RP XCOM2: Liberation of Earth

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Irato Mars, Part 3”

The garage-style door leading into the control room shuddered as it was activated, and then slowly began to rise. From within the command center, a red light started to spill out, darkening the hue of the large cargo room lit by normal white lights. The crimson glow began to spill out more completely into the room as the door disappeared into the frame above, and standing in the entryway was none other than the Overseer of South America himself.

He seemed a tad larger than the average Elder, not so much that he’d be a physical threat, but enough that it gave him a tougher look. His robe’s colors were splashes of crimson reds and dark oranges, giving the image of fire. His mask had sharp edges and lacked a lot of the usual flair, giving it more the appearance of a war helmet, which fit for him. You have a lot of foolish courage to try and pull this off, he psionically stated with a chilling coldness. Did you not realize an Elder would be on board… or did you actually think the eight of you could take me on?

The Commander’s icy helixes wound together, taking the shape of a skeleton for a moment before the astronaut suit flooded into existence, wrapping itself around the reflection weapons to form Blue World. “A team with only one psion managed to kill an Inquisitor. I think the force I have assembled here today will be enough for you,” Atka replied with an equally-icy tone, taking a deep breath and readying herself. I failed to defeat one of your kind two decades ago, she thought to herself. I refuse to lose like that again.

Laughter rang out through the minds the Atka’s soldiers, laughter that quickly faded. In its place, the room seemed to grow heavy, like the gravity had been turned up. Waves of anger flowed off of the Ethereal, and he slowly flexed his hands. The Inquisitor was a fool! A sentimental one at that! Do you really think he comes even close to comparing to me?! I am Tien’lyssigan, the crimson fury of the Protectorate! I will enjoy burning you all to ashes. He pointed at Atka. Except you. No… no, you get to watch them die. Feel the pain as you watch the life drain from their eyes. Once I am satisfied, knowing you are broken, then I will let you die. That is, assuming I don’t decide to keep you as the pets you humans are so good at being.

“Christ, you love the sound of your own voice,” Yakone growled. “You going to fight us, Declension, or are you all bark and no bite?”

Tien’s head slowly turned towards her. “I recognize that voice,” he said, speaking aloud. “Oh, what fortune would bring you here to me? It was foolish to bring you into our fold. You should have stayed on your leash. Now you can die like the rest!” He extended his arms. Fire erupted forth, quickly taking the shape of four fire snakes. Two whipped around to push the others back, while the other pair flew straight for Yakone.

“Oh, what the fuck.” Yakone turned and tried to run out of the way, but couldn’t outpace the flaming serpents. One of them enveloped her, torching her armor with an incredible amount of heat. Enough so that Praclaritas warned Yakone her Overdrive combined with her alloy plating would be insufficient to prevent her from being cooked in her armor if she didn’t find a way out soon. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! He’s worse than Luke! The Ranger could feel her armor heating up enough that it was burning her skin, leaving her awash with pain and suffering damage that her biokinesis was barely keeping at bay.

The only thing that spared her a fiery demise was her mother running to the side, and sending Blue World into the conflagration to protect Yakone. The defensive Reflection encased the Inuit-Caucasian soldier in its form. While largely immune to environmental effects, even the supernatural being wavered slightly in consistency from the sheer power on display. Don’t just stand and gawk! Return fire!

Morrigan did just that, dodging around the flaming serpent and opening up with all she had. Her shots were stopped by a telekinetic shield, however, brightly glowing each time a shot came his way. “Nice try,” the Elder stated flatly. “But that shield is powered by my own psionic energy. And unlike you pitiful humans, my energy is limitless!” He motioned with one of his hands, and one of the flaming serpents barreled toward Morrigan. It turned violet as it reached her, and though it only flowed through her for a few moments before she was able to escape it, she screamed bloody murder as the soul fire serpent made her feel like her insides had burst - her mind feeling like it would explode. She stumbled to the ground as Tien recalled one of the serpents. In its place, a flurry of psi lances - something akin to a psionic machine gun - flew towards the downed woman.

Gwen ran over to Morrigan’s side and put up a strong telekinetic barrier that took the hits from the lances, causing the girl to grimace as she reached down, putting a hand on Morrigan’s arm. “We need someone to try and whittle down that shield of his.”

“Suppose I could try and take a crack at it,” Nick offered from the far right side of the group’s position, forming merely a small ball of fire in his palm. He tossed it at the alien overlord and when it closed in he burst the middle of the ball using a shockwave, causing an explosion to be comparable to that of a grenade. Moments later he took aim with his sidearm and fired, trying to hit a precise strike where the explosion had hit hardest to try and weaken the defenses of the Elder.

The shield cracked, drawing the Elder’s attention towards the youth. “I see the Commander and her daughter are not the only psions I need to be wary of. But if you think you can beat me when it comes to fire and destruction, guess again.” Two pyrokinetic pythons flew Nick’s way. He didn’t have too hard of a time dodging them, but they were the distraction. After a few seconds of charge up time, Tien extended his two unoccupied arms. “I call this my solar cannon!” From his palms, an intense beam of pure energy, a concentrated destructokinetic attack, blasted towards the young XCOM soldier, scorching the ground under it as it flew forward.

“Stupid fucking aliens…” Nick growled, running forward towards the fast approaching attack. He took a deep breath and held out his hand, forming a very tiny flame that he held out to the left and cursed as he used it for the catalyst of his shockwave, causing his body to be flung to the side, rolling along the ground with a multitude of curses before he quickly pushed himself back up and began running towards the others so he wasn’t so isolated.

“Why are you all so damn reckless…” Atka muttered under her breath, lifting her customized anti-tank rifle and taking aim at Mars. Take this. She pulled the trigger, firing a stream of high-powered plasma at the Ethereal from a distance.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Irato Mars, Part 4”

Tien saw it coming at the last second. The intensity of his pythons diminished significantly as his shield was barely able to weather the attack. Only a few seconds after did his other powers flare up again, and he turned towards Atka. “You nearly had me there. I was so busy focusing on psionics and basic attacks, and keeping that daughter of yours busy, I forgot to defend against larger weapons. Maybe you’re a bigger threat then I gave you credit for!” The flames lashing out at the XCOM soldier retracted, and the Ethereal seemed to be surrounded by an aura of flames for a few moments. The flames took shape, and stepped forward, giving Leon the momentary feeling like he was looking in a mirror. What appeared to be a being in a gigantic suit of brilliant red armor stepped forward. It stood proudly before its master, and looked around the room before singling out the Commander. With surprising speed for something so heavy looking, it charged the woman, sword in hand, and sent a mighty slash in her direction.

Atka took a step back, and for a moment thought to recall Blue World - but had no choice but to resist the decision her instincts were screaming she make. If she brought her Reflection back over now, Yakone would be burnt to a crisp. Instead, it was all Atka could do to dodge. The first slash incinerated a thin layer of ice left behind when Atka used it to slide across the ground, her lightning reflexes allowing her to dodge at the last moment. However, the Ethereal Reflection swung its blade to the side, and there wasn’t time for the Commander to dodge the follow-up attack.

A moment later, a hand seized the back of Atka’s armor and pulled her backwards roughly. Out of the way of danger, the blade swung harmlessly past and the Commander caught the sight of her orange-colored savior. “Fortis, switch!” Leon called out from the armor, and his armaments were brought before him. Leon reached out and took hold of the third of his arsenal -the giant claymore sword- and it solidified with a shimmer. The reflection assisted soldier bounded forward with two hands grasping the large shaft as he swung the mighty weapon at the off-balanced opponent’s reflection.

“Fides, repulse!” Tien shouted out, and his reflection held out a hand. A potent wave of magnetic energy shoved Leon back, giving Fides enough tide to regain his stance. The Reflection charged its new foe, extending its arm and going for a mighty shock punch at Leon that could floor even Luke.

Tien’s reflection wasn’t the only thing able to pull out new tricks, Leon sliding to a stop from the effects of the repulse but still on his feet. The soldier turned the weapon over in hand and stabbed it to the ground in the path of the punch, stepping back from the weapon to see how his opponent reacted to the obstacle in its way.

Noting the obstacle at the last moment, Fides turned slightly to avoid tripping over it. Its trajectory thrown off, its fist slammed into the floor next to Leon instead of Leon himself. The shockwaves from the blow shook the entirety of the tank, Tien himself having to float above the ground to avoid falling over.

Commander. Morrigan finally climbed to her feet, placing her hand on Gwen’s shoulder and giving her a grateful nod. I-I have… an idea. The Ethereal’s attacks suffered for a moment when you shot at him. Maybe he can’t focus on offense and defense together very well. I have a plan… but it is a little reckless.

I’m not remotely surprised that it is. Atka reloaded Direwolf, backing off from Fides as she did. What are you thinking, O’Brien?

Morrigan ducked behind Gwen again to avoid another flaming snake attack. Piss him off. He seems like quite the hot head. Maybe if we get him mad enough, he’ll be so focused on attacking and trying to kill us, his defense will suffer. I… I could use my speed to try and anger him and avoid attacks if you want.

Don’t do that alone, though, we need something else to-

Oh, I’ll help. It’s only fair that we make him mad, because I am a LITTLE pissed myself! Yakone telepathically yelled. She had been trying to run to and fro to escape the pyro viper that was encapsulating her and Blue World for the majority of the fight, but it had mindlessly pursued her and kept her from acting. After fuming for over a minute now, however, she had a brainwave of her own. The Ranger impaled her two fusion blades into the ground, and physically enhanced her muscles to cope with the spin she followed up with. A gap large enough for her to fall through was created. “Don’t let it follow me!”

Atka’s eyes widened as she realized what Yakone was up to, and she used Blue World’s form to barricade the manhole-sized gap that had been created in the floor. Clever… but what are you going to do now?

Keep him busy, you guys! You’ll see! I’ve got something in mind that will serve as some nice payback.

Meanwhile, Leon was doing a good job of angering the Ethereal without even trying. “Why is he not dead yet? Fides! Kill him!”

Fides stepped back, and threw his blade to the side, the weapon impaling into the side of the tank before evaporating. He opened his palm, a swirl of flames appearing, and from it the reflection pulled out a sword twice the size as the original. Fides ran towards Leon once more, energy swirling around the blade, and he swung, a rift in the shape of a sword slash flying directly at his target, swirling and rippling with destructive energy.

Leon reformed his spear in hand and threw it past the alien reflection, reforming behind it with the attack slamming into the opposite wall completely avoiding him. “Is that the best your reflection can do? What happened to the might of the Ethereals?” The Grenadier taunted the alien controlling it.

Another wave of fury pulsed through the room. As Fides recovered and went on the offensive, Tien extended two hands towards Leon. “I’ll show you our might! MY might!” Above Leon, a large rift formed. It crackled and sparked as the Elder infused it with flames, forming a Inferno Storm intent on boiling and ripping apart the Major at the same time.

“Hey, ugly!” Morrigan shouted from behind him. “At least I’m assuming you’re ugly. I know you all wear those masks, but with the fire obsession, I bet that face of yours is all charred and gross. That why you’re so pissed off?” Tien snarled at her, reaching a hand back and letting loose a machine gun flurry of psi lances. Her mind not impaired this time, Morrigan used her impressive speed to keep ahead of them. “Come on! That the best you can do?! You want to go get an Elder like the ones we already beat? At least the could aim!”

Tien yelled in fury. He turned back toward Leon and fired off the inferno storm, still intent on destroying the man, but didn’t bother to watch and make sure it worked, instead turning towards Morrigan and launching more Soulfire snakes at her.

Leon was trapped between a rock and a hard place - the rock being Fides and the hard place taking the form of the immensely powerful psychokinetic hurricane rapidly descending upon him. The saving grace for the Grenadier was the fact that in focusing on him and Morrigan, Tien’lyissgan had forgotten about Atka and her Reflection.

The Commander was finally able to recall Blue World, and she went on the attack with a satisfied, bestial grin. The blue-decaled astronaut coiled a fist back, and then swung a strike into the side of the heavily-armored Ethereal Knight with a crushing force potent enough to blast the Reflection onto the ground and away from Leon. To get her soldier clear, Atka locked herself to the ground with her magnetic boots and liberal application of cryokinetic ice around her legs. She then hooked him with her grapple, and yanked him to safety at her side. “Close one,” she stated, placing her ATR back in hand as Blue World and Fides squared off like two boxers in a ring.

 

[MarineAvenger]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Irato Mars, Part 5”

As Morrigan desperately weaved out of the way of the mentally-devastating serpents that could very possibly kill her if they hit again, as Ludwiga did her best to cover the Specialist with an aid protocol, as Gwen and Emmeline shot at Tien’lyssigan but couldn’t land a blow that would shatter his shield still, one question remained: where was Yakone? The Ranger had been missing for awhile now, and her comms were silent.

Atka wasn’t worried that some soldiers downstairs had taken her down, but she was beginning to grow concerned that whatever scheme her daughter had concocted was going to take too long. Her fears were, however, allayed when there was a flurry of sparks behind the Overseer. A pair of fusion blades was slicing along computers, and armored gauntlets were smashing into the control systems of El Oso Perezoso while the pilots themselves cowered in the corner. While Tien was distracted, the Marauding Crusader had cut herself an alternate entrance into the command center, and was in the process of rendering the titanic tank inoperable.

With a satisfied kick, Yakone stepped back from the main computer bank as the viewscreens were covered in static and glitching artifacts from severed connections and other malfunctions. “Whoops, did I break your toy?” she questioned Tien’lyssigan with a wry grin. “What a crying shame that is.”

“You… YOU…” The pressure that built throughout the entire tank felt like it could crush everyone on board, literal flames of anger surrounding the Elder. Fides’ armor cracked and crumbled as his master’s lack of concentration and anger left little room to maintain a Reflection properly. The room fell deathly silent as everyone could feel the crushing fury that rolled off Tien like waves as he withdrew his attacks and turned his attention towards Yakone. “YOU…!”

Even the sometimes-overconfident, self-assured crusader for justice felt her heart in her throat for a moment - having directed the full fury of a being with godlike power in her direction. Still, she forced herself to smile broadly, and assessed the enraged Overseer for a moment. Goaded beyond belief, he was easy to read without even seeing his facial features, and Yakone made her prediction. “Mars… next you’re going to declare, ‘You’re going to pay for that in blood, you insolent bitch!’”

“You’re going to pay for that in blood, you insolent bitch!” Tien shook in anger, his neck twitching ever so slightly as he struggled to maintain his composure. “Smart girl,” he muttered softly. “Let’s see if you can predict my attacks too!” All four arms extended, and he decided to give her one of everything. One pernicious pyro viper, one slithering soul python, a monsoon of machine lances, and a currently-charging, scorching solar cannon were fired in her direction, prepared to leave nothing left of the object of his anger.

In the face of such a powerful series of attacks, Yakone was left with only one option. It was a technique passed down from generations of warriors, one that had endured in the face of such overwhelming force for centuries. It was a strategy born from the depths of despair that gave hope for victory in even the darkest of times. Provided there was even the smallest opportunity, it was a trusted way to attempt to achieve victory from the jaws of defeat. This vaunted method was known by a two-word name: tactical retreat.

Yakone ran. She activated a burst of blue energy in her legs, enhancing them enough that she could somersault through the air backwards - avoiding the hailstorm of lances that ripped the remains of the machinery the Ranger had trashed into mere shards of metal. The red and purple snakes made out of psionic fire still fast approached, able to course correct easily, and the beam of thermokinetic fury was slowly but surely approaching. Yakone was being backed up into a corner, and her desperate moves backwards left her with the wall closing in from behind. Once her back met it, she would be completely cornered, and it would be all over very quickly.

It was for that reason that the soldiers behind Tien’lyssigan had to neutralize at least part of his offensive capabilities a few seconds from now, or they would lose their Marauding Crusader to the wrath of Mars.

Luckily for Yakone, the Major who had previously been taken out of the fight so unceremoniously was looking to get back into the fight, and unluckily for the Elder, the person he was targeting just so happened to be someone he loved. Fortis wrapped around the exposed parts of Leon that had been torn away and the entire knightly visage glowed with renewed vigor. “Gwen, get in there and get Yakone out of that predicament. Cauthon, prepare a rift as large as you can make to beat down Tien’s shielding. Ludwiga provide him support and the rest of you cover as necessary. This fight is about to end.”

Gwendoline was the first to move into action as instructed, the Juggernaut running to aid their trapped Ranger by placing shielding around her to keep any stray attacks from landing as the frenchwoman positioned herself in front of Yakone, slicing upwards to create her illusionary wall that was sustained via psionic amplifiers integrated into her Pavise armor.

Meanwhile, the gunslinger who had previously been the target of the Elder’s ire concentrated on the anger he felt from feeling humiliated about his own retreat, as well as the anger he felt that the alien was keeping him from returning back to the Avenger sooner. Unlike Mars’ psionic rift from before, Nick formed his around the opponent, pumping in a bit of fire for that extra intensity against the Elder’s protection.

The opportunity was not wasted by the others soldiers. Atka pulled Direwolf’s trigger, Emmeline fired a similar shot from her DMR, Ludwiga’s weapon spat a plasma electrolaser towards the Overseer, and Morrigan’s carbine shot out a concentrated stream of superheated gases of its own. All attacks exploited the shredding effect Nick’s rift had on the Ethereal’s omnishield, each attempting to penetrate it and hit the Elder that had been safe from harm up until now.

 

[MarineAvenger]

DarkGemini24601, MarineAvenger, and ZombieSplitter53: “Operation Irato Mars, Part 6”

Morrigan’s prediction, or guess at least, had been accurate. All his energy, and his rage, focused on offense left little psionic power left over for his psionic shield. The shield cracked. It waved. Large holes started tearing through it. As Tien turned to face his would-be killers, he tried to calm down. Tried to focus. But that was better said than done. The Ethereal had never had much of a need for defense because he had never faced a foe that could survive his offense. But the cracks in that offense had caused cracks in his defense, and now cracks in his personal armor.

Unable to focus on defense, to focus his mind, the rage-filled Elder made one last attempt to go on the attack. He poured energy into the weakened Reflection, Fides weakly climbing to his feet and raising his sword. But Morrigan had been watching it out of the corner of her eyes. As Fides prepared to rush the team, she zoomed behind it. A few well-placed shots in the back of the knees made it stumble forward, buying precious moments. “Leon, hurry! If you’re going to kill him, kill him now!”

“Right.” Leon reached out, grabbing ahold of his spear that had materialized in the air and gave it a spin so it was in his grip like a javelin. Given a hard toss, the weapon soared well into the air above the Ethereal, a location which the Grenadier promptly blinked to. Time slowed as Leon’s perception became enhanced, Psyma doing the calculations on how to properly land a strike that would pierce Tien’s armor. Spear became elongated greatsword as Leon gripped the two handed length of the weapon and began to descend with gravity. Properly pivoting his body so that he spun once in the air, Leon was in the perfect position to land his blow, hitting it where neck met shoulder, the blade cleaning tearing through meat and fabric as gravity and momentum propelled the sharp blade cleanly through the Elder’s body. Leon landed to the floor a bit ungracefully but the deed had been done as the alien carcass shred in two before it hit the ground not long after.

Yakone breathed a sigh of relief as the remnants of the pyro viper and soul python near her faded away into dying embers. “Alright… playing decoy against a Declension… not fun. I’d rate the experience pretty poorly.”

“I’ll bet. Glad you did it instead of me,” Morrigan stated. She pouted under her helmet and muttered, “Even if you stole my idea.” She looked up at the towering figure before her, rapidly crumbling into psionic dust. “Sorry, big guy,” Morrigan stated. “You were just on the wrong side.”

Fides slowly looked from side to side, the disintegrating Ethereal Reflection fading away slower than a human thoughtform - a reminder of the sheer willpower that Elders were capable of. It could no longer be repaired without a wielder to reconstruct it through force of will, and so it could not reach the other two prospectable hosts that it discerned in the two young soldiers that passed through its field of vision. However, Morrigan was within range. With the last of its energy, Fides surged a hand forward. Some of the other soldiers went for their weapons, but they were not able to shoot at the Reflection before it had done what it wished.

If it had a will of its own, it might have taken revenge. Instead, survival was the only thing on the mental construct’s mind. Its form became like a dust devil of ashes that flowed into the back of Morrigan’s head, vanishing from view. In the blink of an eye, Fides had faded from view - but the Irishwoman it had transferred to could feel a certainty that the Reflection had found a home in her mind.

“Whoa…” Morrigan held her head. “What was… Commander, um… I think I have another… stowaway. Ssssomehow…”

Atka - having witnessed the brief spectacle herself - slowly shook her head. “Reflections… really have a tendency to endure, don’t they? A similar thing occurred to Yokolov when he defeated Azazel… I guess something about you made you a suitable host.” The Commander raised an eyebrow, one shared trait between the Specialist and the fallen Overseer coming to mind.

“Can’t imagine what that is,” Morrigan said angrily, kicking her foot at nothing in particular. “Guess I’ll have to make it work. Leon gets the kill, Yakone gets to break the tank, and I get stuck with another thing to babysit.” After a moment of silence, Morrigan said, “Shut up, Vys. Don’t act like such a baby…”

Atka shook her head, looking over the dying flames that were vanishing without psionic fuel to maintain them on the metal floor. One down, five to go… and aside from Zemsis’jiputer, we’re not going to have much information to guide us in our battles against the others. She sighed. It’s going to be a long war...

Yakone walked over to rejoin the others - not before tearing off a piece of Mars’ robes as some sort of trophy - and removed her helmet, smirking at Leon. “Not bad… the first Overseer kill goes to you. Now I’m going to have to play catch-up.”

“Should be easy with all that cardio you just endured,” the Grenadier told the Ranger as Fortis dissolved away while still over him, slowly revealing the man underneath.

“Fuck off,” Yakone complained. “Without me you’d all be unsauced barbeque and you know it.”

Morrigan laughed. “Maybe. Hey, new guy.” She grinned at Nick and gave him a thumbs up. “Great job. Bet that other kid you have waiting for you will love to hear about your first successful mission.”

Nick once again glared at Morrigan, growling a bit underneath his helmet that apparently his and Sunny’s relationship was so obvious every thought it right to pester him. After a bit, he let out an angry huff, shaking his head. “Let’s just get out of here before my endurance comes back and I make some fried potatoes.” The Gunslinger noted as he walked as far as he could from the others as possible.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Dilapidated Distance, Part 1”

Somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean
0202 Hours, January 3rd, 2038
Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Floor 4, Central Block
The Holography Hub

The ship was relatively quiet, the late night Avenger hardly a party scene as everyone conserved their energy and got plenty of sleep. Never knew when an attack would come. Never knew when some resistance group would be drawn into the fighting and need help. And, of course, never knew when the opportunity would arise to take on another Overseer.

Morrigan could hardly sleep, however. While her struggle with guilt had eased in the last week, with the encouragement of a returned friend, the comforting touch of a dear boyfriend, and good old fashion time easing her nightmares, she still had plenty to contribute to insomnia. One such issue led her to the holo room late at night. She was concentrating with all her might, a hand extended towards the center of the room. But after ten minutes, nothing had happened. To an outsider, it looked like she was simply reaching for something that wasn't there and getting upset about it.

"And this time I'm the one that finds you awake in the dead of night," a familiar voice remarked from behind Morrigan. When she turned, Atka was standing there with a cup of coffee in her hand instead of booze for once. "I took a nice long nap after that op, but I'm guessing from the lines under your eyes that you haven't got any rest at all."

Morrigan chuckled tiredly, running her eyes. "Sorry, Commander. I know I should be getting some rest, I just... have a lot on my mind, you know? Thought I'd tire myself out with a little training."

"Well, if you pass out there wouldn't have been anyone to drag you to the medical bay," Atka noted, approaching Morrigan. "What exactly are you doing, anyway? Is there some sort of Irish yoga I don't know about?"

"You know... I tried yoga once, in my previous life as Morrigan, domestic housewife. Never got into it. Too... slow, and I'm too impatient. I prefer regular, fast paced exercise." She turned back and extended an arm. "I'm trying to make that armor thing. Fides, I think Mr. Mars called him. But I can't. Just can't. Maybe if I was used to doing other things with my mind like a psion, it would be easier... but that isn't it. I can feel it. I just can't... get it out."

"From what I know, Reflections are usually generated and summoned by a particular emotion. There's a driving force that creates and maintains them. For Blue World, well..." Atka's icy helixes wound into the blue-decaled astronaut behind her. "...it was born from despair.” Atka was deathly silent for a few moments, before continuing, “I imagine, considering everything we know about Tien'lyssigan, that anger drives Fides."

"Anger, huh? I guess that suits me." Morrigan shook her head. "I try to escape it, try to control it. But it always gets away from me. Like a... fire. Once that fire starts up in me, it burns out of control until it runs out of fuel... or everything in its path is destroyed. And now... it has become a weapon I need to turn loose." She turned back and gave Atka a sad smile. "Ironic how that turns out around here, huh? Though I guess you can say it is taking something negative and using it positively... even if it scares the crap outta me."

Atka placed a hand on Morrigan's shoulder. "I'm not saying you should lose yourself as Mars did. The difference between you and him is that you have restraint. You can call upon feelings of rage without letting them burn you too. You're going to have to strike a balance to command Fides, I suspect."

Morrigan nodded. "I'll try." She took several deep breaths. "When you first used your Reflection, something really bad happened, right? We lost someone. But... when you do your time thing, sometimes things change, right? So did you lose the same person, or... did someone else die originally?"

"I..." Atka sighed. "There's a reason why I tried to keep Blue World's ability a secret at first. The implications of what it allows me to do are... they're a burden that I wish I didn't have to carry." The Commander closed her eyes. "Originally, I lost them all. Stacie, Gwendoline, Leon... and... Yakone as well," she spoke in a wavering tone. "I watched her die, Morrigan," Atka said, her voice quavering.

Morrigan fell silent, her arm lowering as she turned around. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I can only imagine what it would be like to lose Brigid and a bunch of allies all at once."

Atka had no response.

Morrigan didn't expect one, and turned around once more. "Alright... no more stalling." She closed her eyes and dug down deep. She thought of things that made her angry, and she had no shortage. ADVENT. The aliens. A certain man who haunted her dreams. Soon, she has clenching her teeth, breathing heavily, and a shimmer of red start to take shape before her.

"Good... now focus it. Mere directionless anger won't give rise to a being of supernatural power. Get in the mood to fight," Atka urged her friend.

Morrigan envisioned a target. Something she wanted to fight. What was good for this situation? Why not the very being that tried to kill her friends with it. She imagined Tien, the furious Overseer. She imagined wanting to fight him. Wanting to beat him. With one last push of will and a yell, the figure burst into its full form, the towering Fides standing before its new master in all its glory.

Atka nodded. "Well… well done, Morrigan."

Morrigan panted heavily. "Thank you. I... uh..." Fides slowly tilted its head to look down at them. "He is mine now, right? It isn't smart enough to take revenge, is it?"

"I don't think it's the type that has a sentience to call its own. And I've never seen nor heard of a Reflection that was capable of harming its own user. Such an action would be suicidal and meaningless," Atka remarked. "Besides, if it wanted to kill you it could have done so back on the tank. None of us would have been able to stop it in time."

"Hmm... scary thought. But also comforting." Morrigan slowly walked around Fides, looking him up and down. "Considering how he seemed to look down on humans, I don't this is modeled after one. Guess it must be based on a really big alien that wore armor. Wonder what they originally looked like under it. Between that and the new alien we just faced, it makes you wonder how many other races they've conquered... or destroyed. And how many more will be coming from us."

"It's an interesting proposition, but not one that I care to entertain. All that matters to me is putting a stop to it," Atka stated distractedly.

"Well, me, wolf boy, and big'un here are there to help you with that." Morrigan stepped back again. "So, I've watched all of your missions..." Her eyes darted about. "...you know, uh, research and all that. Anyway, you don't seem to give verbal commands a lot. So do you... just think about what you want to be done and Blue World does it, or do you directly order it around telepathically?"

"Willing the commands and putting them into thought are relatively one in the same. If you are pressed for time, you will command your Reflection before you even realize precisely what you're asking it to do. Or, it will act on its own to protect you from harm." To demonstrate, Atka swung one of Blue World's fists - holding back in strength but nevertheless going for Morrigan. Fides stood in the way, the astronaut's fist meeting the flat end of the knight's sword with a hit that kicked up the dust in the room. "If you wish for it to act on its own you can focus on attacking yourself while it defends you."

Morrigan looked up at her reflection with an impressed smile. "Cool. My own knight in literal shining armor." Morrigan took a deep breath, and concentrated on directing Fides to move, and make small swings across the middle of the room. "So... I, um..." Morrigan was unsure what the rule really was for small talk with her Commander at this point, or if they had really reached that point. "I... saw Yakone the other day. In the mess hall, I mean. She's... doing well, aside from some things she needs to still work out." Some of which I'm sure she doesn't want her mother to know about. "How... h-how is your sister?"

"Better than before. She talked with the Chambers family and that calmed her down somewhat. It'll be a process though. A decade's worth of guilt is a hard thing to let go in a few weeks," Atka remarked tiredly.

"I bet. Um..." Morrigan gave Atka a sideways glance. "Think I can... meet her some time?"

"If that's... acceptable to you." Atka shook her head. "You don't have to force yourself to get along with her, you know."

Morrigan shrugged. "Well... I-I just want some closure, and the best way I can think of getting it is to at least talk to her. Besides, I owe you plenty enough for me to try and make things right between us. I'm just worried about how she would react to meeting me."

“She won’t bear any ill will towards you,” Atka replied with a shake of her head. “She thinks you have every right to hate her… I suppose that visiting her at some point might allay those concerns. Again, it’s not… something you have to do. Whether or not you owe me a debt, that’s not…” Atka fell silent for a moment, looking as if she wanted to say something - but the Commander did not finish her thought.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Dilapidated Distance, Part 2”

Morrigan scoffed, struggling to stay angry enough to maintain the Reflection but not suddenly snap at her commanding officer. Noting the woman had trailed off, Morrigan glanced over. “What is it, Commander?”

“It’s… it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired, I guess. Coffee isn’t really helping to calm me down,” the Ambusher mumbled.

“What was that?” Morrigan said curtly, then cleared her throat. “W-what I meant was… um… you know, if you want to talk about something…” She glanced around. “We’re all alone. And I know how to keep things to myself.”

“You have your own demons that are bothering you. I shouldn’t burden you with my own,” the Commander replied stubbornly.

“No, really,” Morrigan pressed, walking over. “I have my demons, sure. But I also have Mark to talk to. And Jack. And Ayame, and Gwen, and Yakone. But you? You’re the boss. You have to put yourself above everyone to act as a symbol, but that means you don’t get to talk to others like us. It… it isn’t fair. I mean, you’re human too. So why not find someone to confide in? Like, say… me?”

The Specialist’s CO shook her head. “It’s because I’m your boss. It’s my job to be strong for everyone else. That’s the way it has always been. It’s probably one of the only things that’s kept me going when things are at their grimmest, and even hope falls short,” she pondered bitterly.

“I… I guess I can understand that, but…” Morrigan grit her teeth and stomped her foot. “But I’m different! You… you don’t always have to be strong with me! I won’t lose any respect for you if you let your humanity out a little. I… you’ve done too much for me. I don’t think I could ever lose respect for you.”

The Commander fell silent for awhile. “Looking at you is like staring into a mirror sometimes,” Atka whispered after awhile. “We’re not the same in every respect, but you’ve been through plenty yourself, and there was a time when your anger and hatred consumed you. I… I’ve said a lot of things about improving myself, and putting all that behind me… but when I try to do so honestly, all I see is an empty void where my heart should be,” the Inuit woman confessed. “I can’t let go of it all… no matter how hard I try… no matter how much I want to… I feel as if I lose who I am when I attempt to let go.” Atka sighed, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. “Maybe all that’s left of me is tied to that hatred. I can still love and feel to some extent, but only within the context of my vendetta and my goals. Get my revenge, accomplish what I set out to do as the Commander… and then there’s nothing left of me. Victory only leads to the death of all I am. All that remains, anyway.”

Morrigan rubbed the back of her head. “Well, um… to be honest… I don’t believe that. I’ve seen the passion in your eyes in a fight, sure… but Yakone has also talked about the warmth she has felt between the two of you, especially since getting her back. That wasn’t about your revenge, was it?”

“Call it what you want, but it all… it all is just remnants of who I was once. I can’t go back to that, nor even come close. The majority of who I am now… is just this person you all call the Commander. Someone who is driven by vengeance. Someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to see her desires fulfilled. Someone to be feared.” Atka held a hand over her face. “It’s not a persona I intentionally cultivated, it’s just the person who I’ve become. You… you may have suffered on your own, but you don’t understand… the hell I’ve been through. Not at all what I experienced in the distant past, and only partially how I’ve felt from recent events. I keep it all hidden away. I’m not sure I know why anymore.”

“I… I realize that. And I understand that… that I don’t understand.” Morrigan slowly approached the Commander, her sympathy betraying anger and causing Fides to dissipate behind her. She didn’t care. There was only one thing she cared about right now. “But even if that is all true… it doesn’t have to stay that way. You make us strong.” Morrigan held a hand over her heart. “You make me strong. But what is any of that worth if I… if we can’t do the same for you. I couldn’t live with myself, even if the war was won, if I knew it resulted in the destruction of the woman who gave me a second chance to help this fight… who kept my daughter safe… her led me to finding the man I love. You’re too… important, Com… Atka. Please… let me be there for you like you’re always there for us.”

“Strength isn’t enough. It isn’t enough anymore,” Atka admitted, sliding down to a sitting position. “If… if you want to help, you have to hear everything in full. To at least know what I’ve been through.”

Morrigan sat next to her and nodded. “I’m all ears. And if nothing else, I’d like to think I’m a good listener.”

Atka recounted it all. How she had joined X-COM, full of optimism and hope that the war could be won. How she’d met Desmond, and quickly fallen in love with him and trained him to be up to par with her own skills. And how it had all gone progressively wrong. The near code black in the jungle, where almost all her teammates had died and she’d even been forced to kill one of them to save herself and Desmond. The continued losses that caused the bodycount to pile up to staggering numbers. The flickers of hope that X-COM had experienced when they’d managed to stand up to the aliens - especially when the hidden base in India had been raided, and members of her family had been saved.

Only for it all to be stripped away the minute things were looking up. The base was invaded, and everything had been destroyed. X-COM was put out of commission, the HQ overrun. So many had died that day. Atka’s friends and comrades like Madeyline. Her parents, slaughtered without a second thought. And when she was backed into a corner, with no hope left… the icy helixes had manifested themselves as the result of her despair. She was broken, shattered into a thousand pieces that day, and that state was only cemented by the desertion of the man she loved. Her bitterness was so great that she couldn’t bring herself to love the child he had left behind, and had devoted herself to revenge. The only other driving force in her heart was to protect those that were left.

And she lost the few people she cared about bit by bit. Advent hunted her and her comrades, killing the remaining soldiers one by one, until Nouja had sacrificed herself to put an end to it. Atka had lost her little sister, and her vision only swam further with black coldness after that. Sarah died in retaking the Avenger, and on that day Atka had been badly wounded on her left side, losing both her arm and leg - as well as her right eye being pierced by shrapnel. She had almost completely given up after that, with only her vengeful persona left to drive her. That was when she had truly just become the Commander, and Atka Ipiktok had been put in a grave.

Despite being given her ability to fight back by Robert and Kai, she’d only been fueled by her hatred since then. It was only so recently compared to this all that she’d began to reconcile with Yakone. Time and again since then she’d sought to socialize more, to try and be human again. But it all felt so facile, and was difficult to force in any significant quantity. So time and again she’d felt herself slipping back, becoming the Commander once more. And then, she’d been made to abandon hope one more time. When she’d watched Yakone and so many others dear to her stolen in an instant.

That was when Blue World had been born - the Reflection remaining where Fides had disappeared in the present - and where yet another burden had been placed on Atka. She had second chances now, but they weren’t guaranteed to be better situations. Despite the variability of it all, she still felt responsible when she used the power at the wrong time or it wasn’t enough. Atka confessed to Morrigan that she’d called upon Blue World to try and prevent Maxwell’s near-death back on the network tower mission, only for that to render her powerless to stop Blukersey from driving her blade through Yakone’s heart. If it weren’t for that, there was a chance that Yakone wouldn’t have been taken.

So in a way, and certainly in Atka’s mind, it was her fault to some degree that Yakone had been twisted in Ember. She’d given up on rescuing her even beforehand, acknowledging the impossibility of breaching the Chicago control tower’s defenses despite perhaps having an obligation to be irrational about it as a mother. She’d given up as she so coldly had told Morrigan she would have when they first met. In that sense, the Commander hadn’t changed at all. And while Atka hoped that Yakone could be brought back, that callous part of her suspected a confrontation might have to result in her own daughter’s death for the greater good. She found herself so ready to give up.

And perhaps that was why Blue World proved so mighty in the confrontation against Desmond. Because Atka had nothing left to lose. In that moment, she was the vengeful, domineering, and coldly confident Commander in full. She’d cast aside her humanity in the name of the liberation of Earth, and she had nothing to fear, having tossed hope aside. When her grim predictions turned to be off, and Yakone pulled herself back to her senses - and managed to save Leon in the process - Atka was left adrift. She hid it well, as she always had, but deep doubts had been planted in her. And they only grew up until this point.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Dilapidated Distance, Part 3”

When she had faced the Overseer of South America, she’d realized something that had caused her to be as rattled as she was when she came to meet Morrigan. Atka had acknowledged that in a way, he was a demon so similar to her. Consumed by hate and anger, as she was by revenge and despair. For him, there was no changing who he was.

“And for me, I can’t help but feel it’s the same way,” Atka concluded with watery eyes.

Morrigan stared down at her hands, processing everything she had been told and how it left the Commander looking in her mind. “I… I can comment on that… but I’m afraid of how you’ll react. You have to promise you’ll listen to me and understand that I truly mean what I say, and am not just saying it to put in my two cents or whatever.”

Atka slowly nodded, letting out a shuddering sigh. “Go ahead, Morrigan. I consider myself beyond help, broken beyond belief, so nothing I could think of myself at this point really matters. All I see ahead of now is being forced to accept the monster I’ve become. Trying to feel or be human only hurts me to my core at this point. Say whatever you will.”

“Well, for starters, you can shut up about all that monster crap,” Morrigan said flatly. “And if that is out of line… well, I’ll accept the punishment for it, but it needs to be said. Maybe there is a part of you that shares something with that actual monster we fought, but he is a being that didn’t care about what his feelings made him. You think there was ever a moment where he lamented and questioned who he was, if he was doing the right thing or being a good person, or if he might get lost in his wrath? I doubt it. But you do. If you were truly lost, you wouldn’t be worried so much about it.”

Morrigan slowly shook her head. “I-I… I know this is easier for me to say as someone who knows what you have been through without actually experiencing it. I just want you to know that any coldness you feel isn’t your fault. Anyone would feel that way…” She shook her head again. “No, that’s not true. Most people would have given in a long time. Nothing, not hope, to vengence, not a thing would keep them from giving in. But you held on, and even if that makes up most of who you are, this… this anger, this coldness, I see more in you. It isn’t going to be easy, especially with life pushing you down every time you try to get back up. But I know you can do this. You just… might not be able to do it alone. Which means you have to stop trying to do it alone.” She softly smiled at her Commander. “You can overcome this wall of ice around your humanity. I have faith in you. And if you’ll allow me… I’ll help any way I can, no matter how tough it is, because… you’re worth it. Plain and simple.”

“It’s not… it’s not about how tough it would be for you to understand, to emphasize and help,” Atka responded, her tears now flowing freely. “It hurts… it hurts so goddamn much when I try and open myself up. I’m reminded of all the happiness I had, and how it was taken away every time. Every damn time! And I don’t want to feel that way anymore… it would be so much easier to hide behind the Commander that I’ve created, and to fight and die for our cause. That would be the easy thing to do, and the selfless thing… maybe it’s not too late for me, but my strength… my strength comes from denial. From honing despair into something useful. Without that… who am I anymore?” Atka questioned, her eyes shifting to Blue World for a moment. “Even if Atka Ipiktok is hiding somewhere in my broken heart, trying to return… can she without being broken into a billion more pieces?”

“I… I can’t say for certain,” Morrigan said honestly. “But I want to meet her. The Commander is cool and all, but… but she isn’t really the person you socialize with.” She sat back and looked forward, smiling gently. “Now this Atka lady? She’s my kind of person. She has her negative sides, sure, but we all do. But she cares about people, and would give her life for innocents. She loves her daughter, and is willing to try and connect with her, even with things being awkward. And… she isn’t afraid to cry and show her true feelings, and express her doubts on the future. A very human reaction. I’ve heard a bit about Atka. I even think I’ve seen her a couple times, been lucky enough to talk to her once or twice. I just hope, one day, she’ll come out of the Commander’s shadow and… sit down for a drink and a game of cards.”

Atka tried to wipe her face, but the fact that she was still crying rendered that a futile gesture. “I will… I will never understand how some of you can remain optimistic in the face of all the darkness the world has to offer. Maybe… maybe some people just don’t understand it like I do. That’s… probably for the best.” Atka smiled weakly, though gradually some life started to return to her visage. The expression she was starting to wear was one that looked unusual and unfamiliar on her - almost as if Morrigan were looking at a different person. “People like you and Yakone and Isaac… you always show up to give me hope when I’m ready to laugh pitifully at the notion.”

Behind her, Blue World cracked. Splinters ran down its left side, and over the right half of the astronaut’s helmet. It reached forward, grabbing Atka’s shoulder with a movement and posture that Morrigan could easily discern as deadly hostile. But for some reason - some certainty rising in her chest - Atka wasn’t afraid. She turned, and placed a hand against the front of the Reflection. “No. I won’t be controlled by despair and hatred anymore. I’ll swear that… for real this time. It… it hurts… I know… we have that shared pain.” She clutched a palm over her heart with her free hand. “But at some point we have to put the past behind us. We can’t be… too old to start anew, can we? I’ve thought that… but people keep reminding me I’m wrong. So please… let’s change for the better.”

The rewind symbols on Blue World’s form shimmered, and then were torn off the Reflection’s pair of wristwatches on the tops of its hands. They were replaced by clear, colorless glass - underneath which a few cords were strung between parts of the icy helix skeleton beneath the thoughtform’s armor. The neck of a guitar poked through the top of the astronaut’s backpack, while a ghostly cape spread out the back. And all the while, those two symbols containing Atka’s power to rewind time floated behind Atka - disappearing into her shadow. She turned back to face Morrigan, and as she did Blue World remained in front of her - unable to stand behind here and linger in the past any longer. All that remained behind Atka now was her despair, encapsulated in her shadow - which now wore those empowered timepieces on its umbral form.

“Whoa…” Morrigan laughed lightly. “That was really cool.” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I mean, um… I-I hope that means you feel better, Commander. Um… and if I stepped out of line at any point…”

Atka embraced Morrigan tightly. “Shut up. You have… no idea how grateful I am to you. Thank you, Morrigan.”

Morrigan squeezed her back. “Hey… anytime. And if you ever feel those empty feelings coming back, I’ll be there to talk some sense into you. I’m… stubborn that way.”

“Thank God for that,” Atka responded quietly. “Don’t mistake my display for everything being automatically better. If Nouja has a hill to get over… I have a mountain in my way. But you’ve convinced me that it’s worth the trouble. That I’m worth the trouble.”

“And you are.” Morrigan sighed. “So, um… are we, like, friend friends now? ‘Cause I’d still follow your orders and all, just… I think it would be cool if we were… friends.”

“Well… Madelyne used to be my best friend at one time… and I think she’d approve of you taking her place,” Atka replied, not answering the question directly - but not needing to.

Morrigan’s smile widened ever so much. Releasing the Commander, she jumped to her feet and wobbled a bit. “Whoa… guess I’m more worn out than I thought. Reflection probably didn’t help with that.” She extended her hand towards Atka. “Maybe we should both try and get some sleep.”

Atka shook it gently. “Still won’t be easy to fall asleep… but you’ve made it easier.” She smiled a bit slyly. “And pouring a part of your psyche out in order to bend reality tends to give you killer headaches when you aren’t distracted by an emotional rollercoaster or adrenaline. Neglected to warn you about that bit.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Morrigan said with a laugh. She smiled at Atka for a bit longer, and gave her a small nod before walking past her and towards the door. “Have a good night. And thanks for the help with Fides.”

“Your gratitude towards me pales in comparison towards mine towards you, but thanks regardless,” Atka replied with a yawn. “Good night, Morrigan,” the Inuit woman told her friend as she departed.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Losing Face, Part 1
Avenger, Male Showers
10:23 PM, January 3rd 2039


“So,” Holly said, examining her fingers out of boredom. “Violet, huh?”

Samuel raised his eyebrows, though the Sharpshooter couldn’t see him in the shower. Thankfully. “You sound disappointed,” he noted.

“Just afraid Arthur’ll show you up,” was the noncommittal response. “You know, with him being a natural psion and all.”

“I don’t give a shit,” the Russian answered. “It’s just another tool in the box for me. This isn’t a competition.”

Holly laughed. “Not to you, maybe,” she chuckled, leaning her head back against the wall.

Samuel had always been uncomfortable showering in close proximity to other people, let alone in the same room. Regardless of whether they were male or female. Even the thought of doing so with Stacie left butterflies in his stomach. There was something off about the idea he couldn’t quite pin down. So, ever since he’d been on the ship, he’d waited until late at night to wash himself, or really early.

Once Holly had found out, she hadn’t left him alone. The potential for messing with him was simply too great. The first time she’d showed up in the locker room outside the showers, he’d almost thrown her out himself, towel or no towel. Eventually, however, it had turned into something of a ritual for the two of them. The rest of the squad was usually drinking by now, so they were able to make a detour. It was good one-on-one time for the both of them, after all. And now at least, Samuel was relatively comfortable with her presence… so long as she remained very much outside the door.

“Stacie broken up with you yet?” the Sharpshooter asked.

“Not yet.”

A surprised noise. “Even after she caught you messing with your ex… what, twice now?”

“There’s a lot of points you’re glossing over there,” Samuel muttered. “The first time was on me, even if it was somewhat necessary. The second was definitely on her. And nothing actually happened.”

“Maybe not, but if I were in her position I might be getting a little jealous by now.”

The Russian laughed, though his boisterousness was underlain by a certain amount of nerves. “She… she knows I wouldn’t do anything like that.” A pause. “... right?”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Holly answered, adding under breath “...unfortunately for me.” Frowning, she took off her new aviators, using the hem of her t-shirt to rub off the mist accruing on the lenses. “You’re the kind of guy that would be guilt-stricken at just the thought. I think Stacie’s very much aware of that, which is why she’s so quick to blame the other person. In this case, Chloe.”

“What did she want from you, anyway?”

“... who?”

Unseen to Holly, Samuel’s face had taken on a serious expression. “Chloe,” he answered. “I saw you scampering off with her after Christmas. Have a gossip session or something?”

It was the Sharpshooter’s turn to laugh nervously. “Uh… y-yeah. Gossip. Yeah. She is the Overseer, after all. If there’s anyone that would know gossip-”

“Uh huh,” the Russian interrupted, his tone indicating he didn’t believe her.

Holly’s eyes darted back and forth, although the interrogation she was being put under was aural only. “S-so, have you told Stacie you love her yet?” she asked, desperate to change the topic.

There was the sound of something clattering to the floor in the shower room, along with a muttered Russian curse. “What the hell business is it of yours?” Samuel demanded, retrieving the soap from the floor. Thank whatever god exists this isn’t a prison.

“None, really,” the Sharpshooter admitted. “Mind you, I’m not asking you for details of what you two did when you first had se-”

“Yes you did!” Samuel interrupted. “As soon as you and Bonnie found that out, you were both pressing me for details!”

Holly shrugged. “Yeah, but I’m not asking that now. I’d say my question now is far more benign, in fact.”

“Benign?” The Russian sighed, and began considering his response. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?” he settled with asking. “A long-term one?”

“Now who’s prying in a bit deep?” was the response. “Yeah, I did. Way back before I joined XCOM. There was a guy in the Resistance cell I was in. Kind, funny. But dignified. Kinda like some weird combination of you and Lester, I guess. Damn good shot. We used to compete for accuracy.” She sighed. “Then that whole thing with the ADVENT raid happened. I walked out of there a bit of a celebrity in the local Resistance cells for holding off entire squads by myself. Raul… didn’t walk out at all.”

The two were quiet for a moment. “... I’m sorry,” Samuel muttered. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, no, you’re fine. You couldn’t have known.” Holly folded her arms, wiping away the small puddles that had formed unbidden in the base of her eyes. “I took on an active role as a combatant. People started calling me ‘Harbinger’, because my shot was often the precursor to the rest of my squad going to town. Still wonder if I would have done any of this, or joined XCOM, if he’d…”

“Did you ever tell him you loved him?”

Silence. “All the time,” she said at last. “When we started getting serious, anyway. Mostly as play, though. I’m not a sappy person. You know that.”

“Neither am I,” Samuel admitted readily. “But saying you love someone… to me, that’s not just a description of your feelings. It’s a statement of intent. Intent to spend as much time as humanly possible with that person. Intent to follow them through life. I’ve seen the phrase thrown about so much by people that, looking back, clearly didn’t mean it.”

Holly chuckled. “You talking about anyone in particular here?” she asked.

“Eh? If you mean the various couples on this ship, I don’t give a fuck. They conduct their business how they see fit, and I’ll do this my way too.” He sighed. “To think I thought Leon was about to break up with Yakone when I stormed out of there. Shows what I know about relationships.”

The Aerotrooper shook his head, resuming the scrubbing of his back. “In any case, I place importance on that phrase. The day I utter it in her presence, I’ll be on one knee holding a ring in my hand.”

“Big statement.”

“Yeah, well. It is to me.”

“To repeat my question then, why haven’t you said it to her yet? You’re falling behind as it is, we’ve got two confirmed post-war weddings in the works-”

“Fuck up.”

Holly stretched, hearing the patter of water stop. “You want me to vacate while you get dressed?”

Samuel poked his head around the entrance to the shower. “Is that a serious question?” he asked.

“Alright alright, jeez. If you’re that desperate to hide your raging -”

“Out!”

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Losing Face, Part 2


The two sat down in their respective spots, noting the empty chairs of those who had already turned in for the night. Samson was absent, as were Arthur and Lester. The rest were seated in a leisurely position, and for once Bonnie wasn’t dominating the scene. “What’d I miss?” Samuel asked.

Alan shrugged. “Nothing,” he said. “I think Bonnie’s starting to run out of stories.”

“I’m only forty-four,” the Grenadier jabbed in response. “Still makin’ more.”

“Who the hell would… ‘make more stories’ with you?” the Ambusher asked incredulously. “Someone’d have to be desperate to do that.”

“You mean desperate like you were way back when we were all alone in the middle of North America?”

Samuel chuckled, but couldn’t help noticing that Alan just let the comment go. Odd. Normally he’d fire something back. He glanced around the group. Samara was toying with the end of the Techound tail she kept on her pretty much at all times, barely listening. Holly wasn’t chipping into the discussion to back up Bonnie’s teasing. Alan wasn’t really defending himself. Is everyone just tired tonight? What’s going on?

“How’d that picture turn up?” Alan asked him, shaking the Aerotrooper from his own thoughts.

“What? Oh, the group - right, right.” He reached into his pocket, procuring the image. Everyone was on there - the entire squad. And everyone was grinning like an idiot. Even Lester didn’t seem immune to the joyous mood in the photo, his normal frown upturned into a grudging smile. Even the AI had been asked to take part - Joy’s manifestation as a small child beamed from beside her master, while Tumulis lay on his side at the front of the group with a cocky grin. Lucifer’s butler form peeked over his master’s shoulder. And, if one looked closely, over Samuel’s shoulder was a darkened triangle of air. Umbra’s mask, barely visible from such an angle and even then mostly transparent.

Samuel passed the photo around, allowing the rest of the squad to analyse it. “I think it turned up great. Nobody’s blinking or making a stupid face. If we’re all in agreement, I can get some copies.”

“Perfect,” Holly said quietly. “Now we’ve got something permanent.”

Alan looked at her oddly. “Permanent? What, and we aren’t?”

The Sharpshooter laughed. “You’re right. We’re all invincible, immortal. I’d completely forgotten.”

Samara looked about to say something, but hesitated and eventually decided to refrain. Again, Samuel noticed. And there. Normally, Samara would cut in with a reminder that this is a war or something like that. He cleared his throat. “Alright, what’s going on?”

Bonnie gave him a quizzical look. “Eh? What’re you on about?”

“You’re all far more cheerful than usual,” the Aerotrooper pointed out. “Less combative. Admittedly, normally that just turns into banter, but tonight there’s none of that. Alan let you get away with that comment earlier. Samara’s not keeping us grounded in grim reality.” He folded his arms. “Something’s happened to make you all relaxed. What is it?”

Holly shrugged. “Nothing.”

Alan tilted his head. “I think you’re jumping at shadows,” he said.

Samara looked slightly cornered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Bonnie smirked and leaned back in her chair. “I fucked your ex.”

There was silence. Then Alan cleared his throat. “You, uh... y-you too?”

Glancing around, Samuel sighed. “Alright, show of hands,” he said. “Who’s had sex with Chloe?” Sheepishly, everyone at the table raised their hand. “Fucking hell…”

There was a shrug from the Grenadier. “I don’t see what yer problem is,” she stated. “She’s yer ex. As in ‘no longer your girlfriend’. You wouldn’t be getting jealous would ya?”

“You, I understand,” Samuel said, pointing at her. “You’ll try anything once. Or anyone. Samara’s preferences bend that way, so I understand that too. Holly?”

The Sharpshooter shifted in her chair. “I wanted to try it at least once,” she admitted. “Can’t say you don’t like something without trying it.”

“Alright, fine, I accept that.” Nemesis turned his gaze to Alan. “But you of all people? You know damn well how risky that would have been, how could you-”

“I made sure to keep her facing away from me at all times,” the Ambusher answered, his tone uncomfortable. “I wasn’t risking that.”

“The hell are you talking about?” Holly asked, nervous now. “She doesn’t have an STI does she?”

“No!” Alan answered, horrified. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“She can’t,” Samuel explained, placing his forehead in one hand. “She’s a vampire. Side effect of that was essentially freezing her metabolic or whatever-the-fuck processes, which means most diseases can’t survive in her, and the ones that do run into antibodies from the myriad of different immune systems she’s come into contact with from feeding. That’s what doctors have said, anyway. Plus she’s careful of that.”

Samara had gone pale, or as pale as someone with her shade of skin could go. “I… I thought that was only a rumor,” she said quietly.

“Did she bite any of you?” the Russian asked. “Draw blood?”

Nobody answered in the affirmative. “Don’t think so then,” Alan concluded. “Like I said, I knew what I was getting into. I took precautions.”

“Why, what happens if she bit us?” Holly asked. “Do we turn into vampires too?”

“Wha- no!” Samuel gave her an incredulous look. “It doesn’t work like that! Her genes are fucked up is all, it’s not a disease. Honestly if she had bitten one of you, I’d be more concerned about her.” He sighed. “I should’ve figured she’d go for people she knew, or at least were close to people she knew. I should’ve warned you all.”

“So… there’s no harm done?” Alan asked.

The Russian shook his head. “No,” he said. “Not yet, anyway. Hope she can keep it that way.”

“I meant with you. You’re not pissed, are you?”

Samuel glared at him. Abruptly, though, he relaxed. “I’m slightly annoyed,” he admitted. “But logically, there’s no reason for that. It’s none of my business. And so long as it’s keeping her out of trouble and doing her work, I don’t care. The Resistance needs her to be on the ball right now. It’s better this way.”

I just wish she hadn’t done it with people I spend everyday with.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: "Turnabout Trinity, Part 1"

Tristan da Cunha, Mid-Atlantic
1116 Hours, January 4th, 2039
Coastal Beachhead

Yakone sat atop a sun-dried basaltic rock, looking around at the scenery on the remote Atlantic island. Rolling hills of green grass carried down to the right and the left, where they were met with water-smoothed rocks on either end of the beach. Directly in front of her was one of the few sandy portions of Tristan's coastline, where the small island had managed to accumulate the powered-up material rather than remain covered in the hostile remnants of bygone eruptions. Further out, the sea stretched seemingly endlessly out before Yakone. It was a little cloudy at the moment, sure, but the sun shone brilliantly in this place anyway. The rays of light bathed the sea in their glory, prompting it to sparkle brightly in gratitude. The far-spanning shimmering on the clear blue waves have the power to lull one to sleep if they had little on their mind.

The young woman gazing out over the water fell victim to the ocean's lullaby. Her eyelids felt heavy as she sunbathed on the beach in a plain white shirt that exposed her midriff and denim blue shorts that were torn on the edges from use. She'd brought her trusty jacket along, but it was currently fastened tight to a long rock she had buried halfway into the ground to use as an impromptu coat-hanger. Yakone glanced over at the treasured article of clothing briefly, before her eyes fluttered and she began to drift off.

Yakone's almost dream-like state was interrupted by the sound of shuffling legs. When she opened her eyes, her vision was filled with the upside-down face of the older Chambers sister. "Penny for your dreams?"

"You say that as if you had money," Yakone mumbled, yawning and doing her best to clear her foggy head. "Thinking about the future, I guess - when my brains aren't completely scattered by the sun." She stretched out her arms, and then hopped to her feet. "Heard that Luke proposed to you," the Ranger noted with a wide smile. "Congratulations."

Alexis grinned. "Heard that Leon beat him to it with you. Congratulations to you."

"Funny how they both did it at relatively the same time though," Yakone commented. "Guess the lunkhead and Leon think more alike than I realized."


"Scary thought, huh?" Alex took a seat next to her friend, laying back. She was dressed similarly, t-shirt and a pair of cloth shorts.

Jennifer, in the other hand, wore a lovely green sundress as she approached. "Oh good. She was here. I was afraid we came out all this way for nothing."

"Not like we're a hundred miles from the ship," Alex responded. "For the millionth time, a little sun will do you good."

"A swim might be nice too," Yakone suggested. "I heard you guys got to visit a beach while I was gone. I'm a little jealous of that."

"That's right." Alexis took in a breath and let the memories warm her heart. "Learned how to swim. Could teach you if you want."

"I hardly think a single lesson in how to do something qualifies us to teach it." Jennifer sat on Yakone's other side. "Besides, relaxation wasn't our goal coming out here. It was checking on you, Yakone."

"I'm feeling way better than the last time we talked. My head's clear and I'm engaged to the guy I love. Don't worry about me," Yakone responded nonchalantly. "And seriously? You didn't know how to swim, Alex? We were in Baja California for years," the Ranger reminded her friend with a laugh. "I had Kevin teach me when I was sixteen, I'm pretty sure."

"H-hey, I... I just never had time, okay?" Alexis pouted. "Besides... water made me nervous. You never know what is in there, ready to snatch you up and drag you down to a watery grave."

Jennifer giggled. "I guess you stop worrying about earthly monster stories when you start fighting alien monsters."

Yakone snickered. "You might as well give up on defending yourself, Alexis. You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole."

"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't really matter, does it?" Alexis turned her head to smile at Yakone. "Have I ever beaten you in an argument?"

"Can't say I recall such an earthshattering anomaly," Yakone replied confidently.

"And yet she always tries." Jennifer smiled, curling up her legs. "We sure have been through alot together. Well... you two at least. Sometime I wish I could have been out there fighting by your side."

"You've backed us up all this time in your own way. Fighting's not everyone's thing. If I didn't have the powers that I do, who knows?" Yakone wondered. "Perhaps I would be spending all my time in the labs instead of a sliver of it there."

"Puh-lease." Alexis laughed. "You, Yakone, are a born warrior, destined to fight. You'd be out there if you had no powers and only one arm, and you know it."

"You think I could pull off the one-armed warrior thing? Now that's a thought..." Yakone mumbled. "But really, I do have a bit of a passion for the sciences too. Just isn't really where I'm needed."

"I know you do... and I know it isn't." Jennifer looked up in the sky. "Remember when... you used to steal my books when we were kids? I... I was pretty mean to you back then. You started learning from them because I used to say you weren't smart enough to understand them. I... I hope you didn't hold a grudge."

“Pffft,” Yakone responded dismissively. “Don’t worry about something like that. Of course I don’t.” The Ranger reached out one arm, bringing Jennifer and Alexis both into a tight hug. “I love both of you guys. I’m lucky to have friends as tolerant of my antics and persistent in taking care of me as you are.”

“Of course,” Alexis stated with sincerity. “You can have your annoyances, your antics. But we love you all the same. Besides, who else would put up with my thick headedness and stubbornness for as long as you?”

“Or my irritating sensibilities and pedantism?” Jennifer asked.

“Your what?” Yakone questioned, her expression one of legitimate confusion.

Jenn’s shoulders sunk. “Sorry. Um… my tendency to worry about small things no one else worries about. I guess we can add use of unnecessarily long words to the list too, huh?”

Yakone let go of Jennifer for a moment, rubbing her forehead. She extended that same hand, and flicked Jenn on her’s. “Nope. We’re not doing this. Let’s have some fun… you two seem way to keen to dwell on melancholy thoughts.”

“I’m always for some fun,” Alexis said earnestly. She jumped to her feet. “Some fun seems to be just what the doctor ordered. Any ideas in particular?”

“Like I said, it’s a good day for a swim,” Yakone stated. With a smirk, she added, “provided you aren’t going to chicken out…”

“Hell no!” Alexis placed her hands on her hips. “Like I said, I’m a swimmer now. And I bet I could swim you out of the water.”

“That doesn’t really make sense, Alex,” her sister said with a chuckle.

“Doesn’t have to,” Alex countered.

Yakone rolled her eyes. “I think I see what you meant now…” She grabbed the hems of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tying it just below her jacket on the makeshift hangar.

Alexis kicked off her shorts and tossed off her shirt, having a revealing bathing suit underneath just in case, revealing she had hoped Yakone would be up for a swim. Jennifer had something a bit more conservative under her sundress. Once it was off, Yakone could see the results of Jenn’s efforts and Luke’s help, the woman looking more healthy and tone, and with an actual bit of muscle on her scrawny arms.

“Looking good, Jenn,” Yakone commented, doing away with her own pair of shorts. Beneath her clothing she was just wearing her typical sports bra and boxers, the former of which she started to remove as well.

Jennifer blushed fiercely. “H-hey, now. I didn’t realize you… y-you… don’t want to go back and get a… swim suit, or j-just swim in that?”

With her bra halfway up her chest, Yakone paused. “I… hadn’t thought it through. I doubt the water’s going to do wonders for this stuff though, and I don’t exactly… have a swimsuit of my own. I just borrowed something back in Mexico.” She glanced at Alex. “You have a spare, or should I go through with the skinny dipping?”

Alexis tapped her chin, and shrugged, pulling off her own top with a grin. “You can borrow mine if you want,” she said with a laugh. “But I don’t see the need.”

Yakone chuckled. “See, you’re a friend after my own heart.” She went ahead and removed the rest of her clothing without a second thought. “You going to follow suit, Jenn?”

“Um… uh-uh…” Naturally, a year ago, Jennifer would have chickened out. This time, however, she swallowed hard, and quickly removed her own clothing. Half covering herself, she smiled meekly. “In for a penny and… a-all that.”

Yakone smiled at the younger sister’s bravery. “No need to be shy. I won’t bite.” In the back of her mind, the Inuit-Caucasian idly wondered, she couldn’t know that I… no, there’s no way.

Jennifer slowly lowered her eyes, doing all she can to keep her eyes on Yakone’s face or turned away. M-man… w-why does she have to look so… a-and why do I… She laughed nervously. “Th-that… breeze is cold. Um… last one in is a rotten alien.” She took off for the water.

Alexis chuckled. “Aw, she’s embarrassed. Still, took some guts. Come on. Let’s get your sexy ass in the water before some guy wanders by and tried to steal your heart away from Leon.”

“You mean some guy from this island’s grand population of zero?” Yakone questioned with a raised eyebrow. “That’s unlikely to happen unless someone else has the determination to find this beach…” She clapped her hands together. “That said, I’m ready to hop into the ocean, so I’m going in anyway.” The Ranger ran towards the water, and divebombed into it.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and ZombieSplitter53: "Turnabout Trinity, Part 2"

“Damn… guess that makes me the rotten alien…” Alexis ran to catch up, diving under and swimming out a bit before surfacing. “It feels great!” She shouted.

“Y-yeah,” Jennifer agreed. “Cold enough to cool you down, but warm enough to not freeze you to the core. Perfect water for a perfect little beach.”

As the water that had been disturbed by Yakone’s leap settled, she laid onto her back - looking up at the sky for a bit. “Mhmm,” she echoed Jennifer’s sentiment. “It’s nice to be able to relax for once. Especially after killing a Declension. Almost feel like the adrenaline from that whole battle is still exiting my system.”

So she wouldn’t look at Yakone, and thus wouldn’t struggle not to stare at her, Jennifer laid on her back as well, slowly floating over. “I watched the whole thing, especially from your perspective. Getting him furious by destroying the controls of his tank? Brilliant idea. Good timing to. It looked like.. it was getting a bit too rough, you know?”

“Yeah. I had to psyche myself up a bit before I went through with it, though,” Yakone mentioned. “Took some serious lady-balls on my part to enrage an alien that powerful.”

“I’ll say.” Alexis slowly swum around the pair, a serious look on her face. “Jennifer might have been concerned. I was down right terrified, and that was before you pulled that crazy stunt. I know it had to be done, but… I just hope you aren’t pushing your luck for the wrong reasons, like, you know… guilt.”

A splash of water impacted with Alexis’s face. “Good God, you are worrying way too much,” Yakone complained in an exasperated tone. “When have I not been reckless for the sake of my comrades?”

Alexis laughed, and splashed back. “You’re right. Sorry. Just wish I could have been there with you to help.”

“Not like you won’t get another chance.” Despite trying to relax, Jennifer couldn’t help but worry as she stared at the sky. “How do you think he compares to the other ones? What if they’re just as strong? Or stronger?”

“Then we’ll have to be tougher,” Yakone responded resolutely. “Backing down’s not an option.” She sunk back down to her shoulders, treading water and moving over to Jennifer. “I know it’s hard, but that’s just the way it is for us soldiers. We do what we have to, no matter how scary it is.”

“I know. You’re brave. If you weren’t, where would we be? Maybe that’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to make it this far. The aliens underestimated how brave we could be. I wonder if they’ve ever faced something like humans before. Like… maybe we’re not the strongest per se, but the one’s with the most resolve, and they didn’t expect us to fight back after all they hit us with.”

“Dunno. You could ask Praclaritas if you want to pick his brain. Protectorate implanted a lot of knowledge into his head for some reason,” Yakone informed the biologist. “Maybe the Honored Overseer was just that confident that I’d remain his puppet. What a smug bastard…” she growled.

“Did you meet the head of the so called Elders in person?” Alexis asked. “Like, face to face, as yourself or as Ember?”

“I never met the High Commander, no,” Yakone replied with a shake of her head. “The Honored Overseer’s his second in command though… and his son.”

“His son, huh?” Jenn moved to a treading position herself. “Is that because of nepotism, or does this Honored Overseer have the strength to back up being second in command?”

“He was strong enough to brainwash me,” Yakone noted grimly. “That should tell you all you need to know.”

“That’s true,” Jennifer agreed with a nod. “So what was he like? Was he… imposing, or…”

Alexis burst from under the water behind her and splashed a handful of water over her sister’s head. “Alright, that’s enough. This is relaxation time, not dredge-up-bad-memories time. Let’s just enjoy the water and forget the war.”

Yakone nodded, letting herself smile again. “Sorry, I got carried away.” She swam behind Jennifer, wrapping her arms around the green-haired woman’s shoulders. “Though it is more your fault than mine,” she jokingly insisted, unintentionally brushing Jenn’s back with her chest.

Jennifer’s hair stood on end at the feeling. Engaged. A close friend. Not into girls. Stop those thoughts right now, Jenn! “Y-yeah, well… I guess I let my curiosity get the better of me sometimes. Though curiosity i-is part of being a scientist.”

“Are you alright?” Yakone asked obliviously, leaning forward a bit - and thus exacerbating the problem - to peer around and look at Jennifer’s expression.

Jennifer’s cheeks turned beet red. “I-I’m okay! I just… I-I was just… thinking of something… strange…”

Alexis laughed. “Looks more like you were thinking of something dirty.”

“Was not!” her sister yelled defensively.

“Dirty? About…?” Yakone started to question, but her eyes widened as she realized what the problem is. She pushed away from Jennifer, shaking her head apologetically. “S-sorry, I never realized… realized you were…”

“N-no! I’m n-not, I swear!”

“What are you two talking about?” Alexis asked, confused.

“N-nothing,” Jennifer answered softly. “Just a… misunderstanding…”

I… I figured if you swung that way, your sister would know, Yakone telepathically questioned Jennifer, though even with a mental connection established the younger sister could feel the sensation of Yakone holding back most of her thoughts.

Jennifer lowered her head and swam a few feet away. N… n-no one know except one of the doctors who… I’ve confided in. I… I still like men, I just… I’m sorry…

N-No… don’t be. I shouldn’t be messing around as much as I have been, I didn’t mean to confuse you like this. Yakone was silent for a moment, before - in an attempt to try and make Jennifer feel less embarrassed, she confessed: I have thoughts like that about girls too sometimes, you know.

W… w-what? I… I-I didn’t… s-so you know what it’s like to be… b-but… I-I just want you to know, I… I-I don’t look at you that way. You’re more of a sister to me then anything else. I-it’s just… when I saw you like this, something… clicked.

I know you weren’t… I wouldn’t assume you’d think of me that way.

Jennifer smiled and turned to her. I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.

Appreciated… Yakone responded with a mental sigh. Trying to change the audible topic to anything else, she agreed with Jennifer’s outward statement. “Yeah… it’s nothing.”

Alexis looked between the two of them, scrunching her nose in thought, then lightly shrugged. “Alright. So, who wants to race? Yakone? Let’s see if that bod is as fast as it is hot, right Jenn?”

Jennifer chuckled, and nodded. “Yeah… on both accounts. I think Leon is so lucky he got to you before anyone… anyone could get you first.”

Yakone glanced over at the green-haired woman with an expression that questioned ‘just who are you talking about?’ before she readied herself for a swimming sprint. “I’m sure he feels that way.”

Alexis pointed towards a tree on the beach. “First one out of the water, touching the tree, then back in the water and touching Jenn’s head wins.”

“Fair enough… no psionics, though. I think that would be cheating in this context.” Yakone took a deep breath. “Ready whenever you are.”

Jennifer swam behind them. “Three… two… one… go!” Alexis took off, her sister smartly swimming back to avoid being kicked, and the violet-haired vixen attempted to use everything she had learned from her new fiance. Yakone, in the meantime, showed off all of her physical conditioning in her race through the water. The two gave it their all, hitting the beach and nearly the same time. Had anyone else from the ship been there, they would have got quite the show as the two hit the tree and rushed back into the water. It was neck and neck for a moment, but in the end, it was the woman who had more than one swimming lesson in her life that placed her hand on Jenn’s head.

“Oh man…” Alex laid on her breath, panting heavily. “I was… so close. Can you at least… dunk Jenn under the water… like I was going to…”

Yakone had enough energy left to do just that with a wicked grin. “That good?”

Alexis laughed. “Yup… that’ll do.”

Jennifer sprang back up, and splashed Yakone in the face. “Do my puppy dog eyes mean nothing to you?”

“Not really. I’m not so easily brought to my knees by expressions like that,” the Ranger boasted, splashing Jennifer back.

“Cheeky bitch,” Jennifer muttered with a laugh, slashing harder. “You might be stronger, but I’m not worn out.” She splashed again to demonstrate. And so the pattern continued until the three were worn out enough to return to the beach to dry off in the sun and then recloth themselves.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Crucible, Part 1” - Tomislav Kasun

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
1820 Hours, January 4th, 2039
Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Level 1, Rear Block
Main Engineering

The squeals of welding tools filled the cargo bay with a constant, sharp drone. It took longer to get used to than the other mechanical noises that formed the background noise of the large room, but for those that had been on the job for several hours now, it had faded into obscurity.

Tomislav finished sealing up a pair of plates that had been scorched partway open by a pulse laser. Satisfied that Gwendoline’s Pavise Armor was back to 100%, he hopped off the back of the ladder that he’d used to reach the shoulders of the massive suit of power armor. The Serbian wiped some of the accumulated sweat off his forehead, and glanced over at the Chief Engineer - who was standing across from an upgraded model of the SPARK unit. “Hey, Shen, could you turn down the temperature in here? I feel like we’re overcompensating for the winter months and the high altitudes.”

Lily shrugged. “Guess I’m just overly cautious after Antarctica. When we were staying at Thurston Island and the heaters weren’t working it was like working in a meat locker. Never again.”

“Yeah, that does sound pretty awful,” Tom replied with a smirk. “Glad I signed on after you’d gotten the thermal insulation suits.”

An-Yi went over to the wall. She had to roll a weapon rack on wheels out of the way to get to the thermostat, and pressed a few manual buttons to adjust the temperature down to a more comfortable level. Tom paid the menial action little heed, but the guns that she’d revealed caught his attention. They were the thermal weapons he’d never had a chance to try due to his Augerrifle being optimized primary for ballistic and laser type guns. The inventor got to thinking, walking over to the set of rifles and picking one of them up.

“It’s too bad that we only really have the meltdowners in active use anymore. The thermo rifles really were a unique breed of firearm.”

The Chief turned around to face Tomislav, shaking her head. “Yeah, but we’re looking for efficiency. Not style. Plasma is a lot more effective - and hot - than the thermal waves that those things generated. Some of the cryo-cooling techniques they used are still present in the third tier lasers at least, since they sorely needed a means of cooling off. Alien designs are really unstable… though I shouldn’t be surprised that the Ethereals don’t value the lives of their troops that highly,” Lily remarked with a good measure of distaste.

“That is their modus operandi, after all,” Tomislav responded, though he seemed distracted as his eyes darted over the weapon in his hands.

“Something occur to you, Kasun?” An-Yi questioned the part-time engineer.

“Yeah… I get what you’re saying about effectiveness, but in the case of the Gunslingers they still use the thermo weapons as secondaries because they perform a different role, right? Their primaries deal the bulk of damage, but their meltdowners shred armor. In the same vein, maybe I could put the same tech that went into these to make a new subsystem for Phobos to use.”

“Maybe… you’re talking about temperature control?” Lily questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Trying to match Luke and his thermokinesis?”

“No point in trying,” Tom retorted with a roll of his eyes. “Only psions can create energy for nothing. But if I build this subsystem to work with the joint power sources of my War Suit and Bedlam Armor, I should be able to convert and drain heat. No conjuring, but I get the manipulation half of Van Dam’s master power.”

“Well… you’re free to give it a shot. We’ll be landing on an island soon to give the Avenger a chance to recharge and do some maintenance, so if you have something by tomorrow morning you can test it out,” the Chief informed him.

“Noted. I’ll be busy tonight, then…” The inventor nodded, taking the thermo rifle with him in order to start his special project. Lily left him to it, and by the time evening started to bleed into night he was left alone in the main engineering section to prepare his prototype. The Harrier began to get tired, but he kept working.

The Serbian was no longer smiling. The mask he’d put on while working with the others was now gone. Ever since the revelation he’d made to Ayame, Tomislav had felt increasingly like he was at a crossroads. He wasn’t sure what the right path was anymore, and he wondered if the choice was even his. Did any of the roads lead to happiness, and even if one did, was it within his power to pick it? Or would he be drawn into the same pattern as before. Meteoric relationships that ended poorly, to say the least. Such thoughts plagued him whenever he had time to think about where he was and where he was going, and so the soldier had been avoiding thinking about himself at all.

He continued to throw himself into his work, and finished the task he had set out to accomplish tonight. By the time he was done, he was no longer even sure what time it is. Like a zombie, he wandered to his room, and fell asleep without a second thought.

***​

Tristan da Cunha, Mid-Atlantic
1043 Hours, January 5th, 2039
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

The heavy metal footfalls of Tomislav’s Bedlam Armor comprised the only sound in the abandoned town on the island colloquially called Tristan. The small town - a village, really - was completely devoid of people. The area had once had a population of two hundred and fifty, but that was before the war. Once the aliens had taken over the planet, the island had stopped receiving resources from the British government. This had given them plenty of pro-Resistance sentiment, and the island had briefly been used as a base of operations for a member of the English Parliament that hoped to centralize a communications network there. However, the supply ships that brought him the equipment to do so had been traced by ADVENT, and the town had been pummeled by afar.

When the railguns had ceased their firing, few of the citizens of ‘the Settlement’ remained alive, and those that did were rounded up by Coalition troops and taken to a blacksite in Europe. For over a decade a living soul hadn’t set foot in this place since, and - even without knowing anything about the island’s history - Tomislav felt the oppressive weight of the town’s silence dragging him down. He paused for a minute in his march, temporarily halting his search for an ideal target to test his Febricity Regulator device on. “Wonderful locale the Commander picked to stop at,” he mentioned to Lily over the radio dryly.

“Hey, it’s secluded and one of the last places the Protectorate would think to look for us. I’ll take a spooky atmosphere over getting shot down again.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Tomislav sighed. “Going dark for a bit. Will continue my search for an ideal target.”

“Roger that, Captain Kasun.”

There was again silence, and Tomislav could longer deny the feeling of deja vu he felt. Phobos sensed it too. You’ve been to a place like this one before? The A.I. questioned.

I don’t want to talk about it, Tom mentally snapped.

You won’t have much to talk about at this rate, Phobos countered. If you do not wish to speak, then simply let me take a look at the memory. It is clearly bothering you, and if we’re going to be here for awhile you can’t avoid recalling some of it.

The Harrier sighed, his gaze sweeping over the town. Wooden buildings with paint having stripped off over time, now colored in dull grays and pasty, peeling whites like a structural graveyard filled his vision. Broken streets, cars with smashed windows, and the occasional crater from an old and very one-sided battle made up the rest of the depressing landscape. I remember, alright…

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Crucible, Part 2” - Tomislav Kasun

Former Republic of Serbia
0903 Hours, December 14th, 2024
Town of an Unknown Name

Tomislav shook his head. “Bastards sure did a number on this place,” he muttered to himself.

Hearing the Captain’s words, one of the S.I.N. soldiers with him shrugged. “Well, to be fair, there’s not that much battle damage. Whatever fight did occur here didn’t last long.” His commanding officer glared at him.

“Not just that, idiot. The fact that there’s no one here means they were either driven out by attrition or carted off to one of the megacities by force. Either way, it’s just another example of why we have to make our enemies suffer.” Tomislav growled in frustration. “Look, you all can scavenge for supplies. I doubt ADVENT will have left any troops behind here, so we don’t need to worry about sticking together. I’m going off on my own for awhile.” He didn’t give them a chance to protest, storming off without another word.

As he walked, the reasons for his short fuse flooded back in. A relationship a few months that had gone sour, with the girlfriend that had left him trying to tarnish his name. He’d skillfully defended himself at first, but all resistance had been dropped the day his mother died. Tom had stopped caring about his facades of caring about others when that happened for the most part. The sliver of him that wished to maintain appearances guided his decision to keep to himself for the past few weeks, and so here he was - in the midst of a wrecked town, walking down a road alone.

Why is it that there’s so little light in the world, and yet the small candles that are here are so easily snuffed out? Tomislav sighed in abject frustration, glancing up at the sky - cloudless and a garish blue color - growing from the deep dark blues of the night that was fast-fading. The soldier looked away from the mocking brightness, and his gaze settled on something else that made his blood boil. In front of him was a firefighter station - abandoned now, but having stood the test of time quite well due to its solid brick structure and lack of flashy paint. It was rather humble in appearance, and a respectable establishment to anyone else.

But Tomislav hated the sight of it. Firefighters to him were just people that put out another one of the few beautiful things in the world. A bestial growl exited the resistance soldier’s mouth. It’s time to take a measure of revenge upon this stupid world. He smiled wickedly, pulling his flamethrower off his back. “Let’s get to work.”

By the time Tomislav was done with the building, all the windows were pouring out tongues of flame. He had made sure his squad was far away so they wouldn’t see what he had done, but at this point he no longer cared. The air shimmering as intense heat poured out of the fire station, the roar of the blaze, the vibrant colors of the flames that made up the inferno of his own making captured him with their cumulative glory. The sight was a feast to the pyromaniac’s eyes.

The small part of reason in the back of his mind chided him for the foolishness of it all. The smoke would probably be seen by the other soldiers, and he would have to make some excuse about covering his tracks to distract from SIN’s true purpose in visiting the town to scavenge raw materials. And there wasn’t really a point other than the one he’d created for himself, was there? Brick didn’t burn, and thus the majority of the structure would still be standing when it ran out of fuel from furniture and wooden doors. But he didn’t care. The fire was beautiful, and that was all that mattered.

Until he heard something. A sound that was sharp and distracting, and wasn’t the crackling of burning wood. It was a bark. A dog’s bark. Tom didn’t like dogs, and for a moment he smirked - wondering about the noises it would make whilst burning up. But as his gaze flitted up to the Dalmatian that was poised on the fire escape, the soldier hesitated. He was reminded of a day years ago, when his future had gone black before his eyes. When a family had been burnt to ashes in front of him. And he had done nothing. All of that guilt welled up in his heart and incinerated any satisfaction he might have taken from continuing to watch the fire station burn.

I can’t stand by and let it happy again, not even to a mangy mutt! For that reason, Tomislav sprung into action. He moved from his position at the front of the building towards the alleyway under the fire escape stairs. They were too far away to reach and lower from his position, and the jump would likely break the dog’s legs. Tom’s breathing accelerated as he tried to think of a solution. The fire was beginning to spread down the stairs, leaving the Dalmatian with dwindling options. It could only leap from its position. There’s no other option, Tomislav realized.

The Serbian spread his arms wide. “You gotta jump! I’ll catch you!” he told the dog desperately, even though he doubted it could understand him. What happened next surprised him, and nearly threw him off-guard enough that he messed it up. The Dalmatian made a leap of faith, angling its body into a position where Tomislav could catch it safely if he put his back into it. The mutt - despite likely knowing Tom was the one who had set fire to its home - had placed its confidence in the human.

Tom managed to catch him, though he felt a shock reverberate throughout his body and knew he had pulled some muscles. The pain and force of the blow made him stumble and then fall on his back - pressed down by the weight of the Dalmatian. He coughed up half of the air from his lungs, and it took a few moments of sputtering before he could form words. “Get… off of me…!” He pushed the dog off, and the mutt confidently stepped to the side - looking over his savior with a curious yet seemingly smug gaze.

Tomislav grimaced as he got to his feet, eyeing the Dalmatian with absolute indignation and an angry glint burning in his eyes. “You piece of shit... this is how you treat the guy that saved your life?”

The dog regarded Tom with a look that seemed to say, ‘yes, but you were the reason I was in that danger to begin with.’

“Unbelievable…” Tomislav rubbed his forehead. “Bet you don’t have a home either… and you’re expecting me to take care of you.”

The Dalmatian tilted his head, the motion suggesting, ‘is that a problem?’

“I ought to leave you here to starve… but I guess saving you from getting burnt up would be kinda pointless if I did that.” Tomislav kicked a pebble into the gutter. “Don’t expect me to be happy about this arrangement, though, asshole.” He smirked slightly. “You know what… that’ll be your name. Happy with that, Magarac?”

The dog turned around and started to walk out of the alleyway nonchalantly, seeming as if he couldn’t care less.

“You’re more stuck up than half of the women on base,” Tomislav grumbled as he began to follow, wondering just who would be the master here.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Crucible, Part 3” - Tomislav Kasun

Tomislav stopped before the burned-out chassis of a car. He lowered an armored palm near the exterior, and poured heat waves into the metal. The browned material turned orange, then red-hot as it began to melt in a matter of seconds. In order to test the full range of temperature alteration, Phobos aborted the heating process halfway, and then sent cryogenic cold over the superheated chassis, causing it to shatter from the differential pressure. The Harrier stepped back, surveying his handiwork.

The experiment appears to be a success, Phobos assessed.

“Yeah. And now you know what place this ghost town reminds me of, you nosy bastard,” Tomislav muttered irritably.

“I find that particular memory intriguing,” Phobos echoed around his user.

Tomislav glanced around reflexively, the A.I.’s indirect means of speaking putting him on edge as it typically did - working as intended. “Why is that?” Tom questioned the sentient machine.

“Because you made your fear into strength.” Elaborating further, the artificial intelligence continued, “you ignored your obsession using terror that the past might repeat itself. That is evidence that you can resist your mania. I find that very interesting.”

“In extreme and very niche situations I can distract myself. Only in those, though,” Tomislav specified. “I don’t see how that helps.”

“Find a more reliable source of motivation, then.” A pause. “Alternatively, I could scare you whenever fire is afoot with-”

“No thanks!” Tomislav was quick to insist. After a few moments of silence, he sighed. “I’ll… think about it, at least.” Although he loathed to concede anything to Phobos, the AI had a point. It was worth a shot.

***​

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
1014 Hours, January 5th, 2039
Onboard the X.S.S. Avenger
Floor 3, Port Wing
Kasun’s Quarters

Tomislav sat on the edge of his bed. The room was darkened. The overhead light and the lamp on the table next to his bunk had both been shut off, and the only source of light came from the candle that Tom’s eyes were affixed to. The small fire burned with a brilliant yellow corona and a warm orange center despite its small size. In its own way, it was as beautiful as the largest of blazes. Tomislav’s attention was nearly fully enraptured, despite his desire to draw his eyes away. His struggle seemed small and vain indeed against the lovely pyre reflected in his amber eyes.

In the back of his mind, that small part of Tomislav that wanted to avert his attention from the candle searched for anything that could distract him. Something that was more beautiful to him than the flames. He briefly thought of his friends. The faces of Vera, Emile, Leon, and a few others flashed by, but none of those bonds were enough to break the flame’s hold on his mind. They merely offered up a dilapidated path for him to keep walking along in the search for something - anything - that would rescue him from the addictive prison that was staring into the primordial plasma captured in his vision.

Like this, Tomislav dimly thought, I am not Tomislav. Or maybe I am a little. But I’m more of the flame than I am me. I am fire, and I burn beautifully. I am one with it. He couldn’t help but get up from his bed, gingerly removing one of his gloves and hovering his hand over the small fire for a moment. It burned his already-scarred palm a little, but the pain was drowned out in the pleasure of the oneness he felt with the candle’s burning tip.

Desperately, the dwindling part of his mind that was free kept looking. There had to be something. There had to be. If there wasn’t, then Tomislav’s soul was truly as black as the ashes that remained after something was completely incinerated. He truly cared for nothing as much as his passion burned for fire. And then, just like that, there was a flash. Something passed through Tomislav’s mind that might provide the answer, though it was as dim as a coal ember lying in a mostly-dead fireplace. It wasn’t discernible at first.

But Tom’s pupils dilated. He struggled, his hand shaking as the underside of his flesh was burned a little more. The pain became a bit more noticeable as he began to have the tiniest bit of conscious resistance to the mania that so consumed him. As he grappled with himself, Tom began to become aware of just what was crossing through his mind. The revelation surprised him, causing his eyes to widen a little. The source of his potential salvation was one he had not expected in the slightest. But there she was.

Ayame. A memory of her stopped at the waystation of his surface-level thoughts. In his head, Tomislav saw her form lying seductively on the bed next to him. It was after their first lovemaking session, when they were both alight with the afterglow of their passionate embrace. She might have looked young, but she had an impeccable beauty. Despite her supernatural strength, her skin was smooth, creamy, and unmarred by centuries of life. She looked as lovely as the day she’d become a Jiangshi. Her soft, heterochromatic eyes met his. One was a dark brown, and the other, a light hazel.

In them was no longer lust, though, as that time had passed. Instead, there was a tender brightness in Ayame’s eyes. Tom recalled well what he’d been thinking at the time. That she must love him. The thought had - and still did - cause his stomach to churn slightly, as guilt entered his heart. He still wondered if he felt the same way. She was incredibly beautiful, and a proper demon in the bedroom… but was there anything beyond the physical.

Without immediately realizing it, Tomislav retracted his hand. He drew it back from the flame, and averted his eyes - closing them so he could picture Ayame more accurately in his mind. Aside from the spots he saw due to staring at the bright candle for too long, he could picture her now more perfectly. And Tom felt tugs on his heartstrings that were somewhat unfamiliar to him. When he opened his eyes, he had turned away from the fire, and looked over at the wall where his workstation was dimly visible in the candlelight.

The weight of his choice hit Tomislav like a hammer. He registered the significance immediately now. He’d been able to conquer his pyromania - if only for a moment - due to the thought of his girlfriend. Of Ayame. Never had that been the case before. And that made Tomislav acknowledge something that he’d been struggling to decide. His conclusion was simple: I do love Ayame.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Catching up
On board the avenger
Soldiers barracks

Lilith sat in her room creating another potion for her spiritual vision, she looked down at the red liquid wondering if she can handle seeing her family. Lilith took a deep breath and sat down on the bed.” Ugh, it’s been awhile since I drank one of these, it’s also been to long since I spoke to the dead. And since my home is gone i’m guessing i'm going to see everyone. Sigh well down the hatch.” Lilith drank the potion, and just like Luke she passed out her bed and felt herself fading.

When Lilith woke up, she saw her village in it’s entirety. Lilith saw the smith workshop were they made their weapons, there training grounds were they trained their young. A butchering cabin for skinning and gutting the animals, and many other cabins that made their home look like a small village in the middle of nowhere.

Lilith breathed in the cold air, and as she looked down she can see that her skin is still gray and not it’s natural color. “ Huh guess even in here I can’t escape this curse.”

Well if it counts for something your skin matches your hair color, how have you been my little predator.

Lilith recognize the sound of the voice, she immediately turned around and looks at her sister. “Hello scarlett it’s been a while.”

Wow, we don’t see each other for twenty years and that’s all you have to say? Come on Lil no big hug no catching up, no telling me about life in XCOM? Come on I know you're feeling guilty about everything but were sisters that haven’t seen each other in years, just on hug?”

Lilith looked down at the snow, and back at her sister and slowly made her way to Scarlett and embraced the blond haired woman tears starting to fall down her face.” I’m sorry, I’m sorry I avoided coming here for this long. I’ve missed you so much everyday I wish you were here by our side.”

I know I know, I've miss you two. It has been to long lily, tell me how have things been for you?

“Ugh where do I start, the siege of a magcity. I can’t believe that was over a month ago, that reminded me of all the cities that were lost. Though unlike the old politicians, I can at least say that Elder has a spine. I also got promoted i’m once again a LT, now we're hunting down the elders themselves, heh guess twenty years ago we weren’t meant to beat the aliens. The elders are learning that humans are very adaptive and resilient.”

Heh ain't that the truth, but there’s a reason why you're here. Why have you been avoiding drinking the position?

“You think I could drink it, you really think I could face you Axton and Ash?! How are you so easy going, I took Luke under my wing and I couldn't raise him properly. I-”

If you don’t shut the hell up I will punch you! Scarlet rubs her head. Look, Lili I get it, you feel sorry for what happened to Lukeand me. But what’s done is done, Luke has been through alot in his life, but he has moved on he’s gote over it and has forgiven himself and you. There’s no reason to blame yourself for what happened.”Scarlet puts her hand on Lilith shoulder. Lilith I told you to take Luke out of the village and go to a certain location, and wait there for two days and what did you do?

“I waited at that spot for at least a week. What is your point?”

My point is, I told to do one thing and you did it. I never hated you, I told you to get my son out of our village so I could defend it, and if I had died you should take care of him. You did just that. Stop hating yourself for doing what I told you to do, yes you gave yourself up to ADVENT to save my son I commend you for doing that so please stop blaming yourself for being selfless.

Lilith looks at the ground and back at her sister. “You know I hate when your right, you always had a way to just make a person feel like shit and really stupid. I always hated that about you

Scarlett started to giggle at her sister. The only reason you hate it is because you know I'm right, Look Lil you're a LT again. You can’t let your regret over things that you couldn't control, move on and forgive yourself. Besides you have guilt because you survived so many attacks that’s the only reason you're feeling guilty.

“Heh survivor's guilt,yea that sounds about right heh I been through so much Scarlet. Watching our world be taken from us, seeing all of our cities get taken from us. Our home getting burned to the ground, joining ADVENT and doing so many terrible thing to may fellow men. But if the commander’s sister can find some way to forgive herself I guess I can to.”

Finally, it’s about time you started to gain some confidence. I mean you're forty years old, my god woman grow a spine your a Van Dam for christ sake act like one.”

“Heh, yea I haven’t been myself for a long time now guess I better change that huh. I really do miss you Scar, There isn't a day that goes by that I don’t miss you.”

I know, and the best way you can honor me and our family is to be your old self again. Be that old sniper you used to be and still are, be that guardian angel of your team again Become that Apex predator you are and hunt down those elder basterds and send them packing back to whatever corner of the galaxy they came from.


“Heh you got it Scar, I’ll be sure to visit more often I promise.” Lilith started to wake up, and came back to the real world, as she woke up Luke came into the room with a big smile on his face. “Luke where have you been, I haven’t seen you since you recovered?”

“Heh heh, Ou I have a lot to tell you and it’s fantastic news.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “An Ode to Siblings” Part One

The rooms of the Episcopo family certainly were reflections of themselves, each tailored to their own tastes and preferences. One of them was a room of white painted walls, diagrams of weapon designs and many other trinkets designed by their resident engineer being hung up. On the side of the room pressed against the wall next to the bed was a sketching table where many of the blueprints had been thought up by the owner of the room. Opposite side of the room from the table held a bookcase with many tomes of famous Renaissance inventors and philosophers, as well as more modern pieces. On the bedstand next to the bed was a simple lamp, digital alarm clock and a photo of two people. The first in it was the proud smile of Vindicta Episcopo when she was a small girl, and with his neck wrapped in the embrace of both her arms was her younger brother, Mark.

The alarm clock went off and was silenced by the man's hand, the engineer slowly crawling out of his bed to get dressed for the evening. He glanced at the photo as he always did before exiting his room, and shut the door behind him, staring at the door across from his which belonged to his sister, and he went to it, knocking to see if the girl had even left for the labs yet.

The door creaked open, revealing that the elder sister was already dressed in her typical attire. A white labcoat went over a black-and-silver dress, complimenting her alabaster-dyed hair and light blue-colored eyes. "Good morning, Mark," she greeted her sibling.

The man with midnight black hair and wearing a more traditional 'doctor' look with his dressed up attire under his lab coat responded with a nod. "Sister. I hope your sleep was peaceful?"

"It seldom isn't." Vindicta let out a small, mewling yawn. "What about you?"

"I had the most horrible nightmare. Verona was there, as well as Asher and you. I decided to get up from my work and fall asleep and that's how the nightmare ended. Had nothing but a peaceful night's rest afterwards." The engineer said with a serious tone that could only be seen as comical by his sibling whose come to know how his brand of dry humor worked.

Vindicta held a hand over her heart in mock-horror. "Do you really think that poorly of me, my dear brother?"

"If I did, then what would be the point of gracing you with my commanding presence?" He wasn't overly tall or short, nor was he too lean or too muscular. Mark was as plain as they come compared to his sister, one of the pinnacles of beauty of the Episcopo family. It had to do with her mother Elene’s genes, and while her brother had similar ones, he inherited too much of his father Markus’s indistinguishable nature.

Vindicta twirled some of her white locks. "Being my humble servant?" she joked with a sarcastically haughtily tone.

"Alas I am already serving that position already. Your will is my command, as it has always been between us." Mark noted in an emotionless voice, bowing slightly. He reached out, ruffling up the hair on his older sister's head. He may sound unemotional, but that was merely a matter of expressional issues. Deep down, he felt all sorts of things. None deeper than the love he had for the scientist before him.

Vindicta smirked. “Good, good. I’m glad you haven’t forgotten your place.”

“It is hard to forget something you aren’t keen on letting me do so, sister.” Mark turned and walked slowly with his sibling as they made their way to fill their stomachs before heading into a day full of work. “Though with my absence in the wake of my fever, I am sure you are quite looking forward to more drilling.”

“We have much to do, at the very least. There aren’t many of us, so productivity is only possible when everyone is giving it their best,” Vindicta insisted.

“My weaker immune system bows down to yours in reverence,” Mark commented with a crossing of his arms. “I will work twice as hard as normal if that will please you. I must admit that I find myself often running into a rut in terms of new developments. Our newest alliance with XCOM has rendered my intellectual assets rather moot considering the breakthroughs they have achieved in the fields of war.”

Vindicta sighed, her expression becoming serious for a moment. “It is… unfortunate that the men of our family have such health issues. I sometimes wonder if perhaps that was too great a sacrifice that the first matriarch made in exchange for our heightened intelligence, visionary nature, and supernatural boons.” Not wanting to dwell on that hundred-year question, Vindicta added in respect to XCOM, “they have come a long way, haven’t they? I’m grateful at the very least that XCOM is willing to share some of their achievements with us.”

“Some. You would expect them to be more trusting of their research materials considering the chances of us turning against them are slim to none. They have a larger force, more experienced soldiers, and a mobile prototype ship. If we were to turn against them, we would be spitting on the intelligence our family works hard to cultivate.”

“Give it time. The addition of Set to their roster should further the goodwill between our respective factions. And Emmy can continue to work her magic with that Gwendoline woman. From what I hear from Vee, that particular soldier is friends with XCOM’s Commander. A good word from her means a lot for our overall exchanges.”

“And how much longer before they send you to join them, or Asher, or even Verona herself? This feels like needlessly splitting apart the family. We should all be together. I cannot begin to comprehend the nasty lashing I would give our older sister if she were to send you away from here.” Mark stated with a slight twitch of his eye.

“Because we don’t have the same opportunities to fight as XCOM does. It makes sense that some of our best fighters would join them,” Vindicta replied with a shake of her head. “And I may have my White Bishop, but we both know he isn’t specialized for combat. There’s no reason for me to leave.”

“No, but what if they were to ask for more resources? I am sure they would welcome your brain on board with open arms.” Her brother’s look remained sour, and he slowly shook his head. “Mother’s reason for having me was to look over you. I will not disrespect that wish. I would give up anything to keep you safe.” Mark said, though he mumbled the last sentence.

“I know. But you don’t have to worry so much. I don’t intend to go anywhere, and they’re not in a position to force us to do anything,” Vindicta replied, giving her brother a brief hug.

The younger man let out a short sigh, being more at ease after she hugged him. “I trust you. Worry is one of my many faults, especially when it comes to you. I may be overprotective, but at least you have more followers of your religion than our older sister does.” The man jested in reference to Vee’s mock god complex.

“Oh? Who besides you actually treats me like a goddess?”

“I am sure with enough forceful indoctrination you could certainly get Asher on the ground kissing your feet.” Mark answered with a bit of a small smile developing.

“Doubtful. Our uncle can be as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be,” Vindicta replied with a shake of her head.

“Sounds much like another person I know.” Mark noted with his gaze dead set on the sister besides him.

“And whoever might that be?” Vindicta questioned coyly.

“One I happen to share blood with. Her hair is the color of the land after a fresh snowstorm and her brain is the size of an overinflated balloon,” the engineer responded as he poked Vindicta in the side of the head playfully.

“I didn’t know that our aunt had dyed her hair recently. This is a rather new development,” Vindicta remarked, being facetiously obstinate.

“She did not. I believe our aunt views herself with too high of a regard to change a single thing about herself. Besides, none can pull off white hair like you can, sister.” Mark remarked with a completely serious look.

“I appreciate the compliment,” Vindicta replied with a sincere smile.

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “An Ode to Siblings” Part Two

The day of work for the Episcopo family went on as usual, everyone fulfilling their role as cogs in the larger Exalt machine and soon it was time to retire away for the night. As Verona was finishing up placing the last of her paperwork away, a knock came from her closed office door. “Oh Vee!” her assistant and sniper called out chipperly from the other side, “Going to be sleeping in your office all night again? If so, I have something that might change your mind.”

“Oh?” the Director questioned. “What might that be?”

The door opened and he brought up his hand, swishing around a bottle that had the branding of a rare vintage. “Wanna get smashed tonight?” The man asked with a smirk. “It’s not your birthday anytime soon, but I figured a bit of celebration is in order. We survived another year on this god forsaken Earth with little other wounds then the wounds you give my pride with all your hurtful insinuations.” Asher said, placing a hand against his chest all in a show of exuberance meant to humor the woman before him.

Verona’s eyes widened - sparkling with a bit of childish excitement. Clearing her throat to try and allay how easily the rare spirits were winning her over, the family matriarch questioned, “so your part of the bargain is the wine… but what’s mine? Surely you have more on the negotiating table then my simple presence for a few rounds of drinks. I’d still end up back here anyway… or passed out on a couch or in a hallway.”

“I remember saying last time we had a serious discussion in this room you needed to get out more and live a little. Well, thought upon that statement further and decided to say screw that notion and just spend the night enjoying yourself. Burning yourself out is no way to be an effective leader after all, and I can’t remember the last time you spent just unwinding from your day. Call it me watching out for you while simultaneously looking for an excuse to get a bit drunk.”

Vee chuckled. “I… suppose I can submit to that. Alright. I accept your offer.”

“Shall we take this to your room then? I’d rather be drunk and comfortable than be in here so I am drunk and feel like a dean is going to walk in and scald me. This place gives off a serious principal vibe,” Asher noted with a bit of a feigned shudder.

“How in the hell would you know? You’ve never been to school,” his creator countered as she got up from her chair and followed him into the hallway.

“Hey, have you seen some of those super old comedy shows. Not going to a school was a favor and not a hinderance. Though…” Asher rubbed his chin with a wry look, not saying anything to purposely pique Vee’s interest.

“Though what? You can’t just end sentences abortively like that,” Verona complained. “You do the Italian language a disservice.”

“If we were to ever be in a high school environment, you would most certainly be the snooty, highly popular prep girl. Let’s see, Vindicta would be the shy brainiac. Mark would be the moody goth guy. Set would be the tough bully. Last but not least, Emmeline would have to be the sporty girl. Bam, premise for an Exalt-themed high school sitcom,” Asher explained with a chuckle.

“Who knows? Maybe you can be a TV producer when this war is all said and done?” Verona mused, making it hard to see past her even tone to tell if she was being serious or not.

“Hey, swimming in riches, babes and drugs… now that sounds like a life Asher can get behind.” The sniper agreed with a hearty nod, snickering to himself as the mental image of Verona dressed like a schoolgirl popped into his mind.

“I’m willing to fund it, as long as you don’t make me regret such a decision,” Verona responded, unaware of the mental slideshow currently playing in the head of her ‘brother-in’law’.

“Nah, you don’t need to fund that. I could just get a camcorder and tape our daily lives. Make a reality show out of that for everyone to enjoy.” When they reached the Director’s room, Asher stepped aside, urging her to go first.

“...you haven’t trapped the room, have you?”

“I’m being a gentleman. As the prettiest of the two of us here, that can only mean you are the woman, and thus you go first. Besides, I am sure you have it locked so I couldn’t even get in anyways.” Asher remarked with a smirk.

Vee did indeed have her door locked for privacy purposes. Inside, the walls were black, but there was plenty of objects hanging on them. Much of it was weaponry and tapestries dating back to the late medieval era in Italy. Accompanying them were a few famous paintings that Verona had saved from being lost to demolitions done by the Advent Coalition. Two in particular stood out among the rest: The Venus of Urbino by Titian, and The Last Supper by none other than Leonardo da Vinci.

Asher looked around with an approving nod, never actually having been in her room before. “Well, that confirms one of my suspicions about the things you own that are black.” he noted with a chuckle, taking it all in. “All that was missing from my mental image is a pile in one corner of the room with giant stuffed animals and posters of yourself in various poses strung up wherever you look.”

“I’m not that arrogant. I would prefer if you keep such delusions to yourself,” Verona scoffed.

“Never. You’re too cute when you are pissed. Anyways, I just realized I need to run and get glasses. Get comfortable, I’ll be back.” He said, turning to run out the room to fix his mistake. He was back within minutes and went to sit down across from Vee, opening the bottle and pouring the first glass. “So, any big plans or resolutions for the year?”

“None. I have nothing I feel the need to adjust,” Verona responded confidently, taking a big swig of the wine. “Mmm… fantastic.”

“Well as for me I am looking to lose a few pounds. I’ve just been packing it on, and honey, my hips do not agree,” Asher said in a stereotypical gay man voice. After laughing at his own joke, he sat back and sipped his wine with a curious look on his face. One lost in thought.

Verona continued to drink for awhile, refilling before asking him, “what’s on your mind?”

“What do you think my best and worst quality would be? The most honest answer you got,” Asher responded, looking from his swirling drink to her eyes. There was a strange seriousness about him all of a sudden. When the woman offered up a shrug, he said, “Well, if I had to answer, I would say my best quality is my loyalty to my family. You guys are my world after all. But my worst quality by far… is also my loyalty to you guys.” Asher admitted and then proceeded to sip his wine. “I’m scared Verona.”

“Of what, exactly?”


“Of losing you guys.” Asher refilled his glass, and continued, “Call me sentimental all you want, but logically there is nothing else I have left in this existence. Emmy and Set are fighting, me and you have gone out… there’s a real possibility in the coming year one of us could be dead. Now you may have some plan about having a clone ready to come back in case you bit it but the point is that to me… that would be and never will be you. It’ll be a cheap replacement. I’m scared of our own mortality.”

“I wouldn’t be so foolish to presume that I could recreate people we might lose, nor would I want to. I’ve told you this time and again… you, Emmeline, Poinsettia… I didn’t make you as replacements. And should I lose any of you, don’t expect to be replaced yourselves either.” Verona shook her head. “I can’t offer words that are going to reassure you. I don’t know what the future may bring. But worrying about it won’t change anything.”

“You always got an answer for everything, don’t you Director?” Asher asked with a small, but growing smile. “It’s one of your best qualities.”

Verona took another gulp of the vintage wine. “Thanks.”

“Our conversation in the hallway did make me curious. What’s your plan after the war? Politician? Business overlord?” the sniper tried to inquire.

“We’ll see what the future brings. I’m not sure yet,” Verona responded with a shake of her head.

“I suppose you are right.” Asher leaned forward, holding out his glass. “Cheers?”

Vee met his glass with hers. “Cheers.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “An Ode to Siblings” Part Three

With more and more drinks entering their systems, Asher seemed to forget about the passage of time by the time the bottle was completely gone. He somehow found himself telling a story about how he once stuck gum in the back of Emmeline’s hair and somehow managed to convince her that it was Mark who had done it for an entire month. “And… and you see, she kicked my ass harder then I think she ever has when she found out. Total wash. She scrubbed the floors with me!”

“Unbelievable… you completely set yourself up for that one, you dumbass,” Vee stated with more vehemence than she intended.

“I could not sit for an entire week, and Mark! Mark didn’t speak to me foreeeever. I had to plead with Vindicta like a child to ever get her to consider talking on my behalf to him. Ha ha… it was totally worth it.” Asher said, swaying a bit with a laugh. “Wanna know a secret?”

“What’s that?” Verona questioned with a bit of a slur to her voice.

“I loooove you guys. Like… sooo much. Ha ha ha… you are all the best in the wo- *hic* -rrrrrld.” Asher said with a dopey smile, cackling to himself for almost no reason.

“Why’s that so funny?” Vee questioned, having a drunken grin herself.

“Wanna know another super, duper secret? Like… classified times ten?” He asked, answering her question with another question.

“What’s it now?” Verona questioned with mock-annoyance.

“I love you the most. Like… more than anyone else in the whole world. Now you didn’t hear this from me, but I think you’re just cute as a button.” Asher stated proudly with a chuckle.

“Awww… thanks for that,” Verona replied, leaning forward with a widening smile. “Glad to hear your illustr..illu...your glorious leader is loved.”

“Hehe… not just love, but adore. Our smart, hairbrained, and good looking Director.” Asher said, falling forward and turning onto his back, processing the action for a few moments before he laughed.

“Oh? Just how much do you adore me?” Vee questioned, cupping her chin.

“Like… like… uh… I wanna give you lots and lots of kisses. And see Vee smile ‘cause her smile is so pretty.” the Episcopo man said as he stretched out, scratching his stomach with a content look.

Verona stumbled out of her chair, laying down on her side next to Asher. “Is that sooo?” she kissed him on the cheek, then the forehead, and then on the lips.

Asher chuckled as she did so, putting a hand on her waist as they drunkenly kissed one another. When the girl pulled back he stated, “You dummy, I’m the one ‘sposed to kiss you. You taste like a sour grape.”

“Welll… we both kissed each other there,” Vee protested.

“You know I’ve been wondering… do you wear black underwear? Cause you reeeeally like black. Like… a lot.” He questioned with a dumb look on his face, petting Verona on the head.

“I dunno… maybe you’ll have to find out.” The two-layered attire the black-haired Italian woman wore posed a challenge to actually remove in the state they were both in, however.

“I… I accept.” Asher said with a proud tone, grabbing the fabric on her abdominal area and tugging it as if that would work. “You love me too, right? Not gonna be mean to ol’ Asher and say nooo?”

“Of courrse not…” Although it was a difficult task, bit by bit Asher figured out how to disassemble the Director’s outfit. He first had to pull the mid-riff exposing shirt she wore over her head, and remove the gloves and stockings over her arms and legs. Then he pulled off the belt around her waist, and pulled down the short skirt that was loose without the belt holding it in place. With the external pieces taken off, all that was left was Verona’s black jumpsuit that highlighted her curvy form - which was removable via a zipper on the back.

“Heeeeeh… this is like opening up a late Christmas present, huh Director?” Asher asked himself in an amused was as he made the girl lazily flip onto her stomach.

“I suppose it is,” she replied a bit more clearly. Despite the amount of alcohol she’d had, Verona was no lightweight, and she wasn’t completely out of it - yet didn’t protest as Asher began pulling down the zipper. The jumpsuit folded off of her, and Vee was left in a set of lacy underwear that was, in fact, colored a midnight black with a moody gray trim.

“Ha! I fucking called it…” Asher laid back down, putting his hand on her back with a smile. “So whatdya wanna do now my-” He covered his mouth as he hiccuped again. “Lady.”

Vee shrugged, rolling back onto her back and looking up at him. “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”

“You.” Asher answered with a smirk. “For a while now.”

Vee seemed to be having a serious thought for a moment, her smile momentarily dimming. But then it returned in full, and she bobbed her head slightly. “Alllright then.”

“Yeeees…” The sniper did a slow fist pump in the air and leaned close, putting their heads together. “I love you, soooo much.”

Verona kissed him again. “I love you too,” she echoed as she began tugging on his shirt.

***

Some hours later, Asher soon started coming to his senses, opening his eyes slowly only to run a hand down his face and let out a groan. “Anyone get the number of that bottle that hit me last night?” He asked aloud, stretching out and yawning expecting himself to somehow have made it back to his room sometime in the night. However, when he opened his eyes and saw black walls, and looked over to the side of the bed where the milky back of Verona stared at him caused a flood of memories to come back, and he found himself with his jaw open.

A yawn eminated from the Director as she awakened. "Is it morning?" she groggily asked.

"U-Uh... Yeah." Asher answered, trying to keep his voice steady as he looked around and noted how it looked like a hurricane moved through it. "Sleep well?"

"If you call blacking out sleeping well then I guess I did," Vee offered up, rolling into her back and stretching.

"So... Did we really...?" He questioned off-handedly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do you not remember?" Vee questioned with an amused expression.

"Oh, I remember. Hard not to with something that... Intense. Just hardly believe it." Asher turned on his side so he faced her, looking down at her as he leaned against his arm.

"I was plenty surprised that you were interested," Verona commented, meeting Asher's gaze.

"How could I not be? You exude an aura of confidence, are sexy beyond compare, and I've known you quite literally my life. I fell for you a while back, just could never say it until last night." He explained, reaching down to stroke her cheek.

"Sometimes you need liquid courage to say what you really feel," Verona responded with a smirk.

"So where does this leave us? Aside from in the nude? What's our relationship now?" Asher asked, bringing his face close to Vee's.

"Well... as I told you before, we aren't biologically related, so..." Verona leaned forward, giving Asher a passionate kiss. "Lovers is fine with me."

"I can certainly live with that. Our lives may be short, but hell..." Asher laid down, taking her hand under the blanket. "Being with you in the afterlife is a sentence I can certainly be amicable to."

 

[Frostlich1228 (Alt)]

"The Witch's Rock."

After watching the recent victory over Mars, Marx headed back to his room, stopping suddenly as he passed Anna's again. The Ranger had wanted to talk to his newly found cousin for some time now, but something had been wrenching in his gut. A rare feeling for the Russian, but nevertheless he blamed himself for not being able to keep her from Advent... He knew it was his fault... He could figure out why they had her without too much thought, they were clearly looking for him after he joined X-Com, or even after he escaped the farm, or even still after his
staunch anti-alien views throughout his life. Everytime he had passed her room, it reminded him...

This time he had to see her, he had to confront her... He knew he couldn't change what had happened to her, but he could finally be with his family now... After all these years...

But would she forgive him?

As Marx stepped up to the door, he inhaled and went to knock, he heard something inside... Some kind of humming? Slamming on the door three times, Marx decided to speak through it as well, "Anna? Are you there?"

Marx could hear the humming stop immediately, followed quickly by the sound of footsteps approaching the door, "Marx! Yes, of course, let me open it for you."

As the door slid open, it revealed the witch in her casual attire, without her battle armor covering her body. Marx's eyes widened at the long hair, as well as her skinny body and sunken eyes, "What did they do to you?"

Anna swallowed hard, lowering her head, "Too much... But that's in the past... I'm safe now, right cousin?"

"No, not until the aliens are dead." Marx replied grimly, "Not until they pay for all of this..."

Anna nodded in agreement, "Of course, safer, but not entirely safe... Still, I feel safe, and happy, more than I've been in so long..."

Marx looked behind her into her room, which was completely dark, the furniture was pushed around into the corners of the small room, the only piece of furniture in the center was a solitary chair. Marx looked back towards her, speaking, "Where are your roommates? You should have some now that we're back on the Avenger..."

"I politely asked for an empty one." The 'witch' replied, "I've run into a few problems with some of the people around here being uncomfortable with Korelyive's and my... Outward appearance... So I decided to bunk alone, no point in forcing people to bunk with me."

"You could always bunk in my room, there should be space." Marx suggested, but Anna waved the idea off.

"Sadly, your friend Krystal is one of them, I can't say I entirely blame her for her hesitation... Maybe if you can convince her otherwise, I can join you, but as it stands I am perfectly fine in here as well."

Marx grumbled to himself as Anna stepped back to let him into the room, "You can find a seat anywhere, I really don't mind."

Accepting silently, Marx took a seat on the bed stuffed into the back corner of the shadowy room, looking at his cousin silently.

After a few moments of heavy silence, Anna sighed, finally speaking up, "So... You were expecting that little girl you grew up with, weren't you? I noticed your surprise when I opened the door..."

"If I wasn't expecting to find you here I wouldn't have knocked." Marx stated simply, crossing his arms.

"That's... Not what I meant..." Anna said slowly, sitting in the solitary chair, then turning it to face him, "You were expecting to find the same little girl, just... bigger. I'm sorry to say... That girl is dead..."

The Russian Ranger's face grew grim, "But... You're right here..."

Anna shook her head this time, then responded in a grim tone, "Now you're just in denial... you know what I mean... that little girl is long gone..."

Anna's words penetrated Marx's ears, forcing him to clench his fists as she continued, "Those months I spent in Advent's custody... They felt like years... And in a way, they were... I spent most of it in my mind, time tends to feel slower in your dreamscape, or at least in mine... But it was either that, or watch corpses go back and forth through the hall... Just outside my cell... Time tends to slow when you're in pain too... And I was in a lot of it, a lot of the time..."

Anna stopped, her eyes drooping as she looked at Marx, "I'm sorry Marx. But the person you're expecting isn't here... Just this... Ghost... A Shell... I am still Anna, the one you knew, in many ways... I still love you... Family is still important to me... I still care about the creatures I see... But I am different in many more... I'll never get that innocence back... I now understand the truth of what the Elders are doing... I have no sympathy for their kind anymore, just... revenge... The Elders will either atone, like Shen'Lustus, and work the rest of their lives to undo the damage they have done to the races under their command... Or I'll kill them... We'll kill them... And deliver the pain of every life they have ever taken, ever drop of blood they ever helped to spill, right back at them... Either way, I get the revenge I want, the revenge I'm sure you want too."

Marx was just quiet and the heavy silence returned once more, rare tears rolled down Marx's face, it was clear to Anna that the Marx **she** had remembered, was still in there, even after all the hardships he must have faced in XCOM since he joined.

He bit his lip, unintentionally making it bleed, then began to speak, "I'm... God I'm sorry Anna... If I hadn't joined XCOM, you wouldn't have been hurt... I couldn't even find you in time... I failed you..."

Anna suddenly stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You didn't fail me, you did what you thought was right. If I had seen the Elders for what they really were and joined XCOM like I should've, they wouldn't have been able to torture me... I believe that maybe... My capture was meant to happen... It showed me the absolute, undeniable truth of the Elders, which lead me here. None of that was your fault and blaming yourself will change nothing... I may not be the person you were hoping to find Marx... But my love for you will never change... We have a chance, after all those wasted years... To be a family again..."

Marx stood up slowly, uncharacteristically wrapping his arms around the long haired girl before him. Being slightly crushed by the hug, Anna smiled nonetheless, "Heheh... You're.. Pretty strong now..."

Marx just shook his head, his mouth turning up as well as he let her down, "So... What should we do now, cousin?"

"Food?" The Ambusher asked, "You can catch me up on everything I've missed in XCOM."

Marx nodded, "Deal."

 

[Frostlich1228 (Alt)]

"The Witch's Rock" Part 2


***

The Mess hall was pretty busy, with soldiers and staff eating all around them, however it was very clear that they were giving Anna a bit of a berth as the tables directly adjacent to the 'witch' were empty. After a recap of XCOM's accomplishments before Anna's arrival, the two had picked up some food and sat back down at their table, continuing their
conversation.

Anna smiled, digging a fork into her salad, "So... This Keloe? From the mission? You two seem to be close."

"Speaking of." A voice said behind them, "It seems like you two may be talking about me."

Marx looked over to her, awkwardly silent as Anna patted the seat next to her, "Excellent timing actually! Please sit!"

"I think I just might." The Samoan responded, sitting down and leaning forwards with her elbows on the table, "So Marx... Do you consider us close?"

A bead of sweat crawled down his neck, but he didn't lose his composure, "Why wouldn't I? You're an impressive woman."

Keloe listened, smirking as she replied, "Yeah... I am pretty great after all... But how about we stop talking about things we already know... And start talking about Anna here?"

"Do you mind?" Keloe added, looking over to her.

"Of course not." Anna smiled, leaning her head on her fist, "Ask away."

"So... That reflection of yours... The creepy Chryssalid." Keloe stretched a little, "How'd you get it?"

"Well, she was dying... When I was captured, I felt helpless... They subjected me to so much pain... At the moment that she passed, we both felt the same hatred for our oppressors..." Anna explained, "Why, does she make you uncomfortable?"

Keloe just shook her head, "Of course not... I mean, have you seen some of the other reflections around here? And now we're getting the Ethereal's reflections too... like that Umbra... Or that crazy fire knight..."

"People just don't like yours because Chryssalid have a pretty bad image with resistance members." The Samoan stated matter-of-factly, "They are the protectorate's shock troopers after all."

"I can understand, even though I disagree." Anna nodded, "They do not know them like I do."

"There are a lot of things people are scared of that are actually misunderstood..." The Tan-Skinned soldier shrugged, "Like spiders... Although, Arachnophobes are rare these days... Either that or people just started having bigger things to worry about..."

"That's probably true, although, people still seem to be scared of snakes... Those Vipers are probably not helping that phobia." Anna added.

Keloe's eyes drifted up into the corner of their sockets, "You know what I've always wondered... Why the boobs?"

Anna tilted her head, "It's clearly to make them more appealing to human men... Much like how the Archon is very majestic now..."

"Hmm... Well, maybe we should ask a man..." Keloe said, smiling at Marx, "So... Vipers, do you find them attractive? Do I need to start wearing slithery snake skin bodysuits to get your attention?"

"You have my attention, although, I'd have to see you in one to really have an opinion." Marx smirked, still a little nervous, " And those Vipers? The dislocating jaw and the giant fangs... Serious Turnoff."

Keloe almost spit out her drink at his response, "Wow... Making a provocative suggestion like that in conversation? That's not the Marx I met when I first got here... He was more like the... Strong, Silent, Stoic, kinda guy... But this guy! I like this guy way more..."

Marx leaned forward, sighing, "I suppose XCOM has had an effect on me..."

"For the better, I'd say!" Keloe stood up, grabbing Marx under his arm and lifting him up with her, "Now! Let's get you a hard drink! I bet New Marx would love to have one!"

Anna giggled as she watched the display, "That sounds quite nice actually... What do you say Cousin?"

The Ranger looked between them, rolling his neck before chuckling, "Fine then... But I can't be blamed for anything I do while I'm like that."

As Keloe drug him over to the bar, she replied jubilantly, "Maybe not! But I sure as shit won't let you forget it!"