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Hollowed Defiance - Chapter 29 - North America

XCOM had made it to North America and was slowly getting themselves settled in the region.

Approx. 15.80k

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North America. The United States of America. It had been a long time since many of the old guard(and fresh faces) of XCOM had set foot in the country.

Currently, they were stationed near a fairly sizable Haven somewhere between North Carolina and Tennessee. XCOM was doing its usual work bolstering the local Haven, any friendly Cells, and Skirmisher clans in the region. As well as doing supply runs, hunting for information, and putting out lay lines before they would be on the move again. There was rarely an idle moment. 

“Whoa!” Someone exclaimed as they ducked as someone flew high and over their head. They ducked again as a few limbs from the tree above fell and a mass of cables zipped by them. “We sure we didn’t let one of those snakes through?” Just a hint of concern tinged their voice.

Another laughed. “No, just her fancy legs. She’s one of the old guard.”

“Coming down!” Piper yelled. 

She had just finished setting up a few scanning arrays in the tree tops. Stepping off a sturdy branch, she became a blue and brown blur before she hit the ground with a hard thud. She scared the daylights out of one person, and the other was laughing. 

“How? How??” The other stammered as they struggled to get their trembling under control.

She had dropped from several meters and landed like it was nothing. There was just the faintest tremble of the muscles in her legs contracting and relaxing.

Fluffing out her afro, she turned to them and gave them a crooked smile as she tapped her heels against the ground. “I’m a spring chicken.”

“Knock it off, Piper!” Bradford barked. His eyes darted up from his tablet just for a second to catch the scene. Had was glad they were getting back some of their old Gene-Modded soldiers, but knew the problems it would bring for some personnel. Especially with there being talks of restarting that old program if resources permitted. “Finish up your tasks out here and report to the Medical team for your check-up.”

“Always the killjoy, Johnny.” She stuck her tongue out at him. The dreaded nickname got a glare from him. “But on it!”

Currently, Bradford was outside of the ship getting some fresh air and assisting with another round of “check-ins” regarding various personnel, recruits, cargo, and equipment onboard. It was a multi-stage and multi-person system that he liked to make sure was running smoothly. Even more so after there being a few incidents at some Havens with those Faceless. And he had been hearing some rumors of some thin and fairly tall “humans” with scales mingling around in some Havens that were more accepting of defecting Hybrids and aliens.

“Thin Men.” Bradford grumbled the name under his breath.

While working, he was also double-checking some reports coming back in from those out and working with the Havens and Cells. Some pictures were attached showing a much more refined form of those double-agent aliens that would better pass a scrutinizing eye. Not all were thin and tall like the models fielding around 20 years ago. They came in all shapes and sizes, including ethnicities and skin colors. Yet, all were still glaringly male. 

“Are the Elders making you guys again, though they have those Faceless?” He found it to be a little too suspect that they were finding several of them in the region. “Supposedly, from the reports, they’re not. Stopped the process after some ‘issues’ and recalled the most loyal back into Their fold after the world was won.” He mumbled as he continued to scan the report. 

There were more details of how the Elders “retired” some of the more clone-based Thin Men and spent a great deal of time and resources refining the remaining ones to act as ambassadors to help quell the human populace. It worked. And then, some of those refined were sent out to work alongside those Faceless to infiltrate Cells and Havens for future raids. Again, it worked… for a time. For some, the masks those Thin Men wore consumed them, and they found themselves having sympathy for humanity, finally seeing through the Elders’ lies and hypocrisy. 

“Still don’t buy it.” Bradford held onto an unhealthy amount of skepticism. Out of all the aliens the Elders used, he trusted the Vipers and their Thin Men counterparts the least. He had read many files and reports they had pulled from ADVENT and alien sources over the years. They were one of the most loyal to the Elders and most favored. 

“It may be a ploy. Keep your eyes and ears up.” He sent warnings to all who sent in the reports. “I’d… trust a Muton more than a Viper.” He saw in reports how that species was once hired muscle ages ago, mainly working for the thrill of combat and some technology the Elders provided, until something happened between the species and the Elders retaliated hard by oppressing all but a few of the most powerful clans. 

“Would say the same for a Sectoid, but the new ones have their Masters’ cruelty. Been hearing word that some Havens and Skirmisher clans have a few of the new ones living with them. Something about ‘empathy and kindness’ can change them. Hm.” 

Comparing the old model to the latest model, Sectoid was always shocking. Something so skittish, small, and weak became a tall, more menacing force. It showed how well the Elders knew how to remake a species in a short time. What did those aliens have in store for humanity? 

I remember the first time we saw the beginnings of the Elders splicing human DNA into them during the latter half of the invasion. Nasty things. Gave our psions hell. The first encounters with the prototypes nearly ended in some squad wipes. Still, some of their skittish nature remained, as some would hide and use human thralls to throw our soldiers off. 

He shot off a few more messages telling all personnel to practice the utmost caution, as always, when dealing with any “defecting” aliens and likewise with ADVENT. They didn’t need to deal with any potential moles. 

“Central!” A faintly rough male voice called out to him. “Bradford!” It sounded familiar to him. A voice he had heard recently on some transmissions. 

“Give me a sec.” He said, even raising his hand, when he heard heavy boot falls closing in on his position. 

“Always, have your head buried in a tablet, I see.” The man joked. “Makes me wonder how you don’t have a constant crick in your neck.”

Still not looking up from his tablet, he rolled his eyes, but there was a faint nod in agreement. As he was going over some new messages and finalizing additional inventory requests, his mind finally recalled the name to the voice. An old operative, who was now one of the Instructors and Senior Staff, he was more than happy that they would be coming back to the ship. 

“You’ve always got something to say when you come back, Taka–“ As Bradford was looking up from his tablet and was about to rib his old friend back, he paused. He was looking up at him. Wait… no… that can’t be right. 

Bradford knew for a fact he was a foot and several inches taller than him. For a moment, that crippling, suspicious part of his brain thought it was a Faceless that screwed up on such an important detail, but the more rational portions stomped it out. They had several detectors that would have detected that creature. “–mura…”

Takamura was just wearing a smile that slowly grew into a wide grin as Bradford’s bewilderment increased. 

Just as Bradford was about to speak, there was a series of soft clicks before the hiss of depressurization followed; before his eyes, his friend shrank inch by inch until he was just a tad shorter than him. 

Still not the correct height. But… He looked down at his legs. Not like he could see anything beneath the boots and fatigues; there was a faint shift here and a strain there against the fabrics of the pants. He looked back at his face. “New legs?”

Takamura nodded with a smile. He spent a few seconds increasing his height once more to be at eye level with Bradford. “The Void Walkers owed me again since a recent bargain cost me my last two sets and a bit of my hearing. The hearing is good as new now.”

For a second, Bradford’s brow twitched before he shook his head. “That explains why they’ve been oddly generous with tossing in some Meld containers in some recent trades and providing us coordinates to some facilities and storehouses that contained caches of that stuff.” He spoke with the faintest bit of irritation lacing his words before a rough throat clear knocked it away. Not the time to worry about that. 

Shifting his tablet under his arm, he extended his hand to him. “Glad to have you back with the main crew. And you have to tell me the story later.”

Takamura took his hand and gave a hearty shake. “Glad to be back, though I can’t quite call rejoining the ship a vacation since I’ll be thrown at training the new recruits with the others. And garden and kitchen duties.” He chuckled. “Over a meal and some of Warren’s drinks.”

“I would say our more advanced facilities would make it more of a vacation.”

Takamura nodded and pointed at him. “I do miss stable power, consistent food, and not worrying if the water filtration system broke again.”

The two continued to chat, mainly it was Bradford catching up on all the work Takamura and his retinue had been doing across the Americas for about two years that wasn’t always included in their sparse transmissions. 

Setting up some Cells went easier than most. Making them last some months to a year was the hard part, even more so when ADVENT would do their cleansing campaigns. As of recent, there had been an elite set of Mutons running the campaigns using two creature companions to wreak havoc on Havens, the Elders didn’t care to recover samples from. One that could be described as their “dogs” was a nasty and ugly piece of work with a voracious appetite. 

They called them Ravagers. Squat, bipedal nasty things had a keen nose that could sniff one out. But with the help of a smaller Faction by the name of NoX, they were able to quickly create some disorienting gas grenades and scent-canceling sprays to throw the beasts off. And then it seemed like the control harness that partially encompassed their head was a weakness. Striking it until it was sparking seemed to damage the harness and cause the beasts to attack their handlers.

The other creature they used was an amorphous, floating pink blob. Its simple and small design was deceiving as the creature could spit out globules, or streams, of some highly corrosive substance. To add to that, it seemed the creature may have had some sort of psionic power to detect them even when hiding. They called them Celatids. Additionally, the creatures were just as tough as the Ravagers despite their size.

Just some new creatures for XCOM to worry about. 

Bradford let out an annoyed sigh at the news. He just hoped neither would reproduce like the Chryssalids and couldn’t slip from the Elders’ control like some hordes of those ravenous bugs did. 

“More for the boys and gals to document and research.” He was already sending a message and setting up a full debriefing meeting with Takamura and his group for another day. 

“So…” Takamura’s voice trailed off. 

Bradford made a brief hm as he inclined his head. When there was no answer, he looked at him. The man had shifted a few steps and was facing the Avenger, looking up at the hearty ship. There were the faintest hints of a forlorn mood taking over; with each blink he made, his eyes stayed closed just a second longer. 

“Is it true?”

“Is what true?” Bradford gestured for him to keep talking. He knew far too many things – and couldn’t recall most of them – to even try and guess what he meant. 

“The rumors… You guys found the Commander? Commander Reeves?” 

Bradford’s eyes widened for just a second before relaxing. Swore I told him, then again, things have been so busy. And then… He mentally sighed. Some still think of that as my fool’s errand. He hated thinking about it. 

He moved over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “We found her. She was in… rough shape. But we have her. Her health is miles better. She’s even leading.” He paused for just a second. “Mostly.”

Hearing the news brought a mix of emotions to Takamura’s face. Surprise, relief, anger, acceptance, and then relief again. Just as he was about to speak, he caught the pause and trailing word that made him raise a brow. “Mostly?”

Bradford chewed on the inside of his cheek. Should have kept my mouth shut, but he would have learned of it anyway. “What’s one of the ties that binds us all?”

Takamura closed his eyes and nodded. Just a faint subconscious reaction kicked in. He lifted the heel of one boot and tapped at the opposite leg. “Explain no more.”

Bradford caught him up on a very abbreviated version of the Commander’s recovery, omitting a few things she wanted to discuss in the future staff meeting. 

“Ah…” Takamura leaned back on his heels as his mind focused on her butchered health. “So, it is a miracle she is even amongst us living with how the Elders kept her?”

Bradford nodded. 

“That is… strange that those fools let her health degrade in that damned machine.”

Bradford shrugged. It was something bothering them all, and something he couldn’t speak more on with the concerning theories the Commander had been floating with the doctors. “They…” How much to say? How much to hold back? “Applied Their usual trade and were most likely going to apply it again. Those Floaters were practically fighting corpses.”

Takamura shuddered. “Revenants…” He couldn’t imagine that fate befalling the Commander. “I’m glad we haven’t seen them since then. So angry.”

He nodded. 

“So…” Takamura shot him a mischievous grin; the scarring around the left side of his mouth only made it worse. 

“Spit it out. I’m not playing guessing games.” Bradford shook his head. 

Takamura chuckled as he gave an innocent shrug. “You think Reeves will recognize me?”

“No.” He looked at him with half-hooded eyes before rolling them. He knew he was partially serious, but mostly joking. “Besides, you were one of the Operatives back then and got shipped out to a Sister Base midway through that War. No.” He was a little blunt, but the man took no offense. “And, you look different.”

“Well, I will say, I have aged more gracefully than you.” Takamura elbowed Bradford’s side a few times, only to get a solid jab under his ribs, which caused him to gag and stagger away. 

Like most of the old XCOM crew, Takamura had aged, gained several scars across his body, and his voice sounded different, too. He was sporting a lot more grays, wore his hair long, but pulled back into a bun, and had a mustache and short beard. His build and stature had stayed mostly the same through the years, lean yet muscular. He could even outpace the younger Rangers, with and without his mechanical legs. 

Rubbing the spot, Takamura stumbled back over to him. He raised a hand, a feeble attempt that he wouldn’t make the joke again when he noticed the gleam of annoyance in Bradford’s eye. Bradford shook his head and eased up.

“Ah…” Takamura hissed as he straightened himself back up. “Any words on the other three? And any other survivors?”

Bradford’s mood darkened immediately. “Negative. Sadly.” He shook his head. “Thaddeus is still most likely dead with what we found in the Nigeria base... Still no leads on the other two, but we’re going to put some more resources into searching for any trace of the three, and others, due to some recent upgrades we’ve had to our systems.” He explained. “Especially, security-wise.” A faint grumble slipped out. “Damn Codexes.”

Takamura nodded along until he heard a new word. He could immediately tell it dealt with security. “Codex…es?”

“New enemy. Annoying to deal with the current knowledge we have on it. You’ll be debriefed about it.”

Takamura just nodded.

“Back to the others… Kamon, Elli, Thaddeus…” He had to hold back a sigh. He missed those three. “Before we recovered Jynn, we heard rumors about some activity around the region where the old China base was located,  but with all that psionic energy blanketing it, it wasn’t worth it at the time. Back then, and even now, ADVENT avoided sending patrols there. Organic and mechanical.”

“The Hunan base… that would have been Kamon stationed there, right?”

He nodded. “With new contacts and resources, I’m planning on sending a request to the Void Walkers to see if they have any information on what’s going on there. I would ask the Reapers and their sub-factions, but that psionic energy makes it too risky.”

“Have you asked the Templars?” That seemed like the obvious solution to Takamura.

“We’re… still working on fully securing our relations with them, and don’t want them snooping around our old Base without oversight. It should be happening relatively soon with an upcoming meeting. If all goes well, I’ll ask them if they are willing to lend a hand.” 

“Sounds smart.”

“And for our old Australia base in the Outback. Haven’t had a chance to send any probes over there, but I’ve sent a request to the Void Walkers and Betos to check things out. Out of the three, Elli is the most likely one who may still be alive. Either free and hiding or has been captured.”

“Betos?”

“The Skirmishers have some rather rough-and-tumble clans that are kicking out in the Outback just fine.”

Takamura chuckled. “That is rather fitting.” His mind then drifted back to the first of the Sub-Commanders spoken of. “So… still no traces of Thaddeus? Not even in that ‘Missing People’ database.” He knew they were running near constant DNA checks whenever they got the chance, when hacking ADVENT systems or stumbling across the occasional cadaver locked in some suspended storage.

“None. I truly believe he’s dead, with all the blood I found that registered as his. Probably dissected and processed a long time ago.” He shook his head, doing his best not to let his mind dip into anger and despair. 

His shoulders stiffened for just a second when he felt Takamura place a hand on his shoulder and grip it tightly.

“Until we find his body or some file detailing his ‘dissection’, he’s still alive. He was a tough bastard.” Takamura grinned.

Bradford let out a snort before a small laugh followed, which was a little sadder than he wanted. “He was. Miss him and the others. Could use his discipline tactics for some of these hooligans.” Slyly, he tilted his head at some of the crew moving about, specifically the more anti-ADVENT, Hybrid, and alien people.

Takamura tilted his head ever so slightly, recognizing some faces before shifting back. He was surprised they were behaving as he saw a few Hybrids moving supplies around. “Is Alberich and his gang still around?”

“Yes and no. Currently, off ship due to an incident — I’ll fill you in later.” He raised a finger to stop the incoming question. “Have them assisting some Havens, and don’t exactly want them around when we meet the Templars.”

“Smart.” 

“Currently, the Commander is reviewing their files and may move them to be permanently off the ship, depending on how things go when they come back. I barely see them lasting a month, as we have some more Skirmishers and other Hybrids that are joining the crew soon.”

Takamura grimaced. “Hopefully, that is before bloodshed breaks out.”

“Already late on that. Fights between him and Mox have broken out a few times. Usually, someone more level-headed breaks them up before any major damage is done.” He shook his head, remembering reading the incident and medical reports. Then he remembered another detail, a rather surprising one. “Surprised that Elena came to his rescue one time. Though… her explanation was concerning…” 

He is mine, and mine alone to kill. 

As Bradford was letting his mind focus on that statement and the venomous glare Elena wore during the debriefing, he finally noticed the puzzled look Takamura was giving him.

“Ah, dammit…” It clicked.

“You are speaking names, I have no clue who they are.”

“Sorry, force of habit. It will be a part of the debriefings; in short, Pratal Mox is a Skirmisher, formally a high-ranking Captain, right-handman to Betos. Elena Dragonova is a Reaper, one of Volk’s most trusted people.”

“I will keep these names in mind. New people to figure out.”

Needing to go take care of something inside the ship, Bradford motioned for Takamura to join him and would fill him in on anything he wanted that didn’t require them to be in one of the meeting rooms, and showed him some of the latest changes and rooms.

Takamura asked if some of the usual people he knew were on the ship, especially the cooking and garden staff. He was more than elated to hear most were still there and a little annoyed Memento, the head gardener, was away at one of the nearby Haven’s fixing up their garden and doing some checks on the soil and local environment for any traces of the Elders’ machinations or the usual escaped experiments causing issues.

He was sad and angered to hear that Laney had been captured, but happy they were tapping into all ADVENT communications to track wherever they had taken her. And was of course sad to her that Jody had died in the same operation.

On the partial tour, Takamura saw some of the new rooms under construction, a few he knew he would need a detailed conversation to fully understand the alien tech they were reverse-engineering or integrating. One thing that had him excited was that Memento’s Hydroponics and Garden room was finally getting a much-needed upgrade. From what Bradford explained, Commander Reeves gave the go-ahead to repurpose the old stasis field modules found in the old cryopods to make a long-term storage area for food supplies.

He asked if the Commander had approved of Memento’s other idea of installing hidden planters around the landing pad area or the flatter and more accessible parts of the ship’s roof.

Bradford said no. She didn’t want to risk the structural integrity of the ship and didn’t want to risk anything cluttering the landing pad for the Skyrangers; well, only one ship, as they were still working on getting the second one operational.

Once Bradford reached where he needed to be, Takamura swiftly found some old friends to catch up with while the man worked with someone from the Communications team and the Armory team. The whole thing took less than an hour, and before Bradford knew it, they needed him outside again. Just as he was leaving, Takamura caught him by his sleeve. His look was serious and faintly grim.

“I just remembered. Any luck getting back in contact with Recoil?” Takamura asked.

Bradford closed his eyes and shook his head. He took in a sharp breath before slowly letting it out. “None. Like he disappeared off the Earth without a trace after we dropped him off in America those years ago.” He soon grumbled. “Still not sure if the person leaving ‘comm drops’ is an impersonator or not. Any luck on your end?”

Takamura shook his head. “My team and I found a lot of rumors, but they all led to dead ends and more questions. But…” He rummaged around in his pocket before producing a small black case. “Perhaps the team here can do some back-tracing on these chips?”

Bradford eyed the chips. Finally, a lead of sorts? He hoped so. He took the case before leaning in and whispering. “Don’t bring this up with the Commander.”

Takamura was about to speak, but quickly shut his trap. He nodded.

“You know the usual people to talk to when you want to start your debriefing.” He said as he started to leave again. “And at some point you’ll run into the Commander unless she finds you first!” 

—————————

Bradford finished up what he was called for, what still needed some overseeing outside, and finally received a package he had been waiting for, before he was finally able to respond to a message from Commander Reeves.

She was in no rush for him to come to her Quarters for some important chat on a range of topics. She was just about finishing up a session with Dr. Veer.

As he was passing through the Bar and was nearly back in the hallway, a thunderous commotion of yelling and glass crashing caught his attention, causing him to swiftly backtrack.

There was another heavy thud and another cry of pain as billiard balls clacked about.

Elena had one of the usual jokesters and anti-hybrid people pinned against the pool table, slowly twisting their arm. Some people standing nearby attempted to intervene, but an ice-cold glare from Elena made them all back away.

“Tits! You can’t take a joke about tha— AH!!” The woman tried wiggling herself from Elena’s grip only to yelp when she twisted harder. 

“I know your kind doesn’t joke.” Elena sneered. She leaned in closer and hissed into her ear. “Do not trespass on my targets, or you will be wishing you were dealing with a nest of Chryssalids. Understand?”

The woman spat out a curse, which only resulted in another harsh twist.

“Understand?”

The woman laughed. “With the way you’re so possessive over that hybrid and that Chosen scum makes it sound like you’re more interested in fucking them bo—” 

Before the words even left her mouth, there was a loud snap, causing the woman to choke on her words before letting out a scream.

“That’s enough, Elena!” Someone finally stepped in before Bradford had to and pulled Elena away as she let go.

The other woman was cursing up a storm and promising to return the injury in turn as the others were dragging her off to the Infirmary. 

Elena just kept a firm glare on her. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Elena…” Bradford said in a low tone as he came over. He had a firm glare on her.

She returned it before rolling her eyes. “I displaced her shoulder and maybe fractured the arm. Nothing the medical team can’t heal.”

“You need to stop escalating these spats into fights. Especially over that particular subject.”

Her brow twitched ever so slightly. She took a step forward until their chests were nearly touching. “Someone needs to put her kind in their place. I don’t see you or anyone doing that with the trouble they have caused. Especially not the ‘Commander.’”

“Elena. Cut the crap.” He was in no mood for insubordination. “We are fighting a war to take the Earth back. We can’t be all sunshine and roses here. We need everyone we can get to overthrow the Elders. Get your vendettas under control before they get you killed. Got it?”

She rolled her eyes. “Got it.”

“And remember, you have a meeting with Commander Reeves in about three days.” It had to be rescheduled due to recent events.

“Tch. I remember.” 

That tone still bothered him, but he held his tongue. Dressing her down would be pointless. Her mind was set. It would take a miracle to break that cold cynicism poisoning every inch of it.

To think I was like this for some years before finding the remnants of XCOM. And just as hateful to the aliens and ADVENT before some truths were found. He still had a healthy skepticism for the more loyal aliens.

Both held their ground for a while longer before Elena finally backed off, saying ‘she had her equipment she needed to maintain.’ 

“Jynn is going to have one hell of a talk with her… alone.” He grumbled to himself. With how Elena had been as of late, it made him not want her to have that future meeting one-on-one, but Jynn insisted there would be no one hovering in or near the meeting. He just hoped there would be no violence.

With that, he made his leave and made sure to document the incident for further review and investigation.

—————————

Bradford made sure to drop the package off at his room before he made it to the Commander’s Quarters. He knocked before opening the door. To his surprise, Dr. Veer was still there and seemed like she had commandeered one of Dr. Marin’s assistants, Frazer, to assist her.

The trio was situated around the couches with a series of machines from the Psi Labs sitting nearby. There was a bit of a blue light show going on as he quickly figured out that Dr. Veer and Frazer were running tests on Jynn’s psionics. There was that electrode cap fastened on her head, a few more electrodes placed on spots where one would find a Hybrid’s ports, and several more placed across her body.

Jynn was slowly walking back and forth, with a psionically imbued arm outstretched towards a few floating stacks of books that were wrapped in bands that ethereal blue glow. Frazar was keeping pace next to her, but not too closely.

“Ah, hello John, good timing.” Veer noticed his presence first. Even with her ever-present tired look and weary-laced voice, she smiled.

“Evening, Dr. Veer.” Bradford nodded to the older woman as he came over. “How much longer? Do I need to leave and come back?”

“No, we’re just about done here in a few minutes.” She said. “I’m actually glad you made it before we left.”

Bradford raised a brow at the statement. “Why?” 

“John’s here?” Jynn finally noticed the new voice in the room. For a second, her powers faltered, causing the bands around the books to dissipate, making the books fall, but she quickly refocused and caught them before they hit the ground.

“Your reflexes to reignite your psionics are fairly good.” Frazer noted.

“Frazer, if you can wrap up the test, we can transition to analyzing the data down in the lab.” She then turned her attention to Jynn. “I’ll schedule another session so we can continue our discussions later, but do consider talking to someone about them.” She had a particular look, like a stern teacher scolding a student. With the faintest flick of her head, she gestured to Bradford. The man didn’t catch it.

Jynn bristled. She stole a glance at Bradford for a second, her cheeks heated up, before looking back at the doctor with a nasty glare that could bore holes through concrete.

Bradford looked at Jynn and back at Veer. He noticed there were brief flashes of their psionic energy in their eyes. Then he noticed Jynn’s cheeks were red hot. For a moment, his brow twitched. She better have not…

Quickly defusing the situation, Frazer dragged Jynn over to a chair so he could remove all the electrodes. Jynn kept a harsh glare on the doctor before finally paying attention to Frazer, who was trying to usher her over to a chair. 

“Doctor…” Bradford said in a low voice. He kneeled since she was sitting. “What was that about?”

“Nothing to truly worry about.” She said as she turned her attention to her tablet, but she glanced over at him a few times. “Something more personal. I can’t say more. Patient confidentiality.”

“Now you’re enforcing that.” He found that too convenient.  

Veer took in a sharp breath before she faced him. “I will tell you this much. It is a push to get her to consider broaching certain conversations with those she trusts. You are one who is high on that list.”

Bradford let out a grumbled hm. Those conversations could have been about anything, and they were already talking about a lot. But the way Jynn was blushing had him worried that the doctor had told her his deepest secret. 

“Also!” A nudge from the doctor caught his attention. “I hope I’ll be seeing you sometime soon to complete our sessions.”

He gritted his teeth as his lips twisted. “I’ve been busy.”

“You can’t neglect your mental health.” She said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You’ve recovered from that minor drinking spiral a while back quite well, and other things have been going well concerning a certain subject and… locks.” Ever so slyly, her eyes drifted over to Jynn before going back to Bradford. She then spoke in a quieter voice. “I have contacted the Templars to see if they can send over someone to help.”

He followed the movement, and his eyes narrowed. “You’ll see me soon once we’re settled in. Tap. Tap.”

Veer’s eyes began to glow.

You better not have told her about that. His voice came like a cracking whip. He didn’t even give her a second to send a message over. 

John. She let out an exasperated sigh, barely bothered by his tone. Patient confidentiality. And that is just as personal as the problems she and many others are dealing with on this ship. I’ve just noticed some of your clothes are in here. Additionally, I’ve been hearing rumors—

We are not sleeping together!

I… was not… going to imply that. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose. I’ve just heard you’ve been visiting her more often for long hours. She has partially confirmed that she vents to you about some stressful subjects and has been slowly shuffling that off onto the other veteran staff she’s familiar with.

Damn it. He meant to keep the curse to himself and from slipping out. He looked away, feeling rather stupid for jumping to that conclusion so fast. 

John. She placed a hand on his arm. I wouldn’t dare speak of your feelings for her. I know that is a sensitive subject, and I know the issues interpersonal romance can cause, especially with her being the head of this faction.

He let out a gruff snort as he didn’t answer or look back at her. His mind dwelt on those troublesome feelings for his best friend. He wished he didn’t still have them. He stole a glance over to where Jynn was. He was glad Frazer had her distracted. He just hoped she wasn’t detecting this conversation. 

He looked back at Veer. Thank you. And sorry for jumping to conclusions. Just… Just… I don’t know why those nightmares have started coming back. They were under lock and key. Hell! They should be gone with her back!

Sometimes the mind can be illogical. Like I said from our previous sessions, something is causing those psionic locks to break down. By all means, it could be stress, time, or even… Jynn’s psionics. She’s told me she’s mind-linked with you before, correct?

Bradford froze when she said that. The brief flash of a memory concerning a ghost of the Elder and those desiccated corpses came to the forefront of his mind. He still wasn’t sure if Jynn had finally told the doctors about that. Well, the Elders issue was more well-known after that Stasis Suit test went south, but the other thing… He needed to ask her about that.

She has. A few times, but it’s always short. I’m not a fan of those Mind Melds. Though he found Jynn’s psionics to be more pleasant compared to others. 

I know. I suggest you two tone it down until we can get those locks fixed. Veer gently suggested. I don’t want any surprise feedback when they fully break, potential feed back, and possibly she cou—

Don’t… continue. He didn’t even want to think about Jynn glimpsing those nightmares. I’ll keep that in mind.

Just as they finished, Frazer had finished removing all the electrodes from Jynn and was working on packing up the equipment. Veer got up to help him. Bradford headed over to Jynn. 

He noticed she was at her computer and was currently bringing up various files and had something ADVENT related playing on one of the smaller monitors. As he closed in, he could feel a faint tingling irritation hang around her. Oh, boy. Let’s avoid whatever Dr. Veer was trying to broach. For now. 

“Evening, Jynn.” He put on a cheery tone.

There was some silence before she finally responded. “Evening, John.” An irritated sigh slipped out. One that made her tense before letting her shoulders slump. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He chuckled. “I’ve been there.” He shook his head. “Our first rounds of restocking, shipping out, etc., have gone off without a hitch.” He said switching over to ‘military mode’ to help get her mind off current things.

He went into more detail about the currently received shipments, what they were still expecting, and what they sent out in a mix of trades and goodwill gifts. Firebrand and Gargoyle handled their respective runs throughout the day to drop off personnel at the various Havens, Cells, and joint operations with other Factions, as well as picking up any dead drops. 

Recon had been going well. The usual expected ADVENT activity was occurring in the region. Surprisingly, they were in unclaimed territory for their three headaches, but knew the Warlock claimed territory somewhere in North America due to reported high Templar activity. Otherwise, they were currently under ADVENT’s radar. Especially after that close call some days ago.

He didn’t have any positive updates on their search for Laney’s prison location or the location of Jody’s body, if it hadn’t been processed already. Still no hits in the Network, and none of their contacts had found anything. In fact, XCOM was suspecting that a few black markets in Africa and Europe were hit due to information pulled from either. Survivors were few, and they told of how ADVENT came down on them hard when it was the ‘busy hour.’ 

They finally got a hint of a lead on Bones’ man, Marrow, and sent the details over to the odd Reaper. So far, he was still alive but in bad shape with how the Hunter was handling his interrogation sessions. They were no longer within the region that the information pointed to, but knew this scrap of knowledge could hold some truth.

The talk seemed to put Jynn in a better mood, which only increased once the doctor and assistant left. Before leaving, Dr. Veer said she’d talk to the others to get some blood tests and scans scheduled for what she requested. 

Bradford asked what that was about, but she quickly redirected the conversation back to the original topic. She provided a few suggestions here and there regarding what they needed to do in the current region before moving on to the next two locations, before they finally met the Templars. A few weapon and armor production facilities had caught her eye. Disrupting the two would be a mild nuisance to ADVENT, but snatching those supplies and blueprints would be more than worth it in the end. 

Eventually, Bradford felt like it was time to broach the subject, but wanted to start with something else.

“So… how did your other doctor check-ups go?”

Jynn was already leaning on her arm, pressed against the desk. The mere mention of that caused her to flip her hand up and bury her face in it.

Bradford grimaced. “Sorry, if you don’t want to—” A finger silenced him.

“You’ve had a long day. I’ve had an even longer day.” She groaned. Pulling her hand from her face, she looked tired. A faint bit of blue shimmered in her brown eyes. “I am learning things about myself I would rather not, and know there are going to be a litany of tests in the future for me.” She put on a strained smile. It felt like the tests would never end.

His eyes widened before he recomposed himself. He quickly fetched a chair and sat down. “Where do you want to start?”

“Well!” A she turned to face him, she winced before rubbing her chin and arms. “Ever since that damned test, it looks like it has awakened even more of these hidden ports across my body and some semi-dense nerve bundles of some biomechanical crap that I partially zoned out on because curse these damned Elders.” She just wanted to scream, but kept it all in. 

Bradford had both brows raised. A lot of new news to him that he had a feeling both an explanation from the doctors and whatever files he would have access to would leave him lost in the complicated scientific and medical terms. He carefully eyed her chin. Nothing looked odd or out of place, minus some red marks from those electrodes.

“And these things don’t make any sense!” She threw up her hands. “They seem more complicated and invasive than the standard applied to the other Hybrids, especially with how fickle, to not caring, the Elders were handling my health. And then it’s an absolute pain to even try to get them to open up, even with anesthesia!”

He was about to comment on the odd complexity of the ports until the mention of anesthesia caught his attention. “Anesthesia? Did they try cutting you open?” He was looking her over and didn’t see any incision marks, but noticed some bruising on her arms and chin.

“Kind of. It was the better alternative to try and explore the ports on my face and not use that…” She shuttered. “… Helmet. Or any part of the suit… didn’t want to risk what happened again.” She was pretty sure her death glare kept the more daring doctors from even suggesting it, besides Tygan’s own stern glares. “The docs could barely get them open. Broke several scalpels and forceps, but Tygan managed to take some tendril, tissue, and liquid samples to study.”

He offered his hand, and she gladly took it and gave it a good squeeze. He was glad none were idiotic enough to try that again. “Good, good. Any more intrusions from Them?”

“No, it’s been pretty quiet after that.” And she was going to thank that Templar heartily for that rescue. “But I know They’ll be back a knocking sooner than latter.” She sighed. “Especially when that Shadow Chamber is up and running. Tygan and the others have some tests they want to run. They say it should have the power to run some more intensive body scans for my quirks.” 

“Hoping that can give us some solid answers and maybe some potential leads to get some more.” He nodded. 

“Ah! Nearly forgot!” She said with a grimace and twitchy eye. He didn’t like that. “We also did a little test run on the tactical information we recovered from that ADVENT General, Cross.”

With how much her eye was twitching at that grimace was becoming a scowl, he had a feeling the news wasn’t good. “You slipped off into that trance again?”

“Yep.” She said before letting out a slew of curses under her breath in a few different languages. “The Elders really screwed with my brain. But, it… it also let me recall some things.”

“Recall what?”

“They’re fragmented, like several of my memories and dreams. But… there is definitely something special about this Cross. The rhythm to his signature in that Network is far too familiar to me. Like I’ve… met him before. Like he’s my right hand. Like I’ve… I’ve…” She bit her lip.

He wondered why she paused until he remembered something. That unsavory part of that theory. “Jynn…” He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. “You had no control over what They made you do.”

“I still pulled those triggers.”

“No, you didn’t.”

It took more words of encouragement to get her out of the funk and more on to something else. Thinking about her own health headaches again, Dimitri crossed her mind. She asked for an update on her recovery. Bradford said she was still suffering from some migraines, but was doing miles better compared to that night. And no degradation with her vision. 

The discussions continued for some time until it reached a natural lull, allowing silence to take over. 

A message from someone had Bradford distracted for a bit, and Jynn had slipped on an earpiece to tune into what she had on a side monitor. 

With the message answered, Bradford glanced over to Jynn and then to what she was watching. One screen had that ADVENT Speaker, Amon. It looked like he was doing another speech on the “horrid terror attack” that happened at City 22, Sha’n’dao, and how nearly all digital infrastructure was back in operation. Repairing the affected buildings from the explosion would take time. And then the other monitor. It took him a few seconds to figure out it was also something ADVENT related, a talk show of sorts, and one of the presenters looked familiar. A quick search on his end answered the familiarity. 

“Exactly why are you listening to that snake?” He then pointed at the other monitor. “And what are you watching and why?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Hm?” She stole a glance with an equally highly raised brow. “I’m learning more about our enemy.”

“What more do you need to learn about them that we don’t have in the Archives?”

“Propaganda. We have to find the chinks in it if we want the world fighting on our side when this New War reaches its end.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “You have a point.” Then he recalled something. “I’ve noticed you’ve put together a Media team to work in conjunction with our Communications team to pump out some recruitment propaganda of our own.”

She smiled. “I have, and I have also them working with some other teams to compile evidence of the brutalities ADVENT inflicts on those that refuse to join the “controlled settlements” and cities, and evidence of the Elders’ experimentations.” She sighed at the end. “Neither will be pretty, but I believe showing that to the world at the right time will shatter the hold the Elders have on the world. Have to show them we are just lambs for the slaughter in the Elders’ eyes. I know those gene clinics will be the biggest push back. All the good they did will be tainted for many.”

“Huh…” Putting together something like that had never fully crossed his mind. Showing it to the various splintered settlements and Havens, yes, but a full exposé to show to the world, that would be needed.

 He subtly nodded at what she said about the Gene Clinics. He couldn’t deny the “good” they did for those loyal citizens, curing just about every single last issue humanity had struggled with for centuries. He also still had several clear memories of the good the Meld did when they were using it back in the day. And they had some of their Ex-ADVENT citizens and important personnel who had stories of having their issues cured. But there was a truth that those citizens were blind. All those cures? Temporary. 

Heard doc Rosch’s cancer has come back. Again. Such a pain in the ass, we have to waste resources treating him and the others whenever their old ailments come back. Damn those Elders. Need to hit some of those medical databases to find a permanent fix.

Whatever the Elders had set up for those treatments worked on a timer, and perhaps subtle genetic tweaks were made to make those ailments come back. The suggested, but always pushed, check-ups just reset it. Just another reason why citizens were dissuaded from ever leaving those cities, even if it was just to visit friends or family in the controlled settlements that still refused to move to the cities or were waiting for a residence slot to open.

A mixed snort of a sigh slipped out as he thought of his own health. Some days, he wondered how he was still moving. Since rejoining XCOM, he had a few treatments to fix a few issues here and there, but nothing excessive due to their limited resources. He didn’t want the new blood thinking he was getting special treatment since he was one of the original members of the organization before the fall.

Really need to see about getting my knees treated. Giving me some trouble again. He grumbled as he subconsciously shifted his knees ever so slightly. Seeing and hearing those leaps Piper took got them aching, and I still think I have some shrapnel in the left leg. Should also get my shoulder worked on again. He rolled his right shoulder. Just thinking about it brought back the impact and burning phantom pains. Damn that plasma that night. Has to be the worst of all my plasma scars. 

Jynn paid no attention to the sounds or movement he was making.

“Also,” she gestured to the screen with the talk show, “I won’t say I find it entirely too hard to believe that this man, Garette LaCroix, is a torture technician ‘by night’ with how the Elders’ work.” 

Garrette was one of several people the Elders loved to parade around from time to time to show the strength of Their technology and vast generosity. Just another poor child suffering from a terminal illness caused by the recklessness of the governments of the Old World, unleashing chemical attacks against the aliens. With Their ever-flowing kindness, Garrette was one of the first treated by the newly established Gene Clinics in the city. He and his parents felt forever indebted to the Elders, and Garrette worked to become one of their Ambassadors when he came of age.

“If the reports are true, he’s a psion. Which explains how pale he looks even for his brown skin tone.” Jynn noted. She knew some psions would draw the short end when it came to whether their newly awakened powers would affect their appearance or not. “Somehow that white suit doesn’t make him look paler.”

“They are true. Have a contact that barely survived one of his interrogations.” Bradford shook his head. “He’s a sadistic piece of work. Likes using his abilities to puppeteer his prisoners around and make them inflict pain on their allies. And enjoys mind games.”

“I haven’t seen that file.”

“Haven’t had time to upload it. Sorry.” 

“Get it typed up as soon as you can. We may make him a special VIP one day.” A devilish grin crept across her face. “I have a feeling he may be amongst the upper echelon regarding some of the Elders’ plans.”

He laughed, seeing that mischievous grin. “I’ll get to it. May even see if the Void Walkers can get more information on him.”

“Good.” As she was turning back to continue watching the show, she paused. “Speaking about them, did you know your friend, Jake, is dabbling in making videos?”

Bradford had turned his attention back to his tablet and was swiftly typing away, but as soon as she mentioned that annoying Radio DJ, he came to a screeching halt.

“He’s doing what now?”

With a few clicks and taps, Jynn brought up a new video on the main screen. Bradford cringed at the sight and even more so when he heard the voice.

“Oh, for the love of…” He let out a deep groan, nearly letting his tablet slip from his hands. “Did Nithrall get him that stupid mask!?”

The Radio DJ had a setup similar to their other Faction cohorts, making sure to keep the outside background obscured. Bradford was happy the man did keep in mind the training he drilled into him. But his get-up. The mask, if not a helmet, he had on was like something his Void Walker contact, Nithrall wore. Electronic. That black faceplate was lighting up with various symbols and words as the man blabbered on and on about ADVENT’s lies and short failings before going on about finding some old CDs and records. He would be streaming some new tunes on his new pirate station, so people could appreciate the classics and not the current alien crap.

“He most likely did.” Jynn held in a snicker watching his reaction.

“Turn it off!”

She quickly turned the video off to not torture him any longer.

Bradford rubbed his temple. “I see I’m going to have something new to review to make sure he’s not compromising himself, others, or us.”  He grumbled.

“So far, there haven’t been any more Stanford incidents.” She chuckled and even more so when those eyes of his became half-hooded. “I’ve been keeping up with them here and there. Just more of what he blasts on the airwaves than the videos.” She shrugged. “Oh, before I forget, do tell him to get his crush under control and ease up on the hitting on me.” 

“What.” His brow twitched. 

She snorted. “You’ve missed his latest comments?”

“…What?” It was the only thing he could muster.

With a few clicks and a tap, she brought up some segments she had the Media team snip.

“I probably shouldn't mention this on the air, but...woo, I've got a serious crush developing for that mysterious Commander running things over at XCOM. 

I'm not sure if we're talkin' about a man or a woman here, but still...have you seen what's been going on?! Just today, he or she kicked the hell out of some ADVENT goons like it was just another day at the park. Ooh, ooh, ooh!”

“Oh my God… Jake…” Bradford just smacked his palm against his face. How did he not hear this? How did no one else hear this? He knew a certain few would have been teasing him with this.

“It’s a bit… endearing,” if she could even call it that, “but he needs to keep several of those comments to himself.”

“I will make sure he shuts his trap on that.” Bradford was already drafting a message to his ‘friend.’ “What the hell, Jake…”

She started snickering again. Snickering so much, it made him look up from his tablet. “I wonder how the others would have reacted to that.” 

“Who?”

“Thadd, Kamon, and Elli!” She had the Sub-Commanders on her mind. “Kamon would have probably sent a message before even mentioning it to you. Elli would have probably said something the first time she heard it and maybe threatened a visit, even more so if she had a new dog. And Thaddeous would probably ignore it until rumors would start circulating…”

His lips twisted until a snort slipped out. Hearing that made most of his sour mood disappear. “You’re right about that.” Then he sighed. “Miss those three. Really miss Kamon right now. Could use his brain for the logistics.” He was hoping he was still alive.

She nodded. “You’re pretty good with that and have a decent team to back you up.”

“Kamon was on another level with what he could pull off. I’m pretty sure he infuriated the Elders several times when he noticed a pattern to their movements and could figure out Their shifting supply chains. Hell, with what he found, he kept that Hong Kong operation from going sour.”

She thought for a moment and nodded again. “Right, right. Still can’t believe we managed to take control and safely bring down that Battleship. That was a boon to our Research teams and helped calm down that part of the world. Think the China representative was adamant to have him be the head of the branch opening there when the whole fiasco started.” She shook her head just thinking about the Council.

“I remember that. Thought they would have wanted Elli with the amount of aliens getting captured over there that needed interrogating.” Bradford chuckled. “Either way, took some heat off of you for a bit.” He nudged her.

“Barely.” She rolled her eyes. “If Kamon screwed up for just a second, they would have blamed me. And the same with if any of the personnel transfers got delayed.”

He shifted his head back and forth as he searched old and foggy memories. A second later, he sucked on his teeth. “You’re right about that.”

Their conversation shifted over to talk about the Sub-Commanders and the resources being shifted around to find out any information concerning them.

Bradford had a few Data Centers lined up that they could hit, a few high-ranking VIPs they could capture, and some potential Captains they could have another go with the Skulljack.

Jynn was a little worried about using the Skulljack so soon again, but Bradford assured her that the team had taken note of the counter intrusion and bolstered their security to hopefully reduce triggering another Codex. But, he did agree that those things would appear if they continued to hit high-security information.

The conversation eventually shifted over to the eventual meeting with the Senior Staff concerning recent events involving the Commander and her health. The specific date had to be moved around again as they were getting settled down at their new location, but it was going to happen. Jynn was nervous, but felt like the slides Tygan and the others put together would be of great help, besides letting them interject when needed.

Bradford was still a little skeptical, especially knowing the ones who didn’t have the same rapport with her as the others did would be more judgmental. Especially, some of them were not always supportive of their hunt for the Commander and others. He kept most of his negative thoughts in and promised he’d make sure the meeting room was secured.

With the conversation coming to an end, Bradford bid her an early goodnight. He had a few things to check on before turning in. He knew she was going to be handling a few small operations while he was out, and one of his subordinates would take over his position. Just some supply runs and disrupting ADVENT checkpoints and Outposts that were a bother to the locals and those traveling. 

“Should have some ‘new’ minor factions uploaded to the database sometime soon. Seems the NoX have some reach out here in this part of the world, and we’ve been hearing rumors about some psionically inclined group called the Sirens. Seems they have a small branch that’s traveling about.”

Jynn nodded and said she would keep an eye out for the new info. She also told him to remind Jake to lay off his comments, which only got a cursed grumble from him, which she snickered at.

With him gone, she turned her attention back to the monitors and another program concerning Garette.

“What charm and disarming smile. I see why they use him in conjunction with those remaining Thin Man ambassadors.” She mumbled as she studied his mannerisms. He liked to gesture with his hands quite frequently. 

“Hm…” She mumbled as she hunched over, bringing her face closer to the screen to study his face. “Don’t know why… or…” She didn’t want to acknowledge why. “You look familiar… Hope it’s just my faulty memories… or implanted ones…” She hoped it was that. She didn’t like acknowledging her prison and being the unwilling handler of so many ADVENT units. 

“Will keep tabs on you, especially when you’re on ‘tour.’ We will have to catch one of your shows.” She chuckled.

—————————

“‘Go on this simple resource grab and destroy mission, Vert. It’ll be real quick n’ all, Vert.’” Vert threw his voice a few octaves higher to mimic a sassing woman. Then he dropped it much deeper to mimic a gravely, but boisterous male. “‘Real simple op, bruddah! ADVENT won’t know what’ll hit ‘em!’” He spat before yelping as a hail of magnetic fire whizzed past his head, followed by a few harsh ones with thunderous crackles. Several chunks of his concrete blew apart, causing him to scramble nearly on all fours to get to somewhere more stable. “To hell with that! I’m going to die by that damn Hunter!”

“Quit your crying, Verty! Heh!” Farsight said, doing her best to keep a laugh, but was failing. “And didn’t you hear the Commander? That’s not the Hunter! Don’t have his yapping clogging the comms.”

“Wish it was one of the blue bastards.” Scarab sneered. He still had a score to settle with the Warlock.

“Well, they damn well shoot like the blue monster!” He yelled and cursed again, with a sharp yell when his metal cover exploded out into jagged chunks. A faint electric crackle trailed with the chunks before disappearing. He dropped to the ground to get as low as possible before grabbing his right arm. Some blood dripped through the gaps in his arm. 

“Same with the damn ammo!” He felt an electric tingle radiate out from where he felt metal shards and something blunt stab their way through his reinforced kevlar. His fingers quickly found the gap and dug out the metal shrapnel and then a ‘bullet’, which looked to be some metal marble, and checked how deep it went. Not too deep, but it would leave some damage if he didn’t get it treated. 

He cursed again when another round drove through his cover like it was nothing, throwing out a crackle of electricity as it blew a chunk out of the concrete next to his feet. Without thinking, he threw himself back towards the nearby building. He hoped the layers would give him some breathing room.

He flinched again when he could feel solid thuds coming from the other side of the small building. Why do they want to kill me so badly!? His eyes shot down to a metal container he had hooked to his waist. It was no bigger than his hand, having hints of a more alien design with those faint patterns of a UFO’s shielding, and was constantly cold to the touch after it had been removed from some docking station it was plugged into.

This satchel can’t be that special? He was slowly suspecting it was since he did pull it from some strange computer set up by some holding cells. “Where is that suppressing fire, Scarab!? Corsair!? TYKI!?”

“As directed by the Commander, I am securing the last crate.” The harsh flanging voice of Corsair answered his cry. “Will assist once done. You are fine bait for the masked sniper due to what you carry.”

Corsair was one of their new Skirmisher recruits, whom they had finally picked up once they landed in North America. She was a former Elite Stun Lancer with a rather serious demeanor.

Vert let out a rather nasty curse in Portuguese. 

“For your health later, I will pretend I did not understand that.” Corsair said, dangerously straight.

“Assisting Farsight, mate. Got some damn snakes that won’t die.” Scarab said. He and Farsight had worked to tag a few crates until two Vipers had interrupted them, causing them to lose a few. “I’ll send Pixy to you for added interference with some smoke in a second.”

Vert yelled when a hole blew out above his head. He was moving again. “A sec will be too long, you bug!” He snapped. “I will haunt all of you, especially you Far, if I die—”

“Cool your jets, bruddah!” Despite the chaos, Tyki sounded rather jolly. The sound of a few explosions went off swiftly, cutting the cries of a few Guards short. “There’s that gone for ya. And nearly in position for the other nuisance. Gonna paint their world.” The faint whirr of a Mag Cannon filled their comms before the barking hellfire came down.

What was supposed to be a rather simple resource grab before the sun would set, from a partially understaffed ADVENT Outpost, quickly blew up into a nasty fight. The squad had managed to tag a few crates scattered around and pilfer some data from the few unattended computers in one of the buildings before a certain invisible nuisance nearly took off Scarab’s hand when he was hacking into his next crate.

Luckily, he was pulling away to allow his Gremlin to go to work, and the bullet caved in the interface of the crate. The issue was that the damage set off the security system, and they lost their stealth advantage.

Commander Reeves wasn’t sure if she should have been relieved that it wasn’t the Hunter dropping in on them. She hoped the menace was still recovering since their last encounter. But this current sniper was a problem. One she hadn’t seen since she first sat in on an operation. That cloaking four-armed sniper who also had an affinity for laying down smoke to further obscure their position.

Several harsh alien hisses could be heard amongst the tinkling and crunching of bullets pinging off of armor as orange blood squirted into existence. Just at the edge of the smoke covering the area they were firing from, the sniper flickered into view, revealing their tall and gaunt frame. Three arms worked to keep their rifle from being hit by the errant spray of bullets as they quickly rose from their crouched position and sought out new cover.

“Keep on running!~” Tyki sang as he kept a steady stream of fire on their enemy. He was quite glad the Outpost was light on guards, as he could stand out of cover without fear of being domed.

“Smile for the cameras.” Briggs mumbled, arms crossed as he closely watched the monitors. Elisha Briggs was another Communications Officer and was currently filling in for Central.

He couldn’t help but shudder seeing the thing’s mask. A ghostly white with two large red lenses mimicked the compound eyes of an insect, luminescent blue tubing connected to the mask shuddered with every breath, and it looked like it had a large open ‘smile’ where a mouth would have been.

“Get plenty of pics of that rifle.” Briggs ordered.

The rifle had that standard geometric design, they were all too familiar, but that’s when the similarities ended. Halfway down the receiver, the light gray rifle and its long, asymmetrical barrel split in two, revealing the inner rib-like struts and parallel conducting rails. A faint red light thrummed within it as visible electricity crackled down the rails.

The sniper was only on the screens for a few seconds before that cloak of theirs flickered back on into that distorting heat-like haze as they slipped behind an outcrop of rocks. A few rocks were kicked up before all footprints disappeared.

Tyki kept up the suppressing fire for a while longer, chewing the rocks up, before finally stopping as nothing was there. He quickly moved to some cover so he could let the red-hot barrel cool off as he reloaded his cannon. 

“Don’t want to know the face behind that mask.” Briggs mumbled as he looked at a freeze-frame of the sniper’s mask. “Hm?” He placed his finger to his ear and glanced over to a worker at another station. “Got it.” He then turned his attention over to the Commander. “Commander Reeves, we’ve got a hit on the sniper. They finally tapped into the Network. Sending the information your way.”

“Finally.” Commander Reeves nodded. “Stay alert, everyone, they’ve moved.”

Ever since the fight had started, she noticed that this sniper was not communicating with the other ADVENT units and a few aliens on the ground. They were completely operating on their own. It was strange. So far, every ADVENT unit and some of the aliens were fed information from that Network. Even the Chosen tapped at it more frequently than this alien.

She took a moment to brace herself before her eyes focused on her monitor as soon as the information came through. Just for a moment, her brows scrunched together as she read the information before both of them shot up with surprise.

“Was not expecting that.” She shook her head. 

“Hm?” Briggs glanced over her shoulder. 

She saw a designation she didn’t expect to see for some time. PROXY.

›› Smoke - ADVENT PROXY(PXY) - Null -  B1(II.V) - 02

“Great. Another headache for us.” She tapped at her chin as she looked over the other information they grabbed.

“Have to step up our investigation on this designation. First, the General, now a Sniper.” He shook his head. 

It wasn’t much. Every touch this Smoke made to the Network was sparse. A quick check to see how the other units were faring in the position of XCOM soldiers. Another check to see what valuable crates had been stolen or reclaimed — classified. And priority orders to get back whatever Vert had picked up — also classified.

In a way, she was rather glad Smoke’s interactions with the Network were short and curt, as she had a feeling she’d slip into that trance again like she did with General Cross.

“Vert, stay alert. They did not like you grabbing the satchel cache.” Reeves warned. “Something about it containing valuable samples. Not sure what, but knowing ADVENT...”

“Oh ho, ho, ho! You think, smart lady!?” He sassed back.

“Remember who you’re talking to, Vertigo.” Briggs chided him. He only got a colorful curse in response in Vert’s native tongue.

“Last crate tagged!” Corsair said. She was already doubling back to rejoin the squad.

“Affirmative, Corsair. Firebrand is coming round to pick it up.” Briggs said. “Squad, it’ll take some time for Firebrand to come back around to the LZ, but start heading there now. We’re picking up incoming Dropships. ETA 10 minutes and counting.”

Everyone chimed in one by one until a startled shriek of pain came from Vert before a flurry of curses followed.

An alert appeared on the Commander’s screen concerning Vert’s agitated heart rate and dropping blood pressure before she saw the damage on their screens.

Still waiting on one of the Specialists to reach his position, he had taken it upon himself to bandage the seeping wound with one of his bandanas. 

Instead, that seeping wound was now a blasted, twitching, open bicep, and with the shattered remains of the underlying bone embedded in the surrounding shredded muscle. In between all his curses about his other injuries over the years — losing two fingers on his left hand, a notch taken out of his right ear, etc.— he was also cursing out his squadmates for taking forever to get over to him.

“Shit.” Briggs gawked. “Letting the Medical team know what they need to prepare for.”

“Get sight on that sniper, now!” Commander Reeves barked. Her brow twitched when the tapped into cameras revealed three new plumes of smoke appeared around the battlefield, all far from each other. “And someone gets to Vert before he bleeds out!”

“Nearly reloaded, Commander, and I’ll be huntin’ again.” Tyki sang.

“Easier said than done, Commander.” Scarab hissed through the searing heat as a Beam Rifle shot glanced off his armor. “Farsight and I are still pinned by these Vip—”

“RaaaaAAAARGH!” Corsair suddenly roared. 

Like a blazing missile, she came bounding in hard, adjusting her direction a fraction so she could step on and leap off some heavy-duty crates. There was a snikt as the claws on her left gauntlet sprang forth as she soared through the air and towards the Vipers. One was quick to duck and slither out of the way. The second wasn’t so lucky.

Corsair hit them with such force that she caused the Viper to crash to the ground. A dazed hiss came from the Viper before self-preservation instincts kicked in, and it began to thrash about like an angry bull to get rid of its clingy attacker. Unbothered, Corsair dug her sharp nails into its scaley hide before she reared back those claws and drove them deep into the Viper’s unarmored neck.

Several cries of pain came from the Viper as it thrashed back and forth, even crashing into crates, forklifts, and whatever else it could to get the mad Skirmisher off, but Corsair held on.

“Good gravy, are all Skirmishers like this?” Farsight said, half distracted by the terrifying, ferocious attack unfolding that even had the other Viper shocked. Scarab took advantage of that to force it back.

“Mox ain’t like that. Maybe it’s just the Lancer model with the bug in ‘em.” Scarab said. “Or her clan. Silvered Wolverines.”

“Scarab!” Vert yelled, causing his mic to crackle and cut out. Through all the involuntary muscle twitching caused by the electric discharge from the bullet, he had managed to pull himself into the building before another bullet could claim the rest of his arm. “Where is that promised smoke, you dung beetle!?”

“Calm yourself before you go vertical.” Scarab was just about ready to mute all communication coming from Vert if he caused his mic to top out again. 

“Fuck you!”

“Pixy should be there just about now. Deploying smoke.”

Speedily buzzing through the air was a Gremlin with a cream colored shell, and two of its right thrusters on one side were painted red. As it closed in on the building, a hatch opened on its underside, and white and gray plumes of smoke began to pour out of it.

“Thank you! Thank you!” At least Vert wasn’t too angry to be thankful. “Now…” As quick as the praise came, his voice dropped into a low growl. “Can one of you — Farsight — bright and beautiful people — Far — get over here before I DIE!? EVEEEE!?”

An annoyed sigh came from Farsight.

“Keep the excessive chatter down, Vert, before you pass out.” Briggs chided.

“Go get your boyfriend. Pixy should still be hovering around there. I’ve got this snake, and I’ll help out Corsair— Oh, no, she’s got it.” Scarab let out a bemused snort, seeing the carnage unfold, which was replaced by an ‘ow’ when Farsight punched him in his side before heading off.

Corsair had finished one Viper and was swiftly making her way towards the second with a twisted adrenaline-laced grin, ignoring the mag fire being driven into her back from the few guards that remained. Scarab worked to chase or pick them off.

Farsight made her way as swiftly as she could to Vert’s location. She sent her Gremlin, Hypnos, ahead of her when she was informed that the Vert’s levels were critically low; Hypnos made its way mostly undisturbed, found its way through the smoke, and into the building, and gave Vert a much-needed, but small, dose of restoration spray.

Spotting Pixy floating in and out of the edge of the smoke it had dispersed, she was nearly to that building.

“Hang on, Verty, nearly the—”

Her words were caught in her throat as she found herself suddenly tumbling forward, Mag rifle clattering to the ground, as the muscles in her left thigh seized. Only once did she hit the concrete, did she finally yell.. 

“Farsight! What’s wrong?” Briggs’ eyes were laser-focused on the feed from Pixy. He was glad the bot flew over to her, but annoyed it deployed what little smoke it had left, obscuring whatever had happened.

“Tyki! Systems pinging the sniper southeast of Farsights position.” Commander Reeves chimed in.

“Movin’!” He hummed. It wasn’t long before that wonderful sound of the barrels spinning before the bark of sustained fire filled the air and caused that alien to hiss again.

“Crap! Crap! Crap!” Farsight cursed as she pushed with her good leg and dragged herself into cover before a loud crunch exploded behind her. She’d had to thank Tyki later.

She gave Pixy her thanks before she flipped herself over. Pushing her back against the outer wall of the building, she examined the back of her thigh the best she could with her hands. Her fingers traced the jagged edges of her sundered armor and under-armor, followed by singed cloth, and then the skin. There was blood, she could feel that, but it barely felt any deeper than her short, clipped nails.

“Farsight!?” Briggs called out her name again.

“Alive, give… me… a…second.” She said through gritted teeth as the last sensations of the pain biting at her thigh dissipated. 

She ran her fingers across the wound again. Bitting back, a hiss, feeling some of the raw flesh. “A graze?” She double-checked one last time, and it was just that. “What the hell was in that shot? Felt my whole leg seize up like it was on fire!”

“Far!” Vert yelled, rather shakily. That brought her back to more pressing matters.

Giving her a small booster shot, as her thigh still felt like jello, she forced herself up and into the building to find her teammate, which wasn’t too hard to follow the blood trail on the floor and walls.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” She teased as she found her angry friend hiding behind a wall of those heavy-duty crates. The man was shaking hard, barely keeping himself up and awake as beads of sweat poured down his paling face. He had done some rough work with his bandanas to stop the bleeding, the best he could.

Vert shot her a glare so bloodthirsty, if she wasn’t already used to such a hateful look, she would have frozen in her tracks.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Verty. Let’s get you patched up.” She playfully tutted, even throwing in a flirtatious wink. Her hands were opening her side pockets for the tools she needed. “Hypnos, get those meds and anesthesia going!”

“Oh…! No… no…no!” His words were strained as he gasped for breath that he didn’t have enough of. “No sweet-talking… from you, Evey! I’m—”

“Shh. You’re pretty brain needs that oxygen!” With a forceful finger, she hushed him as she started working on his mangled arm.

He was about to speak again until he suddenly leaned too far to one side, made the world spin, before he barely caught himself and leaned against the crates. Instead, he bit his tongue and waited for enough of the meds to kick in, and he wasn’t so lightheaded.

Scarab and Corsair relayed they had taken care of the Viper trouble and a few guards and were heading their way to assist with the evac as Firebrand had finally returned. Those Dropships were nearly there.

Tyki reported that he had lost sight of the sniper, but swore he had done some serious damage as he saw it bleed a lot. Commander Reeves reported there was nothing from them on the Network, but they were monitoring it. He quickly made his way to where they were all meeting up. 

“It’s not pretty, but that’ll hold for the doctors to do their work once we’re back.” Farsight said as she double-checked her work. The wound was closed, but it wasn’t pretty; it did the work. He was not going to be able to use that arm again until he got it treated.

Helping him to his feet, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek despite all the harsh stubble, which made him pull away.

“No, no, no!” Vert had his second wind of breath. Bringing up a finger so fast, it made her recoil, he harshly waved it in her face. “No buttering me up. We are not doing the twisted tango later either!”

She stuck her tongue out, purposefully licking his finger, which got a small shriek out of him. “Mhm, we’ll see about that.” Just another tease.

That got snorts and laughs from the others.

“You do know we can hear you two?” Briggs said, holding back an exaggerated sigh.

Commander Reeves rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she missed the professionalism of the old days.

As soon as Scarab and Corsair arrived, Corsair took the satchel and bolted out the door, spitting out a few words of “not to worry about her” and “I will be swifter than their bullets,” much to the others’ protests.

Almost on queue, just a few feet after she had left the building, there was a thunderous bang. A second later, just as Corsair vaulted over some of the heavy-duty crates, a sickening punch of metal collapsing inward was heard, accompanied by an electric crackle, followed by another punch and grind, before the sound of concrete breaking followed it.

[Smoke:] “››Accidental overcharge of rail cannon. Caused by errant fire of the one with the cannon. Assumed damage to the capacitor and rail segments. Tyki. Callsign lodged. //Sigh// Premature shot. Missed the traitor; new carrier of the valuable object. Marked. Interception priority.‹‹”

[Smoke:] “››Cloaking system damaged by emergency discharge.//Sigh// Logging that for repairs.‹‹”

[Smoke:] “››//Sigh// Rail cannon cooldown cycle. Inoperable. ETA: Too long. //Sigh// Switching tactics. Hm. Retrieval of… Moving. Backup should be here soon.‹‹”

Commander Reeves read off what appeared in the Network under her breath. 

“That’s the first instance of them talking.” She noticed. A brow raised as she was picking up their speech patterns. Another unit that had enough freedom to have personality. “And if Corsair never took that shot…” She just let her voice trail off as her mind imagined the narrowly missed carnage. 

  She glanced up at the screens and saw one of the hacked cameras caught a glimpse of the Smoke before it disappeared into an obscuring cloud. There was a faint electrical crackle coursing around them, as parts of them here and there would flicker in and out of view.

“Briggs, what’s the ETA on those Dropships?” She asked.

“2 minutes and counting on the backup, people. You need to get moving!” Briggs answered her and relayed that to the soldiers.

“Our sniper nuisance’s cloak has been damaged, and it seems their rail cannon rifle is under cooldown. This is a boon, but stay alert. We have no idea what other tricks they may have.” Commander Reeves added. 

Once Tyki arrived, he let his cannon hang by his side and took over carrying Vert for Farsight. Vert complained that he would at least put him in a position where he could watch their six since he couldn’t shoot. 

They didn’t need to be told twice to start heading to the LZ.

Corsair managed to make it to the Skyranger with a few more dings from the remaining Guards, but nothing that would slow her down. She got herself hooked in and started to ascend. In her free hand, she was examining the satchel, turning it around and over with a firm grip.

“Hm…” Her voice thrummed. “Commander, I may know Vert was targeted heavily. Cold, cold container. Self-powered system.” She mumbled before her voice picked back up. “This reminds me of containers I have seen with certain recovery teams that were doing research in fie—”

The green bolt flashed across the screen before an explosive spray of that concentrated plasma exploded against Corsair’s back. She let out a reverberating shriek before every part of her being entered a semi-rigged but limp state.

“Shit! Corsair!” Briggs yelled. His eyes quickly found her vitals. Levels were critical, but she was still alive. He just hoped her modified biology would keep her stable until the others got there.

“Dammit… Stay alert, Menace. Seems our sneaky friend found a new gun.” He started relaying information over to Firebrand about the issue. There wasn’t much the pilot could do, except maybe move to a new position, but the skies would be crowded soon. So he was hoping the automated pulley system would get the Skirmisher into the craft and not leave her dangling like carrion.

“Sending Hypnos, but don’t have much left to wake her up.” Farsight said.

“Where are you? What are you thinking?” Commander Reeves mumbled as her eyes darted back and forth from her screen with information flowing from the Network and back to the screens concerning the field. Better late than never. She noticed that a strong gust of wind had finally come through and was pushing away the older plumes of smoke cover the sniper had deployed. 

[Smoke:] “››//Huh// Direct hit with damaged Beam Rifle. Target out. Twitching. Rigid grasp on container. //Sigh// Must be Lancer model or variant. Charging. Moving closer to sever. No luck twice. //…//Assistance requested at POI when dropping.‹‹” 

“There you are.” Reeves spotted the sniper who was on the move once more towards the Skyranger. They were keeping a wide berth from the rest of the squad, opting to head up the nearby hill. 

Oh great. She saw the first Dropship coming in, and a MEC was already deploying. “The LZ is going to be hot Menace. The first Dropship has arrived, and the sniper is heading over there to dislodge Corsair from the cables.”

“We see it.” Scarab said through gritted teeth as he was already moving into cover to support the others and to watch where the newest headaches were moving to. He did not like that the MEC was rapidly closing in on their position with at least one Trooper following it; its grenade launcher was cycling. Screw the container. Need to get this path clear.

Picking up his tablet, he quickly checked to see what his Gremlin still had left. If we’re lucky, it may stun the thing long enough.

He started to key in instructions to Pixy to buzz over to the MEC and give it a hearty zap from its last Capacitor Discharge. The flaps covering the bot’s eyes opened and closed before its thrusters let out a high-pitched hum, and it was off, flying an errant pattern in case that sniper wanted to take it out of the air. 

“Tyki!” He glanced over his shoulder. “Still got grenades? Vert, you got any?”

“A couple on my backside. Mostly the reg kind. Blues all out from earli’r.” Tyki said as he adjusted how it was carrying Vert on one arm — who immediately complained — as his other blindly searched for his bandolier.

“Just a stunner left.” Vert said gruffly.

“A stun’s useless, but the others will do.” Scarab didn’t care; they just needed something that’d hurt. “Farsight, how’s your throwing arm?”

“Pretty good!” Before Tyki knew it, Farsight snatched the bandolier off his waist and headed over to Scarab. They divided the four grenades between each other. 

“Save yours for the party gathering under Corsair. I’m gonna try and hobble that MEC. Give Tyki support!” He said before he vaulted over his cover, laid down some fire to make the Trooper seek cover, and worked his way towards the MEC. The other three started moving again, doing their best to avoid catching the attention of the MEC.

The MEC paused in its rumbling run and trained its Cannon on him and let loose a volley.

Scarab bit back a yell as he dove into cover. Throwing his rifle precariously over his head, he blindly fired at the robot. “Come on, Pixy. Not sure how long it will notice the others moving…”

The bark of mag fire, followed by the cry of death from that Trooper, caught his attention. Then he heard a few more stomps moving away and that cycling whir. Shit. His fingers blindly searched for a grenade and then its pin. As he was rising to pull the pin and toss the grenade, he heard an angry, zooming whir buzz overhead before that familiar static discharge filled the air. 

Hearing the sound of gears grinding made him grin.

“Move along, buddy!” He yelled. That pin flicked out, and the grenade went soaring. He repeated the same thing with the other.

There were a few tinks and then a boom as it went off just behind the MEC. The sound of metal crumpling, a heavy thud, and the more gears grinding was sweet music to his ears. 

As the smoke cleared, the MEC was kneeling over as the back armor of its left leg was shredded, revealing a sparking mess. Its head twitched as its systems tried to force it to rise, but it found itself dropping as soon as the compromised hydraulic system gave out. The cylinders to the launcher on its back made a horrible grinding sound as it only spun halfway before violently turning back.

“Good enough!” He’d take the leg being out of commission and the grenade launcher being jammed. He quickly moved, sticking to cover as the MEC quickly showed it was still capable of shooting, to catch up with the others.

Hypnos had made it over to Corsair and was currently frantically weaving back and forth as the few Troopers below the LZ were taking shots at it. It had provided what little healing spray it had, stabilizing the Skirmisher, but not enough to get them back up.

“Menace, the LZ’s hot and the sniper’s taking aim at Corsair again.” Commander Reeves said. “If they drop them, ignore the container, grab Corsair, and just get on the ship.” They would come across something like that again in the future; what she needed more was experienced soldiers.

They acknowledged.

“May need you to block that cable, buddy…” Farsight quietly relayed orders to her Gremlin. As she could see the problem ahead of them, she let her rifle drop to the side to grab a grenade; her nail was picking at the pin. “Just a little closer.”

“Farsight!” Scarab yelled. He had nearly caught up with them. He spotted the sniper on that hill. One lower arm was pressing against the ground behind then, as it used two arms to stabilize the Beam Rifle. The green glow was growing fast. “Pitch ‘em, now!”

There was a click before she threw the first grenade. A second click soon followed. As those grenades sailed through the air, a beam darted across the sky. An explosive green flashed, rocking Corsair, but she didn’t drop. Something else fell, which a Trooper quickly grabbed. 

“Wait… did they?” Briggs narrowed his eyes, seeing that Corsair was still tethered.

Commander Reeves was scanning the Network. “Yes, I think they—”

A sizable explosion cut and abrupt cries cut her off. 

“That’s one way to clear the LZ.” Briggs grinned.

“Wonder if that satchel survived it or not.” Reeves said.

“Menace, move quickly, the other ships have arrived!” He said as he noticed on some screens that they would be having company coming from behind.

“Do a quick check to see if that satchel is still around. If you can’t find it in 10 seconds, forget it.” Reeves adding.

The four made it to the LZ. Farsight was quick to go up first, so she could pull Corsair in and told them to send Vert up next. Once Vert was going up, Tyki got himself in but didn’t go until Scarab was hooked.

“Hurry up, bug!” Tyki said. Eyeing the incoming black armor made his hands travel over to his cannon.

“Give me a second.” Scarab was searching for that container, counting the seconds down in his head. He just needed two more and he would— “Got it!” He said only to curse under his breath to see how badly beaten up the satchel was. Part of the metal was melted, and it looked to be venting some cool gas. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” He rushed back. Once he was hooked in, both of them were heading up.

Commander Reeves held her breath watching the last two ascend, expecting a green beam of death to strike Scarab, but it never came.

Her eyes drifted over to her monitor and the stream of information from the Network.

[Smoke:] “››Container lost. Partial failure. Readings show damage to the container. Contents compromised. Degradation should start //…// Not what the Network called for, but damaging samples was only viable solution.‹‹” 

[Smoke:] “››May the Elders be understanding. New data gained in return. Two-fold. More research needed. XCOM now in North American Sector or has active Cells here.‹‹” 

[Smoke:] “››Information disseminating to all superiors Taking leave. Unit requests recovery and equipment repair.‹‹” 

“Hm…” Her eyes narrowed as she read the transmission a few times over before looking back at the screen. 

As the Skyranger was making its escape, just before the last sets of hacked cameras fizzled out, Smoke was making their way to a Dropship that had landed. Their armor was peppered with dents and holes, from which orange blood seeped out. 

She was about to give Briggs some orders, but he started speaking to the team. A quick check to see how each soldier was doing. Everyone was banged up to varying degrees, but alive. Corsair was even coming back to consciousness after Farsight used some of the medical supplies stored in the Skyranger. The Skirmisher was going to need extensive treatment on the hand Smoke blasted if she didn’t outright lose it. Something else for Briggs to inform the Medical team. He wished them safe flying and transferred all communications over to someone else who would alert them of any trouble.

“Briggs, have this information sent over to the usual teams to get it analyzed for anything I’ve missed. And tell them to get those files updated regarding this Smoke.” Reeves said once he was done.

“Will get right on it, Commander.” He nodded. “ETA for Firebrand’s arrival is half an hour, as long as her flight path stays clear.”

“Mhm.” 

Turning her attention back to her computer, she typed away at the keyboard to bring up some intel. Eyes went through file after file until she narrowed it down to three files. 

“Hm…” 

She looked at the time. 19:37. “Maybe…” She wasn’t feeling tired just yet and didn’t feel stressed. Her mind was coursing with plans and itching for another operation. She tapped at her lip. “Could do another raid with the cover of darkness if done right. Just have to worry about some of those units having enhanced night vision.”

She mulled over the idea in her mind a few more times as she took a look back at the files. Another supply raid. Hacking a workstation. Or recovering a confiscated item of importance.

Hurting for more supplies, so let’s do that again. Just choose a location not too near this one. They’ve most likely increased security at all places near this Outpost. And this will be if for tonight and you need to turn in. Don’t need to get in trouble with the docs.

She selected the next target and told Briggs to have the Hanger crew get the Skyranger prepped for another run as soon as Firebrand got back, and find out which one of their pilots was ready to swap out with Firebrand. She then began selecting the soldiers for the operation.

[xcomresistanceradio]

Which Chosen?

Assassin

Warlock

Hunter

Voting ended onFeb 7, 2023

[sarnakhwritesthings]

Your turn for a top 5 question. Top 5 times a game made you wanna rage quit or Hulk smash your controller?

Halo 3, Cortana. I flat out put the game down and didn’t come back for multiple months.

In a similar vein, the Maw.

Thirdly, the Wraith boss in Halo Infinite. Tried to take him on with a half-empty scattershot and a gravity hammer. Did NOT go well. Tried to use a banshee to do the trick but APPARENTLY if you get too high above a boss fight, you reset it and respawn all the enemies. That was the last straw for that gaming session.

Came back a couple days later with a Razorback full of SPNKR and Skewer marines, fucked his shit up.

Several That’s XCOM Baby! Moments in LW2 and WOTC (have not actually beat LW2 OR WOTC yet. LW2, I think my last run died on a troop column I was too underprepared/undermanned/underleveled for (turns out support grenadiers are only so good at disabling sectopod s, and a Shinobi without combatives is useless. WOtC is/was stalled on an avenger defense I was probably going to lose because of really bad terrain). (Counting this as both 4 and 5, lol)

[janeaudron]

Angrily howling Jy-Sol is done. Hands may not be perfect, but I got the job done. If I get my hands on a scanner I will be coloring this. I miss my printer/scanner. Will be able to capture her burns and bullet wounds in color.

Already have ideas of her armor upgrades. But that’ll be some time before I draw that.

[witharsenicsauce]

XCOM: WOTC Headcannon

Because they worked in such close proximity (and AVENT doesn’t really do individual expression), Skirmishers are really comfortable around each other. Because of this, on hot days, it’s not at all uncommon for Skirmisher women to join their male comrades in removing their shirts. So don’t be shocked if, when you walk into a Skirmisher camp on a scorching day, you see a bunch of the ladies walking around bare-chested.

[moyurukoda]

@ people who post about XCOM or Life is Strange

[omelettesoup]

say what you want this is one of the best features of the game