, Luke. See you around soon."

"Yeah, see ya." Luke watched Jeenifer leave and looked at his two pistols, as well as the picture. "Damn it man. If you had just came with me, you might have joined XCOM. But don't worry. If you are alive, I will bring you here. After all, what are friends for?"

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Midnight Stories
Part One

The Avenger
Aug 28th, 0100 Hours

Marx...

MARX...

I'm waiting for you...

The Russian soldier almost lept from his bed, looking around the room quickly to reaffirm that he was truly back in reality. He'd been getting strange dreams, filled with claustrophobic darkness and eerie whispers, but always forgot what they were exactly as soon as he woke up.

Marx went to bed in his usual t-shirt and jeans, like he always did, so he simply stumbled out into the hall, somehow without waking up his exhausted roommates. He slowly wandered the empty halls alone, deep in thought, however after a few minutes of this, he turned a corner to see someone heading his way.

All too familiar from their mission together in Chile, Morrigan was wondering towards him in a loose fitting Tee and shorts. Her disheveled appearance and messy hair said she wasn't in a much better state then him, and she gave a weak smile all the same. "Can't sleep either?"

"Not Exactly..." He replied, "That daughter of yours keeping you up?"

Morrigan chuckled. "No... no, she sleeps like a baby. No, I... I-I need to get out of my room so I don't wake her up. Not... s-sleeping well lately."

"I've been having nightmares... I... I came here looking for my family... And I still haven't found them..." He admitted, "I've been having these dreams..."

Morrigan nodded. "Want, um... wanna get a cup of coffee?"

"Sure..." He agreed, hoping it would take his mind off of things.

Down in the bar, the pair had the room to themselves, the skeleton night crew busy doing their jobs elsewhere. Someone was keeping an eye there though, as the pot of coffee looked fresh. "How do you take your coffee?"

"I don't know... I've actually never had a cup before..."

"Is that so?" Morrigan smiled as she poured to cups. "Do you prefer things sweet or bitter?"

"I don't really have a preference but... I suppose bitter?" He answered, giving it a little thought.

"We'll try one cream, one sugar." Morrigan made his cup, then her own. Three creams, three sugars. She brought the cup over and placed Marx's before him. "Sip carefully, it's hot."

Marx brought the hot liquid up to his mouth, taking a slow sip and nodding in approval, "Huh, I like it..."

"Good to hear." Morrigan sipped her own and sighed. "So tell me about these nightmares of yours. Maybe talking about them will help."

" I don't recall much... I feel... Cramped... Like I was stuffed into a box... With voices whispering to me from all sides... I think that they're from my family... My Parents... My Cousin... But I can never remember what they said exactly when I wake up..."

"Does it trigger any memories?" Morrigan asked. "I read somewhere that our dreams happen because our minds are sorting through memories, so they usually have some level of influence. Do you remember a time where you were trapped. If not literally in a box then in some other way or form?"

"Under Advent, all of us were prisoners in a way, but I've never actually been Imprisoned..." He explained.

"I see..." Morrigan thought for a moment. "Can I ask what happened to your family?"

"We used to have a small collection of families that farmed out in the country of Russia, outside of Advent supervision, or so we thought... One day I think they found one of the farms by air and one of the farmers let them right towards the rest of the settlement..." Marx recalled, though some of it was a blur from all the panicking.

"And they couldn't have anyone out of their control, huh?" Morrigan said sadly. "What happened to your family then?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out, but everywhere we've searched they haven't been..." Marx lifted his elbows onto the table.

Morrigan tried for an optimistic smile. "But... you don't know that they are gone. That is why you keep looking. Because the hope that you might find them exists." Her smile dropped a bit. "Maybe your dreams are a reflection of your desperation."

"Maybe you're right..." Marx was quiet for a few seconds, "You... You were once connected to Advent right? Isn't that the rumor?"

Morrigan's shoulder's sank, and she stared down at her coffee. "Not a rumor, I'm afraid. I was married to an ADVENT Sergent. Almost joined myself."

"So... I don't suppose you'd know where people are 'relocated' to?" He asked with a serious glare.

Morrigan slowly shook her head. "No... I don't. I don't think most of ADVENT knows either. It is a great mystery where they go, and what the aliens do with them."

Marx simply rested his head in his hands and sighed in response.

Morrigan slowly moved her hand forward, placing her hand against his shoulder. "I'm sorry. It is a shame of mine that I will always carry, my association with them. Sometimes I wonder if the pain I experienced was penance... and I wonder if it was enough to pay for my sins of ignorance."

"I'm not mad at you... I'm... Just Frustrated... Your time with them is over and you made the right choice, that's what matters... I'm just tired of having no leads..." He replied.

Morrigan folded her hands. "Well... even if no leads come at this time, this is all a step in the right direction, right? I mean... information i hard to obtain with ADVENT baring our way. So it stands to reason that, the more we eliminate their control, the more information will be available."

"Guess that's true... I didn't exactly need more reason to get out and make them pay... But it doesn't hurt..." He smirked.

Morrigan smiled with him. "There you go. Feeling any better, friend?"

"Yeah... Actually... Thank you." He said after taking a swallow of his coffee.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Midnight Stories
Part Two

"Good. Maybe you can escape some of those nightmares." Morrigan laughed, finishing her coffee. "Assuming you can fall back asleep anytime soon. Probably should have had decaf, huh?"

"Probably..." He shrugged, "You never told me why you were up."

Morrigan's smile faded, and she shook her head. "Just... nightmares of my own. I-I... can't remember them, though. Something to do with... my daughter. It's all fuzzy."

"Keep a close eye on her... You have your family with you... You can protect her... Luxuries I don't and didn't have." Marx replied.

Morrigan nodded. "I try. I just... sometimes I wonder if I do right by her. I've made so many mistakes... so many..." Morrigan squeezed her hands together. "I wonder if... if she was given the choice... would she choose me over my husband?"

"Why would she? Haven't you been taking care of her since you left?" The Russian asked.

Morrigan stared down at her cup. "Daniel... is a hero to her. He lived as a hero... and to her, he died as a hero for his family. How can I ever hope to live up to his image?"

"By loving her, by being there for her." He responded, "By doing everything you can to protect her, that's a hell of a start."

Morrigan nodded, and smiled softly. "Guess bringing her here was a good start, huh?"

"I'd say so."

The Irish woman nodded again, and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, well... all I can do is try my best." She sat back and sighed. "That's all any of us can do. I just hope I can protect her. And I hope you can find your family. Why don't you... tell me a little about them?"

"My father was a rough man with a bit of a temper... He worked all the time, doing his best for me and my mother, anything he could really, he never told me exactly what he was doing, but I can't imagine it was Advent approved... When we moved out to the country he relaxed a little, he didn't have to fight as hard to keep the family fed, all he had to do was work the farm when he could and manage the community that began to grow around us." Marx spoke.

"He treated the both of us with a inner kindness he kept from everyone else he knew... He knew how to make hard decisions when he needed to and he could make them quick..." The Russian sighed, taking another gulp of coffee.

"Hmm." Morrigan smiled warmly. "That sounds like my mother. She was the tough one, but always kind to her family. The women of my family have always been tough. Well... most of them anyway." After a pause, she asked, "What about your mother?"

"She was a big woman, had a lot of muscle, which made her a perfect match for my father... She was the one who watched me most of the time when I got into trouble with my condition... She was quite open with her feelings and often expressed how much I worried her with the crazy stuff I did..." He answered, rubbing the large scar running over his face.

Morrigan watched him, imagining the story based on context. "You mentioned a cousin too. Not the first thing people usually go to. He must have been close."

"She... Anna and her father are the only family members I have that I know are still alive... And yes, we were close... We spent a lot of time together when we were younger, but we split apart when my family took me into the country." He explained, "Her father didn't want to follow us, he didn't think it was best for his daughter's safety... I haven't heard from them since... I assume they moved to the city..."

Morrigan folded her hands in thought. "How do you think she feels? She the kind of person who would be an unfortunate sheep like I was... or the kind that would stand up against them?"

"I don't know... Her father hated Advent just as much as my family did, but Anna always had sympathy for the aliens... Not so much Advent though, she didn't like that the Elders were 'being mean' to the races under them."

Morrigan chuckled. "That's sweet, but somehow I doubt the Vipers or Mutons would hesitate knowing she had sympathy. But who knows? I heard rumor there was a group of Mutons that defected and were hunted down by ADVENT a few years ago. If that's true, maybe if we brought down the Elders..." A nervous look crossed Morrigan's face.

"We could help them? I doubt it... Anna was a kid, I don't think she understood how bloodthirsty those creatures are, it's better we just kill them all and be done with it. Besides, sometimes things are just too broken to ever possibly be repaired." He added.

"Hmm? O-oh... yeah. Right..." Morrigan let out a nervous breath. "I was just thinking... after ADVENT comes the protectorate, right? And that means the Elders themselves. How... do we beat them? I know they aren't gods like they present themselves as being, but... I never thought of it before, but... but me facing an Elder must be something akin to... to handing my daughter a laser pistol and telling her to take on a Muton."

"We're getting more and more advanced every day... Sure, if we fought one now, we may not stand a chance, but with more of their tech at our disposal, and human ingenuity at our side, we may just be able to win."

Morrigan slowly smiled at him. "You sound pretty confident, Marx. I might have to ask to borrow some of that confidence."

"I try not to be too confident..." Marx pointed out.

"Oh... that's right. Because of the whole... condition." Morrigan laughed. "Thank you for talking with me, Marx. And sharing. I know you are normally a more... solitary individual."

Marx nodded quietly, "No problem, I might want to thank you actually... I feel like you helped me... At least at little."

"Good. I'm glad to hear." Morrigan's smile lingered for a bit, and she rose to her feet. "Well, I better head back. Don't want Brigid waking up and wondering the halls in the middle of the night looking for me."

"Yeah... Good Night, okay?" He said sincerely, a faint smile on his face.

Morrigan let him be, leaving him to ponder on their talk and hoping he was truthful in her helping him, as well as hoping Brigid was still asleep.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Sirens blaring, red lights flashing. So loud, so bright, penetrating Morrigan's skull like a drill. Havoc all around, bodies laid to waste. How did it come to this? The base was mobile. Invisible. Secure. They shouldn't be here.

Brigid is in trouble. They'll get her. They have her already. I'll stop them from getting her.

Poor Yakone. Poor Ayame. Bodies broken. Twisted. Misshapen. Inhuman even. Two in the literal piles of bodies that littered the ship. Revenge needed. First thing's first. Climbing. Keep climbing. Impossibly large mutons, blocking the path forward. She climbs. Scales them, like a small mountain. The other side, there she is!

"Come on, honey." Morrigan reaches out, the snowy hill behind her their salvation. A way out. They can escape. Retreat. Get away from the death.

She doesn't move. Just grasps his hand tighter. "You lied, mommy. You said he was dead."

Daniel's smile. A sweet smile. So loving. Twisted now. Large, cracked, bleeding. "She knows. Knows you took her away. I told her the truth. Knows I love her. ADVENT loves her."

No! "No! Brigid, please, mommy loves you..."

"LIAR!" Brigid screeches, unnatural, like a banshee's cry. Morrigan's ears ringing. "Daddy is here to save me. Go away. I love daddy."

"No... please..." Morrigan lifts her weapon at the ADVENT Trooper before her. She can't fire. Can't fire. Brigid. It was Brigid under that helmet. "Please, no..."

Brigid fires. Misses. On the ground. Someone hit her. Commander. Atka stands over the Trooper. Over Brigid. Weapon aimed, ready to fire. "Said you wouldn't hesitate."

Not for Daniel. "But Brigid is my daughter!"

"She's ADVENT now!" Commander O'Brien looks back. "They all die! I'll kill them all!

Not her. Please.

"All are evil. All must die. No mercy."

"She's our daughter! Daniel's fault! My fault! Won't let you!"

Morrigan fires. The plasma easily melts through the shield, Gwen falls. A hole in her chest. Not dead, raising her hand. A green shield goes around Leon, but it is weak. Leon loses half his face. Morrigan steps over as he grabs at her. She shoots him, he dies. Reaches up again. Another shot. Dead again. No one blocks my path.

Morrigan walks through the streets of the Irish Megacity she grew up in. Her reflection in the sky. The ADVENT uniform fits nicely. Comfortable, like smooth velvet against a bare body.

Into her home, through the ship's halls to her room. No one stops me from getting her. Not even...

Daniel! He's alive. He does have Brigid! She clings to him. An ambush. Yakone and Ayame. Gwen and Luke. Lilith and Mark. All pointing their weapons.

"She came for her." Atka leans against Daniel. He places his arm around her, hand on her hip. "Just as you said she would."

"I hate you, mommy." Brigid tightly held her new mother's hand. "Daddy told me. You betrayed him. I hate you."

This is wrong. "I love you, Brigid. H-he is the one who..."

"Typical ADVENT scum. Betrayed her own family." Atka lifts her cybernetic arm, revolver ready to fire.

Daniel gives Morrigan a disappointed look. "Did you really think I wouldn't tell Brigid the truth? She knows what you are... and you will never have her."

"I hate you, mommy."

Brigid, please.

"I hate you, mommy."

This isn't right...

"I HATE YOU!" Brigid's eyes glow red, and she lifts her hand, and psi lance firing and piercing Morrigan's chest.

*****

Morrigan awoke crying and pleading, clasping her mouth in shock. She remembered everything clearly, and it ran through her mind over and over again.

Her mother's cries woke Brigid, who slowly opened one sleepy eye, then the other. She rose to a sitting position and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Mommy?" She looked towards her mother's bed, but it was empty. "M... mom?" Brigid crawled off her bed, and searched the covers of her mother's bed in case sleepiness was playing tricks on her. She then looked out into the corridor. "Mommy? Where are you?" She was sure her mother had been crying. But where was she? Receiving no answer, she ventured into the halls in her pajamas in search.

Meanwhile, a little ways down in the opposite direction, Morrigan had lost her will to keep walking, and had collapsed into a corner, holding herself tight and softly weeping.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Dahlexpert and DarkGemini24601: “Clashing Likeliness, Part 1”

0941 Hours, August 29th, 2038

Somewhere in Argentina

Onboard the Avenger

Floor 2, Central Block

The Holography Hub

Adam Brock glanced down at the beam battle rifle he had been given, seeming rather displeased with how it lacked an actual charge pack. Seshat would simulate all gunfire and calculate how it would inflict wounds and impair targets - for the latter, the synthetic being would utilize some artificial gravity systems she had discovered in the ship’s manifests to weigh down the ‘injured’ soldier. “Real danger would be better,” the former Shieldbearer muttered under his breath.

“It would also violate security protocols,” Seshat spoke evenly from the speakers. “You are not cleared for Armory access as of yet.”

“I am aware,” Adam growled.

“Eh, I wouldn’t mind either way,” Yakone said dismissively. “I’m not scared of you.”

That wasn’t a compliment, Brock registered, but was done talking. “Begin simulation.” The empty room constructed a ruined prewar cityscape, with decaying skyscrapers looming in the background and crumbling buildings serving as their respective bases on either side. In the center was a roadway lined with rusted automobiles ranging from motorcycles to trucks. The Juggernaut surged ahead as the match began, pressing up against the back of a van for heavy cover and forcefully planting down his plated shield to cover his left side. He went into overwatch, watching around the right corner of the truck - allowing Yakone to make the first offensive move.

Taking the bait, the Inuit-Caucasian Ranger moved up, aiming to make it to a standard four-passenger car for her own cover. She relied on Shadowstep to avoid the reaction fire from her opponent, but she didn’t account for the fact that it was a lot less effective one on one. While her movements were hard to follow and low to the ground, Adam was able to get a glancing hit off on her shoulder. If not for Yakone’s alloyed armor, that might have done damage. “Dammit,” Yakone muttered, sending an Overdrive charge into her armor to prevent it taking further ‘damage’.

Not letting up, Adam opened fire in Yakone’s general direction, aiming to pin her down and possibly rupture the car’s engine as a bonus. With holographic lasers scorching the hood of the vehicle, Yakone didn’t want to remain there any longer, and let her psionic defenses take some hits from Adam before nearing him. She reached back for her sword - which was completely holographic due to safety concerns from Seshat - and swung it down at the Shieldbearer.

Adam raised a hand, and a telekinetic shield formed in front of him to take the hit. It was shattered by the force of Yakone’s strike, but by the time it carved through the Juggernaut had grabbed ahold of his aegis and brought it to cancel out the las-blade’s arc. With a growl of denial, he pushed forward in a shield bash, causing Yakone to stumble back.

Yakone regained her footing as she got a bit of distance from Adam, cracking her knuckles. “You aren’t an easy enemy, I’ll give you that.”

Rather than respond, Brock pulled out his pistol and fired off a shot at Yakone - forcing her to again use Overdrive to defend. He continued shooting, taking control of the fight by promoting Yakone to weave between another car and a motorcyle around to Adam’s side of the battlefield in an attempt to close in on him again. Not able to get terribly close, she drew her shortened scatterlaser and launched a spray at Adam. He promptly blocked it with his shield.

Narrowing his eyes, the Juggernaut holstered his pistol in a fluid motion, placing down his shield and propping his battle rifle on it to land a direct hit on Yakone’s chest. He didn’t do much damage to the armor, but the Ranger was starting to breath heavily, and her Overdrive aura was starting to shimmer in and out. Proving that was not one to waste opportunities, Adam charged forward again with his shield lifted.

“Stop it with the battering rams!” Yakone complained, her fists surrounded by a blue-green glow from Physical Enhancement as she prepared to strike back. Adam surprised her when he backpedaled at the last moment, causing her to swing forward and lose her brief blue psionic charge. As she tried to prep it again, the Juggernaut drew his pistol and shot her in the side - causing Seshat to inflict a bit of gravity punishment for what would have been a lighht wound.

Yakone was displeased, to say the least. “God dammit!” The Inuit-Caucasian soldier rushed forward, trying to slash at Adam, but the Juggernaut blocked her strokes easily with his plated shield. He planted it down, dropping his emptied pistol and pulled his battle rifle, shooting Yakone in the face at point blank.

The simulated environment vanished, and Seshat reported, “victory for Squaddie Brock.”

Yakone clenched her fists in frustration, not used to losing. “How the hell…”

“You relied far too much on your psionics,” Adam noted, “as well as not using your primary weapon once.”

“I’m better with my sword. It does more damage.”

“It is easier to block, and overreliance makes you predictable,” Adam countered. “Your hand-to-hand should be better.”

“You got lucky,” Yakone decided, crossing her arms.

Clapping could be heard outside by both Lilith and Luke. “Wow a very nice display you two, a very good match.” Lilith said.

“I’ll say. Yak, who’s this newcomer? I have to admit he’s pretty good,” Luke both asked and stated.

“Adam Brock, the Shieldbearer we liberated from the ADVENT Blacksite,” Yakone explained. “And for your information, I think the primary reason I lost was probably the fact that I’ve been sitting on my hands here while you’ve been off assisting the rise of the Chilean resistance. I’m getting rusty.”

“Hey can’t tell that I don’t love a good fight. Besides, I can’t stay on this ship forever,” Luke said.

“Yes well, the mission in Chile was enjoyable. It just felt nice to be off the ship for a few days.” Lilith added.

Yakone went over to the side of the room, grabbing a water bottle while offhandedly mentioning, “I think you’ll like these two, Adam. They’re as crazy as you.”

“Hey, I’m not that crazy. Besides you’re friends with me anyway,” Luke countered.

“I meant how you two are about warrior culture and all that. Though I suppose I’m not much different,” Yakone remarked with a smirk before guzzling some water.

Lilith turned to Adam. “Hello, my name is Lilith Van dam, and the young man right here is my son Luke.”

Adam simply nodded in turn, not saying ‘nice to meet you’ or any such pleasantry. “You two consider yourselves warriors?” he questioned.

“Consider?” Luke said incredulously. “Our clan was filled with warriors, it’s in our blood.”

Lilith looked at Luke and then back to Adam. “What my boy is trying to say is, we come from a clan that priad it self on honor, we were a band of warriors; a strong clan that contributed itself to being soldiers and mercenaries. That was until the alien showed up, and wiped us out.” Lilith said with some sadness in her voice.

“So there are humans that live like Balmadaar,” Adam noted with a hint of curiosity. “I have no clan of my own, but I strive to be a true warrior.”

Luke glanced between Lilith and Adam. “What the hell is a Balmadaar?”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Dahlexpert and DarkGemini24601: “Clashing Likeliness, Part 2”

It’s what we call Mutons, Yakone psied. Don’t call them that though, it pisses him off.

“Mutons, what does this thing have to do with Mutons?” Luke said aloud.

Yakone placed a hand over her face, as Adam tensed and stepped forward so that he was staring down Luke directly. “Do not insult a proud species with nicknames,” he spoke in a low, dangerous tone.

“I warned you…” Yakone offered with a shake of her head.

Luke stepped forward to where he was face to face with Adam. “I will call them whatever I see fit, and what do you know about them?”

“They are proud warriors, like you claim to be,” Adam responded. “Insulting them makes your claims seem hollow.”

“Who are you calling hollow, you worthless-”

Lilith put her hands on Luke’s shoulder. “Luke calm down, Adam what do you know about the Mut- I mean Balmadaar. What do you know about them?”

“They are a proud warrior race that serves as heavy infantry for the Protectorate,” Adam responded stalwartly. “I have not had the honor of conversing with one personally.”

“Um they will most likely shoot you, since you're with us,” Lilith pointed out.

“What do you care about them anyway, you're human what do you care about the mutons?” Luke asked.

“Their blood runs through my veins,” Adam answered angrily. “I may not have been told everything about the Balmadaar, but there are things I know instinctively.”

Yakone sighed. I take back what I said before Luke, he’s the one that’s crazy.

Lilith got in-between the two and faced Adam. “Adam, Balmadaar blood runs through me too, but that does not mean I’m a part of their race. I’m still a member of my clan, I do not consider myself a Balmadaar.”

The former Shieldbearer cracked his neck. “You have your own clan. As I said, I do not. I have chosen the path of the warrior that the Balmadaar have lived, and I tire of your insults and condemnations,” he spoke, a fist forming. Yakone, noticing the momement, ran over and put a hand on his shoulder - activating her Overdrive as Adam reflexively spun around with a swing at her - the Ranger taking a hit that would have otherwise been directed at Lilith.

“Alright, big guy… they don’t understand. As long as they stop bothering you, no need to beat the crap out of them,” Yakone told him warily. Please don’t antagonize him further… I can explain his deal later, she warned the Van Dams, struggling to keep a calm tone.
Luke - ignoring Yakone - punched Adam for punching his friend. “I don’t care what your opinion of the mutons are, nobody hit my friends!”

Lilith put her hand to her head.” Ou here we go .”

Luke’s blow connected with a brief flash of yellow from an impromptu telekinetic barrier. The immensely strong man aimed to strike back, but as he swung at Luke he disappeared in a similar flash of light, reappearing on the other side of the room with Seshat.

“Please do not make me subdue both of you,” the synthetic being requested neutrally, speaking to both Luke and Adam but staring down the latter who was anything but calm at this point.

“What the hell is this thing? And I prefer to take down this Muton-loving bastard.”

“Luke stand down!” Lilith said. “Look I’m sure we can find a way to handle this.”

In response to Adam preparing for what looked like a charge, Seshat trapped him in a box-like holographic construction. “I will attempt to calm him, but I request you three leave the room.”

“...gotcha…” Yakone responded slowly, motioning for the Van Dams to follow her out.

“Now now there’s no need to lock him in a box. Hey Codex, let Adam out. Let him and Luke handle this the old fashion way. It’s our clans tradition to settle arguments with their fists instead of words.”

“Releasing him is inadvisable, and your supplementary request is against protocol,” Seshat responded. “Please exit the Hub.”

“Look, Lilith, I’m not happy with this, but Seshat’s just going to let the Commander know there’s a problem if this escalates further,” Yakone warned. “I’d rather not get chewed out by her right now.”

“Sigh can’t we just let them fight on top the avenger then? Trust me keeping anger in like this is not good, for either man.” A series of three hardlight walls left the trio nowhere to go except out. Seshat was clearly not intending to argue.

“Well so much for that, come on Luke time to go.”

Luke seemed to be ignoring Lilith keeping frustrated that he wouldn’t get to fight Adam. “Muton loving fool.” Luke muttered.

“Really glad he can’t hear that right now…” Yakone mumbled as she stepped out of the holo-room. “Look, trust me, a fight wouldn’t resolve things… Adam’s obsessive about the Balmadaar. When the scientists that created him tried to prevent him from tattooing himself like them, he ended up killing one of them.”

“Heh it still makes me want to fight him, just for the sake of it.”

“Settle down boy. Hey, Yakone this guy is looking for a clan. Why can’t he join ours? I mean he said we're live very close to how they do.”

“That might have been possible before mutual hostilities were created been him and Luke,” Yakone replied with a sigh. “I was not expecting things to turn out that way… for future reference Luke, when I tell you not to say something… I might have a good reason,” Yakone told her friend sarcastically.

Luke looked at Yakone and growled. “I still want to fight him, it sound like he would be a good challenge for me. Never fought a muton lover before, or something that was spawned in a lab.”

“What the hell is your deal with him?” Yakone questioned. “I get it, he’s nuts… but that doesn’t seem like a good reason to beat the crap out of him.”

“He punched my friend, for no reason. That’s all I need to motivate me,” Luke insisted.

“Sign, Yakone, Luke wants to fight him mostly for fun.”

Yakone shook her head, letting out a chuckle. “Well, that’s all well and good… provided it can be framed in a way that isn’t a battle to the death.”

Luke sighed. “Now if only we can make it a sparring match, I won’t lie it would be interesting to see,” he mused.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and Taxor_the_First: “Strategizing for the Robbery, Part 1”

1243 Hours, September 1st, 2038
Somewhere above South America
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 6, Central Block
The Situation Room

The Commander of XCOM leaned over the Situation Room’s expansive table. The projectors were off at the moment; she was reading a report that the younger woman next to her had slid over. Atka’s companion was the most recent addition to the intelligence staff, the agent known as Bronze Cub. The brown-haired American was currently eating a simple sandwich, and paused her lunch to note, “they’re at the door.”

“How did you-” Atka shook her head. “ESP. Right.” She pressed a button on the underside of the table, and the locked door slid open to admit the nine soldiers she had called up to the top floor.

Some of them were from Maverick Squad. Olivia Brown and Stacie Belle filed in first, followed by the more meek Christine Kohler and Yakone - who wasn’t part of the squad but worked with them often. Some were from Judgement Squad - Samuel entered first. Arthur and Samara moved in behind them in a more reserved manner, and following them came Bonnie and a more reticent Lester. Holly was absent, likely because she hadn’t been invited to this particular party. Last one in was the only Corporal among them, Leon stretching his arm out after having to be woken up for this particular meeting

Atka nodded to the group in general. “Take a spot around the board. I’ve called you all here for two reasons. We’re planning an operation, and you need to be present, for one. Additionally, I would like second opinions since my Central Officer is deployed to Chile as you all know.”

“What kind of operation are we talking about?” Samara asked, immediately down to business.

Atka glanced over to Bronze Cub. “Ursula.” The intelligence operative quickly nodded, and put down her half-eaten sandwich. Ursula turned on the projectors on the table, which - unlike usual low-lying overviews of buildings - displayed a towering, twisting, tubular skyscraper. “An unconventional one to say the least,” the Commander noted.

“Nice lookin’ place,” Bonnie noted. “We blowin’ it up?”

“I don’t think we have the explosives to do that,” Stacie contested. “And I’m assuming there are civilians in there…”

“Correct on both counts,” Atka replied. “This is one of the nerve centers of ADVENT’s information network, maintained by a subgroup called the Advent Intelligence Department, or AID. Those of you that have worked as covert operatives in the past may have heard of them before.”

“They’re the people that keep tabs on everyone. The city-goers with their AMDADs are easy, but military reconnaissance data outside of the city centers given to AID is what leads to strikes like the one in Oklahoma,” Ursula added, clearly not a fan of the department’s work.

Samuel’s mouth turned upwards slightly. “You want us to raid an intelligence agency? They’d be bound to have some juicy info.”

“The intelligence is mostly about the Resistance. About us,” Bronze Cub pointed out.

“It wouldn’t hurt to do damage to their servers - something we’ll attempt from various access points along the way - but it’s actually not our primary objective,” Atka explained. “We have reason to believe that the aliens are storing high-value equipment in the upper floors.” She enlarged the top 20 levels of the 80-story structure. “We’re going to steal it.”

“We got any idea how large this equipment may actually be?” Leon asked, tapping his foot in the back of the crowd. “And if it is large, how we are supposed to extract it?”

“It shouldn’t be sizeable at all. There are some intel stores in the restricted levels, along with small equipment marked as “contraband”. Whatever they found they didn’t want anyone to know precisely what it was or what it connected to - Seshat’s files on the subject are heavily encrypted or downright spotty,” Atka informed the team.

“Sounds like the kind of thing we’d be interested in then,” Arthur stated. “And also the kind of thing ADVENT would want to ensure we did not get.”

“And the Protectorate. What one of our contacts was able to pull out of the files we sent them was that the higher this place goes, the less documentation there is of Peacekeeper guards,” Atka mentioned, continuing, “which means those spots are manned by alien forces.”

“Not to sound defeatist here, but are we even ready to face up against alien opponents reliably?” Leon asked his commander simply.

“Have we lost a mission yet?” Samuel asked, grinning.

“Not yet,” Lester answered, “but an attitude like that is the first step to losing. We are right to be cautious.”

“We’ll be fine,” Yakone contended, crossing her arms. “You’ll have me, with Override, Overdrive, and Physical Enhancement. What more could you ask for?”

“A friendly Sectopod?” Bonnie asked.

“I haven’t heard much more than rumors about those damn things,” Stacie chimed in. “I’ll trust that they’re real since you were probably around to see them wrecking shit on TV-”

“Are you calling her old?” Olivia asked with a small smile.

“-shut up. But I doubt there would be one in a city, let alone within a Skyscraper,” the Texan finished.

“Sorry, I must be missing something. What’s a Sectopod?” Arthur asked, scratching his head.

Bonnie chuckled. “You know those prewar tanks? Now stick some legs onto them and several cannons. That’s a Sectopod.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Can we get back to the plans?” Samara asked impatiently.

Atka’s features showed a tinge of amusement - something many of them hadn’t seen before. Getting back to business though, she assured them, “Belle’s point was a good one. We’re unlikely to face much in the way of heavy opposition or artillery indoors, owing to size constraints and a desire to not destroy their own building. I don’t expect to see a single Saboteur, for instance. As for our strength, despite some hyperbole…”

“Says you,” Yakone mumbled.

“...my daughter,” Atka went on, referring to Yakone as that opposed to ‘Squaddie Ipiktok’, “is a valuable asset. The rest of you are among the most capable, as proven through exploits provided to coming here…” she looked to the Mavericks “...or successful XCOM operations.” Her gaze drifted to Judgement and Leon. “To top that all off, I’ll be leading the operation personally.”

“Hear that Arthur? You won’t be our only psion this time,” Samuel said.

The Ranger raised an eyebrow. “Are you expecting jealousy?” he asked. “I welcome the opportunity to witness our Commander in action. If anything, Alan is the one that should be worried about being shown up.” Alan scowled, but remained silent.

“Against three Ambushers that could be a problem, but I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Olivia said reassuringly.

“Arthur and the three of us won’t be in on the action at first,” the Commander cut in. “This is where the organization of the squad will be important.” She brought up the soldier list, which was divided into six fireteams of two soldiers each. “Alpha is Yakone and Vermaak. They’ll serve as our frontline unit for damage absorption. Still, I hope they’ll do their best not to get hit in the first place.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise,” Yakone conceded.

“Beta is Belle and Yokolov. You’re our fire support.” Atka looked at the Sharpshooter in particular. “I doubt your strike rifle will see as much use as in normal engagements due to close quarters, but I know your AMR will be useless.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and Taxor_the_First: “Strategizing for the Robbery, Part 2”

Atka shook her head. “No, Shen has something for you that should be to your liking to replace it.” Like opening a separate tab on a secondary monitor, Atka brought up a blueprint to the side of the roster and building. It displayed a pair of what looked like a hybrid between machine pistols and SMGS, with magazines fed by hollow coils connected to a larger container attached to the back of armor plating.

“Damn,” the Gunslinger breathed, leaning forward to inspect them more closely. “What does Lily call them?”

“They’re designated as…” Yakone snickered quietly as Atka said “blitz pistols. More specifically, Blitzwave Pistols.”

“Well, I’ll take them,” Stacie eagerly stated. “Name can be silly if they tear people to shreds. Or liquify them, I guess.”

“Just be aware they have an incredible fire rate as the name would suggest, but they take time to reload.” Atka straightened her jacket. “As for Fireteam Charlie, that’ll be our two Grenadiers: Sinclair and Brydon. You’ll be controlled demolitions and explosives. One of you should carry additional support grenades like smokes, slurries, EMPs, and so on.”

Bonnie glanced at her fellow Grenadier. “I think we both know who’s going to be taking those,” she said confidently.

“If you plan on being the demolitions half, keep in mind we can’t afford HEs or CUs and ATs are not to be used without careful consideration,” the Commander warned. “I don’t care about property damage but we don’t want to end up falling several stories - if not off the building entirely.”

“Aye, that’s probably not desirable,” Bonnie admitted. “I don’t know how to fly yet, after all.”

“Yet?” Samuel asked, perplexed.

“Psions can do some good shit,” she answered, shrugging. “And now that we know we all have the potential…”

“To varying degrees. We’re still waiting on the psi lab,” Olivia pointed out.

“And we all may never surpass what Christine can do,” Stacie stated with a grin.

While Christine waved her arms in protest at the high praise, Atka noted, “Speaking of Kohler, Fireteam Delta includes our duo of Specialists. Naturally, they make up medical and technological support. But Kohler in particular will be valuable aside from her medica abilities, since she can use Pavise to protect Fireteam Alpha.”

“And as for Echo and Foxtrot,” Atka went on, “We’ll make up command and infiltration. The reason all three Ambushers and a Phantom Ranger will be together is so we can scale the side of the building while Corporal Sinclair takes the… scenic route.”

“The scenic route?” Leon asked with a cross of the arms, “Should I be excited or terrified?”

“It won’t be any more of an adrenaline rush than rappelling up over a hundred feet,” Atka replied. She zoomed back out on the Skyscraper, and lit up Echo and Foxtrot on the roster. “The stealth team will be dropped off by Firebrand near the base of the tower to avoid the anti-air batteries on the top and hopefully prying eyes as well. The four of us will grapple onto the side where beams separate glass windows and begin our ascent. It’ll be nighttime, so ideally we can avoid being spotted until the distraction of the other eight going loud.”

“As for when that’s going to happen, we have to consider our options for egress. This is what I was unsure of.” Atka marked several spots violet on the blue hologram of the building. “There’s the ground floor, which will have pretty direct access to the elevators leading up to the lift to the restricted floors. Problem there is that we’ll have to blow our cover immediately and they’ll know precisely where we’re headed.” Indicating another option, she stated, “then there’s the hangars. If we blow one open or force it ajar, we can get in and confuse ADVENT as to our intentions… but it’s a long way horizontally to the elevator shafts.” She sighed. “And thirdly, we could try to disable shatter alarms and break in a random window, but while we have floor plans we don’t know the patrol routes or worker shifts very well.”

“If I may ma’am.” Leon said, forcing his way to the front of the crowd this time as he looked at the projection. “I know a thing or two about distractions, and I may have one to buy you time. Ground floor and roof are to be the most guarded, so I suggest this. You four going in via the windows should match up with the time a distraction goes down, the more chaos, the more confused and jumbled things get. Drop me and my teammate off by the ground floor and we can cause quite a ruckus, even get a chance to use some higher grade explosives to show them the threat is down below instead of in their belly. We hold them off, give them the slip and get picked up while you guys are mid operation. Though alternatively, we could try and follow in with our own grapples, but that is just risky as all hell.”

“Ye want me to follow you into the most heavily guarded section of the building by myself?!” Bonnie demanded. “Much as I’d like the chance to cause havoc, I’d rather be able to walk out afterwards thank you.”

“Not to mention the only way you guys could pull out of that situation is an extraction from Firebrand… puts her at risk, and then you two again as you have to catch up with the squad,” Olivia pointed out. “A distraction isn’t a bad idea, but the ideal would be setting it up to not require soldiers on the ground to pull off.”

“That sounds more like our territory,” Alan murmured. “We can set up a few traps, have them trigger while we’re long gone. But then we’d need to divert our efforts, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

Yakone tapped her foot as they talked, and then smiled deviously as an idea occurred to her. “Why not place some breaching charges like Alan is suggesting, and then set up a mimic beacon to remotely trigger? Hell, if we put it on a RC we could make it mobile. Sure, we lose that equipment, but we sound a false alarm and take advantage of a false sense of security when it clears.”

“I’d say that’s a good use of equipment,” Samuel said, nodding. “I like it.”

“As do I,” Arthur stated. He turned to the Specialist beside him. “Lester?”

Lester frowned, but did not speak immediately. “It is probably our best option,” he conceded.

“That would be enough to draw away some of the guards from the ground floor if we wanted to enter from there, but to be certain we could make it up in time we’d need to clear out even more. The more I think about it, trying to enter from a window near one of the upper levels is the best option,” Atka thought aloud.

“Why the rush?” Stacie questioned.

“The elevators leading into the restricted levels - which from our intel are fortified against intrusion from the outside - lie in a large open room,” Atka answered. “One that’s filled with guards willing to blow up the lift to prevent our ascent.”

“That… does sound like an issue,” Samara admitted. “So we either have to kill them before that happens, draw them away which is unlikely, or reach there without any indication that anything is wrong.”

“The elevators that leads up to floor 61 exit into a sort of ‘airlock’ that ADVENT uses to screen people,” Ursula brought up, displaying the room in question. “It reads through for DNA scans of authorized personnel and either gives a green light to go through and keycard-activate the elevator, or a red light to prompt the guards to open fire.”

“A Gremlin could fool both of those. We just need to get the guards to look away…” Christine considered.

“Echo and Foxtrot can do that. It may be difficult for us to follow you in unless you can open up some entry point higher up from the inside, but we can offer that distraction and then make ourselves scarce,” the Commander stated. Glancing around and seeing no further objections, Atka nodded and had Ursula return her laptop. Flipping it open, she began to type out the finalized plans.