RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[Taxor_the_First]

Dead Men Tell Tales, Part 3

Carolus, her decoy successful, dispelled the teleimagery before magnetizing the air directly around Azazel. The broken parts of the Mechtoids, still sparking, were immediately drawn to the living magnet and clamped themselves onto him. Or rather, onto Umbra - the Reflection had descended slightly into the ground so that its master was encapsulated in its torso. Wrapped in scraps of metal, the shadow found it difficult to move with any degree of speed, something Carolus capitalized on. With some obvious difficulty, the loyalist summoned the last vestiges of electricity sparking through the parts and focused them onto Azazel. Her muscles quivered, being in such proximity to the dynamo before her, but she held fast.

Unfortunately for her, so did he.

When she could no longer hold the magnokinesis and electrokinesis, she dispelled them, metal clanking to the floor. Azazel glanced behind her. Albina had disappeared from sight. He clenched his fists. I have wasted enough time with you! he raged, Umbra raising itself to tower over her again. If you will block the path I walk, then you will be removed from it!

With the difficulty of swatting aside a fly, the Reflection swiped Carolus away. She cried out when she hit the wall, a few shards of broken metal from her own attack sticking into her spine, drawing violet blood. A ragged breath was the first sign that she was still alive, and weakly the loyalist tried to pry herself free. Azazel watched the action with some pity before shaking his head and running forward, his purpose elsewhere. He didn’t need to kill Carolus. She was defeated, and he’d taken enough life on this day.

But Carolus was not defeated. She staggered to her feet, stumbling out until she was behind the retreating figure. Knowing that she would fail if she didn’t figure out some way to beat him here, she tried the last thing at her disposal. Something she’d only practiced on lesser beings before now. Trying it on a mind at least as willful as hers would prove a challenge. Nonetheless, she tried it. With a sharp intake of breath, Carolus reached a single hand out. Then walk it no more. Then she slumped to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Umbra felt the override as it progressed. The original purpose, that of defending Albina, was muddied by a foreign mindset. Azazel struggled - with a dawning horror he knew what Carolus was trying to do - but her will proved stronger than his, if ever so slightly. He stopped his march forward, and looked at his arms, surprised the gambit had worked. The last amounts of control Azazel had on his own body, along with his ability to sustain Umbra, began seeping away, but not before the Reflection user issued a new directive to his shadow, one far stronger than the one to protect Albina.

Kill Carolus.

*

Samuel blinked, glancing around him as the memory ended. He was back in the armory, Umbra evidently deciding it had told him all it could. His mind swam with the new information. Umbra itself, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. It had retreated into his shadow once again, perhaps needing a moment after reliving its greatest failure.

“So Albina was captured,” the Russian muttered to himself. “Along with Azazel. I’m guessing from your lack of reaction to her she’s… no longer part of your directive.” The Reflection did not respond, but Samuel got the sense that he was right. “So she’s dead.”

He sighed. One more unbreakable bond broken by death. And Umbra blamed Carolus, evidently, probably rightly so. Hence the absolute hatred the shadow felt for her. And now she was Arbiter…?

The explained the Inquisitors then. Their interest in Samuel himself was less about the master and more about the servant. They wanted Umbra returned to Elder hands, or snuffed out entirely. Either way would require Samuel’s death, which he didn’t like the idea of.

Unless they want to turn me into Yakone 2…

The Aerotrooper shuddered. He’d kept a wide berth from the returned soldier, largely because every time he saw her from a distance he could feel his stomach roiling. It wasn’t fair to her, no, but it was the reaction he had.

“So I’ve got an Elder hitsquad after me, the Mavericks came this close to being completely wiped, and we’ve got Yakone and the Commander’s sister back but they’re both guilt-ridden.” Samuel sighed. “What a fucking mess.”

And then there was the issue of Carolus. Something told the Russian that he’d need to deal with her before all this was over. And he had no doubt Umbra was looking forward to it.

Azazel’s mercy had gotten him captured. And with Samuel, it had gotten him killed. The Aerotrooper’s gaze, settled on empty space as he considered it all, hardened. “When we find Carolus,” he promised his Reflection, “we fight her. We beat her. And we kill her.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Haunting Bygones”

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
0522 Hours, December 18th, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Floor 4, Port Wing
Gymnasium B

Yakone stood across from a punching bag, sizing it up with her skilled eye. She envisioned an enemy across from her – perhaps one more imposing than her, with a larger frame and a menacing glare. She delivered a punch into the phantom’s abdomen, intending to throw him off balance.

She balanced herself with one foot on the ground, and delivered a flurry of kicks into the bag that made it swing backwards violently. It came back towards her.

Her foe was recovering, and send a massive punch towards Yakone. For a moment, a flash of Leon crashing into the wall of the path church replaced what was in front of her, and she was unable to counter.

The punching bag hit the Inuit-Caucasian straight in the face, making her stagger backwards. A flash of fury sparked in her eyes, and her fist was surrounded with a blue energy.

Now, instead of the imaginary enemy she had created, her own grinning visage was in front of her. Ember was smiling tauntingly, refusing to submit to a final rest. Yakone punched her straight in the throat with all the physically-enhanced force she could muster.

The punching bag’s chain was broken in half by the superhuman blow, and the bag itself tumbled into the wall in front of Yakone. A few broken pieces of metal clattered to the ground, along with droplets of blood from the Ranger’s injured fist. “Goddammit,” Yakone muttered in exasperation, sending a flow of emerald energy into her hand to repair the damages. The use of psionics only caused a dull ache now, but she was still recovering to some extent. At the very least, the early hour would mean that no one would tell Chandra she was disobeying her request. “Really can’t control myself all that well, huh?” Yakone derided herself, walking over to a bench and taking a seat – gulping down what liquid remained in her water bottle.

Yakone had been doing better. The amount of mercy Leon had shown her had allowed the young woman to forgive herself –if only a little. But she’d been giving him space since then. The memories of Ember that plagued him needed time to subside. Yakone understood that much. But frustratingly, solitude only let the Inuit-Caucasian soldier be reminded of all of the horrible things she’d done. The people she’d killed became more specific. A Matterhorn defender she’d cut to bits. The Assassin she’d used as a puppet, and let die without a trace of remorse.

And then there were those she’d hurt. Ember had humiliated and thrashed Luke. Nearly melted Ayame down with plasma. Kicked Marx into the dirt. Nearly gutted Samuel. Ran a sword through Atka. Yakone had to put pressure on her head with her hands, using the flash of pain to distract her from the litany of awful things she’d done. “Can’t get away from it, no matter how hard I try…” she thought aloud with a glum finality to her voice. “It’s never going to be the same, huh?”

There was the sound of footsteps approaching the gym. Who’s up at this hour besides me? Yakone questioned internally. Soon, the source of the sounds revealed itself to be a man with a buzzcut and distinctive amber eyes. The pair locked gazes with one another awkwardly.

“I’ll just… use another gym,” Tomislav spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You can use this one. I won’t bother you… unless…” Yakone trailed off uncomfortably.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Tomislav stated with a shake of his head. “You’re not under alien control anymore. That’s all that really matters to me.”


“Guess it’d be simple for you… you weren’t here before I got captured, were you?” Yakone asked of the newcomer.

Kasun shook his head. “No. I never got a chance to meet you, though I heard a lot about you from the Mavericks and Ayame.”

“Ayame, huh… how do you know her?”

“I’m her boyfriend.” For now, anyway.

Yakone was silent. “Guess things really have changed since I left…”

“Need someone to update you? I could use a distraction right now,” Tomislav remarked with a sigh.

“That’d be helpful, thank you,” Yakone responded gratefully. “So… let me see… do you know a woman named Morrigan O’Brien?”

“I know of her. She’s the Specialist that helped reclaim Nouja Ipiktok… Irishwoman with a bit of a temper. Took down an Advent Lieutenant too.”

Yakone nodded. “She get a special someone while I was gone?”

“I believe so, actually. What was his name… he’s a Native American. Calls himself Red Hawk, I think,” Tomislav struggled to recall.

“…Red Hawk, huh…” Yakone chuckled at herself. “Had a bit of a barfight with him before everything went to shit for me. Never got a chance to apologize.”

“People fight over their passions. That’s hardly the worst of sins you could commit,” Tomislav noted with a shake of his head.

“You want to talk about what’s bothering you? I won’t run my mouth about it,” Yakone offered, hoping she could at least do some good.

“It’s… rather personal,” Tomislav responded with a shake of his head.

“Just be vague, then.”

“…alright.” Tom leaned against a wall to the left of Yakone. “Been grappling with some guilt. I’ve done things in the past that I’m not proud of… things I don’t feel like I can forgive myself for. But Ayame… wants me to let go. I’d probably be happier if I did. It’s just hard to… without feeling like I’m insulting the people I hurt. The people I’ve lost.”

Yakone shook her head. “Her advice is solid. You can’t just let it consume you,” she said quickly. “You won’t do anyone any good by wallowing in–” The Ranger fell silent. The pair exchanged glances, a realization running through both of them. And, in near-unison, they laughed at the absurdity of it all.

“We’re both in the same boat, more or less… aren’t we,” Tomislav remarked incredulously. “We’re both carrying burdens from things we did in the past…”

“Yet here we are, at the height of hypocrisy, trying to tell one another that it’s fine while condemning ourselves,” Yakone finished with a guffaw. “God, I feel like an idiot…”

Tom sighed. “I wish it were so simple to forgive myself, even staring into a mirror like this. But it’s still…”

“…hard. Yeah.” Yakone’s expression became a little somber again. “I don’t know what you’ve done in your life… the struggles you’ve been through… but you know mine. I was turned into a monster, and it was my face that smiled and laughed at those I made suffer. I feel like… smiling and laughing now, even if it’s not directly in a cruel manner… would be an affront.”

“But the alternative is that you’re holding yourself back. ‘Wallowing in gloom and doom never got anyone anywhere.’ My mother used to tell me that,” Tomislav recalled with a faint smile. “Yeah, it’s hard to let go… and it’s not something you can do in an hour. But neither of us are even trying right now, are we?”

“Not really. We should get to it then, huh?”

“Yeah. We should.” Tomislav extended a hand to Yakone. “Ready to stop brooding, so-called ‘Marauding Crusader’? I’m interested in seeing that fiery spirit I’ve heard so much about.”

“I’ll give it a damn good shot.” Yakone took his hand, pulling herself to her feet. “Didn’t get your name yet, though… I’d like to know it.”

“Tomislav Kasun. You can call me ‘Lieutenant’, though, since I outrank you,” the Serbian joked.

“You made an officer rank in two and a half months? What the hell, man…” Yakone rubbed the back of her neck. “Oh, what do I know about that sort of leading crap anyway… congrats though.”

“It carries its responsibilities, but I honestly feel most comfortable at the helm. I’m… better than coping with loss on the battlefield than most,” Tomislav responded vaguely.

“I’m sure that’s one of the reasons mother trusted you with your position,” Yakone replied with a shrug.

“I suppose so. We all have to learn how to deal with it in the end, however…” He sighed. “I still feel for Maverick Squad, though. Losing three in one go… that’s rough.”

“…t-three of them are dead?” Yakone whispered in horror. “I had no idea…”

Tom scrutinized her neutrally. “I’m guessing the Commander felt you had enough on your mind at the moment.”

“Yeah… she was looking out for me, but Jesus…” Yakone rubbed her forehead. “I ought to go make sure the others are okay. To be there for them… I’ve wasted all this time moping around when people could use someone standing in solidarity with them.”

“I’m sure they’d appreciate it,” Tomislav agreed. “I’ll leave you to that. I need to go do some soul-searching myself… figure out some things I’ve been neglecting.”

“Alright. See you around, Tom… can I call you that?”

“Yeah. That’s what my friends tend to call me.” He shook Yakone’s hands. “I believe we’ve made that connection, no?”

“I’d say we have. Thanks, Tom.” The Ranger nodded to the Harrier, and the two went their separate ways to address the matters they’d been avoiding.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Gifts That Keep on Giving Part One (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

Gwen sat on the bunk of her bed, seemingly all alone with her brother currently laying up in the hospital. She had cried for a straight night the day she heard what had happened during the last day of the siege, and upon him waking up she had cried even more. Her time alone had given her the means to do some thinking alone, her time with Emmy usually being short but each one she cherished the small kisses they stole and the moments she would cradle her, or be cradled by her. The thought brought spots of crimson to the blonde girl's cheeks, and looked down at the special little project in her hands, a culmination of months of hard work.

A light knock came from the door, one Gwen hadn't heard for awhile. One belonging to someone without a lot of strength behind them. "Um... G-Gwen?" she heard Brigid call out. "Are you... in there?"

Gwen let out a short squeak and quickly looked around in the panic, shoving the thing she had in her hands under the pillow of her bed. The young woman quickly stood, smoothing out her dress as she quickly jogged to the door and opened it. "Hey Brigid!"

The young teen smiled up at her, giving a short wave. "H-hey. Can I... talk to you about something? If you're... not too busy."

"Um, well of course, I suppose. Come in sweetie." Gwen stepped out of the way to give the girl room to enter. "Though... Why me? What do you need to talk about?"

"Well..." Brigid thought about it as she walked over to the bed. "Because everyone seems too down to talk to. And because you're, like... the closest to bring like a kid without being a kid. I mean, Cathy is probably more like a kid, but she's like a teacher now, and I'm more comfortable talking about it with you because you're not... you know, a teacher or an authority person or a relative. You're just... Gwen, my good friend."

"Well... Thanks? I don't know whether to be called a kid by a little snot nose is really something to be proud of." The older girl said, firmly planting her fists on her hips with a tone that could only have been teasing by the flamboyancy of it.

Brigid giggled. "Meant it as a compliment. It means you're more fun then the other adults." Her smile faded. "Gwen... are we play? XCOM, I mean. We just won a really big battle, right? But nobody is acting like it. They're acting like we lost... to that we're going to lose."

Gwen chuckled a bit nervously, looking at Brigid with a weird look. WhatdoIdo, whatdoIdo, whatdoIdo! Damn you for choosing me Brigiiiiiiiid! Gwen yelled in her own head, but slowly let out a breath to try and calm herself. "Well, you see... Um... The battle we went through was a... Tough one. A really tough one. People's morale is really low because they lost so much to win the fight. No one actually believes we will lose, but for right now, people are going to be somber."

Brigid lowered her eyes. "I heard that we lost some really good people. I wish I had known them so I could understand everyone's feelings more." After a pause, she added, "I also heard a lot of people were pretty hurt... including Leon."

"Right..." Gwen shifted a little bit, feeling a bit awkward about her next question. "Are you still serious about that... he is your true boyfriend thing?"

Brigid blushed, and turned her head away. "N-no. I... I realize how silly I was being. He's so much older then me, and... and I know how much he loves Yakone. I guess I must have looked so dumb around him, huh?"

"You really don't know my brother, do you?" Gwen asked, getting down on a knee so she could put her arms around the shorter girl in a tight hug. "He thought it was the cutest and most sweet thing in the world ever. He went along with it because it meant a lot to him."

Brigid nodded. "He's a really cool guy, huh? He fights the enemy with his cool armor and super powers, but is still nice enough to humor a dorky girl with a crush."

"You aren't dorky, trust me. I have met some dorky girls in my lifetime, and you are not one of said girls. But yeah, I suppose he is alright. Not as cool as his gorgeous as an angel, sweet as a chocolate, smart like a encyclopedia sister, riiiiight?"

Brigid nodded, agreeing with no hesitation. "You know what I really like about you, Gwen?"

"What would that be?" The French girl asked as she went back over to her bunk to sit.

"Your smile, for one," Brigid explained. "There is something about it that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. And the way you talk to me. How, even though we haven't spoken in a while, it feels really comfortable talking to you. You really feel like... the big sister I never had." She laughed. "Which is funny since you're the perfect age to be my mom's little sister."

Gwen smiled warmly, having to take Brigid into her arms once more. "You want to know something too?"

"What's that?" Brigid asked eagerly.

"I always wanted a younger sister." Gwen whispered, holding the girl closely.

Brigid giggled. "Well... just because we're not blood related doesn't mean we can't be family, right? That's what my... um... m-my father... used to say." She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "A-anyway, I would love to think of you like my sister."

"That's right. And me and Leon aren't blood related anyways so it works out." Gwen let Brigid pull away slightly, and the frenchwoman placed a hand on the smaller girl's head and rubbed it. "You know what is coming up? I know the Protectorate sort of threw out all old world holidays so you probably don't know but... back when I was a little girl, every December 25th we celebrate a special holiday where you give gifts, sing together, wear stupid looking sweaters and... have fun. I was making you something for it, and... since we are family now, an early present wouldn't be too bad."

"You... you made me a present?" Brigid asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up.

"Well... only if you want it. I didn't know whether or not you would like it." The Juggernaut noted with an awkward look away.

"Of course I would like it!" the short blonde insisted. "I love it already, e-end I don't even know what it is yet! I've never got a, um... end of December gift."

"It's called Christmas, Brigid. Maybe when it comes, I will tell you the story of it the way my mother told it to me. But close your eyes, okay?" Gwendoline encouraged the smaller girl.

Brigid bobbed her head up and down, and tightly shut her eyes, not so subtly opening her hands and extending them a bit.

With a small sigh at her overeagerness, Gwen moved the pillow and took out the thing hidden underneath. Brigid felt something soft enter her hands, and when she was encouraged to open her eyes, she saw the folded form of a white dress not unlike the one Gwen had worn that the little Irish girl adored so much.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Gifts That Keep on Giving Part Two (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

"Y-you... you made me a dress?" Brigid asked in surprise. "All by yourself?"

"It took a lot of searching and a lot of pricked fingers but Momma didn't raise no boy. I think it came out rather nicely actually for what I had to work with." Gwen leaned down to look at Brigid's face, a bit worried. "You like it?"

"Like it?" A few tears leaked from the girl's eyes, her lip quivering a bit. "Th-this is... one of the best gifts I've ever been given," she said, holding it tightly, like she was hugging a friend.

"Good." The older woman said, placing a hand on Brigid's back, smiling softly at the display as her own eyes got a bit moist.

Brigid leaned against her, running her hands across the dress and admiring the detail. "Can I put it on? I want to see how I look in it."

"I didn't give you the dress to hang on your wall! Of course you can try it on." Gwen said with a laugh, pushing her slightly off the bed.

Brigid quickly slipped off her shirt and shorts. Despite her insistence of being more mature, the cute little bear on the back of her undies did little to support her pleas. At least she was developing up top, already nearly matching her mother's size. She slipped the dress on with the eagerness of a girl with a blanket in the middle of a snowstorm, and had Gwen help her make sure it was on right. "Do you have a mirror?" she asked.

"Mhmm, here you go." Gwen said, pulling the object out of one of the drawers.

Brigid maneuvered it around to see herself from every angle. "Whoa... I look so pretty, don't I?!" She laughed. "It is okay for me to say that, right?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Gwen asked with a snicker.

"Because..." Brigid gave a big smile. "You're right. I look super pretty. Dang beautiful. Almost as pretty as my friend Gwen!"

"Almost." Gwen agreed, this time laughing fully. A few moments later there were sharp knocks coming from the door and the girl got up, walking to the door and cracking it open. She then talked in a hushed voice to someone outside.

Brigid watch nervously, wondering who it could be. After a few seconds, she slowly stepped forward, seeing if she could listen in at all.

"-just keep watching his health okay?" Gwen said, her fingers drumming along the door.

"I will." A young man said from the other side. "But why's the door closed? What're you hiding?"

"None of your business Leo." Gwen told the person rather harshly.

"Leo?" Brigid asked herself softly, stepping close to the door.

As she stared through the little crack she was able to, Brigid could get a perfect view of the doctor assistant dressed in his work clothes, even if he was much too young to wear them by his looks. He had perfect dark hair, perfect blue eyes, perfect color of slightly tanned olive skin, and even oozed an aura of perfection.

"Ooo..." Brigid smiled at the sight. For all her qualities, the young girl was a sucker for a handsome face. After staring at him long enough for him to be uncomfortable had he noticed it, she slowly moved to step into view.

Both Gwen and Leonardo had been too busy with their conversing to have noticed Brigid but when the woman did she jumped back a bit, not having been expecting her to be standing there. The door opened further when she did that, allowing the young man standing in front of it to see the girl standing in her new white dress. He blinked several times, waving a hand. "H-Hey there. You're Brigid right? One of Kai's patients if I remember correctly for her weak immune system?"

"U-uh... um..." Brigid nervously rubbed her hands together, staring into his eyes like a deer in headlights. "No... I mean... y-yeah, but... b-but I've been getting better, so, um... s-so I'm not that... sick... um..." She slowly took hold of both sides of her dress and did a small curtsy. "I'm Brigid Hunnigan. Oh, but... you already knew that, huh?"

The doctor in training gave the girl a comforting smile. "I think a formal introduction is fine. I'm Leonardo Reloj. My friends call me Leo." He said, bowing slightly in response to her curtsy.

Brigid smiled. "Leo. That's kinda like Leon,but, um... like, also a painter." Her eyes darted about, and she suddenly blurted out, "Um... d-did you know some people thing Leonardo da Vinci was a homosexual?" Naturally, hers eyes widened in shock at her own comment.

"Is... that... So? Well uh... Cool, I... Suppose." Leo looked back at Gwen and said, "I'll keep my eyes on him to see if anything slips into being abnormal." With that, he waved and wished the girls a good day before going to leave.

"Whoa..." Brigid blink several times as she watched them, then her eyes widened in surprise. She grabbed the sides of her head in frustration and let out a mighty, "Nooooo!" She stomped back into the room shaking her head furiously. "Stupid! I'm such a spaz! What was I thinking?! I wasn't thinking, obviously! Couldn't named art, couldn't talk paintings, couldn't even talk about the stupid turtle! Had to say the most awkward thing in the history of forever! GAAHH!"

 

[MarineAvenger]

Gifts That Keep on Giving Part Three (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

"Whoa, calm down there princess. What was that all about?" Gwen asked, quickly shutting the door realizing people would have likely heard that outburst but kept that little fact secret.

Brigid took several deep breaths. "Well... you saw him. So... handsome. A-and... I just panicked." A thought ran through her head, and she didn't want a repeat of an awkward situation. "Was... is he your boyfriend, Gwen?"

"W-What? No, of course not. He is a friend of Leon's who works in the medical lab. He's Kai's student. He only recently turned sixteen, so he's too young for me. Besides, I already have someone else." Gwen answered steadily, successfully not blushing.

"Only... sixteen?" Brigid smiled for a moment, then went back to looking upset. "Oh... but if he works there... he's probably so much smarter then me. A-and... I made the worst first impression in the universe..." She let out a long sigh and hung her head in defeat. "You think... he liked my dress at least?"

"Brigid... Are you... Crushing hard?" Gwen asked with a sly smile.

"N-no! I mean... maybe." Brigid placed her hands on her warm, red cheeks. "I-I am. He was just... soooo handsome, and... and he's like a doctor, and... handsome..."

"Well... Why don't you go after him?" Gwen asked with a small smile. "You're all dressed up and blushing. Boys love blushes."

"You think I should. Um... okay... I will!" Brigid rushed to the door, pulling it open and stepping out. Before she left, she poked her head inside and said, "Thanks for the Christmas gift." A moment later, she poked her head in again. "And thanks for the advise." Another moment. "I hope to meet your special someone soon." Finally, she shut the door and took off down the hall.

Down in the medical bay, Brigid walked into a rather buzzing chaos as everyone seemed to have somewhere to go. However, as she scanned the faces and to her dismay, there was none matching the one that had awestruck her so hard.

The young teen approached the counter where one of the nurses was a bit busy with paperwork. "Um... excuse me," she said, unsure if she should be here when it was so busy, but not wanting to leave completely empty handed. "I'm looking for Leo... I mean, um, Leonardo... R-... Reloj?"

The nurse didn't look up and let out a sigh. "He's off his shift. I don't know where he went. Have a nice day."

"Oh... dang." She thought for a few moments, wondering if she should ask others if they had seen him. She then remembered what he had said to Gwen, and sought out Leon's room, as Leo might have been checking on him.

As she neared the room a hand reached out from a door and it dragged her inside, shutting the door behind her and locking it. When she managed to get her bearings, she saw it was Leonardo himself who dragged her in. "It's true. You are tailing me."

Brigid needed a second to catch her breath after the initial surprise. "I'm not tailing you," she said nervously, afraid she had just done another thing to make him dislike her. "Y-you... say that like I'm a spy. I was just, um... seeing if Leon was okay, and, uh... uh... I was going to ask Mr. Kai for a check up. Yeah."

"I see. Sorry for assuming then." Leo told the younger girl, unlocking the door and opening it. "See you around then."

"Wait! Um... uh..." Brigid's eyes darted about, almost as if in a panic. "Since I found... since you're here, um... mmmaybe we could talk? A little? I-I know I made a bad first impression, but Artyom tells me I'm a stunning conversationalist. I... don't think he means it in a good way, but I think it is good."

The young Italian shrugged his shoulders. "I have time. Talk about what?"

"Ummm... oh!" Brigid held out the sides of her dress and did a quick twirl. "Do you like my new dress? Gwen gave it to me. Made it for me. Said it is a Christmas gift. I'm going to go back to her later so she can tell me all about Christmas."

"You look very pretty in it." Leo affirmed Brigid with a nod. "It fits well on you."

Brigid's face lit up, and for a moment, it looked like she might gush in excitement. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, "Thank you. That is very kind of you. Maybe, if you ask Gwen, she'll make a dress for... your... girlfriend?"

Leo waved his hand in denial. "Single. No girlfriend at all. Me and this one girl had a fling but it was only for a day."

"A fling?" Brigid tried to think of what that was but came up empty, so she Only laughed. "Yeah, I here you. I've had plenty of those. Like, there was this one boy, we had a fling for, like, only a week until I decided her was a jerk. Um... but maybe you should find another girl to have a fling with."

Leonardo looked completely flabbergasted, his mouth opening and closing while he tried to search for words. "B-But you're so young! Who the hell... What the... Why would you do something like that!?"

Brigid gave him a panicked look. "N-no... I mean, h-he seemed nice, but he was a really big jerk, I swear. I've had longer flings with other boys and girls. M-my last time in school before coming here, I had a fling with, like, half the class! And I enjoyed it. I just... like to have a small group I'm close to, you know?"

Leonardo blinked several times, his mouth now fully agape without closing. "H-How... Were the aliens trying to have a mating farm!? What the fuck is wrong with you!? That isn't... How could you... Why'd you ever go along with that!?"

Brigid's lip quivered, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I... l-like h-having friends. W-why is... Y-you said you had... Y-you..." She started to sob, and made a dash for the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He went after her and grabbed Brigid's arm, stopping her short. "Sorry for yelling, but you don't do that stuff. You barely look legal. That isn't making friends, that is... That is disgusting and horrifying."

Brigid tugged at his grip. "What are you talking about? Since when was it illegal for someone to do your fling thing? It isn't like I committed any crimes with them. I would just play with them on the playground, or trade lunch with them!" She tried to pull her arm free. "Let me go! I don't want to fling anything with you anymore!"

"W-What are you...?" Leo growled in annoyance and pulled her further into the room, standing against the door so,she couldnt try and escape. "You have no idea about what the hell I was talking about, do you? Just like you had nothing to say to me and was blubbering all over yourself when I was talking to Gwen."

Brigid opened and closed her mouth, trying to find something to respond with. "I-I... j-just wanted you to... notice me, I... thought you looked... wanted to..." She sniffed and sobbed as she looked around for some way to escape her embarrassment and humiliation.

Leonardo frowned and walked up to the young girl, reaching up and slowly rubbing her wet streaks on her face. "Come on, don't cry. You have no reason to cry. It was my fault."

She sniffed, and rubbed one of her eyes. "I don't understand why you got mad, though." She looked down. "Oh... I got tear stains on the dress Gwen worked so hard on..."

"Don't worry, tear stains come out real easy once they dry." The older boy stated, putting a hand on her head. "When I was talking about a fling, I meant me and the girl we... We were having... You know... Sex. That... Sort of fling."

"Oh?" Brigid placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh! N-no! I-I didn't do... that, I swear! Please don't tell my mom I said that!"

The doctor in training let out a relieved sigh she finally realized the misunderstanding, rubbing his eyes. "I won't. Cross my heart." He drew an x over the left side of his chest.

"Thank you." Brigid finished drying her eyes, but lowered her head in shame. "You must think I'm the dorky, stupid little kid, huh? So much for... my second impression."

"Look, why are you trying so hard to get my attention? Go on, just be honest. I won't judge." Leo told her, leaning back and crossing his arms as his blue eyes looked her over slightly.

Brigid shyly stared at the floor, rubbing her hands nervously. "I-I don't know. 'Cause you're... handsome... and you're, like, a doctor, so you're probably smart, and you're friends with Gwen too, and you're... handsome..."

"You said handsome twice." He pointed out, looking at Brigid curiously. "And... You're pretty cute too."

The girl shook her head. "Thank you... but you're just being nice."

"Sure I am. Doesn't make what I say any less true." The Italian boy noted with a frown. "Sure, you are really awkward but... Hell, there have been girls more so then you before. Thanks for admitting your feelings. It was very brave of you."

Brigid finally looked up and smiled. "Thank you. And... thank you for being so kind." She bit her lip lightly. "I should... probably get out of your hair before a day or do anything else awkward."

"If you want. But don't discount yourself. I don't hate you at all. In fact... You intrigue me. I hope I'll see more of you."

"Y-yeah?" Brigid scratched her chin. "Do you wanna, like... get something to eat something and... get to know me? Because... I'd like to get to know you."

A smile crossed Leo's mouth, the young man giving a nod. "Sounds good."

Brigid suppressed an excited giggle, and bowed her head, quickly stepping out of the room. After taking a few steps away, she pumped both her fists. "I did it!" she proclaimed excitedly, and practically skipped away.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Healing, Part One”

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
1143 Hours, December 18th, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 1, Rear Block
Main Engineering

An-Yi Shen toiled away at an assembly line. She monitored zealously every firearm that was put into production. Each and every plasma weapon had to be carefully combined with an elerium core capable of generating a weaponized version of the fourth state of matter. Any errors in the process would lead to one of two outcomes. At best, all the circuitry would overheat and fry itself. At worst, they would explode and ruin one of the machines responsible for putting them together. In short, it was an intensive, stressful process.

It was for this upgrade to XCOM’s arsenal that Lily had devoted most of her time in the past view days to her work. She worried about Yakone, and hadn’t soon forgotten her promise to be there for her sister. But after hearing from Alexis about how Yakone had responded to any attempts to make her feel better, Lily had – after much deliberation – decided to give her surrogate sister some space. Yakone needed time to think and come to terms with what the aliens had brainwashed her into doing. The only person who could force the Marauding Crusader to forgive herself was Yakone. Only she could pardon herself.

So the Chief had just focused on her work, hoping to finish up the fabrication of the third tier of laser armaments in time for Yakone to be feeling better. “It’s something of a gamble, isn’t it?” she asked ROV-R. The Gremlin bobbed its form slightly. Lily had made improvements to the artificial intelligence and stealth technology based off the Zephyr wrecks that had been brought back not long before Yakone had been lost. And by now, the drones – while not sentient by any means – were highly intelligent. While Rover couldn’t offer her relationship advice, at some level it understood its master was uncomfortable.

An-Yi shook her head. “Sorry, buddy. Shouldn’t be putting the burden of my doubts on you. I shouldn’t be doubting her at all. Yakone will pull through. She’s too strong to let this destroy her.”

“I appreciate the confidence you have in me, sis,” a familiar voice commented from behind the engineer, the laid-back tone accompanied by a yawn.

Lily felt a warmth rise in her chest, but as if unsure if she were dreaming or awake, she was afraid to turn around. “You… sound like you’re feeling better.”

“A little. I’m not a hundred percent by any means… but moping around isn’t going to do me any good,” the Ranger replied with a shrug.

Lily turned around to face Yakone, and then embraced her in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re back…”

“W-What are you, a bear?” the Inuit-Caucasian complained, feeling her ribs being compressed. She patted her friend on the back to tap out, and then caught her breath melodramatically. “Honestly, for someone who’s happy to see me you damn near killed me with that stunt…”

Lily snickered. “You are feeling better.”

“That’s what I said, dumbass.” The two shared a laugh. “So you’ve been busy I see… what’s all of this?”

“Plasma weapons. Got the blueprints for alien designs from Shen’lutusus, and Tygan helped me adapt them to work in human hands. Production’s nearly finished,” Lily informed her ‘younger sister’ proudly.

“You know… I didn’t think about it before for uh… obvious reasons, but it’s funny as hell that a Declension of all people has a name that sounds like yours,” Yakone remarked with a roll of her eyes.

“I hear he’s quite fond of engineering marvels himself… guess we’re sort of kindred spirits in a… weird way,” An-Yi remarked. “Doesn’t mean I still don’t hate the Elder’s guts. Not about to have my tattoo removed,” she stated resolutely, flexing the arm with the symbol of the Resistance’s fist crushing one of the so-called ‘Declensions’.

“Neither am I. But… I get the feeling that like some of the people in ADVENT, there are a few that are less reprehensible. I… met one such guy, before and after they turned me into Ember,” Yakone told her sister uneasily.

“You… did? Who was that?” Lily asked slowly, curious but not wanting to press Yakone too hard for details.

“He was the Inquisitor that Judgement Squad took out. Coatl’Promethoth,” Yakone answered with a sigh. “He didn’t agree with all of the tenets of the Path at some time… from what I understood about him he’d been demoted to a rank below all other Elders for that defiance. He’s a lot like the Overseer here… one of them hid their dissent better, I guess.” Yakone groaned. “I feel like an asshole though… I saw Coatl not long before he died, and as Ember all I did was talk down to him while acting like the slavish lapdog they made me into… not the kindest words one could grant someone before they go and die.” The freedom fighter looked over the machinery as it chugged on. “If he were still alive, I’m sure the actions of Europe’s Overseer and our success here would have given him hope. Who knows, maybe he’d be fighting alongside us?”

“You can’t blame yourself for that one. That Inquisitor fought Judgement Squad, and they defended themselves at the price of his life. That’s just the way war is,” Lily responded with a shake of her head. “Not everyone gets their happy ending.”

“You’re right, as you typically are.” Yakone stretched her arms out, both to get rid of some tension in the muscles and as a physical motion of changing the subject. “You had a chance to look over my fusion blades yet?”

“I have, actually… and to be completely honest, I am stumped on how the aliens managed to miniaturize the power of the sun into two sword power generators,” responded the Chief. “I’m going to have to have Vahlen take a look at it.”

“Vah-” Yakone began, her eyes widening in confusion and shock.

“O-Oh, right, sorry.” Lily rubbed the back of her neck. “While you were gone, we… well… found my mother and Veronica Chambers. They’re on the ship now.”

Yakone’s expression slowly broke into a smile, and she shook Lily’s shoulders. “That’s awesome! So they were alive this whole time! Jenn was right to have her hopes up, the madwoman!”

An-Yi chuckled. “You’re several weeks late on the excitement… but yeah, it’s nice to have them around. Certainly made the science team twice as productive… it’s like having two chiefs there.”

Yakone raised an eyebrow. “How is Tygan getting along with her?”

“Pretty well, actually. He’s… kinda mellowed out lately. I’m not sure why, but he’s actually lightened up.”

“No. You’re lying. You have to be lying. Either that, or I’ve been teleported into an alternate dimension.”

“I’m dead serious,” Lily responded with an amused expression that didn’t match the vehemence of her words. “He’s been taking time off, and letting my mom handle things in the labs. He’s spent some more time with Kai, and, get this, he’s been hanging out with… with…” Lily’s face fell.

Yakone studied Lily’s expression closely. “He befriended one of the fallen, huh?”

“Close.” An-Yi now wore a melancholy visage. “He was babysitting for Maxwell.”

“Damn…” Yakone rubbed her forehead. “I’m still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that three of them are gone, just like that… and that we lost a new recruit so quickly, just to rub some salt in the wounds.”

“Aside from the base defense, we’d been doing really well… managed to hold it together even without you.” Lily’s eyes widened a little as she realized what she’d said. “I-I don’t mean to say your absence caused-”

“It’s alright, Lily,” Yakone responded with a pained tone. “It... hurts to think about… and I want to blame myself, but I know I can’t. And that doing so won’t bring them back. I do really need to go see them, though… I was going to do that this evening, when I know they’ll be in the bar.”

“If you’re up for it, then alright,” Lily conceded. “Just don’t beat yourself up too much.”

“I won’t.” Yakone paused. “Figure we ought to go check on Tygan, too. If he’s close to those kids, he might be taking care of them right now.”

Lily nodded. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “McCaffree, can you take over for me?”

“Roger that, boss,” Lily’s unofficial second-in-command replied, moving over to watch the fabricators.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Healing, Part Two”

The pair headed upstairs, making their way to the living quarters where Lily knew Tygan would most likely be. They found him sitting there, a cup of coffee steaming on the table in front of him. Sitting at his side on the couch with expressions of varying levels of dejection were the three children of Maxwell Dominguez.

Carmen was crushed. She was unlucky enough to comprehend the full weight of her father’s passing. The eldest child knew that she and her siblings were now all alone. Their mother had been taken away by the aliens, and now their father had been killed as well. Who would take care of them now?

Junior was furious. He was angry at the enemy for taking away his father. He was angry with his dad’s comrades for not being able to protect him. But most of all, he was angry at himself for having treating Max so poorly – for having been so recalcicrant prior to his dad’s demise.

Jabes was in denial. The youngest child had only recently turned thirteen, and the idea of his father being killed was something he was struggling to come to terms with. It seemed unreal. It seemed unbelievable. It seemed like it was impossible – like it shouldn’t have happened.

Robert was their only comfort. He sat with them, somber and contemplative. He didn’t have the proper words to make everything better, but the scientist reasoned that there probably wasn’t anything he could say that would have such an effect. No, the best he could do was be there for them in this moment.

Upon seeing his colleague approach, he waved mildly to Lily. “Good to see you Shen, Yakone.” To the latter, he said, “it’s good to have you back. I only wish it could be on a better day.”

“Yeah.” Yakone knelt down in front of the kids on the couch. “Hey, guys.”

Carmen did her best to smile, but failed miserably. “Hey, Yakone…”

“Don’t force it.” Yakone smiled sadly. “I know how you feel, trust me. I’ve watched allies go down… and I know what it’s like to have family taken away.”

“No you don’t! Not permanently!” Junior blurted out lividly. “You got your aunt back! We won’t… we won’t ever…” He hung his head, intending to mouth an apology for his outburst.

“It’s rough. Yeah… I won’t lie, I’m very lucky in that regard. But that doesn’t mean I’m unfamiliar with the pain. And I’ll tell you what… it does get easier to bear, after awhile. It’s going to hurt a lot for a long time… but you just have to keep pushing forward.” The freedom fighter shook her head. “And never, never think that your dad died in vain. He sacrificed himself for you guys. The reason he fought so hard was because he wanted to give you a future… he never had to tell me for me to be certain of that. He was a great father... I’m glad you three got to have him for a dad, if only up until now.”

The Inuit-Caucasian woman nodded to herself. “And, you know… you haven’t lost him completely.”

“W-what are you talking about…” Junior protested.

“He’s still in three places.” Yakone tapped her heart. “Some of you may have showed it more openly than others, but you all loved him. You were family, and no matter how far apart you might be taken… no matter how much your paths might have diverged… you cared for one another,” Yakone stated, thinking of both Maxwell and her own father as she spoke. “Even when it didn’t seem like it. That’s just the way familial love is. It’s damn near unshakable.”

Junior seemed to be put somewhat at ease by that, and Jabes timidly raised a hand. “Where are the other two places?”

Yakone tapped her forehead. “Everything Max has taught you guys… it rests up in your heads now. His guidance will never be lost… even if you forget the exact words, his teachings will help carry you onward through life. It’ll give you the direction you need to be successful in your lives. You’ll make him proud, I’m sure… and he’ll be watching from up there.” Thirdly, Yakone merely pointed a hand upwards. “I won’t ask you to try and force yourselves to be happy… but don’t give up. Keep moving forward. That’s what he wants, I’m sure.”

“You put that better than I could have,” Robert remarked with a faint smile. “Thank you, Yakone.”

“Just doing what I can for some friends.” She smiled more genuinely at the three, and Junior and Jabes weakly returned the expression.

Carmen wasn’t thoroughly convinced, though. “Y-yeah… but… what’s going to happen to us? I asked Mr. Bauer if he could take care of us with his girlfriend… but he said he wasn’t cut out for that sort of thing, and should anything happen to him… he didn’t want us to go through this again.”

Tygan closed his eyes, pondering the question posed to him and Yakone. The young soldier didn’t seem to know what to say. In that moment, Robert was reminded again of her sister. How happy she’d been to sit at that dinner table with her children. And he made a decision. “I’ll watch over you, if you’ll have me as your guardian.”

Carmen’s eyes widened in surprise. “But… your work is so important to you…”

“Yes. And we’ve come a long way… enough so that I can entrust oversight of the labs to the good Dr. Vahlen when I’m taking care of you three,” the scientist replied. “I’ve done a great many things… and I don’t intend to give that all up completely. But for now, at the very least, I can’t just abandon you three. You’ve come to mean a lot to me.”

Carmen’s eyes watered, and she wrapped her arms around Tygan. “T-Thank you so much…”

Yakone shook her head, a soft smile dominating her features. “You really have changed.”

“For the better, I hope?” he queried.

“Yeah… for the better.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

"Healing, Part Three"

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
1947 Hours, December 18th, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 2, Rear Block
The Bar/Memorial

The four surviving members of Maverick squad sat at their typical booth in somber silence. The table behind them that usually housed the overflow from the team was empty, and no one dared seat themselves there. The gloomy mood that hung over the remaining soldiers from the squad dissuaded any attempt to draw near. All of them had nothing to say, really. Any cheerful banter they could have used for levity died in their throats before becoming audible. It had been a week, but the pain was still fresh; it was still an open wound.

Christoffer drank from what was probably his third or fourth mug of beer. Both he and Heinrich were drunk. The pair of male soldiers had attempted to do so to numb the guilt they both felt for different reasons, but it had proved only partially effective. Chris still wondered if there was something he could have done. An order he could have given to save the lives of Max, Adam, Vale, and Gi. Perhaps the squad should have made a move to destroy the trains sooner. Perhaps it was their stubbornness that lead to the demise of half their number. Who really knows? I still failed, regardless.

Heinrich was agonizing over something different. While Christoffer felt that there must have been something in his power to change the outcome, Heinrich felt keenly how powerless he was. The others had a myriad of tools at their disposal. Psionics, Reflections, A.I.s. He had nothing but his equipment, and that had proven to be woefully inadequate against the Advent Task Force. How the hell am I going to fight the alien elite soldiers if I couldn’t even handle the best the Coalition had to throw at me? He was still angry at the black-armored peacekeepers, as well. I won’t be able to rest easy having to fight alongside them. Makes me fucking sick.

Olivia didn’t meet the gaze of the others, merely staring down at the table and her reflection, distorted in the material of the brown-colored table. Her eyes became dull orbs in the face of the color that matched theirs, matching her mood. She was disappointed in herself. Despite evolving Pavise into Onimiki, and having all that power, it still wasn’t enough. Why couldn’t we save them? Why weren’t we strong enough? Her questions had been asked enough times that the thunderbird she was talking to no longer attempted to answer. He knew it was futile. It’s never good enough.

Stacie created the only sound in the room. She drummed her fingers against the edge of the table, lost in thought. She tried to think of anything else, but the image stuck in her head was that of Maxwell in his final moments. Of Jayden putting a barrage of bullets through his chest. She dimly heard the voice of Merlux in her head, trying to comfort her, but it was lost in the cadence of her tapping. She felt pangs of guilt. He’s trying to help for once, instead of being an asshole about all this… She sighed. I’m sorry Merlux… I just don’t think there’s anything you can say that will really help.

Heinrich suddenly lunged forward in a flash of anger, grabbing Stacie’s fingers. “Stop doing that.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Stacie snapped. “You have your way of distracting yourself. Let me have mine.”

“Buy yourself a damn drink. You’re just irritating the fuck out of me with that,” the Hispanic-German shot back.

“Now’s… not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves,” Christoffer weakly tried to say.

“Oh, then what would you have us do, glorious leader? Just pretend like everything’s fucking fine and dandy? We all screwed up, and now half of us are just ash and names on that damn wall!” he shouted, gesturing to the memorial that lay on the back wall. Christoffer didn’t have an answer, but someone else spoke.

“You shouldn’t be at eachother’s throats, regardless. It’s times like these where you need all the support you can get.”

Heinrich sighed, letting go of Stacie and leaning back in his chair. “We don’t need help from you, that’s for sure.”

“Heinrich!” Olivia protested, but Yakone held up a hand.

“It’s alright,” Yakone reassured her with a shake of her head. “Look, Heinrich… you want to be angry, why don’t you do it like a man? Don’t be a passive aggressive pussy.”

Heinrich clenched his fists. “What the hell did you just call me? What gives you the right, you traitor bitch?”

“You all words?” Yakone questioned with a raised eyebrow.

That burned the last strand of Heinrich’s fuse, and he rose from his chair, delivering a punch into the side of Yakone’s face that floored her.

“You hit… like a girl.” A kick landed with a crack into her ribs, and Yakone cried out in pain.

“Heinrich, enough!” Christoffer ordered, his friend’s actions sobering him up a little.

“You gonna follow orders, or show me what you’ve got?” Yakone taunted.

“…don’t use me as some sort of masochistic atonement,” Heinrich growled in realization, sitting back down.

“That’s only the smaller part of it,” Yakone clarified, grimacing as biokinetic energy danced alongside her bruises and repaired the burst blood vessels. “You feel any better now?”

“A little.”

Yakone smiled, this time not goadingly. “Good. Glad I could help after all.”

Olivia looked over the Ranger incredulously. “You really carry yourself in a strange way…”

“Hey, it works, doesn’t it?” Yakone’s friend couldn’t disagree with that. The Inuit-Caucasian pulled up a chair, sitting on the end of the table. “I don’t need to ask how you guys are doing. I could tell clearly enough when I came in. I’m so sorry,” she spoke sadly. “I remember Adam… when I met him he was just a defective drone… but from what I’ve heard, asking around today… it sounds like he really become as human as the rest of us. Maybe a little more so.”

Christoffer nodded. “Yeah… he did. Got himself a girlfriend, too. Then we lost both of them, just like that.”

Merlux appeared at Stacie’s side. “This… may come across as a little morbid, but at least… they went down together. It might have been worse if one was torn away from the other.”

Stacie frowned, but found she couldn’t bring herself to argue except to say, “I’d still have been better if they hadn’t died at all. And Max… his kids… I just…” She placed her face in her hands, trying to keep her emotions from overwhelming her.

“Robert agreed to take care of those three,” Yakone informed her. “They’ll have a parent to guide them still, at the very least.”

“H-he… he did?” Stacie took a few shuddering breaths, slowly lowering her palms. “T-tell him I said thanks. That… means more to me than he may realize.”

Yakone bobbed her head. “I will.” She looked over the other three. “And look, guys… just know that everyone else shares your pain. I’m sure this has been on Ayame’s mind… and anyone else that knew you guys. Judgement Squad’s probably having a hard time accepting this too. But what’s done is done. The past is the past.”

“That doesn’t dull the pain,” Heinrich responded with a shake of his head. “That doesn’t change the fact that we could have done better.”

“But you can’t go back. You can’t fix what you failed to do.” Yakone sighed. “Believe me, I know the feeling. You all have that image of me being a self-important whiny bitch, arguing with the Commander in my undies… that’s never going to go away.” She caught the slightest of smiles on Olivia’s face from amusement at the memory, if only for a second. “Maybe it’s funny to some people, but to me it’s one of those things I’ll always remember with the utmost of shame. But there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.”

Yakone scratched her hair. “We fuck up all the time. That’s what makes us human. I think if we were perfect… if we never made mistakes… that’d be pretty boring. That honestly makes me plenty sad for those we lost. They’re up there, living in paradise… paradise sounds too perfect. I’m honestly more fond of Earth than heaven. Making mistakes and striving to do better… that gives me a rush perfection never could. I guess what I’m trying to say is we should reach out to the future. Don’t forget your mistakes, but make something of them. Allow them to help guide you to a better tomorrow.”

“…you ever consider being a public speaker when this is all over? You’ve got your mother’s talent,” Stacie remarked after a period of silence.

“W-well… I’m not sure if…” Yakone saw the four smile slightly, and she chuckled. “Alright, I guess I said something smart then.”

“Intelligent… but imperfect. A very human way of summing it up.” Christoffer shook his head. “I think that’s all the eulogy they need.”

Yakone glanced over to the memorial wall, smiling faintly herself. “Well, that… and a promise.” Firebrand approached, giving each of the five seated at the table a shot glass of whiskey. Yakone lifted hers in a toast. “Right here, right now… let’s make a declaration to the fallen. That we’ll finish this in their name. The world they wanted to see… the future they died for… we’ll realize it. We’ll make them damn proud, okay?”

“Hear-hear,” was the reply from the four Mavericks, who clinked their glasses against Yakone’s and other another’s, and then downed their shots.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 & Dahlexpert
"Haunting Past"
Part One

On board the Avenger
Holo Room

Morrigan sat in the center of a serene, only moderately decorated dojo, a recreation of some place Ayame said made her feel at peace. The petite woman herself stood behind Morrigan, hands on the sides of Morrigan's head, eyes as white as snow. "You have a very cluttered mind, you know that?" Ayame commented with a chuckle, her voice having an offputting echo as Morrigan heard her both with her ears and in her mind.

"Just try not to look around too much," Morrigan responded. "Just enough to find what we're looking for."

"Might help if you told me exactly what that is," Ayame stated. "Something supernatural isn't very specific."

"It should be specific enough, right? I mean... before coming here, didn't you specialize in spooks and ghosts and stuff."

"Well... no, not really." Ayame head shifted ever so slightly as she investigated something in Morrigan's mind. "I dealt with more corporeal threats.Monsters and such. Usually avoided spectres and ghosts. With my soul kinda being half in, half out, I'm more susceptible to austral damage then normal humans. Usually not a problem unless I'm attacked by an austral being... or a very enthusiastic assassin with an austral blade."

"Another story you'll have to share some time," Morrigan said.

"But I did deal with spooks and ghosts and stuff from time to time." The color returned to Ayame's eyes, and she stepped back. "And I'm not seeing anything here."

Morrigan scoffed and stood up to face her friend. "Are you absolutely sure? I mean... y-you said you sensed a slightly elevated amount of psychokinetic energy in my 'aura', consistent with violet psionics. Couldn't I be under the influence of something."

"Slightly being the key word. I wouldn't have even noticed had you not asked me to look. And I also said that this whole color thing and such is new to me," Ayame countered, placing her hands on her hips. "I could be wrong about the color. Or you could just be around a weak violet psion a lot. Or it could just be that being around so many different psions of various strengths so often has left a slight influence on your aura that just so happens to be violet." She slowly shook her head. "Your mind hasn't been invaded by anything, supernatural or otherwise. 90% sure. I could give you 100% if you told me what I was looking for."

Morrigan turned away and sighed. "Don't worry about it. Thanks."

Ayame let out a scoff. "Damn it. I have a boyfriend who is struggling, one friend suffering in one way, another suffering in another way, teammates in mourning... all I need now is for Alexis to say she's pregnant with an alien baby and Lilith to say she's the new head of ADVENT, and I'll be all set up for a nervous breakdown."

"Well I am training what's left of our Elders forces. Now as for Alexis, give her time. Luke is looking for apartments for them to live in. So that baby thing might happen." Lilith said entering the holo room.

Morrigan smiled at her. "Let's hope it'll be a human baby." She rolled her shoulders. "How are you holding up, Van Dam?"

"Ugh, where do I begin?" Lilith sat next to her friends and rubbed her head. "They're weak, all of them. I have to retrain them completely. But they have potential. After two weeks of training, their definitely better then they were before. But what's going on with you two?"

Morrigan shrugged tiredly. "Not much. Just... tired, you know?"

"She's more then tired," Ayame interjected. "She hasn't been sleeping. She keeps drifting off in her down time, and she's been sluggish in training. And Brigid told me..."

"Leave Brigid out of this," Morrigan interrupted. "Don't poke around and ask my daughter things about me."

"Okay, look Morrigan, we're friends right?" Lilith asked. "Been friends since we joined this operation. We fought together, saved each other's life, hell I even gave Brigid a birthday present, and I'm currently working on giving her a Christmas on. So whatever is going on with you, you can tell me."

Morrigan looked between the two women sadly. "I-it's... complicated. I don't... I did something... that I can't come to grips with."

"Heh, haven't we all?" Lilith laughed. "Hell, in this broken world, who hasn't? But we're here for you Morrigan. So what is it?"

Morrigan swallowed dryly. "Do you remember... when my team was wiped by... an anti-XCOM lieutenant? The One I took out? I... he, um... the man I killed... was Daniel."

Lilith's eyes widened. She rubbed her head, trying to figure out what to say. "Oh, um, that's... your former husband. I... I... can understand why you don't want to mention that. Does Brigid know about this?"

Morrigan slowly shook her head. Ayame gave her a slight nudge and said, "Come on, it... it's not that bad. I doubt you sought him out. You guys fought, he took out your team. Self defense, right? Brigid will understand... in time."

Morrigan scoffed and stood up, walking to the middle of the simulated dojo in frustration. "It... isn't that simple, Ayame. I didn't just kill him. I... I-I-I... murdered him. I... I executed him."

Lilith needed a moment to think. "Um, well bright side. Your former husband, the guy that's responsible for you being tortured, I guess he deserved it."

Morrigan sighed deeply. "Yeah... He did. But I... I can't shake this guilt. And it isn't just Brigid. I had a chance to capture a member of the team hunting us, and I killed him instead."

"Well, it isn't like it matters," Ayame stated. "I mean, most of them are dead now, and Cain... um, Desmond Walker Is on our side now... sorta. And even if that wasn't the case, you helped capture Bombay, that cute cat girl, remember?"

"That doesn't matter because I didn't know that would happen," Morrigan insisted. "It was so easy to justify at the time. But I made a promise to the Commander. She trusted me when I said I wouldn't let my personal feelings get in the way of my duty to XCOM, and that is exactly what I did. I... I failed her. I lied to her. And I continue to lie to her by not going to her and telling her what I did."

Lilith put her hand on Morrigan's shoulder. "Look Morrigan, I'm sure the Commander knows about what you did, but things happen, and you killed him. Yeah, you're emotions got the better of you, but he needed to die."

Morrigan sighed. "Do you really think Red Hawk will agree when he finds out how... coldly I killed him?"

"I'm sure he will. I mean, this is the guy that sent you to the torture chamber. Where you got tortured for god knows how long, and while there they did something to you where you can't give birth. That reminds me... why can't you give birth any more, what did they do to you?"

Morrigan slowly placed her hand on her belly. "They... they experimented to see the effects of... foreign species need inside a human body. They constant insertion and removal of... whatever they were putting in my made my womb inhospitable to support a child... and they essentially put me into premature menopause..."

Lilith's eyes widened a bit as she rubbed her head. "Yeah, your husband deserved to die for sending you to ADVENT and them doing that to you. Also, since we're in a Magacity, maybe they can fix you. I might know some one that could make you an augmented womb, though I'm not sure if she can. She can make augmented vital organs, but a womb that would be a challenge for her."

Morrigan looked down sadly. "If it's okay with you, I'm going to avoid any more operations unless they're certain things. Besides... I have at least one angel. An angel who's heart I have to break by telling her what happened to her father."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 & Dahlexpert
"Haunting Past"
Part Two

Ayame folded her arms and nodded. "Brigid is the sensitive type. Not sure how you'll break it to her."

"Well, Brigid is old enough to understand this situation. I'm sure she'll get it. I think." Lilith looked a Morrgians stomach, wishing she didn't ask about Morrgians womb. "Say, why don't we train together M? It's been a while since we fought. It could take your mind off things."

"Some good exercises releases endorphins," Ayame agreed. "Cheers one up."

Morrigan nodded. "I guess we already have the dojo. Okay. You're on, Lilith."

Lilith cracked her knuckles,and loosened her shoulders. "Alright Morrigan, I hope you gotten better since last time, otherwise I have to retrain you too."

"Pft." Morrigan casually stepped into the center of the room and laughed. "Please. I just hope you haven't slowed down at all. Maybe I have a few things I can teach you."

Lilith smiled at the Irish woman and took a boxing stance. "Alright then, come on Morrigan, I'm not getting any younger."

"No you aren't, old lady." Morrigan stepped forward, and went in for a series of jabs and left hook.

Lilith grabbed Morrgians hand, and started to punching her face and kneeing her stomach. "Come on, how many times must I say it. I'm not old!"

Morrigan gave Lilith a jab to the side, giving her the chance to back away. "Alright, geez. And they say I'm hot tempered." She spat some blood to the side and wiped her mouth before moving forward again, darting to the side to try and get around Lilith.

Lilith saw this coming and started to back up. "Nice try Morrigan, but you need to be faster. But not bad." Lilith used her feet as a weapon and and tried to do a round house kick to Morrigan.

Let us show this brute how fast we can be.

Is that cheating, using your help?

Did she say you could not use me? Can she turn off the enhancements she received in ADVENT?

Heh... good point.

Time seemed to slow down as Vyssini did a thousand calculations and sent orders directly to Morrigan's brain. The woman bent her back and knees down, and Lilith's leg flew over her head. She immediately sprang up behind Lilith and wrapped her arms around the woman's waist, bending back and pulling Lilith into a German suplex.

Lilith laid on the ground for a minute before she kicked back to her feet. "Oh, you are getting better. I'm proud of you Morrigan but let's try something different." Lilith charged Morrigan and grabbed her shirt, Lilith kneed her in the stomach, she then lifted Morrigan's arm and tossed her into the ground and put her in a arm bar. "See, this is my old military training coming in handy."

Morrigan wheezed a bit from exertion. "You don't... have an easy mode, do you?" Morrigan tried to break free, but Lilith only squeezed tighter. "Ow! Let go, you grey bitch!"

Lilith raised an eyebrow and only squeezed tighter."Say please. Also, you will look into fixing your baby maker, alright?"

Morrigan snarled a bit, squeezing her fist tightly in pain. "Why... i-is it so important to you that I do?"

Lilith let's go of Morrigan and offers her a hand. "Because you deserve to be normal again." Lilith rubbed her neck. "Look, you killed your husband. He's gone. But I want you to have another kid and to be whole again. Yes, you love Brigid, and I do too, but wouldn't it be nice too for Red to have a child of his own? Or Brigid being a big sister or something? Look I just... I want you to not have any burdens, Morrigan, that's all."

Morrigan looked surprised as she rose to her feet. "I... didn't know you cared about me so much..." She slowly nodded. "Okay. I'll look into it. Though can you do my a favor?"

"Oh, this should be good. Alright, what do you want from me Morrigan? Now before you say anything, yes I care for you,. I never had a child of my own. Well one that lived anyway. I'm just looking out for you. So what do you want?"

"I just wanted you to look into... seeing if you can get rid of that grey pigment of yours," Morrigan stated. "You're not ADVENT anymore. You're better then them. And you don't deserve to carry the stigma of being with them at one time. You don't need people treating you... the way I treated you when we first met."

Lilith looked at her skin and back at Morrigan. "I deserve this skin, I deserve this burden. I'm not a great warrior of my people or anything like my sister. This skin fits someone that has nothing. But I had no idea you cared this much about it."

Morrigan shrugged. "I'm your friend. Just consider it, okay?"

"Lilith..." Ayame stepped forward. "Did you... lose a child? You said you never had a child that... lived."

Lilith started to rub her eyes and looked at her friends. "Yeah. Twenty years ago, when I was eighteen and I joined the navy, I met this man named Charter. We dated for a few years, then when I was twenty two, he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. We got married, had a nice home, and then eventually I got pregnant. I was so happy that I would finally have a baby. I met a great man, left the military, had a nice home. Every thing was going well. Then the aliens showed up."

Tears started to fall off Lilith's face. "About two months in the invasion, I miscarried, and my unborn child never got to see the world. Then six months later, my husband died in D.C. That's why I tried to take care of Luke the best I could, and I failed him in a way. I left him and joined ADVENT to save his life. But because the arrangement is permanent I had to leave him."

Lilith started to rub the tears off her face."So that's me,before the war and why I just don't care for life any more."

Ayame turned away. "Damn it. I just keep making people feel like crap, don't I."

Morrigan walked over to Lilith and took her hands. "Please, Lilith... you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened with Luke. Anymore then... then I should blame myself for how I was when I lived in a megacity. It is those damn aliens, coming here and screwing with our lives." She slowly shook her head. "I'm... so sorry you lost your family like that. You're able to carry yourself with such strength, I never would have suspected."

"Well, I had twenty years to get over it. It doesn't matter now. Ayame, don't worry about it, I had to tell someone sooner or later. The fact it took this long surprised me." Lilith looked at Morrigan with a bright smile on her face. "Morrigan, please look into getting fixed. You deserve to have a child by the man you love. Just promise me you will love them the same as Brigid." Lilith kept her bright smile, tears still running down her face.

Morrigan nodded, wiping the tears off her friend's face. "You got it." She slapped Lilith on the arm. "Come on. Let's go get some drink. You know what makes you feel even better then excercising? Getting a wee bit shitfaced."

"Yeah, I could use a drink right about now. I need to forget about all of this anyway. I will also look into changing my skin back if I can."

"Come on." Ayame shut down the simulation and opened the door. "Let's go share some happy memories."

"Happy memories, well I have plenty of those." Lilith nodded. "I just feel like getting drunk right now."

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Changes and Constants, Part 1”

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
0712 Hours, December 20th, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 3, Rear Block
The Armory


“I don’t need your help,” Holly moaned. “You don’t even use single-shot weapons. What do you expect to teach me?”

“How to deal with beam weapons,” Samuel answered, shaking his head as the two of them approached the armory. “After that whole mess with the original laser weapons-”

“Did I miss any shots?”

“... you expect me to remember?”

The Sharpshooter pouted. “Are you saying you don’t appreciate my accuracy?”

Samuel stopped outside the door, glaring at her. “You’re a pain in the ass sometimes,” he muttered, shaking his head and opening the door. He stopped midway inside, however, the presence of another individual in the room causing him to stop in his tracks. The Russian swallowed, attempting to overcome his instinctive fight-or-flight reaction, and dismissing the brief appearance of Umbra in response to his distress. Guess I still haven’t gotten over the whole belly-slash thing, he thought bitterly.

Yakone didn’t notice him at first. She was hard at work in front of an armor rack, a paintbrush between her teeth and a few buckets scattered around her knees. Before the freedom fighter was an armor that was familiar to Samuel, though it was being changed before his eyes. The Crimson Regalia was being altered in its color scheme. The red-plated boots were now a navy blue, and the similarly-colored pieces on the legs had been changed to the same color. The tensile gray paint on the legguards were in the process of being replaced with a slightly more lively color - the same midnight green as Yakone’s eyes.

The sliding of the door shut drew the Ranger’s attention, and she turned her head in the entryway’s direction. Upon seeing Samuel, she froze up for a moment - looking a tad bit silly with the handle of the brush gripped between her teeth. After a moment, she pulled the paintbrush out, and greeted the Aerotrooper with a tentative, “...hi, Samuel.”

There was a pause as the Russian considered how to respond. “... sorry, who were you again?” he joked somewhat weakly.

Yakone sighed in response. “Asshole,” she muttered non-combatively, shaking her head. “Heard you fought some more Declensions while I was gone, so I assume I didn’t hurt you too bad.”

“Yeah, they really like him for some reason,” Holly answered, budging past her immobile teammate. “I’m not complaining. More heat means more targets.”

Samuel merely shook his head. “I survived,” he said, his tone cautiously neutral. “You made Umbra work for it, though. That was the most stressed I’ve ever seen the damn thing.” He smirked. “You should be proud.”

“He’s a pretty stubborn bastard, I’ll give him that,” Yakone returned. “Lot like his original master.”

That brought a tilt of the head from the Aerotrooper. “Original? You met Azazel?”

Umbra materialized then, scaled down so as to fit in the space of the room. It regarded Yakone with a largely impassive stance, though it was difficult to tell what it was really thinking.

The Ranger faced it, looking over the shadowy being. “Yeah. He was the one that interrogated me for information - not that I had much, thanks to the way Atka kept her overall plans secret - and visited me after I’d become that monster. He… wasn’t that bad of a guy, for a Declension.”

“So I’ve learned,” Samuel muttered, glancing at his Reflection. “... after I killed him, that is.”

“He didn’t exactly give you much of a choice,” Holly shouted over, inspecting a sniper rifle.

The Russian sighed. “She’s right, of course. Hindsight is all well and good, but in the end what’s done is done. No changing the past.” He watched Yakone as he said this, his expression neutral.

Yakone nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’ve come to realize that plenty lately.” She looked back to the armor, and grabbed a fresh paintbrush - applying more navy blue to it and starting to recolor the crimson plates on the chest armor. “Can only really move forward and try to learn from your mistakes.”

Umbra faded away, with Samuel getting the impression it was satisfied. The Russian took a few tentative steps forward. “You, uh… still gonna wear that?”

“It’d much rather not,” the Ranger replied as she continued her work. “But I can’t deny the fact that it’s got a bunch of improvements over the standard power armor we have. Psionic regenerative servos are nothing to scoff at, even on manual. I’m going to have Lily change up the look some though beyond the color cosmetics when she has a chance.” Yakone eyed the blank screens on the shoulder spikes with mixed feelings.

“Just don’t make any sudden movements while you’re near me in that, and we’ll be good,” Samuel quipped. “I suppose if the tech really is worth the… association.”

“Like I said, I’m changing the look. Trying to reduce the association as much as possible,” Yakone responded tensely, going over the black plating on the torso with white paint.

“Never had you pegged for an artist,” the Russian mumbled, folding his arms and leaning against a wall. “Still, you’re not the only one altering their armor. Arthur’s been doing something with his helmet in between visits to the psi labs, and I think Alan was trying to fit half a pair of night vision goggles over his own.” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me why.”

“Well, advise them to avoid any Silicid integration.” Yakone rapped her fingers against the lifeless ‘eyes’ of the Crimson Regalia. “Wearing Praclaritas was nothing like what having an A.I. partner must be like. It felt… way too good, and for a few days after tearing him out I was left with this frigid cold feeling inside.” The Inuit-Caucasian shook her head. “It was like being on a drug better than sex and then being stuck with withdrawal afterwards.”

Samuel’s thoughts drifted back to Chloe briefly, and her concerningly docile behavior recently. He blinked. “Better than sex?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. “How would you know that?”

Yakone coughed violently, dropping her paintbrush on the floor. “N-not from personal experience…” She met the stare of the two members of Judgement Squad. “Look, if you want to know you have to promise to keep this shit to yourselves. I’d rather not… have certain people find out.”

Holly’s expression became worried. “Something happen while you were… out?” she guessed.

Samuel silenced her with a glare. “You remember who my father was, right?” he asked rhetorically. “Secret keeping is one of my specialties. If you have something to say, say it.”

“Reason I say it’s better is… well… I passed up a chance at sex as Ember.” Yakone shook her head. “You know that task force operative... The Mogul with the shotgun? I might have… seduced her at some point…” Yakone looked away from the two other soldiers. “I messed around with her, but I never got involved equally since I couldn’t bring myself to take off Praclaritas.”

Holly was very clearly trying to hold in a joke. “Can it,” Samuel warned her. “Bloody hell. Something that can worm its way into your mind like that, appease you physically so you don’t want to remove it… textbook parasite, right there.” He shook his head. “Where did you even find that slug, anyway?”

“My ‘brother’ sent it to me as a present.” Noting the blank stares, Yakone elaborated. “For… whatever reason… the Honored Overseer that brainwashed me made me consider him like family. He sent Praclaritas as a means to suppress my original personality further so I wouldn’t rebel like I did at the Forge. The weirdest part is that the Lutumax aren’t even some super-exotic alien species from another galaxy… they’re from one of Jupiter’s moons. Protectorate found them a few months before the invasion.”

Samuel paled. “There’s more?!”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Changes and Constants, Part 2”

“The Silicids are the rare subset… most of em have really weak psionics. Those Mindleech things we fought are a sister species to the Silicids,” Yakone explained as best as she could. “There’s not a lot of Praclaritas-s going around assisting Protectorate soldiers and mindfucking them, thankfully…” Something occured to Yakone. “Shit. You guys… captured Bombay, didn’t you?”

“We caught some cat-bitch when the Commander and some other soldiers got her sister back,” Holly answered slowly. “Don’t think they bothered to ask for names.”

Samuel immediately spotted the issue. “Oh boy.”

“That’s… awkward as hell,” Yakone muttered.

“Don’t envy you that,” the Russian stated. “I’ve had enough relationship trouble as is, thank you.” He blinked. “Oh. Uh, I should probably warn you, Stacie said she’d sock you one for nearly cutting me open. Just a heads-up.”

“Oh, so she’s just waiting to do that… great… the problems keep stacking up.”

“Ah, you’re durable. You’ll deal with it all.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t still feel pain,” Yakone retorted. “I can’t even begin to describe to you the physical effects of ripping out a parasite that was connected to my spine. Took forever for my psionics to work properly again, and I’m still healing from the damage I did to my back.” She lifted up the back of the white shirt she was wearing as a throwaway during her painting, revealing an array of jagged scars along her spine. “I’m pretty sure I could get rid of these with my biokinesis, but it’s going to take forever if I try. Scars are a bitch to undo even with space magic.”

“Honestly, if that thing was connected to your spine, I’m surprised you didn’t put yourself in a wheelchair ripping it off,” Samuel pointed out. “Scars might be annoying, but it could have been far worse.”

“Suppose so… but these are things you don’t consider often when you’re a living tank.”

“And I’ll continue to maintain you, the Harriers and the Juggernauts are absolutely insane for it.” He paused. “Although I have to admit I’m turning into one of you myself. Umbra’s… very resistant.”

“Except against lasers and metabolic slashes,” Yakone remarked. “Ember was a bitch, but I gotta admit, it’s a good name for that sword trick.”

Holly scoffed. “It’s a good trick full stop,” she said.

Samuel turned to her. “Then go to the psi labs and see if you can learn how to do it,” he responded.

“Fuck that. You want me to learn how to use a sword too?”

The Aerotrooper shook his head. “I’ve been considering going down there myself,” he admitted. “Being Public Enemy number… seven or so, has a way of making you question your abilities.”

“If you could manage a shield or something that’d help shore up your shadow’s weaknesses,” Yakone offered. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what you’re capable of.”

“I should at least know my options,” the Russian agreed. “That’s how I fight, after all. Providing myself with as many options as possible. Then it’s just a case of picking whichever ones I need.” He glanced backwards, his shadow tranquil on the ground. “Nowadays that usually involves some form of ghost-punching, but still.”

“Just remember options don’t mean shit against someone like me,” Yakone replied with an eyebrow raised. “If your opponent’s able to read you, with or without psionics… they’ll be able to counter your moves before you make them.”

Samuel folded his arms, slowly. “Was that a challenge?” he asked, his tone mock-haughty.

“Not really. You wouldn’t last more than a minute,” Yakone riposted.

“Sam, need I remind you what happened last time you fought her?” Holly asked, eyebrow raised. “I’ll give you a hint, you were rolling on the floor in agony with your guts about to spill out.”

“Perhaps a more restrained battle then,” the Russian suggested. “No psionics, no Reflections. Just us and our fists. Or palms. Or whatever. Hands.”

Yakone shrugged. “That’d be fine with me. Doesn’t necessarily prove anything about our combat abilities, but it would be a nice gauge of physical prowess and a test of wits.”

“And maybe when you’re lying on the ground shouting ‘yield’ I’ll forgive you,” Samuel joked. “Alright, unless you want to fight me wearing that you should probably get changed.”

Holly exhaled. “Looks like I’m not getting my practice in today,” she said with resignation, replacing the sniper rifle on its rack.

“You can always go fish Praclaritas out of whatever cryogenic lockbox the Commander put him in and have him possess some armor to fill in for Sam,” Yakone said with an utterly serious facade.

Samuel stopped midway through exiting the doorway. “Wait, we’ve got that thing on board?!” he asked, horrified.

Yakone held up her hands defensively. “Hey, it wasn’t my idea. Atka was the one that had it brought to the labs and locked up.”

The Russian shook his head. “Sitting on a goddamn time-bomb…” he could be heard muttering as he left.

***​

Yakone rolled her shoulders, pacing around the gym as she waited for Samuel to arrive. She’d gotten rid of the painting shirt, and had replaced her black jeans with blue exercise shorts that matched her sports bra. The soldier was a bit anxious about fighting one of her comrades - even in a mock battle - after the events that were still fresh on her mind, but she countered that apprehension with the knowledge that it would help her put those times behind herself. Have to let go, or I’m not getting anywhere.

When the Russian finally did arrive, he was still being tailed by Holly. He’d chosen a more breathable set of clothes for this, going as he always did for flexibility over structure. The Sharpshooter behind him had a worried expression on her face, as if she wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea either. Samuel’s expression was more relaxed, however. Either he believed he would win this bout, or he simply didn’t care about the outcome.

“Sorry about that,” he said, placing a sweat towel and bottle of water on one of the benches lining the walls. “Someone thought I should reconsider.”

“I don’t want to have to pry you apart because you were getting flashbacks or something,” Holly stated indignantly.

“And I told you Umbra will do that if we get too into it,” Samuel reassured her. “He might be my Reflection, but the bastard has a mind of his own. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s shafted me.”

Yakone raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know he had one of those.”

The Russian raised a hand to respond before lowering it again. “... you know what, I don’t want to know what’s under that waistcloth he has,” he muttered, shuddering. “If anything.”

“Anyway, if he cheats in the middle of the fight - separate will or not - I will be pissed.” Yakone sunk into a defensive stance. “Ready whenever you are.” Samuel shrugged his shoulders to loosen up, watching his opponent for any movement as he approached. When he was within striking distance, the Aerotrooper lunged forward, attempting to overwhelm her with speed. It was a direct attack, one that betrayed a certain amount of clumsiness with close-quarters combat.

Yakone slid to the side, letting Samuel move past her - just a second too late to land his strike. Trying to end it quick, huh? Speed’s my thing, buddy. The Ranger send a sweeping kick at Samuel’s side, hoping to exploit an opening before he recovered from his blunder. Anticipating some kind of retribution, the Aerotrooper spotted the kick coming and ducked under it. With a grin on his face, he used Yakone’s momentum against her, stepping in the opposite direction to her kick to send a jab at her torso.

The Inuit-Caucasian was not so easily pinned down, however. She didn’t cease moving with her kick, pivoting on her remaining foot and then rolling backwards out of the way of the reprisal strike. Rather than attempt to pursue her, Samuel let the Ranger escape. “Well, I’m not on the floor yet,” he noted with a grin, edging forward a little. “You might want to get a move on though. Arthur had me beaten pretty quickly. Unless you want to take longer than he did…”

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Changes and Constants, Part 3”


Yakone flicked back some of her artificially-lengthened hair. “Oh, so you did it with him too? Jeez, and I thought brainwashed me was a slut…” The Ranger rushed forward right as she was finishing her sentence, delivering a pair of punches - right, then left. Both were feints meant to put Samuel on the defensive towards his upper torso so that she might follow up with a more decisive attack. Her left fist struck upwards too, aimed at Samuel’s face and meant to be blocked. Her right swung in an undercut aimed at his stomach.

The Russian parried the attack on his face relatively easily, but fumbled in his defense of his stomach. The result was a glancing blow to both his arm and lower torso, narrowly missing the scar running across his side. Low blow, Samuel thought. But he didn’t let it get to him - after all, if he were in her position, he’d be exploiting the fact that his opponent was still recovering from blocking two strikes at once. He danced sideways in an effort to at least force the Ranger to turn to face him, thus delaying whatever she had planned and giving the Aerotrooper time to compose himself again.

Yakone saw the desperation move for what it was, and acted unpredictable in order to remove his breathing room. She hopped into the air, landing on her palms, and sent a kick with both of her feet at him while handstanding.

“What the fu-” The rest of Samuel’s surprise was cut off as the blow landed on his torso, neatly repelling him and sending him reeling. He scowled at the missed opportunity, shook himself, and resumed his stance, fists ready. “What the hell was that?”

“One of the many random things I learned over the years leading up to this second war,” Yakone remarked, returning to a normal posture. “You’ve held out pretty well, but it’s still not enough.” She waved towards herself. “Bring it.”

Should’ve picked a contest of aim instead, Samuel berated himself. Planting his right leg behind him, he pushed off the ground and into a (very short) sprint. The Aerotrooper tapered off to Yakone’s side rather than rush her head on, however, reflexively ducking under the blow he assumed was coming and lashing out at her presumably undefended side. Samuel managed to score his first direct hit on Yakone, landing a punch on her ribs. She grimaced, taking a step back - but pain was quickly mixed with reflexive anger, and she went on the offensive instead of reeling. A flurry of punches combined with kicks at a rough 2:1 ratio began flying his way.

Lacking any significant martial training himself, the Russian was unable to block all of his opponent’s strikes. He disengaged at the first available opportunity - a slight gap in Yakone’s attacks - seeing he was fighting a losing battle. He frowned when he realized that there was no opening, for she’d already resumed a defensive stance. “You’re a tough nut to crack,” he admitted. “Good to see that hasn’t changed, at least.”

Yakone took a deep breath - and then another in order to calm herself down. “I don’t think there’s anything that could make me lose my edge, so that’s not something you should worry about.”

“Just means I need to find an alternative method of victory,” Samuel responded, feinting a leap to her left.

Yakone seemed unphased, merely grinning ever so slightly at the movement. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“... damn.” The Russian actually started to chuckle. “I haven’t often found myself wishing to be Alan’s mother, but I am right now.”

The Ranger rolled her shoulders, smiling wider. “Next you’re going to tell me ‘but you can’t possibly predict all my moves’, right?” she questioned quietly.

“But you can’t possibl-” Samuel stopped. “Wait, what the fuck? I thought we said no psionics!”

“I don’t have mind reading,” Yakone replied with a sly smirk.

It was evident from the Russian’s expression he was doubtful, or at least suspicious of some level of foul play. I know she’s got a reputation for reading people, but there’s no way she could get it down to anything I say without some level of psionics… right? Choosing to ignore it, he began to rotate around his opponent, his path subtly spiraling inwards to bring him within range… provided she didn’t pick up on the motion before it was too late. “So who do I have to thank for your ability to kick my ass?” he asked, attempting to distract her. “Your mother?”

“I’m largely self-taught,” Yakone replied. “Learned most of what I know from books I found and-” She set up her sentence to having Samuel expecting to hear the other half, only for her to lunge forward at him with a barrage of punches. Unfortunately for him, the distraction had worked both ways - he was caught off-guard by the move and was unable to properly defend himself. The Russian grunted as punches slipped through his hastily-erected defenses, eventually causing him to stumble backwards. Yakone pressed the advantage, delivering a wide kick to his stomach and then his legs to send him falling onto his back. “-the occasional martial arts teacher in the Shanties,” she finished, crossing her arms smugly.

Samuel coughed something. “... hunt each and every one of them down,” he spluttered. “Alright, you win. Promise not to deck me when I stand up?”

“I’ll consider it,” Yakone told him.

“Good enough.” With a grunt of pain, the Russian rose, cursing multiple deities as he did so. “Well, I guess we solved once and for all who’d win in a fight.”

Holly tried to fuss over him for a few seconds, but ultimately was forced to accept he was fine when he very nearly punched her. “I’m glad you’re on our side,” she muttered. “Well. A-again, that is.”

“You say that like you expect me to turn evil again or something…”

“Please don’t,” Samuel asked, pained. “I don’t think I could take the stress of fighting you in a life-or-death scenario again. Or the physical punishment.”

“I don’t plan on switching sides, so you’re good,” Yakone replied a bit tersely.

The Russian smirked. “Well, it’s not like there’s much of a side to switch to, not since old mate defected,” he pointed out. “Can’t believe they made you think you were Verrater’s daughter. And an Elder’s brother. How does that even work, family tree wise? Did the good colonel fuck an Elder or something?”

Yakone fell silent at the words, which was perhaps more telling than if she had spoken.

“Don’t spout shit like that,” Holly berated him, missing the silence. “You’re talking about people from another planet here. Don’t assume they reproduce like us.”

“It’s hardly something we’ve covered in this war,” Samuel retorted. “And Umbra hasn’t seen fit to enlighten me.”

“...the first part isn’t a lie.”

The two others ceased talking. “... sorry, what?” Samuel asked.

“His name used to be Desmond Walker… and he fought in the original X-COM,” Yakone elaborated, looking the Aerotrooper in the eye with a grim expression. “I didn’t know this until well after the project was reactivated, but apparently he ended up joining ADVENT and took on that new name.”

“What, just leaving you?”

“I won’t defend him abandoning my mother, but he didn’t know she was pregnant at the time he left,” Yakone explained.

Jeez. So this entire war’s been partially about two parents fighting over their kid? Samuel shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know what to say except sorry. That’s rough.” His expression hardened. “But that would mean he advocated what they did to you, or at least allowed it.”

“I don’t think he had much choice in the matter.”

“That might be why he’s on our side now,” Holly suggested. “Or at least one of the reasons.”

The Russian merely shrugged. “Yeah. We’re not exactly in a position to start pointing fingers right now anyway. He comes with an army, after all.” He looked at Yakone with sympathy. “Though I can imagine it feels weird to you and the Commander.”

“Only a little,” Yakone sarcastically answered.

“At least you still have them though, right?” Samuel chuckled, though there was an element of bitterness to it. “Not everyone still has family to turn to. Even through all this shit, you’ve still got that. Bit envious of you, actually.”

“I still have those on the ship, anyway. I… don’t entirely hate Desmond, but I question whether or not his differing ideology will impede peace or not…” She shook her head. “Genesis is a nice hammer to crush what remains of ADVENT and help defeat the Protectorate, but… they’re still the same enemy if they don’t stand down after the war.”

“One step at a time,” Samuel stated. “Watch them, sure. But right now we have a common enemy, and that’s what we should be focusing on.”

“Yeah. I just wouldn’t say that I have my family situation in a good place,” Yakone replied with a sigh.

“One step at a time,” the Russian repeated.

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Precarious Parentage, Part 1”

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
0712 Hours, December 22nd, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 3, Rear Block
The Armory

Leon rolled a hand across the top of his head, smoothing down the hair that was currently being blown back by the wind on top of the Avenger’s deck. At first, he had a hard time trying to distinguish which action had been more uncomfortable for him. There was the rough account he’d given Yakone about his promise to Izzy. Leon had been vague about the details, as the death of his friend was hard to revisit. The second event was the personal favor he had called in - to the man he owed his life to in a literal sense, no less. Desmond had taken the request under consideration. Due to the fact that his petition had been approved, the Canadian man reasoned that he had earned something in the eyes of his lover’s father. He tapped his foot irritably, the wait for the Genesis ship being more excruciating than Leon had first ever thought.

Yakone was a bit tense herself, unsure of what to think of the situation. There had been plenty on her mind in the past week and a half, and this only added to it. During her time as Ember the Ranger had encountered Isabella a few times, but she’d never known that ‘Ignis’ had a daughter. Nor had she known that Leon had agreed to take care of the girl until now. Questions churned in Yakone’s head. Will I be taking care of her too? What’s she like? Am I even up for a responsibility like this? Many of them wouldn’t be answered until Izzy’s daughter arrived, and thus the anxiety the young woman felt continued to toss and turn like the waves of a stormy ocean.

The tenseness only carried on for around a couple more minutes before the hum of a dropship engine and that shimmering metal of the hull in the distance gave away that their time of reckoning had come. The ship labeled with the chrome colored insignia of the upside-down ADVENT logo slowly came to rest on the landing platform. The dropship hummed and whirred as it slowly powered down, one of the side extending outwards and sliding back to allow the VIP out of the transport.

The girl stood out at about five-foot-three, her skin tanned the proper amount to show her Latino heritage - the shade not much different then Yakone’s. Her hair was bunched back into a loose and seemingly hastily-done ponytail of dark shaded magenta -not at all natural, and thus indicative that it had been dyed to look that way. Her eyes were a dazzling light brown, though her lips held a noticeable frown as the young preteen looked around the deck as if expecting more people. She grabbed a duffel bag from the place she had jumped down from and began walking slowly towards the two awaiting soldiers.

“Welcome to the Avenger.” Leon greeted first at her approach, looking over Isabella’s daughter with an almost sad look at the resemblances he saw in her features. He cleared his throat and motion a hand over to the person standing next to him. “This is Yakone, and I’m Leon. It’s nice to finally meet you…?” In the moment Leon was hit with the stark realization that he had never bothered to research what her name actually was.

“I’m Consuela. Most of my friends just call me Konny.” The young girl answered promptly, her eyes seeming to leave but always come back to the slashes across Yakone’s face. “It’s… nice to meet you too.”

“Nice to meet you.” Yakone’s hand unconsciously drifted up to the scars. “Do I remind you of someone else?”
“No, you don’t.” Konny answered with a sour twist of her mouth, as if weighing something in her own mind. “You look different is all. Not a lot of people have a lot of… nasty marks like that where I’m from. At least not noticeable ones.”

“You lived in one of the big cities, right? I imagine conditions there are a lot safer than the wilderness,” Yakone inquired. At least, they were… it’s anyone’s guess as to what the megacities will look like in the coming weeks.

The girl shook her head, setting down her duffel and placing a hand on her shoulder, Consuela rubbing the spot where the strap had dug in. “Near one at least, in one of those outer city towns. Was a decent enough place I suppose. They had hot water and good food. Better than some places I have heard about in the Wilds. So is it true? You guys are really trying to fight the entire world by yourselves?”

Leon let out a short chuckle, shaking his head with an amused look. “Not like you may have overheard. It’s a complicated process you shouldn’t really worry about. Just need to know this place will be your new home, and we have a lot more than just hot water and good food. Why don’t we go drop your bag off in my room and we will tell you about everything.” Konny nodded briefly and this time held the shorter straps in her hand as she walked towards the door leading to the inside of the ship. The Canadian man looked over at Yakone with a questioning look. “You know I realize we don’t share a room at all. Guess we never really had the time to set up those arrangements.”

“There are still plenty of empty parts of the barracks wing. I could probably work something out if you think that’s important” Yakone replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

“I think it would be better than having us all split apart. Is there any reason to be apprehensive about it?” The Grenadier asked casually, hoping the idea wasn’t not sitting well with his girlfriend.

“Of course not,” Yakone corrected herself quickly. “Just didn’t realize you wanted to take that step forward.”

“I just see no reason not to. This isn’t like before where we had no idea what our relationship was going to be like. We have been through enough where being together would be the least of our worries, and better yet help a little with your mood. Konny is a new start for the both of us. Just gotta remember that.” Leon said as supportively as he could muster despite his uncertainty, placing a hand on the Ranger’s shoulder.

Yakone nodded. “Alright,” she responded more genuinely. “It’s fine with me, then.”

Soon enough, the new arrival dropped back behind the two would-be parental figures, more than once Konny had to stop and admire some sort of new sight she hadn’t ever seen. Eventually, the trio made their way to Leon’s room -currently unoccupied by anyone at the moment- the door closing behind them when all three were inside. Konny set down her duffel and looked over the rather spacious living quarters and her gaze moved again to the pair. “So… how long have you two known each other exactly?”

“Several months,” Yakone answered. “We met around the time that the XCOM project went active again.”

Leon smiled, his hand slowly moving down to his pants pocket. Taking something out of it, he moved towards the twelve year old and placed the ring into her hand. “Your mother wished you have this. She wanted you to know that… she loved you.”

Consuela looked down at the piece of jewelry, her hand closing overit as the girl shook her head. “I already knew that. Somehow I knew the day would come someone would come scoop me up because she wound up dead. I knew for a long time she would have no happy ending with that… those bad people the aliens control.”

Yakone sighed in a woebegone way. “This conflict’s rough like that,” she responded - unable to find words that sounded like less of an understatement. “I promise we’ll take good care of you. We won’t let your mom down.”

The girl of Latino heritage looked at the Inuit-Caucasian with scrutiny and shook her head furiously. “Look, I know all the ceremony and stuff will be over the first day. I like you guys will at least try this first day, but I don’t need you making promises you likely won’t keep.”

Leon look momentarily baffled by Konny’s statement, shaking his head. “Look, this isn’t some ceremony, we mean it. We intend to take care of you the way you deserve.”

“The way I deserve, huh? I don’t deserve anything except what I earn for myself, and everything else is nothing. My mother wasn’t there for me, my father wasn’t there for me, so I don’t expect things to go much differently this time. With my luck, you two will end up dying too and I’ll be whisked away to another far away place to be cared for by some others who will say the exact same things to me.” Konny sat down on the floor next to her bag and leaned back against the wall, pulling her legs close to her. “So don’t pretend for me, okay?”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Precarious Parentage, Part 2”

Yakone knelt down in front of Consuela. “Believe me, I know the feeling to some extent. For the longest time my mother didn’t do much for me at all, and my father had already left before I was even born. Parents can be shitty… but not everyone’s like that. If you give us a chance, we’ll gladly prove you wrong.”

The girl met Yakone’s gaze with one of her own, her frown indicating that there was still much disbelief in Konny. After a while, she could no longer hold up against the Ranger’s look. “If you turn out to be lying I will hate you forever.”

“Then I’ll just have to hold myself to my promises, and keep safe. Doesn’t seem like too difficult a challenge,” the Inuit-Caucasian boasted in response.

Konny reached over and grabbed the zipper of her duffel, slowly peeling it back to begin opening it. “So… am I supposed to call you… Mom and Dad?”

I am so not ready for this. “Uh… well…” Yakone thought to herself for a moment. “Don’t force it. If you want to, go ahead… but if it doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to.”

“So much confidence, only to have it dashed by the mere mention of a question. You certainly are a strange person, Yakone.” The girl let out a short laugh, reaching inside her bag to pull out a rather large stack of rather tattered looking magazines, and then removed a stack of postcards wrapped up with some twine. Then followed a bag full of toiletries, though the strangest was a stuffed bear that was about half the size of the regular toy. It was multicolored with vibrant greens and pinks, and there was a slight rattling noise coming from inside of it when she moved it. There was a blush to her cheeks when she realized Yakone saw it and quickly put it off to the side and tried her best not to look at the toy or the older woman.

“Does it have a name?” Yakone couldn’t help but ask, trying her best to contain her amusement.

“S-Shut up…” Konny said, completely flushed now from embarrassment. “Don’t tell anyone about it, you hear me!”

“Lips are sealed,” Yakone confirmed sincerely.

Letting out a rather defensive growl, the girl looked to the small toy and took it in her hand, running her thumb over the soft exterior of the fake fur. “I call it Hope…”

“Sounds like a good name to me,” the Ranger responded with a smile.

“Whatever, Mom.” Konny said in order to try and spite the older girl, frowning down into her bag trying to keep merely an iota of pride.

Yeah. A girl seven years younger than me calling me that just sounds wrong. Rather than pursue the matter of the stuffed bear further, Yakone instead looked over the other things Consuela had gotten out. “You want any help putting that stuff up?”

“I got it.” Consuela responded snootily, now acting sour in order to curb her sheepish feelings. “If I need your help I will ask for it.”

“Look, why don’t we forget about unpacking right now and see more of the ship? I am sure there’s bound to be people who will want to meet you. We’ll even pick up a meal on the way back to celebrate your arrival. How does that sound?” Leon asked in an attempt to curve the situation around the disaster it was very much heading towards.

“I… suppose I am hungry.” Her gaze shifting around, Konny relented with a nod and stood up, adjusting her sports top so it went past her pants once more. “Let’s go.”

Yakone gave Leon a ‘thanks for the save’ look before nodding in Konny’s direction. “Can’t promise the food will always be good there… depends who is on the shift. But it’s better than nothing at least.”

“I see,” The Latino girl noted as she went to the door, opening it up for her caretakers. “So are there only adults here, or is this an all around sort of place? I imagine it would get pretty boring if we were just stuck together all the time with no one to truly be friends with.”

“It’s mainly adults, but there are a few other people around your age.” Counting on her fingers, Yakone listed off, “Carmen is sixteen, Junior is fifteen, Brigid is thirteen, and Jabes is thirteen as well.”

“Not to mention Leo is sixteen as well, and he tends to hang around me a lot, so you have a lot of variety to go after for your friends. Some of Yakone’s friends have a bigger age difference between them than merely four years max, so you won’t be weird being a younger person making friends with older ones. Really, we are all a big family in some way. You can’t know someone who isn’t friends with someone else on the ship, and it forms a big complicated web I am not smart enough to delve into and map properly.” Leon added on with a smile on his face, especially because Consuela seemed to be listening intently to the both of them.

Konny put her hands in front of her, holding them tightly knit as a soft sigh escaped her lips. “Yeah, a big family is something I’ve definitely been lacking for a long while. I had some friends back home but I was largely on my own. A few members of the community took care of me to make sure I got by, but yeah… largely alone. This place sure is different.” The young pre-teen’s eyes moved up towards Yakone with an almost contemplative look. “If you say you could do it, then I sure can too.”

“I know the people I listed off to you just now, so I can always introduce you to them if you need the little push. I’ve been meaning to pay Brigid a visit anyway,” Yakone mused.

“It seems the two of you will have a lot of ample time together.” The woman’s boyfriend teased with a knowing smile.

“I hope you aren’t planning on leaving me to take care of everything. I have several methods of training I need to keep up,” Yakone informed him with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t need to do much practicing with that Reflection of yours, I imagine.”

“Considering how our fight ended up, I would imagine that statement is very much false.” Sinclair said with a slightly constrained laugh. “But don’t worry, I am not dumping her on you. It just seems like you are getting along better than I could have imagined. To think, you could be a natural.”

“Certainly don’t get it from genetics,” Yakone joked a bit dourly. “But I’m a good people person… most of the time.”

“Yes, most of the time.” The man agreed, reaching down to take her hand. “And in the moments you aren’t, I will be there to slap you over the head,” he jabbed in jest.

“As if you could hit me with such a telegraphed attack,” Yakone retorted.

“As if I would really tell you what the true attack would be,” Leon responded back with an off-handed tone.

“I’d just be able to figure out what you were going to do on my own, then.” Yakone chuckled. “Look, you don’t want to go down this path. Just the other day Samuel tried to out-bluster me, and he was the one that ended up on the floor when we were done sparring.”

“I am not Samuel. And believe it or not, I know what makes you tick, and what makes you happy. He doesn’t have such intimate knowledge.” Leon took his hand away and crossed his arms with a bit of a smug disposition.

However their back and forth was interrupted by the distinct groaning of a younger girl. “Oh my god, just go get a room and suck face already.” Konny stated with a roll of her eyes. “I am here you know.”

Yakone raised an eyebrow. “You will have to get used to our banter, you know.”

“I will be sure to see if I can find some stomach medicine then, ‘cause you two will make me sick.” Konny faked a shudder and looked back at the the older couple and stuck out her tongue.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Similar Suffering”

Like a scared child being pulled along to see the doctor, so too was Joseph, a grown man, requiring his daughters to push him forward. Alex provided the muscle, making sure he didn’t slack, while Jennifer trailed behind in case he made a break for it. “Is this really needed?” Joe asked defensively.

“Are you talking about the escort, or the destination?” Jennifer asked.

“Well, both.” Her father scoffed. “If she wanted to see me, she would have come already. So why should I bother her?”

Alexis gave him a small but firm shove. “What if she hasn’t come to see you because she thinks you don’t want to see her, hmm? You know… since you’ve been avoiding her? We know you feel guilty, but she probably doesn’t. She probably figures you have some beef with her over her… evil alter ego.”

“Mom said she heard Nouja was lingering in her room.” Jennifer stepped forward and held Joe’s arm tightly. “Talk to her… please.”

“Besides, we want to see her too,” Alex muttered to herself.

Joe let out a defeated huff. “Fine. But if I make her at all uncomfortable, I’m out.”

The door was closed - and due to a precaution on Atka’s part - the three discovered it was locked from the inside.

Joseph frowned. “She… probably doesn’t want to be bothered. We should…”

“Oh, behave, father. And act like a grown man.” Jennifer lightly rapped on the door. “Hello? Nouja, are you in?”

There was a quiet gasp inside the room. “J-Jennifer? Is… is that you?”

Jennifer smiled softly, pleasantly surprised the woman recognized her voice after all these years. “Yes. Um… I hope I’m not bothering you. My father, my sister, and I just… wanted to chat. You know. Like the old days.”

“If… you’re alright with that…” The door clicked, and was cautiously opened - the Commander’s younger sister going back over to her bed to sit on the side of it. The dark blue lines that ran like cracks along her blackened skin had quieted down significantly since the last time Alexis had seen them, but they were still present - as were the other hybridized features. Through analysis, Jennifer had been able to discern that Nouja’s DNA had been spliced with none other than Ethereal genetic sequences - suggesting she might have been a prototype for the Avatars.

The three stood by the door after entering, none sure what to say. It had been so long, what could they say. Jennifer herself never gave it thought until recently, as it was only recently that she found out her friend was alive. Finally, the silence became unbearable, and Jennifer quickly stepped forward, dropping onto the bed and wrapping her arms around Nouja. “I missed you,” she whispered. “So… so much.”

The Inuit woman shakily hugged her back. “I’m so glad you three are alright… I… I wasn’t sure what to expect when I… when I ‘woke up...’ for lack of a better description…”

“I… I guess I didn’t either.” Jennifer sat back. “I… I never knew my mother. I’m getting to know her now, but I was so young when we lost her… I-I… y-y-you were like… a-a mother to me, Nouja. And I never got tell her how much you tutelage, your advice, and… your love and friendship meant to me.”

“W-well… you’ve had your change now. And I appreciate it,” Nouja responded softly.

“N-now that… you remember everything…” Alex stepped forward, rubbing the back of her head. “Now that you’re back with us, I hope you don’t mind how… rough we were with you in that fight. You know… assuming you can remember that too.” She chuckled lightly. “And if you can’t remember that, we weren’t rough at all. Gentle as a lamb, actually.”

“I remember. You… shouldn’t feel guilty about anything you did there. The things I’ve done… I… I don’t know if there’s any way I can atone,” Nouja muttered, hanging her head in shame.

“O-oh… I didn’t realize they… kept your memories intact,” Jenn sad sadly as she took Nouja’s hand. “But… we can help you get through the days. You don’t have to take it alone.”

“And if it helps at all,” Joe started, finally speaking up. “You’re not to blame. You… you shouldn’t have done what you did back then… a-and you wouldn’t have if… if someone with a big mouth didn’t put it in your head.”

Nouja frowned, for a moment unsure of his meaning. “What… what are you talking about? Are you… saying it was your fault that I made that diversion? I don’t regret making that sacrifice… my only miscalculation was that I didn’t realize they might turn me against you all.”

Joe sniffed, wiping his nose and avoiding eye contact. “It… it isn’t a matter of whether you regret it or not. It didn’t have to happen. We could have found another way. Or… o-or you could have… used your trick on someone less important to the cause… less important to Atka. We missed out on a great healer. And someone who obviously had the potential to turn into a great soldier. All because I said something foolish, and was too short sighted to see what you would do with it. Just like… what happened to Desmond, when he voiced his doubts to me…”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Alexis sighed. “Dad, please. It… no one blames…”

“I don’t need to be blamed for it to be my fault,” he quickly stated, rather sternly. “And deep down… I’m sure at least a few people… know it is true.”

“I made my own decision. It was the last thing I did that was right. Please understand that,” Nouja intoned, her feelings on the matter unchanged.

“I’m trying,” Joe stated flatly. “It’s just… hard. Atka almost fell apart after you left. After you were taken. First Desmond abandoned us, then you were presumed dead. Only her hate for the aliens kept her going, and that… that blind focus on rage and revenge left its mental tone on her.” He extended his arms for a moment before letting them flop down. “And I… could do nothing. I tried, Nouja. You have to believe I tried. But more and more I saw her drifting away. Closing her feelings to others. Closing her heart to Yakone. Just becoming angrier… and angrier… and I was powerless to help her. I felt so helpless. And I felt so empty, because I knew the one person who could truly save her was gone. And I’ve spent all these years feeling like I failed you both. It’s hard to just forget those feelings.”

“You’re… still wrong, though,” Nouja responded weakly. “I did what I had to. I couldn’t ask someone to die in my place. Things… didn’t turn out remotely like I hoped they would… but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Joe placed his hands over his eyes. “This would be so much easier… if you just hated me. I feel like it is what I deserve.”

“Even if that was true, do you really think Nouja has it in her to hate you for something like that?” Jennifer held her returned friend’s hand tightly. “It’s time to let those feelings go, down. Forget those feelings of guilt. Please. What happened happened, and we have to move on. Put any sins behind us and prove they don’t define us.” She smiled gently at Nouja. “Isn’t that right?”

Nouja registered what Jenn was saying, and looked away from her for a moment, silent. “...I suppose so,” she conceded after awhile.

“And that means letting people help you, Nouja.” Alexis sat at her other side. “I have an idea what you’re going through, considering Yakone has the same problem. We’re trying to give her space. I… hear around the ship she is talking to a few people again. We hope that will include us soon. So if you need space, we understand.” The look she gave Nouja was one of desperation. “But please don’t push us away. I know you’re in pain. I know you’re going to think you don’t deserve help or love. But you’re wrong. We love you… we missed you.”

“I… I won’t. I care about you too much for that.” Nouja shook her head. “I just… hope that my presence isn’t an affront to those like Morrigan that I’ve hurt.”

The room fell into an awkward silence again before Joe said, “Morrigan is a soldier. They all are. They’ll act like soldiers, and respect that you are not the enemy, or they’ll have to answer to your sister.”

“That’s not a long term solution, though,” the Inuit woman responded helplessly.

Alexis crossed her arms. “Well, um… well I heard Morrigan and Atka talking. Morrigan promised she would accept that you aren’t the woman that hurt you if that helps.”

Jennifer nodded. “And if not, you could try… talking to her.”

“I… suppose I could. If she… gets angry, I can always heal myself,” Nouja noted. “My niece and I both have that safeguard, it seems.”

Alex laughed nervously. “Come on, she wouldn’t… she wouldn’t actually hit you… I think… I’m… pretty sure.”

Jenn gave her a stern look. “Of course she wouldn’t.” The way her eyes darted about cast doubt on her words.

“It’s alright. She has a right to be angry… after how I misused my abilities on her.” Nouja covered her eyes with a palm. “I’d… never thought about using my biokinesis to twist someone’s insides… but I did it... so many times… when I was under their influence.”

Joseph watched her for a moment before sighing softly, and kneeling before her. “Nouja… I know I have no write to say this after my own delve into self pity. Must have seemed pretty pathetic compared to what you and your niece are going through.” He gently took her hands and pulled them down so he could look her in the eyes. “That wasn’t you. You did nothing. It was all the aliens. If anyone says otherwise, they’re simply wrong. If you doubt that, think of what you would say to Yakone if she talked about what she did as Ember.”

Nouja nodded slowly. “I know… it’s just… hard to let go. I guess we both understand that feeling.”

“I guess we do.” Joe rubbed her cheeks gently. “You want us to get you something to eat, dear? Something to read? I know it will be awhile until you’re comfortable leaving the room, and we’d like to make it as comfortable here as possible. It is your home now.”

Nouja smiled slightly. “That… would be nice. Thank you.”

Joe nodded, standing up and motioning his head towards the door. He opened it for his daughters before stepping out. Alexis and Jennifer stopped at the doorway and looked back. “Welcome back, Nouja,” the former stated sincerely. “If nothing else, there are far more people who look at your arrival as a sign that they aliens can be beat at their game then those sore at you.”

Jenn nodded. “And for us, you just represent a missing piece of the happiest parts of our childhood being returned.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and Dahlexpert: “Third Generation”

Alpine Megacity “Matterhorn”
0908 Hours, December 23rd, 2038
Onboard the Avenger
Level 1, Rear Block
Main Engineering

Chief An-Yi Shen looked over the racks of plasma weapons as they were transported out of the cargo bay by the members of the Avenger's skeleton crew. Her hands on her hips, she unconsciously nodded - satisfied that the production of the third line of laser weapons was now complete. XCOM was better equipped than ever before, and was just about ready to start making strikes against the aliens themselves. Only a few things remained, including a pet project she'd been looking forward to for some time now. On a large table in front of her, where the wrecks of enemy machines were usually laid out for analysis, was only part of the titanic metal monster that was the Sectopod. The 'brain' of the beast was laid bare, a rather smooth-looking octahedron of dimmed red, orange, and yellow lights. The warm colors were darkened by the inactivity of the machine, but there were - miraculously - no scorch marks on CPU.

Lily smiled at that fact, giving a nod to the Mark II Gremlin that floated beside her. "Rover, set a memo." A ticking noise indicated the drone was recording. "Once I'm done with this project, remind me to thank Geiszler for blowing up the Sectopod's power core and not tearing apart its head. Might not have been intentional, but this'll be one of the most advanced processing units we've had a chance to study. Stop." The Gremlin bobbed its head in the equivalent of a nod, having finished recording. "Alright..." The Chief took a deep breath. "Go get Dr. Grant and Sparks. I'd like her help with this."

Rover did as it was told. and went to get Alice and her Gremlin. The roboticist was working on designing an advanced cybernetic eye. "I'm sure the Commander probable doesn't need this, if not i'm sure I could give it to some solder that lost their eye." ROV-R approached the two. Alice looked back at the drone, wondering why it was there. "Hey, Rover, how are things?” The machine wobbled, tilting to one side and then the other in an approximation of a neutral shrug. “I take it Shen wants me for something?" Rover bobbed up and down. “Alright, lead the way then. I wonder what she wants?" Alice and Sparks followed Rover to Shen.

"Okay, Shen, what do you-” Alice began, before letting out an exultant, “Ahhhhh!!!” The engineer quickly made her way to the Sectopod processing core. "Oh my God, a Sectopod! I always wanted to work on one of these things; there’s so much I can do with a machine this big."

Sometimes I question if this woman was ever taught the meaning of 'restraint'. Lily shook her head. "I want you to help me run an analysis of the CPU here. It's the perfect basis to design my final Gremlin model off of."

"Oh, that sounds easy enough, humm." Alice looked over the large MEC and coming up with a few ideas for Shen’s third Gremlin line. “Sparks, why don't you and Rover go over its systems. Give us scan of what we’re dealing with. Take a look over its internals and how they interacted with the weapons.”

The pair of drones circled over the inner workings of the Sectopod like a pair of mechanical vultures, sending beams and rays into the CPU to make a digital map of the inner workings. The results began to construct themselves on a screen behind the two engineers, who turned to take a look. As Lily had thought, the processing unit was extraordinarily complex, with the processing power of dozens of terrestrial computers that allowed the machine its superhuman reflexes and tactical prowess.

“Wouldn’t be able to tell if they’re actually self-aware from all of this, but they’re definitely as hyper-intelligent as I’d thought they were from the field recordings,” the Chief remarked approvingly. “We can definitely use this to make the Gremlins smarter than ever…” As the more detailed readouts began to come through, Lily thought to herself, rubbing her chin. “I already have adapted the shaped plates we designed after the Mindleech shells to serve as a chassis for the Mark Threes, but you’re right, Alice, we should see about improving the weapons systems. We used an EMP system against the Sectopod, but it was heavily shielded against it and the use of that system nearly overloads the Gremlins… I wonder if… aha!”

The scans completed, revealing the operating system responsible for the Sectopod’s deadly ‘lightning field’. “Wow… so that’s how it works.” The readout was combined with the scans of the full wreck that had been performed during the siege after the chassis was brought back to the Avenger. “When the Sectopod activates the negative electrical discharge, it laces an inner layer of conductive material with a like charge to avoid hurting itself. If we applied this to the Gremlins, they wouldn’t be at risk of being hurt by their own electrical attacks anymore. And it’d be a simple thing to do, we just need to borrow the material used for this purpose from the wreck.”

“Great, now Gremlins are EMP-proof and they will be extremely intelligent too, which means they can definitely make great scouts and hackers. But… I still worry even with all these systems and the evasions systems part of me still thinks it won’t be enough. Hm...” Alice looked over the weapons systems and saw the weapons the overgrown robot had. “Hey, that squad that was half-wiped out… they faced a MEC that turned some of them into ash right? Well we could add that to the gremlin as well, though the beam will have to be less powerful for other systems to work. What do you think, give the allies a taste of there own medicine? It could memorialize those that fell to it as well,” Alice said, feeling a bit of regret for what happened to Maverick Squad.

“As cool as that sounds, that’s not really feasible.” Lily shook her head. “Between the proboscis subsystem needed for hacking, the electrical cannon for combat protocol and capacitor discharge, the onboard cloaking system, and the elerium battery needed to power that equipment, there isn’t room for a conventional weapon. Don’t have the means to recreate the giant pulse weapon that ‘Siegepede’ had anyway. Would have to have the wreck on-hand, and even then… wouldn’t fit.” The Chief paced back and forth for a moment. “That said, it might be prudent to adapt the SPARK’s ‘BIT’ for a more combat-heavy role. I’ve already fitted them with an explosives bay like miniature bombers… I could probably add some sort of pulse laser on as well. They’re clunky enough to have the room.”
“And with that system in it, ADVENT would get to taste revenge. Humm, is there anything else we could give these super gremlins? I mean, with enhanced intelligence and advanced weapons, our soldiers might be replaced with these things. So what do we do with the rest of this thing, aside giving our Gremlins all these upgrades what else do we add?” Alice was stumped for once; she couldn’t think of anything else to add the the near-perfect machines.

“Well, there is one thing left to do.” Lily pulled her wrench off her belt, spinning it between her hands. “We have to actually apply the upgrades. So let’s get to work.”

The pair spent the next few hours building the Gremlins. The smooth, power-armor plates had already been built, but they were the last piece to go on. The two engineers had to rework the internals, adding components to the processing units of the XCOM drones to bring them up to bar with the pinnacle of alien robotics. Once that was done, they were essentially miniature Sectopods when it came to processing power. Then the four half-oval plates were attached to the ‘arms’ of the Gremlins that held up their anti-gravity generators, along with the curved piece with a central eye like that of a camera that made up the drones’ new ‘face’. The two large eyes and two small eyes on either side remained, maintaining the strangely-cute ‘spider face’ the small robots had. Under the plating, the electrical repellant material was added.

The first two Mark Three Gremlins were tested to make sure everything was functional, and once Lily and Alice were sure all was working correctly, they finished off the day by applying the changes to the rest of the mechanical roster. By nightfall, the third generation had been born.

Lily dusted off her gloves, looking over the row of tier III drones resting on a shelf running across the cargo bay. “And that’s that. I’m certainly satisfied with them. You?” she questioned the other engineer.

Alice took off her goggles, and put her wrench back onto its belt as she dusted herself off.” Yep, they look great. I have to say Shen, you're very impressive. It feels nice to have someone that’s just as smart if not smarter than me to work with. Makes things a lot more interesting.”

An-Yi smiled. “I appreciate the compliment. You might have your head in the clouds and dream a little too big, but that’s the sort of creativity that drives innovation. And when you get down to it, you don’t let up until you’re finished. I respect that.” The Chief lifted one of her fingerless-gloved hands for a high five. “Good work, Alice.”

Alice high-fived Shen and remarked. “No problem, it’s a honor to work with the great Dr. Shen’s daughter. And I’m glad to have help in anyway I can,” Alice said smiling at Shen and Rover.

Lily nodded, glancing one last time over the Mark Threes before heading out. We’re close now, dad. Only the Ethereals stand in the way of finishing the job you started. I’ll continue doing my part to liberate Earth… just watch me.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Patient Perseverance, Part 1”

Polar Megacity “Pole City”
December 24th, 0015 A.U.
0000 Meridian Time
Command Tower
Inner Sanctum

Although it was what would normally be considered midnight, the Antarctican summer meant that in the height of December, the sun was always shining in the sky. The warm rays bathed down on Pole City, illuminating the collection of highrise buildings that made up the central landscape of the urban area. They were all connected by a variety of tunnels, some made of transparent materials and others opaque. The top of the central command tower was very much clear, however, with the sunlight refracting through a hex-patterned glass dome at the apex of the building. It was there that the Overseer of this continent spent much of her time, surrounded by a variety of creatures that made the greenhouse their home. The animals that lived here were not of Earth, however, but had once dwelled on another world - one that the Ethereals would never be able to return to.

Such a reflection was one that Merenu’beurmas often experienced when her thoughts drifted. The Ethereal clad in contrasting robes with a blue base and orange designs stood in the center of it all, pondering the sad reality. It was a melancholy thought indeed, that Aetherum was no more. But there was nothing that could be done about it now, and at the very least, it was good that an ‘ark’ of sorts had allowed much of the planet’s fauna and flora to survive its devastation. In dark times, it is good to remember the positive things you still have, is it not, Equium? the Overseer of Antarctica mused.

Agreed, your grace, the Prowler that sat on the Ethereal’s shoulder affirmed. It allows one to keep a clear mind, and not give into pessimism.

For pessimism leads to apathy, and we cannot have that, Merenu declared resolutely. We must continue to be industrious in our duties, both to ensure the prosperity of the Ethereal Protectorate and our new home on Terra, for the sake of our kind and - ultimately - humankind as well.

And yet, I sense an aura of negativity from one of the guests that now approaches up the elevator. Clearly that one does not share your philosophy, Equium noted.

Perhaps not. But it would be inefficient to spite comrades, so we shall nevertheless see what the Arbiter requires, Merenu replied, stroking her sentient pet with the palm of one of her upper arms.

The doors to the elevator access for the greenhouse slid open, admitting two figures. The first was the Arbiter, elegant as always in violet robes ribbed by white angular designs. The second kept back a little, her reflective platinum attire perhaps drawing more attention than she was comfortable with. Overseer Merenu, the leader said charmingly, inclining her head slightly. I thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Poor Albina has had to deal with me being unable to contact anyone else of note. Rather vexing, I assure you. Albina bowed, her entire body rather than just the neck as her superior had done.

Ah… you weren’t informed yet. My sincerest apologies, Arbiter. The meeting between the High Commander and his highest officials was called in rather abruptly… as suddenly as the former Colonel of ADVENT decided to betray his superiors. Merenu turned to face Carolus, her mask impassive but an empathic wave from her indicating that she was sincere in her apologetic tone, although restrained and dignified at the same time. Vekinte, Patrem, and Cordiam are in confidance at the moment. Zemsis is busy directing the Coalition’s activities against ‘Genesis’ in the absence of a competent replacement for Advent’s commanding officers, and myself and the other two were not invited.

The High Commander understands that my master trusts in his judgement… Avyssos tends to keep to himself like some sort of sulking Noctispar anyway… and I imagine any ‘discussion’ of recent events from Tien would just be incoherent, angry screaming, Equium added with much less tact, while being plenty more blunt and direct.

The Arbiter seemed to consider for a moment, internally filing away her lack of an invitation to this council. I… see, she said slowly. I suppose with all the treachery going around, things are a bit of a mess. I only wish we could have preempted this.

Albina seemed uncomfortable. Arbiter, it was not your fault. No one could have predicted-

Oh, but we could have, Albina, Carolus disagreed. The Inquisition failed. The traitor Shen’lutusus could have been caught sooner had we been more vigilant. I will be watching Ordero in particular from now on. Her failure is not unnoticed. The Arbiter paused for a moment. But I digress.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Patient Perseverance, Part 2”


While I have not been able to speak to those in attendance, I was informed that they were discussing a new approach to the problem of the Resistance that has been exacerbated by the multiple betrayals within our ranks, Merenu continued, unabated. I believe that the status of the ADVENT Coalition is being… reconsidered. That extension of the Protectorate has been party to a host of failures, and it may be time for change, I surmise.

Good. I have never liked the idea of allowing humanity to govern themselves. Far too much room for exactly this issue. The edge of Carolus’ mouth turned upwards. I can hope the High Commander comes to the same conclusion. It is time for our people to assume the dominance we deserve.

I do not presume to know the Exalted One’s judgement as if it were my own... although I do know Cordiam. While she is merciful, often to the point where she must step back from an initial position, I believe she will advise the High Commander that the most humane path we can take here is to tighten control under the Avatar Project’s production is completed. Much of our resources have been aimed there, and it is the source of the Resistance’s contempt for us… should it be completed, much of their fire will fade, and we can focus solely on achieving a utopia for this planet. But that can only happen if the threats to the High One’s vision of ‘heaven’ are removed from the equation.

The Arbiter considered. I will concur. Our focus now should be on those who are the source of our ills. Those who would ruin everything for their old world. Especially the ones that would turn our gifts against us again. Beside her, Albina looked up.

Speaking of our own providence being used against us… do you have a plan for dealing with the one who wields the Reflection of your fallen Inquisitor, Carolus? the Overseer probed, apparently curious but not showing. Her tone remained as serene as the ice fields surrounding Pole City.

Carolus twitched slightly, and Albina averted her gaze. Unfortunately my previous desires appear to be doomed to failure, the Arbiter admitted. I had hoped to turn him loose against his former allies, as was done with that human female. But enough force of internal will seems able to break through such mental conditioning, even with another being constantly reinforcing it. She ran her gaze around their surroundings, allowing some of Merenu’s calm to seep in. I would prefer to do this personally… but I must accept that we will need to simply kill him. That perversion of an Elder’s will cannot be allowed to stand.

Indeed. Umbra and its user must be snuffed out, like all other roadblocks in the way of the Path. My predecessor was lazy, and her lack of diligence could not have been suffered to stand. Whether the threats come from within or without, they must be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Merenu paused, a light chuckle coming from beneath her mask. I suspect that XCOM will target us Overseers directly. It is only logical, as we are the ones that direct the Protectorate and serve as its fist in times of need. The powerful psionic extended her empathic connection beyond the room to containment habitats beneath the top floor, and shared a whisper of what she ‘heard’ mentally with the pair of Inquisition members nearby.

They could hear the hunger and the animalistic rage that emanated from the exotic ‘pets’ that the Overseer of Antarctica had collected. Let them come, Merenu declared, the display reminding the pair why some referred to Merenu’beurmas as ‘the Beastmaster’ on occasion. Should they challenge me, I will deal with the savages in a way they understand.

Hopefully that won’t be necessary, the Inquisitor of Light stated nervously. It’s… our job to ensure any threats to the Path are destroyed.

Well said, Carolus agreed, smiling. The Inquisitor of Order is even now searching for their ship, and trying to predict their next move as precisely as she can. She may have failed us with the betrayal of the former Overseer of Europe, but I have faith she can accomplish this.

You may find it difficult to shoot them down again, now that the entirety of Europe and half of ADVENT had turned to their side. The skies are no longer unilaterally friendly.

The Arbiter merely laughed. Not my concern, she stated. I do not command an army. Just a few individuals. I will be pleased so long as they do their jobs. This last seemed directed at Albina, who shrank a little under her superior’s glare.