RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Operation Glass Bullet” - Part 2

The Inuit man gave a nod, prepping his shield and then surging forward. A few more ADVENT soldiers presented themselves, assisted by the stray Sectoid or two. These meager patrols couldn’t hold back the double-timing squad, and were summarily dealt with. The front cars of the train neared, and then Menace 1-5 was faced with its most difficult obstacle.

Across the train car, there were two people, one on the smaller side dressed in black armor that showed off curvaceous features and a sleek black helmet while the other one was a younger man dressed in a gray ADVENT reporter longcoat. Both turned at the entrance of the squad, and the woman placed a hand on the shoulder of the younger man, saying some words to him that made him nod. Moments later, he drew a pistol and let out several shots at Menace 1-5, retreating further back as the woman pulled out her SMG and slowly retracted back her helmet, showing familiar green skin underneath. “Not getting away scot free this time rebels.”

“He’s armed? That’s going to be a problem…” Qamut muttered, his shield dented from the barrage the reporter had let out before running off.

While the VIP retreated towards the front of the train, the doors on either side of Venom opened to reveal an additional two members of the task force. One had a familiar profile - the heavy armor of a Shieldbearer, painted with a pair of sky blue lines on either side of the armor, surrounding a central red line to indicate her rank above her physically-identical brothers and sisters. The other was a new sight to XCOM, clad in sleek black and white alloy armor with plates that were tightly locked together. Her regalia had an Egyptian style to it, and the fact that it wrapped around a tail indicated that this third task force member was the same race as the feline Moguls.

All three ADVENT Elites were surrounded in a projectile-slowing telekinetic field. Not wanting them to move in to benefit from those protections, the third member, Bombay, rushed forward, blasting Qamut with her shotgun to shatter his shield into two battered pieces. The Inuit soldier created an intense fire in his now-empty hand in response, intending to turn up the heat to keep her from advancing forward. He didn’t get the chance to actually put the pryokinetic flames to use, however, as the Elite Mogul called out a request to her ally. “Aegis, smash the window!”

“Understood.” The Shieldbearer pulled out her alloyed bulwark in her right hand, and with her left took a pistol shot at the window near her comrade and enemy second-in-command. When it shattered, a flow of chilly air rushed into the train, moving at speeds fast enough to easily put out Qamut’s fire.

Gwen held up her hands over her helmet, taking a few shots into her shield, looking over at the window and placing a honeycomb like shield was placed on the window. “Help Qamut!” she called out, pinned down too much to help. Willow took out her blade and went after the Mogul, going for a swipe against her to hurt and/or kill her, though the latter was unlikely she knew.

Bombay didn’t make much of a move to back off, taking the hit head-on and only suffering some scratches over her lightweight, thin, but durable armor. With a smirk, she took aim at the annoying Phantom, and pulled the trigger - just a fraction of a second after a grappling hook impacted with the side of her weapon and yanked it to the side. Because of Olivia’s quick thinking, the shot went wide, and this bought Willow time to relocate herself.

Qamut, in the meantime, tried to assist Gwen with the snake-woman pelting her with gunfire. He focused a shockwave into a narrow blast, knocking Venom into the wall and giving Gwen an opening. He was soon repaid with an equal but different display of force when Aegis surrounded him in a telekinetic shield, and shifted its shape downwards rapidly - effectively bashing Qamut flat onto his face. Stacie sent some potshots towards the Shieldbearer in retaliation, but the bullets were slowed down enough that they flattened against her heavy armor.

Leon looked around from behind his cover, confused as to what he was supposed to do in the situation. His arm was still damaged, being a side effect of their lack of healing capability, and that rendered his best weapon uneffective. His teammates were getting battered, the V.I.P disappearing and time running low. He closed his eyes, just about ready to give up when a miracle happened. Time slowed, everyone almost virtually freezing as Leon looked around, the small visage of Psyma in front of him, holding his hands together and looking down. “U-Um… h-hi Leon.”

“Psyma… you finally decided to show up…” The Grenadier noted with complete surprise.

That made the ‘little kid’s’ nose scrunch up as he frowned and got close to the man. “W-Will you… please… stop that!” He said uncharacteristically loud, clenching his fists and biting his lower lip. “E-Ever since you and Yakone had that fight, you… you haven’t been the same… do you… even realize that?”

“What do you mean? Nothing’s changed, I’ve just been… down lately Psyma.” Leon told his A.I. sulking a bit.

“Exactly! That is the entire point! The reason why me and you became good friends was because I knew deep down you would be able to properly take care of me, whether I was awkward or a baby or whatever! The Leon I know would never have just let that girl get off so easy by walking out, or yelling at his best friend. Or let himself be so distracted on a mission! I mean what is with that!?” Psyma asked in a pleading tone, his color growing in intensity, his eyes shaking ever so slightly as if he could even cry.

Leon opened his mouth to answer, to tell off the artificial intelligence that he was wrong and didn’t know what he was talking about, but Leon knew better than that. Psyma was more intelligent than he let on, and figured him out before even the man himself could. His mortal flaw was the fact he always got bogged down when things got rough, that sometimes things weren’t worth it. It happened when Jaren died, it happened when Settlement 17 had been sacked, and it happened when he broke up with Yakone. He did. Despite it being her flaws, his own stopped him from thinking about more than just his own misery. Regret hit him hard, and it threatened to hurt him further, but he shook his head, looking at the artificial child. “You’re right. I’m sorry… for… for not realizing I was having that sort of impact on you. Can you forgive me?”

Psyma crossed his arms and looked away, making an angry pout face before he looked back and groaned. “Why can’t I stay mad at you?” The boy went to Leon’s shoulder and stood on the ends of his toes, looking over the cover. “Ooo… ouch, yeah this is bad. Well,” Psyma scratched his head. “Good news is that there is a way through. Bad news is that you are too injured to do what is necessary.”

“Yeah…” Leon looked to the side and slowly reached down, taking out the broken hilt Gwen had given to him. Closing his eyes, he thought of only one thing, and when he opened them, the hilt had a warm heart permeating from the once cold metal. “But you know me. I make do with what I got.”

Time sped back into real time and Leon took in a sharp breath, twisting himself and standing on his feet, a long, orange blade extending out from where the blade appeared broken. It glowed with a great intensity as orange wisps of power flowed around the edges and condensed at the end, without even having used the weapon before, he felt as if it was apart of him, and he turned, letting loose a disk of swirling energy that went flying towards Aegis, the move designed to slice through her shielding.

Beneath her helmet was an expression of surprise, though outwardly the indomitable soldier reacted only by being pushed backwards as the psionic energy flowed past her telekinetic field without being inhibited and sliced her shield in half and tore a hole into her armor. Her own safety becoming an issue, Aegis was forced to take a few steps back.

Leon, I’m thinking we should send Brown ahead to capture the VIP and call for Firebrand. She has a grapple, she could advance quickly, Qamut psionically suggested. I think we can win this fight, but its going to take too long. If we’re going to blow a hole in the roof and give Olivia a chance to run ahead, we should act now while we only need to divert the attention of two of them.

Do it. Just hope she is up for this challenge. The newly-invigorated Leon psied back, and although he couldn’t see it, Gwen was smirking underneath her helmet, popping up from behind her cover to give fire support. Willow herself joined Gwen and added in the firefight with her sidearm, her shotgun not being close enough to be too effective and if the enemy tried getting close, she always had her sword. Leon, despite the pain in his arm, stabbed his psionic sword into the cover he was behind and took out his own weapon, lifting it with effort to lay down suppressing fire with his minigun.

This gave Stacie the opportunity to pull out a grenade and toss it at the roof - creating the exit for Olivia to rapple up and go after the VIP. Unfortunately, Bombay followed her - using a psionic cloak to render herself invisible as she went off in pursuit of the Ambusher. Aegis remained in the back, providing shielding for herself and Venom.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Operation Glass Bullet” - Part 3

As she ran across the rooftops of the train using magnetized boots, the air rushing around her at chilling temperatures barely kept at bay, Olivia hazarded a glance back behind her. This move saved her life, for she saw magnetized buckshot flying, and was able to duck out of the way. “Guess I’m not going to be able to do this easily,” the Ambusher muttered tensely as she sighted her feline opponent fade into view. Olivia did the opposite, activating her chameleon suit and slipping out of sight. Fighting isn’t my priority. Have to get to the VIP.

“Tch.” Bombay let out a catlike snarl, shaking her head. “You think you’re sneaky, you bitch? Don’t try and steal my thunder.” She lifted up her hands, and a blue-green glow surrounded them. Oddly enough, the psionics that accompanied this indication of power were recurring abilities rather than being truly native to the corresponding colors. An acid-filled wind whipped strongly over the roof of the train, crackling with electricity. They briefly had an eddie around Olivia’s location, but slightly indicating her position wasn’t the point.

With a cry of surprise and pain, a few volts shot through Olivia’s body as the acid ate away at her chameleon suit and revealed her to Bombay’s cat eyes. “That’s not good!” She squeezed her eyes shut, and summoned Pavise – bringing his shield to block another shotgun blast that came her way. The shield was quick to crack, but wasn’t broken by the attack.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” Bombay replied deviously, putting her shotgun on her back and pulling out a glowing psionic grenade. “Catch.” She tossed it at Olivia, and the resulting explosion scattered the Ambusher’s thoughts, bringing her to her knees in mental agony. Bombay switched to her pistols as her opponent writhed, and lined up a shot. “You shouldn’t have fucked with someone better than you.”

“I won’t… I won’t die here!” Olivia screamed as the gunshots came, expanding Pavise’s shield. The move bought her enough time to recover from the scrambling effects of the scintillate grenade, but it came at the cost of Pavise being too battered to continue without breaking. Olivia was forced to recall him back to herself, and was now on her own.

Her pistols emptied of ammo, Bombay sighed and returned to her shotgun. “Let’s end this.” She blinked forward, leaving a surprised Olivia staring across the empty space where the Advent Elite had been just a second ago. The shotgun was aimed at the back of the Ambusher’s head. “Sayonor-ehhh?!”

Olivia ducked down, and a barrage of magnetically-accelerated bullets slammed into the feline soldier, ripping through her armor and leaving her clutching at a bloodied torso, a minute or two away from passing out. Stacie lowered her blitz pistols, letting them cool off as their autoloaders replenished their ammo. “We may work alone sometimes, being the Mavericks we are… but we never forget to watch our friends’ backs. In short, get fucked, cat lady.”

“Grrr… this isn’t over! I’ll remember you, you goddamn whore!” Bombay spat at Stacie as Olivia turned to face her as well. With that, the Advent Elite leapt off the train – using currents of air to give herself a safe landing on the glass surrounding the rail line.

“Guess they always land on their feet,” Stacie muttered. “Go on ahead, Olivia!” she instructed as the sound of gunfire intensified behind them. “I gotta get back and help the others.”

***​

Exhausting from her fight along against the task force member, but still having the objective to complete, Olivia pushed open the door to the leading car of the monorail.

There she found the target she was looking for standing on the far end of the car, pistol drawn and pointed at her with a slightly shaking hand. “I’m not going with you, rebel.” The young man said with feigned confidence.

“Yes, you are… we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Olivia responded tensely.

“So what? You can torture information out of me and dispose of me when done? I don’t think so. I will not give up to the likes of you. I can’t.” The man took a deep breath and grabbed his wrist as he shook more.

“We don’t need you for anything, you’d just be a prisoner,” the Ambusher responded calmly. “You have something we want.”

He nodded. “Something that ADVENT will kill me if I give to you. I don’t care about your… crusade or revolution or whatever it is. I got people to protect too you know!” Ryson looked around, trying to buy any time he could.

Not wanting to stall any further herself, Olivia ducked downwards behind a thin column of machinery and reached back for her cable slinger. Hard way it is.

Not that slick, lady. He responded, diving behind his own cover, taking in a deep breath. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to hurt you! I just have to protect myself here!” He yelled, firing blindly with his weapon.

How can you-? Olivia questioned briefly, before making a move. Rather than step out of cover, she sent her RCs out at the reporter, linking their tripwires together as they rushed either side of the man in an attempt to make him fall. At the same time, Olivia flipped around cover and shot a magnetized bola round at him.

Obviously, the reporter was no elite soldier and almost immediately fell for the trap, the wires wrapping around him and immediately bringing him to the ground. The reporter struggled, though it was futile, and growled angrily. “Let me go! Don’t do this to me!”

“Not my problem,” Olivia muttered, lifting a hand to the side of her helmet. “Firebrand, package is in custody. Get us out of here.” The Skyranger rocketed in, and Olivia shattered the window on the side, grabbing Orrak and grappling from the train onto the dropship that was matching its speed. With her onboard, Firebrand dropped back, had the other five members of the squad rapidly board, and then took off back towards the Avenger.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Light betraying Darkness”

A half an hour after the mission, Leon walked with the head doctor, the latter letting out a drawn out sigh as they neared the exit. “Listen, the burns will heal in time. Until then, don’t do anything to agitate them? I know how reckless you and that sibling of your can be.”

Leon nodded and chuckled, shaking Kai’s hand thankfully. “I’ll keep in touch.”

“Yeah, I look forward to it.” The Japanese doctor noted as he shook his head and turned, going back into the infirmary leaving the Grenadier alone. Looking down the hall, he slowly went jogging down to the place he should at least begin his search for someone important. Getting to the bar, he looked around, trying to find any one of Yakone’s friends to find out where she may be hiding out.

He came by the head engineer, who was reviewing some of the combat footage on her laptop to see if there was anything she could do to improve XCOM’s tech further. A light drink - some variant of beer - sat on the counter beside the computer. “Hey, Sinclair,” she responded to his approach, though she only glanced briefly over at him. “What’s up?”

“I need to know where she is. I need to see Yakone.” Leon said urgently, trying to look tough and proud despite the arm sling his right arm was currently in.

“That’s… not a good idea. Especially in your condition,” Lily responded with a shake of her head.

“An-Yi, please!” Leon practically pleaded. “This is something I have to do. If you want something in return, I got the damn sword to work during the mission. I’ll let you observe me with it as much as you want just please… tell me where she is right now.”

Hitting the pause button, Lily turned to face him directly. “I’m not one to take bribes.” She sighed at length. “Look, if this really is important… I’ll tell you where she is, but I’m going to have to let Seshat know you’re visiting so she can prevent a physical altercation. Yakone’s in the holo-training room, she’s been in there for hours getting ready for the next mission.”

“Tell her. I just need to see her.” Leon said, swallowing to moisten his dry throat, turning and walking out, making haste to the holographic training room.

When he arrived, whatever intensive simulation that had been going on had shut down, and Yakone was currently situated on the bench off to the sight of the projection area. Next to her was a few empty water bottles - four when the doors began to open, and five when Yakone placed down a freshly-emptied one. Her skin was brighter than normal all over - glistening with sweat produced from the repeated training exercises. She wore only her blue sports bra and a pair of black shorts, though was certainly not in the mood to show off - evidenced by a deep scowl when she saw Leon. “If a certain bitch hadn’t locked the doors - I know it’s you, dammit!” Yakone snapped to the ship’s AI, “I wouldn’t be here… what the fuck do you want?”

“What I want is to be able to talk to you without being interrupted for just… three minutes. Just listen to what I have to say? Please, just do that for me?” Leon asked, taking in several deep breaths showing he had quite literally ran to meet her.

“If you’re here to insult me an inch further then you can run off in the direction you came from,” Yakone spat furiously.

“Yakone… when I first met you I had no idea what to think about you. To me you were just some… rash, young woman I had never thought I would have ever gotten past more than a hello with. I underestimated you, and after talking with you, and getting to know you, I found myself attracted. You were by no means perfect. I am by no means… fucking perfect Yakone but if there is one thing I am certain about, it is that during that entire time with you,” He let out a groan.

“Fuck physical exertion… what I learned, is that I loved you. And I was right. You are a rash, selfish in over her head girl with an ego the size of a mountain, but that’s just you. And that part of you is still a part I love next to the sensitive, beautiful, and complex girl I know you are. I messed up, not going after you after our fight. You don’t know how much I regret that. And I meant what I said about not wanting to lose you. I’m sorry, for not being there. I am sorry, for pushing you away for my own selfish reasons. I am… fucking sorry I tried to give you up. You aren’t perfect by any means, but I don’t need you to be. And the parts that are detrimental to you, we can help you overcome. Overcome together.” Leon held up his good arm and allowed it to drop, letting out a sigh. “My three minutes are up.”

Yakone didn’t respond at first. She had maintained a hard gaze throughout the first half of Leon’s speech, but by that middle mark she had avoided further eye contact, and by the end she was looking starkly away from him. “Why?” she questioned hoarsely, oddly dry-throated despite not having been the one to be speaking. “Why did you treat me the way you did, only to turn around with a full apology that makes me feel like shit? Do you… take pleasure in stretching my heartstrings to their limit, or something? Are you that sadistic?” she asked harshly, though the tears that ran down the visible half of her face betrayed how she was really feeling - there was more melancholy there than spite now.

Leon let out a short chuckle, running a hand through his hair as he shook his head, turning into a short laugh. “I don’t know why… I don’t know if I’m crazy or if I am just horrible at being a romantic but what I do know is I do care for you. I love you with all my heart. And the prospect of losing you forever tears me up. I didn’t know how much you wedged yourself into my life before I made you leave. But now that I do know, I don’t want to let go. I… I just want to love you. Please… Yakone will you be my girlfriend again?”

“You don’t make any goddamn sense,” Yakone muttered, shaking her head weakly. I guess I don’t either, so it’s a meaningless statement. “Doesn’t seem like an offer I can really refuse though… you’ve been consistently beloved by everyone on this ship, and people have increasingly seen me like a bitch… if we remain polarized I’m the one who’s going to lose out,” Yakone offered pragmatically, though that way of interpreting things rang hollow for someone emotional-minded like her. More verily, she admitted, “I do have a thing for you myself, even if I jumped into this relationship way too quick and made a bunch of… admittedly… stupid mistakes. So alright, I accept your offer… just please…” Yakone faced him again, offering a damp smile. “Please don’t make me be a pathetic crybaby like this again if you can help it.”

“Why? It’s… it’s a cute look.” He said, letting out a soft, amused chuckle once more as he rushed forward, putting his arms around Yakone tightly, holding her as close as he could, something he had not done for a while.

She didn’t resist, not seeming to have the emotional - or physical - strength right now to do much more than accept the embrace. “Maybe from your perspective, not… anyone looking at me rationally… not that I seem to be very familiar with the concept of approaching things sensibly,” she mumbled half-coherently.

“Love is blind they say. Though I don’t understand what the hell that means. Getting an eye full of you is always a pleasure.” He teased lightly, closing his eyes, having no problem about how sweaty she was.

“You can say a lot of shit to me, but you’ll never convince me that I’m not hot as far as appearances go,” Yakone responded with a tired chuckle.

“True.” Was all he could say, slowly letting go but still kept his hands on her arms. “If it’s all the same to you… I want to spend the next few hours with you. At least until your mission,” he suggested.

“That’d be fine… I think if I do anything else strenuous I’m not going to have enough energy to actually go on the op,” Yakone conceded.

“Just like you to always push too hard.” Leon took her hand, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. “Let’s get out of here.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

XCOM Forces for Operation Verity Zenith

***CMDR Ipiktok, Atka [Ambusher]
**CPL Strand, Christoffer [Paramedic]
*CPL Kasun, Tomislav [Harrier]
SQ Contreras, Valentia [Sharpshooter]
SQ Ipiktok, Yakone [Ranger]
SQ Bauer, Heinrich [Grenadier]
SQ Dominguez, Maxwell [Aerotrooper]
SQ Brock, Adam [Enforcer]

DarkGemini24601: “Operation Verity Zenith” – Part 1

The southern sun shined continually throughout September day in the Antarctica continent. Especially at the bottom of the world – at the South Pole. Nevertheless, the Skyranger approached the tower that was built there undetected for now, the brilliant golden sunlight wrapping around the dropship thanks to the ironically-named shadow device contained within. Radio jammers were active and working overtime as Menace 1-5 approached the building that received and transmitted a large portion of ADVENT communications. The disruptions were, of course, localized around the Skyranger itself – as nothing XCOM had could possibly interfere with the telecommunications monolith that stood before them.

Their objective stood before them, the mother of skyscrapers. The daylight reflected off the numerous glass windows along its towering gray structure, making it appear to glow white in many places despite the dark color of the metal structure. Despite its size, intelligence suggested that a great deal of it was automated. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t humans within, however. Plenty of Advent civilian staff – and even more defensive troops – were stationed within the forlorn outpost, bathed in sun during the southern hempishere summer and smothered in darkness during the winter months. One of them was not a regular staff member.

She was the squad’s ticket in. A brave intelligence operative named Emmeline Ashworth, trusted for her role in bringing in the first wave of European staff for XCOM, had been granted a copy of the access codes that the mission less than 24 hours ago had granted the Resistance. If Ashworth hadn’t managed to get into the building with the press access, the mission might have been impossible. But it appeared that ADVENT hadn’t yet figured out XCOM’s aim in capturing one of the AAN newscasters. Thus, Emmeline was on the inside, and should toss an EMP bomb into the network tower’s security cortex any time now.

A flickering on the lower floors confirmed that property destruction had just taken place. As soon as Firebrand reported the anomaly, Atka turned to the seven soldiers aboard the dropship with her. “We have one chance to get a signal out to the rest of the world… to let the people in the cities know just what ADVENT has been doing to their loved ones. To tell them why they should rise up. We cannot fail here. Even with the assistance we’re having to get inside, this will not be easy. Be ready for anything… be ready to fight the best ADVENT has to throw at us, and any alien friends they have with them too.” Christoffer glanced at the other three Mavericks with him, and was met with nods. A bit less confidently, Valentia and Tomislav gave their assent as well.

Yakone gave a determined nod. “Let’s do this. This is everything we’ve been working towards. Can’t fail now.” The Ranger seemed more at peace than she had been before. Her calm expression surprised her mother, and served as a relief. Yakone was needed – direly so. Her reassurance manifesting in a brief exhalation, Atka returned the words and gestures she was given with a nod of approval in her own right. “Let’s do this then,” she stated confidently. “For Earth and all of humanity that lives on it.”

The Skyranger jettisoned over to the top floor of the gargantuan Tower of Babel, the agents from the sky setting foot on the roof to send a message of their own for once. They were not met with any resistance upon their initial landing. Emmeline had bought them their only chance to attack without the anti-air batteries going crazy, but their sensors were about to go online again soon. To give themselves a way out when this was all over, Heinrich spent some of his ordinance on the demolition of the AA turrets on the first platform. Once they had crumbled into rubble, the squad advanced.

The initial security forces that were stationed on the next platform across proved to be no challenge at all. The basic ADVENT troopers and a few Specialists were the first responders. The battle initially begun across the chasm separating the two groups, but as reinforcements rose up from an elevator shaft built into the right guard tower and a ladder on the left, Atka ordered Menace 1-5 to advance. As they mowed down a collection of Stun Lancers, the elevator spit out a new and improved MEC trooper. Its armor was no longer white, but instead was largely a crimson color. It was a few degrees more durable – evidenced by the fact that a rail-accelerated sniper rifle round didn’t kill it in one go. Still, it was alone, and couldn’t make use of its upgraded equipment before being brought to its knees. As soon as the skirmish had begun, it was over.

The third platform is where things got difficult. Stepping around a resting ADVENT dropship to face the squad was a group of two Shieldbearers, two Banshees, and eight troopers. Accompanying them from an immobile alien troop transport was a grand total of five Mutons. A large and powerful group, made more difficult by the fact that the Shieldbearers cloaked the otherwise weak Troopers in a combination of basic telekinetic shields and an overlapping telekinetic field. The Mutons, for their part, primed their grenades in groups of two – the fifth laying down suppression fire on Atka – and prepared to throw.

Rather than try to speak over the roar of plasma forcing her to cover behind a column of alloys, Atka communicated her orders telepathically. Tomislav, I need you two to start shooting like crazy in the direction of the Mutons! Blow their grenades out of the sky!

On it, boss. Tomislav yanked the trigger on his Augerrifle, and send a spray of magnetically-propelled gunfire in the general direction of the Mutons. He did little damage to their armor, but he wasn’t picking any target in particular. The first two grenades flew, and were blown up by stray bullets from the Harrier. To make things better, one of his errant rounds hit the grenade in the hands of the third Balmadaar, causing it to go off and damage himself and his ally. The resulting blast also detonated the fourth grenade, and finished off the pair of unfortunate alien shocktroopers in one tremendous explosion. “Take that, assholes!” the Harrier yelled triumphantly.

Christoffer relayed a mental order to his Gremlin as Tomislav’s bullets flew, sending the robotic drone over to Yakone and providing her a column of light distortion. “Adam, give her a good shield!” A sturdy barrier flared up around the Ranger. “Gonna need you to do what you do best, Yakone,” Chris noted quickly.

Yakone smiled widely, given the chance to go all out without worrying about Leon having a heart attack. “Thank you,” she sincerely rumbled like a hunting dog given permission to take down its prey. She kicked her psionics into overdrive, and launched herself into the fray. The Banshees lifted their magnetic shotguns and fired off a spray of alloy buckshot, but only succeeded in causing the shield Brock had put up around her to flicker dangerous. Even if it falls, they won’t get through my Overdrive’s protections, Yakone knew, and thus had no fear about closing to melee distance with one of her attackers. She slashed him once from the top down, rupturing a gash through his armor. Her opponent staggered back, and then suffered the bite of Yakone’s second sword – which impaled him through the lower heart for a few moments before being swiftly ripped out again.

“Heinrich, time to set up your mortar!” Christoffer continued to instruct, noticing the pair of Shieldbearers wisely duck behind their dropship to keep out of sight. “See if you can’t lob a shell over that transport!” The Grenadier began to prepare his secondary weapon, and Chris went on to suggest, “Maxwell, hop off the side of the building.”

“What?!” the Aerotrooper questioned with wide eyes.

“Use your jumpjets, fly around and flank!” Christoffer clarified.

“That makes a hell of a lot more sense,” Max mumbled, leaping off the edge of the platform to do just that.

Valentina didn’t even need direct orders. She saw a priority target – the Muton that was suppressing her Commander – and blew it away with a well-aimed shot. “Whoo-ho! Get fucked!” she cheered as the Balmadaar’s headless body crumpled to the ground.

Now freed from the suppressing fire, Atka stepped out of cover and picked a target of her own. The other Banshee harassing her daughter fell to a magnetically-flung bolt-caster round through the heart, making Yakone’s life a little easier. That didn’t do anything about the eight enemy soldiers that began opening up against the Ranger, but as they did Adam switched tactics. He removed the shield around her, and replaced it with a potent, localized telekinetic field. The rounds coming towards Yakone slowed, and merely pattered harmlessly against her psionically-reinforced armor.

“Bring it on,” Yakone taunted to the increasingly terrified ADVENT squad.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601: “Operation Verity Zenith” – Part 2

At the same time, Heinrich had finished setting up shop, and quickly made a choice between an AP grenade and an HE. “How about we make some fireworks…” he decided, loading the HE. It was launched from the mortar with a heavy thud, and soared upwards before coming down hard onto the engines of the dropship. As he’d hoped, they blew up with a thunderous blast.

Maxwell witnessed their armor being ravaged as the two peacekeepers were blown onto the ground. He didn’t stop to pity them, though. As they started to get up he had already opened fire, mowing down one with a rapid stream of bullets. The other picked up their shield and stumbled backwards, intent on trying to get away from the makeshift bunker that had become a killing field.

Unfortunately for him, he came right into the sights of a killzone Valentia had laid down. One deadly area traded for another, the Shieldbearer fell to a bullet through the lung, collapsing to the ground with half of his chest caved in and soon tumbling into the blackness of death.

Yakone only smiled wider as the psionic defenses ceased to shine around the ADVENT soldiers. With wide eyes, they could only back off uselessly as they were charged by the avenging Ranger. Two fell in quick succession to the swipes of her blades. “You bastards are gonna pay for killing Christine!” she growled ferociously. Two that attempted to flee found themselves caught in the visual range of Valentina, and were gunned down instead of being cut up.

As for the two surviving Mutons, they were the only chance the other four Advent Troopers had for survival. Or, they were before a pair of RCs caused them to fall flat on their faces, tripping over a strong wire. Heinrich switched to his ATC, and along with Tomislav took some inaccurate shots. They weren’t enough to kill the two, but the gunfire caused their body armor to be in a poor state, and that allowed Maxwell to take one of them out – Christoffer making up for any misses with a deadly hit to the last Muton from his own gun. Suddenly, the four remaining ADVENT soldiers were in dire straits, and flat-out surrendered rather than die to the deadly tag-team of Yakone and Valentina.

The fight wasn’t over yet. As the squad replenished their magazines and moved up, they came to another gap bridged by two catwalks on either side of a strange-looking spire. It rose up from the chasm between their present platform and the A.A.N. newsroom that was their target. To some of the members of the squad, it appeared like a black claw, reaching up to the sky with four talons facing in the cardinal directions and an empty palm. But to the psionically inclined, it was positively radiating violet power.

“Wonder if this is what the aliens use to read the minds of their human subordinates from a distance,” Atka muttered to herself. Even if that wasn’t the case, the psionic conduit still served as the center of the Coalition’s communications… the perfect tool to use against ADVENT. To gain power over it, however, they would have to go into the control center. The troops standing guard fell quickly. They were not well-equipped - if the cameras ever turned in the wrong direction, the faces of powerful aliens should not be seen after all. This obsession with protecting their narrative was ironically what would end in the exposure of the truth.

The other seven members of XCOM held the line, while Atka stepped into the control room of the South Pole tower, and made her broadcast.

On the screens of every TV in the ADVENT Coalition, the face of Atka Ipiktok was broadcast. Her eyes burned with fury and indignation at the lies which she was about to tear to shreds. In her left eye was a faint blue flame from the psionic energies contained in her body, visible to nearly none of ADVENT’s average citizenry - any psions were scooped up by the government or taken. The sparks that flew from her right, cybernetic eye were fully in sight to all, however. “My name is Atka Ipiktok,” Atka introduced herself with a grim confidence. “I am the Commander of the paramililtary organization known as XCOM, tasked twenty years ago with the duty of safeguarding humanity. You may know us as terrorists intent on tearing apart your peaceful lives… but I am here to tell you that narrative ADVENT has spun is a lie, as is much they tell you.”

Across the Coalition, those assigned to work on the media and propoganda were dealing with a pandemonium, trying to cut off the feed. However, initially there was little they could do - the Network Tower overrided all of their feeds, another weakness the aliens had not worried about. Their mistake, Atka thought, taking a deep breath and getting into the important matters. “I’m sure almost all of you have heard rumors that people have disappeared from the Megacities and settlements beyond. I’m here to tell you all of that is true. ADVENT’s abducting their own citizenry and any that refuse to conform to their so-called ‘perfect society’, and they aren’t doing it for your own good.”

However, the aliens were quick to start getting into action. In their more major locations of power - such as Africa - subsidiary communications towers began to block the telepsionic signal being broadcast from the South Pole. For many other cities however, Atka’s assault on the lies of the alien puppet government continued to be heard by hundreds of millions of human citizens. Thrusting a hand to the side for emphasis, Atka continued, “you know where they’re going? Don’t let me just tell you… let me show you!”

To Atka’s sides appeared various pictures and videos taken during XCOM’s assaults on the Advent and Protectorate Blacksites. People being kept in suspended animation. Conveyor belts to ship off helpless, sentient cargo. The place where that cargo ended up, hidden beneath the Antarctic ice. The vat of processed DNA taken in an inequivalent, fatal exchange. “They have been stealing away your people indiscriminately, using places like the gene therapy clinics to take your feeble and your strong and bring them to their houses of horror. What is done with them there… that is not a tragedy, it is an implication of monstrous intent!”

More feeds began to be cut off, but even as ADVENT was given the power and permission to attempt to block out the liberation transmission - there were actions taken to counter it. The Resistance was coordinating, especially in places XCOM had a serious impact. In North America, South America, and even parts of Antarctica, there was little the Coalition could do to stop the Icy Liberator. “The vaunted Elders need you to die for their own survival!” Atka boldly called out, an expression of the utmost hatred, sadness, and disgust clouding her features. “They need psionic DNA that is compatible with theirs to replace their own dying cells… and even that won’t save them from the exotic disease that is killing them.”

The Commander took a deep breath. “You must understand, ADVENT does not have your best intentions at heart. They are puppets of aliens that care little for your lives… they consider themselves more important than you. You must rise up! You must show these devils that showering you in gifts does not excuse the slaughter of your friends and family and fellow man! It’s time for humanity to rise up again, and seize control of our own destiny! To save ourselves! I urge you, do not stand idly by and let them-”

Finally, Atka was cut off - but not by indirect means. Rather, the roof caved in, and landing on a pile of shattered metal - half-cloaked in dust - was the black-and-red armored Major Blukersey. “We have heard enough of your lies… it is time that you be silenced,” Nigella coldly declared, raising her battle rifle straight at Atka.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601: “Operation Verity Zenith” – Part 3

“If you’ve been brainwashed to be so blind that you’ve heard my words and can’t possibly believe them… I truly weep for you… sister,” Atka spoke quietly, sadly, as she pulled her own weapon off her back. She didn’t have a chance to fire the Bolt Caster immediately, however, as a spray of gunfire from Nigella forced Atka to back off. The Commander rolled behind a structural support pillar, only to see one of Nigella’s allies – a fairly standard-looking ADVENT soldier in customized gray armor – quickly running into a flanking position. “Need some help here!” Atka called out to her teammates.

With a blast from his ATC, Heinrich took down one of the new Crimson MEC models. “On my way!” he replied, turning and running to intercept the gray soldier. “Oh no you don’t,” he muttered as the elite trooper lined up Atka with an expertly precise shot. Another thunderous shot was let loose, and hit the pillar near the dangerous opponent. It didn’t do much damage to him, but the tumbling shards of metal threw off his aim and send his shots wide.

“Dammit, they’ve murdered nearly all of our reinforcements,” Commando growled as he shrugged off the rubble and sought cover.

“Then we’ll just have to do this on our own. Do not waver,” Nigella replied, advancing with four regular Officers at her side. “And do not lose hope. We might have assistance from our superiors soon.” Many of the other members of Menace 1-5 were forced to engage the ‘captains’ in bloodred body armor (as they fought alongside Commando). Atka was left to face Nigella alone.

“It comes down to this, huh?” Atka formed her icy helixes, forgoing her bolt caster in favor of the Reflection weapons.

“So it seems.” Nigella put away her battle rifle, and formed an icy helix of her own in her left palm, while spinning her shockstaff into her right hand.

The two charged at one another. There were no battle cries, merely a silent determination for reasons that could not be more polar opposite. Nigella battled with a frozen iron will, meeting the double-onslaught of the Icy Helixes with her singular supernatural weapon angled in a defensive pattern. Unlike the more rigid helixes of Atka, it spread out into something like a roughly-designed webbing that blocked the grinding strikes that were sent the Major’s way. Each strike was checked and met, and Blukersey thrust her shockstaff in Atka’s direction whenever possible.

Each time Atka faced the electrified, sharp tips of Blukersey’s weapon, she glided back on a path of ice. The message has been sent, we need to extract as soon as possible, Atka reasoned. But she was kept on the defensive, and that prevented any chance of her falling back. Dammit, I need to make a smarter move. Realizing this method of combating Nigella wasn’t working, Atka sighed and stepped back. “Time to get tougher.” Opening her palms to the sky, the icy helixes retracted to be only two meters long, and then shot together, twisting into a quadruple helix before shaping into the full Reflection, Blue World.

“So its true… you really do have a Reflection to call your own,” Nigella muttered, drawing back to reconsider her options. “You might be able to touch time, but I can interact with it in my own way,” the Major declared as Atka went on the offensive.

This caused Atka to falter for a moment, but only for that brief millisecond. She knows what Blue World can do? How? “It doesn’t matter,” Atka decided verbally. “In the end, that knowledge is useless!” she cried out as Blue World struck with tremendous power at Nigella.

The Major saw it coming, and sidestepped with an icy path of her own, retaliating with a jab of her shockstaff that hit Atka straight in the chest and badly jolted her. As her opponent staggered back, a drop-pod fell from the sky – being larger than anything that had fell in the defense of the Avenger. “Your powers are perhaps mightier, insurgent, but you are still a novice with them. You do not understand the true value of Chronokinesis. You are not a true psionic master.” Blukersey turned her attention to the rest of the squad.

“Don’t… count me out just yet,” Atka growled as the Major’s back was turned. She lifted her bolt caster, but before she pulled the trigger the pods doors sprang out, flying through the air. One of them tumbled in Atka’s direction, prompting her to jump backwards to avoid being flattened. Her gaze drawn to the pod, the Commander bore witness to a technological marvel. An environmentally-sealed suit of massive power armor – certainly not pretty by any means, with its honeycombed dome of a head and rusty-looking limbs. It proved itself to be a threat, though, wielding a plasma battle rifle and firing off a glob of viscous acid from a launcher on its back.

It was all Atka could do to stay out of the way of these dangerous attacks. The ice she used to dodge out of the way was quickly melted as the acid ate through it and the ground, causing the floor to become unstable. The plasma laser shots were blocked by Blue World, the Reflection taking some serious damage. “Gah… come on!” Atka growled helplessly, unable to do much more than defend herself as the Major engaged those that didn’t necessarily stand a chance against her. The major briefly faltered, clutching her head and glaring at Atka for a split second – but continued nevertheless to march towards the rest of the XCOM soldiers.

Maxwell was airborne, floating just outside of the telecommunications booth. He took down an Officer with a barrage of fire, only to see a much more powerful one running his way. “Shit!” he turned his mag rifle on Nigella, letting loose a barrage of bullets at her. Each and every shot missed, as if Nigella knew where they were coming. “How are you–”

Nigella’s body glowed as she sent physically-enhancing psionic energy through her body, and leapt into the air. She brought her shockstaff down against Maxwell – penetrating his armor with an imbued tip to her weapon. She didn’t even bother to electrify it, knowing it would cut deep enough to puncture through his body. The weapon indeed bit through the Aerotrooper, and slid back out, sending him flying onto the ground bleeding badly and losing consciousness. Blukersey, in stark contrast, landed gracefully and turned to the rest of Menace 1-5 as the last of the red-armored soldiers that had accompanied her fell. Only Commando was left, holding his own despite fighting a battle six on one.

“Maxwell!” Christoffer cried out in horror when he glanced to the side and located the source of the thud he had heard.

Atka’s eyes turned briefly as well during her brief respite provided by concealing cover. “No… no!” she screamed out. “I rewinded time… but it ended up just as bad…” Clutching her hands into fists, the Commander tried to make a difference in a more tangible way. From Blue World’s hands, shortened icy helixes shot out – garroting through the Andromeddon’s armor enough for a bolt caster shot to open up a hole in the sealed helmet. Toxic gases began to pour out, and the operator died… only for the suit to automatically start up again as soon as it had stopped, and rush Atka and her Reflection with its metallic fists.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601: “Operation Verity Zenith” – Part 4

The battlefield was in chaos. XCOM’s Commander was pitted in a monstrous test of strength against the broken, battered, brazen shell of an Andromedon – now immune to the weaknesses of the dead flesh within, and propelled only by elerium-powered servos of nigh-insurmountable strength. The pressure the powered armor’s arms exerted was enough to bring a Muton to its knees – and it very nearly had Atka’s Blue World down for the count. Small cracks were beginning to form along the spectral astronaut’s arms as they shook whilst grappling with the mechanical limbs of the Andromedon Shell.

The others weren’t faring much better. Maxwell was lying behind a slab of protruding metal, having been dragged there by the leader of Maverick Squad. If not for the quick work of Christoffer, the Dominican’s life might have ended in the pool of his own blood a few feet away from the pair. Still, he was down for the count, and when Chris was no longer preoccupied with stabilizing his comrade he was busy defending him from further attack.

Valentia was pinned down. Adam was surrounded. Tomislav was fighting for his life against the expert soldier known to the Resistance only by his moniker “Commando”. Heinrich was doing his best to try and extricate those three from their dire circumstances, though he could do nothing for the eighth member of Menace 1-5.

Yakone was locked in mortal combat with Major Nigella Blukersey. The Ranger’s twin blades clashed with the bladed shockstaff of the second-in-command of the ADVENT Peacekeeping forces. Sparks flew, glowing more brightly and for much longer than they should have – a strange byproduct of the opposing imbuing charges that flowed through the weapons of both combatants. The Advent soldier was quiet, executing her directive with simple efficiency. The XCOM fighter, on the other hand,

“I will bring you down,” Yakone growled through gritted teeth between blows exchanged. “I will bring you home, aunt Nouja,” she spoke as a determined mantra, though upon further scrutiny it appeared much more like a desperate declaration.

“That name has no meaning to me. You are mistaken, as I made clear before,” Nigella replied coldly. The Major delivered a particularly strong strike against Yakone’s swords, overpowering her and causing the Ranger to stumble backwards. Blue light now spun around the Advent protégé, enhancing her physical prowess beyond that of her opponent. Following up with that disengagement, Nigella lifted her hand, green mixing with the blue shining from underneath her gauntlet and spinning brilliantly.

A bit of blood came up from Yakone’s mouth with a cough before she could start countering the damage that was being done to her internal organs with biokinesis of her own. However, the Ranger did not flinch or crumple up from the pain this time. Rather, she gave Nigella a beastly grin. “I shut off my pain centers, bitch.” Yakone lit up her boots and gloves with an internal physical enhancement hue of her own, and rushed at Blukersey.

“Hm,” was the only reply Blukersey gave to that news. A sheet of ice formed under her and Yakone, spreading out from the Major. Yakone slipped up, while Nigella slid gracefully towards her opponent, delivering a pair of jabs into each of the Ranger’s arms.

Yakone growled in frustration, and turned to face her foe as the latter tried to get around her. “I’m more durable than you give me credit… what the hell are you hoping to accomplish?”

Rather than answer, Nigella made Yakone’s folly quite clear. Holding her melee weapon in one hand, Blukersey lifted the other, and whipped forward a grinding Icy Helix. Yakone tried to bring her swords up into an ‘x’ to counter, but found her movements sluggish and weak. The Reflection weapon cut an incision through the armor of the XCOM soldier, not managing to slice up flesh underneath but creating an opening to do so with a future attack. Nigella intended to make that second strike happen quickly, charging at Yakone. “You may not feel it, but the shocks I delivered made you an easy target,” Blukersey informed her opponent.

For the first time, Yakone’s fear began to slip through her façade of confidence openly. “N-no… stay away from me!” she screamed, trying to bring her swords in to block the stab of Nigella’s shockstaff. She succeeded, but only against the first follow-up attack. With her blades crossed high, Blukesrey was able to angle her weapon horizontally and strike lower at Yakone’s elbows. The secondary shock was enough to cause the pair of limbs to stop responding and fall uselessly at Yakone’s sides. “You should not have challenged one stronger than you alone,” Nigella noted with a shake of her head as the Ranger’s swords clattered to the ground.

“Auntie, please don’t–!” Yakone began to plead, but it was too late.

Blukersey spun her shockstaff around one more time, and then shot it upwards in a thrust of vicious power. The blade on the front punched through the center of Yakone’s body, and with the sound of slicing through flesh and bone came out the other side. Yakone was left with wide eyes, struggling to pump biokinesis through her body to keep herself alive.

“S-Stop… p-pl…”

“I will not,” Blukersey responded with a hint of regret. She let go of the shockstaff with one hand, and hovered her finger over a switch on the side. “Rest.” Nigella activated a few retractable blades within the shockstaff, which sprung upwards and punctured part of the Marauding Crusader’s heart. A spray of blood ensued, half-blending in the crimson of the Major’s helmet. Yakone went completely limp, and slid off the shockstaff onto the cold, hard ground. Several of the members of the squad screamed out in horror and denial, but there was nothing they could do. Even revenge was out of the question, as Nigella took a more passive role in the fight after that – staying back and launching spikes of imbued cyrokinetic ice at priority targets. For Yakone, staring up at the sky as she felt the life drain from her body, her vision blurred with crimson that blackened into darkness, and then paled into white.

Atka opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was an animalistic cry of rage and despair. The cracks on Blue World glowed bright, and sealed as the source of willpower for the Reflection was renewed twofold. Squeezing its fists interlocked with the Andromeddon’s so tightly that both entities shook. Ultimately, one of them had to break, and ultimately it was Blue World that crushed the alloyed hands of the automated shell. Unable to comprehend the invisible entity surrounding Atka that had destroyed its servos, the onboard computer was helpless as the icy helixes reformed around Blue World’s gauntlets and assisted it in a beatdown that left the Andromeddon with massive fractures through its frame that terminated its operation.

Christoffer did his best to hold back tears of abject melancholy that threatened to form. “We have to get out of here! We need to make an opening for extraction, now!” Atka provided for that opportunity as soon as she had finished off of the Andromeddon, rushing the pair of MECs that had the squad pinned down and beginning to lay her inconsolable wrath down upon them.

“Leave the rest to me,” Tomislav growled. “Adam! Focus all your shielding on yourself!” The surrounded soldier complied, and then his Harrier ally came in firing wildly, taking down a few of the Stun Lancers encircling the Juggernaut. With the bath of flames that followed, the enemy soldiers were cooked through the holes in their armor, and became armored piles of ashes. “Now, Heinrich, toss your mortar shells! Don’t bother to launch them!”

In no place to question or object, the Grenadier tossed the remaining high-powered explosives in the direction of the other enemy soldiers surrounding the squad. “Adam, shield us all in a half-dome aimed at the enemy!” The Juggernaut again complied with Tomislav’s order, leaving an opening once he saw Tom intended to shoot again. With the last of the ammo in his magazine, the Serbian sent a few shots into one of the mortar shells – causing a chain reaction that blew away the collection of Advent soldiers that stood in the way of a hot extraction.

Without the collection of shooters to send her careening out of the sky, Firebrand grimly flew in, decloaking and opening her ramp. “Get in, NOW!” Even as the XCOM soldiers did, however, a pair of Rocketeers exited the only nearby functioning elevator – more of an upwards-facing tube – and started to take aim at the Skyranger. “Dammit, it wasn’t good enough!”

This wasn’t the end for Menace 1-5, however. The benefactor that had gotten them into the facility stepped out of the shadows behind the two Rocketeers. She crashed into them with all her might, causing them to fall. Emmeline didn’t falter in her dash across the battlefield, merely tossing a grenade back to blow up the ordinance of the two Advent Specialists and take them out with it. She was the last one to hop into the Skyranger before it took off.

Atka hardly even took notice of the intelligence operative – to her apparent dismay, as any that did turn their gaze on Ashworth could see. Following the Commander’s hollow gaze, Emmeline discerned why. Atka did not take her eyes off the fallen form of her daughter, taking off her helmet and staring with a forlorn expression even after the door closed.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Ambiguously Gray Future”

“Commander!” Emmeline called out as the leader of XCOM stepped out of the Skyranger.

“U-Uh… lady, I think you should… leave her alone,” Heinrich tried to caution the intelligence operative, glancing at Maxwell as Chandra continued to keep him stable with all her might – the Indian doctor’s face wet with tears shed for the source of Atka’s silence.

“I need to speak with her,” Ashworth insisted, pressing forward and catching up to Atka. “Commander, please, I need to tell you something?”

“WHAT?!” Atka snapped, turning to face Emmeline with a face full of hate and misery. “What the hell could you possibly want to tell me that I’d be interested in hearing at this point, you inconsiderate bitch! If it wasn’t clear to you, they killed my FUCKING DAUGHTER!”

Emmeline shrank back slightly at the declaration. “I… I know that. Please, though, that’s what I’m trying to talk to you about… I’m not certain your daughter is dead.”

Blue World’s fist had begun to form around Atka’s, called forward by the despair from which it was born – which had nearly overflowed at this point. It rippled as Emmeline’s words caused a spark of doubt in Atka’s empty sadness. “What… what are you talking about?”

“Yakone is a talented psion, correct? ADVENT covets them for their armies, and for the reasons that you made clear to the public today,” Emmeline responded with a shake of her head. “Why would they kill her like that if it was going to be a loss for them?”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Atka responded gravely. “Blukersey must have penetrated her heat with her weapon… there’s no other reason…” her voice cracked “that there was that much blood…”

“Blukersey? The Major with incredible biokinetic skills? Do you think it would be beyond her ability to… say, fake the death of your daughter?” Emmeline responded gently. “Please, let me take a look at the helmet cam footage… we might find something.”

With a nod, Atka rushed to the command center, requesting a link to the helmet feed – if it was still operational. If not, she would have to review what footage they did have. To her surprise, however, the feed was indeed on. What Atka saw and heard both reassured her, and chilled her to the bone.

***​

Yakone lay in the interior of a customized ADVENT dropship, bathed in crimson light. She felt pain coursing through her entire body, and couldn’t even call upon her biokinesis to numb the agony a little. She was on the brink of death – but she wasn’t dying. Rather, she was able to discern through the haze that clouded her mind and the fiery agony that coursed through her veins that someone was keeping her in this state on the edge of death. Struggling to shift her eyes upwards, Yakone viewed the source of this purgatory.

Major Blukersey’s gauntlets were surrounded in a stable blue-green. “I am truly sorry that you had to endure this pain,” Nigella spoke softly as a pair of soldiers affixed psionic-dampening equipment to Yakone. The hellish feeling began to fade away, but Yakone still could not move. “But it was best that they thought you dead… XCOM has a troublesome tendency to make their way into highly-secured places to get what they want.” The lance-officer shook her head. “You are coming with us, Yakone Ipiktok.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

End of Phase 1: "The Resistance"​

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Shaken Resolve

The Avenger's bar was relatively quite considering the circumstances. It wasn't because it was empty. And their were a few fairly happy conversations about the recent mission success. Finally, the alien's plot had been exposed to the world. With any luck, ADVENT would have more then the various resistance groups to deal with.

But the vast majority of the bar's occupants where quiet and clearly in no celebrating mood. Yakone, the Commander's daughter and one of their best, was gone, slain by one of ADVENT's finest and, to the few that knew, her own aunt.

The Chambers sisters sat at a table together. With them was Ayame who, true to her word, hadn't needed much to get drunk, clearly hammered from a single shot and only half a mixed drink. Brigid say with them, occasionally taking a bite from a half melted bowl of chocolate ice cream. Comfort food, Alex had called it, though she found very little in the way of comfort from it.

After what felt like hours of silence, Alexis finally broke it by asking, "How's Lily?"

Jennifer slowly shrugged, and spoke in a voice hoarse from crying. "Inconsolable, just as you might expect. Yakone was our friend, but Lily? Yakone was practically her sister. She isn't exactly going to get over this any time soon..."

"Yeah... she's not the only one." Alex looked to the side. In one of the booths, Jack was quietly talking to her incredibly distraught father, trying to calm him down. "He blames himself, you know?"

"Well, he shouldn't." Jenn shook her head. "But good luck convincing him of that."

Brigid sniffled, and wiped her eyes. "W-why does you dad blame himself? He wasn't there. How could it be his fault?"

The sisters exchanged a glance, and Alex said, "It is something not a lot of new people know. Can you keep a secret?" Brigid slowly nodded, and Alexis started to explain before glancing over to Ayame.

"Don't worry about her," Jenn told her. "I'd be surprised if she remember anything after she sobers up. Right, Ayame?"

Ayame looked up, and with a clear slur, said, "Yakone was... so nice... so funny... and I wanted to tell her... her friendship... but now..." She lowered her head again, and few tears rolling down, and Jennifer rubbed her back.

Alex looked down at Brigid again. "Well... when we were kids, the Commander's sister, Nouja, sacrificed herself to save us. She ran out of a cave and let ADVENT get her, but only after using her powers to change her own memories, so if they read her mind, she would think that we were all gone and stop hunting us."

Jenn nodded. "We thought she was dead, but it turns out they just messed with her head themselves and turned her into the woman who... who took Yakone away from us." She lowered her head and stared into her drink sadly. "Dad blames himself for what happened to Nouja. Something about a conversation they had before she left us. He says he put the idea in her head. Everyone told him she would have thought of it herself... but her still blames himself. He hides his guilt. I don't even think the Commander knows about it. But we can tell."

Brigid slowly swirled her ice cream. "And now he thinks because it is his fault they turned her into the bad lady, it is his fault she killed Yakone?"

Alex clenched her fist, a rush of anger rolling through her. "Damn it!" She felt like she could punch a hole in the side of the ship. "This isn't fair! We did it! We found out their sick secret! We exposed their lies! We should be celebrating! Instead, we grieve because those monsters turned Nouja into a weapon and turned her loose on us like this is some sick game!"

"She's alive!" Morrigan suddenly rushed into the bar. Her face was covered in sweat, having run for quite a while to get her. Between gasps for breath, she shouted, "Y-Yakone... she's not dead!"

The entire bar went dead silent, all eyes turning to Morrigan. "W-what... did you mean?" Ayame muttered. "She is... we saw the... the blood and... a-a-and no way..."

Jenn grasped her shoulders and said, "What Ayame is trying to say is, we saw the footage of her dropping into a pool of blood. And considering who she was fighting, I doubt there was a mistake. That's why they... they were forced to leave her..."

Morrigan grabbed someone's water and greedily drank it. Taking another moment or two to catch her breath, she finally said, "Th-that's what they wanted us to believe. I just got back to talking to the team as soon as they got back. That lady, the one who got us into the building? The others said she tapped into Yakone's helmet. It was a trick! She's alive!"

Murmurs and quiet reactions spread across the room, looks of dispear slowly giving way to cautious optimism. "Are... absolutely sure?" Alex asked, her own expression one of disbelief.

Morrigan nodded as she stepped next to her daughter. "Everyone insisted it was true. And the Commander didn't have a 'they killed my daughter' look on her face. It was more of a 'we have a rescue to plan' look."

A chair fell over as Joe stumbled into it, barely able to walk from the combination of emotion distress and alcohol. Jack moved to stop him, but Joe just slapped his hand away. "I'm fine," he snapped. "I got... work to do."

"No, you're not, and no you don't." Jack firmly gasped his arms. "You are in no condition to be doing anything but sleeping."

Joseph shook his head. "I have... to look for her. I need to find..."

"If I find out you took one step into your office without at least eight hours of sleep, I'm reporting your to the Commander!"

Joe looked back and glared at the larger man. "You wouldn't dare..."

"If he doesn't, we will," Alexis said firmly.

Jennifer nodded in agreement. "Go to bed, dad. Wake up refreshed, then search for her."

Joe scoffed, but had no choice. "Take me to my room... please."

Jack wrapped Joe's arm around his shoulder and walked out of the bar with him. Morrigan sighed, and smiled. "Well... I guess that means a rescue, huh?"

Ayame squeezed her eyes shut, now clearly frustrated with her inebriated state. "Wwwwhat if day... just killed her. How are you know she's gonna stay alife?"

"Why... would they kill her?" Brigid responded shyly. "W-w-wasn't she already going to day?"

Morrigan smiled and rubbed Brigid's head. "She's right. Whatever they want her for, it is clear they need her alive for it. Otherwise they wouldn't have bothered healing her."

"And I'm willing to bet it is something that will take time," Alex added. "After all, if it was something they could do immediately after taking her wherever they're taking her, why would they have bothered with faking her death."

Ayame's eyes darted about, the pieces coming a bit slower to her, but she soon smiled. "Den maybe they... not prepared for our... coming, when we are able to find the place."

Brigid frowned, and scratched her head. "What?"

Morrigan leaned down next to her and said, "I think what our sloshed friend is trying to say is, if they faked her death, and we don't let on that we know, then they might not expect us to look for her, or be prepared when we find her and move in to save her."

"Exactly!" Ayame clapped her hands excitedly. "Ima comin's, Yakone. Just... *yawn* wait..."

Jennifer smiled at her. "That's the spirit. Though... I wonder why they took her..." She slowly rubbed her cheek in thought. "Hmm... well, from the enemy's standpoint, her most distinguishing feature is her psionics."

"They could also have taken her for knowledge she would have," Alex offered.

"Maybe." Morrigan shook her head. "But they probably know that we know of their ability to read memories, even after death. And they would probably figure we would change any codes, frequencies, or what have you that they could get from Yakone."

"Which makes me lean towards the psionics." Jennifer leaned forward. "Think about it. They're looking for strong psions. And our findings found that they need more then something to just supplement their DNA. It is only a temporary solution, one that could be useless as soon as the next century. Who knows, maybe the next decade. Surely they study us from footage they capture, just as we study them, and they would know that, aside from the Commander, Yakone is the strongest psion we have by a wide margin."

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. Take out Atka and maybe Luke, and Yakone has more power then all the other psions here combined. But exactly what do they need a strong psion for?"

Jennifer shook her head. "I need to do more tests, and get more information from dad, assuming he is in any condition to do more research. I think... we should all hit the sack. We need to be in top form now. Whether it be my research, readying supplies in engineering, or training for the coming challenges, we need to be ready, and now that we can be content in the knowledge that Yakone is alive, we can actually get some sleep."

Everyone nodded, and stood up. Morrigan, having had barely anything to drink, offered to take Ayame back to her room. She walked down the halls, the petite soldier slung over Morrigan's back. Ayame sleepily looked down at Brigid, walking along with them. "Hey... kid."

Brigid look up. "Yes, Ms. Kasagi."

Ayame slowly smiled. "We're going to save Yakone. I promise."

Brigid smiled back. "Yeah... I believe it."

 

[Dahlexpert]

The following is a collaboration between Dhalexpert & Zombiesplitter53

On Board the Avenger
Engineering

Alexis moved about her section of Engineering, trying to keep everything in line and carry out the overhaul of some of the older laser weapons, just in case they were needed, while carrying on a conversation with her boyfriend. "I don't know why she would be jealous of me. We're practically the same age. We look nearly identical. Sure I'm more... charismatic, but Jenn could find anyone she wants if she just... tried."

"Yeah. I told her that maybe she needs a confidence boost. I mean, she's a shy girl and not very open. Maybe we can take her to the bar and make her a little open."

"Yeah..." Alexis glanced over at him. "You know... now that I think about it... I don't know if she has ever been with anyone. I was always open with her about guys I found attractive... but she never did the same. I wonder... if it was because there was no one... or if I was just so focused on myself, I never have her a reason, or an opportunity, to open up to me. I don't know anything. I don't even know if she's ever kissed anyone."

"Hmm... maybe we can help her with that. But for now..." Luke brought Alexis close to him. "I'm sure we can find some way of having a bit of fun. Or do they still need you here at work?"

Alexis smiled slyly. "Well, Mr. Van Dam... we could always just... sneak away. I mean... I deserve a break every once in a while, right?" She lightly kissed him on the cheeks. "I know a few places here we could have some privacy."

"Really? Have I mentioned that I love this side of you. It's so much fun seeing you like this." Luke kissed Alexis. "I'm sure they don't need you for about twenty minutes. Or an hour."

"Oh... only an hour?" Alex pressed against him. "I'm sure we could go for at least..."

"Ahem." Jack cleared his throat, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Oh no." Luke looked at Jack." Um, honey, it would seem like our plans are going to have to wait. We have a guest."

Alex laughed nervously. "H-hey, Jack. I... Like was just helping... he, I... I was showing him how to... laser, how to fix, um, overhaul... these weapons. Which I'm... totally almost finished with."

"Good to hear." Jack wagged a finger. "Mind if I have a word, Mr. Van Dam?"

"As a matter of fact I do mind, but I'm sure I've kept Alexis here long enough." Luke patted Alexis back. “Go on back to work, we'll continue this later."

Alexis kissed him on the cheek, and sat down with a huff. Jack gave Luke a serious look as he walked out, and nudged his head towards his own work space. "Over here, Luke."

"Right, why do I feel like i'm about to get a father son talking to." Luke fallows Jack to his work station." Alright what is it?"

Jack gave him a stern look, then slowly smiled. "I'm just messing with you, Luke. I'm not so old that I'm the grumpy old father figure. Believe it or not, you reminded me of myself back there."

"Oh, so you're not mad at me. Then why did you pull me to the side?"

Jack chuckled. "I can relate to you, but that doesn't change the fact that Alex needs to finish her work." He sipped from a cup of coffee. "Figured we could chat and let her finish. Then maybe I can cover for her while you two skip out early."

"Oh. Well then, thanks sir. Um... is there anything you want to ask me sir?"

Jack nudged his head towards Alexis' workspace. "How are you two getting along? She seems more... openly affectionate. I take it you've grown closer since the last time we talked."

"Oh yeah, that's putting it lightly. I took some advice from Jennifer about asking Alexis about being a little more aggressive. And it worked, better than I would have thought."

Jack nodded. "I won't ask for explicit details. I'm just happy you two are close." He rubbed his hands together and sighed. "Listen... about what we... what we talked about before. I, uh... I hope I didn't do more harm than good with my little tale of love lost. You were thinking about marriage and kids and such, and I'm afraid I might have soiled those ideas with my woes."

"No, no, I was thinking about that stuff for months. Your story didn't soil that for me. In fact, it motivated me into moving things a little further with Alexis."

Jack smiled. "Good. I'm glad it helped. Does she know you're thinking about those things with her?"

"Yes, she does... And I think she's thinking the same things as I am. It's actually pretty good."

"Really? That must be pretty exciting for you." Jack sat back. "So what do you want? Boy, or girl?"

"Um... me personally, I would like a boy. Though I'm sure Joe will kill me. Hell I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me fooling around with his daughter."

"Hedoesseem the over protective type," Jack agreed. "But he'll find out eventually, you know?"

"Oh, I,m sure he knows, he just hasn't pulled me to the side yet and talked to me as of yet."

Jack nodded. "Not to try and play the all-knowing wise man or anything, but want some advice?

"Of course. It's because of advice that I am where I am in my relationship."

"You are probably right about him knowing," Jack stated. "Fathers have a kind of sense about them. And he would notice changes in Alex's mood. Of he hasn't said anything to you, it is probably because he is waiting to see if you are a big enough man to go and talk to him about it."

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 2

"Hmm." Luke started to think about what Jack said. "Hey Jack, mind covering for Alexis for a bit? I need to borrow her for a few minutes."

Jack smiled. "Of course. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you." Luke left Jack's station and went to Alexis." Yo Alexis, Jack is going to cover you for a bit. We need to handle some things."

Alexis gave him a curious look, but stood up. "O-okay. Nothing bad, I hope."

"Well, depending on how you look at it. Come on, we're going to talk to your dad. There are some things we need to talk to him about."

"Okay." Alex quickly walked out of Engineering with gim, and the two headed for the information department. "You're not... going to talk about... that, are you?"

"Darling, I'm sure he knows about it, but we do need to talk about it. Before things go nuts, I want to settle some things with him."

Alexis slowly nodded. "Okay, I... I guess. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Don't I ever?" Luke kissed Alexis' cheek to calm her nerves.

When the pair stepped into Information, everyone on duty briefly looked over and, seeing Alex, pointed to Joe's office. They walked in, and found Joe sitting at his computer. The desk was a cluttered mess with papers and empty Styrofoam cups lying about. Joe's hair was unkempt, and was sporting a three day old beard. His hands were laying on his keyboard, but he wasn't moving, having dozed off in the middle of typing something. The pair couldn't tell want, as the document on the screen was filled with Zs, an almost humorous coincidence considering Joe's state.

"Alright, let's wake him up." Luke clapped his hands together and made a small explosion.

Joe jumped in his chair, hitting the desk with his legs enough to almost knock the computer over. "I think that was a little overkill," Alex muttered.

Joe looked back at the two, then back at his computer. As he started to scroll up in the twenty-seven pages of Zs, he said, "Hey, you two. Here to check up on me?"

"You could say that, and to give you much more trouble to your already full plate." Luke looked around the office. "Um, why don't we get you home first, and in a proper chair and some snacks."

"No, no. Atka sent you, didn't she?" Joseph turned back and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I just... I was just taking a break, okay? I have too much work to do."

Alexis leaned next to Luke and whispered, "He has nearly been out of this office for the past several weeks. We usually have to drag him back to our room after he's passed out."

Luke exhaled and rubbed his head. "Sir, Atka didn't send us. We came here on our own, We... I wanted to talk to you about me and Alexis."

Joe slowly put his hand down, and studied Luke's expression. He slowly stood up, and nodded. "Okay... come on. Let's head to my room."

As they headed to the room, Luke whispered to Alexis. "Hey honey, you might want to stand next to your dad. I'm sure he'll kill us both."

"And you want him to get me first?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Well he's probably not going to kill you, however when he finds out what we been doing for the past few days, he may reconsider.

Joe opened the door to his room. Once Luke stepped in, however, he stopped Alex. "Wait out here for a minute."

"But..."

"Wait... out here," he said in his 'dad voice'. He quickly closed the door, Luke catching a worried look on his girlfriend's face, and Joe turned to Luke. "Have a seat, Luke."

"Annnnd here we go." Luke sat in the chair, looking calm. Alright, so... Mr. Chambers, I wanted to tell you about me and Alexis."

Joe sat down on one of the beds. "You two have grown really close, huh? Really... really... close."

"Yeah... we are... so um... Mister Cha... Joe. Me and... how can I put this... we started having sex."

Joe stared at Luke blankly for several moments, his expression unreadable. He slowly stood up, and stepped in front of Luke, balling his hands into fists.

Luke also stood up, where he stared Joe in his eyes. "Look I wanted to tell this myself, before you just happen to walk in on us."

Joe took several deep breaths, tensed up, looking as though he would punch Luke. After about half a minute, he finally relaxed a little, looking more tired then angry. "She... wanted to, right?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

"Yes she did, I didn't force her to do anything. She went along with, well... everything." Luke rubbed his head." Look Joe, me and Alexis were honest to one another. We both want a life after this is finished."

"What do you mean?" Joe sank into a chair. "You mean... a family?"

"Yes we do. It's best that me and her tell you. So mind letting her in, so she can tell you herself."

Joe nodded, standing up and opening the door. Alex rushed in and wrapped her arms around Luke. "Are you okay?"

"Darling I'm fine. Beside I told your dad something that he probably wants to hear from you to."

"Something about a family," her father stated.

Alexis nodded. "That's right. I've decided that I believe Luke is a changed man, and I want to spend my life with him. He said he wants to start a family, and... and I do too."

Joe folded his arms. "Are you two... talking about kids?"

"That's right." Luke brought Alexis closer. "I want to have Alexis by my side forever. I want to have kids with her and have a family of our own."

Joe narrowed his eyes. "And what if I told you I grew tired of humoring you, and I wanted you to stay away from my daughter from now on?"

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 3

"Then, I'm going to say what I've been saying since I started dating Alexis. This is her choice. I'm not making her do anything this isn't force. Also I'd probably just ignore you, and do it anyway."

Joe scoffed and stepped forward. He reached up and grabbed Luke's collar, an awkward motion considering the height difference. "You do know how close I am to the Commander, right? How about I just skip to the end and get you blown out of an airlock!"

"Dad!" Alex exclaimed, not used to see this side of her father.

"What do you say?" Joe asked, ignoring his daughter. "Is stubbornly staying with her worth your life?!"

"Yes. All my life I fought for survive, just trying to live to the next day. I never cared for anyone but myself, and now that I finally found a person that I love and care for, I will do anything for her. Years ago I would have been fine dying by myself, but now I want to live with and for Alexis."

Joe snarled, and lifted his first. He sent it flying forward, straight towards Luke's face. At stopped short, though, his arm held in place by a psionic shield.

"Let him go, daddy," Alexis said calmly.

Joe looked over to him, then back at Luke. Then he smiled. Then he laughed.

Alexis blinked several times. "Oh no... We’ve broken him..."

"No I don't think we did, I think he finally gets it."

Joe sighed, and upon being released, he placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Maybe a little. Though be honest. You weren't scared one little bit of me."

Luke lightly chuckled. "If you saw what I've been through, you wouldn't be either, so are we good here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Joe stepped back. "Just... be careful. And take care go my daughter. Treat her right, and we'll be okay."

"Haven't I already." Luke brought Alexis close to him. "Don't worry, I will take great care of Alexis."

"Alright." Joe turned and headed to the door. "Just... to do anything that lands you in trouble."

Alexis frowned. "Dad, please. Take the rest of the day off."

Joseph shook his head. "No can do. Remember, we have another person on the list of 'needs rescuing'."

"Come on Mr. Chambers, I'm sure they can live without you for a few hours while you take a nap. Or would you rather sleep on the computer, having your finger stuck on the z key."


Joe stopped at the door, and slowly turned back. "I need to find Yakone. We don't know how much time we have..."

"And what good are you going to do her in your condition?" Alex placed her hands on her hips. "You head that spy lady. They need powerful psions. If they were just going to melt her into genetic goo, they wouldn't have taken her alive. But regardless of how much time we have, you couldn't do an efficient search of a search engine for a local restaurant in your condition. Go... to... sleep. Tell him, Luke. Please don't let him leave."

"She's right sir, you need sleep. Having a fully rested is better then having you half asleep.

Joe's shoulders slumped. "You're not going to let up, are you?"

"Nope. Look Joe, I understand you want to find Yakone, but you sleeping on the job is not going to work."

Joe sighed again, and lurched over to his bed, flipping into it and turning away. Alex smiled and said, "If you want us to get you any... thing..." She feel quiet, realizing her dad had almost instantly fallen asleep, and the pair quietly exited. "Well, um... that went well... I think."

"I say it did." Luke sighed. "You going to be alright? I know Yakone being gone must be weighing on you."

Alexis slumped a little. "I... I don't know. It isn't easy. I try to take comfort in the knowledge that she is probably still alive. But... but who knows how she is being treated or what tortures she is experiencing."

"Hey, Yankoe is tough woman. Of she's alive, we'll find her, got it?"

Alexis nodded. "So, um... since we have the time... wanna go back to your room and... help take me mind off things?"

Luke looked back at Joe and thought. "Hmm, your dad is going to be out for the rest of the day, then there's your work. I say we have, oh... three hours, that good enough time for you or do we need the whole day? To 'ease your mind'?"

Alexis grinned, and grabbed his arm, pulling Luke along. "I guess that all depends on how good you are today," she answered. "So don't slouch in the mind easing, got it?"

"Oh, really? Say Alexis, I think you need the rest of the day off. You know... to easy your mind of course."

Alexis smiled back at him. "Sounds good to me. I just need you to help me make it up to Jack afterwards, 'kay?"

"Yeah alright, I guess I can pull my weight around here a little more." Luke picked up Alexis by her legs and carried her out the room.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Revolution Rising”

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean
1932 Hours, October 1st, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 6, Central Block
Command Quarters

Commander Atka Ipiktok stood in the center of the room with her hands clasped behind her back. In this position, she was able to conceal their slight trembling and therefore hide the minute signs that she was unwell. This wasn’t the time for the pair of staff chiefs across from her to be worrying. They had a report to make, after all. “What’s the progress on the ADVENT weaponry?”

“We’ve got it figured out,” Lily answered.

“To be more precise, I have been able to determine how to remove the biometric scanner from Coalition magnetic guns and overwrite it. With a few simple steps any Resistance cell that gets its hands on a mag weapon can take out the register, and reprogram it to scan for human DNA instead of hybrid or alien genetic sequences. We can turn their safety protocols against them now, and use their own weapons for our cause,” Tygan elaborated.

“And I’ve compiled the notes on how to build magnetic weapons if a group has the resources. At the very least, the info is there to tell our allies how to maintain guns they steal in the future or already have in stock. I fully expect to see a good chunk of the Resistance – especially in the areas we’ve already visited – to be reported armed with magnetic rifles within the week,” Shen went on.

“Well done, both of you,” the Commander responded briefly. “Get some rest… we’ll have a brief respite as the moves we have made begin to yield results and set a revolution in motion… make use of it.”

Robert offered a brief nod. “Perhaps I will go and catch up with Kazuko… it’s been awhile since we’ve spoken.” His brow furrowed slightly as he considered making another comment, but he ultimately refrained, and stepped out of the room.

Lily lingered behind, glancing around quietly before meeting Atka’s gaze again. “Commander… Atka?”
“What is it?” Atka questioned, though the sigh that escaped her lips indicated she had an idea of what An-Yi was going to say.

“Are you alright? This has all been very…” Lily trailed off, unsure of how to put the current situation into words – the cocktail of hope and despair that were applied in equal measure due to the assault on the network tower.

“I can’t think of a way to describe it either,” Atka responded, sitting down on one of the bunkbeds. “If you’re wondering how I’m feeling personally, I… I don’t think you need to know. Don’t worry about me.”

“Well, it’s either worry about you… who I can maybe offer some reassurance to… or worry about my sister, whom I can’t do a damn thing for right now,” Lily replied tiredly.

Atka sighed, running her hands through her hair - ignoring the coldness of her left, metallic palm. “It’s like a monster eating me from the inside… thinking about what might be happening to her. Torture? Something worse? I don’t have a clue, and it’s tearing me to pieces.” The Inuit woman cast her gaze downwards. “We almost had something, Lily. We almost… we were finally getting along! I was so proud of her, and it was melting my icy heart to receive her love in return!” The Commander lifted her cybernetic hand in front of her face, and clenched it so tight the whole arm shuddered. “And now it’s all stolen away. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back. God can be pretty damn cruel.” Lily was silent, and Atka shook her head. “Didn’t think you’d have anything to say to that.”

“I’m sorry, Atka,” Lily spoke solemnly. “I was happy to see you two getting along myself. Yakone went through some hard times, but damn it… even after she broke up with Leon, they managed to pick up the pieces and put their love back together… she was so relaxed right before she went on that mission.” The chief tapped the wrench in her pocket. “We’ll get her back.”

“You don’t know that!” Atka cried out helplessly.

“No, I don’t!” Lily responded with equal vehemence. “But we have to. We have to... so we will. It doesn’t make any damn sense, I know… but thinking that keeps me sane.”

“I wish I could have your optimism…” Atka exhaled for a long period of time, and then stood up again. “I’ll manage. I have to. If anyone asks, I’m doing alright - I need to be strong for everyone else. That’s what it means to be a leader.”

“I suppose that’s the best I can ask for right now.” Lily shrugged her shoulders with exhaustion. “I’m going to take a shower… I need to unwind. Want to come with me?”

Atka shook her head. “I’ve got some other things I need to attend to… but if it’s not too much trouble, could you do something for me?”

“Of course,” An-Yi quickly confirmed.

“Talk to Joseph… he’s… not doing well, I’ve heard. I don’t want to have to be worrying about him too,” Atka requested worriedly.

“I’ll… have a talk with him, I’d heard similar from Jenn and Alex.” Lily turned around, heading out the door. “Take care of yourself, sir.”

“Can’t make any promises… but I’ll do my best,” Atka offered, having one last moment of weakness before steeling herself for the hard work ahead.

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Completing Contrast, Part 1”

The island of Kyushu, part of Japan
2024 Hours, October 1st, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 3, Rear Block
The Armory

In the confines of the gun range, Gwen looked over the two sidearms in front of her, checking them over slowly just out of a force of habit she happened to pick up during her time as a soldier. She stood tall, and currently had her hair tied back, which was continuing to grow in each day. She greatly doubted she would let it get to the extreme it was at when she joined, but the girl liked long hair - she couldn’t help it. Putting her foot back, holding her arms just rigid enough she began firing with the pistol -not the revolver- first. She hit the target all the times she fired, though they were by no means bullseyes, and despite that, she smiled at her handiwork and unloaded, moving on to the checking of the second firearm.

The door slid open, and Atka offered a brief clap. “Not bad… you’ve certainly improved since I first showed you how to use those. Especially considering the first revolver you wielded didn’t have any recoil at all.”

“Well, I’ve had nothing but time to improve.” Gwen answered with a shrug, turning her head and gave the Commander a smile. “Good to see you out and about.”

“I certainly didn’t anticipate you becoming a psion either,” Atka added, rolling her mechanical shoulder. “You’ve been fairly impressive with the use of just a single skill on the battlefield. That said, there’s always room for improvement… hence why I’m here.”

“Hence why you’re…” Gwen slowly set down the revolver and turned. “You went out of your way to come train me personally?” The French girl ask with a hint of skepticism in her tone.

“Look at it this way… I need something to do to keep my mind off of… other things… and you’ve proven yourself to be a valuable asset. By training you myself, I can make you an even better soldier… god knows we can use all the skill we can get right now.”

“Well, you can go ahead and try but me and you aren’t exactly in the same psionic family, and there are only so many ways to shoot a gun… Unless trickshotting is a training regiment here as well?” The girl asked with a nice grin to accompany her smugness.

Atka rolled her eyes. “Marksmanship and psionics aren’t the only things I can show you… there’s also tactics, strategy, and so on. Plus, I’d be willing to bet your hand-to-hand is almost nonexistent… unless car-door-fu is a martial art I was never informed of.”

“It is alive and well. Never underestimate the power of car-door-fu.” Gwen chastised the other woman, shaking her head as she added, “Shall we take this elsewhere then the gun range?”

“A gym or the holo-room would probably suit us better.” Atka thought for a moment. “I’ll go with the former, though. Best if the latter is left open for those that need it more.”

“Fine, but if I see you flaunting one bit you are getting a demerit.” Grabbing her things, Gwen walked from the gun range and out into the hallway, waiting for her superior officer to join her.

“...excuse me?” Atka questioned, walking after the Juggernaut. “I’m not certain what you’re trying to imply there…”

“Oh just that you can be flashy sometimes. I figured out a while ago that a certain someone got that from her mother.” She stretched out her arms, letting out a sigh.

Atka huffed at that. “Maybe when I was younger. Not that interested in those sort of things anymore. Not much point,” the Commander remarked with a sigh.

“You know… I’ve been meaning to ask… how did anyone manage to get you… knocked up?” the younger girl questioned, eyebrow perched in almost a mocking manner.

The Commander’s features only became more grave at that. “Because I was a fool,” she replied tersely.

“Oh enough of that crap.” Gwen said with a wave of her hand. “I hate hearing about the depressing stuff. What made you happy enough you let yourself have a kid? Is that rephrased better?”

“The world is a pretty depressing place. That’s what I’ve learned from experience,” Atka retorted. “It wasn’t intentional… which is why I was bitter about it for so long. I had an affair in the original X-COM project, and we weren’t careful enough is all. There’s a reason I had Tygan invent those pills in the event similar desires sprung up in the crew… I can’t afford to have anyone taken out of action by something like pregnancy.”

“That almost makes it sound like you were ashamed to even have a kid in the first place. Sure, the world is a shit show, especially in your shoes, but there were good times, right?” She said, trying to stay on the optimistic side. “I mean, if you regretted what happened, I wouldn’t be hearing how much effort a certain mother put in trying to give love to her little girl.”

“I can’t honestly remember any good times with her… there’s a good reason why she hated my guts for so long. I wasn’t much of a mother to her.” Atka closed her eyes for a moment. “And all that progress may be for nothing now…” she said darkly, before promptly running into an overhanging bar of metal that portended a dip in the hallway. “Son of a bitch!”

Gwen quickly put her hand over her mouth, looking away from Atka trying desperately not to let her snickers be heard. “Karma really knows how to lay it in. I think that was the universe’s way of saying, ‘Wrong idiot, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.’” Gwen looked the woman up and down and then pursed her lips. “Right… uh… old reference of a game my nanny played with me. Point is, you are looking at things all wrong. If you could go back in time, would you change the way you treated Yakone?” Gwen asked.

Atka rubbed her forehead in pain, mumbling, “of course I would… but I can’t go that far back in time…”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Completing Contrast, Part 2”

Gwen groaned and poked the older woman’s arm. “Wrong, wrong, wrong… why would you ever go back and change things? The adversity of her growing up with a cold shoulder…” She giggled at that amusingly, “Is what was making your relationship growing stronger and stronger. Take that adversity out and later down the road things would probably be even worse than now, because you would have already been the happiest you could have been! You uh… getting the point I am trying to make here?” The French girl asked.

“I know what you’re trying to say… and I get an idea of what the universe is trying to tell me,” she muttered, giving the portion of the ship that had struck her a death glare. “I just can’t be as upbeat and relaxed as you… I can’t say ‘Yakone wouldn’t want me to worry’ because it’s not that simple. Right now she’s in some cell, probably scared and alone despite all of her external confidence… and there’s not a damn thing I can do. That’s not something I can just let go.”

“I don’t expect you to be upbeat and relaxed, Atka. I expect you to have the conviction that things will get better. Rather than just that things might be impossible.” The girl cleared her throat and in a preachy voice cited, “For the moment you declare something impossible, then it truly is so!” Glancing over at the Inuit leader, she asked, “So uh… enjoy that little pep talk there boss?”

“I appreciate the sentiment, at least,” Atka replied with a sigh. “Thank you, Gwen.”

“Nooo problem. It went better than the one with Leon did at least…” Scratching her head, the girl let out her own sigh. “Is it me or is the gym really farther than I thought, cause damn this walk is extensive for such a seemingly small ship on the inside.”

“It’s the winding hallways… I have no idea why the aliens built the ship this way.” Atka rounded another corner with Gwen, and walking down the hallway finally reached one of the gymnasiums. “Never bothered to understand their logic, though, and I never will. Got enough shit to take care of in my life… empathy with the devil doesn’t need to be another problem for me to deal with.”

“Does that include sympathy for this little devil?” The Juggernaut asked, fluttering her eyes extravagantly as they entered the gym.

“You’re more of an imp,” Atka clarified with the ghost of a smile.

Gwen put a hand to her chest and scoffed. “Harsh Commander… so, step one today?”

“Well… I think I’ll leave that up to you. What would you like me to teach you? Close quarters combat, or how to quickly strategize on the battlefield?”

“Mmm… strategy. I will be wearing heavy armor, carrying a shield or have two sidearms in hand. Hand-to-hand is not a pragmatic path with that set up.”

“I suppose you already have the shield-bashing part down…” Atka mused. “Alright. The key to being able to make informed decisions in combat is to analyze your opponents - and do so swiftly. Yakone is reckless, but she has this down to an art… so admittedly some of what I’ll be teaching you is things I’ve observed from watching her or more recently actually discussing with her.”

“I see. Teach away then. I’m all ears. Well, five percent ears. The rest is plain sugar.” Gwen winked, leaning in to listen to what the woman had to say about analytics.

“In my case, I’m adept with mind-reading… an ability that actually corresponds to yellow - not just violet - so you could learn it. Yakone manages without, though… her trick is to take in everything she can about an opponent by looking at them. Their posture, movements, and facial expressions if she can see them. By judging their behavior and reactions to her actions, she is able to ballpark their next move and act accordingly - before they’ve even had a chance to make a solid move. It’s all about predicting and taking the initiative before your foe can pose a threat..”

“And… how do I become good at that? Is there a certain way to practice it?” The woman questioned.

“By studying those around you. Learn to read their tells… when they’re about to do something rash or foolish, and so on. Sparring and practice combat are both good ways to build up your experience with that, as well as just studying people in general.”

“Well, I suppose combat footage will be useful. Slogging through them all will be the hard part. I’ve been meaning to ask too… how do I go about gaining new powers? I have no idea…” The French girl admitted.

“Psionics are all about willpower,” Atka answered. “You have to want something, to be blunt. In Chile, your telekinetic field was triggered by a survival instinct. I imagine if you wanted to learn how to read minds you would have to desire to improve your combat abilities… so if you can grasp onto that feeling, the other part is simply learning how to focus your mind to get that specific effect.”

“...that won’t require having to get another tank shell shot at my head, will it? Cause you know… that wasn’t exactly fun.” Gwen said, rubbing her hand on her shorts.

“The stress of combat often brings out new abilities… but I’m not about to subject you to something like that just to improve your psychic abilities,” Atka reassured the Frenchwoman.

“Good, good. You said that mind-reading was compatible with yellows. Anything else I should be made blissfully aware of?”

“From my understanding, that shade of psionics largely utility abilities… there’s teleportation, sensory deprivation, illusions, and electricity control in addition to what you’re currently capable of,” Atka listed off. “Corporal Strand has learned how to use the sensory ‘Blackout’ ability, but the other three aren’t in XCOM’s repertoire. I think Yakone was trying to teach herself Electrokinesis, but she wasn’t successful so far.”

“I suppose that leaves me with some options. It’s hard to know what to choose on the spot.” The Juggernaut admitted.

“Keep it in mind, and think on it, then. Just don’t wait too long to produce an answer,” Atka replied.

Gwen nodded shallowly, and rubbed her chin. “Guess I have a lot to study up on. I suppose we could just… work out together for now before my mind is made up.”

“That’d be fine. If you want to practice reading people, we can spar… but if you just need to ruminate on what I’ve told you we’ll stick to normal exercise,” Atka offered.

“You’re giving me a chance to kick your ass? How could I refuse?” Gwen asked, and as she turned to go towards the ring, she stopped. “Just so you know Atka… about before… coming from a girl who spent most of her life without her mother… I know what you were doing was the world to Yakone. And I have full confidence you can bring her home where she belongs. ‘Kay?”

Atka nodded slowly. “For what it’s worth… thanks again. I think you’re a little too optimistic - though that’s understandably a product of your youth - but I appreciate the kind words. They do help at least a little.”

“Or maybe your pessimism is a result of old age. Now come on. Let’s beat each other up and laugh about it later over something to eat.” Gwen turned her back to Atka and walked towards the ring, putting a fist against her chest in glee.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Insomnia, Part 1”

The island of Kyushu, part of Japan
2128 Hours, October 1st, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 2, Front Block
Intelligence Center

Lily adjusted the towel around the back of her neck as she Navigated through the mess of monitors and CPUs that made up the uncreatively-dubbed 'computer room' of the Avenger. Her hair was still slick from the shower she had just taken, and not wishing to spend a few minutes drying it off properly the chief engineer had simply elected to place the white water-absorbent cloth as a buffer. It kept the water dripping down from her black hair from dampening the simple gray t-shirt and black khaki shorts she currently wore, and allowed her to forgo the extra effort of wringing the towel through her hair. This was fortunate, because An-Yi was worn out from the long day of work sending out the guide to utilizing ADVENT weaponry - and essentially facilitating tech support with the rest of the engineer staff for any cells that needed the additional push.

Her work for today was officially done, but there remained one other thing Lily needed to do. Hoping that a change had already occurred in the behavior of the man she was coming to visit, Lily approached the door of the chief intelligence officer. With any luck he won't be here, and will already be asleep in the command quarters, Lily mused in a bout of wishful thinking. Fully expecting that prediction to be wrong, she knocked on the door. It took awhile, long enough that she was considering either knocking again or leaving, but the door eventually opened.

Joseph Chambers had apparently changed his regular outfit from a clean cut suit and a smile with a disheveled dress shirt and a constant five o'clock shadow. He stifled a yawn, and said, "Hey. Not used to you visiting me." He reached back and grabbed a cup of coffee. "You need some help?"

"The inverse, actually," Shen responded. "Mind if I come in? I wanted to check in on you."

"Check in... um... sure, but I don't have very long." Joe held the door open for her. The room was a testament to a man substituting coffee for sleep, and was a cluttered mess of various papers, though was a surprisingly organized mess. Joe moved several folders off his office couch for Lily to sit down. She took a seat, folding her hands together.

"So, I've asked around, and my three informants corroborate my understanding that you've been working yourself hard... perhaps too hard."

"Your informants, huh?" Joe let out a long sigh as he sat down. "Listen, if my girls sent you over here to bug me, I'm fine. I'm a little tired, yes, but I have work to do."

"Not just them that are worried. I have a friend amongst your staff that is concerned as well, though they will remain unnamed in the name of confidentiality," Lily remarked with a gentle attempt at humor. "Look, I know how you feel. Yakone is... so important to me. She's practically my sister." The engineer closed her eyes. "I'm petrified just by the thought of what she might be going through at the hands of those monsters. I hate not being able to do anything about it. I really hate it!"

Lily clenched the wrench hanging out of her pocket tightly, and let out a tense sigh. "Sorry. I shouldn't come to you and act hypocritical like this. But I'm trying to keep moving forward. I may throw myself into my work all day to keep my mind off Yak, but at the end of the day I understand that I'm just like my machines. I need maintenance as much as they do. I need rest. You do too. The girls and I are worried you're pushing yourself off a cliff despite the multiple times they've pulled you back from it."

Joseph held his hands together. "Lily... if... you're an engineer. That means you are responsible for the supplies taken on missions. If we were about to go on a rescue mission for Yakone, and you need to make sure everything is ready, would you take any kind of break before you are positive everything is ready?"

"Not as long as I could still manage to keep myself intact, even if I was knitted together with bare threads," Lily responded with a nod. "But... have you even found any sign of her yet? Resistance reports and old hacked info isn't going to tell you much."

"And that is why I need to continue to work," Joe said, turning back to his computer and bringing up a half dozen different files. "Penitentiaries, high-tech laboratories, high-Elder contact locations, and so many secluded places that could house a facility for whatever purpose they have with her. There are too many possibilities right now. And every time I find somewhere, it will either be where she is, or someplace I can scratch off the list. And every moment I'm spending away from my computer is more time lost on a time limit we can't even see. My health and whatnot isn't important right now. Nouja is."

"Nouja?" Lily questioned, though she didn't seem entirely surprised by the Freudian slip. "So you are worrying about her, too..."

"No... yes..." Joe scoffed. "I-I meant... I meant Yakone. But... b-but if I find Nou... Blukersey, I might find Yakone. I just... need to keep looking."

"You're just one person," Lily pointed out. "You could afford to rely on your team more. They're very capable, but when you take all the responsibility upon yourself you damage their confidence."

Joe tapped his fingers against his desk. "I trust them. They know I trust them. But... but I have to do this. I have to find Yakone. It's... personal. It isn't like I can sleep very well after what happened..."

"Neither can I. But actively preventing yourself from passing out is just hurting your productivity," Lily contested. "You won't do anyone any good if you push yourself too far."

"Alright, already. Fine, just... fine." Joe rubbed his eyes, trying not to let his irritability show. "I'll... go take a nap, okay? Will that make you and everyone happy, and let me get back to trying to fix this fuck-up before it costs us another relative of the Commander?"

"I want a decision that you can be satisfied with, not something you do to appease me before going back to the same slog. You've done that a few times now, from what I've heard,” Lily broached.

Joe placed his face in his hands and muttered, "I feel like I'm on trial without a chance to question the witnesses against me. I miss due process..." He remained silent for several seconds, just sitting there, and for a moment, he was so quiet, it was as though he had fallen asleep. He did finally speak again, however, half whispering, "You don't... understand, Lily. You couldn't. You don't know what it's like."

"If you're insinuating that I'm unfamiliar with loss then you know that's not true," Lily responded gently. "I lost my mother just as I was getting to know her, a surrogate mother that I cared deeply for, and my father after years of working proudly alongside him. I sure as hell hurt too."

"No, no, I... I would never say that. I know you’re as familiar with loss as any of us. But..." He let out another long sigh, and stared up at the ceiling. "But none of those deaths were your fault."

"How is Nouja's death remotely your fault?" Lily exclaimed in disbelief.

"A... a couple months before it happened, we... had a talk. About our future. About our chances at surviving. About our pursuers. Without even thinking, I started blabbing about how hopeless it seemed, and how they would never stop chasing us unless we were dead... or they thought they were. Nouja, what she did... I put that thought in her mind. It was my fault."

After a moment of silence, Lily replied, "What a load of bullshit. Did you give Nouja her self-sacrificing nature too? Her biokinetic prowess? Did you order her to do it and orchestrate the whole thing from start to finish?"

"No..." Joe looked over to her. "But I still set the wheels in motion. Can you honestly say you wouldn't feel the same way if you were in my shoes?"

"I wouldn't waste my energy focusing on things I can't change," Lily retorted, her patience wearing thin. "You know damn well Nouja wouldn't blame you. She made her decision. And you don't need to search for her, she's coming after us! Leave saving her to the people that are capable of doing so. You know what you could be using that energy for? Finding your wife and my mother! We know they're out there somewhere!"

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: “Insomnia, Part 2”

"You think I'm not worried about them too!?" Joe stood up and took several steps to the side, clenching his fists in anger. "I am trusting their search to the rest of the team while I focus on Yakone. Do you think the next time Nouja is going to just have Yakone with her the next time we meet like a prize if we beat her?! We need to find her! Before they kill her! Before they experiment on her!" He turned to Lily and shouted, "Before Atka goes out on the battlefield to fight Nouja, and finds Yakone standing by her side! Who is to say she couldn't be brainwashed too!? If my guilt motivates me, then let it be!"

Lily shook her head. "You're an idiot, Joseph. You know where they're both going to end up? You were there when the good Colonel sent us a message asking us to bow down. You heard what he hinted at about Yakone... I don't know what he'll want with her, but she'll end up in his custody. Wherever Desmond is, Yakone will be - soon if she isn't there already."

Joe gasped, his eyes widening. "You... you're right..." He held a hand over his head and closed his eyes. "I was so busy assuming the worst, I... of course she would end up with him. Even if they had other plans for her, Desmond would never..." He quickly stepped over to his computer, and closed most of the files, opening new ones. "How could I be so stupid...?"

"Because you've been so obsessed that you blinded yourself to something so simple," Lily responded with a gargantuan sigh. "Not everything is so close to impossible that you have to nearly kill yourself to accomplish your goal."

Joe slowed his typing until he stopped, and lowered his head. "Okay, Lily... you guys win. I... I won't stop until they are both back with us. I can't. It doesn't matter if Nouja would blame me or not, it... I still played too big a part in this to just forgive myself. But I'll try and... and get more sleep, and share more of my information gathering on Colonel Cain Verrater with the others. If only to prevent me from making another mistake like this."

"Promise me you'll do something for yourself too," Lily insisted. "And for me, as selfish as that is. If we can find Veronica and Vahlen... I think that would go a long way towards lifting everyone's spirits."

Joseph slowly nodded. "O-of course, Lily. Nouja... Nouja isn't the only guilt I have..." He quickly rubbed his eyes and turned to her, smiling. "I've already done a lot of work into finding them. Pinpointing Verrater should be a lot easier than finding a random research facility. I'll have plenty of time to pick up where I left of with Veronica and your mother. I promise we'll find them soon."

"You'd better," Lily instructed, cracking a small smile. "So what are you going to do when you first see her again? Got anything romantic planned?"

His smile dropped ever so much. "I... hadn't really thought about it. I'm still trying to convince myself it's real. It... i-it's been twenty years. She might have found someone else. I'd be surprised if she didn't. I'd be surprised... if she even remembered me."

"Somehow I don't think her and Vahlen would have worked out... too much of an age gap," Lily joked. Her expression turning more serious, she added, "Look... if they managed to survive for seventeen years, three more isn't that much of a stretch. Let me ask you something... did you ever move on for her? Or was there only room in your heart for one woman? If the latter is the case, then I imagine she feels the same way... or maybe that's too romantic, I wouldn't know."

"I... I don't know either." Joe slowly rubbed his wrists. "I guess we'll find out, right? When we find them, that is. I can promise you one thing. There is no way Vahlen would have forgotten about you."

"Not like she was all that involved in my life before," Lily muttered. "I mainly want to see her again because she's the only biological family I have left... but I'd be lying if I said we had a strong relationship. It's more of... unfinished business."

Joe nodded in understanding. "I guess we both have something to prepare for, huh?"

"Yeah. We do. I'd prefer not to have my first chat with my mother in twenty years on no sleep... and I doubt you'd want Veronica to see you in this state either. Take a break, try to relax... I don't expect you to be able to do so fully. None of us can right now. But at least give it a shot," Lily explained softly.

The older man turned in his chair, taking a few moments to save some files before shutting down the computer. "To be fair, I'm sure my computer really needed a break too."

"Eh, in my experience computers don't need sleep. They have that enviable luxury." Lily laughed lightly. "If I could be awake 24-7 like Seshat... the productivity would be unimaginable and terrifying for our enemies. If only..."

Joe stood up again, and had to resist the urge to take another cup of coffee. "When this is all over, you could always look into putting your mind into a robot body."

Lily shuddered. "Okay, A, I'm not one for transhumanism... and B, that would make Yakone terrified of me... I ever tell you she's scared to death of combat machines? She cracks jokes about terminators, but enemy robots really do scare her half to death..."

"Really? No... I didn't know that." Joe laughed. "Fits well with Alex. She's scared of things that look human but aren't. Mannequins, dummies, China dolls. Guess that means the best thing to scare them both at the same time is one of those sci-fi androids."

"So Seshat, basically. Remind me to recruit her for a practical joke sometime... when we're all back together again." Lily balled one of her hands into a fist. "I'll do my damndest to see that day comes."

"And so will I." Joe lowered his gaze. "If.. if I can do anything about it. Sometimes... I wonder..."

"We make a difference," Lily cut him off before he could follow that train of thought further. "The things we lost that day aside... Operation Verity Zenith was the culmination of the efforts of everyone on the Avenger. We woke the public up. That's a feat no one thought possible until we did it. Our determination... those twenty years we toiled... it all meant something."

"Of course," Joe quickly said. "Everyone did their job, and made a difference." Everyone except... do I have any right to have this position? I've screwed up so many times. My wife and my daughters... not saying anything about Desmond... influencing Nouja. And I'm no closer to finding her then I was a month ago. At this rate, we'll end up having to fight her to get her back... and look at what it just cost us. Sometimes... I wonder why Atka keeps me around, let alone in charge of this department. Loyalty, I guess... Joe couldn't help a look of despair as poisonous thoughts swirled in his head. "Maybe I should... hit the hay. I'm... more tired then I was willing to admit..."

"Hey, Joseph..." Lily moved towards Joe, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I hope I haven't made things worse... I want to help. You and your family have always been good to me, and I'll do whatever it takes to pay back the favor. Just let me know if you need anything."

"I wouldn't dream of anything else..." Lily released Joseph after a while, and whispered, "don't tell anyone incase it winds up being a dead end... but I may have figured out how to power jetpacks with the exhaust energy radiated off of Elerium... flight armor might no longer be a pipe dream. Don't get Alex's hopes up... but she might be truly able to fly soon."

Joe's smile widened a bit more. "I know she would love that. Besides getting to fly, she'd get to zip around, helping everyone. She's been training so hard lately, trying to strengthen those... psionic force fields of hers. Is it strange to be both worried and incredibly proud in regards to the same thing?"

"Not really. Progress opens up plenty of uncertainty. But if there was ever someone to be confident in, it's Alexis. I can see that despite times we've argued... she's reliable. Don't worry too much," An-Yi responded with a smile.

"Okay." Joe squeezed her a little tighter. "Thank you, Lily. I appreciate your concern, even if I don't know how to show it."

"The fact that you're thanking me is good enough," Lily responded, her pleasant expression only growing.

Joe nodded, and stepped back. "Next time you see me, I'll be in better condition. Might even get around to shaving."

"That'd be a sight to see. I'll look forward to it," Lily warned him before ducking out.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

The Other Side of the Coin

Oct. 2nd, 2038

A fancy, high rise studio apartment. Spacious. Well furnished. A mini-bar that was well stocked. A wonderful view of the Megacity below. This was the kind of place the people below could only dream of, and was only offered to people that made a name for themselves. Only affordable to them too.

In it sat a man. A troubled man. A man with a thousand thought running through his head. Daniel Hunnigan sat at the edge of his bed, hands folded by his face, staring forward in intense thought.

Behind him she stirred. A beauty. A bombshell. Young and energetic. Alabaster skin without a single flaw, and long, lush blonde hair that went down to her waist. An hourglass figure with a bosom to die for, and long, smooth legs. Wild as a cheetah taking down her prey, and tighter then ADVENT security, she was quite the catch, the kind of woman that you needed plenty of money to keep around.

Not the brightest one in the bunch. Not quite as dumb as a box hammers, but obviously more concerned with looks then brains. Daniel used to make fun of that kind of person with his wife, joking about how neither of them would end up with someone like that, even if they had never met. Obviously, Daniel had a change of heart since then.

Not that they had the most meaningful relationship in the galaxy. They used each other really. She got credits from him, and every night, he filled her with pleasure, amongst other things. And he needed a distraction, if only momentarily. But every time it was over, reality came crashing in like a drug addict coming down, and all her could think of was... her...

Daniel clenched his teeth in anger. He got up, throwing on a pair of boxers and walking over to the bar. He poured himself a scotch on the rocks, but didn't drink. He instead stared down at the object in his hand. A ring. His wedding ring.

"Stupid bitch," he muttered quietly. "Can't believe I was ever so blind. But taking her was low, even for a traitor. Couldn't let her stay in the safety of a Megacity, huh? Had to take her into the line of fire and corrupt..."

"Mmm... come back to bed, Danny," the woman said with a yawn, sitting up and letting the sheets slide off her nude body. She spoke with what the accent from what was formally known as Great Britain.

"Just... go back to sleep, Kathy," he said, finally taking a drink.

The blonde sighed. "I said come back to bed. I didn't say anything about sleeping." She slipped out of the bed and put on a red, silk robe that hugged her curves so well, it left little to the imagination. She slowly walked over to Daniel. "You always get so huffy after. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to say I don't satis..." She glared at him as she snatched the ring he was staring at out of his hand. "This again?!"

Daniel gave a tired look. "Kathy, relax. Now who is getting huffy?"

"You're damn right I'm huffy!" Kathy shouted, throwing the ring in anger, the jewelry landing somewhere behind the bar. "I'm downright pissed off! All you ever think about is that woman!"

Daniel held up a hand. "I said relax. You're getting bent out of shape over nothing. I told you..."

"Why you give that red-headed tart any thought is beyond me!" The livid woman placed her hands on her hips. "You miss her that much?"

"No, damn it! I..."

"Thinking of her while you fuck me?!"

"Kathy, I'm warning you..."

"Wish you could be back with your terrorist wife and be one, big, happy..."

"Shut your mouth!" Daniel yelled, slamming his fist on the bar. He unconsciously let out a wave of telekinetic energy that made the bottle on bar shatter. "Shut your fucking mouth! You have no idea what you're talking about, so shut up!"

The almost murderous look in his eyes made Kathy shake in fear. She quickly walked over to the bed, fetching her underwear and dressing.

Daniel took in several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He needed a moment to even realize what his girlfriend was doing. "Kathy, stop." She simply shook her head, throwing on her top. "Katherine, please. Talk to me." She didn't bother with her shoes and socks, just picking them up and walking to the door. "Kathy, just hold on! Stop!"

A tendril of violet energy flowed between Daniel and Kathy. She slowed to a stop and simply stood in place, staring at the door, a glazed look in her eyes. Daniel sighed and slowly walked over, placing his hands on her arms as he broke the connection. To her, no time had passed, make it quite startling that Daniel had just appeared behind her. "L-let me go!" She said, squirming.

Daniel held her firmly but gently, and brought his lips behind her ear. Quietly, he said, "I'm sorry, Katherine. I know you don't like me thinking about her. But it wasn't Morrigan. It... it was Brigid I was thinking about."

Katherine stopped struggling, and Daniel let her go. "Brigid? That... that was your step-daughter, right?"

"I never called her that unless I had to," Daniel answered. "To me, she was just my daughter, biology be damned." He slowly turned and walked back to the bar. As he grabbed a towel and started to clean the mess, he added, "Today is her birthday. She's thirteen."

Kathy sighed and looked up, whispering, "Why me?" as she slipped off her coat and put her shoes down. She walked over to Daniel and stepped behind him, pressing against his back. "I'm sorry. I know how hard it is."

Daniel nodded. "I don't mean to take it out on you. I... Colonel Verrater says it might not be too late for Morrigan, you know? That she might be made to see the light. But does she even deserve forgiveness. She took Brigid... into danger..." He tossed the towel into the trash. "Damn it. I was so close."

Kathy shook her head, and walked around the bar so she could lift his chin and look him in the eyes. "No, you weren't. It isn't like it was your fault you never landed, and if you had, you likely would have died."

"You know listening in on two ADVENT soldiers discussing ADVENT matters can get you in serious trouble, right?" Daniel asked, though not entirely seriously.

Kathy smirked. "Not my fault you discussed it with me in the room, and you assumed the two of you were enough to konk me out." Her smile dropped again. "And I'm serious. How many people did you guys lose attacking that ship?" Daniel said nothing, and Kathy continued. "Enough that you won't say it out loud. Yes, you were beating them down. And you almost certainly would have won if they hadn't got that ship working again. But your squad was next to land. What makes you think you wouldn't have been wiped out to?"

"Because I'm smarter then the squad leaders who led their people to their deaths," Daniel answered with confidence. "Smarter then most squad leaders we have. Smart enough, skilled enough, and determined enough that Cain Verrater himself made sure I got my men back. And that assault was my chance, damn it. My chance to kill three birds with one stone. To help wipe out XCOM, to prove myself to Verrater, and to get my daughter back. And I never even got a chance."

Kathy let out a breath, and walked back to the bed, sliding off her shorts and top once more and sitting down. "They'll lose eventually, right? And the Colonel said he would give you a chance to convince Brigid to return to the guiding light of the Elders. So why the rush?"

"Because every second she is over there with them, she slips farther and farther away from me. They can corrupt her young, impressionable mind. I..." Daniel sighed.

Kathy gave him an annoyed, almost bored look. She slipped under the covers and said, "Come to bed, Danny. To sleep. These are all thoughts that will get you nowhere and make you all... irritable. Please."

Daniel sighed, finishing the drink he had from earlier and leaving the glass on the bar. He climbed into bed, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend and closing his eyes. But in his head, all he could think about is the kind of tactics XCOM could use to steal his daughter away from him forever.

----------

"Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone clapped their hands as Brigid blew out her candles, thirteen for her age and an extra one for good luck. She closed her eyes, and wished that XCOM could beat the aliens soon and save her missing friend. It was a something of a sad wish, one that made her feel a bit sad as she blew out the last candle and everyone cheered. She wondered if she had a right to celebrate. Everyone had work they could be doing right now, work to save the world, save the human race, and save Yakone.

But she saw the smiles of everyone around her. In this instance, talking with friends, celebrating something small, and enjoying Catherine's expertly made birthday cake, they seemed happy, if only in this instance. Brigid thought how that at least made it worth it, and if she could make others happy, she was happy. And she did feel happy. She was surrounded by friends. She was a part of something big. She knew, deep down, that her lost friend would soon be found. And she was finally a teenager. She was happy, and couldn't help but laugh.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and Taxor_the_First: “Compulsory Treason, Part 1”

Onboard the Protectorate Battleship “Arafarum”
0622 Hours, October 3rd, 2038
Brig Section B

White slipped back into black, and twisted slowly into red. Pain replaced oblivion, and dragged Yakone back into consciousness. With a start contained by restraints binding her limbs to an chair comprised of ebon alloys, the freedom fighter came to. Ugh… why does everything hurt… shouldn’t my pain inhibitors be - Memory flooded back into Yakone’s brain. The fight atop the network tower, and the blades that had shot through her heart. The shock had overloaded the capacity of her PCS to block out the pain as her body had anticipated its own demise - but the darkness she’d been sucked into was that of unconsciousness, not death. She… had me completed at her mercy… what do they want with me… why didn’t they kill me? Yakone wondered drowsily.

The sound of metal boots echoed through the empty halls of the bowels of the starship that she had been taken to, not that she knew that she resided in another ship similar to the Avenger. The blackness of her cell, lit only by a jade-colored force field as the only wall she could see out of - which merely led into an equally dreary hall - was all Yakone could discern at the moment. Though the far-off sound of approaching footsteps indicated she was about to find out what they wanted with her. Unless that’s just a guard patrol…

Rather than speak vocally to the being at her side, Major Blukersey communicated with the Elder that walked beside her telepathically. -and it is advised that you do not remove the neural blockers from her under no circumstances. While any attempt to escape by the prisoner would end in failure, it could lead to the unnecessary loss of personnel. Pausing for a moment, the Lance Officer glanced at her companion to accentuate her final point. You may visit whatever ultimate location she ends up in, but understand that results will be needed sooner or later. My master would prefer to minimize the captive’s pain… but if the needs of the many become pressing, I have been given jurisdiction to use more direct means and take over as interrogator.

I understand, the Inquisitor replied. My own superior also… asked… that I make this relatively quick. His gaze turned from her to the glowing wall before them. It is unfortunate that I do not have the time afforded to me with my last source. Opinions of others aside, I believe it helped us more than simply draining his mind and casting him aside. Let us hope it does not come to that.

I do not pretend to know what is best. I am merely a humble servant of the Path, Nigella replied deferentially with a hint of distaste aimed the Inquisitor’s way - though what little was evident rang hollow. She pressed a button on the side of the wall to admit Azazel into the cell, and then planted her shockstaff against the cool metal floor, standing guard outside the room.

Able to see the weapon out of the corner of her eye, Yakone visibly shuddered in a brief flash of helpless terror. Shaking her head, the Inuit-Caucasian did her best to mask the source of her fear from there on, not wanting to appear weak.

…as am I, Azazel answered, before stepping forward into the prisoner’s vision. His vision rested on her for a moment before he turned away, stepping a few more paces deeper into the cell. Yakone Ipiktok, he began. How are you feeling?

“Pretty fucking mad, to be perfectly honest,” the Ranger responded derisively. “Never met a Declension in person before, and I gotta say, it really riles me up… mind if I ask what color you bleed, you piece of shit?”

Violet, the Inquisitor answered. You aren’t delirious from blood-loss… you seem awake enough. He tilted his head. “Declension”? Is that what you have taken to calling us now?

Yakone offered a sardonic grin, and would have crossed her arms defiantly if she could. “That’s what we think of your nonsense about ascension. You’re just savages… lowlifes undeserving of lofty titles.”

Azazel hesitated. Hostile personality, he noted. As expected. I’ve had worse, but I would prefer if you would cease resisting even in this minimal form. This will be easier for both of us if you do.

“I’ll never bow to your kind,” Yakone spat. “The moon will sooner fall from the sky and shatter Earth - not Terra, Earth! - into pieces.”

The Inquisitor exhaled. So be it, he said. We will see how long you choose this path. I will ask you a series of questions. The subject matter may vary. You will answer these questions as they are put to you - with no lies. The sooner you do this, the sooner I will be gone. Azazel’s gaze became piercing, even though his eyes remained hidden behind his mask. Do you understand?

“Knock yourself out,” Yakone replied dryly, shifting slightly - about as much movement as she could currently manage.

The Elder frowned. We will begin with something relatively simple. Where did XCOM get the ship you use as a headquarters?

“We built the whole thing ourselves. Pretty cool, huh?” was Yakone’s arrogant reply.

… thought so, Azazel said grimly, though it was unclear as to whether he was referring to the answer or the fact that it wasn’t quite true. Let’s try again. And please, for your own sake, don’t make this difficult.

“Aw, are you going to give me a stern talking-to if I’m not honest with you?” Yakone responded mockingly.

I won’t, the Inquisitor responded. The Major here might, but her ‘stern words’ would likely amount to sharp instruments. Some electrified. He shook his head. Allow me to describe to you the process you are looking at here: you will answer my queries truthfully and without sarcasm, lies or any combination or variation of the two. If you cannot comply with this, I will reach into your mind and take what I want. The sensation of this has been described to me as like “tearing one’s stomach out through their throat”. To ensure that I have missed nothing, either the Coalition or the Protectorate will then assign further interrogators who will be far less gentle than I can be. A sigh. But this can be avoided if you stop being so hostile. Please. I’m trying to make this easier for you.

Yakone tensed, paling but otherwise keeping a neutral outward look - her own pride not allowing her to visibly fold. “Look… you’re asking the wrong person for this sort of stuff. I’m a private, I hardly know shit.”

A private who happens to be the only daughter of our enemies’ leader, the Inquisitor pointed out. At least, we assume the only one. Do not attempt to convince me you are ignorant of anything useful. You will not be successful. He glanced at the glowing wall. And even if you are, good luck convincing ADVENT. In my experience, once they or my own superiors have the idea in their heads that someone knows something, it will take thorough questioning for them to even admit they might be wrong. Now, let me ask you something more recent. Where was your ship the last time you were on it?

“Somewhere in Antarctica,” Yakone replied vaguely. “I don’t regularly check the navigational charts.”