Faith

She knew her place.

She was a soldier for Advent and she knew her place. Hiloria Mox was not a common soldier, but she knew very well both her work and her duty.

Even when it disgusted her.

"Leave them alone!" The human screamed as the stasis field faded and two Troopers took hold of the man to disarm him and lead him away. The antique rifle he had brandished fell to the floor. "You lousy alien monsters!"

Hiloria did nothing but holster her amp as one of the Troopers slammed the butt of his rifle into the man, sending him staggering towards the van that would take him to his new life. She was focused on the two smaller forms who were cowering in a corner. Neither of them were armed, so neither were threats.

"Dad..." The little human was crying as the man was led away, one of the Troopers binding him as a precaution. Advent had learned not to take any humans for granted. None of the ones who lived outside of the city centers -and some who lived in them- were to be taken lightly. The small one was a female, like the older one who held her tightly.

The troops had come prepared for this though and the male hadn't had a chance to even raise his weapon before Hiloria had put him into stasis.

"We do not wish to harm you." Hiloria said calmly, holding out an empty hand to the pair who stared at her with a mix of anger and terror. "He brandished a weapon, I had no choice but to disable him."

"You invaded our home!" The older human snapped, her face a mask. She glared from the white armor Hiloria wore to the dark armored ones that were closing in slowly. "The planet wasn't enough? Now you come into our home too? You scum!"

She was working herself into a frenzy and Hiloria sighed inside as she drew her amp again and cast out with her mind, sweeping the human's meager mental defenses aside with ease and taking control swiftly. The young human screamed as her… her mother? Yes, this was her mother. Her mother convulsed as Hiloria took complete control and then everything stopped as the child rolled to where the human male's rifle had fallen and swept it up in unsteady hands. It looked as if she could barely lift the thing. All four of the remaining Advent troops took aim, but Hiloria was faster.

"Girl! No!" Hiloria said sternly as she made her puppet stand in front of the girl. The girl was trembling so hard she likely couldn't have even hit the floor with the weapon that had to mass a good percentage of her own body mass. "We have not hurt your father or your mother! Do not make us hurt you!"

"Yes. It is easier to kill us when we do not fight back." The girl said in a tone that was far too old for her apparent years. Hiloria recoiled as the rifle barked. The Advent psionicist's puppet fell, the human's head a bloody mess. Then the girl turned the rifle on herself, but Hiloria lashed out with her mind and the girl flew backwards to slam into the wall, sliding down to lie boneless.

"There was no need for that!" Hiloria chided the girl. A wasted effort, the human probably couldn't hear her. The fallen child didn't move as one Trooper kicked the rifle away from her still hands. Hiloria did not really need to but she went through the motions anyway. She bent down to check the human who had been shot and was saddened but not surprised when she found the woman beyond any help. "Is that one alive?" She asked the Trooper who was checking the girl. "This one has terminated."

The trooper nodded, picking the girl up carefully and carrying her towards the door. Hiloria sighed and knelt by the fallen human.

"May you know peace at long last, human." Hiloria said sadly as she closed the woman's staring eyes. She didn't know why she did that, she just did every time she found a dead human. "The Elders try and try to bring light to your world and you have to resist. You stubborn humans know no other way. We will bring peace to this world eventually, but I fear what will be left of it afterwards. Rest now, foolish mother. I will help your family to find a new way in the Elders' light. We would have welcomed you too."

She rose from her knees and strode from the small dwelling, head high as the two guards who never left her side followed. She made her way to the transport and sighed inwardly again as she saw the human male sprawled on the floor. A soldier had apparently knocked him unconscious. The girl had woken as was struggling the hands of the Trooper who held her. She wasn't going to get away, and even if she could? The pod had come with another filled with both troops and mechs. Even if by some miracle she got free and fled? She wouldn't get very far.

Two transports were fairly normal for sorties this far out past the lines of civilization that extended out from the city centers. Inside those lines, things were calm, controlled and orderly. Outside? Anything went.

"Stop." Hiloria said firmly as one of the other Troopers drew back to hit the girl with the butt of his rifle. "No. Girl. What is your name? I am Hiloria. I want to help."

"Help?" The girl snapped, trying without any success at all to get free. But she wasn't going anywhere as another Trooper bound her arms behind her. "Your 'help' kills people."

"We didn't kill your mother." Hiloria said with an audible sigh and the girl's face turned red. "You did."

She nodded to the others and the transport took off, the doors sealing. The girl was trying to bite, trying to throw herself at the Troopers who held her. He was obviously losing patience with her resistance.

"Enough." Hiloria said mildly as her mind reached out to touch the girl's. The girl gasped out a scream as Hiloria reached into her mind and took control. It was harder than it should have been and Hiloria frowned a little. It was far harder than the older woman's mind had been to control. "Hmmm… What is…? Ah." She could feel the girl's mind trying to throw her out, but the waif might was well have been trying to physically throw the transport they were riding in. She had a great deal of untapped power, but she was also utterly untrained. "Your name is Sofia and you are nine of your human years old." The rest of what she found disgusted her, but she did not react. That was for later.

"Get… out… of… my… mind..." Sofia gasped as Hiloria made the girl's body sit. The Priest held her there while a Trooper buckled her in.

"You have a very strong mind, child." Hiloria said with approval. "We can teach you how to use your gifts for the betterment of all, but for now? Sleep. You will wake in a better place."

She tapped the bits of the female human's mind that would put her into a dreamless slumber and smiled a little as Sofia fell asleep. She reached out to touch the girl's head and shook her own.

"Advisor?" The Officer in charge of the pod inquired as the doors closed and locked.

Technically, Hiloria didn't have a rank. In Advent's forces, supposedly, everyone was equal. Everyone knew their place and everyone worked hard to do what had to be done. As with everything in the world that humans had squandered, things never quite worked out as well as planned. Hiloria wasn't an Officer, she was a Priest. She didn't lead, she advised and supported the troops with psionic power as needed. But only an idiot ignored a Priest's advice. An idiot or someone with a death wish. Their loyalty to the Elders was ironclad, but anything beyond that was on a case by case basis and most Advent knew to stay on their good sides.

"Mission accomplished. The male was the target of the sweep. The females were to be brought in if possible." Hiloria said with a nod. "Most humans are disgusting, but this one has a great deal of unrecognized potential. It will take a while to test it and nurture it, but we can."

"Are you sure?" The Officer asked with a frown. Hiloria shrugged. "What about the male?"

"Mikhail Norgovord is a known dissident supporter. As you know, this operation was to apprehend him to be interrogated and then he was to be processed for reeducation." Hiloria paused as she scanned the man with a hand held tool and the screen flashed red. "Hmmm. His DNA came up flagged. It looks like his DNA is a kind that the specialists want for some reason. Once we land, get him into a pod and send him off to special resources. They will interrogate him and then do what they whatever they do. He will no longer be our problem. No casualties and the target was apprehended. Good work."

Hiloria put him out of her mind as she focused on the girl. She didn't really care much for humans, especially ones who pulled her out of her neat life and made her get dirty. She detested getting dirty. White armor showed dirt like nothing else on this forsaken world. At least she hadn't had to use her weapon. She hated firing the weapon almost as much as she hated dirt.

"Advisor." The Officer said with a grunt. "That young human will likely be trouble."

"The best ones always are, Officer." Hiloria laid a hand on Sofia's forehead in a gesture that was both gentle and possessive. "I will take responsibility for her, get her to the Center. They will see to her."

"As you wish." The Officer said with a frown as his com chimed. He tapped his helmet and then stiffened. "We are being diverted to a facility that is under attack."

Hiloria stiffened as well as the ship's engine changed pitch. The troops with her all checked their weapons and gear. For her part, Hiloria made sure the girl was strapped in carefully and the human on the floor was out of the way and restrained so he could not move. The last thing anyone wanted was a human loose on a transport that was about to go into battle. The ships were all automated and marvels of technology, but that did not make them invulnerable. Humans were nothing if not inventive in finding ways to hurt others.

"Dissidents?" She asked as she checked her own rifle. The Officer nodded and she growled in annoyance. Dissidents were a very mixed bag. Some of them were almost as pathetic as Mikhail had been. Others defined the word 'dangerous'. Some even had powers of the mind that rivaled Hiloria's abilities, but her faith in the Elders was strong and had always served to even the odds. "Silly humans cannot see that all they cause is suffering."

None of the troops answered her, but she hadn't really expected an answer. Reasoned discourse wasn't an Advent thing generally, especially when there was a battle to fight.

"Thirty to dirt!" The Officer called and then snapped. "Battle is ongoing. A dissident force has assaulted the facility. Some reports say they planted explosives, but our reinforcements caught them before they could evacuate."

"The dissidents will fall." Hiloria said firmly as she hefted her rifle. "The Elders will it." This was a shout and the others took up the cry as the ship slowed and the door on the right side of the ship slid open to chaos.

A red flare shone on the ground, the drop point for the troops. Hiloria could see bodies lying every which way, Advent bodies. Maybe two humans lay still, but no more than that. The ship slowed to a stop and Hiloria jumped even as the rest of the pod did the same. Two Troopers, the Officer and Hiloria hit the ground in the same instant.

"Look out!" One of the troopers managed to scream before his head exploded with the distinctive whip-crack of a high velocity round. The crack suggested that these dissidents were using chemical propellant weapons, but those were no less dangerous in trained or fanatic hands than the most advanced beam weapons. Hiloria rolled into cover behind a large rock, the remainder of her pod doing the same as fire came from dissident positions, at least four of them.

There were other Advent forces on the ground firing at the dissidents however and Hiloria nodded to herself as she saw the battle as it was playing out. The dissidents were trapped in the facility. If they had managed to set charges, then they were dead if they stayed there. Maybe they didn't care? Some dissidents were fanatic enough to use suicide tactics. Luckily, not all of them were so stupid.

"There!" The Officer called as a human broke cover and rushed the line of Advent. Hiloria fired and she wasn't alone. The Priest expected the crazy to be filled with holes before he made it halfway, but somehow, his speed mixed with his evasive path allowed him to close with the line. He was glowing!

"Templar!" The scream came from a pair of Troopers who had been in cover behind a log as the oddly garbed human closed with them. Then his arms flashed with blue energy and both fell to lie still.

"No!" Hiloria snapped as other humans ran from the facility in the direction the Templar had gone. She threw Stasis at one and he jerked to a halt, the blue sphere blocking any attempt at aid or escape. But… Her mind froze as she got a good look at the dissident and it wasn't a human! The form wore battered Advent armor and…

"Down!" The other Trooper threw himself at Hiloria and knocked her down as a bullet passed through where she had been. He rolled to his feet, only to scream as blue energy coruscated around him. He jerked and then fell to lie silent and still. Hiloria spun to see the Templar approaching, crystals extending from his gauntlets.

Hiloria activated her amp, reached out with her mind and ran into a solid wall of psionic force.

Oh no, you don't, you Advent scum. The male voice in her mind was coldly mocking as the Templar reached her. Before she could even think about attacking or retreating, his hands went back and blue blades snapped into existence around each of them.

The impact was enough to drive her to her knees, and for a moment, she felt panic rise. Then her power flared, the Elders' blessing settling around her in a blue sphere. For an eternity, maybe ten milliseconds, there was no pain and then it hit her like a tidal wave.

You cannot hold that up forever! Drop it and die, you evil monster! The cold voice was everywhere.

The Elders protect! Hiloria managed as her world suddenly turned bright.

Nearby

The XCOM team retreated as the flashbang grenades detonated and every Advent troop in the area was suddenly blinded for a few critical seconds. Just long enough.

They all ran for the distant square of blue dots that showed where the Skyranger was hovering invisibly. Two of them carried still forms. One of them groaned, the other would never speak again.

"Keep up!" The Templar snapped to the Skirmisher who growled at him. "I am not going to carry your smelly ass."

"I am not the one who left an enemy alive behind us." The Skirmisher replied as he ran, easily keeping pace with the rest of the team. He looked back and the blue sphere was still there, still solid. A powerful mind was holding that just as it had held him for a moment.

"The blast will probably kill it." The Templar said with glee. "If not? Its masters will for failing."

"You do not know what you are talking about." The former Advent Trooper said with a sigh as he ran into the square and turned, his bullpup rifle aimed back the way they had come. Nothing followed them. Any Advent back at the facility were going to be busy. He watched as the facility seemed to shudder and then vomit debris and smoke. "You do not know what that was."

"Advent psionic. Big freaking deal." The Templar reached for the line that fell toward his hands and then he zipped out of sight up into the waiting ship.

The Skirmisher kept his weapon trained on the burning facility as the others were lifted up, two of them holding their fallen comrades. Then the sniper came running into the clearing and he nodded to her. She ignored him as she always did, but his duty was clear as always. Betos had ordered, he would obey. She was the last of the deployed team and with her arriving, he could go. But he wouldn't until she was clear. He didn't like the people he had been commanded to work with, but he would work with them.

He had no way of seeing the Reaper's expression, but her posture was furious as she slung her rifle and grabbed a rope. She slid out of sight and he nodded back to the facility that was still burning as he slung his own weapon and grasped a rope himself. As he was drawn up into the Skyranger he heard another explosion in the distance.

As the hatch slid closed behind him, he stared back at the facility and shook his head.

"This is not good." The Skirmisher said with a sigh as he sat and took a deep breath. "We need to warn the Commander about the one you left alive."

"What?" The Templar demanded, his voice sharp. "We won! That facility is dust!"

"You hit her with your blades. You touched her with your mind." The human/alien hybrid's words were not a question. "Do you have any idea how bad an idea that was?"

"What?" The Templar demanded. "It is an Advent goon! Mindless. Hopeless."

"No." The Skirmisher said flatly. "It was an Advent Priest. One of the Elder's most devoted servants. You better pray she is dead or she will track you and us."

"You sound afraid." The Templar sniffed. He was not expecting the Skirmisher to snort.

"I am wary." The former Advent trooper said with a shrug as he sat back. He noted the Reaper was also tense. "But that is because I am smart enough not to let one of the Elder's psychics get a taste of my mind. They can be a bit single minded about tracking people down." He shook his head. "Pity that Trooper moved her. That was a good shot."

He complimented the Reaper who ignored him. He didn't expect anything else. She didn't like or trust him any more than he liked or trusted her. But she hadn't shot him. Neither of them had shot the Templar and the Templar hadn't cut either of them.

This might work, even if he did think the XCOM Commander had flipped for wanting all three of their groups to work together.

I will try to only say this once. War of the Chosen, the new X-Com 2 expansion, ROCKS!