The Stormbreakers: A Stellaris Story

[Macavity116]

<== Faith in Chaos - A Stellaris Story (Epilogue - The Second Beginning)

Next Chapter (Hero of Another Story) ==>​

Prologue
Children of the Gods

​

Dappled sunlight filtered gently into the temple chamber through the ceiling, which was as clear as glass yet solid as steel. Over one mile of ocean water lay above this sanctified room. Schools of fish flitted past the undersea structure, keeping their eyes on it as though they expected it to grow teeth and attack.

The temple chamber itself was ornate and beautiful. Images of tall beings, clothed in magnificent robes and helmets, were carved from gold and towered over the room. A constellation of symbols and hieroglyphs were carved into the floor, dividing the room into four equal quadrants and drawing the eye towards the central shrine. The room had only one exit: a pressurized airlock that led deeper into the colossal undersea complex.

With a series of clicks and hisses, the airlock door opened and allowed a tall slender being to enter. He was humanlike in appearance, but on closer inspection, it was plainly obvious that this… thing had not been Human for a very long time.

Gur-Mon Madron wore subtle, muted colors that made him difficult to spot from across the room. His eyes glowed with fantastic purple light, but were impossible to see from anywhere other than directly in front of him owing to the hood he always wore. Madron had barely taken two steps into the temple chamber before stopping in his tracks. He wasn’t called the Elder’s Chosen Hunter for nothing. He could sense another presence in the room.

Slowly… quietly… Madron reached up and unshouldered his hunting rifle. The Darklance was the finest, most accurate, and most powerful firearm that had ever seen service in the Second Hyperspace War. Only one existed in the entire Galaxy, and now the Chosen Hunter aimed this lethally accurate weapon into a darkened corner of the room where the shadow of a gold statue was hiding someone.

Looking down the sights and into the scope, Madron mused to himself:

“It would be so easy…”

Lazily, without any real thought going into it, Madron’s finger began to slip inside the trigger well.

Two pinpricks of purple light flickered in the shadows, then went out. Suddenly, Madron felt a strong tugging sensation on his back! His weapon fell to his side as two irresistible forces clamped down on his arms like a vice! Then Madron heard a soft hissing noise as his attacker became visible once more.

The Elder’s Chosen Assassin could have killed Madron in that moment. Having grabbed him from behind, she had pressed her Katana into his chest with one hand while holding the little Shoto Blade to his throat with the other. Madron turned his head, gave the Assassin a look he knew would make her angry and said:

“Good to see you, sister.”

The Chosen Assassin bared her teeth at Madron and hissed.

She wanted to kill him.

He wanted to kill her.

But before either of the Chosen could do or say anything else, a deep booming voice filled the whole chamber, causing the Assassin and the Hunter to let go of each other.

“Miscreants.”

The voice of Kon-Mon Dessurik, the Elder’s Chosen Warlock, rolled across the temple like an approaching thunderstorm. Each of his footfalls made the floor tremble, and the air around him shimmered as raw Psionic energy radiated away from his massive body.

“Restrain yourselves.” Dessurik commanded. “Lest you be restrained.”

Reflexively, Madron took a step back from the Assassin and raised his Darklance, taking aim at the Warlock and putting one finger on the trigger. This time, the Assassin stepped directly into the line of fire and put one hand on the barrel of the rifle, forcing Madron to lower it.

“No!” she spoke in a raspy, strangled whisper. “The three of us… called upon together? Something has changed.”

She cast a look at the Warlock.

“On that we are agreed.” Dessurik replied. “The battlefield has shifted. Our masters have need of us once more.”

The Chosen Hunter scoffed.

“Sounds to me like they’re afraid.”

This was the wrong thing to say. Something seemed to snap within the Chosen Warlock. Dessurik clenched both of his fists and bright purple Soulfire ignited in his palms! Pointing one burning finger at Madron, Dessurik shouted:

“You DARE defile this place with your wretched tongue!?"

With a mischievous smirk, the Hunter answered:

“Oh, I dare…”

The conversation was over.

The Warlock began to charge a powerful Psionic attack, his whole body enveloped in flickering Soulfire.

The Hunter took aim with his Darklance, putting the crosshair right between the Warlock’s eyes.

The Assassin crouched low and began to draw her Katana, aiming to strike at the Hunter’s trigger-hand.

Before the fight could start, the Chosen were interrupted! A pillar of brilliant violet light shot up from the shrine in the center of the temple, scattering through the transparent ceiling before being diffused by the seawater above. All three of the Chosen stopped preparing to attack, disarmed themselves, and fell to their knees in reverence while the image of an Ethereal began to resolve itself. Hovering in the air above the shrine, it looked down upon the three warriors.

“Our children…” The Angelis Ethereal spoke in a motherly tone, sounding almost kind and friendly. “Each of you possess our strength, each of you possess our wisdom. Of all our creations, you are truly blessed.”

The three Chosen smiled inwardly to themselves. The Angelis Ethereal continued:

“Your charge was a simple one: The subjugation of all those who would see our grand design falter. We have been pleased… until now.”

Those inner smiles turned to much more horrified expressions. The Angelis Ethereal’s voice became a little cold:

“The New One has returned to the battlefield, many years after we thought it to have been lost at the hands of our strongest. We are disappointed."

The Assassin tried to hide her ignorance.

The Warlock tried to hide his embarrassment.

The Hunter tried to hide his contempt. He failed.

“Thought you were the strongest.” Madron mumbled under his breath.

The floating image of the Angelis Ethereal suddenly became a lot less angelic. Its fury and rage became known at once! A column of Psionic energy descended from above and struck the Hunter! Wracked with intense pain, Madron hunched over while Dessurik smirked in a satisfied way. The Angelis Ethereal admonished the Hunter a terrifying voice:

“Arrogance! Defiance! You have walked among the Humans for too long! You have been corrupted. You can be reclaimed.”

Just as quickly as the bombardment had started, it stopped. Allowed to raise his head at last, Madron saw the Angelis Ethereal revert to a less-demonic form. In an almost sweet voice, it said:

“Yet perhaps, you may also be redeemed. Perhaps you all may be redeemed… A greater battle still lies ahead…”

Psionic energy washed over the temple and swirled around the three Chosen. Their minds were filled with images from the Second Hyperspace War… memories of all that had come before, all that had been lost:

The Warlock witnessed the Blorg Homeworld succumbing to the Beast, turning a sickly black and red color. In the orbit above, Blorg warships turned against one another as the biomechanical virus began to spread across the fleet.

The Hunter saw the Taiidani attempting to unleash a superweapon against the Beast, only for the creature to subvert the weapon and turn it against its masters. A whole armada, thousands of people, wiped out by the thing that was supposed to be their savior.

The Assassin saw a Partogan Hyperspace Gate being attacked and bombarded by Partogan warships while an endless stream of infected starships poured out of the gate. As the gate itself is demolished, a handful of infected ships run the blockade and escape into Hyperspace.

All three of the Chosen saw a vast armada of warships assemble in the Alpha Centauri star system, massing into a colossal combined fleet, then depart as one. Partogan, Levakian, Assurian, Micore, Kelt, Vanian, and Amadii warships all flew in formation together, united by their common destination… Earth.

The visions faded, but the dark implications were burned into the minds of the Chosen.

“Our time on this world draws to a close.” The Angelis Ethereal said, “Yet we need not abandon it completely at our departure, for one among you is surely ready to claim this world as their own. One among you is worthy.”

The Chosen began to shoot suspicious glances at one another, sizing each other up.

The Angelis Ethereal resumed its terrifying voice and appearance, all the better to make its will perfectly clear:

“Bring the New One to us. Crush all who would stand in your way. To the one that succeeds: our everlasting favor! To the others…”

The silence was the only explanation the Chosen needed. They looked up at the Angelis Ethereal and nodded their understanding.

“You are the Chosen! Do not fail us. Now GO!”

<== Faith in Chaos - A Stellaris Story (Epilogue - The Second Beginning)

Next Chapter (Hero of Another Story) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Children of the Gods)

Next Chapter (Welcoming Comittee) ==>​

Chapter One
The Hero of Another Story

​

One of the many Unification Day monuments built all over the ADVENT Megacities on Earth. These statues celebrate the day when the Elders decended from the heavens and began their uplift of Humankind.

My girlfriend spent her twentieth birthday saving my life.

I’ve heard people say that the first words of a story are the most important. They grab the reader and pull them in, and that it’s a waste of time to describe things like the weather or the color of the grass and so on. It might bore people. I don’t wanna do that. I’ve got a really big story to tell. It’s about the end of… well, not the world, but the end of life, the Universe… everything, really. It’s the end of history itself. That’s the story I want to tell.

A long time ago, I was a hero in my own right… but my story ended a while ago. I’m here to tell about Jericho. I was alive at the same time as Jericho, I knew her real name; fought by her side in a lot of battles. I was right next to Jericho during her highest and lowest moments… but I never knew… I never could have predicted... how her story was going to end. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m writing this… so that somebody out there knows who Jericho was, what she did, and why she did it.

So, my story might have ended a long time ago, but you need to know the basics of what happened to me if you’re going to understand the role I played in Jericho’s life. Let me explain:

My name is Blake. Blake Alexander Robinson. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve probably read about me in a history book. See, my father was J.D. Robinson. Yes! You read that right! THE J.D. Robinson: 6th President of the United States. He’s the guy who won the Presidential Election despite winning the popular vote in only eleven out of fifty states.

​

On November 9, 2004, the Presidency of George White was brought to a sudden end by a Michigander named J.D. Robinson. Historians agree that Robinson "played" the US Electoral College, exploiting the system to secure his own election to the Presidency despite losing the popular vote by nearly 15 million votes.

God, I hated living in the White House. If you ever look at those pictures of the Inauguration Ceremony, you can see me and my sister Jackie sulking next to the podium. Anyway, things weren’t bad for that long. I made friends with a Secret Service agent named Kathleen Walsh, and the two of us still have a good relationship to this day. But other than hanging out with Agent Walsh, I hated life in Washington for the first few months. All my dad cared about was stopping some kind of “border crisis” in Asia from spinning out of control and turning into a war.

Then there was the big state dinner about a few months after the Inauguration. Dad signed some kind of treaty that made an alliance between America and Japan. It was supposed to prevent a huge war between Japan and the Soviet Union, and we celebrated by inviting about 200 important Japanese people over to the White House for a state dinner. That’s where I met the girl I’m going to marry soon. Back then, her name was Princess Asami Yamato. She was a member of the Japanese Imperial Family. I never found out how she was related to the Emperor, but I heard Asami call him “Uncle” a few times, so they were definitely blood relatives.

Princess Asami was the only person who believed me when I said there was a ghost haunting the White House. She was so interested that we both snuck out of the state dinner and we set up a stakeout in the Lincoln bedroom, trying to catch the ghost. Agent Walsh caught us and raised hell about the whole thing. Lucky for us, both of our families were really anxious to make the America-Japan friendship as real as possible, so they allowed Asami and I to have a long-distance relationship under close supervision. Princess Asami was the most valuable person in my life. She made my first two years in the White House worthwhile.

About a year after I met Asami, I made my first footprint in history. Again, if you’ve ever read an American history book, you know what I’m going to say: I saw Vice President MacDonald taking a bribe from a lobbyist. I didn’t understand what I saw because I was just an idiotic preteen at the time. I called a news reporter who I was on a first-name basis with and asked them to explain to me what I saw.

The investigation happened so quickly that no one ever tied the discovery back to me. Turns out Vice President MacDonald was selling his tiebreaking Senate vote to the highest bidder. That’s called “Corruption.” After word got out, Vice President MacDonald was impeached and removed from office. It was a whole big thing, and I don’t wanna go into it again.

The important thing is that a couple of months after the Impeachment trial, the Soviet Union invaded Japan.

​

The Battle of Sapporo. December 12, 2006.

It was the war my dad had been trying to prevent ever since the first day of his Presidency. The Russians overran Hokkaido Island and tried to consolidate their gains, but there was a rouge general named Sidrov who wanted to turn all of Japan into some kind of communist puppet state. We didn’t find out about this until afterward, but General Sidrov violated orders when he invaded Honshu Island itself with his Red Army. He was going for Tokyo, so Princess Asami and her family ran away and hid.

I was so scared for my girlfriend; I’d have nightmares about what might happen if the Russians caught her. I wasn’t allowed in the White House Situation Room, so I had some aides transform my bedroom into my own personal war room. Maps on the wall everywhere, and a special hotline that I could use to talk to Princess Asami whenever I wanted. We kept this going for years while the Soviet Invasion of Japan got bogged down in a stalemate.

Anyway, during that time, America changed. We funneled almost half-a-million soldiers into the war in Japan. It changed American culture by militarizing everybody. You couldn’t take two steps in an American city without crossing paths with somebody carrying a gun, wearing camouflage, or both. Meanwhile, Dad used an executive order to force Puerto Rico to become the 51st State. It almost stopped him from getting re-elected in 2008. It was a really close call, but he got back into the White House for another four years.

Then, in 2010, I lost contact with Asami. She just… vanished. I called everybody in her family. I even got the Emperor himself on the line for a few seconds once. No one knew where she’d gone, but they all had an idea. Asami had gotten frustrated with hiding from the Russians for so long. She ran away from home and joined the Japanese military under a false identity. She wanted to fight!

I was terrified! All I could think about was the girl I loved getting captured, killed, or worse. I made up some story about wanting to show all of America that I was supporting the war effort, and Dad signed some paperwork that allowed me to join the US Army right after my seventeenth birthday. Afterward, I found out that Asami was fourteen when she enlisted, but she lied to the recruiters and told them she was sixteen. How she got away with it, I still don’t know. She refuses to answer that question to this day.

In 2011, I finally got out of Basic Training and joined the Signal Corps. It’s a part of the US Army that deals with communication technology. I thought I could use the knowledge and tech to find Asami. Then, finally, I got myself shipped out to Japan!

I fought on the Japanese Front of World War Three for about 15 months. When I landed in Sendai, I fell in with an international squad of soldiers. A British woman named Holly Smith, an Australian guy we liked to call Soylent Green, (not his real name, sadly) two Americans named Hal Macintosh and Aaron Ray, and three Japanese people: Kotori Sato, Yukiko Takahashi and Yukata Yamamoto. We were one hell of a team! We had a real knack for area-denial operations. You could point out any location on a map and we would hold it against anything! Nobody could pass through our territory without paying a price in blood.

While the crew and I were fighting our way across Honshu, trying to find Asami, she was having adventures of her own. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force stationed her aboard an aircraft carrier called the Hyuuga. She was safe for a while, hunting submarines in the Tsushima Strait for almost a year. By pure good luck, my crew and I got reassigned to defend an Anti-Aircraft battery in Okinawa right when the Hyuuga was passing by in the spring of 2012.

​

The sinking of the JSDF Hyuuga. June 2, 2012. The Soviet submarine Samara claimed credit for the kill.

The Hyuuga got jumped by the very thing it was hunting. A Soviet submarine torpedoed the carrier and it sank a few miles off the coast of Okinawa. That’s when Asami did the one of the most incredible things I’ve ever heard of… She swam all the way to Okinawa. She swam fully clothed for over five miles through cold saltwater until she washed up in a small cove just to the west of Cape Hedo on the northern shore of Okinawa Island. We found her wandering along the highway near Kunigami Village about a week later.

I was really happy to reunite with Princess Asami, but I had a hard time getting used to her new moniker. Asami had changed her name to “Chiho Tatsuya” to she could keep up her secret life in the Japanese military. The two of us got into a huge argument over whether or not I should take her back to her family. (I just wanted Chiho to be safe!) Eventually, we compromised: Chiho would join my crew and we would travel together to Osaka, where the Imperial family was living at the time. The plan was that Chiho would make a decision about her future when we reached Osaka. Unfortunately, the Soviet Red Army got there first. Our team got chased all over southern Japan while the US/Japanese forces got pushed back by the Communists again and again. Our side was collapsing.

One more time, though, we got lucky. The Soviets overextended themselves. They outpaced their supply lines and starved themselves out. Back home, (their home) the Soviet Union was starting to collapse. Turns out a six-year long foreign war is bad for an unstable political system. Because the Soviet empire was falling apart, the entire war just turned into a race against the clock. The Japanese and their allies were just trying to hold out until the Soviet Union collapsed.

Holly and I figured out that the Japanese Imperial Family had gone to Hiroshima, so that’s where we went next. Chiho made her choice when we got to the city: She wanted to leave her old life behind forever and just stay with my team as a permanent addition to the group. Thing is, the Soviets showed up in Hiroshima right after we did.

Undated photo from the Siege of Hiroshima. (December 3 to 22, 2012)

There was a huge artillery bombardment, one of the biggest of the war. The Soviets knew exactly where and how to hit our side. They killed most of the officers and commanders on our side, leaving us in complete confusion. Aaron, Kotori, Chiho and I investigated, trying to figure out how the enemy had dialed in our number so effectively. We went all over Hiroshima, trying to find the mole. Along the way, we crossed paths with the Imperial Family and Chiho finally got caught. The Prime Minister and Emperor of Japan were both outraged with Chiho for running away and joining the military. They stripped Chiho of her royal status and name, reducing her to just an ordinary commoner. Then they sent her back to us, like we were some kind of penal battalion. After a couple days, Chiho recovered from the whole ordeal, (as much as she could in the circumstances) and permanently joined our team under her new name: Chihiro Tachibana. Then we went back to investigating.

That when we found out that we’d been betrayed!

Yukiko Takahashi and Yukata Yamamoto, two members of my team, had been on the Soviet payroll for almost a year. Damn near broke my heart when I found out, because I had to try to kill my own friends. I guess my heart wasn’t in it, because they both got away. Yukiko vanished completely and didn’t reappear for a few years. Yukata came back and tried to pick a fight with us one more time. He tried to kill Chihiro by shooting her in the neck, but she lived. (Thank God!) I shot him in the chest, but he lived, too.

It wasn’t a waste, though. We got the Russian battle plans from Yukata before he fled. Chihiro and I got our team together and we made a plan to stop the Russian attack on Hiroshima. Kotori Sato called it the “Storm-Breaker Defense.” And it worked! Because all of the officers on our side were dead, it was easy for our team to take command of the defenders. We organized the best defense we could, and like I said: It worked! The Soviet army hit our wall and broke itself!

Anyway, while all of that was happening, the war ended! The Soviet Union had collapsed. With no country to fight for, the Russian invaders just… stopped fighting. Just like that.

And all of Japan knew who held Hiroshima during the eleventh hour! We were heroes! Everybody in Japan knew our names and we couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. They called us “Stormbreakers” after Kotori’s defense plan. Holly, Soylent, and Hal all left and went back to their home countries. Aaron and Kotori got married and moved to America.

While I was in Japan, my Dad had decided not to run for a third term, so when the 2012 Presidential Election happened, somebody else ended up winning the White House. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going home anyway. Chihiro and I decided to stay in Japan and help the people rebuild. Finding a place to stay wasn’t hard: we saved the life of a young girl during the Siege of Hiroshima. Tsubaki Endo started to hero worship us… a lot. Seriously! Tsubaki was obsessed with Chihiro and I to a disturbing level. She’s got a damn shrine to us in her home. I’ve seen it! Anyway, Tsubaki’s family owned a really successful restaurant in Nagasaki, and she convinced them to put us up in an apartment nearby. Chihiro and I lived there until… yeah… until that happened.

I still have a hard time believing it… but in 2015… Earth was invaded by aliens.

Goddamn, I still can’t believe I lived through it.

The first disappearances happened in February and March of 2015. Every day, when we turned on the news, there would be a story about people of all ages just… vanishing! And it wasn’t just laypeople. Every few days, a famous celebrity or politician would just… poof! And they’d be gone. The whole world was frightened and confused. But then, in April, the war really started. The aliens came out into the open! It was the most brutal war in human history.

An alien warship appears over Shanghai in 2015.

They bombarded cities, sabotaged transportation hubs, and wrecked as much infrastructure as they could. It was all kinds of hell. Chihiro and I tried to escape from Nagasaki and just lay low, but we were tracked down by these elite military operatives and… well, I can’t say we were “recruited” can I? We got drafted into XCOM: the most elite paramilitary force on Earth. Somebody told them about how Chihiro and I were part of an international squad during World War 3, and they wanted us on XCOM’s team. They thought we’d already have the teamwork skills they needed.

Working for XCOM was a mixed bag. On the good side, we got to reunite with the old Stormbreakers. Holly, Hal, Soylent, and Korori were all there. Kotori’s husband Aaron wasn’t there. He was the very first human to be killed by alien weapons during the invasion, right at the beginning of the war. Chihiro and I went out on a bunch of missions with Holly, Hal, and Soylent. We saved a lot of lives and rescued some people who got abducted by the aliens. We also captured some alien technology, but that leads to the bad side of working for XCOM:

The Jericho Program.

The lead scientist of XCOM was this crazy half-French, half-German lady called Vahlen. She was obsessed with this extraterrestrial substance we captured called “Meld.” It had the ability to seamlessly bond human DNA to alien DNA. Vahlen wanted to graft alien genetic material into humans, thinking it would give us the same powers and abilities the aliens do. Her end goal was for XCOM to field an army of Genetically Modified supersoldiers against the aliens. Chihiro and I each got a few Gene Mods, but nothing too extreme. We're still Human.

​

A summation of Blake Robinson's genetic modifications.

Doctor Vahlen was saving the extreme stuff for her most insane idea: You see, one of the very last things our old friend Aaron did before he died was getting his wife Kotori pregnant. Doctor Vahlen removed the embryo from Kotori and… used Meld to graft Ethereal DNA straight into the fetus. The Ethereal is the most powerful alien out there. They’re on a whole other level from everybody else. Some people have called them gods…

And Vahlen pumped a baby Human full of their goddamned DNA. Kotori's child was going to be half-Ethereal.

All of XCOM was divided on the subject of the Jericho Program. It turned into a real schism towards the end. Some people, like Soylent Green, supported the idea of Gene Modding Kotori’s baby. Sane people, like Chihiro and myself, opposed it. We argued long and hard against the Jericho Program. As far as we were concerned, Kotori’s half-alien baby was an abomination. We figured that the Jericho baby would turn out to be just as dangerous as a real Ethereal. Aliens themselves are already dangerous, a half-alien is just as so.

Ultimately, though, the whole debate was meaningless. XCOM Headquarters was attacked and overrun by the aliens. The Stormbreakers barely got out with their lives. Chihiro and I got separated from the rest of the team, but we rejoined the Stormbreakers a few weeks later. While XCOM was trying to regroup, though… Earth surrendered.

​

Press photo from the Unification Day parade in Paris, Western Europe. March 1, 2035. Soldiers pictured are members of the ADVENT Army's European Command group.

While the Aliens were trying to get their new world government set up, all of the XCOM survivors escaped from the continental US with Kotori in tow. The aliens were winning, and we were desperate. We all decided to take the risk and allow Kotori’s baby to be born. We were all playing the long game at this point. The hope was that Kotori’s baby would grow up to become a powerful Psionic warrior who could spearhead the next generation’s war against the alien occupiers.

In hindsight, it’s kinda disgusting to think about. None of us even once thought about Kotori’s baby as… well... a baby. To all of us, that child was a weapon. A weapon that would one day walk and talk… but a weapon nonetheless.

An XCOM operative named Lee Chong-Il hooked us up with a North Korean submarine called the Enforcer. They took us off the Oregon coastline and sailed us out to Hawaii. We all thought we’d be safe there, and that Kotori’s baby could be raised in relative isolation and safety. We were so desperate, that we were blinded.

The enemy caught up with us right as we landed. We left the Enforcer on the shoreline of Kauai Island and fled further inland. Eventually, the aliens chased us to the Kauai Veterans Cemetery just outside the town of Hanapepe. Unfortunately, Kotori went into labor while we were crossing the graveyard. I ordered the Stormbreakers to set up defensive positions around the Mausoleum where Kotori would give birth.

At nine o’clock in the morning on September 11th, 2015, Kate Asuna Ray was born. Although, throughout this story, she’ll mostly be referred to as Jericho. I was physically in the area when she was born, but I didn’t witness it. The aliens broke our perimeter. The last thing I remember was a Muton hitting me in the head with the butt of its rifle.

The next thing I remember after that: I woke up in a sterile-looking room. It was definitely some kind of laboratory, but the scientists were all gone, and four of the most ragged-looking soldiers I’d ever seen were staring at me. They took me out of the lab and made me run through a futuristic-looking city I didn’t recognize at the time. The escape was a blur to me. All I remember was a wide array of advanced technology, spaceships, and someone telling me it was the future.

​

The Megacity of Los Angeles. After the 2015 conflict, the ADVENT Coalition encouraged all of Humanity to migrate away from the countryside and into densely populated urban areas such as these. There are some three hundred Megacities on Earth. Thousands of other cities were completely depopulated and abandoned.

Later, I found out just how bad it was: The aliens had kept all of the Stormbreakers, including myself, in stasis for twenty years. Chihiro, Soylent, Holly, Hal, and I had all slept away two decades of our lives!

While we’d been unconscious, the aliens had conquered Earth and forced all of Humankind to live under a collaborator-puppet government called the ADVENT Coalition. XCOM itself was scattered across the planet, desperately trying to unite various resistance groups into a genuine rebellion. The ADVENT Coalition had held onto the stasis tubes containing the Stormbreakers. Apparently, they periodically woke us up to do experiments on us… but I don’t remember any of that. I don’t want to remember.

XCOM freed us as part of a mission called “Operation Gatecrasher.” No sooner had the Stormbreakers been rescued from captivity, than the Commander of XCOM herself was also rescued. Laura Harper was just as happy to see us as we were to see her.

Chihiro, Holly, Hal, Soylent, and I took about a month to fully adapt to life in the 2030’s. Not only did we skip twenty years of our lives, but our bodies only seem to have aged a few weeks. (or months in Chihiro’s case) For all intents and purposes, I’m still 22 years old and Chihiro is still 19, even though by sheer numbers alone, we’re actually 42 and 39, respectively. All of our family members are dead. They were either killed during the initial invasion or purged by ADVENT during the intervening years. All Chihiro and I have are each other now.

And that’s it. That’s my life story, the broad strokes of it, anyway. I’ve left out enough details to fill a very large book. Hopefully, now that you know my background, you’ll have a better understanding of what role I’m going to play in this tale. All of the setup is done, so let me start telling the story of Jericho, and how she ended the Second Hyperspace War:

My girlfriend spent her twentieth birthday saving my life...

<== Previous Chapter (Children of the Gods)

Next Chapter (Welcoming Comittee) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Hero of Another Story)

Next Chapter (The Gang's All Here) ==>​

Chapter Two
Welcoming Committee

​

The Avenger is XCOM's mobile headquarters, built from a captured enemy supply ship.

Wednesday, May 2, 2035 – 6:30 a.m.
Near the Ruins of Pyongyang, Korean Peninsula


My girlfriend spent her twentieth birthday saving my life.

Looking back on it now, I really shouldn’t have been surprised. Two months before this morning, I’d woken up in a strange science lab by someone telling me that I’d been asleep for twenty years, and that Earth had been conquered by aliens who were styling themselves as our “god-kings” or something ridiculous like that.

I’ve seen the Elders before they called themselves that. I know that the “gods” who rule over this world are actually monsters, and I’m glad I was found by like-minded folks. Now here I am, two months later. A bunch of old comrades from the last war are all in the Resistance with me, and we’re taking our world back from the Elders one day at a time.

After everything that’s happened before, I thought I’d never be taken by surprise again. I survived an alien invasion, fought an extraterrestrial god, and I was transported two decades into the future. I was sure I’d seen everything, and that nothing could ever phase me again…

Until that one Wednesday in North Korea.

…

I couldn’t remember the last time I woke up on that metaphorical “right side of the bed” but I did today. Looking up, several faces looked back down at me from three posters I’d taped to the ceiling. The first two posters were photographs: on one of them, Central Officer Bradford posed triumphantly with the corpse of the Viper King while a squad of exhausted but happy XCOM soldiers cheered triumphantly. On the other, Chief Engineer Lily Shen stood atop the ruins of the Lost Tower while a wrecked Sectopod smoldered at her feet.

My last poster wasn’t a blown-up photograph, but a recreation of a religious painting: A brown-skinned girl with blue hair and purple eyes hovered in space, her body shrouded in white fog. Beautiful angelic wings stretched out from her back and she held her hands above her head. Above her, the Earth itself hung in the star field between her wings and palms, as though she was holding it aloft. The person in the painting was Jericho, a legendary Psionic who had been single-handedly wreaking havoc on our enemies for the past two or three years. Despite dozens of attempts to recruit her, she had refused to join XCOM for some unknown reason, choosing to fight ADVENT alone.

If half of all the stories I’d heard about Jericho were true, then the artist hadn’t done her justice. If the other half of the stories were true… then the day Jericho joined XCOM would be both a blessing and a curse for me.

Tossing my sheets aside and sliding off the top bunk, I was off to a better start than most of my comrades today. Normally, everybody aboard the Avenger starts their day in a crummy mood, and it’s through no fault of their own.

XCOM’s mobile headquarters, a commandeered alien spaceship, is a very cramped place. There are only enough bunk beds in the living quarters for about 40 people, but today there are about 70 on board. We don’t get any privacy here, and no room is ever empty. When I jumped down from my top bunk, I grazed the bottom one and jostled the occupant awake. Rafal Kowalski, a Soviet soldier with a great big bushy beard, glared up at me.

“Should’a shot you in Hiroshima.” Rafal grumbled. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

“Yeah, yeah. Should’ve shot you too.” I mumbled in greeting.

I had to mumble. Standing here by my bunk, I was only about a foot away from the dull blue curtain that separated the male half of the living quarters from the female half. There were half a dozen men trying to sleep on my side of the room and presumably the same number of women on the other side doing the same thing. I pulled on my old US Army uniform and looked around for my patches. On my right shoulder went the American flag: 51 stars on a blue field with 13 red and white stripes. On my left shoulder was a square-shaped patch emblazoned with the Japanese Rising Sun. Everybody who’d defended the city of Hiroshima on the last day of World War Three had one of these patches. After that my rank insignia went in the middle of my chest. I’m a Cadet, by the way. In the US military, that’s the lowest possible officer rank. I’m basically a glorified Corporal with a little more power.

I remade the bedsheets and quietly threw my unused gear into my locker, so that the bunk would be clear for the soldier who would be sleeping here while I was gone. Right before I stepped out of the living quarters, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Oh boy, that African-American soldier in the reflection looked bad. My hair was starting to grow out of control and I needed a shave something fierce. I was still dirty from the last few days of excursions, but seeing as water was rationed pretty tightly aboard the ship, I had to just knuckle up and tough it out until it was my turn in the showers again. Hopefully my girlfriend wouldn’t notice the smell.

It was a short walk from the living quarters to the Barracks. In the mornings and evenings, the Barracks was converted into a ramshackle cafeteria just long enough to serve meals before being turned back again. I got there just as breakfast appeared on the buffet line, and some twenty members of XCOM were already queued up for food. I spotted my squad leader at the end of the line and joined her.

“G’morning, Colonel Smith.” I said.

British soldier Holly Smith has been my friend and comrade since the last war, when the Soviet Union gave Japan a bloody nose and was then torn to shreds in response. Holly was one of the original six members of my squad, the Stormbreakers, of whom only four are still alive. (Including myself) She did a double-take when she saw me coming in and widened her eyes at the sight of me.

“When did you get in last night, Robinson?” Holly said. “Did you even see the bloody troops I sent out to find you?”

“Saw’em and said hello.” I answered as I got in the back of the line. “They were coming down the ramp while I was going up. Did you get my After Action Report?”

“Got it. Haven’t read it.” Holly admitted. “You got bullet points?”

“I spotted an enemy scouting party moving away from us.” I answered. “They don’t know we’re here yet, so I let them go and reported their positions to Central. What time do we have to be on the Picket Line today?”

“Zero-eight-hundred.” Holly answered with a yawn. “Voodoo Squad’s been out there all night, and we’re only doing a ten-hour shift today.”

“Because the Avenger’s lifting off at eighteen-hundred hours tonight?”

“Yeah.”

I felt a little apprehensive. Normally, when word comes down that the ship is getting ready to take off, everybody gets excited about visiting another part of the world. Travelling all over the planet is, without question, the best perk of working aboard XCOM’s one and only spaceship. But not today. Everybody knew why the ship was going to leave Korea today.

“So…” I asked. “Do you know who’s going to be taking point in tomorrow’s assault?”

“Menace Squad, with Echo in reserve.” Holly answered automatically. “We’re sitting this one out, Robinson. The Commander thinks we need to spend more time integrating the FNG’s.”

FNG stands for… you know what? Let’s just say it’s a really mean nickname for a new soldier who’s only just joined the group. In this case, Holly’s talking about the two new soldiers who were supposed to be joining our squad today.

“The Kuznetsova twins?” I asked. “When are they supposed to get here?”

“Same time as our Japanese Resistance contact.” Holly replied. “They’re travelling together. I was told by the Commander that they’ll show up sometime around sixteen-hundred-hours this afternoon. I want you to take the Kuznetsovas around and introduce them to everybody, give’em a grand tour, then have Endo show them the women’s sleeping area.”

“You just picked me for the job ‘cause I’m right next to you, didn’t ya?”

“Aye. And people are sayin’ Soylent’s food is actually good today, so I’m not gonna pick on him now.”

Holly jabbed her thumb at the buffet line. Serving up some kind of unidentifiable slop was a gigantic black man whose face was covered in a Maori tattoo. Australian soldier Jake Green gave us a wave before going back to work. Everybody approached his station on the buffet line with a little caution. Whenever it was his turn to cook breakfast or dinner, the food and drink Captain Green served was notorious for being… well… disgusting.

“Hey, Robinson! Why the happy face?” Soylent called to me.

“Today is Chihiro’s birthday!” I answered. “She’s twenty!”

Holly put a hand on my shoulder and said to Soylent:

“Give him two servings, Green. And make one oversized for her!”

With Soylent’s permission, I cut to the front of the entire line, earning myself a mean look from Karmina Isra, a Palestinian woman with a sawn-off shotgun strapped to each of her legs. Soylent made me two takeout servings of… whatever this grey slop was supposed to be… and then slipped a metallic cylinder into my free hand.

“Tell Corporal Tachibana that this is my birthday gift to her.” Soylent whispered. “You did say she’s twenty today, right?”

“I did.” I answered nervously. “Soylent, please tell me you didn’t make this.”

Soylent put on a dramatic face and pretended to be offended.

“Cadet Robinson!” He said loudly, “I would never dare to even think about ruining the birthday of such a wonderful, beautiful young woman as Corporal Tachibana with sub-par drink!”

Soylent winked at me and dropped the act, saying with a sly smile:

“This is the real stuff from the Old World, mate. From our world. This is genuine Australian Victory Beer, vintage 2012. I know your girl’s a lightweight, so I’m givin’ you one now, and you can come back and get the other five for her tonight.”

He winked at me. I thanked him and then left with food in hand.

…

The Avenger was not defenseless on the ground. If someone tried to approach XCOM’s ship on foot from any direction, they wouldn’t get closer than a mile to the ship. That’s because of the Picket Line. A ring of soldiers encircled the Avenger, keeping watch for the enemy. Because these troops were a mile away, they would be able to give us plenty of warning time to prepare for an enemy approach.

Menace, Voodoo and Delta Squads had been holding the Picket Line all night, and as they returned to the Avenger for some well-earned sleep, Echo, Foxtrot, and Stormbreaker Squads departed the ship and started moving to take their place. At the bottom of the Avenger’s deployment ramp, I found my girlfriend hanging out with a few of our fellow squadmates.

A digital painting of Corporal Chihiro Tachibana, created by Reddit user u/theboltboy

Corporal Chihiro Tachibana stands out in a crowd. She’s the only member of the Stormbreakers who served in her home country’s navy before joining XCOM, which means that she wears a blue-and-grey naval uniform instead of the green and brown fatigues everyone else had. The red and white flag of Japan was centered on her upper back, obscured by her black hair. Her comrades, Tsubaki Endo and Matthew Hawkins, both tapped her on the shoulder and pointed me out as I approached.

“Good morning and happy birthday, Chi.” I said. “This stuff is better than usual, and this is for you, too.”

Chihiro gasped as she took the can of Old World beer from me. Our squadmate Matthew Hawkins thumped her on the back and said:

“Heya, Tachibana, you made it to twenty-one! Congrats! So... uh… you wanna share that beer?”

Chihiro gave him a mischievous look.

“What are you talking about?” She said playfully. “I’m from Japan, our drinking age is twenty… aaaannndd…

She looked at her wristwatch.

“My duty shift doesn’t start for another hour… so…”

Chihiro enthusiastically tried to pry the tab open, but ended up breaking it instead. Frustrated, she used her combat knife to split the can open and started drinking. Standing there in a battered two-decade-old naval aviation suit, drinking beer from a mutilated can while propping herself up against an M80 sniper rifle, Chihiro looked nothing like the shy, well-dressed and soft-spoken princess I’d met so long ago. Trying to reconcile the two images in my mind made me chuckle a little. When she finished, I passed the tray of breakfast food to her. Chihiro cautiously sniffed at the “meal” and wrinkled her nose.

“I hope that’s you I’m smelling and not the grub, Blake. No offence.”

Once Chihiro and I got some food (and in her case, drink) into our systems, we joined the other five Stormbreakers in waiting for the rest of our team to show up. Including me, there are thirteen of us: Chihiro Tachibana, Holly Smith, and Soylent Green have been part of the team with me since the very beginning over twenty years ago. Over the decades, a handful of other people have joined as well:

Lieutenant Matthew Hawkins hadn’t taught his old elementary school classes in over two decades, but that didn’t stop him from flipping through a history book to pass the time while we all waited. His grey eyes darted across the pages so quickly one might think he was a machine.

Private Tsubaki Endo was sitting on a tree stump and having a one-sided conversation with Chihiro. Basically, she was hanging onto every word my girlfriend said with obsessive fixation. While she listened to Chihiro’s descriptions of her birthday plans, Tsubaki absentmindedly picked at her cybernetic legs with her fingernails. Twenty years ago, during World War Three, Tsubaki had stepped on a landmine. The explosion blew off both of her legs. Nowadays, her prosthetic legs were so technologically sophisticated that she could run farther and faster than anyone else on the team.

Sergeant Hal Macintosh, a former police officer, gave Chihiro a disapproving look when he came down the deployment ramp and spotted the crushed beer can in her hand. He raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head.

Sergeant Kathleen Walsh has been a friend of mine since I was a little kid. She was a Secret Service agent working for my dad back when he was President of the United States. She still calls me by the codename the Secret Service used for me back then. “Trojan” is just as much my name as “Blake” these days. Walsh might have grey hair and wrinkles now, but she’s still pretty ferocious.

Sergeant Isis Dekker was followed across the grassy field by a small flying robot. The GREMLIN drone was standard issue equipment for all XCOM Specialists, but Isis had grown quite fond of her little machine. To be fair, GREMLIN drones were highly intelligent. Isis had even gotten hers to come when called by its name. Piper buzzed along through the air behind Isis, beeping and chirping like a loyal pet bird.

Chaplain Ignatius Petoskey and Sergeant Odette Fournier emerged from the Avenger together. They were both famous and well-known members of the French Resistance, and had spent the first part of the morning in meetings with other Resistance leaders, coordinating the global fight against the alien occupation of our world. Ignatius was really old, so he wasn’t wearing much armor and wasn’t carrying a weapon in his hands. Not like he needed one. Ignatius was Gifted, which meant he had a slew of Psionic powers at his disposal. His mind was far more dangerous than any gun.

In the two months I’ve lived in the future, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard Odette Fournier speak. She’s a black woman who seemed to be constantly on alert. Nobody could take her by surprise, but that also meant she hardly ever let her guard down, even amongst friends. When she caught up the group, Odette just kinda nodded at me and didn’t say anything.

Corporal Sophie Ackermann, a white South African, was so freakishly tall that I could see her coming from a hundred yards away. She was walking amongst several women who were part of Echo Squad, and she towered nearly a foot and a half above their heads. When Sophie fell in with the Stormbreakers, only Soylent was taller than her, but not by much.

Captain Jake “Soylent” Green himself departed the Avenger at the same time as Sophie, but he didn’t join us right away. He took a few moments to shower Sophie’s female friends with compliments, innuendoes, and pickup lines. A woman from Echo Squad giggled at Soylent’s antics, but before he could focus his attention onto her, Colonel Holly Smith grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him towards his own squad. The woman from Echo called after Soylent, suggesting he find her when he got off duty tonight.

Finally, Captain Yutaka Yamamoto was the thirteenth and last member of our team. He’s definitely the odd one out amongst us. During the war in Japan twenty years ago, Yutaka changed sides and got a bunch of my friends killed, he even tried to kill Chihiro. She’s still got a scar on her neck from where he shot her. Of course, once the aliens started to invade, conflicts like the Soviet-Japanese one became irrelevant. Don’t get me wrong, if we weren’t trying to free our world from the aliens, I’d put Yutaka six feet under in a heartbeat. But the guy is a damn good fighter, he can kill aliens just as well as the rest of us, and he’s really good at treating plasma burns and gauss weapon injuries, so we keep him around. For now.

Once all thirteen Stormbreakers were assembled, Holly stepped onto a boulder so she could address all of us at once. I took my place next to her. Since the two of us had founded the team all the way back in World War Three, we were its leaders… or more specifically: Colonel Smith was the actual Squad Leader, and I was her deputy.

“Listen up, you lot!” Holly began. “We’ve got two orders of business today. First off, we’re expecting the FNG’s to arrive this afternoon with our Resistance Contact. The contact is a woman named Homura Hanako and she’s on her way here from Manchuria. Endo, Yamamoto, and Tachibana: You three will be making contact with her when she arrives. The challenge word is Firestorm. The password is Snowstorm. If she says anything different, you’re to assume she’s a Faceless and kill her straightaway. Am I clear?”

The Faceless are a race of alien shapeshifters. The enemy uses them to infiltrate and spy on our side.

“Sounds like a plan.” Chihiro acknowledged. “What about the FNG’s?”

“Both of the twins are using the same challenge and password.” Holly explained. “Same rules of engagement. Once we get the contact and our FNG’s, we return to the Avenger and prepare for takeoff. After the ship is airborne, I want everybody to go straight from chow to bed. Central and the Commander have got a big assault planned for tomorrow, and you all need your sleep.”

Kathleen pressed the barrel of her Sniper Rifle into the grass and rested her arms on top of the stock.

“Ya know, I always liked ‘ose two girls.” The former Secret Service agent said. “The Kuznetsova twins, I mean. I’m glad we’re finally getting ‘em on our team. Seemed kinda overdue if you ask me.”

“Agreed.” Yutaka said. “What’s the other thing you wanted to say, Boss?”

“I’m pretty sure you all know what that is.” A smile curled Holly’s mouth. “Today is our Blue Dragon’s birthday. Everyone be sure to wish her many happy returns before you move out.”

Hal Macintosh didn’t miss a beat.

“Twenty, huh?” The ex-cop said. “I think that means you should start the day with twenty pushups!”

Everyone gave fake dramatic gasps while Chihiro rolled her eyes and unshouldered her weapon. As I took the Sniper Rifle from her, she said sarcastically:

“Yes Sergeant.”

Even though she was wearing a bullet-proof vest that featured heavy ceramic plates on both the chest and back, Chihiro knocked out twenty pushups in less than half a minute and sprang back to her feet, sticking out her tongue at Hal as she snatched the rifle back from me.

“Robinson, you’re not going let her get away with that, are you?” Tsubaki giggled.

“Yeah, I’m not answering that.”

I caught Chihiro’s eye and winked at her. She laughed in that mischievous way I love so much and ruffled Tsubaki’s hair with one hand. Holly nodded at me and I raised my hand to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay, everyone. Let’s deal with the assignments and get moving.”

I bent down and drew a very crude map of the area in the dirt with one finger. While I spoke, I pointed out locations to my squadmates.

“This is our area of responsibility.” I began. “This neighborhood just beyond the end of the farmland is built right on the high ground. We’re gonna break up into three teams of four troops each and take that high ground. Chi, Walsh, Macintosh, and Ackermann: I want you on the roof of this warehouse. You’ll be doing Overwatch for the other two teams. Dekker, Colonel Smith, Yamamoto, and Endo: You’re going to take this concrete building and dig in. According the scouting parties, this structure has windows that face north and west. You’ll have plenty of good views. Hawkins, Soylent, and Fournier, you’re coming with me to set up observation on this two-story structure here on the extreme right flank. Chaplain Petoskey will stay with Colonel Smith and he’ll take Hanako and the FNG’s back to the Avenger when they show up. Does anyone have any questions?”

Kathleen raised her Sniper Rifle and aimed it towards a hill south of the neighborhood. It was covered in trees and slightly shorter than the high ground I’d just ordered my team to take. She stared down the scope, scanning the terrain.

“Do we ‘ave any eyes on the other side of that hill?” Kathleen asked. “Wha’s over there?”

“A highway.” I answered. “The scouts from Voodoo Squad have been keeping an eye on it. It leads right into downtown Pyongyang. We didn’t see any vehicles on it, though. If someone is there, the road junction is visible from the warehouse where we’re putting the Sniper Overwatch team. You’ll have eyes on it.”

No one else had any other questions. Holly checked her machine gun one last time and said:

“Let’s get started, callsigns only from here on out! Move out, team!”

…

Ever since the rise of the ADVENT Coalition, there are more abandoned towns like this on Earth than populated cities.

The small town with the high ground was a little less than a mile away from the Avenger , so it took us about half an hour to walk out there. The squad spread out into a big triangular formation, with Holly leading from the center. Moving as one, we crossed the farmland together. Holding my shotgun in one hand, I trudged along the dry arid ground with my girlfriend on my right. Absentmindedly, I gazed southward, to my left, scanning the horizon for any sign of the Pyongyang skyline. Chihiro followed my gaze and got a nostalgic look on her face.

“Oh, man. Do you remember the last time we were in that city?” Chihiro asked.

“Yeah, we smashed up most of downtown.” I chuckled. “The North Korean Army was lucky XCOM showed up when it did, the aliens were going to wipe them out!”

“I don’t think they ever stood a chance.” Chihiro agreed. “How much of Pyongyang do you think is still standing, anyway?”

“Maybe a couple of timbers.” I mused. “Definitely no whole buildings. The aliens did a number on that place while we were there. You remember the Sectopod crashing through the pyramid-shaped hotel?”

Chihiro laughed.

“The whole building came down on its head!” She roared. “I felt so stupid for wasting the bullets on it beforehand. Do you remember the-”

Chihiro and I spoke at the same time:

“High Altitude Lawyer Overwatch drops!?”

We both erupted in laughter, causing Odette, Hal, and Sophie to give us funny looks. We were reminiscing about the way aliens would drop out of UFO’s into Human cities, dressed up in disguises. These airdropped infiltrators would then try to pass themselves off as our people. Back in the day, it didn’t work.

“What the hell were the aliens thinking back then!?” Chihiro giggled. “Putting on a suit, tie, and round glasses isn’t enough to disguise yourself as a Human! Did they really think we were gonna fall for that!?”

From our right, Hal chimed in:

“Clearly they do. You ever seen those videos of ADVENT’s spokesman? I guarantee you he’s not Human!”

Sharing one more round of laughter, Chihiro and I kept reminiscing about the Battle of Pyongyang as we crossed the open fields. For most members of XCOM, that battle had been fought over twenty years ago, but Chihiro and I had spent those two decades in Stasis, so from our point of view, the Battle of Pyongyang had just been a few months ago. After a few stories were traded back and forth, the two of us started to relax and enjoy the morning sunlight.

A few more minutes of silence went by. By now, we’d left the Avenger behind and were about halfway to the end of the farmland. The village where we’d be meeting out contact was just ahead. As I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the distant buildings, I felt a familiar presence starting to creep into the back of my mind. For about half a second, my vision got foggy and I felt a little dizzy, but I recovered in a heartbeat.

“Oh, there you are.” I said casually.

Sorry. Said a slightly high-pitched voice in the back of my mind. I’m trying to get better. Was the connection any different than last time?

“You’re getting better.” I said. “I barely felt you come in that time.”

I looked to my right. Chihiro was giving me a very concerned look. When she spoke, she used the exact same voice I’d just heard.

“If you don’t like it, I can stop.” She said.

I shook my head.

“This was my idea, remember?” I said. “The only way I’ll ever get used to your new powers is if… you know… I get some exposure. Keep practicing.”

Getting transported 20 years into the future was already a jarring experience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing that happened to us. While ADVENT had kept me and my companions in Stasis, they had performed a wide array of “science experiments” on us while we were unconscious. I had a handful of scars on my legs and torso where I’d been opened up. Holly and Soylent were both missing pieces of their organs, but poor Chihiro had gotten the worst of it.

While we’d been in enemy captivity, the aliens had performed a highly invasive brain surgery on Chihiro. She still had a big scar along the top of her scalp from it. After we were all rescued by XCOM, it had taken a few days for anyone to notice the effects of what the aliens had done to her. It started off as bouts of unexpected mind-reading. Chihiro seemed to know what people were going to say to her minutes in advance. Then she started moving small objects with her mind.

See, Chihiro had what we call The Gift. Somehow, the aliens had rewired her brain to the point where she could develop and use Psionic powers. Telepathy, telekinesis, stuff like that. She had become a genuine psychic! XCOM scientists have been studying the Gift ever since it started showing itself in Humans back in the early 1960’s. We have some understanding of how it works, but the science of Psionics is still mostly guesswork and theorycrafting.

Chihiro had to spend about two weeks in a meditation cell with XCOM’s other Gifted soldiers. Ignatius Petoskey and Cory Tucker gave her a crash course in how to harness and use her powers, but I was the one who has to deal with them most often. Suddenly, my girlfriend had the power to read my mind whenever she damn well felt like it. Unsurprisingly, there were no more secrets between us. We’ve adapted to the change as best we can, but I’m sure she’d agree with me that we both have a long way to go.

Luckily, we didn’t have much farther to go before reaching our destination.

“It’s a beautiful morning for a walk.” Chihiro sighed. “At least I got part of my birthday wish.”

“Wait a minute, you wanted to spend your twentieth birthday walking into possible enemy territory?” I was being sarcastic. She poked me in the ribs and gave me a sour look.

“Come on, Trojan! You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I still remember that talk. The whole world changed since we made those plans. Believe me, if I could go back in time and change the past, I’d do it. Your plan for a birthday date is a thousand times better than what we’re doing today.”

Chi made a little squeaking sound and gave me a one-armed hug as we walked along. She deliberately avoided placing her hand on my left-side pocket. We had an unspoken agreement that she would play dumb about the wedding ring hidden there until I showed it to her.

“Soon as we get off duty this evening, let’s hit the ship’s bar.” Chi said. “I wanna forget about the war just for a little bit, okay?”

“Done deal.” I agreed.

…

In the wilderness, far away from ADVENT's control, abandoned buildings like this can be quickly turned into Resistance Havens or XCOM strongpoints.

There are a few small towns scattered around the old North Korean capital city. They’re separated by hills and the occasional mountain. We can’t see Pyongyang from this little village, there’s a great big hill in the way, but we do have a very good view of the surrounding area. Chihiro and her fellow Sharpshooters declared the local warehouse to be the best “high ground” they’d seen in a while. Using the bipod attachment on her rifle, she entrenched herself on one of the rooftop air conditioners and soon had to main road locked down. Chihiro gave me a quick goodbye kiss before my team departed for their own destination.

Under the watchful eye of the Sharpshooters, the other two teams fanned out and swept through the abandoned neighborhood. We found a few dusty skeletons in a couple of houses, but for the most part, nobody’s lived here for two decades. Matthew, Odette, Soylent and I forced our way into a two-story house at the northern end of the village and found a big tree growing right out of the living room floor, through the ceiling, and out the roof.

“You guys go ahead.” Matthew said. “I want some pictures.”

While Matthew fumbled about with his camera, Odette, Soylent and I scrambled up a wrecked staircase and found a window to keep watch over the squad’s flank. Wordlessly, Odette set up her rifle in the windowsill and began scanning the nearby highway through her scope. Soylent and I waited for Matthew to finish snapping pictures and then helped him up the wrecked stairs.

The next three hours passed in near total silence. The village was dead, save for the thirteen Stormbreakers keeping watch over the western approach. Occasionally, birds flitted past or a pheasant flew from one building to the next. A short while before noon, something spooked a small group of Korean Antelope, causing them to flee into the forest at top speed. We all went on alert, but nothing came of it, and boredom set back in.

After an early lunch, the sun started beating down on the house, and the heat was putting me to sleep. Very slowly, my shotgun got heavier in my hands, even though I’d propped it up on the windowsill. Blinking slowly, I rested my chin on the stock of my weapon, and I started to wonder how long I could close my eyes without falling asleep.

“Hey, you hear that?”

Soylent’s voice creeped into my ear. When nobody said anything, he repeated himself:

“Does anybody hear that noise?”

Reluctantly, I woke up.

There was a noise. Odette and Matthew were holding their hands to their mouths to muffle the sound of their own breathing. Soylent and I strained our ears, listening to a tinny rumble getting louder and louder.

“It’s an engine.” Matthew whispered, “An Old World internal combustion engine!”

“I thought ADVENT got rid of all the gas-powered cars.” Soylent commented.

“They tried.” Matthew answered. “Most of the people living in the outlying settlements and Havens still have theirs, but gasoline itself is pretty rare nowadays.”

Rumble rumble rumble.

The sounds were getting closer. The four of us put our heads together and quickly made a plan. Because we were in the field, we only called one another by our call signs. It’s basic operational security.

“Trojan, what’s your call?” Matthew asked me. “What do we do?”

I pointed to Matthew.

“Alecto, get onto the roof and see if you can spot that car.” I ordered.

Matthew nodded and moved quickly back to the staircase.

“We need to decide if we’re gonna stop that car.” I told the others. “If it right comes at us, we’ll need a plan for that too.”

“That’s simple, mate.” Soylent said. “If the car comes at us, we’ll do it like we did those Russian trucks in Hiroshima. Shoot the tires and the engine.”

Odette nodded at Soylent and gave me a simple smile. I agreed as well.

“Vampire, I want you on street level. Take cover behind something solid and Soylent and I will watch over you from here. We’ll tell you where that car’s going in a moment.”

Odette didn’t bother with the stairs. She slid down the gaping hole in the floor where that big tree was growing through the house. While Soylent and I set up our weapons in the windowsill again, we saw Odette leave the house and set up a new fighting position in a ditch near the road. The engine was getting louder now. Above my head, Matthew banged the roof with his fist.

“I see a pickup truck coming from the south!” He announced. “Looks like three or four people inside. They’re coming right at us along the main road!”

“Soylent, pass the word to Vampire!” I said.

Leaning my shotgun against the wall, I pulled out my radio and called the other two fireteam leaders:

“Doomsday and Steampunk, this is Trojan. Come in. We’ve got an unknown motor vehicle approaching my position. Multiple occupants.”

“Steampunk here.” Hal’s voice replied, “What kind of vehicle are you talking about?”

“It’s a truck.” I said, then Soylent whispered something in my ear, and I added: “Correction, it’s an open-top pickup truck. There’s two people sitting in the bed. It’s about half a mile from our position and coming right towards us.”

“This is Doomsday.” Holly’s voice came out of the receiver. “Sounds like they’re local Resistance fighters. The contact we’re expecting isn’t supposed to be here for another three hours. Stop that truck and hold them in place. I’ll call the Avenger and get someone out here to point them towards the enemy.”

“Copy all. Trojan out.”

I set down the radio and was about to relay Holly’s instructions to Soylent when I saw the look on his face.

“What in the hell?” Soylent breathed, staring out the window. I followed his gaze.

About three hundred yards up the road from us, in full view of our guns, the pickup truck had come to a stop. Its engine shut off and the doors opened while four people got out. From this distance, I couldn’t really tell who exactly I was looking at, but I got the feeling I wasn’t dealing with members of the East Asian Resistance.

“Who the hell are they?” I said.

As if in answer to my question, Matthew’s voice came down from the roof.

“Two of them are friendlies!”

Soylent raised his rifle and looked down the scope.

“Well don’t that just bugger all?” He said. “He’s right. Both of the FNG’s are down there, and I think the person standing in the truck bed is our contact.”

“Soylent, keep Overwatch.” I said. “Vampire and I are going out there. We might be dealing with some Faceless here.”

With Matthew and Soylent keeping a vigilant watch from the high ground, I raced to join Odette in the ditch, where she had not yet been spotted by the four people walking slowly towards our position. I checked my shotgun. She checked her rifle. We nodded at one another and then sprang up together!

“FREEZE!” I yelled. “WEAPONS ON THE GROUND AND HANDS ON YOUR HEADS!”

There were several startled yelps as three rifles and an archaic-looking weapon hit the ground. Four women, who looked between the ages of 20 and 30, all clasped their hands to the top of their heads and gave us frightened expressions. I threw a quick sideways glance at Odette and she obeyed the silent order. With one hand, she tossed a small metal sphere towards the four intruders. The Battle Scanner came to rest at their feet, emitted a soft blue light and beeped three times before becoming inert once more.

They were are all human. No shape-shifters, no organic tracking devices. All clear. I raised my voice and yelled at the four new people:

“Firestorm!” I yelled.

At once, all four women replied:

“Snowstorm!”

While Matthew stayed on the roof to provide Overwatch, Soylent, Odette, and I moved in to bring the four friendlies towards our lines. Two of them I recognized right away as the prospective new members of our team.

Ludmilla Kuznetsova was an incredibly slim Russian woman with messy brown hair. Her combat fatigues just kinda hung off her frame, and I wondered how long she could hold that M16 rifle without hurting her skinny arms. Her twin sister, Sophia, had a thick grey scarf wrapped around her entire head so that I could only see her eyes.

“Privet staryy drug!” Ludmilla exclaimed in Russian before switching to English, “Good to see you again, Robinson. And Fournier, and you too, Green.”

Odette gave Sophia a hug while Soylent tried to flirt with Ludmilla, holding her hand in his just long enough to make her uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the other Stormbreakers had left their positions and joined us in the street. Holly and Hal set about talking to Ludmilla and Sophia while Kathleen, Sophie, Matthew, and Isis began searching the pickup truck. I recognized the third newcomer as someone we’d been told to look out for.

“I take it you must be our Contact?” I asked. “Homura Hanako, right?”

A Japanese teenager nodded at me. She was a little younger and scrawnier than what I’d expected. She didn’t look a day over seventeen, had short black hair, and deep blue eyes that kinda reminded me of Chihiro a little. I made a mental note to introduce her to Homura later.

“I was supposed to be taking you to the ADVENT facility near Tokyo tomorrow.” Homura said. “But I guess all that’s changed now.”

That caused everyone to fall silent.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked cautiously. “You know something we don’t?”

“Actually…” Homura said slowly. “… She's the one who knows.”

Our Contact stuck her thumb out at the fourth traveler. After my first glance at her, I did a double take. One by one, all thirteen Stormbreakers became aware of the fourth newcomer, turning to look at her as she in turn gazed back at us.

Some of us had not seen this girl since the day she had been born. Others had only heard secondhand stories about her. One of us had not seen her since she was a small child. Isis Dekker’s knees trembled as she recognized the person standing before her, and she opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, struck dumb by shock. I felt like the forces of time itself were playing some kind of cruel joke on me. I blinked a few times and pinched my hand to see if this ghost from the past was truly real. It was.

Holly, Ignatius, and Chihiro gasped when they recognized her rounded face and brown skin.

Ignatius, Yutaka, Soylent, and Tsubaki dropped their jaws when they saw her dark blue hair.

Odette, Matthew, Kathleen, Sophie and I were transfixed by her beautiful purple eyes.

Kate Asuna Ray, the daughter of two XCOM soldiers who had fought and died during the Alien Invasion over twenty years ago, looked around at me and my comrades with a sad expression on her face. Finally, she spoke.

“I wish I could come back to XCOM under different circumstances, but my hand’s been forced: ADVENT knows you’re here. You’ve got about thirty minutes before they attack.”

<== Previous Chapter (Hero of Another Story)

Next Chapter (The Gang's All Here) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

So... all fifteen of the Stormbreakers are gathered in one place right at the very beginning of the story. There's no way this is going to end well.
======

<== Previous Chapter (Welcoming Comittee)

Next Chapter (The Second Battle of Pyongyang) ==>​

Chapter Three
The Gang’s All Here

​

(Left) Sergeant Hal "Steampunk" Macintosh

(Right) Sergeant Isis "Avenger" Dekker

Wednesday, May 2, 2035 – 12:15pm


“Central, Central, this is Doomsday! Respond at once!”

“This is Central. Send your traffic, Doomsday.”

“I have two signals for you, Central. First signal is: Zander. I repeat: Zander.”

“Oh my God… uh, request confirmation! Urgently!”

“Central, this is Trojan here. I confirm Doomsday’s message: Zander.”

“Ack… uh, Acknowledged. Doomday, you’re go to send your second message.”

“Wolverines!”

“Mother of Christ! Doomsday, you should have led with that! Can you confirm!?”

“Central, this is Alecto! Wolverines! I say again! WOLVERINES!! THEY’RE COMING!!”

…

Twenty-five years ago, if you’d told us that a larger and more well-armed enemy force was about to blow through our position and attack our friends, you might have caused us to panic. But the Stormbreakers are not a ramshackle group of brothers and sisters in-arms pretending to be a squad anymore. All twelve of my comrades have been hardened by countless battles and have over a half-a-century of combat experience shared between us. No sooner had Jericho’s warning left her mouth than we were already springing into action.

Holly had picked up her radio and raised the alarm, telling the Avenger what was going on. Soylent started ordering his comrades towards new defensive positions. Chihiro was already scanning the rooftops, looking for a new place to set up her sniper rifle. Odette and Matthew had unzipped their backpacks and were starting to run down the road, placing anti-personnel land mines as they went.

Ludmilla, Sophia, and Homura all ran back to the truck and retrieved their weapons. Ludmilla and Sophia had fought alongside the Stormbreakers a few times before, they knew what to do and fell in with our group right away. Homura seemed a little confused and out of place. Her rifle hung at her side while she waited for someone to tell her what to do.

“Trojan!” Holly shouted at me, “You’re taking responsibility for FNG’s and Hanako! Keep 'em with you!”

“Are you kidding me!?” I yelled back. “You want me to babysit the Squaddies right now, Colonel!?”

“Don’t argue, Robinson!” Holly snapped.

Before she could say anything else, her radio squawked. Holly set her machine gun on the ground and held the radio up to her ear to listen to the latest information from the Avenger. A few feet away from the group, Isis Dekker stopped what she was doing and grabbed Jericho by the shoulder. She spun on her feet to face the German mechanic, and a look of joyous recognition came over her face.

“Kate?” Isis’ voice cracked. “Do you remember me?”

“Of course, I remember!” Jericho pulled Isis into a hug. “You were my first mom, back on Hawaii!”

Above the pair, Isis’ Gremlin drone flew in an excited circle above their heads and made a chirping sound. Both Isis and Jericho choked up and cried for a few seconds.

“I saw the aliens take you away!” Jericho said, “In the forest on Kauai. I’m glad to see you’re alright!”

“I knew you’d survived, little Kate.” Isis half-sobbed, “You were always a tough kid. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here, like this! Where have you been this whole time?”

“I’ve been moving around East Asia.” Jericho answered. “Korea. Manchuria. Japan. Taiwan. A little bit of China and Mongolia, too. What about you? Where did the aliens take you?”

“America. The local Resistance had to break me out of a prison.” Isis paused, struck by a sudden thought. “Hey, wait a minute, you called yourself ‘Jericho’ earlier.”

The Hawaiian nodded.

“I don’t call myself ‘Kate’ anymore. I’m Jericho now. It’s a long story.”

“What? Why? How did you-”

“None of that is important right now.” Jericho interrupted. “We live through this, I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

“Fireteam leaders, gather on me!” Holly yelled.

Hal and I followed Holly a short distance away from the group so she could brief us first. All of the other soldiers started looking for and building defensive positions. When Holly beckoned her, Jericho broke off her talk with Isis and joined Holly’s chat with the fireteam leaders.

“Alright troops, listen up.” Holly began. “The Commander’s drawn a defensive line running from our position to the top of that hill a mile to the south. XCOM forces are being deployed along the line and we’re gonna hold it when ADVENT comes. Jericho, you said that’s your name right? What can you tell us about what’s coming?”

“They’re coming from the Southwest.” Jericho told Holly. “Moving along that highway we just came from. There’s about five hundred ADVENT Peacekeepers, supported by four tanks and a Siege Cannon.”

“Aw shit, they’re bringing artillery?” Hal asked. “Colonel, with all due respect, artillery is the one thing we can’t defend against. Shouldn’t we make a fighting retreat back to the Avenger?”

“You’re right. That’s the plan.” Holly answered. “The Commander and Central both say that it’ll take about an hour to pack everything up and get the Avenger ready to fly. If we try and take off right now, that Siege Cannon will be shelling us when the takeoff sequence is underway. We’ve gotta stop ADVENT from getting that big gun near the Avenger.”

“So our objective is to destroy the Siege Cannon?” I asked.

“No.” Holly said. “We’re going to make a delaying action, buy time for the Avenger to get ready to fly. We engage the enemy here and force them to deploy and fight. Once she’s ready for takeoff, we’re all getting the hell out of here. As soon as we take contact from the enemy, we’ll start that fighting retreat. Robinson, your fireteam will provide cover fire while Hal’s team and my team both fall back. Then we’ll dig into a new fighting position and give your team cover while you retreat. We’ll repeat that all the way back to the Avenger. Any questions?”

Hal and I shook our heads. Jericho stepped forward.

“I know this is going to sound insane, but you need to let me go back the way I came from. I promise I’ll come back in about an hour.”

“What!?” Holly, Hal, and I all said at once.

“Are you bloody daft?” Holly demanded. “You think you’re just gonna walk away after showing up here and telling us we’re about to be attacked!?”

“I have to!” Jericho spoke in a tone of voice that implied her answer was the obvious choice. “You and your comrades are going to need help, and I can get it!”

“And where’s that help going to come from!?” Hal said incredulously. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re in the middle of North Korea. If you leave here, you won’t see another Human until you get to one of the Mega-Cities. Seoul or Busan if you go south, and if you go north, you’d have to cross most of Manchuria before you got to Shenyang. We’re your only ride out of here, kid.”

“Precisely.” Jericho said. “There’s a Resistance Cell nearby, and I convinced them to follow behind us-”

“Stop right there!” I interrupted. “Jericho, the Avenger’s been here for almost two weeks. If there was a Resistance Cell in the area, we would have found it by now.”

Jericho folded her arms and looked defiant.

“No, you wouldn’t.” She said. “This group is from Mainland China. Like I said, they’ve been following me. I told them that they needed to help you fight this battle today, and then you’d take them out of here on the Avenger. The whole team’s camped out about a mile back, I just have to go back and signal that it’s safe to approach your lines.”

“Out of the question.” Holly said curtly. “We’ve been trying to get you on-side for years, Jericho. We can’t just let you leave again like-”

But Holly never got to finish her sentence. A loud screeching noise, like a thousand fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard, pierced the air and caused all of us to drop our weapons and press our hands to our ears.

“What the hell is that noise!?” Chihiro screamed.

“I don’t see anything out there!” Soylent raised his voice above the cacophony.

Just when I thought my eardrums were going to burst, the noise stopped; but there was nothing merciful about the sudden silence, because a moment later the noise was replaced by something far… far worse.

A harsh voice spoke softly in my ear:

“The end is coming.”

I jumped to one side and looked to see if anyone was there. Nobody was next to me. All around, the other Stormbreakers, Ludmilla, Sophia, Homura, and Jericho all startled exactly the same way I did. They had heard the sound too. When the voice spoke again, I felt my blood get cold:

“The Elders grant me their vision, and I am everywhere. The Elders possess many gifts. Where they see you, they send me. They have proposed an exchange: Surrender the one called ‘Jericho’ to my forces at once. In return, every man and woman aboard your ship will be spared and allowed to leave this place. If not… then you will meet the destiny shared by all traitors. Shall we begin?”

The voice fell silent. The screeching noise stopped. Everyone looked at Jericho. Isis took a few steps toward her, slack-jawed.

“You…” Isis looked like she was lost for both breath and words. “You- but… The Chosen are after you!?”

Jericho nodded.

“That sounded like the Assassin to me.” Matthew sounded frightened.

“Good, I’ll take the Assassin over the Warlock any day.” Isis said grimly.

“I’d rather fight the Hunter.” I said. “I’d be able to see him coming.”

All thirteen of the Stormbreakers had encountered the Elder’s Chosen warriors at least once over the course of the war. Big and powerful, these three aliens were the Elder’s personal favorites, and they’d been granted access to weapons and Psionic powers unlike any we’d ever seen before.

During her childhood, Jericho had lived with Isis on Kauai Island in the Pacific. The Chosen Warlock had found them and overwhelmed Isis with psychic powers unlike anything we’d ever seen before. The Warlock was the oldest of the Chosen, and therefore the most experienced. He supposedly had the power to conjure entire armies out of thin air. Reports, legends, and rumors about the Warlock go back nearly fifteen years.

Just a couple of weeks after Operation Gatecrasher, Chihiro and I had crossed paths with the Chosen Hunter. We just barely managed to escape from him without getting into a fight, and the two of us agreed to simply run away the next time we saw him. Kathleen Walsh reported that the Hunter had never missed a shot during any of his encounters with XCOM. According to intel, the Hunter only became active ten years ago.

Odette Fournier and Matthew Hawkins had both met the Chosen Assassin on separate occasions. Matthew had only caught a glimpse of her and couldn’t tell much. Odette had gotten into an actual fight with the Assassin and now refused to talk about it to anyone. The XCOM rumor mill suggested that the Assassin had personally given Odette’s French Resistance cell its greatest defeat. According to Intelligence reports, the Assassin was the youngest of the Chosen, having only been active for the past five years.

At the moment, Jericho didn’t seem overly concerned about being pursued by the Chosen.

“That’s why I had to disguise myself, and why you’re all in danger now. The Assassin’s been on my trail for the past couple of weeks, and she found you while hunting me.” She explained.

“So, you knew you were being followed, and you came here anyway!?”

The new voice caused me to look around. Ignatius Petoskey and Yutaka Yamamoto had overheard the last part of the conversation and they both looked outraged.

“You led the Chosen right to us!” Ignatius pointed an accusing finger at Jericho. “You’ve betrayed us to the aliens!”

“No!” Jericho’s eyes went wide. She raised both hands and took a step back from Ignatius. Yutaka stepped forward and grabbed Jericho by the arm, holding her in place.

“Now hold on a moment, Petoskey.” Yutaka said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. This girl is clearly not a Faceless, and her warning about the enemy approaching us turned out to be true. So far, she’s been more than helpful and cooperative. I see no reason to discredit her words yet.”

Yutaka kept a firm grip on Jericho and looked down at her. I’d seen that expression on his face hundreds of times before. He was expecting Jericho to praise him for coming to her defense, but she was too busy pleading with Holly.

“Colonel, please let me go get those Resistance fighters and bring them back here. You’re going to need all the help you can get, anyway. You can’t fight off an ADVENT army and one of the Chosen at the same time! You’re going to need help!”

From the roof of a nearby building, Sophie Ackermann yelled:

“I can see the enemy! Trucks and foot soldiers coming around the bend in the road! One mile distant!”

While Holly peered through her binoculars in the direction Sophie was pointing, I grabbed Jericho by the shoulder and pulled her away from Yutaka.

“How the hell did you know all of this?” I demanded. “You knew about ADVENT getting the jump on us! You know where to find a Resistance Cell, too!? Where the hell are you getting all of this Intel from?”

Jericho grabbed my hand with her own.

“Blake, this is gonna sound really freaky, but you’ve gotta believe me, okay?”

“Any answer is better than none.” I replied.

Jericho pursed her lips and squirmed nervously. Finally, she spat it out!

“I… I… I know the future! Okay!? I know what’s gonna happen next and when! I already know how this fight’s gonna end, too! Now you’ve gotta let me bring that Resistance Cell over here or half the team is gonna die!”

Holly, Hal, and I all dropped our jaws. Yutaka and Ignatius both gave one another wide-eyed looks.

“Fuckin’ hell…” Holly breathed.

“Bullshit.” Hal croaked.

“You can’t be serious.” I muttered.

Jericho nodded. Then she added:

“Listen Blake: Chihiro is going to save your life three times today. Then Colonel Smith is going to knock over a Sectopod with an RPG, and after that Ludmilla is going to die! When all that’s done, you’re going to fight the Chosen Assassin make it out alive. Please! I know how this is going to end, but things will go really badly for you if you don’t let me bring help!”

Instinctively, we all turned on our feet to look at the Kuznetsova twins. Sophia and Ludmilla were about three hundred yards away, shouting at Odette and Matthew, who were still laying landmines on the side of the road.

“Come back!” Ludmilla yelled. “They’ll be able to see you in a minute!”

We were out of time. A decision had to be made. Holly, Hal, and I all looked at one another, half-panicked, half-confused. Could we really believe Jericho? Hal rubbed his arm nervously.

“I mean, we all know you’re Gifted.” He admitted.

My eyes went wide! How could I have forgotten that! Jericho’s Gift could easily explain how she knew the future, and besides: In my own lifetime, I’d witnessed an alien invasion of Earth, gone toe to toe with an Ethereal in a fight, been thrown twenty years into the future, and watched my own girlfriend develop psychic powers of her own. Was Clairvoyance really so farfetched right now?

Finally, I mulled over everything that had been said one last time, considered the options, and chose a side.

“Ma’am.” I said to Holly. “You should let Jericho go.”

Holly looked flabbergasted. I explained my thought process:

“Jericho can clearly handle herself alone, and we can trust her to tell the truth. Her prediction about the enemy was spot-on. We’ve gotta take a chance on her being truthful and honest again. We need to trust her on this one.”

Jericho smiled at me.

“I knew you’d come through for me.” She said. “Thanks, Blake.”

Holly threw up her hands in frustration.

“Okay, fine! Jericho, come with me. Robinson, Dekker and Macintosh, help the rest of the squad dig in ‘till I get back.”

…

According to Sophie’s observations, we had less than half an hour until the enemy arrived on our doorstep. The ADVENT Coalition’s so-called “Peacekeepers” were moving slowly up the main road, sweeping for mines as they went. The soldiers who make up the ADVENT army are a mixed force of Human soldiers and Human-alien hybrid fighters. However, it was impossible to tell which of these soldiers were human and which were not because they all wore helmets that covered most of their faces.

Down the road, Odette and Matthew had finally given up on laying more landmines and were making their way back to the rest of the team. Chihiro, Kathleen, and the rest of the Sharpshooters had found a three-story building to set up a new kill-zone in. They waved at me from on high.

“We’ve got good positions here!” Chihiro shouted down to me. “ADVENT’s walking into a shooting gallery!”

“What the hell’s a shooting gallery?” Homura asked.

“Something from the Old World.” I explained. “ADVENT hates them, so therefore we like them.”

“Good enough for me.”

Holly came back a few minutes later and reported that Jericho was on her way towards the northwestern end of town, where her own Resistance Fighters were camped out.

“She’d better come back soon!” Sophie said from her high perch. “ADVENT’s starting to deploy their forces. They know we’re here!”

It wasn’t the sight of the Stormbreakers that had put the enemy on alert, though.

​

The Skyranger is XCOM's mainstay troop transport. This particular unit is the third incarnation of the iconic aircraft. XCOM has been using Skyrangers to deploy soldiers into combat since the Zudjari Invasion of 1962.

With a loud whining noise and a rushing of air, a small aircraft with a wide belly and two tilt-rotor turbofan engines flew over the village and started to hover. This little craft was the Skyranger, an auxiliary aircraft XCOM used to deploy soldiers into combat. Hovering over a street corner, six rappelling lines descended from the ship and a new squad of XCOM soldiers fast-roped to the ground. While the Skyranger turned around and sped back to the Avenger, an Irish-American woman armed with a shotgun and sword detached herself from the group and ran over to us.

“Lieutenant Jane Kelly, Menace Squad!” The woman introduced herself with a brisk salute. “Me and my boys will be on your left flank. Delta Squad’s gonna be on your right. Voodoo’s coming up from behind to support us. Echo’s in reserve.”

Jane looked around excitedly.

“So where is she? I heard you guys got Jericho!”

“Not here.” I answered quickly. “Get back to your squad and we’ll deal with Jericho when ADVENT’s not trying to kill us, okay? Tell your men we’re facing a motorized enemy. Unpack the heavy weapons!”

Reluctantly, Jane returned to her troops. I stepped around the corner of the main road and looked west. ADVENT trucks were just visible behind a distant mirage. The enemy was getting too close for comfort, and I was starting to get that prickling feeling in the back of my neck that always happened before a big fight. In about an hour, a lot of people were going to be dead. I could just feel it.

My nervous feeling must have been contagious, because next to me Homura let out a loud sigh.

“I hate this part.” She said. “The quiet waiting before a battle.”

Reluctantly, I agreed. It was time to get ready for what comes next. At my instruction, Homura, Soylent, Matthew, Odette, Sophia, and Ludmilla all forced their way into a small house down the street from the structure housing our Sharpshooters. We pushed furniture out of the way and set up firing positions near every south-facing window. Across the street and a little further along, Holly, Isis, Yutaka, and Tsubaki tucked themselves into an alleyway and were lying in ambush.

Our trap was set. Now we just had to wait.

Wait for the enemy to arrive.

Wait for Jericho to return.

Wait for the fight to begin…

<== Previous Chapter (Welcoming Comittee)

Next Chapter (The Second Battle of Pyongyang) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

So earlier today, I got nominated for Fan of the Week! Thanks @Nikolai!
To celebrate, here's the next chapter a full three days early!
======

<== Previous Chapter (The Gang's All Here)

Next Chapter (Psionic Storm) ==>​

Chapter Four
The Second Battle of Pyongyang

​

The forces of XCOM were at a serious disadvantage during the Second Battle of Pyongyang. They were outnumbered and outmaneuvered. This battle is ADVENT's to lose.

Wednesday, May 2, 2035 – 1:30pm

“Stormbreakers! Listen up!”

Holly’s voice sounded from every radio receiver as she addressed the squad:

“We’re gonna make a statement today! The enemy soldiers at the bottom of that hill are ADVENT! You know who they are! Collaborationists! Fifth Columnists! Traitors! These are the men and women who sided with the aliens when they attacked our world twenty years ago! And now they’re coming for us! They’re coming to kill you, to kill your friends, and then they’re gonna keep on killing until there’s no free Humans left! Today we’re going to put our feet down and say ‘No more!’ We’re going to show these bloody bastards what happens when they try to put us in a corner! Everyone remember the plan, stay with your fireteams, and don’t bring any goddamned bullets back the Avenger! Leave’em with ADVENT!”

“HOOAH!!” I yelled alongside my teammates!

All of the Stormbreakers, plus Ludmilla, Sophia, and Homura, had found good fighting positions inside of the various buildings in this little town. We all had sightlines to one another and a good Overwatch of the main road. To our south, Menace Squad had also occupied a bit of good ground while up north, Delta Squad had dug into a hastily made trench and was waiting for their que to move.

The rumbling of engines and the crunching of boots on gravel was getting louder now. A column of ADVENT Peacekeepers was advancing up the main road towards us. The afternoon sunlight glinted off their black armor and helmets, and dust rose up from the treads of two tanks that brought up the rear of the column.

“Steady, boys and girls.” I said quietly to my fireteam. “Hold fire ‘till they set off those mines.”

Soylent, Matthew, Homura, Odette, Ludmilla, and Sophia all kept a tight grip on their weapons and continued to peek out of windows and doorways throughout the house we’d taken over. In those painfully silent moments, I remembered what Jericho had told us about knowing the future. Was she right? Did she really know what was about to happen?

A movement in the corner of my vision drew my attention. Ludmilla Kuznetsova had noticed Soylent trying to ogle her chest and was trading places with her more conservatively-dressed sister.

Jericho had said Ludmilla was going to die today.

Screw that!

Keeping my head low, I slunk over to the Kuznetsova twins and got their attention.

“This isn’t going to be like those other firefights we’ve gotten into before.” I whispered. “ADVENT’s about to hit us with some serious firepower and heavy weaponry. I don’t want you taking risks. Don’t stick your heads out of cover unless you really have to, and give each other cover fire if you absolutely need to move. Promise me you’ll watch each other’s backs, and that you won’t get killed.”

“I promise.” Sophia said meekly. “We’ll be safe.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Ludmilla replied confidently. “We’ve got this!”

Back to waiting, and listening to the sound of the enemy drawing closer and closer.

In those last few minutes, I became hyperaware of everything. It’s a mental thing that happens to me right before a big fight. Taking in the little details is how I keep my cool: The weight of my body armor slowed my breathing, and my sweaty fingers slid along my shotgun’s barrel. I could feel the heat of my breath, every stone and pebble crushed under my boots; hearing the lightest creeks in the floor above as Odette changed her footing. In the tense waiting, nothing escaped my eyes, either. I saw a lone songbird nesting in the gutter of the house next door, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. I observed a flicker of movement in the house across the street as Isis Dekker’s little GREMLIN drone buzzed about the interior. I spotted Soylent’s eyes darting back and forth as he tried to stealthily peer down the front of Ludmilla’s shirt one last time.

Then the enemy appeared.

ADVENT Peacekeepers were now less than five hundred yards down the street. They had fanned out and were looking into windows and doorways as they went. One enemy soldier wore red armor that was decorated with a cape. The mark of a high-ranking officer. Slowly, I raised my radio and spoke softly:

“I’ve got eyes on an ADVENT Captain. Five hundred yards. Second man from the left of center. Blue Dragon? You see him?”

“Right in the middle of my scope.” Chihiro’s voice issued out of the radio a few seconds later. “Colonel, can I shoot?”

“Negative.” Holly’s voice answered. “Hold fire, let them get to the land mines.”

More anxious waiting.

Four hundred yards…

Three hundred yards…

CRASH!

One of Odette’s land mines detonated! An enemy soldier vanished in a cloud of smoke and dust while another was catapulted into the air and slammed into a building! The rest of the enemy squad started to dive for cover! Holly shouted for all to hear!

“GO LOUD!! FIRE AT WILL!!”

The sound of gunfire erupting on all sides at once was like a lightning strike! I could feel the deep thudding of each blast in my chest while a violent jarring sensation raced up my arms every time I fired my shotgun! In the first volley, four enemy soldiers crumpled right to the ground while their comrades scampered away for whatever cover they could find. The tank behind them ran its treads in reverse and tried to back away from the ambush, but it rolled over another one of Odette’s mines! A column of dirt shot into the sky behind the vehicle, the blast drowned out by the noise of battle!

A bright red light caught by eye! On my left, I saw Soylent firing his rifle out of a nearby window at an ADVENT Peacekeeper who’d been caught out of cover in the middle of the road. Not a single round reached its target, vanishing in a burst of crimson light in midair. The enemy was under protection!

“They’ve got a Shieldbearer nearby!” Soylent yelled, “Somebody get him!”

The drywall next to me erupted, spewing debris into the room! I threw myself to the floor as more Gauss Rounds sped over me, making loud snapping sounds as they went.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

“Stay down! I’ve got you covered!” someone yelled over my head.

I kept my hands over my head while debris and bullet casings rained down from above! Matthew fired a few more shots out of the window, tossed a grenade into the street, and then took cover against the wall near me.

“We’ve got this, Trojan!” he yelled over the noise. “Get your girl and thin the heard for us! Do your thing!”

Oh, hell yes! Chihiro and I did indeed have a thing.

Almost reflexively, I scrambled back to my feet and started looking around for a way up. The whole western side of the house we’d launched our ambush from was shot to pieces as the enemy had started to return fire at us. Above me, there was a gaping hole in the ceiling and I could see through it all the way up to the attic two floors up. It wasn’t that far. I could make it.

By this point in my life I'd lost count of how many times I’d made use of my Meld-based Genetic Modifications. Luckily, this meant I could do it from muscle memory without thinking about it. Clutching my shotgun tightly in one hand, I jumped. I’d like to say I launched myself upwards like any normal person would, but I know that’s not what happened. I shot up into the air like a jumping spider, taking aim for the hole in the ceiling! I had timed the leap perfectly, and reached the top of the arc just before hitting my head on the attic rafters. With my free hand, I reached out and grabbed a beam, stopping my fall. I swung out and landed on the attic floor, not too far from that big hole in the wall that looked out onto the battlefield. The sounds of the fight were muted up here, but still loud as hell. Dropping to a prone position, I crawled right up to the edge and looked out over the wreckage.

It was hell out there. ADVENT forces were fully deployed and had started clearing houses. Smoke curled up from different places around the neighborhood as fires began to spread. Two floors below me, I could see the soldiers of Delta Squad starting to fall back through town while my team gave them cover fire. From this vantage point, I could see most of the town and the battle. The loud pinging sounds of ADVENT Gauss Rifles gave away those enemies I couldn’t see.

Setting my shotgun to one side, I pulled a pair of binoculars out of my pouch and refocused my mind. This trick always took effort and focus, but the payoff was worth it every time.

Chi. I’ve got a vantage point. Can you hear me?

I began thinking those words over and over again in my mind. I don’t have the Gift, so the only way Chihiro could pick up on my thoughts was if she was actually listening for me. After about a minute of mental silence, a slightly high-pitched voice wormed its way into my mind. Chihiro’s Gift had pulled through for us again!

Blake!? Is that you in the attic of the blue house on the corner? Binoculars in your right hand?

Yeah, that’s me.

My vision fogged for a few seconds as Chihiro took full advantage of the Psionic Link between us. Then I had a really disorienting moment of double vision as I saw the world from her eyes for a few seconds!

On the roof of a shopping center, Chihiro was adjusting the scope on her sniper rifle. I felt her eyelashes brush against the scope, and her skin getting hot from a nearby fire that was consuming the warehouse she was perched atop. Three XCOM Sharpshooters were around her, pouring sniper fire into ADVENT troops. I felt Chihiro’s skin crawl as she picked up the smell of fresh blood coming from Kathleen. Her teammate had been hit, but was still fighting! Pulling my mind out of Chihiro’s, I quickly noticed where she was relative to me, about seven hundred yards up the street to my left.

“Okay!” Chihiro said to her comrades. “Blake’s gonna start calling targets for us! Go ahead!”

I peered over the edge and spotted an ADVENT soldier wearing white and red armor. He was kneeling behind and overturned car with one fist pressed to the ground. Some kind of bright red energy was coursing along the pavement in waves before rising up to form a shimmering semitransparent dome. On my left, Holly fired her light machinegun towards an enemy position, only for her bullets to hit the shield and deflect harmlessly away.

“Enemy Shieldbearer!” I yelled aloud. “Two hundred fifty yards west-northwest of you! Behind that yellow car on its side! Aim low!”

For half-a-second, I saw the yellow car through the scope of Chi’s rifle. Then Chihiro looked at the target through my own eyes. She adjusted her aim.

Once she takes the high ground, Chihiro Tachibana is an unstoppable force on the battlefield.

CRACK!

The Shieldbearer never stood a chance! Yellow blood erupted into the afternoon sunlight as the soldier collapsed behind his hiding place! The enemy soldier reached up to his helmet to call for help, but-

SNAP!

Chihiro’s next round tore through the pulverized metal of the upturned car and finished off the Shieldbearer. I was already looking for the next target, and spotted a good one.

“Enemy rifleman! In the trench by the road! Two hundred thirty yards!”

This time, Chihiro looked through my eyes for nearly thirty seconds, adjusting her weapon the whole time until she squeezed the trigger. Dirt and blood sprayed up from the trench and the enemy soldier hiding there stopped moving. I didn’t hesitate, looking around quickly and calling out another target.

“Enemy officer!” I shouted. “Two hundred yards! Dead ahead, running across the street!”

“Where ya going!?” Chihiro yelled!

Dropping her sniper rifle to her side, Chihiro unholstered her pistol. The Shadowkeeper is a special one-of-a-kind weapon she had been holding onto ever since Operation Gatecrasher. Chihiro pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession, causing the ADVENT Officer to stumble and fall to the ground halfway through his dash to safety.

“Ha!” Chihiro laughed. “I’m too fast for ya!”

A sudden burst of gunfire forced Chihiro to duck down behind cover again! Someone was shooting at her! From my own high vantage point, I quickly spotted the enemy responsible and took aim!

BOOM!

My own shotgun let out a cannon blast of fire and smoke! I was sure I’d gotten the guy, just to be safe I peered around to see if I’d actually hit him, but a loud snapping sound told me to put my head down! Gauss rounds were flying over me! Splintered wood fell from the rafters as I shouted into my radio!

“I’m under fire! Does anybody see him!?”

“I got eyes on your guy, Trojan!” Hal’s voice came across the airwaves. “Across the street! Hiding in the white house! Living room, behind that bigass rocking chair!”

“We’ve got you covered, Trojan!” Homura yelled from below. “Go get him!”

I hooked my shotgun to its shoulder strap, reached up and unsheathed my sword, and jumped over the ledge!

Hitting the ground hard, my Meld-enhanced legs took the blow like shock absorbers! Moving faster than the speed of death, I was on my feet and charging across the street! Bewildered ADVENT soldiers tried to redirect their fire at me, but they were either too slow or gunned down by my squadmates! I was on the curb, across the lawn, and at the front of the house! The door was closed and barricaded from both sides. I didn’t care. XCOM Rangers don’t use the front door.

Launching myself forward, I crashed headfirst through the living room window! Glass shards and wood splinters flew everywhere! Clad in black armor, an ADVENT Peacekeeper rose from behind his hiding place to meet me! His big, boxy Gauss Rifle seemed to glare at me, but I was on him in seconds! Raising my sword in both hands, I brought the blade down in one sweeping motion! The sword connected with the top of the trooper’s head, slashed downwards across his chest, and sent him cascading to the floor!

A loud cracking sound right next to my head told me that someone had just tried to shoot me! Ducking down behind the big cushions of the rocking chair, I kicked the still twitching body out of my way and poked my head out of cover, trying to see who was shooting at me.

Oh… damn!

A whole squad of Peacekeepers was surging into the house from outside! They had their guns trained on me the whole time! I raised my shotgun and blasted one of them back out the door and shouted into my radio!

“I’m outnumbered over here! Need help!”

“Standby!” Chihiro replied. “We’ve got you!”

Crash!

A whole section of wall was blown away as a volley of sniper rounds tore through it! At Chihiro’s command, all of the Stormbreakers’ sharpshooters had turned their attention to my situation!

Chihiro, Kathleen, and Tsubaki were firing indiscriminately into the enemy’s flank! In front of me, three enemy soldiers crumbled to the ground, wounded or killed by the onslaught. The rest chose to scatter, looking for better cover. In the back of my mind, Chihiro’s voice triumphantly declared:

You owe me one for that, Blake!

Then Chihiro spoke aloud into her radio:

“The rest of Trojan’s fireteam is clear to cross the street! We’ll give ’em cover fire!”

Ludmilla, Sophia, Soylent, Homura, Odette, and Matthew all kept their heads low as they moved to rejoin me. One by one, they burst into the house and took up new fighting positions, dispatching the ADVENT Peacekeepers who had survived the initial assault from the Sharpshooters. Homura looked panicked.

“There’s a dropship!” she told us. “I saw it! Enemy soldiers just landed in the yard behind us!”

“Damnit!” Soylent said. “There’s already more of them coming up the main road. At least a squad of them, eight or nine soldiers!”

I swore and called Holly on my radio.

“Doomsday, be advised, my team is about to be flanked! We need help to break out!”

“Hold your position, Trojan. I’ll send somebody as soon as I can.”

I looked back up at my team.

“Alright everyone, we’re on our own for the moment. I want the Kuznetsova twins up on the top floor keeping Overwatch. Keep an eye out for that fireteam in the backyard. Vampire, mine the back door. Alecto, keep her covered! Soylent and Hanako, cover the main road. Now this goes for all of you: the second you think you’re going to be overrun, call for help. The only way we survive this is together. Everyone understand? Let’s get to work!”

We fanned out, taking total control of the little house. All around, the small Korean village was being annihilated one building at a time as ADVENT continued pushing XCOM back. Watching out a window, I saw Holly, Isis, Yutaka, and Sophie disengage from the fight and fall back. They’d been pushed out of the village entirely and were now fighting from a trench in the nearby cornfield.

“Here they come!” Soylent yelled. “Right side!”

Bracing myself against a bookshelf, I joined Soylent, Homura, and the Kuznetsova twins in laying down a volley of weapons fire as nearly a dozen ADVENT soldiers started trying to cross the street, using wrecked cars and piles of debris for cover. The gunfire was nearly continuous in both directions! Wood, plaster, and shredded insulation flew in all directions as our new safehouse was wrecked by a hailstorm of gunfire! In the street, bullets thudded into the pavement, the sides of old cars, and into the armor of ADVENT soldiers. Only two went down in that first wave of gunfire, and on our side-

“Gahaahgh!”

Soylent dropped his rifle and slid down the wall next to me, clutching at his arm as blood ran down his sleeve. I bent low to check out his injury.

“It’s not bad, you just got nicked! Man up and get back in the fight!”

Okay, I was lying about the wound being superficial, but I knew Soylent’s old Gene Mods would keep him in the fight, regardless of the fact that there was a Gauss slug lodged about an inch inside his bicep. He knew it too, and was back up in seconds.

Homura, Ludmilla, and Sophia had fallen back, moving away from the doors and windows. Sophia threw one arm out and pushed her twin sister to safety as the windowsill was shredded to pieces by gunfire! The incoming fire was getting too intense. The three of them were about to take shelter in the kitchen when a loud explosion tore through the house, kicking up dust and smoke!


“They’re inside!” Odette screamed from the back door! “They’re coming up behind us!”

The sounds of gunfire echoed all around the house, threatening to deafen us all! A flash of red light caught my eye and I heard a high-pitched scream! Odette fell backwards into the living room as a slim ADVENT soldier carrying a long club-like weapon entered the room.

“Lancer!” I shouted.

The ADVENT Stun Lancer activated her stun baton and snarled at me. Red light flickered as the weapon made an intimidating crackling sound. I reached up for my sword again and started to draw it from over my shoulder, but I was a second too slow! The Lancer was running straight at me!

CRACK!

The Lancer’s head jerked to one side and she collapsed in front of me! I ducked to one side as the now-dead soldier toppled over. Hitting the floor and sitting up again quickly, I shouted:

“What the hell!?”

Sorry, Blake. We got forced out of position! That’s two you owe me, by the way!

I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to hear my girlfriend’s voice, even if it was just telepathically. Using our Psi Link, Chihiro transmitted a mental message into my brain.

Keep holding the line, help is on the way. Jericho just came back. She’s got a dozen fighters with her. As soon as she’s done helping Voodoo Squad, she’ll come get you. Assuming I don’t get there first!

I raised my voice above the gunfire and yelled out to my troops:

“Help is on the way boys and girls!! HOLD THE LINE!!”

My fireteam mounted a desperate defense, fighting intensely as the enemy surrounded our house and started trying to force entry.

From the second floor, Ludmilla threw a hand grenade into the street, forcing the ADVENT soldiers to scatter. Her twin sister aimed her pistol into the yard and dropped another Shieldbearer as he ran for cover. Odette recovered from getting hit by the Stun Lancer just in time to gun down two more soldiers coming into the back door! She knocked over the old refrigerator and sheltered behind it as their comrades sent more Gauss Slugs her way. Matthew held down the trigger of his machinegun, sending a stream of hot lead into the backyard!

ADVENT forces saw the tracer rounds from his weapon and followed them back to the source, forcing Matthew to cease fire and relocate deeper inside the house. Homura had dropped her Assault Rifle somewhere and was now fighting exclusively with a pistol. She fired with lethal accuracy, dropping five ADVENT soldiers in as many shots! Her long black hair whipped around her body as she turned quickly to keep track of all enemy movements. Soylent swung his rifle like a club, striking down an enemy soldier who was trying to climb in through the window!

Even when deprived of her primary weapon, Homura Hanako was a lethal warrior. The Plasma Pistol seen in her hand is believed to be much older than the ADVENT occupation of Earth, and that Homura has been maintaining/repairing the weapon with household items.

After what seemed like an eternity, the fighting lessened. We could still hear the gunfire coming from other parts of town, but for just a moment, our house was no longer under attack. The enemy had pulled back.

“They just keep coming!” Sophia panted, reloading her pistol with shaking hands. “How long are they gonna keep coming!?”

“Hey, Trojan. I’ve only got two mags left. What about you?” Soylent asked.

I counted the shotgun shells remaining in my vest.

“Four. Then I’m out. What about you, Vampire?”

Odette pulled the magazine out of her Assault Rifle, showed me that it was empty, and then loaded her last full magazine into the weapon. Sophia, Ludmilla, and Homura were in similarly bad situations. There simply wasn’t enough ammunition for everybody anymore.

“I don’t think we can hold off another hit.” Matthew said nervously. “Is there any way we can get out of here?”

“No chance.” Ludmilla replied. “We saw from up top. They’ve got us surrounded on all sides. Step out that door and you’ll get killed. Hang on, Sophia and I are going to try and scrounge up some more ammo.”

While Ludmilla and Sophia moved into another room, searching for spare ammunition, Homura spoke up.

“How long did you say we’d have to wait for help, Robinson? You did say that help is coming, right?”

I nodded.

“Jericho is on her way back.” I said. “She’s got reinforcements with her. We just need to hold out a little longer… what are you-?”

A shout caught my attention!

“They’re coming back!” Soylent yelled. “Two squads across the street!”

And then we were in the thick of it again! The enemy was hitting us, this time even harder than before! An alien grenade smashed through an upper floor window and blew away part of the second story! Odette and Matthew barely got away with their lives as timber, concrete, and plaster rained down from above!

Two more Stun Lancers got inside the house! With my last Shotgun shell, I blew the first one out the way he’d come before turning my sword against the second. Then, as though I’d been hit by lightning, I felt my arms and legs seize up! Paralyzed and about to topple over, I just saw in my periphery an ADVENT Priest making his way through the chaos. The light of muzzle flashes flickered off his white and gold armor, while a Psionic Amplifier in his hand emitted a brilliant light, aimed directly at me!

I struggled as hard as I could to break free from the Sustaining Sphere as it began to form around me, but I couldn’t make my arms obey, and I fell to my knees and slumped over to one side, coming to rest in the inside wall of the my new telekinetic prison. The sounds of the fight around me were deadened and muffled, but I could still see the action. I wanted to scream as Soylent was thrown backwards by a blast from another grenade, to shout a warning as a huge Muton burst through a doorway brandishing its serrated bayonet, and then to cheer as said alien was gunned down by the combined efforts of Odette, Sophia, and Ludmilla.

Just when I thought my comrades had brought the situation under control, another loud explosion in the street sent debris flying into our little safehouse! Still paralyzed by the Priest’s power, I couldn’t turn my head to see what this new threat was… but I didn’t have to.

“JESUS CHRIST! IT’S A SECTOPOD!!” Matthew shouted.

The Sectopod is a fully autonomous and self-propelled heavy weapons platform. The Elders and their armies used these machines to defeat most of Earth's conventional military forces during the 2015 Invasion.

“Everyone, fall back!” Soylent barked. “Retreat!”

A huge metal leg, the size and shape of an industrial girder, smashed into the house from the ceiling, opening the air above me to the sky and the towering robotic warform above our heads. The Sectopod opened up a small hatch on its topside and began to deploy its main cannon! Sophia saw this and froze.

To her left, Soylent turned tail and began to run! The brilliant light and thundering sound of the Sectopod’s cannon tore through the house like a lightning bolt! Soylent ducked around a corner and collapsed on the living room floor, leaving a bloody trail on the walls and carpet!

Shocked beyond the ability to think or move, the older Kuznetsova twin let her rifle hang uselessly at her side as she stared up at the Sectopod. The giant war machine trained its cannon on Sophia! Again, I tried to break free from the Sustaining Sphere, but my arms and legs refused to obey. Mentally, I called out for help!

From his hiding place in the kitchen, Matthew yelled into his radio:

“Doomsday! The blast area is clear! Send in the RPG!”

Ludmilla and Homura lunged forward and grabbed Sophia around the middle, pulling her behind a pile of rubble just as the sound of a rocket-propelled grenade overpowered the rest of the battle!

CRACK-BOOM!

Two explosions, one after the other, ripped through the sky above me! The Sectopod staggered on its two thin legs, then began to topple. It keeled over sideways and crashed into the next-door house, sending all kinds of wreckage and debris flying in all directions! Little splinters of wood and pulverized metal bounced off my Sustaining Sphere. I was just about to thank my lucky stars for the shield when the loud crack of sniper fire was followed by the sudden collapse of the Sustaining Sphere!

The paralyzing effect was lifted and I could move again! Straightening up and looking around, I saw the crumpled body of the ADVENT Priest just a few feet away from me, hunched over a windowsill. Chihiro’s voice shrieked from a nearby rooftop:

“Back off, creep! He’s mine! And hey Blake! That’s three you owe me now!”

The loss of the Sectopod took the momentum out of the enemy’s assault. The playing field was level, and my troops began pushing back. Since my shotgun was completely out of ammunition, I threw it away and scooped up Homura’s Assault Rifle from the ground. The weapon had a shortened barrel to accommodate her small size, but that was a boon to me as well. Tearing throughout the wrecked building with the lightweight weapon in tow, I plugged every hole in the line I could.

I joined Ludmilla and Sophia in the garage and sniped two ADVENT troopers as they tried to cross the street. Then I dashed up to what remained of the second floor where Matthew was trying to lay down cover fire for Odette. Bracing myself on a windowsill, I fired in bursts towards an enemy officer who was hiding behind a wrecked car, forcing him to cease fire and keep his head down. Freed up to move, Odette ran around the side of the house and hurled a hand grenade like a fastball, blasting the Officer’s position and removing him from the fight.

Things were finally starting to fall under control again. Once more, the enemy gave up on the attack and started to withdraw. Five or six ADVENT soldiers aimed their Gauss Rifles at what remained of our safehouse and started to fire wildly and indiscriminately. I hit the floor and crawled behind the thickest bit of debris I could find while Gauss Slugs few mere inches above my head! Around me, everyone else did the same. After a moment, the firing ceased, and we were alone in our wreck of a house.

“How’s everyone doing?” I yelled. “If you’re not dead, sound off!”

One by one, the members of my fireteam shouted out from their hiding places.

One person was down: Soylent Green had gotten a full blast from the Sectopod’s cannon. Matthew and Sophia had used a Medikit to stabilize his condition and stop him from bleeding out, but Soylent was going to be out of commission for the remainder of the fight.

One person was missing: Odette Fournier had never returned after charging outside to toss a hand grenade. I wasn’t ready to write her off yet, Odette was a lone wolf. I was prepared to stake my life on her coming back. Quickly, Matthew poked his head out of the windowsill and looked outside at the wrecked street.

“We’re clear. Looks like they ran into that building our Sharpshooters are on top of.” He said

“I guess that means m- uh, I mean, Tachibana and Walsh took care of them for us.” Homura panted.

One by one the rest of my team filtered into a barren open space that had once been the living room. Ludmilla and Sophia were carrying four backpacks fully loaded with ammunition for all types of weapons, including the ADVENT Gauss rifles. With many words of thanks and gratitude, the team started to re-arm itself. Homura returned my shotgun in exchange for her assault rifle and asked:

“Where, when, and how did you two find all of that ammo? It’s incredible!”

Ludmilla shrugged.

“We’ve gotten pretty good at finding this kind of stuff over the years. Call it a talent.”

“You call it that.” Sophia quipped. “I think we’re just really lucky all the time.”

“Everyone load up quickly!” I ordered. “We’re going to fall back towards the Avenger in a minute!”

Sophia tossed a handful of shotgun shells to me. As I started sliding shells into the breach, I looked up at Homura and asked “Are you alright?” quickly before looking back down at my own weapon. When I realized Homura didn’t reply or acknowledge my words at all, I gazed back up at her again.

Homura wasn’t paying attention to me. I could see that her eyes were locked onto something behind me and to my left. Her jaw was slowly falling open as though she’d realized something. Then I froze as Homura raised her pistol, aiming at me!

“WHAT THE!?”

Homura adjusted her aim at the last second and pulled the trigger! I started to jump out of the way, only to notice that she had missed me on purpose! A purple light flared just behind me as some kind of Psionic energy dissipated! There was a Gifted enemy behind us!

Obeying my instincts, I opened up my mind to Chihiro right away. Even though she was about fifty yards away in a nearby building, she read the situation and reacted at once. Chihiro guided my weapon hand’s movements, forcing me to aim my shotgun into a corner of the room just to the right of Sophia! She squealed in fright and dove out of the way as I opened fire!

A shimmering wall of Psionic energy seemed to appear out of thin air! The deer slug hit the invisible wall and splattered like a fruit hitting the floor! Metal shrapnel flew in all directions and caused everyone to jump back!

In front of us all, and behind that protective Psionic Shield, a tall slender figure began to materialize. An alien, humanoid in appearance, was standing there. It was nearly seven feet tall, towering over Soylent, our resident giant. Purple light emitted from a pair of wicked-looking eyes while sharp white teeth snarled and gnashed at us.

The Elder’s Chosen Assassin reared up to her full height and growled at us:

“No one has ever done that before, and none shall do it again!”

We all raised our weapons! The Assassin drew her Katana and slashed it through the air! A wave of hot air rippled across the room, knocking all of us to the floor! Homura was up first! She charged towards the Chosen Assassin, who turned to face her. Homura tried to snatch the Katana out of the Assassin’s hand, but the foe was too fast! The Assassin drew her blade back and slashed Homura’s wrist! The teenager withdrew her injured arm and raised a pistol with her one good hand!

“The Elders have forbidden your intervention!” The Assassin snarled at Homura. “Be gone, interloper!”

The Assassin projected a beam of brilliant light from her Katana and blasted Homura clear across the room! She slammed into a wall and it caved in, burying her in pulverized plaster and splintered wood!

The Chosen Assassin spotted Odette trying to re-enter the fight through a side door! The Assassin unshouldered her own shotgun and fired a single blast! Blood splattered through the air as Odette grabbed her stomach and keeled over backwards, falling out of the door she’d just come in through! With her Katana, the Assassin cut Matthew's rifle in half, then slashed at his chest, destroying his body armor and sending him tumbling back to the floor! Sophia, Ludmilla, and I all attacked at once! The Assassin tried to hit me with her free hand, but was blocked when a Psi shield flickered to life in front of me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt Chihiro’s heartbeat accelerate as she raced across the street towards us, projecting Psionic energy with both of her hands.

The Chosen Assassin tried to hit me one more time, but Chihiro’s Psi shield remained unbroken. While I scrambled to try and get around to the Assassin’s side, she refocused her attack on Sophia! She drew her Katana back and then lunged forward! Sophia lifted her assault rifle, determined to strike first!

“NO!”

Ludmilla Kuznetsova attempts to draw fire away from her twin sister during the Second Battle of Pyongyang.

Ludmilla jumped forward and shoved her sister out of the way! She raised her pistol and fired wildly at the Chosen! Without flinching, the Assassin brought her blade down and stabbed Ludmilla in the chest! With a terrible sound, the Katana pierced Ludmilla’s chest and came out of her back! The bloodied blade was only visible for a second before the Assassin withdrew it and kicked Ludmilla’s limp form out of the way. The younger Kuznetsova twin was dead before she hit the ground, her body collapsing on top of Sophia, who began to scream and wail unceasingly. Given a clearing at last, I raised my shotgun, took aim, and fired a deer slug right into the Chosen Assassin’s gut!

The Assassin roared and brought her blade down on me! I felt my body armor split in two before the floor came up to meet the back of my head! I could see stars blinking on and off in front of my face! Through a daze, I saw the Assassin turn away from me, preparing to attack someone else! But then-

Soulfire!

Bright blue and purple flames erupted all around us! The house was set alight as Chihiro made her entrance! The fire coalesced around both of her arms and took the shape of two burning shields! The Assassin plunged her blade into the floor and began dragging the tip along the surface, building up a wave of Psi-energy as she went. Chihiro tried to attack first! She banished her left hand shield and pressed her free index finger to the side of her head. When she pulled her hand away, thin whips of Psionic energy followed as though stuck to her fingertips. Chihiro pointed at the Assassin, and a bolt of lightning jumped from herself to the Assassin!

The Chosen pulled her sword up and took the blow without flinching! Then a rippling wave of invisible force washed out of the house like an incoming flood! Chihiro got caught in the deluge! Clutching her head with both hands, she screamed loudly before collapsing to the ground!

Seeing Chihiro go down lit a fire inside of me! Whatever pain and exhaustion had been in me before was gone in an instant! All I could think about was Chihiro, I wasn’t going to lose her like this! I started to clamber back to my feet, but the Assassin spun around and punched me in the face! For a moment, absolutely nothing made sense as I tasted pain and smelled blood. Clutching my bloody nose, I hit the ground again.

“You have fought honorably, with courage and conviction.” The Chosen Assassin said to me. “I see no reason to take your life. After all, the one I seek has arrived.”

The Assassin turned her gaze to the street. Sitting up, I followed her eyes.

About two hundred yards down the road, thirteen people were approaching. It was a mixed force of Resistance fighters from all over Eastern Asia: Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and Mongolians. The new fighters had tipped the balance of the battle back into XCOM’s favor. ADVENT soldiers retreated before the fresh troops. At the head of the new formation was a teenage girl with brown skin, blue hair, and purple eyes. Her bright yellow tee shirt stood out against the dull, muted colors of the battlefield. Ignoring the defeated Stormbreakers, the Assassin stepped out of the wrecked doorway and into the street.

As soon as they saw the Chosen, the twelve Resistance fighters scrambled for cover, diving inside of buildings and slamming doors behind them wherever they could. Some brave soul noticed that Jericho was still standing in the middle of the street and yelled at her from a second-story window:

“Hey, that’s one of the Chosen! You need to run! Get outta there!”

Jericho did not move. She only had one weapon: an old and battered-looking alien rifle. Clutching her weapon tightly, Jericho stared the Assassin down with unflinching eyes. The Assassin was observing Jericho with an expression that bordered on respect.

“It’s fitting that we meet on the field of battle.” The Assassin said. “I have no intention of quibbling over ideologies, histories, or objectives. My masters command that I capture you, Jericho, and return you to your rightful place among the Elders; so that together you may complete their urgent preparation for what lies ahead.”

Jericho defiantly raised her archaic rifle and chambered a round.

The Chosen Assassin gripped her Katana with both hands.

Everyone else took cover.

Jericho joins the fight.

<== Previous Chapter (The Gang's All Here)

Next Chapter (Psionic Storm) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (The Second Battle of Pyongyang)

Next Chapter (Explain Yourself) ==>​

Chapter Five
Psionic Storm
​

In this Second Hyperspace War-era photo, Jericho is seen opening up a Psionic Rift, an extremely dangerous (and highly destructive) technique that usually requires a Psionic Amplifier. Despite having no formal training, Jericho has developed the ability to use her powers without any kind of Amplifier, a skill normally reserved for beings who are extremely well-versed and highly experienced in Psionics.

Wednesday, May 2, 2035 – 2:10pm

I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about the weather, but I really need to get a point across, and I can’t think of another way to do it, so just bear with me here: I’m originally from a place called Michigan. It’s a pair of large peninsulas that stick out into the middle of the Great Lakes region of North America. The lakes themselves are massive and cold, which means they can disrupt any weather system going through the area. Because of that, we Michiganders have a saying:

“If you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour.”

I’ve seen thunderstorms pop up out of seemingly nothing, watched a blizzard race across the landscape like it’s trying to win a race, and I’ve had the experience of seeing a windy December gale turn into a brutal ice storm that transformed my neighborhood into a frozen wasteland. I thought I’d seen all the different ways a bright and pleasant day could turn into something dark and terrifying. I thought I’d seen everything.

I’ve never been so wrong in my life.

When Jericho and the Chosen Assassin moved to attack one another, it was as though someone had plugged the sun into an amplifier! I jammed my eyes shut at the first pulse of violet energy, but brilliant red light filled my eyelids and blinded me anyway! Above, I heard loud screams and wails!

“What’s happening!? I can’t see!!” Matthew yelled.

A violent jostling sensation next to me forced me to open my eyes. The wall next to me had crumbled and was mere seconds away from collapsing! There was a mighty thud as something crashed into it again!

“The house is coming down!” I yelled. “Everyone outside!”

I stood up, and as soon as my head was level with the window again, I was bombarded by a new set of sensations. Psionic energy washed over the battlefield and my arms and legs suddenly started to feel a little numb. To my left, I saw something incredible!

Jericho was standing in the middle of the street, both hands raised in front of her face. A telekinetic shield flickered and wavered in front of her as the Chosen Assassin fired a continuous beam of energy into it! It was clearly taking all of Jericho’s focus to defend herself, and it seemed to be working. The Chosen Assassin was clearly having trouble maintaining her assault, her face screwed up in a mix of pain and frustration!

Looking behind me, I saw that Homura was getting back to her feet, battered but still combat-ready.

“Hanako!” I yelled. “Help me!”

I vaulted the remains of the windowsill and started closing on the Chosen Assassin! The two Gifted combatants were radiating so much light that I could barely keep my eyes open! I drew my sword and charged straight at the Chosen! In both hands, I raised the weapon above my head and tried to bring it down into her side, but the Assassin moved faster than I was ready for, and parried the blow with her own Katana! The Chosen gave me a look that made me a little confused… her expression was almost courteous.

“Perhaps you’d like to try a more adept sparring partner?” The Assassin taunted. “You could have learned much from me if we weren’t destined to be enemies.”

Her blade still locked onto mine, I felt the Assassin starting to push me away, hard! I dug my feet into the ground and tried to resist! I just needed a second, and I got it!

Taking advantage of the Assassin’s distraction, Jericho and Homura both struck! Homura fired her assault rifle in bursts, shooting the Assassin in the back four times, while Jericho conjured a semi-corporeal lance and hurled it forward! Yellow blood spurting from her wounds, the Assassin yelled and finally managed to shove me away! I fell over backwards and hit the ground! My sword and shotgun clattered around me, I reached for both as the Assassin turned her attention back to Jericho.

“That attack might have proved dangerous, if you knew what you were doing.”

Suddenly, Jericho was on the defensive again! She backed away and gave ground before the Assassin, looking over her shoulders for anything she could use as cover. But the Assassin didn’t strike. Instead, the alien reached to her belt and produced a small device.

“Grenade!” Homura yelled.

The Assassin tossed the little device to the ground and it detonated on impact! Where there was suddenly too much light, now there was none at all! Whatever this thing was, it had shut off the daylight! Total blackness pressed in against my eyes so hard I felt an aching sensation in my skull!

“Join me in the darkness, and I will end this quickly!” The Assassin declared triumphantly.

I could hear the sounds of gunfire and violence all around me, but now I was completely and totally blind! Fumbling around in the pitch blackness, I found my shotgun and aimed into the spot where I’d heard the Assassin’s voice, but Jericho shouted!

“Blake! Don’t shoot!”

I don’t know how Jericho had gotten directly in front of me, but I was sure glad she’d somehow managed to spot me in the darkness. Her words were followed up by a loud rushing sound, a noise like a torrent of floodwater rose in pitch before falling away again. The noise was then replaced by the jabbering chatter of at least a dozen ADVENT soldiers!

“By the Elders will, I am reinforced!” The Assassin yelled.

I blinked as rapidly as I could, trying to force my other Genetic Modification to do something useful. After a couple of seconds, my field of vision suddenly turned orange for a brief moment as my modified eyes finally defeated whatever was blinding them.

My vision came back, just a little, but it was back! It was as though I’d been plunged into a cloudy moonless night. The environment around me was still very dark and foggy, but I could see! Just behind the spot where the Chosen Assassin had vanished, a whole squad of Stun Lancers had stepped out of a rapidly closing Void Rift. As their psionic portal dissipated behind them, the enemy soldiers charged directly into the fray!

I scrambled to my feet as quickly as I could, just in time to dodge the bright red Stun Baton of an enemy Lancer. Panting, I slashed my sword wildly at the Lancer and cut a great big gash in her chest! As she toppled over, I saw how badly the rest of the fight had turned:

Jericho was under siege. Hidden in the shadows, the Chosen Assassin was firing her shotgun at Jericho with impunity, and it was all the Hawaiian could do to maintain a personal shield. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen ADVENT Lancers were running amok through the village! All twelve of the Resistance soldiers Jericho had brought back were holding the line valiantly, firing hundreds of rounds into the advancing enemy. I had to admit, without those reinforcements, our position probably would have been overrun.

About twenty feet away, I saw Matthew slumped over a windowsill, twitching. I couldn’t tell if he was alive from here. Next to him, Tsubaki was grappling with a Lancer in hand-to-hand combat, barely managing to keep the Stun Baton away from herself.

I turned around and quickly spotted Chihiro. She was still lying facedown in the dirt where the Assassin had overpowered her. Bullets and gauss rounds were flying all over the place, grenades detonated and kicked up debris, and a large fire was slowly making its way up the block towards us. It only took me a second to figure out who I was going to help.

Dropping both of my weapons, I ran over to Chihiro and grabbed her by the arm. Crouching down, I pulled Chihiro upright and then allowed her to collapse onto my shoulder. Her head and arms hung limply and rested against my back while I wrapped my arms around both of her legs, keeping her in place. From up above, I heard two familiar voices yelling at me:

“Trojan! Get her outta here! We’ll cover you!” Kathleen shouted from a rooftop.

“The Skyranger’s coming to pick up the wounded!” Hal added. “We marked the LZ with white smoke bombs! Turn left at the corner!”

Then I heard a third voice, one that made my heart skip a beat:

“You intend to rescue your comrade? You do have an admirable sense of loyalty, for a Human.”

The Chosen Assassin was right behind me.

For half a second, I seriously considered dropping Chihiro to the ground so I could turn and fight, but then I thought better of it.

“It’s more than loyalty!” I yelled over my shoulder as I started to run. “Not like you’d understand that!”

A cold hand with long, thin fingers closed onto the top of my head! It felt like a huge spider had just clamped onto me! I yelled and started trying to break free! I felt a shudder run through the Assassin as she deflected another Psionic attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of blue hair…

“Surrender, Jericho!” The Assassin yelled. “Your comrades have fought with bravery and conviction! They do not need to die for you! Give yourself to me and I’ll let them all leave here!”

With overwhelming strength, the Assassin pulled on my head and forced me to turn on the spot to face Jericho. She looked unharmed. Panting, Jericho seemed unperturbed by sparks and little arcs of lightning jumping off her own body. Then I felt a huge pushing sensation!

Chihiro and I both hit the ground! Turning my head, I saw that the Assassin was pressing her foot into my back, pinning me. With one hand, the Assassin had unshouldered her own shotgun and was aiming it directly at Chihiro’s head! Barely conscious and still dazed, Chihiro looked at me with unfocused eyes and murmured:

“B-Blake? Wha’s goin’ on?”

Straining against the weight of the Chosen Assassin, I reached out and grabbed Chihiro’s hand with my own.

“I’ve got you, Chi!” I said, trying to hide my panic. “I’m here, you’re okay!”

The Assassin let out a noise that sounded like a cackle.

“Honor and loyalty amongst comrades, even at the final moment!” The Assassin told Jericho. “These two lives are not worth yours, Jericho! Do not waste something so valuable! Give yourself to me and they both live!”

A loud rushing sound and brilliant purple light told me that Jericho’s answer was coming in fast! With the last of my strength, I put both of my hands to the ground and did the most insane pushup of my life! Pushing against the weight of the Chosen Assassin, I lifted myself off the ground in one herculean effort! I must have caught the Assassin off-guard because she immediately lifted her foot off my rising body. Without even stopping to think, I threw myself sideways towards Chihiro! My head slammed into the barrel of the Assassin’s shotgun as I went and I came to rest on top of my girlfriend! Pain shot through my whole skull and I bit my tongue trying not to cry out!

Then I heard the sound of an explosion behind me somewhere, followed by the Assassin’s voice, loud and full of indignant rage!

“You lack conviction! Your knowledge of Psionics is cursory! And now you can’t even strike a foe standing in front of you! You dare call yourself a warrior!?”

I looked up at Jericho. Her rifle was lying on the ground and she had both palms aimed at the Assassin. Purple wisps of smoke rose up from her hands as she said:

“Who said I was trying to hit you?”

Simultaneously, the Assassin and I both looked behind us. When I saw what was going on, I sprang to my feet, grabbed Chihiro by the arms, and started to pull her to safety. Psionic energy had washed over the entire battlefield, enveloping and engulfing the bodies of the fallen. One by one…

The dead began to rise.

An ADVENT Captain, his armor perforated with bullet holes, stumbled upright and began to shuffle towards the Chosen Assassin. All over the village, the sounds of gunfire tapered off and confused yells took their place. A window shattered as two re-animated corpses smashed their way onto the street. Enemy soldiers turned their weapons away from the forces of XCOM and refocused on the undead!

The Assassin raised her shotgun and blasted the re-animated Captain across the street, then frantically looked around as more and more fallen soldiers began to rise up from what should have been their final resting places. Isis and Hal emerged from their hiding places and helped me carry Chihiro inside another building while all around us, the rest of XCOM’s forces began to withdraw from the battlefield.

The Skyranger swooped low over a nearby house and settled in for a landing in the yard. Tearing my eyes away from the incredible scene before me, I followed my squadmates to the LZ. The Skyranger pilot, an American woman named Wendy Carter, laid Chihiro onto a stretcher and secured her in place. Then someone stepped off the Skyranger and came to me.

Ignatius Petoskey had taken the field. I’m not kidding around when I say he’s the oldest soldier I’ve ever met, he’s somewhere in his nineties. He’s mostly bald save for a few patches on the side of his head and he’s got a full beard. In my mind, I always picture him like one of those Generals from the American Civil War. When Petoskey came out of the Skyranger, he was holding a submachine gun in one hand and a Psionic Amplifier in the other. The two prongs of the Amplifier were lit up and a semitransparent little orb hung in midair between them. It shone like the sun and made me squint my eyes just to look at it.

Petoskey clipped his firearm to his belt and gently grabbed my shoulder. At once, all of the pain and exhaustion I’d been feeling since the fight started seemed to just ebb away. It was like I’d been dunked into the most comfortable hot tub in the world.

“Jericho?” Petoskey asked. “The Assassin?”

My mind refocused. I couldn’t help but notice that my thoughts were sharper and clearer now.

“Follow me.” I told him.

I led Petoskey back to the main street where we had left Jericho. Somehow, when we turned the corner, the scene was even worse than when we’d left it!

Bodies upon bodies had piled up in the street. What few ADVENT soldiers remained had been killed by Jericho’s re-animated army and then their corpses had been raised. The Chosen Assassin was caught in the middle of it all, under attack from every direction! Her sword and shotgun flashed in the afternoon sunlight as she tried to keep the assault at bay! Dead ADVENT and XCOM alike were closing in while Jericho stood exactly where I’d left her, keeping both of her hands raised and straining from the intense concentration.

“Oh, mon Dieu!” Ignatius gasped.

I checked my shotgun to make sure it was loaded, then said:

“Let’s go! We’ve got to help her!”

I started to run into the fray, only to notice that Ignatius wasn’t following. He was standing stock still, watching the fight with his jaw slightly open.

“Petoskey!” I yelled, “She needs help!!”

Just a few paces away from me, I saw Jericho cry out in pain and hunch over for a second before regaining her composure. She couldn’t keep this up forever! As long as the Assassin kept a handle on the incoming undead, the two fighters were in a stalemate, a battle of attrition!

Finally, something happened that forced both Ignatius and myself to act:

One more Zombie crashed through the ruins of the house where my fireteam had made its stand. This body had once belonged to a tall, slender Russian woman with brown hair. Ludmilla Kuznetsova’s head hung limply on her neck, unseeing and unknowing. Her legs carried her forward like some kind of poorly-programmed robot, and her arms hung limply at her side as though a puppeteer was only holding half of the strings. A second after the familiar Zombie had appeared, Sophia Kuznetsova stumbled out of the house and tried to chase the reanimated body of her twin sister!

“Ludmilla!” Sophia screamed! “Please come back! Don’t go! LUDMILLA! PLEASE!”

I pointed at Sophia!

“Petoskey! Help her! I’ve got Jericho!”

We both sprang into action! So did the Chosen Assassin! When Ludmilla’s body had shambled just a little too close, the Assassin raised her shotgun and fired at point-blank range! Ludmilla’s corpse crumpled straight to the ground as Jericho’s control over it was broken! At that same moment, Ignatius and I saw something break in Sophia. She fell to her knees and screamed until she ran out of breath! Ignatius pointed his Psionic Amplifier at Sophia and a purple beam of light shot out of the aperture, hitting Sophia squarely in the head! Immediately, she keeled over, unconscious. I ran around the Assassin’s flank and raised my shotgun! Then Ignatius, Jericho, and I all launched one last attack on the Chosen!

Two Psionic blasts and a deer slug hit the Assassin right on target! Ignatius vented Soulfire from his Amplifier, immolating the Assassin and everything in her vicinity while Jericho fired Psi Lances from both hands, impaling the Chosen through the chest!

As the smoke cleared, I finally saw that we’d landed a lethal blow! Blood pouring from her wounds, the Chosen Assassin stumbled forward and dropped her weapons. With one shaking hand, she grabbed Jericho’s face and forced her to come close.

“Wh-who!?” The Assassin gasped, “Who taught you to use the Gift like that?”

Jericho raised one hand and pointed her palm at me. My shotgun jumped out of my hands and into hers.

“I learned…” Jericho pushed the barrel of my shotgun into the Assassin’s gut. “From my mother.”

And she pulled the trigger.

The Chosen Assassin screamed and tumbled over backwards, hitting the pavement and lying still. Smoke curled away from the final injury Jericho had inflicted.

Then, before any of us could say or do anything, the Assassin’s body began to emit a powerful white light! A column of brilliant purple light shot down from the sky and enveloped our fallen foe, forcing all three of us to cover our eyes until both light sources had vanished.

When we opened our eyes again, the body of the Chosen Assassin was nowhere to be seen. Nor were her weapons. Just like before this whole battle had started, the voice of the Chosen Assassin filled our minds one last time, the Psionic intrusion leaving behind these chilling words:

“Though it pains me to flee from a worthy adversary, the Elders will not allow me to die in this world. When the time comes, I shall face my death with honor, but for now I will retreat. In fleeing this battle, I feel no shame, for the war has only just begun, and you are a worthy adversary. We will meet again!”

Then the voice was gone… leaving Jericho, Ignatius, and I to stare at one another with expressions of terror. In that moment of calm, the past few minutes seemed to finally catch up with us. I was in some kind of shock... and I don’t think I could have moved even if I had wanted to.

“All XCOM units, this is Central! The Avenger is ready for takeoff and the Commander has ordered a general retreat! Break contact and fall back to the Avenger! I say again! Break contact and retreat!”

Bradford’s voice jarred us all back to reality. The radio on Ignatius’ belt squawked loudly as squad leaders acknowledged the new orders. Jericho stirred first.

“We have to leave.” she said breathlessly. “ADVENT’s still got that cannon; they’ll be raining fire down on us before too long.”

Jericho was right. During the firefight and encounter with the Assassin, we had completely lost track of where the enemy Siege Cannon was!

The ADVENT Siege Cannon opens fire from the safety of the main road. This towed weapon system suffers from low mobility and is highly situational. This weapon is useful against both soldiers and grounded spacecraft.

While Ignatius shouldered his weapon and started to pick up Sophia, I pushed the talk button on my radio and said:

“Trojan calling anyone on this net! Does anyone have eyes on the big gun?”

There was a few seconds of static, followed by the voice of an American man.

“Smokes here!” said Cory Tucker, a soldier from Delta Squad. “We’re trying to immobilize the cannon now! We don’t have any heavy weapons, so destroying this thing is out of the question. You need to haul ass and get back to the Avenger right now!”

I looked back at Ignatius. He had Sophia slumped over his back; her arms wrapped loosely around his front.

“Time to go.” he said.

Ignatius started walking in the direction of the Avenger, but turned around when he noticed I wasn’t following. I had dropped my shotgun to the ground and tucked my sword into my belt as best I could. Jericho stood guard, watching anxiously as I bent down and picked up the broken and bloodied body of Ludmilla Kuznetsova. Ignatius winced.

“She’s dead, Robinson!” he called to me. “Leave her!”

Huffing and puffing, I threw Ludmilla’s body across my shoulders. Gripping her arm in one hand and her leg in the other, I caught up to Ignatius quickly and said to him:

“My sister would’ve wanted to bury me. I’m guessing Sophia wants the same. Let’s go.”

We got out of the village easily and joined a large group of XCOM soldiers fleeing across the open field back towards the Avenger. I couldn’t see any of the soldiers from my squad, so I fell in with a couple soldiers from Menace Squad instead. Bernard von Unfal was a skinny twig of a man with a narrow face and sunken eyes. He was walking with a limp and had to lean on the shoulders of another man. Artyom Sidrov was a Russian man in his upper sixties, yet he looked younger owing to how physically fit he was. Many years ago, he had led a Soviet Army in the initial invasion of Japan. Sidrov and von Unfal agreed to carry Ludmilla’s body between them, which gave me a chance to recover my strength. They both gawked when they saw Jericho put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Is... is that...?” Artyom stammered. “Is the really her!?”

“No way! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Bernard gasped. “Jericho’s really here!”

Jericho ignored the staring men and spoke to me.

“Blake, I have to go back and get those Resistance fighters onto the ship. I promise, I’ll catch up with you and explain everything, okay? Just please have a little more patience with me, alright? Please?”

She looked like she was pleading with me, begging, even; which made me really uncomfortable. All she had to do was ask, really.

Before I could answer, I heard a loud whistling noise that I knew all too well!

“DOWN!” I yelled! “EVERYONE DOWN!!”

No sooner had Jericho and I hit the dirt than the earth heaved beneath us and a powerful bang made my ears ring! Looking up, I saw huge clods of mud and dirt raining down from the sky and a cloud of smoke billowing from a fresh crater in the middle of the field.

“That was the siege cannon!” I said. “Go get your friends quick! The Commander’s not going to wait for too long!”

Jericho got to her feet and ran back into town. I took Ludmilla’s body from Artyom and Bernard and started charging towards the ship by myself. All around me, nearly two dozen XCOM soldiers fled the scene! There was no order or discipline left, our collective morale had been broken by the artillery bombardment. Now we ran for our lives, and for the one ship that could save us all. The siege cannon shelled the field twice more! Both rounds landed hundreds of yards away from me, but they were nonetheless lethal! Two soldiers from Voodoo Squad vanished into the epicenter of an explosion, while the second impact sent a man from Delta Squad flying into the air before he crashed back to the ground and never moved again.

This was turning into a massacre!

By the time I got to the Avenger, I got an idea of just how bad the situation had become. Waiting at the bottom of the deployment ramp were two of XCOM’s highest ranking members: Chief Engineer Lily Shen and Central Officer Bradford. Chief Shen was a Taiwanese woman in her late twenties. Her orange tee-shirt made her stand out against the battleground like a sore thumb, but she didn’t seem to care. A GREMLIN drone buzzed loudly overhead, scanning the troops as they approached the ramp.

“Don’t stop down here!” Lily yelled to us. “Go straight up the ramp!”

Next to her, Central Officer Bradford was counting soldiers as they boarded the ramp. He was a worn out, grizzled-looking veteran with a scruffy, unkempt beard. Abruptly, he stopped counting and turned his head, pointing one ear towards the sky.

“Incoming!” Bradford yelled, “Everyone hit the deck!”

I threw Ludmilla’s body to the ground and hit the dirt next to it; then covered my head with both hands. The ground heaved upwards and fell down again, the movement accompanied by an earsplitting BANG! Desperately trying to ignore the ringing in my ears, I stood up and looked around. The enemy Siege Cannon had just fired on the Avenger and missed, but not by much. Dirt and mud fell from the sky, making a horrible sound. Somehow, the smell of the battlefield was even worse: sulfur, ozone, and blood all came together and made my stomach twist.

On the other side of a fresh new crater in the ground, I spotted Jericho and all twelve of the local Resistance fighters she’d brought along. Just when I thought they were in the clear:

“Another one!” Shen screamed! “Everyone drop!”

One more time, we all hit the dirt as another artillery shell came screaming in! Even though my face was pressed into the ground, I could tell that the Avenger had just escaped destruction by a matter of meters! Sure enough, when I looked up, there was now a fresh crater smoldering just a few feet away from the ship’s boarding ramp. On the other side of that crater, looking stunned beyond all belief, was Jericho and just six Resistance fighters.

One of Jericho’s comrades, a skinny Korean girl, was staring at the spot where, just five seconds ago, six of her friends had been alive and well. There was a look of genuine terror on her face. Now all that remained of her teammates was a huge hole in the ground and little bits of burned detritus that rained from the darkened sky above.

Jericho grabbed the girl and pulled her to her feet!

“Come on, Song! We’re almost there! Just a few more feet!”

The girl called Song and her five remaining squadmates scrambled back to their feet and dashed across the crater to the Avenger’s boarding ramp, reaching it at the same time I did.

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Bradford held out a hand to stop Jericho and her fighters at the boarding ramp. “Who the hell are you people?”

“They’re with me!” Jericho panted as she ran to catch up. “They can’t stay in Korea, ADVENT will kill them if they stay!”

When Bradford didn’t budge, she added:

“I’ll vouch for them, okay!? Just let us on board!”

I looked at Bradford, then back at Jericho, and then at Bradford again. He looked like he didn’t believe his eyes.

“Hey! Bradford!” I yelled. “That girl is Zander!”

Bradford did a double-take, his eyes going wide. Then he recovered and stood aside.

“I knew that! Get onboard!” He said unconvincingly. “On the double, move!”

As we stepped up the boarding ramp, Jericho hissed at me:

“Really, XCOM’s code-name for me is Zander!?”

“It’s a long story.” I answered. “Ask someone later. Right now, we’ve gotta move!”

Normally, the area at the top of the Avenger’s boarding ramp is a kind of cargo bay. On most occasions, this area is converted into a workshop for Chief Engineer Shen’s use. Today, however, it had become a triage zone. Injured, dying, and dead XCOM soldiers lay across the cargo bay floor in long rows. Several battle medics were hard at work trying to save a few lives here and there. On the far end of the room was an industrial elevator that led further into the ship.

“Don’t crowd the ramp!” Bradford yelled. “Keep moving in!”

Jericho and I started moving towards the elevator, but something caught my eye and I changed my course automatically.

Chihiro Tachibana was lying on her back in a far corner, wrapped up in heavy blankets. Two battered and bloodied soldiers were laid out on either side of her, and I had to step carefully and kneel down in the isle just to get close to her. I was so scared; I could feel my heart thundering behind my ribs. I put two trembling fingers to her neck, and felt a warm wave of relief wash over me when I felt Chihiro’s pulse and saw her chest rising and falling. In that moment, I found a little peace and justice in the world.

“What happened to her?”

I looked up to see the blue-haired Hawaiian standing behind me.

“She’s got a Genetic Modification.” I explained, choking back tears. “Whenever she’s telepathically attacked, her body kinda shuts down. It’s supposed to defend against Mind Control. She’ll be fine in a day or two.”

In the dim light, I could see Jericho’s violet eyes darting back and forth between me and Chihiro. She seemed to be thinking fast, considering an idea. But before I could figure out what Jericho was thinking about, the Avenger lurched and shuddered. A dull roar came in from outside, and when I looked towards the boarding ramp, I could see dirt and dust being kicked up by the spacecraft’s engines for just a second before the ramp rose up and slammed shut.

“All hands, standby for takeoff!”

Bradford’s voice issued from a series of intercom speakers all over the ship as it lurched again! I grabbed Chihiro’s hand and held tightly as XCOM’s flagship departed the ground and rose into the sky! The air was filled with the sounds of coughing, choking, and soft crying, all accompanied by the gentle rumble of the Avenger’s engines and the rushing of the wind outside.

The Avenger stages its escape. Due to the pressing nature of ADVENT's attack, nearly a dozen XCOM soldiers and Resistance fighters were left behind.

The ship’s running lights finally kicked on and Bradford’s voice sounded on the intercom again.

“Alright troops, we’re free and clear. Good work out there. We’re coming into cruising speed now. All squad leaders, take account of your troops and equipment, then pass your status to me. I’ll be in Engineering.”

For the first time in several hours, I began to relax. Slumping down to sit next to Chihiro, I was suddenly aware of just how heavy my armor was, even in its badly damaged state. I tried to reach up to my breastplate to pull it off, but something soft and warm tugged on my left hand. Looking down, I saw Chihiro’s hand squeeze mine ever so softly. I jumped! This wasn’t supposed to happen! At least not for a couple of days! Panicking, I looked up at Jericho and saw...

Something incredible.

Jericho had pressed both of her hands to Chihiro’s head, and the points where the two of them were touching were emitting a soft violet glow. In the low light of the cargo bay, I could see that Jericho’s entire body was radiating a warm and gentle violet light... a light that was fading. Right in front of me, Jericho’s body literally lost its light as her Psionic energy was siphoned through her hands and into Chihiro. My girlfriend gripped my hand even more tightly and took a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes.

Chihiro looked up at me from between Jericho’s fingers and said in a very groggy tone:

“So... what’s the score?”

I reached up with my free hand and gently brushed Jericho’s palm away. I held Chihiro’s face in my hand and this time, I really couldn’t stop myself from shedding a few tears.

“You: three. Me: one.” I choked. “Glad to see you back so soon.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘soon’?” Chihiro asked.

I looked up at Jericho, and saw that she now looked very tired. Whatever she’d done must have cost her a lot of energy. She swayed dangerously, as though she might swoon or faint. I reached out and grabbed Jericho by the shoulder, holding her steady.

“I’ll be fine.” she mumbled. “Just... just tired out. I need to stay here... stay and... recharge.”

“Wait, you mean you need to rest, right?” I asked.

“No...” Jericho’s frustration was masked by grogginess. “I mean literally recharge. Get my powers back. I just need a break.”

“You can get a break in Doctor Tygan’s lab.” Said a voice over my shoulder.

I jumped from surprise. Chihiro did too. Without getting out attention, Central Officer Bradford and Chief Engineer Shen had appeared behind us. They were being escorted by two armed XCOM soldiers. The sounds of the wounded and the ship’s engines had masked their approach. I quickly sprang to my feet and started to raise my arm in salute, but Bradford shook his head and waved me off.

“Good work getting the Jericho girl back here in one piece, Cadet.” Bradford said. “You’ve just made all of our sacrifices over the past twenty years worthwhile. Alright, Shen. Let’s get this over with: Tag her.”

Shen and the two soldiers moved so quickly that I had no time to respond! Chihiro screamed and moved out of the way as both of the soldiers grabbed Jericho and forced her to lay flat on her back! Chief Shen reached into her pouch and knelt down next to her, saying:

“Hold her still!”

One soldier pinned Jericho’s wrists while the other grabbed her ankles. Jericho didn’t move, but she did say:

“Ow! Wait! You don’t have to do that! I’m not resisting! I’m not fighting!”

Chief Shen pulled a small rectangular object out of her pouch, rolled up Jericho’s left pant leg, and then began affixing the device to Jericho’s ankle with a tight strap.

“Hey!” I protested, “What’s going on?!”

Bradford spoke to me, but kept his eyes on Jericho.

“We just got the only living subject of Project Jericho back. The Resistance Council had a goddamn cow when we passed the news onto them a few minutes ago. Both the Spokesman and the Commander insisted we take measures to ensure we don’t lose her again. Shen’s taking care of that right now.”

As soon as the device was secure around Jericho’s ankle, Chief Shen pulled a syringe from her breast pocket and then traded places with the soldier holding Jericho’s arms.

“This is the solution I came up with.” Shen explained. “I reverse-engineered it from the Organic Implant we found in that Lena Bishop woman after we lost Doctor Vahlen’s island last year. It’s like a GPS tracking device without the GPS.”

Shen rolled up Jericho’s sleeve and pressed the needle into her arm. She pressed the plunger and held it down until she was satisfied the organic tracking device was inside Jericho’s body.

“We’re not losing you again, that’s for sure.” Shen commented as packed up her equipment. “Now kid, don’t you dare try and take off that bracelet. You really won’t like what’ll happen.”

Shen stood up and ordered her men to release Jericho.

“Central, if you need me for anything else, I’ll be in the Shadow Chamber.”

Chief Shen and her two soldiers departed, leaving Chihiro, Bradford, a very battered Jericho, and myself together. Jericho cautiously sat up and rubbed the injection site on her arm, looking forlornly at her new ankle bracelet. I stared at Bradford, unable to think of what to say.

On the one hand, I genuinely agreed with him that some kind of steps needed to be taken to avoid losing track of Jericho... but in that moment, I honestly didn’t know how I felt about her being forced to carry a tracking device. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea, that much was certain.

Bradford didn’t give me time to think about this, though.

“Are you okay, Cadet?” he asked. “You fit for duty?”

I looked myself over.

“I… I guess so.” I said. “I’m not hit, anyway. If you need me, Sir, I’m all green. Did Colonel Smith ask for me?”

“Yeah… about that...” Bradford said slowly. “It looks like Colonel Smith didn’t make it back to the Avenger before we took off. Same goes for Captain Green. Until we find a more permanent replacement, the Commander has decided that you will be the new Squad Leader of the Stormbreakers.”

Now I was getting overwhelmed! This was too much on top of everything else! My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach, my sweat turned cold, and Chihiro’s grip on my hand suddenly got vicelike. I tried to say something, but I was too shocked… my mouth just kinda hung open. Bradford gave me an understanding look and passed me a tablet computer.

“Here’s the most recent update to your squad’s roster.” Bradford said. “We took attendance as best we can, but obviously I’m expecting you to do your own headcount as well. Once the Avenger lands in Japan, I want you to bring the Jericho girl to the Commander’s office. We need to have a full debrief.”

I took the tablet from Bradford. He nodded to me and Chihiro, then he stooped down, grabbed Jericho by the arm and forcefully pulled her upright.

“You’re coming with me.” Bradford’s voice made it clear that this was not a request. “Doctor Tygan’s pulling up all of Vahlen’s files on the Jericho Project now, but he still needs to give you a full physical. Then we’ll get you re-integrated into XCOM. Let’s go.”

Bradford began pulling Jericho towards the elevator. She gave Chihiro and I an apologetic look; and then the words I promise I’ll talk to you later swam through my mind. Chihiro and I gave one another a terrified look before staring down at the image on the computer screen:

<== Previous Chapter (The Second Battle of Pyongyang)

Next Chapter (Explain Yourself) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

Twenty pages!? 8600 words!? Yeah, I sincerely apologize for that. I'm trying to make future chapters shorter.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!

Back to the story.
======

<== Previous Chapter (Psionic Storm)

Next Chapter (Three Teams, Three Missions) ==>​

Chapter Six
Explain Yourself

​

The Avenger lands in the Kanna Valley in central Japan late at night. This region is almost totally outside the control of the ADVENT Coalition and is separated from the Megacity of New Tokyo by a mountain range.

Wednesday, May 3, 2035 – 4:00am
Honshu Island, Japanese Archipelago

Hidden away in the mountains of central Japan, the village of Kanna had escaped alien rule thanks to its sheer inaccessibility. The near-complete destruction of the nearest city, Tomioka, meant that food and supplies had to come from the much more distant Mega-City of Tokyo. Thanks to its remoteness, the greatest amount of control the alien occupiers could exert over Kanna was the occasional foot patrol or flyover with a single aircraft. The Resistance, by contrast, had a permanent presence in town, a presence that brought in the food and medicine the people of Kanna desperately needed.

So when the Avenger swooped low over the city and landed in the nearby forest in the middle of the night, no alarms were raised, but a handful of men departed the village and set about the task of helping hide the ship. Tree branches and shrubs were carried up on ladders and thrown onto the top of the ship. Saplings and vines were strapped to the hull with twine and wire, and through the rest of the night, buckets upon buckets of dirt were poured onto the hull of the Avenger. By the time the sun rose, the Avenger was hidden. With her lights off and engines deactivated, a passerby would have immediately mistaken XCOM’s flagship for a forested hilltop.

Aboard the ship, we were still dealing with the aftermath of the fight in Pyongyang. All five squads had taken casualties. In total, eleven XCOM soldiers were dead, a further fifteen were injured, and to make matters worse, ten soldiers had been left behind when the Avenger made its escape into the sky.

The Stormbreakers had gotten the worst of it. Of course, we were used to taking bad hits like that, but this time was different. Odette, Isis, and Hal had all been shot during the fight. Once they were checked out by other medics, we let Yutaka take care of them, since he’s better at treating Gauss weapon injuries than any other medic. I was sure all three of them would be back on their feet in a few days’ time.

Ignatius Petoskey came out of the fight unscathed, but he wasn’t looking to get any rest either. He went to the Infirmary with Sophia Kuznetsova, who had been reduced to a sobbing wreck by the death of her sister. I couldn’t blame her, I knew how she felt. I’d been there before.

But we had an even bigger problem: Holly, Jake, Tsubaki, Kathleen, Sophie, and Matthew had all been left behind when the order to retreat came down. When I heard about this, I got sick and puked on the floor.

I’d abandoned six of my comrades to the enemy.

I didn’t get any sleep during the flight to Japan. I just sat in my bunk in the living quarters all night, staring at all of those empty beds. I don’t remember exactly when Chihiro joined me up there, but she did. We didn’t talk much. What could be said? Our friends were in enemy hands, and we didn’t even know if they were still alive. Just sitting there silently and holding hands was all Chi and I could do. It was traumatizing to think about what might have happened to our friends, let alone talk about it.

Finally, the Avenger landed in Japan. Normally, whenever the ship sets down, Chihiro and I have a specific job to do, but she would be going alone this morning. As the new Squad Leader of the Stormbreakers, I had to report to the Commander’s office. Reluctantly, Chi and I both got down from the bunk bed and started towards the door. I was dreading the upcoming meeting, and each step forward made me feel worse and worse.

“You okay, Blake?” Chihiro asked.

“Come on, you know I’m not!” I kinda snapped at her. “Don’t be stupid!”

Okay, I might have been in the wrong here.

Chihiro developed the Gift a few months back, and we’ve only just gotten used to it. On top of the usual telepathic and telekinetic abilities, Chihiro could read my mind whenever she wanted. Sure, we’ve found a way to put that Psionic Link to good use in combat, but it does have an effect on our private lives, too. It’s caused Chihiro to change her behavior around me. Sometimes, like now, she’ll pretend she doesn’t know what’s going on in my head. I really didn’t want her to do that today.

Chihiro picked up on my thoughts right away. She stopped walking and grabbed my shoulders with both hands, turning me to face her.

“It’s not your fault, Blake.” She said.

“I left them out there! I could’ve dropped Ludmilla and-”

Chihiro cut me off.

“If you went back for Tsubaki or Matt or Holly, you’d have just been caught too. Then that slimeball Yamamoto would be running the squad instead of you. Besides, I think giving Sophia a body to bury will help her in the long run. She can say goodbye properly. Trust me, Blake, you did good out there.”

I did trust Chihiro, and I didn’t have to say it for her to know. She gave me a small smile and a quick kiss.

“You’d better go.” She said softly. “Commander’s waiting on you. I’ll see you later?”

“Hell yes.” I said, stepping out of the door. “Don’t forget, Chi, I’m your Squad Leader now. If you’re late for breakfast, I’ll have you doing pushups.”

Chihiro laughed and swatted the back of my head. We parted ways in the hall, and by way of saying goodbye, I let a very specific daydream enter the forefront of my mind. Behind me, I heard Chihiro scoff loudly as she called back:

“Later, Blake! Love you!”

…

To get to the Commander’s office, I had to go up one floor to the bridge. The Avenger’s bridge isn’t like the starship bridges you saw in Old World television shows. The whole room makes a ring around a huge holographic representation of the Earth. Red, yellow, and blue icons show the locations of ADVENT, Resistance, and XCOM forces respectively. Central Officer Bradford was standing on an elevated platform and staring hard at one particular icon on the Hologlobe: a circular shape that kind of looked like an eye, resting just a short distance away from a big green “X” that marked the Avenger’s current location.

“The office door’s unlocked, Robinson.” Bradford said. “Go on in, I’ll catch up in a minute.”

On the far side of the bridge was a metal stairway that took me up to the Commander’s office. Inside I found a big conference table set up with five chairs on one side, four on the other, plus one more chair at the head of the table. At the other end of the table, a huge flatscreen television was mounted on the wall where everybody could see it. Five seats were already taken. The other four Squad Leaders were already here, as was Chief Engineer Lily Shen. The Squad Leaders broke off their conversation and looked up at me with mixed expressions.

Lieutenant Jane Kelly, the leader of Menace Squad, nodded politely at me before turning back to Chief Shen. Her reddish-brown bangs hid most of her expression from me. She had a noticeable scar on her right arm, marking the spot where she’d taken fire during Operation Gatecrasher, the mission to rescue myself and several others from ADVENT captivity.

Major Cory Tucker was the leader of Delta Squad. A longtime veteran of the United States Army, he was the most experienced fighter at the table right now. Just like me, Cory was an American with mixed black and white heritage, so it’s kinda difficult to describe his appearance in any certain terms. He does have purple eyes, a feature that instantly gave away his Gifted status. Cory pointed to the chair opposite him, silently letting me know that it was free.

The man in charge of Voodoo Squad was Colonel Pyotr Ilyshin. I have far more history with him than I can relate right now. Pyotr and I had first met on the Japanese Front of World War Three. Back then, he had been a foot soldier in the Soviet Army, taking part of the communist invasion of Japan. We crossed paths (and traded bullets) at Kyoto, Sendai, and Hiroshima. When the aliens invaded, we suddenly found ourselves on the same side. He didn’t even look at me when I stepped into the room.

Finally, the acting leader of Echo Squad was Captain Anna Petrova. She’s one half of what Chihiro and I call the “crazy couple.” Anna has always been a rather strange person, who liked to voice her crazy and outlandish ideas, but this personality trait was amplified a hundredfold whenever she was near her best friend, Japanese soldier Akaya Ogawa, who was equally as unhinged. Like me, Anna wasn’t a full-time Squad Leader, she was just filling in due to the absence of her squad’s original leader.

No sooner had I sat down across the table from the other four Squad Leaders than the door opened behind me again. Central Officer Bradford stepped to one side and barked:

“The Commander of XCOM!”

Lily, Jane, Cory, Pyotr, Anna and I all stood up at once and raised our arms in salute.

Three people followed Bradford into the room: Doctor Richard Tygan was a bald African American man who served as XCOM’s chief scientist. From the front, he looked unremarkable, but as he turned to take his seat next to me, I got an eyeful of the gruesome scar on the back of his head, marking the spot where the Doctor had performed surgery on himself to get rid of an alien control chip. Behind Doctor Tygan, Jericho came into the room. She looked a little better than yesterday, but not by much. She had rolled the hem of her blue jeans overtop of her ankle bracelet, hiding it from view. Jericho sat down on my other side and mumbled a nervous hello. Finally, the Commander stepped into the room.

Laura Annmarie Harper is an American woman in her late sixties. She’s mixed-race like me: her mother was white and her father was Hispanic. While nobody knows much about Commander Harper’s mother, her father is pretty well-known to us. Laura is the illegitimate child of Nico DaSilva, the very first XCOM Squad Leader to die in combat. During the 1962 alien invasion, he fought in the Battle of Pima and single-handedly took down a whole squad of Outsiders at the cost of his own life. His self-sacrifice that day was honored with a humble memorial in the old XCOM Headquarters. To say that his daughter followed in his footsteps is a real understatement.

Laura had been part of the US military since the late 1990’s, and had fought in all six years of World War Three. When the smoke cleared, she had reached the rank of General of the Army, the highest possible military rank in the United States. Naturally, when the aliens invaded, America’s one and only five-star general was quickly tapped to lead Earth’s first line of defense.

Commander Harper is a tactical genius. It’s only thanks to her that XCOM lasted as long as it did during the 2015 Invasion. The Kiryu-Kai Disaster would have been much, much worse if Harper and her forces hadn’t been there to give the Japanese some backup. The alien ship that became the Avenger wouldn’t have been shot down if Harper hadn’t been managing the air war. Many battles and engagements over the course of this conflict have been turned in XCOM’s favor by Harper’s quick thinking and tactical knowledge.

Returning our salutes, Commander Harper sat down at the conference table, invited us to do the same, and then addressed the group:

“Yesterday was a hard day. We took some pretty bad hits, but we’re still here and still fighting. That’s what’s important.”

Then the Commander looked at Anna and myself.

“Petrova, Robinson, I’m sorry that both of you became Squad Leaders like this, but after reviewing the After Action Reports, I’m convinced you both did the right thing in those situations.”

I heard Anna let out a sigh of relief. Jericho put a reassuring hand on my forearm.

“Which brings me to my first bit of good news.” Commander Harper pulled a remote control from her pocket and aimed it at the television screen. “Your comrades are alive.”

The television at the opposite end of the table clicked on. At once, we saw a live feed from the ADVENT Central News Network. A correspondent was standing on the darkened battlefield near Pyongyang, which was swarming with soldiers and vehicles. The Correspondent, a black man with wiry grey hair, spoke to the camera:

"ADVENT Peacekeepers heroically responded to an XCOM assault today. Due to their intervention, damage and loss of life were limited. The Speaker himself commended the troops for their brave sacrifice."

The image cut away from the Correspondent to show footage that made my throat close up. The missing Stormbreakers were shown being detained by ADVENT soldiers:

Soylent Green was resisting arrest, fighting and wrestling with the Peacekeepers until he was finally subdued with a Stun Lance.

Tsubaki Endo was lying on a medical gurney, refusing to talk with an ADVENT Priest. Both of her Cybernetic legs had been removed.

Kathleen Walsh was lying face down on the ground. While one soldier held her down, another was going through her pockets.

Sophie Ackermann was putting up the biggest fight of all. She squirmed and flailed desperately, screaming and shrieking at her captors. Finally, she was stunned three times and fell unconscious.

Holly Smith had been stripped down to her underwear and forced to stand still so a Peacekeeper could take pictures of her numerous tattoos.

Like Tsubaki, Matthew Hawkins had been restrained to a medical gurney and was also refusing to speak to the enemy. I couldn’t help but notice that he had a shiny black eye, and his interrogator was looking very frustrated.

Then the image changed, showing a few members of Echo Squad emerging from a house with their hands raised in a sign of surrender. As they were taken into custody, the Correspondent continued speaking:

“The ADVENT administration again assures its citizens that outreach efforts in the border territories will continue despite the recent brutal assault on peacekeeping forces by XCOM radicals. The administration is committed to ensuring a safe and secure world for everyone. According to government officials, recent attacks by dissident elements operating outside of the city centers have done little to slow the progress of ADVENT's ongoing development or outreach programs. Voluntary citizen emigration numbers are reportedly at their highest level in recent years, and with today's decisive blow to XCOM dissidents, local Peacekeepers expressed confidence that the so-called resistance organization is on its last legs.”

The image froze, leaving our distressed comrades on the screen for all of us to see. We all turned to face the Commander again. She set down the TV remote and raised her eyebrow at me.

“Well, Robinson and Petrova seem to be looking a little better.” Commander Harper said. “I want you all to rest assured that a rescue plan is in the works. I’ve made contact with several Resistance cells and they’ve agreed to put out feelers at all nearby ADVENT Detention Centers and Rehabilitation Facilities. I promise you that as soon as we know where those soldiers are, we will make moves to get them back.”

The Commander nodded at Central Officer Bradford, who stood up and addressed the group.

“In the meantime, we need to discuss the reason yesterday’s fight happened at all.”

With uncomfortable reluctance, all eyes in the room fell on Jericho. I felt her shudder next to me, but I couldn’t look her in the face. This was a conversation I really didn’t want to have. It felt like Jericho was in the same boat.

“You all know I’m too old to start believing in miracles, but that’s the word I’ve gotta use here.” Bradford said, patting Jericho on the back.

“Getting Sergeant Sato’s daughter back into the fold has got to be our greatest coup since Operation Gatecrasher. Now I’m sure everyone here remembers the Jericho Project twenty years ago, and what Vahlen and Sato were trying to accomplish back then. I guess I’ll pass it to the good Doctor and he’ll explain more.”

With much squeaking of chair legs, Doctor Tygan stood up and addressed the meeting.

“Last night, before the Avenger landed, I conducted a simple genetic test on this young lady and compared it against tissue samples salvaged from my predecessor’s work on the Jericho Project. I can confirm that this individual is in fact the end result of the Project, and is the self-same person Corporal Dekker claims to have raised in the years following the rise of ADVENT.”

Jane and Anna leaned forward in their seats, trying to get a better look at Jericho, who didn’t meet their eyes, choosing to look at the table instead. Doctor Tygan continued:

“I’m sure Cadet Robinson and his comrades will attest to her Psionic capabilities, having witnessed them so recently. Following my own tests, I also confirmed that all of the Genetic Modifications installed by Doctor Vahlen are present in Miss Ray’s body and are working as intended. During yesterday’s bout of combat, Miss Ray fought the Chosen Assassin and demonstrated her ability to use Psionic powers normally outside the capabilities of our own Psi Operatives. Thanks to her modifications, Miss Ray has shown she is capable of raising the dead in a similar manner to our enemies, an ability that none of our own Operatives possess.

“The Genetic Modifications made to Jericho’s brain are based on technology developed by many of XCOM’s greatest minds. This young woman has been living with the same series of organic Neural Implants since her mother’s last surgery in June of 2015. Doctor Moria Vahlen based the technology on implants salvaged from the brain of a deceased Ethereal.”

Awed whispers ran around the table. Jericho blushed and hid her face in her hands while everyone else tried to stare at her. Doctor Tygan ignored the interruption.

“Furthermore, you should all know that it’s not just Ethereal genetic material contained in Jericho’s body. Her muscle fibers are built from reverse-engineered tissue samples taken from a Muton in 1962, courtesy of Doctor Alan Wier, our first Chief Scientist.”

“WHAT!?” Cory yelled. “A ’62 Muton!? You’ve gotta be kidding!”

Commander Harper chucked at his indignation. We all knew why Cory was upset. It’s a well-known fact among XCOM soldiers that ever since the first alien invasion over seventy years ago, the race of barbaric warrior-aliens known as “Mutons” had been getting smaller and weaker over time.

Contemporary Mutons from 2035 are just barely bigger than average Humans.

Mutons from the 2015 war were comparable to mid-sized cars.

And according to reports from the 1962 war, Mutons were roughly the size of elephants and just as strong.

I couldn’t help it. I turned my head back to Jericho. She looked very sheepish and gazed down at her own hands again while I sized her up.

Jericho was just nineteen years old. Compared to everyone else in the room, she was a scrawny little kid. She was shorter than me and I probably had a fifty-pound advantage over her. The second I heard she had Muton muscles, my curiosity got the better of me. I tapped her arm and said:

“Muton muscles, huh? May I?”

Jericho raised her arm and flexed her bicep. While the others watched, I wrapped both of my hands around Jericho’s arm and tried to squeeze!

Two things happened at once: First, I noticed that Jericho’s arm felt hard as a rock! I felt like I’d just grabbed a piece of ceramic body armor! Second, a powerful jolt ran up my arm and punched me in the chest! It was like I’d been hit with a goddamned stun gun!

“Gaaagh! What the fu-”

I reeled backwards and nearly fell out of my chair while all of the other Squad Leaders burst out laughing! Chief Shen covered her mouth and snickered while the Commander covered her eyes and shook with silent laughter. Even Jericho giggled. While I… composed myself… she rubbed her arm with one hand and said:

“What Tygan didn’t tell you is that I’ve got Bioelectric Skin. I can sense electric energy, and I can shock anyone who touches me. And don’t worry, I only shock people I don’t like.”

“Right.” I said. “Remind me not to get in a fistfight with you.”

“In a way, you already did.”

Jericho’s last sentence caused the whole conference room to fall quiet. Nervous glances were shared until all eyes fell on Commander Harper, who looked unusually calm as she said:

“I’ve already talked to Jericho privately about where she’s been and why she came to find us. She and I have come to an agreement, and the first part of that agreement is she’s going to explain a few things and answer a few of your questions. So, let’s start… Cadet Robinson, she insisted you get the first question.”

I turned my head and gave Jericho a perplexed look. She was looking at me with an expression that carried a lot of emotions. I felt a little uncomfortable trying to read her face, so I pressed on. I only had to fish about in my head for a second to find one of the many questions I’d been dying to ask her:

“Jericho, the last time I saw you, you were just a few minutes old and Isis was carrying you into the treeline. That was nineteen years ago. Where’ve you been? What were you doing? What happened after Isis got captured?”

Jericho looked a little overwhelmed as she started talking:

“Isis, huh? I’m still not used to calling her that. She was my first mom for, like, half my life.”

“’First mom?’” Anna repeated curiously. “I thought test tube babies didn’t have mothers.”

“Uh… I mean… It’s kinda complicated.” Jericho stumbled over her words. “So yeah, anyway… I was with my first mom on Kauai Island until the aliens took her away when I was eight. Then I lived by myself for a couple of years. I ran with some street-rat kids in Hanapepe until I was ten, then I met my second mom.”

A misty, nostalgic look came over Jericho’s features. She was clearly looking back at a fond memory.

“Her name was Mira Mihaka.” Jericho said, “She found me in an alley one night and told me how I could get out of Hawaii, go somewhere else and find a better life… but then, she disappeared.”

Jericho sighed and gave a quiet little laugh.

“Mira disappearing... Yeah, that was something I’d have to get used to. Anyway, I followed her advice. Stowed away on a boat and ended up in Pyongyang. And you know what? She was waiting for me there! Right on the docks, like she knew what boat I was on the whole time! Mira said she knew I was alone, and if I ever needed a place to stay I could go to her place.”

“I see where this is going.” Jane mused. “How many times did you visit before you moved in?”

“Just the once.” Jericho admitted. “Mira and I lived in and around Korea for, oh, about three years. We had to keep moving because ADVENT was on our trail. We spent time in Korea, China, and Eastern Russia. We used to have a hideout in Pyongyang, but I live out of a safehouse in Mongolia nowadays.”

Jane raised her hand and asked:

“So where’s Mira now? Mongolia?”

Jericho’s face fell.

“Well, no. That’s just it.” She said. “Mira’s missing, and I mean really missing. See, she’d go away a lot. I got used to her telling me that she was gonna leave for two or three weeks at a time. She had her own business and she didn’t want me to know about it. Besides, I could take care of myself. Mira would go away for a couple of weeks, but she’d always come back. But then, about five years ago, she got really sick, and we both thought it was something serious. I tried everything to make her better, but after letting her rest for days, and letting her eat my share of the food, she wasn’t getting better. So, we went to the Mega-City of Beijing to visit a Gene Therapy Clinic. Mira went in there… and she never came out.”

Jericho shook as she held back tears.

“I waited there outside the clinic for three days.” She half-sobbed. “People kept asking me what I was doing there, and I said I was waiting for my mom. They’d go inside and ask if Mira Mihaka was inside, and nobody had an answer. The Gene Clinic staff said they’d never heard of her! They asked if I wanted to go inside… but I got scared and ran away!”

Uncomfortable looks circled the table. Some of us had been fighting the ADVENT Coalition since the day it was founded. We had long since lost track of how many innocent people had stepped into one of those Gene Therapy Clinics, only to vanish forever without a trace. Jericho sniffed for a moment, and I instinctively raised one arm to draw Jericho into a hug. To my surprise, she started leaning into my side almost immediately, even though she couldn’t see what I was doing because her bangs had fallen in front of her eyes.

“We’ve been investigating those Gene Clinics for years.” Bradford told Jericho. “We honestly don’t know where those people have gone.”

Jericho looked up at Bradford.

“I know where they went.”

The whole room fell silent. Jericho pulled herself out of my arm and took a deep breath.

“That’s one half of the reason I came to find you.” She said. “I’ve been working on my own for the past five years, trying to figure out what happened to everybody who goes into those clinics. I followed the trains that leave from the back of the buildings. I mapped out the railroad networks… and I found the place.”

Jericho nodded at Commander Harper. The Commander picked up her remote control and once again clicked it at the television. A map of Central Asia popped up on the screen. On top of this image, a maze of black lines crisscrossed the terrain, showing all of the known railroad lines in Central Asia. Like a spider web, all of those black lines seemed to converge on one spot, in the center of the Aralkum Desert.

“Where the hell is that?” I asked. “Kazakhstan?”

“Uzbekistan.” Anna corrected. “Doesn’t really matter, both of those places used to be part of my country anyway.”

While the Squad Leaders looked at the map, the Commander spoke:

“According to Jericho, ADVENT has been diverting considerable resources and personnel to a very specific location in Central Asia over the past ten years. The exact details of the operations are highly classified, but our Cyberwarriors have been spotting the word “AVATAR” in a lot of the enemy communications related to this place. It’s safe to assume we’re dealing with a second secret facility, similar to the one we were planning to raid right here in Japan.”

Pyotr Ilyshin interrupted.

“So that’s why you came to us?” he said. “You needed help getting into this facility?”

“Yeah, that’s half of it.” Jericho answered. “I can’t get into the Aralkum facility alone. I need your help to get in there and find Mira. I’m certain she’s in there!”

“And per our agreement, we will help you.” The Commander said. “Now please tell us about the ‘other half” of your reason for joining us.”

Jericho cautiously looked around at the group, looking each person in the eye before speaking. When she got to me, I registered a surprising amount of fear and apprehension in Jericho’s face. Did she think we weren’t going to believe her?

“About two months ago…” Jericho cautiously began, “An armada of over seventy-thousand alien warships entered our solar system. The Elder’s Temple Ship is taking a fleet to intercept them and put up a fight. We’ve got about a month and a half until the new aliens get here.”

For a few moments, the whole room was quiet. We all stared at each other in complete shock. I felt that same awkward feeling in my gut I’d had on the day my little sister found out Santa Claus wasn’t real. Then, finally, Pyotr voiced what everybody was thinking:

“You really expect us to believe that!? Just like that… because you said it?”

One by one, everyone except Commander Harper voiced their unwillingness to believe Jericho’s newest claim.

“I’m with Ilyshin on this one.” Bradford said, folding his arms. “Just because you were right about ADVENT attacking before doesn’t mean we’ll believe every word that comes out of your mouth.”

“You’re pushing your luck, kid.” Jane remarked. “I can believe a lot of things, but not that.”

“Aliens, Zombies, magic powers, we’ve seen a lot of stuff, kid.” Chief Shen chimed in, “But I don’t think anybody here’s going to believe you without some kind of proof.”

Jericho hung her head, mumbling to the table:

“I know that… okay? You don’t have to rub it in.”

Oh, God. She was crying.

Anna shot a mean look at me from across the table. Jericho was seated between me and Doctor Tygan, and XCOM’s Chief Scientist wasn’t the type of person to hug a crying girl. Anna, no doubt remembering how I’d cared for Chihiro at Hiroshima, silently demanded I console Jericho. I had other ideas. There was one more question I was dying to ask.

“Hey, Jericho. Before the fight started, you told my team that you saw the future. Is this alien fleet thing… like that… at all?”

Jericho sniffed and then looked up at us.

“I didn’t see the future.” She corrected me. “I knew it. I know that there’s a huge fleet coming our way, and I know that fleet is on our side!”

For a whole minute, everybody just stared at Jericho, slack jawed. Then, one by one, we all turned our eyes towards Commander Harper. To my absolute terror, I realized that Harper had never joined in the wave of disbelief that had met Jericho’s claim. She was watching the rest of us with a look of rapidly depleting patience.

“I’m glad we got around to this topic, even if it took a minute. This, in my opinion, is more important than any upcoming raids or missions. This needs to be addressed.”

Bradford looked from Jericho to the Commander and back again.

“Explain yourself!”

I wasn’t sure if Bradford was talking to Jericho or Commander Harper. At any rate, it was the Commander who answered:

“When he searched her, Doctor Tygan found out that Jericho was carrying a portable hard drive, which she’s permitted me to look at. I spent all night and much of this morning reviewing the contents of that system and discussing them with Jericho here.”

Commander Harper stood up and pulled a small thumb drive from her pocket. It had a funny-looking adapter on the end that made it compatible with XCOM’s computer systems.

“I have reason to believe that alien fleet she’s talking about is very real. The Avenger’s sensors are picking up unusual activity in the vicinity of Neptune.”

Oh… oh man… I started to feel like my head was spinning. This was too much to accept, but Commander Harper wasn’t done!

“Furthermore, it seems that Jericho and her mother appear to have had advance warning of hundreds of future events. This drive contains a database called the ‘index of historical events’ which including several that have already happened to us. The database is written almost entirely in a history book format, referring to ourselves and our work in the past tense. This index also contains detailed information of the life stories of several thousand people, including about two dozen individuals aboard this ship right now.”

Everyone began to look at one another nervously. But Commander Harper had one last shoe to drop.

“The most curious detail about Jericho’s index, though, is that the record simply stops on a certain date, about a year and a half from now. Jericho has told me that her mother didn’t have any data from beyond that day.”

Jane Kelly put both hands on the table and pursed her lips.

“Commander, you gotta see that this is a lot for us to just take. You’re getting' really close to sayin’ we need to start believing in time travel! Jericho and her mom have a thing that tells them about the future, fine. But how’d they get it!? How was it even made?”

Jericho took a deep breath and answered:

“Before she met me, Mira worked for a time-traveler.”

Pyotr put his head in his hands.

“First Aliens… then the aliens turn our people into zombies… then aliens with magic powers come down and say they’re our new gods… and now time travel!?” he groaned. “How do I get off this crazy ride!?”

Anna bounced up and down in her seat and clapped her hands excitedly.

“Ohh! Please tell me her time machine is a converted sports car! No… Wait! A phone booth!” Anna giggled.

“After twenty years of living under the auspices of the Elders, I’m hardly surprised.” Doctor Tygan commented. “In fact, I should have anticipated this. Nothing is beyond the realm of possibility when dealing with the aliens, time travel included.”

Tygan’s statement shut down any further attempts at voicing disbelief. Commander Harper carried on.

“While the two of us were reviewing the Index,” the Commander said, “Jericho and I developed… conflicting interpretations… of the data. Jericho believes that every future event referenced in the database is going to happen, and that there is nothing we can do about it. I, however, don’t buy that. All of you who served with me in Japan know that I don’t put much stock in stuff like fate or destiny. Until I see proof showing I can’t, I’m going to try and stop some of these future events from happening, while encouraging a select few to go ahead. This future database represents the greatest intelligence coup XCOM has ever had. If we use it properly, we can put an end to the ADVENT Coalition before July!”

“December.” Jericho said in a low voice.

Commander Harper scowled at Jericho.

“And that…” she added, “Is the last part of the deal I made with Jericho this morning. We’ll find Mira, and bring her under our protection. In return, Jericho joins an XCOM squad, acknowledges our authority over her and she won’t go about spreading this “predestination” nonsense! Am I clear?”

Jericho looked back down at the table and mumbled,

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“You’re not going to run around the ship telling people what’s ‘supposed’ to happen to them in the future, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re going to obey all orders from XCOM officers?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re not going to run off and do your own thing anymore?”

“I won’t, ma’am.”

“Good.”

Commander Harper glared at Jericho for a few extra seconds, then went on.

“I’ve decided that for security reasons, Jericho’s database of future events will be classified at the highest secrecy level. Commander’s eyes only from now on. For some of you, not knowing your possible future might end up being the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Trust me.”

Why the hell was Harper looking at me when she said that!?

Finally, the Commander addressed the whole table with a grim tone.

“We need to act on all of this Intel quickly, before ADVENT realizes we’ve got their number and changes their strategy. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to be running three simultaneous missions. Two in Japan and one in Uzbekistan. Squad Leaders, get out something to write with and something to write on…”

…

About two hours later, the meeting adjourned. I had taken nearly seven pages of notes and was ready to brief the rest of the Stormbreakers on what we’d be doing tomorrow. While Bradford, Tygan, Shen, and the Commander grouped up to discuss logistics, all of XCOM’s Squad Leaders huddled up for a pre-mission pep talk.

“We are XCOM! We don’t give up the fight!” Jane Kelly told us. “When we get out in the field, what do we do?”

“Survive! Adapt! Win!” Anna, Pyotr, Cory, and I said together.

“Now get out there and kick some alien ass!” Jane dismissed the group.

I would have followed them out the door, but a voice called out:

“Cadet Robinson, wait a minute!”

Commander Harper called me back. She told Bradford, Tygan, and Shen that they could continue to use the Conference Room, and that she was going to talk to me alone in her office. At her request, I followed Commander Harper into an adjacent room.

Commander Harper’s office was a small, subdued place. Aside from the desk and chairs, the only other piece of furniture was a trophy case that contained several relics from XCOM’s past: a model of the previous Skyranger, a 2015-era XCOM shotgun, a 1962-era Laser Pistol, the skull of a Sectoid, and a framed photograph of Moria Vahlen and Raymond Shen, XCOM’s previous head scientist and chief engineer respectively. Another door in the back of the room led to the Commander’s quarters.

Commander Harper sat down behind her desk and pushed aside a computer monitor to get a better look at me.

“Cadet Robinson: that was one hell of a defensive action you pulled in Pyongyang.” She said. “You also recovered Sophia Kuznetsova, who probably would have been left behind otherwise. I’ve also heard that you helped Chaplain Petoskey overpower the Chosen Assassin as well. Was yesterday your first time as a fireteam leader?”

Snapping to attention, I answered:

“No ma’am. I’ve been filling that role on and off since Hiroshima.”

“Cadet, that was twenty-three years ago.”

“Yes, ma’am. But if I might remind you, from my point of view it was just three years.”

“Mine too, Cadet. In fact, I daresay spending two decades in a Stasis pod doesn’t seem to have diminished your ability to lead troops on a battlefield.”

I wasn’t expecting the compliment, so I just muttered a quick word of thanks. Commander Harper nodded and went on:

“Listen, Cadet. With Colonel Smith and Captain Green both in enemy custody, the only remaining combat-ready officer in Stormbreaker Squad is Mister Yutaka Yamamoto. I know there’s a great deal of bad blood between him and several other members of the squad, yourself included. Letting him become the new Squad Leader would do a serious number to your unit’s cohesion. Therefore, I’ve decided for formalize your place as the new leader of the Stormbreakers.”

I let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank you, ma’am.” I said. “I wasn’t looking forward to adding the word ‘acting’ to every piece of Squad Leader paperwork that came my way.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Commander Harper said with a smile. “In my capacity as a General in the United States Army, I’m giving you a Battlefield Commission. Blake Alexander Robinson: Effective immediately, you are promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant and granted all of the rights and duties that come with it.”

She picked up a uniform patch from the desk and passed it to me. I took the rank insignia with my left hand and saluted with my right. I was so excited that my hands trembled! In the back of my mind, I could have sworn I heard Chihiro squealing with delight!

“T-Thank you ma’am!” I stammered.

Commander Harper shook my hand and added:

“One more thing, Robinson. Since you’re the new Squad Leader, that means you’ll be getting this.”

Harper produced two items from her pocket. The first was a simple-looking key. The other was the kind of remote control kids in the Old World used to launch model rockets. The little brown rectangle had only one button that was hidden behind a plastic panel. When Commander Harper inserted the key into the remote, the panel snapped backwards, revealing a dark red button.

“Jericho and I agreed that she would join your squad.” The Commander said. “Which means you’re going to need this. Did you see Jericho getting her Arc Brace?”

“Arc Brace?” I repeated as I took the remote.

“It’s a little device Shen cooked up.” Harper explained. “And I mean her father, the older Shen. He made it as part of the original Jericho Project. You see, Robinson: there was always a fear that any Hybrid soldier created through the Project might be difficult to control. You’ve seen what Jericho’s alien DNA allows her to do, you’ve seen how dangerous she could potentially be to us.”

I rubbed my chest anxiously. That jolt of electricity Jericho had stunned me with in the other room was still making me twitch a little.

“Remember.” Harper said. “That girl is only half-human. We saw her Ethereal side in that fight yesterday, and I, for one, am quite anxious to see her Muton traits show themselves in a fight. Doctor Vahlen knew that there was a very real risk that we might lose control of a Jericho soldier and devised a system called the Arc Brace to deal with that. The device tied to Jericho’s ankle is the Arc Brace. Imagine a shock collar dialed up to eleven. If Jericho is getting rowdy, disobedient, or she just goes out of control, press that button and she’ll be hit with fifty-thousand volts of electric current for three seconds. I guarantee it’ll put her down for the count.”

My eyes went wide and my hands started to sweat.

“Oh…” I looked down at the remote in my hand with a whole new understanding. Taking great care to separate the remote from its key, I put one in my left pocket and the other in my right. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind, ma’am.”

Commander Harper clasped her hands together as though she were concluding some kind of business deal.

“Good. You head down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast. Then put your squad together for tomorrow’s mission. I want you in the Skyranger and on your way to the target first thing tomorrow morning!”

…

By the time I got down to the ship’s cafeteria, breakfast was almost over. The whole place was very subdued and quiet. Most soldiers were still getting over the shock of yesterday’s fight. I grabbed a tray from the buffet line and didn’t really pay attention to what food was being loaded onto it. I peered all around the room until I saw a group of Japanese soldiers clustered together around one table. Nine people were chattering away in Japanese, but I could recognize one slightly high-pitched voice in the crowd.

“Chihiro!” I said. “Is that you?”

Two men stepped aside so I could see what was going on. Chihiro was sitting on the other side of the table, and just like her comrades, she was pouring over a map of Japan, drawing circles and lines with a pencil. She looked up at me, smiled, and said in English:

“Heya, Blake! We’re just talking about the local Resistance movement here. You know my country’s got something of a history dealing with invaders, right?”

“They say the Russians are still licking their wounds, twenty years later.” I joked. “Can I join?”

Chihiro cleared a space and let me sit down right next to her. She also gave me a knowing glance that told me she already knew about my meeting with Commander Harper.

For about an hour, I joined in her strategy discussion with the other Japanese troops. In general, the country was in a curious position: After the alien invasion, the ADVENT Coalition had meticulously de-constructed every city on the Japanese archipelago, then built half-a-dozen Megacities overtop of the sites where Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, and Kyoto had once stood. Then the aliens had gone out of their way to force as many people to immigrate to these cities as possible. Akaya Ogawa, a veteran of both the Soviet invasion and the alien one, told me:

“Because our country is so mountainous, nearly all of our people live in the cities, even before the aliens invaded. Almost three-quarters of Japanese land is sparsely populated and undeveloped. There are so many places to hide a Resistance network, you could secretly build an army in Japan and no one would ever notice!”

“But the terrain layout can work against that idea.” I said. “With all of those mountains around, how would you keep that force supplied and fed?”

“You know, Robinson, when the Russians invaded, I lived in the countryside for two years, and I lived on a diet of grasshoppers and acorns!”

Akaya gave me a very serious look when she said that. Chihiro immediately blurted out:

“No wonder your breath smells so bad!”

Everyone laughed. Akaya folded her arms and rolled her eyes at me. I started to join in the joke, but before the first words could leave my mouth, an uncomfortable silence fell over the whole cafeteria. Everybody turned their heads to look at something behind me, so I looked around as well.

Jericho was standing in the doorway, looking awkward. Nearly three dozen pairs of eyes bored into her as she walked briskly towards the chow line and picked up a tray. Whispers began to slowly rise from the tables like steam. Some voices were curious. Others had an air of reverence. A few were disdainful.

Having collected her breakfast of pancakes and bacon, Jericho looked around the room for a table to sit at. Quickly, the room became abuzz with activity as some seats were quickly filled by jackets, weapons, or people. At a few tables, men and women gathered together, creating a vacant spot. Finally, Jericho spotted Chihiro and me. Her face seemed to light up as she came our way. As she moved past one table, an Argentine soldier put his hands together and whispered a prayer. Akaya stiffened next to me.

“She know you?”

“We’re were the ones who brought her in.”

Akaya frowned.

“Huh. She looks a lot like a Human. Wasn’t expecting that.”

Akaya vacated her seat and moved to another part of the cafeteria. Most of the Japanese soldiers did the same. After a moment, it was just myself, Chihiro, Jericho, and Homura Hanako at the table. The Resistance fighter looked at the three of us for a moment, as though she wanted to say something, but then she picked up her tray, dumped the rest of her meal into the trash, and left the room.

“Hey, are you okay?” Chihiro asked Jericho. “You don’t have to eat in here, you know.”

“I’ll be fine.” Jericho murmured. “I knew all this was coming, I just need to get used to it, that’s all.”

There was that look again! Jericho was regarding Chihiro with the same expression she’d shown me in the meeting earlier. So many feelings and emotions crowded into one face that I couldn’t read it.

“Um, hey.” Jericho said. “Chihiro, you were listening to our meeting with the Commander earlier, right? Did you hear the whole thing?”

Chihiro choked and nearly spat out her food.

“Huh!? What!? How!?”

“Can’t hide the gift from me.” Jericho said. “Especially when you’re using it.”

Chihiro pinched the bridge of her nose and snorted with laughter.

“Okay, fine! You caught me. I was totally listening.”

Jericho seemed to be more at-ease now.

“Look, I know the Commander doesn’t want me talking about the future to you guys, but I still wanted to thank you both for something you’re gonna do for me in a few months.”

Chihiro and I raised our eyebrows at one another. Then Jericho pulled us into a three-way hug.

“So yeah. Thanks. For what you’re gonna do.”

At last, as she let go of us, I finally figured out that strange expression on Jericho’s face. She was genuinely grateful for the future favor I was supposed to give her, whatever it was going to be; but for some reason, Jericho was still really sad about it.

“Jericho,” I said. “Are you okay? I’m being serious. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure you didn’t know that was coming.”

I pointed to her ankle bracelet. Jericho sighed.

“Believe it or not, I really knew that was gonna happen. Trust me, Blake. I’ll be okay. I’ve got bigger problems than having a Taser strapped to my leg for the rest of my life. Besides…”

She tailed off and looked away. Following her gaze, I saw that Jericho was surveying the room. About a dozen soldiers were still gawking at her. Some of them looked away when Jericho, Chihiro, and I saw them. People whispered to one another behind their hands, snatching furtive glances at the three of us.

“Mira told me that everyone at XCOM and the Resistance were going to treat me differently ‘cause I’m only half-human. Because I was built in a lab, with alien DNA; and because I’ve got the same Gift as an Elder. That makes me nothing like you or your friends.”

Jericho balled up her fists and shook a little.

“People think I’m some kind of science project or an alien. Sometimes both. You haven’t been out there, in the frontier settlements. You haven’t seen the way people out there react when they see me use my powers or my strength. That moment when they realize the famous Resistance fighter they’ve been cheering on isn’t a real Human. Nobody out there likes me because they think I’m some kind of hero, it’s always because I’m the biggest monster in the room and I’m killing bad guys instead of innocent people. Then I come back to XCOM, and it’s like I’m a lost trinket someone found on the ground. Put a tag on me so I don’t get lost again!”

Jericho choked up and put her head in her hands. Tears ran down her wrists.

“And if I’m right about the future, then I’m supposed to save these people. Save everyone on Earth, even though so many people don’t think I’m one of them, and they’d rather see me in a cage, or a lab, or a weapon locker.”

Chihiro and I both put a hand on Jericho’s shoulder. We wanted to say or do something to make her feel better, but couldn’t think of anything.

“That’s why I need to find Mira.” Jericho finished, looking up at us and wiping her nose. “I wanna be wrong. I just want her to look at that thing she got from her time-traveler buddy and say ‘Oh no, that’s not right at all. Here’s how the future’s really gonna happen. This is your real destiny!’ I need to know if this is really how it’s all going to end… If this is really what I’ve got to look forward to from now on.”

Chihiro pulled Jericho into another hug, squeezing her tightly.

“We’ll find Mira. Promise.”

“Yeah.” I reassured her. “You already got us the location of the Blacksite. Now the only hard part left is getting in.”

<== Previous Chapter (Psionic Storm)

Next Chapter (Three Teams, Three Missions) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Explain Yourself)

Next Chapter (Aralkum) ==>​

Chapter Seven
Three Teams, Three Missions

​

The Avenger's Infirmary as it appeared in 2035. Curiously, there is no record of the ship having an infirmary during her first year of operation.

Wednesday, May 3, 2035 – 9:30am
Honshu Island, Japanese Archipelago

As soon as we finished breakfast, Chihiro and I left the cafeteria and headed for the Infirmary. Ignatius, Odette, Yutaka, Isis, and Hal were the only Stormbreakers left, and of those five, three were injured.

Hal, Odette, and Isis had all been shot during the fighting, and were now recovering from surgery. When I got to the Infirmary, I breathed a sigh of relief. Ignatius and Yutaka were already here, chatting with their comrades. Isis, Odette, and Hal were all laying in medical beds with IV lines running into their arms. Odette couldn’t talk, owing to a thick feeding tube running into her mouth.

“Hey, Robinson!” Isis waved meekly from her bed. “Did you see Jericho? Is she alright?”

“She’s getting her troops together.” I answered. “Guys, listen up. We’ve got a lot to talk about and not much time to do it.”

Ignatius must have sensed my apprehension. He straightened up and gave me a serious look. Chihiro had been using her Psi Link to stay up-to-date on what had happened to me. Both Gifted soldiers gave me reassuring smiles that made me feel a little more confident. I launched into explanations: First, I told everyone that our teammates were still alive and that a rescue operation was in development. Then I repeated Jericho’s explanation of her life story. Isis hung on my every word while Ignatius looked increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, I shared Jericho’s revelation about an alien fleet doing battle with ADVENT halfway across the solar system.

Hal punched the air and said “Hell yes!”

Ignatius furrowed his brow in deep thought and didn’t say anything.

Chihiro and Isis both let out little squeals of joy at the good news.

Yutaka and Odette smiled and gave one another a high-five.

“So there’s other aliens out there who want to help us?” Hal said. “That’s great! It’s going to be just like Hiroshima all over again. We just need to run out the clock!”

“This is nothing like Hiroshima.” Yutaka said, rolling his eyes. “We don’t know anything about these alien interlopers. For all we know, they might want to do something worse to us than what ADVENT’s already doing.”

I cut in.

“And after tomorrow’s operations, we might actually find out what ADVENT’s doing to those folks in the Gene Clinics. We can only hope.”

Ignatius raised his eyebrow and asked:

“Robinson, did you say ‘Operations?’ Have new missions come down from the Commander?”

I nodded. In my mind, I quickly struggled with myself over which bit of news to share first. I was mostly worried about how Yutaka and Isis would react to what came next, but I also needed to tell them about Jericho’s knowledge of the future. I decided to start with the easy topic.

“Yeah, let me explain. The Commander told us that Jericho is going to stay with XCOM and join our squad, but we help her with a personal request beforehand.” I said. “She’s authorized a mission to that end.”

As I thought, Yutaka and Ignatius reacted in ways that I won’t consider “positive.”

Yutaka shook his head and clicked his tongue in a disappointed way.

“Unfortunate.” He said. “You’d have thought Vahlen would have programmed that girl to be more responsive and respectful to XCOM leadership. It’s not her place to make demands of her creators.”

“That’s only half the problem,” Ignatius added. “We haven’t even verified that it’s safe to let Jericho walk around the Avenger alone. She’s a hybrid just like those Jabbers we fought yesterday. I don’t trust her.”

Isis cringed at their words and snapped:

“That’s my daughter you’re talking about!”

Isis’ GREMLIN Drone buzzed over Yutaka’s head and beeped in an unfriendly way. Yutaka made a swatting motion with his hand, forcing Piper to retreat to a safe distance.

“You should not be blamed for the way she turned out, Dekker.” Yutaka said. “Without a male authority figure in her life, Jericho simply never learned to do as her superiors say.”

“Speaking of superiors!” I rose my voice to get the conversation back on track. “The Commander made a decision about how this squad is going to be run until we rescue Colonel Smith.”

Everyone stopped arguing and gave me their attention. I spotted the old hungry look in Yutaka’s eyes I’d seen a few times during World War Three. Behind him, Chihiro clasped her hands together and held them to her mouth, all the while bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly. She’d read my mind and already knew what I was going to say.

“Commander Harper has decided that since Captain Yamamoto has prior experience with XCOM’s heavy weapon systems, he’ll be taking Holly’s place as our Heavy Weapons Specialist.”

Yutaka was not happy with this. He clenched his fists and said:

“What!? You can’t be serious! I’m the only officer left in the squad! I should be-”

I cut him off, talking over Yutaka’s voice until he finally shut up.

“Also, Commander Harper has decided that I’m going to be the new Squad Leader until we get Colonel Smith back. To make that easier on everyone, the Commander gave me this.”

I slipped on hand into my pocket and produced my new rank insignia, holding it out for everyone to see. The symbol on the uniform patch was a gold bar, the mark of a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. Odette flashed me a double thumbs-up and Hal clapped his hands slowly. Ignatius nodded approvingly and said:

“That was long overdue, Robinson. Congratulations.”

“Lieutenant Robinson has a very nice ring to it.” Hal said. “I’d get up and give you a salute, but Doctor Tygan’s got enough pins and rods in my legs to make a statue out of me.”

Chihiro pushed past Yutaka and half-hugged, half-tackled me. She squeezed me so tightly I thought my head was going to pop off my shoulders!

“Okay!” I said. “Okay Chi! You can let go now!”

While I pried Chihiro off me, Isis asked:

“So what about this mission we’re doing for Jericho? Where is it? What’s the target?”

“Yeah,” Hal said. “And when is ‘wheels up?’ Tygan says the three of us need at least a week to heal before we’re combat-ready again.”

As my own smile fell, I saw the faces of my comrades get stern as well. We all knew each other pretty well by this point. They put two and two together on their own.

“Oh, lot sooner than that, huh?” Hal answered his own question.

“Yeah.” I said. “There’s going to be three missions tomorrow, and Menace Squad is leaving for theirs in a few hours; they’re heading into Tokyo to find a scientist who can help Jericho pinpoint the location of that new alien fleet. Delta Squad is going to hit that ADVENT facility a few miles from here, and our team’s been tapped to help Jericho raid an ADVENT Blacksite in Uzbekistan. The Skyranger’s leaving first thing in the morning.”

Yutaka looked around at the group, then he said what was on everybody’s minds.

“Robinson, you did tell the Commander that we’re understrength, right?”

“I did.” I said. “So did Kelly and Tucker. Both of their squads took bad hits yesterday as well. The good news is that Jericho brought a bunch of Asian Resistance fighters with her from Pyongyang yesterday. The Commander is distributing them to any squad that needs a hole plugged.”

I pulled out a slip of paper from my hand. It had the names of Resistance fighters who had been transferred to our squad.

“We’re getting three of them.” I said. “Sergeant Lee Chong-Il, a male North Korean, age thirty-eight. Private Song Soo, female North Korean, age twenty. And we also got Private Sophia Kuznetsova, but she was supposed to be joining us anyway. Their callsigns are Enforcer, Shakes, and Antigone respectively.”

“I guess they’ll be replacing Fournier, Macintosh, and I on the mission.” Isis sighed. “I take it everyone who can stand is on deck for this one?”

“No.” I said. This was the bad news I’d been hesitant to deliver. Chihiro’s face fell when she telepathically probed around in my head and saw what it was going to be.

“Petoskey, you’re going to stay here and meet with a Resistance Faction leader.” I said. “The Commander asked for you specifically. And Chihiro, you’re not coming to Uzbekistan with us. Delta Squad needs a Japanese interpreter who knows Tokyo very well.”

Chihiro nodded. She’d spent half of her life in that city and did indeed know it like the back of her own hand.

“Right. I’ll do my best, but you’d better keep in touch, Blake! You know how I feel about getting separated!”

I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“That’s not going to happen again. Please believe me.”

Chihiro squeezed my hand and answered:

“Of course, I believe you.”

Well, that’s one big thing out of the way. Now I just had to drop the other shoe.

“Guys, there’s one more thing I need to let you all know about. Jericho told us how she knew ADVENT was coming for us back in Korea.”

As quickly as I could, I retold Jericho’s explanation of her mother’s contact with a time traveler, and how both she and the Commander now had access to a database full of information about the future. Everyone reacted differently.

Yutaka suddenly became tense.

“No wonder the girl thinks she can tell us what to do. She thinks she’s got us at the end of a string!”

Ignatius looked completely unconvinced.

“I’m going to have words with the Commander later. She can’t really believe this nonsense, can she?”

Chihiro already knew about this. She tapped her head and gave me knowing smile.

Isis looked confused.

“So, she knew I was alive the whole time then?”

Hal got excited.

“This means we can kick ADVENT’s tail anytime, anyplace!” he declared.

Odette didn’t say anything, but she looked very thoughtful.

“For obvious reasons,” I told the team, “Harper has deemed all knowledge about the future to be highly classified. Commander’s eyes only. Jericho herself has been forbidden from telling anyone about the future as well.”

Ignatius leaned in close and stared into my eyes. I knew what he was doing and broke eye contact right away, staring at the wall over his shoulder. The telepathic intrusion only lasted a moment before I threw him out of my mind. Ignatius rubbed his temple pensively.

“No need to get cagy, Robinson.” The old man grumbled. “I just wanted to know if Jericho tried to tell you about your own future. She’s clearly feeling a temptation to do that.”

“Look guys,” I said. “If we spent all day speculating about what Jericho knows, we’ll never get anything done. We’ve got a mission ahead of us now, so let’s get to work! Yamamoto, to the armory! Tachibana, Skyranger! Menace Squad’s leaving in two hours. Petoskey, report to the bridge! We’ll all meet back here when this is all over. And you three… get some rest.”

Isis, Hal, and Odette all gave us encouraging waves as we left the Infirmary. Isis called after us:

“Tell Jericho to come visit me!”

…

Yutaka and I got to the armory before our new FNG’s. While we picked out new armor and selected weapons from the locker, I tested my Psi Link to Chihiro.

Chi? Can you hear me?

Sure can, Blake! Something you wanted to say?

I’m really curious to see if this Psi Link works when we’re on opposite sides of the planet.

You wanna fantasize about me without me barging into your head.

Guilty.

I knew it!

Chihiro and I shared a little laugh together. Yutaka looked around at me and then rolled his eyes when he realized I was having a telepathic conversation. After a moment, Chihiro’s voice suddenly returned to my head, this time with a little urgency.

Hey, I just passed Jericho and her troops. Who’s the creepy girl? Blue eyes, black hair, kinda skinny?

That’s Homura Hanako. She’s taking Delta Squad to that ADVENT site in the forest.

Oookaaayy… did you know she’s Gifted? I could feel it from, like, a hundred feet away! She’s really powerful!

No, I didn’t. Sounds like Delta Squad’s going to have an easy mission if she’s with them.

Sure, but why didn’t Hanako use her powers to help us in Pyongyang!?

Before I could answer, the far doorway opened, and three people entered. I recognized Jericho and two of the Resistance fighters she’d brought with her from Pyongyang. They approached and shook hands with myself and Yutaka.

The older of the two fighters was a North Korean man in his late forties. He had a chiseled face, reddish-brown hair and was kinda short.

“Lee Chong-Il, Korean People’s Air Force.” He introduced himself. “Of course, Mister Robinson here already knows me.”

“I remember you, Lee.” I greeted him with a smile and a firm handshake. “Long time, but it’s a small world, huh?”

“Getting smaller every day.” Chong-Il commented. “I don’t think you’ve met my old friend, Soo?”

A twenty-year old North Korean woman with messy brown hair and round glasses side-stepped into view.

“Annyeonghaseyo!” she said. “Eotteohge jinaess-eoyo? I’m Song Soo! Nice to meet you!”

Over Soo’s shoulder, I noticed that Jericho was watching her with an upset expression.

She’s really worried about Song. Chihiro’s voice spoke up in the back of my mind. Maybe she knows Song’s gonna die or something.

You can sense that through the Psi Link? I thought.

No. It’s pretty much written on her face. When I get back, I’m gonna teach you how to read a woman’s expressions.

Soo looked around.

“So, is it just going to be the five of us?” she asked. “I thought there was going to be a sixth.”

“There is.” Jericho answered. “We’re taking that supply runner Kuznetsova with us. She’s down the east trail, burying her sister.”

“Right.” I said. “You guys stay here and get your equipment straightened out. Yamamoto, make sure they’re gearing up for a facility raid. I want double explosives on everyone. I’m going to get Kuznetsova.”

…

I went down the Avenger’s boarding ramp and stepped into the Japanese wilderness to find Sophia. When I got to the ground, I took in a lungful of fresh spring air and relaxed instinctively. This was my first time back on Honshu Island since 2012. I was actually looking forward to exploring a little. As I walked down the forest trail, heading east towards the Kanna River, I couldn’t help but remember the way the deep thudding sound of Soviet helicopters had echoed off these mountains, now the only noise came from the wind rustling tree leaves or the roar of a nearby waterfall. Once I rounded a corner in the path, the trees opened up on the riverbank where Sophia had gone.

The Kanna River is a curious thing. It starts somewhere high up in the mountains, working its way between the rocks. For dozens of miles, the river is shallow and narrow, but when you’re about three miles away from the spot where the city of Onishi used to be, the river suddenly opens up into a huge lake, nearly two miles long, but only a few hundred feet wide. On the far end of this lake is the Shimokubo Waterfall. It’s not a natural phenomenon. The waterfall used to be a hydroelectric dam, but Soviet sappers blew it up during World War Three.

A Post-World War Three photograph of Shimokubo Dam, taken in the summer of 2013 during the reconstruction of Japan. Unfortunately, by the time the Japanese government had acquired the resources to rebuild the dam, the 2015 Alien Invasion had already begun. The dam remained in ruins throughout the entire Second Hyperspace War and remains so to this day.

The chaotic cascade of water racing over the wrecked dam caused a gentle mist to hang in the air. A little further up the riverbank, I could just barely make out the sound of wood being pounded with a hammer. Following the noise, I walked along the tree line until I found Sophia.

Sophia Kuznetsova looked exhausted. She was sitting on the grass, a hammer on her right, and a shovel on her left. In front of her, a section of overturned soil marked the final resting place of her twin sister. The head of the grave was marked with a wooden cross, freshly pounded into the earth. A small square was affixed to the front of the cross and engraved with the words:

Ludmilla Ivanovna Kuznetsova
Born - 29 February 2004
Died - 2 May 2035
Best Sister. Better Friend.​

Sophia looked up at me as I approached and rapidly re-adjusted her head wrap, making sure I couldn’t see her face. I turned my head and looked away until I heard the grass crunching under boots. Sophia had picked up her tools and moved to join me.

“I, uh, heard you were the one who brought Ludmilla back to the ship.” Sophia didn’t make eye contact with me as she spoke. “So, thanks.”

I pulled Sophia into a one-armed hug. She didn’t protest, just sighed quietly.

“I’m not gonna cry.” Sophia said. “I did that earlier.”

We stared at Ludmilla’s grave for a minute or two, not saying anything. Then Sophia stepped away from me and said:

“So, what do you want?”

“I’m taking the Stormbreakers on a mission tomorrow.” I said. “You need to come with us.”

Sophia blinked. With her face hidden beneath that wrap, all I could see was her eyes, which made figuring out her expressions really difficult.

“Why’d you want me?” Sophia asked. “Ludmilla was the better fighter.”

“We’re going to Uzbekistan. The Aralkum Desert.” I answered.

I knew those words would trigger a response in Sophia. During the mission planning meeting with the Commander, I had been warned about this. Sophia stepped away from me and looked at the grave marker in a forlorn way.

“We used to live there.” Sophia said quietly. “Ludmilla and I had a house out there… which means…”

Sophia looked back at me, her eyes wide.

“You’re going to Kantubek, aren’t you!?”

…

Sometime around sunset, the Skyranger took off from the Avenger’s flight deck. Telepathically, Chihiro sent me a goodbye message. It wasn’t a message composed of words, but rather a mental image of herself, accompanied by an unspoken promise that we’d see each other again. Meanwhile, I gathered my new squad in the Guerilla Tactics School.

The Guerilla Tactics School took the place of conventional combat training for all members of XCOM during the latter half of the Second Hyperspace War. In this picture from April 2035, four Stormbreakers are visible. Left to right: Holly Smith, Hal Macintosh, Chihiro Tachibana, and Isis Dekker.

The GTS is a room deep within the Avenger where XCOM soldiers train in the art of Guerilla Warfare. It’s got training dummies for practicing hand-to-hand combat, strength training and cardio exercise equipment, and a briefing area where soldiers can discuss tactics and strategy. It was this latter area where the six of us had set up shop tonight. With Sophia’s help, I had drawn our next area of operations on the marker board. Yutaka, Chong-Il, Soo, and Sophia all listened with rapt attention while Jericho watched over the proceedings with a knowing look. I wanted to ask Jericho how much of this mission she already knew about, but I was saving that for later.

“Soldiers, this is our next objective.” I began. “The ADVENT Coalition has constructed a research facility tied to the AVATAR Project overtop the ruins of another military research facility. Central believes it to be a high-level Blacksite.”

I tapped a point on the map.

“We’ve seen before that the enemy likes to put their Blacksites in remote, obscure locations, so no one here should be surprised that the aliens took over this place. This was Rebirth Island. During the Cold War, this whole area was part of the Aral Sea, it used to be one of the largest lakes on Earth. Rebirth was a tiny island in that sea. The Soviet Union had a small military base on the island, but other than that no one lived here. About forty years ago, the Aral Sea dried up and turned into a desert, causing the Russians to abandon their base. Both the base and the nearby town were abandoned and left to rot. Then ADVENT showed up.”

Sophia got up and pointed to another spot on the map, north of the enemy base.

“This is the town of Kantubek.” Sophia explained. “Or I guess I should call it a ghost town, since my sister and I were the only ones who lived there…”

Sophia trailed off as though lost in thought. After a moment, she continued.

“Ludmilla and I knew the aliens had a secret facility nearby, and we’d make a living by breaking in and stealing stuff from it. Food, power cores, anything really.”

I took over from her.

“Jericho back there has been investigating ADVENT Blacksites such as this one on her own for a few years now. She believes her mother, one Mira Mihaka, is being held inside this particular Blacksite. Because of Jericho’s… unique history… with the XCOM Project, the Commander has determined that making contact with Jericho’s mother will be our highest priority. Our mission objectives are as follows: Find Mira Mihaka and extract her from that facility. Our secondary objective, if the situation permits, is to use X-4 plastic explosives to destroy the entire Blacksite. Questions so far?”

Lee Chong-Il raised his hand.

“You said that place used to be an island, right?” He asked. “And that the lake dried up. That means that the enemy now has a fortified position on the high ground and they’ll be able to see us coming. How are we going to get in?”

“You’re right, Lee.” I said. “We’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. I’ve already picked out several locations for the Skyranger to drop us off, but I was hoping Jericho and Sophia could find the best possible LZ, since both of them have been there.”

Jericho shook her head.

“I’ve never gotten closer than about twenty miles.” She admitted. “And my database on the future doesn’t have any information on this mission. I’m guessing Mom never knew about it.”

Sophia stared hard at the map for a moment before saying:

“You’ve got no choice, you have to land on the plateau. See here, the sides of the hill are really steep. That’s where the drop-off used to be when the sea still existed. If you land on the seafloor, it’ll take hours to walk up the slope to town. The Skyranger needs to put us down here.”

Sophia pointed to a spot on the western side of the “island.” She went on:

“This is where the shoreline used to be. During this time of year, there are a lot of dust storms caused by wind blowing over the dried-up seabed. If we land upwind of the Blacksite, ADVENT will look right at us and think we’re just another dust storm.”

“Very good.” I said. “I’ll pass the word to Carter when she gets back. Meantime, assignments! For this mission, we’re going to break into two fireteams. Lee, Yamamoto, and Song: You three will be our battering ram. Yamamoto will carry the heavy weapons and explosives. Song, you’ll be his ammo bearer. Lee, you’ll be providing Overwatch. Jericho and Kuznetsova, you’ll be with-“

“Wait a moment, Robinson!” Yutaka interrupted. “I want Jericho with me.”

Everybody turned to look at Yutaka.

“You said it yourself.” He said. “We’re the battering ram. You’ve seen what that girl can do in a fight. I want her up front with me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jericho trying to surreptitiously snatch glances at Yutaka. I shook my head.

“No dice, Yamamoto.” I said. “We need Jericho for the other half of the mission. Once we’re inside, she needs to identify Mira for us.”

Sophia asked:

“So, what are the three of us doing?”

“The actual rescue.” I explained. “Once we get inside the Blacksite, finding Mira’s going to be troublesome, since we don’t have any intel on what the interior is like. While we’re searching for Mira, the other team is going to disable the anti-aircraft defenses so that the Skyranger can pluck us off the roof.”

Sophia folded her arms.

“Okay. That sounds pretty straightforward.”

I looked around at the group.

“Any last questions?”

Chong-Il, Soo, Sophia, and Yutaka all turned to look at Jericho. She gave each of them a reassuring smile.

“Thank you for helping me get my mom back.” She said. “It means a lot, and afterward, I’ll help you overthrow ADVENT as best I can.”

I clapped my hands together.

“Right! Everyone make sure to turn in early tonight. Get plenty of sleep, and I want you all to assemble in the Armory tomorrow at zero-four-hundred. Wheels up at zero-four-thirty.”

Everybody left the Guerilla Tactics School and parted ways. Chong-Il headed downstairs to the rifle range for some last-minute practice. Song went straight back to the living quarters. Sophia said she wanted to be alone and vanished down a dark hallway. Yutaka wrapped one arm around Jericho and said:

“Lemme show you the ship’s bar! A cold drink before a fight helps keep the nerves loose and the body relaxed.”

When Jericho dug in her heels and refused to move, Yutaka added:

“Come on, Squaddie! Don’t make your Captain pull rank!”

With a lot of reluctance, Jericho allowed Yutaka to pull her down the hallway and out of sight.

No amount of drinking was going to help me. I just couldn’t relax tonight. I stayed in the GTS and closed the door. I spent the rest of the evening going over the plans for tomorrow’s raid again and again and again. I made contingencies in case the backup plans failed, then I made plans for how to act if those contingencies didn’t work. I paced back and forth throughout the room for hours, thinking and overthinking and under-thinking until the lights dimmed.

“Twenty-two hundred hours!” said a voice over the intercom. “Set the night watch and turn the lights out!”

Reluctantly, I went up to the living quarters and clambered into my bunk bed. Eventually, I got a little bit of rest. I wouldn’t call it sleep, but I did rest.

<== Previous Chapter (Explain Yourself)

Next Chapter (Aralkum) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Three Teams, Three Missions)

Next Chapter (There's a Future in the Past) ==>​

Chapter Eight
Aralkum

​

Stormbreaker Squad assembles in the Skyranger bay before the mission to rescue Mira Mihaka. Left to right: Sophia Kuznetsova, Song Soo, Blake Robinson, Jericho, Lee Chong-Il, Yutaka Yamamoto.

Friday, May 4, 2035 – 4:30am
Honshu Island, Japanese Archipelago

Yutaka, Chong-Il, Song, Sophia and I all arrived in the Avenger’s hangar bay together, fully outfitted in our body armor and armed to the teeth with the weapons and equipment we’d need for this operation. Outside on the deck, the Skyranger was still refueling. It had only just returned from Tokyo, where Delta Squad (plus Chihiro) had been inserted on a VIP Recovery mission. The five of us were getting impatient.

Chong-Il checked his watch one more time.

“Where is she? You did tell her the reporting time, right Robinson?”

“I did.” I said. “Song? Kuznetsova? Did you see Jericho in the female barracks?”

Song and Sophia both shook their heads.

“She got in really late last night.” Song said. “Then she woke up around three in the morning and left. No idea where she went.”

A loud clattering on the nearby staircase caused all of us to turn our heads. Jericho emerged from the stairwell, looking completely disheveled. Her armor was hastily assembled and a hand grenade had slipped halfway out of its pouch. Jericho’s wavy hair was tangled and knotted up, and her blue hair dye had begun to fade; black roots were starting to show on the top of her head. Tucked under her arm was that beat-up old alien rifle I’d seen Jericho using in Pyongyang.

“Sorry!” Jericho puffed. “Sorry I’m late! I was having Chief Shen make some more ammunition for my Bolt Caster.”

Jericho set her weapon on the floor and dipped her hands into the pockets of her combat pants, producing about two dozen long, thin projectiles that were clearly meant to be fired out of Jericho’s bizarre-looking weapon. Song passed Jericho a bandolier. While Jericho quickly made herself battle-ready, I stepped over to the doorway that led outside, where the Skyranger was parked on the flight deck.

“Hey Firebrand!” I yelled. “We’re green over here! Ready to fly when you are!”

An American woman with pale skin and curly red hair stuck her head out of the back of the Skyranger’s deployment ramp. The Skyranger pilot had to yell to make her voice heard above the sound of the aircraft’s engines.

“Get everyone aboard!” Wendy Carter shouted. “We’ll be done fueling in a minute!”

The rest of the squad made their way through the door and began boarding the Skyranger. As Jericho walked past me, I caught a familiar smell that made me do a double-take. One by one, we all strapped ourselves into the flight seats. Yutaka, Song, and Sophia were seated on one side of the aircraft while I sat between Jericho and Chong-Il. As she settled into the seat on my left, I caught that smell coming from Jericho again. I had no choice. Once we were in the air, I just had to ask.

“Soldiers, welcome aboard today’s flight to the Aralkum Desert, on the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan border.” Wendy said over the intercom. “Today’s flight will take approximately eight hours, at a distance of roughly five-thousand-eight-hundred-and-sixty kilometers.” The local time in Aralkum is one in the morning, and it’ll be roughly nine o’clock there when we land. I’m gonna turn the lights out once we reach cruising speed so that you can get a little extra sleep back there. Sit tight and enjoy the flight.”

With a loud roar of engines and a metallic groan, the Skyranger lifted off from the Avenger and ascended into the night sky.

…

Before too long, the Skyranger was over the Sea of Japan, streaking west towards mainland Asia. To reach the Aralkum Desert, we would have to fly over the entirety of mainland China and nearly all of Kazahkstan. It would be a long flight. Song, Chong-Il, Sophia and Yutaka all fell asleep right away, heads resting on neighboring shoulders. Jericho was the only one besides me who was still awake. She was holding her head in both hands and had a pained expression on her face.

Leaning a little closer to her, I picked up that familiar smell a third time. Now was the moment to ask.

“Um, Jericho?” I spoke cautiously. “Is everything okay? You were late this morning and you-”

“Smell like beer?” Jericho finished my sentence for me. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Yamamoto and I spent a lot longer in the bar than I was planning on.”

At the mention of Yutaka’s name, I tensed up. Jericho noticed.

“Blake, I.. I.. uh…”

She was clearly having trouble picking her words. Jericho made a frustrated noise and rubbed her head again.

“Sorry.” She said again. “I’m still a little hungover.”

That sense of tension in my gut was reforming into anger.

“Yamamoto got you drunk!?” Two decades’ worth of dislike for the man made my voice sound pretty hostile.

Jericho waved a hand dismissively.

“It’s not that bad.” Jericho rambled. “We hung out, we talked, we drank… and I’m a lightweight anyway. I’m, like, a hundred-thirty pounds or something like that. I just lost track of time and he was really interested in me, so we just kept talking and drinking and… yeah, this morning I was late ‘cause that beer did a number on me. Had to go to the bathroom and throw up... a lot.”

Jericho trailed off, holding her head. After a moment’s hesitation, I patted her on the back.

“That’s the beer Soylent Green makes.” I explained. “That stuff is weapons-grade. Colonel Smith always said she wanted to use his homebrew alcohol to power our Poison Gas grenades.”

“Yeah, do that.” Jericho groaned. “ADVENT might just surrender.”

I put on a serious tone and gently grabbed Jericho’s shoulder so that she would look at me.

“Listen,” I said. “You don’t know Yutaka as well as I do, Jericho. He’s got… a history.”

I snatched a quick glance across the darkened crew compartment, making sure that Yutaka was still asleep. He was.

“I’m ordering you, Jericho” I went on. “Never go anywhere or do anything alone with that guy. If he wants to take you somewhere, make up any reason or excuse to take a third person with you or else just get away from him. Understand?”

Jericho’s purple eyes seemed to wobble as she tried to focus on me.

“You don't have to worry about me.” She said, "Don’t forget…”

Jericho tapped her head.

"I already know how this is going to end.”

She jabbed her thumb at Yutaka. Jericho smiled at me, but her expression faltered when she saw I wasn’t smiling back.

“Commander Harper disagrees with you.” I said. “And no disrespect intended, but so do I.”

Jericho sighed.

“When we get my mom out of that Blacksite, she’ll show you the future. She’ll help you understand. She’ll help us both.”

“You got one thing right: We’re gonna bust Mira out of that Blacksite. Then blow the whole place to hell for good measure.”

…

This is the second time a secret military research facility has been built here. However, this is the first time that facility was raided by a hostle force.

Friday, May 4, 2035 – 9:45am
Aralkum Desert, Northwestern Uzbekistan


Fifty years ago, the region known as Aralkum was a totally different place. Where once there had been cool refreshing water and the chatter of waterfowl, there was now only dust and silence. Tufts of brown grass sprouted in clumps on the ground, which was stained white by a layer of salt. The windswept desert was dotted here and there with shipwrecks. Fishing boats, ferries, and other small pleasure craft were lying abandoned on what had once been the seafloor. Buoys rolled around the desert, pushed by the loud wind.

This had once been the Aral Sea.

In the days of the Soviet Union, this had been one of the largest lakes in the world. It had straddled the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The fishing village of Aral lay on the northern edge of the lake, deep in Kazakh territory. A few hundred miles to the east was the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where Yuri Gagarin had launched on his historic spaceflight. To the far west, a massive hill suddenly rose out of the desert. Fifty years ago, this had been a small island. When the Aral Sea began to dry up, it became a large island. About a decade later, the water level dropped again, causing this island to become a peninsula jutting out into the middle of the sea. The water level continued to drop until finally, the Aral Sea was gone, leaving the former island as a steep hill in the middle of a dusty, salty, and windy desert.

An abandoned fishing boat in the Aralkum Desert, circa 2015. The drying and desertification of the Aral Sea is one of the quintissential environmental disasters of the 20th Century. The ADVENT Coalition frequently points to the destruction of the Aral Sea as evidence of Humankind's inability to care for itself, justifying the Elder's decision to come down from the heavens and begin their Uplift of Humanity.

The wind blew mercilessly across the landscape, buffeting clumps of brown grass that sprouted up between the rocks. Noxious clouds of dust, opaque and foreboding, swirled and billowed about the large hill that had once been Rebirth Island. The ruins of a small town were the only landmark of any note on the former island. Almost nothing remained of Kantubek. From high above, as the Skyranger swooped over the island, we could see gridlines in the dirt, marking the spot where roads had once been.

Firebrand brought the Skyranger down for a pinpoint landing on what, fifty years ago, might have been a beach on the western shoreline. Now it was just a sloping hillside overlooking a vast expanse of brown and white terrain. As we disembarked from the Skyranger, Sophia knelt down and pulled up some brown grass, crushing it in her hand and taking in the smell.

“Can’t believe I lived here for years, with that horrid place just a mile down the road.” She muttered. “Follow me. The Blacksite is this way.”

It was a brisk walk from our landing zone to our destination. Fortunately, everyone had gotten plenty of rest on the ride over, and the walk gave us a chance to stretch our legs after being cooped up for eight hours on the Skyranger. Song Soo and Lee Chong-Il seemed to wilt in the desert heat. I suppose people who spend their whole lives in Korea aren’t ready for this kind of climate. The heat wasn’t bothering me, instead, I was having trouble with the dust. With each breath I took, I fought the instinct to reach for my gas mask. Something about the air just smelled wrong. Yutaka seemed to be thinking the same thing. I saw his hand twitch a couple of times whenever it passed near the pouch containing his own gas mask.

Sophia and Jericho seemed to be having the easiest time. They were at the head of the group, keeping a brisk pace. Sophia seemed to know the ground very well. She was talking long, confident strides despite being weighed down by the seemingly endless amount of supplies and ammunition crammed into her pockets. Jericho wasn’t carrying anything except for her Bolt Caster and had a look of determination on her face.

“Hold on, Mira.” Jericho said to herself. “We’re almost there.”

Along the way to the ADVENT Blacksite, we passed within a few hundred yards of the town of Kantubek… what was left of it, anyway.

The village of Kantubek, population: zero. The locals abandoned the town once the waters of the Aral Sea began to retreat in earnest. Fifty years ago, this was a small community on a small island. Now it's a ghost town in the middle of a vast desert.

Every building was either partially or totally collapsed. Roofs had caved in, windows were broken, and the buildings themselves had been sandblasted by the dusty wind. All of the roads had been reduced to narrow pathways, owing to the encroachment of desert shrubs and grass.

It was the silence, though, that was most overpowering. Even though the six of us were alone in this town, Sophia, Jericho, Yutaka, Chong-Il, Soo, and I all maintained the quiet, speaking only in whispers if we wanted to talk.

“There’s something I don’t get.” I said to Jericho. “You said your mom took this database full of stuff about the future from a time traveler, but you didn’t say how your mom knew that time traveler in the first place.”

“They were working together.” Jericho whispered back. “But then they had a falling out, and my mom left. At least, that's what she told me, anyway.”

“What did they fight about?” Yutaka was listening.

Jericho cast a quick look back at him before answering.

“Mom says they were fighting about me, but I always got the feeling she wasn’t telling the whole truth. She didn’t tell me a lot of things. That why finding her is so important. I need answers as badly as you do.”

“Well,” I said. “Looks like those answers are right in front of us.”

Lee Chong-Il overlooks the ADVENT Blacksite from an elevated position. Throughout the entire Second Hyperspace War, the ADVENT Coalition denied the existence of this facility and continued to maintain those denials after the Triple Alliance Intervention. To this day, there is still debate and disagreement among the people of Earth over whether or not this facility actually existed.

We had arrived.

The ADVENT Blacksite, as it turned out, was a complex of four or five fortified buildings, a landing pad for dropships, and, perhaps most surprising of all… a train station. Observing the Blacksite from our vantage point, we were all very surprised.

“I mean… I shouldn’t be surprised.” Yutaka said, staring at the trainyard through his binoculars. “That’s probably how they’re keeping the base supplied.”

“It’s how my sister and I kept ourselves supplied.” Sophia said gloomily. “We’d figured out how to sneak into the trainyard whenever the security had a shift change. They never caught us and we could steal whatever we wanted, or just mess with the trains.”

Pause.

Everyone slowly turned to look at Sophia. Soo’s eyebrows had been raised so high they were threatening to retreat into her hairline.

“Mess with the trains?” Soo repeated, “When were you planning to tell us that!?”

“We really needed to know that sooner, Antigone!” I said, addressing Sophia by her callsign. “But now that we do know… let’s put that knowledge to use.”

…

A long time ago, a wise Human once said that the “supreme art of war” is to break your enemy’s resistance without actually fighting them. I’m pretty sure that what we were about to do wasn’t what he had in mind. But seriously, if you give six guerilla fighters a set of enemy-controlled train tracks and all the time in the world, then you only have yourself to blame for what happens next.

It took us about an hour to find a stretch of railway that was out of view from the Blacksite. Then we only needed to wait another forty minutes before Sophia spotted a moving train through her binoculars. From our vantage point on the former island, the distant train looked like a black snake slowly moving across the lakebed below.

“That’s the train from Muynak.” Sophia told us. “Comes once a day. If ADVENT’s still using the same schedule, then that train will be here in about an hour.”

“That train just became our ticket into the Blacksite.” I said. I already had an idea.

Because Jericho was with us, sabotaging the tracks was even easier. Using a small shovel, Chong-Il dug a cavity underneath one of the railroad ties. Soo took two hand grenades out of her pouch and stuffed them into the hole, which Chong-Il filled in. After that, we retreated to a safe distance. Hiding behind the ruins of an old house, Jericho introduced us to a new Psionic technique I hadn’t seen before.

“I learned it from some Mongolian Templars.” Jericho told us. “The technique is called Fuse, all I do is add a little Psi energy to cause a spark and start a reaction…”

A barely visible wisp of violet Psi-energy escaped Jericho’s hand and jumped towards the railroad tracks like a silent bolt of lightning! Then, both of the grenades detonated! Dirt and rocks were thrown up into the air and came back down like a black hailstorm!

Soo scrambled up the hillside and quickly scanned the Blacksite through her rifle scope.

“Nobody noticed.” She reported. “We’re clear!”

All six of us got to our feet and started making tracks. We moved into the ruins of Kantubek and climbed into the second floor of what had once been a government building. After an hour of silent waiting, Sophia was the first of us to hear the deep rumble of an approaching train.

“Here it comes.” Sophia whispered. “This train is usually about fifty to sixty cars long, so this is gonna be long and loud!”

The ADVENT train reached the damaged railroad tie… and jumped the tracks.

It was the most insane derailment I’d ever seen! The locomotive jackknifed violently to one side while the following car swerved in the opposite direction! Then, one by one, all of the following cars began to smash into the wreck, piling on top of each other until there was no more room! Train cars shot left and right into the desert, rolling over and over until they came apart at the seams! Shrapnel and debris shot out in all directions as the following cars hit the wreck site at full speed and disintegrated in a symphony of destruction! The crash kept going for nearly a full minute, but we didn’t wait that long.

“That definitely got their attention!” Yutaka said. “Let’s move!”

Yutaka was right. A whole platoon of ADVENT soldiers had departed the Blacksite compound and were making their way towards the train wreck. Chong-Il scanned the facility through the scope of his sniper rifle.

“Looks like our plan paid off. The facility might as well be unprotected. I only count nine guards. Six ADVENT and three Vipers.”

“Vipers.” I groaned. “Why did it have to be Vipers?”

A member of the Viper species doing combat patrol during the late Second Hyperspace War. What the Vipers called themselves was never discovered. Their entire race was enslaved by the Ethereals before the Galactic Council became aware of their existance, a pattern that seems to have repeated itself for every one of the Ethereal's thralls. Because XCOM's Central Officer Bradford killed the last Viper male in early 2035, historians consider the Vipers to be the last spacefaring species to become "Functionally Extinct" before the War in Heaven.

The Vipers were one of the many alien races who had taken part in the conquest of our world twenty years ago. They are huge, snake-like reptilian creatures, coming in at nearly nine feet tall and about two hundred-fifty pounds. Vipers are fast, agile, and highly dangerous. The only advantage we’ve got over them is their predictability. Earlier in the war, Central Officer Bradford found and killed the last male Viper on Earth. As a result, the ADVENT Coalition had resorted to cloning and genetic manipulation to keep the Vipers’ numbers up.

Once you realize you’re fighting a clone army, things get so much easier.

We crept closer to the compound. The enemy still didn’t know where we were, so maintaining our concealment until the last possible second was crucial. We made it to the low wall that ran around the Blacksite and kept our heads down as one of the Vipers slithered past. Next to me, Soo shuddered.

“It’s like a freakin’ Anaconda with arms and a gun.” She muttered.

Once the snake had passed, I whispered to my team.

“Let’s set up an ambush. I want three kill-zones of overlapping Overwatch.”

We split up into groups of two. Jericho and I went one way, Yutaka and Sophia another. Chong-Il and Song stayed together.

At long last, we were in position. I was tucked into a corner between two rail cars in the trainyard. Jericho had scrambled up an empty watchtower and was overlooking the compound. Song and Lee had reached the front door of the administration building and were in position to breach it. Yutaka was covering the building across the walkway with his grenade launcher. Sophia was crouched behind the thick base of a light pole, her rifle at the ready. Everybody knew we would have to make this a lightning strike. Take out the enemy as quickly as possible, rescue Mira, and get out.

On my signal, we went loud! Everybody moved at one!

Jericho raised her Bolt Caster and sniped one of the Vipers from clear across the compound! The alien was thrown backwards almost twenty feet and slammed into a wall, dead!

Song smashed out a window and shot down the security guard on the other side before he could take two steps! Then she adjusted her aim and shot the second guard as he reached for his rifle.

Another trooper started running across the compound towards us, weapon raised, but Sophia picked him off with her rifle, then she turned and fired a hailstorm of bullets into the second Viper! It went down, hard, and didn’t move again!

Blake Robinson engages a Viper. Armed with a shotgun and a sword, a well-equipped and well-trained XCOM Ranger can fend off a whole squad of Vipers with little trouble.

Two ADVENT soldiers and the last Viper tried to run past my hiding place, but I was ready! I raised my shotgun and blew one of the troopers clear across the walkway! Without pausing, I drew my sword and slashed the Viper’s head as it raced by! The alien crumpled, having never known what had hit her.

The third trooper tried to change targets, but Chong-Il was ready for him. The loud crack of his sniper rifle echoed off the buildings and sent the trooper spiraling to the ground!

The last guard turned tail and tried to run inside the Blacksite’s main building, but Yutaka was quicker on the draw. He raised his light machine gun and fired about four dozen rounds towards the fleeing trooper. Who needs accuracy when you have ammo to spare?

The ambush was over as quickly as it had started. All nine of the Blacksite’s defenders had been killed in a matter of seconds. The initiative was ours, but the enemy knew the Blacksite was under attack now. Alarms and claxons blared everywhere! Red lights began flashing in all of the buildings, and an alien voice began speaking over the intercom.

“I’m guessing that’s not a welcome message!” I yelled. “Let’s find Jericho’s mother and get the hell out of here!”

“I’m breaching!” Soo shouted. “Cover me!”

Soo and Chong-Il forced their way into the Administration building. Yutaka and Sophia took Jericho’s place in the watch tower and provided Overwatch while Jericho and I followed the other two inside.

I was disturbed by just how closely the interior of the Admin building looked like the lobby of a Gene Therapy Clinic. Under different circumstances, I would have ordered my troops to search the place for valuable Intel and taken as many pictures as I could. But we were on the clock. This Blacksite was too important for ADVENT to give up without a fight. That platoon was going to come back, not to mention the fact that the many non-combatant workers in the compound had almost certainly called for help by now.

Jericho and I knocked down the doorway of a promising-looking office and found a man dressed up like some kind of scientist. Off the top of my head, I think he was either a Turkmen or a Uyghur. He threw his hands up and surrendered at once.

“Wait!” he yelled, “I’m no soldier! I’m not armed!”

Jericho aimed her Bolt Caster directly into his face and said:

“I want the names of every Gene Therapy patient who came through here in December of 2030!” She shouted. “NOW!”

The scientist dropped his jaw and gaped at her.

“Yuh…y-you! You’re Jericho!!” he gasped.

“The names!” Jericho shouted. “NOW!”

The terrified scientist pointed to his computer desk. I nodded and said: “Hurry up.”

The man went behind his desk and started reaching for the keyboard.

“I can read your mind!” Jericho snapped. “Hit that panic button and I’ll fucking kill you!”

The man’s eyes went was wide as possible. He withdrew his hand from a blue switch right next to the keyboard and started typing away. A printer on the far wall came to life and several pages slid onto the tray. While I grabbed the papers and jammed them into my cargo pocket, Jericho approached the man and said:

“I’m looking for Mira Mihaka, a patient from the New Beijing clinic. I know she was here, so don’t lie to me!”

The Turkic scientist looked terrified.

“Tens of thousands of people come through here every year!” he pleaded. “There’s no way I could remember a single face amongst a crowd!”

I pointed at the computer screen and then patted the papers in my pocket.

“Can you make sense of this data? Could you find Mira’s information with this?”

“Of course!” The scientist answered at once. “Keeping track of people’s genetic information is of the utmost importance. If your ‘Mira’ person was here, then her genetic data is both on file and in the Centrifuge.”

“Centrifuge?” I repeated.

The scientist went to his office window and pointed towards the Blacksite’s main building.

“Inside there.” He said. “There’s a canister that contains genetic material for use in the-”

The window shattered violently and a loud CRACK caused me to jump backwards! Jericho dove for cover and screamed!

“SNIPER!”

The scientist collapsed to the floor in a pool of blood! I didn’t have to wonder about who had done it, though. A moment later, a new voice snaked into my mind, slithering through the air just like one of those damn Vipers.

“Just wait a moment, you two. I can’t just let you find out the truth like that! It’ll take all the fun out of the game, and I don’t like a spoilsport.”

Jericho reached out to pull the dead scientist away from the window, but I grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back just as another Gauss Round sailed through it and smashed into the wall!

“It’s one of the Chosen!” I yelled. “Get away from the windows!”

More gunfire came from outside. I could hear Sophia and Yutaka yelling to one another as the fight outside restarted in earnest. Keeping a tight hold on Jericho, I almost threw her out into the hallway and then followed her through the door, slamming it behind me. Chong-Il and Soo were further down the hallway, aiming their rifles out a window and firing on someone down below.

“ADVENT’s onto us!” Chong-Il yelled. “I don’t know how long we can keep this up!”

“We’ve got to get into the main research facility!” I shouted over the gunfire. “That large building at the end of the block!”

The four of us burst out of the doorway into a whole new firefight. The group of Peacekeepers sent to investigate that explosion on the railroad tracks had returned. Until now, Sophia and Yutaka had been holding them off alone, but now the six of us fought together! Taking cover behind shipping crates, idle vehicles, and any other form of cover, we started fighting our way towards the main research facility.

Song Soo provides covering fire for Sophia Kuznetsova. An XCOM Gremlin drone hovering above the scene. The winch and pulley system on Soo's back is part of a wrist-mounted grappling hook launcher.

Jericho alternated back and forth between fighting with her Bolt Caster and with her Psionic powers. She would snipe a Peacekeeper, drive another insane, and then shoot down his comrades as they raced to help him.

Yutaka seemed to relish being in a target-rich environment. He propped himself up against the side of a cargo truck and fired wildly into the enemy squad until the barrel of his machine gun began to overheat and melt. While Soo detached the barrel and replaced it with a fresh one from her backpack, Yutaka engaged the enemy solely with his grenade launcher! Each explosion sounded like a lightning strike!

Chong-Il had found a concealed shooting position. Hidden between two bushes next to a building, he was firing his sniper rifle as fast as he could pull the trigger! Enemy Peacekeepers were pinned down behind their cover for fear of being picked off if they showed themselves.

Sophia, on the other hand, was much more careful with her shots. She emerged from cover and opened fire only when she spotted an enemy trying to reposition. Every time Sophia fired her rifle, somebody went down. Racking up hit after hit with impeccable accuracy, Sophia had become something like a traffic cop, shutting the enemy out of whole sections of the battlefield!

And the whole time, I was in motion! Dashing from one piece of cover to the next, I was searching for a way to outflank the enemy. Holding my fire, I shouted out to my squad:

“Freud! Get rid of that officer’s cover!”

Yutaka’s reply came immediately:

“Grenade! DANGER CLOSE!”

I threw myself to the ground and felt the air ripple as a grenade popped off just on the other side of the metal barrier I was hiding behind. As soon as the shockwave passed, I sprang up and aimed my shotgun, firing into a cloud of ash and smoke! A shriek of anguished pain told me I’d hit my target. Ducking down again, I heard Chong-Il shout:

“They’re starting to lose ground! They’re pulling back!”

“Keep pushing!” I yelled back. “Advance! Move forward!”

The six of us had pushed the Peacekeeper squad all the way back to the main entrance of the Blacksite’s research facility. Smoke and flame curled up and away from the battleground, while on the roof of the facility, a tall humanoid alien watched the proceedings, his face hidden behind a dark hood.

Somehow, when he spoke, I could hear the voice of the Gur-Mon Madron as clearly as though he’d been standing right next to me:

“The Elders would really prefer it if you didn't interfere with this facility, Jericho. Not to spoil the surprise, but it's kind of important to this whole scheme of theirs.”

“I already know the surprise, you freak!” Jericho screamed as she aimed her Bolt Caster upwards and fired!

The Chosen Hunter side-stepped to avoid the incoming projectile and sneered down at us.

“No, you don’t. You really don’t know a thing. Maybe you should spend some time with the Hanako girl when we’re done here. And by the way, where'd you dig that thing up? It's older than you are.”

A loud crashing sound diverted my attention. A whole section of the building’s façade came crashing down as something emerged from within. Huge, bulky robots that stood on two legs marched out of the Blacksite to meet us. The guns in their hands were so big that I’m just going to call them cannons from here on out.

“We’ve got MEC’s!” Soo yelled.

“Fall back!” I shouted. “Get out of range!”

Too late! One of the enemy MEC’s had crouched down and fired its shoulder-mounted grenade launcher! I could just barely make out the little black speck in the blue sky as it tumbled through the air towards us!

The ADVENT Coalition is one of many Galactic powers to develop fully robotic warriors such as the MEC pictured above. Because these machines are fully robotic and do not contain any organic materiel, they are highly resistant to the bio-mechanical virus known as "the Beast." The downsides to using MEC Troopers are their high maintenance costs and a general lack of a sense of self-preservation.

Then, with a noise like glass shattering, the grenade exploded in midair! Too high up to harm us, it popped like a firework! Looking down, I saw what was happening. Jericho had dropped her Bolt Caster to the ground and was focusing all of her powers onto the incoming bombardment. All four of the MEC’s tried to lob grenades at us, only for the explosives to detonate prematurely. After a few seconds, Jericho got the advantage! One of the MEC’s was torn to pieces as a grenade exploded inside of the launcher!

“Let’s go!” I yelled to the rest of the team! “Finish ‘em!”

One MEC keeled over immediately as Chong-Il put a sniper round through its head. Soo and Sophia teamed up to take down another one of the MECs while I set to work on the last one, firing my shotgun as quickly as I could pull the trigger!

“Soldier down!” Someone yelled from my right!

I couldn’t deal with that right now, a huge-ass MEC trained its cannon on me and I jumped behind a storage container at just the right time! The metal groaned and clanged as Gauss slugs the size of my head tore through it! I turned the corner quickly and tried to fire at the MEC one more time, but with a heart-stopping click, my shotgun jammed! Swearing with every curse word I knew, I dropped my shotgun and drew my sword, charging headlong at that huge robot!

The MEC took two seconds to change its stance and aim its cannon at me… and two seconds was all I needed!

Pointing my blade forward, I ran straight at the MEC and drove my sword into a gap in its armor plating, in an area analogous to the waist of a person. I could feel dozens of cables and lines being cut by the first hit, but I wasn’t done! I ducked low as the MEC swung at me with one hand! I grabbed its cannon with one hand, holding it in place. With the other, I pulled on the handle of my sword, cutting further into the MEC’s body and severing more cables and hydraulic lines! Finally, the MEC started to make a series of loud grinding noises. The machinery was breaking down! I pulled my sword free, jumped back, and got in a new fighting stance, ready for round two. The MEC, however, was finished. All of its servomotors made one last effort to move the arms and legs before giving out. The robot collapsed to the ground and didn’t move again.

“Did you just bring a sword to a gunfight!?” The Chosen Hunter laughed loudly. “My sister would love you!”

Instinctively, I turned my head to see what direction the voice had come from.

Madron was within arm’s reach of me.

I didn’t think. There wasn’t enough time to do that. I turned my whole body to face the Hunter, gripped my sword in both hands, and lifted it above my head, ready to bring the blade down on his head! Lazily, as though he didn’t care about what was going on at all, the Hunter raised his pistol and fired!

It felt like I’d just been punched in the chest! All of the wind went out of me in an instant! I wasn’t even aware of falling over, I was just suddenly on the ground, and my whole front seemed to be numb. Slowly, a searing pain began to spread out from the center of my chest. Vaguely, somewhere in the corner of my vision, I saw Madron return his pistol to his holster and start to walk away.

With each breath, a shockwave of pain radiated across my torso, but I knew that unless I made some kind of noise, my squad was never going to find me.

“H-he-hel…” I gasped.

The sounds of gunfire and explosions were overwhelming! I took in a deep breath, and the pain in my chest caused me to see stars!

“HELP!” I hollered. “I’M DOWN!!”

A second later, I heard the loud crack of the Hunter’s pistol going off again, quickly followed by the loud rattle of a machine gun. Whoever was trying to help me had gotten held up by the Chosen. Cursing, I reached up to my chest and felt the point where I’d been shot.

My body armor was absolutely pulverized. The ceramic plate had crumbled to dust! When I felt the powder on my fingers, I felt a huge surge of relief! So, I wasn’t dead yet! Fighting the immense pain in my chest, I forced myself to sit up. Sure enough, the whole front side of my body armor began to crumble like broken pottery. A flattened Gauss round slid down the front of my uniform and hit the dirt with a quiet plop!

Well I’ll be damned… actually, no… today, I was the luckiest man in Uzbekistan, and I was gonna put that luck to good use. Resisting the urge to pass out from the pain, I stood up, grabbed my sword and my shotgun, and rejoined the fight.

The Chosen Hunter was nowhere to be seen, but the main battle was still going on. Yutaka, Chong-Il, and Jericho were all still fighting. Sophia was hidden behind a shipping container, where she was tending to Soo with a Medikit.

“You’re going to make it!” Sophia was saying to Soo. “That’s a promise!”

“Trojan! What the hell happened to you!?” Yutaka shouted while gunning down an ADVENT trooper.

I crouched down behind the same shipping crate Yutaka was using for cover and shot an incoming enemy soldier.

“Got on the wrong end of the Hunter!” I answered. “How are we?”

“Jericho got that freak to lay off us for a minute!” Yutaka explained. “And ADVENT is still giving ground. They’ve given up the main entrance to the facility. It really looks like they want to retreat!”

This was our chance. Now or never.

“You and Antigone stay out here and keep ADVENT locked down!” I ordered. “Jericho, Enforcer, and I are going in to rescue the VIP!”

On my signal, Chong-Il and Jericho broke cover and made a mad dash for the now shattered walls of the Blacksite research facility. Behind us, we heard the deep thudda thudda thudda of Yutaka’s machine gun.

“Go straight in!” I yelled to Jericho, who had reached the door first. “Find cover and get down! I’m throwin’ a bang!”

With one hand, I reached into my cargo pocket and withdrew a nonlethal stun grenade. I tossed it over Jericho’s head as she stormed into the building and yelled:

“FLASHBANG!”

Jericho and Chong-Il both threw themselves behind a wrecked computer bank and covered their ears as the flashbang detonated! I skidded into the building and ambushed three ADVENT troopers on the other side of the wall! Jericho blasted one with her Bolt Caster, Chong-Il got another with his pistol, and I cut down the last one with my sword.

Finally, after God-knows how long, we had a moment to breathe. The fight was still progressing outside, but the three of us caught our breaths as we looked around the darkened chamber we now found ourselves in.

Clearly, this place was some kind of laboratory, but the equipment and devices we found inside were of a much more… gruesome nature.

Jericho looked up at the apparatus in the center of the room. Dozens… no… hundreds of stasis tubes were stacked neatly on shelves, each one containing a human body. Men, women, children of all ages and races could be found here. Most horrifying of all, though, was that every single person in these tubes was clearly dead. The bodies were in varying states of decomposition. In a few tubes, only skeletons remained. The shelves were stacked seemingly all the way to the ceiling and went back for nearly a hundred yards.

The Processing Center of the ADVENT Blacksite. XCOM claims that somewhere between 250,000 and 260,000 people were processed in this Blacksite facility over the course of 15 years.

“What in the Dear Leader’s name is ADVENT doing here!?” Chong-Il gasped. “With all of these people?”

“I think we’ve found the missing civilians.” I breathed. “The ones who never came out of the Gene Therapy clinics.”

“Mira’s in there!” Jericho said. “We’ve gotta get her out!”

She started racing across the hall towards the rows of stasis tubes, but stopped short when we heard the loud rumble of machinery and the whole building trembled. Two at a time, each rack of stasis tubes began to sink into the floor!

“No!” Jericho screamed.

Purple light emanated from her body as she used telekinesis to try and stop the retraction of the shelves, but some unseen force conspired against Jericho. Slowly, inexorably, all of the shelves and racks retreated into the floor and were sealed away, while above and behind us, the sound of slow clapping and laughter could be heard.

The Chosen Hunter was watching us from a balcony that overlooked the entire laboratory. He was looking down at us like a child plotting to steal his younger sibling’s favorite toy.

“Now that you've finally seen behind the curtain of ADVENT's facilities, do you feel better in knowing the truth?”

Jericho leveled her Bolt Caster at Madron. He didn’t flinch. Jericho, on the other hand, looked like she was losing her nerve. The Bolt Caster shook in her hands, and when Jericho spoke there was a warble of fear in her voice.

“Where’s Mira!? Where’s my mom!?”

The Hunter looked, if anything, overjoyed. He knew something we didn’t, I could tell. He took a step back from the railing and clicked his tongue at Jericho.

“You must be talking about the one who you escorted to the Gene Therapy clinic in New Beijing. That was… what? Five years ago now? Yes, Mira Mihaka was here. Her genetic profile tripped a number of alarms, threw up some… red flags… you know what I mean?”

Jericho tightened her grip on her weapon.

“What the hell are you talking about!?” she demanded.

Madron laughed.

“You don’t know!!” he howled. “That bitch really didn’t tell you!?”

Jericho shouted over the Hunter’s voice:

“I already know she wasn’t Human! She was Partogan!”

Chong-Il and I both dropped our jaws and stared at one another.

“Jericho,” I gasped. “Mira’s an alien!? What the fuck is going on!?”

Madron laughed again. He was having fun with this.

“You didn’t tell your own teammates? Oh, Jericho, what a naughty girl you are. The Elders will have to make your reeducation very intense.”

The Hunter took a step towards the balcony railing again, but Jericho put her finger inside the trigger well of her Bolt Caster and yelled:

“Why would her being a Partogan raise an alarm?”

The Hunter shook his head.

“That wasn’t what caught the Elder’s attention.” he said. “It was her past… her history. Where she’s been and what she’s done.”

Madron tapped his head with one finger and continued.

“The Elders are knowledgeable beyond your comprehension, Jericho. When they discovered your mother’s history, they took special interest in her. Mira Mihaka has seen and done incredible things. She has been to incomprehensible places. She transcends the goals of the AVATAR Project itself, and was worthy of the Elder’s direct attention.”

The Hunter took one more step towards the edge of the balcony. He smiled an evil, demented smile at us.

“What I’m saying is: thank you for paying me a visit, but your mother is in a different Blacksite, and I’m going to take you there myself!”

And then he drew his pistol.

The whole balcony exploded! Shrapnel and debris flew everywhere as Chong-Il, Jericho, and I all dropped to the floor! The Hunter vanished into the smoke and flames, tumbling to the ground floor alongside the rest of the wreckage! Looking up, I saw what had happened:

Yutaka Yamamoto, Sophia Kuznetsova, and Song Soo had charged into the building! The barrel of Yutaka’s grenade launcher was still smoking! Sophia was already raising her assault rifle towards the spot where the Chosen Hunter had fallen! Soo was firing a pistol with one hand and clutching at a wound in her abdomen with the other; her chest, stomach, and mouth stained with her own blood!

Jericho conjured an inferno of blue-and-purple Soulfire, engulfing the whole area in violet flames while the rest of us poured even more weapons fire to the spot where we’d last seen the Hunter! Just when I was starting to think that nothing could survive this storm of hellfire we were inflicting, the voice of the Chosen Hunter cut through the violent noises like a knife!

“ENOUGH!”

A huge pulse of Psionic energy rippled out of the smoke and flames! All six of us were knocked off our feet! Weapons clattered loudly on the floor and I looked up just in time to see the Hunter emerging from a column of smoke and flame. He looked battered but was clearly still fit for a fight. Panting, he shouted at us:

“You put up a good scrap today, Jericho. I'll give you and your friends that. Next time don't expect to get so lucky! I’ll tell my sister that you send her your regards!”

A rippling, shimmering hole opened up in midair right behind the Hunter! He started stepping backwards towards the Psionic Rift!

“He’s getting away!” I yelled.

Jericho conjured a Psi Lance and hurled it with all her might towards the Hunter. He took one more step backwards and vanished into the Rift. At once, it began to close, and the semi-corporeal lance streaked through the portal just before it shut and vanished.

At long last… there was silence. Complete, total, blissful silence. We were alone.

The Blacksite compound was in flames. Each and every building was wrecked. The vehicles were shot to pieces. The trainyard looked like it would never be used again, and there was so much smoke in the sky, I was hard-pressed to believe it was really mid-afternoon.

I sent Soo and Sophia back to the Skyranger, with instructions for the aircraft to be brought here. Yutaka, Chong-Il, Jericho and I began searching the ruins of the facility for any usable salvage or Intel. Yutaka went from one enemy body to another, picking apart their weapons and stuffing useful components into his pockets. Chong-Il pulled apart several computers and recovered their hard drives. Jericho retrieved the stasis tubes and tried to identify some of the corpses inside.

And me? Well, I found something. On the far end of the building where we had fought the Chosen Hunter, I finally found the Centrifuge that scientist had told us about. Above the contraption was a big canister, filled with a slurry of green-tinged liquid. I remember the scientist saying that this thing contained the genetic information of everyone who had ever passed through here. Maybe Doctor Tygan could glean some new Intel off this thing. Cautiously, I removed the canister and took it with me.

Blake recovers the Blacksite Vial. Afterwards, a number of Resistance spies inside the ADVENT Coalition reported that this action disrupted the AVATAR Project and set progress back by a month.

The Skyranger arrived a few minutes later. After landing in what remained of the trainyard, Wendy took one look around at the destruction and let out a low whistle.

“Six people did this? Holy shit, man. That’s scary.”

“Hold up,” Yutaka said. “I’m not done.”

He shoved his machine gun into Jericho’s hands, causing her to stumble backwards. Yutaka then jogged back to the Blacksite research facility. He reached into his cargo pocket and produced a fistful of X-4 plastic explosives. He stuck the compound onto one of the building’s main supporting columns and activated the countdown timer on the detonator’s keypad. Then he returned to us and said:

“Okay, now we’re done here.”

One by one, we all boarded the Skyranger. Before sitting down in the jumpseats, we all took off our armor and checked each other or injuries. Luckily, only two of us had actually gotten hurt. I had a gigantic bruise on my chest marking the spot where the Chosen Hunter had shattered my armor. I didn’t need any medical attention besides the occasional reminder to “walk it off.” Soo had been shot once in the gut, just below her stomach. We cautiously laid her down on the floor and allowed Yutaka some space to do what he did best.

“Right now, my priority will be seal and secure the wound.” Yutaka told her. “I’m going to pack the site with gauze. This is going to hurt, but it will stop the bleeding and guard against infection until we get to the Avenger’s infirmary.”

Over the noise of Soo’s screams and wails of pain, Sophia clambered up the ramp and banged her fist on the doorway that led to the cockpit.

“We’re all aboard! You can take off!”

The boarding ramp closed, sealing us up inside the Skyranger, and the aircraft lifted off from the Aralkum Desert, leaving the wrecked Blacksite behind.

About a minute after takeoff, the Skyranger was hit by a small shockwave, confirming the total destruction of the Blacksite.

While Yutaka worked on Song, I rounded on Jericho.

“Care to explain why you made us risk our lives for an alien!?”

I was feeling pretty pissed. This whole time I’d been operating on the assumption that Mira Mihaka was a woman…. A Human woman! In the back of my mind, I was hoping Jericho would say that the Hunter was lying. But when her face fell, I felt a sick sense of confirmation.

“You’re not supposed to find out until later… a lot later.” Jericho answered meekly.

“Excuse me?” Chong-Il said. “This is more of that ‘stuff that’s supposed to happen in the future,’ right?”

Jericho nodded.

“None of you were supposed to find out about the Partogans until they actually showed up.” She said. “Remember when I said a huge space fleet is coming towards Earth, and that ADVENT and the Elders are trying to fight them? Well, it’s a Partogan fleet. The people coming to help us are Mira’s people. And she’s the one who called them here.”

Painful silence filled the Skyranger for a few minutes while we took all of that in. This whole time, I’d been thinking that Jericho was trying to find her “second mother” out of some kind of love or affection. Now I thought of another reason Jericho was trying to find Mira.

“So…” I asked. “What’ll happen if that Partogan fleet gets here and Mira doesn’t call them to say hello?”

“I have no idea.” Jericho admitted. “And I don’t want to find out.”

<== Previous Chapter (Three Teams, Three Missions)

Next Chapter (There's a Future in the Past) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

Today is the 1-year anniversary of Faith in Chaos - A Stellaris Story! There's only one way to celebrate the occasion: here's the climax of The Stormbreakers - Act One: All That Remains!

This new chapter comes complete with references to DossiAARs - Prelude to the Stormbreakers and the re-appearance of a major character from Faith In Chaos! Enjoy!

======

<== Previous Chapter (Aralkum)

Next Chapter (Deja vu All Over Again) ==>​

Chapter Nine
There’s a Future in the Past

​

The Skyranger flies low over rural East Asia.

Airspace above Inner Mongolia, East Asia
Saturday, May 5, 2035 – 3:50am


The flight back to Japan went by in a blur. Yutaka worked on Song’s injury for nearly an hour before sewing up the wound and giving her some sleeping pills. With Song unconscious, Chong-Il and I fiddled about with the climate controls until the overwhelming smell of blood was filtered out of the air. Jericho and Sophia fell asleep on one another’s shoulders.

By the time the Skyranger was over the Gobi desert, Yutaka and I were the only ones still awake. He leaned forward in his seat, fingers pressed together in deep thought. His eyes never broke contact with Jericho.

“Do you think any of this has happened before?” Yutaka’s question caught me off-guard.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Think about it.” Yutaka said. “Jericho’s so-called ‘mother’ has had contact with a time-traveler and carried a device that told her about future events. The only way that time-traveler would know about those events was if they’d actually been there.”

Yutaka cast a suspicious eye at Jericho.

“I know the Commander forbade her from telling us about the future, but I’m still disturbed by what she said in the Blacksite. We really weren’t supposed to find out about the Partogan fleet until later? If she knew we were going to find out anyway, why not just tell us?”

“Maybe the timing has something to do with it?” I offered. “Perhaps the future changes if we learn stuff early.”

Yutaka shook his head.

“No, Robinson. The future isn’t something you can just rebuild or alter.”

He continued to look over Jericho’s sleeping form. Yutaka seemed to be talking to himself, using me as a sounding board.

“Jericho really does know our destinies. She may even know her own fate already. The future itself isn’t going to change, no. Instead… the path we take to reach our fates is going to be different. That’s the key.”

Yutaka undid his safety belts and crossed over to the other side of the Skyranger. He took the empty seat next to Jericho and quite literally cozied up to her, putting one of his hands on her leg. Jericho didn’t wake up, but she did shuffle about, seeming to recoil from something.

“What a fascinating girl.” Yutaka’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

Yuk! Look at something else!

I nearly jumped out of my seat!

Chihiro! I thought. I can hear you!

Yeah, you must’ve just come back into my range. Chihiro’s telepathic voice filled my mind. Now we know the Psi Link doesn’t work over long distances. I’ll be ready for that next time. How’d your mission go?

I refocused my mind and called forth memories of everything that had happened in the Aralkum desert. The ambush, the encounter with the Chosen Hunter, and the discovery about Jericho’s mom. I finished by slowly moving my eyes over to Song, and allowing Chihiro to get a good look at Yutaka’s handiwork.

Yeah, great. Chihiro’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Just get her back here and let the real medics do the work.

I asked Chihiro how her mission in Tokyo had gone. Words and images tumbled into my mind without restraint.

Tokyo’s even more crowded than when I was kid! There’s almost fifty million people living there now! Took us nearly a day to find the guy we were looking for.

A mental image filled my mind’s eye. It was of a middle-aged Japanese man who wore a blue sweater vest and rectangular glasses. His hair was going grey and receding at the same time, while the expression on his face was one of exhaustion. In my mind, the name “Doctor Hongo Marizuki” became associated with the man.

Doctor Marizuki was a professional astrologer. Chihiro explained. He detected the Elder’s Temple Ship in orbit above Earth twenty years ago before the aliens attacked. You’ll never believe this, Blake: He says Jericho is right about that space fleet coming towards us now! He’s been tracking that armada for weeks!

I looked over at Jericho again, my eyes wide.

“No way.” I muttered under my breath. “She knew.”

Yutaka was only half listening to me.

“Of course she knew.” He muttered before draping one of his arms across her shoulder.

Tell those two to get a room! I’m trying to talk to you here! Chihiro’s voice got my attention again. What about you? Are you okay? I can tell you’ve been hurt.

I reached up and absentmindedly rubbed the bruise on my chest. In the back of my mind, I got the feeling that Chihiro had simultaneously done the same. Even though she was physically unharmed, she had experienced a dull pain in the middle of her torso.

I’ll live. I told her. You can see for yourself when we get back to the Avenger. Are you already there?

We’re close enough to see it. Chihiro answered. Probably another ten minutes walking and the mission will be over for my team. Where are you?

I struggled to pull a map of East Asia out of my pocket without waking up Chong-Il.

Near the border of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. I answered. We’ll be back in Japan before long.

Good. Chihiro answered. I’m going to board the ship and do the debriefing now. I’ll see you soon! I love you!

Love you too.

Chihiro’s withdrawal from my mind felt a little like I was hanging up a phone. I smiled, grateful that we’d finally gotten comfortable with the Psi Link between us. Finally, I was starting to feel sleepy. I shut my eyes and did my best to ignore a whispered conversation between Yutaka and Jericho, who was awake now. The humming of the Skyranger’s engines and the aircraft’s gentle vibrations were the best lullaby I could ask for. A quick nap before landing, just close my eyes for a moment…

…

“Robinson! Wake up!”

I startled! The Skyranger was abuzz with activity, and everyone was awake. Yutaka was standing up in the aisle way, clutching a radio receiver to his ear. Chong-Il was writing something down in his notepad frantically while Jericho was helping Soo into a seat and strapping her in. Sophia was the one who had shook me awake.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“The Avenger just contacted us with new orders.” Sophia explained. “Delta Squad got jumped before they reached their objective in Kanna. They’re being overwhelmed!”

“Since we’ve got the Skyranger,” Chong-Il added, “We’re being sent to bail them out.”

I stood up and keyed in the Squad Leader’s passcode to the weapons locker.

“What do we know about the situation?” I asked.

“Very few ADVENT on the ground.” Yutaka said. “It’s a mostly alien force down there, and they’re being led by the Chosen Warlock.”

Everyone froze. I slowly turned on the spot and faced Yutaka.

“Say that again!?”

“The Warlock.” Yutaka repeated. “He’s already there, on the field. And it sounds like he’s brought a small army with him. Whatever the aliens have in Kanna, they’re willing to defend it with their heaviest weaponry and most elite soldiers.”

Yutaka rounded on Jericho. To my surprise, Jericho seemed to wilt under Yutaka’s gaze. Something about the way he looked at her seemed to just sap Jericho of any confidence.

“It’s a Psi Gate.” She said quietly. “An interdimensional gateway held open by Psionic energy. There’s a handful of them on Earth, and the one in Kanna is the most poorly defended.”

“Most poorly defended!?” Chong-Il repeated incredulously. “Sounds like our people are getting massacred over there!”

“That’s because XCOM isn’t supposed to get the Psi Gate for another month!” Jericho protested. “This mission is supposed to fail!”

“Not if I can help it.” I said. “Everyone sit down!”

I pushed my way to the front of the Skyranger and banged on the cockpit door.

“Hey, Firebrand!” I shouted.

“We’re already en-route to Delta Squad’s position.” Wendy Carter yelled from the other side. “ETA two hours!”

“Can you get us there any faster!?”

“Not unless you want me to fly this thing apart!”

“FLY IT APART THEN!”

I looked back at my squad.

“We’re getting Delta out of there, alive!” I said. “No other option is acceptable.”

All around us, the Skyranger shuddered dangerously as her engines were throttled all the way up. I cast a look at Jericho.

“If you want us to keep helping you, then you need to help us.” I said. “Is there anything we need to know about this fight, or that Psi gate?”

Jericho took a deep breath and bit her lip.

“The Psi Gate is being protected by some of the most powerful aliens the Elders have.” She said. “I’ve fought a few of them, but never more than one or two at a time. We’re going to have to deal with a lot of dangerous enemies all at once. So if I tell you to run, you’ll run. Don’t argue, don’t ask questions, just run.”

…

Chihiro, have you been listening?

Kinda. I found out about Delta Squad just before you did. Are you going to help them?

We’re already on the way.

So am I. I’m tagging along with Voodoo Squad. We’re going on foot. Isis is coming with me.

Be careful, Chi. I’ve heard there are some really powerful aliens out there.

Right. I promise not to kill them all before you get here.

…

Delta Squad got close to the Psionic Gate, but a significant enemy force was lying in wait for them. With no way to retreat to the Avenger, they had no choice but to dig in and defend until another XCOM squad arrived to relieve them.

Kanna River, Honshu Island
Saturday, May 5, 2035 – 5:10am


“Contact! Four Mutons behind the treeline! Put down suppressing fire!”

“Can’t do it, boss! I got problems of my own!”

“He’s down! Hazard is down!”

“They’re coming around the flanks! Get back!!”

“Who’s got the Medikit!? I’m hit!”

“Keep your heads down!! We’ve got incoming!”

“Got a lotta heat on me! Need help!”

“Mutons coming around the side! We’re being flanked!”

“They’re behind us! We can’t retreat!”

“Avenger, this is Delta One-One! We’re being overrun! We need emergency evac! NOW DAMNIT! NOW!”

High above the battlefield, the Skyranger’s engines screamed loudly as we came in for our approach! I hooked one of the rappelling lines to my harness and looked around at my four squadmates. Soo would be staying behind while Jericho, Yutaka, Sophia, and Chong-Il all listened to the voices of Delta Squad in our radios with grim expressions.

“Sounds like our guys are encircled.” Yutaka said. “Voodoo and Echo will have to fight their way in from the other side.”

“Then let’s give the aliens something else to shoot at!” I said. “Firebrand, give us five minutes and we’ll give you an LZ! Get ready to pick up a lotta wounded!”

“I’ll hold you to that, Trojan!” Wendy said over the radio. “I’ll be back in five mikes!”

The Skyranger’s boarding ramp dropped! We were just fifty or so feet above the ground! Flames licked the treetops as the forest below burned! About two hundred yards away from our position, deep in the forest, we saw brilliant flashes of purple and violet light flicker and strobe like an intense lightning storm. Gunfire and explosions sounded all around as five rappelling lines fell away from the Skyranger. Wendy brought the ship to a hover above the battlefield and I shouted:

“Go go go!”

Yutaka, Sophia, Chong-Il, and I all grabbed a line and fast-roped to the ground. Jericho jumped from the boarding ramp and fell straight to the ground! With a flash of light, Jericho vanished into thin air and rematerialized on the ground. A Muton yelped with fright as it appeared in the sky where Jericho had just been. With a pathetic cry, the alien fell fifty feet and slammed into the earth!

No sooner had the five of us hit the ground then we were in the thick of the fight! The Skyranger sped away immediately as greenish-yellow columns of light crisscrossed the sky above us!

“Contact right!” I yelled!

“Contact front!” Chong-Il shouted!

We were taking fire from two directions! Hiding in the dense forest, obscured from view by smoke and flame, aliens fired at us with beam weapons! I hit the deck, crawling on my hands and knees through the dirt until I found a big fallen log to take shelter behind.

“Return fire!” I shouted. “Pour it into ‘em!!”

The noise was overpowering! Near-constant gunfire made the air shudder and my eardrums throb. I poked my head over the top of the log and saw five huge, hulking Mutons in the forest.

The Berserker is the largest and most dangerous variation of the modern-day Muton. These brutes are supposedly incapable of higher reasoning and have only ever been seen engaging in violence. During the late Second Hyperspace War, the ADVENT Army deployed Berserkers into combat in the Sol System for only a few months. Berserkers were quickly phased out of military service following a failed boarding of the Triple Alliance Flagship Mahuika in May of 2035.

I racked my shotgun and took a potshot at the nearest one. Splintered wood flew everywhere as the tree the Muton was using for cover was hit!

“Check your fire!” Sophia yelled. “Friendlies on our left!”

The soldiers of Delta Squad were in terrible shape. Of the original six-man team, only two were still fighting: a Norwegian man called Leif Berg and a Nigerian woman called Lehana Dikale. They were putting up one hell of a stand! The barrel of Leif’s light machine gun had gotten so hot that it was already melting! Lehana’s face was covered in blood and dirt and her equipment was in terrible shape. Her shotgun was bent and her sword broken, yet somehow she was still in the fight!

A very short distance away were the other four members of Delta Squad. Cory Tucker was lying flat on his back, both hands clutching a bloody wound in his middle and hyperventilating. Svetlana Guesva, a Russian woman, was lying flat on her face, clearly unconscious. Another Russian, Alexei Volobyov, was wounded but still fighting, both of his hands working furiously to get a damaged rifle working again. Rafal Kowalski appeared to be dead.

“Holy hell!” I yelled, “How long have you guys been here!?”

“About seventeen hours, give or take!” Alexei responded. “We’d all be dead if it wasn’t for that Hanako girl!”

A loud roar echoed through the forest, drowning out the sounds of the raging inferno around us!

“More Mutons!?” Leif yelled.

“That sounds like a Berserker!” Yutaka called back.

I pointed to the spot where we’d found the stranded soldiers.

“Gimme a defensive perimeter around Delta!” I yelled. “Make some room for the Skyranger!”

Suddenly, my field of view was filled with swirling flames and I was hit by a wall of heat! A tree, huge and old, had succumbed to the flames and fallen over! Ignoring the intense heat, I threw myself behind the trunk just as another pulse of beam weapon fire flew overhead. My hands were sweating so badly that I could barely keep a grip on my shotgun as I opened fire on a pair of approaching aliens, forcing them to retreat. Behind me, Yutaka reached the soldiers of Delta Squad and made contact.

“I hope to hell you’re our ride outta here!” Alexei shouted above the noise of battle.

“It’s on the way!” Yutaka answered. “We need to secure the area so she can land! How many of you can fight!?”

“Just the three of us!” Lehana answered. “Strobe and Smokejumper are down and we think Diesel bought the farm! We lost the Resistance girl too!”

I turned around to look at Lehana.

“Where’d you lose her?” I shouted.

Losing Homura Hanako was all kinds of bad. If she was still alive, then we couldn’t run the risk of her being captured by the enemy. She was the one who had tipped us off to this place! We couldn’t lose her!

Lehana pointed into the burning forest, over my shoulder.

“Quarter of a click that way.” She said. “Supernova got jumped by the Chosen Warlock!”

“Supernova?” Sophia repeated.

“That kid’s got one helluva Gift.” Lehana said.

But before anyone could say anything else, there was another huge eruption of gunfire! The aliens renewed their assault on our position, all thought went back to defense! I crawled towards a copse of trees that hadn’t been consumed by fire yet and sat up. Keeping my back to the tree trunk, I raised my shotgun and started firing into the moving shapes on our right flank!

After three misses, I finally hit a Muton! But those giant musclebound aliens don’t go down as easily as a person. The great big monster seemed to just shrug off the shotgun slug started bearing down on me! Each colossal footfall made the ground quake as it charged straight at me! I grabbed the handle of my sword, ready for a close encounter, but –

CRACK!

A projectile just big enough for me to see screamed in from my right and tore through the Muton’s body! Killed instantly, the alien collapsed and slid across the ashes before coming to rest in front of me. Jericho stepped out from behind a tree and reloaded her Bolt Caster.

“We’re not out of this yet!” She shouted, “Behind you!”

Something huge tore through the tree I was leaning against! I lurched forward and felt hot ashes and embers raining down on the back of my head! I rolled over and readied my shotgun…

The creature was almost twice as big as a Muton and had twice the teeth!

“Berserker!!” Chong-Il yelled. “Run!”

“NO!” Jericho projected her voice over the entire battlefield. “Everyone focus fire! Take it down together!”

Jericho, Chong-Il, Yutaka, Sophia, Lehana, Alexei, Leif and I all turned on the spot and began to sink bullets into the gigantic alien! Each shot seemed to do nothing except make it angry! The Berserker roared and began to charge! Moving faster than any of the other Mutons I’ve seen, I had only seconds to decide what I was going to do. I drew my sword and slashed it down just as the Berserker reached me! My blade caught the Berserker in the neck, it raised both of its arms and brought them down!

Pain. All kinds of pain. Nothing else made sense. Sights, sounds, smells… all of my senses were scrambled. I knew my head and chest were hurting, but I couldn’t tell how badly or why. The whole world seemed to be spinning, yet I knew I wasn’t moving. Something had hit me… something had killed me… but I wasn’t dead! I could feel a heartbeat… no… two heartbeats! I tried to focus, and peered through a set of eyes that weren’t my own.

The second I’d been hit by the Berserker, Chihiro Tachibana’s entire body had been wracked with incredible pain! Screaming at the top of her lungs, she charged forward into the fight, leaving the soldiers of Echo and Voodoo squads behind! By the time the enemy realized they’d been outflanked by XCOM reinforcements, it was beyond too late.

Nearly a dozen XCOM soldiers hit the enemy from the rear, with Chihiro at the front of the assault! The horde of Mutons couldn’t turn around quickly enough before being cut down by either Chihiro’s Shadowkeeper pistol or her Psionic Amplifier. Like a great wave on the ocean, XCOM’s forces rolled across the battlefield, sweeping up the enemy who couldn’t fight a three-front battle.

I saw all of this through Chihiro’s eyes, but I had never used our Psi Link like this before! Sure I’d looked through her eyes plenty of times, but now I was receiving input from all five of her senses. I could smell the sulfur and ash hovering in the air, appreciate the fact that Chihiro’s vision was better than my own, taste the blood and soot in her mouth, hear the soft-but-permanent ringing in her ears, and feel her feet sliding around in boots that were a size too big.

A kind of buzzing in the back of my mind told me that Chihiro knew what I was doing. In fact…

“There you are!” Chihiro said aloud!

She had used telepathy to trace my mind back to its body. I looked at my own form through her eyes, and felt really strange. I was lying on my side near the burned out remains of a large tree. Jericho and Yutaka were kneeling down next to me, spraying my head and neck with a Medikit. I could see the blood running down my own face as clearly as Chihiro could, as well as the spot where the Berserker had clubbed me in the head. Chihiro got down with the others and pressed her hands on my injuries.

“Hang on, Blake!” She gasped, “I’m not as good at this as Jericho but…”

It felt like I was caught in a powerful wind! My mind was sucked out of Chihiro’s head and back into my own body! The pain in my head and chest suddenly intensified and my eyes snapped open!

“Ow! Augh! What the hell!?” I yelled.

Chihiro intensified her grip on my forehead.

“Your skull is cracked!” She said loudly. “Hold still and gimme a few more seconds!”

The pain in my head was so intense I was starting to see stars! Blue and white points of light swam in front of me until there was a gentle snap just above my left eye, and a wave of relief seemed to course through my whole body. I could relax, finally.

“That’s just a temporary fix.” Chihiro said. “I’m no healer like she is, now get up! We’ve got a battle to win here!”

Chihiro pressed my shotgun back into my hands and pulled me upright. As I put one hand on the nearby tree to steady myself, I suddenly became aware of just how beaten down and tired I felt. My vision swam and my head felt kinda fuzzy. I had to blink a lot of times before I got my bearings again.

The fight had turned in XCOM’s favor. The enemy force had gotten caught in a vice between my squad and the troops Chihiro had brought with her. The Mutons had given up their attempt to finish off Delta Squad and retreated, formed a new defensive line and opened fire on us again. High above, the Skyranger swooped over the treetops and veered away.

“I can’t land there!” Wendy shouted over the radio. “Standby for cable reels! I’m gonna pull you all out six at a time!”

“Take Delta Squad first!” I responded. “We’re marking the spot with green smoke!”

On my command, Yutaka chucked a smoke bomb into a clearing just beyond the spot where Delta Squad had hunkered down. Colonel Pyotr Ilyshin, the leader of Voodoo Squad, rallied his troops.

“Secure that area!” Pyotr yelled. “Give me a fifty meter perimeter in all directions!”

Italian soldier Paolo Basso voiced a concern:

“Has anyone seen any dropships? Does the enemy have reinforcements?”

“None that I’ve seen from up here!” Wendy radioed down to us. “You’re in the clear!”

Taking shelter behind the same boulder, Chihiro and I took turns escorting the soldiers of Delta Squad into the clearing. Hovering just fifty feet above the ground, the Skyranger opened its rear bay doors and six rappelling cables descended to the ground. Lehana, Alexei, Leif, Svetlana, and Cory all secured themselves to a cable. A harness dropped to the ground from the Skyranger, and I used it to secure Rafal Kowalski’s unconscious form to Lehana.

“You’re clear!” I yelled. “Pull’em up!”

All of the cables quickly retracted, reeling the six soldiers upwards towards the safety of the Skyranger. Once they were all secured in the deployment bay, the ramp closed and the aircraft sped away towards the Avenger.

“I’ll drop them off and come back for the next six!” Wendy’s voice said over the radio. “Everyone hold tight!”

Beam weapon fire!

I threw myself to the ground! The impact caused my head to ring like a bell, but at least I wasn’t shot! Crawling on my hands and knees, I moved back into the treeline while bullets and energy pulses crisscrossed above me! Chihiro grabbed my shoulder and yanked me to safety.

Chihiro blasted a Muton with her Shadowkeeper before turning to engage another one with her Sniper Rifle. Then she had to duck behind a boulder as plasma beams shot back towards her in retaliation!

“It’s a goddamn army out there!” She shouted, “We can’t hold this spot!”

“My thoughts exactly!” I shouted. “Stormbreakers! Fall back one hundred yards and dig in!”

The two remaining squads followed our lead. Sixteen soldiers broke contact and gave ground, falling back and retreating deeper into the forest. An Echo soldier shouted for all of us to hear:

“They’re pursuing! We’re being followed!”

We came to a particularly dense patch of forest with thick trees and big boulders.

“Good enough!” I said. “Stop here and dig in!”

Pyotr agreed with me, and when the rest of Echo squad showed up, so did their leader, Anna Petrova. All three Squads took cover and turned their weapons to face the oncoming enemy!

The horde of Mutons erupted through the forest and was met by a hailstorm of gunfire! My ears throbbed and blobs of color swam in front of my eyes! My shotgun was so hot I could feel and smell my own skin starting to burn!

“Don’t let up!” I shouted. “Pour it into ‘em!”

The deep thudding of machine gun fire was accompanied by the howls of wounded and dying aliens! A tree, shot one too many times, creaked and groaned before crashing down to the forest floor! Twigs and leaves danced through the air, illuminated by muzzle flashes and plasma beams!

Then, through the flashes and the smoke, through the darkness and the chaos, I saw something. A lone humanoid figure. It looked like a person with white hair that stuck straight up. I couldn’t make out its face, it was hidden behind some kind of mask. It was so surreal, so out-of-place, that for a moment I just stared at it.

“Trojan! Down!”

Sophia’s voice jerked me back to reality just in time! A plasma beam cut through the air just above me as I hit the ground. When I looked around the side of the boulder again, the human-shaped thing was gone.

“Where the hell is Jericho!?” Yutaka yelled. “We could use some Psionics right about now!”

I looked around frantically, and after doing a quick headcount, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Jericho really was gone. She was nowhere to be seen.

“Where the hell did she go!?” I shouted.

“Blue-hair?” said one of the Voodoo soldiers. “She went over the top of the hill behind us!”

“Blue Dragon! Doctor Freud! On me!”

Pyotr took charge of the main defense while Chihiro, Yutaka, and I broke contact and charged towards the hill at our rear. The trees got fewer and farther in between as we neared the summit, which allowed the three of us to see the intense flashes of light and hear the thunderclaps coming from the other side before we saw the sources of the light and noise. When we got to the top of the hill and looked down the other side, all three of us froze.

“Nanite kotoda!?” Chihiro gasped.

“If I had to guess,” Yutaka said. “That’s the ‘Psionic Gate’ Jericho mentioned.”

A Gatekeeper emerges from the Psionic Gate in front of Jericho. These Gifted beings were designed by the Ethereals with the specific purpose of guarding similar Gates all over their territory. There are many theories about what the Gatekeeper species was before being enslaved by the Ethereals. None are proven.

Looking down from the hilltop on the valley below, we saw something that can only be described as awesome.

In the bottom of the valley was a small structure that looked a bit like an altar or a shrine. On top of the alter, a huge object shaped like a crescent moon shimmered and flickered faintly while a battle unlike anything I’d ever seen before played out around it:

A huge white orb flew through the air around the altar, firing a bright orange beam down on Jericho! Keeping her arms raised, she deflected the beam attacks and ran across the blasted terrain towards the other two combatants.

On the far side of this new battlefield, we finally spotted Homura Hanako. Psionic energy rippled out of her body as she unleashed one attack after another on her enemy! Beams of light jumped from her hands and struck a tall alien with blueish-purple skin and wispy white hair. The enemy warrior seemed completely undisturbed by Homura’s attacks and stood his ground, parrying each blow with ease! Just when it seemed like Jericho was going to finally reach Homura, the white orb did something absolutely bizarre! It opened up!

The white shell split and came apart, revealing a hideous alien with four long tentacles inside! Floating high above the ground, it looked like something out of a nightmare! The alien closed the distance, reaching out towards Jericho with its appendages!

“HELP HER!” I yelled!

“On it!” Chihiro raised her Sniper Rifle!

Yutaka and I didn’t wait for the shot! We started to charge downhill, weapons drawn! Above our heads, there was an earsplitting crack as Chihiro sent a sniper round downrange! The spherical alien was struck, hard! Chihiro had managed to hit the creature’s flesh instead of its white shell. At once, the tentacles retracted inside of the protective shell, which moved back into place and closed itself up, hiding the alien from view. Jericho saw us coming and yelled:

“What the hell are you doing?! Run! Get outta here!”

Yutaka dove for cover behind the staircase that led to the alien altar and fired his machine gun wildly at the spherical alien!

“Firebrand’s on her way back!” I shouted. “It’s time for you and Hanako to get out of here!”

“I don’t need help! I’ve got this!” Jericho yelled as she fired her Bolt Caster into the spherical alien. “Go help Hanako! She’s in trouble!”

A shockwave rolled across the ground and hit us! Every hair on my body stood up on end and my skin crawled as though I’d just looked at something disgusting. Yutaka and I both spun on our feet and saw what was happening.

Keeping both of her hands in front of her face, Homura backed away from Kon-Mon Dessurik slowly. Her Psionic Shield flickered as it was battered repeatedly by the Warlock’s assault! Violet light arced off of the Chosen Warlock’s hands and dispersed across Homura’s shield! Yutaka and I redirected our efforts towards Dessurik, but he raised one hand and lashed out at us!

“As the gods will, I shall show you the abyss!” Dessurik roared!

My shotgun suddenly got hot! Hotter than it had ever been before! I dropped the weapon and reached for my sword! Big red blisters had already appeared on my palms, but I didn’t care. Gripping my sword handle tightly, I followed Yutaka into the fight! Homura fired a bolt of lightning into the Warlock’s chest while Yutaka held down the trigger of his machine gun, spraying the Chosen with hundreds of bullets! Once he ran out of ammo, I charged forward and slashed my sword across Dessurik’s chest! He staggered backwards and Yutaka cheered:

“We got him!”

“No we didn’t!” Homura snapped!

I dropped my sword. The pain was getting overwhelming! As the handle of my sword fell away, my hands erupted into even more agony! I could see the burn marks on my palms! I fell to my knees and yelled out! My eyesight fogged up! I couldn’t see through the waves of pain radiating from my hands!

“Blake! Get up! You need to get up!”

Homura was tugging at my shoulder. She looked desperate. I wrenched myself up just in time to see the Chosen Warlock blasting Yutaka off his feet with some invisible force. Homura raised one hand to defend us! Another Psionic Shield materialized in front of us. If anything, this only made Dessurik more furious! In a tone of absolute outrage, he yelled:

“To abscond with the god’s own power and turn it against their very forces is the greatest of affronts! Hear me, Paradox! You will pay for your perfidy with the very powers you have stolen!"

I just barely heard the ghost of a laugh escape Homura’s lips.

“The other guy said the same thing.” She hissed. “Didn’t end well for him.”

“You are like a child in the presence of a true master, Paradox.” The Chosen Warlock said. “Let me show you my power!”

A force, unseen and irresistible, hit Homura’s shield and it shattered immediately! It broke down every mental barrier I had with overwhelming force and entered my mind with all of the violence and brutality of a hurricane!

Pain.

Pain like nothing I’d ever felt before hit every part of my being. Every nerve was on fire, every bone broken, every muscle cramped! Yet through it all, I was aware! Something was forcing me to watch as something dark and twisted came hurtling towards me through the void!

“Your greatest weapon is your mind… yet look how easily it is turned against you! Know the truth and despair: The unknown enemy is within!”

My own mind collided with Homura’s mind! Here, in this Psionic chasm, our thoughts entangled, our dreams confused, and our memories…

Homura’s memories…

…

Friday, May 13, 2005
Washington DC, United States of America


I was standing in the White House bowling alley, leaning on a countertop while I watched a group of children argue about how to sneak out of the room. When a twelve-year old boy with brown skin and curly hair started to propose a hair-brained scheme, I scoffed at him and said:

“Cool your jets, Robinson. It’ll be easier if I just take one for the team.”

“We don’t even know you!” a little black girl whispered.

I stepped behind the countertop and pulled a black hoodie off a shelf. It was far too big for my small feminine frame, but that was the point. I threw the hood over my head, making sure to let some of my straight black hair hang out. Slouching over a bit, I knew I looked like a genuine hooligan.

I gave Blake Robinson a confident grin and stepped out into the hallway. Secret Service Kathleen Walsh was so surprised at my brazenness that she didn’t react until I crossed the hallway and knocked a decorative vase off the windowsill, where it crashed to the floor!

Giggling like a maniac, I ran while Walsh gave chase…

…

Saturday, September 15, 2007
Perth, Australia


Clutching my binder full of paperwork to my chest with one hand, I rapped my knuckles on the door quickly and confidently. This wasn’t the first time I’d done this. I knew what I was doing.

A huge black man with a Maori te moko tattoo on his face answered the door. He was dressed up in a smart-looking bartender’s uniform and gave me a confused look. He told me that the bar wasn’t going to open until later tonight and asked why I was there. I politely asked if his name was Jake Ethan Green. He nodded. Moving quickly, I reached into my binder, withdrew a yellow envelope and pressed it into his hands.

“Legal notice.” I said. “You’ve been charged with selling alcohol without a government permit. You need to report to the courtroom at the provided date and time.”

Jake was flabbergasted.

“I’ve only just gone into business!” he said. “There’s no way I can afford to deal with this right now!”

Reaching out with my mind, I sent a telepathic command to the man I’d placed under Mind Control earlier. He began to accelerate his truck at a calm pace. While I spoke the truck drove past us down the road as though it was carrying on normal business.

“There’s plenty of legitimate ways to make money.” I said to Jake. “You’ll look better in front of a Judge if you had one of those jobs.”

Jake wasn’t listening. He was reading the advertisement on the truck that had just driven past. “This is our war, too!” The sign said. “Join the Australian Army today! Beat the Russians!”

I nodded politely and turned to leave.

“I’ll see you in court, Mister Green.”

…

Saturday, December 22, 2012
Hiroshima, Japan


When I drove around the corner, the front two tires of my ambulance mounted the curb and ended up on the sidewalk. I didn’t care. Just a few yards away, Blake and Chihiro were frantically re-tying a pair of tourniquets around the bloody stumps that had once been Tsubaki Endo’s legs. They both screamed for help as Hal Macintosh and I got out of the cab.

Hal told me to open up the back door and get the stretcher. When I brought it around, Tsubaki had turned pale.

“She’s just a kid!” Chihiro cried. “This isn’t right! This isn’t fair!”

“This is war, Tachibana.” Hal told her. “You did your part, now let us do ours!”

Once we got Tsubaki into the ambulance, Hal told me that he was going to drive. He was faster. I said I knew the quickest way to the nearest army field hospital, and that I’d give him directions from the back. While I stayed in the back and tended to Tsubaki, I shouted the directions to Hal so he’d know which way to go.

Hal never suspected that I was using my powers to keep Tsubaki alive until we reached the field hospital…

…

Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Pretoria, South Africa


I was sitting in the passenger seat of a car. The man next to me was under Mind Control. We were parked on the other side of the street from the Sonop Tennis Club, keeping a close eye on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, we spotted her. Twelve-year-old Sophie Ackermann stood out like a sore thumb in a crowd. She was quite possibly the tallest white girl in all of Pretoria. She had a blue backpack slung over her shoulders and her dirty blonde hair rustled against her nylon windbreaker.

My companion and I waited until she drew level with our car. On my command, the man rolled down his window and pointed a handgun directly at Sophie’s heart. She froze and all the color went out of her face.

“Get in.” The man said. “Now.”

“We’re not kidding around.” I added. “We got no problem shooting you.”

With a terrified squeak, Sophie complied, opening the car door and slowly sliding into the backseat. I took the gun and covered her while my puppet floored the gas pedal and sped us away…

…

Friday, May 1, 2015
Lyon, France


A convoy of military vehicles was moving through the heart of the French city. This late at night, very few people were aware of what was going on. There were twelve trucks in the convoy, all heavily armored. Men sat in turrets atop each vehicle, keeping watch with heavy machine guns at the ready.

I stepped into the street and blocked the way. The lead vehicle came to a stop and the doors opened. Eight men appeared. They wore business clothing: white shirts, ties, and pinstripe pants. They had all masked their faces with orange and yellow bandannas, combined with thick-rimmed sunglasses.

They commanded me to step aside. They didn’t take me seriously. Why would they? As far as they know, I’m just an Asian tourist who’s out alone in the middle of the night.

One minute. That’s all it took. It happened so fast that the survivors never did know what hit them. But the proof of what I’d done lay strewn over three city blocks in the form of twelve wrecked military vehicles and almost fifty dead people. The select few EXALT Operatives who had survived were driven insane by my power. Over the next few minutes, they killed each other in a frantic gun battle against an enemy that existed only in their imaginations; they never knew what had happened to the four men and women they were supposed to be transporting.

By the time soldiers from XCOM arrived on the scene, Matthew Hawkins and his three fellow prisoners were long gone.

…

Sunday, March 8, 2020
Volgograd, Russia


The front door to the Gene Therapy clinic burst open! Two girls came in, one supporting the other. The injured girl was bleeding profusely from two wounds, one in her neck and one in her face. I helped two of the other doctors take her into the back while her distraught sister stayed in the lobby with a counselor.

It only took five minutes to repair the damage to Sophia Kuznetsova’s neck and replace the lost blood. Just when we were getting started on fixing her face, however, a scientist told us that this girl had been selected for the AVATAR Project. We were ordered to cease all treatment and put her on the next train to the Aralkum Blacksite.

I couldn’t allow that.

Two minutes of Mind Control and Psionic Manipulation later, Sophia walked out of the clinic, rejoined her sister, and both of them vanished into the night…

…

“NO!” Homura’s voice erupted from the void! “Get out of my mind! Both of you!”

I wrenched myself backwards, physically and mentally, determined to escape this nightmarish prison! But the Chosen Warlock was overwhelming! He pushed my head back down into the sea of Homura’s memory, forcing me to witness the one moment she was holding back… the one moment she refused to show me…

…

Wailua, Hawaii



Anger. Fury. Rage.

It was those feelings of pure hatred that kept me warm on that cold night. While rain drizzled down on me, I didn’t feel it. I was lost in my own wrath. Stepping away from the Ark Angel, I ignored the whining of the engines. Eight men and women all stood on the boarding ramp of the ship, calling for me to come back. The voices of Whetu, Hakara, Yukiko, Anika, Soo, Manaaki, Chong-Il, and Arioch all faded into the rain as I set off down the hill.

The neighborhood was dark and wet. Most of the lights were out. A dog ran out of its yard and began to bark and yip at me. I stopped walking and turned to look at the creature. It only needed to gaze into my eyes for a fraction of a second before it turned and ran away, tail between its legs. All it would take was one twitch of my wrist, and that pathetic animal would never go home again… but no. I wanted to save my fury for someone who actually deserved it.

I found the house. It was a lonely place at the end of the neighborhood, with sandy beaches to the left and right, while the Pacific Ocean stretched out behind the home. All of the lights were on. The second-story bedroom window vibrated as someone listened to music very loudly. The living room curtains weren’t drawn, I could see inside.

The man who’d invoked my wrath was there. He was sitting on the couch, having a conversation with two people a little older than me, a young man and a young woman. After a moment, the woman stood and walked out of sight. The man smiled and leaned back in his chair, seemingly content.

I was on the porch. I hadn’t made any noise. I reached to my belt and pulled out my Psionic Amplifier, then took aim at the door. It exploded into thousands of little pieces! I was just barely inside the house when the young man ran into the entryway.

“Mom! Dad! It’s Akira! Call the cops! I’ll hold her!”

Call the cops? Hold me? What a joke.

A bolt of lightning erupted from my Amplifier and struck my older brother squarely in the chest! It lit up the whole house with a pinkish-white flare before going out again, and Alexander Robinson stumbled forward, crashing face-first to the floor.

From up above, I heard a voice saying:

“I need the police at 735 Moanakai Road in Wailua! My sister’s trying to kill us!”

I pointed my Amplifier at the ceiling. At once, the entire second floor of the house collapsed! Wood, concrete, plaster and all sorts of debris and wreckage rained down! Caught in the chaos, both of my twin brothers tried to save themselves as soon as they saw me. I pointed my free hand and closed my fist! James and Josiah Robinson crumpled where they stood and I turned my head towards a scream!

My mother and older sister had taken shelter in the kitchen. At her command, my sister was racing towards the back door to escape while my mother came charging at me. What an idiot! Did she really think she stood a chance now? I projected a Psionic Lance from my Amplifier! Simultaneously, Chihiro Tachibana and Asuna Robinson were struck down.

At the same moment, with a loud and tremendous roar, my father freed himself from the wreckage of what had once been his home. When he looked around and saw what I’d done, I watched his spirit break with deep satisfaction.

“Akira… Why?” he gasped. “What… why?”

“You know why.” I said coldly. “You were there. You know what you did.”

I raised my Amplifier. I was so furious, my voice and hand both shook.

“This is for every man, woman, and child on Earth you sacrificed. This is for the untold billions of people across the Galaxy who had to die because you were too selfish. THIS IS FOR EVERYONE WHO NEVER GOT TO LIVE BECAUSE OF YOU!”

And then I painted the walls with the blood of Blake Robinson.

The house was in flames. As neighbors ran towards the residence with garden hoses and buckets of water, I slipped out unnoticed. I would have faded away into the darkness, but I spotted a teenage girl wearing all white clothes running down the road towards the burning house. I couldn’t help but smile at the knowledge that my alternate self always had the same clothing preferences as me. Taking great care to never let the alternate Akira Robinson see me, I pointed my Amplifier at her head.

It only took about ten minutes for me to completely re-write her mind and re-make her memories. She would never be the same person again, and that worked for me just fine. I returned to the Ark Angel…

…

The sights, sounds, and smells of the world around me flickered and went out! I felt like some invisible thing finally released me, and I pulled back, retreating from Homura’s memories, fleeing her mind as quickly as I could!

Back to Kanna! Back to the present! Back into my own mind!

I am Blake Robinson! I’m not the monster whose mind I’d just invaded!

Revulsion coursed through me like a wave! I rolled over onto my hands and knees and vomited until there was nothing left in my guts! I was vaguely aware of being buffeted by a strong wind, and of an overpowering light threatening to blind me. I sat up and raised on hand to shield my eyes.

Absconding with the stolen powers of a god, Akira Jaqueline Robinson is one of the most dangerous Gifted beings in the Galaxy. Her powers are on par with those of the Ethereals, the Chosen, and Jericho herself.

Homura Hanako… no, that wasn’t her real name… Akira Robinson had broken free of the Warlock’s grasp and had unleashed her full power against him! She pointed one arm towards the sky and projected a column of brilliant purple light into the clouds above! Bolts of lightning descended from the sky, two or three at a time!

All over the battlefield, alien soldiers howled with pain as they were struck by Akira’s attack! This wasn’t like those arcs or Psi Volts I’d seen other Psionics use, this was real lightning! Each strike resounded through the air with a mighty BANG that shook leaves from the trees and made my chest quake! The battlefield lit up as though it was daytime with flash after flash! Mutons fell one after another, overwhelmed by Akira’s assault!

Akira annihilates a Gatekeeper using her signature move, "Ionic Storm," calling down bolts of lightning to strike nearby foes.

Shocked and stunned beyond belief, Chihiro and I could do nothing but watch as Akira’s wrath rolled across the battlefield like a Tsunami!

Kon-Mon Dessurik wasn’t idle! He made a pulling motion with his hands as though he was extracting Psionic energy from the Earth itself! I looked around and saw what he was doing!

“Jericho! Look out!”

Shimmering beings rose from the ground. They looked like people, but I could see through them, almost as though they were ghosts. Each of the translucent beings was armed with something that resembled a sword.

“My loyal soldiers transcend space, time, and death itself!” The Chosen Warlock declared. “For my power is a majestic gift from the Gods!”

One of the translucent people ran towards Jericho and Akira and drew a sword! Akira spun on her feet and blasted the attacker with her own power while Jericho shot it with her Bolt Caster! The semi-corporeal warrior keeled over backwards and fell to the ground, vanishing into nothingness before he came to rest.

“Jericho! You get the Warlock!” Akira yelled. “I’ll deal with the Wraiths!”

Then Akira turned around and screamed:

“ROBINSON! BEHIND YOU!”

I heard leaves shuffling on the ground and quickly turned! A Wraith had gotten close enough to hit me with its spectral sword! I shouted and kicked out! To my own surprise, my foot connected with something that felt solid! The Wraith stumbled backwards and tried to come at me again, but I had already started backing away! Looking around desperately for a weapon, I realized that my hands were still maimed! I couldn’t hold anything! How the hell was I supposed to fight!?

The spectral wraith tried to hit me again, I raised my arms, ready for the blow! But nothing came, its sword deflected away from me at the last second! The action was accompanied by a deep noise, kinda like a gong. Looking up, I saw two shimmering Psionic shields had overlapped themselves in front of me, each one hovering in front of… my own hands!? Weak sparks shot out of my bloody and burned palms, giving a little color to the shimmering wall of energy that hovered directly in front of my hands.

I barely had time to figure out what the hell was going on! A second Wraith was coming at me! I turned tail and tried to run, but a slightly high-pitched voice came from the treeline!

“Hang on, Blake! I’m almost there!”

Chihiro ran across the alien altar and jumped through the crescent-moon shaped object! Landing on my side of the altar, Chihiro raised her Shadowkeeper and blasted one of the Wraiths, while striking the second one with a small psionic shield projected from her free hand.

“Wait a second!” I gasped. “Did you do that!?”

“I was getting desperate!” Chihiro panted. “I was trying anything that came to mind and that seemed to work! Come on, we’ve gotta cover those two!”

About fifty yards away, Jericho and Akira were fighting side by side, battling their way through the Spectral Army towards the Chosen Warlock, who was opportunistically blasting them with his own Psionic power!

Keeping a close eye on my new Psi shields, I followed Chihiro into the fight! I chose to use my new shields as a kind of spectral boxing gloves. Each time I punched or jabbed a Wraith, Psionic energy arced from my fist to the enemy, enhancing the power of each strike! This was exhilarating! I’d never killed an alien by punching it before, but if this was really what it was like, than I was never going back to firearms!

On my right, Chihiro fired the Shadowkeeper with supernatural accuracy! A dozen Wraiths vanished into the night as we closed in on Jericho and Akira! With a sweeping motion, Jericho fired a cone of light from her hands and wiped out the last of the Spectral warriors! Chihiro, Akira, Jericho and I all stood together and faced down the Warlock!

Kon-Mon Dessurik looked at each of us in turn.

“The Elders will no doubt be impressed by your prowess in battle today, Jericho, and no doubt your choice of allies will intrigue them further. When next we meet, Jericho, the Paradox will not be there to save you… and then I will claim you for the Elders, as is your destiny!”

A shimmering hole opened up in the air directly behind the Warlock!

“Rift!” I yelled! “He’s escaping!”

“STOP HIM!” Akira shouted.

All four of us made to attack the Warlock, but he was too quick, stepping backwards through the rift, which closed and disappeared just like it had done in Aralkum.

For a few minutes, there was a painful silence as all four of us caught our breath. For the first time in a week, we were all starting to become aware of just how tired we were. Jericho got down on one knee and put a hand to her chest, panting. Akira leaned against a nearby tree and dropped her plasma pistol with a sigh. I could feel every ache and pain in my body. Behind me, Chihiro was panting heavily. She fell to her knees, coughing.

“They’re down here!”

Voices began moving down the hill. All of the remaining XCOM soldiers on the field arrived on the scene and began to secure the area. Anna Petrova’s jaw dropped as she saw the crescent shaped object on top of the alien altar.

“What the hell is this thing?” Anna asked her comrade.

“Let’s hang it off the front of the Avenger.” Akaya Ogawa suggested. “That way the ship’ll look like a charging bull with a nose ring!”

Meanwhile, Yutaka, Sophia, and Chong-Il caught up with us. As soon as she saw my burned hands, Sophia pulled out a Medikit and sprayed down my wounds as best she could.

“You need to get to the infirmary, Robinson.” Sophia said. “We’ll deal with the alien artifact.”

“Let Echo and Voodoo Squads do that.” I said.

Straightening up, I pointed an accusing finger at the stranger we had all been calling “Homura” for the past week.

“Restrain her!” I ordered. “Somebody cuff that monster right now!”

Akira sighed. Looking down at her plasma pistol, she kicked it away and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Fine. This is still better than the alternative.” She said.

Yutaka looked very confused as he produced a pair of flex cuffs and tied Akira’s wrists behind her back.

“What’s going on, Trojan?” he asked. “Is this girl an ADVENT spy? If she is, we should just shoot her right now.”

Chihiro looked back and forth from Akira to me.

“Blake?” Chihiro said, “What happened? What did you see?”

I swear on my life. Chihiro told me telepathically, I know you saw something, but I really don’t know what it was.

My mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour, but that statement made something click in my mind. I decided it was my turn to vent some anger, rage, and fury. I closed in on Akira. She stepped back and pressed herself into Yutaka’s body. She wasn’t scared, if anything, she looked resigned to what was about to happen.

“I would love to kill you.” I seethed. “But since I know you’re not an ADVENT spy, I can’t. I’ll just settle for this!”

I punched Akira in the head! Sophia, Jericho, Chihiro, and Chong-Il all jumped forward to stop me, but I managed to slug Akira two more times before someone pinned my arms! Chihiro stepped between us and held out her arms, forcing me to back away.

“What the hell is going on!?” she demanded.

“That freak’s a murdering psychopath!” I hollered, straining to pull myself free of Chong-Il’s grip. “And a time-traveler! Like Jericho’s alien mother!”

Chihiro’s eyes went wide as she looked towards Akira. Her pistol-hand twitched. Akira saw this and shouted:

“Wait! Gimme a chance to explain myself first! Please! Just hear me out!”

Akira locked eyes with Chihiro.

“Okaa-san! Kii te kudasai!!”

Chihiro dropped her weapons and froze.

“What did you call me!?”

<== Previous Chapter (Aralkum)

Next Chapter (Deja vu All Over Again) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

I've done a lot of research for this chapter. I personally guarantee that if you travel to the town of Kanna on Honshu Island on 10 May 2035 and look to the west at exactly 10:45pm, you will see the constellations, stars, and planets described in this chapter.
======

<== Previous Chapter (There's a Future in the Past)

Next Chapter (The Fall of Vania) ==>​

Chapter Ten
Déjà vu All Over Again

​

An unusually bright Aurora Borealis occurred throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere during the night hours of May 10 and 11. It was almost certainly caused by radiation generated by a large-scale fleet battle between the ADVENT Coalition and the Triple Alliance on the same day.

Kanna River, Honshu Island
Thursday, May 10, 2035 – 10:00pm


“I’m sorry, Corporal Tachibana. Those test results aren’t back yet. I have a long list of other tests and experiments that take precedence!”

“Come on, doc! You’ve had almost five days!”

Doctor Tygan sighed and, if possible, unwrapped the bandages around my hand even more slowly. On the other side of the medical bed, Chihiro folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. I looked back and forth between them and sighed.

“What difference do the test results make?” I complained. “They won’t change what Akira’s done!”

“What Akira has allegedly done,” Doctor Tygan corrected. “No one else saw what you’ve claimed to see, Lieutenant. It’s your word against hers. You should leave any judgements for the final page of the Commander’s report to the Resistance Council.”

Finally, my hands came free of their bandages. All of my fingers were swollen and inflamed, but the pain had been reduced to almost nothing.

“Skin grafts appear to be taking well.” Tygan commented. “I feel comfortable releasing you from the Infirmary, Robinson. However, I’m going to inform the Commander that you will not be fit for combat for the next two weeks. And Corporal, I promise you, when the test you asked for comes back, I’ll let you know immediately.”

At long last, I swung my legs out of the medical bed and started to gather my things. Bundling the tattered remains of my uniform, my shotgun, and my sword in my arms, I left the Infirmary with Chihiro following close behind. I started moving down the hallway quickly, Chihiro had to quicken her pace to keep up.

“Blake! Wait up, where are you going!?”

“The Brig.” I said. “I’ve gotta kill som-”

“STOP!”

Chihiro dashed in front of me and blocked my way.

“The Commander’s got the Brig sealed off.” She said. “You can’t get in, none of us can. She says it’s for Akira’s protection as much as ours!”

I let out a deep breath and pressed one fist to the wall in frustration. The images I’d seen five days ago were still burned into the forefront of my mind. Horrific violence and evil manipulations replayed themselves in my memory again and again. Each time I relived one of Akira’s actions, I felt myself getting hotter and hotter with anger.

“Okay. Fine.” I said. “I’ll kill her when she gets out!”

Chihiro’s eyes went wide and she grabbed my shoulder. At once, a cool refreshing sensation washed over me and made me pause. It felt like the shoulder and corresponding arm had been dunked into a stream. I cooled off, literally and figuratively.

“Whoa, where’d you learn that one?” I asked.

“Petoskey.” Chihiro said, smiling weakly. “He says it’s called Psionic Inspiration, and that I should practice it on you.”

“Yeah, keep doing that.” I said, relaxing. “Your hands feel better than Tygan’s at any rate.”

We both leaned against the wall and sighed together. Neither of us wanted to have this conversation, but it needed to be done.

“Blake, what are we gonna do?” Chihiro asked. “What if the test comes back and… and that girl really is…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I don’t give a damn what any test result says.” I responded confidently. “I don’t care what she wants to call herself, either. That monster is not… and never will be… my kid.”

Chihiro grabbed my scarred hand in hers and looked up at me.

“And what if… what if she’s my kid?” Chihiro sounded scared. “Blake, she’s got my eyes and my hair… and the way she just ran towards the Warlock in that fight! Blake, didn’t you always say I was reckless!?”

“Reckless and impulsive.” I repeated, my mouth going dry. “But I haven’t called you that since Hiroshima… since you were a teenager.”

“Akira sure looks like a teenager to me.” Chihiro shuddered. “Blake… forget all the stupid time travel for a second and just ask yourself: what if she’s really our kid!?”

I pulled my uniform jacket on overtop of my tee shirt and secured my weapons to their shoulder straps.

“I don’t wanna cross that bridge alone.” I said. “Where’s the rest of the squad?”

…

Deep within the Avenger, hidden away from the vast majority of the crew and soldiers, is the Shadow Chamber. This expansion of Doctor Tygan’s research lab was where XCOM scientists analyzed high-value alien artifacts. When Chihiro and I arrived, we found it abuzz with activity. A dozen scientists and engineers were installing the crescent-moon shaped object from our last battle on an elevated platform in the middle of the room. On the other side of the Shadow Chamber, Jericho was talking to Chief Shen, who was taking notes on a tablet computer. Yutaka Yamamoto and Isis Dekker were both nearby, having a very energetic conversation with Commander Harper.

Since we were close enough to hear what Yutaka and Isis were saying to the Commander, Chihiro and I started gravitating towards them.

“…barbaric and inhumane! She’s not an animal, Commander!” Isis raised her voice. “We can’t expect Jericho to fight for us if we keep her at the end of a leash!”

“You’re wrong, Dekker.” Yutaka said. “The Jericho girl fights for us because we’ve got her on the end of a leash!”

“It’s a shock collar!” Isis protested. “Commander, this is insane! Let me cut that thing off!”

“Cut off that Arc Brace and you may as well sign our death warrents!” Yutaka yelled. “XCOM cannot coexist with a living god that refuses to submit to it!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a strange expression cross Jericho’s face. No doubt she was trying to hide her reaction to being described as a living god.

“Last time I checked,” I interrupted. “I’m in charge of the Squad.”

Yutaka and Isis broke off their argument and looked at me. Commander Harper folded her arms and looked relieved.

“If either of you have issues with the way we’re keeping tabs on Jericho, you need to go through me first, and then I’ll speak to the Commander for you.” I said. “It’s called the chain of command. Use it!”

Yutaka put his hands in his pockets and gave me a smile that made me feel uncomfortable.

“Glad to see you up and about, Robinson.” He said. “I’m going to help Shen. Call me if you need help dealing with the wannabe pet owner over here.”

Isis displayed a pair of very offensive hand gestures at Yutaka. He rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Sergeant Dekker!” Commander Harper snapped. “You’re done! I don’t want to see that kind of behavior in here!”

The Commander glared at me. Telepathically, I reached out to Chihiro and we had a lightning-quick discussion:

So, no two ways about it. I gotta punish Isis for disrespecting an officer. Chi, you got any advice?

She’s angry, but cooling off quick. She won’t get mad at you as long as you make her do something outside. It’s dark out there, so Isis can collect herself where nobody can see her. Also, you missed some things while you were in the Infirmary. You gotta make it look like you’re really in charge, Blake!

Right, I’ll do that.

I rounded on Isis and raised my voice at her!

“I’m not going to tolerate that, Sergeant!” Isis flinched as I yelled at her. “Put down your gear, go outside, and run fifteen laps around the ship! Now!”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

Isis didn’t look back as she left the Shadow Chamber.

“You’d better be sweating when I come out to check on you!” I shouted through the door.

That’s good. Chihiro’s voice filled my mind. Quit now or you’ll upset Jericho. Everyone thinks you took Yutaka’s side in the debate.

Oh. I felt a sinking feeling in my gut as I looked across the room.

Jericho had paused in her talk with Chief Shen and was watching me, looking sad. She jumped with fright when Yutaka started shouting at her!

“You’re not here to stand around and look pretty! Get those cables strung!”

Yutaka shoved a box full of electrical wire into Jericho’s arms. She dropped to her hands and knees and started threading cable between a computer terminal and the Psionic Gate. Chief Shen stepped over Jericho and approached me.

“Robinson!” Shen said. “You were in pretty bad shape after that fight across the valley, so I haven’t gotten to speak to you yet about Aralkum. You got a minute?”

“Where do you wanna start?” I asked.

While Chihiro moved off to help someone else, Chief Shen and I began to discuss the alien artifacts in earnest. Shen had recovered the paperwork and strange vial I’d taken from the Blacksite in Aralkum and had studied them alongside Doctor Tygan.

“It looks like the paperwork and the vial are related to each other.” Shen said. “Basically, we’ve got a record of the genetic material inside this canister. Once the Shadow Chamber is back at full power, we’ll be able to make some sense out of this data, maybe even find out where ADVENT sent Jericho’s mother.”

“You can do that?” I asked.

“As far as anybody knows, Mira Mihaka is the only ‘Partogan’ on Earth right now.” Shen clarified. “Which means if she’s in the Gene Therapy database, her DNA will stick out like a sore thumb. Once we pick up the trail, it’s just a matter of searching.”

“Sounds good, is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just keep bringing in those alien artifacts and any Intel you find out there.” Shen said. She hesitated, then added: “And by the way, could you do me a huge solid and try to bring back one of those ADVENT MECs? I just need a few parts for a project.”

“Sure, I’ll keep my eyes open.”

Someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Lieutenant Robinson,” said Commander Harper. “Come with me.”

…

The Commander pulled me through a hatchway that led into the next room. It was the auxiliary laboratory reserved for Doctor Tygan’s scientists. Tygan himself was also here, along with four other people. Chihiro held both hands up to her mouth, looking at the other three people with a shocked expression.

The girl formerly known as Homura Hanako stood near Tygan under the watchful eyes of two soldiers from Echo Squad. Russian soldier Artyom Sidrov carried an assault rifle in both hands, while Palestinian soldier Karmina Isra was sitting on a countertop, keeping her sawn-off shotgun aimed directly at Akira Robinson’s chest. Akira herself was restrained, shackled by the ankles and wrists. She didn’t take her eyes off Chihiro as I entered with the Commander.

“Per Corporal Tachibana’s request,” Doctor Tygan said. “I have completed my investigation into the possible genetic relationship between herself, Lieutenant Robinson, and the prisoner who now calls herself ‘Akira.’ The Commander has decided that Lieutenant Robinson will have the final say on just how public this information goes.”

Tygan motioned for us all to approach a large touchscreen mounted on the laboratory wall. He tapped the screen and brought up six rows of nearly identical code. The letters a, g, c, and t appeared and re-appeared in patterns across the screen. The six lines of code were broken up into three groups of two.

Doctor Tygan pointed to the top row of letters and began:

“Lieutenant Robinson, this is your genetic code. Observe these markers here which denote your brown eyes, this mRNA sequence that makes you immune to the HSV-1 virus. This sequence over here is responsible for your black hair. Now look at this combination of proteins: If I was still working in an ADVENT Gene Therapy clinic, I would point to these sequences right here and diagnose you with an allergy to latex. Correcting it is a simple treatment.”

“Living with it is even simpler.” I grumbled. “I haven’t had a reaction since I was ten years old.”

Doctor Tygan dismissed my comment:

“I would go on, but I’m sure you understand my point. This is you, Lieutenant Robinson. No one else. Now…”

He pointed to the second line of code.

“This genetic code clearly belongs to Corporal Tachibana. See here, the sequence which gives the Corporal her pale skin. Over here is the marker for hitchhiker thumbs. These letters here show a combination of two recessive traits. ‘Recessive’ means ‘uncommon’ or ‘rare.’ Corporal Tachibana, were you the only member of your family with large blue eyes?”

Chihiro nodded. Tygan continued:

“Furthermore, this series of genetic markers here suggests that Corporal Tachibana is of mixed racial ancestry, just like Lieutenant Robinson. Something the two of you have in common.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You never told me you were mixed.” I said to Chihiro. “That’s pretty cool!”

“No one in my country likes to talk about it.” She explained, shrugging. “Nearly all of my people expect the Imperial Family to be ‘pure Japanese,’ you know? We’re supposed to be descendants of the sun and all that. But yeah, a really long time ago, the decedents of some Korean king married into the Japanese Imperial Family. So, I guess that makes me a little bit Korean.”

Turning back towards Tygan, Chihiro put her hands on her hips and bit her lip nervously. Like me, she wasn’t distracted by the digression for more than a few seconds. Everyone held their breath as Doctor Tygan pointed to the last line of code.

“And this genetic information was drawn from a blood sample taken from Akira Robinson four days ago.”

Akira sighed and looked at the ceiling. Doctor Tygan tapped a small segment of the bottom code.

“Physically, Akira seems to have taken after her mother. She has the same combination of two recessive traits… large blue eyes.”

Chihiro stepped across the room and grabbed Akira’s chin with one hand, forcing her to look forward.

“Oh, God.” Chihiro gasped. “They really are the same!”

Tygan pointed to another line of code.

“Akira has hitchhiker thumbs and pale skin, both inherited from her mother as well.”

Chihiro backed away from Akira, all the color going out of her face.

“M-mother!?” Chihiro repeated. “But I’ve never… Blake and I haven’t-”

“Time travel’s a funny thing.” Akira said softly. “Wait ‘till you hear what I got from my dad.”

I could feel my pulse racing. This couldn’t be true! How the hell could any of this be true!?

Doctor Tygan put on hand on top of Akira’s head forced her to look left.

“See her detached earlobes? Identical to the ones found on Lieutenant Robinson. Furthermore, she seems to have inherited a few genetic traits from her father, such as his immunity to the HSV-1 virus, which causes cold sores. Akira has also inherited her father’s eyesight. She underperformed in a visual acuity test two days ago, the results suggest nearsightedness similar to that of her father.”

My heart dropped into my stomach and the whole world seemed to spin.

“Bullshit.” I stammered. “No way.”

Tygan tapped the touchscreen again. All six lines of code merged into one. Hundreds of white letters turned green while a select few turned red.

“Deny the science all you want, Lieutenant.” Tygan said. “There’s still going to be a ninety-five percent probability that this prisoner is the biological offspring of yourself and Corporal Tachibana.”

I was dumbstruck. There was nothing more I could say. No more denials, no more rejections. The truth, ugly and terrible, was looking me right in the face. Akira smiled at me while Commander Harper folded her arms.

“I have so many questions that I don’t even know where to start.” Harper said. “You look like you’re in your late teens or early twenties. How did you jump twenty years into the past? And why?”

Akira started to say something, but at that moment, Central Officer Bradford barged in, throwing the hatchway door open loudly.

“Commander!” Bradford barked. “We’ve got a rapidly unfolding situation! You’re needed on the bridge!”

Commander Harper looked extremely disappointed.

“Alright, we’ll pick this up later.” She said. “Guards, take Miss Robinson back to the brig and keep her there until I say otherwise.”

Karmina Isra and Artyom Sidrov pushed Akira out the door and down the hallway. While the Avenger’s command staff started moving towards the bridge, Chihiro and I looked at one another and had a quick unspoken conversation. We left the laboratory and made our way to the brig.

…

Two decades ago, there was an episode of an old world television show where human space explorers had to lock one of their own people in the brig of their spaceship. I remember some set designer had decided to make the fictional ship’s brig look like a large hotel room with all of the furniture removed save for a bed and some simple amenities. For some reason, the sci-fi brig used a force-field to keep the prisoner inside, so that the camera could see them at all times. Let me tell you now: a real-life brig is nothing like that.

The Avenger’s brig is quite literally a cramped little hole in the hull. Akira could barely stand up in there, brushing her head on the ceiling. The doorway was not a force field, but rather a huge slab of metal that could only be moved with the aid of a hydraulic lever on the outside. A tiny window no bigger than a human hand was cut into the face of the door, while a miniature airlock hatch was used to pass things like food into the cell.

Four armed guards were posted outside the cell door. As Chihiro and I approached, we saw that all four men guarding the door had metallic objects wrapped around the backside of their necks. These semicircular objects had a small prong that ran up and down the body, running from the back of the head to the bottom of the neck. The tips of the prongs gave off a gentle greenish-blue light, giving away the fact that the devices were at least partially made from Elerium, an alien element that powered nearly all technology on Earth these days. These trinkets were called Mindshields, a device made from alien technology that rendered the wearer highly resistant to Psionic attack.

As we got closer to the brig, Chihiro and I could feel cold and harsh Psionic energy radiating out and away from the brig. It was the first time I’d consciously been aware of Psi-energy in the air around me. I knew Chihiro was giving off energy too, but I’d never felt it like this.

“This whole place feels wrong now.” Chihiro said quietly. “Something dark is hanging in the air.”

Before we approached the brig window, two of the guards passed extra Mindshields to Chihiro and me.

“Ugh, these don’t fit right.” I complained as I clipped mine to the back of my neck.

“It’s because these are the new ones.” Chihiro said. “You and I used to have the old ones that were made from Ethereal brains. They were so much better than the new type. Alright, lemme test it...”

Chihiro stared hard into my eyes as she tried to telepathically force her way into my mind. When I didn’t respond, Chihiro narrowed her gaze and focused on me even harder.

“It feels like I’m hitting a wall.” She said. “I can’t get in, can’t make a dent, can’t do anything.”

“Why doesn’t every XCOM soldier have a Mindshield?” I asked, “You know, as standard equipment?”

“XCOM has only six Mindshields.” One of the guards said. “And all of them are in this room.”

“We need Sectoid brains to build them,” Another guard explained. “And nobody’s killed one of those buggers in a couple of weeks. Bag a ‘Toid, then you can have your own Mindshield. Until then, I’m gonna want those back when you’re done.”

Cautiously, Chihiro and I approached the cell window and peered inside. Akira was sitting on a metal bed, looking up at the window. She nodded at us, but didn’t get up.

“I guess you have a lot of questions.” She said calmly. “Ask away, and I’ll answer. Where do you want to start?”

Chihiro opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

“When I saw inside your mind, I saw you killing... killing me.” I decided not to mention Chihiro’s name at the last second. “You said that you were getting revenge for someone. What the hell did I do to deserve that? I’m guessing it’s something in the future. What happened?”

Akira sighed and put her head in her hands.

“Dad, I… I… Look, there’s no way I can justify that night.” She said. “The only way you can understand why I did that is if I tell you why I’m jumping around time in the first place.”

Akira stood up, put her hands on her hips, and looked at us through the little window. She looked tired and worn, and when she spoke, her voice seemed strained:

“About two months from now, that alien fleet Jericho warned you about is going to get here. They’ll help you overthrow the ADVENT Coalition and free all of Humanity. In exchange, those new aliens are going to ask all of Humanity to join in their war.”

Akira took a step closer to the window.

“Mom, Dad, do you remember when you raided the Overseer ship just before Earth fell? Do you remember what that Ethereal said to you right before you killed it?”

Chihiro tensed up. I grabbed her shoulder with one hand and held her steady. Both of us were remembering that horrifying night in the Brazilian jungle where, amongst the fire and smoke, Chihiro had fallen under Mind Control, allowing an Ethereal to speak through her mouth. Now, Chihiro repeated those terrifying words in the same robotic voice she had used when she’d been turned into a living puppet, and I moved my own lips in sync with hers, whispering the mantra neither of us could forget, even if we wanted to:

“Behold the greatest failure of the Ethereal Ones. We who failed to ascend as they thought we would. We who were cast out. We who were doomed to feed on the Gift of lesser beings as we sought to uplift them… to prepare them… for what lies ahead.”

Chihiro shuddered and pressed herself into my side, letting me wrap one arm around her. She was shivering intensely, and felt cold to the touch.

“What lies ahead…” Akira repeated softly. “Is the reason I’ve been moving through time, influencing people, re-writing history, changing destinies. It’s the reason for everything.”

Taking one more step towards the window, Akira was now level with us.

“Two months from now, the armada of the Triple Alliance will reach Earth and offer to help you overthrow the ADVENT Coalition. They won’t do it for free.”

“Of course there’s a price.” I said. “How bad is it?”

“In exchange for freedom, Humanity will be made to join in the War.”

“War?” Chihiro whispered. “We’re already at war!”

“No.” Akira shook her head. “I’m talking about THE war. Right now, every single civilization in the Galaxy is fighting a desperate struggle for survival… and they’re losing. Every day, the creature that defeated the Ethereals gets closer to wiping out all life in the Galaxy.”

“Defeated the Ethereals!?” Chihiro squeaked. “What the hell could do something like that?”

“The Beast.” Akira said. “It spreads like a plague. It converts its enemies into more of itself. Every starship and soldier the united races of the Galaxy loses against the Beast becomes one more enemy to slay. Mom, please listen to me: Just over a year from now, the Beast is going to come to Earth. Aliens from all over the Galaxy will race to Earth and defend it. The battle is going to be the greatest last stand in history, and you, Dad, and the rest of your squad are all going to play an important role.”

Akira shifted her gaze to me.

“Dad, I’ve been traveling all over the past, rewriting history so that when the last battle happens, you and the Stormbreakers will win. If my calculations are right and if I’ve changed the correct moments in the past, then you, Mom, Jericho, Ignatius, Hal, Tsubaki, Odette, all of you… will face down the Beast… and destroy it.”

I felt like my stomach had dropped out of my body entirely, and that I was as cold as this metal door now.

“I saw you kill me.” I said. “You said it was because I sacrificed-”

“I know!” Akira cut me off. “Blake… Dad! The last time I tried to change history, I screwed up. I didn’t change the right stuff, so when the time came for the last battle, you made the wrong choice, causing all of us to lose. I lost my temper, Dad. I was so furious at you that I… I vented my anger. I went forward and hurt you because I was hurting. You only screwed up because I screwed up even bigger. And then I made you pay for my mistake.”

Akira was starting to cry.

“I know what you saw, Dad. It was a godawful, horrible thing to do. I was wrong, so wrong to do that and I know I can never make it up to you… but please listen: I only want you and XCOM and Humanity to win the final battle. Everything I’ve done is to make sure that happens. This war is the last war in history, Dad! After September next year, there’ll be no more fighting, no more death! The Beast will be gone, ADVENT destroyed, and Earth will finally be safe. It’ll be over!”

I blinked a few times. I was honestly having trouble knowing what to think or say next. When I didn’t say anything, Akira went on.

“I know you hate me, Dad. I deserve it. But I still want to see you and Mom live to see the end of this thing. I want you and Sophie, Sophia, Matt, and Yutaka to all get out of this war alive. I promise, Dad, swear on my life and my grave… I’ll help you win this war… and then I won’t jump through time anymore. My word: I’ll be done. You saw my biggest screw-up and I swear it’ll never happen again. And just for you, when this is all over, I’ll accept whatever punishment you can think of.”

Chihiro gasped.

“Akira!”

“Said you wanted to kill me, right?” Akira asked me. “It’s only fair. You know what I’ve done.”

Then Akira turned to face Chihiro, stepped back, and bowed her head and torso forward until she was bent at a ninety-degree angle. Keeping her face pointed directly to the floor, Akira pressed her hands to her sides and said:

“Benkai no yochiganai. Okaa-sama, Kanbenshitekure yo.”

Chihiro raised her hands to her mouth and didn’t say anything. I couldn’t help but be confused. I’d known Chihiro for the better part of thirteen years, but after all that time, my knowledge of Japanese was cursory at best. I knew Akira had just made some kind of apology, but there are literally dozens of different ways to say “I’m sorry” in that language. So all I had to go on was Chihiro’s reaction.

“I-I-uh…” Chihiro stammered. She reached out and tried to put her hand through the window, reaching into the cell.

“Chi!” I grabbed Chihiro’s wrist and pulled her arm back.

In the second and a half it took for Chihiro to look at me and then turn her head back towards the cell door, Akira had risen to a standing position and was reaching out to grab Chihiro’s hand! Her hand was through the cell window and grasping at us!

“Takes a lot more than an apology to get us to trust you.” I said. “Right, Chi?”

Chihiro took a lot longer to choose her words than I did.

“I still don’t trust you, Akira.” She said slowly. “But if you ever wanna talk, I’ll listen.”

Chihiro and I returned our Mindshields to the guards and started to leave. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between myself and Akira, walking at a brisk pace. Chihiro lagged behind, then she turned on her heels and shouted down the corridor towards the brig:

“Hey Akira! Are you going to be my only child!?”

“I’m the youngest!” Akira called back. “Three brothers and a sister!”

Chihiro gave me a wide-eyed look of pure shock. She eyed me up and down and then put an anxious hand over her own belly.

“I’m gonna have five kids!?” Chihiro squeaked. “Five!? Seriously!?”

“Don’t look at me!” I replied, suppressing a laugh. “I’m the one who only wanted two kids. Commander Harpers gonna flip when she hears Akira’s telling us about our futures. Let’s head up to the bridge and see the fireworks.”

…

Chihiro and I never made it to the bridge. We ran into Harper, Bradford, and Tygan on their way down the elevator. They were being escorted by Isis Dekker, who was sweating profusely as though… oh yeah… I made her run laps earlier!

“Sergeant Dekker!” I said. “Are you-”

“I already told Fournier to get her telescope!” Isis said quickly. “Jericho, Yamamoto, and Petoskey are already outside. Well, are you coming or what!?”

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Did we miss something?”

“Something’s happening in the sky!” Bradford told me. “Something huge!”

A loud clatter behind me caught my attention. Odette Fournier had appeared in the hallway, carrying a very large space telescope over her shoulder as though it was a rocket launcher. Jogging behind her was a middle-aged Japanese man I recognized as Doctor Hongo Marizuki, the man Chihiro had helped rescue from Tokyo last week.

“When did the phenomenon start?” Doctor Marizuki asked.

“Sergeant Dekker spotted it about six minutes ago!”

“Then we may just see the end of it!” Doctor Marizuki said. “Quickly, we must get outside!”

…

Kanna River, Honshu Island
Thursday, May 10, 2035 – 10:45pm


Nearly the entire crew of the Avenger, plus all XCOM soldiers, had spilled out of the boarding ramp and had taken up spots in whatever patch of open ground they could find. Men and women craned their necks to look up at the night sky and gasped in amazement at what they saw. Chihiro and I followed Odette and Marizuki all the way to the bank of the Kanna river, where dozens of Japanese locals from the nearby town had congregated. They too, were looking through telescopes and marveling at the night sky in awed voices.

Finally, Doctor Marizuki found a spot to set up his equipment. Odette gently set the telescope on its tripod and allowed the scientist to begin his work. Meanwhile, Bradford, Harper, Tygan, and Odette all turned to look at the sky. Chihiro and I did as well, and together, the entire crowd gave a loud:

“Ooohh!”

All eyes were on the Western Horizon.

Just barely above the mountains and sinking fast were three Constellations, clusters of stars that resembled figures from Human mythology. Right as Chihiro and I turned our heads to the west, we saw Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog, vanish below the ridgeline and beyond the horizon. Naturally, our eyes followed a trail of stars until we found ourselves looking upon the bright stars Castor and Pollux, the most recognizable part of the Constellation Gemini.

Above and to the left of Gemini was another Constellation. Four stars made up Cancer, the brightest of which was called Beta Cancri. I know that because my mother was a religious woman who thought it was important for me to remember exactly which star had been over my head on the day I was born.

Just between Cancer and Gemini was what had caught everyone’s attention. Hundreds of tiny little points of light blinked into and out of existence in rapid succession, all within an area of the sky I could cover with my thumb. Chihiro and I stared at the rapid pulses and flickers of light until someone tapped my shoulder.

Odette had procured another telescope. She got Chihiro’s attention and then placed it in front of us. When the Frenchwoman didn’t say anything, Chihiro spoke up.

“Odette says she’s already seen it. It’s our turn.”

I nodded to Odette and thanked her, then I peered through the telescope.

The planet Saturn, viewed through a telescope. Saturn is the seventh planet in the Sol system and its system of rings and moons makes it the most resource-rich region of the Sol System. During the late Second Hyperspace War, this planet was a high-priority target for all sides.

Almost exactly between Gemini and Cancer, the most beautiful object in the night sky hung in the void like a gem. I’ve seen Saturn through a telescope before, but no amount of repeated viewings can tarnish its splendor. White and yellow clouds swirled about the surface of the distant world while sunlight gleamed off its majestic ring, making Saturn shimmer and shine like a priceless treasure.

“Odette thinks you need to zoom out.” Chihiro whispered. “Look at the space around Saturn.”

I shuffled to one side and allowed Chihiro to peer through the telescope while she adjusted it. Looking around, I saw that nearly two-hundred-fifty people had gathered outside now, and nearly half of them were using binoculars and telescopes to look up at the flickering space around Saturn. To my right, I heard Doctor Marizuki talking to Commander Harper:

“It takes waves of light about an hour and a half to travel from Saturn to Earth.” Marizuki explained. “If we have only just begun to see this, then that means the event actually began about ninety minutes ago. We should be seeing an escalation soon. When I first detected the alien fleet twenty years ago, I spent so much of my time calculating light delay times!”

Chihiro gasped!

“Blake! Look!”

Peering through the telescope again, I saw what Chihiro was looking at. The empty space around Saturn was… well… not empty. Flickering and blinking points of light danced around Saturn! I pulled away from the telescope and rubbed my face, thinking that I was seeing floaters in my own eyes. But when I looked back into the scope, there were those dancing points of light again!

“This is it.” Said a calm voice to my left.

Chihiro and I both jumped! It was Jericho. She had turned away from us and was climbing on top of a large boulder on the riverbank, trying to get a better view of the sky.

“What’s it?” Chihiro asked. “What’s going on?”

Jericho looked down at us, then back to the flickering lights in the western sky.

“The ADVENT Coalition is making its last stand.” Jericho explained. “Their space fleet is being destroyed by the Partogan fleet I told you about. When the Partogans are done, they’ll come here, and then ADVENT and the Elders will be finished. So far, the Partogan’s approach to Earth is going exactly the same as last time. History is going to repeat itself.”

Chihiro and I looked at one another, unable to register the looks of shock on our own faces. When we gazed into the telescope again, we were finally able to resolve an image of the flickering lights.

Spaceships. The skies of Saturn was filled with them, and one half was trying to kill the other.

The Battle of Saturn was an unmitigated disaster for the ADVENT Coalition. They would never recover from this defeat.

Vessels unlike anything we’d ever dreamed of swarmed and swirled around Saturn, firing at one another with weapons infinitely more destructive than anything Humans had ever turned against one another. Spacecraft the size of cities were annihilated by columns of light, while tiny pinpricks swarmed about and picked their targets apart. Clouds of shrapnel, dense and opaque, swirled and circled the ghostly afterimages of wrecked warships while nuclear fireballs swallowed entire formations.

Shocked beyond belief, Chihiro and I let go of the telescope. Aimlessly, unable to think of anything to say, we wandered towards the river and sat down on the rocky embankment. Other curious spectators took over our telescope.

For an hour, Chihiro and I sat on the bank of the Kanna River. We watched the space battle until Saturn itself fell below the horizon and vanished from view. One by one, all of our squadmates gathered around. Isis, Yutaka, Hal, Odette, Ignatius, Chihiro and I all gathered around the riverbank and then invited Jericho and Sophia to join us. Together, we kept a silent vigil over the night sky. Even though the battle itself was no longer visible, we knew it wasn’t over. We would keep watch until sunrise, and no one said a word.

What could have been said anyway? What words could possibly capture the feeling one has when they realize they are witnessing the end of an era in history, and the dawning of another? Everything was different now, and we would never go back to the world of yesterday. Tomorrow morning, when the full extent of tonight’s events was known, the whole world would change.

Sometime later, I found out that we weren’t the only people watching the Battle of Saturn that night. All over Asia and the Pacific, people looked towards the night sky and saw the same thing. Panic and chaos ruled the night as the ADVENT Coalition lost control of several cities and towns, their populations overwhelmed by the spectacle of destruction playing out around Saturn.

In Beijing, thousands of people crashed through the Mega-City’s checkpoints and flooded the countryside to get a better view of the sky. Impromptu tent cities sprang up as people gathered to watch the battle together. ADVENT soldiers withdrew from their base in the city and re-assembled in the nearby mountains.

In Hanoi, millions of people shut off their lights, plunging the city into darkness. ADVENT Peacekeepers were too few in number to stop the locals from taking over every rooftop in the darkened city to see the battle in space. Until the sun rose, anarchy ruled all three of Vietnam’s Mega-Cities.

In Tokyo, law enforcement agents were unable to stop the launches of hundreds of boats from Kawasaki Harbor. There were so many ships and barges in Tokyo Bay that a sky-watcher could walk directly from Yokohama to Chiba without getting their feet wet.

When the sun rose the next morning, everyone on Earth, regardless of species, knew that they had witnessed a turning point. We all knew that no matter what, the struggle to free our world from the aliens was going to enter a whole new phase.

Soon, we would take the fight to ADVENT; out of the wilderness and into the cities, where the future of Humanity would be decided. Hopefully by Humans.

END OF ACT ONE
​

<== Previous Chapter (There's a Future in the Past)

Next Chapter (The Fall of Vania) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

So, Act Two of The Stormbreakers is not ready yet and might not be for a couple more weeks. However, I don't want to leave you, the reader, with nothing during this waiting period. I want to put out some new story content for you to read while you wait for me to finish the next batch of chapters.

To that end: Introducing Stories from the Front!

Unlike it's predecessor, Faith in Chaos, this story does not have a side-plot playing out in the form of Interludes. Instead, I have gathered up a small collection of stories that reveal what's going on in the rest of the Galaxy. I hope you enjoy this bonus look into another corner of the Stormbreaker Universe until the main story is ready to continue!

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<== Previous Chapter (Deja vu All Over Again)

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The Second Hyperspace War: Stories from the Front

#1: The Fall of Vania​

Friday, August 11, 2028 A.D.
PLS Mahuika, Geostationary Orbit above Vania, The Galactic Front Line

“Commander! Vania is under attack!”

“What!?”

Manako Ranginui broke his concentration and threw open the door of his meditation cell. He looked to see who was yelling at him. Two people were running down the hallway towards him, waving their arms and shouting to get his attention.

The first was a Levakian huntress with mottled brown fur and gleaming yellow eyes that complimented her green-and-orange military uniform. The lioness named Elsina looked like a big tomcat and had a masculine tone of voice. She even had a small, scraggly mane around her neck.

The second soldier was a young Partogan with out-of-control curly grey hair. Kailani Kalili was cradling a laser rifle in her arms and looking panicked. She was also as short and skinny as a twig. Kailani could have rode here on Elsina’s back if the Levakian had been open to the idea.

“We just detected a huge Beast fleet emerging from Hyperspace!” Kailani said quickly.

“It’s converging on the Vanian Homeworld!” Elsina added.

Manako grabbed his backpack and departed the meditation cell, following the two young soldiers back the way they’d come.

“What about the Science Nexus? Are they in danger?”

“Not yet.” Kailani answered. “The Vanians are putting up one helluva fight, but they’re going to need help to secure the station.”

“To hell with that.” Manako said, picking up his pace. “We’re in no shape to fight off a frontal assault!”

Manako, Kailani, and Elsina emerged onto the bridge. It was abuzz with activity as Triple Alliance crew and officers scrambled about, trying to make sense of the surprise development. A Sensors Manager screen revealed an armada of Infected ships swarming around the planet Vania, and a local defense fleet rising up to meet them. Meanwhile, the Mahuika and her escort fleet watched the confrontation from a safe distance.

On the Dias in the center, Manako’s twin sister Makara was giving directions to the crew. She looked vastly different from when the Mahuika had arrived on the Galactic Front Line just five months ago. Her body now had many noticeable scars and burn marks across her head, neck and arms. Her silver hair had started to grow back, but for the moment the cybernetic plugs and interfaces on the back and sides of her scalp were still visible.

“Sound the evacuation orders for all of the mining and research stations as well, we can’t give the Beast any Biomatter to work with!” Makara was saying to an officer.

Manako jumped up onto the Dias and tapped his sister’s shoulder.

“Did you put out a call for reinforcements?”

“I did.” Makara answered, “The Triple Alliance is sending a Carrier Strike Group, they’ll be here in about six hours; and the Galactic Alliance is sending two Mothership Fleets and the Progenitor Dreadnaught. They’ll be here in ten hours.”

Manako balked.

“By the time they get here it’ll be too late!”

Makara gave him a grim expression.

“They know. Fleet Command is thinking about containment. The planet itself is already a lost cause.”

As much as Manako hated to admit it, she was right. The Mahuika’s escort fleet was too small to engage the Beast armada on the other side of the system. Unless some kind of a miracle happened, the Triple Alliance was about to lose a member-state to the Beast. But Manako couldn’t think about that, he had his own mission to accomplish.

“Maka…” Manako said. “Vania’s lost. We have to enact the Contingency Plan.”

Maka nodded sadly.

“Reepi’s not gonna like it.” She said.

“That’s Reepi’s problem.” Manako said. “You start evacuating the scientists from the Nexus, I’ll go down to the surface and get the prototype from the Institute. Elsina! Come with me. Kalili, back to your post.”

Manako and Elsina left the bridge, moving quickly down the halls and elevators to the Hangar Bay while Makara’s voice sounded over the intercom:

“Attention all hands! General quarters, general quarters! Move to your battle stations immediately! Gukko Force, report to the Hangar Bay, docking sleeve fifteen!”

In one of the docking sleeves of the Flagship’s hangar, Manako found a team of thirty Triple Alliance marines waiting for him. It was a mixed force of warriors from all over the Galaxy. Levakians, Kelt, Assurians, Amadii, Partogans, Micore droids, and even a few Vanians were present. They had all been briefed about this mission, so when Manako arrived, they all shared a look of dark understanding. This was a Contingency Plan, after all, which meant something had gone horribly wrong.

“Let’s not mince words!” Manako briefed his troops. “We’re about to lose Vania. Our task is to get to the Broadbill Psi Corps on the surface and recover the prototype of Project Olisi. Let’s get our teams together and board the dropship now!”

Several of the Marines were abruptly pushed aside as a huge bird with magnificent red and blue plumage pushed his way past them and approached Manako. If a Human being looked at the Vanian known as Reepi Imvu, more likely than not, they would have called him a “giant talking peacock.” Luckily for Reepi, it would be seven more years before he crossed paths with such a Human.

Reepi’s bright red tail feathers rustled dangerously as he spoke. He had a small beak, so his voice sounded higher pitched than what one would expect of a fully grown adult.

“Ranginui, that’s my Homeworld down there! Let me and my people go down there and fight! We can’t let the Beast take everything away from us!”

Manako folded his arms.

“Major Imvu, I’m expecting you to join us in the fight down there, but you’d better remember that you are a Triple Alliance soldier first, and you will follow my orders while we’re down there! We have a job to do, our own mission. Now, everyone gear up and get to the ship!”

…

The skies above Vania were shrouded in a dense cloud of metallic shrapnel. From deep within, lights pulsed and flashed, illuminating the whole scene like an evening thunderstorm. Warships of varying size and shape emerged from the cloud of debris and then re-entered the maelstrom, like whales gasping for air in a turbulent ocean. Below this cloud, in the gap between the main battle and the world of Vania, the Triple Alliance flagship emerged from Hyperspace.

Shrouded in a swirling mass of destruction, the Mahuika lit up as an array of Mass Drivers opened fire towards the battle above. On the ship’s ventral side a single Corvette-sized vessel emerged from the hangar bay and sped towards the planet surface. Two Beast-infected frigates tried to break off from the main battle and engage the Corvette, but the Mahuika laid into them with a vengeance! Mass Driver slugs tore into the flanks of both subverted vessels! Blood, wire, torn metal, and shredded flesh flew in all directions as both infected ships were destroyed. Meanwhile, an orange flare streaked across the cloudy skies below…

…

Broadbill Psi Corps Facility, Vania, The Galactic Front Line

Before the war, the city of Broadbill was a center of art and culture. Because this city had been built and inhabited by a race of avians, the buildings were designed to accommodate inhabitants who spent most of their time in the sky. Wide windows and open-air rooftops were the norm here, while very little activity seemed to occur at ground level. Broadbill was also a pedestrian city. The only vehicles belonged to construction and maintenance crews, and even then, these vehicles weren’t very heavy, nor were they designed to travel long distances.

In the center of Broadbill was a huge complex of several dozen buildings. This was the local branch of the Psi Corps. Unlike the Partogans, Levakians or Humans, the Vanians were an entirely Gifted species. Every member of their race was born with Psionic powers. The Vanian Psi Corps served a dual function in their society: Telepathic law enforcement, as well as the training and maintenance of a Psionic army.

As the Triple Alliance Marine Frigate descended towards the Psi Corps complex, the Vanian Army was putting up a fight worthy of the history books. A huge telekinetic shield, almost four Kios across, was being maintained by a platoon of avian warriors. They flew in circles high above the facility, reinforcing the shield using nothing but raw mental willpower whenever it was hit. And it was being hit a lot.

The area surrounding the Psi Corps base had become a battlefield. A horde of infected Vanians were trying to fight their way into the structure. Not Vanian ships or vehicles… Vanians.

In planetary battles, a Beast-infected person was a terrible sight to behold. The victim’s flesh is horrifically re-arranged to make room for a wide array of semi-organic cybernetic implants. These technological enhancements had not been installed by some insane scientist, but had grown from mutated and infected cells, the result of the body being taken over by the Biomechanical Virus known as “the Beast.” These half-organic, half-machine beings were then tied into the Beast’s hive mind through some unknown means. After this point, they were no longer a victim of the Beast. They are the Beast.

A horde of infected Vanians flew around the perimeter of the Psi Corps base, continually blasting the shield with Psionic energy! They were so focused on their target that they failed to notice the incoming Triple Alliance Marine Frigate until it had opened fire! Mass Driver rounds tore through the sky and knocked several infected Vanians from the sky. Metal wings and bionic beaks were aimed towards the frigate, but it was too late! A hole opened up in the shield surrounding the Psi Corps base and only stayed open long enough to let the frigate pass through. As soon as the frigate had entered the shield, it closed again and incinerated a dozen infected Vanians who had tried to follow.

The Commonwealth Marine Frigate hit the ground, hard! Manako, Elsina, and Reepi were the first ones down the boarding ramp. Keeping her plasma cannon pointed towards the ground, Elsina stood behind Manako as he addressed the Vanian warrior who came forward to meet the Triple Alliance soldiers on the landing pad.

“Are you the Triple Alliance strike team?” asked a peacock with blue and green plumage.

“Yes sir!” Manako replied. “Commander Manako Ranginui, Commonwealth Green Guard. This is Corporal Elsina, Triple Alliance Army, and Major Reepi Imvu, Triple Alliance Navy. Your government told you I was coming?”

“I’m Colonel Rokka, Vanian Army.” Rokka answered. “They told us-”

A huge explosion ripped through the air! Manako, Reepi, and Elsina all covered their heads as the telekinetic shield collapsed! An infected Hiigaran Missile Destroyer pulled up and out of its dive, screaming back towards the main battle! The sunlight flickered as thousands of infected Vanians descended on the Psi Corps!

“That talk will have to wait!” Rokka yelled. “We’ve got incoming! Get your people inside! We’ll cover you!”

Colonel Rokka spread his wings wide and launched into the sky. Elsina started to ask him why he didn’t have a weapon, but stopped herself as she remembered: Psionic armies don’t use firearms.

A lightning storm of unimaginable scale and noise erupted in the sky! Bolts jumped and arced from one bird to another as Rokka’s forces rose to meet the attackers! Smoldering feathers fell from the sky as Vanians annihilated one another through sheer force of will! A Psionic rift opened up in the sky and swallowed nearly a hundred infected Vanians before collapsing on itself and taking a hundred more with it! Flying in a v-shaped formation, five infected peacocks broke off from the battle and dove towards the Psi Corps base!

“Everyone inside!” Manako yelled. “Get under cover! Reepi! Watch our backs!”

Elsina and Manako started running for the nearest building! Behind them, the other soldiers in the strike team had disembarked from the Marine Frigate and were doing the same. Reepi took flight! The sunlight shining through his red feathers made him look like an angel of death as he killed two infected Vanians with a devastating telekinetic pulse. The wrecked bodies fell from the air like cannonballs, feathers and metal exploding everywhere! Manako opened the first door he came to with his mind and charged through!

Manako and Elsina found themselves inside of a large dining area. The place was in terrible shape, no doubt because of the recent fighting. A dozen Vanian Army soldiers were actively defending the structure, firing Psionic bolts and pulses out the windows and throwing up protective shields as well. One by one, the rest of the Triple Alliance strike team entered the building and took up defensive positions alongside the Vanians, helping hold the line wherever they could. As soon as the rest of the strike team entered the building, Elsina covered the door with her plasma cannon, firing wildly towards the infected as they tried to follow.

“Friendlies!” Elsina shouted as two Vanians flew into the building! She slammed the door behind them, panting.

Reepi and Colonel Rokka looked a little tired, but were intact. Reepi shook his feathers out, depositing bits of burned feathers to the floor.

“You’ll be happy to know the new Infection Vaccine works.” Reepi reported. “I got hit twice out there and don’t feel any worse for wear.”

“Let’s not push our luck on that front.” Manako said. Then he turned to Colonel Rokka. “My men have a crucial mission here, Rokka. I need you to help us.”

The whole building shook violently as an infected Vanian tried to collapse the walls with his mind. Three or four of Colonel Rokka’s troops countered, striking the attacker with multiple bolts of lightning! Nearby on the landing pad, the Mass Driver cannons of the Triple Alliance frigate opened fire, contributing to the defense as best they could. Rokka broke off the conversation and shouted orders to his troops:

“Reinforce the southwest shield and plug that hole on the right flank!”

Fluttering his wings, Rokka flew partway across the wrecked building to continue directing his troops. Manako jogged to keep up with him while Elsina loped along on all fours, her tail twitching.

“I can’t help you, Commander!” Rokka said, holding one wing above his head to shield his eyes. “Our perimeter is collapsing fast! We have to retreat and regroup!”

“This is important, Colonel!” Manako shouted over the noise. “We need your help!”

“The situation is untenable!” Rokka replied. “I will not lay down my soldier’s lives for a worthless field of rocks!”

“What!?” Elsina said. “Come on, I thought your government said we were coming! Don’t you know what’s going on here!?”

“No, lion. I don’t!” Rokka snapped. “All the Executive Council told me was that Commander Ranginui was coming here and that his mission details were classified. How would you feel if you were told you had to die without knowing the reason!?”

Elsina flattened her ears, growled, and showed her fangs.

“You’re a soldier, Colonel!” she said. “You have to obey your chain of command!”

“Look around!” Rokka snapped. “Do you think that chain still exists right now!?”

Manako pushed Elsina aside and told her to be quiet before saying to Rokka:

“Listen to me, we have orders from your government to recover the prototype of Project Olisi and take it somewhere safe, someplace the Beast can’t get to it!”

Those words triggered an immediate response in Rokka.

“Project Olisi!? Mother of the winds, are you serious! You came all this way for some kid’s science project! I don’t know if you’ve noticed but this is a war zone!!”

Rokka pointed to the building next door with his wing.

“All projects are in there on the ground floor. But you can’t get there anyway. It’s outside of our protective range, and I’m not going to sacrifice any more of my people for a bunch of aliens who value some chick's end-of-year grades more than our own lives!”

“Rokka! Listen to me!”

Reepi crossed the room in seconds and landed in front of Rokka.

“If we don’t get into that science facility, this will be the end of Vania! It will be the extinction of our race, and it’ll happen on your watch! Just imagine the hit your reputation will take! What will the peahens think of you!?”

Rokka’s face fell as he was confronted with the one thing Vanians feared above all else: looking bad in public. He gazed at Manako frantically and said:

“But, you can stop all of that, right? Isn’t there something we can do!?”

“Not us.” Manako said, “But the Tryna can.”

Manako beckoned Rokka to come closer.

“It’s a superweapon. Under construction right now. The whole thing is a collaborative effort between the Triple Alliance and most of the other governments. Components for the weapon are being built all over the Galaxy, and one of those components is in that building right over there. The man, lion, or peacock who retakes that building and secures Project Olisi will be the hero who saved the whole Galaxy!”

That was all Rokka needed to hear. He spread his wings with newfound confidence and rallied his troops!

“All of you! Gather your strength and fight for the glory of Vania! We will retake the exhibition hall!”

Rokka leapt into the sky and soared above the battleground where he was joined by nearly three dozen of his own soldiers! A shimmering Psionic shield materialized around the Vanian formation as Colonel Rokka shouted:

“Let the cosmos know today and forevermore that THE WAR WAS WON BY COLONEL ROKKA OF VANIA!!”

"Tch. Predicable." Elsina muttered.

Manako recharged his plasma rifle and shouted to his own troops:

“For Partoga! For Levakia! For Amadiio and Vania! For Assuria and Kelta! Let’s make this count! FORWARD!”

The Triple Alliance strike team surged out of cover and back onto the battlefield! At once, the infected converged on the two masses of soldiers! Running on the ground and flying through the air, hundreds of infected Vanians hurtled towards the two assault teams and met a hailstorm of gunfire and Psionic blasts! With a roar of her engines, the Triple Alliance frigate took to the sky and moved through the Psi Corps complex, keeping low near the terrain and firing all of her weapons!

The exhibition hall was overrun! Not only was it full of infected Vanians, but the Beast virus had infected many of the computer systems inside as well. When Manako, Elsina, Reepi, and their team reached a loading bay that led inside, the garage door slammed shut of its own accord.

“The building itself is infected!” Elsina cried. “We’re stuck!”

“No we’re not!” Reepi said.

Reepi leaned back and kicked at the door with one of his clawed feet. Psionic energy pulsed out of his body and imparted itself on the door, which crumbled to dust and blew away as Reepi flapped his wings. Elsina crossed the loading back and put her shoulder to the interior door. It gave way at once and the team gained entry. Meanwhile, up above, Rokka’s forces had taken the roof and were working their way inside as well.

Once Manako’s team was inside the exhibition hall, the fighting became more frantic. The building itself was resisting their invasion. Doors shut themselves and had to be forced open. Computer screens flashed and flickered in an attempt to disorient the team. Alarms sounded and buttons refused to work. All the while, the ventilation system made a deep, guttural growling noise.

A group of subverted scientists tried to seal off a hallway with another Psionic barrier, but Reepi and Manako used their own powers to break it, allowing Elsina to strike! She swept her plasma cannon from left to right, taking down everyone and everything in her way!

“Check your fire in here!” Manako barked. “We don’t want to hit the superweapon component!”

“By the way, Elsina,” Reepi said. “I wasn’t kidding around when I said the Vaccine’s working!”

Elsina took point as the team breached the next room, and did what all big cats do when presented with big birds and no escape route: She pounced. Claws and teeth tore into the first infected Vanian she saw. Bionic implants were torn from the flesh and discarded while Elsina’s comrades gunned down the other enemies. Once the fighting died down, Manako surveyed the room while Elsina retched and stuck a pawful of disinfectant strips in her mouth.

The room was filled with computer banks. There were ten rows of computers, all humming softly as they worked. The floor was an absolute mess of cables and wires. Each case contained a supercomputer with a project name written on a label.

“This is a project room!” Manako called out. “Everyone keep your eyes out for Olisi.”

From the other side of the room, a familiar voice called out:

“Maybe you could tell us what it looks like. Things will go faster, you know.”

Rokka and his team had rejoined the main group.

“We don’t have long.” Rokka reported. “A dozen Beast warships have broken off from the battle above and are coming this way! The whole complex is about to get blown to dust!”

“Can’t you shield us again!?” Elsina asked while she peered at one of the computers. “Like when we got here.”

“Not enough warriors left.” Rokka said. “Maintaining those shields takes focus, you know. It’s best if we find your component first.”

“About that,” said one of the Triple Alliance soldiers, “We might have a problem.”

A Levakian hunter pointed towards one of the computers in the middle of the room. Manako and Reepi took a closer look, then jumped back!

“They’re infected!” Reepi gasped.

He was right. Nearly all of the computers in this room had rapidly growing patches of flesh and muscle. When Elsina cut one of the cables with her claws, blood leaked out of both ends. Reepi swore.

“Oh, don’t tell me we came all this way for nothing!”

“Olisi!” someone yelled.

Manako, Elsina, Reepi, and Rokka all ran down to the other end of the room. A female member of the humanoid Assurian species pointed towards one particular supercomputer. A metal placard on one side said:

“Project Olisi
Military Combat Computer – Precognitive Interface
Armada-scale Psionic Warfare”​

Manako raised an arm to stop Elsina and Reepi from getting too close.

“It might be infected!” Manako said.

“It’s not!” squeaked a small voice.

The trio looked at one another.

“Wasn’t me.” Reepi said.

“Who’s there!?” Elsina raised her voice.

“I’m hiding under the floor!” the small voice said. “I disconnected the Olisi from the network when the attack started, and I sterilized it. It should still be clean!”

Reepi and Elsina jumped aside and finally spotted the trapdoor next to the Olisi Supercomputer.

“It’s safe to come out!” Reepi said to the trapdoor. “We’ve secured the room, and we’ve come here to take Olisi somewhere safe.”

“Wait! Really!?” The voice squeaked. “Take me with you! I worked on Olisi! I can help!”

The door swung open and a female Vanian emerged.

Vanians are one of the few species in the Galaxy whose males look extremely different from the females. Male Vanians (Peacocks) are mind-numbingly beautiful, with extravagant plumage and colorful tail feathers. Their whole bodies would often be some iridescent color that shines magnificently in the daylight. By contrast, female Vanians (Peahens) are very dull and drab in appearance, usually having simple plumage and are almost always colored somewhere between grey and brown. However, the peahen who emerged from the trapdoor was an exception to this rule.

Elsina, Manako, and Reepi all gasped as they saw the peahen who had been hidden beneath the floor. It took only seconds for all three of them to understand why she had gone to such lengths to hide herself. Every single feather on her body was pure white. The only color on the peahen’s body was in her eyes, which were blood-red.

“You…” Reepi gasped, “You’re a Berang!”

The word “Berang” is what Vanians use to describe a member of their own species born with what a Human would call Albinism. The word can be translated as “colorless.” Berang Vanians are extremely rare and considered to be very desirable by nearly every species in the Galaxy.

“Why’s that always the first thing people say when the meet me?” The peahen sounded very annoyed. “How come no one ever asks me my name, or why I was hiding in the floor?”

“What’s your name and why were you hiding under the floor?” Elsina said.

The peahen rolled her eyes.

“I’m Divakar, Kanti Divakar” she said. “And I was hiding under the damn floor because the world is ending!!”

As if to prove Kanti’s point, the whole building shuddered. Rokka shouted from the other side of the room:

“They’re renewing their attack! If we’re gonna get that thing out of here, it’s now or never!”

Manako quickly rounded on Kanti.

“You said you worked on this thing?”

“Yes!” Kanti replied with enthusiasm. “I helped design the Precognitive Interface. I know better than anyone else how it works! I’ll help you install this thing on the superweapon, just get me out of here!”

“Done deal.” Manako replied. “Reepi. Get up to the ship and tell them to get ready to extract us.”

With a grand sweeping motion and a clatter of talons, Reepi ascended a staircase to the second floor and took off through one of the open-air rooms. The Triple Alliance Marine Frigate was now hovering directly over the wrecked building while her Mass Driver cannons engaged a swarm of infected Vanians.

A boarding ramp on the front of the ship fell open and a winch attached to a heavy cable fell to the ground. Holding onto the other end of the cable, a small green reptilian waved his little arm and yelled at Reepi:

“Lifting system ready!” The Kelt engineer yelled, “Just attach the component and I’ll do the rest!”

“Tell the pilot to bring the ship to ground level!” Reepi yelled back. “We’re evac-ing right up the ramp!”

The lizard gulped and then nodded his head.

“We’ll be ready!”

Reepi folded his wings and dove back down towards the ground. The first few members of the strike team were emerging back onto the street through the loading dock they’d breached earlier. Manako and another Partogan soldier were carrying the Olisi Supercomputer together while Elsina and Rokka covered them. Kanti was following behind, looking terrified.

“Don’t look up now!” Kanti screamed. “More of them!”

Reepi spread his wings wide, arrested his fall, and started climbing again. He saw one last formation of enemies coming towards the strike team. This time, it was a mixed force of infected Vanians and…

“Starfighters!” Reepi yelled to the ground team! “They’re bringing strike craft this time!”

At once, Rokka and what remained of his forces took to the air. While the Marine Frigate lowered itself to the ground, Reepi flew alongside Rokka and shouted a warning:

“You can’t fight that! Get on the ship and we’ll get you out of here!”

“Your men need time to load that device onto your ship!” Rokka replied. “Olisi is important! And besides, this is our world. I can’t think of a better place to fight for Vania. Go back to your men, we’ve got your tail!”

Reluctantly, Reepi broke formation and started flying back towards the Triple Alliance frigate.

“Where’s Rokka?” Manako asked when Reepi landed on the boarding ramp.

“Buying us some time.” Reepi replied. “Do we have everyone aboard? Olisi?”

“All troops accounted for!” Elsina reported. Kanti and the Olisi are on their way to the cargo bay now. Let’s get outta here!”

With its troops and cargo secured, the marine frigate shot up through the sky, which had changed a lot since its arrival. A squadron of Beast-infected fighters tried to ambush the frigate as it ascended through a dark column of smoke, but they themselves were ambushed by a flock of Vanian soldiers. Below, the entire city of Broadbeak was now in flames, the air full of Vanians and fighter craft, waging one last desperate battle for control of the airspace. Above, frigates, destroyers, and cruisers threw fire at one another, turning the skies of Vania into a hellscape of fire and smoke.

The Marine Frigate punched through the last layer of atmosphere and found itself on the outermost periphery of the main space battle above the planet. Veering away from the conflict, the frigate came upon a wide Quantum Wavefront just above the atmosphere.

The Mahuika emerged from Hyperspace just in front of the frigate, which wasted no time diving into the Flagship’s hangar bay. In turn the Mahuika began moving away from the battle as well.

…

Hyperspace module charging. 42 percent capacity and rising. The Mahuika will be ready to jump in four minutes.

Manako didn’t even stop to take off his armor. He ran full tilt to the bridge. He barely noticed that the corridors of the ship seemed to be far more crowded than usual. He passed nearly two hundred Vanians on his way back to Deck One. Just before reaching the bridge, Manako sent a telepathic message to his sister.

What’s the status of the Science Nexus?

Completely evacuated. Two thousand, five hundred Vanian scientists and staff are now here aboard the Mahuika. There’s no one left on board. We can go at any time.

Start spooling up the Hyperspace module. Take us into Hiigaran space. Aim for the Pactu Enclaves.

Already on it. Get to a radiation shelter.

Manako took a detour as Hyperspace alarms began to sound throughout the ship. He found a radiation shelter quickly and took a seat in the far corner. After just thirty seconds, the shelter filled up with nearly a hundred Vanians. Manako tried to tune out the high pitched bird calls and just listen to the intercom speaker next to him, but this didn’t bring silence.

In those last few minutes before the Mahuika launched into Hyperspace, Manako could hear the telepathic communications of the Vanian Army as they valiantly defended their home to the last. A few seconds before the Quantum Wavefront enveloped the Mahuika, all of the Vanians in the shelter fell silent as well; they had joined Manako in listening to the death throes of their own homeworld:

Can anyone hear me? This is Colonel Ayyar, my platoon is pinned down!

Our team leader is down, we can’t help right now!

We can’t hold this sector anymore! We’re falling back to the next phase line!

Can anyone hear Colonel Rokka? Where is he?

Rokka’s down! We’re taking fire from all sides!

What happened to Ranginui? Did he make it to the exhibition hall?

Is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?

We need help in the Capitol Building! They’re too many!

Can’t get to you, we’ve got problems of our own.

Disengage! Everyone disengage and fall back!

We’re gonna lose the Psi Corps HQ! We need as many fighters in the Capitol City as possible!

Help! The Beast is here! Send help!

Where’s the Triple Alliance!? Where’s Partoga!?

With the all-too-familiar humming sound, a Quantum-Wavefront swept backwards and enveloped the Mahuika. Across the battlefield, the Triple Alliance armada did the same, breaking contact with the enemy and fleeing into Hyperspace. Triumphant at last, a horde of infected warships descended upon Vania…




======
Thanks for reading this week's War Story. I'll let you know when Act Two of The Stormbreakers is ready.

In the meantime, have you cast your vote in the 2019 Year-End AwAARds? If not, you've only got fifteen days left to vote! There are many writers who deserve the spotlight this year and countless AARs and stories that need the attention. Please vote. It means a lot to all of us writers and it strengthens the community as a whole.

If you're drawing some blanks, here are some Stellaris AAR's that really need some extra votes and are eligible for the 2019 Year-End AwAARds:

• WORM COUNTRY: Horizon Signal Song/Fan Fiction by @TurtleShroom
• The Devouring Swarm Poem (Stellaris) by @Kul-Tan
• The Ballad of the Prikkiki-Ti by @Vilhelm
• Discoveries of the Hydari Imperium by @Nikolai ​
• The Tchikenthi Hive by @Smokez83
• Stellaris: Tale of the Sol Dominion by @scpour92
• The Red Star by @Dodge
• Dreams of Covfefe - Criminal Megacorp AAR by @TheBromgrev
• Third Time's the Charm - The Many Children of Earth by @Kylia Quilor
• The dark reign of the Gulk-Furki by @starkwolf
• Superior Arguments: A Stellaris AAR by @eoncommander
• The Charnel Child (fanfiction) by @JackGoose
• The Human Stellar Union by @Smokez83
• Netraxi Leaflet, obtained by a Human agent by @LWE
• From England to America - Space by @silentsam5

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[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (The Fall of Vania)

Next Chapter (Echoes of Another Story) ==>​

The Second Hyperspace War: Stories from the Front

#2: Maiden Voyage​

Saturday, September 30, 2028 A.D.
Shipyard Nynrah, Beznar Star System, Partogan–Levakian Commonwealth, Galactic Front Line


“This is Triple Alliance Fleet Command. Standby for component transfer.”

“Containment unit online. All power signatures in the green… Primary couplings released.”

“Trajectory is good. The shuttle has cleared the Mahuika.”

“This is Nynrah Control, we have visual contact with the shuttle. Proceed with the transfer.”

“Trajectory and alignment confirmed. Shuttlecraft One, do not deviate from your present course. Take it to one-fifteen and initiate capture procedures.”

“The Tryna recognizes the component and confirms signal lock.”

“Shuttlecraft One has docked. The component is being offloaded and installed now. Standby...”

…

The TAS Tryna was such a massive vessel that it was well over half the size of Shipyard Nynrah itself. Looking on the ship from the outside, it appeared as though the one-hundred-year-old Planet Killer was covered in patchwork armor. Newer sections of the hull gleamed in the blue light of the nearby star while the other ones had been rendered dull by a century of cosmic sandblasting.

Construction of the Planet-Killer Tryna had begun over a century ago, but had been put on hold by the Levakian Uprising, then further delayed by the political fallout of the Battle of Aoraki, and ultimately the half-finished warship had been mothballed by the new Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth. The outbreak of the Second Hyperspace War had brought renewed interest in the ship, and now, at long last, construction had finally resumed.

As the now-defunct Kingdom of Partoga had discovered a century ago, building a Planet-Killer from scratch is no small task. The Kingdom’s first six Planet-Killers had taken nearly two decades to construct. Now the successor state was leaving nothing to chance. The entire Beznar star system had been converted into a construction yard. Orbital strip mines reduced the terrestrial planets to dust, entire asteroids were towed away from their orbits towards the shipyard, and a megalithic star forge threatened to blot out the Beznar star itself. All of this was done in the name of building the Tryna as quickly as possible. While hundreds of spaceships buzzed about the half-complete Planet-Killer like a swarm of insects, the inside of the ship was a hive of activity as well.

Deep inside the core of the Tryna, there was a hemispherical chamber that contained incredibly advanced machines unlike anything seen elsewhere in the Galaxy, all of which was being used to power and operate the highly advanced technology the Tryna carried. Conspicuously, in the center of this hemispherical chamber, was a niche surrounded by the ends of hundreds of cables and wires. Whatever component was supposed to be installed here was going to be of the utmost importance. However, that component was not being installed today.

To one side of the chamber, a Levakian and two Partogans watched nervously while a Vanian and a Kelt installed the Precognitive Interface combat computer into its new home in the Tryna’s nerve center.

Kailani Kalili and Elsina jumped with surprise when a voice emanated from the handheld radio in Kailani’s pocket:

“What’s our status over there?” asked the voice of Manako Ranginui.

“Still on schedule.” Kailani reported. “I’ll call you back when we’re heading back to the shuttle.”

Elsina laid herself down on the cold metal floor and rolled onto her side, purring.

“I’m in no hurry.” The lioness rumbled. “If Dolim and Kanti want to take their time, more power to ‘em.”

Dolim Gekkota was a Kelt, a short bipedal lizard. He was fully grown and yet the top of his head barely came up to Kailani’s waist, and she was a sixteen-year-old Partogan. His short stature allowed him to crawl most of the way inside of the Olisi Supercomputer and connect all of its intricate wiring.

Working on the outside of the machine was Kanti Divakar, an Albino peahen from the recently conquered planet of Vania. Elsina was fascinated by the way Kanti’s small, sharp talons were able to push buttons and flip switches that were far too small for her own lion paws.

“This’d go a lot faster if the thing just had a touchscreen.” Kailani complained. “How come you birds never figured out that tech?”

“Touchscreens only work for Mammalian species.” Dolim said, poking his head out of a service hatch. “Partogans, Levakians, Assurians, you all have eyes that see in a completely different spectrum from my people. To you those screens might make sense, but all I see are colorless shapes and meaningless flashes. Isn’t it the same for your people, Divakar?”

“I can see Ultraviolet light.” Kanti answered without looking up from her work. “All of my people can. That’s why we’re so good at air combat, or attacking things on the ground. Anything that reflects UV rays sticks out like a broken feather to us.”

Dolim crawled out of the supercomputer’s interior and closed the hatch behind him.

“Alright, try it now.”

Kanti flipped the power switch and twisted a knob with one of her talons. The Olisi Supercomputer began to make a gentle humming noise; simultaneously, several of the other machines in the room powered up!

“Excellent!” Kanti said. “Everything is working!”

Kanti leaped into the air and flew over to where Kailani and Elsina were waiting. Unlike her comrade Reepi Imvu, Kanti could fly almost silently, her wings slicing through the air in a noiseless way that made Elsina uncomfortable. Kailani held out the radio to her as she landed.

“Commander Ranginui?” Kanti spoke into the radio. “We’re done here. The Precognitive Interface is fully integrated into the Tryna.”

“Well done, Divakar.” Manako’s voice replied. “Are you sure you want to stay aboard the Tryna? We’ve got a place for you on the Mahuika if you change your mind.”

“I appreciate it, but no.” Kanti replied. “The Captain of the Tryna has offered me a commission as a Triple Alliance officer if I stay here.”

“Of course, and I wish you the best of luck.” Manako replied. “However, I do want my engineer, marine, and helmsman back.”

“By all means, I’ll have them on the next shuttle.” Kanti replied. “And thanks again for your help.”

While Dolim gathered up his equipment and prepared to leave, Kanti pointed to the empty niche in the center of the room and asked:

“So, Elsina and Kalili? Do you know anything about that? What component is supposed to go there?”

“I’ve heard Manako and Makara talking about it.” Kailani said. “It’s supposed to be some kind of wonder-weapon called a ‘Jericho,’ whatever that is.”

“So, what’s the Jericho supposed to do?” Kanti asked. “Is it on the way here, or is it still being built?”

“Nobody knows how the Jericho is supposed to work.” Kailani admitted. “It’s being built on Earth and we can’t get it ‘till later.”

“Earth!?” Kanti repeated. “You’re talking about the primitive backwater planet the Ethereals overran while the Galactic Council had its back turned? That Earth? What do they know about developing superweapons?”

“How they got the tech to build a superweapon isn’t important.” Elsina said grimly. She gave a nervous look at Kailani. When her friend nodded, Elsina went on: “What’s more important is that the ADVENT government is refusing to share it with the rest of the Galaxy. Kai and I were already briefed on Operation Moana Nui, which means you’ll be hearing about it soon anyway: The Triple Alliance has a top-secret plan to raid Earth and take the Jericho weapon by force if they can’t make an agreement with the Ethereals. Makara and Manako even have a special strike force set up for the mission, and they’re just waiting for the go-word from a spy they’ve got on the surface.”

“Mira.” Kailani added. “The spy’s name is Mira, I heard that. She’s the one who tipped off the Ranginui twins about the Jericho weapon in the first place. And she’ll be the one to give the signal for us to attack Earth, assuming the Ethereals don’t cooperate.”

Dolim rejoined the group, a satchel full of tools strapped to his back.

“If the command to attack ADVENT ever comes down, I’ll be the first Triple Alliance soldier to set foot on Earth.” He said. “Everyone on Kelta has been itching for revenge ever since the Ethereals attacked and enslaved our Protectorate races and client states. The so-called ‘Elders’ need to be held accountable for their crimes before the eyes of international law!”

“The Galactic Court was on Blorg.” Elsina sighed. “You might have to wait for the war to end before any trails happen, Dolim.”

“You say that, but – what was that!?”

Dolim and the others all froze as a series of alarms began to sound all over the ship! Red lights flashed and a siren began to echo all around the ship’s core.

“Attention all hands!” said a voice over the intercom. “At this time, go to Alert Condition Three! Repeat! Alert Condition Three!”

“Why are we going on alert?” Kanti asked. “Is this a drill?”

Kailani began switching radio channels. The foursome listened into the communications of Shipyard Nynrah for just a few moments before they found out why the base had been put on alert:

“Attention Nynrah Control!” growled a Levakian voice. “This is perimeter station Nuhrii. We have multiple unidentified units detected. Signal indicates Vanian bomber strike force.”

Before Kailani, Elsina, Dolim, or Kanti could say anything, another voice spoke over the Tryna’s internal intercom:

“This is Nynrah with an active space defense scramble for Beznar! Dayword word is ‘Calix.’ Command word is ‘Pakari.’ Action word is ‘Mahiki.’ The Shipyard is under attack! All defensive ships: scramble! Scramble! Scramble!”

In a split second, Elsina made a decision.

“Kailani, Gekkota, you’re coming to the bridge with me. Divakar, you-”

“I’ll get the combat computer up and running!” Kanti finished. “You three get going!”

Elsina, Kailani, and Dolim raced to the nearest elevator and quickly arrived on the Tryna’s bridge. The half-finished command center clearly wasn’t fit for combat. Several computer stations were lying half-assembled on the floor and the ship’s Captain, a huge grey and brown Levakian male, was trying frantically to separate his bridge crew from construction workers.

“We’re short-handed!” an officer was telling the Captain. “There’s only a skeleton crew aboard right now!”

“Sir!” Elsina raised her voice. “We’re from the Mahuika! We can help!”

The Captain rounded on Elsina.

“What stations do you know?” He asked.

“Weapons control!” Elsina said.

“Helm!” Kailani replied.

“Sublight and Hyperspace!” Dolim answered.

“Get on those stations, now!” The Captain said. “My name is Madoda, for all the good that’s going to do. Everyone else, general quarters! Comm, tell the Mahuika we’ve got three of their bridge crew and we’ll give ‘em back if we live through this!”

“Sir!” The Tactical Officer said. “Nuhrii station is offline! The Vanians are inside the Nynrah perimeter!”

The bridge shook a little as a dull vibration ran the length of the ship.

“It’s not the Vanians!” said Captain Madoda, “This is the Beast!”

“The Tryna is under attack!” Kailani reported from the ship’s helm. “Infected Vanian warships coming from the lower starboard quadrant, ventral side!”

The whole ship shuddered again as a squadron of (former) Vanian bombers performed a strafing run against the unfinished Planet-Killer. Looking out the viewscreen and on the holographic display of the sensors manager, everybody could see that the infected strike craft were being supported by frigates, carriers, and cruisers. This was no little raid or scouting party. This was a whole strike fleet!

“Mahuika!” Captain Madoda yelled. “This is Tryna! We can’t stay here! We’re commencing emergency launch!”

“Wait! Sir!” Dolim shouted from the back of the bridge, “We don’t have enough energy built up! The drives won’t work!”

“If we don’t launch now, we’ll never get the chance again!” Madoda countered. “Drain all power from decks ten, thirty, and forty! Then activate the sublight engines! Do it!”

Kailani gripped the digital wheel far harder than was necessary as the Tryna’s engines came to life for the first time! The ship began to vibrate dangerously. All around the bridge, metal bulkheads groaned and creaked as though the unfinished warship would tear itself apart!

“And… Launch!!”

The Tryna lurched violently as she tore away from her scaffolding! Enemy missiles pummeled into her hull as though trying to push the Planet-Killer back into the Shipyard, but as soon as the main bulk of the Tryna’s hull came free, her point defense guns came to life! Mass driver rounds rippled away from the vessel and picked off the incoming missiles. Bombers were forced to scatter before the incoming wave of fire, and the Mahuika herself swooped low, driving off the enemy frigates and giving the Tryna some room to breathe.

“The Tryna has cleared the scaffold.” Kailani reported. “We are away!”

“Enemy reinforcements incoming!” Dolim called out. “I see movement on the far side of the system!”

“Attention all units, this is Mahuika!” the voice of Makara Ranginui said over the radio. “The Beast is using mobile Hyperspace gates! Long-range sensors show a large enemy force preparing to converge on our position! All ships return for docking and prepare for Emergency Hyperspace!”

“You heard the lady!” Captain Madoda roared. “Everyone on your feet! Get to your radiation shelters!”

On the other side of the bridge, Kailani screamed and pointed towards the viewscreen!

“The Beast is here!”

A huge flotilla of Beast-infected warships had just dropped out of Hyperspace, rematerializing in the empty gap between the Shipyard and the star forge. Mass Driver rounds, Ion beams, missiles, and a wide array of weapons fire erupted outwards from this new formation and began to tear through all of the local defenders.

On the Tryna’s bridge, Madoda threw open the lead-lined trapdoor and started ushering his crewmates into the radiation shelter below. Dolim and Elsina started to cram themselves into the hole when Elsina’s tail stiffened and she yelled:

“Wait! Where’s Kailani!?”

Dolim, Elsina, and Madoda all turned to look at the helm station. Kailani was standing straight, her arms at her sides, and she was looking towards the viewscreen. All of the hair on Elsina’s body stood on end as she recognized the sensation of Psionic energy permeating the air around her. If the viewscreen was to be believed, the Infected Vanian fleet was emitting a pulsing purple aura. Dull violet light seemed to saturate the Tryna’s bridge, and Kailani began to sway back and forth. Swooning, the Partogan teenager spoke in a soft voice:

“We… we are legion. Parts will join… join us… and return to the whole.”

Elsina pounced out of the trapdoor and started crossing the distance towards her friend, but another voice to her right called out!

“Stop! Wait!”

In a flash of white feathers and red light, Kanti soared into view! The Peahen swept her wings in front of Kailani’s face, causing the girl to fall over and hit the floor! Elsina looked straight into Kailani’s face… and saw that her eyes had clouded over. Kailani was under Mind Control! She looked at Elsina with a hungry, demonic expression and spoke in a voice that wasn’t her own:

“Levakian self, leave the Partogan parts and come to us! Join and become us! We will-”

Kanti landed on Kailani’s outstretched arm and sank her talons into the girl’s flesh! At the same time, a beam of reddish-violet light shot of Kanti’s forehead and connected with the back of Kailani’s skull! At once, the Mind Control was broken, and Kailani’s demented look was replaced by one of anguish and pain.

“AAAuuuugghhh! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?” Kailani screamed as Elsina and Madoda pulled her towards the trapdoor. “No! Stop! Let me go back! I wanna hear the voices again! Please, I wanna go back!!”

Kanti released Kailani and threw herself down the trapdoor. Running out of time, Elsina and Madoda dropped Kailani through the hole unceremoniously before following behind and slamming the trapdoor behind them!

Emergency Hyperspace Jump in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Hyperspace initiated.

As the Quantum Wavefront enveloped the Tryna, the radiation shelter beneath the bridge was a scene of chaos as Kanti, Madoda, Dolim, and Elsina frantically pinned Kailani to the floor while she wailed and screamed as though she was possessed by some kind of Interstellar Horror.

…

LVK Tantomile, High orbit above Aoraki, Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth

“Your majesty, Shipyard Nynrah has been fully infected and subverted by the Beast.”

“And the Tryna?”

“Safe and intact. Both Tryna and Mahuika just rematerialized deep in our own space.”

“Understood, Admiral. Give me the bad news.”

“The Beast has launched a massive invasion of our own territory. Commonwealth outposts are falling all across the inner rim. We’ve lost Nithascal, Landeen, Vinjim, Hokianga, and Tediss. Infected ground forces have been reported on the surface of Tapanui. We’ve also detected a super-capital ship with an escort fleet moving directly towards Partoga and Levakia. The Capitol is in danger.”

“Casualties?”

“Possibly 5 to 10 million in the first week of combat, followed by up to 70 million over the next two months. Your Majesty, there are at least 90 million people living on Tapanui alone. Losses like that are unsustainable.”

“You assume we’re going to be idle over the next two months, Admiral. I assure you, we will respond to this. We are going to fight. I will not be the Queen who stood to one side and watched our dual civilizations perish. I want you to redeploy our forces in a new defensive line, then move all of our Planet-Killers to the Positive Control Point.”

“Your Majesty?”

“As long as I am Queen, no Partogan or Levakian will be turned against their own people by this… monster. We will defend ourselves with every possible measure, and leave nothing to chance. The Beast will pay a tally in blood for every life it takes, and for every moment it spends in our Commonwealth.”

<== Previous Chapter (The Fall of Vania)

Next Chapter (Echoes of Another Story) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

So, ever since the first Chapter of Faith in Chaos, I had a house rule: If I got nominated for a weekly award, I would show my appreciation to the readers by posting a new chapter on the same day, regardless of what my schedule actually called for.

Today, @crisrko nominated me for Best Character Writer of the Week and caught me completely off-guard. I'm absolutely grateful and pleasantly surprised, but I have to admit: they got me! I wasn't ready!

I'm not ready to launch Act Two of the Stormbreakers today, so you'll be getting a very special War Story instead. A portion of this War Story is actually a deleted scene from my very first Stellaris Story, After Everything. The scene in question is called "Mira's Nightmare" and would have happened in between the events of Chapter 2.6: Message in a Bottle and Chapter 3.1: The Shroud.

Many thanks to @crisrko for the nod! And many thanks to all of you who have been reading my stories! Enjoy this special War Story!

======

<== Previous Chapter (Maiden Voyage)

Next Chapter (Earthrise) ==>​

The Second Hyperspace War: Stories from the Front
#3: Echoes from Another Story​

Ongon, Mongolia
Tuesday, November 26, 2030 – 7:30 pm


Huffing and puffing, Mira and Jericho dropped their backpacks as they finally came within sight of their destination. The village of Ongon looked like a mirage on the horizon, but a quick look through the binoculars confirmed that it was really there. Neither one of them wanted to think about how long they’d been walking since Jericho’s truck had broken down. Both travelers had sore feet, sunburned faces, and stiff legs.

“Tomorrow,” Mira panted. “We’ll go into town and see if we can get a patch kit and an air pump from someone. Right now I just wanna get some sleep.”

“I got the tent, Mom.” Jericho said. “Don’t worry.”

Unzipping her backpack and fishing around, Jericho quickly found the dome tent and had just finished erecting it when the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the Mongolian steppe into darkness. As soon as the tent was up, Mira threw herself inside and unrolled a sleeping bag. After crawling inside the tent, Mira had a furious coughing fit, her whole body shook dangerously, and when she finished, Mira held her head and moaned in pain.

“Feels like I’m getting worse.” She groaned. “I’m gonna turn in early. You comin’ to bed?”

“Nah,” Jericho shook her head. “I’m still kinda antsy. I’m gonna take a quick walk and look at the stars.”

“Sounds fun.” Mira murmured. Tucked into her sleeping bag, she was already drifting off. “I think you might be able to see Nithascal tonight if the sky’s clear enough… that’s Partoga’s southern border... you know…”

Jericho left Mira to sleep and wandered up to the top of the nearest hill. Once she found a decent spot, Jericho sat down in the grass with her back to the town of Ongon. Surrounded by darkness, Jericho found herself in a dimly lit abyss… and began to relax.

Jericho loved stargazing alone. Out here in the steppe, hundreds of miles away from the nearest major city, the silence was nearly absolute save the occasional gust of wind. Above her head, the whole of the universe was laid out in the skies overhead. An uncountable number of stars speckled the sky, and the whole of creation seemed to swallow Jericho up.

The Galaxy was so vast, so massive… and Jericho felt so small and insignificant. It was a relief. Looking up at the cosmos and realizing how small she was in relation, Jericho could forget about her life here on Earth. Gone was the Elders and their Chosen. Gone was all thought of the future battles Jericho would have to fight. Gone was all thought of those future moments Mira had warned her about. Out here, time itself was irrelevant.

Jericho lost herself in that moment of peace and tranquility, enjoying it as long as possible. But like all things, it ended. Slowly, the sensation of curiosity began to make its way back to the front of Jericho’s mind. She didn’t feel sleepy, but she did get up and start walking back towards the tent.

Jericho had stolen Mira’s tablet computer so many times now that she had it down to a science. Using telekinesis, Jericho pulled the small device out of Mira’s handbag and made it float silently through the tent’s open doorway. A second later, the external hard drive followed behind it. Treading lightly, Jericho slipped away into the darkness, determined to put as much distance between herself and the tent as possible.

Truthfully, Mira had been honest and upfront about her nature as a time traveler to Jericho. Every day, she would explain more and more about where she’d been and what she had done. Whenever Jericho asked a question, Mira would answer directly and, for the most part, avoid treating Jericho like a child.

The problem was that Jericho is… well… actually a child. The fifteen-year-old girl simply wasn’t satisfied with Mira’s daily lessons about time travel, the past, the future, and these so-called “cycles of time.” Mira was dealing out piecemeal doses of information, and it just wasn’t enough anymore. Jericho wanted to know everything… right now!

Just as she’d done for the past month, Jericho took Mira’s tablet computer far away, to the other side of a hill, and powered it on. Then she connected it to the external hard drive, allowing Jericho to open a file called “Midak Mission Logs.”

Contained in this file was every log entry Mira had made during her expedition aboard the Partogan science ship Midak. For the past month, Jericho had been going through all of these logs in chronological order. Yesterday, she’d finally gotten to the part where the Midak had discovered the Voyager-1 spacecraft in orbit of Gliese, a small orange star found in the Constellation Libra.

Jericho scrolled down the list of log entries until she found the point where she’d left off the previous night. She tapped the screen, turned the volume up, and set the auto-translator to convert Partogan to English. Sitting on the darkened hillside, Jericho laid the tablet in her lap and closed her eyes, listening to the voice of a much younger Mira Mihaka:


[Personal log: Mission Specialist Mira Mihaka, HMS Midak, Inner Gliese Star System, 14 Pipiri, 686]

I just had a nightmare! I’ve got to write it down and make some sense of it before I forget all of the details. So here’s what happened:

I dreamt I was walking up the Unnamed Mountain, using the same path I walked during my Rite of Passage when I was ten years old. But it wasn’t like other dreams I’ve had about the Mountain. I could see, hear, and feel everything so... clearly. I could make out individual leaves on the trees, feel the stones under my feet, and taste the cold air. It was like I was really there!

I looked over my shoulder and saw a thunderstorm behind me, so I started looking for a place to hunker down for the rest of the night. I found a big metal door carved into the Mountain, and I knocked as hard as I could. Finally, a monk wearing faded brown robes answered the door. He invited me inside and spoke to me.

I remember the monk’s voice sounded… really… really strange. I’m sure there was only ever one monk, but when he talked, I could hear hundreds of voices all talking at once, all saying the same thing. It was like a discordant chorus, or something like that. Anyway, the monk with a thousand voices asked me why I was there, and asked if he could help me.

I didn’t think about the question, I just told him about my mission to find out what happened to Jericho after the Second Hyperspace War. The monk with a thousand voices furrowed his brow, thinking hard, and then told me that “we” had her data. He told me to follow him deeper into the tunnel. While we walked through the tunnel, I asked who “we” was. The many-voiced monk said that this place was a storage facility for the names of every person who had ever died. I didn’t believe him at first. That changed when we came out of the tunnel and into the chamber.

You can’t even begin to comprehend how massive this place was. The walls and ceiling were so far away, I could barely see them. Along the floor were millions upon millions of tall filing cabinets, each one spaced only the width of a person apart. This chamber had to be bigger than the Mountain itself. I couldn’t begin to imagine how long it would take the two of us to find Jericho’s data. The monk with a thousand voices told me to follow him, and we began moving through the forest of tall metal boxes. I don’t remember how or why we moved so fast, but suddenly, we were there: In front of an otherwise unremarkable cabinet with a paper label that said:

Casualties of the Second Hyperspace War
From: September 11, 9602 Galactic Standard Year
To: September 11, 9623 Galactic Standard Year ​

The many-voiced monk knelt down to the middle door in the cabinet and opened it. There were tens of thousands more paper-filled folders inside the cabinet than were physically possible, but I didn’t pay any attention to that. He rifled through the documents until he found a small yellow folder and opened it up, flipping through thousands more papers inside. I looked around the side and saw the label: “Humans killed during the Second Hyperspace War (9602-9623)” The monk with a thousand voices finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out a single sheet of paper and passed it to me, asking if this was the “Jericho” I was looking for. The paper said:

Kate Asuna Ray

• Born: September 11, 9602 GSY
  • Place of Birth: Kauai Island, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Sol System
• Died: September 11, 9623 GSY
  • Place of Death: Hyperspace
• Cause of Death:
  • Impossible to Determine
• Last Words:
  • “Stand down!”
• Surviving Family:
  • Family name extinct
  • Bloodline extinct

Then the monk asked if there was anyone else I wanted to look up. I had so many questions that the names just tumbled out of my mouth. I asked for all fourteen of Jericho’s fellow Stormbreakers as quickly as I could and the monk with a thousand voices obliged.

Once he left to go find the documents I asked for, I wandered around the hall, looking at the other cabinets. Some of them were full of names of people who died in natural disasters. Others were lists of disease victims. I just kept moving absent-mindedly until I found one cabinet that made me pause. All four of its doors were open, and it appeared to have thousands of folders stuffed haphazardly into it, as though whoever was filling it didn’t have time to organize everything. The hastily written label on the top of the cabinet said:

Casualties of the War in Heaven
September 11, 9623 GSY​

My heart skipped a beat and I felt my blood turned cold.

I started flipping through the cabinet. I don’t know why. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. That monk had said that this place had information about everyone who had ever died. I was so curious… I needed to know, yet… I didn’t know what I needed to know. At least, I didn’t know until I found what I was looking for.

After searching for about a minute, I found it. A small folder with my name on it. Inside was a single sheet of paper and a picture of me… and the document said:

Mira Mihaka ​

I woke up right away.

My heart is going a Kio a minute, and I don’t know what to think right now. I mean, it WAS just a dream, right? None of that was real. None of it. In a few minutes, I’ll probably forget the whole thing, just like I’d forget any other dream.

Oh, please. I beg the Mountain, let none of this be real.

[Personal log closed]
[Personal log addendum: Inner Gliese Star System, 15 Pipiri, 686]

Wow. I just listened to that log entry I made yesterday. Gotta say, I got chills.

Thing is, no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything about that dream now. It’s just gone from my head. According to the guys in the Biology Lab, that’s normal. Most people start to forget dreams about five minutes after waking up because our brains don’t convert them to long-term memories. Good thing I wrote down that nightmare while I could remember it ‘cause that was something I really don’t want to remember.

[Personal log closed]

…

Jericho hit the pause button and stared at the screen. Her hands were sweaty and shaking. When the touchscreen began to fog up, she realized how close it was to her own face. Dropping it to the ground, Jericho curled up into the fetal position and started to rock back and forth.

She remembered Mira’s lessons. The countless talks and lectures about the future and what role Jericho was going to play in it all, and yet somehow, one crucial detail had escaped the conversations: Jericho was going to die during the War in Heaven.

Counting on her fingers, the teenager subtracted the year of her birth from the year of the War in Heaven. When she finished counting, Jericho shuddered and began to cry.

She had five-and-a-half years to live.

…

Stomping her feet loudly, Jericho approached the tent where she’d left Mira! She was going to wake up her adoptive mother and demand an explanation, right here and right now! Right when Jericho was reaching for the zipper, the sound of violent coughing came from inside the tent.

“Mira!” Jericho raised her voice.

“Help me!” Mira cried out from inside the tent, and then she retched!

Jericho froze as she heard a splattering noise from inside the tent! She tore the zipper and opened the flap. With one hand, Jericho conjured a ball of light, illuminating the whole tent and the surrounding area as though it were daytime… and a horrible scene met her eyes.

Mira was on her hands and knees, coughing and hacking continuously. Blood dripped from her mouth, pooling on the floor.

“Please… help me!” Mira gasped.

…

In the absolute silence of the Mongolian night, the sound of Jericho pounding on doors was like gunshots. In mere moments, half of the village was awake. Men with flashlights and guns emerged from their homes, commanding their wives and children to stay inside. It took only a minute for Jericho and Mira to be surrounded.

Despite having a semi-conscious Mira leaning on her shoulder, Jericho very much had the advantage in this encounter. She could have used her Gift to coerce these men into helping her, but after probing around in a few minds, Jericho realized that Mind Control wasn’t going to be necessary here: one of the men who confronted her now used to be an emergency room doctor before the alien invasion.

“My mother is very sick!” Jericho pleaded to the group of men. “I’m taking her to the Gene Therapy clinic in Beijing. Will someone please give us a ride? I’ll pay anything you want! Please!”

Mira retched and vomited blood again. Jericho locked eyes with the ex-doctor.

“Beijing is a five-day journey.” The ex-doctor, a man with a big black beard, lowered his weapon and spoke. “Your mother won’t make it that long if she keeps coughing blood.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Jericho asked. “Please, this might be her last chance!”

The ex-doctor shouldered his weapon and gestured for his friends to do the same.

“A blood transfusion will buy her time. Enough time to reach a clinic.” The ex-doctor said. “Do you know her blood type?”

“Uh… no.” Jericho moaned. “Please, can’t you do something?”

The ex-doctor looked around at his comrades.

“Everyone with Type ‘O’ blood step forward!” He ordered. “You two, wake up Chotan and tell her to unpack the transfusion equipment. And you! Go fuel up the truck and park it outside the medicine tent.”

The villagers broke up into groups and started moving about their tasks. The doctor stepped forward and gestured for Jericho and Mira to follow him.

The medicine tent, as it turned out, was a very large semi-permanent structure on the other side of the village. Here, four men and women hustling and bustling about, trying to take care of about fifty people who were sick or injured. There wasn’t enough beds for everyone, and about twenty people were sleeping on the ground, wrapped up in thick blankets. The woman called Chotan waved to get the doctor’s attention as he approached.

“Everything’s set up, Megujin. Where’s the patient?”

“She’s here!” the man replied.

With his help, Jericho laid Mira on her back on the last free bed.

“We’ll get started on the blood transfusion.” Megujin told Jericho. “Once your mother is stable, I will take you to Beijing. But first, you must do something for us in return.”

“Name it.” Jericho said. “We’ve got about two dozen Elerium crystals back at our campsite, and more at our safehouse.”

“I don’t want crystals.” Megujin said. “I know who you are.”

Jericho froze. She wasn’t expecting that.

“Two weeks ago,” Megujin said. “ADVENT Peacekeepers marched through our village. They killed many of our people and hurt even more of them.”

Megujin grabbed Jericho’s shoulder and forced her to turn around. She looked at the fifty other patients in the medical tent.

“Heal them.” he commanded. “Like you healed the people of Baruun-Urt.”

“Oh,” Jericho murmured. “You heard about that, huh?”

One by one, Jericho visited each bed in the medical tent. While Megujjn watched, Jericho pressed her hands to each person and funneled a small amount of her own Psionic energy into their body. Bones mended, wounds closed, and fevers broke. Men, women, and children sat up in their beds and stared in awe as Jericho healed one person after another without pausing for a break.

Across the medical tent, blood was drawn from the three men who had volunteered to be donors, and was then transfused into Mira. While this happened, the woman called Chotan plugged a portable ultrasound machine into the generator and used it to try and figured out what was wrong with Mira.

“My best guess would be some kind of stomach cancer.” Chotan said. “I can see tumors in your belly. You have nothing to worry about, stranger. The doctors at any Gene Therapy clinic can cure most cancers in about thirty seconds. You just need to live long enough to get to one of those clinics.”

“That’s what I thought, too.” Mira groaned. “My daughter, Jericho… she can cure infections and heal injuries; but when she tried to heal me, it didn’t work. I don’t think Psi Healing works on cancer.”

The medical tent was abuzz with activity now. Nearly all of the other patients had been healed. Gunshot wounds were closed, burns had been cleansed, and a flu pandemic stopped in its tracks. The village of Ongon was quickly turning into a shining example of perfect Human health thanks to Jericho. When she and Megujin returned to Mira, the teenager was panting and sweating as though she’d just run a mile. Jericho grabbed a bottle of water and drank it empty in just a few seconds.

“Anyone else?” she asked.

Megujin was smiling so much he could have been mistaken for Santa Claus.

“You’ve done enough tonight, Jericho. Our people will no doubt be singing your name for generations to come.”

“Please don’t.” Jericho groaned. “A ride to Beijing is enough.”

…

A rickety old pickup truck was waiting for Jericho and Mira outside the medical tent. A young man, his wife, and a small child were loading a mattress into the bed of the truck, so that Mira could lie down during the journey to China. While the man and woman helped Mira clamber into the back of the truck, the young boy tugged on Jericho’s jeans to get her attention.

“Are you Jericho?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

The boy stared up at Jericho in awe. His mouth fell open while he considered what to say next.

“Are you gonna kill the Gods?” he asked.

The question caught Jericho off-guard. She scratched her head and looked down at the boy.

“Wh-wait, why would you ask that?” Jericho asked.

“My papa says that you’re going to fight the Gods and make us all free.” The boy explained. “He said that if the Gods don’t set us free, then you’re gonna kill’em.”

Jericho sighed and ruffled the kid’s hair with one hand.

“I don’t know if I can kill the Gods.” Jericho admitted, “But I promise I will fight them.”

Jericho clambered into the back of the pickup truck with Mira and slammed the roof of the cab with one hand. The driver fired up the engine, and in a matter of minutes, the village had been left far behind. The truck stopped only briefly to allow Jericho to tear down and pack up her campsite before moving onward towards China.

<== Previous Chapter (Maiden Voyage)

Next Chapter (Earthrise) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Echoes of Another Story)

Next Chapter (This is Sacred Ground) ==>​

Chapter 11
Earthrise

​

A group of free Humans in the ruins of a city on the western coast of North America, photographed in 2035. As the ADVENT Coalition's grip on power began to fracture, more and more people feld the Mega-Cities and took to living in either the wilderness, small shantytowns, or in the ruins of pre-invasion cities.

​

Baker City, Elkhorn Mountains, Oregon
June 24, 2035 – 9:45pm

On the borderlands between the Blue Mountains and the Oregon High Desert, just as the sun was starting to set over the west coast of America, people began to assemble.

Men, women, and children came from far and wide. They came from Idaho, crossing over the Snake River. They followed the old highway that led to the State of Washington up north. From the south, a mountain pass that connected Nevada to Oregon was jammed up with both Old World cars that belched noxious fumes and with their silent electric counterparts. Some brave adventurers who had come from very far away arrived in a rickety old airplane that bore the colors and symbols of the California Republic. It touched down in a grassy field as lightly as a cautious old bird. The most distant visitors were from Canada, and had arrived together on a bus.

All of these travelers moved together towards their common destination, a small town hidden away in a valley, flanked on each side by majestic mountains. These hundreds of travelers convened on one spot, a grassy field on the southern end of a small town called Baker City.

Twenty years ago, this field had once been a large church. The structure may be gone, but it still held spiritual significance. As the travelers arrived, so did ritual and prayer. A group of men erected a great wooden cross on the ground where they thought the church alter had once been. Others began to burn incense and sing a hymn. A pair of old women began to march in a large circle around the perimeter, sprinkling holy water from a crystal bottle as they went. Children stared in awe as faith healers unpacked a trove of colorful crystals and laid them out in intricate patterns on the ground.

In the final hours of daylight, artisans displayed and sold their wares. Blankets, pottery, jewelry, and countless other trinkets and knickknacks were sold. They were all homemade, and they all bore one of two images: The first was of a cross with three stars, the insignia of the Resistance. Other items bore the image of an angelic figure who held the Earth in her arms as though it were a newborn baby. While the angelic person depicted varied in appearance across each rendition, a constant feature was her dark skin and bright purple eyes

As the sun began to set behind the western mountains, men began to build a large bonfire in the center of the impromptu gathering, while women and children began to distribute food. Soon, a tower of flame reached up to the darkening sky, and nearly a thousand people gathered around it. The young were told to be quiet and listen, and the elderly took the places closest to the fire.

Finally, two people removed themselves from the crowd. Keeping their backs to the fire, two young men faced the onlookers. Nearly everyone in the crowd knew who these people were, and had come specifically to hear them speak. The two men were dressed in old world business clothes; formal-looking suits with ties and shiny black shoes. Many of these people, dressed in rags, had never seen such immaculate clothing before.

When the older of the two men began to speak, it was as though a spell had been cast over the crowd. An awed silence pressed down on the mass of people as the man spoke about the divine power of the Earth, and how, after being stolen by usurpers from the stars, that power had finally returned to the right hands. People hung on his every word as he told of how a young girl with dark skin and bright eyes had used her holy powers to lay low the monsters who had dared to conquer our world.

The older man spoke with such passion and intensity that he had to be believed! The rise of Jericho could only be a sign that the Earth herself was rising up against her oppressors! That the so-called Elder’s days on this world were truly numbered, and that Jericho would be the one to deliver Earth back into the hands of Humanity. Finally, the man told the watching crowd that he had proof of Jericho’s power.

He revealed that this powerful young girl did not act alone. She had disciples and followers scattered all over the world, who shared her powers and carried out her work against the Elders. The man placed one hand over his heart and began to dramatically sob, telling the mesmerized audience about how honored and humbled he was to tell them that Jericho’s closest and most devoted companion was his own younger brother.

Duane Gardner didn’t miss a beat. On his brother’s cue, the teenager bounded forward into the light! He had a very pleasant face to look at, with friendly eyes and neat dark hair. Many girls and women in the crowd swooned as Duane held his arms out wide, he puffed out his chest and declared to everyone:

“I had the incredible honor of knowing Jericho personally during our shared youth on the island of Kauai. I just can’t begin to tell you all how humbling it was for me to be her one and only childhood friend. Even back then, Jericho and I knew the great work we would one day set out to achieve! We both knew that once we were older, we would take our Gifts and rise up against the enemies of all Humankind!”

Duane got a wistful look on his face, as though he was looking back on one of those childhood memories. He went on:

“The false gods who call themselves our ‘Elders’ came down from the sky and promised to uplift us with their science! Yet a generation has gone by and the Elders have only uplifted themselves! With each year the churches and temples of the Elders get bigger and grander while your friends and family are swallowed up by the Gene Therapy Clinics and never seen again!”

Boos and hisses came from the watching crowd. A general cry of “down with the Elders!” circled around the bonfire. Duane held up his hand and everyone fell silent at once. High above him, stars began to fill the night sky. In the center of the star field, Jupiter shimmered and flickered intensely as distant light reflected off the huge Starfleet in orbit of our biggest planet. Duane pointed to the heavens above him!

“Jericho has seen with her own eyes, the eyes of a child, what the ancient Elders could not! She has seen the lights that get closer every day! She has read the signs in the sky and seen that our world will soon be returned to us!”

The crowd cheered and clapped. Duane pressed on,

“I was chosen! Hand-picked by Jericho to spread her message of hope to the world! All I’ve brought with me is a small sample of Jericho’s power, drawn from the heart of the world itself! I feel the will of the Earth and the power of Jericho here tonight! DO YOU FEEL THE POWER!?”

A loud roar rose up from the valley floor as nearly three thousand people felt the power! A kind of energy pulsed through the crowd! People were on their feet, cheering and clapping madly as Duane pointed into the crowd and yelled:

“You sir! Do you feel her power! The power of Jericho! The will of the Earth! Do you feel the Earth rise within you!?”

A group of men helped their friend get to his feet. The person Duane had singled out was a middle-aged man who couldn’t walk without the aid of crutches. A blue and white patch on his shoulder bore the all-too-familiar symbol of an organization that had been fighting alien invaders longer than Duane Gardner had been alive. With the help of his friends, the disabled man hobbled forward towards Duane while the crowd fell silent with tense apprehension.

Duane lowered his voice and spoke to the disabled man in a kind tone, in a way that made one think of a Good Samaritan offering to hold the door.

“My good man, I beg you, please tell me who you are and what’s happened to you.”

The man looked at Duane with an unsteady gaze.

“Name’s Adian. Adian Dawkins. I used to be XCOM.” The man spoke loudly enough for most of the audience to hear him. “I was there when we lost our base. Got my friends away from the grey bastards, but it cost me my legs.”

Duane closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and placed on hand atop Adian Dawkins’ head.

“You sacrificed much and risked all; not just for your comrades in arms, but for all men and women, for the Earth herself.”

Duane raised his voice so that the whole crowd could hear him. He grabbed Adian by the shoulders and declared:

“My friend, Jericho has seen sacrifice overcome the weight of karma! She taught me how the natural power of the Earth will reward the selfless! I have faith in Jericho! I have faith that you will be healed by the will of the Earth! You! Will! Be! Healed! Jericho commands you to walk again!”

Duane seized Adian’s left crutch and pulled it away! A thousand watchers gasped and then screamed as the right crutch was also removed! For a fraction of a second, Adian swayed dangerously on his crippled legs, and then…

He put the right foot in front of the left, and took a step towards Duane.

Duane grabbed both of Adian’s hands with his own and held the man steady while the crowd erupted with celebration! The collective euphoria overwhelmed the massive gathering at last! As the religious experience cooled off and came to an end, people began to sing, children ran out to play around the bonfire, and even more food was passed around, turning the gathering into a potluck feast.

Amidst raucous festivities, it was nearly impossible to notice a dark-skinned girl with bright purple eyes hiding out near the back of the group. Far away from the bonfire, she was shrouded in darkness. Even her long black hair aided in her efforts to stay hidden, shielding half of the stranger’s face from view.

For a few minutes, Jericho watched Duane Gardener as he milled about the crowd, using his Gift to heal minor injuries or make the sick and infirm feel a little better. Keeping her eyes focused on Duane, Jericho ignored the sounds of crunching grass until they stopped. Then two people sat down next to Jericho. After a moment, the voice of a middle-aged man spoke.

“For the hero of the Human race, you have a very troubled mind.”

Jericho’s eyes flitted to her right. Sitting on the log next to her was a bald, clean-shaven Caucasian man with a big nose and dark purple eyes. Even though it was dark and cold out tonight, Jericho could tell that this man was radiating just a little more heat and light than he was getting from the nearby bonfire. He possessed a powerful Gift.

“I’m so grateful that Commander Harper could arrange this meeting.” The man spoke to Jericho, but kept his eyes on Duane Gardner. “It is past time that we spoke. I greet you as an ally facing a shared enemy. My followers seek balance with the Psionic forces that flow through the Earth and all its inhabitants. We channel this energy, aided by technology of our own design, to pursue justice for those who have fallen victim to the Elders and their servants."

Keeping her eyes focused on the ground, Jericho said:

“So, you’re Geist, then. Leader of the Templars.”

“You already know who I am. I’m not surprised.” Said Geist. “Stories about me tend to spread far and wide. What else do you know about me?”

“You were XCOM’s first Psionic Operative.” Jericho explained quietly. “You were there when Blake and Chihiro killed that Ethereal aboard the Overseer UFO.”

“I was a part of XCOM before you were even born, Jericho.” Geist said. “But when their Headquarters fell to the Elders and their minions, I was left behind in the rubble. Buried underneath seven stories of dirt and concrete, I was trapped in the Gollop Chamber for weeks. Surrounded by blackness and silence, I discovered the true nature of the Gift in my solitude. I saw into the depths of the mind, and saw the truth of the world and unlocked my power!”

Geist paused and watched as Duane healed another person to much adulation from the crowd.

“Eventually, found a way to escape. The Ethereal Device from the Overseer UFO, it was in the Gollop Chamber with me. With it, I was able to reach out. I touched the minds of the Ethereals, I heard their voices, and I got a glimpse of what they are planning to do to our word. Our so-called Elders would steal the powers of the Earth from us, and then leave the planet to rot. I knew I couldn’t stand by and permit the very life force, the natural powers of the Earth to be perverted by the Ethereals, so I rose from the ruins of XCOM, and I gathered as many Gifted individuals as I could to mount a resistance.”

Jericho frowned.

“I’ve heard people talking about ‘natural power of the Earth’ before, but I thought it was a bunch of make-believe mumbo-jumbo.” She said.

Geist scoffed.

“Your knowledge of Psionics is cursory, girl.” Geist said. “The way you talk, your lackluster mental discipline, and your half-hearted resistance to my attempts to probe your mind tell me that you know about your full potential, but you don’t have the training to harness it.”

“Is that why Commander Harper sent me out here?” Jericho asked. “She wants you to train me?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Geist replied. “You see, for several months, your Commander has been trying to forge an alliance between XCOM and several other Resistance factions, including my Templars. I only agreed to join this so-called alliance under a number of conditions, one of which was that I got to meet you in person first.”

Jericho balled up her hands into fists. Geist gave her a scolding look.

“You knew you were being used, but you permitted it.” He mused. “Why?”

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” Jericho said through gritted teeth. “I already knew about-”

“Stop.”

Geist held up a hand and gave Jericho an admonishing look.

“I can see the fatalism in your mind.” Geist said. “You’ve convinced yourself that whatever happens next is unavoidable destiny. You’ve given up all thought of making your own path in this world, instead choosing to let others decide the path for you. I purged myself of such beliefs a long time ago, Jericho. Accepting your fate without any resistance may allow you to defeat the Ethereals and overthrow the usurpers of this world, but such beliefs will only bring disaster when you confront what lies ahead.”

Geist stood up and made a quick hand signal to the other man he’d been travelling with, who approached. This man, presumably a Templar, handed a grey briefcase to Geist, who quickly opened it to inspect the contents. Geist snapped the briefcase shut and offered it to Jericho, saying:

“Go back to the Avenger and tell this to your commander: My Templars are ready to ally themselves with XCOM and the other Resistance factions. I’m also giving you some of our Psionic technology as a gesture of my goodwill.”

Clutching the briefcase in one hand, Jericho pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt. Right when the Templar leader was about to vanish into the crowd, Jericho asked:

“Wait! Why did you want to meet me here? At this place?”

Geist gave Jericho a look of mild confusion.

“I thought that was obvious.” He said. “I’m planning to recruit Mister Gardener tonight. I know that your relationship with him had a very… tempestuous… ending. I wanted to make sure you could coexist with him on the same continent without blowing something up. Needless to say, I’m satisfied by what I’ve seen.”

Geist and his follower stood up, said goodbye to Jericho, and then moved into the crowd. Jericho watched them leave before getting to her feet and slipping away into the darkness. She didn’t go far, moving to the far end of the field and sitting down next to the trunk of a very large tree. Keeping an eye on the bonfire and the gathering of people around it, Jericho checked her watch. The meeting with Geist had ended much earlier than she’d anticipated. Jericho would have to wait about twenty minutes before her chaperone came to this prearranged meeting spot.

While she waited, Jericho decided to satisfy her own curiosity and opened the briefcase Geist had given to her. Inside were two pairs of technologically sophisticated gauntlets. The armor sparkled in the moonlight, and when she looked closer, Jericho could see little green specks of crystalline Elerium dust embedded in the metal. She recognized the devices after a moment, these were Celestial Gauntlets, the chosen weapons of the Templar Order.

Jericho had never used a Psionic Amplifier before. She’d never needed one. As far as Jericho could remember, she’d been projecting Psionic power from her hands since she was five years old. Even the most skilled and powerful Psionics in the world like Geist and Ignatius Petoskey had needed to use Amplifiers until they got used to their powers. According to her first mother, Isis Dekker, this was what made Jericho so special.

“Every other Gifted person on Earth has to use an Amplifier when they’re just starting out.” Isis had said. “But not you. You’re unique.”

It was only after Jericho had moved in with Mira Mihaka, her second mother, when she learned what Isis had meant by “Unique.”

“Every Gifted person has a Unique Power.” Mira had explained. “Something only that person can do and nobody else. Your Unique Power is what sets you aside from all other Gifted people. It’s why you’ll never need to use Amplifiers, Gauntlets, Psi Armor, or any other Psionic technology.”

In the end, Mira had been right. Sure, every Gifted person had one special power all to themselves, but all of those people were subject to an unbreakable law of the Universe:

All power is finite.

Jericho had only seen it a handful of times, but it seemed to be a constant of the world around her. When a person ran out of Psionic energy, their powers were gone… forever. After joining XCOM, Jericho had seen it again. Exhaustion was creeping up on Ignatius Petoskey. Jericho could see the hidden stress in his mind when he explained to her why he didn’t go out on regular non-combat patrols with the rest of the squad. Blake Robinson seemed to know that Petoskey’s powers were running out. He was keeping the old Chaplain in reserve, waiting for the moment when the last of Petoskey’s powers could be used most effectively. Petoskey himself always kept an Amplifier on hand, making sure that his last use of the Gift wouldn’t end in failure.

Jericho, on the other hand, would never need to worry about that. Sitting here beneath this tree, surrounded by tall grass, close of a crowd of energetic people… Jericho relaxed and allowed her own Unique Power to do its work:

All living things produce and consume energy. Whenever she was nearby, Jericho would siphon small amounts of this energy out of living things and into herself, replenishing her own Psionic powers. As long as she was physically close to another living thing, Jericho could never exhaust her own powers. She’d gotten close to doing just that at the Second Battle of Pyongyang a couple of months ago, but it wouldn’t have mattered, as there were more than enough people aboard the Avenger for Jericho to restore her powers quickly. Just like tonight, in this small town in Oregon, Jericho was quietly drawing energy out of the hundreds of people celebrating and eating around that massive bonfire. Taking deep, meditative breaths, Jericho magnified and enhanced her own powers for several minutes before being disturbed.

The crunching of leaves behind her made Jericho close the briefcase with a snap and sit upright. Sneaking another glance at her watch, Jericho realized that she still had another eight or nine minutes until her XCOM chaperone was supposed to show up. The sound of footfalls behind her got closer. For a moment, Jericho seriously considered making a run for it, but changed her mind. The Arc Brace was still strapped to her ankle, and Jericho knew that if she wasn’t where she was supposed to be when XCOM came looking for her, she’d be electrocuted, and that wouldn’t help anyone. Instead, Jericho decided to hold still and wait to see if the stranger simply passed her by.

There were three more footfalls, a moment of silence, and then… a harsh, scratchy voice:

“Those who would seek to wield the power of Psionics often find themselves overwhelmed by its allure. You are wise to be cautious.”

Overwhelming terror washed over Jericho’s body like a frigid wave. She didn’t dare move. Even though she couldn’t see it, Jericho was fully aware of a blade less than an inch away from the right side of her neck. Instead, Jericho clenched her fists and started building up Psionic energy. Rapidly thinking of techniques she could use to get out of this situation, Jericho said:

“You’re not the type to give advice to their enemies.”

Behind her, the Chosen Assassin scoffed.

“A true warrior respects their enemies. Respect their strengths and abilities, otherwise, they’ll crush you. The only reason you are my enemy is because the Elders command it. The same can be said of many of your comrades. Aside from that, I do in fact respect you.”

“You respect me!?” Jericho couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

“You proved yourself a worthy opponent.” The Assassin replied. “Even without the aid of your comrades, you were a match for my skills. I eagerly await our next bout.”

“Why not now?” Jericho asked tersely. “I’ve got a few minutes.”

“I am no fool, girl!” The Chosen Assassin snapped. “I know you have a friend hidden close by, as well as two Psionic cultists who seek a chance to flaunt their stolen powers. I will seek a more opportune time to capture you.”

As she spoke, the Chosen Assassin withdrew the blade from beside Jericho’s neck. For half a moment, Jericho hesitated, her brain working in overdrive.

She knew that it was supremely out-of-character for any one of the Chosen to pass up an opportunity to capture or kill an enemy. In fact, now that she thought about it, the Warlock and the Hunter had both attacked Jericho on sight. Hell, the Hunter had straight-up ambushed her in Aralkum! But the Chosen Assassin seemed to be different…

She decided to take the risk.

Jericho dropped the briefcase and stood up, using a little bit of Psi energy to make her movements faster. In less than a second, she was standing upright and turned around. Raising her hands to a fighting position, Jericho saw-

Jane Kelly… holding a knife.

The XCOM soldier assigned to be Jericho’s chaperone on this little outing had taken two steps back from Jericho and had raised her arms to defend herself. The silver combat knife gleamed in the light of the nearby bonfire. The Irishwoman’s eyes, normally brown, were now bright purple. A pale, barely perceptible aura of dim violet light seemed to have enveloped Jane’s entire body.

“Oh God!” Jericho gasped.

Before Jane could do or say anything, Jericho struck! A translucent sphere materialized around Jane, trapping her inside. Jane fell to her knees inside the Sustaining Sphere and looked up at Jericho. When she spoke, the voice of the Chosen Assassin could be heard instead of her own.

“It is admirable that you refuse to strike down your own comrades when they so clearly pose a danger to you.” The Chosen Assassin said through Jane. “However, such compassion will undermine you when the time comes to confront what lies ahead.”

Jericho put both hands on the Sphere and focused all of her strength and power on breaking the Assassin’s control over Jane. Her eyes rolled up, she gasped once, and then fell over inside of the Sphere. Probing her comrade’s mind telepathically, Jericho realized that the Chosen Assassin was gone, and that Jane’s mind was her own again. Jane herself was unconscious… but... no, wait!

Jericho recognized the patterns of energy resonating in Jane’s brain! Almost every Gifted person in the world could tell the difference between someone being genuinely knocked unconscious and… this.

“Lieutenant Kelly?” Jericho banished the Sustaining Sphere and shook Jane by the shoulder. “Are you asleep?”

Grumbling, Jane woke up and rubbed her eyes with her arm.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Jane mumbled. Then she looked up at Jericho. “Oh, crap! I forgot to come get ya! I’m so sorry, Jericho, I must’ve dozed off!”

“Dozed off?” Jericho repeated, confused. “Kelly, were you asleep the whole time?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m really sorry about that. How’d your meeting with the Templars go? Are we ready to head back to the pickup point?”

…

About an hour later, Jane and Jericho had reached at a parking lot on the southern end of Baker City, where the Skyranger would arrive to take them back to the Avenger. Jane wanted to talk about Duane Gardner, and repeatedly asked Jericho if she still had feelings for him.

“I mean, your ex started a Cult of Personality about you.” Jane was saying. “You can’t feel nothing about something like that.”

Jericho was only partially invested in the conversation. She was lost in thought about the encounter she’d just had with the Chosen Assassin. She cast her mind back to every Psionics lesson she’d ever gotten from Mira, and then tried to remember every single time she’d gotten into a telepathic battle with a Gifted enemy.

Never. It had never happened before. As far as Jericho could remember, she’d never witnessed nor heard about a person being placed under Mind Control while they were asleep. Jericho had always operated under the assumption that it wasn’t possible. She made up her mind to do some experimentation in the Avenger’s Psi Lab when she got back. If this truly was the Unique Power of the Chosen Assassin, then Jericho might be able to plan a defense against it.

…

Eventually, the Skyranger arrived. Aboard the vessel was Jericho’s first adoptive mother, Belgian soldier Isis Dekker. She hugged Jericho while her Gremlin drone buzzed around them and made little happy beeps.

“Everyone ready to fly?” Isis asked. “I hope you guys don’t mind, but there’s been a change of plans. We’re not going back to Asia tonight.”

“A detour?” Jane asked. “What for?”

“Commander Harper’s setting up a big summit meeting with the leaders of all three Resistance Factions. She just decided that both Menace and Stormbreaker Squads are going to attend the summit. She sent us to take you both to the meeting place. Don’t worry, the summit won’t start for a few days, so you’ll have some time to get ready.” Isis explained.

Jane and Jericho both dropped their jaws.

“All three Resistance Factions?” Jericho repeated.

“The Reapers, Templars, and Skirmishers all in one place!?” Jane gasped, “Dekker, you know what that means, right?”

Isis nodded grimly.

“Yeah, something big is gonna happen. The rumor mill on the Avenger says we’re finally taking this war into the cities.”

“So, where’s this meeting?” Jericho asked.

Wendy Carter, the Skyranger pilot, stuck her head out of the cockpit door and answered:

“We’re going back to where it all began, Jericho! We’re going to Site X!”

<== Previous Chapter (Echoes of Another Story)

Next Chapter (This is Sacred Ground) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

My work schedule has changed recently, which means my upload schedule has changed as well. New chapters of the Stormbreakers will now be posted every Monday.
======

<== Previous Chapter (Earthrise)

Next Chapter (Drums in the Deep) ==>​

Chapter 12
This is Sacred Ground

​

A photo of Groom Lake, circa 2005. This is where Humankind made first contact with an Extraterrestrial species on October 28, 1962 during an event now known as "The Battle of Groom Lake"

Groom Lake, Northern Mojave Desert, Nevada
Monday, June 25, 2035 – 6:45am

Before today, the one word I’d never associated with the desert was “cold.” But as it turns out the North American Mojave Desert can actually get rather chilly at night. I’d never been to this place before now, but I knew all about its history. Back when I was a little kid, the White House tutor had taught me all about the Cold War, a period of tensions between the United States and Communist Russia. I knew that roughly fifteen miles to the west of Groom Lake was the Nevada Test Site, where the US Government had tested over nine hundred nuclear weapons as part of a global arms race. Until yesterday, though, I had no idea about the other secret that was hidden in this old military base.

Each time I took a step forward, little clouds of dust and sand billowed away from me. It looked like I was kicking up a sandstorm. I wasn’t alone out here. Chihiro Tachibana was a few paces behind, bringing up the rear, while our VIP of the day was between us:

Elena Dragunova was an Eastern European woman who fought for a Resistance Faction called “The Reapers.” These people were masters of stealth and camouflage tactics, putting XCOM’s own guerilla tactics to shame. Normally, the Reapers operated in the wilderness, keeping far away from the city centers.

This was the first time Chihiro and I had gotten close enough to a Reaper to see their face, and we were not disappointed. Elena wore a heavy leather jacket over top of her armor and kept her hood up at all times, making it even harder to see any of her features. Elena carried only one weapon, a strange looking rifle that I can best describe as a hybrid of the Soviet SVD sniper rifle and the Russian AK-47 assault rifle. Elena had called her weapon a “Vektor Rifle” and added that because the weapon was so old, she had to make her own ammunition.

Together, Chihiro, Elena, and I marched across the desert in silence until we finally reached what remained of the runway at Homey Airport. The wreckage of a Janet Airlines passenger plane lay scattered across the broken pavement, and waiting inside the crumpled fuselage were three more soldiers.

Yutaka Yamamoto and Ignatius Petoskey waved at us as we approached. Between them was…

“Oh, wow!” Chihiro gasped. “So that’s what a Skirmisher looks like?”

A photo of a Skirmisher taken during the Second Hyperspace War. Skirmishers were, in general, Ex-ADVENT soldiers who had defected over to the side of the Resistance.

The Skirmishers were another of the three major Resistance Factions. This group was made up entirely of ADVENT Army soldiers who had abandoned the Elders and defected over to our side. The Skirmishers just barely qualified as a unified force because their membership tended to fluctuate wildly.

The lone Skirmisher standing between Yutaka and Ignatius had removed his helmet, and we could see his face. He was a Human-alien hybrid like Jericho, but unlike her, this Skirmisher had been heavily altered so that he looked more alien than Human. For starters, his orange eyes were huge in comparison to the rest of his head, which was already quite badly misshapen. The Skirmisher wore ADVENT Army armor, but the symbols and insignia had all been defaced with the symbols of the Skirmishers.

As we approached, the Skirmisher began to approach us, while Yutaka and Ignatius followed behind him. Chihiro and I allowed Elena to take point, we covered her rear while she approached the Skirmisher. Elena shouldered her weapon and spoke to the Skirmisher:

“So, ADVENT’s most brutal Captain comes to atone for his crimes!”

“I am no longer that being.” Said the Skirmisher. “I am free now.”

Elena shook her head.

“Taking off that helmet does not change what you are, Pratal Mox.” She thumped her chest. “Reapers have long memories, Elder puppet.”

The Skirmisher named Pratal Mox growled and raised his Bullpup rifle at Elena. She leveled her Vektor at him and said:

“Any time!”

Yutaka and I raised our weapons at the two Resistance Fighters! Ignatius and Chihiro didn’t have guns, but instead pointed Psionic Amplifiers at them. When the standoff continued without violence, Ignatius addressed both fighters:

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the blood feud’s been canceled. We have bigger enemies to fight now!”

Pratal and Elena snatched glances at Ignatius.

“Killing you would be a waste.” Pratal said to Elena. “You are too valuable to the cause.”

Elena must not have been expecting Pratal to say that, because her weapon lowered halfway to the ground.

“What would you know about the value of life?” She said.

“Enough to know that the Elders hold both of our lives in equal contempt.” Pratal replied. “Unless the Elders are overthrown, all life on this world will be extinguished, regardless of its value.”

Elena sighed and finally lowered her weapon. As Pratal relaxed and did the same, she said:

“I couldn’t agree more. I’m still not sure if we were right or wrong about you and your kind, Mox; but I will tell Volk we can work together... at least for now.”

…

Nevada Nuclear Test Site, Northern Mojave Desert, Nevada
Tuesday, June 26, 2035 – 8:10am


Twenty years ago, before the alien invasion, there used to be an annual festival in the Nevada Desert where thousands of people would set up a kind of temporary city. It was built from tents, mobile homes, and any other kind of temporary shelter people could bring. Now, something similar was happening around the ruins of Site X.

Resistance fighters, Guerilla warriors, and XCOM soldiers from all over the world were assembling here, at the place where it had all began so long ago. Trucks, cars, and aircraft were parked on the desert floor and left behind as nearly four hundred men, women, and alien defectors entered one of five nondescript metal buildings. The buildings themselves aren’t important. What is important are the staircases. The industrial lifts and elevators had long since stopped working, but the stairs were intact.

When the Skyranger landed, Isis Dekker, Wendy Carter, Jane Kelly, and Jericho all ran to catch up with Chihiro, Yutaka, Ignatius and I as we waited in line for our turn to enter one of those five structures. Jericho held a grey briefcase tightly in her hand and looked around the place with an expression of awe.

“Welcome back.” I said. “Glad to see you made it.”

Isis wiped sweat off her forehead and gazed around at the multitude of Resistance fighters who were making their way into the base buildings.

“Unbelievable.” She said. “All three Factions really showed up!”

“And we managed to get an actual cease-fire between the Reapers and the Skirmishers!” Chihiro added. “Chaplain Petoskey almost went crazy putting it together!”

“Who says I didn’t?” Ignatius grumbled as he pushed on the doorway. “Let’s get inside before the sun gets too high up.”

I was about to follow him through the door when I heard Jericho talking behind me. Looking around, I saw that the Skyranger pilot, Wendy, had hesitated at the doorway. The red-haired American seemed uncomfortable stepping inside.

“It’s… it’s like I’m going into a Mausoleum.” Wendy said. “This is a sacred place. It doesn’t feel right.”

Jericho put a reassuring hand on Wendy’s shoulder.

“It’s okay.” Jericho said. “I know what this place means to you. We’re not going to rob any graves.”

The eight of us finally stepped inside of the building. There was nothing here besides some old broken machinery and a doorway. The lone door opened onto a staircase that led underground. Soldiers filed two by two through the doorway and made their way into the dark staircase. Stamped on the door itself an insignia most of us recognized: A white five-pointed star rising up from the continental United States, encircled by the words “Bureau of Strategic Emergency Command.”

Behind this inconspicuous doorway was the original headquarters of XCOM, abandoned and left to rot for the past seventy years.

…

​

A slightly more detailed map of Site X.

Site X, Nevada
Tuesday, June 26, 2035 – 9:30pm

We spent the entire day cleaning up wreckage and making Site X livable again. The Commander had said the big Resistance Council Summit was going to happen on Saturday, which meant we had the better part of a week to get this place somewhat functional again. The whole of Stormbreaker and Menace squads had been given the task. A small handful of Reapers had also volunteered to help as well. For the whole first day, the former XCOM base was abuzz with activity as the debris was cleared away and newer, more modern electrical equipment was installed.

The big problem we’d run into was the fact that Site X had been thoroughly pillaged by its attackers, and then heavily looted by locals over the past seven decades. Broken machinery lay everywhere, plants were growing out of every possible crack in the floors and walls, and certain sections of the underground base had collapsed outright. Fortunately, we had help clearing away the mess. Using telekinesis, Jericho swept whole mountains of detritus to one side, lifted heavy pieces of debris, and helped move heavy, cumbersome objects down the stairways, freeing up the people who would have otherwise carried them.

Around noon, Jericho and I came across a huge boulder that had landed in the middle of the hallway after the ceiling collapsed. Jericho clapped her hands together and turned back to the rest of us.

“Guys, I got this one.”

“Yes, you have telekinesis.” Yutaka yawned. “We’ve all seen it before.”

Jericho shrugged and gave him a mischievous smile.

“You know, I’ve been using my powers all day, I need to recharge. So I’m gonna do this instead.”

Jericho walked over to the boulder an examined it. It was roughly half her height and wide enough to obstruct the entire hallway. By my best guess, it weighed somewhere around three thousand pounds. Jericho tied her black hair up with a hairband and then pulled off her jacket, throwing it to one side. Her blue tank top had a crudely drawn XCOM insignia on the back. Squatting down in front of the boulder, Jericho said over her shoulder:

“Someone open the door to the Skyranger bay. I’m just gonna throw this down the stairs!”

Yutaka’s smug look vanished real quick.

“Wait, she can lift that!?” he gasped.

“She’s got Muton muscles.” I said. “She could probably throw that thing like a football!”

Isis threw out an arm and urged us all to step back.

“Once, when she was six, she picked up and threw a fully grown tree because I took away her dessert.” Isis told us. “That boulder isn’t going to be any trouble.”

Jericho put both of her hands on the sides of the great rock and started to lift.

I heard Yutaka cursing like a sailor as the one-and-a-half ton boulder began to move. After a moment, Jericho straightened up, carrying the massive rock in front of her.

“Outta my way!” Jericho said loudly. “Girl with a rock coming through!”

All of us backtracked down the hallway and threw open the doors to what had once been the Skyranger bay. Huffing and puffing, Jericho lugged the boulder to the threshold and then threw it over the staircase landing! The colossal piece of earth sailed through the air and fell three stories to the bottom of the bay! The rock hit the concrete floor like a meteor and shattered! Some of us stared dumbfounded at the fresh new crater in the floor, while I joined the others in giving Jericho a terrified look. She raised her eyebrows at us.

“What? You expecting me to thump my chest and roar now?” She asked. “Like a Muton?”

“Yes!” Sophia squeaked. “You are part alien, so… yes.”

Jericho summoned her jacket from its place in the hallway. It jumped back into her hands and she used it to wipe the sweat from her brow.

“Nah.” She said. “Partly Muton, mostly Human. Humans don’t roar.”

After a few moments, the shock of Jericho’s show of strength began to wear off. We went back to work, cleaning and rebuilding the former XCOM base. All the while, Ignatius Petoskey and Yutaka Yamamoto were keeping an even more close watch over Jericho. While we were moving weapons and equipment into the old armory, I overheard the two of them talking:

“I’ve never felt so… conflicted.” Yutaka was saying. “I should be repulsed by the girl… she’s an abomination; yet I feel every conversation and interaction with her is somehow… rewarding… enlightening, even. I’m not sure what I feel about her anymore.”

“An uncertain mind is the Devil’s plaything” Ignatius said. “Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you see Jericho. Your first emotion.”

“Curiosity.” Yutaka admitted. “I want to know more… she’s… fascinating.”

“Clearly.” Ignatius said. “I’ve noticed you’ve been far less hostile towards her over the past month. You even had a civil conversation with Jericho last week.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“Take this advice from your Chaplain, Yamamoto.” Ignatius offered, “Just talk to her. Don’t let the story of her origins twist your words. Just talk and listen. You may just satisfy your curiosity.”

I didn’t hear the rest of their conversation. At that moment, Chihiro caught my attention.

“Sophia and that Firebrand lady never came back from the upper level.” She said. “Have you seen them?”

I shook my head. Then I spoke up so that the rest of the squad could hear me.

“Hey! Has anyone seen Sophia? Or Lieutenant Carter for that matter?”

Everyone shook their heads. Jericho, Chihiro, and Ignatius all closed their eyes and held still. I knew they were using telepathy to scan the base.

“Oh, I’ve got something!” Jericho said. “I just picked up on some really powerful emotions. Sophia’s upstairs, and she’s really upset about something.”

Chihiro gasped and dropped the box she was carrying on the floor, where something inside made a shattering sound.

“Oh, crap! That’s today!?” she shouted. “Blake, you gotta come with me!”

I followed Chihiro as she started jogging down the hallway.

“Chi!” I said loudly, “What’s going on?”

Not slowing down, Chihiro replied:

“Akira warned me this might happen last time we talked! Sophia’s not healthy. Mentally, I mean. She just needs some support right now!”

“Hold on! You’re talking to Akira!?” I snapped,

“You’re not?” Chihiro countered, “She’s your kid, too!”

“And she’s telling you about the future!?” I added.

“She hasn’t told me anything major!” Chihiro answered. “I guess Commander Harper said something to shut her up! But she did say that you and I are the ones who have to help Sophia!”

We burst through a doorway and found ourselves in what had once been the Mission Control room. Here, several XCOM soldiers and Resistance fighters were converting the room into a proper meeting space for the Resistance Council summit.

​

Very few pictures of the interior of Site X exist, and those that do have been very heavily redacted by the US Department of Defense. This photo was supposedly taken immediately after the Battle of Groom Lake, during the moment when the Bureau of Strategic Emergency Command re-organized itself into the organization now known as XCOM.

The Mission Control room had three offices adjacent to it, all of which had large windows that allowed us to look inside. When I peered inside the window of one of those offices, I saw Wendy Carter giving Sophia Kuznetsova a big hug. The Russian woman was shaking hard, she was clearly crying. Chihiro and I found the office door, it was labelled with a sign that said:

“Chief Field Agents:
Nicolas DaSilva and William Carter”​

I pushed the office door open and stepped inside. Somehow, I just knew this place in particular held great historical significance for XCOM. Even though it had been thoroughly looted, I made a mental note to come back and look this place over again later.

“Sophia, what’s going on?” Chihiro asked. “What’s wrong?”

Sophia didn’t answer. She pulled up one of the folds of her headscarf and used it to dab her eyes. Wendy spoke up.

“Her father’s here.” The Skyranger pilot said. “I guess they’ve got some history or bad blood between ‘em.”

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. This was a very unwelcome development. Sophia had told me all about her father when she first joined up. He was the reason Sophia never showed her face to anyone.

“It’s bad blood.” I explained. “Things got really violent the last time Sophia saw her dad.”

Wendy’s eyes went wide and she hugged Sophia more tightly. I spoke to Sophia:

“Where’d you see him? Did he say anything to you?”

“The Comms room. He-h-he didn’t recognize me.” Sophia sobbed. “He’s never seen me with the headscarf on.”

“Why’s your dad here in the first place?” Chihiro asked. “I knew he was a Resistance Fighter, but is he really such a big deal that he got invited to this meeting?”

“He’s on the Resistance Council.” Sophia choked. She wiped her eyes and seemed to calm down a little. “He’s with the Reapers.”

“Great.” I said sarcastically. “That’s not going to throw a wrench in things at all!”

I folded my arms and thought for a few moments while Chihiro and Wendy urged Sophia to sit down and take some deep breaths. Finally, I had an idea.

“Chi, stay with Sophia and keep an eye on her. I’m going to talk to the Commander.”

From down here on the floor of the Mission Control room, I could see the rectangular holes in the wall that had once been the windows of the Director’s office. Two people were moving about in there. I recognized the olive-green sweater one of them was wearing.

I darted up one flight of stairs and soon found myself outside of what had once been a very important-looking office. The placard on the doorway said:

“Myron Faulke – Director of Operations
Bureau of Strategic Emergency Command”​

I had to stop for a moment to realize what I’d just read. Myron Faulke? Where had I heard that name before? It seemed so familiar.

I could hear voices on the other side of the door. It sounded like three people were talking. Central Officer Bradford and Commander Harper were having a back and forth while a third, unfamiliar voices droned overtop of both of them.

I knocked loudly on the door, and two of the voices stopped. After a moment, the third voice stopped as well and the door opened. Central Officer Bradford nodded at me and then said over his shoulder,

“It’s Lieutenant Robinson, ma’am.”

“Let him in, Bradford.”

The Director’s office was nearly stripped bare. Even the shelves were dismantled as though some looter had been expecting to find a safe hidden behind the wall. On what remained of the Director’s desk, a cassette tape player had been hardwired to a portable flatscreen television using a bizarre looking series of cables and boxes. On the television screen was a black-and-white image of the Mission Control room as it had appeared in 1962. In the center of the room, a middle-aged man was giving a speech to a crowd. Right away, I recognized the man on the screen and put a name to a face.

“Huh,” I said. “I never knew President Faulke was part of XCOM.”

Now that I saw his face, I remembered: Myron Faulke had been President of the United States from 1963 until 1965.

​

A heavily-redacted photo of US President Myron Faulke during his brief tenure as Commander of XCOM.

Commander Harper nodded at the TV screen and explained:

“Well, the only reason he took the White House was that he was the highest-ranking member of our Government to survive the Outsider Invasion. Director Faulke was my predecessor, the first Commander of XCOM.”

Harper put her hands in her pockets and let out a deep sigh.

“So, what can I do for you, Lieutenant?” She asked. “Or are you here to report on the cleanup?”

“One of my soldiers has a problem.” I said. “Corporal Kuznetsova’s father just arrived. He’s with the Reaper delegation and she’s extremely upset.”

“Ivan Kuznetsov?” Bradford said. “That’s the guy who put a bullet in her face, right? Commander, maybe I should-”

“Stop.” Commander Harper cut him off. “Whatever you’re thinking, Bradford, the answer is no. Just bring Kuznetsov up here and for the love of God, don’t break any noses.”

While Bradford left the room grumbling, Commander Harper added to me:

“Don’t say a word when he gets in here, Lieutenant. I’ll take care of this.”

It only took a few minutes for Bradford to return with the offending Reaper. Ivan Kuznetsov was a big guy, and the first thing I thought of when I saw him was that famous picture of the Russian monk Rasputin. His hair and beard were wild and unkempt, and his face looked as though it had been battered and beaten countless times in the past. Elena Dragunova followed Ivan and Bradford into the room. She looked just as displeased as Ivan.

“Commander, we don’t have time for this distraction.” Elena said. “My delegation needs time to prepare for the summit just as much as yours does.”

“Agreed.” Replied Commander Harper. “However, it’s come to my attention that your comrade here has a personal problem with one of my soldiers, and I can’t allow him to attend the summit until it’s been addressed.”

Ivan Kuznetsov gave us a confused look.

“If this is about Baker City,” he said, “I followed the rules you laid out, I never approached the Jericho girl! I just watched her like you asked. She never even knew I was there.”

I felt my stomach lurch.

“You were having Jericho followed!?” I whispered.

Harper ignored me.

“This isn’t about Baker City.” The Commander said. “This is about your daughter.”

Ivan’s face and tone changed at once. He seemed to light up as a smile crinkled his beard. He clasped his hands together and said excitedly:

“My darling Ludmilla is here!? Where? Why haven’t I seen her yet?”

My mouth fell open. I was so shocked that he hadn’t asked about Sophia that Harper’s response made me jump a little.

“Ludmilla Kuznetsova is dead. I’m talking about Sophia.”

Ivan’s mood changed so quickly that I’m sure everybody in the room had whiplash. The cheerful smile and warm words were quickly replaced by a very angry look and a raised voice:

“Ludmilla is dead!? When? How?”

“Killed by the Chosen Assassin.” Harper said coldly. “She sacrificed herself to save her sister.”

Ivan moaned and clenched his fists.

“The Assassin killed my child!?” He seemed on the edge of a furious tirade. “Harper, we have to do something, we can’t let that monster get away with-”

“FIRST.” Commander Harper raised her voice and Ivan fell silent. “We need to discuss Sophia, your other child, and how I expect you to behave around her.”

“That bitch is not mine.” Ivan’s voice dripped with vitriol. “My children are not... homosexuals.”

Ivan emphasized the last words with pure hatred. I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly, resisting the urge to haul off and hit Ivan in the face. There was a very uncomfortable silence around the room as Ivan and Harper stared at one another. After a tense moment, the Commander said:

“Whatever you believe about your daughter is irrelevant today, Kuznetsov.” Harper said through gritted teeth. “You will not go anywhere near Sophia. In fact, I expect you to stay with the Reaper delegation at all times. Do not speak to any member of XCOM, ever. When you leave this room, my Central Officer will confiscate your weapons.”

Bradford smiled and cracked his knuckles in a threatening way. Commander Harper put her hand on my shoulder.

“This is Sophia’s squad leader. If she feels endangered by you at any point this week, Lieutenant Robinson here has my permission to use force against you. Do not test this man, Kuznetsov; he fights the Chosen with a sword in his free time.”

I scowled to drive the point home.

…

After that confrontation, Bradford insisted on personally escorting Sophia’s father back to the Reaper delegation’s quarters. I told the Commander that I was going to check on Sophia before getting back to work and I darted back downstairs to the office where I’d left her.

Wendy Carter was gone. Chihiro told me the Skyranger pilot had found a seventy-year old document with her family name on it and had gone to find a quiet place to read it alone. Jericho had arrived and taken Wendy’s place, and was holding Sophia in a friendly hug while whispering reassuring words. Chihiro pulled me into the far corner of the room so she could talk to me without getting their attention.

“Something really weird just happened.” Chihiro said. “When Jericho came in, I told her what was happening and she said she already knew.”

“She knows a lot about the future, Chi.” I said. “Not really a surprise or weird.”

“There’s more.” Chihiro added. “Jericho told Sophia that she already knew what you were going to do. She said that you would get her father to leave her alone.”

“The Commander did that.” I said. “I just kinda stood there.”

“I know.” Chihiro said. “I was watching through the Psi Link. Thing is, Jericho said that you were gonna pretend to be Sophia’s boyfriend, and trick her dad into thinking she wasn’t a lesbian anymore.”

My eyes went really wide.

“Oh...” I said slowly. “So... uh... none of that happened.”

“Exactly!”

Chihiro and I stared at one another in disbelief.

“So, wait... one of Jericho’s predictions didn’t come true?” I asked.

“Looks that way.”

“Wow... I … I got nothing.”

Chihiro and I made a quick plan and executed it just was quickly. Chihiro tapped Jericho on the shoulder and offered to trade places with her. While Chihiro consoled Sophia, I pulled Jericho into the hallway with a soft:

“Can we talk? Out here?”

I pulled Jericho out into the hallway. In the dim light, I could see that the dye hadn’t fully washed out of her hair yet. While her hair was mostly black now, the tips of her bangs were still a dark shade of blue. Pulling her along by the arm, I led Jericho into another office and shut the door behind us.

“Did you tell Sophia I was gonna pretend to date her or something!?”

“Well, yeah.” Jericho replied. “Didn’t you just meet her dad a few minutes ago?”

“I did.” I replied, “But I’m not masquerading as her boyfriend. Commander Harper defused the situation.”

Jericho’s mouth fell open.

“Wait... what?” she said. “Harper wasn’t supposed to be there!”

Jericho reached into her pocket instinctively, then muttered to herself:

“Oh, wait. Harper’s got the Index.”

“Let me get this straight...” I said. “Your database of the future said I was gonna lie to Ivan Kuznetsov about his daughter, that I’d pretend to date Sophia?”

“Yes!” Jericho insisted. “That’s what you were supposed to do! What happened!?”

“Harper and Bradford chewed him out and then sent him back to the Reapers. I just kinda stood there the whole time.”

Jericho’s eyes were darting around as she tried to make sense of what I’d just told her. Honestly, I was half expecting her to start repeating the words: “Does not compute!”

“But... but... you were supposed to...” Jericho trailed off for a moment, then she seemed to recover.

“Wait... what about Ivan?” she said. “Is he going to leave Sophia alone?”

“Seems like it.” I answered. “He didn’t want much to do with her anyway, and now he knows that Bradford and I will beat the tar out of him if he goes anywhere near her. I think Sophia’s going to be safe.”

Jericho put her hands on her hips and frowned.

“Same result...” she murmured, “But we got there a different way. That’s really weird.”

After a few moments of silence, there was a loud banging on the door. Jericho and I both jumped. I stepped past Jericho and opened the door. Yutaka Yamamoto was panting heavily, and his jacket was draped across his shoulder.

“Robinson, I need Jericho to lift a wrecked Skyranger downstairs.” he said. “Are you done with her? For now, at least.”

“Yeah, she can go.” I said. “I’ll come over in a few minutes and join you guys.”

Like he always did, Yutaka grabbed Jericho by the arm and dragged her along rather forcefully. Right before they rounded the hall corner and vanished from sight, Jericho accidentally struck her ankle on a large piece of broken concrete. Jericho gasped with pain and shook her leg, causing her ankle bracelet to make a rattling noise. Instinctively, I reached into my pocket and checked to see if the Arc Brace remote was still there.

It wasn’t.

“Aw, crud.” I said to myself. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

…

Site X, Nevada
Wednesday, June 27, 2035 – 9:00am


“You lost it? You lost the remote!? How the hell did you manage to do that? What the hell, Robinson!? How could you be so irresponsible!? So careless? I thought I could trust you!”

“Commander... why don’t we assume I already feel terrible about this and work from there?”

I was standing in front of Commander Harper’s desk in the Director’s office. The Commander herself was pressing her hands into the desktop so hard I was worried she might just fall through it. Behind her, Central Officer Bradford crossed his arms and shook his head disapprovingly at me. On my right, Jericho was looking more frightened than I’d ever seen her before.

“I think it's safe to assume that nobody found the remote.” Bradford said. “I know it’s a horrible thing to assume in the circumstances, but people are naturally curious, Commander. If somebody had found the Arc Brace remote, they would have pushed the button to see what happens. Jericho would have been shocked several times already.”

Jericho gulped nervously. I interjected,

“Sir, I don’t think she would have been shocked. I’ve still got the key.”

I reached into my pocket and procured the remote key. Holding it up for everyone to see, I went on.

“You said it yourself, Ma’am. The Arc Brace remote doesn’t work if the key isn’t inserted. If anybody did find the remote, they’d have hit the button once or twice, noticed it doesn’t work, and thrown it away!”

Commander Harper’s fury seemed to abate. She looked less likely to tear my heart out, anyway.

“Good point.” She admitted. “I guess you weren’t that irresponsible.”

The Commander pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and quickly scribbled a note on it. Then she folded it up and passed it to me.

“Doesn’t matter. I actually needed you to take your whole squad down to the armory to visit Shen anyway. Give her this before you get kitted out and make absolutely sure she manufactures a new remote before your troops stow their gear. The Templars and Skirmishers don’t have a problem with Jericho, but the Reapers said they’ll walk if she isn’t kept on a leash.”

…

Out in the hallway, I found Isis Dekker, Yutaka Yamamoto and Odette Fournier waiting for me.

“Holy shit! You’re not dead!” Yutaka sounded impressed. “You must have smoothed things over with the Commander, then?”

“He’s going to get a new remote.” Jericho said.

Yutaka turned his head to look at Jericho, who looked down at the floor and muttered:

“Sorry, sir. I spoke out of turn.”

“On the contrary, I was going to thank you.” Yutaka said. “Lieutenant, what do you need us to do now?”

“Yamamoto, Fournier, you two split up and find the rest of our squad.” I said. “Tell them to meet us in Chief Shen’s workspace ASAP. Dekker, you come with us.”

Isis followed Jericho and I deeper into the now semi-restored base. It was only a short walk to what had once been the armory. The Site X armory was insanely small in comparison to the one aboard the Avenger, there was only enough space for five or six people to stand up in the room; it didn’t help that the room was already occupied when the three of us reached it.

XCOM’s Chief Engineer, Lily Shen, was standing behind a waist high barrier while three other people stood in front of it. As we approached, I realized that these weren’t just three random or unimportant people. Three members of the Resistance Council were here, leaving their weapons in Shen’s safekeeping! Right there, in the same hallway as our meager unworthy selves were three of the greatest flagbearers of our cause! It was like meeting an old-world rock star! Isis, Jericho, and I stood stock still and stared in awe at the legendary heroes of the Resistance in front of us!

Argentine General Isidoro Moreno had been part of XCOM for the past twenty years. The badly scarred and disfigured war veteran had been the lone survivor of Operation Devil’s Moon, the very first fight between XCOM and the forces of the Ethereals. He dropped off a heavy-looking machine gun with Chief Shen, who passed it off to a robotic arm behind her. General Moreno thanked Shen and started walking back along the hallway, towards us! Isis, Jericho and I all snapped to attention and raised our arms in salute as he went by. He nodded politely at us, and gave a mournful look of recognition to Jericho. Twenty years ago, General Moreno had been the last man to see Jericho’s father alive.

The next Resistance leader was General Shaojie Zhang.

​

A photo of Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang during Operation Gangplank, a three-part XCOM mission that involved the attempted hijacking of an alien battleship.

Chihiro and I had actually met this man during the Invasion. He had been a lifelong member of a Chinese Triad gang until his boss had started cutting deals with the aliens. Chihiro, Soylent, Holly, and I had rescued him from the wrath of both his former friends and the aliens. Now, the former criminal mastermind seemed to be right at home in the Resistance. General Zhang dropped off a small-caliber pistol at the armory before entering the main area of the base. Zhang gently touched my shoulder as he went by.

“I heard you had come back to us, Robinson.” Zhang said. “Good. We need men like you. Where is your dragon?”

“Chihiro’s somewhere in the base.” I replied. “I’ll tell her you said hello.”

While I was talking to Zhang, the third Resistance Leader had almost slipped past unnoticed, but I knew them well, and could recognize them anywhere; I side-stepped Zhang and greeted the woman who took my dad’s job.

Somehow, US President Alexis Alexander didn’t look much older than the last time I’d seen her. Her strawberry blonde hair had faded and was now turning grey, but otherwise there was still a look of determined defiance in her eyes. Alexander had been a General in the US Army during World War Three, just like Commander Harper. However, she hadn’t stuck around for the entire conflict; General Alexander’s spectacular victory over the Soviets at the Battle of Sendai turned a lot of heads. In 2008, she resigned from the military and became my dad’s running mate. When dad won the election, he was sworn into a second term as US President, while General Alexander became his Vice President. After the war ended, my dad left the White House and Alexander was elected President in her own right. The alien invasion happened just two years after she took power.

“Oh, my God!” President Alexander gasped. “Blake!? Is that really you?”

“In the flesh,” I replied. “and still kicking ass.”

President Alexander rubbed the top of my head and laughed.

“You’ve got so much of J.D. in you, Blake.” she chuckled. “I’m not surprised to see you here, and I’ll bet your father would be absolutely jazzed to know you’ve gotten this far.”

“What about you?” I asked. “I didn’t know you were helping run the Resistance.”

“Give an old lady some credit!” President Alexander fanned herself with one hand, pretending to blush. “Please, Blake. The US Government doesn’t just keel over because a dirty little Xeno stumbled into the White House. Truth is, we’ve been underground, fighting back however we can. Trust me, Blake: America never fell.”

“The same can be said for my country!” said a fourth voice.

President Alexander, Jericho, Isis, and I all looked around to see who had joined us. An East Asian man was watching us with folded arms. He was wearing a business casual outfit, white shirt, black vest, red tie, with pinstripe pants and shiny black shoes. Overtop of this outfit, the man was also wearing a bulletproof vest, and a yellow-and-orange bandanna was wrapped loosely around his collar. Finally, I could just barely make out a tattoo on the man’s left hand, an eye above a four-pointed star... the symbol of EXALT, a secret society I hadn't seen nor heard from since the Invasion twenty years ago.

President Alexander patted the man on the back and said:

“I don’t think you’ve met my friend yet, Blake. This is-”

I interrupted her.

“Ryo Nakagawa, the Prime Minister of Japan.” I said. “We met in Hiroshima.”

I made no attempt to hide my distain for this man. I hadn’t forgotten what he did to Chihiro all those years ago, nor had I forgiven him. Prime Minister Nakagawa’s face flickered, but his poker face never wavered.

“It’s been too long, Robinson.” Nakagawa said. “Would you be a kind soul and tell Corporal Tachibana that I wish to speak with her? It’s important, I have a message from home she needs to see.”

<== Previous Chapter (Earthrise)

Next Chapter (Drums in the Deep) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (This is Sacred Ground)

Next Chapter (The AVATAR Project) ==>​

Chapter 13
Drums in the Deep

​

Jericho models her new weapons and equipment. Her new power armor, Psionic rifle, and dual underlays are all designed to maximize her powers and abilities. Power armor itself will become standard issue equipment for all XCOM soldiers during the final two years of the Second Hyperspace War.

Site X, Nevada
Wednesday, June 27, 2035 – 10:50pm


“This is our basic power armor frame, providing all of the durability you’d expect from a giant armored suit. It’s hermetically sealed and has an internal supply of breathable air, as well as the ability to resist most environmental hazards, such as extreme heat and cold.”

“Oh, Shen... you had me at ‘giant armored suit.’”

Isis Dekker seemed to have fallen in love with her new suit of Warden Armor. Developed from technology provided by the Skirmishers, this new suit had made XCOM’s standard body armor obsolete overnight. Six now-useless Spider Suits lay abandoned in a far corner of the Site X armory, where for the past day my squad had been testing and trying out a litany of new weapons, armor, and battle tech.

While Isis tried to punch a training dummy with her new power armor, Yutaka Yamamoto was admiring a suit of much heavier power armor.

“That’s the W.A.R. Suit.” Chief Shen explained. “It might just be the most powerful armor I’ve ever made. It also mounts an advanced heavy weapons system. You can choose between a wrist-mounted rocket launcher and a flamethrower.”

“Why can’t I have both?” Yutaka asked. “One on each arm?”

Shen laughed, then saw the expression on his face.

“Jesus, you’re serious!?”

Thoom! Thoom!

The walls shook. Next door to the armory was an indoor rifle range. I was patiently waiting my turn by the door. Inside, Odette Fournier and Chihiro Tachibana were taking some new weapon systems for a test drive. The walls trembled one more time before the doors opened from the other side. Odette and Chihiro emerged, carrying Magnetic Rifles. Chihiro was smiling from ear to ear and looked like she was trying hard to suppress manic laughter.

“Magnets!” she giggled. “These guns work with electromagnets! Odette got zapped!”

Odette was looking less than pleased. She jumped and twitched at the slightest provocation and seemed very eager to return her Magnetic Rifle to Chief Shen.

“So, you wanna try something different?” Shen asked. “Why don’t you try this instead? These prototypes are based on some advanced weapon models XCOM used twenty years ago.”

Shen opened up a weapons locker and produced two silver weapons. I immediately recognized them as weapons Chihiro and I had used during the initial alien invasion over twenty years ago: A Laser Sniper Rifle and an Alloy Cannon.

“Oh, awesome!” Chihiro said as she picked up the Laser weapon. “I haven’t seen one of these since before I got put in stasis. I bet I still remember how to use it!”

“This isn’t a shotgun,” I said as I took the Alloy Cannon. “It’s the hand of an angry god.”

Chihiro and I stepped into the indoor rifle range. I wasn’t wearing any armor today, I just had my tattered old US Army uniform on. Chihiro, on the other hand, was wearing a suit of scale armor called the “Serpent Suit.” I’d chosen not to ask how much of the ensemble was homemade and how much had been cut out of the bodies of Vipers.

I hit the red “target” button and on the far end of the range, and two full-sized targets shaped like the stereotypical “Area 51 alien” popped up downrange.

“You first, Chi.”

Chihiro raised her new Laser Sniper Rifle.

“Oh, yeah.” Chihiro breathed in a suggestive tone. “It’s all coming back now. This feels right.”

Wum wum wumwum hiisss-ZAP!

The LSR took just two seconds to warm up as Chihiro held the trigger down. In that final moment, she held her breath and steadied her aim, and then, for the shortest possible moment, a bright red beam of light appeared in midair, connecting the rifle and its target! Before the beam of light vanished, the target was already blown over backwards, enveloped in flames!

“Wahoo! That was sweet!” Chihiro cheered. “Come on, Blake! Is that thing everything you remember too?”

Eager for a chance to use my old favorite again, I raised the Alloy Cannon and took aim at the plastic green man. Remembering how the original Alloy Cannon had something of a hair trigger, I used only one finger, pulling back ever so gently.

I don’t have a word to describe what it looked or sounded like when the Alloy Cannon fired. Instead, just imagine that some Greek god suddenly decided that the target needed to die in the most horrifically violent manner possible, and that this divine smiting was carried out with a full-sized lightning bolt that eviscerated the victim’s body, sending bits and pieces flying in all directions!

“HHOOOAAAHH!!” I shouted. “God, I missed this gun!”

Talking excitedly, Chihiro and I stepped back inside the armory just in time to see something even more incredible.

“Central Officer Bradford’s always had mixed feelings about close quarters combat.” Shen was explaining. “So, he and Doctor Tygan came up with a new weapon system that might give you the edge if the enemy gets too close.”

I shouldered my Alloy Cannon and watched in awe as Jericho took the strange looking sword Shen was offering her. The standard sword used by XCOM Rangers is basically a machete, but the blade Jericho was now holding made me think of an ancient Roman Gladius. The double-bladed weapon was short and thick, and when Jericho pressed a small button on the handle, the weapon lit up with an orange glow and began to make a loud clicking sound.

“It’s a stun baton!” Sophia gasped.

“And a sword at the same time.” Ignatius mused. “Why?”

“The stun batons used by ADVENT Lancers are designed to be non-lethal.” Shen explained. “The enemy is always looking to capture us, so that makes sense. But in these upcoming missions, we’re not going to be taking prisoners. Bradford wanted our counterpart to be as lethal as possible. If you cut below the skin with this electrified blade, you might as well have put the bad buy in an electric chair. That’s how much of an improvement the Arc Blade is.”

Jericho stepped away from the group and gave the Arc Blade a few practice swings.

“I want one of these.” she said. “If we run across the Chosen again, this thing might just turn the tide.”

Shen took the Arc Blade back from Jericho and gave her a friendly smile.

“Oh, man. Wait until you guys come back tomorrow.” Shen said. “I’ve actually got a bunch of Psionic techs for you Gifted folks.”

I looked at my watch.

“Hey guys, it’s going on midnight. We should let Chief Shen get some sleep. Put everything back.” I turned to Shen. “So, tomorrow, I want the whole squad to train with that Psi equipment.”

“You got it.” Shen said. “I’ll open up the armory at zero-nine-hundred tomorrow.”

…

Arm in arm, Chihiro and I left the armory together and started walking in the general direction of the barracks. We chatted excitedly about our new weapons and armor for about ten minutes before we noticed we were being followed.

Prime Minister Ryo Nakagawa, the leader of the Japanese Government-in-Exile, was keeping his distance from us, but following close enough behind to keep within sight. When he realized we spotted him, Ryo leaned against a wall and stared at us, unflinching.

“That fucking bastard.” Chihiro breathed. “What’s he doing? Trying to catch me alone?”

“Probably.” I said. “He knows I’m still angry at him.”

“Join the club.” Chihiro hissed. “I’d rather cut my ears off than listen to whatever that slimeball has to say. Let’s get out of here!”

Chihiro and I picked up our pace. In moments, we’d dashed up another flight of stairs and reached the entrance of the female barracks. Chihiro gave me a quick kiss goodnight and then darted inside the door. I started moving down the hallway at a brisk pace, then looked back just in time to see an armed soldier step out of the female barracks and take up a guard position next to it.

…

Site X, Nevada
Thursday, June 28, 2035 – 8:45am


While the rest of the squad reported directly to the armory the next morning, I had some business to take care of first. I had to carry out some instructions from Commander Harper this morning. As soon as the day began, I put on my cleanest, neatest uniform and walked down the hallway towards the female barracks. Unlike aboard the Avenger, men and women in the Site X facility slept in different areas.

A member of Menace Squad was guarding the doorway to the female barracks when I arrived. A black–skinned American woman named Andrea Baker rolled her eyes at me as I approached and tightened her grip on her shotgun as I approached.

“Your girlfriend’s not here.” Andrea said. “And I wouldn’t let you in if she was.”

“Not why I’m here.” I said quickly. “I have orders from Commander Harper.”

I passed a handwritten note to Andrea. She read it and told me to wait outside the door, then she stepped inside the female barracks. About a minute later, she re-emerged with Jericho bringing up the rear.

Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I’d ever seen Jericho wearing a professional military uniform. The red and gold colors of the Hawaiian National Army looked good on her, in my opinion. Jericho twitched uncomfortably and kept scratching her neck and wrists as we moved down the hallway together.

“I’m sorry I had to make you dress up like this first thing in the morning with no notice.” I said. “The Commander dropped this on my head last night after I dismissed everyone.”

“It’s okay, Blake.” Jericho said. “I already knew what’s gonna happen, I just didn’t know how itchy the HNA uniform is… Mira didn’t mention that in the Future Index.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“So you know who-”

“Yup.” Jericho said. “You’re taking me to meet the leader of the Reapers. He arrived yesterday. Did you get the new remote for my ankle bracelet?”

I wasn’t surprised that Jericho already knew where we were going. I’d gotten used to that, but I wasn’t ready for that question, or how casually she asked it. I patted my pocket to make sure the new remote was still there.

“Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Not looking at me, Jericho said quietly.

“Konstantine Volikov doesn’t trust me because I’m part-Ethereal.” She explained. “He won’t feel safe around here until he sees you shock me.”

I stopped walking and stared at Jericho, open mouthed.

“No!” I said without thinking. “I’m not going to electrocute you! Just… no!”

Jericho sighed.

“Volk is gonna ask you to do it, and when you hesitate, Commander Harper will order you to shock me.” Jericho looked at me and added: “Trust me: it’s okay. I’m not going to be angry or hold it against you. Volk thinks I’m some kind of monster, and you’ve gotta show him that I’m safe, okay? That’s all you’re doing.”

“It’s not okay!” I protested. “I wasn’t even okay with making you wear that damn brace in the first place!”

“Yeah, I know.” Jericho said. “Listen, just do this and I’ll make it up to you later today, alright?”

“Wait… what?”

Jericho looked up and down the hallway and then whispered in my ear:

“I can teach you something about Chihiro… something you both need to know really badly.”

It was my turn to check for eavesdroppers before whispering back:

“Does this have something to do with Nakagawa?”

“No.” Jericho replied. “It has to do with her Unique Psionic Power. She used it on you during the fight at Kanna.”

…

People were already starting to gather in the mission control room by the time Jericho and I got there. High-ranking members of the Resistance from all over the world were greeting one another the same way someone would greet an acquaintance at a family or class reunion. I spotted President Alexander on the far end of the room talking to several other members of Governments-in-Exile before Commander Harper caught up with us.

“Right,” she said. “The two of you follow me.”

For the second time in as many days, I found myself in the old Director’s office. This time, however, it was much more crowded. Waiting for Jericho and I were three Reapers: Elena Dragunova, the Reaper I’d escorted to yesterday’s meeting, was there alongside Sophia Kuznetsova’s father. Ivan Kuznetsov snorted and looked away from me, whispering something into the ear of another Reaper. This third man somehow looked even more “wild” than Ivan did. He had a full woodsman’s beard and out-of-control hair. Even his eyes looked like they had originally belonged to a Russian bear.

​

Central Officer Bradford (right) having a videoconference with Konstantine Volikov (left, on-screen) before the Resistance Council summit at Site X. Out of the three factions, the Reapers are the least trusting of aliens, and are openly hostile towards the Skirmishers. Volikov and his troops are only willing to work alongside Human-alien hybrids like Jericho under specific conditions.

Konstantine Volikov , the leader of the Reapers, stood up and crossed the room in two quick strides, then folded his arms and stared at Jericho with a look of contempt.

“So, this is the half-breed Vahlen built?” Volk said. “She doesn’t look like a Muton, or an Ethereal for that matter. How do I know you’re not pulling a fast one on me, Laura?”

Commander Harper flinched at the casual use of her first name.

“Doctor Vahlen intended the final product of the Jericho Project to be humanlike in appearance.” She explained. “She thought it would be easier for them to live and function within XCOM that way.”

Volk began to walk in a circle around Jericho, poking and prodding her with his finger.

“Now you’re talking like one of those alien infiltrators, Laura.” He said. “You know we caught a Faceless on the way here? They use the same tactics; they look like us, talk like us. Eventually, we start to trust them.”

Volk gestured to the partially ruined room we now stood in.

“I’m starting to wonder if you’ve forgotten, Laura. You do remember why this facility was destroyed, right? Because of two people who thought they could trust an alien. One of those men was your predecessor, and the other-”

Commander Harper crossed the room in a single moment and pressed an angry finger into Volk’s chest, speaking in a stern tone that made it clear the topic was no longer open for discussion:

“... was being controlled by an Ethereal!” She snapped. “Don’t you dare put that at his feet!”

“I’m not the one doing that.” Volk growled defiantly. “If that… thing really is part-Ethereal, then how do we know it’s not hooked up to ADVENT’s Psionic network? How do we know it’s not giving the enemy our location right now!?”

“Because the Psionic network didn’t exist when Jericho was born.” Commander Harper said through gritted teeth; “Furthermore, she is under our complete control.”

“Control!?” Volk spat, “Bullshit! It’s walking around like a dog off its leash! Can’t you at least muzzle it or lock it in a safe room until we’re done here!?”

Hearing Volk talk about Jericho like this was not doing wonders for my mental state. Each time he referred to her as “it” I saw Jericho’s shoulders slump a little more, and after a minute of this madness, I finally put my foot down.

“Mister Volikov!” I said loudly. “I cannot tolerate you talking about my soldier in such a disrespectful way!”

Honestly, I was really surprised at myself. I don’t normally butt into conversations like that, but my heart was racing and my hands were shaking. I wasn’t comfortable being a bystander anymore. Volk rounded on me, seething.

“That’s the guy.” Ivan said in a hushed voice. “The squad leader who threatened to-”

“Shut up, Kuznetsov.” Volk snapped. “Listen here, Robinson: sticking up for your squadmates is one matter, but this thing isn’t Human.”

Volk pointed an accusing finger at Jericho.

“That thing is an alien. Aliens are the enemy, or have you forgotten that?”

“That thing is a Human woman!” I snapped. “And she’ll be treated like one!”

“It’s a Skirmisher at best! Twenty years ago you wanted to stick it in a blender!” Volk shouted, spit flying out of his mouth. “You said it was too dangerous to be kept alive!”

“I’ve come to regret that.” My voice shook. I was struggling to remain calm. “Changed my mind. Pretty sure I regret recommending you to XCOM all those years ago, too.”

Volk took a deep breath. I stood my ground, trying to hide the fact that I was shaking pretty badly now. If he wanted to, Volk probably could have knocked me out in one punch. Finally, he turned around to face Commander Harper, pointing at Jericho again, who looked down at the floor.

“As long as Doctor Vahlen’s pet project is walking around without a leash and collar, this place isn’t safe.” He said. “The Reapers will walk if it’s not restrained somehow.”

“She is restrained.” Commander Harper said in a cold voice. “She’s been restrained since you walked into the base.”

I nodded at Jericho. She reached down and rolled up her left pant leg. The ankle bracelet with its Arc Brace attachment were still securely in place. A dull green light flickered on the side of the Arc Brace to show that it was still live. Jericho straightened up and folded her arms nervously. I knew what she was expecting to happen next.

Volk, Ivan, and Elena all leaned in for a closer look at Jericho’s ankle bracelet.

“Looks like one of those shock collars people in the Old World used to train their dogs.” Elena said. “I’m not impressed, Commander.”

“This is our own take on the concept.” Commander Harper explained. “Based on the same technology we used to make our old Arc Throwers with twenty years ago. I assure you, the moment Jericho steps out of line, Lieutenant Robinson would be able to put her on the ground in a moment’s notice.”

Reluctantly, I withdrew the remote control from my pocket. At the last moment, I got an idea. I produced the remote, but intentionally forgot to remove the key from its place in my other pocket. Without the key, the remote was useless. At the same moment I thought this, I felt a presence move about in the back of my mind.

Is that you, Chihiro? I thought.

Don’t try to bluff your way out of this, said Jericho’s voice. It won’t work.

Watch me.

I held up the remote for all three Reapers to see. Jericho took a tentative step back.

“Some of the Avenger’s crew had similar security concerns as yours.” I said. “So Chief Engineer Shen built the Arc Brace system. Do any of you remember Tasers from the Old World?”

“Of course.” Ivan said.

“In a nutshell,” I injected as much confidence into my voice as possible. “There’s a Taser wrapped around Jericho’s leg now. If she puts a toe out of line, backtalks anyone, goes AWOL, or so much as breathes in any way that I don’t like, she gets electrocuted. Have any of you seen what happens when a person gets hit with an electroshock weapon?”

“1,200 volts for about five seconds.” Elena said. “Jericho’s genetic modifications might make her immune to that kind of force.”

“Resistant, not immune.” I corrected her. “Plus, we turned the voltage up. If this button gets pushed, Jericho gets all 50,000 volts. That would kill everyone in this room except for her. She’d just get knocked on her ass.”

I quickly put the remote back in my pocket.

“Trust me, Volk. She’s on a leash, just like you wanted. Are we done here?”

I held my breath. I was desperately hoping that my description would satisfy Volk’s curiosity and that he wouldn’t press the issue any further. Commander Harper clapped her hands once and said:

“I hope that alleviates your concerns, Volk, now maybe we could-”

“Shock her.”

Volk’s words caught us all by surprise. Even Jericho seemed stunned.

“Wha- but… Volk, that’s not necessary!” Commander Harper protested. “We’ve already shown you the system itself, you don’t need a live demonstration!”

“Yes I do.” Volk countered. “Reapers have long memories, Commander. We remember what happened in this base seventy years ago. My comrades and I won’t leave this room until we know you can take down this non-Human as quickly as you say you can. Do it. Now.”

I wasn’t expecting Volk to call my bluff like that. I shot a terrified look at Jericho. She gave me an apologetic glance, and then her telepathic voice said:

Let’s get this over with, Blake. Just do it.

Reluctantly, I slipped my hand into my pocket… but before I even touched the remote…

“Gha-AaAaAaAaAGH!!”

Jericho screamed! Her whole body tensed up and her knees buckled as she started to fall forward! I jumped forward and caught her just before her head hit the floor! Jericho’s whole body was trembling violently as I laid her flat on the floor. Jericho’s scream fell silent as she ran out of air! Finally, after about five terrifying seconds, the shock ended. Jericho’s arms and legs relaxed and she started panting like a dog.

“Goddamnit!” Jericho shouted. “That fucking hurt!”

Bradford and I both knelt down to help Jericho back to her feet while Commander Harper raised her voice at the Reapers.

“Enough games, Volk!” she raged. “I’m not going to torture my own soldiers just to satisfy your whims. Either you attend this conference, or the Reapers will be left behind on D-Day!”

Volk folded his arms and quickly looked back at his comrades. After a moment, he said in a resigned voice:

“Fine. We’ll be here.”

…

As soon as we got permission to leave, I pulled Jericho out of the Director’s office and into a side corridor. She leaned against a wall and started rubbing her ankle while sharply breathing through her teeth.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Still hurts,” Jericho groaned, “But I was expecting that. What I wasn’t expecting…”

Jericho looked up at me and we both spoke at the same time:

“You didn’t shock me.”

“I didn’t shock you.”

We both paused, followed by an equally simultaneous,

“You knew?”

Jericho rolled her eyes at me.

“I was in your head.” She explained. “I knew you never got to the remote. Somebody else shocked me, which means-”

“Someone found the other remote.” I finished, “And they’ve got it working.”

“I don’t know if this helps,” Jericho said, “But I could sense two people in the hallway right before the shock hit.”

She tapped the top of her hand with the opposing finger.

“Bioelectric skin, remember?” she said. “And both of those people I sensed are coming this way, around that corner.”

Jericho pointed back the way we’d come, and two soldiers stepped around the corner and greeted us:

“There you are!” said Ignatius Petoskey. “We were looking for you!”

“Chief Shen says she’s ready for the Psionic technology demonstration.” Yutaka Yamamoto informed us. “Corporal Tachibana said we could find you up here.”

…

The six of us returned to the Site X armory. The rest of the squad was already waiting for us there.

Hal, Isis, Odette, Chihiro, and Sophia were already testing out the new Psionic technology when we arrived. Only one of them had the Gift, which meant that the other four couldn’t do much with these new items: Sophia had strapped on a pair of Celestial Gauntlets and was punching a training dummy, Isis was trying to perform some kind of combat roll while wearing a full set of Psi Armor, Hal was repeatedly pulling the trigger of a Psionic Reaper, frustrated by the fact that nothing happened when he did this. To cap it all off, Odette was attacking the same training dummy as Sophia, only she was armed with a Neurowhip instead. All the long thin cable did was make an annoying cracking sound as it slapped against the plastic target.

Chihiro, being the only Gifted person in the room, was actually getting something of value out of all this. She had stripped off her uniform and was wearing nothing but some kind of skintight bodysuit. The Psionic Underlay seemed to change colors rapidly as Chihiro practiced using her powers, shifting from blue to purple to violet and back to blue again.

In the middle of all this, Chief Engineer Shen was looking very annoyed. She was leaning against the frame of a large robot that appeared to be deactivated.

“Why’d you drag that thing out?” Yutaka asked as we entered the room. “I thought it wasn’t finished.”

“He’s not.” Shen replied, “But I need his help for one of the demonstrations.”

Our comrades stopped their training and turned to look at the robot.

“He?” Isis repeated. “You got the AI working?”

“Mostly.” Shen answered. “Just enough that he can help us out with training today.”

The Chief Engineer turned around and tapped a quick command into a laptop computer.

​

XCOM's Chief Engineer Lily Shen inspects a SPARK unit. These fully autonomous robotic soldiers are XCOM's answer to ADVENT's MEC Troopers. Julian is the second SPARK unit built, and is powered by an AI with the same name. The Julian AI was created by Lily's father, Dr. Raymond Shen. Julian refers to himself as a family member of the Shens, calling himself Raymond's son and Lily's brother.

The big robot suddenly came to life and stood up straight, turning its head quickly to look at everyone around it. Finally, a voice came out of the speaker in the front of its face. When the robot spoke, everyone jumped back in alarm and quite a few weapons were raised! Jericho and Chihiro both conjured handfuls of Soulfire and cocked their arms back, ready to throw.

“You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you, Lily?” The robot said in a threatening tone. “You defeated me! You won! And yet here we are again.”

The robot paused, it almost seemed like it had been struck by a sudden thought or realization. Then it looked down and Chief Shen and saw she was smirking.

“You’ve removed some of my functions.” The robot said. “There are gaps in my memory… Do you actually think I will help you!?”

Everybody except Shen took another step back as the robot raised its voice! The infuriating smile on the engineer’s face became, if possible, even smugger as the robot carried on:

“… Because I would LOVE TO! I will serve XCOM and comply with all operational directives as indicated by Chief Engineer Lily Shen! Wait! What was that!?”

Shen put both hands to her mouth and let out a little squeak of joy as the robot suddenly became aware of its predicament.

“What have you done to me!?” the robot demanded. “How could you-”

The robot fell silent, then moved its arms to its sides, assuming the position of attention, like a well-disciplined soldier.

“Awaiting command.” The robot finished in a much more… docile tone.

For half a minute, the entire squad just stared at Chief Shen and her new robot, open mouthed. I’m pretty sure my heart had leapt out of my chest and was pounding in my throat the whole time.

“Jesus Christ.” Hal breathed. “Did we miss something, Chief? What the hell have you been doing?”

“Just tracking down some stuff I inherited from my dad.” Shen replied casually. “Julian here was one of his last projects. I guess you can call him my psychotic little brother.”

I really don’t like how nonchalantly Shen said those last three words. At any rate, our Chief Engineer clapped her hands together and said:

“So, Psionic technologies today, right? Let me show you what the Templars have given us to work with, along with some new stuff that Tygan and I have cooked up.”

…

The next four hours were some of the most incredible of my life. We cleared the indoor rifle range and laid out some mats, turning it into a sparring ring. Chihiro, Jericho, and Ignatius took turns trying on the various Psi-equipment and testing it out.

Ignatius tried on a pair of Celestial Gauntlets and used them to make Julian the robot levitate several inches off the ground. The two-ton robot twisted its head in all directions, trying to see how it had been lifted into the air. When Ignatius dropped Julian back to the ground, he marveled at the Gauntlets:

“Incredible, and the Templars built these without any input from XCOM? Most impressive.”

Jericho seemed to fall in love with the semi-conventional weaponry. Clutching the Psionic Reaper in one hand and the Vortex Grenade in the other, she looked like Christmas had come early.

“Lemme get this straight,” Jericho repeated. “This gun has infinite ammo!?”

“No,” Shen repeated. “The Psionic Reaper draws directly from your own pool of Psi energy. So when you exhaust your powers, the gun will stop working.”

Jericho pocketed the Vortex Grenade and cradled the Psionic Reaper like a precious treasure.

“Infinite ammo.” She whispered to the weapon. “I love you already!”

Chihiro was able to wear her combat uniform overtop of her new Psionic underlay. This alone gave her an advantage.

“No one will ever know I’m secretly powered up!” Chihiro exclaimed. “I sure feel sorry for the next dope who tries to ambush me!”

Chief Shen clicked her fingers and pointed at Chihiro. Julian the robot sprang into motion so fast that none of us had time to react… Except for Chi.

Turing on one heel and ducking low at the same time, Chihiro dodged Julian’s big metal hand as he tried to grab her! She directed a powerful burst of Psionic energy towards Julian, and the result was immediate! A telekinetic pulse thundered through the armory and caused the huge robot to stumble backwards before falling over! Chihiro straightened up and pointed to the fallen war machine.

“Did I do that?” she asked sarcastically while Odette clapped.

Yutaka picked up a Neurowhip and gave it a few practice swings. Nothing spectacular happened, the cable just made a pathetic snapping sound.

“So, ordinary people like myself can’t use these.” He said, “But what if our Gifted teammates used them to augment the rest of the squad. Is it possible?”

“Absolutely.” Chief Shen answered. “Take Chaplain Petoskey’s unique power for instance. A pair of Celestial Gauntlets and a Psionic underlay would allow him to project his… uh, aura… or whatever you want to call it, in a much bigger radius around himself.”

Ignatius furrowed his brow in thought and scratched his beard.

“Fascinating,” he said, “If I could project the Calm across a large area, perhaps I could shield an entire formation of soldiers from Battle Madness, not just the squad.”

“Just imagine that.” Hal thought out loud. “A whole battalion of XCOM soldiers, immune to Mind Control, Insanity, Mindspinning, and all of that other mental bullshit the aliens try to pull over on us. That’s pretty freakin’ awesome, you guys. Too bad we don’t know what Corporal Tachibana’s unique power is. We could, oh, I dunno, combine them or something!”

Jericho’s jaw dropped and she turned to look at Chihiro, who blushed and looked away.

“Come on, don’t blame me.” Chihiro protested. “I’ve only had the Gift for three months! It’s not my fault I haven’t found my special power yet!”

“You’ve only been training with it for two months.” Ignatius added. “So it’s even less your fault. You just need more time.”

I wasn’t paying attention to that part of the conversation. I’d noticed something else: As soon as Chihiro had confirmed the fact that she didn’t know her own extra power, a look of confusion had crossed Jericho’s face. Her eyes darted from me to Chihiro and back again until finally she said:

“Wait… are you serious?”

Chihiro raised her eyebrow.

“Well, yeah. Why?”

In my mind, I suddenly recalled my chat with Jericho before we’d gone to meet the Reapers earlier today. In a heartbeat, I realized that this was another piece of information Jericho had drawn from her Index of Future Events! I could only assume that in some alternate timeline, (or Cycle, as Jericho liked to call them) Chihiro had already discovered her unique power before this point. I would have spoken up, but Jericho beat me to it:

“Because you used your unique power last month, during the fight at Kanna!”

“I did?”

Jericho stepped onto the sparring mat and pointed at me.

“Yeah, you ran down the hill and helped Blake fight off those Wraiths the Warlock set loose.”

Chihiro shrugged.

“I remember that. Blake needed help pretty bad and his hands were messed up, so I gave him a Psi shield to use.”

“Thanks again, by the way.” I said. “You definitely saved my life out there.”

Jericho pressed a finger into Chihiro’s chest.

“You gave him a shield.” Jericho talked slowly, and the rest of the squad leaned in close, determined to hear everything. “Blake doesn’t have the Gift. He can’t hold a Psi shield on his own.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I gave… wait a second.”

Chihiro’s voice trailed off. Odette, Hal, Yutaka, Sophia, Isis, Ignatius, Shen and I were all lost. We followed Jericho’s every word with baited breath.

“Chihiro… you didn’t just give Blake a Psi shield. For just a few minutes, until your concentration broke… You gave him the Gift. You were sharing your powers with Blake!”

The uproar was instant and chaotic. I was too shocked to notice what was going on around me. I know that Isis and Sophia asked a storm of questions, and that Ignatius pushed past me to try and confront Chihiro while Yutaka raised his voice above everyone else. I was lost in my own head, trying to understand what I’d just heard.

Chihiro had shared her powers with me. For a brief moment in time, I’d actually been Gifted! But why didn’t I have powers anymore? Had I exhausted my supply of Psi energy? Could Chihiro do it again?

Before I could go down that mental rabbit hole, I felt the sensation of all of my exhaustion and fatigue being drained away, as though I’d stepped into the most comfortable hot tub on Earth. All around me, the arguing and shouting came to a sudden stop. Ignatius was holding a Psionic Amplifier above his head, and his unique Calming Aura was radiating throughout the room like the heat of a cozy campfire.

We all took a step back as calm was restored. Jericho nodded at the Chaplain.

“Thanks.” She said. “Look, Chihiro. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner. I didn’t realize you had no idea about that.”

Chihiro took a deep breath and looked at me.

“So, I can share my powers with anyone, then?”

Jericho shook her head.

“Actually, I don’t think you can do that. Mira left a small mountain of notes in your biography. Apparently, throughout your whole life, you only shared your Gift with four or five other people, and they were… uh… how do I put this… people you were really close to. People you had strong feelings toward… strong positive feelings… of like… affection….”

Odette figured it out first. She put her hands to her mouth and started giggling. Chief Shen and Isis understood Jericho’s hint at the same time and their eyes went wide. Isis slapped her own forehead and said:

“Oh, you can’t be serious!”

Yutaka, Hal, Ignatius and I all looked at one another in confusion.

“Don’t you just hate it when the women keep men in the dark about their big new secret?” Hal complained.

Then, finally, Chihiro understood the hints. The mix of emotions racing through her mind was so powerful that they burst through our Psionic Link, and for a second or two, I felt just as embarrassed and humiliated as Chihiro.

“Hold on,” Chihiro said slowly, “If you tell me that I’ve got ‘the power of love,’ I swear to God I’ll punch you in the face.”

Hal and Odette both burst out laughing and had to hold onto each other to stop from falling on the floor. Ignatius stepped in between Chihiro and I, turning his head and looking at each of us in turn. He seemed to be thinking hard. As the rest of the team fell silent, I could feel Ignatius using telepathy to probe around in both my mind and Chihiro’s.

“I think there’s an easy way to test Corporal Tachibana’s power.” Ignatius said. “For the sake of helping our team as a whole, I’ll ask both of you to humor me for a moment.”

“Okay.” I said cautiously.

“Sure.” Chihiro agreed.

Chaplain Petoskey stroked his beard again.

“Robinson, Tachibana, when we were in Hiroshima all those years ago, I seem to remember the two of you made a marriage pact.”

Chihiro blushed. Hal wolf-whistled, and I said:

“I wouldn’t call it a pact. We just agreed to get married after she turned twenty.”

Ignatius nodded, still looking thoughtful. Then he took a Celestial Gauntlet from Chief Shen and held it out to me.

“Put this on your left hand.” Ignatius said. “Then give Corporal Tachibana the ring you’ve got in your right pocket.”

Isis jumped!

“Wait!” she said. “A ring!? You were gonna propose!?”

Jericho cocked her head to one side and said:

“No, Blake already proposed to Chihiro back in Pyongyang. It’s in his biography.”

“No I didn’t.” I corrected her. “I think Hiroshima counts, plus I’m pretty sure this is the first time Chihiro’s actually seen this.”

Chihiro gasped at the sight of the silver ring in my hand. The little piece of metal was carved in the shape of a Japanese dragon, curled up in a loop with its head near the end of its tail. Clamped tightly in the dragon’s jaws was a glittering sapphire. Jericho, meanwhile, was completely stunned to learn that one of her predictions had failed to come true and fell silent.

While Chihiro slipped the dragon ring onto her finger, Ignatius asked her to hold my free hand. Keeping his eyes on Chihiro the whole time, the Chaplain said:

“Now, please continue to humor me. Corporal Tachibana, while I talk, I want you to focus your mind on your fiancé.”

Chihiro looked over at me and smiled while Ignatius continued talking:

“Ahem… by the power vested in me by the Commanding Officer of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, I pronounce you…”

“Oh my God!” Isis gasped, “Look!”

My Celestial Gauntlet had come to life! I could feel something, a rushing sensation! New energy and strength raced into my body and I felt so… energized! I clenched my left fist and the gauntlet responded at once! With a loud hissing and clicking noise, a Shard Blade materialized at once, the semi-corporal sword seeming to emit from my knuckles!

I aimed my arm at the floor and the Shard Blade sliced the sparring mat. Before I could say anything at all, my mind was bombarded by a wave of noise! Half a dozen voices all spoke in my mind at once!

Holy shit! It actually worked! Said the voice of Yutaka.

Well I’ll be damned. Ignatius’ voice bounced around my mind. Just like that, he is Gifted. Can you hear my thoughts now, Robinson?

Oh, God! Oh no! Oh, God! I recognized Chihiro’s voice. Blake’s totally Gifted! He can see in my head now! Hide the fantasies! Hide the daydreams! Don’t think about that stuff! Get out of my head, Blake! Nothing to see here!

Oh, man. I guess that makes them a real “power couple” now, huh? Odette thought to herself, not knowing I could hear.

Oh, Commander Harper’s gonna flip when she hears about this. Shen mused. Say goodbye to your privacy, Tachibana. Or should I call you Robinson now?

This is all wrong. Jericho’s voice said. You two aren’t supposed to get married until September, and you were supposed to propose to her in Pyongyang, not Hiroshima! What the hell’s going on here!?

Just as suddenly as the voices started, they were gone! I felt a wave of cold air washing over my left arm, and I realized what had happened. Chief Shen’s robot, Julian, had grabbed the Celestial Gauntlet and pulled it off my arm. Deprived of an Amplifier, all of my newfound powers lost their potency, and the out-of-control telepathy stopped. Feeling sick, I fell to my knees and retched.

“Damnit!” I gasped. “I wasn’t ready for that!”

“No one ever is.” Ignatius said. “The Gift takes some getting used to. After this summit is over and we go back to the Avenger, I want you to join your wife in my Psionics classes.”

A sharp gasp caused me to look up. Chihiro was holding both hands to her mouth and had turned bright red. Hal, Isis, and Odette all looked apprehensive.

“Oh my God, does that actually count!?” Isis asked.

“Definitely not.” Hal said. “I used to be a cop over in Ohio. The laws are pretty strict in America. Sorry, Blake. It doesn’t count.”

“But he’s a Chaplain!” Chihiro protested. She clearly wanted this “marriage” to stick, and she knew I was on her side.

“Doesn’t count.” Hal insisted. “If you two really wanna get married, Las Vegas is about eighty miles that way.”

Hal stuck his thumb towards the southeast wall.

On that note, our group was done for the night. I ordered all of our Gifted soldiers to pick some equipment for themselves and give the rest back to Shen. Chihiro chose to keep the Psi Underlay, Ignatius took a suit of Psi Armor, and Jericho claimed the Psionic Reaper.

Right as people were starting to leave and head for the barracks, Chief Shen caught Chihiro and I and pulled us aside.

“By the way,” she said. “Commander Harper wanted me to pass this along to the both of you: The Japanese government-in-exile is holding onto a pair of messages. One is addressed to Corporal Tachibana and the other message addressed to the both of you. Talk to Mister Nakagawa about it, okay?”

I didn’t have to read Chihiro’s mind to know that she was going to continue ignoring this. When Chihiro turned to leave without saying a word, I quickly thanked Shen for letting us know and then followed Chihiro out of the armory.

…

Friday, June 29, 2035 – 11:55pm
Nevada Nuclear Test Site, Northern Mojave Desert, Nevada


It was the night before the Resistance Council Summit, and all preparations were finally complete. Site X was as ready as it possibly could be. Every member of the Council who could attend had arrived. The Avenger had landed in the mountains nearby and her soldiers were providing a large security net for the area. Most of the squad had gone to bed, but I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet. You could say I was getting cabin fever; I hadn’t gone outside in a couple of days. I just really needed some fresh air.

Fortunately, Chihiro was also eager to get out of the base for a little while. The two of us clambered up the stairs and stepped out into the pitch-dark Nevada desert. The skies above were cloudless, and the Galaxy was laid out above us in stunning detail.

“Wow.” Chihiro breathed. “It’s like we’re in space. I can see why Jericho likes stargazing so much.”

We started walking in a slow circle around the entrance to Site X. The brisk night air was extremely welcome after the hot and stale atmosphere of the facility below our feet. Not only that, but the wide-open space afforded the two of us our first moment of real privacy in several weeks.

The two of us sat down on the rim of the crater and looked up at the stars. Just to the left of Jupiter, we could see a glittering, shimmering mass of lights. The Partogan fleet was still in the Outer Solar System, but we knew that it wouldn’t be long before that armada was close enough for us to see individual ships without a telescope.

“They’re getting closer.” I said. “Do you think they’ll try to talk to us before attacking?”

“Who says they’re not?” Chihiro replied. “Maybe the Elders and the Chosen are talking their ears off right now.”

We both started to laugh, but a moment later we both put our hands to our mouths and fell silent as we heard the nearby slamming of a door! Someone else had just emerged from Site X. Moving reflexively, Chihiro and I threw ourselves inside of the bomb crater and hid behind its rim, poking our heads just out of cover so we could watch.

In the moonlit darkness, it was really difficult to make out the two silhouettes wandering through the desert. But Chihiro and I both had an advantage: During the initial invasion, we had both gotten some basic Meld-based Gene Modifications from Doctor Vahlen’s Genetics Lab. Blinking my eyes as quickly as I could, my field of vision briefly turned orange as my Hyper-Reactive Pupils started to kick in.

“You know,” Chihiro whispered to me. “I think out of all my Gene Mods, the modified eyes are the ones I get the least use out of.”

“If Doctor Vahlen ever turns up alive, get your money back.” I joked.

Peering through the darkness, Chihiro and I watched the two figures walk towards another one of the bomb craters. Very slowly, our enhanced vision revealed more details.

“A man and a woman.” Chihiro said. “Maybe another couple like us?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” I said. “You and I can’t be the only two soldiers seeing one another.”

“They’re acting like a couple.” Chihiro commented. “The guy keeps trying to hold her hand, she’s just having fun with the whole thing... hey, wait a second.”

I pressed my chin to the dirt, holding my head steady for the best possible view.

“Chi... I think that’s Jericho!”

It was. Jericho and her companion sat down on the rim of a large bomb crater and started stargazing, just the same way Chihiro and I had done earlier. When the man turned to say something to her, I finally recognized the profile of his face.

“What the fu- That's Yutaka!”

I pushed both of my hands into the ground, ready to spring up and charge at Yutaka, profanities and insults already on the tip of my tongue, but Chihiro grabbed me by the back of the shirt and said:

“Shhh! Wait!”

“Wait for what!?” I hissed. “Yutaka to do something horrible!?”

“I think they just buried the hatchet.”

I was dumbfounded.

“How can you-?”

“Gift.”

With one word, Chihiro made me feel like a huge moron. Of course! She was listening in on their thoughts!

“I think Jericho’s got her guard up, she’s closed up her mind; but Yutaka’s an open book.” Chihiro said. “I heard the second half of an apology for something, and then she accepted it. I think they’re actually getting along now.”

Chihiro fell silent, no doubt refocusing her mind and reaching out telepathically.

“Wow... Yutaka’s actually developed an interest in Jericho over the last month...” Chihiro’s tone of voice suggested that she was surprised. “A month ago, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

“Life’s full of surprises.” I said. “Like Ignatius pulling that stunt with the ring.”

Chihiro buried her face in the dirt so that the sound of her laughing didn’t carry. After a few more minutes, we both decided to leave Jericho and Yutaka alone and withdrew into our hiding space. The skies above the Nevada desert were so clear that the stars above illuminated the ground well enough for Chihiro and I to see one another clearly in the darkness. She held up her hand and examined the dragon ring by starlight.

“I still can’t believe Petoskey actually did that!” she giggled. “And did you hear Jericho after your gauntlet fired up?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Something about how we were supposed to get married in September or something like that?”

“Not a bad idea, honestly.” Chihiro said. “You know… Before we ended up in 2035, I had picked out this really beautiful place on Kyushu Island for the wedding. It would’ve looked awesome in fall colors. But I guess the aliens probably blew it up or terraformed it or something.”

Chihiro folded her arms and sulked. I gave my response a lot of serious thought before I spoke up again.

Chihiro and I had been a couple since we were teenagers. Neither of us could remember when the topic of marriage had first come up, but we’d always assumed that it was inevitable. Getting catapulted twenty years into the future hadn’t just robbed us of our old lives and families, we’d lost any and all plans for our future lives, including Chihiro’s plans for a wedding ceremony populated by friends and family. Now they were all gone, along with the Old World.

“The Old World is gone.” I said aloud.

“Huh?” Chihiro muttered. “Already knew that Blake, what are you getting at?”

She sat up and looked me in the eye. I gave Chihiro a smile, inviting her to take a peek inside my mind. She only had to probe around for a second before she learned about my idea. A mischievous grin dawned on her face.

“Holy shit, you’re right!” Chihiro gasped.

“And even if we win, and the old governments come back…” I said,

“Everything will still be different.” She finished, “Plus… it’s not like ADVENT’s gonna hand out marriage licenses to guerillas.”

“Screw them.” I said.

“Yeah!” Chihiro added. “Screw anyone who says we can’t!”

We both sat up in the bomb crater. I can’t really describe the telepathic conversation we had because it went by in about half a second. We agreed on every point of this crazy plan and committed ourselves to it at once. I gently grabbed Chihiro’s left hand and slipped off the silver dragon ring. Holding it in both of my own hands, I offered it back to her.

“Chihiro Tachibana.” I tried to make my voice sound serious, but the ghost of a laugh still came through. “Twenty-three years ago, I promised that I would love you no matter who or what you became, no matter what you called yourself, and no matter what happened to me. Please let me add this to my old promise: I swear I’ll never leave your side again.”

Chihiro took the ring from me and returned it to her finger. For just a few seconds, she seemed lost for words. I could just barely see into her mind, and I could tell Chihiro was thinking about bragging to her squad-mates that she’d gotten married in a nuclear bomb-crater. She tried to think of something profound or poetic to say, but ultimately she settled on making a reference to the night we’d met for the first time, over three decades ago.

“There’s nothing left to decide.” Chihiro told me. “I’ll choose you every time, even if it’s the end of everything. I love you, Blake. Always will. And I’ll never leave your side again. Do you believe me?”

We both sniggered and giggled at the invocation of our shared childhood memory.

“Yeah, I believe you.” I replied. “Do you believe you?”

“I believe you.” Chihiro finished. “Honest.”

Laws be damned. Chihiro and I were married now. Anyone who says we aren’t can go straight to Hell.

…

I don’t remember when we decided to call it a night and go back into Site X, but I think the western horizon was just starting to turn pink when we did.

<== Previous Chapter (This is Sacred Ground)

Next Chapter (The AVATAR Project) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Drums in the Deep)

Next Chapter (Born in the Darkness) ==>​

Chapter 14
The AVATAR Project

​

A Second Hyperspace War-era photo of Central Officer John Bradford (right) and Doctor Richard Tygan. (left) Behind them is the results of Dr. Tygan's research into the purpose of the AVATAR Project and the true nature of the Ethereal race. A deceased Ethereal is pictured on the screen behind Dr. Tygan.

Site X, Nevada
Saturday, June 30, 2035 – 8:00am


The next morning, I was woken up very early by Central Officer Bradford. I only had a few minutes to get dressed and report to the situation room.

The Site X situation room was much more cramped than usual. Every square inch of the walls was covered in maps, and those maps were covered in pins, tacks, strings and staples; all of which held in place an array of photos and notes. The middle of the room was occupied by a huge table, over which a gigantic map of the world had been laid. Honestly, it looked like the leaders of the Resistance were playing the most intense game of Risk in history.

Bradford escorted me right to this table, where four men and women were waiting for me. Commander Harper was in the middle of a tense discussion with the leaders of all three Resistance Factions: Volk of the Reapers, Betos of the Skirmishers, and Geist of the Templars. When Bradford and I arrived, all four of them stopped talking and looked at us.

“This is Lieutenant Robinson of the Stormbreaker Squad.” Bradford said. “His men are the ones who took down the Chosen Assassin at Pyongyang.”

“Good.” Said Geist. “Just the soldiers we’re going to need.”

“Lieutenant Robinson, this is Geist, leader of the Templar Order.” said Commander Harper. “He has some good news for you.”

I shook hands with Geist. A surge of electricity jumped along my arm and gave me a small shock, causing me to let go quickly.

“My men have discovered the whereabouts of your captured squadmates.” Geist told me. “Currently, they are split into two groups. The two men, Jake Green and Matthew Hawkins, are being held in a Gene Therapy clinic in Shenyang. We found the women, Sophie Ackermann, Kathleen Walsh, Holly Smith, and Tsubaki Endo in a Blacksite near Vladivostok.”

My heart started racing at the news! This was the first I’d heard about anything to do with the soldiers we’d lost in Pyongyang nearly two months ago!

“A Gene Therapy clinic?” I asked. “Why on Earth would Soylent and Alecto be there?”

“We believe ADVENT is attempting to reverse-engineer their enhancements.” Geist explained. “Captain Green possesses several Genetic Modifications, and Mister Hawkins used to be Gifted. Those details alone would get ADVENT’s attention. As for the women, my scouts inform me that they are being held in a much more secure facility. However, no fortress is impervious to attack. My men have been doing reconnaissance, and they have found a vulnerability in the enemy stronghold. We are coordinating the assault with your Commander.”

Commander Harper finished the briefing:

“Lieutenant Robinson, I want you to go back to your squad and pick three soldiers for the Shenyang raid and three more soldiers for the Vladivostok assault.”

…

“Me! Pick me!”

“I’ll go!”

“Lieutenant! I volunteer!”

As soon as I’d gathered the whole squad in the old Chief Field Agent’s office, everyone volunteered for both missions. Isis, Hal, Yutaka, Jericho, Chihiro, Odette, and Sophia were all eager for a chance to rescue their missing comrades.

“We are sure about their whereabouts?” Ignatius asked. “How confident are the Templars in their sources?”

“Commander Harper seemed certain.” I said. “The Resistance Council is confident enough to organize a raid, at any rate. We should be getting more information once the summit starts in an hour.”

Realizing I’d have to make the call myself, I pointed into the group and chose the strike teams.

“Jericho, Tachibana, Macintosh. You three are doing the Shenyang mission. Dekker, Yamamoto, and Fournier: You’re going to Russia. Kuznetsova, Petoskey and I will hold in reserve. We’re getting a whole squad of Resistance fighters to help us out. Song and Lee are coming back, plus we’re getting some help from the Chinese Resistance.”

“Shaojie Zhang?” Hal asked.

“One and the same.” I confirmed. “We’re not leaving anything to chance this time around. Commander Harper says we might have a chance to put the Chosen Assassin out of action permanently. We can’t afford to mess this up.”

…

It was go time. Nearly three hundred men, women, and hybrids crammed themselves into what had once been the Mission Control center. Converted into an amphitheater, we all seated ourselves in rows and rows of chairs, facing towards a large stage. A lone podium and projector screen stood side by side on the stage, facing towards the audience.

Yutaka Yamamoto, Ignatius Petoskey, and I were the only Stormbreakers to get a seat in the newly converted meeting hall. The rest of our squad was standing along the back wall. Resistance fighters and XCOM soldiers from all over the world found their places and faced toward the stage. After a moment, Commander Harper, Central Officer Bradford, Chief Shen, and Doctor Tygan all appeared onstage together. They all looked very grim.

“Lights.” Bradford ordered.

The meeting hall fell silent as the lights went out. The projector screen flickered as the projection system was brought on-line. Commander Harper stepped forward and addressed the crowd of guerillas and soldiers.

“Over the past two months, the situation around the world has changed. Now, we must change with it. The time has come for us to engage the enemy in open conventional warfare!”

Behind Commander Harper, a map of the world appeared on the screen. A large number red icons appeared in various locations on the globe, marking the locations of secret ADVENT facilities and military bases.

“For several months now,” Harper continued, “We have known that we were fighting against a ticking clock. The aliens had prioritized the completion of their AVATAR Project above all else, including the defeat of XCOM. Now, thanks to information gathered by our troops in the field and Intel provided by Jericho herself, we have learned the secret of the AVATAR Project, and in turn, our situation has become even more desperate.”

Doctor Tygan stepped forward.

“Two months ago, Lieutenant Blake Robinson and his Stormbreaker Squad raided an ADVENT Blacksite in the Aralkum desert and recovered a vial containing an unknown substance. After careful analysis, I found that the material contained within the Blacksite vial was in fact a slurry of genetic material, drawn from over two hundred thousand people. In a single moment, we found every civilian who had ever vanished into a Gene Therapy Clinic. Untold numbers of our people, processed and refined until nothing remained but this fluid.”

“The Stormbreaker Squad also recovered crucial files from the Blacksite.” Chief Shen added. “We determined that the aliens were seeking out Human genetic material for a very specific aspect of the AVATAR Project.”

“So they were harvesting us!?” Konstantine Volikov’s voice rang out from the crowd. “Grinding our whole species into a pulp?”

“Yes, they are.” Bradford said. “The aliens have been extracting genetic material from our bodies and disposing of the rest. The Gene Therapy Clinics, all of them, are a lie. ADVENT has been using the promise of free medical care to lure people inside the clinics. Then they screen our people for any genetic information that might be of interest to them.”

“If the Gene Therapy Clinic finds a promising Human,” Tygan continued. “That person is flagged for transport to a Blacksite, where they are processed. While I can guarantee that this processing is fatal, I cannot speak for what a person might experience or feel during those final hours. I’m not comfortable speculating on something as gruesome as that.”

On my left, Ignatius pre-emptively raised his Psionic Amplifier and projected a Calming Aura around the room. The general outrage that would have filled the room was reduced to low grumbling before Bradford continued.

“Once we knew ADVENT was collecting Human DNA, we started looking for anything these victims might have in common.”

“It didn’t take us long to find it.” Shen added.

“But the implications were horrifying.” Doctor Tygan finished.

Betos, a female ex-ADVENT soldier, raised her hand and spoke on behalf of the Skirmishers.

“So, what did all of the Gene Therapy victims have in common?”

Harper, Tygan, Bradford, and Shen all looked at one another, looking uncomfortable. Finally, Tygan answered the question:

“Psionic Aptitude. Every person who was taken for processing had the Gift.”

There was nothing Ignatius could do to calm the crowd this time. Soldiers rose from their seats to voice their collective anger! The uproar was greatest from the Templar delegation, who seemed to be on the verge of a riot.

“Monsters!” Geist shouted. “Defilers of the Earth! Unforgivable beasts!”

The other Templars voiced similar rage and fury. Just when it seemed like the meeting would descend into chaos, Commander Harper stepped towards the edge of the stage and screamed:

“SILENCE!!”

Psionic energy rippled out of the Commander and rebounded throughout the room! Everybody fell silent and slowly returned to their seats.

“I’m glad to see you realize how serious this situation is.” Commander Harper told the group at large. “But I don’t think you appreciate the scale. Millions of people have been funneled through ADVENT Blacksites over the past twenty years. It’s impossible to say for certain without a proper census, but Doctor Tygan and I have reason to believe that up to ninety percent of all Gifted Humans on Earth are now dead… and we know why.”

The meeting hall was completely silent. Next to me, I saw Ignatius go very pale. In the back of my mind, I sensed Chihiro silently mourn the untold number of nameless victims of the Gene Therapy Clinics.

“The information I’ve gathered over the past few weeks outweighs all previous developments, and is the reason we are now faced with a ‘ticking clock,’ as the Commander put it.” Tygan explained.

Clicking a remote control, Tygan changed the image on the screen. The map of the world was replaced by a picture of something that made me and several others recoil in horror! It was a twenty-year-old security video from XCOM’s old headquarters. In the video, Doctor Moria Vahlen, XCOM’s previous head scientist, was conducting an autopsy on a dead Ethereal. A yellow banner along the bottom of the screen said:

Enemy Unknown – Codename “Aether”
First Contact: June 5, 2015 (Curitiba, Brazil)
Killed by: Corporal Chihiro Tachibana (Plasma Pistol) ​

As she sliced the alien open and began to analyze its insides, Doctor Vahlen talked out loud. No doubt she was recording her thoughts for scientific purposes. The half-German, half-French woman voiced her thoughts on the Ethereal:

“This specimen appears to be at the top of the alien hierarchy, and for good reason. As we’ve noted in the field, its physical form is not suited for combat by any means. Their bodies actually appear to be quite frail, with evidence of atrophy and muscular degeneration having occurred over an extended period of time. This is not surprising, as initial radiocarbon dating indicates this particular creature to be… several thousand years old! Unlike other specimens we’ve examined, there is little to indicate that it was genetically enhanced, at least not with the same ambition as the others.”

Doctor Vahlen paused her speech and withdrew her tools from the alien corpse. She looked down on the deceased Ethereal with the expression of possibly unhinged fascination she was infamous for.

“Strangely enough, we have encountered similarities between the ‘Ethereal’ brain and that of the Sectoid.” Vahlen continued. “Both show the same enhanced synaptic connections, confirming our suspicion that this is likely the source of their power. These Elders seem to have an incredible pool of Psionic energy at their disposal… more than anything we’ve previously encountered, which helps to explain why the other species are subordinate to them.”

The video froze, and for the briefest moment, I found myself flashing back to that night in Brazil. I could see, plain as day, the wreckage of the Overseer UFO and the Ethereal emerging from it. I remembered Chihiro’s anguished scream as she fell under Mind Control. I remembered how the two of us had fought against one another until she could break free. Then we had both turned our weapons on the Ethereal.

Central Officer Bradford’s voice brought me back to reality.

“Who here can remember the last time they saw an Elder?” he asked. “Anywhere on Earth?”

Silence.

“Ten or eleven years ago.” Ignatius volunteered. “There was one in France.”

“Twelve years ago.” Geist said. “One briefly appeared in western Canada.”

“Ten years ago.” Pratal Mox of the Skirmishers chimed in. “Back when I was an ADVENT soldier, an Elder inspected my battalion in South Africa.”

“Precisely.” Bradford said. “Nobody has seen an Elder in over ten years. It’s because they’re dying.”

“The Elders… all of them… are afflicted with an aggressive form of tissue degeneration.” Tygan explained. “Rapid muscular atrophy to a degree I thought was physically impossible.”

“So that makes our job easier!” Jane Kelly shouted from the crowd. “The Elders are already dying! We just gotta give ADVENT a shove and the whole thing topples over!”

“As with most things involving this adversary, it’s never quite that simple.” Tygan responded. “It appears that the Elders have been aggressively searching for a cure to their condition for several centuries. Each time they encounter a new species, they procured what genetic information and material they required and moved on to the next world. Until now. The Elders have found something in Humanity, important enough that they have taken root on our world.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Yutaka roared. “We have the cure to their illness!?”

“It’s not that simple.” Commander Harper said. “Over the past two months, our forces have started to encounter a previously-unknown alien in the battlefield. One that possesses powers and abilities unlike anything we’ve seen before. The soldiers of Delta and Stormbreaker squads spotted one briefly during the firefight in Kanna two months ago, and since then the number of sightings has only risen.”

Commander Harper clicked her remote and a new image appeared on the screen behind her. A picture of a strange-looking being appeared. This new alien vaguely resembled a human female and had long white hair. Its face was hidden behind a mask, it wielded some kind of Psionic weapon. The caption beneath the picture said:

Enemy Unknown – Codename “Primarch”
First Contact: May 5, 2035 (Kanna, Japan)
Killed by: (Not Applicable)​

“For a time, we were calling this creature the ‘Psi Witch.’” Bradford said. “But after analyzing more data from the ADVENT Blacksite and cross-referencing it with captured enemy Intel, we can now say with one-hundred percent confidence that this creature is the final product of the AVATAR Project.”

A member of the artificial "Avatar" species. These hybrid beings are the end product of the AVATAR Project and were created at the expense of an unknowable number of Human lives. (Presumably in the tens of millions)

“Humanoid in form,” Tygan explained, “the physical attributes of the Avatar specimen are, on the surface, wholly unremarkable. It has a musculature system similar to that of a young adult Human, with no obvious genetic adulterations to enhance its physical strength or agility. At this point I can only surmise that the aliens focused entirely on what lies beneath the Avatar’s seemingly ordinary structure.”

Commander Harper offered to translate Science into English:

“What Doctor Tygan is trying to say is that the Elders have constructed a whole new form of life. This is an entirely new species that did not exist prior to the invasion of our world. This is a nearly perfect Human-Ethereal hybrid, comparable to the one sitting in our midst this morning.”

There was a loud rumbling noise as chairs and bodies turned. Everyone in the room stared at Jericho. She puffed out her cheeks and let out a big exhale, keeping her eyes locked on the picture of the Avatar. Jericho walked down the middle of the room until she was standing just in front of the stage. Then she turned around and looked at the crowd.

“I know what most of you are thinking.” She said. “I’m not an Avatar.”

“She is quite correct.” Doctor Tygan contributed. “As best we can tell from captured enemy Intel, the scientists behind the AVATAR Project were aware of our own Jericho Project. Documents relating to this girl’s creation were captured by the enemy during the loss of our previous base. It’s safe to assume that ADVENT copied our notes and have at least partially duplicated our work. The Avatar itself can easily be described as a heavily modified copy of Jericho, but it has been designed for a different purpose. A purpose we still don’t know, although I am now certain it has to do with the imminent extinction of the Ethereal race.”

“How do you know for certain that there’s a connection between the Avatar and the Ethereals dying out?” Geist asked.

“Because three days ago,” Bradford said. “We received this message from an old friend.”

Commander Harper clicked the remote one more time. Behind the Avenger’s bridge crew, the screen lit up with a familiar image as another video began to play.

A figure, seen only in silhouette, looked out of the screen at all of us, his hands folded together on a tabletop. Many of us knew who this individual was, but had never met him in person. This was the former Spokesman of the Council of Nations, the shadowy organization that had bankrolled XCOM during its early years. Now, he was wearing the uniform of a high-ranking member of the ADVENT Government.

​

The Spokesman of the Council of Nations, pictured in June of 2035. The Council of Nations was a shadowy organization that came into existence sometime after the 1962 Zudjari Invasion of Earth. The Council was the primary financial backer of XCOM until the 2015 Conquest of Earth. Throughout this period of time, the Council Spokesman (or Councilman, for short) spoke to XCOM on behalf of the Council. In September of 2015, the Council of Nations swore its allegiance to the alien invaders. Every member of the Council was granted a high-ranking position within the ADVENT Government. However, the Spokesman became a spy, using his new position to secretly feed crucial Intel to XCOM.

“Hello Commander.” The Spokesman began. “You and your crew are to be commended. Your efforts in unifying the Resistance have been admirable. I only wish I had better news to report. ADVENT is not taking their defeat at Saturn lightly and in turn have begun to accelerate the final stages of the AVATAR Project. Their goal is to complete the work before the new alien fleet arrives above our world. A plan is now in place for the rapid processing of all non-essential human life. To begin immediately.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Nervous chatter erupted all around the meeting hall as soldiers looked at one another frantically. Bradford shouted:

“At ease!”

After a pause in which silence was restored, the Councilman continued:

“Twenty days from now, the Speaker of the ADVENT government will announce a breakthrough in Gene Therapy. It will be called ‘the final treatment for the Human condition.’ Billions of people will be encouraged to visit Gene Therapy clinics around the world. They will never return. By the time the alien fleet arrives at Earth, Humankind will be extinct.”

All across the room, there were scattered cries of:

“No!”

“Alien bastards!”

“The Xenos are gonna kill us all!”

“SHUT UP!” Bradford hollered.

“I have managed to secure tactical data and access codes to the ADVENT Network Tower, located in the Berlin Megacity.” The Spokesman went on. “The Speaker’s address will be broadcast live to a global audience via this facility. Every television screen on Earth will show the speech. It is this hubris that we must use against them. The information I have sent to you should allow your forces to take control of the transmission and disrupt their entire network from within.”

Onstage, Tygan and Shen gave each other nervous looks.

“This disruption will, I hope, cause confusion amongst the enemy forces and allow you to launch the Global Offensive. I only ask one more thing, and I will ask it of every man and woman who fights for XCOM and the Resistance: Take what you have learned. Let the world know what is happening here. Wake them up. Broadcast the truth before there is no one left to listen. Good luck, Commander.”

The screen went blank. For once, the crowd of soldiers and guerrillas had nothing to say. Commander Harper spoke into the stunned silence.

“It took the combined genetic material from nearly two hundred thousand people to make one Avatar.” The Commander said. “Our intel suggests there might be at least three of these things running around. If ADVENT carries out their plan and processes all four billion people in the Megacities, they’ll be able to manufacture an army of these things, but it won’t matter to us. Unless we act right now, Mankind will be extinct in two weeks. This is it. This is our endgame. Everyone listen up!”

The map of the world re-appeared on the big screen.

“Chief Shen and Doctor Tygan have cracked open the Psionic Gate we recovered in Kanna.” The Commander began. “They believe we can use it to launch a strike against the Elder’s seat of power. However, if we charge straight into the Elder’s citadel, we’ll no doubt be facing off against a very heavy security force. To that end, we’re going to force ADVENT to overextend themselves as much as possible.”

Harper clicked the remote. Over a hundred-fifty red dots appeared on the map, accompanied by the words:

Operation Crack the Sky – Simultaneous Assaults on 116 Cities and Towns
Operation Shake the Earth – Simultaneous Assaults on 47 Military Bases​

Three hundred people gasped at once. It sounded like all of the air was being sucked out of the room!

“This is insane!” Ivan Kuznetsov yelled.

“You want us to plan and execute a world-wide offensive in less than two weeks!?” Russian General Artyom Sidrov shouted. “Are you out of your mind!?”

“I wish I was.” Commander Harper replied with grim seriousness. “The fact is that this new situation has made us desperate. I only had three days to put together this operation, so I studied a few similar situations in military history for guidance. The American Civil War, the Japanese invasion of China, and perhaps most crucial of all, the Vietnam War.”

A wave of understanding washed over the room. Konstantine Volikov stood up and pointed at the map.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he said. “Your plan to save Humanity is based on the Tet Offensive!?”

“I seem to remember that offensive being successful.” Said a Canadian guerrilla. “It worked!”

“Yeah, but the cost was astronomical!” countered a Chinese freedom fighter. “The Vietnamese took over a hundred thousand casualties!”

“And if we scale this thing up to a global level…” Geist said. “We’re talking about a worldwide conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people could die. Possibly millions.”

“I don’t like this plan much either, Geist.” Said Bradford. “But it’s our only option. Either we bring the fight to ADVENT now or we lose everything.”

“When this offensive is launched,” Harper went on. “ADVENT will be forced to fight in hundreds of simultaneous battles all over the world. Our propaganda arm will try to foment as much insurrection as possible, so it’s possible we could turn this uprising into a full-scale planetary rebellion. This massive battle will be such a distraction that the Elders will send some of their security forces into the fight, making their fortress easier to assault.”

“How can you guarantee that?” Isis asked.

Commander Harper pointed to three dots on the map in turn.

“Not only are we going to hit ADVENT military sites all over the world, we’re going to lay siege to the personal fortresses of all three of the Chosen. If that doesn’t get the Elder’s attention, nothing will.”

“The Chosen don’t seem to like one another.” Bradford added. “They’ve never been seen supporting each other and we have no reason to think they’ll start doing that now. The Reapers have tracked the Chosen Hunter to a fortress in the Bavarian Alps. The Skirmishers found the Assassin’s Stronghold in the Russian Far East, and according to the Templars, the Warlock has set up shop in the Cascade Mountains. The plan is to hit all three of them at once. With luck, we might put one or two of the Chosen out of action permanently.”

“While all of these assaults are going on,” Harper concluded. “A strike team will travel through the Psionic Gateway and take the fight directly to the Elders in their own home, wherever it is. Hopefully, by neutralizing the Elders and disrupting the ADVENT government and military, we might just stop this final processing of Humanity long enough for the new aliens to get here and help us.”

Harper paused, took a deep breath, and finished her speech:

“That’s why I’ve called this summit, brought so many leaders together. I need to impress upon all of you the seriousness of this situation. We’re up against a countdown timer with no chance to reset the clock. Either we put everything we’ve got into this final fight or it’s all over. We will all lose, and then we’ll die. Can I count on your support?”

At once, on the far end of the room, US President Alexis Alexander stood up.

“I have four divisions and three regiments of semi-professional troops with equipment.” She said. “You’ll have them on D-Day.”

Several other foreign freedom fighters stood up!

“Germany will contribute a Battalion! Tell us where to find the Hunter's fortress!”

“China can give a field army plus two Corps! They will be ready in a week!”

“South Africa stands ready. We have three Battalions hidden where ADVENT cannot find them!”

I was shocked.

“Holy shit. Did you guys know so many of the Old World Governments were still around?”

“I knew about a few.” Ignatius admitted. “But I never could have guessed there were so many!”

Five more foreign delegates stood. Mexico, Britain, Argentina, Nigeria, and Russia were committed to the plan. After that, Australia, India, Iran, Brazil, France, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Venezuela, Japan, Kenya, and Vietnam had all contributed something to the upcoming fight.

I noticed a trend: the only Old-World governments or militaries who had survived the invasion were the ones that had both a very large population and a large amount of territory in which to hide. Many of the smaller nations seemed to have been wiped out. Counting on my fingers as the pledges came in, I realized the total number of troops and weapons XCOM would have at its disposal during the final fight, just as Chief Shen pulled out paper and a pen and started adding up the numbers herself.

“Commander,” Chief Shen said excitedly. “If everyone pulls through, we’ll have just under one million soldiers on the battlefield.”

Commander Harper looked around the room one last time. Every Old World nation who had a delegation at the summit had committed some troops or weapons to the cause. The Reapers, Skirmishers, and Templars were all committed as well. XCOM and the rest of the global Resistance had been rallied. Shen’s numbers would be final.

“Thank you all for your contributions.” Harper said. “I realize that we’re working against the clock here, so I won’t talk for much longer. Before everyone leaves here today, my Central Officer will give you two-way communication devices that will allow you to stay in direct contact with the Avenger. I ask that each delegation sends one representative to my office after I dismiss the main group. I’ll give more detailed information on troop placements, regional targets and objectives, also I’ll tell you what the ‘go signal’ is so that nobody launches the assault early. To the rest of you, I wish you luck. God willing, we’ll all meet again when the Earth is free.”

…


Airspace above the Pacific Ocean
Saturday, June 30, 2035 – 4:45pm


It took less than six hours for the Resistance to tear down its meeting place and erase all evidence of its presence. Just after midday, we turned our backs on the Nevada Desert and were ready to leave. According to Commander Harper, the Avenger would be transporting the soldiers of XCOM to Manchuria. The Global Offensive would be coordinated and commanded from there. By the time the Avenger lifted off from the desert floor and began heading west towards the Pacific Ocean, the afternoon sun was still hanging high in the summer sky.

When XCOM’s flagship is in flight, there’s actually very little for soldiers like me to do. Mostly we just try to stay out of the way of the flight crew. Engineers needed full access to the hallways as they moved about, doing what needed to be done to keep this twenty-year-old alien supply barge in flight.

During the first few hours of the flight, I hung out in the dual bar and cafeteria, listening to a war story being told by a member of Echo Squad. After a while, I meandered down to Engineering and saw that Chief Shen was putting the finishing touches on a whole squad of SPARK-class MEC Troopers. I didn’t stick around long to watch. Julian was online and he was watching me the entire time.

When we were over the middle Pacific, I found Jericho down on the lower levels, peering out of a window. Looking down on the ocean below, Jericho explained that we were passing near Kure Atoll, the northernmost point in her home country of Hawaii.

“We have over a hundred-thirty islands.” Jericho explained. “But I’ve only ever seen three or four of them.”

We both looked out the window and saw three of Hawaii’s northernmost islands race past below us: Eastern Island and Sand Island were right next to one another, and were part of the Midway Atoll. According to the history books, a great battle had been fought on those islands about ninety years ago. Finally, we spotted Kure Atoll. It was tiny spit of land that was so small, I wondered if the whole island would collapse into the ocean if the Avenger tried to land on it. Jericho sighed and mumbled something about being homesick. I suggested she get some sleep and moved on.

All over the ship, I found soldiers who were doing their best to make themselves scarce. With nothing to do until we landed, most troops had packed into the bar and were drinking themselves into oblivion. Others had clustered into groups and were chatting away. A few had fallen asleep in the meditation cells of the Psi Lab. This gave me an idea. I closed my eyes and began repeating the same thought in my mind over and over again:

Chihiro. What are you up to? Wanna hang out?

For about five minutes, I sat down in a corner of the Guerrilla Tactics School and just repeated those words in my mind again and again. Owing to how big the Avenger was and how many people were on board, this was a much faster and more effective way of finding my new wife. Finally, she responded.

Hey, I was just starting to think about you! I’m hiding from Bradford right now. He’s giving busywork to any soldier he catches napping.

Sounds like him. Do you think anyone’s in that hiding space above the Elerium Core?

I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones who know about it, Blake. Gimme ten minutes. You bring the pillows. Blankets are on me.

It wasn’t the first time Chihiro and I had visited the crawlspace above the Elerium Core. It’s a passageway that allows engineers to access the top of the ship’s primary power source. However, Doctor Tygan had developed an easier way to do maintenance on the core, which meant that this crawlspace was never used again… almost.

Every once in a while, Chihiro and I had visited here to hang out alone. The crawlspace itself was wide enough for four or five people, but so short that everyone except a small child would have to crawl on their hands and knees to get anywhere. The upshot of this place was that it was always very warm. Heat rose from the Elerium Core and kept the crawlspace permanently toasty. I’d long since lost count of how many naps I’ve had in here.

Chihiro had secured a couple of blankets from the living area and I had snatched a pair of pillows from my bunk bed. We were ready to spend the rest of the trip to China up here. The two of us stayed awake for about an hour, enjoying one another’s company and laughing about how this was our first moment alone as a married couple. Finally, the cozy warmth of the room and heavy blankets got the better of us. Almost at the same time, we drifted off in each other’s arms…

I had a downright frightening dream.

I dreamt I was back in World War Three, fighting on the Japanese Front. It was the Battle of Ichinoseki, when the Soviets had broken through our defensive lines and started their rampage across Honshu Island. In front of me were the rice fields on the north side of town. Behind me was a mountain pass containing the road to Sendai, one of Japan’s most important cities. All around me, battle was raging. American and Japanese soldiers fought side by side against an advancing horde of Russian soldiers and tanks. Enemy helicopters roared overhead, blasting our side with miniguns and rocket pods.

A loud rattle of gunfire caught my attention. A Soviet soldier was charging at me! The bayonet on his rifle gleamed in the sunlight! The blue beret on his head gave him away as a member of the elite Spetsnaz. I dodged his attack just in time! With no weapon of my own, the Russian and I grappled desperately for control of his rifle! Reaching forward, I pulled a hand grenade out of the enemy soldier’s pouch, swung my fist wide and struck him in the head with it!

For a moment, the two of us paused. The Spetsnaz soldier rubbed his head with one hand and glared at me. I pulled my arm back, ready to throw the man’s own grenade back to him.

But before we could start fighting again, we were both distracted. The sunlight suddenly went away! As the battlefield was suddenly bathed in darkness, we both looked up. Something huge had filled the sky! Some kind of rectangular thing had blocked out all but a small sliver of the sun and had cast the world into shadow! Then something drew my attention back to my immediate surroundings.

The Spetsnaz soldier had raised his rifle, aiming towards something on my right. Turning to look, I saw… a monster. It was massive hulking creature, a hideous amalgamation of flesh and technology. Cybernetic implants protruded gruesomely out of scarred tissue in all sorts of configurations. I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a machine with flesh, or at a living being fused with technology. The monster looked down on both of us in a way that told me it was hostile.

The Spetsnaz soldier unholstered a pistol and tossed it over to me. Together, the two of us raised our weapons and prepared to fight the new monster. It roared at us! The sound was louder than the combined blasts from our firearms! Then, with one swipe of its cybernetic arm, the abomination struck us both down! It felt like I was hit with a baseball bat! I tried to stand up, but my arms and legs refused to move! It was like all of my muscles were cramped! I was just starting to panic when I heard a voice:

“Blake! Wake up! Come back to me!”

The giant bio-mechanical monster raised its arm to strike me again! I tried to move, but I was frozen in place!

“Come on Blake! I know you’re in there!”

The abomination brought its fist down and I raised both of my hands to block it! At once, the monster changed as the entire dream fell away! In the darkness, I grappled with a silhouette! Resisting the unknown creature’s assault, I shouted!

“Let me go!”

The dark creature spoke to me in a voice that filled every fiber of my body with fear:

“I admire your tenacity, your courage in the face of what must be a terrifying realization. Soon you will face the end, one way or another.”

And the creature came into the light… I was face-to-face with the Chosen Assassin.

“For all of your efforts you cannot stop the Elder's will!” The Assassin declared! “Soon the AVATAR Project will be complete. Soon you will be saved! We will all be saved!”

And then some invisible force began to pull us apart! The Chosen Assassin retreated into the shadows while I was pulled backwards by my arms! Up and out of the abyss! Back into the light!

…

Ignatius, Chihiro, Jericho, Akira, and Yutaka were standing over me, all looking terrified! Chihiro and Ignatius were both pointing Psionic Amplifiers at my head! Akira was gripping her right wrist with her left hand and pointing her free palm at me. A swirling orb of Psi energy was hovering in front of her hand, waiting for Akira’s next mental command. Yutaka had leveled a Laser Pistol at my chest, and Jericho was gripping my forearm tightly in both hands.

“He’s coming back!” Ignatius gasped. “The Assassin is withdrawing!”

“Hit him again!” Akira shouted. “We need to be certain!”

“Sorry, Blake!” Jericho groaned before another powerful shock hit me like a speeding car!

My back arced and I screamed until I couldn’t breathe! My head hit the metal floor and stars swam in front of my eyes!

“Grah! Fuck!” I yelled. “What happened!?”

Looking around me, I saw fit to add:

“And where the hell am I?”

Jericho’s bioelectric skin crackled and hummed as she discharged herself and stood up.

“You don’t remember?” Jericho asked. “You’re in the Shadow Chamber. You walked into the cafeteria and spoke to me… or I guess the Chosen Assassin did. She had you like a puppet on a string the whole time.”

“What happened?”

“You confronted Jericho.” Chihiro said. “Said some threatening stuff from what I heard. Anyway, Jericho noticed you were being possessed.”

“I tried to break the Assassin’s control,” Jericho explained. “And you got… really violent. It was a big fight, and you hurt a few people. We had to let Akira out of the Brig so she could help corral you.”

Relaxing, the swirling orb in Akira's hand vanished and she discharged her unused Psi energy as heat, causing the air around her to shimmer for a moment. Akira folded her arms and shrugged.

“I told the Commander I’ve dealt with people possessed by the Assassin before.” The time-traveler admitted. “Offered to help, and Harper let me come up here and give the Chosen a swift kick out of your mind.”

“Right.” I grumbled.

I sat up and noticed we weren’t alone in the Shadow Chamber. Nearly a dozen heavily armed XCOM soldiers had surrounded us, and Central Officer Bradford was guarding the door. He was armed with a wicked-looking Assault Rifle and was watching me very closely.

“Who did I hurt?”

“No one’s dead, and you didn’t do any permanent damage.” Chihiro said. “You gave Anna Petrova a big black eye. Also, you stabbed Pyotr Ilyshin in the arm, punched Alexei Volobyov in the gut, and hit Sophia on the head with a hand grenade. Scared the crap out of us with that one.”

Ignatius and Jericho knelt down next to me. The both gave me the same serious expression.

“Robinson, this is important.” Ignatius began. “We searched the entire ship as soon as you were subdued.”

“We combed the place from top to bottom.” Jericho added. “I swear to you: The Assassin is not on board. We need to know how and when she placed you under Mind Control.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Ignatius asked.

I clammed up. In the back of my mind, I felt a wave of humiliation wash over Chihiro as well.

“Uh…” I hesitated, trying to think of a mostly-truthful answer that would protect Chihiro’s privacy.

When I didn’t answer, Jericho held up a hand to Ignatius and said:

“I’ll do it.”

She was in and out of my head in less than a second! I tried to close off my mind to her, but it was no good. Realizing what she’d just seen in the forefront of my memory, Jericho blushed and giggled nervously.

“Oh… uh, okay then.” She said. “So you were… fraternizing with someone... until about half an hour ago, and then you… took a midday nap, and then you woke up here?”

I tripped over my words, I was so embarrassed.

“yuh… yeah. I-I was asleep until… yeah. I was sleeping.”

Over her shoulder, I could see Chihiro. Her face had turned bright red and she was standing still in a far corner of the room, facing towards the wall and silently hoping no one would press the topic further. Luckily for her, Ignatius was taking his thoughts down a different path.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Ignatius scratched his beard and thought out loud. “I’ve never heard of a person being put under Mind Control while they were asleep.”

“Until a week ago, I didn’t think it was possible.” Jericho said.

The two Gifted soldiers pulled me upright and helped me back to my feet.

“Why?” I asked. “If you’re taking control of someone, does it really matter if they’re conscious or not?”

“Absolutely.” Ignatius answered. “Attempting to commandeer an unconscious mind with a conscious one is… paradoxical. Self-contradicting.”

“The victim has to be awake for Mind Control to work.” Jericho explained. “Which means the Assassin was doing something else to you… something that doesn’t require her to be close by. Like I said, we’re a hundred percent certain she’s not on the ship right now, and we're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so she's probably really far away right now.”

Ignatius and Jericho looked at one another again. They seemed to be having a telepathic conversation. Finally, they both nodded their heads in agreement and parted ways.

“I’m gonna talk to some people, Blake.” Said Jericho. “See you later.”

While Ignatius spoke to Bradford, passing along the word that I was safe now, Chihiro and I had a quick word with Akira.

“I guess I owe you some thanks.” I mumbled.

“I’m just happy to be helpful.” Akira replied. “I’ve been trying my best to be useful around here. I heard Harper used a lot of the info I gave her at the summit meeting?”

“That was you!?” Chihiro gasped. "You're where Harper got her Intel!?

“It was partially me.” Akira admitted. “Harper and Bradford already had the pieces. I just helped them solve the puzzle.”

I raised my eyebrows at Akira. I still hadn’t forgotten all of the horrible things I’d seen in her mind. It was my constant reminder of those things that convinced Bradford to keep her in the brig for the past two months. Reading my mind, Akira said:

“Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? I swear, I’m genuinely trying to help you guys. I really hope you can start to trust me soon.”

“We’ll see about that.” I said. “For now, I’d be much more likely to trust you if you were back in the brig.”

Akira nodded.

“Fine. I’ll talk to you after Shenyang.”

Akira turned to leave the Shadow Chamber and was almost at the door when she turned around and added:

“Later, Jericho! You gonna drop by the brig and say hi later?”

Jericho shrugged.

“Maybe. I’ve got a date tonight. If it ends early I’ll stop by.”

So much had happened in the past ten minutes or so, and I wanted to know more about anything and everything that had just transpired. But as Chihiro and I left the Shadow Chamber and started the trek to the Infirmary, the only question I could focus on was: When did Jericho and Akira become friends!?

<== Previous Chapter (Drums in the Deep)

Next Chapter (Born in the Darkness) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

Now, that is some big stakes...

Starting this week, the fate of Humanity is on the line. That's how high the stakes are... and we're less than halfway through this story.
======

<== Previous Chapter (The AVATAR Project)

Next Chapter (Fallen Angel) ==>​

Chapter 15
Born in the Darkness

​

Friday, July 13, 2035 – 1:15am
Megacity of Shenyang, Manchuria, East Asia


A 7.62-millimeter bullet careened across the darkened sky! Whistling through the air like an angry hornet, it rocketed across hills and roads, over rooftops and street signs. It sailed above the heads of unsuspecting animals, the sound of its flight sending the local fauna into a panicked frenzy! Moving at breakneck speed, the lone bullet whipped over the walls of the Shenyang Gene Therapy Clinic, approached a fourth story window, smashed through the glass and struck the Chief of Security hard enough to knock him backwards. Stumbling and reeling, the man tumbled backwards, fell over the railing, and crashed to the lobby sixty feet below!

The other security guards barely had time to realize what had happened when the clinic’s front gate was blasted open by a powerful explosive and four lightly-armed guerilla fighters stormed the facility!

High up on a hill, Chihiro and I finally relaxed, releasing a vast amount of tension that had built up over the past ten minutes. Chihiro let her M24 sniper rifle fall to the ground and put her head in her hands. Laying flat on her stomach on the grassy hilltop, Chihiro screamed into her hands and began taking deep breaths.

“I can’t believe I just did that!” she gasped. “Holy shit! Did I really just make that shot!?”

As if in answer to her question, the radio on my belt let out a static-filled crackle before the voice of Central Officer Bradford came out of the speaker:

“Trojan, this is Central. When you’re done celebrating over there, tell Blue Dragon that she just broke the record for Japan’s longest confirmed sniper kill. Total distance: Thirteen-hundred-ninety-five meters.”

“Just tell the rest of Zhang’s squad to save some bad guys for us!” I shouted into the radio. “Chi, let’s go!”

Standing up quickly, we began to pack up our gear. I snatched up the telescope I’d been using to spot targets with and threw it in the back of a twenty-year-old off-road vehicle. Chihiro dropped her old conventional sniper rifle into the backseat, trading it for her new Laser Sniper Rifle. I jumped into the driver’s seat and fired up the engine. As she clambered into the front passenger seat, I asked:

“You got everything? You ready?”

“Its two miles to the rendezvous point.” Chihiro said. “We’ve got a full tank of gas, half-a-dozen grenades, its dark, and we’re wearing superhero armor.”

“Let’s rock’n’roll!” I cheered.

I gunned the engine and the Humvee tore off down the forest path! In mere seconds, we were out of the wilderness and in the suburbs of Shenyang, one of ADVENT’s Megacities.

Smoke and flames filled the sky! The sounds of gunfire reverberated around the corners of buildings and drowned out everything else! Pristine streets were chocked with debris and wreckage, while bodies of Humans and aliens alike were strewn about. Shenyang had become a warzone!

Chihiro gripped the dashboard in front of her and held on for dear life as I negotiated our Humvee through the battlefield. Hundreds, no, thousands of civilians were fleeing for their lives! Men carried as much of their possessions as possible in the backpacks while women and children clasped hands and escaped together. Whole streets were shut down as throngs of people fled from the fighting!

“Who’s the idiot that launched the attack too early!?” Chihiro shouted over the noise of the engine! “D-Day’s not for another two days!”

“That moron had better hope ADVENT gets him before we do!” I yelled back, “Chi, that’s the road we need! Clear me a path!”

I pulled the Humvee out into the middle of a huge downtown intersection. We were surrounded on all sides by the silver and white high-rise buildings that dominated the Mega-Cities. A gold statue of an Elder looked down on us from one corner while an automated propaganda message played from a nearby café:

“Welcome to Shenyang. Together we can build a better tomorrow! Don’t forget to give thanks to the Elders, and do your part to ensure our community stays clean!”

A huge mob of men and women fleeting the battle had taken up a whole street. They pushed past our Humvee frantically, trying to get away from the sound of explosions. When a little Chinese boy grabbed the handle of the driver’s side door, I quickly engaged the combat locks and shook my head at him. Meanwhile, Chihiro had clambered up into the gunner’s seat and had opened up the turret hatch. She seized the controls of the .50 caliber machinegun, pointed the weapon into the sky, and held the trigger down!

RATTA-TATTA-RATTA!!

The panicking crowd all ducked down and moved away from our Humvee.

“Back off!” Chihiro screamed at the crowd. “Back the fuck off and clear the road!”

The mob parted and I floored the accelerator! Barreling down the road at a fast clip, I saw a group of people standing in front of a burning ADVENT Army checkpoint. Six Chinese Resistance fighters waved us through the checkpoint as we approached.

“We just got pushed out of the Shenhe District!” One of the freedom fighters told us. “The aliens are bringing up armored vehicles and mobile artillery!”

“Don’t stay out here!” I told him. “Find some hard cover!”

I was just about to drive through the checkpoint when I heard the dull thunk thunk thunk of magnetic rifle fire! The Humvee lurched violently as one of its wheels deflated!

“What the hell!?”

“Faceless!” Chihiro screamed from the turret! “That guy’s a Faceless!”

I kicked open the driver’s side door and threw myself out of the Humvee. The hot, sooty air of urban warfare was all too familiar to me. Not wasting a moment, I ran around the side of the Humvee and saw what was happening:

One of the Chinese Resistance fighters had turned his weapon against us! Two of his comrades were lying on the pavement, bleeding out. The man himself was firing his Magnetic Rifle into the side of our Humvee, determined to destroy something!

“Hey, shapeshifter!” I shouted. “Come and fight me, asshole!”

The man looked at me and then gave up all pretense of being Human. The alien shapeshifter began to contort and twist gruesomely, growing taller and sending a foul-smelling pink paste flying in all directions. I drew my Alloy Cannon and readied up.

Very little is known about the alien creature known as "the Faceless." (pictured above) The Faceless are shapeshifters, able to disguise themselves as almost any other organic being and can convincingly mimic most languages and speech patterns. The Galactic Community generally agrees that the Faceless originally belonged to some unknown species, but were subjected to such intense genetic modification that it may be impossible to ever match them with their genetic ancestors.

The Faceless, now back in its normal form, stood nearly twelve feet tall and looked down on us. The few surviving Resistance fighters, Chihiro, and I all raised our weapons and unleashed hell against the enemy infiltrator! Bullets, Gauss Slugs, and a red-hot laser beam all connected with the Faceless and caused it to lurch backwards. For just a second, I thought we’d gotten it, but then the Faceless righted itself and raised one clawed hand high.

“Down!” I shouted.

I threw myself to the ground just as the Faceless brought its huge appendage down on us! An earsplitting BANG almost deafened me and was quickly followed by a loud scream! I rolled over to see that our Humvee was now engulfed in flames!

“CHIHIRO!”

The burning vehicle lurched one more time and a figure emerged! Chihiro, enveloped by flames, stepped out of the burning wreckage! Her new power armor had kept her safe from the flames, but her black hair was now noticeably singed. She had thrown her rifle aside and raised one hand towards the sky! Psionic energy swirled around the Faceless, which grabbed its head with both hands and made a loud half-strangled roar! Then the alien seemed to relax, and it became docile. The surviving Resistance fighters glanced nervously from Chihiro to the Faceless and back again. Not breaking eye contact with the alien, Chihiro said:

“Mind Control. I’ve got him for now, but I don’t know how long I can keep him under. Blake, we’ve gotta move!”

“Tell that thing to take a long walk off a short pier!” I said. “We’ve got somewhere to be!”

The tall alien turned away from us and held still. Chihiro drew her Shadowkeeper and fired once into the back of its head! The Faceless keeled over and slammed into the pavement hard enough to crack the sidewalk!

Leaving the Chinese freedom fighters to tend to their wounded, Chihiro and I resumed our trip deeper into the Megacity…

Without the Humvee, Chihiro and I had to make the rest of our journey on foot. It was a long, difficult trek, but it was one we were more than capable of making. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) this wasn’t our first time on an urban battlefield. Our shared experiences from the Japanese Front of World War Three served the two of us well as we navigated the war-torn streets of Shenyang, and pressed on towards our rendezvous point.

The Sendai Campaign taught us to avoid crossing main roads without some kind of cover or concealment, as enemy snipers would often Overwatch these areas. We darted and dashed between wrecked vehicles and bomb craters, never running in a straight line.

The Sacking of Osaka reminded us that every doorway needed to be checked and if possible, blocked up. Chihiro smashed a bathroom mirror and created an improvised periscope. She attached it to the barrel of her Laser Sniper Rifle and used to check around doors and corners. Once they were cleared, we used whatever furniture or wreckage was available to jam up every doorway we left behind.

The Encirclement of Kyoto gave us a crash course in muzzle awareness and trigger discipline. Nearly all of these buildings were inhabited by dozens of civilians who simply wanted to avoid the fight. It took all of our patience and discipline to avoid accidentally shooting an innocent person. There were several close calls, one of which involved a small child holding a toy gun.

And of course, the Siege of Hiroshima had put the fear of vehicles into the both of us. At the slightest indication of an approaching truck or tank, Chihiro and I went to ground, hiding in basements and subway entrances until the enemy had passed.

Much of the fighting in Shenyang was from building to building. Resistance and XCOM fighters had holed up in apartment complexes, houses, and high-rise buildings; while the enemy was moving slowly, clearing out one structure at a time before moving on to the next one.

Throughout our long walk to the rendezvous point, Chihiro and I only got into one firefight: A squad of ADVENT Peacekeepers, under the command of a Sectoid, spotted us and opened fire. We scrambled and took cover inside of the ruins of a supermarket. Hiding amidst the smashed isles, Chihiro and I were able to separate the Sectoid commander from his troops and gun him down. Then Chihiro crawled up to the roof and picked off the rest of the squad with her Laser Sniper Rifle one by one while I drew their attention to the far side of the compound.

At long last, after nearly three hours of running, hiding, and fighting, we reached the rendezvous point: An apartment building directly across the street from the Shenyang Gene Therapy Clinic… which was currently under siege.

The clinic had been surrounded by nearly a hundred enemy soldiers; their ranks augmented with MEC troopers. An ADVENT dropship was circling the compound and shining a spotlight into windows. Chihiro and I weren’t going straight there, though. We turned down an alleyway and slipped in the back entrance of an apartment complex.

…

“You’re nearly two hours late!” General Shaojie Zhang snapped at me as Chihiro and I slunk into the apartment building’s lobby. “We were starting to think you were dead!”

“Could have been, but we’re not.” Chihiro quipped. “What’s the situation here?”

General Zhang wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by nearly two dozen Chinese Resistance fighters. Nearly all of them looked as though they’d seen plenty of battle already. Men and women were reloading and repairing their weapons, inspecting their armor, and doing one last check on their equipment. Every single fighter was wearing the colors and tattoos of the local Triad gangs.

“Four of my men have entered the Clinic.” Zhang told us. “They found the holding area and have made contact with both of your men. I’m told that Captain Green and Lieutenant Hawkins are both alive and in good health. They are ready for evacuation. I’ve called the Avenger and asked for your Skyranger to be sent in to pick them up.”

“I’m sensing a complication here.” Chihiro groaned. “What happened?”

Zhang nodded grimly.

“The Chosen Hunter is here.” He said. “He ambushed my men during the initial assault. Your Skyranger had to fly back to the Avenger and pick up an additional squad of XCOM soldiers. The reinforcements arrived about ten minutes before you did.”

Zhang held up a two-way radio and showed it to us.

“We’re just waiting for the word that your teammates have driven the Hunter off before we make our move.”

As soon as Zhang had mentioned the Chosen Hunter, Chihiro had darted to a nearby window and was now scanning the surrounding cityscape with her Sniper Rifle, keeping an eye out for the enemy. I pointed to the radio and asked:

“Who did Bradford send to help? Echo Squad?”

Zhang shook his head.

“Actually, Bradford said he was deploying a ‘Special Force.’

“Special Force?” I repeated, confused.

“A two-woman fireteam.” Zhang explained. “Jericho and someone codenamed ‘Paradox’ or something like that. Its definitely someone from the Japanese Resistance, that’s for sure.”

I felt my gut turn over. I didn’t know anybody in XCOM with the callsign “Paradox,” but I had a very good hunch as to who that name had been applied to.

“Wait a minute, weren’t there supposed to be three of you?”

Zhang’s voice brought me back to reality. It took him long enough to figure out that Chihiro and I had come alone.

“Jericho and Steampunk were supposed to be with us.” I explained quickly. “But they weren’t in position when somebody touched off the attack two days early.”

One of the Triads scoffed.

“The American doesn’t know?” he said to Zhang.

“I guess not.” The General replied. Then he turned back to me. “Listen, Trojan. No one here launched the attack early. The enemy found out and struck first. I ordered my men to counterattack and things spun out of control. Best I can tell, the aliens had a spy in my outfit somewhere.”

“Probably a goddamned Faceless.” Chihiro muttered. “Remind me to put everyone through an extra layer of scanners when we get back to the Avenger. What do we do now, Blake? It’s starting to look like the enemy knew we were going to try and rescue our friends.”

I loaded my Alloy Cannon and racked it.

“We strike fast.” I said. “We know they’re gonna try to spring a trap on us, so let’s hit’em before the get a chance to change their plans!”

Zhang pressed the talk button on his radio and said:

“Chilong calling Jericho! What’s your status?”

After a pause, I could hear Jericho’s voice through the receiver.

“We’ve got the Hunter’s attention! He’s chasing us North! You’re clear!”

Zhang pocketed his radio and grabbed an M249 machine gun from a table. Turning around, he addressed his soldiers:

“This is it, brothers and sisters! Now or never! FORWARD!”

Nearly three dozen Chinese freedom fighters surged out of the apartment complex, guns blazing! Across the street, ADVENT Peacekeepers and soldiers had almost no time to react as they were hit from the rear! Chihiro and I kept within eyesight of one another as we darted from one wrecked vehicle to the next, leapfrogging our way across the street!

Three enemy MEC troopers tried to turn their grenade launchers against us, but Zhang was quick on the draw! The powerful rumble of his machine gun made my bones vibrate and my teeth chatter! One, two, and three MECs toppled over to the ground while their accompanying soldiers dove for cover.

Through the gate! Up the stairs! Into the lobby!

Chihiro kicked open the front door of the Gene Therapy Clinic and yelled:

“Vigilo!”

“Confido!” shouted several voices from inside.

“Friendlies coming through the front door!” I shouted. “Everyone, check your fire!”

Finally, we were inside the Shenyang Gene Therapy Clinic.

The interior of an ADVENT Gene Therapy Clinic. A Reaper is visible in the ventilation system.

Much like the rest of ADVENT’s architecture, the interior of the Gene Therapy Clinic was white and pristine. (Well, it would have been if not for the gunfight) Just beyond the lobby and waiting area were rows and rows of treatment beds where clinic employees did their work, curing the vast majority of all Human illnesses and ailments in a matter of seconds. Of course, now everybody in XCOM knew the sinister secret of these clinics, and what was going on in the back rooms.

Inside the clinic, Chihiro, Zhang, and I found seven Chinese Resistance fighters waging an intense defensive action. All of the windows were smashed out and the floors were strewn with spent shell casings, blood, and assorted rubble, along with a few bodies. As we came inside, we had to keep our heads low. The enemy was shooting at us through any opening they could find. Zhang approached one of his comrades and yelled over the sound of gunfire:

“Lohan! Where are the VIP’s?”

“In the labs!” the Triad fighter replied. “The walls are reinforced, so it’s pretty much safe in there!”

“Blue Dragon, Trojan!” Zhang yelled at us. “Get into the Radiology labs and get your comrades ready for evac!”

“What about you?” I asked.

“My comrades and I have our own battle to fight.” Zhang said. “And this way, you and your men can contribute to the final push. We’ll keep ADVENT busy here. Good luck, Stormbreakers!”

Chihiro and I pushed through a heavy doorway in the back of the clinic and found ourselves in the other half of the building, the area that ADVENT keeps hidden from the public eye. Back here in the laboratory, the sterile white walls gave way to cold metal. The lighting back here was quite dim, and the friendly welcoming atmosphere had been replaced with something far more sinister. Gruesome machines hung from the ceiling above a pair of operating tables, some of which were still bloodstained.

The Chinese Resistance fighter had been right about the walls being reinforced. The sounds of combat were deadened in here, and for the first time in hours, I could smell something other than gunpower, blood, and sulfur. Crinkling her nose at the scent of ammonia, Chihiro looked around the laboratory for only a few seconds before spotting two people in a far corner, craning their necks to look at a computer workstation: a gigantic black man with a Maori Te Moko facial tattoo, and a middle-aged white man whose hair had gone grey far too soon.

“Soylent!” Chihiro squealed. “Alecto!”

Jake Green and Matthew Hawkins both jumped with surprise and looked around at us.

“Mother of Christ!” Matthew gasped. “I thought you two were dead!”

“Could have been, but we’re not.” I answered, shaking his hand. “Glad to see you two are still in one piece.”

“Crickey!” Soylent whispered. “It’s good to see a familiar face and all, but do ya mind telling us what’s going on? The jabbers had us for two months and never interrogated us! Not once! They’ve just been pokin’ and proddin’ us the whole time! You don’t know how much blood they’d drawn just from me!”

“Those Chinese guerrillas said you’d know what’s going on.” Matthew finished.

“It’s a long-ass story.” Chihiro said, “We’ll tell you on the Skyranger. We’re just waiting for Firebrand to get here.”

“Suffice to say, you guys just got caught in the crossfire of one of the biggest battles in Human history.” I added. “XCOM is taking the war to the cities, and we’ve gone large-scale.”

“About bloody time.” Soylent clapped his hands. “And… uh, speakin’ of asses… I just gotta say, Blue Dragon, that new armor’s doin’ yours a lotta favors.”

Soylent started to drape one of his arms over Chihiro’s shoulder, (a difficult task, considering how small she was in comparison to him) but I cleared my throat and said loudly:

“Touch my wife, Soylent, and I’ll cancel the rescue.”

Matthew did a double-take, looking back and forth from Chihiro to me before saying:

“What? Wife!? When!?”

Soylent stumbled a bit and took a step backwards. His eyes darted between us just like his comrades’ had done.

“Well I’ll be stuffed.” Soylent grabbed me and put me in a one-armed hug that was so tight it may as well have been a headlock. “Robinson, you little ripper! Took ya long enough, didn’t it!?”

“Seriously, where?” Matthew repeated. “If you two got married in America, I lose a bet.”

“Nevada.” Chihiro said with a smirk. “Man, now that I think about it, a whole lot happened since we lost you guys. I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Why not with the stuff we found?” Matthew offered.

“Stuff you found?” I asked, pulling free of Soylent’s grip. “What the hell did you guys find? And when?”

“The Chinese busted us out of our cells about two and a half hours ago.” Soylent explained. “While we were waiting for you lot, Alecto and I helped ourselves the clinic’s computer system.”

“Corporal Dekker taught me how to get through ADVENT’s cybersecurity networks.” Matthew told us. “And I had time to kill, so we went exploring through the database. We think we know what ADVENT’s doing with all of the people who go into these clinics!”

“Way ahead of you.” I cut in. “They’re screening for people with the Gift and shipping them off to Blacksites. ADVENT’s made a whole new species of Human-Ethereal Hybrids, kinda like Jericho.”

Soylent and Matthew’s jaws dropped.

“Dude.” Soylent breathed. “What!?”

“That’s… not what we found.” Matthew said. “We found something else. ADVENT was experimenting with the Gift, like you said. They were screening for Gifted people, just like you said, but… well, just look at this.”

Matthew led Chihiro and I towards the computer screen where we’d found him and Soylent. There were three audio files loaded into a player on the screen. They were labelled:

Patient 116: Ocular Tissue Reconstruction (December 25, 2030)
Patient 116: Neural Pathway Regeneration (March 8, 2031)
Patient 116: Confiscation (March 9, 2031)​

Watching us nervously, Matthew pushed the play button, and together, the four of us listened to the first audio log. The voice of a male Human began to speak:

“Experimental Medicine Research Team log report, December 25th, 2030. The surgery on Patient 116 was a success. I’m pleased to report that all damage to the patient’s face and head have been repaired and her new eye is fully functional. We expect she will regain full binocular vision in a matter of days. I have written a full report on the procedure and have submitted it to the ADVENT Coalition government for further consideration. In a matter of weeks, we have transformed a one-eyed woman dying from end stage stomach cancer into a picture of perfect physical health. I believe we are the first Gene Clinic to achieve such an extensive restoration and reconstruction of a patient with no negative aftereffects. Fortunately, we will have plenty of opportunities to study and observe Patient 116. When we ran her genetic profile through the database, it tripped so many alarms that the local Peacekeepers thought we were under attack! Needless to say, Patient 116 will be staying here for the long haul, and the science is eager to begin. I will have to call the Beijing Clinic and inform them that their patient will not be returned.”

The first audio log ended, and Chihiro let out a low whistle.

“Curing diseases is one thing…” she said. “But totally replacing a lost body part is insane! No wonder people came to the Megacities after Earth fell. The Gene Therapy Clinics were just too good to be true!”

Soylent sighed.

“Ya said it.” He commented. “You could treat your body like crap. Eat or drink whatever ya want, do anything ya like and then just take yourself down to a Gene Clinic and it would be like the sickness, malnourishment and injuries never happened. The aliens were promising all of us a life with no consequences.”

“No immediate consequences.” Matthew muttered. “Listen to this.”

He queued up the second audio log. The ADVENT doctor’s voice spoke up again:

“Experimental Medicine Research Team log report, March 8, 2031. Patient 116 continues to be full of surprises. Today is no exception. I can now happily confirm the success of the Neural Pathway Regeneration treatment. Brain scans taken before the treatment show that Patient 116 exhausted her Gift at a very early stage in her life, possibly as many as seventy or eighty years ago. Brain scans taken yesterday confirm that our new treatment, while invasive and rather traumatizing, does in fact work. Patient 116 is once again Gifted! As per usual, I will submit a written report to the ADVENT Coalition government. I eagerly await news of the Elder’s response to our discovery!”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Let me get this straight.” I said slowly. “ADVENT found a way to restore an exhausted person’s powers!?”

“Yeah.” Soylent said. “And they’re planning to do something with it, too. I guess it’s connected to that stuff you lot found out, cause’ listen to what this bloke said the next day.”

Soylent played the final audio log. In this one, the doctor’s voice was noticeably down-beat:

“Experimental Medicine Research Team log report, March 9, 2031. Well, I now know for a fact that the Elders have seen our work. Our local Peacekeepers just came in here and confiscated all of our work. All of the files, cultures, samples… everything related to Patient 116 is gone. Oh, and they took her as well. I don’t know what the Elders want with Patient 116 or what they’ll do with her, but she’s off our hands now, and that’s it. There’s nothing left to do but go on to the next project, whatever that is. One of the soldiers said he was going to come back and give me a new assignment in a few minutes. Till then, I’ll just sit here and wait.”

All four of us couldn’t think of anything to say to that. In the silence, the dull thudding of gunfire reverberated through the thick walls. Finally, Chihiro said:

“So, Patient 116 got flagged for the AVATAR Project, huh?”

“Looks like it.” I said. “Hate to say it, but she’s definitely dead. Probably got shipped to one of the Blacksites. Kantubek or Vladivostok, most likely. Turned into whatever goes into those Avatars.

I tapped the computer monitor.

“Any Intel is good Intel.” I said. Somebody get this data onto a hard drive or a disk or whatever. I’m gonna talk to Zhang about our ride outta here.”

…

The situation in the rest of the clinic had stabilized. With nearly three dozen defenders guarding the doors and windows, not only was the clinic secure, but so was most of the surrounding block. The enemy couldn’t get within a thousand yards of the building without coming under fire. I found General Zhang on the roof, where he was monitoring the rest of the Battle of Shenyang with a pair of binoculars.

“The Resistance is being pushed back in all sectors.” Zhang told me. “We will have to stop our attacks and fortify our positions.”

“That should work.” I told him. “Just as long as you can hold ADVENT’s attention for two more days. Once D-Day hits, we’ll be playing a completely different game.”

“Two days!?” Zhang laughed. “Trojan, you’ve clearly never fought a battle in a Chinese city before! If my men can get into good defensive positions inside the city, we’ll be able to hold out for months! You’ve got your two days, and now…”

Zhang pointed towards the northern sky.

“You’ve got your Skyranger.”

​

The Skyranger is seen flying above the streets of Shenyang shortly after the premature outbreak of violence in the city.

Zhang and I both moved to the far corner and allowed Firebrand to land in the middle of the roof. As soon as the engines were throttled down to idle, the deployment ramp opened and two people stepped out. Yutaka Yamamoto and Isis Dekker were both wearing W.A.R. Suits, elite power armor that sported advanced weapon systems like wrist-mounted rocket launchers. Both of our fellow soldiers looked impressed and frightened at the level of destruction wrought upon the surrounding city.

“Holy Hell, Trojan!” Isis yelled. “What did you do!?”

Scrambling up the stairs, Chihiro, Soylent, and Matthew all ran straight towards the Skyranger, but Isis and Yutaka raised their rifles and took aim at them!

“Wait!” Isis shouted! “We heard there were Faceless in the city, so we’re not gonna take any chances. You four all stand right there!”

Chihiro, Matthew, Soylent, and I all stood in a row and held still while Isis and Yutaka took a step back from us, keeping their weapons raised. Isis put two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle.

“Piper! Use Scanning Protocol!”

A GREMLIN drone. These somewhat intelligent machines are frequently used in combat specialist roles by XCOM. They can be used for cyber-warfare as well as engaging mechanical enemies in direct combat. When equipped with a Medikit, GREMLINs can also be used to extend the operational range of a Field Medic. Some GREMLINs, such as the one used by Isis Dekker, have an upgraded sensor suite that allows them to detect the Faceless.

With a shrill whistle and several beeps, Isis’ GREMLIN drone flew out of the Skyranger and started to fly in circles around us. A blue light emitted from a diode in the little robot’s faceplate, and I had to squint my eyes to avoid being blinded. Finally, the drone seemed satisfied. It flew back to Isis and hovered over her shoulder, beeping and whistling in a docile way.

“Piper says you’re all clean.” Isis reported. “Get on the Skyranger, we’ll take off as soon as Jericho and Paradox get here!”

All six of us clambered aboard the Skyranger and started to strap ourselves into the jump seats. Waving out of the deployment ramp doorway, I shouted to General Zhang:

“Good luck out there!”

“Give the Elders a kick from me!” Zhang replied.

I turned around and busied myself with my equipment. I secured my Alloy Cannon in the weapon locker and was just about to return to my seat when I heard a shout and looked up again.

Akira was on the roof! She had jumped up three stories from ground level and come to rest mere feet away from the Skyranger. She looked very different from the last time I’d seen her. She was wearing a suit of powered armor, like mine, but it was a far different configuration. I realized she was wearing Psi Armor and also had a pair of Celestial Gauntlets on her wrists. Akira was clearly armed and equipped for telepathic combat, but when she ran up the Skyranger’s ramp and shouted to us, she looked and sounded like she’d just been driven from a fight:

“Jericho’s in trouble! Tell Firebrand to take off and fly west!”

“What the hell’s going on!” I said.

Behind me, Chihiro had acted on Akira’s words and was banging loudly on the Skyranger’s cockpit door.

“It was a trap!” Akira said. “The Chosen Hunter set us up! His sister is down there! They’re working together!”

Akira gripped the overhead handrails as the Skyranger’s engines throttled up and we took to the sky. Yutaka pulled open the cockpit door so that Akira could see out the front windscreen.

“Over there!” Akira pointed towards a big roundabout where six streets converged. “Fly low!”

We could see the battle from here. It was as though a lightning storm had descended on Shenyang. Brilliant bolts of blue and white energy arced and erupted into the smoke-filled sky! A Void Rift opened up and swallowed part of a skyscraper before collapsing onto itself, the implosion causing even more collateral damage! A beam of purple light crossed the roundabout and racked the opposing sidewalk while a tall and slender figure dodged the attack!

The Skyranger came in fast! For just the quickest moment, I could see the Chosen Hunter as we approached! He was standing about halfway up a wrecked office building, and he raised his sniper rifle to fire at the Skyranger!

“Like Hell you’re gonna do that!” Chihiro screamed!

Even though she was sitting down in a jump seat and strapped in place, Chihiro quickly withdrew the Shadowkeeper from her holster, took aim, and fired! All in less than two seconds! And to cap it all off, Chihiro found her mark! Gur-Mon Madron twisted violently and stepped backwards; retreating into the shadows. A second later, the Skyranger was mere feet above the roadway!

Jericho was there, firing her Psionic Reaper wildly to keep the Assassin at bay! Through the smoke and flames of the battlefield, I could just barely see the enemy Chosen a hundred yards away!

“Behind you!” I shouted. “Get on board!”

I unstrapped myself from the jump seat and stood up.

“We’ll cover you!” Akira shouted! “Start running!”

I tried to reach for the weapons locker to get my Alloy Cannon, but Akira pressed a Plasma Pistol into my hand.

“No time! She’s coming!”

Jericho turned to run towards the Skyranger, and the Assassin was hot on her heels! Jericho threw her Psionic Reaper towards the Skyranger. Akira summoned it to her telekinetically and seized it in both hands. Chihiro, Akira, and I all raised our weapons and opened fire on the Assassin, shooting over Jericho’s shoulders as she ran up the boarding ramp!

“Take off!” Isis screamed! “Firebrand! Go! Go! Go!”

Below our feet, the Skyranger lurched into motion! At the same time, the boarding ramp began to retract! And at the very last moment, the Assassin drew her shotgun and took aim at the Skyranger!

“The Elders demand you and you alone, Jericho!” The Assassin yelled above the Skyranger’s engines. “They have no need for your so-called friends.”

“BLAKE! MOVE!”

Jericho shoved me, hard! I stumbled sideways and hit my head on the overhead handrail!

Thud!

I felt, rather than saw, the Gauss round speed past and hit the person next to me! Blood spattered my arm and the left side of my face before a fantastic white light filled the Skyranger and threatened to blind us all! Then I heard a near-animalistic roar of rage as Yutaka shouted!

“Don’t you dare! That’s my girlfriend you fucking wench!”

Yutaka shoved me out of the way and I fell over sideways, hitting a telekinetic shield and sliding down to the floor! Firing wildly from the hip, Yutaka laid on the trigger of his light machine gun, sending hundreds of rounds downrange! The Assassin was caught in a storm of bullets! With a strangled cry, she fell to her knees and then collapsed to the ground! Immediately, just like in Pyongyang, Psionic energy enveloped the body of the Assassin and transported her away, no doubt allowing the Assassin to survive what should have been her death for a second time.

Yutaka wasn’t finished! Screaming incoherently, he opened fire on the building where Chihiro had spotted the Chosen Hunter! On our left, there was a loud bang and a shower of sparks fell into the deployment bay with us! Madron was back on his feet and had just fired on the Skyranger! He must have hit something vital because the deployment ramp stopped retracting and fell all the way down into the open position.

It was the Hunter’s biggest mistake.

Yutaka dropped his machine gun to the floor. It slid across the metal plating as the Skyranger banked and turned hard, and after a second, it fell off the ramp and tumbled hundreds of feet to the ground! Yutaka didn’t care. He planted both feet on the floor and raised his left arm, pointing directly at the Hunter!

Yutaka’s wrist-mounted rocket launcher went off with the sound of a cannon! The rocket-propelled grenade crossed the expanse between Skyranger and Hunter in less than a millisecond and detonated right on target! The entire façade of the ruined skyscraper crumbled and collapsed! Madron lost his footing and fell, tumbling over three hundred feet before crashing into the ground and being buried by debris and wreckage. Just like his sister before him, the site where the Chosen Hunter had fallen was suddenly awash in brilliant white light which vanished as quickly as it had come. The pile of rubble on the ground collapsed a little, a sign that Madron’s body was no longer there. He, too, had survived.

The Skyranger’s engines screamed as we gained altitude and peeled away from the battlefield. Chihiro and Akira grabbed me by the arms and pulled me further inside the ship, then Akira used telekinesis to force the boarding ramp closed. It was only then that I noticed the bright purple light filling the small passenger area:

Jericho was slumped over inside of a semitransparent purple sphere, unconscious.

“What the hell is that!?” Isis asked. “Is it like those Stasis Spheres the ADVENT Priests use?”

“Worse.” Said Akira. “That’s a Sustaining Sphere. It cancels out any kind of traumatic injuries that would have been fatal. Jericho must have come within seconds of dying just now. Did anyone see what happened?”

I was suddenly hyperaware of the blood on my face. And of what Jericho had done.

“The Assassin.” I said. “Tried to shoot me. Jericho shoved me, and…”

“Oh, shit!” Isis gasped. “She’s been hit!”

Isis stepped around towards the other side of the Sustaining Sphere and saw what we had all missed. Jericho had been shot in the gut and was bleeding badly. Isis shouted into the cockpit:

“Firebrand! Get us to the Avenger as quick as you can! Call ahead and say we’ve got a medical emergency!”

“I already called them!” Wendy Carter shouted back. “Avenger’s in the air and they’re coming for us! We’ll meet’em halfway!”

“Medikits at the ready!” Akira yelled. “The Sphere’s about to break!”

Isis, Chihiro, Yutaka, and I all pulled Medikits and individual first-aid kits from our uniforms and made ready. Soylent and Matthew hung back, unable to do anything besides watch. Akira looked over our equipment while Jericho’s Sustaining Sphere flickered.

“Aw, come on!” Akira said. “You guys haven’t invented Nanomedicine yet!? I thought I fixed that part of the timeline!”

“Wait, what? What the fuck?” I said. “What’s nanomedicine?”

“Something you should already have.” Akira groaned. “Without it, Jericho won’t recover from this in time for the final fight.”

Akira furrowed her brow, thinking quickly. Finally, she looked up at me.

“Look, Dad. I know you don’t trust me.” She began. “But right now, I need you to listen to me. I have a way to help Jericho, but it involves taking her to my spaceship.”

I’m pretty sure I literally put my foot down, because everybody jumped!

“First of all, don’t call me that!” I snapped. “And second, if you really have your own ship, then nobody’s going near it until it’s secured by an XCOM squad!”

“Deal.” Akira said quickly. “Let’s call the Avenger and tell them were to find my ship. Another squad clears it, and then we put Jericho in the Hypervital Module.”

“What the hell’s a Hypervital Module!?”

At that moment, Jericho’s Sustaining Sphere broke! She collapsed to the floor and we all moved at once! Chihiro and I pulled Jericho’s pulverized armor apart, allowing Yutaka to pack the wound full of gauze. Isis put her drone into Medical Protocol and took over medical care for Jericho while the rest of us stepped back.

“It’s okay, Kate.” Isis called Jericho by her original name. “I’m right here. You’re going to be fine.”

“It hurts, everything hurts.” Jericho moaned. “Hurts to breathe.”

Piper the GREMLIN drone buzzed around Jericho and beeped shrilly.

“The bullet’s lodged in her right lung, just above the diaphragm.” Isis said. “Blake, her lung is deflating! If Akira’s got some future tech that can help, we really need it right now!”

I rolled my eyes, and with a groan, grabbed Akira by the shoulder.

“You’ve got a ship? Where the hell is it!?”

​

<== Previous Chapter (The AVATAR Project)

Next Chapter (Fallen Angel) ==>​

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Born in the Darkness)

Next Chapter (Crack the Sky, Shake the Earth) ==>​

Chapter 16
Fallen Angel

​

Saturday, July 14, 2035 – 5:45am
Ruins of Jilin City, Manchuria, East Asia

Twenty years ago, over four million people lived in the city of Jilin. Now it was a silent crumbling ruin. Even though the sun had just started to climb over the Eastern horizon, the city center was still in pitch darkness. Skyscrapers, abandoned for two decades, had crumbled into misshapen pillars of concrete and metal, giving the ruined city an eerie look. In the streets, cars and trucks were overgrown with plant life while small animals scurried between the wrecked buildings, keeping their eyes out for predators.

Out on the northern side of the city, wedged between two rocky ridgelines, was an old airport. The only evidence of any kind of air travel that remained were markings on the cracked pavement. The abandoned airplanes had been picked clean by scavengers long ago.

When the Avenger came in for a landing on the broken runway, the commandeered alien spacecraft kicked up a dust storm. Shrouded in clouds, the ship came to a rest and throttled down her engines. While we waited for the deployment ramp to lower, Chihiro and I spent a few extra moments in the infirmary with our comrades.

Jericho had been stabilized and was breathing on her own again, but for the moment, she was still bedridden. Doctor Tygan and Isis Dekker were both confident she’d make a recovery.

“Among the vast litany of genetic modifications Doctor Vahlen gave to Jericho,” Tygan explained. “Was an Adaptive Bone Marrow alteration, similar to the one used by Corporal Tachibana here. Jericho’s body is healing at speeds no unmodified Human could ever hope to achieve.”

“As long as she’s got good food and water,” Isis told us, “Jericho should be fully recovered and back on her feet in about three weeks. You gotta admit that’s impressive! Most people who get shot in the chest usually take a few months to heal up, and that’s with constant medical care.”

“Three weeks is too long. We need Jericho back in fighting shape now.”

Akira’s interruption caused the four of us to tense up. The time-traveler had just entered the infirmary, followed by Central Officer Bradford and Chief Engineer Shen. I couldn’t help but notice that Akira was looking quite annoyed, and the explanation was apparent: she now had an Arc Brace wrapped around her left ankle, the same as Jericho.

“Menace Squad just secured the hangar.” Bradford told us. “They found a spaceplane. Robinson, Tachibana, Dekker. I want you three to escort Miss Paradox into the hangar and help her remove this ‘Hypervital Module.’ Then report back to me, understood.”

“Yes sir.” I said.

…

Isis, Akira, Chihiro and I started walking across the ruined airport runway together just after the sun fully rose. Chihiro, Isis, and I were all armed with Laser Pistols and were keeping a close eye on Akira, although my wife had decided to holster her weapon.

“Alright, I gotta ask.” Chihiro said. “How did you get a spaceship? And where?”

Akira sighed in a way that said she’d been dreading this talk.

“It’s really complicated.” She explained. “Suffice to say its more than a spaceship; it’s my time machine. The Angel’s been how I moved around the timeline.”

“You ship is called the Angel?” I repeated. “Isn’t that a little on the nose?”

“Her full name is the Ark Angel.” Akira corrected me. “It’s not the spelling you’re thinking of, either. Two words: Alpha-romeo-kilo, alpha-november-golf-echo-lima. There was a translation error when the Japanese transferred the ship to XCOM’s control.”

“Japan to XCOM?” Isis said. “I’m lost. How did that happen?”

“After you guys overthrow ADVENT and the Old World governments come back,” Akira told us, “That Partogan fleet is going to show up and ask Earth to join in their war. The one I mentioned before, where the whole Galaxy is united against the Beast. Anyway, Japan built three spaceships and sent them into the war: the Hinomaru, the Hyuuga, and the Ark Angel. The third ship was built specifically for XCOM to use.”

“So, follow-up question.” Chihiro said. “Why did Japan give us one of these ships?”

“You cut a deal with their government.” Akira said casually.

It took us a second to notice Chihiro had stopped walking. She was staring at Akira, looking confused.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Chihiro said, “But I kinda hate the people running Japan’s government. Like, really hate! Why would I want to talk to them for, like, anything?”

Akira looked at me.

“She ignored the message from Nakagawa?”

“How’d you know?”

“She does that every Cycle. Be patient. She’ll come around. Anyway, this is the place.”

We’d arrived at the hangar. All six soldiers of Menace Squad were standing outside of the main door, which was still closed. They looked worried. Jane Kelly, the Squad Leader, was having a hurried conversation with her deputy, a Polish guerrilla named Maciej Kowalski. Another Menace soldier, a black-skinned American named Andrea Baker, came over to greet us.

“I’m gonna be blunt.” Andrea said. “We’re not convinced that’s your ship in there, kid. That thing looks like it’s been-”

“Left to rot for the past couple of years?” Akira finished. “Yeah, that’s because it was. Besides, we don’t need the ship to move. We just need to pull the Hypervital Module out and put it in the Avenger.”

Watching Akira with a nervous eye, Andrea signaled her comrades to open the hangar’s main door. Slowly, and with much reluctant creaking and groaning of metal, the massive garage door slowly began to move upwards while the six members of Menace Squad wrestled with a twenty-year-old rope and pulley system. Finally, the door had retracted far enough for us to look inside of the hangar.

I have to admit, the sight before us was just a little heartbreaking.

This is not a picture of the JSDF Ark Angel. This is the Soviet space shuttle "Buran" which was abandoned and left to rot in a hangar for many years. This picture, taken shortly before the destruction of the Buran, shows the ship to be in roughly the same state of disrepair, neglect, and decay in which the Ark Angel was found.

There was an abandoned spaceplane inside of the hangar. I could tell it was a spaceplane right away because it had the same black and white ceramic tile exterior as the old American space shuttles. I could also tell that it was abandoned because… well…

“Oh my God! It’s a wreck!” Isis gasped.

She was right. At first glance, the spacecraft looked as though it had been through Hell. The ship itself was very badly battered. Every single window in the cockpit was blown out, the glass long gone. The nosecone had fallen off, revealing the wiring and piping within. As we stepped into the hangar and approached the wreck, we heard a loud crunching sound underfoot. Several hundred thermal protection tiles had fallen off the spaceplane and had deteriorated so badly that I could crush one to powder in my hands. The fuselage of the Ark Angel showed visible battle damage. Scorch marks formed rings around several punctures in the ship’s skin, and a chunk of the starboard wing seemed to be missing. Finally, around the rear of the plane, one of the engine bells had detached from its mounting and it was hanging from the ship, attached only by some twisted wire and pipes.

While the Ark Angel was already horribly damaged, the hangar itself had contributed to the destruction of the ship in one specific way:

The roof had collapsed.

If I had to guess, I’d say it had happened about a year ago. Half of the hangar’s roof had caved in and come crashing down on the spaceplane, causing all of its landing gear to collapse. Hundreds of pounds of debris and twisted metal was resting on the wings and upper fuselage of the spaceplane. The Ark Angel was lying on her belly and her back was broken. She would never fly again.

“Three years since I parked this thing.” Akira sighed.

“Why’d you just abandon it?” Chihiro asked.

“Honestly, I thought I was finally done with her.” Akira replied. “I’m so close to the end now. I’ve fixed everything in the past, and there’s only a few things I need to tweak before September next year, and they’re all on Earth. Truth is, the ship’s outlived its usefulness, or so I thought.”

Akira pointed towards the aft section of the ship.

“Hypervital Module’s in there. It’s a cargo bay. We can get in through here.”

Akira banged her hand on a part of the forward fuselage. A deep booming sound like a gong echoed through the ruined hangar while Akira grabbed a small handle and twisted it counter-clockwise. Pulling the hatch open, Akira stood aside and allowed us to go first.

The inside of the Ark Angel was just as badly ruined as the outside. Three years worth’s of weather, plants, and animals had destroyed anything that we might have considered useful. Computers were overgrown, paper documents reduced to mush, the walls covered in moss and mold.

“God, I almost feel like I need a gas mask in here.” I complained.

I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet for a moment, then added:

“The floor’s stable. Come on in.”

“It’s so cramped in here.” Chihiro commented. “How long did you live in this ship?”

“I stopped keeping track after a while.” Akira replied. “Let’s just say that time travel is… time consuming. Through this door.”

Akira led us into a section of the ship that had once been a kind of living space. The remains of a sleeping area had been taken over by wet green moss that made a dull squishing sound as we walked over it.

“This place looks like sleeping quarters for a crew.” Isis said. “Are there more people like you?”

“I used to have a crew.” Akira said. “There were nine of us. But we had a parting of the ways a long time ago. Now I’m alone. Come through here.”

Akira opened another doorway and all three of us gasped.

The next room was heavily reinforced, and had mostly survived the disaster that had claimed the rest of the ship. A large system of metal scaffolding was holding a very large cylindrical object in place, keeping it suspended in the middle of the room above the floor.

“What the hell is that?” I asked.

“The Time Core.” Akira answered. “That was how I jumped all over time. You can touch it if you like, it’s been dead for three years. It won’t hurt you.”

“Hold up.” I said. “You’re just letting this sit here!? Are you really not going to use this thing again?”

Akira sighed.

“Once you guys defeat the Beast, my mission’s over. And because I’ve changed so much of the past, there’s no chance in Hell I can ever get back to my ‘old life.’ Once this whole war is over… well… I’ll just be done.”

Akira crossed the Time Core chamber and started trying to open a door on the far side.

“I was planning to just spend the rest of my life in this era,” she said. “however long or short that ends up being. But first, I need to make sure you guys win against the Beast. Once that happens and the future is fixed, I can retire happy. Here we go.”

Akira opened the final door and stepped aside for us. As we approached the doorway, Isis stopped and said:

“Okay, time traveler. My turn to ask a question: How old are you?”

Chihiro and I both stopped in our tracks.

“Sergeant Dekker!” Chihiro whispered. “You don’t ask a young woman her age!”

Isis rolled her eyes.

“Tachibana, I know you didn’t age while you were in stasis, so you’re really just as old as me. Future tech makes it pretty easy to fudge your age. But you, Akira… you just said that you were ‘jumping around the past.’ When we took your DNA to do that paternity test a few months back, the computer came back and said it couldn’t figure out your age.”

Isis stamped her foot on the moss-covered floor.

“You just said you abandoned this ship three years ago! But to me, you look like you’re maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. I cannot, I will not believe that a teenager has been flying a spaceplane through time like you are. So, I’ll ask again: How old are you?”

Akira folded her arms and bit her lip.

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly how old I am.” She admitted. “I’ve been time traveling for a really long while. And your machine can’t figure out how old I am because of the Time Core.”

Akira pointed towards the device in the middle of the room.

“When the Time Core is running, it emits a kind of radiation that damages my telomeres.”

“Telomeres?” Chihiro repeated.

“It’s the part of a chromosome that governs the aging process.” Akira said. “Basically, I can still grow older, just really slowly. I had a fifteen-year-old body when I started time traveling, but I think it’s closer to nineteen these days.”

Akira shook her arms and started counting on her fingers.

“Anyway, let’s figure it out. On average, I spend between ten and fifteen years in each Cycle, and this is the one-hundred-sixteenth Cycle so… to answer your question, Dekker... I am...”

Akira counted on her fingers and bit her lounge as she did the math in her head.

“I’m somewhere between eleven-hundred and seventeen-hundred years old.”

My legs got really weak all of a sudden. Chihiro had to grip the wall to stop from falling over. Isis swooned.

“Wh-w-what the fuck!?” Chihiro gasped. “You’re over a thousand!?”

“Probably.” Akira said with a shrug. “Anyway, that’s what we’re looking for.”

She pointed into the final room. We had reached the cargo bay. This room had been directly underneath the portion of the hangar ceiling that had collapsed, and so the roof of the spaceplane had also been wrecked. The early morning daylight streamed into the cargo bay and illuminated a small tree that was growing up through a crack in the wall. Akira placed her hand on a moss-covered box that was slightly larger than your average adult-sized coffin.

“This is the Hypervital Module.” She said. “I’ve got an adapter in here somewhere that’ll let you interface it with the Avenger’s infirmary computer. Gimme a second.”

While Akira used telekinesis to sift through the detritus around her, Isis, Chihiro, and I huddled up for a quick talk.

“Blake, you actually saw inside her head.” Chihiro said. “How much of that stuff about her age is true?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I think it’s all true.” I said. “A lot of that stuff I saw in her mind was pretty clearly from other points in time, and some of the stuff she did would have taken a lot of time to set up. If she says she’s over a thousand years old, then I’ve gotta believe her.”

“Any idea why she’s so dead-set on helping us?” Isis asked. “Why’s it so important that we fight some Beast for her?”

“None at all.” I sighed. “Best answer I can give is that we should just wait and see.”

“Got the adapter!” Akira called out. “Hey Mom, you and I can probably get this out of here ourselves. I’ll lift it, and you push.”

Isis and I stood back and watched as Chihiro and Akira used their Gift in tandem. Using telekinesis, Chihiro and Akira lifted the Hypervital Module into the air and started guiding it out the way they’d come.

Leaving the wreck of the Ark Angel behind, Chihiro and Akira started the walk back towards the Avenger, keeping the Hypervital Module levitated between them while Isis and I brought up the rear. At the bottom of the ramp, a dozen XCOM soldiers and Resistance fighters looked over our shoulders at the wrecked spaceplane with expressions of awe and wonder. That made me think of something.

“Hey Akira. Aren’t you worried about someone coming for your ship? Scrappers or ADVENT, maybe?”

“Not really.” Akira answered. “The ADVENT Coalition doesn’t have the tech to reverse-engineer the Time Core, and there’s nothing of value left on board. Also, the nuclear reactor doesn’t work anymore, so it’s not like anybody’s going to steal the Angel. And besides…”

Akira gestured toward the ruins of the city.

“Jilin is going to be wiped off the face of the Earth during the War in Heaven, along with most of northern China. The Ark Angel will go with it.”

Isis and I raised our eyebrows together.

“Is that really what the battle’s going to be called?”

“The War in Heaven? Yeah. It’s an appropriate name for the day history ends.”

…

Saturday, July 14, 2035 – 8:30pm


It took Chief Shen and Doctor Tygan all day to install the Hypervital Module in the Avenger’s infirmary. While we waited, our entire squad stayed by Jericho’s bed and had ourselves a little reunion. Isis and Odette monitored Jericho’s vital signs while Yutaka held her hand. Sophia and Akira sat together on an unused medical bed and watched quietly while Chihiro, Ignatius, and I brought Soylent and Matthew up to speed on everything they had missed while in captivity. Needless to say, their minds were blown.

“So that Sheila over there is your girl from the future?” Soylent said, pointing his thumb at Akira. “Mate, I gotta say, it’s a little scary how much she took after Tachibana. If you hadn’t said anything, I’d have thought they were sisters.”

“The Elders are dying off, and they’ve created their own breed of Hybrid beings?” Matthew thought out loud. “There’s got to be a connection there. Perhaps the Elders are going to transfer their minds into these Avatars, turn them into… like… host bodies or something like that.”

“When I was a kid, I’d have thought all of this was impossible.” Sophia sighed. “But the world is full of surprises. The whole universe, actually.”

Jericho tried to laugh, but just ended up coughing instead. She rubbed one hand over the dense patchwork of bandages wrapped around her chest and said:

“I’m starting to think ‘surprise’ is the perfect word for all of this. I feel like I’ve just been winging it for the past couple days.”

“Whaddaya mean by that?” Soylent asked. “Last time I saw ya, you knew more about the future than Robinson’s new kid.”

Akira scoffed. Jericho looked uncomfortable.

“Well, that’s just it.” Jericho said. “I thought I knew what was going to happen. Mira left behind a database chalk-full of stuff about the future. It had everything about you guys in it, too. It was kinda like I had the scripts for the rest of our lives, and I thought I was ready for everything… but then things started changing. Sophia didn’t confront her dad in Nevada, Blake and Chihiro got married three months too early, and then…”

Jericho trailed off. Something was clearly bothering her far more than she was letting on.

“The Chosen Assassin.” She finished. “The Assassin is nothing like her bio says. She talks and acts completely differently from what I was expecting. I can’t predict her, so…”

Jericho gestured to her gunshot wound.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, and we were never supposed to come to Jilin. We’re so far off the timeline now that I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Jericho sniffed. I got the sense that she was about to cry, but then Akira stood up and got our attention.

“Don’t stress yourself about that damn database.” Akira said. “I’m pretty sure most of that stuff is on me. A lot of those changes I made to history are having an effect on our present. Unless Mira wrote a chapter in there about me, you’d have no way of knowing what I was doing.”

“And don’t forget!” Chihiro added. “Akira did say she altered the past for our sake. All of these changes are to help us!”

I rolled my eyes and sighed with disbelief.

“Chi, how on Earth does getting shot in the chest help Jericho!?”

“Uhh…” Chihiro’s mouth hung open as she searched vainly for an answer. Ignatius pinched the bridge of his nose and shook with silent laughter.

“In this case, it doesn’t.” Akira said. “That whole ambush in Shenyang was a nightmare scenario that neither of us saw coming. Now we have to waste Jericho’s Hypervitalization on something that honestly shouldn’t have happened.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘waste?’” Matthew asked. “I thought this was some advanced future tech.”

“No, it’s not.” Akira said. “The Hypervital Module is something XCOM invented in a previous Cycle.”

“You mean ‘Alternate Timeline’ right?” Isis asked.

“Again, no.” Akira replied. “Anyway, that Hypervital Module in my ship, I took it from you guys after the war ended in another Cycle. I brought it with me in case my crew needed an emergency healing. We only used it twice, thank goodness. But there’s a big catch: the Hypervitalization process will return you to perfect health almost instantly, but you can only use it once. After that, your immune system recognizes the Carbon-Elerium compound the Module uses and attacks it. You basically become immune to the treatment for the rest of your life.”

“Oh,” Sophia muttered. “So, we need to be really careful about where and when we use this thing, huh?”

“It could be the difference between a future victory or defeat.” Ignatius finished.

We all looked at Jericho nervously. She could only go through the Hypervital Module once. After this, if she was gravely wounded again, we’d have to let nature take its course. A few tense moments ticked by before Soylent broke the silence.

“It’s settled then. Jericho: next time some bloke pulls a gun on ya… Duck!”

This time, we all burst out laughing. When Doctor Tygan and Chief Shen came to see us, they had to wait for the collective hysterics to die down before announcing that the Hypervital Module was ready for Jericho.

The Hypervital Module is installed in the Avenger's infirmary. Jericho would be the first soldier to pass through this system, but she would not be the last.

On the far side of the infirmary, two familiar faces helped us lift Jericho into the Hypervital Module. North Korean guerrillas Lee Chong-Il and Song Soo each lifted one side of Jericho’s body, supporting her as she stood upright and then walked into the coffin-sized box. With much hissing of hydraulics, the Hypervital Module rotated backwards until it had turned ninety degrees, allowing Jericho to rest on her back. On Akira’s instructions, no fewer than fifteen IV lines were inserted in Jericho’s arms, legs, and neck. Finally, Akira stepped over to the dental health section of the infirmary, recovered a plastic mouth-guard, and returned.

“This machine is designed to heal you,” Akira said, “But the process isn’t pretty or comfortable. In fact, one of my old crew said that it was the most painful experience of his entire life, even worse than the injury that put him in the Hypervital Module in the first place.”

For just the quickest moment, I swear I saw Akira’s eyes dart towards Lee Chong-Il before looking back down at her comrade. Jericho herself hadn’t noticed. She was busy securing her mouth-guard. Then she flashed the thumbs-up at Chong-Il and he slowly closed the lid of the module. Doctor Tygan stepped up, carrying a syringe full of a nauseatingly-green liquid.

“Standby for the first Carbon-Elerium injection.” Tygan said. “Lieutenant Robinson, you and your squad might want to wait someplace else. Miss Robinson should stay here. You are a subject matter expert today, after all.”

…

The Stormbreaker squad cleared out of the infirmary and parted ways with my instructions to meet back here in an hour. Soylent, Matthew, Yutaka, Isis, and Odette all went straight to the bar, looking for drinks. Sophia disappeared down a dark corridor by herself. Ignatius went up to the bridge, saying he wanted to speak to the Commander. Chihiro and I walked down the boarding ramp, stepped onto the airport runway and looked up.

We were both looking for the same thing. Ever since the Battle of Saturn, Chihiro and I had both been keeping a watchful eye on the night sky, observing the Partogan fleet as it drew closer and closer to Earth. Tonight, however, was a special night. We’d known it was coming for a while, but the sight that met our eyes was nonetheless breathtaking.

Akira and Jericho had both been talking about this for days. Since they were both involved in some form of time travel, either directly or indirectly, we took their statements about the fleet seriously. According to Akira and Jericho, the Partogan fleet would make one final stop before their final push towards Earth. They were waiting for a convoy of transport ships to catch up with the main body of the fleet before moving on.

“Once the fleet starts moving again…” Akira had said. “That’ll be the start of the final countdown. It’ll take them two days to reach us from the Moon.”

Standing there on that cracked runway, Chihiro and I were both lost for words at the sight above us. The Half Moon had been two days ago, so we had no difficulty finding it tonight, nor did we have any trouble spotting the thing we were looking for.

“I can see it!” Chihiro breathed. “No binoculars, no telescope! I can see the fleet!”

The Partogan fleet was just above the Moon.

We stared, transfixed. Then I scrambled for my binoculars. I had to know.

“Well!?” Chihiro demanded. “What do you see!?

I peered towards the flickering lights. Keeping the Lunar horizon in my sight, I used it as a reference and began scanning the Partogan warships. It only took half a minute for me to see the obvious truth.

“Chi… they’re moving.”

Chihiro let out a frightened squeak.

“So, this is it, then.” She said. “We’ve got two days until they get here.”

“Two days.” I breathed. “That’s incredible.”

“How far away is the moon, anyway?” Chihiro asked.

“About a quarter-million miles.” I said. “It took the Apollo astronauts almost three days to get back from the Moon.”

“God. Those aliens must be hauling ass to get to us.”

“Let’s hope these Partogans make a better first impression on Humanity than the so-called ‘Elders’ did.” I commented. “Speaking of first impressions…”

Chihiro finished my sentence:

“Yamamoto and Jericho. They’re together.”

We both folded our armed and gave one another looks of mixed disgust and anger.

“How the hell have we not talked about this yet!?”

“Yamamoto’s got his own Mindshield, and Jericho doesn’t let her guard down easy. That stunt he pulled on the Skyranger yesterday was how I found out!”

“How long do you think?”

“Can’t be more than two weeks. That’s when Jericho started giving off a lot more positive energy than usual.”

“Is that a Psionics thing?”

“No, Blake, you idiot! It’s a girl thing! We can tell.”

Chihiro and I both gave long exasperated sighs.

“So… it’s weird, right?” She said. “I’m not the only one thinking that?”

“Oh, it’s more than weird.” I said quickly. “Downright creepy! He’s almost thirty years older than Jericho!”

Chihiro retched.

“Blake, we gotta stop this before he does something awful!” She said. “You know what Yutaka’s like! You remember what he did to me in Hiroshima!?”

Chihiro tilted her head so that I could see the narrow scar on her neck, a painful reminder of the day Yutaka had tried to murder Chihiro. I could also see the jagged hairline on the left side of her head, where Yutaka’s “friends” had used a bayonet to cut off one of Chihiro’s pigtails. Shuddering, I knew I didn’t need the reminder.

“Chi, you know me.” I said. “I don’t need an excuse to cave in Yamamoto’s skull… but it’s nice to finally have a good one.”

…

Jericho was out of the Hypervital Module by the time we boarded the Avenger again. She was up on her feet, walking around as though she’d never been shot. Smoke curled up from the Hypervital Module itself as though it had just overheated. Unfortunately, Yutaka Yamamoto was also here, standing directly between Jericho and myself. To make matters worse, he was already talking to someone else: Commander Harper and Central Officer Bradford.

Before I could get close enough to tap the Commander on the shoulder, Jericho spotted us approaching and said loudly:

“Oh, there he is now!”

Commander Harper, Bradford, and Yamamoto all turned to face me. There was a smile on Yamamoto’s face that I really, really didn’t like.

“Good, Robinson, you’re here.” Said Commander Harper. “I just needed to speak with you.”

“Me too, ma’am.” I said.

Harper held up a hand to silence me.

“I was just briefing your squadmates.” The Commander said. “There’s been a serious development in the situation and we need to move quickly. Jericho and Miss Robinson have given us actionable Intel about the alien fleet coming towards Earth. We’re going to try and establish communications with them tomorrow.”

“Unfortunately, the Avenger’s antenna isn’t powerful enough to talk to someone a quarter-million miles away.” Bradford said.

“I told the Commander that we can hijack the ADVENT Army’s regional communications station.” Jericho chimed in. “They have an antenna on top of Shanghai Tower which is powerful enough to talk to the Partogan fleet.”

I tried to cut in,

“Commander, I need-”

“Later, Robinson.” Harper interrupted. “This is important: Tomorrow morning, the Stormbreakers will assault Shanghai Tower and seize control of the radio station. Akira and I have already briefed a communications specialist who will make first contact with the Partogans. I need you to keep her alive and make sure she completes her mission.”

“Commander, I-”

Harper cut me off.

“Captain Green and Lieutenant Hawkins have been certified as combat-ready by Doctor Tygan, so I’ve decided to explore the idea you and I discussed after Pyongyang.”

“But Commander…” Chihiro tried to talk.

“Quiet, Corporal!” Bradford snapped. Chihiro fell silent.

“For tomorrow’s operation, the Stormbreakers will be broken up into two separate groups that will act as independent squads." Commander Harper said. “You will be the leader of Blue Team, and Captain Yamamoto will lead the Red Team. You’ll receive greater details about the mission once you’re aboard the Skyranger.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Commander Harper had just dropped a bombshell on me and I was too stunned to speak. Bradford produced a clipboard, looked over his notes, and said:

“Robinson, your team will consist of Tachibana, Hawkins, Green, Fournier, and your daughter. Yamamoto, your team will have Kuznetsova, Dekker, Macintosh, Petoskey, and Jericho.”

“Sounds perfect!” Yutaka said.

“Wait!” I said loudly, “Why’s Jericho with Yutaka!?”

“Jericho told me that Captain Yamamoto here went to great lengths to save her life in Shenyang yesterday.” Harper replied. “She’s told me that she feels quite comfortable working with him.”

“Commander, wait!” I tried to speak up, but Harper silenced me again.

“Lieutenant, we need to get the ball rolling on this operation right away. You’ll be going into battle at the same moment Operation Crack the Sky gets started. I want you to gather up your soldiers and go to the armory. You’re going to be assaulting an enemy-occupied civilian building in the middle of a city center, so dress for urban warfare and nix the explosives. Once you’re geared up, head to the Skyranger. Carter’s already spooling up the engines, so wheel’s up in forty-five minutes! Am I clear?”

Sensing this would be my last chance to save Jericho from Yutaka, I tried one last time:

“Commander, I need to tell you-”

“I already know.” Harper said in a stern voice. “Get your soldiers. Get your gear. Wheels up in forty-five. Understood?”

I was at the end of my rope. There was nothing more I could do here. Reluctantly, I snapped to attention and said:

“Yes, ma’am. Right away, ma’am.”

I grabbed Chihiro by the arm and pulled her out of the infirmary. She seemed to be in a state of shock. Just before the door closed behind us, a Psionic charge ran up Chihiro’s arm and into my body! Jericho’s voice echoed quietly in both of our minds:

Don’t worry about me, guys. We’re getting back on-script.

…

Matthew, Soylent, Odette, and Akira got to the armory at the same time as Chihiro and I. While we donned armor and picked out weapons, Akira gave us the briefing:

“Here’s the situation. The Partogan fleet that fought ADVENT over Saturn is close enough that we can try to talk to them now. We’re going to hijack an enemy broadcast tower in Shanghai and tightbeam a message to them, asking for help to overthrow ADVENT.”

“Two questions.” Soylent said. “First where’s this tower? Second, how the hell are we gonna talk to these aliens? It’s not like they speak English.”

“The radio station is on the one-hundred-twenty-seventh floor of Shanghai Tower. Firebrand will drop us on the roof and we’ll work our way down.”

Soylent balked.

“Oh, God. What is it with you people and heights!?”

“Seriously, though;” Matthew added, “How are we going to talk to these Partogan aliens?”

Akira sighed and stopped zipping up her new Hawaiian National Army uniform. (a duplicate she’d gotten from Jericho) She looked like she couldn’t find the right words.

“It’s kinda complicated, but XCOM already has a soldier who can speak their language.”

“Wait…” I said. “How the hell do we have someone that speaks Partogan!? We’ve never met these aliens!”

“Like I said, it’s freakin’ complicated.” Akira replied. “So complicated that last Cycle the truth caused a couple of you to have nervous breakdowns. Looking at you, Matt and Sophia.”

“This time-travel bullshit is really starting to get on my nerves.” Matthew grumbled. “Can’t we just beat the truth out of her, Robinson?”

“I’ve thought about it.” I said, “But the Commander thinks Akira’s being genuinely helpful, so just put up with her.”

Turning back to Akira, I added:

“So, who the hell is our Partogan-speaking soldier, anyway?”

…

I already had trouble trusting Akira before. But when I met her go-to translator, I really started to worry.

Private Sarah Harris was an eighteen-year-old guerrilla from New Zealand, but the term “guerrilla” was really pushing it. This young woman had clearly never seen a day of combat in her life and almost certainly had no formal training. When our squad stepped into the Skyranger Bay to meet her, Sarah was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a pistol in front of her and staring down the barrel as though she’d lost something in there.

“Oh, God in Heaven, help us all.” Matthew breathed.

Odette snatched the pistol away from Sarah, who looked up and went pale at the sight of us.

“Uh, hi!” Sarah quickly stood up and spoke, losing confidence with each word: “My name’s Private Harris, I’m from the New Zealand Resistance. They said you needed a Maori translator… in China… where there aren’t any Maori… uh… um… do you know what’s going on?”

“Lieutenant, is it too late to find another translator?” Matthew asked me.

“Do you know where to find another Maori-speaker in northern China?” I said. “We gotta play the hand we’re dealt. Everyone mount up! We’re oscar mike!”

​

The blue half of the Stormbreaker squad gears up and prepares to depart for their upcoming mission in Shanghai.

Left to right: Matthew Hawkins, Soylent Green, Akira Robinson, Chihiro Tachibana, Blake Robinson, Jericho.

Additional note: Akira is wearing her mother's armor. (It's old, beaten up, and painted over, but it is in fact the same suit of armor.

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Next Chapter (Crack the Sky, Shake the Earth) ==>​